By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
Bloody hell. "Highlands" is not some sort of sociological or demographic construct, it's a fact of life. Look on a map.
Not quite sure what you have "walked around" the lot of but a lot of us have been there. Indeed there's actual Scots who post here who probably know almost as much about it as you do.
You're a little feisty tonight.
In fact, scratch that. You're a little feisty.
As usual.
Well, yes, but if you advance the idea the Highlands are defined culturally you can surely expect to be picked up on it?
Highlands. High lands. Geddit?
And if you take the train west out of Glasgow its only 20 minutes til you are looking out of the window and thinking fuck me that's steep
All discussion eventually metamorphose into one involving geology.
What is the geology equivalent of Godwin's Law?
Charles Lyell: The past is the key to the present.
Or Lyell again: “I may conclude this chapter by quoting a saying of Professor Agassiz, that whenever a new and startling fact is brought to light in science, people first say, 'it is not true,' then that 'it is contrary to religion,' and lastly, 'that everybody knew it before.”
James Hutton: The result, therefore, of our present enquiry is, that we find no vestige of a beginning, - no prospect of an end.
That Agassiz quote is definitely my favourite in all branches of science. I first came across it requoted by Stephen Jay Gould in one of his essays on the history of science.
Putin has doubled down. He is going to Grozny Ukraine into submission. Hideous. Many thousands will die
It gets harder and harder to not want to just say “fuck it, let’s go in”. Obviously there’s then a heart/head thing and we know we can’t, but I wish we could…
As an aside, how do schools do safeguarding in situations like this? Surely there are some schools with both Russian and Ukrainian students?
Are there guidelines on how to deal with it? Talk to them first?
I haven't received any yet.
But so far all the Russians living here seem even more disgusted with Putin than the Ukrainians are, so I don't think they will cause trouble.
Whether the Ukrainians will lash out without thinking of that I don't know, but again my impression is that they're not blaming the Russians.
My son reporting a strategic success for Putin.
One of his best friend's is a Bosnian with strong links and regular trips back to his family's home village.
Half of the males in the village have decamped to Ukraine to fight, where they have agreed to being organised in a unit with many of their co-linguists, namely Croats and Serbs. As they do all regard themselves as Slavs, whatever the history of that, it would seem that Putin is succeeding in uniting the Slavs.
Which side are they fighting for?
The Ukranian side.
Yes, I imagine that question does need to be asked.
The irony of your opening sentence was consequently missed.
Friend of mine, a university professor, has a student in one of his classes from Ukraine. This kid's family is now sheltering in a village somewhere outside Kyiv.
Putin and his pimps must pay for that, and much more.
By the way, would like for my fellow Democrats and others on the left to take notice, that among most notable & despicable supporters of Putin in this critical hour are - Cuba, Nicaragua & Venezuela. Along with Belarus, Syria, Burma and North Korea. True rogue's gallery.
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution to call for an emergency session of the General Assembly which will convene in the next 24 hours. It is the first time such a session has been called in decades, said U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, because “This is not ordinary moment. We need to take extraordinary action to meet this threat to our international system and to do everything we can to help Ukraine and its people.”
NY Times
The General Assembly vote has no binding effect, but will give an indication of how isolated Russia has become. Though, frankly, you wonder whether, should Nutjob discover that he has almost the whole world against him, he might try to kill absolutely everyone in revenge. It's extremely scary.
China, the UAE and India all abstained rather than vote to condemn Russia on the Security Council.
Those are some pretty big or wealthy nations not lining up against him whatever the Assembly decides
Abstaining is opposing when it comes to votes like that - like when a resolution on Libya was able to be passed.
It's possible Putin is like Hitler and believes that if he can't have his greater Russia then the whole world should burn, including his own people.
If that is the case then his inner circle need to dispatch him - quickly.
Read the essay I posted below, which was simultaneously published by multiple Russian outlets, from more or less talking about a final solution to the Ukrainian question to the reuniting the Russian people bit it's like a cut and paste of the 1939 Reichstag speech.
Does indicate that they expected this war to be over by now though.
Zelensky’s starting point is going to be a Russian withdrawal to the pre-2014 borders, giving up Donbass and Crimea.
Zelensky can’t negotiate away the international sanctions, that are about to tank the markets and cause bank runs in Moscow tomorrow morning.
Oh, and by the way, he has another few thousand NATO-spec anti-tank weapons, and a few hundred NATO-spec anti-aircraft weapons, ready for the next few thousand tanks and few hundred aircraft that try and get to Kiev.
Negotiations difficult now both sides all in...Ukraine will have to put their egos aside a bit and listen to russias concerns...and vice versa
The only concern in this is when will Putin be deposed and put on trial for war crimes
We cannot base policy on wild hopes
Who is 'We'?
Most posters on PB know each other, in many cases personally but otherwise through reputation and thousands of posts. On the evidence of a handful of posts I should say you are a troll, and your views - if indeed they are yours - have attracted well-merited contempt.
You don't speak for anybody except yourself and whoever might be marking your card.
I speak from a deep knowledge of history and human nature...my concern is humanity as a whole...many posters on here are superficial
You noticed?
We like Sean. He’s like our own little pet tarantula. Vile, poisonous and icky. But strangely mesmerising.
Spiders are venomous, not poisonous, and no tarantula is venomous to mankind. They are mesmerising I agree. Indian ornamentals especially.
Ok. Fine. Sean is vile, venomous and icky. Happy now?
And our red under the Reading bed called us “superficial”? Pffff.
If a trans man or woman asked you to refer to them as “they” rather than by their birth gender I have no doubt you would do so out of politeness even if you disagree with their actions.
So when @Leon has requested you stop calling him “Sean” why do you insist on doing so?
It's a tease and he sets himself up for it. No need for toys out of the pram on this one.
It may be a tease but I find it quite fucking annoying, and also boring, it's not good for the site - misidentifying people who wish to remain anonymous is A BAD INTERNET HABIT - and it also prevents me from ever attending things like the PB meets
So, STOP , thanks very much
By all means abuse me roundly for anything else. I don't mind that at all
Maybe you could avoid promoting those crappy Sean Thomas Spectator pieces in return? ;-)
Zelensky’s starting point is going to be a Russian withdrawal to the pre-2014 borders, giving up Donbass and Crimea.
Zelensky can’t negotiate away the international sanctions, that are about to tank the markets and cause bank runs in Moscow tomorrow morning.
Oh, and by the way, he has another few thousand NATO-spec anti-tank weapons, and a few hundred NATO-spec anti-aircraft weapons, ready for the next few thousand tanks and few hundred aircraft that try and get to Kiev.
Negotiations difficult now both sides all in...Ukraine will have to put their egos aside a bit and listen to russias concerns...and vice versa
The only concern in this is when will Putin be deposed and put on trial for war crimes
We cannot base policy on wild hopes
Who is 'We'?
Most posters on PB know each other, in many cases personally but otherwise through reputation and thousands of posts. On the evidence of a handful of posts I should say you are a troll, and your views - if indeed they are yours - have attracted well-merited contempt.
You don't speak for anybody except yourself and whoever might be marking your card.
I speak from a deep knowledge of history and human nature...my concern is humanity as a whole...many posters on here are superficial
You noticed?
We like Sean. He’s like our own little pet tarantula. Vile, poisonous and icky. But strangely mesmerising.
Spiders are venomous, not poisonous, and no tarantula is venomous to mankind. They are mesmerising I agree. Indian ornamentals especially.
Ok. Fine. Sean is vile, venomous and icky. Happy now?
And our red under the Reading bed called us “superficial”? Pffff.
If a trans man or woman asked you to refer to them as “they” rather than by their birth gender I have no doubt you would do so out of politeness even if you disagree with their actions.
So when @Leon has requested you stop calling him “Sean” why do you insist on doing so?
It's a tease and he sets himself up for it. No need for toys out of the pram on this one.
It may be a tease but I find it quite fucking annoying, and also boring, it's not good for the site - misidentifying people who wish to remain anonymous is A BAD INTERNET HABIT - and it also prevents me from ever attending things like the PB meets
So, STOP , thanks very much
By all means abuse me roundly for anything else. I don't mind that at all
Maybe you could avoid promoting those crappy Sean Thomas Spectator pieces in return? ;-)
Have they exploded and oil/gas storage or is that one of those very big bombs, that somebody was talking about yesterday?
This is why I quit twitter. It is some scratchy film of a massive explosion/bomb in the nighttime, but until it is verified by a reliable source, it could have been from any number of conflicts. But we've all immediately come to the conclusion that Russia have dropped a thermobaric bomb on Ukraine.
Friend of mine, a university professor, has a student in one of his classes from Ukraine. This kid's family is now sheltering in a village somewhere outside Kyiv.
Putin and his pimps must pay for that, and much more.
By the way, would like for my fellow Democrats and others on the left to take notice, that among most notable & despicable supporters of Putin in this critical hour are - Cuba, Nicaragua & Venezuela. Along with Belarus, Syria, Burma and North Korea. True rogue's gallery.
This will leave Venezuela and North Korea even more isolated and even more dependent on China for survival. North Korea, in particular, may be hit by a tanking Russian economy given how reliant they are on money from their expat workers in Russia.
Goodness knows where it leaves Assad. Hopefully somewhere nasty.
It's possible Putin is like Hitler and believes that if he can't have his greater Russia then the whole world should burn, including his own people.
If that is the case then his inner circle need to dispatch him - quickly.
It's very possible and immensely dangerous, but it could also be something that started as a plan for some sort of giant and theatrical bluff, and somehow became more real.
