@mfa_russia 💬#Zakharova: Attacks against their own nuclear facilities have become the signature of the current Ukrainian regime. The blame for this lies squarely with Kiev, the American masters of Vladimir Zelensky and US vassals in @NATO.
Anyone think cancelling the NI rise might be on the agenda for the next budget now ?
Or is that more wishful thinking. Perhaps the old favourite of the employee side being nixxed will be used.
It really can't be done in time.
Remember the reason why it's an increase in the current NI rates from April and is separated only next year is because the software can't be updated in time - changing the rates now for April 6th would be tight...
Who knows if he really is though, also is Zelensky actually there now ?
Kadyrov. Hmm. I'd vaguely heard of him but knew little of him. So looked him up on Wiki.
There I found a picture of surprisingly young-looking grinning oaf with a scamp haircut and a Brigham Young type beard. The offspring of a horror. Reminiscent of North Korea's Kim.
Then there's a list of his crimes and depravities beginning from about 2006. The list is very long, indeed.
And then, right at the bottom of the entry, you find this:
"On 5 October 2011, he celebrated his 35th birthday in a lavish fashion in the presence of several Hollywood stars, including actor Jean-Claude Van Damme and actress Hilary Swank as well as British violinist Vanessa-Mae, singer Seal and many others".
I'm only surprised that Donald Trump was reported to be present.
I don't think that the Chinese government are fools. I suspect that Russian requests will be ignored. Wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese up the "need to de-escalate" rhetoric and subtly signal a more disapproving stance against Russia.
Suspect seeing Chinese drones shot down in Ukraine will cause a similar coalescing around defence expenditure increases in Asia as it has in Europe. Are we going to stop Japan, Korea, Taiwan, officially getting the bomb? As well as unleashing a boycott of Chinese goods in Europe.
Time for that Asian reluctance to never say no - whilst meaning exactly that - to come into play.
I imagine these figures are well-known in the PB community, but still, quite notable. Kinda see Trump's point. And why UK, doesn't have too much to be ashamed of. I mean, Italy, having a laugh.
Here are the 10 countries with the most NATO spending:
United States ($6.85 Tn) United Kingdom ($655.27 Bn) Germany ($491.32 Bn) France ($477.05 Bn) Italy ($232.81 Bn) Canada ($212.77 Bn) Turkey ($180.00 Bn) Spain ($123.36 Bn) Poland ($113.76 Bn) Netherlands ($113.60 Bn)
@mfa_russia 💬#Zakharova: Attacks against their own nuclear facilities have become the signature of the current Ukrainian regime. The blame for this lies squarely with Kiev, the American masters of Vladimir Zelensky and US vassals in @NATO.
Someone in the Kremlin has been on the creative writing course.
I imagine these figures are well-known in the PB community, but still, quite notable. Kinda see Trump's point. And why UK, doesn't have too much to be ashamed of. I mean, Italy, having a laugh.
Here are the 10 countries with the most NATO spending:
United States ($6.85 Tn) United Kingdom ($655.27 Bn) Germany ($491.32 Bn) France ($477.05 Bn) Italy ($232.81 Bn) Canada ($212.77 Bn) Turkey ($180.00 Bn) Spain ($123.36 Bn) Poland ($113.76 Bn) Netherlands ($113.60 Bn)
I don't think that the Chinese government are fools. I suspect that Russian requests will be ignored. Wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese up the "need to de-escalate" rhetoric and subtly signal a more disapproving stance against Russia.
Suspect seeing Chinese drones shot down in Ukraine will cause a similar coalescing around defence expenditure increases in Asia as it has in Europe. Are we going to stop Japan, Korea, Taiwan, officially getting the bomb? As well as unleashing a boycott of Chinese goods in Europe.
Time for that Asian reluctance to never say no - whilst meaning exactly that - to come into play.
If China gives drones to Russia - and I mean, proper military ones - doesn't that risk (arguably guarantee) that Chinese military hardware falls into NATO hands? Russia does not have air supremacy.
I don't think that the Chinese government are fools. I suspect that Russian requests will be ignored. Wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese up the "need to de-escalate" rhetoric and subtly signal a more disapproving stance against Russia.
Suspect seeing Chinese drones shot down in Ukraine will cause a similar coalescing around defence expenditure increases in Asia as it has in Europe. Are we going to stop Japan, Korea, Taiwan, officially getting the bomb? As well as unleashing a boycott of Chinese goods in Europe.
Time for that Asian reluctance to never say no - whilst meaning exactly that - to come into play.
I imagine these figures are well-known in the PB community, but still, quite notable. Kinda see Trump's point. And why UK, doesn't have too much to be ashamed of. I mean, Italy, having a laugh.
Here are the 10 countries with the most NATO spending:
United States ($6.85 Tn) United Kingdom ($655.27 Bn) Germany ($491.32 Bn) France ($477.05 Bn) Italy ($232.81 Bn) Canada ($212.77 Bn) Turkey ($180.00 Bn) Spain ($123.36 Bn) Poland ($113.76 Bn) Netherlands ($113.60 Bn)
I imagine these figures are well-known in the PB community, but still, quite notable. Kinda see Trump's point. And why UK, doesn't have too much to be ashamed of. I mean, Italy, having a laugh.
Here are the 10 countries with the most NATO spending:
United States ($6.85 Tn) United Kingdom ($655.27 Bn) Germany ($491.32 Bn) France ($477.05 Bn) Italy ($232.81 Bn) Canada ($212.77 Bn) Turkey ($180.00 Bn) Spain ($123.36 Bn) Poland ($113.76 Bn) Netherlands ($113.60 Bn)
If Johnson goes before the next election, summer 2023 would be the time. I think he is safe until then (as reasonable results for the Tories in in London, Midlands and Scotland in May will cement him in place for the time being). 2023 does look value as the thread suggests.
Lib Dems even more than Labour might be secretly hoping he fights the next election though.
I imagine these figures are well-known in the PB community, but still, quite notable. Kinda see Trump's point. And why UK, doesn't have too much to be ashamed of. I mean, Italy, having a laugh.
Here are the 10 countries with the most NATO spending:
United States ($6.85 Tn) United Kingdom ($655.27 Bn) Germany ($491.32 Bn) France ($477.05 Bn) Italy ($232.81 Bn) Canada ($212.77 Bn) Turkey ($180.00 Bn) Spain ($123.36 Bn) Poland ($113.76 Bn) Netherlands ($113.60 Bn)
And to be fair, the majority of the US defense spending is a massive government sponsorship initiative for their research, tech, and manufacturing industries. You can't really complain about spending $6.85Tn dollars on "NATO" if $6Tn has gone straight to domestic contracts.
Potential game changer, I imagine the Chinese are rather good at drones
IF China agrees to this it means
1. The war is easier to win for Russia
2.The potential for escalation has just gone up several notches
Not good
It would take a non-trivial amount of time to train operators, maintenance crews etc. Then there is the small matter of weapons for them - integrating Russian weapons would take more time.
Ukraine got their drones because they bought them before the war, and trained operators etc etc. Once in service, it is easier to add more.
Completely off topic, but I wanted to write something somewhere to express my emotions, but my nan died yesterday. As an adult this is the first death of a loved one I've really experienced, my last experience of death for someone I was close to was of a classmate at school who died when we were 10.
Its such a cliché to say, but at least she's not suffering anymore. She'd had a fall towards the end of lockdown that triggered a steep downfall in her health and dementia so she wasn't herself anymore and the NHS made her go into a care home, but still its very emotional now that she's gone.
I'm very fortunate to have had my grandparents so long into my adulthood, my wife lost all of hers many years ago, mainly when she was a teenager. It was nice yesterday to be looking back at photos of Nanna at our wedding, and with our children whom I'm glad she got to meet and get to know and love.
My one regret is that the combination of the virus and restrictions meant we lost the chance to see her in the last few years of her life. Our last full chance to see her as herself was in January 2020 - after that she wouldn't have any visitors until she was vaccinated. I saw her again once in December 2020 socially distanced from outside dropping off Christmas presents, coincidentally on the day she got the call to get her vaccine. Then there was lockdown again and my parents at least saw her regularly as her support bubble but we didn't get to see her again until lockdown was lifted by which time she'd had the fall and she was bedbound and a very pale shadow of herself from months earlier. She then got taken to a care home who refused to allow visitors and who STILL don't allow visitors - my parents and her husband could visit but not us. The home was still saying they'd start allowing visitors soon but still haven't yet and now its too late.
