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Americans have been trained to hate Putin, and will suffer because of it


Muda69

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https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-hate-putin-americans-suffer

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Since the day that Donald Trump became president, Democrats in Washington have told you it's your patriotic duty to hate Vladimir Putin. It's not a suggestion. It's a mandate. Anything less than hatred for Putin is treason. 

Many Americans have obeyed this directive. They now dutifully hate Vladimir Putin. Maybe you're one of them. Hating Putin has become the central purpose of America's foreign policy. It's the main thing that we talk about. Entire cable channels are now devoted to it. Very soon, that hatred of Vladimir Putin could bring the United States into a conflict in Eastern Europe. 

Before that happens, it might be worth asking yourself, since it is getting pretty serious: What is this really about? Why do I hate Putin so much? Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? Has he shipped every middle-class job in my town to Russia? Did he manufacture a worldwide pandemic that wrecked my business and kept me indoors for two years? Is he teaching my children to embrace racial discrimination? Is he making fentanyl? Is he trying to snuff out Christianity? Does he eat dogs? 

These are fair questions, and the answer to all of them is no. Vladimir Putin didn't do any of that. So why does permanent Washington hate him so much? 

If you've been watching the news, you know that Putin is having a border dispute with a nation called Ukraine. Now, the main thing to know about Ukraine for our purposes is that its leaders once sent millions of dollars to Joe Biden's family. Not surprisingly, Ukraine is now one of Biden's favorite countries. Biden has pledged to defend Ukraine's borders even as he opens our borders to the world. That's how it works. Invading America is called equity. Invading Ukraine is a war crime.

So with every day, we move closer to some kind of conflict with Russia, a conflict that could easily spin out of control given that the people running us have no fine motor skills, the administration assures us this has nothing at all to do with ripping Joe Biden's personal debts to Ukrainian oligarchs. Not at all. It's completely and totally unrelated. 

The point here is to defend democracy, not that Ukraine is a democracy. It is not a democracy. Ukraine's president has arrested his main political opponent. He has shut down newspapers and television stations that have dared to criticize him. So in American terms, you would call Ukraine a tyranny. But Joe Biden likes Ukraine. So Putin bad, war good. How will this conflict affect you? 

Will affect you quite a bit, actually. Energy prices in the United States are about to go way up, and that means that everything you buy will become much more expensive, from the food you eat to the car you drive to the tickets you need to take your family on vacation this summer, assuming you can still afford a vacation by then. You're about to become measurably poorer. That's not a guess. Joe Biden has admitted this.

On the other hand, you're going to win an important moral victory against dastardly old Vladimir Putin, who is much, much worse than Justin Trudeau. Just so you know. So you can feel good about that because…because…let's see, come to think of it, why would you feel good about that? It seems like a pretty terrible deal for you and for the United States. Hunter Biden gets a million dollars a year from Ukraine, but you can no longer afford to go out to dinner. That's not a bargain. 

So what are we missing here? What we're missing is the big picture, and that's why Joe Biden has dispatched Kamala Harris to explain that picture to us. Kamala Harris’ old job was to open America's border. She did that. Her new job is to keep Ukraine's borders closed. Kamala Harris was in Europe the other day to explain the whole thing. She began with a history lesson, letting the European peoples know about their recent past, which she assumes they've forgotten since so few of them speak English. She opened with a traditional salutation, "listen, guys," because that's the way real historians and states people talk. This is Kamala educating:

KAMALA HARRIS: I mean, listen, guys, we're talking about the potential for war in Europe. I mean, let's really take a moment to understand the significance of what we're talking about. It's been over 70 years and through those 70 years, as I mentioned yesterday, there has been peace and security. We are talking about the real possibility of war in Europe.

Listen, guys, you may be Europeans who live in Europe, but you don't fully understand the ramifications of war in Europe. That's your problem. The thing about Europe, you've had peace and security for more than 70 years. Kamala Harris just told the Europeans that. 

And that, by the way, is true, if you don't count the breakup of Yugoslavia, which caused hundreds of thousands of deaths in the 1990s or the Soviet occupation of half of the landmass, which you manage the enslavement of hundreds of millions. But apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, it's all been peace and security in Europe. Until now. The Soviets were fine. Vladimir Putin is bad. 

