Young Master Smeet
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I think it’s just some bitter enders who want Labour to stand candidates in the Six Counties – they argue (down thread) that the Union link, and non-community alignment of Labour means it should stand…
I popped along to the Republic protest, which amounted to 6 men and a dog (some girls in plastic Union Flag bowler hats were quite shocked when they heard the booing of ‘god save the King’. Apparently a extra contingent was being prevented from joining up, as it was the location for the demo was under a watch tower with police cameras on it. While I was there I saw the police confiscating a bag, which I heard contained loud hailers.
The arrest of the Republic organisers, who had *co-operated* with the police over organising their event could turn a mild mannered protest group into something else entirely. It also suggests that maybe co-operating with the police over protests is worthless.
I left before the king turned up, after a while in the rain, I just couldn’t be arsed.
https://www.folkestone-hythe.gov.uk/election-results/district-council-2023-results
81 votes, that’s not bad.
Prigozhin pulling Wagner out of Bahkmut oh, the Putin fanboys must be doing their nut. So, basically, he claims they are being starved of amunition (presumably as Russia holds back reserve materiel to plug gaps in any Ukrainian offensive. Unstated is that the contracts of many Wagnerians are coming to a close, especially the prisoners. That this comes before the complete capture of Bakhmut is clearly meant to be an embarrassment to Putin and his ministers (and bolters Prigozhin’s political ambitions). Of course, if Bakhmut was only ever a meat grinder, then it’s capture is irrelevent, and even keeping the situation open pins down a lot of Ukrainian forces. A good guess is tens of thousands on both sides have died in Bakhmut alone, it is a monstrous graveyard they are fighting over now, and Prigozhin is playing silly buggers.
So, Bakhmut still holds out, and in RT today Prigozhin is still complaining about ammunition and resources, saying counter-offensives are threatening to overwhelm his troops. Squeaky wheels and grease springs to mind, but the Russians are trying to hold a very long front, and will be cautious before they commit reserves and resources to any one point: any gaps will be plugged.
The BBC has reported Bakhmut has cost the Russians 20K KIA (whilst explicitly declining to report Ukrainian casualties, channelling their US source who says they refuse to speculate because Ukraine is the victim and has been invaded, make of that what you will).
It’s difficult to know what to make of the purported drone attack targeted on Putin: it’s probably rogue actors, but there’s a chance it’s a false flag to justify targeting Zelensky.
No matter which way you shake it, this war has been a horror show, and in the coming months, I think there will be a lot more blood shed to feed the black Earth of Ukraine.
Celtic fans singing their allegiance The party twitter account has been making hay all day…
Interesting story in RT, that donated equipment from NATO is having compatibility issues, particularly ammunition for Leopard tanks. Now, I was under the impression that NATO used interchangeable standardised ammunition types precisely so equipment could be shared, so maybe this is exposing flaws in the logistics and operations of such a simple idea when co-ordinating across different states.
Of course, propaganda, but it’s a plausible sort. Likewise, Sputnik is claiming the Ukrainian offensive is delayed due to lack of donated materiel supplies reaching the front.
RT is doing loads of propaganda on forced conscription in Ukraine, including daylight snatchings. What’s sauce for the goose is good for the gander: they’re at it in Russia too
So, apparently Macron has addressed the nation and it sounds like he has called for talks with the unions, but they seem not to want to talk, just yet.
Now, this is the the thing, are the unions forming the organisation skeleton of this protest, from what I’ve seen, inchoate riot seems to be the situation (and that is what Macron is banking on, holding his nerve, letting the riots dissipate, establishing new facts on the ground). If there is organisation, and *demands* things get interesting, especially of this organisation is democratic (if it’s just union bosses and leaders, expect sell-out).
So, some updates:
Bakhmut still(!!) holds, and the bulge remains – although the cost is questionable.
Bellingcat and the New York Times identified the leaker but, by some accounts, by holding onto the leaked data, and mixing in some secret state disinfo, may also be helping to remedy the situation. The reports, therefore, that the UK has around 50 special forces members in Ukraine seem plausible (and a democratic outrage that the government would refuse to comment on special forces operations – how many are still active in Syria, I wonder).
So, it seems that the power of the market prevails: Poland and other states bordering Ukraine are restricting food imports, because the cheap Ukrainian food is destabilising their farmer’s markets: so much for solidarity. Of course, the endgame of this story will be the agricultural areas of Ukraine (one way or another) being added to the EU, which would be a powerful resource for the bloc, but it would destabilise the common agricultural agreement.
8% of Russians are not patriots That’s a pleasing, and surprisingly high number.
“Nine in ten Russians say they are patriots (91%), one in two Russians (52%) say they are absolute patriots. Throughout the entire monitoring period, the metric [of those calling themselves patriots] has not fallen below 80%, with the highest figured registered in 2018 at 92%. Some 5% of Russians surveyed do not consider themselves patriots at all,”
12 million Russian citizens are not patriots. We can work with that.
I think the ‘leaks’ need to be taken with more than a pinch of salt, the possibility of disinfo permeates the Russia propaganda reaction.
I notice that the substantive fall of Bakhmut has had zero coverage in both Western and Russian media: OK, there is still fighting in the city. There is a point though that apparently Russia needs to win in Bakhmut before any Ukrainian counter offensive (plausibly why they’ve put so many resources into continuing to hold it.
From the sounds of it, Bakhmut has fallen, I suppose the question now is can the remaining Ukrainian troops retreat in good order, or will many thousands be killed or captured. Of course, Ukraine still has many divisions in the theatre, and may be looking to counter attack north of the ruins.
The capacity for substantial counter attack is a big question, and of course, while Ukraine has been getting deliveries of armour, the Russians have been ramping up tank production themselves, and may be planning a massed tank assault.
Religious repression in Ukraine
Things have come to a pretty pass when even the BBC has to report the religious repression in Ukraine.
“He also made statements that justified or denied the actions of the aggressor state,” the SBU says. It has posted recordings on YouTube which it alleges are phone intercepts of Metropolitan Pavel.
In one, a male voice believed to be his, describes Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “war between the Russian Federation and America until the last Ukrainian is killed”, claiming it was Ukraine that provoked Russian aggression.
This is standard nationalist nation building, sweeping away any rival ideological bases, much like clearing Russian books off library shelves.
