@Nigelb its like the Tet Offensive in its use of partisan warfare/sabotage behind American lines, all synchronised superbly with an outright attack on the front
Tet came as a total shock to the USA, at a time when the Americans complacently thought the war was quietening down with no major moves
In many ways thereafter the Tet was a failure for Hanoi and the Yanks pushed the VC back quite easily
But Tet broke the American will to fight. It showed Americans at home the war was unwinnable and the North would never give up, and would endure any cost. From that moment Saigon 73 was inevitable
Catchy title. Up there with Sean McGlynn's 'Kill them all' about the Albigensian crusade (also the author of 'By Sword an Fire').
It's a depressing read, but it gives a picture if the sheer scale of the slaughter in Vietnam. Its thesis - that My Lai was characteristic rather than an aberration - is disturbing.
Sean McGlynn's argument (which I think is correct) that the popular depiction of medieval armies running out of control, when they pillaged territories and sacked cities, is wrong. Most of the time, these were brutal and effective military strategies, which were commanded from the top.
I think it is a pretty standard feature of war, full stop. Hence the ambiguity of the Johnny Mercer "yebbut we don't talk about that" job.
Sure, you can't win a war, usually, without being cruel to the other side. Morally, there's not a lot of distinction, between the chevauchee, designed to devastate the enemy's economy and inflict starvation on the population, and comprehensive economic sanctions, designed to do much the same.
Charles’s “kind” comments about Harry and Meghan need to be seen in the context of Harry’s book deal. The firm are terrified about it’s contents.
Thanks to events, they’ve got H&M pinned down. This is their one and only opportunity.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall!
If Charles was smart, he’d recognise that Liz’s disastrous “no half-in-half-out” policy was a major factor contributing to the current situation.
Meghan and Harry's standing among the British people is not quite as bad as Prince Andrew's, but it's a long way below everyone else in the royal family. I don't think they are any sort of threat, however much insight they provide into the problems faced by titled multi-millionaires.
I am far less worried about them than I was 2 years ago, when I think they did real political damage - particularly in the Carribean and amongst younger non-white Britons here.
But, they've shot their bolt now.
Hmm. Arguably Harry identified the right question (what does the Spare Heir do once they're not needed any more?) and had a better answer than his uncles (get the hell out of Dodge and do something else with the rest of his life).
Which is not the answer that the tabloids wanted. And some of the fuckups on the way have been blown up into great evil as a result.
He could have chosen to withdraw from public life and work hard for his charities and causes.
Instead, he (and his wife) has built his ‘career’ on criticising his own family - something which was quickly wearing off before the events of this week.
You'll love Harry's book launch. Especially if it's at the Al Fayed place in Finland.
Why shouldn't a person criticise family members if they've treated them like absolute dirt? In real life, people do it all the time. Who TF does the king think he is?
I wonder whether Harry will be allowed to his grandmother's funeral.
"It is understood Harry was at Frogmore cottage in Windsor when Charles called to say he should not bring his wife.
The Sussexes had announced they would travel up to Balmoral together, without consulting royals, The Sun reported.
But a source told the paper: "Charles told Harry that it wasn't right or appropriate for Meghan to be in Balmoral at such a deeply sad time.
'It was pointed out to him that Kate was not going and that the numbers really should be limited to the very closest family. Charles made it very, very clear Meghan would not be welcome.' [...]
Harry was also refused a seat on the RAF plane that took up his brother William, now the Prince of Wales, as well as Prince Andrew and Prince Edward."
gotta hurt being turned away from a flight pedo boy is allowed on. But what a foot shooting exercise, all it did was delay the announcement of the death for 2 hours while he easyjetted up.
But this says nothing about the funeral, she'll be there.
I don't know if anyone can confirm that this is true?
'George V was the cousin of the executed Nicholas II, the last emperor of the Russian Empire. It turns out that Charles III, in a direct line from his great-grandfather, is the great-nephew of Nicholas II, that is, of the currently ruling monarchs, he is the only one who has absolutely legal rights to claim the crown of Russia, if one imagines that Russia, or some part of it, which has the right to succession from of the Russian Empire, would like to restore the monarchy and thus become one of the countries of the British Commonwealth of Nations.'
The first bit is true and the rest plausible, but I think there are still some living distant relatives of the Romanovs who claim the right to the Russian throne.
There are direct descent claimants from Alexander 2nd and Nicholas 1st (including Philip and hence Charles) Grand Duchess Maria or Alexander Romanov are the main 2 mooted by imperialist russians
As I understand it Putin had made a bit of an effort to to reinstate the Romanovs into the history of Holy Russia? It’s all quite complicated..
Why do you hate people taking back control from their unelected rulers?
Are you a remoaner?
Even as the child of immigrants I bet a bit of you is *secretly proud* of that map. It is disturbingly impressive
A quiet undemonstrative patriotism, free of jingo and assertions of superiority, founded on a deep affection for one's country and wanting the best for its people ... this is not quite you, is it?
Charles’s “kind” comments about Harry and Meghan need to be seen in the context of Harry’s book deal. The firm are terrified about it’s contents.
Thanks to events, they’ve got H&M pinned down. This is their one and only opportunity.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall!
If Charles was smart, he’d recognise that Liz’s disastrous “no half-in-half-out” policy was a major factor contributing to the current situation.
Meghan and Harry's standing among the British people is not quite as bad as Prince Andrew's, but it's a long way below everyone else in the royal family. I don't think they are any sort of threat, however much insight they provide into the problems faced by titled multi-millionaires.
I am far less worried about them than I was 2 years ago, when I think they did real political damage - particularly in the Carribean and amongst younger non-white Britons here.
But, they've shot their bolt now.
Hmm. Arguably Harry identified the right question (what does the Spare Heir do once they're not needed any more?) and had a better answer than his uncles (get the hell out of Dodge and do something else with the rest of his life).
Which is not the answer that the tabloids wanted. And some of the fuckups on the way have been blown up into great evil as a result.
He could have chosen to withdraw from public life and work hard for his charities and causes.
Instead, he (and his wife) has built his ‘career’ on criticising his own family - something which was quickly wearing off before the events of this week.
You'll love Harry's book launch. Especially if it's at the Al Fayed place in Finland.
Why shouldn't a person criticise family members if they've treated them like absolute dirt? In real life, people do it all the time. Who TF does the king think he is?
I wonder whether Harry will be allowed to his grandmother's funeral.
"It is understood Harry was at Frogmore cottage in Windsor when Charles called to say he should not bring his wife.
The Sussexes had announced they would travel up to Balmoral together, without consulting royals, The Sun reported.
But a source told the paper: "Charles told Harry that it wasn't right or appropriate for Meghan to be in Balmoral at such a deeply sad time.
'It was pointed out to him that Kate was not going and that the numbers really should be limited to the very closest family. Charles made it very, very clear Meghan would not be welcome.' [...]
Harry was also refused a seat on the RAF plane that took up his brother William, now the Prince of Wales, as well as Prince Andrew and Prince Edward."
gotta hurt being turned away from a flight pedo boy is allowed on. But what a foot shooting exercise, all it did was delay the announcement of the death for 2 hours while he easyjetted up.
But this says nothing about the funeral, she'll be there.
They didn't actually delay the announcement for him to arrive, he was still travelling when they announced it.
Some of those celebrating independence still share a head of state with us for crying out loud, it's not all hard feelings.
I think secretly they all want us to rule them again. That’s the psychology at work here
I'm still furious about finding out Malta wanted to be incorporated as part of the UK and we said no. Probably not the done thing for someone to suggest that again.
It came 10 years too early, they were concerned at large numbers taking that route and the HoC becoming dominated. Had it occured after 'winds of change' i think it would have been done along with a few other small outposts - Gibraltar etc. I personally think incorporating Gibraltar into the UK and giving them one MP would be sensible. Also a possible solution for the Atlantic islands who are probably too small to survive as independant entities
Why do you hate people taking back control from their unelected rulers?
Are you a remoaner?
Even as the child of immigrants I bet a bit of you is *secretly proud* of that map. It is disturbingly impressive
A quiet undemonstrative patriotism, free of jingo and assertions of superiority, founded on a deep affection for one's country and wanting the best for its people ... this is not quite you, is it?
I was a bit confused as to why there was a Cossack with the biggest sword ever seen being held upside down at the 2nd proclamation. Had they run out of appropriate costumes at the fancy dress shop.
🇺🇦 The Armed Forces of Ukraine are successfully counterrattacking in the south of Ukraine, currently the defenders have advanced several tens of kilometers in various directions – Humeniuk, spokeswoman of the press center of Operational Command "Pivden" (South)
Charles’s “kind” comments about Harry and Meghan need to be seen in the context of Harry’s book deal. The firm are terrified about it’s contents.
Thanks to events, they’ve got H&M pinned down. This is their one and only opportunity.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall!
If Charles was smart, he’d recognise that Liz’s disastrous “no half-in-half-out” policy was a major factor contributing to the current situation.
Meghan and Harry's standing among the British people is not quite as bad as Prince Andrew's, but it's a long way below everyone else in the royal family. I don't think they are any sort of threat, however much insight they provide into the problems faced by titled multi-millionaires.
I am far less worried about them than I was 2 years ago, when I think they did real political damage - particularly in the Carribean and amongst younger non-white Britons here.
But, they've shot their bolt now.
Hmm. Arguably Harry identified the right question (what does the Spare Heir do once they're not needed any more?) and had a better answer than his uncles (get the hell out of Dodge and do something else with the rest of his life).
Which is not the answer that the tabloids wanted. And some of the fuckups on the way have been blown up into great evil as a result.
He could have chosen to withdraw from public life and work hard for his charities and causes.
Instead, he (and his wife) has built his ‘career’ on criticising his own family - something which was quickly wearing off before the events of this week.
You'll love Harry's book launch. Especially if it's at the Al Fayed place in Finland.
Why shouldn't a person criticise family members if they've treated them like absolute dirt? In real life, people do it all the time. Who TF does the king think he is?
I wonder whether Harry will be allowed to his grandmother's funeral.
"It is understood Harry was at Frogmore cottage in Windsor when Charles called to say he should not bring his wife.
The Sussexes had announced they would travel up to Balmoral together, without consulting royals, The Sun reported.
But a source told the paper: "Charles told Harry that it wasn't right or appropriate for Meghan to be in Balmoral at such a deeply sad time.
'It was pointed out to him that Kate was not going and that the numbers really should be limited to the very closest family. Charles made it very, very clear Meghan would not be welcome.' [...]
Harry was also refused a seat on the RAF plane that took up his brother William, now the Prince of Wales, as well as Prince Andrew and Prince Edward."
gotta hurt being turned away from a flight pedo boy is allowed on. But what a foot shooting exercise, all it did was delay the announcement of the death for 2 hours while he easyjetted up.
But this says nothing about the funeral, she'll be there.
They didn't actually delay the announcement for him to arrive, he was still travelling when they announced it.
