Billy Bob
Streamed live on Mar 8, 2024
3/8/2024 Episode 60 of Blowback: Exposing Imperial Decline with special guest Christopher Black
Biden state of the Union kicks off with belligerence toward Putin and Russia, boasts of endless support. He is seconded in the EU by Ursula von der Leyen, who praises Ukraine as victim of brutal Russian
Aggression, claiming Russia has destroyed hospitals, kindergartens, civilian residences, etc. (Atrocity propaganda). Von der Leyen’s malignant fantasies, usually slandering Putin ("he sacrificed the country to save himself! ”), have, like most charges hurled by the West, no basis in reality.whatsoever. “Putin is wanted for war crimes, and he will pay justice.." (sic) shouts Ursula, without caring to specify. “And there is a courtroom In The Hague waiting for him, my friends…”). So it’s Putin who needs to stand before a criminal court, not Biden, Blinken, Netanyahu and his entire cabinet of sociopaths. Ursula and Biden typify what passes for statesmanship in the West.
The roundtable wonders where you can begin to sort out the lies, as almost every sentence uttered by Western officials is a lie. Chris Black notes that the denials that the West already has its own soldiers fighting in Ukraine is a big lie. It’s well known that NATO soldiers under a variety of subterfuges not only train but man much of the weaponry sent by the West to Ukraine. Brits and Americans are known to operate Himars and Patriot batteries, for example. And German tankers, in uniform, have been found in German tanks.
A high point of the episode is a discussion about climate change. Chris Black is extremely pessimistic,
Believing that the assertion that climate change is a hoax needs to be reexamined carefully. The idea this is a hoax has become popular, of all places, notes Black, among the world’s left, and progressive statesmen, which may be a huge miscalculation. Leaders around the world keep talking about this issue but do little, with Russia and China doing the most, but still not enough, and the West doing the least, or next to nothing. We are at a point where a few more degrees may spell the death of all life on this planet due to the collapse of agriculture and plant life in general, says Black.
Ben Toth replies that a Russian scientist recently advised Putin that humanity had a “Window” of about 10,000 years to solve this problem. This may be wildly optimistic. In Siberia the problem may be extreme, as permafrost (thought to be “eternal”) is now melting away at ever faster rates, in the process releasing methane. Indeed, Siberia's problems affect not only Siberians. Scientists have found that melting permafrost in Siberia is releasing five times the amount of methane than was previously thought. And methane is a particularly potent greenhouse gas (GHG) -- it is considered 20 times more damaging as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Many are calling this dangerous feedback loop “The Methane Bomb”.
The solutions so far tried are pitifuly inadequate. The retirement of hydrocarbns as fuel for transportation and other energy needs is more symbolic (and deceitful) than real. “Electric vehicles” derive their electricity mostly from burning coal and petroleum. And solar panels take enormous surfaces to make a contribution, are not
Biodegradable, and have a short utility life. Meanwhile, the so-called “Greens” are engaged in stupid politics almost everywhere. In Germany, especially, besides backing enmity toward Russia and warmongering that guarantees wars, highly pollutant events, they forced the shutdown of nuclear plants, the cleanest of all available energy sources, obliging a fallback to dirtier fuels, like coal. The ultimate solution lies with nuclear fusion,
but that is still far off in the future.
While the West’s hypocritical approach and fake “capitalist solutions" to climate change remain a big obstacle to actual progress, the left should not belittle climate issues, dismissing it as some kind of hoax, but insist on an urgent, well-funded, reliable system of collaborative research and international action. More misleadership, as seen particularly throughout the West, may mean the end of the world.
PS/ Dust off your Wittgenstein.
(Summary by Patrice Greanville)