Despite the heroic Ukraine defence NATO Secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, has just condemned Ukraine to a slow death and eventual Putin puppet state status - No NATO no fly zone or troops on the ground. The cheers you hear come from the Kremlin.
Sudetenland and Czechoslavakia 1938 rinse and repeat.
Sorry, but this is nonsense.
NATO cannot risk direct conflict with Russia, a nuclear-armed state headed by dictator with a history of aggression. Surely, that's obvious. An incursion into the territory of a NATO member by Russia is quite another matter. The fact that Stoltenberg, Biden and BJ have made this very clear is to their credit.
This really should not need saying.
If we do not risk direct conflict with Russia then you give Putin a blank cheque for his wars. Where are you drawing the line? Allowing Putin to roll up eastern Europe because he has nukes.
At worst Putin will just rebuild the USSR and Tsarist empire ie add Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Finland to Russian control.
I highly doubt he will invade a NATO nation, so otherwise we stick to economic sanctions
Right wing autocrat casually shrugs off Russia annexing Finland.
And the suffering of untold millions who are currently free. And the gargantuan refugee flows that would ensue from such a move.
Not to mention Putin growing enormously in power and influence.
Just insane.
Hahahaha. You think Putin is growing in power and influence. You are as deluded as he is.
I agree with you, but only because I think Putin has made a drastic miscalculation. Before the Falklands Invasion, Argentina had got the impression that we did not care for the islands and probably would not defend them. Therefore, when the Junta got into trouble, it ordered an invasion.
Likewise, the west's behaviour in the last couple of decades had shown Putin that whilst we would huff and puff about an invasion of Ukraine, *we* would back down and get used to the new normal. That would have seen him grow in power and influence. Meanwhile, he could plan the next new normal.
Instead we've him with massive economic sanctions. He miscalculated (as did I; I never expected the west to move to such a dramatic consensus). I really don't think Russia expected such a consensus, and they aren't factored into his plans.
Unless the sanctions consensus collapse for some reason, I cannot see Russia under Putin anything but a diminished proud tiger. And that's more than a little dangerous.
BTW, do you know much about the oil and gas reserves around Donbass, the waters off Crimea and the Transnistria?
We have speculated about Putin's health here recently. We've also made comments about timing and readiness: we're a little puzzled that he invaded now, rather than in two months' time. Could it be that his health is even worse than we thought? That his time left can be measured in months rather than years? Is that the imperative for acting now?
The question of why now is probably just the Olympics and not further pissing off China.
Yes, I think so. The idea Putin is sick - other than in the head - strikes me as wishful speculation. He might be but I can't see the evidence. He looks ok to me.
That moon face is either botched surgery or corticosteroids, and I don't think he's a facial procedure kinda guy. That plus the insane distancing stuff: Trump has a germ phobia but that has always been known. It is more likely that it is rational because he is immunocompromised than that it's a phobia which has come from nowhere. I think he has got cancer.
Well that'd be nice - but I'm not really seeing it myself. His face does look kind of round and punchable but I'm putting that down to other things, esp the latter quality.
I was on a call last night and the woman whom I was speaking to (a senior figure in the media world) was saying that look of Putin's is totally from plastic surgery
Easy to imagine he's had a touch-up, I suppose. Man gets to be 69 and he starts to miss the melting looks he used to get from all the young girls when he was 64, so he decides to try and get some of that back with a little something from the Doc. In which case he could be on other things too.
I'm getting out of hospital today. Do you mean I have to book in again for a facelift in 2 years time.
Despite the heroic Ukraine defence NATO Secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, has just condemned Ukraine to a slow death and eventual Putin puppet state status - No NATO no fly zone or troops on the ground. The cheers you hear come from the Kremlin.
Sudetenland and Czechoslavakia 1938 rinse and repeat.
And the cheers you don't hear are from the millions of victims of all out nuclear war who are not going to be that, because of Stoltenbergs words, and are only not cheering because they don't know that
It's like not changing the clocks in winter. If it saves 2000 lives in the evening but kills an extra 200 in the darker mornings that's a net saving, but the 200 make the news while the 2000 are unidentifiable.
Then NATO is useless. Putin will attack knowing we will not defend a NATO member because of his threat of nuclear weapons. The Baltic states are gone, Finland and Moldova too. How about Poland? Where will we stop him?
It is a simple choice. Stop Putin now or accept the consequences.
Farcical war mongering. Exactly how do we “stop him” without going right to the brink of nuclear war, and, by the by, uniting the anti-West behind him (including China, which is, at the moment, helpfully ambivalent)
Ukraine is fucked. There it is. They should probably surrender at some point, to avoid a million dead. It’s not pretty but it is realpolitik
But it is their choice and if they choose to fight on I salute their heroism and we should give them all the weapons we can, but beyond that, No. There isn’t a lot we can do. Putin has nukes and he will use them. He has told us
The red line is NATO, that’s what it was put there for: to deter Russian from attacking the West. We now have to stand by this most solemn treaty obligation quite religiously. If Putin crosses into Estonia, then yes, we go Defcon Apocalypse
"to avoid a million dead."
There will be a million dead. For as long as a single Ukrainian resists, Putin's henchmen will scream 'Nazis' and jail and kill them. It's the history of Russia.
We have speculated about Putin's health here recently. We've also made comments about timing and readiness: we're a little puzzled that he invaded now, rather than in two months' time. Could it be that his health is even worse than we thought? That his time left can be measured in months rather than years? Is that the imperative for acting now?
The question of why now is probably just the Olympics and not further pissing off China.
Yes, I think so. The idea Putin is sick - other than in the head - strikes me as wishful speculation. He might be but I can't see the evidence. He looks ok to me.
That moon face is either botched surgery or corticosteroids, and I don't think he's a facial procedure kinda guy. That plus the insane distancing stuff: Trump has a germ phobia but that has always been known. It is more likely that it is rational because he is immunocompromised than that it's a phobia which has come from nowhere. I think he has got cancer.
Well that'd be nice - but I'm not really seeing it myself. His face does look kind of round and punchable but I'm putting that down to other things, esp the latter quality.
I was on a call last night and the woman whom I was speaking to (a senior figure in the media world) was saying that look of Putin's is totally from plastic surgery
Easy to imagine he's had a touch-up, I suppose. Man gets to be 69 and he starts to miss the melting looks he used to get from all the young girls when he was 64, so he decides to try and get some of that back with a little something from the Doc. In which case he could be on other things too.
I'm getting out of hospital today. Do you mean I have to book in again for a facelift in 2 years time.
Tad surprised you found a mag to accept one of your delusional flights of fancy, Ed, but well done nonetheless. Fee donated to an unworthy cause, no doubt.
Sad to hear the news that Rod Marsh has passed. He was a legend of our great game & an inspiration to so many young boys & girls. Rod cared deeply about cricket & gave so much-especially to Australia & England players. Sending lots & lots of love to Ros & the family. RIP mate https://twitter.com/ShaneWarne/status/1499563703083044865?s=20&t=-h8fI7pJZH62ma8DtUDUIw
On the no-fly zone, this is the estimated coverage of Russia's latest (S500) AA missiles, though I wouldn't guarantee it. A no-fly zone arguably would need all of these reaching the Ukraine taken out for basic safety.
On the no-fly zone, this is the estimated coverage of Russia's latest (S500) AA missiles, though I wouldn't guarantee it. A no-fly zone arguably would need all of these reaching the Ukraine taken out for basic safety.
So ensuring a proper no fly zone would potentially involve attacking targets around Moscow....
Aren't the targets in Kaliningrad, Belarus and Crimea? (not that I think a NFZ is a good idea)
Well - if you take out the launchers near Ukraine, will the Russians go "OK then", or will they activate launchers further away, but still able to cover Ukrainian airspace?
So you will be destroying Russian military equipment and actual Russian people, further and further into Russia.
For even more fun - Russian doctrine, for many years, has been to go after the AWACS planes (flying radars). As part of this, they have developed a number of very long range air-air missiles for this purpose.
So they would probably start shooting at any AWACS planes tacking part in a NATO NFZ, fired from over Russian territory. So we would end up shooting at Russian planes over Russia.
Better yet, to reach those Russian fighters shooting the long range missiles, might well involve NATO fighters crossing over into Russia territory,
So we would have NATO planes fighting Russian aircraft over Russia. What would you call that, exactly?
NATO is a defensive pact. There is, as some posters have observed, not much point to NATO if its members don't actually come to the defence of other member states when attacked. The point they seem to be missing is that there is also not much point to it, if non-member states are attacked and the members come to its defence anyway.
On the no-fly zone, this is the estimated coverage of Russia's latest (S500) AA missiles, though I wouldn't guarantee it. A no-fly zone arguably would need all of these reaching the Ukraine taken out for basic safety.
Despite the heroic Ukraine defence NATO Secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, has just condemned Ukraine to a slow death and eventual Putin puppet state status - No NATO no fly zone or troops on the ground. The cheers you hear come from the Kremlin.
Sudetenland and Czechoslavakia 1938 rinse and repeat.
And the cheers you don't hear are from the millions of victims of all out nuclear war who are not going to be that, because of Stoltenbergs words, and are only not cheering because they don't know that
It's like not changing the clocks in winter. If it saves 2000 lives in the evening but kills an extra 200 in the darker mornings that's a net saving, but the 200 make the news while the 2000 are unidentifiable.
Then NATO is useless. Putin will attack knowing we will not defend a NATO member because of his threat of nuclear weapons. The Baltic states are gone, Finland and Moldova too. How about Poland? Where will we stop him?
It is a simple choice. Stop Putin now or accept the consequences.
Farcical war mongering. Exactly how do we “stop him” without going right to the brink of nuclear war, and, by the by, uniting the anti-West behind him (including China, which is, at the moment, helpfully ambivalent)
Ukraine is fucked. There it is. They should probably surrender at some point, to avoid a million dead. It’s not pretty but it is realpolitik
But it is their choice and if they choose to fight on I salute their heroism and we should give them all the weapons we can, but beyond that, No. There isn’t a lot we can do. Putin has nukes and he will use them. He has told us
The red line is NATO, that’s what it was put there for: to deter Russian from attacking the West. We now have to stand by this most solemn treaty obligation quite religiously. If Putin crosses into Estonia, then yes, we go Defcon Apocalypse
"to avoid a million dead."
