mtutiger

Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odessa, Mariupol... he's hitting all over

The war is official

I keep trying to think of another word, but you know, another one doesn't come to mind.

Good Lord

I know his domestic situation isn't great (ie. polls), but I'm not sure a more popular leader would have done much better in this situation. At the end of the day, this is all controlled by one man and his war of choice. Would another leader have impacted that calculus? I doubt it.

Heartbreaking stuff...

Not that it matters since this is all in Vlad's hands, but there you go.... they aren't a welcome presence, and it's more divided domestically than one would expect. https://comresglobal.com/polls/russians-ukrainians-poll-cnn-23-feb/

And yet he'll still win reelection.

It wasn't critical race theory, Exhibit #93895932

Gonna go out on a limb and suggest that the trucker protests don't have a great deal of support and are not worthy of the outsized media coverage that they draw.

That's kinda why I don't get how people just assume that Russia can just wait this out and get all that business back.... certainly Europe will remain a big customer for Russian gas, but if this conflagration accelerates the EU's move away from natural gas to other forms of energy, doesn't that cost them money in the long run? Don't they make less money than they would have had they just stuck with the status quo and not pursued this current course of action? We've all probably seen enough mob movies and shows to know that "the families" don't make money when a war is going on.... this is a good example of that.

Geez, even this guy gets it

No doubt, there's no way Germany would ever be made whole by an impact on Russian gas. But my understanding is that there have been discussion of ways to help bridge some of the losses that may come from having to impose sanctions on Russia.

Again, my understanding is that heating is what drives most of the natural gas consumption in Germany. https://energypost.eu/no-energiewende-without-warmewende-making-germanys-heating-emissions-climate-neutral-nearly/ https://www.wingas.com/en/raw-material-natural-gas/heat-from-natural-gas.html So, no, it's not as simple as just building more nuclear power plants.... you have to retrofit the way most German's heat their homes. That's not an overnight fix. Of course, now that Russia is doing what it is currently doing and the Germans are putting NS2 on ice, that may be a catalyst for Germany to diversify itself energy wise, which in the long run will actually hurt the Russians. Would you rather they just buy the Russian gas then?

Exactly... none of Biden's four predecessors handled Putin well when he engaged in incursions in the past. Having said that, if you cannot tell the difference between the foreign policy mistakes of Clinton/Bush/Obama and the absolute slobbering and Russian TP pedaling of Trump, I dont know what to tell ya.

My WFH dream would be SW MI... a lot of lakes, affordable, easy access to Detroit or Chicago, etc. But yeah, that's easier said that done lol

Germany's stance on nuclear is dumb, no doubt, but my understanding is that most German homes/businesses don't heat their domiciles with electric heat, but rather with natural gas or heating oil. So it's unclear to me that more nuclear development would be an answer here. Probably the best answer, honestly, would be to look to other sellers to help bridge that gap. I've read that discussions have been had to import gas from other sellers, and it could be an area where our own domestic supply could help as well (we are now a net exporter as well!)... but in terms of making Germany (or others) whole, that's gonna be near impossible, but it will force them to adapt and diversify their energy portfolio, which could make them less reliant and hurt Russia in the long run.

Considering that ROMAD undoubtedly voted for Romney in '12, your snark seems misdirected. Either way, can't speak for others, but I've said a number of times that Romney was right in his focus and emphasis and Obama was wrong in his dismissiveness (although China may still be a larger overall threat). And watching and reading about how Biden views Putin (he's, by quite a large measure, the most Putin-skeptical POTUS of the five that have served during Putin's regime; https://www.politico.com/newsletters/west-wing-playbook/2022/02/22/bidens-putin-reading-list-00010685), some of us may feel it a little more relevant to consider what the future holds and the ways that *he* may differ from his predecessors in how he deals with the threat versus looking to the past and engaging in some political point scoring from statements made 10 years ago. Particularly also given everything that has transpired since (Crimean annexation, Russian hacking and disinformation during 2016, etc.)

Really all that matters is that, for 30 years, Ukraine has been an independent country. And they want to remain that way, Russia doesn't want them to. In terms of how an invasion will play out, that's kinda the field of play. The history and "sphere of influence" stuff doesn't matter much if the Ukrainian people choose to defend themselves, even if outmatched or forced into guerilla tactics when facing long odds.