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The Lebedev peerage affair looks set to halt the Johnson recovery – politicalbetting.com

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  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    edited March 2022
    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    I’m going to do a post on “What Putin’s invasion means for Ipswich Town’s playoff push”.

    More congenial than pondering security & other implications of Boris-Lebedev-Putin nexis?
    The ultimate owner of Ipswich Town is the Arizona police and fire pension fund. I’m sure there are enough tales of intrigue therein to give Abramovich’s stewardship of Chelsea a run for its money.
    Still more congenial raising red herrings, than pondering security & other implications of Boris-Lebedev-Putin nexis?

    Correction - Believe the word I was seeking was not "congenial" but rather "puerile".
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 36,116
    France accuses UK of ‘lack of humanity’ after 150 Ukraine refugees turned away at Calais

    What will it take to shame you into doing the right thing @BorisJohnson @pritipatel?


    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ukraine-refugees-france-uk-b2029536.html
  • moonshinemoonshine Posts: 5,775
    Sandpit said:

    Aslan said:

    I think we maybe worry too much about the fighter jet issue. I see the Ukrainians have got a load more Turkish drones. I'm puzzled as to why we haven't done more for them there.

    It is quite possible British and American experienced drone pilots are piloting those drones. How would Russia ever know?
    We think Russia lost 9 warplanes yesterday. They're taking a big risk committing all their forces.
    At the start of the conflict, Russia had around 1,100 warplanes (plus transporters, refuellers, helicopters etc). How many of those actually exist and are serviceable, is anyone’s guess. Let’s assume 50%, which IMHO is a tad optimistic given what else we know about the Russian forces at the moment.

    Now, Ukraine says they’ve shot down around 50 in the last 10 days, which represents 10% of the entire Russian Air Force downed in a week and a half. There’s plenty of evidence for most of those kills too, so it’s not a wild over-estimate.

    There’s also 30 or 40 helicopters shot down, which is fair proportion of the rotary fleet as well.

    Thanks to weapons and training over the past half dozen years, the Ukranians have great equipment and know how to use it. There’s no need for the antagonistic “No-Fly Zone” that Putin wants NATO to activate, the Ukranian forces, backed by NATO weapons and intelligence, are doing just fine.
    Are there estimates of how severely damaged Russia’s armoured strength is? Elite divisions? I’m sure Putin would look at only 5% of his Air Force gone (on paper) and think it’s a rounding error. And of the X thousand troop losses, not care less about the deaths of press ganged convicts and rural peasants.

    So how bad is it really now?
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,849
    edited March 2022

    Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
  • The other aspect of the Ukraine war is the impact on all of the apolitical normals who don't much care for anyone or anything that isn't themselves their family and their friends: prices.

    Various threads on Pistonheads in almost panic at the soaring cost of petrol / diesel which appears to be surging past £2 and on to who knows where, and of course we have the exploding cost of gas and now heating oil.

    And other things will follow quickly enough. Yes, our pain from the price of essentials becoming brutally expensive is nothing compared to the pain in having your town blown up by Putin. But for the people who can sympathise with them but were already wondering how to pay the bills, this is big.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541

    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    I’m going to do a post on “What Putin’s invasion means for Ipswich Town’s playoff push”.

    More congenial than pondering security & other implications of Boris-Lebedev-Putin nexis?
    The ultimate owner of Ipswich Town is the Arizona police and fire pension fund. I’m sure there are enough tales of intrigue therein to give Abramovich’s stewardship of Chelsea a run for its money.
    Still more congenial raising red herrings, than pondering security & other implications of Boris-Lebedev-Putin nexis?
    I was taking the piss FFS. This article, which I posted earlier, will point you in the direction of the point I was perhaps clumsily trying to make -

    https://www.ft.com/content/6ea18680-0f46-4af1-a3f1-d92d2daaae15?fbclid=IwAR2PG2HRDmdx3Gz4Cn1qEzPcg-CJKtQqOmxHfZT-OpLd7cXO0ircD0pQRl8
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 36,116
    Ministers say the 🇺🇦 visa scheme is generous. That may be the case vis a vis previous refugee schemes. But by comparison to the policies adopted by virtually the rest of the whole continent the UK is an outlier in its response. I asked our Ambassador to 🇵🇱 about this on Thursday. https://twitter.com/bbcnewsnight/status/1499752633719996420
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559

    Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    "We have said"

    Assuming by "you" you mean "Her Majesty's Government"?

    In that case, why would ANYONE take this government's word for ANYTHING?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,794

    Leon said:

    Christ, I was feeling chirpy and upbeat after my fab day at Stonehenge-in-the-British Museum, and oysters with the daughter

    Now back to the unavoidable and frightening misery of Ukraine. Yet it is unavoidable

    Is it a good exhibition?

    Was considering going but the last exhibition we went to at the BM (on Nero) was a bit rubbish.
    It is outstanding. Superb. It is so good I am considering going back

    Here are three rave reviews, there are many more.

    https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/feb/15/the-world-of-stonehenge-review-british-museum

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-world-of-stonehenge-review-an-astonishing-array-of-treasures-s89bmkrvz

    https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/exhibitions/the-world-of-stonehenge-british-museum-review-seahenge-b982510.html
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,023
    Scott_xP said:

    Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Meanwhile the UK has so far granted 50 Ukrainian visas. Part of the disparity is about geography. But in a sense you’re not comparing like with like. Because the UK is the only major country in Europe which is even requiring a visa application.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60640460
    If Ireland had admitted the same number as the UK, proportionate to the size of its population, they would only have let 4 Ukrainians in. If the UK had admitted the same number as Ireland, proportionate to the size of its population, we would have let about 17,500 Ukrainians into the country.

    It's a difference of two-and-a-half orders of magnitude. Abject.
  • FrankBoothFrankBooth Posts: 9,961
    I'm sure the videos are horrendous but if they continue to rally global opinion it is worth it. There's still about 40 countries not condemning Russia. hat has to change.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    IshmaelZ said:

    ydoethur said:

    Leon said:

    rpjs said:

    Aslan said:

    Brave Russian protestors:



    Visegrád 24
    @visegrad24
    ·
    1h
    “I survived the Leningrad Siege! (...) What do you want from me?” says an elderly woman in Kaliningrad today.

    “We have friends and family in Ukraine!” says another woman.

    “You came to support the fascists?” asks the cop, then orders them all arrested.


    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1500538599741304838

    Konigsberg should really be given back to the Poles.
    It was never really Polish though. It was Prussian (the original Prussians related to the Lithuanians and Latvians), then under the Teutonic Order. It then passed to the Hohenzollerns as part if Ducal Prussia. That was under Polish suzerainty for a century or but the population had been pretty much Germanized by then.
    Also the home of philosopher Immanuel Kant who, supposedly, never left the confines of its city limits in his entire life. Yet managed to change the world

    His life was also somewhat regular


    "Kant was awoken each morning at five o’clock, never later. He breakfasted on a couple of bowls of tea, then smoked a pipe, the only one of the day. On teaching days, he would go out in the morning to give his lecture, then resume his dressing-gown and slippers to work and write until precisely a quarter to one. At that point he would dress again to receive, with enjoyment, a small group of friends to discuss science, philosophy and the weather.

    "There were invariably three dishes and some cheese, placed on the table – sometimes with a few desserts – along with a small carafe of wine for each guest. Conversation lasted until five o’clock.

    "Then it was time for his walk. Rain or shine, it had to be taken. He went alone, for he wanted to breathe through his nose all the way, with his mouth closed, which he believed to be excellent for the body. The company of friends would have obliged him to open his mouth to speak."

    https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/1963-immanuel-kant-the-errrr-walker#:~:text=Immanuel 'the Königsberg clock' Kant,further than the city's limits.
    I'm disappointed you haven't included the quote about the townspeople noting his passing by them and setting their watches by it.
    Kant lived with his mum and kept poodles.

    There is no such thing as happiness, a poodle dies, you get another poodle, life goes on.

    Not a whole lot different than Buddhism, if you could swap Buddhas for poodles.

    My Nan had a neighbour who had a poodle that was a fat bastard.

    Hope this helps.
    Keep em coming
    I know you see your role as making sure none of us get away with anything, but everything I posted there was honest and true. Even similarities between Kantism and Buddhism might even be true.

    You don’t have to, but would you like to explain why you use IshmaelZ as avatar? Was he a cantankerous advocate
    Fuck me love I was agreeing with and applauding you
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,235
    Scott_xP said:

    France accuses UK of ‘lack of humanity’ after 150 Ukraine refugees turned away at Calais

    What will it take to shame you into doing the right thing @BorisJohnson @pritipatel?


    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ukraine-refugees-france-uk-b2029536.html

    Not getting in a dingy, then?
  • Wulfrun_PhilWulfrun_Phil Posts: 4,780
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Aslan said:

    I think we maybe worry too much about the fighter jet issue. I see the Ukrainians have got a load more Turkish drones. I'm puzzled as to why we haven't done more for them there.

    It is quite possible British and American experienced drone pilots are piloting those drones. How would Russia ever know?
    I'd say that UK and US pilots don't have experience on the particular drone - and I do not know that drone flying skills are *that* much more transferrable than fighter-flying skills.

    Plus Ukraine had around 60 TB2s on order, and were in mid-delivery (having had about a third), so they likely had further pilots already in training. I'd say it is more likely that these are the further pilots.

    My favourite story on this is the Austro-Hungarians who got fully functioning submarines with experienced crews in WW1 by appointing one officer to be a sort of honorary captain of German submarines they borrowed complete with crew.
    It’s not a drone purchased by UK or US militaries, although it’s clearly a brilliant piece of gap-finding in current airbourne capabilities that both countries should consider buying (and maybe donating or lending to Ukraine).

    Getting a TB2 ‘type rating’ for an existing Western drone pilot should be pretty straightforward though, it’s a much simpler, slower and lower aircraft, which of course brings its own advantages and disadvantages in theatre.
    The TB2 seems to be the drone equivalent of the NLAW (and vice versa). Much simpler and cheaper than the pricey, superior but harder-to-use alternatives. Kind of like the Kalashnikov or the T34?

    Some weapons are far better for being relatively basic
    On the matter of the NLAW, are there any reports of Ukraine acquiring further stocks beyond the 2,000 supplied by the UK? Given that they are single use disposable weapons, surely Ukraine are going to have quickly exhausted their stock amid intense fighting in the absence of resupply?
    Yes, plentiful evidence that they are being amply resupplied. The NLAWS are, for Ukrainians, the hero weapon of the war, alongside the Turkish drones

    Do a Twitter search on "NLAW" and you'll see
    Anything other than on Twitter? There's no reference as yet on Wiki other than an extra 100 arriving from Luxembourg.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,023

    Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    Ireland isn't requiring that Ukrainian refugees obtain a visa. It's an absurd imposition in the circumstances.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,794

    The other aspect of the Ukraine war is the impact on all of the apolitical normals who don't much care for anyone or anything that isn't themselves their family and their friends: prices.

    Various threads on Pistonheads in almost panic at the soaring cost of petrol / diesel which appears to be surging past £2 and on to who knows where, and of course we have the exploding cost of gas and now heating oil.

    And other things will follow quickly enough. Yes, our pain from the price of essentials becoming brutally expensive is nothing compared to the pain in having your town blown up by Putin. But for the people who can sympathise with them but were already wondering how to pay the bills, this is big.

    And that will do.... what?


    I'm not being sarcastic. Genuinely curious. What effect will that have, do you reckon?
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    I’m going to do a post on “What Putin’s invasion means for Ipswich Town’s playoff push”.

    More congenial than pondering security & other implications of Boris-Lebedev-Putin nexis?
    The ultimate owner of Ipswich Town is the Arizona police and fire pension fund. I’m sure there are enough tales of intrigue therein to give Abramovich’s stewardship of Chelsea a run for its money.
    Still more congenial raising red herrings, than pondering security & other implications of Boris-Lebedev-Putin nexis?
    I was taking the piss FFS. This article, which I posted earlier, will point you in the direction of the point I was perhaps clumsily trying to make -

    https://www.ft.com/content/6ea18680-0f46-4af1-a3f1-d92d2daaae15?fbclid=IwAR2PG2HRDmdx3Gz4Cn1qEzPcg-CJKtQqOmxHfZT-OpLd7cXO0ircD0pQRl8
    It may be that I'm confusing you with another Doug? If that's so, then I apologize, and am sorry for assuming you were bent on denying links between PM and Putin, regardless of evidence.
  • Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    "We have said"

    Assuming by "you" you mean "Her Majesty's Government"?

    In that case, why would ANYONE take this government's word for ANYTHING?
    The scheme was announced in the HOC last week and waa approved

  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    ydoethur said:

    Leon said:

    rpjs said:

    Aslan said:

    Brave Russian protestors:



    Visegrád 24
    @visegrad24
    ·
    1h
    “I survived the Leningrad Siege! (...) What do you want from me?” says an elderly woman in Kaliningrad today.

    “We have friends and family in Ukraine!” says another woman.

    “You came to support the fascists?” asks the cop, then orders them all arrested.


