Sanctions on Russia

George Robinson43 said:It's the exact same reason Russia is throwing a tantrum because they can't participate in the World Cup in Qatar.

And sure, Americans should probably just fund those oligarchs from the Ural mountains who treat nations like their own personal playground while screaming about mushrooms over Warsaw.

Look, there's actually this whole international intergovernmental organization called FATF, or The Financial Action Task Force, which basically audits pretty much every country to see how they're doing when it comes to stopping Money Laundering and terrorism financing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financ...ion_Task_Force

The Financial Action Task Force (on Money Laundering) (FATF), also known by its French name, Groupe d'action financière (GAFI), is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering.[2] In 2001, its mandate was expanded to include terrorism financing.

Right now, only Iran and South Korea are stuck on the black list. As for the gray list, it's a bit more crowded—we're talking places like Albania, Barbados, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Jordan, Haiti, Malta, Mali, Morocco, Myanmar (Burma), Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Senegal, South Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Uganda, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

As you can see, Qatar isn't even on the gray list. 😉 So, honestly, there aren't any real hurdles preventing Qatar from exporting gas based on some random allegations about terrorism financing. If they were actually sitting on the gray or black list, then yeah, people would definitely be taking that into account.

Bottom line is, there are actual formal mechanisms in place to handle these kinds of issues.

Even the UAE recently slipped onto the gray list, which is definitely going to hit their economy where it hurts. https://www.france24.com/en/live-new...obust-response

Bryan Booth82 said:Habeck, the German Minister for Economic Affairs, is making some bold claims according to reports from the German press... he’s suggesting that Germany will finally break its reliance on Russian coal by early summer, move away from Russian oil by the end of the summer, and completely cut ties with Russian gas by sometime in 2024.

The big question remains: does Putin actually have the stones to double down on demanding energy payments in rubles? If he does, he might just end up fast-tracking the entire process of cutting off his own lifeline to the West.

lp

hm, hm ...

Just one simple, logical question here. Building Nord Stream 2 cost billions upon billions of dollars. So, who's actually going to cover those costs for the investors? We aren't talking about pocket change here; you really think these big-time investors are just going to sit there with their hands folded saying, "Oh well, ten billion bucks is gone, let's just leave it as a total loss"?

Nathan Evans78 said:Honestly, if things get desperate, the European Union will step up with grain shipments just like they did when they helped out with the vaccine IP issues. ☕

Classic troll behavior: obsessing over a single triviality while completely ignoring the actual core of the issue.

As if all you need to manufacture vaccines is some IP—you could practically whip that up in a home kitchen. And I suppose those hundreds of millions of donated doses were just swept under the rug.

slyfox43 said:Classic troll behavior: obsessing over a single triviality while completely ignoring the actual core of the issue.

As if all you need to manufacture vaccines is some IP—you could practically whip that up in a home kitchen. And I suppose those hundreds of millions of donated doses were just swept under the rug.

Look, XI's brother donated a literal gazillion doses too, so what? Neither he nor Berlin's little friend offered any real solution to the demands from South Africa regarding IP waivers so they could actually start local production. It’s not like South Africa is some tiny backwater village without basic infrastructure; they have plenty of people, including many who look just like us.☕

Nathan Evans78 said:And honestly, why on earth would Qatar be dumping massive amounts of capital into carbon capture infrastructure if that were the case? This whole setup is way too complex for them to just guess the outcome. I mean, I simply don't see how the Gulf states are going to play nice and let Europe continue its pivot toward decarbonization. Plus, the democracies are eventually going to hit a wall—they'll have to sell their voters on some massive, embarrassing delay regarding those CO2 reduction targets. Because let's face it, if they start building up new industrial plants in the USA, all they're doing is pumping even more of those molecules into the atmosphere.

My take? The European Union is going to squeeze every last cent out of us to cover these costs, leaving our grandkids to deal with a totally stagnant, "Japanified" economy. They can deal with the mess later. ☕

Wait, what? Could you maybe walk me through that again... I’m afraid you might have completely misread the situation.

Nathan Evans78 said:Look, XI's brother donated a literal gazillion doses too, so what? Neither he nor Berlin's little friend offered any real solution to the demands from South Africa regarding IP waivers so they could actually start local production. It’s not like South Africa is some tiny backwater village without basic infrastructure; they have plenty of people, including many who look just like us.☕

The nations that actually possess the industrial capacity for such manufacturing likely also have the capital to pay for a license or negotiate a formal contract.

I view the donations of Chinese vaccines as a very positive and responsible way to expand geopolitical influence. As for that comment about skin color, it just seems like another one of those typical trolling provocations you're fond of.

Bryan Booth82 said:Habeck, the German Minister for Economic Affairs, is making some bold claims according to reports from the German press... he’s suggesting that Germany will finally break its reliance on Russian coal by early summer, move away from Russian oil by the end of the summer, and completely cut ties with Russian gas by sometime in 2024.

The big question remains: does Putin actually have the stones to double down on demanding energy payments in rubles? If he does, he might just end up fast-tracking the entire process of cutting off his own lifeline to the West.

lp

Habeck even gave a tentative nod to ramping up oil and gas extraction and scouting for new veins in the Middle Plate—something they haven't touched in years because most of that area is protected national parkland.

