The stock market has not taken the hit (yet) that was predicted. Currently rising back to near parity on the day. I suggest that's because they agree with me (oh the chutzpah!) that whilst this is not great, it's also not World War Three. It's not even an invasion of Ukraine as such.
Providing this is all Putin does, we can live with it.
Best thing Britain can do is smack Putin on the wrist and otherwise keep well out.
I know that's unpopular with what someone below described as pb.com's bellicose armchair generals, but there we go.
I find this oh so hilarious repetition of armchair general thing to be childish, tiresome and wrong personally.
It's obvious the intent is to portray anyone suggesting tougher 'language' as being some gung ho 'send in the tanks' fool not thinking about the practicalities and the alternative as being the realistic side, but its very rare anyone talks of physical intervention. They are being pragmatic and realistic in mostly advocating words, or defensive actions in allied states as an example.
Are people not able to comment on the situation and suggest firm language at least without being an armchair general? Can they not criticise one side more than another without a supposedly cutting remark about 'well what would you do, start marching on the Donbass?' style rejoinder
These situations are clearly not easy and practical options limited, the world is like that. But the swift attempt to paint even expressing outrage as bellicose or discussion of basically any reaction as discredited by coming from armchair generals is unpleasantly cynical at best and absolute nonsense at worst.
And one person talking of the need to fight is pretty close to the action, so understandable.
Well, we all have our childish, tiresome and wrong stuff. Personally I wish the the cliché mongers pooping out ‘useful idiots’ like it was a newly minted zinger would give it up. I realise that it’s difficult for many of them to say something interesting but silence is always an option.
The amusing thing about "Useful Idiots" is that it was a term the Soviets used for their instinctive *allies*
Happy Tues! ☀️ Just remember UK govt COVID decisions are now driven by catching headlines & not in the interests of the health & well-being of the population. We can both recognize need to open up economy & society using vaccines/testing and seriousness of COVID as a disease.
It will be the correct approach once Nicola advocates it, until then this “independent” (sic) “expert” (sic) will continue taking pot shots at the U.K. government, unlike any of her peers in the rest of the U.K.
No answer to her hypocrisy. She’s just an SNP shill now.
Blackford's fury in the HOC at the thought HMG will not continue funding Scotland (and Wales) testing regime confirmed just how dependent they have been on the Treasury and they now realise they will need to find their own funding if they want to continue their own restrictions
My impression is that Scotland has been testing at a lower rate than England throughout the pandemic (and consequently has had a higher positivity rate). That would imply that they've managed to use some of the money they received as Barnett-consequentials of England's Covid testing to spend on other things. I'd suspect that the end of that gravy train is the real cause of their displeasure.
Golly, that’s a lot of ‘my impression’, ‘that would imply’ and ‘I’d suspect’. Anything more concrete?
Different testing isn't necessarily wrong or a bad thing. Getting a higher positivity rate may just imply testing the right people, rather than pointlessly having worried mothers in Surrey sticking a test up their nose 5 times a day.
Good morning one and all. At least the wind seems to have dropped, but the sky I can see from my window looks a bit threatening. I'm somewhat concerned at the dropping of all restrictions; I don't get the I'm press ion that everything's OK now, by any means, although I do think we have to learn to live with endemic Covid; I only hope it remains a mild variety. I suspect there's still an issue with schools.
As far as Ukraine is concerned, are not the boundaries of these States somewhat artificial. AIUI, the majority, possibly the vast majority, of the population of the separatist 'republics' identifies as Russian. I'm not defending Putin, who appears to be running diversionary tactics of his own...... what's going awry in Russia?
What issue do you see with schools? Children are the least vulnerable to this virus.
Schools 100% should be the first thing to live as normal.
The problem is that with Covid still ripping through quite a lot of primary schools the staff absence means that normal is difficult. OK so the period of sick leave is shorter than the old 2 weeks in chokey used to be but it is still disruptive.
Primary schools can be filled with snot monkeys at the best of times. Managing absences is something that schools have always had to do, and will always have to do.
However those absences should be because people are actually sick, rather than they have an endemic virus that hasn't made them sick.
We're in agreement then. Covid makes people sick, they take time off. The good news is that Omicron doesn't make you very sick, so it isn't for weeks.
No we're not remotely in agreement. It isn't true that Covid makes people sick for certain, Covid can make people sick, it also can have no real impact and leave people entirely asymptomatic.
People should be off if they're actually sick, not simply because they're carrying a virus but aren't sick.
The stock market has not taken the hit (yet) that was predicted. Currently rising back to near parity on the day. I suggest that's because they agree with me (oh the chutzpah!) that whilst this is not great, it's also not World War Three. It's not even an invasion of Ukraine as such.
Providing this is all Putin does, we can live with it.
So what's your answer? How do you defeat this evil? Or are you secretly tumescent at the idea of an emboldened Russia?
Why does it have to be defeated? One corrupt shit hole dismembering another corrupt shit hole isn't our problem.
Ukraine on its post 2014 de facto borders isn't a viable or stable situation so something has to change. The ability of the Alliance of Awesome to influence the outcome of that change is severely limited by an understandable lack of appetite for WW3.
The answer I'd expect from you. Let Russia do what it wants.
We cannot do much therefore we must do (and, crucially, also say) nothing.
The simplistic politics of 14 year olds dressed up as worldly wisdom.
I can see the Putin apologists have gone overnight from saying that Putin won't invade Ukraine, to now the fact invasion has already begun that its not a real invasion and it only matters if he invades the "rest of Ukraine".
So what's your answer? How do you defeat this evil? Or are you secretly tumescent at the idea of an emboldened Russia?
Why does it have to be defeated? One corrupt shit hole dismembering another corrupt shit hole isn't our problem.
Ukraine on its post 2014 de facto borders isn't a viable or stable situation so something has to change. The ability of the Alliance of Awesome to influence the outcome of that change is severely limited by an understandable lack of appetite for WW3.
The answer I'd expect from you. Let Russia do what it wants.
We cannot do much therefore we must do (and, crucially, also say) nothing.
The simplistic politics of 14 year olds dressed up as worldly wisdom.
I think what we can do at the moment is really in the range of sanctions. There's a good argument that stronger sanctions earlier than last time might deter him from going further ; but there's an almost equally strong argument that that leaves nothing to draw on if he does go further.
Indeed. Our country’s only land border is no different. There are people to the north of it who identify with the nation to the south of it, and there are people to the south of it who speak English!
You can say the same about the French/German border, the French/Spanish border, the German/Belgium border, the Italian/Swiss border, and so on. This isn’t something unique to Eastern Europe. The difference is that we have (after centuries of war) found peaceful solutions.
Yes (with a small continuing query over the Irish issue) - I think "after centuries of war" is relevant, though - we are I think all appalled by what happened to Yugoslavia, but it's a recent example of humanity not learning much from history. We shouldn't be too superior about it, just sad.
Good morning one and all. At least the wind seems to have dropped, but the sky I can see from my window looks a bit threatening. I'm somewhat concerned at the dropping of all restrictions; I don't get the I'm press ion that everything's OK now, by any means, although I do think we have to learn to live with endemic Covid; I only hope it remains a mild variety. I suspect there's still an issue with schools.
As far as Ukraine is concerned, are not the boundaries of these States somewhat artificial. AIUI, the majority, possibly the vast majority, of the population of the separatist 'republics' identifies as Russian. I'm not defending Putin, who appears to be running diversionary tactics of his own...... what's going awry in Russia?
