The problem with double barrel surnames is - well - it creates a dilemma for the kid, doesn’t it? What do they do when they get married (to another double barrel surnamed spouse!?) Are we heading into a world of exponentially increasing surnames? Will no one think of the registrars?
And why does Hamilton stop at adding just his mother’s surname? What about his grandmothers’ on both sides. And so on…..
There are all sorts of practical - and logical - difficulties with dismantling the patriarchy.
I took the approach of choosing to take my wife's surname. It keeps things nice and simple, and breaks with the patriarchy.
My wife took mine, against my expectations and without consulting me. Apparently she was fed up with spelling out her 12-letter family name, so preferred my 6-letter one. Perhaps we should have gone with my mother's (Beck) as, although mine is just 6-letters, as it's Cornish, I have collected well over 30 misspellings of it over the years.
Changing names just seems odd to me. And isn't it a bit of a faff?
I was very surprised that our niece changed hers when she got married. So she now has a Punjabi first name and a Lancashire surname.
Mind, if I adopted my mother's maiden name, I might be eligible for an Irish passport...
I'm quite traditional about this. Getting married isn't just having a girlfriend/boyfriend. It's forming a unit for life. If you're not prepared to subsume your identity into a joint identity you're going about it wrong. My wife took my name, so all five of us have the same surname - which to me feels like how it should be. You might think 'well you're a man you would say that' - but I have three daughters and I still think like that: I hope they all take their husband's name when they marry. No-one will take the name forward (I have no brothers, my father's brother had no children, my grandfather's brother had no sons...) - but I don't care, it's only a name and not a particularly interesting one - the point is for all of us in the family unit to share the same one.
And again, this is a personal view but not changing your name feels like starting out with one foot already out of the door.
Once upon a time, I didn't think this way, or at least not particularly strongly. But once upon a time I didn't see how I would view life from the perspective of 'us' rather than 'me'.
For those who find the whole thing hopelessly male-dominated, how about a portmanteau name? I recently came across an Allen and a Winterbottom who both changed their names to Allwinter.
It gets a bit complicated with changing names when marrying a divorcee- my ex was married before and when we discussed us getting married in the future we talked about the name thing.
She said she would keep her ex-husband’s name, not because she was still pining for him, but because she didn’t want to have a different surname to her daughter. Especially an issue when travelling with her.
I totally understand why, especially whilst the daughter is younger but it would have been a bit of an odd feeling introducing your wife with her ex-husband’s surname!! And double barrelling it or even triple barrelling to include her maiden name as well would have been nuts.
I know people who get around those issues by just changing the legal name to one thing, but just going by other names at work for instance.
Do you have a "legal" name? Not sure it is a concept in English law. You can call yourself what you like.
People execute deeds poll (a deed poll being simply a deed with only one party to it) to change their name. You can indeed call yourself what you like but if you want a passport your name has to match up with a birth certificate and if it doesn't you need a marriage certificate or deed to bridge the gap
It was believed when I was at school that you could change the names you were christened with by being confirmed under different ones. No idea if this is true
Hoping that there is a Lviv left to visit this time next year.
https://twitter.com/BBCYaldaHakim/status/1503085313262039044 A wonderful note about Lviv from someone born here - "You can be born in the Austro-Hungarian empire, educated in Poland, married under the Third Reich, work and retire in the USSR and draw your pension in Ukraine and never have left the town.. LVIV"
Indeed. And for the masochists among you, it is also the birthplace of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, from which the kink derives its name.
Legend has it, when he left the city, his friends had a whip-round.
The problem with double barrel surnames is - well - it creates a dilemma for the kid, doesn’t it? What do they do when they get married (to another double barrel surnamed spouse!?) Are we heading into a world of exponentially increasing surnames? Will no one think of the registrars?
And why does Hamilton stop at adding just his mother’s surname? What about his grandmothers’ on both sides. And so on…..
There are all sorts of practical - and logical - difficulties with dismantling the patriarchy.
I took the approach of choosing to take my wife's surname. It keeps things nice and simple, and breaks with the patriarchy.
My wife took mine, against my expectations and without consulting me. Apparently she was fed up with spelling out her 12-letter family name, so preferred my 6-letter one. Perhaps we should have gone with my mother's (Beck) as, although mine is just 6-letters, as it's Cornish, I have collected well over 30 misspellings of it over the years.
Changing names just seems odd to me. And isn't it a bit of a faff?
I was very surprised that our niece changed hers when she got married. So she now has a Punjabi first name and a Lancashire surname.
Mind, if I adopted my mother's maiden name, I might be eligible for an Irish passport...
I'm quite traditional about this. Getting married isn't just having a girlfriend/boyfriend. It's forming a unit for life. If you're not prepared to subsume your identity into a joint identity you're going about it wrong. My wife took my name, so all five of us have the same surname - which to me feels like how it should be. You might think 'well you're a man you would say that' - but I have three daughters and I still think like that: I hope they all take their husband's name when they marry. No-one will take the name forward (I have no brothers, my father's brother had no children, my grandfather's brother had no sons...) - but I don't care, it's only a name and not a particularly interesting one - the point is for all of us in the family unit to share the same one.
And again, this is a personal view but not changing your name feels like starting out with one foot already out of the door.
Once upon a time, I didn't think this way, or at least not particularly strongly. But once upon a time I didn't see how I would view life from the perspective of 'us' rather than 'me'.
For those who find the whole thing hopelessly male-dominated, how about a portmanteau name? I recently came across an Allen and a Winterbottom who both changed their names to Allwinter.
It gets a bit complicated with changing names when marrying a divorcee- my ex was married before and when we discussed us getting married in the future we talked about the name thing.
She said she would keep her ex-husband’s name, not because she was still pining for him, but because she didn’t want to have a different surname to her daughter. Especially an issue when travelling with her.
I totally understand why, especially whilst the daughter is younger but it would have been a bit of an odd feeling introducing your wife with her ex-husband’s surname!! And double barrelling it or even triple barrelling to include her maiden name as well would have been nuts.
I know people who get around those issues by just changing the legal name to one thing, but just going by other names at work for instance.
Do you have a "legal" name? Not sure it is a concept in English law. You can call yourself what you like.
People execute deeds poll (a deed poll being simply a deed with only one party to it) to change their name. You can indeed call yourself what you like but if you want a passport your name has to match up with a birth certificate and if it doesn't you need a marriage certificate or deed to bridge the gap
It was believed when I was at school that you could change the names you were christened with by being confirmed under different ones. No idea if this is true
I know someone who claimed that she did just that, but I can't confirm that it is actually legal.
On the subject of @Heathener, I think everyone missed their greatest comment last night.
In my response to why they were using an IP that appears on a number of blacklists (basically compromised PCs), they said it was because they were close to the intelligence services, and needed to hide their identity.
Even if you believe that is true, there are easier ways to do that:
One could, for example, use a commercial VPN service that does not keep logs. Or buy a prepaid SIM card for a data connection.
