RuamRudy

It is on the very fringes of the EU; the EU itself is being threatened and EU countries' infrastructure being sabotaged. Russian agents have been murdering dissidents across Europe - and also killing citizens of the countries they have been operating in - all with impunity. It is not an abstract affair on the other side of the world - it is happening on our doorstep and in our front yard.

The levels of sophistication certainly vary according to the country, but it would be very naïve to suggest that corruption doesn't thrive in the western facing world. From the awarding of blatantly unfair covid contract to friends and donors, to the awarding of gongs and baubles to friends and supporters, the UK is no less corrupt than any other country - it is just that we go about it in a different way.

Corruption permeates every country and every society. When I lived and worked in Russia, it was almost admired - those with the skill to manoeuvre themselves into a position they could exploit were generally seen as the clever ones who should be respected and even emulated. In the mid 2000's in the city I lived in, there were a total of 3 Hummers to be seen on the roads. One belonged to an Armenian guy who owned a string of legit businesses but also controlled all the fresh flowers for sale in the city - I know it sounds like a joke, but Russians love buying flowers and the market there is huge; he got a cut of all flower sales from all retailers. The other 2 Hummers - one was owned by the head of the tax collection service in the city, and the second was owned by his wife. The fact that these people flaunted their wealth so extravagantly led to no repercussions - everyone knew who they were and how they got rich; what we see as corruption, Russians see as business. Corruption in Ukraine is nothing to be extolled, but it should be no reason to attempt to overthrow democracy, especially when the ones doing the overthrowing as as bad or even worse.

Up there with Russia. Why should they have to? Sovereignty to an independent country is not Putin's or Russia's to give.

PNP nabs suspect in kidnapping of US vlogger Elliot Eastman https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/regions/932372/pnp-nabs-suspect-in-kidnapping-of-us-vlogger-elliot-eastman/story/ "The Philippine National Police Regional Office 9 arrested the alleged mastermind behind the abduction of Mindanao-based American vlogger Elliot Eastman, whom one of the suspects believes may be dead. "In December, the PNP said one of the suspects claimed that Eastman died in the banca, and that the abductors threw his body into the sea."

Now you are qualifying your position. The twitter account that, thus far, you have been defending made no such distinction. It declared that each and every one Pakistani or Muslim was not to be trusted because of their ethnicity. For the record, I wouldn't trust my child around anyone I didn't know well regardless of their heritage.

The account literally tweeted that all Pakistanis see white women as inferior, and that no Muslim could be trusted near children. If you cannot see the blatant racism there then I cannot help you.

Whomever is behind the twitter account @thatkatyagirl did; I was challenged to provide evidence that this account was racist and found these particular tweets that I listed in under a minute. EP then defended her/him, saying in relation to the statement "If you spend any time with Pakistani men, you will see where they place white working class girls on the respect line." The Twitter account did not say 'some' Pakistani men.

Sorry but some unknown twitter account with a very disturbing timeline filled with dog whistle racism is hardly a peer reviewed critique of the report. The demanding of links is no tactic, it's a requirement of this site in order to prevent unfounded claims such as yours being passed off as legitimate.

Care to explain more or are we just to assume that you have unique insight?

So your accusations are baseless and unfounded.

I would be interested to see a link to that report if you have it. According to the government, 82% of Brits are white so if your figures are correct the level of white abuse is disproportionately high. I expect Musk will be tweeting about this any minute now. https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/#:~:text=82%%20of%20people%20in%20England,a%20variety%20of%20ethnic%20backgrounds.

Are you really equating Denmark and Canada with Russia and Hamas?

Released without charge - as I said.

If there was a case against her she would be facing charges. She is as lucky as you are that you are walking around a free man.

I wonder how long till the stinking, corrupt corpse of Cambridge Analytica is resurrected.

So what was all this about? plus all the subsequent rant? Physician, heal thyself.

I have never once voted for Labour in all my 50-ish years so I am not the best person to try to big them up, but neither I am trying to lambast their performance as if they inherited anything other than an unmitigated disaster of epic proportions. Nor am I trying to paint their RELATIVELY minor foibles as the crimes of the century while wilfully ignoring the rampant corruption that was going on unchecked by the Tories for years. Nothing happens in a vacuum, but many seem unwilling to acknowledge that.

Russia was always going to win a war of attrition; sadly the west is allowing this to be a very real possibility through their tepid support of Ukraine. And what then, should the worst occur? Do you seriously think that if Ukraine capitulates, we can go back to how life was before, and that Russia should face no sanction for its actions? Putin, once again, allowed to traipse around the world like a genuine leader of a democratic nation? I think that would make most rational people outraged.

Yes - the person who I was questioning. Good of you to answer on their behalf, I just never noticed that you chose to use my post as a chance for your early morning rant.

Ok, it was your use of the word 'siphon' that threw me - usually it suggest illegal disbursement rather that the fulfilment of actual government policies, even if you don't approve of them. That is why I mentioned the Tories...

What does Russia export other than natural resources? What value added products does it produce that is in demand in the rest of the world? Life in Peter is relatively nice indeed. But the second largest and most culturally significant city in the country is hardly going to be representative of the nation as a whole.

Is there some long game that he's playing that the majority just doesn't see? It can't simply be that he is doing Putin's bidding and creating a fog of international confusion to deflect from his eastern European disaster? Is he simply trying to gee up Denmark into contributing more to NATO? I have no doubt that there are some hard headed Americans who believe they have a god given right to invade anywhere they choose, much like the Russians who believe they are entitled to take Ukraine as their own, but they must be in the minority. Or maybe the maga proponents will enlighten us on this thread?

What money, specifically? Let's hope that Johnson, Sunak, Hancock and the rest of the tories who facilitated the theft of billions of pounds of taxpayers' money in their crooked covid contracts also face similar retribution.