Sainsbury's sitrep — at last a negative Covid test! In the two weeks since I was last there, Sainsbury's has moved the cat food but not fixed the ATM machine. The annual summer shortage of trolleys is back — do they send them off to be overhauled? Mask wearing is down at the 10 to 20 per cent level, which is probably why I got Covid in the first place.
A senior Scottish National party MP accused of sexual assault has quit the party and will sit as an independent after the Metropolitan police said they were investigating the allegations.
The Met said it had received a complaint from a third party about Patrick Grady’s alleged sexual assault of a 19-year-old party worker at the Water Poet pub on Folgate Street, London, in October 2016.
Was a decent pub, the Water Poet. Now sadly gone, due to philistinic redevelopment.
Edit; I see Vanilla is a bit fritzy again.
I always recall the Water Poet as a bit frenetic - lots of crazy drinkers there. Fun, but it had the feeling that it could all go sideways.
O/T with apologies but PB is the place most likely to host a random expert on insect bites!
I was bitten a couple of nights ago as I was falling asleep - felt it at the time, almost like a bee or wasp sting without the dull ache afterwards. Couldn’t see the culprit by the time I had light.
What I now have is about 8 or ten puncture wounds that are like small cuts in an almost circular area the size of a two pence piece. No swelling just scabbing around the punctures.
Cannot find anything similar online so was intrigued and thought someone here might have had similar and know what it was. Thanks and apologies!
Spider?
Wasps like to hide in the bed. They fly through the window, say what’s all this then. Oh, that looks cosy
Have had lots of spider bites in past but this is different as lots of random individual punctures in a set area rather than pairs of punctures. Very weird
Did you drop a lamprey in the bed
Weirdly it doesn’t look dissimilar to a Lamprey’s mouth/bite!
Or a tiny vampire.
Leech bite? Though unlikely in your beddy byes.
Don’t think so - he’s busy skittling Kiwis at Headingly.
Do they look like Lyme disease at all?
Not tick, and too early (presumably). Plus the Lyme rash is [edit] logically distinct from the actual bite.itchiness/etc, if only in terms of its occurrence (albeit in the same spot). But it is a good point. And if the distinctive rash appears - GP pronto.
It is unlikely to be a tick - my dog gets them now and again. You don't feel it because it injects anaesthetic for the first 24 hours, but you might notice the hard lump and, if you try to get rid of it (or it gets detached accidentally) the head normally stays in such that you have a lump left, which takes a week or two then to go away.
In humans the symptoms are pretty similar - and all of this before Lyme disease is a potential issue.
None of that sounds like what you have at all.
If I had to guess, I'd say a nasty sort of ant got in your bed. You feel their bites - not immediately but not long after they are made - they can bite multiple times - and they are expert at being hard to find.
Looks like I’ve been sacked by my bank for being lax with security
Or the naughty people who took over your bank account have locked you out of it. All hail the cashless society.
No, definitely the bank. They say I don’t keep my password secure enough - which is bollocks. I use #dfg-Ekpo-@7j2 for all my online passwords. Four special characters, seven different letters, one capitalised, in a random order. What more do they want?
I am also reading recently (and I don't have sources or even know that this is a fact), that one of the reasons that Russia is gaining ground is that they have massive missile stockpiles and that their production speed is such that they can carry this on indefinitely. The West doesn't have huge stockpiles, and the production process is a lot slower and more expensive - like years. This would make sense - it's not shortage of sophisticated weaponry to send; it's physically not having the ammo.
Are they gaining ground net or are they concentrating all their forced in one small space at the expense of Ukrainian advances elsewhere?
Is LuckyGuy typing from a St Petersburg office room?
(In all seriousness he, and others, should read "We are Bellingcat". A very good story of how Bellingcat started, and how the likes of LuckyGuy are worse than the 'useful idiot' moniker they usually get called.)
A stupid post, as those which feature that dickless wink emoji invariably are. You have understood neither the linked article, nor the other point about ammunition resupply.
But by all means continue to analyse the war at the G A Henty kind of level at which you are obviously very comfortable.
I am also reading recently (and I don't have sources or even know that this is a fact), that one of the reasons that Russia is gaining ground is that they have massive missile stockpiles and that their production speed is such that they can carry this on indefinitely. The West doesn't have huge stockpiles, and the production process is a lot slower and more expensive - like years. This would make sense - it's not shortage of sophisticated weaponry to send; it's physically not having the ammo.
Are they gaining ground net or are they concentrating all their forced in one small space at the expense of Ukrainian advances elsewhere?
It’s not missiles where the Russians have an advantage. Hence their resorting to firing all kinds of bizarre items - partially adapted naval missiles etc.
They have vast stocks of unguided rockets and 152mm artillery shells.
Unlike tanks and other kit, this stuff has survived storage. 40 year old artillery shells will work - most of the time.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Looks like I’ve been sacked by my bank for being lax with security
Or the naughty people who took over your bank account have locked you out of it. All hail the cashless society.
No, definitely the bank. They say I don’t keep my password secure enough - which is bollocks. I use #dfg-Ekpo-@7j2 for all my online passwords. Four special characters, seven different letters, one capitalised, in a random order. What more do they want?
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
The Austrian submarine fleet, of course, set up a Trapp.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
The Austrian submarine fleet, of course, set up a Trapp.
Father-in-law Whitehead Fiuming away in the background.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
The Austrian submarine fleet, of course, set up a Trapp.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
The Austrian submarine fleet, of course, set up a Trapp.
Father-in-law Whitehead Fiuming away in the background.
The torpedo engineer and factory owner? I had no idea.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
I am also reading recently (and I don't have sources or even know that this is a fact), that one of the reasons that Russia is gaining ground is that they have massive missile stockpiles and that their production speed is such that they can carry this on indefinitely. The West doesn't have huge stockpiles, and the production process is a lot slower and more expensive - like years. This would make sense - it's not shortage of sophisticated weaponry to send; it's physically not having the ammo.
Are they gaining ground net or are they concentrating all their forced in one small space at the expense of Ukrainian advances elsewhere?
Is LuckyGuy typing from a St Petersburg office room?
(In all seriousness he, and others, should read "We are Bellingcat". A very good story of how Bellingcat started, and how the likes of LuckyGuy are worse than the 'useful idiot' moniker they usually get called.)
A stupid post, as those which feature that dickless wink emoji invariably are. You have understood neither the linked article, nor the other point about ammunition resupply.
But by all means continue to analyse the war at the G A Henty kind of level at which you are obviously very comfortable.
LG has a hideously poor record of trolling for Russia on PB. So I made a joke on that, and then gave a book recommendation that is quite good on this topic.
You should read it. You might learn something.
As it happens, I did read the article. And I understood it (I think, unless there was another layer of underlying subtext that your genius brain discerned). I don't think the article was persuasive. Did you?
BTW, I know you hate his Australian voice (apparently in your mind a reason to discount what he has to say), but Perun has another good video up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x0O_oObJBU
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
The Austrian submarine fleet, of course, set up a Trapp.
Father-in-law Whitehead Fiuming away in the background.
The torpedo engineer and factory owner? I had no idea.
Of course, we are obsessed with just von Trapp, not the unfortunate first wife who is very much the second Trapp.
I am also reading recently (and I don't have sources or even know that this is a fact), that one of the reasons that Russia is gaining ground is that they have massive missile stockpiles and that their production speed is such that they can carry this on indefinitely. The West doesn't have huge stockpiles, and the production process is a lot slower and more expensive - like years. This would make sense - it's not shortage of sophisticated weaponry to send; it's physically not having the ammo.