What one does not typically do is to use a compromised PC to post to politiclbetting. What with that basically being illegal, and all.
They kept saying how they'd worked for the intelligence services, albeit a long time ago. I'm pretty sure most people who'd worked for them wouldn't say so on a public forum.
It sounded like that they had a civil service job with some very vague connection to the intelligence services (as many civil service jobs do), which they tried to make sound more significant than it actually was. We are all guilty of this kind of exaggeration sometimes.
What I would say is that people who have significant jobs in any part of the government would be very careful not to give any hint of their position, in a forum like PB. When you are out of the game however, it is a bit different.
Sunak continues his descent, he missed his chance and he's blown it.
He is young. He was promoted wildly above his ability and experience when Javid unexpectedly quit, and then bought popularity with hundreds of billions of public money. But he might get another chance several years hence.
Boris will be gone sooner or later and Rishi will be a candidate in his succession
Heathener is no Russian troll or a troll of any kind . She is sincere but just has a different and direct view of things to most on here - That just happens on forums! PB can get a bit "groupthink" and incredulous of certain more leftfield views but does not mean the poster of them are any less entitled to say them without getting banned or even talked about as some kind of troll/weirdo
I interacted a lot with @Heathener and never got the sense she was a bot or a troll. Quite eccentric, yes, but then that applies to 99% of PB-ers
Was she ever truly nasty? I must have missed it if so. She could get het up and personal, but I don't remember tirades of abuse or offensive comments
I agree. She was a hardline mask-wearer (which I wouldn't have thought a bot would care about) and shifted from prewar dove to hawk once war was unleashed, but she's not alone in that. She had to put up with quite a bit of abuse and some pearl-clutching (probably a lesbian! said someone derisively) and I think was more sinned against than sinning. Certainly didn't seem to be a troll, and usually interesting; if she's still around I hope she'll come back. I don't really care if she's actually Russian, so long as she's an interesting Russian.
Indeed. It would actually be nice to think Russians still have access to PB
I've read with interest the commentary on Heathener and for some reason it's prompted me to de-lurk and offer my £0.02.
The overriding reason why I have considered PB as essential reading for many years is the sheer breadth of views and political knowledge on show BTL. Yes, the headers are of a very good standard, and there are some fantastic betting tips exchanged, but PB.com is all about the BTL commenters, and their diversity of strongly held opinions.
As a result, I always feel a bit of discomfort when somebody "leaves" to great cheers from the BTL masses - even when, as was the case with Heathener, I can't think of a single thing that they've typed that I've come close to agreeing with.
Politics is a tribal pursuit, so it should come as no surprise that the vast majority of us commenters are also tribal in our own politics. When you get a situation where 95% of us belong in the same tribe, it can get pretty ugly for those other 5%. This is a case in point - we're almost all in the Putin is a bad 'un/we must help Ukraine tribe, of course we are, so every time somebody raises a counter-argument the 95% descend like a pack of hyenas. Supporters of Donald Trump will have had a very similar experience. Maybe even supporters of Johnson in recent months.
Personally, I tend to see things in shades of grey rather than in black and white. Examples - has Brexit turned out 100% well or 100% badly, or is the reality that there's elements of both? Does the fact that Donald Trump is a pretty odious character in many ways mean that he can't be right on anything? On this topic, does the fact that Vladimir Putin is a seriously odious character in almost every way, and what he's doing in the Ukraine is 100% wrong preclude us from examining whether some Western policies have inadvertently pushed us towards this point? Does the fact that the vaccines have undoubtedly done much to reduce the severity of the pandemic and helped give us a route out preclude us from questioning the motivations of big pharma and any potential side effects?
There has been a tendency, both here and in the wider world, to insist that everybody not only agrees with the prevailing view, but accepts it unquestioningly and in full. Even raising any of the points above could get me labelled a Trumpite, anti-vax right wing Putin apologist. Many of us have pulled HYUFD up when he's told a conservative voter that they've unfortunately only got 90% on the HYUFD purity test and therefore they're not a conservative - but is that not what many people are doing on some of the subjects above?
As I say, just my two penneth. This is still my favourite place to get my current affairs commentary from, because of the breadth of views, even the extreme ones around the edges that I probably disagree with. If this site ever ditches unfashionable views and becomes an echo chamber, it would be a very sad day.
On the subject of @Heathener, I think everyone missed their greatest comment last night.
In my response to why they were using an IP that appears on a number of blacklists (basically compromised PCs), they said it was because they were close to the intelligence services, and needed to hide their identity.
Even if you believe that is true, there are easier ways to do that:
One could, for example, use a commercial VPN service that does not keep logs. Or buy a prepaid SIM card for a data connection.
What one does not typically do is to use a compromised PC to post to politiclbetting. What with that basically being illegal, and all.
Isn't it possible that Heathener is just a walter mitty fantasist with a virus on their PC?
I'm not ruling out the possibility that they're a filthy commie spy, but as others have said, what's the agenda? Why dedicate so much of their time to other random stuff, like misogyny, or getting in fights with people for not social distancing?
Compare and contrast to PJohnson, you could smell the Kremlin on his breath from a mile away.
Also. Having lived some time in Thailand and being interested in, and knowledgeable of, Buddhism, is a pretty strange cover quirk for the FSB. Not buying it tbh.
It's just Mystic Rose back with a new name, isn't it?
Is it? Tbh. Until reading this thread I hadn't clocked Heathener as a she.
I don't know about 'she' - could be - but more just the style and content of the posts. Quite lurid, always taking an extreme position but not in any predictable 'left v right' or 'leave v remain' way. In any case, Mystic Rose retread or not, male or female, it's no way a bot imo, Russian or any other.
Indeed. It really isn't that surprising given that statistic.
Quite extraordinary how China has completely and utterly fubared this.
In NZ, the outcomes are as you might expect – and NZ has been supremely successful overall – the chief problem there is mindset, hence why Jacinda is now in trouble in the opinion polls.
Jacinda Ardern's main problem has been the escalating cost of fuel. In a country far more dependent on the car even then the UK, rising petrol and diesel prices have caused a real backlash to which her Government has responded (quite adroitly it seems) by a cut in fuel excise duty (take note, Rishi !!)
Luxon's National Party are offering the usual centre-right nonsense about cutting taxes without quite explaining how that helps alleviate inflation. NZ has a big problem when it comes to importing certain goods and the transportation of goods round that vast country.
Sunak continues his descent, he missed his chance and he's blown it.
He is young. He was promoted wildly above his ability and experience when Javid unexpectedly quit, and then bought popularity with hundreds of billions of public money. But he might get another chance several years hence.
Maybe, but a man of his background sticking around for a long time if Labour do win the next election? Cannot see it.
On the subject of @Heathener, I think everyone missed their greatest comment last night.
In my response to why they were using an IP that appears on a number of blacklists (basically compromised PCs), they said it was because they were close to the intelligence services, and needed to hide their identity.
Even if you believe that is true, there are easier ways to do that:
One could, for example, use a commercial VPN service that does not keep logs. Or buy a prepaid SIM card for a data connection.
