It seems inevitable to me that what will happen in Ukraine is a new iron curtain. It is never going to return to a democracy, uneasily balanced between being Russian-oriented and Western-oriented. Financially and militarily, Western Ukraine is now a de-facto US protectorate, likely to join the EU and NATO, and Russia can't say or do anything about it.
On the other side, the Donbass bits could be reconquered, but that leads to its own issues - who represents these people now their political parties, language etc. have been banned in Ukraine? Also who pays for the reconstruction? Not me thanks. Russia owning the area is about the only way I see to get them to pay for any of it. Wherever the line is drawn, it looks to me like heavily garrisoned Western and Eastern Ukraine to me.
Russian had never been banned in any part of Ukraine, though there are some restrictions on printing and publishing in it.
On paying for the reconstruction, I think the Russian reserves frozen at the start of the war are an excellent beginning, and a $20 levy on every barrel of oil sold by Russia in the free world should make up much of the rest.
It seems inevitable to me that what will happen in Ukraine is a new iron curtain. It is never going to return to a democracy, uneasily balanced between being Russian-oriented and Western-oriented. Financially and militarily, Western Ukraine is now a de-facto US protectorate, likely to join the EU and NATO, and Russia can't say or do anything about it.
On the other side, the Donbass bits could be reconquered, but that leads to its own issues - who represents these people now their political parties, language etc. have been banned in Ukraine? Also who pays for the reconstruction? Not me thanks. Russia owning the area is about the only way I see to get them to pay for any of it. Wherever the line is drawn, it looks to me like heavily garrisoned Western and Eastern Ukraine to me.
The question of whether to orient towards the West or towards Russia has been settled in Ukraine, because Russia has behaved so badly in the parts of Ukraine it has controlled for eight years that they've turned former supporters against them.
So the people in the Donbas will doubtless form new parties to represent them, and have new concerns, now that the Russia question is settled in Ukrainian politics.
Re new sites easier said than done people keep rejecting them for causing “cancer”. Frankly I would make masts be installable anywhere without planning permission. Labour should make that policy.
But anyway, might not help anyway as building construction can have a big impact
Yes hopefully first one is in your front garden and second in your bedroom
Already got one in my bedroom, got a micro cell. Do you have Wi-Fi? So do you
Very happy to have one in my garden on my roof, no problem at all
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
The Man in the High Castle by P. K. Dick? Pavane by Keith Roberts? The Alteration by Kingsley Amis? All old but good in their way. Though the latter includes a passing reference to Msgnrs Benn (as Lord Stansgate), Redgrave and Foot of the Holy Inquisition, quite gratuitous [edit]. One can suspect the author's inclinations ...
On the other side, the Donbass bits could be reconquered, but that leads to its own issues - who represents these people now their political parties, language etc. have been banned in Ukraine?
If Russian is banned, why are Ukrainian TV channels still broadcasting in Russian? For example you can watch a livestream here:
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
The Man in the High Castle by P. K. Dick? Pavane by Keith Roberts? The Alteration by Kingsley Amis? All old but good in their way. Though the latter includes a passing reference to Msgnrs Benn (as Lord Stansgate), Redgrave and Foot of the Holy Inquisition.
I find The Man in the High Castle a frustrating read, somehow - a great concept that somehow doesn't get executed well (much as I love PKD's work). I find myself just trying to find the snippets about the alternate history novel within the alternate history novel, i.e. the alt story of how Britain and the USA just needle each other post-war.
They do over Trump but as Adlai Stevenson replied when told he had the support of all thinking people in his election battle with IKE 'thank you but afraid that won't do, unfortunately I need a majority!'
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
The Man in the High Castle by P. K. Dick? Pavane by Keith Roberts? The Alteration by Kingsley Amis? All old but good in their way. Though the latter includes a passing reference to Msgnrs Benn (as Lord Stansgate), Redgrave and Foot of the Holy Inquisition.
I enjoyed Dominion by C J Sansom. But that might be just as I really enjoy Sansom.
Someone on here once recommended The Years of Rice and Salt about an alternative history where the plague wiped out 99% of Europe not 1/3, and I enjoyed it, though I know someone who hated it as it was not your traditional kind of alternative history, being more like a series of vignettes.
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
It looks like Germany has played a blinder by getting the US to send Abrams tanks as well.
Wonder what Putin must be thinking.
The prospect of modern western battle tanks being introduced to theatre with, if the reports of the US preparing to provide Ukraine with aircraft are correct, the promise of air superiority. Wouldn't fancy being a Russian in a tank, or anything else.
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
The Man in the High Castle by P. K. Dick? Pavane by Keith Roberts? The Alteration by Kingsley Amis? All old but good in their way. Though the latter includes a passing reference to Msgnrs Benn (as Lord Stansgate), Redgrave and Foot of the Holy Inquisition.
I find The Man in the High Castle a frustrating read, somehow - a great concept that somehow doesn't get executed well (much as I love PKD's work). I find myself just trying to find the snippets about the alternate history novel within the alternate history novel, i.e. the alt story of how Britain and the USA just needle each other post-war.
That is a surprisingly common problem in some fiction - presenting the hints of a more interesting story, which people might prefer over the story you are actually intending to tell them.
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
The Man in the High Castle by P. K. Dick? Pavane by Keith Roberts? The Alteration by Kingsley Amis? All old but good in their way. Though the latter includes a passing reference to Msgnrs Benn (as Lord Stansgate), Redgrave and Foot of the Holy Inquisition.
I find The Man in the High Castle a frustrating read, somehow - a great concept that somehow doesn't get executed well (much as I love PKD's work). I find myself just trying to find the snippets about the alternate history novel within the alternate history novel, i.e. the alt story of how Britain and the USA just needle each other post-war.
Fatherland by Robert Harris is good, as is Len Deighton's SS-GB. The Man in the High Castle is probably better, conceptually, than either of the aforementioned novels, but gets lost in esotericism in the latter half, and suffers from Philip K Dick's reliance on amphetamines to write.
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
If you want 70's Britain, Agent Lavender: The Flight of Harold Wilson (Tom Black, Jack Tindale) is an amusing romp.
As for alt histories I'm waiting for someone to write:
What if the Johnson government had stuck to letting it wash over us in Spring 2020? (I suspect you need a lot of butterflies flapping very hard to stop the government blinking, which would be interesting in itself.)
What if Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng had made a gesture towards making the sums add up on September 23?
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
It looks like Germany has played a blinder by getting the US to send Abrams tanks as well.
Wonder what Putin must be thinking.
The prospect of modern western battle tanks being introduced to theatre with, if the reports of the US preparing to provide Ukraine with aircraft are correct, the promise of air superiority. Wouldn't fancy being a Russian in a tank, or anything else.
Looks like an end-game.
According to Russian propaganda, their military technology is decades ahead of the West's, so I'm sure they will be looking forward to the opportunity to demonstrate their superiority.
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
The Man in the High Castle by P. K. Dick? Pavane by Keith Roberts? The Alteration by Kingsley Amis? All old but good in their way. Though the latter includes a passing reference to Msgnrs Benn (as Lord Stansgate), Redgrave and Foot of the Holy Inquisition.
I find The Man in the High Castle a frustrating read, somehow - a great concept that somehow doesn't get executed well (much as I love PKD's work). I find myself just trying to find the snippets about the alternate history novel within the alternate history novel, i.e. the alt story of how Britain and the USA just needle each other post-war.
That is a surprisingly common problem in some fiction - presenting the hints of a more interesting story, which people might prefer over the story you are actually intending to tell them.
Similarly and related and still on alt history novels - William Gibson, The Difference Engine.
I find the whole thing rather less than the sum of the fabulous-sounding blurb on the back of the book. BUT...the final page just left me stunned. Even if it feels like it came from a totally different book. Frustrating.
It seems inevitable to me that what will happen in Ukraine is a new iron curtain. It is never going to return to a democracy, uneasily balanced between being Russian-oriented and Western-oriented. Financially and militarily, Western Ukraine is now a de-facto US protectorate, likely to join the EU and NATO, and Russia can't say or do anything about it.
On the other side, the Donbass bits could be reconquered, but that leads to its own issues - who represents these people now their political parties, language etc. have been banned in Ukraine? Also who pays for the reconstruction? Not me thanks. Russia owning the area is about the only way I see to get them to pay for any of it. Wherever the line is drawn, it looks to me like heavily garrisoned Western and Eastern Ukraine to me.
The question of whether to orient towards the West or towards Russia has been settled in Ukraine, because Russia has behaved so badly in the parts of Ukraine it has controlled for eight years that they've turned former supporters against them.
So the people in the Donbas will doubtless form new parties to represent them, and have new concerns, now that the Russia question is settled in Ukrainian politics.
I'm open to this perspective being shown to be the case - I know that there were stories of Russian soldiers being berated rather than welcomed. But I also know that in a war, the enemy invader is always portrayed as savage and deeply unwelcome. The disgusting rape stories were shown to have been a fabrication. I know I'll get shit for that, but they were. And I'm sure in Russia the invaders are portrayed as being the thin red line protecting ethnic Russians from being cleansed. I think that unless shown otherwise, I will continue to believe that ethnic Russians in the occupied Donbass are broadly in favour of Russian control, and would be concerned about their status in a future rainbow Ukraine.
Going from a 33k vote win to a 1.5m vote win in 4 years must say a lot about either DeSantis's opponent, or the people of Florida, in that case.
But in any case thinking man was a relative term in this instance.
What happened was that he lived in the most elderly state in the nation, so benefitted from the swing towards autocracy among American Boomers. He was topped up by the me, me, me crowd moving to Florida because they didn't like protecting others in the pandemic.
On the other side, the Donbass bits could be reconquered, but that leads to its own issues - who represents these people now their political parties, language etc. have been banned in Ukraine?
If Russian is banned, why are Ukrainian TV channels still broadcasting in Russian? For example you can watch a livestream here:
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
The Man in the High Castle by P. K. Dick? Pavane by Keith Roberts? The Alteration by Kingsley Amis? All old but good in their way. Though the latter includes a passing reference to Msgnrs Benn (as Lord Stansgate), Redgrave and Foot of the Holy Inquisition.
I find The Man in the High Castle a frustrating read, somehow - a great concept that somehow doesn't get executed well (much as I love PKD's work). I find myself just trying to find the snippets about the alternate history novel within the alternate history novel, i.e. the alt story of how Britain and the USA just needle each other post-war.
Fatherland by Robert Harris is good, as is Len Deighton's SS-GB. The Man in the High Castle is probably better, conceptually, than either of the aforementioned novels, but gets lost in esotericism in the latter half, and suffers from Philip K Dick's reliance on amphetamines to write.
