egg

What's the source for that opinion? I'd like it to be correct, but I've not seen anything to support it. I still recall something, last year perhaps, from a German minister saying that the ammo stocks were depleted and that we couldn't resupply Ukraine and build back our reserves. Your view doesn't compare, for example, to articles that open with words like this: "The British military—the leading U.S. military ally and Europe’s biggest defense spender—has only around 150 deployable tanks and perhaps a dozen serviceable long-range artillery pieces. So bare was the cupboard that last year the British military considered sourcing multiple rocket launchers from museums to upgrade and donate to Ukraine, an idea that was dropped. France, the next biggest spender, has fewer than 90 heavy artillery pieces, equivalent to what Russia loses roughly every month on the Ukraine battlefield". I don't know what the truth is, but I'm not sure you know either.

Err, yes. I haven't suggested that we have. I'm responding to someone's point that Europe, apparently, would easily beat Russia if there was a war.

My understanding over the last 3 years is that Europe have struggled to supply munitions, whereas Russia haven't struggled to get them. I recall a German minister concede that. With a lesser battery of munitions, how could Europe easily win a war?

Cue people telling you how Russia will run out of steam anytime, ignoring that they haven't yet, and that China, North Korea and Iran can supply a hell of a lot more than Europe have been able to supply Russia. If the BRICS nations stay united, you've then got South Africa and Brazil throwing their supply chain into the mix. Where Trump is correct is that we need peace and that escalation is a real risk. The issue is the terms of that peace, but Trump's idiocy has emboldened Putin and made it more difficult than it was to do a sensible deal.

Would love it if Zelensky wears a suit when he sees Charlie tomorrow as a feck you to Donny. And to say thanks about 20 times.

Yep, he did, and his bust was in the oval office yesterday as the debacle was taking place.

The other choice is austerity. We're spending on defence, rightly, and given the option of cutting foreign aid or austerity, it must be the former for me.

Looking at the past does not change the future. How far back one looks, and their take on matters of opinion, can be variable. That applies to Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Palestine, and all manner of disputes. What matters now and in the future are just outcomes based on humanity, decency, and democracy. No tantrum from me poppet. I'm entitled to my view of you, and I'm correct.

Nic. You are an utter prick. I'm not sure how anyone sane can disagree with De Niro. He called what we're seeing.

If we're doing people's opinions, Robert De Niro’s statement on Donald is perfect. “I’ve spent a lot of time studying bad men. I’ve examined their characteristics, their mannerisms, the utter banality of their cruelty. Yet there’s something different about Donald Trump. When I look at him, I don’t see a bad man. Truly. I see an evil one. Over the years, I’ve met gangsters here and there. This guy tries to be one, but he can’t quite pull it off. There’s such a thing as “honor among thieves.” Yes, even criminals usually have a sense of right and wrong. Whether they do the right thing or not is a different story — but — they have a moral code, however warped. Donald Trump does not. He’s a wannabe tough guy with no morals or ethics. No sense of right or wrong. No regard for anyone but himself — not the people he was supposed to lead and protect, not the people he does business with, not the people who follow him, blindly and loyally, not even the people who consider themselves his “friends.” He has contempt for all of them. We New Yorkers got to know him over the years that he poisoned the atmosphere and littered our city with monuments to his ego. We knew first hand that this was someone who should never be considered for leadership. We tried to warn the world in 2016. The repercussions of his turbulent presidency divided America and rattled New York City beyond imagination. Remember how we were jolted by crisis in early 2020, as a virus swept the world. We lived with Donald Trump’s bombastic behavior every day on the national stage, and we suffered as we saw our neighbors piling up in body bags. The man who was supposed to protect this country put it in peril, because of his recklessness and impulsiveness. It was like an abusive father ruling the family by fear and violent behavior. That was the consequence of New York’s warning getting ignored. Next time, we know it will be worse. Make no mistake: the twice-impeached, 4-time indicted Donald Trump is still a fool. But we can’t let our fellow Americans write him off like one. Evil thrives in the shadow of dismissive mockery, which is why we must take the danger of Donald Trump very seriously. So today we issue another warning. From this place where Abraham Lincoln spoke — right here in the beating heart of New York — to the rest of America: This is our last chance. Democracy won’t survive the return of a wannabe dictator. And it won’t overcome evil if we are divided. So what do we do about it? I know I’m preaching to the choir here. What we’re doing today is valuable, but we have to take today into tomorrow – take it outside these walls. We have to reach out to the half of our country who have ignored the hazards of Trump and, for whatever reason, support elevating him back into the White House. They’re not stupid, and we must not condemn them for making a stupid choice. Our future doesn’t just depend on us. It depends on them. Let’s reach out to Trump’s followers with respect. Let’s not talk about “democracy.” “Democracy” may be our holy grail, but to others it is just a word, a concept, and in their embrace of Trump, they’ve already turned their backs on it. Let’s talk about right and wrong. Let’s talk about humanity. Let’s talk about kindness. Security for our world. Safety for our families. Decency. Let’s welcome them back. We won’t get them all, but we can get enough to end the nightmare of Trump, and fulfill the mission of this “Stop Trump Summit.”

