@idreesali114 March 5 (Reuters) - Russia's flagship carrier Aeroflot will stop all flights abroad with the exception of those to Belarus from March 8, the TASS news agency quoted the company as saying on Saturday.
One assumes that they're cutting down on flights so they can keep operating internal services for longer before they run out of spare parts for the aircraft? After that they'll be back to relying on trains to get around.
I find this very sad. The crew on the helicopter stood absolutely no chance. Yes, they shouldn't be there, but you probably just saw two or three people die.
Yet... yet I want their side to lose.
Russian soldiers are also victims of the war. Doubly so as they are not even fighting for a just cause.
It is much easier to defend your country from vile invaders than it is to invade a country you have been taught to consider brothers. Russian morale must be rock-bottom. Many of them are only fighting because the alternative is imprisonment or worse.
Rather than downplay casualties I'd think the Russians would need to emphasise them - revenge for one's comrades, that sort of thing. It makes more sense than 'Kill Ukraine to save it'.
Nope. They are the great unspoken. Don't dwell on casualties. Bad for morale.
Yes. I cannot think of a single example where a force in active combat has been informed of the true level of casualties. It usually leeks out slowly and against the efforts of senior officers and government.
And the combined population of those two cities is only about 1% of the population of Ukraine. Controlling that will be impossible.
I imagine that the plan for the occupation is to terrorise the populace until they're all cowed into submission or have fled (indeed, Putin probably wants to depopulate Ukraine, reducing the remaining base of people available to man and support a resistance, and attempting to destabilise the rest of Europe by flooding it with penniless refugees.) The conscript element of the Russian army may be of limited value for this purpose but the Russian security forces also contain many tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of absolute shits.
Ukraine is enormous and it might not work, but Putin and his legions of properly evil monsters, from the Chechens downwards, will give it a good go. It'll be a proper, SS-level, unrestrained bloodbath.
If Putin wants millions of refugees in Europe to create chaos then Europe/the world will create financial chaos in Russia. The idiot (or genius according to Trump) doesn't seem to understand this basic fact.
Not sure he's even got that especially right. The majority of folk aren't instinctively opposed to refugees per se. Non-white ones more so. Ones where a tiny percentage might wish us harm even more so.
And the combined population of those two cities is only about 1% of the population of Ukraine. Controlling that will be impossible.
I imagine that the plan for the occupation is to terrorise the populace until they're all cowed into submission or have fled (indeed, Putin probably wants to depopulate Ukraine, reducing the remaining base of people available to man and support a resistance, and attempting to destabilise the rest of Europe by flooding it with penniless refugees.) The conscript element of the Russian army may be of limited value for this purpose but the Russian security forces also contain many tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of absolute shits.
Ukraine is enormous and it might not work, but Putin and his legions of properly evil monsters, from the Chechens downwards, will give it a good go. It'll be a proper, SS-level, unrestrained bloodbath.
If Putin wants millions of refugees in Europe to create chaos then Europe/the world will create financial chaos in Russia. The idiot (or genius according to Trump) doesn't seem to understand this basic fact.
Not sure he's even got that especially right. The majority of folk aren't instinctively opposed to refugees per se. Non-white ones more so. Ones where a tiny percentage might wish us harm even more so.
I’m opposed to refugees who don’t long to return home.
Visegrád 24 @visegrad24 · 1h Temperatures are to drop to -20 degrees in Ukraine.
Very cold temperatures will spread across western Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland.
The worst cold is forecast to overspread Ukraine and western Russia from the mid-next week into the weekend.
How will it impact the war?
Out of fuel, with dead batteries, it is going to be bloody cold in that long convoy.... Once frozen, that mud they are in will act like concrete.
Even the Ukrainian farmers are going to find it tough to move them.
It is simple things like fresh water, food and shelter that the Russians are going to really struggle with. At -20 the steppe is harsh and unforgiving of even minor errors of judgment. Expect growing numbers of dead and hospitalisations due to exposure. Malnutrition, weakness and disease inevitably follow. We are about to witness how well planned this invasion is. The signs thus far are that the Russians have failed in areas like basic training.
Considering Putin believes that Ukraine is part of Russia, you think he'd heed the widely repeated 'Never invade Russia during the winter' mantra. I pity the conscripts. No food for almost a week, no shelter to sleep under, no way to retreat, and rapidly diminishing fuel.
And if the weather forecast is half correct for next week temperatures that will kill you to go alongside the lack of shelter, food and fuel...
And the combined population of those two cities is only about 1% of the population of Ukraine. Controlling that will be impossible.
I imagine that the plan for the occupation is to terrorise the populace until they're all cowed into submission or have fled (indeed, Putin probably wants to depopulate Ukraine, reducing the remaining base of people available to man and support a resistance, and attempting to destabilise the rest of Europe by flooding it with penniless refugees.) The conscript element of the Russian army may be of limited value for this purpose but the Russian security forces also contain many tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands of absolute shits.
Ukraine is enormous and it might not work, but Putin and his legions of properly evil monsters, from the Chechens downwards, will give it a good go. It'll be a proper, SS-level, unrestrained bloodbath.
If Putin wants millions of refugees in Europe to create chaos then Europe/the world will create financial chaos in Russia. The idiot (or genius according to Trump) doesn't seem to understand this basic fact.
Not sure he's even got that especially right. The majority of folk aren't instinctively opposed to refugees per se. Non-white ones more so. Ones where a tiny percentage might wish us harm even more so.
I don't deny race is a factor. But it's also culture too. It's easy to forget some of the appalling things happening in France around the time of the Syrian crisis. But people are also much more skeptical of refugees travelling across half a continent and asking why they aren't seeking refuge once outside a warzone.
I knew a guy called Ieuan whom people occasionally called Joan.
Not often though!
A friend registering their son’s birth in France was horrified to discover they had spelled “John” “Jean”…….
One of our little 'un's middle name has a non-Latin character in it. A dotted capital I.
That amused the registrar, but she put it on the birth certificate. We sometimes wonder if it'll ever cause him any problems later in life when people search for a capital I, not realising about the dot ...
My real first name is very, very unusual. Rarely, indeed only once, interpreted as female, but frequently as a surname. I'm used to it, and there's usually a resigned smile and a chuckle, but I did get cross when someone in a hospital argued with me about it.
I have never encountered anyone with the same first name as mine, spelt as it is, as it is usually a surname. I'd be a very rich woman indeed if I had received a £ for every time it or my equally unusual surname was mispronounced, garbled or misspelt.
Enjoy the lakes -Re names my Uncles (from Walney) were called Hardie and Caton. -both great first names though both originally surnames.
Surnames as first names is rampant in America: Carter, Taylor, Mason and so on.
My own name is unusual and generally mispronounced and misspelled, even on my passport.
Similar action reported from the LNG terminal in Kent yesterday. AIUI UK government sanctions against Russian owned vessels do not extend to Russian cargoes on ships registered in third countries. However, it looks like eagle-eyed workers in the ports are enforcing an embargo of their own, by refusing to unload them.
@idreesali114 March 5 (Reuters) - Russia's flagship carrier Aeroflot will stop all flights abroad with the exception of those to Belarus from March 8, the TASS news agency quoted the company as saying on Saturday.
One assumes that they're cutting down on flights so they can keep operating internal services for longer before they run out of spare parts for the aircraft? After that they'll be back to relying on trains to get around.
Yes, that seems right, but I think there may be other reasons as well,
1) To stop/reduce the risk of the planes being repossessed by the leasing companies that own them who are no longer being paid.
2) To stop/reduces the 'Brain Drain' of mostly young/fit educated/liberal/metropolitan. who are now looking to get out of Russia because lots of reasons related to war/conscription/sanctions and just embarrassment at Russia.
