Might be true.

Russia asks for Help FT reports

I don’t see how that is possible, if true, they are in sad shape.

Then again....

how the phug can they be running out of weaponry in the 3rd week?

I don't doubt that China would help them but that is a big economic risk for them.

And the plot thickens.

China and Russia are going to gang up and destroy the petro dollar.... you better hope they aren't successful, your company will go tits up

“US Officials Say”. Like there is any credibility there.

So now we're going to be in a proxy war with China through Ukraine and Russia- awesome.

https://www.reuters.com/world/chine...ussian-requests-ukraine-help-2022-03-13/

I'm certain it won't just be mine and who would hope for that anyways?

It makes perfect sense for Putin to draw China into his Ukraine annexation foray, via proxy.

I doubt that he’s feigning weakness or actually needs armaments. It would be a political coup for Putin if China agreed and pitched in.

From a website I've been monitoring, Old Poot has an inventory of 3,000 or so fighters, yet less than 70 have been deployed in UA.

Am I the only one asking WHY? (and don't even start with the ole "Poot is such a swell guy, he's going easy on UA". Ole Poot has NEVER, EVER gone easy on anything or anyone when he had a choice).

If you care to learn about money and what constitutes money and the manipulation of money it is a fascinating rabbit hole. I will try and hit on a high point to get you started in the right direction.
The Federal Reserve controls the USD (reserve currency) everybody has to buy USD in order to purchase many of the worlds commodities, the (petro dollar) we can simply print money to buy things, the rest of the world has to actually work and BE PRODUCTIVE in order to buy the commodities that make the world go around. They are at a huge disadvantage and hate us for that. They see us as fat, corrupt and spoiled.
They are dying to knock us off that pedestal. Therefore they are waging an economic war with us as they see us as being very vulnerable right now. And we are. Our debt is 126% of GDP.
Russia's debt is 18% of GDP with a 13% flat tax income tax rate. Our government is chocking the productive with tax's and regulation, we can no longer compete.
Our free ride is coming to an end and I strongly suspect you aren't even remotely prepared. You will be caught flat footed and be screwed, time to wake up.
You are asking if I wish this to happen and the answer is complicated, yes and no. I have spent years preparing, the current system works against me as it does for foreign countries. I am all for sound money... free of manipulation, because I earn my money, I do not participate nor benefit from the current ponzi scheme. That being said when this happens the country I love will suffer greatly, the bill must be paid, no free lunch as they say.
A free civilization cannot thrive and prosper with manipulated currency. This is why the middle class is being decimated. You are very vulnerable, more than most is my guess.
Do some research, it may open your eyes... but probably not because I suspect you are a "normie" and suffer from normalcy bias.

If they really wanted to unleash economic Hell on the US, they could coordinate dumping their US treasuries on the open market and cause our interest rates to skyrocket.

Oh and one more thing KWFA the government came full force against small business with the covid bullshit and shut a bunch of them down, mine survived and I have prospered because I was prepared.
So I am not imagining things.
I cannot alter the course of any of this, and I did not cause any of this, I just adapt and survive.... I actually plan to prosper, and so far I am, even beyond my wildest dreams and I have only just begun.

They have already started that with short term treasuries, not as easy with long term, but they aren't buying anymore. The fed is, it's called monetizing your debt, causes inflation... gee who'd a thunk
The real money play is when Russia starts selling energy and only accept gold as payment.... then the USD collapses .... coming soon I believe

well good on ya I guess

Supposedly China owns less than 10% of our debt. They can unwind the short term debt rather quickly but not the longer term debt instruments.

You’re right about what it would cause even with a slow but concerted unwinding .

I suspected my words would be wasted on you.... so carry on

A clue... they are several years down that path.... nothing slow about it at this stage... buckle up butter cup

China is not stupid enough to be drawn into this. If they isolate themselves from the rest of the world economically, they are toast. They need the rest of the world buying their cheap schidt.

what words? you're telling me I'm gonna be eating out of a trash can while you'll be eating the high dollar spam when China forces the world off the petrol dollar.

what am I supposed to do with that? I know, I'll uproot my family, move into the wilderness, get a wood stove, dig a well ,grow an ass load of tomatoes and raise goats, and sell everything I own to buy gold and crypto because a guy named irfurbar on the internet is telling me my world is going to end in a few months.

