Xerxes

Ok. Agreed. That is fair in the context of your point (which is about what is happening now) my point was that Ukraine was to the Soviet empire what Scotland was to the British empire. A willing participant of its imperial expansion, a major contributor of its industrial war machine, politicians, marshals, generals etc. if there was no Ukraine there would be no Soviet empire as a super power. notwithstanding the early days …. this goes in our “agree but on different points” bucket.

You seem to know more than me about that episode in the first few decades of the USSR. All I know is that millions died of famine and purges etc. So thanks for the clarification. Not that it changes anything for the victims (Ukrainian, Russian or otherwise). Admitingly I also know very little of U.S. campaign against the native Indian as that the United States was being build up as a nation. Is that called genocide as well ?

Folks. We are all on “team humanity”. Let’s be civil. That said, from a historical perspective the notion that, Ukraine was some far flung colony of Kremlin and its evil empire, is wrong and yet another western fantasy. It is correct to say that today Ukrainian people (majority I think) have made a choice and that is to be European and that is what self determination means. But to create a fictional narrative from the Soviet era, with Kiev under Russian jackboot is highly misleading. Soviet Union was an institution and its two towering pillars were Moscow and Kiev. The latter not only made technological, political and military contribution it was at the very heart of that empire. You had Ukrainian generals, marshals of the Soviet Union, scientists, secretary generals, prime minister, technocrats all contributing to the Soviet Union and its mission. Never mind it’s vast farmlands and industrial base. This was not at ALL like the British sovereignty of the India, where there was a master-slave relationship. (Of course, Western perspective: we civilized the Indians) Now someone is going to point to the war in the 1920s, so what!! millions of Russians died during the rule of the Georgian-born non-Russian Joseph Stalin. Trotsky was Ukrainian ! Felix Derzhensky, founder of Cheka and grandfather of KGB was polish background (not Russian). A hero of the war, marshal Rokosovsky was Polish. marshal Timoshinko was Ukrainian (a Soviet Heinz Guderian figure who met his fate during the Red Terror). Of the 3 admiral of the fleet, the Soviet Union had, 1 was Armenian, 1 was of Serbian background and 1 was of Russian background. The company Mikoyan (Migs) was founded by an Armenian whose brother held position in Stalin’ court. Etc. support Ukraine for the right reasons. But stick to facts. Not fiction and what is convenient to spew at the time. And I said earlier, I very much hope next time there is a genocide elsewhere involving non-whites (don’t look too far we had one in Burma in 2018), and in a not so geopolitical relevant location, you will support those cause with the same fire and passion and get all “Churchillian”. I hope your moral compass does not have an “aeroplane mode”.

At worse and if for nothing else, Ukraine needs to be supported for no other selfish reasons than bleeding Russia. Like it or not we are at war. At best, securing a current & future ally against their struggle and doing the right thing. I won’t comment on NATO flip flop which is now history. Water under the bridge. but I disagree with comments about Putin being made around here. How many of you would have made the same comment about an angry & mad Lyndon Johnson or Richard Nixon as seen from a Vietnamese point of view, who were being pounded into dust. so is it really about right and wrong for you, or just a matter of who is the current geopolitical enemy. Happily in 2020 that happens to be Russia, so we are aligned. but in which direction your personal moral compass would be pointing if we lived in a different age.

Haha no IAC and Mercadolibre I think. Money is fungible so may have gone to something else.

Similar story but with a different ending. bought BB between $3 to $10. CAD. Sold on that fateful Monday at exactly $24.99. CAD And then blew it over the next 1.5 year on things I don’t remember anymore.

yeah. And I thought Middle East was bad with corruption.

I hope our pal @Viking kept his direct exposure on resolute. Some if not all. I complained endlessly last year as Brookfield was liquidating its lumber holdings (that I didn’t even know they had). Glad to see some tangible outcome.

Quick read on the Russian command & control plane. Similar to the NightWatch in the U.S.A.F. I believe the reason why the Doomsday plane was absent in the May Parade in 2022 was meant to be a signal to help the rules of engagement.

