Posts by Dennis Price

Anthony Hill5 said:Forgive me, but where, precisely, did I ever state such a thing?

Don't sweat it. Just more talk about Russian collateral damage—some kid who rushed straight off to U.S. Steel to play hero. The only real tragedy here is that her father wasn't driving the car, along with the President.

wiredseal7 said:Why would I condemn it? Who started the whole freezing assets and sanctions game first?
Russian moves are just a response to the economic war waged against them—you know, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.

I’d criticize it if it happened before all this, but Russia isn't the aggressor here—they're playing defense.

Besides, they did it to keep the company breathing and save jobs. That's actually responsible policy—unlike the European approach, where I assume some Frenchman will end up footing the bill for Renault with a few billion euros.

It's not even comparable to Gazprom, which would be pumping gas regardless of whether they were expropriated or not.

Renault agreed to it? Well, can't blame them... no point complaining when the deal is already done.
They probably got some compensation—which is obviously being kept hush-hush because of that hysterical Zelensky administration running around lobbying and acting like clowns.

Pretty much like how the Russians agreed to buy the A330. Everyone's happy. 😁

The critics would argue that Russia essentially bought a Renault plant that can't actually build any Renaults—but let's not get bogged down in that.

I just hope the Russians working there realize that profits from selling some random Lada aren't going to save their jobs.

It’s entirely possible we'll see China pivot away from the West if communism collapses—maybe nationalism becomes their new way of life. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised. They have the most advanced surveillance apparatus ever built, after all. History is full of precedents for this kind of thing in China, though it certainly wouldn't be a "good" change. Their aging population makes it even more likely—we're looking at potentially the most conservative political body in history within a few decades.

The black market for foreign currency in Russia is running at about a 30-40 percent premium right now. Politicians steal from their own people during wartime—it’s just how things work there.

fadedranger162 said:You bet I am. Especially when it comes to the guys playing footsie with them—kind of like how everyone’s acting toward the Russians right now. You try to be a "good friend" to those types, and suddenly all your real estate in the States vanishes, and your businesses get blacklisted because nobody wants to risk being used as a laundry service for their dirty cash.

Sure, with people who haven't been proven guilty yet, pulling that off is basically impossible. But we've all seen what happens in places like Italy when they finally nail a whole branch of a mafia family and end up combing through every single thing they own.

But I've honestly never seen a blockade this massive—where they go after every possible friend, business, or connection linked to a criminal. There might be similar tools out there, but compared to this, they seem pretty weak, especially considering the civilian casualties in Ukraine could rival some of the drug cartels in Latin America—maybe even trail behind them if we look back further.

There aren't any sanctions for crime. Crime is just crime.

fadedranger162 said:Going a bit off-topic here, but this whole "threat to international peace and security" thing got me thinking. It’d be interesting if we just made it a standard rule to seize all assets from these cartels, killers, arms dealers, and anyone else playing ball with them. Why wait for a crisis?

So you're actually advocating for sanctions against criminals? 😵😵

quietviper0 said:Does anyone happen to have a handle on the logic or the actual reasoning behind this massive surge in the ruble's official value?
From what I can gather—and I might be missing something here—the market is pretty tight, there isn't much foreign currency being traded, and their imports have absolutely plummeted... it seems like the official exchange rate is mostly just used to recalculate export revenues, which, since most of those exports are energy and raw materials, eventually just flow straight back into the federal treasury.

Wouldn't it actually make more sense for both the private companies and the government budget if the ruble were weaker, just so they could convert more rubles for every dollar or euro they bring in?

I mean, what other possible benefit could they be getting from pushing the ruble up to 66 against the dollar, whatever it is currently sitting at?

I'll be the first to admit I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to these complex economic machinations, so I'm having a bit of a hard time wrapping my head around the whole situation right now...

Rubles deflating against other currencies is a messy business. It could be a sign that the black market is growing—there are a hundred different factors at play. The big thing is that the ruble isn't easily convertible. Having domestic price inflation in Russia paired with nominal currency deflation is definitely not a winning combo for them. What really interests me is how Russians and Chinese people are settling prices these days. That would probably solve a huge part of the puzzle.

wiredseal7 said:Only by the end of the year, though 😁

Victory! Canada isn't going to implement any sanctions!