Michael Ortiz68 said:There's no such thing as "doing nothing"... decarbonization is baked into every single strategy and roadmap they have. This isn't changing direction; it's just shifting from second gear into sixth.

Just more empty pipe dreams from those pathetic little green activists.☕

Robert Barrett6 said:Habeck even gave a tentative nod to ramping up oil and gas extraction and scouting for new veins in the Middle Plate—something they haven't touched in years because most of that area is protected national parkland.

Europe is swimming in gas, but nobody bothered with serious exploration or infrastructure projects as long as cheap supplies were flowing in from Russia.

America will cover 10% of its demand just by tapping into those two newly discovered fields (North and Jankovec).

feralcanyon73 said:Just more empty pipe dreams from those pathetic little green activists.☕

We heard all this same rhetoric back when everyone was obsessing over those 20-20-20 climate targets, and look how that turned out—they actually met them. So, my real question is: how much longer until Europe finally hits the wall? 🍿?

Michael Ortiz68 said:We heard all this same rhetoric back when everyone was obsessing over those 20-20-20 climate targets, and look how that turned out—they actually met them. So, my real question is: how much longer until Europe finally hits the wall? 🍿?

That hasn't happened yet, though we'll likely see a total banking collapse and civil unrest in the US first.🤣

Michael Ortiz68 said:We heard all this same rhetoric back when everyone was obsessing over those 20-20-20 climate targets, and look how that turned out—they actually met them. So, my real question is: how much longer until Europe finally hits the wall? 🍿?

What a load of nonsense 🤦... it’s going to be an uphill battle for the pro-Putin crowd over the next few years. Europe is ramping up both renewables and nuclear energy, while Russian gas supplies just keep shrinking year after year.

I have to admit, this kind of ambush-style suicide doesn't happen all that often in history.

It brings to mind a quote from a famous Italian officer—mistake of mine

Arthur Watson4 said:I have to admit, this kind of ambush-style suicide doesn't happen all that often in history.

It brings to mind a quote from a famous Italian officer—mistake of mine

WHATTA mistake of Mike🤣

Gerald Chavez7 said:What a load of nonsense 🤦... it’s going to be an uphill battle for the pro-Putin crowd over the next few years. Europe is ramping up both renewables and nuclear energy, while Russian gas supplies just keep shrinking year after year.

By the way, here’s that 10-point proposal from the IEA. I'm not sure what you're getting at with "pr." If you meant to start a conversation or share a thought, go ahead. I'm listening.

It’s high time we added this to the supplement: keeping existing coal plants online as a short-term fix. We need to maximize their output during this transition period.

By the way, circling back to Habeck—the guy’s been flip-flopping like crazy. Over the last three weeks alone, he’s done a complete 180 on nuclear power and coal plants. Total pivot.

It’s gone from an outright "no" to a complete pivot. Now, they’re actually buying up coal reserves. Instead of shutting down those coal plants, they're keeping them on life support to serve as a backup. Even the nuclear plants? They’re just going to extend their lifespans out of pure necessity.

Basically, this is the exact solution most energy executives have been pushing for, and they’re still backing it as the best way forward—especially during this transition phase. Those little green activists have finally been knocked out of their alternative reality bubble.

Gerald Chavez7 said:What a load of nonsense 🤦... it’s going to be an uphill battle for the pro-Putin crowd over the next few years. Europe is ramping up both renewables and nuclear energy, while Russian gas supplies just keep shrinking year after year.

Honestly, they've got some seriously rough years ahead of them🎉

It'll be super interesting to see if the 2022 season ends up breaking records for heat pump installations, especially after that crazy high 2021 run

Even with everything being so unpredictable lately, heat pump sales across Europe actually climbed by +7.4% back in 2020. They moved about 1.62 million units throughout Europe, which was hitting a brand new peak. https://www.rehva.eu/rehva-journal/c...e%20Figure%201).

Russia has basically spent this whole war shooting themselves in both feet, and they're doing it for the long haul. It's definitely happening with their energy exports, and you can bet that once this settles, their arms sales—all that hardware currently sitting out in the fields of Ukraine

Gerald Chavez7 said:What a load of nonsense 🤦... it’s going to be an uphill battle for the pro-Putin crowd over the next few years. Europe is ramping up both renewables and nuclear energy, while Russian gas supplies just keep shrinking year after year.

Don't you worry about a thing. It’ll be shoved right into Xi Jinping's backside before you can even finish saying "cookies."

Nathan Evans78 said:Honestly, if things get desperate, the European Union will step up with grain shipments just like they did when they helped out with the vaccine IP issues. ☕

Why would they even bother helping when, by your own logic, they’ve already gone unchecked? You're saying they'll be unrestrained without the grain, too—so I guess they don't need the food either.

Gerald Chavez7 said:What a load of nonsense 🤦... it’s going to be an uphill battle for the pro-Putin crowd over the next few years. Europe is ramping up both renewables and nuclear energy, while Russian gas supplies just keep shrinking year after year.

It’s never going to be hard for people who live in a fantasy land instead of reality—unless the internet goes down, I guess.

Looks like society will be ruined by the folks in charge of the Economy PDF and a bunch of even more "sensible" types in the Politics PDF.

The wheat everyone keeps obsessing over? It’s basically just being imported by Turkey—maybe a tiny bit from Luxembourg—since they were the ones who refused to pull the trigger on sanctions. 🙄