Latest posts of: Gyfts

Sanctions don't work for the reason you've alluded to - economic restrictions just affect the ordinary people of a country, the governmental elites remain unaffected.

Visa and Mastercard, and all the other companies, cutting off ties aren't doing it because they are being virtuous. Russia just has a small economy and it wouldn't hurt for the larger financial players to pull out. Meanwhile, they continue to operate in countries like China which has concentration camps running for millions of muslims.

In fact, not even a nuclear war would end the COVID pandemic.

https://www.ready.gov/nuclear-explosion

In a nuclear attack, it is pertinent to wear a mask and remain 6 feet distanced, apparently. COVID-19 being such a severe threat, I suppose social distancing would need to be in place because having a case of the sniffles while ingesting nuclear radiation wouldn't be fun.

Anyways, the COVID pandemic ended when it became apparent that restrictions and lockdowns were not a winning strategy. People got over having the government micro manager their lives for them. And with how quickly people move on, the war in the news cycle means COVID is now forgotten.

Renewables don't even come close to meeting world wide energy demands, nor is the infrastructure there for green energy to be up for discussion. U.S. is on par with Europe, they also tend to believe their energy problems can just be solved by installing a few solar panels and calling it a day. Unless the green energy advocates plan installing nuclear reactors, there isn't any way out of the current energy crisis other than increasing oil production to make up for the loss of oil/natural gas from Russia (the Iranians are very excited about this, by the way).

Quote from: BusinessChain on March 08, 2022, 12:15:54 AM

Ukraine should surrender to the Russians, but demand from the West that they pledge for sanctions agains Russia until they release Ukraine into freedom.

Could you name a time in history when sanctions have actually done anything to effect the government of a nation? I'm sure they exist, maybe could count them on one hand. Ukraine is already gone, and once they are under the regime of Putin there is no reversing the course of action. You can sanction Russia all you want, you just weaken USD in the process and embolden the Russian government to conduct even more commerce with China.

If Zelenskyy wanted to surrender, he might have considered that before thousands of citizens were slaughtered and before major Ukrainian cities were bombed into rubble. Russia are the initial aggressors and they deserve condemnation, but as I've long said, the West does not care about Ukraine enough to support them, and whatever fighter jets and ammunitions that might be sent by the West will not result in the Ukrainians taking back their country. That isn't the goal anymore, they just want to go down fighting. I don't blame them.

The demands from Putin were clear from the beginning. If Zelenskyy wanted to concede, he probably should have done so before thousands of lives were lost. There is no going back. If he is able to survive a 10+ year war without having been killed in the process, good for him. The ones that will suffer are the Ukrainians who asked for none of this and are unable to flee the country,

He also believes Zelenskyy, a jew, is leader of some sort of Nazi regime. His justifications for invasion are mostly not logical. The only reason that makes any sense is he doesn't want a NATO affiliated country near his borders. Understandable, but not worthy of an invasion so he takes the "de-Nazification" approach instead.

What does Europe plan to do with all the refugees of Ukraine?

Total refugees nearing 1.5 million: https://www.wsj.com/articles/refugees-fleeing-ukraine-now-represent-biggest-movement-of-people-in-europe-since-world-war-ii-11646493910

IMO the sovereignty of any one nation lies within their borders, so it should remain an individual country's choice whether they choose to accept refugees. What's remarkable is Poland's acceptance of Ukrainian refugees, they certainly haven't felt the same about immigration when it's people from Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. Instead of accusing Poland of white supremacy, what logically applies here is the acceptance of western values and principles, and how that might pertain to a Ukrainian refugee versus a refugee of Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.

I recall this story, in which an Afghanistan refugee that was brought to the U.S. following its withdrawal was accused of sexually assaulting a 3 year old: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/afghan-refugee-convicted-assaulting-girl-quantico-82447258

He explained his actions as being acceptable in his culture (some culture, huh).

