I appreciate you trying to keep up with the avalanche of daily news coming from both sides of the pond. The Trump Daily To Do List is unreal and it spills over to your side.
It is incredible, isn't it? There is much to be done. I have been shocked at the waste. I keep waiting for doge.gov to get its receipts up and to see some sort of grand total about how much is being saved through the elimination of ephemeral projects which should either have never been green lit or should have been wound up a long time ago.
I had a certain amount of sangfroid that Rory Stewart's wife NGO lost £1 million. Did Afghan women really need to be told about urinals as artwork? https://archive.ph/CUvgF
Also given the size of the US presence in Poland, I really don't think the US will be bowing out of NATO soon. It is just a Hadrian's Wall moment if you will. https://pl.usembassy.gov/nato_us/
And this is from Stars and Stripes about what Poland is doing to support US troops on their soil. They will be the first NATO country to spend over 5% of their budget on defence.
Hello Northumberland! Good to see You again. Another great roundup.
That was interesting about February.
And that was interesting about Rachel Reeves. Since when does five years and change equal "the better part of a decade"? I'll say there are questions. I wonder if anything will come from it.
Germany is in a sad situation. The whole of NATO is. That's a scary article by Ben Wallace. Thanks for the link to the Nazi podcast.
I agree with Kiera Bell and James Esses about the PB trial.
The article on the Roman Basilica is the second interesting article by the BBC You've presented.
And wanna say a hardy congratulations on Your getting the revisions done and handed in. Good luck.
I am pleased you found the articles interesting JT
The whole series on the Nazis from the Rest is History is good. It explores an aspect which I knew something about but not a great deal. I need to listen to the earlier series about the Nazis before 1930. The latest series took the Nazis up to 1939. There was a great episode on Wojcik the bear. I have been to the Chain bridge honey farm in Northumberland which gets a mention (apparently you can still see the claw marks)
If you listen to the podcast, you will see that Trump is definitely not the 'new Hitler'. For one thing, Trump is a businessman and dislikes war. Hitler wanted war and actively embraced it. It is at the heart of his strategy.
Yes the whole of NATO is in peril and that is scary as it has worked in the main.
Paddy has now recovered and is back to his bouncy self. It was quite scary when he wasn't.
And Naomi Cunningham has been setting off her traps in the tribunal this morning. The nurse in question tumbled straight in and has ended up contradicting herself etc. I suspect in the end the NHS Fife will lose.
The Rest is History has started the last two years with series on the Nazis. They have many such episodes in their back catalog as well. But they aren't just a Nazi history podcast. 😄
No they are not. They are fun to listen to. You can pick and choose what you want to hear. The Titanic episodes were surprisingly good. Sandbrook is of course excellent on US politics in the late 60s as that is what he did his Phd on.
Tom Holland's brother James does a podcast which is fully focused on WW2 battles.
I love the episodes Sandbrook does on American politics. Tom and Dominic are an excellent pairing. I think they are the most popular history podcast, it is very well deserved!
I've started listening to one of their sister podcasts, The Rest is Classified, and it is very interesting as well. They go into various secret service operations from different countries. One of the hosts is a former CIA agent.
The Rest is Classified is good, particularly the episodes on Syria as McCloskey was a CIA analyst there. His books are good. I am currently reading his latest.
OK, I was going to comment on something else (prolly the AfD stuff, but I think Bruce M already covered that in Celia's substack). However, the "tail sprain" had me - still has me - rolling on the floor laughing. I know, this is not proper etiquette. I love dogs and do not want them having pain. But, but, but ...
I cannot imagine "spraining" a dog's tail. I've got a 10 year old Golden Retriever. When happy he wags his tail quite hard -if next to a wall, a chair, lying on his side on the floor - he makes a racket. a seriously loud thumping noise. I just can't imagine him "spraining" that thing!
