That I’m a communist and a comrade, yet I pay my federal, state, local, property and sales tax only proves that I’m the consummate multi-tasked!
Said it many times before, this almost certainly marked the beginning of the end of cheap gas. Oil Nations, Prodded by Trump, Reach Deal to Slash Production (Published 2020) When the Covid lockdowns of the Spring and early summer of 2020 ended demand for oil rebounded much quicker than supply which while increasing still hasn't caught up to 2019 levels.
Yes, Trump was bad in many ways. But then so is the country he lives in. It’s beyond me why we rail at other countries and their leaders when we have Herculean work to do here.
Just speculation, I seriously doubt that you're a Commie although it's fairly obvious that you've become an apologist for a certain former KGB colonel who is almost entirely motivated by his desire to restore the Soviet Union not its economic system but certainly its European empire.
what elkse was he supposed to do? Demand had cratered and without production cuts, many domestic producers, and the talent base associated with that profession, would be lost. Where would we have been then? Not a fan of DT, but this is red meat with no basis in deep thought or context to blame any gas shortages on DT. It is the restriction on refinery capacity that is predominantly driving the price, not the price of oil. Refinery costs are also up due to cost of nat gas generated electricity being up. Until refinery capacity is addressed, there will continue to be a restriction there. Large refineries need major upgrades to meet current pollution requirements in Philly and in St. Croix USVI that could help..
There are things I admire about Putin. For one thing, he’s not a demented fool like our own president. He can string sentences together. But this notion of his wanting to restore the Great Empire are poppycock. If he wanted to restore such, how would he do it with 60,000 to 80,000 troops ?
Don't disagree. Said it before it was probably the correct policy at the time. Unfortunately, one of the consequences of forcing a worldwide reduction in the supply of petroleum was skyrocketing prices once demand returned. Fortunately, prices seem to have stabilized with the price of gas at the pump now significantly below its mid-June peak (anecdotally, the price at the Shell station where I usually fill up has decreased from a peak of $5.09 a gallon in mid-June to $3.49 a little over a week ago and it may even be lower now).
I for one am enjoying this respite. I’m a route salesman and my company does not cover all my gas expenses.
Demented fool is actually more like a description of the former president. Unfortunately not only is he totally divorced from reality, he is also a charismatic lunatic with the gift of convincing his supporters that his alternative reality is real. As far as Putin is concerned, the number of troops that he used to invade Ukraine was closer to 200,000 than 60,000 to 80,000 and he made a massive miscalculation assuming that his troops were much more competent than they really were and the Ukrainians would quickly fold allowing him to replace the democratically elected Zelenskyy government with a pro-Russian puppet within days. Didn't work out that way. Putin's long term strategy and it probably still hasn't changed although the initial step is taking much longer than expected and at a much greater price to Russia is that the former currently independent Soviet Republics would fold one at a time and allowing him to return them to their former status as part of Mother Russia. From immediately prior to the Russian invasion. Russia has amassed up to 190,000 troops on Ukraine borders, US warns
Lots to tease out here. But let’s assume that Putin has a grand design to reconstitute something like the Soviet Union. Never mind 200,000 troops, 2,000,000 troops would not be enough to accomplish that. Conversely, the US and NATO combined could not amass enough troops to push Russia out of Ukraine. Not if Russia mobilized. We will never again see something of the magnitude of WWII in Europe, if only because Westerners and Russians aren’t having several sons per household such as to provide sufficient cannon fodder.
Mass graves, etc. in Ukraine. Why the brutal inhumanity by the Russians? It could be partly due to the kind of “soldiers” being sent to fight there. From the article: A leading expert in Russia’s prison system, Olga Romanova, says the Kremlin’s latest recruitment tactic in the war on Ukraine is something out of her “worst nightmares.” Yevgeny Prigozhin—the head of Vladimir Putin’s shadowy private army, Wagner Group—has been taking trips to Russian prison camps in order to enlist convicted criminals to fight in Ukraine, according to accounts from military analysts and videos that have emerged on Telegram from Russian prisons. And according to Romanova, who has dedicated the past 15 years of her life to monitoring Russia’s prison population as the head of the organization Russia Behind Bars, the recruitment campaign is targeting some of Russia’s “worst criminals... including serial murderers, robbers and at least one cannibal.” Putin Accused of Sending Serial Killers and a Cannibal to Fight His War Of course it’s not convicts who have been constantly shelling civilian targets in Ukraine. War crimes are still being committed by the Russian military leadership, regardless of what is being recruited out of Russian prisons.
Also coming out of Ukraine ... “Russia to run out of ammo in March ... April ... May ... June ... July ...”
Now I am confused Comrade, first you state Glorious offensive is reorganizing for huge push, now you state, big push will never happen again. Please put down vodka bottle.