Member Info for big-blue

The Saudi cut was announced April 2nd, the decline in Russian oil of 700,000 barrels is for March. Nothing to do with OPEC+ strategic cuts in April. Nothing contrived. Russia can't even sell it's oil at loss making knock down prices.

It was the same with the gold. The mountain of unsold product was supposed to have been cleared last summer 2022 Q2. They are still off loading it 2023 Q2. The Russian hallmark is dodgy. It is difficult to resell with a limited market unless it is re melted and falsely stamped.

It's the toxic Russia effect and it has barely begun to bed in.

And so did the French collaborate along with many others. When you are invaded by an outfit like the Nazis you do kinda get pushed into doing things their way including very bad things - just like those under the hammer of the Soviet system applying state oppression. The modern world is defined post WWII because of that mess of partisan and cooperation, at a time many knew no better.

So you set the time line this time back to 1941 for your convenience. If the collaboration at that time qualifies war against Ukraine in 2014 and then a bigger invasion in 2022, why hasn't Russia concentrated on declaring war on Poland where the holocaust camps were or Germany, who started it all in the first place? (Yes they did, they invaded Poland). It seems a bit odd Russia is only concerned with early 1940s Nazi collaboration where Ukraine is concerned but nowhere else, including Germany which has an active Nazi community with strong ties to the active Russian Nazi movement today. Shouldn't Russia be cleaning it's own back yard first?

It's almost as if, as if, you're trying to conjure up some sort of retrospective cause to qualify embarking on Putin's folly. The propaganda is completely transparent and no matter how much you fool yourselves, you don't fool anybody else including the Chinese. That's why they are increasingly keeping Russia at arms length now.

The Japanese military refused to follow a path to end the war and insisted in fighting on. The war would have continued for many months more, more fire bombing of cities, more cities destroyed, hundreds of thousands more civilian deaths al across the islands, more consequences and losses for the allies too. You try to paint them as an army with no bullets left. They still had formidable resources to use as demonstrated in defending each small island to the last. A full invasion to stop Japan would have lost millions of lives. The nukes were used to bring the end forward by some 6 -8 months at least. The fact the Japanese military did not concede with the first nuke demonstrates how far they were willing to continue at any cost.

Go and read a history book before posting, you are making an absolute fool out of yourself with all this anti-American propaganda stuff.

" US was not threatened in any way at the point it was used and that makes it a war crime."

You are well off your rocker now. Japan was a long way from being beaten. It refused to capitulate after one, it took a second one to bring the brutal Japanese to end that part of the war. You clearly have no understanding of what the Japanese were and just how vicious they were. Ask the Chinese, they'll tell you. The nukes brought the war to an abrupt end, and prevented even bigger world wars in the future.

The old labour party flag!

https://www.kyivpost.com/post/15578

I doubt Russia will take any notice. The Russian propaganda time line is set firmly to begin when Ukraine began to pushback against armed 'separatists' (Russian un-flagged forces) when they invaded Ukraine territories in Donbas. I suspect by now China is fully briefed that Russia had given Ukraine clear security guarantees previously and had since torn them up. And further, the Chinese will no longer accept the Russian claim they were under some sort of existentialist threat from the west based on Ukraine resisting the invasion of it's sovereign territory as defined by treaty pre 2014.

I think the game's up for Russian propaganda. And Russia oil output fell 700,000 barrels in March. So much for their new best buddies buying up all the oil from dodgy Russia. Even at knock down well below cost prices.

" G8 expanded to G7, "

I meant, of course, G7 expanded to G8....

"Nuclear proliferation is ok as long as we choose who gets it............"

Not a bad policy considering the intent of those seeking it and how worthless guarantees are to those who gave up the inherited Soviet nukes. But, as ever, you twist and spin it to equate 'nuclear' from one context into a completely different one. Next you'll be claiming depleted Uranium is an escalation of the nuclear war. A total howler that one!

You're a lousy spin doctor JN, I suggest you go back to the day job.

"a lot of that is because he got rejected"

Absolute crap. This is the default argument is it? Putin, post Yeltsin was welcomed on to the world stage, G8 expanded to G7, full diplomatic, sporting and cultural ties opened up. Western investment all over the place, market access, massive line in credit, the works.

