Russia is on the brink of total collapse , its economy and the rouble have CRASHED

So what does this mean for me?

It's the Olympic curse

Is no problem. I have American Express Black card.

Order for 12 iPhone cases mit pink diamonds? Da. I want to change to 6 iPhone cases mit regular diamonds. My husband pay.

It's gone crazy. Economic warfare, eh? I suppose it's better than nukes.

I had thought this was all an energy war but now I'm thinking it's actually a currency war. Russia look to be losing bad - but they are buying gold like crazy (more than 50% of world purchases over the last few months) and all their recent deals (China, Turkey, etc) are either denominated in roubles or remninbi or are barter. That's an attack on the petrodollar, right? And the petrodollar is what's keeping America's indebted economy going.

Either way, it's the usual tactic from both sides. Russia goes for short term pain and the long game; the US goes for short term gain and kick any possible fallout into the long grass.

Haha. Karmic payback for their invasions and anti-gay politics. Fuck 'em.

Can someone seriously explain how it that oil prices are falling?

Did a new reservoir open up somewhere or is this a market configuration thing?

What keep them from falling years ago?

OP is a rouble rouser.

This should be an interesting winter for Europe. Putin put an embargo on oil and gas exports due to the conflict in the Ukraine. Lower revenues and a collapsed ruble should be fun for Putin, if only because it might shine the light on his money grabs, the profits of which he stashed outside of Russia.

Russia's collapse means we can gets their mens dicks for sex real cheap. They will take our money to do nasty sexual things with us. Or do anal for food. Stuff like that. I'm all for rouble collapse.

Sure, the older Russians are used to getting by on a turnip and a game of cards around a candle in the evenings. But, the younger, middle class Russians who have grown up with iPhones and foreign trips to London and the same sneakers as kids in the West , they are NOT going to adjust well to being hurled back into Cold War Soviet style living conditions. I expect rioting, soon.

R7, I think the Saudis and Obama did a deal to artificially drop oil prices, to fuck Putin.

Roubles? What about paysos and franks?

[Can someone seriously explain how it that oil prices are falling?]

World wide demand is down due to economic slowdowns in Europe and China, as is US consumption. Also The US is producing more oil than it ever has thanks to the fields in North Dakota.

At the same time, the Saudis refused to cut production at the last OPEC meeting, so right now there's a glut on the market.

Thanks r14.

Assholes deserve it. What a pathetic nation.

[quote]Did a new reservoir open up somewhere or is this a market configuration thing?

Fracking, my dear. The US has become an oil exporting nation.

karma's a bitch

Ah, yes. Fracking.

And Oklahoma is now earthquake central of the world.

But hey, whatever works.

I hope this ends badly for Putin but he seems to be invincible in the eyes of most of Russia.

Does that mean Eddie Snowden or his stripper pole dancing girlfriend will have to turn tricks or sell their organs?

DL fave Pavel Petel tweets his reaction:

'PHOTO: ME ...'

Why do you think oil prices came down? Wasn't to help us out, it's pay back for the Ukraine and Putin being a giant douche. We also just preempted any Russian relationship with Cuba, by making friends with Cuba after 50 years.

Putin is such a thug. I really don't think he's any better than Stalin.

I'm willing to be 20 years from now we'll find out how many people were spirited away in his political maneuvers.

[quote] OP is a rouble rouser.

R8 for W&W!

[quote] And Oklahoma is now earthquake central of the world.

Isn't it flat there anyway?

Putin endlessly and needlessly provoked his peers -- even a stolid unemotional type like Angela Merkel is sick of him. He is without allies and not trusted by anyone. China is taking advantage of his weakness in their new pipeline deal. I feel sorry for the Russian people but this creep brought grief upon himself.

They can just burn all of that gay propaganda they're so inundated with to keep warm.

R27 for WW

R13 rouble is often used in the UK as a transliteration. I think it's the OED's preferred, actually.

So what did the US promise to the Saudis in order to make oil prices plummet in their bid to crush the Russian economy and get Putin out of power?

All those unaccounted for nuclear devices? In a country filing chapter 11?

Glad I have that safe room in the basement.

Told you so.

Oil production increased when the U.S. told its allies to increase production. This was done to punish Russia for annexing the Crimea, moving tanks into Ukraine and shooting down passenger airliners.

We wanted Ukraine in NATO. It was a pipe dream, but when Russia cracked down so harshly and threatened European oil supply, we got really pissed.