If I came across that way I apologize, you seem like a nice normie... I am just a little jaded due to current events. I would like to help you and have given advice to you in the past and , well you took it as combative. It is probably my presentation.
I wish you the best, just a little tough love is all I got

They will do whatever they perceive as being advantageous to China.

And Consider that the rest of the world needs and wants their cheap stuff ongoing.

LOL.

You seem very ungrateful for his wise words of doom and gloom and your inadequte preps for the coming apocalypse.

You silly "normies".

I am waiting for him the explain what exact currency is going to replace the Dollar? China's RMB or Russian Rubles?

They have been trying to do this for years but everybody knows China is litterally the worlds worst currency manipulator and who would be willing to get paid in Rubles?

John,
Obviously I don't know, if I claimed I did , I would be full of schit... but I can guess... very risky for me, kinda like predictions... but here we go a digital , block chain currency, like bit coin.. but backed by gold.

And they wouldn't need the worlds approval, they could simply sell their energy , fertilizer etc... to other countries through this blockchain and eliminate western bankers

Infubar,

A blockchain currency can't be backed by gold or any physical commodity.

The backing is the time it takes to digitally mine and the security of the blockchain.

It's still fiat currency.

Biden and his crazy administration have destroyed the stock market. it won't be long before a lot of people will be up in arms against the lunacy.

John,
By no means am I an expert on blockchain or anything to do with Tech... but my understanding is blockchain is a fancy word for ledger. A ledger than records and displays every transaction ever made.
So forgive me if I use the wrong techno babble....
Point being a system that uses a ledger based on computing power backed by gold. Seems it could be done?
Again these things are like predictions, little upside for me and a ton of downside as in campfire fashion if I am wrong a dozen guys will jump my schit. I do appreciate the discussion though

The Fed announced last week they're not doing any more quantitative easing.

Good, at least we will know where they stand, they like to stand in the shadows and play the long game, good to force them to pick a side.

Oh yeah.... and they are going to raise interest rates also.... uh huh
They better raise rates above the rate of inflation, otherwise a waste of time..
The debt payment on 30 trillion will be debilitating

Yep and further said that any rate increases that needed to be done to slow inflation would be done slowly and incrementally to avoid a recession.

All of the above yet to be seen.

It appears that the FED does have some wiggle room with rates as low as they’ve been and historically speaking, still are.

Also John the one and only think that separates bit coin from fiat is the the supply is capped at , I think 23 million bitcoins?
Fiat is unlimited.... big distinction

Evert time they start creeping the rates up the equity market tanks.... they have painted themselves into a corner

What’s a “normie”?

Someone with less than 100k rounds of ammo stashed away?

Here’s a clue for all you normies out there. Your block chain currency, your bar of gold and your annuities can suck a lead dyck at anywhere from 700-3500 fps.

Audit the fed reserve.

The reason for the blockchain (ledger so to speak) is that it validates the coin as having been properly "mined". As in it's always traceable through all transactions back to the origin of the coin.

Think about that for a bit, always traceable back to the origin because every transaction is recorded in the blockchain.

Commodities backed money require a trusted organization always willing to redeem the money for the commodity.

If you tie it to gold you had better always have enough gold and that can limit the growth of an economy.

Much like Ukraine there are no simple anwers and pretty much everyone is playing an angle.

We've given Russia every reason to align itself with China even if they are reluctant to do so.

China responded with the following OP Ed in the NYT.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/13/opinion/china-russia-ukraine.html



Opinion|It’s Time to Offer Russia an Offramp. China Can Help With That.

By
Wang Huiyao

Guest Essay

March 13, 2022


Dr. Wang is the founder and president of the Center for China and Globalization, a nongovernmental think tank based in Beijing. He advises the Chinese government in that capacity.

Casualties are mounting in Ukraine. Bombs continue to fall. More than 2 million refugees have fled the fighting.

Vladimir Putin seems to have assumed he could get a swift victory, underestimating the fierce resistance from Ukraine. Two weeks in, Russia is intensifying its assault on Ukraine, and Western nations in turn are intensifying their financial and economic punishments against Russia, including by triggering the financial “nuclear option” — banning some Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system. Meanwhile, Mr. Putin has put his actual nuclear forces on high alert.

We are now in an escalatory spiral. Mounting pressure on Mr. Putin will likely make the situation more dangerous as Russia’s leader feels pushed to take increasingly extreme measures — such as what we’ve seen in the past few days with the Russian army’s siege tactics and attacks on civilian areas.