    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1500538599741304838

    Konigsberg should really be given back to the Poles.
    It was never really Polish though. It was Prussian (the original Prussians related to the Lithuanians and Latvians), then under the Teutonic Order. It then passed to the Hohenzollerns as part if Ducal Prussia. That was under Polish suzerainty for a century or but the population had been pretty much Germanized by then.
    Also the home of philosopher Immanuel Kant who, supposedly, never left the confines of its city limits in his entire life. Yet managed to change the world

    His life was also somewhat regular


    "Kant was awoken each morning at five o’clock, never later. He breakfasted on a couple of bowls of tea, then smoked a pipe, the only one of the day. On teaching days, he would go out in the morning to give his lecture, then resume his dressing-gown and slippers to work and write until precisely a quarter to one. At that point he would dress again to receive, with enjoyment, a small group of friends to discuss science, philosophy and the weather.

    "There were invariably three dishes and some cheese, placed on the table – sometimes with a few desserts – along with a small carafe of wine for each guest. Conversation lasted until five o’clock.

    "Then it was time for his walk. Rain or shine, it had to be taken. He went alone, for he wanted to breathe through his nose all the way, with his mouth closed, which he believed to be excellent for the body. The company of friends would have obliged him to open his mouth to speak."

    https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/1963-immanuel-kant-the-errrr-walker#:~:text=Immanuel 'the Königsberg clock' Kant,further than the city's limits.
    I'm disappointed you haven't included the quote about the townspeople noting his passing by them and setting their watches by it.
    Kant lived with his mum and kept poodles.

    There is no such thing as happiness, a poodle dies, you get another poodle, life goes on.

    Not a whole lot different than Buddhism, if you could swap Buddhas for poodles.

    My Nan had a neighbour who had a poodle that was a fat bastard.

    Hope this helps.
    Keep em coming
    I know you see your role as making sure none of us get away with anything, but everything I posted there was honest and true. Even similarities between Kantism and Buddhism might even be true.

    You don’t have to, but would you like to explain why you use IshmaelZ as avatar? Was he a cantankerous advocate
    Fuck me love I was agreeing with and applauding you
    Ishmael: see Moby Dick chapter 1 sentence 1. Ignore the rest, it's all downhill from there
  • tlg86tlg86 Posts: 26,235
    Leon said:

    The other aspect of the Ukraine war is the impact on all of the apolitical normals who don't much care for anyone or anything that isn't themselves their family and their friends: prices.

    Various threads on Pistonheads in almost panic at the soaring cost of petrol / diesel which appears to be surging past £2 and on to who knows where, and of course we have the exploding cost of gas and now heating oil.

    And other things will follow quickly enough. Yes, our pain from the price of essentials becoming brutally expensive is nothing compared to the pain in having your town blown up by Putin. But for the people who can sympathise with them but were already wondering how to pay the bills, this is big.

    And that will do.... what?


    I'm not being sarcastic. Genuinely curious. What effect will that have, do you reckon?
    I don't know, but I think it might be bad news for charities.
  • Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    When Putin dies, I hope soon, I also hope they'll fit out his grave with trampolines.

    They should make it a feature of Strictly. Dancing on Putin’s Grave week.
    The videos on social media are now so horrific I fear the world will not be satisfied with Putin's death, the world will demand revenge on Russia as a whole

    Scary
    As we have a decent Russian expat community up here in the real NE I was a little worried that they might start getting it in the neck. Not seeing anything untoward on local FB groups which is good to see. Its absolutely nothing to do with folk here for fishing and oil.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,023

    Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    "We have said"

    Assuming by "you" you mean "Her Majesty's Government"?

    In that case, why would ANYONE take this government's word for ANYTHING?
    HMG didn't stick to its promises to take Syrian child refugees under the Dubs scheme. Absolute disgrace.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,794

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Aslan said:

    I think we maybe worry too much about the fighter jet issue. I see the Ukrainians have got a load more Turkish drones. I'm puzzled as to why we haven't done more for them there.

    It is quite possible British and American experienced drone pilots are piloting those drones. How would Russia ever know?
    I'd say that UK and US pilots don't have experience on the particular drone - and I do not know that drone flying skills are *that* much more transferrable than fighter-flying skills.

    Plus Ukraine had around 60 TB2s on order, and were in mid-delivery (having had about a third), so they likely had further pilots already in training. I'd say it is more likely that these are the further pilots.

    My favourite story on this is the Austro-Hungarians who got fully functioning submarines with experienced crews in WW1 by appointing one officer to be a sort of honorary captain of German submarines they borrowed complete with crew.
    It’s not a drone purchased by UK or US militaries, although it’s clearly a brilliant piece of gap-finding in current airbourne capabilities that both countries should consider buying (and maybe donating or lending to Ukraine).

    Getting a TB2 ‘type rating’ for an existing Western drone pilot should be pretty straightforward though, it’s a much simpler, slower and lower aircraft, which of course brings its own advantages and disadvantages in theatre.
    The TB2 seems to be the drone equivalent of the NLAW (and vice versa). Much simpler and cheaper than the pricey, superior but harder-to-use alternatives. Kind of like the Kalashnikov or the T34?

    Some weapons are far better for being relatively basic
    On the matter of the NLAW, are there any reports of Ukraine acquiring further stocks beyond the 2,000 supplied by the UK? Given that they are single use disposable weapons, surely Ukraine are going to have quickly exhausted their stock amid intense fighting in the absence of resupply?
    Yes, plentiful evidence that they are being amply resupplied. The NLAWS are, for Ukrainians, the hero weapon of the war, alongside the Turkish drones

    Do a Twitter search on "NLAW" and you'll see
    Anything other than on Twitter? There's no reference as yet on Wiki other than an extra 100 arriving from Luxembourg.
    Up your google skills. Jeez
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 13,683
    Leon said:

    Christ, I was feeling chirpy and upbeat after my fab day at Stonehenge-in-the-British Museum, and oysters with the daughter

    Now back to the unavoidable and frightening misery of Ukraine. Yet it is unavoidable

    You don’t have to look at all those videos and make yourself depressed Leon. 😕. You posted one, rubble, tangled metal and fire I could hear people screaming in the distance, I haven’t looked at one since, just praying for a ceasefire. Because any more of this war is pointless.

    You have such an interest and comment so well on culture of foreign lands Leon,

    What are your comments on this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCvOh-wvtCA
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,596

    ydoethur said:

    Leon said:

    rpjs said:

    Aslan said:

    Brave Russian protestors:



    Visegrád 24
    @visegrad24
    ·
    1h
    “I survived the Leningrad Siege! (...) What do you want from me?” says an elderly woman in Kaliningrad today.

    “We have friends and family in Ukraine!” says another woman.

    “You came to support the fascists?” asks the cop, then orders them all arrested.


    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1500538599741304838

    Konigsberg should really be given back to the Poles.
    It was never really Polish though. It was Prussian (the original Prussians related to the Lithuanians and Latvians), then under the Teutonic Order. It then passed to the Hohenzollerns as part if Ducal Prussia. That was under Polish suzerainty for a century or but the population had been pretty much Germanized by then.
    Also the home of philosopher Immanuel Kant who, supposedly, never left the confines of its city limits in his entire life. Yet managed to change the world

    His life was also somewhat regular


    "Kant was awoken each morning at five o’clock, never later. He breakfasted on a couple of bowls of tea, then smoked a pipe, the only one of the day. On teaching days, he would go out in the morning to give his lecture, then resume his dressing-gown and slippers to work and write until precisely a quarter to one. At that point he would dress again to receive, with enjoyment, a small group of friends to discuss science, philosophy and the weather.

    "There were invariably three dishes and some cheese, placed on the table – sometimes with a few desserts – along with a small carafe of wine for each guest. Conversation lasted until five o’clock.

    "Then it was time for his walk. Rain or shine, it had to be taken. He went alone, for he wanted to breathe through his nose all the way, with his mouth closed, which he believed to be excellent for the body. The company of friends would have obliged him to open his mouth to speak."

    https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/1963-immanuel-kant-the-errrr-walker#:~:text=Immanuel 'the Königsberg clock' Kant,further than the city's limits.
    I'm disappointed you haven't included the quote about the townspeople noting his passing by them and setting their watches by it.
    Kant lived with his mum and kept poodles.

    There is no such thing as happiness, a poodle dies, you get another poodle, life goes on.

    Not a whole lot different than Buddhism, if you could swap Buddhas for poodles.

    My Nan had a neighbour who had a poodle that was a fat bastard.

    Hope this helps.
    There are pukka poodles and there are miniature poodles and then there are toy poodles.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poodle
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 29,100

    I suspect that after this war is over, Russia will be short of cash and supplies whereas Ukraine will be rebuilt with western money and re-equipped with western weapons.

    In 5 or 10 years, Ukraine will make Russia look like a shabby dump by comparison

    That's where we went wrong last time.

    The Russian people were left to fend for themselves in poverty as we celebrated the decline of the USSR, rewarding the satellite states with NATO and EU membership. The beleaguered Russians then took conselation in a lying sociopath...sorry psychopath. Ironically one that the West lauded as a friend who we could do business with.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,596

    Carnyx said:

    HYUFD said:

    Chris said:

    Any day now I expect to see a headline on this site reading something like "Kiev falls - will this make it harder for the Conservatives to keep control of Flittering Parish Council?"

    With a response from HYUFD explaining why the Conservatives would win 63.8% of the votes if Kiev doesn’t fall, but would still win 62.7% of the votes even if Kiev fell, and that the opposition had their chance in 2014, so won’t be allowed to run the council even if they won.
    There is a Parish Council by election in Buckhurst Hill on Thursday aptly enough, a Conservative candidate v a Residents' Association candidate
    Ah, Buckhurst Hill!
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=sunil060902+buckhurst&title=Special:MediaSearch&go=Go&type=image
    What a nice station building, with real brick. How old is it? 1920s?
    1892, though the original is from 1856, visible in one of the south-facing platform views.
    Thanks. I'd never have guessed that.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541

    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    I’m going to do a post on “What Putin’s invasion means for Ipswich Town’s playoff push”.

    More congenial than pondering security & other implications of Boris-Lebedev-Putin nexis?
    The ultimate owner of Ipswich Town is the Arizona police and fire pension fund. I’m sure there are enough tales of intrigue therein to give Abramovich’s stewardship of Chelsea a run for its money.
    Still more congenial raising red herrings, than pondering security & other implications of Boris-Lebedev-Putin nexis?
    I was taking the piss FFS. This article, which I posted earlier, will point you in the direction of the point I was perhaps clumsily trying to make -

    https://www.ft.com/content/6ea18680-0f46-4af1-a3f1-d92d2daaae15?fbclid=IwAR2PG2HRDmdx3Gz4Cn1qEzPcg-CJKtQqOmxHfZT-OpLd7cXO0ircD0pQRl8
    It may be that I'm confusing you with another Doug? If that's so, then I apologize, and am sorry for assuming you were bent on denying links between PM and Putin, regardless of evidence.
    Have you lost your mind? Exactly what have I said in the last three years of posting here could possibly make you think I would in any way defend the fat lying sack of j**z in Number 10? Learn to fucking read before making accusations like that you twat.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559

    Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    "We have said"

    Assuming by "you" you mean "Her Majesty's Government"?

    In that case, why would ANYONE take this government's word for ANYTHING?
    The scheme was announced in the HOC last week and waa approved

    Truly hope I am wrong in my opinion of Boris Johnson and his government when it comes anything in general, and Russia in particular.

    But for now I refuse to accept announcements and approvals for (dare I say?) facts.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,840

    Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    The point is Big_G that Patel says one thing and does another, time after time after time.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 42,227

    Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Loads of virtue signalling on the internet makes up for it though.

    Meanwhile BJ and the Pritster are on tenterhooks waiting to see how much they'll have to reverse ferret if public clamour reaches a certain pitch.

    BJ and the Pritster sounds like some rubbish US tv cop show.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,596
    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    ydoethur said:

    Leon said:

    rpjs said:

    Aslan said:

    Brave Russian protestors:



    Visegrád 24
    @visegrad24
    ·
    1h
    “I survived the Leningrad Siege! (...) What do you want from me?” says an elderly woman in Kaliningrad today.

    “We have friends and family in Ukraine!” says another woman.

    “You came to support the fascists?” asks the cop, then orders them all arrested.


    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1500538599741304838

    Konigsberg should really be given back to the Poles.
    It was never really Polish though. It was Prussian (the original Prussians related to the Lithuanians and Latvians), then under the Teutonic Order. It then passed to the Hohenzollerns as part if Ducal Prussia. That was under Polish suzerainty for a century or but the population had been pretty much Germanized by then.
    Also the home of philosopher Immanuel Kant who, supposedly, never left the confines of its city limits in his entire life. Yet managed to change the world

    His life was also somewhat regular


    "Kant was awoken each morning at five o’clock, never later. He breakfasted on a couple of bowls of tea, then smoked a pipe, the only one of the day. On teaching days, he would go out in the morning to give his lecture, then resume his dressing-gown and slippers to work and write until precisely a quarter to one. At that point he would dress again to receive, with enjoyment, a small group of friends to discuss science, philosophy and the weather.

    "There were invariably three dishes and some cheese, placed on the table – sometimes with a few desserts – along with a small carafe of wine for each guest. Conversation lasted until five o’clock.

    "Then it was time for his walk. Rain or shine, it had to be taken. He went alone, for he wanted to breathe through his nose all the way, with his mouth closed, which he believed to be excellent for the body. The company of friends would have obliged him to open his mouth to speak."

    https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/1963-immanuel-kant-the-errrr-walker#:~:text=Immanuel 'the Königsberg clock' Kant,further than the city's limits.
    I'm disappointed you haven't included the quote about the townspeople noting his passing by them and setting their watches by it.
    Kant lived with his mum and kept poodles.

