I dunno we could always try leaving some cheap wine and a block of cheese under a cage

There is no such thing as cheap wine in Ireland. In Spain / Germany I saw bottles selling for less then € 4.00.
I googled cheap wine in ireland and got this as a result: Château Lynch Bages, Pauillac, 2015 € 239.00

We have lots of cheese though.

This post was edited by ferdia on Mar 28 2022 09:44am

I first saw the artic ports news posted here in 2021 prior to any war. I don't have a good source on it TBH, it was a story about Russian military bolstering its ports near the Artic as global warming was on the rise. Kind of an environmental piece vs war/trade article. Regardless, its a maritime trade route all along that power blocks coasts.

As for resources, its common knowledge that certain areas of the world extract and export certain raw materials. China is known for silicone, RU for various precious metals, Africa for Cobalt... Within the USA, the Federal government has resource survey maps that are publicly available. I know of these because I did a piece on Native American tribal land sovereignty rights, and much of the surveyed resources (uranium specifically) overlapped with large portions of that tribal reservation land.

Meanwhile, in Minnesota where I reside, there are very rich Nickle deposits near Tamarack, and double digit percentages of Cooper ore residing in Boundary Waters National Park. Back in the day, US mined the hell out of northern MN and shipped the ore pellets across the Great Lakes to be refined for uses like auto manufacturing. Chicago even has extensive unused ports the built long ago.

As for Intellectual Property and implemented designs, the West is still top dog. China has been trying to reverse engineer and steal designs, but they are always playing catchup to their betters. India can't even get it up.

Point is, ATM I see RU/China/NK/India powerblock withstanding a long economic war since they extract and produce. If the USA and Western nations pivot their domestic industries to extract, produce, guard IP, then that is the long game win here.

This post was edited by RedFromWinter on Mar 28 2022 09:45am

No one really wins in a economy war, perhaps some elites. The rest of us lose

I can acknowledge all of that apart from the bolded. I dont think they can change in time and I think its too late to guard IP. Cheap Labor is outsourced to other continents and that wont change. I also think that China no longer needs to steal designs etc. They are now a power in their own right in this regard (from what I have read in the last few years).



completely agree with that.

This post was edited by ferdia on Mar 28 2022 09:48am

They will continue to steal designs until they can foster domestic engineering innovation. That is not something that flourishes under a government like that though, at least not in the same was as in a capitalist cut-throat environment.

some really simple, and easily provable facts:

- i've been on the record calling all nazis, including ukrainian ones, scum.
- you consistently dodge the important role nazis play in pootin's "foreign policy" and personal protection, since it doesn't fit your chosen narrative
- you have a long track record in pard of defending racist murderers and nazis at trump rallies
- every obvious nazi in pard (sandu, sirthom, ampootin) identified you as their ally

the obvious conclusion: your "rejection" of one particular brand of nazis is not coming from a principled position, but is politically motivated hackery, that has nothing to do with nazi ideology.

No, Russia isn't that big.

https://www.politifact.com/article/2022/feb/25/russias-economy-and-western-sanctions-what-you-nee/

true, but that doesn't mean everyone loses equally badly.

For the record my views relating to Nazi's in the current Ukraine / Russia conflict ~

Ukaine, prior to this invasion, was a deeply divided country with the East leaning East (Russia) and the West leaning West (EU). There are Nazi's in Ukraine, In France, in Ireland, In America. God Damnit they are everywhere. I have no background in previous topic's in this sub section, and therefore I do not know the history between certain users. Therefore when I see stuff posted here, I consider it in the context of this topic and I dont go over old ground/arguments. There is of course a fallacy to this statement of mine noting discussing the causes of this war is really like flogging a dead horse for which I also am a culprit.

Anyway, I am despondant relating to conversations re: nazi's in this conflict. My view is Yes they are in Ukraine, but No this is not a war to liberate Ukraine from them. Eqaully it is not a war where the West is supporting a Nazi Dictator. Every country no doubt has its own flaws and yes Ukraine has many flaws, where flaws are nazi's. I just don't care as its not relevant other then both sides are using the word to mask their motives which are unrelated to Nazi's. In my view.