Ukraine says a nuclear research facility has been bombed by Russian forces, accusing Moscow of "nuclear terrorism".
Ukraine's State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate said the facility in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv had lost power and suffered "superficial" damage during the shelling late on Thursday.
@marcorubio #Putin appears to have abandoned initial plan of installing puppet leaders in #Ukraine
New plan appears to be: - encircle & pound on #Kyiv #Chernihiv #Kharkiv #Mylolayiv & #Zaporizhzhya -seize #Mariupol & #Odessa -wear down Ukraine’s military -then dictate terms for ending war
@jendeben NEWS: @POTUS tomorrow will call for an end of normal trade relations with Russia, clearing the way for increased tariffs on Russian imports. Announcement will be alongside G7 & EU leaders. He'll work with Congress on legislation to repeal PNTR. Both parties have pushed for this.
"Russian state television defies President Putin's propaganda edict and broadcasts criticism of the war in Ukraine - with guests describing the shambolic invasion as 'like Afghanistan, but even worse'"
"Russian state television defies President Putin's propaganda edict and broadcasts criticism of the war in Ukraine - with guests describing the shambolic invasion as 'like Afghanistan, but even worse'"
The constant talking up that Putin will use Chemical weapons, can we be hopeful this is laying down a red line for NATO involvement? UK and US preparing the way with this “he is planning to use chemical weapons he always does” line, to tell NATO enough is enough, now we go in. If not, why are they saying it before proof it has happened? If anything it just alarms more Ukrainians not to stay and fight?
To make a false flag even more unbelievable to public and state opinion
Corrupt and fucking useless. The current version has the picture blanked out in best Stalinist style.
These posts are embarrassing, even without the photo mess-up.
It’s the FCO, not fucking Buzzfeed
Well also never mind the embarrassment, let's not ignore the substantive point that this blokes son has been appointed to the UK legislature for sucking the cock and balls of services rendered to a former Chancellor of the exchequer and the current prime minister, and nobody seems to mind, or even have the bad taste to mention the fact
Sucking probably the other way round come to think of it
Have we had any comment recently from Osborne and Mandelson about all their dealings with Russian oligarchs ?
"Russian state television defies President Putin's propaganda edict and broadcasts criticism of the war in Ukraine - with guests describing the shambolic invasion as 'like Afghanistan, but even worse'"
That’s good news if true, but very unlike the Mail to report on something without a video to back it up.
Hopefully we start to see bigger holes in Putin’s propoganda machine. The journalists in Moscow know what’s going on, they know that thousands of civilians in Ukraine, and thousands of Russian soldiers, many of them teenage conscripts, are coming come in body bags.
I have never known so much hatred as I have received in recent days from Chelsea fans over the sanctioning of Putin’s long-term mate Roman Abramovich. Sorry, but Abramovich washed his dirty money clean through sport."
Mate, I could do a top 50! I love megaliths, if I go anywhere and find out there is some mysterious ancient stone monument nearby, I practically orgasm
And now you've set me off. Here are my top ten megalithic monuments of the world
10. Newgrange, Ireland 9. Avebury, England 8. Carnac, France 7. Castlerigg, England 6. Uragh, Ireland 5. Callanish, Scotland 4. Ggantija, Malta 3. Brodgar, Orkney 2. Stonehenge, England 1. Gobekli Tepe, Turkey
And I have seen them all
This might be mis-remembered nonsense: On Orkney there are two standing stones with holes in them, miles apart.
If you line them both up it directs you down the entrance tunnel to Maes Howe. Which is also aligned with the setting sun on the solstice, bathing the chamber in light.
It doesn't work any more as the axis of the earth had shifted since then.
I can well believe it. The Orcadian megaliths are amazing
One of the many many surprises of the wonderful Stonehenge exhibition at the British Museum (which I may have menshed) was discovering just how interlinked these worlds were. Skara Brae, Stonehenge, northwest France, Germany, Denmark, even Greece - they exchanged ideas, objects, memes, motifs - as they travelled easily around Europe. They wore gold hats and wolf-teeth dresses and they had fabulous mythology. And they inhabited a wholly unspoiled world, perhaps devoid of guilt
I wonder if they were happier than us. Possibly they were
Some people reckon a chap called Yahweh came from Judea to England to ask the Druid’s a question. “Hello Druid, son of Druid” [it may not have gone exactly like this, but similar] “can you tell me sir, before Piscean age there was no North Star, so how did your ancient builders accurately know where North was?”
Have you come across the answer to that Leon?
Not difficult. You wait for sunrise, on any non cloudy day of the year. You put a peg between you, and sunrise. You do the same at sunset. You halve the angle between the 2, and that is north. Or south. North stars are secondary in that you only know they *are* the north star by doing this exercise
Bloody hell. In England you could be sitting there for days.
I have never known so much hatred as I have received in recent days from Chelsea fans over the sanctioning of Putin’s long-term mate Roman Abramovich. Sorry, but Abramovich washed his dirty money clean through sport."
Analysis of who is pushing blatant Russian lies about ‘bio labs’. The meeting of minds between Putin’s propagandists and the US conspiratorial right is blatant, and disturbing.
https://twitter.com/marcowenjones/status/1502052062519083008 1/ This is an analysis of all accounts using the terms '#Ukraine' and 'bio labs'. I wanted to see which accounts were pushing this narrative the most, & which were the most influential. This is an analysis of around 20k Twitter interactions from approx 17k unique accounts
The Chinese Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs also in there.
Analysis of who is pushing blatant Russian lies about ‘bio labs’. The meeting of minds between Putin’s propagandists and the US conspiratorial right is blatant, and disturbing.
https://twitter.com/marcowenjones/status/1502052062519083008 1/ This is an analysis of all accounts using the terms '#Ukraine' and 'bio labs'. I wanted to see which accounts were pushing this narrative the most, & which were the most influential. This is an analysis of around 20k Twitter interactions from approx 17k unique accounts
The Chinese Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs also in there.
It'll be interesting to see where some of the funding of the 'US conspiratorial right' comes from. The same with some of the anti-vaxxers (cough)Kennedy(cough).
I've just realised the Commonwealth Games are being held in Birmingham this summer.
That had totally passed me by.
A good chance for our professional British athletes to boost their confidence by competing against postmen, office clerks and the lifeboat crew from Grenada, Mauritius and Tuvalu.
I've just realised the Commonwealth Games are being held in Birmingham this summer.
That had totally passed me by.
A good chance for our professional British athletes to boost their confidence by competing against postmen, office clerks and the lifeboat crew from Grenada, Mauritius and Tuvalu.
Gosh what a nasty comment - how about turning it on its head and think of the opportunity it gives to those athletes - who may not get other opps - to play against top quality athletes from the likes of Uganda, Kenya, Canada....... and many more, as well as British athletes
I have never known so much hatred as I have received in recent days from Chelsea fans over the sanctioning of Putin’s long-term mate Roman Abramovich. Sorry, but Abramovich washed his dirty money clean through sport."
A question: it look stinky, but is Abramovich's money actually 'dirty', as in illegal? Morality and money are a very different question...
Abramovich made his money buying shares in Russian companies in the 1990s.
A simple version is that when the Soviet Union collapsed, everyone in Russia was given vouchers to buy shares in the major state companies that were being floated. Abramovich had a large team of people in Russia go around and buy up the vouchers from ordinary people at well under face value, because the ordinary people didn’t understand what they were for or what to do with them.
