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Food security and the coming storm

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Re: Food security and the coming storm

#181

Post by lotusmars »

guerrilla wrote: post #176
lotusmars wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Putin will always push further by saying "cave in to my demands or I'll nuke you". Most of it is bluff. Which like any bluff is scary to call bluff. Russian army is in corrupt disarray and even tacticals nukes are not guranteed to work. He will probably be disobeyed by his staff. Speaking of ships, the flaghsip of Black Sea Fleet Moskva was sunk by Ukrainians. Putin was reportedly enraged but didn't do a thing beside…

> Most of it is bluff. You don't know that and I don't want to risk that. Don't be arrogant. Everyone said his buildup on Ukraine a bluff. It wasn't. I don't think we should ever trust people like you again. > Russian army is in corrupt disarray and even tacticals nukes are not guranteed to work. He will probably be disobeyed by his staff. Yet still winning... > Speaking of ships, the flaghsip of Black Sea Fleet Mosk…

> Yet still winning..

Because Germans do not provide weapons they've promised. In fact if they drag their feet more, war may change its course.

> Ukraine doing that and the US doing that are drastically different

Of course Ukrainians can do that if they're equipped with enough modern weapons and intelligence.

The problem is stated above. Germans do not provide weapons, Biden is slow to push them. Additionally because of its energy and political dependence on Russia Germany is pushing Ukraine to surrender territory (along with wheat and ports) to Russia.

We don't need direct US involvement, we need strong and decisive leadership.

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#182

Post by m0llusk »

eropple wrote: post #28
gadflyinyoureye wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A large issue is where do you put the brackish or super-salted water? Desalination is great as long as you have the waste impacts managed.

Extremely not an expert, but I wonder if dehydrating it out doesn’t make sense? Solid-form salts are easier to dispose of.

The process can also be used to generate construction materials.

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#183

Post by lotusmars »

guerrilla wrote: post #172
lotusmars wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Russia pulled out of most of the country the day after Zelensky announced they might not go in NATO after all They didn't. The only time they made a major retreat was when they overstretched and Kyiv offensive that was expected to be quick failed. They've moved batallions to regroup for Donbas offensive leaving behind Bucha and other horrors. No connection to anything related to NATO. If anything "NATO enlargement"…

> The only time they made a major retreat was when they overstretched and Kyiv offensive that was expected to be quick failed. Yeah, that's false. Google is your friend on this one. Next time pay attention to the war you want to comment on. > No connection to anything related to NATO. If anything "NATO enlargement" rhethoric is just a coverup. Estonia is part of the NATO and it's bordering Russia with travel distance…

> Google is your friend on this one.

Petersburg shills are lazy these days.

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#184

Post by lotusmars »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #180
aftbit wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow I didn't realize the ruble has been strengthening despite the sanctions, but it is true.[1] 1: https://www.google.com/finance/quote/RUB-USD?window=6M

They have an 18.5% interest rate compared to 0% in EU, and compared to ~5% in Russia pre-war. If not for an absurdly high interest rate and capital controls - the Ruble would not be doing well.

11%. Slashed three days ago from 14%. It will be back to single-digits pretty soon.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/26/business/russia-economy-r...

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#185

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

thriftwy wrote: post #114
stevenjgarner wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably fine for small-scale use, but on a planetary scale increased salinity could dramatically influence marine biodiversity, not to mention climate from thermohaline circulation disruption [1] https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_currents/05...

It's not possible to change ocean salinity by any measurable amount by desalination. Except maybe for some very closed off seas, which are already less saline than the ocean.

To expand on this. There's ~321M cubic MILES of water in the ocean.

Total US water usage is about 2 cubic miles per week - which is not even a 100 millionth of the water in the ocean.