What do we do about that? Kamala Harris explains that too.

KAMALA HARRIS: And the allied relationship is such that we have agreed that the deterrence effect of these sanctions is still a meaningful one, especially because, remember also, we still sincerely hope that there is a diplomatic path out of this moment and within the context then of the fact that that window is still opening, although open, although it is absolutely narrowing, but within the context of a diplomatic path still being open, the deterrence effect we believe has merit. 

Got that. Take a breath and let it sink in. Here it is again: "we have agreed that the deterrence effect of these sanctions is still a meaningful one, especially because, remember also, we still sincerely hope that there is a diplomatic path out of this moment and within the context then of the fact that that window is still opening, although open, although it is absolutely narrowing, but within the context of a diplomatic path still being open, the deterrence effect we believe has merit." 

Well, of course it has merit. The only question is what the hell are you talking about? And the answer is, Kamala Harris has no real idea what she's talking about. She can't even point to the direction of what she's talking about. Her mouth opens and predigested chunks of language come tumbling out in no particular order. It's soothing to listen to until you try to understand what it means. 

As Kamala Harris told us just last month, "It is time for us to do what we have been doing, and that time is every day." To which we'd respond: That's right, Miss Vice President Person, today is the first day of the rest of your life. Learn it. Love it. Live it. And while you're at it, eat, pray, love. 

You could just imagine Vladimir Putin's reaction to all of this when an aide drops a translated transcript of Kamala Harris remarks on his desk. The Slovic mind is a hall of mirrors. It sees traps at every intersection. Clearly, Kamala Harris must be setting some sort of trap for the Russians here. Her words don't make sense, but she can't possibly be dim and childish. America is a superpower. It would never put a senile man and an imbecile in charge of the country. 

On the other hand, maybe so. And by the way, it's not just our country. A few weeks ago, the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, met with his British counterpart, Liz Truss. Lavrov asked Truss if her country recognized Russian sovereignty over Rostov and Varonis, both of which are actually parts of Russia. So it was a trick question. But Liz Truss, who used to work in sales, had no idea. So she replied that Great Britain would never recognize these regions as Russian, despite the fact they already are Russian. 

So Liz Truss has no idea what she's talking about, either. But here's the thing: She wasn't embarrassed about that. None of them are embarrassed about that. 

John Bolton knows a lot. On the other hand, he spent decades weakening America with terrible foreign policy ideas and getting a lot of decent people killed for no good reason at all. So you think at this point, if justice were real, John Bolton would be living in isolation and shame somewhere, spending his days in atonement. That's what you would do. But that's not what he's doing. No. John Bolton went on MSNBC demanding yet another war, this one with the nuclear-armed power.

ANDREA MITCHELL: Do you US forces should go in to defend Ukraine?

JOHN BOLTON: Well, I think it's probably too late for that now, but I would say this the red line between being a treaty ally of the United States and not being one is significant. But the issue, as in all issues like this is would a Russian invasion and takeover of Ukraine adversely affect American national security and that of its NATO's allies? The answer that absolutely yes. … We did not act appropriately early. I think we should have had more American forces in Ukraine not to fight the Russians, but to train with the Ukrainians and to show those Russian generals looking across the border and seeing American flags, I wonder what that means. Biden took that off the table, saying there would be no American forces involved and he got nothing for it. 

So, the only problem with Joe Biden's Ukraine policy, says John Bolton, is that it's too weak. Your kids aren't fighting there right now, hunkered down in February, shooting at Putin. Let's try a winter war in Russia. No one's done it before, but we have high hopes. 

Alexander Vindman is, in fact, demanding it. Unlike the British Foreign Secretary, Alexander Vindman knows quite a bit about Ukraine. In fact, he was born there. Alexander Vindman believes you have a moral obligation to defend his homeland, and if you don't, you're a murderer. He said so on MSNBC.

ALEXANDER VINDMAN: I think these folks, these right-wing pundits and the GOP that supports them really frankly have blood on their hands because they're encouraging and enticing this kind of opportunism from Putin. And it's not what, it's not just kind of plain rhetoric like you could say something without consequences, like too often happens in here in the United States. This has real consequences. And people are going to die because of this. 

