The latest pretend we care scam from no 10 is this ludicrous new scheme . Instead of a simple system to match people they force the public to have to name those they want to sponsor . Thereby making sure less Ukrainians come to the UK .
Tell that to the tens of thousands who will no doubt benefit from it.
Noticing more Johnson on here and less Boris. The war effect? Whatever, good to see.
You can’t win. Call him Boris - people complain. Call him Johnson - people complain. Perhaps there should be some pb approved list for what name we can use to refer to politicians?
Or, people call them whatever they like without anyone complaining. If someone wants to go with Bojo or Bozo that's fine too.
Interesting thread suggesting the Novavax vaccine has significant advantages against the others.
A recent study by Novavax suggests it may be able to provide broader protection across variants than other vaccines so far. That has interesting implications for vaccine design, if true. This seems to have escaped analysis entirely, so we'll take a look. https://twitter.com/michaelzlin/status/1488957682874679298
Noticing more Johnson on here and less Boris. The war effect? Whatever, good to see.
You can’t win. Call him Boris - people complain. Call him Johnson - people complain. Perhaps there should be some pb approved list for what name we can use to refer to politicians?
Or, people call them whatever they like without anyone complaining. If someone wants to go with Bojo or Bozo that's fine too.
FLSOJ still ok?
Naturally, if people want. But I had to look it up, so a reminder might be needed if using it.
The latest pretend we care scam from no 10 is this ludicrous new scheme . Instead of a simple system to match people they force the public to have to name those they want to sponsor . Thereby making sure less Ukrainians come to the UK .
You really are misreading the scheme which has received a good reception generally
You register for the scheme and refugee organisations in the field will provide the detail of the refugees allocated to you, and it is absolutely unlimited
Indeed by 9.00pm tonight 45,000 sponsors have applied and from friday the scheme is to be extended to commercial organisations who will sponsor tens of thousands of refugees into the UK
The reason this scheme will be a success is because Gove is implementing it, not the incompetent Patel
On this it is time to put away the sniping and accept it is better late than never, and this really gives hope to many thousands indeed hundreds of thousands, of refugees coming here to the UK
Yes, wouldn't it be easy to just say size of a bear or an elephant (I'm not sure of the exact scales here) than 'half' of an animal?
I think the story writer must have just been to the zoo.
Giraffes are about 18 ft tall according to google. So you could say, a meteor as high as an old living room ceiling. But that doesn’t sound that impressive!
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
Yes, wouldn't it be easy to just say size of a bear or an elephant (I'm not sure of the exact scales here) than 'half' of an animal?
I think the story writer must have just been to the zoo.
Giraffes are about 18 ft tall according to google. So you could say, a meteor as high as a old living room ceiling. But that doesn’t sound that impressive!
I mean one could argue the proper headline would have been “meteor we didn’t notice has no effect”….
Should be a nailbiter. I look forward to Russia saying the ICJ has not considered all the evidence its claims were justified, even as they didn't bother to put forth any. Actually, given the changing nature of the pretexts it really could be hard to prove anything in respect of its justifications for invasion. From BBC
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague has said it will rule on Wednesday on a case brought by Ukraine against Russia, accusing it of falsely justifying its invasion.
Ukraine filed the case soon after the Russian invasion on 24 February. It accuses Russia of using false claims that Ukrainian forces were committing genocide in separatist-held areas of the Donbas region as a pretext to attack.
Russian officials did not appear at an earlier hearing at the UN's World Court on 7 March.
In a statement, the ICJ said that the court will deliver its order at 1600 local time (1500 GMT) on Wednesday, 16 March.
A separate war crimes investigation has also been launched by the International Criminal Court to look into allegations of war crimes committed in Ukraine.
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
Noticing more Johnson on here and less Boris. The war effect? Whatever, good to see.
Not a good time to have a Russian name I guess. Although, if you're going to fund your party with shed loads of roubles from dodgy oligarchs then calling yourself "Boris" at least has the benefit of consistency.
That could be it. Subconscious but yes. Similar to what would probably have happened in 1939 with PM Otto von Churchill.
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
Should be a nailbiter. I look forward to Russia saying the ICJ has not considered all the evidence its claims were justified, even as they didn't bother to put forth any. Actually, given the changing nature of the pretexts it really could be hard to prove anything in respect of its justifications for invasion. From BBC
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague has said it will rule on Wednesday on a case brought by Ukraine against Russia, accusing it of falsely justifying its invasion.