Fatherland is brilliant, one of Harris's best I think. I liked SS-GB too but have never read the Man in the High Castle. Maybe it should be next on my reading list!
Never really got into tanks, ever since I was kid I got REALLY interested in WW2 warplanes and WW2 warships, and also WW1 warships.
Why not? Tanks are really a form of train, after all they run on tracks.
NO! They don't run on RAILS!!!
They do, sort of - or plateways, depending on the design. The original tanks basically "laid their own track" - track-laying was the expression, I think - and the roadwheels were flanged to run on the rails on the tracks. More modern tanks are more like plateways with a central flange.
Daily Mail throws it weight behind Trussnomics. Sunak Hunt losing the argument among its own electoral tribe is one way of looking at it, but more importantly means the next Tory leader definitely represents Trussnomics, versus the stale outdated economics of Starmer he inherits from Hunt and Sunak. I said this would happen, and now it’s coming true 😇
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
The Man in the High Castle by P. K. Dick? Pavane by Keith Roberts? The Alteration by Kingsley Amis? All old but good in their way. Though the latter includes a passing reference to Msgnrs Benn (as Lord Stansgate), Redgrave and Foot of the Holy Inquisition.
I find The Man in the High Castle a frustrating read, somehow - a great concept that somehow doesn't get executed well (much as I love PKD's work). I find myself just trying to find the snippets about the alternate history novel within the alternate history novel, i.e. the alt story of how Britain and the USA just needle each other post-war.
Fatherland by Robert Harris is good, as is Len Deighton's SS-GB. The Man in the High Castle is probably better, conceptually, than either of the aforementioned novels, but gets lost in esotericism in the latter half, and suffers from Philip K Dick's reliance on amphetamines to write.
SS-GB suffers from a plot where chunks Germans decided to back the resistance over chunks of other Germans. Which isn’t how the court of Emperor Hitler worked, at all. Even the anti-Nazi Germans were 100% ok with the Greater Germany thing.
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
The Man in the High Castle by P. K. Dick? Pavane by Keith Roberts? The Alteration by Kingsley Amis? All old but good in their way. Though the latter includes a passing reference to Msgnrs Benn (as Lord Stansgate), Redgrave and Foot of the Holy Inquisition.
I find The Man in the High Castle a frustrating read, somehow - a great concept that somehow doesn't get executed well (much as I love PKD's work). I find myself just trying to find the snippets about the alternate history novel within the alternate history novel, i.e. the alt story of how Britain and the USA just needle each other post-war.
That is a surprisingly common problem in some fiction - presenting the hints of a more interesting story, which people might prefer over the story you are actually intending to tell them.
Similarly and related and still on alt history novels - William Gibson, The Difference Engine.
I find the whole thing rather less than the sum of the fabulous-sounding blurb on the back of the book. BUT...the final page just left me stunned. Even if it feels like it came from a totally different book. Frustrating.
Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll take a look.
I'd recommend Dominion by C J Sansom - splits from real history when Halifax becomes PM instead of Churchill.
Also, similar era Fatherland by Robert Harris.
Edit: pols - I see several have already suggested the excellent Fatherland.
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
The Man in the High Castle by P. K. Dick? Pavane by Keith Roberts? The Alteration by Kingsley Amis? All old but good in their way. Though the latter includes a passing reference to Msgnrs Benn (as Lord Stansgate), Redgrave and Foot of the Holy Inquisition.
I find The Man in the High Castle a frustrating read, somehow - a great concept that somehow doesn't get executed well (much as I love PKD's work). I find myself just trying to find the snippets about the alternate history novel within the alternate history novel, i.e. the alt story of how Britain and the USA just needle each other post-war.
Fatherland by Robert Harris is good, as is Len Deighton's SS-GB. The Man in the High Castle is probably better, conceptually, than either of the aforementioned novels, but gets lost in esotericism in the latter half, and suffers from Philip K Dick's reliance on amphetamines to write.
SS-GB suffers from a plot where chunks Germans decided to back the resistance over chunks of other Germans. Which isn’t how the court of Emperor Hitler worked, at all. Even the anti-Nazi Germans were 100% ok with the Greater Germany thing.
I dunno, the Abwehr were pretty anti-everything-German by the time of WWII (or at least, absolutely anti everything Nazi, and by that point it was the same thing). For most of WWII the Abwehr acted contrary to Nazi Germany's interests, and it's not unbelievable to imagine that an anti-Nazi faction would side with us in an enemy of my enemy is my friend situation.
Daily Mail throws it weight behind Trussnomics. Sunak Hunt losing the argument among its own electoral tribe is one way of looking at it, but more importantly means the next Tory leader definitely represents Trussnomics, versus the stale outdated economics of Starmer he inherits from Hunt and Sunak. I said this would happen, and now it’s coming true 😇
I don't think it shows expert prognostication that the Tories would go in the opposite direction when they lose the next election - I predicted that too.
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
The Man in the High Castle by P. K. Dick? Pavane by Keith Roberts? The Alteration by Kingsley Amis? All old but good in their way. Though the latter includes a passing reference to Msgnrs Benn (as Lord Stansgate), Redgrave and Foot of the Holy Inquisition.
I find The Man in the High Castle a frustrating read, somehow - a great concept that somehow doesn't get executed well (much as I love PKD's work). I find myself just trying to find the snippets about the alternate history novel within the alternate history novel, i.e. the alt story of how Britain and the USA just needle each other post-war.
Robert Harris’s Fatherland is pretty good - a vision of 1960s Nazi germany.
It's almost impressive how many people still seem to have not noticed gaming, despite it being massive for a long time.
I do know people a little older than me who did decide it was not an 'adult' thing to do anymore as they got older (as ridiculous as suggesting reading is not an adult thing, because books for children exist), but of my age and lower even if we don't game as much as we might once have, the idea of dropping it as a hobby never occurs - it's just a time availability and mood thing.
Though actually, like Biden, this appears simply to be cockup followed by cooperation with the authorities. Rather than lies and obstruction.
For ordinary people, possession of confidential or commercially sensitive documents is likely exacerbated by working from home. A lot more WFH executives own printers than shredders.
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
The Man in the High Castle by P. K. Dick? Pavane by Keith Roberts? The Alteration by Kingsley Amis? All old but good in their way. Though the latter includes a passing reference to Msgnrs Benn (as Lord Stansgate), Redgrave and Foot of the Holy Inquisition.
I find The Man in the High Castle a frustrating read, somehow - a great concept that somehow doesn't get executed well (much as I love PKD's work). I find myself just trying to find the snippets about the alternate history novel within the alternate history novel, i.e. the alt story of how Britain and the USA just needle each other post-war.
Fatherland by Robert Harris is good, as is Len Deighton's SS-GB. The Man in the High Castle is probably better, conceptually, than either of the aforementioned novels, but gets lost in esotericism in the latter half, and suffers from Philip K Dick's reliance on amphetamines to write.
SS-GB suffers from a plot where chunks Germans decided to back the resistance over chunks of other Germans. Which isn’t how the court of Emperor Hitler worked, at all. Even the anti-Nazi Germans were 100% ok with the Greater Germany thing.
I dunno, the Abwehr were pretty anti-everything-German by the time of WWII (or at least, absolutely anti everything Nazi, and by that point it was the same thing). For most of WWII the Abwehr acted contrary to Nazi Germany's interests, and it's not unbelievable to imagine that an anti-Nazi faction would side with us in an enemy of my enemy is my friend situation.
Er no. Canaris may or may not have been working for MI6 full time, but the rest of the Abwehr ranged between full on Nazi to "Kill Hitler and keep Greater Germany".
Canaris was not a Liberal Democrat - he was deeply involved in extreme right stuff from the end of WWI - upto and including murder. Indeed he was sidelined under Weimar for his extremism - which is why Hitler and Co thought he was an ideal chum. It was just that to Canaris, Hitler and Co were ugly oiks.
Though actually, like Biden, this appears simply to be cockup followed by cooperation with the authorities. Rather than lies and obstruction.
Doesn't matter - It's enough for Trump and his supporters to claim it is exactly the same, and ensure rallying support even from those who dislike him as he is 'attacked' for his own bizarre obstruction around the papers he had.
It's almost impressive how many people still seem to have not noticed gaming, despite it being massive for a long time.
I do know people a little older than me who did decide it was not an 'adult' thing to do anymore as they got older (as ridiculous as suggesting reading is not an adult thing, because books for children exist), but of my age and lower even if we don't game as much as we might once have, the idea of dropping it as a hobby never occurs - it's just a time availability and mood thing.
My problem with games now (having grown up with C64, Mega Drive, Saturn, PS1...) is though they're ridiculously technically impressive now, they're just not that much...fun. It's all a bit too serious, and there's too many buttons (clearly I'm getting old...).
I buy the odd game, marvel at it for a bit, get bored very quickly and instead find something playable, something simple that I can play for an hour as a quick blast, something retro with a high score table and not a 70 hour campaign mode.
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
The Man in the High Castle by P. K. Dick? Pavane by Keith Roberts? The Alteration by Kingsley Amis? All old but good in their way. Though the latter includes a passing reference to Msgnrs Benn (as Lord Stansgate), Redgrave and Foot of the Holy Inquisition.
I find The Man in the High Castle a frustrating read, somehow - a great concept that somehow doesn't get executed well (much as I love PKD's work). I find myself just trying to find the snippets about the alternate history novel within the alternate history novel, i.e. the alt story of how Britain and the USA just needle each other post-war.
Fatherland by Robert Harris is good, as is Len Deighton's SS-GB. The Man in the High Castle is probably better, conceptually, than either of the aforementioned novels, but gets lost in esotericism in the latter half, and suffers from Philip K Dick's reliance on amphetamines to write.
Fatherland is brilliant, one of Harris's best I think. I liked SS-GB too but have never read the Man in the High Castle. Maybe it should be next on my reading list!
I quite liked The Man in the High Castle but it's a bit short for its ambition, and much more developed in the TV series, which I think is still available on Amazon Prime. Dominion is good, though skip the bizarre afterword which savagely attacks the idea of Scottish independence as though it was somehow related to WW2. SS-GB is atmospheric but limited in ambition.
Put the OBR downgrade on growth before me, conveniently wiping out Hunt’s headroom for tax cuts/helping striking nurses, and I will go OH, HOW CONVENIENT FOR HIM.
I don’t trust the OBR people as independent one bit.
Interestingly, they say one of the main reasons for the downgrade is labour shortages. Maybe a little dig at government strict on temporary work visas policy?
