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Germany today- prices are in Euros per litre.

Where do you get those figures from?

I believe you are labouring under a misapprehension about what Communism was designed to be. Communism, if instituted as envisioned, is perfectly compatible with democracy whereas both capitalism (AKA free enterprise) and evangelical "Christianity" proponents have both stated that they would flourish under a "benevolent dictatorship"- if such could exist. Hutterite colonies, although far from perfect and many tribal societies function as Communist societies. Drivers Facing Record Gas Prices Say They’d Pay More to Stop War Many U.S. drivers, stung by record gasoline prices, say they’d pay even more if it would end Russia’s war in Ukraine. That doesn’t mean they’re happy about it. Monday morning’s commute brought the shock of $80 fill-ups in California and New York, as the threat of sanctions and curbs on Russian oil smashed price records that had stood for nearly 14 years. Average pump prices in the U.S. are now $4.173 per gallon.

The carbon tax, as evil as the right wing would have you believe, in one step in the right direction. We need to incentivize people and industries to retrofit homes and commercial buildings to be more energy efficient and start taxing vehicles on the basis of fuel consumption. One idea I really like is a 40PMG speed limit.

FYI: Did a quick check on gasoline prices. Grand Forks was the equivalent of 85 cents per litre but Norway (one of the happiest countries in the world) was just under the equivalent of almost $4.00 Canadian per litre. We are deliberately driving less and have always chosen fuel-efficient vehicles. This too will pass.

Idaho Lawmakers OK Legislation That Could Fine, Jail Librarians BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Legislation with the potential to fine Idaho librarians $1,000 and send them to jail for a year for checking out material to a minor that could harm them cleared the House on Monday. The House voted 51-14 to approve the measure that backers said will protect children. But opponents said it is so undefined and subjective as to be unconstitutional. Democratic House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel asked Republican Rep. Gayann DeMordaunt, the bill’s sponsor, if a classic young adult novel by Judy Blume that included masturbation could land a librarian in jail. DeMordaunt refused to answer. Backers of the legislation distributed material to other lawmakers they said came from public libraries and supported the legislation. The material had widely differing reactions among lawmakers. “I would rather my 6-year-old grandson start smoking cigarettes tomorrow than get a view of this stuff one time at the public library,” said Republican Rep. Bruce Skaug. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/idaho-bill-fine-jail-librarians_n_6227104ae4b004e4e38518fb

US/NATO sanctions against Russia are succeeding beyond their ‘wildest hopes’: journalist Some of the far-right pundits at Fox News and Fox Business have been claiming that the Biden Administration/NATO sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine aren’t working. But journalist Eric Levitz, in an article published by New York Magazine on March 7, lays out some of the ways in which the sanctions are working well — so well, according to Levitz, that they may also inflict some economic pain on Russia’s adversaries. “In addition to sanctioning Russia’s oligarchs and seizing their western assets, the U.S. and EU have effectively evicted Russia’s entire banking system from the global financial order,” Levitz explains. “Russian banks can no longer use the international payments known as SWIFT to complete transactions, forcing the firms to conduct business at a snail’s pace, one telephone call at a time. Not that Russia’s banks have all that much business to conduct, given that engaging in virtually all forms of commerce with Russia will now expose foreign firms to secondary sanctions.” Levitz continues, “Even more significant than these measures, however, was the freeze that central banks throughout the West put on Russia’s sovereign assets…. One of the worst consequences of sanctions for the penalized nation is that they debase its domestic currency: When most of the world is boycotting Russian exports, demand for rubles dries up. That increases the Kremlin’s borrowing costs and the prices that Russian consumers must pay for imported goods.” Economically, the worst may be yet to come for Russia if the Biden/NATO sanctions are expanded to include Russian oil. Russia’s energy imports, Levitz notes, have been “exempted from” the sanctions so far. “Never in modern history has an economy of Russia’s scale been subjected to such extraordinary ostracism,” Levitz stresses. “The ruble’s value swiftly plummeted. According to analysts at JPMorgan Chase, the Russian economy is now poised to shrink by 7% this year. Other forecasters paint an even darker picture, with the Institute of International Finance projecting a 15% contraction in Russia’s GDP.” The journalist points out that if Russian oil suffers in a big way, other countries — including Russia’s adversaries—will feel the sting as well. “Russia is struggling to find buyers for its top export, even as it offers the nation’s highest quality oil at a discount of $20 a barrel,” Levitz writes. “Should this de facto embargo continue, the implications will be devastating for Russia’s economy and burdensome for virtually everyone else’s…. In drafting its sanctions, the West set out to wreck the Russian economy. At the moment, it appears to be succeeding beyond its wildest hopes — and/or fears.”