What issue do you see with schools? Children are the least vulnerable to this virus.
Schools 100% should be the first thing to live as normal.
The problem is that with Covid still ripping through quite a lot of primary schools the staff absence means that normal is difficult. OK so the period of sick leave is shorter than the old 2 weeks in chokey used to be but it is still disruptive.
Primary schools can be filled with snot monkeys at the best of times. Managing absences is something that schools have always had to do, and will always have to do.
However those absences should be because people are actually sick, rather than they have an endemic virus that hasn't made them sick.
We're in agreement then. Covid makes people sick, they take time off. The good news is that Omicron doesn't make you very sick, so it isn't for weeks.
I'd suggest that the media not being filled with tales of schools closed because no staff means that the wave of issues in the schools is long past. The media are pretty quick to latch onto middle class mums who start moaning about stuff.
They're not 'past.' They're just not leading to full closures. There's still plenty of disruption. I had to take several days off myself a fortnight ago due to Covid. I haven't taken more than two consecutive days off since I was at school myself, and I was one of 28 teaching staff absent. The cover situation was - difficult.
Fair enough. I do understand that the media drops stories pretty quick, so maybe I assumed too much. We have never had much of an impact at the Uni with staff or students off. Perhaps the schools have been different because no vaccination (for the primaries?)
There's a touching quote from the Kenyan delegate to the UN on trying to settle states on ethnic boundaries:
On Monday night, Kenya’s permanent representative, Martin Kimani, delivered a powerful address, suggesting Russia learn to live with ethnic grievances just as African states have done.
“Kenya and almost every African country was birthed by the ending of empire. Our borders were not of our own drawing,” Kimani said. “Had we chosen to pursue states on the basis of ethnic, racial or religious homogeneity, we would still be waging bloody wars these many decades later.”
--------- As others have said, the history of Yugoslavia and now Russia/Ukraine suggests that the extreme nationalists win out in the end in Eastern Europe.
There are now two quite different prospective futures. One is that Putin pushes on past the current de facto borders to create larger East Ukraine statelets with a land border to Crimea. He'd obviously like to, but the West has made it clear that it would trigger really massive sanctions (and if he pushed on to Kiev, even more so).
The other is that he doesn't, and all that's actually happened is that the Russians have declared the de facto split to be de jure, which would after all the sabre-rattling constitute a Putin climbdown. The Western comments have made it pretty clear that we'll live with that, with fairly token sanctions. From the Guardian today:
"A senior US administration official said more sanctions would imposed on Tuesday and would be proportionate to Russian steps overnight. It was unclear however if the deployment of “peacekeeping forces” in the Moscow-backed enclaves would be seen by Washington as an invasion. The official pointed out that Russian forces had been acting covertly in the area for eight years."
"At the end of a meeting of EU foreign ministers, the bloc’s foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, said a package of prepared EU sanctions would be triggered by Russia’s recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk territories, but the extent of the sanctions would reflect “the level of aggression”.
The EU has threatened “severe costs and massive consequences” in the event of a further Russian incursion into Ukraine. The package has yet to be made public but it would involve a block on exports of key electrical components on which Russia is reliant, potentially an import ban on Russian oil and gas, and the freezing of assets of individuals and companies affiliated with the government in Moscow."
In that case, it looks likely that we'll treat it much like the Israeli-occupied West Bank - we don't accept it, but it's a fact and not likely to end soon. We're being quite subtle here, and it may produce the result that Western govenments mostly want - NATO strengthened, and Putin forced to recognise that a military incursion will trigger unbearable costs, without having such a loss of face that he gets overthrown by anyone up for actual war.
Indeed. The logic of those suggesting that multi-ethnic states must be split up, is that the chaps below were right.....
Given that I actually posted approvingly of two of my friends who believed in the multi-ethnic state of Yugoslavia, your post is borderline ridiculous.
If there are enough people who believe in a multi-ethnic country, then of course it can be gotten to work.
The problem in the Ukraine and Yugoslavs is that there aren't.
Canada works (in its roundabout fashion) because enough of the Francophones, the Anglophones and the Allophones realise that the alternative would be worse,
As the Russian army marches into Ukraine, I hope the PB scum that accused everyone demanding more serious ultimatums of warmongering see what they have done. You are all human filth.
I've been called worse. Problem for you is that 4 years in local government hardened me to not care one little bit about jibes thrown by people I don't respect. And I still don't see what point there is in NATO sabre-rattling. We will stop him financially and diplomatically, not by war.
We have had sanctions on Russia and Russian individuals for years. They have not stopped the aggression. What makes you so certain that stronger sanctions will stop Russian aggression?
Yes, but you haven't described what you would do differently. Would you dispatch our armoured division there?
I have explained in previous posts. Support Ukraine financially and with military aid, short of boots on the ground. Particularly intel. Bolster the security of other Eastern European states. All this on top of massive sanctions on the Russian state and individuals.
Make it clear that Russia is a pariah. It should have been done after Salisbury really, but we are where we are.
So what is your answer?
All of those things are already happening, apart from "massive sanctions". And I suppose the calculation governments are making is: if the west imposes massive sanctions today, what is left to deter further action in Ukraine by Putin?
I had two good friends who identified as Yugoslav.
One was from Vojvodina, and was part Croat, part Serb. He told me confidently that war will not happen in Yugoslavia. Everyone has much more in common than separates them. After the Way, he was very sad, and he still calls himself a Yugoslav. It was a good country, he said, I was proud of it as a nation of all the Slavs. He now lives in Edinburgh.
The second friend was part Serb, part Hungarian, part Jewish. He told me confidently that there is no difference between these peoples, they speak mutually intelligible versions of the same language. There will not be a war. He now lives in Montreal, Canada.
The lesson is that the forces of nationalism in these multi-ethnic Eastern European countries are just incredibly powerful.
Yugoslavia could not withstand them, and it had a much longer history as a stable, independent, multi-ethnic country than the present-day Ukraine.
The other lesson is that people who think like my friends leave. They did not stay in Yugoslavia. Like-minded people will not stay in the present-day Ukraine. Because both sides are now increasingly controlled by extremists.
I am not sure whether there ever was a time that Stalin's boundaries of the Ukraine could be saved, but that time is long past.
The boundaries of a new Ukraine need to be sorted.
I wanted them sorted through plebiscites. They will now be sorted through force.
Your points about Yugoslavia are well made, but to suggest that plebiscites were in any way possible since the annexation of Crimea is, I think, unrealistic.
And I don't think you can so simply equate Ukraine with Yugoslavia.
There was, maybe, more logic to the Kingdom of Croats, Serbs and Slovenes, the South Slavs, than to Stalin's arbitrary creation of "Ukraine".
Good morning one and all. At least the wind seems to have dropped, but the sky I can see from my window looks a bit threatening. I'm somewhat concerned at the dropping of all restrictions; I don't get the I'm press ion that everything's OK now, by any means, although I do think we have to learn to live with endemic Covid; I only hope it remains a mild variety. I suspect there's still an issue with schools.
As far as Ukraine is concerned, are not the boundaries of these States somewhat artificial. AIUI, the majority, possibly the vast majority, of the population of the separatist 'republics' identifies as Russian. I'm not defending Putin, who appears to be running diversionary tactics of his own...... what's going awry in Russia?
