The weather is getting very cold, -8 and very cold winds here. I think it is even colder in Kyiv, and the Russian troops have been out in the open for nearly a month.
We are packing in refugees where ever space can be found, and several thousand have arrived in Tallinn in the past couple of days. Schools, places to stay and jobs are being found for those that need them. Estonia has also quietly sent even more kit to the Ukrainian army.
The Russian Embassy has suffered at least one bomb threat, but although feelings are running high in Estonia, the natural taciturnity of the Estonians means that there is little to show, beyond a burning contempt on all sides for those who have ordered the shelling.
There is a certain satisfaction at the state of the Russian forces and a growing hope that the Ukrainians can begin to push back against the invaders. Borders are still busy as more Russians try to leave. The situation in Russia is not good and friends in St. Petersburg report the break down of most financial services. Despite the heavy crackdown, quite a few Russians seem to know what has happened and are as horrified as the rest of us.
Putin is clinging on, but with rumours about his health spreading, one wonders who would want to stay with the sinking ship. We hope and pray here, but it really feels like Russia is on the brink of a major disaster. I think defeat for the invaders has become a real possibility and the blowback into Russia will end the country we have known. Collapse, revolution, civil war, who knows? Still we feel that we are very far from the end of this crisis.
Thanks once again for the regular posts from the Baltic @Cicero. Really good to get your views - stay safe and keep posting!
Fourth like Lib Dems! Edit. Or even fifth. I don't believe for one minute that the Greens are in any sort of position to win more votes at a GE than the yellows.
Johnson is trying to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.
He makes noises about welcoming refugees while there are unaccountable delays in actually processing and receiving them. This is trying to play both to sensible people who want to see a larger number of refugees allowed into this country and also that element of the Get Brexit Done Tory voters who simply don't like foreigners.
When this has all died down he can say to both groups - see I was on your side.
There is also the massive incompetent twat theory overlay that says he is trying to do something but is simply unable to do so. It's a pretty reliable overlay for anything Johnson does, of course.
England 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Alex Lees, 3 Joe Root (capt), 4 Dan Lawrence, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Ben Foakes (wkt), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Craig Overton, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Jack Leach.
Craig Overton is never a test bowler and now 27. I really don't know why England keep calling him up.
Fourth like Lib Dems! Edit. Or even fifth. I don't believe for one minute that the Greens are in any sort of position to win more votes at a GE than the yellows.
It’s dum for a commercial firm to publish that and tell the world in big flashy lights “we are you gov and when it comes to political polling we have lost the plot. Green 8 Libdem 7. A joke. An absolute shambles of a polling firm. They should be hauled before someone, like the whole world to explain themselves, not posit it and run away behind Twitter like knock out ginger, looking at what You gov just published you immediately think of sinister things like reptiles taking over the earth which is not rational but still more rational than their polling. Bottom line, mister Godfrey’s sister Dolly and Ethel and Molly could have knitted a better poll for you gov than that. Just look at it! Pathetic. 🤬
England 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Alex Lees, 3 Joe Root (capt), 4 Dan Lawrence, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Ben Foakes (wkt), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Craig Overton, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Jack Leach.
Craig Overton is never a test bowler and now 27. I really don't know why England keep calling him up.
England 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Alex Lees, 3 Joe Root (capt), 4 Dan Lawrence, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Ben Foakes (wkt), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Craig Overton, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Jack Leach.
Craig Overton is never a test bowler and now 27. I really don't know why England keep calling him up.
But can Overton bat? We need the number nine to chip in with a double figure score to give us a chance of making it past 100.
England 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Alex Lees, 3 Joe Root (capt), 4 Dan Lawrence, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Ben Foakes (wkt), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Craig Overton, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Jack Leach.
Craig Overton is never a test bowler and now 27. I really don't know why England keep calling him up.
But can Overton bat? We need the number nine to chip in with a double figure score to give us a chance of making it past 100.
If you are having to rely on your #9-#11 for runs you have serious problems elsewhere in your team....oh I see what you mean.
I think my point is if England are trying to rebuild, picking a 27 year old, who despite looking like he should be able to bowl quick, can't, and isn't getting any better year on year. Bowling mid 80s in modern cricket anywhere other than England just isn't good enough unless you bend it like a banana with fantastic control i.e. Anderson.
Fourth like Lib Dems! Edit. Or even fifth. I don't believe for one minute that the Greens are in any sort of position to win more votes at a GE than the yellows.
It’s dum for a commercial firm to publish that and tell the world in big flashy lights “we are you gov and when it comes to political polling we have lost the plot. Green 8 Libdem 7. A joke. An absolute shambles of a polling firm. They should be hauled before someone, like the whole world to explain themselves, not posit it and run away behind Twitter like knock out ginger, looking at what You gov just published you immediately think of sinister things like reptiles taking over the earth which is not rational but still more rational than their polling. Bottom line, mister Godfrey’s sister Dolly and Ethel and Molly could have knitted a better poll for you gov than that. Just look at it! Pathetic. 🤬
I don't believe Reform are anywhere near 5% either.
Fourth like Lib Dems! Edit. Or even fifth. I don't believe for one minute that the Greens are in any sort of position to win more votes at a GE than the yellows.
It’s dum for a commercial firm to publish that and tell the world in big flashy lights “we are you gov and when it comes to political polling we have lost the plot. Green 8 Libdem 7. A joke. An absolute shambles of a polling firm. They should be hauled before someone, like the whole world to explain themselves, not posit it and run away behind Twitter like knock out ginger, looking at what You gov just published you immediately think of sinister things like reptiles taking over the earth which is not rational but still more rational than their polling. Bottom line, mister Godfrey’s sister Dolly and Ethel and Molly could have knitted a better poll for you gov than that. Just look at it! Pathetic. 🤬
I'm not sure that's true; this is a snapshot of people's intent now - in the absence, for example, of having an actual candidate to vote for. I can well believe that many on Labour's left, and the greener end of the LDs are currently saying they would vote Green (if offered a candidate) that Lab or LD.