Yeah, they're going to die. So your job is to take up arms in defense of Alexander Vindman's home country or else you're evil, your blood on your hands and that's effectively our policy. Ok, Alexander Vindman. You got us. It’s a compelling argument. We're in. What's this going to cost us to defend the country you were born in? Well, in fact, Joe Biden addressed that question today. "Defending freedom will have cost for us here at home," Biden said. "We need to be honest about it." Really. Biden went on to outline what he called the pain of our sanctions.

OE BIDEN: We're implementing full blocking sanctions on two large Russian financial institutions, VEB and their military bank. We're implementing comprehensive sanctions on Russia's sovereign debt. That means we've cut off Russia's government from Western financing. It can no longer raise money from the West and cannot trade and its new debt and our markets or Europe markets, either. Starting tomorrow and continuing in the days ahead. We'll also impose sanctions on Russia's elites and their family members they share and the corrupt gains of the Kremlin policies, and should share the pain as well. And because of Russia's actions, we’ve work with Germany to ensure Nord Stream two will not, as I promised, will not move forward. 

So let's put aside the question of why you would ever want to shut down any energy pipeline anywhere, ever, especially now crude oil is nearing $100 a barrel, it's the highest price since 2014. That's not a small thing because you need energy to live. It's not negotiable. So how does having less energy help the United States? Joe Biden didn't even hint at an answer to that. He didn't answer any questions. He ran away the second he had finished reading the script. 

Back in real life, every person knows nothing will tank our economy faster than cutting off the supply of fossil fuels, because despite what you may have heard from noted energy experts like Sandy Cortez, a country of 340 million people can't run on windmills and solar panels. And even if we had enough of those, which we don't, we don't have the transmission lines to get that power to your house, and we won't for a long time. 

So that's all a lie. But don't worry, says Kamala Harris. The administration has ways of fixing the spike in energy prices. They've got it under control because it turns out Kamala Harris is secretly in charge of global energy markets. 

No, just kidding. Harris has no idea what a barrel of oil costs. She doesn't know how natural gas is measured. What she knows about is diversity, and that's pretty much it. Though she does sense that everything is about to get a lot more expensive for you. And so to warn you, she mentioned it today. 

EPORTER: The president has already said Americans will be facing some economic fallout or some hardships. Can you explain to Americans what exactly will they face if this happened? 

KAMALA HARRIS: Sure, as the president talked about in his speech, we are aware that, again, when America stands for her principles and all of the things that we hold dear, it requires sometimes for, for us to put ourselves out there in a way that maybe we will incur some cost. And in this situation that may relate to energy costs, for example. 

So, what are the principles were defending here? We're defending a regime that has arrested their main rival and shut down opposition media. What principles are at stake here, apart from rewarding the Biden family's patron? 

But at least she's honest enough to say what's happening in Eastern Europe quote may relate to energy costs. That's a euphemism for: Good luck filling your truck this August. Does that bother Kamala Harris? Maybe it does in the short term. Voters aren't going to like it in November. The party will be punished. 

But they're doing it anyway. They're shutting down domestic energy pipelines here. They're picking a fight with Europe's biggest gas supplier. So maybe there's something bigger at work here. Maybe they're thinking long-term. Maybe they're not against rising oil and gas prices. Maybe there for them. Maybe expensive energy would be good for the many renewable deals their friends and donors are invested in. 

We don't know the answer. We do know that all of us are about to suffer. So we hope that hating Vladimir Putin was worth it.

What Mr. Carlson doesn't mention is that with U.S conflict (and military spending) in the Middle East now virtually over the Military-Industrial-Complex needs another boogeyman,  and Mr. Putin & Russia are it.

 

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Someone tried telling the world, but the MSM just would not listen (for whatever reason).

If you do not learn from history, you are bound to repeat it.

Will 2/23/22 be the same as 9/1/39?  I guess only time will tell.

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So everyone is now supposed to act surprised that Vlad has working to re-build the USSR?  Something he has been working towards the past decade or more? 

Primarily, he really didn't want NATO (which the Ukrainians have tried to become aligned with since 1992) to come to Ukraine.  But since the Brussels Summit in June of 2021, it became apparent it was most likely going to happen - hence the build-up and now the invasion. 

I mean, everyone already knew this was inevitable - didn't they?