It’s not particularly ethical, but then very little was ethical in 1990s Russia. Not illegal though.
I've just realised the Commonwealth Games are being held in Birmingham this summer.
That had totally passed me by.
A good chance for our professional British athletes to boost their confidence by competing against postmen, office clerks and the lifeboat crew from Grenada, Mauritius and Tuvalu.
Gosh what a nasty comment - how about turning it on its head and think of the opportunity it gives to those athletes - who may not get other opps - to play against top quality athletes from the likes of Uganda, Kenya, Canada....... and many more, as well as British athletes
A third of the worlds population are eligible to compete.
I have never known so much hatred as I have received in recent days from Chelsea fans over the sanctioning of Putin’s long-term mate Roman Abramovich. Sorry, but Abramovich washed his dirty money clean through sport."
A question: it look stinky, but is Abramovich's money actually 'dirty', as in illegal? Morality and money are a very different question...
Abramovich made his money buying shares in Russian companies in the 1990s.
A simple version is that when the Soviet Union collapsed, everyone in Russia was given vouchers to buy shares in the major state companies that were being floated. Abramovich had a large team of people in Russia go around and buy up the vouchers from ordinary people at well under face value, because the ordinary people didn’t understand what they were for or what to do with them.
It’s not particularly ethical, but then very little was ethical in 1990s Russia. Not illegal though.
Where did he get the float to get going with that?
I've just realised the Commonwealth Games are being held in Birmingham this summer.
That had totally passed me by.
A good chance for our professional British athletes to boost their confidence by competing against postmen, office clerks and the lifeboat crew from Grenada, Mauritius and Tuvalu.
Gosh what a nasty comment - how about turning it on its head and think of the opportunity it gives to those athletes - who may not get other opps - to play against top quality athletes from the likes of Uganda, Kenya, Canada....... and many more, as well as British athletes
A third of the worlds population are eligible to compete.
Indeed - I have no idea where such an unpleasant post came from. It's not as if anyone is compelled to attend or take part.
Analysis of who is pushing blatant Russian lies about ‘bio labs’. The meeting of minds between Putin’s propagandists and the US conspiratorial right is blatant, and disturbing.
https://twitter.com/marcowenjones/status/1502052062519083008 1/ This is an analysis of all accounts using the terms '#Ukraine' and 'bio labs'. I wanted to see which accounts were pushing this narrative the most, & which were the most influential. This is an analysis of around 20k Twitter interactions from approx 17k unique accounts
The Chinese Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs also in there.
We should have a consumer boycott of China - cancel them in the same way as Russia has been cancelled. They are so obviously a malign influence.
I have never known so much hatred as I have received in recent days from Chelsea fans over the sanctioning of Putin’s long-term mate Roman Abramovich. Sorry, but Abramovich washed his dirty money clean through sport."
A question: it look stinky, but is Abramovich's money actually 'dirty', as in illegal? Morality and money are a very different question...
Abramovich made his money buying shares in Russian companies in the 1990s.
A simple version is that when the Soviet Union collapsed, everyone in Russia was given vouchers to buy shares in the major state companies that were being floated. Abramovich had a large team of people in Russia go around and buy up the vouchers from ordinary people at well under face value, because the ordinary people didn’t understand what they were for or what to do with them.
It’s not particularly ethical, but then very little was ethical in 1990s Russia. Not illegal though.
He was arrested in 1992 on theft of government property. He bought half of Sibneft from the government for $100m when his stake was worth about $1.3bn. He has admitted paying billions in bribes to other oligarchs. He personally interviewed all of Putins first cabinet.
I've just realised the Commonwealth Games are being held in Birmingham this summer.
That had totally passed me by.
A good chance for our professional British athletes to boost their confidence by competing against postmen, office clerks and the lifeboat crew from Grenada, Mauritius and Tuvalu.
Gosh what a nasty comment - how about turning it on its head and think of the opportunity it gives to those athletes - who may not get other opps - to play against top quality athletes from the likes of Uganda, Kenya, Canada....... and many more, as well as British athletes
‘Twas humour. And stolen from a comic I can’t remember, as well.
I have never known so much hatred as I have received in recent days from Chelsea fans over the sanctioning of Putin’s long-term mate Roman Abramovich. Sorry, but Abramovich washed his dirty money clean through sport."
A question: it look stinky, but is Abramovich's money actually 'dirty', as in illegal? Morality and money are a very different question...
Abramovich made his money buying shares in Russian companies in the 1990s.
A simple version is that when the Soviet Union collapsed, everyone in Russia was given vouchers to buy shares in the major state companies that were being floated. Abramovich had a large team of people in Russia go around and buy up the vouchers from ordinary people at well under face value, because the ordinary people didn’t understand what they were for or what to do with them.
It’s not particularly ethical, but then very little was ethical in 1990s Russia. Not illegal though.
Where did he get the float to get going with that?
When you’re buying up dollar bills for 10 or 20 cents, your float quickly develops itself!
His family wasn’t particularly weathly, but he studied markets and was working as a commodities trader when he saw the opportunity in buying up the share vouchers.
I have never known so much hatred as I have received in recent days from Chelsea fans over the sanctioning of Putin’s long-term mate Roman Abramovich. Sorry, but Abramovich washed his dirty money clean through sport."
A question: it look stinky, but is Abramovich's money actually 'dirty', as in illegal? Morality and money are a very different question...
Abramovich made his money buying shares in Russian companies in the 1990s.
A simple version is that when the Soviet Union collapsed, everyone in Russia was given vouchers to buy shares in the major state companies that were being floated. Abramovich had a large team of people in Russia go around and buy up the vouchers from ordinary people at well under face value, because the ordinary people didn’t understand what they were for or what to do with them.
It’s not particularly ethical, but then very little was ethical in 1990s Russia. Not illegal though.
Where did he get the float to get going with that?
Reading his Wiki ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Abramovich ), it seems that he trained in oil and gas, and then was a trader for a Swiss firm. He then took advantage of perestroika and the latter schemes. I can see those earlier careers giving him access to contacts and money.
From Wiki (and this could, of course, be biased) he seems an Alan Sugar / Richard Branson / Arthur Daley style character - a wheeler-dealer who likes business and doing deals, *mostly* staying on the right side of the law.
But that's just Wiki. I daresay someone can give the other side.
I've just realised the Commonwealth Games are being held in Birmingham this summer.
That had totally passed me by.
A good chance for our professional British athletes to boost their confidence by competing against postmen, office clerks and the lifeboat crew from Grenada, Mauritius and Tuvalu.
Gosh what a nasty comment - how about turning it on its head and think of the opportunity it gives to those athletes - who may not get other opps - to play against top quality athletes from the likes of Uganda, Kenya, Canada....... and many more, as well as British athletes
‘Twas humour. And stolen from a comic I can’t remember, as well.
Of course it was - a chance to poke fun at the British - hilarious.
That’s nuts. Can’t they afford the cost of sending a full team, so they only want to send those guaranteed to win a medal? Not really keeping with the sprit of the ‘friendly games’.
I've just realised the Commonwealth Games are being held in Birmingham this summer.
That had totally passed me by.
A good chance for our professional British athletes to boost their confidence by competing against postmen, office clerks and the lifeboat crew from Grenada, Mauritius and Tuvalu.