And so, unpalatable as some in the West may find the idea, it is time to offer the Russian leader an offramp with China’s help. On Tuesday, President Xi Jinping of China held a virtual summit with President Emmanuel Macron of France and Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, urging a diplomatic solution.

The United States and its allies might be reluctant to have China play any role in this crisis, given that they view Beijing as a strategic rival. That’s foolish and shortsighted; the conflict’s immediate dangers far outweigh any competitive considerations. Ukraine itself sees the potential of Chinese-led conflict resolution.

So far, China has called for dialogue and says it supports humanitarian aid efforts. But Beijing’s interests in more proactive involvement are growing by the day.

China has a significant economic interest in a quick resolution to the Russian-Ukrainian war. China enjoys strong ties with Russia and Ukraine and is both countries’ largest single trading partner, though each trades more with the E.U. bloc than with China. Russia and Ukraine are crucial components of the Belt and Road infrastructure program as well as conduits for China’s trade with Europe. China-Europe rail transports have experienced a hundredfold increase since the beginning of the 2010s, but the ongoing conflict threatens to disrupt these trade flows.

China is also uniquely positioned to act as a neutral mediator between a Western-supported Ukraine and Russia. Yes, Beijing and Moscow have a strong and growing relationship, especially in the economic realm. China’s demand for resources that Russia has in abundance — food and energy — as well as a mutual dissatisfaction with the current state of the U.S.-led world order have increasingly drawn the two countries together. This alliance was cemented when Mr. Putin and Mr. Xi met last month and issued a joint statement underscoring their deep ties and reaffirming a partnership with “no forbidden zones.”

Image

Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin in Moscow during talks in 2019.Credit...Pool photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko
It is not in Beijing’s interests to rely solely on an anti-Western alliance with Moscow. Russia may possess a mighty military, but its economy is in long-term structural decline, with a G.D.P. not much larger than that of Spain. For all the talk of ties with Moscow, it is worth remembering that China’s economic interests with Russia are dwarfed by those it shares with the West. In 2021, trade between China and Russia may have jumped by 36 percent compared to the prior year, to $147 billion — but that’s still less than a tenth of the combined trade with the United States ($657 billion) and European Union ($828 billion).

Even if China isn’t joining in the sanctions, it is possible that Chinese businesses and banks will decrease involvement with Russia to avoid a backlash in other, more important markets. As Russia becomes isolated from the world economy, China will not want to shoulder Russia’s economic burden alone.

The prospect of a growing economic relationship between Moscow and Beijing may be threatening to the West, but from Mr. Putin’s perspective, it provides China with leverage over him in potential negotiations. As he and his country face increasing isolation, he can’t afford to lose China, too.

There are also political reasons China wants this conflict to end in a way that is appealing to all involved. The longer the war lasts, the more it will reinvigorate the Western alliance around the idea of a values-based confrontation between East and West, bringing the United States and the European Union into even closer alignment while driving military budgets up around the globe. That is not good for China, which would prefer to maintain lucrative economic ties with the West and focus its resources on domestic development.

At a time when China faces increasing global criticism for its human rights violations, mediating an end to this conflict could help improve the country’s standing with the West. Beijing has long striven to convince political and business elites in Europe and America that the rise of China does not present a threat. Support for Russian aggression — even perceived support — threatens to undermine that assertion. By contrast, playing a constructive role in ending the war could help cast China as a strategic and not just economic partner.

Ideologically, China has common ground with both Ukraine and Russia. China deeply values the principle of state sovereignty and has long opposed outside interference in what it considers internal affairs such as Taiwan. Last month, Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China once again called for a global respect of territorial integrity, saying, “Ukraine is no exception.” In this way, at least, Mr. Putin’s invasion directly undercuts one of China’s key values.

China — like Russia — is wary of pro-democratic Western influence globally. So far, Chinese media has avoided criticism of Russia and even adopted Moscow’s narrative of the war. The two countries share grievances over perceived Western hostility and hypocrisy. Framing the invasion as anti-West and anti-NATO helps justify Mr. Putin’s action to a domestic audience.

The longer the war goes on, though, China may find itself in a position of diminishing returns in its close relationship with Russia. This makes the argument for Beijing to take on an active mediation role even more compelling.

What form could mediation take? Any serious resolution would have to involve the United States and the European Union as key actors in European security arrangements. Beijing could help to broker an immediate cease-fire as a prelude to talks among Russia, Ukraine, the United States, the European Union and China.

