So the video I linked on the last thread - utterly apocalyptic - is verified. It was a Russian air attack on chernihiv. Here is a less harrowing version (still bad enough)
⚡️33 people dead, 18 injured as of 6:20 p.m. after Russia conducts air strikes on Chernihiv residential areas, the Stare Emergency Service reports.
Candidates arriving along with their agents and supporters. Among them Dave4Erdington. Just had a word with GarySambrook89 - upbeat. Someone somewhere has put turnout as low as 25%. Let’s see.
Compulsory viewing, that interview. And deeply concerning. Putin is now going to level Ukraine to the ground, a Genghis Khan type attack; leave nothing alive that is a threat
I fear that Ukraine should probably surrender. I know that is not a popular opinion on here. But if they don’t, tens of thousands will die, the country will be obliterated - and they will still lose.
Hard to make people surrender their country. Think of how many we lost in previous wars, most of which (e.g. excluding WWII) were much less existential than this is for Ukraine.
But we should help those who want to find safety as best we can. And we should never ease sanctions against Russia for as long as Putin is in power, even after the war eventually simmers down.
So the video I linked on the last thread - utterly apocalyptic - is verified. It was a Russian air attack on chernihiv. Here is a less harrowing version (still bad enough)
⚡️33 people dead, 18 injured as of 6:20 p.m. after Russia conducts air strikes on Chernihiv residential areas, the Stare Emergency Service reports.
I just don’t know. I’m all over the place. Can we simply sit back and let Putin do this to every Ukrainian city?
The blood boils
Yeah ITV showed a censored version that had been verified. Made me think of your link. Bastards. My head knows we can’t send in troops but in my heart I can’t watch this.
So the video I linked on the last thread - utterly apocalyptic - is verified. It was a Russian air attack on chernihiv. Here is a less harrowing version (still bad enough)
⚡️33 people dead, 18 injured as of 6:20 p.m. after Russia conducts air strikes on Chernihiv residential areas, the Stare Emergency Service reports.
So the video I linked on the last thread - utterly apocalyptic - is verified. It was a Russian air attack on chernihiv. Here is a less harrowing version (still bad enough)
⚡️33 people dead, 18 injured as of 6:20 p.m. after Russia conducts air strikes on Chernihiv residential areas, the Stare Emergency Service reports.
I just don’t know. I’m all over the place. Can we simply sit back and let Putin do this to every Ukrainian city?
The blood boils
Yeah ITV showed a censored version that had been verified. Made me think of your link. Bastards. My head knows we can’t send in troops but in my heart I can’t watch this.
I wonder if this is deliberate. Putin knows he maybe made a terrible error. They did not expect these ferocious sanctions or this global fury. Total isolation
One way out is to make the war even nastier, far nastier, and pump it out on social media so the west cannot tolerate the horrors and directly attacks Russia. Then he can turn to his people and say See, I was right, this is a fight for survival against the West - and he escapes the worst consequences of his mistake
Which means we have to steel ourselves. I fear we are about to witness horrors previously unimaginable - and previously unseen - all over our phones, tablets, TVs. Putin wants us to see them and become blinded with anger
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
Bloody good question? Surely there is someone with the guts in the higher echelons of Kremlin? We can only pray.
It is a pecularity of Russian history that the Ivan the Terribles and Stalins tend to die in their beds while Boris Gudunov, Alexander II, Nicholas II, Kerensky and Gorbachev are overthrown or assassinated.
But hopefully Putin will be like Paul II or Krushchev - overthrown once they had gone dangerously mad.
I can't help but fear Putin is sitting out there somewhere getting a self satisfied erection at the thought his chubby cheeks are now filling tens of millions with fear and hundreds of millions with anxiety.
To him if people fear him he is powerful. If he is powerful Russia is powerful. Ergo any price can be paid to make people fear him.
Bloody good question? Surely there is someone with the guts in the higher echelons of Kremlin? We can only pray.
It is a pecularity of Russian history that the Ivan the Terribles and Stalins tend to die in their beds while Boris Gudunov, Alexander II, Nicholas II, Kerensky and Gorbachev are overthrown or assassinated.
Is it that peculiar or Russian? If you are not strong enough you are liable to lose authority even if you are not a bad person. If you are strong enough then so long as you are not too stupid - eg by provoking external powers greater than yours or being just plain mad - you can maintain stable brutality for a good long while. People can endure a great deal.
Once again the two traditionally, formerly main political parties in France are likely to play very little role in this election and Macron will be re-elected as Co-Prince of Andorra. What happens after Macron's second term? His party was created as a vehicle for him and is made in his image; it even shares his initials. Will he use his second term to annoint a successor, or does one of the two traditional parties re-emerge eventually?
Bloody good question? Surely there is someone with the guts in the higher echelons of Kremlin? We can only pray.
It is a pecularity of Russian history that the Ivan the Terribles and Stalins tend to die in their beds while Boris Gudunov, Alexander II, Nicholas II, Kerensky and Gorbachev are overthrown or assassinated.
But hopefully Putin will be like Paul II or Krushchev - overthrown once they had gone dangerously mad.
I can't help but fear Putin is sitting out there somewhere getting a self satisfied erection at the thought his chubby cheeks are now filling tens of millions with fear and hundreds of millions with anxiety.
To him if people fear him he is powerful. If he is powerful Russia is powerful. Ergo any price can be paid to make people fear him.
He hasn't changed since he was chasing rats as an eight year old back in the 'hood.
Maybe this is a stupid question, but is there any chance they might run out of firepower? How many missiles, artillery, etc, have they got.
Apparently they've more or less run out of precision missiles, so now there'll be a shift to shorter range artillery and bombing sorties. Both of which will be substantially more damaging to civilians, but also much easier for Ukrainians to take out. By most accounts the Ukrainian's have substantial amounts of Stingers and organised units behind Russian lines.
Are they counting the By-election in Birmingham tonight, or in the morning and do we know what time to expect the results? does a low tern out = quick results?
According to the Birmingham Mail website the count takes place tonight with a result expected in the early hours of the morning.
And on this topic, expectation management from Labour:
Labour says it's looking "really tight"
PA news reports a Labour source said: “The weather’s absolutely grim and turnout is looking extremely low. It’s going to be really tight.”
A Tory source said Boris Johnson’s party was expecting a “respectable showing”.
It’s not having Nick P there what lost it, the smooth old Jag of campaigners 🙂
This is a bloody nose for the complacent Starmer and his front bench.
I remember In 2012 George Galloway won Bradford. Thst Day mori had Labour on 38% for a three percent opinion poll lead national, very similar to latest polls, 3 years later labour didn’t have that bad general election year in England. Meanwhile in Erdington today, it’s a seat moving to towards the Conservatives, when he first got it Dromey only had a 3K majority same as last time. it’s hugely Leave, probably only still Labour because of incumbency of skilled MP. Brexit Party stood against Boris in 2019 and got 4%, if. Tories swallow that they are only 3% swing away from winning by my maths. It will be a very low turn out, and there are so many other attractive places Labour votes can go if they see the Labour candidate as weak, to the left where there is an effective left campaigner who can steal 3 or 4 % from Labour himself, some leave voters will turn towards the levelling up agenda of the Conservatives, or towards the election form horse Libdems.
