The Pelosi exemption

Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) on Friday called for new Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill after top House Democrats scrapped plans to vote on legislation banning lawmaker stock trading.

Baltic gas pipelines feed Russian Army

 Gazprom was wholly government owned and European gas sales was their income source.  That is where the army gets fed.

The generals know who dunnit, Putin's adopted son. The general are not kindly about a Chechen run Russian government, the Stalinists.  That was 20 billion in pipeline possibly lost of the repairs are not done soon. Almost wholly own by the state ministry of defense,

Putin will be facing a hostile crowd from the military.  The generals have found heir fifth column.

Putin's fifth column

He complained about them early then fired 200 Fsb agents. Putin got it a bit backwards, this fifth column are the Europhiles in Russia, most of the  western 60 million who like Europe. Gazprom was the most supportive of europhiles.

I would expect a bunch of sabotage by the new generation of agents. But they are now scattered, running en mass from the new Stalinists.  

Putin was really the fifth column, actually had a legal contract on that. His buddies include Chechnya, which looks increasingly nice as an oil hub.  Putin's bunch was given some immunity to pursue oil deals, but Ukrainian war hardened line and we have civil war.

One of those blunders, accidentally starting a civil war. Historians can only look at the broad rends of these blunders over history. But they always do it.

Camping in Frisco

Advocates sue San Francisco to end the removal of homeless camps

There is a business here, dusk to dawn camp sites. After hours, rent out the parking lots. Cheap tourists are your target demographic.

Russia!

 

The mobilization wiped out s fifth of the Russian prime labor force.  Drafted, escaped, or waiting in that queue.  Putin had already snarled the system with his erratic war maneuvers. Sanctions are only forty percent effective, but very inconvenient. Oil less profitable, and now some 20% of your labor force gone from White Russia.

To top it off, we have a civil war inside, and the pipeline war was an internal battle in Russia.  Giant .compromised  Russian oil companies are at war over where the Russian state should spend development.  one major seems to be using mafia tactics.

These kids are escaping a possible Stalinist take over.  A lot of this was thrust into Russian politics with the Ukraine blunder, and it  is likely quite chaotic inside the Kremlin. The two over powering state agencies are the army and FSB.  The army does not want to be the cause of Stalinism. The army wants ans exit.

The Pelosi exemption was a hard sell

Democrats scrap plan to vote on stock trading ban before elections

McConnell, seen here staring at Sinema's boobs,

 

has allied himself with those breasts.

Grift first, policy second

Democrats’ effort to stop lawmakers from stock trading has a potential loophole

The Pelosi loophole they will call it. How would a determined leftist like AOC tolerate taxing the poor to fund the rich? I dunno, I await her vote on the matter.

Reverse psychology

 Medvedev Says US, NATO Won't Intervene If Russia Uses Nuke

Medvedev really wants to egg US, NATO  on so they keep threatening Putin. Medved is not a big Putin fan on this.

War ending?

 So far:

• Two negotiated retreats by Russian.
• Ukrainian army over loaded with removing abandoned equipment
• Russian general have fled the battle field
• Russian troops isolated in smaller units with bad logistics
• Putin is not coming back from vacation
• Russian ministry wants to end the war and rebuild their officer core.
• Russian military patriotism is taking a big hitg from mobilization failure.

The Russians need a professional army, they have a bunch of stans to the east..  The army needs a truce. The generals can dismiss Putin, the only group who can. The generals do not like Putin. Orderly return to status quo ante, without Putin.