Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Dr. Strangelove]

Sounds like an active operation right now to take Kyiv quickly or force Zelensky to flee. Russian helicopters (over two dozen) reportedly dropping troops into some air base just outside the city.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Ukraine is ranked as the most corrupt country in Europe (after Russia, if you count them). They have been experiencing rapid population decline since the early 1990s, averaging a loss 300,000 people annually - 40% during that time frame.. Their GDP per capita is $3,700 USD - lowest in Europe.

So let the punishment fit the crime. Russia will can be responsible for Ukraine. I'm sure it will be great for Putin.

Putin, of course, can barely feed his own fucking army. https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-be-moved-soon

Postings spotted by military analyst Rob Lee on Monday showed about 100 soldiers camped out – or rather lying down – at a train station about 20km from Ukraine’s border, without rations and having to buy food for themselves.

Russian troops based in Belarus, in forests near the town of Khoyniki, 50km from the Ukraine border, were described by one local a few days ago as people who “drink a lot and sell a lot of their diesel fuel”, suggesting a lack of discipline despite the heightened political tensions.

I have no idea why everyone is scared of that dolt. Fuck him. Sanctions are worthless. Either bomb the fuck out of his troops or roll out the red carpet and send him a nice house-warming gift. All the posturing is ridiculous. Ukraine is strategically unimportant to the United States. If Europe won't stand up to him, that's their problem. What we SHOULD be doing, without a doubt, is start pumping as much oil as possible to drive the price down. Putin at $100/barrel is Mr. Tough Guy but he wouldn't be pulling this shit if it was half that.

Circling back on this, Mike, I see a lot of people making comments like this will accomplish the exact opposite of what Putin thinks will happen. I hope that's true. NATO will be reinvigorated, not weakened. Ukrainians will increase their hatred for Russia, not draw closer. And Putin could end up having to manage an even more dysfunctional society when he can't efficiently manage the one the one he already has (much of Russia outside Moscow and St Petersburg is woefully underdeveloped).

People comparing it to Russia's version of Iraq 2003. The invasion's the easy part.

[Tom W]

Not to be limited to simply fellating Putin, I fully expect The Chairman to fellate the Ayatollah fairly soon and strike a ginormously pussified deal. Thank god the grown-ups are back in the room.

But at least we'll have an all-inclusive Supreme Court and an ongoing dialog on how we're going to assume responsibility for climate change!

[Mike]

Kamala was all over this shit 3 days ago. Nothing gets past her.

[iam416]

Grown-up are in the room!

[Obi-Jon]

Thank God Putin's Cock Holster is not still President, he and his lapdog Pompeo are relegated to only providing aid and comfort to the enemy with their recent "Putin is so great/saavy/brilliant" commentary Russia is using in the internal/external propaganda. Can you imagine what PCH would be saying now? "Go ahead, take all of Ukraine, and take Georgia too while you're at it. What can I do to help? America's secrets and capabilities are at your disposal Massa".

And WTF has the Chairman been doing, other than sitting on his hands? Ukraine should be brimming with Stingers, Javelins and Hellfires by now. Economic sanctions are only going to provide pain for Russia, not change of behavior. I hope western intelligence is working on internal regime change as the end goal of sanctions, sooner rather than later. Not optimistic on that score though.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Brent crude hit $105 a moment ago. Reportedly the ruble hit an alltime low against the dollar. Russia's stock markets are bouncing around between being down 30-50% in less than 24 hours. Wheat prices also surging to their highest in a decade.

Very curious what specific sanctions are coming. The EU says they are freezing Russian assets but not sure what that exactly means. Assets owned by the Russian state in Europe or anyone of Russian Citizenship?

[Obi-Jon]

If we're smart, we'll take the Russkies out of the SWIFT financial system. Freeze them out of trading US dollars. That should have been done 2 weeks ago. Have the Brits exercise forfeiture of all Russian assets held in the UK. Attack Russian sovereign debt.

To start.

[Mike]

If we're going to blame the previous president, might as go back one more and recall that Obama sent Ukraine blankets instead of weapons in 2014. The bottom line is nobody really gives a shit about Ukraine. It sucks for the people who live there and it's quite sad to see the images this morning but that's the hard truth.

NRO has a really good chronology of the invasion with some good Twitter.

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/putin-announces-military-operation-in-ukraine-explosions-reported-in-kyiv/#slide-7

[Mike]

If we're smart, we'll take the Russkies out of the SWIFT financial system. Freeze them out of trading US dollars. That should have been done 2 weeks ago. Have the Brits exercise forfeiture of all Russian assets held in the UK. Attack Russian sovereign debt.

To start.

All good ideas. Might have also been a good idea if the Dems didn't filibuster sanctions on the Nordstream pipeline a few weeks back.

[Obi-Jon]

Yep on both your observations Mike.

[THE_WIZARD_]

But at least we'll have an all-inclusive Supreme Court and an ongoing dialog on how we're going to assume responsibility for climate change!

...and an all-inclusive military too!!!! Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy that we want the military to conduct social experimentation...woohoo!

[THE_WIZARD_]

...as Private John Winger once said...and I'm paraphrasing..."...c'mon man it's Ukraine...it's like breaking into Wisconsin..."

But if it's like bitch slapping Wisconsin...perhaps we should consult HOWARD!!!!!

:::drops mic:::

[Dr. Strangelove]

I admit to being wrong that Putin wouldn't go as far as this. I'm not quite in the same Putin = Hitler territory as Jeff (heh) but he's not the coldly rational person I thought he was. That makes this scarier and more dangerous, IMO.

He's attempting to establish his "legacy" in this war. The wannabe tsar who kept Ukraine a Russian possession.

Anecdotally just from what I read from reporters inside Russia, this isn't being greeted by the public with the same enthusiasm as when he seized Crimea. I've read 20% of Russians have relatives in Ukraine and vice versa.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Also, Belarus is facilitating if not actively participating in this invasion. Would not have been possible just couple years years ago. Lukashenko was saved by Putin in 2020 and is a completely owned man now.