That’s 2m potential saboteurs. It only takes 1% of them to be angry enough to “do something” and that is big trouble for Putin. 1% = 20,000 would-be partisans
I'm surprised the Russian authorities track that data in their census given Putin's insistance about the inherent Russianness of Ukrainians.
I guess they have to, legally. Ukrainians have different passports. At least for now
Imagine you’re a feisty 19 year old Ukrainian in Russia. You have your family in Kyiv in constant contact
One day they tell you: yesterday the Russian army came, and raped your sister Olga, then they shot her dead
You’re gonna go out and blow up a factory, or a railway bridge. I would.
Motive means opportunity.
We know the motive is there. Maybe for some of this stuff the means is fairly straightforward. What’s surprising is how much opportunity there is. This isn’t just one or two incidents now. It’s happening every day all over Russia. Fascinating.
Are explosives easy to come by in Russia? Look at terrorism here. Hardly any bombs, which are hard, and lots of knives, and vans driven into crowds. We don't see that in Russia. Olga's angry brother is not driving his car straight into Russian police vehicles. Could these fires result from cyberwarfare, with machines run too fast so they overheat? Are these fires close enough together to be the work of a single Ukrainian unit driving between Russian factories?
Interesting answers from Nicola Sturgeon this morning on legal advice around IndyRef2
Should be said an appeal of the Commissioner's ruling has to be on a point of law, rather than on his judgement of public interest
I have my doubts Ministers will bother to challenge..
But noteworthy the FM refused to commit outright to publish it, instead saying they will consider the ruling (which doesn't leave much wiggle room) and on the line the Government will comply fully with the law
Any further appeal by the Scot Gov would go to the Court of Session
As the next GE is likely to be 2024 is it sensible for her to try and push indyref2 by end of 2023? Why not wait until the very real prospect of a hung parliament?
And if by some chance Labour did pull off an outright victory, would Keir Starmer really resist calls for a second referendum?
IIRC Starmer has already indicated he would reject a 2nd indyref. For obvious political reasons
If the SNP hold the balance of power Starmer equally 'obviously' wouldn't
My guess is that, even then, Starmer would stall and refuse and dare the SNP to vote him down and put the Tories back in power
You really think that after 14 years in the wilderness Labour would refuse power all because they don't believe in a second Scottish referendum?
They’d snap the SNPs hand off for power as well as give them a referendum, probably in exchange for a vote to change from FPTP to a form of PR.
Would that be the Blairite form of PR that keeps the SNP in power?
You've got it the wrong way round. The d'Hondt system was modified* to minimise the chance of any party other than Labourbecoming a majority government.
*polite euphemism
FTFY
As with most of Blair's ideas, it looked good until it collided with this thing called 'reality' that the rest of us inhabit.
Putin has successfully extended NATO all along his northern border. Brilliant, not
Sweden will presumably follow, so NATO reaches far into the European Arctic
This war is a catastrophe for Russia
He's thrown up so many reasons for it no doubt he can find something to claim as a win, presumably if he can get a corridor to Crimea, which is still within reach for instance.
But from his lofty talk of denazifying Ukraine, which he was clear included its leadership, and the whinge (that too many still give credence to) about not liking NATO expansion 20 years ago as a justification, the larger aims are pretty clearly unattainable or have provoked a severe response at this point.
I’ve seen it mentioned here before and thought I would get used to it, but I’m getting increasingly pissed off by the monophthongal way everybody on BBC radio pronounces Kyiv.
I’ve seen it mentioned here before and thought I would get used to it, but I’m getting increasingly pissed off by the monophthongal way everybody on BBC radio pronounces Kyiv.
A cultural observation from yesterday’s Nawlins jazz fest (which is brilliant, btw; if you ever get the chance: go)
I saw a LOT of Ukrainian flags and Ukrainian colours. One guy had dyed his white beard blue and yellow
There’s a lot of support for Ukraine in the USA. I wonder if this is partly because it satisfyingly unites most Americans against an obviously evil enemy, at a time when politics is generally and horribly polarised
There is apparently a rump of Trumpites that “supports” Russia or Putin or whatever. I haven’t met them.
Polling suggests my impression is correct:
“Two months after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Americans are stalwart in their support of the embattled country, with a large, bipartisan majority supporting increased sanctions against Russia and most also backing military and humanitarian support for Ukrainians, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.”
The giveaway in that statement is 'prolong'. If someone's only concern is to end things as quickly as possible, and not the form that ending might take, then they are just saying Ukraine must surrender, and trying to hide it.
Not well either, given Putin and cronies have literally made the same 'Terrible to prolong this' argument.
Excellent point made on that thread: this might not be “an attack” it could simply be signs that Russians are skimping on health & safety, as they push these factories to the limit
I think that's probably true, but there is huge value in getting the story out in the Russian workforce that these might be 5th column attacks. Who is going to be fully concentrating on the job if Pyotr on the next bench (who you never liked anyway) might be trying to blow you up. Has he really gone to the loo, or escaped the facility before it goes afire?
Or it could indeed be sabotage 🤷♂️
“#MOSCOW: In Mytishchi, barely 30 minutes from the Kremlin, fuel oil tanks were set on fire. It is no longer humanly possible to keep track of all the fires and explosions all over #Russia. A train bridge was also successfully blown up in #Kursk, for example. #WindofChange 🌬️ 🔥”
I certainly wouldn't rule it out. And of course it does not have to be one thing or the other.
I’d need to know “how often fuel tanks catch fire” to grasp if this is likely sabotage
If it is, then who on earth is doing it? I don’t believe western agencies would risk it. Best guess is Ukrainian citizens in Russia. There must be a lot of them and they must be fucking angry, so you can’t blame them. Indeed I cheer them
i doubt it is very common, very rare in uk for sure
Diesel is very stable stuff, in the Bale mountains in Ethiopia we used to cook breakfast directly under the diesel tank to warm it up (African diesel doesn't contain the anti freeze it gets in Europe). This approach is deprecated with gasoline.
I imagine the darkweb contains instructions for DIY explosives; fertiliser, and casio watches for timers.
I’ve seen it mentioned here before and thought I would get used to it, but I’m getting increasingly pissed off by the monophthongal way everybody on BBC radio pronounces Kyiv.
Snooker commentators and Chinese players springs to mind.
That’s 2m potential saboteurs. It only takes 1% of them to be angry enough to “do something” and that is big trouble for Putin. 1% = 20,000 would-be partisans
I'm surprised the Russian authorities track that data in their census given Putin's insistance about the inherent Russianness of Ukrainians.
I guess they have to, legally. Ukrainians have different passports. At least for now
Imagine you’re a feisty 19 year old Ukrainian in Russia. You have your family in Kyiv in constant contact
One day they tell you: yesterday the Russian army came, and raped your sister Olga, then they shot her dead
You’re gonna go out and blow up a factory, or a railway bridge. I would.
Motive means opportunity.
We know the motive is there. Maybe for some of this stuff the means is fairly straightforward. What’s surprising is how much opportunity there is. This isn’t just one or two incidents now. It’s happening every day all over Russia. Fascinating.