Lots of happy memories of a life well loved. I'm very grateful she got to know her great-grandkids who seem to be processing this OK hopefully. Rest in peace Nanna.
Thanks for sharing with us. Look after yourself. Lest we forget, you have highlighted the very worst aspect of Covid, not being able to see elderly family.
And still ongoing, for what it's worth - my mum has been ill and I headed down to see her this weekend. Unfortunately she had a fall just before I got in the car and had been taken to hospital by the time I arrived. The hospital still has a strict one named person per hospital stay visitor policy (which, really, given we don't know how long it will be for, had to be my dad) so I didn't get to see her at all. I understand wanting to protect vulnerable people, but nowadays with LFTs, I think the risks can be managed. I'd happily have worn whatever kind of mask deemed necessary for a visit.
Sorry for your loss Bart (seems wrong to address you as 'Bart' but you changed your name here for a reason, so I'll stick with that). It sounds like a good life, although I'm sorry you missed much of the good bits of her last few years. My grandparents, like your wife's, were all dead by the time I was 18 and I do feel that I missed out on knowing them as an adult, rather than just as a child.
Yes, there's a balance which seems to be ignored, especially as managing contact can be a great deal safer than it was. The damage done to the old and vulnerable being deprived of regular family contact can be massive.
Sincere best wishes to you @BartholomewRoberts . I think quite a few of us have been there over the last couple of years.
Interesting piece from 2019, alleging that oversight of MI6 was removed from Johnson when he was Foreign Sec by TMay due to security concerns. Never heard that before.
And it reveals how Johnson got up close and personal to Katie Price’s tits at that infamous Italian party…
If Johnson goes before the next election, summer 2023 would be the time. I think he is safe until then (as reasonable results for the Tories in in London, Midlands and Scotland in May will cement him in place for the time being). 2023 does look value as the thread suggests.
Lib Dems even more than Labour might be secretly hoping he fights the next election though.
When Major replaced Thatcher in 1990 he still went for the full 5 year term, only calling an election in 1992.
Though I think Johnson is safe for the foreseeable future
Potential game changer, I imagine the Chinese are rather good at drones
IF China agrees to this it means
1. The war is easier to win for Russia
2.The potential for escalation has just gone up several notches
Not good
It would take a non-trivial amount of time to train operators, maintenance crews etc. Then there is the small matter of weapons for them - integrating Russian weapons would take more time.
Ukraine got their drones because they bought them before the war, and trained operators etc etc. Once in service, it is easier to add more.
I thought in terms of UAV training forces had moved on from complaining about all these kids playing CoD then thinking they can join the army to realising that if you made a UAV controller resemble an Xbox controller you were sorted.
Of course you still have to drill into them that you don't get another life if you crash the damn thing, but the range of potential pilots suddenly gets massively wider.
I imagine these figures are well-known in the PB community, but still, quite notable. Kinda see Trump's point. And why UK, doesn't have too much to be ashamed of. I mean, Italy, having a laugh.
Here are the 10 countries with the most NATO spending:
United States ($6.85 Tn) United Kingdom ($655.27 Bn) Germany ($491.32 Bn) France ($477.05 Bn) Italy ($232.81 Bn) Canada ($212.77 Bn) Turkey ($180.00 Bn) Spain ($123.36 Bn) Poland ($113.76 Bn) Netherlands ($113.60 Bn)
The UK clearly already spending enough on defence, as are the UK. It is other nations in Europe who need to spend more, as does Canada
Interesting piece from 2019, alleging that oversight of MI6 was removed from Johnson when he was Foreign Sec by TMay due to security concerns. Never heard that before.
And it reveals how Johnson got up close and personal to Katie Price’s tits at that infamous Italian party…
I can't help but think that if KP flashing the company is "too excessive" for "parties infamous for their excess" then my idea of "excess" needs recalibrating.
Interesting piece from 2019, alleging that oversight of MI6 was removed from Johnson when he was Foreign Sec by TMay due to security concerns. Never heard that before.
And it reveals how Johnson got up close and personal to Katie Price’s tits at that infamous Italian party…
I can't help but think that if KP flashing the company is "too excessive" for "parties infamous for their excess" then my idea of "excess" needs recalibrating.
Well we all saw what a "wild" parties in #10 were actually like...an absolutely terrible looking Zoom quiz, karaoke and pissed adults having a go on a kids swing. No hookers and blow, and disappointingly not even shagging in the stationary cupboard.
When I was uni, that wasn't a wild party, that was a boring Thursday evening.
Interesting piece from 2019, alleging that oversight of MI6 was removed from Johnson when he was Foreign Sec by TMay due to security concerns. Never heard that before.
And it reveals how Johnson got up close and personal to Katie Price’s tits at that infamous Italian party…
I can't help but think that if KP flashing the company is "too excessive" for "parties infamous for their excess" then my idea of "excess" needs recalibrating.
Yeah that had occurred to me too! Bit disappointing really, not quite the bacchanalian excess I imagined. I was thinking Trumpian golden showers with high class hookers, not KP’s scar-puckered bangers shoved in your face over the main course.
I imagine these figures are well-known in the PB community, but still, quite notable. Kinda see Trump's point. And why UK, doesn't have too much to be ashamed of. I mean, Italy, having a laugh.
Here are the 10 countries with the most NATO spending:
United States ($6.85 Tn) United Kingdom ($655.27 Bn) Germany ($491.32 Bn) France ($477.05 Bn) Italy ($232.81 Bn) Canada ($212.77 Bn) Turkey ($180.00 Bn) Spain ($123.36 Bn) Poland ($113.76 Bn) Netherlands ($113.60 Bn)
The UK clearly already spending enough on defence, as are the UK. It is other nations in Europe who need to spend more, as does Canada
“Clearly already spending enough”? Why? What’s clear? Nothing from these figures certainly, as they seem to be ten year projections of cash amounts. They tell you nothing about capability delivered or relative “bang for buck”.
Potential game changer, I imagine the Chinese are rather good at drones
IF China agrees to this it means
1. The war is easier to win for Russia
2.The potential for escalation has just gone up several notches
Not good
It would take a non-trivial amount of time to train operators, maintenance crews etc. Then there is the small matter of weapons for them - integrating Russian weapons would take more time.
Ukraine got their drones because they bought them before the war, and trained operators etc etc. Once in service, it is easier to add more.
I thought in terms of UAV training forces had moved on from complaining about all these kids playing CoD then thinking they can join the army to realising that if you made a UAV controller resemble an Xbox controller you were sorted.
Of course you still have to drill into them that you don't get another life if you crash the damn thing, but the range of potential pilots suddenly gets massively wider.
The US had quite the problem with drone pilot retention at one point, little things like they’d turn up at the base, spend 12 hours flying, send a few missiles to kill a few enemies, then clock out and head back home to the wife and kids, six days a week.
Interesting piece from 2019, alleging that oversight of MI6 was removed from Johnson when he was Foreign Sec by TMay due to security concerns. Never heard that before.
And it reveals how Johnson got up close and personal to Katie Price’s tits at that infamous Italian party…
I can't help but think that if KP flashing the company is "too excessive" for "parties infamous for their excess" then my idea of "excess" needs recalibrating.
Yeah that had occurred to me too! Bit disappointing really, not quite the bacchanalian excess I imagined. I was thinking Trumpian golden showers with high class hookers, not KP’s scar-puckered bangers shoved in your face over the main course.
I also like to think that the main course in question was a beautifully plated M&S microwave meal for which Lebedev was charged £250 by the catering company.
I imagine these figures are well-known in the PB community, but still, quite notable. Kinda see Trump's point. And why UK, doesn't have too much to be ashamed of. I mean, Italy, having a laugh.
