sburke

dumbest he ever heard eh? Guess he doesn't listen to his own broadcasts.

On that note China Deals Major Blow to Russia with Payments Ban (msn.com) Russians have reported issues using China's payment system UnionPay, which was widely touted in Russia as an alternative to Visa and Mastercard after the card payment companies pulled out over the war in Ukraine. UnionPay cards linked to the Huawei Pay service have stopped working in Russia, local news portal 66.ru reported on Tuesday, citing users who say they have been unable to make payments. The Moscow Times said that the restrictions may be the result of U.S. sanctions against Russia's National Payment Card System (NSPK), which processes all UnionPay card transactions in the country.

It is all in the article. In addition

Putin bans petrol exports as Russia runs on fumes (yahoo.com) The Kremlin has announced a six-month ban on petrol exports after Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries left Vladimir Putin’s regime scrambling to meet domestic demand. The ban, which comes into force on March 1, was confirmed by a spokesman for deputy prime minister Alexander Novak who said it would allow for “planned maintenance” of refineries. It follows attacks on Russian facilities by Ukrainian drones in recent months, which have harmed the country’s ability to refine crude oil into usable products such as petrol and diesel. Russia previously imposed a similar ban between September and November last year in order to tackle high domestic prices and shortages. Then, only four ex-Soviet states – Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan – were exempt. This time, more Russian neighbours will be exempt, including Mongolia, Uzbekistan and two Russian-backed breakaway regions of Georgia: South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Oil, oil products and gas are by far Russia’s biggest export and provide a major source of income for the Kremlin’s war economy. Putin has been working with Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, to keep prices high as part of the broader Opec+ group, which includes the Opec cartel of oil producing nations and its key allies.

The draconian laws regarding voicing anything critical of the war effort would indicate that is more than just a little concern. Even stuff like this. Russia arrests US-Russian citizen for treason after she gave $51 to Ukraine, employer says (msn.com)

Darwin had a theory about that. I believe it is now the basis for an award.

damn and I was gonna go with "Alex I'll take submarines for $200" in response to his technology statement. either that or the internal combustion engine.. gawd there were so many choices! sigh.

ahh but not quite there. Behold Capt while I propose a truly revolutionary development. We have so many many people who clearly aren't using their brains and so... we take ze brains of zee people not needing them and put them into zee drones! We have literally tens of millions and zooo much better if ze brain is right zere in zee drones, no?

Do you think Russia is not calling for a mass mobilization because they needn't bother or because they are concerned about the political implications? And what are you suggesting? Surrender? Cause that is what this sounds like. An extremely pessimistic representation as if Russia hasn't suffered anything in this war and has no concern for any ramifications at its losses either in personnel, societal infrastructure, economic health etc. War as @The_Capt keeps trying to batter into our heads is a process of negotiation. There are a lot of layers to that and the question of where the war stands now is a complicated nuanced thing. Russia is getting hit on multiple levels that are long term. Everything from population demographics, global social standing, industrial capability, financial stability etc. Ukraine is as well, but the differences between the two generally weigh heavily in Ukraine's favor. This war clearly is going to last a lot longer than any of us would wish however when all is said and done the basic fact I think we will see is Ukraine will remain standing as a democratic western oriented nation with strong standing and support from the western bloc. Russia on the other hand is just digging itself deeper into a hole from which it will have difficulty extricating itself. It has no partners willing to give much to help. China does what is best for China and isn't really in a position nor desire to try and restore Russia. It works much better for China to have a weak dependent Russia that it can exploit.

not sure why you posted as it doesn't support your statement of life. It says "up to 10 years". What do you suppose the penalty for actually derailing a train would be? These folks are taking a serious risk, taking the step to move to actual sabotage is not a small thing. Now you are looking at life for sure and in Russia maybe worse. Not only for you but everyone you know is now under the optics as they look for the organization that would be implied by that level of action. You are talking just average folks, not trained military. Am I disappointed that the Russian people have behaved so horribly supporting a genocidal war against their neighbors? yeah. However I do understand the psychological effort it takes to hold to a position on your principles without knowing for sure what the cost will be. I did 7 1/2 months in a much more lenient state with the potential to have done several years more. The downside for Putin is when you make it illegal to do anything without serious consequences, you drive people to do more serious stuff. Enacting this law also reflects fear on Russia's part. They wouldn't take this step if they didn't think there was potential for more protests. We keep wondering just where Russia's breaking point is. This seems to indicate Putin is also concerned about that.

I don't think the folks waving signs are actually getting life in the Gulag. The Russian state certainly isn't going to treat holding the sign the same as active sabotage. C'mon man.

easily said from the comfort of your couch here in the US.

It has to be brought to a vote first though. I think it is time for another "How does our gov't work" primer from @billbindc

He's frustrated, understandably. No reason to accuse him of right-wing talking points as if he is spouting Tuckerisms. This thread tends to get way over dramatic too often.

