Evolving thoughts on WWIII. The US is overlooking the obvious. Ukraine for Iran. Make an offer to Russia; the US will withdraw all support for Ukraine, in exchange for Russia withdrawing its support for Iran. Remove all economic and financial sanctions on Russia in exchange for its support on Iran … something that would go a long way towards easing energy worries too. The US has no interest in Ukraine. The West postures as if it is defending the people of Ukraine against the Evil Bear. But where is the evidence? Does it really make any difference to the average Ukrainian family whether it is ruled by autocrats in Kiev or autocrats in Moscow? No, this is all about world domination by western elites. Something that has no benefit to the average American family either.
China too. China is far more dependent on oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz than the US. And surely there must be some trade concessions it would like to have. America and Israel versus Iran, Russia and China is a tough nut to crack. America, Russia and China versus Iran by comparison would be a cakewalk.
Indeed, most of the world needs Hormuz more than the US. The top American priority should be the nuclear one. The Iranian regime has shown the world what it’s willing to do with its hands on the jugular of the world economy. Imagine what it would do with the threat of nuclear war.
So forget about Hormuz. The US can readily deal with domestic energy supplies with an export tariff. Just 20% would go a long way towards insulating Americans from international energy prices. Then Hormuz becomes “our mistake, your problem”.
Another day, another dust up………..Trump tried a bit of bombing, got hit back.
Meantime the SOH remains shut & the clock is ticking. The SPR was being drawn down by Biden & now Trump has opened the tap.
My personal knowledge on this subject is limited but people like Art Berman are saying July by the latest we will have fact over fiction. I venture this, after this NO government will want the need to import vast amounts of unnecessary oil. Already “Project PLEB” (Low cost/low performance city ev) are now moving ahead in Europe.
Got a 10-20 year old diesel SUV or performance car…………….FU*K YOU!
One way or another these PLEBS whom are driving above their station in life are going to be put right baby!
The Turbo diesel, (the bane of my life) will be (forcibly) removed & replaced by Eletro-turds.
Perhaps Trump IS a great prez after all 😉
Mike
BREAKING: 🇮🇷🇮🇱 Iran says it is prepared to completely shut down both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait if Israel doesn’t stop the attacks on Beirut
If Trump had any sense he would have said “YES” to BiBi………….with one thing.
YOU GOT A MAX OF 6 WEEKS………….if you are sure you can pull this off in days then fine………….but you sign this agreement!
“Does it really make any difference to the average Ukrainian family whether it is ruled by autocrats in Kiev or autocrats in Moscow?”
Well we can ask a similar question of the average person throughout history.
I know lots of first language Russian Ukraineans here in the UK from a variety of backgrounds. I work with many. I have no idea if it would make any economic difference to them but I can unequivocally assure you that it matters to them enormously. They have long memories of the mass starvation and forcible deportations under Stalinist Russia. They also tell me that things had been improving business wise in the last 15 years despite the corruption. They were pretty content with the status quo and never expected Russia to invade. Obviously my sample size is small but I’ve spoken to them at length and they assure me that their feeling is typical across Eastern Ukraine. I used to be more sympathetic to the Russian argument about NATO etc and didn’t believe Putin was expansionist. I thought the Ukraineans should have saved lots of bloodshed and admitted defeat. Now I would prefer Putin was stopped.
Obviously the US should act in its own interests but personally the EU should cough up and stop Russia where it is.
Mega’s dispatch from England:- Troubled Labour
I leave what Trump wants or sez today & move back to dear old Blighty. Here quite a lot is happening quickly. Some government files ref Mandleson (Epseins mate) have been released. He was made ambassador to the US & didn’t do a great job…….but the files have provided a “snap shot” of what is going on with in the Labour government.
In short, they no plan…………& while some see the need to cut spending most what to “Find more Tax money”. We are also blessed with the Labour party trying to retake the party from the Epsten class. An sitting MP has left his seat so Andy Burnham can stand in it.
While on paper this looks like a good move there are some problems. The area in question just voted LARGE on Reform, not Labour. While this is a problem we just had a nasty murder case were a young (White man) was stabbed by an Asian.
The Police arrived & the Asian played the race card………….so the police arrested & handcuffed the white lad, who was begging for help. The lad died & the Asian has been set to jail & the Police are now in the dock.
Labour are scared shitless that the strong feelings are going to be marshalled into a STRONG Reform vote…………you can smell the panic.
As yet very little is being said ref the SOH being shut, the effects have yet to arrive.
Clock ticking down……………..
Cheers
Mike
Here again we have another instance of the corporate media covering up for the Fed and other culprits while blaming all ills on Trump. That doesn’t cut it. The dollar and bonds denominated in dollars have been trashed by years of ultralow rate policy, reckless money printing, and abuse of America’s “exorbitant privilege” of running the world’s dominant currency through insensate sanctions. Trump hasn’t done anything to improve the situation, but in assigning blame any failure to include Bush, Obama, Biden, Bernanke, Yellen, Powell, and Congress as well is blatant corporate media propaganda.
Each played a part, be it a small one.
I recall the British PM Brown whom flew to China in 2008 to DEMAND their money!…….Oh & they could only “Invest” in the British banks, nothing else. The French foreign sec who when was confronted in 2011 in Asia about just when France was going to cut spending & get their houses in order simply smirked & said ..”its different for us”.
The US & West “rape gang” is going to have to be beaten, just as Vietnam had to drive out the US 100% of the way. Even now the next stage of the “Plan” is being made. A British special forces trooper has been killed in Northern Iraq a in a “Training” excise with some Kurds a few days ago & tonight the BBC had an “expert” on Iran saying how the people of Iran are fed up with the government & the government is worried about an up rising.
This is not the picture i see.
History will record this as one of the final battles to end the Western empire. When the history is written it will not be written by a Western hand.
Mike
Big parts. Empires don’t die from one mistake, it’s death by a thousand cuts. The collective mentality is shaped heavily by recency bias. You see it in the media, in spades. Everything is tied to the latest headlines. A heart attack is caused by a blood clot. But look deeper, and you see that it’s been under way for decades. Arteries don’t get clogged overnight.
Prime example. Oil prices are up. Hormuz is in the headlines. It’s drama. It’s interesting. But the war in Iran isn’t an isolated event, it’s part of a pattern. The root causes go back at least a century. From another thread:
“While we’re at it, we could even go a step further and make the case that not only does war cause inflation, but that inflation causes war. Is it just a coincidence that the Federal Reserve was created just before the outbreak of WWI? Is it just a coincidence that the wars in Ukraine and Iran followed massive inflationary binges?
If it seems outlandish, consider for a moment how far any administration would get if it had to pay for its war making by raising taxes. Imagine GWB coming on TV and saying hey I want to go to war in Iraq. Get Saddam and those WMD. It will cost your family of four about $40,000. How about it?
That war cost the US about $3T. Over a population of 300M, that’s about $10,000 for every man, woman and child in the nation. We all paid for it, but the cost was hidden in inflation.
Without inflation, most wars just wouldn’t happen.”
Though superficially a military failure, the decline and fall of the Roman Empire was marked by generations of devaluations and dilutions of its currency and moral decline.
Eisenhower warned of the dangers of the “military industrial complex” in 1961. This develops hand in hand with an imperial contingent bent on world domination. Society’s failure to connect the dots, to look beneath the surface, aided and abetted by an amnesiac media beholden to big money interests, is far bigger than any political leader. Truth is rarely found in popular media narratives.
Rather than equal rights we have an anti-native bias……….the natives are getting restless.
Given we are facing a major recession/depression & thus high unemployment & no money to cushion the blows that are coming i expect major race troubles ahead.
Mike
I sincerely hope you get it under control. With its singular history of leadership in science, industry and culture, your “Blighty” is a world treasure, and any threat to it is not good for the world.
The one thing that this administration has done right is to at least temporarily halt the same process here. It’s just unfortunate that so much ill comes with the good. At this rate the next administration will rapidly undo it.
Unfortunate too that while we watch this slow motion train wreck. nothing seems able to stop it. If electing the guy who promised to drain the swamp and end foreign wars couldn’t do it, probably nothing can.
Our government is no longer controlled by the people. That depends on people in possession of the truth. But the flow of information is controlled by money. We now have a system of government of the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations. We gave a bird’s eye view in Dividends.
Talk round the campfire is Trump been told Iran HAS a nuke.
Iran working on an underground site to test the Nuke…………oh dear.
This might just be a “Get out of jail card” for Trump.
1. He was right (no, but that is wot he say)
2.Trump can back off Iran
3. Israel will have to STFU
4.Israel gets off Trump’s back
Mike
I sense that the markets are going to “Price in” Iran very soon…………………..Trump looks lost. The Midterms will KILL him. I suspect that as the price pressure builds just coming on the eve of the vote he suddenly try to make a move………….claim victory, then Iran tests a nuke.
Mike
“Rome didn’t fall to the barbarians. She fell to centuries of currency debasement, institutional corruption, and a tax burden that drove productive citizens off the land long before any barbarian showed up at the gate.”
“The bridges need fixing. The schools need fixing. The debt needs fixing. Can we compete with China? Maybe. But the real question is whether we can compete with our past selves?”
Is it the business of government to play a giant game of global Risk or promote the general welfare of its own people?
Mega’s Dispatch from England:- Out of everything!
They out of oil,Gas & ideas…………….Trump is totally at Sea Israel just broke (yet another) cease fire & Iran is planning to respond.
Meantime in Blighty our government carries on borrowing. It been borrowing to buy Hydr carbons since 2010 ish………….it then borrowed to subsidise the cost of said items to the public during the war with Russia. They rather not upset the public by them having to face LARGE increases in energy bills. Quite clearly “They” thought Russia would have folded by now…….& they were wrong.
Now we got the IMF TELLING the Limey scum that they can’t carry on doing that…………..& that was before Iran closed the SOH. Things are heading down hill fast & there is bugger all they can do.
House prices?………….Ah yes the great “Wealth” driver is at stand still. The major tax rises have not yet fully kicked it but the economy is at a stand still……………GROWTH HAS STOPPED.
With rates likely to fall & people hanging on to their money the incoming sh1t storm is now coming fast.
Its the waiting that getting to me, sure the VP of Exxon is not to be wrong but i see no panic as yet. oh well……………Tick/tock.
Mike
The US dollar has been famously losing ground due to the abuse of its “exorbitant privilege”. This abuse has taken mainly two forms; one is its inflation of the supply of dollars and their loss of value, and the other is via its weaponization via sanctions. The world learned in 2022 that the US Treasury’s promises were only good so long as your polices were approved by the US. It only stands to reason that if you give nations an incentive to rely less on dollars and treasuries, they will find ways to use less dollars and treasuries.
Iran is doing the same thing with the Strait of Hormuz. The longer this disruption goes on, the greater the world’s incentives to rely on it less. Kuwait is for example now pushing for new pipelines to bypass it. Saudi Arabia already has some. And the West is coming under increasing pressure to relax sanctions on other producers such as Russia, while Venezuela gradually ramps up. The point is, even if Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz holds, its effectiveness will diminish.