There will be a million dead. For as long as a single Ukrainian resists, Putin's henchmen will scream 'Nazis' and jail and kill them. It's the history of Russia.
And not just from the Holodomor.
Well, ultimately there will be 8 billion dead. We all die
The point is can Ukraine avoid a million dead in a month, and I believe it can, but the route there is basically surrender. Let Putin have Crimea and the eastern provinces, and agree not to join NATO or the EU. In return the Ukrainians must be allowed free and fair elections, and then Ukraine could very slowly inch back towards the west, as Finland did quite cleverly post-1945
It’s a horrible option, but they are all horrible options, and this is maybe the least depressing - certainly the least destructive
Or - as I say - they fight on. To the last man and woman in the last basement in Lviv. There is a definite nobility in that.
On the no-fly zone, this is the estimated coverage of Russia's latest (S500) AA missiles, though I wouldn't guarantee it. A no-fly zone arguably would need all of these reaching the Ukraine taken out for basic safety.
This “if we don’t stop him in Ukraine he’s going to invade Poland etc” is absolutely nuts.
He’s just seen that his army is nothing like as capable as he’s been told. He might win a Pyrrhic victory in Ukraine but whether he wins or not he has lost loads of men, equipment and military morale.
So invading Ukraine on its own: chances of this triggering a nuclear war 1/10.
If we instigate a no fly zone we are going to be killing Russians directly - and them us in return. Putin won’t be able to let that stand. The chances of this triggering a nuclear war 7/10.
He invades Poland - he’s up against the same stingers and NLAWs etc that have reaped a whirlwind on his army, and more, and a better air capability, and more better trained troops, and better long range capability, and large numbers of special forces from US, UK,France who have been in recent combat. Chances of this triggering a nuclear war as he starts being pulverised 10/10.
So if you think he’s “full tonto” enough to still try and invade Poland or the Baltics after what’s happened in UKraine then he’s “full tonto” anyway and there is just one ultimate destination.
There is however just a chance that he’s not completely insane or there are enough people around him to rein him in from invading Poland who make the same calculations above and don’t fancy seeing their kids vaporised. They’ve all listened to Sting’s song Russians and it deeply affected them……
On the no-fly zone, this is the estimated coverage of Russia's latest (S500) AA missiles, though I wouldn't guarantee it. A no-fly zone arguably would need all of these reaching the Ukraine taken out for basic safety.
On the no-fly zone, this is the estimated coverage of Russia's latest (S500) AA missiles, though I wouldn't guarantee it. A no-fly zone arguably would need all of these reaching the Ukraine taken out for basic safety.
The only time I saw him play was when he dropped the Ashes (OK, KP really, but it probably decided the game and the series) in 2005. He took the next 20 overs of chanting pretty well. Really sad news.
grifters to the end, wonder which one of their chums is coining in from that one.
I haven't looked, but I would presume they have used a 0300 number, which is free on most mobile contracts, but local rate from landline. That is what the government use as standard for lots of "helplines".
The use of totally free numbers, which are widely used in places like the US, is much less common across all sectors in the UK.
0300 is the normal code for charity helplines.
It's just more mudslinging by ignorami / obsessives.
On the no-fly zone, this is the estimated coverage of Russia's latest (S500) AA missiles, though I wouldn't guarantee it. A no-fly zone arguably would need all of these reaching the Ukraine taken out for basic safety.
Tad surprised you found a mag to accept one of your delusional flights of fancy, Ed, but well done nonetheless. Fee donated to a unworthy cause, no doubt.
Of the 10 clever things listed the only important one is 9. Strategically Used Unpredictability as an Asset in Foreign Affairs. In other words, looked as potentially mad as Vlad. Which is a fair point. Because you look at Biden and you can tell he is not mad himself, but also so far past it that it is virtually certain that there's an informal regency committee vetting his decisions, and when it come to nuclear launches committees of underlings are as unlikely compared to their sane supremos to start anything, as sane vs insane supremos. Biden's a liability and there should be compulsory retirement at 65 for presidents.
Missed this on QT last night. SNP doubling down on stripping away UK's nuclear deterrence.
The guy with his head in his hands is Konstantin Kisin, a kind of Russian version of Volodymyr Zelensky, ie, comedian going into politics. Sadly, not much chance of him being elected president anytime soon.
That hideous blob of an SNP witch needs to declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars . If she can’t govern her intake of double cheese lard burgers, how is she expected to govern Scotland?
Extremely personal attack which is distateful, however I agree that as an MP she is total crap and would struggle to run a bath.
On the no-fly zone, this is the estimated coverage of Russia's latest (S500) AA missiles, though I wouldn't guarantee it. A no-fly zone arguably would need all of these reaching the Ukraine taken out for basic safety.
Why do they get to launch from Poland?
Kaliningrad?
Koinigsboig you mean!
Kant's home. Greatest philosopher of all time along with Aristotle. A good moment to wonder at 'the starry heavens above and the moral law within'.
This “if we don’t stop him in Ukraine he’s going to invade Poland etc” is absolutely nuts.
He’s just seen that his army is nothing like as capable as he’s been told. He might win a Pyrrhic victory in Ukraine but whether he wins or not he has lost loads of men, equipment and military morale.
So invading Ukraine on its own: chances of this triggering a nuclear war 1/10.
If we instigate a no fly zone we are going to be killing Russians directly - and them us in return. Putin won’t be able to let that stand. The chances of this triggering a nuclear war 7/10.
He invades Poland - he’s up against the same stingers and NLAWs etc that have reaped a whirlwind on his army, and more, and a better air capability, and more better trained troops, and better long range capability, and large numbers of special forces from US, UK,France who have been in recent combat. Chances of this triggering a nuclear war as he starts being pulverised 10/10.
So if you think he’s “full tonto” enough to still try and invade Poland or the Baltics after what’s happened in UKraine then he’s “full tonto” anyway and there is just one ultimate destination.
There is however just a chance that he’s not completely insane or there are enough people around him to rein him in from invading Poland who make the same calculations above and don’t fancy seeing their kids vaporised. They’ve all listened to Sting’s song Russians and it deeply affected them……
Feeding Ukraine to the wolf in the vain hope he won't be back for more, as it is otherwise known.
Shane Warne apparently died “in his villa in Koh Samui, Thailand”
That’s a famously hedonistic party island. Given that Warne had a heart attack, I kind of hope this famous bon vivant sparked out while having a ton of fun
Understand that Sage has been effectively abolished - for the time being. Committee will no longer have regular meetings but can be reconvened at any time if necessary.
We have speculated about Putin's health here recently. We've also made comments about timing and readiness: we're a little puzzled that he invaded now, rather than in two months' time. Could it be that his health is even worse than we thought? That his time left can be measured in months rather than years? Is that the imperative for acting now?
The question of why now is probably just the Olympics and not further pissing off China.
Yes, I think so. The idea Putin is sick - other than in the head - strikes me as wishful speculation. He might be but I can't see the evidence. He looks ok to me.
That moon face is either botched surgery or corticosteroids, and I don't think he's a facial procedure kinda guy. That plus the insane distancing stuff: Trump has a germ phobia but that has always been known. It is more likely that it is rational because he is immunocompromised than that it's a phobia which has come from nowhere. I think he has got cancer.
Well that'd be nice - but I'm not really seeing it myself. His face does look kind of round and punchable but I'm putting that down to other things, esp the latter quality.
I was on a call last night and the woman whom I was speaking to (a senior figure in the media world) was saying that look of Putin's is totally from plastic surgery
Easy to imagine he's had a touch-up, I suppose. Man gets to be 69 and he starts to miss the melting looks he used to get from all the young girls when he was 64, so he decides to try and get some of that back with a little something from the Doc. In which case he could be on other things too.
I'm getting out of hospital today. Do you mean I have to book in again for a facelift in 2 years time.
Personally I think it's best to accept your 'active participant' days are over at about 52. After that it's all about thinking and observing and describing. That's what I did anyway and I haven't looked back.
Shane Warne apparently died “in his villa in Koh Samui, Thailand”
That’s a famously hedonistic party island. Given that Warne had a heart attack, I kind of hope this famous bon vivant sparked out while having a ton of fun
Not to go tinfoil hat, he had COVID a few months ago and was placed on a what he described as a ventilator (its sounds more like a CPAP machine). And his recent social media is about him getting ripped. So could just as likely be that he did actually suffer some heart damage and now been doing the classic mid-life crisis man of overdoing the exercise regime.
On the no-fly zone, this is the estimated coverage of Russia's latest (S500) AA missiles, though I wouldn't guarantee it. A no-fly zone arguably would need all of these reaching the Ukraine taken out for basic safety.
Why do they get to launch from Poland?
Kaliningrad?
Koinigsboig you mean!
Greater Polish Nationalism says....
{If Putin can do Greater Russian Nationalism....}
I do not think that Königsberg has ever been part of Poland?
Missed this on QT last night. SNP doubling down on stripping away UK's nuclear deterrence.
The guy with his head in his hands is Konstantin Kisin, a kind of Russian version of Volodymyr Zelensky, ie, comedian going into politics. Sadly, not much chance of him being elected president anytime soon.
That hideous blob of an SNP witch needs to declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars . If she can’t govern her intake of double cheese lard burgers, how is she expected to govern Scotland?
Extremely personal attack which is distateful, however I agree that as an MP she is total crap and would struggle to run a bath.
This “if we don’t stop him in Ukraine he’s going to invade Poland etc” is absolutely nuts.
He’s just seen that his army is nothing like as capable as he’s been told. He might win a Pyrrhic victory in Ukraine but whether he wins or not he has lost loads of men, equipment and military morale.
So invading Ukraine on its own: chances of this triggering a nuclear war 1/10.
If we instigate a no fly zone we are going to be killing Russians directly - and them us in return. Putin won’t be able to let that stand. The chances of this triggering a nuclear war 7/10.
He invades Poland - he’s up against the same stingers and NLAWs etc that have reaped a whirlwind on his army, and more, and a better air capability, and more better trained troops, and better long range capability, and large numbers of special forces from US, UK,France who have been in recent combat. Chances of this triggering a nuclear war as he starts being pulverised 10/10.
So if you think he’s “full tonto” enough to still try and invade Poland or the Baltics after what’s happened in UKraine then he’s “full tonto” anyway and there is just one ultimate destination.