The low gas prices we are seeing are directly a result of policy to induce a severe recession in Russia. Increasing oil supply outside of Russia = glut of oil on the market = reduced gas prices = recession in Russia, which relies heavily on oil exporting.

How's that feel, Mr Tough Guy Putin? Your citizens are panicking. And the US really IS behind it all.

[quote] So what did the US promise to the Saudis in order to make oil prices plummet

What we always promise them. Weapons.

Interesting that the US has collaborated with the Saudi's? I am not sure the Energy sector would allow it. At a certain point fracking becomes too expensive based on the price of oil, same with the Alberta oil sands. A major sector of the economy will also fall along with it, but it is good for consumers except in oil rich states.

Is this Obama's chess game?? Fuck Putin, checkmate bitch.

Except the guy is crazy and he would probably start another war over this.

My father's family owns hundreds of acres of farm land in south Louisiana. They've owned it for many generations. For the first time ever, all of them signed oil and gas leases one week ago (after the plunge in oil prices) with a huge international petroleum company. They have had parts of their land leased to oil companies in the past but they have never had ALL of their land leased for drilling.

The oil companies know something we don't.

Russia spent $50 billion on them Winter Olympics.

In 2010 we sold the Saudis $60B in weapons. Last year, we sold them another $10.8 B. Do the Saudis need all these weapons? Only against us. It's an insurance policy so that the U.S. won't invade. They'll probably buy $40-100B after this. Our congress needs to ok these sales, so the carrot we dangle in front of the Saudis is to tell them our congress will push the weapons bill through committees and into law.

Sure, a lot of this is due directly or indirectly to US influence, but don't discount how much Putin fucked himself and the country over and investors' confidence in the economy with his cronyism and political vendettas.

From a Times article on the subject:

"While a weak currency generally invites investment over the long run, foreign investors have grown leery of the Russian market because of the culture of crony capitalism surrounding Mr. Putin and his inner circle, and the perception that they bend the rules to suit their purposes. Aleksei L. Kudrin, a former finance minister who has been mentioned as a possible new prime minister to address the crisis, wrote on Twitter that “the fall of the ruble and the stock market is not just a reaction to the low price of oil and to sanctions, but also due to a lack of confidence in the government’s economic policy.”

He specifically singled out recent financial machinations surrounding Rosneft, the oil giant run by Igor I. Sechin, a former Soviet intelligence agent like Mr. Putin and one of the president’s closest friends.

With Rosneft unable to refinance debt because of Western sanctions restricting business with Russia, it turned to the central bank, which agreed to an opaque deal that, to the markets, appeared as if the central bank had simply printed rubles to prop up the company. The ruble’s slide, Mr. Kudrin said, began after the deal was announced."

In short: why rely on the US to screw things up when Putin's perfectly capable of doing such a great job of it himself?

Remember when Russia started attacking Ukraine, and the wingnuts went crazy here with [bold]"OMG Obama's weak Putin's walking all over him they'll destroy us!"[/bold]

Just another case of conservatives being absolutely, totally, 150% wrong about, well, everything.

Putin is living on borrowed time. Politicians in their 3rd term become arrogant, disconnected and utterly corrupt. The few politicians in the US that had a 3rd term, either left office shamed or deeply unpopular. People hated Major Bloomberg by the end of the end of his 3rd term, former Gov. Roland of CT got brought down by corruption charges in his 3rd term, even FDR had amassed quite a few enemies by his 3rd term. A wise politician knows when it is time to bow out. Putin was smart to remove himself for a term and let his puppet Mendev act as President, but he really miscalculated by reinstalling himself as Emperor. If he is forced out, one wonders where he could flee to? Cuba is out with the US now normalizing relations, I also don't think any of the former Soviet Republics like Ukraine would take him either. If Switzerland is smart they will freeze all of his funds that he and his cronies embezzled from the Olympics and deny him asylum. I wouldn't be surprised if the US state dept was working on a deal with the Swiss as we speak to ensure that happens. On a completely irrelevant note, if Putin does loose power, will Bob Craft ever see his Superbowl ring again that Putin pocketed.

[quote]We also just preempted any Russian relationship with Cuba, by making friends with Cuba after 50 years.

Ah ha, that makes sense now. We're taking all his friends away. This feels like Jr. High.

Oil prices have fallen because the Saudi government is over producing in an effort to drive small time producers out of the market. The price will eventually go back up.

