Monday 7 March: British defence needs an immediate boost – but it will take years to reverse the decline

Posted on by Geoff Graham

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793 thoughts on “Monday 7 March: British defence needs an immediate boost – but it will take years to reverse the decline”

  3. Morning, all Y’all.
    Sunny night = chilly but sunny morning. Been busy for the cats – sleeping bundles of fluff everywhere!

  6. Russian banks turn to Chinese payments system after Visa and Mastercard suspend operations. 7 March 2022.

    Russia’s biggest banks are scrambling to switch to a Chinese card system after global payment giants Visa and Mastercard suspended operations in the country as part of efforts to isolate Moscow from Western financial structures.

    Sberbank and Alfa Bank plan to use China’s UnionPay system to provide customers’ bank cards after Visa and Mastercard became the latest companies to join the corporate boycott of Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

    The switch to UnionPay will add to signs that the world’s financial system is splintering, with Moscow and Beijing challenging the hegemony of Western banking infrastructure.

    You have to ask yourself; who is really being sanctioned here? This is being presented as some sort of victory when it is really the loss of vast amounts of business, influence and income to ourselves while Russia goes somewhere else. China is of course watching all this and learning what not to do when their turn comes to challenge the United States. Whatever the result with Ukraine they are going to emerge enormously strengthened by it. The illegal seizure of Russia’s Foreign Reserves will not have escaped them, nor anyone else for that matter. They will almost certainly begin the process of repatriating their own and joined by everyone else who doesn’t want to suffer the same fate. Within the next ten years at most the Yuan will have become the world’s reserve currency! Russia itself will be drawn more deeply into their embrace as it turns away from the West and becomes their junior partner. Its vast energy reserves and huge natural resources feeding future Chinese and Asian growth. This minor war, which could so easily have been avoided with a few words, will realign the World in China’s favour. Europe with increased defence costs and forced to buy more expensive western energy (Germany is already building an LNG terminal) will sink in the worlds league tables and the UK will become an impoverished Third World pest hole on its periphery. Baghdad-on-Thames!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/03/06/russian-banks-turn-chinese-payments-system-visa-mastercard-suspend/

    1. Apart from the LNG terminal bit (you don’t just build a LNG terminal, the planning & engineering takes ages), I can see that this might well be the outcome.
      With the focus only on tomorrow, the west has been outsmarted by Russia & especially China, with their long-term strategy.

      1. Morning Oberst. The LNG terminal was approved in one day and is to be built as quickly as possible!

        1. Didn’t our masters – in their wisdom – fairly recently close a gas storage terminal?

          2. Yes and no, the Rough gas storage was closed on safety grounds in 2017.

            We don’t need a lot of storage because the vast majority of our gas comes from secure sources, the North sea and Norway, about 10% from the US and the tiny balance from other LNG deliveries primarily Qatar

    2. China is taking this as a dress rehearsal for their invasion of Taiwan.

      They appear to be learning far more than the Western politicians.

    1. “Britain needs a future based on self-reliance, provided to us by our own Treasure Island—the UK. It’s time to capitalise on our own British gas and to put British people back in control of their own energy future.” – well, it’s the British government, made up of British people, who have so effectively effed it all up so far, so I remain to be convinced by the argument.
      Who are these roosters, anyhow? The quitter Farage amongst them?

      1. ” the British government, made up of British people”

        Some would question that statement..

      2. They don’t intend to capitalise on British gas Herr Oberst.

        Only a few weeks ago permission was refused to exploit the Cambo gas and oil field.

        Yesterday the Sunday Times announced that the Government has decreed that the gas wells in Lancashire must

        be covered with concrete in the next couple of weeks.

        Carrie will be pleased.

        The rest of us, not so much !!

        2. Can you believe the utter lunacy of this government? Or the banking system? Talk about a death wish.

          Morning all.

    2. Good morning, Anne. Tell Sonny Boy that I have just signed up for “Vote Power Not Poverty”.

  8. I hear that the BBC has been banned in Russia.
    Alas sadly, we can still get it here

        1. Anne is as confused about the venue for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest Final – just as Sleepy Joe stands with the Iranians. Lol.

        2. I loved St. Petersburg. St. P without the Beeb sounds even better.
          I doubt I’ll be seeing it again.

          1. I’ve always wanted to go there, to visit the art museums. Always wanted to visit the US one day, and Japan too. Who knows if any of it will be possible now?

  10. In Russia’s dystopia , the truth is a crime. 7 march 2022.

    There is no war in Ukraine, he says, and anyone who says there is will go to prison for up to 15 years.

    The Kremlin is trying furiously to shut down independent sources of news that show their leader to be a bare-faced liar.

    But this is the age of the internet. The truth will out. The actual truth.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/6a3a509f80a31fa0693ea0e96f8f998c44561018278543b0270630f543815a9d.png

    Yes it will!

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10584577/DAILY-MAIL-COMMENT-Russias-dystopia-truth-crime.html#comments

    1. I assume the italics are quoted from the DM. That is a lie to start with, as RT is openly reporting a war. Their top headline this morning: “Russia confirms striking ‘Ukrainian air force airfield’ in west of the country.”

    2. In this country
      Biden really won the election
      There haven’t been any mandatory covid protests in Canada and New Zealand
      The planet is still warming and only us going net zero can save it.

    3. On the same page.;
      “So in the Gadarene rush to net-zero, we will either have to buy in increasing supplies from despots such as Putin or turbocharge our own nuclear and North Sea production.

      The vaccine miracle (ha ha, my insertion) showed what can be done by a public/private task force under dynamic leadership and liberated from the crushing red tape of Whitehall.

      Isn’t it time to mobilise a similar force to secure our energy needs for the next generation?

      We must get our heads out of the sand.”

      You must get your heads out of the sand, yes, but you’ll find that that sand is the seabed of a deep ocean.

    4. And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.’

      Flip, they’re all relevant! https://bookriot.com/1984-quotes/

  11. Morning all.

    British defence needs an immediate boost – but it will take years to reverse the decline

    Light in the darkness: prayers in the Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church, Lviv

    Light in the darkness: prayers in the Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church, Lviv

    SIR – Lt Gen Sir James Bucknall’s letter (March 4) should be required reading for both the Government and the defence establishment. The erosion of our defence capability, and the threat that this poses to our security, represents a major failure of statecraft over many years.

    Sir James rightly states that the problem must be addressed immediately, by rethinking our approach to defence, reversing the recent defence review and allocating the resources necessary to provide us with a proper defence capability.

    So far, so good. However, it will take years to recruit and train military personnel in the numbers required, and for those personnel to progress in their careers (it isn’t possible to just go out and hire the corporals, sergeants and the rest), as well as to develop and procure the equipment required.

    This is not a quick fix, and our vulnerability while it is carried out is an indictment of our political and defence establishments.

    Nicholas Southward

    Salisbury, Wiltshire

    SIR – In 1968, I was commanding an armoured regiment in Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine.

    During the year, it became ominously clear from intercept that armoured divisions from the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany were closing in on the Czechoslovak borders.

    I asked my brigade commander whether I should prepare the regiment for action by recalling soldiers from leave and improving the readiness of the tanks by “bombing-up”. I was told that no such action should be taken as it would be seen as provocative. So we sat tight and watched as that country was invaded. I felt ashamed.

    I know we eventually won that war – the Cold War – but I am starting to wonder how decisive that victory was, and beginning to feel ashamed again.

    Lt Gen Sir Richard Vickers

    Cerne Abbas, Dorset

    SIR – It’s regrettable that it takes the possibility of a third world war to make us reconsider our priorities. Suddenly, defence spending, and food and energy security, are back on the agenda.

    I’ve lost count of the number of people who have said to me in the past: “What we need now is a war.” Of course, they don’t mean it, but feel that such a drastic event is required to recover our nation’s integrity.

    Well, we are facing a war now. It is not on our soil, but is battering all that we hold dear. It is time to regain our perspective on what really is important for our country, and fast.

    Richard Drax MP (Con)

    London SW1

    SIR – Your report, “Human rights law invoked to fight sanctions” (March 5), should bring shame on the solicitors and barristers who are prepared to represent Russian oligarchs, claiming they are being unfairly targeted.

    Russia is at war and has attracted worldwide condemnation. Yet some in the legal profession seem oblivious to the action being taken in sectors like business, travel and sport.

    Their professional bodies should be instructing members to have nothing to do with any Russian client. Unfair, perhaps, but our total condemnation must be seen by all Russian citizens, so they understand the free world’s horror at the actions of their leader.

    Allan Muirhead

    Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria

    SIR – Despite reducing this year’s overall foreign aid budget, Britain is set to increase aid to India from £41 million to £55.3 million.

    However, in the light of Narendra Modi’s refusal to denounce Vladimir Putin (report, March 4), it is time to reconsider what we send to India, and indeed China. The desperate plight of Ukrainian refugees is surely a more deserving cause.

    Dr Neil Dewhurst

    Edinburgh

    SIR – The Ukraine crisis is provoking a mass displacement of Europeans not seen since the Second World War. Millions of men, women and children are pouring into neighbouring countries, and many will go on to seek refuge elsewhere, including Britain.

    The large numbers of refugees will provide conditions ripe for exploitation by those involved in human trafficking and modern slavery. Across Europe, criminal elements are poised to profit from the plight of displaced people.

    Governments across Europe must recognise this now. They must step up efforts to challenge criminal industries and to support victims. The situation also presents a challenge to British lawmakers, currently considering the Nationality and Borders Bill.

    This legislation threatens to diminish protections for victims of trafficking and modern slavery, including statutory support and a legal right to remain. It must not and cannot – for the sake of Ukrainians, and many other vulnerable people seeking refuge on our shores.

    We call on the Government to accept the recommendations of expert groups by legislating for at least 12 months of statutory support for confirmed victims of modern slavery, and leave to remain for those who need to access it. We must act now to ensure proper support for both current and future victims of modern slavery.

    Ross Hendry

    CEO, Christian Action Research and Education

    Christian Guy

    CEO, Justice and Care

    David Westlake

    CEO, International Justice Mission UK

    Lara Bundock

    CEO, Snowdrop Project

    and six others; see telegraph.co.uk

    SIR – It is not just at Swan Lake at Covent Garden: the Sunday before last our church organist played the Ukrainian national anthem as the choir and clergy processed down the aisle after the service.

    Jessica Hollings

    Goffs Oak, Hertfordshie

    2. Good times make for weak men. Weak men make for bad times. Bad times make for strong men. Strong me make for good times.

      This time, let’s not weaken and let the fifth column undermine this nation ever again.

    3. Good times make for weak men. Weak men make for bad times. Bad times make for strong men. Strong me make for good times.

      This time, let’s not weaken and let the fifth column undermine this nation ever again.

  13. The maths barrier

    SIR – A minority of people, otherwise of normal scholastic aptitude, are simply unable to cope with maths, particularly algebra and geometry (Letters, March 4).

    O-level maths was a requirement for university when I left school. Having scored 2 per cent on the algebra paper, I had no prospect of taking a degree. I had a near contemporary who won the top classical scholarship to Balliol, but was denied entry to Oxford because of his failure in O-level maths.

    My adult life has been devoted to intellectual pursuits, including the authorship of several bestselling works of history. But I cannot claim to be a historian, because my struggles with algebra barred me from the chance to study history at university.

    Patrick Hickman-Robertson

    Eastbury, Berkshire

    1. A girl at my school failed maths O level at 16. She took it twice a year (the maximum then allowed) for the following two years, failing every time. She finally passed in her seventh term, which was the same term that she passed the Oxbridge exam, and went on to read some daffy subject like English Literature at Oxford.

      My daughter likewise struggled with maths her entire school career, but as she was on the Continent, she had to continue maths until the age of 18, by which time she was grappling not just with simple algebra, but differentiation and integration, statistics and vector theory. She finally scraped through with the required one point (her actual percentage mark was higher), purely through will power.

      Try harder!!

        1. I was useless at algebra, I remember my father being very cross with me when my school report marked me down for 35%, I told him I tried my best, and he then replied “”you can do better than your best “

          2. It’s all relative! When we were aiming for the one point for my daughter, in my opinion she did incredibly well to get it!

          6. Whenever one of these party pieces starting “Think of a number, double it, etc. etc.” came up as I child I always thought “X, 2X, etc. etc.” and thus worked out easily how the party piece was constructed.

          7. I enjoyed Maths, particularly algebra. When my younger daughter was struggling with Maths I coached her to O level and she became a computer programmer.
            Problem was that the word got around and I had parents coming to me and asking me to coach their children.
            My daughter (now 62) would frequently say, “Well it’s easy if you do it that way!”
            It occurred to me that many children failed Maths because they didn’t have a good teacher.

          8. Very true Del, I had great maths teachers in both schools. The one in grammar school was particularly good at holding your attention as he’d been a rear gunner on Lancs and kept interrupting the lesson with tales of bombing raids and the time when he lost both his legs in a crash.

          9. A bottle and a cork together cost tuppence halfppenny. The bottle costs tuppence more than the cork – how much does the cork cost?

            A prep school exercise in elementary algebra?

            Bottle costs tuppence farthing; the cork costs a farthing.

          12. My elder son was very badly taught for his IB Higher Maths and did not get the grade he needed even though he was at a reputable independent public school.

          13. I did something similar in CT when my son’s class at high school were studying MacBeth. It was obvious that the teacher didn’t understand the play and I had kids on the phone every evening asking for help. I ended up with shed loads of chocolate as thank yous;-)

        2. Tut tut, that really is a poor showing Jules, I got an “A” a year early and an “A” in Additional Maths as well.

          ://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d893ecb14dd2afd777ef55ac415cc53c90fa4fb16c9149a0451a541f963a3554.gif

          1. Hi there TR! How are you? I was never any good at maths! Fortunately my sons didn’t inherit this defect.

          2. Not so bad, hope things are well with you – Maths is the key life skill, it allows you to put numbers to almost everything to give you perspective to a narrative, like the financially crazy “net zero”

            Keep your pecker up!