Are they gaining ground net or are they concentrating all their forced in one small space at the expense of Ukrainian advances elsewhere?
Is LuckyGuy typing from a St Petersburg office room?
(In all seriousness he, and others, should read "We are Bellingcat". A very good story of how Bellingcat started, and how the likes of LuckyGuy are worse than the 'useful idiot' moniker they usually get called.)
A stupid post, as those which feature that dickless wink emoji invariably are. You have understood neither the linked article, nor the other point about ammunition resupply.
But by all means continue to analyse the war at the G A Henty kind of level at which you are obviously very comfortable.
A pretty stupid article, though. The point about a long war is a decent one, but the conclusion daft. If we want to shorten the war, we must give Ukraine sufficient weapons to defeat the invasion before winter.
The idea that this can be settled by forcing Ukraine to concede territory, and then accept neutral status is utterly delusional. Grant Russia what it wants from its brutal and illegal invasion, and another round will inevitably follow.
Sainsbury's sitrep — at last a negative Covid test! In the two weeks since I was last there, Sainsbury's has moved the cat food but not fixed the ATM machine. The annual summer shortage of trolleys is back — do they send them off to be overhauled? Mask wearing is down at the 10 to 20 per cent level, which is probably why I got Covid in the first place.
I think I only saw one person in a mask in Sainsbury’s yesterday
Would be some collapse to lose from here. To be honest, other than the first twenty overs, the NZ attack has looked a bit toothless, and they should have played a spinner.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Would be some collapse to lose from here. To be honest, other than the first twenty overs, the NZ attack has looked a bit toothless, and they should have played a spinner.
The commentariat is making the point repeatedly that leaving out Patel after one bad game has been the Kiwis big mistake!
Would be some collapse to lose from here. To be honest, other than the first twenty overs, the NZ attack has looked a bit toothless, and they should have played a spinner.
The commentariat is making the point repeatedly that leaving out Patel after one bad game has been the Kiwis big mistake!
Yes, if Patel had been playing she'd have dispatched the English team to Rwanda. Or is this a different Patel?
Would be some collapse to lose from here. To be honest, other than the first twenty overs, the NZ attack has looked a bit toothless, and they should have played a spinner.
The commentariat is making the point repeatedly that leaving out Patel after one bad game has been the Kiwis big mistake!
Yes, if Patel had been playing she'd have dispatched the English team to Rwanda. Or is this a different Patel?
Re: Austria-Hungary and the Adriatic, a decade or so before WW1, in the twilight years of the Hapsburg Empire, a young American, Fiorello La Guardia, was US consul stationed at the seaport of Fiume, Hungary, which is now Rijeka, Croatia, but in those days was dominated by Italians.
La Guardia's most important duty as consul was granting required US authorization for ships loaded with immigrants bound for America, from across the Empire. Which amounted to scores of vessels and thousands of people every year.
One day an imperial party consisting of an archduchess & etc. were on a tour of the coast and visited Fiume/Rijeka. Where one of the tourist attractions was the immigrants. Unfortunately, only immigrant ship then in port was scheduled to depart within the hour. So she asked the local officials to delay it's departure until the next day, so that she & her friends could visit the ship and gaze upon the huddled masses.
No problem, said the officials with a bow. However, turned out their WAS a problem - Consul La Guardia.
Whose cooperation was necessary to arrange the delay, but who refused point-blank. Why? Because it would mean that several hundred immigrants crowded aboard with kit, kids & kaboodle would have to spend an extra day sweltering in close quarters on the kind of day seen in Leon's photo.
And when the Emperor's minions insisted, La Guardia told the local governor AND the manager of the steamship line, that if they insisted on delaying THIS ship, he'd be damned if he'd clear ANY ship for the USA from their port.
Upshot was that the ship sailed as scheduled, though the young Consul caught hell from his superiors in the State Department. Which didn't bother him too much, as he was just about ready to resign anyway, to go back to the States and enroll in law school.
A few years later, Fiorello La Guardia was sent to Congress, served in the US Army Air Corps during WWI and in 1933 was elected Mayor of New York City.
Would be some collapse to lose from here. To be honest, other than the first twenty overs, the NZ attack has looked a bit toothless, and they should have played a spinner.
The commentariat is making the point repeatedly that leaving out Patel after one bad game has been the Kiwis big mistake!
Yes, if Patel had been playing she'd have dispatched the English team to Rwanda. Or is this a different Patel?
As I soon found as a young pharmacist, there are quite a few Patel’s
Would be some collapse to lose from here. To be honest, other than the first twenty overs, the NZ attack has looked a bit toothless, and they should have played a spinner.
The commentariat is making the point repeatedly that leaving out Patel after one bad game has been the Kiwis big mistake!
Yes, if Patel had been playing she'd have dispatched the English team to Rwanda. Or is this a different Patel?
As I soon found as a young pharmacist, there are quite a few Patel’s
Causes all kinds of issues in some pharmacies with the records/labelling, as I’m sure you recall.
I like la Ross a lot, and it doesn't matter much for the Glasto legends slot which is about a general love-in with the crowd, but she's not quite hitting the notes to my ears.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Quite a naval history rich stretch of coastline; Lepanto, Actium and Rhium just down the way
The last action, or at least incident, must have been the mining of RN ships by Albania in the Korfu Strait in 1946. Unless there was something in the Yugo civil war?
Would be some collapse to lose from here. To be honest, other than the first twenty overs, the NZ attack has looked a bit toothless, and they should have played a spinner.
The commentariat is making the point repeatedly that leaving out Patel after one bad game has been the Kiwis big mistake!
Yes, if Patel had been playing she'd have dispatched the English team to Rwanda. Or is this a different Patel?
Tbf, that joke is Priti rubbish.
Man, you're on fire today - you have a Mordaunt wit!
Would be some collapse to lose from here. To be honest, other than the first twenty overs, the NZ attack has looked a bit toothless, and they should have played a spinner.
The commentariat is making the point repeatedly that leaving out Patel after one bad game has been the Kiwis big mistake!
Yes, if Patel had been playing she'd have dispatched the English team to Rwanda. Or is this a different Patel?
Tbf, that joke is Priti rubbish.
Man, your on fire today - you have a Mordaunt wit!
I am also reading recently (and I don't have sources or even know that this is a fact), that one of the reasons that Russia is gaining ground is that they have massive missile stockpiles and that their production speed is such that they can carry this on indefinitely. The West doesn't have huge stockpiles, and the production process is a lot slower and more expensive - like years. This would make sense - it's not shortage of sophisticated weaponry to send; it's physically not having the ammo.
Are they gaining ground net or are they concentrating all their forced in one small space at the expense of Ukrainian advances elsewhere?
Is LuckyGuy typing from a St Petersburg office room?
(In all seriousness he, and others, should read "We are Bellingcat". A very good story of how Bellingcat started, and how the likes of LuckyGuy are worse than the 'useful idiot' moniker they usually get called.)
A stupid post, as those which feature that dickless wink emoji invariably are. You have understood neither the linked article, nor the other point about ammunition resupply.
But by all means continue to analyse the war at the G A Henty kind of level at which you are obviously very comfortable.
A pretty stupid article, though. The point about a long war is a decent one, but the conclusion daft. If we want to shorten the war, we must give Ukraine sufficient weapons to defeat the invasion before winter.
The idea that this can be settled by forcing Ukraine to concede territory, and then accept neutral status is utterly delusional. Grant Russia what it wants from its brutal and illegal invasion, and another round will inevitably follow.
I find it curious that concessions are only suggested for the less aggressive party.
Hence the suggestions that the correct response to Arkan and the boys recreational genocides in the Balkan Wars of the 90s was for the Bosnians to give up more territory to Serbia.
