Sanctions on Russia

rustywalker82 said:Yellen didn't exactly say, "Hey, wait until the dealer starts getting violent, and just ignore how his profits are skyrocketing instead of dropping."
I've already touched on how to handle breaking an addiction efficiently. It's much better if the penalties on consumption stay within the consumer's own country rather than lining the pockets of the dealer.

But what on earth do you do when that dealer turns out to be a violent type who realizes he’s about to lose his entire income stream...

Donna Harris11 said:I mean, maybe India and China would actually go for this. There isn't some massive embargo on Russian oil or anything; everyone is just buying it at these lower, negotiated rates. It might even force other oil prices to nudge downwards too. I guess we'll see how the Saudi reaction plays out, though. That could get interesting.

Mdaaaa, they could do just about anything, BUT

India and China have been aligned with Russia for a long time now, mainly because they are part of this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shangh...n_Organisation

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), also known as the Shanghai Pact,[2] is a transcontinental political, economic, security, and military alliance. In terms of geographic scope and population, IT is The world's largest regional organization, covering approximately 60% of the area of Eurasia, 40% of the world population, and more than 30% of global GDP.[3]

Iran joins this year, while Turkey remains on the sidelines. 😁

Europe is well on its way to becoming the world's blind spot—or if you want a better term: a sewer.

Michael Ortiz68 said:Once Ukraine finally surrenders, everything will revert to the status quo. Inflation will crater, and the prices for oil and gas will plummet right back to where they were. Everything will return to normal, and business at our firm will finally start blooming again.

That’s certainly one way to look at it.

Personally, I feel that even once this war finally draws to a close, regardless of who is declared the "winner,"
the world won't ever truly be the same; we are looking at massive, tectonic shifts on a global scale, and eventually, the conflict in Ukraine might become a relatively marginal chapter in history.

I don't let bitter comments or snide insinuations get under my skin too much; to me, they really just serve as a clear indicator of the level of civility in a conversation.☕🕺

I’ve had the opportunity to visit America several times now, and I’ve always walked away with an incredibly positive impression of the average American citizen, and even the officials working at the airports.

People are exceptionally kind and always seem genuinely eager to help; during the three months or so I spent traveling through California and Florida, I never encountered a single moment of discomfort or friction.

Even their driving culture feels more disciplined than ours—there isn't that same sense of aggression, and if you're pulling out of a parking lot in front of a shopping center, drivers will actually wait for you rather than swerving to rip your bumper off.

And when you're walking down the street during a holiday, complete strangers will go out of their way to wish you a happy holiday.
I won't ramble on too long since we've drifted off-topic, but honestly, I have so many positive memories like this, while negative ones are incredibly rare—I can't even recall a single bad experience right now.
Living with hatred isn't how I choose to operate, nor do I find any value in feeding my own paranoias with it.

Anyway, stay healthy, take care of yourself, and all the best.👋

Noah Diaz said:Mdaaaa, they could do just about anything, BUT

India and China have been aligned with Russia for a long time now, mainly because they are part of this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shangh...n_Organisation

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), also known as the Shanghai Pact,[2] is a transcontinental political, economic, security, and military alliance. In terms of geographic scope and population, IT is The world's largest regional organization, covering approximately 60% of the area of Eurasia, 40% of the world population, and more than 30% of global GDP.[3]

Iran joins this year, while Turkey remains on the sidelines. 😁

Europe is well on its way to becoming the world's blind spot—or if you want a better term: a sewer.

We have been hearing this exact same rhetoric for twenty years now. I wonder how much longer you all intend to swallow it.

The Roman Empire didn't just collapse overnight in twenty years. It was a slow burn, though we can point pretty clearly to the moment things started sliding downhill. History has those specific turning points where everything just 😁

silentnomad7 said:That’s just like a dealer talking to an addict...

The EU will eventually move away from Russian oil, sure, but only once they manage to swap out about 30% of all cars for electric vehicles over the next five years. Once that happens, then maybe they can finally say "bye bye" to the dealer...

A brilliant plan. Now you just have to figure out how to handle that massive spike in electricity demand for EA—and where on earth you'll actually find the power to generate it. 🤣

Joshua Myers432 said:Sanctioning Russian gas and oil is pure idiocy because, from day one, it’s been hurting us more than them. Of course, when I pointed this out two months ago, I was met with some colorful insults from financially illiterate and uneducated forum users who substitute a lack of logic and intelligence with sheer rudeness.