Russia/Georgia - 2008

Russia/Crimea - 2014

Russia/Ukraine - 2014 (2021 invasion)

SF wonders - Why is it that Russia seems to be more aggressive when a Democrat is in the White House? 

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AP-NORC poll: Most in US oppose major role in Russia strife:   https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-business-vladimir-putin-europe-election-2020-ac251d00b8979cebd0496374fc622a1b

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There’s little support among Americans for a major U.S. role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, according to a new poll, even as President Joe Biden imposes new sanctions and threatens a stronger response that could provoke retaliation from Moscow.

Biden has acknowledged a growing likelihood that war in Eastern Europe would affect Americans, though he has ruled out sending troops to Ukraine. Gas prices in the U.S. could rise in the short term. And Russian President Vladimir Putin has a range of tools he could use against the U.S., including cyberattacks hitting critical infrastructure and industries.

“Defending freedom will have costs for us as well, here at home,” Biden said Tuesday. “We need to be honest about that.”

Just 26% say the U.S. should have a major role in the conflict, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Fifty-two percent say a minor role; 20% say none at all.

....

I doubt Mr. Biden will listen, which the Military-Industrial Complex...errrrr  Joint Chiefs whispering in his ear for war.

 

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16 minutes ago, Muda69 said:

AP-NORC poll: Most in US oppose major role in Russia strife:   https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-business-vladimir-putin-europe-election-2020-ac251d00b8979cebd0496374fc622a1b

I doubt Mr. Biden will listen, which the Military-Industrial Complex...errrrr  Joint Chiefs whispering in his ear for war.

 

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https://nypost.com/2022/02/24/how-russia-can-use-crypto-to-avoid-us-sanctions-over-ukraine/

The Biden administration pledged to impose harsh economic sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, which began in earnest on Thursday morning.

But billionaire oligarchs close to Russian President Vladimir Putin could potentially blunt the effects of the sanctions thanks to cryptocurrency, according to experts.

The decentralized nature of digital currencies like bitcoin and ethereum allows governments and non-governmental entities alike the benefit of peer-to-peer transactions — regardless of whether they are cut off from traditional banking services.

“Neither dictators nor human rights activists will encounter any censor on the bitcoin network,” Matthew Sigel of investment manager VanEck told Bloomberg.

Cryptocurrencies, which are digital assets that use cryptography to mask their users, are reliant on blockchain technology, whereby data is available on a public ledger but is stored in a way that lets users adopt pseudonyms.

Knowing less than nothing about crypto - SF wonders is this for real?  And if so, did the Biden administration know it?  AND IF they knew it, then SF believes the Biden crime family syndicate is going to be receiving a pretty good pay off......

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On 2/23/2022 at 8:34 AM, Muda69 said:

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-hate-putin-americans-suffer

What Mr. Carlson doesn't mention is that with U.S conflict (and military spending) in the Middle East now virtually over the Military-Industrial-Complex needs another boogeyman,  and Mr. Putin & Russia are it.

 

 

The fact that Russia launched an attack on a foreign nation just doesn't bother you, does it?

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4 hours ago, DanteEstonia said:

 

The fact that Russia launched an attack on a foreign nation just doesn't bother you, does it?

Where EXACTLY did @Muda69 say what you are accusing him of saying?

Show us with FACTS that what he said, "What Mr. Carlson doesn't mention is that with U.S conflict (and military spending) in the Middle East now virtually over the Military-Industrial-Complex needs another boogeyman,  and Mr. Putin & Russia are it." is incorrect.  

4 hours ago, DanteEstonia said:

 

The fact that Russia launched an attack on a foreign nation just doesn't bother you, does it?

I can't speak for @Muda69, but I can tell you that the Russian attacks on Ukraine bother me as much as all the Black Lives Matter/Antifa riots, burning, looting, murdering did.

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And before anyone gets their panties in a wad, no I am not saying the invasion of a country is the exact same as the blm/Antifa riots.  Innocent people are getting hurt, for no reason, in both scenarios. 

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On 2/26/2022 at 10:33 AM, DanteEstonia said:

 

The fact that Russia launched an attack on a foreign nation just doesn't bother you, does it?

Given that Ukraine used to be part of the USSR, not really. 

Why does it bother you? 

 

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32 minutes ago, Muda69 said:

Given that Ukraine used to be part of the USSR, not really. 