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
The Man in the High Castle by P. K. Dick? Pavane by Keith Roberts? The Alteration by Kingsley Amis? All old but good in their way. Though the latter includes a passing reference to Msgnrs Benn (as Lord Stansgate), Redgrave and Foot of the Holy Inquisition.
I find The Man in the High Castle a frustrating read, somehow - a great concept that somehow doesn't get executed well (much as I love PKD's work). I find myself just trying to find the snippets about the alternate history novel within the alternate history novel, i.e. the alt story of how Britain and the USA just needle each other post-war.
Fatherland by Robert Harris is good, as is Len Deighton's SS-GB. The Man in the High Castle is probably better, conceptually, than either of the aforementioned novels, but gets lost in esotericism in the latter half, and suffers from Philip K Dick's reliance on amphetamines to write.
Fatherland is brilliant, one of Harris's best I think. I liked SS-GB too but have never read the Man in the High Castle. Maybe it should be next on my reading list!
I quite liked The Man in the High Castle but it's a bit short for its ambition, and much more developed in the TV series, which I think is still available on Amazon Prime. Dominion is good, though skip the bizarre afterword which savagely attacks the idea of Scottish independence as though it was somehow related to WW2. SS-GB is atmospheric but limited in ambition.
Though actually, like Biden, this appears simply to be cockup followed by cooperation with the authorities. Rather than lies and obstruction.
Doesn't matter - It's enough for Trump and his supporters to claim it is exactly the same, and ensure rallying support even from those who dislike him as he is 'attacked' for his own bizarre obstruction around the papers he had.
The more fundamental question around the discovery of documents at Biden's house et al is what the lawyers were looking for in the first place.
If the purpose of the search was to find out whether Biden had any materials - and there is another question as to what would have prompted such a search - then it could easily have been done by White House staff or interns. You do not get expensive lawyers combing around looking for files. It's complete overkill.
It's almost impressive how many people still seem to have not noticed gaming, despite it being massive for a long time.
I do know people a little older than me who did decide it was not an 'adult' thing to do anymore as they got older (as ridiculous as suggesting reading is not an adult thing, because books for children exist), but of my age and lower even if we don't game as much as we might once have, the idea of dropping it as a hobby never occurs - it's just a time availability and mood thing.
My problem with games now (having grown up with C64, Mega Drive, Saturn, PS1...) is though they're ridiculously technically impressive now, they're just not that much...fun. It's all a bit too serious, and there's too many buttons (clearly I'm getting old...).
I buy the odd game, marvel at it for a bit, get bored very quickly and instead find something playable, something simple that I can play for an hour as a quick blast, something retro with a high score table and not a 70 hour campaign mode.
Civ 3 is the pinnacle for me. Sad, old git I know. But can't be bothered.
It's almost impressive how many people still seem to have not noticed gaming, despite it being massive for a long time.
I do know people a little older than me who did decide it was not an 'adult' thing to do anymore as they got older (as ridiculous as suggesting reading is not an adult thing, because books for children exist), but of my age and lower even if we don't game as much as we might once have, the idea of dropping it as a hobby never occurs - it's just a time availability and mood thing.
My problem with games now (having grown up with C64, Mega Drive, Saturn, PS1...) is though they're ridiculously technically impressive now, they're just not that much...fun. It's all a bit too serious, and there's too many buttons (clearly I'm getting old...).
I buy the odd game, marvel at it for a bit, get bored very quickly and instead find something playable, something simple that I can play for an hour as a quick blast, something retro with a high score table and not a 70 hour campaign mode.
Civ 3 is the pinnacle for me. Sad, old git I know. But can't be bothered.
Civ 3 was brilliant - not too complicated but got what was needed.
It's almost impressive how many people still seem to have not noticed gaming, despite it being massive for a long time.
I do know people a little older than me who did decide it was not an 'adult' thing to do anymore as they got older (as ridiculous as suggesting reading is not an adult thing, because books for children exist), but of my age and lower even if we don't game as much as we might once have, the idea of dropping it as a hobby never occurs - it's just a time availability and mood thing.
My problem with games now (having grown up with C64, Mega Drive, Saturn, PS1...) is though they're ridiculously technically impressive now, they're just not that much...fun. It's all a bit too serious, and there's too many buttons (clearly I'm getting old...).
I buy the odd game, marvel at it for a bit, get bored very quickly and instead find something playable, something simple that I can play for an hour as a quick blast, something retro with a high score table and not a 70 hour campaign mode.
Civ 3 is the pinnacle for me. Sad, old git I know. But can't be bothered.
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
The Man in the High Castle by P. K. Dick? Pavane by Keith Roberts? The Alteration by Kingsley Amis? All old but good in their way. Though the latter includes a passing reference to Msgnrs Benn (as Lord Stansgate), Redgrave and Foot of the Holy Inquisition.
I find The Man in the High Castle a frustrating read, somehow - a great concept that somehow doesn't get executed well (much as I love PKD's work). I find myself just trying to find the snippets about the alternate history novel within the alternate history novel, i.e. the alt story of how Britain and the USA just needle each other post-war.
Fatherland by Robert Harris is good, as is Len Deighton's SS-GB. The Man in the High Castle is probably better, conceptually, than either of the aforementioned novels, but gets lost in esotericism in the latter half, and suffers from Philip K Dick's reliance on amphetamines to write.
SS-GB suffers from a plot where chunks Germans decided to back the resistance over chunks of other Germans. Which isn’t how the court of Emperor Hitler worked, at all. Even the anti-Nazi Germans were 100% ok with the Greater Germany thing.
I dunno, the Abwehr were pretty anti-everything-German by the time of WWII (or at least, absolutely anti everything Nazi, and by that point it was the same thing). For most of WWII the Abwehr acted contrary to Nazi Germany's interests, and it's not unbelievable to imagine that an anti-Nazi faction would side with us in an enemy of my enemy is my friend situation.
Er no. Canaris may or may not have been working for MI6 full time, but the rest of the Abwehr ranged between full on Nazi to "Kill Hitler and keep Greater Germany".
Canaris was not a Liberal Democrat - he was deeply involved in extreme right stuff from the end of WWI - upto and including murder. Indeed he was sidelined under Weimar for his extremism - which is why Hitler and Co thought he was an ideal chum. It was just that to Canaris, Hitler and Co were ugly oiks.
Yes, you're right that Canaris was a frightful snob and that drove a lot of his behaviour. But it's quite hard to find a serious player in that point of history who wasn't, in some way, a believer in their nation's manifest destiny. Take Rudolf Hess as the most obvious example. Barking mad but thought it worth flying a plane of his own accord to broker a peace between Nazi Germany and the UK to take on the greater Soviet threat. There were almost certainly people in our own security services who felt the same way at the time, and I'm absolutely sure there would have been people in Hitler's inner circle who would have made some strange alliances to defeat greater perceived internal or external threats.
But anyway - it's fiction, and that's half the fun. The aforementioned novels are about what might have been, rather than what was.
Daily Mail throws it weight behind Trussnomics. Sunak Hunt losing the argument among its own electoral tribe is one way of looking at it, but more importantly means the next Tory leader definitely represents Trussnomics, versus the stale outdated economics of Starmer he inherits from Hunt and Sunak. I said this would happen, and now it’s coming true 😇
I don't think it shows expert prognostication that the Tories would go in the opposite direction when they lose the next election - I predicted that too.
But did you predict, armed with Trussnomics, the Tory leader after losing GE is the new Thatcher, and will transform our Nation?
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
The Man in the High Castle by P. K. Dick? Pavane by Keith Roberts? The Alteration by Kingsley Amis? All old but good in their way. Though the latter includes a passing reference to Msgnrs Benn (as Lord Stansgate), Redgrave and Foot of the Holy Inquisition.
I find The Man in the High Castle a frustrating read, somehow - a great concept that somehow doesn't get executed well (much as I love PKD's work). I find myself just trying to find the snippets about the alternate history novel within the alternate history novel, i.e. the alt story of how Britain and the USA just needle each other post-war.
Robert Harris’s Fatherland is pretty good - a vision of 1960s Nazi germany.
The Radio 4 dramatisation of Fatherland is very good. Worth tracking down.
Put the OBR downgrade on growth before me, conveniently wiping out Hunt’s headroom for tax cuts/helping striking nurses, and I will go OH, HOW CONVENIENT FOR HIM.
I don’t trust the OBR people as independent one bit.
Interestingly, they say one of the main reasons for the downgrade is labour shortages. Maybe a little dig at government strict on temporary work visas policy?
Pay rises tend to help with labour shortages. But the Tory Party seems to disregard basic supply and demand for the low paid. Whilst insisting it is vital for the high paid.
It's almost impressive how many people still seem to have not noticed gaming, despite it being massive for a long time.
I do know people a little older than me who did decide it was not an 'adult' thing to do anymore as they got older (as ridiculous as suggesting reading is not an adult thing, because books for children exist), but of my age and lower even if we don't game as much as we might once have, the idea of dropping it as a hobby never occurs - it's just a time availability and mood thing.
My problem with games now (having grown up with C64, Mega Drive, Saturn, PS1...) is though they're ridiculously technically impressive now, they're just not that much...fun. It's all a bit too serious, and there's too many buttons (clearly I'm getting old...).
I buy the odd game, marvel at it for a bit, get bored very quickly and instead find something playable, something simple that I can play for an hour as a quick blast, something retro with a high score table and not a 70 hour campaign mode.
Civ 3 is the pinnacle for me. Sad, old git I know. But can't be bothered.
I lost a lot of time to Civ 2 back in the day!
Civ V with the Vox Populi mod is probably the pinnacle of modern grand strategy gaming.
It's almost impressive how many people still seem to have not noticed gaming, despite it being massive for a long time.
I do know people a little older than me who did decide it was not an 'adult' thing to do anymore as they got older (as ridiculous as suggesting reading is not an adult thing, because books for children exist), but of my age and lower even if we don't game as much as we might once have, the idea of dropping it as a hobby never occurs - it's just a time availability and mood thing.
At £70 a pop for AAA games, who do these journalists think are buying all these games?
It's almost impressive how many people still seem to have not noticed gaming, despite it being massive for a long time.
I do know people a little older than me who did decide it was not an 'adult' thing to do anymore as they got older (as ridiculous as suggesting reading is not an adult thing, because books for children exist), but of my age and lower even if we don't game as much as we might once have, the idea of dropping it as a hobby never occurs - it's just a time availability and mood thing.
At £70 a pop for AAA games, who do these journalists think are buying all these games?