Gosh what a nasty comment - how about turning it on its head and think of the opportunity it gives to those athletes - who may not get other opps - to play against top quality athletes from the likes of Uganda, Kenya, Canada....... and many more, as well as British athletes
‘Twas humour. And stolen from a comic I can’t remember, as well.
Of course it was - a chance to poke fun at the British - hilarious.
I suspect it was from Henning Wehn.
Let’s not get precious about the Commonwealth Games. I doubt many of us will be glued to it when it’s on.
I've just realised the Commonwealth Games are being held in Birmingham this summer.
That had totally passed me by.
A good chance for our professional British athletes to boost their confidence by competing against postmen, office clerks and the lifeboat crew from Grenada, Mauritius and Tuvalu.
Gosh what a nasty comment - how about turning it on its head and think of the opportunity it gives to those athletes - who may not get other opps - to play against top quality athletes from the likes of Uganda, Kenya, Canada....... and many more, as well as British athletes
‘Twas humour. And stolen from a comic I can’t remember, as well.
Of course it was - a chance to poke fun at the British - hilarious.
I suspect it was from Henning Wehn.
Let’s not get precious about the Commonwealth Games. I doubt many of us will be glued to it when it’s on.
Yeah let's not get precious -get nasty instead. Such a lark.
I've just realised the Commonwealth Games are being held in Birmingham this summer.
That had totally passed me by.
A good chance for our professional British athletes to boost their confidence by competing against postmen, office clerks and the lifeboat crew from Grenada, Mauritius and Tuvalu.
Gosh what a nasty comment - how about turning it on its head and think of the opportunity it gives to those athletes - who may not get other opps - to play against top quality athletes from the likes of Uganda, Kenya, Canada....... and many more, as well as British athletes
‘Twas humour. And stolen from a comic I can’t remember, as well.
Of course it was - a chance to poke fun at the British - hilarious.
I suspect it was from Henning Wehn.
Let’s not get precious about the Commonwealth Games. I doubt many of us will be glued to it when it’s on.
I volunteered to be a medical steward, but the in person interviews were at short notice, and on working days so had to drop out.
The classic track and field events are always entertaining, but like the Olympics there seems to be a lot of bloat.
I have never known so much hatred as I have received in recent days from Chelsea fans over the sanctioning of Putin’s long-term mate Roman Abramovich. Sorry, but Abramovich washed his dirty money clean through sport."
That’s nuts. Can’t they afford the cost of sending a full team, so they only want to send those guaranteed to win a medal? Not really keeping with the sprit of the ‘friendly games’.
I've just realised the Commonwealth Games are being held in Birmingham this summer.
That had totally passed me by.
A good chance for our professional British athletes to boost their confidence by competing against postmen, office clerks and the lifeboat crew from Grenada, Mauritius and Tuvalu.
Gosh what a nasty comment - how about turning it on its head and think of the opportunity it gives to those athletes - who may not get other opps - to play against top quality athletes from the likes of Uganda, Kenya, Canada....... and many more, as well as British athletes
‘Twas humour. And stolen from a comic I can’t remember, as well.
Of course it was - a chance to poke fun at the British - hilarious.
I suspect it was from Henning Wehn.
Let’s not get precious about the Commonwealth Games. I doubt many of us will be glued to it when it’s on.
Morning all! Another day of our disgrace as we continue to turn away women and children fleeing death.
They are not in danger in France are they?
Danger of death by Russians? No. But no money, no food, in a mess. Have friends and family here and we have the door firmly shut. Every other country in Europe has done the decent thing except us.
I've just realised the Commonwealth Games are being held in Birmingham this summer.
That had totally passed me by.
A good chance for our professional British athletes to boost their confidence by competing against postmen, office clerks and the lifeboat crew from Grenada, Mauritius and Tuvalu.
Gosh what a nasty comment - how about turning it on its head and think of the opportunity it gives to those athletes - who may not get other opps - to play against top quality athletes from the likes of Uganda, Kenya, Canada....... and many more, as well as British athletes
I don't know what has happened to IanB2 but he's been posting really nasty things like this a lot recently.
If you're around Ian, take a break and reset. It will do you some good.
Mate, I could do a top 50! I love megaliths, if I go anywhere and find out there is some mysterious ancient stone monument nearby, I practically orgasm
And now you've set me off. Here are my top ten megalithic monuments of the world
10. Newgrange, Ireland 9. Avebury, England 8. Carnac, France 7. Castlerigg, England 6. Uragh, Ireland 5. Callanish, Scotland 4. Ggantija, Malta 3. Brodgar, Orkney 2. Stonehenge, England 1. Gobekli Tepe, Turkey
And I have seen them all
Carnac is amazing. It is true evidence that quantity is a quality all of its own. You get there and go "is that it as you see a handful of standing stones from the car park, and then you realise there are more, and more and more and a creperie and more and more.
Morning all! Another day of our disgrace as we continue to turn away women and children fleeing death.
They are not in danger in France are they?
Danger of death by Russians? No. But no money, no food, in a mess. Have friends and family here and we have the door firmly shut. Every other country in Europe has done the decent thing except us.
Danger of death by Russians? No. But no money, no food, in a mess. Have friends and family here and we have the door firmly shut. Every other country in Europe has done the decent thing except us.
The Refugee Convention is clear that everyone has the right to seek asylum. No cherry picking; no predicating it on if you can fruit pick or if you have family ties, or how you arrived, or the colour of you skin. The latest announcements still are not aligned with the Convention. https://twitter.com/alison_phipps/status/1502163991157559299
I've just realised the Commonwealth Games are being held in Birmingham this summer.
That had totally passed me by.
A good chance for our professional British athletes to boost their confidence by competing against postmen, office clerks and the lifeboat crew from Grenada, Mauritius and Tuvalu.
Gosh what a nasty comment - how about turning it on its head and think of the opportunity it gives to those athletes - who may not get other opps - to play against top quality athletes from the likes of Uganda, Kenya, Canada....... and many more, as well as British athletes
I don't know what has happened to IanB2 but he's been posting really nasty things like this a lot recently.
If you're around Ian, take a break and reset. It will do you some good.
It seemed a joke to me and not that nasty! I doubt athletes are bursting into tears over it
#Russian priest arrested and prosecuted for sermon opposing #Russia war against #Ukraine and killings #StandWithUkraine #PutinWarCrimes #Ukraineinvasion #Burdin https://t.co/PM2SPwcifUhttps://t.co/o50PLr8Mvk
Morning all! Another day of our disgrace as we continue to turn away women and children fleeing death.
They are not in danger in France are they?
Danger of death by Russians? No. But no money, no food, in a mess. Have friends and family here and we have the door firmly shut. Every other country in Europe has done the decent thing except us.
Our response is shameful.
I guess Priti Patel and the Gov't are petrified that this is one of the red wall red flags. But they never seem to get it right.
I still don't think this war is going to play out well for Boris Johnson and the tories. There is far too much dirt associated with the party over Russian money and this will come out over the months ahead and in the run up to the General Election. It's a timebomb for the tories, though I hesitate to use such language right now.
As for Chelsea fans chanting Abramovich's name, football but particularly Premier League football, stinks. The dirty money sloshing around at the very top is another example of the stench of western corruption that laid us open to Putin's verbal diatribes (and China's). When you have Amanda Staveley questioning why Abramovich should be sanctioned, you see the merest tip of the filth pile in PL football.