Ok, you are up to speed, the important thing is “They” are pissed by the push back from the people. “They” are importing as many as possible even though a vast number can’t read or write even in their own language. Thus there is bugger all for them to do, meantime we have over 1 million on “Sick” or other welfare……..because why bother to work?
Its all coming to an end but sadly slowly……..just look at the tricks they using to hold back oil prices. At some point the dam is going to burst & it is going to be a thing of beauty.
In a weeks time a local by election in Manchester is held. Its an attempt to import an bloke called Andy whom wants to run the nation. Right now Starmer will be rubbing his hand with glee as there is a good chance that REFORM not Labour will get the seat……….thus Starmer will remain PM.
🚨 🇮🇩 Mass protests erupt across Indonesia after gasoline prices jumped more than 30% overnight.
Pertamax, the country’s most popular fuel, rose from 12,300 to 16,250 rupiah per liter (+32%) on June 10, with subsidized Pertalite up 30% as well. Crowds have filled the streets of e taxi drivers and students out in force.
Fuel hikes have brought down governments here before. The 1998 price riots ended Suharto’s 31-year rule.
Putin offers Trump help………….
🇷🇺🇺🇸 Putin and Trump spoke by phone for 55 minutes at Russia’s initiative. Putin congratulated Trump on his 80th birthday.
According to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, Trump expressed support for the earliest possible end to hostilities in Ukraine and signalled readiness to press ers toward a settlement — in line with Moscow’s position that the Alaska talks produced an agreement ending the war on terms requiring AFU withdrawal from Donbass.
Putin told Trump that Zelensky “should not forget the tragedy of the Holocaust” — a likely reference to the reburial of OUN leader Andrey Melnik, whom European organisations accuse of complicity in the Holocaust.
Trump informed Putin that a US-Iran deal is close and could be announced as early as today.
The two leaders agreed that US special envoys Witkoff and Kushner will visit Russia soon.
On a potential Putin-Zelensky meeting, Putin’s position remains unchanged: “If Zelensky wants a meeting, let him come to Moscow.”
Putin also accused the AFU of striking Russian civilian infrastructure, adding that such strikes “will not change the situation on the battlefield.”
He should take it. I’ve been saying for years that America should be making an effort to cultivate better relations with Russia, and in the context of Iran from the beginning.
Bugger!
Just when i thought my dream was coming true, UK without Diesel…………those Bloody Iranians make peace with TRUMP…………..the SOH is wide open…………….Mega left broken hearted!
BASTARDS!!!!
UK and France could deploy to Strait of Hormuz within days, Macron says
The UK and France are ready to deploy a mission to the Strait of Hormuz within two or three days, Emmanuel Macron has said.
Both countries are ready to lead a mission to help reopen and secure the key shipping lane, with the support of the Netherlands and Italy, the French president reiterated.
The mission would crucially start after a peace deal enters into force, as European countries have repeatedly stressed.
They had offered their support after being pushed by the US president to help force Iran to reopen the strait.
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Am sorry, thought i be ok as it was just a live news stream…………please be aware that am nursing a 94 almost 95 year old who is very much in the “Autumn” of her life.
BiBi to the rescue?
⚡️BREAKING: Netanyahu announces the Permanent occupation of territories in Lebanon
“We will remain in the various security zones we have captured for as long as necessary”
🇮🇱🇺🇸 Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir canceled a planned family trip to the United States after encountering difficulties obtaining a U.S. visa, per Haaretz.
He had intended to to travel to Miami to attend the wedding of an Israeli businessman’s daughter.
Mega note:- I noticed SUDDENLY that lots of American comics are making jokes about Israel. Everytime someone gets upset by this & stands up shounting “Am offended” the comic just laughs at them & sez “Oh, we got a Zionist in to night”……….everyone laughs.
Israel=Jews has been replaced with Israel=Zionists………..the tide is turning.
It depends on compared to what. Compared to if the war was ongoing, no. Compared to if the war had never started, yes. There is still a deficit in the pipeline, so to speak. But don’t expect oil prices to revert to their lows anyway. Despite the media obsession, it’s not just the war; oil prices bottomed back in mid-December, and headed higher from there. That’s the effects of monetary inflation, and has nothing to do with these hostilities.
“Most of what you read about the economy and markets is barely more than propaganda or what was once called yellow journalism and today is called “clickbait” or “rage bait” or “fake news”.”
So close, then he bales………….might get him to attack again after the mid terms.
Who picks the VP BTW………….i mean if he sacks Vance can he put his son on place?
Mike
I wanted No Diesel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All the F**king BMW Turbo Diesels running dry………….i had it, it was in my grasp…..just a few weeks away & Trump bales out…………….you bastard!
Mega Alert:- Mega will NOT be buying an Honda super one ev!
Mega had been lead to believe that this cute little EV would hit 0-60 in 8 secs or less………….it turns out this F**ker is SLOW. It takes 10, yes TEN secs to get to 60mph & the little shit tops out at 86mph……………..
It sounds like it’s intended to be a town runabout. I’ve long been alert for a Honda electric. They definitely have the engineering chops. We had a Civic hybrid over twenty years ago and it was a great car.
Poke the BEAR…………..
BREAKING: 🇷🇺🇬🇧 Multiple drones again in the skies over Moscow today. According to British media, the UK is preparing to deliver another 150,000 such drones to Ukraine to continue attacks on Moscow.
Yeesh. I don’t get the mentality. No US leader has ever explained how beating Russia into submission, even assuming it could be done, would improve the welfare of the average American. Nor to my knowledge have other western governments theirs.
“The initial US-Iran deal aimed at ending the war may be under threat already, with Israel and Hezbollah exchanging fire in Lebanon. Adding to uncertainty, peace talks in Switzerland have been called off. And in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran is rolling out “new procedures”. Follow the latest.”
Greetings all, am a little drunk right now, its been a long hot day & Mum is in bed now. All is done for the day & lacking aircon here in blighty i resort to filling a mug 70% full of water then put it in the Freezer. Once deeply frozen i take out a bottle of beer & fill up to the brim…………the resault is very cold beer…………works well.
So, looks like Starmer is to resign net week……………& Andy B is to replace him. Like most political types Andy LOVES to spend other peoples money. Sadly for Andy there very little left to spend.
New & highly imaginative way for funding this is being exploded right now,,,,,,,New taxes……new borrowing……..& that old chestnut “Borrowing to invest” is once more being heard.
I like to talk a bit about Trump tonight, but by the time i finish this he will have changed his mind.
I notice a rather large Gas production field in Qatar just lit up like a roman candle. Given that Blighty is helping Ukraine attack Russia i would NOT be surprised if this was a bit of pay back. Being both British funded & now no longer able to send Gas to Europe………..;)
Talking about Ukraine i been watching the latest “recruitment” videos. This novel approach involves a group of large men suddenly appearing along side the chap to be “recruited” with a van where apon he is “offered” free transport to the Ukrainian front line.
As i watched a noticed something, all the vic….er i mean “recruits” were in the company of young women.
Having rewatched a few of these posts a noticed two things:-
a. The Women made a very half hearted attempt to pull their man out of the van.
b. Some of them where the same women!
Then i noticed that the press gang……..sorry “recruitment professionals” JUST HAPPENED to be passing AS THESE WOMEN ARE WALKING OUT WITH THEIR DATES.
Gee i thought, how strange……..its like these “professional women” were walking to “dates” into the hands of the Gang……………..then the penny dropped.
These bitches were in the pay of the press gangs!……..no doubt they get a “bounty” for each poor bastard they deliver.
If any of these unlucky bastards manage to escape the war zone without becoming drone bait i do hope they “look up” these “Princess of the night” & get them a date………….with someone Ted Bundy!
Good evening
Mega
That’s what I was thinking. I’ve decided to learn to code and to put all my retirement savings in software and semiconductor stocks, private credit, bitcoin and the upcoming OpenAI IPO.
Forgive the lack of MDFE but temps here in Blighty is VERY hot, we no aircon & its 80c ish right now. Am nursing an 94 year old + GSD who must be walked at 05:30am & 21:30 pm to avoid heat stroke.
Ok, The West going ALL OUT to start a war with Russia…….giving Ukraine lots of long range missiles to hit Moscow etc. If thats bad they even talking about giving Ukraine enriched Uranium ………..to do what?……….if used for bomb making Ukraine & EVER other major western city would disappear 30 mins latter!
This is a clear sign that Russia is making gains now in Ukraine & Ukraine force don’t have much left. Yes Russia is getting hit but they making up ground, very soon Russia will have secured their near term objectives.
Much crying from the British armed services that they can’t recruit sh1t!…….even normal cannon folder would rather sit at home playing with their smart phones then f**k about with their sh1t. Anyone with an IQ bigger than their boot size is not interested at all!
Am very disappointed that the oil/Diesel prices storm i was hopeful for has not arrived……….Bugger!
Cheers
Mike
I just don’t get why the west so badly wants to pummel Russia. Our media go out of their way to portray Russia as aggressor, but it’s far from clear; NATO has been driving expansion right up to Russia’s borders, evidently removing the possibility for Russia to have a neutral buffer zone. Had it felt secure that Ukraine would remain neutral, maybe it wouldn’t have felt compelled to take Crimea, let alone part or all of Ukraine. But no, the West wasn’t satisfied with a neutral Ukraine, in which case Russia’s ostensible offense is colorably defense.
This goes well beyond Ukraine too … Russia has influence in North Korea and Iran. Maybe the west would be better off at least making an effort not to keep goading Russia if not actually normalizing relations. Better relations with Russia just seem to be in its best interests.
Mega’s dispatch from England:-Distant thunder……coming closer?
Suddenly with the WEST going full tilt for WAR with Russia…………… talk round the campfire is Russia is sending code words out on its doom radio……messages to sleeper cells.
Something big is on the cards, Russia intends to restabise detenance
Mike
I noticed that the powers to be in Europe are started to turn on the mass import job. 1st the German government started rounding up all the Syrians to ship them back home because its now deemed “Safe”.
Other programs in other nations have begun & only last week we have the EEC its self voting by quite a margin the set up “Holding camps” for any new arrivals in a 3rd World nations such as Syria. Turn up in Italy & get shipped there right away ……where you will remain till your application is processed.
I took note, hard to imagine that they be able to pull this off as it breaches God knows how many “Civil rights” laws…………but they are suddenly trying.
Then, out of the Blue we had “citizen vigilante”.
Its a film, very much in the style of “Death Wish”………but the target of wrath is immigrant rape gang. The film has been banned in Germany & other places but “alas” we live in this internet age & one certain Elon Musk has put the film up in full for everyone to see in full for free!
As you might imagine the powers to be are having kittens right now…….i mean they “view” this film as a modern day version of “The birth of a nation”. If you want clips they on Youtube & if you wish to see this film Elon is happy to help…………
Ah…………..
🇩🇪 Germany may reintroduce mandatory conscription after its voluntary recruitment drive flopped.
The Telegraph reports, citing Thomas Röwekamp, member of the German parliamentary defense committee, that a decision needs to be made before the end of July 2027.
