Ukraine

[Fuzz]

1 hour ago, amberleaf said:

I only realised today how this conflict is yet more bad news for Cuba. Russia is a source of aid and their visitors helped keep tourism alive on the island throughout Covid. The closing of air corridors and the plunging Rouble will put an end to that.

Actually a good chance for Cuba to whisper to the US, "Hey, you remove the embargo, and we'll publicly denounce Putin".

[Ken Gargett]

6 minutes ago, Fuzz said:

Actually a good chance for Cuba to whisper to the US, "Hey, you remove the embargo, and we'll publicly denounce Putin".

absolutely none of which is happening. 

[Corylax18]

7 minutes ago, Fuzz said:

Actually a good chance for Cuba to whisper to the US, "Hey, you remove the embargo, and we'll publicly denounce Putin".

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

From Granma:

https://en.granma.cu/cuba/2022-02-28/cuba-advocates-a-solution-that-guarantees-the-security-and-sovereignty-of-all

Let me copy the first paragraph to save everyone some time:

"The U.S. determination to continue NATO’s progressive expansion toward the Russian Federation’s borders has brought about a scenario with implications of unpredictable scope, which could have been avoided."

[RichG]

Not that there’s any shortage of shocking idiocy these days, but its enraging to see “professionals” posting conspiracy theories on LinkedIn, about how Ukraine is guilty in this war, Putin is being ill portrayed, George Soros and Bill Gates are responsible, etc, etc. 

What really frightens me is that many of these people exist within some kind of business community that will not admonish their public displays of harmful ignorance, but more than likely concur with, if not reward the behavior. 

I guess the one silver lining is that it’s good to know who never to hire, network or break bread with ever again. 

/rantoff

[LordAnubis]

I dont understand what the aim of financial sanctions are... wont Russia just funnel all the money through china? To me i just see it as a massive win for china taking a clip of a massive economy.

[MrBirdman]

12 hours ago, helix said:

Best solution elliminate Putin at his Dacha.

Not great to create a precedent of knocking off foreign heads of state. 

In any case, Putin’s person is probably even more secure than the POTUS, if only because his reclusively means far fewer people have any contact or access to him. 

When Russian leaders go, it’s other Russians who do the “go-ing.”

 

4 hours ago, LordAnubis said:

I dont understand what the aim of financial sanctions are... wont Russia just funnel all the money through china? To me i just see it as a massive win for china taking a clip of a massive economy.

First, there are limits to how much China can realistically help. They aren’t going to replace the hundred of billions in foreign currency reserves that were frozen.

There are a lot of reasons why China has to be careful about how far it goes in supporting Russia. Ultimately, China doesn’t care about Ukraine - it cares about being rich and powerful. That means maintaining access to Western export markets, for one. The situation is also awkward for China given its principle of territorial integrity (which are the grounds on which it claims Taiwan). In fact that may help explain Putin’s claims that Ukraine is really just part of Russia (or something to that effect). 

[GoodStix]

I would be surprised at this point (greater western balls shown than many had predicted) if Europe allows the encirclement and siege of Kyiv for an extended period of time.  Too much civilian suffering on the nightly news to politically be ignored.  I suspect some kinetic action will be taken to provide relief.  Just my guess.

[Hoepssa]

 

If everyone shuts airplace to Russian planes, where can Aeroloft bring Habanos out from Havana? 

I remember Rob said all Habanos were brought out of Cuba by Aeroloft... 😬

[GoodStix]

There’s a rumour Rob and Di aren’t actually vacationing.... ShooAway is retooling to become a Havana/Brisbane cargo airline 😜

 

1 hour ago, Hoepssa said:

If everyone shuts airplace to Russian planes, where can Aeroloft bring Habanos out from Havana? 

I remember Rob said all Habanos were brought out of Cuba by Aeroloft... 😬

Joking aside, is Aeroloft really the sole carrier for Habanos?  Yikes.

 

Edit:  Please ignore.  Just found the separate forum topic on this.  Thx.