Other nations were part of the USSR and the Russian Empire; but that doesn't give Russia a right of conquest.

The southwest was at one point a part of Mexico. Does Mexico have a right to military action to take it back?

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5 hours ago, DanteEstonia said:

Other nations were part of the USSR and the Russian Empire; but that doesn't give Russia a right of conquest.

The southwest was at one point a part of Mexico. Does Mexico have a right to military action to take it back?

Are they not already with THEIR responsibility of controlling THEIR side of THEIR border?

"Infiltration instead of invasion."  Thank George Soros and others.

Why are US liberal policy makers supporting Ukraine defending their borders, but will not support our own?

 

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19 hours ago, DanteEstonia said:

Other nations were part of the USSR and the Russian Empire; but that doesn't give Russia a right of conquest.

The southwest was at one point a part of Mexico. Does Mexico have a right to military action to take it back?

They can try. 

Has Russia broke some kind of international law in invading Ukraine? Yes, probably. 

Should the U.S. respond militarily to Mr. Putin's actions? Emphatically No.   We are not the world's police.

 

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How To Boost the U.S. Economy While Sticking It to Putin

https://reason.com/2022/02/25/how-to-boost-the-u-s-economy-while-sticking-it-to-putin/

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The United States may not be fighting against Russia in Ukraine with weapons, but there is a key tool the Biden administration should deploy to counter Russia: green cards.

Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a multipronged invasion of Ukraine, striking major cities, killing more than 100 people, and displacing thousands. The campaign has been widely condemned by international leaders and met significant resistance from the Russian public. In a nation that routinely and brutally cracks down on dissent, thousands of Russian citizens participated in protests against Putin's invasion of Ukraine. "No to war," chanted some 1,000 demonstrators in Moscow, as more than 1,300 people were detained nationwide.

Putin does not have unanimous support for his invasion, and there may well be a mounting appetite among his people to flee the regime. This is a prime opportunity for the U.S. to open its doors, depriving Putin of the brainpower driving his economy and this conflict. What's more, the Biden administration could bolster America's innovative edge by offering refuge to Russian citizens who are disgusted by their government's actions.

 

National Review's Robert Zubrin proposed as much yesterday in a piece entitled "Drain Putin's Brains," in which he argued that the U.S. should "make the smart move and take away the men and women Putin needs to win" the fight in Ukraine. "The United States could, with a stroke of a pen, totally destroy the capacity of Russia to compete militarily or economically with us by offering a green card to any Russian with a technical degree who wishes to emigrate to the United States," Zubrin continued. Such a move may not stop the current invasion, but it would hobble Russia's ability to participate in the high-tech economy—fully in line with a central thrust of Biden's announced sanctions against the Kremlin.

Getting Russian brainpower out of Putin's hands will undoubtedly benefit America. The U.S. has a history of accepting great minds fleeing rival nations, from the scientists who escaped the Axis and later staffed the Manhattan Project to the many artists, athletes, and authors who defected from the Soviet Union. Immigrants are more likely to start businesses than native-born Americans, a trend that fully applies to Russian migrants. Accepting Russian immigrants, as with other groups, would help create jobs for native-born Americans—not take them away.

Unfortunately, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has already led to a concerning level of skepticism toward Russian nationals on our soil. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D–Calif.) has floated the idea that "kicking every Russian student out of the United States" should be "on the table." That proposal would target the nearly 5,000 Russian students studying in the U.S. as of 2021. It should go without saying that punishing uninvolved citizens for the sins of their government is a terrible idea and one that would do little to deter Putin's aggression.

The U.S. should extend a welcome to the Russians who are interested in fleeing Putin's repressive regime and hope to live and prosper on American soil. War as a form of competition with Russia would only lead to economic destruction on America's part, regardless of the conflict's eventual outcome. Instead, the U.S. can bolster its economy as it deprives Putin of the minds that keep Russia's industrial motors running.

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”  - Emma Lazarus

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Maybe there was a reason all along (since 1991) in not allowing Ukraine into NATO......Hint - everyone KNEW Russia was going to take it back over during their re-construction.......SF believes Putin is going to stay out of any former Russian countries that are NATO members bordering Ukraine.  He just has to posture himself as the evil face of the Russian military - and he wants Ukraine back......