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#186

Post by stefan_ »

lotusmars wrote: post #27
aftbit wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow I didn't realize the ruble has been strengthening despite the sanctions, but it is true.[1] 1: https://www.google.com/finance/quote/RUB-USD?window=6M

I was shocked to learn that most Westerners (especially Americans) believe that sanctions actually worked. Most believe that SWIFT was cut for Russian banks (most are working fine). That you can't buy USD in Russia (it's absolutely available both in banks and on the street, actually there's overabundance of hard currency due to gas and oil prices). Yes, McDonald's took down its logo. But it's already opening under ne…

Try to board a plane to Moscow then?

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#187

Post by adra »

TrispusAttucks wrote: post #38
bombcar wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One should never make long term contracts for delivery without long term contracts for supply, or at least something to hedge against supply costs.

The meat packing monopoly ties the hands of many cattle farmers.

Meat packing is a natural oligopoly, which could be disrupted any time by someone with enough bucks to do it. That's capitalism. Either live with the parasites or be ok with more intervention.

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#188

Post by woleium »

adriand wrote: post #170
atmartins wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here me out: this sounds like an excuse. If you really want to solve it you could. I did. I use a wok to cook and it's faster than going to McDonalds. It's slower than a frozen meal but not by much. I don't aim for perfection, rather, most of my meals I try and make healthy. I still love bacon. In less than 10 minutes you can chop celery, broccoli, tofu, chicken, etc. If it takes longer then solve that problem: bette…

We lived for a couple weeks in Nicaragua and we hired the sister of the guy who maintained the property to cook for us (an optional service we were quick to agree to). On the first day she cooked a big batch of black beans in a pot. She left the pot on the stove, and would briefly bring to a boil each morning and night, which eliminated the need for refrigeration. With each successive day she’d throw in a few things…

One pot weekly cooking. This is how i lived as a student, using only a crock pot.

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#189

Post by convolvatron »

adriand wrote: post #170
atmartins wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here me out: this sounds like an excuse. If you really want to solve it you could. I did. I use a wok to cook and it's faster than going to McDonalds. It's slower than a frozen meal but not by much. I don't aim for perfection, rather, most of my meals I try and make healthy. I still love bacon. In less than 10 minutes you can chop celery, broccoli, tofu, chicken, etc. If it takes longer then solve that problem: bette…

We lived for a couple weeks in Nicaragua and we hired the sister of the guy who maintained the property to cook for us (an optional service we were quick to agree to). On the first day she cooked a big batch of black beans in a pot. She left the pot on the stove, and would briefly bring to a boil each morning and night, which eliminated the need for refrigeration. With each successive day she’d throw in a few things…

very much so. i used to cook a couple times a week. big expensive protein. fancy sauces, a bottle of wine, and a nice salad.

strangely, my gall bladder needed to be removed.

while I was waiting for the surgery - it was brown rice and vegetables and maybe a little chicken. now its just brown rice (takes 30 minutes on an induction plate, edible for 48 hours), kimchi, and a little bit of this and that (tinned fish, fried egg, chicken)

I haven't gotten bored of it after 2 years. takes me about 30 minutes a week for cooking and cleaning up. i'm much more fit and I just never have to worry about food anymore.

in the US we're in some kind of highly inconvenient, expensive, and unhealthy minimum. fortunately it wont take much to bump us out into someplace more sane.

Re: Food security and the coming storm

#190

Post by lotusmars »

stefan_ wrote: post #186
lotusmars wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was shocked to learn that most Westerners (especially Americans) believe that sanctions actually worked. Most believe that SWIFT was cut for Russian banks (most are working fine). That you can't buy USD in Russia (it's absolutely available both in banks and on the street, actually there's overabundance of hard currency due to gas and oil prices). Yes, McDonald's took down its logo. But it's already opening under ne…

Try to board a plane to Moscow then?

Actually a lot of Moscow tech workers came back after fleeing initialy to Yerevan, Tbilisi, Baku and Istanbul.

Most bought Bloomberg propaganda and were expecting a crash. It never came. On the other hand Moscow feels great, restaurants are packed and most of people I know are back to their consumerist habits (sans some Western clothing brands).

Russian consumer exhaled and watches Ukrainian war like a soap opera on Telegram that they discuss with coworkers or on Patriarchy Ponds.

Nobody will learn a lesson.

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