Sanctions on Russia

Christian Torres3 said:Premium fuel? Yeah, right. Not me.

People with modern engines buy it just because they fell for the biggest marketing scam in history by big oil companies. You take 10,000 liters of basic gas and maybe toss in 4 liters of additives. They call that "premium" fuel ☕

It’s like saying if you use regular gas, your engine life gets cut by a third and you'll deal with constant breakdowns... basically, instead of driving your car for 20 years, you're looking at maybe 14.☕

https://www.businessinsider.com/imf-...22-7?r=US&IR=T

The IMF is actually feeling pretty optimistic about the Russian economy right now.

I remember rowdyraven112 arguing right here in this thread that we were looking at a massive slump closer to 20%. 🤣🤣>

rowdyraven112 said:People with modern engines buy it just because they fell for the biggest marketing scam in history by big oil companies. You take 10,000 liters of basic gas and maybe toss in 4 liters of additives. They call that "premium" fuel ☕

It’s like saying if you use regular gas, your engine life gets cut by a third and you'll deal with constant breakdowns... basically, instead of driving your car for 20 years, you're looking at maybe 14.☕

Honestly, I'd much rather hear an actual analysis from a pro who understands chemistry and how engines actually run, instead of someone just trying to sound important on the internet.

I usually fill up with the high-end diesel, but sometimes I just grab the regular stuff. I saw on the label that the standard stuff can have over 7% biodiesel in it. I don't really know which one is better... does biodiesel burn less efficiently? Does it make you use more fuel???

I mean, I totally agree that oil companies pull this stuff all the time—they cheat people out of their money by selling products that cost the same but have fewer grams inside. It’s subtle, nothing jumps out at you immediately, but they're definitely playing games to get people to pay more.

Iran to supply components and repair Russian aircraft
https://babel.ua/en/news/82067-iran-...ply-components

Iran and Russia have inked an agreement where the Iranian side will handle repairs for Russian aircraft and supply necessary components
.
The news broke via Mehr, citing information from the Federal Aviation Administration of Iran.

The deal was finalized during a visit by a Russian Deputy Transport Minister. This likely took place around July 19th, when Putin traveled to Tehran to meet with President Ibrahim Raisi, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and Turkish President Recep Erdogan.

The scope of this agreement focuses on civil aviation. Through this arrangement, Russia gains access to maintenance services, technical support, and the specific parts required for aircraft repairs. Furthermore, the deal allows airlines from both nations to conduct cargo flights without facing restrictions on movement under the terms mentioned above.

Additionally, both parties have agreed to ramp up flight frequencies between the two countries to 35 per week.

People can laugh all they want, but we're looking at a reality where Russian passenger planes start getting outfitted with Iranian turbines, valves, microprocessors, and whatever other revolutionary Iranian aerospace tech they've cooked up.
Everything is going to be flying soon enough.
Good luck, Boeing!

electricsurfer47 said:Honestly, I'd much rather hear an actual analysis from a pro who understands chemistry and how engines actually run, instead of someone just trying to sound important on the internet.

I usually fill up with the high-end diesel, but sometimes I just grab the regular stuff. I saw on the label that the standard stuff can have over 7% biodiesel in it. I don't really know which one is better... does biodiesel burn less efficiently? Does it make you use more fuel???

I mean, I totally agree that oil companies pull this stuff all the time—they cheat people out of their money by selling products that cost the same but have fewer grams inside. It’s subtle, nothing jumps out at you immediately, but they're definitely playing games to get people to pay more.

Back in the day, I worked at a gas station (back when those big shots at ExxonMobil claimed there were 1,000 of them on the stock exchange; now I hear they're so short-staffed they can barely fill shifts. Can't wait until you finally get served by some tourist speaking a foreign language)☕. So, this info comes straight from a Master's Engineer who worked at the Cleveland refinery (if he lied to me, I'm lying to you, but I'm pretty sure it's the truth). Car parts have a shelf life, just like any other component. After a certain amount of time, you hit "material fatigue." That's why you change filters annually—even if they could technically last two years—to ensure the vehicle lasts a solid 10-15 years without major engine failure. For cars worth over $45k, maybe 20-25 years. In the meantime, you save up for the next one.