It would be nice to see more countries accept Ukrainians that are fleeing.

Quote from: SquallLeonhart on August 04, 2021, 07:01:36 PM

Quote from: King Khaizan on August 04, 2021, 02:03:35 PM

I think the simple reason for the downward trend in bitcoin prices that also affects other coins is because bitcoin is the mother of all coins.

and another reason is that Crypto Assets price volatility is mostly based on hype which often keeps interest high. The price drop can be affected by a post on social media and what other people in the Crypto Asset world are posting. In the area of Crypto Assets, news really has a significant influence on the situation in the market.

That is actually true for stock markets as well. You think stock markets dropped because of pandemic? It didn't really dropped for pandemic at all because many many companies made even profits during that same period, but it had a huge crash because people were afraid and sold their stocks.

I know that we do not really have any proof for this or any data, but we can clearly say that even if a company is doing amazingly, if people just want to sell then they can sell and drop the price, which means a company doing amazing business but dropping in stock price, rarely ever this would happen but it is definitely something possible. The difference is that news makes a lot more impact in crypto because regulations are very harsh and volume is very little which means that crypto could be moved like crazy without a problem at all.

The stock market crashed because of the lockdowns and the perceived loss of revenue. And most companies did lose revenue. Online e-commerce platforms like Amazon lucked out because they were able to resolve their supply chain issues and keep their platform running and so their profits came from that, and the fact that physical stores were shut down. Wasn't merely just a panic sell, but legitimate projections about the volume of business that would result from an economy that was artificially shut down.

Crypto can work the same way and the market is a monolithic, so if a crash occurs, every crypto goes down. That's not to say one cryptocurrency can operate independently of another, obviously many trash alt coins tank routinely.

Bitcoin has a strong correlation with the other global markets, so if war breaks out and causes uncertainty in the markets, the price decreases. That isn't supposed to be a bad thing necessarily, Bitcoin isn't a global currency as of yet so of course it would be influenced by wars in Eastern Europe breaking out. Though I'd say crypto is more resilient to the uncertainty of war because it doesn't rely on stability of government for it's function. Fortunately you saw a quick rebound after Russia's invasion.

It won't stop Russia, it will only make Putin more desperate which means more Ukrainian civilians will die. Sanctions don't target government, they target the people the government are supposed to represent. Russia's economy wasn't in great shape before so he really can't afford to start a war with Ukraine and not finish it, he's too far committed. Sanctions will go on and hurt both the Russian and Western economy while the war lasts a decade plus.

Quote from: countryfree on March 01, 2022, 10:35:22 PM

The biggest problem for Russians right now, is that if BTC remains possible, very few people are willing to exchange BTC for rubles. The Russian currency was already extremely difficult to exchange in most countries, it will be far worse now.

Bitcoin isn't viable right now in Russia, but the point of this post is that it accelerates the adoption of crypto because they remain immune from sanctions. USD is currently the dominant currency on the global market, but the Russians (and Chinese, for that matter) understand it takes almost nothing for the U.S. to freeze assets indefinitely, locking them out of billions without any form of recourse. Sure, the exchanges will be difficult for now, but 10 years down the line you could see massive adoption.

The U.S. are looking at Iran for oil, but it's not clear to me how natural gas will be replaced. There's a lot of infrastructure considerations involved. I think most countries are just going to have to deal with the high costs and hope the energy supply from Russia isn't curtailed any further. They might even use it as an initiative for green energy but that strategy won't impact anything short term.

Quote from: af_newbie on March 04, 2022, 09:29:56 PM

They refused to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

The no-fly zone isn't a binary issue. A no-fly zone is cause for escalation and I think the Biden administration was smart to toss the idea when it was floating around. The way I see it - the West has their reasons for not getting involved (frankly, they made it clear they don't care enough about Ukraine to bother to put it bluntly). The U.S. must meet its obligations to NATO and that's it. A no-fly zone means the potential of the U.S. or NATO affiliated countries shooting down Russian aircrafts. It would only cause things to spiral out of control and whatever propensities Putin has, combined with desperation and derangement, can be multiplied by 100 if a no-fly zone becomes enforced.

