A week can be a long time in war.
The Russian president cut a diminished figure as he met with the same National Security Council by video link from an undisclosed location on Thursday. There were dark patches beneath his eyes and he seemed to falter as he stood to honour the Russian dead.
Away from the cameras, according to US intelligence claims, there have been uncharacteristic bouts of fury. The usually ice-cold Putin has been feeling the heat and taking out his frustrations on his inner circle.
How long before parodies of Hitler’s Downfall rants start doing the rounds?
Ukraine should wave the white flag now save a lot of lives. It can’t win this war as nobody is going to come to their rescue.
according to US intelligence claims
like they’re a credible source (not)
the same people would tell you Biden won a free and fair election
Never mind Putin, why is this release of data by the FDA on the dangers of Pfizer not headline news?
I’d discount US intelligence claims as a reliable source, but there’s enough verifiable evidence – including from Russian sources – to suggest that:
1. Putin has over-reached.
2. His generals have under-delivered.
3. The Ukrainians have over-performed.
4. Not everyone in the Russian inner circle was behind this at the beginning, not least because they were only informed of it at the last moment.
Whatever happens in the short term – i.e. next week – in the medium term it’s Putin who has the biggest problem.
Some economics consultancy has predicted that the sanctions will gut the Russian economy, bid deal, what is going to happen in the west if there is any diminution of the flow of oil and gas out of Russia?
You can absolutely take this to the bank!!!
For all our sakes I hope the Ukrainians continue to fight long and hard. It is to all our benefit Russia pays a high price for this ‘small incursion’. Otherwise old Xi May think walking into Taiwan will be a small price to pay.
For all our sakes I hope the Ukrainians continue to fight long and hard. It is to all our benefit Russia pays a high price for this ‘small incursion’.
and the neo cons’ strategy of goading Russia for the last 8 years will have paid off
As Milton says, if Taiwan is on your mind, the strategy of the last 8-14 years was moronic. Rather than keeping Russia onside, the posture of the last decade or more has only served to push Russia eastward and southward.
Here’s your challenge, Cats!
“It is to all our benefit Russia pays a high price for this ‘small incursion’. “
So you’re more than happy for the US and its neocon scum…such as Victoria Nuland, to continue to interfere in a country’s economics, politics and governance?
The propagandists can’t even write their own scripts anymore and instead need to borrow one from Hollywood. But then as most people watch these movies and only know war through the movies they will probably think this is true.
The reality though is that the Russian forces have moved at a consistently quick pace to get the amount of territory they have achieved in such a short space of time (miles per soldier). So I think Putin would be very happy with the general progress given the speed things have been moving at.
Hmm Cassie – what’s worse Putins artillery war or Merkel, Blair, Clinton,O Bama, Trudeau, Macrons war on their own people. Poland is being fined hundreds on millions of dollars for not allowing some gay thing.
I think the big question now is how the west / media is going to square the circle of ‘Putin is on the ropes!’ with what now seems like the inevitable partition of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, our governments are falling over themselves to offer Ukraine millions of dollars to buy arms and virtue signal, yet a few hundred dollars for our own citizens who have been flooded out, we have two helicopter carriers still faffing about off Tonga (waiting for a tow?!), while locals ‘go fund me’ to hire helicopters to provide critical flood supplies and rescues.
Big G government has spent the last 2 years inserting itself into our lives, grasping all the emergency powers they can, yet when a genuine emergency eventuates, we’re essentially on our own. The perception of inadequate response likely signals the death knell for incumbent governments.
“Louis Littsays:
March 5, 2022 at 10:46 pm
Hmm Cassie – what’s worse Putins artillery war or Merkel, Blair, Clinton,O Bama, Trudeau, Macrons war on their own people. Poland is being fined hundreds on millions of dollars for not allowing some gay thing.
“
I agree with you.
The world would be a much better place without the likes of them.
“I think Putin would be very happy with the general progress ”
During a war, it is not so difficult to gain territory. Keeping it is the problem.
“Never mind Putin, why is this release of data by the FDA on the dangers of Pfizer not headline news?”
Right, NOW they tell us.
I hope I don’t have to dedicate time to watching family and friends die of COVAIDS in the coming years.
Given this and this, it’s time to start referring to Big Tech CEO’s such as Zucc and Besos as “oligarchs”.
What 2dogs said!
They can afford to get the best information in the world on global warming and they are as gullible as school children on the topic.
We had better be alert to the other dangerous games that are being played and not get totally absorbed in the war.
Europe is still dependent on Putin for a large amount of energy Tell ne how they can wage a war when he control their energy. Also read that China knew about his intentions three months ago as ther renegotiated trading . Apparently now own cargo moment it is loaded usually this only happens when it arrives at home port . This would allow them to attack anyone who tried to stop exports to them on the way.
