Yes it's interesting. Perhaps. But facts on the ground are sometimes different to the theory. You would have to ask @Dura for the latest take on anti-tank warfare.
I have little experience in land warfare beyond driving chalks of RM to their next scheduled bloodbath in a Lynx.
However, it is still a fact that you need armour and infantry to take and hold ground. Can you kill MBTs with UAS? Yes. But there are also plenty of ways to kill UAS.
TB2 splashed over Donetsk.
How much cheaper is an armed drone than a battle tank, and how many tanks did that drone take out before they got it?
Bonus point, for no dead or captured servicemen after the drones get shot down.
Would have like to hear Jerry from Big Jet TV commentate that one down.
I still find it rather amusing that a planespotter got a quarter of a million viewers on Friday. In the right place at the right time as many of us had predicted, Heathrow was always going to be a fun place to be. He got lucky, that the storm was never so bad that everyone diverted, and there was just the right mix of missed approaches and landings to keep everyone entertained for about six hours!
I watched that for a few minutes, but then began to feel guilty. Why was I watching it? Was it to admire the skill of the pilots in getting their aircraft, and passengers, safely on the ground, or was there somewhere an unpleasant thought that one might not?
Which latter thinking was at the heart of the British catastrophic failures in Afghan and Iraq. Together with a use it or lose it attitude and failing to stand up to the politicians when it came to telling truth to power.
Perhaps Lt-Gen Palmer (if it is him you are talking about) should take a long hard look at himself in the mirror about such an opinion.
No, it was an uncle of mine (now deceased) - had a good career (he got an MC as the lead spotter at Arnhem for the one battery that got in range of the final bridge) but never at the advice-to-politicians level. I wouldn't quote living relatives (and suggest you shouldn't speculatively either - a bit like doxxing).
Yes it's interesting. Perhaps. But facts on the ground are sometimes different to the theory. You would have to ask @Dura for the latest take on anti-tank warfare.
I have little experience in land warfare beyond driving chalks of RM to their next scheduled bloodbath in a Lynx.
However, it is still a fact that you need armour and infantry to take and hold ground. Can you kill MBTs with UAS? Yes. But there are also plenty of ways to kill UAS.
TB2 splashed over Donetsk.
How much cheaper is an armed drone than a battle tank, and how many tanks did that drone take out before they got it?
Bonus point, for no dead or captured servicemen after the drones get shot down.
Would have like to hear Jerry from Big Jet TV commentate that one down.
I still find it rather amusing that a planespotter got a quarter of a million viewers on Friday. In the right place at the right time as many of us had predicted, Heathrow was always going to be a fun place to be. He got lucky, that the storm was never so bad that everyone diverted, and there was just the right mix of missed approaches and landings to keep everyone entertained for about six hours!
I watched that for a few minutes, but then began to feel guilty. Why was I watching it? Was it to admire the skill of the pilots in getting their aircraft, and passengers, safely on the ground, or was there somewhere an unpleasant thought that one might not?
That was surely a big proportion of the appeal to watching F1 back in the 50s, 60s and 70s?
Boris Johnson shouldn't have to resign if he receives a fixed penalty notice for breaching his coronavirus laws, James Cleverly tells @RidgeOnSunday: “I don’t think what the country needs at the moment is a vacuum at the centre of government.” https://twitter.com/matt_dathan/status/1495320446702694400
I don’t think what the country needs at the moment is a moral vacuum at the centre of government, but here we are anyway.
Good piece today from Rawnsley. It isn't just our government that is a moral vacuum, but all our major institutions. The culture of an elite who can behave with impunity and cover up for each other is a characteristic of all our power structures.
What took him so long to realise? I've been saying this on here for years.
See here from autumn 2018 -
"Meanwhile, the Tories, lumbered with a dutiful leader doggedly pursuing an ill-thought through policy which its main proponents can now barely explain, let alone implement competently, pathetically latch onto the latest saviour politician for the post-May deluge......
Or Johnson with his messy hair, ill-fitting clothes, classical aphorisms, rather-too-pleased-with-itself wit and carefully crafted bumbling persona. That either of them should be viewed as serious contenders for the highest office suggests a failure to listen to what they say, to see that they mostly talk nonsense, sometimes dangerous, ill thought-out and harmful nonsense. It is a measure of how out of ideas and talent the Tories seem to be that amateurish eccentricity, incompetence in office and Boys Own enthusiasm are even thought of as serious contenders."
"Perhaps ...it is time to realise that even successful or vital sectors or professions can in reality be really rather more second-rate than we like to pretend. Perhaps we should stop deluding ourselves that our key institutions are as good as we sometimes rather vaingloriously claim. The police are not the only body of which this could be said, of course."
"What will it take for those in leadership positions to realise that being a leader is not about taking the money and the glory, not about using one position to lever yourself into other lucrative, high profile positions, not about walking away with a mealy-mouthed apology or self-exculpatory explanation but about taking responsibility for what happens when you are in charge?
For all the management books, courses, training, policies and procedures which infest corporate and public life these days, too many people in positions of responsibility behave as if they do not understand this fundamental fact. Too many behave like small children coming up with implausible stories for why their behaviour should be excused. Or think that somehow it has nothing to do with them. Too many don’t care because they know they will be indulged and get their sweeties no matter what. We wonder why the performance of so many of our institutions and services and companies is really rather mediocre. Is this any surprise when the tone from the top is, too often, “nothing to do with me” and “let me get out while the going’s good”?"
Or any of the other headers over the years I've written about leadership or about how we don't value the underpinnings of a healthy democratic society - scrutiny and the rule of law.
What he writes about has been going on for a while. The worship of finance which started under Thatcher and continued under Blair was an early sign of this sense of indispensability, impunity, lack of scrutiny and hubris leading to nemesis and a breach of trust which has helped corrode one of the vital elements of a well-functioning society.
In the process of being cut to 148 with the Challenger 3 upgrade. Although the tories have only ordered 48 sets of Trophy APS which gives an indication of the final destination...
To a certain extent are tanks just targets for drones to fire at now?
I wonder whether they're a tethered cat in a modern military. Ireland recently published a military review, which proposed a huge increase in spending, and would involve adding all sorts of new capability, including combat aircraft, attack helicopters, etc - but they don't mention main battle tanks at all.
I'd have thought Russia would have plenty of drones of their own and also anti-drone capabilities. Azerbaijan won its recent short war with Armenia based on drone tech, and I can't see the Ruskies having worse tech than them
iirc Russia claims its new tanks can shoot drones.
One of my British Army relatives admitted that, much though he preferred the idea of world peace, at a personal level he enjoyed actually getting into a fighting war - "you don't want to spend your whole life training and never find out if it worked".
I presume that's also why there are a small number of Republic of Ireland citizens in the British Army too, or used to be.
A distant, and short-term*, relation who was an Irish citizen certainly took that view.
Was, for while, married to a relation. The marriage didn't last.
Boris Johnson shouldn't have to resign if he receives a fixed penalty notice for breaching his coronavirus laws, James Cleverly tells @RidgeOnSunday: “I don’t think what the country needs at the moment is a vacuum at the centre of government.” https://twitter.com/matt_dathan/status/1495320446702694400
Utter bollocks from Cleverly. He should resign if he receives one.
He should resign anyway. All this talk of fines is just shifting the Overton window.
Why? The Overton window was always that rule makers can't be rule breakers. If he's received a fine, it means he's broken the rules, so he should go.
If he's not broken the rules (which I find exceedingly unlikely) then he's not broken the rules and he's not lied to Parliament. In which case, why should he go?
Same with a speeding fine. Amiright?
We've been over this before: If the PM had introduced the speeding rules himself, then daily been reprimanding the nation saying how important it is that the speeding rules have to be obeyed - then yes.
This isn't a parking ticket and you're disingenuous to try to conflate the two.
Exactly. We have been over this and you were wrong.
You said "rules". If he has broken the rules, all of which his government "made" (and if they didn't draft them then they have a superior obligation surely to follow them), then he should resign. Which includes speeding fines.
He should walk, like an old-school English cricketer. But he should have walked already.
Bozza's approach is more... Modern, or Australian, and not in a good way.
He's a stark Warnering to the rest of us about the inadequacy of our democratic safeguards.
One of my British Army relatives admitted that, much though he preferred the idea of world peace, at a personal level he enjoyed actually getting into a fighting war - "you don't want to spend your whole life training and never find out if it worked".
I fucking loved it at the time although the butcher's bill eventually came due.
Yes it's interesting. Perhaps. But facts on the ground are sometimes different to the theory. You would have to ask @Dura for the latest take on anti-tank warfare.
I have little experience in land warfare beyond driving chalks of RM to their next scheduled bloodbath in a Lynx.
However, it is still a fact that you need armour and infantry to take and hold ground. Can you kill MBTs with UAS? Yes. But there are also plenty of ways to kill UAS.
