PJShannon
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“For the sake of argument let us say Russia…”
You could argue it this way, but you could also read it another. $100bn is only 1/8th the US defence budget, and may have been thought worth spending to bottle Russia up and choke off its oil/gas markets in the West, take over Ukraine’s resources and gas fields, and extend NATO (that part worked). But now the picture has changed. With Iranian-backed missiles closing off Gulf shipping and threatening global trade, money has to be diverted to Israel, and with a global chip farm facing a hostile takeover in hopelessly underprepared Taiwan, squillions has to be spent arming them, or else moving the factories somewhere safe, but preferably both. Even the US can’t fund 3 separate wars all at once, which might be why the Republicans are pressing Congress to cut their losses in Ukraine and let Putin have his way, which was the only realistic outcome anyway. I don’t see a nuclear exchange being likely. It’s hard to envisage how it could stay ‘limited’, and therefore impossible to see how any side would benefit – unless we believe key players are delusional psychopaths. In any case, it’s not the smartest move. These days if you wanted to take down another country you probably wouldn’t use the nuclear option, you’d use cyberwar to take out their satellites, which would cripple their infrastructure and blind their military strike capabilities.Report from Lancaster
We gave out about 200 leaflets at a small and rather desultory Pro-Palestine gathering in the town centre, focused around a small Palestine merchandise table which was easy to miss among all the busy market stalls. Somebody bawled something incomprehensible through a megaphone but the Christmas crowds didn’t seem to pay much attention. One passer-by wanted to know if we’d found Jesus. Another asked where all the proceeds from the Palestine flags and caps went – was it to Hamas? We didn’t know either. Lancaster has two universities so one might have expected this ‘rally’ to be larger than it was. Don’t know if they’ll be back next Saturday.
As the author of the article I can confirm that it was composed of genuine responses in a real online argument.
I had the impression that my correspondent was young and new to politics, so I didn’t want to get into too much historical detail, except to illustrate certain basic perspectives.
Moo’s comment took a different view to the one put forward, which seemed fair enough. I thought there were pros and cons either way, and that Moo didn’t particularly expect a big debate about it!
Lizzie45 – ‘The Ukrainians are attempting to defend their homeland in much the same way most people would attempt to defend their homes (and loved ones) against an intruder.’
The trouble with this analogy is, it’s not what actually happens. With a home invasion, most people’s first thought would be to get themselves and family away to safety, not die fighting to defend their home entertainment system, nor even the house, which is probably not theirs anyway.
As if the allegations weren’t bad enough, Brand must be squirming at the declarations of support offered by his new best buddies, Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk, GB News, and Andrew Tate, who ‘wants to tell the truth about what’s happening to Russell Brand’, portentously informing everyone that ‘I know things I shouldn’t know.’
With friends like that, who needs enemies?
Today’s Economist podcast explains why Ukraine is doing so badly building its own fleet of drones – endemic corruption. So much for the war effort.
The user MS asked to be removed from the forum, for reasons apparently unrelated to the discussion, and I’ve complied with the request.
“Why is this individual still posting here? I thought his account had been suspended because of his repeated trolling”
A number of members have suggested this, so in the absence of a forum moderator I have stepped in to block this user. The TS account can be reinstated if members wish, but perhaps a pause would be a good idea.
Armchair strategists will probably enjoy this interesting video:
Why Russia’s Biggest Threat is Actually China
‘The Paris recommendation is 1.5C’
No, that was a fond wish, not a real expectation. The actual agreed target was +2C, and the NS article makes clear that on some current trends +2C might be feasible. It also makes clear that this doesn’t mean problem solved, or that progress couldn’t be stalled or reversed.
‘Looks like the Brits were responsible for the Nord Stream pipeline attacks.’
As TS likes to lecture people about using unbiased sources I thought I’d check this one out.
The website is run by Larry C Johnson who describes himself as a veteran of the CIA and the State Department’s Office of Counter Terrorism. He appears to be a Trumpite and an anti-vaxxer. An example of his style is:
‘The Brits are behaving a bit like a sex crazed school boy desperate to experience intercourse but, due to excess enthusiasm and carelessness, is incapable of finding a happy ending.’
Now we know where TS has plagiarised his writing style from.
Larry’s source for this Brit story seems to be the Hal Turner show. Hal Turner turns out to be a US far-right blogger and convicted felon, Holocaust denier, white supremacist and conspiracy theorist who spent 2 years in prison for demanding the assassination of government officials and threatening 3 federal judges.
Never mind his argumentative evasions, you’ve got to admire the balls-out effrontery of someone who comes on here to criticise our use of western sources and then dredges up sources like this.
He is taking the piss and you all know it. I’m amazed you bother with him. There are far better ways to help the socialist project than wasting time on self-indulgent trolls. If you want, I can suggest some.
‘If Japan ever again attacks the north it will get what it rightly has coming to it.’
So you would support North Korea bombing your house?
