I feel for the guy. He's old and teetering on the edge of senility. He's still a trillion times better than Trump, but oh for a younger, sharper president in the White House. Zelenskyy should maybe get the job, after he's finished saving Kyiv
At least some of Biden's appointees are up to snuff. Blinken has been impressive
Biden. He's a curious mixture of feistiness and fragility. I don't think he's senile though. Just physically fragile and a bit tongue-tied.
He's always had issues with his vocals. Stutterer who overcame the affliction to a certain extent.
A younger guy might be sharper but there's damn few in Washington with more foreign policy chops than Biden.
And I fear Russia is now advancing swiftly in the south, meaning they can take the whole Black Sea coast, and largely win the war that way
Not sure how that "wins" the war?
It puts them in a potential position -via Trans Dniestr, to entirely encircle Ukraine, blocking all routes in, via sea and land. Then it is almost impossible to resupply the country, with arms, food, anything, and I fear Ukraine would then surrender. Understandably
Lots of "ifs" there Mr. Eeyore. The Russians seem to be extending their supply lines well beyond breaking point already. I think the Ukrainians already know they are playing the long game, which will slowly break Russian supply and resolve.
I hope so. And yes, I do sometimes lapse into pessimism. It's hard not to. This is the most dangerous time for the world in my entire life. Indeed maybe the most dangerous since World War 2. It is worse than the Cuban Missile Crisis, I reckon, as that was easily and quickly solved, despite being terribly frightening
Ukraine is not easily solved. So many ways it can go BADLY wrong
"For now, Turkey is proving one of Nato’s biggest assets. Ankara has sent multiple shipments of its sophisticated Bayraktar attack drone to Kiev, effectively handing over the capability to destroy Russian armour from the air. In the Armenian conflict, the unmanned aerial vehicle swung the fighting in favour of Turkey’s close ally, Azerbaijan, and was responsible for devastating Armenia’s armed forces."
Is it really the case that Turkey has unique ownership of this tank-busting wonder weapon? No equivalents anywhere? Does the UK possess drones like these?
My understanding is that the Bayraktar drones *aren't* super-sophisticated, rather they're relatively cheap to build and easy to operate. Whereas US, UK etc drones end up being as sophisticated and therefore as expensive as the defence industries can get away with: "the drones Harrods would sell you" as Sir Humphrey might have said.
Which sadly shows we've forgotten the lesson of the Second World War where the Allies, including the Soviets, were able to churn out cheap, unsophisticated tanks like the Sherman and T-34 by the dozen in the same time as one or two of the Germans' undeniably superior Tigers etc.
Interesting that the committee that inquired into Bercow have said 'he's a liar and a bully'. Isn't that exactly the reasons Priti Patel was fired by Mrs May?
......and now I hear she's at it again. Can't Tory Cabinet Ministers learn to tell the truth?
Boris is at his best when he is called upon for vaguely stirring pablum. Shame that's not a big part of the job and there's all the negatives.
Yes, a man cannot live by pablum alone - whether it be "bland or insipid intellectual matter" or a "processed cereal for infants originally marketed and co-created by the Mead Johnson Company in 1931".
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.
When moaning about Bercow just doesn't hit the spot.
Could you give me a run down on Corbyn's historical attitude to Putin and the Russia of the last 20ish years? I'm sure there's lots out there.
The ex-leader of the SNP also has quite a lot too.
Can you document that, as a matter of interest?
Where have you been? He has his own program on RT, or maybe you missed that? Along with Corbyn, Farage and a few other idiots. They knew how it looked, but they took the money and carried on participating in the propaganda nonetheless.
They, and the fools who took money from the oligarchs have blood on their hands, but no doubt you will make the exception for the person who is the prime architect of Scottish exceptionalism.
A chat show about UK politics, with the likes of D. Davis as guests?
Ah, you are defending him. Shame on you, and David Davis.
Not defending him - but just checking exactly what you mean by 'propaganda'.
Have you ever tuned in to RT news? One of the things about media generally, whether mass media or social media, is to legitimise the content. This is why people who think that Putin has not tried to influence our politics are so fecking stupid.
Salmond, Corbyn et al must have known that at some time before or after his "chat show" there would be fake news being propagated. Even if his own content was wonderfully balanced (unlikely) and not propaganda he has managed to assist with the propaganda effort. Much as I despise the fat little toad, I don't think he is stupid. He knew. People who defend him are defending the indefensible.
I feel for the guy. He's old and teetering on the edge of senility. He's still a trillion times better than Trump, but oh for a younger, sharper president in the White House. Zelenskyy should maybe get the job, after he's finished saving Kyiv
At least some of Biden's appointees are up to snuff. Blinken has been impressive
Biden. He's a curious mixture of feistiness and fragility. I don't think he's senile though. Just physically fragile and a bit tongue-tied.
He has a stammer and has always had one. It has nothing to do with his senility or not.
I feel for the guy. He's old and teetering on the edge of senility. He's still a trillion times better than Trump, but oh for a younger, sharper president in the White House. Zelenskyy should maybe get the job, after he's finished saving Kyiv
At least some of Biden's appointees are up to snuff. Blinken has been impressive
Biden. He's a curious mixture of feistiness and fragility. I don't think he's senile though. Just physically fragile and a bit tongue-tied.
I rarely agree with @Leon who inhabits a universe so far removed from mine to render the words parallel or alternate wholly inadequate but he is right about Blinken. I saw some coverage of his visit to Moldova on Sunday and he was on the NBC "Meet the Press" and he comes over extraordinarily well. A real asset to the West at this time.
Ragıp Soylu @ragipsoylu · 5h China says China, Germany and France should jointly support peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, per Jinping’s statement to Chinese state media
It's interesting that China is trying to divide the West.
They see Macron and Scholz as not having the resolve to see it through, IMO. Macron specifically seems to have been sounding Putin out with various peace deals that go way further than the settled NATO position of full withdrawal.
Putin is losing this war and must be seen to lose it.
No peace without full withdrawal, including from the Donbass and potentially Crimea, and reparations.
No face saving or partial victory for Biden. He must be seen to be humiliated so nobody does this again.
Last word on Bercow, as I think the key part of the report (other than saying had he been an MP they would have said he should be expelled, which is remarkable) is that it did address what is already his key defence about his reforming nature and that being why he was targeted.
It is for historians to judge whether [Bercow] was a successful reforming Speaker of the House of Commons. However, there was no need to act as a bully in order to achieve that aim. A great office can be filled forcefully and effectively without descending to such behaviour.
People need thick skin in life, but should not require armour plating. You can be a youngster just starting out, or a hard bitten tough veteran of a dozen wars, you should not have to put up with abuse of that nature as a part of your job. I despise that type of petty bully so much, since there is just no need other than a power trip or getting away with acting like a dick.
And I fear Russia is now advancing swiftly in the south, meaning they can take the whole Black Sea coast, and largely win the war that way
Not sure how that "wins" the war?
It puts them in a potential position -via Trans Dniestr, to entirely encircle Ukraine, blocking all routes in, via sea and land. Then it is almost impossible to resupply the country, with arms, food, anything, and I fear Ukraine would then surrender. Understandably
In addition to Transnistria, keep your eye on Trans- (or Sub- depending on perspective) Carpathia. Which has a significant ethnic Hungarian population, along with Ruthenes /Rusyns who do NOT identify as Ukrainian.
Thus plenty of scope for arch-Putinist Viktor Orban.
Note that Hungary seized this real estate following Hitler's full dismemberment of Czechoslovakia in 1939. And held it until the Red Army appeared over the horizon in 1944, after which it was soon annexed by USSR and included in . . . . wait for it . . . Ukrainian SSR.
In 2001, Transcarpathia had a 12.1% Hungarian minority, followed by Romanians (2.6%), Russians (2.5%), Roma (1.1%), Slovaks (0.5%) and Germans (0.3%). Ukraine does not officially recognise the Rusyns, but they comprised 0.8%.
