Ukraine / Russia

Mullahs still rule Iran after 40 years of sanctions; communist Cuba still there after 60 years; Russian on and off for last twenty; Bolivarian govt in Venezuela over a decade and still there; North Korea multiple decades and still there. Where have they worked?
The New Russian Sanctions Playbook Deterrence Is Out, and Economic Attrition Is In

Here’s a pull quote from the article that stuck out to me:
“Over the long term, economic penalties can also degrade Moscow’s ability to project power abroad.”

Of all the countries you listed above, only Iran has developed any capacity to project power outside of their borders. And that’s only happened within the vacuum of political instability in countries with sizable Shi’a populations (Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq).
 
Winner Winner chicken dinner! You must be old like me Dave... LOL. Hell I remember reading about a lot of this in Playboy over a decade ago. Segal was also a paid personality to promote a long range Russian rifle by a company called Orsis.
 
Winner Winner chicken dinner! You must be old like me Dave... LOL. Hell I remember reading about a lot of this in Playboy over a decade ago. Segal was also a paid personality to promote a long range Russian rifle by a company called Orsis.
That guy hasn't been right in the head since he got his ass kicked in an Ennis Bar and left Montana with his tail between his legs. Come to think of it, he was a nut before that too.
 
you're applying your own bias to a word that doesn't involve right or wrong, good or bad.
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I understand what genius is. What I am not well communicating is that I do not see any evidence of genius. He has not invented any great technology, he is not a chess grandmaster, he has failed as president of his country in just about every way modern countries would evaluate that role. Where is he a genius? Xi Jinping may very well be one, but Putin is almost certainly not. So I try to distinguish his "power" gained by thuggery as not genius but fairly routine cruel sociopathy.
 
This whole thing is concerning and should be to all Americans. Over the past several years, we have seen our country get further divided by those in charge. We are worried about which bathroom to use while the rest of the world is laughing at us. Now you have a tyrant that appears to be a loose canon, invade a country for no apparent reason other than to stroke his own ego. And when the rest of the world steps in, he threatens nuclear war (reading between the lines here). There are two ways to look at this. One, he's crazy enough to do it. Two, he wants the rest of the world to think he's crazy enough to do it. Either way, it should scare the crap out of all of us. Whether you agree with me or not, the leadership in this country has never been weaker. They are more interested in the border of Ukraine than our own southern border. They have labeled half of Americans as racist anarchists. The only way we change our own country is if we unite ourselves. But I fear the line is already been drawn in the sand. We could go back to being energy independent by reversing what's been put in place over the past 14 months. But instead, they are choosing to do nothing other than tell us that we need to be less dependent on all oil. There aren't electric vehicles available for all of us. The electrical grid in this country won't support the demand for all of us to have electric vehicles. So in the meantime we are to go bankrupt or stop living just so we can go to work or have some leisure release. Meanwhile, we are watching what could be the end of the world as all of us know it. God help us and the rest of the world.
 
Winner Winner chicken dinner! You must be old like me Dave... LOL. Hell I remember reading about a lot of this in Playboy over a decade ago. Segal was also a paid personality to promote a long range Russian rifle by a company called Orsis.
I've been around for a minute...
 
This whole thing is concerning and should be to all Americans. Over the past several years, we have seen our country get further divided by those in charge. We are worried about which bathroom to use while the rest of the world is laughing at us. Now you have a tyrant that appears to be a loose canon, invade a country for no apparent reason other than to stroke his own ego. And when the rest of the world steps in, he threatens nuclear war (reading between the lines here). There are two ways to look at this. One, he's crazy enough to do it. Two, he wants the rest of the world to think he's crazy enough to do it. Either way, it should scare the crap out of all of us. Whether you agree with me or not, the leadership in this country has never been weaker. They are more interested in the border of Ukraine than our own southern border. They have labeled half of Americans as racist anarchists. The only way we change our own country is if we unite ourselves. But I fear the line is already been drawn in the sand. We could go back to being energy independent by reversing what's been put in place over the past 14 months. But instead, they are choosing to do nothing other than tell us that we need to be less dependent on all oil. There aren't electric vehicles available for all of us. The electrical grid in this country won't support the demand for all of us to have electric vehicles. So in the meantime we are to go bankrupt or stop living just so we can go to work or have some leisure release. Meanwhile, we are watching what could be the end of the world as all of us know it. God help us and the rest of the world.


So much to unpack.

So, you care when nations "laugh at us" over bathroom genders, but do you care when they laugh much more at the buffoonery of "stolen votes"?

No real DC policies in the last 14 months have affected energy production - that has mostly been supply and demand driven. You ignore that we already can make enough of the light crudes to be energy independent for their uses but still need heavy grades to feed other industrial needs.

You ignore the last few administration's turn away from Europe that has emboldened Putin.

That his political spies have entranced nationalistically minded conservatives in every major democracy (just look at all the ones in Europe and the US that are still rooting him on). These would be things worth adding to your concerns more than bathrooms and fracking.

I agree we have never been more divided in the last 150 years, but it is not the politicians to blame - it is us. We have the government we asked for. We feed the news channels' coffers by tuning in to listen to their drivel. We vote for scoundrels because we are afraid of the "other". We turn our back on immigration even though we are a nation of immigrants and they are the reason we still have sufficient population growth to be a viable economy in 20 years.

But I do share your hope that God will save us from ourselves.
 
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