OK, a crazy idea. But not much crazier than the Boris Bridge or Boris Island, or any of Boris's other pet projects.
We offer to take 500k Ukrainian refugees... and we build a city to house them. Let's call it New Kyiv, and let's put it somewhere in the red wall. Tons of new construction work, infrastructure, jobs. Levelling up. We have built "new towns" before so a completely planned new town (or two) isn't beyond the realms of possibilities. Starting with tents tomorrow, prefabs next month and real bricks and mortar by next year.
A shining example of our solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and even if the damn thing never gets built, it's a headline grabber for Big Dog.
England 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Alex Lees, 3 Joe Root (capt), 4 Dan Lawrence, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Ben Foakes (wkt), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Craig Overton, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Jack Leach.
Craig Overton is never a test bowler and now 27. I really don't know why England keep calling him up.
But can Overton bat? We need the number nine to chip in with a double figure score to give us a chance of making it past 100.
If you are having to rely on your #9-#11 for runs you have serious problems elsewhere in your team....oh I see what you mean.
I think my point is if England are trying to rebuild, picking a 27 year old, who despite looking like he should be able to bowl quick, can't, and isn't getting any better year on year. Bowling mid 80s in modern cricket anywhere other than England just isn't good enough unless you bend it like a banana with fantastic control i.e. Anderson.
I don't wish to be mean to the man, since he is a lot better than me, but Overton is a county player. His international call up is a sign of defeat, IMHO.
OK, a crazy idea. But not much crazier than the Boris Bridge or Boris Island, or any of Boris's other pet projects.
We offer to take 500k Ukrainian refugees... and we build a city to house them. Let's call it New Kyiv, and let's put it somewhere in the red wall. Tons of new construction work, infrastructure, jobs. Levelling up. We have built "new towns" before so a completely planned new town (or two) isn't beyond the realms of possibilities. Starting with tents tomorrow, prefabs next month and real bricks and mortar by next year.
A shining example of our solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and even if the damn thing never gets built, it's a headline grabber for Big Dog.
Too straight forward a plan for the Big Dog. It needs to be located on an artificial island in the Thames, connected to the mainland via a tunnel.
OK, a crazy idea. But not much crazier than the Boris Bridge or Boris Island, or any of Boris's other pet projects.
We offer to take 500k Ukrainian refugees... and we build a city to house them. Let's call it New Kyiv, and let's put it somewhere in the red wall. Tons of new construction work, infrastructure, jobs. Levelling up. We have built "new towns" before so a completely planned new town (or two) isn't beyond the realms of possibilities. Starting with tents tomorrow, prefabs next month and real bricks and mortar by next year.
A shining example of our solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and even if the damn thing never gets built, it's a headline grabber for Big Dog.
Too straight forward a plan for the Big Dog. It needs to be on an artificial island in the Thames, connected to the mainland via a tunnel.
A network of Crannogs hand constructed around the NE coastline.
OK, a crazy idea. But not much crazier than the Boris Bridge or Boris Island, or any of Boris's other pet projects.
We offer to take 500k Ukrainian refugees... and we build a city to house them. Let's call it New Kyiv, and let's put it somewhere in the red wall. Tons of new construction work, infrastructure, jobs. Levelling up. We have built "new towns" before so a completely planned new town (or two) isn't beyond the realms of possibilities. Starting with tents tomorrow, prefabs next month and real bricks and mortar by next year.
A shining example of our solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and even if the damn thing never gets built, it's a headline grabber for Big Dog.
Fine, just build it in the middle of central belt Scotland where Sturgeon says they love mass immigration, not the redwall
On the "Kirovohrad highway" in Mykolaiv Oblast, the Russian troops gunned down a shift of female teachers of an orphanage, who were going to work in a minibus, killing 3, wounding 2, reported Anna Zamazeyeva, the head of the Mykolaiv regional council. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1501185101954228226
Putin says this isn't a war and I actually agree with him. "War" is to dignify it really.
I usually shy from such comparisons, but the euphemism "special military operation" is beginning to take on shades of the darker euphemism sonderkommando.
England 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Alex Lees, 3 Joe Root (capt), 4 Dan Lawrence, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Ben Foakes (wkt), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Craig Overton, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Jack Leach.
Craig Overton is never a test bowler and now 27. I really don't know why England keep calling him up.
But can Overton bat? We need the number nine to chip in with a double figure score to give us a chance of making it past 100.
If you are having to rely on your #9-#11 for runs you have serious problems elsewhere in your team....oh I see what you mean.
I think my point is if England are trying to rebuild, picking a 27 year old, who despite looking like he should be able to bowl quick, can't, and isn't getting any better year on year. Bowling mid 80s in modern cricket anywhere other than England just isn't good enough unless you bend it like a banana with fantastic control i.e. Anderson.
I don't wish to be mean to the man, since he is a lot better than me, but Overton is a county player. His international call up is a sign of defeat, IMHO.
I think it is because him and his brother were highly touted as youngsters and could bowl quick when they were 16-17. 10 years on, they haven't improved. IMO, it is really negative pick.
England 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Alex Lees, 3 Joe Root (capt), 4 Dan Lawrence, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Ben Foakes (wkt), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Craig Overton, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Jack Leach.
Craig Overton is never a test bowler and now 27. I really don't know why England keep calling him up.
But can Overton bat? We need the number nine to chip in with a double figure score to give us a chance of making it past 100.
If you are having to rely on your #9-#11 for runs you have serious problems elsewhere in your team....oh I see what you mean.
