“Indeed, 67% of Ukrainians said they would be willing to take up arms to defend the country against Russian troops, with a further 7% saying they were already doing so. 85% of men and 63% of women said they had already taken up arms or were willing to do so.”
Even allowing for bravado those are incredibly high numbers. Putin has roused an entire nation of 44m people and he’s got 30 million potential soldiers taking on his army
They will fight street by street. The only way Russia can win is by unthinkable savagery. Carpet bombing, chemical bombing, tactical nukes
Not much point in taking over a smouldering ruin of a country though.
I doubt even Afghanistan had that level of potential armed resistance against the invader. Maybe the nearest example is Vietnam, where resistance was ubiquitous, and which defeated a huge imperial power, France, AND then the world’s greatest power, America. Not a great augury for Putin’s rusting army
I think that Ukraine is mainly fighting for hearts and minds at the moment. But the analysis I have seen is that Russia will switch to co-ordinated heavy bombardment against which there is no effective defence and consequently the cities will fall very quickly with significant damage to property and casualties.
At some point in the near future, it will switch from a territorial war, to a war of resistance; which Russia is very ill equipped to fight.
Eh? Heavy bombardment doesn't cause cities to fall. It only makes defence and guerrilla activity easier. Stalingrad.
Heavy bombardment has got somewhat deadlier over the last three quarters of a century.
Yes. But it still doesn't cause.a city to fall. It needs boots in that city. For a sustained period.
Nobody can live in a rubble heap with no power, no water, and no food. It ceases to be a city.
Stalingrad, Leningrad, Berlin 45, I dunno.
Cities can be pulverised to fuck, or devoid of food, or both, yet somehow people live in the wreckage for quite a while
Quite. Berlin was pounded to fuck by bombs then shells then street-to-street killing and rape. Its population in 1946 was non zero. And don't get me started on Hiroshima.
Silly post. There's always tinned food, and water mains, and furniture to burn.
Obviously I'm aware of all the examples.
But surely to be a proper city it actually has to be functioning and capable of supporting itself? There's a limit to furniture burning and tins.
It just turns into an encampment - one which may or may not have strategic value.
So give us an example of this actually happening?
It's like money. Money is so useful that it persists even when you have to fill a wheelbarrow with 5000tn Zim $ notes to go for a pint, and cities work so well that you stay there when the alternative is anything else.
“Indeed, 67% of Ukrainians said they would be willing to take up arms to defend the country against Russian troops, with a further 7% saying they were already doing so. 85% of men and 63% of women said they had already taken up arms or were willing to do so.”
Even allowing for bravado those are incredibly high numbers. Putin has roused an entire nation of 44m people and he’s got 30 million potential soldiers taking on his army
They will fight street by street. The only way Russia can win is by unthinkable savagery. Carpet bombing, chemical bombing, tactical nukes
Not much point in taking over a smouldering ruin of a country though.
I doubt even Afghanistan had that level of potential armed resistance against the invader. Maybe the nearest example is Vietnam, where resistance was ubiquitous, and which defeated a huge imperial power, France, AND then the world’s greatest power, America. Not a great augury for Putin’s rusting army
I think that Ukraine is mainly fighting for hearts and minds at the moment. But the analysis I have seen is that Russia will switch to co-ordinated heavy bombardment against which there is no effective defence and consequently the cities will fall very quickly with significant damage to property and casualties.
At some point in the near future, it will switch from a territorial war, to a war of resistance; which Russia is very ill equipped to fight.
Eh? Heavy bombardment doesn't cause cities to fall. It only makes defence and guerrilla activity easier. Stalingrad.
Heavy bombardment has got somewhat deadlier over the last three quarters of a century.
While that's true, you do still need to put troops in the cities.
Sure, but - like in Grozny - there'll be far fewer defenders for the troops to fight.
It's very interesting to see on one side countries making a big deal about their sanctions of individual companies or individuals and saying that they are making a difference yet when the US and UK lock all of Russia out of capital markets, derivatives clearing, all types of reinsurance, and genuinely crippling financial measures that have forced the Moscow exchange to stay closed all week it's not enough.
Someone from work was lamenting that the SWIFT sanctions are as useful as chocolate teapot because the EU insisted on exempting too many banks and all of the payment activity has simply moved to the unsanctioned institutions like Sberbank. On the flip side the UK and US governments have locked almost all of the Russian financial industry out of London and NYC.
I think people are falling for the spin on sanctions coming out of Europe and see big shiny boats being impounded but don't realise that Russian industry and banking is on its knees because they simply can't pay their workers and people can't withdraw money due to sanctions implemented by the UK and US.
People counting the number of entities sanctioned are literally as stupid as the people who didn't and still don't understand the UK's vaccine strategy, and in most cases they are the same idiots. It's simply a dumb comparison for dumb people to crow about on dumb social media to their dumb mates.
Yes exactly. The whole premise of the argument is stupid as fuck. How do you define a sanction, what is an “entity”, how do you add them up into “the European Union”
Does Sainsbury’s banning Stolichnaya count as a sanction? If four supermarket chains do it is that four sanctions? If they do it to 50 brands of Russian vodka is that 200 sanctions on 50 entities, and what about the blinis?
What a ridiculous pile of statistical drivel
Loads of countries have sanctioned members of the United Russia Party with travel bans, it's merely symbolic but gets those numbers up.
Haven't some countries sanctioned every Deputy in the Duma that voted for the war? Is that useful? Maybe, but also possibly not at all.
Yeah, it's just names on a sheet of paper. Of no importance in terms of bringing the Putin regime down.
I believe Sir Humphrey called it "trying to look as if they're trying to do something about it".
Actually it's the opposite of "trying to look as if they're trying to do something about it". It's "not trying to look as if they're trying to do something about it".
Chasing designated persons is a fairly fruitless task for various reasons, but it is something they can do. The UKG is pursuing these people with a lack of urgency that is entirely deliberate. It does raise the question why they would be so keen not to chase them.
For the most part the people in the Duma are nobodies. Hardly surprising the government isn't focusing its efforts on them.
I don't think the people in the Duma are part of Johnson's government calculation to lay off people with closer connections to the Conservative Party, the Brexit campaign and himself personally.
Ah, it's about Brexit?
In a way, I suppose it is, There are far more important things to worry about just now. Johnson has a big sensitivity about Russia and how it funds activities and people close to him. eg the Russia Report, which he has consistently refused to publish and which definitely was about Brexit. Not chasing oligarchs seems to be part of that pattern.
It's an observation.
Kleptocrats syphoning money out of Russia negatively impacts Putin's ability to wage war.
Energy dependent states funnelling money into Russia positively impacts Putin's ability to wage war.
Perhaps facilitating the former isn't such a bad thing.
“Indeed, 67% of Ukrainians said they would be willing to take up arms to defend the country against Russian troops, with a further 7% saying they were already doing so. 85% of men and 63% of women said they had already taken up arms or were willing to do so.”