What one does not typically do is to use a compromised PC to post to politiclbetting. What with that basically being illegal, and all.
They kept saying how they'd worked for the intelligence services, albeit a long time ago. I'm pretty sure most people who'd worked for them wouldn't say so on a public forum.
It sounded like that they had a civil service job with some very vague connection to the intelligence services (as many civil service jobs do), which they tried to make sound more significant than it actually was. We are all guilty of this kind of exaggeration sometimes.
What I would say is that people who have significant jobs in any part of the government would be very careful not to give any hint of their position, in a forum like PB. When you are out of the game however, it is a bit different.
But did she say which countries intelligence service? 🤔
Heathener is no Russian troll or a troll of any kind . She is sincere but just has a different and direct view of things to most on here - That just happens on forums! PB can get a bit "groupthink" and incredulous of certain more leftfield views but does not mean the poster of them are any less entitled to say them without getting banned or even talked about as some kind of troll/weirdo
I interacted a lot with @Heathener and never got the sense she was a bot or a troll. Quite eccentric, yes, but then that applies to 99% of PB-ers
Was she ever truly nasty? I must have missed it if so. She could get het up and personal, but I don't remember tirades of abuse or offensive comments
I agree. She was a hardline mask-wearer (which I wouldn't have thought a bot would care about) and shifted from prewar dove to hawk once war was unleashed, but she's not alone in that. She had to put up with quite a bit of abuse and some pearl-clutching (probably a lesbian! said someone derisively) and I think was more sinned against than sinning. Certainly didn't seem to be a troll, and usually interesting; if she's still around I hope she'll come back. I don't really care if she's actually Russian, so long as she's an interesting Russian.
Same applies to a lesbian, surely. The only person I've ever disliked on account of their sexuality was someone in a discussion group who prefaced every remark with 'speaking as a gay man'. Even when there was no conceivable association between anyone's sexuality and the subject of discussion.
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Could Boris conceivably call a quasi-Khaki Election in 2022?
As with Salisbury's Conservative-Liberal Unionist alliance that won the original Khaki Election in 1900, Boris's Conservative & Unionist Party will almost certain need to time any such electoral gambit this year, to occur BEFORE the end of the War (Boer then, Ukrainian today).
Personally think proper atmosphere AND timing are less propitious and likely harder for Tories this millennium than last. But who knows?
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
Sky just announced that BP's move away from Russia will cost them many billions and is their defence against any windfall tax
Lord Astor applies here.
BP to suffer significant financial repercussions in selling their 19.75% stake in Rosneft and is to write down $25 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2022
Hoping that there is a Lviv left to visit this time next year.
https://twitter.com/BBCYaldaHakim/status/1503085313262039044 A wonderful note about Lviv from someone born here - "You can be born in the Austro-Hungarian empire, educated in Poland, married under the Third Reich, work and retire in the USSR and draw your pension in Ukraine and never have left the town.. LVIV"
Indeed. And for the masochists among you, it is also the birthplace of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, from which the kink derives its name.
Legend has it, when he left the city, his friends had a whip-round.
Yes, it is a city with an extraordinarily rich history and has been on my "places I'd love to visit some day" list for absolutely ages. Quite a lot of Jewish history in Ukraine, too, which can get overlooked.
Could Boris conceivably call a quasi-Khaki Election in 2022?
As with Salisbury's Conservative-Liberal Unionist alliance that won the original Khaki Election in 1900, Boris's Conservative & Unionist Party will almost certain need to time any such electoral gambit this year, to occur BEFORE the end of the War (Boer then, Ukrainian today).
Personally think proper atmosphere AND timing are less propitious and likely harder for Tories this millennium than last. But who knows?
Not sure it would do him much good. At best he has clawed back to a modest Labour lead, with the polls seeming to put Starmer in Downing St, albeit in a rather unstable minority government.
On the subject of @Heathener, I think everyone missed their greatest comment last night.
In my response to why they were using an IP that appears on a number of blacklists (basically compromised PCs), they said it was because they were close to the intelligence services, and needed to hide their identity.
Even if you believe that is true, there are easier ways to do that:
One could, for example, use a commercial VPN service that does not keep logs. Or buy a prepaid SIM card for a data connection.
What one does not typically do is to use a compromised PC to post to politiclbetting. What with that basically being illegal, and all.
Isn't it possible that Heathener is just a walter mitty fantasist with a virus on their PC?
I'm not ruling out the possibility that they're a filthy commie spy, but as others have said, what's the agenda? Why dedicate so much of their time to other random stuff, like misogyny, or getting in fights with people for not social distancing?
Compare and contrast to PJohnson, you could smell the Kremlin on his breath from a mile away.
Also. Having lived some time in Thailand and being interested in, and knowledgeable of, Buddhism, is a pretty strange cover quirk for the FSB. Not buying it tbh.
It's just Mystic Rose back with a new name, isn't it?
Good shout, both early morning, quite long posters that came across as trying that bit too hard to be contrarian (as in the word, not the poster).
It's my absolute specialty, picking up them 'back with a new name' posters.
On the subject of @Heathener, I think everyone missed their greatest comment last night.
In my response to why they were using an IP that appears on a number of blacklists (basically compromised PCs), they said it was because they were close to the intelligence services, and needed to hide their identity.
Even if you believe that is true, there are easier ways to do that:
One could, for example, use a commercial VPN service that does not keep logs. Or buy a prepaid SIM card for a data connection.
What one does not typically do is to use a compromised PC to post to politiclbetting. What with that basically being illegal, and all.
Isn't it possible that Heathener is just a walter mitty fantasist with a virus on their PC?
I'm not ruling out the possibility that they're a filthy commie spy, but as others have said, what's the agenda? Why dedicate so much of their time to other random stuff, like misogyny, or getting in fights with people for not social distancing?
Compare and contrast to PJohnson, you could smell the Kremlin on his breath from a mile away.
Also. Having lived some time in Thailand and being interested in, and knowledgeable of, Buddhism, is a pretty strange cover quirk for the FSB. Not buying it tbh.
It's just Mystic Rose back with a new name, isn't it?
Surely posters don’t come back with new names? I’m shocked to the core of my being.
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
I’d ask Dan Hannan on twitter but the wee snowflake has blocked me.
I've read with interest the commentary on Heathener and for some reason it's prompted me to de-lurk and offer my £0.02.
The overriding reason why I have considered PB as essential reading for many years is the sheer breadth of views and political knowledge on show BTL. Yes, the headers are of a very good standard, and there are some fantastic betting tips exchanged, but PB.com is all about the BTL commenters, and their diversity of strongly held opinions.
As a result, I always feel a bit of discomfort when somebody "leaves" to great cheers from the BTL masses - even when, as was the case with Heathener, I can't think of a single thing that they've typed that I've come close to agreeing with.
