Can't agree more. Spam Link deleted, spammer bannedHTRN wrote: ↑Fri Feb 25, 2022 6:38 pmBecause the Ukraine is an unstable kleptocracy run by a strongman who disappears his political opponents, masquerading as a democracy. Basically a smaller, more corrupt version of Russia. If we had left them nukes, they'd wind up in the hands of a non state actor.blackeagle603 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 25, 2022 5:40 pm ...and we talked the Ukranians out of holding their nukes not so long ago. Because why? Trust us?
Don't get me wrong, Russia is clearly the aggressor here, but like Georgia, and Crimea, it's a case of replacing rule by autocrat, with rule by autocrat 1500 miles away.
Frankly, the fact that Poland, and Estonia came out of the Warsaw pact years with functional government(Poland I attribute to the Catholic church and Lech Walesa, Estonia came from a long history of opposing the Soviets and having a government in exile not run by criminals), is something of a minor miracle.
Ukraine invasion
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Monportlaser
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Re: Ukraine invasion
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BDK
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Re: Ukraine invasion
Piping NG is expensive, as well.
Oilmen aren’t stupid. They didn’t build those LNG facilities because maritime shipping wouldn’t be cost competitive.
Oilmen aren’t stupid. They didn’t build those LNG facilities because maritime shipping wouldn’t be cost competitive.
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HTRN
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Re: Ukraine invasion
https://tradingeconomics.com/country-li ... ent=europe
Take note on who is at the bottom of the list.
Take note on who is at the bottom of the list.
HTRN, I would tell you that you are an evil fucker, but you probably get that a lot ~ Netpackrat
Describing what HTRN does as "antics" is like describing the wreck of the Titanic as "a minor boating incident" ~ First Shirt
Describing what HTRN does as "antics" is like describing the wreck of the Titanic as "a minor boating incident" ~ First Shirt
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blackeagle603
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Re: Ukraine invasion
ok that's a pretty unexpected ranking. Not inclined to take it at face value but not in a spot to dig into how that list was calculated and who is on "the masthead" for that site and chart.
"The Guncounter: More fun than a barrel of tattooed knife-fighting chain-smoking monkey butlers with drinking problems and excessive gambling debts!"
"The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic;" Justice Story
"The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic;" Justice Story
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blackeagle603
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Re: Ukraine invasion
A product of Transparency International which is spawn of The World Bank. Do what you will with that info.
wiki
wiki
"The Guncounter: More fun than a barrel of tattooed knife-fighting chain-smoking monkey butlers with drinking problems and excessive gambling debts!"
"The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic;" Justice Story
"The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic;" Justice Story
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blackeagle603
- Posts: 9783
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Re: Ukraine invasion
A product of Transparency International which is spawn of The World Bank. Do what you will with that info.
wiki
wiki
Controversies
According to the newspaper Le Monde: "In its main surveys, Transparency International does not measure the weight of corruption in economic terms for each country. It develops a Corruption Perception Index (CPI) based on surveys conducted by private structures or other NGOs: the Economist Intelligence Unit, backed by the British liberal weekly newspaper The Economist, the American neoconservative organization Freedom House, the World Economic Forum, or large corporations. (...) The IPC ignores corruption cases that concern the business world. So, the collapse of Lehman Brothers (2008) or the manipulation of the money market reference rate (Libor) by major British banks revealed in 2011 did not affect the ratings of the United States or United Kingdom." The organization also receives funding from companies that are themselves convicted of corruption offences.[39] CPI's reliance on opinions of a relatively small group of experts and businesspeople, has been criticised by some. Alex Cobham, fellow at the Center for Global Development, states that it "embeds a powerful and misleading elite bias in popular perceptions of corruption". Others argue it is not plausible to ever measure the true scale and depth of a highly complex issue like corruption with a single number, and then rank countries accordingly.[40]
"The Guncounter: More fun than a barrel of tattooed knife-fighting chain-smoking monkey butlers with drinking problems and excessive gambling debts!"
"The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic;" Justice Story
"The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of a republic;" Justice Story
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HTRN
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Re: Ukraine invasion
Just because a burglar yells "fire", doesn't mean your house isn't burning down - Zelinsky somehow managed to accrue a nearly half BILLION dollar fortune in only a single term as President. Meanwhile, Pelosi, one of the most egregious members of Congress took 3 decades to get a 130million.
HTRN, I would tell you that you are an evil fucker, but you probably get that a lot ~ Netpackrat
Describing what HTRN does as "antics" is like describing the wreck of the Titanic as "a minor boating incident" ~ First Shirt
Describing what HTRN does as "antics" is like describing the wreck of the Titanic as "a minor boating incident" ~ First Shirt
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randy
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Re: Ukraine invasion
Well, if you gotta have a corrupt politician, I believe I'd rather have Zelinsky than Pelosi.HTRN wrote: ↑Sat May 14, 2022 7:10 pm Just because a burglar yells "fire", doesn't mean your house isn't burning down - Zelinsky somehow managed to accrue a nearly half BILLION dollar fortune in only a single term as President. Meanwhile, Pelosi, one of the most egregious members of Congress took 3 decades to get a 130million.
Of course, I'm not sure anymore that there's any such thing as a non-corrupt politician.
...even before I read MHI, my response to seeing a poster for the stars of the latest Twilight movies was "I see 2 targets and a collaborator".
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HTRN
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Re: Ukraine invasion
They do seem to be the exception, rather than the rule.
HTRN, I would tell you that you are an evil fucker, but you probably get that a lot ~ Netpackrat
Describing what HTRN does as "antics" is like describing the wreck of the Titanic as "a minor boating incident" ~ First Shirt
Describing what HTRN does as "antics" is like describing the wreck of the Titanic as "a minor boating incident" ~ First Shirt
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Vonz90
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Re: Ukraine invasion
I don't know that it is all that unexpected. They had the same as type on institutions as Russia at the breakup. So similar results would be common.blackeagle603 wrote: ↑Sat May 14, 2022 6:50 pm ok that's a pretty unexpected ranking. Not inclined to take it at face value but not in a spot to dig into how that list was calculated and who is on "the masthead" for that site and chart.
They have at least made some noises about improvement, and not necessarily helped by us. If you recall, VP Biden was instrumental in getting the prosecutor fired that was looking into the company Hunter was working for.
The corruption angle informs how we help and what we should expect from that help. If we should help or not is a larger geopolitical question.