Visegrád 24 @visegrad24 · 1h Temperatures are to drop to -20 degrees in Ukraine.
Very cold temperatures will spread across western Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland.
The worst cold is forecast to overspread Ukraine and western Russia from the mid-next week into the weekend.
How will it impact the war?
Out of fuel, with dead batteries, it is going to be bloody cold in that long convoy.... Once frozen, that mud they are in will act like concrete.
Even the Ukrainian farmers are going to find it tough to move them.
It is simple things like fresh water, food and shelter that the Russians are going to really struggle with. At -20 the steppe is harsh and unforgiving of even minor errors of judgment. Expect growing numbers of dead and hospitalisations due to exposure. Malnutrition, weakness and disease inevitably follow. We are about to witness how well planned this invasion is. The signs thus far are that the Russians have failed in areas like basic training.
Doesn't diesel freeze at -20?
When I was knee high to a grasshopper, my dad had an urgent job on in which he needed a load of diggers/dumpers/kit. Sadly it had snowed heavily overnight, so we went out before dawn to dig them out (using diggers) and get them ready for the men. One wouldn't start, so he made me light a little fire under the sump to (I think) desludgify the sump oil and warm up the engine.
I've still no idea if that was real thing, whether he was joshing with me, or he wanted to keep me warm and beside a fire....
Definitely a thing. I can remember lorry drivers lighting fires to defrost diesel one very cold winter in the 80s. It was shown on the TV news several times.
Edit: Just looked it up. 10 January 1982, -26.1C in Newport Shropshire, -27.2C in Braemar.
@idreesali114 March 5 (Reuters) - Russia's flagship carrier Aeroflot will stop all flights abroad with the exception of those to Belarus from March 8, the TASS news agency quoted the company as saying on Saturday.
One assumes that they're cutting down on flights so they can keep operating internal services for longer before they run out of spare parts for the aircraft? After that they'll be back to relying on trains to get around.
Yes, that seems right, but I think there may be other reasons as well,
1) To stop/reduce the risk of the planes being repossessed by the leasing companies that own them who are no longer being paid.
2) To stop/reduces the 'Brain Drain' of mostly young/fit educated/liberal/metropolitan. who are now looking to get out of Russia because lots of reasons related to war/conscription/sanctions and just embarrassment at Russia.
(1) is a good point; (2) may be of limited effect so long as Russia doesn't impose exit visa requirements. A number of foreign carriers are still operating out of Russian airports, and the land borders are available. Tales in the media of packed flights headed to Istanbul, Yerevan and Tbilisi, and full trains and a steady stream of road traffic crossing into Finland.
Good article on the Ukrainian SOF, Extracts below:
"IRPIN, Ukraine—Every day for the past week, Russian forces have tried to fight their way through this suburb of Kyiv to reach the Ukrainian capital. And every day, Ukrainian troops have forced them to retreat, leaving burning tanks and armored personnel carriers behind.
“We go out to hunt and destroy them,” said Volodymyr, a Ukrainian special-forces team leader, as his squad, armed with a British .308 sniper rifle and British-made antitank weapons, waited for the latest Russian attack. “They certainly didn’t come here expecting that, expecting that we know how to fight.”
“We’re in shock at how dumb their behavior is,” said another member of the Ukrainian special-forces unit who has been going on missions in the area every night. His unit, he said, had lost two soldiers since the war began nine days ago, and killed more than 60 Russians in recent days. “Now, we mostly focus on hitting their rear, their supply convoys, because if they don’t get fuel, they can’t do anything.”
Morale among Ukrainian defenders was high in Irpin on Friday, even as a Russian attack airplane flew low over a housing block and sounds of artillery rounds landing got closer and closer. Big plumes of black smoke rose to the north and south of town, along other major routes where Russian forces have been trying for more than a week to break into Kyiv.
Cloud cover has hampered Russia’s use of combat helicopters, soldiers here said. But to be prepared in case enemy choppers or attack planes approached, one of the soldiers took a position with a portable antiaircraft missile on his shoulder. Troops here say they operate their own small drones, including some with thermal cameras, to hunt for Russian targets."
Seems like the Ukrainian special forces have been worth their weight in gold, and more.
To those telling themselves, and each other, differently: Putin has won this. He has made the west cower from him militarily whilst he expands Greater Russia by crushing a civilised nation.
Margaret Thatcher would have stood up to him.
What did she do about Russia invading Afghanistan, and Vietnam invading Cambodia? Apart from arming the Taliban and Khymer Rouge? What did she do about the Soviets crushing the Solidarity movement in Poland?
Maggie lives on as the PB Tory fantasy, willing to do anything in their fevered dreams.
Thatcher was emblematic of a more powerful and confident country.
In much the same way Soviet Union was emblematic of a more powerful and confident country?
If anyone wants their country great again, you can’t. The worlds moved on. It’s too small now for that delusions of grandeur.
Visegrád 24 @visegrad24 · 1h Temperatures are to drop to -20 degrees in Ukraine.
Very cold temperatures will spread across western Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland.
The worst cold is forecast to overspread Ukraine and western Russia from the mid-next week into the weekend.
How will it impact the war?
Out of fuel, with dead batteries, it is going to be bloody cold in that long convoy.... Once frozen, that mud they are in will act like concrete.
Even the Ukrainian farmers are going to find it tough to move them.
It is simple things like fresh water, food and shelter that the Russians are going to really struggle with. At -20 the steppe is harsh and unforgiving of even minor errors of judgment. Expect growing numbers of dead and hospitalisations due to exposure. Malnutrition, weakness and disease inevitably follow. We are about to witness how well planned this invasion is. The signs thus far are that the Russians have failed in areas like basic training.
Doesn't diesel freeze at -20?
When I was knee high to a grasshopper, my dad had an urgent job on in which he needed a load of diggers/dumpers/kit. Sadly it had snowed heavily overnight, so we went out before dawn to dig them out (using diggers) and get them ready for the men. One wouldn't start, so he made me light a little fire under the sump to (I think) desludgify the sump oil and warm up the engine.
I've still no idea if that was real thing, whether he was joshing with me, or he wanted to keep me warm and beside a fire....
You get diesel 'waxing' in cold temperatures. Additives (and heaters) prevent this. As they are from a cold part of the world I would expect all the fuel to be winter fuel to prevent waxing. Like the Alaskan truckers, the correct Diesel can work well in cold temperatures.
@idreesali114 March 5 (Reuters) - Russia's flagship carrier Aeroflot will stop all flights abroad with the exception of those to Belarus from March 8, the TASS news agency quoted the company as saying on Saturday.
One assumes that they're cutting down on flights so they can keep operating internal services for longer before they run out of spare parts for the aircraft? After that they'll be back to relying on trains to get around.
Yes, that seems right, but I think there may be other reasons as well,
1) To stop/reduce the risk of the planes being repossessed by the leasing companies that own them who are no longer being paid.
2) To stop/reduces the 'Brain Drain' of mostly young/fit educated/liberal/metropolitan. who are now looking to get out of Russia because lots of reasons related to war/conscription/sanctions and just embarrassment at Russia.
(1) is a good point; (2) may be of limited effect so long as Russia doesn't impose exit visa requirements. A number of foreign carriers are still operating out of Russian airports, and the land borders are available. Tales in the media of packed flights headed to Istanbul, Yerevan and Tbilisi, and full trains and a steady stream of road traffic crossing into Finland.
Putin May also see some benefit in delaying the return of any Russian who has been oversees for the last week, maybe on holiday, and whatchng western news, from coming back to Russia and telling friends/family what is really happening.