TB2 splashed over Donetsk.
How much cheaper is an armed drone than a battle tank, and how many tanks did that drone take out before they got it?
Bonus point, for no dead or captured servicemen after the drones get shot down.
Would have like to hear Jerry from Big Jet TV commentate that one down.
I still find it rather amusing that a planespotter got a quarter of a million viewers on Friday. In the right place at the right time as many of us had predicted, Heathrow was always going to be a fun place to be. He got lucky, that the storm was never so bad that everyone diverted, and there was just the right mix of missed approaches and landings to keep everyone entertained for about six hours!
I watched that for a few minutes, but then began to feel guilty. Why was I watching it? Was it to admire the skill of the pilots in getting their aircraft, and passengers, safely on the ground, or was there somewhere an unpleasant thought that one might not?
That was surely a big proportion of the appeal to watching F1 back in the 50s, 60s and 70s?
Thankfully, we see many fewer accidents in both these days - and thanks to better training and safety measures, most people walk away from the accidents that do occur.
It was surprising to not even see an obvious blown tyre at Heathrow, nor any touch-and-go manoeuvres. Well done to the pilots, many of whom decided to bin the approach at a safe height rather than continue when unstable in the gusts.
Which latter thinking was at the heart of the British catastrophic failures in Afghan and Iraq. Together with a use it or lose it attitude and failing to stand up to the politicians when it came to telling truth to power.
Perhaps Lt-Gen Palmer (if it is him you are talking about) should take a long hard look at himself in the mirror about such an opinion.
No, it was an uncle of mine (now deceased) - had a good career (he got an MC as the lead spotter at Arnhem for the one battery that got in range of the final bridge) but never at the advice-to-politicians level. I wouldn't quote living relatives (and suggest you shouldn't speculatively either - a bit like doxxing).
Not doxxing at all; don't do a Charles on me. You post non-anonymously and mentioned a military relative. I then did the math. Incorrectly as it turned out but not preposterously. If you don't want such speculation then say "a friend" or something. Your point would remain valid. Or don't say anything.
Anthony Palmer that said was at the advice-to-politicians level. At the time of Afghan and Iraq. So I am comfortable about my point about the attitude of such military folk whether your cousin was one of them or not.
The Chinese embassy staying put in Kiev signifies some coordination between Moscow and Beijing. Either they have been assured there will be no direct attack on the Ukrainian capital or they have been assured that any attack will avoid them.
One of my British Army relatives admitted that, much though he preferred the idea of world peace, at a personal level he enjoyed actually getting into a fighting war - "you don't want to spend your whole life training and never find out if it worked".
I fucking loved it at the time although the butcher's bill eventually came due.
I think your tale has been a calming foil to some of the very few gung-ho posters, who have now all left the building.
The Chinese embassy staying put in Kiev signifies some coordination between Moscow and Beijing. Either they have been assured there will be no direct attack on the Ukrainian capital or they have been assured that any attack will avoid them.
The western embassies in Kiev would be targets for invading Russians. The Chinese embassy, not so much.
Looks like the sharp cloudburst organising slightly quicker than forecast. Fully organised north of Man now, with a line forming from Moffat towards Wooler. Looks like NE and Cumbria will not be left out
Boris Johnson shouldn't have to resign if he receives a fixed penalty notice for breaching his coronavirus laws, James Cleverly tells @RidgeOnSunday: “I don’t think what the country needs at the moment is a vacuum at the centre of government.” https://twitter.com/matt_dathan/status/1495320446702694400
Utter bollocks from Cleverly. He should resign if he receives one.
He should resign anyway. All this talk of fines is just shifting the Overton window.
Why? The Overton window was always that rule makers can't be rule breakers. If he's received a fine, it means he's broken the rules, so he should go.
If he's not broken the rules (which I find exceedingly unlikely) then he's not broken the rules and he's not lied to Parliament. In which case, why should he go?
Same with a speeding fine. Amiright?
We've been over this before: If the PM had introduced the speeding rules himself, then daily been reprimanding the nation saying how important it is that the speeding rules have to be obeyed - then yes.
This isn't a parking ticket and you're disingenuous to try to conflate the two.
Exactly. We have been over this and you were wrong.
You said "rules". If he has broken the rules, all of which his government "made" (and if they didn't draft them then they have a superior obligation surely to follow them), then he should resign. Which includes speeding fines.
He should walk, like an old-school English cricketer. But he should have walked already.
Bozza's approach is more... Modern, or Australian, and not in a good way.
He's a stark Warnering to the rest of us about the inadequacy of our democratic safeguards.
Mr. Sandpit, it was very impressive that Grosjean escaped from his mega crash with only burns to his hands.
I’d never been more sure that I’d seen someone killed, than with that accident. The whole car ablaze and the cockpit seemingly disintegrated. But somehow, he not only survived the crash but remained conscious for long enough to get himself out of the car.
Boris Johnson shouldn't have to resign if he receives a fixed penalty notice for breaching his coronavirus laws, James Cleverly tells @RidgeOnSunday: “I don’t think what the country needs at the moment is a vacuum at the centre of government.” https://twitter.com/matt_dathan/status/1495320446702694400
I don’t think what the country needs at the moment is a moral vacuum at the centre of government, but here we are anyway.
Good piece today from Rawnsley. It isn't just our government that is a moral vacuum, but all our major institutions. The culture of an elite who can behave with impunity and cover up for each other is a characteristic of all our power structures.
What took him so long to realise? I've been saying this on here for years.
See here from autumn 2018 -
"Meanwhile, the Tories, lumbered with a dutiful leader doggedly pursuing an ill-thought through policy which its main proponents can now barely explain, let alone implement competently, pathetically latch onto the latest saviour politician for the post-May deluge......
Or Johnson with his messy hair, ill-fitting clothes, classical aphorisms, rather-too-pleased-with-itself wit and carefully crafted bumbling persona. That either of them should be viewed as serious contenders for the highest office suggests a failure to listen to what they say, to see that they mostly talk nonsense, sometimes dangerous, ill thought-out and harmful nonsense. It is a measure of how out of ideas and talent the Tories seem to be that amateurish eccentricity, incompetence in office and Boys Own enthusiasm are even thought of as serious contenders."
"Perhaps ...it is time to realise that even successful or vital sectors or professions can in reality be really rather more second-rate than we like to pretend. Perhaps we should stop deluding ourselves that our key institutions are as good as we sometimes rather vaingloriously claim. The police are not the only body of which this could be said, of course."
"What will it take for those in leadership positions to realise that being a leader is not about taking the money and the glory, not about using one position to lever yourself into other lucrative, high profile positions, not about walking away with a mealy-mouthed apology or self-exculpatory explanation but about taking responsibility for what happens when you are in charge?
For all the management books, courses, training, policies and procedures which infest corporate and public life these days, too many people in positions of responsibility behave as if they do not understand this fundamental fact. Too many behave like small children coming up with implausible stories for why their behaviour should be excused. Or think that somehow it has nothing to do with them. Too many don’t care because they know they will be indulged and get their sweeties no matter what. We wonder why the performance of so many of our institutions and services and companies is really rather mediocre. Is this any surprise when the tone from the top is, too often, “nothing to do with me” and “let me get out while the going’s good”?"
Or any of the other headers over the years I've written about leadership or about how we don't value the underpinnings of a healthy democratic society - scrutiny and the rule of law.
What he writes about has been going on for a while. The worship of finance which started under Thatcher and continued under Blair was an early sign of this sense of indispensability, impunity, lack of scrutiny and hubris leading to nemesis and a breach of trust which has helped corrode one of the vital elements of a well-functioning society.
I am going to change my name to Cassandra and demand my own ludicrously overpaid column in the Observer. Humph! 😡
The system of "indispensability, impunity, lack of scrutiny and hubris" among the non-politicians in government is far older.
There was horror after HMS Captain turned over, in 1870, when Reed stated that he would tell the truth at the court-martial. This would have nailed a number of permanent officials to the wall. It took quite a bit of effort to stop Reed (and Spencer Robinson).....
The same horror was heard when it was suggested that an enquiry into Rotherham et. al. would include naming names and linking them to specific actions.
The politicians have applied this to themselves, now. Bit late in the day, but hey....
Not so much failed to play, as waited for it to play out. Which requires the Met/Grey reports.
My local MP replied to my letter with this
"While acknowledging the seriousness of this matter, I do believe it is important that, in the meantime, the Government does not become paralysed and is still able to prioritise delivery, as well as being able to respond to events whenever they arise. For example, we face the largest military build-up in Europe in decades on the border of Ukraine. It is right that the focus of our Prime Minister, who visited Ukraine on 1 February, is on peace in Europe, rather than party politics at home."
The problem with that of course is that instead of concentrating on Ukraine BoZo was closeted with his lawyers working on his Partygate excuses
Well, my local MP has put his letter in....