    There is no such thing as happiness, a poodle dies, you get another poodle, life goes on.

    Not a whole lot different than Buddhism, if you could swap Buddhas for poodles.

    My Nan had a neighbour who had a poodle that was a fat bastard.

    Hope this helps.
    Keep em coming
    I know you see your role as making sure none of us get away with anything, but everything I posted there was honest and true. Even similarities between Kantism and Buddhism might even be true.

    You don’t have to, but would you like to explain why you use IshmaelZ as avatar? Was he a cantankerous advocate
    Fuck me love I was agreeing with and applauding you
    Ishmael: see Moby Dick chapter 1 sentence 1. Ignore the rest, it's all downhill from there
    OTOH that is the only book in the world which has a chapter solely about a whale's foreskin, specialist anatomical studies apart. I read it while I was a doctoral student ...
  • RochdalePioneersRochdalePioneers Posts: 29,060
    edited March 2022

    Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    "We have said"

    Assuming by "you" you mean "Her Majesty's Government"?

    In that case, why would ANYONE take this government's word for ANYTHING?
    We are explicitly turning people away. People who need sanctuary and have links to this country through relatives. The government are lying, saying its world-beating - because they think stupid people will continue to believe their lies.

    Big_G is anything but stupid, but is old-school enough to believe the long-established principles that we can trust the word of government ministers. I respect that.

    Not this time. Its a lie. An egregious, nasty, spiteful lie.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    I’m going to do a post on “What Putin’s invasion means for Ipswich Town’s playoff push”.

    More congenial than pondering security & other implications of Boris-Lebedev-Putin nexis?
    The ultimate owner of Ipswich Town is the Arizona police and fire pension fund. I’m sure there are enough tales of intrigue therein to give Abramovich’s stewardship of Chelsea a run for its money.
    Still more congenial raising red herrings, than pondering security & other implications of Boris-Lebedev-Putin nexis?
    I was taking the piss FFS. This article, which I posted earlier, will point you in the direction of the point I was perhaps clumsily trying to make -

    https://www.ft.com/content/6ea18680-0f46-4af1-a3f1-d92d2daaae15?fbclid=IwAR2PG2HRDmdx3Gz4Cn1qEzPcg-CJKtQqOmxHfZT-OpLd7cXO0ircD0pQRl8
    It may be that I'm confusing you with another Doug? If that's so, then I apologize, and am sorry for assuming you were bent on denying links between PM and Putin, regardless of evidence.
    Have you lost your mind? Exactly what have I said in the last three years of posting here could possibly make you think I would in any way defend the fat lying sack of j**z in Number 10? Learn to fucking read before making accusations like that you twat.
    May well be losing my mind, but don't have to go that far to confuse two posters with similar names.
  • Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    "We have said"

    Assuming by "you" you mean "Her Majesty's Government"?

    In that case, why would ANYONE take this government's word for ANYTHING?
    The scheme was announced in the HOC last week and waa approved

    Truly hope I am wrong in my opinion of Boris Johnson and his government when it comes anything in general, and Russia in particular.

    But for now I refuse to accept announcements and approvals for (dare I say?) facts.
    To be honest I think the virtual daily conversations between the President of Ukraine and Boris speak for themselves
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    Carnyx said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    ydoethur said:

    Leon said:

    rpjs said:

    Aslan said:

    Brave Russian protestors:



    Visegrád 24
    @visegrad24
    ·
    1h
    “I survived the Leningrad Siege! (...) What do you want from me?” says an elderly woman in Kaliningrad today.

    “We have friends and family in Ukraine!” says another woman.

    “You came to support the fascists?” asks the cop, then orders them all arrested.


    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1500538599741304838

    Konigsberg should really be given back to the Poles.
    It was never really Polish though. It was Prussian (the original Prussians related to the Lithuanians and Latvians), then under the Teutonic Order. It then passed to the Hohenzollerns as part if Ducal Prussia. That was under Polish suzerainty for a century or but the population had been pretty much Germanized by then.
    Also the home of philosopher Immanuel Kant who, supposedly, never left the confines of its city limits in his entire life. Yet managed to change the world

    His life was also somewhat regular


    "Kant was awoken each morning at five o’clock, never later. He breakfasted on a couple of bowls of tea, then smoked a pipe, the only one of the day. On teaching days, he would go out in the morning to give his lecture, then resume his dressing-gown and slippers to work and write until precisely a quarter to one. At that point he would dress again to receive, with enjoyment, a small group of friends to discuss science, philosophy and the weather.

    "There were invariably three dishes and some cheese, placed on the table – sometimes with a few desserts – along with a small carafe of wine for each guest. Conversation lasted until five o’clock.

    "Then it was time for his walk. Rain or shine, it had to be taken. He went alone, for he wanted to breathe through his nose all the way, with his mouth closed, which he believed to be excellent for the body. The company of friends would have obliged him to open his mouth to speak."

    https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/1963-immanuel-kant-the-errrr-walker#:~:text=Immanuel 'the Königsberg clock' Kant,further than the city's limits.
    I'm disappointed you haven't included the quote about the townspeople noting his passing by them and setting their watches by it.
    Kant lived with his mum and kept poodles.

    There is no such thing as happiness, a poodle dies, you get another poodle, life goes on.

    Not a whole lot different than Buddhism, if you could swap Buddhas for poodles.

    My Nan had a neighbour who had a poodle that was a fat bastard.

    Hope this helps.
    Keep em coming
    I know you see your role as making sure none of us get away with anything, but everything I posted there was honest and true. Even similarities between Kantism and Buddhism might even be true.

    You don’t have to, but would you like to explain why you use IshmaelZ as avatar? Was he a cantankerous advocate
    Fuck me love I was agreeing with and applauding you
    Ishmael: see Moby Dick chapter 1 sentence 1. Ignore the rest, it's all downhill from there
    OTOH that is the only book in the world which has a chapter solely about a whale's foreskin, specialist anatomical studies apart. I read it while I was a doctoral student ...
    Should Leon be taking notes?

    And searching out a copy of Moby Dick in order to create . . . wait for it . . . the Moby Dick Dick?
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 13,683

    Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    You said last week the bad money for influence legislation goes after the Chinese too Big G, not just Russians. Do you want to change that position ahead of tomorrow’s shenanigans in Parliament?
  • Leon said:

    The other aspect of the Ukraine war is the impact on all of the apolitical normals who don't much care for anyone or anything that isn't themselves their family and their friends: prices.

    Various threads on Pistonheads in almost panic at the soaring cost of petrol / diesel which appears to be surging past £2 and on to who knows where, and of course we have the exploding cost of gas and now heating oil.

    And other things will follow quickly enough. Yes, our pain from the price of essentials becoming brutally expensive is nothing compared to the pain in having your town blown up by Putin. But for the people who can sympathise with them but were already wondering how to pay the bills, this is big.

    And that will do.... what?


    I'm not being sarcastic. Genuinely curious. What effect will that have, do you reckon?
    Politically? No idea. But there are plenty of people who don't really follow the news beyond entertainment and sport, don't really care about national affairs never mind world affairs. But they do know they are broke and the price of their stuff is shooting up.
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559

    Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    "We have said"

    Assuming by "you" you mean "Her Majesty's Government"?

    In that case, why would ANYONE take this government's word for ANYTHING?
    The scheme was announced in the HOC last week and waa approved

    Truly hope I am wrong in my opinion of Boris Johnson and his government when it comes anything in general, and Russia in particular.

    But for now I refuse to accept announcements and approvals for (dare I say?) facts.
    To be honest I think the virtual daily conversations between the President of Ukraine and Boris speak for themselves
    Never heard of the phrase "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer?"

    Again, hope you are right and I am wrong on this one.
  • Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    "We have said"

    Assuming by "you" you mean "Her Majesty's Government"?

    In that case, why would ANYONE take this government's word for ANYTHING?
    The scheme was announced in the HOC last week and waa approved

    Truly hope I am wrong in my opinion of Boris Johnson and his government when it comes anything in general, and Russia in particular.

    But for now I refuse to accept announcements and approvals for (dare I say?) facts.
    To be honest I think the virtual daily conversations between the President of Ukraine and Boris speak for themselves
    So why are we being so inhumane to refugees? We say "world-beating" but they are being turned away by our border force. Told to go back to Paris. To apply for a visa they won't get. Other countries are letting them in. A MILLION have crossed into Poland alone.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,023
    edited March 2022
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Aslan said:

    I think we maybe worry too much about the fighter jet issue. I see the Ukrainians have got a load more Turkish drones. I'm puzzled as to why we haven't done more for them there.

    It is quite possible British and American experienced drone pilots are piloting those drones. How would Russia ever know?
    I'd say that UK and US pilots don't have experience on the particular drone - and I do not know that drone flying skills are *that* much more transferrable than fighter-flying skills.

    Plus Ukraine had around 60 TB2s on order, and were in mid-delivery (having had about a third), so they likely had further pilots already in training. I'd say it is more likely that these are the further pilots.

    My favourite story on this is the Austro-Hungarians who got fully functioning submarines with experienced crews in WW1 by appointing one officer to be a sort of honorary captain of German submarines they borrowed complete with crew.
    It’s not a drone purchased by UK or US militaries, although it’s clearly a brilliant piece of gap-finding in current airbourne capabilities that both countries should consider buying (and maybe donating or lending to Ukraine).

    Getting a TB2 ‘type rating’ for an existing Western drone pilot should be pretty straightforward though, it’s a much simpler, slower and lower aircraft, which of course brings its own advantages and disadvantages in theatre.
    The TB2 seems to be the drone equivalent of the NLAW (and vice versa). Much simpler and cheaper than the pricey, superior but harder-to-use alternatives. Kind of like the Kalashnikov or the T34?

    Some weapons are far better for being relatively basic
    On the matter of the NLAW, are there any reports of Ukraine acquiring further stocks beyond the 2,000 supplied by the UK? Given that they are single use disposable weapons, surely Ukraine are going to have quickly exhausted their stock amid intense fighting in the absence of resupply?
    Yes, plentiful evidence that they are being amply resupplied. The NLAWS are, for Ukrainians, the hero weapon of the war, alongside the Turkish drones

    Do a Twitter search on "NLAW" and you'll see
    Anything other than on Twitter? There's no reference as yet on Wiki other than an extra 100 arriving from Luxembourg.
    Up your google skills. Jeez
    This Washington Post article makes it clear that deliveries are ongoing, but that now it's a war situation less details will be forthcoming. Don't want to tell the Russians where to aim their missiles to destroy new deliveries.
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830
    Carnyx said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    ydoethur said:

    Leon said:

    rpjs said:

    Aslan said:

    Brave Russian protestors:



    Visegrád 24
    @visegrad24
    ·
    1h
    “I survived the Leningrad Siege! (...) What do you want from me?” says an elderly woman in Kaliningrad today.

    “We have friends and family in Ukraine!” says another woman.

    “You came to support the fascists?” asks the cop, then orders them all arrested.


    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1500538599741304838

    Konigsberg should really be given back to the Poles.
    It was never really Polish though. It was Prussian (the original Prussians related to the Lithuanians and Latvians), then under the Teutonic Order. It then passed to the Hohenzollerns as part if Ducal Prussia. That was under Polish suzerainty for a century or but the population had been pretty much Germanized by then.
    Also the home of philosopher Immanuel Kant who, supposedly, never left the confines of its city limits in his entire life. Yet managed to change the world

    His life was also somewhat regular


    "Kant was awoken each morning at five o’clock, never later. He breakfasted on a couple of bowls of tea, then smoked a pipe, the only one of the day. On teaching days, he would go out in the morning to give his lecture, then resume his dressing-gown and slippers to work and write until precisely a quarter to one. At that point he would dress again to receive, with enjoyment, a small group of friends to discuss science, philosophy and the weather.

    "There were invariably three dishes and some cheese, placed on the table – sometimes with a few desserts – along with a small carafe of wine for each guest. Conversation lasted until five o’clock.

    "Then it was time for his walk. Rain or shine, it had to be taken. He went alone, for he wanted to breathe through his nose all the way, with his mouth closed, which he believed to be excellent for the body. The company of friends would have obliged him to open his mouth to speak."

    https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/1963-immanuel-kant-the-errrr-walker#:~:text=Immanuel 'the Königsberg clock' Kant,further than the city's limits.
    I'm disappointed you haven't included the quote about the townspeople noting his passing by them and setting their watches by it.
    Kant lived with his mum and kept poodles.

    There is no such thing as happiness, a poodle dies, you get another poodle, life goes on.

    Not a whole lot different than Buddhism, if you could swap Buddhas for poodles.

    My Nan had a neighbour who had a poodle that was a fat bastard.

    Hope this helps.
    Keep em coming
    I know you see your role as making sure none of us get away with anything, but everything I posted there was honest and true. Even similarities between Kantism and Buddhism might even be true.