Here are the 10 countries with the most NATO spending:
United States ($6.85 Tn) United Kingdom ($655.27 Bn) Germany ($491.32 Bn) France ($477.05 Bn) Italy ($232.81 Bn) Canada ($212.77 Bn) Turkey ($180.00 Bn) Spain ($123.36 Bn) Poland ($113.76 Bn) Netherlands ($113.60 Bn)
The UK clearly already spending enough on defence, as are the UK. It is other nations in Europe who need to spend more, as does Canada
Are we sure those numbers are correct - U.S. government's total revenue is estimated to be $3.863 trillion for FY 2021.
Is this spend over the previous 10 years or some such, or calculated market cap of the entire forces ?
Anyone think cancelling the NI rise might be on the agenda for the next budget now ?
Or is that more wishful thinking. Perhaps the old favourite of the employee side being nixxed will be used.
It really can't be done in time.
Remember the reason why it's an increase in the current NI rates from April and is separated only next year is because the software can't be updated in time - changing the rates now for April 6th would be tight...
Well that's demand further screwed then.
And the income tax threshold freeze starts now, doesn't it? Unexpectedly high inflation is going to make that nastier in effect, even if it's invisible on payslips.
Happy Dissolution And Calling Of Parliament Bill Ping-Pong Day!
It shouldn't take long. Based on how the debates have gone so far, I expect the Commons will quickly throw out the Lords amendment (it's effectively a wrecking amendment anyway), and the timetable motion allows only an hour for debate. I then expect that the Lords won't insist on its amendment.
FTPA is soon to be merely a part of history.
Oooo I’d forgotten about that. Where has the text got to? PM discretion? Just wondering about the process they get left with and the JR risk. Since you can’t reconstitute a prerogative power, it will end JR-able on “how was the decision made” grounds.
The Lords amendment (section 2 (2-3)) is that an early election can only be called with a Commons motion passed with a simple majority.
Once that gets thrown out, it's back to PM discretion - section 2 (1) reconstitutes the prerogative power by making the FTPA a Dallas-style "it was all a dream". And section 3 rules our judicial review (in theory).
Fascinating. Technically grants Her Majesty a new power. Who would have thought we’d do that in 2022…..?
You mean there's ANOTHER badly drafted piece of 'legislation'?
I imagine these figures are well-known in the PB community, but still, quite notable. Kinda see Trump's point. And why UK, doesn't have too much to be ashamed of. I mean, Italy, having a laugh.
Here are the 10 countries with the most NATO spending:
United States ($6.85 Tn) United Kingdom ($655.27 Bn) Germany ($491.32 Bn) France ($477.05 Bn) Italy ($232.81 Bn) Canada ($212.77 Bn) Turkey ($180.00 Bn) Spain ($123.36 Bn) Poland ($113.76 Bn) Netherlands ($113.60 Bn)
The UK clearly already spending enough on defence, as are the UK. It is other nations in Europe who need to spend more, as does Canada
Are we sure those numbers are correct - U.S. government's total revenue is estimated to be $3.863 trillion for FY 2021.
Is this spend over the previous 10 years or some such, or calculated market cap of the entire forces ?
Yeah I think it’s the 10 year numbers. Nothing on the source says WHICH ten years but it’s about right for ten times current cash amounts.
Not at all. Lots overwinter (Peacocks, Red Admirals, Small Tortoiseshell especially) and on a nice March day you can get the first Brimstone and maybe even Orange-tips.....
@mfa_russia 💬#Zakharova: Attacks against their own nuclear facilities have become the signature of the current Ukrainian regime. The blame for this lies squarely with Kiev, the American masters of Vladimir Zelensky and US vassals in @NATO.
Someone in the Kremlin has been on the creative writing course.
Their money was obviously much better spent in writing the script about getting someone who was parroting Kremlin lines over the Crimea and Donbas in 2014 to be a future PM’s bestie and into the HoL. You couldn’t make it up!
Here’s a photo of Lord Lebedev of Hampton and Siberia with Boris in happier times.
I'm afraid I really do think a lot of the back-slapping about how well we are doing is delusional borne of a need not to feel as powerless about what Putin is doing as we are.
The fact is, we stood by and let him invade and pulverise an entire nation. Slowly and inexorably that is what he is doing. Biden and NATO refused to pitch in because they were too scared of Putin's nuclear threats. Perhaps justifiably, but we've let him get away with it.
We all want this to be another Afghanistan. I fear we are deluding ourselves.
When you say "we", I don't think you're including yourself.
So perhaps you should be a little more precise in your language and say "you".
It would be a little more honest, no?
'We' meaning the west, not pb.com per se.
I think we in the west have been trying to convince ourselves that we're doing as much as we possibly can (we aren't), that we're united (we aren't) and that there's nothing further we can do without risking nuclear war (not true).
The reality is that we are ignoring Zelensky's pleas for a No Fly Zone and we're letting an entire country get pulverised.
You started here with some views on Covid cases and hospitalisations in Israel which turned out not to be - how to put this - entirely accurate. Then moved on to a story about BA pilots, which turned out to be... ah yes... not entirely accurate.
And now you're onto "oh yes, I'm on your side, one of *you*, and I know it's hard to accept, but it would be better for all of us if the Ukrainians just accepted the inevitable and laid down their arms... after all, what chance do they stand?"
It is a little tricky to take you seriously, and for that I apologise.
At least she’s a better class of Russian provocateur. PB should feel flattered
The faux reasonableness is very, very well done though.
I think, and I do mean this, you should take a look at yourself if you are 'really' going down that route because it's a very, very, dark place to go.
If you start to think that anyone with whom you disagree displays the signs of being something other than sincere, a phantasm, a spectre, who is merely 'faux' reasonable then you are disappearing into a rabbit hole void the end result of which is a dystopian nightmare of narcissistic individualism.
I don't agree with everything you post but I don't stoop to question your sincerity.
It's a strange phenomenon on PB, noted also by @Dura_Ace and @YBarddCwsc yesterday. Normally very thoughtful, enquiring minds have fallen into line over a preferred stance on Russia/Ukraine. Any deviation from that stance is met with disproportionate hostility.
Perhaps it stems from a sense of frustration at our powerlessness. Change your profile picture to the Ukrainian flag and shout down those who don't agree with the chosen line on Ukraine (Russia doing dreadfully, imminent collapse of their war effort, dissent maybe even revolution at home, etc).
It really is quite strange.
It's OK to have a dissenting opinion.
But it's also a little suspicious when you have a dissenting opinion, have a record of spreading falsehoods (about BA pilots and vaccines, for example), and have an IP address that's listed in the blacklists.
Absolutely and it's your site so them's the rules. Perhaps it is a mark of the sophistication of spammers that @Heathener's posts seem to me to be genuine and I could point to other posters who are equally contentious for many on PB, not to say equally provocative.
P Johnson and d-d were laughably obvious, but Heathener less so.
I thought she was stupid, but harmless. Guess she's gone now.
Thing is, we are, ahem, all grown up able to think for ourselves types on here. If they are super crass like @PJohnson was with lots of "mate"s and very bad at the spamming thing then fair enough - they clog up the site and take up bandwidth.
But from what I have read of @Heathener's posts (until recently one a day in the morning saying that's it I'm off) they have an opinion. I hadn't recalled the BA pilots or vaccines ones but even if it is the most egregious perceived rubbish then what harm does it do to respond to the points raised.
What's the difference between engaging with someone who genuinely believes, for example and I'm not saying this is her position, that Putin is entirely justified in his current actions, and engaging with a bot who says the same thing. It is the issue that is of interest. Somewhere there is someone who supports Putin - there are reports that say much of the Russian population, for example - so why not ignore the IP address and just discuss the issue.
When @Heathener arrived it was a blaze of glory about autumn lockdowns and the vaccines failing, which was challenged in a robust way, as it was shite. She/he/it objected to the unwelcoming atmosphere (which kind of indicates that they hadn't been a lurker).
Up to now I've regarded them as a deluded, rude, lesbian, who talked shit. Now perhaps she/he/it has been outed as something else entirely.
Blimey. "deluded, rude, lesbian."
Where the fuck did you get that from. And this from a site that welcomes women.
Rude - her story of yelling people not wearing a mask in shops, even to the point of threatening to hit them with a stick - at a time when masks are no longer a legal requitrement.