Beijing’s goal would be to find a solution that gives Mr. Putin sufficient security assurances that can be presented as a win to his domestic audience while protecting Ukraine’s core sovereignty and NATO’s open-door policy. Finding a landing zone for such an agreement is challenging but not impossible. Some creative diplomacy could solve this, such as a formula for NATO expansion that rules out Ukrainian membership in practice while preserving its sovereignty and NATO principles in theory.

Securing a multilateral resolution to the crisis in Ukraine will be a tough and risky challenge, but there is no country better placed to do so than China.

Dr. Wang Huiyao (@huiyaowang) is the founder and president of the Center for China and Globalization, a nongovernmental think tank based in Beijing. He advises the Chinese government in that capacity.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: [email protected].

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.

Yes I understand.... I have heard the argument about having enough gold to not limit the growth of the economy. Just re-value the gold in reserves.
Thing is all fiats from the beginning of time fail.... all of them, this time is no different.
These ponzi's only last maybe 40 yrs we are past due to fail.
The only way to create a stable money is to limit the supply, i.e. restrict creation from nothing.
Right now western bankers control it all and they control it to their benefit, the money handlers should not be the richest people in society.
A block chain eliminates these "money handlers" a very good thing for the productive people... a bad thing for the un-productive parasites

Kingston,
The premise of that article I disagree with. They claim China has a much larger trade with the US than Russia, that is true but it is not beneficial for China due to our economic advantage posed by the reserve currency. I believe they would rather enrich their own population enough to have them buying Chinese goods, along with a billion or two Indian's.
Russia has energy to sell to fuel this growth.
If they could empower east Asia's population economically they will not need the West and it's punitive and manipulated reserve currency and USD.
They actually work hard and produce value. We produce dollars. Hard commodities are playing out to be the near term store of value and those commodities should have value over fiat.

The sky is falling,the sky is falling,again!!!

You damn normies.... I wish I could be so... head in the sand... uum I mean cavalier

I just remember all the jokes Ronald Reagan would crack about the in eptness of the soviets.

Where there is smoke there is 🔥

Me thinks Rootin Tootin Putins sheit got rusty.

I also think some cyber shenanigans has hit the kremlin

Kinda reminds of the comic soldier sad sack.

The big bad red bear has turned into


Boo boo

He has nuclear warheads , you tool

I am sure they get as much upgrades and attention as the


What do you call them clowns?

Infantry?

This isn't a speculative argument by some outside academic. This piece is wholly sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party. It's a communiqué delivered by a Chinese operative. Literally.

Oh sure they may blow up on launch when they hit the button..... or not
Either way he commands respect with these weapons whether we like it or not.
And the way things are going I don't have much faith in general Mileys "woke" army of transgenders and yes I know that is an exaggeration, but still , diplomacy is a better path

Ok I will re read it tomorrow and ponder it....

It still makes him

Sad Sack

In command of

Boo boo

I have no respect

This may sound overly simple but its 100% correct imho

Bro, Putin and Xi are joining in with Trump in draining the Bolsheviks NWO neonazi swamp.

China is still buying oil from Russia. Xi has just now shown he is decoupling from the CCP. Que told us of this in 2018.



The leftists scum is falling over in their own schiett. Remember Trump and Melania staying overnight with Xi and his wife on Trumps trip to Chyna?

The only white man ever invited to the Forbidden City. It's a clue.

China needs us to buy their cheap shidt.

another military genius. You serve overseas in an infantry unit? I am guessing the closest you got to the military was watching Gomer Pyle reruns on the boomer channel lol

Where is China going to get their energy and resources to keep their economy going?

The Bakken in the US?

Hell, we'd all be rich. Millionaires. Billionaires, Trillionairs! IIRC, one Ruble is worth less than one US Cent. .8 or something like.

China, Russia, and India forming a trading block, trading with China's two-currency system, is game over for the petro dollar.

Propaganda to give the US Neocons the excuse they need to get directly involved, and start the war they want.

Here's where we are:

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...1900/re-recession-is-coming#Post17041900

Newsflash - the USD is going down the tubes, win, lose or draw.

I suspect you are correct, fiats last an average of 40 yrs , the USD decoupled from gold and went full fiat in 1971.
The "China needs us to buy their low quality goods" is simply repeating mind numb talking points.
They have billions of potential customers in their own backyard.
Also they need energy to fuel this manufacturing base and this is where an alliance with Russia comes into play.
Americans need to wake up to the fact we have been fat, lazy and slothful and the rest of the world hates us for it.
They are tired of the inflation we export around the world via the "reserve currency"

8 th I D. Mainz Germany

4/69 Armor

Where did you serve?


