#energy sector pipeline

[pipebossaustralia]

How to Choose the Best Pipe Installation Company for Your Needs

When seeking pipe installation, the most important thing is to choose a qualified and reliable company. The whole project of the right company not only makes your project successful, it also saves you time and money. This blog will teach you how to choose the best pipe installation company for your needs.

Experience and Technology

The first thing to bear in mind for pipe installation is the experience of the company. Look at the company's list of projects to find out whether they have experience. If the company has done work on energy sector pipelines or other complex pipeline construction projects, then it is likely that the company understands the requirements for your project. Expertise helps quality and efficiency.

References and Reviews

The reliability and quality of a company can be realised through the references and reviews by former customers. You can see the customers' feedback and ratings through online platforms. Companies with good reviews and high ratings often service better than those that do not. Moreover, if you have friends, colleagues, or family members who have experience using pipe installation services before, you can ask them for their advice.

Licences and Certifications

You must have the relevant qualifications and certifications in order to carry on a pipe running today. Make sure that you have chosen a construction plumbing company that obeys all necessary legal norms. This not only shows their legitimacy, but it also means that they are gaining approval from those who set standard procedures and safety regulations. Licences and certifications can protect your project against legal risks.

Service Area and Technology

It should be clear that for the choice of pipe installation company, you choose a company that provides service in your field. Different companies specialise in different fields, such for example as energy sector plumbing, industrial plumbing, or water supply plumbing. You should make sure that the company possesses the appropriate technical knowledge and experience for your needs.

Pricing and Transparency

Pricing for a pipe installation service should be transparent and clear. Many companies use hidden fees or unexpected costs, so make sure you get a detailed quote that includes all costs. The correct construction plumbing company is one that is transparent about its costs and informs you about any extra expenses.

Customer Service and Communication

During any construction project, customer service and communication are very important. The company you choose should be able to listen closely to your needs. A good pipe installation company will answer your questions without delay and will keep you informed about the progress of its projects throughout.

Conclusion

It's important for the successful completion of a project that you choose the right pipe installation company. Through the points mentioned above, you can choose the best company for your needs.

Pipe Boss in Australia is a major construction Pipeline company. Pipe Boss ensures the safe and effective installation of pipes. Get a quote today!

[reasonsforhope]

"Cody Two Bears, a member of the Sioux tribe in North Dakota, founded Indigenized Energy, a native-led energy company with a unique mission — installing solar farms for tribal nations in the United States.

This initiative arises from the historical reliance of Native Americans on the U.S. government for power, a paradigm that is gradually shifting.

The spark for Two Bears' vision ignited during the Standing Rock protests in 2016, where he witnessed the arrest of a fellow protester during efforts to prevent the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline on sacred tribal land.

Disturbed by the status quo, Two Bears decided to channel his activism into action and create tangible change.

His company, Indigenized Energy, addresses a critical issue faced by many reservations: poverty and lack of access to basic power.

Reservations are among the poorest communities in the country, and in some, like the Navajo Nation, many homes lack electricity.

Even in regions where the land has been exploited for coal and uranium, residents face obstacles to accessing power.

Renewable energy, specifically solar power, is a beacon of hope for tribes seeking to overcome these challenges.

Not only does it present an environmentally sustainable option, but it has become the most cost-effective form of energy globally, thanks in part to incentives like the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Tribal nations can receive tax subsidies of up to 30% for solar and wind farms, along with grants for electrification, climate resiliency, and energy generation.

And Indigenized Energy is not focused solely on installing solar farms — it also emphasizes community empowerment through education and skill development.

In collaboration with organizations like Red Cloud Renewable, efforts are underway to train Indigenous tribal members for jobs in the renewable energy sector.

The program provides free training to individuals, with a focus on solar installation skills.

Graduates, ranging from late teens to late 50s, receive pre-apprenticeship certification, and the organization is planning to launch additional programs to support graduates with career services such as resume building and interview coaching...

The adoption of solar power by Native communities signifies progress toward sustainable development, cultural preservation, and economic self-determination, contributing to a more equitable and environmentally conscious future.

These initiatives are part of a broader movement toward "energy sovereignty," wherein tribes strive to have control over their own power sources.

This movement represents not only an economic opportunity and a source of jobs for these communities but also a means of reclaiming control over their land and resources, signifying a departure from historical exploitation and an embrace of sustainable practices deeply rooted in Indigenous cultures."

-via Good Good Good, December 10, 2023

[treethymes]

With the exceptions of North Korea and Cuba, the communist world has merged onto the capitalist highway in a couple different ways during the twenty-first century. As you’ve read, free-trade imperialism and its cheap agricultural imports pushed farmers into the cities and into factory work, lowering the global price of manufacturing labor and glutting the world market with stuff. Forward-thinking states such as China and Vietnam invested in high-value-added production capacity and managed labor organizing, luring links from the global electronics supply chain and jump-starting capital investment. Combined with capital’s hesitancy to invest in North Atlantic production facilities, as well as a disinclination toward state-led investment in the region, Asian top-down planning erased much of the West’s technological edge. If two workers can do a single job, and one worker costs less, both in wages and state support, why pick the expensive one? Foxconn’s 2017 plan to build a U.S. taxpayer–subsidized $10 billion flat-panel display factory in Wisconsin was trumpeted by the president, but it was a fiasco that produced zero screens. The future cost of labor looks to be capped somewhere below the wage levels many people have enjoyed, and not just in the West.

The left-wing economist Joan Robinson used to tell a joke about poverty and investment, something to the effect of: The only thing worse than being exploited by capitalists is not being exploited by capitalists. It’s a cruel truism about the unipolar world, but shouldn’t second place count for something? When the Soviet project came to an end, in the early 1990s, the country had completed world history’s biggest, fastest modernization project, and that didn’t just disappear. Recall that Cisco was hyped to announce its buyout of the Evil Empire’s supercomputer team. Why wasn’t capitalist Russia able to, well, capitalize? You’re already familiar with one of the reasons: The United States absorbed a lot of human capital originally financed by the Soviet people. American immigration policy was based on draining technical talent in particular from the Second World. Sergey Brin is the best-known person in the Moscow-to-Palo-Alto pipeline, but he’s not the only one.