There is however just a chance that he’s not completely insane or there are enough people around him to rein him in from invading Poland who make the same calculations above and don’t fancy seeing their kids vaporised. They’ve all listened to Sting’s song Russians and it deeply affected them……
Feeding Ukraine to the wolf in the vain hope he won't be back for more, as it is otherwise known.
Or the wolf knocks it’s own teeth out on this meal and realises attacking the pack of wolves across the forest isn’t actually a great plan.
Despite the heroic Ukraine defence NATO Secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, has just condemned Ukraine to a slow death and eventual Putin puppet state status - No NATO no fly zone or troops on the ground. The cheers you hear come from the Kremlin.
Sudetenland and Czechoslavakia 1938 rinse and repeat.
Sorry, but this is nonsense.
NATO cannot risk direct conflict with Russia, a nuclear-armed state headed by dictator with a history of aggression. Surely, that's obvious. An incursion into the territory of a NATO member by Russia is quite another matter. The fact that Stoltenberg, Biden and BJ have made this very clear is to their credit.
This really should not need saying.
If we do not risk direct conflict with Russia then you give Putin a blank cheque for his wars. Where are you drawing the line? Allowing Putin to roll up eastern Europe because he has nukes.
An NFZ isn't "risking" direct conflict with Russia. It is direct conflict with Russia and it would go nuclear within a week.
So there's your choice: Ukraine on the butcher's block or When the Wind Blows with Johnson, Raab and Patel directing matters from within the bunker.
Soon to be replaced with 'the Baltics on the butchers block or When the When Wind Blows.' And afterwards 'Poland on the butchers block or When the Wind Blows.'
Where's the red line? where do we stand and fight?
The red line is where it has always been. An attack on NATO. The adults in this conflict know that. Sadly you are not counted amongst them.
While I agree with this, I wonder what you view is of how NATO would actually respond to an attack on Finland?
I think this was an interesting but academic question until last week, but not now.
I find it impossible fully to believe that NATO (and the EU) would stand idly by, and also impossible to believe they would treat it as an attack on all NATO states.
Finland and Sweden have agreements permitting, but not obligating, NATO support on their territories in time of threat - so there is flexibility / opportunity there if required. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_NATO
Missed this on QT last night. SNP doubling down on stripping away UK's nuclear deterrence.
The guy with his head in his hands is Konstantin Kisin, a kind of Russian version of Volodymyr Zelensky, ie, comedian going into politics. Sadly, not much chance of him being elected president anytime soon.
That hideous blob of an SNP witch needs to declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars . If she can’t govern her intake of double cheese lard burgers, how is she expected to govern Scotland?
Extremely personal attack which is distateful, however I agree that as an MP she is total crap and would struggle to run a bath.
Hahahaha
Like it
There is a more serious point here. The SNP’s anti-Trident position looks increasingly untenable, post Ukraine, and they need to either drop it or finesse it to oblivion, or find some brilliant new way of defending it. She lamentably did neither, just stuck to the usual “nukes are bad” bullshit (yes we know they are bad, but so are guns and you still need a gun in a gunfight).
The Russian guy who came after her humiliated her. This will happen every time the policy is mention, from now on
On the no-fly zone, this is the estimated coverage of Russia's latest (S500) AA missiles, though I wouldn't guarantee it. A no-fly zone arguably would need all of these reaching the Ukraine taken out for basic safety.
On the no-fly zone, this is the estimated coverage of Russia's latest (S500) AA missiles, though I wouldn't guarantee it. A no-fly zone arguably would need all of these reaching the Ukraine taken out for basic safety.
Why do they get to launch from Poland?
Kaliningrad?
Koinigsboig you mean!
Greater Polish Nationalism says....
{If Putin can do Greater Russian Nationalism....}
I do not think that Königsberg has ever been part of Poland?
Greater X Nationalists don't run on reality - nationalistic delusion is more the style
According to the Great God Wikipedia, in 1466, "Königsberg became the new capital of the reduced monastic state, which became a fief of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom"
Despite the heroic Ukraine defence NATO Secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, has just condemned Ukraine to a slow death and eventual Putin puppet state status - No NATO no fly zone or troops on the ground. The cheers you hear come from the Kremlin.
Sudetenland and Czechoslavakia 1938 rinse and repeat.
And the cheers you don't hear are from the millions of victims of all out nuclear war who are not going to be that, because of Stoltenbergs words, and are only not cheering because they don't know that
It's like not changing the clocks in winter. If it saves 2000 lives in the evening but kills an extra 200 in the darker mornings that's a net saving, but the 200 make the news while the 2000 are unidentifiable.
Then NATO is useless. Putin will attack knowing we will not defend a NATO member because of his threat of nuclear weapons. The Baltic states are gone, Finland and Moldova too. How about Poland? Where will we stop him?
It is a simple choice. Stop Putin now or accept the consequences.
Farcical war mongering. Exactly how do we “stop him” without going right to the brink of nuclear war, and, by the by, uniting the anti-West behind him (including China, which is, at the moment, helpfully ambivalent)
Ukraine is fucked. There it is. They should probably surrender at some point, to avoid a million dead. It’s not pretty but it is realpolitik
But it is their choice and if they choose to fight on I salute their heroism and we should give them all the weapons we can, but beyond that, No. There isn’t a lot we can do. Putin has nukes and he will use them. He has told us
The red line is NATO, that’s what it was put there for: to deter Russian from attacking the West. We now have to stand by this most solemn treaty obligation quite religiously. If Putin crosses into Estonia, then yes, we go Defcon Apocalypse
"to avoid a million dead."
There will be a million dead. For as long as a single Ukrainian resists, Putin's henchmen will scream 'Nazis' and jail and kill them. It's the history of Russia.
And not just from the Holodomor.
Well, ultimately there will be 8 billion dead. We all die
The point is can Ukraine avoid a million dead in a month, and I believe it can, but the route there is basically surrender. Let Putin have Crimea and the eastern provinces, and agree not to join NATO or the EU. In return the Ukrainians must be allowed free and fair elections, and then Ukraine could very slowly inch back towards the west, as Finland did quite cleverly post-1945
It’s a horrible option, but they are all horrible options, and this is maybe the least depressing - certainly the least destructive
Or - as I say - they fight on. To the last man and woman in the last basement in Lviv. There is a definite nobility in that.
My point is this: if the Ukrainian government falls, and a puppet regime is installed, and there is essentially peace, the Ukrainian people are still fu**ed. Any hint of opposition will be mercilessly repressed.
It's the way he does it. Even now, if the Ukrainian government stopped fighting immediately, tens of thousands will still be murdered.
Tad surprised you found a mag to accept one of your delusional flights of fancy, Ed, but well done nonetheless. Fee donated to an unworthy cause, no doubt.
Well, says the person who thinks CNN is a source of unbiased truth. Pot, kettle, black...
Foreign secretary Liz Truss has labelled the Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant a "threat to European security".
Britain has called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in response, saying the world needs to hold "those responsible to be held to account".
The US has also branded the assault "a war crime".
On the no-fly zone, this is the estimated coverage of Russia's latest (S500) AA missiles, though I wouldn't guarantee it. A no-fly zone arguably would need all of these reaching the Ukraine taken out for basic safety.
Why do they get to launch from Poland?
Kaliningrad?
Koinigsboig you mean!
Greater Polish Nationalism says....
{If Putin can do Greater Russian Nationalism....}
I do not think that Königsberg has ever been part of Poland?
"From 1454 to 1455 the city under the name of Królewiec belonged to the Kingdom of Poland, and from 1466 to 1657 it was a Polish fief."
I am not an economist, but surely there comes a point where price rises might slow or even reverse. If things get really bad, the economy could properly tank.
A bit of a stupid comment I know but couldn't one response be to mandate people to work from home as with the Covid crisis? Obviously not all can but it would presumably reduce fuel usage / traffic
they'll be asking folk to share baths next (only older PB'ers will know what I mean)
Did it ever stop I did not know that. We will be back to using the kitchen sink next.
Like old man Steptoe
That was a horrific sight indeed.
Grotesque, yet in real life he was really dapper. Dressed extremely well.
"Dapper" being code for something else back in the sixties.
It was most certainly not. It meant you were well dressed and fashionable.
I once said to an elderly friend that he was looking dapper, and he became offended thinking I was saying he looked gay. So yes, it was a word that at least some understood to have an alternative meaning.
Certainly not in sunny Ayrshire
This friend is Edinburgh born and bred. I was totally surprised that he reacted in that way, I'd never heard it used that way before.
I am not an economist, but surely there comes a point where price rises might slow or even reverse. If things get really bad, the economy could properly tank.
A bit of a stupid comment I know but couldn't one response be to mandate people to work from home as with the Covid crisis? Obviously not all can but it would presumably reduce fuel usage / traffic
they'll be asking folk to share baths next (only older PB'ers will know what I mean)
Did it ever stop I did not know that. We will be back to using the kitchen sink next.
Like old man Steptoe
That was a horrific sight indeed.
Grotesque, yet in real life he was really dapper. Dressed extremely well.
"Dapper" being code for something else back in the sixties.
It was most certainly not. It meant you were well dressed and fashionable.
I once said to an elderly friend that he was looking dapper, and he became offended thinking I was saying he looked gay. So yes, it was a word that at least some understood to have an alternative meaning.
Certainly not in sunny Ayrshire
This friend is Edinburgh born and bred. I was totally surprised that he reacted in that way, I'd never heard it used that way before.
Missed this on QT last night. SNP doubling down on stripping away UK's nuclear deterrence.
The guy with his head in his hands is Konstantin Kisin, a kind of Russian version of Volodymyr Zelensky, ie, comedian going into politics. Sadly, not much chance of him being elected president anytime soon.
Tbf, I think it is SNP doubling down on an independent Scotland not having nuclear weapons, which, unless we keep one submarine each, is surely the only possible outcome of independence.
Independence si coming , you cannot have all this hullabaloo about free nations and sovereignty yet keep Scotland under the jackboot. Untenable in the future, UK cannot keep breaking International Law.
Oh my god! Stupid. Sick. Thick. Twat. The suggestion that Scotland is "under the jackboot" is a massive insult to people genuinely experiencing repression, you sick little nationalist apologist for Salmond. You are a really very sick joke.
Missed this on QT last night. SNP doubling down on stripping away UK's nuclear deterrence.