Deluded - she started on here banging on about new lockdowns, based it seems on people planning 'what if' sessions in government, you know, the kind a thing a sensible person would do. They were not evidence of imminent lockdowns. She is now claiming that the daily cases are what she predicted, when in fact they are totally down to a new variant that didnt exist when she made her predictions. Lesbian - happy to retract, but she doesn't seem to like the 'world of men'.
Get a grip man. That (the last) is one of the more ridiculous statements I've read on PB and, let's face it, there's plenty of competition.
Still, Heathener suggesting that PB was a hotbed of sexist, stereotyping gammonry was obviously a vile slur.
Bottom line, there's still no explanation as to how her IP address gets into a list of dodgy spam IPs. Having a friend in Westminster whose identity supposedly needs to guarded doesn't join any dots.
I imagine these figures are well-known in the PB community, but still, quite notable. Kinda see Trump's point. And why UK, doesn't have too much to be ashamed of. I mean, Italy, having a laugh.
Here are the 10 countries with the most NATO spending:
United States ($6.85 Tn) United Kingdom ($655.27 Bn) Germany ($491.32 Bn) France ($477.05 Bn) Italy ($232.81 Bn) Canada ($212.77 Bn) Turkey ($180.00 Bn) Spain ($123.36 Bn) Poland ($113.76 Bn) Netherlands ($113.60 Bn)
The UK clearly already spending enough on defence, as are the UK. It is other nations in Europe who need to spend more, as does Canada
“Clearly already spending enough”? Why? What’s clear? Nothing from these figures certainly, as they seem to be ten year projections of cash amounts. They tell you nothing about capability delivered or relative “bang for buck”.
In terms of percentage spent on defence of gdp, of the 30 member states of NATO, only 7, the USA, UK, Poland, Greece, Romania, Latvia and Estonia have been spending at least the recommended 2%.
Not really. Some species over-winter as adults and will emerge early on a bright warm day. Traditionally the earliest regular emergent is the Brimstone which is yellow. The name "butterfly" is thought to be derived from the Brimstone.
Visegrád 24 @visegrad24 · 35m Croatian PM Andrej Plenkovic has criticized NATO and EU for not warning him about the Russian drone carrying a large bomb that crashed near Zagreb.
“We cannot tolerate this situation, nor should it have ever happened (...) it was a clear threat, NATO and EU should have reacted".
Who knows if he really is though, also is Zelensky actually there now ?
Kadyrov. Hmm. I'd vaguely heard of him but knew little of him. So looked him up on Wiki.
There I found a picture of surprisingly young-looking grinning oaf with a scamp haircut and a Brigham Young type beard. The offspring of a horror. Reminiscent of North Korea's Kim.
Then there's a list of his crimes and depravities beginning from about 2006. The list is very long, indeed.
And then, right at the bottom of the entry, you find this:
"On 5 October 2011, he celebrated his 35th birthday in a lavish fashion in the presence of several Hollywood stars, including actor Jean-Claude Van Damme and actress Hilary Swank as well as British violinist Vanessa-Mae, singer Seal and many others".
I'm only surprised that Donald Trump was reported to be present.
Psychopathic thug. Immensely useful to Putin not just for his uninhibited brutality, but also because when Putin goes, he's likely a dead man. His complete loyalty is therefore assured.
Happy Dissolution And Calling Of Parliament Bill Ping-Pong Day!
It shouldn't take long. Based on how the debates have gone so far, I expect the Commons will quickly throw out the Lords amendment (it's effectively a wrecking amendment anyway), and the timetable motion allows only an hour for debate. I then expect that the Lords won't insist on its amendment.
FTPA is soon to be merely a part of history.
Oooo I’d forgotten about that. Where has the text got to? PM discretion? Just wondering about the process they get left with and the JR risk. Since you can’t reconstitute a prerogative power, it will end JR-able on “how was the decision made” grounds.
The Lords amendment (section 2 (2-3)) is that an early election can only be called with a Commons motion passed with a simple majority.
Once that gets thrown out, it's back to PM discretion - section 2 (1) reconstitutes the prerogative power by making the FTPA a Dallas-style "it was all a dream". And section 3 rules our judicial review (in theory).
Fascinating. Technically grants Her Majesty a new power. Who would have thought we’d do that in 2022…..?
You mean there's ANOTHER badly drafted piece of 'legislation'?
Mark my words: the Tories will be pining for the return of FTPA when a future Labour PM starts trying to undermine their leader by hinting at calling a snap general election during their party conference.
This has been bothering me recently with respect to the actual competence, ability and quality of the supposed "feared" Russian armed forces. If we actually look at the numbers:
Russian military spending - approx. USD 62bn per year. 4% of its GDP. As well as funding all the conventional armed forces this includes having to maintain in a launch-ready state approx 1,500 deployed nuclear warheads, on land, at sea and air-launched/dropped . Not a cheap exercise by any stretch of the imagination.
In comparison UK spending alone (if we ignore the other 29 members) is USD 72bn. Included in this amount is the maintenance of only 225 nuclear warheads. All sea-based.
The UK economy is nearly twice the size of Russia on a GDP basis - and yet, even with spending more on our armed forces in absolute terms we have difficulty in paying for a sixth of the Nuclear capability Russia is maintaining.
And yet we still cling to the Cold-War fear of the mighty Russian Bear. If you look at the numbers there is no way on God's Earth that Russian military capability can be any where near the combined resources of 30 NATO nations. With respect to Nuclear weapons (and although I wouldn't want to test the hypothesis) - are we really saying the Russian nuclear "deterrent" is in any way as fearsome as they make out considering the considerable resources necessary to ensure they actually work when needed??
There are countless stories of WWII aircrews "nursing their aircraft back to base" after being hit. It is such a trite phrase which hides the reality of those crews having to aviate and navigate badly damaged planes for considerable distances. When you think of the tizzy we as commercial airline passengers get into when there is the merest thought of a screw half loose or something not 100% perfect it really was an extraordinary feat.
Happy Dissolution And Calling Of Parliament Bill Ping-Pong Day!
It shouldn't take long. Based on how the debates have gone so far, I expect the Commons will quickly throw out the Lords amendment (it's effectively a wrecking amendment anyway), and the timetable motion allows only an hour for debate. I then expect that the Lords won't insist on its amendment.
FTPA is soon to be merely a part of history.
Oooo I’d forgotten about that. Where has the text got to? PM discretion? Just wondering about the process they get left with and the JR risk. Since you can’t reconstitute a prerogative power, it will end JR-able on “how was the decision made” grounds.
The Lords amendment (section 2 (2-3)) is that an early election can only be called with a Commons motion passed with a simple majority.
Once that gets thrown out, it's back to PM discretion - section 2 (1) reconstitutes the prerogative power by making the FTPA a Dallas-style "it was all a dream". And section 3 rules our judicial review (in theory).
Fascinating. Technically grants Her Majesty a new power. Who would have thought we’d do that in 2022…..?
Technically restores an old power as if it had never been taken away, and worded specifically that way for a reason.
FTPA was a disaster in the medium run. It did its job, arguably, of stopping Cameron calling an early electionj in 2014 or even 2013 without the LDs' consent - but the damage it did was massive.
Potential game changer, I imagine the Chinese are rather good at drones
IF China agrees to this it means
1. The war is easier to win for Russia
2.The potential for escalation has just gone up several notches
Not good
It would take a non-trivial amount of time to train operators, maintenance crews etc. Then there is the small matter of weapons for them - integrating Russian weapons would take more time.
Ukraine got their drones because they bought them before the war, and trained operators etc etc. Once in service, it is easier to add more.
I thought in terms of UAV training forces had moved on from complaining about all these kids playing CoD then thinking they can join the army to realising that if you made a UAV controller resemble an Xbox controller you were sorted.
Of course you still have to drill into them that you don't get another life if you crash the damn thing, but the range of potential pilots suddenly gets massively wider.
The US had quite the problem with drone pilot retention at one point, little things like they’d turn up at the base, spend 12 hours flying, send a few missiles to kill a few enemies, then clock out and head back home to the wife and kids, six days a week.