Zelensky’s starting point is going to be a Russian withdrawal to the pre-2014 borders, giving up Donbass and Crimea.
Zelensky can’t negotiate away the international sanctions, that are about to tank the markets and cause bank runs in Moscow tomorrow morning.
Oh, and by the way, he has another few thousand NATO-spec anti-tank weapons, and a few hundred NATO-spec anti-aircraft weapons, ready for the next few thousand tanks and few hundred aircraft that try and get to Kiev.
Negotiations difficult now both sides all in...Ukraine will have to put their egos aside a bit and listen to russias concerns...and vice versa
The only concern in this is when will Putin be deposed and put on trial for war crimes
We cannot base policy on wild hopes
Who is 'We'?
Most posters on PB know each other, in many cases personally but otherwise through reputation and thousands of posts. On the evidence of a handful of posts I should say you are a troll, and your views - if indeed they are yours - have attracted well-merited contempt.
You don't speak for anybody except yourself and whoever might be marking your card.
I speak from a deep knowledge of history and human nature...my concern is humanity as a whole...many posters on here are superficial
You noticed?
We like Sean. He’s like our own little pet tarantula. Vile, poisonous and icky. But strangely mesmerising.
Spiders are venomous, not poisonous, and no tarantula is venomous to mankind. They are mesmerising I agree. Indian ornamentals especially.
Ok. Fine. Sean is vile, venomous and icky. Happy now?
And our red under the Reading bed called us “superficial”? Pffff.
If a trans man or woman asked you to refer to them as “they” rather than by their birth gender I have no doubt you would do so out of politeness even if you disagree with their actions.
So when @Leon has requested you stop calling him “Sean” why do you insist on doing so?
It's a tease and he sets himself up for it. No need for toys out of the pram on this one.
It may be a tease but I find it quite fucking annoying, and also boring, it's not good for the site - misidentifying people who wish to remain anonymous is A BAD INTERNET HABIT - and it also prevents me from ever attending things like the PB meets
So, STOP , thanks very much
By all means abuse me roundly for anything else. I don't mind that at all
Maybe you could avoid promoting those crappy Sean Thomas Spectator pieces in return? ;-)
It's possible Putin is like Hitler and believes that if he can't have his greater Russia then the whole world should burn, including his own people.
If that is the case then his inner circle need to dispatch him - quickly.
Read the essay I posted below, which was simultaneously published by multiple Russian outlets, from more or less talking about a final solution to the Ukrainian question to the reuniting the Russian people bit it's like a cut and paste of the 1939 Reichstag speech.
Does indicate that they expected this war to be over by now though.
I'm unclear if it's B or F we are on, but it is certainly not Plan A
Have they exploded and oil/gas storage or is that one of those very big bombs, that somebody was talking about yesterday?
This is why I quit twitter. It is some scratchy film of a massive explosion/bomb in the nighttime, but until it is verified by a reliable source, it could have been from any number of conflicts. But we've all immediately come to the conclusion that Russia have dropped a thermobaric bomb on Ukraine.
It's a reasonable perspective.
The flipside - which I agree may or may not apply in this instance - is that shedloads of stuff on twitter has turned out to be absolutely reliable but a lot of the big news organisations are taking quite a long time to report it as such given the verification checks needed. So you pays your money and you take your choice sort of thing.
By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
It's most certainly in the Highlands. It's NW of the Highlands Boundary Fault, in the bits which go up and down and are covered with heather, rocks and sheep, grouse and deer shite:
Ah, but would you consider Aberdeenshire/Laich of Moray the Highlands?
I generally feel there is big change in the feel of the hills north of Tyndrum. South of there they don't really feel like the Highlands to me, but I'm biased.
The Cairngorms have got their own vibe, which I'm starting to really appreciate as I get older. The low level walks/runs are just superb.
I'm sure this all explained by the underlying geology.
It is; Aberdeenshire, Mearns, Angus, Moray, Nairn are as you observe north of the HBF. But they are in large part sedimentary deposits (Old Red Sandstone and Permo-Triassic) fringing the Highland massif - but on the west and southwest the sea cuts deep into the massif, hence the fjords and nice deep hills to burrow bunkers into. Believe me, the Highlands begin at Loch Lomond (and, for Edinbuggers, the Trossachs).
Have they exploded and oil/gas storage or is that one of those very big bombs, that somebody was talking about yesterday?
This is why I quit twitter. It is some scratchy film of a massive explosion/bomb in the nighttime, but until it is verified by a reliable source, it could have been from any number of conflicts. But we've all immediately come to the conclusion that Russia have dropped a thermobaric bomb on Ukraine.
By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
Bloody hell. "Highlands" is not some sort of sociological or demographic construct, it's a fact of life. Look on a map.
Not quite sure what you have "walked around" the lot of but a lot of us have been there. Indeed there's actual Scots who post here who probably know almost as much about it as you do.
In my experience the English tend to be pretty knowledgeable about the Highlands. They go on holiday, and they fall in love.
Indeed, Skye is basically the Home Counties + plus mad Dutch drivers nowadays.
I know what JJ means. Argyll is distinct from Assynt. Perthshire from the Cuillin. Speyside from Caithness.
That fucking bridge was the worst mistake in the history of civil engineering. I am a Hilleary btw so not in need of guidance on the whole Skye thang.
By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
Bloody hell. "Highlands" is not some sort of sociological or demographic construct, it's a fact of life. Look on a map.
Not quite sure what you have "walked around" the lot of but a lot of us have been there. Indeed there's actual Scots who post here who probably know almost as much about it as you do.
You're a little feisty tonight.
In fact, scratch that. You're a little feisty.
As usual.
Well, yes, but if you advance the idea the Highlands are defined culturally you can surely expect to be picked up on it?
Highlands. High lands. Geddit?
And if you take the train west out of Glasgow its only 20 minutes til you are looking out of the window and thinking fuck me that's steep
I'm from "the Highlands" and I'd struggle to consider Ben Lomond in them, tbh. Far too southern
I'm sure JJ knows them better than 90% of Scots, based on past posts.
By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
Bloody hell. "Highlands" is not some sort of sociological or demographic construct, it's a fact of life. Look on a map.
Not quite sure what you have "walked around" the lot of but a lot of us have been there. Indeed there's actual Scots who post here who probably know almost as much about it as you do.
You're a little feisty tonight.
In fact, scratch that. You're a little feisty.
As usual.
Well, yes, but if you advance the idea the Highlands are defined culturally you can surely expect to be picked up on it?
Highlands. High lands. Geddit?
And if you take the train west out of Glasgow its only 20 minutes til you are looking out of the window and thinking fuck me that's steep
Things are defined in many ways. That's the point.
Take Derbyshire. A middling-sized county in the middle of England. Yet Glossop, in the north, is *very* different from Swadlincote in the south. They are both in 'Derbyshire', but very different in a number of ways. And the Peak District between them is different again.
It takes one and a half to two hours to travel between them. They might as well be in different counties.
By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
Bloody hell. "Highlands" is not some sort of sociological or demographic construct, it's a fact of life. Look on a map.
Not quite sure what you have "walked around" the lot of but a lot of us have been there. Indeed there's actual Scots who post here who probably know almost as much about it as you do.
You're a little feisty tonight.
In fact, scratch that. You're a little feisty.
As usual.
Well, yes, but if you advance the idea the Highlands are defined culturally you can surely expect to be picked up on it?
Highlands. High lands. Geddit?
And if you take the train west out of Glasgow its only 20 minutes til you are looking out of the window and thinking fuck me that's steep
I'm from "the Highlands" and I'd struggle to consider Ben Lomond in them, tbh. Far too southern
I'm sure JJ knows them better than 90% of Scots, based on past posts.
By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
Bloody hell. "Highlands" is not some sort of sociological or demographic construct, it's a fact of life. Look on a map.
Not quite sure what you have "walked around" the lot of but a lot of us have been there. Indeed there's actual Scots who post here who probably know almost as much about it as you do.
In my experience the English tend to be pretty knowledgeable about the Highlands. They go on holiday, and they fall in love.
Indeed, Skye is basically the Home Counties + plus mad Dutch drivers nowadays.
I know what JJ means. Argyll is distinct from Assynt. Perthshire from the Cuillin. Speyside from Caithness.
That fucking bridge was the worst mistake in the history of civil engineering. I am a Hilleary btw so not in need of guidance on the whole Skye thang.
Yet the Kylesku Bridge is a thing of unalloyed beauty. Concrete and terrain in perfect harmony.
EU announces it has agreed unanimously amongst all member countries to take in Ukrainian refugees fir up to 3 years without asking them to first apply for asylum. Just been announced following a meeting of EU Interior ministers https://twitter.com/BBCkatyaadler/status/1498017173792514051
Tories will be delighted that we have left the EU so won’t be party to the agreement.
Putin has doubled down. He is going to Grozny Ukraine into submission. Hideous. Many thousands will die
The Ukrainians have shoulder launched thermobaric weapons and I'm sure will get to use them. In fact lots of countries do have them in some shape or form, including the UK,. The Russians have just taken it to a scale.
Have they exploded and oil/gas storage or is that one of those very big bombs, that somebody was talking about yesterday?
This is why I quit twitter. It is some scratchy film of a massive explosion/bomb in the nighttime, but until it is verified by a reliable source, it could have been from any number of conflicts. But we've all immediately come to the conclusion that Russia have dropped a thermobaric bomb on Ukraine.