Mine has said that he will discuss it with the chairman of his association first, and I know that my nearby mp has not done so yet as they cannot coalesce around a candidate
Alun is waiting for the Gray Report before deciding not to submit a letter.
I think it is becoming extremely unlikely there are sufficient conservative mps for Boris to lose a vonc and in the end they are responsible for their own futures
BigG. as you know I am an anyone but Conservative voter, which I know is rather irrational. However, I would be comfortable for Johnson to be replaced by any one of Hunt, Sunak, Tugendhadt or Mordaunt. I have left out Truss as she is cut from the same cloth as Johnson.
I wouldn't vote for these people against a reasonably centrist Opposition as I am opposed to their key ideology. Nonetheless wouldn't it be reassuring to be navigated through this potentially lengthy crisis by someone with at least an element of gravitas.
The moment for PM Benny Hill has passed.
So would I but it seems his mps do not agree, so be it on them
Boris Johnson shouldn't have to resign if he receives a fixed penalty notice for breaching his coronavirus laws, James Cleverly tells @RidgeOnSunday: “I don’t think what the country needs at the moment is a vacuum at the centre of government.” https://twitter.com/matt_dathan/status/1495320446702694400
Utter bollocks from Cleverly. He should resign if he receives one.
He should resign anyway. All this talk of fines is just shifting the Overton window.
Why? The Overton window was always that rule makers can't be rule breakers. If he's received a fine, it means he's broken the rules, so he should go.
If he's not broken the rules (which I find exceedingly unlikely) then he's not broken the rules and he's not lied to Parliament. In which case, why should he go?
Same with a speeding fine. Amiright?
We've been over this before: If the PM had introduced the speeding rules himself, then daily been reprimanding the nation saying how important it is that the speeding rules have to be obeyed - then yes.
This isn't a parking ticket and you're disingenuous to try to conflate the two.
Exactly. We have been over this and you were wrong.
You said "rules". If he has broken the rules, all of which his government "made" (and if they didn't draft them then they have a superior obligation surely to follow them), then he should resign. Which includes speeding fines.
He should walk, like an old-school English cricketer. But he should have walked already.
Bozza's approach is more... Modern, or Australian, and not in a good way.
He's a stark Warnering to the rest of us about the inadequacy of our democratic safeguards.
Have you no Shane?
No, I've just got back from Chappell so I had to make something up quickly.
Have been stuck in an echo chamber for 24 hours. Went something like this: Me: “Shame about Sarah Smith” “She’s a liar” “Doubt it: but anyway, the misogyny & abuse…” “Was no misogyny or abuse” “Here’s proof of that abuse” “But… Did I mention she’s a liar?” 🤦🏻♂️🤷♂️
Looks like the sharp cloudburst organising slightly quicker than forecast. Fully organised north of Man now, with a line forming from Moffat towards Wooler. Looks like NE and Cumbria will not be left out
23c with sunny intervals on Sao nicolau, Cape Verde.
Vice President Kamala Harris, echoing President Joe Biden's comments Friday, tells CNN's @NatashaBertrand in Munich "We believe that Putin has made his decision, period," to invade Ukraine, adding "nothing's being held back" in sharing intelligence with allies.
Firstly he's damaged the Ukrainian economy and reminded them that their freedom from Moscow comes at a price - the threat of military action. He's also helped to prop up mini me Lukashenko who's been under pressure from protesters who believe that he rigged the 2020 election.
He's de facto annexed Belarus while everyone was looking at Ukraine.
Firstly he's damaged the Ukrainian economy and reminded them that their freedom from Moscow comes at a price - the threat of military action. He's also helped to prop up mini me Lukashenko who's been under pressure from protesters who believe that he rigged the 2020 election.
He's de facto annexed Belarus while everyone was looking at Ukraine.
Doesn't mean he doesn't want Ukraine too, of course.
The bit in that story (which has bounced around for a while) that is fairly unbelievable, is that there was some kind of transponder in the wreckage that was transmitting it's location from a basement. That Jason Bourne tech, not real world.
The F-117 tech was largely obsolete by then. It's also worth remembering that the actual materials used in the aircraft for radar absorption weren't that secret - alot of it was reheated (ha) stuff from the D-21 program. Where examples crashed in both China and Russia.
Firstly he's damaged the Ukrainian economy and reminded them that their freedom from Moscow comes at a price - the threat of military action. He's also helped to prop up mini me Lukashenko who's been under pressure from protesters who believe that he rigged the 2020 election.
He's de facto annexed Belarus while everyone was looking at Ukraine.
That's actually a good point - and one that will give Putin some nice Brownie Points with the Greater Russian Nationalists.
Could it be enough for the climb down? My guess is that it isn't, sadly.
Have been stuck in an echo chamber for 24 hours. Went something like this: Me: “Shame about Sarah Smith” “She’s a liar” “Doubt it: but anyway, the misogyny & abuse…” “Was no misogyny or abuse” “Here’s proof of that abuse” “But… Did I mention she’s a liar?” 🤦🏻♂️🤷♂️
Mr. Dean, jein. The dictator in Belarus undoubtedly welcomes the Russian soldiers, though the electorate, who voted otherwise, might not feel quite the same.
Gideon Rachman just made a very good point on twitter. The Chinese Embassy in Kiev is staying put. Make of that what you will.
Chinese diplomats are considered expendable ?
Didn't the one in Belgrade get accidentally bombed by the Americans?
Hopefully that won't be a problem in this case, of course!
Accidentally? or on purpose?
According to one story, the Chinese were using the embassy as a test site for electronic warfare, and were "closing the loop" by feeding data to the Serbians. If true, this would explain why the Chinese made such a small protest about the bombing - doing that crossed a line and made them a co-belligerent.
According to another (mentioned in this thread) they were collecting bit from the shot down F-117. The main argument against that is that kind of stuff is expected by embassies/spooks in a war. American spooks in various conflicts zones have always been happy to buy wreckage and cart hit home via at the embassy.
Breaking: The Queen has tested positive for Covid-19 this morning, the palace has confirmed. The 95-year-old Queen is experiencing 'mild cold-like' symptoms. BUT is expecting to continue 'light duties' at Windsor this week. https://twitter.com/MattSunRoyal/status/1495363945733005312
Breaking: The Queen has tested positive for Covid-19 this morning, the palace has confirmed. The 95-year-old Queen is experiencing 'mild cold-like' symptoms. BUT is expecting to continue 'light duties' at Windsor this week. https://twitter.com/MattSunRoyal/status/1495363945733005312
Breaking: The Queen has tested positive for Covid-19 this morning, the palace has confirmed. The 95-year-old Queen is experiencing 'mild cold-like' symptoms. BUT is expecting to continue 'light duties' at Windsor this week. https://twitter.com/MattSunRoyal/status/1495363945733005312
Breaking: The Queen has tested positive for Covid-19 this morning, the palace has confirmed. The 95-year-old Queen is experiencing 'mild cold-like' symptoms. BUT is expecting to continue 'light duties' at Windsor this week. https://twitter.com/MattSunRoyal/status/1495363945733005312
The odds are not very good.....
Ugh. Even with what I think was just a mild dose two weeks ago and despite being a fairly fit and comparatively young man I didn't find it fun.
The bit in that story (which has bounced around for a while) that is fairly unbelievable, is that there was some kind of transponder in the wreckage that was transmitting it's location from a basement. That Jason Bourne tech, not real world.
The F-117 tech was largely obsolete by then. It's also worth remembering that the actual materials used in the aircraft for radar absorption weren't that secret - alot of it was reheated (ha) stuff from the D-21 program. Where examples crashed in both China and Russia.
Well, you can put trackers on a high-end sports car....
But yes, things that make you go "Hmmmmmm........"
(But I don't think there's much doubt the Chinese Embassy was targeted, which is such an egregious thing for the Yanks to have done, there must have been something in the wreckage they were very worried about losing....)
Vice President Kamala Harris, echoing President Joe Biden's comments Friday, tells CNN's @NatashaBertrand in Munich "We believe that Putin has made his decision, period," to invade Ukraine, adding "nothing's being held back" in sharing intelligence with allies.
*off topic, though great to have a TSE thread again
Is it really all down to Putin making his mind up? If it was London or Washington and rest of war bunker said no, it wouldn’t matter what the leaders preference was? Why would it be different in Moscow? What I’m practically saying is, if Putin, and those agreeing with him were asked by the generals, what’s the clarity of the mission we can achieve and withdraw without it being open ended or creeping into something else, and Putin and his allies can’t convincingly define that, then surely it won’t happen?
If at some point the Ukraine leadership want a face to face with Russian counterpart’s, what would the Ukrainians hope to get from that? They would use it just to emphasise how belligerent their position is, like how Liz Truss used her Moscow trip?