I think my point is if England are trying to rebuild, picking a 27 year old, who despite looking like he should be able to bowl quick, can't, and isn't getting any better year on year. Bowling mid 80s in modern cricket anywhere other than England just isn't good enough unless you bend it like a banana with fantastic control i.e. Anderson.
Cricinfo has it summed up accurately:
9.50am: Not far from the inevitable England collapse start of the morning session in Antigua
OK, a crazy idea. But not much crazier than the Boris Bridge or Boris Island, or any of Boris's other pet projects.
We offer to take 500k Ukrainian refugees... and we build a city to house them. Let's call it New Kyiv, and let's put it somewhere in the red wall. Tons of new construction work, infrastructure, jobs. Levelling up. We have built "new towns" before so a completely planned new town (or two) isn't beyond the realms of possibilities. Starting with tents tomorrow, prefabs next month and real bricks and mortar by next year.
A shining example of our solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and even if the damn thing never gets built, it's a headline grabber for Big Dog.
We'd still be holding planning enquiries as the next election rolled around.
1) Twitter is not an editor that creates content, it is a publishing platform. Therefore you will find the (free) insights from some very highly informed people on there, not just teenagers re-enacting call of duty. It’s not a secret which are which.
2) Older generations can confer tremendous wisdom on many matters and that is why human societies have for thousands of years tended to structure decision making among the elders. However the change of pace of the modern world undermines this somewhat. There are timeless problems, most notably those around the human condition, about which the young would do well to listen to their elders rather than petulantly shout “ok boomer”. There are others where the rapid rate of change of technology means the reverse is true. This probably extends to matters such as the environment and the economy.
OK, a crazy idea. But not much crazier than the Boris Bridge or Boris Island, or any of Boris's other pet projects.
We offer to take 500k Ukrainian refugees... and we build a city to house them. Let's call it New Kyiv, and let's put it somewhere in the red wall. Tons of new construction work, infrastructure, jobs. Levelling up. We have built "new towns" before so a completely planned new town (or two) isn't beyond the realms of possibilities. Starting with tents tomorrow, prefabs next month and real bricks and mortar by next year.
A shining example of our solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and even if the damn thing never gets built, it's a headline grabber for Big Dog.
At this stage it's a bit early to be admitting defeat and thinking about large-scale permanent settlement of Ukrainian refugees.
Hopefully we get to rebuild new cities in Ukraine.
New York Times simply can't resist getting a dig in here.
The New York Times @nytimes The influx of Ukrainian refugees into Poland has prompted a grassroots movement across Polish society, as people raise funds and offer help. The warm welcome stands in stark contrast to how refugees from other countries have been received. https://nyti.ms/35YUoSc
The photo is illustrative, women and children heading over temporarily, with men staying behind to fight. And that is why Ukraine stands a chance. All your males between 18 and 60 is one hell of an army.
1) Twitter is not an editor that creates content, it is a publishing platform. Therefore you will find the (free) insights from some very highly informed people on there, not just teenagers re-enacting call of duty. It’s not a secret which are which.
2) Older generations can confer tremendous wisdom on many matters and that is why human societies have for thousands of years tended to structure decision making among the elders. However the change of pace of the modern world undermines this somewhat. There are timeless problems, most notably those around the human condition, about which the young would do well to listen to their elders rather than petulantly shout “ok boomer”. There are others where the rapid rate of change of technology means the reverse is true. This probably extends to matters such as the environment and the economy.
I like Twitter a lot. But it takes continuous effort to cull the dross.
New York Times simply can't resist getting a dig in here.
The New York Times @nytimes The influx of Ukrainian refugees into Poland has prompted a grassroots movement across Polish society, as people raise funds and offer help. The warm welcome stands in stark contrast to how refugees from other countries have been received. https://nyti.ms/35YUoSc
The photo is illustrative, women and children heading over temporarily, with men staying behind to fight. And that is why Ukraine stands a chance. All your males between 18 and 60 is one hell of an army.
New York Times simply can't resist getting a dig in here.
The New York Times @nytimes The influx of Ukrainian refugees into Poland has prompted a grassroots movement across Polish society, as people raise funds and offer help. The warm welcome stands in stark contrast to how refugees from other countries have been received. https://nyti.ms/35YUoSc
The photo is illustrative, women and children heading over temporarily, with men staying behind to fight. And that is why Ukraine stands a chance. All your males between 18 and 60 is one hell of an army.
More than that - since (18 month) conscription was reintroduced, several hundred thousand (I think) reservists have at least some limited experience of battlefield conditions from rotations in the Donbass region.
I wonder how long Bully Bercow is going to last in the Labour Party?
I know a party he could join..
During my run this afternoon, I had a cold shiver: Boris Johnson may be bad, but imagine if we had had Corbyn as PM over Covid and the Ukraine situation?
He's been awful over Covid, and instead of sending weapons to Ukraine, he'd probably find a reason to send them to Russia.
And I also see Chris Williamson's been making an idiot of himself on Twitter: calling on Zelensky to agree to all of Russia's demands.
I wonder how long Bully Bercow is going to last in the Labour Party?
I know a party he could join..
During my run this afternoon, I had a cold shiver: Boris Johnson may be bad, but imagine if we had had Corbyn as PM over Covid and the Ukraine situation?
He's been awful over Covid, and instead of sending weapons to Ukraine, he'd probably find a reason to send them to Russia.
And I also see Chris Williamson's been making an idiot of himself on Twitter: calling on Zelensky to agree to all of Russia's demands.
Whenever you get situations like this, the useful idiots always show themselves up. Lembit Opik has appeared, claiming its the west's fault, his carefully considered position based upon watching an Oliver Stone film about Putin.