No one has immediately "come to the conclusion", but a lot of people are speculating on Twitter, and much of the speculation is from well-informed military types, who are already analysing the perspectives, light effects shock waves and so on
And this speculation is not some wild frenzy of "OMG this is tactical nukes!" (which you could argue, given the slightly scary mushroom cloud effect, and the sheer size of the explosion), it is careful and forensic, in the circs
We know Putin has been preparing these weapons for Ukraine:
Video of a Russian military column reportedly near the town of Okhynky, on the highway between Kyiv and Sumy. There’s a TOS-1A thermobaric MLRS. https://t.me/milinfolive/77159
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution to call for an emergency session of the General Assembly which will convene in the next 24 hours. It is the first time such a session has been called in decades, said U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, because “This is not ordinary moment. We need to take extraordinary action to meet this threat to our international system and to do everything we can to help Ukraine and its people.”
NY Times
The General Assembly vote has no binding effect, but will give an indication of how isolated Russia has become. Though, frankly, you wonder whether, should Nutjob discover that he has almost the whole world against him, he might try to kill absolutely everyone in revenge. It's extremely scary.
China, the UAE and India all abstained rather than vote to condemn Russia on the Security Council.
Those are some pretty big or wealthy nations not lining up against him whatever the Assembly decides
Abstaining is opposing when it comes to votes like that - like when a resolution on Libya was able to be passed.
No it is abstaining.
If they were opposing they would have voted for the resolution to deplore Putin's actions as we, the USA, France and 8 other UN Security Council members did.
Russia of course vetoed it anyway, so it was not like the Libya resolution where there was no veto used
By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
Bloody hell. "Highlands" is not some sort of sociological or demographic construct, it's a fact of life. Look on a map.
Not quite sure what you have "walked around" the lot of but a lot of us have been there. Indeed there's actual Scots who post here who probably know almost as much about it as you do.
In my experience the English tend to be pretty knowledgeable about the Highlands. They go on holiday, and they fall in love.
Indeed, Skye is basically the Home Counties + plus mad Dutch drivers nowadays.
I know what JJ means. Argyll is distinct from Assynt. Perthshire from the Cuillin. Speyside from Caithness.
That fucking bridge was the worst mistake in the history of civil engineering. I am a Hilleary btw so not in need of guidance on the whole Skye thang.
Yet the Kylesku Bridge is a thing of unalloyed beauty. Concrete and terrain in perfect harmony.
Sure. It's not the bridge itself, it's what comes over it.
By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
Bloody hell. "Highlands" is not some sort of sociological or demographic construct, it's a fact of life. Look on a map.
Not quite sure what you have "walked around" the lot of but a lot of us have been there. Indeed there's actual Scots who post here who probably know almost as much about it as you do.
In my experience the English tend to be pretty knowledgeable about the Highlands. They go on holiday, and they fall in love.
Indeed, Skye is basically the Home Counties + plus mad Dutch drivers nowadays.
I know what JJ means. Argyll is distinct from Assynt. Perthshire from the Cuillin. Speyside from Caithness.
That fucking bridge was the worst mistake in the history of civil engineering. I am a Hilleary btw so not in need of guidance on the whole Skye thang.
Someone, somewhere needs to find a way to stop escalating this. Is there anyone with a cool head?
Wouldn't look for one on PB to be honest. Most here are crying havoc and letting slip the dogs of war. Virtual dogs mind, I don't think anyone's joined the legion. But they are doing their bit by getting jolly cross and socking it to that PJohnson character in no uncertain terms.
By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
Bloody hell. "Highlands" is not some sort of sociological or demographic construct, it's a fact of life. Look on a map.
Not quite sure what you have "walked around" the lot of but a lot of us have been there. Indeed there's actual Scots who post here who probably know almost as much about it as you do.
You're a little feisty tonight.
In fact, scratch that. You're a little feisty.
As usual.
Well, yes, but if you advance the idea the Highlands are defined culturally you can surely expect to be picked up on it?
Highlands. High lands. Geddit?
And if you take the train west out of Glasgow its only 20 minutes til you are looking out of the window and thinking fuck me that's steep
I'm from "the Highlands" and I'd struggle to consider Ben Lomond in them, tbh. Far too southern
I'm sure JJ knows them better than 90% of Scots, based on past posts.
Travis Akers @travisakers Pravda Brewery, based in Lviv, Ukraine, has suspended its beer brewing operations and is now making Molotov cocktails for residents to use against invading Russian forces.
Have they exploded and oil/gas storage or is that one of those very big bombs, that somebody was talking about yesterday?
This is why I quit twitter. It is some scratchy film of a massive explosion/bomb in the nighttime, but until it is verified by a reliable source, it could have been from any number of conflicts. But we've all immediately come to the conclusion that Russia have dropped a thermobaric bomb on Ukraine.
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution to call for an emergency session of the General Assembly which will convene in the next 24 hours. It is the first time such a session has been called in decades, said U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, because “This is not ordinary moment. We need to take extraordinary action to meet this threat to our international system and to do everything we can to help Ukraine and its people.”
NY Times
The General Assembly vote has no binding effect, but will give an indication of how isolated Russia has become. Though, frankly, you wonder whether, should Nutjob discover that he has almost the whole world against him, he might try to kill absolutely everyone in revenge. It's extremely scary.
China, the UAE and India all abstained rather than vote to condemn Russia on the Security Council.
Those are some pretty big or wealthy nations not lining up against him whatever the Assembly decides
Abstaining is opposing when it comes to votes like that - like when a resolution on Libya was able to be passed.
No it is abstaining.
If they were opposing they would have voted for the resolution to deplore Putin's actions as we, the USA, France and 8 other UN Security Council members did.
Russia of course vetoed it anyway, so it was not like the Libya resolution where there was no veto used
And. It probably took some hard work to get PRC on board. Although it seems they've been as blindsided by it too.
By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
Bloody hell. "Highlands" is not some sort of sociological or demographic construct, it's a fact of life. Look on a map.
Not quite sure what you have "walked around" the lot of but a lot of us have been there. Indeed there's actual Scots who post here who probably know almost as much about it as you do.
In my experience the English tend to be pretty knowledgeable about the Highlands. They go on holiday, and they fall in love.
Indeed, Skye is basically the Home Counties + plus mad Dutch drivers nowadays.
I know what JJ means. Argyll is distinct from Assynt. Perthshire from the Cuillin. Speyside from Caithness.
That fucking bridge was the worst mistake in the history of civil engineering. I am a Hilleary btw so not in need of guidance on the whole Skye thang.
Yet the Kylesku Bridge is a thing of unalloyed beauty. Concrete and terrain in perfect harmony.
Sure. It's not the bridge itself, it's what comes over it.
You're either talking about the tourists who support the otherwise paltry economy, or the English.
By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
Bloody hell. "Highlands" is not some sort of sociological or demographic construct, it's a fact of life. Look on a map.
Not quite sure what you have "walked around" the lot of but a lot of us have been there. Indeed there's actual Scots who post here who probably know almost as much about it as you do.
You're a little feisty tonight.
In fact, scratch that. You're a little feisty.
As usual.
Well, yes, but if you advance the idea the Highlands are defined culturally you can surely expect to be picked up on it?
Highlands. High lands. Geddit?
And if you take the train west out of Glasgow its only 20 minutes til you are looking out of the window and thinking fuck me that's steep
I'm from "the Highlands" and I'd struggle to consider Ben Lomond in them, tbh. Far too southern
I'm sure JJ knows them better than 90% of Scots, based on past posts.
By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
Bloody hell. "Highlands" is not some sort of sociological or demographic construct, it's a fact of life. Look on a map.
Not quite sure what you have "walked around" the lot of but a lot of us have been there. Indeed there's actual Scots who post here who probably know almost as much about it as you do.
In my experience the English tend to be pretty knowledgeable about the Highlands. They go on holiday, and they fall in love.
Indeed, Skye is basically the Home Counties + plus mad Dutch drivers nowadays.
I know what JJ means. Argyll is distinct from Assynt. Perthshire from the Cuillin. Speyside from Caithness.
That fucking bridge was the worst mistake in the history of civil engineering. I am a Hilleary btw so not in need of guidance on the whole Skye thang.
Yet the Kylesku Bridge is a thing of unalloyed beauty. Concrete and terrain in perfect harmony.
Sure. It's not the bridge itself, it's what comes over it.
You're either talking about the tourists who support the otherwise paltry economy, or the English.
Have they exploded and oil/gas storage or is that one of those very big bombs, that somebody was talking about yesterday?
This is why I quit twitter. It is some scratchy film of a massive explosion/bomb in the nighttime, but until it is verified by a reliable source, it could have been from any number of conflicts. But we've all immediately come to the conclusion that Russia have dropped a thermobaric bomb on Ukraine.
It's a reasonable perspective.
The flipside - which I agree may or may not apply in this instance - is that shedloads of stuff on twitter has turned out to be absolutely reliable but a lot of the big news organisations are taking quite a long time to report it as such given the verification checks needed. So you pays your money and you take your choice sort of thing.
Yes, fair enough. I agree. I guess I am happy to let other people find stuff on twitter and find out about it later on, after some verification has gone on. Otherwise you cannot tell what is real or otherwise.
Is there anything to stop Ukrainian jets flying in from Nato territory? Someone did mention refueling might be going on over some of the neighbouring states.
Also is there any way the Ukrainians might be able to take the thermobaric weapons - possibly with drone strikes?
By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
Bloody hell. "Highlands" is not some sort of sociological or demographic construct, it's a fact of life. Look on a map.
Not quite sure what you have "walked around" the lot of but a lot of us have been there. Indeed there's actual Scots who post here who probably know almost as much about it as you do.