        3. Sound basic teaching for Common Entrance which I received at my otherwise useless prep school mean that Maths “O” level was very easy for me. However I had a lady friend who was a qualified nurse who wanted to go to university but she did not have Maths “O” level but they let her in because she had an “O” level pass in Biology. She ended up with a good degree from a good university.

        4. Unusually for me, I actually passed O Level maths. I wouldn’t have, however, if they hadn’t a) given marks for working out even if you didn’t get the right answer and b) put trig on the arithmetic paper. I could always do the mechanics (transpose formulae, apply theorems and identify sine, cosine and tangent), but the numbers defied me.

      2. I stayed in the Red group for maths to guarantee me a C at GCSE. I’ve never enjoyed it nor been good at it – and I went to on study classics.

        1. Knew that would catch someone!
          I have to admit that I am somewhat prejudiced against it because the English teaching department at my school consisted of
          – a lefty – in those days it was the exception rather than the rule for teachers to let you know their political beliefs
          – a COLOSSAL snob who was not above letting us know that she was socially superior to us – this went into the stratosphere after her husband got knighted
          – a teacher who just didn’t like me and I had no idea why
          – a stylish and ruthlessly socially ambitious teacher, who inspired an inscription carved on a desk that went something like “Mrs X is as impossible as an elephant giving birth to twins while in a jumbo jet doing loop the loops over China” (she was!)

          They were always giving us books to read that were far too mature for me, so the subject was uncomfortable and unpleasant as we ploughed through one traumatic novel after another, with me happily abandoning most of them unfinished, to spare myself any more grief.
          Present company excepted…are English teachers more likely to be “characters” than those of any other subject??

          1. When I taught over here we had a Lit syllabus for the first three years and then, of course, it was CSE and O Level lists that we taught from.
            When I was a librarian at ES in USA I always made sure the books and units I did fit the age group.
            Most of my Lit teachers at grammar school were boring until upper 6th when we had a new teacher, not much older than us who was simply wonderful. She is the reason I became a Lit teacher – she was inspirational. Sadly, she was killed in a car crash in my first year at university. I still think of her often.
            Books have been my life- all I can say really.

          2. They are mine too, but I was a very cautious reader when I was a teenager, and everything seemed terribly real, plus I was absolutely unable to analyse anything or see hidden meanings. I read a book a day, including a lot of re-reading, from when I was around 2 1/2 until I went to university and had no time any more.
            I started reading the classics in my thirties – I was around forty when I first read Jane Eyre, for example – but I think I got more out of it than if I had rattled through it as a teenager and ticked the box.
            Your teacher sounds wonderful – I wish we had had someone to inspire us like that. How sad that she died young.

  14. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    Good article in the Daily Fail by Steve Hilton. Will it make any difference? Not in the short term because it will take some considerable time to return to a sensible energy policy – and I’m not convinced that this wretched government has even grasped what is required, which is the renouncing of ‘net zero’ and all the greenie bolleaux that now accompanies it in the name of ‘saving the planet’:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-10584485/How-orgy-green-virtue-signalling-lined-Vladimir-Putins-pocket.html

  15. ‘Morning, Peeps.

    Good article in the Daily Fail by Steve Hilton. Will it make any difference? Not in the short term because it will take some considerable time to return to a sensible energy policy – and I’m not convinced that this wretched government has even grasped what is required, which is the renouncing of ‘net zero’ and all the greenie bolleaux that now accompanies it in the name of ‘saving the planet’:

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-10584485/How-orgy-green-virtue-signalling-lined-Vladimir-Putins-pocket.html

  17. Good morning all from an overcast and, with -½°C on the thermometer, chilly Derbyshire.
    At least it’s dry.

    2. No wonder they want to come to London, they’ll fit right in there. How very convenient for big Pharma.

    3. And there is this;

      “As Russian troops entered Ukraine, the government in Kiev ordered the “emergency destruction” of pathogens including plague and anthrax at US-funded laboratories near the Russian border, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow claimed on Sunday. Earlier rumors that the Russian military was targeting US-run biolabs were written off as conspiracy theories, but the ministry has promised to back up its claims with documents.
      “We have received documentation from employees of Ukrainian biolaboratories on the emergency destruction on February 24 of especially dangerous pathogens of plague, anthrax, tularemia, cholera and other deadly diseases,” read a statement from the ministry.
      The statement accused the “Kiev regime” of conducting an “emergency cleansing” to hide evidence of the supposed biological weapons program, which the ministry claimed was funded by the US, and involved the production of “biological weapons components” at at least two laboratories in the cities of Poltava and Kharkov, both of which have seen intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces in recent days.
      The documents published by the ministry purportedly include an order from the Ukrainian Ministry of Health to destroy the pathogens, and lists of the germs in question.”

      https://www.rt.com/russia/551374-ukraine-biological-warfare-labs/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Email

    4. Funny, Fauci never mentioned any such problem re. the MILLIONS “informally” coming across the US’s Southern Border.

    5. Has Pfizer already got working on producing the gene therapy for this?

    6. And just when the anti-biotics used to treat it run out of effectiveness…

    7. At this point, if Fauci said it was raining, I’d assume he’d invested in umbrellas and cloud seeding technology.

  19. Moscow said on Monday it was opening routes for Ukrainian civilians to evacuate to Russia amid its ongoing offensive in the country.

    The Russian Defense Ministry said a temporary ceasefire will start at 10am local time on Monday, citing the “catastrophic” humanitarian situation on the ground.

    A safe passage was opened from Kiev to Belarus, where refugees will be airlifted to Russia, the ministry said. Exit routes to Russia were set up from the eastern Ukrainian cities of Kharkov and Sumy, as well as Mariupol on the Azov Sea coast. Moscow warned Ukraine not to prevent civilians from leaving. It also said any attempts of the Ukrainian side to shift the blame for undermining humanitarian efforts would be “senseless,” as Russia will monitor the evacuation by using drones.

    1. Do we believe them?

      One propaganda story from the other side suggested that Putin has already briefed his colonels to prepare release, on his orders, a nuclear bomb onto Lviv at a time when they had assembled enough civilian refugees, thereby in one stroke putting a stop to the impertinence of Ukrainian nationalism. The Dresden strategy.

      Lviv, which until WW2 was a Polish city with the name ‘Łwów’ (pronounced “Wvoov”) is not even Russian.

      Now, the truth is as rare as hen’s teeth in a war zone, but stories of Russian troops firing onto refugees trusting these ceasefire corridors have been coming out.

      1. We are told what to believe and what side to be on in the climate change debate, on the Ukraine invasion, on Brexit and on Covid.

        The trouble is that if we do not believe we are being told the truth it is almost impossible to know what to believe.

        The lyrics of this song are apt for many ‘news’ outlets!

        How could you believe me when I said I love you
        When you know I’ve been a liar all my life
        I’ve had that reputation since I was a youth
        You must have been insane to think I’d tell you the truth

      2. “Now, the truth is as rare as hen’s teeth in a war zone, but stories of Russian troops firing onto refugees trusting these ceasefire corridors have been coming out.”
        Only by the Western press and it isn’t the truth. In fact if you understood the situation you would know it is completely counterproductive for Russia to behave in such a manner but totally to the advantage of Ukraine to pretend that Russia is responsible. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Azov Battalion or people like them are responsible. Being Nazis they certainly wouldn’t bother about shooting their own people for propaganda purposes.

      3. Stories about the Ukrainian troops wanting to keep civilians in Mariupol and preventing them from leaving are also coming out. Bear in mind that these are the troops that are said to be ultra-nationalistic (neo nazis).
        Scott Ritter’s assessment is that the Asovs can’t win against the Russians in Mariupol, so they are just fighting to the death.
        The German press has denied that there are any neo nazis in Ukraine, and says that it is just Russian propaganda. But they also issued a statement saying that “fewer than expected” German neo nazis had travelled to Ukraine, and they were looking for ways to prevent others from going there before they had even travelled, eg confiscating their passports based on what the authorities THINK they MIGHT do.
        Why would German neo nazis go to Ukraine unless they were joining neo nazis already there, otherwise it would not make sense?

        1. I don’t think it’s German neo-nazis who make up the Azovs, but rather home-grown and possibly ethnic Russians, but Ukrainian patriots. If they are antisemitic, then I would find it unusual they attract much sympathy from Zelenskyy, who might be content to throw them to the Bear for a quick snack.

          Reading between the lines of the reporting concerning the flight from Mariupol, it seems quite plausible that it is Ukrainian firepower, possibly from Resistance partisans, who are failing the ceasefire, although it may be trigger-happy Russians, who cannot tell fleeing civilians from partisans. I really do not know, and I doubt even experienced war reporters really know what is going on in the mayhem.

          It has also been reported that the safe routes offered by Russians are towards Russia or Belarus, and those leaving west are being blocked by firepower. Ukrainian refugees may well prefer running the gauntlet to a friendly haven, rather than to chance imprisonment by the enemy.

          1. The enemy in Mariupol might quite likely be the Asov battalion…
            I think the suggestion is that the Ukrainian ultra-nationalists are getting help from like-minded foreigners.

      1. Is Germany increasing the production of broomsticks because of the threat of war?

  23. Ukraine’s Zelenskiy vows revenge on Russian forces after fleeing family killed in shelling of Irpin. 7 March 2022.

    Volodymr Zelenskiy has vowed to punish “every bastard’” who committed atrocities during the invasion of Ukraine amid outrage at Russia’s shelling of civilians as they tried to flee a town on the outskirts of Kyiv, killing a young family.

    The president of Ukraine said in a video address on Sunday night: “They were just trying to get out of town. To escape. The whole family. How many such families have died in Ukraine.

    We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will punish everyone who committed atrocities in this war.”

    In actuality Russia is conducting this campaign with exemplary restraint. The reason for the low overall casualties and why it is taking so long. No Shock and Awe here! Admittedly this is for selfish reasons but there it is. Vlad does not wish to leave a legacy of bitterness which would inhibit the final settlement.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/07/ukraine-volodymr-zelenskiy-vows-revenge-russia-forces-fleeing-family-civilians-killed-shelling-irpin-town

    1. Russia knows it has little chance of holding its conquests if they have to contend with a drip-feed of determined resistance from a people that once saw off Genghis Khan. It would be Afghanistan in 1980 all over again. After the WW2 allied invasion, America had to buy off German resistance with the Marshall Plan; the Soviets did so using the Stasi. History shows us which was more effective.

      When one is conducting a “special military operation” in a neighbour’s sovereign territory, how far is it possible to expect one’s troopers to act with exemplary restraint, when all they want to do is to get on with the job? How much self-discipline do these people actually have?

        1. You are right. Being flat, it is easily invaded and very hard to defend.

          It would be interesting to read historical strategies used by Ukrainians through history. My guess is that it comprised tactical retreat into the mountains or out of reach, east or west, and then waiting for the invaders’ supply lines to be stretched and the troops demoralised or degenerated, and then pounce.

          I remember the old Top Gear trio losing the will to live crossing Ukraine by road, and Clarkson quite welcomed the opportunity to put his head into the remains of the Chenobyl reactor just to get some respite from the monotony of the terrain.

          3. Ukraine as a separate country is relatively new.
            As a region it has been fought over for centuries, if no millennia.
            This is a very pro Ukraine as an entity article, so somewhat biased.
            https://tryzubchicago.com/a-short-history-of-ukraine/
            The wiki link is slightly better, but it is wiki so could be being edited as we write.
            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine
            The Britannica states that as a “proper” country it is a relatively recent construct.
            https://www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine

          4. There are not that many countries that can date back beyond the start of the 20th century, and fewer still whose borders match those they had in ancient times. Many were re-formed after a period of occupation, including most of those in Europe. Some only came into being after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Modern Ukraine is one of these, and is similar in status to countries such as Slovenia, Croatia and so on. Modern Lithuania is very different from the sizeable empire it once was, which stretched to the Black Sea. Modern Poland, a post-war creation, swallowed up a large part of Germany and gave up quite a bit of land to what is now Ukraine. Even pre-war Poland only gained its sovereignty after WW1.

            Consider France – which we think of as a stable republic. In the middle of the last century, it was actually partitioned into an occupied province and a puppet regime. France and Germany have been squabbling over Alsace-Lorraine for some time. In medieval times, France was a kingdom to the east of the modern country, and the West went to and fro between being a sovereign part of England and back again. The English for centuries had a monarch that could only speak French, and the French-speaking aristocracy from the Norman conquest lorded it over the vanquished Anglo-Saxons. When I visited Flensburg, a city in the far north of Germany on the Danish border, it had a familiar air about it. Then it dawned on me that their ancient tribe, centred in this city, were the Angles, which gave England its name.

            I tend to recognise countries according to their current stable incarnation. Therefore, while I am often rude about Warsaw-ghetto style blockading of Gaza by the Israelis, it does not detract from the reality that Israel is a stable nation today, dating back to just 1949, and Palestine is historical (and actually originally a creation by the Romans out of their old provinces of Judaea and Samaria).

            Some nations I think ought to exist, and there is some just legitimacy in their claims to sovereignty. I have mentioned in particular Kurdistan, which should have been created when Sykes and Picot carved up the old Ottoman Empire, but chose not to.

          5. Try looking inward, Jeremy for a country over 1000 years old with its original borders.

          6. I got mightily narked however when the county of my birth was taken over and abolished by Greater London.

          7. You have underlined just what I get irritated by. It is just such claims that modern states have long histories of independence and harmony such that they are entitled to trample over existing groups. They don’t and they aren’t.