Look at the economic composition of China and Russia in the wake of Soviet dissolution: Both were headed toward capitalist social relations, but they took two different routes. The Russian transition happened rapidly. The state sold off public assets right away, and the natural monopolies such as telecommunications and energy were divided among a small number of skilled and connected businessmen, a category of guys lacking in a country that frowned on such characters but that grew in Gorbachev’s liberalizing perestroika era. Within five years, the country sold off an incredible 35 percent of its national wealth. Russia’s richest ended the century with a full counterrevolutionary reversal of their fortunes, propelling their income share above what it was before the Bolsheviks took over. To accomplish this, the country’s new capitalists fleeced the most vulnerable half of their society. “Over the 1989–2016 period, the top 1 percent captured more than two-thirds of the total growth in Russia,” found an international group of scholars, “while the bottom 50 percent actually saw a decline in its income.” Increases in energy prices encouraged the growth of an extractionist petro-centered economy. Blood-covered, teary, and writhing, infant Russian capital crowded into the gas and oil sectors. The small circle of oligarchs privatized unemployed KGB-trained killers to run “security,” and gangsters dominated politics at the local and national levels. They installed a not particularly well-known functionary—a former head of the new intelligence service FSB who also worked on the privatization of government assets—as president in a surprise move on the first day of the year 2000. He became the gangster in chief.

Vladimir Putin’s first term coincided with the energy boom, and billionaires gobbled up a ludicrous share of growth. If any individual oligarch got too big for his britches, Putin was not beyond imposing serious consequences. He reinserted the state into the natural monopolies, this time in collaboration with loyal capitalists, and his stranglehold on power remains tight for now, despite the outstandingly uneven distribution of growth. Between 1980 and 2015, the Russian top 1 percent grew its income an impressive 6.2 percent per year, but the top .001 percent has maintained a growth rate of 17 percent over the same period. To invest these profits, the Russian billionaires parked their money in real estate, bidding up housing prices, and stashed a large amount of their wealth offshore. Reinvestment in Russian production was not a priority—why go through the hassle when there were easier ways to keep getting richer?

While Russia grew billionaires instead of output, China saw a path to have both. As in the case of Terry Gou, the Chinese Communist Party tempered its transition by incorporating steadily increasing amounts of foreign direct investment through Hong Kong and Taiwan, picking partners and expanding outward from the special economic zones. State support for education and infrastructure combined with low wages to make the mainland too attractive to resist. (Russia’s population is stagnant, while China’s has grown quickly.) China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, in 2001, gave investors more confidence. Meanwhile, strong capital controls kept the country out of the offshore trap, and state development priorities took precedence over extraction and get-rich-quick schemes. Chinese private wealth was rechanneled into domestic financial assets—equity and bonds or other loan instruments—at a much higher rate than it was in Russia. The result has been a sustained high level of annual output growth compared to the rest of the world, the type that involves putting up an iPhone City in a matter of months. As it has everywhere else, that growth has been skewed: only an average of 4.5 percent for the bottom half of earners in the 1978–2015 period compared to more than 10 percent for the top .001 percent. But this ratio of just over 2–1 is incomparable to Russia’s 17–.5 ration during the same period.

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, certain trends have been more or less unavoidable. The rich have gotten richer relative to the poor and working class—in Russia, in China, in the United States, and pretty much anywhere else you want to look. Capital has piled into property markets, driving up the cost of housing everywhere people want to live, especially in higher-wage cities and especially in the world’s financial centers. Capitalist and communist countries alike have disgorged public assets into private pockets. But by maintaining a level of control over the process and slowing its tendencies, the People’s Republic of China has built a massive and expanding postindustrial manufacturing base.

It’s important to understand both of these patterns as part of the same global system rather than as two opposed regimes. One might imagine, based on what I’ve written so far, that the Chinese model is useful, albeit perhaps threatening, in the long term for American tech companies while the Russian model is irrelevant. Some commentators have phrased this as the dilemma of middle-wage countries on the global market: Wages in China are going to be higher than wages in Russia because wages in Russia used to be higher than wages in China. But Russia’s counterrevolutionary hyper-bifurcation has been useful for Silicon Valley as well; they are two sides of the same coin. Think about it this way: If you’re a Russian billionaire in the first decades of the twenty-first century looking to invest a bunch of money you pulled out of the ground, where’s the best place you could put it? The answer is Palo Alto.

Malcolm Harris, Palo Alto

[kp777]

By Jessica Corbett

Common Dreams

Aug. 13, 2024

"Oil barons are bankrolling the Trump campaign because Donald Trump promises to impose their policy 'wish list' that will make them even richer," said the Harris campaign.

"Not familiar with Harold Hamm? You should be."

That's according to Washington Post climate policy editor Stuart Leavenworth, who shared the newspaper's Tuesday reporting on the fossil fuel executive's relationship with former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for the November election.

"This oil tycoon is bringing in millions for Trump," the editor noted, "and is relaying to Trump what the fossil fuel industry wants."

The Post's Josh Dawsey and Maxine Joselow revealed in May that during an event in Florida, Trump vowed to gut the Biden administration's climate regulations if elected in November as long as the oil and gas industry put $1 billion toward his campaign—a revelation that sparked alarm and even congressional investigations.

In Tuesday reporting described by other journalists as " great" and "important," the pair exposed how "Hamm, the billionaire founder of Continental Resources, called other oil executives and encouraged them to attend fundraisers and open their wallets" after the April dinner at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Florida residence.

Hamm reportedly described the November contest as "the most important election in our lifetime" and "railed against President Joe Biden's energy policies." Following a disastrous debate performance against Trump, the Democratic incumbent passed the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris, who has since secured her party's nomination.

Donna Brazille, a political strategist and former Democratic National Committee chair, used the new reporting to compare the candidates. As she put it, "This oil tycoon brings in millions for Trump, and may set his agenda."

Hamm's top priorities, according to the Post, are "opening up more federal lands to drilling, easing the Endangered Species Act, and curbing numerous regulations at the Environmental Protection Agency."

Brazille pointed out that "meanwhile, as attorney general in California, Harris prosecuted oil companies for leaks from pipelines and storage tanks, and even sued the Obama administration."

Harris has quickly garnered support from various organizations concerned about the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency, including some that had declined to endorse Biden. Her running mate is Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz—a choice widely welcomed by green groups, despite his record on the Line 3 oil pipeline—while Trump picked Big Oil-backed Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio).

Both Trump and Vance have made clear that if they win, they plan to "drill, baby, drill," a promise that wealthy figures in the fossil fuel industry seem to be buying. The Post reported that thanks in part to introductions by Hamm, "Trump has now 'called almost everyone in the sector,"" and "the money has been flowing in," with the industry contributing over $20.3 million.

Harris campaign spokesperson Joseph Costello said in a statement that "oil barons are bankrolling the Trump campaign because Donald Trump promises to impose their policy 'wish list' that will make them even richer at the expense of the middle class and a healthy future for our children."

"Trump's extreme Project 2025 agenda will give handouts to billionaires, crush jobs, and send costs skyrocketing," Costello added. "America is more energy independent than ever under the Biden-Harris administration, and Vice President Harris is helping create hundreds of thousands of good paying energy and manufacturing jobs—a boom for working families that Trump would dismantle."

Hamm—who initially backed two Trump primary challengers: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley—did not respond to the Post's requests for comment while the campaign said that Trump "is proud to be supported by people who share his vision of American energy dominance to protect our national security and bring down the cost of living for all Americans."