You're a little feisty tonight.
In fact, scratch that. You're a little feisty.
As usual.
Well, yes, but if you advance the idea the Highlands are defined culturally you can surely expect to be picked up on it?
Highlands. High lands. Geddit?
And if you take the train west out of Glasgow its only 20 minutes til you are looking out of the window and thinking fuck me that's steep
I'm from "the Highlands" and I'd struggle to consider Ben Lomond in them, tbh. Far too southern
I'm sure JJ knows them better than 90% of Scots, based on past posts.
By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
Bloody hell. "Highlands" is not some sort of sociological or demographic construct, it's a fact of life. Look on a map.
Not quite sure what you have "walked around" the lot of but a lot of us have been there. Indeed there's actual Scots who post here who probably know almost as much about it as you do.
In my experience the English tend to be pretty knowledgeable about the Highlands. They go on holiday, and they fall in love.
Indeed, Skye is basically the Home Counties + plus mad Dutch drivers nowadays.
I know what JJ means. Argyll is distinct from Assynt. Perthshire from the Cuillin. Speyside from Caithness.
That fucking bridge was the worst mistake in the history of civil engineering. I am a Hilleary btw so not in need of guidance on the whole Skye thang.
Yet the Kylesku Bridge is a thing of unalloyed beauty. Concrete and terrain in perfect harmony.
Sure. It's not the bridge itself, it's what comes over it.
You're either talking about the tourists who support the otherwise paltry economy, or the English.
Yes.
Ah.
As long as they drive on the right side of the road, I don't mind at all.
Travis Akers @travisakers Pravda Brewery, based in Lviv, Ukraine, has suspended its beer brewing operations and is now making Molotov cocktails for residents to use against invading Russian forces.
By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
Bloody hell. "Highlands" is not some sort of sociological or demographic construct, it's a fact of life. Look on a map.
Not quite sure what you have "walked around" the lot of but a lot of us have been there. Indeed there's actual Scots who post here who probably know almost as much about it as you do.
You're a little feisty tonight.
In fact, scratch that. You're a little feisty.
As usual.
Well, yes, but if you advance the idea the Highlands are defined culturally you can surely expect to be picked up on it?
Highlands. High lands. Geddit?
And if you take the train west out of Glasgow its only 20 minutes til you are looking out of the window and thinking fuck me that's steep
I'm from "the Highlands" and I'd struggle to consider Ben Lomond in them, tbh. Far too southern
I'm sure JJ knows them better than 90% of Scots, based on past posts.
Which part are you from?
Mainly a non-High bit.
Wick?
I wish!
Dying of radioactive poisoning or dying of boredom in Wick is a tough call.
By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
Bloody hell. "Highlands" is not some sort of sociological or demographic construct, it's a fact of life. Look on a map.
Not quite sure what you have "walked around" the lot of but a lot of us have been there. Indeed there's actual Scots who post here who probably know almost as much about it as you do.
In my experience the English tend to be pretty knowledgeable about the Highlands. They go on holiday, and they fall in love.
Indeed, Skye is basically the Home Counties + plus mad Dutch drivers nowadays.
I know what JJ means. Argyll is distinct from Assynt. Perthshire from the Cuillin. Speyside from Caithness.
That fucking bridge was the worst mistake in the history of civil engineering. I am a Hilleary btw so not in need of guidance on the whole Skye thang.
Yet the Kylesku Bridge is a thing of unalloyed beauty. Concrete and terrain in perfect harmony.
Sure. It's not the bridge itself, it's what comes over it.
You're either talking about the tourists who support the otherwise paltry economy, or the English.
Yes.
Ah.
As long as they drive on the right side of the road, I don't mind at all.
Surely it would be better if they drove on the left?
US is reportedly telling its citizens to exit Russia whilst they still can according to NYTimes.
I'd say the same should apply to British citizens and all NATO countries, although I don't exactly know how given air routes have closed.
I'm a bit unclear about this. Is it the routes have been closed, or certain airlines banned from them?
My understanding is that it's the airspace to any Russian carrier.
Still plenty of Asian carriers running over Russia from Asia to Western Europe.
But from Russia itself a lot of planes taking a roundabout route from the Caucasus to Moscow over the Caspian Sea and skirting Kazakhstan, steering very, very wide of Ukraine and very little going West <-> Russia.
Edit: KL856 is over Kazakhstan. That explains it....
Is there anything to stop Ukrainian jets flying in from Nato territory? Someone did mention refueling might be going on over some of the neighbouring states.
Also is there any way the Ukrainians might be able to take the thermobaric weapons - possibly with drone strikes?
We won’t be able to refuel their kit, partly because of comparability but also because of training. It’s not something you do without practicing.
Meanwhile Kharkiv and Kyiv still in Ukrainian hands. Russian stockmarket looks to melt down on Monday. Putin is really in danger of the whole thing backfiring. An intervention by a major Western power - say the RAF enforcing a no-fly zone - could really make the difference between a Russian Ukraine and the end of Putin.
Our policy makers should think about how Putin murdered British citizens on British soil and how now is their chance to ensure appropriate consequences.
By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
Bloody hell. "Highlands" is not some sort of sociological or demographic construct, it's a fact of life. Look on a map.
Not quite sure what you have "walked around" the lot of but a lot of us have been there. Indeed there's actual Scots who post here who probably know almost as much about it as you do.
In my experience the English tend to be pretty knowledgeable about the Highlands. They go on holiday, and they fall in love.
Indeed, Skye is basically the Home Counties + plus mad Dutch drivers nowadays.
I know what JJ means. Argyll is distinct from Assynt. Perthshire from the Cuillin. Speyside from Caithness.
That fucking bridge was the worst mistake in the history of civil engineering. I am a Hilleary btw so not in need of guidance on the whole Skye thang.
I remember my parents paying the toll on it.
It's a stunning bridge.
It's a lovely bridge. It positively vaults from Kyle to Skye, like a prancing stag (surely deliberate?); if you had to have a bridge, this is about as good as it gets.
And yet it is sad as well. "Over the sea to Skye" means so much less now you can drive it in 2 minutes. I loved that wait in Kyle for the ferry.
And it ruins the peerless sea-landscape around Gavin Maxwell's little island, right under the concrete.
If Putin has come to the end of the road he might try to take the rest of us with him.
Russian state TV: “Our submarines alone can launch more than 500 nuclear warheads, which guarantees the destruction of the US and NATO for good measure. The principle is: why do we need the world if Russia won’t be in it?” https://twitter.com/ilya_shepelin/status/1498022807627829250
Hell's bells.
Someone needs to stop this madman. And fast.
Moscow has had far more crazed nutcases than Putin over the decades and none of them launched nuclear weapons. They know full well Russia would be leveled if it happened. And they know that Russia will indeed "be in the world" if they don't. This is all an attempt to get others to back down. I.e. a bluff.
His behaviour at the moment is eerily reminiscent of that of Brezhnev in his last years. Crazy foreign ventures. Threats of nuclear annihilation. Trying to sustain over-ambitious military spending at the expense of his country. Rampaging fraud and corruption in the government. The FSB extremely powerful.
Brezhnev, of course, had dementia, complicated by cardiovascular problems and alcoholism.
There may be more to these rumours about Putin's health.
There could be, but I still don't really understand what's going on with him. He clearly is genuinely changed in some ways and embarked on a mad project to take Kiyiv, for instance, or to refer continually to 1940's history.
Yet I wonder what other elements might be performance here, particularly now when he's terrifying the world. Could it be some very strange mixture of elaborately planned theatre and genuine danger and illness, I wonder. We have to take him to a considerable degree at his word when he's making these kinds of threats, ofcourse.
The rounded face could be either Botox or steroids..
Meanwhile Kharkiv and Kyiv still in Ukrainian hands. Russian stockmarket looks to melt down on Monday. Putin is really in danger of the whole thing backfiring. An intervention by a major Western power - say the RAF enforcing a no-fly zone - could really make the difference between a Russian Ukraine and the end of Putin.
Our policy makers should think about how Putin murdered British citizens on British soil and how now is their chance to ensure appropriate consequences.
What should NATO do if an RAF fighter was shot down over Ukraine?
If Putin has come to the end of the road he might try to take the rest of us with him.
Russian state TV: “Our submarines alone can launch more than 500 nuclear warheads, which guarantees the destruction of the US and NATO for good measure. The principle is: why do we need the world if Russia won’t be in it?” https://twitter.com/ilya_shepelin/status/1498022807627829250
Hell's bells.
Someone needs to stop this madman. And fast.
Moscow has had far more crazed nutcases than Putin over the decades and none of them launched nuclear weapons. They know full well Russia would be leveled if it happened. And they know that Russia will indeed "be in the world" if they don't. This is all an attempt to get others to back down. I.e. a bluff.
His behaviour at the moment is eerily reminiscent of that of Brezhnev in his last years. Crazy foreign ventures. Threats of nuclear annihilation. Trying to sustain over-ambitious military spending at the expense of his country. Rampaging fraud and corruption in the government. The FSB extremely powerful.
Brezhnev, of course, had dementia, complicated by cardiovascular problems and alcoholism.
There may be more to these rumours about Putin's health.
There could be, but I still don't really understand what's going on with him. He clearly is genuinely changed in some ways and embarked on a mad project to take Kiyiv, for instance, or to refer continually to 1940's history.
Yet I wonder what other elements might be performance here, particularly now when he's terrifying the world. Could it be some very strange mixture of elaborately planned theatre and genuine danger and illness, I wonder. We have to take him to a considerable degree at his word when he's making these kinds of threats, ofcourse.