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.
When moaning about Bercow just doesn't hit the spot.
Could you give me a run down on Corbyn's historical attitude to Putin and the Russia of the last 20ish years? I'm sure there's lots out there.
The ex-leader of the SNP also has quite a lot too.
Can you document that, as a matter of interest?
Where have you been? He has his own program on RT, or maybe you missed that? Along with Corbyn, Farage and a few other idiots. They knew how it looked, but they took the money and carried on participating in the propaganda nonetheless.
They, and the fools who took money from the oligarchs have blood on their hands, but no doubt you will make the exception for the person who is the prime architect of Scottish exceptionalism.
A chat show about UK politics, with the likes of D. Davis as guests?
Ah, you are defending him. Shame on you, and David Davis.
Not defending him - but just checking exactly what you mean by 'propaganda'.
Have you ever tuned in to RT news? One of the things about media generally, whether mass media or social media, is to legitimise the content. This is why people who think that Putin has not tried to influence our politics are so fecking stupid.
Salmond, Corbyn et al must have known that at some time before or after his "chat show" there would be fake news being propagated. Even if his own content was wonderfully balanced (unlikely) and not propaganda he has managed to assist with the propaganda effort. Much as I despise the fat little toad, I don't think he is stupid. He knew. People who defend him are defending the indefensible.
Somebody linked earlier to a story about ER-types letting down tyres of SUVs in urban areas. Here's a prediction: this may take off and could be front page news within a few days. There's a lot of urban young folk who are heartily sick of huge SUVs polluting and clogging the roads and, often, the pavements. I think the campaign may be attractive to some. It's simple and reasonably well organised through a website that is going to get a lot of hits. I won't link to it here, but a quick google of tyre extinguishers will give details to those interested in finding out more. I hasten to add I'm not in favour of such direct action (though I might have been forty years ago)!
I'm finding 153.9p per litre quite a deterrent in terms of car use.
It is noticeable that motorway traffic speeds are more sedate nowdays.
Just so long as they keep out of the fast lane and let me through.
Overtaking lanes! Not fast, not for people who think they are doing the correct speed, or the speed limit or for people going fast to stay in. Lanes for overtaking, then returning to the next free lane.
I wonder whether, once the fighting is over in the Ukraine, some of the drones which have proven so effective against Russian forces, could be re-purposed to head up and down motorways, locating and identifying speeding motorists.
Blasting them with laser cannon may seem a shade draconian and it'll never get past a namby-pamby, cancel culture, woke supporter like Priti Patel - it's more a Lib Dem policy I would guess.
And I fear Russia is now advancing swiftly in the south, meaning they can take the whole Black Sea coast, and largely win the war that way
Not sure how that "wins" the war?
It puts them in a potential position -via Trans Dniestr, to entirely encircle Ukraine, blocking all routes in, via sea and land. Then it is almost impossible to resupply the country, with arms, food, anything, and I fear Ukraine would then surrender. Understandably
In addition to Transnistria, keep your eye on Trans- (or Sub- depending on perspective) Carpathia. Which has a significant ethnic Hungarian population, along with Ruthenes /Rusyns who do NOT identify as Ukrainian.
Thus plenty of scope for arch-Putinist Viktor Orban.
Note that Hungary seized this real estate following Hitler's full dismemberment of Czechoslovakia in 1939. And held it until the Red Army appeared over the horizon in 1944, after which it was soon annexed by USSR and included in . . . . wait for it . . . Ukrainian SSR.
In 2001, Transcarpathia had a 12.1% Hungarian minority, followed by Romanians (2.6%), Russians (2.5%), Roma (1.1%), Slovaks (0.5%) and Germans (0.3%). Ukraine does not officially recognise the Rusyns, but they comprised 0.8%.
And I fear Russia is now advancing swiftly in the south, meaning they can take the whole Black Sea coast, and largely win the war that way
Not sure how that "wins" the war?
By my reading this conflict isn't winnable by either side. There's no meaningful definition of "win" that's likely to apply when it's over.
By my reading Ukraine can and will win this conflict.
It will be bloody, tough, expensive and with lots of fatalities. But they will prevail, as the allies did in WWII.
If by this you mean a free & sovereign Ukraine with borders as they were pre-invasion, I don't see it. Least not as a conclusion to this current military conflict. Maybe down the line after some seismic events in Russia. Sill, it's early days and I'm not in my comfort zone predicting how wars will go.
I'm pretty sure that seismic events in Russia will now develop. The pre-invasion Russian state and economy are going to be convulsed. I don't know whether to be optimistic, pessimistic or terrified about what will unfold. Might take a few weeks or months to get going.
All 3 for me. Optimistic long term, pessimistic short term, terrified that the short term won't be very short.
Somebody linked earlier to a story about ER-types letting down tyres of SUVs in urban areas. Here's a prediction: this may take off and could be front page news within a few days. There's a lot of urban young folk who are heartily sick of huge SUVs polluting and clogging the roads and, often, the pavements. I think the campaign may be attractive to some. It's simple and reasonably well organised through a website that is going to get a lot of hits. I won't link to it here, but a quick google of tyre extinguishers will give details to those interested in finding out more. I hasten to add I'm not in favour of such direct action (though I might have been forty years ago)!
I'm finding 153.9p per litre quite a deterrent in terms of car use.
It is noticeable that motorway traffic speeds are more sedate nowdays.
Just so long as they keep out of the fast lane and let me through.
Overtaking lanes! Not fast, not for people who think they are doing the correct speed, or the speed limit or for people going fast to stay in. Lanes for overtaking, then returning to the next free lane.
I wonder whether, once the fighting is over in the Ukraine, some of the drones which have proven so effective against Russian forces, could be re-purposed to head up and down motorways, locating and identifying speeding motorists.
Blasting them with laser cannon may seem a shade draconian and it'll never get past a namby-pamby, cancel culture, woke supporter like Priti Patel - it's more a Lib Dem policy I would guess.
Speeding offences and Lib Dems? Something is stirring in my memory.
Somebody linked earlier to a story about ER-types letting down tyres of SUVs in urban areas. Here's a prediction: this may take off and could be front page news within a few days. There's a lot of urban young folk who are heartily sick of huge SUVs polluting and clogging the roads and, often, the pavements. I think the campaign may be attractive to some. It's simple and reasonably well organised through a website that is going to get a lot of hits. I won't link to it here, but a quick google of tyre extinguishers will give details to those interested in finding out more. I hasten to add I'm not in favour of such direct action (though I might have been forty years ago)!
I'm finding 153.9p per litre quite a deterrent in terms of car use.
It is noticeable that motorway traffic speeds are more sedate nowdays.
Just so long as they keep out of the fast lane and let me through.
Overtaking lanes! Not fast, not for people who think they are doing the correct speed, or the speed limit or for people going fast to stay in. Lanes for overtaking, then returning to the next free lane.
I wonder whether, once the fighting is over in the Ukraine, some of the drones which have proven so effective against Russian forces, could be re-purposed to head up and down motorways, locating and identifying speeding motorists.
Blasting them with laser cannon may seem a shade draconian and it'll never get past a namby-pamby, cancel culture, woke supporter like Priti Patel - it's more a Lib Dem policy I would guess.
I used to say that all drivers break the speed limits at times and think I was correct (well 99%+ anyway). Not sure that holds any longer.
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.
When moaning about Bercow just doesn't hit the spot.
Could you give me a run down on Corbyn's historical attitude to Putin and the Russia of the last 20ish years? I'm sure there's lots out there.
The ex-leader of the SNP also has quite a lot too.
Can you document that, as a matter of interest?
Where have you been? He has his own program on RT, or maybe you missed that? Along with Corbyn, Farage and a few other idiots. They knew how it looked, but they took the money and carried on participating in the propaganda nonetheless.