[Fuzz]

1 hour ago, LordAnubis said:

I dont understand what the aim of financial sanctions are... wont Russia just funnel all the money through china? To me i just see it as a massive win for china taking a clip of a massive economy.

Not really. China does have its own version of funds transfer as the US owned Clearing House Interbank Payment System (CHIPS) which is the actual method of how funds are settled. SWIFT is the message system, CHIPS is the clearing system. But the Chinese version Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) settles in Yuan, not USD, and it still uses SWIFT.

China just doesn't have the volume to fully support Russia with this method, but it may with e-CNY. Though, that is still under development, and won't be ready any real time soon.

[NSXCIGAR]

16 minutes ago, Fuzz said:

CHIPS is the clearing system.

These guys?

[LordAnubis]

Germany: Oh no we dont have oil.

China: We can sell you lots of oil.

Russia: China, want oil bro? 10 bucks

China: Youre the best. Hey Germany, i got oil! 20 bucks!

Germany: You're the best! See, we dont need them Russians anyway!

[MrBirdman]

1 hour ago, LordAnubis said:

Russia: China, want oil bro? 10 bucks

Sold! Now how the hell are you going to ship it to me…?

The problem with this approach is that, for the time being, there is no pipeline to China and no way of getting large volumes of LNG or oil through a war zone to shipping in Crimean ports. Russia’s northern ports are still frozen. 

No sanctions system (short of a full blockade) is totally bulletproof (those northern ports will eventually thaw). Sanctions require more of a “fake it ‘til you make it” approach. One day and step at a time.

 

[Fox Sterlingworth]

On 3/1/2022 at 6:19 PM, Fuzz said:

Actually a good chance for Cuba to whisper to the US, "Hey, you remove the embargo, and we'll publicly denounce Putin".

While I think this scenario is a real long shot, the probability of other nations shaking hands back stage on deals previously thought unthinkable between certain nations will certainly happen.

[99call]

Does anyone here know how far off fusion is as realistic source of power generation.   I did watch a short interview about this breakthrough in oxford, and whilst it sounded like a few years off, it did seem like the kind of thing that would embolden the EU to more confidently cut themselves off from Russia/China

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-60312633

 

 

[Corylax18]

47 minutes ago, 99call said:

Does anyone here know how far off fusion is as realistic source of power generation.   I did watch a short interview about this breakthrough in oxford, and whilst it sounded like a few years off, it did seem like the kind of thing that would embolden the EU to more confidently cut themselves off from Russia/China

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-60312633

 

 

We're about 15-30 years away. (this article says 20). Exactly as we have been for the last ~60 years. 🤣

Great, they "created" 11 Megawatts of power. What the article very noticeably leaves out is how much energy they burned "creating" that 11 Megawatts. If past experiments are any indicator, its roughly an order of magnitude more input than output, so over 100 Megawatts in this case. 

Not a great tradeoff. We'll likely all be dead before this is a realistic option. 

 

38 minutes ago, Corylax18 said:

What the article very noticeably leaves out is how much energy they burned "creating" that 11 Megawatts. If past experiments are any indicator, its roughly an order of magnitude more input than output, so over 100 Megawatts in this case. 

Not a great tradeoff. We'll likely all be dead before this is a realistic option. 

Wait! I found it:

"Fusion reactions in the lab famously consume more energy to initiate than they can output. At Jet, two 500 megawatt flywheels are used to run the experiments."

I was wrong, it actually took 1,000 Megawatts of input to "create" 11 megawatts of power. Absolutely comical. 

[99call]

11 hours ago, Corylax18 said:

Absolutely comical.

I'm sorry but I would suggest these people are not idiots (i'm not putting words in your mouth) , they are some of the brightest and best. Surely they would not be such an undertaking if it wasn't potentially feasible/revolutionary.    The interview I saw from one of the scientists involved suggested the power consumption ratio compared to current alternatives was microscopic.  I think the metaphor they used was a couple of grams of fuel to a room full of coal 

Are we talking about 'initiation' here,  I'm not professing to know, I'm simply suggesting there might be a world of difference between the:

- Energy it takes to initiate

- The energy it takes to keep on going. 