These are two good questions for this latest Sunday in pre war build up?
Breaking: The Queen has tested positive for Covid-19 this morning, the palace has confirmed. The 95-year-old Queen is experiencing 'mild cold-like' symptoms. BUT is expecting to continue 'light duties' at Windsor this week. https://twitter.com/MattSunRoyal/status/1495363945733005312
So that suggests the night in hospital a few months ago was not COVID related.
Breaking: The Queen has tested positive for Covid-19 this morning, the palace has confirmed. The 95-year-old Queen is experiencing 'mild cold-like' symptoms. BUT is expecting to continue 'light duties' at Windsor this week. https://twitter.com/MattSunRoyal/status/1495363945733005312
The odds are not very good.....
What are the hospitalisation rates for the triple jabbed (very) elderly ?
Looks like the sharp cloudburst organising slightly quicker than forecast. Fully organised north of Man now, with a line forming from Moffat towards Wooler. Looks like NE and Cumbria will not be left out
23c with sunny intervals on Sao nicolau, Cape Verde.
Denizens of this board from last week may remember be whittling about whether my wife and kids' flight back from the Canaries would be able to land, given storm Eunice. Happy to report that - despite the outbound flight on Friday being delayed by hours and hours and hours, the inbound flight, which presumably was using a different aeroplane, landed bumping but on time; and despite anecdata about lengthy post-Brexit queues getting through immigration and of prohibitive parking charges at Manchester Airport, I had them back home 40 minutes after the wheels touched the tarmac having shelled out an actually-fairly-reasonable-considering £6 in parking charges. Almost-post-covid Manchester Airport arrivals looked actually not unlike Terminal 2 of last time I flew in 2014.
One of my British Army relatives admitted that, much though he preferred the idea of world peace, at a personal level he enjoyed actually getting into a fighting war - "you don't want to spend your whole life training and never find out if it worked".
I fucking loved it at the time although the butcher's bill eventually came due.
I think your tale has been a calming foil to some of the very few gung-ho posters, who have now all left the building.
It’s a paradox. The entire point of our forces in Europe for the last seventy odd years have been to deter armed conflict, but without individuals ready or even keen to fight, such deterrence doesn’t exist.
Our Ukraine policy is not greatly different. Obviously it’s the Ukrainians who will be the ones in the firing line, but the belief is that supplying them with sufficient weapons increases the cost to Putin and makes invasion less likely.
Ukraine will fight a Putin invasion anyway, as both their government and popular opinion has made very clear. You might disagree, but I think that without western intervention, Putin would likely have invaded already.
Breaking: The Queen has tested positive for Covid-19 this morning, the palace has confirmed. The 95-year-old Queen is experiencing 'mild cold-like' symptoms. BUT is expecting to continue 'light duties' at Windsor this week. https://twitter.com/MattSunRoyal/status/1495363945733005312
Forgive the cynicism, but I reckon she tested positive a week ago and is now past the worst of it.
Breaking: The Queen has tested positive for Covid-19 this morning, the palace has confirmed. The 95-year-old Queen is experiencing 'mild cold-like' symptoms. BUT is expecting to continue 'light duties' at Windsor this week. https://twitter.com/MattSunRoyal/status/1495363945733005312
Forgive the cynicism, but I reckon she tested positive a week ago and is now past the worst of it.
Hopefully it was Charles who passed it on when they met about a week ago. So she’s over the worst.
The bit in that story (which has bounced around for a while) that is fairly unbelievable, is that there was some kind of transponder in the wreckage that was transmitting it's location from a basement. That Jason Bourne tech, not real world.
The F-117 tech was largely obsolete by then. It's also worth remembering that the actual materials used in the aircraft for radar absorption weren't that secret - alot of it was reheated (ha) stuff from the D-21 program. Where examples crashed in both China and Russia.
Well, you can put trackers on a high-end sports car....
But yes, things that make you go "Hmmmmmm........"
(But I don't think there's much doubt the Chinese Embassy was targeted, which is such an egregious thing for the Yanks to have done, there must have been something in the wreckage they were very worried about losing....)
Enough power to broadcast from a basement? That is still one hell of a box. In stealth aircraft, the considerations was in removing as many potential accidental broadcast systems as possible. In the B2 they went to the extent of having a master go-to-war switch which shut off everything that could radiate. In the submarine world, it was quite common for crews to weld the emergency beacons down, rather than have them accidentally go off.
A theory that makes more sense is that the Chinese Embassy was involved in active electronic warfare/intelligence and providing data to the Serbs.
Breaking: The Queen has tested positive for Covid-19 this morning, the palace has confirmed. The 95-year-old Queen is experiencing 'mild cold-like' symptoms. BUT is expecting to continue 'light duties' at Windsor this week. https://twitter.com/MattSunRoyal/status/1495363945733005312
Forgive the cynicism, but I reckon she tested positive a week ago and is now past the worst of it.
Not cynicism, good Monarch management if the case.
Breaking: The Queen has tested positive for Covid-19 this morning, the palace has confirmed. The 95-year-old Queen is experiencing 'mild cold-like' symptoms. BUT is expecting to continue 'light duties' at Windsor this week. https://twitter.com/MattSunRoyal/status/1495363945733005312
Forgive the cynicism, but I reckon she tested positive a week ago and is now past the worst of it.
Hopefully it was Charles who passed it on when they met about a week ago. So she’s over the worst.
They announced Charles had tested positive on the 10th, two days after meeting HMQ on the 8th. So if HMQ caught Covid from the Prince of Wales, then she was exposed 12 days ago, and it's very likely that she tested positive some time ago, and we're only hearing about it now because she's getting better.
Of course, entirely possible that she caught it from someone else.
The recent pensions fiasco shows how essential it is to get our arguments right prior to the #indyref2 campaign. Last weeks appeal court decision illustrates what happens when the culture of #nodebate undermines policy making.
Boris Johnson shouldn't have to resign if he receives a fixed penalty notice for breaching his coronavirus laws, James Cleverly tells @RidgeOnSunday: “I don’t think what the country needs at the moment is a vacuum at the centre of government.” https://twitter.com/matt_dathan/status/1495320446702694400
I don’t think what the country needs at the moment is a moral vacuum at the centre of government, but here we are anyway.
Good piece today from Rawnsley. It isn't just our government that is a moral vacuum, but all our major institutions. The culture of an elite who can behave with impunity and cover up for each other is a characteristic of all our power structures.
What took him so long to realise? I've been saying this on here for years.
See here from autumn 2018 -
"Meanwhile, the Tories, lumbered with a dutiful leader doggedly pursuing an ill-thought through policy which its main proponents can now barely explain, let alone implement competently, pathetically latch onto the latest saviour politician for the post-May deluge......
Or Johnson with his messy hair, ill-fitting clothes, classical aphorisms, rather-too-pleased-with-itself wit and carefully crafted bumbling persona. That either of them should be viewed as serious contenders for the highest office suggests a failure to listen to what they say, to see that they mostly talk nonsense, sometimes dangerous, ill thought-out and harmful nonsense. It is a measure of how out of ideas and talent the Tories seem to be that amateurish eccentricity, incompetence in office and Boys Own enthusiasm are even thought of as serious contenders."
"Perhaps ...it is time to realise that even successful or vital sectors or professions can in reality be really rather more second-rate than we like to pretend. Perhaps we should stop deluding ourselves that our key institutions are as good as we sometimes rather vaingloriously claim. The police are not the only body of which this could be said, of course."
"What will it take for those in leadership positions to realise that being a leader is not about taking the money and the glory, not about using one position to lever yourself into other lucrative, high profile positions, not about walking away with a mealy-mouthed apology or self-exculpatory explanation but about taking responsibility for what happens when you are in charge?
For all the management books, courses, training, policies and procedures which infest corporate and public life these days, too many people in positions of responsibility behave as if they do not understand this fundamental fact. Too many behave like small children coming up with implausible stories for why their behaviour should be excused. Or think that somehow it has nothing to do with them. Too many don’t care because they know they will be indulged and get their sweeties no matter what. We wonder why the performance of so many of our institutions and services and companies is really rather mediocre. Is this any surprise when the tone from the top is, too often, “nothing to do with me” and “let me get out while the going’s good”?"
Or any of the other headers over the years I've written about leadership or about how we don't value the underpinnings of a healthy democratic society - scrutiny and the rule of law.
What he writes about has been going on for a while. The worship of finance which started under Thatcher and continued under Blair was an early sign of this sense of indispensability, impunity, lack of scrutiny and hubris leading to nemesis and a breach of trust which has helped corrode one of the vital elements of a well-functioning society.
I am going to change my name to Cassandra and demand my own ludicrously overpaid column in the Observer. Humph! 😡
It's surprising that things work as well as they do. How we have ended up as one of the most prosperous and pleasant parts of the world to inhabit, when, as you point out, the quality of our leadership is so mediocre?
