I suspect they have been adapting the system so it is considered "open" but no transactions actually take place. They will probably just lock the prices at a level no-one will buy at, or will just push through fake transactions. But it will be "open"
I had something similar in a bedsit in Rathmines in the early 90s.
Basil Fawlty: "I fought in the Korean War, you know. I killed four men!"
Sybil Fawlty: [to guests] "He was in the catering corps. He poisoned them."
Bad omens this week from what I can tell, and from reading the Sunday papers:
seems to me like we are closing in on one of the scenarios laid out by experts, which is just a prolonged (months / years) stalemate, with indiscriminate civilian suffering. A Syria, a humanitarian catastrophe, on the border of the EU, that no-one will be able to do anything about
It's a bit weird to have a bathroom style sink in the kitchen. Just seems so out of place.
Simply will and do pay more
Some speculation that I've seen reckons that high ranking generals etc are being deployed into frontlines to try and prevent desertions and low morale.
Parts of NATO already do believe he's bluffing.
"Estonia has become the first NATO member to call for a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
On Tuesday, the Baltic nation's parliament passed a resolution urging EU states and United Nations members to "take immediate steps to establish a no-fly zone in order to prevent massive civilian casualties in Ukraine." https://www.newsweek.com/estonia-parliament-first-nato-member-call-no-fly-zone-over-ukraine-1688069
The former Russian Foreign minister says he thinks Putin is bluffing and won't use nuclear weapons against the west:
"I argue in this thread that if we “blink” on Putin’s nuclear threat, we will increase the risk of WWIII....So, in my opinion, he is rational. Given that he is rational, I strongly believe he will not intentionally use nuclear weapons against the West." https://twitter.com/andreivkozyrev/status/1500611808247234562
Gary Kasparov has said he thinks Putin is bluffing.
The former European commander of NATO in Europe - General Wesley Cllark thinks Putin is bluffing:
"The big problem, argues Clark and others, is that if the U.S. shows it’s afraid to risk calling Putin’s bluff, both he and China’s Xi Jinping will know they can force the U.S. to back down with the threat of nuclear escalation.
“If we don't understand how to handle that threat now, it's going to bedevil us in NATO, or in Taiwan. China's watching. And the whole world is watching this sight of the great United States of America. And we're letting Putin define the problem and draw the red lines,” Clark said. “It's a real inflection point in U.S. foreign policy. We have got to find a way through this.” https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/feeling-increasingly-abandoned-by-the-west-zelensky-makes-a-desperate-plea-for-more-help
So a former NATO commander and the parliament of a NATO country believe it's a bluff.
I don't necessarily want NATO to intervene, just a coalition of countries agreeing to do the right thing. Some of that coalition, like Poland, might be NATO members, but they wouldn't be acting under NATO's banner. Too many people are hopelessly stuck on this NATO or nothing mindset.
So we'll let this mad bastard kill whomever he feels like killing and always us the fear of nuclear war as the excuse?
Where does it then stop? To be honest if it comes to that then it comes to that because I don't see why I should be happy to sit here with my kids on a Sunday morning in perfect safety whilst others morn there's though no fault of their own.
There's more at risk here too. The economic cost of this refugee crisis will become unsustainable. The cost of rebuild and entire country. The chance we are giving this utter sh1t to figure out his weaknesses and go regroup to continue his plan. We already know what he'll do next. He told us.
We can all stick our heads in the sand and hope he goes away or confront him now whilst he's weak. I cant see nukes as part of the equation unless we attack Russia in any case.
I imagine it's bullshit, but people console themselves with this crap while Russia keeps bombing civilian shelters day after day and the West slaps on one or two more innefectual sanctions
I agree, Russia has done a heinous thing. Is it worth nuclear war, (not sure people realise what this means) no.
It's not as if Ukraine is not being backed? Far from it. Would it be great if NATO could just go full on attack, yes... but, there's 8 billion reasons why they simply won't. I don't follow your odds sentence above. I'd be inclined to think Putin IS bluffing, but even if it was a 1 in 1,000 chance, the risk would be too high.
The most dangerous soldier in a war is the army cook.
I know it first hand. In Poland around 30% of people are brain washed by public TV propaganda of the ruling party (PiS).
I think in future, if any country wants to belong to any international body, they have to guarantee a right for their citizens to full objective information on public TV. It should be in any country constitution.
Much play is made by the Russians and others about Russia being the most sanctioned SOVERIGN COUNTRY on earth. I assume that sanctions fit the crime. In the current case one Soverign country has attacked/gone to war with another Soverign for NO LOGICAL reason. The attacking country was not threatened in any way, it has no nukes, it was getting on with its own business of running the country, it was not doing anything to destabilise other countries , etc, etc,
on a scale of 1 to 10 , I would give it 9 and a half - 15if I survived and it used nukes
the other countries that have been less sanctioned did undesirable things BUT not as undesirable as what Russia is doing
The EU has allowed the Swiss virtual EU membership, with almost all the benefits and none of the obligations. I'd be pulling those benefits and stop treating them as if they were in the EU until they agree to fall in line. Mind you, i have similar contempt for Irish 'neutrality' the bloody ambulances should have been anti-tank munitions, then you wouldn't need the ambulances.