The guy with his head in his hands is Konstantin Kisin, a kind of Russian version of Volodymyr Zelensky, ie, comedian going into politics. Sadly, not much chance of him being elected president anytime soon.
That hideous blob of an SNP witch needs to declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars . If she can’t govern her intake of double cheese lard burgers, how is she expected to govern Scotland?
Extremely personal attack which is distateful, however I agree that as an MP she is total crap and would struggle to run a bath.
Hahahaha
Like it
There is a more serious point here. The SNP’s anti-Trident position looks increasingly untenable, post Ukraine, and they need to either drop it or finesse it to oblivion, or find some brilliant new way of defending it. She lamentably did neither, just stuck to the usual “nukes are bad” bullshit (yes we know they are bad, but so are guns and you still need a gun in a gunfight).
The Russian guy who came after her humiliated her. This will happen every time the policy is mention, from now on
We could do with a 'post-Ukraine invasion' Scotland poll. I don't doubt the SNP are still miles ahead, but it would be interesting to see whether there's been a swing from Yes to No as a result of what's happened.
Missed this on QT last night. SNP doubling down on stripping away UK's nuclear deterrence.
The guy with his head in his hands is Konstantin Kisin, a kind of Russian version of Volodymyr Zelensky, ie, comedian going into politics. Sadly, not much chance of him being elected president anytime soon.
That hideous blob of an SNP witch needs to declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars . If she can’t govern her intake of double cheese lard burgers, how is she expected to govern Scotland?
Extremely personal attack which is distateful, however I agree that as an MP she is total crap and would struggle to run a bath.
Hahahaha
Like it
There is a more serious point here. The SNP’s anti-Trident position looks increasingly untenable, post Ukraine, and they need to either drop it or finesse it to oblivion, or find some brilliant new way of defending it. She lamentably did neither, just stuck to the usual “nukes are bad” bullshit (yes we know they are bad, but so are guns and you still need a gun in a gunfight).
The Russian guy who came after her humiliated her. This will happen every time the policy is mention, from now on
In the event of Scottish independence, who keeps the nukes, and if it is the rump UK, how does Scotland buy new ones?
Foreign secretary Liz Truss has labelled the Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant a "threat to European security".
Britain has called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in response, saying the world needs to hold "those responsible to be held to account".
The US has also branded the assault "a war crime".
Missed this on QT last night. SNP doubling down on stripping away UK's nuclear deterrence.
The guy with his head in his hands is Konstantin Kisin, a kind of Russian version of Volodymyr Zelensky, ie, comedian going into politics. Sadly, not much chance of him being elected president anytime soon.
That hideous blob of an SNP witch needs to declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars . If she can’t govern her intake of double cheese lard burgers, how is she expected to govern Scotland?
Extremely personal attack which is distateful, however I agree that as an MP she is total crap and would struggle to run a bath.
Malky complaining about personal attacks? We're through the looking glass now.
Missed this on QT last night. SNP doubling down on stripping away UK's nuclear deterrence.
The guy with his head in his hands is Konstantin Kisin, a kind of Russian version of Volodymyr Zelensky, ie, comedian going into politics. Sadly, not much chance of him being elected president anytime soon.
That hideous blob of an SNP witch needs to declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars . If she can’t govern her intake of double cheese lard burgers, how is she expected to govern Scotland?
Extremely personal attack which is distateful, however I agree that as an MP she is total crap and would struggle to run a bath.
Hahahaha
Like it
There is a more serious point here. The SNP’s anti-Trident position looks increasingly untenable, post Ukraine, and they need to either drop it or finesse it to oblivion, or find some brilliant new way of defending it. She lamentably did neither, just stuck to the usual “nukes are bad” bullshit (yes we know they are bad, but so are guns and you still need a gun in a gunfight).
The Russian guy who came after her humiliated her. This will happen every time the policy is mention, from now on
In the event of Scottish independence, who keeps the nukes, and if it is the rump UK, how does Scotland buy new ones?
If an independent Scotland wanted some access to nuclear weapons they'd probably be better off applying to the US nuke sharing program and just buying the delivery aircraft.
Despite the heroic Ukraine defence NATO Secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, has just condemned Ukraine to a slow death and eventual Putin puppet state status - No NATO no fly zone or troops on the ground. The cheers you hear come from the Kremlin.
Sudetenland and Czechoslavakia 1938 rinse and repeat.
Sorry, but this is nonsense.
NATO cannot risk direct conflict with Russia, a nuclear-armed state headed by dictator with a history of aggression. Surely, that's obvious. An incursion into the territory of a NATO member by Russia is quite another matter. The fact that Stoltenberg, Biden and BJ have made this very clear is to their credit.
This really should not need saying.
If we do not risk direct conflict with Russia then you give Putin a blank cheque for his wars. Where are you drawing the line? Allowing Putin to roll up eastern Europe because he has nukes.
An NFZ isn't "risking" direct conflict with Russia. It is direct conflict with Russia and it would go nuclear within a week.
So there's your choice: Ukraine on the butcher's block or When the Wind Blows with Johnson, Raab and Patel directing matters from within the bunker.
Soon to be replaced with 'the Baltics on the butchers block or When the When Wind Blows.' And afterwards 'Poland on the butchers block or When the Wind Blows.'
Where's the red line? where do we stand and fight?
The red line is where it has always been. An attack on NATO. The adults in this conflict know that. Sadly you are not counted amongst them.
While I agree with this, I wonder what you view is of how NATO would actually respond to an attack on Finland?
I think this was an interesting but academic question until last week, but not now.
I find it impossible fully to believe that NATO (and the EU) would stand idly by, and also impossible to believe they would treat it as an attack on all NATO states.
Finland and Sweden have agreements permitting, but not obligating, NATO support on their territories in time of threat - so there is flexibility / opportunity there if required. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_NATO
Missed this on QT last night. SNP doubling down on stripping away UK's nuclear deterrence.
The guy with his head in his hands is Konstantin Kisin, a kind of Russian version of Volodymyr Zelensky, ie, comedian going into politics. Sadly, not much chance of him being elected president anytime soon.
That hideous blob of an SNP witch needs to declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars . If she can’t govern her intake of double cheese lard burgers, how is she expected to govern Scotland?
Extremely personal attack which is distateful, however I agree that as an MP she is total crap and would struggle to run a bath.
Hahahaha
Like it
There is a more serious point here. The SNP’s anti-Trident position looks increasingly untenable, post Ukraine, and they need to either drop it or finesse it to oblivion, or find some brilliant new way of defending it. She lamentably did neither, just stuck to the usual “nukes are bad” bullshit (yes we know they are bad, but so are guns and you still need a gun in a gunfight).
The Russian guy who came after her humiliated her. This will happen every time the policy is mention, from now on
I suspect that Malcolm, the inarticulate poster most well known on here for being offensive is offended because I guess he is most probably the rotund image of his idol, the fat little man that was described by his QC as "a bully and a sex pest".
He probably needs to also declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars, burgers, beer and anything vaguely calorific. I do wish he would also declare unilateral disavowal of posting his juvenile command of the English language on this site and do us all a favour.
I am not an economist, but surely there comes a point where price rises might slow or even reverse. If things get really bad, the economy could properly tank.
A bit of a stupid comment I know but couldn't one response be to mandate people to work from home as with the Covid crisis? Obviously not all can but it would presumably reduce fuel usage / traffic
they'll be asking folk to share baths next (only older PB'ers will know what I mean)
Did it ever stop I did not know that. We will be back to using the kitchen sink next.
Like old man Steptoe
That was a horrific sight indeed.
Grotesque, yet in real life he was really dapper. Dressed extremely well.
"Dapper" being code for something else back in the sixties.
It was most certainly not. It meant you were well dressed and fashionable.
I once said to an elderly friend that he was looking dapper, and he became offended thinking I was saying he looked gay. So yes, it was a word that at least some understood to have an alternative meaning.
Certainly not in sunny Ayrshire
This friend is Edinburgh born and bred. I was totally surprised that he reacted in that way, I'd never heard it used that way before.
Dockers in Kent have refused to unload two tankers of Russian gas, forcing them to go elsewhere, a union has said. The Boris Vilkitsky and Fedor Litke have been diverted from the Isle of Grain, the largest terminal in Europe for importing liquefied natural gas.
Tad surprised you found a mag to accept one of your delusional flights of fancy, Ed, but well done nonetheless. Fee donated to a unworthy cause, no doubt.
Of the 10 clever things listed the only important one is 9. Strategically Used Unpredictability as an Asset in Foreign Affairs. In other words, looked as potentially mad as Vlad. Which is a fair point. Because you look at Biden and you can tell he is not mad himself, but also so far past it that it is virtually certain that there's an informal regency committee vetting his decisions, and when it come to nuclear launches committees of underlings are as unlikely compared to their sane supremos to start anything, as sane vs insane supremos. Biden's a liability and there should be compulsory retirement at 65 for presidents.
Didn't read it, I confess. I agree he's too old for the job but I'm actually happy with how Biden is handling this so far. As for Trump's 'unpredictability', I found him the opposite if anything. Eg he'd have been mining this crisis for maximum Reality TV moments starring himself.
The only time I saw him play was when he dropped the Ashes (OK, KP really, but it probably decided the game and the series) in 2005. He took the next 20 overs of chanting pretty well. Really sad news.
The best bowler I have ever seen, although I am biased, preferring spin to fast bowling.
Missed this on QT last night. SNP doubling down on stripping away UK's nuclear deterrence.
The guy with his head in his hands is Konstantin Kisin, a kind of Russian version of Volodymyr Zelensky, ie, comedian going into politics. Sadly, not much chance of him being elected president anytime soon.
That hideous blob of an SNP witch needs to declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars . If she can’t govern her intake of double cheese lard burgers, how is she expected to govern Scotland?
Extremely personal attack which is distateful, however I agree that as an MP she is total crap and would struggle to run a bath.
Hahahaha
Like it
There is a more serious point here. The SNP’s anti-Trident position looks increasingly untenable, post Ukraine, and they need to either drop it or finesse it to oblivion, or find some brilliant new way of defending it. She lamentably did neither, just stuck to the usual “nukes are bad” bullshit (yes we know they are bad, but so are guns and you still need a gun in a gunfight).
The Russian guy who came after her humiliated her. This will happen every time the policy is mention, from now on
In the event of Scottish independence, who keeps the nukes, and if it is the rump UK, how does Scotland buy new ones?