The UK have a similar issue. Aircrew will do flying tours for years on end if you let them. I did 16 years continously. However UAS crews absolutely will not do multiple tours back to back so turnover is high and retention is low.
I'm afraid I really do think a lot of the back-slapping about how well we are doing is delusional borne of a need not to feel as powerless about what Putin is doing as we are.
The fact is, we stood by and let him invade and pulverise an entire nation. Slowly and inexorably that is what he is doing. Biden and NATO refused to pitch in because they were too scared of Putin's nuclear threats. Perhaps justifiably, but we've let him get away with it.
We all want this to be another Afghanistan. I fear we are deluding ourselves.
When you say "we", I don't think you're including yourself.
So perhaps you should be a little more precise in your language and say "you".
It would be a little more honest, no?
'We' meaning the west, not pb.com per se.
I think we in the west have been trying to convince ourselves that we're doing as much as we possibly can (we aren't), that we're united (we aren't) and that there's nothing further we can do without risking nuclear war (not true).
The reality is that we are ignoring Zelensky's pleas for a No Fly Zone and we're letting an entire country get pulverised.
You started here with some views on Covid cases and hospitalisations in Israel which turned out not to be - how to put this - entirely accurate. Then moved on to a story about BA pilots, which turned out to be... ah yes... not entirely accurate.
And now you're onto "oh yes, I'm on your side, one of *you*, and I know it's hard to accept, but it would be better for all of us if the Ukrainians just accepted the inevitable and laid down their arms... after all, what chance do they stand?"
It is a little tricky to take you seriously, and for that I apologise.
At least she’s a better class of Russian provocateur. PB should feel flattered
The faux reasonableness is very, very well done though.
I think, and I do mean this, you should take a look at yourself if you are 'really' going down that route because it's a very, very, dark place to go.
If you start to think that anyone with whom you disagree displays the signs of being something other than sincere, a phantasm, a spectre, who is merely 'faux' reasonable then you are disappearing into a rabbit hole void the end result of which is a dystopian nightmare of narcissistic individualism.
I don't agree with everything you post but I don't stoop to question your sincerity.
It's a strange phenomenon on PB, noted also by @Dura_Ace and @YBarddCwsc yesterday. Normally very thoughtful, enquiring minds have fallen into line over a preferred stance on Russia/Ukraine. Any deviation from that stance is met with disproportionate hostility.
Perhaps it stems from a sense of frustration at our powerlessness. Change your profile picture to the Ukrainian flag and shout down those who don't agree with the chosen line on Ukraine (Russia doing dreadfully, imminent collapse of their war effort, dissent maybe even revolution at home, etc).
It really is quite strange.
It's OK to have a dissenting opinion.
But it's also a little suspicious when you have a dissenting opinion, have a record of spreading falsehoods (about BA pilots and vaccines, for example), and have an IP address that's listed in the blacklists.
Absolutely and it's your site so them's the rules. Perhaps it is a mark of the sophistication of spammers that @Heathener's posts seem to me to be genuine and I could point to other posters who are equally contentious for many on PB, not to say equally provocative.
P Johnson and d-d were laughably obvious, but Heathener less so.
I thought she was stupid, but harmless. Guess she's gone now.
Thing is, we are, ahem, all grown up able to think for ourselves types on here. If they are super crass like @PJohnson was with lots of "mate"s and very bad at the spamming thing then fair enough - they clog up the site and take up bandwidth.
But from what I have read of @Heathener's posts (until recently one a day in the morning saying that's it I'm off) they have an opinion. I hadn't recalled the BA pilots or vaccines ones but even if it is the most egregious perceived rubbish then what harm does it do to respond to the points raised.
What's the difference between engaging with someone who genuinely believes, for example and I'm not saying this is her position, that Putin is entirely justified in his current actions, and engaging with a bot who says the same thing. It is the issue that is of interest. Somewhere there is someone who supports Putin - there are reports that say much of the Russian population, for example - so why not ignore the IP address and just discuss the issue.
When @Heathener arrived it was a blaze of glory about autumn lockdowns and the vaccines failing, which was challenged in a robust way, as it was shite. She/he/it objected to the unwelcoming atmosphere (which kind of indicates that they hadn't been a lurker).
Up to now I've regarded them as a deluded, rude, lesbian, who talked shit. Now perhaps she/he/it has been outed as something else entirely.
Blimey. "deluded, rude, lesbian."
Where the fuck did you get that from. And this from a site that welcomes women.
Rude - her story of yelling people not wearing a mask in shops, even to the point of threatening to hit them with a stick - at a time when masks are no longer a legal requitrement.
Deluded - she started on here banging on about new lockdowns, based it seems on people planning 'what if' sessions in government, you know, the kind a thing a sensible person would do. They were not evidence of imminent lockdowns. She is now claiming that the daily cases are what she predicted, when in fact they are totally down to a new variant that didnt exist when she made her predictions. Lesbian - happy to retract, but she doesn't seem to like the 'world of men'.
Get a grip man. That (the last) is one of the more ridiculous statements I've read on PB and, let's face it, there's plenty of competition.
Still, Heathener suggesting that PB was a hotbed of sexist, stereotyping gammonry was obviously a vile slur.
Bottom line, there's still no explanation as to how her IP address gets into a list of dodgy spam IPs. Having a friend in Westminster whose identity supposedly needs to guarded doesn't join any dots.
Nope - it's a complete distraction created to be a distraction....
Who knows if he really is though, also is Zelensky actually there now ?
Kadyrov. Hmm. I'd vaguely heard of him but knew little of him. So looked him up on Wiki.
There I found a picture of surprisingly young-looking grinning oaf with a scamp haircut and a Brigham Young type beard. The offspring of a horror. Reminiscent of North Korea's Kim.
Then there's a list of his crimes and depravities beginning from about 2006. The list is very long, indeed.
And then, right at the bottom of the entry, you find this:
"On 5 October 2011, he celebrated his 35th birthday in a lavish fashion in the presence of several Hollywood stars, including actor Jean-Claude Van Damme and actress Hilary Swank as well as British violinist Vanessa-Mae, singer Seal and many others".
I'm only surprised that Donald Trump was reported to be present.
Psychopathic thug. Immensely useful to Putin not just for his uninhibited brutality, but also because when Putin goes, he's likely a dead man. His complete loyalty is therefore assured.
He's the closest thing Putin has got to the charismatic, competent henchman that proper film villains have.
Not at all. Lots overwinter (Peacocks, Red Admirals, Small Tortoiseshell especially) and on a nice March day you can get the first Brimstone and maybe even Orange-tips.....
The orange-tip will be a new hatchling though - the first species to emerge fresh each spring. Always brings a smile to my face when I see the first one.
There are countless stories of WWII aircrews "nursing their aircraft back to base" after being hit. It is such a trite phrase which hides the reality of those crews having to aviate and navigate badly damaged planes for considerable distances. When you think of the tizzy we as commercial airline passengers get into when there is the merest thought of a screw half loose or something not 100% perfect it really was an extraordinary feat.
Oh, indeed.
There were also tragic stories: I read one where the bottom gunner was trapped in his turret; couldn't get up into the fuselage, and could not bail out. The place had to land with no undercarriage. The crew knew he would die on impact, but they had to do it.
An Israeli F-15 one landed with only one wing, and was caught on camera.
They won't be winning in well run CON councils which keep Council Tax increases at a sensible level notwithstanding the huge once again inflation busting increase from the Greater London Authority.
@mfa_russia 💬#Zakharova: Attacks against their own nuclear facilities have become the signature of the current Ukrainian regime. The blame for this lies squarely with Kiev, the American masters of Vladimir Zelensky and US vassals in @NATO.
Someone in the Kremlin has been on the creative writing course.
Their money was obviously much better spent in writing the script about getting someone who was parroting Kremlin lines over the Crimea and Donbas in 2014 to be a future PM’s bestie and into the HoL. You couldn’t make it up!
Here’s a photo of Lord Lebedev of Hampton and Siberia with Boris in happier times.
Amusing. That said, I have to admire the chutzpah of Scots Nats offering any opinion on Russian interference.
SNP= Putin's favourite useful idiots
Alex Salmond, ex-leader of SNP, RT apologist for Putin, and Putin's favourite of all his bumlickers in the West.