Iran and Russia need oil prices over 100 a barrel just to break even.

All the macho talk from Putin and his penis is now wilted and his chest is sunken. The American right loved him for disrespecting Obama. I guess Putin sure showed Obama, huh?

If you buy Russian vodka you are the problem.

[quote] Russia look to be losing bad - but they are buying gold like crazy (more than 50% of world purchases over the last few months)

They probably bought it at deflated prices from all of those dumb shit freepers who pay attention and believe the commercial advertisements on Rush Limbaugh's program.

[quote] The price will eventually go back up.

That's a given. But we're going to crash Russia and fuck up their banks first.

Don't forget Venezuela, R22. Their economy is shit and they weren't able to prop Cuba up as they had during Chavez's rule.

[quote]Politicians in their 3rd term become arrogant, disconnected and utterly corrupt.

Yeah hardly any US Senators or Representatives serve 3+ terms

Hey Putin! See what happens when you mess with the gays?

[quote]The few politicians in the US that had a 3rd term, either left office shamed or deeply unpopular.

R41, ever heard of FDR?

[quote] In short: why rely on the US to screw things up when Putin's perfectly capable of doing such a great job of it himself?

We and our allies are the cherry atop Putin's shit sundae.

[quote] Interesting that the US has collaborated with the Saudi's?

They are our ally. Just like Pakistan. Sure, they'd love to make us disappear, but as they say, politics makes for strange bedfellows. This was a political move that will ultimately benefit them. Go along with the US, get weapons. Prevent their own countrymen and foreigners from ever invading them. Oil prices will go back up again once Russia goes through a period of chaos that ultimately sees Putin dumped.

You people know little about economy and less about what happened.

Do you realize that in the Ukraine they legally elected a government. Then when that government sought closer relations with Russia, the West, it was the WEST that supported the overthrow of a legitimately elected government?

As for the Crimea? That was part of Russia for much longer than it was ever in the Ukraine. It was taken by Joseph Stalin, a Georgia and taken away from Russia after WWII and given to the Ukraine.

Remember how the West took Kosovo which was always Serbian or Ottoman and the West allowed it to become independent. Everyone even Kosovans admit the nation isn't viable as an independent state. It's full of corrupt politicians and is a center for smuggling and drugs in Europe.

Yet because the USA says it's OK, you all think Russia is the bad guy? You said nothing when NATO bombed Serbia and forced it to give up its territory.

You all are a bunch of idiots.

What collapse? I still can see Russia from my home.

Obama has crashed the Russian economy, and he did it methodically and calmly, minus any chest-beating pronouncements.

Putin must be regretting arming and training those Ukrainian hillbillies in the use of that rocket launcher, right now.

When they brought down that plane, that was it. Putin is on borrowed time. The problem is, who will replace him. The country is a gangster state, hopped up on anti-Western rhetoric and a siege mentality.

Most of Russia's most problematic leaders have had names ending with "in."

We know all of those things, R52 We were trying to overthrow the Ukrainian government and install a friendlier guy. In case you hadn't noticed, Russia released the hacked phone calls of Americans who were involved.

Western Ukrainians want to be a part of Europe. Russia always transports ethnic Russians into its republics. They sent Russians into eastern Ukraine under Stalin to take over the farms of Ukrainians that Stalin had deported or murdered. That wasn't very nice of Russia, was it?

It was an attempt to get more power for western Ukrainians but it didn't work. Eastern Russians in Ukraine backed Putin. Putin cracked down hard. He moved tanks into Ukraine after we warned him not to do it and he had a passenger airliner shot down for the fuck of it. Just to scare people and show what a mean SOB he is. He also threatened to cut off oil to Europe. Don't mess with Vlad.

Well, we're messing with Vlad.

Western Ukrainians don't want to be a part of the Russian confederation. We always move in to help out anti-Russian groups. It's a politically favourable thing to do, helping out the enemy of our enemy. We'll continue to do it. Russia had its chance to become a part of the west and blew it.

So how's the pay working for RT, R52? I've always wondered how much it costs to sell your soul.

I have to say that this is brilliant political engineering on Obama's part. We punish Putin and Russia by depressing the price of oil and keep it depressed stimulating the US economy into recovery benefiting Hillary for 16 and by keeping the price of oil at $55 or lower, Obama is able to sign the Keystone deal knowing that it will never become a reality with $50 or even $75 dollar oil. The Canadian tar sands become economically unfeasible when oil is so cheap, so he gets a win on the environment through 'market forces'. Plus the world is finally getting on board to agree to CO2 cuts, so the tar sands will be dead anyway if not due to market forces then global carbon reduction mandates.