Ribka?

A very interesting read that reflects my point of view.....

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/luongo-ins-outs-whose-money-it-anyway

I would wager if China enters this deal, Putins nuclear option would be eliminated.

And the warthogs could come on in and eat.

Reread the OP Ed I posted as a communique.

I re-read the article, it sounds like it was written by a westerner, but I will take it at face value. So the Chinese want to keep all of their trade channels open, use Russia's resources, look like a hero for brokering a cease fire..... cake and it too?

Hard to know the truth these days...

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopoliti...ws-and-developments-ukraine-war-march-14

They also have their eyes on rebuilding Ukraine (China's Roads and Bridges Program).

The big take away are the parts where it's more than insinuated that they're approaching a point where Russia's continued activity in Ukraine could have substantial economic costs for China, and that China isn't co-signing that check.

Yes I got that vibe also.... if he truly speaks for CCP Russia may find themselves all alone, real quick.

Not sure about rebuilding Ukraine's infrastructure. are you referring to the belt & road initiative? if so that is a trade pipeline they are working on, again to circumnavigate the West

In the long term China is azzhole to everyone.

China wants Russian energy, metals, and food and cheaper is better.

China wants Ukraine energy, metals, and food.

Road and Belt is a thing for the ChiComs.

Nothing good will come of this.

Yes, my bad, Belt & Road initiative. Somewhere between my brain and my fingers the Democrats got mixed up with the CCP.

If the Chinese owned LME (London Metals Exchange) can't be trusted enough to trade on after epic fückery, what would compel traders to move to a Chinese owned commodities market in Shanghai?

It's one thing for China to want to undermine the USD as the global hegemonic fiat currency and another to actually be in a position to succeed at such a coup.

China definitely has a credibility problem , and that hinders them having the reserve currency. The West has also developed a huge credibility problem also.
This is why I suggested they might try a block chain backed by gold. If they did so gold would be re-valued overnight. If say the value came to $10k an ounce, the worlds gold would flow into it.
This would spell the end of the USD

Last year the new craze in crypto was commodity pegged crypto currencies. The major drawback is that they require someone to Fort Knox the commodity reserves, gold for instance, backing the security.

I don't know what the answer is, but the game certainly continues to increase in complexity or at least dimension, if that's not actual complexity.

Gold @ $10,000 an ounce is just another fiat currency.

Commodities are worth their fair market value and the industial uses for gold would never support $10,000/oz.

Think the chip shortage is bad now add on $10,000oz gold.
.


Pegging a currency value to a comodity is not the same as backing the currency with the commodity.

No John,
Gold will never be a fiat no matter the USD dollar value of it. You cannot just print more gold, you have to expend labor and fuel to mine it. This prevents it from being fiat.
The very nature of fiat is that it's manipulated and fake. It's underlying value is trust, that's it!
Gold is used in microscopic amounts in industry.... silver on the other hand is consumed in large amounts.
My speculative value of $10k is a guess based on real numbers, likely it would be even higher. Pricing gold in fiat is kinda silly actually.
In Weimar Germany 10 million wouldn't have bought you an ounce of gold.
We are so programmed to think of everything in fiat numbers, as you have displayed.
Here is the deal, I will never convince you or anyone else for that matter, I recommend learning about what makes money valuable, also how it loses value etc.... we have a thousands of years of history available to teach us these truths.
As for the blockchain the beauty of that is it bypasses the bankers and money handlers, who seem to have become the richest members of society. That alone should give you pause.
Did you read the Zero hedge article I linked? it explains a few things way better than I can,
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/luongo-ins-outs-whose-money-it-anyway

Lol.... its not everyday that you see such a learned collection of financial wizards all in one place. We are truly blessed here on the Campfire.

What underlying value does gold have to support $10,000oz?

It's shiny and heavy?

Don't be a daft kgunt.

Flesh that out a bit.

Is gold not shiny?

Is gold not heavy?

Does gold have any intrinsic value beyond it's commdity value?

Do you know the difference between Austrian economic theory versus Keynesian economic theory?
Without google you would be clueless.
So share your wisdom and accomplishments with us.... and maybe a pic or two

It has been money for thousands of years.... our dollar was based on it until 1971

He won't make the effort of reading the article I linked.... he would rather be a chunt
He already knows it all, after all he pimps overpriced rifles for a living.... a sucker is born every minute...
Hey John I once owned a Bushmaster AR that would shoot 1/2 moa all day every day, cost $800

Doesnt our constitution require our currency be backed by it?