The biggest stupidity of the century is the myth that private gas station owners pour water into the fuel. 🤦
Elementary school science tells us that alcohol, gasoline, and similar substances are less dense than water and float ON WATER. So, if some guy pours water into a tank, the first thing entering the car would be pure water, then the gas. You'd notice that immediately if it actually happened. I'd steer clear of any mechanic trying to sell you that story. ☕
Back when the tanker arrived, we used to stick rods into the tanks to roughly measure fuel density; nowadays, they use probes. Sure, back then, paying a student service for labor was... 🤣

gFlores said:They clearly have zero clue about war strategy, yet they keep talking nonsense. Where exactly is this supposed Ukrainian offensive on Crimea?

Tamerlane said:The forum's little Stepan Bandera fanboys are impatiently waiting for that legendary offensive while their moms cook them lunch.🤣

It’s always a pleasure reading these inspired posts of yours, brimming with useful information, a complete disregard for facts, and especially helpful links. Based on your forum contributions, it's obvious you both are top-tier experts in every field you touch. I actually feel sorry for Russia that such brilliant forum users are siding with them. We should all just stop posting so there's more room for your gems.
☕

gFlores said:They don't have a clue about war strategy, yet they still talk nonsense. Where is this Ukrainian offensive in Crimea?

Don't worry, it'll happen...

Once that offensive succeeds—once Ukraine reclaims all its territory and pushes out the Russian military—they can start rebuilding what was destroyed, live normally, and join the European Union. People won't be dying under bombs anymore, and soldiers won't be falling in these wars. That part is certain.

When that offensive plays out and Russia suffers a military defeat, a new government will take over. Whether they are genuinely anti-Putin or just acting under pressure, they’ll shift their current policy and stop the aggression, which will eventually lead to sanctions being eased bit by bit. It’s not a guarantee, but it's likely. What is certain is that soldiers will stop dying in these forced conquests they were sent on.

So, that offensive will be a huge win for everyone involved. Until it actually happens, people like you will just keep worrying about how many more lives will be lost.👎

crimsoncyclist71 said:It’s always a pleasure reading these inspired posts of yours, brimming with useful information, a complete disregard for facts, and especially helpful links. Based on your forum contributions, it's obvious you both are top-tier experts in every field you touch. I actually feel sorry for Russia that such brilliant forum users are siding with them. We should all just stop posting so there's more room for your gems.
☕

So, when most of us objectively said that sanctions wouldn't do much good for the economy or the market, we were labeled Putinophiles, right? And remember how everyone claimed the European Union would quickly replace everything they used to import from Russia? I said it wouldn't happen that fast. Well, we just confirmed that the OPEC countries—who people like you claimed would save the European Union economy—are actually just greedy war profiteers on par with Vladimir Putin. ☕

You know what’s peak stupidity? When half the Western-leaning posters shouted "I told you so" after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Give me a break. You think you're CIA level because you "knew" Russia was going to invade while only Joe Biden was warning them and nobody else? ☕

Look, I'll admit it: I was one of the few calling it straight from the start—that Vladimir Putin is a calculating bastard and that Russia invaded Ukraine. But suggesting we cut them out of global trade without any calculation or analysis? That’s about as smart as a Vlade Vukojević thesis at a community college in Indianapolis. ☕

Take fruit and vegetable farmers in the Midwest, for example, whose products mostly went to Eastern markets. They already had issues back in 2014 with the Russian occupation of Crimea, so they managed by selling to middlemen in other countries who then flipped the produce for a higher price. Now, they'll be forced to sell below cost to war profiteers in OPEC nations, who will then flip it again at an even higher price for the Russian market. What's the result? You destroy local family farms. Our domestic population isn't big enough to buy up all the production, even if we ate nothing but tomatoes, melons, tangerines, and oranges all day long. Lower prices lead to less production, fewer jobs, and shut-down operations. Once production dies, there's no god alive who can easily restart it. We saw this during the COVID crisis when lockdowns hit and oil and gas wells were shut down because demand plummeted. As soon as things returned to normal, gas prices spiked—not because there wasn't enough supply, but because everyone started demanding massive amounts at once. Restarting a well isn't some trivial task. Ask any mining engineer. ☕