It's not just Putin's' friends' money in London, it's Saudi and Qatari. And I'm not solely blaming the tories. This took hold under that other war criminal's watch, Tony Blair.
Morning all! Another day of our disgrace as we continue to turn away women and children fleeing death.
They are not in danger in France are they?
Danger of death by Russians? No. But no money, no food, in a mess. Have friends and family here and we have the door firmly shut. Every other country in Europe has done the decent thing except us.
Our response is shameful.
I guess Priti Patel and the Gov't are petrified that this is one of the red wall red flags. But they never seem to get it right.
I still don't think this war is going to play out well for Boris Johnson and the tories. There is far too much dirt associated with the party over Russian money and this will come out over the months ahead and in the run up to the General Election. It's a timebomb for the tories, though I hesitate to use such language right now.
As for Chelsea fans chanting Abramovich's name, football but particularly Premier League football, stinks. The dirty money sloshing around at the very top is another example of the stench of western corruption that laid us open to Putin's verbal diatribes (and China's). When you have Amanda Staveley questioning why Abramovich should be sanctioned, you see the merest tip of the filth pile in PL football.
It's not just Putin's' friends' money in London, it's Saudi and Qatari. And I'm not solely blaming the tories. This took hold under that other war criminal's watch, Tony Blair.
Amanda Staveley has made her career trading off her relationships with some very interesting people
Morning all! Another day of our disgrace as we continue to turn away women and children fleeing death.
Patel has been shocking but your daily diatribe does not contribute to the debate but is consistent with your anti government agenda
Your emotive words would be valid if they were in danger but they are not as they are in a safe environment and the process is now in Gove and Harrington hands and it will step up and the numbers will rapidly rise
I do not excuse Patel who should be on the backbenchs but suggesting they are in danger is an exaggeration
As a matter of interest do you have a maximum number we should take and are you willing to volunteer for Gove's sponsorship visa and accommodate a couple of refugees yourself
I see that Nicola Sturgeon has called for the possibility of a No Fly Zone. It's personally encouraging to see that those on the Left like me are still prepared to be courageous on behalf of Ukrainians, even if it means the ultimate sacrifice.
I've been gobsmacked by the lack of courage of those on the right, especially those who are anti-state. But perhaps I shouldn't be. Not helping Ukraine militarily is the ultimate example of selfishness and self-centredness.
In managing both immigration and crime, the Home Office tends to view immigrants as criminals. It should be cut in two. Neither arm should be run by the incompetent Priti Patel https://econ.st/3hVVl0E
Morning all! Another day of our disgrace as we continue to turn away women and children fleeing death.
They are not in danger in France are they?
Danger of death by Russians? No. But no money, no food, in a mess. Have friends and family here and we have the door firmly shut. Every other country in Europe has done the decent thing except us.
Sure, but that is how we always treat refugees.
I know. Which in itself is appalling. This one though is where we have made such a mess of ourselves. Even right-wing media outlets and pundits are talking about our shame.
It isn't just saying. No. Or the repeated lies where Patel said there was a centre in Calais. Then there would be. Then she wants one. Then a freephone number that isn't free or working outside the UK. Or that there are NO routes to get here legal or illegal. Its them flapping on about the terrorist threat that Ireland has presented by letting them in. Trying to link this back to the Irish border and Brexit.
I am heartened that even right wingers have (finally) woken up to how wrong this is. Unlike some other groups fleeing war there are no suspicious looking young men. Only women and children. And we keep turning them away. Whatever happened to the country that went to war to protect women and children?
I see that Nicola Sturgeon has called for the possibility of a No Fly Zone. It's personally encouraging to see that those on the Left like me are still prepared to be courageous on behalf of Ukrainians, even if it means the ultimate sacrifice.
I've been gobsmacked by the cowardice of those on the right, especially those who are anti-state. But perhaps I shouldn't be. Not helping Ukraine militarily is the ultimate example of selfishness and self-centredness.
Oh sod off with your dangerous smugness. Its not cowardice its saving everyone in the UK and far beyond.
I have never known so much hatred as I have received in recent days from Chelsea fans over the sanctioning of Putin’s long-term mate Roman Abramovich. Sorry, but Abramovich washed his dirty money clean through sport."
I see that Nicola Sturgeon has called for the possibility of a No Fly Zone. It's personally encouraging to see that those on the Left like me are still prepared to be courageous on behalf of Ukrainians, even if it means the ultimate sacrifice.
I've been gobsmacked by the lack of courage of those on the right, especially those who are anti-state. But perhaps I shouldn't be. Not helping Ukraine militarily is the ultimate example of selfishness and self-centredness.
You keep posting strong statements like "Not helping Ukraine militarily". Despite being shown repeatedly that this is factually wrong. With evidence presented demonstrating that it is wrong.
That video posted above of the Ukrainian troops fighting and the weapons they were carrying? An awful lot of western weaponry on their backs. With more being funnelled in every day.
I see that Nicola Sturgeon has called for the possibility of a No Fly Zone. It's personally encouraging to see that those on the Left like me are still prepared to be courageous on behalf of Ukrainians, even if it means the ultimate sacrifice.
I've been gobsmacked by the lack of courage of those on the right, especially those who are anti-state. But perhaps I shouldn't be. Not helping Ukraine militarily is the ultimate example of selfishness and self-centredness.
You said yesterday you were leaving the forum anyway due to it being argumentative. By posts like that its you that creates badwill
There are some clear signs that the wheels are starting to come off for Putin. When you get pundits on Russian state TV’s main show calling for the Kremlin to end the investigation and some of the oligarchs starting to break ranks (look at Vladimir Potanin’s comments on the proposal to seize foreign owned assets), there is something clearly happening.
I hope you're right but I can't help but notice that when we do what we have done to the likes of Abramovitch, or even the Russian central bank and seize their assets this is us imposing sanctions for bad behaviour and in accordance with the law. When Russia does it with foreign companies in Russia it is apparently piracy which will result in their exclusion from the international trading system for decades as some sort of punishment for their lawlessness .
Don't get me wrong, Putin and his henchmen deserve all they get and Russia's conduct in the Ukraine is appalling and includes many war crimes for which the actors should be punished. But the hypocrisy and the sanctimony? It doesn't feel right.
Nice gain for the Greens in Occupied East Leicestershire:
Last night's by-election results: Herts CC, Hitchin S: LD hold N Herts, Hitchin Highbury: LD hold Herefs, Bromyard W: result awaited Rutland, Ryhall/Casterton: Grn gain from C
In managing both immigration and crime, the Home Office tends to view immigrants as criminals. It should be cut in two. Neither arm should be run by the incompetent Priti Patel https://econ.st/3hVVl0E
Morning all! Another day of our disgrace as we continue to turn away women and children fleeing death.
Who have we actually turned away ? Who have we actually put at risk of death.
I agree it is a shambles for sure and something that is, quite frankly, an embarrassment. A bureaucratic mess and we need to solve it. However how are we putting people at risk of death if they are in mainland Europe ?
I see that Nicola Sturgeon has called for the possibility of a No Fly Zone. It's personally encouraging to see that those on the Left like me are still prepared to be courageous on behalf of Ukrainians, even if it means the ultimate sacrifice.