          8. Germany and Italy are out-of-the-box new, in comparison to many countries.

          10. It´s autocracy versus parliamentary democracy.
            When you control vast reserves of natural resources, it´s easy to believe that ordinary people do not matter.
            Until you need a plumber, or a babysitter.

          11. Since historically there has been no Ukraine until modern times it would be impossible to find what they did historically, no strategies to be found. Until Catherine the Great, Ukraine was part of Poland. And before the Poles took it it was Russ, i.e. the land of the Slavic people of which the Russians and Ukrainians are one. That is why Kiev used to be the capital of Russia.

      2. You have the wrong idea. That is not what the Russians intend at all. Still less do they intend to invade the Baltic states and all the rest of the guff you hear in the Western media. They wish, very simply, to get a settlement in which Ukraine vows not to join NATO and that it remain a neutral country. It is as simple as that. It is the Wests refusal to give these assurances in the first place, that has caused this war. That, along with Zelenskyy miscalculation in thinking it could poke the Russian bear in the delusion that he could drag NATO and the EU into a fight. In short we and Zelenskyy are the guilty party, not Russia. What is ironic, remaining neutral is in the best interests of all concerned.

        1. I hope you are right. My country is still haunted by the “Peace in our Time” treaty British then-PM Neville Chamberlain secured in Munich in 1938, where the price for peace was recognising the German annexation of the Sudetenland. The Czechs were understandably unhappy about this, but the deal was made in good faith, and we could all draw a line on all talks of war.

          We all believed that Putin was no Hitler. His actions over the last fortnight have not reinforced this view.

          I agree that prodding the Bear was very foolish, but we’ve gone beyond that now.

    2. “But now in blood and battles was my youth,
      And full of blood and battles is my age,
      And I shall never end this life of blood.”

      I remember being much moved by Matthew Arnold’s epic poem about Sohrab and Rustom – a son and a father – who confront each other in mortal combat not knowing each other’s identity. I read it aloud to my son, Christo, when he was a boy and he was as moved by it as I had been.

      1. Your mention of Sohrab & Rustom triggers memories of a delightful book, ‘The Far Distant Oxus´, by K Whitlock and P Hull.

    3. And, of course, Zelenskyy doesn’t give a damn about the thousands of civilians deliberately shelled in the Donbass as an act of terror by his Nazis troops. Bit much to talk of atrocities when you committed them in the first place. Starting in Odessa.

      1. Pro EU British, they really are pathetic at this point. Dogs barking at an unobtainable moon.

    2. He’s quite right.
      The EU would have pushed eastwards even faster and the war would have started even sooner. And Russia and Europe could well have been nuclear wastelands.

      1. I seem to remember the EU making overtures to the Ukraine before any referendum.

        1. The UK leaving has been a huge distraction to them. Without that distraction they could/would have concentrated on their eastwards advance.

        2. Horse-face Ashton, Manuel Barossa and Drunken Juncker were stirring the pot on behalf of the Brussels/Strasbourg gravy train in Ukraine during 2013.
          The outcome of these stirrings led to the election of Zelensky in 2014, which didn’t solve the problem but merely delayed the reaction.

  25. 351296+ up ticks,

    Monday 7 March: British defence needs an immediate boost – but it will take years to reverse the decline

    I am very glad to say it has just received a very beneficial boost as in
    Tommy Robinson has joined Anne Marie Waters FOR BRITAIN.

    1. Has he really, you aren’t joking? For some reason Godfrey Bloom has started appearing in my You Tube feed. He has a couple of good comments to make about Tommy, but they are a couple of years old.

  27. Good morning, my friends.

    I don’t know about Russian bombers over the Ukraine but there’s certainly a nip in the air in Brittany this morning.

    Trump was right on Russia. He could have been its deterrent
    Critics obsessed about his crazy rhetoric, but he held a line against Putin and was no isolationist
    Tim Stanley : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/03/07/trump-right-russia-could-have-deterrent/

    BTL Comment

    “The 2020 US election was not rigged and Sleepy Joe won fairly.”

    “There are no serious side effects to the Covid vaccines and very few people die as a result of being jabbed.”

    “There was no existential threat to Russia with having so many NATO members or aspirational NATO countries on its western borders: no more threat than there was in having Russian missile bases in Cuba in 1962.”

    “We must destroy our economies and put millions of people into poverty to appease the green lobby.”

    I know that one should never hold such views and that those who hold them should be cancelled or banned from expressing their views on social media and sacked from their jobs if they do so. This is why we certainly refuse to hold them and certainly would never admit to holding them. After all we wish to conform to what the PTB want us to think like good amenable citizens.

    But sometimes I do wonder.

    1. There isn’t any MSM for the other side. It has all been censored by the freedom loving West. You have to make real efforts to find what the Russian side of the argument is.

    1. Why are their faces pixilated, they wouldn’t be of a certain non-English origin, would they? America used to have a policy that if you were a member of the mafia you were deported right back to Italy. It didn’t matter if you had been born in the USA, couldn’t speak Italian and were the grandchildren of immigrants, you were still sent back. For some reason, no doubt bleeding hearts had a hand in it, the policy was ended. Pity we don’t have something like that here to use against immigrants that commit offences.

      1. With such a policy, crime figures would drop sharply.
        Meanwhile, these hateful thugs know they are unlikely to get much more than a slap on the wrist and a few pointless hours of ‘community service.’

    2. Good morning,
      Beat me to it. No comments allowed.
      What is it with these marauding gangs of violent non-indigenous boys? They have just as much access to education and training as ‘local’ children yet choose to be perpetually lazy, enraged and pointless waste of oxygen. Their parents are at the root of such attitudes and behaviour.
      Four “men” we’re arrested but ONLY one was charged.
      This horrific attack reminded me of an old episode of The Bill where PC Quinnan was cornered by a gang of vicious young thugs and severely beaten. That was a gang of white thugs.

        1. Apparently the PC mob continues to make great efforts in having him banned from You Tube, so far they haven’t succeeded. Which I find quite surprising considering much of his content is debunking their nonsense.

        2. I am a great fan of his videos. I’m surprised he hasn’t been cancelled by YouTube.

  31. Gas prices in Europe skyrocketed on Monday, reaching over $3,600 per 1,000 cubic meters for the first time in history.

    The April futures at the TTF hub in the Netherlands soared past $3,600 per 1,000 cubic meters, or over $300 per megawatt-hour in household terms by 08:30 GMT, according to data from London’s ICE exchange.

    Prices continue to grow as market players fear the outcome of the ongoing Russian military offensive in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russian state energy giant and major gas exporter Gazprom said Monday it continues to routinely supply Russian gas for transit to Europe through the territory of Ukraine.

    “Gazprom supplies Russian gas for transit through the territory of Ukraine in the regular mode, in accordance with the applications of European consumers [amounting to] 109.6 million cubic meters for March 7,” Gazprom’s official representative Sergey Kupriyanov told reporters.

      1. Perhaps, Geoffrey, if you look at your gas bill at the end of next month you might find there is truth in the statement.
        So pleased the EU is self sufficient in natural gas and is not beholden to Russia. It must be a great comfort to you.

    2. Robert Stapleford annoys me because he clearly hates Ogga regardless of the content – which it’s clear he doesn’t bother with.

  33. Mutual trade between Russia and China in the first two months of 2022 increased by 38.5% year-on-year, according to statistics released on Monday by China’s customs administration.

    Trade turnover in January-February reached $26.43 billion.

    Russian exports to China jumped by 35.8% over the period to $13.8 billion, while Russia imported $12.6 billion worth of goods and services from China, an annual growth of 41.5%.

    Last year, Russian-Chinese trade peaked at a record high of over $148.8 billion, up 35.8% compared to 2020, when it dropped by 2.9% due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
    Overall, China’s trade surplus reached $59.77 billion in the first two months of 2022, up 16.5% compared to the same period in 2021.
    “Despite the increasingly complex and unpredictable external factors, the situation in China’s foreign trade is still stable. This is primarily due to the flexibility of the Chinese economy. In general, in the long term, the positive trend remains unchanged,” Chinese customs official Li Kuiwen said, commenting on the newly-released data.

    Following last year’s positive results, Chinese President Xi Jinping forecast that trade turnover between Russia and China may soon reach $250 billion. Experts say this threshold could be reached in 2026. Among the main areas that will contribute to the growth of trade between the two countries, analysts list Russian oil and gas exports, non-ferrous metals, and agricultural goods. Last month, China lifted all restrictions on Russian wheat imports, and is now free to buy wheat from any Russian region.

        1. Good morning. Thought i would have a healthy breakfast today. Yakult. A handful of grapes. Sausage sandwich. Well, i tried.

          2. Horses for courses. Besides, it must be doing me good if it tastes horrible. :@)

          3. Ever tried Kefir? It’s good Sort of liquid yoghurt. Available at Tesco and M & S. I go to both places for the different flavours that each carries.

  35. Yo All

    Read the BBC News in Subtitles earlier, sorry

    It seems Micron is working to get the Noble Peace Prize, for persuading Mr Putin to allow refugees to leave
    a Country that is at war with Russia, which was cuused solely due to the EU’s march to the East

    IRRROOONNNY

  36. Now there are rumours a “false flag” attack to be carried out using a nuclear weapon.
    Well we should jolly well box the ears of all those whining about their forebears being slaves. If the last two years and present events have reminded us of anything, it is that we are impotent serfs.

    1. If some congenital bloody idiot should do so, all bets are off.
      If there is even a hint of such a thing, those perpetrating it should be flayed alive.
      SLOWLY.

    1. Only trouble with that article is that the cold war never went away in the minds of Americans, they simply transferred it from the USSR to capitalist Russia and, in the process, learnt nothing and caused us to wind up where we are now.

      1. Perhaps they need an enemy to continue to justify their military/industrial complex, but can’t choose China because it stymies the Globalists?

      1. Your adblocker should allow you to temporarily close just for that article Nanny. Right click on adblocker and you should see a menu of choices.

          1. Actually, I agree with you because the only want you to unblock to bombard you with adverts.

      2. And just what do you think I should do about that?

        Copying and pasting the whole thing clogs up Nottle for those who may not be interested.

        1. I’m not expecting you to do anything – see my earlier response to Johnathan.

  38. Morning all. Well at least todays letter got it right “… it will take years to recruit and train military personnel in the numbers required, and for those personnel to progress in their careers (it isn’t possible to just go out and hire the corporals, sergeants and the rest), as well as to develop and procure the equipment required.

    This is not a quick fix, and our vulnerability while it is carried out is an indictment of our political and defence establishments.”

    It is indeed an indictment of our political and defence establishments. But it seems to me that in almost every sphere that we require responsible government all we have had for years is neglect in favour of hair brained self indulgence on the part of our politicians in their lunatic policies that neglect the real world problems. Probably because they are so well payed with their extra-curricular money making schemes outside of government that being an MP gives them, that they really don’t give a damn about the country. It’s just a pot of gold to them to get their grubby hands in.

    5. She though is looking at the map to find out where Ethiopia, Lesotho and Libya are

    6. The naivete of these people is truly frightening. She probably thinks that it means she will have to cancel her hairdressing appointment!

    7. The naivete of these people is truly frightening. She probably thinks that it means she will have to cancel her hairdressing appointment!

    8. Looks like one path to peace would require Truss to be removed. The maxim, “speak softly and carry a big stick”*, seems never to have crossed her mind. For someone whose CV suggests at least a modicum of intelligence, she has made a dog’s breakfast of her Cabinet jobs. It seems abundantly clear that diplomacy and negotiation are beyond her ken. I doubt that she has read any books on foreign relations of the period 1890 to 1914 when we were relatively good at these things.

      *President Theodore Roosevelt

      1. Like all the post feminist politicians, she doesn’t understand violence. Worse, she doesn’t understand that she doesn’t understand anything.

    10. Given that part of Ukraine was once the Polish-Lithuanian Union, one could argue that he already has. Thankfully it’s unlikely that Truss would understand that?

  40. A different take on why war.

    Ironically, American global consumerism is oddly similar to Marxism. Marx famously said that once we get the morality right, there is no need for politics. American globalism assumes we already have solved the moral questions. Liberal democracy is the only moral form of government, according to the American dogma. It is the end point of historical and political evolution.

    The only thing that remains is getting the economics right. By right, it is assumed that mass consumerism is the rational economic order. Once the world is hooked into the global economic order, where people and goods flow freely around the globe to where they can be exploited, there are no more problems to solve. The only thing left is for the masses to enjoy their entertainments.

    Once again, we are seeing that men may go to war for economic reasons, but economics will never stop men from going to war. Putin knew in advance that his war in Ukraine would cost his country economically. The Russian people, who overwhelmingly support the war, also know they will suffer economically. It turns out that they think some things are worth more than Netflix and iPhones.

    To some degree, this is what is driving the hysterical reaction of American elites to the war in Ukraine. They are sure that robbing the Russians of the latest filth from Disney and Netflix will bring the Russians into the streets. After all, how can they live without the latest superhero movie? How can they be free knowing that they have been canceled by the world community?

    This is also why much of the world is increasingly suspicious of Washington’s foreign-policy motives. Ukraine is just the latest example of The Great Satan promising to turn every stone into a gaming console or Netflix subscription, despite being told that man cannot live on consumerism alone. There is something alien and inhuman in how the lone superpower engages with the rest of the world.

    https://www.takimag.com/article/where-consumerism-fails/

    1. Russia is now being supported by the likes of Iran and Pakistan, whose moral principles are very different to those of Orthodox Christianity. Is it just the fact that they have moral principles and see The Great Satan as having none?

      1. I think that at an individual level people have moral principles, but the USA is now a globalist entity run by oligarchs, and corrupt politicians.
        Just because they are American doesn’t make them any different from the Russian versions.

