robbo203
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It is looking increasingly like the Reform Party could be facing some kind of serious internal split, with moneybags Musk backing Lowe (who was booted out) against Farage It is somewhat amusingly reminiscent of the splits in various Trotskyist parties in the past. The only drawback is that the absolutely dreadful Anti-Labour Party of Starmer might benefit from the fallout, but who knows?
This could turn nasty. 5 indian jets have apparently been shot down.
Pakistan ‘downs five Indian fighter jets’ in retaliation
Pakistan claims it has shot down five Indian fighter jets in retaliation over India’s air strikes.
The attacks appeared to be the most serious military confrontation between the nuclear-armed neighbours in years.
The confrontation began shortly after 1am on Wednesday when India launched “Operation Sindoor”, conducting strikes across the border.
In response, Pakistan claimed it had downed multiple Indian aircraft and drones, and destroyed several check-posts along the Line of Control (LoC).
Pakistan’s defence minister, Khawaja Asif, said five Indian jets and multiple unmanned aerial vehicles had been shot down.
“We’ve destroyed their positions along the LoC,” he said.
/www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/05/06/india-missile-attack-pakistan-latest-news/?WT.mc_id=e_DM579078&WT.tsrc=email&etype=Edi_FTE_New&utmsource=email&utm_medium=Edi_FTE_New20250507&utm_campaign=DM579078
Interesting article here. Well worth reading.
Hmmm- Read it, but I don’t think the suggestion about the Russian economy being on the point of collapse is very credible. I note the author relies on Ukrainian-friendly sources like the Institute for the Study of War and the Euromaidan press, but we have to be careful about accepting anything these bodies say. The Ukrainian regime has an interest in projecting this view of Russia as heading for collapse because that encourages the various European regimes to continue supporting it militarily. (its also to boost morale locally) The reality is that Ukraine is probably far closer to collapse than Russia
Much as I would love to see both regimes collapse and workers on both sides abandon this stupid war in their droves, the reality for the time being is looking more and more like Ukraine is going to lose the war and be forced to sue for peace. Russia will be able to outlast Ukraine and its economy, though struggling, is not on the point of collapse.
This article is I think more balanced…
This para from the article you refer to is particularly questionable
“Ukraine’s battlefield momentum won’t cause Russia to disintegrate overnight. Empires don’t vanish; they crumble slowly, then suddenly. The most likely outcome (65% probability) is a palace coup — security services and business elites removing Putin in favour of a transitional government that can negotiate withdrawal from Ukraine and sanctions relief.”
What battlefield momentum on Ukraine´s part is the author referring to? The Ukrainian military was evicted from Kursk and is steadily, albeit slowly, losing ground on virtually every front. Sadly, Putin´s popularity among the Russian population in March 2025 was 10 percentage points higher than in September 2022 with almost almost nine out of ten Russians saying they approve of his actions (Statista). As for the suggestion that Russia would negotiate a withdrawal from Donbas, let alone Crimea, as Zelensky wants, this is a pipedream and a recipe for a forever war. The Russian speakers in Donbas, 14000 of whom were killed by the Ukrainian military before Russia´s invasion in 2022 would not accept it.
At some point, the war is going to end – obviously – and hopefully the sooner the better. But it strikes me as very odd that the Mainstream Media that is forever going on about the imminent collapse of Russia and how weak it really is are also the very same warmongers telling us now that Russia is about to invade Europe and how Europe needs to massively increase its military spending. etc etc
These two scenarios fundamentally contradict each other, and that is another reason for being careful about not just accepting what the MSM says at face value
This article suggests that on many issues the Reform party is more “left wing” than the average voter
Quite a grim and compelling account of life as a soldier in the Ukrainian army. It’s a long read but very interesting. You do get quite a strong sense of the war weariness and cynicism among the ordinary soldiers and also their dislike of the higher-ups with their cavalier disregard of human life (echoes of World War One)
The middle sections, dealing with the phenomenon of drone warfare, are particularly disturbing. It brings home the point of how lethal these things are. Old-fashioned trenches are no protection against them, day or night. You need to burrow into the earth like a mouse to avoid being spotted. Step outside to take a leak behind a tree, and the chances are you will be spotted and despatched
It’s a picture of a world that is disintegrating in every sense of the word
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/03/27/please-don-t-use-my-name
After Rumania and Turkey, another NATO country practises “democracy” by banning the main opposition candidate for President from standing — France.
Perhaps Macron – or should that be, Micron – has misjudged. This could be backfire.
The Daily Fail has got it in for the guy …
Big Serge´s somewhat clinical analysis of the war.
He reckons this:
“I have never made any bones about my belief that the war in Ukraine will be resolved militarily: that is, it will be fought to its conclusion and end in the defeat of Ukraine in the east, Russian control of vast swathes of the country, and the subordination of a rump Ukraine to Russian interests.”