@Nigelb its like the Tet Offensive in its use of partisan warfare/sabotage behind American lines, all synchronised superbly with an outright attack on the front
Tet came as a total shock to the USA, at a time when the Americans complacently thought the war was quietening down with no major moves
In many ways thereafter the Tet was a failure for Hanoi and the Yanks pushed the VC back quite easily
But Tet broke the American will to fight. It showed Americans at home the war was unwinnable and the North would never give up, and would endure any cost. From that moment Saigon 73 was inevitable
Catchy title. Up there with Sean McGlynn's 'Kill them all' about the Albigensian crusade (also the author of 'By Sword an Fire').
It's a depressing read, but it gives a picture if the sheer scale of the slaughter in Vietnam. Its thesis - that My Lai was characteristic rather than an aberration - is disturbing.
Sean McGlynn's argument (which I think is correct) that the popular depiction of medieval armies running out of control, when they pillaged territories and sacked cities, is wrong. Most of the time, these were brutal and effective military strategies, which were commanded from the top.
I think it is a pretty standard feature of war, full stop. Hence the ambiguity of the Johnny Mercer "yebbut we don't talk about that" job.
Sure, you can't win a war, usually, without being cruel to the other side. Morally, there's not a lot of distinction, between the chevauchee, designed to devastate the enemy's economy and inflict starvation on the population, and comprehensive economic sanctions, designed to do much the same.
Yes, except I imagine if you were a small village in the area of a chevauchee, odds on you got My Laied.
@christogrozev If the Russian army left Svatovo as this guy says on camera - and Svatovo is about 60 km from the nearest town taken over by Ukraine - this would be the first case of retreat long before even attempting to defend a long-held position. Something bigger must be brewing inside if so
I think what they are doing is finding a line that they can reinforce and resupply to the required level and, unfortunately for them, that's a long way back given their loss of railway lines and supply depots around Izyum. Stopping a panicking rout, however, is one of the most difficult things in the military playbook.
The Russian border might end up as the only option. They know the Ukes won’t cross
But what a humiliation for Putin
I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, fearing resilient counter counter attack, but for the sake of Ukraine it's nice to believe for a bit.
There's no particular reason to suppose that a Russian counter-attack is on the way. Insofar as one can see, most of the Russian armed forces are crap and many of the best units have been sent to shore up Kherson.
If the Ukrainians really have seized both Izyum and Kupiansk then that implies the collapse of the Russian positions west of the Oskil river, i.e. the liberation of most of the occupied areas of the Kharkiv oblast. If the bridges across the river are taken intact then they might even be able to strike right through into the north of the Luhansk oblast, where the Russians only recently celebrated the completion of their conquest. These are the kinds of reverses that the Russian state is going to find increasingly hard to hide from, or explain to, its people.
I don't know if anyone can confirm that this is true?
'George V was the cousin of the executed Nicholas II, the last emperor of the Russian Empire. It turns out that Charles III, in a direct line from his great-grandfather, is the great-nephew of Nicholas II, that is, of the currently ruling monarchs, he is the only one who has absolutely legal rights to claim the crown of Russia, if one imagines that Russia, or some part of it, which has the right to succession from of the Russian Empire, would like to restore the monarchy and thus become one of the countries of the British Commonwealth of Nations.'
The first bit is true and the rest plausible, but I think there are still some living distant relatives of the Romanovs who claim the right to the Russian throne.
There are direct descent claimants from Alexander 2nd and Nicholas 1st (including Philip and hence Charles) Grand Duchess Maria or Alexander Romanov are the main 2 mooted by imperialist russians
As I understand it Putin had made a bit of an effort to to reinstate the Romanovs into the history of Holy Russia? It’s all quite complicated..
Yeah, he wants to put them into some sort of symbolic role without formal titles, basically 'live in this palace and be patriotic and unifying but no formal titles and give up any claims to the throne' sort of deal Be a living history effectively.
@christogrozev If the Russian army left Svatovo as this guy says on camera - and Svatovo is about 60 km from the nearest town taken over by Ukraine - this would be the first case of retreat long before even attempting to defend a long-held position. Something bigger must be brewing inside if so
I think what they are doing is finding a line that they can reinforce and resupply to the required level and, unfortunately for them, that's a long way back given their loss of railway lines and supply depots around Izyum. Stopping a panicking rout, however, is one of the most difficult things in the military playbook.
The Russian border might end up as the only option. They know the Ukes won’t cross
But what a humiliation for Putin
I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, fearing resilient counter counter attack, but for the sake of Ukraine it's nice to believe for a bit.
There's no particular reason to suppose that a Russian counter-attack is on the way. Insofar as one can see, most of the Russian armed forces are crap and many of the best units have been sent to shore up Kherson.
If the Ukrainians really have seized both Izyum and Kupiansk then that implies the collapse of the Russian positions west of the Oskil river, i.e. the liberation of most of the occupied areas of the Kharkiv oblast. If the bridges across the river are taken intact then they might even be able to strike right through into the north of the Luhansk oblast, where the Russians only recently celebrated the completion of their conquest. These are the kinds of reverses that the Russian state is going to find increasingly hard to hide from, or explain to, its people.
Putin can see his end is theoretically in sight. He is said to be obsessed with the awful end of Gadaffi. A perilous moment for the world
Nicola Sturgeon becomes the first First Minister in history to sign a proclamation document… the Acts of Union and Scotland’s constitutional tie to England loom large in this moment.
The 'Oath' signed to protect the Protestant Church of Scotland.
I was a bit confused as to why there was a Cossack with the biggest sword ever seen being held upside down at the 2nd proclamation. Had they run out of appropriate costumes at the fancy dress shop.
You could put anything in these ceremonies and if anyone questions it just say it is tradition.
Nicola Sturgeon becomes the first First Minister in history to sign a proclamation document… the Acts of Union and Scotland’s constitutional tie to England loom large in this moment.
The 'Oath' signed to protect the Protestant Church of Scotland.
Edit: more specifically the [Established] Church of Scotland. That was put into the Treaty of Union to keep the ministers happy, like the retention of Scots Law did the lawyers (and also everyone who owned land, for obvious reasons of stability).
I was a bit confused as to why there was a Cossack with the biggest sword ever seen being held upside down at the 2nd proclamation. Had they run out of appropriate costumes at the fancy dress shop.
You could put anything in these ceremonies and if anyone questions it just say it is tradition.
I love the civil war costume you get from the Yeomen in the City of London. I always picture a terrorist having a pop and being impaled on a halberd.
Charles’s “kind” comments about Harry and Meghan need to be seen in the context of Harry’s book deal. The firm are terrified about it’s contents.
Thanks to events, they’ve got H&M pinned down. This is their one and only opportunity.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall!
If Charles was smart, he’d recognise that Liz’s disastrous “no half-in-half-out” policy was a major factor contributing to the current situation.
Meghan and Harry's standing among the British people is not quite as bad as Prince Andrew's, but it's a long way below everyone else in the royal family. I don't think they are any sort of threat, however much insight they provide into the problems faced by titled multi-millionaires.
I am far less worried about them than I was 2 years ago, when I think they did real political damage - particularly in the Carribean and amongst younger non-white Britons here.
But, they've shot their bolt now.
Hmm. Arguably Harry identified the right question (what does the Spare Heir do once they're not needed any more?) and had a better answer than his uncles (get the hell out of Dodge and do something else with the rest of his life).
Which is not the answer that the tabloids wanted. And some of the fuckups on the way have been blown up into great evil as a result.
He could have chosen to withdraw from public life and work hard for his charities and causes.
Instead, he (and his wife) has built his ‘career’ on criticising his own family - something which was quickly wearing off before the events of this week.
You'll love Harry's book launch. Especially if it's at the Al Fayed place in Finland.
Why shouldn't a person criticise family members if they've treated them like absolute dirt? In real life, people do it all the time. Who TF does the king think he is?
I wonder whether Harry will be allowed to his grandmother's funeral.
"It is understood Harry was at Frogmore cottage in Windsor when Charles called to say he should not bring his wife.
The Sussexes had announced they would travel up to Balmoral together, without consulting royals, The Sun reported.
But a source told the paper: "Charles told Harry that it wasn't right or appropriate for Meghan to be in Balmoral at such a deeply sad time.
'It was pointed out to him that Kate was not going and that the numbers really should be limited to the very closest family. Charles made it very, very clear Meghan would not be welcome.' [...]
Harry was also refused a seat on the RAF plane that took up his brother William, now the Prince of Wales, as well as Prince Andrew and Prince Edward."
Thinking further about that, what an utterly appalling piece of shittiness declining to give your own brother a lift to see his dying grandmother. I don't do the Daily Mail blood boiling about the Royal Family thing, but that is as spiteful a bit of shittiness as it is possible to imagine.
The RAF lot got to balmoral at 5pm so landed Aberdeen say 1545 so left London 1415. So he has been told to fuck off by 2 pm absolute latest. So either he was - almost incredibly - deprived of the chance of final words with his grandmother, or everyone involved knew she was dead by then anyway (and it is still a jawdropping bit of petty shittiness).
We are straight into a Royal crisis when people cotton on to this.
Reading about Ukrainian operations around Kharkiv, I am struck yet again by the reality that the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II is taking place because a not-very-bright mid-level KGB guy thought he could recreate an empire that's already failed at least twice.
Charles’s “kind” comments about Harry and Meghan need to be seen in the context of Harry’s book deal. The firm are terrified about it’s contents.
Thanks to events, they’ve got H&M pinned down. This is their one and only opportunity.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall!
If Charles was smart, he’d recognise that Liz’s disastrous “no half-in-half-out” policy was a major factor contributing to the current situation.
Meghan and Harry's standing among the British people is not quite as bad as Prince Andrew's, but it's a long way below everyone else in the royal family. I don't think they are any sort of threat, however much insight they provide into the problems faced by titled multi-millionaires.
I am far less worried about them than I was 2 years ago, when I think they did real political damage - particularly in the Carribean and amongst younger non-white Britons here.
But, they've shot their bolt now.
Hmm. Arguably Harry identified the right question (what does the Spare Heir do once they're not needed any more?) and had a better answer than his uncles (get the hell out of Dodge and do something else with the rest of his life).
Which is not the answer that the tabloids wanted. And some of the fuckups on the way have been blown up into great evil as a result.
He could have chosen to withdraw from public life and work hard for his charities and causes.
Instead, he (and his wife) has built his ‘career’ on criticising his own family - something which was quickly wearing off before the events of this week.
You'll love Harry's book launch. Especially if it's at the Al Fayed place in Finland.
Why shouldn't a person criticise family members if they've treated them like absolute dirt? In real life, people do it all the time. Who TF does the king think he is?
I wonder whether Harry will be allowed to his grandmother's funeral.
"It is understood Harry was at Frogmore cottage in Windsor when Charles called to say he should not bring his wife.
The Sussexes had announced they would travel up to Balmoral together, without consulting royals, The Sun reported.
But a source told the paper: "Charles told Harry that it wasn't right or appropriate for Meghan to be in Balmoral at such a deeply sad time.
'It was pointed out to him that Kate was not going and that the numbers really should be limited to the very closest family. Charles made it very, very clear Meghan would not be welcome.' [...]
Harry was also refused a seat on the RAF plane that took up his brother William, now the Prince of Wales, as well as Prince Andrew and Prince Edward."
