Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
We are certainly living in strange times:
  • Russia have massed troops on the border of Ukraine with a serious potential to start a European war
  • Britain is supporting Ukraine with the supply of arms (incidentally, having to fly them around German airspace as they have refused to allow a NATO country (UK) to overfly their country in support of another NATO country (Ukraine))
  • There is an energy crisis due to the combined effect of over-reliance upon unreliable renewables, a lack of investment in and commissioning of nuclear generation; the decommissioning of coal-fired generation capacity and Russia throttling the gas supply to Europe (see the points on Ukraine, above)
  • Factory input costs have increased by around 10% in the last year, fuelling consumer price inflation (currently just under 6% but expected to rise above 7.5% in the coming months)
  • Tax rises that will take the individual's tax burden to the highest level since WWII about to hit
  • Massive national debt built up as a result of financial support throughout the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic
...yet the entire media and political focus is on who drank wine when and with who else two years ago :rolleyes:

Baffling.
 
We are certainly living in strange times:
  • Russia have massed troops on the border of Ukraine with a serious potential to start a European war
  • Britain is supporting Ukraine with the supply of arms (incidentally, having to fly them around German airspace as they have refused to allow a NATO country (UK) to overfly their country in support of another NATO country (Ukraine))
  • There is an energy crisis due to the combined effect of over-reliance upon unreliable renewables, a lack of investment in and commissioning of nuclear generation; the decommissioning of coal-fired generation capacity and Russia throttling the gas supply to Europe (see the points on Ukraine, above)
  • Factory input costs have increased by around 10% in the last year, fuelling consumer price inflation (currently just under 6% but expected to rise above 7.5% in the coming months)
  • Tax rises that will take the individual's tax burden to the highest level since WWII about to hit
  • Massive national debt built up as a result of financial support throughout the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic
...yet the entire media and political focus is on who drank wine when and with who else two years ago :rolleyes:

Baffling.
If the very serious issues you point out are not in the media how did you find out about them? Did you really travel to the Ukraine border and count the troops?
 
We are certainly living in strange times:
  • Russia have massed troops on the border of Ukraine with a serious potential to start a European war
  • Britain is supporting Ukraine with the supply of arms (incidentally, having to fly them around German airspace as they have refused to allow a NATO country (UK) to overfly their country in support of another NATO country (Ukraine))
  • There is an energy crisis due to the combined effect of over-reliance upon unreliable renewables, a lack of investment in and commissioning of nuclear generation; the decommissioning of coal-fired generation capacity and Russia throttling the gas supply to Europe (see the points on Ukraine, above)
  • Factory input costs have increased by around 10% in the last year, fuelling consumer price inflation (currently just under 6% but expected to rise above 7.5% in the coming months)
  • Tax rises that will take the individual's tax burden to the highest level since WWII about to hit
  • Massive national debt built up as a result of financial support throughout the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic
...yet the entire media and political focus is on who drank wine when and with who else two years ago :rolleyes:

Baffling.
I think the points you mention have also been in the media.
 
We are certainly living in strange times:
  • Russia have massed troops on the border of Ukraine with a serious potential to start a European war
The potential to start a 'European' war is due to the involvement of the likes of the UK (the USA are assisting Ukraine also). Is our involvement justified, and is it even intelligent?

  • Britain is supporting Ukraine with the supply of arms (incidentally, having to fly them around German airspace as they have refused to allow a NATO country (UK) to overfly their country in support of another NATO country (Ukraine))
When did Ukraine join NATO?
  • There is an energy crisis due to the combined effect of over-reliance upon unreliable renewables, a lack of investment in and commissioning of nuclear generation; the decommissioning of coal-fired generation capacity and Russia throttling the gas supply to Europe (see the points on Ukraine, above)
Germany so far have refused to licence Nord Stream 2. It might be argued that that is a 'throttling' of supply from Russia. I forecast that will change as Europe, specifically Germany, have a dependency on Russian gas. Far more than we, so far anyway.
The contradiction is allowing Russia the revenues to assist their development, in whatever direction.