Ukraine filed the case soon after the Russian invasion on 24 February. It accuses Russia of using false claims that Ukrainian forces were committing genocide in separatist-held areas of the Donbas region as a pretext to attack.
Russian officials did not appear at an earlier hearing at the UN's World Court on 7 March.
In a statement, the ICJ said that the court will deliver its order at 1600 local time (1500 GMT) on Wednesday, 16 March.
A separate war crimes investigation has also been launched by the International Criminal Court to look into allegations of war crimes committed in Ukraine.
Yes to be fair to Russia it has given most reasons for the invasion.
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
Yes, wouldn't it be easy to just say size of a bear or an elephant (I'm not sure of the exact scales here) than 'half' of an animal?
I think the story writer must have just been to the zoo.
Giraffes are about 18 ft tall according to google. So you could say, a meteor as high as a old living room ceiling. But that doesn’t sound that impressive!
I mean one could argue the proper headline would have been “meteor we didn’t notice has no effect”….
If it was a giraffe split vertically as Richard proposes above, it presumably would have been a flying disc with an 18ft diameter. That could have given someone a nasty graze, coming down from space.
Noticing more Johnson on here and less Boris. The war effect? Whatever, good to see.
You can’t win. Call him Boris - people complain. Call him Johnson - people complain. Perhaps there should be some pb approved list for what name we can use to refer to politicians?
I'm not complaining! I'm registering approval and gratification.
Well, signed up for the official Government refugee system today saying we have space in our house for a couple of Ukrainians so we will see what happens next.
A few thoughts on the process.
The introductory pages seem to be unnecessarily convoluted to actually get to the sign up page. I assume this is because they want to make sure everyone has properly absorbed the implications of signing up but it didn't seem immediately obvious where to go to get to the bit where you fill out your details. At one point I did find that clicking buttons which were supposed to get me to the forms put me back to the start again.
Secondly the forms themselves are very straight forward and easy to complete. A good thing and well done.
Thirdly - and my main criticism - is the idiotic decision that initially you will only be able to host someone who is not your relative if you have independently made contact with them through social media. as it stands you have to be able to name the person or persons you are expecting to host. Now I know a couple of people professionally in Ukraine but none of them are interested in being given safe haven. They are too busy trying to kick the Russians out of their country. So for now there seems to be no way to link up ourselves as people wiling to host refugees with Ukrainians who need refuge.
This seems to me to be a particularly daft system and one that - since it relies on social media contacts - seems rife for the less scrupulous including traffickers to take advantage. The Government must have a list of those they have already accepted for entry to the UK so why not just assign people as necessary.
I will keep you informed of developments.
Anyone else signed up yet who can compare notes and thoughts?
Well done Richard. My landlady has tried, but the website seemed to be down - she'll have another go in a couple of days. She was confused by the term "sponsor" - thought it meant someone had to vouch for her.
No I read that to mean that we as the hosts are 'sponsoring' the Ukrainians by providing them with accommodation etc and helping them find work, schooling, getting onto the local Health system etc.
Well done, and thank you. I'd love to take someone in, but my place only has one bedroom.
President Biden’s national security adviser met with a top Chinese official on Monday to warn against China giving Russia military or economic assistance, as the Kremlin struggles with the aftermath of its invasion of Ukraine.
NY Times blog
I don't really see what would be in it for the Chinese to get involved in any way at all. Can't they just sit it out and then buy up Russian assets at knockdown prices?
I think China is perhaps the only economy that can withstand autarky. We could be witnessing the end of globalization, a model which the West depends on for its prosperity. At the moment, we're bankrupting Russia. But if this escalates, we could end up bankrupt as well. For that reason, it may benefit China to pour a little petrol on the fire.
The Chinese model of economic growth is very dependent on cheap exports to the US and Europe.
If demand for that falls it hits them too
The endgame for China is to topple American hegemony, and to do that they need to unseat the dollar as a reserve currency. Getting Russia to trade in yuan is a good start, but the longer this war goes on for, the worse dollar inflation will get. Whether China will revert to a gold standard or some kind of CBDC I do not know, but ending the dollar is their goal. Fools wage war with tanks, smart people wage war with economics.
Interesting thread suggesting the Novavax vaccine has significant advantages against the others.
