Listen to an expert

Prof. John Mearsheimer : What I'd Tell Lavrov
http://www.youtube.com/live/XYzesWfrSms?t=664

Its all very well for the Russian leadership to be running around playing tough guy - we won't agree to this; we won't agree to that; give us everything we want or die; zero compromise. But the fact is that the Russian economy is unravelling and they are in just as much a dire need for and end to the mayhem as the Ukrainians.

Russian economy:
*21% interest rates.

* Inflation rates unknown because the government is hiding the data but at least 20%

*Sergei Chemezov, head of the defence giant Rostec, said “If we continue like this[20% interest rates], most companies will essentially go bankrupt..."

* Around 800,000 of the young and best-educated have left the country. A similar number dead or maimed on the battle front.

* "Russia’s digital minister says the shortage of IT workers is around 600,000. The defence industry has 400,000 unfilled positions. The total labour shortage is near 5m."

*Oil earnings have halved since 2022 and the Saudis are talking about upping production to recover market share. (Is trump encouraging them?)

* Russian oil is at $65 a barrel. IF it fell to $45 which is predicted, it'd all be over.

*Russian Gold reserves and the National Wealth Fund have been raided and are at half their 2022 levels.

* Russia's military reserves are so bad that they couldn't lift a finger to help Assad and had to ask Turkey to save their troops. They are now using donkeys to transport supplies!!

Now that Trump has given Zelensky a clip behind the ear and dragged him into a semblance of reality, its time to do the same to Putin.

Russia won't get everything it wants. In the same way that Trump got Ukrainian attention by cutting off supplies, he could just as easily get Russian attention by increasing supplies. Better still, increase oil production and cut the price. Why were the meetings held in Riyad?

Stand-by. the fun is just beginning.

"*Russian Gold reserves and the National Wealth Fund have been raided and are at half their 2022 levels."
http://www.sacbee.com/paid/sponsored-articles/article300673329.html

"International gold reserves are usually steady, and the rankings of the countries with the largest reserves rarely change. However, that trend has been changing, as Russia recently overtook China, despite China’s affinity for gold, to become the fifth-largest gold reserve in the world. Russia has accumulated more than 2,336 tons of gold — or $200 billion worth of the precious metal — edging out China’s 2,264 tons gold reserve."

I'm told the value is currently 230 billion.

If you are wrong about that mhaze, then what else are you wrong about.
Maybe this:

"* Russian oil is at $65 a barrel. IF it fell to $45 which is predicted, it'd all be over."

http://energyandcleanair.org/november-2024-monthly-analysis-of-russian-fossil-fuel-exports-and-sanctions/

"A lower price cap of USD 30 per barrel (still well above Russia’s production cost, which averages USD 15 per barrel) would have slashed Russia’s oil export revenue by 25% (EUR 74 bn) from the start of the sanctions until the end of November 2024. A USD 30 per barrel price cap would have slashed Russian revenues by 23% (EUR 2.58 bn) in November alone."

Under your illusion, new oil projects in West Texas would go bust.
Google 'production cost of next texas oil wells'

According to recent data, the production cost of a new oil well in Texas, particularly in the Permian Basin, averages around $62 per barrel to break even, meaning that oil prices need to be at least this high to cover drilling and production costs for a new well; however, this can vary depending on the specific location and geological conditions within the basin, with some areas requiring higher prices to be profitable.

The breakeven price for existing wells in the Permian region is $38 per barrel.
The average WTI oil price was between $77 and $81 per barrel around the time of the survey.
America would do as much harm to it's own oil companies going down that route.

You're listening to the schemes of Russia haters who are so drunk on harming Russia and winning at any cost that they haven't even checked to find out how badly their short-sighted policies would harm themselves, and Russia can still pump oil at a profit AND still find buyers.

LIVE: Trump State Of The Union Address with Stephen Gardner
http://www.youtube.com/live/k2-__-1dVS4

I haven't had time to watch yet, been battening everything down before Cyclone Alfred makes landfall,
- and I'm in Brisbane's 'Redlands' - more or less right in its path about a klm from the shoreline.

"Russian Gold reserves and the National Wealth Fund have been raided and are "

I was talking about the NWF and the gold reserves within it. These have fallen from a reported $US186B just prior to the invasion in 2022 to a reported $us87.5B at the end of 2024.

Other gold reserves aren't really all that relevant since much of it isn't really liquid. But it has also been reported that gold reserves held by Russian banks have fallen by 46% in the last year as citizen starting hoarding gold as a hedge against inflation and the fall of the rouble.

As to oil, again, what you're talking about isn't relevant. The US isn't reliant on oil sales to prop up its entire economy. So even if prices fell and forced some frackers out of the market, it would be a mere blip on the screens for the US economy whereas it'd be a monumental disaster for Russia and the Putin kleptocracy.

So again, the Russian economy is rapidly fraying at the edges and is desperate for a reprieve. They might talk tough about not allowing any compromise but when the rubber meets the road, they'll be open to all sorts of compromise. And when they do, you'll tell us it was total victory for them.

Just watched the Trump address, it was pretty good.
definitely worth the watch.

'Peace through strength' we heard.
And I was thinking, yes when you have the right leadership.
Who are pragmatic and display leadership and common sense.

And then... 'Oh gawd'. this feckin moron.

Anthony Albanese says he’s ‘open’ to sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine
http://www.news.com.au/national/politics/anthony-albanese-says-hes-open-to-sending-peacekeeping-troops-to-ukraine-says-he-will/news-story/b81f34f73b3321695ba74493f90c5919

We already know that Russia won't accept a ceasefire.
They'll consider any peacekeepers as enemy combatants.

Will the media sell us a load of BS?

Peace through strength.
How do you have peace through strength when your leaders are the weakest most pathetic excuses of grovelling yes-men you can get.
I remember when Albo won the election.
Standing behind him at the acceptance were a tribe of women.
Each looking like they had bigger nuts than him.

Trump had the balls to openly piss all over wokeness today.
That was refreshing.

Albo's getting drunk off 2 shandys down at the Mardi Gras and wetting himself over Kylie Minougue.
What a fairy, this country is so done for with these people in charge.

I think I know why Trump respects Putin
- Because he's not a whiny little b*tch subordinate like ours and the rest of the Collective Wests excuses for woke male leadership.

I imagine under the right circumstances Trump and Putin would sit back
Trump tasting Putins best vodka and Putin tasting Trumps best souther whiskey and they would both laugh their arses off at all of these pissweak woke losers.

Imagine if Trump had've drained the swamp in his first term.
The West hates strong male leadership.