I've been gobsmacked by the lack of courage of those on the right, especially those who are anti-state. But perhaps I shouldn't be. Not helping Ukraine militarily is the ultimate example of selfishness and self-centredness.
Over the past few weeks you've repeatedly demonstrated a ferocious, determined, Herculean ignorance over Ukraine and Russia yet, tragically, you still think you can use it to grind your ideological axe.
Anybody's who's been paying any attention to your pronouncements over the past few weeks will know to discard totally anything you've got to say on the issue.
In managing both immigration and crime, the Home Office tends to view immigrants as criminals. It should be cut in two. Neither arm should be run by the incompetent Priti Patel https://econ.st/3hVVl0E
The basic government assumption about all those who want to get into the country as economic immigrants, family members or refugees is that because they are foreign they are security risks looking to rip-off the taxpayer. The systems that have been put in place reflect that. The only exception to this rock-solid rule applies to the super-wealthy. They just get waved in.
Danger of death by Russians? No. But no money, no food, in a mess. Have friends and family here and we have the door firmly shut. Every other country in Europe has done the decent thing except us.
The Refugee Convention is clear that everyone has the right to seek asylum. No cherry picking; no predicating it on if you can fruit pick or if you have family ties, or how you arrived, or the colour of you skin. The latest announcements still are not aligned with the Convention. https://twitter.com/alison_phipps/status/1502163991157559299
We are not saying those who come here to claim asylum cannot claim it. What we are doing is offering a faster system for those with connections. Now, you can argue that our "fast" system has not proven particularly fast and that we make the progress of those not within that system positively glacial, but accelerated systems do not breach the Convention.
Your daily reminder that all the UK has to do to get Ukrainian refugees in, and Priti Patel and her incompetent flightless monkeys at the Home Office out of their way, is introduce visa free entry...
... like literally everyone else in Europe.
Watching the Home Office trying to fight decades of ingrained institutionalised reflex to try and design a visa system not premised on pain, cruelty and dissuading applicants is unbearable.
Like when the Terminator tries to learn to smile in T2, but somehow with less humanity.
I see that Nicola Sturgeon has called for the possibility of a No Fly Zone. It's personally encouraging to see that those on the Left like me are still prepared to be courageous on behalf of Ukrainians, even if it means the ultimate sacrifice.
I've been gobsmacked by the lack of courage of those on the right, especially those who are anti-state. But perhaps I shouldn't be. Not helping Ukraine militarily is the ultimate example of selfishness and self-centredness.
Sturgeon calling for a No fly zone whilst also wanting to get rid of nuclear weapons is evidence that the SNP will just jump opportunistically on to any popular policy, without being accountable in any way for the consequences. It gives me a lot of doubts about Scottish Independence, no doubt there will be people in Scotland having the same thoughts.
I've just realised the Commonwealth Games are being held in Birmingham this summer.
That had totally passed me by.
A good chance for our professional British athletes to boost their confidence by competing against postmen, office clerks and the lifeboat crew from Grenada, Mauritius and Tuvalu.
Gosh what a nasty comment - how about turning it on its head and think of the opportunity it gives to those athletes - who may not get other opps - to play against top quality athletes from the likes of Uganda, Kenya, Canada....... and many more, as well as British athletes
I don't know what has happened to IanB2 but he's been posting really nasty things like this a lot recently.
If you're around Ian, take a break and reset. It will do you some good.
How bizarre. When you look back at some of the offensive stuff posted on here, having a knock at the Commonwealth Games is truly small beer.
Mate, I could do a top 50! I love megaliths, if I go anywhere and find out there is some mysterious ancient stone monument nearby, I practically orgasm
And now you've set me off. Here are my top ten megalithic monuments of the world
10. Newgrange, Ireland 9. Avebury, England 8. Carnac, France 7. Castlerigg, England 6. Uragh, Ireland 5. Callanish, Scotland 4. Ggantija, Malta 3. Brodgar, Orkney 2. Stonehenge, England 1. Gobekli Tepe, Turkey
And I have seen them all
Carnac is amazing. It is true evidence that quantity is a quality all of its own. You get there and go "is that it as you see a handful of standing stones from the car park, and then you realise there are more, and more and more and a creperie and more and more.
It's gobsmacking.
I'd like to go there, and Callanish.
But for me, the best is Nine Ladies Stone Circle in the Peak District. A sublime setting, even if the stones are tiny.
I have come to the conclusion that the best policy in Ukraine is to make things as difficult as possible for the Russians on every possible level. Militarily, economically, politically. The aim should be the ruin of this dictatorship.
There are some clear signs that the wheels are starting to come off for Putin. When you get pundits on Russian state TV’s main show calling for the Kremlin to end the investigation and some of the oligarchs starting to break ranks (look at Vladimir Potanin’s comments on the proposal to seize foreign owned assets), there is something clearly happening.
I hope you're right but I can't help but notice that when we do what we have done to the likes of Abramovitch, or even the Russian central bank and seize their assets this is us imposing sanctions for bad behaviour and in accordance with the law. When Russia does it with foreign companies in Russia it is apparently piracy which will result in their exclusion from the international trading system for decades as some sort of punishment for their lawlessness .
Don't get me wrong, Putin and his henchmen deserve all they get and Russia's conduct in the Ukraine is appalling and includes many war crimes for which the actors should be punished. But the hypocrisy and the sanctimony? It doesn't feel right.
I agree with you, we on this side of the fence need to be careful (and the same goes with Ukraine with its passing of a Bill to seize all Russian property in the country).
Nice gain for the Greens in Occupied East Leicestershire:
Last night's by-election results: Herts CC, Hitchin S: LD hold N Herts, Hitchin Highbury: LD hold Herefs, Bromyard W: result awaited Rutland, Ryhall/Casterton: Grn gain from C
My in laws used to live in Ryhall.
This appeared on my feed. The Cons bloke spent 35 years flying RAF helicopters but you wouldn't necessarily have backed him to make it to next week. Re the Grn candidate if they were vaguely young and healthy might have given s better chance of continuity.
Edit: or it could have been @Dura_Ace making it a fixed vs rotor wing competition.
I have never known so much hatred as I have received in recent days from Chelsea fans over the sanctioning of Putin’s long-term mate Roman Abramovich. Sorry, but Abramovich washed his dirty money clean through sport."
Nice gain for the Greens in Occupied East Leicestershire:
Last night's by-election results: Herts CC, Hitchin S: LD hold N Herts, Hitchin Highbury: LD hold Herefs, Bromyard W: result awaited Rutland, Ryhall/Casterton: Grn gain from C
Morning all! Another day of our disgrace as we continue to turn away women and children fleeing death.
Who have we actually turned away ? Who have we actually put at risk of death.
I agree it is a shambles for sure and something that is, quite frankly, an embarrassment. A bureaucratic mess and we need to solve it. However how are we putting people at risk of death if they are in mainland Europe ?
Who have we turned away? Swathes of examples. Many posted on here by Scott.
Are they are risk of death by Russians in France? No. Does that mean we are right to have an absolute blockade on Urkainian refugees? No. Everyone else in Europe has opened their doors. We put in a bullshit visa scheme and they deny people the ability access it (again, swathes of examples posted online where you can't get appointments or even where the place to get appointments is a figment of Patel's deranged smirk).
We used to be a decent country. What happened to us?