Thinking further about that, what an utterly appalling piece of shittiness declining to give your own brother a lift to see his dying grandmother. I don't do the Daily Mail blood boiling about the Royal Family thing, but that is as spiteful a bit of shittiness as it is possible to imagine.
The RAF lot got to balmoral at 5pm so landed Aberdeen say 1545 so left London 1415. So he has been told to fuck off by 2 pm absolute latest. So either he was - almost incredibly - deprived of the chance of final words with his grandmother, or everyone involved knew she was dead by then anyway (and it is still a jawdropping bit of petty shittiness).
We are straight into a Royal crisis when people cotton on to this.
@christogrozev If the Russian army left Svatovo as this guy says on camera - and Svatovo is about 60 km from the nearest town taken over by Ukraine - this would be the first case of retreat long before even attempting to defend a long-held position. Something bigger must be brewing inside if so
I think what they are doing is finding a line that they can reinforce and resupply to the required level and, unfortunately for them, that's a long way back given their loss of railway lines and supply depots around Izyum. Stopping a panicking rout, however, is one of the most difficult things in the military playbook.
The Russian border might end up as the only option. They know the Ukes won’t cross
But what a humiliation for Putin
I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, fearing resilient counter counter attack, but for the sake of Ukraine it's nice to believe for a bit.
There's no particular reason to suppose that a Russian counter-attack is on the way. Insofar as one can see, most of the Russian armed forces are crap and many of the best units have been sent to shore up Kherson.
If the Ukrainians really have seized both Izyum and Kupiansk then that implies the collapse of the Russian positions west of the Oskil river, i.e. the liberation of most of the occupied areas of the Kharkiv oblast. If the bridges across the river are taken intact then they might even be able to strike right through into the north of the Luhansk oblast, where the Russians only recently celebrated the completion of their conquest. These are the kinds of reverses that the Russian state is going to find increasingly hard to hide from, or explain to, its people.
Putin can see his end is theoretically in sight. He is said to be obsessed with the awful end of Gadaffi. A perilous moment for the world
Also Ceaușescu and Saddam, Vlad, if you're lurking.
Nicola Sturgeon becomes the first First Minister in history to sign a proclamation document… the Acts of Union and Scotland’s constitutional tie to England loom large in this moment.
The 'Oath' signed to protect the Protestant Church of Scotland.
I was a bit confused as to why there was a Cossack with the biggest sword ever seen being held upside down at the 2nd proclamation. Had they run out of appropriate costumes at the fancy dress shop.
You could put anything in these ceremonies and if anyone questions it just say it is tradition.
That is so true. Especially if it's said in a stentorian voice. Reference to Henry VIII optional.
Charles’s “kind” comments about Harry and Meghan need to be seen in the context of Harry’s book deal. The firm are terrified about it’s contents.
Thanks to events, they’ve got H&M pinned down. This is their one and only opportunity.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall!
If Charles was smart, he’d recognise that Liz’s disastrous “no half-in-half-out” policy was a major factor contributing to the current situation.
Meghan and Harry's standing among the British people is not quite as bad as Prince Andrew's, but it's a long way below everyone else in the royal family. I don't think they are any sort of threat, however much insight they provide into the problems faced by titled multi-millionaires.
I am far less worried about them than I was 2 years ago, when I think they did real political damage - particularly in the Carribean and amongst younger non-white Britons here.
But, they've shot their bolt now.
Hmm. Arguably Harry identified the right question (what does the Spare Heir do once they're not needed any more?) and had a better answer than his uncles (get the hell out of Dodge and do something else with the rest of his life).
Which is not the answer that the tabloids wanted. And some of the fuckups on the way have been blown up into great evil as a result.
He could have chosen to withdraw from public life and work hard for his charities and causes.
Instead, he (and his wife) has built his ‘career’ on criticising his own family - something which was quickly wearing off before the events of this week.
You'll love Harry's book launch. Especially if it's at the Al Fayed place in Finland.
Why shouldn't a person criticise family members if they've treated them like absolute dirt? In real life, people do it all the time. Who TF does the king think he is?
I wonder whether Harry will be allowed to his grandmother's funeral.
"It is understood Harry was at Frogmore cottage in Windsor when Charles called to say he should not bring his wife.
The Sussexes had announced they would travel up to Balmoral together, without consulting royals, The Sun reported.
But a source told the paper: "Charles told Harry that it wasn't right or appropriate for Meghan to be in Balmoral at such a deeply sad time.
'It was pointed out to him that Kate was not going and that the numbers really should be limited to the very closest family. Charles made it very, very clear Meghan would not be welcome.' [...]
Harry was also refused a seat on the RAF plane that took up his brother William, now the Prince of Wales, as well as Prince Andrew and Prince Edward."
Thinking further about that, what an utterly appalling piece of shittiness declining to give your own brother a lift to see his dying grandmother. I don't do the Daily Mail blood boiling about the Royal Family thing, but that is as spiteful a bit of shittiness as it is possible to imagine.
The RAF lot got to balmoral at 5pm so landed Aberdeen say 1545 so left London 1415. So he has been told to fuck off by 2 pm absolute latest. So either he was - almost incredibly - deprived of the chance of final words with his grandmother, or everyone involved knew she was dead by then anyway (and it is still a jawdropping bit of petty shittiness).
We are straight into a Royal crisis when people cotton on to this.
I think it was largely a question of time. They could not wait for him and even they were too late. But I agree it doesn't look good.
Some of those celebrating independence still share a head of state with us for crying out loud, it's not all hard feelings.
Indeed and the vast majority of them gained independence through peaceful means as a matter of British policy rather than having to spill blood for it. Hence the reason so many of them then chose to be part of the Commonwealth. The majority of those poor oppressed countries are also mourning the death of someone who was instrumental in creating the Commonwealth.
Charles’s “kind” comments about Harry and Meghan need to be seen in the context of Harry’s book deal. The firm are terrified about it’s contents.
Thanks to events, they’ve got H&M pinned down. This is their one and only opportunity.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall!
If Charles was smart, he’d recognise that Liz’s disastrous “no half-in-half-out” policy was a major factor contributing to the current situation.
Meghan and Harry's standing among the British people is not quite as bad as Prince Andrew's, but it's a long way below everyone else in the royal family. I don't think they are any sort of threat, however much insight they provide into the problems faced by titled multi-millionaires.
I am far less worried about them than I was 2 years ago, when I think they did real political damage - particularly in the Carribean and amongst younger non-white Britons here.
But, they've shot their bolt now.
Hmm. Arguably Harry identified the right question (what does the Spare Heir do once they're not needed any more?) and had a better answer than his uncles (get the hell out of Dodge and do something else with the rest of his life).
Which is not the answer that the tabloids wanted. And some of the fuckups on the way have been blown up into great evil as a result.
He could have chosen to withdraw from public life and work hard for his charities and causes.
Instead, he (and his wife) has built his ‘career’ on criticising his own family - something which was quickly wearing off before the events of this week.
You'll love Harry's book launch. Especially if it's at the Al Fayed place in Finland.
Why shouldn't a person criticise family members if they've treated them like absolute dirt? In real life, people do it all the time. Who TF does the king think he is?
I wonder whether Harry will be allowed to his grandmother's funeral.
"It is understood Harry was at Frogmore cottage in Windsor when Charles called to say he should not bring his wife.
The Sussexes had announced they would travel up to Balmoral together, without consulting royals, The Sun reported.
But a source told the paper: "Charles told Harry that it wasn't right or appropriate for Meghan to be in Balmoral at such a deeply sad time.
'It was pointed out to him that Kate was not going and that the numbers really should be limited to the very closest family. Charles made it very, very clear Meghan would not be welcome.' [...]
Harry was also refused a seat on the RAF plane that took up his brother William, now the Prince of Wales, as well as Prince Andrew and Prince Edward."
Thinking further about that, what an utterly appalling piece of shittiness declining to give your own brother a lift to see his dying grandmother. I don't do the Daily Mail blood boiling about the Royal Family thing, but that is as spiteful a bit of shittiness as it is possible to imagine.
The RAF lot got to balmoral at 5pm so landed Aberdeen say 1545 so left London 1415. So he has been told to fuck off by 2 pm absolute latest. So either he was - almost incredibly - deprived of the chance of final words with his grandmother, or everyone involved knew she was dead by then anyway (and it is still a jawdropping bit of petty shittiness).
We are straight into a Royal crisis when people cotton on to this.
Nah. People won't take Harry's side.
On most issues, no. If his brother doused him with petrol and set fire to him, probably yes. Punishing him for having an awful wife by refusing him access to his dying grandmother is in that kind of area.
🇺🇦 The Armed Forces of Ukraine are successfully counterrattacking in the south of Ukraine, currently the defenders have advanced several tens of kilometers in various directions – Humeniuk, spokeswoman of the press center of Operational Command "Pivden" (South)
Go for Kherson for a quicker end - and much tighter pressure on Putin in Moscow - but many many more dead. Alternatively, let's see how the Russians fight now their ammo, food and reserves have been blocked off from reaching them.
Whoever is now commanding those troops in Kherson has the chance for history to remember him as a humanitarian - or a butcher.
Nicola Sturgeon becomes the first First Minister in history to sign a proclamation document… the Acts of Union and Scotland’s constitutional tie to England loom large in this moment.
The 'Oath' signed to protect the Protestant Church of Scotland.
Charles’s “kind” comments about Harry and Meghan need to be seen in the context of Harry’s book deal. The firm are terrified about it’s contents.
Thanks to events, they’ve got H&M pinned down. This is their one and only opportunity.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall!
If Charles was smart, he’d recognise that Liz’s disastrous “no half-in-half-out” policy was a major factor contributing to the current situation.
Meghan and Harry's standing among the British people is not quite as bad as Prince Andrew's, but it's a long way below everyone else in the royal family. I don't think they are any sort of threat, however much insight they provide into the problems faced by titled multi-millionaires.
I am far less worried about them than I was 2 years ago, when I think they did real political damage - particularly in the Carribean and amongst younger non-white Britons here.
But, they've shot their bolt now.
Hmm. Arguably Harry identified the right question (what does the Spare Heir do once they're not needed any more?) and had a better answer than his uncles (get the hell out of Dodge and do something else with the rest of his life).
Which is not the answer that the tabloids wanted. And some of the fuckups on the way have been blown up into great evil as a result.
He could have chosen to withdraw from public life and work hard for his charities and causes.
Instead, he (and his wife) has built his ‘career’ on criticising his own family - something which was quickly wearing off before the events of this week.
You'll love Harry's book launch. Especially if it's at the Al Fayed place in Finland.
Why shouldn't a person criticise family members if they've treated them like absolute dirt? In real life, people do it all the time. Who TF does the king think he is?
I wonder whether Harry will be allowed to his grandmother's funeral.
"It is understood Harry was at Frogmore cottage in Windsor when Charles called to say he should not bring his wife.
The Sussexes had announced they would travel up to Balmoral together, without consulting royals, The Sun reported.
But a source told the paper: "Charles told Harry that it wasn't right or appropriate for Meghan to be in Balmoral at such a deeply sad time.
'It was pointed out to him that Kate was not going and that the numbers really should be limited to the very closest family. Charles made it very, very clear Meghan would not be welcome.' [...]
