Tuco

Climate change is an important topic, which is why it has its own thread. I will respond to slack in that thread.

Yea, I understand it was a fundraiser. I am questioning whether it should be a priority at this stage in the race and why it might be.

Sure. But, they’ve got to be close to the point where you have a hard time spending new money. There is a point in the campaign where new donations make no difference (to the budget) because you’ve already committed what you’re going to spend. Candidates keep fundraising either because they’re in the hole (lots of campaigns finish in red) or they want a war chest for theirs and other candidates next election. With such a tight race, I wouldn’t think that would be the priority, unless you are way in the hole.

It's so weird that modern warfare includes a strong Twitter game: There was also a cargo train that dun blowed up in Eastern Ukraine. Much of the Russian military logistics is dependent on rail. Russia is losing the ability to resupply while trying to defend against the Ukrainian counter-offensive. Happy fucking birthday Vlad. CNN link for both quotes.

In general, I think jail/prison for debt is bullshit. But I’m willing to make an exception.

Are you saying a secret sub somewhere in the world or in the Black Sea. I think it would pretty hard to sneak anything into the Black Sea unless you airlifted it.

Blood selects Ernie Chambers. Enough Republican heads explode to turn Nebraska blue.

Wasn’t he a prof at Texas?. I was actually coming here to check if there was a vacancy in the law school opening up.

Even as a Nebraska fan, I find the Republican loyalty to a mentally ill, violent running back disturbing.

Yep. The cynic in me would say that when the majority party benefits from greater voter participation suddenly access to the polls magically becomes less complicated. But, beyond just maintaining power, I do think their are ideological differences regarding democracy.

I moved from a suburb in Seattle to Seattle proper about six months ago. Didn’t get around to updating my driver’s license for a while. But I did get vote-by-mail cards for the primary prior to going to DMV. And voter guides. Landlords send in info when you sign a lease.

Self delete

I hope this ends with Trump calling Kav a drunken loser.

Sure. All they need to do is ship it through the country that they invaded and is currently kicking their ass. And pay them transit fees, which were about $1.2B prior to the start of the war. But that's irrelevant.

Can you quote anyone on this thread who believes the US blew up the pipeline?

Speaking of crazy shit on the Russian side, have we talked about Ramzan Kadyrov? He's the Chechen "Head" who is fucking insane. Today he said he was sending his teenage sons to the front lines. Recently he was urging Putin to use nukes. His family fought against Russia, then flipped sides, and have ruled Chechnya since. Reading his wiki page, you might assume that it's just been filled with bullshit: It's a weird fucking world.

For context, I believe Trump also claims he was cooperating with the DOJ. I guess the alternative is pleading the fifth, right? Is Bobb the one who signed the everything-was-returned-because-someone-told-me-everything-was-returned affidavit? Unless she was outright lying on that affidavit (and now admitting to it), I don't know if she will really add much. The whole point of the way it was phrased implied she didn't know much directly. Maybe it could help build an obstruction charge.

Could you imagine the level of violence in the heavily armed "annexed" areas if we just set a date and said the side with the most surviving voters wins. It'd be worse than a typical civil war. It'd be closer to ethnic cleansing.

1. What would he have said if it the Russians didn't do it? 2. If that's the "single best indicator" you have, then you don't have shit. Edit to add: I think our main disagreement is whether Russia thinks there would ever be a future in shipping gas to Europe. I think they are planning on things eventually returning to some form of normal. You think...I'm not sure what...that they are engaged in some sort of apocalyptic battle that precludes ever shipping gas again(?). Maybe you could explain what you think Putin believe the next 25 years will entail, assuming defeat Ukraine for the annexed provinces.

Really. You honestly believe that "no one else had anything to gain" ? Not Ukraine? Not Poland? Not the US? Nothing to gain in damaging a pipeline those three parties have pushed against for years? You honestly believe that? I mean, the valves were shut, so that alleviated everyone's concerns moving forward, right? I know that when the war drums are beating no one wants anyone to dissent. But, that's also the time when propaganda gets spun up the most. Currently the belief is that Russia blew up a pipeline it spent years lobbying for and constructing, and your evidence is "but Putin said Anglo-Saxons!" Would he have said something different if he didn't blow it up? Tell me, do you think people should have questioned the logic for invading Iraq a little more? Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who lied a bunch. It would have been unpatriotic to question our reasoning against his lies. Right? I'm not even questioning a US position here, just rampant speculation from the internet. And you think that's too far.

It's definitely easier to make an argument when you can just change what people say and then say "OMG, look what he said!" You brought up the speech and claimed it validated your argument. It doesn't. And FWIW, there isn't a disagreement about any of your edits, unless they are meant to mean that Russian will not ship gas again regardless of what happens with Ukraine or sanctions. I think everyone accepts that Russia is using energy exports as a weapon. What you have failed to explain is why he would he would spend any effort to blow up a pipeline he mostly owns. For propaganda? Ok, I think it's pretty thin. If you believe it, cool, but I think you are stretching way too far to make it compelling.

Zeus, you left out Texan LNG folks. I mean, I don't believe it, but they do have a financial interest and I am amused by the vision of some Slim Pickens character getting suited up to blow up a Rooskie pipeline.

I think everyone on this thread understands that currently the pipelines were not being utilized because of political reasons. I think most people who understand basic economics understand that the demand for Russian gas (or gas in general) is not a fixed number. The worse the infrastructure for delivering it, the higher the price, the lower the usage. The speech that got delivered Friday set the Russian criteria for peace, that Kiev accepts the annexation of part of their country. That's not going to happen, but that was the speech. The speech also talked about how people can't heat their homes with greenbacks. It also claimed that European leaders were betraying their people by trying to get off Russian gas, essentially driving them to de-industrialization. So, yeah, the speech on Friday projected a vision that Russia gets the annexed provinces and then returns to supplying gas to Europe for political leverage and economic gain. The millennia thing was discussing the history, importance, blah, blah, blah of the Russian people. The Satanism thing was about the Western acceptance of gay and trans people. Link to the Kremlin transcript

For fucks sake, you can post all the fucking financial times articles you want, the reality is that a pipeline that connects a gas producing nation with a gas consuming nation 100s of miles away is a valuable asset. It may not have the value it cost to construct it, but after it was constructed, it has value. Everything else is just handwaving bullshit. And it's not like it was just Gazprom. I get it. You think it was the Russians blowing up their own shit. Maybe they did. But use more logical supporting evidence.

It wasn’t a money making enterprise because it cost money to build. After that money was sunk (no pun intended), it would make money. I don’t know who bombed it, but let’s not build an argument on silly logic. Gazprom had already exhausted its cash on it. I would be curious if there were any contractual shit that would kick in - insurance, force majeure relief, etc. that wouldn’t happen by just sitting idle.