This will not be a shock Tory gain. It will be the increased votes of Lib Dem, Green and TUC which mainly wins it for them. It does not mean Boris is safe as houses. It means mid term by elections favour challengers. If Tories win this it should not be bigged up as significant for all the reasons I have explained.
Maybe this is a stupid question, but is there any chance they might run out of firepower? How many missiles, artillery, etc, have they got.
The RUSI guy addresses that. The Russians are running out of more sophisticated stuff like cruise missiles BUT they have plenty of more brutal, traditional kit - artillery, rockets, bombs. Unfortunately this is another reason the war is likely to get much worse. Indiscriminate bombing of civilian targets is on the menu. The Full Grozny
https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1499521886534967298 01:00 EET Fierce fighting has been going on for more than an hour on the approaches to the Nuclear Power plant in Enerhodar. Ukrainian Armed Forces keep the defense. There are killed and wounded but the exact number is not yet known - city mayor
On the superb job the EU is doing on sanctions.....
FAZ informs us that the Swift sanctions are essentially dead in the water. Only seven banks, representing a quarter of the Russian banking sector, are subject to the sanctions. What happened is that once this sanctions list went through the mill of talks with member states, only this pared-down lists survives. The EU originally promised to hit 70% of the Russian banking system. One reason for the exclusion of Sberbank is the deposits held by savers in the bank’s EU subsidiaries. It would have triggered massive deposit insurance claims.
Are they counting the By-election in Birmingham tonight, or in the morning and do we know what time to expect the results? does a low tern out = quick results?
According to the Birmingham Mail website the count takes place tonight with a result expected in the early hours of the morning.
And on this topic, expectation management from Labour:
Labour says it's looking "really tight"
PA news reports a Labour source said: “The weather’s absolutely grim and turnout is looking extremely low. It’s going to be really tight.”
A Tory source said Boris Johnson’s party was expecting a “respectable showing”.
It’s not having Nick P there what lost it, the smooth old Jag of campaigners 🙂
This is a bloody nose for the complacent Starmer and his front bench.
I remember In 2012 George Galloway won Bradford. Thst Day mori had Labour on 38% for a three percent opinion poll lead national, very similar to latest polls, 3 years later labour didn’t have that bad general election year in England. Meanwhile in Erdington today, it’s a seat moving to towards the Conservatives, when he first got it Dromey only had a 3K majority same as last time. it’s hugely Leave, probably only still Labour because of incumbency of skilled MP. Brexit Party stood against Boris in 2019 and got 4%, if. Tories swallow that they are only 3% swing away from winning by my maths. It will be a very low turn out, and there are so many other attractive places Labour votes can go if they see the Labour candidate as weak, to the left where there is an effective left campaigner who can steal 3 or 4 % from Labour himself, some leave voters will turn towards the levelling up agenda of the Conservatives, or towards the election form horse Libdems.
This will not be a shock Tory gain. It will be the increased votes of Lib Dem, Green and TUC which mainly wins it for them. It does not mean Boris is safe as houses. It means mid term by elections favour challengers. If Tories win this it should not be bigged up as significant for all the reasons I have explained.
I don't expect (or welcome) a Tory gain, but if they do, I don't buy your special pleading. It would reinforce a pattern of Labour underperformance in the Midlands, and Labour strategists would do well to reflect on it.
Are they counting the By-election in Birmingham tonight, or in the morning and do we know what time to expect the results? does a low tern out = quick results?
According to the Birmingham Mail website the count takes place tonight with a result expected in the early hours of the morning.
And on this topic, expectation management from Labour:
Labour says it's looking "really tight"
PA news reports a Labour source said: “The weather’s absolutely grim and turnout is looking extremely low. It’s going to be really tight.”
A Tory source said Boris Johnson’s party was expecting a “respectable showing”.
It’s not having Nick P there what lost it, the smooth old Jag of campaigners 🙂
This is a bloody nose for the complacent Starmer and his front bench.
I remember In 2012 George Galloway won Bradford. Thst Day mori had Labour on 38% for a three percent opinion poll lead national, very similar to latest polls, 3 years later labour didn’t have that bad general election year in England. Meanwhile in Erdington today, it’s a seat moving to towards the Conservatives, when he first got it Dromey only had a 3K majority same as last time. it’s hugely Leave, probably only still Labour because of incumbency of skilled MP. Brexit Party stood against Boris in 2019 and got 4%, if. Tories swallow that they are only 3% swing away from winning by my maths. It will be a very low turn out, and there are so many other attractive places Labour votes can go if they see the Labour candidate as weak, to the left where there is an effective left campaigner who can steal 3 or 4 % from Labour himself, some leave voters will turn towards the levelling up agenda of the Conservatives, or towards the election form horse Libdems.
This will not be a shock Tory gain. It will be the increased votes of Lib Dem, Green and TUC which mainly wins it for them. It does not mean Boris is safe as houses. It means mid term by elections favour challengers. If Tories win this it should not be bigged up as significant for all the reasons I have explained.
I don't expect (or welcome) a Tory gain, but if they do, I don't buy your special pleading. It would reinforce a pattern of Labour underperformance in the Midlands, and Labour strategists would do well to reflect on it.
Tories have all the planets in line for this through sheer luck - weather, war, midlands , lethargy , end of covid - word is its too close to call- the solution to a by-election wordle is "shock"
We need to collectively vote that be and his cronies won’t be allowed to just move on abs go back to normal if he destroys and pacified Ukraine. If that happens, they get the NK treatment until he goes.
Once again the two traditionally, formerly main political parties in France are likely to play very little role in this election and Macron will be re-elected as Co-Prince of Andorra. What happens after Macron's second term? His party was created as a vehicle for him and is made in his image; it even shares his initials. Will he use his second term to annoint a successor, or does one of the two traditional parties re-emerge eventually?
Even if Macron is re elected as President, Les Republicains have a reasonable chance of winning the legislative elections in June
We need to collectively vote that be and his cronies won’t be allowed to just move on abs go back to normal if he destroys and pacified Ukraine. If that happens, they get the NK treatment until he goes.
You mean the President of the US invites you to a summit and says he fell in love with you?
Are they counting the By-election in Birmingham tonight, or in the morning and do we know what time to expect the results? does a low tern out = quick results?
According to the Birmingham Mail website the count takes place tonight with a result expected in the early hours of the morning.
And on this topic, expectation management from Labour:
Labour says it's looking "really tight"
PA news reports a Labour source said: “The weather’s absolutely grim and turnout is looking extremely low. It’s going to be really tight.”
A Tory source said Boris Johnson’s party was expecting a “respectable showing”.
It’s not having Nick P there what lost it, the smooth old Jag of campaigners 🙂
This is a bloody nose for the complacent Starmer and his front bench.
I remember In 2012 George Galloway won Bradford. Thst Day mori had Labour on 38% for a three percent opinion poll lead national, very similar to latest polls, 3 years later labour didn’t have that bad general election year in England. Meanwhile in Erdington today, it’s a seat moving to towards the Conservatives, when he first got it Dromey only had a 3K majority same as last time. it’s hugely Leave, probably only still Labour because of incumbency of skilled MP. Brexit Party stood against Boris in 2019 and got 4%, if. Tories swallow that they are only 3% swing away from winning by my maths. It will be a very low turn out, and there are so many other attractive places Labour votes can go if they see the Labour candidate as weak, to the left where there is an effective left campaigner who can steal 3 or 4 % from Labour himself, some leave voters will turn towards the levelling up agenda of the Conservatives, or towards the election form horse Libdems.