Harry was also refused a seat on the RAF plane that took up his brother William, now the Prince of Wales, as well as Prince Andrew and Prince Edward."
Thinking further about that, what an utterly appalling piece of shittiness declining to give your own brother a lift to see his dying grandmother. I don't do the Daily Mail blood boiling about the Royal Family thing, but that is as spiteful a bit of shittiness as it is possible to imagine.
The RAF lot got to balmoral at 5pm so landed Aberdeen say 1545 so left London 1415. So he has been told to fuck off by 2 pm absolute latest. So either he was - almost incredibly - deprived of the chance of final words with his grandmother, or everyone involved knew she was dead by then anyway (and it is still a jawdropping bit of petty shittiness).
We are straight into a Royal crisis when people cotton on to this.
Nah. People won't take Harry's side.
People already took sides a couple of years ago. I doubt anyone is going to change much either way. Yougov have it 34% popular, 41% disliked which feels about right.
I was a bit confused as to why there was a Cossack with the biggest sword ever seen being held upside down at the 2nd proclamation. Had they run out of appropriate costumes at the fancy dress shop.
You could put anything in these ceremonies and if anyone questions it just say it is tradition.
I love the civil war costume you get from the Yeomen in the City of London. I always picture a terrorist having a pop and being impaled on a halberd.
Charles’s “kind” comments about Harry and Meghan need to be seen in the context of Harry’s book deal. The firm are terrified about it’s contents.
Thanks to events, they’ve got H&M pinned down. This is their one and only opportunity.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall!
If Charles was smart, he’d recognise that Liz’s disastrous “no half-in-half-out” policy was a major factor contributing to the current situation.
Meghan and Harry's standing among the British people is not quite as bad as Prince Andrew's, but it's a long way below everyone else in the royal family. I don't think they are any sort of threat, however much insight they provide into the problems faced by titled multi-millionaires.
I am far less worried about them than I was 2 years ago, when I think they did real political damage - particularly in the Carribean and amongst younger non-white Britons here.
But, they've shot their bolt now.
Hmm. Arguably Harry identified the right question (what does the Spare Heir do once they're not needed any more?) and had a better answer than his uncles (get the hell out of Dodge and do something else with the rest of his life).
Which is not the answer that the tabloids wanted. And some of the fuckups on the way have been blown up into great evil as a result.
He could have chosen to withdraw from public life and work hard for his charities and causes.
Instead, he (and his wife) has built his ‘career’ on criticising his own family - something which was quickly wearing off before the events of this week.
You'll love Harry's book launch. Especially if it's at the Al Fayed place in Finland.
Why shouldn't a person criticise family members if they've treated them like absolute dirt? In real life, people do it all the time. Who TF does the king think he is?
I wonder whether Harry will be allowed to his grandmother's funeral.
"It is understood Harry was at Frogmore cottage in Windsor when Charles called to say he should not bring his wife.
The Sussexes had announced they would travel up to Balmoral together, without consulting royals, The Sun reported.
But a source told the paper: "Charles told Harry that it wasn't right or appropriate for Meghan to be in Balmoral at such a deeply sad time.
'It was pointed out to him that Kate was not going and that the numbers really should be limited to the very closest family. Charles made it very, very clear Meghan would not be welcome.' [...]
Harry was also refused a seat on the RAF plane that took up his brother William, now the Prince of Wales, as well as Prince Andrew and Prince Edward."
Thinking further about that, what an utterly appalling piece of shittiness declining to give your own brother a lift to see his dying grandmother. I don't do the Daily Mail blood boiling about the Royal Family thing, but that is as spiteful a bit of shittiness as it is possible to imagine.
The RAF lot got to balmoral at 5pm so landed Aberdeen say 1545 so left London 1415. So he has been told to fuck off by 2 pm absolute latest. So either he was - almost incredibly - deprived of the chance of final words with his grandmother, or everyone involved knew she was dead by then anyway (and it is still a jawdropping bit of petty shittiness).
We are straight into a Royal crisis when people cotton on to this.
I think it was largely a question of time. They could not wait for him and even they were too late. But I agree it doesn't look good.
Ah possible, though not easily deduced from "refused a seat."
🇺🇦 The Armed Forces of Ukraine are successfully counterrattacking in the south of Ukraine, currently the defenders have advanced several tens of kilometers in various directions – Humeniuk, spokeswoman of the press center of Operational Command "Pivden" (South)
Go for Kherson for a quicker end - and much tighter pressure on Putin in Moscow - but many many more dead. Alternatively, let's see how the Russians fight now their ammo, food and reserves have been blocked off from reaching them.
Whoever is now commanding those troops in Kherson has the chance for history to remember him as a humanitarian - or a butcher.
I am sitting in a beautiful Alentejano garden staring at the sunlit olive groves, with a swimming pool awaiting, but I cannot tear myself from social media. Watching a potentially world changing war unfold in real time is quite compelling
Our resident Ukrainian is visibly excited by what has been happening the last 2 days, but also I can tell there’s a feeling of fear. Stalemate you can get mentally used to. When wars of movement open up everything suddenly becomes possible, both good and bad.
We’re making sure she knows we are following the news, but without going on about it too much.
@christogrozev If the Russian army left Svatovo as this guy says on camera - and Svatovo is about 60 km from the nearest town taken over by Ukraine - this would be the first case of retreat long before even attempting to defend a long-held position. Something bigger must be brewing inside if so
I think what they are doing is finding a line that they can reinforce and resupply to the required level and, unfortunately for them, that's a long way back given their loss of railway lines and supply depots around Izyum. Stopping a panicking rout, however, is one of the most difficult things in the military playbook.
The Russian border might end up as the only option. They know the Ukes won’t cross
But what a humiliation for Putin
I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, fearing resilient counter counter attack, but for the sake of Ukraine it's nice to believe for a bit.
There's no particular reason to suppose that a Russian counter-attack is on the way. Insofar as one can see, most of the Russian armed forces are crap and many of the best units have been sent to shore up Kherson.
If the Ukrainians really have seized both Izyum and Kupiansk then that implies the collapse of the Russian positions west of the Oskil river, i.e. the liberation of most of the occupied areas of the Kharkiv oblast. If the bridges across the river are taken intact then they might even be able to strike right through into the north of the Luhansk oblast, where the Russians only recently celebrated the completion of their conquest. These are the kinds of reverses that the Russian state is going to find increasingly hard to hide from, or explain to, its people.
Putin can see his end is theoretically in sight. He is said to be obsessed with the awful end of Gadaffi. A perilous moment for the world
And all so extraordinarily unnecessary. Putin was rich beyond belief. There was not functioning opposition to him in Russia. Across Europe, his friends were likely to be elected, and ditto perhaps in the US.
The EU and NATO were both facing existential internal crises. Germany was shutting down its nuclear power plants.
Putin was ascendent.
And now Russia will be humiliated. And Putin may find himself deposed and likely dead.
Charles’s “kind” comments about Harry and Meghan need to be seen in the context of Harry’s book deal. The firm are terrified about it’s contents.
Thanks to events, they’ve got H&M pinned down. This is their one and only opportunity.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall!
If Charles was smart, he’d recognise that Liz’s disastrous “no half-in-half-out” policy was a major factor contributing to the current situation.
Meghan and Harry's standing among the British people is not quite as bad as Prince Andrew's, but it's a long way below everyone else in the royal family. I don't think they are any sort of threat, however much insight they provide into the problems faced by titled multi-millionaires.
I am far less worried about them than I was 2 years ago, when I think they did real political damage - particularly in the Carribean and amongst younger non-white Britons here.
But, they've shot their bolt now.
Hmm. Arguably Harry identified the right question (what does the Spare Heir do once they're not needed any more?) and had a better answer than his uncles (get the hell out of Dodge and do something else with the rest of his life).
Which is not the answer that the tabloids wanted. And some of the fuckups on the way have been blown up into great evil as a result.
He could have chosen to withdraw from public life and work hard for his charities and causes.
Instead, he (and his wife) has built his ‘career’ on criticising his own family - something which was quickly wearing off before the events of this week.
You'll love Harry's book launch. Especially if it's at the Al Fayed place in Finland.
Why shouldn't a person criticise family members if they've treated them like absolute dirt? In real life, people do it all the time. Who TF does the king think he is?
I wonder whether Harry will be allowed to his grandmother's funeral.
"It is understood Harry was at Frogmore cottage in Windsor when Charles called to say he should not bring his wife.
The Sussexes had announced they would travel up to Balmoral together, without consulting royals, The Sun reported.
But a source told the paper: "Charles told Harry that it wasn't right or appropriate for Meghan to be in Balmoral at such a deeply sad time.
'It was pointed out to him that Kate was not going and that the numbers really should be limited to the very closest family. Charles made it very, very clear Meghan would not be welcome.' [...]
Harry was also refused a seat on the RAF plane that took up his brother William, now the Prince of Wales, as well as Prince Andrew and Prince Edward."
Thinking further about that, what an utterly appalling piece of shittiness declining to give your own brother a lift to see his dying grandmother. I don't do the Daily Mail blood boiling about the Royal Family thing, but that is as spiteful a bit of shittiness as it is possible to imagine.
The RAF lot got to balmoral at 5pm so landed Aberdeen say 1545 so left London 1415. So he has been told to fuck off by 2 pm absolute latest. So either he was - almost incredibly - deprived of the chance of final words with his grandmother, or everyone involved knew she was dead by then anyway (and it is still a jawdropping bit of petty shittiness).
We are straight into a Royal crisis when people cotton on to this.
I think you recently made the point that Billy Bawheid would suffer in comparison to a King Charles who may polish up well. I'm increasingly of the opinion that he's dimly tone deaf, which on the assumption that he runs his own showbiz operation is provable by the Carribean fiasco and stupid stunts like secretly selling the Big Issue, oops, where did all those photographers come from.
@christogrozev If the Russian army left Svatovo as this guy says on camera - and Svatovo is about 60 km from the nearest town taken over by Ukraine - this would be the first case of retreat long before even attempting to defend a long-held position. Something bigger must be brewing inside if so
I think what they are doing is finding a line that they can reinforce and resupply to the required level and, unfortunately for them, that's a long way back given their loss of railway lines and supply depots around Izyum. Stopping a panicking rout, however, is one of the most difficult things in the military playbook.
The Russian border might end up as the only option. They know the Ukes won’t cross
But what a humiliation for Putin
I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, fearing resilient counter counter attack, but for the sake of Ukraine it's nice to believe for a bit.
There's no particular reason to suppose that a Russian counter-attack is on the way. Insofar as one can see, most of the Russian armed forces are crap and many of the best units have been sent to shore up Kherson.
If the Ukrainians really have seized both Izyum and Kupiansk then that implies the collapse of the Russian positions west of the Oskil river, i.e. the liberation of most of the occupied areas of the Kharkiv oblast. If the bridges across the river are taken intact then they might even be able to strike right through into the north of the Luhansk oblast, where the Russians only recently celebrated the completion of their conquest. These are the kinds of reverses that the Russian state is going to find increasingly hard to hide from, or explain to, its people.
