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One is reminded of the Vilnius NATO meeting.

Dream on, brother. Even setting aside the enormous political risks for any NATO country deploying troops on Ukrainian soil in an active warzone, there’s the very real danger of FAB bombs or Iskander missiles striking their mobilization areas. The sight of body bags coming home to already overstretched armies would not exactly be popular back in their own countries. Even the British Army itself has admitted that facing Russia head-on would be a massive challenge and they know the cost of such a fight would be heavy. And when all is said and done, what exactly would we have gained?

As far as I am aware they only operated on Russian territory in the Kursk area not Ukraine.

Putin’s being disingenuous here. First, he knows that Ukraine will never realistically be able to join the EU it will struggle to meet the obligations of democracy, anti-corruption standards, and transparency, not to mention the fact that every single member state must agree to its accession. Just look at how the Polish farmers reacted now multiply that by a thousand as the impact on the mebers was calcul;ated in cold hard cash. . And even if Ukraine somehow did join, it could trigger the collapse of the EU and potentially even the Euro. So for Putin, it’s a double win-win. They came late to the party only to find the party has ended and the partygoers are starting to trash the house. There's no room for another welfare junkie and those who are on the teat know it. So fine words from all - but no buttered parsnips.

He is the Clown Emperor of an Empire rotting from within, the circus for a population increasingly without bread and an oligarchic establishment looting the society whilst pointing their fingers to look elsewhere for the cause not at them. A fitting end for the greatest experiment in world history but Disney adults thinking they are in a kids cartoon not a horror show which it actually is. Fantasy is the default setting and quiet despair when you can finally face the silence.

Mostly decendnats of convicts - even when the apple falls far the tree it's fruit is still bitter. That said most aussies that go and live abraod are the best ones - certianly in the UK !

The price of freedom if you want clean streets and lack of crime go and live inRussia or China along with any commie friends you may have !

Russia were using them a year ago at least and probably makes it easier to hear drones and take avoidance measures if necessary. That said I'm not sure they are will work on rough terrain.

As with NATO, which wasted twenty years of lives and treasure only to achieve the same result and worse, at the hands of the very forces they themselves had once nurtured to weaponize the Islamic resistance against the Soviets.Empires do not collapse suddenly; they decay through a mixture of atrophy, decadence, hubris, imperial overreach, and an unshakable belief in their own invulnerability. Often, their end comes at the hands of the “barbarians at the gate.” Today, that role is embodied by the emerging Sino-axis of power - an “axis of evil” in its own right, armed not only with will, money, and advanced technology, but also with tightly controlled populations willing to sacrifice freedom and life to fuel their rising dominance. Meanwhile, in the West, the death spiral has already begun and Trump is a symptom, not the cause, of the rot.

That was shocking these thugs should be in Azov fighting on the front lines against the Orcs not causing trouble in Poland who have very genrously given them refuge. Former Polish Ambassador to US, Marek Magierowski is outraged by Hundreds of able-bodied Conscription Age Ukrainian men in Warsaw at a Concert brandishing UPA Nationalist Flag at a concert https://x.com/mmagierowski/status/1954556805280862238

Talking about the DPRK: at the full concert with Kim and Putin, when Korean singers performed the Russian hit by Shaman, Putin rose to his feet and everyone followed. This war has benefited both countries. Two pariah states, swapping what they need: Russia provides food, oil, and money; in return, it gets weapons, soldiers, and a battle-tested army. North Korean troops gain live-fire training for World War III. The axis of evil is taking shape. The U.S. is collapsing under its own weight, China is rising inexorably and will, in due course, invade Taiwan. Meanwhile, the West must ask itself: if they want to start World War III, can they win? Or will they lose hollowed-out nations drowning in debt, with restless populations that demand bread and butter, not guns. And that’s why I’m a “stay-in-your-lane” sort of guy: charity begins at home, and we are not the world’s policeman. Because make no mistake World War III will truly be the last war. Ukraine picked the wrong strategic partner. If it had aligned with China instead of a faltering European Union, it could have gained a massive infrastructure boost, a revitalized domestic oligarchy, and a stronger firewall against Russian aggression.

This is a bizarre story. Kim, as the leader of the most authoritarian country on earth, doesn’t need to nickel-and-dime petty payments when the entire apparatus of the state is at his disposal. It reeks of an intelligence operation, cooked up with just enough truth to send a message.

The UK is now aligned with the DPRK so expect a volte-face abouit Ukarine shortly.

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Don't worry the MAGA USA will triumph over all it's adverseries ! A great circus though with a great clown. Hail Emperor Xi - Emperor of the World.

We're all just old men past our prime wasting our time to virtually no-one. In the old days it would be shouting at the telly - my wife is much wiser than me to focuses on the here and now and things she can control and let's the rest settle as it will.

