Posts by dustyowl29

Wait, didn't Russia ban its own wheat exports?

Kenneth Cruz67 said:I mean, what's the point of importing synthetic fertilizers when we have companies like Petrokemija, which at one point was actually the second largest exporter in the entire US🤔

I suppose if we didn't have our own domestic production, then sure, maybe it would make sense, but why on earth would we import something that we produce ourselves in such massive quantities that we even export it? It feels like we'd just be lining the pockets of middlemen and speculators, while everyone else ends up losing out.

The thing is, synthetic fertilizers rely heavily on natural gas. So, Dow Chemical can't really function without massive amounts of gas. At the end of the day, the real question is whether it's actually more cost-effective to just buy the finished fertilizer from Russia or manufacture it ourselves using Russian gas.

It’ll all happen eventually... the key is just letting the pressure out. Once things stabilize, you can bet the Americans will swoop in to invest—after all, Venezuela sits on about a quarter of the world's oil reserves, and let's face it, commerce is a cold-hearted mistress that always puts profit first. Nobody wants sky-high energy costs, especially not Americans.
They might tolerate just about anything else, but a drop in their standard of living? Not a chance. Honestly, I don't think Europeans are ready to embrace poverty either, but Americans take the lead in that department—just like they take the lead in being the literal front line in the conflict against Russia. We're looking at an open clash between Russia and the USA right now; it’s becoming impossible to ignore. It isn't direct, sure, but it's definitely indirect. Every single American wants to see a weakened Russia, and that's exactly what's going to happen.

The US really needs to lean on Venezuela to ramp up production—we need that market stability if we want prices to actually drop. Same goes for Iran. They’ve got the oil, but Americans have managed to annoy pretty much everyone, and now that things are getting tight, suddenly everyone else is acting like they're doing us a massive favor... :-D

It’s the exact same story whether we're talking about smartphones or weaponry...

Yeah, let's be real—most Chinese cars are basically just carbon copies of Japanese, Korean, or American models. I mean, Volvo is alright, but most of the rest aren't even good enough to make it onto export markets.
Would you actually buy a Chang’an?
Probably not.

China is pumping out more cars than anyone else, though I'm not entirely sure how much of that actually makes it onto export markets...
Most of those vehicles barely meet basic safety or environmental standards—honestly, they're the kind of cars you wouldn't want to be caught driving. Personally, I'd take a ten-year-old Ford, Renault, VW, or Toyota over them any day of the week.
The traditional "Big Four" domestic car manufacturers are SAIC Motor, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler

Larry Wilson25 said:What’s the deal with our friends at AD Plastic? They’re tied directly to Renault and have production lines running right in Russia.
Exactly—and let's be real, there aren't even any sanctions on people actually buying vehicles over there. Plus, what are we going to do about the semiconductor shortage? Modern cars need chips, but everything is being diverted to the military, which is basically cannibalizing parts from washing machines and appliances just to keep up.
(And honestly, some European car manufacturers are doing the exact same thing regardless of the war).

AD Plastic is basically toast.
The sanctions are going to slowly grind everything down... it'll take more than just the weapons the West is sending over. You're going to see the real impact this fall.

A Moskvitch doesn't need semiconductors anyway. Just give them an old Ford engine, some coils, and basic circuit boards.

It started with an embargo, and now we’re looking at full-blown sanctions against Russia..

Most global trade moves through the dollar—it’s pretty simple math. The more currency flowing through the system, the stronger it stays. Up until yesterday, every single barrel of oil on the planet was priced in dollars. Even when China trades with the West, they're using the greenback, and honestly, that isn't changing anytime soon.
Of course, if you want a currency to actually mean something, you need some real backbone behind it—think GDP and solid gold reserves.

It wasn't just Russia that messed this up—it was Putin himself.
He genuinely thought he could roll through Ukraine in a matter of days, and he clearly didn't give a single thought to anything else. No plan for EU or USA support for Ukraine, nothing. He basically assumed everyone would just shrug it off like they did back in 2014.
Maybe if he’d actually focused on the Donbas from the jump instead of trying to bite off more than he can chew on every single front...

Germany just rolled out their new playbook to stop leaning so hard on Russia

So, we’ve reached a point of total absurdity here—major powers are still out there importing and paying for oil and gas using rubles, while the smaller nations are the ones cutting ties and stopping imports from Russia. Honestly, who’s actually winning this one?

Dennis Price said:A win would basically just preserve Russia's current political structure. As for what happens to Russia if they lose this war? Honestly, God only knows.

But really, why act like they're tethered to an "enemy"? That "enemy" is also their best customer.

But what does "victory" even look like? Is it just ousting Zelensky and installing some pro-Russian puppet regime that nobody outside of Moscow will ever recognize?

There is no such thing as victory here. If they had managed to topple the Ukrainian government at the very start, things would be looking a lot different right now. As it stands, they might grab the Donbas, but they’ll likely stall out somewhere halfway through—unless they decide to go nuclear on Ukraine, though I doubt they'd go that far...
If they settle for a chunk of territory and call it a win, it won't stay quiet for long. With Western backing, the Ukrainians are eventually going to try to take back what was lost—maybe even all of it. It'll be like those intense counter-offensives we see in history books.

George Robinson43 said:Honestly, I think Russia is just bluffing at this point.
They cut off gas supplies to Poland right after they filled up their storage tanks and got ready to ditch Russian gas, and they did the same to Bulgaria, where everything should be connecting via pipeline in Greece within two months.

If they actually had any nerve, they would have shut off the tap to Germany the moment those guys announced they were sending tanks.

Exactly. Germany uses about 30% of the total gas flowing from Russia into the EU.
If they pulled the plug on them, the immediate backlash would be a shutdown of all pipelines—because let's face it, prices would skyrocket anyway.
And if that happened, Putin would be running for the hills.
Even though high prices technically favor Russia, they end up selling less volume while pulling in the same—if not more—cash.

Windows has a massive footprint, and let’s face it—Bill Gates has enough marketing muscle to ensure they stay on top forever. It's not going anywhere. Sure, Linux is a decent alternative if you're into that sort of thing, but it’s definitely not for everyone. You have professionals who have spent years mastering Windows—expecting them to just jump from one version to another, let alone switch entire operating systems? Yeah, not a chance.

The whole damn bucket from that link above

Office PC setup.
Just for office work, browsing, and general stuff.
It’s brand new—honestly, don't even bother opening it up. Either take it as-is or just sell it.

Man, everything feels overpriced or just completely out of stock lately.
Just hang tight and wait.

Went to the pharmacy to check—turns out both of them aren't covered by insurance..
I didn't have any supplies at work, so I just grabbed some baby wipes and that Advil..