Even allowing for bravado those are incredibly high numbers. Putin has roused an entire nation of 44m people and he’s got 30 million potential soldiers taking on his army
They will fight street by street. The only way Russia can win is by unthinkable savagery. Carpet bombing, chemical bombing, tactical nukes
Not much point in taking over a smouldering ruin of a country though.
Putin's signed a law to seize the assets of foreigners if they harm Russians.
Assets where, in Russia? How many foreigners have got assets in Russia?
My Islington friend who is Russian but also a British citizen tells me that she’s said goodbye to her inheritance.
My former boss, an Irishman, lives in Moscow with his Russian wife and his young daughter.
I can't imagine it's going to be a significant amount though, maybe a few hundreds of millions. The biggest one was probably BPs stake in Rosneft which has been voluntarily given up anyway.
"India’s position at the HRC adds to a string of abstentions at the United Nations and multilateral groups since the start of Russian military operations in Ukraine on February 24, even as the continuing Russian military advances in Ukraine have seen more and more countries vote for resolutions that criticise Moscow . The Modi government has decided to abstain from three votes at the UN Security Council, two at the UN General Assembly in New York, two at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, and one at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna."
“Indeed, 67% of Ukrainians said they would be willing to take up arms to defend the country against Russian troops, with a further 7% saying they were already doing so. 85% of men and 63% of women said they had already taken up arms or were willing to do so.”
Even allowing for bravado those are incredibly high numbers. Putin has roused an entire nation of 44m people and he’s got 30 million potential soldiers taking on his army
They will fight street by street. The only way Russia can win is by unthinkable savagery. Carpet bombing, chemical bombing, tactical nukes
Not much point in taking over a smouldering ruin of a country though.
Retreat is death for Putin, though.
Precisely. Everything should be done to facilitate that outcome.
“Indeed, 67% of Ukrainians said they would be willing to take up arms to defend the country against Russian troops, with a further 7% saying they were already doing so. 85% of men and 63% of women said they had already taken up arms or were willing to do so.”
Even allowing for bravado those are incredibly high numbers. Putin has roused an entire nation of 44m people and he’s got 30 million potential soldiers taking on his army
They will fight street by street. The only way Russia can win is by unthinkable savagery. Carpet bombing, chemical bombing, tactical nukes
Not much point in taking over a smouldering ruin of a country though.
I doubt even Afghanistan had that level of potential armed resistance against the invader. Maybe the nearest example is Vietnam, where resistance was ubiquitous, and which defeated a huge imperial power, France, AND then the world’s greatest power, America. Not a great augury for Putin’s rusting army
I think that Ukraine is mainly fighting for hearts and minds at the moment. But the analysis I have seen is that Russia will switch to co-ordinated heavy bombardment against which there is no effective defence and consequently the cities will fall very quickly with significant damage to property and casualties.
At some point in the near future, it will switch from a territorial war, to a war of resistance; which Russia is very ill equipped to fight.
Eh? Heavy bombardment doesn't cause cities to fall. It only makes defence and guerrilla activity easier. Stalingrad.
Heavy bombardment has got somewhat deadlier over the last three quarters of a century.
Yes. But it still doesn't cause.a city to fall. It needs boots in that city. For a sustained period.
Nobody can live in a rubble heap with no power, no water, and no food. It ceases to be a city.
Stalingrad, Leningrad, Berlin 45, I dunno.
Cities can be pulverised to fuck, or devoid of food, or both, yet somehow people live in the wreckage for quite a while
Quite. Berlin was pounded to fuck by bombs then shells then street-to-street killing and rape. Its population in 1946 was non zero. And don't get me started on Hiroshima.
Silly post. There's always tinned food, and water mains, and furniture to burn.
Obviously I'm aware of all the examples.
But surely to be a proper city it actually has to be functioning and capable of supporting itself? There's a limit to furniture burning and tins.
It just turns into an encampment - one which may or may not have strategic value.
So give us an example of this actually happening?
It's like money. Money is so useful that it persists even when you have to fill a wheelbarrow with 5000tn Zim $ notes to go for a pint, and cities work so well that you stay there when the alternative is anything else.
If a country is in ruins then even a flattened city is probably going to be better than trying to live in a field or a farmhouse way out of town. Once you’ve killed and eaten the local farmhouse chickens, what’s left?
Whereas in the city, however bombarded, there will be stores of imperishable foods, grains, tins, bottled water, lots of stuff to burn for fuel, plus drugs in bombed out pharmacies, bottles of wine in zapped liquor stores. It’s why Apocalypse movies generally have people holed up in cities, at least at first: that IS where you would try to survive, unless you’re a hardened outdoorsman
We’ve done this. I suspect the numbers are bunk but I am also pretty skeptical that the UK has done what it ought to.
I don't think it'll make much difference if we sanction 490,000. Supplying weapons, training and intelligence is what counts, and that's where we've been a world leader. The rest is barely even a fleabite to the Mad Vlad, and he'll have taken it into account anyway.
We’ve done this. I suspect the numbers are bunk but I am also pretty skeptical that the UK has done what it ought to.
It also doesn't take into account the value of the specific sanctions. Locking Russia out of city finance is a very high cost sanction for the UK and very damaging for Russia. Telling some non-entity United Russia Party MP that they can't go to Berlin has no value at all.
“Indeed, 67% of Ukrainians said they would be willing to take up arms to defend the country against Russian troops, with a further 7% saying they were already doing so. 85% of men and 63% of women said they had already taken up arms or were willing to do so.”
Even allowing for bravado those are incredibly high numbers. Putin has roused an entire nation of 44m people and he’s got 30 million potential soldiers taking on his army
They will fight street by street. The only way Russia can win is by unthinkable savagery. Carpet bombing, chemical bombing, tactical nukes
Not much point in taking over a smouldering ruin of a country though.
I doubt even Afghanistan had that level of potential armed resistance against the invader. Maybe the nearest example is Vietnam, where resistance was ubiquitous, and which defeated a huge imperial power, France, AND then the world’s greatest power, America. Not a great augury for Putin’s rusting army
I think that Ukraine is mainly fighting for hearts and minds at the moment. But the analysis I have seen is that Russia will switch to co-ordinated heavy bombardment against which there is no effective defence and consequently the cities will fall very quickly with significant damage to property and casualties.
At some point in the near future, it will switch from a territorial war, to a war of resistance; which Russia is very ill equipped to fight.
Eh? Heavy bombardment doesn't cause cities to fall. It only makes defence and guerrilla activity easier. Stalingrad.
Heavy bombardment has got somewhat deadlier over the last three quarters of a century.
Yes. But it still doesn't cause.a city to fall. It needs boots in that city. For a sustained period.
Nobody can live in a rubble heap with no power, no water, and no food. It ceases to be a city.
