Did world war 3 just start?

[mrjarrell]

Vice went to Crimea to take a look at how things were going there. I really feel for the people trapped in the new USSR.

[video=youtube_share;5k0t2eUqv3w]http://youtu.be/5k0t2eUqv3w[/video]

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Russia retaliates against latest sanctions ? The Lead with Jake Tapper - CNN.com Blogs

 

[mrjarrell]

Russia's decided to play a tit for tat sanctions game and has imposed bans on importation of foods from the EU and US. My guess is that this is going to hurt them more than the West. They import something like 60% of their food.

BBC News - Russia hits West with food import ban in sanctions row

 

[Justus]

Russia's decided to play a tit for tat sanctions game and has imposed bans on importation of foods from the EU and US. My guess is that this is going to hurt them more than the West. They import something like 60% of their food.

BBC News - Russia hits West with food import ban in sanctions row

Here's an article from March stating that they're capable of producing enough of their own main staples

Do Russians need to prepare for hunger? - English pravda.ru

"Judging by the numbers presented at the meeting, Russian agriculture is steadily increasing its potential. The most problematic kind of food is meat and meat products whose production last year amounted to 5.2 million tons, an increase of 10 percent. This has reduced imports of meat by almost 10 percent, leaving many American farmers without work. The production of dairy products and butter has increased. According to the Minister of Agriculture of Russia Nikolai Fyodorov, overall food production index was at 102.3 percent.
Russia will not face a threat of famine if the U.S. and the EU try to freeze the food supply to Russia.There will be certain difficulties with exotic fruit, wine, expensive seafood, and meat delicacies, but Russia today is self-sufficient not only in the foreign policy, but also in terms of its ability to feed itself. Russia produces 60 to 90 percent of all required food."

But only time will tell I guess.....

 

[mrjarrell]

Staples like wheat and some pork, maybe. But people like to eat fruits and vegetables, too. And they like things like chicken, which most of theirs comes from America and other western countries. Russia has never been able to suitably provide for themselves. Even at the height of the Cold War they were having to buy wheat from the US. Pravda may mean truth in Russian, but it's never been a mainstay for them. Take it with a big chunk of salt.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

If we stop importing Russian Standard Vodka... I said drop the ****ing bombs on them.

 

[T.Lex]

Ironically, the Ukraine provided a significant percentage of foodstuffs in the Soviet era.

 

[avboiler11]

Pravda may mean truth in Russian, but it's never been a mainstay for them.

Its like the InfoWars of Russia.

 

[Henry]

Well clearly the Russians are starting to get real nervous now.


Just wait until they get another stern lecture from the man boy in chief.

 

[ZombieApocolypse]

Well clearly the Russians are starting to get real nervous now.


Just wait until they get another stern lecture from the man boy in chief.

Beings Russia hasnt invaded Ukraine yet, i'd say Obamas doing something right. No thanks to you, or your suggestion of what he should be doing of course.

 

[T.Lex]

Beings Russia hasnt invaded Ukraine yet...

Technically, he has - the Crimean.

 

[ZombieApocolypse]

Technically, he has - the Crimean.

You win .... Though i couldnt see getting involved in this conflict (nor blaming the President for it) for that, especially since we let Russia take part of Georgia a few years ago.

 

[T.Lex]

Well, the history and mechanics of the Ossetia/Georgia situation were different, but from a distance, I can see how that would look similar.

I will continue to point out that there are a nearly-infinite gradations between the "stern words" and "targeted" sanctions we have under President Obama and outright war with Russia. There is more this administration could do, but it chooses not to.

 

[Henry]

Exactly.

It is lead by an eunuch.

Our allies don't trust us. Our enemies don't fear us. All for good reason.

 

[Justus]

Staples like wheat and some pork, maybe. But people like to eat fruits and vegetables, too. And they like things like chicken, which most of theirs comes from America and other western countries. Russia has never been able to suitably provide for themselves. Even at the height of the Cold War they were having to buy wheat from the US. Pravda may mean truth in Russian, but it's never been a mainstay for them. Take it with a big chunk of salt.

in other words, don't believe what you read on the internet unless mrjarrell says it's true?