What issue do you see with schools? Children are the least vulnerable to this virus.
Schools 100% should be the first thing to live as normal.
The problem is that with Covid still ripping through quite a lot of primary schools the staff absence means that normal is difficult. OK so the period of sick leave is shorter than the old 2 weeks in chokey used to be but it is still disruptive.
Primary schools can be filled with snot monkeys at the best of times. Managing absences is something that schools have always had to do, and will always have to do.
However those absences should be because people are actually sick, rather than they have an endemic virus that hasn't made them sick.
Makes you wonder how we ever managed these situations before covid.
1. People catch virus 2. People go off sick because they are ill with the virus 3. People get better and return to work
BR has been demanding that people sick with Covid go to work as normal. If its Norovirus they don't bring arse-spraying mayhem into work, they stay home, so why is Covid any different? The genuinely good news is that for most people 3 jabs means Omicron is relatively mild. A few days of being crap, a week tops and you're back to normal.
Before Br says "eugh but a lot of people don't even know they have it the virus is that mild" then they won't be ill and won't be off sick. But if people are ill - with Covid or anything else - you don't want them in an office environment. I have both ordered people to go home and been ordered home for things that were not Covid.
Is is a legal mandate to stay home with norovirus, or just guidance based on common sense? As in, what you should do now if you have a cold, or sore throat etc.
Companies I've worked at (and my children's school) have generally had a policy that you should stay at home for 48 hours if you've physically vomited or have diarrhoea.
That's a sensible way to handle things like sickness and norovirus.
My understanding is its a legal requirement for anyone food handling but I doubt it is for the whole nation, but it is a sensible policy either way.
So what's your answer? How do you defeat this evil? Or are you secretly tumescent at the idea of an emboldened Russia?
Why does it have to be defeated? One corrupt shit hole dismembering another corrupt shit hole isn't our problem.
Ukraine on its post 2014 de facto borders isn't a viable or stable situation so something has to change. The ability of the Alliance of Awesome to influence the outcome of that change is severely limited by an understandable lack of appetite for WW3.
The answer I'd expect from you. Let Russia do what it wants.
When I finish my home engineering project - a 1-1 scale replica of Violet Club - can I then make some ridiculous territorial demands?
I've got a very furrin sounding name, so Negative Nationalism will apply (furriners always right).
Good morning one and all. At least the wind seems to have dropped, but the sky I can see from my window looks a bit threatening. I'm somewhat concerned at the dropping of all restrictions; I don't get the I'm press ion that everything's OK now, by any means, although I do think we have to learn to live with endemic Covid; I only hope it remains a mild variety. I suspect there's still an issue with schools.
As far as Ukraine is concerned, are not the boundaries of these States somewhat artificial. AIUI, the majority, possibly the vast majority, of the population of the separatist 'republics' identifies as Russian. I'm not defending Putin, who appears to be running diversionary tactics of his own...... what's going awry in Russia?
What issue do you see with schools? Children are the least vulnerable to this virus.
Schools 100% should be the first thing to live as normal.
The problem is that with Covid still ripping through quite a lot of primary schools the staff absence means that normal is difficult. OK so the period of sick leave is shorter than the old 2 weeks in chokey used to be but it is still disruptive.
Primary schools can be filled with snot monkeys at the best of times. Managing absences is something that schools have always had to do, and will always have to do.
However those absences should be because people are actually sick, rather than they have an endemic virus that hasn't made them sick.
Makes you wonder how we ever managed these situations before covid.
1. People catch virus 2. People go off sick because they are ill with the virus 3. People get better and return to work
BR has been demanding that people sick with Covid go to work as normal. If its Norovirus they don't bring arse-spraying mayhem into work, they stay home, so why is Covid any different? The genuinely good news is that for most people 3 jabs means Omicron is relatively mild. A few days of being crap, a week tops and you're back to normal.
Before Br says "eugh but a lot of people don't even know they have it the virus is that mild" then they won't be ill and won't be off sick. But if people are ill - with Covid or anything else - you don't want them in an office environment. I have both ordered people to go home and been ordered home for things that were not Covid.
Utter bullshit.
BR has been demanding that people who are not sick with Covid be able to go to work as normal. I understand that having Covid and being sick are not the same thing.
If its Norovirus people stay at home based on symptoms, not for weeks based on a test strip showing a line even if asymptomatic.
Act based on actual sickness, not theoretical testing.
I have never said people should go in if they're physically sick, I said we should switch from going based on virus results to based on actual sickness. If you can't understand that, its because you're wilfully misreading it, or are functionally illiterate. I know you're not the latter, so I can only assume you're being wilfully disingenuous.
Happy Tues! ☀️ Just remember UK govt COVID decisions are now driven by catching headlines & not in the interests of the health & well-being of the population. We can both recognize need to open up economy & society using vaccines/testing and seriousness of COVID as a disease.
It will be the correct approach once Nicola advocates it, until then this “independent” (sic) “expert” (sic) will continue taking pot shots at the U.K. government, unlike any of her peers in the rest of the U.K.
No answer to her hypocrisy. She’s just an SNP shill now.
Blackford's fury in the HOC at the thought HMG will not continue funding Scotland (and Wales) testing regime confirmed just how dependent they have been on the Treasury and they now realise they will need to find their own funding if they want to continue their own restrictions
My impression is that Scotland has been testing at a lower rate than England throughout the pandemic (and consequently has had a higher positivity rate). That would imply that they've managed to use some of the money they received as Barnett-consequentials of England's Covid testing to spend on other things. I'd suspect that the end of that gravy train is the real cause of their displeasure.
Golly, that’s a lot of ‘my impression’, ‘that would imply’ and ‘I’d suspect’. Anything more concrete?
Across the UK as a whole about seven tests per person have been conducted. For Scotland that figure is less than three.
I was confident what I said was true, but couldn't be bothered to check the precise figures. You thought that would mean you could catch me out.
Boris has just said the UK only depends on 3% of Russian gas
Boris is either thick or deliberately misleading because although that might be true the UK is dependent upon the price of gas (and other energy) no matter where it comes from so if others are very dependent upon Russian gas so that the price goes up, then so are we.
The stock market has not taken the hit (yet) that was predicted. Currently rising back to near parity on the day. I suggest that's because they agree with me (oh the chutzpah!) that whilst this is not great, it's also not World War Three. It's not even an invasion of Ukraine as such.
Providing this is all Putin does, we can live with it.
"We can live with that" is somewhat more casual than is necessary.
Words of a Putin apologist
Not at all. A pragmatic but overly casual statement to have made.
Big Dog may be saved. Big Dog can report he has saved the World from Covid, Big Dog can claim Churchillian statesmanship at 12.30 today. If the voting public have jumped on board the Boris train with your enthusiasm over the last 24 hours, expect a 10 point Conservative VI lead.
The situation in Ukraine is still worrysome and the danger from Putin remains far from over. I suspect all Western leaders would be secretly more than happy if Heathener is right, including Big Dog
So what's your answer? How do you defeat this evil? Or are you secretly tumescent at the idea of an emboldened Russia?
Why does it have to be defeated? One corrupt shit hole dismembering another corrupt shit hole isn't our problem.
Ukraine on its post 2014 de facto borders isn't a viable or stable situation so something has to change. The ability of the Alliance of Awesome to influence the outcome of that change is severely limited by an understandable lack of appetite for WW3.
