Tuesday, March 18, 2014

May we live...

...in interesting times indeed.

With Crimea's referendum passing, it would appear that Russia has indeed regained some satellites of its former empire...without firing a shot.  They rightly see the U.S. as weakened in this situation considering its adventures of the past decade and certainly cannot appear to passive as an area of high national interest is absorbed.

This epsisode should (both in real and normative terms) end quietly...I hope...

UPDATE:

Breaking reports from Crimea on Tuesday indicate that Russian forces are storming Ukrainian military bases following Moscow’s annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula.
Ukraine’s defense ministry reports that shots were fired by Russian soldiers at Ukrainian troops and at least one Ukrainian soldier was wounded.

I also hope our "diplomats" stop with this sort of rhetoric:

US Vice-President Joe Biden, speaking in Poland, said Russia's involvement in Crimea was "a brazen military incursion" and its annexation of the territory was "nothing more than a land grab" by Moscow.





Friday, March 07, 2014

The Paper Dragon...

The illusion can no longer be supported.  Please raise your seats to the upright crash position and buckly your seatbealts.  We thank you for flying Credit Bubble Airlines...

A Chinese solar-cell maker failed to pay full interest on its bonds, leading to the country’s first onshore default and signaling the government will back off its practice of bailing out companies with bad debt.
Shanghai Chaori Solar Energy Science & Technology Co. (002506) is trying to sell some of its overseas plants to raise money to repay the debt

Wednesday, March 05, 2014

Weapons...




So the French built helicopter carrier deal with Russia is still on.  Shocking.  With the possibilities and spectrum of action being discussed constantly, my mind is on other players.

This incursion provides nice cover to accomplish some politically unpalatable goals for countries unaffected by the conflict.