cubsfan

Yeah, the Obama and Biden administrations really did fuck this one up, along with the Europeans (France/Germany). All of them let Putin cross the line - tried to appease him - played the role of weak and pathetic pacifist with Obama's Nobel Prize. Putin instantly sensed weakness - waited for his moment - and struck. Weak leaders never learn that there are always evil people in the world. All Obama and the Europeans had to do back in 2014 - was give Ukraine the ability (weapons) to defend themselves. Huge strategic and glaring mistake. Putin played them all like fools. Now you have your disaster.

^^ Much appreciated.

GFP - any insight here? I'm quite surprised at the increase in value of Pilot. At the time, it seemed like a "smallish" acquisition of a boring no growth business - but this is quite substantial.

^^^ You may misunderstand me John. My post is totally serious and not made in sarcasm. I am in favor of arming Ukraine with American weapons (I've said it many times). Russia can be outspent by the Alliance of Europe & the USA. Ukraine will fight bravely, as they have. It's unfortunate the USA & Europe let this go way, way too far, when the roots of the problem go back to 2008...with Russian aggressions in Georgia. But much of the East Ukraine will be destroyed (already has been). Crimea is primarily Russian. Some of the Eastern regions of Ukraine have many Russians. I honestly think Ukraine will end up looking like North/South Korea. East/West Ukraine - with a DMZ to protect West Ukraine & Europe. I see a stalemate. Not the best outcome - but face saving for Putin - and safety for the rest of Europe. I hope you are able to remove him entirely from Ukraine, I just don't think it's gonna happen. RE: Biden - he's a total loser, with no courage. Corrupt & Weak beyond belief. The Ukraine issue could have been settled back in 2014, when loser Obama allowed Putin to take Crimea and did nothing to arm the Ukraine against further aggression. This would not have happen with Trump. And of course, France & German leaders share a huge amount of the blame for doing NOTHING as the leaders of Europe back in 2014. Putin walked all over Europe & Obama. Totally self inflicted wounds. Now you have an enormous mess. Peace John.

Oh shit...so right..LOL

Pick your side. This promises to be a war of attrition. Russia will get outspent, Ukraine destroyed. We'll just end up with another North & South Korea for years.

And it's well worth it, when you consider the huge sums of money the USA has wasted the last few years - passing $1T packages full of pork. No loss of life to protect the future of Europe. Makes all the sense in the world. It would have made much more sense to do it on the front end - but then Obama was President - and he figured he'll just send them blankets. And many of the Europeans had their heads up their ass too..

^^ Guy Spier has that great saying about this: "Hey, I'm not Warren Buffett....but neither are you"

^^^ Nothing should surprise you with the current administration: cross the southern border as a criminal - and will give you a plane ticket and resettlement anywhere you like. But if you are a bonafide political refugee from Europe - forget it.

Once Putin is finished emptying out Russian prisons, then what?

Yup - with a Russia defense budget of $80B or so - and no US lives at stake, life gets real painful for Putin. He clearly fucked this one up. Especially, if the European alliance sticks together.

Great comment. Reminds me of this Netflix documentary re: Boeing

what a beauty!

Thanks - I didn't know about Rosemary. My mistake.

^^ Maybe you meant Santa Rosa Beach? Didn't know about that school - nice. Ft Walton Beach isn't too far, and that's a great little town too.

Very cool!

Yeah, growing up in the 60's in Chicago, it was all about the Hawks. The city loved that team. No helmets, goalies still not wearing facemarks. I used to drive down to Berwyn to Gunzo's - the only hockey store in Chicago land to buy all this great Canadian equipment - gloves, Bauer skates, Sherwood sticks, etc. --- Thank you Canadians!

^^ Well, ok - how about excess spending on defense did the trick? If your enemies can outspend you by orders of magnitude - it's just a matter of time until you're done. You can't be running a sustained campaign when you're solely dependent on a commodity price like oil.

^^^ Excellent post. And likely the reason Ukraine has such a strong chance against Russia. Much as I hate to see USA dedicate $100B a year to this war, then along with Europe adding billions for weapons - tough to see how Russia can not get buried, like Reagan buried them in the 80's. Russia has manpower, but with a defense budget of $80B - they are in real trouble. The wild card, of course, is nuclear weapons, which, in the hands of Putin - who the hell knows. And my other fear - is just how much of that arms aid gets stolen by the Ukrainian corruption.

Damn GFP - your knowledge of Berkshire is really helpful here. I had NO idea Berkshire was involved in medical devices. Not the type of business that Buffett seems to like - but indicative of Buffett letting the CEO's run their own show. Had no idea Duracell was run by Marmon. This type of free rein by Buffett is exactly why we can see more growth.

Important message for those that sit behind a desk or on a plane all day:

Now we're talking!!

It's all good brother...my swimming consists of the dog paddle. Kudos!

Oh, I KNOW you can Greg. Start with 65lbs - and go up 5lbs a workout (or a week) Someone as disciplined as you is what it takes. You underestimate yourself....

Happy New Year LC! Yeah, that's my fat ass alright. Now you owe me that Black Diamond run!