Putin can see his end is theoretically in sight. He is said to be obsessed with the awful end of Gadaffi. A perilous moment for the world
And all so extraordinarily unnecessary. Putin was rich beyond belief. There was not functioning opposition to him in Russia. Across Europe, his friends were likely to be elected, and ditto perhaps in the US.
The EU and NATO were both facing existential internal crises. Germany was shutting down its nuclear power plants.
Putin was ascendent.
And now Russia will be humiliated. And Putin may find himself deposed and likely dead.
Just as a warning: there's no guarantees that the person who takes over from Putin won't be even more of a nationalist than he is and even worse.
Nicola Sturgeon becomes the first First Minister in history to sign a proclamation document… the Acts of Union and Scotland’s constitutional tie to England loom large in this moment.
The 'Oath' signed to protect the Protestant Church of Scotland.
Edit: more specifically the [Established] Church of Scotland. That was put into the Treaty of Union to keep the ministers happy, like the retention of Scots Law did the lawyers (and also everyone who owned land, for obvious reasons of stability).
Come to think of it, the Kirk isn't Established any more - and it hasn't been since the 1920s. So this must be the fourth time they're using an obsolete wording in the Proclamation. How odd.
I was a bit confused as to why there was a Cossack with the biggest sword ever seen being held upside down at the 2nd proclamation. Had they run out of appropriate costumes at the fancy dress shop.
You could put anything in these ceremonies and if anyone questions it just say it is tradition.
That is so true. Especially if it's said in a stentorian voice. Reference to Henry VIII optional.
If even half of what Twitter is saying is true you begin to wonder whether there will be time for the Russians to stop the advance at Luhansk, never mind anywhere else.
The madness of King Woolie has set in. I just gave a minute to considering if Her Majesty ever tried a Findus Crispy Pancake. I could not come up with scenario in which she had.
@christogrozev If the Russian army left Svatovo as this guy says on camera - and Svatovo is about 60 km from the nearest town taken over by Ukraine - this would be the first case of retreat long before even attempting to defend a long-held position. Something bigger must be brewing inside if so
I think what they are doing is finding a line that they can reinforce and resupply to the required level and, unfortunately for them, that's a long way back given their loss of railway lines and supply depots around Izyum. Stopping a panicking rout, however, is one of the most difficult things in the military playbook.
The Russian border might end up as the only option. They know the Ukes won’t cross
But what a humiliation for Putin
I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, fearing resilient counter counter attack, but for the sake of Ukraine it's nice to believe for a bit.
There's no particular reason to suppose that a Russian counter-attack is on the way. Insofar as one can see, most of the Russian armed forces are crap and many of the best units have been sent to shore up Kherson.
If the Ukrainians really have seized both Izyum and Kupiansk then that implies the collapse of the Russian positions west of the Oskil river, i.e. the liberation of most of the occupied areas of the Kharkiv oblast. If the bridges across the river are taken intact then they might even be able to strike right through into the north of the Luhansk oblast, where the Russians only recently celebrated the completion of their conquest. These are the kinds of reverses that the Russian state is going to find increasingly hard to hide from, or explain to, its people.
Putin can see his end is theoretically in sight. He is said to be obsessed with the awful end of Gadaffi. A perilous moment for the world
And all so extraordinarily unnecessary. Putin was rich beyond belief. There was not functioning opposition to him in Russia. Across Europe, his friends were likely to be elected, and ditto perhaps in the US.
The EU and NATO were both facing existential internal crises. Germany was shutting down its nuclear power plants.
Putin was ascendent.
And now Russia will be humiliated. And Putin may find himself deposed and likely dead.
We probably won't be that fortunate, but you make a good point - he was secure and powerful, influetial well beyond his borders, and he's thrown everything into doubt for an imperial dream that he cannot truly believe was justified or necessary given his wildly divergent explanations.
Why do you hate people taking back control from their unelected rulers?
Are you a remoaner?
Even as the child of immigrants I bet a bit of you is *secretly proud* of that map. It is disturbingly impressive
Yes, really proud of things like the Bengal famine and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
Here's the thing: I've been on here long enough and know you well enough to know that's bollocks. You used to post regularly about our "wonderful history" including imperial links and heritage.
You changed your tune post Brexit because you wanted an angle to troll that would grate, and thought this a profitable one.
@christogrozev If the Russian army left Svatovo as this guy says on camera - and Svatovo is about 60 km from the nearest town taken over by Ukraine - this would be the first case of retreat long before even attempting to defend a long-held position. Something bigger must be brewing inside if so
I think what they are doing is finding a line that they can reinforce and resupply to the required level and, unfortunately for them, that's a long way back given their loss of railway lines and supply depots around Izyum. Stopping a panicking rout, however, is one of the most difficult things in the military playbook.
The Russian border might end up as the only option. They know the Ukes won’t cross
But what a humiliation for Putin
I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, fearing resilient counter counter attack, but for the sake of Ukraine it's nice to believe for a bit.
There's no particular reason to suppose that a Russian counter-attack is on the way. Insofar as one can see, most of the Russian armed forces are crap and many of the best units have been sent to shore up Kherson.
If the Ukrainians really have seized both Izyum and Kupiansk then that implies the collapse of the Russian positions west of the Oskil river, i.e. the liberation of most of the occupied areas of the Kharkiv oblast. If the bridges across the river are taken intact then they might even be able to strike right through into the north of the Luhansk oblast, where the Russians only recently celebrated the completion of their conquest. These are the kinds of reverses that the Russian state is going to find increasingly hard to hide from, or explain to, its people.
Putin can see his end is theoretically in sight. He is said to be obsessed with the awful end of Gadaffi. A perilous moment for the world
Also Ceaușescu and Saddam , Vlad, if you're lurking.
He would probably be wise to start gathering his loot and finding somewhere that will give him asylum and live out his days without a bayonet up his backside.
I was a bit confused as to why there was a Cossack with the biggest sword ever seen being held upside down at the 2nd proclamation. Had they run out of appropriate costumes at the fancy dress shop.
You could put anything in these ceremonies and if anyone questions it just say it is tradition.
That is so true. Especially if it's said in a stentorian voice. Reference to Henry VIII optional.
'Dates back as far as Anglo Saxon times...'
Must be one of those Whig reformers one of us mentioned earlier.
I was a bit confused as to why there was a Cossack with the biggest sword ever seen being held upside down at the 2nd proclamation. Had they run out of appropriate costumes at the fancy dress shop.
You could put anything in these ceremonies and if anyone questions it just say it is tradition.
That is so true. Especially if it's said in a stentorian voice. Reference to Henry VIII optional.
@christogrozev If the Russian army left Svatovo as this guy says on camera - and Svatovo is about 60 km from the nearest town taken over by Ukraine - this would be the first case of retreat long before even attempting to defend a long-held position. Something bigger must be brewing inside if so
I think what they are doing is finding a line that they can reinforce and resupply to the required level and, unfortunately for them, that's a long way back given their loss of railway lines and supply depots around Izyum. Stopping a panicking rout, however, is one of the most difficult things in the military playbook.
The Russian border might end up as the only option. They know the Ukes won’t cross
But what a humiliation for Putin
I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, fearing resilient counter counter attack, but for the sake of Ukraine it's nice to believe for a bit.
There's no particular reason to suppose that a Russian counter-attack is on the way. Insofar as one can see, most of the Russian armed forces are crap and many of the best units have been sent to shore up Kherson.
If the Ukrainians really have seized both Izyum and Kupiansk then that implies the collapse of the Russian positions west of the Oskil river, i.e. the liberation of most of the occupied areas of the Kharkiv oblast. If the bridges across the river are taken intact then they might even be able to strike right through into the north of the Luhansk oblast, where the Russians only recently celebrated the completion of their conquest. These are the kinds of reverses that the Russian state is going to find increasingly hard to hide from, or explain to, its people.
Putin can see his end is theoretically in sight. He is said to be obsessed with the awful end of Gadaffi. A perilous moment for the world
And all so extraordinarily unnecessary. Putin was rich beyond belief. There was not functioning opposition to him in Russia. Across Europe, his friends were likely to be elected, and ditto perhaps in the US.
The EU and NATO were both facing existential internal crises. Germany was shutting down its nuclear power plants.
Putin was ascendent.
And now Russia will be humiliated. And Putin may find himself deposed and likely dead.
Just as a warning: there's no guarantees that the person who takes over from Putin won't be even more of a nationalist than he is and even worse.
Yeah.
But the reality is that Russia has been defeated militarily.
Now, sure, whoever follows Putin might be worse. But he'll be a lot poorer worse, and he's going to be focused on keeping Russia together in the medium term.
Russia's capacity for offensive operations has been utterly destroyed.
Pretty clear Russia is now losing this war, and badly, and swiftly
Putin has two cards to play:
1 claim it is now total war against NATO, and mobilize the nation
2 some form of nuclear chaos. Either zap the Zap plant, or drop tactical nukes
Trouble is 1 would be supremely unpopular in Russia, especially in his own elite circles, and it is not clear how 2 benefits Russia, other than sowing chaos and fear everywhere
3. Call for ceasefire and hope something turns up?
Couldn't they use tactical nukes to cover a retreat? (Just asking.) Or the threat of using them.
The madness of King Woolie has set in. I just gave a minute to considering if Her Majesty ever tried a Findus Crispy Pancake. I could not come up with scenario in which she had.
More a Kraft Cheesey Pasta woman I believe, sucked the orange powder straight from the packet like a good 'un.
Our resident Ukrainian is visibly excited by what has been happening the last 2 days, but also I can tell there’s a feeling of fear. Stalemate you can get mentally used to. When wars of movement open up everything suddenly becomes possible, both good and bad.
We’re making sure she knows we are following the news, but without going on about it too much.
Ours don't seem to care or are actively avoiding the news. They are from Kharkov and are ethnically, culturally and linguistically Russian like many of the Ukrainians refugees - most of the really fucked up places are in the east.
@christogrozev If the Russian army left Svatovo as this guy says on camera - and Svatovo is about 60 km from the nearest town taken over by Ukraine - this would be the first case of retreat long before even attempting to defend a long-held position. Something bigger must be brewing inside if so
I think what they are doing is finding a line that they can reinforce and resupply to the required level and, unfortunately for them, that's a long way back given their loss of railway lines and supply depots around Izyum. Stopping a panicking rout, however, is one of the most difficult things in the military playbook.
The Russian border might end up as the only option. They know the Ukes won’t cross
But what a humiliation for Putin
I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, fearing resilient counter counter attack, but for the sake of Ukraine it's nice to believe for a bit.
There's no particular reason to suppose that a Russian counter-attack is on the way. Insofar as one can see, most of the Russian armed forces are crap and many of the best units have been sent to shore up Kherson.
If the Ukrainians really have seized both Izyum and Kupiansk then that implies the collapse of the Russian positions west of the Oskil river, i.e. the liberation of most of the occupied areas of the Kharkiv oblast. If the bridges across the river are taken intact then they might even be able to strike right through into the north of the Luhansk oblast, where the Russians only recently celebrated the completion of their conquest. These are the kinds of reverses that the Russian state is going to find increasingly hard to hide from, or explain to, its people.