As for the posters defending the other side, I'm just fascinated by your "doctorates" from community colleges in Indianapolis and the absolute nonsense that comes out of them. ☕

rowdyraven112 said:So, when most of us objectively said that sanctions wouldn't do much good for the economy or the market, we were labeled Putinophiles, right? And remember how everyone claimed the European Union would quickly replace everything they used to import from Russia? I said it wouldn't happen that fast. Well, we just confirmed that the OPEC countries—who people like you claimed would save the European Union economy—are actually just greedy war profiteers on par with Vladimir Putin. ☕

You know what’s peak stupidity? When half the Western-leaning posters shouted "I told you so" after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Give me a break. You think you're CIA level because you "knew" Russia was going to invade while only Joe Biden was warning them and nobody else? ☕

Look, I'll admit it: I was one of the few calling it straight from the start—that Vladimir Putin is a calculating bastard and that Russia invaded Ukraine. But suggesting we cut them out of global trade without any calculation or analysis? That’s about as smart as a Vlade Vukojević thesis at a community college in Indianapolis. ☕

Take fruit and vegetable farmers in the Midwest, for example, whose products mostly went to Eastern markets. They already had issues back in 2014 with the Russian occupation of Crimea, so they managed by selling to middlemen in other countries who then flipped the produce for a higher price. Now, they'll be forced to sell below cost to war profiteers in OPEC nations, who will then flip it again at an even higher price for the Russian market. What's the result? You destroy local family farms. Our domestic population isn't big enough to buy up all the production, even if we ate nothing but tomatoes, melons, tangerines, and oranges all day long. Lower prices lead to less production, fewer jobs, and shut-down operations. Once production dies, there's no god alive who can easily restart it. We saw this during the COVID crisis when lockdowns hit and oil and gas wells were shut down because demand plummeted. As soon as things returned to normal, gas prices spiked—not because there wasn't enough supply, but because everyone started demanding massive amounts at once. Restarting a well isn't some trivial task. Ask any mining engineer. ☕

As for the posters defending the other side, I'm just fascinated by your "doctorates" from community colleges in Indianapolis and the absolute nonsense that comes out of them. ☕

There isn't a single person on this forum who hasn't not been claiming this since the invasion began, regardless of which side they take...

I don't quite get the need to emphasize that you specifically were saying it, because everyone was saying it. Is this some attempt to act like you're uniquely brilliant or 🤷

rowdyraven112 said:So, when most of us objectively said that sanctions wouldn't do much good for the economy or the market, we were labeled Putinophiles, right? And remember how everyone claimed the European Union would quickly replace everything they used to import from Russia? I said it wouldn't happen that fast. Well, we just confirmed that the OPEC countries—who people like you claimed would save the European Union economy—are actually just greedy war profiteers on par with Vladimir Putin. ☕

You know what’s peak stupidity? When half the Western-leaning posters shouted "I told you so" after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Give me a break. You think you're CIA level because you "knew" Russia was going to invade while only Joe Biden was warning them and nobody else? ☕

Look, I'll admit it: I was one of the few calling it straight from the start—that Vladimir Putin is a calculating bastard and that Russia invaded Ukraine. But suggesting we cut them out of global trade without any calculation or analysis? That’s about as smart as a Vlade Vukojević thesis at a community college in Indianapolis. ☕

Take fruit and vegetable farmers in the Midwest, for example, whose products mostly went to Eastern markets. They already had issues back in 2014 with the Russian occupation of Crimea, so they managed by selling to middlemen in other countries who then flipped the produce for a higher price. Now, they'll be forced to sell below cost to war profiteers in OPEC nations, who will then flip it again at an even higher price for the Russian market. What's the result? You destroy local family farms. Our domestic population isn't big enough to buy up all the production, even if we ate nothing but tomatoes, melons, tangerines, and oranges all day long. Lower prices lead to less production, fewer jobs, and shut-down operations. Once production dies, there's no god alive who can easily restart it. We saw this during the COVID crisis when lockdowns hit and oil and gas wells were shut down because demand plummeted. As soon as things returned to normal, gas prices spiked—not because there wasn't enough supply, but because everyone started demanding massive amounts at once. Restarting a well isn't some trivial task. Ask any mining engineer. ☕