Stalingrad, Leningrad, Berlin 45, I dunno.
Cities can be pulverised to fuck, or devoid of food, or both, yet somehow people live in the wreckage for quite a while
On the other hand, Carthage was completely obliterated.
Says who? History, until the last century, had no interest in non ruling class populations. So whenever conventional history says the peasants of area X were wiped out, DNA almost always shows that the peasants hung in there just fine. Delenda est Cathago != Deleta est Cathago.
We’ve done this. I suspect the numbers are bunk but I am also pretty skeptical that the UK has done what it ought to.
They are bunk. The EU number includes individuals while the UK one does not.
Well the government seems to have realised it has fucked up because it is now rushing through rules allowing it to sanction the same people as the EU, according to the Guardian.
With a bit of luck this will do for Trump. Unlike Marine Le Pen and the SDP in Germany, he’s too dumb to understand why this is so obviously bad.
Trump is dumb but it helps him because his supporters are too - so he relates well to them. It's a kind of vicious swirling pool of mutually resonating dumbness. He validates and reinforces theirs and they do the same back for him and his. Thus does the level rise and rise until ... well, let's see, either it overflows and washes everything away with it or somebody finds a way to pull the plug.
Trump supporters are not the dumb working class stereotype you depict
“It’s time to bust the myth: Most Trump voters were not working class.”
Yes that was a tell. Did I say working class? No I didn't.
Come come. Do you really expect me to believe that your image of a Trump supporter is NOT a stupid, red neck, working class, gum-chewing white supremacist prole from flyover country? Everything you say about them exudes this contempt. Don’t wiggle out of it
That doesn't sound like Mr Ed at all! I picture something more like Tom Cruise in Risky Business plus a few years and a few disappointments.
But seriously it's a coalition, isn't it. Usual thing. Reactionary right peels off enough of the working class - by appealing to prejudice and exploiting fear and ignorance - to win power.
We’ve done this. I suspect the numbers are bunk but I am also pretty skeptical that the UK has done what it ought to.
It also doesn't take into account the value of the specific sanctions. Locking Russia out of city finance is a very high cost sanction for the UK and very damaging for Russia. Telling some non-entity United Russia Party MP that they can't go to Berlin has no value at all.
Yes. I completely agree.
I don’t think it is “easy” for the UK, but the government has failed to put forward a coherent narrative.
I would like to see an investigation into the assets of the oligarchs named by Layla Moran. Not asset freezes, which I believe are counter to property rights. We have grotesquely underfunded the investigation of economic crimes and the it’s the clear declaration that this will change that I wish to see.
Most of the sanctions in that documents are from years ago, so it depends on what's being measured here. If it's sanctions in the last week or so, I counted 13.
Doesn't that make the comparison unfair? They can't be sanctioned twice.
Crikey. Is that because they expect worldwide grain shortages as Ukraine is levelled?
Not good
From memory, Russia and Ukraine are the world’s number 1 and number 2 grain exporters.
No, Canada and the US are ahead of Ukraine. Russia is No 1, though.
Russia is about 18% of the world market and Ukraine about 8%.
We all know which Horseman follows war.
It's also worth remembering that the West (and the US in particular) can dramatically increase the amount grain available for human consumption by imposing a temporary ban on ethanol.
We’ve done this. I suspect the numbers are bunk but I am also pretty skeptical that the UK has done what it ought to.
It also doesn't take into account the value of the specific sanctions. Locking Russia out of city finance is a very high cost sanction for the UK and very damaging for Russia. Telling some non-entity United Russia Party MP that they can't go to Berlin has no value at all.
Yes, it is actually quite piss-boiling that the EU - or, rather its slavish disciples on this side of the Channel - dares to lecture the UK about sanctions. What we’ve done is probably, in terms of damage to our pwn economy, much more than what most EU nations have done. Didn’t the Italians carve out an exception for their luxury goods? Didn’t the French and Germans whittle down the Swift sanctions so it wouldn’t hurt them too much?
I don’t blame the EU for this, every country is selfish and no doubt there has been a reluctance to damage the property market in. London with sudden seizures, I am I objecting to the endless whining Remoaners on here who cannot get over Brexit FIVE YEARS LATER. Shut up now. Really. Shut it. Shut. SHH
We’ve done this. I suspect the numbers are bunk but I am also pretty skeptical that the UK has done what it ought to.
I don't think it'll make much difference if we sanction 490,000. Supplying weapons, training and intelligence is what counts, and that's where we've been a world leader. The rest is barely even a fleabite to the Mad Vlad, and he'll have taken it into account anyway.
All these arguments about what types of sanctions and the number of entities sanctioned are missing the point, what matters is the outcomes not how they are achieved.
In other news we had drinks with a couple of Americans from Seattle and SF last night at a rooftop bar in Oaxaca. I expected them to be extremely liberal and all about the culture war but man was I wrong. The woman from SF was so pissed off with the local politicians and she's basically leaving for Long Beach or Orange County by the end of the summer if they haven't fixed the drug and crime problems. The guy said he was fed up of "NoCal" politics seeping into Seattle and turning it into a shit hole. These are solid Dem voters, mid 30s liberals.
The other one that surprised me was their view of COVID and how the blue states and CDC have completely fucked it by politicising vaccines and mask wearing. I mean it's a self selecting cohort because they're in Mexico where the only reason to wear a mask is to avoid a 1000 peso "fine" from a corrupt police officer, still I was pretty shocked when they said most of their friends are pretty unhappy with the continuing COVID bullshit in CA and WA.
All in all a real learning experience for me, really surprised me that these basically left wing Dem voters were so fed up of liberal policies on crime/drugs but also on COVID they agreed with the consensus UK view that it's time to get off the train and call it.
False flag convo maybe?
No, I think they felt comfortable talking about it to two Europeans who don't really have any view on this anyway. The woman said she can't chat about this stuff to other American liberals for fear of them not agreeing and then getting upset, the guy echoed the same view and that he found Europeans don't mind disagreeing with people and moving on or continuing to discuss the subject despite the disagreement. In Seattle he said if he came out against the drug and crime "reforms" he'd probably get a call to his workplace suggesting that he was racist and risk getting sacked because it happened to one of his colleagues so he just doesn't chat about it to many other Americans.
Russian Central Bank will independently print foreign money to the value of that currently frozen by sanctions.
Isn't currency forgery by another state an act of war?!
I don't believe so. It's not a war crime, anyway, although any attempt to debase the dollar by Russia would probably have unfortunate consequences for Russia.
It has of course been done before with modest succes:
We’ve done this. I suspect the numbers are bunk but I am also pretty skeptical that the UK has done what it ought to.
It also doesn't take into account the value of the specific sanctions. Locking Russia out of city finance is a very high cost sanction for the UK and very damaging for Russia. Telling some non-entity United Russia Party MP that they can't go to Berlin has no value at all.