    You don’t have to, but would you like to explain why you use IshmaelZ as avatar? Was he a cantankerous advocate
    Fuck me love I was agreeing with and applauding you
    Ishmael: see Moby Dick chapter 1 sentence 1. Ignore the rest, it's all downhill from there
    OTOH that is the only book in the world which has a chapter solely about a whale's foreskin, specialist anatomical studies apart. I read it while I was a doctoral student ...
    I just wish it would make up its mind to be a novel or a pop sci ere's another really interesting thing about them whales treatise. One or the other
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,540

    I suspect that after this war is over, Russia will be short of cash and supplies whereas Ukraine will be rebuilt with western money and re-equipped with western weapons.

    In 5 or 10 years, Ukraine will make Russia look like a shabby dump by comparison

    That's where we went wrong last time.

    The Russian people were left to fend for themselves in poverty as we celebrated the decline of the USSR, rewarding the satellite states with NATO and EU membership. The beleaguered Russians then took conselation in a lying sociopath...sorry psychopath. Ironically one that the West lauded as a friend who we could do business with.
    They weren't left on their own - they were given large loans, all kinds of help. What people are now suggesting is that the West should have colonised Russia to stop them making mistakes.

    The basic problem was that, in Russia, Imperialist Nationalism was (and is) mainstream. They lost an Empire and still want it.

    Go to Hungary, say, and the Greater Hungarian types are laughed at even by some pretty hard core people.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541
    On topic, I’m looking forward to seeing how Starmer deploys the Lebedev affair at PMQs. It could really be the making of him if he manages it right.
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 42,227

    Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    "We have said"

    Assuming by "you" you mean "Her Majesty's Government"?

    In that case, why would ANYONE take this government's word for ANYTHING?
    The scheme was announced in the HOC last week and waa approved

    Truly hope I am wrong in my opinion of Boris Johnson and his government when it comes anything in general, and Russia in particular.

    But for now I refuse to accept announcements and approvals for (dare I say?) facts.
    To be honest I think the virtual daily conversations between the President of Ukraine and Boris speak for themselves
    So why are we being so inhumane to refugees? We say "world-beating" but they are being turned away by our border force. Told to go back to Paris. To apply for a visa they won't get. Other countries are letting them in. A MILLION have crossed into Poland alone.
    Is the UK still charging substantial amounts of cash for visas?
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,596

    Carnyx said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    ydoethur said:

    Leon said:

    rpjs said:

    Aslan said:

    Brave Russian protestors:



    Visegrád 24
    @visegrad24
    ·
    1h
    “I survived the Leningrad Siege! (...) What do you want from me?” says an elderly woman in Kaliningrad today.

    “We have friends and family in Ukraine!” says another woman.

    “You came to support the fascists?” asks the cop, then orders them all arrested.


    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1500538599741304838

    Konigsberg should really be given back to the Poles.
    It was never really Polish though. It was Prussian (the original Prussians related to the Lithuanians and Latvians), then under the Teutonic Order. It then passed to the Hohenzollerns as part if Ducal Prussia. That was under Polish suzerainty for a century or but the population had been pretty much Germanized by then.
    Also the home of philosopher Immanuel Kant who, supposedly, never left the confines of its city limits in his entire life. Yet managed to change the world

    His life was also somewhat regular


    "Kant was awoken each morning at five o’clock, never later. He breakfasted on a couple of bowls of tea, then smoked a pipe, the only one of the day. On teaching days, he would go out in the morning to give his lecture, then resume his dressing-gown and slippers to work and write until precisely a quarter to one. At that point he would dress again to receive, with enjoyment, a small group of friends to discuss science, philosophy and the weather.

    "There were invariably three dishes and some cheese, placed on the table – sometimes with a few desserts – along with a small carafe of wine for each guest. Conversation lasted until five o’clock.

    "Then it was time for his walk. Rain or shine, it had to be taken. He went alone, for he wanted to breathe through his nose all the way, with his mouth closed, which he believed to be excellent for the body. The company of friends would have obliged him to open his mouth to speak."

    https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/1963-immanuel-kant-the-errrr-walker#:~:text=Immanuel 'the Königsberg clock' Kant,further than the city's limits.
    I'm disappointed you haven't included the quote about the townspeople noting his passing by them and setting their watches by it.
    Kant lived with his mum and kept poodles.

    There is no such thing as happiness, a poodle dies, you get another poodle, life goes on.

    Not a whole lot different than Buddhism, if you could swap Buddhas for poodles.

    My Nan had a neighbour who had a poodle that was a fat bastard.

    Hope this helps.
    Keep em coming
    I know you see your role as making sure none of us get away with anything, but everything I posted there was honest and true. Even similarities between Kantism and Buddhism might even be true.

    You don’t have to, but would you like to explain why you use IshmaelZ as avatar? Was he a cantankerous advocate
    Fuck me love I was agreeing with and applauding you
    Ishmael: see Moby Dick chapter 1 sentence 1. Ignore the rest, it's all downhill from there
    OTOH that is the only book in the world which has a chapter solely about a whale's foreskin, specialist anatomical studies apart. I read it while I was a doctoral student ...
    Should Leon be taking notes?

    And searching out a copy of Moby Dick in order to create . . . wait for it . . . the Moby Dick Dick?
    When checking back for the relevant chapter, I discovered there is available this tome:

    https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Moby_Dick/hc6zugEACAAJ?hl=en

    Sadly no preview available ...

    But a look at the pukka book reminds me of this passage ...

    CHAPTER XCY.

    THE CASSOCK.

    Had you stepped on board the Pequod at a certain juncturo
    of this post-mortemizing of the whale; and had you stroJled
    forward nigh the windiass, pretty surę am I that you would
    have scanned with no smali curiosity a very strange, enig-
    matical object, which you would have seen there, lying along
    lengthwise in the lee scuppers. Not the wondrous cistern in
    the whale’s huge head ; not the prodigy of his unhinged lower
    jaw ; not the miracle of his symmetrical taił; nonę of thesc
    would so surprise you, as half a glimpse of that unaccountable
    cone,—longer than a Kentuckian is tali, nigh a foot in diameter
    at the base, and jet-black as Yojo, the ebony idol of Queequeg.
    And an idol, indeed, it is ; or, rather, in old times, its likeness
    was. Sucli an idol as that found in the secret groves of Queen
    Maachah in Judea; and for worshipping which, king Asa, her
    son, did depose her, and destroyed the idol, and burnt it for an
    abomination at the brook Kedron, as darkly set forth in the
    15th chapter of the first book of Kings.

    Look at the sailor, called the mincer, who now comes along,
    and assisted by two allies, heavily backs the grandissimus, as
    the mariners cali it, and with bowed shoulders, staggers ofl’
    with it as if he were a grenadier carrying a dead comrade from
    the field. Extending it upon the forecastle deck, he now pro-
    ceeds cylindrically to remove its dark pelt, as an African hunter
    the pelt of a boa. This done he turns the pelt inside out, likc
    a pantaloon leg; gives it a good stretching, so as almost to
    double its diameter; and at last liangs it, well spread, in tho
    rigging, to dry. Ere long, it is taken down; when removing
    some three feet of it, towards the pointed extremity, and then
    cutting two slits for arm-holes at the otber end, he lengthwise
    flips himself bodily into it The mincer now stands before you
    invested in the fuli canonicals of his calling. Immemorial to all
    his order, this investiture alono will adequately protect him,
    while etnployed in the peculiar functions of his office.

    That office consists in mincing the horse-pieces of blubbcr
    for the pots; an operation wliich is condueted at a curious
    wooden horse, planted endwise against tho bulwarks, and with
    a capacious tub beneath it, into which the minced pieees drop,
    fast as the sheets from a rapt orator’s desk. Arrayed in docent
    black ; occupying a conspicuous pulpit; intent on bibie leaves ;
    what a candidate for an archbishoprick, what a lad for a Pope
    were this mincer !*
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541

    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    I’m going to do a post on “What Putin’s invasion means for Ipswich Town’s playoff push”.

    More congenial than pondering security & other implications of Boris-Lebedev-Putin nexis?
    The ultimate owner of Ipswich Town is the Arizona police and fire pension fund. I’m sure there are enough tales of intrigue therein to give Abramovich’s stewardship of Chelsea a run for its money.
    Still more congenial raising red herrings, than pondering security & other implications of Boris-Lebedev-Putin nexis?
    I was taking the piss FFS. This article, which I posted earlier, will point you in the direction of the point I was perhaps clumsily trying to make -

    https://www.ft.com/content/6ea18680-0f46-4af1-a3f1-d92d2daaae15?fbclid=IwAR2PG2HRDmdx3Gz4Cn1qEzPcg-CJKtQqOmxHfZT-OpLd7cXO0ircD0pQRl8
    It may be that I'm confusing you with another Doug? If that's so, then I apologize, and am sorry for assuming you were bent on denying links between PM and Putin, regardless of evidence.
    Have you lost your mind? Exactly what have I said in the last three years of posting here could possibly make you think I would in any way defend the fat lying sack of j**z in Number 10? Learn to fucking read before making accusations like that you twat.
    May well be losing my mind, but don't have to go that far to confuse two posters with similar names.
    There aren’t any other Dougs and it was a lighthearted post about a 3rd tier football team. Chill FFS.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,794

    Leon said:

    The other aspect of the Ukraine war is the impact on all of the apolitical normals who don't much care for anyone or anything that isn't themselves their family and their friends: prices.

    Various threads on Pistonheads in almost panic at the soaring cost of petrol / diesel which appears to be surging past £2 and on to who knows where, and of course we have the exploding cost of gas and now heating oil.

    And other things will follow quickly enough. Yes, our pain from the price of essentials becoming brutally expensive is nothing compared to the pain in having your town blown up by Putin. But for the people who can sympathise with them but were already wondering how to pay the bills, this is big.

    And that will do.... what?


    I'm not being sarcastic. Genuinely curious. What effect will that have, do you reckon?
    Politically? No idea. But there are plenty of people who don't really follow the news beyond entertainment and sport, don't really care about national affairs never mind world affairs. But they do know they are broke and the price of their stuff is shooting up.
    Not a tremendously insightful post, then

    "People worry about rising prices"

    Thanks for that
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 36,116
    From the Sunday Times https://twitter.com/johnharris1969/status/1500569801252605955/photo/1



    Imagine being 8 and hiding under the bed as your village came under attack, waiting in a tent for two days at the freezing Polish border, then finally finding your mum and travelling across Europe — only to find the place she calls home won’t let you in.
    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/9e567472-9cc6-11ec-84fe-a2a0efa555d1?shareToken=aabc64a8bfc1270b3de6843157985f14 https://twitter.com/emilydugan/status/1500567685658300420/photo/1
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,540

    Leon said:

    Christ, I was feeling chirpy and upbeat after my fab day at Stonehenge-in-the-British Museum, and oysters with the daughter

    Now back to the unavoidable and frightening misery of Ukraine. Yet it is unavoidable

    You don’t have to look at all those videos and make yourself depressed Leon. 😕. You posted one, rubble, tangled metal and fire I could hear people screaming in the distance, I haven’t looked at one since, just praying for a ceasefire. Because any more of this war is pointless.

    You have such an interest and comment so well on culture of foreign lands Leon,

    What are your comments on this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCvOh-wvtCA
    This war isn't pointless - it is yet another example of imperial ambition being fucked up by people not keen on being part of the empire. Putin's Folly will protect other people in the years to come.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 78,463
    rpjs said:

    Why would Lebedev be a security risk? Are peers granted automatic access to state secrets? The House of Lords is just an impotent talking shop for has-been and never-were flatterees. It wouldn't matter if Putin himself was a member.

    Incidentally, I see the early reports that Visa and Mastercard are pulling out of Russia aren't quite right - they are pulling out of international transactions, but will still work for domestic ones as before. Essentially it blocks a sanctions loophole enabling oligarchs to order fur coats from Harrods using Mastercard.
    Aren’t Visa and Mastercard just brands on top if existing payment systems administered by the actual banks though? In which case probably the most they can actually do to affect domestic use is withdraw the rights to use the branding and then sue any Russian banks not complying for trademark infringement in the Russian courts. Which of course would get about as far as that column north of Kyiv…
    Union Pay (China) is stepping in.
  • Wulfrun_PhilWulfrun_Phil Posts: 4,780
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Aslan said:

    I think we maybe worry too much about the fighter jet issue. I see the Ukrainians have got a load more Turkish drones. I'm puzzled as to why we haven't done more for them there.

    It is quite possible British and American experienced drone pilots are piloting those drones. How would Russia ever know?
    I'd say that UK and US pilots don't have experience on the particular drone - and I do not know that drone flying skills are *that* much more transferrable than fighter-flying skills.

    Plus Ukraine had around 60 TB2s on order, and were in mid-delivery (having had about a third), so they likely had further pilots already in training. I'd say it is more likely that these are the further pilots.

    My favourite story on this is the Austro-Hungarians who got fully functioning submarines with experienced crews in WW1 by appointing one officer to be a sort of honorary captain of German submarines they borrowed complete with crew.
    It’s not a drone purchased by UK or US militaries, although it’s clearly a brilliant piece of gap-finding in current airbourne capabilities that both countries should consider buying (and maybe donating or lending to Ukraine).

    Getting a TB2 ‘type rating’ for an existing Western drone pilot should be pretty straightforward though, it’s a much simpler, slower and lower aircraft, which of course brings its own advantages and disadvantages in theatre.
    The TB2 seems to be the drone equivalent of the NLAW (and vice versa). Much simpler and cheaper than the pricey, superior but harder-to-use alternatives. Kind of like the Kalashnikov or the T34?

