Posts by George Robinson43

hollowdriver13 said:Hold on, you're linking news stories that are actually citing ABC News 🙏here. They're basically a troll channel that loves poking fun at Russ with sarcastic posts about Darth Putin 🙏

And clearly, that information comes straight from a paid pro-Russia troll account on X. 🙏

Lisa Jackson7 said:Facts. And honestly, it's not just Germany—it's all the major Western powers, including the USA.

Think of it like this: everything west of Germany doesn't have to tighten its belt nearly as much as DE does. Why? Because they didn't tether their entire economy to Russian energy—they weren't absolute dummies or paid agents for Russia the way those Swabians were.

Timothy Nelson5 said:Is Paul Krugman just a political agitator at this point?
A former economist who basically failed upward... someone who probably should have just returned his Alfred Nobel prize?

I mean, does he even sound like an economist anymore, or is he just acting like a political activist?

🍿

Krugman hit the nail on the head regarding Germany.
About 12 or 13 years ago, they were the leaders driving austerity across Europe, but today, they hesitate to tighten their own belts while everyone else in the EU is forced to do so without being asked.

Christian Torres3 said:Your logic error is as massive as Olympus Mons—Ukrainians aren't Russians. Any weapon is useful if you actually know how to use it.

But fine, even Vladimir Putin made that exact same mistake, so I guess you're forgiven.

He’s finally come around.
He actually admitted that a Russian tank is total junk.

Sarah Mitchell2 said:These sanctions are a joke. The EU is basically banning everything except gas, which just means we'll end up paying a premium for it while Russia keeps enough cash flow to sell their resources elsewhere without breaking a sweat.

But hey, if they want to play dress-up, let them.

They are so ridiculous that even Sergey Lavrov is now bringing up sanction relief during negotiations.
Unfortunately, selling oil at a discount isn't working out for them because, apparently, only India wants those 15 million barrels, and that's it. It’s highly doubtful they can actually deliver it all since finding tankers is getting difficult, and nobody is exactly lining up to sail alongside the Russians right now.
As a result, oil is piling up in storage, and production at the wells is starting to taper off.

Anthony Hill5 said:🤣

How can one trust such a source when the individual was convicted by a dictator and criminal like Putin in a completely rigged trial? Is that not reason enough to doubt him?

I won't even dignify the omission of this specific detail from the Wikipedia page you linked with a comment.

In 2014, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling favored Nevzlin and other Yukos shareholders, calling the actions of the Russian state "a ruthless campaign to destroy Yukos and to expropriate its assets".

But clearly, that part is entirely irrelevant, isn't it? So much for your claims regarding a tendency toward disinformation. 😁

That court doesn't matter because it isn't Putin's.
Only Putin's courts carry any weight.

Sam Alvarez4 said:But if it's coming from Brussels, the message is clear: Germany, France—everyone is on board.

Our folks just don't seem to get it...

They're terrified because the number of expelled Russian agents would be just too high to ignore.
They are treating the former America territories, including the US, like their own backyard!

wanderingpilot7 said:Well, the UN was busy dealing with the neighbors. You might remember seeing that segment on the news with Željko Kardum about how America was selling oil through Colonial Pipeline to Mexicans during the war...

Who were they supplying via Colonial Pipeline? People in Buffalo? Or maybe over in Pittsburgh?
It certainly wasn't Pittsburgh, because that refinery was completely offline and out of commission from the start of the conflict until 1996.
I'm certain they weren't shipping crude oil to those Mexicans, but rather refined products.

wanderingpilot7 said:America has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Just take a look at FlightRadar24 and track how those military planes are flying through Chicago Rzeszow to deliver aid. There hasn't been any photography happening at the airbase since March 11th... you have to wonder why. It doesn't need the media spotlight. Unlike Latvia, Slovakia, or Bulgaria, America isn't paying for its gas in rubles. And then, they kick out the Russian diplomats.

It honestly feels like those expelled officials were busy doing just about everything except actual diplomacy.

slyfox43 said:If we're calling Gazprom a private enterprise, then I must be Santa Claus.

It is just like that video showing how Derepaska and Putin operate; the leadership directly controls massive private firms, and owners follow every single command just to keep their assets—otherwise, they might find themselves permanently retired under a tree in the middle of nowhere.

Joshua Myers432 said:Only an idiot shoots himself in the foot just to cripple his enemy. A smart man finds a different way to win.

