bpg
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Post by bpg on Feb 26, 2022 19:39:40 GMT
Ukraine are quite well organised campared to Afganistan in 1979. I don't think they will capitulate quite so readily and good on them for standing up to Putin. He will face a lot of questions at home, Oligarchs being restricted in movement will not back him and the people are not behind him. As time rolls on this will be an embarrassment to the Russian establishment.
Sadly though, there will be civilian deaths. That blood is definitely on Russia.
What we in the West can do is stop buying on price alone and put pressure on companies to stop production in China, India etc... The first company that relocates to the West will win instant consumers at a higher price if we get our act together and stop looking at the price above all else. Yes, it is going to hurt. Yes, it is going to be expensive but look at the alternatives. Today Putin, tomorrow Xi Jinping.
Edit: We need to give our politicians a toe up the arse-
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Feb 27, 2022 9:13:55 GMT
What we in the West can do is stop buying on price alone and put pressure on companies to stop production in China, India etc... Not sure Russia has benefited from that but China certainly has. Russia, of course, has made money from our preference for cheap gas over developing renewable (and, in the shorter term, nuclear) energy. But both are examples of putting short-term gratification above concerns over who our money is supporting. |
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Feb 27, 2022 19:04:54 GMT
…Putin effectively marched into eastern Ukraine because it was 'Russian speaking'. I don’t think this is correct. A better summary of Putin’s motivation would be that he takes the old Russian Imperialist view that Ukraine as a polity in its own right does not exist; it is merely a province of the greater Russia — as it was in both Tsarist and Soviet times. Its political separation was bad enough but it was at least notionally temporary. But its cosying up to the EU and NATO showed Putin that Ukraine is not coming back, and that’s what his nationalist vanity will not tolerate. The statements about the eastern provinces were for domestic consumption, a pretext for the approvals he needed to move forces. You know the rest. It’s sobering to reflect on how it must feel to live next to a powerful, bellicose neighbour that doesn’t respect your right to self-determination. At the very least it might give Brits a new perspective on how it felt to be Irish for all those years. |
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Post by EspadaIII on Feb 27, 2022 21:13:45 GMT
I wonder if the IOC, that bastion of morality will do anything about Russian involvement in the Paralympics (or whatever organisation authorises the games). At least Fifa has done something, however modest. Interesting that all the football clubs around the world have taken the lead this weekend. Putin might get what he wants short term, but long term this is not going to be a success for him and I think he is now a lame duck waiting for death, however it arrives.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2022 21:35:00 GMT
Look on the bright side, as far as I can see from reading the papers and the BBC it appears to have cured COVID-19.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Feb 27, 2022 21:41:31 GMT
...and we have the curious spectacle of Boris Johnson trying to take the moral high ground.  |
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Post by EspadaIII on Feb 28, 2022 6:53:53 GMT
Even I think that is amusing. It's a tough job but someone has to do it... Bizarrely I think that Putin would never have attempted this if Trump was in power. He would have been too scared of the consequences...
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Feb 28, 2022 7:27:42 GMT
Trump is a consequence of Putin.
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Post by Humph on Feb 28, 2022 16:32:17 GMT
Vladimir Putin, to try and get on the good side of the people, goes to visit a school in Moscow to have a chat with the children.
At the end of his talk, there was an opportunity for questions. Little Sasha puts her hand up and asks,
“Mr President, I have two questions. Why did we invade Crimea and why are we attacking Ukraine?”
Putin says, “Good questions” but before he can answer the bell rings and the children go to lunch.
When they come back, there is a chance for more questions. Another little girl, Misha, puts her hand up.
“Mr President, I have four questions. Why did we invade Crimea, why are we attacking Ukraine…how come the lunch bell rang twenty minutes early and where did Sasha go?”
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Post by EspadaIII on Feb 28, 2022 18:30:17 GMT
Trump is a consequence of Putin. You can put that two ways... Putin engineered Trump's victory or the US population voted for Trump to counteract the obvious aggression of Putin. Proof of either option is limited.. |
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Feb 28, 2022 20:06:07 GMT
Evidence for the first is plentiful. Evidence for the second is nil. Where did you even get it from?
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Post by EspadaIII on Mar 1, 2022 12:10:46 GMT
Well in your words Trump is a consequence of Putin. We have known for years what Putin has been wanting to do.
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Post by bromptonaut on Mar 1, 2022 13:07:42 GMT
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Mar 2, 2022 0:05:16 GMT
I wonder if via an OTA update a lot of new cars could just be disabled in Russia. I know it would be punishing a lot of innocent people but somehow the Russians need to realise they need to stop Putin. It's a start they cannot buy new Apple products and Apple services are being restricted.
Earlier tonight and this afternoon I saw some interesting air traffic heading to the airport in Poland near the Ukraine border. The many transport aircraft such as C17 Globemasters and A400M's were one thing and there were quite a few. But there were a few Hercules A130s and one did land at the airport but not before doing a loop nearer the border first.... And before I saw it land all flights on flightradar24 disappeared for about 5 minutes and then soon after it had landed.... The same aircraft was then doing long loops over the airport after taking off so it probably had another role at that point. Also spotted briefly a Predator flying up following the Poland-Ukraine border. Then there was an aircraft with 'invalid codes' flying near the border but (a) the name showing also showed in the day the same aircraft flying in the US and it was an old single propeller plan apparently.... right... and (b) why would a plane show at all if the rest of the ADS date was invalid.
Just on the number of aircraft going to Rzeszow today means a lot of 'aid' has been sent.
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Mar 2, 2022 0:07:22 GMT
And two more C17s have recently departed. It's a shame we couldn't just send a big missile... push it over the border and let them fire it at Putin. But the guy would just nuke us all of course.
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