Vague threats, oil woes and the fight for racial justice continue
The Kremlin has approved and announced a list of 47 countries who have been “unfriendly” to Russia. I added the estimated population of each, from largest to smallest.
USA - 334,805,269 people
Japan - 125,584,838
(Note that Russia and its sockpuppet ally Belarus have a combined population above 155 million)
European Union countries - (populations of these 27 are listed individually)
(Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cypress, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden)
(EU) Germany - 83,883,596
United Kingdom - 68,497,907 (England, Scotland, Wales, North Ireland)
(EU) France - 65,584,518
(EU) Italy - 60,262,770
Korea - (South is assumed) 51,329,899
(North is unlikely) 25,990,679
(EU) Spain 46,719,142
Ukraine - 43,192,122
Canada - 38,388,419
(EU) Poland - 37,739,785
Australia - 26,068,792
Taiwan - 23,888,595
(EU) Romania - 19,031,335
(EU) Netherlands - 17,211,447
(EU) Belgium - 11,668,278
(EU) Czech Republic - 10,736,784
(EU) Greece - 10,316,637
(EU) Sweden - 10,218,971
(EU) Portugal - 10,140,570
(EU) Hungary - 9,606,259
(EU) Austria - 9,066,710
Switzerland - 8,773,637
(EU) Bulgaria - 6,844,597
Singapore - 5,943,546
(EU) Denmark - 5,834,950
(EU) Finland - 5,554,960
Norway - 5,511,370
(EU) Slovakia - 5,460,193
(EU) Ireland - 5,020,199
New Zealand - 4,898,203
(EU) Croatia - 4,059,286
(EU) Lithuania - 2,661,708
(EU) Slovenia - 2,078,034
(EU) Latvia - 1,848,837
(EU) Estonia - 1,321,910
(EU) Cypress - 1,223,387
(EU) Luxembourg - 642,371
Montenegro - 627,950
(EU) Malta - 444,033
Iceland - 345,393
Monaco - 39,783
Liechtenstein - 38,387
San Marino - 34,085
So who’s missing? In North America, only Mexico. All of Central and South America. Most of Asia (especially the giant pair of China and India). Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan are the only unfriendlies Russia listed in Asia.
All of Africa is missing. All the Middle East, too, meaning none of the 13 countries anywhere on the planet that are members of OPEC.
In Europe, while including tiny and small countries like Luxembourg, Montenegro, Malta, Iceland, Monaco, Liechenstein and San Marino, Russia left out Bosnia and Herzegovina (pends NATO approval and an EU candidate), Kosovo, (recognized as EU by most in the EU and seeking to be admitted to NATO), North Macedonia and Albania (both already in NATO), Russia’s ally Belarus, plus Moldova.
And Turkey - which is part Europe, part Asia, but is second in size to only the US as a member of NATO. That’s a very interesting omission on the Kremlin list.
The list isn’t a direct threat but clearly is intended to make those countries aware that Putin would consider them enemies if WW3 occurs. But based on the miscalculations Russia has already made in its War on Ukraine, it’s doubtful they could sustain a conventional war against NATO.
As for Turkey (85,561,976 population), it’s the only NATO member that declared opposition to the sanctions and kept its airspace open to Russian aircraft. It also fast-tracked concessions to Moscow in a lucrative $20 billion contract for construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant.
Turkey has previously signaled support for Ukraine and could be a peace broker if Putin is interested. But its economic ties to Russia are vital. And for Russia, it wants to retain waterway passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, which Turkey controls. How things develop between them during Putin’s bloody war definitely bears watching, especially by all other NATO members.
That and the ass-kissing Russia is doing to China have the most potentially negative impact on Putin’s war going forward.
Oil and gas prices briefly reached a 14 year high with oil at $139 per barrel at one point today. Several European leaders have indicated they can’t put a ban on Russian supplies which provide a third of Europe’s needs. A ban by the US is only likely if President Biden can convince Saudi Arabia or Iran to pump more oil.
However, business traders including banks, oil companies and more, are starting to pull out of past working partnerships with Russia because they fear they could violate some other newly enacted sanction. And Russia is offering its oil at a discount as it struggles to keep its economy afloat against the harshest sanctions posed in history.
Here’s some of the bigger companies suspending or limiting business there.
The bottom line: we’re very likely to see the highest pump prices in history before this war is over. Which means we’ll likely drive less, which is a fair bonus for the atmosphere, but means higher costs on all transported goods.
It took more than 200 tries over 123 years to pass an anti-lynching bill in the US Senate. It passed the Senate today - by a unanimous vote - and only awaits Joe Biden’s signature. It likely comes as a shock to many that such essential legislation was thwarted over and over again.
Among those opposed still or in recent attempts are the three House members I mentioned yesterday as the only members of Congress still opposed: Chip Roy (TX), Andrew Clyde (GA) and Thomas Massie (KY). Not too long ago, Rand Paul (KY) and Paul Gosar (AZ) could be counted on to fight against the bill.
While some are rejoicing, I’m still pissed that this hate crime means 30 years in prison for anyone convicted. Really? Hanging and burning and genital mutilation that sometime accompanies the hanging and the murdering perp only gets 30 years?
It’s good to see journalists busy reporting on how overtly racist Paul Gosar is. As for Rand Paul, here’s some news on his former aide:
2016: Jesse Benton, Rand Paul’s grandson-in-law and former campaign staffer was convicted of campaign finance crimes.
2020: Trump pardoned Benton for said crime.
TODAY, 2022: Benton was charged with illegally funneling Russian money into Trump’s 2016 election. He could get up to 20 years for the crime.
Hey, I used to be funnier. The times and the last 15 months have dampened that some. I think I can recover fully and soon. I wish each of you better days.