They, and the fools who took money from the oligarchs have blood on their hands, but no doubt you will make the exception for the person who is the prime architect of Scottish exceptionalism.
A chat show about UK politics, with the likes of D. Davis as guests?
Ah, you are defending him. Shame on you, and David Davis.
Not defending him - but just checking exactly what you mean by 'propaganda'.
Have you ever tuned in to RT news? One of the things about media generally, whether mass media or social media, is to legitimise the content. This is why people who think that Putin has not tried to influence our politics are so fecking stupid.
Salmond, Corbyn et al must have known that at some time before or after his "chat show" there would be fake news being propagated. Even if his own content was wonderfully balanced (unlikely) and not propaganda he has managed to assist with the propaganda effort. Much as I despise the fat little toad, I don't think he is stupid. He knew. People who defend him are defending the indefensible.
More dribbling from Gammon..........
-2/10
Trying, still trying, still very trying.....
Malmsebury, you are jaded and have lost any sense of humour , 1/10 only because 0/10 not allowed. I shall continue till my dumbo stalker gets the message, he is rather slow on the uptake.
And I fear Russia is now advancing swiftly in the south, meaning they can take the whole Black Sea coast, and largely win the war that way
Not sure how that "wins" the war?
It puts them in a potential position -via Trans Dniestr, to entirely encircle Ukraine, blocking all routes in, via sea and land. Then it is almost impossible to resupply the country, with arms, food, anything, and I fear Ukraine would then surrender. Understandably
In addition to Transnistria, keep your eye on Trans- (or Sub- depending on perspective) Carpathia. Which has a significant ethnic Hungarian population, along with Ruthenes /Rusyns who do NOT identify as Ukrainian.
Thus plenty of scope for arch-Putinist Viktor Orban.
Note that Hungary seized this real estate following Hitler's full dismemberment of Czechoslovakia in 1939. And held it until the Red Army appeared over the horizon in 1944, after which it was soon annexed by USSR and included in . . . . wait for it . . . Ukrainian SSR.
In 2001, Transcarpathia had a 12.1% Hungarian minority, followed by Romanians (2.6%), Russians (2.5%), Roma (1.1%), Slovaks (0.5%) and Germans (0.3%). Ukraine does not officially recognise the Rusyns, but they comprised 0.8%.
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.
When moaning about Bercow just doesn't hit the spot.
Could you give me a run down on Corbyn's historical attitude to Putin and the Russia of the last 20ish years? I'm sure there's lots out there.
The ex-leader of the SNP also has quite a lot too.
Can you document that, as a matter of interest?
Where have you been? He has his own program on RT, or maybe you missed that? Along with Corbyn, Farage and a few other idiots. They knew how it looked, but they took the money and carried on participating in the propaganda nonetheless.
They, and the fools who took money from the oligarchs have blood on their hands, but no doubt you will make the exception for the person who is the prime architect of Scottish exceptionalism.
A chat show about UK politics, with the likes of D. Davis as guests?
Ah, you are defending him. Shame on you, and David Davis.
Not defending him - but just checking exactly what you mean by 'propaganda'.
Have you ever tuned in to RT news? One of the things about media generally, whether mass media or social media, is to legitimise the content. This is why people who think that Putin has not tried to influence our politics are so fecking stupid.
Salmond, Corbyn et al must have known that at some time before or after his "chat show" there would be fake news being propagated. Even if his own content was wonderfully balanced (unlikely) and not propaganda he has managed to assist with the propaganda effort. Much as I despise the fat little toad, I don't think he is stupid. He knew. People who defend him are defending the indefensible.
More dribbling from Gammon..........
-2/10
Trying, still trying, still very trying.....
Malmsebury, you are jaded and hav elost any sense of humour , 1/10 only because 0/10 not allowed. I shall continue till my dumbo stalker gets the message, he is rather slow on the uptake.
May I suggest you take your own advice Father Jack and
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.
When moaning about Bercow just doesn't hit the spot.
Could you give me a run down on Corbyn's historical attitude to Putin and the Russia of the last 20ish years? I'm sure there's lots out there.
The ex-leader of the SNP also has quite a lot too.
Can you document that, as a matter of interest?
Where have you been? He has his own program on RT, or maybe you missed that? Along with Corbyn, Farage and a few other idiots. They knew how it looked, but they took the money and carried on participating in the propaganda nonetheless.
They, and the fools who took money from the oligarchs have blood on their hands, but no doubt you will make the exception for the person who is the prime architect of Scottish exceptionalism.
A chat show about UK politics, with the likes of D. Davis as guests?
Ah, you are defending him. Shame on you, and David Davis.
Not defending him - but just checking exactly what you mean by 'propaganda'.
Have you ever tuned in to RT news? One of the things about media generally, whether mass media or social media, is to legitimise the content. This is why people who think that Putin has not tried to influence our politics are so fecking stupid.
Salmond, Corbyn et al must have known that at some time before or after his "chat show" there would be fake news being propagated. Even if his own content was wonderfully balanced (unlikely) and not propaganda he has managed to assist with the propaganda effort. Much as I despise the fat little toad, I don't think he is stupid. He knew. People who defend him are defending the indefensible.
More dribbling from Gammon..........
-2/10
Trying, still trying, still very trying.....
Malmsebury, you are jaded and have lost any sense of humour , 1/10 only because 0/10 not allowed. I shall continue till my dumbo stalker gets the message, he is rather slow on the uptake.
Somebody linked earlier to a story about ER-types letting down tyres of SUVs in urban areas. Here's a prediction: this may take off and could be front page news within a few days. There's a lot of urban young folk who are heartily sick of huge SUVs polluting and clogging the roads and, often, the pavements. I think the campaign may be attractive to some. It's simple and reasonably well organised through a website that is going to get a lot of hits. I won't link to it here, but a quick google of tyre extinguishers will give details to those interested in finding out more. I hasten to add I'm not in favour of such direct action (though I might have been forty years ago)!
Yes, that's where I picked it up from. It could easily spread to places like Bristol, Cambridge, Norwich etc., and of course Chelsea.
I'm all for grass roots efforts to highlight the global social and technological challenges of climate change (especially in the face of head-in-the-sand westerns politicians and their villas on high ground), and to put pressure on business and policymakers.
However, nothing makes me want to burn more fossil fuel and pump pesticides into rivers than the total idiots who seem to dominate ER and similar groups. To the extent that I think they must have been penetrated to all heck by hostile agencies.
If ER start letting down people’s tyres that will be noted by the juries at their trials
I feel for the guy. He's old and teetering on the edge of senility. He's still a trillion times better than Trump, but oh for a younger, sharper president in the White House. Zelenskyy should maybe get the job, after he's finished saving Kyiv
At least some of Biden's appointees are up to snuff. Blinken has been impressive
If only there was a young, highly eloquent, Rhodes scholar, Afghanistan veteran about. Perhaps one that had business and government executive experience.
"For now, Turkey is proving one of Nato’s biggest assets. Ankara has sent multiple shipments of its sophisticated Bayraktar attack drone to Kiev, effectively handing over the capability to destroy Russian armour from the air. In the Armenian conflict, the unmanned aerial vehicle swung the fighting in favour of Turkey’s close ally, Azerbaijan, and was responsible for devastating Armenia’s armed forces."
Is it really the case that Turkey has unique ownership of this tank-busting wonder weapon? No equivalents anywhere? Does the UK possess drones like these?
My understanding is that the Bayraktar drones *aren't* super-sophisticated, rather they're relatively cheap to build and easy to operate. Whereas US, UK etc drones end up being as sophisticated and therefore as expensive as the defence industries can get away with: "the drones Harrods would sell you" as Sir Humphrey might have said.