I perceive our strategy is reduce our gas demand by telling us to replace all our gas boilers in favour of another fanciful design.
  • Factory input costs have increased by around 10% in the last year, fuelling consumer price inflation (currently just under 6% but expected to rise above 7.5% in the coming months)
  • Tax rises that will take the individual's tax burden to the highest level since WWII about to hit
  • Massive national debt built up as a result of financial support throughout the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic
I would still like an interrogation as to where our money has gone, and more importantly which individuals and organisations (with relevant individuals involvement) have enjoyed the proceeds.
...yet the entire media and political focus is on who drank wine when and with who else two years ago :rolleyes:

Baffling
I openly mistrust those making decisions on our behalf. W/o those that are corrupt being held to account we are no more than expendable in their abuse of us.
Their partying during our lockdown is just one example of their disdain of us. I feel it must be publicly interrogated and individuals penalised. I have no interest in the manipulated outcome of a cloudy 'Grey' report.

There are a few articles appearing but this has some alignment with my view of the run up to the Ukraine situation.
 
Last edited:
If the very serious issues you point out are not in the media how did you find out about them?
Because I read things past the headlines.

Do you understand the concept of prioritisation when it comes to media?
 
I openly mistrust those making decisions on our behalf. W/o those that are corrupt being held to account we are no more than expendable in their abuse of us.
Their partying during our lockdown is just one example of their disdain of us. I feel it must be publicly interrogated and individuals penalised. I have no interest in the manipulated outcome of a cloudy 'Grey' report.
I welcome the challenging of the antics that the incumbents of Downing Street and Whitehall have been up to, and am also happy to condemn them.

I also think there are a number of equally (or perhaps even more) important matters that need scrutinising that are disappearing behind a fog of outrage.

It's a matter of balance and proportion - of which our media and politicians repeatedly demonstrate they lack.
 
  • Like
Reactions: m80
My bad. They're almost a NATO member ;)
Agreed, NATO just wasn't fast enough.
They were heading to be eu in my view.

Putin could see the direction of travel many years ago, and would have his own view of the ultimate desire of his borders being encroached.

Most view his war of Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia is nothing other than a wish to reclaim former Soviet states. There is little recognition that he wanted to secure his control over gas supplies and prevent impending agreements of gas pipelines from the Caspian.
 
Britain is supporting Ukraine with the supply of arms (incidentally, having to fly them around German airspace as they have refused to allow a NATO country (UK) to overfly their country in support of another NATO country (Ukraine))
Sshh, don't tell the Germans, but the USAF and RAF have been flying ELINT missions to Ukraine for weeks from Mildenhall, overflying Germany on the way there and back; indeed there's currently a RC-135W mooching around over Ukraine.
RC135jpg.jpg
 
Sshh, don't tell the Germans, but the USAF and RAF have been flying ELINT missions to Ukraine for weeks from Mildenhall, overflying Germany on the way there and back; indeed there's currently a RC-135W mooching around over Ukraine.
Talk about mooching, here's one, looks like it was launched from a carrier in the Red Sea
scr.jpg
 
We are certainly living in strange times:
  • Russia have massed troops on the border of Ukraine with a serious potential to start a European war
  • Britain is supporting Ukraine with the supply of arms (incidentally, having to fly them around German airspace as they have refused to allow a NATO country (UK) to overfly their country in support of another NATO country (Ukraine))
  • There is an energy crisis due to the combined effect of over-reliance upon unreliable renewables, a lack of investment in and commissioning of nuclear generation; the decommissioning of coal-fired generation capacity and Russia throttling the gas supply to Europe (see the points on Ukraine, above)
  • Factory input costs have increased by around 10% in the last year, fuelling consumer price inflation (currently just under 6% but expected to rise above 7.5% in the coming months)
  • Tax rises that will take the individual's tax burden to the highest level since WWII about to hit
  • Massive national debt built up as a result of financial support throughout the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic
...yet the entire media and political focus is on who drank wine when and with who else two years ago :rolleyes:

Baffling.

