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Audio version [download 343MB]: https://s.go.ro/sr1mmbf6

When we titled episode 28 “We’re all living in Eastern Europe” we were thinking more like Eastern Europe of the 1990s – that is to say increased corruption, a good dose of institutional chaos, increased inflation and a decent dose of infrastructure decay. What we weren’t thinking of is Eastern Europe of the 1980s – namely all of the above plus food shortages, electricity shortages and full HONK propaganda. Yet the latter is increasingly more present, particularly in the so-called ‘civilized’ West.

A recession is a foregone conclusion in the US (and by consequence in most of the world) and the only reason this word is not being uttered is because the midterms are coming. Meanwhile, Ohio governor signed the bill to allow teachers to be armed – a step in the right direction. In the background, 10 retiring boomer ‘republican’ senators are joining the far-Left in an attempt to pass an obviously unconstitutional gun bill while California Dems want to weaponize the local IRS against patriotic groups in a bid to prevent California’s slow march towards becoming red again.

In Sweden, Ukrainian refugee children are being beaten up by Arabs who tell them to “go home” – in yet another event showing the deep problem that exists in Sweden as a result of the catastrophic decisions made back in 2015-16.

The European Commission may end up in a spat again with the United Kingdom as the Johnson government is trying to correct a provision of the Brexit agreement which, at the moment, de facto turns Northern Ireland in a third-party state. Meanwhile, Nord Steam 1 is working at a lower capacity as more and more countries in Evropeiski Soyuz are being compelled to embrace nuclear.

But while the problems in Europe and North America are causing some turbulence, they are for sure mild in comparison to the spillover effects on Africa. Even in wealthier space-program operator Nigeria the fuel prices are threatening the domestic flights, public transport is almost entirely paralyzed in Zimbabwe and in Cameroon thousands of truckers spend weeks stranded at highways and border crossings due to lack of diesel which threatens to cause its own local version of supply chain chaos.

Also in Africa, Moscow is trying to get approval to build a military base in Sudan as the transition to democracy is blocked in Khartoum and the negotiations seem to have hit a dead-end.

In Israel the country might get its fifth election in three years as the coalition of Naftali Bennett is now officially a minority government and thus subjected anytime to a successful vote of no confidence given that Benjamin Netanyahu has made no secret that he is vying for a return to power.

Disney has a film banned in UAE for consistent pidar in public; the Yemeni government is slowly progressing in its peace negotiations with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and while the world is grappling with oil shortages, Idemitsu Kosan, a Japanese oil company is phasing out one of its big refineries as Japan is preparing for an economy with a smaller population.

Meanwhile, the CCP is using the Cough19 QRkodizatsiya programme to prevent protests from taking place against the financial mismanagement of four rural banks which may have lost at least $3bn in depositors’ money; all while Xi Jinping is trying his best to divert attention from all of these issues as he’s preparing for the Congress of the Party in the second half of the year.

The new majority government in Australia is already showing strong 1980s Ceaușescu vibes in terms of its approach to energy; the Australian Reserve Bank makes no promises that the interest rates won’t go to the Moon, while in NZ the country is only now finding out about the principle in commercial law called “abuse of dominant position” all while the country is also trying hard (and for the most part failing) to disarm its population.

These and other news are discussed thoroughly in this long-waited 30th edition of the World Sofa Report. Let’s explore!

News #1 – https://www.theepochtimes.com/ohio-governor-signs-bill-allowing-teachers-to-be-armed_4530001.html

Why We Won’t Raise Our Kids in Suburbia – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHlpmxLTxpw

News #2 – https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/us-recession-risks-rising-federal-reserve-interest-rates-cpi-inflation-2022-6

News #3 – https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/us-companies-buy-russian-fertilizer-war-ukraine-grain-food-crisis-2022-6

News #4 – https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/senate-races-craft-bipartisan-gun-bill-week-runs-obstacles-rcna33393

News #5 – https://www.foxnews.com/media/pennsylvania-lawmakers-impeach-philadelphia-da-larry-krasner

News #6 – https://www.theepochtimes.com/california-dems-aim-to-target-tax-exempt-status-of-patriot-groups_4531492.html

Music break #1 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e3QJhipWNY

News #7 – https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/13/uk-moves-to-rewrite-brexit-rules-eu-threatens-legal-action

News #8 – https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/nord-stream-gas-capacity-restrained-by-repair-delays-gazprom-says-2022-06-14/

News #9 – https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy/opinion/thorny-road-to-nuclear-energy-comeback/