          1. Yes! Mu bold
            https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-to-england-from-another-country-during-coronavirus-covid-19
            If you are not fully vaccinated
            Before you travel to England – not fully vaccinated
            Before you travel to England you must:

            take a COVID-19 test – to be taken in the 2 days before you travel to England
            book and pay for a COVID-19 PCR test – to be taken after you arrive in England
            complete a UK passenger locator form – to be completed in the 3 days before you arrive in England
            You will need to enter your PCR test booking reference number in the passenger locator form.

            Ukraine or Russia
            If you began your journey in Ukraine or Russia, you do not need to:

            complete a passenger locator form
            take a COVID-19 test before travel to England or book a PCR test to take on arrival

          3. If I ever do go to France again, it seems I’m going to have to route the return via Moskva.

  42. Odessa, a beautiful Ukrainian port and tourist city of more than a million people on The Black Sea, is thought to be the next on Putin’s attack list. I have not been there, but would love to have been because it was brought to life for me following my reading a book called “The Hare With Amber Eyes,” by Edmund De Waal. The author’s Jewish family had lived in Odessa and had formed a collection of Japanese netsuke (including the eponymous hare – pictured below). Nazi and Soviet persecution ensued (De Waal’s book lists the travails and travels of the netsuke). But the beauty of the city survives – for how long?

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e078e5fc5e2c01dc0eaf4d8850129d37f5271a3ae66c59bad1f056a051e012bd.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a11582ec706764046ac5aa6ec72d7d24200266387c657e21befc682b3aa373a8.jpg

    1. Good morning, Geoffrey. To me, Odessa brings back memories of THE ODESSA FILES and THE ODESSA STEPS.

        1. A “tribute sequence” mimicking the Odessa Steps sequence in “Battleship Potemkin” was inserted into “The Untouchables” (1987), by its director Brian de Palma. This is the film in which Sean Connery won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as an Irish American cop [ who spoke with a Scottish accent. ;-)) ]

    3. Always welcome recommendations for a well written book. I just downloaded a Kindle sample.

      1. Was in Lidl yesterday.
        There was a boxed set of 5 Enid Blyton “Famous Five” books
        How long will they last, before burnt as Dangerous

        1. I suspect they may have already been ‘modified’.
          Terrible books, full of outdated language, attitudes and behaviour. The main characters display unacceptable independence of thought, and are hideously white/undiversified. Why are there no lgbtqxyz characters? Our precious children/grandchildren must never be exposed to such books. I hope there was a trigger warning on the cover. :))
          My younger son loved these books, older son loved those other subversive books, Swallows and Amazons. Both collections deserve to be widely available in their original forms.

    4. It is a wonderful book. I have a copy. Europe seems to have been in turmoil for most of its history. The family seemed to survive quite well, by moving around. What upset me most was that the family home in Vienna was seized by the authorities during WW2 and never given back. It had been “officially taken”…

      1. If I may:
        Don’t forget the many Ukrainians enthusiastically joined in the slaughter of Jews and others too.

    7. According to Scott Ritter, Odessa has been used as, de facto a NATO port in recent years, which might have something to do with this decision.

  43. Good morning everyone.
    I heard that the Russians are selling excess crude oil to the Chinese at a discount price, rumoured to be $33 per barrel.
    Cloud, silver lining…

  44. When we have to build up our Forces:

    Training Recruits 2022 style

    It would be very hard just to feed and clothe and train them
    Vegan Meals
    Vegetarian Boots and Uniforms
    Boys will be girls
    Girls will be boys
    Boys will marry boys
    Girls will marry girls
    The instructors oops “training guidance personnel” must not shout
    When asked to “March”, they will choose which foot to start with
    When ordered to “Right (or Left) Wheel”, a discussion will take place on the politics of request
    Education, or lack of it may embarrass some of the recruits, none wil take place
    All “Orders”, sorry ‘requests’ will have to be given in the 17 most used languages, with English being the last one.

    Etc Etc

    1. ‘Training guidance personnel’ will have to issue trigger warnings each time they mention a proscribed word (including weapon, enemy, combat) and ‘safe spaces’ will be provided.
      Prayer rooms will be provided in all facilities and on battlefields.
      Counsellors must be available 24/7.

      1. Fighting must stop five times a day for sessions on the prayer mat.
        Any squaddie who expresses less than respectful approval for any of the new agenda must be severely punished – jails will be full.

        1. The only meat available will be halal.
          All female soldiers must be covered in black ‘letterbox’ tents so as to not distract any slammers in the vicinity.

    3. I would laugh, except that the above list will seriously impede any attempts to train a useful army.

    4. “…17 most used languages, with English being the last one…” Dearie me. They are lagging behind.
      We have just received a letter telling us about the census that will shortly be conducted here in Scotland.
      The reverse of the letter explains that help may be available, in 24 languages.
      One is asked to complete the census form on line, using computer, tablet or mobile phone. If you cannot complete on line, you can go to the
      website to request a paper version of the census form, at http://www.census.gov.scot/paper (yes, really!).

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ffe2f10e986541ec436ff8ad07555a9c66edf782fdb1ea3470710cdd61ab4ae7.png

  45. Morning all!

    Just to say that I can no longer easily reply to anything on here – it appears to be a problem with my phone and Disqus, which is irritating as I try to limit the time I spend on my laptop to useful pursuits, and leave messing around on here to my phone. I can uptick, and do, but if I forget to fire up the laptop to wish someone a happy birthday, please forgive me.

    2. Last 2 days there has been a problem with replies on my Android phone. Ipad arrives at the end of the month, thankfully.

  46. How come Ukrainian refugees – ie, people who are fleeing from terror – can’t get UK visas – but thousands of blacks from the jungle can enter without let or hindrance?

    Just asking.

    1. In a reply to a similar question i asked last summer my MP wrote….. The united kingdom has a proud record of helping those fleeing from persecution oppression or tyranny from around the world.
      A key objective of the nationalities and borders bill is to deter and prevent illegal entry into our country. By cracking down on illegal immigration, we can prioritise those in genuine need.       He goes on with more BS about people fulfilling the dream of home ownership and affordable housing.

      And as the joke about the automated pilot system in the aircraft goes as it about to crash land……….”ladies and gentlemen we are now on automatic pilot and nothing can go wrong …..can go wrong ….can go wrong”………..

      1. Should have asked him why his Party was committing electoral suicide…

        1. Frankly AA i have had it with politicians, they are absolutely effing useless. And they manage to be that bad with out much of an effort.

    2. It is all about globalisation and diluting National identity by importing hordes of people who despise British religion, history and culture but love young white girls and the benefits system.

    1. Remind me – at what price did Gordon Brown sell the British gold reserves?

      2. I’ve looked it up $ 275 an ounce.

        A good thing Brown was in charge of the British economy for so long. A rise in price from 275 to 2000 in 20 years is a rise of over seven times!

        1. If he hadn’t warned the market in advance, and not flooded it he’d have got a higher price for the public’s property.

          But it wasn’t his, so he didn’t care.

  48. Good (and rightful) moaning all,………. And what have the worlds political monsters have instore for us this week I wonder ?

    2. Heaven knows. At the start of the year, my New Year’s Resolution was “Avoid getting put in a camp.”
      I have since lowered my expectations; it is now “Avoid getting turned into glass in a nuclear explosion.”

    1. Make up your own mind? Oh aye, most people do that, right after they’ve watched the News At Ten and scanned DailyMail online!

      1. This is mostly because people do not have the information they need to ask more questions. They listen and absorb, then come to a conclusion that fits their narrative, experience and world view. They say Putin is bad, I don’t like them, so Putin is not bad, but why then invade Ukraine… perhaps Ukraine did something wrong, so it’s wrong, but understandable….

        Or, Putin is bad, Putin is bad, therefore support Ukraine …. without knowing the history of the region.

        Or, for myself, Putin bad, EU worse, Germany dependent on Russia, therefore EU bad but Putin bad and Germany silly… abandon the green twaddle… which is just useless in terms of understanding, so I come away with endless questions – the root of which is ‘why?’ and we can’t really get to the bottom of why without going back hundreds of years and then you’re left with Ireland attitude of ‘oh ffs, grow up!’

          1. I always come out as an INFJ-T – an advocate. I always find it interesting that folk say ‘Oh! I’m one of them as well!’ when they find out it’s a ‘rare’ type, as if they need the specialism to feel important – yet one of the traits is to NOT need that underpinning.

      2. Well for me. Putin good and so is Russia. Zelenskyy devious bastard, not surprising because as an actor he knows how to work the audience. People, for the most part don’t care enough about the news unless is personally effects them. So since the Wests propaganda is Putin evil, Russia evil and Ukrainians put upon innocents. People will believe it. But from my perspective EU and USA deliberately provoked Russia and made it inevitable that Russia would answer since they were threatened by the Wests actions in the form of NATO which is supposed to be a defensive alliance but is, in fact, the very opposite.

        1. I believe we just have to accept that a majority are in thrall to the MSM whether the BBC or CNN and the other news outlets.

          Few can be bothered to conduct their own enquiry or look into alternative sources of news.

          In any event, as with Covid, the truth will out. Crimes cannot be excused and concealed for all time. The perpetrators are eventually brought to justice by the determined will of the intelligent minority.

        2. I wish we had leaders of the calibre of Putin in the West. He will ruthlessly stand up for Russia’s interests, eg funding our anti-fracking movement, and we’d better not forget that.
          Did you see the candidate that they tried to get elected in Belarus a few years ago? I believed all that crapola about a people’s revolution until I saw a photo of the silly, left wing face, and then I knew it was a put-up job. Zelensky is another of the same ilk, a puppet like Western “leaders.”

          1. Zelenskyy is definitely a puppet but he is a foolish puppet. He though he could manipulate the West and drew the EU and NATO into his games with Russia but, of course, he failed miserably . I see he is still trying. About the only one that would fall for that is Von der Leyen, because she is thick and incompetent. But fortunately she is constrained by people who understand that a nuke up your rear is not a nice thing.

  50. Finnish companies are leaving Russia in protest over its actions in Ukraine, with many saying the sanctions imposed on Moscow by the West would negatively affect their business.

    The last 24 hours have seen Valio, Paulig, and Fazer announcing their departure from the Russian market.

    Saying that Valio strongly condemns Russia’s military attack on Ukraine, President and CEO Annikka Hurme explained that the dairy manufacturer “does not have the ethical preconditions to continue operating in Russia” and is therefore ceasing operations in the country.

    Valio employs about 400 people in Russia, with the annual turnover of its Russian operations amounting to approximately €85 million.

    Valio is primarily a cheese and butter maker.When the EU announced sanctions on Russia back in 2014,Valio lost the Russian market.
    Not to be outdone,they built two new plants in Russia employing Russian labour and using Russian milk.
    Valio may leave but i suspect the workforce will simply carry on producing.

  51. Not only the French sticking the boot in….Nick Robinson
    having a dig too!

    ‘A source of shame’ BBC’s Nick Robinson rages at Cleverly over Ukraine refugee record
    BBC host Nick Robinson slammed James Cleverly and the UK Government’s efforts to welcome Ukrainian refugees in the country as he questioned how many have arrived in the UK so far.
    https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1576652/BBC-news-Nick-Robinson-James-Cleverly-UK-refugee-Ukraine-visa-vn

    No mention of the ‘Boat People’ Nick!

      1. And other places, it might be the turning of the tide. Perhaps it’s why the Government have only taken 50 in so far.

        1. 50 more than canada has.

          Trudeau announced that Ukrainian refugees could come to Canada, no visa required. Hurrah went the woke crowd.

          However it has now been discovered that the immigration department will need at least two weeks to update their systems to remove the visa requirement and even then it will require a residency not a visa application to be completed and approved.

          No surprise really, the promised Afghan refugees failed to get past the bureaucrats as well.

          .

  52. I can’t see why the Russians would want to prevent Ukrainian civilians leaving by shelling/shooting them. It can only be used as propaganda against them and to vilify them in the court of world opinion..
    I suspect the Ukrainians are loathe to allow military age men to leave, so that makes targeting those civilians, women children and the elderly even more senseless.

    1. Russia has already evacuated large numbers of women, children and the elderly from the Donbass region. That was done prior to military engagement and they’re all being looked after in Russia. It was the Ukrainians who kiboshed the safety corridors. There seems to be another attempt to make it work. (I can no longer access RT on my phone but it still works on the laptop.)
      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0c7e8e7ec7166e4248f93b660fc1a68fa682e437bcd9a0878dc41bf2fc1135b6.png

        1. Why would you think that. The people of Donbass are Russian. They are far more likely to be murdered if they were sent to Ukraine. After all, it is the Ukrainians that have been trying to kill them for the last 8 years.

  54. Going away now – early lunch plus funeral – back late afternoon.

    Keep the war going till I return.

  55. Uff Da

    The pandemic was not organic. Lockdowns were not the result of panic.

    We have all read the facts.

    The data was fudged, the tests were useless, the statistics

    artificially inflated, and many deaths were intentionally caused through

    institutionalized medical negligence. Hospitals received funding bonuses as payoffs.

    None of that had anything to do with bad data, or pessimistic models. They did it all on purpose, all of it.

    Every life lost, every business destroyed, every penny wasted, every

    child traumatised. Every moment of anxiety and fear – every single one –

    entirely intentional.

    They ruined lives and countries and the global economy as a

    deliberate policy on the back of a vast web of lies, and last act of the

    deception will be to claim it was a “mistake”.

    https://off-guardian.org/2022/03/07/dont-believe-the-medias-fake-post-mortem-the-pandemic-was-not-a-mistake/

    1. I wonder what the true statistics are for people who have died from the Covid vaccines gene therapies? Of course it will never be discovered because, owing to the reluctance by the PTB to have post mortems, much of the evidence does not exist.