To R44 that mentioned gold as a hedge for Russia, that option is out as well, as US and Asian central banks have been artificially depressing the price of gold to strengthen the dollar for some time. The only option Russian billionaires or Putin have is real estate in the US (NYC high rises), or Bitcoin the anonymous crypto-currency which has fluctuated inversely to gold but has also been loosing value of late as well (the US gov has some leverage to manipulate the price of Bitcoin with its glut of bitcoins seized from Silk Road operations that it can dump on the market when it feel like doing so). Russia is cornered economically. The only card they hold is the nuclear threat.

[quote]Obama is able to sign the Keystone deal knowing that it will never become a reality with $50 or even $75 dollar oil.

How is that a political win if he's on record as having signed it? The bills and acts that he signs are what his legacy is going to be about.

If he did this to subvert his own deal— well that might be machiavellian but I don't think it's going to show up in the wash as "a win".

it's a distinct possibility

He took his time to warm up to his grand finale, but here it is. Obama's reputation as a great President is sealed.

'The only card they hold is the nuclear threat.'

And this is the problem. Putin is an aggressive, belligerent son of a bitch. The Russians have been flying into Finnish airspace recently.

As well as sending a submarine into Finnish waters...

One of their military planes almost collided with an airline over Norway because the Russians turned off their transponder.

Now would be a great time for the world to start a boycott of Russian vodka.

That was Sweden, R63.

Russia Today are reporting that if the rouble does not stabilise, the next option is the 'nuclear option' (it's pretty alarming that RT has chosen to use that wording..)

'“The next option, and sort of the nuclear option in finance, is to impose capital controls. That would be any combination of withdrawal limits on the amount of money people can take from their bank accounts, transfer limits of how much people can convert into other currencies, and how much people can send abroad,” Yuval Weber, Associate Professor of Economics and International Affairs at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, told RT.'

The Russians are infringing lots of European air space at the moment, then lying and saying they're not.

[quote] '“The next option, and sort of the nuclear option in finance, is to impose capital controls. That would be any combination of withdrawal limits on the amount of money people can take from their bank accounts, transfer limits of how much people can convert into other currencies, and how much people can send abroad,” Yuval Weber, Associate Professor of Economics and International Affairs at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, told RT.'

They hold call this the South Africa option, as this was policy for years in ZA. I'm not even sure if it's still the policy there.

That ugly fuck Pukin deserves to be annihilated. Great news.

They may be obsessed with nukes, r67, and that infests their general vocabulary, but I think he meant if the rouble keeps falling like this the government may have to impose the extreme option of capital controls.

What are you doing watching that bullshit RT for anyway.

My poor old pal Pooty Poot.

Russia will never "collapse" in the way OP suggests.

Putin will hide from public sight...eschewing his shirtless, horseback days in favor of a sporty caftan and sensible shoes.

It WILL get rid of Putin.

Just wanted to see how this was being played on the 'mouthpiece of the State', R71.

Never visited that site before in fact and it's alarming. One home page story is devoted to a test launch of a new nuclear missile that can be launched form one of their subs. That make of sub can hold 16 of these missiles, one of which is enough to 'level a city'.

Putin is a threat to world stability and I hope his ex-KGB 'pals' decide to assassinate him and instal some more moderate stooge, one who would keep the crony capitalist system there ticking along quietly in the interests of the oligarchs and the emerging Russian middle class entrepreneurs.

The world has medicined Russia. Putin is going to feel like a brain tumor is a birthday present.

I don't know nuthin bout the rouble, Miss Scarlettskya, by I sho does believe the RUBLES is bout to come a crashin.

Putin is an unstable bully and needs to br quashed. But how without going to war?

You mess with the Friends of Dorothy, and the financial house will drop on you and we'll turn your currency into ruble red slippers.

I thought Russia was empty because every Russian lives in my neighborhood.

I would say good but I know this will mean it only gets worse for gay people there not only because of the economic conditions but also because heterosexuals will look to vent their frustrations out on gay people.

OK, so we get rid of Putin. Now, who is he replaced by? Any names come to mind? Anyone? Be careful what you wish for with Russia, the next guy might make Putin seem rational and moderate.