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Russia faces financial meltdown as sanctions slam its economy: https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/28/business/russia-ruble-banks-sanctions/index.html

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Russia was scrambling to prevent financial meltdown Monday as its economy was slammed by a broadside of crushing Western sanctions imposed over the weekend in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

 

President Vladimir Putin held crisis talks with his top economic advisers after the ruble crashed to a record low against the US dollar, the Russian central bank more than doubled interest rates to 20%, and the Moscow stock exchange was shuttered for the day.
 
The European subsidiary of Russia's biggest bank was on the brink of collapse as savers rushed to withdraw their deposits. Economists warned that the Russian economy could shrink by 5%.
The ruble lost about 25% of its value to trade at 104 to the dollar at 12:15 p.m. ET after earlier plummeting as much as 40%. The start of trading on the Russian stock market was delayed, and then canceled entirely, according to a statement from the country's central bank.
 
The latest barrage of sanctions came Saturday, when the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada said they would expel some Russian banks from SWIFT, a global financial messaging service, and "paralyze" the assets of Russia's central bank.
"The ratcheting up of Western sanctions over the weekend has left Russian banks on the edge of crisis," wrote Liam Peach, an emerging market economist at Capital Economics, in a note on Monday.
 
Putin's government has spent the past eight years preparing Russia for tough sanctions by building up a war chest of $630 billion in international reserves including currencies and gold, but at least some of that financial firepower is now frozen and his "fortress" economy is under unprecedented assault.
 
"We will ... ban the transactions of Russia's central bank and freeze all its assets, to prevent it from financing Putin's war," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement Sunday.
 
The United States also banned US dollar transactions with the Russian central bank in a move designed to prevent it accessing its "rainy day fund," senior US administration officials said.
 
"Our strategy, to put it simply, is to make sure that the Russian economy goes backward as long as President Putin decides to go forward with his invasion of Ukraine," a senior administration official said.
 
Peach at Capital Economics estimates that at least 50% of Russia's reserves are now off limits to Moscow.
 
"External conditions for the Russian economy have drastically changed," the Russian central bank said, announcing its dramatic rate hike and series of other emergency measures. "This is needed to support financial and price stability and protect the savings of citizens from depreciation," the bank added.
 
Russia is a leading exporter of oil and gas but many other sectors of its economy rely on imports. As the value of the ruble falls, they will become much more expensive to buy, pushing up inflation.
 
The crackdown on its leading banks, and the exclusion of some of them from the SWIFT secure messaging system that connects financial institutions around the world will also make it harder for it to sell exports — including oil and gas despite the fact that Russia's vital energy trade has not yet been directly targeted with sanctions.
 
Finnish oil refiner Neste said it had mostly replaced Russian crude oil with other supplies.
 
"For a long time, Russia has been methodically preparing for the event of possible sanctions, including the most severe sanctions we are currently facing," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "So there are response plans, and they are being implemented now as problems arise."
 
But analysts warned that the turmoil could lead to a run on Russian banks, as savers try to secure their deposits and hoard cash.
"The sanctions target Russia's domestic financial system, causing bank runs and forcing Russia's central bank to continue hiking rates and/or to use its foreign exchange reserves," the Institute of International Finance said in a report published Monday.
"Furthermore, we believe that the [central bank] will have to institute strict capital controls and possibly declare a bank holiday as bank runs accelerate and demand for foreign exchange continues to rise sharply," it added.
 
One early casualty was the European subsidiary of Sberbank, Russia's biggest lender that has been sanctioned by Western allies. The European Central Bank said Sberbank Europe, including its Austrian and Croatian branches, was failing, or likely to fail, because of "significant deposit outflows" triggered by the Ukraine crisis.
 
"This led to a deterioration of its liquidity position. And there are no available measures with a realistic chance of restoring this position," the ECB said in a statement.
 
Sberbank (SBRCY) shares listed in London fell by nearly 70%. Other Russian companies with foreign listings were also hammered. Gas giant Gazprom (GZPFY) dropped 37% in London trading. Shares in internet service provider Yandex (YNDX) were suspended from trade on the Nasdaq, alongside seven other Russian companies listed in New York.
 
Nasdaq declined to comment. But a person familiar with the matter told CNN that the exchange was asking Russian companies whether they need to make material disclosures following the sanctions announced in recent days by the United States and other nations.
 