The answer I'd expect from you. Let Russia do what it wants.
We cannot do much therefore we must do (and, crucially, also say) nothing.
The simplistic politics of 14 year olds dressed up as worldly wisdom.
Given that you have made 71,140 posts, it seems a little odd to claim that you are being asked "to (crucially) say nothing."
Best thing Britain can do is smack Putin on the wrist and otherwise keep well out.
I know that's unpopular with what someone below described as pb.com's bellicose armchair generals, but there we go.
I find this oh so hilarious repetition of armchair general thing to be childish, tiresome and wrong personally.
It's obvious the intent is to portray anyone suggesting tougher 'language' as being some gung ho 'send in the tanks' fool not thinking about the practicalities and the alternative as being the realistic side, but its very rare anyone talks of physical intervention. They are being pragmatic and realistic in mostly advocating words, or defensive actions in allied states as an example.
Are people not able to comment on the situation and suggest firm language at least without being an armchair general? Can they not criticise one side more than another without a supposedly cutting remark about 'well what would you do, start marching on the Donbass?' style rejoinder
These situations are clearly not easy and practical options limited, the world is like that. But the swift attempt to paint even expressing outrage as bellicose or discussion of basically any reaction as discredited by coming from armchair generals is unpleasantly cynical at best and absolute nonsense at worst.
And one person talking of the need to fight is pretty close to the action, so understandable.
Well, we all have our childish, tiresome and wrong stuff. Personally I wish the the cliché mongers pooping out ‘useful idiots’ like it was a newly minted zinger would give it up. I realise that it’s difficult for many of them to say something interesting but silence is always an option.
The amusing thing about "Useful Idiots" is that it was a term the Soviets used for their instinctive *allies*
Yer a great one for telling people stuff that they already know very well. I'm well aware of the origin of the term 'useful idiots', and I first read Notes on Nationalism decades before you started posting a link to it here on a weekly basis.
As the Russian army marches into Ukraine, I hope the PB scum that accused everyone demanding more serious ultimatums of warmongering see what they have done. You are all human filth.
I've been called worse. Problem for you is that 4 years in local government hardened me to not care one little bit about jibes thrown by people I don't respect. And I still don't see what point there is in NATO sabre-rattling. We will stop him financially and diplomatically, not by war.
We have had sanctions on Russia and Russian individuals for years. They have not stopped the aggression. What makes you so certain that stronger sanctions will stop Russian aggression?
Yes, but you haven't described what you would do differently. Would you dispatch our armoured division there?
I have explained in previous posts. Support Ukraine financially and with military aid, short of boots on the ground. Particularly intel. Bolster the security of other Eastern European states. All this on top of massive sanctions on the Russian state and individuals.
Make it clear that Russia is a pariah. It should have been done after Salisbury really, but we are where we are.
So what is your answer?
All of those things are already happening, apart from "massive sanctions". And I suppose the calculation governments are making is: if the west imposes massive sanctions today, what is left to deter further action in Ukraine by Putin?
More sanctions - I think it unlikely that the US will move straight to pulling SWIFT access, for example.
This is straight out of the books on cold war strategy. You don't start reacting only when you get to the places where you actually fight (Baltics etc) - you start reacting before (Ukraine). You increase the reaction as more and more happens.
This means that the reaction isn't a surprise, and the cost of taking another step becomes apparent.
Oddly emotive headline on the bbc about an 'axe' being taken testing and does it matter . I thought that was against their style guide, I remember an old one they changed about spending cuts taxes being wielded
Boris has just said the UK only depends on 3% of Russian gas
Boris is either thick or deliberately misleading because although that might be true the UK is dependent upon the price of gas (and other energy) no matter where it comes from so if others are very dependent upon Russian gas so that the price goes up, then so are we.
I would not dispute that but only 3% from Russia will surprise many
The Dildo Knapper's Gazette wants to send me write about flintwork in some corner of Europe, Australia or north America that they feel has been unjustly neglected by travellers
Does anyone have any ideas?
I've just been looking at the list of national parks in Europe for some inspiration. There are 500 or more, most of which I've barely or never heard of
And so much more. Has anyone got a favourite secret corner of Europe?
Barnsley. I'm sure the average Torygraph reader would be fascinated by your tales of adventures in Wombwell.
Jamund is beautiful, as is the rest of Rügen, amazing beaches, fascinating Nazi holiday architecture in Prora etc. But it is not exactly neglected, it's one of the most popular holiday destinations for Germans. Not many foreigners apart from Scandinavians, Poles and Russians. No Brits, it's true.
Less visited are Meck-Pomm's Hanseatic towns, I recommend Stralsund and Wismar.
I'm in Gdańsk in June and was looking for a way of making it a longer trip. But one option is German Pomerania, then entering Poland at Swinoujscie and maybe looking for V2 launch sites and U boat pens.
I don't know Poland at all, only been over the border at Swinemünde (as it's known round here). There's a museum in Peenemünde that might be of interest, don't know about u boat pens. Greifswald is a nice hanseatic (university) town with some examples of the red brick gothic architecture.
Stralsund is definitely worth visiting. And Prora in Rügen is worth visiting if you're interested in that bit of German history and the KdF program. It's been gradually converted into flats (and a youth hostel and a hotel) the last years, which is kind of a shame, but I think a couple of blocks remain unrenovated. From Wiki:
"Robert Ley, head of the German Labour Front – of which Strength Through Joy was a subsidiary – envisioned Prora as a parallel to Butlins, which were British "holiday camps" designed to provide affordable holidays for the average worker. Prora was designed to house 20,000 holidaymakers, under the ideal that every worker deserved a holiday at the beach. Designed by Clemens Klotz, who won a design competition overseen by Adolf Hitler's chief architect Albert Speer, all rooms were planned to overlook the sea, while corridors and sanitation are located on the landward side.[3] Each room of 5 metres (16 ft) by 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) was to have two beds, a wardrobe and a sink. There were communal toilets, showers and bathrooms on each floor.
Hitler's plans for Prora were much more ambitious. He wanted a gigantic sea resort, the "most mighty and large one to ever have existed", holding 20,000 beds. In the middle, a huge building was to be erected. At the same time, Hitler wanted it to be convertible into a military hospital in case of war. Hitler insisted that the plans of a giant indoor arena by architect Erich Putlitz be included. Putlitz's Festival Hall was intended to be able to accommodate all 20,000 guests at the same time. His plans included two wave-swimming pools, a cinema and a theatre.[1] A large dock for passenger ships was also planned.
The designs won a Grand Prix award at the 1937 Paris World Exposition."
Sopot is worth a look, just along the coast. See how the old Grand Hotel is coming along, buy some amber, etc.
The stock market has not taken the hit (yet) that was predicted. Currently rising back to near parity on the day. I suggest that's because they agree with me (oh the chutzpah!) that whilst this is not great, it's also not World War Three. It's not even an invasion of Ukraine as such.
Providing this is all Putin does, we can live with it.
"We can live with that" is somewhat more casual than is necessary.
Words of a Putin apologist
Not at all. A pragmatic but overly casual statement to have made.
Big Dog may be saved. Big Dog can report he has saved the World from Covid, Big Dog can claim Churchillian statesmanship at 12.30 today. If the voting public have jumped on board the Boris train with your enthusiasm over the last 24 hours, expect a 10 point Conservative VI lead.
