With all the surplus funds floating around, it would be a reach to prove unequivocally the Fed itself financed such a transaction. The transaction could have been done in Euros with a series of derivative trades. It could be a hedge against another trade as well, like against Greek bonds or other PIGS paper that has gotten extremely expensive.

The reason for the mess in Ukraine will probably never see the light of day. I do believe we are trying to start the cold war again. I also believe that the people in the Ukraine are tired of getting fucked by the Russians, the Western Bankers and the leaders that are being paraded in front of them. Just as I am tired of the stage show we see in the US. The consent of the governed isn't always possible.

I have a sense the Communist revolution in Russia was about big oil and I suspect this one is as well. All the nonsense about filling the void with American gas is just that. If they attempt to do that, you can expect natural gas to seek a level much closer to the price of oil, thus your gas bill doubling at the least, once you figure the retail transmission costs and mark up. Sell the same shit for triple the price or greater. All they have to do is get the Russians out of the market.

All wars are about 3 things, food, minerals or generational hatred between groups, who probably fought wars in the past over the same thing or whose God is right. World War I was over these things. World War II was somewhat a result of the hard feelings over the previous war along with the Japanese seeking minerals and slave labor. It is deeper than that, but those were key components.

The nature of the oil and gas business demands control over supply along with control over the source of minerals. Extracting gas out of shale has opened a new avenue in energy that wasn't present before. It has also resulted in massive leasing of land. The oil and gas lease has some terms in it that force drilling and production of these minerals or the lease expires, usually after 5 years or when production ceases for a period of time, whichever is later. There has been massive leasing, so there has to be massive drilling and some production, even in a bad market. The industry pretty much demands producing as much of the substances as one can produce, as fast as they can produce it. Though waiting has some benefits, it also has its hazards, one of them being needed cash flow is denied. Knock a major producer out of the market and it opens the door to higher prices and a faster mode of production.

I would suggest Russia is the last frontier of on land minerals. There is really no telling how much of a lot of stuff they have there. The bankers here screw us out of everything we have, so why not the Russians. I doubt those involved really give a damn about what happens to the people in the Ukraine. I doubt we really gave a damn about what was happening to the Jews in Germany, as Albert Speer indicated in his book we could have ended that war merely by bombing their electricity. Why did we wait until the Russians got there 2 or 3 years later?

John Xenakis of Generational dynamics contends that war is part of the human DNA. Examining my own psyche, I have to admit that I can't disagree. Why else would so many people line up to participate in such a stupid activity? Usually so those in charge can gain more power and wealth at the expense of those under them? Hitler is always on the other side.

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The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.---John Kenneth Galbraith