Now you've gone and ruined the point he was trying to make.

I have dealt with compulsive gamblers, and for some, their mania is such that they will bet on anything- even which elevator door will open first. There were so many other licit gambling options open to him, that it took a special kind of stupid arrogance for him to bet on his own league and imperial his very comfortable income. I would think that every player who comes into any professional league has had the riot act about gambling read out to him/her in great detail. He got what he chose and has no reason to feel victimized, which he probably does.

How stupid do you have to be to throw away a multi-million dollar a year job so that you can gamble on your own league? The idiot could have bet on the NHL, NBA, MLB, WNBA, soccer, auto racing and so forth. This guy has a financial death wish.

One of the tactics of medieval sieges was to inflict as much damage on those inside the besieged areas so that they would surrender to avoid further carnage. It was crude but often effective. However, with the growing overt dissent with both the Russian armed forces and population, time is not on Putin's side.

EVIDENCE FOUND THAT CONSERVATIVES ARE SERIOUSLY ILL: Even a mild COVID-19 infection can shrink your brain, study finds. A study of brain scans of people before and after an infection found significant brain changes Evidence is mounting that COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, does not merely affect the lungs, but also can have deleterious effects on the brain. Recently, a number of studies found that COVID-19 is associated with an increased risk of neurological and psychiatric disorders, though the details around how the disease impacts the brain has remained unclear. Now, according to the first study to compare brain scans of people before and after contracting COVID-19, researchers observed shrinkage and tissue damage in regions of the brain that are linked to mental capacities and smell after a person tested positive. The study was published in the journal Nature.

Armed Intruders Sped Through Joint Base Andrews Military Checkpoint as VP Harris Landed There A major security scare sent Joint Base Andrews into lockdown late Sunday. Just as Vice President Kamala Harris and four Cabinet members were touching down at the Maryland military base, two suspects, at least one of whom was armed, got through a security checkpoint. In a statement, the base said the pair “failed to adhere to commands of security personnel” at the main gate, and both fled when their vehicle was stopped by barriers. Only one of them had been caught and that individual was found to be armed, but no shots were fired, according to the statement. Later Monday, the Air Force Times reported that the apprehended suspect is 17 years old, and the second suspect is still at large but a search determined they were not on the base. The New York Times reports that Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, left the base on Marine Two after the incident.

Trump Floats Idea That U.S. Bomb Russia With Jets Covered In China Flags, Then 'Sit Back And Watch' Former President Donald Trump on Saturday floated a horrifying scenario during a speech to some 250 elite Republican donors: He said the U.S. could bomb Russia with jets disguised with Chinese flags, then sit back and watch those nations go to war. Specifically, Trump said the U.S. could “put the Chinese flag” on F-22 fighter jets and use them to “bomb the **** out of Russia,” according to a recording of his speech that was obtained by The Washington Post. “And then we say, China did it, we didn’t do it, China did it, and then they start fighting with each other and we sit back and watch,” Trump said. The audience laughed at the comment, which seemingly was made in jest, a source told CBS News. The Post noted it would be highly unlikely that Russia would believe a distinctive F-22 had been sent by China. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-putin-bomb-russia-chinese-flags-gop-donors_n_62252fa1e4b03bc49a9cc339

Unvaccinated Child Tests Positive for Polio in Israel’s First Case in 3 Decades A four-year-old in Jerusalem was diagnosed with polio, marking the first known case in Israel since 1989, according to the country’s health ministry. The boy was not vaccinated against the disease, according to the ministry’s Sunday statement. It was unclear what symptoms he might have been experiencing, but authorities said he had not yet been hospitalized, according to Haaretz. A regional health administration in the city has opened an epidemiological investigation to keep tabs on the child’s health. Polio, a highly infectious virus that can be life-threatening, has no cure, but is easily prevented through vaccination. It has been eradicated in many regions, but remains endemic in places like Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan. https://www.thedailybeast.com/first-polio-case-in-israel-in-three-decades-as-unvaccinated-4-year-old-child-tests-positive?ref=home?ref=home