Let me take a guess:
Are we talking about pressuring Zelenskyy to surrender Ukraine?
Or perhaps nudging European Union nations to stop sending aid just so nobody’s backside feels even a tiny bit of chill this coming winter?

Meanwhile, that other little gnome, Medved, keeps rambling on about his grand Eurasian Union stretching all the way from Lisbon to Vladivostok. 🙏 🙏

Andrew Miller102 said:We can't survive without Russian gas, so if they turn off the tap, everything goes to hell.☕

https://www.reuters.com/article/ukra...-idAFL2N2W10HE

It isn't possible right now, but unlike Schwab, they can swap out their 3.5 billion cubic meters relatively quickly.
On the other hand, it's much harder for Schwab to replace their 50+ billion than it is for the Slovaks to find a substitute for their 3.5.
Oil is actually a far more pressing issue for them since they sold their supply to those strategically aligned with Russia, leaving decisions regarding oil entirely in the hands of Viktor Orbán and his crew.

stormygardener15 said:What about Slovakia?

https://spectator.sme.sk/c/22849352/...s-for-now.html

In response to the increasing tensions, Slovakia has also started importing liquefied gas by tankers, the first of which should arrive in March with enough gas to cover Slovakia's needs for One Week.

So, they basically need one tanker a week (shipped via Poland), though they could always link up with other Baltic projects via pipelines starting in 2023. They import roughly 3.5 billion cubic meters, which isn't an impossible amount to replace.
Their real headache is oil. Slovnaft is entirely owned by MOL, which acts as a Russian outpost in Central Europe.
I was just reading about how the Czech government wants to take a stake in a Polish LNG terminal to aggressively invest and boost capacity.
At the end of the day, the Poles and Lithuanians were the true visionaries here. They built massive terminals and are constructing pipelines toward the North Sea. They cut ties with the Russians and pivoted straight to deals with Equinor.

casualtiger2 said:I honestly think cutting off the gas supply right now would backfire.
1. It wouldn't stop the war—that evil little gnome has enough cash to keep things moving regardless—and those sanctions won't really start hitting the Russian public where it hurts for a few years anyway.
2. The immediate economic fallout—especially for Germany—would just tank their ability to help Ukraine, whether it's military aid, financial support, or helping refugees.
3. Besides, doesn't Ukraine still get a cut from the transit fees?

This war is definitely going to drag on for another year or two.
In the meantime, we need to go full speed ahead on phasing out Russian energy—coal by the end of the year, oil within a year, and gas within two.
We also need to ramp up renewable capacity.
After that, the key is keeping those sanctions in place for at least another 5 to 10 years. That’s how you prevent that evil gnome, or whoever takes his place,
from being able to fund any more military action for a long, long time—plus, we have to insist on war reparations.

In two years, gas will only be a necessity for Germany and Austria. Other nations will have transitioned by 2023. Of course, Canada has already made its choice to stand with Russia.

rustywalker82 said:Also, besides just trash-talking the industrial backbone of Europe Germany, we really need to be making moves to get the rest of the world on board with those sanctions against the Russian aggressor.
For instance, this report coming out of Chinese state radio isn't exactly giving me any confidence:

http://american.cri.cn/vijesti/3742/...31/746614.html
They're claiming there's "positive progress" in the Russia-Ukraine negotiations and saying it's finally time to shut down the American "war machine"!

True, but that isn't nearly as critical as the unity within the European Union.
Just as an Austrian or a Swabian might tie their horse to a Russian rider, the Russians have tied their own horse to the European Union. Those Germans and Austrians will untie themselves in two or three years, but the Russians will face long-term struggles finding a replacement market. You don't build all those pipelines toward Europe in just five years!
The cohesion of the European Union is the most important factor. Only Canada has broken ranks, but that cancer will likely be removed from the European Union and sent off to the UAE, where they will feel right at home since they are coming from the direction of the Urals anyway. They are simply going home.