New York Times simply can't resist getting a dig in here.
The New York Times @nytimes The influx of Ukrainian refugees into Poland has prompted a grassroots movement across Polish society, as people raise funds and offer help. The warm welcome stands in stark contrast to how refugees from other countries have been received. https://nyti.ms/35YUoSc
The photo is illustrative, women and children heading over temporarily, with men staying behind to fight. And that is why Ukraine stands a chance. All your males between 18 and 60 is one hell of an army.
I wonder how long Bully Bercow is going to last in the Labour Party?
I know a party he could join..
During my run this afternoon, I had a cold shiver: Boris Johnson may be bad, but imagine if we had had Corbyn as PM over Covid and the Ukraine situation?
He's been awful over Covid, and instead of sending weapons to Ukraine, he'd probably find a reason to send them to Russia.
And I also see Chris Williamson's been making an idiot of himself on Twitter: calling on Zelensky to agree to all of Russia's demands.
Imagine a double whammy of Corbyn and Trump being in charge now.....
I wonder how long Bully Bercow is going to last in the Labour Party?
I know a party he could join..
During my run this afternoon, I had a cold shiver: Boris Johnson may be bad, but imagine if we had had Corbyn as PM over Covid and the Ukraine situation?
He's been awful over Covid, and instead of sending weapons to Ukraine, he'd probably find a reason to send them to Russia.
And I also see Chris Williamson's been making an idiot of himself on Twitter: calling on Zelensky to agree to all of Russia's demands.
Whenever you get situations like this, the useful idiots always show themselves up. Lembit Opik has appeared, claiming its the west's fault, his carefully considered position based upon watching an Oliver Stone film about Putin.
It is reasonable to say that Putin might have watched the West behave these past few decades and thought to himself - oh, those are the rules of the game, I get it, now I want a go. He has cited on more than one occasion the Iraqi invasion as being a formative experience for him.
OK, a crazy idea. But not much crazier than the Boris Bridge or Boris Island, or any of Boris's other pet projects.
We offer to take 500k Ukrainian refugees... and we build a city to house them. Let's call it New Kyiv, and let's put it somewhere in the red wall. Tons of new construction work, infrastructure, jobs. Levelling up. We have built "new towns" before so a completely planned new town (or two) isn't beyond the realms of possibilities. Starting with tents tomorrow, prefabs next month and real bricks and mortar by next year.
A shining example of our solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and even if the damn thing never gets built, it's a headline grabber for Big Dog.
Fine, just build it in the middle of central belt Scotland where Sturgeon says they love mass immigration, not the redwall
This could also provide a helpful injection of pro-British voters into the Scottish electorate.
OK, a crazy idea. But not much crazier than the Boris Bridge or Boris Island, or any of Boris's other pet projects.
We offer to take 500k Ukrainian refugees... and we build a city to house them. Let's call it New Kyiv, and let's put it somewhere in the red wall. Tons of new construction work, infrastructure, jobs. Levelling up. We have built "new towns" before so a completely planned new town (or two) isn't beyond the realms of possibilities. Starting with tents tomorrow, prefabs next month and real bricks and mortar by next year.
A shining example of our solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and even if the damn thing never gets built, it's a headline grabber for Big Dog.
At this stage it's a bit early to be admitting defeat and thinking about large-scale permanent settlement of Ukrainian refugees.
Hopefully we get to rebuild new cities in Ukraine.
Even if the Ukrainians never come, we could do with building the infrastructure for another 500k or so people anyway. Level up the north with a new city, new infrastructure, new transport links. Sort of like how the BBC relocated to Salford, but on a much grander scale.
It is of course a crazy idea. But is it really any crazier than any of Boris's previous ideas?
Fourth like Lib Dems! Edit. Or even fifth. I don't believe for one minute that the Greens are in any sort of position to win more votes at a GE than the yellows.
It’s dum for a commercial firm to publish that and tell the world in big flashy lights “we are you gov and when it comes to political polling we have lost the plot. Green 8 Libdem 7. A joke. An absolute shambles of a polling firm. They should be hauled before someone, like the whole world to explain themselves, not posit it and run away behind Twitter like knock out ginger, looking at what You gov just published you immediately think of sinister things like reptiles taking over the earth which is not rational but still more rational than their polling. Bottom line, mister Godfrey’s sister Dolly and Ethel and Molly could have knitted a better poll for you gov than that. Just look at it! Pathetic. 🤬
I'm not sure that's true; this is a snapshot of people's intent now - in the absence, for example, of having an actual candidate to vote for. I can well believe that many on Labour's left, and the greener end of the LDs are currently saying they would vote Green (if offered a candidate) that Lab or LD.
That doesn't mean YouGov are doing things badly.
Pundits were speculating aeons ago that Starmer's Mandelsonian centrism and support for the government risked losing Labour voters to the green team. Maybe it is happening.
OT Sainsbury's seems to have given up on the racing papers, and Cheltenham starts next Tuesday.
Can't get the RP at my local Tesco's either but the shop by the tube station always has a good stock. I imagine it'll be £4.20 on weekdays and £4.50 on Saturdays from next week.
Back to energy prices (this isn't just thrown together nonsense), the aforementioned Tesco's is now charging 153.9p per litre for Unleaded, up 5p in the past week.
Can't believe this isn't going to cause some issues as companies try to recover costs through price rises and then workers seek to regain living standards by wage rises so will we see a new round of industrial militancy?
Is it 5/2 someone in the Government will before long bring a great old cliche out of retirement such as "one man's wage increase is another man's price increase"? It's been nearly fifty years since the fun and games of wage increases chasing price inflation but could nostalgia be back on the agenda?
It is very upsetting. Hearing the examples is heartbreaking. Our civil service ability to adapt is a disgrace. Tory MPs getting stuck in, but I suspect it will make no difference.