If we expect Germany and Italy to shut down half their manufacturing sector and freeze next winter (and I think they should, FWIW) then I don't think locking these spivs out of the City is such a terrible hardship for us to bear. A few lawyers and assorted spivs have to tighten their belts, boo hoo.
We’ve done this. I suspect the numbers are bunk but I am also pretty skeptical that the UK has done what it ought to.
I don't think it'll make much difference if we sanction 490,000. Supplying weapons, training and intelligence is what counts, and that's where we've been a world leader. The rest is barely even a fleabite to the Mad Vlad, and he'll have taken it into account anyway.
On the issue of supplying weapons…..
In the same way we’ve been supplying to Ukraine which is a “good thing” and has a side benefit of an actual live test of “our” kit in real war, surely China will see the benefit of supplying their kit to the Russians (with oil/gas payments) to test their kit in real war situations. Would be absolutely invaluable to the Chinese to test ahead of any invasion of Taiwan.
We can’t complain as China would say we are all just supplying so not directly involved.
I just found myself thinking I’d got over excited about the Russians burning through their weaponry and then remembered Vietnam and Korea and “my enemy’s enemy is my friend” and all that.
There are various attempts to pointscore around Brexit.
I don’t think current events provide much argument in favour or against.
On one hand, it’s not true to identify a loss of UK influence here. The UK has played a leading role in this crisis, both by arming Ukraine but also by acting as it’s main vocal supporter in the West.
On the other hand, there’s no evidence that EU is “sclerotic”, quite the reverse, and the applications of Moldova, Ukraine etc to EU membership tell their own story.
Most of the sanctions in that documents are from years ago, so it depends on what's being measured here. If it's sanctions in the last week or so, I counted 13.
Doesn't that make the comparison unfair? They can't be sanctioned twice.
I don't know what's being measured, so I can't possibly say whether it's fair. I merely opened the linked document and saw that many of the sanction dates were 2014-2020.
We’ve done this. I suspect the numbers are bunk but I am also pretty skeptical that the UK has done what it ought to.
It also doesn't take into account the value of the specific sanctions. Locking Russia out of city finance is a very high cost sanction for the UK and very damaging for Russia. Telling some non-entity United Russia Party MP that they can't go to Berlin has no value at all.
Yes, it is actually quite piss-boiling that the EU - or, rather its slavish disciples on this side of the Channel - dares to lecture the UK about sanctions. What we’ve done is probably, in terms of damage to our pwn economy, much more than what most EU nations have done. Didn’t the Italians carve out an exception for their luxury goods? Didn’t the French and Germans whittle down the Swift sanctions so it wouldn’t hurt them too much?
I don’t blame the EU for this, every country is selfish and no doubt there has been a reluctance to damage the property market in. London with sudden seizures, I am I objecting to the endless whining Remoaners on here who cannot get over Brexit FIVE YEARS LATER. Shut up now. Really. Shut it. Shut. SHH
We’ve done this. I suspect the numbers are bunk but I am also pretty skeptical that the UK has done what it ought to.
It also doesn't take into account the value of the specific sanctions. Locking Russia out of city finance is a very high cost sanction for the UK and very damaging for Russia. Telling some non-entity United Russia Party MP that they can't go to Berlin has no value at all.
If we expect Germany and Italy to shut down half their manufacturing sector and freeze next winter (and I think they should, FWIW) then I don't think locking these spivs out of the City is such a terrible hardship for us to bear. A few lawyers and assorted spivs have to tighten their belts, boo hoo.
But the point is that we've already done it. Russian companies are locked out of our capital markets and derivatives clearing. The city is already taking the hit of not having Russian money coming through it any more, that's a very high cost for London's economy and the UK in general whether or not you agreed with the Russian money coming through in the first place.
Isn't it time for Gucci to stop selling shit to Russians as well?
On the other hand, there’s no evidence that EU is “sclerotic”, quite the reverse, and the applications of Moldova, Ukraine etc to EU membership tell their own story.
But perhaps not the story that some think. There needs to be a looser and broader institutional structure that countries like Georgia can feasibly be members of.
With a bit of luck this will do for Trump. Unlike Marine Le Pen and the SDP in Germany, he’s too dumb to understand why this is so obviously bad.
Trump is dumb but it helps him because his supporters are too - so he relates well to them. It's a kind of vicious swirling pool of mutually resonating dumbness. He validates and reinforces theirs and they do the same back for him and his. Thus does the level rise and rise until ... well, let's see, either it overflows and washes everything away with it or somebody finds a way to pull the plug.
Trump supporters are not the dumb working class stereotype you depict
“It’s time to bust the myth: Most Trump voters were not working class.”
Yes that was a tell. Did I say working class? No I didn't.
Come come. Do you really expect me to believe that your image of a Trump supporter is NOT a stupid, red neck, working class, gum-chewing white supremacist prole from flyover country? Everything you say about them exudes this contempt. Don’t wiggle out of it
He says, trying to pathetically wriggle out of his oh-so-revealing faux pas.
You what? I despise many members of the so-called “working classes”, what the fuck are you talking about. I despise that ridiculous counter-jumper @kinabalu for a start
Sense some family money with you. Not tons but some. A safety net which renders your escapades just that little bit less hairy than they appear to the untrained eye. Javis Cocker wrote a song about this.
On the other hand, there’s no evidence that EU is “sclerotic”, quite the reverse, and the applications of Moldova, Ukraine etc to EU membership tell their own story.
But perhaps not the story that some think. There needs to be a looser and broader institutional structure that countries like Georgia can feasibly be members of.
There are various attempts to pointscore around Brexit.
I don’t think current events provide much argument in favour or against.
On one hand, it’s not true to identify a loss of UK influence here. The UK has played a leading role in this crisis, both by arming Ukraine but also by acting as it’s main vocal supporter in the West.
On the other hand, there’s no evidence that EU is “sclerotic”, quite the reverse, and the applications of Moldova, Ukraine etc to EU membership tell their own story.
Yes, I think the US, UK and EU are all playing their respective roles well. There's not much criticism from me for the EU, ever since Scholz has reversed Merkel's suicidal positions wrt Russia the EU has been pretty good at it.
There's just a general attempt to downplay the role the UK has had in crippling the Russian economy by the usual suspects. I'm glad to see that you're not on board with it.
It's very interesting to see on one side countries making a big deal about their sanctions of individual companies or individuals and saying that they are making a difference yet when the US and UK lock all of Russia out of capital markets, derivatives clearing, all types of reinsurance, and genuinely crippling financial measures that have forced the Moscow exchange to stay closed all week it's not enough.
Someone from work was lamenting that the SWIFT sanctions are as useful as chocolate teapot because the EU insisted on exempting too many banks and all of the payment activity has simply moved to the unsanctioned institutions like Sberbank. On the flip side the UK and US governments have locked almost all of the Russian financial industry out of London and NYC.