Afternoon all and on topic: Eurovision has a special place in my betting history. In 1996, I was just discovering spread betting and my debut trade was a buy of our entry that year, a number by Gina G called "Ooh Aah Just a Little Bit". I did it because I thought the song – and the performance of it by the charismatic Gina – was a knockout. Certainly a cut above standard Eurovision fare. And I was absolutely right about that. The song is now generally acknowledged by experts in the field as one of the best of its type.
But I was also dead wrong. It came nowhere (so I lost money) because with the Song Contest geopolitical factors dominate and we were on the short side of them back then. This changed the following year, of course, with the Blair landslide transforming everything and enabling us to not only challenge at Eurovision but win it with Katrina and the Waves, however this was no help in 1996. I made a bad bet, heart over head, no research, no due diligence, and it taught me a lesson that I have never forgotten and to this day informs how I approach my betting.
So to Q’s tips here. I usually agree with him but here I don’t. In the circumstances I think Ukraine are more likely to win than not. They should therefore be odds on and are value at 2/1. As for the UK, I’m not tempted to lay at 20/1. I get the logic – I see how it’s a professional sell – but I wouldn’t risk it myself. The rumour of ‘big name’ sounds credible to me. We’re sick of being humiliated in this and I sense there could be a mammoth effort this year to change the ballgame.
Eg the Gallagher brothers might fancy it. Imagine if that news breaks – Oasis to reform for Eurovision with a stonking new Noel penned anthem – and you’re sat there with a grand of exposure to a piddly £50. No thank you. Or, perhaps more likely in the light of *yesterday’s* Glasto news … yes yes, I know, but if it happens you don’t want to be short at 20s, do you?
Visegrád 24 @visegrad24 · 1h Temperatures are to drop to -20 degrees in Ukraine.
Very cold temperatures will spread across western Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland.
The worst cold is forecast to overspread Ukraine and western Russia from the mid-next week into the weekend.
How will it impact the war?
Out of fuel, with dead batteries, it is going to be bloody cold in that long convoy.... Once frozen, that mud they are in will act like concrete.
Even the Ukrainian farmers are going to find it tough to move them.
It is simple things like fresh water, food and shelter that the Russians are going to really struggle with. At -20 the steppe is harsh and unforgiving of even minor errors of judgment. Expect growing numbers of dead and hospitalisations due to exposure. Malnutrition, weakness and disease inevitably follow. We are about to witness how well planned this invasion is. The signs thus far are that the Russians have failed in areas like basic training.
Doesn't diesel freeze at -20?
When I was knee high to a grasshopper, my dad had an urgent job on in which he needed a load of diggers/dumpers/kit. Sadly it had snowed heavily overnight, so we went out before dawn to dig them out (using diggers) and get them ready for the men. One wouldn't start, so he made me light a little fire under the sump to (I think) desludgify the sump oil and warm up the engine.
I've still no idea if that was real thing, whether he was joshing with me, or he wanted to keep me warm and beside a fire....
Definitely a thing. I can remember lorry drivers lighting fires to defrost diesel one very cold winter in the 80s. It was shown on the TV news several times.
Edit: Just looked it up. 10 January 1982, -26.1C in Newport Shropshire, -27.2C in Braemar.
I was in North Wales and remember that cold snap well. Somebody on the TV demonstrated that you could take a pan of boiling water, throw it in the air and it would come down as slivers of ice.
Good article on the Ukrainian SOF, Extracts below:
"IRPIN, Ukraine—Every day for the past week, Russian forces have tried to fight their way through this suburb of Kyiv to reach the Ukrainian capital. And every day, Ukrainian troops have forced them to retreat, leaving burning tanks and armored personnel carriers behind.
“We go out to hunt and destroy them,” said Volodymyr, a Ukrainian special-forces team leader, as his squad, armed with a British .308 sniper rifle and British-made antitank weapons, waited for the latest Russian attack. “They certainly didn’t come here expecting that, expecting that we know how to fight.”
“We’re in shock at how dumb their behavior is,” said another member of the Ukrainian special-forces unit who has been going on missions in the area every night. His unit, he said, had lost two soldiers since the war began nine days ago, and killed more than 60 Russians in recent days. “Now, we mostly focus on hitting their rear, their supply convoys, because if they don’t get fuel, they can’t do anything.”
Morale among Ukrainian defenders was high in Irpin on Friday, even as a Russian attack airplane flew low over a housing block and sounds of artillery rounds landing got closer and closer. Big plumes of black smoke rose to the north and south of town, along other major routes where Russian forces have been trying for more than a week to break into Kyiv.
Cloud cover has hampered Russia’s use of combat helicopters, soldiers here said. But to be prepared in case enemy choppers or attack planes approached, one of the soldiers took a position with a portable antiaircraft missile on his shoulder. Troops here say they operate their own small drones, including some with thermal cameras, to hunt for Russian targets."
Seems like the Ukrainian special forces have been worth their weight in gold, and more.
Its like they have been well trained by somebody.....
I read an article couple of days ago which said it isn't just against the cannon folder they have been fighting extremely well against, they have kept Russian VDV at bay.
Afternoon all and on topic: Eurovision has a special place in my betting history. In 1996, I was just discovering spread betting and my debut trade was a buy of our entry that year, a number by Gina G called "Ooh Aah Just a Little Bit". I did it because I thought the song – and the performance of it by the charismatic Gina – was a knockout. Certainly a cut above standard Eurovision fare. And I was absolutely right about that. The song is now generally acknowledged by experts in the field as one of the best of its type.
But I was also dead wrong. It came nowhere (so I lost money) because with the Song Contest geopolitical factors dominate and we were on the short side of them back then. This changed the following year, of course, with the Blair landslide transforming everything and enabling us to not only challenge at Eurovision but win it with Katrina and the Waves, however this was no help in 1996. I made a bad bet, heart over head, no research, no due diligence, and it taught me a lesson that I have never forgotten and to this day informs how I approach my betting.
So to Q’s tips here. I usually agree with him but here I don’t. In the circumstances I think Ukraine are more likely to win than not. They should therefore be odds on and are value at 2/1. As for the UK, I’m not tempted to lay at 20/1. I get the logic – I see how it’s a professional sell – but I wouldn’t risk it myself. The rumour of ‘big name’ sounds credible to me. We’re sick of being humiliated in this and I sense there could be a mammoth effort this year to change the ballgame.
Eg the Gallagher brothers might fancy it. Imagine if that news breaks – Oasis to reform for Eurovision with a stonking new Noel penned anthem – and you’re sat there with a grand of exposure to a piddly £50. No thank you. Or, perhaps more likely in the light of *yesterday’s* Glasto news … yes yes, I know, but if it happens you don’t want to be short at 20s, do you?
when Democrats are in power the economy booms, things get better. With GOP, not so much.
Since 1989 43m jobs have been created in US 41m - 95% - have come under D Presidents.
Rather ignores the effect of lags etc but yes, its interesting. One of the many brilliant observations of the late PJ O'Rourke was that the Republican party is a party that doesn't belive that government works. And then they get elected and prove it.
Afternoon all and on topic: Eurovision has a special place in my betting history. In 1996, I was just discovering spread betting and my debut trade was a buy of our entry that year, a number by Gina G called "Ooh Aah Just a Little Bit". I did it because I thought the song – and the performance of it by the charismatic Gina – was a knockout. Certainly a cut above standard Eurovision fare. And I was absolutely right about that. The song is now generally acknowledged by experts in the field as one of the best of its type.