A recent study by Novavax suggests it may be able to provide broader protection across variants than other vaccines so far. That has interesting implications for vaccine design, if true. This seems to have escaped analysis entirely, so we'll take a look. https://twitter.com/michaelzlin/status/1488957682874679298
As far as I can work out it has the critical flaw of not being available anywhere, however.
Noticing more Johnson on here and less Boris. The war effect? Whatever, good to see.
It's your imagination.
That's what I thought at first! But no, I did the audit, checked against my records, and there are no less than THREE posters just on the latter part of this thread who usually do B but have switched to J. It's quite striking. And I really hope I haven't now jinxed it. Won't forgive myself if I have.
I try to refer to him as the PM to avoid the dilemma. Also, I think that should segue nicely into XPM, hopefully sooner rather than later.
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
In fairness leaders can have genuine aims that they are unable to fulfill. Zelensky's main goal was peace in Donbas, but it takes two to tango. Hopefully Japan and the US can work with the new President.
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
Well, signed up for the official Government refugee system today saying we have space in our house for a couple of Ukrainians so we will see what happens next.
A few thoughts on the process.
The introductory pages seem to be unnecessarily convoluted to actually get to the sign up page. I assume this is because they want to make sure everyone has properly absorbed the implications of signing up but it didn't seem immediately obvious where to go to get to the bit where you fill out your details. At one point I did find that clicking buttons which were supposed to get me to the forms put me back to the start again.
Secondly the forms themselves are very straight forward and easy to complete. A good thing and well done.
Thirdly - and my main criticism - is the idiotic decision that initially you will only be able to host someone who is not your relative if you have independently made contact with them through social media. as it stands you have to be able to name the person or persons you are expecting to host. Now I know a couple of people professionally in Ukraine but none of them are interested in being given safe haven. They are too busy trying to kick the Russians out of their country. So for now there seems to be no way to link up ourselves as people wiling to host refugees with Ukrainians who need refuge.
This seems to me to be a particularly daft system and one that - since it relies on social media contacts - seems rife for the less scrupulous including traffickers to take advantage. The Government must have a list of those they have already accepted for entry to the UK so why not just assign people as necessary.
I will keep you informed of developments.
Anyone else signed up yet who can compare notes and thoughts?
Well done Richard. My landlady has tried, but the website seemed to be down - she'll have another go in a couple of days. She was confused by the term "sponsor" - thought it meant someone had to vouch for her.
No I read that to mean that we as the hosts are 'sponsoring' the Ukrainians by providing them with accommodation etc and helping them find work, schooling, getting onto the local Health system etc.
Well done, and thank you. I'd love to take someone in, but my place only has one bedroom.
President Biden’s national security adviser met with a top Chinese official on Monday to warn against China giving Russia military or economic assistance, as the Kremlin struggles with the aftermath of its invasion of Ukraine.
NY Times blog
I don't really see what would be in it for the Chinese to get involved in any way at all. Can't they just sit it out and then buy up Russian assets at knockdown prices?
I think China is perhaps the only economy that can withstand autarky. We could be witnessing the end of globalization, a model which the West depends on for its prosperity. At the moment, we're bankrupting Russia. But if this escalates, we could end up bankrupt as well. For that reason, it may benefit China to pour a little petrol on the fire.
The Chinese model of economic growth is very dependent on cheap exports to the US and Europe.
If demand for that falls it hits them too
The endgame for China is to topple American hegemony, and to do that they need to unseat the dollar as a reserve currency. Getting Russia to trade in yuan is a good start, but the longer this war goes on for, the worse dollar inflation will get. Whether China will revert to a gold standard or some kind of CBDC I do not know, but ending the dollar is their goal. Fools wage war with tanks, smart people wage war with economics.
The Americas, Europe and India and Australia are not going to replace the dollar as reserve currency with the Yuan.
Russia is a tiny fraction of their size economically even if a bigger size militarily.
Russia is a useful military allowance for China, a pointless economic ally
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
What contradiction does that make to my point that AUKUS would be the main responder to any threat China had to Australia? None at all
AUKUS isn’t a defensive alliance. The U.K. or US might well defend our mates, but AUKUS is irrelevant to that.
