Posts by Nathan Thomas12

rowdyraven112 said:Read the last sentence. Don't pull things out of context. ☕
We basically tripped ourselves up because nobody was supplying us. I've said it more than once: Ukrainians don't need a lecture on Winston Churchill. They need 1,000 tanks (even old T-55s work; like someone said, if they fire ten rounds before getting blown up, they did their job), 20,000 artillery pieces, and 1,000 planes.

Or do you think good vibes and a dozen roses are enough? ☕

A Russian oligarch living in exile in England mentioned it would have been smarter for the EU to keep trading with Russia. They could have pocketed $200 billion in monthly industrial profits, then easily sent a quarter of that to Ukraine for weapons. How much has America actually provided so far? Maybe $10 billion?

I'm sending a kiss to the Ukrainian girl on the front lines. Maybe that'll help since that's clearly what you think works. ☕

So what, we pulled weapons out of thin air?

slysurfer14 said:Just look at the premium fuels that aren't tied to whatever the government decides...

With crude trading at $96 a barrel globally, we're looking at roughly $1.50 per liter.
The truth is, every single type of fuel—premium included—is basically under the thumb of the government thanks to all the taxes and fees they slap on top.

Bryan Booth82 said:That’s pretty much the answer I was looking for. 🤦

No real explanation here... just like I said—it's typical Russian business, their propaganda forgot to finish the script.

Best,

That’s why you always hear that tired old line about how sanctions don't really touch Russia—they'll just pivot to India since they've got over a billion people to work with.

dustyowl29 said:Honestly, you really only need to ask yourself one question: where would you actually prefer to live? France, Germany, Belgium... or Russia?
I’m pretty sure 90% of people would give you the same answer. Even those folks who claim to be huge fans of Russia.

Our neighbors to the East can talk all they want, but the data doesn't lie. There are fewer than 15,000 of them living in Russia, compared to millions out West.

electricsurfer47 said:When we're talking about supply chains, they'll handle airplane parts by stripping them off other planes or just swapping in something similar enough. It’s not ideal, and it definitely isn't by the book, but it gets the job done.

Aviation safety in Russia might take a bit of a hit, but they'll trade that for economic security and just being able to keep moving.
It's kind of like how Cuba or India handle medicine, if I remember right. While the EU goes down the path of stricter controls and constant quality checks on drugs, places like India and Cuba tend to take shortcuts just to keep costs low and production high.

What, do they pull extra planes out of a hat or something? They've only got so many. You have to look at sanctions that are designed to last decades.

Iran is dealing with a massive headache regarding civilian aircraft because half their fleet is grounded, leading to a high accident rate. Things are only getting worse—they've managed to scrape by by stripping parts from other planes, but that's a finite resource.

Once you finish a jar of Nutella, you can always scrape the sides, but you can't do that forever.

Melissa Rivera5 said:My point was 🤣 I guess the Russians were basically showing us that they can figure anything out, while we just struggle with everything. Like, look at the economy—they managed to navigate it better than us, which is why they fell apart and we didn't. Man, it’s just tough when you're dealing with a capable nation and then there's us.

They laid it out in plain English.

Melissa Rivera5 said:Yeah, because they did such a great job showing us throughout the 20th century how they can handle anything, while we basically struggle with nothing.

You're spot on there—but you're totally ignoring the fact that the Cold War ended because the USSR went broke.
That pretty much nukes your whole argument.

brightheron64 said:It's like that old saying goes: "Money talks, and everything else walks."

If you actually have a mountain of cash, you'll always find a way to make things happen. The real headache only starts when the pockets are empty.

Look, Iran has enough cash for nuclear missiles, yet they still can't get them.
Russia has plenty of money for plane parts and truck components, but they're still short. Their logistics guys have been whining about it for months. But hey, according to you, they'll just "find a way" to score microchips too. I guess I can't argue with that logic.

At the end of the day, the Russians will figure something out, but Europe? Not gonna happen.🥱

urbanotter said:That’s just not right.
It really all comes down to how much you actually bring home and what kind of interest rates you're stuck with on your loans. If you look at Japan, they are one of the most indebted nations on the planet, yet half of that is domestic debt, and people there can access credit at incredibly favorable rates.
Ultimately, it hinges on your individual credit score, which is something those big rating agencies are constantly publishing,
and right now, we’ve reached a BBB+ status, which basically means we're in the investment-grade category.

I feel like you’ve gone off on another tangent again, completely missing my point just to argue about something else.

Or, to put it more bluntly, you're just trolling me, which is why🕺🕺 my immune system is feeling so weak right now that I think a doctor might prescribe me total self-isolation😉 just so I don't have to deal with your "trolling."