      1. We don’t know how many will die in the medium – long term, or how many will not be born.

      2. We know of one person (very elderly) who died of Covid, but two who had strokes shortly after being vaccinated.

        Yes, we accept that is not a scientific revelation, but we’d be interested to know of other people’s experiences.

        1. Caroline plays the organ at funerals. The level of deaths in the parish is very significantly higher than last year and it is now generally believed that the cause is these deaths is the ‘vaccine’.

        2. The vast majority over here have been double or triple jabbed, mainly Pfizer.

          A few reported the standard flu type reactions to the vaccinations but not many people disappearing from circulation. It must be the vaccine you are using over there.

          1. You’re in Trudeauland are you not?
            I strongly suspect that your MSM is even more tightly controlled than here.

  56. “Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.”

    The censoring of who can say what about the trans lobby, the endless propaganda, the slandering of anyone who disagrees with the state machine as a ‘waycist’, the re-writing of comics – comics for goodness sake – to make practically everyone gay, films forcing specific phrases in: it all reminds me of this from Lenin: https://fee.org/articles/would-be-tyrants-capture-language-to-control-thought/

    Our media do the same thing. It’s is a lie to pretend the West is any better than Putin. He is invading another country. Our administration seeks to invade their own. OK, they’re not killing us, but they are using force to make us obey. The erasure of our way of life is no less vicious and spiteful.

  57. Just paid £1.76 a litre for diesel yet it’s ‘only’ £1.59 in Inverness…..effin daylight robbery

    1. There seem to be a lot of people making money here, while conveniently blaming Vlad!

    2. I paid $1.47 a litre on Wednesday (f’ing robbery), it was $1.83 yesterday.

      But Trudeau sees no need to delay the increase in carbon tax that is scheduled for April 1st.

    3. Yo Alec

      Do not use it

      Put it in a bottle, then into a safety deposit box at the Bank

      Look at it once a week and think…ahhhh those were the days

    4. Diesel was 179.9 a litre in Selkirk on Saturday morning. But that was two days ago…

    6. Blimey, Inverness is selling it cheap. It was 161.9ppl in Shrewsbury today (and 171.9ppl in the garage that is usually the cheapest around).

    1. What a windbag. As if getting rid of our nuclear weapons would make the slightest bit of difference. In the event of, we would still be blown off the map.

      1. We would be even more at the mercy of the French seeing as they intend on keeping theirs.

    2. I’ve never been that impressed by politicians but the current crop, of all parties, seem to be alarmingly stupid [and in many cases corrupt and incompetent].

    3. Here is a Simple solution
      Build/dig a new base for Trident, far away from prying eyes.
      Transfer the facility and people to new base, ASAP
      Demolish old base, send all untranserable stuff to auction/scrap (but not in Scotland)
      Throw Barnett off the bus
      Let them live on the taxes , that they raise themselves
      Make it known LOUD AND CLEAR why this is being done

    2. Madonna had a more mature look when she was about thirty. I keep wanting to give her a more appropriate makeover!

      1. She is an embarrassment now a days. 63 year old falling to pieces pretending to be an ingenue but stuck together with make up and sticky tape. She is a horror.

    3. Why do women go from shop to shop to shop looking for clothes and then go back to the first shop they went in and buy the first thing they tried on?

      Interestingly these days, women’s dress places have chairs and a wifi password thing nearby – for the husbands.

      1. I think women are more concerned about how they look compared to men. A man looks good in a decent tux but a lady will be criticised if she wears the same dress twice. Certainly those in the public eye.

        I too have had the pleasure of sitting on one of those seats. :@(

  60. Kiev’s Delegation Says 3rd Round of Russia-Ukraine Talks Will Begin at 14:00 GMT
    The third round of negotiations between the delegations of Ukraine and Russia will begin at 14:00 GMT, the composition of the Ukrainian delegation will remain the same, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office and a member of the Ukrainian delegation, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Monday.

    “Negotiations with the Russian Federation. Third round. Beginning at 16.00 Kiev time. Delegation unchanged,” Podolyak tweeted.

    1. Ah, well. You should know the Russians are so devious they not only tuck their forked tails in their trousers to conceal them, they also manufacture these sort of flags to make the saintly Ukrainians look bad.

      1. Yes and if you had been paying attention I have been saying this since the conflict began. These are the people who have been shelling Donbass with Zelenskyy’s blessing and murdering innocent civilians. He and the Ukrainians are not the innocents you believe. Why do you think the Russians attacked, on some sort of bizarre whim?

          1. Sorry Geoffrey but it is a fact whether you like it or not. I have told you to do your research but you choose not to. Look up the Azov Battalion and then make of it what you will. Instead of expelling them from the military Zelenskyy uses them.

            Being Jewish for many people means very little as you would know if you had a lot of contact with them. I doubt that the Ukrainian Nazi’s care one way or another about him as anything than a useful individual that lets them continue with their behaviour. Unfortunately you seem to be bogged down with stereotypes that make you think that certain things are impossible when they are anything but. My first wife was a Jewish Russian, she loved bacon. Does that fit your stereotype of Jews?

          2. PS. I didn’t say Zelenskyy is a Nazi. Again you are not paying attention and only reading selectively to suit your prejudices.

    2. Good afternoon to you too Æthelflæd glorious spring like weather here in West Sussex today.

  63. Useless factoids.

    The wheel of time rolls ever onwards.
    Ancient writing was done on wax or clay tablets using a stylus
    Eventually tablets were replaced by scrolls, which were themselves superseded by books.
    It’s all different nowadays,
    We now we read books on tablets by scrolling, often using a stylus to do so.

    3. I suspect, in the not to distant future, we will be post-literate. We will speak, it will be recorded by some sort of computer, probably fused to us at birth in some fashion because it will be organic so literally in your body. Then, whatever it is we want to convey will be arranged so it is grammatically perfect and sent to the recipient of choice in any language that you choose, wirelessly. Reading and writing will become a skill, a novelty pursued by some people as a hobby. Education in our sense of the term will also become redundant because we will be able to access any information that we like instantaneously. Education will be about thinking, how to think precisely and how to ask the right question, so the emphasis will be on things like logic and philosophy. So full circle, as it were, back to ancient Greece but incomparably advanced.

    1. And no “triple lock” either – shows how much the government care about the elderly!

    2. I’d rather not have to as it would cost a small fortune, however, if a prepaid prescription card (online now) is still going to work then it would be too bad. Currently costs about £104.

      1. I used to get the 3 (or was it 4?) month prepaid card. Order items as it started then a final lot right at the end (allowing for the 3 days our incompetent quackery place needed as it’s the day of collection that counts) thereby making the 3 months last for 4 months.

        1. Yes I used one before I hit 60 some years ago and even the 12 month one can be stretched to 13 months. Our current waiting time for meds after putting in prescription has been increased to 5 working days, since you can guess when.

    4. calm down dears. Without a prescription pre-payment I’d be living in penury – two inhalers and 2 warfarins every 4 weeks, £40 a trot. With my 1100 card I’m now in profit.

      Of course, the curmudgeon in me says ‘you’ve already paid for those things.’ but hey ho.

      1. …as long as there is a cherry on top!

        BTW most sweet cherries are produced in NATO countries.

  67. If Klaus Shwab fails in his attempt to pull off the great reset then he will be able to get a job in a horror movie. He would save the studio a packet in make-up and make-up artists’ fees as he looks quite evil enough au natural and without any slap.

    1. There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always—do not forget this, Winston—always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking into the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent.

      You will own nothing (because we’ll have taken it from you), and *you will* be happy.

  68. I want to apologize for editing almost every post. I don’t know if it is an after effect of therapy or what, still easily fatigued, I do feel wacked out most of the time. But I keep making elementary mistakes and even when I correct them after typing, I still discover errors after I have posted. So I edit those because they irk me never mind anyone else. You should see what I write before it gets on line, it’s all over the map.

  69. I want to apologize for editing almost every post. I don’t know if it is an after effect of therapy or what, still easily fatigued, I do feel wacked out most of the time. But I keep making elementary mistakes and even when I correct them after typing, I still discover errors after I have posted. So I edit those because they irk me never mind anyone else. You should see what I write before it gets on line, it’s all over the map.

    1. Why apologise, Jonathan? It’s absolutely fine. I’ve edited this one as I wrote its absolutely find. Nowt wrong with having a rethink.

      1. It isn’t that. I actually don’t see things that are glaringly obvious for some reason. I don’t think it is age but I am fatigued most of the time due to the therapy and it seems that, as a result, I miss things that are obvious and I find it very, very annoying.

      1. Thanks for that Phizzee. Will read it. Do you use something over the counter or is this another plod along to the doctor?

        1. The pharmacist will know more than the GP and can advise. IMO GP’s are just drug pushers. They rarely suggest anything other than a drug for any condition. I was prescribed opiates for a collapsed disc when gentle yoga worked better. The doc never even mentioned any alternatives.

          1. Maybe they get a bung for every patient prescribed opiates, just as they do for statins. No ‘benefits’ to the GP for suggesting yoga. Not that I’m cynical …

          2. I believe you have hit the nail on the head.

            In my case the twice daily yoga which i could do almost anywhere strengthened the surrounding muscles and supported the disc which was trapping a nerve. Not serious enough to operate said the Consultant. If he had been suffering the pain i was i bet he would have insisted on an operation.

          3. Alf had a telephone conversation with the GP late last year after the annual hypertensive review. In which she said “I am obliged to recommend statins” and when Alf asked what his level of cholesterol was, (3.5/6j), she said, it’s fantastic, but I am obliged to recommend that you take statins. He laughed and said not likely or words to that effect.

            Alf had had a very nasty experience with statins some years ago and it was the worst thing ever recommended. His cholesterol level was 5.4, with the government recommended level just being reduced from 7 to 5, so a minimal difference. Anyway he took the statins and, within 3 months, had lost so much strength in his hands, arms and legs, and usually, I could hardly keep up with him when we went walking. He was soon reduced to not being able to keep up with me. He saw a Rheumatologist and had an EMG and, whilst there, a neurologist walked in and took an interest in the results and thought he may have IBM, inclusion body myositis. He then had a muscle biopsy. Conclusion: He should never have been put on statins. He’s never really fully recovered his strength and that was about 10/11 years ago.

            GPs should prescribe for their patients, not by government diktat.

          4. My first wife did yoga every morning. Have no patience for that myself but I commend you on going drug free. I don’t like to take them either.

      2. I’ve been on 80mg Statins for 11½ years now.What sort of side effects do you get. Obviously I read the information when I was prescribed them.

        1. The most noticeable one for me is lack of energy to the point of just having to go to bed. That disrupts my night time sleep pattern and so it gets worse. Hence why i take Co-enzyme q10.

          4. That’s the rub isn’t it. I think it is the sort of thing that you need to take for a while seeing as it is working at a cellular level.

      3. I see, Statin myopathy. I’ll have to have a think. If I’ve had any of that It would just feel normal by now. Maybe I’ll give it a try and be able to ‘leap tall buildings’.

      4. Actually I sort of answered my question to you below. But do you recommend a particular brand or is it more or less all the same?

        1. I buy 60 capsules @ 100mgs from Tesco. I assume they are pretty much the same anywhere.

    5. It’s so easy to type out your thoughts and press the ‘post’ button before noticing the typos – I do it all the time.

    6. Afternoon Johnathan. I type all my comments out on Microsoft Word and then Copy and Paste them. Even then I get the odd letter wrong!

    1. Yes, it’s truly awful. If the EU hadn’t encroached on Ukraine – against all the warnings they were sent – this issue might have been avoided.

      However, the advantage is the entirety of all the nonsense plaguing this country can now be unravelled.

      1. Unfortunately, the blind old fool refuses to recognise the catastrophic damage his “wonderful” EU has done.

        1. Old maybe a question of fact, blind, equally, but I don’t know. Fool – I can’t say. I disagree with many very intelligent people because they present arguments that have already failed – high tax/big state/green/EUrophile but it doesn’t make them foolish, just wrong.

          I’d like to be wrong in my postulations, as I demand small state, low tax and libertarian values it’s quite difficult to be. Those are proven to work.

    2. You can thank the EU for all this. Ukraine should have been left as a buffer state, any fool knows that. Obama interfearing as well. You need to look behind the headlines.

        1. As usual, you overlook the 14,000 people in the east of the Ukraine who were killed – since 2014 – by Ukrainians.

        2. Geoffrey, can I ask, were you as concerned when Gulf war I & II happened, along with American interference in Syria and the debacle that was Libya?
          Afghanistan & Yemen are but two others that seem to have been forgotten.

        3. You must do far more research. The EU has caused all this Putin is reacting to the EU.

          2. Of course. I think someone else on here said they started with ATONE. That’s a good start.

          3. I would do that but what should I feel guilty about? TBH I have a lot to be guilty about.

  72. I gained the impression that the imposition of extra sanctions on Putin’s pals was an urgent matter. Sure enough, today’s timetable for the House of Commons includes – starting at 3.30 p.m – a debate on an ‘Economic Crime Bill.’ Ministers have put amendments forward to reduce the time given to comply with new rules from 18 months to six. (Labour says this should be cut to 28 days). BoJo and his allies, in and out of the Commons, are dragging their feet again. And to add insult to injury, MPs are having an hour discussing ‘levelling up’ – from 2.30 p.m. They should defer that and get on with the Putin sanctions IMMEDIATELY. PRONTO. People are dying. The Tories are delaying.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/464bf96fb0bb30a163ebd1d08b7beca83e3c06113417808a43008b8c4d71ebc5.jpg

        1. You’ve been reading too many Tom Clancy and Patrick Robinson books.

          That would be construed as an act of war, you bloody maniac.
          And when the Russians respond and kill Boris, Biden, Macron, and all the others, what then?

          2. A somewhat easier task. And after how many years of trying and failed attempts?

            Christ almighty, you’re as insane as Putin is purported to be.

