Russia

[VectorVictor]

2 hours ago, BigRedBuster said:

 

Good...

 

But....get prepared people.  This could get rough financially.  Oil up another 7-8% today.

 

We only get 1-2% of our oil from Russia, so it shouldn't have a 7-8% impact on the market. That's just panic and price gouging by those in control. 

 

Of course, the Brandon supporters have no f****** clue how reality works, so they'll just blame Biden. 

[Dr. Strangelove]

2 minutes ago, knapplc said:

 

And that damage is going to compound as this moves forward. I would imagine it could grow exponentially as systems crash in cascading fashion.

 

Americans thought we had it bad with Covid-related supply chain issues. That's nothing compared to what the West is unleashing on Russia. 

I agree. 

 

China is going to have a unique issue. They're going to support Russia and have a former superpower in their sphere of influence. However, outside of nuclear weapons, Russia has proven it has limited military capacity. China may look at Russia as little more than an oil and natural gas spigot they use until no longer useful. 

 

China will not get any military benefit in this relationship, which would've been a weird thing to say a few weeks ago. 

[ZRod]

2 hours ago, BigRedBuster said:

 

I'm not in the chip industry.  I'm in the plastics industry.  There are ingredients we need that are only produced in China.  These facilities would take years to build and develop elsewhere.  

FYI...these ingredients are used in a large amount of plastic products you use from simple water bottles to municipal pipe.

 

I don't really know anything about the CHIPS act.

I work with all kinds of trains and fiber glass for my job. Seeing some marterials issues from China this week, and it has me scratching my head at what the reason could be... Like no more product available and no projected shipments in the near future.

[VectorVictor]

12 minutes ago, Dr. Strangelove said:

I agree. 

 

China is going to have a unique issue. They're going to support Russia and have a former superpower in their sphere of influence. However, outside of nuclear weapons, Russia has proven it has limited military capacity. China may look at Russia as little more than an oil and natural gas spigot they use until no longer useful. 

 

China will not get any military benefit in this relationship, which would've been a weird thing to say a few weeks ago. 

 

Not really. Ever since China became a player in the 1990s, Russia has looked at China as a red-headed step-brother, and would only sell them used military equipment at outlandish prices. I remember our professor in the 1990s mentioning how China had to decide whether to feed their troops for a year or buy a Cold-War era used Aircraft Carrier. Russia never did China any favors that mattered. 

 

That still holds true today. Yes, they put on a unified front in public, but I think we're starting to see China realize their relationship with Russia is like being a brother to a meth-addled junkie (not unlike the GOP's relationship to Trump supporters)--they get along, but don't expect much of anything substantial from Russia to China now or ever. It's why China's bolstered their military spending and reach--they realize sooner or later, people would see Russia for the oversized gas station they are, and whatever "military alliance" they had would be weakened as a result. 

 

Now, it's about China alone when we talk about potential Asian military hegemons (Japan and South Korea are cultural and economic hegemons), bolstered by China's allies in Africa that they've been supplying weapons and equipment to for the past decade plus. China's military isn't exactly scary, but the sheer number of people they can throw at a conflict has to be respected. 

 

Then again, the last country to disrespect China's numerical advantage was Japan...and that worked out pretty well for them (until Japan became stretched too thin and couldn't hold what they took)...the same Japan that pwned Russia in the early 1900s.

[VectorVictor]

Also...this is an interesting thread regarding the number of high-ranking officers in the Russian army that have been killed in action, how those officers are being sent to the front lines because Russian morale and competence is at an all-time low...and how the Russian army took out all of the 3G/4G cell towers and now can't communicate securely using their new system set up last year...

 

...which is how the West is getting confirmation of troop movements, KIAs, and more. They're using regular SIM cards/phones confiscated locally to report back to brass.

 

 

[BigRedBuster]

49 minutes ago, VectorVictor said:

 

We only get 1-2% of our oil from Russia, so it shouldn't have a 7-8% impact on the market. That's just panic and price gouging by those in control. 

 

Of course, the Brandon supporters have no f****** clue how reality works, so they'll just blame Biden. 

It's a world wide market.  Not just the US.

[nic]

This letter came from 4 Democratic members from Congress praising Biden for stopping Russian energy imports and urging him to adopt policies to increase US energy production. They are from Texas.

 

https://www.scribd.com/document/563405797/Dem-Letter-to-Biden-Final#download&from_embed

 

[Lorewarn]

2 hours ago, JJ Husker said:

Biden and the dems will likely be routed in upcoming elections but it will be due to the economy and not much else. Doesn’t matter which party is in charge, with this inflation and gas prices where they’ll be, those perceived in charge will pay for it in the election booth.

