Gas, Wars, Etc.

 Here's a pic from Fromthebarrelofagun that puts current gas prices into historical perspective:

With this in mind, and American oil company recently purchased a large number of barrels of Ural crude from the Russkies at the bargain basement price of $28/barrel. I don't approve of this subsidy of the Russian war in Ukraine, but at that rate it was an offer they seemingly couldn't refuse. As of this writing oil is currently bringing $110/bbl. Still, with all the sanctions, we still have not gotten around to including energy products like crude and LNG.

This pretty much sums it up.

The War - A View Closer To The Ground

 All reports should be viewed warily, as they are diminished by the fog of war and you have no real good idea by how much. Some observations, however, can be considered more reliable if they don't change much over time, or if they are backed up with images. Be careful, some of the "Ukrainian images" out there seem to be from Russian operations in Syria. The Traffic Jam on the road into Kiev from the north as been photographed repeatedly and doesn't seem to have changed much in the last 8 days. This is really bad news for the Russkies as large offensive operations generally require movement of some sort to be considered effective. 

Pictures of Russian heavy equipment, mired in mud, with the tires coming off the wheels does not inspire confidence, especially with people close to the situation describing this as a common problem with vehicles fitted with Chinese made tires. When you think about it, you have to wonder: With sanctions and a generally dismal Russian economy, what percentage of their ground forces have been serviced with parts from Harbor Freight? Tires? Diesel engine parts? Combat boots?

On the one hand there are reports that the Ukes have adjusted the dikes and levees in the area surrounding the roadway resulting in the "off road" becoming a swamp. The road itself seems to be best described as 2-lane blacktop with a breakdown shoulder on each side. The Russkies are taking full advantage of this by stacking their vehicles 3-abreast and some 40 miles deep. The problem here is that if the front ranks are out of fuel, the tankers can't get up to service them. If they are damaged, a T-84 tank becomes an 80 ton paperweight. Repairable? Probably, if you could get a repair vehicle up to it. Tankers and wreckers are relatively soft targets, and the Ukes know this. Shoot and scoot. A reliable technique for the last 2000 years.

Here and here are articles by people who seem to be much closer to the action than most of the pundits who are getting the media time. Give them a read and then consider the phrase "Potemkin Army". Keeping in mind. of course that while judicious use of force can drive a bear away from your trash cans, you do NOT want to run up and engage it with bare knuckles. It IS a bear after all.

The War: Ukraine, Russia, Finland

 Finland recently donated some artillery pieces, complete with ammo to the Ukrainians. Predictably, this annoyed the Russians who issued a "strongly worded letter" condemning the action and hinting at "military consequences.

Finland responded with a print of their latest Captcha pic:

Sneaky, the Suomi.

Fun With Headlines - Ukraine

 Having turned the country into a net importer of oil, and making us buy some 200K* barrels of oil a day from Russia, the meatloaf-in-chief now says:

Biden Says US Is Open to Banning Russian Oil Imports

Unanswered is the obvious question: "What do you propose we replace this with?" 

The expected answer is likely something about covering the state of Kansas with Chinese-made solar panels as soon as the environmental impact statement is completed and approved, probably sometime in the next decade.

*I googled the quantity we import from Russia and got numbers ranging from 208K to 800K barrels/day Filtering for hysteria, I think the correct number is in the 500K range.

NIVS Checks - Feb Update

 Here's the graph up to February, buried down in amongst several others and hard to spot. 

The country may well now be well-armed enough to slough off a takeover attempt by Mr. Putin. Now if we only had some ammo.

QOTD - Ukraine

 Insty has this one, particularly apropos after reports of an entire Russian tank column getting lost and running out of fuel on a back road in Ukraine:

FROM A FRIEND: “Ukraine government asked citizens to turn in captured Russian tanks. Citizens replied the tanks were lost in a boating accident.”

Question: Do the Ukrainians also play the banjo? 

 

Fun With Headlines - Ukraine

 From ProTrumpNews (they kept the name. Why not, it bugs the left!)

Jen Psaki Confirms Biden Admin Will Accept Ukrainian Refugees 

 Following up, Putin offers to send 20,000 refugees formerly stationed kept at various Russian military bases on condition that Biden move to house them in D.C.

Statistics: Cars & Guns

 Almost another "Fun With Headlines" post but not quite:

Study: Guns Pass Car Crashes as Leader of Potential Years of Life Lost Due to Trauma

 I will shamelessly speculate here. The drop in car deaths is due to more people working from home or dropping out of the work force, and the increase in gun deaths is because of skyrocketing crime rates and lax enforcement and prosecution by leftie mayors and DAs.