But I was also dead wrong. It came nowhere (so I lost money) because with the Song Contest geopolitical factors dominate and we were on the short side of them back then. This changed the following year, of course, with the Blair landslide transforming everything and enabling us to not only challenge at Eurovision but win it with Katrina and the Waves, however this was no help in 1996. I made a bad bet, heart over head, no research, no due diligence, and it taught me a lesson that I have never forgotten and to this day informs how I approach my betting.
So to Q’s tips here. I usually agree with him but here I don’t. In the circumstances I think Ukraine are more likely to win than not. They should therefore be odds on and are value at 2/1. As for the UK, I’m not tempted to lay at 20/1. I get the logic – I see how it’s a professional sell – but I wouldn’t risk it myself. The rumour of ‘big name’ sounds credible to me. We’re sick of being humiliated in this and I sense there could be a mammoth effort this year to change the ballgame.
Eg the Gallagher brothers might fancy it. Imagine if that news breaks – Oasis to reform for Eurovision with a stonking new Noel penned anthem – and you’re sat there with a grand of exposure to a piddly £50. No thank you. Or, perhaps more likely in the light of *yesterday’s* Glasto news … yes yes, I know, but if it happens you don’t want to be short at 20s, do you?
Gina was drawn in slot 2, which is a notoriously bad slot in Eurovision.
And that kind of song isn’t very Eurovision.
Disagree there. 'Ooh Aah Just a Little Bit' was the kind of song that should have stormed Eurovision. Unfortunately the entries have to be sung live and no one realized till the last minute that Gina, who had hitherto lip-synced all her performances, was completely tone deaf.
Could this war be Russia's Suez - i.e force it to abandon its great power pretensions? Unlike the UK they have the resources to rebuild themselves but it might take a generation.
Could this war be Russia's Suez - i.e force it to abandon its great power pretensions? Unlike the UK they have the resources to rebuild themselves but it might take a generation.
Would need China to put Russia in their place. Don’t count on it.
Lots of people out in the city centre this morning collecting for Ukraine. I gave to the Red Cross but I also frankly felt a bit ashamed I am not doing more.
These people are heroic, fighting against terrible odds with passion and remarkable self belief. God save them because the west hasn't.
Of the abstainers at the UN do we know how many Macron has managed to turn in recent days? Surely a worsening conflict and indiscriminate targeting of civilians ought to be focusing minds.
Afternoon all and on topic: Eurovision has a special place in my betting history. In 1996, I was just discovering spread betting and my debut trade was a buy of our entry that year, a number by Gina G called "Ooh Aah Just a Little Bit". I did it because I thought the song – and the performance of it by the charismatic Gina – was a knockout. Certainly a cut above standard Eurovision fare. And I was absolutely right about that. The song is now generally acknowledged by experts in the field as one of the best of its type.
But I was also dead wrong. It came nowhere (so I lost money) because with the Song Contest geopolitical factors dominate and we were on the short side of them back then. This changed the following year, of course, with the Blair landslide transforming everything and enabling us to not only challenge at Eurovision but win it with Katrina and the Waves, however this was no help in 1996. I made a bad bet, heart over head, no research, no due diligence, and it taught me a lesson that I have never forgotten and to this day informs how I approach my betting.
So to Q’s tips here. I usually agree with him but here I don’t. In the circumstances I think Ukraine are more likely to win than not. They should therefore be odds on and are value at 2/1. As for the UK, I’m not tempted to lay at 20/1. I get the logic – I see how it’s a professional sell – but I wouldn’t risk it myself. The rumour of ‘big name’ sounds credible to me. We’re sick of being humiliated in this and I sense there could be a mammoth effort this year to change the ballgame.
Eg the Gallagher brothers might fancy it. Imagine if that news breaks – Oasis to reform for Eurovision with a stonking new Noel penned anthem – and you’re sat there with a grand of exposure to a piddly £50. No thank you. Or, perhaps more likely in the light of *yesterday’s* Glasto news … yes yes, I know, but if it happens you don’t want to be short at 20s, do you?
If I was a British big name I'd be thinking of backing out to try next year instead. There's now no upside. There are three possible outcomes: (1) you win, by being the party-pooper who denied Ukraine, (2) you're steamrollered by the Ukraine sympathy vote, (3) you don't even do that well.
I knew a guy called Ieuan whom people occasionally called Joan.
Not often though!
A friend registering their son’s birth in France was horrified to discover they had spelled “John” “Jean”…….
One of our little 'un's middle name has a non-Latin character in it. A dotted capital I.
That amused the registrar, but she put it on the birth certificate. We sometimes wonder if it'll ever cause him any problems later in life when people search for a capital I, not realising about the dot ...
My real first name is very, very unusual. Rarely, indeed only once, interpreted as female, but frequently as a surname. I'm used to it, and there's usually a resigned smile and a chuckle, but I did get cross when someone in a hospital argued with me about it.
I have never encountered anyone with the same first name as mine, spelt as it is, as it is usually a surname. I'd be a very rich woman indeed if I had received a £ for every time it or my equally unusual surname was mispronounced, garbled or misspelt.
Enjoy the lakes -Re names my Uncles (from Walney) were called Hardie and Caton. -both great first names though both originally surnames.
Surnames as first names is rampant in America: Carter, Taylor, Mason and so on.
My own name is unusual and generally mispronounced and misspelled, even on my passport.
It used to be quite common in Yorkshire. My junior school headmaster was called Beaumont and my great grandfather was Fenton.
"So Putin is now on TV explaining his justifications for the invasion of Ukraine to a room full of Russian trainee air stewardesses... Bizarre…"
Big table still there, but no social distancing. Presumably quarantined them and this is meant to show that he's not scared to be around people?
.
It does seem oddly out of keeping with his recent appearances, and Zelensky did make a mocking reference about meeting him but not as far apart as Macron. I'd believe that was the intent.
Visegrád 24 @visegrad24 · 1h Temperatures are to drop to -20 degrees in Ukraine.
Very cold temperatures will spread across western Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland.
The worst cold is forecast to overspread Ukraine and western Russia from the mid-next week into the weekend.
How will it impact the war?
Out of fuel, with dead batteries, it is going to be bloody cold in that long convoy.... Once frozen, that mud they are in will act like concrete.
Even the Ukrainian farmers are going to find it tough to move them.
It is simple things like fresh water, food and shelter that the Russians are going to really struggle with. At -20 the steppe is harsh and unforgiving of even minor errors of judgment. Expect growing numbers of dead and hospitalisations due to exposure. Malnutrition, weakness and disease inevitably follow. We are about to witness how well planned this invasion is. The signs thus far are that the Russians have failed in areas like basic training.
Doesn't diesel freeze at -20?
When I was knee high to a grasshopper, my dad had an urgent job on in which he needed a load of diggers/dumpers/kit. Sadly it had snowed heavily overnight, so we went out before dawn to dig them out (using diggers) and get them ready for the men. One wouldn't start, so he made me light a little fire under the sump to (I think) desludgify the sump oil and warm up the engine.
I've still no idea if that was real thing, whether he was joshing with me, or he wanted to keep me warm and beside a fire....
I'm sure I read that there was a lot of that sort of thing required on the Eastern Front in WWII.
download the Psiphon app from the AppStore or Google Play Store look for the dedicated BBC site on the Tor Browser which can be found using this URL. Note that this URL only works using the Tor Browser or the Onion Browser (on iPhones) if access to the apps is restricted then send a blank email to get@psiphon3.com or gettor@torproject.org. An email will be sent in response with a direct and safe download link The BBC has also launched two new shortwave frequencies broadcasting World Service English news for four hours a day to Ukraine and parts of Russia:
15735 kHz from 14:00 GMT to 16:00 GMT 5875 kHz from 20:00 GMT to 22:00 GMT"
Theres supposedly 66k + Ukrainian men who have returned, that will make a difference.