More Perfect Union noted in response to the Tuesday reporting that Hamm is among dozens of billionaires backing Trump—who is also expected to push tax cuts for rich individuals and corporations if he returns to the White House.

As Sludge detailed last month, ultrawealthy contributors to the Trump campaign and related groups include casino mogul Miriam Adelson, bankers Andy Beal and Warren Stephens, GOP donors Scott Bessent and Stephen Schwarzman, real estate investor Richard Kurtz, Jimmy John's founder James J. Liautaud, and crypto industry twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.

They are joined by associates of billionaire Elon Musk—who created a pro-Trump super political action committee—and others in the tech industry, including Palmer Luckey, Tom Siebel, and Kenny Trout, as well as "New York City retail and oil refinery owner John Catsimatidis, an old friend of Trump's who has been a public defender of the former president's character and public record."

[zvaigzdelasas]

Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov visited Washington on February 20-21. He held meetings with senior U.S. officials and secured an agreement that could be a significant step towards boosting Azerbaijani gas exports to Europe.

The sides "agreed to cooperate in the direction of US support for the expansion" of the Southern Gas corridor - the three pipelines that carry Azerbaijani gas exports to Europe, according to the Azerbaijani Energy Ministry's readout.[...]

Azerbaijan's Energy Ministry reported on February 21 that Shahbazov also met with U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.

Their meeting included discussions of possible bilateral cooperation on the supply of both gas and "green energy," with views exchanged on "energy security projects implemented by Azerbaijan as a traditional energy supplier," as well as the development of the Caspian-Black Sea-Europe and Central Asia-Azerbaijan-Europe green energy corridors."

Also discussed were issues related to the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP29 which Azerbaijan will host in Baku between November 11-24 this year.

Shahbazov's Washington trip could be viewed as primarily a courtesy call ahead of COP 29.

However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to the near complete cessation of Russian gas exports to Europe, resulting in a surge of interest in transiting gas from both Azerbaijan and its fellow Caspian littoral state Turkmenistan to Europe.[...]

In July 2022, Azerbaijan and the European Union reached a landmark agreement to double Azerbaijani gas exports to Europe to 20 billion cubic meters a year by the end of 2027.

Progress has been slow with exports last year reaching only 11.8 billion cubic meters, and no decisions taken on the major investments needed to expand the capacity of the sequence of three pipelines that make up the Southern Gas Corridor which carries Azerbaijan's gas to Europe. [...]

Expanding the three pipelines will be costly, with all three lines requiring expensive new compressors and the SCP line also possibly requiring the laying of a new parallel pipeline.

A decision on the necessary investments will need to be taken soon if Azerbaijan is to meet its promise to Brussels. [...]

Azerbaijan's main gas and oil producer BP confirmed on February 9 that it expects to start gas production from the deep gas field below its ACG oil field in Azerbaijan's sector of the Caspian, as soon as early next year.

26 Feb 24

[thelostdreamsthings]

A decade later, the midwife of Maidan, a humiliated and defeated Nuland, speaks from Kiev.

Her accomplishments:

▶️ Russia is stronger than ever since the breakup of the USSR, globally and nationally. Putin enjoys high approval ratings and Russia is more unified than ever.

▶️ Crimea is still Russia and Sevastopol is not a triumphant new addition to the U.S. global military empire.

▶️ Nuland literally f@ked the EU. Europe was forced to replace cheap Russian energy with expensive Russian energy, laundered through various middlemen. Entire industrial sectors have been gutted.

▶️ 440,000 dead Ukrainians.

US to EU.

🔵"we forced you to cut ties with Russia and its supply of cheap gas trough their gas pipelines, we even blew up Nordstream 2, we promised you we had you back in supplying LNG"

🔵"well guess what....we lied, you fcking morons believed us lol"

🔵"anyway your ties with Russia are over now and for decades!!!, just keep on obeying us, we might supply you LNG when prices are higher"

🔵"for the time being, keep cleaning our boots, bow and say thank you sir and shut the fck. up"

Joe Biden announced a suspension of gas exports to countries that do not have free trade agreements with the United States.

In the photo, countries that have such an agreement in the United States are marked in green. That is, the United States stops supplying LNG to all of Europe and Asia.

[mariacallous]

Moscow’s decadeslong weaponization of energy against Europe became an incontrovertible fact in late 2021 and early 2022, when the Kremlin throttled natural gas deliveries to stop Germany and other European countries from aiding Ukraine. To make sure that Russia cannot use energy to wage war again, it’s time for the United States to place permanent sanctions on the remaining Russian gas pipelines to Europe, starting with the existing but soon-to-expire sanctions on Nord Stream 2, the inactive gas pipeline that connects Russia with Germany under the Baltic Sea.

With Europe’s energy imports from Russia now down to a trickle, attention has increasingly focused on other questions—above all, just how reliable U.S. support for Ukraine will be going forward. Not only did the Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives block nearly $60 billion in military aid to Ukraine last fall and early this year, but the Biden administration has also been slow-rolling aid, is about to let several billion dollars in aid expire unused, and continues to dither on allowing Ukraine to strike military and infrastructure targets with long-range weapons.

But recent developments suggest that the next big question mark concerning support for Ukraine and Europe’s ability to withstand Russia is emanating not from Washington, but from Berlin.

In the years running up to Russia’s most recent invasion of Ukraine, successive German governments under Chancellors Gerhard Schröder, Angela Merkel, and Olaf Scholz pursued a policy of accommodation toward an increasingly authoritarian and aggressive Russia under President Vladimir Putin. This included the concepts of Neue Ostpolitik—or the “new eastern policy,” a supposed reboot of former Chancellor Willy Brandt’s Cold War-era rapprochement toward the Soviet bloc—and Wandel durch Handel, or “change through trade.”

In theory, the two concepts were supposed to lead to stable relations and even democratic reforms in Russia, based on the notion that increased commercial ties with Europe would show Putin the benefits of peaceful relations with Germany and the West. Unlike Brandt—who knew that the carrot of Ostpolitik only worked with the stick of strong Western deterrence—successive German administrations not only let their defense capabilities atrophy, but also vetoed NATO contingency planning on its eastern frontier, lest the Kremlin be offended.

Close ties with a resource-rich Russia also coincided with the interests of the German corporate sector, which has long wielded an outsized influence over policy in Berlin and has rarely let pesky distractions such as national security or human rights get in the way of deals with authoritarian nations.

This is not just hindsight. For almost two decades, there was a persistent chorus of contemporaneous warnings against Berlin’s policies toward Russia, the folly of which remains as evident today as it was at the time of their enactment. Despite Putin’s increasingly brutal crackdowns at home, multiple occupations of neighboring countries, and mounting attacks against Western democracies, successive German leaders kept rolling out their tired nostrums on Russia to cover the increasingly sordid business and energy ties they forged with Moscow.