Are explosives easy to come by in Russia? Look at terrorism here. Hardly any bombs, which are hard, and lots of knives, and vans driven into crowds. We don't see that in Russia. Olga's angry brother is not driving his car straight into Russian police vehicles. Could these fires result from cyberwarfare, with machines run too fast so they overheat? Are these fires close enough together to be the work of a single Ukrainian unit driving between Russian factories?
In answer to your last question: no
There are fires and “accidents” right across Russia, from the Ukrainian border to Moscow to Siberia
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I’ve seen it mentioned here before and thought I would get used to it, but I’m getting increasingly pissed off by the monophthongal way everybody on BBC radio pronounces Kyiv.
Snooker commentators and Chinese players springs to mind.
Snooker update: Trump's fightback continues and Betfair crashing has not helped.
I’ve seen it mentioned here before and thought I would get used to it, but I’m getting increasingly pissed off by the monophthongal way everybody on BBC radio pronounces Kyiv.
Excellent point made on that thread: this might not be “an attack” it could simply be signs that Russians are skimping on health & safety, as they push these factories to the limit
I think that's probably true, but there is huge value in getting the story out in the Russian workforce that these might be 5th column attacks. Who is going to be fully concentrating on the job if Pyotr on the next bench (who you never liked anyway) might be trying to blow you up. Has he really gone to the loo, or escaped the facility before it goes afire?
Or it could indeed be sabotage 🤷♂️
“#MOSCOW: In Mytishchi, barely 30 minutes from the Kremlin, fuel oil tanks were set on fire. It is no longer humanly possible to keep track of all the fires and explosions all over #Russia. A train bridge was also successfully blown up in #Kursk, for example. #WindofChange 🌬️ 🔥”
I certainly wouldn't rule it out. And of course it does not have to be one thing or the other.
I’d need to know “how often fuel tanks catch fire” to grasp if this is likely sabotage
If it is, then who on earth is doing it? I don’t believe western agencies would risk it. Best guess is Ukrainian citizens in Russia. There must be a lot of them and they must be fucking angry, so you can’t blame them. Indeed I cheer them
i doubt it is very common, very rare in uk for sure
Diesel is very stable stuff, in the Bale mountains in Ethiopia we used to cook breakfast directly under the diesel tank to warm it up (African diesel doesn't contain the anti freeze it gets in Europe). This approach is deprecated with gasoline.
I imagine the darkweb contains instructions for DIY explosives; fertiliser, and casio watches for timers.
2-3 years ago now my car caught fire on the way to Aberdeen. I started discussing this with emergency services in the vehicle but decided that doing so from a distance of about 30 metres seemed a better idea. When the fire brigade arrived they were completely relaxed about it as soon as they found out it was a diesel. The car burnt through completely without anything happening to the tank.
I’ve seen it mentioned here before and thought I would get used to it, but I’m getting increasingly pissed off by the monophthongal way everybody on BBC radio pronounces Kyiv.
Snooker commentators and Chinese players springs to mind.
Depends on your age. I thought more Pamela Stephenson and Mugabe.
Interesting answers from Nicola Sturgeon this morning on legal advice around IndyRef2
Should be said an appeal of the Commissioner's ruling has to be on a point of law, rather than on his judgement of public interest
I have my doubts Ministers will bother to challenge..
But noteworthy the FM refused to commit outright to publish it, instead saying they will consider the ruling (which doesn't leave much wiggle room) and on the line the Government will comply fully with the law
Any further appeal by the Scot Gov would go to the Court of Session
As the next GE is likely to be 2024 is it sensible for her to try and push indyref2 by end of 2023? Why not wait until the very real prospect of a hung parliament?
And if by some chance Labour did pull off an outright victory, would Keir Starmer really resist calls for a second referendum?
IIRC Starmer has already indicated he would reject a 2nd indyref. For obvious political reasons
If the SNP hold the balance of power Starmer equally 'obviously' wouldn't
My guess is that, even then, Starmer would stall and refuse and dare the SNP to vote him down and put the Tories back in power
You really think that after 14 years in the wilderness Labour would refuse power all because they don't believe in a second Scottish referendum?
They’d snap the SNPs hand off for power as well as give them a referendum, probably in exchange for a vote to change from FPTP to a form of PR.
Would that be the Blairite form of PR that keeps the SNP in power?
You've got it the wrong way round. The d'Hondt system was modified* to minimise the chance of any party other than Labourbecoming a majority government.
*polite euphemism
FTFY
As with most of Blair's ideas, it looked good until it collided with this thing called 'reality' that the rest of us inhabit.
No, that was a feature not a bug (to rebut with another annoying PB tic ...). It was well understood that no party would ever get a majority under plausible conditions. There was a deliberate agreement/consensus with the LDs that there would always be a Slab/SLD coalition administration. But, as you say, it collided with 'reality' if not one inhabited by most Unionists.
You are thinking only of Scotland. I'm thinking of Wales too.
The Scottish system is better than the Welsh. In Wales, the proportion of FPTP seats to list seats is 2:1. In Scotland it is 9:7.
Ah, thank you.
Not just a matter of simple proportion, however; unless there is a further difference that escapes me, we need also to consider the inverse gearing of list seats to constituency seats, which is therefore much stronger in Scotland as a result. (If a party does well in the FPTP seats in a region, votes for it in the region as a whole for the region list seats are massively devalued.)
*thinks* was there a salient difference, in, say, Welsh politics that might explain Mr Blair's administration's differing policies ...?
I’ve seen it mentioned here before and thought I would get used to it, but I’m getting increasingly pissed off by the monophthongal way everybody on BBC radio pronounces Kyiv.
Snooker commentators and Chinese players springs to mind.
Snooker update: Trump's fightback continues and Betfair crashing has not helped.
Imagine that! Overturning a seven frame deficit against the rocket and a 17 month old election too. Some week for the Trump clan.
I’ve seen it mentioned here before and thought I would get used to it, but I’m getting increasingly pissed off by the monophthongal way everybody on BBC radio pronounces Kyiv.
Could be word of the day. Well done.
Monophthongal? It’s a common word down our way.
I guess that's just the way you creole down there.
That’s 2m potential saboteurs. It only takes 1% of them to be angry enough to “do something” and that is big trouble for Putin. 1% = 20,000 would-be partisans
I'm surprised the Russian authorities track that data in their census given Putin's insistance about the inherent Russianness of Ukrainians.
I guess they have to, legally. Ukrainians have different passports. At least for now
Imagine you’re a feisty 19 year old Ukrainian in Russia. You have your family in Kyiv in constant contact
One day they tell you: yesterday the Russian army came, and raped your sister Olga, then they shot her dead
You’re gonna go out and blow up a factory, or a railway bridge. I would.
Motive means opportunity.
We know the motive is there. Maybe for some of this stuff the means is fairly straightforward. What’s surprising is how much opportunity there is. This isn’t just one or two incidents now. It’s happening every day all over Russia. Fascinating.
Are explosives easy to come by in Russia? Look at terrorism here. Hardly any bombs, which are hard, and lots of knives, and vans driven into crowds. We don't see that in Russia. Olga's angry brother is not driving his car straight into Russian police vehicles. Could these fires result from cyberwarfare, with machines run too fast so they overheat? Are these fires close enough together to be the work of a single Ukrainian unit driving between Russian factories?