Carl Lee27 said:RussianOilTracker, from what I can see, they’re tracking pretty much every single tanker hauling cargo out of Russia
https://twitter.com/RuOilTracker/sta...3ElJH0lbg&s=19

Like people have been saying in this thread and even a few posts back, the Netherlands is such a massive importer of Russian oil—it either gets unloaded in Rotterdam and sent off to refineries in western Germany, or it gets processed right there at the port before heading over to western Germany again. Honestly, if the dockworkers themselves start refusing to touch any cargo coming from Russia, then the embargo is basically already working on the ground.

Besides, I'm not even entirely sure if there are pipelines running from western to eastern Germany anymore. Those refineries out east mostly rely on the northern branch of the Druzhba pipeline, so now they're going to be forced to source it either through the Baltic Sea or via the Czech Republic.

Doesn't hold water. That’s just the most inflexible part of how Germany handles its oil supply.

Rachel Richardson said:Not if.
But when.

It isn't over until the lady sings.

Joshua Myers432 said:Probably. They tied themselves way too tightly to their old nemesis: the West.

It was never clear to me how you could identify someone as your enemy and then go ahead and become dependent on them.

And honestly, I don't get how winning the war would even save them. Let's say they actually pull off a total victory—which doesn't look realistic right now—what then? What's the endgame?

A win would basically just preserve Russia's current political structure. As for what happens to Russia if they lose this war? Honestly, God only knows.

But really, why act like they're tethered to an "enemy"? That "enemy" is also their best customer.

Michael Ortiz68 said:So what actually changed compared to before 🤷? What's the point of all these articles?

Nothing. It's purely symbolic—which, honestly, is just the absurdity of the Russian situation in a nutshell. They think they can turn a symbolic gesture into actual political leverage against the West. The joke is thinking this would even remotely change how the West reacts... let alone make things any harder for them.

electrictrucker82 said:Maybe you should send them a letter just so they can finally face reality. 👍

Remember how Wile E. Coyote only realizes he's free-falling when he finally looks down? That’s basically where the Russians are. Once they take a second to look at where they've ended up, they'll see the cliff they're heading toward. Anyone outside that bubble sees it clearly. Honestly, their only way out is to win the war—and even those propaganda hacks know that.

electrictrucker82 said:Look, you just don't get it. When the rate hit 140 to the dollar, everyone was celebrating because they thought Russia was collapsing. Then, when it swung back to 75-80, the celebrations started all over again because people claimed it was just an American tactic to scoop up cheap currency. Honestly, even with an economics degree, wouldn't you have seen through that logic? 😵 👍

All I know for sure is that someone out there is making a massive fortune.

The Russian kleptocrats are the ones profiting. Who else? You really think they didn't line their pockets back when the ruble dipped to 140 in Russia? They're the only ones there with any real access to foreign currency.

As far as the West and China are concerned, the ruble is basically worthless paper.

It’s honestly kind of funny watching Putin—he actually seems to believe he can shift the West's trajectory. As if dropping a nuke wouldn't just make everyone double down even harder. It feels like there’s no way for the Russians to spin this in their favor unless they actually take Ukraine. If full mobilization were some kind of win for them, they would have pulled the trigger by now—but they know a general draft would backfire. And as for cutting off the gas? Well, who wants an unreliable business partner? Nobody.

Hannah Williams8 said:I haven't a clue, but it looks like oil and gas are still flowing into the European Union just like before. China is buying up plenty too.
The war has to be settled militarily—surely you realize that? It has to end with the aggressor losing.

You've got the oil situation wrong.

India is pulling out of their order for 48 Mi-17s from Russia. They’re claiming it’s got nothing to do with the war in Ukraine—just a decision they made a while back.

That’s exactly where this is headed. They’re basically prepping for a massive rollback—all while expecting taxpayers across the European Union to foot the bill for the rebuild.

wiredseal7 said:We're talking about sanctions here—not you, wiredseal7.

Anyway, let’s just pivot to a different topic—maybe you can explain how Russia plans to react to the threat from Finland and Sweden joining NATO. Using the same playbook they used in Ukraine?

Russia probably lost the Indian market for military hardware for good. Between their own domestic needs and all those sanctions, they just won't be able to keep up with their contracts in India.