Fellow middle-class parents for their demanding kids? It's cheaper than Warhammer...
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
If you want 70's Britain, Agent Lavender: The Flight of Harold Wilson (Tom Black, Jack Tindale) is an amusing romp.
As for alt histories I'm waiting for someone to write:
What if the Johnson government had stuck to letting it wash over us in Spring 2020? (I suspect you need a lot of butterflies flapping very hard to stop the government blinking, which would be interesting in itself.)
What if Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng had made a gesture towards making the sums add up on September 23?
“What if Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng had made a gesture towards making the sums add up on September 23?”
But they did add up. Once the dust had settled it was a neutral budget, just a £14bn giveaway once the sneaky tax takes were spotted. The run on the pound caused by US interest rates causing a run on currency’s around world. And the markets spooked by the COLOSSAL cost it would take to implement Labour’s energy bill idea.
This is the true history, stop trying subvert true history.
The cutting tax for the richest was politically unpopular, as was no further extension of windfall tax, it was the political outcry that softened everyone up to believe the lies is was an economically bad budget. It was by hunt and Rishi reversing those political decisions, with little economic impact - except the slashing of Labours energy bill idea assuaged the markets about our borrowing - that immediately improved the Tory’s in the polls and started Labours polling slide from its spooked markets/run on pound highs to today where Labours polling % is still sliding according to the latest graph
It's almost impressive how many people still seem to have not noticed gaming, despite it being massive for a long time.
I do know people a little older than me who did decide it was not an 'adult' thing to do anymore as they got older (as ridiculous as suggesting reading is not an adult thing, because books for children exist), but of my age and lower even if we don't game as much as we might once have, the idea of dropping it as a hobby never occurs - it's just a time availability and mood thing.
My problem with games now (having grown up with C64, Mega Drive, Saturn, PS1...) is though they're ridiculously technically impressive now, they're just not that much...fun. It's all a bit too serious, and there's too many buttons (clearly I'm getting old...).
I buy the odd game, marvel at it for a bit, get bored very quickly and instead find something playable, something simple that I can play for an hour as a quick blast, something retro with a high score table and not a 70 hour campaign mode.
Civ 3 is the pinnacle for me. Sad, old git I know. But can't be bothered.
I lost a lot of time to Civ 2 back in the day!
Civ V with the Vox Populi mod is probably the pinnacle of modern grand strategy gaming.
It's almost impressive how many people still seem to have not noticed gaming, despite it being massive for a long time.
I do know people a little older than me who did decide it was not an 'adult' thing to do anymore as they got older (as ridiculous as suggesting reading is not an adult thing, because books for children exist), but of my age and lower even if we don't game as much as we might once have, the idea of dropping it as a hobby never occurs - it's just a time availability and mood thing.
My problem with games now (having grown up with C64, Mega Drive, Saturn, PS1...) is though they're ridiculously technically impressive now, they're just not that much...fun. It's all a bit too serious, and there's too many buttons (clearly I'm getting old...).
I buy the odd game, marvel at it for a bit, get bored very quickly and instead find something playable, something simple that I can play for an hour as a quick blast, something retro with a high score table and not a 70 hour campaign mode.
Modern retro style games are still huge now - as they can be made by a very small team now. I've not played Streets of Rage 4 yet but I heard it was good. Something like shovel knight is basically a SNES game in simpicity, just from modern tech.
Otherwise I play more turn based stuff now, since while they can be long, it's easy to play as short or long as I like. Or just the equivalent of choose your own adventure books, like Yes, Your Grace, or Suzrein.
Whilst I like open world adventure games, and long long RPGs, they definitely went too far with skinner boxing games with pointless timesink activities. And I definitely seem to struggle with complex buttons now, but I'm more PC anywya.
It's almost impressive how many people still seem to have not noticed gaming, despite it being massive for a long time.
I do know people a little older than me who did decide it was not an 'adult' thing to do anymore as they got older (as ridiculous as suggesting reading is not an adult thing, because books for children exist), but of my age and lower even if we don't game as much as we might once have, the idea of dropping it as a hobby never occurs - it's just a time availability and mood thing.
At £70 a pop for AAA games, who do these journalists think are buying all these games?
A parent's love can be irrational. But with the number of titles out there, not that irrational.
It's almost impressive how many people still seem to have not noticed gaming, despite it being massive for a long time.
I do know people a little older than me who did decide it was not an 'adult' thing to do anymore as they got older (as ridiculous as suggesting reading is not an adult thing, because books for children exist), but of my age and lower even if we don't game as much as we might once have, the idea of dropping it as a hobby never occurs - it's just a time availability and mood thing.
My problem with games now (having grown up with C64, Mega Drive, Saturn, PS1...) is though they're ridiculously technically impressive now, they're just not that much...fun. It's all a bit too serious, and there's too many buttons (clearly I'm getting old...).
I buy the odd game, marvel at it for a bit, get bored very quickly and instead find something playable, something simple that I can play for an hour as a quick blast, something retro with a high score table and not a 70 hour campaign mode.
Civ 3 is the pinnacle for me. Sad, old git I know. But can't be bothered.
That was probably the one I've played most. Maybe Alpha Centauri as well - I still have three novels written based on the game, surprisingly ok.
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
The Man in the High Castle by P. K. Dick? Pavane by Keith Roberts? The Alteration by Kingsley Amis? All old but good in their way. Though the latter includes a passing reference to Msgnrs Benn (as Lord Stansgate), Redgrave and Foot of the Holy Inquisition.
I find The Man in the High Castle a frustrating read, somehow - a great concept that somehow doesn't get executed well (much as I love PKD's work). I find myself just trying to find the snippets about the alternate history novel within the alternate history novel, i.e. the alt story of how Britain and the USA just needle each other post-war.
Fatherland by Robert Harris is good, as is Len Deighton's SS-GB. The Man in the High Castle is probably better, conceptually, than either of the aforementioned novels, but gets lost in esotericism in the latter half, and suffers from Philip K Dick's reliance on amphetamines to write.
Fatherland is brilliant, one of Harris's best I think. I liked SS-GB too but have never read the Man in the High Castle. Maybe it should be next on my reading list!
I quite liked The Man in the High Castle but it's a bit short for its ambition, and much more developed in the TV series, which I think is still available on Amazon Prime. Dominion is good, though skip the bizarre afterword which savagely attacks the idea of Scottish independence as though it was somehow related to WW2. SS-GB is atmospheric but limited in ambition.
The afterword is hilarious, since I can imagine the publishers begging Sansom not to include it, but he apparently really really dislikes the SNP so must have demanded it be included.
It's almost impressive how many people still seem to have not noticed gaming, despite it being massive for a long time.
I do know people a little older than me who did decide it was not an 'adult' thing to do anymore as they got older (as ridiculous as suggesting reading is not an adult thing, because books for children exist), but of my age and lower even if we don't game as much as we might once have, the idea of dropping it as a hobby never occurs - it's just a time availability and mood thing.
My problem with games now (having grown up with C64, Mega Drive, Saturn, PS1...) is though they're ridiculously technically impressive now, they're just not that much...fun. It's all a bit too serious, and there's too many buttons (clearly I'm getting old...).
I buy the odd game, marvel at it for a bit, get bored very quickly and instead find something playable, something simple that I can play for an hour as a quick blast, something retro with a high score table and not a 70 hour campaign mode.
Civ 3 is the pinnacle for me. Sad, old git I know. But can't be bothered.
I lost a lot of time to Civ 2 back in the day!
Not as much as this guy How would a Civilization 2 map look after running for nearly ten years? Redditor, Lycerius, has found out, and has posted the current status of humanity in the year 3991 AD. Things are NOT GOOD.
"The world is a hellish nightmare of suffering and devastation," says Lycerius. "There are 3 remaining super nations in the year 3991 A.D, each competing for the scant resources left on the planet after dozens of nuclear wars have rendered vast swaths of the world uninhabitable wastelands."
A 1700 year war has wiped out 90% of the world's population in a nuclear holocaust that seemingly has no end. The polar ice caps have melted and reformed 20 times. Land that isn't rock or mountain has been reduced to festering, irradiated swampland. Every nation's resources are devoted to pumping tanks to the front line, where they bash out an everlasting stalemate, and are occasionally nuked. Large cities are long gone. Every time one gets too big, an enemy nation's spy sneaks in a nuke, and BOOM. The three nations, the Celts, Vikings and the Americans, are poised to continue the war forever. https://www.pcgamer.com/ten-year-game-of-civ-2-results-in-hellish-nightmare-planet-permanent-nuclear-war/
Daily Mail throws it weight behind Trussnomics. Sunak Hunt losing the argument among its own electoral tribe is one way of looking at it, but more importantly means the next Tory leader definitely represents Trussnomics, versus the stale outdated economics of Starmer he inherits from Hunt and Sunak. I said this would happen, and now it’s coming true 😇
I don't think it shows expert prognostication that the Tories would go in the opposite direction when they lose the next election - I predicted that too.
But did you predict, armed with Trussnomics, the Tory leader after losing GE is the new Thatcher, and will transform our Nation?
How likely is it that the next Tory leader is Kemi Badenoch?
Very.
Of the Trussnomics politicians she will come across as the most articulate time for a change candidate in the leadership election.
Labours problem will be the economic landscape has changed from when Labour was last in right up to to Sunak and Hunt still following Brownomics today, whilst under Badenoch the Tory’s will be on the right economics - more economic liberalism and focus on growth.
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
If you want 70's Britain, Agent Lavender: The Flight of Harold Wilson (Tom Black, Jack Tindale) is an amusing romp.
As for alt histories I'm waiting for someone to write:
What if the Johnson government had stuck to letting it wash over us in Spring 2020? (I suspect you need a lot of butterflies flapping very hard to stop the government blinking, which would be interesting in itself.)
What if Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng had made a gesture towards making the sums add up on September 23?
“What if Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng had made a gesture towards making the sums add up on September 23?”
But they did add up. Once the dust had settled it was a neutral budget, just a £14bn giveaway once the sneaky tax takes were spotted. The run on the pound caused by US interest rates causing a run on currency’s around world. And the markets spooked by the COLOSSAL cost it would take to implement Labour’s energy bill idea.
This is the true history, stop trying subvert true history.
The cutting tax for the richest was politically unpopular, as was no further extension of windfall tax, it was the political outcry that softened everyone up to believe the lies is was an economically bad budget. It was by hunt and Rishi reversing those political decisions, with little economic impact - except the slashing of Labours energy bill idea assuaged the markets about our borrowing - that immediately improved the Tory’s in the polls and started Labours polling slide from its spooked markets/run on pound highs to today where Labours polling % is still sliding according to the latest graph
This is the historic truth of this recent period.