I don't even feel like gloating; it would be like trying to explain basic addition to a toddler. At this point, I'm just supposed to be satisfied that I was right. 🤦

👍

There was a decent amount of "wishful thinkers" in here. People who seemed to believe that just wanting something makes it happen. It doesn't. Reality rarely cares about your desires. I learned that the hard way back when I was working in Chicago. Pure delusion.
On the other hand, anyone who finally stopped living off their parents' dime has had a rude awakening regarding how much everything costs in this country. It’s a reality check. One day you're eating free meals, the next you're staring at a grocery bill that makes you want to quit. Not fun.

It’s hardly a comfort, but this pattern is playing out across the entire European Union. On the other hand, even if the impact on Americans is significantly smaller, they shifted their stance a long time ago. For instance, they specifically carved out exceptions for fertilizer sanctions—honestly, you have to be an idiot to even implement those in the first place. They’re reportedly still pulling Russian oil, just in smaller quantities, and they just lifted the sanctions on certain Russian banks regarding energy sectors. That even includes the Federal Reserve.

Another day, another paper trail from the Treasury. Just more bureaucratic noise to sift through. It’s all just numbers on a screen until someone actually loses everything. I remember watching my old man lose his entire pension during the '08 crash because he trusted these exact types of official reports. They always seem to have an answer for everything, right up until the moment they don't. Typical.

Noah Diaz said:The Roman Empire didn't just collapse overnight in twenty years. It was a slow burn, though we can point pretty clearly to the moment things started sliding downhill. History has those specific turning points where everything just 😁

And if you ask me, the biggest factor in that entire decline was the influx of barbarians—those wild tribes coming in from the East.😁

urbanotter said:And if you ask me, the biggest factor in that entire decline was the influx of barbarians—those wild tribes coming in from the East.😁

I grabbed this from a Mexican site.
Because of sanctions from certain Western nations, that Russian car manufacturer can't get their hands on all the parts they used to rely on. It’s like a major Detroit automaker suddenly losing access to its entire supply chain overnight.

So, this "anti-embargo" Lada basically comes without airbags, ABS, stability control, or even seatbelt pretensioners. It's like buying a car that ignores every basic safety standard we take for granted here.

It’s been nearly four months since the invasion of Ukraine started, and honestly, a new Lada is kind of the perfect metaphor for the Russian economy right now. It’s still running, somehow, even if they’re missing half the parts.

steelfox98 said:A brilliant plan. Now you just have to figure out how to handle that massive spike in electricity demand for EA—and where on earth you'll actually find the power to generate it. 🤣

👍

There was a decent amount of "wishful thinkers" in here. People who seemed to believe that just wanting something makes it happen. It doesn't. Reality rarely cares about your desires. I learned that the hard way back when I was working in Chicago. Pure delusion.
On the other hand, anyone who finally stopped living off their parents' dime has had a rude awakening regarding how much everything costs in this country. It’s a reality check. One day you're eating free meals, the next you're staring at a grocery bill that makes you want to quit. Not fun.

It’s hardly a comfort, but this pattern is playing out across the entire European Union. On the other hand, even if the impact on Americans is significantly smaller, they shifted their stance a long time ago. For instance, they specifically carved out exceptions for fertilizer sanctions—honestly, you have to be an idiot to even implement those in the first place. They’re reportedly still pulling Russian oil, just in smaller quantities, and they just lifted the sanctions on certain Russian banks regarding energy sectors. That even includes the Federal Reserve.

Another day, another paper trail from the Treasury. Just more bureaucratic noise to sift through. It’s all just numbers on a screen until someone actually loses everything. I remember watching my old man lose his entire pension during the '08 crash because he trusted these exact types of official reports. They always seem to have an answer for everything, right up until the moment they don't. Typical.

Even in the States, things haven't been easy; inflation there has actually hit double digits at points.