The rounded face could be either Botox or steroids..
Nah, he has always looked like that.
No, he is definitely more moon faced now than in the iconic bare chested on a horse photo
By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
Bloody hell. "Highlands" is not some sort of sociological or demographic construct, it's a fact of life. Look on a map.
Not quite sure what you have "walked around" the lot of but a lot of us have been there. Indeed there's actual Scots who post here who probably know almost as much about it as you do.
You're a little feisty tonight.
In fact, scratch that. You're a little feisty.
As usual.
Well, yes, but if you advance the idea the Highlands are defined culturally you can surely expect to be picked up on it?
Highlands. High lands. Geddit?
And if you take the train west out of Glasgow its only 20 minutes til you are looking out of the window and thinking fuck me that's steep
I'm from "the Highlands" and I'd struggle to consider Ben Lomond in them, tbh. Far too southern
I'm sure JJ knows them better than 90% of Scots, based on past posts.
Which part are you from?
Mainly a non-High bit.
Wick?
I wish!
Dying of radioactive poisoning or dying of boredom in Wick is a tough call.
As we all know, for one guy, being actually and cruelly beheaded by the Taliban is better than LIVING in Wick, and, frankly. he has a point. I went there for one day in summer and I would have preferred to lose my sense of sight for two weeks. Imagine a LIFE there
"I’d rather risk beheading by Taliban than live in Wick"
If Putin has come to the end of the road he might try to take the rest of us with him.
Russian state TV: “Our submarines alone can launch more than 500 nuclear warheads, which guarantees the destruction of the US and NATO for good measure. The principle is: why do we need the world if Russia won’t be in it?” https://twitter.com/ilya_shepelin/status/1498022807627829250
Hell's bells.
Someone needs to stop this madman. And fast.
Moscow has had far more crazed nutcases than Putin over the decades and none of them launched nuclear weapons. They know full well Russia would be leveled if it happened. And they know that Russia will indeed "be in the world" if they don't. This is all an attempt to get others to back down. I.e. a bluff.
His behaviour at the moment is eerily reminiscent of that of Brezhnev in his last years. Crazy foreign ventures. Threats of nuclear annihilation. Trying to sustain over-ambitious military spending at the expense of his country. Rampaging fraud and corruption in the government. The FSB extremely powerful.
Brezhnev, of course, had dementia, complicated by cardiovascular problems and alcoholism.
There may be more to these rumours about Putin's health.
There could be, but I still don't really understand what's going on with him. He clearly is genuinely changed in some ways and embarked on a mad project to take Kiyiv, for instance, or to refer continually to 1940's history.
Yet I wonder what other elements might be performance here, particularly now when he's terrifying the world. Could it be some very strange mixture of elaborately planned theatre and genuine danger and illness, I wonder. We have to take him to a considerable degree at his word when he's making these kinds of threats, ofcourse.
The rounded face could be either Botox or steroids..
Nah, he has always looked like that.
To me, his face (particularly the nose) is completely different now.
Meanwhile Kharkiv and Kyiv still in Ukrainian hands. Russian stockmarket looks to melt down on Monday. Putin is really in danger of the whole thing backfiring. An intervention by a major Western power - say the RAF enforcing a no-fly zone - could really make the difference between a Russian Ukraine and the end of Putin.
Our policy makers should think about how Putin murdered British citizens on British soil and how now is their chance to ensure appropriate consequences.
What would you recommend NATO doing if an RAF fighter was shot down over Ukraine?
Meanwhile Kharkiv and Kyiv still in Ukrainian hands. Russian stockmarket looks to melt down on Monday. Putin is really in danger of the whole thing backfiring. An intervention by a major Western power - say the RAF enforcing a no-fly zone - could really make the difference between a Russian Ukraine and the end of Putin.
Our policy makers should think about how Putin murdered British citizens on British soil and how now is their chance to ensure appropriate consequences.
I know I don't post much so I won't be missed but I'm quitting this forum for a while because of my anxiety levels. This is in no small part due to idiots like you who insist on trying to talk the world into nuclear war. Before I go let me repeat the minute a British jet comes into contact with a Russian one it's game over. If you want to see the Ukrainian flag fluttering over an irradiated wasteland then that's your affair but I sincerely hope no one in a position of power listens to you.
By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
Bloody hell. "Highlands" is not some sort of sociological or demographic construct, it's a fact of life. Look on a map.
Not quite sure what you have "walked around" the lot of but a lot of us have been there. Indeed there's actual Scots who post here who probably know almost as much about it as you do.
In my experience the English tend to be pretty knowledgeable about the Highlands. They go on holiday, and they fall in love.
Indeed, Skye is basically the Home Counties + plus mad Dutch drivers nowadays.
I know what JJ means. Argyll is distinct from Assynt. Perthshire from the Cuillin. Speyside from Caithness.
That fucking bridge was the worst mistake in the history of civil engineering. I am a Hilleary btw so not in need of guidance on the whole Skye thang.
I remember my parents paying the toll on it.
It's a stunning bridge.
It's a lovely bridge. It positively vaults from Kyle to Skye, like a prancing stag (surely deliberate?); if you had to have a bridge, this is about as good as it gets.
And yet it is sad as well. "Over the sea to Skye" means so much less now you can drive it in 2 minutes. I loved that wait in Kyle for the ferry.
And it ruins the peerless sea-landscape around Gavin Maxwell's little island, right under the concrete.
And you described Cyclefree's article yesterday as pompous?
Cyclefree can only dream of the poetry of ‘like a prancing stag’.
If Putin has come to the end of the road he might try to take the rest of us with him.
Russian state TV: “Our submarines alone can launch more than 500 nuclear warheads, which guarantees the destruction of the US and NATO for good measure. The principle is: why do we need the world if Russia won’t be in it?” https://twitter.com/ilya_shepelin/status/1498022807627829250
Hell's bells.
Someone needs to stop this madman. And fast.
Moscow has had far more crazed nutcases than Putin over the decades and none of them launched nuclear weapons. They know full well Russia would be leveled if it happened. And they know that Russia will indeed "be in the world" if they don't. This is all an attempt to get others to back down. I.e. a bluff.
His behaviour at the moment is eerily reminiscent of that of Brezhnev in his last years. Crazy foreign ventures. Threats of nuclear annihilation. Trying to sustain over-ambitious military spending at the expense of his country. Rampaging fraud and corruption in the government. The FSB extremely powerful.
Brezhnev, of course, had dementia, complicated by cardiovascular problems and alcoholism.
There may be more to these rumours about Putin's health.
There could be, but I still don't really understand what's going on with him. He clearly is genuinely changed in some ways and embarked on a mad project to take Kiyiv, for instance, or to refer continually to 1940's history.
Yet I wonder what other elements might be performance here, particularly now when he's terrifying the world. Could it be some very strange mixture of elaborately planned theatre and genuine danger and illness, I wonder. We have to take him to a considerable degree at his word when he's making these kinds of threats, ofcourse.
The rounded face could be either Botox or steroids..
Nah, he has always looked like that.
He really hasn't. He has a new football-shaped face
Meanwhile Kharkiv and Kyiv still in Ukrainian hands. Russian stockmarket looks to melt down on Monday. Putin is really in danger of the whole thing backfiring. An intervention by a major Western power - say the RAF enforcing a no-fly zone - could really make the difference between a Russian Ukraine and the end of Putin.
Our policy makers should think about how Putin murdered British citizens on British soil and how now is their chance to ensure appropriate consequences.
Putin is waiting for the right moment to attack Kiev and is doing well in the south of ukraine
Someone, somewhere needs to find a way to stop escalating this. Is there anyone with a cool head?
Xi Jinping? Like supporting Russia against the US and setting a precedent that he could invade Taiwan must have seemed like a clever idea at the time, but the precedent part isn't exacly going to plan, and you can't retake Taiwan if nuclear armageddon has eliminated all life on earth.
Meanwhile Kharkiv and Kyiv still in Ukrainian hands. Russian stockmarket looks to melt down on Monday. Putin is really in danger of the whole thing backfiring. An intervention by a major Western power - say the RAF enforcing a no-fly zone - could really make the difference between a Russian Ukraine and the end of Putin.
Our policy makers should think about how Putin murdered British citizens on British soil and how now is their chance to ensure appropriate consequences.
Putin is waiting for the right moment to attack Kiev and is doing well in the south of ukraine
Meanwhile Kharkiv and Kyiv still in Ukrainian hands. Russian stockmarket looks to melt down on Monday. Putin is really in danger of the whole thing backfiring. An intervention by a major Western power - say the RAF enforcing a no-fly zone - could really make the difference between a Russian Ukraine and the end of Putin.
Our policy makers should think about how Putin murdered British citizens on British soil and how now is their chance to ensure appropriate consequences.
What would you recommend NATO doing if an RAF fighter was shot down over Ukraine?
Well the RAF couldn't enforce that on their own. Do not assume, however, that a de facto no fly could not come into effect in the west of Ukraine at some point. NATO have kitted for it, lets put it that way.
Meanwhile Kharkiv and Kyiv still in Ukrainian hands. Russian stockmarket looks to melt down on Monday. Putin is really in danger of the whole thing backfiring. An intervention by a major Western power - say the RAF enforcing a no-fly zone - could really make the difference between a Russian Ukraine and the end of Putin.
Our policy makers should think about how Putin murdered British citizens on British soil and how now is their chance to ensure appropriate consequences.
What would you recommend NATO doing if an RAF fighter was shot down over Ukraine?
