It's made me feel uncomfortable for some time but as it's been a long time since we were self-reliant it seems we have just accepted that trade is what makes the world work.

I suspect that we expected that us buying the energy, and food, would improve the lives of those who live in the producing countries, and allow them to buy the things that we produce.

Being self-reliant will have its costs. Hindsight is wonderful but no-one expected Putin to be quite this bad. Even me, who has been extremely critical of his activities in interfering in western politics, often getting hammered here for saying so.

We also contributed to the problem as we thought North Sea oil and gas was a wonderful bonanza that would secure our future. Then it ran out!

We do though now have the opportunity to move even faster to renewables, restart fracking and build nuclear. It will though take many years, so how to bridge the gap is the big issue.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

It seems that worries are growing that Putin may use chemical weapons, perhaps on a pretext or via a false flag. This has been said by several today and, judged by its tone, is based on more than just speculation. The USA seems to have either a source inside the Russian military or, more likely, are able to intercept communications. So I think they have good reason to be worried.

The argument being that the war is not going as they expected, but they cannot accept compromises, so will move to the next level. This is expected to be chlorine bombing, similar to that they used in Syria. If correct this would escalate the conflict very considerably as the loss of civilian life would be in the thousands.

I already heard one MP say this must be a red line which if crossed must result in us responding militarily. I don't think Nato will respond but wonder if some Nato members might, either on their own, or in concert, but independent of Nato command. That would present many problems because Putin won't want to make the distinction. Things could be about to become much worse than they already are.

I also sense a growing division between what Ukraine expects of us, what we can deliver and what we expect of them. I think we secretly hope they accept defeat soon, avoid needless loss of life, and then resist in a guerilla war, whilst we allow the sanctions to do their work. They want us to give them air cover, so they can continue their military defence, are getting frustrated at our refusal, and putting pressure on to get that reversed. In my opinion we really mustn't do that.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

Russia on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown - [Link]

Article from a few years back that's a good read. There are some elements within it that can be said of many cultures, but it's a interesting perspective on the country and its people.

Edited by BlueJay (10 Mar 2022 11.04pm)

Well thank God for this.

I, like many I believe, was just waiting for the green light from Facebook.

The world really is f**king insane these days.

[Link]

Now Zaha's got a bit of green grass ahead of him here... and finds Ambrose... not a bad effort!!!!

Tucker Carlson seems to be the only mainstream journalist actually questioning official narratives. Here he is asking questions about the biolabs uncovered in Ukraine.....At first called a conspiracy theory and now admitted to be 'securing bio-chemical weapons'....stated to be Russian weapons from 2005....That's 17 years ago, why are they still there.

[Link]

Edited by Stirlingsays (11 Mar 2022 7.47am)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

You commented without watching the link didn't you.

Anyway using that logic you'd have every country in the world with nuclear weapons.

Besides, this isn't my point. These labs are US funded, why are they there and why did they lie about them.

Edited by Stirlingsays (11 Mar 2022 8.33am)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)