This will not be a shock Tory gain. It will be the increased votes of Lib Dem, Green and TUC which mainly wins it for them. It does not mean Boris is safe as houses. It means mid term by elections favour challengers. If Tories win this it should not be bigged up as significant for all the reasons I have explained.
I don't expect (or welcome) a Tory gain, but if they do, I don't buy your special pleading. It would reinforce a pattern of Labour underperformance in the Midlands, and Labour strategists would do well to reflect on it.
Tories have all the planets in line for this through sheer luck - weather, war, midlands , lethargy , end of covid - word is its too close to call- the solution to a by-election wordle is "shock"
Sure - my point being that there seems to have been a remarkable run of good luck for the Tories in the Midlands, and when that happens it is wise not to try to dismiss it as "yet another special case".
I am certainly not predicting the Tories*won't* win - just that I still don't expect it, despite everything.
'Temerko was close to former Russian President Boris Yeltsin and for seven years was involved with Russia’s defence ministry and its agencies – running a state arms conglomerate. In the late 1990s, Temerko joined Yukos – a Russian oil giant – but fell from the Kremlin’s favour after Vladimir Putin ordered the arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky in 2003.'
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Predictions are difficult at this time, but I don't think Putin will do that, If he does announce mobilisation, in the séance of mobilising the full 2 million reserves that Russia has, he would be admitting publicly that this is not going the way he what's it to go. it also give a lot of able boded men of military age a reason (another reason?) to join in the protest.
I do think he will unlessh hell on Ukrainian cities shortly.
If he does the pressure on China will surely become overwhelming.
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Predictions are difficult at this time, but I don't think Putin will do that, If he does announce mobilisation, in the séance of mobilising the full 2 million reserves that Russia has, he would be admitting publicly that this is not going the way he what's it to go. it also give a lot of able boded men of military age a reason (another reason?) to join in the protest.
I do think he will unlessh hell on Ukrainian cities shortly.
If he does the pressure on China will surely become overwhelming.
Doubt it. It's probably what they plan for Taiwan when the Taiwanese don't welcome them with open arms.
Are they counting the By-election in Birmingham tonight, or in the morning and do we know what time to expect the results? does a low tern out = quick results?
According to the Birmingham Mail website the count takes place tonight with a result expected in the early hours of the morning.
And on this topic, expectation management from Labour:
Labour says it's looking "really tight"
PA news reports a Labour source said: “The weather’s absolutely grim and turnout is looking extremely low. It’s going to be really tight.”
A Tory source said Boris Johnson’s party was expecting a “respectable showing”.
I know for a fact that the weather wasn't "absolutely grim". I was there for a short time today and it wasn't particularly cold, wasn't windy, and it was only raining slightly. I was walking around without a coat or jumper.
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
'Temerko was close to former Russian President Boris Yeltsin and for seven years was involved with Russia’s defence ministry and its agencies – running a state arms conglomerate. In the late 1990s, Temerko joined Yukos – a Russian oil giant – but fell from the Kremlin’s favour after Vladimir Putin ordered the arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky in 2003.'
And he was publicly warning of the need to arm Ukraine against Russian aggression 7 years ago.
No way the Tories win this elections, mid term, on these polling numbers, this close to the party stuff. Just can’t see attentive enough odds without risking big numbers (I don’t have THAT much courage in my convictions).
On the superb job the EU is doing on sanctions.....
FAZ informs us that the Swift sanctions are essentially dead in the water. Only seven banks, representing a quarter of the Russian banking sector, are subject to the sanctions. What happened is that once this sanctions list went through the mill of talks with member states, only this pared-down lists survives. The EU originally promised to hit 70% of the Russian banking system. One reason for the exclusion of Sberbank is the deposits held by savers in the bank’s EU subsidiaries. It would have triggered massive deposit insurance claims.
Something to remember about Birmingham Erdington: it's next door to Sutton Coldfield which has recorded the highest Tory share in the entire country on some occasions (although not recently). So if you had a relatively high turnout in the areas bordering Sutton Coldfield and a very poor turnout elsewhere, it could conceivably be rather close.
Is there data on which kind of voters (class, age, party etc.) see voting as a duty, and so vote in every election of every kind?
I’m getting all nostalgic for the days we were terrified of Yeltsin because he was a drunk. I remember welcoming Putin’s rise as an omen of stability (despite Chechnya). Sigh….
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
He won't stop at Ukraine.
I'm not convinced they have the military resources to go further given the losses taken so far. The plan will have been to do that, but a very significant amount of Russia's best resources (including the VDV, missile stockpiles) have been hit hard.
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
He won't stop at Ukraine.
I'm not convinced they have the military resources to go further given the losses taken so far. The plan will have been to do that, but a very significant amount of Russia's best resources (including the VDV, missile stockpiles) have been hit hard.
So we have no idea what's happening in the by-election.
Will Putin win as a write-in candidate with 112% of the registered voters voting for him?
Life is looking more and more SeanT* by the moment.
Was it just the other day that we were discussing how the Defence Secretary should be fired/finished his chances for being Prime Minister by suggesting that Putin had gone "Full Tonto"?
I think we could say the consensus now is - "called it".
Putin's response to the logistical collapse of his army is to go for full mobilisation? So, he will end up with a large mob of guys with guns, and little else wandering round Ukraine...
At random I pulled "Hitler's Army: Soldiers, Nazis, and War in the Third Reich" off the shelf. Part of the authors thesis is that why the East Front turned into such a charnel pit of war crimes was, on the German side, combination of propaganda, "primitivisation", collapsing real discipline and a use of terror as discipline.
- The soldiers were totally steeped in Nazi propaganda - to the point that they saw a distorted reality where they were the victims. And the people they were murdering were somehow the cause.
- The collapse of the German Army logistical system led to a broken-backed war of pillage and murder, with units becoming armed gangs raiding the countryside.
- Loses of officers and NCOs caused a collapse in discipline in the traditional sense. Instead the Germany Army resorted to shooting soldiers in huge numbers. To keep them in line.
The result was a slaughter in all directions....
Any of this remind you of anything?
*Sort of like shit, but with a certain whimsical charm. You house is being attacked by rabid gibbons on PCP, but they are reading Seven Men & Two Others aloud, while they do so.
I’m getting all nostalgic for the days we were terrified of Yeltsin because he was a drunk. I remember welcoming Putin’s rise as an omen of stability (despite Chechnya). Sigh….
You weren't the only one. He was widely seen by western governments as promising a better future relationship with Russia and for a while it looked that might come to fruition. Things began to change after a while though, quite possibly as a result of mismanagement by the West, until he developed into our worst nightmare.