Perhaps it's true that even mediocrity is an achievement.
And, I don't honestly think that things were much better in the past.
Draghi and Italy - dependent on Russia for gas - throw a major spanner in the talk of an EU united front to punish Putin with tough sanctions. So much for “whatever it takes”.
Have been stuck in an echo chamber for 24 hours. Went something like this: Me: “Shame about Sarah Smith” “She’s a liar” “Doubt it: but anyway, the misogyny & abuse…” “Was no misogyny or abuse” “Here’s proof of that abuse” “But… Did I mention she’s a liar?” 🤦🏻♂️🤷♂️
Imagine for a moment. Putin sent hundreds of thousands of troops unannounced into Belarus, and declares they'll be there permanently. Effectively an occupation. The reaction? Sanctions and outrage. An invasion! To prop up a puppet dictator hated by the people. And a sham independent country. Well. That's what he's just done. Just without the sanctions and outrage.
Have been stuck in an echo chamber for 24 hours. Went something like this: Me: “Shame about Sarah Smith” “She’s a liar” “Doubt it: but anyway, the misogyny & abuse…” “Was no misogyny or abuse” “Here’s proof of that abuse” “But… Did I mention she’s a liar?” 🤦🏻♂️🤷♂️
Imagine for a moment. Putin sent hundreds of thousands of troops unannounced into Belarus, and declares they'll be there permanently. Effectively an occupation. The reaction? Sanctions and outrage. An invasion! To prop up a puppet dictator hated by the people. And a sham independent country. Well. That's what he's just done. Just without the sanctions and outrage.
The only thing is, haven't sanctions already been imposed, over the Belarus question ?
Draghi and Italy - dependent on Russia for gas - throw a major spanner in the talk of an EU united front to punish Putin with tough sanctions. So much for “whatever it takes”.
I’m bored of saying Putin hasn’t got lucky with this division, but has for years plotted it whilst we oblivious went about our business - like the Martians plotting invasion in HG Wells book.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, in comments that seem to have been recorded on Friday: "Tensions have been ramped up to the maximum [on] the contact line" in the Donbas.
"Any spark, any unplanned event or minor provocation could lead to irreversable consequences."
Breaking: The Queen has tested positive for Covid-19 this morning, the palace has confirmed. The 95-year-old Queen is experiencing 'mild cold-like' symptoms. BUT is expecting to continue 'light duties' at Windsor this week. https://twitter.com/MattSunRoyal/status/1495363945733005312
So that suggests the night in hospital a few months ago was not COVID related.
If it was a few months ago it is possible that was Delta and this is Omicron or BA2.
The bit in that story (which has bounced around for a while) that is fairly unbelievable, is that there was some kind of transponder in the wreckage that was transmitting it's location from a basement. That Jason Bourne tech, not real world.
The F-117 tech was largely obsolete by then. It's also worth remembering that the actual materials used in the aircraft for radar absorption weren't that secret - alot of it was reheated (ha) stuff from the D-21 program. Where examples crashed in both China and Russia.
Well, you can put trackers on a high-end sports car....
But yes, things that make you go "Hmmmmmm........"
(But I don't think there's much doubt the Chinese Embassy was targeted, which is such an egregious thing for the Yanks to have done, there must have been something in the wreckage they were very worried about losing....)
Enough power to broadcast from a basement? That is still one hell of a box. In stealth aircraft, the considerations was in removing as many potential accidental broadcast systems as possible. In the B2 they went to the extent of having a master go-to-war switch which shut off everything that could radiate. In the submarine world, it was quite common for crews to weld the emergency beacons down, rather than have them accidentally go off.
A theory that makes more sense is that the Chinese Embassy was involved in active electronic warfare/intelligence and providing data to the Serbs.
Of course, easier to broadcast if the building above has been removed by five bombs,...
Either way, it was a hell of a provocative move to bomb an embassy - a move that Clinton must have sanctioned. The relatively muted outrage from the Chinese suggests their Embassy wasn't just a passive player in events - and the US had detailed intelligence. Perhaps the Russians (and the Americans!) have been given better assurances in Kiev...
Imagine for a moment. Putin sent hundreds of thousands of troops unannounced into Belarus, and declares they'll be there permanently. Effectively an occupation. The reaction? Sanctions and outrage. An invasion! To prop up a puppet dictator hated by the people. And a sham independent country. Well. That's what he's just done. Just without the sanctions and outrage.
The only thing is, haven't sanctions already been imposed, over the Belarus question ?
On Belarus yes. On Putin for invading? I don't think so. Mostly cos I'm not sure most have twigged that's what's happened yet.
Boris Johnson shouldn't have to resign if he receives a fixed penalty notice for breaching his coronavirus laws, James Cleverly tells @RidgeOnSunday: “I don’t think what the country needs at the moment is a vacuum at the centre of government.” https://twitter.com/matt_dathan/status/1495320446702694400
I don’t think what the country needs at the moment is a moral vacuum at the centre of government, but here we are anyway.
Good piece today from Rawnsley. It isn't just our government that is a moral vacuum, but all our major institutions. The culture of an elite who can behave with impunity and cover up for each other is a characteristic of all our power structures.
What took him so long to realise? I've been saying this on here for years.
See here from autumn 2018 -
"Meanwhile, the Tories, lumbered with a dutiful leader doggedly pursuing an ill-thought through policy which its main proponents can now barely explain, let alone implement competently, pathetically latch onto the latest saviour politician for the post-May deluge......
Or Johnson with his messy hair, ill-fitting clothes, classical aphorisms, rather-too-pleased-with-itself wit and carefully crafted bumbling persona. That either of them should be viewed as serious contenders for the highest office suggests a failure to listen to what they say, to see that they mostly talk nonsense, sometimes dangerous, ill thought-out and harmful nonsense. It is a measure of how out of ideas and talent the Tories seem to be that amateurish eccentricity, incompetence in office and Boys Own enthusiasm are even thought of as serious contenders."
"Perhaps ...it is time to realise that even successful or vital sectors or professions can in reality be really rather more second-rate than we like to pretend. Perhaps we should stop deluding ourselves that our key institutions are as good as we sometimes rather vaingloriously claim. The police are not the only body of which this could be said, of course."
"What will it take for those in leadership positions to realise that being a leader is not about taking the money and the glory, not about using one position to lever yourself into other lucrative, high profile positions, not about walking away with a mealy-mouthed apology or self-exculpatory explanation but about taking responsibility for what happens when you are in charge?
For all the management books, courses, training, policies and procedures which infest corporate and public life these days, too many people in positions of responsibility behave as if they do not understand this fundamental fact. Too many behave like small children coming up with implausible stories for why their behaviour should be excused. Or think that somehow it has nothing to do with them. Too many don’t care because they know they will be indulged and get their sweeties no matter what. We wonder why the performance of so many of our institutions and services and companies is really rather mediocre. Is this any surprise when the tone from the top is, too often, “nothing to do with me” and “let me get out while the going’s good”?"
Or any of the other headers over the years I've written about leadership or about how we don't value the underpinnings of a healthy democratic society - scrutiny and the rule of law.
What he writes about has been going on for a while. The worship of finance which started under Thatcher and continued under Blair was an early sign of this sense of indispensability, impunity, lack of scrutiny and hubris leading to nemesis and a breach of trust which has helped corrode one of the vital elements of a well-functioning society.
I am going to change my name to Cassandra and demand my own ludicrously overpaid column in the Observer. Humph! 😡
And, I don't honestly think that things were much better in the past.
Just finished Andrew Roberts magnificent “George III” - if you think the current shower are a bunch of self-serving incompetent chancers you should see the ne’er-do-wells he had to work with!
Firstly he's damaged the Ukrainian economy and reminded them that their freedom from Moscow comes at a price - the threat of military action. He's also helped to prop up mini me Lukashenko who's been under pressure from protesters who believe that he rigged the 2020 election.
He's de facto annexed Belarus while everyone was looking at Ukraine.
That's actually a good point - and one that will give Putin some nice Brownie Points with the Greater Russian Nationalists.
Could it be enough for the climb down? My guess is that it isn't, sadly.
Breaking: The Queen has tested positive for Covid-19 this morning, the palace has confirmed. The 95-year-old Queen is experiencing 'mild cold-like' symptoms. BUT is expecting to continue 'light duties' at Windsor this week. https://twitter.com/MattSunRoyal/status/1495363945733005312
The odds are not very good.....
What are the hospitalisation rates for the triple jabbed (very) elderly ?
Boris Johnson shouldn't have to resign if he receives a fixed penalty notice for breaching his coronavirus laws, James Cleverly tells @RidgeOnSunday: “I don’t think what the country needs at the moment is a vacuum at the centre of government.” https://twitter.com/matt_dathan/status/1495320446702694400
I don’t think what the country needs at the moment is a moral vacuum at the centre of government, but here we are anyway.
