No, the Russians can't just keep the war going until they win: (if you just want to follow one podcast/youtuber on the war in Ukrainian war - follow Ander Puck Nielsen!)
Russia recently changed its nuclear doctrine. If you want to know more about it or if you're losing sleep over this I recommend you watch this video by Perun. He is well informed, level headed and thoughtful. No hyped-up clickbait from him.
Yet another Russian business man has been careless. First he dared to speak against Putin, then he fell out of a window and died. When will they learn not to go near windows in high-rise windows?
A knotty problem in the US with the election coming up. It's linked to this issue because, well, Trump looks likely to throw Ukraine under a bus if he gets elected. Then again, and this is odd, we just don't know because he's kind of set himself up as a Leader of the Opposition while on the other hand not being subject to any of the scrutiny that such a title normally requires. He's vague on what he'd do on the issue, as he is with Israel and Palestine. His thing is he will 'stop the war' - well, that's easily done, just stop supplying arms to Ukraine so Putin wins. Similar with Israel - continue supplying arms so they win and the area is a dust bowl - but, hey, you get peace.
What I found disturbing about Sky News' report on Arab-American voters in the swing state of Michigan is that they number a lot and they say they're voting for Trump in protest against what Biden and co have allowed to happen in Gaza, which they see as a genocide. Even though they don't in many cases like Trump's policies and Trump is more pro-Israel than Biden. So you have a situation where the election may be decided by an issue in a foreign land, not for the first time I guess. And there's a possibility that as Benjamin Netanyahu wants Trump to win the election, he is continuing his bombing to further alienate Muslim-American voters from the Biden-Harris administration. On top of that, you have a situation where many of Trump's traditional or redneck supporters don't care at all for Arab-Americans, but they're very faction who will ensure their man gets over the line.
It's a very odd thing that is happening over there.
I can't think of a US election in living memory that has so much apparently hanging on it re Europe and the Middle East. Also, I think individual voters in the US have long made their mind up really, it's not in the balance.
Today it's 1000 days since the begining of Rusia's large scale invasion of Ukraine. Long live Ukraine!
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,865MI6 Agent
Some rather worrying recent news on the Russian nuclear threat during the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Putin is clearly upping the ante to attempt to stave off further Western military assistance to Ukraine:
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,865MI6 Agent
edited November 24
The great Mark Felton's latest video is a sobering assessment of how hopelessly unprepared the UK is in the event of a Russian attack. I agree with everything he says, especially how we're sending foreign aid to India and China while they're busy firing rockets into space rather than actually helping their own people with the money. That's something I've said myself in the past. No wonder nobody respects us on the world stage any more. We don't defend or look after the best interests of our own people any more.
According to the Mark Felton video posted above, yes. I was shocked to learn this too. Funding the enemy is a great strategic move on the part of the UK. The amount of aid sent to China has dramatically fallen though according to this UK parliament link:
I'll only respond in the forum one more time to avoid getting the thread closed. I've never seen Mark Felton being remotely this political before. Maybe he should stick to his normal history topics? Calling Starmer "the dear leader - Keir Stalin" is just silly, and not in good way. We don't see concentration camps, mock trails and millions of Britons getting murdered by the state, do we? The fact that Felton can post this video without fear of his life makes a mockery of his name-calling. I'll have to reconsider may habit of watching his videos regulary.
I'm shocked to find that the UK does send a small part of its foreign aid to China. Very strange. Ukraine and Nigeria are the major recipients of British foreign aid. Far more than what India gets, not to mention China (again, very strange). But Felton doesn't understand that the most effective use of British money to safeguard the country in 2024 is helping Ukraine. That's all I'm going to say in the forum on this issue.
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,865MI6 Agent
edited November 24
Yes, the Stalin reference to Starmer is not only silly but totally inaccurate too. If anything he's closer to the incompetence of Mr Bean. Thanks to Vince Cable for that reference. No prizes for guessing that Mark Felton is not a Labour voter.
Still, my point in posting this video wasn't to get into the politics. I agree it's better for Felton to stick to historical topics like he usually does. On that kind of content there's no-one better on YouTube. Britain needs to rethink its policy of reducing the defence budget year and year and to consider rearming and building up defences in the face of the Russian threat. It clearly also needs to consider the level of its spending on foreign aid to countries who are not worthy of it. If these messages from that video got lost in the references to politics then that's a shame. In any event, Labour is not solely to blame for the parlous state of Britain's armed forces and defences. It's been a trend since at least 2010 with the austerity politics of the Coalition government.
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Now we agree. Norway shares a (short) border with Russia, but like many other countries we cut our defence spending too much and for too long after the fall of the Soviet Union. Luckily our politicians saw sense after the large scale invasion of Ukraine and all of the Parliament (Storting) agreed on a 10+ year plan to get a proper defence again. Two new army brigades, six new submarines, 5-6 new frigates and 27 new smaller navy vessels etc. Of course Norway is in a special economic situation, but other countries should do the same. Ukraine's sacrifice and bravery had given Europe a few years before Russia becomes a serious threath to us. Money and kit for Ukraine and our own defence is well-spent money.