Each of the three German leaders contributed. Schröder signed a highly controversial energy deal with Russia only a few months before departing office in 2005—and went to work for Kremlin-controlled Gazprom shortly thereafter. He eventually held posts at multiple Russian state-controlled energy enterprises, including as chairman of the shareholders’ committee at the Gazprom-backed Nord Stream 1 pipeline project, which he had greenlit as chancellor.

Merkel, his successor, then pushed through another pipeline project—Nord Stream 2—even as Russians were conducting cyberattacks against the German parliament and a campaign of assassinations in Europe, including one just steps from the Chancellery in Berlin. Not even Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine in 2014 could stop the project.

In mid-2022, Merkel admitted that she had never been under any “illusion” that Putin would change his ways through increased trade with Germany—yet she pursued the deals anyway. To be fair, Merkel never ruled alone, and for 12 out of the 16 years of her chancellorship, the traditionally Russia-friendly Social Democrats held powerful positions. These included then-Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a close confidant of Schröder’s, and then-Economic Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who greenlit the sale of Germany’s largest domestic gas storage infrastructure to Gazprom.

Steinmeier, who embodies Berlin’s failed Russia policies like few other politicians, is today Germany’s ceremonial president and missed a splendid opportunity to step down on Feb. 24, 2022, following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Gabriel, meanwhile, has also paid little political cost. He belatedly admitted mistakes in his relations with the Kremlin and seems to have reinvented himself as a staunch trans-Atlanticist with plum positions at Atlantik-Brücke, Harvard University, and the Eurasia Group.

Scholz, in turn, clung to Nord Stream 2, which was close to completion as Russia’s war on Ukraine was brewing in 2021 and early 2022. He refused to consider sending even strictly defensive weapons to Ukraine, offering to provide 5,000 helmets instead. He finally gave in to overwhelming pressure to revoke the pipeline’s operating permit just hours before Putin launched the invasion.

To Scholz’s credit, just days after the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, he proclaimed a bold reorientation of German foreign policy—the so-called Zeitenwende, or change to a new era—which was aimed at finally facing up to the Russian threat and renewing Germany’s defense posture. Since then, Germany has become the second-biggest provider of aid to Ukraine after the United States, including military, financial, and humanitarian aid.

Little is left of the Zeitenwende today. Last month, Germany slashed military aid for Ukraine in a draft federal budget for 2025 released last month, roughly halving it from the previous year’s total of 8 billion euros ($8.9 billion). While Berlin’s defense budget has finally reached NATO’s minimum of 2 percent of its GDP, the German government shows little hurry to build up weapons stocks and raise military readiness. With a view to next year’s national elections and rising support for Kremlin-friendly parties shaping recent regional elections, Scholz appears to be positioning himself to campaign as the “peace chancellor” who kept Germany out of the war. Too much help for Ukraine would only get in the way. Obviously, Berlin slashing aid would deal a major blow to Kyiv’s war effort, especially given doubts about Washington’s reliability following the November elections and the possible need for Europe to stand on its own.

Even as a cloud of uncertainty rises over German military aid to Ukraine, the cloud over Berlin’s future energy policy could turn out to be just as dark. Germany accomplished the feat of replacing Russian gas supplies in an astoundingly short time, but it’d be naïve to think that there won’t be strong pressure from German corporations and across much of the political spectrum to restore commercial ties with Russia the moment that a cease-fire between Moscow and Kyiv were announced. This pressure would be especially acute in the energy sector, where Germany long sought deals for relatively cheap pipeline gas from Russia. Germany’s energy options have shrunk even further following the shutdown of the last of its nuclear power plants last year.

It’s in the interest of the United States and all supporters of a free and peaceful Europe that Germany does not go back to its old Russia tricks.

Fortunately, the United States can help ensure that this does not happen. In 2019, the U.S. Congress passed limited, technology-calibrated sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline—in the form of the bipartisan Protecting Europe’s Energy Security Act—resulting in a one-year delay in construction as Russia scrambled to find other technical means to complete the project. But the law, which was expanded in scope a year later, will sunset at the end of this year if Congress doesn’t act. Even though Nord Stream 2 has never come into operation, members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee recently introduced new legislation that would renew the sanctions.

This should be a no-brainer for Congress. Already, the Senate Armed Services Committee and Banking Committee have reportedly approved extending the sanctions via an amendment to the annual National Defense Authorization Act. All that is required now is for the leadership of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to sign off, which is likely to happen soon.

The problem, however, is the White House. In late 2021, even as Putin was amassing troops at Ukraine’s doorstep, the Biden administration waived the sanctions that had delayed Nord Stream 2. It made a deal with the outgoing Merkel government: In exchange for sanctions relief, Berlin promised national and EU-level sanctions the moment that Russia “attempt[s] to use energy as a weapon or commit[s] further aggressive acts against Ukraine.”

Despite clear evidence that the Kremlin was already undersupplying European gas storage and threatening Moldova following its 2019 election of a pro-Western government, no German-led sanctions were forthcoming. Instead, the Merkel government fast-tracked approvals and dispatched envoys to Washington just weeks before the Russian invasion to lobby Congress to spare Putin’s pipeline. Biden and Scholz—who replaced Merkel as chancellor in December— finally stopped the project shortly before Russian tanks rolled across Ukraine’s frontier.

There is no excuse for a reprise. The era of Gazprom’s domination of Europe must finally be over, and neither the German business community nor the country’s pro-Kremlin political factions should contribute to undermining European peace and stability again. And if the Biden administration—which has pandered to Berlin to the exclusion of most other European allies—decides to oppose bipartisan congressional plans to extend sanctions, it should rethink that approach.

After all the sacrifice of the last few years, there is no reason to let malign Russian energy interests use their friends in Germany to creep back into Europe. And whoever wins the U.S. presidential election in November, American policy toward Europe should no longer pay such lopsided attention to the opinions of Berlin.

Biden, however, may once again be accommodating Scholz’s worst instincts if he intends to block the renewal of Nord Stream 2 sanctions, which will expire if Congress does not act. On Capitol Hill, support for sanctions renewal is bipartisan. It’s time for Biden and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin—who both have less than five months left in office—to bolster Europe’s long-term security by allowing the extension of sanctions.

While they’re at it, Biden and Cardin might also encourage new laws to prohibit, once and for all, former public officials from working for Russian state-owned-enterprises or their subsidiaries. And they should pressure Berlin to do likewise. Otherwise, Russian interests will make sure that a whole lot of trade without much change is coming down the pipeline.

[crowandtalbot]

Put this on tiktok but it's likely going to get removed:

AIPAC is behind most of the pro-Irsael to the point of cutting $14 billion from our IRS budget to help fund their military type craziness. Most US politicians are in their pocket and they are also the ones pushing legislation to make criticizing the Israel government illegal in the US and deporting all Palestinians in the US and just a shit ton of other anti-Arabic foreign policy.