...or Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, or Dorset for that matter?
Wel, not since about 600 CE or thereabouts.
There are interesting arguments to be made about exactly how Celtic any given location in Great Britain is. Genetically, it is arguable that most of the western half of the island ranges from 'pretty Celtic' to 'very Celtic indeed'. (Although it should be noted other arguments are available too.) Linguisto-culturally, clearly only Wales, Cornwall and the outer bits of Scotland get much above 'not really very Celtic at all'.
I like la Ross a lot, and it doesn't matter much for the Glasto legends slot which is about a general love-in with the crowd, but she's not quite hitting the notes to my ears.
With ears like those it's more a treatise than notes
...or Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, or Dorset for that matter?
Wel, not since about 600 CE or thereabouts.
There are interesting arguments to be made about exactly how Celtic any given location in Great Britain is. Genetically, it is arguable that most of the western half of the island ranges from 'pretty Celtic' to 'very Celtic indeed'. (Although it should be noted other arguments are available too.) Linguisto-culturally, clearly only Wales, Cornwall and the outer bits of Scotland get much above 'not really very Celtic at all'.
The outer-est parts of Scotland, however, aren’t very Celtic: they’re Viking.
I am also reading recently (and I don't have sources or even know that this is a fact), that one of the reasons that Russia is gaining ground is that they have massive missile stockpiles and that their production speed is such that they can carry this on indefinitely. The West doesn't have huge stockpiles, and the production process is a lot slower and more expensive - like years. This would make sense - it's not shortage of sophisticated weaponry to send; it's physically not having the ammo.
Are they gaining ground net or are they concentrating all their forced in one small space at the expense of Ukrainian advances elsewhere?
Is LuckyGuy typing from a St Petersburg office room?
(In all seriousness he, and others, should read "We are Bellingcat". A very good story of how Bellingcat started, and how the likes of LuckyGuy are worse than the 'useful idiot' moniker they usually get called.)
A stupid post, as those which feature that dickless wink emoji invariably are. You have understood neither the linked article, nor the other point about ammunition resupply.
But by all means continue to analyse the war at the G A Henty kind of level at which you are obviously very comfortable.
A pretty stupid article, though. The point about a long war is a decent one, but the conclusion daft. If we want to shorten the war, we must give Ukraine sufficient weapons to defeat the invasion before winter.
The idea that this can be settled by forcing Ukraine to concede territory, and then accept neutral status is utterly delusional. Grant Russia what it wants from its brutal and illegal invasion, and another round will inevitably follow.
I find it curious that concessions are only suggested for the less aggressive party. Hence the suggestions that the correct response to Arkan and the boys recreational genocides in the Balkan Wars of the 90s was for the Bosnians to give up more territory to Serbia.
I like la Ross a lot, and it doesn't matter much for the Glasto legends slot which is about a general love-in with the crowd, but she's not quite hitting the notes to my ears.
At the Jubilee concert they had her singing over a backing track with her mic very low in the mix.
I am also reading recently (and I don't have sources or even know that this is a fact), that one of the reasons that Russia is gaining ground is that they have massive missile stockpiles and that their production speed is such that they can carry this on indefinitely. The West doesn't have huge stockpiles, and the production process is a lot slower and more expensive - like years. This would make sense - it's not shortage of sophisticated weaponry to send; it's physically not having the ammo.
Are they gaining ground net or are they concentrating all their forced in one small space at the expense of Ukrainian advances elsewhere?
Interesting piece in the Daily Kos today on missile strikes on Russian ammo supply dumps. Russia is getting through its ammo quite quickly, but is quite poor at the transport from the railhead it seems. Having a whole bunch mouldering in Soviet era supply dumps well away from the front may not be that useful.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Old Town Kotor is ravishingly pretty…
… but horribly touristy. Like a Slavic Taormina with more billionaire yachties
Rural Armenia it is not. I shall lie in the sun, recharge my batteries, eat a few fish, then strike out for the Accursed Mountains. That is literally their name
...or Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, or Dorset for that matter?
Wel, not since about 600 CE or thereabouts.
There are interesting arguments to be made about exactly how Celtic any given location in Great Britain is. Genetically, it is arguable that most of the western half of the island ranges from 'pretty Celtic' to 'very Celtic indeed'. (Although it should be noted other arguments are available too.) Linguisto-culturally, clearly only Wales, Cornwall and the outer bits of Scotland get much above 'not really very Celtic at all'.
The outer-est parts of Scotland, however, aren’t very Celtic: they’re Viking.
I am also reading recently (and I don't have sources or even know that this is a fact), that one of the reasons that Russia is gaining ground is that they have massive missile stockpiles and that their production speed is such that they can carry this on indefinitely. The West doesn't have huge stockpiles, and the production process is a lot slower and more expensive - like years. This would make sense - it's not shortage of sophisticated weaponry to send; it's physically not having the ammo.
Are they gaining ground net or are they concentrating all their forced in one small space at the expense of Ukrainian advances elsewhere?
Interesting piece in the Daily Kos today on missile strikes on Russian ammo supply dumps. Russia is getting through its ammo quite quickly, but is quite poor at the transport from the railhead it seems. Having a whole bunch mouldering in Soviet era supply dumps well away from the front may not be that useful.
I thought the view was also that sanctions mean that Russia can't build any tanks or missiles so are basically running down stocks, while there are lots of weapons systems and ammunition from the west that can be given to Ukraine. So over time the balance is changing. And Russia sending tens of long range missiles a night at a few $m each hitting targets with little strategic value (ie residential blocks) while upsetting for the population isn't helping them win the war...
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
I like la Ross a lot, and it doesn't matter much for the Glasto legends slot which is about a general love-in with the crowd, but she's not quite hitting the notes to my ears.
At the Jubilee concert they had her singing over a backing track with her mic very low in the mix.
I’m wishing the spider had eaten my eardrums as it would spare me from the drunk wedding singer on stage at Glastonbury
I am also reading recently (and I don't have sources or even know that this is a fact), that one of the reasons that Russia is gaining ground is that they have massive missile stockpiles and that their production speed is such that they can carry this on indefinitely. The West doesn't have huge stockpiles, and the production process is a lot slower and more expensive - like years. This would make sense - it's not shortage of sophisticated weaponry to send; it's physically not having the ammo.
Are they gaining ground net or are they concentrating all their forced in one small space at the expense of Ukrainian advances elsewhere?
Interesting piece in the Daily Kos today on missile strikes on Russian ammo supply dumps. Russia is getting through its ammo quite quickly, but is quite poor at the transport from the railhead it seems. Having a whole bunch mouldering in Soviet era supply dumps well away from the front may not be that useful.
This kind of thing is reassuring. I got used to seeing regular evidence of successful Ukrainian attacks early in the war, and hapless convoys stuck in the mud, then slowly by surely as spring turned to summer it seemed to change into a grinding, relentless and ultimately victorious Russian war of artillery attrition.
I wondered what happened to those buccaneering Ukrainian forces. It seems they’re starting to find their form again, Joe Root style.
They’ve still not convincingly shown they can do mobile attacking warfare and capture back lost territory though. That’s the big challenge to come, starting in Kherson.
Is it possible to watch the cricket from Montenegro
The joys of Sky Go plus VPN
Going all the way to Montenegro to spend your time watching cricket must be the absolute definition of stupidity.
It’s a few hours out your day, and you can alternate with the nice view outside on the balcony. I listen to TMS whenever it’s on, holiday or not.
