Sanctions and Support

[tek]

Off Topic

I hate graphs like that, where the Y axis doesn't go down to zero.
You can't tell how severe the drop is.

[Chilidog]

Does anyone remember the st ories about Wilbur Ross, Russia, and Cyprus?

How about Trump and Alfa Bank?

Is the world finally going yo get pissed enough at these Russian mobster oligarchy types to do something about them?

[Foggy]

Yeah, I remember the server in Trump's HQ during the 2016 campaign, the one that only communicated with one entity -- Alfa Bank in Moscow.

But the people who voted for him that year were not going to listen to reason. They thought they had a hero, and some of them still think that. My personal opinion is that racist crooks make lousy heroes, but whatevs. I'm stuck in the wrong Universe, as I've explained.

[Reality Check]

Off Topic

I hate graphs like that, where the Y axis doesn't go down to zero.
You can't tell how severe the drop is.

Here is a 3 month chart for the March 22 futures:

[raison de arizona]

Did we talk about Switzerland's famed neutrality?

Switzerland adopts EU sanctions, freezes Putin's assets.

Switzerland broke its historically neutral status to adopt EU sanctions against Russia over its war on Ukraine.

More from UK:

[Foggy]

Good, and congrats to our very own Swiss, the Eurobot.

[raison de arizona]

Word on the birdy site is that the Swiss people wouldn't stand for remaining neutral on this.

UK will lead on efforts to get Russia suspended from Interpol, says minister

[pipistrelle]

[Phoenix520]

I hardly dare hope for good outcomes anymore. But damn, this has gone so far south for Pooty so quickly….

The World is uniting against a great evil. This is one of those Coke commercial moments, innit?

I’d like to buy the World a coke..

[Foggy]

This is the lesson, I hate to say it, that Thom Friedman has taught me over the years.

In a world where money flows like roaring waters over national borders, if you fuck up, the money will leave you like roaring water going over your borders to other countries. It's awesome to see how fast they can make money disappear from the Russian bank accounts.

When this thing started a week ago, the Russian economy was a bit smaller than the economy of Italy.

Today, it's more like the economy of Saturn. Saturn doesn't have a thriving economy, is what I heard.

And even if they conquer Ukraine and annex it so that it becomes a part of Russia, they're fucked economically for the next twenty years or more. Putin will have to conquer more countries to make up the blood red ink.

[Reality Check]

We need to keep preaching how important it is to have President Joe Biden who repaired our relationships with our NATO allies that the asshole who was his predecessor had left in shambles. By presenting a united front we are able to impose sanctions with teeth that will have an effect even if Russia wins a shot lived military victory in Ukraine.

[Foggy]

True dat. If Trump had stayed in office and NATO imposed sanctions, he wouldn't back them.

The more I learn how close he came to a successful coup that would have him in office today, the more scary it is to see this history unfolding without him.

But I am a fan of schadenfreude, and he has to be DYING this week. There are world-shaking, historic events going down, and he's not in any position to do anything but try to get people to read what he wishes were tweets. Biden is in the White House. Biden is calling the shots. The man who kicked Trump's ass by 7 million votes is running the show right now, and Trump has to sit home and suck his thumb.

I like that part.

[MN-Skeptic]

[Volkonski]

Part of an email from my alma mater-

Termination of the MIT Skoltech Program

In light of the Russian government’s violent invasion of a peaceful neighbor, we have determined that we must not continue the MIT Skoltech Program.

The program sprang from a particular historical moment. In 2011, the United States was striving to “reset” its Russia relationship. At the same time, Russia was seeking to establish an innovation-based economy, and MIT faculty were eager to create new research alliances in areas of shared interest with top colleagues around the world, including Russia, a nation with a pool of exceptional scientific talent.

At the invitation of the Russian government and in consultation with the US State Department, MIT began working with colleagues in Russia to develop, on the outskirts of Moscow, the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, now known as Skoltech. Today, Skoltech is a vibrant graduate university with highly accomplished faculty and graduate students working at the forefront of scientific research.

Ending our connection to this academic community comes with considerable sadness, but the actions of the Russian government made our choice clear. On Friday, we informed Skoltech that MIT is exercising its right to terminate the program. This does not diminish our pride in the work we did to develop Skoltech and in the first-rate research that has flowed from the relationship.

[New Turtle]

Javier Blas @JavierBlas
BREAKING: And wow!!! After BP, the deluge. Shell announces it's exiting all its joint-ventures with Gazprom, including its 27.5% stake in the Sakhalin-2 LNG facility. Shell carries those JV at $3 billion valuation on its books, and it's warning of impartments #Ukraine
12:46 PM · Feb 28, 2022

[Volkonski]

Officials Call For Shutdown Of Russian Estate On Long Island
Amid the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, Long Island leaders say they want to kick Russian diplomats out of a Killenworth Estate.

https://patch.com/new-york/northfork/s/ ... aign=alert

As people around the world condemn and punish Russia for its unprovoked attack on Ukraine, Long Island leaders are calling on the federal government to take action locally and expel Russian diplomats from the Killenworth Estate in Glen Cove.

"President Biden, expel these Russians from Nassau County," Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman (R) said at a press conference outside the compound on Saturday. "We don't need them here and let's get this property back on the tax rolls so the people of Nassau County and Glen Cove don't have to finance thugs and dictators and people who invade innocent countries."

Blakeman — who attended the event with U.S. Rep Lee Zeldin and Glen Cove Mayor Pam Panzenbeck — said the county loses about $50,000 a year in tax revenue. There is reportedly a long-standing conflict with the City of Glen Cove over the property's tax status.

Killenworth, originally the home of late industrialist George du Pont Pratt, was purchased by the Soviet Union in the 1940s. For years, Russian diplomats used the Dosoris Lane estate as a holiday retreat.

"The United States cannot let Putin's people doing his bidding to live in tax-free compounds on Long Island," Zeldin, a Republican from Suffolk County and member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Saturday. "President Biden must immediately close Russia's Killenworth Estate and send their diplomats packing today!"

[Volkonski]

[Volkonski]

Reuters
@Reuters
·
20m
Norway to send weapons to Ukraine, in change of policy http://reut.rs/35BvgRi

[Volkonski]

Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss·1hBulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia are all calling for granting Ukraine "an immediate EU accession perspective." Candidate status more likely than full accession, which takes years.

[Volkonski]

Reuters
@Reuters
·
33m
Facebook-owner Meta will restrict access to Russian state media outlets RT and Sputnik across the European Union https://reut.rs/3McmBWe

[Volkonski]

Reuters
@Reuters
·
1m
Monaco clamps down on Russian assets after Ukraine invasion http://reut.rs/3suGuAk

[Volkonski]

[PaulG]

Off Topic

I hate graphs like that, where the Y axis doesn't go down to zero.
You can't tell how severe the drop is.

OMG !

[Volkonski]

[Volkonski]