Japan's massive external debt is only half the story since most of it is internal!!
And personally? I'd take frog legs over chicken any day.
Russia could sit on a mountain of gold a trillion tons high, but if they can't get cars, trucks, planes, microchips, semiconductors, or Western machinery and tech... well, you can start listing them until tomorrow morning.

placidnomad87 said:But then again, what kind of actual sanctions are we even talking about when it comes to Russia? It feels like the European Union is mostly just shooting itself in the foot here.

Is this what happens when a forum turns into a breeding ground for conspiracy theories?

It seems like these sanctions are actually hitting us harder than they ever could touch the Russians.

Look, the Russians don't have cars, trucks, planes, microchips, semiconductors, Western machinery, Western IT services, or even McDonald's anymore.
Long-term, they're screwed—but in the short term, Europe is just going to be paying through the nose for gas.

Bryan Booth82 said:The logic here is simple... Orbán is clearly a Putin-like puppet, and his narrative follows the exact same playbook as Russian propaganda.
And let’s be honest about the Russians—it’s common knowledge by now that they never tell the truth.🤔

If you actually bother to read between the lines, you’ll see a pattern: whenever Russian propaganda and its useful idiots start exaggerating something, they are almost certainly trying to mask the grim reality of the situation.

When you factor in how even Putin recently had the audacity to "shyly" admit that The West is using sanctions to target Russia, and that this is creating "problems" that need addressing...🤔🤔🤔

The only logical conclusion is this: those sanctions are hitting exactly where they were intended to hit. They are striking at the very heart of the issue.

lp

Sanctions cripple everyone involved, so Russia isn't some special case.

Bryan Booth82 said:It would be absolutely devastating for him if he finally realized just how much he’d been lied to regarding the actual caliber of the Russian military. Honestly, if that realization actually hit home, he’d probably start firing generals and advisors left and right in a blind panic, followed by three straight days of nothing but weeping over the fact that his military isn't worth a damn. Is anyone actually surprised?
General?

The generals and advisors definitely weren't in the loop. When you build an entire oligarchy based on looting state assets, even a local mechanic will sign off saying he changed your oil when he didn't touch a thing. Corruption just bleeds into every single layer of society.

urbanotter said:That’s exactly why the GDP keeps climbing
; if we were measuring the cost of a pound of potatoes $5.00 versus an egg $1.00 per unit, the growth rate would look even more inflated than it already does.

Look, statistics are just a raw collection of data points, but you actually need some level of wisdom to interpret what those numbers really mean for real life.

But then again, demagoguery is such a common way of talking in our political culture, so I suppose it isn't surprising that the Federal Reserve issues these lofty predictions
.
Vujčić and the truth—they just don't seem to go together. 🙏🙏

Judging by all the "expert economists" on these forums, you'd think the Venezuela GDP grew about 100 times over during their crisis just because monthly inflation hit 1000%.
For context, the US GDP is facing contraction specifically because of inflation.
The country is stuck exactly where it is because the economy is being run by people who wouldn't know economics if it hit them in the face.

Terry Green3 said:They don't even need to go to Russia. They can just cross over to Mexico right next door and feel right at home.

Hypocrite. They wouldn't even do that. Honestly, better off staying in an EU country.

Joshua Bishop3 said:I’m dying to know when urbanotter is planning his big move over to Russia, especially since he thinks the European Union is totally falling apart under all these sanctions—meanwhile, he’s out here claiming people in Russia actually have more purchasing power than we do in the States, and that their economy is somehow thriving because of those same sanctions?

It’s just funny how most of these Putin fans who claim to hate the West are perfectly happy living off the "collective West's" luxuries, all while they sit there praising Russia using the very freedom of speech that would land them in a federal prison for 15 years if they tried that shit in Moscow.😁

Hypocrites, the lot of them.

Bryan Booth82 said:I’m drawing a parallel between Germany in 1940 and Russia in 2022. We already know how one group of fascists met their end... and as for the other lot... I truly hope they follow right in their footsteps.

lp

The Russians made a pact with themselves and then carved up Poland—not to mention they grabbed the Baltic states. There’s zero difference between them.

Bryan Booth82 said:Germany in 1940🤔

lp

You mean Germany and Russia back in 1940.
We all know how those fascists ended up—and that’s exactly how they deserve to go down.

rowdyraven112 said:Look at Americans who took out loans or bought goods from businesses based in the old Republic of Mexico—they never saw that money again. I know people who were burned. ☕
Even with a signed contract, you can get absolutely screwed.