I think the foreign fighters coming to Ukraine is more of a propoganda thing. I've got serious doubts about the practicalities of this. For instance, there is a video on Sky news of a 60 year old guy turning up at the Ukrainian embassy in London who appears to be expecting a bus to be laid on. He was complaining that they didn't answer their phone after office hours.
Could this war be Russia's Suez - i.e force it to abandon its great power pretensions? Unlike the UK they have the resources to rebuild themselves but it might take a generation.
To those telling themselves, and each other, differently: Putin has won this. He has made the west cower from him militarily whilst he expands Greater Russia by crushing a civilised nation.
Margaret Thatcher would have stood up to him.
What did she do about Russia invading Afghanistan, and Vietnam invading Cambodia? Apart from arming the Taliban and Khymer Rouge? What did she do about the Soviets crushing the Solidarity movement in Poland?
Maggie lives on as the PB Tory fantasy, willing to do anything in their fevered dreams.
Thatcher was emblematic of a more powerful and confident country.
In much the same way Soviet Union was emblematic of a more powerful and confident country?
If anyone wants their country great again, you can’t. The worlds moved on. It’s too small now for that delusions of grandeur.
The problem is, I think, the gap between their pretensions and the reality.
I think that Putin's desperation is that he now lives in a world were, thanks to NATO, Estonia is a *greater* country than Russia. If Russia goes to war with Estonia - it might well lose......
It certainly doesn't live in abject fear of Russia, the way it should, in Greater Russian Nationalist world...
Theres supposedly 66k + Ukrainian men who have returned, that will make a difference.
I think the foreign fighters coming to Ukraine is more of a propoganda thing. I've got serious doubts about the practicalities of this. For instance, there is a video on Sky news of a 60 year old guy turning up at the Ukrainian embassy in London who appears to be expecting a bus to be laid on. He was complaining that they didn't answer their phone after office hours.
Also the last thing you want in a war is having some CoD player wannabe who doesn't even speak the language, screaming SPEAK ENGGGGGGLISH.....ENGGGGLISH....
Cogent Communications will pull the plug on its connectivity to customers in Russia in response to President Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
The US-based biz is one of the planet's largest internet backbones – the freeways of the internet – and says it carries roughly a quarter of global 'net traffic.
Its clients range from small businesses to mobile carriers and broadband ISPs. Cogent's role is to pipe hundreds of terabits of your internet data around the world every second. Russian state-owned Rostelecom is among the dozens of customers Cogent has in the country.
On Friday, CEO David Schaeffer told Reuters his corporation will gradually withdraw internet service from those clients. Some customers asked to be excluded from the crackdown, and may be granted continued access.
This termination of service will force those axed clients to seek other sources of network capacity. As a knock-on effect, Russian netizens could experience slower or interrupted internet connections as their ISPs and carriers react to the news. If more backbones follow in Cogent's steps, Russia will be increasingly cut off from the global internet.
Which would make President Putin's attempt to censor the web a lot easier.
Cogent Communications will pull the plug on its connectivity to customers in Russia in response to President Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
The US-based biz is one of the planet's largest internet backbones – the freeways of the internet – and says it carries roughly a quarter of global 'net traffic.
Its clients range from small businesses to mobile carriers and broadband ISPs. Cogent's role is to pipe hundreds of terabits of your internet data around the world every second. Russian state-owned Rostelecom is among the dozens of customers Cogent has in the country.
On Friday, CEO David Schaeffer told Reuters his corporation will gradually withdraw internet service from those clients. Some customers asked to be excluded from the crackdown, and may be granted continued access.
This termination of service will force those axed clients to seek other sources of network capacity. As a knock-on effect, Russian netizens could experience slower or interrupted internet connections as their ISPs and carriers react to the news. If more backbones follow in Cogent's steps, Russia will be increasingly cut off from the global internet.
Which would make President Putin's attempt to censor the web a lot easier.
Seems a long time ago since posters on here were suggesting that the UFOs that could evade US surveillance systems were secret Russian technology.
The Corridor Crew (who are VFX artists) debunked basically all those videos. Not as VFX or fakery, but fairly simple tricks of the eye / camera. Sorry Leon.
Cogent Communications will pull the plug on its connectivity to customers in Russia in response to President Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
The US-based biz is one of the planet's largest internet backbones – the freeways of the internet – and says it carries roughly a quarter of global 'net traffic.
Its clients range from small businesses to mobile carriers and broadband ISPs. Cogent's role is to pipe hundreds of terabits of your internet data around the world every second. Russian state-owned Rostelecom is among the dozens of customers Cogent has in the country.
On Friday, CEO David Schaeffer told Reuters his corporation will gradually withdraw internet service from those clients. Some customers asked to be excluded from the crackdown, and may be granted continued access.
This termination of service will force those axed clients to seek other sources of network capacity. As a knock-on effect, Russian netizens could experience slower or interrupted internet connections as their ISPs and carriers react to the news. If more backbones follow in Cogent's steps, Russia will be increasingly cut off from the global internet.
Which would make President Putin's attempt to censor the web a lot easier.
Putin was winning the war, until his people could not download porn....
For some reason Chrome thought I’d be interested in this article.
Ukrainian and Russian Pornhub Performers Protest the War
Ukrainians are posting videos of the Russian invasion to Pornhub, while Russians are using one of the last online spaces they have to speak against the war.
I knew a guy called Ieuan whom people occasionally called Joan.
Not often though!
A friend registering their son’s birth in France was horrified to discover they had spelled “John” “Jean”…….
One of our little 'un's middle name has a non-Latin character in it. A dotted capital I.
That amused the registrar, but she put it on the birth certificate. We sometimes wonder if it'll ever cause him any problems later in life when people search for a capital I, not realising about the dot ...
My real first name is very, very unusual. Rarely, indeed only once, interpreted as female, but frequently as a surname. I'm used to it, and there's usually a resigned smile and a chuckle, but I did get cross when someone in a hospital argued with me about it.
I have never encountered anyone with the same first name as mine, spelt as it is, as it is usually a surname. I'd be a very rich woman indeed if I had received a £ for every time it or my equally unusual surname was mispronounced, garbled or misspelt.
Enjoy the lakes -Re names my Uncles (from Walney) were called Hardie and Caton. -both great first names though both originally surnames.
Surnames as first names is rampant in America: Carter, Taylor, Mason and so on.
My own name is unusual and generally mispronounced and misspelled, even on my passport.
It used to be quite common in Yorkshire. My junior school headmaster was called Beaumont and my great grandfather was Fenton.
My father had three family surnames to add to his own - I was lucky to get just one of them plus my actual surname. Beena talking point my entire life.
Cogent Communications will pull the plug on its connectivity to customers in Russia in response to President Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
The US-based biz is one of the planet's largest internet backbones – the freeways of the internet – and says it carries roughly a quarter of global 'net traffic.
Its clients range from small businesses to mobile carriers and broadband ISPs. Cogent's role is to pipe hundreds of terabits of your internet data around the world every second. Russian state-owned Rostelecom is among the dozens of customers Cogent has in the country.
On Friday, CEO David Schaeffer told Reuters his corporation will gradually withdraw internet service from those clients. Some customers asked to be excluded from the crackdown, and may be granted continued access.
This termination of service will force those axed clients to seek other sources of network capacity. As a knock-on effect, Russian netizens could experience slower or interrupted internet connections as their ISPs and carriers react to the news. If more backbones follow in Cogent's steps, Russia will be increasingly cut off from the global internet.
Which would make President Putin's attempt to censor the web a lot easier.