The numbers explain the urgency. Since January, the Bundeswehr sent out roughly 300,000 questionnaires to 18 year olds as part of the new “voluntary” service model. After medical screening and interviews, only about 530 actually signed up for at least six months of service. Berlin wants to grow the army from 184,000 to 260,000 active troops by 2035 to meet NATO targets.
Public polling backs up the picture. A recent survey found 59 percent of Germans would not take up arms to defend the country if attacked, with just 16 percent saying they definitely would.
The voluntary model was always the soft landing before conscription. The law already lets the Bundestag flip the switch to mandatory service if recruitment targets are missed, and 530 volunteers out of 300,000 letters is about as missed as it gets.
Mega’s take:-
Great news for the DNC, they got something to point to. Yes i know its Germany but its a solid move they can point to. Yes, trumps forth coming DRAFT!
He de-nile it, but given ALL his lies would you bet against it?
Nope, if i was the DNC i go flat out on this one………….make it clear that the mid terms are not so much a political preference, but personal survival!!!!!!!!!!!!1
No, there is no evidence that President Donald Trump threatened to seize the Line 5 pipeline today. What has happened recently is that his administration has declared a national energy emergency and filed legal statements supporting Enbridge’s continued operation of Line 5, arguing that shutting it down would harm U.S. energy security. But there are no credible reports of Trump threatening to seize the pipeline
“In a statement, Self argued that direct election ratified by the 17th Amendment has “given us six-year politicians more focused on national ambitions and the institution of the U.S. Senate than on the states they serve.” He added that the Senate was designed to “protect state sovereignty and act as a check on federal overreach.””
Repealing the Seventeenth Amendment would be an extraordinary win for The People vs Big Corporations. For that reason, it would be an uphill battle, yet one well worth pursuing. Collecting the levers of power in one place has always been convenient for the powerful. It’s just so much more difficult to corrupt and control fifty different states than it is one federal government.
This by the way is the same impetus behind decades of federalism creep in Europe as well. Centralized seats of power are most responsive to powerful special interests.
It’s also the force behind globalism … one world government would be the ultimate concentration of power. Distributed government closest to the people is most responsive to the people.
Trump is again talking about the US taking Greenland. It hard to imagine a more cost-without-benefit foreign policy. What does talking about acquiring Greenland accomplish? It gets European leaders ticked off without giving the US any of the national security benefits Trump touts.
Looks like Trump lost patience with Iran………who beat him.
Like Nixon he fale about but we know its over………its going to be a long cold winter, followed by a LONG HOT SUMMER…………which is why they trying to finish Farage & his party.
Mike
It’s not over ’til it’s over. Meanwhile Trump has more to fear from the Dems this fall … barring a miracle, they will have a majority at least in the House, whereupon the entire agenda will be investigations and impeachments. But that was coming anyway … the opposition party usually gains in the midterms, and the Reps reinstatement of the ACA tax credit cliff will be remembered by many voters as they pay their monthly medical insurance premiums … if they still have insurance …
Mega’s dispatch from England:- Air con wars
Ah, greeting Gang…..i hope all is well with you all.
I leave the Geo-political stuff & focus closer to home.
As you might be aware Europe is suffering a heat wave right now. Am delighted to say here in Liverpool temps are a lot cooler but no so in euroland. In the past the plebs were forced to grin & bear it……….i mean wot are they going to do?………..go out & buy an Air con unit?
Well there is this nation called China, who are something of a deb hand at making stuff like that dirt cheap. Thus the people of Europe have decided to vote with their Amazon account & buy!
Now normally this would be met with a few turst comments from the Green Nazi’s & not much more…………however to power A/C at night is a bit of a problem. Sola don’t work at night & there is not much wind. Thus the only way to meet this unexpected demand is GAS fired power stations.
Now as you are aware Europe was cleaver enough to pick a fight with the nation that was giving it lots of natural gas at CHEAP rates. Given that the Russian option is out & Iran leveled the Limey/Frog gas production sites in the middle east.
With Gas storage at less than 70% a COLD DARK Winter might be apon us. So the powers to be are now quite upset at the Plebs having the cheek to try to save their lives by cooling their homes!
The construction of some European homes is not helped by things like Zinc roofs, but the real killer is all the “Eco Housing” the French scum have built for PLEBS.
These rabbit hutch homes with ZERO car parking are bad enough but the city mayor & the architect of this project (Neither of which live there) promised that there would be no need for air con as they designed it to be cooled by “naturally”.
Well guess wot?……………it didn’t work!
Their “Green” (cheap/shitty)design turned the apartments into ovens!
A Bloody war of words have broken out, a few politco’s have tried the Jimmy Carter method but unlike Jimmy they been caught with their air con on!
I think I found it (maybe “sh!tty” got snagged by the nanny bot?) … you should see it now. Site management has been kludgy since the lightning took out much of my computer gear last week. Was wondering what happened to the MDFE!
Morning Gang
Ok, the war looks like its just going to grind on…….but don’t worry.
yes we get higher inflation & higher rates but help for the plebs is coming!
If Gold got good, YES
Ihad hoped that Ford might build a RS 200 EV on the platform………….hope not now.
I have driven a Lotus Esprit Turbo a few times that’s wider (1862)
The Porsche 968 Turbo RS has an overall width of 1,735 mm (68.3 inches). This compact track-only coupe matches the standard Porsche 968’s body width but features stripped-down racing aerodynamics, a lower ride height, and a much lighter curb
Nations will be able to buy from China & NOT have to buy Hydro carbons for $. Not a knock out blow but another nail in the coffin. You could put those sola cells on the roof of a PLEB car…..cut price motoring in sunny weather.
Meantime if anyone has any dirt on Jim Farley (Ford) please let me know, a little black mail to get my dream car………….
time to get mildly drunk
mike
RED ALERT:- Major attacks under way in the middle east. Red sea about to close, ships being hijacked as i right this. Major Crash on Wall ST incoming……….
Thank, Mike. It’s not especially oppressive here. Most of it seems to be at altitude. Ground level is pretty normal. I’m going outdoors less but haven’t experienced any discomfort. It might be improving too … the sky is a little blue today.
I’m coming around to the view that the Hormuz problem isn’t quite the end of the world prospect it’s often portrayed. Not that it’s insignificant by any means, but not doomsday either. Compensatory mechanisms are emerging. For one, China, one of the biggest consumers of the oil that flows through Hormuz, has reduced its oil consumption. It’s accumulated massive strategic reserves, built nuclear plants and and electrified a lot of its transportation. Saudi Arabia has increased pipeline flows. Venezuela is slowly coming back on line. Russia can be desantioned; it’s only becoming more clear that it’s in Europe’s best interests to learn how to get along with its massive eastern neighbor. America can increase its output as well. Similar considerations for other commodities too. Some shipping is sneaking through Hormuz and other routes are emerging.
I’ve been saying since Day 1 that viewing this as an Iran only problem is naive. It’s getting support from Russia and China. It’s in the west’s best interests to learn to deal with this and as it does the prospects for ending this war will improve.
Food for thought: In light of the experience with Ukraine and Iran, how do you think a war with China over Taiwan would play out?
“The escalation pathway in the renewed tit-for-tat conflict between the US and Iran is becoming increasingly alarming and has been underway for eight days.”
That only started within the last few days or so … until then it has been a long time. It’s a tentative bullish sign for gold prices that it managed to break that oil price countertrading pattern … suggesting that a lot of the selling pressure has been boiled off. As noted earlier, this is also the price zone where gold found support last October.
BREAKING: 🇯🇴🇬🇧 King Abdullah II has left Jordan and is heading for London
Talk round the campfire is an Iranian lead force might be going to invade Kuwait in the net few days……………
Indeed … after having zig-zagged mostly sideways since March, our Model Portfolios are getting some solid traction, due in no small part to a 20% commodities allocation.
So was it a fluke or the beginning of a new trend? No clear answers yet … today back to the old grind. COMT is the only Model Portfolio position in the green.
Mega’s Despatch from England:- Revolutionary science
My friends we are on the tipping point of great changes bought on by a revolution of material sciences from the East. Make no mistake the blow this will cause the Petrol $ & the American empire will be mighty.
I speak of the near end of the combustion engine, soon to be replaced by battery tec that China is developing & deploying in quick succession. 1st we had the LFP battery, much longer lasting & without most of the rare earths that NCM batteries require. Next the Sodium Ion battery that is being rolled out in vasty numbers for Grid storage & soon for EVs as well.
Sodium is a game changer, dirt cheap & with a 30 year life spam it should shift the economics of Green energy firmly into the main stream. In short if your nation has lots of Solar/Wind/tidal/hydro power ………….your in luck.
Once installed you can kiss goodbye to the requirement of servicing the US War machine for Petro $. It seems to have caught the US off guard, the penny has not dropped with them as yet…………but it soon will.
However the bold blow IS coming……its not Solid State battery tec……its Lithium Air. Lithium air has the potential energy density of 12,000 wh/kg…..about the same as low end Gasoline.
Give that most Gas engines are only 30% efficient then we need 4,000 wh/kg to match it. CATL have already passed 2500 & then is more to come. After 2030 they be out with it & demand for Gas will fall……….Worldwide.
Full marks for China ………….attacking the US where it was not looking 😉
Hope for Mega:-
It seems the Alpine A110 ev might not be too big after all.
The APP platform comes in differant sizes & i found an post from someone with in the factory that claims there will two models. The A110 & a bigger 2+2……..the A110 will be 1800 wide & the 2+2 1850, which is wot Porsche do with Boxster/Cayman & 911.
Mega’s Despatch from England:-Blessed BBC
Ah yes, feeding Mum at Tea time today & being 94 she tends to watch “TV”. No Youtube for her.
& thus the news was on & the BBC achor bitch did start talking. The Green Goblin short of troops, arms & white powered was once more dropping in on Trump to beg etc.
No one met him at the airport & his own press ass & one of the pilots had to fake handshakes on the runway. Then the BBC witch spoke…….”Are yes there is President of the Ukraine off to see Trump at the Whitehouse & report to him in person on the stunning success Ukraine is having now against Russia”.
What??????
Russia is advancing on ALL fronts, Putin is now preping for the taking of Ossada. He laying out the plan to return the stolen lands to Poland/Hungary/Romania. He turn Ukraine into a small landlocked nation with very little power.
While yes Ukraine is slipping an odd attack though its little more than pin pricks, a nation that fought off the Nazi war machine will take these strikes very much in their stride.
Getting back to the dear old BBC, its SO popular that they losing 500K people a year who refuse to buy a TV licence (Yes you have to pay to watch TV in Blighty). So many people are turning OFF their muti-cutural sh1t that they now want ALL internet users to be forced to pay them for their appalling drivel…………..& it gets worst.
The BBC is “rather concerned” about the way Youtube, X etc are not promoting their sickening leftist vomit thus they want the government to FORCE information providers to help them peddle these somewhat unpopular view points.
As for the BBC themselves i like to point out that after unfortunate mishap on “Top Gear” recently were presenter Freddie Flintoff & the Stig crashed a Morgan 3 wheel car the BBC producers have told “Stig” that he was to blame.
Stig told them that the car roll cage was too low to work, that he had no training on the type & they must wear crash helmets. The BBC refused, demanded they wear period flying googles & leather caps………….the car crashed & Freddie was almost killed…………..the BBC turned on Stig.