PS Steve Brine very angry.
Incidents like this will occur and reoccur so long as the leadership is only interested in presentation and posturing and not in delivery.
Yep, we know what Johnson "having a good war" actually means to him. It means his poll ratings recover and he stays to fight the next GE. Hopefully there will be a large overlap between what he judges will achieve this goal and what will be the right response to this crisis. This looks to be largely the case so far. But make no mistake as at which objective will dominate should there be a conflict between them. Sorry to be cynical, I don't like to be and normally I'm not, but when it comes to pure 'everything and anything is about me' calculus this guy is very special.
He, or maybe it was his defence minister - it doesn't matter - made one good call: to provide early arms to Ukraine. As with vaccine rollouts Johnson leverages a rare success with performative activity to mask an otherwise mediocre response. How would other prime ministers have done? In truth, at least as well. But Johnson's inactivity is the most masterful. As you say it's hard not to be cynical.
On the "Kirovohrad highway" in Mykolaiv Oblast, the Russian troops gunned down a shift of female teachers of an orphanage, who were going to work in a minibus, killing 3, wounding 2, reported Anna Zamazeyeva, the head of the Mykolaiv regional council. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1501185101954228226
Putin says this isn't a war and I actually agree with him. "War" is to dignify it really.
I usually shy from such comparisons, but the euphemism "special military operation" is beginning to take on shades of the darker euphemism sonderkommando.
Well it is outside normal frames of military reference imo. There might be soldiers and uniforms involved, bombs and tanks and planes, and "geopolitical" aspects, but if you look through all of that, which I find easy to do, what you have is premeditated mass murder and grievous bodily harm and criminal damage on a massive scale. Vladimir Putin is committing a terrible crime for which mitigation is there none. For me that's closer to the essence of this than the "Russia/Ukraine" war.
OK, a crazy idea. But not much crazier than the Boris Bridge or Boris Island, or any of Boris's other pet projects.
We offer to take 500k Ukrainian refugees... and we build a city to house them. Let's call it New Kyiv, and let's put it somewhere in the red wall. Tons of new construction work, infrastructure, jobs. Levelling up. We have built "new towns" before so a completely planned new town (or two) isn't beyond the realms of possibilities. Starting with tents tomorrow, prefabs next month and real bricks and mortar by next year.
A shining example of our solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and even if the damn thing never gets built, it's a headline grabber for Big Dog.
Fine, just build it in the middle of central belt Scotland where Sturgeon says they love mass immigration, not the redwall
Oh dear not happy that Scots are more discerning and imbued with more milk of human kindness than your lot.
OK, a crazy idea. But not much crazier than the Boris Bridge or Boris Island, or any of Boris's other pet projects.
We offer to take 500k Ukrainian refugees... and we build a city to house them. Let's call it New Kyiv, and let's put it somewhere in the red wall. Tons of new construction work, infrastructure, jobs. Levelling up. We have built "new towns" before so a completely planned new town (or two) isn't beyond the realms of possibilities. Starting with tents tomorrow, prefabs next month and real bricks and mortar by next year.
A shining example of our solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and even if the damn thing never gets built, it's a headline grabber for Big Dog.
At this stage it's a bit early to be admitting defeat and thinking about large-scale permanent settlement of Ukrainian refugees.
Hopefully we get to rebuild new cities in Ukraine.
Even if the Ukrainians never come, we could do with building the infrastructure for another 500k or so people anyway. Level up the north with a new city, new infrastructure, new transport links. Sort of like how the BBC relocated to Salford, but on a much grander scale.
It is of course a crazy idea. But is it really any crazier than any of Boris's previous ideas?
Some of us have been advocating new (or at least refurbished) towns up north for ages. Lots of jobs, affordable homes, and virtuous economic circulation. It is what we used to do.
OK, a crazy idea. But not much crazier than the Boris Bridge or Boris Island, or any of Boris's other pet projects.
We offer to take 500k Ukrainian refugees... and we build a city to house them. Let's call it New Kyiv, and let's put it somewhere in the red wall. Tons of new construction work, infrastructure, jobs. Levelling up. We have built "new towns" before so a completely planned new town (or two) isn't beyond the realms of possibilities. Starting with tents tomorrow, prefabs next month and real bricks and mortar by next year.
A shining example of our solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and even if the damn thing never gets built, it's a headline grabber for Big Dog.
Fine, just build it in the middle of central belt Scotland where Sturgeon says they love mass immigration, not the redwall
Oh dear not happy that Scots are more discerning and imbued with more milk of human kindness than your lot.
More simplistic racism from PB's most prejudiced and stupid poster.
I wonder how long Bully Bercow is going to last in the Labour Party?
Not long I suspect. He only joined them last year. Prior to that of course he was a member of the Conservative Party for 29 years and deemed fit to be selected as a Conservative MP for a decade or more
looking at that headline - If its possible to cut imports this year by 80% then how does it take another 8 years to cut the remaining 20% ?
I would have thought it would be very easy (if expensive) to cut gas imports in 4-5 years though a combination of LNG terminals, Fracking, new Pipes, green energy, insulation, and so on. but the problem was/is that very little of that would come on stream before next winter.
England 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Alex Lees, 3 Joe Root (capt), 4 Dan Lawrence, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Ben Foakes (wkt), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Craig Overton, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Jack Leach.
Craig Overton is never a test bowler and now 27. I really don't know why England keep calling him up.
But can Overton bat? We need the number nine to chip in with a double figure score to give us a chance of making it past 100.
If you are having to rely on your #9-#11 for runs you have serious problems elsewhere in your team....oh I see what you mean.
