Ukraine Always Get What You Want

I just question whether they’ve actually gotten the Stingers yet, but I could be wrong.

 

I don’t think this thread is dead at all, as was earlier accused. I think the discussions being had here are the exact things people in the West Wing are turning over and examining right now.

 

US delivered hundreds of Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine this week, sources say


4:42 p.m. ET, March 2, 2022
US delivered hundreds of Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine this week, sources say

From CNN's Kylie Atwood and Zachary Cohen

The US has delivered hundreds of Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine for the first time over the last few days, including over 200 on Monday, according to a US official and a congressional source briefed on the matter.

Earlier this year the US gave the green light to Baltic countries including Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to send American-made weaponry that they have to Ukraine, including Stingers. But until now the Biden administration had held off on the US providing the Stingers directly to Ukraine, while they have provided other lethal weaponry.

 

Gotcha, thanks.

 

Presenting the 99 car’s paint/wrap job in today’s Buschwide race:

 

How do you know that? I am not asking in an argumentative way, I am legit asking how you know that?

I'm nothing but a guy behind a keyboard but i have 35 years experience in the financial services industry and I have never seen these kind of sanctions. I've been saying this for a week here.

There is a lot going on. This came out today.

Russia’s Looming Economic Collapse

While Russia holds the military advantage over Ukraine on Battlefield One, it is getting destroyed by a Western alliance on Battlefield Two. In the past few days, the United States and several major European countries have declared a series of financial penalties and sanctions against Russia that are without modern precedent for a major economy. These policies are triggering a financial catastrophe in Russia.

Getting a proper grip on the second battlefield requires breaking down the news of the past several days into three categories: the global boycott of Russia, the economic crisis within Russia, and the worldwide ripple effects that we’re already starting to see.

A global boycott of the Russian economy
Over the weekend, the U.S. and many European countries announced their intention to cut off several Russian banks from the trading platform SWIFT—the Society for Worldwide Interbank Finance Telecommunication. This will prevent many Russian banks from trading at high volumes. The indirect effect is more important: A Russian bank that’s been kicked off SWIFT becomes an undesirable place to keep money.
The U.S. Treasury and the European Central Bank also announced that they would freeze Russia’s foreign reserves. What does that mean? The Russian central bank holds hundreds of billions of dollars that it can convert into rubles during a crisis to prop up the currency. By freezing the reserves held in Western banks, the U.S. and Europe are disarming Russia of its best weapon in the event of a currency crisis, essentially telling Russia: “Your assets are momentarily worthless. You don’t have $300 billion worth of assets. You have $0.”

Companies are boycotting Russia too. BP and Shell have announced plans to exit their joint ventures in major Russian energy companies. Some countries are now refusing to do business with Russia entirely. Russia has also been banned from international soccer, hockey, and ice-skating events. These actions amount to the sudden cultural excision of an entire nation.

A looming economic collapse within Russia
Although its geopolitical strategy puts it at odds with the West, Russia is an integrated member of the global economy. Only 12 countries in the world have more total exports. Russia trades oil, gas, and coal to much of Europe and wheat to the Middle East and Africa. The sanctions imposed so far amount to a kind of siege of a country that depends on access to global markets.

This is terra incognita for economic policy. No country has ever faced this kind of global freeze-out. The implications are hard to predict, but several consequences are already apparent in the form of bank runs and long ATM lines. On Monday, the London stock listings of several Russian banks fell by more than 50 percent. The ruble is trading like a junk cryptocurrency, collapsing more than 30 percent on Monday, and as it weakens, the price of certain imports will rise sharply. Unemployment will soar unless the central bank steps in to print money in order to keep companies afloat, but this will almost certainly cause even worse inflation. To throttle the worst inflationary effects, the Russian central bank doubled its key interest rate to 20 percent; for perspective, that’s higher than the U.S. federal-funds rate has ever been. Businesses are nervous that SWIFT sanctions will shut down international credit-card accounts. In normal times, the worst effects of most depressions aren’t felt for months. This has all happened in the past 72 hours.


It is worth a total read.

 

She’s about to become a pawn in the war:

 

Lukoil: Russian oil company calls for an end to Putin's war - CNN

Anyone here 2 weeks ago think the 2nd largest oil producer in Russia would be calling for Putin to end the war?

Show of hands, please.

 

War is hell

 

Good stuff, thanks.

 

I think the chance of Putin using nukes is about 20%, but if he were to use one, I suspect it would be a tactical weapon like you mention...it's sort of a nuke*, and he can always say "I didn't obliterate two cities like USA did in 1945..."

 

The Russian done fucked up. They are detaining Brittney Griner, WNBA Star, she can dunk, for possession of hashish. She gonna fuck them up.