It is a move to a defensive alliance for Australia
Rubbish
Of course it is, for starters the US and UK have agreed to share nuclear powered submarines with Australia
It is an alliance to protect the whole southern hemisphere and US v China
You do look so foolish at times
Not yet, otherwise it would already include Japan and South Korea and Singapore and Thailand and New Zealand etc, even if the aim is ultimately to be to create a NATO of the Southern hemisphere
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
We and the Aussies are, of course, in the five power defence agreement.
Which goes back to the original point about the core Anglosphere
It’s a rare and special event for you to accept you are wrong. Well done.
Although it raises the secondary point that the “anglosphere” isn’t a thing. Certainly not a thing any other country recognises….
Edit. Oh, wait, you don’t know what the five power defence agreement is do you? You’re confusing it with 5 Eyes. Go and Google. Shockingly, some of the members are not white or English speaking.
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
Noticing more Johnson on here and less Boris. The war effect? Whatever, good to see.
It's your imagination.
That's what I thought at first! But no, I did the audit, checked against my records, and there are no less than THREE posters just on the latter part of this thread who usually do B but have switched to J. It's quite striking. And I really hope I haven't now jinxed it. Won't forgive myself if I have.
I try to refer to him as the PM to avoid the dilemma. Also, I think that should segue nicely into XPM, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Yes. Just 26 months now at the most. We can do the time if we just relax and let it pass - like the Count of Monte Cristo.
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
We and the Aussies are, of course, in the five power defence agreement.
Which goes back to the original point about the core Anglosphere
You have no idea what you are talking about once again
I do, the original discussion was what is the core Anglosphere? I made clear it was the USA, Canada, Australia, the UK and New Zealand, 4/5 of which are already in NATO or AUKUS
Interesting thread suggesting the Novavax vaccine has significant advantages against the others.
A recent study by Novavax suggests it may be able to provide broader protection across variants than other vaccines so far. That has interesting implications for vaccine design, if true. This seems to have escaped analysis entirely, so we'll take a look. https://twitter.com/michaelzlin/status/1488957682874679298
As far as I can work out it has the critical flaw of not being available anywhere, however.
Well the company has hardly covered itself with glory in getting it into production, but it does look a potentially excellent vaccine, differentiated from the others in the armoury.
It would be good to have as insurance... but I see Congress has just eviscerated Biden's proposed pandemic preparedness spending.
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
What contradiction does that make to my point that AUKUS would be the main responder to any threat China had to Australia? None at all
AUKUS isn’t a defensive alliance. The U.K. or US might well defend our mates, but AUKUS is irrelevant to that.
It is a move to a defensive alliance for Australia
Rubbish
Of course it is, for starters the US and UK have agreed to share nuclear powered submarines with Australia
It is an alliance to protect the whole southern hemisphere and US v China
You do look so foolish at times
Not yet, otherwise it would already include Japan and South Korea and Singapore and New Zealand etc, even if the aim is ultimately to be to create a NATO of the Southern hemisphere
You are just ridiculous
It is the core defensive strategy for securing the southern hemisphere against aggression from China
Sailing from Canada to Japan to Russia to China via South Korea and the South China Sea puts everything into context rather than looking at a map in Epping Forest
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
We and the Aussies are, of course, in the five power defence agreement.
Which goes back to the original point about the core Anglosphere
It’s a rare and special event for you to accept you are wrong. Well done.
Although it raises the secondary point that the “anglosphere” isn’t a thing. Certainly not a thing any other country recognises….
Edit. Oh, wait, you don’t know what the five power defence agreement is do you? You’re confusing it with 5 Eyes. Go and Google. Shockingly, some of the members are not white or English speaking.
The five power agreement also does not include Japan and South Korea
I was thinking this had been the longest period without Boris/Johnson/Boris Johnson/PM/PM Johnson/PM Boris Johnson/FLSOJ speaking to Zelensky, but I see they chatted again yesterday. If they become any friendlier Boris will be offering him a seat in the Lords in no time.
What seems random is when multiple leaders are on the same call.
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
What contradiction does that make to my point that AUKUS would be the main responder to any threat China had to Australia? None at all
AUKUS isn’t a defensive alliance. The U.K. or US might well defend our mates, but AUKUS is irrelevant to that.