Watching excellent British sport live while in a cheap sunny foreign country is one of the great pleasures of modern travel. Only really do-able with top notch wifi and VPNs
I spent a memorable summer in 1995 in Paris listening to TMS on R4 longwave
I once spent a few hours in northwest Scotland listening to some sport. I had no idea what it was, because it was in Gaelic. I think.
I am also reading recently (and I don't have sources or even know that this is a fact), that one of the reasons that Russia is gaining ground is that they have massive missile stockpiles and that their production speed is such that they can carry this on indefinitely. The West doesn't have huge stockpiles, and the production process is a lot slower and more expensive - like years. This would make sense - it's not shortage of sophisticated weaponry to send; it's physically not having the ammo.
Are they gaining ground net or are they concentrating all their forced in one small space at the expense of Ukrainian advances elsewhere?
Interesting piece in the Daily Kos today on missile strikes on Russian ammo supply dumps. Russia is getting through its ammo quite quickly, but is quite poor at the transport from the railhead it seems. Having a whole bunch mouldering in Soviet era supply dumps well away from the front may not be that useful.
The US Navy, when it reactivated the battleships, found that 40 year old shells and propellant charges had… interesting properties.
Mind you, having a self taught “expert” opening 40 year old bagged charges, which were known to have been badly stored, in order to mix the contents up… Talk about sticking two fingers up at Ares….
Wonder what Gunner Grant would have said, after having all involved court-martialled and shot.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
I like la Ross a lot, and it doesn't matter much for the Glasto legends slot which is about a general love-in with the crowd, but she's not quite hitting the notes to my ears.
At the Jubilee concert they had her singing over a backing track with her mic very low in the mix.
Yes, think that's it. That worked. She's having to strain here.
Still, strong rapport, looks good, and she knows all the words.
I am also reading recently (and I don't have sources or even know that this is a fact), that one of the reasons that Russia is gaining ground is that they have massive missile stockpiles and that their production speed is such that they can carry this on indefinitely. The West doesn't have huge stockpiles, and the production process is a lot slower and more expensive - like years. This would make sense - it's not shortage of sophisticated weaponry to send; it's physically not having the ammo.
Are they gaining ground net or are they concentrating all their forced in one small space at the expense of Ukrainian advances elsewhere?
Interesting piece in the Daily Kos today on missile strikes on Russian ammo supply dumps. Russia is getting through its ammo quite quickly, but is quite poor at the transport from the railhead it seems. Having a whole bunch mouldering in Soviet era supply dumps well away from the front may not be that useful.
I thought the view was also that sanctions mean that Russia can't build any tanks or missiles so are basically running down stocks, while there are lots of weapons systems and ammunition from the west that can be given to Ukraine. So over time the balance is changing. And Russia sending tens of long range missiles a night at a few $m each hitting targets with little strategic value (ie residential blocks) while upsetting for the population isn't helping them win the war...
Yes, I think that true. The Russians are apparently getting through shells at a rate of about 60 000 per day, with about 20% duds, so a lot of resupply too. The tactic of a snails pace advance into towns of rubble is more of a WW1 tactic than modern combined arms battles of manoeuvre. The Ukranians are getting through a tenth or less of that, but better targeted, particularly on counterbattery fire.
It doesn't look like the Ukranians can hold out in Luhansk much longer, but they do seem to be doing better on other fronts, in Kharkiv and Kherson, and the Southern part of Donetsk. It really does look like a long war of attrition.
I am also reading recently (and I don't have sources or even know that this is a fact), that one of the reasons that Russia is gaining ground is that they have massive missile stockpiles and that their production speed is such that they can carry this on indefinitely. The West doesn't have huge stockpiles, and the production process is a lot slower and more expensive - like years. This would make sense - it's not shortage of sophisticated weaponry to send; it's physically not having the ammo.
Are they gaining ground net or are they concentrating all their forced in one small space at the expense of Ukrainian advances elsewhere?
Interesting piece in the Daily Kos today on missile strikes on Russian ammo supply dumps. Russia is getting through its ammo quite quickly, but is quite poor at the transport from the railhead it seems. Having a whole bunch mouldering in Soviet era supply dumps well away from the front may not be that useful.
I thought the view was also that sanctions mean that Russia can't build any tanks or missiles so are basically running down stocks, while there are lots of weapons systems and ammunition from the west that can be given to Ukraine. So over time the balance is changing. And Russia sending tens of long range missiles a night at a few $m each hitting targets with little strategic value (ie residential blocks) while upsetting for the population isn't helping them win the war...
While sanctions aren’t helping, it seems that the Russian arms industry consists, in large part, of warming over Cold War designs and offering childish fantasies of wonder waffen. Which they can’t actually build.
Note the complete absence of T14 and SU-57. And dropping a short range ballistic missile from a plane isn’t a “hypersonic unstoppable super missile”.
I really can’t believe how easy England are making it look chasing 300 for the second test in a row. Used to be thought almost impossible.
It’s not a done deal but looking at who is still in the locker 120 odd should be easy.
I am an enormous fan of Trent Boult but it’s weird how toothless NZ are looking on a late day 4 pitch.
At England’s scoring rates this should be finished by lunch. So NZ have to get 8 wickets by then. Doesn’t look likely.
As they say at Headingley - look up, not down. The weather today not conducive to swing, and the pitch has been pretty good. It’s not a coincidence that there have been some big winning chases here in recent times. WI in 2017 and us in 2019. Look how easy Mitchel and Blundell made it look this morning. I also think we have changed, and for the better. Previous England sides might have scratched along today at 2 an over or less, leaving a lot more to get in the morning. Not this lot. There will be bumps in the road. He’ll the first innings could have been an all out for under 100 on another day. But if they can keep playing like this they might get a few more converts back to test cricket.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Old Town Kotor is ravishingly pretty…
… but horribly touristy. Like a Slavic Taormina with more billionaire yachties
Rural Armenia it is not. I shall lie in the sun, recharge my batteries, eat a few fish, then strike out for the Accursed Mountains. That is literally their name
Did the mountains get that name, because folks having to climb them at some point passed some remark like - how many more of these Goddamned Mountains are there, anyway?
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Ok, bad form to name a name, but a shortlist of possible candidates maybe?
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
The pivot from very fine people on both sides to very crap people on both sides is an entirely natural evolution.
I am also reading recently (and I don't have sources or even know that this is a fact), that one of the reasons that Russia is gaining ground is that they have massive missile stockpiles and that their production speed is such that they can carry this on indefinitely. The West doesn't have huge stockpiles, and the production process is a lot slower and more expensive - like years. This would make sense - it's not shortage of sophisticated weaponry to send; it's physically not having the ammo.
Are they gaining ground net or are they concentrating all their forced in one small space at the expense of Ukrainian advances elsewhere?
Interesting piece in the Daily Kos today on missile strikes on Russian ammo supply dumps. Russia is getting through its ammo quite quickly, but is quite poor at the transport from the railhead it seems. Having a whole bunch mouldering in Soviet era supply dumps well away from the front may not be that useful.
I thought the view was also that sanctions mean that Russia can't build any tanks or missiles so are basically running down stocks, while there are lots of weapons systems and ammunition from the west that can be given to Ukraine. So over time the balance is changing. And Russia sending tens of long range missiles a night at a few $m each hitting targets with little strategic value (ie residential blocks) while upsetting for the population isn't helping them win the war...
While sanctions aren’t helping, it seems that the Russian arms industry consists, in large part, of warming over Cold War designs and offering childish fantasies of wonder waffen. Which they can’t actually build.
Note the complete absence of T14 and SU-57. And dropping a short range ballistic missile from a plane isn’t a “hypersonic unstoppable super missile”.