Good piece today from Rawnsley. It isn't just our government that is a moral vacuum, but all our major institutions. The culture of an elite who can behave with impunity and cover up for each other is a characteristic of all our power structures.
What took him so long to realise? I've been saying this on here for years.
See here from autumn 2018 -
"Meanwhile, the Tories, lumbered with a dutiful leader doggedly pursuing an ill-thought through policy which its main proponents can now barely explain, let alone implement competently, pathetically latch onto the latest saviour politician for the post-May deluge......
Or Johnson with his messy hair, ill-fitting clothes, classical aphorisms, rather-too-pleased-with-itself wit and carefully crafted bumbling persona. That either of them should be viewed as serious contenders for the highest office suggests a failure to listen to what they say, to see that they mostly talk nonsense, sometimes dangerous, ill thought-out and harmful nonsense. It is a measure of how out of ideas and talent the Tories seem to be that amateurish eccentricity, incompetence in office and Boys Own enthusiasm are even thought of as serious contenders."
"Perhaps ...it is time to realise that even successful or vital sectors or professions can in reality be really rather more second-rate than we like to pretend. Perhaps we should stop deluding ourselves that our key institutions are as good as we sometimes rather vaingloriously claim. The police are not the only body of which this could be said, of course."
"What will it take for those in leadership positions to realise that being a leader is not about taking the money and the glory, not about using one position to lever yourself into other lucrative, high profile positions, not about walking away with a mealy-mouthed apology or self-exculpatory explanation but about taking responsibility for what happens when you are in charge?
For all the management books, courses, training, policies and procedures which infest corporate and public life these days, too many people in positions of responsibility behave as if they do not understand this fundamental fact. Too many behave like small children coming up with implausible stories for why their behaviour should be excused. Or think that somehow it has nothing to do with them. Too many don’t care because they know they will be indulged and get their sweeties no matter what. We wonder why the performance of so many of our institutions and services and companies is really rather mediocre. Is this any surprise when the tone from the top is, too often, “nothing to do with me” and “let me get out while the going’s good”?"
Or any of the other headers over the years I've written about leadership or about how we don't value the underpinnings of a healthy democratic society - scrutiny and the rule of law.
What he writes about has been going on for a while. The worship of finance which started under Thatcher and continued under Blair was an early sign of this sense of indispensability, impunity, lack of scrutiny and hubris leading to nemesis and a breach of trust which has helped corrode one of the vital elements of a well-functioning society.
I am going to change my name to Cassandra and demand my own ludicrously overpaid column in the Observer. Humph! 😡
And, I don't honestly think that things were much better in the past.
Just finished Andrew Roberts magnificent “George III” - if you think the current shower are a bunch of self-serving incompetent chancers you should see the ne’er-do-wells he had to work with!
You have to wonder how on earth we ended up ruling a quarter of the planet for a hundred years, given the number of corrupt, cowardly, and incompetent people in senior positions.
Breaking: The Queen has tested positive for Covid-19 this morning, the palace has confirmed. The 95-year-old Queen is experiencing 'mild cold-like' symptoms. BUT is expecting to continue 'light duties' at Windsor this week. https://twitter.com/MattSunRoyal/status/1495363945733005312
The odds are not very good.....
What are the hospitalisation rates for the triple jabbed (very) elderly ?
Breaking: The Queen has tested positive for Covid-19 this morning, the palace has confirmed. The 95-year-old Queen is experiencing 'mild cold-like' symptoms. BUT is expecting to continue 'light duties' at Windsor this week. https://twitter.com/MattSunRoyal/status/1495363945733005312
The odds are not very good.....
What are the hospitalisation rates for the triple jabbed (very) elderly ?
Imagine for a moment. Putin sent hundreds of thousands of troops unannounced into Belarus, and declares they'll be there permanently. Effectively an occupation. The reaction? Sanctions and outrage. An invasion! To prop up a puppet dictator hated by the people. And a sham independent country. Well. That's what he's just done. Just without the sanctions and outrage.
The only thing is, haven't sanctions already been imposed, over the Belarus question ?
On Belarus yes. On Putin for invading? I don't think so. Mostly cos I'm not sure most have twigged that's what's happened yet.
It's a bit different if the occupiers are invited in.
Imagine for a moment. Putin sent hundreds of thousands of troops unannounced into Belarus, and declares they'll be there permanently. Effectively an occupation. The reaction? Sanctions and outrage. An invasion! To prop up a puppet dictator hated by the people. And a sham independent country. Well. That's what he's just done. Just without the sanctions and outrage.
So that's where Putin's 4D chess board is placed?
But Belarus isn't exactly capturing the Queen that Ukraine would be.
Breaking: The Queen has tested positive for Covid-19 this morning, the palace has confirmed. The 95-year-old Queen is experiencing 'mild cold-like' symptoms. BUT is expecting to continue 'light duties' at Windsor this week. https://twitter.com/MattSunRoyal/status/1495363945733005312
The odds are not very good.....
What are the hospitalisation rates for the triple jabbed (very) elderly ?
Breaking: The Queen has tested positive for Covid-19 this morning, the palace has confirmed. The 95-year-old Queen is experiencing 'mild cold-like' symptoms. BUT is expecting to continue 'light duties' at Windsor this week. https://twitter.com/MattSunRoyal/status/1495363945733005312
The odds are not very good.....
What are the hospitalisation rates for the triple jabbed (very) elderly ?
Breaking: The Queen has tested positive for Covid-19 this morning, the palace has confirmed. The 95-year-old Queen is experiencing 'mild cold-like' symptoms. BUT is expecting to continue 'light duties' at Windsor this week. https://twitter.com/MattSunRoyal/status/1495363945733005312
The odds are not very good.....
What are the hospitalisation rates for the triple jabbed (very) elderly ?
Worth bearing in mind that I'm assuming these are figures for all those aged 85+, so that would include men (who are more vulnerable to Covid), and whoever doesn't have the full three doses.
Boris Johnson shouldn't have to resign if he receives a fixed penalty notice for breaching his coronavirus laws, James Cleverly tells @RidgeOnSunday: “I don’t think what the country needs at the moment is a vacuum at the centre of government.” https://twitter.com/matt_dathan/status/1495320446702694400
I don’t think what the country needs at the moment is a moral vacuum at the centre of government, but here we are anyway.
Good piece today from Rawnsley. It isn't just our government that is a moral vacuum, but all our major institutions. The culture of an elite who can behave with impunity and cover up for each other is a characteristic of all our power structures.
What took him so long to realise? I've been saying this on here for years.
See here from autumn 2018 -
"Meanwhile, the Tories, lumbered with a dutiful leader doggedly pursuing an ill-thought through policy which its main proponents can now barely explain, let alone implement competently, pathetically latch onto the latest saviour politician for the post-May deluge......
Or Johnson with his messy hair, ill-fitting clothes, classical aphorisms, rather-too-pleased-with-itself wit and carefully crafted bumbling persona. That either of them should be viewed as serious contenders for the highest office suggests a failure to listen to what they say, to see that they mostly talk nonsense, sometimes dangerous, ill thought-out and harmful nonsense. It is a measure of how out of ideas and talent the Tories seem to be that amateurish eccentricity, incompetence in office and Boys Own enthusiasm are even thought of as serious contenders."
"Perhaps ...it is time to realise that even successful or vital sectors or professions can in reality be really rather more second-rate than we like to pretend. Perhaps we should stop deluding ourselves that our key institutions are as good as we sometimes rather vaingloriously claim. The police are not the only body of which this could be said, of course."
"What will it take for those in leadership positions to realise that being a leader is not about taking the money and the glory, not about using one position to lever yourself into other lucrative, high profile positions, not about walking away with a mealy-mouthed apology or self-exculpatory explanation but about taking responsibility for what happens when you are in charge?
For all the management books, courses, training, policies and procedures which infest corporate and public life these days, too many people in positions of responsibility behave as if they do not understand this fundamental fact. Too many behave like small children coming up with implausible stories for why their behaviour should be excused. Or think that somehow it has nothing to do with them. Too many don’t care because they know they will be indulged and get their sweeties no matter what. We wonder why the performance of so many of our institutions and services and companies is really rather mediocre. Is this any surprise when the tone from the top is, too often, “nothing to do with me” and “let me get out while the going’s good”?"
Or any of the other headers over the years I've written about leadership or about how we don't value the underpinnings of a healthy democratic society - scrutiny and the rule of law.
What he writes about has been going on for a while. The worship of finance which started under Thatcher and continued under Blair was an early sign of this sense of indispensability, impunity, lack of scrutiny and hubris leading to nemesis and a breach of trust which has helped corrode one of the vital elements of a well-functioning society.