Also a reminder that Netanyahu (Israeli Prime Minister, currently under investigation by the International Criminal Court for war crimes from before and after the continued siege of Gaza started) and his extremist administration are pushing for "Greater Israel" which would involve conquering Jordan, Lebanon, parts of Iraq, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. The proposed map looks like this:

There are many ways American imperialism and Evangelical Zionism would benefit from this map. It gives an American ally control of natural gas reserves off the coast of Gaza, it gives access to build the Ben Gurion Canal and the ability to construct an oil pipeline from Saudi Arabia into Europe and dominate the energy sector. It also allows America to funnel its Jewish population out of America without expressly deporting them. There is literally so much wrong with this.

But Americans can protest AIPAC directly and attempt to sever the connection between this lobbying group and our politicians. First by checking if our reps have already accepted AIPAC money (I recommend using opensecrets.org but googling usually works just as well), contacting them, and telling them that if they continue to accept AIPAC and AIPAC affiliate donations you will volunteer for thier opposition in the coming election. Then try to find a candidate running who doesn't accept AIPAC money and volunteer or donate for their campaign. Also, you don't have to be a politician's constituent to contact them. This means you can spam-fax their office or mail them physical form letters demanding action against Israel's genocide. These physical documents must be handled by actual staff and preserved so this is very disruptive for them.

AIPAC also has a website with a contact form and phone number you can call.

I would recommend filling the name and address fields with junk information (nothing too obvious for them to filter out) and then type whatever you would like to say in the actual message part.

And it wasn't hard for me to find a mailing address for them either.

However it is unlikely this is the only office they have, or that office even has many workers in it. Also if I can successfully convince people to pester them like we did to all those republican rallies in 2020, they can ask Google to remove that info and then remove their contact info from their website.

If we can disrupt AIPAC we can do a lot more good, not just for Palestine, but for Israel and other American backed genocides like in Congo and Sudan.

Please re-blog this, don't just like and move on.

[insert-witty-user-name-here]

50+ Good Things from the Biden Administration

Just a list of 50+ good things the Biden Administration has done in the last 4 years because I’ve been hearing too much rhetoric that it doesn’t matter who you vote for. It does make a difference. 

Increased access to healthcare and specifically codified protections for LGBTQ+ patients against discrimination. (x) 

Strengthened women's reproductive rights by increasing access to reproductive health care, improving confidentiality to protect against criminalization for patients receiving reproductive care, and revoked Medicaid waivers from states that would exclude providers like Planned Parenthood, and more. (x)

Expanded healthcare and benefits for veterans through the PACT Act (x)

Cemented protections for pregnant and postpartum workers through the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act. 

Improved access to nursing homes for those who receive Medicaid services and established, for the first time, a national minimum staffing requirement for nursing homes to ensure those in their care receive sufficient support.  (x) 

Lowered healthcare costs for those with Medicare which capped insulin for seniors at $35 a month, made vaccines free, and capped seniors’ out of pocket expenses at the pharmacy through the Inflation Reduction Act. 

Fully vaccinated 79% of American adults against COVID-19 (I know this is old news now this is a big deal) 

Banned unfair practices that hide housing fees from renters and homebuyers when moving into a new home (x) 

Reduced the mortgage insurance premium for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgages and clarified that inflated rents caused by algorithmic use of sensitive nonpublic pricing and supply information violate antitrust laws. (x) 

Increased protections for those saving for retirement from predatory practices. (x)

Helped millions of households gain access to the internet through the Affordable Connectivity Program. (x) 

Restored net neutrality (net neutrality is a standard which ensures broadband internet service is essential and prohibits interna providers from blocking, engaging in paid prioritization, and more.) (x)

Increased protections for loan holders as well as increased access to loans (x)

Cut fees that banks charge consumers for overdrawing on their accounts. (x)

Reaffirmed HUD’s commitment to remedy housing discrimination under the Fair Housing Act (which was– surprise, surprise– halted under the Trump administration). (x)

Rejoined the Paris Climate Accords.  

Listed more than 24 million acres of public lands across the country as environmentally protected and has channeled more than $18 billion dollars toward conservation projects. (And revoked the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline amongst others). 

Invested $369 billion to reduce greenhouse emissions and promote clean energy technologies through the Inflation Reduction Act. Through the tax incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act, renewable energy (such as wind, solar, and hydropower) has surpassed coal-fired generation in the electric power sector for the first time, making it the second-biggest source of energy behind natural gas. (x)

Strengthened protections against workplace assault through the Speak Out Act. (x) 

Increased protections for workers during the union bargaining process (x)

Is making it easier for passengers to obtain refunds when airlines cancel or significantly change their flights, significantly delay their bags, or fail to provide extra services when purchased. (x)  

Invested $1.2 trillion into roads, waterlines, broadband networks, airports and more allowing for more bridges, railroads, tunnels, roads, and more through the Inflation Reduction Act (which also added 670,000 jobs). (idk about you but I like driving on well maintained roads and having more rail options).  

Strengthened overtime protections for federal employees (x)

Raised the minimum wage for federal workers and contractors to $15. (x)

Strengthened protections for farmworkers by expanding the activities protected from retaliation by the National Labor Relations Act and more. (Previously anti-retaliation provisions under the National Labor Relations Act applies mostly to only U.S. citizens) (x)

Invested $80 billion for the Internal Revenue Service to hire new agents, audit the wealth, modernize its technology, and more. Additionally, created $300 billion in new revenue through corporate tax increases. (x) 

Lowered the unemployment rate to 3.5% — the lowest in 50 years. 

Canceled over $140B of student debt for nearly 40 million borrowers. (x)

Strengthened protections for sexual assault survivors, pregnant and parenting students, and LGBTQ+ students in schools through an updated Title IX rule. This updated rule strengthens sexual assault survivors rights to investigation– something that had been gutted under the Trump administration, strengthens requirements that schools provide modifications for students based on pregnancy, prohibits harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and more. (x)

Revoked an order that limited diversity and inclusion training. (x)

Cracked down on for profit colleges. (x)

Reaffirmed students’ federal civil rights protections for non-discrimination based on race, national origin, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender in schools. Specifically, the Department of Education made clear students with disabilities’ right to school, limiting the use of out of school suspensions and expulsions against them. (x) (x) 

Enhanced the Civil Rights Data Collection, a national survey that captures data on students’ equal access to educational opportunities. These changes will improve the tracking of civil rights violations for students, critical for advocates to respond to instances of discrimination. 