On topic. Or Macron v Melenchon. *actual political bet just placed post
He got 19% first round last time, that’s like less than a length in racing terms from coming second, and running a slick campaign this time. Where three Right candidates are battling for votes not two last time. But Melechon is battling for the same votes. Is Melenchon like a communist lefty? Nope. He’s one of the more extreme Nationalist in this race, anti immigration, anti German, once on a roll he can take votes from everyone. And he won’t need 19% to come second. Apparently the youth vote is all over the road this time. If you can believe that. The UK G.E. of 2017 proves if the youth unexpectedly turn out it can confound polling.
I’ve just placed a finaltwo bet on him with Paddy Power at 14-1.
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
He won't stop at Ukraine.
I'm not convinced they have the military resources to go further given the losses taken so far. The plan will have been to do that, but a very significant amount of Russia's best resources (including the VDV, missile stockpiles) have been hit hard.
But he's been holding the thermobarics back, no?
They seem to be be breaking down, getting looted by Ukrainians etc, just all the other gear.
Tony Luton confronted him, an angry scowl on his face, a blaze in his heavy-lidded eyes. The boy was without a conscience, almost without a soul, as priests and parsons reckon souls, but there was a slumbering devil-god within him, and Yeovil’s taunting words had broken the slumber. Life had been for Tony a hard school, in which right and wrong, high endeavour and good resolve, were untaught subjects; but there was a sterling something in him, just that something that helped poor street-scavenged men to die brave-fronted deaths in the trenches of Salamanca, that fired a handful of apprentice boys to shut the gates of Derry and stare unflinchingly at grim leaguer and starvation. It was just that nameless something that was lacking in the young musician, who stood at the further end of the room, bathed in a flood of compliment and congratulation, enjoying the honey-drops of his triumph.
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
He won't stop at Ukraine.
I'm not convinced they have the military resources to go further given the losses taken so far. The plan will have been to do that, but a very significant amount of Russia's best resources (including the VDV, missile stockpiles) have been hit hard.
But he's been holding the thermobarics back, no?
They seem to be be breaking down, getting looted by Ukrainians etc, just all the other gear.
I am looking on eBay as we speak.
Yeah but they appear to be doing some pretty horrific bombing it seems now.
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
He won't stop at Ukraine.
I'm not convinced they have the military resources to go further given the losses taken so far. The plan will have been to do that, but a very significant amount of Russia's best resources (including the VDV, missile stockpiles) have been hit hard.
But he's been holding the thermobarics back, no?
They seem to be be breaking down, getting looted by Ukrainians etc, just all the other gear.
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
He won't stop at Ukraine.
I'm not convinced they have the military resources to go further given the losses taken so far. The plan will have been to do that, but a very significant amount of Russia's best resources (including the VDV, missile stockpiles) have been hit hard.
But he's been holding the thermobarics back, no?
They seem to be be breaking down, getting looted by Ukrainians etc, just all the other gear.
I am looking on eBay as we speak.
BBC World was reporting on Kherson tonight. The Russians are not allowing people to go out in more than groups of two because they are so scared of the local populace. They fire into any window showing movement because they are scared of snipers. The BBC journalist then moved onto the villages in Central Ukraine and every one had men equipped with AKs ready to fight the Russians. I once read an insurgency needs 3% of the population actively fighting and 10% actively supporting it to be impossible to put down. In Ukraine those numbers must be 25%+ and 90%+. Russia can level cities but they cannot win this war.
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
He won't stop at Ukraine.
I'm not convinced they have the military resources to go further given the losses taken so far. The plan will have been to do that, but a very significant amount of Russia's best resources (including the VDV, missile stockpiles) have been hit hard.
But he's been holding the thermobarics back, no?
They seem to be be breaking down, getting looted by Ukrainians etc, just all the other gear.
I am looking on eBay as we speak.
Yeah but they appear to be doing some pretty horrific bombing it seems now.
The air force are getting involved it would seem.
Worth remembering that Putin sees these Ukrainians as the same people as Russians. He is willing to do this to Russians. The rest of the Russian population should be told to think about this.
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
He won't stop at Ukraine.
I'm not convinced they have the military resources to go further given the losses taken so far. The plan will have been to do that, but a very significant amount of Russia's best resources (including the VDV, missile stockpiles) have been hit hard.
He does have the rest of the population and a seemingly unlimited number of rusty BMPs.
If Putin does go down the road of introducing martial law and mass conscription, it's possible to imagine this turning into a mass civil war involving Ukraine, Belarus and Russia itself.
'Temerko was close to former Russian President Boris Yeltsin and for seven years was involved with Russia’s defence ministry and its agencies – running a state arms conglomerate. In the late 1990s, Temerko joined Yukos – a Russian oil giant – but fell from the Kremlin’s favour after Vladimir Putin ordered the arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky in 2003.'
And he was publicly warning of the need to arm Ukraine against Russian aggression 7 years ago.
I'm not saying the man is actively malign just that his background suggests that the donations given and the reasons for them should have been a little suspect to B. Elliot and the gang.
Are they counting the By-election in Birmingham tonight, or in the morning and do we know what time to expect the results? does a low tern out = quick results?
According to the Birmingham Mail website the count takes place tonight with a result expected in the early hours of the morning.
And on this topic, expectation management from Labour:
Labour says it's looking "really tight"
PA news reports a Labour source said: “The weather’s absolutely grim and turnout is looking extremely low. It’s going to be really tight.”
A Tory source said Boris Johnson’s party was expecting a “respectable showing”.
It’s not having Nick P there what lost it, the smooth old Jag of campaigners 🙂
This is a bloody nose for the complacent Starmer and his front bench.
I remember In 2012 George Galloway won Bradford. Thst Day mori had Labour on 38% for a three percent opinion poll lead national, very similar to latest polls, 3 years later labour didn’t have that bad general election year in England. Meanwhile in Erdington today, it’s a seat moving to towards the Conservatives, when he first got it Dromey only had a 3K majority same as last time. it’s hugely Leave, probably only still Labour because of incumbency of skilled MP. Brexit Party stood against Boris in 2019 and got 4%, if. Tories swallow that they are only 3% swing away from winning by my maths. It will be a very low turn out, and there are so many other attractive places Labour votes can go if they see the Labour candidate as weak, to the left where there is an effective left campaigner who can steal 3 or 4 % from Labour himself, some leave voters will turn towards the levelling up agenda of the Conservatives, or towards the election form horse Libdems.
This will not be a shock Tory gain. It will be the increased votes of Lib Dem, Green and TUC which mainly wins it for them. It does not mean Boris is safe as houses. It means mid term by elections favour challengers. If Tories win this it should not be bigged up as significant for all the reasons I have explained.
If the Tories win this it would be an enormous shock and a massive indictment of SKS's leadership of Labour. The governing party hasn't exactly been giving people reasons to get off their arses and vote for it recently.
Can't see it happening though. I wasn't tempted by 10/1. Labour hold on a reduced majority in terms of vote numbers because of low turnout but a swing to Labour of ~10%.
On topic. Or Macron v Melenchon. *actual political bet just placed post
He got 19% first round last time, that’s like less than a length in racing terms from coming second, and running a slick campaign this time. Where three Right candidates are battling for votes not two last time. But Melechon is battling for the same votes. Is Melenchon like a communist lefty? Nope. He’s one of the more extreme Nationalist in this race, anti immigration, anti German, once on a roll he can take votes from everyone. And he won’t need 19% to come second. Apparently the youth vote is all over the road this time. If you can believe that. The UK G.E. of 2017 proves if the youth unexpectedly turn out it can confound polling.
