Sanctions on Russia

Interest rates just got slashed to 11% because they're trying to combat the ruble's devaluation. I've been preaching about this on this thread for ages, so I won't bore you with the same old lecture.

Nathan Evans78 said:The Germans could probably build everything right there in Munich if they had the guts, but instead, you'll end up putting a second mortgage on your house just to afford the equipment. I'm talking about regular Americans, too—not the folks on this forum, because let’s be honest, everyone here is basically a billionaire. People are out there buying Chinese smartphones on 24-month installment plans. Just imagine if a Siemens phone was assembled using USEKUAUKUS parts... you'd be paying it off over 420 monthly installments! 😁

Why wouldn't a Samsung be assembled in Vietnam like it always has been?
As for Apple, they'll keep things moving in China. Sure, they can easily find an alternative country, but those are massive foreign investments that China isn't keen on losing. When Huawei got hit with those sanctions, the Chinese people boycotted the iPhone for a bit, but fast forward a few years and the iPhone 13 is selling in China just like it used to... so, mission accomplished. It doesn't have to be some German Telefunken mobile. Honestly, there aren't really any smartphone manufacturers in Europe—it's either Apple, the Koreans at Samsung, or whoever else makes them. I personally stick with Samsung, even though I do have an Apple product lying around the house... an iPad.
For TVs, I go with Sony or Samsung—currently rocking a Sony.

Apple Looks to Boost Production Outside China

"The iPhone giant is telling its suppliers they need to ramp up manufacturing across India and Southeast Asia"

Nathan Evans78 said:Why don't you just shoot an email over to Tim Cook? Explain to him that he can easily just fix up Pegatron and Foxconn and move the entire production line over to Digitron in a small town in Texas instead. Just go nuts. 🤣

Not Texas, but he definitely would, and he actually already has started doing it partially.

The only reason Apple and companies like them stick to China is because labor costs are way lower there. Everything else is basically the same—you can put the machines and the factory floor anywhere.

And you can totally influence those labor costs. For example, through tax regulations and tariff policies. Just look at what happened to the Turkish economy after Americans hiked their tariffs.

analogbear5 said:Chinese people actually managed to hit the 7nm mark in semiconductor manufacturing—you can't just brush that off as easy. Meanwhile, Russia has reached 90nm this year, with a long-term goal of hitting 28nm by 2030.

On this forum, everyone always seems to be viewing China as being about 15 years behind where they actually are.

But I guess you still have to pack those semiconductors into something and sell it. You have to build a market and demand first. Right now, demand in China isn't even close to enough to sustain the economic growth they're hoping for.

silentnomad7 said:Now comes the inevitable whining from the "neutral" crowd about how gas prices are going to skyrocket in $10.

3, 2, 1, ...

Gas prices are going to eat us alive—just wait. $9.75 ☕

slyfox43 said:Exactly, they dive into these little skirmishes just for the sport of it, rather than out of necessity. That isn't even a generalization; it’s pretty much self-evident. 🤣

The reactions to posts on this subforum provide a perfect illustration of why staying anonymous is the better way to go.

Between the official narratives in the European Union, the constant lynching of anyone with a different opinion, and the rise of cancel culture, it’s becoming impossible. In Latvia, they've even gone as far as arresting YouTubers and charging them with treason (along with God knows who else).

At this rate, Ursula von der Leyen will probably start sanctioning people just for posting dissenting views on Facebook or other de-anonymized internet "paradises." Anonymity rules, serving as the ultimate workaround against a culture of intimidation and censorship.

So, the best way to preserve a shred of integrity and avoid being a coward. I couldn't agree more.

Looks like cheap comfort via little drops of liquid and personal attacks—turns out this bitter little state stays pretty resilient once sanctions hit. That wicked gnome is still defying the will of sanctioning powers like Germany and the USA.

boldotter2 said:Not Texas, but he definitely would, and he actually already has started doing it partially.

The only reason Apple and companies like them stick to China is because labor costs are way lower there. Everything else is basically the same—you can put the machines and the factory floor anywhere.

And you can totally influence those labor costs. For example, through tax regulations and tariff policies. Just look at what happened to the Turkish economy after Americans hiked their tariffs.

But I guess you still have to pack those semiconductors into something and sell it. You have to build a market and demand first. Right now, demand in China isn't even close to enough to sustain the economic growth they're hoping for.