Add more airforces to shoot down Russian planes.
Frankly I was hoping for another 20-30 years of life rather than dying in a nuclear holocaust before the summer.
Someone, somewhere needs to find a way to stop escalating this. Is there anyone with a cool head?
Wouldn't look for one on PB to be honest. Most here are crying havoc and letting slip the dogs of war. Virtual dogs mind, I don't think anyone's joined the legion. But they are doing their bit by getting jolly cross and socking it to that PJohnson character in no uncertain terms.
Lol mate I'm just trying to be realistic but my views don't seem to be welcome
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution to call for an emergency session of the General Assembly which will convene in the next 24 hours. It is the first time such a session has been called in decades, said U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, because “This is not ordinary moment. We need to take extraordinary action to meet this threat to our international system and to do everything we can to help Ukraine and its people.”
NY Times
The General Assembly vote has no binding effect, but will give an indication of how isolated Russia has become. Though, frankly, you wonder whether, should Nutjob discover that he has almost the whole world against him, he might try to kill absolutely everyone in revenge. It's extremely scary.
China, the UAE and India all abstained rather than vote to condemn Russia on the Security Council.
Those are some pretty big or wealthy nations not lining up against him whatever the Assembly decides
Abstaining is opposing when it comes to votes like that - like when a resolution on Libya was able to be passed.
No it is abstaining.
If they were opposing they would have voted for the resolution to deplore Putin's actions as we, the USA, France and 8 other UN Security Council members did.
Russia of course vetoed it anyway, so it was not like the Libya resolution where there was no veto used
I don't know why I am bothering, but not everything is to be taken literally. Would you believe I am aware that an abstention is not literally opposing?. The point, which is pretty obvious, was that for a nation like China to not vote against was itself a message to Russia.
The comparison with Libya was not that no one vetoed that one, but that several who did not vote for it made it clear they would be against what did end up happening in terms of the campaign and was expected to happen, but their actions in not voting against made it clear they were happy to not stand in its way even if they did not endorse it.
Have they exploded and oil/gas storage or is that one of those very big bombs, that somebody was talking about yesterday?
This is why I quit twitter. It is some scratchy film of a massive explosion/bomb in the nighttime, but until it is verified by a reliable source, it could have been from any number of conflicts. But we've all immediately come to the conclusion that Russia have dropped a thermobaric bomb on Ukraine.
No one has immediately "come to the conclusion", but a lot of people are speculating on Twitter, and much of the speculation is from well-informed military types, who are already analysing the perspectives, light effects shock waves and so on
And this speculation is not some wild frenzy of "OMG this is tactical nukes!" (which you could argue, given the slightly scary mushroom cloud effect, and the sheer size of the explosion), it is careful and forensic, in the circs
We know Putin has been preparing these weapons for Ukraine:
Video of a Russian military column reportedly near the town of Okhynky, on the highway between Kyiv and Sumy. There’s a TOS-1A thermobaric MLRS. https://t.me/milinfolive/77159
Why would he not use them if the war as it stands is not going to plan?
A thermobaric warhead seems the best guess and/or a hit on an oil/ammo dump
I came to the 'OMG thermobaric bomb' conclusion myself. But it actually looks like an ammo dump. And now it turns out from Yokes that everyone has thermobaric bombs anyway, including us. Ultimately, I don't have a clue. I am in no position whatsoever to interpret these videos that go viral on twitter.
If Putin has come to the end of the road he might try to take the rest of us with him.
Russian state TV: “Our submarines alone can launch more than 500 nuclear warheads, which guarantees the destruction of the US and NATO for good measure. The principle is: why do we need the world if Russia won’t be in it?” https://twitter.com/ilya_shepelin/status/1498022807627829250
Hell's bells.
Someone needs to stop this madman. And fast.
Moscow has had far more crazed nutcases than Putin over the decades and none of them launched nuclear weapons. They know full well Russia would be leveled if it happened. And they know that Russia will indeed "be in the world" if they don't. This is all an attempt to get others to back down. I.e. a bluff.
His behaviour at the moment is eerily reminiscent of that of Brezhnev in his last years. Crazy foreign ventures. Threats of nuclear annihilation. Trying to sustain over-ambitious military spending at the expense of his country. Rampaging fraud and corruption in the government. The FSB extremely powerful.
Brezhnev, of course, had dementia, complicated by cardiovascular problems and alcoholism.
There may be more to these rumours about Putin's health.
There could be, but I still don't really understand what's going on with him. He clearly is genuinely changed in some ways and embarked on a mad project to take Kiyiv, for instance, or to refer continually to 1940's history.
Yet I wonder what other elements might be performance here, particularly now when he's terrifying the world. Could it be some very strange mixture of elaborately planned theatre and genuine danger and illness, I wonder. We have to take him to a considerable degree at his word when he's making these kinds of threats, ofcourse.
The rounded face could be either Botox or steroids..
Nah, he has always looked like that.
He really hasn't. He has a new football-shaped face
Meanwhile Kharkiv and Kyiv still in Ukrainian hands. Russian stockmarket looks to melt down on Monday. Putin is really in danger of the whole thing backfiring. An intervention by a major Western power - say the RAF enforcing a no-fly zone - could really make the difference between a Russian Ukraine and the end of Putin.
Our policy makers should think about how Putin murdered British citizens on British soil and how now is their chance to ensure appropriate consequences.
What would you recommend NATO doing if an RAF fighter was shot down over Ukraine?
Add more airforces to shoot down Russian planes.
And when more are shot down? Russia is not Iraq. They have S-400s, actual high technology.
Someone, somewhere needs to find a way to stop escalating this. Is there anyone with a cool head?
Wouldn't look for one on PB to be honest. Most here are crying havoc and letting slip the dogs of war. Virtual dogs mind, I don't think anyone's joined the legion. But they are doing their bit by getting jolly cross and socking it to that PJohnson character in no uncertain terms.
Lol mate I'm just trying to be realistic but my views don't seem to be welcome
Meanwhile Kharkiv and Kyiv still in Ukrainian hands. Russian stockmarket looks to melt down on Monday. Putin is really in danger of the whole thing backfiring. An intervention by a major Western power - say the RAF enforcing a no-fly zone - could really make the difference between a Russian Ukraine and the end of Putin.
Our policy makers should think about how Putin murdered British citizens on British soil and how now is their chance to ensure appropriate consequences.
What would you recommend NATO doing if an RAF fighter was shot down over Ukraine?
Well the RAF couldn't enforce that on their own. Do not assume, however, that a de facto no fly could not come into effect in the west of Ukraine at some point. NATO have kitted for it, lets put it that way.
Do you think the Ukraine Air force are flying out of Romania/Poland?
Someone, somewhere needs to find a way to stop escalating this. Is there anyone with a cool head?
Wouldn't look for one on PB to be honest. Most here are crying havoc and letting slip the dogs of war. Virtual dogs mind, I don't think anyone's joined the legion. But they are doing their bit by getting jolly cross and socking it to that PJohnson character in no uncertain terms.
Lol mate I'm just trying to be realistic but my views don't seem to be welcome
Your realism being that the Ukrainians, who were after nuclear weapons, should accept being killed with grace because resisting it will just mean they will be killed even more.
When playing the martyr I think a more sympathetic stance is required.
Someone, somewhere needs to find a way to stop escalating this. Is there anyone with a cool head?
Wouldn't look for one on PB to be honest. Most here are crying havoc and letting slip the dogs of war. Virtual dogs mind, I don't think anyone's joined the legion. But they are doing their bit by getting jolly cross and socking it to that PJohnson character in no uncertain terms.
Lol mate I'm just trying to be realistic but my views don't seem to be welcome
That's because they are not. Realistic or welcome.
Meanwhile Kharkiv and Kyiv still in Ukrainian hands. Russian stockmarket looks to melt down on Monday. Putin is really in danger of the whole thing backfiring. An intervention by a major Western power - say the RAF enforcing a no-fly zone - could really make the difference between a Russian Ukraine and the end of Putin.
Our policy makers should think about how Putin murdered British citizens on British soil and how now is their chance to ensure appropriate consequences.
I know I don't post much so I won't be missed but I'm quitting this forum for a while because of my anxiety levels. This is in no small part due to idiots like you who insist on trying to talk the world into nuclear war. Before I go let me repeat the minute a British jet comes into contact with a Russian one it's game over. If you want to see the Ukrainian flag fluttering over an irradiated wasteland then that's your affair but I sincerely hope no one in a position of power listens to you.
Meanwhile Kharkiv and Kyiv still in Ukrainian hands. Russian stockmarket looks to melt down on Monday. Putin is really in danger of the whole thing backfiring. An intervention by a major Western power - say the RAF enforcing a no-fly zone - could really make the difference between a Russian Ukraine and the end of Putin.
Our policy makers should think about how Putin murdered British citizens on British soil and how now is their chance to ensure appropriate consequences.
I know I don't post much so I won't be missed but I'm quitting this forum for a while because of my anxiety levels. This is in no small part due to idiots like you who insist on trying to talk the world into nuclear war. Before I go let me repeat the minute a British jet comes into contact with a Russian one it's game over. If you want to see the Ukrainian flag fluttering over an irradiated wasteland then that's your affair but I sincerely hope no one in a position of power listens to you.
Good riddance to muppets like you that think we must just let Putin do whatever he wants because he would willingly have every city in Russia wiped out in nuclear attacks. You are the people who would argue for battered wives submitting to their abusers to stop them getting hurt.
Zelensky’s starting point is going to be a Russian withdrawal to the pre-2014 borders, giving up Donbass and Crimea.