Interesting. If this results in a lot of Tory losses at the locals then maybe my prediction of Johnson's demise might still be good in spite of Putin's war.
They won't be winning in well run CON councils which keep Council Tax increases at a sensible level notwithstanding the huge once again inflation busting increase from the Greater London Authority.
They'll almost certain take Wandsworth on those figures. But to call it well run would be an insult
They won't be winning in well run CON councils which keep Council Tax increases at a sensible level notwithstanding the huge once again inflation busting increase from the Greater London Authority.
They'll almost certain take Wandsworth on those figures. But to call it well run would be an insult
Let's see what happens! I believe LAB was disappointed in London in 2018. I think it will happen again 👍
Potential game changer, I imagine the Chinese are rather good at drones
IF China agrees to this it means
1. The war is easier to win for Russia
2.The potential for escalation has just gone up several notches
Not good
It would take a non-trivial amount of time to train operators, maintenance crews etc. Then there is the small matter of weapons for them - integrating Russian weapons would take more time.
Ukraine got their drones because they bought them before the war, and trained operators etc etc. Once in service, it is easier to add more.
I thought in terms of UAV training forces had moved on from complaining about all these kids playing CoD then thinking they can join the army to realising that if you made a UAV controller resemble an Xbox controller you were sorted.
Of course you still have to drill into them that you don't get another life if you crash the damn thing, but the range of potential pilots suddenly gets massively wider.
The US had quite the problem with drone pilot retention at one point, little things like they’d turn up at the base, spend 12 hours flying, send a few missiles to kill a few enemies, then clock out and head back home to the wife and kids, six days a week.
The UK have a similar issue. Aircrew will do flying tours for years on end if you let them. I did 16 years continously. However UAS crews absolutely will not do multiple tours back to back so turnover is high and retention is low.
Yeah, not really much fun to it, unlike being aircrew.
Must be mentally challenging too, being involved in the war while physically sitting at home base thousands of miles away, spending evenings with your family rather than your comrades.
Potential game changer, I imagine the Chinese are rather good at drones
IF China agrees to this it means
1. The war is easier to win for Russia
2.The potential for escalation has just gone up several notches
Not good
It would take a non-trivial amount of time to train operators, maintenance crews etc. Then there is the small matter of weapons for them - integrating Russian weapons would take more time.
Ukraine got their drones because they bought them before the war, and trained operators etc etc. Once in service, it is easier to add more.
I thought in terms of UAV training forces had moved on from complaining about all these kids playing CoD then thinking they can join the army to realising that if you made a UAV controller resemble an Xbox controller you were sorted.
Of course you still have to drill into them that you don't get another life if you crash the damn thing, but the range of potential pilots suddenly gets massively wider.
The US had quite the problem with drone pilot retention at one point, little things like they’d turn up at the base, spend 12 hours flying, send a few missiles to kill a few enemies, then clock out and head back home to the wife and kids, six days a week.
The UK have a similar issue. Aircrew will do flying tours for years on end if you let them. I did 16 years continously. However UAS crews absolutely will not do multiple tours back to back so turnover is high and retention is low.
They won't be winning in well run CON councils which keep Council Tax increases at a sensible level notwithstanding the huge once again inflation busting increase from the Greater London Authority.
They'll almost certain take Wandsworth on those figures. But to call it well run would be an insult
Let's see what happens! I believe LAB was disappointed in London in 2018. I think it will happen again 👍
Do you think the Tories will hold Wandsworth? Demographically they're losing it over time any way, a matter of when surely
No wonder people go nuts spending too much time on twitter....Today Wuuuuselly Brand is no longer a hero of the masses speaking truth to power, and Carole Conspiracy is back to being a heroine.
They won't be winning in well run CON councils which keep Council Tax increases at a sensible level notwithstanding the huge once again inflation busting increase from the Greater London Authority.
5% the last three years from my truly appalling Tory Council.
This has been bothering me recently with respect to the actual competence, ability and quality of the supposed "feared" Russian armed forces. If we actually look at the numbers:
Russian military spending - approx. USD 62bn per year. 4% of its GDP. As well as funding all the conventional armed forces this includes having to maintain in a launch-ready state approx 1,500 deployed nuclear warheads, on land, at sea and air-launched/dropped . Not a cheap exercise by any stretch of the imagination.
In comparison UK spending alone (if we ignore the other 29 members) is USD 72bn. Included in this amount is the maintenance of only 225 nuclear warheads. All sea-based.
The UK economy is nearly twice the size of Russia on a GDP basis - and yet, even with spending more on our armed forces in absolute terms we have difficulty in paying for a sixth of the Nuclear capability Russia is maintaining.
And yet we still cling to the Cold-War fear of the mighty Russian Bear. If you look at the numbers there is no way on God's Earth that Russian military capability can be any where near the combined resources of 30 NATO nations. With respect to Nuclear weapons (and although I wouldn't want to test the hypothesis) - are we really saying the Russian nuclear "deterrent" is in any way as fearsome as they make out considering the considerable resources necessary to ensure they actually work when needed??
Russia is a mid-tier military nation AT BEST.
I've mentioned several times in the past that Russia's military spending does not seem to match its supposed numbers. Even with their lesser PPP, something has to give. You cannot run a military in size on par with the USA's, for one-eighth to one-tenth the money.
They won't be winning in well run CON councils which keep Council Tax increases at a sensible level notwithstanding the huge once again inflation busting increase from the Greater London Authority.
They'll almost certain take Wandsworth on those figures. But to call it well run would be an insult
Let's see what happens! I believe LAB was disappointed in London in 2018. I think it will happen again 👍
Do you think the Tories will hold Wandsworth? Demographically they're losing it over time any way, a matter of when surely
Yes I do. I think we will hold all our Councils in London.
Not sure we will do a great deal in the councils which we don't control.
Lot of unhappiness in London about the constant well above inflation increases from GLA, what do they spend it on.
Potential game changer, I imagine the Chinese are rather good at drones
IF China agrees to this it means
1. The war is easier to win for Russia
2.The potential for escalation has just gone up several notches
Not good
It would take a non-trivial amount of time to train operators, maintenance crews etc. Then there is the small matter of weapons for them - integrating Russian weapons would take more time.
Ukraine got their drones because they bought them before the war, and trained operators etc etc. Once in service, it is easier to add more.
I thought in terms of UAV training forces had moved on from complaining about all these kids playing CoD then thinking they can join the army to realising that if you made a UAV controller resemble an Xbox controller you were sorted.
Of course you still have to drill into them that you don't get another life if you crash the damn thing, but the range of potential pilots suddenly gets massively wider.
The US had quite the problem with drone pilot retention at one point, little things like they’d turn up at the base, spend 12 hours flying, send a few missiles to kill a few enemies, then clock out and head back home to the wife and kids, six days a week.
The UK have a similar issue. Aircrew will do flying tours for years on end if you let them. I did 16 years continously. However UAS crews absolutely will not do multiple tours back to back so turnover is high and retention is low.
Yeah, not really much fun to it, unlike being aircrew.
Must be mentally challenging too, being involved in the war while physically sitting at home base thousands of miles away, spending evenings with your family rather than your comrades.
There was, IIRC, something about it during early stages of the war in Syria. The drone 'pilots' found exactly what Mr S describes. Wasn't even like war-gaming, whee one is being 'threatened'.
This has been bothering me recently with respect to the actual competence, ability and quality of the supposed "feared" Russian armed forces. If we actually look at the numbers:
Russian military spending - approx. USD 62bn per year. 4% of its GDP. As well as funding all the conventional armed forces this includes having to maintain in a launch-ready state approx 1,500 deployed nuclear warheads, on land, at sea and air-launched/dropped . Not a cheap exercise by any stretch of the imagination.
In comparison UK spending alone (if we ignore the other 29 members) is USD 72bn. Included in this amount is the maintenance of only 225 nuclear warheads. All sea-based.
The UK economy is nearly twice the size of Russia on a GDP basis - and yet, even with spending more on our armed forces in absolute terms we have difficulty in paying for a sixth of the Nuclear capability Russia is maintaining.