But Putin never shook off his KGB paranoia against the west and his comfort zone was back in the old Soviet us and them stand off era. Bot consciously and unconsciously he back peddled Russia in to the Soviet mindset. He expected to command the planet but found the planet evolving into a increasingly less partisan place. Finally Putin has brought Russia back to Khrushchev banging the desk at the UN - 'look at me, look at me'.

The invasion of Ukraine proves without question the policy of the NATO members to continue to station troops in Europe to protect assets in Europe. In fact, this is further proven by Finland rapidly choosing to join NATO. NATO forces in Europe have been in direct response to the former Soviet threat and more lately in response to the Russian attitude turning on the west. All Putin had to do was keep his head down and let the EU push out the US and form the EU army with a Russo friendly German/French EU. Instead the increasing hostility from Russia, constant non-UN sanctioned aggression against neighbouring countries, bullying of weaker nations and withdrawal from world cooperation kept the likes of US staying active in Europe.

The invasion of Ukraine proves absolutely they were correct to do so and NATO is being ramped back up to full strength, numbers increased, budgets hugely increased and the unit tighter than in the 80s. A massive blunder by Putin.

And the five eyes have significantly increased their focus on Russia too, another brilliant failure for Putin.

But why did the US feel the need to station weapons in Europe in the first place? What was that in response to? The Soviet nukes being stationed throughout the Warsaw pact? The thousands of tanks and troops brought up to the Soviet border poised to invade?

You use the classic zeroing of the clock to suit your own agenda, identical to current events. In all instances the time line starts at the end of WWII in Europe, not in the 70s, 80s, 90s or 00s to suite your convenience. It's called living in the real world, something too many of you are struggling with.

" several different incarnations of capitalism"

now we've entered Alice in Wonderland. Pry tell, what are these 'incarnations'? There is only one capitalism. Sadly though, you are correct, the KGB leopard failed to change his spots, and we are back to where we once were. So much hope and love, murdered by Putin and his adoring Russia.

"@BBlue - if your life long enemy moved into the house very next door to you would you not see that as deliberate and a threat?"

Except when the wall came down, the old Soviets were embraced as an old friend coming in from the cold. If there is any enemy, it was made by Putin who wound down and closed the open arms and instead took a loaded gun and pointed it back at the west.

As far as all that Copenhagen discussion is concerned, that was reconciled nearly a century ago. Relativity was proved with an eclipse, the photoelectric effect prove the particle, Young's slits the wave and CERN the Higgs. Where, exactly, is the crisis?

"familiarity with the 'crisis' in physics"

Physics is my undergraduate degree. What crisis?

There is only one actual reality. Some play with it and spin it to suite their own objectives. But the extent to which reality has been inverted, twisted, turned inside out and upside down by people posting here is remarkable. What is posted here is frankly a pure fantasy land. And the need by some to keep tying to plug it, repeat it, craft it, grow it, just shows that those people are aware of how they are generating and developing a fantasy day by day. Basically anything to avoid being confronted with the cold dark reality.

There are some seriously twisted heads on here still trying to invert the invasion as if it is anybody else's fault but Russia's. They invade Ukraine entirely off their own bat. Nobody forced them. Begging that somehow history is going to magically rewrite itself and qualify what Russia has done or the real world is suddenly going to warp inside out and make Russia a victor is pure fantasy thinking.

In the not too distant future there is one hell of a reality coming your way. Clearly it will not be accepted and there will be an inevitable implosion both at an individual and state level.

Putin should have pulled out in November, now he will not only lose Ukraine, but he will have lost Russia as it disintegrates.

It wasn't an existential threat to be worried about, it was entirely an internal threat.

"I actually think you're worse than BB"

Have I lost my crown as the most hated and despised poster across all social media?

The, I might as well retire... :(

The Shell pay off is a lot more complicated. To keep the oil infrastructure working to extract and pump east, the likes of Shell and related consultants and wider business needs to be kept sweet. MacDonald's was easy to replace, oil expertise not so easy. To settle with a western company against the Kremlin rhetoric actually shows how close to collapse the oil industry is within Russia. Read between the lines!!

yup, full pump and dump. absolutely no shame.
Next there will be multiple posts to attack me and get as many as possible to filter me to keep the focus on the swinging pocket watch.
you're falling sleepy (pump) very sleepy (pump pump)

What does it tell me? On this volume? No idea!