I think my point is if England are trying to rebuild, picking a 27 year old, who despite looking like he should be able to bowl quick, can't, and isn't getting any better year on year. Bowling mid 80s in modern cricket anywhere other than England just isn't good enough unless you bend it like a banana with fantastic control i.e. Anderson.
I don't wish to be mean to the man, since he is a lot better than me, but Overton is a county player. His international call up is a sign of defeat, IMHO.
I think it is because him and his brother were highly touted as youngsters and could bowl quick when they were 16-17. 10 years on, they haven't improved. IMO, it is really negative pick.
I wouldn't worry too much. The way the batting is going they're going to have to choose another couple of bowlers to drop from the team.
I wonder how long Bully Bercow is going to last in the Labour Party?
Not long I suspect. He only joined them last year. Prior to that of course he was a member of the Conservative Party for 29 years and deemed fit to be selected as a Conservative MP for a decade or more
Breaking
Bercow is administratively suspended from Labour, whatever that means
I wonder how long Bully Bercow is going to last in the Labour Party?
I know a party he could join..
During my run this afternoon, I had a cold shiver: Boris Johnson may be bad, but imagine if we had had Corbyn as PM over Covid and the Ukraine situation?
He's been awful over Covid, and instead of sending weapons to Ukraine, he'd probably find a reason to send them to Russia.
And I also see Chris Williamson's been making an idiot of himself on Twitter: calling on Zelensky to agree to all of Russia's demands.
Imagine a double whammy of Corbyn and Trump being in charge now.....
in 2017 Trump was in charge and Corbyn was at the pinnacle of his power and influence. The tories were wobbling on with the support of the DUP.
A much more propitious time to invade? except Putin didn't.
OK, a crazy idea. But not much crazier than the Boris Bridge or Boris Island, or any of Boris's other pet projects.
We offer to take 500k Ukrainian refugees... and we build a city to house them. Let's call it New Kyiv, and let's put it somewhere in the red wall. Tons of new construction work, infrastructure, jobs. Levelling up. We have built "new towns" before so a completely planned new town (or two) isn't beyond the realms of possibilities. Starting with tents tomorrow, prefabs next month and real bricks and mortar by next year.
A shining example of our solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and even if the damn thing never gets built, it's a headline grabber for Big Dog.
Fine, just build it in the middle of central belt Scotland where Sturgeon says they love mass immigration, not the redwall
Oh dear not happy that Scots are more discerning and imbued with more milk of human kindness than your lot.
More simplistic racism from PB's most prejudiced and stupid poster.
OK, a crazy idea. But not much crazier than the Boris Bridge or Boris Island, or any of Boris's other pet projects.
We offer to take 500k Ukrainian refugees... and we build a city to house them. Let's call it New Kyiv, and let's put it somewhere in the red wall. Tons of new construction work, infrastructure, jobs. Levelling up. We have built "new towns" before so a completely planned new town (or two) isn't beyond the realms of possibilities. Starting with tents tomorrow, prefabs next month and real bricks and mortar by next year.
A shining example of our solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and even if the damn thing never gets built, it's a headline grabber for Big Dog.
Fine, just build it in the middle of central belt Scotland where Sturgeon says they love mass immigration, not the redwall
Oh dear not happy that Scots are more discerning and imbued with more milk of human kindness than your lot.
More simplistic racism from PB's most prejudiced and stupid poster.
England 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Alex Lees, 3 Joe Root (capt), 4 Dan Lawrence, 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Ben Foakes (wkt), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Craig Overton, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Jack Leach.
Craig Overton is never a test bowler and now 27. I really don't know why England keep calling him up.
But can Overton bat? We need the number nine to chip in with a double figure score to give us a chance of making it past 100.
If you are having to rely on your #9-#11 for runs you have serious problems elsewhere in your team....oh I see what you mean.
I think my point is if England are trying to rebuild, picking a 27 year old, who despite looking like he should be able to bowl quick, can't, and isn't getting any better year on year. Bowling mid 80s in modern cricket anywhere other than England just isn't good enough unless you bend it like a banana with fantastic control i.e. Anderson.
I don't wish to be mean to the man, since he is a lot better than me, but Overton is a county player. His international call up is a sign of defeat, IMHO.
I think it is because him and his brother were highly touted as youngsters and could bowl quick when they were 16-17. 10 years on, they haven't improved. IMO, it is really negative pick.
I wouldn't worry too much. The way the batting is going they're going to have to choose another couple of bowlers to drop from the team.
It will be soon down to hoping Root and Stokes can perform miracles as usual to get England a reasonable total.
That peerage bully Bercow so desperately wanted is never coming now.
His public life is over including appearances on TV
You would hope so. But we will see. Some media outlets have very flexible morals if the individual is useful in their desire to get a guest they know will go all out attack the government e.g. Bad Al is never off the telly as certain times, despite we know he is a liar and a bully. Not dissimilar to Bercow.
New York Times simply can't resist getting a dig in here.
The New York Times @nytimes The influx of Ukrainian refugees into Poland has prompted a grassroots movement across Polish society, as people raise funds and offer help. The warm welcome stands in stark contrast to how refugees from other countries have been received. https://nyti.ms/35YUoSc
The photo is illustrative, women and children heading over temporarily, with men staying behind to fight. And that is why Ukraine stands a chance. All your males between 18 and 60 is one hell of an army.
How many refugees has the US&A taken in?
Several thousand in recent years, but I don’t know how many since the invasion.
Ah, the watermelon hypothesis What do you think to the mango equivalent? Or are the LDs truly shafted?
I truth I don't know what to make of the LDs. I can't get a handle on what they stand for. I want them to do well at GE24 though. There are lots of Con seats in leafy (as opposed to urban) Remainia where only they can make the gain and we need them doing plenty of that. This is key to GTTO and PM Starmer.