In answer to your last question: no
There are fires and “accidents” right across Russia, from the Ukrainian border to Moscow to Siberia
Local Ukrainian workers?
Perhaps. However, seems like too many high-value targets going boom! in widely scattered sections of Step-Mother Russia to be either spontaneous combustion OR grassroots sabotage.
My guess is that Ukrainian special forces would rather do that brag - unlike Putin's stormtroopers?
As Michael Jordan once said, Republicans buy sneakers too.
Probably more of them as they have all the money.
Bet you donuts to dollars (you wagering latter) that in today's America, self-IDed Democrats have got as much if not more moolah collectively than Republicans.
Given that affluent urbanites & suburban voters have been swinging away from GOP and toward Dems during current millennium, a trend exacerbated by 45.
That's a saying which is about to invert: dollars and donuts are about par atm.
The big change though for Ukraine would be the Belarus leadership getting the Ceaușescu treatment - and the place pivoting towards the EU (and a week later, NATO). Russia not having that long border to crash into Ukraine from would make Ukraine much easier to defend.
That’s 2m potential saboteurs. It only takes 1% of them to be angry enough to “do something” and that is big trouble for Putin. 1% = 20,000 would-be partisans
I'm surprised the Russian authorities track that data in their census given Putin's insistance about the inherent Russianness of Ukrainians.
I guess they have to, legally. Ukrainians have different passports. At least for now
Imagine you’re a feisty 19 year old Ukrainian in Russia. You have your family in Kyiv in constant contact
One day they tell you: yesterday the Russian army came, and raped your sister Olga, then they shot her dead
You’re gonna go out and blow up a factory, or a railway bridge. I would.
Motive means opportunity.
We know the motive is there. Maybe for some of this stuff the means is fairly straightforward. What’s surprising is how much opportunity there is. This isn’t just one or two incidents now. It’s happening every day all over Russia. Fascinating.
Are explosives easy to come by in Russia? Look at terrorism here. Hardly any bombs, which are hard, and lots of knives, and vans driven into crowds. We don't see that in Russia. Olga's angry brother is not driving his car straight into Russian police vehicles. Could these fires result from cyberwarfare, with machines run too fast so they overheat? Are these fires close enough together to be the work of a single Ukrainian unit driving between Russian factories?
In answer to your last question: no
There are fires and “accidents” right across Russia, from the Ukrainian border to Moscow to Siberia
Local Ukrainian workers?
Perhaps. However, seems like too many high-value targets going boom! in widely scattered sections of Step-Mother Russia to be either spontaneous combustion OR grassroots sabotage.
My guess is that Ukrainian special forces would rather do that brag - unlike Putin's stormtroopers?
I’m still convinced it’s local Ukrainians in Russia. Kyiv needs every fighting Ukrainian at home to defend the motherland
Meanwhile there are two million Ukrainians “conveniently” located across Russia. And many of them will be murderously angry
I can imagine some are being supplied with modest explosives, however. It doesn’t take an atom bomb to knock out a railway bridge in Kursk
“This railway bridge was destroyed in the Kursk region.
It was actively used by Russia to transports military equipment to Ukraine.
Local authorities have confirmed it happened due to sabotage.
Interesting answers from Nicola Sturgeon this morning on legal advice around IndyRef2
Should be said an appeal of the Commissioner's ruling has to be on a point of law, rather than on his judgement of public interest
I have my doubts Ministers will bother to challenge..
But noteworthy the FM refused to commit outright to publish it, instead saying they will consider the ruling (which doesn't leave much wiggle room) and on the line the Government will comply fully with the law
Any further appeal by the Scot Gov would go to the Court of Session
As the next GE is likely to be 2024 is it sensible for her to try and push indyref2 by end of 2023? Why not wait until the very real prospect of a hung parliament?
And if by some chance Labour did pull off an outright victory, would Keir Starmer really resist calls for a second referendum?
IIRC Starmer has already indicated he would reject a 2nd indyref. For obvious political reasons
If the SNP hold the balance of power Starmer equally 'obviously' wouldn't
My guess is that, even then, Starmer would stall and refuse and dare the SNP to vote him down and put the Tories back in power
You really think that after 14 years in the wilderness Labour would refuse power all because they don't believe in a second Scottish referendum?
They’d snap the SNPs hand off for power as well as give them a referendum, probably in exchange for a vote to change from FPTP to a form of PR.
Would that be the Blairite form of PR that keeps the SNP in power?
You've got it the wrong way round. The d'Hondt system was modified* to minimise the chance of any party other than Labourbecoming a majority government.
*polite euphemism
FTFY
As with most of Blair's ideas, it looked good until it collided with this thing called 'reality' that the rest of us inhabit.
No, that was a feature not a bug (to rebut with another annoying PB tic ...). It was well understood that no party would ever get a majority under plausible conditions. There was a deliberate agreement/consensus with the LDs that there would always be a Slab/SLD coalition administration. But, as you say, it collided with 'reality' if not one inhabited by most Unionists.
You are thinking only of Scotland. I'm thinking of Wales too.
The Scottish system is better than the Welsh. In Wales, the proportion of FPTP seats to list seats is 2:1. In Scotland it is 9:7.
Ah, thank you.
Not just a matter of simple proportion, however; unless there is a further difference that escapes me, we need also to consider the inverse gearing of list seats to constituency seats, which is therefore much stronger in Scotland as a result. (If a party does well in the FPTP seats in a region, votes for it in the region as a whole for the region list seats are massively devalued.)
*thinks* was there a salient difference, in, say, Welsh politics that might explain Mr Blair's administration's differing policies ...?
That’s 2m potential saboteurs. It only takes 1% of them to be angry enough to “do something” and that is big trouble for Putin. 1% = 20,000 would-be partisans
I'm surprised the Russian authorities track that data in their census given Putin's insistance about the inherent Russianness of Ukrainians.
I guess they have to, legally. Ukrainians have different passports. At least for now
Imagine you’re a feisty 19 year old Ukrainian in Russia. You have your family in Kyiv in constant contact
One day they tell you: yesterday the Russian army came, and raped your sister Olga, then they shot her dead
You’re gonna go out and blow up a factory, or a railway bridge. I would.
Motive means opportunity.
We know the motive is there. Maybe for some of this stuff the means is fairly straightforward. What’s surprising is how much opportunity there is. This isn’t just one or two incidents now. It’s happening every day all over Russia. Fascinating.
Are explosives easy to come by in Russia? Look at terrorism here. Hardly any bombs, which are hard, and lots of knives, and vans driven into crowds. We don't see that in Russia. Olga's angry brother is not driving his car straight into Russian police vehicles. Could these fires result from cyberwarfare, with machines run too fast so they overheat? Are these fires close enough together to be the work of a single Ukrainian unit driving between Russian factories?
My guess is that there might be a whole mix of causes, most of which have been mentioned here:
*) Pure random bad luck. These incidents happen. *) Increased demand due to the war. Russia needs new stuff fast; this causes safety procedures to be loosened. *) Experts (people who know how things work) being moved to other tasks due to the war. *) Fifth columnists. *) Direct Ukrainian attacks. *) More movement of materials due to the war. *) Poor quality materials and supplies due to the sanctions and war use.