England take the nukes. Scotland keep the red button. Sorted.
Despite the heroic Ukraine defence NATO Secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, has just condemned Ukraine to a slow death and eventual Putin puppet state status - No NATO no fly zone or troops on the ground. The cheers you hear come from the Kremlin.
Sudetenland and Czechoslavakia 1938 rinse and repeat.
And the cheers you don't hear are from the millions of victims of all out nuclear war who are not going to be that, because of Stoltenbergs words, and are only not cheering because they don't know that
It's like not changing the clocks in winter. If it saves 2000 lives in the evening but kills an extra 200 in the darker mornings that's a net saving, but the 200 make the news while the 2000 are unidentifiable.
Then NATO is useless. Putin will attack knowing we will not defend a NATO member because of his threat of nuclear weapons. The Baltic states are gone, Finland and Moldova too. How about Poland? Where will we stop him?
It is a simple choice. Stop Putin now or accept the consequences.
Farcical war mongering. Exactly how do we “stop him” without going right to the brink of nuclear war, and, by the by, uniting the anti-West behind him (including China, which is, at the moment, helpfully ambivalent)
Ukraine is fucked. There it is. They should probably surrender at some point, to avoid a million dead. It’s not pretty but it is realpolitik
But it is their choice and if they choose to fight on I salute their heroism and we should give them all the weapons we can, but beyond that, No. There isn’t a lot we can do. Putin has nukes and he will use them. He has told us
The red line is NATO, that’s what it was put there for: to deter Russian from attacking the West. We now have to stand by this most solemn treaty obligation quite religiously. If Putin crosses into Estonia, then yes, we go Defcon Apocalypse
"to avoid a million dead."
There will be a million dead. For as long as a single Ukrainian resists, Putin's henchmen will scream 'Nazis' and jail and kill them. It's the history of Russia.
And not just from the Holodomor.
Well, ultimately there will be 8 billion dead. We all die
The point is can Ukraine avoid a million dead in a month, and I believe it can, but the route there is basically surrender. Let Putin have Crimea and the eastern provinces, and agree not to join NATO or the EU. In return the Ukrainians must be allowed free and fair elections, and then Ukraine could very slowly inch back towards the west, as Finland did quite cleverly post-1945
It’s a horrible option, but they are all horrible options, and this is maybe the least depressing - certainly the least destructive
Or - as I say - they fight on. To the last man and woman in the last basement in Lviv. There is a definite nobility in that.
My point is this: if the Ukrainian government falls, and a puppet regime is installed, and there is essentially peace, the Ukrainian people are still fu**ed. Any hint of opposition will be mercilessly repressed.
It's the way he does it. Even now, if the Ukrainian government stopped fighting immediately, tens of thousands will still be murdered.
It's only right, if dismal, when there are no good options to discuss which of the bad ones is better than the rest. Surrender. Brokered peace of sorts. Stop the murdering of babies and small children. Avert planetary catastrophe. Await a better day. This is atrocious, but may be less atrocious than the actual other options.
Like everyone I can do whataboutery about this; but it makes no difference.
Tad surprised you found a mag to accept one of your delusional flights of fancy, Ed, but well done nonetheless. Fee donated to an unworthy cause, no doubt.
Well, says the person who thinks CNN is a source of unbiased truth. Pot, kettle, black...
No, I think CNN is biased left and liberal. I also think it's nothing like as blatantly skewed and tabloid and toxic and braindead as (eg) its Fox equivalent. Yet more examples of the true things I think.
Missed this on QT last night. SNP doubling down on stripping away UK's nuclear deterrence.
The guy with his head in his hands is Konstantin Kisin, a kind of Russian version of Volodymyr Zelensky, ie, comedian going into politics. Sadly, not much chance of him being elected president anytime soon.
That hideous blob of an SNP witch needs to declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars . If she can’t govern her intake of double cheese lard burgers, how is she expected to govern Scotland?
Extremely personal attack which is distateful, however I agree that as an MP she is total crap and would struggle to run a bath.
Hahahaha
Like it
There is a more serious point here. The SNP’s anti-Trident position looks increasingly untenable, post Ukraine, and they need to either drop it or finesse it to oblivion, or find some brilliant new way of defending it. She lamentably did neither, just stuck to the usual “nukes are bad” bullshit (yes we know they are bad, but so are guns and you still need a gun in a gunfight).
The Russian guy who came after her humiliated her. This will happen every time the policy is mention, from now on
She is totally useless, there only because she is one of Sturgeon's ladies, most if not all of whom are not the sharpest tools in the box.
"Explains why the 70 km long Russian offensive & logistics convoy is still not making the required headway towards Kiev. The UkrArmy counterattacked & have seized a vital bridge over the Teteriv river 20-25 km behind Russian Lines. Unless the Russians get it back, they are stalled"
Despite the heroic Ukraine defence NATO Secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, has just condemned Ukraine to a slow death and eventual Putin puppet state status - No NATO no fly zone or troops on the ground. The cheers you hear come from the Kremlin.
Sudetenland and Czechoslavakia 1938 rinse and repeat.
Sorry, but this is nonsense.
NATO cannot risk direct conflict with Russia, a nuclear-armed state headed by dictator with a history of aggression. Surely, that's obvious. An incursion into the territory of a NATO member by Russia is quite another matter. The fact that Stoltenberg, Biden and BJ have made this very clear is to their credit.
This really should not need saying.
If we do not risk direct conflict with Russia then you give Putin a blank cheque for his wars. Where are you drawing the line? Allowing Putin to roll up eastern Europe because he has nukes.
An NFZ isn't "risking" direct conflict with Russia. It is direct conflict with Russia and it would go nuclear within a week.
So there's your choice: Ukraine on the butcher's block or When the Wind Blows with Johnson, Raab and Patel directing matters from within the bunker.
Soon to be replaced with 'the Baltics on the butchers block or When the When Wind Blows.' And afterwards 'Poland on the butchers block or When the Wind Blows.'
Where's the red line? where do we stand and fight?
The red line is where it has always been. An attack on NATO. The adults in this conflict know that. Sadly you are not counted amongst them.
While I agree with this, I wonder what you view is of how NATO would actually respond to an attack on Finland?
I think this was an interesting but academic question until last week, but not now.
I find it impossible fully to believe that NATO (and the EU) would stand idly by, and also impossible to believe they would treat it as an attack on all NATO states.
Finland and Sweden have agreements permitting, but not obligating, NATO support on their territories in time of threat - so there is flexibility / opportunity there if required. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_NATO
AIUi it is more a response force, rather than a mutual assistance group. A follow on to the previous JRRF, and has been around for a few years.
The UK Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) is a United Kingdom-led expeditionary force which may consist of, as necessary, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway.
Australia cricket legend, Shane Warne, dies of ‘suspected heart attack’, aged 52.
Oh damn that is sad.
Shane Warne??? Jeez. Ugh. So young
I was just about to correct you and say it was Rod Marsh but, no, it appears that 2 Aussie cricket legends have gone back to back. Warne being only 52 so rather shocking.
Pedantry: It was his first delivery in an Ashes Test - there were a few ODIs and warm up games prior to that. That ball will never be forgotten, though.
I watched him bowl from the boundary in the Parks, Oxford that very summer. I think he was holding back the special deliveries, and it wasn't exactly a turning wicket, but you couldn't take your eyes off it.
Australia cricket legend, Shane Warne, dies of ‘suspected heart attack’, aged 52.
Gosh. He was tweeting about the death of Rod Marsh earlier today. 2 great Aussie cricketers on the same day.
The law of averages does not allow Shirley Hughes, Warne, Marsh and the destruction of all life on the planet in the same week. At least one of them won't happen.
Missed this on QT last night. SNP doubling down on stripping away UK's nuclear deterrence.
The guy with his head in his hands is Konstantin Kisin, a kind of Russian version of Volodymyr Zelensky, ie, comedian going into politics. Sadly, not much chance of him being elected president anytime soon.
That hideous blob of an SNP witch needs to declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars . If she can’t govern her intake of double cheese lard burgers, how is she expected to govern Scotland?
Extremely personal attack which is distateful, however I agree that as an MP she is total crap and would struggle to run a bath.
Hahahaha
Like it
There is a more serious point here. The SNP’s anti-Trident position looks increasingly untenable, post Ukraine, and they need to either drop it or finesse it to oblivion, or find some brilliant new way of defending it. She lamentably did neither, just stuck to the usual “nukes are bad” bullshit (yes we know they are bad, but so are guns and you still need a gun in a gunfight).
The Russian guy who came after her humiliated her. This will happen every time the policy is mention, from now on
I suspect that Malcolm, the inarticulate poster most well known on here for being offensive is offended because I guess he is most probably the rotund image of his idol, the fat little man that was described by his QC as "a bully and a sex pest".
He probably needs to also declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars, burgers, beer and anything vaguely calorific. I do wish he would also declare unilateral disavowal of posting his juvenile command of the English language on this site and do us all a favour.
Sad Gammon alert, union jack panties in a bunch, red face bursting and dribbling his same old tired speech. Get a new line you turnip headed cretin.
Tad surprised you found a mag to accept one of your delusional flights of fancy, Ed, but well done nonetheless. Fee donated to an unworthy cause, no doubt.
Well, says the person who thinks CNN is a source of unbiased truth. Pot, kettle, black...
The same stuff (it looks identical) was on Newsmax the other day. It was put to John Bolton. He tore it to shreads.
We have speculated about Putin's health here recently. We've also made comments about timing and readiness: we're a little puzzled that he invaded now, rather than in two months' time. Could it be that his health is even worse than we thought? That his time left can be measured in months rather than years? Is that the imperative for acting now?
The question of why now is probably just the Olympics and not further pissing off China.
Yes, I think so. The idea Putin is sick - other than in the head - strikes me as wishful speculation. He might be but I can't see the evidence. He looks ok to me.
That moon face is either botched surgery or corticosteroids, and I don't think he's a facial procedure kinda guy. That plus the insane distancing stuff: Trump has a germ phobia but that has always been known. It is more likely that it is rational because he is immunocompromised than that it's a phobia which has come from nowhere. I think he has got cancer.
Well that'd be nice - but I'm not really seeing it myself. His face does look kind of round and punchable but I'm putting that down to other things, esp the latter quality.