There are some clear signs that the wheels are starting to come off for Putin. When you get pundits on Russian state TV’s main show calling for the Kremlin to end the investigation and some of the oligarchs starting to break ranks (look at Vladimir Potanin’s comments on the proposal to seize foreign owned assets), there is something clearly happening.
I hope you're right but I can't help but notice that when we do what we have done to the likes of Abramovitch, or even the Russian central bank and seize their assets this is us imposing sanctions for bad behaviour and in accordance with the law. When Russia does it with foreign companies in Russia it is apparently piracy which will result in their exclusion from the international trading system for decades as some sort of punishment for their lawlessness .
Don't get me wrong, Putin and his henchmen deserve all they get and Russia's conduct in the Ukraine is appalling and includes many war crimes for which the actors should be punished. But the hypocrisy and the sanctimony? It doesn't feel right.
To say nothing of the military action with precious little justification which we engage in on the one hand and condemn ferociously on the other.
Nice gain for the Greens in Occupied East Leicestershire:
Last night's by-election results: Herts CC, Hitchin S: LD hold N Herts, Hitchin Highbury: LD hold Herefs, Bromyard W: result awaited Rutland, Ryhall/Casterton: Grn gain from C
My in laws used to live in Ryhall.
This appeared on my feed. The Cons bloke spent 35 years flying RAF helicopters but you wouldn't necessarily have backed him to make it to next week. Re the Grn candidate if they were vaguely young and healthy might have given s better chance of continuity.
Edit: or it could have been @Dura_Ace making it a fixed vs rotor wing competition.
Rutland was Green 281, Con 268 The two Hitchins were LD 1,238, Con 450 and LD 2,401, Con 690.
Mate, I could do a top 50! I love megaliths, if I go anywhere and find out there is some mysterious ancient stone monument nearby, I practically orgasm
And now you've set me off. Here are my top ten megalithic monuments of the world
10. Newgrange, Ireland 9. Avebury, England 8. Carnac, France 7. Castlerigg, England 6. Uragh, Ireland 5. Callanish, Scotland 4. Ggantija, Malta 3. Brodgar, Orkney 2. Stonehenge, England 1. Gobekli Tepe, Turkey
And I have seen them all
This might be mis-remembered nonsense: On Orkney there are two standing stones with holes in them, miles apart.
If you line them both up it directs you down the entrance tunnel to Maes Howe. Which is also aligned with the setting sun on the solstice, bathing the chamber in light.
It doesn't work any more as the axis of the earth had shifted since then.
I can well believe it. The Orcadian megaliths are amazing
One of the many many surprises of the wonderful Stonehenge exhibition at the British Museum (which I may have menshed) was discovering just how interlinked these worlds were. Skara Brae, Stonehenge, northwest France, Germany, Denmark, even Greece - they exchanged ideas, objects, memes, motifs - as they travelled easily around Europe. They wore gold hats and wolf-teeth dresses and they had fabulous mythology. And they inhabited a wholly unspoiled world, perhaps devoid of guilt
I wonder if they were happier than us. Possibly they were
Some people reckon a chap called Yahweh came from Judea to England to ask the Druid’s a question. “Hello Druid, son of Druid” [it may not have gone exactly like this, but similar] “can you tell me sir, before Piscean age there was no North Star, so how did your ancient builders accurately know where North was?”
Have you come across the answer to that Leon?
Not difficult. You wait for sunrise, on any non cloudy day of the year. You put a peg between you, and sunrise. You do the same at sunset. You halve the angle between the 2, and that is north. Or south. North stars are secondary in that you only know they *are* the north star by doing this exercise
Bloody hell. In England you could be sitting there for days.
Today in south Devon, anything flimsier than a tree trunk would have either blown or washed away. It's foul out there.
They have an automated system to send out reminder emails for appointments. So far, so mundane. Seems obvious that when they closed the centre that would have marked all the appointments as cancelled, but it's possible that would have had negative consequences for the status of people's visa applications, depending on how the system was designed.
It's not so much an error, as that when you design an automated computer system to run things, and you come across a scenario that you didn't anticipate - like a Russian invasion of Ukraine - the computer system has no awareness of this, and so will blithely do exactly what is was set-up to do.
Clearly, also, all their development resource is going to be focused on setting up the systems to support the new visa procedures.
The error is with the decisions made by those who have the most discretion to decide what to do - and that would be PM Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel.
When I read the headline I thought that perhaps someone's application for a visa had been rejected for lack of evidence of residency, and perhaps an actual person had told them to return to retrieve that evidence. An automated email is a lot less shocking.
Off-topic but related. Have decided to preempt the work contract negotiations dragging on by ordering a Tesla Model Y, which should be my company car. Test drives in a 3 then a Y convinced me its the right car to get, a world apart from out long departed Nissan Leaf.
Why related? Because the surge in oil prices has seen a surge in demand for EVs. Tesla put a £2k price increase onto the 3 yesterday with delivery times now out to next winter. No price rise yet on the Y (with the price gap to a 3 now only £3k) and delivery in the summer.
So screw it. Only staked £100 on a non-refundable deposit, and the used value of my PHEV Outlander remains robust as people try to find ways to cut their fuel bills.
In managing both immigration and crime, the Home Office tends to view immigrants as criminals. It should be cut in two. Neither arm should be run by the incompetent Priti Patel https://econ.st/3hVVl0E
How many departments can we create out of the Home Office?
I have come to the conclusion that the best policy in Ukraine is to make things as difficult as possible for the Russians on every possible level. Militarily, economically, politically. The aim should be the ruin of this dictatorship.
While condemnation of Russia around Europe, North America (outside the alt right) and other developed counties is high, that is not universal. China and India are leaning pro-Russia, and much of Africa too. This poll in the Economist of Africa is sobering.
Nice gain for the Greens in Occupied East Leicestershire:
Last night's by-election results: Herts CC, Hitchin S: LD hold N Herts, Hitchin Highbury: LD hold Herefs, Bromyard W: result awaited Rutland, Ryhall/Casterton: Grn gain from C
My in laws used to live in Ryhall.
This appeared on my feed. The Cons bloke spent 35 years flying RAF helicopters but you wouldn't necessarily have backed him to make it to next week. Re the Grn candidate if they were vaguely young and healthy might have given s better chance of continuity.
Edit: or it could have been @Dura_Ace making it a fixed vs rotor wing competition.
I flew both. 550 hours in the Lynx - the Porsche 911 of helicopters. Easy to drive fast. Very dangerous to drive very fast.
35 years is 11 or 12 consecutive flying tours which is some fucking going and shows he is a complete master at political lobbying and trading influence. He's probably wasted in local politics.
Mate, I could do a top 50! I love megaliths, if I go anywhere and find out there is some mysterious ancient stone monument nearby, I practically orgasm
And now you've set me off. Here are my top ten megalithic monuments of the world
10. Newgrange, Ireland 9. Avebury, England 8. Carnac, France 7. Castlerigg, England 6. Uragh, Ireland 5. Callanish, Scotland 4. Ggantija, Malta 3. Brodgar, Orkney 2. Stonehenge, England 1. Gobekli Tepe, Turkey
And I have seen them all
This might be mis-remembered nonsense: On Orkney there are two standing stones with holes in them, miles apart.
If you line them both up it directs you down the entrance tunnel to Maes Howe. Which is also aligned with the setting sun on the solstice, bathing the chamber in light.
It doesn't work any more as the axis of the earth had shifted since then.