That’s 2m potential saboteurs. It only takes 1% of them to be angry enough to “do something” and that is big trouble for Putin. 1% = 20,000 would-be partisans
I'm surprised the Russian authorities track that data in their census given Putin's insistance about the inherent Russianness of Ukrainians.
I guess they have to, legally. Ukrainians have different passports. At least for now
Imagine you’re a feisty 19 year old Ukrainian in Russia. You have your family in Kyiv in constant contact
One day they tell you: yesterday the Russian army came, and raped your sister Olga, then they shot her dead
You’re gonna go out and blow up a factory, or a railway bridge. I would.
Motive means opportunity.
We know the motive is there. Maybe for some of this stuff the means is fairly straightforward. What’s surprising is how much opportunity there is. This isn’t just one or two incidents now. It’s happening every day all over Russia. Fascinating.
Are explosives easy to come by in Russia? Look at terrorism here. Hardly any bombs, which are hard, and lots of knives, and vans driven into crowds. We don't see that in Russia. Olga's angry brother is not driving his car straight into Russian police vehicles. Could these fires result from cyberwarfare, with machines run too fast so they overheat? Are these fires close enough together to be the work of a single Ukrainian unit driving between Russian factories?
In answer to your last question: no
There are fires and “accidents” right across Russia, from the Ukrainian border to Moscow to Siberia
Local Ukrainian workers?
Perhaps. However, seems like too many high-value targets going boom! in widely scattered sections of Step-Mother Russia to be either spontaneous combustion OR grassroots sabotage.
My guess is that Ukrainian special forces would rather do that brag - unlike Putin's stormtroopers?
I’m still convinced it’s local Ukrainians in Russia. Kyiv needs every fighting Ukrainian at home to defend the motherland
Meanwhile there are two million Ukrainians “conveniently” located across Russia. And many of them will be murderously angry
I can imagine some are being supplied with modest explosives, however. It doesn’t take an atom bomb to knock out a railway bridge in Kursk
“This railway bridge was destroyed in the Kursk region.
It was actively used by Russia to transports military equipment to Ukraine.
Local authorities have confirmed it happened due to sabotage.
It might not take an atom bomb to destroy a railway bridge but it might take a few conventional bombs. I still don't buy spontaneous uprisings from Olga's brothers because there are no (widely reported) attacks on soft Russian targets. It might be Ukrainian special forces but how about fifth columnists implanted and equipped before hostilities began?
There have also been reported cyberattacks on infrastructure in both Ukraine and Russia.
One of the many reasons I am keen to see Putin fall (and ideally to end up with a bullet in the back of the head) is so that Trump sees* that the life of an autocrat is far from all plane sailing.
* Yeah, I know it'll make no difference
I’ve met a few Trump voters on this trip. They’re not all thick ugly racists
Some are smart and funny and admit Trump is a bit dangerous and crazy, they just believe the Woke Dems are even crazier and more dangerous. They are particularly agitated by soaring crime
Despite their Second Amendment arsenals? Despite law enforcement being a County, City or State responsibility, with a few Federal exceptions? And despite the Republicans largely running these in the Red States that you have toured?
+++++
I’m not saying their voting intentions are justified. I’m just telling you I’ve met these people, and this is what they say
@Foxy also misses that Minneapolis and Portland (both Democratic cities) have had a lot of looting and violence. Now, I don't believe that Antifa exists (as as organised movement), but I certainly can believe that rural Americans think that violence will come to their towns and villages if the Democrats are elected.
Rikard Jozwiak @RikardJozwiak the EU's 6th package against #Russia & #Belarus should be presented to EU ambassadors by Wed with a view to have it adopted by 9 May. #Ukraine
That’s 2m potential saboteurs. It only takes 1% of them to be angry enough to “do something” and that is big trouble for Putin. 1% = 20,000 would-be partisans
I'm surprised the Russian authorities track that data in their census given Putin's insistance about the inherent Russianness of Ukrainians.
I guess they have to, legally. Ukrainians have different passports. At least for now
Imagine you’re a feisty 19 year old Ukrainian in Russia. You have your family in Kyiv in constant contact
One day they tell you: yesterday the Russian army came, and raped your sister Olga, then they shot her dead
You’re gonna go out and blow up a factory, or a railway bridge. I would.
Motive means opportunity.
We know the motive is there. Maybe for some of this stuff the means is fairly straightforward. What’s surprising is how much opportunity there is. This isn’t just one or two incidents now. It’s happening every day all over Russia. Fascinating.
Are explosives easy to come by in Russia? Look at terrorism here. Hardly any bombs, which are hard, and lots of knives, and vans driven into crowds. We don't see that in Russia. Olga's angry brother is not driving his car straight into Russian police vehicles. Could these fires result from cyberwarfare, with machines run too fast so they overheat? Are these fires close enough together to be the work of a single Ukrainian unit driving between Russian factories?
In answer to your last question: no
There are fires and “accidents” right across Russia, from the Ukrainian border to Moscow to Siberia
Local Ukrainian workers?
Perhaps. However, seems like too many high-value targets going boom! in widely scattered sections of Step-Mother Russia to be either spontaneous combustion OR grassroots sabotage.
My guess is that Ukrainian special forces would rather do that brag - unlike Putin's stormtroopers?
I’m still convinced it’s local Ukrainians in Russia. Kyiv needs every fighting Ukrainian at home to defend the motherland
Meanwhile there are two million Ukrainians “conveniently” located across Russia. And many of them will be murderously angry
I can imagine some are being supplied with modest explosives, however. It doesn’t take an atom bomb to knock out a railway bridge in Kursk
“This railway bridge was destroyed in the Kursk region.
It was actively used by Russia to transports military equipment to Ukraine.
Local authorities have confirmed it happened due to sabotage.
It might not take an atom bomb to destroy a railway bridge but it might take a few conventional bombs. I still don't buy spontaneous uprisings from Olga's brothers because there are no (widely reported) attacks on soft Russian targets. It might be Ukrainian special forces but how about fifth columnists implanted and equipped before hostilities began?
There have also been reported cyberattacks on infrastructure in both Ukraine and Russia.
Surely Occam’s razor says this is local Ukrainians, at least in part. They’re too sensible to go driving into Russian crowds. They don’t want to kill innocent civilians
They are attacking military infrastructure, as they should. As I would and as you would, if we were Olga’s brother
One of the many reasons I am keen to see Putin fall (and ideally to end up with a bullet in the back of the head) is so that Trump sees* that the life of an autocrat is far from all plane sailing.
* Yeah, I know it'll make no difference
I’ve met a few Trump voters on this trip. They’re not all thick ugly racists
Some are smart and funny and admit Trump is a bit dangerous and crazy, they just believe the Woke Dems are even crazier and more dangerous. They are particularly agitated by soaring crime
Despite their Second Amendment arsenals? Despite law enforcement being a County, City or State responsibility, with a few Federal exceptions? And despite the Republicans largely running these in the Red States that you have toured?