          11. I’d send them a gift hamper. Maybe 2 if they got the rest of the cabinet as well.

            I don’t want them dead though. Just bundled in the back of a van and bundled into a cold council house with a coin fed meter.

          14. 8 hours a day being taught History, Arithmetic and Geography. And plenty of thrashings.

          15. Yes! that would be justice to sentence them all to live on a coin meter for the rest of their lives as punishment for Net Zero.

          16. “And when the Russians respond and kill Boris, Biden, Macron, and all the others, what then?”

            We have a big party.

        2. That is illegal, “infra dig” and all that. Which is one reason why the former Reich Chancellor was not “offed”. Not to mention that Putin would be replaced, probably by a bad-tempered hard-liner.

    2. The trouble with confiscating their money is that in the future that law might be used to confiscate your money.

      1. That is the whole purpose of the great reset/new world order etc. etc. People just do not look further than their noses.

    5. I’d like to ask, what’s the hurry and the reason for provoking Russia into WW3? There are talks going on which, I for one, would like to lead to peace breaking out instead of war.

      Where are the western diplomats? They’re conspicuous by their absence. We should be trying to damp down the noises and threats of war not stoking them up.

      1. I have wondered the same. My best guesses are greed from the arms industry, or else the desire to nudge the west towards a war-crisis.
        What restrictions did we have in the last war?

        Food rationing, petrol rationing, restricted travel.

        This is exactly what the great resetters want to impose.
        So what better way to do it than to have their tame media hypnotising the people into believing that we’re at war, while stopping one millemetre short of actual hot warfare with the Russians?
        This hypothesis would explain the crazy sanctions and talk as though we are at war with Russia when we aren’t!

      2. Everything seems to be arse about face these days.
        Those you would expect to calm things seem to stoke the fires. Hysteria reigns over everywhere. Idiots all.

    6. The Tories are delaying a total waste of space.
      I think that’s closer to the truth, Geoffrey.

    7. Geoffrey, they have made announcements, that is all they ever do nowadays. Actual implementation is immaterial.

  73. Russia tells Ukraine it will halt its onslaught ‘in a moment’ if Kyiv gives up three key regions and ceases military action. 7 March 2022.

    Russia has told Ukraine it will stop its onslaught ‘in a moment’ if Kyiv meets a raft of extraordinary Kremlin conditions as the two sides meet for a third round of peace talks.

    Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that Russia is demanding that Ukraine cease military action, change its constitution to enshrine neutrality, acknowledge Crimea as Russian territory and recognise the separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent territories.

    This offer is of course addressed to the West since Zelensky has no real power to settle anything. Pretty much everything is negotiable except the call for neutrality since that has been Vlad’s target from the beginning. It is the raison d’être for this war. He is determined that Ukraine will not become a NATO springboard to attack Russia!

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10585981/Russia-tells-Ukraine-halt-onslaught-moment-Kyiv-meets-demands.html

    1. Mr PuTTin will be Holyrood soon, supporting the SNP, in their mission to esacpe the shackles f the English

    2. These are actually very reasonable requests, given that 14000 people have been killed over the Donbass conflict since 2014, Ukraine is a buffer state and that Crimea is historically Russian anyway.

  74. Crufts flyball event ‘cruel’ as it doubles risk of injury to dogs, scientists say

    Animal activists said the popular relay race in the annual show increased the chances of causing damage to knees and was ‘unnecessary’

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH as usual

    Peta are the complainers

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2022/03/06/TELEMMGLPICT000000189285240_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqFeaO3Qjh8gsqXnO075hfzY064TIrcX_7tT0sGCZw0_A.jpeg?imwidth=680

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/03/06/crufts-flyball-event-cruel-doubles-risk-injury-dogs-scientists/

      1. Had to look that up. October 18 1867. They were also in California. It is quite surprising, you still see their influence there. not something you expect so far West.

        1. Fur trade I imagine, those sea-otters were lucky to survive. I think Bering was involved in the exploration.

  76. Once again, muzzles are only for the plebs. Here is maskless Turdeau less than 1m (never mind 2) away from our very elderly, frail Queen while he still (as far as I’m aware) has little Canadian kindergarten children and their teachers under muzzle mandates. My younger grandchild has a speech development issue and needs to see the teacher’s mouth. Masks may no longer be ‘required’ here but they are still ‘encouraged’ – he should be showing responsibility and leading by example.
    As usual, the ‘important’ people are immune to everything.
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4463c03c4113f37e659f2fd6e671493e13a4e19614a699de032100cd04123b89.jpg

      1. No idea but what a smarmy face he has. At least it gives the Canadians a few days respite form his tantrums in their parliament.

          3. You’re welcome, enjoy it while it lasts.
            Will he have to keep his muzzle on while flying back (as the rest of us have to), fill in a silly passenger locator form and be subject to random pulling for a convid ‘test’ when he lands back in Canada?

      3. The UK is condoning his shameful authoritarian power grab in Canada, Shame on our government.

    2. The things, that HM must do for her country: that man is worserester than Covid

      1. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if she thought something along the lines of: “Well I’m old so no one will mind if I ask him if he is the Canadian fascist.” And then actually asked him.

    3. Crazed teacher friend is still rigid with fear about covid & masks etc. Berated me soundly yesterday for not being vaxxed to the eyeballs. Oh dear. Oh well. DILLIGAF?

    5. A comment on a recent media article praised Trudeau as a great wartime leader.

      Needless to say, most of us don’t agree.

      1. Leader? is it 1st April already? The creature who threw tantrums in his parliament before storming out of the chamber?

  77. Police officer ‘beaten’ by gang of thugs who steal his radio in Bradford
    Footage of the incident reportedly shows a group of men assaulting the officer and claiming they “violate the coppers”

    By
    Telegraph Reporters
    7 March 2022 • 1:18pm
    A police officer in Yorkshire was beaten to the ground, robbed of his pocket radio and hospitalised while on duty over the weekend.

    The lone officer was set on as he was called to a disturbance involving a group of men in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

    A recording of the incident shows the policeman being grabbed by the tunic by an attacker who then punches him in the face.

    The officer is floored onto the grass verge and tries to retrieve his equipment as the group of men circle.

    The officer is seen grappling with his attackers who jab their fingers towards his face and yell insults while filming him.

    A female officer comes to his aid but the two officers.

    ‘We violate the coppers’
    The men steal his pocket radio and a man is heard saying: “We violate the coppers. We take their radios. You get me?”

    West Yorkshire Police said: “Police are aware of a video circulating on social media of an officer being assaulted in Bradford.”

    “At 5.54pm yesterday (5/03), officers were called to St Leonard’s Road, Girlington following a report of a disturbance involving a large group of individuals.”

    “Whilst in attendance, two officers were assaulted, sustaining injuries that required hospital treatment.”

    “Emergency assistance was requested and additional units responded.”

    “Four men were arrested, and one has now been charged with offences relating to the incident and has been bailed to appear in court later this month.”

    “Appropriate support has been put in place with regard to the welfare of the officers assaulted, and additional high visibility patrols are in the area to provide reassurance to local residents.”

    Chief Inspector Bash Anwar, of Bradford District Police, said: “West Yorkshire Police condemns any violence towards its staff and all such incidents will be investigated thoroughly.”

    “We will seek to prosecute anyone who displays violence towards an emergency worker as they work to protect the public and keep our communities safe.”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/03/07/police-officer-beaten-gang-thugs-steal-radio-bradford/

    1. We will seek to prosecute anyone who displays violence towards an emergency worker as they work to protect the public and keep our communities safe.

      The meaningless blather of an empty shirt!.

      1. What “communities” would that be? We only need one community and that is the community of UK citizens.

    2. We will seek to prosecute anyone who displays violence towards an emergency worker as they work to protect the public and keep our communities safe.

      The meaningless blather of an empty shirt!.

        1. I’d put money on it that comments, all unmoderated, would be allowed if they were white boys.

    5. Are you surprised? Cast your mind back to how the police force behaved during the Covid pandemic. Full riot gear in evidence at demonstrations unless of course the demonstrators where BLM then they took the knee. Whilst I do not condone violence, I for one has no sense of affinity with our police force.

  79. Russian oligarchs’ superyachts confiscated. 7 March 2022.

    Italian authorities have seized two yachts together worth €115 million (£95.8bn) that belong to Russian oligarchs, including the country’s richest man.

    In the port of Imperia in northern Italy, the police seized the 215ft-long Lady M, a €65 million (£53.7m) yacht that belongs to Alexey Mordashov, a tycoon who is regarded as being close to President Vladimir Putin.

    More thieving! I suppose it comes quite naturally to the Political Elites! Once you’ve robbed the people blind it is hardly a crime at all!

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/03/05/russian-oligarchs-superyachts-confiscated/

  80. Gosh – a secular funeral is a rum old thing.

    A “celebrant” droaning on, dropping his voice towards the end of each sentence so that even my beloved MR (who claims 20:20 earsight) missed half of the description of the life of the departed.

    Mawkish “poems” and even triter music.

    Masks “requested”…. I refused – the MR yielded.

    At least it is a sunny day and the brand new crem (at Cromer) has big windows letting in the light.

    2. The funeral of a neighbour i went to recently had the eulogies read out by her sisters. It was very amusing.

      1. When we were scared witless in 2020 by the Covid scare in the early days , when things seemed really dire , Moh and I decided if anything happened to us … we would have a simple funeral .. no fuss .

        1. I am so sorry that you were both scared witless.

          I have always regarded the plague as yet another ting sent to try me and just kept calm and carried on. Once I realised that masks were worse than useless, I stopped bothering to wear one (except when cleaning out the ash from the stove).

          One can easily have a very simple funeral without the mawkishness.

          Better still – leave your bodies to medical research at your local university hospital anatomy school.

          1. They’ve got too many donated bodies and are now making Soylent Green out of us marketed toward vegans.

        2. I intend to go out with a bang. Sticks of dynamite in the coffin at the Crem. I don’t like my family much.

          3. Be careful, Fizz

            I have heard on the grapevine, that is their plan for you as well

    3. Depends on the celebrant, Bill. (Yes, I’m on my laptop. *sigh*)

      I’ve conducted ceremonies, and I’m pretty certain no-one missed a word 🙂 The poems and music etc are chosen by whoever’s organising the thing, not the celebrant. Just for info!

      2. We used a celebrant at my mother’s funeral,. Not only did he have a nice booming voice, he did a great job defusing family squabbles over what was to be said at the funeral.

      3. I can legally conduct ceremonies being an ordained priest of the Universal Life Church. Fancy a sermon? :@)

        1. Smoked, sliced, and presented on blinis? Sounds marvellous. I’ll bring the vodka.

      4. I can promise that -without dissing my late neighbour’s family – none of them would ever have heard of the mawkish pomes (sic) unless someone – such as the undertaker (dressed, as she was, for hunting) – had pointed the out for them….{:¬((

        I am no longer a believer – but, that said, there is a lot to be said for a decent CofE funeral in your local curch…

        I’ll get me shroud.

        TTFN

    1. And they all had visas and covid passes AND each person completed the passenger locator form….

      (And then I woke up).

      1. Why would they ned to complete the locator form? They will all be staying at a nice four star hotel that you are paying for with your taxes.

      2. Why would they ned to complete the locator form? They will all be staying at a nice four star hotel that you are paying for with your taxes.

    2. As i said when they started across the Med. The trickle becomes a flood. If i saw this coming why didn’t our government? It is because it is being done on purpose regardless of what the traitors in parliament spout off.

    1. The Fear and Terror relay team. Those are runners 3 and 4. No 1 was the disastrous economic and social consequence Brexit and No 2 was the Climate Crisis.

    1. One wonders if the guardian ever looks at the salaries of the officers ‘responsible’ for these areas and asks ‘if those were reduced, how many homeless people would there be?’

      I don’t imagine it does. Some homeless people cannot cope with the rules living even in a shelter provides. Others like the independence. The majority have social or psychological issues. The failure of councils to properly address this problem is embarrassing.

      1. There is a better chance of you being deported than one of these people Wibbles!

  86. HAPPY HOUR – What a gas….!

    Nigel Farage said Britain should not be at the ‘mercy of Putin. Qatar and Macron over gas supplies.
    Boris’s ‘ruinous’ green agenda: He got us out of the EU… Now the former UKIP chief demands a referendum on Net Zero.
    Ex Brexit Party leader says ‘political class in Westminster’ has taken the country down a ‘ruinous path’
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10581529/Nigel-Farage-campaign-Net-Zero-policy-referendum.html

        1. Reminds me of this old limerick:

          There was a young girl called Miss Hall
          Wore a newspaper dress to a ball
          But the dress caught on fire
          And burnt the entire,
          Front page, sporting section and all!

    2. 351296+ up ticks,

      Afternoon P,

      Has this farage chap got Itie blood , he put good people to the rhetorical sword when marching up mountains as an ally to the fat turk.

      1. If he can get rid of net zero for Britain that would be good work
        BUT, given his form, we can expect:

        1. a referendum where we all vote against Net Zero.
        2. politicians announcing that net zero will be scrapped
        3. Net Zero will be re-named “New UK energy policy that has nothing to do with Net Zero”
        4. We lose the will to live
        5. “New UK energy policy that has nothing to do with Net Zero” will be implemented, and we eke out our remaining years bicycling in our sitting rooms in order to charge the batteries for our phones with the digital id on them, while our loved ones huddle round the single LED that is permitted to keep them warm (candles strictly forbidden).

      2. Good afternoon ogga

        I know I have said this before but don’t let you personal dislike of Farage always blind you to the fact that he sometimes talks very good sense! I dislike many politicians but even the ones I despise the most occasionally voice opinions with which I agree. Sometimes, to invert the phrase: it’s the song not the singer.

