Seriously Guardian, do try and get the numbers right

I suppose that saying “the world’s” implies the international trade aspect of the crop.

Pressure is building for an international agreement on a rescue mission for Ukraine’s grain, which is desperately needed to feed the world

Unfortunately the mooted ‘rescue mission’ looks a lot like a ruse to get NATO directly involved in the war, being a wheeze that would involve Royal Navy warships entering the Black Sea and establishing a No Fly Zone (remember that one?).

We’re a lot more likely to get WW3 if that happens, which is a sort-of solution to feeding the masses. Being slightly cynical I suspect it’s a Plan B to shore up Western-controlled Ukraine for when the Donbass falls. But a lot riskier than anything NATO has attempted so far.

Ukraine produces as much as half the world’s sunflower seeds, a tenth of its wheat and up to a fifth of barley and rapeseed.

Ukraine produces about 3% of the world’s wheat, and normally supplies about 9% of wheat exports. Russia about 11% and 19% respectively. The Ukrainian war by itself won’t cause famine, but the combination of war plus sanctions on Russia and Belarus probably will.

Nota Benny the secondary effects of the sanctions include crazy price rises and shortages of fertiliser for European and American farmers, magnifying the global problem. We either learned nothing from the global disruption of lockdowns, or TPTB deliberately want to cause starvation like Madeleine Albright when she was smirked off the deaths of half a million Iraqi children.

Possibly both – I doubt Liz Truss can count to 12 without taking her bra off, but ghouls like Klaus Schwab are probably grinning at their handiwork.

A failure to arrange a grain corridor could also have lasting repercussions for countries such as Egypt, who are reliant on Ukrainian imports.

Mighty Egypt depending on imports to fill the Pharaoh’s granaries. Sad!

Marty McFly thought we’d have hoverboards and flying cars by now, but here we are talking about food shortages and partitioning Europe. Stop the Planet of the Apes, I want to get off.

Ignoring the differences between world production and exports – I’m asking seriously here, is a lack of sunflower seeds a big deal?

Hullo BiS

What does “Western controlled Ukraine” actually mean Steve? Apart from the snear aspect?

The Ukrainian government is entirely dependent on Western money, weapons and other special support. It’d collapse very quickly if that support was withdrawn. So Kiev has no ability in practice to deviate from whatever nice people such as Victoria Nuland and Joe Biden tell them to do. They’ve been a client state of the West since 2014, and are a dependent state now and for the foreseeable.

The “West” is a group of nations cooperate for mutual benefit. All of them are under the “control of the West” to some extent. That’s what cooperation is.

I’m not seeing much mutual benefit from being on Uncle Sam’s Wild Ride, and I don’t think the Big Guy or his sidekicks give a toss about our interests. Nor would I expect them to, after they walked away from the carnage they caused in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya while whistling innocently.

So are Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania under “Western control”? If they are they seem pretty happy with it.

They do indeed. The benefits – to us – of promising to fight their wars for them are more obscure tho. Why are we bound by treaty to fight a nuclear war, should that be necessary, to defend the territorial integrity of North Macedonia? That should be the very dictionary definition of NOMFUP.

Western control is different from EU control, by the way.

Seems pretty obvious the EU is the US’s bitch. It’s the French and the Germans who’ve been trying to find a peaceful solution in Ukraine since 2014, and the Americans who’ve been arming the place and encouraging them to ignore the Franco-German mediated peace agreements they signed with Russia. Now the EU is being strongly encouraged to commit economic suicide by their good friends in Washington, and aren’t even resisting very much. When Mrs Nuland said “Fuck the EU”, she meant it.

Are you advocating being outside “Western Control”?

Yes. I would like Britain to be controlled by the British, acting in the interests of Britain. We could even find a catchy name for it such as “Global Britain”. The Wogosphere would just have to figure out how to settle their own disputes without us.

You have to admit, though, that between them Ukraine and Russia are providing or provoking more than 10% of the world’s bullshit.

Tim, why are you worrying about the Grauniad’s normal innumeracy when it thinks July is Spring? “in just over a month the spring harvest…” Surely the latter is conclusive evidence of their utter idiocy?

To put it in terms the elitists can understand:

If you’re running a lobbying firm, some of your funding comes from your own pockets (just thought you could use a good laugh), some of it comes from average citizens who donate, some of it comes from taxpayers, and some of it comes from corporate partners. If 20% of lobbying firms get funding from, say, Amazon, that doesn’t mean Amazon provides 20% of all funding for lobbyists. You also need to count the other funding streams.

@Steve

Plus One

Also Ukraine as blockaded Donbas ports and won’t allow cargo ships to enter or leave. Ports idle with piles of coal and other goods, but no ship movements. Turkey not happy

As for TPTB, I think Biden admin is deliberately creating inflation and shortages to provoke mass riots, looting and more so martial law can be introduced

‘Anonymous – wogs begin at Calais’

Steve, I must admit I’d always thought it was some British royal or other who originated that one. But I’m damned if I can remember who.

Information for all, especially the Nazi deniers

The U.S. and the Far-Right in Ukraine
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We know that the vast majority of Ukrainians do not hold far-right political views.
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In the 2019 parliamentary elections, the country’s main far-right party, Svoboda, took only a single seat in the Rada. And the picture was not dramatically different in 2014, when Svoboda and Right Sector, another far-right party, took only seven seats. (There are 450 in total.) Although Svoboda did gain 37 seats in the 2012 elections, more people voted for the Communist Party.
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Which makes America’s history of courting far-right Ukrainian politicians somewhat peculiar.
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In December of 2013, while the Maidan protests were going on, U.S. Senator John McCain flew to Kiev to express his support for the protestors. “The free world is with you. America is with you. I am with you”, he assured them. But aside from delivering this speech, he also dined with ‘opposition leaders’, including a man named Oleh Tyahnybok – the leader of Svoboda…
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https://dailysceptic.org/2022/06/07/the-us-and-the-far-right-in-ukraine/

Sadly Ukraine v Russia has become the latest religious cult and facts no longer matter, only emotion and support the latest thing msm tell us to

@Tim Worstall

C4 News have outbid Guardian, it’s now 25% of wheat and grain

@PJF
Mine fields – is that news for you? Even C4 News now reporting it

@PJF

Now you’ve desended further into the ad-hom hades. Attacking me for a factual article written by someone else whose facts you don’t like because they’re blasphemy for Russiaphobians

Mines: C4 News lying in favour of Russia? Look at a map

Your insults are theatrical and tedious

shrieking about Nazis – that would be you

Map: Donbass ports are Black Sea

“I don’t watch” but I know you’re wrong – Whut? Well, we can end it there, you’re as bad as The Lady of Heaven violent protestors