+++++
I’m not saying their voting intentions are justified. I’m just telling you I’ve met these people, and this is what they say
@Foxy also misses that Minneapolis and Portland (both Democratic cities) have had a lot of looting and violence. Now, I don't believe that Antifa exists (as as organised movement), but I certainly can believe that rural Americans think that violence will come to their towns and villages if the Democrats are elected.
+++++
NOLA is a Dem city. And it’s experiencing a hideous surge in crime. And it’s in NOLA I’ve been hearing some of these pro-Trump voices
Interesting answers from Nicola Sturgeon this morning on legal advice around IndyRef2
Should be said an appeal of the Commissioner's ruling has to be on a point of law, rather than on his judgement of public interest
I have my doubts Ministers will bother to challenge..
But noteworthy the FM refused to commit outright to publish it, instead saying they will consider the ruling (which doesn't leave much wiggle room) and on the line the Government will comply fully with the law
Any further appeal by the Scot Gov would go to the Court of Session
As the next GE is likely to be 2024 is it sensible for her to try and push indyref2 by end of 2023? Why not wait until the very real prospect of a hung parliament?
And if by some chance Labour did pull off an outright victory, would Keir Starmer really resist calls for a second referendum?
IIRC Starmer has already indicated he would reject a 2nd indyref. For obvious political reasons
If the SNP hold the balance of power Starmer equally 'obviously' wouldn't
My guess is that, even then, Starmer would stall and refuse and dare the SNP to vote him down and put the Tories back in power
You really think that after 14 years in the wilderness Labour would refuse power all because they don't believe in a second Scottish referendum?
They’d snap the SNPs hand off for power as well as give them a referendum, probably in exchange for a vote to change from FPTP to a form of PR.
Would that be the Blairite form of PR that keeps the SNP in power?
You've got it the wrong way round. The d'Hondt system was modified* to minimise the chance of any party other than Labourbecoming a majority government.
*polite euphemism
FTFY
As with most of Blair's ideas, it looked good until it collided with this thing called 'reality' that the rest of us inhabit.
Speak for yourself. Reality is tedious.
Ignore reality, there's nothing you can do about it.
That’s 2m potential saboteurs. It only takes 1% of them to be angry enough to “do something” and that is big trouble for Putin. 1% = 20,000 would-be partisans
I'm surprised the Russian authorities track that data in their census given Putin's insistance about the inherent Russianness of Ukrainians.
I guess they have to, legally. Ukrainians have different passports. At least for now
Imagine you’re a feisty 19 year old Ukrainian in Russia. You have your family in Kyiv in constant contact
One day they tell you: yesterday the Russian army came, and raped your sister Olga, then they shot her dead
You’re gonna go out and blow up a factory, or a railway bridge. I would.
Motive means opportunity.
We know the motive is there. Maybe for some of this stuff the means is fairly straightforward. What’s surprising is how much opportunity there is. This isn’t just one or two incidents now. It’s happening every day all over Russia. Fascinating.
Are explosives easy to come by in Russia? Look at terrorism here. Hardly any bombs, which are hard, and lots of knives, and vans driven into crowds. We don't see that in Russia. Olga's angry brother is not driving his car straight into Russian police vehicles. Could these fires result from cyberwarfare, with machines run too fast so they overheat? Are these fires close enough together to be the work of a single Ukrainian unit driving between Russian factories?
In answer to your last question: no
There are fires and “accidents” right across Russia, from the Ukrainian border to Moscow to Siberia
Local Ukrainian workers?
Perhaps. However, seems like too many high-value targets going boom! in widely scattered sections of Step-Mother Russia to be either spontaneous combustion OR grassroots sabotage.
My guess is that Ukrainian special forces would rather do that brag - unlike Putin's stormtroopers?
I’m still convinced it’s local Ukrainians in Russia. Kyiv needs every fighting Ukrainian at home to defend the motherland
Meanwhile there are two million Ukrainians “conveniently” located across Russia. And many of them will be murderously angry
I can imagine some are being supplied with modest explosives, however. It doesn’t take an atom bomb to knock out a railway bridge in Kursk
“This railway bridge was destroyed in the Kursk region.
It was actively used by Russia to transports military equipment to Ukraine.
Local authorities have confirmed it happened due to sabotage.
It might not take an atom bomb to destroy a railway bridge but it might take a few conventional bombs. I still don't buy spontaneous uprisings from Olga's brothers because there are no (widely reported) attacks on soft Russian targets. It might be Ukrainian special forces but how about fifth columnists implanted and equipped before hostilities began?
There have also been reported cyberattacks on infrastructure in both Ukraine and Russia.
The allied air forces often had great difficulty destroying bridges in the Second World War. Hundreds of tonnes of bombs might be dropped on a target and the bridge remains standing. Because of inaccurate aiming, some bridges even required several Grand Slam bombs. Bringing a bridge down with modern precision bombing can also be difficult.
But give someone who knows what they are doing access to the bridge and a few tens of kgs of explosives, and they can wreak havoc.
Even then, there can be difficulties. The Germans failed to fully destroy the Ludendorff Bridge in 1945, giving the Allies a very useful bridge over the Rhine - at least for a few days,
That’s 2m potential saboteurs. It only takes 1% of them to be angry enough to “do something” and that is big trouble for Putin. 1% = 20,000 would-be partisans
I'm surprised the Russian authorities track that data in their census given Putin's insistance about the inherent Russianness of Ukrainians.
I guess they have to, legally. Ukrainians have different passports. At least for now
Imagine you’re a feisty 19 year old Ukrainian in Russia. You have your family in Kyiv in constant contact
One day they tell you: yesterday the Russian army came, and raped your sister Olga, then they shot her dead
You’re gonna go out and blow up a factory, or a railway bridge. I would.
Motive means opportunity.
We know the motive is there. Maybe for some of this stuff the means is fairly straightforward. What’s surprising is how much opportunity there is. This isn’t just one or two incidents now. It’s happening every day all over Russia. Fascinating.
Are explosives easy to come by in Russia? Look at terrorism here. Hardly any bombs, which are hard, and lots of knives, and vans driven into crowds. We don't see that in Russia. Olga's angry brother is not driving his car straight into Russian police vehicles. Could these fires result from cyberwarfare, with machines run too fast so they overheat? Are these fires close enough together to be the work of a single Ukrainian unit driving between Russian factories?
In answer to your last question: no
There are fires and “accidents” right across Russia, from the Ukrainian border to Moscow to Siberia
Local Ukrainian workers?
Perhaps. However, seems like too many high-value targets going boom! in widely scattered sections of Step-Mother Russia to be either spontaneous combustion OR grassroots sabotage.
My guess is that Ukrainian special forces would rather do that brag - unlike Putin's stormtroopers?
I’m still convinced it’s local Ukrainians in Russia. Kyiv needs every fighting Ukrainian at home to defend the motherland
Meanwhile there are two million Ukrainians “conveniently” located across Russia. And many of them will be murderously angry
I can imagine some are being supplied with modest explosives, however. It doesn’t take an atom bomb to knock out a railway bridge in Kursk
“This railway bridge was destroyed in the Kursk region.
It was actively used by Russia to transports military equipment to Ukraine.
Local authorities have confirmed it happened due to sabotage.