    4. What’s the point in having a referendum on Net Zero? Unless it came out in favour, it would be ignored.

    2. Shame we can’t deport the lot to the land of their parents/grandparents. I read that although 4 of these filthy, hate-filled, lawless scum were arrested, only one was charged.

    1. I used to devise spelling games for my Third Formers which included there – they’re and their and also:

      we’re – where – wear – were and weir
      here – hear – hair – heir and hare
      and
      whether – weather – and wether – council and counsel, principal and principle, advice and advise etc.

        1. In days or your I new that!

          Why do you spell omitted with two ts and vomited with only one? And beginning with a double n but gardening without the double?

          Poor little dyslexic boys had to learn rules like this by heart!

          Words of more than one syllable ending in one consonant after one vowel (e.g. begin, garden, omit, vomit and inter) double the final consonant before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel if the stress is on the final syllable ( e.g. begin + ing = beginning, compel + ed = compelled); but do not double the final consonant if there is no stress on the final syllable (e.g. garden + ing = gardening; vomit + ed = vomited). However you do not have to double the final consonant if the suffix begins with a consonant. (e.g. inter +ment = interment, commit + ment = commitment))

    1. They should be embarrassed!
      The German press was even more embarrassingly keen to criticise Trump than ours. They were so dishonest that one leading journalist said he could no longer go along with it. They succeeded in persuading all the sheep in Germany (three prime examples above) that Trump was a joke whose words should be ignored.

      1. The UAE have already said they cannot make up the shortfall if Russia is excluded. There is one country though that can. Iran. Humble pie time… :@)

          1. The UK and the rest of Europe seem perfectly fine to allow fighting age Islamics a free pass. Perhaps the Iranian Mullahs can bring them to heel unlike our good friends the Sauds.

    2. Yet they still talk about sanctions against Russia.

      Those pipelines will be closed soon, freeze baby, freeze!

    3. What wine does the creator of that sign drink? Petrol is £1.54 per litre at my local garage, but a drinkable 750ml bottle of wine can be bought for about £7-8 at my local supermarket. Even at £7 a bottle, that means £9.33 per litre.

      1. You can still get quite drinkable wine for as little as €3 a bottle in France.

          4. One must buy it on the black market.

            Being on the “black” market makes it immune from sanctions.

          7. Vinegar is good for the digestion and protects against excess stomach acid/heartburn. I put Chateau de Chasselas on me chips !

          11. Gosh thats posh, I can only manage Kokinelli, a cheap Cypriot red wine. Can be used for cleaning carburettors and paint stripping, doesn’t do a bad job on garden weeds.

      3. A fiver or so will get something OK from Aldi/Lidl. But, it’s just an advert.

      5. In Spain (pre covid) you could buy a drinkable 0,75 l of vino for 1,25 euro, unlabelled surplus bottles.

    2. Everyone stay in your flats. You are perfectly safe. Don’t block the routes the London Fire Brigade are going to use in a couple of hours.

      1. ” Don’t block the routes the London Fire Brigade are going to use in a couple of hours days.”.

    1. It’s a parable on people like you.

      If the village (EU NATO) had protected the boy, by taking away his snake baiting equipment, the snake would not have struck.

      To clarify that for you, as you are clearly too stupid to see it:

      Had the EU and NATO not suggested to the boy that they would allow him to play with them, so that he felt confident to annoy the snake, he would have stayed in his own garden and not gone out to bait the snake and been bitten.

        1. Nope.
          I’m on the side of those who realise that there might be two sides to the story.
          And when the EU is on one side, I am very careful to look behind the curtain, just in case the wizard is pulling the strings.

        2. It is better not to take sides in complex disputes between neighbouring countries.

          Nobody but a fool would shake hands with Putin without checking their fingers afterwards but likewise nobody but a fool would embrace Zelensky given the two faced and corrupt regime that he represents. Zelensky serves his own corrupt oligarchs.

          You have presumably parked the evidence that Ukraine was involved in the Russia hoax against President Trump or that Hunter Biden and his father profited from Ukrainian political bribes and kickbacks.

          On present evidence Putin is going slow in prosecuting a ‘war’ against Ukraine. Had he the desire to wipe out his supposed enemy he would have used heavy weapons, not lightly armed ground troops.

          Putin has made sensible demands and would end hostilities abruptly were Ukraine to accept his terms.

          The less we hear about this conflict from the idiotic Liz Truss, Johnson and the globalist hacks the better. It will resolve itself sooner without outside provocation and mad suggestions such as from those seeking to assassinate Putin.

        3. It is better not to take sides in complex disputes between neighbouring countries.

          Nobody but a fool would shake hands with Putin without checking their fingers afterwards but likewise nobody but a fool would embrace Zelensky given the two faced and corrupt regime that he represents. Zelensky serves his own corrupt oligarchs.

          You have presumably parked the evidence that Ukraine was involved in the Russia hoax against President Trump or that Hunter Biden and his father profited from Ukrainian political bribes and kickbacks.

          On present evidence Putin is going slow in prosecuting a ‘war’ against Ukraine. Had he the desire to wipe out his supposed enemy he would have used heavy weapons, not lightly armed ground troops.

          Putin has made sensible demands and would end hostilities abruptly were Ukraine to accept his terms.

          The less we hear about this conflict from the idiotic Liz Truss, Johnson and the globalist hacks the better. It will resolve itself sooner without outside provocation and mad suggestions such as from those seeking to assassinate Putin.

        4. Peter Hitchens, 26th February:

          I’m told I am supporting the invasion by saying we provoked it. But if I warn a child that, if he annoys a wasp, it will sting him, am I supporting the wasp?

          I am accused of treachery, or of being an apologist for Russia, for urging a different view on this crisis. Surely this is how dissent is treated in dictatorships.

          I write this as a British patriot. How was it in our interests to provoke a war we cannot win, and cannot even fight, against a country which is not, in fact, our enemy?

          https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-10555573/PETER-HITCHENS-West-acts-tough-Russia-just-feeble-stand-China.html

  93. Just heard that the 9 year old son of a former colleague has tested positive for the plague. He had it a few weeks ago, recovered and, according to his mum, “He’s had negatives consistently since he got over it the first time so it’s a new infection.” There is neither rhyme nor reason for the frequent testing, he doesn’t need it for admission to hospital, it’s not required by schools either. She has clearly well and truly bought into all the fear, silly woman.

    2. Last year Mrs VVOF had to have a Covid test prior to her breast cancer operation. It came back positive which surprised no one as we were told the virus can be detected because Covid can stay in your system for up to 90 days. She had Covid the previous Christmas period.
      Sure enough when the operation was rescheduled beyond the 90 day period her subsequent PCR test came back negative.
      What is this Mum playing at! As you say project fear swallowed hook line and sinker.

  94. OT but has anyone heard anything about Poppiesmum? She was upvoting a couple of days ago but hasn’t posted for a while. Hope she’s OK.

        2. Rumour has it that your birthday may be tomorrow.

          On the off chance that you’re not around, I hope you have a good one.

          1. I do too, she’s had some fairly unpleasant experiences recently and deserves better.

          2. With my arthritic thumbs I can barely hold a paintbrush let alone wield a fearsome weapon….

      2. She has been here, but not posting. I imagine she has her hands full at the moment!

      3. She’s just moved house so I imagine she’s still getting settled. She’s upvoted a couple of times and I spoke to her on 3rd. A busy time so I am letting her get on with it.

  95. That’s me for today. Lovely sunny one, too. 30ºC in greenhouse. Chilly outside, though. Though the funeral was odd – there was a good turnout for a thoroughly decent man. He spent most of his 88 years in Fulmodeston – but only four people from the village were present.

    Have a spiffing evening.

    A demain.

  96. Home Secretary Priti Patel belatedly intrroduced BoJo’s ‘Economic Crime Bill’ this afternoon. Her remarks illustrated clearly that the government’s attitude to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is nothing more than deliberate delaying and shilly-shallying. The Bill was expected to beef up sanctions speedily. That is not likely. Indeed, we learned that there is to be yet another Bill – ‘in the next Session of Parliament’ – to improve on the present one. I fear that ministers, led by BoJo, don’t really want to rock the Russian boat and get Putin out. The House of Commons is sometimes valuable. MPs let Britain down today and I, for one, am ashamed of them. And the killing in Ukraine continues.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/948a6df8bd7509869befc61082e39f6e38615dec8a3b689d060eb472ba3891a5.png

    1. Does it ever occur to you that perhaps they know things you don’t?

      They might even have looked behind the headlines, and realised that some things actually hurt us a lot more than they hurt them.

      Or would you cut off your very long pinnocinose just to spite your face?

    2. I thought you were all for the democratic process Geoffrey?
      Or is that only when they follow your thoughts on the subject in question.

    3. In any sensible, decent country stealing other people’s money would be illegal.

    4. Hi Geoffrey,
      If the Eco Crime Bill were watertight, methinks a lot of Tory donors would be in trouble.
      The UK has nowhere to put Ukrainian women & children because a) they are white and Christian and b) most budget hotel accommodation is currently full of Channel-floaters. Costing in excess of £1,000,000,000 per annum.
      India-Pakistan abstained from voting against Mr Putin, and across the UK the South Asian constituency is much greater than the Eastern European constituency.
      To put it crudely, BAME people won’t move mountains to help whitey.

    2. “COVID-19 vaccine can infect penis and testicle cells and potentially cause erectile dysfunction, study finds”

      Sorted.

    5. Mine’s been like that since 1997 – long before covid reared it’s ugly, lab-produced erection.

      Caverject works well for up to 4 hours!

      2. I’ll defer to your expertise.

        I’m not supple enough to smell mine, let alone taste them…

          2. You’re welcome and good night! I’m totally whacked out now. Sleep well when you do.

          3. Thank you.
            I sleep well normally.
            My job at night is to keep HG, who feels the cold very badly, warm.
            I am a cuddly creature and I have a very high metabolic rate, so being warm is never a problem.
            She takes the warmth, I get the cuddles. What more could I wish for…

    1. Hmm, he’s only suggesting temporarily producing more gas and oil. He’s still wedded to the renewables agenda, as well as the trans-human agenda.

      1. Well yes. But you have to listen to him talking about renewable energy to understand what hew is talking about. As for trans-human, like it or not we are going to go that way anyway. But I would point out that Elon Musk constantly urges caution about that but, as he complains, is not listened to.

          1. Thanks Pip. That looks interesting. Another fascinating thing to look at. As I said, we are going to go that way anyway, like it or not. The question is at what point do you stop and I would say there isn’t a point that happens. If you have a failing heart, you’re not going to say no to an artificial one. If you have lung disease, kidney, pancreas etc etc. very few people would say no if it was as efficient or more efficient than your original organ. I would like to live for as long as I wished because I thrive on curiosity. So am I going to reject anything that may allow me to live as long as I wish, obviously not. Transhumanism is the future and actually I think that is our purpose. We have unlocked or rather, are in the process of unlocking evolution and, I think, that nature has made us this way in order to transcend it or become creatures who chose our evolutionary path with eyes wide open, not subject to “nature raw in tooth and claw”.

          2. A ‘technological singularity’ is the point when humans become superfluous. ‘AI’ no longer needs us for its continuation and if we follow ‘Moore’s law’ that point is not very far away.
            Once data transmission/bandwidth becomes virtually instantaneous we will become symbiotic with the cell phone/tablet (almost there now) and all our day to day life experience is held on that hand held computer, it’s only a matter of time before it can be switched off.

          3. Yes. I have no doubt you are aware of the concept of The Singularity (Vinge) If it happens, I hope I’m around to experience it.

          4. Yes, along with John Von Neumann and Stephen Hawkin.
            All because I was reading a series of SF books by Alistair Reynolds and went away searching for how much was reality and how much was (for now) fiction.

          5. If you like Alastair Reynolds try Iain M Banks if you haven’t already (Excession). Peter F Hamilton (Reality Dysfunction).

          6. Thanks for the Peter Hamilton recommendation, a visit to the library today. They can get for me.
            I have read all of Iain (M) Banks books, enjoyed them all.

          7. “…how much was reality and how much was (for now) fiction.” I have come to the conclusion, for now at any rate, that the structure of reality is some sort of mind but not mind as a noun but as a verb. If that makes any sense to you?

          8. I have been interested in a theory some scientist have: that we live in a ‘computer simulation’ or that the universe is conscious and we are a manifestation of that.
            So in some ways we have similar thoughts.

          9. Yes, Elon Musk also talks about that and thinks the probability is quite high. I suppose it depends on what you define as a “computer simulation”, or rather, what is the nature of the computer creating the simulation? Are you familiar with the concept of Logos and Logoi? This is an Orthodox Christian/Greek philosophical idea. The Logos (computer if you like) is the source and we, like rays of energy, are manifestations of the Logos. So, programme and creations of the programme. There is no duality between the two, just that the Logoi are lesser than the programme that created them because they are only one part of the entire information package. I suspect that people can actually tap into the primary computer and manipulate reality. I say that because I have seen some people do some extraordinary things that most would either disregard if they were not witnesses or call them miracles. But, I’m not sure about the computer part because it implies something made or created. I suspect it is actually a natural occurrence, a manifestation of complexity, of interaction between phenomena that becomes more sophisticated the longer it runs.

          10. Yes I am, it’s also found in Indian, Egyptian, and Persian philosophical and theological teachings.
            ‘God’ being active in the creation and continuous structuring of the cosmos.
            I go down these rabbit holes and in this case, its complexity is leading me on quite a journey.
            Encyclopædia Britannica being my friend as I don’t really trust Wikipedia.

          11. One important thing I didn’t say about Logos & Logoi, is that the idea is also that the Logos learns from the Logoi, it is a feedback mechanism, as it were. So the Logos learns from the Logoi. It isn’t a one way street so it is not a hierarchical structure strictly speaking.

