Posts by George Robinson43

slyfox43 said:None of that actually works the way you think it does.

Man, he clearly doesn't grasp why the West is focusing almost entirely on light weaponry, specifically Javelins and Stingers.
He seems to believe we're sending massive military convoys down roads that are essentially sitting ducks. 🙏

brightheron64 said:Well, how?

It happens when a supposedly parliamentary monarchy turns into an untouchable autocracy, especially when they're more than willing to turn on the oil taps without asking too many questions...

Just a reminder: Mossadegh actually stepped down a year before the coup, only to return to power fueled by "street support"—which was ultimately his undoing due to backing from the Tudeh Party.
Once Ike and Churchill realized he had aligned himself with the pro-Soviet communists in Iran, they decided it was time to step in.
Nationalizing the oil fields likely wasn't the primary trigger for the coup, but once you combine that move with Mossadegh's ties to the Tudeh Party, you're looking at a completely different level of political risk.

brightheron64 said:Since you brought it up, the story of Iran is such a tragic, ugly mess.

Back in 1951, during democratic elections in Iran, Mohammad Mosaddegh won and became Prime Minister, aiming to steer his country toward a completely new path of development. But he ended up hitting a "no-no!" zone by planning—heaven help us—to nationalize Iran's own oil resources.
In 1953, he was "overthrown" by a coup orchestrated by the CIA and MI6 under the direction of Kermit Roosevelt, aided by—well, goodness gracious—local assets...
That led to the installation of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1953, who was, quite literally, an American puppet. Oh yes, he introduced Western standards of values and behavior, moved away from traditional dress, and the country seemed to progress thanks to endless amounts of oil (miracle of miracles!), buying up F-14 fighter jets... but he also crushed every single opposition group, absolutely everyone, except for the religious factions that he somehow viewed as his allies.
And what a disaster that turned out to be—eventually, Khomeini arrives in Iran, our friend Reza flees into exile... and Islamic fanatics seize control. Antiamericanism becomes the way of life and... fucking Iran remains a mortal enemy to the region, to Israel, and to the USA... a rogue state that you can't even have a friendly conversation with, let alone trade with.

Ultimately... What the fuck???
Who, in all their stupidity, selfishness, and narrow-minded pursuit of immediate interests... cooked up this whole mess? The Iranians? The religious fanatics?

How on earth can you install someone to rule the country when they’ve been sitting in power for twelve consecutive years? It’s like trying to elect a new CEO when the current one hasn't stepped down since the turn of the millennium!
Pahlavi was actually on the execution list until he decided to back down regarding nationalization.

What use is technology to them? They seem perfectly content just clutching framed photos of Vladimir Putin.

urbanotter said:In reality, very little has actually changed; it’s just been packaged a bit more nicely. One time it's framed as a fight against hateful communism, and the next, it's presented as liberating people from tyranny and gifting them democracy.
I honestly wonder how much an average person in Iraq, Iran, or Saudi Arabia actually cares about the concept of democracy.

Putin has been issuing warnings constantly, but apparently, no one was listening.
If Trump had stayed in office as a "businessman," maybe we wouldn't be facing this conflict, but with the questionable choice of Biden, things have shifted fundamentally.

Historically, Russia has endured three devastating wars—Napoleonic, WW1, and WW2—suffering massive destruction and losing tens of millions of lives.
It’s entirely possible that this is why Putin is so wary; he feels pressured by a power that, instead of engaging in civil war or direct combat on its own soil, used strategic circumstances to push itself into becoming the world's sole hegemon or the "only military superpower."
Lately, however, the tide is starting to turn. China is entering the fray, Russia is finding its footing again, and then there's India, which certainly won't be sitting idly by.
This suggests that the old status quo and influence are slipping away, something some people are having a very hard time swallowing or accepting.
This isn't just a localized conflict between Ukraine and Russia; it's about a global shift and the redistribution of power.
Yet, some people remain fixated solely on heart-wrenching news reports and smartphone footage, failing to see that a massive tsunami is approaching if we don't establish a new balance of influence.

Nono, before they can even sit at the negotiating table, they need to master basic sanitation in India. Only then can they truly engage in a conversation with their peers.

Well, I would argue those aren't quite wars, but rather special operations—much like the situation in Afghanistan, where they turned Washington, D.C. into a massive architectural marvel.

Timothy Kim9 said:How much can Iran and Venezuela actually help the US and the European Union
regarding extra oil and gas supplies to replace what we lost from Russia?