    Some weapons are far better for being relatively basic
    On the matter of the NLAW, are there any reports of Ukraine acquiring further stocks beyond the 2,000 supplied by the UK? Given that they are single use disposable weapons, surely Ukraine are going to have quickly exhausted their stock amid intense fighting in the absence of resupply?
    Yes, plentiful evidence that they are being amply resupplied. The NLAWS are, for Ukrainians, the hero weapon of the war, alongside the Turkish drones

    Do a Twitter search on "NLAW" and you'll see
    Anything other than on Twitter? There's no reference as yet on Wiki other than an extra 100 arriving from Luxembourg.
    Up your google skills. Jeez
    No need for you to up your condescension skills.

    Having already searched Google and drawn a blank, I would be delighted then if you would prove me to be a complete prat by providing a link to something that reliably points to copious resupply of NLAWs to the Ukranians.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,849
    edited March 2022
    Ukraine Ambassador to UK was asked just now about the refugee immigration and he said the UK is doing quite well, and the numbers need to pick up and expects in a couple of days the numbers will, but he said humanitarian, political, financial and very importantly military support are needed
  • IshmaelZIshmaelZ Posts: 21,830

    Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    "We have said"

    Assuming by "you" you mean "Her Majesty's Government"?

    In that case, why would ANYONE take this government's word for ANYTHING?
    The scheme was announced in the HOC last week and waa approved

    Truly hope I am wrong in my opinion of Boris Johnson and his government when it comes anything in general, and Russia in particular.

    But for now I refuse to accept announcements and approvals for (dare I say?) facts.
    To be honest I think the virtual daily conversations between the President of Ukraine and Boris speak for themselves
    So why are we being so inhumane to refugees? We say "world-beating" but they are being turned away by our border force. Told to go back to Paris. To apply for a visa they won't get. Other countries are letting them in. A MILLION have crossed into Poland alone.
    Is the UK still charging substantial amounts of cash for visas?
    Two track system: cash or fruit picking
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 19,023

    Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    "We have said"

    Assuming by "you" you mean "Her Majesty's Government"?

    In that case, why would ANYONE take this government's word for ANYTHING?
    The scheme was announced in the HOC last week and waa approved

    Truly hope I am wrong in my opinion of Boris Johnson and his government when it comes anything in general, and Russia in particular.

    But for now I refuse to accept announcements and approvals for (dare I say?) facts.
    To be honest I think the virtual daily conversations between the President of Ukraine and Boris speak for themselves
    So why are we being so inhumane to refugees? We say "world-beating" but they are being turned away by our border force. Told to go back to Paris. To apply for a visa they won't get. Other countries are letting them in. A MILLION have crossed into Poland alone.
    Is the UK still charging substantial amounts of cash for visas?
    There is, thankfully, no financial charge for the Ukraine Family Scheme Visa, but there's still a cost in time, worry, etc.
  • RattersRatters Posts: 1,114
    It will be interesting to see whether other oil producing countries see this as an opportunity to normalise relations with the West and take advantage of the demand for non-Russian oil at high prices. Iran and Venezuela see two obvious candidates there.
  • nico679nico679 Posts: 6,277
    More shameful behaviour from the Home Office led by the vile Patel .

    Why is what the rest of Europe doing re visas not good enough for her and no 10 .

  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 52,215
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    When Putin dies, I hope soon, I also hope they'll fit out his grave with trampolines.

    They should make it a feature of Strictly. Dancing on Putin’s Grave week.
    The videos on social media are now so horrific I fear the world will not be satisfied with Putin's death, the world will demand revenge on Russia as a whole

    Scary
    As we have a decent Russian expat community up here in the real NE I was a little worried that they might start getting it in the neck. Not seeing anything untoward on local FB groups which is good to see. Its absolutely nothing to do with folk here for fishing and oil.
    Some of my best travel experiences have been in Russia, with Russians. Often a wonderful warm generous people, commonly blessed with a dark and filthy sense of humour. Like a drink. They're not entirely dissimilar to, say, Geordies or Glaswegians

    It saddens me profoundly that their sons are dying in this stupid evil war, and that Putin has, it seems, managed to brainwash most of them into believing Russia is the Good Guy

    I strive every day not to detest Russians as Russians
    Mr Putin says "We will bury you!"
    I don't subscribe to this point of view
    It'd be such an ignorant thing to do
    If the Russians love their children too
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,840
    Scott_xP said:

    From the Sunday Times https://twitter.com/johnharris1969/status/1500569801252605955/photo/1



    Imagine being 8 and hiding under the bed as your village came under attack, waiting in a tent for two days at the freezing Polish border, then finally finding your mum and travelling across Europe — only to find the place she calls home won’t let you in.
    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/9e567472-9cc6-11ec-84fe-a2a0efa555d1?shareToken=aabc64a8bfc1270b3de6843157985f14 https://twitter.com/emilydugan/status/1500567685658300420/photo/1

    Shameful. Words fail me.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 10,980
    nico679 said:

    More shameful behaviour from the Home Office led by the vile Patel .

    Why is what the rest of Europe doing re visas not good enough for her and no 10 .

    When all this crap is going on you choose to criticise Priti Patel? Madness.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,794

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Aslan said:

    I think we maybe worry too much about the fighter jet issue. I see the Ukrainians have got a load more Turkish drones. I'm puzzled as to why we haven't done more for them there.

    It is quite possible British and American experienced drone pilots are piloting those drones. How would Russia ever know?
    I'd say that UK and US pilots don't have experience on the particular drone - and I do not know that drone flying skills are *that* much more transferrable than fighter-flying skills.

    Plus Ukraine had around 60 TB2s on order, and were in mid-delivery (having had about a third), so they likely had further pilots already in training. I'd say it is more likely that these are the further pilots.

    My favourite story on this is the Austro-Hungarians who got fully functioning submarines with experienced crews in WW1 by appointing one officer to be a sort of honorary captain of German submarines they borrowed complete with crew.
    It’s not a drone purchased by UK or US militaries, although it’s clearly a brilliant piece of gap-finding in current airbourne capabilities that both countries should consider buying (and maybe donating or lending to Ukraine).

    Getting a TB2 ‘type rating’ for an existing Western drone pilot should be pretty straightforward though, it’s a much simpler, slower and lower aircraft, which of course brings its own advantages and disadvantages in theatre.
    The TB2 seems to be the drone equivalent of the NLAW (and vice versa). Much simpler and cheaper than the pricey, superior but harder-to-use alternatives. Kind of like the Kalashnikov or the T34?

    Some weapons are far better for being relatively basic
    On the matter of the NLAW, are there any reports of Ukraine acquiring further stocks beyond the 2,000 supplied by the UK? Given that they are single use disposable weapons, surely Ukraine are going to have quickly exhausted their stock amid intense fighting in the absence of resupply?
    Yes, plentiful evidence that they are being amply resupplied. The NLAWS are, for Ukrainians, the hero weapon of the war, alongside the Turkish drones

    Do a Twitter search on "NLAW" and you'll see
    Anything other than on Twitter? There's no reference as yet on Wiki other than an extra 100 arriving from Luxembourg.
    Up your google skills. Jeez
    No need for you to up your condescension skills.

    Having already searched Google and drawn a blank, I would be delighted then if you would prove me to be a complete prat by providing a link to something that reliably points to copious resupply of NLAWs to the Ukranians.
    @LostPassword linked this below

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/03/04/weapons-access-ukraine/


    It is pretty clear, reading between the lines, that NLAWS (and much else) are being resupplied across the border, but for obvious reasons the evidence for this is now much sketchier

    But you can find plentiful hints on Twitter. eg


    NEXTA@nexta_tv·Mar 4A new large batch of NLAW arrived in #Kyiv💪

    https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1499827970818646020?s=20&t=Wfff52Cp7zZ2bvjUXHGNIA
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559
    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    I’m going to do a post on “What Putin’s invasion means for Ipswich Town’s playoff push”.

    More congenial than pondering security & other implications of Boris-Lebedev-Putin nexis?
    The ultimate owner of Ipswich Town is the Arizona police and fire pension fund. I’m sure there are enough tales of intrigue therein to give Abramovich’s stewardship of Chelsea a run for its money.
    Still more congenial raising red herrings, than pondering security & other implications of Boris-Lebedev-Putin nexis?
    I was taking the piss FFS. This article, which I posted earlier, will point you in the direction of the point I was perhaps clumsily trying to make -

    https://www.ft.com/content/6ea18680-0f46-4af1-a3f1-d92d2daaae15?fbclid=IwAR2PG2HRDmdx3Gz4Cn1qEzPcg-CJKtQqOmxHfZT-OpLd7cXO0ircD0pQRl8
    It may be that I'm confusing you with another Doug? If that's so, then I apologize, and am sorry for assuming you were bent on denying links between PM and Putin, regardless of evidence.
    Have you lost your mind? Exactly what have I said in the last three years of posting here could possibly make you think I would in any way defend the fat lying sack of j**z in Number 10? Learn to fucking read before making accusations like that you twat.
    May well be losing my mind, but don't have to go that far to confuse two posters with similar names.
    There aren’t any other Dougs and it was a lighthearted post about a 3rd tier football team. Chill FFS.
    I don't give a fuck if your moniker is Doug or Donut. I mixed you up with someone else.
  • Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    You said last week the bad money for influence legislation goes after the Chinese too Big G, not just Russians. Do you want to change that position ahead of tomorrow’s shenanigans in Parliament?
    Not sure what you mean but listening to Starmer today it does seem the legidlstion has been virtually agreed between Boris and himself for tomorrow and it must identify dirty money from anywhere
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 5,086

    Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    "We have said"

    Assuming by "you" you mean "Her Majesty's Government"?

    In that case, why would ANYONE take this government's word for ANYTHING?
    The scheme was announced in the HOC last week and waa approved

    Truly hope I am wrong in my opinion of Boris Johnson and his government when it comes anything in general, and Russia in particular.

    But for now I refuse to accept announcements and approvals for (dare I say?) facts.
    To be honest I think the virtual daily conversations between the President of Ukraine and Boris speak for themselves
    So why are we being so inhumane to refugees? We say "world-beating" but they are being turned away by our border force. Told to go back to Paris. To apply for a visa they won't get. Other countries are letting them in. A MILLION have crossed into Poland alone.
    Because the Home Office is run by racists.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,596
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Aslan said:

    I think we maybe worry too much about the fighter jet issue. I see the Ukrainians have got a load more Turkish drones. I'm puzzled as to why we haven't done more for them there.

    It is quite possible British and American experienced drone pilots are piloting those drones. How would Russia ever know?
    I'd say that UK and US pilots don't have experience on the particular drone - and I do not know that drone flying skills are *that* much more transferrable than fighter-flying skills.

    Plus Ukraine had around 60 TB2s on order, and were in mid-delivery (having had about a third), so they likely had further pilots already in training. I'd say it is more likely that these are the further pilots.

    My favourite story on this is the Austro-Hungarians who got fully functioning submarines with experienced crews in WW1 by appointing one officer to be a sort of honorary captain of German submarines they borrowed complete with crew.
    It’s not a drone purchased by UK or US militaries, although it’s clearly a brilliant piece of gap-finding in current airbourne capabilities that both countries should consider buying (and maybe donating or lending to Ukraine).

    Getting a TB2 ‘type rating’ for an existing Western drone pilot should be pretty straightforward though, it’s a much simpler, slower and lower aircraft, which of course brings its own advantages and disadvantages in theatre.
    The TB2 seems to be the drone equivalent of the NLAW (and vice versa). Much simpler and cheaper than the pricey, superior but harder-to-use alternatives. Kind of like the Kalashnikov or the T34?

    Some weapons are far better for being relatively basic
    On the matter of the NLAW, are there any reports of Ukraine acquiring further stocks beyond the 2,000 supplied by the UK? Given that they are single use disposable weapons, surely Ukraine are going to have quickly exhausted their stock amid intense fighting in the absence of resupply?
    Yes, plentiful evidence that they are being amply resupplied. The NLAWS are, for Ukrainians, the hero weapon of the war, alongside the Turkish drones

    Do a Twitter search on "NLAW" and you'll see
    Anything other than on Twitter? There's no reference as yet on Wiki other than an extra 100 arriving from Luxembourg.
    Up your google skills. Jeez
    No need for you to up your condescension skills.

    Having already searched Google and drawn a blank, I would be delighted then if you would prove me to be a complete prat by providing a link to something that reliably points to copious resupply of NLAWs to the Ukranians.
    @LostPassword linked this below

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/03/04/weapons-access-ukraine/


    It is pretty clear, reading between the lines, that NLAWS (and much else) are being resupplied across the border, but for obvious reasons the evidence for this is now much sketchier

    But you can find plentiful hints on Twitter. eg


    NEXTA@nexta_tv·Mar 4A new large batch of NLAW arrived in #Kyiv💪

    https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1499827970818646020?s=20&t=Wfff52Cp7zZ2bvjUXHGNIA
    Technically, that could be from intra-Ukrainian transport, ie part of the same original batch, TBF.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 51,540
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Aslan said:

    I think we maybe worry too much about the fighter jet issue. I see the Ukrainians have got a load more Turkish drones. I'm puzzled as to why we haven't done more for them there.

