that would explain a lot, going crazy, sitting 20 yards away from people

it is to the benefit of the United States that this Congressdemon “kizinger the korrupt” had it’s seat gerrymandered to hell

seems like he watched too much MSM and has covid phobia

I love how this thread simply existing continually bodies chopsticks existence.





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In other news Russia has started using 'illegal' bombs in their war.

Vacuum bombs or Thermobaric bombs are so powerful because they utilize the oxygen outside of the bomb rather than having oxidizers included in the bomb. Average bomb is 25% fuel 75% oxidizer where as these bombs use 100% fuel. They don't work under water or at high altitudes but in the right conditions they are particularly destructive due to the fact that they cause so much pressure in the air and use up oxygen everywhere including fox holes and bunkers which in turn effects to a longer and more destructive wake from the bomb.

These bombs are not allowed allegedly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermobaric_weapon

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraines-ambassador-us-says-russia-used-vacuum-bomb-monday-2022-02-28/

https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-using-brutal-cluster-explosives-vacuum-bombs-in-ukraine-say-rights-groups-ukraines-envoy-to-us-457658

This post was edited by Crunkt on Feb 28 2022 09:56pm

What a disgraceful tweet. If he truly loved his country, he would resign before the end of his term.



But it won't greatly empower the yuan, because Russia's economy is significantly smaller than that of Italy. The military technology, from an intellectual property standpoint, was ceded to China long ago. It's actual military is struggling to complete a conquest of Ukraine, which I didn't believe they'd do in the first place because it's so foolish. It now exists as a resource hub for East and West, and whether that flow is in dollars or yuan is not of significant consequence. Chinese banks that do business with the West have already begun to disassociate with Russia in order to comply with US sanctions. China needs Europe to do business in yuan, and there's no real desire for Europe to go down that path. They need East Asia to do dollars in yuan, and yet East Asia from the Koreas to Japan, Taiwan to Singapore, and Vietnam through the Philippines are all desperate to avoid Chinese overlordship. It's as Machiavelli wrote, when dealing with small and big powers, you aid the smaller powers against the more threatening adversary. China is surrounded by smaller powers that want to check its advance. Aside from Cuba, the United States does not really have that problem.

It was still 10-20 years too early for China to take a stand on the world stage. The United States passed the United Kingdom in GDP sometime in 1871, but it wasn't until decades later that the United States became a true world power, and decades after that that the United States achieved hegemony. China needed to allow its economy to grow without American interference, which it was doing before Xi flexed to secure his own rule. It will go down as a severe miscalculation.

vacuum bombs literally suck in all air from an area.
Imagine one second you're sheltering and the next all the air within miles is suddenly gone for a serious length of time.

Even the air in your lungs is sucked out and carried away.

So while the news fear mongers the word Nuclear, there are many other types of destruction that can be used on the battlefield.

Its a poor photoshop, Kinzinger fell for it anyway



Russia is a much much larger economy than Italy. The comparisons only come when you look at GDP-USD instead of GDP-PPP, when the Ruble is deflated due to the oil market crashing years ago or now due to sanctions. In terms of actual purchasing power, not to mention actual physical production and energy and all those other metrics based on reality rather than economic confabulation, Russia is still a world superpower economy right up there with the USA, China, India, Germany and Japan. Russia might be #5 or #6, but Italy is #13 or something. Its still obviously a petroeconomy, those energy exports are what prop it up. They're obviously more diversified than something like the KSA/UAE, but not comparable to other superpowers.

Russia swinging to the Yuan would still be a huge deal because of that. Even if Europe won't, one of the world superpowers switching from a petrodollar to petroyuan would be the kind of catalyst that could send those other east asian countries into a trajectory towards the Yuan even if they don't want it. America being too liberal with its control of the dollar and weaponizing it too lightly is impetus for oligarchs of the world to grow exceedingly cautious about the dollar. And China has already begun slowly down its foreign investments and debt operations around the world in the past 2-5 years to start limiting its exposure to the US dollar. That was a huge point for concern even before this Ukrainian crisis.
We're seeing all the signals and stage setting necessary for the US to lose control of the world oil trade. Russia could be the largest domino that knocks down the others. The Chinese hegemony might be a lot closer than we think. It might not be Xi flexing his muscle as much as it is Biden flexing his muscles and snapping them. Russia won't just disappear from geopolitics tomorrow, they won't cease to exist. They need to sell their oil and gas, Europe and China need to buy it, money has to change hands, and the US dollar is no longer a functional currency for them. And its not like the SPFS is a real alternative to SWIFT. That leaves CIPS, and the Yuan. And the worst slow motion global economic catastrophe for the US since we became a superpower