Which sadly shows we've forgotten the lesson of the Second World War where the Allies, including the Soviets, were able to churn out cheap, unsophisticated tanks like the Sherman and T-34 by the dozen in the same time as one or two of the Germans' undeniably superior Tigers etc.
The death rate of Americans inside Sherman tanks was, as a consequence, one of the highest in the war. I think I am right that only bomber crews had a higher fatality rate.
The scene in Fury when three Shermans take on a Tiger illustrates the point. Without Brad Pitt they’d have lost all three.
Last last word on Bercow, by far the most amusing part of it all is that he wanted that Peerage so badly - he seems to feel matters of status very strongly - and not only does he not have one, but the former Clerk, who he treated so shabbily, has been a peer for years now. That must sting him so badly.
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.
When moaning about Bercow just doesn't hit the spot.
Could you give me a run down on Corbyn's historical attitude to Putin and the Russia of the last 20ish years? I'm sure there's lots out there.
The ex-leader of the SNP also has quite a lot too.
Can you document that, as a matter of interest?
Where have you been? He has his own program on RT, or maybe you missed that? Along with Corbyn, Farage and a few other idiots. They knew how it looked, but they took the money and carried on participating in the propaganda nonetheless.
They, and the fools who took money from the oligarchs have blood on their hands, but no doubt you will make the exception for the person who is the prime architect of Scottish exceptionalism.
A chat show about UK politics, with the likes of D. Davis as guests?
Ah, you are defending him. Shame on you, and David Davis.
Not defending him - but just checking exactly what you mean by 'propaganda'.
Have you ever tuned in to RT news? One of the things about media generally, whether mass media or social media, is to legitimise the content. This is why people who think that Putin has not tried to influence our politics are so fecking stupid.
Salmond, Corbyn et al must have known that at some time before or after his "chat show" there would be fake news being propagated. Even if his own content was wonderfully balanced (unlikely) and not propaganda he has managed to assist with the propaganda effort. Much as I despise the fat little toad, I don't think he is stupid. He knew. People who defend him are defending the indefensible.
More dribbling from Gammon..........
-2/10
Trying, still trying, still very trying.....
Malmsebury, you are jaded and have lost any sense of humour , 1/10 only because 0/10 not allowed. I shall continue till my dumbo stalker gets the message, he is rather slow on the uptake.
I feel for the guy. He's old and teetering on the edge of senility. He's still a trillion times better than Trump, but oh for a younger, sharper president in the White House. Zelenskyy should maybe get the job, after he's finished saving Kyiv
At least some of Biden's appointees are up to snuff. Blinken has been impressive
Biden. He's a curious mixture of feistiness and fragility. I don't think he's senile though. Just physically fragile and a bit tongue-tied.
I agree. He seems his age rather than younger but there's no evidence of senility at all. That's just a Trump-friendly smeary talking point.
I feel for the guy. He's old and teetering on the edge of senility. He's still a trillion times better than Trump, but oh for a younger, sharper president in the White House. Zelenskyy should maybe get the job, after he's finished saving Kyiv
At least some of Biden's appointees are up to snuff. Blinken has been impressive
If only there was a young, highly eloquent, Rhodes scholar, Afghanistan veteran about. Perhaps one that had business and government executive experience.
"For now, Turkey is proving one of Nato’s biggest assets. Ankara has sent multiple shipments of its sophisticated Bayraktar attack drone to Kiev, effectively handing over the capability to destroy Russian armour from the air. In the Armenian conflict, the unmanned aerial vehicle swung the fighting in favour of Turkey’s close ally, Azerbaijan, and was responsible for devastating Armenia’s armed forces."
Is it really the case that Turkey has unique ownership of this tank-busting wonder weapon? No equivalents anywhere? Does the UK possess drones like these?
My understanding is that the Bayraktar drones *aren't* super-sophisticated, rather they're relatively cheap to build and easy to operate. Whereas US, UK etc drones end up being as sophisticated and therefore as expensive as the defence industries can get away with: "the drones Harrods would sell you" as Sir Humphrey might have said.
Which sadly shows we've forgotten the lesson of the Second World War where the Allies, including the Soviets, were able to churn out cheap, unsophisticated tanks like the Sherman and T-34 by the dozen in the same time as one or two of the Germans' undeniably superior Tigers etc.
The death rate of Americans inside Sherman tanks was, as a consequence, one of the highest in the war. I think I am right that only bomber crews had a higher fatality rate.
Caused almost entirely by piling ammunition in the interior. Which was a side effect of using the Shermans as close support artillery.
When ammo stowage rules were enforced, Shermans burnt less frequently than Panthers. And had better crew survival rates.
It turned out, in the end that wet stowage (introduced by the British) wasn't required.
Shift from "t" to "d" sound is found in many American speech patterns, but hardly universal, as even those who exhibit this tendency rarely do so all the time, but instead with particular words.
Pretty common for "united" to come out as "unided" on some occasions esp. in conversational speech.
Note that "t" to "d" shift is pretty common in Ireland, indeed one of the hallmarks of a classic "Dub" accent. Also of classic "Brooklynese" or NYC accent, which likely origin the massive Irish immigration of mid-19th century.
So perhaps Biden's "unided" is proof that he really is Irish after all?
I wouldn't have bothered commenting if he'd said "unided". That's unremarkable.
He said "unined" several times. Once when he repeated himself, seemingly trying to correct the first "We are unined" .... "unined". It sounded very weird.
I feel for the guy. He's old and teetering on the edge of senility. He's still a trillion times better than Trump, but oh for a younger, sharper president in the White House. Zelenskyy should maybe get the job, after he's finished saving Kyiv
At least some of Biden's appointees are up to snuff. Blinken has been impressive
If only there was a young, highly eloquent, Rhodes scholar, Afghanistan veteran about. Perhaps one that had business and government executive experience.
I feel for the guy. He's old and teetering on the edge of senility. He's still a trillion times better than Trump, but oh for a younger, sharper president in the White House. Zelenskyy should maybe get the job, after he's finished saving Kyiv
At least some of Biden's appointees are up to snuff. Blinken has been impressive
Maybe a job for Johnson, if he hadn't relinquished his US citizenship? Um, err, crikey.
"Today is the day murderous females get the recognition they so rightfully deserve, @LondonDungeon for one day only Jack the Ripper has been dubbed Jackie the Ripper.
Spat out my tea when I saw this. Just incredibly bad judgement from all involved.
I think that even beats the PSNI a couple of years back when they marked International Women’s Day by asking female officers to nominate for an award male officers that had helped them.
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.
When moaning about Bercow just doesn't hit the spot.
Could you give me a run down on Corbyn's historical attitude to Putin and the Russia of the last 20ish years? I'm sure there's lots out there.
The ex-leader of the SNP also has quite a lot too.
Can you document that, as a matter of interest?
Where have you been? He has his own program on RT, or maybe you missed that? Along with Corbyn, Farage and a few other idiots. They knew how it looked, but they took the money and carried on participating in the propaganda nonetheless.
They, and the fools who took money from the oligarchs have blood on their hands, but no doubt you will make the exception for the person who is the prime architect of Scottish exceptionalism.
A chat show about UK politics, with the likes of D. Davis as guests?
Ah, you are defending him. Shame on you, and David Davis.
Not defending him - but just checking exactly what you mean by 'propaganda'.
Have you ever tuned in to RT news? One of the things about media generally, whether mass media or social media, is to legitimise the content. This is why people who think that Putin has not tried to influence our politics are so fecking stupid.
Salmond, Corbyn et al must have known that at some time before or after his "chat show" there would be fake news being propagated. Even if his own content was wonderfully balanced (unlikely) and not propaganda he has managed to assist with the propaganda effort. Much as I despise the fat little toad, I don't think he is stupid. He knew. People who defend him are defending the indefensible.
More dribbling from Gammon..........
-2/10
Trying, still trying, still very trying.....