    It is quite possible British and American experienced drone pilots are piloting those drones. How would Russia ever know?
    I'd say that UK and US pilots don't have experience on the particular drone - and I do not know that drone flying skills are *that* much more transferrable than fighter-flying skills.

    Plus Ukraine had around 60 TB2s on order, and were in mid-delivery (having had about a third), so they likely had further pilots already in training. I'd say it is more likely that these are the further pilots.

    My favourite story on this is the Austro-Hungarians who got fully functioning submarines with experienced crews in WW1 by appointing one officer to be a sort of honorary captain of German submarines they borrowed complete with crew.
    It’s not a drone purchased by UK or US militaries, although it’s clearly a brilliant piece of gap-finding in current airbourne capabilities that both countries should consider buying (and maybe donating or lending to Ukraine).

    Getting a TB2 ‘type rating’ for an existing Western drone pilot should be pretty straightforward though, it’s a much simpler, slower and lower aircraft, which of course brings its own advantages and disadvantages in theatre.
    The TB2 seems to be the drone equivalent of the NLAW (and vice versa). Much simpler and cheaper than the pricey, superior but harder-to-use alternatives. Kind of like the Kalashnikov or the T34?

    Some weapons are far better for being relatively basic
    On the matter of the NLAW, are there any reports of Ukraine acquiring further stocks beyond the 2,000 supplied by the UK? Given that they are single use disposable weapons, surely Ukraine are going to have quickly exhausted their stock amid intense fighting in the absence of resupply?
    Yes, plentiful evidence that they are being amply resupplied. The NLAWS are, for Ukrainians, the hero weapon of the war, alongside the Turkish drones

    Do a Twitter search on "NLAW" and you'll see
    Anything other than on Twitter? There's no reference as yet on Wiki other than an extra 100 arriving from Luxembourg.
    Up your google skills. Jeez
    No need for you to up your condescension skills.

    Having already searched Google and drawn a blank, I would be delighted then if you would prove me to be a complete prat by providing a link to something that reliably points to copious resupply of NLAWs to the Ukranians.
    @LostPassword linked this below

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/03/04/weapons-access-ukraine/


    It is pretty clear, reading between the lines, that NLAWS (and much else) are being resupplied across the border, but for obvious reasons the evidence for this is now much sketchier

    But you can find plentiful hints on Twitter. eg


    NEXTA@nexta_tv·Mar 4A new large batch of NLAW arrived in #Kyiv💪

    https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1499827970818646020?s=20&t=Wfff52Cp7zZ2bvjUXHGNIA
    Thales Belfast is apparently quite busy at the moment. Lots of overtime on offer.
  • nico679 said:

    More shameful behaviour from the Home Office led by the vile Patel .

    Why is what the rest of Europe doing re visas not good enough for her and no 10 .

    We can't do what the Europeans do. Remember that the cosplay Thatcher was invited across to the European council along with the US and NATO. And then tweets about her meeting only with the US and NATO. Doesn't even have the good grace, basic manners and most importantly diplomatic courtesy to name drop her hosts.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541

    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    I’m going to do a post on “What Putin’s invasion means for Ipswich Town’s playoff push”.

    More congenial than pondering security & other implications of Boris-Lebedev-Putin nexis?
    The ultimate owner of Ipswich Town is the Arizona police and fire pension fund. I’m sure there are enough tales of intrigue therein to give Abramovich’s stewardship of Chelsea a run for its money.
    Still more congenial raising red herrings, than pondering security & other implications of Boris-Lebedev-Putin nexis?
    I was taking the piss FFS. This article, which I posted earlier, will point you in the direction of the point I was perhaps clumsily trying to make -

    https://www.ft.com/content/6ea18680-0f46-4af1-a3f1-d92d2daaae15?fbclid=IwAR2PG2HRDmdx3Gz4Cn1qEzPcg-CJKtQqOmxHfZT-OpLd7cXO0ircD0pQRl8
    It may be that I'm confusing you with another Doug? If that's so, then I apologize, and am sorry for assuming you were bent on denying links between PM and Putin, regardless of evidence.
    Have you lost your mind? Exactly what have I said in the last three years of posting here could possibly make you think I would in any way defend the fat lying sack of j**z in Number 10? Learn to fucking read before making accusations like that you twat.
    May well be losing my mind, but don't have to go that far to confuse two posters with similar names.
    There aren’t any other Dougs and it was a lighthearted post about a 3rd tier football team. Chill FFS.
    I don't give a fuck if your moniker is Doug or Donut. I mixed you up with someone else.
    The Tractor Boys being famed for their diversionary potential
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 34,840
    edited March 2022
    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    ydoethur said:

    Leon said:

    rpjs said:

    Aslan said:

    Brave Russian protestors:



    Visegrád 24
    @visegrad24
    ·
    1h
    “I survived the Leningrad Siege! (...) What do you want from me?” says an elderly woman in Kaliningrad today.

    “We have friends and family in Ukraine!” says another woman.

    “You came to support the fascists?” asks the cop, then orders them all arrested.


    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1500538599741304838

    Konigsberg should really be given back to the Poles.
    It was never really Polish though. It was Prussian (the original Prussians related to the Lithuanians and Latvians), then under the Teutonic Order. It then passed to the Hohenzollerns as part if Ducal Prussia. That was under Polish suzerainty for a century or but the population had been pretty much Germanized by then.
    Also the home of philosopher Immanuel Kant who, supposedly, never left the confines of its city limits in his entire life. Yet managed to change the world

    His life was also somewhat regular


    "Kant was awoken each morning at five o’clock, never later. He breakfasted on a couple of bowls of tea, then smoked a pipe, the only one of the day. On teaching days, he would go out in the morning to give his lecture, then resume his dressing-gown and slippers to work and write until precisely a quarter to one. At that point he would dress again to receive, with enjoyment, a small group of friends to discuss science, philosophy and the weather.

    "There were invariably three dishes and some cheese, placed on the table – sometimes with a few desserts – along with a small carafe of wine for each guest. Conversation lasted until five o’clock.

    "Then it was time for his walk. Rain or shine, it had to be taken. He went alone, for he wanted to breathe through his nose all the way, with his mouth closed, which he believed to be excellent for the body. The company of friends would have obliged him to open his mouth to speak."

    https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/1963-immanuel-kant-the-errrr-walker#:~:text=Immanuel 'the Königsberg clock' Kant,further than the city's limits.
    I'm disappointed you haven't included the quote about the townspeople noting his passing by them and setting their watches by it.
    Kant lived with his mum and kept poodles.

    There is no such thing as happiness, a poodle dies, you get another poodle, life goes on.

    Not a whole lot different than Buddhism, if you could swap Buddhas for poodles.

    My Nan had a neighbour who had a poodle that was a fat bastard.

    Hope this helps.
    Keep em coming
    I know you see your role as making sure none of us get away with anything, but everything I posted there was honest and true. Even similarities between Kantism and Buddhism might even be true.

    You don’t have to, but would you like to explain why you use IshmaelZ as avatar? Was he a cantankerous advocate
    Fuck me love I was agreeing with and applauding you
    Ishmael: see Moby Dick chapter 1 sentence 1. Ignore the rest, it's all downhill from there
    OTOH that is the only book in the world which has a chapter solely about a whale's foreskin, specialist anatomical studies apart. I read it while I was a doctoral student ...
    Should Leon be taking notes?

    And searching out a copy of Moby Dick in order to create . . . wait for it . . . the Moby Dick Dick?
    When checking back for the relevant chapter, I discovered there is available this tome:

    https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Moby_Dick/hc6zugEACAAJ?hl=en

    Sadly no preview available ...

    But a look at the pukka book reminds me of this passage ...

    CHAPTER XCY.

    THE CASSOCK.

    Had you stepped on board the Pequod at a certain juncturo
    of this post-mortemizing of the whale; and had you stroJled
    forward nigh the windiass, pretty surę am I that you would
    have scanned with no smali curiosity a very strange, enig-
    matical object, which you would have seen there, lying along
    lengthwise in the lee scuppers. Not the wondrous cistern in
    the whale’s huge head ; not the prodigy of his unhinged lower
    jaw ; not the miracle of his symmetrical taił; nonę of thesc
    would so surprise you, as half a glimpse of that unaccountable
    cone,—longer than a Kentuckian is tali, nigh a foot in diameter
    at the base, and jet-black as Yojo, the ebony idol of Queequeg.
    And an idol, indeed, it is ; or, rather, in old times, its likeness
    was. Sucli an idol as that found in the secret groves of Queen
    Maachah in Judea; and for worshipping which, king Asa, her
    son, did depose her, and destroyed the idol, and burnt it for an
    abomination at the brook Kedron, as darkly set forth in the
    15th chapter of the first book of Kings.

    Look at the sailor, called the mincer, who now comes along,
    and assisted by two allies, heavily backs the grandissimus, as
    the mariners cali it, and with bowed shoulders, staggers ofl’
    with it as if he were a grenadier carrying a dead comrade from
    the field. Extending it upon the forecastle deck, he now pro-
    ceeds cylindrically to remove its dark pelt, as an African hunter
    the pelt of a boa. This done he turns the pelt inside out, likc
    a pantaloon leg; gives it a good stretching, so as almost to
    double its diameter; and at last liangs it, well spread, in tho
    rigging, to dry. Ere long, it is taken down; when removing
    some three feet of it, towards the pointed extremity, and then
    cutting two slits for arm-holes at the otber end, he lengthwise
    flips himself bodily into it The mincer now stands before you
    invested in the fuli canonicals of his calling. Immemorial to all
    his order, this investiture alono will adequately protect him,
    while etnployed in the peculiar functions of his office.

    That office consists in mincing the horse-pieces of blubbcr
    for the pots; an operation wliich is condueted at a curious
    wooden horse, planted endwise against tho bulwarks, and with
    a capacious tub beneath it, into which the minced pieees drop,
    fast as the sheets from a rapt orator’s desk. Arrayed in docent
    black ; occupying a conspicuous pulpit; intent on bibie leaves ;
    what a candidate for an archbishoprick, what a lad for a Pope
    were this mincer !*
    Project Gutenberg is the place to go to for accurate texts of out-of-copyright classics

    https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2701/2701-h/2701-h.htm

    Chapter XCV (not XCY!)

    https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2701/2701-h/2701-h.htm#link2HCH0095

    EDIT: PS, there are some great typos in your version: 'archbishoprick' made me laugh!
  • SeaShantyIrish2SeaShantyIrish2 Posts: 17,559

    Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    You said last week the bad money for influence legislation goes after the Chinese too Big G, not just Russians. Do you want to change that position ahead of tomorrow’s shenanigans in Parliament?
    Not sure what you mean but listening to Starmer today it does seem the legidlstion has been virtually agreed between Boris and himself for tomorrow and it must identify dirty money from anywhere
    What difference do you think this pending legislation will make? Seeing as how Boris Johnson refuses to obey laws that inconvenience him or his government, personally or politically?

  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 42,227
    Omnium said:

    nico679 said:

    More shameful behaviour from the Home Office led by the vile Patel .

    Why is what the rest of Europe doing re visas not good enough for her and no 10 .

    When all this crap is going on you choose to criticise Priti Patel? Madness.
    Stick to your hoping Russians die patter, I feel it’s more ‘you’.
  • kyf_100kyf_100 Posts: 4,951
    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Omnium said:

    When Putin dies, I hope soon, I also hope they'll fit out his grave with trampolines.

    They should make it a feature of Strictly. Dancing on Putin’s Grave week.
    The videos on social media are now so horrific I fear the world will not be satisfied with Putin's death, the world will demand revenge on Russia as a whole

    Scary
    As we have a decent Russian expat community up here in the real NE I was a little worried that they might start getting it in the neck. Not seeing anything untoward on local FB groups which is good to see. Its absolutely nothing to do with folk here for fishing and oil.
    Some of my best travel experiences have been in Russia, with Russians. Often a wonderful warm generous people, commonly blessed with a dark and filthy sense of humour. Like a drink. They're not entirely dissimilar to, say, Geordies or Glaswegians

    It saddens me profoundly that their sons are dying in this stupid evil war, and that Putin has, it seems, managed to brainwash most of them into believing Russia is the Good Guy

    I strive every day not to detest Russians as Russians
    Yes.

    I sent messages enquiring after the health of some of my Russian friends last week. They are young, liberal, cosmopolitan types. Extremely generous and kind hearted. And, judging from their messages, absolutely shit scared about what's going on and very cagey about communicating about it lest they end up in the slammer, or worse.

    This is Putin's war, not theirs.

  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 10,980

    Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    "We have said"

    Assuming by "you" you mean "Her Majesty's Government"?

    In that case, why would ANYONE take this government's word for ANYTHING?
    The scheme was announced in the HOC last week and waa approved

    Truly hope I am wrong in my opinion of Boris Johnson and his government when it comes anything in general, and Russia in particular.

    But for now I refuse to accept announcements and approvals for (dare I say?) facts.
    To be honest I think the virtual daily conversations between the President of Ukraine and Boris speak for themselves
    So why are we being so inhumane to refugees? We say "world-beating" but they are being turned away by our border force. Told to go back to Paris. To apply for a visa they won't get. Other countries are letting them in. A MILLION have crossed into Poland alone.
    Because the Home Office is run by racists.
    Go on, explain...
  • DougSeal said:

    On topic, I’m looking forward to seeing how Starmer deploys the Lebedev affair at PMQs. It could really be the making of him if he manages it right.