No arguing with the graph today, what telling us is very clear.
Labour have already lost more than half their popularity peak in this big polling slide, and if you put a marble on the latest polling bit it will roll off the end, because it’s a new downward line.
It's almost impressive how many people still seem to have not noticed gaming, despite it being massive for a long time.
I do know people a little older than me who did decide it was not an 'adult' thing to do anymore as they got older (as ridiculous as suggesting reading is not an adult thing, because books for children exist), but of my age and lower even if we don't game as much as we might once have, the idea of dropping it as a hobby never occurs - it's just a time availability and mood thing.
My problem with games now (having grown up with C64, Mega Drive, Saturn, PS1...) is though they're ridiculously technically impressive now, they're just not that much...fun. It's all a bit too serious, and there's too many buttons (clearly I'm getting old...).
I buy the odd game, marvel at it for a bit, get bored very quickly and instead find something playable, something simple that I can play for an hour as a quick blast, something retro with a high score table and not a 70 hour campaign mode.
I'm from the same generation as you. Now the kids are getting a bit older I have had some more time to play games again. Some I have enjoyed recently:
- A Plague Tale - Pillars of the Earth (based on the Ken Follett novel) - Tomb Raider (3 games in the last 7 years or so. Middle one set in Siberia was most fun for me. Puzzle tombs are good fun) - Crusader Kings 3
All except the last are 10 to 16 hours worth of playtime and we're very good fun or told a good story. I have also enjoyed the last 3 Assassin's Creed games (Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla) but the play time of those are huge! I ended up installing a cheat to make the character travel around faster.
No arguing with the graph today, what telling us is very clear.
Labour have already lost more than half their popularity peak in this big polling slide, and if you put a marble on the latest polling bit it will roll off the end, because it’s a new downward line.
As far as alternate histories go, "1984" is generally thought worth reading, as is "Brave New World".
Some science fiction from the "Golden Age" has now become alternate history, at least in part. For example, Heinlein's "Farmer in the Sky" tells us that the first landing on Ganymede was in . . . . 1985. Which, unless we are way better at keeping secrets than recent events would suggest, didn't happen.
No arguing with the graph today, what telling us is very clear.
Labour have already lost more than half their popularity peak in this big polling slide, and if you put a marble on the latest polling bit it will roll off the end, because it’s a new downward line.
Oh God not again. NO IT DOESN'T.
Just look at it. Fact 1 Sudden big bounce Truss gave Labour % is half eroded already. Fact 2 put a marble on line representing the latest polls and it’s all downhill and drops off the end. You go into capitals as much as you like, but these two facts shown by lines on a graph are indisputable facts.
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
If you want 70's Britain, Agent Lavender: The Flight of Harold Wilson (Tom Black, Jack Tindale) is an amusing romp.
As for alt histories I'm waiting for someone to write:
What if the Johnson government had stuck to letting it wash over us in Spring 2020? (I suspect you need a lot of butterflies flapping very hard to stop the government blinking, which would be interesting in itself.)
What if Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng had made a gesture towards making the sums add up on September 23?
“What if Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng had made a gesture towards making the sums add up on September 23?”
But they did add up. Once the dust had settled it was a neutral budget, just a £14bn giveaway once the sneaky tax takes were spotted. The run on the pound caused by US interest rates causing a run on currency’s around world. And the markets spooked by the COLOSSAL cost it would take to implement Labour’s energy bill idea.
This is the true history, stop trying subvert true history.
The cutting tax for the richest was politically unpopular, as was no further extension of windfall tax, it was the political outcry that softened everyone up to believe the lies is was an economically bad budget. It was by hunt and Rishi reversing those political decisions, with little economic impact - except the slashing of Labours energy bill idea assuaged the markets about our borrowing - that immediately improved the Tory’s in the polls and started Labours polling slide from its spooked markets/run on pound highs to today where Labours polling % is still sliding according to the latest graph
This is the historic truth of this recent period.
No arguing with the graph today, what telling us is very clear.
Labour have already lost more than half their popularity peak in this big polling slide, and if you put a marble on the latest polling bit it will roll off the end, because it’s a new downward line.
You keep saying that. I do not think that trendy one means fear you think it means
How likely is it that the next Tory leader is Kemi Badenoch?
Very.
Of the Trussnomics politicians she will come across as the most articulate time for a change candidate in the leadership election.
Labours problem will be the economic landscape has changed from when Labour was last in right up to to Sunak and Hunt still following Brownomics today, whilst under Badenoch the Tory’s will be on the right economics - more economic liberalism and focus on growth.
Of course that didn't work very well last September. A premiership only just shading Brian Clough's tenure at Elland Road. Short-lived in the main, after a budget of "economic liberalism and (a) focus on growth". (Truss, not Clough).
As a contrarian, you are just not very good, and everyone has tumbled your game. Must try harder!
- “The extraordinary thing about today is that Sunak has not yet acted on Zahawi. He’s still there doing heaven knows what damage to his party.”
Mike is right. Even the BBC - the final bastion of this repulsive government - has now turned against Zahawi. Their coverage yesterday was brutal.
Talking of the BBC, now that their chairman is well and truly mired in the Tory corruption sleaze, they are going to have to strongly back off their pro-Con propaganda. Arch tonguist Laura K is the symbol of their failed programme. Her minders will have to reel her in.
I think this is a classic example of a policy that generates a lot of heat at the time, but in reality is soon forgotten. I remember when the cut to this was announced, it was reported as if the UK had stopped providing any foreign aid and would be killing millions around the world, rather than cutting it back to levels that France and Germany normally provide.
Nice racist article from the Guardian. They are effectively calling this guy a house n####r who needs to be cancelled because of his political views outside of his job. But at the same time his show is the top rated one, so clearly the public don't think he is doing a bad job, but he still needs to go and the NFL find new a "human shield".
How likely is it that the next Tory leader is Kemi Badenoch?
Very.
Of the Trussnomics politicians she will come across as the most articulate time for a change candidate in the leadership election.
Labours problem will be the economic landscape has changed from when Labour was last in right up to to Sunak and Hunt still following Brownomics today, whilst under Badenoch the Tory’s will be on the right economics - more economic liberalism and focus on growth.
Of course that didn't work very well last September. A premiership only just shading Brian Clough's tenure at Elland Road. Short-lived in the main, after a budget of "economic liberalism and (a) focus on growth". (Truss, not Clough).
As a contrarian, you are just not very good, and everyone has tumbled your game. Must try harder!
The fact that people still believe the way to sustained growth and productivity is through tax cuts is frankly depressing.
How likely is it that the next Tory leader is Kemi Badenoch?
Very.
Of the Trussnomics politicians she will come across as the most articulate time for a change candidate in the leadership election.
Labours problem will be the economic landscape has changed from when Labour was last in right up to to Sunak and Hunt still following Brownomics today, whilst under Badenoch the Tory’s will be on the right economics - more economic liberalism and focus on growth.
Of course that didn't work very well last September. A premiership only just shading Brian Clough's tenure at Elland Road. Short-lived in the main, after a budget of "economic liberalism and (a) focus on growth". (Truss, not Clough).
As a contrarian, you are just not very good, and everyone has tumbled your game. Must try harder!
The fact that people still believe the way to sustained growth and productivity is through tax cuts is frankly depressing.
- “The extraordinary thing about today is that Sunak has not yet acted on Zahawi. He’s still there doing heaven knows what damage to his party.”
Mike is right. Even the BBC - the final bastion of this repulsive government - has now turned against Zahawi. Their coverage yesterday was brutal.
Talking of the BBC, now that their chairman is well and truly mired in the Tory corruption sleaze, they are going to have to strongly back off their pro-Con propaganda. Arch tonguist Laura K is the symbol of their failed programme. Her minders will have to reel her in.
the damage is done to Sunak now - in the eyes of his own MPs he has dithered, even if NZ goes today, there is a lingering sniff of defeat from the issue... the BBC one is also interesting, the fact that the `loan' was not really discussed smacks of problems down the road, I personally think the Cabinet Secretary is on thin ice, time and time again young Simon has made the wrong calls......
The German newspaper Spiegel reports that according to its information, Germany has decided to send at least one company of the Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, and grant permission to re-export Leopards to Ukraine. https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1617952372990349325
It's been reported as fact on Bloomberg too.
So, good news. Would have been better a week ago, and if Germany hadn't had to be shamed into it. But good news all the same.
I must admit that I'd like France to send Leclercs now, if only so we can see a line-up of Leopard 2's, Challenger 2's, Abrams, Leclercs, T72, T84 and PT-91, all fighting on the same side...
So long and tanks for the memories.
On the bright side, we can film Red Storm Rising for free.
Mention of Red Storm Rising reminds me that I fancy reading a good Alt-History novel.
Any recommendations?
If you want 70's Britain, Agent Lavender: The Flight of Harold Wilson (Tom Black, Jack Tindale) is an amusing romp.
As for alt histories I'm waiting for someone to write:
What if the Johnson government had stuck to letting it wash over us in Spring 2020? (I suspect you need a lot of butterflies flapping very hard to stop the government blinking, which would be interesting in itself.)
What if Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng had made a gesture towards making the sums add up on September 23?
“What if Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng had made a gesture towards making the sums add up on September 23?”
But they did add up. Once the dust had settled it was a neutral budget, just a £14bn giveaway once the sneaky tax takes were spotted. The run on the pound caused by US interest rates causing a run on currency’s around world. And the markets spooked by the COLOSSAL cost it would take to implement Labour’s energy bill idea.
This is the true history, stop trying subvert true history.
The cutting tax for the richest was politically unpopular, as was no further extension of windfall tax, it was the political outcry that softened everyone up to believe the lies is was an economically bad budget. It was by hunt and Rishi reversing those political decisions, with little economic impact - except the slashing of Labours energy bill idea assuaged the markets about our borrowing - that immediately improved the Tory’s in the polls and started Labours polling slide from its spooked markets/run on pound highs to today where Labours polling % is still sliding according to the latest graph
This is the historic truth of this recent period.
No arguing with the graph today, what telling us is very clear.
Labour have already lost more than half their popularity peak in this big polling slide, and if you put a marble on the latest polling bit it will roll off the end, because it’s a new downward line.
You keep saying that. I do not think that trendy one means fear you think it means
That’s because people are thinking about the gap between parties - still large 15 to 22 - and how the Tories % floundering. At same time Lab surged at peak Truss, the Tory’s fell, but they havn’t climbed half that sudden fall yet.