Not only that but the BBC also allowed Morgan to remove the crashed car without a 3rd party getting a chance to examine the car. At a meeting “Stig” was told …….”You better have a good lawyer”. The case is going forward now.
Not the 1st time the BBC have been in court, i spare you the JImmy Saville sarga but one choice one you might not know is the case of the “Late,Late breakfast show”. This was a Saturday tea time BBC 1 show that allowed members of the public to come on the show & perform stunts.
Car stunts or underwater escapes or a rather dangerous bungee jump out of a box suspended at the top of a tall cranie.
During a practice attempt the bungee cord unbuckled itself & the unlucky chap came to a somewhat sudden stop on meeting the ground (gravity can suck sometimes). It turned out the BBC had:-
1. Failed to make a risk assessment
2. Used the wrong type buckle
3. No close supervision by expert professionals.
Now given they were as guilty as sin you fully expect the BBC put its hand up & begged forgiveness……………?…………er no.
These FKers refused any blame & went to court with some cock & bull tale that the victim had unbuckled the bungee cord himself to commit suicide. Given that he had NO medical history of depression & he was getting married in 3 weeks its seems somewhat unlikely, but this was the horse the BBC was riding…………till it turned into a Donkey & the press turned on them!
…………..they made an out of court settlement & said sorry…..sort of.
“Cleese has also openly backed Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe amid the accelerating collapse of British norms under mass migration and parallel societies.”
Ok, managed to watch a bit of it……………in a nut shell RATES ARE GOING UP………….this will effect most company that have got used to low rates?……………..I BLOODY HOPE SO!………….BMW/Merc/Audi & even Porsche used cheap borrowing to finance assh0les to lease their cars.
We hearing that ALL are cutting back both moneys & numbers built as the days of cheap finance are going…………
Mike
Mega’s Sunday dispatch:- Limited choices
Ah, so here we are dear friends…….a week or so into becoming PM & Andy B is seeing just how limited his choices are for the nation. Over the last week we had a number of “Kite flying” exercises to see wot ways they can raise taxes with upsetting the public.
One idea is the make EVERYONE pay death taxes, so even if Mum Or Dad has left you a very modest sum Andy wants his 20%! The reaction was strong as you might expect…….i mean if Andy “Stiffed” me(pardon the pun) for £20k-£50 K not only would it kill the Labour vote this time around but forever!
He tried the old “Bait & Switch” move talking about using it for Socialist care but we suspect its re-arment cost. The Press went for him & called “Grave Robbing”…….i don’t think he do it.
He also asked a for a meeting with the other parties expect Reform to try to find “Common ground”. While this might work when your running a small ish north city BIG boy politics is some what different. Indeed i recall Jimmy Carter trying the same thing with Tip O’neil…….only for Tip to put him right very early on.
Andy B main problem is the cupboard is bare, every leader from Thatcher to Blair & beyond has bit by bit cut all the fat off. An very small manufacturing base, jack up house prices that cant go any higher & are now looking to fall. Totally unsub aimable spending & Taxing which we have now almost come to the end.
An IMF bale out is due but the IMF will force Labour to stop buying votes………..but they cant afford to.
1st Missing a MDFE………..
Its a put up job, Spain has upset the Epstein class types so as pay back they done this………..also as a warning to other Euro nations………………
While on this subject our new PM Andy B has said he going to crush the boat people……….by offering safe routes into UK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Evolving thoughts on WWIII. The US is overlooking the obvious. Ukraine for Iran. Make an offer to Russia; the US will withdraw all support for Ukraine, in exchange for Russia withdrawing its support for Iran. Remove all economic and financial sanctions on Russia in exchange for its support on Iran … something that would go a long way towards easing energy worries too. The US has no interest in Ukraine. The West postures as if it is defending the people of Ukraine against the Evil Bear. But where is the evidence? Does it really make any difference to the average Ukrainian family whether it is ruled by autocrats in Kiev or autocrats in Moscow? No, this is all about world domination by western elites. Something that has no benefit to the average American family either.
China too. China is far more dependent on oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz than the US. And surely there must be some trade concessions it would like to have. America and Israel versus Iran, Russia and China is a tough nut to crack. America, Russia and China versus Iran by comparison would be a cakewalk.
Indeed, most of the world needs Hormuz more than the US. The top American priority should be the nuclear one. The Iranian regime has shown the world what it’s willing to do with its hands on the jugular of the world economy. Imagine what it would do with the threat of nuclear war.
So forget about Hormuz. The US can readily deal with domestic energy supplies with an export tariff. Just 20% would go a long way towards insulating Americans from international energy prices. Then Hormuz becomes “our mistake, your problem”.
Another day, another dust up………..Trump tried a bit of bombing, got hit back.
Meantime the SOH remains shut & the clock is ticking. The SPR was being drawn down by Biden & now Trump has opened the tap.
My personal knowledge on this subject is limited but people like Art Berman are saying July by the latest we will have fact over fiction. I venture this, after this NO government will want the need to import vast amounts of unnecessary oil. Already “Project PLEB” (Low cost/low performance city ev) are now moving ahead in Europe.
Got a 10-20 year old diesel SUV or performance car…………….FU*K YOU!
One way or another these PLEBS whom are driving above their station in life are going to be put right baby!
The Turbo diesel, (the bane of my life) will be (forcibly) removed & replaced by Eletro-turds.
Perhaps Trump IS a great prez after all 😉
Mike
BREAKING: 🇮🇷🇮🇱 Iran says it is prepared to completely shut down both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait if Israel doesn’t stop the attacks on Beirut
Maybe America needs to make clear to Israel that its support is contingent on its cooperation in bringing this war to a conclusion.
If Trump had any sense he would have said “YES” to BiBi………….with one thing.
YOU GOT A MAX OF 6 WEEKS………….if you are sure you can pull this off in days then fine………….but you sign this agreement!
Then after 12 weeks say, OK games up
“Does it really make any difference to the average Ukrainian family whether it is ruled by autocrats in Kiev or autocrats in Moscow?”
Well we can ask a similar question of the average person throughout history.
I know lots of first language Russian Ukraineans here in the UK from a variety of backgrounds. I work with many. I have no idea if it would make any economic difference to them but I can unequivocally assure you that it matters to them enormously. They have long memories of the mass starvation and forcible deportations under Stalinist Russia. They also tell me that things had been improving business wise in the last 15 years despite the corruption. They were pretty content with the status quo and never expected Russia to invade. Obviously my sample size is small but I’ve spoken to them at length and they assure me that their feeling is typical across Eastern Ukraine. I used to be more sympathetic to the Russian argument about NATO etc and didn’t believe Putin was expansionist. I thought the Ukraineans should have saved lots of bloodshed and admitted defeat. Now I would prefer Putin was stopped.
Obviously the US should act in its own interests but personally the EU should cough up and stop Russia where it is.
Yo!
https://www.foxbusiness.com/energy/exxon-chief-warns-skyrocketing-energy-prices-shareholders-approved-plan-exit-blue-state
$150/$160 oil in the weeks ahead!
Mega’s dispatch from England:- Troubled Labour
I leave what Trump wants or sez today & move back to dear old Blighty. Here quite a lot is happening quickly. Some government files ref Mandleson (Epseins mate) have been released. He was made ambassador to the US & didn’t do a great job…….but the files have provided a “snap shot” of what is going on with in the Labour government.
In short, they no plan…………& while some see the need to cut spending most what to “Find more Tax money”. We are also blessed with the Labour party trying to retake the party from the Epsten class. An sitting MP has left his seat so Andy Burnham can stand in it.
While on paper this looks like a good move there are some problems. The area in question just voted LARGE on Reform, not Labour. While this is a problem we just had a nasty murder case were a young (White man) was stabbed by an Asian.
The Police arrived & the Asian played the race card………….so the police arrested & handcuffed the white lad, who was begging for help. The lad died & the Asian has been set to jail & the Police are now in the dock.
Labour are scared shitless that the strong feelings are going to be marshalled into a STRONG Reform vote…………you can smell the panic.
As yet very little is being said ref the SOH being shut, the effects have yet to arrive.
Clock ticking down……………..
Cheers
Mike
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/06/02/gold-overtakes-us-bonds-as-worlds-favourite-investment/
YES
Here again we have another instance of the corporate media covering up for the Fed and other culprits while blaming all ills on Trump. That doesn’t cut it. The dollar and bonds denominated in dollars have been trashed by years of ultralow rate policy, reckless money printing, and abuse of America’s “exorbitant privilege” of running the world’s dominant currency through insensate sanctions. Trump hasn’t done anything to improve the situation, but in assigning blame any failure to include Bush, Obama, Biden, Bernanke, Yellen, Powell, and Congress as well is blatant corporate media propaganda.
Each played a part, be it a small one.
I recall the British PM Brown whom flew to China in 2008 to DEMAND their money!…….Oh & they could only “Invest” in the British banks, nothing else. The French foreign sec who when was confronted in 2011 in Asia about just when France was going to cut spending & get their houses in order simply smirked & said ..”its different for us”.
The US & West “rape gang” is going to have to be beaten, just as Vietnam had to drive out the US 100% of the way. Even now the next stage of the “Plan” is being made. A British special forces trooper has been killed in Northern Iraq a in a “Training” excise with some Kurds a few days ago & tonight the BBC had an “expert” on Iran saying how the people of Iran are fed up with the government & the government is worried about an up rising.
This is not the picture i see.
History will record this as one of the final battles to end the Western empire. When the history is written it will not be written by a Western hand.
Mike
Big parts. Empires don’t die from one mistake, it’s death by a thousand cuts. The collective mentality is shaped heavily by recency bias. You see it in the media, in spades. Everything is tied to the latest headlines. A heart attack is caused by a blood clot. But look deeper, and you see that it’s been under way for decades. Arteries don’t get clogged overnight.
Prime example. Oil prices are up. Hormuz is in the headlines. It’s drama. It’s interesting. But the war in Iran isn’t an isolated event, it’s part of a pattern. The root causes go back at least a century. From another thread:
“While we’re at it, we could even go a step further and make the case that not only does war cause inflation, but that inflation causes war. Is it just a coincidence that the Federal Reserve was created just before the outbreak of WWI? Is it just a coincidence that the wars in Ukraine and Iran followed massive inflationary binges?
If it seems outlandish, consider for a moment how far any administration would get if it had to pay for its war making by raising taxes. Imagine GWB coming on TV and saying hey I want to go to war in Iraq. Get Saddam and those WMD. It will cost your family of four about $40,000. How about it?
That war cost the US about $3T. Over a population of 300M, that’s about $10,000 for every man, woman and child in the nation. We all paid for it, but the cost was hidden in inflation.
Without inflation, most wars just wouldn’t happen.”
Though superficially a military failure, the decline and fall of the Roman Empire was marked by generations of devaluations and dilutions of its currency and moral decline.
Eisenhower warned of the dangers of the “military industrial complex” in 1961. This develops hand in hand with an imperial contingent bent on world domination. Society’s failure to connect the dots, to look beneath the surface, aided and abetted by an amnesiac media beholden to big money interests, is far bigger than any political leader. Truth is rarely found in popular media narratives.