From what I’m reading, they’ve started warming up to Maduro, and we’re getting pretty close
to a deal with Iran...

I’m mostly wondering about gas; as for oil, it feels like those two could probably cover it.

The largest natural gas field on the planet stretches right between Qatar and Iran! You can check out the massive scale of its reserves right here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_...ndensate_field

On the list of natural gas fields it has almost as much recoverable reserves as all the other fields combined.

Essentially, Iran and Qatar hold as much gas as the rest of the world combined—and that's more than double the total gas found in Siberia.

Of course, that doesn't even account for shale gas, where the USA and Canada hold by far the largest reserves.

Jesse Hughes6 said:It doesn't matter, they'll just end up servicing them themselves and manufacturing their own spare parts.
Until everything eventually falls out of the sky, at which point they'll just switch over to those incredibly reliable domestic Boeings.

🤣
Good grief, I am absolutely dying laughing here.
Come on now, it’s not like they have to rely on Boeings where the survival rate feels like maybe 80% at best. 🤣
Plus, there's always that ultra-modern Embraer 130, which famously slammed into a mountain during its very first demo flight when they were trying to sell it to Indonesia.

urbanotter said:Well, I guess I just learned something new today.

By that logic, neither Kraft Heinz nor Del Monte would be considered actual companies.☕

The bare walls of a factory aren't a company either.
They are simply assets owned by a company.

urbanotter said:I can't help but wonder who is actually going to be "calling the shots" once these companies are nationalized.

Quincy:

The ruling party, United Russia, announced today that a government commission has approved the initial phase of nationalizing assets belonging to foreign corporations exiting the country, according to Reuters. The official statement indicates the commission has backed legislation that would see any company leaving Russia—where citizens from 'hostile nations' hold more than a 25 percent stake—placed under new management.

Read the full story here: - www.vecernji.hr

Absolutely no one.
Nationalized assets aren't actually functioning companies.

Think of it like this: they could manufacture elderberry juice in a Coca-Cola factory and slap a Coca-Cola label on it, but that doesn't make it actual Coca-Cola.

urbanotter said:The reality is that only about a third of the world has actually imposed sanctions on Russia, which means there is still more than enough demand globally for Russian grain, synthetic fertilizers, oils, and rare earth metals.
Even Japan is signaling that they won't walk away from the gas pipeline project near the Aleutian Islands, despite the fact that they introduced sanctions against Russia due to pressure from the United States.
The Germans aren't exactly thrilled about being forced into these strained relations with Russia either.
It seems to me that this supposed "Western unity" is much stronger in news headlines than it is in the actual, messy reality of global trade.

Japan shows no sign of abandoning the Russian Sahalin-2 LNG project

https://www.geopolitika.news/vijesti...-dcvQj0ZS8NKjk

To clarify, we aren't talking about a pipeline, but rather an LNG terminal co-owned by two Japanese corporations.
At the same time, Japan has asserted its sovereignty over two islands in the Aleutian Islands claimed by Russia. Just thought you should know.

Regardless, if there is demand, buyers will exist for Russian raw materials—but shifting entire trade routes to the other side of the globe takes years.
Just look up how long it took to build all those pipelines heading toward Europe. By the time they finish building all that infrastructure to reach China and India, the demand for gas might not even be there anymore.

restlessmason54 said:The West is basically spiraling economically, and Russia is just dragging everyone down with them. 😉

Russia has chosen a different path entirely, and they aren't pulling any part of the West along with them. Instead, they are moving toward a reality where the concept of "the West" no longer exists, as the nation collectively moves away from all Western values.
Admittedly, this new direction acts much like a carbon copy of Kim Il-sung’s Juche philosophy. However, I believe any free thinker in America who realizes that Western ideals have crumbled will naturally gravitate toward this new enlightenment. There is plenty of room for everyone, from Voronezh to Vladivostok. 👋

Daniel Barnes53 said:Russia's economic influence is definitely bigger than Spain's, but if they had invaded Ukraine back in, say, 2019, the impact on the world economy would have been much milder. Back then, raw material prices were lower, supply chains were totally normal, and we weren't dealing with this kind of inflation. I suspect Putin knew exactly what he was doing by attacking now; he probably figured he could pull off the aggression without much interference or heavy sanctions from the West.
So, I suppose it really comes down to timing. In the long run, whether it's economic, political, or military, the side with the stronger economy usually wins. And Russia might become pretty irrelevant over the next 30 years once the West finds alternative ways to source those raw materials.