I can well believe it. The Orcadian megaliths are amazing
One of the many many surprises of the wonderful Stonehenge exhibition at the British Museum (which I may have menshed) was discovering just how interlinked these worlds were. Skara Brae, Stonehenge, northwest France, Germany, Denmark, even Greece - they exchanged ideas, objects, memes, motifs - as they travelled easily around Europe. They wore gold hats and wolf-teeth dresses and they had fabulous mythology. And they inhabited a wholly unspoiled world, perhaps devoid of guilt
I wonder if they were happier than us. Possibly they were
Some people reckon a chap called Yahweh came from Judea to England to ask the Druid’s a question. “Hello Druid, son of Druid” [it may not have gone exactly like this, but similar] “can you tell me sir, before Piscean age there was no North Star, so how did your ancient builders accurately know where North was?”
Have you come across the answer to that Leon?
Not difficult. You wait for sunrise, on any non cloudy day of the year. You put a peg between you, and sunrise. You do the same at sunset. You halve the angle between the 2, and that is north. Or south. North stars are secondary in that you only know they *are* the north star by doing this exercise
Bloody hell. In England you could be sitting there for days.
Today in south Devon, anything flimsier than a tree trunk would have either blown or washed away. It's foul out there.
Same here. Visibility out to see is probably half a mile, and even our modest local hill is almost in the cloud. Windy and wet. The dog is looking glum at probably not getting to chase the ball about the park this morning. We'll have to watch Crufts Live again.
Nice gain for the Greens in Occupied East Leicestershire:
Last night's by-election results: Herts CC, Hitchin S: LD hold N Herts, Hitchin Highbury: LD hold Herefs, Bromyard W: result awaited Rutland, Ryhall/Casterton: Grn gain from C
My in laws used to live in Ryhall.
But, Rutland is not Occupied Leicestershire. It was (mainly) a detached portion of Nottinghamshire.
"The north-western part of the county of Rutland was recorded as Rutland, a detached part of Nottinghamshire, in the Domesday Book; the south-eastern part as the wapentake of Wicelsea in Northamptonshire. " [ From wiki]
Rutland is Occupied Nottinghamshire (or in the south Occupied Northants).
Leicestershire's claim to Rutland is very recent -- it only dates from 1 April 1974.
Your daily reminder that all the UK has to do to get Ukrainian refugees in, and Priti Patel and her incompetent flightless monkeys at the Home Office out of their way, is introduce visa free entry...
... like literally everyone else in Europe.
Watching the Home Office trying to fight decades of ingrained institutionalised reflex to try and design a visa system not premised on pain, cruelty and dissuading applicants is unbearable.
Like when the Terminator tries to learn to smile in T2, but somehow with less humanity.
I think "flightless monkeys" is a little unfair. Civil servants serve their ministers, and I'm sure (given the demographics in London) they will be acting very much against their own instincts on this.
I think someone pointed out that the HO had far too many, and conflicting, objectives. Instead of rivalry with other departments, you have senior civil servants fighting each other within the same building. Counter-terror v Refugees, etc.
What is inexcusable is not getting a plan in place when the intelligence cane through on the invasion. Did they get the info? Did someone think to get a plan ready for the Minister? Did someone phone the RAF/Army/FCO/BA and see about getting boots on the ground in Poland? Did we anticipate the "no men out" policy?
‘EU leaders also pledged to increase defence expenditures — but they will not give a specific amount during the summit, or make an overall pledge to reach the..2 percent of GDP long sought by the United States and Nato’ and which many of them signed up to
Comments
Ukraine's State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate said the facility in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv had lost power and suffered "superficial" damage during the shelling late on Thursday.
#Putin appears to have abandoned initial plan of installing puppet leaders in #Ukraine
New plan appears to be:
- encircle & pound on #Kyiv #Chernihiv #Kharkiv #Mylolayiv & #Zaporizhzhya
-seize #Mariupol & #Odessa
-wear down Ukraine’s military
-then dictate terms for ending war
https://twitter.com/marcorubio/status/1502084617775501334
NEWS: @POTUS tomorrow will call for an end of normal trade relations with Russia, clearing the way for increased tariffs on Russian imports. Announcement will be alongside G7 & EU leaders. He'll work with Congress on legislation to repeal PNTR. Both parties have pushed for this.
https://twitter.com/jendeben/status/1502115365018648614
"Russian state television defies President Putin's propaganda edict and broadcasts criticism of the war in Ukraine - with guests describing the shambolic invasion as 'like Afghanistan, but even worse'"
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10600711/Ukraine-war-Guests-Russian-state-TV-invasion-like-Afghanistan-worse.html
Hopefully we start to see bigger holes in Putin’s propoganda machine. The journalists in Moscow know what’s going on, they know that thousands of civilians in Ukraine, and thousands of Russian soldiers, many of them teenage conscripts, are coming come in body bags.
That had totally passed me by.
@RhonddaBryant
I have never known so much hatred as I have received in recent days from Chelsea fans over the sanctioning of Putin’s long-term mate Roman Abramovich. Sorry, but Abramovich washed his dirty money clean through sport."
https://twitter.com/RhonddaBryant/status/1502056982353698819
The meeting of minds between Putin’s propagandists and the US conspiratorial right is blatant, and disturbing.
https://twitter.com/marcowenjones/status/1502052062519083008
1/ This is an analysis of all accounts using the terms '#Ukraine' and 'bio labs'. I wanted to see which accounts were pushing this narrative the most, & which were the most influential. This is an analysis of around 20k Twitter interactions from approx 17k unique accounts
The Chinese Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs also in there.
A bill in Missouri makes illegal to get an abortion if the patient has an ectopic pregnancy.
Facts about ectopic pregnancies:
- They’re are not viable. Full stop.
- They’re the 1 cause of death for 1st trimester patients.
A simple version is that when the Soviet Union collapsed, everyone in Russia was given vouchers to buy shares in the major state companies that were being floated. Abramovich had a large team of people in Russia go around and buy up the vouchers from ordinary people at well under face value, because the ordinary people didn’t understand what they were for or what to do with them.
It’s not particularly ethical, but then very little was ethical in 1990s Russia. Not illegal though.
He bought half of Sibneft from the government for $100m when his stake was worth about $1.3bn.
He has admitted paying billions in bribes to other oligarchs.
He personally interviewed all of Putins first cabinet.
https://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/chelsea-owner-admits-he-paid-out-billions-in-bribes-26459423.html
His family wasn’t particularly weathly, but he studied markets and was working as a commodities trader when he saw the opportunity in buying up the share vouchers.
😩🥲😳 https://twitter.com/MalindiElmore/status/1501704957031976960 https://twitter.com/Airozuru/status/1501957937945849856/photo/1
From Wiki (and this could, of course, be biased) he seems an Alan Sugar / Richard Branson / Arthur Daley style character - a wheeler-dealer who likes business and doing deals, *mostly* staying on the right side of the law.
But that's just Wiki. I daresay someone can give the other side.
Let’s not get precious about the Commonwealth Games. I doubt many of us will be glued to it when it’s on.
The classic track and field events are always entertaining, but like the Olympics there seems to be a lot of bloat.
Millhouse Capital, Abramovich’s main vehicle
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=henning+wehn+commonwealth+games&view=detail&mid=DB57B14728AB3955B344DB57B14728AB3955B344&FORM=VIRE
If you're around Ian, take a break and reset. It will do you some good.