Putin can see his end is theoretically in sight. He is said to be obsessed with the awful end of Gadaffi. A perilous moment for the world
And all so extraordinarily unnecessary. Putin was rich beyond belief. There was not functioning opposition to him in Russia. Across Europe, his friends were likely to be elected, and ditto perhaps in the US.
The EU and NATO were both facing existential internal crises. Germany was shutting down its nuclear power plants.
Putin was ascendent.
And now Russia will be humiliated. And Putin may find himself deposed and likely dead.
It’s hard to think of a precedent for something so self-destructive isn’t it? But then. I suppose, going back, we were none of us sure the west would reunite over this. Thanks to Zelensky (and actually, on this one, from a small number of brave leaders including Boris) we did.
🇺🇦 The Armed Forces of Ukraine are successfully counterrattacking in the south of Ukraine, currently the defenders have advanced several tens of kilometers in various directions – Humeniuk, spokeswoman of the press center of Operational Command "Pivden" (South)
Go for Kherson for a quicker end - and much tighter pressure on Putin in Moscow - but many many more dead. Alternatively, let's see how the Russians fight now their ammo, food and reserves have been blocked off from reaching them.
Whoever is now commanding those troops in Kherson has the chance for history to remember him as a humanitarian - or a butcher.
I am sitting in a beautiful Alentejano garden staring at the sunlit olive groves, with a swimming pool awaiting, but I cannot tear myself from social media. Watching a potentially world changing war unfold in real time is quite compelling
The fact you can now follow wars almost instantaneously - with supporting gruesome clips - is a remarkable turn of events. It has become somewhat of a sporting spectacle - cheering your own side on or trolling the victors. It is also utterly compelling and very bad news for those of us with obsessive compulsive natures.
Gone are the days when you got the latest war updates from Pheidippides who had run 26 miles with the news - then dropped down dead.
Nicola Sturgeon becomes the first First Minister in history to sign a proclamation document… the Acts of Union and Scotland’s constitutional tie to England loom large in this moment.
The 'Oath' signed to protect the Protestant Church of Scotland.
Edit: more specifically the [Established] Church of Scotland. That was put into the Treaty of Union to keep the ministers happy, like the retention of Scots Law did the lawyers (and also everyone who owned land, for obvious reasons of stability).
Come to think of it, the Kirk isn't Established any more - and it hasn't been since the 1920s. So this must be the fourth time they're using an obsolete wording in the Proclamation. How odd.
No, it is still established as the National Church, it’s just the government gave up the right to make appointments or to guide it on matters spiritual (ie overrule the Declaratory Articles). This is separate from that and undertaking that it will remain the National Church without being replaced by any other.
So it does make sense in that context.
It was also, I might add, the only way it could recognise the distinctive status of Scotland within the United Kingdom before the establishment of a Scottish Parliament, as the CoS was about the only truly National body going. And not just a religious one either. When did it lose substantial control of education? I want to say 1944?
If even half of what Twitter is saying is true you begin to wonder whether there will be time for the Russians to stop the advance at Luhansk, never mind anywhere else.
It wouldn't be a surprise if a third thrust is coming, probably towards Melitopol. There have been comments that partisans have been putting up flags in Mariupol as well .
The madness of King Woolie has set in. I just gave a minute to considering if Her Majesty ever tried a Findus Crispy Pancake. I could not come up with scenario in which she had.
More a Kraft Cheesey Pasta woman I believe, sucked the orange powder straight from the packet like a good 'un.
I did like hearing that when HM had fish and chips, she insisted that the chips be stacked into a tower.
🇺🇦 The Armed Forces of Ukraine are successfully counterrattacking in the south of Ukraine, currently the defenders have advanced several tens of kilometers in various directions – Humeniuk, spokeswoman of the press center of Operational Command "Pivden" (South)
Go for Kherson for a quicker end - and much tighter pressure on Putin in Moscow - but many many more dead. Alternatively, let's see how the Russians fight now their ammo, food and reserves have been blocked off from reaching them.
Whoever is now commanding those troops in Kherson has the chance for history to remember him as a humanitarian - or a butcher.
I am sitting in a beautiful Alentejano garden staring at the sunlit olive groves, with a swimming pool awaiting, but I cannot tear myself from social media. Watching a potentially world changing war unfold in real time is quite compelling
The fact you can now follow wars almost instantaneously - with supporting gruesome clips - is a remarkable turn of events. It has become somewhat of a sporting spectacle - cheering your own side on or trolling the victors. It is also utterly compelling and very bad news for those of us with obsessive compulsive natures.
Gone are the days when you got the latest war updates from Pheidippides who had run 26 miles with the news - then dropped down dead.
An outcome not without its attractions after barrages from the more breathless twitter war correspondents.
@christogrozev If the Russian army left Svatovo as this guy says on camera - and Svatovo is about 60 km from the nearest town taken over by Ukraine - this would be the first case of retreat long before even attempting to defend a long-held position. Something bigger must be brewing inside if so
I think what they are doing is finding a line that they can reinforce and resupply to the required level and, unfortunately for them, that's a long way back given their loss of railway lines and supply depots around Izyum. Stopping a panicking rout, however, is one of the most difficult things in the military playbook.
The Russian border might end up as the only option. They know the Ukes won’t cross
But what a humiliation for Putin
I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, fearing resilient counter counter attack, but for the sake of Ukraine it's nice to believe for a bit.
There's no particular reason to suppose that a Russian counter-attack is on the way. Insofar as one can see, most of the Russian armed forces are crap and many of the best units have been sent to shore up Kherson.
If the Ukrainians really have seized both Izyum and Kupiansk then that implies the collapse of the Russian positions west of the Oskil river, i.e. the liberation of most of the occupied areas of the Kharkiv oblast. If the bridges across the river are taken intact then they might even be able to strike right through into the north of the Luhansk oblast, where the Russians only recently celebrated the completion of their conquest. These are the kinds of reverses that the Russian state is going to find increasingly hard to hide from, or explain to, its people.
Putin can see his end is theoretically in sight. He is said to be obsessed with the awful end of Gadaffi. A perilous moment for the world
And all so extraordinarily unnecessary. Putin was rich beyond belief. There was not functioning opposition to him in Russia. Across Europe, his friends were likely to be elected, and ditto perhaps in the US.
The EU and NATO were both facing existential internal crises. Germany was shutting down its nuclear power plants.
Putin was ascendent.
And now Russia will be humiliated. And Putin may find himself deposed and likely dead.
Just as a warning: there's no guarantees that the person who takes over from Putin won't be even more of a nationalist than he is and even worse.
Yeah.
But the reality is that Russia has been defeated militarily.
Now, sure, whoever follows Putin might be worse. But he'll be a lot poorer worse, and he's going to be focused on keeping Russia together in the medium term.
Russia's capacity for offensive operations has been utterly destroyed.
So what does the Russian state do next?
Best for the country would presumably for Putin to have an accident involving a window, then the state withdraws to its borders and be very very very quiet and not annoy anyone for a long time. Accept the reality that, apart from nukes, they don't have any power to do much else.
Our resident Ukrainian is visibly excited by what has been happening the last 2 days, but also I can tell there’s a feeling of fear. Stalemate you can get mentally used to. When wars of movement open up everything suddenly becomes possible, both good and bad.
We’re making sure she knows we are following the news, but without going on about it too much.
Ours don't seem to care or are actively avoiding the news. They are from Kharkov and are ethnically, culturally and linguistically Russian like many of the Ukrainians refugees - most of the really fucked up places are in the east.
My business partner's Ukrainian family includes a mother who is a crack shot. She's keeping her head down hoping she doesn't have to go back - and immediately get enlisted.
The madness of King Woolie has set in. I just gave a minute to considering if Her Majesty ever tried a Findus Crispy Pancake. I could not come up with scenario in which she had.
Factory visit. Trade show. I reckon she ate a load of random shite.
The madness of King Woolie has set in. I just gave a minute to considering if Her Majesty ever tried a Findus Crispy Pancake. I could not come up with scenario in which she had.
Factory visit. Trade show. I reckon she ate a load of random shite.
I like to think the crispy pancake eluded her. And she got through 96 years without ever having a yellow opal fruit. Those were her red lines.
The madness of King Woolie has set in. I just gave a minute to considering if Her Majesty ever tried a Findus Crispy Pancake. I could not come up with scenario in which she had.
I had to eat those regularly as a child because my sister loved them.
They were utterly vile. I don’t think I ever finished one.
The madness of King Woolie has set in. I just gave a minute to considering if Her Majesty ever tried a Findus Crispy Pancake. I could not come up with scenario in which she had.
More a Kraft Cheesey Pasta woman I believe, sucked the orange powder straight from the packet like a good 'un.
I did like hearing that when HM had fish and chips, she insisted that the chips be stacked into a tower.
The madness of King Woolie has set in. I just gave a minute to considering if Her Majesty ever tried a Findus Crispy Pancake. I could not come up with scenario in which she had.
Factory visit. Trade show. I reckon she ate a load of random shite.
I like to think the crispy pancake eluded her. And she got through 96 years without ever having a yellow opal fruit. Those were her red lines.
After the Findus chow mein with the crispy noodles she said “never again”.
🇺🇦 The Armed Forces of Ukraine are successfully counterrattacking in the south of Ukraine, currently the defenders have advanced several tens of kilometers in various directions – Humeniuk, spokeswoman of the press center of Operational Command "Pivden" (South)
Go for Kherson for a quicker end - and much tighter pressure on Putin in Moscow - but many many more dead. Alternatively, let's see how the Russians fight now their ammo, food and reserves have been blocked off from reaching them.
Whoever is now commanding those troops in Kherson has the chance for history to remember him as a humanitarian - or a butcher.
I am sitting in a beautiful Alentejano garden staring at the sunlit olive groves, with a swimming pool awaiting, but I cannot tear myself from social media. Watching a potentially world changing war unfold in real time is quite compelling
The fact you can now follow wars almost instantaneously - with supporting gruesome clips - is a remarkable turn of events. It has become somewhat of a sporting spectacle - cheering your own side on or trolling the victors. It is also utterly compelling and very bad news for those of us with obsessive compulsive natures.
Gone are the days when you got the latest war updates from Pheidippides who had run 26 miles with the news - then dropped down dead.
An outcome not without its attractions after barrages from the more breathless twitter war correspondents.
The arsenal captured in Balakliya is reportedly 5 sq km in size. Combine that with every other warehouse, RU base, rail station, supply point, car park, et. abandoned throughout the oblast, and Russia has now become the number one supplier of weapons to Ukraine by far https://mobile.twitter.com/NixHex33/status/1568580948731609088
Hopefully in the process of being emptied, just in case the Russians get their shit together and try bombing it.
Charles’s “kind” comments about Harry and Meghan need to be seen in the context of Harry’s book deal. The firm are terrified about it’s contents.
Thanks to events, they’ve got H&M pinned down. This is their one and only opportunity.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall!
If Charles was smart, he’d recognise that Liz’s disastrous “no half-in-half-out” policy was a major factor contributing to the current situation.
Meghan and Harry's standing among the British people is not quite as bad as Prince Andrew's, but it's a long way below everyone else in the royal family. I don't think they are any sort of threat, however much insight they provide into the problems faced by titled multi-millionaires.