The situation in Ukraine is still worrysome and the danger from Putin remains far from over. I suspect all Western leaders would be secretly more than happy if Heathener is right, including Big Dog
I am not at all sure Boris poll ratings will improve over this but he has been spot on on covid and Ukraine
Boris has just said the UK only depends on 3% of Russian gas
Boris is either thick or deliberately misleading because although that might be true the UK is dependent upon the price of gas (and other energy) no matter where it comes from so if others are very dependent upon Russian gas so that the price goes up, then so are we.
I would not dispute that but only 3% from Russia will surprise many
To be honest, I am surprised that any gas comes from Russia, the routes are a pain....
About half of UK gas supplies are of domestic origin, from the North Sea. The UK has been a big producer of gas since the mid-1960s, but output has fallen since 2000 and usage continues to rise.
Another one-third of the UK's gas comes through pipelines from Norway.
The rest consists almost entirely of imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which arrive in Britain by sea from countries such as Qatar, the US and even Trinidad and Tobago.
The small amount of Russian gas that does reach the UK comes in LNG form.
Good morning one and all. At least the wind seems to have dropped, but the sky I can see from my window looks a bit threatening. I'm somewhat concerned at the dropping of all restrictions; I don't get the I'm press ion that everything's OK now, by any means, although I do think we have to learn to live with endemic Covid; I only hope it remains a mild variety. I suspect there's still an issue with schools.
As far as Ukraine is concerned, are not the boundaries of these States somewhat artificial. AIUI, the majority, possibly the vast majority, of the population of the separatist 'republics' identifies as Russian. I'm not defending Putin, who appears to be running diversionary tactics of his own...... what's going awry in Russia?
What issue do you see with schools? Children are the least vulnerable to this virus.
Schools 100% should be the first thing to live as normal.
The problem is that with Covid still ripping through quite a lot of primary schools the staff absence means that normal is difficult. OK so the period of sick leave is shorter than the old 2 weeks in chokey used to be but it is still disruptive.
Primary schools can be filled with snot monkeys at the best of times. Managing absences is something that schools have always had to do, and will always have to do.
However those absences should be because people are actually sick, rather than they have an endemic virus that hasn't made them sick.
We're in agreement then. Covid makes people sick, they take time off. The good news is that Omicron doesn't make you very sick, so it isn't for weeks.
I'd suggest that the media not being filled with tales of schools closed because no staff means that the wave of issues in the schools is long past. The media are pretty quick to latch onto middle class mums who start moaning about stuff.
They're not 'past.' They're just not leading to full closures. There's still plenty of disruption. I had to take several days off myself a fortnight ago due to Covid. I haven't taken more than two consecutive days off since I was at school myself, and I was one of 28 teaching staff absent. The cover situation was - difficult.
Fair enough. I do understand that the media drops stories pretty quick, so maybe I assumed too much. We have never had much of an impact at the Uni with staff or students off. Perhaps the schools have been different because no vaccination (for the primaries?)
Having taught in both, it's a different dynamic. First of all, contact hours at uni are rather less, so there's less impact even if the equivalent number of staff are off. Secondly, the nature of uni teaching, where you can be at some distance from the students for largish chunks of it, means there's less risk of infection anyway. Schools, by contrast, are much more cramped and much more personal. It's more like constant lab hours. Finally, if staff are absent at uni you can always cancel the session. You can't do that at a school unless we're talking A-level which is a fraction of the overall teaching level. Primary school classes need a teacher in front of them, whether their teacher is there or not. And at the moment, the usual supply numbers just aren't out there. Quite a lot found other, more congenial jobs in the pandemic and are not in any hurry to get back.
So I think it's difficult to draw a meaningful comparison because of those different dynamics. What I can say is that while I'm glad to hear you're doing OK at your uni, this is still a big problem in schools.
Good morning one and all. At least the wind seems to have dropped, but the sky I can see from my window looks a bit threatening. I'm somewhat concerned at the dropping of all restrictions; I don't get the I'm press ion that everything's OK now, by any means, although I do think we have to learn to live with endemic Covid; I only hope it remains a mild variety. I suspect there's still an issue with schools.
As far as Ukraine is concerned, are not the boundaries of these States somewhat artificial. AIUI, the majority, possibly the vast majority, of the population of the separatist 'republics' identifies as Russian. I'm not defending Putin, who appears to be running diversionary tactics of his own...... what's going awry in Russia?
What issue do you see with schools? Children are the least vulnerable to this virus.
Schools 100% should be the first thing to live as normal.
The problem is that with Covid still ripping through quite a lot of primary schools the staff absence means that normal is difficult. OK so the period of sick leave is shorter than the old 2 weeks in chokey used to be but it is still disruptive.
Primary schools can be filled with snot monkeys at the best of times. Managing absences is something that schools have always had to do, and will always have to do.
However those absences should be because people are actually sick, rather than they have an endemic virus that hasn't made them sick.
Makes you wonder how we ever managed these situations before covid.
1. People catch virus 2. People go off sick because they are ill with the virus 3. People get better and return to work
BR has been demanding that people sick with Covid go to work as normal. If its Norovirus they don't bring arse-spraying mayhem into work, they stay home, so why is Covid any different? The genuinely good news is that for most people 3 jabs means Omicron is relatively mild. A few days of being crap, a week tops and you're back to normal.
Before Br says "eugh but a lot of people don't even know they have it the virus is that mild" then they won't be ill and won't be off sick. But if people are ill - with Covid or anything else - you don't want them in an office environment. I have both ordered people to go home and been ordered home for things that were not Covid.
Is is a legal mandate to stay home with norovirus, or just guidance based on common sense? As in, what you should do now if you have a cold, or sore throat etc.
No, not a legal mandate. But some on here (BR in particular) keep insisting Covid is the common cold and we should all just keep going to work if we have it.
My point is that as Covid becomes just another virus we need to treat it the same - if you are ill you stay off work. I keep reading "there is no reason for disruption in schools" yet I know some schools who have got staff problems as Covid tears through them. It isn't the common cold. And just like if you get a Norovirus outbreak it can hit somewhere like a school hard.
As the Russian army marches into Ukraine, I hope the PB scum that accused everyone demanding more serious ultimatums of warmongering see what they have done. You are all human filth.
I've been called worse. Problem for you is that 4 years in local government hardened me to not care one little bit about jibes thrown by people I don't respect. And I still don't see what point there is in NATO sabre-rattling. We will stop him financially and diplomatically, not by war.
We have had sanctions on Russia and Russian individuals for years. They have not stopped the aggression. What makes you so certain that stronger sanctions will stop Russian aggression?
Yes, but you haven't described what you would do differently. Would you dispatch our armoured division there?
I have explained in previous posts. Support Ukraine financially and with military aid, short of boots on the ground. Particularly intel. Bolster the security of other Eastern European states. All this on top of massive sanctions on the Russian state and individuals.
Make it clear that Russia is a pariah. It should have been done after Salisbury really, but we are where we are.
So what is your answer?
All of those things are already happening, apart from "massive sanctions". And I suppose the calculation governments are making is: if the west imposes massive sanctions today, what is left to deter further action in Ukraine by Putin?
They're really not, at least at the scale required.
And many on here would just complain that we're 'poking' Russia.
Good morning one and all. At least the wind seems to have dropped, but the sky I can see from my window looks a bit threatening. I'm somewhat concerned at the dropping of all restrictions; I don't get the I'm press ion that everything's OK now, by any means, although I do think we have to learn to live with endemic Covid; I only hope it remains a mild variety. I suspect there's still an issue with schools.