    This morning he said he was not aware of the detail and it should be referred to the appropriate committee

    Seems eminently sensible
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,596

    Carnyx said:

    Carnyx said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    IshmaelZ said:

    ydoethur said:

    Leon said:

    rpjs said:

    Aslan said:

    Brave Russian protestors:



    Visegrád 24
    @visegrad24
    ·
    1h
    “I survived the Leningrad Siege! (...) What do you want from me?” says an elderly woman in Kaliningrad today.

    “We have friends and family in Ukraine!” says another woman.

    “You came to support the fascists?” asks the cop, then orders them all arrested.


    https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1500538599741304838

    Konigsberg should really be given back to the Poles.
    It was never really Polish though. It was Prussian (the original Prussians related to the Lithuanians and Latvians), then under the Teutonic Order. It then passed to the Hohenzollerns as part if Ducal Prussia. That was under Polish suzerainty for a century or but the population had been pretty much Germanized by then.
    Also the home of philosopher Immanuel Kant who, supposedly, never left the confines of its city limits in his entire life. Yet managed to change the world

    His life was also somewhat regular


    "Kant was awoken each morning at five o’clock, never later. He breakfasted on a couple of bowls of tea, then smoked a pipe, the only one of the day. On teaching days, he would go out in the morning to give his lecture, then resume his dressing-gown and slippers to work and write until precisely a quarter to one. At that point he would dress again to receive, with enjoyment, a small group of friends to discuss science, philosophy and the weather.

    "There were invariably three dishes and some cheese, placed on the table – sometimes with a few desserts – along with a small carafe of wine for each guest. Conversation lasted until five o’clock.

    "Then it was time for his walk. Rain or shine, it had to be taken. He went alone, for he wanted to breathe through his nose all the way, with his mouth closed, which he believed to be excellent for the body. The company of friends would have obliged him to open his mouth to speak."

    https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/1963-immanuel-kant-the-errrr-walker#:~:text=Immanuel 'the Königsberg clock' Kant,further than the city's limits.
    I'm disappointed you haven't included the quote about the townspeople noting his passing by them and setting their watches by it.
    Kant lived with his mum and kept poodles.

    There is no such thing as happiness, a poodle dies, you get another poodle, life goes on.

    Not a whole lot different than Buddhism, if you could swap Buddhas for poodles.

    My Nan had a neighbour who had a poodle that was a fat bastard.

    Hope this helps.
    Keep em coming
    I know you see your role as making sure none of us get away with anything, but everything I posted there was honest and true. Even similarities between Kantism and Buddhism might even be true.

    You don’t have to, but would you like to explain why you use IshmaelZ as avatar? Was he a cantankerous advocate
    Fuck me love I was agreeing with and applauding you
    Ishmael: see Moby Dick chapter 1 sentence 1. Ignore the rest, it's all downhill from there
    OTOH that is the only book in the world which has a chapter solely about a whale's foreskin, specialist anatomical studies apart. I read it while I was a doctoral student ...
    Should Leon be taking notes?

    And searching out a copy of Moby Dick in order to create . . . wait for it . . . the Moby Dick Dick?
    When checking back for the relevant chapter, I discovered there is available this tome:

    https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Moby_Dick/hc6zugEACAAJ?hl=en

    Sadly no preview available ...

    But a look at the pukka book reminds me of this passage ...

    CHAPTER XCY.

    THE CASSOCK.

    Had you stepped on board the Pequod at a certain juncturo
    of this post-mortemizing of the whale; and had you stroJled
    forward nigh the windiass, pretty surę am I that you would
    have scanned with no smali curiosity a very strange, enig-
    matical object, which you would have seen there, lying along
    lengthwise in the lee scuppers. Not the wondrous cistern in
    the whale’s huge head ; not the prodigy of his unhinged lower
    jaw ; not the miracle of his symmetrical taił; nonę of thesc
    would so surprise you, as half a glimpse of that unaccountable
    cone,—longer than a Kentuckian is tali, nigh a foot in diameter
    at the base, and jet-black as Yojo, the ebony idol of Queequeg.
    And an idol, indeed, it is ; or, rather, in old times, its likeness
    was. Sucli an idol as that found in the secret groves of Queen
    Maachah in Judea; and for worshipping which, king Asa, her
    son, did depose her, and destroyed the idol, and burnt it for an
    abomination at the brook Kedron, as darkly set forth in the
    15th chapter of the first book of Kings.

    Look at the sailor, called the mincer, who now comes along,
    and assisted by two allies, heavily backs the grandissimus, as
    the mariners cali it, and with bowed shoulders, staggers ofl’
    with it as if he were a grenadier carrying a dead comrade from
    the field. Extending it upon the forecastle deck, he now pro-
    ceeds cylindrically to remove its dark pelt, as an African hunter
    the pelt of a boa. This done he turns the pelt inside out, likc
    a pantaloon leg; gives it a good stretching, so as almost to
    double its diameter; and at last liangs it, well spread, in tho
    rigging, to dry. Ere long, it is taken down; when removing
    some three feet of it, towards the pointed extremity, and then
    cutting two slits for arm-holes at the otber end, he lengthwise
    flips himself bodily into it The mincer now stands before you
    invested in the fuli canonicals of his calling. Immemorial to all
    his order, this investiture alono will adequately protect him,
    while etnployed in the peculiar functions of his office.

    That office consists in mincing the horse-pieces of blubbcr
    for the pots; an operation wliich is condueted at a curious
    wooden horse, planted endwise against tho bulwarks, and with
    a capacious tub beneath it, into which the minced pieees drop,
    fast as the sheets from a rapt orator’s desk. Arrayed in docent
    black ; occupying a conspicuous pulpit; intent on bibie leaves ;
    what a candidate for an archbishoprick, what a lad for a Pope
    were this mincer !*
    Project Gutenberg is the place to go to for accurate texts of out-of-copyright classics

    https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2701/2701-h/2701-h.htm

    Chapter XCV (not XCY!)

    https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2701/2701-h/2701-h.htm#link2HCH0095
    Thanks - picked a slightly wonky OCR version on archive.org ... which does have the original 1851 edition as an option anyway.
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541

    DougSeal said:

    On topic, I’m looking forward to seeing how Starmer deploys the Lebedev affair at PMQs. It could really be the making of him if he manages it right.

    This morning he said he was not aware of the detail and it should be referred to the appropriate committee

    Seems eminently sensible
    He’s got until Wednesday to grab the detail. He’s a QC so shouldn’t be hard. Really hope he gets it right.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 56,794
    Carnyx said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Aslan said:

    I think we maybe worry too much about the fighter jet issue. I see the Ukrainians have got a load more Turkish drones. I'm puzzled as to why we haven't done more for them there.

    It is quite possible British and American experienced drone pilots are piloting those drones. How would Russia ever know?
    I'd say that UK and US pilots don't have experience on the particular drone - and I do not know that drone flying skills are *that* much more transferrable than fighter-flying skills.

    Plus Ukraine had around 60 TB2s on order, and were in mid-delivery (having had about a third), so they likely had further pilots already in training. I'd say it is more likely that these are the further pilots.

    My favourite story on this is the Austro-Hungarians who got fully functioning submarines with experienced crews in WW1 by appointing one officer to be a sort of honorary captain of German submarines they borrowed complete with crew.
    It’s not a drone purchased by UK or US militaries, although it’s clearly a brilliant piece of gap-finding in current airbourne capabilities that both countries should consider buying (and maybe donating or lending to Ukraine).

    Getting a TB2 ‘type rating’ for an existing Western drone pilot should be pretty straightforward though, it’s a much simpler, slower and lower aircraft, which of course brings its own advantages and disadvantages in theatre.
    The TB2 seems to be the drone equivalent of the NLAW (and vice versa). Much simpler and cheaper than the pricey, superior but harder-to-use alternatives. Kind of like the Kalashnikov or the T34?

    Some weapons are far better for being relatively basic
    On the matter of the NLAW, are there any reports of Ukraine acquiring further stocks beyond the 2,000 supplied by the UK? Given that they are single use disposable weapons, surely Ukraine are going to have quickly exhausted their stock amid intense fighting in the absence of resupply?
    Yes, plentiful evidence that they are being amply resupplied. The NLAWS are, for Ukrainians, the hero weapon of the war, alongside the Turkish drones

    Do a Twitter search on "NLAW" and you'll see
    Anything other than on Twitter? There's no reference as yet on Wiki other than an extra 100 arriving from Luxembourg.
    Up your google skills. Jeez
    No need for you to up your condescension skills.

    Having already searched Google and drawn a blank, I would be delighted then if you would prove me to be a complete prat by providing a link to something that reliably points to copious resupply of NLAWs to the Ukranians.
    @LostPassword linked this below

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/03/04/weapons-access-ukraine/


    It is pretty clear, reading between the lines, that NLAWS (and much else) are being resupplied across the border, but for obvious reasons the evidence for this is now much sketchier

    But you can find plentiful hints on Twitter. eg


    NEXTA@nexta_tv·Mar 4A new large batch of NLAW arrived in #Kyiv💪

    https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1499827970818646020?s=20&t=Wfff52Cp7zZ2bvjUXHGNIA
    Technically, that could be from intra-Ukrainian transport, ie part of the same original batch, TBF.
    Head::desk

    Boris talks every day with Zelenskyy. I imagine in every chat Zelenskyy says "the NLAWs are brilliant, they are wiping out entire columns, can you send more?"

    Having already sent 2,000, do you think Boris replies "Nope, that's your lot. But let's chat again tomorrow"

    Of course we are sending more, and we are doing it discreetly, across the border, by land

    That's my wild guess but I'm fairly sure it is accurate
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 10,980

    Omnium said:

    nico679 said:

    More shameful behaviour from the Home Office led by the vile Patel .

    Why is what the rest of Europe doing re visas not good enough for her and no 10 .

    When all this crap is going on you choose to criticise Priti Patel? Madness.
    Stick to your hoping Russians die patter, I feel it’s more ‘you’.
    Perhaps TUD. I'm sure we all seek a world where knocked elbows are about the worst that can happen.

  • MrEdMrEd Posts: 5,578
    FWIW, there is a story going round that the Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shiogu is about to be arrested as Putin thinks he is plotting against him. I suggested last week Shiogu was the one to watch here for any coup attempt on Putin but, if this story is true, all shit is going to hit the fan in Russia.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 52,529
    edited March 2022

    nico679 said:

    More shameful behaviour from the Home Office led by the vile Patel .

    Why is what the rest of Europe doing re visas not good enough for her and no 10 .

    We can't do what the Europeans do. Remember that the cosplay Thatcher was invited across to the European council along with the US and NATO. And then tweets about her meeting only with the US and NATO. Doesn't even have the good grace, basic manners and most importantly diplomatic courtesy to name drop her hosts.
    That's fake news. She went to Brussels for a NATO meeting as well as the European Council meeting and mentioned both in her twitter statement.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 10,980

    Omnium said:

    nico679 said:

    More shameful behaviour from the Home Office led by the vile Patel .

    Why is what the rest of Europe doing re visas not good enough for her and no 10 .

    When all this crap is going on you choose to criticise Priti Patel? Madness.
    Well if she can't show some humanity "with all this crap going on" then she deserves to be criticised. Doesn't she?
    As you see it.
  • darkagedarkage Posts: 5,398

    Ukraine Ambassador to UK was asked just now about the refugee immigration and he said the UK is doing quite well, and the numbers need to pick up and expects in a couple of days the numbers will, but he said humanitarian, political, financial and very importantly military support are needed

    The reality for the Ambassador is that the people leaving Ukraine are a peripheral issue. The immediate priority is trying to prevent their country from being invaded. Once people are out of the country they are at least out of the warzone and the visa situation can be resolved when the Home Office get their act together. We are only 10 days in to the war.

    One thing I have observed is that the refugee situation is being exploited by people who just want to blame the British government for something. Avoiding an open door policy is sensible given that immigration is still a major issue in elections.
  • dixiedeandixiedean Posts: 29,502
    Omnium said:

    Omnium said:

    nico679 said:

    More shameful behaviour from the Home Office led by the vile Patel .

    Why is what the rest of Europe doing re visas not good enough for her and no 10 .

    When all this crap is going on you choose to criticise Priti Patel? Madness.
    Well if she can't show some humanity "with all this crap going on" then she deserves to be criticised. Doesn't she?
    As you see it.
    Me too.
  • Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    You said last week the bad money for influence legislation goes after the Chinese too Big G, not just Russians. Do you want to change that position ahead of tomorrow’s shenanigans in Parliament?
    Not sure what you mean but listening to Starmer today it does seem the legidlstion has been virtually agreed between Boris and himself for tomorrow and it must identify dirty money from anywhere
    What difference do you think this pending legislation will make? Seeing as how Boris Johnson refuses to obey laws that inconvenience him or his government, personally or politically?

    These laws actually help his government and I have no doubt they will be enforced if for no other reason public demand and opposition demands

    I would just comment in all this cynicism of Boris, Peppa Crerar the mirror journalist most responsible for putting partygate in front of the nation, was very complimentary to Boris this morning saying that he was doing well and leading Britain in a global context
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 10,980
    Omnium said:

    Omnium said:

    nico679 said:

    More shameful behaviour from the Home Office led by the vile Patel .