Of course Zuckerberg, Gates and Bezos are oligarchs who took it personally when Trump won the 2016 election. That he proceeded to fulfill his election promises rather than defer to them enraged them. They see themselves as the powers behind the throne but Trump was having none of it. COVID-19 was a two-birds-with-one-stone operation, Trump was gone and we were shown what we really are – serfs – and we better get used to it.
Whatever you think of Glenn Beck, he makes some interesting points: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlBXTeeM7l0
@ Crossie:
Yep, Zuckerberg, Gates and Bezos et al are oiligarchs. They are also corporate statists on a scale unimaginable by that Italian chap who institutionalized corporate statism in the 1920s / ’30s. (And his “eccentric” Austrian pal.)
The words of people like those are instructive:
“This is the first time in the history of mankind that we are setting ourselves the task of intentionally, within a defined period of time, to change the economic development model that has been reigning for at least 150 years, since the Industrial Revolution.”
Christina Figueres, Executive secretary of U.N.’s Framework Convention on Climate Change.
No matter if the science of global warming is all phony… climate change provides the greatest opportunity to bring about justice and equality in the world.”
Christine Stewart, former Canadian Minister of the Environment
“But one must say clearly that we redistribute de-facto the world’s wealth by climate policy. Obviously, the owners of coal and oil will not be enthusiastic about this. One has to free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy. This has almost nothing to do with environmental policy anymore, with problems such as deforestation or the ozone hole”.
Otmar Edenhofer, UN IPCC OFFICIAL
The old “Solutions in search of problems” trick; quelle surprise!
a pandemic of mental insufficiency
Dr Bruce Patterson Presentation at Georgetown University on Diagnosis and Treatment of Long COVID
“a pandemic of mental insufficiency”
They’re not stupid – they think you are. (ie, the rest of us, or “not them”)
The issue isn’t that they are wrong about that, it’s that they think it doesn’t apply to them – that if they can force their ideas on us, we can have utopia on earth. Of course they are no better themselves, as history shows all such attempts are way worse than what they replace.
Capitalism is truly the worst way to run the world – except for everything else we’ve tried.
Would not be surprised if Putin is in a bunker somewhere after the very public call to bump him off.
What makes them think his successor would change anything’?
Me either, after seeing this fun video. It was reported in the UK Tele yesterday, so appears very recent.
For all our sakes I hope the Ukrainians continue to fight long and hard. It is to all our benefit Russia pays a high price for this ‘small incursion’. Otherwise old Xi May think walking into Taiwan will be a small price to pay.
Neither is our concern.
For all our sakes I hope the Ukrainians continue to fight long and hard. It is to all our benefit Russia pays a high price for this ‘small incursion’. Otherwise old Xi May think walking into Taiwan will be a small price to pay.
Neither is our concern.
Taiwan makes 90% of 7 micron computer chips.
South Korea makes the other 10%.
If China demolishes Taiwan the way Putin is being forced to do in Ukraine then we all go back to dial phones and two stroke Trabants.
And it gets worse if Taiwan deploys nukes, which they appear to possess.
Perfidious Albino says:
March 5, 2022 at 10:46 pm
I think the big question now is how the west / media is going to square the circle of ‘Putin is on the ropes!’ with what now seems like the inevitable partition of Ukraine.
Ukraine cannot be partitioned. It is all or nothing. Even today, the west is crowing about sending lethal weapons to Ukraine and that they have been received by Ukraine’s military overnight.
Ukraine is broadly divided into three military regions with some overlap for naval and air forces. The Russian forces are nowhere near the Western Operational Command section yet and there are at least six army and airforce bases in that region. Flights, or even by road from the west, carrying lethal aid have delivered their loads to re-arm the Ukraine military.
Russia must choke off re-supply by the west which means controlling the entire country. The alternative is that Ukraine is partitioned and eventually, 100% certainly, the increasing re-arming of the Ukraine forces and influx of foreign fighters will push Russia back. I’m pretty sure Russia would know this.
chinese incompetence at its best
Yet again, Cassie (and others here) dismiss the right of Ukrainians to live without invasion and subjugation by Russia. It is beyond astonishing that anyone can ignore the efforts of Ukrainians – certainly since 2011 and through the Maidan bastardry of 2014 – to express with great bravery their intent to be governed democratically.
We should be hoping that all efforts are made to support Ukraine and, as a by product, great efforts are made to shaft the criminal cabal led by Putin.
+1
Putin is very much a product of the United Russia party.
It is beyond astonishing that anyone can ignore the efforts of Ukrainians – certainly since 2011 and through the Maidan bastardry of 2014 – to express with great bravery their intent to be governed democratically.
You left off the sarc tag.