I actually think he completely miscalculated.
To truly tie the West's hands for even a few months, the attack should have been launched before the heating season began.
By starting near the end of winter instead, he essentially gifted the West the maneuvering room and time they needed to adapt.
That said, I fully endorse this new Russian direction toward self-sufficiency—this rejection of materialism and Western values within the Euro-Asian Orthodox sphere. I wish them nothing but the best! For all those in the West who recoil at modern Western culture, they finally have a place to seek out a spiritual life in the name of Saint Basil!

Carl Lee27 said:The Iranians are sitting right on top of one of the largest—and probably most valuable—resource reserves we've ever seen, and let's be real, these resources are slowly starting to run dry. They wasted forty whole years while the Arab nations were swimming in dollars, pounds, and Euros, and quite frankly, they don't have another forty years to waste.

Before Khomeini, they were pumping nearly 7 million barrels a day, yet today they struggle to hit 2, even though they could easily be at 10.
Venezuela is an even steeper example! They have enough reserves to comfortably produce 12 or 13 million barrels, but because they haven't invested a dime in years, production plummeted to just 1.2 during the Maduro era.

hollowdriver13 said:https://twitter.com/EmmettLesterSan/...Cj4ZbHt9EpAAAA

Just for our friend here, the Iranians were actually hanging Ukrainian flags during prayer services. It feels like the real motivation for wrapping up those nuclear negotiations and lifting sanctions might just be the sweet, sweet cash from selling oil to the "bad guys" in the West—honestly, that smells even more tempting than anything Putin is doing right now. Even Nicolás Maduro seems pretty open to selling his oil to this "rogue empire."
I mean, let's be real: Dollars and Euros are definitely a lot sweeter than Rubles, aren't they?

They can forget about Ukraine for now, but they clearly know they’ll jump at those blue and yellow colors if it means getting their oil sanctions lifted.
Even Nicolás Maduro sees a chance to practically enrich the entire nation in just a few short years.

Brenda Murphy3 said:😁🤣

And just how much economic business are these countries actually doing with Russia? 🍿

That’s assuming we even take for granted that a country like India or Mexico—or whatever—would actually prioritize Russia over the interests of the USA and the EU. Whether they announce sanctions formally or not, it's all the same deal...

Your posts are either the desperate cries of someone panicking or you're just straight-up trolling..🐔

It would be quite an eye-opener if he realized that Pakistan's GDP is actually smaller than that of Denmark!

The real issue with replacing the markets lost by Russia is this:

- Their purchasing power is significantly lower than the Western markets they can no longer reach.
- There is a much smaller demand for raw materials and finished goods compared to those former partners.
- Logistics becomes an absolute nightmare when most of these new buyers are located halfway across the globe.

If Russia manages to capture even 10% of what they used to pull from trade with the West, they might just be able to keep the lights on for the next decade.

Adam Lee13 said:So, the USA, Canada, and the UK are all cutting ties on Russian oil, and—get this—they're even ditching the gas... though, if you look closely, it’s mostly just the Britons pulling the plug on the gas part...

British gas imports from Russia are practically negligible. They really only pick up supplies if there’s a breakdown on the North Sea platforms or to bolster reserves during maintenance periods.

silverotter72 said:I can't say I have much respect for the guy. If anything, I think he's been a step backward for the United Kingdom. Still, I suppose if there is one thing I can respect, it's when someone actually owns up to a mistake. It doesn't happen often, though. You can see a tiny glimmer of humanity beneath all that populism. Then again, I wouldn't go so far as to give him credit for that; he probably just realized his voters wanted to hear him say it.
I still despise him, but in this one specific instance, I guess I'll tip my hat.

Far right and far left alike admired Putin. Now we’ve all turned against strongmen

There are still plenty of clowns on Putin's payroll who are suddenly turning their backs:

Melania Trump - she just ordered the destruction of 1.2 million flyers featuring handshakes with Putin that she had planned to distribute during her election campaign 🙏 🙏

hahahahaha

William Anderson5 said:What a total disaster for the European populists. Putin buried them all in a single day...

Nigel Farage 2014:
Nigel Farage: I admire Vladimir Putin

Nigel Farage 2022:
Farage: ‘I was wrong’ about Putin

Well, at least the man had the decency to admit he was being foolish!