I think people are falling for the spin on sanctions coming out of Europe and see big shiny boats being impounded but don't realise that Russian industry and banking is on its knees because they simply can't pay their workers and people can't withdraw money due to sanctions implemented by the UK and US.
People counting the number of entities sanctioned are literally as stupid as the people who didn't and still don't understand the UK's vaccine strategy, and in most cases they are the same idiots. It's simply a dumb comparison for dumb people to crow about on dumb social media to their dumb mates.
Yes exactly. The whole premise of the argument is stupid as fuck. How do you define a sanction, what is an “entity”, how do you add them up into “the European Union”
Does Sainsbury’s banning Stolichnaya count as a sanction? If four supermarket chains do it is that four sanctions? If they do it to 50 brands of Russian vodka is that 200 sanctions on 50 entities, and what about the blinis?
What a ridiculous pile of statistical drivel
Loads of countries have sanctioned members of the United Russia Party with travel bans, it's merely symbolic but gets those numbers up.
Haven't some countries sanctioned every Deputy in the Duma that voted for the war? Is that useful? Maybe, but also possibly not at all.
Yeah, it's just names on a sheet of paper. Of no importance in terms of bringing the Putin regime down.
I believe Sir Humphrey called it "trying to look as if they're trying to do something about it".
Actually it's the opposite of "trying to look as if they're trying to do something about it". It's "not trying to look as if they're trying to do something about it".
Chasing designated persons is a fairly fruitless task for various reasons, but it is something they can do. The UKG is pursuing these people with a lack of urgency that is entirely deliberate. It does raise the question why they would be so keen not to chase them.
For the most part the people in the Duma are nobodies. Hardly surprising the government isn't focusing its efforts on them.
I don't think the people in the Duma are part of Johnson's government calculation to lay off people with closer connections to the Conservative Party, the Brexit campaign and himself personally.
Ah, it's about Brexit?
In a way, I suppose it is, There are far more important things to worry about just now. Johnson has a big sensitivity about Russia and how it funds activities and people close to him. eg the Russia Report, which he has consistently refused to publish and which definitely was about Brexit. Not chasing oligarchs seems to be part of that pattern.
It's an observation.
Get your facts straight. The Russia report was published. The unwillingness to actually properly investigate the possibility of Russian interference damns this government, and the unconscionable delay in publishing was a troubling sign, but the report HAS been published.
"Much of the "highly sensitive" detail was not published due to fears Russia could use the evidence to threaten the UK."
There is a defence for the conservatives go slow of sanctioning, that makes the EU look stupid. Are those sanctioned entities as mad and bad as Putin? Or are they just as cheesed off and bewildered as we are? You imply in your post it’s sensible to cheese off the cheesed off who could have helped us if we didn’t cheese them off? Really?
Alternatively cynics would say, Oligarchs over the Sunday papers explaining how close to Tory governments they have been and different ways slipped them money and got deals will definitely sink Boris government, not necessarily general election, but Conservative would have to pick another government from those who have not recently been in it - hence some back room deal with the oligarchs expiating the lack of sanction that’s bewildering voters up and down the land.
From the Oligarch point of view there isn’t much help UK government can give to help them, other than time, because with cards and banking frozen they can only deal in cash to rescue assets in the West. It’s going to take a long time, lot more than this.
“Indeed, 67% of Ukrainians said they would be willing to take up arms to defend the country against Russian troops, with a further 7% saying they were already doing so. 85% of men and 63% of women said they had already taken up arms or were willing to do so.”
Even allowing for bravado those are incredibly high numbers. Putin has roused an entire nation of 44m people and he’s got 30 million potential soldiers taking on his army
They will fight street by street. The only way Russia can win is by unthinkable savagery. Carpet bombing, chemical bombing, tactical nukes
Not much point in taking over a smouldering ruin of a country though.
I doubt even Afghanistan had that level of potential armed resistance against the invader. Maybe the nearest example is Vietnam, where resistance was ubiquitous, and which defeated a huge imperial power, France, AND then the world’s greatest power, America. Not a great augury for Putin’s rusting army
I think that Ukraine is mainly fighting for hearts and minds at the moment. But the analysis I have seen is that Russia will switch to co-ordinated heavy bombardment against which there is no effective defence and consequently the cities will fall very quickly with significant damage to property and casualties.
At some point in the near future, it will switch from a territorial war, to a war of resistance; which Russia is very ill equipped to fight.
Eh? Heavy bombardment doesn't cause cities to fall. It only makes defence and guerrilla activity easier. Stalingrad.
Heavy bombardment has got somewhat deadlier over the last three quarters of a century.
Yes. But it still doesn't cause.a city to fall. It needs boots in that city. For a sustained period.
Nobody can live in a rubble heap with no power, no water, and no food. It ceases to be a city.
Stalingrad, Leningrad, Berlin 45, I dunno.
Cities can be pulverised to fuck, or devoid of food, or both, yet somehow people live in the wreckage for quite a while
Quite. Berlin was pounded to fuck by bombs then shells then street-to-street killing and rape. Its population in 1946 was non zero. And don't get me started on Hiroshima.
Silly post. There's always tinned food, and water mains, and furniture to burn.
Obviously I'm aware of all the examples.
But surely to be a proper city it actually has to be functioning and capable of supporting itself? There's a limit to furniture burning and tins.
It just turns into an encampment - one which may or may not have strategic value.
So give us an example of this actually happening?
It's like money. Money is so useful that it persists even when you have to fill a wheelbarrow with 5000tn Zim $ notes to go for a pint, and cities work so well that you stay there when the alternative is anything else.
I think we are arguing semantics. A city can be rebuilt and function again, yes, but a pile of rubble is not functioning. To my mind, 'living' in a city involves having all the facilities that that implies. 'Surviving' is something else.
We’ve done this. I suspect the numbers are bunk but I am also pretty skeptical that the UK has done what it ought to.
I don't think it'll make much difference if we sanction 490,000. Supplying weapons, training and intelligence is what counts, and that's where we've been a world leader. The rest is barely even a fleabite to the Mad Vlad, and he'll have taken it into account anyway.
All these arguments about what types of sanctions and the number of entities sanctioned are missing the point, what matters is the outcomes not how they are achieved.
The outcome of virtually all sanctions is to make us feel good about ourselves. It's very difficult to find cases of examples of them stopping, or even slightly deterring, mad dictators, and they have all kinds of side-effects.
"India’s position at the HRC adds to a string of abstentions at the United Nations and multilateral groups since the start of Russian military operations in Ukraine on February 24, even as the continuing Russian military advances in Ukraine have seen more and more countries vote for resolutions that criticise Moscow . The Modi government has decided to abstain from three votes at the UN Security Council, two at the UN General Assembly in New York, two at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, and one at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna."
Which is a surprise only to those who know nowt about Modi. A government the Tories have been keen to big up their close connections to.