Moscow Exchange Abruptly Halts Trading as Technical Issues Surge in Russia (newsweek.com) Trading on Russia's stock exchange was abruptly halted on Tuesday due to technical issues, authorities said. The Moscow Exchange, the largest exchange group in Russia, was halted at 1:58 p.m. Moscow time (5:58 a.m. ET). The platform said that trading on the stock market would resume at 3:45 p.m. Moscow time. Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment by email. Part of the issue is that Russia has relied on Western microchips to power items such as laptops and smartphones. However, sanctions imposed on the country following Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine have meant the Kremlin has faced obstacles in procuring foreign-made chips and is now attempting to ramp up domestic production. The Moscow Exchange said the issue was caused by a hardware error on the main server. "According to the exchange's procedures, in case of such an error occurring, a switch to the backup server is carried out, which takes a little over an hour," it said in a statement. The Moscow Exchange previously halted trading for four hours on September 13, 2023. Earlier, in 2015, the trading platform experienced 11 simultaneous failures caused by technical issues. Independent Russian news outlet The Moscow Times reported on Tuesday that technical issues surged in Russia last year, driven by Western sanctions imposed in response to President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. Mikhail Sizov is managing partner of Mobius Technologies, a Russian technology consulting firm. He told local publication Kommersant that demand from Russian companies for the repair of hard drives, tape drives, controllers, motherboards and other components of foreign computer equipment increased fivefold in 2023, compared to the previous year. "Last year, 80 percent of our requests for repairs occurred in the second half of the year. We plan to develop this area by expanding the list of components that we can restore," Sizov told the outlet. He added that he believed this surge was linked to "sanctions pressure and problems in the logistics of equipment supplies." Sizov said there is a lack of spare parts in the Russian market, and many crucial components are sold at an inflated price. In September 2023, Kommersant published a government document that said Russia won't be able to ditch critical Western technology any time soon, despite the fact that Russian officials are asking that the use of microchips from the West be phased out by 2035. Kommersant said it would cost at least 400 to 500 billion rubles ($4.4 billion to $5.5 billion) to expand the production of microchips in the country at a volume that will compensate for the industry's current shortage.

Is it too late to play Black Sea Fleet bingo?

Haven't actually seen a good pic or vid to confirm ,but Reuters has an article that seems to confirm. Russia's Ilsky refinery plans to restart damaged unit this week, sources say | Nasdaq

Moscow in FLAMES as huge inferno burns through largest oil refinery in Russian capital (msn.com) Russia’s largest oil refinery, which supplies half of Moscow’s fuel needs, has erupted in flames. The fiery glow over Gazprom Neft was first reported at around 2.30am, by residents in the districts of Kapotnya, Maryino and Brateevo. Footage of the blaze was posted by the pro-Kremlin news outlet Shot, before being taken down later. The Ministry of Emergency Situations said: “There are no active fires in Moscow.” It added: “An oil refinery torch frightened residents of south-east Moscow. “The glow was visible at night in different areas of the southeast of the capital. A column of fire rose from the chimney of the Kapotnya refinery; residents mistook the outbreak for a fire. “The flare was explained by planned work at the plant.”

Is this anything like the God's army 700,000 caravan that was supposed to descend on the border that ended up being a small trump merch swap meet? Even if there are 4000 conservatives shock troops to occupy those positions, most of what we have seen among those supposed MAGA firebrands is just more grifters. Even Bannon was just milking people for his wall project. Hell the guys they have already in the House are completely dysfunctional. Their biggest accomplishment is spending money on pins. Congress Spends $40K to Change Color of House Lapel Pins From Green to Navy Blue Because They Can | Vanity Fair You aren't talking about 4000 seasoned politicians who know how to make the wheels of gov't move. At best your talking 4000 people who want to post on X about whatever the "woke" issue of the day is. With the exception of Conner, the court system including his appointees has hardly supported Trump.

other than the 2016 election, Trump has been a drag for the GOP. As much as I think the guy has actually become even worse in terms of becoming openly fascist (well more openly fascist), his track record for elections doesn't bode well for the GOP. Add to that the GOP now has that car tire they caught in banning abortion, so I am not really freaking out about the odds of the GOP taking the White House and both houses of Congress. If he does win he can still make a lot of lives miserable, but the guy doesn't actually understand how to get anything done in gov't nor does he really care. His primary goal is going to simply be to try to make sure he doesn't go to jail.

that was that guy from the wizard of oz right?

The seat next to me is open! Oddly folks come over, sit next to me and shortly thereafter move somewhere else. Maybe it is just meant to be so c'mon, sit down.

Well the Chiefs won so MAGA was right. The Dems own the NFL. The Travis Swift (Taylor Kelce?) takeover has begun.

Well in all fairness we did actually invade you once. It doesn't help that you have universal health care which is so freakin anti American!

Just to point out what is in the CNN article.