As far as Ukraine is concerned, are not the boundaries of these States somewhat artificial. AIUI, the majority, possibly the vast majority, of the population of the separatist 'republics' identifies as Russian. I'm not defending Putin, who appears to be running diversionary tactics of his own...... what's going awry in Russia?
What issue do you see with schools? Children are the least vulnerable to this virus.
Schools 100% should be the first thing to live as normal.
The problem is that with Covid still ripping through quite a lot of primary schools the staff absence means that normal is difficult. OK so the period of sick leave is shorter than the old 2 weeks in chokey used to be but it is still disruptive.
Primary schools can be filled with snot monkeys at the best of times. Managing absences is something that schools have always had to do, and will always have to do.
However those absences should be because people are actually sick, rather than they have an endemic virus that hasn't made them sick.
Makes you wonder how we ever managed these situations before covid.
1. People catch virus 2. People go off sick because they are ill with the virus 3. People get better and return to work
BR has been demanding that people sick with Covid go to work as normal. If its Norovirus they don't bring arse-spraying mayhem into work, they stay home, so why is Covid any different? The genuinely good news is that for most people 3 jabs means Omicron is relatively mild. A few days of being crap, a week tops and you're back to normal.
Before Br says "eugh but a lot of people don't even know they have it the virus is that mild" then they won't be ill and won't be off sick. But if people are ill - with Covid or anything else - you don't want them in an office environment. I have both ordered people to go home and been ordered home for things that were not Covid.
Is is a legal mandate to stay home with norovirus, or just guidance based on common sense? As in, what you should do now if you have a cold, or sore throat etc.
No, not a legal mandate. But some on here (BR in particular) keep insisting Covid is the common cold and we should all just keep going to work if we have it.
My point is that as Covid becomes just another virus we need to treat it the same - if you are ill you stay off work. I keep reading "there is no reason for disruption in schools" yet I know some schools who have got staff problems as Covid tears through them. It isn't the common cold. And just like if you get a Norovirus outbreak it can hit somewhere like a school hard.
The point is, there's a difference between "having it (the virus)" and "being ill".
I attended a business conference at a hotel in Tallinn last night, and afterwards we were having a coffee in the hotel lobby when the Putin speech came on CNN.
The Estonians and Georgians in our party were very grim faced indeed. This is no longer about Ukraine.
Essentially Putin´s angry and rambling discourse showed that Putin demands that all places previously under Soviet rule should return to the the Kremlin. In his demented world view, any resistance will be proof that NATO is protecting their "puppets" and therefore Russia has the right to unleash attacks directly against any NATO state, and not just the eastern members.
The spectacle of the tyrant lecturing his henchmen (at a 10 metre distance) was so sinister as to be almost comical, but not one of us was laughing. It is as we feared, the demands of the Kremlin regime can only lead to war.
I was talking to a friend, the editor of one of the major newspapers here. Putin is serious, but he is also mad. He will use all the resources at his disposal, including nuclear in order to recreate the disaster of the past, which in his mind is "Soviet glory". A fair estimate of the victims of Communist terror is over 20 million dead, and the tortured and maimed in body and spirit includes more or less anyone who endured Soviet power, including, of course runty little mad Vova from the wrong side of the tracks in Leningrad. In Estonia the population fell by a third from the beginning of the Soviet occupation in 1940 until the 1960s. Women and children in their thousands were put on cattle carts and sent to the camps, many of the men were simply shot. My friend like others whose family were taken, was very shaken. There is no ambiguity about what the tyrant now wants, and thousands and even millions of people are going to die because of it.
This is no longer about sanctions. If we are to stop this, we actually have to fight. Economic sanctions, no matter how crippling, will not work. We must now recognise that the defeat of Ukraine must be prevented by all means possible. The war is coming to us, whatever we do, so far better that the Russian forces are defeated in Donetsk than Dresden or Dover. The Russian naval exercise off Ireland is to cut the subsea communications cables, an attack that could cost trillions. Kremlin planning includes this, and this is NOT about just Ukraine.
The diplomats amongst us pointed out that both the UK and France, the current EU President, have been playing a well coodinated good cop/bad cop process, but, as they said, that only works when dealing with the sane. The calls for restraint made by China were greeted with some approval, "at least the Chinese are rational".
Neverthless we were a very sombre party. I have not slept well.
We are very scared, but determined. My friends in the Militia are expecting call ups and if it comes to it, the Baltic will fight to defend themselves, together with the NATO allies based here.
"Deliver us from Evil"
There is zero chance of any western nation fighting for any non NATO ex USSR states whether Ukraine or Georgia for example. The western population does not have the will for it, nor do the governments.
Even military action if Putin invaded the Baltic states is not guaranteed. If Putin went beyond the old USSR and invaded Poland and not only NATO but EU states then NATO would respond militarily but only then and then we would be in World War 3.
Otherwise economy sanctions is all he would face
Military action on invading any NATO state is guaranteed
Are you sure?
Suppose Putin invades and occupies Ukraine and - aside from a further surge in gas prices - most people in Britain won't notice. So who cares?
If Trump becomes President again NATO is thrown into doubt and chaos. He might pull the US out of NATO, or at least question whether countries that were "once part of Russia" should be defended. Would we stand against Russia alone?
We have to shake ourselves out of our complacency on this.
Good morning one and all. At least the wind seems to have dropped, but the sky I can see from my window looks a bit threatening. I'm somewhat concerned at the dropping of all restrictions; I don't get the I'm press ion that everything's OK now, by any means, although I do think we have to learn to live with endemic Covid; I only hope it remains a mild variety. I suspect there's still an issue with schools.
As far as Ukraine is concerned, are not the boundaries of these States somewhat artificial. AIUI, the majority, possibly the vast majority, of the population of the separatist 'republics' identifies as Russian. I'm not defending Putin, who appears to be running diversionary tactics of his own...... what's going awry in Russia?
What issue do you see with schools? Children are the least vulnerable to this virus.
Schools 100% should be the first thing to live as normal.
The problem is that with Covid still ripping through quite a lot of primary schools the staff absence means that normal is difficult. OK so the period of sick leave is shorter than the old 2 weeks in chokey used to be but it is still disruptive.
Primary schools can be filled with snot monkeys at the best of times. Managing absences is something that schools have always had to do, and will always have to do.
However those absences should be because people are actually sick, rather than they have an endemic virus that hasn't made them sick.
Makes you wonder how we ever managed these situations before covid.
1. People catch virus 2. People go off sick because they are ill with the virus 3. People get better and return to work
BR has been demanding that people sick with Covid go to work as normal. If its Norovirus they don't bring arse-spraying mayhem into work, they stay home, so why is Covid any different? The genuinely good news is that for most people 3 jabs means Omicron is relatively mild. A few days of being crap, a week tops and you're back to normal.
Before Br says "eugh but a lot of people don't even know they have it the virus is that mild" then they won't be ill and won't be off sick. But if people are ill - with Covid or anything else - you don't want them in an office environment. I have both ordered people to go home and been ordered home for things that were not Covid.
Is is a legal mandate to stay home with norovirus, or just guidance based on common sense? As in, what you should do now if you have a cold, or sore throat etc.
No, not a legal mandate. But some on here (BR in particular) keep insisting Covid is the common cold and we should all just keep going to work if we have it.
