The whole thing has gone from bizarre to outright ridiculous, folks. Today, The Telegraph in the UK has published an article titled
Ukraine crisis: what sanctions would actually hurt Russia?
The West is still discussing which sanctions might have an effect in case somebody decides to impose them a bizillion years from now. In the meanwhile, Putin is bursting with laughter as he invades and annexes territories of another country.
I knew that nobody would do anything to stop Putin’s victorious assumption of the role of the new world leader when I heard that Obama spent 90 minutes talking to him on the phone, trying to convince him that invading Ukraine wasn’t a nice thing to do. Putin must have found that discussion to be extremely entertaining.
Clarissa's Blog 
In game theory, sometimes a player has to pay in order to punish another player who did not behave fairly. This is a good thing because it keeps up a standard that benefits everyone. that societies where people are more willing to punish misbehaviour, even if it costs them something, are more successful.
Now the Europeans and the US would have to pay in terms of some economic losses in order to really hurt Russia. Sanctions against Russia are not possible without hurting both Russia and us.
They seem to be unwilling to accept this. All I read is “sanctions would damage everyone” — yes, they would. This is normal.
It is like our global society is falling apart in this way — everyone is just looking after their own economies and freaks out if something could threaten the economy even just a little bit. They do not seem to realize that in the long run, letting both Putin and everyone else who is watching know that invading neighbouring countries is kind of acceptable will cost us much more.
It seems to me that the politicians have stopped doing actual politics. They just do what the economy wants.
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“It is like our global society is falling apart in this way — everyone is just looking after their own economies and freaks out if something could threaten the economy even just a little bit. They do not seem to realize that in the long run, letting both Putin and everyone else who is watching know that invading neighbouring countries is kind of acceptable will cost us much more.”
– Exactly. You are absolutely right. And this is something that Putin realizes very well. A Western consumer will not tolerate even the teensiest bit of discomfort. There is absolutely nothing more horrifying to a Westerner than any kind of discomfort.
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“Obama spent 90 minutes talking to him on the phone, trying to convince him that invading Ukraine wasn’t a nice thing to do”
This is why you don’t elect a community organizer to be president and try to stare down a former KGB agent.
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Just found this photo essay about a different crisis, an epidemic of tuberculosis in eastern Ukraine (heartbreaking)
http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/5,114944,15637016,_Wspolczesne_Auschwitz__jest_tuz_obok_nas__Tak_twierdzi.html?i=0
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Also just saw a link where insane nationalist and Putin ass-clown Zhirinovsky is supposedly suggesting that neighboring countries to take part in the partitioning of Ukraine…
I think this is comic relief for Putin (surely the only reason Zh’s still alive) and shows just how much contempt he has for impotent European leaders…
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Speaking of contempt – according to Russian government news, Duma called on Obama (and EU) to impose sanctions on all of them.
http://lenta.ru/articles/2014/03/18/sanctions/
(Lenta.ru is where most of the staff recently walked out after authorities dismissed the chief editor)
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I hope it all will result in some moral awakening in the West. I do not mean getting in turn emboldened to bomb everyone indiscriminately, I mean gaining some integrity across the board, which sometimes will mean taking a tougher stance, and sometimes thinking better before doing things…
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For the West everything east of Germany will always be Russian zone, the first ones to be thrown under the bus, expendable so that the folks in London, Paris or Berlin can enjoy their lives !
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Exactly.
What I find curious is that in the comments to this blog there have been many more intelligent and insightful discussions of what is happening than what I have seen in all of the Western media I have consulted about the conflict.
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