Sanctions on Russia

First off, we need those Trump sanctions lifted and the Venezuelan assets unblocked—those were frozen by executive order.

He was riding high on all those retweets after he pulled it off, so he was pretty stoked that day.

dustyowl29 said:The US really needs to lean on Venezuela to ramp up production—we need that market stability if we want prices to actually drop. Same goes for Iran. They’ve got the oil, but Americans have managed to annoy pretty much everyone, and now that things are getting tight, suddenly everyone else is acting like they're doing us a massive favor... :-D

The Venezuelans would be pumping out oil if it weren't for the fact that their socialist management styles and blatant cronyism have completely gutted their production capacity.

Anthony Hill5 said:The Venezuelans would be pumping out oil if it weren't for the fact that their socialist management styles and blatant cronyism have completely gutted their production capacity.

Plus, they lack the actual expertise, tech, and gear needed to pull those resources out of the ground. Might be a hiccup somewhere, or maybe Iran isn't interested in trading gold anymore. If the gold runs out, that's it.

It’ll all happen eventually... the key is just letting the pressure out. Once things stabilize, you can bet the Americans will swoop in to invest—after all, Venezuela sits on about a quarter of the world's oil reserves, and let's face it, commerce is a cold-hearted mistress that always puts profit first. Nobody wants sky-high energy costs, especially not Americans.
They might tolerate just about anything else, but a drop in their standard of living? Not a chance. Honestly, I don't think Europeans are ready to embrace poverty either, but Americans take the lead in that department—just like they take the lead in being the literal front line in the conflict against Russia. We're looking at an open clash between Russia and the USA right now; it’s becoming impossible to ignore. It isn't direct, sure, but it's definitely indirect. Every single American wants to see a weakened Russia, and that's exactly what's going to happen.

New York Times: With prices climbing, the outlook for the Russian economy is getting 'pretty grim'

Since sanctions basically crippled production at their assembly plant in Kaliningrad, the Russian automaker Ford announced they’re running some kind of lottery for free 10-acre plots of land—plus a chance to buy seed potatoes—so employees can try growing their own food on the far western edge of the Russian Empire during this "tough economic climate."

Over in Moscow, shoppers are complaining that bananas jumped from $0.80 to $1.30 a pound, while in Irkutsk, an industrial hub out in Siberia, the price of tampons at the store has doubled to $7.

Banks have actually started cutting down the size of their bills because they're running short on paper. Even clothing manufacturers are saying they’ve run out of buttons. (😲)

And even though Russia has had to sell oil at a discount, those insane spikes in global prices mean tax revenue from oil could climb by over $180 billion this year despite lower production, according to ExxonMobil. Natural gas deliveries should add another $80 billion to the Moscow treasury.

Melissa Bailey5 said:New York Times: With prices climbing, the outlook for the Russian economy is getting 'pretty grim'

Jumped from 60 up to 100???

Michael Ortiz68 said:Jumped from 60 up to 100???

from 60 up to 100 dollars

had shot up to 100 dollars from 60

Michael Ortiz68 said:Jumped from 60 up to 100???

Well, yeah, the USD/RUB exchange rate is sitting right around 60 at the moment. ☕

Melissa Bailey5 said:from 60 up to 100 dollars

had shot up to 100 dollars from 60

I misread that in my rush. My bad.

Nathan Evans78 said:Well, yeah, the USD/RUB exchange rate is sitting right around 60 at the moment. ☕

I guess it doesn't really matter what the exchange rate looks like to those Russians, honestly. It probably makes zero difference to them.

Michael Ortiz68 said:I misread that in my rush. My bad.

I get it. 👍

Nathan Evans78 said:Well, yeah, the USD/RUB exchange rate is sitting right around 60 at the moment. ☕

😁

aha....

And what are the actual odds that some Russian guy with a few rubles in his pocket can just walk into a bank in Moscow and actually buy dollars at that rate? Is the chance zero, or is it basically absolute zero? 😁

The Americans are sweating over how to move Ukrainian grain.

With the bridge near Zatoka trashed and the maritime blockade of Odessa still holding firm—especially after that failed offensive on Snake Island—things are messy. Now they’re entertaining this idea of hauling it by rail through Belarus to reach the port of Klaipeda. The catch? They might lift sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilizer to make the deal work.