No I am focussing simply on Labs sudden Truss bounce, and yes, the graph don’t lie, half that bounce has gone. And there is a bit of a halfway plateau, and it’s interesting where it goes next, but trend end a marble rolls off.
Got to remember not all that bounce Truss handed Labour was Tory vote, the greens and Lib Dems got haircut at same time, seems a bit harsh considering they didn’t enable Truss, but the LLG did get bit of a bounce, not get a huge bounce. If the Tory’s continue to flounder, but green and Lib Dem recover to pre Truss positions, that little trendy line you refer to will fall, Labours % in polls will fall. This is simple psephological facts.
How likely is it that the next Tory leader is Kemi Badenoch?
Very.
Of the Trussnomics politicians she will come across as the most articulate time for a change candidate in the leadership election.
Labours problem will be the economic landscape has changed from when Labour was last in right up to to Sunak and Hunt still following Brownomics today, whilst under Badenoch the Tory’s will be on the right economics - more economic liberalism and focus on growth.
Of course that didn't work very well last September. A premiership only just shading Brian Clough's tenure at Elland Road. Short-lived in the main, after a budget of "economic liberalism and (a) focus on growth". (Truss, not Clough).
As a contrarian, you are just not very good, and everyone has tumbled your game. Must try harder!
Ha. Spiky yet pathetic as ever MexPex. You mistake this time, you havn’t read my post below where I am not contrarian, I believe this. I believe the True history is the economic calamity of Truss reign was rather bigged up, particularly by media. Her downfall was not the economics, but the insanely out of touch politics. I can reel 4 off top of my head easily, 1 no to extend windfall tax, 2 cut of tax for very richest, 3 party conference where they wouldnt promise to uplift benefits in line with inflation, AND the thing exasperated RCS flagged to us, the insane boast of spending 8% GDP on 2 and half year energy price guarantee funded through borrowing, because it was exactly that which spooked the markets over our borrowing, much more so than a budget that in truth was not a splurge once all the sly stealth taxes primarily on exceeding levels were spotted.
Not being contrarian at all, I genuinely believe this is true history of what happened - not brought down by economics at all but by the bad politics and communication, the bad economics was bigged up.
“What if Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng had made a gesture towards making the sums add up on September 23?”
But they did add up. Once the dust had settled it was a neutral budget, just a £14bn giveaway once the sneaky tax takes were spotted. The run on the pound caused by US interest rates causing a run on currency’s around world. And the markets spooked by the COLOSSAL cost it would take to implement Labour’s energy bill idea.
This is the true history, stop trying subvert true history.
The cutting tax for the richest was politically unpopular, as was no further extension of windfall tax, it was the political outcry that softened everyone up to believe the lies is was an economically bad budget. It was by hunt and Rishi reversing those political decisions, with little economic impact - except the slashing of Labours energy bill idea assuaged the markets about our borrowing - that immediately improved the Tory’s in the polls and started Labours polling slide from its spooked markets/run on pound highs to today
Has Scholz finally agreed to roll the tanks? Even the famously neutral Swiss, appear to be willing to allow re-export of weapons. Well done everyone, even if some took rather longer to be convinced than others.
A couple of hundred modern Western tanks, if trained on and deployed properly, could make a massive difference to the capability of the Ukranians.
Has Scholz finally agreed to roll the tanks? Even the famously neutral Swiss, appear to be willing to allow re-export of weapons. Well done everyone, even if some took rather longer to be convinced than others.
A couple of hundred modern Western tanks, if trained on and deployed properly, could make a massive difference to the capability of the Ukranians.
thats a really big `could'. I dont see the current initiative as a gamechanger and if anything the West's hesitancy over the issue, less than a year into the current invasion, doesn't bode well if the Russians start considering a`long war' approach to Ukraine.
It's almost impressive how many people still seem to have not noticed gaming, despite it being massive for a long time.
I do know people a little older than me who did decide it was not an 'adult' thing to do anymore as they got older (as ridiculous as suggesting reading is not an adult thing, because books for children exist), but of my age and lower even if we don't game as much as we might once have, the idea of dropping it as a hobby never occurs - it's just a time availability and mood thing.
My problem with games now (having grown up with C64, Mega Drive, Saturn, PS1...) is though they're ridiculously technically impressive now, they're just not that much...fun. It's all a bit too serious, and there's too many buttons (clearly I'm getting old...).
I buy the odd game, marvel at it for a bit, get bored very quickly and instead find something playable, something simple that I can play for an hour as a quick blast, something retro with a high score table and not a 70 hour campaign mode.
Civ 3 is the pinnacle for me. Sad, old git I know. But can't be bothered.
Civ 3 was brilliant - not too complicated but got what was needed.
Civ 3 was hard. Always got my arse kicked except on the easiest of settings, and the graphics and sounds didn't do a lot for me.
I much prefer Civ 4 or Civ 6. Civ 5 I spent all my time trying to keep my citizens happy.
It's almost impressive how many people still seem to have not noticed gaming, despite it being massive for a long time.
I do know people a little older than me who did decide it was not an 'adult' thing to do anymore as they got older (as ridiculous as suggesting reading is not an adult thing, because books for children exist), but of my age and lower even if we don't game as much as we might once have, the idea of dropping it as a hobby never occurs - it's just a time availability and mood thing.
My problem with games now (having grown up with C64, Mega Drive, Saturn, PS1...) is though they're ridiculously technically impressive now, they're just not that much...fun. It's all a bit too serious, and there's too many buttons (clearly I'm getting old...).
I buy the odd game, marvel at it for a bit, get bored very quickly and instead find something playable, something simple that I can play for an hour as a quick blast, something retro with a high score table and not a 70 hour campaign mode.
Civ 3 is the pinnacle for me. Sad, old git I know. But can't be bothered.
Has Scholz finally agreed to roll the tanks? Even the famously neutral Swiss, appear to be willing to allow re-export of weapons. Well done everyone, even if some took rather longer to be convinced than others.
A couple of hundred modern Western tanks, if trained on and deployed properly, could make a massive difference to the capability of the Ukranians.
thats a really big `could'. I dont see the current initiative as a gamechanger and if anything the West's hesitancy over the issue, less than a year into the current invasion, doesn't bode well if the Russians start considering a`long war' approach to Ukraine.
As Russia discovered at the start of this war, one can’t just roll tanks through enemy towns without them being sitting ducks.
Successful deployment of tanks requires infrantry, many other maintenance and support vehicles, and hopefully air support too. There’s a lot more to it, at least to doing it properly, than showing a few soldiers which button does what in the tank.
There’s been an awful lot of tank warfare so far in the last year, and by most estimates the enemy doesn’t have a lot of tanks left to deploy. There have already been T-62 tanks, relics of the Soviet-Vietnam war, seen deployed in Ukraine - maybe they dragged them out of a museum and put them on a train heading West? Estimates vary from 1,650 (Oryx), through 2,200 (US DoD), to 3,100 (Ukranian military) as the number of Russian tanks damaged or captured since last February, from a total stock of about 3,500. The Ukranians have captured more Russian tanks, than they had themselves at the start of the war - some of which were perfectly serviceable but simply out of fuel or ammunition, or got surrounded and abandoned in the early stages of the conflict.
The “Long War” approach, requires huge amounts of men and machines. There’s little evidence of either on the Russian side - we are already seeing barely trained ‘mobliks’ with an AK-47 each, little ammo, no winter clothing, no food supplies, and no armoured vehicles. Their morale must be totally shot, and their wives and mothers are noting all the men who went away from their town and didn’t come back. Anyone with skills or money has fled the country to avoid being drafted, many of whom have found a way to get residence elsewhere and have little intention of coming back.
The Ukranians, even after a year, are still very much up for this war. They see it as existential to themselves and their homeland, and want to fight so long as they can get armed and trained. It’s fantastic to see many other countries helping them out, even if some of them have taken rather more persuading than we might have hoped! Suggestions that Biden might consider sending planes - even if they’re older F-16s from the boneyard, without the latest systems - is also commendable, and will make a huge difference to the capability of the defenders.
It's rare I get actively angry but I was so incandescent on the M25 this evening I almost had to pull my car over to compose myself when I heard this story on Radio 4.
There's something about the abuse of vulnerable children - and the way adults lie about it, and get away with it - that provokes a very visceral reaction in me.
The response of OFSTED’s useless Spielman - ‘we need new powers’. Those who doubted the justification for @ydoethur ’s anger and contempt for her with regard to safeguarding should take note.
… The Hesley Group - owned by private equity firm Antin Infrastructure, which is better known for investing in gas pipelines - continues to run a school and placements for adults with learning disabilities. It says it cannot comment further because of the ongoing criminal investigation by South Yorkshire Police…
And note their profit margins at all of their sites were 16% -1% below the figure government deems ‘excessive’ for the ‘industry’.
It seems inevitable to me that what will happen in Ukraine is a new iron curtain. It is never going to return to a democracy, uneasily balanced between being Russian-oriented and Western-oriented. Financially and militarily, Western Ukraine is now a de-facto US protectorate, likely to join the EU and NATO, and Russia can't say or do anything about it.
On the other side, the Donbass bits could be reconquered, but that leads to its own issues - who represents these people now their political parties, language etc. have been banned in Ukraine? Also who pays for the reconstruction? Not me thanks. Russia owning the area is about the only way I see to get them to pay for any of it. Wherever the line is drawn, it looks to me like heavily garrisoned Western and Eastern Ukraine to me.
Russian had never been banned in any part of Ukraine, though there are some restrictions on printing and publishing in it.
On paying for the reconstruction, I think the Russian reserves frozen at the start of the war are an excellent beginning, and a $20 levy on every barrel of oil sold by Russia in the free world should make up much of the rest.
There might be a certain justice in that, but the history of reparations is not a good one, so that needs some thinking about.
Has Scholz finally agreed to roll the tanks? Even the famously neutral Swiss, appear to be willing to allow re-export of weapons. Well done everyone, even if some took rather longer to be convinced than others.
A couple of hundred modern Western tanks, if trained on and deployed properly, could make a massive difference to the capability of the Ukranians.
thats a really big `could'. I dont see the current initiative as a gamechanger and if anything the West's hesitancy over the issue, less than a year into the current invasion, doesn't bode well if the Russians start considering a`long war' approach to Ukraine.
Start considering ? They’ve been fighting one for a while now.
It's rare I get actively angry but I was so incandescent on the M25 this evening I almost had to pull my car over to compose myself when I heard this story on Radio 4.
There's something about the abuse of vulnerable children - and the way adults lie about it, and get away with it - that provokes a very visceral reaction in me.