And yet we still cling to the Cold-War fear of the mighty Russian Bear. If you look at the numbers there is no way on God's Earth that Russian military capability can be any where near the combined resources of 30 NATO nations. With respect to Nuclear weapons (and although I wouldn't want to test the hypothesis) - are we really saying the Russian nuclear "deterrent" is in any way as fearsome as they make out considering the considerable resources necessary to ensure they actually work when needed??
Russia is a mid-tier military nation AT BEST.
I've mentioned several times in the past that Russia's military spending does not seem to match its supposed numbers. Even with their lesser PPP, something has to give. You cannot run a military in size on par with the USA's, for one-eighth to one-tenth the money.
You can as long as you don't want to actually fight any wars against people armed with decent kit and had some proper training.....
We have to compare like with like. London (national) polling is to pretty much he same for Labour as in Feb-April 2018 when Labour was polling 53-55%.
That said that still is a bad poll for the Tories and it's weird the LDs are that low. I would expect the LDs to easily outperform that in the London local elections and could win over a lot of Tory support in places like Merton and Sutton.
There are countless stories of WWII aircrews "nursing their aircraft back to base" after being hit. It is such a trite phrase which hides the reality of those crews having to aviate and navigate badly damaged planes for considerable distances. When you think of the tizzy we as commercial airline passengers get into when there is the merest thought of a screw half loose or something not 100% perfect it really was an extraordinary feat.
Oh, indeed.
There were also tragic stories: I read one where the bottom gunner was trapped in his turret; couldn't get up into the fuselage, and could not bail out. The place had to land with no undercarriage. The crew knew he would die on impact, but they had to do it.
An Israeli F-15 one landed with only one wing, and was caught on camera.
Potential game changer, I imagine the Chinese are rather good at drones
IF China agrees to this it means
1. The war is easier to win for Russia
2.The potential for escalation has just gone up several notches
Not good
It would take a non-trivial amount of time to train operators, maintenance crews etc. Then there is the small matter of weapons for them - integrating Russian weapons would take more time.
Ukraine got their drones because they bought them before the war, and trained operators etc etc. Once in service, it is easier to add more.
I thought in terms of UAV training forces had moved on from complaining about all these kids playing CoD then thinking they can join the army to realising that if you made a UAV controller resemble an Xbox controller you were sorted.
Of course you still have to drill into them that you don't get another life if you crash the damn thing, but the range of potential pilots suddenly gets massively wider.
The US had quite the problem with drone pilot retention at one point, little things like they’d turn up at the base, spend 12 hours flying, send a few missiles to kill a few enemies, then clock out and head back home to the wife and kids, six days a week.
The UK have a similar issue. Aircrew will do flying tours for years on end if you let them. I did 16 years continously. However UAS crews absolutely will not do multiple tours back to back so turnover is high and retention is low.
What's it like flying fast jets?
Like driving a car really fast down an unfamiliar country road while playing Snake on a Nokia 3110.
They won't be winning in well run CON councils which keep Council Tax increases at a sensible level notwithstanding the huge once again inflation busting increase from the Greater London Authority.
They'll almost certain take Wandsworth on those figures. But to call it well run would be an insult
Let's see what happens! I believe LAB was disappointed in London in 2018. I think it will happen again 👍
Do you think the Tories will hold Wandsworth? Demographically they're losing it over time any way, a matter of when surely
Yes I do. I think we will hold all our Councils in London.
Not sure we will do a great deal in the councils which we don't control.
Lot of unhappiness in London about the constant well above inflation increases from GLA, what do they spend it on.
Londoners moaning about Council Tax really sticks in the craw tbh.
They won't be winning in well run CON councils which keep Council Tax increases at a sensible level notwithstanding the huge once again inflation busting increase from the Greater London Authority.
They'll almost certain take Wandsworth on those figures. But to call it well run would be an insult
Let's see what happens! I believe LAB was disappointed in London in 2018. I think it will happen again 👍
Do you think the Tories will hold Wandsworth? Demographically they're losing it over time any way, a matter of when surely
Yes I do. I think we will hold all our Councils in London.
Not sure we will do a great deal in the councils which we don't control.
Lot of unhappiness in London about the constant well above inflation increases from GLA, what do they spend it on.
Can you explain why they'd hold Wandsworth?
From what I know of actually living in Wandsworth, people are fed up with the Tories and want to give them a kicking.
But then I said people actually liked Khan and I was told that was nonsense before he was re-elected
@maxseddon The Kremlin denies Russia has asked for China to help its invasion of Ukraine.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, said Russia had "self-sufficient potential to continue the operation", which he said was "developing according to plan and will be finished on time and in full."
Peskov also accused western leaders of "pushing Russia to storm major Ukrainian cities with the goal of placing responsibility for the death of civilians on our country" – but seemed to say they would do that anyway "while trying to ensure the maximum safety of civilians."
Shows how important drones (any drones) are. Russian's no idea where the Ukranians are, Ukranians able to fire off low tech mortar rounds to hit targets because the can see in real time where everything is going.
Neil Irwin @Neil_Irwin We're currently living in the brief moment between when Finance/Econ Twitter has realized that the new Covid lockdowns in Shenzhen are going to have hugely bad consequences for US inflation, but that has not yet become a widely-reported conventional wisdom.
No wonder people go nuts spending too much time on twitter....Today Wuuuuselly Brand is no longer a hero of the masses speaking truth to power, and Carole Conspiracy is back to being a heroine.
Whatever happened to Wussell Bwand?
Did he go the same way as the Likely Lads? Or is he still holed up in his tax-dodging cottage in the You-SA ?
CC is still flying the flag for fair, objective reporting, surely? Albeit with a lot of rips and patches.
Neil Irwin @Neil_Irwin We're currently living in the brief moment between when Finance/Econ Twitter has realized that the new Covid lockdowns in Shenzhen are going to have hugely bad consequences for US inflation, but that has not yet become a widely-reported conventional wisdom.
Shenzhen getting locked down is hardly getting a mention. IMO, its a massive story. Instead the BBC prattling on about squatters, sports bras, BAFTAs and Brady....
They won't be winning in well run CON councils which keep Council Tax increases at a sensible level notwithstanding the huge once again inflation busting increase from the Greater London Authority.
They'll almost certain take Wandsworth on those figures. But to call it well run would be an insult
Let's see what happens! I believe LAB was disappointed in London in 2018. I think it will happen again 👍
Do you think the Tories will hold Wandsworth? Demographically they're losing it over time any way, a matter of when surely
Yes I do. I think we will hold all our Councils in London.
Not sure we will do a great deal in the councils which we don't control.
Lot of unhappiness in London about the constant well above inflation increases from GLA, what do they spend it on.
Can you explain why they'd hold Wandsworth?
From what I know of actually living in Wandsworth, people are fed up with the Tories and want to give them a kicking.
But then I said people actually liked Khan and I was told that was nonsense before he was re-elected
My understanding is that Wandsworth is a good Council which applies reasonable control over the Council Tax. But we shall see.
They won't be winning in well run CON councils which keep Council Tax increases at a sensible level notwithstanding the huge once again inflation busting increase from the Greater London Authority.
They'll almost certain take Wandsworth on those figures. But to call it well run would be an insult
Let's see what happens! I believe LAB was disappointed in London in 2018. I think it will happen again 👍
Do you think the Tories will hold Wandsworth? Demographically they're losing it over time any way, a matter of when surely
Yes I do. I think we will hold all our Councils in London.
Not sure we will do a great deal in the councils which we don't control.
Lot of unhappiness in London about the constant well above inflation increases from GLA, what do they spend it on.
Londoners moaning about Council Tax really sticks in the craw tbh.
I'm only raising concerns over the GLA levy, perfectly happy with the Council Tax set by my own borough.
I imagine these figures are well-known in the PB community, but still, quite notable. Kinda see Trump's point. And why UK, doesn't have too much to be ashamed of. I mean, Italy, having a laugh.