I haven't looked into the specifics lately, but I highly doubt that's the primary reason why Tesla electric vehicles have become so expensive.☕

p.s.
The most tragic part of this whole situation is that the Federal Reserve printing all this money doesn't seem to have the same impact it did just a few months ago,
yet they keep raising interest rates, and I don't think I really need to explain what that implies for the economy.
Just trying to keep us from drifting too far off-topic.

steelfox98 said:A brilliant plan. Now you just have to figure out how to handle that massive spike in electricity demand for EA—and where on earth you'll actually find the power to generate it. 🤣

👍

There was a decent amount of "wishful thinkers" in here. People who seemed to believe that just wanting something makes it happen. It doesn't. Reality rarely cares about your desires. I learned that the hard way back when I was working in Chicago. Pure delusion.
On the other hand, anyone who finally stopped living off their parents' dime has had a rude awakening regarding how much everything costs in this country. It’s a reality check. One day you're eating free meals, the next you're staring at a grocery bill that makes you want to quit. Not fun.

It’s hardly a comfort, but this pattern is playing out across the entire European Union. On the other hand, even if the impact on Americans is significantly smaller, they shifted their stance a long time ago. For instance, they specifically carved out exceptions for fertilizer sanctions—honestly, you have to be an idiot to even implement those in the first place. They’re reportedly still pulling Russian oil, just in smaller quantities, and they just lifted the sanctions on certain Russian banks regarding energy sectors. That even includes the Federal Reserve.

Another day, another paper trail from the Treasury. Just more bureaucratic noise to sift through. It’s all just numbers on a screen until someone actually loses everything. I remember watching my old man lose his entire pension during the '08 crash because he trusted these exact types of official reports. They always seem to have an answer for everything, right up until the moment they don't. Typical.

Honestly, look at the Germans—they just flipped the switch on those nuclear plants they had previously decommissioned, treating them like a quick fix for the transition period leading up to 2050.

swiftjackal11 said:I grabbed this from a Mexican site.
Because of sanctions from certain Western nations, that Russian car manufacturer can't get their hands on all the parts they used to rely on. It’s like a major Detroit automaker suddenly losing access to its entire supply chain overnight.

So, this "anti-embargo" Lada basically comes without airbags, ABS, stability control, or even seatbelt pretensioners. It's like buying a car that ignores every basic safety standard we take for granted here.

It’s been nearly four months since the invasion of Ukraine started, and honestly, a new Lada is kind of the perfect metaphor for the Russian economy right now. It’s still running, somehow, even if they’re missing half the parts.

It feels like we're heading straight back to 1988:
The 1988 Volga GAZ 24-10 Is a Hilariously Bad Soviet Russian Car

silentnomad7 said:Honestly, look at the Germans—they just flipped the switch on those nuclear plants they had previously decommissioned, treating them like a quick fix for the transition period leading up to 2050.

I hear you. And it’s about way more than just keeping the lights on.

Think about synthetic fertilizers, which require massive amounts of gas to produce; you could literally pull those components right out of thin air. If you use nuclear power to run water electrolysis, you get the hydrogen you need—while letting the oxygen drift back into the atmosphere so we can all keep breathing—and then you just pull the nitrogen from the air, since there's plenty of it everywhere... and just go for it.

Honestly, I'm genuinely surprised it didn't click for them sooner...

brightheron64 said:I hear you. And it’s about way more than just keeping the lights on.

Think about synthetic fertilizers, which require massive amounts of gas to produce; you could literally pull those components right out of thin air. If you use nuclear power to run water electrolysis, you get the hydrogen you need—while letting the oxygen drift back into the atmosphere so we can all keep breathing—and then you just pull the nitrogen from the air, since there's plenty of it everywhere... and just go for it.

Honestly, I'm genuinely surprised it didn't click for them sooner...

Just switch over the home heating from gas to electric, and suddenly you've freed up all that gas for fertilizer production.

urbanotter said:Even in the States, things haven't been easy; inflation there has actually hit double digits at points.

I haven't looked into the specifics lately, but I highly doubt that's the primary reason why Tesla electric vehicles have become so expensive.☕

p.s.
The most tragic part of this whole situation is that the Federal Reserve printing all this money doesn't seem to have the same impact it did just a few months ago,
yet they keep raising interest rates, and I don't think I really need to explain what that implies for the economy.
Just trying to keep us from drifting too far off-topic.

I was watching this massive screen at an American gas station recently, catching some commentary on Biden claiming that Putin is responsible for everything...

And then this guy just shouts out: "on 24 February 2022 inflation rate was 7.4%".

silentnomad7 said:Just switch over the home heating from gas to electric, and suddenly you've freed up all that gas for fertilizer production.

Germany only produces about 3 percent of its own gas needs...

If you could actually pull off a magic trick that saves them from that disaster, you wouldn't just be a wealthy man—you'd be legendary for the rest of human history...