I’ve just placed a finaltwo bet on him with Paddy Power at 14-1.
Ah, a leftist progressing towards a National vision of Socialism. What could possibly go wrong?
On topic. Or Macron v Melenchon. *actual political bet just placed post
He got 19% first round last time, that’s like less than a length in racing terms from coming second, and running a slick campaign this time. Where three Right candidates are battling for votes not two last time. But Melechon is battling for the same votes. Is Melenchon like a communist lefty? Nope. He’s one of the more extreme Nationalist in this race, anti immigration, anti German, once on a roll he can take votes from everyone. And he won’t need 19% to come second. Apparently the youth vote is all over the road this time. If you can believe that. The UK G.E. of 2017 proves if the youth unexpectedly turn out it can confound polling.
I’ve just placed a finaltwo bet on him with Paddy Power at 14-1.
Yes, that does look value. It is still plausible he scrapes into the final round on as little as 16% with Pecresse/Le Pen/Zemmour split evenly if Jadot and Roussel voters also vote strategically at the last minute.
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
He won't stop at Ukraine.
I'm not convinced they have the military resources to go further given the losses taken so far. The plan will have been to do that, but a very significant amount of Russia's best resources (including the VDV, missile stockpiles) have been hit hard.
But he's been holding the thermobarics back, no?
They seem to be be breaking down, getting looted by Ukrainians etc, just all the other gear.
I am looking on eBay as we speak.
You want a tank? You want a Davey Crocket, I know, take the munitions out and hide it in back of wardrobe, and prank people with the dinky bomb.
Hope you don’t want a devils vacuum with the satanic face. They should be banned.
If Putin does go down the road of introduction martial law and mass conscription, it's possible to imagine this turning into a mass civil war involving Ukraine, Belarus and Russia itself.
All for a "special operation" that is definitely not a war.
I’m getting all nostalgic for the days we were terrified of Yeltsin because he was a drunk. I remember welcoming Putin’s rise as an omen of stability (despite Chechnya). Sigh….
This was precisely when we should have invited Ukraine to join NATO because Russia was far too weak to do anything about it at that time.
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
He won't stop at Ukraine.
I'm not convinced they have the military resources to go further given the losses taken so far. The plan will have been to do that, but a very significant amount of Russia's best resources (including the VDV, missile stockpiles) have been hit hard.
He does have the rest of the population and a seemingly unlimited number of rusty BMPs.
The Russian military never used to throw anything away. Back in the cold war, they had Category C divisions armed with stuff from the 1950s - in the 1980s.
Without logistics, that is simply dumping more stuff in the Ukrainian countryside.
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
He won't stop at Ukraine.
I'm not convinced they have the military resources to go further given the losses taken so far. The plan will have been to do that, but a very significant amount of Russia's best resources (including the VDV, missile stockpiles) have been hit hard.
But he's been holding the thermobarics back, no?
They seem to be be breaking down, getting looted by Ukrainians etc, just all the other gear.
I am looking on eBay as we speak.
BBC World was reporting on Kherson tonight. The Russians are not allowing people to go out in more than groups of two because they are so scared of the local populace. They fire into any window showing movement because they are scared of snipers. The BBC journalist then moved onto the villages in Central Ukraine and every one had men equipped with AKs ready to fight the Russians. I once read an insurgency needs 3% of the population actively fighting and 10% actively supporting it to be impossible to put down. In Ukraine those numbers must be 25%+ and 90%+. Russia can level cities but they cannot win this war.
They can if they are prepared to clear and kill the population a village at a time. Einsatzgruppen in Europe. Again.
I’m getting all nostalgic for the days we were terrified of Yeltsin because he was a drunk. I remember welcoming Putin’s rise as an omen of stability (despite Chechnya). Sigh….
You weren't the only one. He was widely seen by western governments as promising a better future relationship with Russia and for a while it looked that might come to fruition. Things began to change after a while though, quite possibly as a result of mismanagement by the West, until he developed into our worst nightmare.
He has been the worst nightmare ever since he engineered Presidential terms 3 and 4, followed by permenant Putin Presidency.
Anyone who clings to and craves political power this way is a dictator and one who will be ruthless in protecting personal interests above all else.
I’m getting all nostalgic for the days we were terrified of Yeltsin because he was a drunk. I remember welcoming Putin’s rise as an omen of stability (despite Chechnya). Sigh….
This was precisely when we should have invited Ukraine to join NATO because Russia was far too weak to do anything about it at that time.
97/98/99 was when we were discussing “partnership for peace” leading to Russia joining NATO. The past really is a different country.
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
He won't stop at Ukraine.
I'm not convinced they have the military resources to go further given the losses taken so far. The plan will have been to do that, but a very significant amount of Russia's best resources (including the VDV, missile stockpiles) have been hit hard.
But he's been holding the thermobarics back, no?
They seem to be be breaking down, getting looted by Ukrainians etc, just all the other gear.
I am looking on eBay as we speak.
You want a tank? You want a Davey Crocket, I know, take the munitions out and hide it in back of wardrobe, and prank people with the dinky bomb.
Hope you don’t want a devils vacuum with the satanic face. They should be banned.
No, I want a reproduction Violet Club. A nuclear weapon only the British could have built.
It explains the entire of post-war Britain, if you look at it right.
Are they counting the By-election in Birmingham tonight, or in the morning and do we know what time to expect the results? does a low tern out = quick results?
According to the Birmingham Mail website the count takes place tonight with a result expected in the early hours of the morning.
And on this topic, expectation management from Labour:
Labour says it's looking "really tight"
PA news reports a Labour source said: “The weather’s absolutely grim and turnout is looking extremely low. It’s going to be really tight.”
A Tory source said Boris Johnson’s party was expecting a “respectable showing”.
It’s not having Nick P there what lost it, the smooth old Jag of campaigners 🙂
This is a bloody nose for the complacent Starmer and his front bench.
I remember In 2012 George Galloway won Bradford. Thst Day mori had Labour on 38% for a three percent opinion poll lead national, very similar to latest polls, 3 years later labour didn’t have that bad general election year in England. Meanwhile in Erdington today, it’s a seat moving to towards the Conservatives, when he first got it Dromey only had a 3K majority same as last time. it’s hugely Leave, probably only still Labour because of incumbency of skilled MP. Brexit Party stood against Boris in 2019 and got 4%, if. Tories swallow that they are only 3% swing away from winning by my maths. It will be a very low turn out, and there are so many other attractive places Labour votes can go if they see the Labour candidate as weak, to the left where there is an effective left campaigner who can steal 3 or 4 % from Labour himself, some leave voters will turn towards the levelling up agenda of the Conservatives, or towards the election form horse Libdems.
This will not be a shock Tory gain. It will be the increased votes of Lib Dem, Green and TUC which mainly wins it for them. It does not mean Boris is safe as houses. It means mid term by elections favour challengers. If Tories win this it should not be bigged up as significant for all the reasons I have explained.
I don't expect (or welcome) a Tory gain, but if they do, I don't buy your special pleading. It would reinforce a pattern of Labour underperformance in the Midlands, and Labour strategists would do well to reflect on it.