Malmsebury, you are jaded and have lost any sense of humour , 1/10 only because 0/10 not allowed. I shall continue till my dumbo stalker gets the message, he is rather slow on the uptake.
Hi Malc
I know you like being annoying and winding posters up which is part of the fabric of PB, but can I just ask you to tone it down as both yourself and this forum deserve better especially in these horrible times
Those talking about drone capability need to bear in mind that what Turkey is offering is a completely different proposition to the Protectors (as we call them) we have bought. Our US provided solution is higher altitude, a lot more persistent (over a day I think), packed with surveillance kit, and carries a lot more payload (which is also much more advanced - e.g. U.K. made brimstone missiles). The Turkish solution fills a wonderful niche, but it doesn’t compare. A peer enemy for us would easily deal with it - it just turns out Russia isn’t a peer…
How could the British Army shoot down a Turkish drone? Trying to work out how it could do that without expending a more expensive missile.
The Turkish Bayraktar B2 drones in use are £5m each, so most of our missiles (this side of Trident) are probably less expensive.
Stinger?
Spec of drone:
Performance Maximum speed: 120 knots (220 km/h) Cruise speed: 70 knots (130 km/h) Range: 150 km (81 nmi)[41] Communication range: line-of-sight propagation Service ceiling: 27,000 feet (8,200 m) Operational altitude: 18,000 feet (5,500 m) Endurance: 27 hours
I've checked and it says production cost is $1-2m .
Russia faces financial crisis but what about an unemployment crisis? McDonalds closing 850 restaurants. Presumably that means thousands straight on the dole.
I think, if I'm right, that there can't be a war. There hasn't been a declaration of war since (I think) 1945. No nation DOWs another anymore. That's so early 20th century.
They're miliary actions, peacekeeping efforts, special military operations. Call them whatever you want, but they aren't wars. If they were, then the UN might have to actually try to do something more, which it clearly can't do. So they're NOT wars. Never have been, never will be. There hasn't been a war since Korea. Nothing to see here.
IIRC formal declarations of war are incompatible with the UN Charter. And even Korea wasn’t declared as a war, rather a “collective action” of the United Nations (Stalin having made the stupid mistake of boycotting the UN so was unable to veto it in the UNSC).
Those talking about drone capability need to bear in mind that what Turkey is offering is a completely different proposition to the Protectors (as we call them) we have bought. Our US provided solution is higher altitude, a lot more persistent (over a day I think), packed with surveillance kit, and carries a lot more payload (which is also much more advanced - e.g. U.K. made brimstone missiles). The Turkish solution fills a wonderful niche, but it doesn’t compare. A peer enemy for us would easily deal with it - it just turns out Russia isn’t a peer…
How could the British Army shoot down a Turkish drone? Trying to work out how it could do that without expending a more expensive missile.
The Turkish Bayraktar B2 drones in use are £5m each, so most of our missiles (this side of Trident) are probably less expensive.
Stinger?
Spec of drone:
Performance Maximum speed: 120 knots (220 km/h) Cruise speed: 70 knots (130 km/h) Range: 150 km (81 nmi)[41] Communication range: line-of-sight propagation Service ceiling: 27,000 feet (8,200 m) Operational altitude: 18,000 feet (5,500 m) Endurance: 27 hours
I've checked and it says production cost is $1-2m .
The inflation rate in the cost of killing people is something shocking.
Russia faces financial crisis but what about an unemployment crisis? McDonalds closing 850 restaurants. Presumably that means thousands straight on the dole.
or the local franchise/local manager just opens up with a new sign on the door?
It's a puzzle to me as to why the Ukrainians are not doing more air strikes on Russian advances.
We see a lot of pictures of destroyed Russian weaponry and armour, but I expect the losses of Ukrainian artillery and aircraft have been mounting up too.
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.
The EU has already had an enforced cut of 40% this winter thanks to Russia restricting supplies. I'm guessing 80% is relative to the pre crisis amount. Presumably the further 40% is achievable this year by scraping every barrel there is: keeping storage topped up during the summer, switching coal power stations back on, extracting more from existing gas facilities etc. The remaining 20% requires multi year investment: new LNG ships and gas sources, solar panels etc on buildings.
Interesting speculation in this article. The gap, once all barrels have been scraped could be met by diverting Australia's LNG shipments that currently go to China.
China hasn't been a reliable partner for Australia recently with a barley embargo and steps to reduce gas shipments. It doesn't even really need Australian gas. Why not divert it to Europe instead?
They seemed to have missed that our renewable generation should be up by a small chunk of that, perhaps 15-18 TWh, this year.
My wife turning the central heating and gas fires down from 11 (SpinalTap volume, not degrees!) and my offspring turning lights off when they leave a room would be a significant start.
And bloody Boris getting the larger Green Homes scheme restarted would be even better
I understand that on the 23rd March Rishi is to announce a 'Wartime' budget
Rationing?
A special operation to seize control of France, in order to prevent any chance of war.
Those talking about drone capability need to bear in mind that what Turkey is offering is a completely different proposition to the Protectors (as we call them) we have bought. Our US provided solution is higher altitude, a lot more persistent (over a day I think), packed with surveillance kit, and carries a lot more payload (which is also much more advanced - e.g. U.K. made brimstone missiles). The Turkish solution fills a wonderful niche, but it doesn’t compare. A peer enemy for us would easily deal with it - it just turns out Russia isn’t a peer…
How could the British Army shoot down a Turkish drone? Trying to work out how it could do that without expending a more expensive missile.
The Turkish Bayraktar B2 drones in use are £5m each, so most of our missiles (this side of Trident) are probably less expensive.
Stinger?
Spec of drone:
Performance Maximum speed: 120 knots (220 km/h) Cruise speed: 70 knots (130 km/h) Range: 150 km (81 nmi)[41] Communication range: line-of-sight propagation Service ceiling: 27,000 feet (8,200 m) Operational altitude: 18,000 feet (5,500 m) Endurance: 27 hours
I've checked and it says production cost is $1-2m .
The inflation rate in the cost of killing people is something shocking.
I think it was Robert Graves who, when he saw machine gunners firing entire belts of ammunition to boil water for tea during WWI, observed that would be on his income tax after the war......
It's a puzzle to me as to why the Ukrainians are not doing more air strikes on Russian advances.
Whatever they have left I assume it has to be eked out very carefully, high risk strikes against well defended columns with air support may not be best use. Depressingly I imagine the Ukrainians have already written off a lot of Russian objectives.
Russia faces financial crisis but what about an unemployment crisis? McDonalds closing 850 restaurants. Presumably that means thousands straight on the dole.
or the local franchise/local manager just opens up with a new sign on the door?
And I fear Russia is now advancing swiftly in the south, meaning they can take the whole Black Sea coast, and largely win the war that way
Not sure how that "wins" the war?
It puts them in a potential position -via Trans Dniestr, to entirely encircle Ukraine, blocking all routes in, via sea and land. Then it is almost impossible to resupply the country, with arms, food, anything, and I fear Ukraine would then surrender. Understandably
Lots of "ifs" there Mr. Eeyore. The Russians seem to be extending their supply lines well beyond breaking point already. I think the Ukrainians already know they are playing the long game, which will slowly break Russian supply and resolve.
I hope so. And yes, I do sometimes lapse into pessimism. It's hard not to. This is the most dangerous time for the world in my entire life. Indeed maybe the most dangerous since World War 2. It is worse than the Cuban Missile Crisis, I reckon, as that was easily and quickly solved, despite being terribly frightening
Ukraine is not easily solved. So many ways it can go BADLY wrong
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.
The EU has already had an enforced cut of 40% this winter thanks to Russia restricting supplies. I'm guessing 80% is relative to the pre crisis amount. Presumably the further 40% is achievable this year by scraping every barrel there is: keeping storage topped up during the summer, switching coal power stations back on, extracting more from existing gas facilities etc. The remaining 20% requires multi year investment: new LNG ships and gas sources, solar panels etc on buildings.
