I am picking up some dissension in Russia itself.

Politicians not happy - probably they were never asked.

Soldiers - why are we here?

The population - why are we doing this to Ukraine?

Johnson scored heavily with his address 'not in the Russia peoples name'.

Its only for the very brave as we know - we mustn't get dragged into blaming their people.

LOL. I know I should not bite, that nothing is achieved and I am feeding what is perhaps the greatest Troll on the WWW but seriously?

The entire point is that the 'International Community' are doing f*** all. Sanctions? Old f***ing hat. Calling Putin all kinds of nasty names?

The West have two choices.

Either stick its jets into the air and take on the Russian airforce along with hitting all kinds of strategic targets and give the Ukrainians at least a chance to mount a serious counter-offensive. Or tell the Ukrainians to sit down, offer full and unconditional neutrality by way of bringing about an end to the fighting and hope that the Russians don't decide to take all the land east of the Dnieper.

But they won't.

Because Germany wants the gas, Italy wants the Gucci concessions, Belgium wants to sell the diamonds and so on and on. And you want to know something about the UK? We want to keep the BILLIONS that we allow Russians to launder through our banking systems. The Spice has to keep flowing.

And yes, more fool me for even engaging with you but sometimes low-hanging fruit has a decadent sweetness that is just too tempting, despite the fact that it will bring on a case of the runs at the most inopportune of times.

UK RAISES ALERT LEVEL

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent Russian threats and have therefore raised their security level from “Miffed” to “Peeved.”
Soon though, security levels may be raised yet again to “Irritated” or even “A Bit Cross.”
The English have not been “A Bit Cross” since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out.
The Russians have been re-categorised from “Tiresome” to “A Bloody Nuisance.”
The last time the British issued a “Bloody Nuisance” warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.

The Scots have raised their threat level from “Pissed Off” to “Let’s Get the b******s.”
They don’t have any other levels.
This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from “Run” to “Hide.”
The only two higher levels in France are “Collaborate” and “Surrender.”
The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France’s white flag 🏳️ factory, effectively paralyzing the country’s military capability. They have also started wearing their reversible coats

Italy has increased the alert level from “Shout Loudly and Excitedly” to “Elaborate Military Posturing.”
Two more levels remain: “Ineffective Combat Operations” and “Change Sides.”

The Germans have increased their alert state from “Disdainful Arrogance” to “Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs.” They also have two higher levels: “Invade a Neighbour” and “Lose.”

Belgians on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual;
the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy.
These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia meanwhile, has raised its security level from “No worries” to “She’ll be alright, Mate.” Two more escalation levels remain: “Crikey! I think we’ll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!” and “The barbie is cancelled.” So far, no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.

John Cleese – British writer, actor and tall person

Edited by Eaglecoops (26 Feb 2022 2.15pm)

Then we disagree. We have several choices and neither of the two you mention are wise. I am afraid it's rather typical of the quality of the solutions you propose on many subjects. They appeal to a certain type of mentality but would end up doing much more harm, than good.

Take the first and with a, quite possibly deranged, Putin finger on the nuclear button you risk WW3 and the chance of our mutual destruction. That cannot be done. It's irrational to think otherwise.

Ukraine meekly surrendering would encourage Putin to push even harder. He needs to feel the pain of upsetting his own people, his military and, in time, the effect of economic and social sanctions.

Putin will get what he wants in Ukraine. In the short term. He will then face a resisting, occupied population there, world isolation and increased unrest at home. This will be a new Cold War aimed not at the Russian people, but at Putin alone. No dictator, however powerful, can rule a huge country forever on that basis.

This seems to be the internationally agreed strategy, and it seems the most likely to be effective to me.

In seriousness, it's not Moore we should be angry with, but rather those who put him there.

Edited by Stirlingsays (26 Feb 2022 3.04pm)

All part of the same thing. That is the point. He even does all that pro-noun bulls*** in his profile. I f***ing hope now that Putin's tanks roll all the way to the channel and beyond. I would see it as a liberation.

There is no saving the country. It's gone too far. Only the pulling down of it all and rebuilding something new, and probably without our current understanding of what the nation-state means/is, will make a difference. Probably not in our lifetimes but we have to put down the foundations.

Quite amusing really. And very 21st century that its a tweet that finally causes me to cross the Rubicon.