wearytrucker22 said:Dmitry Peskov really needs to take a good, hard look at this versus the actual state of the Russian economy. Honestly, I’m starting to get worried that those guys won't be able to manufacture anything more sophisticated than the gear they're currently dumping into Ukraine.
They’re saying this new rig is going to run anywhere from 700 to 800 million Dollars starting in 2025. They’re looking at an annual overhead of about 100 million. That’s the kind of raw industrial muscle you only see in the West. Honestly, it’s wild how some people will just cut a check to anyone willing to drill into the earth and pull oil out of the ground. Even the folks in the Middle East have the capital to make that happen.😁
The video provides a deep dive into how the current geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Russia are fundamentally reshaping global trade routes and energy dependencies. It’s a heavy topic, but one that demands attention if you want to understand why gas prices at the pump fluctuate so wildly based on headlines coming out of Moscow. The core argument centers on the fragmentation of the globalized era. For decades, we operated under the assumption that economic interdependence would act as a stabilizer—that if everyone was trading with everyone else, large-scale conflict would be too costly to pursue. That logic has been thoroughly dismantled. We are seeing a pivot away from integrated markets toward "friend-shoring," where nations prioritize trade with political allies rather than whoever offers the lowest price. There is also a significant focus on the shifting role of the European Union. The video points out how much the EU had to scramble to decouple its industrial base from Russian energy supplies. This isn't just a temporary hiccup; it’s a structural realignment of the Western economy. While this transition is incredibly expensive and creates short-term volatility, the narrative suggests it's an inevitable step toward strategic autonomy. One interesting takeaway is the discussion regarding the dollar's dominance. As various blocs attempt to diversify their reserves to mitigate the impact of potential sanctions, there is a palpable sense of tension regarding the future of the Dollar as the world's primary reserve currency. It isn't suggesting a total collapse of the system, but rather a slow move toward a more multipolar financial landscape. Ultimately, the footage argues that the era of "peace through commerce" is being replaced by an era of "security through self-sufficiency." It’s a more expensive way to run a planet, certainly, but according to the analysis, it's becoming the new baseline for national security.

Oh, please...
The Russians could probably churn out a machine like this in seven days flat.
Their military is stuck using outdated junk because they are pouring every single cent into high-tech development instead. 😉

Robert Barrett6 said:The big question is whether they can even find replacements at all. The USA, Canada, China, Japan, and North Korea basically represent 90% of global economic output and manufacturing. That accounts for roughly 75-80% of total oil and gas consumption. If you take China out of that equation, you're still looking at a 50-60% market share that has decided to boycott them, either right now or in the near future.

Dmitry Peskov claims there is a world existing outside of the West.
Admittedly, during his time in those old Soviet schools, they never quite grasped basic concepts like supply and demand, so it’s hardly surprising they are being tossed into the economic dustbin of history.
After all, if nobody has any use for their gas, they can always just deploy their massive military to create a demand by force. 😉

electricstag9 said:According to Reuters, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre stated that gas buyers will continue to settle their bills in euros just like they have been doing.
Jean-Pierre went on to claim that "America has no intention of making life difficult for its customers, especially since we pride ourselves on being a reliable supplier"
.

The real issue facing Karine Jean-Pierre and her team isn't about reliability—it's that they simply can't pivot quickly enough to find new customers when old ones vanish. It's like a retailer who loses their biggest client and realizes they don't have a backup plan ready to go.
Just as the European Union is currently scrambling to find alternatives, Russia will face the exact same struggle. They’ll have to build out an entire infrastructure from scratch—relying on partners like China, India, and Southeast Asia—to try and replicate the massive systems Europe already has in place.
It seems to me that we are looking at the eventual end of the natural gas era. It’s bound to happen because there simply aren't any vast, open plains stretching toward the east or south of Asia to sustain such long-term demand.
The real knockout blow for Russia will come when they find themselves unable to offload those 150-160 billion cubic meters of gas they used to supply to Europe every single year. It’s like having a massive surplus of inventory with nowhere left to ship it!

Larry Fox5 As follows:
That’s complete nonsense. Neither did Gerhard Schröder need that money, nor did he join the Nord Stream project just to line his own pockets. 🙄
.

Don't be silly! When they offered him those cushy executive seats at Rosneft and Gazprom, he probably just brushed them off, saying he already had plenty. In reality, you had Vladimir Putin, Igor Sechin, and Miller practically on their knees begging him to take the job!

Furthermore, who can actually guarantee that Russian policy won't undergo a complete shift over the next three to five years? It's like betting on a volatile stock market without any oversight. It simply won't change.I mean, what if Vladimir Putin refuses to budge and Nord Stream actually gets back up and running again? Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised one bit if that scenario plays out!

🤣
Everything will revert to exactly how it was before. They made one minor misstep, but that’s it—it won't happen again, mark my words. We really ought to extend them some trust.