As a Libdem I am not downplaying this loss on labours behalf, just playing it straight and explaining how it happened.
I agree With you! The best mid term polling for conservatives, to give them some confidence they can win next time, is in the midlands and Wales, and this is underwritten by support for Brexit and Boris. Even the more dire partygate polls reveal this.
It’s also true imo that Labour get this bad result this week doesn’t insulate the Tories from an equally bad defeat next week, it will be bigged up that’s where state of parties now is, but not true.
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
He won't stop at Ukraine.
I'm not convinced they have the military resources to go further given the losses taken so far. The plan will have been to do that, but a very significant amount of Russia's best resources (including the VDV, missile stockpiles) have been hit hard.
He does have the rest of the population and a seemingly unlimited number of rusty BMPs.
The Russian military never used to throw anything away. Back in the cold war, they had Category C divisions armed with stuff from the 1950s - in the 1980s.
Without logistics, that is simply dumping more stuff in the Ukrainian countryside.
If Russia's not in import/export any more, Putin could pressgang the lorry drivers.
And they're not short of oil and food. Will human wave attacks still work in the modern era? They didn't do so well in the Iran-Iraq conflict.
Are they counting the By-election in Birmingham tonight, or in the morning and do we know what time to expect the results? does a low tern out = quick results?
According to the Birmingham Mail website the count takes place tonight with a result expected in the early hours of the morning.
And on this topic, expectation management from Labour:
Labour says it's looking "really tight"
PA news reports a Labour source said: “The weather’s absolutely grim and turnout is looking extremely low. It’s going to be really tight.”
A Tory source said Boris Johnson’s party was expecting a “respectable showing”.
It’s not having Nick P there what lost it, the smooth old Jag of campaigners 🙂
This is a bloody nose for the complacent Starmer and his front bench.
I remember In 2012 George Galloway won Bradford. Thst Day mori had Labour on 38% for a three percent opinion poll lead national, very similar to latest polls, 3 years later labour didn’t have that bad general election year in England. Meanwhile in Erdington today, it’s a seat moving to towards the Conservatives, when he first got it Dromey only had a 3K majority same as last time. it’s hugely Leave, probably only still Labour because of incumbency of skilled MP. Brexit Party stood against Boris in 2019 and got 4%, if. Tories swallow that they are only 3% swing away from winning by my maths. It will be a very low turn out, and there are so many other attractive places Labour votes can go if they see the Labour candidate as weak, to the left where there is an effective left campaigner who can steal 3 or 4 % from Labour himself, some leave voters will turn towards the levelling up agenda of the Conservatives, or towards the election form horse Libdems.
This will not be a shock Tory gain. It will be the increased votes of Lib Dem, Green and TUC which mainly wins it for them. It does not mean Boris is safe as houses. It means mid term by elections favour challengers. If Tories win this it should not be bigged up as significant for all the reasons I have explained.
I don't expect (or welcome) a Tory gain, but if they do, I don't buy your special pleading. It would reinforce a pattern of Labour underperformance in the Midlands, and Labour strategists would do well to reflect on it.
As a Libdem I am not downplaying this loss on labours behalf, just playing it straight and explaining how it happened.
I agree With you! The best mid term polling for conservatives, to give them some confidence they can win next time, is in the midlands and Wales, and this is underwritten by support for Brexit and Boris. Even the more dire partygate polls reveal this.
It’s also true imo that Labour get this bad result this week doesn’t insulate the Tories from an equally bad defeat next week, it will be bigged up that’s where state of parties now is, but not true.
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
He won't stop at Ukraine.
I'm not convinced they have the military resources to go further given the losses taken so far. The plan will have been to do that, but a very significant amount of Russia's best resources (including the VDV, missile stockpiles) have been hit hard.
But he's been holding the thermobarics back, no?
They seem to be be breaking down, getting looted by Ukrainians etc, just all the other gear.
I am looking on eBay as we speak.
BBC World was reporting on Kherson tonight. The Russians are not allowing people to go out in more than groups of two because they are so scared of the local populace. They fire into any window showing movement because they are scared of snipers. The BBC journalist then moved onto the villages in Central Ukraine and every one had men equipped with AKs ready to fight the Russians. I once read an insurgency needs 3% of the population actively fighting and 10% actively supporting it to be impossible to put down. In Ukraine those numbers must be 25%+ and 90%+. Russia can level cities but they cannot win this war.
They can if they are prepared to clear and kill the population a village at a time. Einsatzgruppen in Europe. Again.
Read "Hitler's Army: Soldiers, Nazis, and War in the Third Reich"... about how a broken backed war with propagandised conscripts forced to live off the land by a collapsed logistics chain and disciplined with terror... well, that was the East Front.
Once again the two traditionally, formerly main political parties in France are likely to play very little role in this election and Macron will be re-elected as Co-Prince of Andorra. What happens after Macron's second term? His party was created as a vehicle for him and is made in his image; it even shares his initials. Will he use his second term to annoint a successor, or does one of the two traditional parties re-emerge eventually?
Why would Macron ever step down? Surely he has his sights set on President for Life.
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
He won't stop at Ukraine.
I'm not convinced they have the military resources to go further given the losses taken so far. The plan will have been to do that, but a very significant amount of Russia's best resources (including the VDV, missile stockpiles) have been hit hard.
He does have the rest of the population and a seemingly unlimited number of rusty BMPs.
The Russian military never used to throw anything away. Back in the cold war, they had Category C divisions armed with stuff from the 1950s - in the 1980s.
Without logistics, that is simply dumping more stuff in the Ukrainian countryside.
If Russia's not in import/export any more, Putin could pressgang the lorry drivers.
And They're not short of oil and food. Will human wave attacks still work in the modern era? They didn't do so well in the Iran-Iraq conflict.
Conventional lorries mean the highways only. Traffic jams of lorries for the locals to have a go at?
Weapons production in Russia has never been high, since the end of the Soviet Union.
You can't demand a logistical ability - it's Tiger Tanks and Potatoes again. You can't just swap capability.
So you are talking about a bigger and bigger mass of guys with guns wandering around in gangs, with radios, if they are lucky.
I think UN should send peace keeping forces in to protect Russian civilians from a drug crazed insane psychotic nazi despot. Moscow and St Petersberg for starters
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
He won't stop at Ukraine.
I'm not convinced they have the military resources to go further given the losses taken so far. The plan will have been to do that, but a very significant amount of Russia's best resources (including the VDV, missile stockpiles) have been hit hard.
But he's been holding the thermobarics back, no?
They seem to be be breaking down, getting looted by Ukrainians etc, just all the other gear.
I am looking on eBay as we speak.
You want a tank? You want a Davey Crocket, I know, take the munitions out and hide it in back of wardrobe, and prank people with the dinky bomb.
Hope you don’t want a devils vacuum with the satanic face. They should be banned.
No, I want a reproduction Violet Club. A nuclear weapon only the British could have built.
It explains the entire of post-war Britain, if you look at it right.
How long was Professor Quatermass working for the MOD?
The Zaporizhzhya stream is wild. Russia shelling a nuclear power plant, and every time they try and advance they take significant casualties. When they set up the stream I'm not sure they envisdaged it streaming dead Russian soldiers to the world.