I sincerely hope it ends before then, and no more working class lives, on both sides, are lost in this stupid capitalist conflict
“You Know Nothing About Economics” is the title of this article….
https://vocal.media/education/you-know-nothing-about-economics
DJP,
Well, I’m not particularly interested in the opinions of the Daily Fail. I only posted a link to the article from this rag because it reproduced the results of a survey conducted by CNN that indicated that Ocasio-Cortez is the first choice among Democrats as to who best reflects the values of that disreputable entity. Presumably, that also means she would be the first choice as a Presidential candidate….
As for your point about there clearly being a greater evil in the US context my point is simply that, if so, it is equally clear that supporting the lesser evil assuredly paves the way to greater evil. We have seen this with the election of Starmer´s Anti-Labour Party which leftists in their droves supported precisely on the grounds that it was the lesser evil. Can anyone now honestly believe this appalling organisation is somehow an improvement on the Tories? I cant see the difference tbh.
As for the US, to be honest, here too is difficult to tell at times to tell which is the greater evil. Had Harris won the elections and not Trump, would we even talking about the possible cessation of hostilities in Ukraine, for example? I sincerely doubt it.
Yes, I agree that what Trump is doing with respect to even basic democratic rights is horrendous but that doesn’t mean you have to align yourself with the so-called Democratic Party, does it? Call it “moralism” but I would rather cut my wrists than do that if I was a worker in the US. Not that it will make much difference as we are so few in numbers but it is perfectly possible and vastly better from any possible angle that we criticise what Trump is doing from a completely independent and socialist standpoint. We may be ineffective at the moment but we would still be ineffective anyway aligning ourselves with some capitalist entity and very possibly nonexistent shortly thereafter
Nope, I say to hell with the lot of em! They deserve our uncompromising hostility
Apparently, the so-called Democratic Party is now pushing in a somewhat more left-populist direction as a counterweight to Trump´s right-populist position. It seems that pretending to be “anti-establishment” pays dividends these days given that the electors are heartily sick of the “establishment”.
Expect,then, to encounter a reinvigorated argument about why workers need to vote for the “lesser evil” as represented by such thoroughly obnoxious opportunists as Ocasio-Cortez, Harris (again) and the warmonger, Bernie Sanders.
Why people can’t just draw the simple conclusion that these people, like Starmer’s repugnant Anti-Labour Party, shouldn’t be touched with a bargepole, I just don’t know…
The so-called lesser evil invariably prepares the ground for the greater evil to later take power
The Anti-Labour government´s forthcoming measures to hit the working class even harder
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/cost-of-living/five-dwp-benefits-payments-most-31207823
Also, more spending on military offense at the expense of foreign aid
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/extra-uk-defense-spending-help-050000860.html
I think Starmer and his allies in Europe will start a war with Russia, rather than allow Trump-Putin negotiations to finalise.I don’t think that likely at all.
Trump may say he doesn’t mind British and other troops being deployed in Ukraine, but it is not up to him. It has to be agreed by the Russians and they have flatly ruled out any NATO troops having a role as peacekeepers.
NATO/Ukraine are pushing the peace deal strongly, and as they see it, it is only AFTER a peace deal has been agreed that they envisage a role for NATO or European peacekeepers in Ukraine. I can’t see them openly moving into Ukraine before a peace deal in defiance of, not only Russia´s wishes, but Trump´s as well
Macron has said as much
“European ground troops would only be deployed to Ukraine in a second phase, Mr Macron said in the interview published in Le Figaro”
/www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/what-we-know-about-macron-s-ukraine-ceasefire-proposal-which-he-says-the-uk-backs/ar-AA1A9Pqm
To get the Russians to agree to a peace deal in the first place and then to allow European troops in Ukraine will require a massive change of heart and attitude on the part of European powers involved. You can’t ramp up the gung ho warmongering and call on Russia to agree to a peace deal at the same time. These are contradictory goals. Besides, without American support, Europe hasn’t got the means to take on Russia or, probably, the will – particularly if it risks escalating into a nuclear exchange.
Public support for the Ukraine war is waning, anyway, and this trend is likely to continue as economic hardship kicks in (cuts in social welfare to fund increases in offense spending, the loss of relatively cheap gas from Russia, the effects of Trumponomics and tariffs etc etc). Also, Macron and Starmer are both very likely to lose and be booted out of power come the next round of elections. Here in Spain, there is significant opposition to Sanchez’s plan to increase military spending in line with NATO’s target from some partners in the ruling coalition
Remember, politicians are basically bullshitters and poseurs and while little Boy Starmer might puff his chest up and beat his little toy drum, there is not much he can do. It’s all a passing show
Looks like the Anti-Labour Starmer regime is gonna have its work cut out. Won’t be much to spend on all those jolly weapons of mass destruction (distraction?) to prolong the war in the Ukraine. This, after promising to improve the economic circumstances of British workers while making cuts in social welfare
news.sky.com/story/sir-keir-starmer-says-welfare-bill-is-indefensible-so-what-cuts-could-be-announced-13326286