I agree with what you say, BTW things happening in Blighty.
https://news.sky.com/story/henry-nowak-protesters-accused-of-hijacking-tragedy-as-pm-says-police-have-serious-questions-to-answer-13550296
Rather than equal rights we have an anti-native bias……….the natives are getting restless.
Given we are facing a major recession/depression & thus high unemployment & no money to cushion the blows that are coming i expect major race troubles ahead.
Mike
I sincerely hope you get it under control. With its singular history of leadership in science, industry and culture, your “Blighty” is a world treasure, and any threat to it is not good for the world.
The one thing that this administration has done right is to at least temporarily halt the same process here. It’s just unfortunate that so much ill comes with the good. At this rate the next administration will rapidly undo it.
Unfortunate too that while we watch this slow motion train wreck. nothing seems able to stop it. If electing the guy who promised to drain the swamp and end foreign wars couldn’t do it, probably nothing can.
Our government is no longer controlled by the people. That depends on people in possession of the truth. But the flow of information is controlled by money. We now have a system of government of the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations. We gave a bird’s eye view in Dividends.
Gold Dethrones The King: ECB Confirms Barbarous Relic Has Overtaken Treasuries As Top Global Reserve Asset
Talk round the campfire is Trump been told Iran HAS a nuke.
Iran working on an underground site to test the Nuke…………oh dear.
This might just be a “Get out of jail card” for Trump.
1. He was right (no, but that is wot he say)
2.Trump can back off Iran
3. Israel will have to STFU
4.Israel gets off Trump’s back
Mike
Fascinating speculation. Echoes of Iraq and GWB WMD claims.
If they got it…….then everything will be different.
Kiss GOODBYE to the Petro$.
When nations are forced to buy Oil with REAL money you see a lot of change.
https://carnewschina.com/2026/06/03/catl-sets-sights-on-lithium-air-technology-with-theoretical-gasoline-level-12000-wh-kg-energy-density/
This ties in with my previous comment about gold gradually displacing USDT as a global asset. Nations are stockpiling real money.
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Commodity-Markets-Are-Living-on-Borrowed-Time.html
🇺🇸🇪🇺 According to Die Welt, here is a list of what the US intends to withdraw from the European continent:
📌 8 KC-135 refueling aircraft (63 will remain)
📌 8 KC-46 refueling aircraft
📌 36 F-16 fighter jets (63 will remain)
📌 22 F-15Es (36 will remain)
📌 11 Boeing P-8A (15 will remain)
📌 All long-range UAV’s, as they’re needed in the Middle East
📌One of the two aircraft carrier strike groups
📌Half of the cruiser and destroyer units
📌One of the two bomber squadrons
What do you think comes next?
I sense that the markets are going to “Price in” Iran very soon…………………..Trump looks lost. The Midterms will KILL him. I suspect that as the price pressure builds just coming on the eve of the vote he suddenly try to make a move………….claim victory, then Iran tests a nuke.
Mike
“Rome didn’t fall to the barbarians. She fell to centuries of currency debasement, institutional corruption, and a tax burden that drove productive citizens off the land long before any barbarian showed up at the gate.”
“The bridges need fixing. The schools need fixing. The debt needs fixing. Can we compete with China? Maybe. But the real question is whether we can compete with our past selves?”
Is it the business of government to play a giant game of global Risk or promote the general welfare of its own people?
Mega’s Dispatch from England:- Out of everything!
They out of oil,Gas & ideas…………….Trump is totally at Sea Israel just broke (yet another) cease fire & Iran is planning to respond.
Meantime in Blighty our government carries on borrowing. It been borrowing to buy Hydr carbons since 2010 ish………….it then borrowed to subsidise the cost of said items to the public during the war with Russia. They rather not upset the public by them having to face LARGE increases in energy bills. Quite clearly “They” thought Russia would have folded by now…….& they were wrong.
Now we got the IMF TELLING the Limey scum that they can’t carry on doing that…………..& that was before Iran closed the SOH. Things are heading down hill fast & there is bugger all they can do.
House prices?………….Ah yes the great “Wealth” driver is at stand still. The major tax rises have not yet fully kicked it but the economy is at a stand still……………GROWTH HAS STOPPED.
With rates likely to fall & people hanging on to their money the incoming sh1t storm is now coming fast.
Its the waiting that getting to me, sure the VP of Exxon is not to be wrong but i see no panic as yet. oh well……………Tick/tock.
Mike
…………………….& we are off again!
I think oil price will start to rally from this point
🇺🇦🇬🇧 Zelensky came to Britain:
“Europe must be part of the negotiations and must be strong. Russia must end its war.” — states
🇫🇷Macron, 🇩🇪Merz, 🇬🇧Starmer & 🇬🇧Charles III are waiting for him
Britain’s debt rising at fastest rate in the world – bar Botswana
Fears mount of brewing crisis as national debt rockets 65pc over last 25 years
Where geopolitics and economics meet:
Brave New World
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/06/09/bank-of-england-bond-sales-cost-taxpayers-36bn/
The US dollar has been famously losing ground due to the abuse of its “exorbitant privilege”. This abuse has taken mainly two forms; one is its inflation of the supply of dollars and their loss of value, and the other is via its weaponization via sanctions. The world learned in 2022 that the US Treasury’s promises were only good so long as your polices were approved by the US. It only stands to reason that if you give nations an incentive to rely less on dollars and treasuries, they will find ways to use less dollars and treasuries.
Iran is doing the same thing with the Strait of Hormuz. The longer this disruption goes on, the greater the world’s incentives to rely on it less. Kuwait is for example now pushing for new pipelines to bypass it. Saudi Arabia already has some. And the West is coming under increasing pressure to relax sanctions on other producers such as Russia, while Venezuela gradually ramps up. The point is, even if Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz holds, its effectiveness will diminish.
Mega’s dispatch from England:- Long Hot summer?
1st read this:-
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/belfast-burns-after-sudanese-invaders-street-beheading-attempt-sparks-local-revolt
Ok, you are up to speed, the important thing is “They” are pissed by the push back from the people. “They” are importing as many as possible even though a vast number can’t read or write even in their own language. Thus there is bugger all for them to do, meantime we have over 1 million on “Sick” or other welfare……..because why bother to work?
Its all coming to an end but sadly slowly……..just look at the tricks they using to hold back oil prices. At some point the dam is going to burst & it is going to be a thing of beauty.
In a weeks time a local by election in Manchester is held. Its an attempt to import an bloke called Andy whom wants to run the nation. Right now Starmer will be rubbing his hand with glee as there is a good chance that REFORM not Labour will get the seat……….thus Starmer will remain PM.
Meantime the clock ticks down……………
Mike
A good overview of the political and financial world.
Nothing To See Here
So, “They” are now pushing the “ET” thing…………just like the 1970’s. A distraction because MEGA inflation is incoming.
Mike
🚨 🇮🇩 Mass protests erupt across Indonesia after gasoline prices jumped more than 30% overnight.
Pertamax, the country’s most popular fuel, rose from 12,300 to 16,250 rupiah per liter (+32%) on June 10, with subsidized Pertalite up 30% as well. Crowds have filled the streets of e taxi drivers and students out in force.
Fuel hikes have brought down governments here before. The 1998 price riots ended Suharto’s 31-year rule.
⚡️BREAKING: The United States’ main oil distribution hub Cushing is running out of Oil – CNN
If the Iran war does not end, an energy crisis will hit the U.S. economy in the coming weeks
Fake news? Real news would be more like “The United States’ main oil distribution hub Cushing ran out of oil”.
In fake news some major disaster is on the way. In real news it’s actually happened.
Of all the places to run out of oil, Cushing would be the easiest to fix. An export tariff would do the trick quick.
https://insideevs.com/news/798630/gm-sodium-ion-battery-vehicle-to-grid-tech/
MIke
BTW How is the EV going?
Great … just over a month in and just started the first recharge … with half a ‘tank’ still left. Have you taken the plunge yet?
Not as yet, but Trump/BiBi might force my hand……
GOD Bless (Non-DNC) America!
https://www.carscoops.com/2026/06/iowa-speed-limit-increase/
Keep us posted!
Say it ain’t so!
Former UK Prime Minister Admits Mass Migration Is Being Weaponized To Undermine Western Civilization
Putin offers Trump help………….
🇷🇺🇺🇸 Putin and Trump spoke by phone for 55 minutes at Russia’s initiative. Putin congratulated Trump on his 80th birthday.
According to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, Trump expressed support for the earliest possible end to hostilities in Ukraine and signalled readiness to press ers toward a settlement — in line with Moscow’s position that the Alaska talks produced an agreement ending the war on terms requiring AFU withdrawal from Donbass.
Putin told Trump that Zelensky “should not forget the tragedy of the Holocaust” — a likely reference to the reburial of OUN leader Andrey Melnik, whom European organisations accuse of complicity in the Holocaust.
Trump informed Putin that a US-Iran deal is close and could be announced as early as today.
The two leaders agreed that US special envoys Witkoff and Kushner will visit Russia soon.
On a potential Putin-Zelensky meeting, Putin’s position remains unchanged: “If Zelensky wants a meeting, let him come to Moscow.”
Putin also accused the AFU of striking Russian civilian infrastructure, adding that such strikes “will not change the situation on the battlefield.”
He should take it. I’ve been saying for years that America should be making an effort to cultivate better relations with Russia, and in the context of Iran from the beginning.
Bugger!
Just when i thought my dream was coming true, UK without Diesel…………those Bloody Iranians make peace with TRUMP…………..the SOH is wide open…………….Mega left broken hearted!
BASTARDS!!!!
Missile bait?
UK and France could deploy to Strait of Hormuz within days, Macron says
The UK and France are ready to deploy a mission to the Strait of Hormuz within two or three days, Emmanuel Macron has said.
Both countries are ready to lead a mission to help reopen and secure the key shipping lane, with the support of the Netherlands and Italy, the French president reiterated.
The mission would crucially start after a peace deal enters into force, as European countries have repeatedly stressed.
They had offered their support after being pushed by the US president to help force Iran to reopen the strait.
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Am sorry, thought i be ok as it was just a live news stream…………please be aware that am nursing a 94 almost 95 year old who is very much in the “Autumn” of her life.
BiBi to the rescue?
⚡️BREAKING: Netanyahu announces the Permanent occupation of territories in Lebanon
“We will remain in the various security zones we have captured for as long as necessary”
No worries Mike. Just please if something is someone else’s words, show whose they are. Always appreciate your thoughts. Best to your mom.
Is it really over this time?
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-offers-60-day-toll-free-hormuz-transit-100s-ships-await-reopening
Trump Details Iran Deal At G7: No Nukes, Conditional Sanctions Relief
“CNBC is reporting that a deal between the US and Iran has been electronically signed by Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.”
That’s an encouraging sign. Trump has said is was over umpteen times, but this is the first I remember the top Iranian honcho saying it.
🇮🇱🇺🇸 Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir canceled a planned family trip to the United States after encountering difficulties obtaining a U.S. visa, per Haaretz.