I expect the Dems will be taking credit for the former, citing higher gas taxes as the reason for fewer people actually being out on the road in the first place, and using their perceived success as a model, will be plumping for a $.50/round tax on ammo and a gun owners license, renewable annually, to cut down on the number of thugs getting plugged by their victims and rivals.

Meantime the Alabama house has passed a constitutional carry bill, and bids to become #22 to do this.

Kamala Threatens Putin!

 The news won't report this of course but I have it on the best authority* from an unimpeachable source** that Kamala will be meeting with Putin and laying down the law: "You call off the invasion of Ukraine and recall all the troops or you're sleeping on the couch for the rest of the month!"

*A small bird, chirped in my ear.

**I hold no office, therefore I can't be impeached.

QOTD - P.J. O'Rourke

 "I have often been called a Nazi, and, although it is unfair, I don't let it bother me. I don't let it bother me for one simple reason. No one has ever had a fantasy about being tied to a bed and ravished by someone dressed as a liberal." - P.J.O'Rourke 

Now imagine being tied to the bed and ravished by Anthony Weiner while Hunter stands nearby, stoned, watching. Would that not excite a liberal?

NICS Checks - Starting The Year Off

 I'm rather surprised to see this. Yes, the panic buying was settling down, but this represents a bigger drop than I expected. Note in the annual overall chart that the projected total for '22 is right in line with the general trend prior to the Covid outbreak and the "mostly peaceful" demonstrations.

The starting number for Jan '22 is 2,591,588 and the pale blue X is hard to see in the monthly chart. Quite reasonable. Of course it could follow the 2020 curve into low earth orbit depending on what the animated meat loaf in D.C. decides to do. Or what the Czar of Russia or the Emperor of China or Punxsutawney Phil do. 

On the positive side a new ammo plant will soon be opening up in Texas and will be manufacturing primers in addition to finished ammo so maybe all those new gun owners and us reloaders will be able to take a trip to the range without arranging a 2nd mortgage from our bankers first. Again, it depends on the unpredictable actions of a bunch of unpredictable people.

If You Can't Beat "em... Trade

 The supply chain problem is now into it's perennial problem, that being that very little gets done in China (and a lot of the rest of Asia) this time of year anyway, due to Chinese New Year. This fest begins with abut a week to gather ones extended family together, a week to celebrate, and a week to recover, after which it's back to work. 

This year it might help by giving the SoCal seaports 3 weeks to try to process the backlog. Grace Meng (D-NY) is proposing that Lunar New Year be a recognized federal holiday as well, bumping the total to 12. 

While it's good to hear that all the really big problems facing Washington have been either successfully dealt with or swept under a rug, I have to add conditional support for the idea of another Federal day off. I will support Mrs Mengs bill if she includes a day in October to honor Octoberfest. This would combine support from both the Asian and Northern European communities into a veto-proof majority of national support. While we're at it, how about if we move the Super Bowl to the weekend of the week preceding Lunar New Year, and set Octoberfest Day as the weekend preceding Halloween. 

Realistically, the fall holiday should probably be set on the first Saturday following election day so that everyone, regardless of affiliation, would have a chance to celebrate (or mourn) the outcome.

TEOTWAWKI -Weather

O.K. I've sussed it! Those prison camps in XinKiang full of Uhigers don't just make iPhones and sneakers. All the prisoners, on a second shift, are given a box of butterflies which they are forced to shake to get them to flap their wings. Since it is established science* that all our weather is caused by the flapping of butterfly wings in China, this must be the cause of all our weather catastrophes. The joke will be on the Chinese when their weather modification project causes China to be crushed by the glaciers along with everyone else, and the next ice age is named "the Chinese Winter".

*Of course it's established. I read it on the internet somewhere.

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TEOTWAWKI - Covid: We're All Gonna Die!

Found this just now. Seems the HIV virus, which is widely used as a genetic modification agent, works well with the Covid virus to produce large numbers of Covid variants. https://tinyurl.com/bs7vyrvc. 

Now all we need to do is wait for the pair to produce an easily transmissible variant with a 100% mortality rate. All you writers out there, write the book and sell it while there are still people alive to buy it!

Fun With Headlines - Canadian Insurrection!

 From the conservative treehouse comes this beauty:

Amid Escalating Protests, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Has Fled the Capital City of Ottawa – Canadian Safety Minister Refuses to Confirm CBC Broadcast of Russians Surrounding the City

Even funnier because it's true, still, one must realize that the Chinese would never allow Russian troops in one of their many "breakaway provinces" now would they?