One interesting snippet I read elsewhere is that many of their still-used long-range missile designs use *very* old tech . Discrete components on breadboards where nowadays we might use more complex ICs or FPGAs. Hence sanctions will not have much effect on that particular aspect.
As as aside, the Bellingcat book I mentioned earlier describes the Kremlin's attitude to disinformation: Dismiss, Distort, Distract, Dismay. A few details below:
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Thes are not the same things though.
The two decisions acknowledged as the worst in the Supreme Court’s history (prior to this month) - Dredd Scott, and the Slaughterhouses case - were never reversed by the Court, such is the institutional respect for precedent.
The Roe decision was at the time a carefully crafted compromise, supported by both Democrat and Republican appointees. To completely overrule so important a precedent, settled law for half a century, is utterly unprecedented.
This, from the liberal justices’ dissent, is also unprecedented. They’re basically saying that it’s no longer a court of law. “The majority has overruled Roe and Casey for one and only one reason: because it has always despised them, and now it has the votes to discard them. The majority thereby substitutes a rule by judges for the rule of law.”
Weather in Seattle today is not dissimilar from Kotor; forecast high is 90F, sunny with fairly low humidity
Tad on the hot side for yours truly, was out and about early this morning, and am heading out in a bit. Wore my authentic pith helmet (with real or at least quasi-pith) earlier, it works very well for an hour or so if well-soaked for starters.
Does take considerable self-confidence to wear in public. Reckon it would be perfect for Glastonbury.
I am also reading recently (and I don't have sources or even know that this is a fact), that one of the reasons that Russia is gaining ground is that they have massive missile stockpiles and that their production speed is such that they can carry this on indefinitely. The West doesn't have huge stockpiles, and the production process is a lot slower and more expensive - like years. This would make sense - it's not shortage of sophisticated weaponry to send; it's physically not having the ammo.
Are they gaining ground net or are they concentrating all their forced in one small space at the expense of Ukrainian advances elsewhere?
Interesting piece in the Daily Kos today on missile strikes on Russian ammo supply dumps. Russia is getting through its ammo quite quickly, but is quite poor at the transport from the railhead it seems. Having a whole bunch mouldering in Soviet era supply dumps well away from the front may not be that useful.
I thought the view was also that sanctions mean that Russia can't build any tanks or missiles so are basically running down stocks, while there are lots of weapons systems and ammunition from the west that can be given to Ukraine. So over time the balance is changing. And Russia sending tens of long range missiles a night at a few $m each hitting targets with little strategic value (ie residential blocks) while upsetting for the population isn't helping them win the war...
While sanctions aren’t helping, it seems that the Russian arms industry consists, in large part, of warming over Cold War designs and offering childish fantasies of wonder waffen. Which they can’t actually build.
Note the complete absence of T14 and SU-57. And dropping a short range ballistic missile from a plane isn’t a “hypersonic unstoppable super missile”.
The T14 is not in production yet AIUI. With sanctions limiting digital imports it's not likely that Russia can build any.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
The pivot from very fine people on both sides to very crap people on both sides is an entirely natural evolution.
There are very few fine people in US politics at the moment. Biden is one of them - I think he has shown remarkable judgement in doing what he can in a nearly impossible situation.
That doesn’t effect the comedy of seeing people change their philosophical positions on “X” in an instant.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Ok, bad form to name a name, but a shortlist of possible candidates maybe?
Why is it 'bad form' to name a name?
Obviously none of my posts would ever be susceptible to adverse criticism but in the unlikely event I made some error of judgement in a post, I would have no objection to my faux pas being pointed out.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Old Town Kotor is ravishingly pretty…
… but horribly touristy. Like a Slavic Taormina with more billionaire yachties
Rural Armenia it is not. I shall lie in the sun, recharge my batteries, eat a few fish, then strike out for the Accursed Mountains. That is literally their name
Did the mountains get that name, because folks having to climb them at some point passed some remark like - how many more of these Goddamned Mountains are there, anyway?
See here for a kind-of explanation. They do look spectacularly rugged
The Lonely Planet guide says this Accursed Mountain bit of the country, the Montenegrin-Albanian border, is possibly the “least explored region in Europe”
OOOOOH. I have to go!
Kotor is gorgeous but very definitely explored. There’s a surprising number of Americans here. Wassat about? Yachties? Maybe cruises
I am also reading recently (and I don't have sources or even know that this is a fact), that one of the reasons that Russia is gaining ground is that they have massive missile stockpiles and that their production speed is such that they can carry this on indefinitely. The West doesn't have huge stockpiles, and the production process is a lot slower and more expensive - like years. This would make sense - it's not shortage of sophisticated weaponry to send; it's physically not having the ammo.
Are they gaining ground net or are they concentrating all their forced in one small space at the expense of Ukrainian advances elsewhere?
Interesting piece in the Daily Kos today on missile strikes on Russian ammo supply dumps. Russia is getting through its ammo quite quickly, but is quite poor at the transport from the railhead it seems. Having a whole bunch mouldering in Soviet era supply dumps well away from the front may not be that useful.
I thought the view was also that sanctions mean that Russia can't build any tanks or missiles so are basically running down stocks, while there are lots of weapons systems and ammunition from the west that can be given to Ukraine. So over time the balance is changing. And Russia sending tens of long range missiles a night at a few $m each hitting targets with little strategic value (ie residential blocks) while upsetting for the population isn't helping them win the war...
While sanctions aren’t helping, it seems that the Russian arms industry consists, in large part, of warming over Cold War designs and offering childish fantasies of wonder waffen. Which they can’t actually build.
Note the complete absence of T14 and SU-57. And dropping a short range ballistic missile from a plane isn’t a “hypersonic unstoppable super missile”.
One interesting snippet I read elsewhere is that many of their still-used long-range missile designs use *very* old tech . Discrete components on breadboards where nowadays we might use more complex ICs or FPGAs. Hence sanctions will not have much effect on that particular aspect.
As as aside, the Bellingcat book I mentioned earlier describes the Kremlin's attitude to disinformation: Dismiss, Distort, Distract, Dismay. A few details below:
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Old Town Kotor is ravishingly pretty…
… but horribly touristy. Like a Slavic Taormina with more billionaire yachties
Rural Armenia it is not. I shall lie in the sun, recharge my batteries, eat a few fish, then strike out for the Accursed Mountains. That is literally their name
Did the mountains get that name, because folks having to climb them at some point passed some remark like - how many more of these Goddamned Mountains are there, anyway?
Reminds me of a set Greg Proops did the first time he did the Edinburgh Festival. "Why is *everything* uphill?!?!"
I am also reading recently (and I don't have sources or even know that this is a fact), that one of the reasons that Russia is gaining ground is that they have massive missile stockpiles and that their production speed is such that they can carry this on indefinitely. The West doesn't have huge stockpiles, and the production process is a lot slower and more expensive - like years. This would make sense - it's not shortage of sophisticated weaponry to send; it's physically not having the ammo.
Are they gaining ground net or are they concentrating all their forced in one small space at the expense of Ukrainian advances elsewhere?
Interesting piece in the Daily Kos today on missile strikes on Russian ammo supply dumps. Russia is getting through its ammo quite quickly, but is quite poor at the transport from the railhead it seems. Having a whole bunch mouldering in Soviet era supply dumps well away from the front may not be that useful.
This kind of thing is reassuring. I got used to seeing regular evidence of successful Ukrainian attacks early in the war, and hapless convoys stuck in the mud, then slowly by surely as spring turned to summer it seemed to change into a grinding, relentless and ultimately victorious Russian war of artillery attrition.