I am going to change my name to Cassandra and demand my own ludicrously overpaid column in the Observer. Humph! 😡
And, I don't honestly think that things were much better in the past.
Just finished Andrew Roberts magnificent “George III” - if you think the current shower are a bunch of self-serving incompetent chancers you should see the ne’er-do-wells he had to work with!
You have to wonder how on earth we ended up ruling a quarter of the planet for a hundred years, given the number of corrupt, cowardly, and incompetent people in senior positions.
1. We bought a quarter of the planet's corrupt, cowardly and incompetent rulers. 2. gunboats.
Draghi and Italy - dependent on Russia for gas - throw a major spanner in the talk of an EU united front to punish Putin with tough sanctions. So much for “whatever it takes”.
I’m bored of saying Putin hasn’t got lucky with this division, but has for years plotted it whilst we oblivious went about our business - like the Martians plotting invasion in HG Wells book.
Italian politics has been partly franchised by the Russians for a long time. Unless you believe that Romano Prodi got his information on Morro from a seance.....
For anyone keeping track of what Boris Johnson has done to the Queen:
🔻 Lied to her 🔻 Implicated her in illegally shutting Parliament 🔻 Made her sit alone at her husband's funeral while his office were hungover 🔻 Scrapped covid restrictions and 3 weeks later she gets Covid
Imagine for a moment. Putin sent hundreds of thousands of troops unannounced into Belarus, and declares they'll be there permanently. Effectively an occupation. The reaction? Sanctions and outrage. An invasion! To prop up a puppet dictator hated by the people. And a sham independent country. Well. That's what he's just done. Just without the sanctions and outrage.
The only thing is, haven't sanctions already been imposed, over the Belarus question ?
On Belarus yes. On Putin for invading? I don't think so. Mostly cos I'm not sure most have twigged that's what's happened yet.
It's a bit different if the occupiers are invited in.
If a triple-dosed 95 year old can catch Covid and not become seriously ill then, Covid certainly is over as a major threat to public health.
As I'm sure you know that's a non sequitur and a lie.
Some people get it worse than others. As you know full well.
But hopefully the Queen will be okay.
It's neither. Some people get the flu worse than others, indeed some die. Covid is approaching the severity of endemic flu, and it may have already got there given the stats we use are lagging indicators and don't differentiate between those ill from Covid and those who happen to have Covid and go into hospital for some other reason.
Or are you suggesting we develop further LFT and PCR tests and that in future anyone who gets a snotty nose is required to self isolate if it turns out to be a seasonal flu virus?
I’m worried for our Queen ☹️ She’s already looking so much more fragile since she lost her husband.
One of our neighbours made a dramatic decline in frailty between her 89th and 90th birthdays. Perhaps what was so remarkable was how vital she had still been at 89. A decade's worth of ageing suddenly caught up.
Imagine for a moment. Putin sent hundreds of thousands of troops unannounced into Belarus, and declares they'll be there permanently. Effectively an occupation. The reaction? Sanctions and outrage. An invasion! To prop up a puppet dictator hated by the people. And a sham independent country. Well. That's what he's just done. Just without the sanctions and outrage.
Yes, but that's just the status quo. Belarus has been a Russian puppet state.... since... well, probably its formation. Certainly since Putin has been in power in Russia.
Indeed, puppet state might be too generous a word these days. Russia sees Belarus like the United States sees California.
Boris Johnson shouldn't have to resign if he receives a fixed penalty notice for breaching his coronavirus laws, James Cleverly tells @RidgeOnSunday: “I don’t think what the country needs at the moment is a vacuum at the centre of government.” https://twitter.com/matt_dathan/status/1495320446702694400
I don’t think what the country needs at the moment is a moral vacuum at the centre of government, but here we are anyway.
Good piece today from Rawnsley. It isn't just our government that is a moral vacuum, but all our major institutions. The culture of an elite who can behave with impunity and cover up for each other is a characteristic of all our power structures.
What took him so long to realise? I've been saying this on here for years.
See here from autumn 2018 -
"Meanwhile, the Tories, lumbered with a dutiful leader doggedly pursuing an ill-thought through policy which its main proponents can now barely explain, let alone implement competently, pathetically latch onto the latest saviour politician for the post-May deluge......
Or Johnson with his messy hair, ill-fitting clothes, classical aphorisms, rather-too-pleased-with-itself wit and carefully crafted bumbling persona. That either of them should be viewed as serious contenders for the highest office suggests a failure to listen to what they say, to see that they mostly talk nonsense, sometimes dangerous, ill thought-out and harmful nonsense. It is a measure of how out of ideas and talent the Tories seem to be that amateurish eccentricity, incompetence in office and Boys Own enthusiasm are even thought of as serious contenders."
"Perhaps ...it is time to realise that even successful or vital sectors or professions can in reality be really rather more second-rate than we like to pretend. Perhaps we should stop deluding ourselves that our key institutions are as good as we sometimes rather vaingloriously claim. The police are not the only body of which this could be said, of course."
"What will it take for those in leadership positions to realise that being a leader is not about taking the money and the glory, not about using one position to lever yourself into other lucrative, high profile positions, not about walking away with a mealy-mouthed apology or self-exculpatory explanation but about taking responsibility for what happens when you are in charge?
For all the management books, courses, training, policies and procedures which infest corporate and public life these days, too many people in positions of responsibility behave as if they do not understand this fundamental fact. Too many behave like small children coming up with implausible stories for why their behaviour should be excused. Or think that somehow it has nothing to do with them. Too many don’t care because they know they will be indulged and get their sweeties no matter what. We wonder why the performance of so many of our institutions and services and companies is really rather mediocre. Is this any surprise when the tone from the top is, too often, “nothing to do with me” and “let me get out while the going’s good”?"
Or any of the other headers over the years I've written about leadership or about how we don't value the underpinnings of a healthy democratic society - scrutiny and the rule of law.
What he writes about has been going on for a while. The worship of finance which started under Thatcher and continued under Blair was an early sign of this sense of indispensability, impunity, lack of scrutiny and hubris leading to nemesis and a breach of trust which has helped corrode one of the vital elements of a well-functioning society.
I am going to change my name to Cassandra and demand my own ludicrously overpaid column in the Observer. Humph! 😡
And, I don't honestly think that things were much better in the past.
Just finished Andrew Roberts magnificent “George III” - if you think the current shower are a bunch of self-serving incompetent chancers you should see the ne’er-do-wells he had to work with!
You have to wonder how on earth we ended up ruling a quarter of the planet for a hundred years, given the number of corrupt, cowardly, and incompetent people in senior positions.
1. We bought a quarter of the planet's corrupt, cowardly and incompetent rulers. 2. gunboats.
For anyone keeping track of what Boris Johnson has done to the Queen:
🔻 Lied to her 🔻 Implicated her in illegally shutting Parliament 🔻 Made her sit alone at her husband's funeral while his office were hungover 🔻 Scrapped covid restrictions and 3 weeks later she gets Covid
For the past year or so, I'd say that Johnson, for all his faults, has made the right calls on COVID. Perhaps that was just luck, but then, it's good to be lucky.
Comments
Or any of the other headers over the years I've written about leadership or about how we don't value the underpinnings of a healthy democratic society - scrutiny and the rule of law.
What he writes about has been going on for a while. The worship of finance which started under Thatcher and continued under Blair was an early sign of this sense of indispensability, impunity, lack of scrutiny and hubris leading to nemesis and a breach of trust which has helped corrode one of the vital elements of a well-functioning society.
I wrote about that too. Here - http://www2.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2017/01/20/cyclefree-asks-are-banks-the-new-unions/.
I am going to change my name to Cassandra and demand my own ludicrously overpaid column in the Observer. Humph! 😡
Was, for while, married to a relation. The marriage didn't last.
It was surprising to not even see an obvious blown tyre at Heathrow, nor any touch-and-go manoeuvres. Well done to the pilots, many of whom decided to bin the approach at a safe height rather than continue when unstable in the gusts.
Anthony Palmer that said was at the advice-to-politicians level. At the time of Afghan and Iraq. So I am comfortable about my point about the attitude of such military folk whether your cousin was one of them or not.
Let’s all hope and pray it doesn’t come to that.
Now, about that George Medal for Dr Ian Roberts…
There was horror after HMS Captain turned over, in 1870, when Reed stated that he would tell the truth at the court-martial. This would have nailed a number of permanent officials to the wall. It took quite a bit of effort to stop Reed (and Spencer Robinson).....
The same horror was heard when it was suggested that an enquiry into Rotherham et. al. would include naming names and linking them to specific actions.
The politicians have applied this to themselves, now. Bit late in the day, but hey....
https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/China-up-close/Analysis-Mystery-of-1999-US-stealth-jet-shootdown-returns-with-twist
Have been stuck in an echo chamber for 24 hours. Went something like this:
Me: “Shame about Sarah Smith”
“She’s a liar”
“Doubt it: but anyway, the misogyny & abuse…”
“Was no misogyny or abuse”
“Here’s proof of that abuse”
“But… Did I mention she’s a liar?”