Russia lies shock. You may be interested to know that Zalunhyi, who is sitting on the benches as UKAmbo, is an admirer of Gerasimov. Ironically, Zaluzhnyi has said one of his idols is General Valery Gerasimov, the head of the Russian Armed Forces, who is fighting for the other side. Valery Gerasimov. "I learned from Gerasimov. I read everything he ever wrote … He is the smartest of men, and my expectations of him were enormous," Zaluzhnyi told Time Magazine. "I was raised on Russian military doctrine, and I still think that the science of war is all located in Russia," he said, adding that he keeps Gerasimov's collected works in his office. Miron told Insider: "It's interesting now to see that Zaluzhnyi is now on the one hand for Ukraine, and Gerasimov, somebody whom he admired, is right on the other side in that same role." https://www.businessinsider.com/valerii-zaluzhnyi-iron-general-putin-ukraine-war-russia-2023-1#zaluzhnyi-is-dedicated-to-the-fight-against-russia-in-january-2023-the-general-donated-1-million-that-he-inherited-to-the-ukrainian-army-14 The Russian leadership whether Putin or a potentially worse successor remains firmly in the hands of the Siloviki, the state security apparatus. With 5 million members, they stick together or hang together. The Russian people aren’t part of the deal, which is why Russia won’t be toppled, Balkanized, or turned into a Western-style democracy. China and other partners back them with material, tech, and intelligence while enjoying a live theater to see how their adversaries cope. Russia is taking massive losses but has adapted its tactics, strengthened supply chains, and believes it can win a war of attrition. Meanwhile, the West is running out of kit, munitions, and money, with no boots on the ground and no appetite for a long fight. In the UK, the Ukrainian flag has nearly vanished; Palestine and Union Jacks dominate , a rough and ready sign that the public has no stomach for an endless war in a country they barely know. Ukraine is fighting for it's survival no one can dount that , but this isn’t 1939. Russia won’t reach beyond its own backyard it’s their own Slavic Monroe Doctrine. All talk of a new Hitler or dominoes falling is a narrative to make Ukraine’s struggle ours. It isn’t. Kyiv is being left to fight “to the last Ukrainian” a tragedy for everyone involved. As are all wars.

I’m sorry, but Putin’s Russia is no answer, nor is Xi’s China. What we are witnessing is the slow, inexorable collapse of the West, driven by the iron laws of history: empires rise, empires decay, and when rot sets in, no amount of moral posturing can turn back the tide. We are drifting toward catastrophe toward world war, toward the climate cataclysm, toward the possible end of human civilization itself. Putin offers only illusions. The Russians will eat their potatoes and drink themselves into an alcoholic stupor of misery, chanting about their supposed greatness, ready to die by the millions on the bleak steppes if that is what the Motherland demands. Xi’s China may well impose enough authoritarian order to manage the transition, but even that is only survival, not salvation. Europe, meanwhile, sinks into “Egyptification”: a hollowed-out husk, a museum of past glories, paralyzed in stagnation. And all the while, the cheerleaders for the Ukraine war dance at the dumpster fire of our unraveling, mistaking their own moral vanity for virtue. They clap as the flames rise, deaf to the sound of civilizations cracking apart. In Britain, comedians are arrested at Heathrow for making jokes. In America, the great orange clown burns down the Capitol and calls it glory. This is not renewal; this is decadence masquerading as righteousness. The world is not heading toward progress it is staggering toward its funeral pyre. IMHO have a second Chang you deserve it. I am ready my Lord. There are no great countries just great people and most them pass unremarked at the bottom of the dung pile of humanity. Nice try though you are pushing your manufactured troll persona a bit too much. ICU.

And then you add this https://www.twz.com/land/shell-game-the-worldwide-tnt-shortage Q: So, where is the nitrocellulose made? A: The ones that we’re aware of, personally, China makes that as well, in large quantities. We’ve got a contract to procure some from Taiwan. There’s also a factory in Brazil. Most of these factories that exist don’t do high volume. We work with a propellant manufacturer in Canada, and their annual requirement for propellant is about 5,000 metric tons. So that’s a lot of nitrocellulose. The problem: Ukraine was one of the largest supplier of TNT to the US before the war.TNT is toxic and setting up factories in western countries is pretty heavy regulated, so it's not that easy. India+China got hit with high taxes and the rest is funnelling their production into Ukraine. I guess mining in the US just got more expensive and less competitive. Wasn't that what Trump wanted?

I've been banging on about this for along time - the maths just don't add up. The west does not have infinite supplies for Ukraine when their domestic markets need these resources for themsleves. https://archive.ph/nIAQM Ukraine War Leads to Global Shortage of TNT Mining materials to make cement, gravel and a host of other common products require an explosive that is becoming more expensive and limited in supply. A second and important source of supply for commercial use had been TNT recovered from munitions like land mines, shells and bombs that the Pentagon regularly decommissions. While the weapons were deemed too old for use by American troops, the explosives inside of them were typically still fully viable and could be recycled. But according to officials in the civilian blasting industry, those sources have dried up as the U.S. military has elected to keep older weapons in its arsenal since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Poland had been the Pentagon’s sole authorized supplier of TNT. But it has been sending much of what it makes across its border to Ukraine, which is using all that it produces for its own military purposes. That comes as two of the other main sources of TNT, Russia and China, have stopped exporting to the United States, the officials said.

Trump's got it sorted - apparently and isn't dead. Not many people know but the British Empire was at it's largest and richest in 1937 and now it's trademen angry at ULEZ sticking flags on lamposts smoking at the fag end of history.

Looks like Modi has picked a side. Trump tried trolling him with tariffs - this is Modi’s answer. We’re watching the New World Order take shape: a frightened, flailing West squaring off against the “gangster states” of the Global South. Authoritarian, oligarchic regimes don’t take kindly to being bullied or lectured by fading hegemons especially when those hegemons are led by an aging, narcissistic, orange-faced clown emperor. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15054921/Putin-Modi-walk-hand-hand-Chinas-anti-NATO-summit-Russian-tyrant-beams-warmly-welcomed-Xis-talks-aimed-establishing-new-world-order.html The three leaders were later seen laughing together in a huddle in what appeared to be a show of solidarity against Washington and its allies. Modi shared a photograph of himself with Putin inside the president's armoured Aurus limousine after the summit. It was captioned: 'Always a delight to meet President Putin. Conversations with him are always insightful.' At their talks, Modi told Putin: 'Even in the most difficult situations, India and Russia have always walked shoulder to shoulder.

That was awesome display of American hard power the military were basically taking the p1ss out of the CiC !!

Is it just me or does this place seem to have undergone some sort of Glastnost - it feels very good.