Zelensky can’t negotiate away the international sanctions, that are about to tank the markets and cause bank runs in Moscow tomorrow morning.
Oh, and by the way, he has another few thousand NATO-spec anti-tank weapons, and a few hundred NATO-spec anti-aircraft weapons, ready for the next few thousand tanks and few hundred aircraft that try and get to Kiev.
Negotiations difficult now both sides all in...Ukraine will have to put their egos aside a bit and listen to russias concerns...and vice versa
The only concern in this is when will Putin be deposed and put on trial for war crimes
We cannot base policy on wild hopes
Who is 'We'?
Most posters on PB know each other, in many cases personally but otherwise through reputation and thousands of posts. On the evidence of a handful of posts I should say you are a troll, and your views - if indeed they are yours - have attracted well-merited contempt.
You don't speak for anybody except yourself and whoever might be marking your card.
I speak from a deep knowledge of history and human nature...my concern is humanity as a whole...many posters on here are superficial
You noticed?
We like Sean. He’s like our own little pet tarantula. Vile, poisonous and icky. But strangely mesmerising.
Spiders are venomous, not poisonous, and no tarantula is venomous to mankind. They are mesmerising I agree. Indian ornamentals especially.
Ok. Fine. Sean is vile, venomous and icky. Happy now?
And our red under the Reading bed called us “superficial”? Pffff.
If a trans man or woman asked you to refer to them as “they” rather than by their birth gender I have no doubt you would do so out of politeness even if you disagree with their actions.
So when @Leon has requested you stop calling him “Sean” why do you insist on doing so?
It's a tease and he sets himself up for it. No need for toys out of the pram on this one.
It may be a tease but I find it quite fucking annoying, and also boring, it's not good for the site - misidentifying people who wish to remain anonymous is A BAD INTERNET HABIT - and it also prevents me from ever attending things like the PB meets
So, STOP , thanks very much
By all means abuse me roundly for anything else. I don't mind that at all
Maybe you could avoid promoting those crappy Sean Thomas Spectator pieces in return? ;-)
Deal. I will only promote the good ones
Surprised to learn it bothered you but fairy nuff; if you don't like it, people shouldn't do it.
Christ. I do believe Putin has decided to go full Chechnya on Ukraine. He can't stand the humiliation of a reverse, he cannot allow the career or life ending risk of a defeat. So he will obliterate any opposition until he "wins". I would not rule out tactical nukes, but he probably won't need them. He will simply rain down hellfire until he inherits the blasted desert, and calls it victory
Meanwhile Kharkiv and Kyiv still in Ukrainian hands. Russian stockmarket looks to melt down on Monday. Putin is really in danger of the whole thing backfiring. An intervention by a major Western power - say the RAF enforcing a no-fly zone - could really make the difference between a Russian Ukraine and the end of Putin.
Our policy makers should think about how Putin murdered British citizens on British soil and how now is their chance to ensure appropriate consequences.
What would you recommend NATO doing if an RAF fighter was shot down over Ukraine?
Add more airforces to shoot down Russian planes.
Frankly I was hoping for another 20-30 years of life rather than dying in a nuclear holocaust before the summer.
Quite. I've been moaning about how it feels like this Winter has dragged on forever, but when I wanted it finally to warm up a little being heated to a thousand degrees in half-a-second wasn't quite what I had in mind.
If Putin has come to the end of the road he might try to take the rest of us with him.
Russian state TV: “Our submarines alone can launch more than 500 nuclear warheads, which guarantees the destruction of the US and NATO for good measure. The principle is: why do we need the world if Russia won’t be in it?” https://twitter.com/ilya_shepelin/status/1498022807627829250
Hell's bells.
Someone needs to stop this madman. And fast.
Moscow has had far more crazed nutcases than Putin over the decades and none of them launched nuclear weapons. They know full well Russia would be leveled if it happened. And they know that Russia will indeed "be in the world" if they don't. This is all an attempt to get others to back down. I.e. a bluff.
His behaviour at the moment is eerily reminiscent of that of Brezhnev in his last years. Crazy foreign ventures. Threats of nuclear annihilation. Trying to sustain over-ambitious military spending at the expense of his country. Rampaging fraud and corruption in the government. The FSB extremely powerful.
Brezhnev, of course, had dementia, complicated by cardiovascular problems and alcoholism.
There may be more to these rumours about Putin's health.
There could be, but I still don't really understand what's going on with him. He clearly is genuinely changed in some ways and embarked on a mad project to take Kiyiv, for instance, or to refer continually to 1940's history.
Yet I wonder what other elements might be performance here, particularly now when he's terrifying the world. Could it be some very strange mixture of elaborately planned theatre and genuine danger and illness, I wonder. We have to take him to a considerable degree at his word when he's making these kinds of threats, ofcourse.
The rounded face could be either Botox or steroids..
Nah, he has always looked like that.
He really hasn't. He has a new football-shaped face
Young Putin was quite cheekboney
Mrs P thinks he looks like he's got Parkinson's.
I just watched his video from earlier today, and he's definitely blinking and twitching in a slightly new way. Something's up.
Someone, somewhere needs to find a way to stop escalating this. Is there anyone with a cool head?
Wouldn't look for one on PB to be honest. Most here are crying havoc and letting slip the dogs of war. Virtual dogs mind, I don't think anyone's joined the legion. But they are doing their bit by getting jolly cross and socking it to that PJohnson character in no uncertain terms.
Lol mate I'm just trying to be realistic but my views don't seem to be welcome
Meanwhile Kharkiv and Kyiv still in Ukrainian hands. Russian stockmarket looks to melt down on Monday. Putin is really in danger of the whole thing backfiring. An intervention by a major Western power - say the RAF enforcing a no-fly zone - could really make the difference between a Russian Ukraine and the end of Putin.
Our policy makers should think about how Putin murdered British citizens on British soil and how now is their chance to ensure appropriate consequences.
Putin is waiting for the right moment to attack Kiev and is doing well in the south of ukraine
By the way, this isn't mere play. If you talk to the residents around Faslane they are acutely aware that it would be the No.1 nuclear target.
So, no, some of the Highlands are certainly not the safest place to be.
(I'm assuming everyone knows it's the home of our Trident nuclear subs)
Kay word 'parts', as I pointed out the distance from the top to the bottom of the Highlands is longer than the distance between London and the North of England.
Plus of course the whole reason at least 1 submarines with Trident nuclear missiles on board is always on patrol 24/7 is that in the event of nuclear war the UK PM from his bunker could still order a nuclear missile attack on Moscow or whereever the nuclear attack on the UK came from even if Faslane had been hit (though in reality it would almost certainly only be Moscow or Bejing being the 2 capitals of our potential enemies with nuclear weapons). 1 Trident nuclear missile is the equivalent of 8 Hiroshimas on its own
But Glasgow is on the border of the Highlands. At the Faslane part.
I haven't been following the discussion, but I don't think of Faslane as being 'Highlands'. It's too near Glasgow for it to be 'Highlands', demographically, geographically, or culturally. It's close, though.
And since, perhaps uniquely on PB, I've walked around the lot (excepting the islands), I'll put myself as an authority.
Bloody hell. "Highlands" is not some sort of sociological or demographic construct, it's a fact of life. Look on a map.
Not quite sure what you have "walked around" the lot of but a lot of us have been there. Indeed there's actual Scots who post here who probably know almost as much about it as you do.
In my experience the English tend to be pretty knowledgeable about the Highlands. They go on holiday, and they fall in love.
Indeed, Skye is basically the Home Counties + plus mad Dutch drivers nowadays.
I know what JJ means. Argyll is distinct from Assynt. Perthshire from the Cuillin. Speyside from Caithness.
That fucking bridge was the worst mistake in the history of civil engineering. I am a Hilleary btw so not in need of guidance on the whole Skye thang.
Yet the Kylesku Bridge is a thing of unalloyed beauty. Concrete and terrain in perfect harmony.
Sure. It's not the bridge itself, it's what comes over it.
You're either talking about the tourists who support the otherwise paltry economy, or the English.
Try Mull instead. No bridge. God's own country. And get there from the mainland by driving to the end of the world and taking the small ferry from Lochaline to Fishnish. No booking, just turn up. if you can find it.
Meanwhile Kharkiv and Kyiv still in Ukrainian hands. Russian stockmarket looks to melt down on Monday. Putin is really in danger of the whole thing backfiring. An intervention by a major Western power - say the RAF enforcing a no-fly zone - could really make the difference between a Russian Ukraine and the end of Putin.
Our policy makers should think about how Putin murdered British citizens on British soil and how now is their chance to ensure appropriate consequences.
I know I don't post much so I won't be missed but I'm quitting this forum for a while because of my anxiety levels. This is in no small part due to idiots like you who insist on trying to talk the world into nuclear war. Before I go let me repeat the minute a British jet comes into contact with a Russian one it's game over. If you want to see the Ukrainian flag fluttering over an irradiated wasteland then that's your affair but I sincerely hope no one in a position of power listens to you.
Hey, I like your stuff. Stay chilled if you can.
Me too. Stereodog argues a minority view intelligently and well.
Someone, somewhere needs to find a way to stop escalating this. Is there anyone with a cool head?
Wouldn't look for one on PB to be honest. Most here are crying havoc and letting slip the dogs of war. Virtual dogs mind, I don't think anyone's joined the legion. But they are doing their bit by getting jolly cross and socking it to that PJohnson character in no uncertain terms.