As for the posters defending the other side, I'm just fascinated by your "doctorates" from community colleges in Indianapolis and the absolute nonsense that comes out of them. ☕

All of this is still better than having a war on American soil again. Don't kid yourself; our neighbors would probably jump at the chance for Ukraine to become part of the Russian Federation, and after that, it would be attacks on Moldova and a few other states, especially if Milorad Dodik was hinted that it's time for trouble with full Russian backing. In that scenario, you'd be crying about selling stuff slightly under cost instead of dealing with people claiming "ancestral territories."

Europe simply doesn't have a choice but to absorb some of the fallout to prevent even bigger disasters. Playing nice with Putin and making that epically stupid "it's not our war" argument is exactly the same mechanism used to appease Adolf Hitler. Like, "Oh, if we just give him a little something, he won't go any further." Yeah, right. He'll just stop there. Instead, he concluded he could push as far as the Ural Mountains in the east and Lisbon in the west. We really shouldn't repeat the same mistakes.

Michael Ortiz68 said:There isn't a single person on this forum who hasn't not been claiming this since the invasion began, regardless of which side they take...

I don't quite get the need to emphasize that you specifically were saying it, because everyone was saying it. Is this some attempt to act like you're uniquely brilliant or 🤷

There’s a massive crowd here claiming the European Union will just replace fuel supplies around the corner. No crisis, right? Looking at the big picture, this is the first global crisis directly engineered by Russia in cooperation with other world governments. ☕

Just like the crowd of users who knew Russia would invade Ukraine. I didn't see it coming. It caught me off guard because I couldn't believe Vladimir Putin would be that much of a scumbag. Whatever, I was wrong. While everyone else gets to say "I told you so," ☕

rowdyraven112 said:There’s a massive crowd here claiming the European Union will just replace fuel supplies around the corner. No crisis, right? Looking at the big picture, this is the first global crisis directly engineered by Russia in cooperation with other world governments. ☕

Just like the crowd of users who knew Russia would invade Ukraine. I didn't see it coming. It caught me off guard because I couldn't believe Vladimir Putin would be that much of a scumbag. Whatever, I was wrong. While everyone else gets to say "I told you so," ☕

Give me a break. You wrote here: "after sanctions are placed on Russia, it won't affect the EU market and economy positively."

Which forum user specifically claimed that sanctioning Russia would have a positive impact on the "EU economy"? I've been following this since the very start of the aggression, and I don't recall seeing a single post like that.

Melissa Rivera5 said:All of this is still better than having a war on American soil again. Don't kid yourself; our neighbors would probably jump at the chance for Ukraine to become part of the Russian Federation, and after that, it would be attacks on Moldova and a few other states, especially if Milorad Dodik was hinted that it's time for trouble with full Russian backing. In that scenario, you'd be crying about selling stuff slightly under cost instead of dealing with people claiming "ancestral territories."

Europe simply doesn't have a choice but to absorb some of the fallout to prevent even bigger disasters. Playing nice with Putin and making that epically stupid "it's not our war" argument is exactly the same mechanism used to appease Adolf Hitler. Like, "Oh, if we just give him a little something, he won't go any further." Yeah, right. He'll just stop there. Instead, he concluded he could push as far as the Ural Mountains in the east and Lisbon in the west. We really shouldn't repeat the same mistakes.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. That "just endure a little" rhetoric is exactly what they used back in the communist era when they'd say, "Comrades, we must tighten our belts." How much longer? ☕
Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić wrote a beautiful fairy tale called "Kosjenka and Regoč" where two villages are feuding, and one gets the idea to breach a river dike, which would flood the village sitting slightly lower than theirs. As the water rose, the people from both villages just pulled out their instruments and sang, watching the end come for the other side because the difference in elevation wasn't actually that big. ☕
That's how I'd describe these pro-Russians and the pro-Western crowd. If the superpowers actually wanted to do something, this war would have been over in a month. A few HIMARS and some Howitzers aren't going to change the battlefield; they'll just slow the Russians down. What's being sent is mostly just testing out new hardware. Sure, Russian depots were hit, but what you don't see on CBS is that Ukrainian supplies were hit just as much. Ukrainians don't need dozens of these systems; they need thousands of tanks, tens of thousands of artillery pieces, hundreds of planes... And what are they getting? Winston Churchill quotes. 🤦
And then Johnson coldly claims that brave Ukrainians will stop the Russians. Honestly, you'd want to serve a guy like that a breakfast consisting of whatever caliber he's talking about.
If we hadn't seized the Varaždin military barracks and secured the heavy weaponry we desperately needed, we'd be living through hell right now. Immediately after that, we faced the Slope, the Hurricane, and Papuk 91.