Interesting speculation in this article. The gap, once all barrels have been scraped could be met by diverting Australia's LNG shipments that currently go to China.
China hasn't been a reliable partner for Australia recently with a barley embargo and steps to reduce gas shipments. It doesn't even really need Australian gas. Why not divert it to Europe instead?
They seemed to have missed that our renewable generation should be up by a small chunk of that, perhaps 15-18 TWh, this year.
My wife turning the central heating and gas fires down from 11 (SpinalTap volume, not degrees!) and my offspring turning lights off when they leave a room would be a significant start.
And bloody Boris getting the larger Green Homes scheme restarted would be even better
I understand that on the 23rd March Rishi is to announce a 'Wartime' budget
Rationing?
A special operation to seize control of France, in order to prevent any chance of war.
It's an idea.
Oh - you mean by Russia .
A special operation to seize control of France, in order to prevent any chance of..... a special operation
It's a puzzle to me as to why the Ukrainians are not doing more air strikes on Russian advances.
The air situation puzzles me too, Frank. We need our special security correspondent, Yokes, to help us with this one. He hasn't been around much lately (I do hope he hasn't been taken prisoner) but maybe we can piece something together from his early posts.
He said it was desperately important that the Ukranian Air Force remained intact during the first few days of the invasion. Presuably this was because it was essential that the Russians didn't have air cover for their ground forces. In fact it seems the UAF is still intact which is one reason why the Russian ground forces have made so little progress.
I suspect if the UAF did attempt to attack Russian positions however they would expose themselves to pretty rapid destruction. The Russians would then have the skies and much greater freedom for manouevre.
Bit of a stalemate is what I am suggesting, in which case it is operating to the defenders' long-term advantage.
The position could of course change if the US & Poland agree to supply aircraft for the Ukranians but I suspect that's a very tricky decision for many reasons.
Russia faces financial crisis but what about an unemployment crisis? McDonalds closing 850 restaurants. Presumably that means thousands straight on the dole.
or the local franchise/local manager just opens up with a new sign on the door?
Unlike most McDonalds the ones in Russia are apparently directly owned by McDonalds. But I guess they could just keep them open and ignore what Mackey Ds tells them.
@disclosetv JUST IN - Putin signs a decree restricting imports and exports of products and raw materials to "ensure the security of the Russian Federation," RIA reports.
Those talking about drone capability need to bear in mind that what Turkey is offering is a completely different proposition to the Protectors (as we call them) we have bought. Our US provided solution is higher altitude, a lot more persistent (over a day I think), packed with surveillance kit, and carries a lot more payload (which is also much more advanced - e.g. U.K. made brimstone missiles). The Turkish solution fills a wonderful niche, but it doesn’t compare. A peer enemy for us would easily deal with it - it just turns out Russia isn’t a peer…
No, they’re probably quite hard for us to shoot down, too. Especially at night.
Russia faces financial crisis but what about an unemployment crisis? McDonalds closing 850 restaurants. Presumably that means thousands straight on the dole.
or the local franchise/local manager just opens up with a new sign on the door?
It's a puzzle to me as to why the Ukrainians are not doing more air strikes on Russian advances.
The Ukrainians have been losing aircraft too, hence Zelensky’s appeals for the Polish/NATO MiGs. I should imagine the Ukrainians are having to maintain a precarious balance: they need enough aircraft to continue to prevent the Russians from establishing air superiority but that means they can’t take the risk of trying to attain it themselves.
Russia faces financial crisis but what about an unemployment crisis? McDonalds closing 850 restaurants. Presumably that means thousands straight on the dole.
or the local franchise/local manager just opens up with a new sign on the door?
I think, if I'm right, that there can't be a war. There hasn't been a declaration of war since (I think) 1945. No nation DOWs another anymore. That's so early 20th century.
They're miliary actions, peacekeeping efforts, special military operations. Call them whatever you want, but they aren't wars. If they were, then the UN might have to actually try to do something more, which it clearly can't do. So they're NOT wars. Never have been, never will be. There hasn't been a war since Korea. Nothing to see here.
IIRC formal declarations of war are incompatible with the UN Charter. And even Korea wasn’t declared as a war, rather a “collective action” of the United Nations (Stalin having made the stupid mistake of boycotting the UN so was unable to veto it in the UNSC).
The 1990 Gulf War effectively implemented a UN resolution.
I'm pretty sure that seismic events in Russia will now develop. The pre-invasion Russian state and economy are going to be convulsed. I don't know whether to be optimistic, pessimistic or terrified about what will unfold. Might take a few weeks or months to get going.
All 3 for me. Optimistic long term, pessimistic short term, terrified that the short term won't be very short.
It won't do us any of us any good were Russia to devolve into anarchy and instability. We can all agree Putin has to go but it's up to the Russians themselves who follows him.
I feel for the guy. He's old and teetering on the edge of senility. He's still a trillion times better than Trump, but oh for a younger, sharper president in the White House. Zelenskyy should maybe get the job, after he's finished saving Kyiv
At least some of Biden's appointees are up to snuff. Blinken has been impressive
If only there was a young, highly eloquent, Rhodes scholar, Afghanistan veteran about. Perhaps one that had business and government executive experience.
Russia faces financial crisis but what about an unemployment crisis? McDonalds closing 850 restaurants. Presumably that means thousands straight on the dole.
or the local franchise/local manager just opens up with a new sign on the door?
It's a puzzle to me as to why the Ukrainians are not doing more air strikes on Russian advances.
Whatever they have left I assume it has to be eked out very carefully, high risk strikes against well defended columns with air support may not be best use. Depressingly I imagine the Ukrainians have already written off a lot of Russian objectives.
Also objectives.
Their top priority is to survive, and that means focus on eg cities.
Also eg that 60km column is not doing much damage for now if it is just sitting there out of fuel. So they can go for other things instead.
Just off the phone with an officer from Ukraine's military intelligence service (GUR). Someone I've known now for four years who's often rolled his eyes at official Ukrainian government pronouncements.
Shift from "t" to "d" sound is found in many American speech patterns, but hardly universal, as even those who exhibit this tendency rarely do so all the time, but instead with particular words.
Pretty common for "united" to come out as "unided" on some occasions esp. in conversational speech.
Note that "t" to "d" shift is pretty common in Ireland, indeed one of the hallmarks of a classic "Dub" accent. Also of classic "Brooklynese" or NYC accent, which likely origin the massive Irish immigration of mid-19th century.
So perhaps Biden's "unided" is proof that he really is Irish after all?
Well you'd be far more expert than me on this. Biden does mangle words a bit but some of it sounds to me just like what many Americans do, eg that soft d for a hard t. I do love his "Poo'an" for Putin.
Hardly expert, for example clueless on what degree, if any, Biden's speech patterns are influenced by Scranton on one hand, and Wilmington on the other. Suspect the latter may explain some of his "t" dropping?
As for tongue tied, Biden's always been articulate but also what you might call "gaffy". Plus not as young as he used to be. Like everyone else, but more so in his case than most!
I feel for the guy. He's old and teetering on the edge of senility. He's still a trillion times better than Trump, but oh for a younger, sharper president in the White House. Zelenskyy should maybe get the job, after he's finished saving Kyiv
At least some of Biden's appointees are up to snuff. Blinken has been impressive
Biden. He's a curious mixture of feistiness and fragility. I don't think he's senile though. Just physically fragile and a bit tongue-tied.
He has a stammer and has always had one. It has nothing to do with his senility or not.
No, it's more than just a stammer. He loses the thread of speeches even when they are right in front of him. I take no pleasure in this. This is not a "smeary Trumpist talking point" - I detest Trump and the idea of him winning in 2024 fills me with dread, Trump is arguably one of the reasons Putin has started this terrible war
Biden IS mentally frail. Hopefully they can keep him together with sellotape and string and find a better candidate than Harris in 2024. And, as I have said, Biden has some impressive aides, which is a consolation
It's a puzzle to me as to why the Ukrainians are not doing more air strikes on Russian advances.