Modi + Orban + Bolsonaro + Johnson + Trump = Putin's Rat Pack
Tell that to the President of Ukraine and the Baltic countries
Poll by Ukranians show UK doing most in their cause
President of Ukraine’s first phone call on the nuclear power plant attack was to Boris
Just lazy association not born out by evidence
I don't need to tell them, they know it already.
Your constant defense of Boris Johnson baffles me, as you clearly think he's fundamentally akin to what you scrape off your boot after strolling through a cow pasture.
As for evidence, plenty enough in his case as with rest of Putin's pals.
And maybe Z called BJ in order to pressure one of the weakest NATO links? AND to do more than making pretty speeches as Ukraine's Great White Hope??
Boris achieved Brexit and handled covid well and had my support until partygate .... [snip!]
You have a short memory. When Boris was standing you threatened to resign because he was so odious and you could not stand Hunt.
It is a curious kind of support that has you writing resignation letters!
"India’s position at the HRC adds to a string of abstentions at the United Nations and multilateral groups since the start of Russian military operations in Ukraine on February 24, even as the continuing Russian military advances in Ukraine have seen more and more countries vote for resolutions that criticise Moscow . The Modi government has decided to abstain from three votes at the UN Security Council, two at the UN General Assembly in New York, two at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, and one at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna."
Which is a surprise only to those who know nowt about Modi. A government the Tories have been keen to big up their close connections to.
Modi + Orban + Bolsonaro + Johnson + Trump = Putin's Rat Pack
Tell that to the President of Ukraine and the Baltic countries
Poll by Ukranians show UK doing most in their cause
President of Ukraine’s first phone call on the nuclear power plant attack was to Boris
Just lazy association not born out by evidence
I don't need to tell them, they know it already.
Your constant defense of Boris Johnson baffles me, as you clearly think he's fundamentally akin to what you scrape off your boot after strolling through a cow pasture.
As for evidence, plenty enough in his case as with rest of Putin's pals.
And maybe Z called BJ in order to pressure one of the weakest NATO links? AND to do more than making pretty speeches as Ukraine's Great White Hope??
Boris achieved Brexit and handled covid well and had my support until partygate .... [snip!]
You have a short memory. When Boris was standing you threatened to resign because he was so odious and you could not stand Hunt.
It is a curious kind of support that has you writing resignation letters!
I did nothing of the sort
I abstained in the vote but supported Boris at GE24 and until party gate where he lost me.
Has there ever been a major power that has destroyed itself so quickly? In little more than a week Russia has become an economic basket case and a diplomatic pariah. Much of their modernised military is being laid to waste.
We’ve done this. I suspect the numbers are bunk but I am also pretty skeptical that the UK has done what it ought to.
They are bunk. The EU number includes individuals while the UK one does not.
Not many individuals on the UK list, but there are a couple, mostly the ones you have heard of:: Putin, Lavrov, Timchenko. The EU seem to be going after people that run significant government, military and state business organisations.
Win-win then. I always felt a reluctant U.K. was putting the brakes on the EU. If they are happier without us, but we can be partners and allies, so much the better.
We’ve done this. I suspect the numbers are bunk but I am also pretty skeptical that the UK has done what it ought to.
They are bunk. The EU number includes individuals while the UK one does not.
Not many individuals on the UK list, but there are a couple, mostly the ones you have heard of:: Putin, Lavrov, Timchenko. The EU seem to be going after people that run significant government, military and state business organisations.
It would be good if someone actually would do a proper comparison of who is sanctioned by who. The UK list has 197 individuals on it. Certainly more than a couple.
UK has been involved with the US and the EU since day one
Indeed I have said on many occasions this should bring us closer, but what you and others of a similar bigoted mindset do not realise is that your constant sniping is actually negative to your hopes of a close relationship
Priti Patel has travelled to Poland to say that those automatically eligible to come to the UK (ie those with family links) will be allowed to stay for 3 years rather than 1. Nonetheless the UK offering will remain among the least generous in Europe. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-60623462
Jesus fucking Christ. Liz Truss is right there, in the front row, staring at the camera getting ready for the shoot
Either you didn’t notice this, or you did, but you are trying to make some desperate point about her not talking to anyone, unlike the person on her left and right, during the fraction of a second this photo was taken, as if this proves Britain is isolated, because of Brexit, and therefore just a small ignored country? Is that really it??
Man, this is just embarrassing. Really. Stop. You’re publicly humiliating yourself. Your Strasbourg Syndrome is not getting better, Brexit is driving you even crazier and you are now, as psychologists say, in the jargon, smearing all poo on your face
What EU official? Where else is this quoted? Scott, please will you stop actively harming the Europhile cause by constantly posting this bollocks. You are quoting a man who blames Brexit for the invasion of Ukraine. I regret Brexit enormously but this type of thing is getting unhinged -
RS Archer @archer_rs Never forget this Ukrainian invasion began with Brexit. All those who facilitated Brexit, who supported it, who funded it, who fooled the British people to vote for it share the responsibility.
Scott, I’m certainly no critic of yours, but that is total bolleaux. It doesn’t even make sense.
I fear he has completely lost all sense of proportion and after recently complimenting him on his interesting posts he has ruined any credit I accorded him
Scott n Paste, the Remainer version of Trump....doesn't matter if it is accurate or truthful or useful, if its on twitter pro-EU bashing UK, i'm posting it.
Maybe we were absent because we were busy for 7 years training and arming the Ukrainians whilst the EU were bending over taking it in return for Gas?
Maybe we were absent because we had been warning about Russia for years whilst the EU were patting the bear saying “look he hasn’t bitten our arm off yet, yet”.
Whatever idiocy the Tories have done by taking bad Russian money it is a drop in the ocean to how the EU (Baltic and eastern states excluded) has behaved.
And still I have hear fuck all from Spain about the mega villas in Marbella, Ibiza, Majorca and the yachts there, France “oh look we’ve seized a yacht” - and the other yachts and €100+ million houses on the Côte d’Azure and the ski chalets, Italy with again the yachts in Portofino and villas in Sardinia.
It’s fucking bollocks Scott and is Vaccines all over again and I half expect a tweet from UVDL claiming that because the NLAW is a Saab/Thales cooperation that the EU have supplied x number of weapons and then because we were in the EU when we started training the Ukraine army that the EU were training the Ukrainians since 2014.
I can’t believe that in a situation where ordinary people - children Scott - are being brutally and unnecessarily killed for one man’s madness you are obsessed with pushing the UK bad/EU amazing line.
UK has been involved with the US and the EU since day one
Indeed I have said on many occasions this should bring us closer, but what you and others of a similar bigoted mindset do not realise is that your constant sniping is actually negative to your hopes of a close relationship
Which was the poll by Ukrainians that rated Johnson No 1?