It is a move to a defensive alliance for Australia
Rubbish
Of course it is, for starters the US and UK have agreed to share nuclear powered submarines with Australia
It is an alliance to protect the whole southern hemisphere and US v China
You do look so foolish at times
Not yet, otherwise it would already include Japan and South Korea and Singapore and New Zealand etc, even if the aim is ultimately to be to create a NATO of the Southern hemisphere
You are just ridiculous
It is the core defensive strategy for securing the southern hemisphere against aggression from China
Sailing from Canada to Japan to Russia to China via South Korea and the South China Sea puts everything into context rather than looking at a map in Epping Forest
Yet at the moment the only Southern hemisphere nation in it is Australia!
The EU has done well in making the euro the world’s second reserve currency, although its a long way from replacing or even threatening the dollar’s role in global finance.
The yuan isn’t even on a par with the Euro.
Russia is irrelevant to China’s aspirations in this respect, indeed if anything it is probably harmful.
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
We and the Aussies are, of course, in the five power defence agreement.
Which goes back to the original point about the core Anglosphere
It’s a rare and special event for you to accept you are wrong. Well done.
Although it raises the secondary point that the “anglosphere” isn’t a thing. Certainly not a thing any other country recognises….
Edit. Oh, wait, you don’t know what the five power defence agreement is do you? You’re confusing it with 5 Eyes. Go and Google. Shockingly, some of the members are not white or English speaking.
The five power agreement also does not include Japan and South Korea
I was thinking this had been the longest period without Boris/Johnson/Boris Johnson/PM/PM Johnson/PM Boris Johnson/FLSOJ speaking to Zelensky, but I see they chatted again yesterday. If they become any friendlier Boris will be offering him a seat in the Lords in no time.
What seems random is when multiple leaders are on the same call.
Especially is they're all called Johnson, as it would seem from your post. Most confusing.
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
What contradiction does that make to my point that AUKUS would be the main responder to any threat China had to Australia? None at all
AUKUS isn’t a defensive alliance. The U.K. or US might well defend our mates, but AUKUS is irrelevant to that.
To me it looked like fancy wrapping around the switch of a big Australian submarine supply contract from France to America. An attempt to give that a little gravitas.
I'm surprisingly confident that if Russia and China team up against the West they'll both end up losing, and the West will come out of it stronger than before.
Unless there is a nuclear holocaust in which case nobody will be stronger than before by my understanding of the term
South Africa?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is an excellent example of HYUFD's thought: That the destruction of Western and Eastern countries "strengthens" those not directly destroyed because they would power on up the ranks. Never mind the fact that the biosphere would be a fucking state and the world economy would head backwards a number of centuries. Rank is what matters in HYUFD's Trumpist view, and a negative sum game makes sense if only the others get hurt much more than you do.
HYUFD would cut his leg off if he knew everybody else would lose both legs.
Well the South African President has taken a neutral stance between Russia and NATO not wholly without self interest.
I would prefer him to be in the NATO camp but that is the reality
Given you don't think some countries already in it should have been allowed to join NATO I am surprised you would advocate for others to either join or be allied to it.
I refer you to my earlier post. HYUFD would be happy for South Africa to join because he fancies our chances of beating Eswatini in a war. Russia's a big boy, so we shouldn't meddle. Rank rank rank. Hit the little guy, give your lunch money to the big guy. No need to mess around with principles or whatever.
It is only NATO and the Anglosphere which help us to contain the big boys of Russia and China.
Yes we can defend the Falklands and Gibraltar and deal with Nationalists within our own islands but we cannot contain Putin and Xi alone
I would suggest that Japan and South Korea - neither of which are either NATO nor Anglosphere are very much holding their end up as well.
To an extent but as you say they are not in NATO nor are they in the AUKUS security agreement either
You really are out of touch if you think that AUKUS would take action without the approval and engagement of South Korea and Japan
What contradiction does that make to my point that AUKUS would be the main responder to any threat China had to Australia? None at all
AUKUS isn’t a defensive alliance. The U.K. or US might well defend our mates, but AUKUS is irrelevant to that.
It is a move to a defensive alliance for Australia
Rubbish
Of course it is, for starters the US and UK have agreed to share nuclear powered submarines with Australia
It is an alliance to protect the whole southern hemisphere and US v China
You do look so foolish at times
Not yet, otherwise it would already include Japan and South Korea and Singapore and New Zealand etc, even if the aim is ultimately to be to create a NATO of the Southern hemisphere
You are just ridiculous
It is the core defensive strategy for securing the southern hemisphere against aggression from China
Sailing from Canada to Japan to Russia to China via South Korea and the South China Sea puts everything into context rather than looking at a map in Epping Forest
Yet at the moment the only Southern hemisphere nation in it is Australia!