The good admiral Starvidis has been making the rounds in the media on this idea. I think I heard it on Bloomberg Surveillance last week where he is a regular. what stops the Russian from totally destroying the grain siloes and farm lands & achieving the same objective as blockade etc. Turkey needs to be onboard and allow passage through the straight.

started watching 1883, very different than Yellowstone. Just finished the river crossing episode #4.

Happy belated 1st and 4th of July to all

it doesn’t matter how a war starts. Once started it takes a life of its own. What the hell a U.S. aircraft carrier is doing in the Persian Gulf ... anyways … you can comment on technicality how they are different I don’t see it. Western average joes can be as bloodthirsty as eastern Ivans. Only difference is the Ivan’s doesn’t know better whereas the average joe is just deluded and brainwashed. Iran-Iraq war was started with a full scale Iraqi invasion but Iran played a role in extending that war and is as guilty as Iraq. So does it really matter if technically Iraq started the war. Will file this under our “agree to disagree” bucket.

Finished reading this book. Not to ignore the humane aspect of it regarding Magnitsky, I really enjoying reading about all the arbitrage case studies that he did. I could not help but keep thinking about Fairfax India and how dislocated is vs. current holdings and future opportunities.

They needed a Tim Cook and not a Steve Jobs at that stage … lol

Thanks for posting. I read the whole thread, but my understanding of what is happening (in my limited ability to discern) seems to be different than this guy. He seem to suggest that the Russian army performance is like the German panzer divisions slicing through the Ardennes forest, surprising the allies in their mobility and audacity. The strategic ambitions of Kremlin was surprising but so was their shortcomings. Granted they are an artillery-based army, so incrementally they are doing much better now than they did back in March.

Agree on jobs being different in a normal situation involving normal people. That is why Eisenhower was able to make the transition to civilian life into the highest office. contrast that to a character like McArthur, who reigned like a sovereign, over Japan and Korea. if I recall it was close to 10 years after he set foot back in the U.S. after being fired. That is how much he didn’t care about. McArthur was so powerful that even his direct solid line boss General Bradly who was the chairman of Joint Chiefs had no control on him. I may remember wrong but i believe Bradly was promoted to a five-star general when he became chairman so that he was not outranked by Mcarthur (a technical subordinate) also another five-star general. all this to say that Mcarthur was a character and his powers were immense.

I don’t disagree with paragraph 1-6 Except that Mcarthur, while not president, was very much the proconsul reigning over Asia and his ideas were beyond war games. If I recall he got fired for getting under Truman skin … but not because Truman feared some sort nuclear holocaust in Manchuria or the morality of it.

totally irrelevant. McArthur was ready to go nuclear in Manchuria, yet no state of war existed between PRC and the US. That said in the current situation, unlikely, …. until the day it isn’t.

wasn’t that to counter to deflation. i.e inflationary means to fight the deflationary vortex

You are not wrong, except that we are not talking about government’ hurdle which is pretty high as you said. we are talking what an average Joe thinks in the West. We all talk about what an average Ivan thinks in Russia. Their support (or rather silence) for Moscow’ savage war. But that I can understand. Russian society is not exactly an open and free society where you expect the Ivans to have a balanced view. But average Joes in the West don’t have that problem. They are free to consume whatever media they like. Yet …

Actually I do sympathize with the Israeli. Deterrence: holocaust to prevent a holocaust. The French and others would not be out of nessacity but rather out of pride. But then again we have seen the French lose a fight in indochina in an era where nuclear was not so taboo, but yet they didn’t use it. French fight to keep its colony in indochina was not so different than Moscow’ bid for Ukraine.

From an article from The Economist on nuclear taboo. depending how brainwashed you are, you may have different perspective.

Great thread. Are we talking level of inflation or rate of inflation. Market seem to track the rate of inflation … the famed y-o-y %. Just like when it came to Covid-beneficiaries stocks, it reacted to their rate of change, to pre-Covid quarters. For what it is worth, the math will see to it, that the y-o-y rate declines once we start lapping in 2023 the 2022 data. question, how early the “market” will smell that