Besides, to steal a line from Game of Thrones, winter is coming, and Putin controls the natural gas supply to Europe. One turn of the valve and Germany is freezing. What happens then?

Fuck with the USA and Europe, he'll be looking at cities of slag

[quote] One turn of the valve and Germany is freezing. What happens then?

Putin can't afford to turn off that valve.

And we've got plenty of oil and gas for Europe. That's why we all did this. To tell Putin to shove it up his ass. We and our allies increased production, let prices fall, squeezed Putin economically and will still get oil and gas to Europe.

[quote]One turn of the valve and Germany is freezing.

What valve? And, why would Germany be freezing?

The whole idea that Putin is some kind of superman who has the power to decide that this country will have no energy or that country will be punished with the snap of his fingers is bullshit.

Honey, Germany isn't dependent on Russia for shit. Putin played his cards very, very badly.

Not sure if anyone has mentioned China yet. The Chinese economy is also slowing down and reduced industrial activity there has meant the Chinese have been buying less oil. Hence, the oil glut.

Doesn't germany produce more solar energy than any other euro country? I bet they ramp that up to stick it to old Vlad. I lived in Germany one year and the one thing they hated were Russians. LOVED making fun of them.

I want to see them having to go back and start eating the dead again just like during the Soviet era.

These people do have nukes.

So do we.

We are not exporting oil and gas to Europe yet. That won't be an option for a couple of years.

Hasn't it been illegal for the U.S. to export oil?

But our allies can export oil.

Rubies will retain their inherent value.

When did rubles become "roubles"? I traveled to Russia whrn they were still rubles.

R94

Well, Russia doesn't use the Latin alphabet so rouble/ruble wouldn't matter when you are actually there. It's just a UK/US difference in transliteration is all.

I know how to write ruble in Russian. I took Russian for 4 years.

The "o" in rouble is unnecessary. It doesn't make it sound any more Russian.

Putin is more popular than ever in Russia. He's like GW Bush. The more he fucks up royally on the world stage, the more the homegrown idiots love him.

Just like Greece was, and Iceland was and Ireland was...Oh wait they're OK, just like the Euro was on the verge of collapse, even as more and more European nations adopted it.

This is even better than a grease fire.

[quote]I thought Russia was empty because every Russian lives in my neighborhood.

They've taken over Philadelphia and even Camden. I wish that they would leave.

Russia has always been a sad place...I'm surprised that they continue having children.

I don't like most Russians I meet and there are many here. They seem like a cold and calculating people.

They have horrible body oder...even the women.

Russia needs Mitt Romney to pull them out of their economic dilemma.

Russia warns it’s coming for the Arctic’s oil, including an area Canada claims as its own

The people still believe in Putin. He's placing all the blame on the U.S. for the condition of their economy.

He's virtually got the Ukraine locked and you obviously don't know that western Europe gets a ton of oil from Russia. Ever heard of Siberia? Helluva lot closer and no saber rattling necessary.

If he feels he's in a corner, he could do something crazy

Putin waited to sign a oil deal with China because he thought the Chinese were low-balling. Then Western Europe turned their back on Russia and forced him to sign an even worse oil deal with China which practically gives it away. The guy has turned Russia to shit.

[quote] You people know little about economy and less about what happened.

Do you realize that in the Ukraine they legally elected a government. Then when that government sought closer relations with Russia, the West, it was the WEST that supported the overthrow of a legitimately elected government?

The president, it can be argued, was overthrown. However, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, was not overthrown.

[quote] As for the Crimea? That was part of Russia for much longer than it was ever in the Ukraine. It was taken by Joseph Stalin, a Georgia and taken away from Russia after WWII and given to the Ukraine.

Nope. It was "given" to Ukraine in 1954, on the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Pereislav, By Khrushchev.

BTW, Ukrainian lands in Kuban were given to Russia, so it all evened out.

Being a Ukrainian republic made more sense for Crimea, as it is connected to Ukraine, and gets most of its water from Ukraine.

[quote] Remember how the West took Kosovo which was always Serbian or Ottoman and the West allowed it to become independent. Everyone even Kosovans admit the nation isn't viable as an independent state. It's full of corrupt politicians and is a center for smuggling and drugs in Europe.

Yet because the USA says it's OK, you all think Russia is the bad guy? You said nothing when NATO bombed Serbia and forced it to give up its territory.