Here are the 10 countries with the most NATO spending:
United States ($6.85 Tn) United Kingdom ($655.27 Bn) Germany ($491.32 Bn) France ($477.05 Bn) Italy ($232.81 Bn) Canada ($212.77 Bn) Turkey ($180.00 Bn) Spain ($123.36 Bn) Poland ($113.76 Bn) Netherlands ($113.60 Bn)
The UK clearly already spending enough on defence, as are the UK. It is other nations in Europe who need to spend more, as does Canada
“Clearly already spending enough”? Why? What’s clear? Nothing from these figures certainly, as they seem to be ten year projections of cash amounts. They tell you nothing about capability delivered or relative “bang for buck”.
In terms of percentage spent on defence of gdp, of the 30 member states of NATO, only 7, the USA, UK, Poland, Greece, Romania, Latvia and Estonia have been spending at least the recommended 2%.
Sigh….. You don’t measure military capability by percentage of GDP. You certainly don’t measure based on spending more or less than others. You measure it by the effect you desire and whether or not you can achieve it. Your Government cannot achieve its desired effects (the IR) and address the emerging threats, spending what we spend. Change spending or change the level of ambition. There is a choice.
Comments
https://twitter.com/mfa_russia/status/1503319535356727301
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia 🇷🇺
@mfa_russia
💬#Zakharova: Attacks against their own nuclear facilities have become the signature of the current Ukrainian regime. The blame for this lies squarely with Kiev, the American masters of Vladimir Zelensky and US vassals in @NATO.
You appear to be blithely chucking breeze blocks about while strolling through Kew Gardens.
Time for that Asian reluctance to never say no - whilst meaning exactly that - to come into play.
Here are the 10 countries with the most NATO spending:
United States ($6.85 Tn)
United Kingdom ($655.27 Bn)
Germany ($491.32 Bn)
France ($477.05 Bn)
Italy ($232.81 Bn)
Canada ($212.77 Bn)
Turkey ($180.00 Bn)
Spain ($123.36 Bn)
Poland ($113.76 Bn)
Netherlands ($113.60 Bn)
Their relative quality is less relevant than the fact the Chinese have the industrial capacity to churn them out by the thousand.
"Video of a Russian Su-25 attack aircraft that managed to make it back to its airbase after being struck by a MANPADS in Ukraine."
https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1503297270355271681
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2022/03/west-save-putin-russia-ukraine/627051/
Lib Dems even more than Labour might be secretly hoping he fights the next election though.
Ukraine got their drones because they bought them before the war, and trained operators etc etc. Once in service, it is easier to add more.
Sincere best wishes to you @BartholomewRoberts . I think quite a few of us have been there over the last couple of years.
And it reveals how Johnson got up close and personal to Katie Price’s tits at that infamous Italian party…
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/revealed-boris-russian-oligarch-and-page-3-model/
Though I think Johnson is safe for the foreseeable future
Of course you still have to drill into them that you don't get another life if you crash the damn thing, but the range of potential pilots suddenly gets massively wider.
When I was uni, that wasn't a wild party, that was a boring Thursday evening.
What's Mandarin for "bwoah"?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-10610415/Bangkok-player-sacked-attacking-opponent-sickening-Muay-Thai-elbow.html
https://enormo-haddock.blogspot.com/2022/03/2022-pre-season-testing-thoughts.html
https://medium.com/war-is-boring/piloting-drones-is-the-worst-job-in-the-military-8492289d8b8d
Is this spend over the previous 10 years or some such, or calculated market cap of the entire forces ?
It is 14th March.
Incredible surely?
Here’s a photo of Lord Lebedev of Hampton and Siberia with Boris in happier times.
The others have not been pulling their weight and only now are the likes of Germany changing course
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/nato-spending-by-country
@visegrad24
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35m
Croatian PM Andrej Plenkovic has criticized NATO and EU for not warning him about the Russian drone carrying a large bomb that crashed near Zagreb.
“We cannot tolerate this situation, nor should it have ever happened (...) it was a clear threat, NATO and EU should have reacted".
https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1503324829528821771
Immensely useful to Putin not just for his uninhibited brutality, but also because when Putin goes, he's likely a dead man. His complete loyalty is therefore assured.
Russian military spending - approx. USD 62bn per year. 4% of its GDP. As well as funding all the conventional armed forces this includes having to maintain in a launch-ready state approx 1,500 deployed nuclear warheads, on land, at sea and air-launched/dropped . Not a cheap exercise by any stretch of the imagination.
In comparison UK spending alone (if we ignore the other 29 members) is USD 72bn. Included in this amount is the maintenance of only 225 nuclear warheads. All sea-based.
The UK economy is nearly twice the size of Russia on a GDP basis - and yet, even with spending more on our armed forces in absolute terms we have difficulty in paying for a sixth of the Nuclear capability Russia is maintaining.
And yet we still cling to the Cold-War fear of the mighty Russian Bear. If you look at the numbers there is no way on God's Earth that Russian military capability can be any where near the combined resources of 30 NATO nations. With respect to Nuclear weapons (and although I wouldn't want to test the hypothesis) - are we really saying the Russian nuclear "deterrent" is in any way as fearsome as they make out considering the considerable resources necessary to ensure they actually work when needed??
Russia is a mid-tier military nation AT BEST.
Keir Starmer is useless and must resign!
Labour: 54% (+10)
Conservatives: 24% (-5)
Lib Dems: 9% (-3)
Greens: 5% (-4)
(Changes with 2018 local election results)
Piling up votes in the safe seats?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_London_local_elections#Opinion_polling
Let's see if something similar happens this time.
FTPA was a disaster in the medium run. It did its job, arguably, of stopping Cameron calling an early electionj in 2014 or even 2013 without the LDs' consent - but the damage it did was massive.
There were also tragic stories: I read one where the bottom gunner was trapped in his turret; couldn't get up into the fuselage, and could not bail out. The place had to land with no undercarriage. The crew knew he would die on impact, but they had to do it.
An Israeli F-15 one landed with only one wing, and was caught on camera.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxJcEz3h4tU
SNP= Putin's favourite useful idiots
Alex Salmond, ex-leader of SNP, RT apologist for Putin, and Putin's favourite of all his bumlickers in the West.
Must be mentally challenging too, being involved in the war while physically sitting at home base thousands of miles away, spending evenings with your family rather than your comrades.
Not sure we will do a great deal in the councils which we don't control.
Lot of unhappiness in London about the constant well above inflation increases from GLA, what do they spend it on.
That said that still is a bad poll for the Tories and it's weird the LDs are that low. I would expect the LDs to easily outperform that in the London local elections and could win over a lot of Tory support in places like Merton and Sutton.
Would see Labour gain control of Wandsworth, Barnet and Westminster in May
(Just - at least the Internet is not running early, today.)
My LIbdem predictor says that this afternoon's Thread *MAY* be about the 60th Anniversary of the Orpington Byelection.
Has it been mentioned, yet?
From what I know of actually living in Wandsworth, people are fed up with the Tories and want to give them a kicking.
But then I said people actually liked Khan and I was told that was nonsense before he was re-elected
The Kremlin denies Russia has asked for China to help its invasion of Ukraine.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, said Russia had "self-sufficient potential to continue the operation", which he said was "developing according to plan and will be finished on time and in full."
Peskov also accused western leaders of "pushing Russia to storm major Ukrainian cities with the goal of placing responsibility for the death of civilians on our country" – but seemed to say they would do that anyway "while trying to ensure the maximum safety of civilians."
https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1503339841790095363
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwIknv0eMQA
Shows how important drones (any drones) are. Russian's no idea where the Ukranians are, Ukranians able to fire off low tech mortar rounds to hit targets because the can see in real time where everything is going.
Still, undoubtedly a substantially more reliable vehicle than the built in Solihull by Brummies product I would have thought.
https://twitter.com/Neil_Irwin/status/1503202338340757516
Neil Irwin
@Neil_Irwin
We're currently living in the brief moment between when Finance/Econ Twitter has realized that the new Covid lockdowns in Shenzhen are going to have hugely bad consequences for US inflation, but that has not yet become a widely-reported conventional wisdom.
Did he go the same way as the Likely Lads? Or is he still holed up in his tax-dodging cottage in the You-SA ?
CC is still flying the flag for fair, objective reporting, surely? Albeit with a lot of rips and patches.
What next for the scarlet phizogged creationists?