Politics is a tribal pursuit, so it should come as no surprise that the vast majority of us commenters are also tribal in our own politics. When you get a situation where 95% of us belong in the same tribe, it can get pretty ugly for those other 5%. This is a case in point - we're almost all in the Putin is a bad 'un/we must help Ukraine tribe, of course we are, so every time somebody raises a counter-argument the 95% descend like a pack of hyenas. Supporters of Donald Trump will have had a very similar experience. Maybe even supporters of Johnson in recent months.
Personally, I tend to see things in shades of grey rather than in black and white. Examples - has Brexit turned out 100% well or 100% badly, or is the reality that there's elements of both? Does the fact that Donald Trump is a pretty odious character in many ways mean that he can't be right on anything? On this topic, does the fact that Vladimir Putin is a seriously odious character in almost every way, and what he's doing in the Ukraine is 100% wrong preclude us from examining whether some Western policies have inadvertently pushed us towards this point? Does the fact that the vaccines have undoubtedly done much to reduce the severity of the pandemic and helped give us a route out preclude us from questioning the motivations of big pharma and any potential side effects?
There has been a tendency, both here and in the wider world, to insist that everybody not only agrees with the prevailing view, but accepts it unquestioningly and in full. Even raising any of the points above could get me labelled a Trumpite, anti-vax right wing Putin apologist. Many of us have pulled HYUFD up when he's told a conservative voter that they've unfortunately only got 90% on the HYUFD purity test and therefore they're not a conservative - but is that not what many people are doing on some of the subjects above?
As I say, just my two penneth. This is still my favourite place to get my current affairs commentary from, because of the breadth of views, even the extreme ones around the edges that I probably disagree with. If this site ever ditches unfashionable views and becomes an echo chamber, it would be a very sad day.
I don't think Heathener has left though. They haven't been banned. It has emerged that they are posting from a compromised PC, and their response was that they are doing so to protect someone close to power: an intriguing situation. Everyone is waiting to see what happens next.
On the subject of @Heathener, I think everyone missed their greatest comment last night.
In my response to why they were using an IP that appears on a number of blacklists (basically compromised PCs), they said it was because they were close to the intelligence services, and needed to hide their identity.
Even if you believe that is true, there are easier ways to do that:
One could, for example, use a commercial VPN service that does not keep logs. Or buy a prepaid SIM card for a data connection.
What one does not typically do is to use a compromised PC to post to politiclbetting. What with that basically being illegal, and all.
Isn't it possible that Heathener is just a walter mitty fantasist with a virus on their PC?
I'm not ruling out the possibility that they're a filthy commie spy, but as others have said, what's the agenda? Why dedicate so much of their time to other random stuff, like misogyny, or getting in fights with people for not social distancing?
Compare and contrast to PJohnson, you could smell the Kremlin on his breath from a mile away.
Also. Having lived some time in Thailand and being interested in, and knowledgeable of, Buddhism, is a pretty strange cover quirk for the FSB. Not buying it tbh.
It's just Mystic Rose back with a new name, isn't it?
No, I saw your hint about this the other day but don't buy this one despite your legendary powers .....
Mystic Rose used to irritate me at times but this other poster is genuinely unpleasant in my view and Mystic Rose was never that. She used to go on about her literary prowess and trips to the Far East and stuff. Libdem activism too.
I'm only 70% on it. Eg I don't recall that libdem activism with MR. So that's a point if you're remembering right. Which I guess you are, being one.
"Boycott of Russian gas and oil ‘could cause mass poverty in Germany’ Minister warns an immediate stop to supplies could hurt Germany’s population more than Putin"
On the subject of @Heathener, I think everyone missed their greatest comment last night.
In my response to why they were using an IP that appears on a number of blacklists (basically compromised PCs), they said it was because they were close to the intelligence services, and needed to hide their identity.
Even if you believe that is true, there are easier ways to do that:
One could, for example, use a commercial VPN service that does not keep logs. Or buy a prepaid SIM card for a data connection.
What one does not typically do is to use a compromised PC to post to politiclbetting. What with that basically being illegal, and all.
Isn't it possible that Heathener is just a walter mitty fantasist with a virus on their PC?
I'm not ruling out the possibility that they're a filthy commie spy, but as others have said, what's the agenda? Why dedicate so much of their time to other random stuff, like misogyny, or getting in fights with people for not social distancing?
Compare and contrast to PJohnson, you could smell the Kremlin on his breath from a mile away.
Also. Having lived some time in Thailand and being interested in, and knowledgeable of, Buddhism, is a pretty strange cover quirk for the FSB. Not buying it tbh.
It's just Mystic Rose back with a new name, isn't it?
Good shout, both early morning, quite long posters that came across as trying that bit too hard to be contrarian (as in the word, not the poster).
It's my absolute specialty, picking up them 'back with a new name' posters.
Pretty sure I’ve got one wriggling in the catch net at the moment.
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
I’d ask Dan Hannan on twitter but the wee snowflake has blocked me.
Is India primarily English speaking? I don't think so. I would include places like South Africa and Nigeria as part of the Anglosphere, but not India.
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
I’d ask Dan Hannan on twitter but the wee snowflake has blocked me.
Is India primarily English speaking? I don't think so. I would include places like South Africa and Nigeria as part of the Anglosphere, but not India.
I think it’s in the top 5 countries for numbers of English speakers.
On the subject of @Heathener, I think everyone missed their greatest comment last night.
In my response to why they were using an IP that appears on a number of blacklists (basically compromised PCs), they said it was because they were close to the intelligence services, and needed to hide their identity.
Even if you believe that is true, there are easier ways to do that:
One could, for example, use a commercial VPN service that does not keep logs. Or buy a prepaid SIM card for a data connection.
What one does not typically do is to use a compromised PC to post to politiclbetting. What with that basically being illegal, and all.
Isn't it possible that Heathener is just a walter mitty fantasist with a virus on their PC?
I'm not ruling out the possibility that they're a filthy commie spy, but as others have said, what's the agenda? Why dedicate so much of their time to other random stuff, like misogyny, or getting in fights with people for not social distancing?
Compare and contrast to PJohnson, you could smell the Kremlin on his breath from a mile away.
Also. Having lived some time in Thailand and being interested in, and knowledgeable of, Buddhism, is a pretty strange cover quirk for the FSB. Not buying it tbh.
It's just Mystic Rose back with a new name, isn't it?
Good shout, both early morning, quite long posters that came across as trying that bit too hard to be contrarian (as in the word, not the poster).
It's my absolute specialty, picking up them 'back with a new name' posters.
Pretty sure I’ve got one wriggling in the catch net at the moment.
Hoping that there is a Lviv left to visit this time next year.
https://twitter.com/BBCYaldaHakim/status/1503085313262039044 A wonderful note about Lviv from someone born here - "You can be born in the Austro-Hungarian empire, educated in Poland, married under the Third Reich, work and retire in the USSR and draw your pension in Ukraine and never have left the town.. LVIV"
Indeed. And for the masochists among you, it is also the birthplace of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, from which the kink derives its name.
Legend has it, when he left the city, his friends had a whip-round.