For example turning off steel processing factories was recently raised as a huge government issue, as they weren't sure they would be able to afford to switch them back on etc etc

Again, I'm not saying I know,  but to suggest the 100's of millions that have gone into fusion is blind folly, or a pipe dream is equally comical.  

 

UK, currently dragging its heals in sanctioning their Russian pals is unforgivable. Their excuse is that;

"It takes time to ensure the process watertight, and that we are able to really make it have an impact"

Sounds almost word for word like their package of long overdue compensation for victims of the Windrush scandal. The result is:

- West Indian families that rebuilt the UK after the devastation of the war, get treated like second class citizens, and die before they receive compensation

and

- Their Russian mates get 18 months to move their money, and duck out of the UK before they face any music

Gut wrenching......makes you want to puke

[Corylax18]

11 hours ago, 99call said:

I'm sorry but I would suggest these people are not idiots (i'm not putting words in your mouth) , they are some of the brightest and best. Surely they would not be such an undertaking if it wasn't potentially feasible/revolutionary.    The interview I saw from one of the scientists involved suggested the power consumption ratio compared to current alternatives was microscopic.  I think the metaphor they used was a couple of grams of fuel to a room full of coal 

Are we talking about 'initiation' here,  I'm not professing to know, I'm simply suggesting there might be a world of difference between the:

- Energy it takes to initiate

- The energy it takes to keep on going. 

For example turning off steel processing factories was recently raised as a huge government issue, as they weren't sure they would be able to afford to switch them back on etc etc

Again, I'm not saying I know,  but to suggest the 100's of millions that have gone into fusion is blind folly, or a pipe dream is equally comical.  

No, they certainly aren't idiots. They've successfully fooled billions of people into giving them hundreds of millions of dollars (maybe billions) while making zero years of progress in the last 60 years. We're no closer than we were before my parents where born. But these scientist are still feeding their kids and paying their mortgages. 

Imagine if we had put that time and money into something real. Safer Nuclear power plant designs, solar panel efficiencies, Molten Salt Reactors, Tidal Energy, the list goes on and on. Most of these scientists could have kept feeding their kids and paying their mortgages while actually contributing something to society. 

If some rich benefactor wants to waste their money researching this for another 60 years, fine. But I don't think another taxpayer dollar should be wasted on it. We can split hairs all day, but there are so many other technologies that are miles closer to actually alleviating to our current problems. Fusion is a distraction and financial drain to all those other potentially viable technologies. (And has been for decades)

 

10 hours ago, 99call said:

UK, currently dragging its heals in sanctioning their Russian pals is unforgivable. Their excuse is that;

"It takes time to ensure the process watertight, and that we are able to really make it have an impact"

Sounds almost word for word like their package of long overdue compensation for victims of the Windrush scandal. The result is:

- West Indian families that rebuilt the UK after the devastation of the war, get treated like second class citizens, and die before they receive compensation

and

- Their Russian mates get 18 months to move their money, and duck out of the UK before they face any face the music

Gut wrenching......makes you want to puke

We're still dragging our feet over Russian Oil imports here. I get that no Politician wants to be blamed for $5.00 a gallon gas, but while we "debate" it here, we're still buying 670,000 barrels a day from them. 

Not much teeth in the other sanctions if we're still sending them over $50 million a day for Oil. 

[helix]

Problem in UK is the rich Russians have a lot of politicians in their pockets.

[99call]

1 minute ago, helix said:

Problem in UK is the rich Russians have a lot of politicians in their pockets.

I think that goes without saying.  depressingly so

[helix]

11 minutes ago, Corylax18 said:

We're still dragging our feet over Russian Oil imports here. I get that no Politician wants to be blamed for $5.00 a gallon gas, but while we "debate" it here, we're still buying 670,000 barrels a day from them. 

Not much teeth in the other sanctions if we're still sending them over $50 million a day for Oil. 

Canada's ready to ramp up oil production. Finish the Keystone XL pipeline . Take a couple years but that is not a long time.