Cogent Communications will pull the plug on its connectivity to customers in Russia in response to President Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
The US-based biz is one of the planet's largest internet backbones – the freeways of the internet – and says it carries roughly a quarter of global 'net traffic.
Its clients range from small businesses to mobile carriers and broadband ISPs. Cogent's role is to pipe hundreds of terabits of your internet data around the world every second. Russian state-owned Rostelecom is among the dozens of customers Cogent has in the country.
On Friday, CEO David Schaeffer told Reuters his corporation will gradually withdraw internet service from those clients. Some customers asked to be excluded from the crackdown, and may be granted continued access.
This termination of service will force those axed clients to seek other sources of network capacity. As a knock-on effect, Russian netizens could experience slower or interrupted internet connections as their ISPs and carriers react to the news. If more backbones follow in Cogent's steps, Russia will be increasingly cut off from the global internet.
Which would make President Putin's attempt to censor the web a lot easier.
Yep - Russia will eventual end up with an separate self contained internet with very limited access to data from the rest of the world
A couple of days ago, the editor of RT said that allowing foreign news channels was like allowing a foriegn army onto their soil to fire at them. Quite a revealing comment about how she saw the role of RT.
Putin’s taken Kyiv, capturing two million Ukrainians.
It’s okay, says Putin, this is a peace keeping operation, we came to free you. you can all live. I only want Zelenskyy.
I am Zelenskyy, someone calls. No I am Zelenskyy, someone else calls. I’m Zelenskyy. No. I’m Zelenskyy. I’m Zelenskyy. I’m Zelenskyy. I’m Zelenskyy I’m Zelenskyy I’m Zelenskyy….
That would look good in a film, somebody should make it!
The end of that, not so good. The Romans adopted the simple fix for that problem.
'cept the Russians would run out of wood supplies after they'd nailed half a dozen up.....
The Romans must have had some pretty awesome logistics, for their time. The Roman army seems to have been a band of very aggressive builders, much of the time...
Cogent Communications will pull the plug on its connectivity to customers in Russia in response to President Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
The US-based biz is one of the planet's largest internet backbones – the freeways of the internet – and says it carries roughly a quarter of global 'net traffic.
Its clients range from small businesses to mobile carriers and broadband ISPs. Cogent's role is to pipe hundreds of terabits of your internet data around the world every second. Russian state-owned Rostelecom is among the dozens of customers Cogent has in the country.
On Friday, CEO David Schaeffer told Reuters his corporation will gradually withdraw internet service from those clients. Some customers asked to be excluded from the crackdown, and may be granted continued access.
This termination of service will force those axed clients to seek other sources of network capacity. As a knock-on effect, Russian netizens could experience slower or interrupted internet connections as their ISPs and carriers react to the news. If more backbones follow in Cogent's steps, Russia will be increasingly cut off from the global internet.
Which would make President Putin's attempt to censor the web a lot easier.
Putin was winning the war, until his people could not download porn....
For some reason Chrome thought I’d be interested in this article.
Ukrainian and Russian Pornhub Performers Protest the War
Ukrainians are posting videos of the Russian invasion to Pornhub, while Russians are using one of the last online spaces they have to speak against the war.
OT but while we are wondering about Putin's health...
Ten months after attempts first began to extract the medical information of 55 million citizens in England, NHS Digital's former chairman is warning the merger of the agency with NHS England threatens the privacy of people's personal data. https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/04/nhs_digital_privacy_bmj_article/
Putin’s taken Kyiv, capturing two million Ukrainians.
It’s okay, says Putin, this is a peace keeping operation, we came to free you. you can all live. I only want Zelenskyy.
I am Zelenskyy, someone calls. No I am Zelenskyy, someone else calls. I’m Zelenskyy. No. I’m Zelenskyy. I’m Zelenskyy. I’m Zelenskyy. I’m Zelenskyy I’m Zelenskyy I’m Zelenskyy….
That would look good in a film, somebody should make it!
The end of that, not so good. The Romans adopted the simple fix for that problem.
'cept the Russians would run out of wood supplies after they'd nailed half a dozen up.....
The Romans must have had some pretty awesome logistics, for their time. The Roman army seems to have been a band of very aggressive builders, much of the time...
I've always been impressed with the Normans. They brought flat-pack castles with them, to hold the territory they gained.
Visegrád 24 @visegrad24 · 1h Temperatures are to drop to -20 degrees in Ukraine.
Very cold temperatures will spread across western Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland.
The worst cold is forecast to overspread Ukraine and western Russia from the mid-next week into the weekend.
How will it impact the war?
Out of fuel, with dead batteries, it is going to be bloody cold in that long convoy.... Once frozen, that mud they are in will act like concrete.
Even the Ukrainian farmers are going to find it tough to move them.
It is simple things like fresh water, food and shelter that the Russians are going to really struggle with. At -20 the steppe is harsh and unforgiving of even minor errors of judgment. Expect growing numbers of dead and hospitalisations due to exposure. Malnutrition, weakness and disease inevitably follow. We are about to witness how well planned this invasion is. The signs thus far are that the Russians have failed in areas like basic training.
As someone else posted a few days ago, it would be bitterly ironic if the Russians were stopped by winter.
Maybe Ukraine is part of Russia...
...and Putin is making the classic blunder of making a land invasion into Russia.
Putin’s taken Kyiv, capturing two million Ukrainians.
It’s okay, says Putin, this is a peace keeping operation, we came to free you. you can all live. I only want Zelenskyy.
I am Zelenskyy, someone calls. No I am Zelenskyy, someone else calls. I’m Zelenskyy. No. I’m Zelenskyy. I’m Zelenskyy. I’m Zelenskyy. I’m Zelenskyy I’m Zelenskyy I’m Zelenskyy….
That would look good in a film, somebody should make it!
The end of that, not so good. The Romans adopted the simple fix for that problem.
'cept the Russians would run out of wood supplies after they'd nailed half a dozen up.....
The Romans must have had some pretty awesome logistics, for their time. The Roman army seems to have been a band of very aggressive builders, much of the time...
I don't know if I got the link from PB, but here's a route planner for ye olde Roman days.
It's interesting to see how much they favoured sea routes; London to Rome fastest by sea, with only a short land journey across southern France, taking a month.
For all we talk about Roman roads, the sea must have been very useful to them.
Putin’s taken Kyiv, capturing two million Ukrainians.
It’s okay, says Putin, this is a peace keeping operation, we came to free you. you can all live. I only want Zelenskyy.
I am Zelenskyy, someone calls. No I am Zelenskyy, someone else calls. I’m Zelenskyy. No. I’m Zelenskyy. I’m Zelenskyy. I’m Zelenskyy. I’m Zelenskyy I’m Zelenskyy I’m Zelenskyy….
That would look good in a film, somebody should make it!
The end of that, not so good. The Romans adopted the simple fix for that problem.
'cept the Russians would run out of wood supplies after they'd nailed half a dozen up.....
The Romans must have had some pretty awesome logistics, for their time. The Roman army seems to have been a band of very aggressive builders, much of the time...
I've always been impressed with the Normans. They brought flat-pack castles with them, to hold the territory they gained.
It would make a great name for a tradesman. Imagine painting that on the side of your van. "Norman Castle, Painter and Decorator..."
Turns out when you don't bribe people directly (because you can't) they find a way to get the money another way (at vastly greater cost).
It is a useful lesson - when you see an operation that loses money, year after year, but carries on. Why?
Always check out the contractors that company is using, who controls them and do they control the "main" company?
There is a certain British entrepreneur who has had considerable success with this plan - the on shore company carries his brand, but the real money is made by the suppliers to the company. Who are largely off-shore, for tax...