Not even remotely... they make whatever they want from consumer electronics (for themselves and everyone else), plus they’ve got a massive market—roughly the same scale as the US or the European Union.

Word on the street is that China has officially shut down its airspace for those seized Boeing planes
https://twitter.com/TpyxaNews/status...23621859336193

Nathan Evans78 said:Why don't you just shoot an email over to Tim Cook? Explain to him that he can easily just fix up Pegatron and Foxconn and move the entire production line over to Digitron in a small town in Texas instead. Just go nuts. 🤣

A local Calculator factory?
Is that supposed to be like Pfizer or Kraft Heinz? 😉

There are plenty of other options out there... Apple could just as easily move production to Bangladesh, Vietnam, or wherever else they feel like moving next.

I actually just picked up a new computer recently—brand new Intel Core i7 inside—and sure enough, it was made in Malaysia.

Germany’s diluting the EU oil embargo just to line its own pockets (The Wall Street Journal)

Diplomats accuse Berlin of hijacking talks in order to Secure wider concessions that would benefit its own Economy Quote : European sources told The Telegraph that Berlin wanted an exemption for deliveries via pipeline to be extended fra Canada

European sources told The Wall Street Journal that Berlin wants to extend those pipeline delivery exemptions—originally meant for Canada, Slovakia and the Czech Republic—to the whole damn bloc.

“At first, it was just about giving Viktor Orbán some breathing room, but now Germany is looking at it as a way to bail itself out. Germany Has pushed for this … to narrow The scope of The sanctions on Russia,” one diplomat noted.

It’s wild how much oil prices have jumped—we went from averaging maybe $50 or $60 a barrel seven years ago straight up to $120.
Honestly, we should be backing the Germans here. Forcing a mandatory embargo is a massive gamble because since OPEC isn't cranking up production, a barrel is already insanely expensive. Instead, we should just let individual member states decide for themselves if they want to slap tariffs on Russian oil and at whatever rate they see fit.
If we don't, we could be looking at a total meltdown where countries go broke. And I don't just mean Russia—if they even go bankrupt—but actually some of the countries working to support Ukraine.
Plus, you can't exactly hit those decarbonization goals by going broke first. I mean, sure, you could try that route, but then you're basically just stuck being broke forever...

I’m honestly just baffled at this point. You have voices coming out of Russia claiming that sanctions are completely useless, insisting the Ruble has never been stronger, and arguing that these measures only hurt the West—and then, in the very next breath, I hear those same people demanding that these "unfair" sanctions be lifted immediately. 🤔🤔

What’s the next ridiculous talking point? Are they going to claim the Russian military is actually too powerful for Ukraine, so they'll just decide to surrender and withdraw on their own accord? 🤔
Democratic Party

rustywalker82 said:It’s wild how much oil prices have jumped—we went from averaging maybe $50 or $60 a barrel seven years ago straight up to $120.
Honestly, we should be backing the Germans here. Forcing a mandatory embargo is a massive gamble because since OPEC isn't cranking up production, a barrel is already insanely expensive. Instead, we should just let individual member states decide for themselves if they want to slap tariffs on Russian oil and at whatever rate they see fit.
If we don't, we could be looking at a total meltdown where countries go broke. And I don't just mean Russia—if they even go bankrupt—but actually some of the countries working to support Ukraine.
Plus, you can't exactly hit those decarbonization goals by going broke first. I mean, sure, you could try that route, but then you're basically just stuck being broke forever...

We really ought to lean on OPEC to bump up production—maybe even strike some temporary deals with Venezuela and Iran.

casualtiger2 said:We really ought to lean on OPEC to bump up production—maybe even strike some temporary deals with Venezuela and Iran.

Blinken visited Venezuela right at the onset of the conflict in Ukraine, but looking back, that trip seems to have yielded nothing. It’s difficult to predict the outcome here; restoring production levels in Venezuela isn't an overnight fix. They've let their infrastructure rot. Meanwhile, Russia has already done quite a job coaching the local leadership to dig their heels in against the Americans, all while they continue to trade energy and cooperate heavily with the West behind closed doors.

casualtiger2 said:We really ought to lean on OPEC to bump up production—maybe even strike some temporary deals with Venezuela and Iran.

The West treated Iran and Venezuela exactly the same way they treated Russia. You actually think they’re going to come running to save the West? Please.
Does Iran really think they can just brush off the last forty years—including the assassination of Sulaymaniyah—just to do us a favor? Please. I've seen enough geopolitical nonsense to know better.