I was on a call last night and the woman whom I was speaking to (a senior figure in the media world) was saying that look of Putin's is totally from plastic surgery
Easy to imagine he's had a touch-up, I suppose. Man gets to be 69 and he starts to miss the melting looks he used to get from all the young girls when he was 64, so he decides to try and get some of that back with a little something from the Doc. In which case he could be on other things too.
I'm getting out of hospital today. Do you mean I have to book in again for a facelift in 2 years time.
Personally I think it's best to accept your 'active participant' days are over at about 52. After that it's all about thinking and observing and describing. That's what I did anyway and I haven't looked back.
Hope it all went well in there.
But, and I just want to check this is ok, partying until you are 51 years and 364 days is fine, right?
It comes to something when HYUFD is speaking more sense than most people on here.
So let’s say it again. S L O W L Y
A no fly zone requires NATO to shoot down Russian planes and bomb Russian assets on the ground. Most likely including on the Russian side of the border, given they would be firing back from there. It is hot war with a nuclear power, currently run by an apparently unhinged dictator. And he doesn’t just have nukes. He has an active biochemical weapons programme, as well as the ability to weaponise space and interrupt subsea comms.
It is awful that we have to witness the destruction of Ukraine. But we made our choice a long time ago, when we flirted with but never admitted Ukraine to NATO. The only way to stop the kind of flagrant abuses Russia is inflicting on Ukraine, is to make sure the conventional deterrent to invasion is so great that he never tries in the first place. That horse has bolted in their case and our options are sadly far weaker than we would like.
And that I’m afraid is the lesson we must draw. No more “well a minor incursion isn’t an invasion”. Instead it’s unambiguous intent to defend with overwhelming conventional power, such that not a single tank, infantry brigade or aircraft can cross the border into a NATO state. Non-NATO members are no doubt learning this lesson fast.
So cheer for a no fly zone all you want if it helps get you through the day. But be under no doubt that you’re calling for a multiplication of death and suffering that could very easily lead to your own door.
And by the way, go back and look carefully at exactly what happened overnight. Did Russian troops fire recklessly on a nuclear reactor? Or did they deliberately fire on an office building in the complex knowing how this would be presented in the Western media?
I almost wanted to 'like' this post, but the last paragraph didn't do it for me. I doubt the Russians are that clever. They just shelled the facility and to be damned with the consequences. The concern for the Western media probably never entered their heads.
Edit - reading on, looks like I'm not the only one to think the last paragraph really let you down. Good post excepting that.
grifters to the end, wonder which one of their chums is coining in from that one.
I haven't looked, but I would presume they have used a 0300 number, which is free on most mobile contracts, but local rate from landline. That is what the government use as standard for lots of "helplines".
The use of totally free numbers, which are widely used in places like the US, is much less common across all sectors in the UK.
0300 is the normal code for charity helplines.
It's just more mudslinging by ignorami / obsessives.
"We must say something to attack the government. This is something to attack the government. Therefore we must say this".
Missed this on QT last night. SNP doubling down on stripping away UK's nuclear deterrence.
The guy with his head in his hands is Konstantin Kisin, a kind of Russian version of Volodymyr Zelensky, ie, comedian going into politics. Sadly, not much chance of him being elected president anytime soon.
That hideous blob of an SNP witch needs to declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars . If she can’t govern her intake of double cheese lard burgers, how is she expected to govern Scotland?
Extremely personal attack which is distateful, however I agree that as an MP she is total crap and would struggle to run a bath.
Hahahaha
Like it
There is a more serious point here. The SNP’s anti-Trident position looks increasingly untenable, post Ukraine, and they need to either drop it or finesse it to oblivion, or find some brilliant new way of defending it. She lamentably did neither, just stuck to the usual “nukes are bad” bullshit (yes we know they are bad, but so are guns and you still need a gun in a gunfight).
The Russian guy who came after her humiliated her. This will happen every time the policy is mention, from now on
I suspect that Malcolm, the inarticulate poster most well known on here for being offensive is offended because I guess he is most probably the rotund image of his idol, the fat little man that was described by his QC as "a bully and a sex pest".
He probably needs to also declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars, burgers, beer and anything vaguely calorific. I do wish he would also declare unilateral disavowal of posting his juvenile command of the English language on this site and do us all a favour.
Sad Gammon alert, union jack panties in a bunch, red face bursting and dribbling his same old tired speech. Get a new line you turnip headed cretin.
We have speculated about Putin's health here recently. We've also made comments about timing and readiness: we're a little puzzled that he invaded now, rather than in two months' time. Could it be that his health is even worse than we thought? That his time left can be measured in months rather than years? Is that the imperative for acting now?
The question of why now is probably just the Olympics and not further pissing off China.
Yes, I think so. The idea Putin is sick - other than in the head - strikes me as wishful speculation. He might be but I can't see the evidence. He looks ok to me.
That moon face is either botched surgery or corticosteroids, and I don't think he's a facial procedure kinda guy. That plus the insane distancing stuff: Trump has a germ phobia but that has always been known. It is more likely that it is rational because he is immunocompromised than that it's a phobia which has come from nowhere. I think he has got cancer.
Well that'd be nice - but I'm not really seeing it myself. His face does look kind of round and punchable but I'm putting that down to other things, esp the latter quality.
I was on a call last night and the woman whom I was speaking to (a senior figure in the media world) was saying that look of Putin's is totally from plastic surgery
Easy to imagine he's had a touch-up, I suppose. Man gets to be 69 and he starts to miss the melting looks he used to get from all the young girls when he was 64, so he decides to try and get some of that back with a little something from the Doc. In which case he could be on other things too.
I'm getting out of hospital today. Do you mean I have to book in again for a facelift in 2 years time.
Personally I think it's best to accept your 'active participant' days are over at about 52. After that it's all about thinking and observing and describing. That's what I did anyway and I haven't looked back.
Hope it all went well in there.
But, and I just want to check this is ok, partying until you are 51 years and 364 days is fine, right?
Yes, it's cliff edge, a sudden thing, an epiphany. But it doesn't come at the same age for everyone. And for some it comes but they decide to fight and postpone. This is unwise.
We have speculated about Putin's health here recently. We've also made comments about timing and readiness: we're a little puzzled that he invaded now, rather than in two months' time. Could it be that his health is even worse than we thought? That his time left can be measured in months rather than years? Is that the imperative for acting now?
The question of why now is probably just the Olympics and not further pissing off China.
Yes, I think so. The idea Putin is sick - other than in the head - strikes me as wishful speculation. He might be but I can't see the evidence. He looks ok to me.
That moon face is either botched surgery or corticosteroids, and I don't think he's a facial procedure kinda guy. That plus the insane distancing stuff: Trump has a germ phobia but that has always been known. It is more likely that it is rational because he is immunocompromised than that it's a phobia which has come from nowhere. I think he has got cancer.
Well that'd be nice - but I'm not really seeing it myself. His face does look kind of round and punchable but I'm putting that down to other things, esp the latter quality.
I was on a call last night and the woman whom I was speaking to (a senior figure in the media world) was saying that look of Putin's is totally from plastic surgery
Easy to imagine he's had a touch-up, I suppose. Man gets to be 69 and he starts to miss the melting looks he used to get from all the young girls when he was 64, so he decides to try and get some of that back with a little something from the Doc. In which case he could be on other things too.
I'm getting out of hospital today. Do you mean I have to book in again for a facelift in 2 years time.
Personally I think it's best to accept your 'active participant' days are over at about 52. After that it's all about thinking and observing and describing. That's what I did anyway and I haven't looked back.
Hope it all went well in there.
But, and I just want to check this is ok, partying until you are 51 years and 364 days is fine, right?
We have speculated about Putin's health here recently. We've also made comments about timing and readiness: we're a little puzzled that he invaded now, rather than in two months' time. Could it be that his health is even worse than we thought? That his time left can be measured in months rather than years? Is that the imperative for acting now?
The question of why now is probably just the Olympics and not further pissing off China.
Yes, I think so. The idea Putin is sick - other than in the head - strikes me as wishful speculation. He might be but I can't see the evidence. He looks ok to me.
That moon face is either botched surgery or corticosteroids, and I don't think he's a facial procedure kinda guy. That plus the insane distancing stuff: Trump has a germ phobia but that has always been known. It is more likely that it is rational because he is immunocompromised than that it's a phobia which has come from nowhere. I think he has got cancer.
Well that'd be nice - but I'm not really seeing it myself. His face does look kind of round and punchable but I'm putting that down to other things, esp the latter quality.
I was on a call last night and the woman whom I was speaking to (a senior figure in the media world) was saying that look of Putin's is totally from plastic surgery
Easy to imagine he's had a touch-up, I suppose. Man gets to be 69 and he starts to miss the melting looks he used to get from all the young girls when he was 64, so he decides to try and get some of that back with a little something from the Doc. In which case he could be on other things too.
I'm getting out of hospital today. Do you mean I have to book in again for a facelift in 2 years time.
Personally I think it's best to accept your 'active participant' days are over at about 52. After that it's all about thinking and observing and describing. That's what I did anyway and I haven't looked back.
Hope it all went well in there.
But, and I just want to check this is ok, partying until you are 51 years and 364 days is fine, right?
Yes, it's cliff edge, a sudden thing, an epiphany. But it doesn't come at the same age for everyone. And for some it comes but they decide to fight and postpone. This is unwise.
I turn 50 next year. I'm mulling over doing something that'll mean I'm the fittest I've ever been. Not decided quite what yet. Perhaps 50 marathons in 52 weeks (though that doesn't scan well). Something that will last throughout the year, even though I don't turn 50 until March.
Or maybe I'll just scoff food, watch TV and grow fat.
The Russians are clearly going to do this to every city.
It’s simple Hitlerism. The Full Grozny. Inflict maximum death and terror - DELIBERATELY target civilians - so your enemy surrenders quicker (and then you can torture and execute your particular enemies at your leisure)
I am not sure how Russia recovers from this ruination of its reputation, not without Putin dying (in a slow painful way) and a LOT of time elapsing. It will take many years to forgive and forget this
And yes, there is a hypocrisy here. Similarly evil things have happened in Africa, Asia and the Mid East and we did not react half so badly. But human nature is human nature. This is Europe, the west, we are Europeans and westerners. It feels a whole lot more visceral and menacing. AND of course it actively endangers us, by proximity
Missed this on QT last night. SNP doubling down on stripping away UK's nuclear deterrence.