Cogent Communications will pull the plug on its connectivity to customers in Russia in response to President Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
The US-based biz is one of the planet's largest internet backbones – the freeways of the internet – and says it carries roughly a quarter of global 'net traffic.
Its clients range from small businesses to mobile carriers and broadband ISPs. Cogent's role is to pipe hundreds of terabits of your internet data around the world every second. Russian state-owned Rostelecom is among the dozens of customers Cogent has in the country.
On Friday, CEO David Schaeffer told Reuters his corporation will gradually withdraw internet service from those clients. Some customers asked to be excluded from the crackdown, and may be granted continued access.
This termination of service will force those axed clients to seek other sources of network capacity. As a knock-on effect, Russian netizens could experience slower or interrupted internet connections as their ISPs and carriers react to the news. If more backbones follow in Cogent's steps, Russia will be increasingly cut off from the global internet.
Which would make President Putin's attempt to censor the web a lot easier.
Putin was winning the war, until his people could not download porn....
For some reason Chrome thought I’d be interested in this article.
Ukrainian and Russian Pornhub Performers Protest the War
Ukrainians are posting videos of the Russian invasion to Pornhub, while Russians are using one of the last online spaces they have to speak against the war.
I'm wondering if the majority of Porn Websites could make themselves unavailable in Russia with out a VPN, could that prompt a lot of Russian users to get a VPN. getting a VPN allows them to appear to be outside Russia, and there for access video of there Step-Mums doing there thing, but would also allow them to look at BBC PB and other sites outside Russia?
I think this may be a better tactic that, simply cutting off Russia from the internet, at this time.
Mr. Jessop, turning the Mediterranean into a pond was very useful for Rome.
When the West fell, economic dislocation between the various bits saw substantial retardation in economic power and living standards (Great Britain being most affected).
Turns out when you don't bribe people directly (because you can't) they find a way to get the money another way (at vastly greater cost).
It is a useful lesson - when you see an operation that loses money, year after year, but carries on. Why?
Always check out the contractors that company is using, who controls them and do they control the "main" company?
There is a certain British entrepreneur who has had considerable success with this plan - the on shore company carries his brand, but the real money is made by the suppliers to the company. Who are largely off-shore, for tax...
Evelyn is a name used for both men and women. One is pronounced Evelyn and the other is pronounced Evelyn.
On a safari in Zambia in a very remote camp in South Luangwa I encountered the local leopard quite a lot. He kind of sauntered around the bush, uncaring of humans, taking down the odd deer, and looking like he might, at any moment, stop at a cafe to read The Spectator and drink a glass of Pouilly Fusse over ice
We christened him Evelyn and it was the perfect name. All leopards are Evelyns. Simultaneously epicene and suave
Turns out when you don't bribe people directly (because you can't) they find a way to get the money another way (at vastly greater cost).
The quote "There are ofc purely Russian projects with no Western investors/contractors. They just don't work and remain on paper" makes me wonder about their military high-tech projects. That tweet says it is the case for oil and gas. We know it is the case for space and rockets. It seems possible that military equipment suffers from the same malaise.
Have a lot of the very good, cutting-edge pieces of military kit they have be very few in number, and high on the bathtub curve?
I find this very sad. The crew on the helicopter stood absolutely no chance. Yes, they shouldn't be there, but you probably just saw two or three people die.
Yet... yet I want their side to lose.
Russian soldiers are also victims of the war. Doubly so as they are not even fighting for a just cause.
Indeed. This monumental blunder by Putin is horrible for the average Russian, and will be fatal for many
My fear is that the humiliation of Russia, which is becoming profound and intense, will be of such magnitude Putin will launch nukes just because. Anything but this excruciating disgrace
Putin’s taken Kyiv, capturing two million Ukrainians.
It’s okay, says Putin, this is a peace keeping operation, we came to free you. you can all live. I only want Zelenskyy.
I am Zelenskyy, someone calls. No I am Zelenskyy, someone else calls. I’m Zelenskyy. No. I’m Zelenskyy. I’m Zelenskyy. I’m Zelenskyy. I’m Zelenskyy I’m Zelenskyy I’m Zelenskyy….
That would look good in a film, somebody should make it!
The end of that, not so good. The Romans adopted the simple fix for that problem.
'cept the Russians would run out of wood supplies after they'd nailed half a dozen up.....
The Romans must have had some pretty awesome logistics, for their time. The Roman army seems to have been a band of very aggressive builders, much of the time...
I don't know if I got the link from PB, but here's a route planner for ye olde Roman days.
It's interesting to see how much they favoured sea routes; London to Rome fastest by sea, with only a short land journey across southern France, taking a month.
For all we talk about Roman roads, the sea must have been very useful to them.
There's a reason that major cities were nearly all ports...
People are *still* startled by how little it costs to send things by sea.
Comments
One assumes that they're cutting down on flights so they can keep operating internal services for longer before they run out of spare parts for the aircraft? After that they'll be back to relying on trains to get around.
The majority of folk aren't instinctively opposed to refugees per se.
Non-white ones more so.
Ones where a tiny percentage might wish us harm even more so.
That's more that I thought, but will take time for them to get there (if the number is accurate)
Will it make a difference?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzFtsLL_Uqk
My own name is unusual and generally mispronounced and misspelled, even on my passport.
https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/1500085465214500865
Similar action reported from the LNG terminal in Kent yesterday. AIUI UK government sanctions against Russian owned vessels do not extend to Russian cargoes on ships registered in third countries. However, it looks like eagle-eyed workers in the ports are enforcing an embargo of their own, by refusing to unload them.
1) To stop/reduce the risk of the planes being repossessed by the leasing companies that own them who are no longer being paid.
2) To stop/reduces the 'Brain Drain' of mostly young/fit educated/liberal/metropolitan. who are now looking to get out of Russia because lots of reasons related to war/conscription/sanctions and just embarrassment at Russia.
Edit: Just looked it up. 10 January 1982, -26.1C in Newport Shropshire, -27.2C in Braemar.
https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/uk-climate-extremes
Good article on the Ukrainian SOF, Extracts below:
"IRPIN, Ukraine—Every day for the past week, Russian forces have tried to fight their way through this suburb of Kyiv to reach the Ukrainian capital. And every day, Ukrainian troops have forced them to retreat, leaving burning tanks and armored personnel carriers behind.
“We go out to hunt and destroy them,” said Volodymyr, a Ukrainian special-forces team leader, as his squad, armed with a British .308 sniper rifle and British-made antitank weapons, waited for the latest Russian attack. “They certainly didn’t come here expecting that, expecting that we know how to fight.”
“We’re in shock at how dumb their behavior is,” said another member of the Ukrainian special-forces unit who has been going on missions in the area every night. His unit, he said, had lost two soldiers since the war began nine days ago, and killed more than 60 Russians in recent days. “Now, we mostly focus on hitting their rear, their supply convoys, because if they don’t get fuel, they can’t do anything.”
Morale among Ukrainian defenders was high in Irpin on Friday, even as a Russian attack airplane flew low over a housing block and sounds of artillery rounds landing got closer and closer. Big plumes of black smoke rose to the north and south of town, along other major routes where Russian forces have been trying for more than a week to break into Kyiv.
Cloud cover has hampered Russia’s use of combat helicopters, soldiers here said. But to be prepared in case enemy choppers or attack planes approached, one of the soldiers took a position with a portable antiaircraft missile on his shoulder. Troops here say they operate their own small drones, including some with thermal cameras, to hunt for Russian targets."
Seems like the Ukrainian special forces have been worth their weight in gold, and more.
If anyone wants their country great again, you can’t. The worlds moved on. It’s too small now for that delusions of grandeur.