            As for ancient religious teaching in the same vain. I have had the good fortune to know Tibetans, not only because I joined the Tibet Society when it was first formed but via my brother who has been a Buddhist monk of the Nyingma school for close to 60 years. He was one of the first Westerners to take the plunge long before it became fashionable. His name is Kushog Pema Jigme Choder. But you will not have heard of him, he isn’t the type to seek fame. Now he is in a 9 year, 9 month, 9 day solitary retreat in India which is why I rarely mention him, no communication allowed. But via him I have met those people who, I mentioned, can do supranatural things. Supranatural, not supernatural. So that has convinced me that you can indeed “tap in” to another order of reality that is much higher than the one we live in. The Tibetans seem to be the custodians of a technology that we in the West have little inkling of. So I’m now primarily interested in not just theory but practice. Tibetan saying: “There is no theory without practice and no practice without theory.” I am also convinced that this technology can be artificially induced, as it were. I don’t know if you know it, but young Tibetan monks are now trained in computer technology and that’s not for nothing! Fascinating world we live in, so full of fascinating ideas too.

          12. I found a lot of what Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk talked about, very interesting. Sadly he died recently at the grand age of 95.

          13. Yes, I was aware of that. Met him once. He was a bit to calm for me. I have a tendency to ‘get on with it’ syndrome. But the Tibetans are really a very different kettle of fish.

          14. I have been interested in a theory some scientist have: that we live in a ‘computer simulation’ or that the universe is conscious and we are a manifestation of that.
            So in some ways we have similar thoughts.

          16. Ps This is what Musk talks about and its danger. He thinks it is inevitable but there is a moral dimension that no one is exploring. In that context he complains about the inability of politicians to comprehend science and how it makes all their legislation useless. Controls need to be initiated now but he thinks that politicians understand that so little that the horse will have bolted before they do anything and, at that point, it will be useless. He says he is not a pessimist but an optimist who realizes that it can’t be stopped so he has become somewhat fatalistic about it and just hopes it will turn out alright for humankind. Otherwise he sees a future where our machines will look at us as ants and simply disregard us as superfluous.

          17. I see how many people are so connected with their phone, even when walking down the road. I have family and friends who have everything about their lives on either phone/tablet or PC & no longer use pen & paper.
            The stuff of science fiction movies (unfortunately?) SF authors seem to be one step ahead of the game.

          18. As I understand it. Science fiction is actually based on science but drawn out into its implication in the future. Most of what we think of as science fiction is, apparently, strictly science fantasy. Arthur C. Clark is science Fiction, Ursula le Guin is science fantasy, as examples. But it seems to me that things are going at such an extraordinary pace that the two blur into each other.

          19. The end state for people in the Culture if they so choose is sublimation. To become almost Godlike. Some interesting books in the series. Excession is one of the best.

        2. People who have taken the jab and into whose DNA the mRNA has been transferred already are trans humans, they just don’t know it yet.
          It is beyond my comprehension that the jab was mass rolled out and even made compulsory and no questions were asked by anyone about the patents that now exist on stuff that is attached to people’s DNA, and the legal implications thereof.

          In the past there have been treaties to limit research into damaging technology, but it is hard to see any of the major powers sticking to such a treaty nowadays. I don’t want to live in a world where transhumanism is the norm.

      2. “Hmm, he’s only suggesting temporarily producing more gas and oil.”

        The word ‘only’ is superfluous.

        Producing homegrown gas and oil is an economic and political imperative.

          1. You haven’t listened to Elon Musk have you? This guys ideas are off the charts. Listening to him last night he was talking about his Tesla and saying it is even programmed to dance if you can find it in the programming. He put it there as a surprise for those who find it. He also has ideas about how to make it self sufficient in energy. As he said, it isn’t a car, it is an entirely new idea that is evolving. He was also talking about vehicles in vacuum tunnels that need the minimum amount of energy to move at hundreds of miles an hour in order to move people about. The Boring Company https://www.boringcompany.com/

          4. No, I haven’t listened to him yet, but bear in mind that surprises hidden in software are not unusual. There is a space invaders game hidden in Microsoft Word for example. They’re called “Easter Eggs.” Software developers tend to be creative, curious, have a short attention span for what they consider to be repetitive information, constantly move on to new stuff – and this is the atmosphere in which I work.
            Musk is a very interesting person, and I have bookmarked your link to listen to him further – I just don’t know yet whether he will save us or push us further into hell. But I have noted your opinion as well.

    3. “You told me to keep prodding..you had my back.Now the shit’s hit the fan all you bastards have run away.Its not fair!”

    4. The sun is out, the sky is blue
      There’s just one cloud to spoil the view
      And it’s Ukraining, Ukraining in my heart
      The Russian Pres says clear off today
      He doesn’t know that I’ve got to stay
      And it’s Ukraining, Ukraining in my heart
      Oh, misery, misery
      What’s gonna become of me?
      I tell my blues they mustn’t show
      But soon these tears are bound to flow
      ‘Cause it’s Ukraining, Ukraining in my heart
      Oh, misery, misery
      What’s gonna become of me?
      I tell my blues they mustn’t show
      But soon these tears are bound to flow
      ‘Cause it’s Ukraining, Ukraining in my heart

      (With apols to Songwriters: Felice Bryant / Bouleaux Bryant)

    5. Should Mr Speaker examine President Zelensky’s CV in recent years, he would probably disallow his video speech to the HoC on Tuesday 8 March …

      1. Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy[a] (Ukrainian: Володимир Олександрович Зеленський, pronounced [woloˈdɪmɪr olekˈsɑndrowɪdʒ zeˈlɛnʲsʲkɪj]; born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former actor, who is the sixth and current president of Ukraine.

        Zelenskyy grew up as a native Russian speaker in Kryvyi Rih, a major city in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast of central Ukraine. Prior to his acting career, he obtained a degree in law from the Kyiv National Economic University. He then pursued comedy and created the production company Kvartal 95, which produces films, cartoons, and TV shows including the TV series Servant of the People, in which Zelenskyy played the role of president of Ukraine. The series aired from 2015 to 2019 and was immensely popular. A political party bearing the same name as the television show was created in March 2018 by employees of Kvartal 95.

        Zelenskyy announced his candidacy for the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election on the evening of 31 December 2018, alongside the New Year’s Eve address of President Petro Poroshenko on 1+1 TV Channel. A political outsider, he had already become one of the frontrunners in opinion polls for the election. He won the election with 73.2 per cent of the vote in the second round, defeating Poroshenko. Identifying as a populist, he has positioned himself as an anti-establishment, anti-corruption figure.

        As president, Zelenskyy has been a proponent of e-government and unity between the Ukrainian-speaking and Russian-speaking parts of the country’s population.[4] His communication style heavily utilises social media, particularly Instagram.[5] His party won a landslide victory in a snap legislative election held shortly after his inauguration as president. During his administration, Zelenskyy oversaw the lifting of legal immunity for members of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament,[6] the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic recession, and some progress in tackling corruption in Ukraine.[7][8] Critics of Zelenskyy claim that in taking power away from the Ukrainian oligarchs, he has sought to centralise authority and strengthen his personal position.[9][10]

        Zelenskyy promised to end Ukraine’s protracted conflict with Russia as part of his presidential campaign, and attempted to engage in dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.[11] Zelenskyy’s administration faced an escalation of tensions with Russia in 2021, culminating in the launch of an ongoing full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. Zelenskyy’s strategy during the Russian military buildup was to calm the Ukrainian populace and assure the international community that Ukraine was not seeking to retaliate.[12] He initially distanced himself from warnings of an imminent war, while also calling for security guarantees and military support from NATO to “withstand” the threat.[13] After the commencement of the invasion, Zelenskyy declared martial law across Ukraine and general mobilisation. His leadership during the crisis has won him widespread international admiration, and he has been described as a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.[14]

  100. Latest Breaking News – Werthers originals stop exporting to Russia, Putin calls for a truce

    1. Just wait until Fisherman’s Friend does the same. Putin will surrender immediately.

  103. Just back from a very long day at the horstipple! My lovely old man has broken his ankle and has the biggest boot (and it isnt me!) ever! And crutches! Following his head butt on the car door on Saturday, we’re waiting for number 3…!

    1. Bloody hell, Sue- what a day you’ve had. Be careful what you wish for….

      1. I wouldn’t dare wish! But nobody died and we’ll be fine! The ramifications will become apparent!

    2. What with Number 1 and Number 2 seems you and he have had a bit of a shitty time…..

        1. Attach some roller skates on both good & bad foot: with the help of the crutches, there will be no stopping him.

          4. It would be priceless if it was Lalique china – as opposed to glass or crystal :o)

        2. I’ve never heard that! Hals und Bein brech’ (break your neck and a leg) as a good luck saying, yes.

          5. Another family saying was ‘break a leg’ from my aunt who in her younger days was a concert pianist.

          6. My piano playing might have been much better had I actually broken a leg ;-))

          7. A bit like me joining the military rather than staying with playing the violin.

      2. I’ve just snapped a Cooks Match! Thank you Andrew!I had forgotten that!1

    5. Oh dear! What’s the silly bugger gone and done to do that?

      Are YOU coping ok?

      1. Thank, you, BoB. He’d gone to empty the trailer, stood awkwardly on a log and and heard a very nasty crack. Then he fell over! I’m fine! I’m not a panicker and just dealt with the pain! Fortunately the minor injuries clinic is only 8 miles away in Stirling, but the wait was long!

      1. I know! I should never have let him out by himself! Thank you Conway. I’ve just manoeuvred him in to bed!

    8. Goodness. Has he always been a disaster area? Sounds like he needs to slow down a bit and have a chat with the GP.

      Get well soon.

      1. Thank you pet! I met his female fan club this morning when I took Hector for a walk!

    1. It’s not on leaving the EU – just on having no part in the EU’s military ambitions.

    2. My son described the Danes as “weirdly smug” and very privileged. They have the German – Scandi perfect life thing going.

  106. Evening, all. Busy day today; bank, opticians, RAFA AGM, shopping, visit to a sick chum, clearing out the box room, parish council. Aldi (I was driving past) had some wines on offer, but they were Spanish, so I forwent them to spend a bit more and buy Aussie. I suspect it may be too late to reverse the decline in the unarmed forces. One of my RAFA colleagues opined that if it all kicked off we’d never cope. I agreed; we’re too busy worrying about vegan kit and gender neutral lavatories!

    1. You managed all that in one day !!! I could probably have managed to buy the wine……………..online.

  107. Off topic completely, but I actually bought a print copy of the DT today. £2.80!! Two pound bluddy eighty! Couldn’t believe it!

    1. Mrs Macfarlane, I read the DT in virtual newspaper form (the actual printed newspaper on my screen) from Pressreader for £26 a month. That is, every DT and ST for a whole month for £26. I’ve done this for the past decade. It is so much better than the ordinary online DT.

      1. Yesterday a friend of mine told me that he had started a Telegraph subscription and that part of the deal was that one other person could have a free copy for as long as his own subscription continued. He asked if i would like the “free” copy without charge. I thanked him and he sent me the link which I then completed. From tomorrow I will be able to read the Telegraph free of charge (although I shall undoubtedly treat him to a large drink or two when we meet up with half a dozen other “wrinklies” for our monthly curry meal this coming Thursday.)

        1. You’ll have to let me know if it the standard online version of the DT, or the real newspaper on the screen where you turn the pages like you do with the paper version.

      2. I’ve sampled Pressreader in the past and I agree that the quality of the digital output is excellent.

    2. The Saturday one is £3.00!! We usually get it free with some shopping from Waitrose, but I gather they can no longer afford this largesse.

  109. Reposted after trouble with keyboard!

    Tuesday 8th March 2022

    The great man’s birthday today!

    Geoff Graham

    May you have many joyous returns’

    Thank you for all you have done for the Nottlers!

    With best wishes and much gratitude

    Caroline and Rastus

    3. Happy Birthday Geoff – and many more 🙂 !!

      Thank you for looking after us Nottlers ….

  110. Tuesday 8th March 2022

    It’s the great man’s birthday today!

    GEOFF GRAHAM

    A VERY HAPPY 65th BIRTDAY!

    and very many more joyous returns

    and a multitude of thanks for all you have done for the Nottlers

    With very best wishes and very much gratitude

    Caroline and Rastus

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4oPdHmJjnE

    1. Many happy returns Geoff, and a very heartfelt Thank You for all that you do for us.

    2. Grattis på födelsedagen, Geoff. Hope you have a wonderful day. 🎂🍷👍🏻😊

  111. Tuesday 8th March 2022

    It’s the great man’s birthday today!

    GEOFF GRAHAM

    A VERY HAPPY 65th BIRTDAY!

    and very many more joyous returns

    and a multitude of thanks for all you have done for the Nottlers

    With very best wishes and very much gratitude

    Caroline and Rastus

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4oPdHmJjnE

  112. Tuesday 8th March 2022

    It’s the great man’s birthday today!

    GEOFF GRAHAM

    A VERY HAPPY 65th BIRTDAY!

    and very many more joyous returns

    and a multitude of thanks for all you have done for the Nottlers

    With very best wishes and very much gratitude

    Caroline and Rastus

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4oPdHmJjnE

  113. Damned good open mic. Good night all. Even read a couple of pages of Shards of Earth. Rik and Phizz will know. Reminds me of Ian M Banks’s SciFi. Very soul satisfying.

    3. Happy birthday Geoff, and many happy returns!

      We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you. So to speak. Many, many thanks!

    4. Good morning, Many happy returns.
      I hope you enjoy the day, you’ll soon be getting your pension, assuming the goalposts are not moved again. In the meantime, play a happy tune or two.

    5. Wishing you a very happy birthday, Geoff and thank you for everything you do for us all!
      Have a wonderful day and love to you! 🎂🍾🎉💕

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