How full of balloon gas:

Trump claims he was tortured in jail

“I want you to remember what they did to me,” Trump said in the fundraising pitch. “They tortured me in the Fulton County Jail and took my mugshot.”

The politician spent just half an hour in a Georgia penitentiary last August; he was photographed and released on bail.

After a jury’s guilty verdict in another case, Trump declared himself a political prisoner.

Good that it was a little small test.  I’ve done so many that I’m allergic.  And what happens in my head is I immediately analyze the test itself – the brain is so washed to think in those terms that it automatically does it.

It depends on the instructions .. choose by way of your understanding of natural groups only, or what one can do with the grouping?  Then, many people have not seen those tools or what to do with them.  Don’t give me tests where the reasoning is not clear or I can break it.  So I’m the worst test taker in the world as inherently I am unwilling as I know how they are constructed and how numerical values are assigned.

So, I came up with many answers knowing that there are more still.  I chose again and again .. and could find something to do with every weirded-out grouping.   Like using the shovel to pile soil around the log and then using something to tamp it down in order to plant flowers on it in order to put more flower pots on top of the log … or do the same, on 3 sides and create a garden bench .. so what am I?  A gardener, a designer, or a Japanese child? .. or or or.  Throw one of the four out as a thought experiment and see what you can do with the three remainings.  OK, back to work lol.

They are insane AHH. They don’t care – as long as their own buts are safe in their calculations, they will let fly.

Our difference is not the eschatological comment (I made that), but my insistence that Russia and China could do something, I think.

Let’s leave Russia for a moment and look at China. They say a fat lot that sounds sweet and say nothing and leave the responsibility with the UNSC. They also say how good they are and how willing they are and how they made the points with Brazil and how honest and how holy … and so on, you get the picture. They talk to everyone, they say. But, that is where it gets left.

It is as if these countries allowed themselves to be emasculated by the vetoes of the US and Israel running out of their stables spitting long streams of invective. I’ve complained about this for a long time …

Simple stuff, why are they not out in the hallways in that hallowed UN building and shouting the odds, calling short press conferences, saying to everyone that Israel must stop .. I mean, there are court rulings and UNSC resolutions .. 3 I think. But they don’t and their language is not conducive – so, no real action, and language just gets left behind. What is the good of saying that the UN is a structure that must be maintained into the future, and not doing anything to confirm that in reality? (Yes, yes I know the UNSC must be reformed and a few others as well).

Reuters: It is learned that although China is not attending this weekend’s Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland, it has been lobbying several countries to join its six-point consensus with Brazil on a political settlement of the Ukraine war. One source said that China, in conversations with developing countries, said the Swiss peace summit was unconstructive and would prolong the Ukraine conflict. We do not know the exact developing countries. What is China’s comment?

Lin Jian: China welcomes and supports all efforts for peace. Our position on the Summit on Peace in Ukraine to be held in Switzerland is fair and just and we’ve been open and clear about our position. China has maintained close communication with Switzerland, Ukraine and other parties on issues related to the summit and encouraged equal participation and fair discussion of all plans at the summit.

and the more interesting one

Reuters: Israel’s public broadcaster reports that Hamas has demanded that China, Russia and Türkiye serve as guarantors for any agreement it reaches with Israel among alternations to a proposed ceasefire and hostage release deal. Israeli media says the US and Israel have both rejected this demand, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called some of Hamas’s demands “unworkable.” China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi previously has said that China would continue to play a constructive role in handling global hotspot issues. So what is China’s position on the idea it could work with other countries to guarantee a ceasefire? And is Beijing mediating with other powers to see this happen?

Lin Jian: Since the ongoing fighting began in Gaza, China has been working closely with all parties, including the Arab and Islamic states, to jointly promote ceasefire, call for the protection of civilians and do everything we can to ease the humanitarian disaster.

I would like to stress that the current situation in the Gaza Strip is unsustainable and the most urgent priority is to fully and effectively implement relevant UN Security Council resolutions, achieve an immediate ceasefire, protect civilians, ensure access to humanitarian assistance and realize the early release of all those held captive. China will continue to work with all parties to make unremitting efforts to end the fighting in Gaza as soon as possible, ease the grave humanitarian situation and deliver the two-State solution.