Yes, it is a city with an extraordinarily rich history and has been on my "places I'd love to visit some day" list for absolutely ages. Quite a lot of Jewish history in Ukraine, too, which can get overlooked.
Still hoping I get to visit one day.
A lot of interesting places in Ukranian Subcarpathia, best known to Diplomacy players as Galicia. I hope to get there at some point, but hard to see it being soon.
Just received notice from my mobile service provider that my Social Security Number has been compromised. I wonder if this is part of a broader Russian hack attack, or just something random.
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
I’d ask Dan Hannan on twitter but the wee snowflake has blocked me.
Is India primarily English speaking? I don't think so. I would include places like South Africa and Nigeria as part of the Anglosphere, but not India.
I think it’s in the top 5 countries for numbers of English speakers.
Sure, and London comes very high in the list of French speakers, but I still wouldn’t class it as very French. % of total means a lot more than absolute numbers.
"Boycott of Russian gas and oil ‘could cause mass poverty in Germany’ Minister warns an immediate stop to supplies could hurt Germany’s population more than Putin"
On the subject of @Heathener, I think everyone missed their greatest comment last night.
In my response to why they were using an IP that appears on a number of blacklists (basically compromised PCs), they said it was because they were close to the intelligence services, and needed to hide their identity.
Even if you believe that is true, there are easier ways to do that:
One could, for example, use a commercial VPN service that does not keep logs. Or buy a prepaid SIM card for a data connection.
What one does not typically do is to use a compromised PC to post to politiclbetting. What with that basically being illegal, and all.
Isn't it possible that Heathener is just a walter mitty fantasist with a virus on their PC?
I'm not ruling out the possibility that they're a filthy commie spy, but as others have said, what's the agenda? Why dedicate so much of their time to other random stuff, like misogyny, or getting in fights with people for not social distancing?
Compare and contrast to PJohnson, you could smell the Kremlin on his breath from a mile away.
Also. Having lived some time in Thailand and being interested in, and knowledgeable of, Buddhism, is a pretty strange cover quirk for the FSB. Not buying it tbh.
It's just Mystic Rose back with a new name, isn't it?
No, I saw your hint about this the other day but don't buy this one despite your legendary powers .....
Mystic Rose used to irritate me at times but this other poster is genuinely unpleasant in my view and Mystic Rose was never that. She used to go on about her literary prowess and trips to the Far East and stuff. Libdem activism too.
I'm only 70% on it. Eg I don't recall that libdem activism with MR. So that's a point if you're remembering right. Which I guess you are, being one.
She played some role in election campaign for a local candidate (in Scotland I think) but then used to drive me crazy with stuff which a die-hard Labourite would say. (Thinking about it, is Mystic Rose RochdaleP??)
- Cases up. R has flattened out at 1.3 across the UK. Interestingly, R by age group is showing rises for the 0-14 groups. Vaccination, once again, is key. - Hospital admissions up. - MV beds flat - In hospital up - Deaths continuing to fall, but at a slowing rate. Looks like it will go flat below 100 per day
On the subject of @Heathener, I think everyone missed their greatest comment last night.
In my response to why they were using an IP that appears on a number of blacklists (basically compromised PCs), they said it was because they were close to the intelligence services, and needed to hide their identity.
Even if you believe that is true, there are easier ways to do that:
One could, for example, use a commercial VPN service that does not keep logs. Or buy a prepaid SIM card for a data connection.
What one does not typically do is to use a compromised PC to post to politiclbetting. What with that basically being illegal, and all.
Isn't it possible that Heathener is just a walter mitty fantasist with a virus on their PC?
I'm not ruling out the possibility that they're a filthy commie spy, but as others have said, what's the agenda? Why dedicate so much of their time to other random stuff, like misogyny, or getting in fights with people for not social distancing?
Compare and contrast to PJohnson, you could smell the Kremlin on his breath from a mile away.
Also. Having lived some time in Thailand and being interested in, and knowledgeable of, Buddhism, is a pretty strange cover quirk for the FSB. Not buying it tbh.
It's just Mystic Rose back with a new name, isn't it?
Good shout, both early morning, quite long posters that came across as trying that bit too hard to be contrarian (as in the word, not the poster).
It's my absolute specialty, picking up them 'back with a new name' posters.
Pretty sure I’ve got one wriggling in the catch net at the moment.
The return of Bluest Blue?
No, that is I don’t think it’s Bluestblue. His disappearance coinciding with BJ’s reputation taking a nosedive was pretty hilarious, definitely causation not correlation.
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
I’d ask Dan Hannan on twitter but the wee snowflake has blocked me.
Is India primarily English speaking? I don't think so. I would include places like South Africa and Nigeria as part of the Anglosphere, but not India.
I think it’s in the top 5 countries for numbers of English speakers.
Hint: How many Bollywood films are produced in English?
On the subject of @Heathener, I think everyone missed their greatest comment last night.
In my response to why they were using an IP that appears on a number of blacklists (basically compromised PCs), they said it was because they were close to the intelligence services, and needed to hide their identity.
Even if you believe that is true, there are easier ways to do that:
One could, for example, use a commercial VPN service that does not keep logs. Or buy a prepaid SIM card for a data connection.
What one does not typically do is to use a compromised PC to post to politiclbetting. What with that basically being illegal, and all.
Isn't it possible that Heathener is just a walter mitty fantasist with a virus on their PC?
I'm not ruling out the possibility that they're a filthy commie spy, but as others have said, what's the agenda? Why dedicate so much of their time to other random stuff, like misogyny, or getting in fights with people for not social distancing?
Compare and contrast to PJohnson, you could smell the Kremlin on his breath from a mile away.
Also. Having lived some time in Thailand and being interested in, and knowledgeable of, Buddhism, is a pretty strange cover quirk for the FSB. Not buying it tbh.
It's just Mystic Rose back with a new name, isn't it?
Good shout, both early morning, quite long posters that came across as trying that bit too hard to be contrarian (as in the word, not the poster).
And both are some of the least mystic people going, whose predictions are abysmal.
But there is still the question of the spammer IP address. A VPN wouldn’t give you that?
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
I’d ask Dan Hannan on twitter but the wee snowflake has blocked me.
Is India primarily English speaking? I don't think so. I would include places like South Africa and Nigeria as part of the Anglosphere, but not India.
Yes, it's one of 2 official languages along with Hindi. Bloody everyone speaks it.
On the subject of @Heathener, I think everyone missed their greatest comment last night.
In my response to why they were using an IP that appears on a number of blacklists (basically compromised PCs), they said it was because they were close to the intelligence services, and needed to hide their identity.
Even if you believe that is true, there are easier ways to do that:
One could, for example, use a commercial VPN service that does not keep logs. Or buy a prepaid SIM card for a data connection.
What one does not typically do is to use a compromised PC to post to politiclbetting. What with that basically being illegal, and all.
Isn't it possible that Heathener is just a walter mitty fantasist with a virus on their PC?