Honestly, the Americans are kind of a joke. They always act like they can just wipe the slate clean and pretend everything is fine the moment they extend an olive branch... How convenient, right? And apparently, they need the fertilizer just as much as the grain. 🙂

Can I ask a stupid question here: why not just ship the grain toward Poland? Maybe they don't want to tie up the rail lines needed for moving weapons, and returning empty freight cars would be too much of a hassle? Guess they have to pick their priorities.

slyfox43 said:Word on the street was they recently rolled out a new batch of ten T-90Ms, though they were just sitting under tarps, unstrapped to the railcars, and didn't exactly scream "finished product." 🤣

Nobody really uses cast turrets anymore, not even the Russians. While those early T-90A and T-90S models featured cast designs, the more recent iterations have moved entirely to welded construction.

So what are the pros and cons of cast vs. welded?

dustyowl29 said:Yeah, let's be real—most Chinese cars are basically just carbon copies of Japanese, Korean, or American models. I mean, Volvo is alright, but most of the rest aren't even good enough to make it onto export markets.
Would you actually buy a Chang’an?
Probably not.

I honestly think the Russians would just end up building those cars under some deal with the Chinese—you know, like a licensing thing—but they'd slap a Russian name on them, maybe something recognizable like Kamaz.

Brenda Murphy3 said:😁

aha....

And what are the actual odds that some Russian guy with a few rubles in his pocket can just walk into a bank in Moscow and actually buy dollars at that rate? Is the chance zero, or is it basically absolute zero? 😁

Honestly, I couldn't care less about the Russians. The only time I ever had anything good to say about them was back in 2006 when they were over here on the coast spending money like there was no tomorrow.

wiredseal7 said:The Americans are sweating over how to move Ukrainian grain.

With the bridge near Zatoka trashed and the maritime blockade of Odessa still holding firm—especially after that failed offensive on Snake Island—things are messy. Now they’re entertaining this idea of hauling it by rail through Belarus to reach the port of Klaipeda. The catch? They might lift sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilizer to make the deal work.

Honestly, the Americans are kind of a joke. They always act like they can just wipe the slate clean and pretend everything is fine the moment they extend an olive branch... How convenient, right? And apparently, they need the fertilizer just as much as the grain. 🙂

Can I ask a stupid question here: why not just ship the grain toward Poland? Maybe they don't want to tie up the rail lines needed for moving weapons, and returning empty freight cars would be too much of a hassle? Guess they have to pick their priorities.

I certainly didn't expect you to condemn the Russian blockade of wheat exports, which is effectively starving millions of people in Africa and the Middle East just to serve their own strategic interests.

Nathan Evans78 said:Honestly, I couldn't care less about the Russians. The only time I ever had anything good to say about them was back in 2006 when they were over here on the coast spending money like there was no tomorrow.

Look, whether you have feelings for the Russians or not is irrelevant. What matters is that the exchange rate you're talking about is totally artificial...

It’s like if the US government claimed 1 US Dollar was worth 3 cents... you can't actually go out and buy a Dollar, you can only deal in cents😁 ..

It seems like everyone is currently scrambling to burn through their rubles just to grab whatever scraps of Western goods are left sitting on the store shelves. I guess you see prices for things like Apple laptops dropping almost every single day now, though I suppose there's really no guarantee or warranty to speak of anymore.

Once those remaining stocks finally run dry, I imagine we’ll see the ruble take a massive tumble.

electricsurfer47 said:So what are the pros and cons of cast vs. welded?

Any machinist will tell you that.

Rolled steel is tougher, so when you weld it, you end up with a stronger turret, even if it looks a bit more "boxy."

Cast armor was great during WWII for mass production—even though they still had to weld parts together back then. I guess the Russians just got better at welding before everyone else did, while others were still stuck riveting things together.

It’s interesting, actually. They were among the first to try sandwich armor (shortly after the Chobham armor in the UK), but they only used it on the T-72 hull; the turret stayed cast.

wiredseal7 said:The Americans are sweating over how to move Ukrainian grain.

With the bridge near Zatoka trashed and the maritime blockade of Odessa still holding firm—especially after that failed offensive on Snake Island—things are messy. Now they’re entertaining this idea of hauling it by rail through Belarus to reach the port of Klaipeda. The catch? They might lift sanctions on Belarusian potash fertilizer to make the deal work.

Honestly, the Americans are kind of a joke. They always act like they can just wipe the slate clean and pretend everything is fine the moment they extend an olive branch... How convenient, right? And apparently, they need the fertilizer just as much as the grain. 🙂

Can I ask a stupid question here: why not just ship the grain toward Poland? Maybe they don't want to tie up the rail lines needed for moving weapons, and returning empty freight cars would be too much of a hassle? Guess they have to pick their priorities.

Knowing that typical cowboy American style, I’d say they’ll probably just equip the Ukrainians with the latest anti-ship missiles instead. Missiles for the grain. 🙂