At least NATO is supplying arms to Ukraine. Granted, an untrained army with the type of weaponry being sent will provide diminished return, but it's at least something.

Quote from: Tash on March 04, 2022, 05:53:15 PM

Putin denies Russia bombing Ukrainian cities
https://insiderpaper.com/putin-denies-russia-bombing-ukrainian-cities/

Quote

Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz denied that Russian troops were bombing Ukrainian cities, dismissing such information as fake, the Kremlin said Friday.

Putin said reports about “the alleged ongoing air strikes of Kyiv and other large cities are gross propaganda fakes,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

He added that dialogue on Ukraine would be possible only if Russian demands are met.

Putin “confirmed that Russia is open to dialogue with the Ukrainian side, as well as with everyone who wants peace in Ukraine. But under the condition that all Russian demands are met,” the Kremlin said.

These include the neutral and non-nuclear status of Ukraine, its “denazification”, recognition of Crimea as part of Russia and of the “sovereignty” of separatist territories in eastern Ukraine.

“Hope was expressed that during the planned third round of talks, the representatives of Kyiv will take a reasonable and constructive position,” the Kremlin added.

The next meeting of delegations from Russia and Ukraine is expected during the weekend, according to one of Kyiv’s negotiators.

Thousands of dead civilians later and now Putin wants to use diplomacy. I guess he needed evidence that he was not bluffing. And who pays for it? Ukrainian civilians and the Russian people.

Also seems baffling how Putin is able to rationalize himself for the invasion of Ukraine. I suppose the juxtaposition of the Nazi regime of Volodymyr Zelenskyy is avoidable as long as Putin is able to produce a false reality for himself. Either Zelenskyy is a terrible Nazi, or he's a terrible Jew. Perhaps Putin believes he is both.

It never was supposed to. Bitcoin isn't accepted on the global market to the degree required that a country could dump a large amount in order to circumvent sanctions. To put this into context, Russia's National Wealth Fund dumped over a 100 billion dollars from their reserves of USD to swap it out with assets that would be more immune to U.S. sanctions (currency like Yuan). It wouldn't be possible at this stage for Russia to try and take USD reserves and convert them into Bitcoin, market isn't large enough.

Sanctions do accelerate Bitcoin adoption, though. Any country that chooses to do business with the U.S. understands that any holdings they have can be frozen depending on how the U.S. feels on that particular day. IMO sanctions are overused as a political tool.

Quote from: Abiky on February 28, 2022, 05:35:41 PM

Quote from: Vaculin on February 24, 2022, 08:00:05 PM

US has been very hostile to the idea of legalizing bitcoin ever since. But since this technology has been inevitable lately, just like other countries, so they want to take advantage and make benefits with bitcoin. Well, i cannot say they are literally late from this, as they also went through a process from banning bitcoin until they realized that banning won't stop bitcoin at all, so maybe its a good thing that they will start to regulate in instead. So let's see how well this turned out, and if they're open for accepting bitcoin as an alternative to US dollar in the future.

It would be a dumb idea to "reject" Bitcoin when other countries are opening up their arms to it. The US doesn't want to be left behind in the dust, so it will have no choice but to fully embrace "the revolution". My guess is that the US government will continue to introduce new regulations that will help legitimize the space within the country even further. But too much regulations will do more harm than good to the growth of Bitcoin within the region.