It might not take an atom bomb to destroy a railway bridge but it might take a few conventional bombs. I still don't buy spontaneous uprisings from Olga's brothers because there are no (widely reported) attacks on soft Russian targets. It might be Ukrainian special forces but how about fifth columnists implanted and equipped before hostilities began?
There have also been reported cyberattacks on infrastructure in both Ukraine and Russia.
Surely Occam’s razor says this is local Ukrainians, at least in part. They’re too sensible to go driving into Russian crowds. They don’t want to kill innocent civilians
They are attacking military infrastructure, as they should. As I would and as you would, if we were Olga’s brother
Ukr special forces probably train and plan for deployment in Russia, and are prolly very effective. Unlike Our Brave Boys in the M East they aren't immediately susceptible to the Hey white boy, what you doing uptown card being played which basically means either you kill everyone who sees you, or your mission lasts 20 minutes. See Bravo 2 zero.
Interesting answers from Nicola Sturgeon this morning on legal advice around IndyRef2
Should be said an appeal of the Commissioner's ruling has to be on a point of law, rather than on his judgement of public interest
I have my doubts Ministers will bother to challenge..
But noteworthy the FM refused to commit outright to publish it, instead saying they will consider the ruling (which doesn't leave much wiggle room) and on the line the Government will comply fully with the law
Any further appeal by the Scot Gov would go to the Court of Session
As the next GE is likely to be 2024 is it sensible for her to try and push indyref2 by end of 2023? Why not wait until the very real prospect of a hung parliament?
And if by some chance Labour did pull off an outright victory, would Keir Starmer really resist calls for a second referendum?
IIRC Starmer has already indicated he would reject a 2nd indyref. For obvious political reasons
If the SNP hold the balance of power Starmer equally 'obviously' wouldn't
My guess is that, even then, Starmer would stall and refuse and dare the SNP to vote him down and put the Tories back in power
You really think that after 14 years in the wilderness Labour would refuse power all because they don't believe in a second Scottish referendum?
They’d snap the SNPs hand off for power as well as give them a referendum, probably in exchange for a vote to change from FPTP to a form of PR.
Would that be the Blairite form of PR that keeps the SNP in power?
You've got it the wrong way round. The d'Hondt system was modified* to minimise the chance of any party other than Labourbecoming a majority government.
*polite euphemism
FTFY
As with most of Blair's ideas, it looked good until it collided with this thing called 'reality' that the rest of us inhabit.
No, that was a feature not a bug (to rebut with another annoying PB tic ...). It was well understood that no party would ever get a majority under plausible conditions. There was a deliberate agreement/consensus with the LDs that there would always be a Slab/SLD coalition administration. But, as you say, it collided with 'reality' if not one inhabited by most Unionists.
You are thinking only of Scotland. I'm thinking of Wales too.
The Scottish system is better than the Welsh. In Wales, the proportion of FPTP seats to list seats is 2:1. In Scotland it is 9:7.
Ah, thank you.
Not just a matter of simple proportion, however; unless there is a further difference that escapes me, we need also to consider the inverse gearing of list seats to constituency seats, which is therefore much stronger in Scotland as a result. (If a party does well in the FPTP seats in a region, votes for it in the region as a whole for the region list seats are massively devalued.)
*thinks* was there a salient difference, in, say, Welsh politics that might explain Mr Blair's administration's differing policies ...?
Was there? In the 1990s?
Not sure. But PC perhaps weren't a perceived threat to the same degree as the SNP. Tories were, I think? The difference is still odd, now it's been raised. Never mind, maybe someone will explain it one decade.
Some background on Lavrov pissing off the Israelis this weekend:
"To remain somewhat relevant, Russia is doing away with its image as an even-handed actor in the conflict and is resorting back to leaning toward Palestinians to gain leverage over Israel in times of tensions."
A cultural observation from yesterday’s Nawlins jazz fest (which is brilliant, btw; if you ever get the chance: go)
I saw a LOT of Ukrainian flags and Ukrainian colours. One guy had dyed his white beard blue and yellow
There’s a lot of support for Ukraine in the USA. I wonder if this is partly because it satisfyingly unites most Americans against an obviously evil enemy, at a time when politics is generally and horribly polarised
There is apparently a rump of Trumpites that “supports” Russia or Putin or whatever. I haven’t met them.
Polling suggests my impression is correct:
“Two months after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Americans are stalwart in their support of the embattled country, with a large, bipartisan majority supporting increased sanctions against Russia and most also backing military and humanitarian support for Ukrainians, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.”
You are absolutely right: there is a small group of nutters (Madison Cawthorn, Rand Paul, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Candace Owens, Steve Bannon), but mostly they have fallen into line.
Some choice quotes for you:
“Remember that Zelenskyy is a thug. Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and it is incredibly evil.” - Cawthorn
“NATO has been supplying the neo-Nazis in Ukraine with powerful weapons and extensive training on how to use them. What the hell is going with these #NATONazis?” - Taylor Greene
“President Zelensky is a very bad character who is working with globalists against the interests of his own people.” - Candace Owens
“No Republican should vote for any money for Ukraine. $0 for Ukraine.” - Steve Bannon
“Zelensky is a globalist puppet for Soros and the Clintons.” - Wendy Rogers
A cultural observation from yesterday’s Nawlins jazz fest (which is brilliant, btw; if you ever get the chance: go)
I saw a LOT of Ukrainian flags and Ukrainian colours. One guy had dyed his white beard blue and yellow
There’s a lot of support for Ukraine in the USA. I wonder if this is partly because it satisfyingly unites most Americans against an obviously evil enemy, at a time when politics is generally and horribly polarised
There is apparently a rump of Trumpites that “supports” Russia or Putin or whatever. I haven’t met them.
Polling suggests my impression is correct:
“Two months after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Americans are stalwart in their support of the embattled country, with a large, bipartisan majority supporting increased sanctions against Russia and most also backing military and humanitarian support for Ukrainians, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.”
The giveaway in that statement is 'prolong'. If someone's only concern is to end things as quickly as possible, and not the form that ending might take, then they are just saying Ukraine must surrender, and trying to hide it.
Not well either, given Putin and cronies have literally made the same 'Terrible to prolong this' argument.
As indeed have a number of people on here... (Mostly people posting from IPs which coincidentally happen to be on lists of compromised PCs.)
One of the many reasons I am keen to see Putin fall (and ideally to end up with a bullet in the back of the head) is so that Trump sees* that the life of an autocrat is far from all plane sailing.
* Yeah, I know it'll make no difference
I’ve met a few Trump voters on this trip. They’re not all thick ugly racists
Some are smart and funny and admit Trump is a bit dangerous and crazy, they just believe the Woke Dems are even crazier and more dangerous. They are particularly agitated by soaring crime
Despite their Second Amendment arsenals? Despite law enforcement being a County, City or State responsibility, with a few Federal exceptions? And despite the Republicans largely running these in the Red States that you have toured?
+++++
I’m not saying their voting intentions are justified. I’m just telling you I’ve met these people, and this is what they say
@Foxy also misses that Minneapolis and Portland (both Democratic cities) have had a lot of looting and violence. Now, I don't believe that Antifa exists (as as organised movement), but I certainly can believe that rural Americans think that violence will come to their towns and villages if the Democrats are elected.