The Russian central bank last week intervened in the currency markets to try to prop up the ruble. And on Friday, it said it was increasing the supply of bills to ATMs to meet increased demand for cash. On Monday, the Russian government ordered exporters to exchange 80% of their foreign currency revenues for rubles — a measure analysts said was aimed at relieving pressure on the Russian currency.
The central bank also temporarily banned Russian brokers from selling securities held by foreigners, although it did not specify which assets. The government had also ordered a ban on foreign exchange loans and bank transfers by Russian residents outside of Russia from March 1, Reuters reported.

Hitting them in the pocket book.

 

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Ukraine's Regime Is Now Kidnapping Fathers for Military "Service"

https://mises.org/wire/ukraines-regime-now-kidnapping-fathers-military-service

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As the Ukraine regime has imposed martial law in the wake of the Russia invasion, it has also apparently imposed a new near-universal conscription order. USA Today reports:

The Ukraine State Border Guard Service has announced that men ages 18 to 60 are prohibited from leaving the country, according to reports.

"In particular, it is forbidden for men aged 18–60, Ukraine citizens, to leave the borders of Ukraine," a statement from the service said, according to CNN. "This regulation will remain in effect for the period of the legal regime of martial law. We ask the citizens to take this information into consideration."

Naturally, in order to enforce this on unwilling conscripts, Ukrainian officials will have to physically force men into service and ship them where the regime deems them to be necessary.

On Twitter, for example, some videos have surfaced purporting to show men being kidnapped by Ukrainian officials and forced into service. According to one source posting photos and videos from Ukraine,

UA soldiers were stopping cars and busses and yanking out any man aged 18–60 to conscript in the Ukrainian Army. In one place, a commissar was shouting "say goodbye to your daughters, mothers, and girlfriends; you must turn back and fight the Russian invader!"

UA soldiers were stopping cars and busses and yanking out any man aged 18-60 to conscript in the Ukrainian Army. In one place, a commissar was shouting “say goodbye to your daughters, mothers, and girlfriends; you must turn back and fight the Russian invader!” pic.twitter.com/B61MZ48S1n

— Ukraine Conflict Live 2022 (@UkraineLive2022) February 25, 2022

Or as another government agent more directly put it: "Forget your wife, forget your daughter, fight for Ukraine."

"Forget your wife, forget your daughter, fight for Ukraine." pic.twitter.com/8IoZ9JIALK

— Ukraine Conflict Live 2022 (@UkraineLive2022) February 25, 2022

The phrasing of this call to arms helps highlight the true nature of conscription imposed on the unwilling: the state feels itself entitled to override the interests of men and their families. Translation: your wife and daughter are less deserving of your attention than affairs of state.

This situation is so dramatic because it so clearly puts on display the fundamental conflict between the interests of families and the interests of the regime.

To side with the regime in this case requires us to accept that government technocrats and politicians ought to be in a position to override a man's judgment on how best to serve his family.  Many people, of course, believe this. This attitude is what makes lockdowns and vaccine mandates possible. with both conscription and covid, the state becomes the institution that makes intimate decisions about what you must do with your family "for your own good." 

In truth, however, state agents lack both the moral authority and the information necessary to make such decisions.

The State Does Not Take Precedence over the Family

In the state's efforts to seize men for regime "service" we find a clear conflict between the state and the family.

If a husband and father in a family has decided it is best for him to accompany his family to a neighboring country—or anywhere, for that matter—this prerogative is among the most fundamental found in civilized society. No institution on earth is better suited to make such decisions than the family itself. No institution is in a moral position to coerce a man to abandon his children and wife in the name of serving the vague, undefined group of people that is "the country."

Not only does no politician or technocrat in a moral position to demand such a thing, but no government agent even possesses the specific knowledge necessary to make a judgment about what is appropriate for countless families, each of which has their own specific, unique needs.

In truth, for some men, the right course of action is accompanying their families to safety across the border, and supporting them there. For others, it might mean fighting in a military operation. For still others, emigration may not be preferable, and the man might be needed to secure food and shelter for the family during a time of unrest.

No doubt, some men—and even some women—may voluntarily leave their families behind so as to engage in military service. When made freely, this is a legitimate choice that people can make if they think this is appropriate for their families.