....and the Prince Andrew affair.
 
Long post Alert....

When the Soviets refused to retreat from Esst Europe after the War, it provided them with a massive buffer zone that they controlled militarily to prevent a rapid collapse of East European armies under a would-be Western invader and a repeat of the deeply traumatic invasion into their own Motherland.

Turkey was as far the West could advance eastward, and the US were quick to build there the Incirlik Air Base that is a home to 5,000 US servicemen as well as some of the US most advanced weapons including planes carrying nuclear bombs pointing at the Soviet Union.

The collapse of the Eastern Bloc in 1991 meant that the buffer between West and East was once again fickle and could not be relied upon to effectively stop a Western invasion.

Having the West push into Ukraine and all the way up to the Russian border, with the potential of having American missles and missle defences, anti aircraft systems, etc within a stone throw away from Russia, coupled with the possibility of Ukraine becoming a financial and commercial ally of Western Europe as an EU member state and a military ally as a full NATO member, is Russia's worst nightmare and it is crossing every possible red line that the Russians have set for themselves.

The only way forward - if hostilities are to be avoided - is to abandon Ukraine and serve them up to the Russians to become a dependency like Belarus, governed by a 'democratically elected' pro-Russian puppet leader crowned and propped-up by the Russian FSU, GRU, and Red Army. Simply put, Russia needs to surround herself with a buffer zone of friendly states with puppet regimes 100% controlled by Moscow, if she's to feel safe within her own borders.

Which is very difficult for the West to do, especially given that the people of Ukraine have tasted freedom and democracy and this is a genie that refuses to go back in the bottle. It is also not a great message to send to other countries relying on Western support to secure their own democracies and freedoms. And, it reduces the propagation of Western values around the world, and values and ideologies notoriously do not survive well when losing 'market share' and dominance.

And - personal opinion - Trump was pivotal in alienating Putin. The fact the the US could that easily have a reckless maverick as head of state, that is willing to manage foreign policies on his own and on a whim and without consulting, proved to Putin that he cannot have the Russian border exposed in this way.

If Russia does invade.... I predict it will ultimately win, because few countries can withstand the might of the Russian war machine. But the victory will take a heavy toll. The Red Army isn't very good at fighting when it invades other territories, while the Ukrainians will be fighting tooth and nail trying to defend their homes and families.

But Putin is willing to pay the price, and he knows the Ukrainian will eventually surrender, because the West will retreat and impose more 'sanctions' instead of engaging in actual fighting just as Obama did when Russia invaded the Cremea.

End of post....
 
The thing I don't get is why Russia are still so paranoid about being invaded. I know they have history with Napoleon and I've read War and Peace but is it realistic anyone would want to invade Russia these days ? Such a degree of paranoia seems to me a waste of resources and it's not as if it's a rich country to start with. But then when did dictators worry about how rich their economy was before splashing out on a war machine.
 
The thing I don't get is why Russia are still so paranoid about being invaded. I know they have history with Napoleon and I've read War and Peace but is it realistic anyone would want to invade Russia these days ? Such a degree of paranoia seems to me a waste of resources and it's not as if it's a rich country to start with. But then when did dictators worry about how rich their economy was before splashing out on a war machine.
Americas, sorry NATO, will increase the already very significant military presence and hardware around, but not in, Russia.
The ultimate aim is to cause Russia to submit to the western will, more specifically that's the American will.

Russian pride can be dangerous if challenged. Don't rattle the bears cage and the bear tends to do its own thing. Russia don't actually want this, they are trying to persuade the West to back off.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

  • m80
Back
Top Bottom