The demand for Rubles is not particularly strong because there's not much to be had. Sanctions have a role, as does the poor economic environment, crime, and poor rule of law. It's a resource hub, not a place to invest and do business. Part of that is the result of the geopolitical maneuvering that Russia regularly engages in. Part of it is the poor political environment. And basket of goods are not the same in all locations. Russia's goods are not of particularly great quality. Their military technology, for instance, is far and away inferior. There are no giant technology firms, or finance hubs. Their largest non-oil/gas firm is about half as big in market cap as Altria, the tobacco company of choice for ~50% of the ~15% of Americans who still smoke.

But let's put that aside, and accept GDP (PPP) as our measurement of choice. Russia's GDP (PPP) is 1/6th the size of that of China and the United States. It's less than 1/5th the size of the EU. It's less than half the size of India, a country of marginal geopolitical weight. Let's not use "superpower" too loosely. It's as Obama put it, a regional power in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. No one believes that Germany has significant sway outside of Europe, and even within Europe it has to vie with regional competitors for influence. Russia is in a similar boat. The difference in capacity is evident. The United States can occupy two countries of ~60+ million people at once, irrespective of whether they're more than a thousand miles apart. It does this while maintaining a simultaneous presence across the globe. Russia is forced to tackle one problem at a time, very close to home, and it seems doubtful if they can even do that. That boils down to economic strength. The United States can support its adventurism with hard dollars, Russia cannot.

Countries value the dollar because its stable and because its backed by a large economy that is technologically and financially advanced. It's where the largest companies hail from, it has the longest track record, and its backed up by the largest concentration of technological and military might. That's not set in sand, especially if the United States continues to spend recklessly and substitutes AOC's version of MMT for sound fiscal policy. And it's not to say that China isn't a threat to that, because that is the case. But it isn't an immediate threat to the United States. Russia moving into yuan is a reflection of Russia's weak position, not a reflection of China's sudden strength.

LOL

And yet, when the US waggles around its control of the dollar like this and forces major players out of a dollar economy, especially for oil sales which anchor it, that's a massive impetus to accelerate other countries abandoning the dollar. I think you understate the sway of countries like Russia, Japan, Germany, India, etc. They still carry large geopolitical clout and Merkel's decisions (now Scholz's) still have a huge bearing in the winds behind the global economy. They're more than regional in an economy this connected. Its not just the USA and China as titans surrounded by a dozen midgets.

When the US puts up the Iron Curtain 2.0 and all the major banks and havens for oligarchs start seizing assets from one country, that strikes at the very heart of the dollar's stability. I've heard from day traders who thought the big hot shit was to buy real estate in China years ago and made bank as the values skyrocketed. Well, good short term investment no doubt. What happens if one day during a bitter international dispute, China decides to seize all America-owned real estate overnight. Well that's what the US and EU are talking about doing with Russia, and already started. Russian oligarchs will be in desperate mode for immediate measures, but every other country's movers and shakers will take notice and have a sudden awareness of their own mortality.

America losing the reserve currency status was always our biggest global economic threat and prophesized by every doomsayer. And this is precisely the kind of action that makes its a real near-term possibility. We're forcing a major world player into China's hands, giving every condition and motivation for a Yuan backing of gas and oil, cutting straight into the heart of the stability and legitimacy of the dollar. I think the threat to us is immediate. Even if it doesn't mean other countries than Russia embracing the Yuan immediately, what it could mean is that we've already set in motion the unstoppable process. We stepped on and activated the pressure plate in the ancient temple, its going to take a few years for the boulder trap to roll its way to us, but the ball is rolling now. India, China, the UAE, even Israel all refusing to back the US line in this conflict? Countries that want to keep trading. Countries that don't want to be at the mercy of American self-righteous jingoism