My point is that as Covid becomes just another virus we need to treat it the same - if you are ill you stay off work. I keep reading "there is no reason for disruption in schools" yet I know some schools who have got staff problems as Covid tears through them. It isn't the common cold. And just like if you get a Norovirus outbreak it can hit somewhere like a school hard.
The point is, there's a difference between "having it (the virus)" and "being ill".
Of course! People who are sick should not be in work. Yet it has been claimed that people who have it should be going about their normal business because we all need to live with it.
Lifting mandatory quarantine is an obvious step. But lets not kneejerk all the way to "its just the common cold, you need to be in work even if you're ill"
Good morning one and all. At least the wind seems to have dropped, but the sky I can see from my window looks a bit threatening. I'm somewhat concerned at the dropping of all restrictions; I don't get the I'm press ion that everything's OK now, by any means, although I do think we have to learn to live with endemic Covid; I only hope it remains a mild variety. I suspect there's still an issue with schools.
As far as Ukraine is concerned, are not the boundaries of these States somewhat artificial. AIUI, the majority, possibly the vast majority, of the population of the separatist 'republics' identifies as Russian. I'm not defending Putin, who appears to be running diversionary tactics of his own...... what's going awry in Russia?
What issue do you see with schools? Children are the least vulnerable to this virus.
Schools 100% should be the first thing to live as normal.
The problem is that with Covid still ripping through quite a lot of primary schools the staff absence means that normal is difficult. OK so the period of sick leave is shorter than the old 2 weeks in chokey used to be but it is still disruptive.
Primary schools can be filled with snot monkeys at the best of times. Managing absences is something that schools have always had to do, and will always have to do.
However those absences should be because people are actually sick, rather than they have an endemic virus that hasn't made them sick.
Makes you wonder how we ever managed these situations before covid.
1. People catch virus 2. People go off sick because they are ill with the virus 3. People get better and return to work
BR has been demanding that people sick with Covid go to work as normal. If its Norovirus they don't bring arse-spraying mayhem into work, they stay home, so why is Covid any different? The genuinely good news is that for most people 3 jabs means Omicron is relatively mild. A few days of being crap, a week tops and you're back to normal.
Before Br says "eugh but a lot of people don't even know they have it the virus is that mild" then they won't be ill and won't be off sick. But if people are ill - with Covid or anything else - you don't want them in an office environment. I have both ordered people to go home and been ordered home for things that were not Covid.
Is is a legal mandate to stay home with norovirus, or just guidance based on common sense? As in, what you should do now if you have a cold, or sore throat etc.
No, not a legal mandate. But some on here (BR in particular) keep insisting Covid is the common cold and we should all just keep going to work if we have it.
My point is that as Covid becomes just another virus we need to treat it the same - if you are ill you stay off work. I keep reading "there is no reason for disruption in schools" yet I know some schools who have got staff problems as Covid tears through them. It isn't the common cold. And just like if you get a Norovirus outbreak it can hit somewhere like a school hard.
I think you are misrepresenting him. He is clearly saying if you have symptoms you should stay home. The issue with covid right now is that vaccination and prior infection have tamed covid to a great extent. The ONS tells me that 1 in 20 people in England would test positive for covid. Yet that is not the picture we see in terms of people actually being ill. We've always had a component of assymptomatic 'cases' through the pandemic, and now, I think, the vast majority of people are getting it this way. If you have NO symptoms at all and test positive previously you needed to isolate. Now you will not. If you didn't test, you wouldn't know.
In some settings there is an issue with that. If you work with vulnerable people I think you should still be testing and the government should pay for that (or possibly the employer if private). But should uni students still be testing twice a week? Should I? I don't think so.
If I am ill, I will wfh if possible. We need to change the presenteeism culture of the UK. But as ever there is a broad split in jobs. You can't replenish the supermarket shelves, or fix the boiler from home. But a lot of office jobs can be done from home.
The stock market has not taken the hit (yet) that was predicted. Currently rising back to near parity on the day. I suggest that's because they agree with me (oh the chutzpah!) that whilst this is not great, it's also not World War Three. It's not even an invasion of Ukraine as such.
Providing this is all Putin does, we can live with it.
"We can live with that" is somewhat more casual than is necessary.
Words of a Putin apologist
Not at all. A pragmatic but overly casual statement to have made.
Big Dog may be saved. Big Dog can report he has saved the World from Covid, Big Dog can claim Churchillian statesmanship at 12.30 today. If the voting public have jumped on board the Boris train with your enthusiasm over the last 24 hours, expect a 10 point Conservative VI lead.
The situation in Ukraine is still worrysome and the danger from Putin remains far from over. I suspect all Western leaders would be secretly more than happy if Heathener is right, including Big Dog
I am not at all sure Boris poll ratings will improve over this but he has been spot on on covid and Ukraine
Spot on, is he? Both themes remain to be seen for the moment.
I am not sure what he has done yet re: Ukraine. He has sent some weaponry (a gesture-albeit one welcomed by Ukraine) sabre-rattled and invoked the memory of WW2, but done little else. IF he hits Russian finances in London hard, really hard, you might have something to crow about. If he does not, then besides the warm words, how has he been "spot-on"?
I had two good friends who identified as Yugoslav.
One was from Vojvodina, and was part Croat, part Serb. He told me confidently that war will not happen in Yugoslavia. Everyone has much more in common than separates them. After the Way, he was very sad, and he still calls himself a Yugoslav. It was a good country, he said, I was proud of it as a nation of all the Slavs. He now lives in Edinburgh.
The second friend was part Serb, part Hungarian, part Jewish. He told me confidently that there is no difference between these peoples, they speak mutually intelligible versions of the same language. There will not be a war. He now lives in Montreal, Canada.
The lesson is that the forces of nationalism in these multi-ethnic Eastern European countries are just incredibly powerful.
Yugoslavia could not withstand them, and it had a much longer history as a stable, independent, multi-ethnic country than the present-day Ukraine.
The other lesson is that people who think like my friends leave. They did not stay in Yugoslavia. Like-minded people will not stay in the present-day Ukraine. Because both sides are now increasingly controlled by extremists.
I am not sure whether there ever was a time that Stalin's boundaries of the Ukraine could be saved, but that time is long past.
The boundaries of a new Ukraine need to be sorted.
I wanted them sorted through plebiscites. They will now be sorted through force.
Your points about Yugoslavia are well made, but to suggest that plebiscites were in any way possible since the annexation of Crimea is, I think, unrealistic.
And I don't think you can so simply equate Ukraine with Yugoslavia.
There was, maybe, more logic to the Kingdom of Croats, Serbs and Slovenes, the South Slavs, than to Stalin's arbitrary creation of "Ukraine".
You're conflating Stalin's arbitrary despotism with the existence of a nation with far deeper historical roots than had Yugoslavia.
The Dildo Knapper's Gazette wants to send me write about flintwork in some corner of Europe, Australia or north America that they feel has been unjustly neglected by travellers
Does anyone have any ideas?
I've just been looking at the list of national parks in Europe for some inspiration. There are 500 or more, most of which I've barely or never heard of
As the Russian army marches into Ukraine, I hope the PB scum that accused everyone demanding more serious ultimatums of warmongering see what they have done. You are all human filth.