On topic. Or Macron v Melenchon. *actual political bet just placed post
He got 19% first round last time, that’s like less than a length in racing terms from coming second, and running a slick campaign this time. Where three Right candidates are battling for votes not two last time. But Melechon is battling for the same votes. Is Melenchon like a communist lefty? Nope. He’s one of the more extreme Nationalist in this race, anti immigration, anti German, once on a roll he can take votes from everyone. And he won’t need 19% to come second. Apparently the youth vote is all over the road this time. If you can believe that. The UK G.E. of 2017 proves if the youth unexpectedly turn out it can confound polling.
I’ve just placed a finaltwo bet on him with Paddy Power at 14-1.
I think that's quite an astute bet, and at 14-1 pretty attractive odds.
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
He won't stop at Ukraine.
I'm not convinced they have the military resources to go further given the losses taken so far. The plan will have been to do that, but a very significant amount of Russia's best resources (including the VDV, missile stockpiles) have been hit hard.
But he's been holding the thermobarics back, no?
They seem to be be breaking down, getting looted by Ukrainians etc, just all the other gear.
I am looking on eBay as we speak.
You want a tank? You want a Davey Crocket, I know, take the munitions out and hide it in back of wardrobe, and prank people with the dinky bomb.
Hope you don’t want a devils vacuum with the satanic face. They should be banned.
No, I want a reproduction Violet Club. A nuclear weapon only the British could have built.
It explains the entire of post-war Britain, if you look at it right.
How long was Professor Quatermass working for the MOD?
He found that in a pit!
The Quatermass films were toned down, factual, documentaries about life in the 1950s MoD.
At least we can satisfy Putin in one respect, we can define Putinism. We have had Lenininsm, Stalinism and now we know the definition of Putinism. The illegal unwarrented destruction of cities and slaughter of innocent citizens by btutal and indiscriminate use of high explosives.
This definition of Putinism should be widely distributed in Russia.
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
He won't stop at Ukraine.
I'm not convinced they have the military resources to go further given the losses taken so far. The plan will have been to do that, but a very significant amount of Russia's best resources (including the VDV, missile stockpiles) have been hit hard.
But he's been holding the thermobarics back, no?
They seem to be be breaking down, getting looted by Ukrainians etc, just all the other gear.
I am looking on eBay as we speak.
You want a tank? You want a Davey Crocket, I know, take the munitions out and hide it in back of wardrobe, and prank people with the dinky bomb.
Hope you don’t want a devils vacuum with the satanic face. They should be banned.
No, I want a reproduction Violet Club. A nuclear weapon only the British could have built.
It explains the entire of post-war Britain, if you look at it right.
"Because the bombs were armed before flight, the take-off was hazardous; the bombs could not be jettisoned, and landing with an armed bomb on return to base was too hazardous to contemplate. As a consequence, Violet Club could not be used on an airborne alert, or even flown to a remote dispersal base."
Kira Rudik @kiraincongress · 55m So #Putin is going to announce mobilization tomorrow. This means the horde that is attacking #Ukraine will get bigger.
It seems like 1939 year taught the world nothing. Sanctions won’t stop dictators. The good fight will.
Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not sure general mobilisation is a sign the war is going well.
We got well past day seven in WWI…..
General mobilisation, if it happens, is in this case Mad Vlad trying to distract and make the crisis even worse than it appears to the home audience. Otherwise they might be looking at the two cabbages and 500g of oats they have to live on for the next six weeks that they exchanged for 4million rubles earlier and beginning to ask questions.
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
He won't stop at Ukraine.
I'm not convinced they have the military resources to go further given the losses taken so far. The plan will have been to do that, but a very significant amount of Russia's best resources (including the VDV, missile stockpiles) have been hit hard.
But he's been holding the thermobarics back, no?
They seem to be be breaking down, getting looted by Ukrainians etc, just all the other gear.
I am looking on eBay as we speak.
You want a tank? You want a Davey Crocket, I know, take the munitions out and hide it in back of wardrobe, and prank people with the dinky bomb.
Hope you don’t want a devils vacuum with the satanic face. They should be banned.
No, I want a reproduction Violet Club. A nuclear weapon only the British could have built.
It explains the entire of post-war Britain, if you look at it right.
"Because the bombs were armed before flight, the take-off was hazardous; the bombs could not be jettisoned, and landing with an armed bomb on return to base was too hazardous to contemplate. As a consequence, Violet Club could not be used on an airborne alert, or even flown to a remote dispersal base."
That barely touches on the lunacy of the design - a brilliant pyramid of stupid design decisions taken to fix earlier, stupid design decisions.
Comments
⚡️33 people dead, 18 injured as of 6:20 p.m. after Russia conducts air strikes on Chernihiv residential areas, the Stare Emergency Service reports.
Video: State Emergency Service’
https://twitter.com/kyivindependent/status/1499431817996345356?s=21
I just don’t know. I’m all over the place. Can we simply sit back and let Putin do this to every Ukrainian city?
The blood boils
https://twitter.com/JaneRockHouse/status/1499515085580079109
But we should help those who want to find safety as best we can. And we should never ease sanctions against Russia for as long as Putin is in power, even after the war eventually simmers down.
I’m not even sure I’m joking any more. What a desperate state of affairs
It gives you the same sense of head-shaking bewilderment.
One way out is to make the war even nastier, far nastier, and pump it out on social media so the west cannot tolerate the horrors and directly attacks Russia. Then he can turn to his people and say See, I was right, this is a fight for survival against the West - and he escapes the worst consequences of his mistake
Which means we have to steel ourselves. I fear we are about to witness horrors previously unimaginable - and previously unseen - all over our phones, tablets, TVs. Putin wants us to see them and become blinded with anger
@ClintEhrlich
If Russia pulls this off, it could be the single most impressive combined-arms operations in modern history.
The size and swiftness against a large, well-equipped modern military is nothing short of terrifying.
Russia is asserting itself as a superpower.
...
Before this conflict, many people were speculating that Ukrainian troops would have a morale advantage, since they'd be defending their homeland.
As we're seeing, that overlooked the role that Russian shock and awe would play.
https://twitter.com/ClintEhrlich/status/1496697478166376451
They've printed any old Putinite clickbait for profit.
https://twitter.com/risj_oxford/status/1499007132934582274
V-interesting, the interviewee a Bellingcat journalist claims a source contacted him last year about Putin aiming to transform Russia into a mobilised war economy. Locked down and with no free media. He also says (yes I know.. post facto but..) the source prewarned about the Ukrainian conflict last year.
Now trying not to sound too schizo, it seems like greater-Russia is on the menu. And Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Transnistria are about to relive the glory days.
But hopefully Putin will be like Paul II or Krushchev - overthrown once they had gone dangerously mad.
To him if people fear him he is powerful. If he is powerful Russia is powerful. Ergo any price can be paid to make people fear him.
Harry Cole
@MrHarryCole
·
2m
Mad Vladimir Putin brands Ukrainians ‘extreme gangsters’ — as his army slaughter women and children
https://order-order.com/2022/03/03/russian-businessman-puts-million-dollar-bounty-on-putin/
Maybe the Mail vould add a million to the bounty?
