Posts by analogbear5

Europe doesn't import LPG because we're pretty much self-sufficient on production. Not sure what propane-butane has to do with any of this.

slyfox43 said:"Quote:"

Did you forget about the Soviet ambitions and the messy political maneuvering happening over in Iran during that era?

Look, if you’re going to insist on holding onto a lesson while drifting into irrelevant off-topic tangents, you might at least try to be a little more... thorough.

Don't feed the trolls. Otherwise, they'll just pivot to claiming Stalin was from Georgia, that most communists weren't even Russian, or that communism was somehow forced on Russia by—who knows who.

Nathan Evans78 said:Maybe the speculators have finally caught on to the fact that roughly $800 million in fresh greenbacks flows into JP Morgan Chase every single day just to cover the gas moving through Ukraine. 😁

Why not just shut off the gas? If they did, Europe would be in an instant recession.

wiredseal7 said:The war in Ukraine is just the excuse to slap Russia with all these sanctions—it isn't the root cause.

The real issue is Russia rebuilding itself after being treated like a joke in the 90s—that wasn't caused by Western power centers, obviously. Then there's the rise of China, which is nearly impossible to contain if Putin's Russia stays standing. Add in some delusional Americans who think Trump was a Russian asset and want revenge... I've actually run into some pretty high-level people over there who buy into that nonsense.

If you want to see the ups and downs of Russian economic and political power, just look at this chart:



In this petrostate, the top 10% walks away with 45% of the total income.



So, yeah, that middle-class turbo-capitalism makes for great propaganda. But if their military is just a Potemkin village... well, what else isn't?

urbanotter said:And don't even get me started on how "devastating" it is to stop reading Leo Tolstoy, Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Sholokhov, or Ivan Turgenev.

Or perhaps banning performances at the Bolshoi Theatre.🙏

Those are such catastrophic losses for Russia that they simply won't be able to survive.🙏

But really, what can you do?
Europe has made its firm decision to distance itself from Russia and move away from Russian gas dependency.
Now, they'll just rely on American and Arab supplies at whatever unpredictable "market" prices come their way.

The results are already clear and tangible.

Gas prices in Europe have hit an all-time high right as American LNG exporters have finally completed years of development on projects designed to flood international markets with shale gas supply.

According to traders, major American producers—like Cheniere Energy, the largest exporter in the States—are among those reaping massive profits from the price surge, thanks to numerous long-term LNG sales contracts signed over the last few months.

https://seebiz.eu/energetika/americk...-krizi/272458/

Not a fan of Dostoevsky? Don't forget Putin's old favorite, Solzhenitsyn.

Look, I'm definitely not advocating for censoring Russian artists, even if they happen to support Putin.

There's just no way we're making electronics without imports.

Without China, the global economy would basically collapse—they’re an absolute powerhouse. As for Russia, they had massive potential, but the parasites in power just sucked it dry for themselves.

It’s always the same story: nationalists are so easy to manipulate. Wave a flag and they'll follow you anywhere.

Coca-Cola is pure branding—it’s basically a symbol of the West. Without that image, you're just drinking some random soda.

Back before the war, I used to mess around with this Canadian syrup that tasted just like Coca-Cola, mixing it with sparkling water. The flavor was identical.

urbanotter said:I understand exactly what you're trying to get at,

but you seem unable to grasp that during wartime, the rules you think are carved in stone or untouchable dogmas don't really carry any weight.
What would a massive corporation like Coca-Cola actually do to protect its brand identity if Russia started mass-producing Coca-Cola using all their trademarked branding?
Would they even bother trying to sue them in some court or file a complaint with a trademark agency?

When you're looking through a rifle scope, the only thing you can really do is pull the trigger or launch a missile.😉

Alright, fine—who’s going to hire all those people once they lose their jobs? Who’s actually going to buy anything if nobody can afford it? How are companies supposed to stay afloat if there's no one left to sell to? You can complain about junk food all you want, but for a lot of folks, that stuff is what pays the bills.

If we tried following that model where the government just invents fake bureaucracy jobs to artificially lower unemployment, we'd be staring down hyperinflation and total collapse.

urbanotter said:But within those walls, you have people—skilled workers who understand the manufacturing process inside and out, and they'll be able to pick up right where they left off without much trouble.
As for the branding, the product will simply be called whatever the manufacturer decides it should be, even if Coca-Cola makes that call.
If a few elitists feel slighted because they aren't drinking a Coca-Cola where the profits don't flow back to owners in America, honestly, it won't matter to the vast majority of people.

It would actually be quite tragic if Americans didn't have access to these healthy, quality products; they'd have to work much harder to avoid looking completely unhealthy by the time they hit their late teens.

Only a fraction of the profit actually goes to the US to cover licensing fees. The rest stays with the local companies doing the actual manufacturing on the ground.

Here’s the breakdown of how companies actually break into the Russian market:

From lowest risk to highest—strictly by the book:

Exporting
Shipping goods from overseas into Russia. The upside? Low risk. The downside? Shipping costs, marketing headaches, customs, and the constant need to find a reliable importer.

Licensing
A Russian company with its own facilities buys the rights to manufacture a specific product. In exchange for the license, they get to use the intellectual property—patents, manufacturing processes, trademarks, and all that good stuff.

Franchising
Kind of like licensing, but more rigid. Typically, a Russian company buys a franchise and has to play by the franchisor's strict rules. Location and production have to hit specific standards, and you can only sell the franchisor's products. No exceptions.

Joint Venture
Two companies—one Russian and one foreign—team up to form a third, jointly owned entity. This way, the foreign investor gets the edge of working with a local partner who actually understands the domestic market and economy.

Direct Investment
A foreign company sets up shop in Russia directly—either by building their own plants from scratch or just buying out existing ones.

India eyes discounted Russian oil and raw materials
India is looking into picking up some Russian oil and other commodities at a discount.

- The Wall Street Journal

"Russia threatens to settle foreign debt using rubles"
Russia is threatening to pay off its external debt in rubles.
- Wall Street Journal

You can find just about anything on eBay—including Russian military rations that haven't even hit their expiration date yet.

The West would take the biggest hit if China just vanished. We'd actually have to hire Americans—pay them decent wages, too—instead of everyone obsessing over cheap plastic junk from overseas. Total revolution, basically.

China: A breakdown of imports, exports, and trade balances.

Chinese Exports
Chinese Imports
Trade Balance

Russia — looking at how much national wealth is held by the top 10%.

hollowwalker24 said:Maybe this belongs here too... Did Russ impose sanctions on us, or did we push them on him?

PUTIN'S MAJOR BLOW TO AMERICA: Russia refuses to supply coal to The Plomin power plant, leaving the US short by 9% of its electricity

Us. It's no secret—sanctions hit both sides. Over here, prices spike; over there, the economy just tanks.

Gas supply—half imported, half domestic.

Time to load up on some Dow Chemical stock—what's the hold-up?

Whatever—take all that righteous fury you've got regarding vaccines, ecology, and gays, and put it to good use: turn off the gas and crack a window. Justice doesn't win without a little sacrifice.