I wondered what happened to those buccaneering Ukrainian forces. It seems they’re starting to find their form again, Joe Root style.
They’ve still not convincingly shown they can do mobile attacking warfare and capture back lost territory though. That’s the big challenge to come, starting in Kherson.
This war could go any number of ways, but it's hard to see a way that Russia ends up stronger than it did before it started this mess. *If* Europe can manage to scrounge enough energy supplies to see it through the next winter, then it is screwed in the short and medium term without some rather harsh reversals in policy and changes in leadership.
I do not for a minute believe that Russia has either a limitless amount of weaponry (including ammo) and men to throw at Ukraine in the way it has been doing. So the question becomes whether Ukraine's supply of weapons, and its own people, can last long enough to see Russia worn down. Some people think that's exactly what they were doing in Severodonetsk and the surrounding area.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
The pivot from very fine people on both sides to very crap people on both sides is an entirely natural evolution.
There are very few fine people in US politics at the moment. Biden is one of them - I think he has shown remarkable judgement in doing what he can in a nearly impossible situation.
That doesn’t effect the comedy of seeing people change their philosophical positions on “X” in an instant.
As sad as it is, sometimes being the adult in the room absolutely does not pay off.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Ok, bad form to name a name, but a shortlist of possible candidates maybe?
Why is it 'bad form' to name a name?
Obviously none of my posts would ever be susceptible to adverse criticism but in the unlikely event I made some error of judgement in a post, I would have no objection to my faux pas being pointed out.
There's a word 'clype' in Scottish, the shame of which forms a certain viewpoint.
I am also reading recently (and I don't have sources or even know that this is a fact), that one of the reasons that Russia is gaining ground is that they have massive missile stockpiles and that their production speed is such that they can carry this on indefinitely. The West doesn't have huge stockpiles, and the production process is a lot slower and more expensive - like years. This would make sense - it's not shortage of sophisticated weaponry to send; it's physically not having the ammo.
Are they gaining ground net or are they concentrating all their forced in one small space at the expense of Ukrainian advances elsewhere?
Interesting piece in the Daily Kos today on missile strikes on Russian ammo supply dumps. Russia is getting through its ammo quite quickly, but is quite poor at the transport from the railhead it seems. Having a whole bunch mouldering in Soviet era supply dumps well away from the front may not be that useful.
I thought the view was also that sanctions mean that Russia can't build any tanks or missiles so are basically running down stocks, while there are lots of weapons systems and ammunition from the west that can be given to Ukraine. So over time the balance is changing. And Russia sending tens of long range missiles a night at a few $m each hitting targets with little strategic value (ie residential blocks) while upsetting for the population isn't helping them win the war...
While sanctions aren’t helping, it seems that the Russian arms industry consists, in large part, of warming over Cold War designs and offering childish fantasies of wonder waffen. Which they can’t actually build.
Note the complete absence of T14 and SU-57. And dropping a short range ballistic missile from a plane isn’t a “hypersonic unstoppable super missile”.
The T14 is not in production yet AIUI. With sanctions limiting digital imports it's not likely that Russia can build any.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
At lease someone has learned from the Democrats' removal of the filibuster for non-SCOTUS judicial appointments, and what inevitably followed.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
The pivot from very fine people on both sides to very crap people on both sides is an entirely natural evolution.
There are very few fine people in US politics at the moment. Biden is one of them - I think he has shown remarkable judgement in doing what he can in a nearly impossible situation.
That doesn’t effect the comedy of seeing people change their philosophical positions on “X” in an instant.
As sad as it is, sometimes being the adult in the room absolutely does not pay off.
The Democrats made a number of big mistakes. Ceding large areas of local and state government to increasingly rabid opposition was one of them. Too much effort went into high profile campaigns that were hopeless causes.
Now the crazies control huge chunks of the system - which enables systematic control of the election machinery for national level elections.
While sanctions aren’t helping, it seems that the Russian arms industry consists, in large part, of warming over Cold War designs and offering childish fantasies of wonder waffen. Which they can’t actually build.
Note the complete absence of T14 and SU-57. And dropping a short range ballistic missile from a plane isn’t a “hypersonic unstoppable super missile”.
Russian tech is absolute crap. It's so bad I have trouble processing it. For decades we have been told time and time again, "that's the export model" or "in trained hands they are deadly", in reality it appears everything Russian is a generation or two behind the West. I bet the Chinese are shitting bricks now, wondering if their stuff is as duff.
Those smooth talking, marauding Cornishmen spreading their seed?
Yours truly has been warning PBers for ages re: the dangers of extreme Cornish nationalism, in particular their insidious project, the Greater East Cornwall Co-Prosperity Sphere.
Consisting of Cornwall improper PLUS Transtamaria all the way westward to Shepherd's Bush Roundabout.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Ok, bad form to name a name, but a shortlist of possible candidates maybe?
Oh, I name names all the time when trolling the archives. Just forgot to drop the link
While sanctions aren’t helping, it seems that the Russian arms industry consists, in large part, of warming over Cold War designs and offering childish fantasies of wonder waffen. Which they can’t actually build.
Note the complete absence of T14 and SU-57. And dropping a short range ballistic missile from a plane isn’t a “hypersonic unstoppable super missile”.
Russian tech is absolute crap. It's so bad I have trouble processing it. For decades we have been told time and time again, "that's the export model" or "in trained hands they are deadly", in reality it appears everything Russian is a generation or two behind the West. I bet the Chinese are shitting bricks now, wondering if their stuff is as duff.
Their technology isn’t crap. They can come up with brilliant designs. The P-700 missile automatically talking to others in a swarm to distribute targets comes to mind. The problem always was getting things into production with usable quality vs a few prototypes hand built by top scientists.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
I agree the SC is in trouble, but that is not because of the reversal of R v W. This is a symptom not a cause.
Leaving aside polemic it is entirely rational to say that the law of abortion is obviously a matter which can't be dealt with by a constitution because science, medicine, philosophy and morality change. It is a matter for voters and legislators.
This is all they have done. They have opened the door for people to start voting and organising, and stop relying on courts to cover up the USA's democratic deficit. This is how it is in the UK and we get by.
The next step should be to do the same with guns. Incidentally, why didn't the SC do this when it had a more sane composition?
Those smooth talking, marauding Cornishmen spreading their seed?
Yours truly has been warning PBers for ages re: the dangers of extreme Cornish nationalism, in particular their insidious project, the Greater East Cornwall Co-Prosperity Sphere.
Consisting of Cornwall improper PLUS Transtamaria all the way westward to Shepherd's Bush Roundabout.
You have been warned - again!
Eastward to Shepherd's Bush, I think you mean!
You might think that, I could not possibly comment.
Hint - ambitions of the truly extreme wing of Cornish nationalism are WAY more expansive than you imagine!
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Ok, bad form to name a name, but a shortlist of possible candidates maybe?
Oh, I name names all the time when trolling the archives. Just forgot to drop the link
If you want a really good laugh, read the thread from the morning of the EU referendum result. It's like a parallel universe considering what happened since then
While sanctions aren’t helping, it seems that the Russian arms industry consists, in large part, of warming over Cold War designs and offering childish fantasies of wonder waffen. Which they can’t actually build.
Note the complete absence of T14 and SU-57. And dropping a short range ballistic missile from a plane isn’t a “hypersonic unstoppable super missile”.
Russian tech is absolute crap. It's so bad I have trouble processing it. For decades we have been told time and time again, "that's the export model" or "in trained hands they are deadly", in reality it appears everything Russian is a generation or two behind the West. I bet the Chinese are shitting bricks now, wondering if their stuff is as duff.