The response of OFSTED’s useless Spielman - ‘we need new powers’. Those who doubted the justification for @ydoethur ’s anger and contempt for her with regard to safeguarding should take note.
… The Hesley Group - owned by private equity firm Antin Infrastructure, which is better known for investing in gas pipelines - continues to run a school and placements for adults with learning disabilities. It says it cannot comment further because of the ongoing criminal investigation by South Yorkshire Police…
And note their profit margins at all of their sites were 16% -1% below the figure government deems ‘excessive’ for the ‘industry’.
That only washes if they can show they did highlight serious concerns but were "powerless" to do anything to stop it. Otherwise, it's a standard hand-washing technique - it makes it sort of somebody else's fault.
I suspect they already have the powers they need, but just didn't use them.
- “The extraordinary thing about today is that Sunak has not yet acted on Zahawi. He’s still there doing heaven knows what damage to his party.”
Mike is right. Even the BBC - the final bastion of this repulsive government - has now turned against Zahawi. Their coverage yesterday was brutal.
Talking of the BBC, now that their chairman is well and truly mired in the Tory corruption sleaze, they are going to have to strongly back off their pro-Con propaganda. Arch tonguist Laura K is the symbol of their failed programme. Her minders will have to reel her in.
the damage is done to Sunak now - in the eyes of his own MPs he has dithered, even if NZ goes today, there is a lingering sniff of defeat from the issue... the BBC one is also interesting, the fact that the `loan' was not really discussed smacks of problems down the road, I personally think the Cabinet Secretary is on thin ice, time and time again young Simon has made the wrong calls......
Yes, I think you’re right. There is a lingering sniff of defeat and I just can’t see it being wafted away before the next GE. In fact, I think the Conservative brand is now crippled for the medium-term. If Starmer introduces PR (and he’d be stark raving mad not to) then the centre-right and the far-right will split. Neither would be wise to try to persevere with the ‘Conservative’ branding.
I remember very well the tail-end of the John Major government. That also had a lingering sniff of defeat. However, there were fundamental differences. Major had won an astonishing GE victory with a record number of votes. He was also basically a decent chap trying to do his best with a poor situation. Although his cabinet wasn’t as strong as Thatcher’s, it did have some solid figures. The situation after the Cameron, Oaf and Truss debacles is entirely different, and Sunak is no Major. Unless the crooked media manage to save them, I can see the Tories getting utterly crushed next year.
It's rare I get actively angry but I was so incandescent on the M25 this evening I almost had to pull my car over to compose myself when I heard this story on Radio 4.
There's something about the abuse of vulnerable children - and the way adults lie about it, and get away with it - that provokes a very visceral reaction in me.
The response of OFSTED’s useless Spielman - ‘we need new powers’. Those who doubted the justification for @ydoethur ’s anger and contempt for her with regard to safeguarding should take note.
… The Hesley Group - owned by private equity firm Antin Infrastructure, which is better known for investing in gas pipelines - continues to run a school and placements for adults with learning disabilities. It says it cannot comment further because of the ongoing criminal investigation by South Yorkshire Police…
And note their profit margins at all of their sites were 16% -1% below the figure government deems ‘excessive’ for the ‘industry’.
That only washes if they can show they did highlight serious concerns but were "powerless" to do anything to stop it. Otherwise, it's a standard hand-washing technique - it makes it sort of somebody else's fault.
I suspect they already have the powers they need, but just didn't use them.
You suspect correctly. They were warned 42 times of safeguarding and welfare breaches, any one of which should automatically have triggered an emergency inspection. They ignored every one of them.
How likely is it that the next Tory leader is Kemi Badenoch?
Very.
Of the Trussnomics politicians she will come across as the most articulate time for a change candidate in the leadership election.
Labours problem will be the economic landscape has changed from when Labour was last in right up to to Sunak and Hunt still following Brownomics today, whilst under Badenoch the Tory’s will be on the right economics - more economic liberalism and focus on growth.
Of course that didn't work very well last September. A premiership only just shading Brian Clough's tenure at Elland Road. Short-lived in the main, after a budget of "economic liberalism and (a) focus on growth". (Truss, not Clough).
As a contrarian, you are just not very good, and everyone has tumbled your game. Must try harder!
The fact that people still believe the way to sustained growth and productivity is through tax cuts is frankly depressing.
It depends where your taxation levels are at....
The size of the national debt suggests there have already been too many tax cuts.
How likely is it that the next Tory leader is Kemi Badenoch?
Very.
Of the Trussnomics politicians she will come across as the most articulate time for a change candidate in the leadership election.
Labours problem will be the economic landscape has changed from when Labour was last in right up to to Sunak and Hunt still following Brownomics today, whilst under Badenoch the Tory’s will be on the right economics - more economic liberalism and focus on growth.
Of course that didn't work very well last September. A premiership only just shading Brian Clough's tenure at Elland Road. Short-lived in the main, after a budget of "economic liberalism and (a) focus on growth". (Truss, not Clough).
As a contrarian, you are just not very good, and everyone has tumbled your game. Must try harder!
The fact that people still believe the way to sustained growth and productivity is through tax cuts is frankly depressing.
It depends where your taxation levels are at....
The size of the national debt suggests there have already been too many tax cuts.
The tax burden has never been higher. The size of the national debt, suggests that the government has been spending too much money.
How likely is it that the next Tory leader is Kemi Badenoch?
Very.
Of the Trussnomics politicians she will come across as the most articulate time for a change candidate in the leadership election.
Labours problem will be the economic landscape has changed from when Labour was last in right up to to Sunak and Hunt still following Brownomics today, whilst under Badenoch the Tory’s will be on the right economics - more economic liberalism and focus on growth.
Of course that didn't work very well last September. A premiership only just shading Brian Clough's tenure at Elland Road. Short-lived in the main, after a budget of "economic liberalism and (a) focus on growth". (Truss, not Clough).
As a contrarian, you are just not very good, and everyone has tumbled your game. Must try harder!
The fact that people still believe the way to sustained growth and productivity is through tax cuts is frankly depressing.
It depends where your taxation levels are at....
The size of the national debt suggests there have already been too many tax cuts.
The tax burden has never been higher. The size of the national debt, suggests that the government has been spending too much money.
Though still considerably lower than the sort of large western European countries we typically compare ourselves to.
How likely is it that the next Tory leader is Kemi Badenoch?
Very.
Of the Trussnomics politicians she will come across as the most articulate time for a change candidate in the leadership election.
Labours problem will be the economic landscape has changed from when Labour was last in right up to to Sunak and Hunt still following Brownomics today, whilst under Badenoch the Tory’s will be on the right economics - more economic liberalism and focus on growth.
Of course that didn't work very well last September. A premiership only just shading Brian Clough's tenure at Elland Road. Short-lived in the main, after a budget of "economic liberalism and (a) focus on growth". (Truss, not Clough).
As a contrarian, you are just not very good, and everyone has tumbled your game. Must try harder!
The fact that people still believe the way to sustained growth and productivity is through tax cuts is frankly depressing.
It depends where your taxation levels are at....
The size of the national debt suggests there have already been too many tax cuts.
The tax burden has never been higher. The size of the national debt, suggests that the government has been spending too much money.
On the other hand, £17 billion a month in interest paid on gilts should perk up the private annuity market.
Comments
On paying for the reconstruction, I think the Russian reserves frozen at the start of the war are an excellent beginning, and a $20 levy on every barrel of oil sold by Russia in the free world should make up much of the rest.
So the people in the Donbas will doubtless form new parties to represent them, and have new concerns, now that the Russia question is settled in Ukrainian politics.
Very happy to have one in my garden on my roof, no problem at all
Pavane by Keith Roberts?
The Alteration by Kingsley Amis?
All old but good in their way. Though the latter includes a passing reference to Msgnrs Benn (as Lord Stansgate), Redgrave and Foot of the Holy Inquisition, quite gratuitous [edit]. One can suspect the author's inclinations ...
But in any case thinking man was a relative term in this instance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7heWRN252pQ
Someone on here once recommended The Years of Rice and Salt about an alternative history where the plague wiped out 99% of Europe not 1/3, and I enjoyed it, though I know someone who hated it as it was not your traditional kind of alternative history, being more like a series of vignettes.
The prospect of modern western battle tanks being introduced to theatre with, if the reports of the US preparing to provide Ukraine with aircraft are correct, the promise of air superiority. Wouldn't fancy being a Russian in a tank, or anything else.
Looks like an end-game.
As for alt histories I'm waiting for someone to write:
What if the Johnson government had stuck to letting it wash over us in Spring 2020?
(I suspect you need a lot of butterflies flapping very hard to stop the government blinking, which would be interesting in itself.)
What if Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng had made a gesture towards making the sums add up on September 23?
Similarly and related and still on alt history novels - William Gibson, The Difference Engine.
I find the whole thing rather less than the sum of the fabulous-sounding blurb on the back of the book. BUT...the final page just left me stunned. Even if it feels like it came from a totally different book. Frustrating.
I'd recommend Dominion by C J Sansom - splits from real history when Halifax becomes PM instead of Churchill.
Also, similar era Fatherland by Robert Harris.
Edit: pols - I see several have already suggested the excellent Fatherland.
What in his career before politics or, indeed, since suggests that he understands what integrity means?
I do know people a little older than me who did decide it was not an 'adult' thing to do anymore as they got older (as ridiculous as suggesting reading is not an adult thing, because books for children exist), but of my age and lower even if we don't game as much as we might once have, the idea of dropping it as a hobby never occurs - it's just a time availability and mood thing.
Canaris was not a Liberal Democrat - he was deeply involved in extreme right stuff from the end of WWI - upto and including murder. Indeed he was sidelined under Weimar for his extremism - which is why Hitler and Co thought he was an ideal chum. It was just that to Canaris, Hitler and Co were ugly oiks.
I buy the odd game, marvel at it for a bit, get bored very quickly and instead find something playable, something simple that I can play for an hour as a quick blast, something retro with a high score table and not a 70 hour campaign mode.
I don’t trust the OBR people as independent one bit.
Interestingly, they say one of the main reasons for the downgrade is labour shortages. Maybe a little dig at government strict on temporary work visas policy?
If the purpose of the search was to find out whether Biden had any materials - and there is another question as to what would have prompted such a search - then it could easily have been done by White House staff or interns. You do not get expensive lawyers combing around looking for files. It's complete overkill.
Sad, old git I know.
But can't be bothered.
But anyway - it's fiction, and that's half the fun. The aforementioned novels are about what might have been, rather than what was.