I was totally shocked. The vet asked me if he did a lot of swimming as it is called swimmer's tail. He doesn't. One of the vet nurses said that she had a dog who developed that as well. I know that spaniels can have problems with their tails (one reason for docking) Paddy doesn't have a docked tail. I don't think they ever docked lab or retrievers tails.
He may have rough housed with the two dogs he went to see on that Friday but on the night before, he did give a sudden yelp as he got off the sofa. He did not have a problem with his legs and I never thought tail. It is a mystery to me how it happened.
Of course the article on the Roman find in London made my heart go pitter-patter on this Valentine’s Day! Thanks for sharing it.
I had not heard of The Rest Is History but am eagerly looking forward to discovering it.
One minor quibble, if I may: you cite “compassion, tolerance, and a respect for human dignity” as Christian virtues, but they are very much Jewish virtues embedded in the Torah that Jesus followed. One example is the very strong prohibition on embarrassing someone in public; it’s considered almost akin to shedding his blood, as the embarrassed person’s face becomes white or red. An extension of this principle is why we cover the challah with a cloth on Friday night—we don’t want it to feel inferior that its blessing and honor come second to the blessing over the wine. If we take care not to embarrass a loaf of bread, how much more should we take care not to embarrass another human being? This is the sort of thinking Jesus would have learned as a Jew that was carried over into Christianity by his Jewish apostles—but rarely recognized in Christian society as inherently Jewish codes of behavior.
Yes thank you. The thing about Christianity which I am not sure Jesus understood at the beginning was that it opened up God's words etc to the Gentile (ie the non-Jew). There are reasons why Western culture is Judeo-Christian. I had not realised that the Nazis were so down on the Christians because this was 'Jewish' culture in its origins. I suspect they wouldn't have had the same problem with Islam as Ishmael's mother wasn't Jewish? Just bonkers in many ways and astonishing that people believed and became entranced.
And you of all people will love the Rest of History -- it took them a little time to get into it and later series are better than the first ones. My children got me on to them. The French Revolution is good. The start of WWI and the ones on 1968. Of Course Tom Holland is a Roman historian (how I first discovered him many years ago). Sandbrook is more contemporary. They make a good duo.
I’ve started on the rise of naziism and I love it so far. They are very engaging. I was so excited to see the breadth and depth of their episodes. Thank you again! ❤️
They really are. I do hope you enjoy. I think they are great and there are many series to listen to. I am currently listening to the Falklands War one.
The episodes on the Nazis are really good imho because you being to understand what they were like and why such a label should not be sprayed around like cat litter.
I am biased against Ukraine, so I don't care how much they scream "Putin started it". It is easy to talk big with your hand on someone else's wallet. I do believe the bank of Biden is closed. They will need to make some concession to Russia. Europe has not been a good boy and should expect no supper from the US unless it minds it's manners.
We can agree to differ on this. I am pro-Ukraine. I think the West did give them a guarantee in the 1990s when they relinquished their nuclear arsenal. I have problems with the way the Biden administration handed out its aid. Europe has given more than the US.
Certain European nations must pay more. I also have little sympathy for them. I do think Russia is a threat in the longer term. I'd rather Ukrainians dying. And I am pleased the war did end up in Assad falling.
Not sure what your last paragraph is missing. Surely you do not mean you'd rather Ukrainians dying. Maybe I am missing something else, as the trillions of dollars spent by Ukraine somehow defeated Assad? Like I said, I believe Ukraine is hopelessly corrupt, killed many civilians over 2 decades and deserves no more allied money or support. Whatever the Bidens owed, Americans have paid for in triplicate. I would say Go F yourself for taking on Russia instead of making an alliance with your powerful neighbor, but that is just my opinion. The European nations have gone after American money, while forbidding free speech and free trade. You made your bed, now lie in it.
The one of the major things which propped Assad up was Russia. Because of the Ukrainian front Russia was not able to spare the manpower or assets. The Assad regime fell. Now Russia has a problem about the bases, bases which it used to supply its assets in Africa.