Yet there is an enormous difference between these voluntary choices and the edicts handed down by government bureaucrats in order to serve whatever goal the state has decided is "best" for all families in the aggregate. In Ukraine, this is especially to be highlighted, since the regime is notable for being one of the most corrupt in the world. 

The Ban on Emigration: An Especially Dangerous Act

What adds an especially interesting dimension to the Ukrainian example is the fact that many of these men are being seized while in the process of attempting to leave the country.

In essence, these men have been stripped of the fundamental right to emigrate. A ban on emigration—one of the most fundamental human rights—has long been a scheme employed by despotic regimes such as North Korea, Cuba, and the old Soviet Union. Many other despotic regimes have restricted emigration for military purposes. 

The fact these men are kidnapped while in the process of emigration also calls into question the common logic employed by supporters of conscription who claim that everyone owes some sort of "duty" or debt to his or her nation-state. This attitude, of course, is premised on the rather absurd idea that people gain grand benefits from inhabiting a particular place and therefore owe something to the regime that happens to be ruling over that place. Moreover, keep in mind that most of the people have already been paying taxes for many years to support the regime financially. But after being squeezed for their wealth year after year, they're still lectured about what they "owe" the state. 

Yet when a person decides to emigrate, that person is choosing to leave behind all those presumed delightful "benefits" gained from living in that place—and from paying all those taxes. Consequently, it no longer makes sense to insist that that person must then be forced to continue to do his or her "duty" in regard to a place he or she wishes to leave.

Naturally, supporters of conscripting emigrating men will claim that some of these people plan to return and are not really emigrating permanently. We're told these men might return later and "free ride" on the supposed benefits gained from the military "service" of others. Therefore, these potential emigrants owe the state military service now to "pay" for future benefits received upon reentry. To buy this argument, we must first ignore the fact these men have already paid taxes for purposes of military defense. But on top of this, the argument relies on a claim that border agents can predict the future. They don't know who will attempt reentry later.  The argument also relies on the idea that a future possibility of attempted reentry justifies kidnapping conscripts now

Other proponents might further try and muddy the waters of this issue by insisting that the conscript is not performing a service to the regime, but to the "community." This presumes that the interests of each and every community coincide with the interests of the state—an outlandish claim at best. Moreover, what is a community if not a collection of families? Communities are not best served by substituting the will of a draft agent for the will of family members. 

Also often forgotten is the fact that a lack of willing soldiers demonstrates a lack of confidence in the regime itself. It's entirely possible that if the Ukrainian regime were less corrupt and less inept, more people would volunteer to take up arms for it. If the rightness of the Ukraine regime's position is so self-evident, then conscription shouldn't be necessary at all. The lack of true support for the regime is always a harsh reality for a regime to face. History is full of delusional monarchs who imagined "the people" would flock to protect the king from usurpers. Many of these monarchs have been bitterly disappointed, as it turned out the people long taxed and abused by "their" king had other priorities. Many other types of regimes have faced similar unpleasant surprises. It may very well be that many citizens don't value the regime as much as it values itself. That's too bad for the politicians in power, but such a state of affairs hardly justifies kidnapping fathers on the street. 

From the comments:

Conscription is slavery.

"It should be clear that no man, in an attempt to exercise his right of self-defense, may coerce anyone else into defending him. For that would mean that the defender himself would be a criminal invader of the rights of others. Thus, if A is aggressing against B, B may not use force to compel C to join in defending him, for then B would be just as much a criminal aggressor against C. This immediately rules out conscription for defense, for conscription enslaves a man and forces him to fight on someone else’s behalf."
Murray N. Rothbard. Ethics of Liberty.

Edited by Muda69
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On 2/28/2022 at 12:34 PM, Muda69 said:

Russia faces financial meltdown as sanctions slam its economy: https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/28/business/russia-ruble-banks-sanctions/index.html

Hitting them in the pocket book.

 

Not strong enough as Biden is single handidly driving gas prices through the roof in the US.  Stop buying Russian oil.  PERIOD!  Now this disaster of a career politician is attempting to financially support Iran and Venezuela by purchasing their gas.  He is so enslaved to the radical left, he can't even open the US pipelines.  These clowns are killing America.

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