He had intended to to travel to Miami to attend the wedding of an Israeli businessman’s daughter.
Mega note:- I noticed SUDDENLY that lots of American comics are making jokes about Israel. Everytime someone gets upset by this & stands up shounting “Am offended” the comic just laughs at them & sez “Oh, we got a Zionist in to night”……….everyone laughs.
Israel=Jews has been replaced with Israel=Zionists………..the tide is turning.
Meantime in China………..
https://carnewschina.com/2026/06/16/chery-partner-sodium-battery-volume-production-begins-at-517-million-usd-plant/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/06/16/people-on-disability-benefits-passes-4-million/
So……………….no oil shortage now?
Mike
It depends on compared to what. Compared to if the war was ongoing, no. Compared to if the war had never started, yes. There is still a deficit in the pipeline, so to speak. But don’t expect oil prices to revert to their lows anyway. Despite the media obsession, it’s not just the war; oil prices bottomed back in mid-December, and headed higher from there. That’s the effects of monetary inflation, and has nothing to do with these hostilities.
Questions
“Most of what you read about the economy and markets is barely more than propaganda or what was once called yellow journalism and today is called “clickbait” or “rage bait” or “fake news”.”
So close, then he bales………….might get him to attack again after the mid terms.
Who picks the VP BTW………….i mean if he sacks Vance can he put his son on place?
Mike
That wouldn’t be at the top of my worry list. The president can’t fire the vice president.
“It will take a while to restore traffic in the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels. There are mines to be cleared, and logistics to be worked out.
Then the world will need to refill strategic oil reserves and storage tanks. So oil prices are going to be higher than normal for a while to come.”
I wanted No Diesel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All the F**king BMW Turbo Diesels running dry………….i had it, it was in my grasp…..just a few weeks away & Trump bales out…………….you bastard!
Meantime China opens (yet another) Sodium ion battery plant.
https://carnewschina.com/2026/06/16/chery-partner-sodium-battery-volume-production-begins-at-517-million-usd-plant/
Just listen to this pompous Limey mutt
https://news.sky.com/video/uk-will-play-a-key-role-in-demining-the-strait-of-hormuz-says-foreign-secretary-13555136
Mega Alert:- Mega will NOT be buying an Honda super one ev!
Mega had been lead to believe that this cute little EV would hit 0-60 in 8 secs or less………….it turns out this F**ker is SLOW. It takes 10, yes TEN secs to get to 60mph & the little shit tops out at 86mph……………..
Lets see what the MG2 from China can do.
Mike
It sounds like it’s intended to be a town runabout. I’ve long been alert for a Honda electric. They definitely have the engineering chops. We had a Civic hybrid over twenty years ago and it was a great car.
Poke the BEAR…………..
BREAKING: 🇷🇺🇬🇧 Multiple drones again in the skies over Moscow today. According to British media, the UK is preparing to deliver another 150,000 such drones to Ukraine to continue attacks on Moscow.
Yeesh. I don’t get the mentality. No US leader has ever explained how beating Russia into submission, even assuming it could be done, would improve the welfare of the average American. Nor to my knowledge have other western governments theirs.
Way to go BiBi!
⚡️BREAKING: The IRGC announces Closure of the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israel’s attacks on Lebanon
“The conditions of the ceasefire in Lebanon and the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the area have not been met by the United States
Ships approaching the Strait will be targeted”
https://news.sky.com/story/iran-war-latest-trump-deal-tehran-pakistan-strait-hormuz-blockade-13509565
“The initial US-Iran deal aimed at ending the war may be under threat already, with Israel and Hezbollah exchanging fire in Lebanon. Adding to uncertainty, peace talks in Switzerland have been called off. And in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran is rolling out “new procedures”. Follow the latest.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/outrage-suspect-uk-toddler-crocodile-attack-released-bail-identity-still-hidden
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/brits-should-declare-their-independence-too
https://www.carscoops.com/2026/06/honda-super-n-europe-2/
Yep, just short of a win……………needs new battery tec + 10-15 more BHP
Been watching “Firing Line” with William F Buckley…………man this guy is smooth
Mike
Wow!
Bibi did it!
SOH closed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mega’s Dispatch from England;- Beware Bitch bait
Greetings all, am a little drunk right now, its been a long hot day & Mum is in bed now. All is done for the day & lacking aircon here in blighty i resort to filling a mug 70% full of water then put it in the Freezer. Once deeply frozen i take out a bottle of beer & fill up to the brim…………the resault is very cold beer…………works well.
So, looks like Starmer is to resign net week……………& Andy B is to replace him. Like most political types Andy LOVES to spend other peoples money. Sadly for Andy there very little left to spend.
New & highly imaginative way for funding this is being exploded right now,,,,,,,New taxes……new borrowing……..& that old chestnut “Borrowing to invest” is once more being heard.
I like to talk a bit about Trump tonight, but by the time i finish this he will have changed his mind.
I notice a rather large Gas production field in Qatar just lit up like a roman candle. Given that Blighty is helping Ukraine attack Russia i would NOT be surprised if this was a bit of pay back. Being both British funded & now no longer able to send Gas to Europe………..;)
Talking about Ukraine i been watching the latest “recruitment” videos. This novel approach involves a group of large men suddenly appearing along side the chap to be “recruited” with a van where apon he is “offered” free transport to the Ukrainian front line.
As i watched a noticed something, all the vic….er i mean “recruits” were in the company of young women.
Having rewatched a few of these posts a noticed two things:-
a. The Women made a very half hearted attempt to pull their man out of the van.
b. Some of them where the same women!
Then i noticed that the press gang……..sorry “recruitment professionals” JUST HAPPENED to be passing AS THESE WOMEN ARE WALKING OUT WITH THEIR DATES.
Gee i thought, how strange……..its like these “professional women” were walking to “dates” into the hands of the Gang……………..then the penny dropped.
These bitches were in the pay of the press gangs!……..no doubt they get a “bounty” for each poor bastard they deliver.
If any of these unlucky bastards manage to escape the war zone without becoming drone bait i do hope they “look up” these “Princess of the night” & get them a date………….with someone Ted Bundy!
Good evening
Mega
Oh Buggeration……………..peace has broken out again!
It’s getting to be like the boy who cried sheep…
Tis as the Great profit Mega forcast many years ago………….
https://carnewschina.com/2026/06/22/catl-unveils-tener-sodium-ion-storage-system-15000-cycle-lifespan-and-30-year-durability/
I don’t know?………………..maybe they could lean to code?….Doh!
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/06/23/larry-ellison-oracle-cuts-21000-jobs-ai-replace-humans/
That’s what I was thinking. I’ve decided to learn to code and to put all my retirement savings in software and semiconductor stocks, private credit, bitcoin and the upcoming OpenAI IPO.
not
Mega’s dispatch from England:-Distant thunder
Forgive the lack of MDFE but temps here in Blighty is VERY hot, we no aircon & its 80c ish right now. Am nursing an 94 year old + GSD who must be walked at 05:30am & 21:30 pm to avoid heat stroke.
Ok, The West going ALL OUT to start a war with Russia…….giving Ukraine lots of long range missiles to hit Moscow etc. If thats bad they even talking about giving Ukraine enriched Uranium ………..to do what?……….if used for bomb making Ukraine & EVER other major western city would disappear 30 mins latter!
This is a clear sign that Russia is making gains now in Ukraine & Ukraine force don’t have much left. Yes Russia is getting hit but they making up ground, very soon Russia will have secured their near term objectives.
Much crying from the British armed services that they can’t recruit sh1t!…….even normal cannon folder would rather sit at home playing with their smart phones then f**k about with their sh1t. Anyone with an IQ bigger than their boot size is not interested at all!
Am very disappointed that the oil/Diesel prices storm i was hopeful for has not arrived……….Bugger!
Cheers
Mike
I just don’t get why the west so badly wants to pummel Russia. Our media go out of their way to portray Russia as aggressor, but it’s far from clear; NATO has been driving expansion right up to Russia’s borders, evidently removing the possibility for Russia to have a neutral buffer zone. Had it felt secure that Ukraine would remain neutral, maybe it wouldn’t have felt compelled to take Crimea, let alone part or all of Ukraine. But no, the West wasn’t satisfied with a neutral Ukraine, in which case Russia’s ostensible offense is colorably defense.
This goes well beyond Ukraine too … Russia has influence in North Korea and Iran. Maybe the west would be better off at least making an effort not to keep goading Russia if not actually normalizing relations. Better relations with Russia just seem to be in its best interests.
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/opinion/369870/i-drove-honda-super-n-and-it-puts-bigger-evs-shame
PLEB cars
Mega’s dispatch from England:-Distant thunder……coming closer?
Suddenly with the WEST going full tilt for WAR with Russia…………… talk round the campfire is Russia is sending code words out on its doom radio……messages to sleeper cells.
Something big is on the cards, Russia intends to restabise detenance
Mike
Oh…………………yes GOLD GETTING KILLED!!!!
It was taken out and shot. Then the corpse dragged up, propped up against the wall, and shot some more.
Mega not enjoying the weather!
https://www.google.com/search?q=liverpool+weather&rlz=1C1CHBF_enGB1153GB1153&biw=1093&bih=486&sca_esv=eeb84f3a1330d64b&sxsrf=APpeQntQBwUYu_SeY0lz9SyvBvDbtGZQFw%3A1782405099753&ei=61c9avXOLZyehbIPx7Sp0Qk&ved=0ahUKEwi18MO26KKVAxUcT0EAHUdaKpoQ4dUDCBI&oq=liverpool+weather&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiEWxpdmVycG9vbCB3ZWF0aGVySABQAFgAcAB4AZABAJgBAKABAKoBALgBDMgBAJgCAKACAJgDAJIHAKAHALIHALgHAMIHAMgHAIAIAQ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp
A low of 72°F? Whew🥵 But hang in there bro, looks like it’s heading in the right direction…
Last day of it, it was HELL……………i found a cheap aircon unit with good ish reviews………….sold out right now but i try to buy in a week or so.
Mike
Looks like it’s our turn next. Next weeks’ forecast features highs in the upper nineties🥵
A nutcase with his “device”………….Britain needs men like this!
https://www.carscoops.com/2026/06/steam-powered-drag-bike/
b*g f*cking crazy🤪
Megas Dispatch from England:- citizen vigilante
I noticed that the powers to be in Europe are started to turn on the mass import job. 1st the German government started rounding up all the Syrians to ship them back home because its now deemed “Safe”.
Other programs in other nations have begun & only last week we have the EEC its self voting by quite a margin the set up “Holding camps” for any new arrivals in a 3rd World nations such as Syria. Turn up in Italy & get shipped there right away ……where you will remain till your application is processed.
I took note, hard to imagine that they be able to pull this off as it breaches God knows how many “Civil rights” laws…………but they are suddenly trying.
Then, out of the Blue we had “citizen vigilante”.
Its a film, very much in the style of “Death Wish”………but the target of wrath is immigrant rape gang. The film has been banned in Germany & other places but “alas” we live in this internet age & one certain Elon Musk has put the film up in full for everyone to see in full for free!