The guy with his head in his hands is Konstantin Kisin, a kind of Russian version of Volodymyr Zelensky, ie, comedian going into politics. Sadly, not much chance of him being elected president anytime soon.
That hideous blob of an SNP witch needs to declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars . If she can’t govern her intake of double cheese lard burgers, how is she expected to govern Scotland?
Extremely personal attack which is distateful, however I agree that as an MP she is total crap and would struggle to run a bath.
Hahahaha
Like it
There is a more serious point here. The SNP’s anti-Trident position looks increasingly untenable, post Ukraine, and they need to either drop it or finesse it to oblivion, or find some brilliant new way of defending it. She lamentably did neither, just stuck to the usual “nukes are bad” bullshit (yes we know they are bad, but so are guns and you still need a gun in a gunfight).
The Russian guy who came after her humiliated her. This will happen every time the policy is mention, from now on
I suspect that Malcolm, the inarticulate poster most well known on here for being offensive is offended because I guess he is most probably the rotund image of his idol, the fat little man that was described by his QC as "a bully and a sex pest".
He probably needs to also declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars, burgers, beer and anything vaguely calorific. I do wish he would also declare unilateral disavowal of posting his juvenile command of the English language on this site and do us all a favour.
Sad Gammon alert, union jack panties in a bunch, red face bursting and dribbling his same old tired speech. Get a new line you turnip headed cretin.
Hello Malky. Hope you are keeping well. Grey here with occasional fine smirr. Though we did have gammon or rather bacon bits in our home-made lentil soup for lunch.
Missed this on QT last night. SNP doubling down on stripping away UK's nuclear deterrence.
The guy with his head in his hands is Konstantin Kisin, a kind of Russian version of Volodymyr Zelensky, ie, comedian going into politics. Sadly, not much chance of him being elected president anytime soon.
That hideous blob of an SNP witch needs to declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars . If she can’t govern her intake of double cheese lard burgers, how is she expected to govern Scotland?
Extremely personal attack which is distateful, however I agree that as an MP she is total crap and would struggle to run a bath.
Hahahaha
Like it
There is a more serious point here. The SNP’s anti-Trident position looks increasingly untenable, post Ukraine, and they need to either drop it or finesse it to oblivion, or find some brilliant new way of defending it. She lamentably did neither, just stuck to the usual “nukes are bad” bullshit (yes we know they are bad, but so are guns and you still need a gun in a gunfight).
The Russian guy who came after her humiliated her. This will happen every time the policy is mention, from now on
I suspect that Malcolm, the inarticulate poster most well known on here for being offensive is offended because I guess he is most probably the rotund image of his idol, the fat little man that was described by his QC as "a bully and a sex pest".
He probably needs to also declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars, burgers, beer and anything vaguely calorific. I do wish he would also declare unilateral disavowal of posting his juvenile command of the English language on this site and do us all a favour.
Sad Gammon alert, union jack panties in a bunch, red face bursting and dribbling his same old tired speech. Get a new line you turnip headed cretin.
4/10 - just sounds tired. You can do much better.
You are a tough one to please. I would not waste my time on doing anything good for sad old Foreskin, unless it was writing a cheque for the vet to have him put out of his misery.
We have speculated about Putin's health here recently. We've also made comments about timing and readiness: we're a little puzzled that he invaded now, rather than in two months' time. Could it be that his health is even worse than we thought? That his time left can be measured in months rather than years? Is that the imperative for acting now?
The question of why now is probably just the Olympics and not further pissing off China.
Yes, I think so. The idea Putin is sick - other than in the head - strikes me as wishful speculation. He might be but I can't see the evidence. He looks ok to me.
That moon face is either botched surgery or corticosteroids, and I don't think he's a facial procedure kinda guy. That plus the insane distancing stuff: Trump has a germ phobia but that has always been known. It is more likely that it is rational because he is immunocompromised than that it's a phobia which has come from nowhere. I think he has got cancer.
Well that'd be nice - but I'm not really seeing it myself. His face does look kind of round and punchable but I'm putting that down to other things, esp the latter quality.
I was on a call last night and the woman whom I was speaking to (a senior figure in the media world) was saying that look of Putin's is totally from plastic surgery
Easy to imagine he's had a touch-up, I suppose. Man gets to be 69 and he starts to miss the melting looks he used to get from all the young girls when he was 64, so he decides to try and get some of that back with a little something from the Doc. In which case he could be on other things too.
I'm getting out of hospital today. Do you mean I have to book in again for a facelift in 2 years time.
Personally I think it's best to accept your 'active participant' days are over at about 52. After that it's all about thinking and observing and describing. That's what I did anyway and I haven't looked back.
Hope it all went well in there.
Thank you @kinabalu It has gone well, but I'm not sure I agree. I have rarely come to any harm being reckless and I have done some reckless things, yet the most damage I have done to myself on several occasions is just falling over while sober.
Missed this on QT last night. SNP doubling down on stripping away UK's nuclear deterrence.
The guy with his head in his hands is Konstantin Kisin, a kind of Russian version of Volodymyr Zelensky, ie, comedian going into politics. Sadly, not much chance of him being elected president anytime soon.
That hideous blob of an SNP witch needs to declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars . If she can’t govern her intake of double cheese lard burgers, how is she expected to govern Scotland?
Extremely personal attack which is distateful, however I agree that as an MP she is total crap and would struggle to run a bath.
Hahahaha
Like it
There is a more serious point here. The SNP’s anti-Trident position looks increasingly untenable, post Ukraine, and they need to either drop it or finesse it to oblivion, or find some brilliant new way of defending it. She lamentably did neither, just stuck to the usual “nukes are bad” bullshit (yes we know they are bad, but so are guns and you still need a gun in a gunfight).
The Russian guy who came after her humiliated her. This will happen every time the policy is mention, from now on
I suspect that Malcolm, the inarticulate poster most well known on here for being offensive is offended because I guess he is most probably the rotund image of his idol, the fat little man that was described by his QC as "a bully and a sex pest".
He probably needs to also declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars, burgers, beer and anything vaguely calorific. I do wish he would also declare unilateral disavowal of posting his juvenile command of the English language on this site and do us all a favour.
Sad Gammon alert, union jack panties in a bunch, red face bursting and dribbling his same old tired speech. Get a new line you turnip headed cretin.
4/10 - just sounds tired. You can do much better.
You are a tough one to please. I would not waste my time on doing anything good for sad old Foreskin, unless it was writing a cheque for the vet to have him put out of his misery.
On the no-fly zone, this is the estimated coverage of Russia's latest (S500) AA missiles, though I wouldn't guarantee it. A no-fly zone arguably would need all of these reaching the Ukraine taken out for basic safety.
So ensuring a proper no fly zone would potentially involve attacking targets around Moscow....
Aren't the targets in Kaliningrad, Belarus and Crimea? (not that I think a NFZ is a good idea)
Well - if you take out the launchers near Ukraine, will the Russians go "OK then", or will they activate launchers further away, but still able to cover Ukrainian airspace?
So you will be destroying Russian military equipment and actual Russian people, further and further into Russia.
For even more fun - Russian doctrine, for many years, has been to go after the AWACS planes (flying radars). As part of this, they have developed a number of very long range air-air missiles for this purpose.
So they would probably start shooting at any AWACS planes tacking part in a NATO NFZ, fired from over Russian territory. So we would end up shooting at Russian planes over Russia.
Better yet, to reach those Russian fighters shooting the long range missiles, might well involve NATO fighters crossing over into Russia territory,
So we would have NATO planes fighting Russian aircraft over Russia. What would you call that, exactly?
Presumably it's a HARM-type missile (except optimised to take down aircraft). The question is: how good is it? How much have the West prepared for this? How far out can an AWACWS detect it and turn off their radars? And how does the missile react to that? Is it still able to successfully target the AWACS, or does it end up flying through where the plane previously was?
And... how many of these do they have in good working order?
It really does feel like the west is heading into a lost decade.
It's depressing that wherever you look it is the corrupt, the bullies, the liars, the greedy and the downright evil that seem to rise to the top.
There is something deeply flawed about the way humans organise themselves because it's rinse and repeat ad nauseam throughout history. In Europe, at least, I really believed that the sort of thing we are now witnessing was behind us and yet here we are again.
When a madman has nuclear weapons there are no answers I'm afraid and Putin knows that. We all know we have no realistic options but to let him do what he likes.
I appreciate that the UK and USA are not remotely comparable to Russia but even there when there are many decent and honourable people in the Conservative Party and the GOP we opt for liars and charlatans like Johnson and Trump. There are days when I am very glad I am in my 70's!!
Missed this on QT last night. SNP doubling down on stripping away UK's nuclear deterrence.
The guy with his head in his hands is Konstantin Kisin, a kind of Russian version of Volodymyr Zelensky, ie, comedian going into politics. Sadly, not much chance of him being elected president anytime soon.
That hideous blob of an SNP witch needs to declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars . If she can’t govern her intake of double cheese lard burgers, how is she expected to govern Scotland?
Extremely personal attack which is distateful, however I agree that as an MP she is total crap and would struggle to run a bath.
Hahahaha
Like it
There is a more serious point here. The SNP’s anti-Trident position looks increasingly untenable, post Ukraine, and they need to either drop it or finesse it to oblivion, or find some brilliant new way of defending it. She lamentably did neither, just stuck to the usual “nukes are bad” bullshit (yes we know they are bad, but so are guns and you still need a gun in a gunfight).
The Russian guy who came after her humiliated her. This will happen every time the policy is mention, from now on
I suspect that Malcolm, the inarticulate poster most well known on here for being offensive is offended because I guess he is most probably the rotund image of his idol, the fat little man that was described by his QC as "a bully and a sex pest".
He probably needs to also declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars, burgers, beer and anything vaguely calorific. I do wish he would also declare unilateral disavowal of posting his juvenile command of the English language on this site and do us all a favour.
Sad Gammon alert, union jack panties in a bunch, red face bursting and dribbling his same old tired speech. Get a new line you turnip headed cretin.
4/10 - just sounds tired. You can do much better.
You are a tough one to please. I would not waste my time on doing anything good for sad old Foreskin, unless it was writing a cheque for the vet to have him put out of his misery.