It's gobsmacking.
https://twitter.com/alison_phipps/status/1502163991157559299
#StandWithUkraine #PutinWarCrimes #Ukraineinvasion #Burdin
https://t.co/PM2SPwcifU https://t.co/o50PLr8Mvk
I guess Priti Patel and the Gov't are petrified that this is one of the red wall red flags. But they never seem to get it right.
I still don't think this war is going to play out well for Boris Johnson and the tories. There is far too much dirt associated with the party over Russian money and this will come out over the months ahead and in the run up to the General Election. It's a timebomb for the tories, though I hesitate to use such language right now.
As for Chelsea fans chanting Abramovich's name, football but particularly Premier League football, stinks. The dirty money sloshing around at the very top is another example of the stench of western corruption that laid us open to Putin's verbal diatribes (and China's). When you have Amanda Staveley questioning why Abramovich should be sanctioned, you see the merest tip of the filth pile in PL football.
It's not just Putin's' friends' money in London, it's Saudi and Qatari. And I'm not solely blaming the tories. This took hold under that other war criminal's watch, Tony Blair.
Your emotive words would be valid if they were in danger but they are not as they are in a safe environment and the process is now in Gove and Harrington hands and it will step up and the numbers will rapidly rise
I do not excuse Patel who should be on the backbenchs but suggesting they are in danger is an exaggeration
As a matter of interest do you have a maximum number we should take and are you willing to volunteer for Gove's sponsorship visa and accommodate a couple of refugees yourself
But as screw-ups go, telling Ukrainian refugees to return to a Kyiv - a city under siege - to sort their visas so they can travel to the UK, is big.
Even by Home Office standards. https://twitter.com/rachaelvenables/status/1502184765323194368
I see that Nicola Sturgeon has called for the possibility of a No Fly Zone. It's personally encouraging to see that those on the Left like me are still prepared to be courageous on behalf of Ukrainians, even if it means the ultimate sacrifice.
I've been gobsmacked by the lack of courage of those on the right, especially those who are anti-state. But perhaps I shouldn't be. Not helping Ukraine militarily is the ultimate example of selfishness and self-centredness.
https://econ.st/3hVVl0E
It isn't just saying. No. Or the repeated lies where Patel said there was a centre in Calais. Then there would be. Then she wants one. Then a freephone number that isn't free or working outside the UK. Or that there are NO routes to get here legal or illegal. Its them flapping on about the terrorist threat that Ireland has presented by letting them in. Trying to link this back to the Irish border and Brexit.
I am heartened that even right wingers have (finally) woken up to how wrong this is. Unlike some other groups fleeing war there are no suspicious looking young men. Only women and children. And we keep turning them away. Whatever happened to the country that went to war to protect women and children?
But very few great fortunes can have been made in Putin's Russia without involvement in corruption.
That video posted above of the Ukrainian troops fighting and the weapons they were carrying? An awful lot of western weaponry on their backs. With more being funnelled in every day.
Don't get me wrong, Putin and his henchmen deserve all they get and Russia's conduct in the Ukraine is appalling and includes many war crimes for which the actors should be punished. But the hypocrisy and the sanctimony? It doesn't feel right.
Last night's by-election results:
Herts CC, Hitchin S: LD hold
N Herts, Hitchin Highbury: LD hold
Herefs, Bromyard W: result awaited
Rutland, Ryhall/Casterton: Grn gain from C
My in laws used to live in Ryhall.
I agree it is a shambles for sure and something that is, quite frankly, an embarrassment. A bureaucratic mess and we need to solve it. However how are we putting people at risk of death if they are in mainland Europe ?
Anybody's who's been paying any attention to your pronouncements over the past few weeks will know to discard totally anything you've got to say on the issue.
... like literally everyone else in Europe.
Watching the Home Office trying to fight decades of ingrained institutionalised reflex to try and design a visa system not premised on pain, cruelty and dissuading applicants is unbearable.
Like when the Terminator tries to learn to smile in T2, but somehow with less humanity.
https://twitter.com/DmitryOpines/status/1502188684946423812
But for me, the best is Nine Ladies Stone Circle in the Peak District. A sublime setting, even if the stones are tiny.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Ladies
Labour / Lib Dem / Greens are 55-60% of the vote
Tories / Right wing protest party are 40-45% of the vote.
Sort out a form of PR and it's very difficult for a Tory party with a right wing agenda to take power...
Edit: or it could have been @Dura_Ace making it a fixed vs rotor wing competition.
As there is little innovation in Russia then all the fortunes are coming from the latter.
Are they are risk of death by Russians in France? No. Does that mean we are right to have an absolute blockade on Urkainian refugees? No. Everyone else in Europe has opened their doors. We put in a bullshit visa scheme and they deny people the ability access it (again, swathes of examples posted online where you can't get appointments or even where the place to get appointments is a figment of Patel's deranged smirk).
We used to be a decent country. What happened to us?
https://twitter.com/JominiW/status/1502175936166326272
The two Hitchins were LD 1,238, Con 450 and LD 2,401, Con 690.
It's not so much an error, as that when you design an automated computer system to run things, and you come across a scenario that you didn't anticipate - like a Russian invasion of Ukraine - the computer system has no awareness of this, and so will blithely do exactly what is was set-up to do.
Clearly, also, all their development resource is going to be focused on setting up the systems to support the new visa procedures.
The error is with the decisions made by those who have the most discretion to decide what to do - and that would be PM Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel.
When I read the headline I thought that perhaps someone's application for a visa had been rejected for lack of evidence of residency, and perhaps an actual person had told them to return to retrieve that evidence. An automated email is a lot less shocking.
Why related? Because the surge in oil prices has seen a surge in demand for EVs. Tesla put a £2k price increase onto the 3 yesterday with delivery times now out to next winter. No price rise yet on the Y (with the price gap to a 3 now only £3k) and delivery in the summer.
So screw it. Only staked £100 on a non-refundable deposit, and the used value of my PHEV Outlander remains robust as people try to find ways to cut their fuel bills.
35 years is 11 or 12 consecutive flying tours which is some fucking going and shows he is a complete master at political lobbying and trading influence. He's probably wasted in local politics.
Anyone on here still defending Patel and what she is doing?
"The north-western part of the county of Rutland was recorded as Rutland, a detached part of Nottinghamshire, in the Domesday Book; the south-eastern part as the wapentake of Wicelsea in Northamptonshire. " [ From wiki]
Rutland is Occupied Nottinghamshire (or in the south Occupied Northants).
Leicestershire's claim to Rutland is very recent -- it only dates from 1 April 1974.
I think someone pointed out that the HO had far too many, and conflicting, objectives. Instead of rivalry with other departments, you have senior civil servants fighting each other within the same building. Counter-terror v Refugees, etc.
What is inexcusable is not getting a plan in place when the intelligence cane through on the invasion. Did they get the info? Did someone think to get a plan ready for the Minister? Did someone phone the RAF/Army/FCO/BA and see about getting boots on the ground in Poland? Did we anticipate the "no men out" policy?
‘EU leaders also pledged to increase defence expenditures — but they will not give a specific amount during the summit, or make an overall pledge to reach the..2 percent of GDP long sought by the United States and Nato’ and which many of them signed up to
https://twitter.com/anandMenon1/status/1502196184995270659