Lol mate I'm just trying to be realistic but my views don't seem to be welcome
Considering your "views" are that Ukrainians should just surrender, I'm not sure there's much to be welcomed.
Why don't you advise Russians to surrender so they don't get killed? 🤔
If Putin has come to the end of the road he might try to take the rest of us with him.
Russian state TV: “Our submarines alone can launch more than 500 nuclear warheads, which guarantees the destruction of the US and NATO for good measure. The principle is: why do we need the world if Russia won’t be in it?” https://twitter.com/ilya_shepelin/status/1498022807627829250
Hell's bells.
Someone needs to stop this madman. And fast.
Moscow has had far more crazed nutcases than Putin over the decades and none of them launched nuclear weapons. They know full well Russia would be leveled if it happened. And they know that Russia will indeed "be in the world" if they don't. This is all an attempt to get others to back down. I.e. a bluff.
His behaviour at the moment is eerily reminiscent of that of Brezhnev in his last years. Crazy foreign ventures. Threats of nuclear annihilation. Trying to sustain over-ambitious military spending at the expense of his country. Rampaging fraud and corruption in the government. The FSB extremely powerful.
Brezhnev, of course, had dementia, complicated by cardiovascular problems and alcoholism.
There may be more to these rumours about Putin's health.
There could be, but I still don't really understand what's going on with him. He clearly is genuinely changed in some ways and embarked on a mad project to take Kiyiv, for instance, or to refer continually to 1940's history.
Yet I wonder what other elements might be performance here, particularly now when he's terrifying the world. Could it be some very strange mixture of elaborately planned theatre and genuine danger and illness, I wonder. We have to take him to a considerable degree at his word when he's making these kinds of threats, ofcourse.
The rounded face could be either Botox or steroids..
Nah, he has always looked like that.
He really hasn't. He has a new football-shaped face
Young Putin was quite cheekboney
Mrs P thinks he looks like he's got Parkinson's.
Better hope his finger isn't hovering over the nuclear launch then.....
Meanwhile Kharkiv and Kyiv still in Ukrainian hands. Russian stockmarket looks to melt down on Monday. Putin is really in danger of the whole thing backfiring. An intervention by a major Western power - say the RAF enforcing a no-fly zone - could really make the difference between a Russian Ukraine and the end of Putin.
Our policy makers should think about how Putin murdered British citizens on British soil and how now is their chance to ensure appropriate consequences.
What would you recommend NATO doing if an RAF fighter was shot down over Ukraine?
Add more airforces to shoot down Russian planes.
And when more are shot down? Russia is not Iraq. They have S-400s, actual high technology.
Keep on enforcing the no fly zone. We can afford to keep going far longer than they can. Putin needs a quick war. If they can't use aerial support for their troops then they will get bogged down for years. Russia's economy can't afford a war that long. And they need the Western components to make their advanced weaponry.
Meanwhile Kharkiv and Kyiv still in Ukrainian hands. Russian stockmarket looks to melt down on Monday. Putin is really in danger of the whole thing backfiring. An intervention by a major Western power - say the RAF enforcing a no-fly zone - could really make the difference between a Russian Ukraine and the end of Putin.
Our policy makers should think about how Putin murdered British citizens on British soil and how now is their chance to ensure appropriate consequences.
What would you recommend NATO doing if an RAF fighter was shot down over Ukraine?
Add more airforces to shoot down Russian planes.
Frankly I was hoping for another 20-30 years of life rather than dying in a nuclear holocaust before the summer.
Quite. I've been moaning about how it feels like this Winter has dragged on forever, but when I wanted it finally to warm up a little being heated to a thousand degrees in half-a-second wasn't quite what I had in mind.
No indeed. And if you avoid that, the resulting winter will last the rest of your short, cold, starved life.
Christ. I do believe Putin has decided to go full Chechnya on Ukraine. He can't stand the humiliation of a reverse, he cannot allow the career or life ending risk of a defeat. So he will obliterate any opposition until he "wins". I would not rule out tactical nukes, but he probably won't need them. He will simply rain down hellfire until he inherits the blasted desert, and calls it victory
Stand by for a new Cold War lasting decades
At this stage, if we just survive long enough to have a new Cold War for decades then I'll be bloody delighted. Bastard Russians.
Comments
Highlands. High lands. Geddit?
And if you take the train west out of Glasgow its only 20 minutes til you are looking out of the window and thinking fuck me that's steep
Putin and his pimps must pay for that, and much more.
By the way, would like for my fellow Democrats and others on the left to take notice, that among most notable & despicable supporters of Putin in this critical hour are - Cuba, Nicaragua & Venezuela. Along with Belarus, Syria, Burma and North Korea. True rogue's gallery.
Does indicate that they expected this war to be over by now though.
LNG *might* - there have been some experiment by oil companies to see if there is a FAE risk from tanks.
Goodness knows where it leaves Assad. Hopefully somewhere nasty.
We are in the twilight zone.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/french-foreign-ministry-asks-french-nationals-leave-russia-immediately-2022-02-27/
The flipside - which I agree may or may not apply in this instance - is that shedloads of stuff on twitter has turned out to be absolutely reliable but a lot of the big news organisations are taking quite a long time to report it as such given the verification checks needed. So you pays your money and you take your choice sort of thing.
in large part sedimentary deposits (Old Red Sandstone and Permo-Triassic) fringing the Highland massif - but on the west and southwest the sea cuts deep into the massif, hence the fjords and nice deep hills to burrow bunkers into. Believe me, the Highlands begin at Loch Lomond (and, for Edinbuggers, the Trossachs).
https://twitter.com/john_marquee/status/1498041255699247104
https://twitter.com/gianfiorella/status/1498042079825436674
I'm sure JJ knows them better than 90% of Scots, based on past posts.
Take Derbyshire. A middling-sized county in the middle of England. Yet Glossop, in the north, is *very* different from Swadlincote in the south. They are both in 'Derbyshire', but very different in a number of ways. And the Peak District between them is different again.
It takes one and a half to two hours to travel between them. They might as well be in different counties.
And this speculation is not some wild frenzy of "OMG this is tactical nukes!" (which you could argue, given the slightly scary mushroom cloud effect, and the sheer size of the explosion), it is careful and forensic, in the circs
We know Putin has been preparing these weapons for Ukraine:
Video of a Russian military column reportedly near the town of Okhynky, on the highway between Kyiv and Sumy. There’s a TOS-1A thermobaric MLRS.
https://t.me/milinfolive/77159
https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1497839062132183042?s=20&t=zvoiF5DHlXstuVSYOzqClw
Why would he not use them if the war as it stands is not going to plan?
A thermobaric warhead seems the best guess and/or a hit on an oil/ammo dump
If they were opposing they would have voted for the resolution to deplore Putin's actions as we, the USA, France and 8 other UN Security Council members did.
Russia of course vetoed it anyway, so it was not like the Libya resolution where there was no veto used
It's a stunning bridge.
He will not hold back or stop.
He is deranged and knows if he fails it is the end for him.
Travis Akers
@travisakers
Pravda Brewery, based in Lviv, Ukraine, has suspended its beer brewing operations and is now making Molotov cocktails for residents to use against invading Russian forces.
The labels on the bottles say “Putin is a dickhead.”
https://twitter.com/travisakers/status/1497754605865684992
Also is there any way the Ukrainians might be able to take the thermobaric weapons - possibly with drone strikes?
As long as they drive on the right side of the road, I don't mind at all.
But from Russia itself a lot of planes taking a roundabout route from the Caucasus to Moscow over the Caspian Sea and skirting Kazakhstan, steering very, very wide of Ukraine and very little going West <-> Russia.
Edit: KL856 is over Kazakhstan. That explains it....
https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/t2pwhd/russian_protestors_starting_to_protect_each_other/
Meanwhile Kharkiv and Kyiv still in Ukrainian hands. Russian stockmarket looks to melt down on Monday. Putin is really in danger of the whole thing backfiring. An intervention by a major Western power - say the RAF enforcing a no-fly zone - could really make the difference between a Russian Ukraine and the end of Putin.
Our policy makers should think about how Putin murdered British citizens on British soil and how now is their chance to ensure appropriate consequences.
And yet it is sad as well. "Over the sea to Skye" means so much less now you can drive it in 2 minutes. I loved that wait in Kyle for the ferry.
And it ruins the peerless sea-landscape around Gavin Maxwell's little island, right under the concrete.
"I’d rather risk beheading by Taliban than live in Wick"
https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/8113251/afghanistan-refugee-taliban-scotland/
Young Putin was quite cheekboney
And the families of those incinerated in it.
The comparison with Libya was not that no one vetoed that one, but that several who did not vote for it made it clear they would be against what did end up happening in terms of the campaign and was expected to happen, but their actions in not voting against made it clear they were happy to not stand in its way even if they did not endorse it.
Would explain their remarkable resilience.
When playing the martyr I think a more sympathetic stance is required.
Christ. I do believe Putin has decided to go full Chechnya on Ukraine. He can't stand the humiliation of a reverse, he cannot allow the career or life ending risk of a defeat. So he will obliterate any opposition until he "wins". I would not rule out tactical nukes, but he probably won't need them. He will simply rain down hellfire until he inherits the blasted desert, and calls it victory
Stand by for a new Cold War lasting decades
Go fuck yourself Putin cheerleader.
A member of the Belarusian military speaks to the Belarusian troops.
I hope he reconsiders.
Why don't you advise Russians to surrender so they don't get killed? 🤔
Most people are worried sick by the Ukraine crisis and the next GE is 2 years away
As I said this morning in 24 I could vote for one of three parties but right now there are far more important issues