I have the information lined up to put on the blog about the organized crime that is making a mess of our Seniors and their future, but, there is just too much today that occurred. The world needs to get caught up on events that have the ability to change the world in 30 minutes.
This is just crazy. A straight jacket comes to mind.
The EU shutdown their air space to Russian planes of any kind. I think all of NATO needs to do the same thing. Putin likes Russians at home, so they should go there.
I think a boycott on Russian vodka is in order, too.
The sanctions on the SWIFT financial network makes sense (click here). The SWIFT network is how wire transfers occur. It is conducted through major banks, like the Bank of Mellon in New York. There are SWIFT network banks all around the world. During war time it only makes sense to end the ability of the enemy to transfer money around Earth.
An alternative to SWIFT, albeit more expensive, is crytocurrency. It would be wise if the crytocurrency system was limited to free countries. Putin is known to favor crytocurrency. Right now the crypto networks charge as much as 15 percent or more per transaction. Civilized countries will want to limit the overseas ability of their domestic networks, including ATMs. The draw back to that is that it may be a vehicle for fleeing families and a bit of a lifeline, but, there needs to be some degree of inhibition to that network as it is favored by Russia instead of it's own currency.
Currently, Russian oligarches are told they may not abandon the Russian Central Bank. It is easy to have it operate within Russia so long as it's Russian Ruble (currently valued in exchange for USA dollar at $0.012) is used among the people. If foreign currency is perferred that may be a problem. That is why it is important crytocurrency is brought under sanctions as well.
Russian imports will become very expensive within Russia, so limiting imports might be a good idea. There needs to be an understanding, also, of the role China might be playing to bolster Russia's economy, including imports, expecially of raw materials with a military purpose. Wall Street will want to move away from companies doing business exclusively with Russia and/or China. Western citizens in Russia or China may want to plot a path home. There are lots of jobs here.
Good night for now.