UK has been involved with the US and the EU since day one
Indeed I have said on many occasions this should bring us closer, but what you and others of a similar bigoted mindset do not realise is that your constant sniping is actually negative to your hopes of a close relationship
Which was the poll by Ukrainians that rated Johnson No 1?
*on topic. Impact of the war on politics and elections.
Do these French election polls mean much this far out? Five six weeks? Maybe other ways of predicting it.
a question is, what impact does the Ukraine war have on actual voting; none? does Putin’s barbaric madness put strong “iron” leaders as flavour of the month, or the opposite, that to sound as nationalist and belligerent towards other countries as Putin often has will be unpopular in the voting booths? I reckon the former - and if I am right in terms of the French election, the two most Nationalist and belligerent candidates Melenchon and Zemour could get on a roll in the election proper to finish in the top 3.
The impact of this barbaric war in the minds of voters is either to swing to strong arm nationalists or swing against? And surely the impact in the West of Putin’s barbarity and the necessity for a belt tightening and fearful Cold War will not play into the hands of politicians trying to paint a nuanced picture or offer a conciliatory tone? It’s only a fortnight ago the German and French leaders were face to face with Ukraine government telling them to implement Minsk II. When it comes to elections, do you judge someone on what they were saying yesterday, or what they had been doing and saying the previous month - or term of office, or career?
Happy to explain further if this politicalbetting post is not crystal clear.
It's very interesting to see on one side countries making a big deal about their sanctions of individual companies or individuals and saying that they are making a difference yet when the US and UK lock all of Russia out of capital markets, derivatives clearing, all types of reinsurance, and genuinely crippling financial measures that have forced the Moscow exchange to stay closed all week it's not enough.
Someone from work was lamenting that the SWIFT sanctions are as useful as chocolate teapot because the EU insisted on exempting too many banks and all of the payment activity has simply moved to the unsanctioned institutions like Sberbank. On the flip side the UK and US governments have locked almost all of the Russian financial industry out of London and NYC.
I think people are falling for the spin on sanctions coming out of Europe and see big shiny boats being impounded but don't realise that Russian industry and banking is on its knees because they simply can't pay their workers and people can't withdraw money due to sanctions implemented by the UK and US.
People counting the number of entities sanctioned are literally as stupid as the people who didn't and still don't understand the UK's vaccine strategy, and in most cases they are the same idiots. It's simply a dumb comparison for dumb people to crow about on dumb social media to their dumb mates.
Yes exactly. The whole premise of the argument is stupid as fuck. How do you define a sanction, what is an “entity”, how do you add them up into “the European Union”
Does Sainsbury’s banning Stolichnaya count as a sanction? If four supermarket chains do it is that four sanctions? If they do it to 50 brands of Russian vodka is that 200 sanctions on 50 entities, and what about the blinis?
What a ridiculous pile of statistical drivel
A moments thought ought to make people question the comparison. 100 millionaires or 1 billionaire, which is best? It's probably not even a simple answer, is it influence or value you are looking for? One thing's for sure simply counting entities and declaring someone the winner is stupid.
In fact to extend this further there is an optimal sanction, that is the one that pushes a powerful person to bring down Putin and end the war. I will happily sing the praises of whichever country figures that one out. Even France.
By all accounts the one sanction that really freaked out Moscow was the freezing of Russia’s foreign reserves
And on that list it counts as 1 entity (the Russian central bank) the same as some no name politician in the United Russia Party who is banned from travelling to/through the EU.
Change of subject but how is Mexico, especially Oaxaca?:
I LOVE Oaxaca. One of my favourite cities in the Americas - or it was. But I heard rumours it was yet another lovely Mexican city ruined by drug wars and street crime. Is that not so? Is it still adorable? I recall the food being brilliant, too…
It's great, we've had an absolutely wonderful time here and sad to be moving on (but also not) to Puerto Escondido tomorrow to a co-working hotel. There is obviously crime and police corruption but it's nothing like what I imagined it to be. The two Americans said that Oaxaca is way less dangerous than the Tenderloin and the danger is fairly predictable, people want to steal your shit more than anything else whereas in SF there's a lot of random violence from fentanyl addicts.
The art scene, food and hospitality is amazing here, I'd highly recommend it. If you come then you want to check out CRUDO for the 8 course tasting menu with mezcal pairings, it's about $90 USD per person and it's some of the best food I've ever had anywhere. The rooftop bar at Vaca Marina is an absolute must as well, which is where we want last night. Incredible sunset and really good cocktails and appetisers.
My experience of Mexico is that it's quiet and great 99% of the time, and then once every 2-3 months there's an explosion of violence around the cartels.
It's murder rate in 2020 was about 45 per 100,000 people which is not the worst in the world.
Comments
It's like money. Money is so useful that it persists even when you have to fill a wheelbarrow with 5000tn Zim $ notes to go for a pint, and cities work so well that you stay there when the alternative is anything else.
https://t.co/qmCtZ2nUr8
My former boss, an Irishman, lives in Moscow with his Russian wife and his young daughter.
I suspect the numbers are bunk but I am also pretty skeptical that the UK has done what it ought to.
Energy dependent states funnelling money into Russia positively impacts Putin's ability to wage war.
Perhaps facilitating the former isn't such a bad thing.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1058999/Russia.pdf
Whereas in the city, however bombarded, there will be stores of imperishable foods, grains, tins, bottled water, lots of stuff to burn for fuel, plus drugs in bombed out pharmacies, bottles of wine in zapped liquor stores. It’s why Apocalypse movies generally have people holed up in cities, at least at first: that IS where you would try to survive, unless you’re a hardened outdoorsman
World population 2022 7.9 billion.
That fact changes the terms of trade somewhat with regard to food...
Pro Russia..
Aleksa Andjelkovic
@andjelkoviclaw
#trenutno sa prozora kanca
https://twitter.com/andjelkoviclaw/status/1499803202212044807
But seriously it's a coalition, isn't it. Usual thing. Reactionary right peels off enough of the working class - by appealing to prejudice and exploiting fear and ignorance - to win power.
I don’t think it is “easy” for the UK, but the government has failed to put forward a coherent narrative.
I would like to see an investigation into the assets of the oligarchs named by Layla Moran. Not asset freezes, which I believe are counter to property rights. We have grotesquely underfunded the investigation of economic crimes and the it’s the clear declaration that this will change that I wish to see.
See the Chatham House report for more details.
I don’t blame the EU for this, every country is selfish and no doubt there has been a reluctance to damage the property market in. London with sudden seizures, I am I objecting to the endless whining Remoaners on here who cannot get over Brexit FIVE YEARS LATER. Shut up now. Really. Shut it. Shut. SHH
It has of course been done before with modest succes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bernhard
In the same way we’ve been supplying to Ukraine which is a “good thing” and has a side benefit of an actual live test of “our” kit in real war, surely China will see the benefit of supplying their kit to the Russians (with oil/gas payments) to test their kit in real war situations. Would be absolutely invaluable to the Chinese to test ahead of any invasion of Taiwan.