🤦🏻♂️🤷♂️
https://twitter.com/roddyqc/status/1495354864636989442?s=21
https://twitter.com/DJJudd/status/1495356066854547456
Hopefully that won't be a problem in this case, of course!
The F-117 tech was largely obsolete by then. It's also worth remembering that the actual materials used in the aircraft for radar absorption weren't that secret - alot of it was reheated (ha) stuff from the D-21 program. Where examples crashed in both China and Russia.
Could it be enough for the climb down? My guess is that it isn't, sadly.
"2008 Olympics — Liberation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia
2014 Olympics — Return of Crimea [to Russia]
2022 Olympics — Fill in the correct answer"
https://twitter.com/ichbinilya/status/1495331777149341696
According to one story, the Chinese were using the embassy as a test site for electronic warfare, and were "closing the loop" by feeding data to the Serbians. If true, this would explain why the Chinese made such a small protest about the bombing - doing that crossed a line and made them a co-belligerent.
According to another (mentioned in this thread) they were collecting bit from the shot down F-117. The main argument against that is that kind of stuff is expected by embassies/spooks in a war. American spooks in various conflicts zones have always been happy to buy wreckage and cart hit home via at the embassy.
https://twitter.com/MattSunRoyal/status/1495363945733005312
As you say, this could be very bad...
But yes, things that make you go "Hmmmmmm........"
(But I don't think there's much doubt the Chinese Embassy was targeted, which is such an egregious thing for the Yanks to have done, there must have been something in the wreckage they were very worried about losing....)
Is it really all down to Putin making his mind up? If it was London or Washington and rest of war bunker said no, it wouldn’t matter what the leaders preference was? Why would it be different in Moscow? What I’m practically saying is, if Putin, and those agreeing with him were asked by the generals, what’s the clarity of the mission we can achieve and withdraw without it being open ended or creeping into something else, and Putin and his allies can’t convincingly define that, then surely it won’t happen?
If at some point the Ukraine leadership want a face to face with Russian counterpart’s, what would the Ukrainians hope to get from that? They would use it just to emphasise how belligerent their position is, like how Liz Truss used her Moscow trip?
These are two good questions for this latest Sunday in pre war build up?
The entire point of our forces in Europe for the last seventy odd years have been to deter armed conflict, but without individuals ready or even keen to fight, such deterrence doesn’t exist.
Our Ukraine policy is not greatly different. Obviously it’s the Ukrainians who will be the ones in the firing line, but the belief is that supplying them with sufficient weapons increases the cost to Putin and makes invasion less likely.
Ukraine will fight a Putin invasion anyway, as both their government and popular opinion has made very clear.
You might disagree, but I think that without western intervention, Putin would likely have invaded already.
A theory that makes more sense is that the Chinese Embassy was involved in active electronic warfare/intelligence and providing data to the Serbs.
1. They know/believe there won’t be an invasion/it won’t target Kyiv
2. They know/believe Kyiv will be attached but their embassy will be safe
3. They don’t know and are ignoring the risk
I discount 3. So the point that Rachmaninov made doesn’t tell us much at all
Real life: HMQ has Covid...
Of course, entirely possible that she caught it from someone else.
https://twitter.com/joannaccherry/status/1495322624574074883?s=21
Even his end of covid self-isolation announcement gets taken over by news that the head of state tests positive.
It has been one serious of cock-ups and disasters after another with him.
Perhaps it's true that even mediocrity is an achievement.
And, I don't honestly think that things were much better in the past.
Some people get it worse than others. As you know full well.
But hopefully the Queen will be okay.
https://twitter.com/patrickwintour/status/1494763381450067968?s=21
Edit. Every 21 minutes.
The reaction? Sanctions and outrage. An invasion! To prop up a puppet dictator hated by the people. And a sham independent country.
Well. That's what he's just done.
Just without the sanctions and outrage.
"Any spark, any unplanned event or minor provocation could lead to irreversable consequences."
https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1495368901932290049
But then capitalists have never cared if they kill other people on their way to line their pockets.
The Herald of Free Enterprise. Cut corners, shave time, make profit.
Either way, it was a hell of a provocative move to bomb an embassy - a move that Clinton must have sanctioned. The relatively muted outrage from the Chinese suggests their Embassy wasn't just a passive player in events - and the US had detailed intelligence. Perhaps the Russians (and the Americans!) have been given better assurances in Kiev...
On Putin for invading? I don't think so.
Mostly cos I'm not sure most have twigged that's what's happened yet.
Cases Admissions Deaths
14/12/2021 226.34 94.43 29.72
15/12/2021 239.50 94.57 29.57
16/12/2021 254.50 92.29 28.29
17/12/2021 273.83 94.29 30.00
18/12/2021 303.83 96.29 30.71
19/12/2021 331.33 101.57 29.57
20/12/2021 393.50 106.43 30.00
21/12/2021 456.17 115.57 27.28
22/12/2021 522.83 126.86 29.86
23/12/2021 595.00 138.29 31.71
24/12/2021 667.83 146.29 32.15
25/12/2021 681.34 160.57 32.57
26/12/2021 754.00 170.71 34.29
27/12/2021 910.50 189.57 34.86
28/12/2021 1108.34 214.00 38.72
29/12/2021 1405.50 244.29 38.71
30/12/2021 1645.17 275.00 41.86
31/12/2021 1797.50 294.00 43.57
01/01/2022 1895.00 315.29 46.86
02/01/2022 1993.50 337.14 49.42
03/01/2022 2072.34 353.14 52.43
04/01/2022 2175.83 359.71 55.57
05/01/2022 2074.83 362.71 59.43
06/01/2022 1964.83 351.14 61.15
07/01/2022 1920.16 351.00 66.43
08/01/2022 1903.50 349.00 72.58
09/01/2022 1830.67 359.00 79.43
10/01/2022 1794.66 362.71 86.43
11/01/2022 1641.00 366.14 92.00
12/01/2022 1559.33 365.43 95.57
13/01/2022 1527.00 369.14 99.85
14/01/2022 1499.50 377.57 102.72
15/01/2022 1466.00 377.14 103.86
16/01/2022 1429.50 367.71 104.71
17/01/2022 1380.17 360.71 105.43
18/01/2022 1330.00 350.43 107.15
19/01/2022 1294.84 346.86 110.29
20/01/2022 1250.83 345.14 111.14
21/01/2022 1212.50 335.71 112.71
22/01/2022 1195.00 323.71 114.00
23/01/2022 1173.17 315.86 114.00
24/01/2022 1128.00 305.57 113.86
25/01/2022 1105.16 304.86 109.15
26/01/2022 1091.50 304.43 108.85
27/01/2022 1078.33 300.86 108.43
28/01/2022 1077.84 299.71 106.71
29/01/2022 1078.17 307.00 105.71
30/01/2022 1080.16 299.43 104.86
31/01/2022 1056.00 296.14 101.71
01/02/2022 1038.83 295.29 105.57
02/02/2022 1025.50 283.00 103.72
03/02/2022 1002.00 276.86 100.28
04/02/2022 977.34 272.00 94.85
05/02/2022 959.00 264.57 90.71
06/02/2022 952.17 269.14 87.15
07/02/2022 934.34 268.43 83.00
08/02/2022 920.50 259.57 76.15
09/02/2022 880.16 260.00 70.57
10/02/2022 857.00 259.71 67.72
11/02/2022 827.17 254.86 65.14
12/02/2022 827.84 251.00 62.29
13/02/2022 821.17 247.57 58.00
14/02/2022 788.50 247.57 56.57
Anyway, went London for the first time in a month yesterday. Not so many people wearing masks on the tube.
It’s over.
And it would be seen as symbolic either way (which is precisely why Scott constructed his comment the way he did).
And regardless, I think that three doses of the vaccine do mean that Covid is now not a major threat to public health. The Emergency is over.
But Belarus isn't exactly capturing the Queen that Ukraine would be.
2. gunboats.
For anyone keeping track of what Boris Johnson has done to the Queen:
🔻 Lied to her
🔻 Implicated her in illegally shutting Parliament
🔻 Made her sit alone at her husband's funeral while his office were hungover
🔻 Scrapped covid restrictions and 3 weeks later she gets Covid
https://twitter.com/Femi_Sorry/status/1495367783122714630
https://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=788#comic
Or are you suggesting we develop further LFT and PCR tests and that in future anyone who gets a snotty nose is required to self isolate if it turns out to be a seasonal flu virus?
Belarus has been a Russian puppet state.... since... well, probably its formation.
Certainly since Putin has been in power in Russia.
Indeed, puppet state might be too generous a word these days. Russia sees Belarus like the United States sees California.