Well, I think the lot of you are paying too much attention to the Western media narrative. Which is surprising given the couple of years of virus propaganda and bullshit. I expected more of the majority of you all than to lap up the version of events and situation presented on TV and in the papers. Snap yourselves out of the same methods and new attempt to induce mass hypnosis and psychosis.
A reminder to all it is not Putin causing Australians problems- it is our own governments.
Top article by Clarice Feldman at American Thinker has a convincing analysis of what’s really going on in Ukraine.
linky
HD is correct, we should be concentrating on our own problems.
Blind Freddie could see that climate change policies and/or whomever gets to supply the energy also gets to control that energy… whom also gets to call the tune.
The implications of which are now having a profound effect on nations whose officials decided (with their superior stuffed in the head wisdom) to make their societies totally dependent on energy from alternative sources.
Now, thanks to the efforts of those blind and corrupt politicians with little ability to do a job beyond the States monthly pay packet, plus perks, plus brown paper bags, with a further buzz delivered by media contrived popularity polls that agree with their theft (ironically payed for by the same source) we out here in the unclean community, that live a touch beyond the ability or the reality to wring a few necks on a regular basis, end up with a fiasco beyond all comprehension. All due to a bungling incompetence combined to political corruption.
A message to all pollies both State and Federal:
Never mind the Ukraine…. or the climate… or the contrived covid bulshit, or your overflowing fucking ego’s….
Just do the job you are paid to do…. and do it here at home because the price of our community livelihood, not only in energy/fuel/foodstuffs, is about to go ballistic.
But then I suppose that will justify the next round of moronic behavior that stems from your truly twisted ideology
We don’t see actual Intel, the Administration tells us “the Intel tells them”. Big difference.
“We don’t see actual Intel, the Administration tells us “the Intel tells them”. Big difference.”
Yeah – and on what basis is it believable?
Considering that they said in the media for years that Trump and Russia colluded and they had proof, yet when they had the make any statements under oath (and therefore penalty for perjury), they admitted they had nothing.
Media: “You believed Putin, not our intelligence agencies!”
Trump: “Yeah – and he [Putin] was right!”
Then there is the “What’s the evidence?” answered with “I just told you”.
They have no shame and are clearly either incompetent or corrupt – no reason to believe anything they say unless they provide multiple independent lines of evidence, which they never do.
“Show me the money!”
HT:
‘Intel” is what the specialist agencies are supposed to produce by sifting through “information” of various grades from various sources. Patterns often emerge as the data density increases. And raw information can get “stale”. It is a constant “churn”.
Basically: “Joining the dots”.
Going in with a pre-digested “narrative” will totally corrupt the entire process, as, in many cases, seems to be the intention.
Commercial operations, if they have any sense, do the same thing to evaluate other players like market competitors and the always feral hand of government.
See also the old fighter pilot “OOODA” loop.
Observe,
Orient,
Decide,
Act.
Repeat constantly if you want to survive.
If the “analysts” are not totally familiar with a broad range of subjects and CONSTANTLY upgrading, all is lost. However, they are not gods, but VERY mortal and need regular reminding of this fact. Good ones do NOT just accept “stuff” at face value; they ask multiple sources the same questions and check for “variations” AND any signs of “homework copying”. Somewhere in truckloads of dross, will be the occasional diamond, be it an order of battle or a financial “gap”., or something as basic as a name or some other identifier.
OODA thunk it?
Is Putin in the bunker: WTF
I know nothing much about Putins bunker; but I do know where some total f-wits are sheltering, they are bunkering down in Civil Servant strongholds around OZ whilst China is ignoring our self indulgent Green idiocy.
China’s religion is science, business, steel and is also still coal based. Not utter Green nonsense.
I do not fear Putin…. or China either, but I do fear the total childish ineptitude of those that pull the strings here in OZ.
“Neocon”, like “capitalism” and “trickle-down” are terms made up by leftists to either create a cartoon villain against whom we should all fight, or to obfuscate their own involvement. And sometimes both.
These people aren’t conservatives; they are big-government collectivists. BIRM. There’s nothing “Neo” or “conservative” about it. It isn’t even a new con.
Interesting how so many are happily parroting Putin’s imperial pre-invasion manifesto:
“First, is the assertion that the 2014 Euromaidan revolution was an unconstitutional, armed coup d’etat that has betrayed the Ukrainian people and yielded a corrupt, oligarchical, anti-Russian, “neo-Nazi” regime, currently headed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Second, the Kremlin claims that the post-2014 Ukrainian government had been forcibly erasing the identities and cultures of ethnic Russians and Russian speakers, while denying Ukraine’s “inalienable” ties to Russia. Third, the revolution was purportedly caused by the West and resulted in a Ukrainian government controlled entirely by the United States and its allies. Finally, according to Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s current borders are artificial and the result of mistakes by previous Russian leaders.”