Provided guidance on how colleges and universities can still uphold racial diversity in higher education following the Supreme Court decision overturning affirmative action. (x) 

Issued a federal pardon to all prior Federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana. Additionally, the DEA is taking steps to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III substance instead of a Schedule I, limiting punishment for possession in the future. (x) 

Changed drug charges related to crack offenses, now charging crack offenses as powder cocaine offenses. This is a big step towards ending the racial disparity that punishes crack offenses with greater severity than offenses involving the same amount of powder cocaine. (x) 

Lowered the cost of local calls for incarcerated people through the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act as well as increased access for video calls (especially impactful for incarcerated people with disabilities). (x) 

Enacted policing reforms that banned chokeholds, restricted no-knock entries, and restricted the transfer of military equipment to local police departments. (x)

Established the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database (NLEAD) which will better track police officer misconduct. This database will vet federal law enforcement candidates who have a history of misconduct from being rehired and will make it easier and faster to charge police officers under the Death in Custody Reporting Act. (x) 

Added disability as a protected characteristic alongside race, gender, religion, and sexual orientation. Under the law, police officers are prohibited from profiling people based on these characteristics. …It sadly happens anyway but now there’s an added legal protection which means a mechanism to convict police officers should they break the law. (x) 

Required federal prisons to place incarcerated individuals consistent with their chosen pronouns and gender identity. (x) 

Expanded gun background checks by narrowing the “boyfriend” loophole to keep guns out of the hands of convicted dating partners, strengthening requirements for registering as a licensed gun dealer (closing the “gun show loophole”), and more through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.  (x) 

Increased mental health programs within police departments to support officers experiencing substance use disorders, mental health issues, or trauma from their duties. (x)

Lifted Trump era restrictions on the use of consent decrees. The Justice Department uses consent decrees to force local government agencies (like police departments) to eliminate bad practices (such as widespread abuse and misconduct) that infringe on peoples’ civil rights. (x) 

Improved reporting of hate crimes through the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act (x) 

Nominated the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court 

Confirmed 200 lifetime judges to federal courts, confirming historic numbers of women, people of color, and other judges who have long been excluded from our federal court system. (64% are women, 63% are people of color) 

Designated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) status for immigrants from Cameroon, Haiti, ​​El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Sudan, and more. (x) 

Ended the discriminatory Muslim and African bans (x). 

Provided a pathway to citizenship for spouses of U.S. citizens that have been living in the country without documentation. (x) 

Expanded healthcare to DACA recipients (x) 

This one is… barely a win but not by fault of the Biden Administration. The Department of Homeland Security as of Feb 2023 has reunited nearly 700 immigrant children that were separated from their families under Trump’s Zero Tolerance Policy. From 2017-2021, 3,881 children were separated from their families. About 74% of those have been reunited with their families: 2,176 before the task force was created and 689 afterward. But that still leaves nearly 1,000 children who remain tragically separated from their families from under the Trump Administration. (x)

(okay this one is maybe only exciting for me who’s a census nerd) Revised federal standards for the collection of race and ethnicity data, allowing for federal data that better reflect the country’s diversity. Now, government forms will include a Middle Eastern/ North African category (when previously those individuals would check “white”). Additionally, forms will now have combined the race & ethnicity question allowing for individuals to check “Latino/a” as their race (previously Latine individuals would be encouraged to check “Latino” for ethnicity and “white” for race… which doesn’t really resonate with many folks). (x) (I know this sounds boring but let me tell you this is BIG when it comes to better data collection– and better advocacy!).

Rescinded a Trump order that would have excluded undocumented immigrants from the 2020 Census which would have taken away critical funds from those communities. 

Required the U.S. federal government and all U.S. states and territories to recognize the validity of same-sex and interracial civil marriages by passing the Respect for Marriage Act, repealing the Defense of Marriage Act.

Reversed Trump’stransgender military ban. 

Proposed investments in a lot of programs including universal pre-k, green energy, mental health programs across all sectors, a national medical leave program for all workers and more. (x) 

Last… let’s also not forget all the truly terrible things Trump did when he was in office. If you need a reminder, scroll this list, this one mostly for giggles + horror, for actual horror about what a Trump presidency has in store, learn about ‘Project 2025’ from the Heritage Foundation. I know this post is about reasons to vote FOR Biden but let’s not forget the many, many reasons to vote for him over Trump. 

So, there it is, 50+ reasons to vote for Biden in the 2024 Election. 

Check your voter registration here, make a plan to vote, and encourage your friends to vote as well. 

All in all, yeah… there’s a lot of shitty things still happening. There’s always going to be shit but things aren’t going to change on their own. And that change starts (it certainly doesn’t end) with voting. 

Go vote in November. 

[communicationblogs]

Coiled Tubing Insights: A Deep Dive into Services, Operations, and Applications

Coiled Tubing Market Overview:

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Coiled Tubing Market Report Coverage

The “Coiled Tubing Market Report — Forecast (2024–2030)” by IndustryARC, covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments in the Coiled Tubing Industry. By Service: Well Intervention & Production, Drilling, Perforating, Fracturing, Engineering Services, Milling Services, Nitrogen services and others. By Operations: Circulation, Pumping, Logging, Perforation, Milling and Others. By Technology/Services: Software Solutions, Hardware By Location: On-Shore, Off-Shore By Application: Wellbore Cleanouts, Electrical Submersible Pump Cable Conduit, Fracturing, Pipeline Cleanout, Fishing, Cementing, Nitrogen Jetting and others. By End Use Industry: Oil and gas Industry, Engineering Procurement and Construction Industry, Others By Geography: North America (U.S, Canada, Mexico), South America (Brazil, Argentina, and others), Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, and Others), APAC (China, Japan India, SK, Australia and Others), and RoW (Middle East and Africa)

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Key Takeaways

North America dominates the Coiled Tubing Market share of 46.6% in 2023, owing to its advanced oil and gas industry, technological innovation, and substantial investments in exploration and production activities.

The development of unconventional resources, such as shale oil and gas, has increased the demand for coiled tubing services. Coiled tubing is often employed in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations in these unconventional reservoirs.

Well intervention services, including well cleaning, stimulation, and logging, are major applications of coiled tubing. As older wells require maintenance and newer wells require optimization, as a result growing the Demand for Well Intervention Services using coiled tubing continues to increase.

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Coiled Tubing Market Drivers

Increased Exploration and Production Activities

The surge in oil and gas exploration, notably in unconventional resources such as shale, tight gas, and heavy oil, is fueling the demand for coiled tubing services. Integral to well intervention and stimulation procedures, coiled tubing plays a pivotal role in sustaining and augmenting production rates. This heightened exploration and production activity underscores the significance of coiled tubing services in maintaining operational efficiency and maximizing output in the energy sector.

