150 people and 37 entities are subject to an asset freeze and a travel ban over their responsibility for actions which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.
On 13 March 2017, the Council prolonged these measures until 15 September 2017.
limit access to EU primary and secondary capital markets for 5 major Russian majority state-owned financial institutions and their majority-owned subsidiaries established outside of the EU, as well as three major Russian energy and three defence companies
impose an export and import ban on trade in arms
establish an export ban for dual-use goods for military use or military end users in Russia
curtail Russian access to certain sensitive technologies and services that can be used for oil production and exploration
“Military spending is so inefficient because there’s a single payer” –Scott.
Trump’s Cabinet meeting. Awkward!
A favorite quote (mine) on globalization:
“When it gets down to it — talking trade balances here — once we’ve brain-drained all our technology into other countries, once things have evened out, they’re making cars in Bolivia and microwave ovens in Tadzhikistan and selling them here — once our edge in natural resources has been made irrelevant by giant Hong Kong ships and dirigibles that can ship North Dakota all the way to New Zealand for a nickel — once the Invisible Hand has taken away all those historical inequities and smeared them out into a broad global layer of what a Pakistani brickmaker would consider to be prosperity — y’know what? There’s only four things we do better than anyone else:
music
movies
microcode (software)
high-speed pizza delivery”
― Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash
According to the latest poll conducted by the independent research agency Levada Center, the proportion of those who confessed to negative feelings over the collapse of the USSR is currently 56 percent, with 28 percent claiming their sentiments are entirely positive and 16 percent deeming the question too complex to give an unambiguous answer.
“Economists exist to make astrologers look good.”
“Did Putin call the collapse of the USSR the greatest geopolitical disaster of the century” (Punditfact)
Gaddy elaborated in an interview with PunditFact, saying Putin is not eager to re-establish the USSR, partly because it would be costly for Russia, which subsidized many Soviet countries during that era. He does, however, want to make sure surrounding countries are not used against Russia.
“You’ve heard about the controversies, the process about the bill…but we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it – away from the fog of the controversy.”