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,865MI6 Agent
Yes, I think the end of the Cold War was where the rot actually set in. The West really took its eye off the ball in terms of Russia and started dismantling pretty much all of its Cold War infrastructure. The New World Order and the "end of history" failed to materialise. Say what you will about Trump but he does have a point about Western Europe needing to step up to the mark and contribute what it promised to NATO spending. We can't solely depend on the US for our continued defence and safety. If our collective defences had been much better built up it might even have put Putin off invading Ukraine in the first place.
Could you tell us more about Norway's special economic situation, @Number24?
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
We have an oil fund of about 1760 billion dollars, The government has wisely decided only to use some of the interests of that fund to avoid inflation and corruption levels are low. In short we were lucky in having so much oil, and we handled it wisely. I can't think of any other countries with such a large petroleum industry compared to the total economy that has managed to do this.
(Here endeth the shamless bragging of something I didn't do)
Silhouette ManThe last refuge of a scoundrelPosts: 8,865MI6 Agent
Ah, I see. Thank you for that, @Number24. I had no idea about that. Sounds like your government is in a good fiscal position unlike the UK government...
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Back in the days of the Blair government they used to talk about a "war chest" of money that was kept aside but I'm guessing that's long gone by this stage!
"The tough man of the world. The Secret Agent. The man who was only a silhouette." - Ian Fleming, Moonraker (1955).
Comments
This isn't from some Terminator sequel - it's robot dog on the frontline in Ukraine!
This is also the war in Ukraine. Troops are using the Maxim machine gun. The was first constructed in 1884 and was heavily used in WWI!
No, the Russians can't just keep the war going until they win: (if you just want to follow one podcast/youtuber on the war in Ukrainian war - follow Ander Puck Nielsen!)
Ukranian intelligence services agree on Puck Nielsen's assessment:
The YouTube channel "Interviews with Ukranians". https://www.youtube.com/@theRealUkraine
Ukrainians Speak About Relatives in Russia and Their Reaction | 12 months after.
NATO membership:
Are there nazis in Ukraine?
Russia recently changed its nuclear doctrine. If you want to know more about it or if you're losing sleep over this I recommend you watch this video by Perun. He is well informed, level headed and thoughtful. No hyped-up clickbait from him.
Yet another Russian business man has been careless. First he dared to speak against Putin, then he fell out of a window and died. When will they learn not to go near windows in high-rise windows?
A knotty problem in the US with the election coming up. It's linked to this issue because, well, Trump looks likely to throw Ukraine under a bus if he gets elected. Then again, and this is odd, we just don't know because he's kind of set himself up as a Leader of the Opposition while on the other hand not being subject to any of the scrutiny that such a title normally requires. He's vague on what he'd do on the issue, as he is with Israel and Palestine. His thing is he will 'stop the war' - well, that's easily done, just stop supplying arms to Ukraine so Putin wins. Similar with Israel - continue supplying arms so they win and the area is a dust bowl - but, hey, you get peace.
What I found disturbing about Sky News' report on Arab-American voters in the swing state of Michigan is that they number a lot and they say they're voting for Trump in protest against what Biden and co have allowed to happen in Gaza, which they see as a genocide. Even though they don't in many cases like Trump's policies and Trump is more pro-Israel than Biden. So you have a situation where the election may be decided by an issue in a foreign land, not for the first time I guess. And there's a possibility that as Benjamin Netanyahu wants Trump to win the election, he is continuing his bombing to further alienate Muslim-American voters from the Biden-Harris administration. On top of that, you have a situation where many of Trump's traditional or redneck supporters don't care at all for Arab-Americans, but they're very faction who will ensure their man gets over the line.
It's a very odd thing that is happening over there.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Discussing Trump and US politics has never gone wrong in this forum, but for some reason we still don't do it anymore! 😆
I know, but it's only two weeks to go now.
I can't think of a US election in living memory that has so much apparently hanging on it re Europe and the Middle East. Also, I think individual voters in the US have long made their mind up really, it's not in the balance.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I'm worried about potential friction on the subject of the US election, as we have had before, and hope we won't see any sign of such.
Ukranian jokes:
Why are Ukrainian women the best women to date?
No matter how many times you come over, she keeps Putin out.
How do Ukrainian snipers tell which Russians are the senior officers?
The number of stripes on their tracksuits.
A Ukrainian guy goes to the eye doctor.
The bottom line of the eye chart has the letters:
C Z Y N Q S T A S Z.
The Optometrist asks, "Can you read this?"
"Read it?" the guy replies, "I know the guy!"
Ukrainian authorities are planning to turn the Chernobyl exclusion zone into an amusement park
They say the only difference between it and Disneyland will be that the six foot tall mouse isn't a costume.
An old Ukrainian is cleaning his hunting rifle one day when his grandson runs in.
"Grandfather, the radio says that the Russians have gone into space!"
"All of them?" he asks, putting down his rifle.
