Russia Invades Ukraine 2022

[Bootstrap]

Russia basically is trying to make itself great again

And they are trying to do it with a GDP that is less than Canada's or Italy's. On a per-capita basis, their GDP is below Turkey, Khazakhstan, Croatia or Romania.

[Soloist]

Russia basically is trying to make itself great again

And they are trying to do it with a GDP that is less than Canada's or Italy's. On a per-capita basis, their GDP is below Turkey, Khazakhstan, Croatia or Romania.

Come now my comrade! in Soviet Russia, money watches you! We have no need of money!

[Ken]

Russia basically is trying to make itself great again

And they are trying to do it with a GDP that is less than Canada's or Italy's. On a per-capita basis, their GDP is below Turkey, Khazakhstan, Croatia or Romania.

Yes, Russia is basically on par with Mexico in terms of both population and GDP.

Both Texas and Canada have higher GDPs than Russia. The UK is about double. And the US is maybe 10x larger.

We are no longer in the days of the Warsaw Pact when the USSR plus its Eastern European allies was over 350 million and had immense armies and economies. Russia alone is about 140 million people compared to more like 700 million for NATO. And the GDP of the NATO countries is maybe 30x that of Russia. It is no wonder that they are feeling like a declining power. Because it is entirely true. But on the other hand, they are running a corrupt klepto-state in which trillions of dollars of wealth are extracted by oligarchs and hidden in the west rather than being invested productively within Russia. So it is partly or mostly their fault that they are not keeping up with the west.

This is how NATO and Russia currently compare in terms of military strength. And when we are comparing apples to apples, the NATO stuff (warplanes, ships, submarines, etc. are mostly better than what Russia has). And the comparison of economic strength is far more lopsided. The only thing they have more of is nuclear weapons. It isn’t an exact equivalent because much of the US military force is located in the Pacific and geared towards Asia. So the portion that is in Europe balanced against Russia is only a portion of what is in that table. But still, it is pretty unequal. Especially compared to the Warsaw Pact days of the 1970s and 1980s when the balance of forces was much more equal and often tilted in favor of the USSR.

[temporal1]

And they are trying to do it with a GDP that is less than Canada's or Italy's.
On a per-capita basis, their GDP is below Turkey, Khazakhstan, Croatia or Romania.

You’re aware of this ^^^ yet respond as tho Russia were the USSR of former times.
A form of nostalgia/reverse nostalgia.

Nailed it.

Unfortunately for the people of Ukraine, this is an ongoing war that has been waged on different fronts for many, many years.
They have had very little rest as a country from within and from without.

This is a good enough distraction for Joe to keep people forgetting all the war crimes that he is guilty of
and all the while making more money for his family.

The peoples of the U.S. and Canada would be well to think-thru their career, or legacy politicians. The enemy within.
Putin hasn’t actually harmed the U.S., Congress has.

[mike]

Reportedly the US will ban Russian oil today.

[mike]

Reportedly the US will ban Russian oil today.

Not only will this put more pressure on the Russian economy, it will also hurt oil prices globally and hit our economy in the US. Oil prices look poised to take out the 2008 historic highs, and prices at the pump are at historic highs. Oil is up another 4% this morning.

[barnhart]

Energy prices might get really high.

[Josh]

Energy prices might get really high.

Might?

Gas is over $6 where my in laws live.

[Josh]

Reportedly the US will ban Russian oil today.

Not only will this put more pressure on the Russian economy, it will also hurt oil prices globally and hit our economy in the US. Oil prices look poised to take out the 2008 historic highs, and prices at the pump are at historic highs. Oil is up another 4% this morning.

Won’t hurt Russia. Plenty of other people want to buy oil - particularly when it’s this expensive, they’ll be glad to buy Russian oil.

[temporal1]

Nostalgia.

1973 and 1979
“Remembering gas shortages of 1970s”
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlo ... s-of-1970s

“Gas Lines Evoke Memories Of Oil Crises In The 1970s”
https://www.npr.org/sections/picturesho ... -the-1970s

.. When the second crisis hit in 1979-80, President Carter described combating it as the "moral equivalent of war,"
and many Americans feared that oil shocks would be a recurring nightmare.

Since that crisis, gas prices have surged or fallen, but U.S. oil supplies have been relatively stable, and lines at the pump have, with rare exceptions, remained mercifully short.

“Sorry No Gas” signs were frequent+expected, in addition to LONG lines and rationing. IN THE U.S.

This PBS video opens with an angry gas station owner swearing, but swearing does not continue:
(We were living in Vermont.)



- - - - -

One wonders why America, Saudi Arabia, and Israel’s invasions of Somalia, Yemen, and Syria basically have had zero attention the last two weeks compared to Russia’s operations in the Ukraine.

Should Visa and Mastercard cut off America, Saudi Arabia, and Israel too?

If they cut America off, the US government would seize their assets.

Witnessing Trudeau’s shocking response to unarmed truck drivers, and now the West’s (similar) response to Putin,
is it fair to compare the power of “control via technology” with nuclear weapons?

Reading Carter’s underlined statement above, i guess this is a valid question.

A few days back, Trudeau was responding to his truck driving countrymen with eerily similar intolerance and tactics.
It bears questioning how readily, how frequently, how easily, crippling tactics are - for “whichever leader” to employ.

Maybe this is great to use against Putin and an authentic military invasion (of another country) -
but folks would be well advised to notice: these crippling techniques are NOT reserved for the throes of war.

So. Who determines when, where, by whom? In Canada, Brian Peckford had plenty to say. He won’t live forever.
Will anyone take his place? As a conscience of leaders, to “tap brakes” on runaway political egos?

Carter called it, decades ago.