Living the dream says:
March 7, 2022 at 12:00 pm
Interesting how so many are happily parroting Putin’s imperial pre-invasion manifesto:
“First, is the assertion that the 2014 Euromaidan revolution was an unconstitutional, armed coup d’etat that has betrayed the Ukrainian people and yielded a corrupt, oligarchical, anti-Russian, “neo-Nazi” regime, currently headed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Second, the Kremlin claims that the post-2014 Ukrainian government had been forcibly erasing the identities and cultures of ethnic Russians and Russian speakers, while denying Ukraine’s “inalienable” ties to Russia. Third, the revolution was purportedly caused by the West and resulted in a Ukrainian government controlled entirely by the United States and its allies. Finally, according to Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s current borders are artificial and the result of mistakes by previous Russian leaders.”
Perhaps many are parroting the ‘assertion’ you claim, because you got it near enough to spot on.
“Interesting how so many are happily parroting Putin’s imperial pre-invasion manifesto”
Care to “debunk” these claims? You know, evidence and all that. All I’ve seen is “play the man” against Putin, but I’m open to any evidence you have…
pretty sure the US military would be very happy to go back to a Cold War situation with Russia
when the cold war was over, the US military lost funding, their prestige and their place in the world
only Russia (or similar, like China) is going to be the kind of adversary that allows huge investment in weapon research, advanced combat training and force on force war gaming again – they need a nuclear power on the other side to reduce everyone else to a minion (again)
the middle east was a doddle for the US, they ruled the skies instantly and could have reduced it all to dust if they wanted but then, they would have had nothing to do, no motivation
when Russia wins in Ukraine, regardless of minor losses here and there, it will go back to the old standoff between nuclear powers
the europeans lose bigly as they don’t want to play the bigger game going on
China gains another proxy combatant to replace North Korea
look at what motivates the main parties involved, not the noisy little people who squabble over feelings and emotions
Lurx, Kneel: Well, if you want to believe that a Nazi regime is headed by a Russian-speaking Jew whose family was decimated by Nazis, that the US supports Ukraine by refusing its attempts to join NATO and that Ukrainian borders were mistakenly acknowledged by both USSR and Cazrst Russia, then go right ahead. But I wouldn’t do it in public.
Also: The fact that as of Friday Russians can be jailed for 15 years for uttering “false” information about the Ukraine invasion might suggest that Putin’s agenda is lacking traction with Russians.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1500465032966062082
I never said believe what the Administration says, I said we don’t see see the actual Intel, the Administration filters (and no doubt selectively chooses which bits to release and in what form). And therein lies the problem, as I see it anyway. Intel and Defence are being politicised and that’s no good for anybody, it erodes trust and dilutes the quality of policy decisions. It’s probably why the Director of ASIO was recently warning politicians to stop politicising Intel even if he making those statements was itself a form of politicisation. 5eye Intel is the best in the world, by a long shot, your cherry picking a tiny fraction of gossip dressed as Intel and a very few bad actors. What Clapper for example did or didn’t say wasn’t Intel, it was politics from someone within the Intel community on their way out the door and who had an axe to grind.
Back to basics. The purpose of Intel is to inform government policy. Acting on Intel, by direct action or by the development of policy is the function of government, and in a healthy democracy the two functions do not intersect.
lol
This is the Ukraine invasion equivalent of “safe and 98% effective”.
twostix: why cheer for Putin? I don’t get it?
Nah I’m just against lies, gross hypocrisy and retarded ginned up mobs who switch on and off like a light switch.
I take it you were rooting for Trump’s red hat’s storming the capitol and installing themselves as the ruling class? That would have been ok? Don’t answer I know the answer.
twostix: Odd. I have no idea why you’d think that as I usually refer to Trump as a grub. Perhaps more of a grub than Putin, if that’s possible.
I still do not get your apparent favour for Putin. His only friends are going to be people like Trump and various oligarchs, but only if he has power or money.
Comparing Eastern Ukraine to Northern Ireland might help you see Putin’s merit.
2dogs: is there any comparison?
“I still do not get your apparent favour for Putin.”
Well, I for one don’t “favour” Putin, but I think he has been given the short end of the stick in terms of what is really happening and why.
Media is supposed to do real “fact checks”, to investigate and present what they glean so “we the people” can make up our own minds on where the truth lies. By casting Putin as “the enemy”, as “only propaganda” and at the same time failing to flag the clear mis- and dis-information of “our” side, they are not doing us or the world any favours.
The media has one job – and they are singularly failing at it. That is not good. Fix that first.
Kneel: I don’t have any issue with your critique of media. But I fail to see how anyone can favour Putin’s position in any of this.
What’s really happening is he has invaded a country and is murdering its citizens for the sole apparent reason that he needs a war.