What on earth has that to do with the defensive strategy for the southern hemisphere in respect of China
Noticing more Johnson on here and less Boris. The war effect? Whatever, good to see.
You can’t win. Call him Boris - people complain. Call him Johnson - people complain. Perhaps there should be some pb approved list for what name we can use to refer to politicians?
Or, people call them whatever they like without anyone complaining. If someone wants to go with Bojo or Bozo that's fine too.
FLSOJ still ok?
Naturally, if people want. But I had to look it up, so a reminder might be needed if using it.
AUKUS is a procurement deal dressed up as a security alliance. Not terribly significant.
There is no Pacific NATO. There are various treaties which keep the main pro-US powers (ie Australia, Japan, South Korea) formally and informally allied.
The UK tries to keep its hand in. France - as always - tries to maintain a little distance from the US. India even more so.
Following AUKUS, I do expect France (and the EU) and India to get closer as a “third pole”.
Comments
I think the story writer must have just been to the zoo.
There was a story I saw about Russia running out of dental fillings etc that are all imported from Germany - please excuse the earlier pun.
A recent study by Novavax suggests it may be able to provide broader protection across variants than other vaccines so far. That has interesting implications for vaccine design, if true.
This seems to have escaped analysis entirely, so we'll take a look.
https://twitter.com/michaelzlin/status/1488957682874679298
You register for the scheme and refugee organisations in the field will provide the detail of the refugees allocated to you, and it is absolutely unlimited
Indeed by 9.00pm tonight 45,000 sponsors have applied and from friday the scheme is to be extended to commercial organisations who will sponsor tens of thousands of refugees into the UK
The reason this scheme will be a success is because Gove is implementing it, not the incompetent Patel
On this it is time to put away the sniping and accept it is better late than never, and this really gives hope to many thousands indeed hundreds of thousands, of refugees coming here to the UK
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague has said it will rule on Wednesday on a case brought by Ukraine against Russia, accusing it of falsely justifying its invasion.
Ukraine filed the case soon after the Russian invasion on 24 February. It accuses Russia of using false claims that Ukrainian forces were committing genocide in separatist-held areas of the Donbas region as a pretext to attack.
Russian officials did not appear at an earlier hearing at the UN's World Court on 7 March.
In a statement, the ICJ said that the court will deliver its order at 1600 local time (1500 GMT) on Wednesday, 16 March.
A separate war crimes investigation has also been launched by the International Criminal Court to look into allegations of war crimes committed in Ukraine.
You do look so foolish at times
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-us-and-australia-launch-new-security-partnership
We and the Aussies are, of course, in the five power defence agreement.
Russia is a tiny fraction of their size economically even if a bigger size militarily.
Russia is a useful military allowance for China, a pointless economic ally
Although it raises the secondary point that the “anglosphere” isn’t a thing. Certainly not a thing any other country recognises….
Edit. Oh, wait, you don’t know what the five power defence agreement is do you? You’re confusing it with 5 Eyes. Go and Google. Shockingly, some of the members are not white or English speaking.
"If you feel the need to help Ukrainians in their fight, go"
https://wpolityce.pl/polityka/589776-top-5-z-wywiadu-prezydenta-dudy-dla-tygodnika-sieci
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It would be good to have as insurance... but I see Congress has just eviscerated Biden's proposed pandemic preparedness spending.
It’s not completely devoid of meaning though.
There is Five Eyes for example.
It is the core defensive strategy for securing the southern hemisphere against aggression from China
Sailing from Canada to Japan to Russia to China via South Korea and the South China Sea puts everything into context rather than looking at a map in Epping Forest
What seems random is when multiple leaders are on the same call.
The yuan isn’t even on a par with the Euro.
Russia is irrelevant to China’s aspirations in this respect, indeed if anything it is probably harmful.
You really are not worth discussing this with
There is no Pacific NATO. There are various treaties which keep the main pro-US powers (ie Australia, Japan, South Korea) formally and informally allied.
The UK tries to keep its hand in. France - as always - tries to maintain a little distance from the US. India even more so.
Following AUKUS, I do expect France (and the EU) and India to get closer as a “third pole”.