Ginguy

It's as if Putin has a competent finance minister who is moving to stabilize and improve value of the ruble.

This is due to a few things; the sanctions not having quite the bite, the continued need for Russian energy, the Ruble being transitioned to a gold standard, a move from the dollar as the global energy reserve currency, and Russia requiring "unfriendly" countries to use the ruble to buy energy. https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/ruble-becomes-best-performing-currency-in-march-soars-to-83-to-the-dollar-122032901631_1.html

This randomly popped up in my YT feed. Not saying, just saiyan Yes I know they said weekday mornings....

https://nypost.com/2022/03/25/joe-biden-says-us-troops-will-be-in-ukraine-in-apparent-gaffe/ "President Biden told US troops in Poland Friday that they will witness the bravery of Ukrainians fighting off Russia’s invasion “when you’re there” — making a significant gaffe after he previously said the US must stay out of the European conflict to avoid triggering “World War III.” Biden made the remark while addressing members of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division after lunching on pizza and posing for selfies with dozens of paratroopers at a mess hall in Rzeszow, southeastern Poland. “You’re going to see when you’re there, and some of you have been there, you’re gonna see — you’re gonna see women, young people standing in the middle in front of a damned tank just saying, ‘I’m not leaving, I’m holding my ground,’” Biden said." It's a "gaffe" until you realize his dementia has simply rendered him incapable of keeping his mouth shut....

Well, I guess since he failed at everything else he also failed at being a Republican....

I think we should get another season Fena honestly. DeMarco vanity projects serve only to show an increasing cultural irrelevance....

Anyone remember when Romney warned you about Russia....

Greatest troll in the game....

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/us-ban-russian-oil-imports-rcna19119 "WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that the U.S. will target "the main artery of Russia's economy" by banning the import of Russian energy products. "We're banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy," Biden said in remarks from the White House. "That means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable at U.S. ports and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin's war machine." The president warned that the move would probably increase gas prices in the U.S., but that it was necessary to ramp up sanctions pressure on Russia's economy for its war on Ukraine. “Putin's war is already hurting American families at the gas pump," Biden said. "I’m going to do everything I can to minimize Putin's price hike here at home.” Biden's language clearly anticipates a concerted Republican effort to blame him directly for the rise in gas prices, which hit a record in the U.S. on Tuesday. With gas prices certain to become a huge political issue in this year's midterm elections, Biden devoted much of his remarks to focusing American anger directly on Putin, while also encouraging U.S. energy companies to produce more domestic oil." So, good for not buying Russian oil, that will actually hurt Putin. China seems to be willing to step in to fill the void, as is India, but it is a concrete step. Bad for planning to go to Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Iran for oil when we can just drill for our own instead of giving money to countries which hate us, actively help people fly planes into our buildings or would 100% nuke us if they could. Also, the gas price hikes are a result of Biden foolishly reversing US energy policy which had us as a net exporter of energy. The price hikes and inflation have nothing to do with Putin's war and everything to do with Biden's failed policies, which are just a retread of Obama's failed policies in large part because the same people who came up with the failed policies of the Obama regime are now back in the Biden totally legit* regime.

So, maybe next time read what was actually posted instead of what you imagined was posted. Go back to being energy independent = we don't need to import any oil to meet our needs. I didn't say sanction Russian oil. I said we shouldn't buy Russian oil at the tune of 77 million dollars/day and should instead just use our own oil, or electric cars, or hybrids, or public transportation.

As long as we buy 600k barrels of oil from Russia a day at $115+/barrel there is no threat to the money. Of course, we can always go back to being energy independent and a net exporter, and then you have a threat to the money and the attendant "incidentals".... In the meantime, any act of petty piracy by Germany will result in much keks at the unfortunate oligarch but little else.

I think it's more like "grab dissidents and initiate 'operation human shield'".

Battletoads anime. Do it now.

Who do you think is bankrolling this enterprise? For that matter, the original UN statement had actual harsh language in it, until they all decided that China voting against it would look bad, so they watered it down to a more traditional milquetoast statement that China just abstained from. That is doing something on behalf of Russia, if China didn't care either way, they would have just abstained from the outset. Instead they held up and forced a moderation of tone in exchange for an abstention. China is very much helping Russia in this.

Yes. It means there will be even more titles that are priced outside Toonami's range.

So, I have to pay to watch anime on a last gen player with broken ads every five seconds?

For everyone thinking China is getting cold feet, they aren't. https://www.reuters.com/world/russia-vetoes-un-security-action-ukraine-china-abstains-2022-02-25/ "The U.N. vote was delayed two hours for last minute negotiations by the United States and others to win China's abstention, diplomats said. The council softened the language in its resolution to say it "deplores" Russia's "aggression against Ukraine" from "condemns," while a reference to Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which deals with sanctions and authorization of force, was removed along with a reference to "the president."" That is kind of the opposite of getting cold feet. China is still committed to its partnership with Russia. Unless the world starts to sanction China the Russian oligarchs will not feel the bite of sanctions.

It will be interesting to see if Dmitry Medvedev is suddenly backed by the oligarchs and takes Putin out. He could withdraw forces to pre-invasion positions (keeping Crimea and possibly the Donblas) and "put Putin on trial for his crimes" (he'll be sent to count trees). In exchange for an end to sanctions of course.

This might come down to morale. If a bunch of 19-28 yr olds are getting tossed out of a plane, they might pull an Iraqi Army and just say "F it". Trying to take a city by air drop is extremely difficult with highly trained troops, if Putin is just tossing out fodder it is going to end up being very bloody for everyone. Really, the harder Russia gets its ish pushed in the better for everyone; it would deter/cripple Russia and serve as a very clear warning to Beijing.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/what-swift-banking-system-russia-ukraine-b2024006.html Solid article on SWIFT sanctions. Seems like it would be a hindrance to Russia, but not a total freeze of their international financial access. A good measure however, in that it continues to add pressure on Moscow to stop the invasion. Ultimately though the best course of action is to give the Ukrainians all the Javelin/AT-4 and Stinger missiles they can use, as well as arming the Baltic republics and Taiwan with similar weapons in vast quantities. Positioning intermediate range weapons in Poland, Finland (if they join NATO) and particularly Taiwan would be good steps as well. Taiwan could use some good anti-ship missiles as well. The general idea being to give these countries, (yes that includes the sovereign nation of Taiwan) the ability to defend themselves. I don't think Putin expected this level of resistance from the Ukrainians or the world at large. He is going to pay a price for it, as well he should, but unless he is tossed out of Ukraine entirely, including the East and Crimea, he will still be able to claim victory of sorts.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-china-tell-nato-stop-expansion-moscow-backs-beijing-taiwan-2022-02-04/ Yeah, about that.... Yes, we can arm the Ukrainians, and we should with anti-tank and anti-air weapons that are man-portable. The reason to impose sanctions however is to cut off the economic ability to pursue military operations on the part of Russia. When China ignores those sanctions with impunity, the sanctions lose their effectiveness. Given the "no limits" partnership announced at the Beijing games, and China's refusal to classify Russia's invansion as an invasion, while blaming the U.S., I doubt China is going to be going along with sanctions. Game over....

The real question is what will happen when China is found to be doing business with sanctioned entities. As much as Putin wants to rebuild the Soviet Union, the Baltic States are NATO members. All three Baltic States and Poland have launched NATO article IV consultations regarding their security.

I guess Russia is now intermittently shelling Ukrainian positions. Nothing sustained that I've seen yet, but there have been casualties.