cochyn

So why mention Deepwater Horizon? Ig et what you mean about the damage pf perpetual sanctioning. But I'm not saying that. Just to be clear; I'm saying a number of western companies, mindful of their ESG obligations may decide the fallout from trading in Russia would lose them too many consumers in more profitable markets. I guess it'll remain to be seen. Some Western companies will return whilst others just won't bother - as long as the rouble is worth less than bluebottle shit.

Is there even logic to your comment? Or are you just here to be deliberately obtuse?

Loath as I am to quote twitter, but Vladolf sounds rattled: -Railing against the ex-pat oligarchs, calling for a 'self-cleansing' of Russian society..

I think the sanctions remain in place as long as Putin and his cronies are in power. Some may get lifted if a peace deal in agreed. But in the main, the die is cast and it's regime change through financial choking of the apparatchiks and oligarchs. Though whether western companies decide not to bother with Russia after months (years?) of effective sanctions remains to be seen. Russia - or more accurately, Putin's Russia - is bad juju right now and mud sticks. I think sanctions - in the main - will stay as long as Putin does.

The worlds largest tyre maker (by number of units made) is….LEGO. So I say wheels. But Lego make doors too…. Ill have to get back to you…

Sorry, I meant to say in recent years. Certainly between 2010-2020 commodity prices were significantly lower than they were in the 2000s. The spiking we’re seeing now looks unprecedented but I guess that’s futures trading for you. If it were me, I’d ban all speculation on foodstuffs as it amplifies irregularities and serves only to make speculators rich as people, potentially, starve. It’s fucked up.

It think this doom mongering is short-termism at it's worst. Fuelled by a rabid media for whom consumer's doomscrolling is now their lifeblood. We've lived through periods of much higher inflation than those mooted. We're also living through a time of record low prices for food, whilst our farmers slide deeper into debt and food waste amongst consumers is at unprecedented scales. All that said, there is an inherent structural problem in the distribution of wealth. Xi Jinping has had a crack at this with his shared prosperity policies (basically, seizing assets from China's ultra-wealthy and jailing those who don't comply). But even he admits this has failed as a policy as the rich are too damn efficient at squirreling away their excess wealth. Excess wealth: Jesus wept. Money is agency and can enable great things for humanity as a whole. Money does absolutely nothing stacked up in the trillions in offshore accounts. Maybe there is inherent flaw in money (who on earth NEEDS eight-figure bank balances?). I don't know.

Same here. She looks boyish and comes across like a massive virtue-signalling pain in the arse. She needs to marry a minor European royal and live in a castle somewhere.

One for the Bird Fancying Amnesty Thread?

Twitter. In a nutshell.

So are you conflating rising energy prices with sanctions against Russia now? Except, that isn't quite the full story is it? The problem with industrial fertilizer is they require cast amounts of oil/ gas to produce. ergo, they are as susceptible to the current spike in energy prices as any other secondary commodity. No doubt the war has caused an acceleration in hydrocarbon-based energy prices ( see: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/11/opinion/gas-oil-price-us-biden.html) . But the rise is equally (if not more so) due to surging demand in a post-pandemic world.

Which is...? I see a LOT of wise-after-the-event revisionism in the links you post, and the opinions you put forward. Where were these blinding insights back in 2021 when this thread started? Or before, even?

Fucking Antarcticans, shithouses to a man and woman.

I think if NATO were to go in (unlikely) they would go the whole gun mate. Push Russia entirely out of Ukranie and - at Moldova's request - do the same in Transnistria.

Is it just me, or has Vladolf been a bit quiet recently? You'd have thought he'd be all over it, crowing about the gains in Ukraine; pinning down the Azov brigade, advancing on Kiyiv. But nada, it seems. Has he been told to pipe the fuck down and let the big boys run the narrative? Lest he put his size 7s in it again and mention nukes/chem warfare as a possibility, ergo egging on yet further measures by the rest of the world? But I could be wrong..

Some interesting articles being dug up: In this one retired Russian Military 2nd in command, General Leonid Ivashov recognised the shortcomings of the Russian Military and the literal and geopolitical quagmire Putin was sending them to: https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/t9g2j3/ex_red_army_general_and_current_opposition_figure/ Article is translated, but cross-checked and verified, dated 28th Jan, published 11th Feb this year..

When, 1066? We’ve been an imperial power for hundreds of years and am invasive mercantile power for much longer. We’ve always been up in other people’s shit. If anything, these days we’re the least gregarious we’ve ever been.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUsFWO08CO0

Mate, I was being slightly tongue-in-cheek. But the fact remains: It is evident that - despite the horrors we are already witnessing - escalation involving other nations is in no-one's long-term interest. If the war in Ukraine goes on then Russia will prevail over them through sheer numbers by throwing everything at it. Then we're left with a decimated Ukraine, and heightened tensions between Russia and the West. In short - the longer this goes on the worse it will get and the wider it's effect will be. It's time to nip this in the bud.

No, it really isn't. If this had happened 25 years ago, the western world would have gnashed it's teeth and largely left them to it as a regional squabble. Now it has skin in the game (gas supply, EU/ NATO associations with Ukraine) it's in its interest to intervene (which it undoubtedly is in some capacity). And how exactly has the West elicited this confrontation? I grant you, the UN's reluctance to get involved in the Donbas/ Crimea demonstrates some negligence on their part. But it doesn't excuse Russia's aggression n this theatre. Putin is a cornered rat and needs a way out. Escalation would be a failure on all sides.

Where do you see this ending?

Fucking nightmare scenario right there for all involved. Ergo: Never going to happen. despite the fuckery we've all lived through since 2008, the World needs to heal. There will be a diplomatic solution out of this - there always is. As hard as that seems to even imagine right now - seeing as the world's netizens are all balls deep in viral war porn of the viscera of this conflict. Time always heals and humanity always prevails. It'll boil down to meeting the demands of both belligerents in my view: A) Putin wants to be seen as the 'saviour' of the Russian peoples B) Ukraine will want to assert itself firmly within the Western hemisphere and seek massive reparations from Russia. Firstly, Russia will have to agree to a complete withdrawal of its forces from Ukrainian borders. Secondly: Ukraine can forget about joining NATO. No chance (for at least a decade - long enough for Putin to retire to his Dacha) and reopen the water supply to Crimea. Thirdly Russia and Ukraine will have to accept Crimea and the Donbas being placed under UN protectorate - potentially for a generation or at least until the wounds heal and things get peachy again. Sanctions against Russia are gradually lifted as the first and second items are met. Russia will have to pay reparations to Ukraine through additional levies on the transit fees Russia pays on the gas pipelines - all of it coming out of Russia's end, not the consumer. Say +$1bn a year until Crimea/ Donbas can be peacefully resolved. Putin & Co get to be seen as the 'saviour of the oppressed Russians on Donbas/ Crimea'. Ukraine gets reparations and continued and uninterrupted alliance with the West, because we all love them now, right? Job jobbed, just call be Boutros-Boutros Cochyn.

Not to re-open this old chestnut, but fucking hell: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-60619676 Charitable donations to Ukraine held up by post-Brexit red tape. Bra-fucking-vo. What a miserable little island we're becoming.