OK, a crazy idea. But not much crazier than the Boris Bridge or Boris Island, or any of Boris's other pet projects.
We offer to take 500k Ukrainian refugees... and we build a city to house them. Let's call it New Kyiv, and let's put it somewhere in the red wall. Tons of new construction work, infrastructure, jobs. Levelling up. We have built "new towns" before so a completely planned new town (or two) isn't beyond the realms of possibilities. Starting with tents tomorrow, prefabs next month and real bricks and mortar by next year.
A shining example of our solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and even if the damn thing never gets built, it's a headline grabber for Big Dog.
Fine, just build it in the middle of central belt Scotland where Sturgeon says they love mass immigration, not the redwall
Oh dear not happy that Scots are more discerning and imbued with more milk of human kindness than your lot.
More simplistic racism from PB's most prejudiced and stupid poster.
I thought was Leon HYUFD?
I think that is unfair on both Leon and HYUFD. I don't think either of them have referred to a whole country as "your lot". I am quite surprised how many people on here put up with Malcolm's obnoxious prejudice. I guess he relies on shouting abuse at anyone who calls him out and that maybe puts people off.
Fizzy Lizzy is furious with Labour for their failure to sanction Russian Conservative Party donors? You'll need to explain that one to me in simple language I can understand. A tall order I know.
@marcobreso Bad adventure for Matteo Salvini at the Ukrainian-Polish border:
The mayor of Przemys refused to go with him and showed the Putin t-shirt worn by the leader of the League in the European Parliament a few years ago: "No respect for you"
OK, a crazy idea. But not much crazier than the Boris Bridge or Boris Island, or any of Boris's other pet projects.
We offer to take 500k Ukrainian refugees... and we build a city to house them. Let's call it New Kyiv, and let's put it somewhere in the red wall. Tons of new construction work, infrastructure, jobs. Levelling up. We have built "new towns" before so a completely planned new town (or two) isn't beyond the realms of possibilities. Starting with tents tomorrow, prefabs next month and real bricks and mortar by next year.
A shining example of our solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and even if the damn thing never gets built, it's a headline grabber for Big Dog.
Fine, just build it in the middle of central belt Scotland where Sturgeon says they love mass immigration, not the redwall
Oh dear not happy that Scots are more discerning and imbued with more milk of human kindness than your lot.
More simplistic racism from PB's most prejudiced and stupid poster.
Gammon Boy cannot help himself
You posted that yesterday you silly little man. Not sure why you have put that up as it bears an uncanny resemblance to Salmond, though actually Salmond would have to lose a few pounds to be that thin and also extricate himself from Putin's arsehole.
Has Labour's lead already peaked for this Parliament and swingback started?
SKS fans please explain!!
Welcome back, Big John"! Hope you're keeping well.
In the circs with blanket coverage of his saying nice things about Ukraine, I think Johnson will be a bit disappointed not to be bounding back into the lead. As in the peak of the pandemic, though, normal poloitics has been suspended and we won't really know where we are until the issue subsides.
Subsequently he subjected his secretary to 'an amazing display of temper in my office, in which he ordered me to stay seated, so he was standing over me, and then threw the mobile phone right in front of me on my desk and it burst into hundreds of bits and I could feel them hitting me. It was the most violent, extraordinary display of temper….'
OK, a crazy idea. But not much crazier than the Boris Bridge or Boris Island, or any of Boris's other pet projects.
We offer to take 500k Ukrainian refugees... and we build a city to house them. Let's call it New Kyiv, and let's put it somewhere in the red wall. Tons of new construction work, infrastructure, jobs. Levelling up. We have built "new towns" before so a completely planned new town (or two) isn't beyond the realms of possibilities. Starting with tents tomorrow, prefabs next month and real bricks and mortar by next year.
A shining example of our solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and even if the damn thing never gets built, it's a headline grabber for Big Dog.
Fine, just build it in the middle of central belt Scotland where Sturgeon says they love mass immigration, not the redwall
Has Labour's lead already peaked for this Parliament and swingback started?
SKS fans please explain!!
You're back! While you have been away the third world war started.
If you read the header all will become clear anyway. Starmer is ahead of Johnson on preferred PM and Labour for the moment (at least) are still just ahead of the Churchillian Johnson Conservatives.
OK, a crazy idea. But not much crazier than the Boris Bridge or Boris Island, or any of Boris's other pet projects.
We offer to take 500k Ukrainian refugees... and we build a city to house them. Let's call it New Kyiv, and let's put it somewhere in the red wall. Tons of new construction work, infrastructure, jobs. Levelling up. We have built "new towns" before so a completely planned new town (or two) isn't beyond the realms of possibilities. Starting with tents tomorrow, prefabs next month and real bricks and mortar by next year.
A shining example of our solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and even if the damn thing never gets built, it's a headline grabber for Big Dog.
Fine, just build it in the middle of central belt Scotland where Sturgeon says they love mass immigration, not the redwall
Oh dear not happy that Scots are more discerning and imbued with more milk of human kindness than your lot.
More simplistic racism from PB's most prejudiced and stupid poster.
Comments
https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/1501184430198730753
Edit.
Or even fifth. I don't believe for one minute that the Greens are in any sort of position to win more votes at a GE than the yellows.
He makes noises about welcoming refugees while there are unaccountable delays in actually processing and receiving them. This is trying to play both to sensible people who want to see a larger number of refugees allowed into this country and also that element of the Get Brexit Done Tory voters who simply don't like foreigners.
When this has all died down he can say to both groups - see I was on your side.
There is also the massive incompetent twat theory overlay that says he is trying to do something but is simply unable to do so. It's a pretty reliable overlay for anything Johnson does, of course.
Craig Overton is never a test bowler and now 27. I really don't know why England keep calling him up.