"No, only one."
He starts cleaning the rifle again.
If Putin and Medvedev jumped off the spires of the St. Sofia cathedral, who would hit the ground first?
Who gives a f*ck?
Very good 😁
Sounds like they're having a whale of a time over there!
Compared to North Korea anything must feel like a paradise of freedom.
Yes, even in a warzone. I'm sure that the Supreme Leader has full internet access himself though.
"All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others"
"Animal farm" by by George Orwell
That's too true. Orwell really was a genius.
Today it's 1000 days since the begining of Rusia's large scale invasion of Ukraine. Long live Ukraine!
Some rather worrying recent news on the Russian nuclear threat during the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Putin is clearly upping the ante to attempt to stave off further Western military assistance to Ukraine:
Liz Truss spent final days in office ‘preparing for Putin to fire nuclear weapons’ | The Independent
Putin approves changes to Russia's nuclear doctrine - BBC News
This video comes highly recommended to anyone who's really interested in the war in Ukraine, but keep in mind it's just over an hour long.
The great Mark Felton's latest video is a sobering assessment of how hopelessly unprepared the UK is in the event of a Russian attack. I agree with everything he says, especially how we're sending foreign aid to India and China while they're busy firing rockets into space rather than actually helping their own people with the money. That's something I've said myself in the past. No wonder nobody respects us on the world stage any more. We don't defend or look after the best interests of our own people any more.
Does Britain send foreign aid to China? I highly doubt it.
According to the Mark Felton video posted above, yes. I was shocked to learn this too. Funding the enemy is a great strategic move on the part of the UK. The amount of aid sent to China has dramatically fallen though according to this UK parliament link:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9762/
I'll only respond in the forum one more time to avoid getting the thread closed. I've never seen Mark Felton being remotely this political before. Maybe he should stick to his normal history topics? Calling Starmer "the dear leader - Keir Stalin" is just silly, and not in good way. We don't see concentration camps, mock trails and millions of Britons getting murdered by the state, do we? The fact that Felton can post this video without fear of his life makes a mockery of his name-calling. I'll have to reconsider may habit of watching his videos regulary.
I'm shocked to find that the UK does send a small part of its foreign aid to China. Very strange. Ukraine and Nigeria are the major recipients of British foreign aid. Far more than what India gets, not to mention China (again, very strange). But Felton doesn't understand that the most effective use of British money to safeguard the country in 2024 is helping Ukraine. That's all I'm going to say in the forum on this issue.
Yes, the Stalin reference to Starmer is not only silly but totally inaccurate too. If anything he's closer to the incompetence of Mr Bean. Thanks to Vince Cable for that reference. No prizes for guessing that Mark Felton is not a Labour voter.
Still, my point in posting this video wasn't to get into the politics. I agree it's better for Felton to stick to historical topics like he usually does. On that kind of content there's no-one better on YouTube. Britain needs to rethink its policy of reducing the defence budget year and year and to consider rearming and building up defences in the face of the Russian threat. It clearly also needs to consider the level of its spending on foreign aid to countries who are not worthy of it. If these messages from that video got lost in the references to politics then that's a shame. In any event, Labour is not solely to blame for the parlous state of Britain's armed forces and defences. It's been a trend since at least 2010 with the austerity politics of the Coalition government.
Now we agree. Norway shares a (short) border with Russia, but like many other countries we cut our defence spending too much and for too long after the fall of the Soviet Union. Luckily our politicians saw sense after the large scale invasion of Ukraine and all of the Parliament (Storting) agreed on a 10+ year plan to get a proper defence again. Two new army brigades, six new submarines, 5-6 new frigates and 27 new smaller navy vessels etc. Of course Norway is in a special economic situation, but other countries should do the same. Ukraine's sacrifice and bravery had given Europe a few years before Russia becomes a serious threath to us. Money and kit for Ukraine and our own defence is well-spent money.
Yes, I think the end of the Cold War was where the rot actually set in. The West really took its eye off the ball in terms of Russia and started dismantling pretty much all of its Cold War infrastructure. The New World Order and the "end of history" failed to materialise. Say what you will about Trump but he does have a point about Western Europe needing to step up to the mark and contribute what it promised to NATO spending. We can't solely depend on the US for our continued defence and safety. If our collective defences had been much better built up it might even have put Putin off invading Ukraine in the first place.
Could you tell us more about Norway's special economic situation, @Number24?
We have an oil fund of about 1760 billion dollars, The government has wisely decided only to use some of the interests of that fund to avoid inflation and corruption levels are low. In short we were lucky in having so much oil, and we handled it wisely. I can't think of any other countries with such a large petroleum industry compared to the total economy that has managed to do this.
(Here endeth the shamless bragging of something I didn't do)
Ah, I see. Thank you for that, @Number24. I had no idea about that. Sounds like your government is in a good fiscal position unlike the UK government...
That seems to be the case.
Back in the days of the Blair government they used to talk about a "war chest" of money that was kept aside but I'm guessing that's long gone by this stage!