The air situation puzzles me too, Frank. We need our special security correspondent, Yokes, to help us with this one. He hasn't been around much lately (I do hope he hasn't been taken prisoner) but maybe we can piece something together from his early posts.
He said it was desperately important that the Ukranian Air Force remained intact during the first few days of the invasion. Presuably this was because it was essential that the Russians didn't have air cover for their ground forces. In fact it seems the UAF is still intact which is one reason why the Russian ground forces have made so little progress.
I suspect if the UAF did attempt to attack Russian positions however they would expose themselves to pretty rapid destruction. The Russians would then have the skies and much greater freedom for manouevre.
Bit of a stalemate is what I am suggesting, in which case it is operating to the defenders' long-term advantage.
The position could of course change if the US & Poland agree to supply aircraft for the Ukranians but I suspect that's a very tricky decision for many reasons.
I think the old Yes Prime Minister "salami tactics" sketch works the other way round when it comes to supplying the Ukrainian forces.
We supplied them with NLAWS and much more besides that before the war. Button? Obviously not. We continue to supply them across the border once the war began. Button? Again, no. Ditto with sanctions designed to cripple the Russian economy, which Putin has said amount to a declaration of war, but still no button. Now we're talking about supplying them with Polish Migs. Does Putin push the button if we do? Probably not. But then what if we allow them to use Romanian airfields, does he push the button then? I doubt it.
In fact I suspect that short of Nato forces actually shooting Russian soldiers, setting foot in Russian territory or starting to shoot Russian aircraft out of the sky, Putin won't actually do anything. His forces are already overstretched and his generals probably won't accept the nuclear order from him for anything less than a Nato invasion of Russia.
It would be a dangerous theory to test, but my gut is telling me Putin is all bark and no bite so long as we don't engage his forces directly.
I feel for the guy. He's old and teetering on the edge of senility. He's still a trillion times better than Trump, but oh for a younger, sharper president in the White House. Zelenskyy should maybe get the job, after he's finished saving Kyiv
At least some of Biden's appointees are up to snuff. Blinken has been impressive
Biden. He's a curious mixture of feistiness and fragility. I don't think he's senile though. Just physically fragile and a bit tongue-tied.
He has a stammer and has always had one. It has nothing to do with his senility or not.
No, it's more than just a stammer. He loses the thread of speeches even when they are right in front of him. I take no pleasure in this. This is not a "smeary Trumpist talking point" - I detest Trump and the idea of him winning in 2024 fills me with dread, Trump is arguably one of the reasons Putin has started this terrible war
Biden IS mentally frail. Hopefully they can keep him together with sellotape and string and find a better candidate than Harris in 2024. And, as I have said, Biden has some impressive aides, which is a consolation
I'm picturing a very strong lobby to prevent challenge to Harris assuming Biden is not running. Show unity behind serving VP, first WoC nominee etc.
Trump was sometimes bang on, despite being mad and dangerous. This is one such occasion. Check the vid in this tweet. Trump is in the UN condemning Germany for its energy policy, which, he says, will leave them "totally dependant on Russia."
I think, if I'm right, that there can't be a war. There hasn't been a declaration of war since (I think) 1945. No nation DOWs another anymore. That's so early 20th century.
They're miliary actions, peacekeeping efforts, special military operations. Call them whatever you want, but they aren't wars. If they were, then the UN might have to actually try to do something more, which it clearly can't do. So they're NOT wars. Never have been, never will be. There hasn't been a war since Korea. Nothing to see here.
IIRC formal declarations of war are incompatible with the UN Charter. And even Korea wasn’t declared as a war, rather a “collective action” of the United Nations (Stalin having made the stupid mistake of boycotting the UN so was unable to veto it in the UNSC).
Historical debate re: whether Soviet UN boycott in 1950 was "a stupid mistake" OR a rather savvy strategy.
Korean War DID tie up (or was it down) both United States AND Peoples Republic big-time for years. Though personally would argue that long-term downsides for USSR were much less positive, and outweighed strategic benefits.
Trump was sometimes bang on, despite being mad and dangerous. This is one such occasion. Check the vid in this tweet. Trump is in the UN condemning Germany for its energy policy, which, he says, will leave them "totally dependant on Russia."
The very thing warned about, going back years and years, has happened. It was a gigantic mistake by Germany and Europe as a whole to think becoming dependent on Russia would ever end well.
Shift from "t" to "d" sound is found in many American speech patterns, but hardly universal, as even those who exhibit this tendency rarely do so all the time, but instead with particular words.
Pretty common for "united" to come out as "unided" on some occasions esp. in conversational speech.
Note that "t" to "d" shift is pretty common in Ireland, indeed one of the hallmarks of a classic "Dub" accent. Also of classic "Brooklynese" or NYC accent, which likely origin the massive Irish immigration of mid-19th century.
So perhaps Biden's "unided" is proof that he really is Irish after all?
Well you'd be far more expert than me on this. Biden does mangle words a bit but some of it sounds to me just like what many Americans do, eg that soft d for a hard t. I do love his "Poo'an" for Putin.
Hardly expert, for example clueless on what degree, if any, Biden's speech patterns are influenced by Scranton on one hand, and Wilmington on the other. Suspect the latter may explain some of his "t" dropping?
As for tongue tied, Biden's always been articulate but also what you might call "gaffy". Plus not as young as he used to be. Like everyone else, but more so in his case than most!
I quite like Biden and he does mix his words occasionally, and maybe loses a bit of concentration, but as someone of similar declining years I can empathise with him and maybe some of you have noticed my occasional struggle with words, but then we count how fortunate we are and even experience a feeling of guilt that we are shielded from the horrors of Ukraine and we say a prayer every night for that wonderful country and its people
I feel for the guy. He's old and teetering on the edge of senility. He's still a trillion times better than Trump, but oh for a younger, sharper president in the White House. Zelenskyy should maybe get the job, after he's finished saving Kyiv
At least some of Biden's appointees are up to snuff. Blinken has been impressive
Biden. He's a curious mixture of feistiness and fragility. I don't think he's senile though. Just physically fragile and a bit tongue-tied.
He has a stammer and has always had one. It has nothing to do with his senility or not.
No, it's more than just a stammer. He loses the thread of speeches even when they are right in front of him. I take no pleasure in this. This is not a "smeary Trumpist talking point" - I detest Trump and the idea of him winning in 2024 fills me with dread, Trump is arguably one of the reasons Putin has started this terrible war
Biden IS mentally frail. Hopefully they can keep him together with sellotape and string and find a better candidate than Harris in 2024. And, as I have said, Biden has some impressive aides, which is a consolation
I'm picturing a very strong lobby to prevent challenge to Harris assuming Biden is not running. Show unity behind serving VP, first WoC nominee etc.
Probably, and that depresses me, because Harris is an extremely weak candidate. Trump would love a crack at her, and he could win
Lol, Salvini shoots off like a rabbit with a firework up its arse.
Mark Lowen @marklowen · 3h As Matteo Salvini visits the Poland-Ukraine border, the mayor of Przemysl shows him the Putin-admiring T-shirt he proudly wore in Moscow. Not so simple for a leopard to change its spots.
I feel for the guy. He's old and teetering on the edge of senility. He's still a trillion times better than Trump, but oh for a younger, sharper president in the White House. Zelenskyy should maybe get the job, after he's finished saving Kyiv
At least some of Biden's appointees are up to snuff. Blinken has been impressive
Biden. He's a curious mixture of feistiness and fragility. I don't think he's senile though. Just physically fragile and a bit tongue-tied.
He has a stammer and has always had one. It has nothing to do with his senility or not.