But the Tory Party seems to disregard basic supply and demand for the low paid.
Whilst insisting it is vital for the high paid.
I can 'make it available' if it's not ... available... Ping me a DM if needed.
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-64394448
I would have never have guessed he has 290 song back catalogue.
But they did add up. Once the dust had settled it was a neutral budget, just a £14bn giveaway once the sneaky tax takes were spotted. The run on the pound caused by US interest rates causing a run on currency’s around world. And the markets spooked by the COLOSSAL cost it would take to implement Labour’s energy bill idea.
This is the true history, stop trying subvert true history.
The cutting tax for the richest was politically unpopular, as was no further extension of windfall tax, it was the political outcry that softened everyone up to believe the lies is was an economically bad budget. It was by hunt and Rishi reversing those political decisions, with little economic impact - except the slashing of Labours energy bill idea assuaged the markets about our borrowing - that immediately improved the Tory’s in the polls and started Labours polling slide from its spooked markets/run on pound highs to today where Labours polling % is still sliding according to the latest graph
This is the historic truth of this recent period.
Otherwise I play more turn based stuff now, since while they can be long, it's easy to play as short or long as I like. Or just the equivalent of choose your own adventure books, like Yes, Your Grace, or Suzrein.
Whilst I like open world adventure games, and long long RPGs, they definitely went too far with skinner boxing games with pointless timesink activities. And I definitely seem to struggle with complex buttons now, but I'm more PC anywya.
How would a Civilization 2 map look after running for nearly ten years? Redditor, Lycerius, has found out, and has posted the current status of humanity in the year 3991 AD. Things are NOT GOOD.
"The world is a hellish nightmare of suffering and devastation," says Lycerius. "There are 3 remaining super nations in the year 3991 A.D, each competing for the scant resources left on the planet after dozens of nuclear wars have rendered vast swaths of the world uninhabitable wastelands."
A 1700 year war has wiped out 90% of the world's population in a nuclear holocaust that seemingly has no end. The polar ice caps have melted and reformed 20 times. Land that isn't rock or mountain has been reduced to festering, irradiated swampland. Every nation's resources are devoted to pumping tanks to the front line, where they bash out an everlasting stalemate, and are occasionally nuked. Large cities are long gone. Every time one gets too big, an enemy nation's spy sneaks in a nuke, and BOOM. The three nations, the Celts, Vikings and the Americans, are poised to continue the war forever.
https://www.pcgamer.com/ten-year-game-of-civ-2-results-in-hellish-nightmare-planet-permanent-nuclear-war/
Of the Trussnomics politicians she will come across as the most articulate time for a change candidate in the leadership election.
Labours problem will be the economic landscape has changed from when Labour was last in right up to to Sunak and Hunt still following Brownomics today, whilst under Badenoch the Tory’s will be on the right economics - more economic liberalism and focus on growth.
Labour have already lost more than half their popularity peak in this big polling slide, and if you put a marble on the latest polling bit it will roll off the end, because it’s a new downward line.
https://twitter.com/GaryPetersonUSA/status/1617299912395202560?s=20&t=JuMU-WnjMAPRRNom1LMwMA
She doesn't have the MPs support to get to the membership for starters as shown in the last leadership contest
- A Plague Tale
- Pillars of the Earth (based on the Ken Follett novel)
- Tomb Raider (3 games in the last 7 years or so. Middle one set in Siberia was most fun for me. Puzzle tombs are good fun)
- Crusader Kings 3
All except the last are 10 to 16 hours worth of playtime and we're very good fun or told a good story. I have also enjoyed the last 3 Assassin's Creed games (Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla) but the play time of those are huge! I ended up installing a cheat to make the character travel around faster.
Some science fiction from the "Golden Age" has now become alternate history, at least in part. For example, Heinlein's "Farmer in the Sky" tells us that the first landing on Ganymede was in . . . . 1985. Which, unless we are way better at keeping secrets than recent events would suggest, didn't happen.
As a contrarian, you are just not very good, and everyone has tumbled your game. Must try harder!
Mike is right. Even the BBC - the final bastion of this repulsive government - has now turned against Zahawi. Their coverage yesterday was brutal.
Talking of the BBC, now that their chairman is well and truly mired in the Tory corruption sleaze, they are going to have to strongly back off their pro-Con propaganda. Arch tonguist Laura K is the symbol of their failed programme. Her minders will have to reel her in.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/01/24/labour-wont-commit-foreign-aid-boost-won-power-says-david-lammy/
I think this is a classic example of a policy that generates a lot of heat at the time, but in reality is soon forgotten. I remember when the cut to this was announced, it was reported as if the UK had stopped providing any foreign aid and would be killing millions around the world, rather than cutting it back to levels that France and Germany normally provide.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/jan/24/tony-dungy-controversial-tweet-abortion-right-wing-politics
Nice racist article from the Guardian. They are effectively calling this guy a house n####r who needs to be cancelled because of his political views outside of his job. But at the same time his show is the top rated one, so clearly the public don't think he is doing a bad job, but he still needs to go and the NFL find new a "human shield".
No I am focussing simply on Labs sudden Truss bounce, and yes, the graph don’t lie, half that bounce has gone. And there is a bit of a halfway plateau, and it’s interesting where it goes next, but trend end a marble rolls off.
Got to remember not all that bounce Truss handed Labour was Tory vote, the greens and Lib Dems got haircut at same time, seems a bit harsh considering they didn’t enable Truss, but the LLG did get bit of a bounce, not get a huge bounce. If the Tory’s continue to flounder, but green and Lib Dem recover to pre Truss positions, that little trendy line you refer to will fall, Labours % in polls will fall. This is simple psephological facts.
Not being contrarian at all, I genuinely believe this is true history of what happened - not brought down by economics at all but by the bad politics and communication, the bad economics was bigged up.
“What if Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng had made a gesture towards making the sums add up on September 23?”
But they did add up. Once the dust had settled it was a neutral budget, just a £14bn giveaway once the sneaky tax takes were spotted. The run on the pound caused by US interest rates causing a run on currency’s around world. And the markets spooked by the COLOSSAL cost it would take to implement Labour’s energy bill idea.
This is the true history, stop trying subvert true history.
The cutting tax for the richest was politically unpopular, as was no further extension of windfall tax, it was the political outcry that softened everyone up to believe the lies is was an economically bad budget. It was by hunt and Rishi reversing those political decisions, with little economic impact - except the slashing of Labours energy bill idea assuaged the markets about our borrowing - that immediately improved the Tory’s in the polls and started Labours polling slide from its spooked markets/run on pound highs to today
A couple of hundred modern Western tanks, if trained on and deployed properly, could make a massive difference to the capability of the Ukranians.
I much prefer Civ 4 or Civ 6. Civ 5 I spent all my time trying to keep my citizens happy.
Civ 2 has huge nostalgia value for me too.
Probably 80% Sunak makes it to the general, then 90% chance he loses and steps down. 70% she runs and 30% she wins?
Maybe 6/1 ish?
Successful deployment of tanks requires infrantry, many other maintenance and support vehicles, and hopefully air support too. There’s a lot more to it, at least to doing it properly, than showing a few soldiers which button does what in the tank.
There’s been an awful lot of tank warfare so far in the last year, and by most estimates the enemy doesn’t have a lot of tanks left to deploy. There have already been T-62 tanks, relics of the Soviet-Vietnam war, seen deployed in Ukraine - maybe they dragged them out of a museum and put them on a train heading West? Estimates vary from 1,650 (Oryx), through 2,200 (US DoD), to 3,100 (Ukranian military) as the number of Russian tanks damaged or captured since last February, from a total stock of about 3,500. The Ukranians have captured more Russian tanks, than they had themselves at the start of the war - some of which were perfectly serviceable but simply out of fuel or ammunition, or got surrounded and abandoned in the early stages of the conflict.
The “Long War” approach, requires huge amounts of men and machines. There’s little evidence of either on the Russian side - we are already seeing barely trained ‘mobliks’ with an AK-47 each, little ammo, no winter clothing, no food supplies, and no armoured vehicles. Their morale must be totally shot, and their wives and mothers are noting all the men who went away from their town and didn’t come back. Anyone with skills or money has fled the country to avoid being drafted, many of whom have found a way to get residence elsewhere and have little intention of coming back.
The Ukranians, even after a year, are still very much up for this war. They see it as existential to themselves and their homeland, and want to fight so long as they can get armed and trained. It’s fantastic to see many other countries helping them out, even if some of them have taken rather more persuading than we might have hoped! Suggestions that Biden might consider sending planes - even if they’re older F-16s from the boneyard, without the latest systems - is also commendable, and will make a huge difference to the capability of the defenders.
Those who doubted the justification for @ydoethur ’s anger and contempt for her with regard to safeguarding should take note.
… The Hesley Group - owned by private equity firm Antin Infrastructure, which is better known for investing in gas pipelines - continues to run a school and placements for adults with learning disabilities. It says it cannot comment further because of the ongoing criminal investigation by South Yorkshire Police…
And note their profit margins at all of their sites were 16% -1% below the figure government deems ‘excessive’ for the ‘industry’.
Games a 'niche' hobby is impressively out of touch. It's bigger than Hollywood and has been for years.
Edited extra bit: also, Lazio beat AC Milan 4-0, which is a welcome result (larger margin than I expected, mind).
🟡 SNP - 52%
🔴 Labour - 23%
🔵 Conservative - 12%
🟠 Lib Dems - 7%
🔵 Reform UK - 3%
🟢 Green - 2%
⚫️ Other - 1% (Alba - 0.4%, Others 0.3%)
🏴 Yes - 55.4%
🇬🇧 No - 44.6%
Via @FindoutnowUK, 11-18 Jan 2023
https://twitter.com/indy_swim/status/1617935091472420864?s=46&t=sexSuR0CCnylGBizMI1Ltw
They’ve been fighting one for a while now.
I suspect they already have the powers they need, but just didn't use them.
I remember very well the tail-end of the John Major government. That also had a lingering sniff of defeat. However, there were fundamental differences. Major had won an astonishing GE victory with a record number of votes. He was also basically a decent chap trying to do his best with a poor situation. Although his cabinet wasn’t as strong as Thatcher’s, it did have some solid figures. The situation after the Cameron, Oaf and Truss debacles is entirely different, and Sunak is no Major. Unless the crooked media manage to save them, I can see the Tories getting utterly crushed next year.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_tax_revenue_to_GDP_ratio
Which means the UK has space to either increase taxes or cut spending.
What is certainly unsustainable is the combo of highish services and lowish taxes that UK politicians and voters have aimed for in recent decades.