I've been called worse. Problem for you is that 4 years in local government hardened me to not care one little bit about jibes thrown by people I don't respect. And I still don't see what point there is in NATO sabre-rattling. We will stop him financially and diplomatically, not by war.
We have had sanctions on Russia and Russian individuals for years. They have not stopped the aggression. What makes you so certain that stronger sanctions will stop Russian aggression?
Yes, but you haven't described what you would do differently. Would you dispatch our armoured division there?
I have explained in previous posts. Support Ukraine financially and with military aid, short of boots on the ground. Particularly intel. Bolster the security of other Eastern European states. All this on top of massive sanctions on the Russian state and individuals.
Make it clear that Russia is a pariah. It should have been done after Salisbury really, but we are where we are.
So what is your answer?
So you are recommending the policy which we are actually already doing, albeit a bit lackadasical over sanctions. It hasn't stopped Putin has it?
I have been recommending the same policy, so not clear why you are so aggressive with me. Indeed there is a rare consensus on this as a policy not just on PB, but in the country.
As the Russian army marches into Ukraine, I hope the PB scum that accused everyone demanding more serious ultimatums of warmongering see what they have done. You are all human filth.
I've been called worse. Problem for you is that 4 years in local government hardened me to not care one little bit about jibes thrown by people I don't respect. And I still don't see what point there is in NATO sabre-rattling. We will stop him financially and diplomatically, not by war.
We have had sanctions on Russia and Russian individuals for years. They have not stopped the aggression. What makes you so certain that stronger sanctions will stop Russian aggression?
Yes, but you haven't described what you would do differently. Would you dispatch our armoured division there?
I have explained in previous posts. Support Ukraine financially and with military aid, short of boots on the ground. Particularly intel. Bolster the security of other Eastern European states. All this on top of massive sanctions on the Russian state and individuals.
Make it clear that Russia is a pariah. It should have been done after Salisbury really, but we are where we are.
So what is your answer?
So you are recommending the policy which we are actually already doing, albeit a bit lackadasical over sanctions. It hasn't stopped Putin has it?
I have been recommending the same policy, so not clear why you are so aggressive with me. Indeed there is a rare consensus on this as a policy not just on PB, but in the country.
No, I'm calling for much more than we're already doing in these areas.
Comments
Named thus by their own side....
Negative Nationalist (see https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/notes-on-nationalism/) if it makes you happy....
People should be off if they're actually sick, not simply because they're carrying a virus but aren't sick.
The simplistic politics of 14 year olds dressed up as worldly wisdom.
What a disgrace.
But those are two fairly big 'ifs.'
And even if we do, prices are going to skyrocket as everyone else competes for the gas we're buying.
If there are enough people who believe in a multi-ethnic country, then of course it can be gotten to work.
The problem in the Ukraine and Yugoslavs is that there aren't.
Canada works (in its roundabout fashion) because enough of the Francophones, the Anglophones and the Allophones realise that the alternative would be worse,
That's a sensible way to handle things like sickness and norovirus.
My understanding is its a legal requirement for anyone food handling but I doubt it is for the whole nation, but it is a sensible policy either way.
I've got a very furrin sounding name, so Negative Nationalism will apply (furriners always right).
BR has been demanding that people who are not sick with Covid be able to go to work as normal. I understand that having Covid and being sick are not the same thing.
If its Norovirus people stay at home based on symptoms, not for weeks based on a test strip showing a line even if asymptomatic.
Act based on actual sickness, not theoretical testing.
I have never said people should go in if they're physically sick, I said we should switch from going based on virus results to based on actual sickness. If you can't understand that, its because you're wilfully misreading it, or are functionally illiterate. I know you're not the latter, so I can only assume you're being wilfully disingenuous.
I was confident what I said was true, but couldn't be bothered to check the precise figures. You thought that would mean you could catch me out.
Big Dog may be saved. Big Dog can report he has saved the World from Covid, Big Dog can claim Churchillian statesmanship at 12.30 today. If the voting public have jumped on board the Boris train with your enthusiasm over the last 24 hours, expect a 10 point Conservative VI lead.
The situation in Ukraine is still worrysome and the danger from Putin remains far from over. I suspect all Western leaders would be secretly more than happy if Heathener is right, including Big Dog
Given that you have made 71,140 posts, it seems a little odd to claim that you are being asked "to (crucially) say nothing."
This is straight out of the books on cold war strategy. You don't start reacting only when you get to the places where you actually fight (Baltics etc) - you start reacting before (Ukraine). You increase the reaction as more and more happens.
This means that the reaction isn't a surprise, and the cost of taking another step becomes apparent.
This was
▪️304 fewer deaths than the previous week
▪️8.2% below the five-year average (1,032 fewer deaths)
https://twitter.com/ONS/status/1496055084337221632
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58637094
About half of UK gas supplies are of domestic origin, from the North Sea. The UK has been a big producer of gas since the mid-1960s, but output has fallen since 2000 and usage continues to rise.
Another one-third of the UK's gas comes through pipelines from Norway.
The rest consists almost entirely of imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which arrive in Britain by sea from countries such as Qatar, the US and even Trinidad and Tobago.
The small amount of Russian gas that does reach the UK comes in LNG form.
So I think it's difficult to draw a meaningful comparison because of those different dynamics. What I can say is that while I'm glad to hear you're doing OK at your uni, this is still a big problem in schools.
My point is that as Covid becomes just another virus we need to treat it the same - if you are ill you stay off work. I keep reading "there is no reason for disruption in schools" yet I know some schools who have got staff problems as Covid tears through them. It isn't the common cold. And just like if you get a Norovirus outbreak it can hit somewhere like a school hard.
And many on here would just complain that we're 'poking' Russia.
Suppose Putin invades and occupies Ukraine and - aside from a further surge in gas prices - most people in Britain won't notice. So who cares?
If Trump becomes President again NATO is thrown into doubt and chaos. He might pull the US out of NATO, or at least question whether countries that were "once part of Russia" should be defended. Would we stand against Russia alone?
We have to shake ourselves out of our complacency on this.
Lifting mandatory quarantine is an obvious step. But lets not kneejerk all the way to "its just the common cold, you need to be in work even if you're ill"
The issue with covid right now is that vaccination and prior infection have tamed covid to a great extent. The ONS tells me that 1 in 20 people in England would test positive for covid. Yet that is not the picture we see in terms of people actually being ill. We've always had a component of assymptomatic 'cases' through the pandemic, and now, I think, the vast majority of people are getting it this way. If you have NO symptoms at all and test positive previously you needed to isolate. Now you will not.
If you didn't test, you wouldn't know.
In some settings there is an issue with that. If you work with vulnerable people I think you should still be testing and the government should pay for that (or possibly the employer if private). But should uni students still be testing twice a week? Should I? I don't think so.
If I am ill, I will wfh if possible. We need to change the presenteeism culture of the UK. But as ever there is a broad split in jobs. You can't replenish the supermarket shelves, or fix the boiler from home. But a lot of office jobs can be done from home.
I am not sure what he has done yet re: Ukraine. He has sent some weaponry (a gesture-albeit one welcomed by Ukraine) sabre-rattled and invoked the memory of WW2, but done little else. IF he hits Russian finances in London hard, really hard, you might have something to crow about. If he does not, then besides the warm words, how has he been "spot-on"?
Anyway work won't do itself.
I have been recommending the same policy, so not clear why you are so aggressive with me. Indeed there is a rare consensus on this as a policy not just on PB, but in the country.