I'm not ruling out the possibility that they're a filthy commie spy, but as others have said, what's the agenda? Why dedicate so much of their time to other random stuff, like misogyny, or getting in fights with people for not social distancing?
Compare and contrast to PJohnson, you could smell the Kremlin on his breath from a mile away.
Also. Having lived some time in Thailand and being interested in, and knowledgeable of, Buddhism, is a pretty strange cover quirk for the FSB. Not buying it tbh.
It's just Mystic Rose back with a new name, isn't it?
Good shout, both early morning, quite long posters that came across as trying that bit too hard to be contrarian (as in the word, not the poster).
It's my absolute specialty, picking up them 'back with a new name' posters.
Pretty sure I’ve got one wriggling in the catch net at the moment.
The return of Bluest Blue?
@BluestBlue was one of my favourite posters - sadly missed - I've tried to rattle his cage with a couple of PMs but to no avail.
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
I’d ask Dan Hannan on twitter but the wee snowflake has blocked me.
Is India primarily English speaking? I don't think so. I would include places like South Africa and Nigeria as part of the Anglosphere, but not India.
Nigeria only 18% speak English as a first language SA only 9.3% speak English as a first language India less than 0.1%
Lords wrecking amendment thrown out 292-217 by the Commons. Back to the Lords now to see if they insist (based on the Third Reading debate I doubt they will).
Just received notice from my mobile service provider that my Social Security Number has been compromised. I wonder if this is part of a broader Russian hack attack, or just something random.
Unlikely that your mobile provider has any knowledge of your social security number.
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
On the strictest definition, the core Anglosphere is only the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand
Could Boris conceivably call a quasi-Khaki Election in 2022?
As with Salisbury's Conservative-Liberal Unionist alliance that won the original Khaki Election in 1900, Boris's Conservative & Unionist Party will almost certain need to time any such electoral gambit this year, to occur BEFORE the end of the War (Boer then, Ukrainian today).
Personally think proper atmosphere AND timing are less propitious and likely harder for Tories this millennium than last. But who knows?
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
I’d ask Dan Hannan on twitter but the wee snowflake has blocked me.
Is India primarily English speaking? I don't think so. I would include places like South Africa and Nigeria as part of the Anglosphere, but not India.
Yes, it's one of 2 official languages along with Hindi. Bloody everyone speaks it.
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
I’d ask Dan Hannan on twitter but the wee snowflake has blocked me.
Is India primarily English speaking? I don't think so. I would include places like South Africa and Nigeria as part of the Anglosphere, but not India.
Yes, it's one of 2 official languages along with Hindi. Bloody everyone speaks it.
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
India and most of the Commonwealth were neutral even in the Cold War.
It is NATO that contains Russia, not the Commonwealth
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
On the strictest definition, the core Anglosphere is only the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand
"Boycott of Russian gas and oil ‘could cause mass poverty in Germany’ Minister warns an immediate stop to supplies could hurt Germany’s population more than Putin"
On the subject of @Heathener, I think everyone missed their greatest comment last night.
In my response to why they were using an IP that appears on a number of blacklists (basically compromised PCs), they said it was because they were close to the intelligence services, and needed to hide their identity.
Even if you believe that is true, there are easier ways to do that:
One could, for example, use a commercial VPN service that does not keep logs. Or buy a prepaid SIM card for a data connection.
What one does not typically do is to use a compromised PC to post to politiclbetting. What with that basically being illegal, and all.
Isn't it possible that Heathener is just a walter mitty fantasist with a virus on their PC?
I'm not ruling out the possibility that they're a filthy commie spy, but as others have said, what's the agenda? Why dedicate so much of their time to other random stuff, like misogyny, or getting in fights with people for not social distancing?
Compare and contrast to PJohnson, you could smell the Kremlin on his breath from a mile away.
Also. Having lived some time in Thailand and being interested in, and knowledgeable of, Buddhism, is a pretty strange cover quirk for the FSB. Not buying it tbh.
It's just Mystic Rose back with a new name, isn't it?
Good shout, both early morning, quite long posters that came across as trying that bit too hard to be contrarian (as in the word, not the poster).
It's my absolute specialty, picking up them 'back with a new name' posters.
Pretty sure I’ve got one wriggling in the catch net at the moment.
The return of Bluest Blue?
@BluestBlue was one of my favourite posters - sadly missed - I've tried to rattle his cage with a couple of PMs but to no avail.
My complete guess is he is already back, although being more serious and this time skipping the hyper partisan Boris is a God posts.
I think people under-estimate how toxic some of Labours post-2015 positions were in places which were massively-Leave and, perhaps more distantly, still remember and memorialise victims of bombing campaigns.
That's before you get to the economic drivers of people moving from the very centre to better-off suburbs and outlying towns, buying houses and setting up their own businesses.
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
On the strictest definition, the core Anglosphere is only the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand
On the subject of @Heathener, I think everyone missed their greatest comment last night.
In my response to why they were using an IP that appears on a number of blacklists (basically compromised PCs), they said it was because they were close to the intelligence services, and needed to hide their identity.
Even if you believe that is true, there are easier ways to do that:
One could, for example, use a commercial VPN service that does not keep logs. Or buy a prepaid SIM card for a data connection.
What one does not typically do is to use a compromised PC to post to politiclbetting. What with that basically being illegal, and all.
Isn't it possible that Heathener is just a walter mitty fantasist with a virus on their PC?
I'm not ruling out the possibility that they're a filthy commie spy, but as others have said, what's the agenda? Why dedicate so much of their time to other random stuff, like misogyny, or getting in fights with people for not social distancing?
Compare and contrast to PJohnson, you could smell the Kremlin on his breath from a mile away.
Also. Having lived some time in Thailand and being interested in, and knowledgeable of, Buddhism, is a pretty strange cover quirk for the FSB. Not buying it tbh.
It's just Mystic Rose back with a new name, isn't it?
Good shout, both early morning, quite long posters that came across as trying that bit too hard to be contrarian (as in the word, not the poster).
And both are some of the least mystic people going, whose predictions are abysmal.
But there is still the question of the spammer IP address. A VPN wouldn’t give you that?
No, a real VPN wouldn't.
Apparently it was the address of a compromised machine. @Heathener 's explanation that she was using an compromised machine as a DIY VPN is... interesting.
It's the internet equivalent hiding your identity by wearing a balaclava, when walking down the road. It attracts attention....
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
I’d ask Dan Hannan on twitter but the wee snowflake has blocked me.
Is India primarily English speaking? I don't think so. I would include places like South Africa and Nigeria as part of the Anglosphere, but not India.
Yes, it's one of 2 official languages along with Hindi. Bloody everyone speaks it.
For a related example, there was a Sikh protest in the Jewellery Quarter in December 2020. Every other vehicle was either an expensive car or a trade van. That's increasingly the case of the Midlands.
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
On the strictest definition, the core Anglosphere is only the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
On the strictest definition, the core Anglosphere is only the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand
And Ireland - 93% speak English as a first language (UK only 92%).