    Why is what the rest of Europe doing re visas not good enough for her and no 10 .

    When all this crap is going on you choose to criticise Priti Patel? Madness.
    Well if she can't show some humanity "with all this crap going on" then she deserves to be criticised. Doesn't she?
    As you see it.
    I'm not sure I chose this phrase wisely. What I was sure that I wanted to say is that you can choose your own views and I'd certainly not wish to suggest otherwise.
  • CiceroCicero Posts: 3,136

    I suspect that after this war is over, Russia will be short of cash and supplies whereas Ukraine will be rebuilt with western money and re-equipped with western weapons.

    In 5 or 10 years, Ukraine will make Russia look like a shabby dump by comparison

    That's where we went wrong last time.

    The Russian people were left to fend for themselves in poverty as we celebrated the decline of the USSR, rewarding the satellite states with NATO and EU membership. The beleaguered Russians then took conselation in a lying sociopath...sorry psychopath. Ironically one that the West lauded as a friend who we could do business with.
    They weren't left on their own - they were given large loans, all kinds of help. What people are now suggesting is that the West should have colonised Russia to stop them making mistakes.

    The basic problem was that, in Russia, Imperialist Nationalism was (and is) mainstream. They lost an Empire and still want it.

    Go to Hungary, say, and the Greater Hungarian types are laughed at even by some pretty hard core people.
    If you use the term "satellite state" again then you should know that... "I do have a very particular set of skills..."

  • TimTTimT Posts: 6,468

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Aslan said:

    I think we maybe worry too much about the fighter jet issue. I see the Ukrainians have got a load more Turkish drones. I'm puzzled as to why we haven't done more for them there.

    It is quite possible British and American experienced drone pilots are piloting those drones. How would Russia ever know?
    I'd say that UK and US pilots don't have experience on the particular drone - and I do not know that drone flying skills are *that* much more transferrable than fighter-flying skills.

    Plus Ukraine had around 60 TB2s on order, and were in mid-delivery (having had about a third), so they likely had further pilots already in training. I'd say it is more likely that these are the further pilots.

    My favourite story on this is the Austro-Hungarians who got fully functioning submarines with experienced crews in WW1 by appointing one officer to be a sort of honorary captain of German submarines they borrowed complete with crew.
    It’s not a drone purchased by UK or US militaries, although it’s clearly a brilliant piece of gap-finding in current airbourne capabilities that both countries should consider buying (and maybe donating or lending to Ukraine).

    Getting a TB2 ‘type rating’ for an existing Western drone pilot should be pretty straightforward though, it’s a much simpler, slower and lower aircraft, which of course brings its own advantages and disadvantages in theatre.
    The TB2 seems to be the drone equivalent of the NLAW (and vice versa). Much simpler and cheaper than the pricey, superior but harder-to-use alternatives. Kind of like the Kalashnikov or the T34?

    Some weapons are far better for being relatively basic
    On the matter of the NLAW, are there any reports of Ukraine acquiring further stocks beyond the 2,000 supplied by the UK? Given that they are single use disposable weapons, surely Ukraine are going to have quickly exhausted their stock amid intense fighting in the absence of resupply?
    Yes, plentiful evidence that they are being amply resupplied. The NLAWS are, for Ukrainians, the hero weapon of the war, alongside the Turkish drones

    Do a Twitter search on "NLAW" and you'll see
    Anything other than on Twitter? There's no reference as yet on Wiki other than an extra 100 arriving from Luxembourg.
    Would NATO countries want to be generous with the resupplies but stingy on taking public credit atm, though? Strikes me that it is something that has both benefits and costs in broadcasting to Putin.
  • Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    You said last week the bad money for influence legislation goes after the Chinese too Big G, not just Russians. Do you want to change that position ahead of tomorrow’s shenanigans in Parliament?
    Not sure what you mean but listening to Starmer today it does seem the legidlstion has been virtually agreed between Boris and himself for tomorrow and it must identify dirty money from anywhere
    What difference do you think this pending legislation will make? Seeing as how Boris Johnson refuses to obey laws that inconvenience him or his government, personally or politically?

    These laws actually help his government and I have no doubt they will be enforced if for no other reason public demand and opposition demands

    I would just comment in all this cynicism of Boris, Peppa Crerar the mirror journalist most responsible for putting partygate in front of the nation, was very complimentary to Boris this morning saying that he was doing well and leading Britain in a global context
    So to ask the question again, if we are doing such a marvellous job why are we refusing Ukrainian refugees? The rest of Europe acts, we refuse but then tell lies about acting.

    On one hand we have that traitor Patel saying how marvellous her policy is for refugees. On the other hand we have hard evidence that her Border Force refuse to let almost everyone in. Go away they are told.
  • Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 52,215
    Cicero said:

    I suspect that after this war is over, Russia will be short of cash and supplies whereas Ukraine will be rebuilt with western money and re-equipped with western weapons.

    In 5 or 10 years, Ukraine will make Russia look like a shabby dump by comparison

    That's where we went wrong last time.

    The Russian people were left to fend for themselves in poverty as we celebrated the decline of the USSR, rewarding the satellite states with NATO and EU membership. The beleaguered Russians then took conselation in a lying sociopath...sorry psychopath. Ironically one that the West lauded as a friend who we could do business with.
    They weren't left on their own - they were given large loans, all kinds of help. What people are now suggesting is that the West should have colonised Russia to stop them making mistakes.

    The basic problem was that, in Russia, Imperialist Nationalism was (and is) mainstream. They lost an Empire and still want it.

    Go to Hungary, say, and the Greater Hungarian types are laughed at even by some pretty hard core people.
    If you use the term "satellite state" again then you should know that... "I do have a very particular set of skills..."

    "Good luck!" :lol:
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 43,596
    edited March 2022

    Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    You said last week the bad money for influence legislation goes after the Chinese too Big G, not just Russians. Do you want to change that position ahead of tomorrow’s shenanigans in Parliament?
    Not sure what you mean but listening to Starmer today it does seem the legidlstion has been virtually agreed between Boris and himself for tomorrow and it must identify dirty money from anywhere
    What difference do you think this pending legislation will make? Seeing as how Boris Johnson refuses to obey laws that inconvenience him or his government, personally or politically?

    These laws actually help his government and I have no doubt they will be enforced if for no other reason public demand and opposition demands

    I would just comment in all this cynicism of Boris, Peppa Crerar the mirror journalist most responsible for putting partygate in front of the nation, was very complimentary to Boris this morning saying that he was doing well and leading Britain in a global context
    Slightly unfortunate Freudian slip ... it's Pippa Crerar, if I might ...
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 63,849
    edited March 2022
    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    On topic, I’m looking forward to seeing how Starmer deploys the Lebedev affair at PMQs. It could really be the making of him if he manages it right.

    This morning he said he was not aware of the detail and it should be referred to the appropriate committee

    Seems eminently sensible
    He’s got until Wednesday to grab the detail. He’s a QC so shouldn’t be hard. Really hope he gets it right.
    Appointments have to be approved by the House of Lords Appointment Commission so ultimately they are responsible

    https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/whos-in-the-house-of-lords/members-and-their-roles/how-members-are-appointed/
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541

    Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    You said last week the bad money for influence legislation goes after the Chinese too Big G, not just Russians. Do you want to change that position ahead of tomorrow’s shenanigans in Parliament?
    Not sure what you mean but listening to Starmer today it does seem the legidlstion has been virtually agreed between Boris and himself for tomorrow and it must identify dirty money from anywhere
    What difference do you think this pending legislation will make? Seeing as how Boris Johnson refuses to obey laws that inconvenience him or his government, personally or politically?

    These laws actually help his government and I have no doubt they will be enforced if for no other reason public demand and opposition demands

    I would just comment in all this cynicism of Boris, Peppa Crerar the mirror journalist most responsible for putting partygate in front of the nation, was very complimentary to Boris this morning saying that he was doing well and leading Britain in a global context
    Peppa? Paging Dr Freud….
  • FrankBoothFrankBooth Posts: 9,961
    What can the Ukrainians do about the shelling of Kharkiv? Are they simply too tied up with Kiev?
  • BigRichBigRich Posts: 3,492

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Leon said:

    Sandpit said:

    MattW said:

    Aslan said:

    I think we maybe worry too much about the fighter jet issue. I see the Ukrainians have got a load more Turkish drones. I'm puzzled as to why we haven't done more for them there.

    It is quite possible British and American experienced drone pilots are piloting those drones. How would Russia ever know?
    I'd say that UK and US pilots don't have experience on the particular drone - and I do not know that drone flying skills are *that* much more transferrable than fighter-flying skills.

    Plus Ukraine had around 60 TB2s on order, and were in mid-delivery (having had about a third), so they likely had further pilots already in training. I'd say it is more likely that these are the further pilots.

    My favourite story on this is the Austro-Hungarians who got fully functioning submarines with experienced crews in WW1 by appointing one officer to be a sort of honorary captain of German submarines they borrowed complete with crew.
    It’s not a drone purchased by UK or US militaries, although it’s clearly a brilliant piece of gap-finding in current airbourne capabilities that both countries should consider buying (and maybe donating or lending to Ukraine).

    Getting a TB2 ‘type rating’ for an existing Western drone pilot should be pretty straightforward though, it’s a much simpler, slower and lower aircraft, which of course brings its own advantages and disadvantages in theatre.
    The TB2 seems to be the drone equivalent of the NLAW (and vice versa). Much simpler and cheaper than the pricey, superior but harder-to-use alternatives. Kind of like the Kalashnikov or the T34?

    Some weapons are far better for being relatively basic
    On the matter of the NLAW, are there any reports of Ukraine acquiring further stocks beyond the 2,000 supplied by the UK? Given that they are single use disposable weapons, surely Ukraine are going to have quickly exhausted their stock amid intense fighting in the absence of resupply?
    Yes, plentiful evidence that they are being amply resupplied. The NLAWS are, for Ukrainians, the hero weapon of the war, alongside the Turkish drones

    Do a Twitter search on "NLAW" and you'll see
    Anything other than on Twitter? There's no reference as yet on Wiki other than an extra 100 arriving from Luxembourg.
    Up your google skills. Jeez
    No need for you to up your condescension skills.

    Having already searched Google and drawn a blank, I would be delighted then if you would prove me to be a complete prat by providing a link to something that reliably points to copious resupply of NLAWs to the Ukranians.
    @LostPassword linked this below

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/03/04/weapons-access-ukraine/


    It is pretty clear, reading between the lines, that NLAWS (and much else) are being resupplied across the border, but for obvious reasons the evidence for this is now much sketchier

    But you can find plentiful hints on Twitter. eg


    NEXTA@nexta_tv·Mar 4A new large batch of NLAW arrived in #Kyiv💪

    https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1499827970818646020?s=20&t=Wfff52Cp7zZ2bvjUXHGNIA
    Thales Belfast is apparently quite busy at the moment. Lots of overtime on offer.
    How quickly can Belfast Produce the NLAW?

    Is there a risk, if this drags on, that we will have sent all of our available stocks of NLAWs and then the flow will be reduced to what can be produced?
  • DougSealDougSeal Posts: 12,541

    DougSeal said:

    DougSeal said:

    On topic, I’m looking forward to seeing how Starmer deploys the Lebedev affair at PMQs. It could really be the making of him if he manages it right.

    This morning he said he was not aware of the detail and it should be referred to the appropriate committee

    Seems eminently sensible
    He’s got until Wednesday to grab the detail. He’s a QC so shouldn’t be hard. Really hope he gets it right.
    Appointments have to be approved by the House of Lords Appointment Commission so ultimately they are responsible

    https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/whos-in-the-house-of-lords/members-and-their-roles/how-members-are-appointed/
    The charge is that Johnson got the intelligence assessment changed. That had nothing to do with anyone else.
  • Scott_xP said:
    50?

    Ireland is making plans to be ready to accommodate more than 100,000. (1,349 have entered Ireland so far)
    Patel was interviwed today and she said that the scheme only opened yesterday and the home office had received 10,000 applications in the first few hours which were being processed

    I do not like Patel but this them against us is tedious especially as we have said we will take 200,000
    You said last week the bad money for influence legislation goes after the Chinese too Big G, not just Russians. Do you want to change that position ahead of tomorrow’s shenanigans in Parliament?
    Not sure what you mean but listening to Starmer today it does seem the legidlstion has been virtually agreed between Boris and himself for tomorrow and it must identify dirty money from anywhere
    What difference do you think this pending legislation will make? Seeing as how Boris Johnson refuses to obey laws that inconvenience him or his government, personally or politically?

    These laws actually help his government and I have no doubt they will be enforced if for no other reason public demand and opposition demands

    I would just comment in all this cynicism of Boris, Peppa Crerar the mirror journalist most responsible for putting partygate in front of the nation, was very complimentary to Boris this morning saying that he was doing well and leading Britain in a global context
    So to ask the question again, if we are doing such a marvellous job why are we refusing Ukrainian refugees? The rest of Europe acts, we refuse but then tell lies about acting.

    On one hand we have that traitor Patel saying how marvellous her policy is for refugees. On the other hand we have hard evidence that her Border Force refuse to let almost everyone in. Go away they are told.
    If there is evidence than Patel must respond and hopefully it will be raised in the HOC tomorrow

This discussion has been closed.