Posts by analogbear5

There’s this major phenomenon called the resource curse. It basically feeds into traditional culture—where anyone in the lower classes is viewed as a dangerous revolutionary threat, so they end up being kept stuck in or hovering right around poverty just to keep things stable.

Melissa Kelly3 said:It's easy to play the genius after the fact. Maybe you had a crystal ball back then?
Back then, it felt like one guy was offering you a faucet and running water, while the other was telling you to carry buckets from a creek...
And you say, "Fine, I'll take the creek," because it feels safer and the buckets are brand new.

I'm no activist. I just look at what was actually on the table at the time.

It isn't even about politics or being eco-conscious. It's just pure NIMBYism. Everyone wants cheap gas, cheap nuclear, cheap everything—as long as it's nowhere near my neck of the woods.

rustywalker82 said:First off, they really ought to take a closer look at those same Green activists who weren't just protesting LNG terminals, but were also up in arms against that oil pipeline project aimed at exporting crude via the Gulf Coast.
Second suspect? Honestly, I’d point the finger straight at Joe Biden. 😁 He basically choked out the construction of actual, large-scale LNG infrastructure by pushing for these floating units instead—which, let’s be real, have way less capacity since they can't just unload whenever they want. When they're out grabbing cargo, there's no gas coming in.

So yeah, nothing groundbreaking here. 🙂

Not many people can cram this much nonsense into such a tiny post. Gotta respect the brevity, though.

Buck said:On top of everything else, they’re totally politically isolated—it's just a matter of time before those oil and gas deliveries to the EU dry up. They recently tried putting out a tender to sell off surplus oil to other markets (like India, for example), but it was a total bust. The Indians and everyone else know exactly how desperate the Russians are right now, so they're basically squeezing them on purchase prices. It's going to be tough for them to get actual market rates for their crude. And with gas, you can't just flip a switch—once those wells are flowing, it's hard to just shut down production, so they'll have to find somewhere else to dump it. Either way, we're looking at a serious drying up of the most vital revenue streams for Russia.

Also, let's not forget the most critical link in this whole chain that people on this forum always seem to overlook: someone actually has to move the oil.

Basically, Russia sends its oil to Europe using Aframax and Suezmax tankers with capacities up to 600,000 barrels—that's about a week's trip there and a week back.

Those tankers just aren't efficient enough for long-haul voyages. To get oil over to China, you'd need VLCC tankers—they have over 70 of them, but since those massive ships can't fit through the Suez, you'd be looking at a month-long trip each way. Plus, all 800-ish VLCCs currently in existence are already running at full tilt.

Besides, if the Chinese decide to buy Russian oil—which would make shipping costs skyrocket—it would free up a massive amount of Arab oil that could head to Europe instead of China.

If the bill counts as paid just by dropping euros into the account, then we aren't breaking any sanctions. But—if you consider it "paid" only after those euros get converted... then yeah, that’s a violation.

Four companies have already settled up in rubles, and ten others have gone ahead and opened ruble accounts over at JPMorgan Chase.

Susan Walker25 said:Oh, really?
I don't see much of a difference when it comes to their political playbook.

There's definitely a difference between the USSR back in the '60s and Russia today.

feralcanyon73 said:Has the Euro finally hit a 1:1000 ratio against the dollar?
Let's see if those forum economists actually knew what they were talking about.

Look, thanks to capital controls, that strong ruble is actually helping blunt the blow of sudden inflation. Most of the current monetary policy is just theater—purely performative—but since we're basically in a war footing, the impact on industrial exporters isn't even that massive. Plus, there are enough loopholes in the sanctions against Russia that they’re still pulling in decent cash and managing to service their foreign debts.

On the black market (on Telegram, for instance), Russians are willing to shell out anywhere from 130 to 150 rubles for a single dollar, depending on where you are and how much demand there is at the moment.

Once currency trading moves underground, you start seeing more crime and corruption creeping in. It's predictable.

But as far as a total meltdown? Not seeing it just yet.

Putin might be a decent chess player, but this isn't a two-player game—and moves aren't just happening one after the other. A checkers strategy doesn't get you very far when you're actually playing poker.

If we look at the war between Russia and Ukraine through a chess lens, though, the Russians aren't stuck in zugzwang anymore—that spot where you're forced to make a bad move because you've run out of options.

The offensive up in the northeast is basically the main indicator of where this whole conflict is headed. The Ukrainians really can't afford to fall for their own propaganda—the way the Russians did.

And it’d be a massive self-inflicted wound if they got too comfortable just assuming the West has their back.

hollowdriver13 said:Germany still has a pretty terrible attitude toward nuclear power. On top of that, you’ve got this bloc led by France where we're right there in the mix, pushing hard to get nuclear energy recognized as a green energy source at the EU level.

Personally, I'd say we're more of a NIMBY crowd. Like, we're all for cheap nuclear energy—as long as it isn't built near us and nobody mentions the whole nuclear waste thing.

When the hippies hit the streets, the Government usually folds.

On the flip side, American gas producers aren't exactly breaking their backs to bail out Europe. They aren't ramping up production because they're betting prices will eventually tank.

Why U.S. Oil Companies Aren’t Riding to Europe’s Rescue

All this talk about expensive American gas being the solution? Honestly, it sounds like a fairy tale. Looks like Europe is just going to end up leaning even harder on Qatar for LNG.

Because Poland and Bulgaria are considered "hostile nations."

Just saying—if anyone actually wanted to build a treemap for that country for a specific year, you could just whip it up from some raw data in Excel.

Here’s the category over on Wikimedia Commons where they have it filed away.

Can you drop a source on why there won't be any meds available? Just curious about the reasoning.

Gas revenue also trails behind oil sales here.

Here’s the breakdown for Russian exports—using 2019 data.



China is running their own comparisons:

Rachel Turner2 said:Just your run-of-the-mill gas station.

I’ve been to plenty of gas stations—nothing ever felt aggressive. Honestly, the service is usually pretty professional enough.

It’s honestly hilarious when people try to paint this Russia-China alliance as some kind of balanced partnership.

China is a heavyweight player with actual credentials—they managed to climb from being one of the poorest nations on Earth to an industrial superpower in just a few decades.

And Russia? Just a massive, insecure joke.

A total Hail Mary.

coastalbison6 said:Looks like Japan is sending some aid
https://twitter.com/sentdefender/sta...76775019106307

Considering their constitution, that's actually a massive deal for Japan.

Anthony Moore15 said:Look, the Chinese aren't stupid...
Why on earth would they rush to sign contracts right this second?
They should just sit tight and wait for the West to drop even heavier sanctions. Once the Russians have absolutely nowhere left to sell their product, that's when the Chinese step in to save the day by picking everything up at massive discount prices...
It is nothing more than pure economic calculation...

That’s why Europe needs to diversify its energy sources. Then, they can buy from Russia only when there's a significant discount, similar to how the Chinese play it. Every country should have an import quota for Russian energy based on the size of their economy.