rowdyraven112 said:There’s a massive crowd here claiming the European Union will just replace fuel supplies around the corner. No crisis, right? Looking at the big picture, this is the first global crisis directly engineered by Russia in cooperation with other world governments. ☕

Just like the crowd of users who knew Russia would invade Ukraine. I didn't see it coming. It caught me off guard because I couldn't believe Vladimir Putin would be that much of a scumbag. Whatever, I was wrong. While everyone else gets to say "I told you so," ☕

Which forum users are we even talking about here??🤔
You must be dreaming.

rowdyraven112 said:So, when most of us objectively said that sanctions wouldn't do much good for the economy or the market, we were labeled Putinophiles, right? And remember how everyone claimed the European Union would quickly replace everything they used to import from Russia? I said it wouldn't happen that fast. Well, we just confirmed that the OPEC countries—who people like you claimed would save the European Union economy—are actually just greedy war profiteers on par with Vladimir Putin. ☕

You know what’s peak stupidity? When half the Western-leaning posters shouted "I told you so" after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Give me a break. You think you're CIA level because you "knew" Russia was going to invade while only Joe Biden was warning them and nobody else? ☕

Look, I'll admit it: I was one of the few calling it straight from the start—that Vladimir Putin is a calculating bastard and that Russia invaded Ukraine. But suggesting we cut them out of global trade without any calculation or analysis? That’s about as smart as a Vlade Vukojević thesis at a community college in Indianapolis. ☕

Take fruit and vegetable farmers in the Midwest, for example, whose products mostly went to Eastern markets. They already had issues back in 2014 with the Russian occupation of Crimea, so they managed by selling to middlemen in other countries who then flipped the produce for a higher price. Now, they'll be forced to sell below cost to war profiteers in OPEC nations, who will then flip it again at an even higher price for the Russian market. What's the result? You destroy local family farms. Our domestic population isn't big enough to buy up all the production, even if we ate nothing but tomatoes, melons, tangerines, and oranges all day long. Lower prices lead to less production, fewer jobs, and shut-down operations. Once production dies, there's no god alive who can easily restart it. We saw this during the COVID crisis when lockdowns hit and oil and gas wells were shut down because demand plummeted. As soon as things returned to normal, gas prices spiked—not because there wasn't enough supply, but because everyone started demanding massive amounts at once. Restarting a well isn't some trivial task. Ask any mining engineer. ☕

As for the posters defending the other side, I'm just fascinated by your "doctorates" from community colleges in Indianapolis and the absolute nonsense that comes out of them. ☕

This is the absolute pinnacle.
Just when you think everyone standing against the aggressor in Ukraine is actually just a member of the Republican Party.
😁

rowdyraven112 said:I've said it before and I'll say it again. That "just endure a little" rhetoric is exactly what they used back in the communist era when they'd say, "Comrades, we must tighten our belts." How much longer? ☕
Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić wrote a beautiful fairy tale called "Kosjenka and Regoč" where two villages are feuding, and one gets the idea to breach a river dike, which would flood the village sitting slightly lower than theirs. As the water rose, the people from both villages just pulled out their instruments and sang, watching the end come for the other side because the difference in elevation wasn't actually that big. ☕
That's how I'd describe these pro-Russians and the pro-Western crowd. If the superpowers actually wanted to do something, this war would have been over in a month. A few HIMARS and some Howitzers aren't going to change the battlefield; they'll just slow the Russians down. What's being sent is mostly just testing out new hardware. Sure, Russian depots were hit, but what you don't see on CBS is that Ukrainian supplies were hit just as much. Ukrainians don't need dozens of these systems; they need thousands of tanks, tens of thousands of artillery pieces, hundreds of planes... And what are they getting? Winston Churchill quotes. 🤦
And then Johnson coldly claims that brave Ukrainians will stop the Russians. Honestly, you'd want to serve a guy like that a breakfast consisting of whatever caliber he's talking about.
If we hadn't seized the Varaždin military barracks and secured the heavy weaponry we desperately needed, we'd be living through hell right now. Immediately after that, we faced the Slope, the Hurricane, and Papuk 91.