What would its value be if what the US had were as valuable as everything in the country?

What's going to back our bitcoin or ethereum currency down the road after our paper currency becomes our toilet paper?

LOL.
Fiat Money.

Show us the intrinsic value other than shiny and heavy.

Thanks.

What was I thinking... Burns had dinner with a Krugerrand last year.

Go dig up $2000 worth of gold then tell me your time and energy has no value....

How about a shoe box full of $100 dollar bills under your bed and your house burns down? you have ashes
A box full of gold will still have the same value after the fire... durability... man cannot make gold, he can make a USD... these and many more qualities are why it has been money for thousands of years.

Burns pimps guns to the Black rifle coffee crowd, you know the same guys that said Kyle Rittenhouse was murderous racist

LOL.

So now you devalue gold from your ridiculous value of $10,000 to $2000.

Thanks for proving my point.

Commmiditys have a value.

And you need to post less and read more.

I did not specify how many ounces of gold...

LOL.

How to tell everybody your getting your ass kicked with out simply saying "I am getting my ass kicked".

Congradulations?

Posting again from the tanning bed?

You really don't get it do you.... yet you think your AR's are much more valuable than a Bushmaster... figures

LOL.

It illuminates your character .... and that matters

I'd take that as a yes...

Free markets are free.

Good to be an American.

Safariman agrees with you... so you have that going for you....

When the dollar collapses and your fanboys will no longer buy your overpriced Bushmasters, you can always take a gold pan down to the Shoshone river and pan for gold,,, bet you starve

While I am not super current on 24hr CF gossip I don't think he can afford my ARs.

They are kind of expensive, top end Tier 1 stuff, but not cheap.

Just sayin.

Whatcha drinkin?

Paper money burns, Burns. They can print billions overnight and devalue it, which is why the Bolshevik banksters, descendants of the viper money changers Jesus whipped out of the Hooy Temple, made it. It was designed to screw over Gods people by stealing the wealth of their good labor. It worked.

All our life the economy gets in trouble and the Bolsheviks Fed Reserve has money printed. They give it to the Bolshevik controlled govt while we get the debt and pay the interest on it. The the govt gives it to Bolshevik owned banks to stimulate the economy. The banks give it to Bolsheviks who buy stocks of companies majority owned by the Bolsheviks. They decide when to run the markets up and buy first, and when to drive them down and sell first. They screw us coming and going.
It's good work if you can get it.

Now we have rampant inflation. The milk and eggs arent more valuable, the currency to buy them is just worth less. The Bolsheviks in govt control that.

Trump doesnt like that. Hes ending it. How? Going back to the good standard. Why? You cant print gold.

Like Trump said, hes giving the power back to the people.

The bottom sentence tells it all.

Here Trump and Scovino respond to Ques post dropped many months before.

Jag,
Talking to Burns is like talking to a liberal, a waste of time. They know nothing, yet their hubris leads then to believe they know it all. No amount of info will convince them otherwise.
I used to admire him for turning his hobbie/passion into a living... the Leupold issue gave me pause, as I knew he wasn't being honest. The final straw, recently he defended the woke fools at Black rifle coffee. It was then I understood he was a snake oil salesman.
Interesting dynamic these shysters use, create a buzz via the internet, get a group of fanboys pimping your wares . convince people because it's expensive it is a better mousetrap, fanboys attach their ego and self worth to the overpriced item.... all very phony and shallow in my book.

Propaganda. Remember Bush begging everyone and their uncle to support the Iraq invasion?

It's called the Dunning-Kruger effect. Read the definition and it will explain everything.
https://www.britannica.com/science/Dunning-Kruger-effect

Yes John , seems to be an epidemic these days...
The smarter you are the more you realize how little you know.

Read this morning that the Whitehouse issued China “a very stern, terse warning to keep out of this “.

That ought to put the fear in Xi.

Sanctions for China? lmao.... these clowns (in Washington) have no clue... every time they impose sanctions it drives other countries further from the USD
Kinda like Trudeau freezing truckers accounts.... a light bulb comes on when people realize their money can be seized by tyrants.
I am convinced the bankers gave Trudeau a jingle and said knock this schit off.... we need to save these powers for real crisis

LOL.

Thanks