Only about 10% of Indians speak English at all, and that's STILL more English speakers than the whole of the UK. The UK's place in the Anglosphere is pretty marginal. A cul-de-sac of a suburb of a backwater town.
Only 0.06% of Indians speak English as a first language, unfortunatement.
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
On the strictest definition, the core Anglosphere is only the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand
For a related example, there was a Sikh protest in the Jewellery Quarter in December 2020. Every other vehicle was either an expensive car or a trade van. That's increasingly the case of the Midlands.
Hitting the sweet spot between higher rates of pay and still affordable housing would be my summary.
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
I’d ask Dan Hannan on twitter but the wee snowflake has blocked me.
Is India primarily English speaking? I don't think so. I would include places like South Africa and Nigeria as part of the Anglosphere, but not India.
Yes, it's one of 2 official languages along with Hindi. Bloody everyone speaks it.
If by everyone you mean 10%, I'd agree.
Everybody foreigner-facing.
I don't see that the Anglosphere is primarily defined by language anyway. Even if it is, having English as an *official* language is fairly persuasive
On the subject of @Heathener, I think everyone missed their greatest comment last night.
In my response to why they were using an IP that appears on a number of blacklists (basically compromised PCs), they said it was because they were close to the intelligence services, and needed to hide their identity.
Even if you believe that is true, there are easier ways to do that:
One could, for example, use a commercial VPN service that does not keep logs. Or buy a prepaid SIM card for a data connection.
What one does not typically do is to use a compromised PC to post to politiclbetting. What with that basically being illegal, and all.
Isn't it possible that Heathener is just a walter mitty fantasist with a virus on their PC?
I'm not ruling out the possibility that they're a filthy commie spy, but as others have said, what's the agenda? Why dedicate so much of their time to other random stuff, like misogyny, or getting in fights with people for not social distancing?
Compare and contrast to PJohnson, you could smell the Kremlin on his breath from a mile away.
Also. Having lived some time in Thailand and being interested in, and knowledgeable of, Buddhism, is a pretty strange cover quirk for the FSB. Not buying it tbh.
It's just Mystic Rose back with a new name, isn't it?
Good shout, both early morning, quite long posters that came across as trying that bit too hard to be contrarian (as in the word, not the poster).
It's my absolute specialty, picking up them 'back with a new name' posters.
Pretty sure I’ve got one wriggling in the catch net at the moment.
The return of Bluest Blue?
@BluestBlue was one of my favourite posters - sadly missed - I've tried to rattle his cage with a couple of PMs but to no avail.
My complete guess is he is already back, although being more serious and this time skipping the hyper partisan Boris is a God posts.
At least it was a righty that left (I wish he'd return also). More usually it is a lefty who decides it's not worth banging their heads against a brick wall having fallen foul of the well off perhaps retired male white Anglo Saxon I live in a big house with a charming garden what's all the fuss about PB contingent.
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
I’d ask Dan Hannan on twitter but the wee snowflake has blocked me.
Is India primarily English speaking? I don't think so. I would include places like South Africa and Nigeria as part of the Anglosphere, but not India.
Yes, it's one of 2 official languages along with Hindi. Bloody everyone speaks it.
If by everyone you mean 10%, I'd agree.
Everybody foreigner-facing.
I don't see that the Anglosphere is primarily defined by language anyway. Even if it is, having English as an *official* language is fairly persuasive
Hint: how many Bollywood films are produced in English?
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
On the strictest definition, the core Anglosphere is only the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand
How bloody big is Quebec and/or how many First Nations languages are there is only 54.4% of Canadians speak English as a first language?
I do like the Netherlands, where apparently 90.9% speak English, all as an additional language - that is some impressive schooling. (Unsurprisingly the Nordic countries are similar)
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
On the strictest definition, the core Anglosphere is only the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand
And Ireland - 93% speak English as a first language (UK only 92%).
Only about 10% of Indians speak English at all, and that's STILL more English speakers than the whole of the UK. The UK's place in the Anglosphere is pretty marginal. A cul-de-sac of a suburb of a backwater town.
Only 0.06% of Indians speak English as a first language, unfortunatement.
Politics is a strange beast. I guess I am in the minority thinking Labours % of the vote will be much closer to 2019 than 2017.
I just feel SKS will struggle to motivate voters at thr next GE so will do poorly compared to the current wisdom on here
I have been wrong before and could be again but overall i am well in profit in political betting terms and will be laying Labour next time
I think using the hindsight of past Parliaments is uniquely unwise given everything that has and is happening. We have seen two transformative events since December 2019 and the repercussions of these are still playing out. There may be no "swingback" as it is traditionally known or it may be huge.
I have genuinely no clue what is going to happen in one month let alone twenty six and the world outlook is now far different from how it looked when all we worried about was Brexit.
The one thing of which I'm pretty sure is this was not what Johnson imagined governing would be like on the night of December 12th 2019.
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
On the strictest definition, the core Anglosphere is only the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
On the strictest definition, the core Anglosphere is only the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
On the strictest definition, the core Anglosphere is only the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
On the strictest definition, the core Anglosphere is only the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand
I can imagine that there is a large number of retired HMF personnel who got down and dirty in Iraq and Afghan and who have grown restless with these recent years of peace.
For a related example, there was a Sikh protest in the Jewellery Quarter in December 2020. Every other vehicle was either an expensive car or a trade van. That's increasingly the case of the Midlands.
Hitting the sweet spot between higher rates of pay and still affordable housing would be my summary.
Loads more of it being built as well. Just like in certain parts of the North East.
"Boycott of Russian gas and oil ‘could cause mass poverty in Germany’ Minister warns an immediate stop to supplies could hurt Germany’s population more than Putin"
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
On the strictest definition, the core Anglosphere is only the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand
NEW DELHI, March 14 (Reuters) - India is considering taking up a Russian offer to buy its crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices with payment via a rupee-rouble transaction, two Indian officials said, amid tough Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
India, which imports 80% of its oil needs, usually buys about 2% to 3% of its supplies from Russia. But with oil prices up 40% so far this year, the government is looking at increasing this if it can help reduce its rising energy bill.
"Russia is offering oil and other commodities at a heavy discount. We will be happy to take that. We have some issues like tanker, insurance cover and oil blends to be resolved. Once we have that we will take the discount offer," one of the Indian government officials said.
How will the oil get there? (Assuming the west buys up tanker capacity and doesn’t want it to).
Well, there are lots of oil tankers in the world, and many of them are owned by private companies in tax havens who will happily take a premium rate to shift oil from Russia to Delhi.
However... India's behaviour here is pretty appalling. The reality is that Russia will continue to be able to export oil (albeit gas is harder), if the Indians and Chinese say 'discount oil, lovely jubbly'.
Tactless of India to be quite so blatant in their sanctions busting. They are supposed to be a trusted partner, blah blah...
Terrible advert for the symbolic value of the Commonwealth.
Or the Anglosphere. Or is it only white countries that are considered anglosphere?