I am far less worried about them than I was 2 years ago, when I think they did real political damage - particularly in the Carribean and amongst younger non-white Britons here.
But, they've shot their bolt now.
Hmm. Arguably Harry identified the right question (what does the Spare Heir do once they're not needed any more?) and had a better answer than his uncles (get the hell out of Dodge and do something else with the rest of his life).
Which is not the answer that the tabloids wanted. And some of the fuckups on the way have been blown up into great evil as a result.
He could have chosen to withdraw from public life and work hard for his charities and causes.
Instead, he (and his wife) has built his ‘career’ on criticising his own family - something which was quickly wearing off before the events of this week.
You'll love Harry's book launch. Especially if it's at the Al Fayed place in Finland.
Why shouldn't a person criticise family members if they've treated them like absolute dirt? In real life, people do it all the time. Who TF does the king think he is?
I wonder whether Harry will be allowed to his grandmother's funeral.
"It is understood Harry was at Frogmore cottage in Windsor when Charles called to say he should not bring his wife.
The Sussexes had announced they would travel up to Balmoral together, without consulting royals, The Sun reported.
But a source told the paper: "Charles told Harry that it wasn't right or appropriate for Meghan to be in Balmoral at such a deeply sad time.
'It was pointed out to him that Kate was not going and that the numbers really should be limited to the very closest family. Charles made it very, very clear Meghan would not be welcome.' [...]
Harry was also refused a seat on the RAF plane that took up his brother William, now the Prince of Wales, as well as Prince Andrew and Prince Edward."
Thinking further about that, what an utterly appalling piece of shittiness declining to give your own brother a lift to see his dying grandmother. I don't do the Daily Mail blood boiling about the Royal Family thing, but that is as spiteful a bit of shittiness as it is possible to imagine.
The RAF lot got to balmoral at 5pm so landed Aberdeen say 1545 so left London 1415. So he has been told to fuck off by 2 pm absolute latest. So either he was - almost incredibly - deprived of the chance of final words with his grandmother, or everyone involved knew she was dead by then anyway (and it is still a jawdropping bit of petty shittiness).
We are straight into a Royal crisis when people cotton on to this.
I think it was largely a question of time. They could not wait for him and even they were too late. But I agree it doesn't look good.
Ah possible, though not easily deduced from "refused a seat."
I interpreted it as "he was still arguing for Meghan to be able to go at the time he would have had to leave to catch the flight, and his team is spinning this as a refusal".
Our resident Ukrainian is visibly excited by what has been happening the last 2 days, but also I can tell there’s a feeling of fear. Stalemate you can get mentally used to. When wars of movement open up everything suddenly becomes possible, both good and bad.
We’re making sure she knows we are following the news, but without going on about it too much.
Ours don't seem to care or are actively avoiding the news. They are from Kharkov and are ethnically, culturally and linguistically Russian like many of the Ukrainians refugees - most of the really fucked up places are in the east.
I wonder how many of the millions of refugees will want to go back. A fair number will probably prefer their new life.
We had one in clinic the other day, in tears at how kindly he had been treated here.
The madness of King Woolie has set in. I just gave a minute to considering if Her Majesty ever tried a Findus Crispy Pancake. I could not come up with scenario in which she had.
Factory visit. Trade show. I reckon she ate a load of random shite.
I like to think the crispy pancake eluded her. And she got through 96 years without ever having a yellow opal fruit. Those were her red lines.
After the Findus chow mein with the crispy noodles she said “never again”.
The arsenal captured in Balakliya is reportedly 5 sq km in size. Combine that with every other warehouse, RU base, rail station, supply point, car park, et. abandoned throughout the oblast, and Russia has now become the number one supplier of weapons to Ukraine by far https://mobile.twitter.com/NixHex33/status/1568580948731609088
Hopefully in the process of being emptied, just in case the Russians get their shit together and try bombing it.
Somebody is getting a bollocking back at base for not putting a timer on a bomb there....
You have to be REALLY panicked to leave that much kit for the enemy to find.
The arsenal captured in Balakliya is reportedly 5 sq km in size. Combine that with every other warehouse, RU base, rail station, supply point, car park, et. abandoned throughout the oblast, and Russia has now become the number one supplier of weapons to Ukraine by far https://mobile.twitter.com/NixHex33/status/1568580948731609088
Hopefully in the process of being emptied, just in case the Russians get their shit together and try bombing it.
Surprised it hadn't already had the HIMARS treatment.
Charles’s “kind” comments about Harry and Meghan need to be seen in the context of Harry’s book deal. The firm are terrified about it’s contents.
Thanks to events, they’ve got H&M pinned down. This is their one and only opportunity.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall!
If Charles was smart, he’d recognise that Liz’s disastrous “no half-in-half-out” policy was a major factor contributing to the current situation.
Meghan and Harry's standing among the British people is not quite as bad as Prince Andrew's, but it's a long way below everyone else in the royal family. I don't think they are any sort of threat, however much insight they provide into the problems faced by titled multi-millionaires.
I am far less worried about them than I was 2 years ago, when I think they did real political damage - particularly in the Carribean and amongst younger non-white Britons here.
But, they've shot their bolt now.
Hmm. Arguably Harry identified the right question (what does the Spare Heir do once they're not needed any more?) and had a better answer than his uncles (get the hell out of Dodge and do something else with the rest of his life).
Which is not the answer that the tabloids wanted. And some of the fuckups on the way have been blown up into great evil as a result.
He could have chosen to withdraw from public life and work hard for his charities and causes.
Instead, he (and his wife) has built his ‘career’ on criticising his own family - something which was quickly wearing off before the events of this week.
You'll love Harry's book launch. Especially if it's at the Al Fayed place in Finland.
Why shouldn't a person criticise family members if they've treated them like absolute dirt? In real life, people do it all the time. Who TF does the king think he is?
I wonder whether Harry will be allowed to his grandmother's funeral.
"It is understood Harry was at Frogmore cottage in Windsor when Charles called to say he should not bring his wife.
The Sussexes had announced they would travel up to Balmoral together, without consulting royals, The Sun reported.
But a source told the paper: "Charles told Harry that it wasn't right or appropriate for Meghan to be in Balmoral at such a deeply sad time.
'It was pointed out to him that Kate was not going and that the numbers really should be limited to the very closest family. Charles made it very, very clear Meghan would not be welcome.' [...]
Harry was also refused a seat on the RAF plane that took up his brother William, now the Prince of Wales, as well as Prince Andrew and Prince Edward."
Thinking further about that, what an utterly appalling piece of shittiness declining to give your own brother a lift to see his dying grandmother. I don't do the Daily Mail blood boiling about the Royal Family thing, but that is as spiteful a bit of shittiness as it is possible to imagine.
The RAF lot got to balmoral at 5pm so landed Aberdeen say 1545 so left London 1415. So he has been told to fuck off by 2 pm absolute latest. So either he was - almost incredibly - deprived of the chance of final words with his grandmother, or everyone involved knew she was dead by then anyway (and it is still a jawdropping bit of petty shittiness).
We are straight into a Royal crisis when people cotton on to this.
I think it was largely a question of time. They could not wait for him and even they were too late. But I agree it doesn't look good.
Ah possible, though not easily deduced from "refused a seat."
I interpreted it as "he was still arguing for Meghan to be able to go at the time he would have had to leave to catch the flight, and his team is spinning this as a refusal".
We will hear all about it from Meghan via Oprah soon enough. Well, we will hear a view. “Recollections May differ”.
The lead story on the main Russian tabloid is still about their defence of Kupyansk and Izyum. It will be difficult for Russian propagandists to control the narrative on this.
Watching town after town being liberated by the Ukrainian armed forces today has been incredibly moving. From the Estonian perspective, the sense of gratitude for the appalling price that Ukrainians have had to pay is immense. The courage and determination of the Ukrainian nation is literally awe inspiring. As the defeat grows into an ever greater and faster rout, the outlook for the Russian army changes faster than ever. We hear of partisans already in Mariupol, and a further crushing defeat in Kherson. The Ukrainian reserve has not yet been released, so unless the Russian front line can be consolidated within a matter of hours, we could see the rout become a collapse.
Our hopes are fixed and even if this is not the end, the achievements of the past few hours are immense. Glory to Ukraine indeed.
The arsenal captured in Balakliya is reportedly 5 sq km in size. Combine that with every other warehouse, RU base, rail station, supply point, car park, et. abandoned throughout the oblast, and Russia has now become the number one supplier of weapons to Ukraine by far https://mobile.twitter.com/NixHex33/status/1568580948731609088
Hopefully in the process of being emptied, just in case the Russians get their shit together and try bombing it.
Surprised it hadn't already had the HIMARS treatment.
At a certain stage I guess Ukraine has to be aware of making damn sure it gives no space for Russia to make marginally more credible comparisons with the Nazis.
The arsenal captured in Balakliya is reportedly 5 sq km in size. Combine that with every other warehouse, RU base, rail station, supply point, car park, et. abandoned throughout the oblast, and Russia has now become the number one supplier of weapons to Ukraine by far https://mobile.twitter.com/NixHex33/status/1568580948731609088
Hopefully in the process of being emptied, just in case the Russians get their shit together and try bombing it.
Somebody is getting a bollocking back at base for not putting a timer on a bomb there....
You have to be REALLY panicked to leave that much kit for the enemy to find.
How's the infinite Russian ammo looking now @Dura_Ace ?
Charles’s “kind” comments about Harry and Meghan need to be seen in the context of Harry’s book deal. The firm are terrified about it’s contents.
Thanks to events, they’ve got H&M pinned down. This is their one and only opportunity.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall!
If Charles was smart, he’d recognise that Liz’s disastrous “no half-in-half-out” policy was a major factor contributing to the current situation.
Meghan and Harry's standing among the British people is not quite as bad as Prince Andrew's, but it's a long way below everyone else in the royal family. I don't think they are any sort of threat, however much insight they provide into the problems faced by titled multi-millionaires.
I am far less worried about them than I was 2 years ago, when I think they did real political damage - particularly in the Carribean and amongst younger non-white Britons here.
But, they've shot their bolt now.
Hmm. Arguably Harry identified the right question (what does the Spare Heir do once they're not needed any more?) and had a better answer than his uncles (get the hell out of Dodge and do something else with the rest of his life).
Which is not the answer that the tabloids wanted. And some of the fuckups on the way have been blown up into great evil as a result.
He could have chosen to withdraw from public life and work hard for his charities and causes.
Instead, he (and his wife) has built his ‘career’ on criticising his own family - something which was quickly wearing off before the events of this week.
You'll love Harry's book launch. Especially if it's at the Al Fayed place in Finland.
Why shouldn't a person criticise family members if they've treated them like absolute dirt? In real life, people do it all the time. Who TF does the king think he is?
I wonder whether Harry will be allowed to his grandmother's funeral.
"It is understood Harry was at Frogmore cottage in Windsor when Charles called to say he should not bring his wife.
The Sussexes had announced they would travel up to Balmoral together, without consulting royals, The Sun reported.
But a source told the paper: "Charles told Harry that it wasn't right or appropriate for Meghan to be in Balmoral at such a deeply sad time.
'It was pointed out to him that Kate was not going and that the numbers really should be limited to the very closest family. Charles made it very, very clear Meghan would not be welcome.' [...]
