A global hello, the north sea is hurting bad. Russia's energy firms aren't feeling the same pain, and they will weather the cheap oil storm better than their international peers.
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ISIL, ISIS, Daesh discussion thread.
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A global hello, the north sea is hurting bad. Russia's energy firms aren't feeling the same pain, and they will weather the cheap oil storm better than their international peers.
Whistle blowers command a lot of respect, they put their careers and sometimes freedom on the line for what they think is morally right. NHS, armed services or Snowden; they're an important part of a democracy to bring attention to corruption, incompetence and law breaking within government or its institutions.
Snowden and Greenwald are not liars, the only damage they have done is to the individuals in power who commit the crimes, zero proof of damage to "national security". They can be locked away for petty technicalities, laws which have been made to protect criminal behavior and deter whistle blowers, but the behavior they have exposed is far more damaging than the act of exposing it. Putin would lock these men away, 'nuff said.
The UK government doesn't need $100 dollar oil to balance its books. Russia's does
Most of the information Snowden downloaded hasn't been published - it'd be illegal to do so. The information contains details about tactics, capabilities, logistics etc. IMO it's not coincidence that since Snowden we've seen Russia confident enough to invade other countries and throwing its weight around on the international stage.
The reason the Blackburn case is relevant is because he was caught thanks to the surveillance mechanisms that Greenwald and Snowden would putatively castigate us for using.
Spoken like a true outsiderUkraine is far from small (biggest country wholely in Europe) and far from powerless (biggest army wholely in Europe). The bear has accomplished the halt of EU expansion to her boarders.
Ukraine is a bankrupt, underdeveloped country with no regional/global influence and zero allies. It's a ****hole by any standard... wealth, gdp, level of happiness, crime, you name it. That's what Russia partially 'conquered', along with that other bastion of power, Georgia. Pathetic. Land mass means bugger all, Russia's the largest country in the world and its economy is smaller than Italy's.
The Russians are indeed used to taking rubbish from their leaders but, as the Soviet's or the Tzar's fall proved, there a limit to how much people will take. I think Russians care for the well being of their loved ones, they care for peace and prosperity, just like everyone else. When your economy is shrinking at 2% per year, when the public discourse is dominated by hate against other nations, sexual minorities and political opposition, stability is an illusion. It's the same stability Syria used to enjoy..
The UK government doesn't need $100 dollar oil to balance its books. Russia's does
Russia's tax rate on producers shifts lower as the price of oil falls and most of the oil companies' expenses are in rubles, these factors largely offset any negative impact from oil prices.
It's good that Russia saved EU citizens from this bankrupted, underdeveloped country from getting closer to the EU. EU already has too many of them. You said about small countries, Ukraine is not small when it's the biggest in Europe. Being well in Russia is a lot lower than in the west, they are used to roughing it (minus the children of New Russians). Even lower working class own their own homes in Russia and have their own land to grow what they need to eat. Russia has always had a dislike of other nations. As for sexual minorities, you are projecting European views on a non European people, hating gays in Russia is as normal as hating pedos in the west, of course noisy minority groups in both countries want to liberate them both.
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Doesn't that also apply to Iraq? We were happy to go conquer them with dubious legitimacy. That was just as one sided if not more.
Let's be honest. If Russia had gone into Iraq using the same premise we did, there would be condemnation of Russia from just about everyone.
War on the soil of Europe can never be good, what a ridiculous statement. Ukraine has a small economy and influence, i've explained this already. Owning a home means nothing if it doesn't provide comfortable living and Russia imports almost half of its food so your assertion that they grow what they need is laughable. Respecting other human beings is not a European value its an universal one and Russians do not have an alternative set of values they are simply backward.
One of the reasons being traditional lack of access to warm water ports. The way the west is isolating Russia though and the US poking at them concerns me - as can be seen with for instance Japan - a mixture of starving them of resources, their own shortages combined with a passive aggressive approach towards them eventually tends to lead to war - there is only so much you can poke a bear Russian or otherwise.
They are already taking a fairly militant approach towards their expansion into resource rich Arctic territories.
A home means everything and in Russia they are comfortable and cheap to run (gas is £4 a month in winter at todays prices on 24/7 at 25c). Of course half of the food in Russia is imported, would be pretty hard to grow bananas and pineapples there. Every day food is grown in the most fertile soil in the world. Every home in Russia I been to has a room or cellar packed full of their own produce.
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Yeah for the producers. Not for the government it doesn't!
Soldato
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It's good to see that someone is finally taking action against ISIL.
Hopefully this will be the end of them.
But what was the early fears I remember hearing about that Russia weren't actually targeting ISIL at all?
However, think of it like an ant colony. What happens when you stamp on the ant nest? The little critters scatter and rather than having them in one location you now got them spread out over a larger area.
This is the problem with Islamic extremism. You cant actually defeat an opponent that is as much ideological as it is physical.
Hopefully this will be the end of them.
But what was the early fears I remember hearing about that Russia weren't actually targeting ISIL at all?
However, think of it like an ant colony. What happens when you stamp on the ant nest? The little critters scatter and rather than having them in one location you now got them spread out over a larger area.
This is the problem with Islamic extremism. You cant actually defeat an opponent that is as much ideological as it is physical.
I think what he meant was it's ludicrous to suggest 'someone is finally doing something' after Russia did 20 strikes, considering the West has done thousands through the year.
The Iraq invasion was not legitimate, sometimes the democractic process leads to mistakes. That being said, major combat operations ended after 3 weeks with minimal casualties for the US and its allies. In comparison, Russia suffered ~2000 casulties in just a few months in Ukraine and only managed to occupy two small regions of the country.
Are you trolling? The male life expectancy in Russia is 67 years, lower than some African countries, it's Ranked #122 of 151 in the Happiness Index and #136 of 151 in the Corruption Index. Your anectodal evidence means nothing.
our casualties were so low cause we pretty much levelled the country before we went in.
Russia did not.
That's right but while the Russian government is losing tax, Britain is losing tax AND the industry itself, while Russia will increase production this year.
I'm always trolling for you when I say something you don't like. Life is much harder in Russia but they are stronger for it by not being wrapped in cotton wool as I been saying. Corruption is apart of Russian culture and not such a taboo as in the west and most of them time it is very helpful, for example my wife should be registered at the hospital 1 hours drive away but because of corruption she has the hospital 10 mins away.
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Ah. Obvious bias is obvious.