Flower Power Joe Heller

UN votes on Russian suspension on Human Rights Council. SUSPENDED!

Austria and the pain of higher rates .. 

and probably not over..

Mushrooms -  vocabularies of up to 50 words, and that the distribution of these “fungal word lengths” closely matched those of human languages.

Notes today:

• President Zelenskyy tells UN Security Council: Act now on Russia or dissolve yourself altogether.

• 63 Republicans Vote Against Resolution Expressing Support for NATO 

• Bill Browder:  While nearly every Western business has exited Russia, the American Chamber of Commerce in Moscow continues to hold business events.

• Forbes says the total wealth of the world's billionaires has dropped to just $12.7 trillion. I feel for them. 

• “We appeased Viktor Orbán … and we, the union, appeased Vladimir Putin. And if we continue on this path..We will find ourselves obsolete.”

• FT: 'They are already carrying out an active campaign to hide their guilt of mass murders of civilians in Mariupol,' Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address. 

• Denmark is temporarily shelving its debt ceiling to help finance costs related to the war in Ukraine. 

• Kinzinger on his party: "We are being governed by a bunch of children ... There's a genocide going in Ukraine -- and the outrage is what's happening in a Walt Disney" world..

• Russian Embassy in Ireland is running out of fuel for heating and hot water as Irish oil companies refuse to deliver supplies.

Cost of insuring against Russia default

Notes today:

  

Why is this regime still a member of the United Nations "Security" council with veto rights?

 

• AP: Lithuania says it has cut itself off entirely of gas imports from Russia, apparently becoming the first of the European Union's 27 nations using Russian gas to break dependence from Moscow. In 2015, it was almost entirely dependent on Russian gas imports.

• 
  
  It is high time, for ALL Europeans to stop all oil and gas purchases from Russia.

If You Wonder..

 

Quick Overview is up to date

Great question 

#cartoon (Credit: @WardSutton)

@claytoonz 

A looming solar storm is putting electric grids and airlines on notice while bringing prospects of dazzling Northern Lights to U.S. skies

Space weather

Notes today:

 

• Mitch McConnell just said Clarence Thomas should NOT recuse himself from 1/6 cases even though his wife directly participated in the effort to steal the election. He says Thomas and the Supreme Court “should feel free to ignore” elected officials calling for his recusal.

• FT: “In the first meeting between the countries since Russia started the war a month ago, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi told his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, that “the two sides’ will to develop bilateral ties is even firmer..." 

• Big new green energy and LNG programs in EU, especially Germany…AND big rearmament programs in EU, especially Germany. 

• David Corn: The former president of the United States just asked a brutal dictator who is destroying cities and killing civilians in an illegal and barbarous war to help him dig up dirt on a political opponent. - I told you: there is no bottom. 

• "Give Koch Industries credit for consistency: It’s aiding the foes of democracy at home AND abroad." - Dana Milbank (in the WaPo) 

• A star has been discovered some 13 billion light years away from earth — almost 4 billion light years further than the edge of what has been seen so far. 

• Concrete is the second-most used resource on Earth after water, and is responsible for 8% of man-made carbon emissions. 

• Water levels at Lake Powell, the 2nd largest manmade reservoir in the U.S., dropped to their lowest level ever since the lake was created by damming the Colorado River in 1963. 

• Citizens for Ethics: After the insurrection Coca-Cola  suspended all political giving, pledging to consider January 6th in future giving. But Coca-Cola has now given $15,000 to the NRSC, which could help elect Sedition Caucus members like John Kennedy. Shame on Coca-Cola.

 Fertilizer / Ammonia price at record

Notes Today:

• Sniffer dogs detecting Long COVID 

• Kaspersky blacklisted by FCC alongside China Telecom and China Mobile
• All three were added to list as they posed national security risks. 

• The Pentagon plans to accelerate production of Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and Javelin anti-tank missiles so it can refill its own depleted stocks as it continues to send the vital systems to Ukrainian forces fighting the Russian invasion.”   --  made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.. (semi log scale below)

AP: Nebraska state Sen. Bruce Bostelman apologized Monday after he publicly cited a persistent but debunked rumor alleging that schools are placing litter boxes in school bathrooms to accommodate children who self-identify as cats.  

Share of consumer expenditure on food

Top 50 brands continuing to operate in Russia

Bloomberg suspends operations in Russia and Belarus.👍

Yen  is having a bit of trouble: Overdone?

and long term..

Today’s priceless Doonesbury 

Notes Today: 

• Russian precision-guided missiles are failing up to 60% of the time in Ukraine, three U.S. officials with knowledge of intelligence on the issue told Reuters, a possible explanation for the poor progress of Russia's invasion. 

• In the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance, Russia appeared to scale back its war ambitions, its defense ministry saying that the first stage of its mission had “generally been accomplished”. 

• The International Monetary Fund approved a $45bn debt restructuring program for Argentina after more than a year of negotiations. 

• Ice Shelf About the Size of Los Angeles Collapses in Antarctica

• JohnAuthers: I’ve learned since Feb. 24that I’m not a military expert, a refreshing change after two years of learning how little I knew about epidemiology. Like the pandemic before it, the war in Ukraine is a great reminder to investors and everyone else of the virtues of humility, and recognizing what you don’t know.

Russian Basic Goods

• reuters.com India is considering restrictions on sugar exports for the first time in six years and may cap exports at around 8 million tonnes in an effort to prevent domestic prices surging #sugar 

Sugar in the lead..

Quick Overview is up to date

Look out Russia!

All wheat US planted acreage:

Chart of interest: Soy  / Corn Ratio

Chart of interest: wheat

 Chart of interest: Soybeans

 Chart of interest: Corn

Chart of interest: Canadian $

 Utopia Street  Art

Quick Overview is up to date 

Notes Today:

 

• From a Telegram channel: "Vladimir Putin's general mental state has recently caused alarm among people who can be attributed to the president's inner circle. Putin is in a depressed state, often breaks down on loved ones and withdraws into himself. 

• The U.S. Treasury sanctions African Gold Refinery, one of the continent’s biggest processors of the metal, for allegedly contributing to conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

• Stocks in Mexico hit all time high

• US existing home sales at 6-month low

• South Carolina prisons gives green light to carry out executions by firing squad. 

• Nestle refuses to withdraw from Russia even after a desperate plea from Ukraine’s prime minister. 

• The coldest location on the planet has experienced an episode of warm weather this week unlike any ever observed, with temperatures over the eastern Antarctic ice sheet soaring 50 to 90 degrees above normal. (WP) 

• Remember when former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: "Do you think Americans care about fucking Ukraine"? 

• U.S. House of Representatives voted 424-8 to permanently reauthorize the Global Magnitsky Act. The following reps voted against: Andy Biggs, Dan Bishop, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Glenn Grothman, Thomas Massie and Chip Roy.

A man was seated next to a kid ..

Commodity Traders Make Record Profits — And Now Want a Bailout

 

Quick Overview is up to date

Happy St. Patrick’s Day 

Diageo