As you might imagine the powers to be are having kittens right now…….i mean they “view” this film as a modern day version of “The birth of a nation”. If you want clips they on Youtube & if you wish to see this film Elon is happy to help…………
Ah…………..
🇩🇪 Germany may reintroduce mandatory conscription after its voluntary recruitment drive flopped.
The Telegraph reports, citing Thomas Röwekamp, member of the German parliamentary defense committee, that a decision needs to be made before the end of July 2027.
The numbers explain the urgency. Since January, the Bundeswehr sent out roughly 300,000 questionnaires to 18 year olds as part of the new “voluntary” service model. After medical screening and interviews, only about 530 actually signed up for at least six months of service. Berlin wants to grow the army from 184,000 to 260,000 active troops by 2035 to meet NATO targets.
Public polling backs up the picture. A recent survey found 59 percent of Germans would not take up arms to defend the country if attacked, with just 16 percent saying they definitely would.
The voluntary model was always the soft landing before conscription. The law already lets the Bundestag flip the switch to mandatory service if recruitment targets are missed, and 530 volunteers out of 300,000 letters is about as missed as it gets.
Mega’s take:-
Great news for the DNC, they got something to point to. Yes i know its Germany but its a solid move they can point to. Yes, trumps forth coming DRAFT!
He de-nile it, but given ALL his lies would you bet against it?
Nope, if i was the DNC i go flat out on this one………….make it clear that the mid terms are not so much a political preference, but personal survival!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Something i been saying for a VERY long time!!!!!!!!
https://www.carscoops.com/2026/06/carspreading-car-size-study/
I had a bit of a mental collapse today…………..the resent heat & caring for Mum is getting to me.
I wished i was dead
Hang in there, Mike. We’re getting the heat this week, and I know how it makes everything else harder. Best to your mum. I hope you feel better soon.
Ah…………………not wot its seems
No, there is no evidence that President Donald Trump threatened to seize the Line 5 pipeline today. What has happened recently is that his administration has declared a national energy emergency and filed legal statements supporting Enbridge’s continued operation of Line 5, arguing that shutting it down would harm U.S. energy security. But there are no credible reports of Trump threatening to seize the pipeline
“In a statement, Self argued that direct election ratified by the 17th Amendment has “given us six-year politicians more focused on national ambitions and the institution of the U.S. Senate than on the states they serve.” He added that the Senate was designed to “protect state sovereignty and act as a check on federal overreach.””
Repealing the Seventeenth Amendment would be an extraordinary win for The People vs Big Corporations. For that reason, it would be an uphill battle, yet one well worth pursuing. Collecting the levers of power in one place has always been convenient for the powerful. It’s just so much more difficult to corrupt and control fifty different states than it is one federal government.
This by the way is the same impetus behind decades of federalism creep in Europe as well. Centralized seats of power are most responsive to powerful special interests.
It’s also the force behind globalism … one world government would be the ultimate concentration of power. Distributed government closest to the people is most responsive to the people.
Farage Resigns As MP To Force ‘People Vs. The Establishment’ By-Election
Thoughts?
Trump is again talking about the US taking Greenland. It hard to imagine a more cost-without-benefit foreign policy. What does talking about acquiring Greenland accomplish? It gets European leaders ticked off without giving the US any of the national security benefits Trump touts.
Either do it or just shut up.
Iran v Usa………………on again.
Mike
Looks like Trump lost patience with Iran………who beat him.
Like Nixon he fale about but we know its over………its going to be a long cold winter, followed by a LONG HOT SUMMER…………which is why they trying to finish Farage & his party.
Mike
It’s not over ’til it’s over. Meanwhile Trump has more to fear from the Dems this fall … barring a miracle, they will have a majority at least in the House, whereupon the entire agenda will be investigations and impeachments. But that was coming anyway … the opposition party usually gains in the midterms, and the Reps reinstatement of the ACA tax credit cliff will be remembered by many voters as they pay their monthly medical insurance premiums … if they still have insurance …
House GOP will not allow amendment vote to extend ObamaCare subsidies
Russia stopped ALL Diesel exports………….
Meantime the French play a blinder!
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/electric-cars/alpine-boss-electric-a110-will-be-even-better-petrol-car
Hopefully not too wide…………each to update the battery packs.
Also i hear that new cheap “L7” (PLEB) cars are coming with a limted top speed of 55MPH (Jimmy will be delighted).
https://www.whatcar.com/news/fiat-multiplina-concept-is-four-seat-electric-quadricycle-for-urban-driving/n29177
Is it time for a MDFE?
Yes please😎
Mega’s dispatch from England:- Air con wars
Ah, greeting Gang…..i hope all is well with you all.
I leave the Geo-political stuff & focus closer to home.
As you might be aware Europe is suffering a heat wave right now. Am delighted to say here in Liverpool temps are a lot cooler but no so in euroland. In the past the plebs were forced to grin & bear it……….i mean wot are they going to do?………..go out & buy an Air con unit?
Well there is this nation called China, who are something of a deb hand at making stuff like that dirt cheap. Thus the people of Europe have decided to vote with their Amazon account & buy!
Now normally this would be met with a few turst comments from the Green Nazi’s & not much more…………however to power A/C at night is a bit of a problem. Sola don’t work at night & there is not much wind. Thus the only way to meet this unexpected demand is GAS fired power stations.
Now as you are aware Europe was cleaver enough to pick a fight with the nation that was giving it lots of natural gas at CHEAP rates. Given that the Russian option is out & Iran leveled the Limey/Frog gas production sites in the middle east.
With Gas storage at less than 70% a COLD DARK Winter might be apon us. So the powers to be are now quite upset at the Plebs having the cheek to try to save their lives by cooling their homes!
The construction of some European homes is not helped by things like Zinc roofs, but the real killer is all the “Eco Housing” the French scum have built for PLEBS.
These rabbit hutch homes with ZERO car parking are bad enough but the city mayor & the architect of this project (Neither of which live there) promised that there would be no need for air con as they designed it to be cooled by “naturally”.
Well guess wot?……………it didn’t work!
Their “Green” (cheap/shitty)design turned the apartments into ovens!
A Bloody war of words have broken out, a few politco’s have tried the Jimmy Carter method but unlike Jimmy they been caught with their air con on!
Revolution is coming……………
Mike
ok, you got air con wars
Did you not get “Air con wars”?………….loaded up last night
You mean this?:
“ok, you got air con wars”
Nope, i wrote quite a long post last night………….
I think I found it (maybe “sh!tty” got snagged by the nanny bot?) … you should see it now. Site management has been kludgy since the lightning took out much of my computer gear last week. Was wondering what happened to the MDFE!
Ah………..Linsey Graham was visiting a Ukraine drone factory when he was suddenly fell unwell……..
Looks like all out war in the SOH…………….so when does the oil shock hit?
GOLD GETTING KILLED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Morning Gang
Ok, the war looks like its just going to grind on…….but don’t worry.
yes we get higher inflation & higher rates but help for the plebs is coming!
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/electric-cars/suzuki-take-twingo-2027-sub-%C2%A320k-city-ev
https://www.globalsuzuki.com/mobilityshow2025/vision_e-sky/
Ho Ho Ho motherfkers…………
IBM is getting kiLled
Gold getting talked up…………………….oh dear 🙁
Higher rates on the way.
Meantime US to pull ALL troops out of Iraq by Sept….
& Mega super excited about the new PLEB cars coming………….
Bugger…………….the next Alpine A110 is 1850 mm wide, not 1792 of the out going model…………..i am fed up with ever larger cars!!!!!
Mike
You were thinking about getting one?
Alpine A110
If Gold got good, YES
Ihad hoped that Ford might build a RS 200 EV on the platform………….hope not now.
I have driven a Lotus Esprit Turbo a few times that’s wider (1862)
Meantime
https://carnewschina.com/2026/07/16/catl-secures-5-gwh-sodium-ion-storage-deal-with-european-energy-provider-alfen/
Remember this ad slogan from the nineties?
Wider Is Better
The Sea is rather large, British “B” roads are not………..
Meantime:-
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/07/16/imf-warns-burnham-against-higher-public-spending/
Suck it up Limey!
I think I’ve seen some of those in British television shows…
https://thenewyardstick.co.uk/ford-fiesta-2028
The Porsche 968 Turbo RS has an overall width of 1,735 mm (68.3 inches). This compact track-only coupe matches the standard Porsche 968’s body width but features stripped-down racing aerodynamics, a lower ride height, and a much lighter curb
1735!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mega’s Dispatch from England:- China A SALT the $
Gone very hot here in blighty today, right now am drinking a cool bottle of Irish Cider with ice.
I been talking sometime that China is going to use their “TEC” to defang the US $. EG the Sodium ion battery. Well looks like they going to lose new high tec Sola as well:-
https://www.facebook.com/CGTNGlobalBusiness/videos/major-breakthrough-for-next-gen-solar-techthe-chinese-academy-of-sciences-has-ac/1030131929412416/
Nations will be able to buy from China & NOT have to buy Hydro carbons for $. Not a knock out blow but another nail in the coffin. You could put those sola cells on the roof of a PLEB car…..cut price motoring in sunny weather.
Meantime if anyone has any dirt on Jim Farley (Ford) please let me know, a little black mail to get my dream car………….
time to get mildly drunk
mike
Missing a MDFE
Ah this morning Mega bought an(other) Steel company
https://news.sky.com/story/british-steel-taken-into-public-ownership-13563871
Mean time in Japan
https://news.sky.com/story/british-steel-taken-into-public-ownership-13563871
“Missing a MDFE”
Thanks for the heads up…
YES, PLEB car incoming……………..Just in time to replace all those 10-20 year old BMW Turbo diesels 😉
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/spy-photos-2027-suzuki-global-electric-kei-car-shows-vision-e-sky-concept-influences-272970.html#
RED ALERT:- Major attacks under way in the middle east. Red sea about to close, ships being hijacked as i right this. Major Crash on Wall ST incoming……….
Toxic Wildfire Smoke Begins To Disrupt Local Economic Activity As GOP Senator Readies Canada Sanctions Bill
Here in western Pennsylvania we’re in that purple area and can confirm it’s rather hazy. The sky is white and the sun is red.
I hope it blows over for you quickly…………..
Thank, Mike. It’s not especially oppressive here. Most of it seems to be at altitude. Ground level is pretty normal. I’m going outdoors less but haven’t experienced any discomfort. It might be improving too … the sky is a little blue today.
Eventually the ecoterrorists up North will run out of forest to set alight in hopes of proving Global Warming exists. We just have to be patient . . .
All out war in middle east………………oil stores running low……..not long now.
Mike
I’m coming around to the view that the Hormuz problem isn’t quite the end of the world prospect it’s often portrayed. Not that it’s insignificant by any means, but not doomsday either. Compensatory mechanisms are emerging. For one, China, one of the biggest consumers of the oil that flows through Hormuz, has reduced its oil consumption. It’s accumulated massive strategic reserves, built nuclear plants and and electrified a lot of its transportation. Saudi Arabia has increased pipeline flows. Venezuela is slowly coming back on line. Russia can be desantioned; it’s only becoming more clear that it’s in Europe’s best interests to learn how to get along with its massive eastern neighbor. America can increase its output as well. Similar considerations for other commodities too. Some shipping is sneaking through Hormuz and other routes are emerging.