End of the story — that is where it stops — at the next question the same old gets recycled – probably tomorrow.

It’s weak AHH – very very weak. Because they are the ones in a sense being followed, they give the Arab community an out, and they give the UNSC an out – just because the words are perfect, but the action is not there. The points with Brazil .. it’s nothing out of this world.

… six-point consensus on a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, abide by the three principles of de-escalation of the situation.

no spillover from the battlefield,
no escalation of the conflict,
no provocation by relevant parties.

At the same time, we call on all parties to

adhere to dialogue and negotiation,
provide humanitarian assistance,
oppose the use of nuclear weapons and attacks on nuclear power plants,
and maintain the stability of the global industrial and supply chain.

And all parties say .. Oh How Cool! Sure, sounds good!

That is my issue .. where are the ships from Russia and China in front of The Gaza strip handing out emergency aid? Are they scared of Israel? It’s like everybody says .. So many of the international community agree (the China/Brazil they quote +100 countries) but then it stays there.

“So pl no one assume if I post something here I endorse it as truth or fully believe it. I will occasionally put here the liars’ narrative, and other unfiltered material, to point out what comes..”

Yup! I know that. This is not you, this is a world wide media tsunami. They catch me daily. We are not immune and I know you work hard at it in formal writing and I still look for the three sources. It is just difficult.

Yes, but what I find interesting is that no agreement says clearly oil shall be sold in US dollars.  That seems to be the thing that is confusing here.  It has the researchers busy, looking for a clause like that.  If that does not exist, well, the legal ramifications are crazy making.  But I’ll wait for the others to research.

OK, here is the oil deal – with more reality.

Developments to dethrone petrodollar already underway – experts

Saudi Arabia has joined digital currency system mBridge as a participant along with the central banks of Thailand, Hong Kong, China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for instant cross border payments.

OK, that is accurate of course.

Meanwhile, Riyadh is rumored to have not extended the “petrodollar deal” with the US. The developments send a strong signal to the petrodollar, Sputnik’s pundits say.

Look at “petrodollar deal” in scare quotes …

“These two significant developments serve one strategic purpose which is granting Saudi Arabia flexibility in its future dollar-based oil trade transactions,” Dr Mamdouh G. Salameh, an international oil economist and a global energy expert, tells Sputnik.

The “petrodollar deal” under which Saudi Arabia (and later other OPEC members) agreed to sell oil exclusively in dollars was struck in 1974, several years after the Nixon administration ended the US dollar’s convertibility to gold. As a result, the greenback became “pegged” to oil. If Riyadh withdraws from this arrangement, other Arab countries will most likely follow suit, according to Salameh.

Did you know that the dollar is pegged to oil? 

Saudi Arabia joining the mBridge wholesales instant payment platform will facilitate the de-dollarization of oil trade, according to Faisal Alshammeri, political analyst and a columnist for Makkah NewsPaper and Arab News.

OK, that is accurate of course.

“Saudi Arabia will accept payments for its oil in non-dollar currencies,” Alshammeri tells Sputnik. “This will encourage more countries to trade among themselves without using the dollars. America had to accept this new economic fact.”

The pundit noted that Saudi Arabia is guided by pragmatism in the first place, as negative economic developments in the US harm businesses all over the globe and undermine consumers’ trust in the dollar.

OK, so here is what is important and what we should retain for future … Now, the dollar is pegged to oil.  Once the Saudi’s join mBridge, the dollar price is not pegged to oil any longer.  The agreement that they speak about, did not determine price or anything, but determined the fact of a peg.  I would hate to see that transaction as it probably is worse than the gold fix.  Saudi now can accept the currency and the price that they agree for selling oil, and that will cycle through, so that oil becomes a non-controlled commodity but a market based commodity.  Good or Bad?  I cannot at the moment think of that .. but must check with the Col, and also another friend that knows these things.