So, if I understand you correctly—you believe we had every right to stop the Mexicans when they attacked us, yet you deny Ukrainians the right to defend themselves, choose their own destiny, or expel their occupiers. I don't grasp why there's a double standard here, but fine, at least we've clarified your position. Though, I suspect the Ukrainians won't find your opinion particularly helpful. Only time will tell.

Thomas Walker84 said:Which forum users are we even talking about here??🤔
You must be dreaming.

You guys are acting like Germans in Munich. They had no clue what happened at Dachau. ☕
Fine, whatever you say. None of you ever claimed sanctions on Russia wouldn't hit the US or Europe... not one single person. Maybe I just got too much sun the other day and I'm hallucinating... ☕

Anyway, we're in "great company" now, being targeted by a nuclear superpower. It feels a lot like 1941, when people were saying the exact same thing about being in good company. ☕

Nancy Gomez26 said:So, if I understand you correctly—you believe we had every right to stop the Mexicans when they attacked us, yet you deny Ukrainians the right to defend themselves, choose their own destiny, or expel their occupiers. I don't grasp why there's a double standard here, but fine, at least we've clarified your position. Though, I suspect the Ukrainians won't find your opinion particularly helpful. Only time will tell.

Read the last sentence. Don't pull things out of context. ☕
We basically tripped ourselves up because nobody was supplying us. I've said it more than once: Ukrainians don't need a lecture on Winston Churchill. They need 1,000 tanks (even old T-55s work; like someone said, if they fire ten rounds before getting blown up, they did their job), 20,000 artillery pieces, and 1,000 planes.

Or do you think good vibes and a dozen roses are enough? ☕

A Russian oligarch living in exile in England mentioned it would have been smarter for the EU to keep trading with Russia. They could have pocketed $200 billion in monthly industrial profits, then easily sent a quarter of that to Ukraine for weapons. How much has America actually provided so far? Maybe $10 billion?

I'm sending a kiss to the Ukrainian girl on the front lines. Maybe that'll help since that's clearly what you think works. ☕

It’s a total circus over in the EU right now. ☕

Two Commission officials mentioned that, according to the latest estimates coming out of Brussels, gas savings could top 30 billion cubic meters—even if every single member state decides to lean on those political exemptions.

But over what timeframe?

"Way more, honestly, much more," one Commission official insisted. "But I can't go into specifics."

"It's tough to pin down because we haven't actually seen any hard math yet," an EU diplomat noted.

"The Commission is banking on a 30 billion cubic meter reduction, but frankly, nobody knows for sure and nobody has actually crunched the numbers," another EU diplomat added.

https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-gas-cut-deal-winter/

rowdyraven112 said:Read the last sentence. Don't pull things out of context. ☕
We basically tripped ourselves up because nobody was supplying us. I've said it more than once: Ukrainians don't need a lecture on Winston Churchill. They need 1,000 tanks (even old T-55s work; like someone said, if they fire ten rounds before getting blown up, they did their job), 20,000 artillery pieces, and 1,000 planes.

Or do you think good vibes and a dozen roses are enough? ☕

A Russian oligarch living in exile in England mentioned it would have been smarter for the EU to keep trading with Russia. They could have pocketed $200 billion in monthly industrial profits, then easily sent a quarter of that to Ukraine for weapons. How much has America actually provided so far? Maybe $10 billion?

I'm sending a kiss to the Ukrainian girl on the front lines. Maybe that'll help since that's clearly what you think works. ☕

So what, we pulled weapons out of thin air?