I’ve been saying since Day 1 that viewing this as an Iran only problem is naive. It’s getting support from Russia and China. It’s in the west’s best interests to learn to deal with this and as it does the prospects for ending this war will improve.
Food for thought: In light of the experience with Ukraine and Iran, how do you think a war with China over Taiwan would play out?
Why would China attack Taiwan?
The question just presumes a war with China over Taiwan. It’s not as if no one has ever floated the idea.
The US has offered few clues on how long its renewed military campaign will last
US-Iran Tit-For-Tat Spirals Towards Broader Conflict
“The escalation pathway in the renewed tit-for-tat conflict between the US and Iran is becoming increasingly alarming and has been underway for eight days.”
“Does Yemen have the firepower to shut down Saudi oil exports? We’re about to find out.”
Oh “Clunking Bell”
https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/kremlin-says-ukraines-caspian-pipeline-consortium-strike-aims-destabilize-global-oil-markets
Oil & Gold going up together………………
That only started within the last few days or so … until then it has been a long time. It’s a tentative bullish sign for gold prices that it managed to break that oil price countertrading pattern … suggesting that a lot of the selling pressure has been boiled off. As noted earlier, this is also the price zone where gold found support last October.
BREAKING: 🇯🇴🇬🇧 King Abdullah II has left Jordan and is heading for London
Talk round the campfire is an Iranian lead force might be going to invade Kuwait in the net few days……………
Oil & Gold going up again today………….
Indeed … after having zig-zagged mostly sideways since March, our Model Portfolios are getting some solid traction, due in no small part to a 20% commodities allocation.
I think this is the start of something major………….
So was it a fluke or the beginning of a new trend? No clear answers yet … today back to the old grind. COMT is the only Model Portfolio position in the green.
https://cnevpost.com/2026/07/21/catl-sodium-battery-storage-deal-solarpro/
I keep saying it, this is a game changer!
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/ford-partners-geely-new-multi-energy-suv-europe
China+Ford
Mega’s Despatch from England:- Revolutionary science
My friends we are on the tipping point of great changes bought on by a revolution of material sciences from the East. Make no mistake the blow this will cause the Petrol $ & the American empire will be mighty.
I speak of the near end of the combustion engine, soon to be replaced by battery tec that China is developing & deploying in quick succession. 1st we had the LFP battery, much longer lasting & without most of the rare earths that NCM batteries require. Next the Sodium Ion battery that is being rolled out in vasty numbers for Grid storage & soon for EVs as well.
Sodium is a game changer, dirt cheap & with a 30 year life spam it should shift the economics of Green energy firmly into the main stream. In short if your nation has lots of Solar/Wind/tidal/hydro power ………….your in luck.
Once installed you can kiss goodbye to the requirement of servicing the US War machine for Petro $. It seems to have caught the US off guard, the penny has not dropped with them as yet…………but it soon will.
However the bold blow IS coming……its not Solid State battery tec……its Lithium Air. Lithium air has the potential energy density of 12,000 wh/kg…..about the same as low end Gasoline.
Give that most Gas engines are only 30% efficient then we need 4,000 wh/kg to match it. CATL have already passed 2500 & then is more to come. After 2030 they be out with it & demand for Gas will fall……….Worldwide.
Full marks for China ………….attacking the US where it was not looking 😉
Mega
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/07/27/oil-prices-us-iran-war-ftse-100-markets-gas/
…………………not just Gas they running out of:-
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/07/27/number-of-uk-millionaires-shrinks-lowest-two-decades/
Hope for Mega:-
It seems the Alpine A110 ev might not be too big after all.
The APP platform comes in differant sizes & i found an post from someone with in the factory that claims there will two models. The A110 & a bigger 2+2……..the A110 will be 1800 wide & the 2+2 1850, which is wot Porsche do with Boxster/Cayman & 911.
WE see i guess………….
Mike
Keep us posted … 🤞
Mega’s Despatch from England:-Blessed BBC
Ah yes, feeding Mum at Tea time today & being 94 she tends to watch “TV”. No Youtube for her.
& thus the news was on & the BBC achor bitch did start talking. The Green Goblin short of troops, arms & white powered was once more dropping in on Trump to beg etc.
No one met him at the airport & his own press ass & one of the pilots had to fake handshakes on the runway. Then the BBC witch spoke…….”Are yes there is President of the Ukraine off to see Trump at the Whitehouse & report to him in person on the stunning success Ukraine is having now against Russia”.
What??????
Russia is advancing on ALL fronts, Putin is now preping for the taking of Ossada. He laying out the plan to return the stolen lands to Poland/Hungary/Romania. He turn Ukraine into a small landlocked nation with very little power.
While yes Ukraine is slipping an odd attack though its little more than pin pricks, a nation that fought off the Nazi war machine will take these strikes very much in their stride.
Getting back to the dear old BBC, its SO popular that they losing 500K people a year who refuse to buy a TV licence (Yes you have to pay to watch TV in Blighty). So many people are turning OFF their muti-cutural sh1t that they now want ALL internet users to be forced to pay them for their appalling drivel…………..& it gets worst.
The BBC is “rather concerned” about the way Youtube, X etc are not promoting their sickening leftist vomit thus they want the government to FORCE information providers to help them peddle these somewhat unpopular view points.
As for the BBC themselves i like to point out that after unfortunate mishap on “Top Gear” recently were presenter Freddie Flintoff & the Stig crashed a Morgan 3 wheel car the BBC producers have told “Stig” that he was to blame.
Stig told them that the car roll cage was too low to work, that he had no training on the type & they must wear crash helmets. The BBC refused, demanded they wear period flying googles & leather caps………….the car crashed & Freddie was almost killed…………..the BBC turned on Stig.
Mega’s Despatch from England:-Blessed BBC/2
Not only that but the BBC also allowed Morgan to remove the crashed car without a 3rd party getting a chance to examine the car. At a meeting “Stig” was told …….”You better have a good lawyer”. The case is going forward now.
Not the 1st time the BBC have been in court, i spare you the JImmy Saville sarga but one choice one you might not know is the case of the “Late,Late breakfast show”. This was a Saturday tea time BBC 1 show that allowed members of the public to come on the show & perform stunts.
Car stunts or underwater escapes or a rather dangerous bungee jump out of a box suspended at the top of a tall cranie.
During a practice attempt the bungee cord unbuckled itself & the unlucky chap came to a somewhat sudden stop on meeting the ground (gravity can suck sometimes). It turned out the BBC had:-
1. Failed to make a risk assessment
2. Used the wrong type buckle
3. No close supervision by expert professionals.
Now given they were as guilty as sin you fully expect the BBC put its hand up & begged forgiveness……………?…………er no.
These FKers refused any blame & went to court with some cock & bull tale that the victim had unbuckled the bungee cord himself to commit suicide. Given that he had NO medical history of depression & he was getting married in 3 weeks its seems somewhat unlikely, but this was the horse the BBC was riding…………till it turned into a Donkey & the press turned on them!
…………..they made an out of court settlement & said sorry…..sort of.
Mike
Wot happened to……….Mega’s Despatch from England:-Blessed BBC/2
Let me take a look around …
Ah……………..EV Sports cars 😉
https://www.carscoops.com/2026/07/mazda-mx-5-electric-weight/
“Cleese has also openly backed Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe amid the accelerating collapse of British norms under mass migration and parallel societies.”
A Place for every PLEB ………………& every PLEB in their place!
https://www.topgear.com.ph/news/car-news/byd-racco-2027-japan-specs-a6888-20260730?ref=home_feed_1
China spent its efforts on Battery Tec, they soon have the whip hand
Meantime Trump sez:-“We’re in there for five months, and if you look at Vietnam, they were in there for 20 years.”
If i was DNC i be saying the “D” word………..
America bombs………………….. China builds
https://insideevs.com/news/803228/chinese-truck-makers-europe-assembly/
Mike
Fireside Chat with Felix Zulauf & Jeffrey Gundlach, Moderated by Grant Williams | June 15, 2026
Steve Blumenthal has an excellent bullet point summary here:
On My Radar: The Yen Carry Trade, Margin Debt, Oil and Inflation
OK will watch later (Mum needs me right now)……looks like its about kick off BIG time, talk round the camp fire is the SPR is almost tapped out…………
Ok, managed to watch a bit of it……………in a nut shell RATES ARE GOING UP………….this will effect most company that have got used to low rates?……………..I BLOODY HOPE SO!………….BMW/Merc/Audi & even Porsche used cheap borrowing to finance assh0les to lease their cars.
We hearing that ALL are cutting back both moneys & numbers built as the days of cheap finance are going…………
Mike
Ah…………….Its TACO Sunday
Mike
One wonders if 24/7 markets would cure a lot of what’s wrong with this administration.
So what’s going on in Ceuta?
Oh I’ve seen the reports but would be interested in your take.
Very Bad news for Porsche etc…………..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4lLX_pHzvQ
In the years ahead ANYONE will be able to offer a “Flat 6” at the flick of a switch!
Mega’s Sunday dispatch:- Limited choices
Ah, so here we are dear friends…….a week or so into becoming PM & Andy B is seeing just how limited his choices are for the nation. Over the last week we had a number of “Kite flying” exercises to see wot ways they can raise taxes with upsetting the public.
One idea is the make EVERYONE pay death taxes, so even if Mum Or Dad has left you a very modest sum Andy wants his 20%! The reaction was strong as you might expect…….i mean if Andy “Stiffed” me(pardon the pun) for £20k-£50 K not only would it kill the Labour vote this time around but forever!
He tried the old “Bait & Switch” move talking about using it for Socialist care but we suspect its re-arment cost. The Press went for him & called “Grave Robbing”…….i don’t think he do it.
He also asked a for a meeting with the other parties expect Reform to try to find “Common ground”. While this might work when your running a small ish north city BIG boy politics is some what different. Indeed i recall Jimmy Carter trying the same thing with Tip O’neil…….only for Tip to put him right very early on.
Andy B main problem is the cupboard is bare, every leader from Thatcher to Blair & beyond has bit by bit cut all the fat off. An very small manufacturing base, jack up house prices that cant go any higher & are now looking to fall. Totally unsub aimable spending & Taxing which we have now almost come to the end.
An IMF bale out is due but the IMF will force Labour to stop buying votes………..but they cant afford to.
Mike
1st Missing a MDFE………..
Its a put up job, Spain has upset the Epstein class types so as pay back they done this………..also as a warning to other Euro nations………………
While on this subject our new PM Andy B has said he going to crush the boat people……….by offering safe routes into UK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mike
“1st Missing a MDFE………..”
Found it, but don’t see why it didn’t go through in the first place. Keep flagging these … will get to the bottom of it eventually …
https://carnewschina.com/2026/08/05/worlds-first-sodium-ion-electric-mining-truck-delivered-in-china-with-676-kwh-battery-capacity/
Sodium Baby 😉
Meantime in ECCP
https://carnewschina.com/2026/08/05/geely-e2-electric-hatchback-started-taking-orders-in-europe-at-22490-usd/
“I love the smell of burning VW in the morning”