I wasn't posting here, but I always opposed the actions in Kosovo. However, to assume the US was behind Euromaidan is uninformed. It is also Kremin propaganda.

Is good.

Now you have glass of best Russian vodka.

Putin's year-end address is coming up in 30 minutes. Here's the trailer. Yes, there's a trailer.

Here is a diagram/photo of their new super-submarine of which they have ordered 6 and one has been delivered.

It can be submerged to a depth of 0.379 miles.

Russia's still basically a land of peasants, with rich crooks running the place. 'twas always thus. The average Russian will love Putin, until there's a new Putin.

I'd be wary of all of these embargos and sanctions placed on Russia. We once did that to Japan (sanctions of sale of oil, iron ore, coal and steel), and Japan responded by bombing Pearl Harbor.

I think r109 is trying to respond to the lunatic further upthread.

R109 wrote: [quote]The president, it can be argued, was overthrown. However, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, was not overthrown.

Even more significantly - it was the parliament of Ukraine that voted to depose Yanukovych, including the representatives of his own party.

Yeah, the "Crimea has always been Russian! It was a gift!" idiots always seem to forget that Crimea is physically part of Ukraine, whereas it has no physical connection to Russia. They also forget that the original population of Crimea - because the Russians only got hold of Crimea in the late 18th century - were Tatars, who are "not* fans of the recent annexation.

Sorry about the rouble/ruble spelling. I'm from the UK but use Greek a lot, and everything is "ou" in that language. Since the Russian alphabet is based on the Greek, well. In any case, Russian and English use different alphabets so the "correct" spelling can be a matter of opinion.

R116, can you spell "Suck my dick"?

I can spell it, r117, but I probably wouldn't be able to find it.

That's a very unimpressive press conference you're giving, by the way, Vladimir.

R118, loving YOU

[quote]I'd be wary of all of these embargos and sanctions placed on Russia. We once did that to Japan (sanctions of sale of oil, iron ore, coal and steel), and Japan responded by bombing Pearl Harbor.

Trade restrictions don't work. People who want the goods badly enough will find a way to get it one way or another.

I spell it rouble too. It's fine. Actually, the dumb ones are the ones that insist it's spelled ruble. There are about ten different ways you can spell Dostoyevksy in English fgs.

[quote]Trade restrictions don't work. People who want the goods badly enough will find a way to get it one way or another.

You're absolutely right r120, which is why the embargo Putin has placed on EU fruit and other foods being imported into Russia has partly failed, as those products are simply re-imported through third countries such as Switzerland, Serbia and Belarus.

The EU and US sanctions on Russian financial products, are, however, having an impact, as we can see in the rouble's decline (hey, even my spell checker changes it to rouble).

[quote]the dumb ones are the ones that insist it's spelled rubble

WHO insist.

[quote] Russian and English use different alphabets so the "correct" spelling can be a matter of opinion

"Ruble" is basically a transliteration from Cyrillic рубль.

The letter that looks like "p" is an "r";

The letter "y" is pronounced like our long u sound:

The stylized-looking "b" is pronounced the same as our "B";

The letter that slightly resembles a "pi" sign is an L;

The letter that looks like a tiny "b" is a "soft sound." In Russian, consonants can be hard or soft, like vowels, and a "soft sign" will follow a consonant that is meant to be soft. In English, we drop the soft sign for the consonant and substitute an "e" which makes the "U" sound a long vowel rather than a short vowel.

People say, "Russian must be so hard. It has a different alphabet." Trust me, the alphabet is the easiest part of Russian.

Russian nouns have case declension. In English, a person's name remains the same. If your name is (God help you) George Bush, you stay George Bush whether you're reading a book about goats, sitting in a chair, being told to do something or telling someone else to do something. In Russian, your name changes depending on what you're doing. And then there are hard stems and soft stems.

Oy.

You look like a tiny b.

Google results for "rouble": 18,900,000

Google results for "ruble": 60,800,000.

Just FYI.

Aren't the Russian oligarchs mostly Jewish?

Here in SPESS ees no bad ekyonomy! [bold]HA![/bold]

According to the info in that link on the submit they started building them in 1993, supposed to be delivered by 2010. It's likely outmoded by now.

I win.

Russia is basically China's Canada. It's white people Asia. Who cares?

r124 = Jill Dougherty

There are no Russians. There are no Arabs.