Their technology isn’t crap. They can come up with brilliant designs. The P-700 missile automatically talking to others in a swarm to distribute targets comes to mind. The problem always was getting things into production with usable quality vs a few prototypes hand built by top scientists.
I disagree, when you see the crashed aircraft or remnants of weapons it's striking how old and badly assembled everything looks. The kind of manufacturing we'd take for granted in the West even for consumer goods appears completely absent in Russia. Russia had the money over the last 30 years or so, but they don't seem to have invested it in industry.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Old Town Kotor is ravishingly pretty…
… but horribly touristy. Like a Slavic Taormina with more billionaire yachties
Rural Armenia it is not. I shall lie in the sun, recharge my batteries, eat a few fish, then strike out for the Accursed Mountains. That is literally their name
Did the mountains get that name, because folks having to climb them at some point passed some remark like - how many more of these Goddamned Mountains are there, anyway?
See here for a kind-of explanation. They do look spectacularly rugged
The Lonely Planet guide says this Accursed Mountain bit of the country, the Montenegrin-Albanian border, is possibly the “least explored region in Europe”
OOOOOH. I have to go!
Kotor is gorgeous but very definitely explored. There’s a surprising number of Americans here. Wassat about? Yachties? Maybe cruises
You can get there from Dubrovnik. Which they go to 'cos of Game of Thrones. But it's a tourist hellhole, so you don't want to spend too long there.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
I agree the SC is in trouble, but that is not because of the reversal of R v W. This is a symptom not a cause.
Leaving aside polemic it is entirely rational to say that the law of abortion is obviously a matter which can't be dealt with by a constitution because science, medicine, philosophy and morality change. It is a matter for voters and legislators.
This is all they have done. They have opened the door for people to start voting and organising, and stop relying on courts to cover up the USA's democratic deficit. This is how it is in the UK and we get by.
The next step should be to do the same with guns. Incidentally, why didn't the SC do this when it had a more sane composition?
The court has had a 5-4 conservative spilt for decades until RGB's death where it is now a 6-3 split.
While sanctions aren’t helping, it seems that the Russian arms industry consists, in large part, of warming over Cold War designs and offering childish fantasies of wonder waffen. Which they can’t actually build.
Note the complete absence of T14 and SU-57. And dropping a short range ballistic missile from a plane isn’t a “hypersonic unstoppable super missile”.
Russian tech is absolute crap. It's so bad I have trouble processing it. For decades we have been told time and time again, "that's the export model" or "in trained hands they are deadly", in reality it appears everything Russian is a generation or two behind the West. I bet the Chinese are shitting bricks now, wondering if their stuff is as duff.
Their technology isn’t crap. They can come up with brilliant designs. The P-700 missile automatically talking to others in a swarm to distribute targets comes to mind. The problem always was getting things into production with usable quality vs a few prototypes hand built by top scientists.
I disagree, when you see the crashed aircraft or remnants of weapons it's striking how old and badly assembled everything looks. The kind of manufacturing we'd take for granted in the West even for consumer goods appears completely absent in Russia. Russia had the money over the last 30 years or so, but they don't seem to have invested it in industry.
That’s because they have trouble mass producing anything at good quality. The infrastructure for that is missing. And, largely, always has been. What they had has been lost since the end of the Cold War.
Hand built items are a different matter.
So they have zillions of tanks from 1984 which have welds so shitty they leak when it rains.
At the same time they have prototypes in the tank museum that are quite brilliant.
To be fair to @IanB2 this is the view I am missing, from my balcony, as I watch the cricket. Perhaps foolish
Do you no longer need to work?
He is working. You see hills and mountains in @Leon's photos — he sees limitless supplies of flint.
And Kotor is the Banana Belt of Montenegro. Lot less ocean view and plenty more rocks inland & upward.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Old Town Kotor is ravishingly pretty…
… but horribly touristy. Like a Slavic Taormina with more billionaire yachties
Rural Armenia it is not. I shall lie in the sun, recharge my batteries, eat a few fish, then strike out for the Accursed Mountains. That is literally their name
Did the mountains get that name, because folks having to climb them at some point passed some remark like - how many more of these Goddamned Mountains are there, anyway?
See here for a kind-of explanation. They do look spectacularly rugged
The Lonely Planet guide says this Accursed Mountain bit of the country, the Montenegrin-Albanian border, is possibly the “least explored region in Europe”
OOOOOH. I have to go!
Kotor is gorgeous but very definitely explored. There’s a surprising number of Americans here. Wassat about? Yachties? Maybe cruises
You can get there from Dubrovnik. Which they go to 'cos of Game of Thrones. But it's a tourist hellhole, so you don't want to spend too long there.
I’ve been to Dubrovnik twice. Once was just after the Balkan Wars, when it was DESERTED, and me and my pals wandered the marble-paved, slightly shrapnel-shredded roads alone, and you could sit anywhere you liked and drink great wine for a quid a bottle, or whatever
Then I went ten years later. OMFG. Never again
Good lesson in life tho: always visit places that are just emerging from wars. You will have it to yourself, and everyone will be keen to see you
I have honestly applied this rule several times. Always works. I aim to be in Odessa in 2028
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
Whilst trawling through the archives I found a candidate for worst aged take of all time which is a 2018 post from Kavanaugh's confirmation where a poster claimed we would see far less Judicial Activism from the court going forward.
Judicial Activism is like States Rights. It’s bad when the other lot did it.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Do I sniff some of the old False Equivalence?
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
No. The Democrats universally stated that States Rights were evil, until they realised that they could use them.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
I think the SC is in trouble whether packed or not after this. The bias and lack of integrity is too blatant.
Turing the Supreme Court into the only legislative body actually doing legislation resulted in it becoming a political body. A chamber of Congress with seats for life.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
Yes, a mess. Not sure about inevitable though. Trump again for me. He rigged the Court good and proper. GOP - this new batshit crazy one - now empowered to refight the civil rights era with a stacked deck. Puppet SC. Gerrymandered voting. Structural Senate bias. Dark age beckons for America.
But America is not prospering after decades of restless progressivism and liberalism. It is being overtaken by China and its people have worse lives than Europeans, and its racial problems are not assisted by millions of Woke idiot 20-somethings pointing at Working Class Whitey and saying YOUR FAULT
Comments
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_mining
Some really exotic places, even Norfolk.
http://www.brecsoc.org.uk/projects/breaking-new-ground/flint-in-the-brecks/the-flint-mines/lingheath/
And the modern mine is roughly in his current part of the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rădăuți-Prut
Long way to go tomorrow morning though.
But by all means continue to analyse the war at the G A Henty kind of level at which you are obviously very comfortable.
They have vast stocks of unguided rockets and 152mm artillery shells.
Unlike tanks and other kit, this stuff has survived storage. 40 year old artillery shells will work - most of the time.
Imagine the scene in Leon's photo, with Venetian galleys riding in the bay.
Or the Austro-Hungarian Fleet on summer maneuvers, with Franz Joseph and Sisi and the rest of the imperial entourage enjoying the spectacle from the deck of the flagship.
Seeing the sun go down across that ridge to the west, between the bay and open Adriatic. On a day like today.
Obviously.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Cattaro
Kotor looks a fuck off natural harbour
You should read it. You might learn something.
As it happens, I did read the article. And I understood it (I think, unless there was another layer of underlying subtext that your genius brain discerned). I don't think the article was persuasive. Did you?
BTW, I know you hate his Australian voice (apparently in your mind a reason to discount what he has to say), but Perun has another good video up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x0O_oObJBU
The point about a long war is a decent one, but the conclusion daft. If we want to shorten the war, we must give Ukraine sufficient weapons to defeat the invasion before winter.