How friendly the US will be towards Bitcoin will greatly depend whenever people use it responsibly or all the other way around. The more people use Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies legitimately, the less opposition from the government will be. Who knows if Bitcoin gets to live alongside the "Digital Dollar" in the future? Just my thoughts Grin

Why would the U.S. want to embrace Bitcoin when their currency is turning more into dirt with every passing hour? Inflation for USD is at something like a 40 year high because of the gross negligence of politicians and their federal reserve. Hardly any regulation on Bitcoin is done in good faith, they want to stomp out its usage in order to save a dying currency. The U.S. financial sector does not need Bitcoin, though they would greatly benefit, so they don't mind being left behind in the dust. U.S. would much rather take early action and regulate Bitcoin severely before it has any chance at becoming a competitor of USD.

Quote from: LTU_btc on March 03, 2022, 11:41:21 PM

Quote from: Gyfts on March 03, 2022, 07:34:56 PM

They're no longer surviving, they pose no resistance to the Russian army. Just looking at some of the aftermath from the Russian shelling tells you this is over, Ukraine does not have enough military power to fight the Russians, period. The USA hasn't provided any help, just some kind hearted tweets.

Also notice how Putin is targeting civilian areas in his assault - he didn't expect so much resistance, both in war and in the propaganda efforts, so he became desperate and began bombing civilian buildings. Safe to say Ukraine is gone.

You contradicting yourself - first you say that they pose no resistance and then that Putin didn't expected so much resistance. I don't know from where you're getting news, but telling that Ukraine army don't resist is complete nonsense.
''Safe to say that Ukraine is gone'' - you killed whole nation by making such sentence. Be careful by making such bald statements.
But I agree that USA didn't gave significant help. Even from sanctions for Russia perspective - sanctions that they imposed is such soft compared with what EU countries have done.

Let me clarify - They pose resistance through non-voluntary compliance. Meaning, they are not succumbing to Putin without fighting. But, that does pose any real or significant deterrence that would cause Putin to withdraw his troops. So their resistance is unsuccessful.

The only way to overcome the Russian military would be a sizeable army and modern weapons, and Ukraine doesn't have that. I'm seeing steady streams of info celebrating that Ukraine is able to fend the Russian army simultaneously as Russia announces they've captured regions and the city of Kherson.

Someone has to be wrong, I think it's probably the Ukrainians.

Quote from: The Pharmacist on March 03, 2022, 09:05:27 PM

Quote from: tyz on March 02, 2022, 10:23:22 AM

I think it will depend a lot on how the war turns out. At the moment it looks like Russia will win sooner or later and place a puppet government, similar to the one in Belarus.

I'm not sure puppet governments are ever good, but we'll have to see how this whole thing turns out. I do think both countries are going to get hit economically by the invasion (especially Russia, and we're already seeing that with the ruble being devalued), which just makes me wonder even more what Putin was thinking in doing what he's doing.

The radio was saying today that one ruble is worth $0.01 or something like that. I haven't checked the history of the USD/Ruble value, but I'm assuming that the ruble is worth a lot less today than it was prior to the invasion of Ukraine. Whatever Putin gains from this, it's sure going to cost the citizens of Russia a lot if there's serious inflation that arises in the near future. Again I say, what a mess this is.

Well, Ukraine was a puppet government for the West, as unpopular as that idea may be. The Ukrainian government was heavily influenced by the West with anti-Russian pressure. So we only consider puppet governments to be good when it benefits the interest of a country or group of countries. I don't consider puppet governments a bad thing, as long as they embrace western values/capitalism - a Putin installed puppet would be a pseudo-democracy and Russian proxy.

As far as inflation goes, ruble was already leaning towards being worthless because of how fragile the Russian economy was pre-invasion. Putin needs Ukraine because he prepaid for the war and his gamble must pay off.

Not only Africans but Indians are also having some trouble leaving Ukraine, prompted PM Modi to give a call to Putin in order to navigate how Russian troops will handle the Indians that are trying to get back home. India also happened to abstain from voting to condemn Russia's invasion, certainly not a coincidence.

Anyways, this is Putin's fault for causing the crisis in the first place. I wouldn't think there is racial animus involved here, just a chaotic scene with priority given to Ukrainians first.