This doesn't directly have anything to do with US foreign policy.

The Saudis (or at least the royal family) owe their place in the world to US dependence on their oil. So North American oil shale is close to if not an actual existential threat. The Saudis have unbelievably low extraction costs, with margins on shale being the opposite. By maintaining excess production in the face of a global slowdown they want to squeeze these marginal producers out of business, or at the very least majorly slow investment.

That this also squeezes most of America's rivals/enemies is probably what got the State Department's acquiescence. Russia, Iran, Venezuela are all very fragile and totally dependent on crude. Europe and China meanwhile benefit. Saudi itself has a trillion dollar cash reserve and only recently went into deficit, so they can hold their bluff for a while to come. The big, BIG risk they're taking is if squeezing OPEC this hard leads to the collapse of the cartel. No one in the West would cry if that happened. So almost, but not quite, win-win for the State Department at least in the short-term.

Oil extraction from shale has greatly improved with new technology. The problem is, the new technology requires more water.

Nobody has answered what is going to replace that water? If you use huge volumes of water, pollute the water then shoot it two miles below the earth's surface, that water is no longer available for the evaporation-liquefaction cycle. That water is taken out of the earth's atmosphere. That will definitely affect weather. Clouds are made out of water. Humidity requires water. Fog, vapor, rain.

We're taking water off the face of the earth and utterly destroying it and making it unavailable for any futher use.

Guess who becomes the largest exporter of oil in 2015? You guessed it: the U.S.A.

My newspaper of choice, the Financial Times, uses the spelling "rouble".

R134 is correct. The fall in oil prices is less the result of a plot by the US and more to do with Saudi Arabia wanting to break away from the restrictions of OPEC, so as to make their oil more attractive.

It would have had less of an impact on the Russian currency if Putin had diversified and liberalised the economy, instead of relying on commodities.

So Putin, the crazy guy in NK and Isis will all start WWIII.

r138 "A-bah-dee, a-bah-dee, a-bah-dee, that's all, folks!!!!!"

All I want to know is when I can get some Russian cock! They fuck real good and are super super verbal and nasty. Spend a weekend fucking with one and you get your cunt seriously fucked and hurting come Monday morning.

So let Russia fall and let the men be forced to whore themselves out to buy bread!

What will this do to NYC's real estate market? All the very high end apartments have been bought by Russians.

Putin took a page out of Dubbya's playbook, it seems...

He invaded a country on false pretenses, and then crashed the economy.

No wonder Republicans LOVE him so much!

[quote],My newspaper of choice, the Financial Times, uses the spelling "rouble".

They are wrong.

First, there is no equivalent to the letter "o" in the Russian spelling or pronunciation of ruble. (the Russian has an "o." It just doesnt happen to be in the word ruble).

Second, in English, "ouble" is a spelling which shortens the "u" sound, as in trouble and double. Therefore, "rouble" would be pronounced "rubble."

For Christ sake, you grammer and spelling queens will take over any thread...for no reason at all. I don't know why the op wanted to spell rubles with an o, why would anyone care? Spelling errors were not part of the question.

No, they are NOT wrong, R143.

Both the spellings "ruble" and "rouble" are used in English. The form "rouble" is preferred by the Oxford English Dictionary, but the earliest use recorded in English is the now completely obsolete "robble". The form "rouble" probably derives from the transliteration into French used among the Tsarist aristocracy. There are two main usage tendencies: one is for North American authors to use "ruble" and other English speakers to use "rouble", the other is for older sources to use "rouble" and more recent ones to use "ruble". Neither tendency is absolutely consistent.

Speaking of Google, it's now worth more than the entire Russian stock market.

Sad commentary on America you mean, R146, because Google is certainly not worth it.

I have the same question R141 about the impact on the nyc real estate market. It's been a safe haven for foreign money, but what if that source dries up?

Of all the posts on this thread, the one that really scares me is the one by R135.

Year R135, but we'll all get rich doing it!

The answer, r149, is that shale extraction doesn't actually use all the water on the earth's surface.

If you're worried about water use, be careful when you shower. And don't heat your house or use any form of transport that uses non-renewable energy. Avoid plastics.

It's interesting to note that you get worried by some hyperbolic hysterics but are less disturbed by the behaviour of a bullying autocrat who hates western values and wishes to undermine and weaken them.

brink's taking awhile

Who the hell bumped this thread from 2014?

r152 = Ruskie bumper