The idea that this can be settled by forcing Ukraine to concede territory, and then accept neutral status is utterly delusional. Grant Russia what it wants from its brutal and illegal invasion, and another round will inevitably follow.
Or is this a different Patel?
La Guardia's most important duty as consul was granting required US authorization for ships loaded with immigrants bound for America, from across the Empire. Which amounted to scores of vessels and thousands of people every year.
One day an imperial party consisting of an archduchess & etc. were on a tour of the coast and visited Fiume/Rijeka. Where one of the tourist attractions was the immigrants. Unfortunately, only immigrant ship then in port was scheduled to depart within the hour. So she asked the local officials to delay it's departure until the next day, so that she & her friends could visit the ship and gaze upon the huddled masses.
No problem, said the officials with a bow. However, turned out their WAS a problem - Consul La Guardia.
Whose cooperation was necessary to arrange the delay, but who refused point-blank. Why? Because it would mean that several hundred immigrants crowded aboard with kit, kids & kaboodle would have to spend an extra day sweltering in close quarters on the kind of day seen in Leon's photo.
And when the Emperor's minions insisted, La Guardia told the local governor AND the manager of the steamship line, that if they insisted on delaying THIS ship, he'd be damned if he'd clear ANY ship for the USA from their port.
Upshot was that the ship sailed as scheduled, though the young Consul caught hell from his superiors in the State Department. Which didn't bother him too much, as he was just about ready to resign anyway, to go back to the States and enroll in law school.
A few years later, Fiorello La Guardia was sent to Congress, served in the US Army Air Corps during WWI and in 1933 was elected Mayor of New York City.
Hence the suggestions that the correct response to Arkan and the boys recreational genocides in the Balkan Wars of the 90s was for the Bosnians to give up more territory to Serbia.
https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2022/6/26/2106464/-Ukraine-Update-Russia-s-supply-and-command-and-control-hubs-no-longer-safe-from-Ukrainian-attack?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=Sendible&utm_campaign=RSS
… but horribly touristy. Like a Slavic Taormina with more billionaire yachties
Rural Armenia it is not. I shall lie in the sun, recharge my batteries, eat a few fish, then strike out for the Accursed Mountains. That is literally their name
It’s not a done deal but looking at who is still in the locker 120 odd should be easy.
I am an enormous fan of Trent Boult but it’s weird how toothless NZ are looking on a late day 4 pitch.
At England’s scoring rates this should be finished by lunch. So NZ have to get 8 wickets by then. Doesn’t look likely.
I wondered what happened to those buccaneering Ukrainian forces. It seems they’re starting to find their form again, Joe Root style.
They’ve still not convincingly shown they can do mobile attacking warfare and capture back lost territory though. That’s the big challenge to come, starting in Kherson.
Mind you, having a self taught “expert” opening 40 year old bagged charges, which were known to have been badly stored, in order to mix the contents up… Talk about sticking two fingers up at Ares….
Wonder what Gunner Grant would have said, after having all involved court-martialled and shot.
Under Trump, a lot of Democrat state governments discovered that they were fans of States Rights to resist The Orange Ones more gratuitous stupidities….
Still, strong rapport, looks good, and she knows all the words.
It doesn't look like the Ukranians can hold out in Luhansk much longer, but they do seem to be doing better on other fronts, in Kharkiv and Kherson, and the Southern part of Donetsk. It really does look like a long war of attrition.
Note the complete absence of T14 and SU-57. And dropping a short range ballistic missile from a plane isn’t a “hypersonic unstoppable super missile”.
I also think we have changed, and for the better. Previous England sides might have scratched along today at 2 an over or less, leaving a lot more to get in the morning. Not this lot.
There will be bumps in the road. He’ll the first innings could have been an all out for under 100 on another day. But if they can keep playing like this they might get a few more converts back to test cricket.
Hinted only but, yes, I think I do.
Equally, judicial activism is awesome or horrific. Depending on what it is used for - hence Republican hypocracy on this.
The lesson in all this is to think of the future. And the past.
Which is why Biden is resisting court packing. Since it would result in the next Republican president packing the court to the point of undoing anything vaguely progressive back to 1900 or so. Maybe earlier.
As as aside, the Bellingcat book I mentioned earlier describes the Kremlin's attitude to disinformation: Dismiss, Distort, Distract, Dismay. A few details below:
https://ai.umich.edu/blog-posts/spotting-fake-news-ben-nimmo-disinformation-misinformation-fake-news-teach-out/
The two decisions acknowledged as the worst in the Supreme Court’s history (prior to this month) - Dredd Scott, and the Slaughterhouses case - were never reversed by the Court, such is the institutional respect for precedent.
The Roe decision was at the time a carefully crafted compromise, supported by both Democrat and Republican appointees. To completely overrule so important a precedent, settled law for half a century, is utterly unprecedented.
This, from the liberal justices’ dissent, is also unprecedented. They’re basically saying that it’s no longer a court of law.
“The majority has overruled Roe and Casey for one and only one reason: because it has always despised them, and now it has the votes to discard them. The majority thereby substitutes a rule by judges for the rule of law.”
Tad on the hot side for yours truly, was out and about early this morning, and am heading out in a bit. Wore my authentic pith helmet (with real or at least quasi-pith) earlier, it works very well for an hour or so if well-soaked for starters.
Does take considerable self-confidence to wear in public. Reckon it would be perfect for Glastonbury.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-14_Armata
That doesn’t effect the comedy of seeing people change their philosophical positions on “X” in an instant.
Obviously none of my posts would ever be susceptible to adverse criticism but in the unlikely event I made some error of judgement in a post, I would have no objection to my faux pas being pointed out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accursed_Mountains
The Lonely Planet guide says this Accursed Mountain bit of the country, the Montenegrin-Albanian border, is possibly the “least explored region in Europe”
OOOOOH. I have to go!
Kotor is gorgeous but very definitely explored. There’s a surprising number of Americans here. Wassat about? Yachties? Maybe cruises
So making more may be close to impossible.
I do not for a minute believe that Russia has either a limitless amount of weaponry (including ammo) and men to throw at Ukraine in the way it has been doing. So the question becomes whether Ukraine's supply of weapons, and its own people, can last long enough to see Russia worn down. Some people think that's exactly what they were doing in Severodonetsk and the surrounding area.
Now the crazies control huge chunks of the system - which enables systematic control of the election machinery for national level elections.
Stupid, horrible and utterly inevitable.
https://vf.politicalbetting.com/discussion/comment/2049902/#Comment_2049902
Leaving aside polemic it is entirely rational to say that the law of abortion is obviously a matter which can't be dealt with by a constitution because science, medicine, philosophy and morality change. It is a matter for voters and legislators.
This is all they have done. They have opened the door for people to start voting and organising, and stop relying on courts to cover up the USA's democratic deficit. This is how it is in the UK and we get by.
The next step should be to do the same with guns. Incidentally, why didn't the SC do this when it had a more sane composition?
Hint - ambitions of the truly extreme wing of Cornish nationalism are WAY more expansive than you imagine!
Think about it.
https://tinyurl.com/2s3t6zmx
Oh. OK
Maybe i won’t go there. Lawks
Hand built items are a different matter.
So they have zillions of tanks from 1984 which have welds so shitty they leak when it rains.
At the same time they have prototypes in the tank museum that are quite brilliant.
Then I went ten years later. OMFG. Never again
Good lesson in life tho: always visit places that are just emerging from wars. You will have it to yourself, and everyone will be keen to see you
I have honestly applied this rule several times. Always works. I aim to be in Odessa in 2028