[99call]

9 hours ago, Corylax18 said:

Imagine if we had put that time and money into something real. Safer Nuclear power plant designs, solar panel efficiencies, Molten Salt Reactors, Tidal Energy, the list goes on and on.

I'm for anything that takes on a firm footing towards cleaner, greener renewables.    A tidal lagoon recently got shelved in the UK, which was madness,  it was a great project. 

I guess my point was the interview I saw, was very much suggesting that fusion had been dragging it's heels, (the scientists themselves has suggested progress had been slow and disapointing)  but recent new developments had shown signs a corner had been turned. 

I appreciate from your point of view, you're saying this is the latest turn in a wild goose chase,  we will have to agree to disagree.  I think we should be positive and hopeful for anything that going to move us forward.  Time will tell,  from what I saw it looked like a promising turning point. 

 

9 hours ago, Corylax18 said:

Not much teeth in the other sanctions if we're still sending them over $50 million a day for Oil. 

I think the reason why the personal sanctions irritated me to a greater degree, is that Boris does not want shine a light onto his paymasters.   All at the same minute he's trying to lurching around doing his impression of a pound shop Churchill, saying he's going to get tough on Russia.      Gaslighting at it's worst

We hilariously had a Russia report in the UK about two ago, and when the press conference happened, we found out that there was no Russian corruption in the UK,  not because that was actually the case, but Boris has asked that the Russian report, not look into/focus on...............well...........the Russians.             Genius!!

[Corylax18]

49 minutes ago, helix said:

Canada's ready to ramp up oil production. Finish the Keystone XL pipeline . Take a couple years but that is not a long time.

We've got more than enough oil here, thanks. We don't have nearly enough refining capacity though. The Keystone pipeline isn't a refinery, so it wont open up the refining bottleneck, in any # of years. Its a great way for Canadian Oil sand producers to get their crude into our system, so that it can be exported. It wont alleviate $5.00 a gallon gas in the US though, despite what some politicians and other people with financial interests in the project might tell you. 

I'm not necessarily against building it, but I really don't think it factors into the calculus in this situation. 

[Hammer Smokin']

$5.00 a gallon USD is the same as the $1.66 per litre CAD that we are currently paying. 

[Corylax18]

8 hours ago, 99call said:

I'm for anything that takes on a firm footing towards cleaner, greener renewables.    A tidal lagoon recently got shelved in the UK, which was madness,  it was a great project. 

I guess my point was the interview I saw, was very much suggesting that fusion had been dragging it's heels, (the scientists themselves has suggested progress had been slow and disapointing)  but recent new developments had shown signs a corner had been turned. 

I appreciate from your point of view, you're saying this is the latest turn in a wild goose chase,  we will have to agree to disagree.  I think we should be positive and hopeful for anything that going to move us forward.  Time will tell,  from what I saw it looked like a promising turning point. 

I'm not saying Fusion power will never happen, but "Lets make the Sun" just seems like peak arrogance from our species.

Maybe, one day, we'll learn how to successfully interact with the actual sun, you know baby steps, before we try to create/control our own. 

Physics 101/Theoretical physics was such a frustrating class for me, because all the "correct" answers where actually wrong and we all knew it! Haha.

The gap between understanding the basic theory behind fusion (how stars work) and the applied physics of making/controlling our own star are cavernous, as dozens of brilliant scientists have worked very hard to prove, at great expense. 

I wont argue with the theoretical merit for one second, its literally the Holy Grail of clean energy, on paper. But we haven't shown much ability to actually close the applied/real world gap. If our resources where unlimited, I would say "have at it" but in a world where less and less money is going to fund science everyday, I hate seeing good money thrown after bad. 

 

8 hours ago, Hammer Smokin' said:

$5.00 a gallon USD is the same as the $1.66 per litre CAD that we are currently paying. 

I paid .99 cents a gallon during the height of the pandemic, we're just not used to prices like that here. Pumps  automatically shut off at $99 here, that would only get me about half a tank at $5.00 a gallon. 😪