Harry was also refused a seat on the RAF plane that took up his brother William, now the Prince of Wales, as well as Prince Andrew and Prince Edward."
Thinking further about that, what an utterly appalling piece of shittiness declining to give your own brother a lift to see his dying grandmother. I don't do the Daily Mail blood boiling about the Royal Family thing, but that is as spiteful a bit of shittiness as it is possible to imagine.
The RAF lot got to balmoral at 5pm so landed Aberdeen say 1545 so left London 1415. So he has been told to fuck off by 2 pm absolute latest. So either he was - almost incredibly - deprived of the chance of final words with his grandmother, or everyone involved knew she was dead by then anyway (and it is still a jawdropping bit of petty shittiness).
We are straight into a Royal crisis when people cotton on to this.
I think it was largely a question of time. They could not wait for him and even they were too late. But I agree it doesn't look good.
Ah possible, though not easily deduced from "refused a seat."
I interpreted it as "he was still arguing for Meghan to be able to go at the time he would have had to leave to catch the flight, and his team is spinning this as a refusal".
We will hear all about it from Meghan via Oprah soon enough. Well, we will hear a view. “Recollections May differ”.
You didn't hear?
Oprah has run away from Meghan, selling her Santa Barbara mansion to Jennifer Anniston of all people.
The arsenal captured in Balakliya is reportedly 5 sq km in size. Combine that with every other warehouse, RU base, rail station, supply point, car park, et. abandoned throughout the oblast, and Russia has now become the number one supplier of weapons to Ukraine by far https://mobile.twitter.com/NixHex33/status/1568580948731609088
Hopefully in the process of being emptied, just in case the Russians get their shit together and try bombing it.
Somebody is getting a bollocking back at base for not putting a timer on a bomb there....
You have to be REALLY panicked to leave that much kit for the enemy to find.
How's the infinite Russian ammo looking now @Dura_Ace ?
Having taken the logistics hubs, very profitable for Ukraine I imagine.
@Nigelb its like the Tet Offensive in its use of partisan warfare/sabotage behind American lines, all synchronised superbly with an outright attack on the front
Tet came as a total shock to the USA, at a time when the Americans complacently thought the war was quietening down with no major moves
In many ways thereafter the Tet was a failure for Hanoi and the Yanks pushed the VC back quite easily
But Tet broke the American will to fight. It showed Americans at home the war was unwinnable and the North would never give up, and would endure any cost. From that moment Saigon 73 was inevitable
Catchy title. Up there with Sean McGlynn's 'Kill them all' about the Albigensian crusade (also the author of 'By Sword an Fire').
It's a depressing read, but it gives a picture if the sheer scale of the slaughter in Vietnam. Its thesis - that My Lai was characteristic rather than an aberration - is disturbing.
Sean McGlynn's argument (which I think is correct) that the popular depiction of medieval armies running out of control, when they pillaged territories and sacked cities, is wrong. Most of the time, these were brutal and effective military strategies, which were commanded from the top.
I think it is a pretty standard feature of war, full stop. Hence the ambiguity of the Johnny Mercer "yebbut we don't talk about that" job.
Sure, you can't win a war, usually, without being cruel to the other side. Morally, there's not a lot of distinction, between the chevauchee, designed to devastate the enemy's economy and inflict starvation on the population, and comprehensive economic sanctions, designed to do much the same.
Yes, except I imagine if you were a small village in the area of a chevauchee, odds on you got My Laied.
Certainly. Murder, rape, and arson, were a feature, not a bug, of the chevauchee.
If even half of what Twitter is saying is true you begin to wonder whether there will be time for the Russians to stop the advance at Luhansk, never mind anywhere else.
The route into Crimea is narrow enough that they can hold the line there, probably through the winter. Not sure about anywhere else.
Watching town after town being liberated by the Ukrainian armed forces today has been incredibly moving. From the Estonian perspective, the sense of gratitude for the appalling price that Ukrainians have had to pay is immense. The courage and determination of the Ukrainian nation is literally awe inspiring. As the defeat grows into an ever greater and faster rout, the outlook for the Russian army changes faster than ever. We hear of partisans already in Mariupol, and a further crushing defeat in Kherson. The Ukrainian reserve has not yet been released, so unless the Russian front line can be consolidated within a matter of hours, we could see the rout become a collapse.
Our hopes are fixed and even if this is not the end, the achievements of the past few hours are immense. Glory to Ukraine indeed.
Looking at the map one could see the Ukes chopping the Russian force in two by driving to the Black Sea around azov
Leaving Crimea isolated and only accessible by sea and by that bridge
It strikes me that by September 26 when Stop the War plans to hold its Labour conference fringe meeting on how to stop the war in Ukraine, the question may be considerably closer to being resolved. It's just that Stop the War might not like the answer.
@christogrozev If the Russian army left Svatovo as this guy says on camera - and Svatovo is about 60 km from the nearest town taken over by Ukraine - this would be the first case of retreat long before even attempting to defend a long-held position. Something bigger must be brewing inside if so
I think what they are doing is finding a line that they can reinforce and resupply to the required level and, unfortunately for them, that's a long way back given their loss of railway lines and supply depots around Izyum. Stopping a panicking rout, however, is one of the most difficult things in the military playbook.
The Russian border might end up as the only option. They know the Ukes won’t cross
But what a humiliation for Putin
I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, fearing resilient counter counter attack, but for the sake of Ukraine it's nice to believe for a bit.
There's no particular reason to suppose that a Russian counter-attack is on the way. Insofar as one can see, most of the Russian armed forces are crap and many of the best units have been sent to shore up Kherson.
If the Ukrainians really have seized both Izyum and Kupiansk then that implies the collapse of the Russian positions west of the Oskil river, i.e. the liberation of most of the occupied areas of the Kharkiv oblast. If the bridges across the river are taken intact then they might even be able to strike right through into the north of the Luhansk oblast, where the Russians only recently celebrated the completion of their conquest. These are the kinds of reverses that the Russian state is going to find increasingly hard to hide from, or explain to, its people.
Putin can see his end is theoretically in sight. He is said to be obsessed with the awful end of Gadaffi. A perilous moment for the world
Also Ceaușescu and Saddam, Vlad, if you're lurking.
Maybe we should use Mar A Largo as a refuge for the world's dictators, rather than have them fight to the bitter end.
Also, what is wrong with Putin’s left arm? He rarely uses it, of late
Hasn't it long been speculated that Putin's stiff left arm is due to his KGB training to hide the bulge in his jacket when carrying a gun? At one point in your video he does use it to scratch his ear so it is clearly not paralysed.
Comments
“Mr President - its time to start something serious
- or we should call off the Military Operation.
There is no third option.
@mod_russia @KremlinRussia_E”
Whole thread fascinating
https://twitter.com/ukraine66251776/status/1568542731021991937?s=21&t=9cQpVOzlba1bzUhki1RJ4A
But this says nothing about the funeral, she'll be there.
Or rather na na na na na na na na na na NAH.
I personally think incorporating Gibraltar into the UK and giving them one MP would be sensible. Also a possible solution for the Atlantic islands who are probably too small to survive as independant entities
🇺🇦 The Armed Forces of Ukraine are successfully counterrattacking in the south of Ukraine, currently the defenders have advanced several tens of kilometers in various directions – Humeniuk, spokeswoman of the press center of Operational Command "Pivden" (South)
https://twitter.com/pravda_eng/status/1568568875754700800?s=21&t=9cQpVOzlba1bzUhki1RJ4A
Sideline yourself, end up sidelined.
If the Ukrainians really have seized both Izyum and Kupiansk then that implies the collapse of the Russian positions west of the Oskil river, i.e. the liberation of most of the occupied areas of the Kharkiv oblast. If the bridges across the river are taken intact then they might even be able to strike right through into the north of the Luhansk oblast, where the Russians only recently celebrated the completion of their conquest. These are the kinds of reverses that the Russian state is going to find increasingly hard to hide from, or explain to, its people.
Be a living history effectively.
The 'Oath' signed to protect the Protestant Church of Scotland.
By @nicolasturgeon of @thesnp https://twitter.com/truthorbare/status/1568533308476203008/photo/1
Edit: more specifically the [Established] Church of Scotland. That was put into the Treaty of Union to keep the ministers happy, like the retention of Scots Law did the lawyers (and also everyone who owned land, for obvious reasons of stability).
The RAF lot got to balmoral at 5pm so landed Aberdeen say 1545 so left London 1415. So he has been told to fuck off by 2 pm absolute latest. So either he was - almost incredibly - deprived of the chance of final words with his grandmother, or everyone involved knew she was dead by then anyway (and it is still a jawdropping bit of petty shittiness).
We are straight into a Royal crisis when people cotton on to this.
https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1568392781520936960
Reading about Ukrainian operations around Kharkiv, I am struck yet again by the reality that the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II is taking place because a not-very-bright mid-level KGB guy thought he could recreate an empire that's already failed at least twice.
Whoever is now commanding those troops in Kherson has the chance for history to remember him as a humanitarian - or a butcher.
We’re making sure she knows we are following the news, but without going on about it too much.
The EU and NATO were both facing existential internal crises. Germany was shutting down its nuclear power plants.
Putin was ascendent.
And now Russia will be humiliated. And Putin may find himself deposed and likely dead.
I could not come up with scenario in which she had.
You changed your tune post Brexit because you wanted an angle to troll that would grate, and thought this a profitable one.
And so it has proven. You are no Wokey leftist.
Maybe there is a suite for him at Mar a Lago.
But the reality is that Russia has been defeated militarily.
Now, sure, whoever follows Putin might be worse. But he'll be a lot poorer worse, and he's going to be focused on keeping Russia together in the medium term.
Russia's capacity for offensive operations has been utterly destroyed.
Gone are the days when you got the latest war updates from Pheidippides who had run 26 miles with the news - then dropped down dead.
So it does make sense in that context.
It was also, I might add, the only way it could recognise the distinctive status of Scotland within the United Kingdom before the establishment of a Scottish Parliament, as the CoS was about the only truly National body going. And not just a religious one either. When did it lose substantial control of education? I want to say 1944?
Oh, the power of being a monarch.
Best for the country would presumably for Putin to have an accident involving a window, then the state withdraws to its borders and be very very very quiet and not annoy anyone for a long time. Accept the reality that, apart from nukes, they don't have any power to do much else.
Don't see it happpening that way, though.
Those were her red lines.
They were utterly vile. I don’t think I ever finished one.
https://mobile.twitter.com/NixHex33/status/1568580948731609088
Hopefully in the process of being emptied, just in case the Russians get their shit together and try bombing it.
We had one in clinic the other day, in tears at how kindly he had been treated here.
You have to be REALLY panicked to leave that much kit for the enemy to find.
Our hopes are fixed and even if this is not the end, the achievements of the past few hours are immense. Glory to Ukraine indeed.
So.
Big breath.
Nice tribute, Emmanuel.
Oprah has run away from Meghan, selling her Santa Barbara mansion to Jennifer Anniston of all people.
Leaving Crimea isolated and only accessible by sea and by that bridge
https://twitter.com/RKWinvisibleman/status/1568566174610341891