Update: The Pro-Putin truckers have decided not to go to DC today. A trucker convoy that has embraced a pro-Putin conspiracy theory is heading for Washington, D.C. and the White House. NBC News reported: While some group members have admonished Russian President Vladimir Putin for the invasion, QAnon and anti-vaccine contingents within the groups have seized on a false conspiracy theory that the war is a cover for a military operation backed by former President Donald Trump in Ukraine. The conspiracy theory, which is baseless and has roots in QAnon mythology, alleges that Trump and Putin are secretly working together to stop bioweapons from being made by Dr. Anthony Fauci in Ukraine and that shelling in Ukraine has targeted the secret laboratories. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has emerged in the past year as a main target for far-right conspiracy theories. In the conspiracy theory, Trump and Putin are the good guys who are trying to stop the secret bioweapons being made by 80 something-year-old Dr. Fauci. These truckers are not patriots, and they are tools of Putin’s propaganda. People are not dying in Ukraine for a cover story. The people in this protest are pro-Putin, and they are coming to America’s Capitol because they are angry about everything, especially their old-white messiah getting trounced in 2020, and they want everyone to know about their white rage. Putin fits perfectly with their mentality. Jason Easley

The total to date is three confirmed Russian/Chechnyan generals killed. The last one was killed by a Ukrainian sniper from a distance of 1500 meters. Good to see a capital piece taken off the board instead of just pawns.

Pence Will Try To Break Up Trump And The GOP Via: The AP: In a speech Friday evening to the party’s top donors in New Orleans, Pence will take on those in his party who have failed to forcefully condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin for his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. “Where would Russian tanks be today if NATO had not expanded the borders of freedom? There is no room in this party for apologists for Putin,” Pence will say, according to excerpts from the speech. “There is only room for champions of freedom.” Pence thinks that he can pull evangelicals, activist conservatives, and establishment conservatives away from Trump. It is impossible to see evangelicals leaving Trump as many of them have convinced themselves that Trump comes before faith. Establishment conservatives are probably Pence’s best chance, but they are a small minority in Trump’s party. Trump supporters think that Mike Pence is the anti-Christ because he would not illegally overturn the election, so it is mindboggling that Pence would think that members of the same party that tried to hang him a year ago would stand with him to kick Trump out of the party. There is no chance of that happening, as Mike Pence is more likely to be kicked out of Trump’s GOP.

Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters Two commanders participating in Russia’s globally condemned invasion of Ukraine were killed Friday, according to Western officials cited by The Independent. Since the war began nine days ago, three senior officers in the Russian military have so far lost their lives to fierce resistance on the Ukrainian side. Yesterday, it was confirmed that Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky, deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army of the Central District, died in combat. Russian troops have reportedly been sticking with tactics that proved unsuccessful, rather than cutting their losses and trying something new. “In this campaign, it’s been remarkable that they have continued to reinforce failure,” an unidentified Western official told The Independent. “That lack of operational agility I find surprising.” Russians Are Tipping Off Ukraine To Putin’s Plots To Kill Zelensky Russian spies who oppose the invasion of Ukraine have tipped off the Ukrainians three times to plots to kill Zelensky. Russian double agents have stopped plots to kill Zelensky, “Ukrainian national security chief Oleksiy Danilov told a Ukrainian television network that double agents from Russia’s Federal Security Service or FSB warned them of the attempts. “I can say that we have received information from the FSB, who do not want to take part in this bloody war, and thanks to this, the Kadyrov elite group was destroyed, which came here to eliminate our president.” Zelensky’s status as a global cult hero has to be driving Putin crazy, which is why he is using one of his favorite tactics of assassinating his opposition. There are many Russians who don’t want the war with Ukraine, and Americans have seen similar lower-stakes situations play out during the Trump administration, as people within the government worked to stop Trump from within. Putin is not only fighting Ukraine. He is battling his own people. Internationally, President Biden has been making sure that Ukraine gets US intelligence within minutes, as there are people worldwide, including in Russia, who are working to stop Putin and his deadly invasion. Even Russians are fighting against Putin in Ukraine.

According to Ukrainian news, there are some 17,000 Ukrainian women fighting now, including the current Miss Ukraine. I seem to recall that the Diefenbaker government lost an election when they were poised to spend many millions of dollars of Canadian taxpayer money to build a pipeline to carry petroleum to the US.

Why? So we can subsidize and ship a valuable non-renewable resource to the US?

But the John Deere logo is outstanding in its field.