Increasing Energy Demand

The escalating global energy demand propels the coiled tubing market forward. With an ever-growing need for energy resources, particularly in oil and gas sectors, there’s a heightened requirement for efficient extraction methods. Coiled tubing technology offers a versatile and cost-effective solution for various well intervention and drilling operations, catering to the increasing complexities of resource extraction. Its flexibility, mobility, and ability to access challenging environments make it indispensable in meeting the surging energy demands worldwide. As industries strive to optimize production and enhance operational efficiency, coiled tubing emerges as a crucial component in the quest for sustainable energy solutions.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Paraguay pushes for $1.5bn gas pipeline with Argentina and Brazil

The pipeline would replace gas supplies from Bolivia but will require significant private sector investment if it is to materialise.

Paraguay is looking to develop a $1.5bn gas pipeline that will connect with Argentina and Brazil, with energy companies and high-ranking government officials engaging in talks on the matter.

Senior government officials from Paraguay and Brazil told Reuters that the plan, which is being drawn up by Paraguay, aims to compete with a rival Bolivian bid to repurpose existing pipelines to transport Argentine gas to Brazil. Either one of the projects would result in a major shift in regional energy flows if realised.

Mauricio Bejarano, Paraguay’s Deputy Mining and Energy Minister, told Reuters: “We want to sign a memorandum of understanding at a presidential level (for the pipeline) in June. There is a general support for the project.”

Rodrigo Maluff, Paraguay’s Vice-Minister for Investment, said that Brazil is warming to the idea of gas coming from Argentina’s booming Vaca Muerta shale region via the Paraguayan Chaco, as declining gas flows from Bolivia are forcing it to look for alternative suppliers. He added that this re-routing would require $1.2–1.5bn of investment, part of which will need to come from the private sector.

Continue reading.

[pipebossaustralia]

Why Hiring Experienced Pipeline Contractors is Necessary

Underground pipeline construction and installing pipes, a firm that has been operating for a long time itself become increasingly important. With pipeline construction, there are a variety of hazards that only people in the business and afford of such challenges to deal with correctly. Professional training is the only way to master them or avoid them altogether. In this blog post, I will explain why experienced pipeline contractors should be sought out everywhere and always

Quality and Safety Guaranteed

The benefits of having experienced contractors are that they adopt high standards for the quality and safety of every link in the pipeline chain. During pipeline construction, there are many potential dangers: ground subsidence, gas leaks, and all kinds of technical problems with the pipeline itself. However an experienced contractor recognizes these dangers and introduces measures to control them. Their mastery of pipeline construction safety aspects determines the project's success or failure.

Time and money saved

Experienced contractors have a proven track record of delivering on time and within budget. They have a wealth of project management experience which enables them to forestall any possible delays or unexpected spending) They lay out the study clearly and carry off every step beautifully, so your research will be completed on time and within budget.

Right Tools and Techniques Employed

Underground pipeline construction and pipe installation require specialized tools and cutting-edge techniques. Experienced contractors possess these tools and techniques, and they know how to use them properly. By using the right tools, not only is the job done faster, it is done right without any problems at all.

Knowledge gained from experience

Obedience of laws and regulations Law and legal requirements vary with different types of pipeline construction. Experienced contractors know this magnitude well and by the same token guarantee that your project conforms to the law in every respect So you can avoid legal problems and there are also some guarantees that your project will be finished on schedule.

Long-term results

Long-term effects pipeline construction handled by experienced contractors not only finishes on schedule and within budget but is also "long-life". Because of the expertise they bring to bear, they can ensure the quality and durability of the pipeline, so in future, there will be little need for repairs or maintenance.

Conclusion

Employing an experienced contracting and pipeline engineer brings with it many benefits that ensure the success and safety of the project. No matter if it consists in underground pipeline construction or pipe installation, a skilled contractor will help your project come in within the fixed time, within budget and with high quality.

Pipe Boss: Australia's #1 Choice for Safe Pipeline Installation

Streamline your construction projects with Pipe Boss, Australia's leading pipeline installation experts. Our cutting-edge solutions ensure safety and efficiency on every job.

[tubetrading]

Exploring Different Types of Square Pipes and Their Uses

Square pipes have become essential components in various industries due to their unique shape and strong qualities.  The amalgamation of their geometric configuration and remarkable durability makes them well-suited for a diverse range of applications.  This blog post provides a complete analysis of the many square pipes that are currently accessible in the market.  It examines their distinct properties and the wide array of industries in which they are utilised.  Elevate your structures with reliable square pipes by Tube Trading Co., your trusted partner and Square pipes supplier in Gujarat!

Mild Steel Square Pipes:

Mild steel square pipes, also known as MS square pipes, hold a significant presence within the construction and industrial sectors.  The reasons for their widespread acceptance can be ascribed to their cost-effectiveness, durability, and simplicity in production.  These pipes are widely utilised in the fabrication of frames, supports, and diverse structural components.

In addition to their application in construction, MS square pipes are commonly employed in the fabrication of furniture, racks, and fences owing to their notable pliability and corrosion resistance.  Due to their wide range of applications, these entities are considered vital assets in various initiatives, spanning from architectural ventures to industrial infrastructure development.

Stainless Steel Square Pipes:

Stainless steel square pipes are widely recognised for their remarkable resistance to corrosion and their pleasing visual characteristics.  These pipes have been utilised in architectural contexts, namely for embellishing handrails, balustrades, and other ornamental components.  The exceptional capacity to withstand adverse weather conditions and exhibit resistance to corrosion renders them a very suitable option for outdoor applications.

In addition, sectors such as food processing and pharmaceuticals exhibit a preference for stainless steel square pipes owing to their hygienic characteristics and convenient maintenance.  The integration of performance and aesthetics in these pipes renders them a highly desirable choice for applications that prioritise both endurance and visual appeal.

Aluminum Square Pipes:

Aluminium square pipes have emerged as a prominent choice due to their ability to achieve a harmonious equilibrium between strength, weight, and resistance to corrosion.  The utilisation of these pipes holds considerable influence in sectors such as aerospace and automotive, where their favourable high strength-to-weight ratio is evident.  The utilisation of aluminium square pipes in the construction industry yields advantages, as they facilitate the creation of structures and frames that are characterised by their lightweight nature.

Furthermore, their influence is evident within the renewable energy industry, specifically in the production of frameworks for solar panels.  The inherent inertness of aluminium guarantees the durability of these structures, hence enhancing the sustainability of solar energy installations.  Don't compromise on quality and strength, experience the difference with quality square pipes offered by Tube Trading Co.  - an excellent Square pipe distributor in Vadodara!

PVC Square Pipes:

PVC square pipes have dominated the plumbing, irrigation, and drainage industries due to their low cost and high durability.  These pipes are essential in water management systems and subterranean pipelines where corrosion is a major concern.  PVC square pipes can be used as electrical conduits due to their insulating characteristics.  Their importance in do-it-yourself (DIY) endeavours and the development of modular furniture is also not to be underestimated.  PVC pipes are ubiquitous in the arts because of their adaptability and portability.