But on closer inspection there is something that's not quite right.
The missile is behind the middle green post but the white car it has totalled seems to be this side of it. Could it be a photo-shopped image?
I dunno.
https://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/fcgi-bin/usercode.py?scotcontrol=Y&CON=35&LAB=37&LIB=7&Reform=5&Green=8&UKIP=&TVCON=&TVLAB=&TVLIB=&TVReform=&TVGreen=&TVUKIP=&SCOTCON=18.3&SCOTLAB=20.2&SCOTLIB=6.6&SCOTReform=0.9&SCOTGreen=3&SCOTUKIP=&SCOTNAT=48&display=AllChanged&regorseat=(none)&boundary=2019nbbase
Albeit Starmer would still likely become PM if he could get SNP and LD support
I think my point is if England are trying to rebuild, picking a 27 year old, who despite looking like he should be able to bowl quick, can't, and isn't getting any better year on year. Bowling mid 80s in modern cricket anywhere other than England just isn't good enough unless you bend it like a banana with fantastic control i.e. Anderson.
That doesn't mean YouGov are doing things badly.
We offer to take 500k Ukrainian refugees... and we build a city to house them. Let's call it New Kyiv, and let's put it somewhere in the red wall. Tons of new construction work, infrastructure, jobs. Levelling up. We have built "new towns" before so a completely planned new town (or two) isn't beyond the realms of possibilities. Starting with tents tomorrow, prefabs next month and real bricks and mortar by next year.
A shining example of our solidarity with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and even if the damn thing never gets built, it's a headline grabber for Big Dog.
9.50am: Not far from the
inevitable England collapsestart of the morning session in Antigua1) Twitter is not an editor that creates content, it is a publishing platform. Therefore you will find the (free) insights from some very highly informed people on there, not just teenagers re-enacting call of duty. It’s not a secret which are which.
2) Older generations can confer tremendous wisdom on many matters and that is why human societies have for thousands of years tended to structure decision making among the elders. However the change of pace of the modern world undermines this somewhat. There are timeless problems, most notably those around the human condition, about which the young would do well to listen to their elders rather than petulantly shout “ok boomer”. There are others where the rapid rate of change of technology means the reverse is true. This probably extends to matters such as the environment and the economy.
I wonder how many more of our ideas they will adopt to get over the line.
Hopefully we get to rebuild new cities in Ukraine.
It’s -3 degrees. People have been waiting in this queue for 3 hours.
There are children here. An 84 year old woman.
And plenty of room inside, but they won’t open the door.
https://twitter.com/mattuthompson/status/1501175179329916930
The New York Times
@nytimes
The influx of Ukrainian refugees into Poland has prompted a grassroots movement across Polish society, as people raise funds and offer help. The warm welcome stands in stark contrast to how refugees from other countries have been received.
https://nyti.ms/35YUoSc
The photo is illustrative, women and children heading over temporarily, with men staying behind to fight. And that is why Ukraine stands a chance. All your males between 18 and 60 is one hell of an army.
But it takes continuous effort to cull the dross.
He's been awful over Covid, and instead of sending weapons to Ukraine, he'd probably find a reason to send them to Russia.
And I also see Chris Williamson's been making an idiot of himself on Twitter: calling on Zelensky to agree to all of Russia's demands.
This comes a day after Truss incorrectly claimed the same about
@RhonddaBryant and was forced to apologise.
https://twitter.com/AdamJSchwarz/status/1501195997866831877
Is that the West's "fault"? You tell me.
It is of course a crazy idea. But is it really any crazier than any of Boris's previous ideas?
https://twitter.com/GernotWagner/status/1500990662887489536
(Not sure what the big Liquorice Allsort is.)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-07/eu-aims-to-cut-dependence-on-russian-gas-by-almost-80-this-year?sref=1fgx274d
Nice comment:
Back to energy prices (this isn't just thrown together nonsense), the aforementioned Tesco's is now charging 153.9p per litre for Unleaded, up 5p in the past week.
Can't believe this isn't going to cause some issues as companies try to recover costs through price rises and then workers seek to regain living standards by wage rises so will we see a new round of industrial militancy?
Is it 5/2 someone in the Government will before long bring a great old cliche out of retirement such as "one man's wage increase is another man's price increase"? It's been nearly fifty years since the fun and games of wage increases chasing price inflation but could nostalgia be back on the agenda?
I would have thought it would be very easy (if expensive) to cut gas imports in 4-5 years though a combination of LNG terminals, Fracking, new Pipes, green energy, insulation, and so on. but the problem was/is that very little of that would come on stream before next winter.
https://order-order.com/2022/03/08/listen-belligerent-bercow-rants-at-bbc-presenter-over-bullying-verdict/
Bercow is administratively suspended from Labour, whatever that means
A much more propitious time to invade? except Putin didn't.
Bad adventure for Matteo Salvini at the Ukrainian-Polish border:
The mayor of Przemys refused to go with him and showed the Putin t-shirt worn by the leader of the League in the European Parliament a few years ago: "No respect for you"
https://twitter.com/marcobreso/status/1501201298762485761
1. A serial bully
2. A serial liar
As a Buckingham Constituency resident I concur with this judgement.
In the circs with blanket coverage of his saying nice things about Ukraine, I think Johnson will be a bit disappointed not to be bounding back into the lead. As in the peak of the pandemic, though, normal poloitics has been suspended and we won't really know where we are until the issue subsides.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10589483/Bullying-ex-Speaker-John-Bercow-banned-Parliament-LIFE-appalling-treatment-staff.html
If you read the header all will become clear anyway. Starmer is ahead of Johnson on preferred PM and Labour for the moment (at least) are still just ahead of the Churchillian Johnson Conservatives.