OV9

I was saying today that we’re only just seeing the full extent of the damage Reagan did and they’ve gone in for another go at it.

Beany wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2025 1:40 pm They're also not the sharpest.

Votes for Trump

Applies for job in IRS

Fails to see the contradiction with this.

Gets verbal offer

Then gets told "sorry, job gone, executive order, no hiring"

"The dildo of consequence rarely arrives lubed..."

DeskJockey wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2025 5:25 pm Don't worry though, he's sorting the war in Ukraine. He's "told" Putin to end the war or face (more?) tariffs, sanctions and taxes. Who knew it was so easy? I'm sure Vlad is shaking... with laughter at his pet yipping as if he can make a difference.

Surely he's already sorted it?

“Before I even arrive at the Oval Office, shortly after we win the presidency, I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine settled,” Mr. Trump vowed in a June rally. “I will get it settled before I even become president,” he said during his televised debate with Vice President Kamala Harris in September. “I will settle Russia-Ukraine while I’m president-elect,” he said again during a podcast in October.

Ah. My bad. Must have missed the announcement and cessation of hostilities. He's just the bigliest action hero man ever!

To be fair he did say the conflict is a ridiculous war, so he’s right in that respect

Him being pretty anti war is one of those weird quirks that makes his policies (such as they are) hard to consistently argue against.

He doesn’t seem to understand that the MIC needs the constant war to justify the spending

DeskJockey wrote: Wed Jan 22, 2025 5:25 pm Don't worry though, he's sorting the war in Ukraine. He's "told" Putin to end the war or face (more?) tariffs, sanctions and taxes. Who knew it was so easy? I'm sure Vlad is shaking... with laughter at his pet yipping as if he can make a difference.

They already have quite a few sanctions, and the US does very little trade with Russia so tariffs are meaningless. Not even sure what there is to tax as opposed to apply tariffs ? He thinks he can tax Russian citizens in the US (or in Russia???) ? I don’t think he understands what any of the words mean.

Anyway, his plan that will end the Russian invasion three days ago seems to boil down to “do nothing” which exactly what Putin wanted the whole world to do from day 1.

The idea of America imposing tariffs, sanctions and taxes on Russia is laughable. The Russians have had a couple of years of being largely self-sufficient and live in a vast, resource-rich country.

Gavster wrote: Thu Jan 23, 2025 8:32 am The idea of America imposing tariffs, sanctions and taxes on Russia is laughable. The Russians have had a couple of years of being largely self-sufficient and live in a vast, resource-rich country.

And have always hated outside influences, so having to endure hardship to loose external interference is not a problem to many, especially in a state that controls the information its citizens can receive.

I imagine trumps solution was just to buy Russia or Ukraine

Russia also have plenty of non sanctioned former USSR states which are acting as intermediates on sanctioned products.
Reading between the lines it seems like Trumps solution is Russia withdraws from the war and we just forget anything happened and they go back to free trade. He didn't state what happens with the most important bit in all this, the annexed land.

Mito Man wrote: Thu Jan 23, 2025 2:03 pm Russia also have plenty of non sanctioned former USSR states which are acting as intermediates on sanctioned products.
Reading between the lines it seems like Trumps solution is Russia withdraws from the war and we just forget anything happened and they go back to free trade. He didn't state what happens with the most important bit in all this, the annexed land.

Yep, business booming so much Rolls Royce are investing a load into their factory
I was just thinking, when Hamas released the 3 hostages last week there was a good 100 of them, all armed up and they had enough supplies to fight a war for over a year. That's in the most heavily controlled and observed tiny strip of land in the world with none of their own resourced. Sanctioning Russia? Good luck with that.

Yep, Georgia to Russia exports have been booming in recent years too.

Sanctions will never be watertight, especially with China happy to help out (for a price, obvs.) but they do have an effect. Anything that makes it slower, more difficult, more expensive to get those goods will hurt in some way. That chart of car exports is small change - roughly £30m per three months is about £300k per day and assuming it's going to be mostly high end stuff (not necessarily Rolls Royce high end, but they'll definitely be in the mix) that's like 3 cars per day ? Pfft. Plus the fact I don't suppose there's many Range Rovers out on the front line killing civilians. Similar patterns show up in other import/export categories though.

Russia isn't self sufficient, not even close. About two-thirds of their exports are raw materials (oil, gas, minerals) and simple or semi-finished materials (e.g. bulk chemicals, rolled steel). Whereas finished goods, machinery, vehicles, tech in general, they import a lot, they can't produce it themselves, in part because a lot of the USSR's manufacturing was distributed around all parts of the empire... e.g. Ukraine ! Who retained a lot of knowledge & capacity that didn't get transferred back to Russia. Famously the T62 tank was designed & built in Ukraine. It wasn't "Russian".

In fact IIRC last year Russia became a net *importer* of petrol for the first time because Ukraine have been carrying out a methodical programme of attacking refineries and they can't get the Western equipment they need to fix them. It's a smart double-whammy. They lose export revenue on the petrol, and have to sell oil at a discount to some of the shadier countries for them to refine it & sell it back to them.

Sanctions are slow and imperfect, but they do (they can) work.

Also, even things that do get through sanctions are not reaching russia at retail prices. That £300k Rolls Royce might be, say, double that for the russian client, taking money out of their economy that can't be used internally.

Death (of their economy) by a thousand cuts is still death.

Apparently farm workers - even documented, fully legal workers, have stopped turning up for work, because they know damned well that ICE (their immigration service - aka the racists' racists) who have been functionally given the green light to arrest anyone slightly brown, are on the march and don't give a shit who they detain. Including detaining a veteran who was slightly brown, and questioning the validity of his documents.

https://newjerseymonitor.com/briefs/new ... y-veteran/

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-immigration-2670966821/

That'll bring down the price of eggs, I'm sure.

Such a prick.

https://www.aol.co.uk/news/trump-says-u ... 57467.html

ICE have been picking up indigenous folk in their raids and the new regime's DOJ has - I have to assume with a straight face - argued in court that indigenous people do not have birthright citizenship.

Where the dcuking flip do they think they’re going to deport them to ?? Back where they came from ?

Remember, people who aren't well balanced enough to get into the army go to the police, and the ones the police turn away, go to ICE.

We ain't talking about people overburdened with a surfeit of education or common sense. We're talking people who wear velcro strap shoes at home, because tying up bootlaces is highly complex stuff, only for work.

And they're currently directed at a government level by out and out racists.