I think UK winter Diesel additive is good to -20
https://twitter.com/SimonWDC/status/1500089251588935684
when Democrats are in power the economy booms, things get better. With GOP, not so much.
Since 1989 43m jobs have been created in US 41m - 95% - have come under D Presidents.
But I was also dead wrong. It came nowhere (so I lost money) because with the Song Contest geopolitical factors dominate and we were on the short side of them back then. This changed the following year, of course, with the Blair landslide transforming everything and enabling us to not only challenge at Eurovision but win it with Katrina and the Waves, however this was no help in 1996. I made a bad bet, heart over head, no research, no due diligence, and it taught me a lesson that I have never forgotten and to this day informs how I approach my betting.
So to Q’s tips here. I usually agree with him but here I don’t. In the circumstances I think Ukraine are more likely to win than not. They should therefore be odds on and are value at 2/1. As for the UK, I’m not tempted to lay at 20/1. I get the logic – I see how it’s a professional sell – but I wouldn’t risk it myself. The rumour of ‘big name’ sounds credible to me. We’re sick of being humiliated in this and I sense there could be a mammoth effort this year to change the ballgame.
Eg the Gallagher brothers might fancy it. Imagine if that news breaks – Oasis to reform for Eurovision with a stonking new Noel penned anthem – and you’re sat there with a grand of exposure to a piddly £50. No thank you. Or, perhaps more likely in the light of *yesterday’s* Glasto news … yes yes, I know, but if it happens you don’t want to be short at 20s, do you?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh_KwCI4tUA
It’s okay, says Putin, this is a peace keeping operation, we came to free you. you can all live. I only want Zelenskyy.
I am Zelenskyy, someone calls.
No I am Zelenskyy, someone else calls.
I’m Zelenskyy. No. I’m Zelenskyy.
I’m Zelenskyy. I’m Zelenskyy. I’m Zelenskyy I’m Zelenskyy I’m Zelenskyy….
Rough camping in that don't exactly appeal.
I read an article couple of days ago which said it isn't just against the cannon folder they have been fighting extremely well against, they have kept Russian VDV at bay.
"So Putin is now on TV explaining his justifications for the invasion of Ukraine to a room full of Russian trainee air stewardesses...
Bizarre…"
Big table still there, but no social distancing. Presumably quarantined them and this is meant to show that he's not scared to be around people?
And that kind of song isn’t very Eurovision.
There was mend to be a good pun in that, I could make it work but liked the idea so much I'm posting anyway.
You are the backbone of the future of our Russian Empire, spreading the glories of our country to the world.
You are all now redundant as all overseas flights are cancelled
If you tell anyone you are in prison for 15 years
Continue to serve our perfect motherland so well
These people are heroic, fighting against terrible odds with passion and remarkable self belief. God save them because the west hasn't.
"To get around the BBC ban in Russia:
download the Psiphon app from the AppStore or Google Play Store
look for the dedicated BBC site on the Tor Browser which can be found using this URL. Note that this URL only works using the Tor Browser or the Onion Browser (on iPhones)
if access to the apps is restricted then send a blank email to get@psiphon3.com or gettor@torproject.org. An email will be sent in response with a direct and safe download link
The BBC has also launched two new shortwave frequencies broadcasting World Service English news for four hours a day to Ukraine and parts of Russia:
15735 kHz from 14:00 GMT to 16:00 GMT
5875 kHz from 20:00 GMT to 22:00 GMT"
I think the foreign fighters coming to Ukraine is more of a propoganda thing. I've got serious doubts about the practicalities of this. For instance, there is a video on Sky news of a 60 year old guy turning up at the Ukrainian embassy in London who appears to be expecting a bus to be laid on. He was complaining that they didn't answer their phone after office hours.
I think that Putin's desperation is that he now lives in a world were, thanks to NATO, Estonia is a *greater* country than Russia. If Russia goes to war with Estonia - it might well lose......
It certainly doesn't live in abject fear of Russia, the way it should, in Greater Russian Nationalist world...
Visegrád 24
@visegrad24
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47s
Russian military equipment in Rostov, near the Ukrainian border.
Looks like the Russian Army is scraping the barrel.
They must have miscalculated the Ukrainian resistance by an order of magnitude or two.
https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1500104612208123906
Cogent Communications will pull the plug on its connectivity to customers in Russia in response to President Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
The US-based biz is one of the planet's largest internet backbones – the freeways of the internet – and says it carries roughly a quarter of global 'net traffic.
Its clients range from small businesses to mobile carriers and broadband ISPs. Cogent's role is to pipe hundreds of terabits of your internet data around the world every second. Russian state-owned Rostelecom is among the dozens of customers Cogent has in the country.
On Friday, CEO David Schaeffer told Reuters his corporation will gradually withdraw internet service from those clients. Some customers asked to be excluded from the crackdown, and may be granted continued access.
This termination of service will force those axed clients to seek other sources of network capacity. As a knock-on effect, Russian netizens could experience slower or interrupted internet connections as their ISPs and carriers react to the news. If more backbones follow in Cogent's steps, Russia will be increasingly cut off from the global internet.
Which would make President Putin's attempt to censor the web a lot easier.
https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/04/cogent_cuts_off_russia/
Ongoing issue.
Another fecking regulatory report I’m going to have to write.
I bet Putin is behind it.
Ukrainian and Russian Pornhub Performers Protest the War
Ukrainians are posting videos of the Russian invasion to Pornhub, while Russians are using one of the last online spaces they have to speak against the war.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7nkzb/ukrainian-and-russian-pornhub-performers-protest-the-war
https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1499855858456567809
Turns out when you don't bribe people directly (because you can't) they find a way to get the money another way (at vastly greater cost).
Watch, as a stepmom steals a tank.....
Invade? Blockade it? Or something else?
What is sauce for the Ukrainian goose is also sauce for the Kaliningrad gander, am I right?
Ten months after attempts first began to extract the medical information of 55 million citizens in England, NHS Digital's former chairman is warning the merger of the agency with NHS England threatens the privacy of people's personal data.
https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/04/nhs_digital_privacy_bmj_article/
Slava Ukraini!
@JohnTerry26Replying to @bodigwe72, @ChelseaFC and @RomanAbramovish100% mate 💙
The same MP that claimed fortunes in expenses of the tax payers money. Also the same MP who voted that we invade Iraq. 🤡
https://orbis.stanford.edu/
It's interesting to see how much they favoured sea routes; London to Rome fastest by sea, with only a short land journey across southern France, taking a month.
For all we talk about Roman roads, the sea must have been very useful to them.
Always check out the contractors that company is using, who controls them and do they control the "main" company?
There is a certain British entrepreneur who has had considerable success with this plan - the on shore company carries his brand, but the real money is made by the suppliers to the company. Who are largely off-shore, for tax...
I think this may be a better tactic that, simply cutting off Russia from the internet, at this time.
When the West fell, economic dislocation between the various bits saw substantial retardation in economic power and living standards (Great Britain being most affected).
Kaliningrad is now to be called/referred to as Königsberg.
That will drive Putin up the wall.
We christened him Evelyn and it was the perfect name. All leopards are Evelyns. Simultaneously epicene and suave
"As ukranian soldier,We respect NATURE
#Ukraine #UkraineUnderAttaсk #UkraineConflict #UkraineRussiaWar"
https://mobile.twitter.com/denttooth/status/1500005331392421892
Have a lot of the very good, cutting-edge pieces of military kit they have be very few in number, and high on the bathtub curve?
My fear is that the humiliation of Russia, which is becoming profound and intense, will be of such magnitude Putin will launch nukes just because. Anything but this excruciating disgrace
People are *still* startled by how little it costs to send things by sea.