On the strictest definition, the core Anglosphere is only the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand
How bloody big is Quebec and/or how many First Nations languages are there is only 54.4% of Canadians speak English as a first language?
83% of Canadians speak English on that link
You seem to have missed a critical word in my sentence. Or rather you misread it, and have now amended, but that now doesn't make sense as a response to what I posted.
Look, I looked at the wrong column too initially, it's ok.
Comments
It was believed when I was at school that you could change the names you were christened with by being confirmed under different ones. No idea if this is true
This guy studied there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael_Lemkin
I know you think SKS is next PM so we must wait for Election night to see who is right.
My prediction as i have stated several times is
1. Labour will do significantly worse than 2017 and marginally better than 2019
2, IMO Labour will get less seats than 2015 and 2017 but a few more than 2019
3. Starmer will get nowhere near the number of votes of 2017 and will get well under the 40% Jezza got
Not sure if you are willing to give us your predictions for the next GE ?
What I would say is that people who have significant jobs in any part of the government would be very careful not to give any hint of their position, in a forum like PB. When you are out of the game however, it is a bit different.
The idea he has blown it is hyperbole
The overriding reason why I have considered PB as essential reading for many years is the sheer breadth of views and political knowledge on show BTL. Yes, the headers are of a very good standard, and there are some fantastic betting tips exchanged, but PB.com is all about the BTL commenters, and their diversity of strongly held opinions.
As a result, I always feel a bit of discomfort when somebody "leaves" to great cheers from the BTL masses - even when, as was the case with Heathener, I can't think of a single thing that they've typed that I've come close to agreeing with.
Politics is a tribal pursuit, so it should come as no surprise that the vast majority of us commenters are also tribal in our own politics. When you get a situation where 95% of us belong in the same tribe, it can get pretty ugly for those other 5%. This is a case in point - we're almost all in the Putin is a bad 'un/we must help Ukraine tribe, of course we are, so every time somebody raises a counter-argument the 95% descend like a pack of hyenas. Supporters of Donald Trump will have had a very similar experience. Maybe even supporters of Johnson in recent months.
Personally, I tend to see things in shades of grey rather than in black and white. Examples - has Brexit turned out 100% well or 100% badly, or is the reality that there's elements of both? Does the fact that Donald Trump is a pretty odious character in many ways mean that he can't be right on anything? On this topic, does the fact that Vladimir Putin is a seriously odious character in almost every way, and what he's doing in the Ukraine is 100% wrong preclude us from examining whether some Western policies have inadvertently pushed us towards this point? Does the fact that the vaccines have undoubtedly done much to reduce the severity of the pandemic and helped give us a route out preclude us from questioning the motivations of big pharma and any potential side effects?
There has been a tendency, both here and in the wider world, to insist that everybody not only agrees with the prevailing view, but accepts it unquestioningly and in full. Even raising any of the points above could get me labelled a Trumpite, anti-vax right wing Putin apologist. Many of us have pulled HYUFD up when he's told a conservative voter that they've unfortunately only got 90% on the HYUFD purity test and therefore they're not a conservative - but is that not what many people are doing on some of the subjects above?
As I say, just my two penneth. This is still my favourite place to get my current affairs commentary from, because of the breadth of views, even the extreme ones around the edges that I probably disagree with. If this site ever ditches unfashionable views and becomes an echo chamber, it would be a very sad day.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/300540834/the-politics-of-petrol--fuel-excise-cut-just-the-start-in-wider-inflation-war
Luxon's National Party are offering the usual centre-right nonsense about cutting taxes without quite explaining how that helps alleviate inflation. NZ has a big problem when it comes to importing certain goods and the transportation of goods round that vast country.
As with Salisbury's Conservative-Liberal Unionist alliance that won the original Khaki Election in 1900, Boris's Conservative & Unionist Party will almost certain need to time any such electoral gambit this year, to occur BEFORE the end of the War (Boer then, Ukrainian today).
Personally think proper atmosphere AND timing are less propitious and likely harder for Tories this millennium than last. But who knows?
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/feb/27/bp-exiting-its-1975-shareholding-in-russian-oil-giant-rosneft?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
Still hoping I get to visit one day.
@bigjohnowls please explain
I just feel SKS will struggle to motivate voters at thr next GE so will do poorly compared to the current wisdom on here
I have been wrong before and could be again but overall i am well in profit in political betting terms and will be laying Labour next time
If you think a 3pt lead is a good reason why SKS will be next PM you should explain so we can all take advantage of your political wisdom
Minister warns an immediate stop to supplies could hurt Germany’s population more than Putin"
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/14/russian-gas-oil-boycott-mass-poverty-warns-germany
With PRC Secret Police instead of Nevada Gaming Commission ruling the roost.
- Cases up. R has flattened out at 1.3 across the UK. Interestingly, R by age group is showing rises for the 0-14 groups. Vaccination, once again, is key.
- Hospital admissions up.
- MV beds flat
- In hospital up
- Deaths continuing to fall, but at a slowing rate. Looks like it will go flat below 100 per day
His disappearance coinciding with BJ’s reputation taking a nosedive was pretty hilarious, definitely causation not correlation.
But there is still the question of the spammer IP address. A VPN wouldn’t give you that?
SA only 9.3% speak English as a first language
India less than 0.1%
Lords wrecking amendment thrown out 292-217 by the Commons. Back to the Lords now to see if they insist (based on the Third Reading debate I doubt they will).
FTPA's days are numbered...
This crap really does come from Russia.
Russian person, fuck off.
(Unfair though it may be.)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglosphere#:~:text=The Anglosphere is a group,diplomatic and military co-operation.
Cheers in advance.
It is NATO that contains Russia, not the Commonwealth
That's before you get to the economic drivers of people moving from the very centre to better-off suburbs and outlying towns, buying houses and setting up their own businesses.
It includes close military, diplomatic, economic and historic ties not just ties of language
Apparently it was the address of a compromised machine. @Heathener 's explanation that she was using an compromised machine as a DIY VPN is... interesting.
It's the internet equivalent hiding your identity by wearing a balaclava, when walking down the road. It attracts attention....
Ireland 93.2%
UK 92.3%
NZ 85.9%
USA 78.1%
Aus 72.7%
Can 54.4%
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population
The Anglosphere also includes close military, political, economic and diplomatic ties
I don't see that the Anglosphere is primarily defined by language anyway. Even if it is, having English as an *official* language is fairly persuasive
Which is quite large.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10611833/Three-British-ex-special-forces-troops-feared-died-Russian-airstrike.html
I do like the Netherlands, where apparently 90.9% speak English, all as an additional language - that is some impressive schooling. (Unsurprisingly the Nordic countries are similar)
I have genuinely no clue what is going to happen in one month let alone twenty six and the world outlook is now far different from how it looked when all we worried about was Brexit.
The one thing of which I'm pretty sure is this was not what Johnson imagined governing would be like on the night of December 12th 2019.
Look, I looked at the wrong column too initially, it's ok.