So NATO says Russia is to blame for inflation and there's no wiggle room here

steelfox98 said:A brilliant plan. Now you just have to figure out how to handle that massive spike in electricity demand for EA—and where on earth you'll actually find the power to generate it. 🤣

👍

There was a decent amount of "wishful thinkers" in here. People who seemed to believe that just wanting something makes it happen. It doesn't. Reality rarely cares about your desires. I learned that the hard way back when I was working in Chicago. Pure delusion.
On the other hand, anyone who finally stopped living off their parents' dime has had a rude awakening regarding how much everything costs in this country. It’s a reality check. One day you're eating free meals, the next you're staring at a grocery bill that makes you want to quit. Not fun.

It’s hardly a comfort, but this pattern is playing out across the entire European Union. On the other hand, even if the impact on Americans is significantly smaller, they shifted their stance a long time ago. For instance, they specifically carved out exceptions for fertilizer sanctions—honestly, you have to be an idiot to even implement those in the first place. They’re reportedly still pulling Russian oil, just in smaller quantities, and they just lifted the sanctions on certain Russian banks regarding energy sectors. That even includes the Federal Reserve.

Another day, another paper trail from the Treasury. Just more bureaucratic noise to sift through. It’s all just numbers on a screen until someone actually loses everything. I remember watching my old man lose his entire pension during the '08 crash because he trusted these exact types of official reports. They always seem to have an answer for everything, right up until the moment they don't. Typical.

They didn't actually lift anything regarding the 8b non-exports; in fact, 8a was tightened, and 8c was issued because the deadline for the 8b directive was expiring.

And look, the European Union hasn't actually slapped a total ban on Russian fertilizers either. Instead, they just set up quotas to "encourage" importers to start looking toward other markets.

=fgzcvijetic;93073547]I was watching this major news network here in the States, and they were showing a comment regarding Biden's statement about how Putin is responsible for everything.

And then this guy just shouts out: "on 24 February 2022 inflation rate was 7.4%".

Honestly, forget about the sanctions and the 7.5% inflation; I’ve had quite enough of these depressing topics lately.

I ended up watching some Krulet, which really brightened my mood (check out around the 55-minute mark where Krulet talks about sanctions).

Germans only produce 3 percent of their own gas needs.

If you can actually serve them up a magic trick that saves them from ruin, you aren't just a wealthy man—you're legendary for the rest of human history.

If we were even slightly better at anything than the Germans,
maybe some genius would emerge from a small town in the Midwest, fix everything, or just rake in the cash by producing a few cubic meters of gas.😁

p.s.
They say you can drill down 4,000 or 5,000 meters, and you can even drill sideways.
So, they could theoretically start drilling right now and head straight toward Qatar, catching a national soccer match along the way.

slysurfer14 said:So NATO says Russia is to blame for inflation and there's no wiggle room here

In the West, people might pull in maybe $2,200 a month, while here in the States we're looking at much less, and even further east, it's even tighter. Yet everyone is paying about $5.50 a gallon for gas.

Noah Diaz said:Mdaaaa, they could do just about anything, BUT

India and China have been aligned with Russia for a long time now, mainly because they are part of this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shangh...n_Organisation

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), also known as the Shanghai Pact,[2] is a transcontinental political, economic, security, and military alliance. In terms of geographic scope and population, IT is The world's largest regional organization, covering approximately 60% of the area of Eurasia, 40% of the world population, and more than 30% of global GDP.[3]

Iran joins this year, while Turkey remains on the sidelines. 😁

Europe is well on its way to becoming the world's blind spot—or if you want a better term: a sewer.

The Chinese and Indians aren't about to go to war just to serve Russian interests. Besides, look at how much the Chinese and Indians actually get along:

It's nice that you're such an optimist, though. Nothing wrong with dreaming big... sort of like imagining some massive ancient empire expansion, then throwing in a bit of Pokémon for good measure.

Nathan Evans78 said:When the heavy hitters start playing games with epidemiology and warfare, nations shaped like croissants end up footing the bill.

According to the latest numbers released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of consumer goods and services has jumped by 10.8% compared to May of 2021. Honestly, it’s a bit staggering—this marks the highest inflation rate we've seen since the Bureau started tracking this data. It feels like everything just keeps getting more expensive by the day, doesn't it?

It’s just the direct fallout from those disastrous COVID policies, and you can bet nobody is ever going to take the blame for it.