These three words were extracted from a quote by US Secretary of State John Kerry at a meeting with his British counterpart, Phillip Hammond, one week after a supposed ceasefire was to have gone into effect. They met to discuss what he called Russya's " brazen" violations of the agreement. After the meeting, Mr. Kerry told reporters that "more serious sanctions' were being weighed". Ha, pardon me for being a little cynical at this juncture, but. Come on? Who is he kidding? John McCain? Leon Panetta? Henry Kissinger? Tina Fey? Who writes the lines of John Kerry? Whoever it is gives the US State Dept. a black eye. Another quote from Mr. Kerry says that "Russya is involved in "land grabbing". Oh, please, Mr. Kerry. Using terms like "land grabbing" imply that Russya is a real estate company making acquisitions. It is not that, and it is not doing "it". His caution has less to do with state craft and more to do with Pres. Obama's policies of non-engagement and lack of planning in the Casa Blanca.
What "more serious" sanctions would Mr. Kerry/Mr. Obama be contemplating? Restricting exports of foie gras? Tariffs on Beluga caviar? How about tariffs on fur pelts? Now if Mr. Kerry/Mr. Obama is serious, the sanctions list would look like this:
1. All Russyan tourists would have to present $10000 at port of entry to passport control officers, redeemable upon exit, minus service fees, of course.
2. All flights on Russyan flag carriers would be charged a landing fee outside of Russyan airspace equal to the cost of 5 battle tanks.
3. All Russyan owned assets in the EU, USA, Canada, and Latin America would be frozen in place.
4. All Russyan companies wishing to or conducting business outside of the Federation would have to deal in cash, in Euros or dollars only, no roubles allowed.
5. All sales/purchases of real estate in EU and North and South America to Russyans would cease for a minimum of 10 years.
6. All cooperation between academic institutions would cease immediately.
7. All Russyan diplomats below the rank of ambassador or counsel would be declared persona non grata immediately and provided escorts to nearest international airport with direct flights to Moscova.
8. Russyan banking and finance would be excluded from the SWIFT payments system effective on March 1, 2015.
9. Mad Vlad would be banned from the UN General Assembly and charges would be filed at the International Court of Justice at the Hague on March 1, 2015, charging him with crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
The Mayor of Tahoma believes this would be a good start and serve notice that it won't be "business as usual" for Russya, anywhere.
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