 

I don't agree with this at all.

 

If Russia never invades Ukraine, Gas stays under $3 a gallon, and the inflation/supply chain issues got shored up, Biden and the dems would still lose the house and senate in the midterms.

 

Because it doesn't actually have to do with those things at all, that's just a convenient "why" answer to distract from it being due to a rigged aka gerrymandered game.

[JJ Husker]

13 minutes ago, Lorewarn said:

 

I don't agree with this at all.

 

If Russia never invades Ukraine, Gas stays under $3 a gallon, and the inflation/supply chain issues got shored up, Biden and the dems would still lose the house and senate in the midterms.

 

Because it doesn't actually have to do with those things at all, that's just a convenient "why" answer to distract from it being due to a rigged aka gerrymandered game.

I’d agree that the gerrymandered districts likely cause the dems losses but if the economy was all hunky dory the dems probably overcome the rigged game. It is always about the economy to a great extent. Sure there are plenty of things that contribute to that economy like the Russia invasion but that’s still what it comes down to. It’s just more of an uphill battle for the dems.

 

And BTW, not sure where you are located but gas wasn’t below $3 before Russia invaded, and people were already complaining about it. Toss in the inflation we’re seeing and it’s a recipe for lots of change and blame being placed on the President. I wouldn’t presume to know when or if the supply chain issues etc. would’ve straightened out had Putin not done what he did. Fact is, lots of people in this country are being squeezed in the wallet.

 

We may have to disagree on how well the dems would’ve fared in a good economy. Unfortunately we’ll never know.

[Cdog923]

 

[knapplc]

Just now, Cdog923 said:

 

 

The explanation here is that those jets will very quickly be routed to Ukraine to fight against the Russians.

 

That dude I quoted earlier said all of Ukraine's air force is still available, including helicopters & fixed-wing aircraft (take that with a grain of salt), so this would go a long way toward pushing Ukraine's ability to establish air superiority - something that would have been unfathomable three weeks ago.

 

 

 

Also, I don't care that it's a Russian aircraft. The Mig-29 is a good-looking fighter.

 

[Cdog923]

2 minutes ago, knapplc said:

 

The explanation here is that those jets will very quickly be routed to Ukraine to fight against the Russians.

 

That dude I quoted earlier said all of Ukraine's air force is still available, including helicopters & fixed-wing aircraft (take that with a grain of salt), so this would go a long way toward pushing Ukraine's ability to establish air superiority - something that would have been unfathomable three weeks ago.

 

 

 

Also, I don't care that it's a Russian aircraft. The Mig-29 is a good-looking fighter.

 

 

 

This; the Poles are trading 28 Migs for 28 F-16s. 

 

Also, it's a fine looking craft, but it's no F-14: 

 

 

[JJ Husker]

6 minutes ago, Cdog923 said:

 

This; the Poles are trading 28 Migs for 28 F-16s. 

 

Also, it's a fine looking craft, but it's no F-14: 

 

 

Ha, beat me to it. Was just copying that gif. This one will have to do.

 

[TGHusker]

5 hours ago, knapplc said:

 

 

 

The logistics of this war have been the most enlightening thing for me. I guess, vaguely, I understand that you need equipment to get bullets & rations from rear positions to the front lines, but when I thought of war, that was never one of the first things I thought of. 

 

Clearly that's the case with Putin and his cronies, too. 

 

And I'm reading that a lot of the money that was supposed to go to mundane things like trucks and maintenance instead went into the pockets of the oligarchs, and is now manifested in luxury yachts - which are being seized around the world. 

 

We all know the phrase, "An army marches on its stomach." This war is teaching us laymen the reality of that. 

Very true. I've been reading the same thing.  Instead of cutting off the head, the Ukrainians have been cutting off the tail - the supply.  It also helps that the fields are all wet and soggy so all of those conveys have to stay on the main road.  Easy prey. 

Battle of the Bulge was won in part because the Panzer divisions were too fast and out ran their supply.  Many ran out of gas.  Then the skies finally cleared for the US airplanes to pick off the enemy like sitting ducks.

General Grant was so efficient in the civil war because prior to that he was the logistics guy in the war with Mexico. He knew logistics (it isn't just a UPS thing!!) He succeed when so many other Union Generals failed before him. 

[TGHusker]

17 minutes ago, JJ Husker said:

Ha, beat me to it. Was just copying that gif. This one will have to do.

 

"I crack myself out"