Dockers in Kent have refused to unload two tankers of Russian gas, forcing them to go elsewhere, a union has said. The Boris Vilkitsky and Fedor Litke have been diverted from the Isle of Grain, the largest terminal in Europe for importing liquefied natural gas.
As an aside, we should probably unload the cargoes from the LNG tankers that set off before the invasion, but refuse new ones.
Why?
Because the bottleneck to LNG right now is the number of tankers. The US could easily export more LNG, but for that there need to be tankers that aren't pootling around the West Coast of Europe looking for somewhere to land.
And we want to encourage US LNG exports. Unloading the gas and making sure that the operator sends the ship to the US and not the Yamal peninsular is the priority, and helps the West survive this crises better. (And it's not like the Russians are harmed by us non unloading most of the time - after all we paid for the gas when it left the LNG terminal not when it arrives.)
Comments
Likewise, the west's behaviour in the last couple of decades had shown Putin that whilst we would huff and puff about an invasion of Ukraine, *we* would back down and get used to the new normal. That would have seen him grow in power and influence. Meanwhile, he could plan the next new normal.
Instead we've him with massive economic sanctions. He miscalculated (as did I; I never expected the west to move to such a dramatic consensus). I really don't think Russia expected such a consensus, and they aren't factored into his plans.
Unless the sanctions consensus collapse for some reason, I cannot see Russia under Putin anything but a diminished proud tiger. And that's more than a little dangerous.
BTW, do you know much about the oil and gas reserves around Donbass, the waters off Crimea and the Transnistria?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16mudGUYsBw
There will be a million dead. For as long as a single Ukrainian resists, Putin's henchmen will scream 'Nazis' and jail and kill them. It's the history of Russia.
And not just from the Holodomor.
Sad to hear the news that Rod Marsh has passed. He was a legend of our great game & an inspiration to so many young boys & girls. Rod cared deeply about cricket & gave so much-especially to Australia & England players. Sending lots & lots of love to Ros & the family. RIP mate
https://twitter.com/ShaneWarne/status/1499563703083044865?s=20&t=-h8fI7pJZH62ma8DtUDUIw
So you will be destroying Russian military equipment and actual Russian people, further and further into Russia.
For even more fun - Russian doctrine, for many years, has been to go after the AWACS planes (flying radars). As part of this, they have developed a number of very long range air-air missiles for this purpose.
So they would probably start shooting at any AWACS planes tacking part in a NATO NFZ, fired from over Russian territory. So we would end up shooting at Russian planes over Russia.
Better yet, to reach those Russian fighters shooting the long range missiles, might well involve NATO fighters crossing over into Russia territory,
So we would have NATO planes fighting Russian aircraft over Russia. What would you call that, exactly?
With the England fans shouting "you fat *******" at him!
The point is can Ukraine avoid a million dead in a month, and I believe it can, but the route there is basically surrender. Let Putin have Crimea and the eastern provinces, and agree not to join NATO or the EU. In return the Ukrainians must be allowed free and fair elections, and then Ukraine could very slowly inch back towards the west, as Finland did quite cleverly post-1945
It’s a horrible option, but they are all horrible options, and this is maybe the least depressing - certainly the least destructive
Or - as I say - they fight on. To the last man and woman in the last basement in Lviv. There is a definite nobility in that.
He’s just seen that his army is nothing like as capable as he’s been told. He might win a Pyrrhic victory in Ukraine but whether he wins or not he has lost loads of men, equipment and military morale.
So invading Ukraine on its own: chances of this triggering a nuclear war 1/10.
If we instigate a no fly zone we are going to be killing Russians directly - and them us in return. Putin won’t be able to let that stand. The chances of this triggering a nuclear war 7/10.
He invades Poland - he’s up against the same stingers and NLAWs etc that have reaped a whirlwind on his army, and more, and a better air capability, and more better trained troops, and better long range capability, and large numbers of special forces from US, UK,France who have been in recent combat. Chances of this triggering a nuclear war as he starts being pulverised 10/10.
So if you think he’s “full tonto” enough to still try and invade Poland or the Baltics after what’s happened in UKraine then he’s “full tonto” anyway and there is just one ultimate destination.
There is however just a chance that he’s not completely insane or there are enough people around him to rein him in from invading Poland who make the same calculations above and don’t fancy seeing their kids vaporised. They’ve all listened to Sting’s song Russians and it deeply affected them……
It's just more mudslinging by ignorami / obsessives.
{If Putin can do Greater Russian Nationalism....}
Feeding Ukraine to the wolf in the vain hope he won't be back for more, as it is otherwise known.
That’s a famously hedonistic party island. Given that Warne had a heart attack, I kind of hope this famous bon vivant sparked out while having a ton of fun
Hope it all went well in there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_NATO
Like it
There is a more serious point here. The SNP’s anti-Trident position looks increasingly untenable, post Ukraine, and they need to either drop it or finesse it to oblivion, or find some brilliant new way of defending it. She lamentably did neither, just stuck to the usual “nukes are bad” bullshit (yes we know they are bad, but so are guns and you still need a gun in a gunfight).
The Russian guy who came after her humiliated her. This will happen every time the policy is mention, from now on
Karaliaučius in Lithuanian.
According to the Great God Wikipedia, in 1466, "Königsberg became the new capital of the reduced monastic state, which became a fief of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom"
That kind of stuff is all they would need....
It's the way he does it. Even now, if the Ukrainian government stopped fighting immediately, tens of thousands will still be murdered.
Britain has called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in response, saying the world needs to hold "those responsible to be held to account".
The US has also branded the assault "a war crime".
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/03/04/russia-ukraine-latest-nuclear-power-plant-martial-law-putin-nato/
https://twitter.com/sportbible/status/1499751893807116290?s=20&t=BTxKhRtv-GHcnOJ8s0H6Vg
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-60532634?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=62221247980bea49f4b7b09c&How to access BBC in Russia despite restrictions&2022-03-04T13:56:18.181Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:06691e49-09aa-4495-adc2-c0f4236c86a0&pinned_post_asset_id=62221247980bea49f4b7b09c&pinned_post_type=share
https://twitter.com/osinttechnical/status/1499725044947300357?s=21
Extraordinary comments from Putin just now.
Says Russia has “no ill intentions towards its neighbours” and calls for international cooperation to return, for relations to normalize
https://twitter.com/polinaivanovva/status/1499716111188860928?s=21
I had my hair cut at the weekend. I no longer look like this:
Sorry, I didn't realise you didn't want anything scary...
The Basit Ali and Pat Symcox deliveries are my favourites.
You only need to hear what Richie Benaud thought of his bowling to know just how good he was.
If its that bad, why aren't you hitting this f8cker with all you've got? ......Ah well, it says in the contract.....
In other words, its just bullsh*t.
These countries have committed to mutual assistance. If Russia attacks those that are also in Nato, then presumably Nato steps in. Is that how Nato *indirectly* protects Finland and Sweden?
He probably needs to also declare unilateral disavowal of dairy, chocolate and sugars, burgers, beer and anything vaguely calorific. I do wish he would also declare unilateral disavowal of posting his juvenile command of the English language on this site and do us all a favour.
~17.34p/kwh wholesale
Probably ~19p/kwh domestic
The Boris Vilkitsky and Fedor Litke have been diverted from the Isle of Grain, the largest terminal in Europe for importing liquefied natural gas.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-60619112
2 great Aussie cricketers on the same day.
Like everyone I can do whataboutery about this; but it makes no difference.
https://twitter.com/Nrg8000/status/1499299827183931395
"Explains why the 70 km long Russian offensive & logistics convoy is still not making the required headway towards Kiev. The UkrArmy counterattacked & have seized a vital bridge over the Teteriv river 20-25 km behind Russian Lines. Unless the Russians get it back, they are stalled"
Ukrainians have now blown up the bridge.
The UK Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) is a United Kingdom-led expeditionary force which may consist of, as necessary, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway.
I watched him bowl from the boundary in the Parks, Oxford that very summer. I think he was holding back the special deliveries, and it wasn't exactly a turning wicket, but you couldn't take your eyes off it.
Bit of a shock...
That’s Irpin today. Russians are just overtly shelling residential blocks.
https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1499749428403613699?s=20&t=-xrdOvwy-YKHLnqLLyFr3A
The Russians are clearly going to do this to every city.
Edit - reading on, looks like I'm not the only one to think the last paragraph really let you down. Good post excepting that.
“2000 dead in Kharkiv alone, including 100 children”
https://twitter.com/francesca_only/status/1499760190559821827?s=21
I hope Putin is castrated and fed his own gonads for breakfast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UwEU13yNiI
Or maybe I'll just scoff food, watch TV and grow fat.
I am not sure how Russia recovers from this ruination of its reputation, not without Putin dying (in a slow painful way) and a LOT of time elapsing. It will take many years to forgive and forget this
And yes, there is a hypocrisy here. Similarly evil things have happened in Africa, Asia and the Mid East and we did not react half so badly. But human nature is human nature. This is Europe, the west, we are Europeans and westerners. It feels a whole lot more visceral and menacing. AND of course it actively endangers us, by proximity
And... how many of these do they have in good working order?
There is something deeply flawed about the way humans organise themselves because it's rinse and repeat ad nauseam throughout history. In Europe, at least, I really believed that the sort of thing we are now witnessing was behind us and yet here we are again.
When a madman has nuclear weapons there are no answers I'm afraid and Putin knows that. We all know we have no realistic options but to let him do what he likes.
I appreciate that the UK and USA are not remotely comparable to Russia but even there when there are many decent and honourable people in the Conservative Party and the GOP we opt for liars and charlatans like Johnson and Trump. There are days when I am very glad I am in my 70's!!
Why?
Because the bottleneck to LNG right now is the number of tankers. The US could easily export more LNG, but for that there need to be tankers that aren't pootling around the West Coast of Europe looking for somewhere to land.
And we want to encourage US LNG exports. Unloading the gas and making sure that the operator sends the ship to the US and not the Yamal peninsular is the priority, and helps the West survive this crises better. (And it's not like the Russians are harmed by us non unloading most of the time - after all we paid for the gas when it left the LNG terminal not when it arrives.)
He is absolutely gormless.
The most useless, clueless, inept, oaf and the LAST person we need in charge at this perilous time.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/03/04/anti-aircraft-missiles-germany-offered-ukraine-dont-work/