Americans fearing hordes of criminals bred in swarming cities is as old as the Republic and agrarian vision of Thomas Jefferson.
Was central to pre-Civil War nativism and post-CW populism, perhaps best exemplified by William Jennings Bryan. (In contrast, progressivism was a urban-based ideology.) Also key to prohibitionism and post-WW1 nativism.
A cultural observation from yesterday’s Nawlins jazz fest (which is brilliant, btw; if you ever get the chance: go)
I saw a LOT of Ukrainian flags and Ukrainian colours. One guy had dyed his white beard blue and yellow
There’s a lot of support for Ukraine in the USA. I wonder if this is partly because it satisfyingly unites most Americans against an obviously evil enemy, at a time when politics is generally and horribly polarised
There is apparently a rump of Trumpites that “supports” Russia or Putin or whatever. I haven’t met them.
Polling suggests my impression is correct:
“Two months after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Americans are stalwart in their support of the embattled country, with a large, bipartisan majority supporting increased sanctions against Russia and most also backing military and humanitarian support for Ukrainians, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.”
The giveaway in that statement is 'prolong'. If someone's only concern is to end things as quickly as possible, and not the form that ending might take, then they are just saying Ukraine must surrender, and trying to hide it.
Not well either, given Putin and cronies have literally made the same 'Terrible to prolong this' argument.
As indeed have a number of people on here... (Mostly people posting from IPs which coincidentally happen to be on lists of compromised PCs.)
The real giveaway is when you mock Putin in emasculating terms and they absolutely go off on one.
A cultural observation from yesterday’s Nawlins jazz fest (which is brilliant, btw; if you ever get the chance: go)
I saw a LOT of Ukrainian flags and Ukrainian colours. One guy had dyed his white beard blue and yellow
There’s a lot of support for Ukraine in the USA. I wonder if this is partly because it satisfyingly unites most Americans against an obviously evil enemy, at a time when politics is generally and horribly polarised
There is apparently a rump of Trumpites that “supports” Russia or Putin or whatever. I haven’t met them.
Polling suggests my impression is correct:
“Two months after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Americans are stalwart in their support of the embattled country, with a large, bipartisan majority supporting increased sanctions against Russia and most also backing military and humanitarian support for Ukrainians, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.”
You are absolutely right: there is a small group of nutters (Madison Cawthorn, Rand Paul, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Candace Owens, Steve Bannon), but mostly they have fallen into line.
Some choice quotes for you:
“Remember that Zelenskyy is a thug. Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and it is incredibly evil.” - Cawthorn
“NATO has been supplying the neo-Nazis in Ukraine with powerful weapons and extensive training on how to use them. What the hell is going with these #NATONazis?” - Taylor Greene
“President Zelensky is a very bad character who is working with globalists against the interests of his own people.” - Candace Owens
“No Republican should vote for any money for Ukraine. $0 for Ukraine.” - Steve Bannon
“Zelensky is a globalist puppet for Soros and the Clintons.” - Wendy Rogers
Remember that "globalist" really means "Jewish". Their anti-Semitism really fuels the visceral element of this.
A cultural observation from yesterday’s Nawlins jazz fest (which is brilliant, btw; if you ever get the chance: go)
I saw a LOT of Ukrainian flags and Ukrainian colours. One guy had dyed his white beard blue and yellow
There’s a lot of support for Ukraine in the USA. I wonder if this is partly because it satisfyingly unites most Americans against an obviously evil enemy, at a time when politics is generally and horribly polarised
There is apparently a rump of Trumpites that “supports” Russia or Putin or whatever. I haven’t met them.
Polling suggests my impression is correct:
“Two months after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Americans are stalwart in their support of the embattled country, with a large, bipartisan majority supporting increased sanctions against Russia and most also backing military and humanitarian support for Ukrainians, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.”
You are absolutely right: there is a small group of nutters (Madison Cawthorn, Rand Paul, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Candace Owens, Steve Bannon), but mostly they have fallen into line.
Some choice quotes for you:
“Remember that Zelenskyy is a thug. Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and it is incredibly evil.” - Cawthorn
“NATO has been supplying the neo-Nazis in Ukraine with powerful weapons and extensive training on how to use them. What the hell is going with these #NATONazis?” - Taylor Greene
“President Zelensky is a very bad character who is working with globalists against the interests of his own people.” - Candace Owens
“No Republican should vote for any money for Ukraine. $0 for Ukraine.” - Steve Bannon
“Zelensky is a globalist puppet for Soros and the Clintons.” - Wendy Rogers
Remember that "globalist" really means "Jewish". Their anti-Semitism really fuels the visceral element of this.
They will have to be going some to outdo the infamous Chris Williamson who blamed accusations that he was an anti-Semite on an international Israeli conspiracy to discredit him.
A cultural observation from yesterday’s Nawlins jazz fest (which is brilliant, btw; if you ever get the chance: go)
I saw a LOT of Ukrainian flags and Ukrainian colours. One guy had dyed his white beard blue and yellow
There’s a lot of support for Ukraine in the USA. I wonder if this is partly because it satisfyingly unites most Americans against an obviously evil enemy, at a time when politics is generally and horribly polarised
There is apparently a rump of Trumpites that “supports” Russia or Putin or whatever. I haven’t met them.
Polling suggests my impression is correct:
“Two months after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Americans are stalwart in their support of the embattled country, with a large, bipartisan majority supporting increased sanctions against Russia and most also backing military and humanitarian support for Ukrainians, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.”
The giveaway in that statement is 'prolong'. If someone's only concern is to end things as quickly as possible, and not the form that ending might take, then they are just saying Ukraine must surrender, and trying to hide it.
Not well either, given Putin and cronies have literally made the same 'Terrible to prolong this' argument.
As indeed have a number of people on here...
Well, I wanted to be polite about it. Fair to say that a fatalistic viewpoint of Ukrainian options combined with a morally superior desire to see things come to an end quickly comes across as suspicious in its preferred outcomes.
A cultural observation from yesterday’s Nawlins jazz fest (which is brilliant, btw; if you ever get the chance: go)
I saw a LOT of Ukrainian flags and Ukrainian colours. One guy had dyed his white beard blue and yellow
There’s a lot of support for Ukraine in the USA. I wonder if this is partly because it satisfyingly unites most Americans against an obviously evil enemy, at a time when politics is generally and horribly polarised
There is apparently a rump of Trumpites that “supports” Russia or Putin or whatever. I haven’t met them.
Polling suggests my impression is correct:
“Two months after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Americans are stalwart in their support of the embattled country, with a large, bipartisan majority supporting increased sanctions against Russia and most also backing military and humanitarian support for Ukrainians, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.”
You are absolutely right: there is a small group of nutters (Madison Cawthorn, Rand Paul, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Candace Owens, Steve Bannon), but mostly they have fallen into line.