Carbon Steel Square Pipes:

Carbon steel square pipes are the go-to option when extreme durability and tensile strength are required.  The oil and gas industry, among others, relies heavily on high-pressure applications, making these pipes an absolute necessity.  Because of their high resistance to wear, they are particularly effective at transporting fluids and are also able to deal with abrasive materials.  Carbon steel square pipes can be counted on for years to come, making them ideal for use in the production of long-lasting industrial machinery and equipment.

Galvanized Square Pipes:

When the primary issue is corrosion resistance, galvanised square pipes, which are strengthened by a zinc coating, become the focal point.  These pipes are commonly utilised in external structures such as fences, handrails, and signage.  In areas with elevated humidity levels or frequent contact with seawater, the galvanised coating serves as a defensive barrier, preventing corrosion and extending the durability of the pipes.  The cost-effectiveness of their endurance results in a reduction in maintenance requirements and enhances the structural integrity of buildings.

Final Thoughts:

The realm of square pipes offers a wide range of possibilities, accommodating the unique requirements of different sectors.  The diverse range of materials, such as mild steel with its utilitarian strength, stainless steel with its elegant properties, aluminium with its lightweight appeal, and PVC with its corrosion-resistant utility, each possess distinct characteristics that contribute to their individual merits. 

In addition, carbon steel and galvanised pipes are designed to meet specific needs, hence improving the performance and durability of various buildings and systems.  The examination of square pipes elucidates not only their tangible achievements but also their vital role in the advancement of contemporary infrastructure and architecture on a global scale.  Crafting Gujarat's infrastructure with excellence.  Choose Tube Trading Co. – a renowned Square pipe dealer in Vadodara as your square pipes partner!

[channeledhistory]

One person said that the White House had grown increasingly frustrated by brazen Ukrainian drone attacks that have struck oil refineries, terminals, depots and storage facilities across western Russia, hurting its oil production capacity. Russia remains one of the world’s most important energy exporters despite western sanctions on its oil and gas sector. Oil prices have risen about 15 per cent this year, to $85 a barrel, pushing up fuel costs just as US President Joe Biden begins his campaign for re-election. Washington is also concerned that if Ukraine keeps hitting Russian facilities, including many that are hundreds of miles from the border, Russia could retaliate by lashing out at energy infrastructure relied on by the west. This includes the CPC pipeline carrying oil from Kazakhstan through Russia to the global market. Western companies including ExxonMobil and Chevron use the pipeline, which Moscow briefly shut in 2022.

[beyond-a-name]

I saw some cool art of someone in the U.S. wearing a mask because of the smoke from forest fires here in Canada, and like. It's cool to see art of a problem affecting my country, but it's downright depressing that it only happens when it's affecting the U.S., (or at least that I only see it then).

Living here is exhausting, but a part of me knows there is actually quite a lot of wonderfully uniquely Canadian things to celebrate and share, but we never see it because our politicians are too busy copying the U.S.'s inadequacy to support any of it.

A local university radio station in my province, CKUA, has to ask for funding damn near every month to keep open, despite being some wonderful and varied public broadcasting. The UCP hasn't done shit to curb hateful protests at drag events. We have so many variations of French here in Canada specific to most of the Eastern provinces, and I learned that this year because I went looking for it after never having had any conversational French language education in school. We never learn any indigenous languages, despite that arguably being some of the most defining cultural heritage we have. Any time I hear that an actor is Canadian, I'm genuinely surprised. We have a few staple shows that everyone seems to know (like Letterkenny or Reboot), but what about all the underground and upcoming art movements here in Canada? I know we have them, but why don't we ever hear about them? What are they?? Or or Canadian architecture, maybe?? Why don't we read about Canadian literature movements, or scientific advancements? I know who threw the first brick at Stonewall, but I have to really dig for the roots of Canadian queer history to the point that I barely know where to start looking.

And like, we've been dealing with these forest fires for around 5 years now. Our government doesn't care; Trudeau bails out oil execs and every conservative or centrist with half a brain cell to rub together parrots the same shit talking point about how "Canada's a huge country and so our trees and such actually mean our carbon footprint is negative," or "Actually what we need in Canada isn't clean energy but more pipelines to process our own oil because fuck indigenous lands and my failhusband works in oil and it's unthinkable that he could simply get a job in the new blossoming clean energy sector, then he'd lose his oil job!!!!!"

Like the entire town of Litton burned down last year in record breaking heat and I had to make a DIY AC unit because my landlord sure as fuck wasn't going to use the half of my salary that I gave him to work that out. This year my friend had to evacuate for two weeks, and the entire time I want to sit and worry about him, I'm too busy trying very hard to make it into affordable housing that's probably going to get kneecapped thanks to the UCP's second term here in Alberta. Entire reservations (that still don't have clean drinking water!!!!!!) are simply being ignored by the government even more than usual and crowdfunding evacuations to escape forest fires. Now all of the Eastern provinces are ablaze and the first time I see political art of someone giving a shit it's because half a country evaporating into smoke inconvenienced The Home of The Brave in the Good Ol' U S of A.

...

I'm tired. Like, I used to be in cadets and care about the flag, and I really think Canada has a lot of room to grow and a unique culture to embrace and share and improve further. But boy is it so exhausting that no one gives a shit about us until the U.S. gets a taste of what we've had to internalize and cope with for years now. At least now the public opinion in the U.S. might push some party head to pay lip service to climate change, before they ignore it, of course.

[zvaigzdelasas]

The inauguration of President-elect Bola Tinibu took place on Monday 29 May in Abuja, Nigeria. It was attended by several heads of state and high-ranking officials from different countries. 

Brahim Ghali, leader of the Polisario Front, arrived at Abuja airport without an official welcome and without interacting with any senior Nigerian officials, who usually receive heads of state. Some images of the inauguration ceremony show him behind glass, with no visible presence in the vicinity of any of the heads of state or in official photos with senior Nigerian officials.

There has been a noticeable change in Moroccan-Nigerian relations in recent years. King Mohammed VI's visit to Nigeria in December 2016 initiated a new phase in Morocco-Nigeria relations, during which the Moroccan king was able to persuade Nigeria to remain neutral on the Sahara dossier. In February 2021, the former Nigerian president said: "We are always grateful to Morocco for the support it has given us in fertiliser production in the country. We have 42 companies producing fertilisers in six geopolitical regions". [...]

Economic relations between the two countries are reflected in the various interactions and cooperation, such as support for fertiliser production, the recent Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project, and in sectors such as energy and agriculture.

Although Nigeria has previously considered supporting the Polisario, Moroccan political analysts argue that the development and strengthening of relations by Nigerian officials between the two countries is part of the entry point for supporting Morocco's territorial integrity.  In several statements, Tinibu expressed his admiration for Morocco's achievements in the economic and development fields, stressing that strengthening this strategy will lead Nigeria to modify its position on the territorial dispute.

2 Jun 23