The issue is the future, not someone's take on the past.

That paves the way for Tom Hardy playing Winnie Mandela in a future biopic. Anything is possible these days LD. Embrace the opportunism for us all.

A big part of this, I'm convinced, is to divide the BRICS nations giving the power back to the US and the Dollar. I think Trump believes that China can be isolated, but if he cuts off Europe, buddies up with Russia, India and perhaps Brazil, it'll leave the remainder to either align with each other or do their own thing. I've said before that I forsee some interesting alignments, but China into Ukraine is a non starter for me.

I knew you'd duck the question. Indulge me please. Of those 2 choices, what's your priority?

Two choices SOG: 1. Defence spending 2. Foreign aid In a binary choice, it's number 1. We've underspent for years, and given the various threats, we need to sort our shit out. We face harsh realities I'm afraid.

I think it's much more than that. He wasn't being shouted down on fox, he wasn't outgunned, he had his translator in the background giving time to talk to him where needed, thus extra thinking time. Basically, fox didn't stitch him up with a stage managed show trial like the white house did.

I agree entirely on the last part. I've always said that the war will end by negotiation involving Ukraine ceding land, and that's still inevitable. What I never foresaw was the US seeing it's aid as an investment, then expecting a return on that, and then expecting Ukraine to agree to all of that before any deal on the land carve up, and before peace and a sustained ceasefire. On the first part, I'm not so sure. Russia will be empowered by this fiasco.

You seen to overlook that Zelensky wasn't offered a ceasefire yesterday. He had no proposal for sustained peace beyond that. He doesn't even know how Trump and Putin propose carving up Ukraine. It was a moronic proposal from a moron. Even the worst Mafia protection rackets promise and give protection. Any deal must be a package. It must include for fighting to stop and to stay stopped, an agreement over any border adjustments, and the US giving peace amd protection guarantees for any monies that they get over and what they've given and will give. This suggestion that Ukraine should sign whatever in the hope of sustained peace is nonsense.

Got the link to where some idiot had an unnecessary pop at Starmer please? Thank you.

I've watched that twice now and still have no idea what he was going on about. It was like a drunken rant from the local soak down the pub at the end of the night. Nuts.

Absolutely. If it was ever intended to be a respectful two day dialogue it would have been Trump and Zelensky, or those two plus their respective chiefs of staff or similar to give balance in the room. Not the shouty puppet. There was also no need for that huge entourage, including that idiot who pretty much got told his suit was shit which was Zelensky dealing with a heckler well imo. It should also not be lost that the Russians had the courtesy of a meeting behind closed doors. Absolutely disgraceful that Zelensky got this staged theatre/kangaroo court instead. Tim Marshall in the Times News video above called this right yesterday. He's brilliant on geopolitics and I'll be keeping an eye on what he's got to say in the coming days. Currently his view is as per mine - feck knows where we go from here. For me, Trump has shown himself to be as Machiavellian as any leader of a civilised country as I can remember, and I'm not sure we've seen anything yet.

Agreed. It seems pretty clear that Trump wants to divide the BRICS nations and leave China against the rest. The US public will never support any US/Russia double act though, and as you say, we may well see China become more aligned with others. I said way up there that we could see very interesting alignments. Interesting times.

I think there's a real risk of that. Starkink support is also vital, ditto US intelligence. The US have really done a number on Ukraine. Feck knows where we go from here, but credit to Zelensky for not signing a shit deal which gave no guarantee of peace or support.

The only negative from that press conference was dippy questions from out media. Starmer played him like a fiddle, and Peston than pipes up asking about an apology for Zelensky. Lovely sentiment, but read the room and ditch your script.

No signs of injury apparently, but deemed the deaths "suspicious enough" to investigate and have not ruled out foul play. Interesting.