What happens after Macron's second term? His party was created as a vehicle for him and is made in his image; it even shares his initials.
Will he use his second term to annoint a successor, or does one of the two traditional parties re-emerge eventually?
This is a bloody nose for the complacent Starmer and his front bench.
I remember In 2012 George Galloway won Bradford. Thst Day mori had Labour on 38% for a three percent opinion poll lead national, very similar to latest polls, 3 years later labour didn’t have that bad general election year in England. Meanwhile in Erdington today, it’s a seat moving to towards the Conservatives, when he first got it Dromey only had a 3K majority same as last time. it’s hugely Leave, probably only still Labour because of incumbency of skilled MP. Brexit Party stood against Boris in 2019 and got 4%, if. Tories swallow that they are only 3% swing away from winning by my maths. It will be a very low turn out, and there are so many other attractive places Labour votes can go if they see the Labour candidate as weak, to the left where there is an effective left campaigner who can steal 3 or 4 % from Labour himself, some leave voters will turn towards the levelling up agenda of the Conservatives, or towards the election form horse Libdems.
This will not be a shock Tory gain. It will be the increased votes of Lib Dem, Green and TUC which mainly wins it for them. It does not mean Boris is safe as houses. It means mid term by elections favour challengers. If Tories win this it should not be bigged up as significant for all the reasons I have explained.
Just one problem, Alexander Temerko is Ukrainian
He is literally a Ukrainian refugee having fled to London after Putin's Russia launched what the UK judged to be a "politically motivated" prosecution
https://twitter.com/tomhfh/status/1499348234283720704
https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1499521886534967298
01:00 EET Fierce fighting has been going on for more than an hour on the approaches to the Nuclear Power plant in Enerhodar. Ukrainian Armed Forces keep the defense. There are killed and wounded but the exact number is not yet known - city mayor
FAZ informs us that the Swift sanctions are essentially dead in the water. Only seven banks, representing a quarter of the Russian banking sector, are subject to the sanctions. What happened is that once this sanctions list went through the mill of talks with member states, only this pared-down lists survives. The EU originally promised to hit 70% of the Russian banking system. One reason for the exclusion of Sberbank is the deposits held by savers in the bank’s EU subsidiaries. It would have triggered massive deposit insurance claims.
https://www.eurointelligence.com/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-45696420
I am certainly not predicting the Tories*won't* win - just that I still don't expect it, despite everything.
https://bylinetimes.com/2022/02/23/has-prime-minister-boris-johnson-been-compromised-by-russia/
'Temerko was close to former Russian President Boris Yeltsin and for seven years was involved with Russia’s defence ministry and its agencies – running a state arms conglomerate. In the late 1990s, Temerko joined Yukos – a Russian oil giant – but fell from the Kremlin’s favour after Vladimir Putin ordered the arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky in 2003.'
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/11/britain-should-arm-ukraine
So we have no idea what's happening in the by-election.
Will Putin win as a write-in candidate with 112% of the registered voters voting for him?
Life is looking more and more SeanT* by the moment.
Was it just the other day that we were discussing how the Defence Secretary should be fired/finished his chances for being Prime Minister by suggesting that Putin had gone "Full Tonto"?
I think we could say the consensus now is - "called it".
Putin's response to the logistical collapse of his army is to go for full mobilisation? So, he will end up with a large mob of guys with guns, and little else wandering round Ukraine...
At random I pulled "Hitler's Army: Soldiers, Nazis, and War in the Third Reich" off the shelf. Part of the authors thesis is that why the East Front turned into such a charnel pit of war crimes was, on the German side, combination of propaganda, "primitivisation", collapsing real discipline and a use of terror as discipline.
- The soldiers were totally steeped in Nazi propaganda - to the point that they saw a distorted reality where they were the victims. And the people they were murdering were somehow the cause.
- The collapse of the German Army logistical system led to a broken-backed war of pillage and murder, with units becoming armed gangs raiding the countryside.
- Loses of officers and NCOs caused a collapse in discipline in the traditional sense. Instead the Germany Army resorted to shooting soldiers in huge numbers. To keep them in line.
The result was a slaughter in all directions....
Any of this remind you of anything?
*Sort of like shit, but with a certain whimsical charm. You house is being attacked by rabid gibbons on PCP, but they are reading Seven Men & Two Others aloud, while they do so.
He got 19% first round last time, that’s like less than a length in racing terms from coming second, and running a slick campaign this time. Where three Right candidates are battling for votes not two last time. But Melechon is battling for the same votes. Is Melenchon like a communist lefty? Nope. He’s one of the more extreme Nationalist in this race, anti immigration, anti German, once on a roll he can take votes from everyone. And he won’t need 19% to come second. Apparently the youth vote is all over the road this time. If you can believe that. The UK G.E. of 2017 proves if the youth unexpectedly turn out it can confound polling.
I’ve just placed a finaltwo bet on him with Paddy Power at 14-1.
I am looking on eBay as we speak.
Tony Luton confronted him, an angry scowl on his face, a blaze in his heavy-lidded eyes. The boy was without a conscience, almost without a soul, as priests and parsons reckon souls, but there was a slumbering devil-god within him, and Yeovil’s taunting words had broken the slumber. Life had been for Tony a hard school, in which right and wrong, high endeavour and good resolve, were untaught subjects; but there was a sterling something in him, just that something that helped poor street-scavenged men to die brave-fronted deaths in the trenches of Salamanca, that fired a handful of apprentice boys to shut the gates of Derry and stare unflinchingly at grim leaguer and starvation. It was just that nameless something that was lacking in the young musician, who stood at the further end of the room, bathed in a flood of compliment and congratulation, enjoying the honey-drops of his triumph.
The air force are getting involved it would seem.
Can't see it happening though. I wasn't tempted by 10/1. Labour hold on a reduced majority in terms of vote numbers because of low turnout but a swing to Labour of ~10%.
Hope you don’t want a devils vacuum with the satanic face. They should be banned.
Without logistics, that is simply dumping more stuff in the Ukrainian countryside.
Anyone who clings to and craves political power this way is a dictator and one who will be ruthless in protecting personal interests above all else.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_v._Strauss-Kahn
It's well worth a read.
It explains the entire of post-war Britain, if you look at it right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYUT36YGOh8
I agree With you! The best mid term polling for conservatives, to give them some confidence they can win next time, is in the midlands and Wales, and this is underwritten by support for Brexit and Boris. Even the more dire partygate polls reveal this.
It’s also true imo that Labour get this bad result this week doesn’t insulate the Tories from an equally bad defeat next week, it will be bigged up that’s where state of parties now is, but not true.
And they're not short of oil and food. Will human wave attacks still work in the modern era? They didn't do so well in the Iran-Iraq conflict.
Weapons production in Russia has never been high, since the end of the Soviet Union.
You can't demand a logistical ability - it's Tiger Tanks and Potatoes again. You can't just swap capability.
So you are talking about a bigger and bigger mass of guys with guns wandering around in gangs, with radios, if they are lucky.
He found that in a pit!
We have had Lenininsm, Stalinism and now we know the definition of Putinism. The illegal unwarrented destruction of cities and slaughter of innocent citizens by btutal and indiscriminate use of high explosives.
This definition of Putinism should be widely distributed in Russia.