We can’t complain as China would say we are all just supplying so not directly involved.
I just found myself thinking I’d got over excited about the Russians burning through their weaponry and then remembered Vietnam and Korea and “my enemy’s enemy is my friend” and all that.
I don’t think current events provide much argument in favour or against.
On one hand, it’s not true to identify a loss of UK influence here. The UK has played a leading role in this crisis, both by arming Ukraine but also by acting as it’s main vocal supporter in the West.
On the other hand, there’s no evidence that EU is “sclerotic”, quite the reverse, and the applications of Moldova, Ukraine etc to EU membership tell their own story.
Isn't it time for Gucci to stop selling shit to Russians as well?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AocPABE_Opg
Arguably the greatest cricket match of all time, and Warne was the star of the show.
It’s easy to forget that there were doubts about Warne after his shoulder surgery. The Gibbs ball put those to bed.
There's just a general attempt to downplay the role the UK has had in crippling the Russian economy by the usual suspects. I'm glad to see that you're not on board with it.
Make of that what you will...
There is more here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-53484344
Alternatively cynics would say, Oligarchs over the Sunday papers explaining how close to Tory governments they have been and different ways slipped them money and got deals will definitely sink Boris government, not necessarily general election, but Conservative would have to pick another government from those who have not recently been in it - hence some back room deal with the oligarchs expiating the lack of sanction that’s bewildering voters up and down the land.
From the Oligarch point of view there isn’t much help UK government can give to help them, other than time, because with cards and banking frozen they can only deal in cash to rescue assets in the West. It’s going to take a long time, lot more than this.
"We have been united on the Ukraine issue because the UK has been absent."
https://twitter.com/archer_rs/status/1499770279853178882
It is a curious kind of support that has you writing resignation letters!
“Leading”.
“World-beating”.
NATO & EU foreign ministers met today, in Brussels. https://twitter.com/AndrewPRLevi/status/1499766641231646722/photo/1
Tonight's #WaughOnPolitics is in your inbox
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/ben-wallaces-unshowy-competence-has-won-plaudits-from-mps-and-some-think-no-10-beckons-1499614
Good thing we're gone then?
Story w @JenniferJJacobs @SalehaMohsin @nwadhams on @TheTerminal
I abstained in the vote but supported Boris at GE24 and until party gate where he lost me.
I have left the conservative party
Russia bans Twitter
This just in: Russia has banned Twitter throughout the country, according to Interfax news agency."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/mar/04/ukraine-news-russia-war-vladimir-putin-zelenskiy-kyiv-latest-live-updates-russian-invasion-nuclear-power-plant
UK to speed up sanctions on Russian oligarchs by copying allies’ decisions https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/mar/04/uk-to-speed-up-sanctions-on-russian-oligarchs-by-copying-allies-decisions?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
*I originally wrote 'another' but I deleted part of the word by accident and I think it's an improvement.
@IAPonomarenko
A lot of new NLAWs have been delivered to Kyiv 🔥
I can definitely confirm: these babies are at just every corner in Ukrainian ranks.
https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1499835117715562496
UK has been involved with the US and the EU since day one
Indeed I have said on many occasions this should bring us closer, but what you and others of a similar bigoted mindset do not realise is that your constant sniping is actually negative to your hopes of a close relationship
And it’s putting me in the rather frustrating position of disagreeing with Remainery fellow travellers.
Sigh.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-60623462
Jesus fucking Christ. Liz Truss is right there, in the front row, staring at the camera getting ready for the shoot
Either you didn’t notice this, or you did, but you are trying to make some desperate point about her not talking to anyone, unlike the person on her left and right, during the fraction of a second this photo was taken, as if this proves Britain is isolated, because of Brexit, and therefore just a small ignored country? Is that really it??
Man, this is just embarrassing. Really. Stop. You’re publicly humiliating yourself. Your Strasbourg Syndrome is not getting better, Brexit is driving you even crazier and you are now, as psychologists say, in the jargon, smearing all poo on your face
Have a holiIday from PB. Just stop
RS Archer
@archer_rs
Never forget this Ukrainian invasion began with Brexit. All those who facilitated Brexit, who supported it, who funded it, who fooled the British people to vote for it share the responsibility.
I mean for fuck’s sake…
Look at the picture
Indeed I find it all very sad
If you square the number value of all of the letters it comes out as "Dave Keating"
Maybe we were absent because we had been warning about Russia for years whilst the EU were patting the bear saying “look he hasn’t bitten our arm off yet, yet”.
Whatever idiocy the Tories have done by taking bad Russian money it is a drop in the ocean to how the EU (Baltic and eastern states excluded) has behaved.
And still I have hear fuck all from Spain about the mega villas in Marbella, Ibiza, Majorca and the yachts there, France “oh look we’ve seized a yacht” - and the other yachts and €100+ million houses on the Côte d’Azure and the ski chalets, Italy with again the yachts in Portofino and villas in Sardinia.
It’s fucking bollocks Scott and is Vaccines all over again and I half expect a tweet from UVDL claiming that because the NLAW is a Saab/Thales cooperation that the EU have supplied x number of weapons and then because we were in the EU when we started training the Ukraine army that the EU were training the Ukrainians since 2014.
I can’t believe that in a situation where ordinary people - children Scott - are being brutally and unnecessarily killed for one man’s madness you are obsessed with pushing the UK bad/EU amazing line.
Take a look at yourself in the mirror.
She stood out better with last months darker hair tone though.
Does that mean the head of the missile, or the bit you put next to your head?
But the last one or two have been demonstrable nonsense.
Oh well, we all have off-days.
https://twitter.com/thatfoxxybloke/status/1499798096498376708
Do these French election polls mean much this far out? Five six weeks? Maybe other ways of predicting it.
a question is, what impact does the Ukraine war have on actual voting; none? does Putin’s barbaric madness put strong “iron” leaders as flavour of the month, or the opposite, that to sound as nationalist and belligerent towards other countries as Putin often has will be unpopular in the voting booths? I reckon the former - and if I am right in terms of the French election, the two most Nationalist and belligerent candidates Melenchon and Zemour could get on a roll in the election proper to finish in the top 3.
The impact of this barbaric war in the minds of voters is either to swing to strong arm nationalists or swing against? And surely the impact in the West of Putin’s barbarity and the necessity for a belt tightening and fearful Cold War will not play into the hands of politicians trying to paint a nuanced picture or offer a conciliatory tone? It’s only a fortnight ago the German and French leaders were face to face with Ukraine government telling them to implement Minsk II. When it comes to elections, do you judge someone on what they were saying yesterday, or what they had been doing and saying the previous month - or term of office, or career?
Happy to explain further if this politicalbetting post is not crystal clear.
It's murder rate in 2020 was about 45 per 100,000 people which is not the worst in the world.
But it's not far off.