Nancy Gomez26 said:Blinken visited Venezuela right at the onset of the conflict in Ukraine, but looking back, that trip seems to have yielded nothing. It’s difficult to predict the outcome here; restoring production levels in Venezuela isn't an overnight fix. They've let their infrastructure rot. Meanwhile, Russia has already done quite a job coaching the local leadership to dig their heels in against the Americans, all while they continue to trade energy and cooperate heavily with the West behind closed doors.

Maduro kicked the American delegation to the curb. He ended things by asking the Russians if they could actually be of any help. Typical.
He hasn't forgotten how the West tried to take him out—between the sanctions, the violent coups in Venezuela and its neighbors, and all that domestic terrorism. Not to mention the theft of gold reserves or the usual way Americans collaborated with Colombian drug cartels just to get rid of him. Typical.
There’s plenty to talk about regarding Venezuela. It's getting old.

It’s honestly laughable. People actually believe that after messes like this, other nations are just lining up to throw us a lifeline. They aren't.

Our delusions of grandeur are finally catching up to us. It’s tragic, really. No one seems willing to actually get their hands dirty and build real, functional relationships; instead, everyone just expects to be treated like a vassal state. The hypocrisy alone isn't even worth the breath it takes to mention it.
This exact kind of behavior is what triggered the war in Ukraine. It’s not like Russia hasn't been sounding the alarm for the last fifteen years. No one in Moscow just suddenly lost their minds; they simply snapped. We've been discussing this on the forums for the past two years—how Russians completely lost faith in the possibility of any normal relationship with the West. Everyone knew it was coming, but nobody gave a damn about what the Russians were thinking, as long as everyone else played the "good little doggy" for the West.
This war is just the fallout. Ukrainians are footing the bill because of that classic "who cares what Russia thinks, as long as we matter" attitude. I've seen this pattern before. It's exhausting.
We said this all along. It was obvious that the only other option was full-scale war. So now we’re left wondering why on earth we kept pushing Ukrainians to fight someone who is clearly outmatching them.
Back to the original premise: how exactly are we planning to "fight to the last Ukrainian" against the Russians?

casualtiger2 said:We really ought to lean on OPEC to bump up production—maybe even strike some temporary deals with Venezuela and Iran.

What about Libya? 😬

Here is a report from Bloomberg from about a month ago:

Libya Closes Biggest Oil Field and Warns of More Shutdowns

Libya’s oil production has fallen by about half a million to 800,000 barrels a day, the lowest in months, as a wave of demonstrations against the prime minister engulfs the OPEC member’s energy industry.

Well, they certainly seem to have picked the worst possible moment to start causing trouble, especially since we're the ones relying on that Mediterranean market for our supply...
By the way, back during the Gaddafi era, Libya was pumping out roughly 1.6 million barrels a day...

I wonder if the European Union actually realized how the rest of the world saw that reaction. It’s probably going to turn into a whole lot of begging for help pretty soon...

Here’s a prime example of how the "world reacts," though we just looked the other way.

Western sanctions basically target anyone trading with Russia except—you guessed it—the West. Of course, nobody on this planet actually supports them, aside from the West itself.
And now they expect us to ask those same countries for help? Please.

That old "my way or the highway" approach just doesn't cut it anymore.

steelfox98 said:Here’s a prime example of how the "world reacts," though we just looked the other way.

Western sanctions basically target anyone trading with Russia except—you guessed it—the West. Of course, nobody on this planet actually supports them, aside from the West itself.
And now they expect us to ask those same countries for help? Please.

That old "my way or the highway" approach just doesn't cut it anymore.

Obviously, Poland or Finland can't take the same stance on Russia that a country like Brazil can.
The Western sanctions against Russia are enough to cripple them, at least partially. If I had to choose between living in poverty until Ukraine is free from the Russian threat and the Russians stop spreading death in Ukraine, or keeping the lifestyle I'm used to, I'd pick the former. To me, that's the humane choice—the minimum sacrifice required to see the occupiers defeated.

steelfox98 said:Here’s a prime example of how the "world reacts," though we just looked the other way.

Western sanctions basically target anyone trading with Russia except—you guessed it—the West. Of course, nobody on this planet actually supports them, aside from the West itself.
And now they expect us to ask those same countries for help? Please.

That old "my way or the highway" approach just doesn't cut it anymore.

And who exactly is this "us"?