No, it's more than just a stammer. He loses the thread of speeches even when they are right in front of him. I take no pleasure in this. This is not a "smeary Trumpist talking point" - I detest Trump and the idea of him winning in 2024 fills me with dread, Trump is arguably one of the reasons Putin has started this terrible war
Biden IS mentally frail. Hopefully they can keep him together with sellotape and string and find a better candidate than Harris in 2024. And, as I have said, Biden has some impressive aides, which is a consolation
I'm picturing a very strong lobby to prevent challenge to Harris assuming Biden is not running. Show unity behind serving VP, first WoC nominee etc.
Don't see it personally. Harris has come across over the past year as NOT ready for prime time, and no evidence that has changed.
She has her backers, but hardly what you'd call a "strong lobby" right now.
If Biden runs for re-election in 2024, then Harris will likely remain VP nominee. If he does not, then nobody is gonna be anointing her as his successor UNLESS and until she can improve her game CONSIDERABLY.
Not impossible. But no signs yet she's really improving in practice, or in public esteem.
Trump was sometimes bang on, despite being mad and dangerous. This is one such occasion. Check the vid in this tweet. Trump is in the UN condemning Germany for its energy policy, which, he says, will leave them "totally dependant on Russia."
Comments
A younger guy might be sharper but there's damn few in Washington with more foreign policy chops than Biden.
Which sadly shows we've forgotten the lesson of the Second World War where the Allies, including the Soviets, were able to churn out cheap, unsophisticated tanks like the Sherman and T-34 by the dozen in the same time as one or two of the Germans' undeniably superior Tigers etc.
......and now I hear she's at it again. Can't Tory Cabinet Ministers learn to tell the truth?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xInMYJRFw0o
UK bad… EU good… Boris bad… EU good
It is for historians to judge whether [Bercow] was a successful reforming Speaker of the House of Commons. However, there was no need to act as a bully in order to achieve that aim. A great office can be filled forcefully and effectively without descending to such behaviour.
People need thick skin in life, but should not require armour plating. You can be a youngster just starting out, or a hard bitten tough veteran of a dozen wars, you should not have to put up with abuse of that nature as a part of your job. I despise that type of petty bully so much, since there is just no need other than a power trip or getting away with acting like a dick.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zakarpattia_Oblast
Trying, still trying, still very trying.....
https://twitter.com/JonLemire/status/1501252376174346242
Blasting them with laser cannon may seem a shade draconian and it'll never get past a namby-pamby, cancel culture, woke supporter like Priti Patel - it's more a Lib Dem policy I would guess.
The Élysée Palace released images of French President Macron after his call with Putin today, regarding the invasion of Ukraine.
https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1501203496716152841?cxt=HHwWksC51YyorNUpAAAA
I shall continue till my dumbo stalker gets the message, he is rather slow on the uptake.
Edit: I wonder how much of life is escaping from yourself.
The scene in Fury when three Shermans take on a Tiger illustrates the point. Without Brad Pitt they’d have lost all three.
When ammo stowage rules were enforced, Shermans burnt less frequently than Panthers. And had better crew survival rates.
It turned out, in the end that wet stowage (introduced by the British) wasn't required.
London
Lab 49%
Con 28%
Grn 10%
LD 8%
Ref 2%
Rest of South
Con 41%
Lab 31%
LD 11%
Grn 9%
Ref 5%
Midlands/Wales
Con 38%
Lab 33%
Grn 8%
LD 8%
Ref 6%
PC 4%
North
Lab 50%
Con 33%
Grn 8%
Ref 5%
LD 3%
Scotland
SNP 47%
Lab 24%
Con 19%
Grn 3%
LD 2%
Ref 2%
(Sample Size: 1658 GB adults Fieldwork: 3rd - 4th March 2022)
I know you like being annoying and winding posters up which is part of the fabric of PB, but can I just ask you to tone it down as both yourself and this forum deserve better especially in these horrible times
Stinger?
Spec of drone:
Performance
Maximum speed: 120 knots (220 km/h)
Cruise speed: 70 knots (130 km/h)
Range: 150 km (81 nmi)[41]
Communication range: line-of-sight propagation
Service ceiling: 27,000 feet (8,200 m)
Operational altitude: 18,000 feet (5,500 m)
Endurance: 27 hours
I've checked and it says production cost is $1-2m .
Oh - you mean by Russia
He said it was desperately important that the Ukranian Air Force remained intact during the first few days of the invasion. Presuably this was because it was essential that the Russians didn't have air cover for their ground forces. In fact it seems the UAF is still intact which is one reason why the Russian ground forces have made so little progress.
I suspect if the UAF did attempt to attack Russian positions however they would expose themselves to pretty rapid destruction. The Russians would then have the skies and much greater freedom for manouevre.
Bit of a stalemate is what I am suggesting, in which case it is operating to the defenders' long-term advantage.
The position could of course change if the US & Poland agree to supply aircraft for the Ukranians but I suspect that's a very tricky decision for many reasons.
JUST IN - Putin signs a decree restricting imports and exports of products and raw materials to "ensure the security of the Russian Federation," RIA reports.
The list will be determined by the government.
https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1501260323562659843
Especially at night.
https://twitter.com/manniefabian/status/1500848714419687430
The particular drones were thought to be Iran trying to fly weapons to Gaza / WB.
Their top priority is to survive, and that means focus on eg cities.
Also eg that 60km column is not doing much damage for now if it is just sitting there out of fuel. So they can go for other things instead.
A few observations/comments:
https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss/status/1501252691133149188
As for tongue tied, Biden's always been articulate but also what you might call "gaffy". Plus not as young as he used to be. Like everyone else, but more so in his case than most!
Biden IS mentally frail. Hopefully they can keep him together with sellotape and string and find a better candidate than Harris in 2024. And, as I have said, Biden has some impressive aides, which is a consolation
We supplied them with NLAWS and much more besides that before the war. Button? Obviously not.
We continue to supply them across the border once the war began. Button? Again, no.
Ditto with sanctions designed to cripple the Russian economy, which Putin has said amount to a declaration of war, but still no button.
Now we're talking about supplying them with Polish Migs. Does Putin push the button if we do? Probably not.
But then what if we allow them to use Romanian airfields, does he push the button then? I doubt it.
In fact I suspect that short of Nato forces actually shooting Russian soldiers, setting foot in Russian territory or starting to shoot Russian aircraft out of the sky, Putin won't actually do anything. His forces are already overstretched and his generals probably won't accept the nuclear order from him for anything less than a Nato invasion of Russia.
It would be a dangerous theory to test, but my gut is telling me Putin is all bark and no bite so long as we don't engage his forces directly.
Trump was sometimes bang on, despite being mad and dangerous. This is one such occasion. Check the vid in this tweet. Trump is in the UN condemning Germany for its energy policy, which, he says, will leave them "totally dependant on Russia."
The Germans smirk and giggle
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1500902888482222080?s=20&t=MNifGJO3l0PejKNASjeiFw
Korean War DID tie up (or was it down) both United States AND Peoples Republic big-time for years. Though personally would argue that long-term downsides for USSR were much less positive, and outweighed strategic benefits.
Mark Lowen
@marklowen
·
3h
As Matteo Salvini visits the Poland-Ukraine border, the mayor of Przemysl shows him the Putin-admiring T-shirt he proudly wore in Moscow. Not so simple for a leopard to change its spots.
https://twitter.com/marklowen/status/1501209218099163147?s=20&t=5vza2O5wqJwUY3lefE_e6g
She has her backers, but hardly what you'd call a "strong lobby" right now.
If Biden runs for re-election in 2024, then Harris will likely remain VP nominee. If he does not, then nobody is gonna be anointing her as his successor UNLESS and until she can improve her game CONSIDERABLY.
Not impossible. But no signs yet she's really improving in practice, or in public esteem.