I think it would be safe to say that just because a country imports an item it doesn't mean that country doesn't produce it or couldn't survive just fine without it. Sometimes it's less expensive to import than to provide it domestically, which is/was the case with US chicken.

 

[mrjarrell]

in other words, don't believe what you read on the internet unless mrjarrell says it's true?

I think it would be safe to say that just because a country imports an item it doesn't mean that country doesn't produce it or couldn't survive just fine without it. Sometimes it's less expensive to import than to provide it domestically, which is/was the case with US chicken.

Nope. Just be wary of your sources. Pravda is not a good source for anything except UFO stories and some Kremlin propaganda. Pravda conveniently overlooks the fact that they, Russia, import 60% of their food. Why would a Kremlin newspaper want to make out like they could do just fine without imports? If they are so self sufficient why are they now looking for secondary markets in Africa, South America and other places to buy food from? Cite Pravda if you want. No skin off my nose. Cite Alex Jones and RT if you like. Just don't expect everyone to not take a huge block of salt with it.

 

[BogWalker]

Not to mention the gap between the start of sanctions and the start of production. The sanctions are now, but if they could produce all of their food it is going to take a good bit of time to before that production can take place. Plants take time to grow, and a bad harvest would put them in quite the bind.

 

[Justus]

Nope. Just be wary of your sources. Pravda is not a good source for anything except UFO stories and some Kremlin propaganda. Pravda conveniently overlooks the fact that they, Russia, import 60% of their food. Why would a Kremlin newspaper want to make out like they could do just fine without imports? If they are so self sufficient why are they now looking for secondary markets in Africa, South America and other places to buy food from? Cite Pravda if you want. No skin off my nose. Cite Alex Jones and RT if you like. Just don't expect everyone to not take a huge block of salt with it.

I take ALL news articles with salty suspicion and I think you either missed my point or I did a bad job of communicating: the 60% figure may be fact that has been "spun".
I can find just as many articles that state Russia produces 80-90% of their own food.
Neither figure means that Russia cannot produce everything they need.
Neither figure means that if imports stopped, the Russian economy would melt down and a famine would ensue.
Putin has been trying to stop US chicken imports since 2010, and many news sites said that Russia was already producing 75% of their own chicken way back then and that Putin felt like it was a reminder that Bush started sending it over to help out when the USSR crumbled.


The US imports quite a bit of food also...
Billions of pounds of meat are imported into the US every year, why do we do that when we can produce our own?
Why do you suppose we export poultry to Russia when we import poultry also?

I was taught never to underestimate my adversaries, which is what the Western newspapers are doing, IMO, right now.

 

[RockofStrength]

I take ALL news articles with salty suspicion and I think you either missed my point or I did a bad job of communicating: the 60% figure may be fact that has been "spun".
I can find just as many articles that state Russia produces 80-90% of their own food.
Neither figure means that Russia cannot produce everything they need.
Neither figure means that if imports stopped, the Russian economy would melt down and a famine would ensue.
Putin has been trying to stop US chicken imports since 2010, and many news sites said that Russia was already producing 75% of their own chicken way back then and that Putin felt like it was a reminder that Bush started sending it over to help out when the USSR crumbled.


The US imports quite a bit of food also...
Billions of pounds of meat are imported into the US every year, why do we do that when we can produce our own?
Why do you suppose we export poultry to Russia when we import poultry also?

I was taught never to underestimate my adversaries, which is what the Western newspapers are doing, IMO, right now.

I'm curious, what meat do we import? Last I checked we pretty much rule the roost in cattle, pork, and chicken production.

 

[ghuns]

Billions of pounds of meat are imported into the US every year, why do we do that when we can produce our own?

Because we do not produce meat of low enough quality to end up in a McRib or double decker taco supreme?