Israel's another doing SFA - a field hospital - whoop de do.
"And yet in recent days Israel has not always lived up to the mark. On the one hand, Israel has made valiant efforts to send 100 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Ukraine, including medical equipment, tents, and blankets. On the other hand, Israel has thus far failed to provide any military support, which has been a source of deep disappointment for Ukrainian politicians, according to Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk. On top of this, Israel has taken the position of a “middle man” in the crisis, at times failing to condemn the Russian state for its unjustified assault on Ukrainian territory and sovereignty. " https://www.thejc.com/lets-talk/all/israel-needs-to-do-more-to-help-ukraine-Y9R0Z21Y9njAQtNR0ezKe
Some zionists have been talking of this horrendous conflict as benefiting Israel by driving jews in Ukraine to emigrate to Israel. Scum.
I think the EU should impose a special import levy on goods from countries still happily trading with Russia, which would be China and India, for starters.
Because I think 8 billion lives is too big a risk? Sorry if I'm not a gambling man like yourself.
I'm sure NATO, like most people, thinks that. But you'd want to be pretty sure to take the risk...
I made the decision years ago to not have anything to do with Nestle's products, or their affiliates. Nasty bunch of cúnts on so many levels. This Russia thing reinforces that and doesn't come as one bit of a shock.
Sanctions will be an ever present obstacle to Putin's Russia.
I think your stance is that NATO should risk Nuclear war to stop Putin. I'll take you seriously once you can prove you're willing to put your own life on the line by posting a video alongside a burnt out Z tank saying 'This one is for Chinese Whospers to prove I'm not all mouth'.
Substitute Europeans for Americans, same idea
Yes, though I wouldn't attack anything in Russia, only their forces in Ukraine. and Moldova - I'd clean that lot out - thoroughly.
100% I agree, and enough is enough now. There needs to be a special military intervention done on the Russians now too.
But try telling that to Chinese Whospers here who will say your fantasy of WW3 isn't going to happen and ignoring the fact that there are innocent Ukrainian children and people getting slaughtered in the war zone.
An unusual story reported here today,
An Ukrainian granny manages to take out 30+ Russian soldiers.
She was forced to cook for for them.
Her ingredients included rat poison animal sedatives and animal laxatives and house hold cleaning products.
Apatntly Ukrainian soldiers were able to walk into the area an hour after the Russians fed and retook the local area.
Hope it's ture.
Nice story either way.
If NATO genuinely thought Putin was bluffing about nukes, this would be over by now, with the Russian military obliterated to dust.
there's no way back for him/Russia while Mad Vlad is in power.
you keep saying, I suppose it's because of the sanctions imposed on Russia is your theory?
Poland cannot drag NATO into a conflict. If they do something to get an offensive from Russia onto Polish soil (very unlikely) NATO will not necessarily respond, and still be in keeping with article 5.
As you say, Russia is not a threat to NATO countries, not now or likely ever. If they started shelling European NATO cities how long would those artillery batteries last? WHY would Russia do that?
Russia cannot even defeat Ukraine. It's tough to watch Putin attack Ukraine but it is nowhere near worth risking 8 billion lives.
I think Europe and the USA will end up paying to rebuild Ukraine. But not as a Russia satellite state as that would be ridiculous
I don’t understand how this keeps happening? Is the Russian communications line so porous and the US/Allied Intelligence so good?
Yes. I never thought I'd say this, but yes. There needs to be a great reset with regards to Russia. Russia, despite the rhetoric and bluster, are currently at their most vulnerable. They are fighting using cold War tactics using cold ware era equipment. They use push logistic rather than pull, which leaves them very vulnerable when stocks run low. The army has been split into pockets with disastrous communications between each pocket. Nato has all their assets in place for a huge conventional sweep that would, over night, obliterate Russian artillery and and Air assets. Russian fighter bombers and strategic bombers are flying as far as Belarus and firing cruise missiles without ever entering Ukranian airspace. Same with the subs in the Black Sea. All the locations and movements of Russian assets both in the theatre of operations and in Kaliningrad are known due to the daily reconnaissance flights by Rivet Joint, Global Hawk, Swedish Airforce ELINT and satellites. The West couldn't be in a better position from a situational awareness point of view. An opportunity for a conventional sweep through Ukraine, Kaliningrad and Belarus will never present itself again. Of course there is a risk of a Nuclear strike, but Russia will not stop and if NATO continues to sit on its hands, it serves as precedent for other rogue states to do as they please in other parts of the world. Russians are well used to hardships, more than you can imagine. The current sanctions are little more than an irritation. NATO is a far, far superior force at every level. Poland is becoming more and more frustrated and I believe if NATO does not act now, Poland will entice Russia to engage their forces in some way in order to force NATOs hand. I can see this happening as more and more warcrimes against civilians occur. Putin will keep pushing and pushing the boundaries. Take note of movements in and around Kaliningrad also. The amount of equipment, Mig-25's and IL-96's that have gone into Kaliningrad over the last week is incredible. Russia has moved missile and air assets into positions in Europe to ensure that all major cities are within reach. Meanwhile, NATO sits and watches. This will have been a massive mistake, in my humble and nin-professional opinion.
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