Some choice quotes for you:
“Remember that Zelenskyy is a thug. Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and it is incredibly evil.” - Cawthorn
“NATO has been supplying the neo-Nazis in Ukraine with powerful weapons and extensive training on how to use them. What the hell is going with these #NATONazis?” - Taylor Greene
“President Zelensky is a very bad character who is working with globalists against the interests of his own people.” - Candace Owens
“No Republican should vote for any money for Ukraine. $0 for Ukraine.” - Steve Bannon
“Zelensky is a globalist puppet for Soros and the Clintons.” - Wendy Rogers
Remember that "globalist" really means "Jewish". Their anti-Semitism really fuels the visceral element of this.
They will have to be going some to outdo the infamous Chris Williamson who blamed accusations that he was an anti-Semite on an international Israeli conspiracy to discredit him.
Hilarious stuff. I cannot quite figure out if he was super proud of himself for coming up with a foolproof defence against the accusation and didn't see the flaw, or if he really believes he is not an anti-semite, which he very much is.
Comments
https://twitter.com/johngranlund/status/1521141684788252672?s=21&t=hPkdwMy_GEdB4Otulx4Mqg
The map of Eurasia is changing before us…
But from his lofty talk of denazifying Ukraine, which he was clear included its leadership, and the whinge (that too many still give credence to) about not liking NATO expansion 20 years ago as a justification, the larger aims are pretty clearly unattainable or have provoked a severe response at this point.
Not well either, given Putin and cronies have literally made the same 'Terrible to prolong this' argument.
I imagine the darkweb contains instructions for DIY explosives; fertiliser, and casio watches for timers.
There are fires and “accidents” right across Russia, from the Ukrainian border to Moscow to Siberia
Local Ukrainian workers?
May 2: Mailed absentee ballots must be postmarked by this date
May 3: Primary Election: Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.
May 3: Absentee Ballots May Be Returned by Mail or Personally Delivered to Your County Board of Elections. If Not Returned by Mail, Absentee Ballots Must Be Received by Your Board of Elections by 7:30 p.m.
May 13: Last day for boards of elections to receive non-military and overseas absentee ballots that have been postmarked on or before May 2.
May 23: Last day for boards of elections to receive military and overseas absentee ballots that have been mailed by 7:30 p.m. EDT on May 3.
EARLY IN-PERSON VOTING HOURS FOR MAY
May 1: 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
May 2: 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/voters/current-voting-schedule/2022-schedule/
SSI - note that
> early voting today until 2pm (7pm UK)
> polls open tomorrow at 6.30 am (11.30am UK) and close at 7.30pm (12.30am Wed UK)
Not just a matter of simple proportion, however; unless there is a further difference that escapes me, we need also to consider the inverse gearing of list seats to constituency seats, which is therefore much stronger in Scotland as a result. (If a party does well in the FPTP seats in a region, votes for it in the region as a whole for the region list seats are massively devalued.)
*thinks* was there a salient difference, in, say, Welsh politics that might explain Mr Blair's administration's differing policies ...?
Some week for the Trump clan.
My guess is that Ukrainian special forces would rather do that brag - unlike Putin's stormtroopers?
“Russian Far East: Fire at GRES-2 Power plant in Sakhalin this morning russia.liveuamap.com/en/2022/30-apr…”
https://twitter.com/liveuamap/status/1520285786880491522?s=21&t=e832CvqVAAqhy30-GIHdSA
It’s a long drive from Kursk to Sakhalin
Meanwhile there are two million Ukrainians “conveniently” located across Russia. And many of them will be murderously angry
I can imagine some are being supplied with modest explosives, however. It doesn’t take an atom bomb to knock out a railway bridge in Kursk
“This railway bridge was destroyed in the Kursk region.
It was actively used by Russia to transports military equipment to Ukraine.
Local authorities have confirmed it happened due to sabotage.
3+ million Ukrainians live in Russia.
Endless opportunities with infrastructure.”
https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1520929508630667264?s=21&t=e832CvqVAAqhy30-GIHdSA
*) Pure random bad luck. These incidents happen.
*) Increased demand due to the war. Russia needs new stuff fast; this causes safety procedures to be loosened.
*) Experts (people who know how things work) being moved to other tasks due to the war.
*) Fifth columnists.
*) Direct Ukrainian attacks.
*) More movement of materials due to the war.
*) Poor quality materials and supplies due to the sanctions and war use.
Be sure to pick up some genuine pralines before departure!
NEXTA
@nexta_tv
·
53m
❗️The #Latvian Foreign Ministry called on its citizens to leave the territory of #Transnistria and refuse to travel there.
It’s called “Russian Bridges Go BOOM!”
https://twitter.com/bruckenruski/status/1520471760159842310?s=21&t=sFVGKu7J_hYMF7gEAJpvTA
There have also been reported cyberattacks on infrastructure in both Ukraine and Russia.
Had a beer
Which opened
A chink
In the armour
Of Starmer.
@Foxy also misses that Minneapolis and Portland (both Democratic cities) have had a lot of looting and violence. Now, I don't believe that Antifa exists (as as organised movement), but I certainly can believe that rural Americans think that violence will come to their towns and villages if the Democrats are elected.
Rikard Jozwiak
@RikardJozwiak
the EU's 6th package against #Russia & #Belarus should be presented to EU ambassadors by Wed with a view to have it adopted by 9 May. #Ukraine
https://twitter.com/RikardJozwiak/status/1521091582111408129
Oh sorry!
They are attacking military infrastructure, as they should. As I would and as you would, if we were Olga’s brother
+++++
NOLA is a Dem city. And it’s experiencing a hideous surge in crime. And it’s in NOLA I’ve been hearing some of these pro-Trump voices
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This map is no longer available due to a violation of our Terms of Service and/or policies.
Spoilsports.
But give someone who knows what they are doing access to the bridge and a few tens of kgs of explosives, and they can wreak havoc.
Even then, there can be difficulties. The Germans failed to fully destroy the Ludendorff Bridge in 1945, giving the Allies a very useful bridge over the Rhine - at least for a few days,
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1yIT68b_ly3-SLavjl7YTZ5yHZ8l-5OUq&ll=50.01016912474845,31.005938008701833&z=4
"To remain somewhat relevant, Russia is doing away with its image as an even-handed actor in the conflict and is resorting back to leaning toward Palestinians to gain leverage over Israel in times of tensions."
https://ridl.io/en/the-end-of-russia-s-balancing-act-in-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict/
Some choice quotes for you:
“Remember that Zelenskyy is a thug. Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and it is incredibly evil.” - Cawthorn
“NATO has been supplying the neo-Nazis in Ukraine with powerful weapons and extensive training on how to use them. What the hell is going with these #NATONazis?” - Taylor Greene
“President Zelensky is a very bad character who is working with globalists against the interests of his own people.” - Candace Owens
“No Republican should vote for any money for Ukraine. $0 for Ukraine.” - Steve Bannon
“Zelensky is a globalist puppet for Soros and the Clintons.” - Wendy Rogers
Americans fearing hordes of criminals bred in swarming cities is as old as the Republic and agrarian vision of Thomas Jefferson.
Was central to pre-Civil War nativism and post-CW populism, perhaps best exemplified by William Jennings Bryan. (In contrast, progressivism was a urban-based ideology.) Also key to prohibitionism and post-WW1 nativism.
Nothing new under the American sun.