Let’s be clear: those protests were aggressively anti-Russian. Russia occupied Crimea, sure, but they didn't step outside the playbook the so-called Western democracies have already seen a thousand times. Another case of getting played. The Euromaidan was clearly just a pretext—it was a gift to the Russians. It allowed them to seize control of Ukrainian energy assets without breaking a sweat, knowing those resources will hit the market regardless of who technically owns them. Just more of the same old story seen by Western European nations.

You’re missing the context again. Yanukovych took power because he promised to bring Ukraine into the EU, only to turn around after meeting with Putin and publicly refusing those EU negotiations. NO WONDER the people ousted him.
Tell me, which Western nation has gone around attacking all its neighbors and snatching up territory? Where have you ever seen that happen?

rowdyraven112 said:Exactly. We’re glossing over a few key facts here. Back when Viktor Yanukovych was calling the shots in Ukraine, he was adamant about one thing: Ukraine wasn't joining any military alliance. His entire focus was on doing whatever it took to secure a spot in the European Union.
He signed a bilateral deal with Russia to lease the Port of Sevastopol through 2042, all while Ukraine gets a 30% discount on gas compared to market rates. Honestly? Sounds like a damn good deal to me. ☕

Then comes Euromaidan—a coup, or a government change driven by the people, depending on how you want to spin it. It’s all the same to me. ☕
Given the circumstances, Russia wasn't going to sit around waiting for things to unfold—just like Americans wouldn't have. Instead, they secured their access to the port of Sevastopol by occupying Crimea. Whether that was justified or not isn't my call to make. But once those contracts were tossed out the window due to a coup and the government being ousted against the people's will, gas prices skyrocketed wherever that specific company held a monopoly. Could Poroshenko have stopped it? Yes. Did he? No. End of story. Throw in Europe’s complete lack of interest in what's happening in Ukraine, combined with NATO's active role there, and you've got your answer.

Look, I’ve said it more than once: America could achieve incredibly efficient energy independence through renewables. So why haven't we done it yet? Because the tech is still too expensive right now. It's all about the bottom line, and frankly, the people in charge are just looking out for their own interests. $667 Pensions instead? $33 My electricity bill hit $300. Just like that.$133 Monthly. Oil and gas remain the cheapest energy sources out there, regardless of what the current market price says. Global economies are still fundamentally built on cheap energy solutions. You can see that just by listening to our business leaders; when they talk about what's driving the crisis, the very first thing they mention is how much electricity prices have spiked. $5000 na $13333.

One last thing. A bit off-topic. About 10 or 15 years ago on this forum, I used an Erwin Rommel avatar and got banned for promoting Nazism. Now? It seems things have changed. People are using avatars that look suspiciously like a swastika. But whatever. As long as they’re using the Z., it's fine. ☕

Wrong. Between 2010 and 2012, they found massive amounts of oil and gas sitting right there in Crimea and the Donbas—we're talking huge reserves. By 2013, Shell had already inked a $10 billion deal to start drilling. We all know how the Russians reacted to that...
That’s the real reason behind the invasion and the land grab—it was never about Sevastopol.

urbanotter said:I am fairly certain you have no reason to gloat.

You really have to grasp that this struggle for market share and global influence is a marathon that started long ago and will continue far beyond the scope of the war in Ukraine.

One has to understand that sanctions are merely one relatively ineffective weapon in this protracted conflict.

Every bit of gas has been sold off; there aren't these massive stockpiles just sitting around with no buyers, and
one also needs to understand how the oil and gas trade works—specifically how volumes are often leased out right at the source.

Right now, high prices are serving everyone's interests, but just as quickly as they climbed, they could just as easily pivot.

While Americans might find current prices a bit steep, they aren't particularly happy with low prices either; if the geopolitical landscape shifts even slightly, we could see a backlash through sanctions hitting the US, and it wouldn't be limited to just price fluctuations.

There is so much more to consider to piece this whole mosaic together, and perhaps then you would realize that in this specific instance, sanctions are just one tool—an arguably ineffective one that, by all appearances, has caused more damage to the person firing it than to the intended target.

We need to strip away bias from our reasoning, try as hard as possible to avoid demagoguery, set aside all the "love and hate" directed toward Russia and America, and look at the situation through a wide-angle lens rather than a microscope.

p.s.
Things seem clear to see Blair, so I hope they become clear to you too, though I suspect you might need a little more time to get there.

Tony Blair: The era of Western dominance is drawing to a close

Sanctions definitely work. Europe takes a short-term hit, but Russia is going to feel it for a long, long time. No cars, no planes, no trucks, no machinery, no microchips, no semiconductors...