As I am sure you are aware Danish Intelligence this week assessed that Russia was preparing for a land war in Europe within five years. There are reasons why Poland and Estonia are spending so heavily on defence. They are well aware of Russia's ambitions.
And on balance, I would rather Ukrainians died for their country than British soldiers or American ones. (Sorry if I wasn't clear) It is their country and they should be the ones defending it. One of the massive problems in Afghanistan (for example) was that the trained Afghan soldiers were not prepared to do their job when confronted with the Taliban and ran.
Actually Biden expected Zelensky to run as well and had the helicopters on stand by. Zelensky decided to stay and fight. At the moment Russia can't win and Ukraine refuse to lose. This means the conflict will most likely be 'frozen'. The US has said that unlike Korea, it is not going to supply the peacekeepers. It is very much a Hadrian's Wall moment (the writ of the Roman Empire stops there) for the US.
Personally I do believe Europe should be stepping up. David Lammy (who I don't rate) and John Healey (who I do rate) have done an op ed this morning explaining what Britain is doing and why Britain will continue to be supporting Ukraine. I am far more frustrated with Portugal, Spain, Luxembourg, Slovenia etc. One of the troubles with NATO is that there is no real way to enforce the percentage of defence spending. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/14/bad-peace-deal-with-russia-will-cause-damage-beyond-ukraine/ or https://archive.ph/cElA1
There are dangers to US isolationism for the US, but I can entirely understand why it is happening. For one thing the US has been giving large amounts of aid and other people (private individuals, NGOs and governments) have been taking the credit for it.
I'm a little shocked that "supporting Ukraine" means being okay with Ukrainians dying. The US isn't isolating itself, it's just tired of paying for stupid stuff for people that cry like spoiled children wanting sweets. Trump has temporarily stopped foreign aid, and it was discovered that foreign aid was aiding Isis, Al Qaeda, Hamas etc. The US has a long ugly history of meddling in foreign politics and unfortunately we are damned if we do and damned if we don't. I think it's better if we don't. the massive budgets passed under Pelosi need to be cleaned up. We do not need to raise taxes to send trans coloring books to Peru, pay for Guatemalans Trans surgery, support "Free Palestine" in Gaza and a LGBTQIA+ musical in Ireland, and teach Afghan women to use pronouns. The US has decided to use the strength of it's economy to convince countries that want access to that wealth to stop fighting us surreptitiously. It seems, so far, to be a very effective negotiating tool. War might break out. Russia may do something crazy. The option is not for the US to keep propping up Zelensky and seeing more people die in this losing conflict, seeing natural resources exploded or exploited. The best option is for Europe and the UK to defend themselves. Or learn Russian.
Interesting. Doesn't have the feel of being hydrated with a fire hose (and being a former firefighter I know what that REALLY means) that we have Over Here. Curious
Careful as I happen to be American as well. My American roots are long on both sides of my family.
I understand completely why the US participates in NATO and why it should continue to participate.
I understand why the overseas bases are important and in fact the first real ramping up of EO was FDR's Lend-Lease Act which enabled the US to have overseas bases.
Isolationism by the US is not the answer. But Europe and in particular certain countries such as Portugal, Spain, Canada, Luxembourg should be spending what they said they would spend and in fact increasing it. Canada's expenditure is only 1.37% of its GDP. Canada needs to be ramping up because the CCP. https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2024/6/pdf/240617-def-exp-2024-en.pdf
I also agree that should Russia's war end particularly abruptly, its economy is going to be in real trouble. Basically one of its major strengths was defence kit. That kit has been shown not to work. Their economy is currently on a total war footing and they are supplying Ukrainian front flat out. Part of the reason, Assad collapsed suddenly is because Russia could not supply its ally. It remains to be seen if Syria will allow Putin to keep its bases (the price is supposed to be Assad's return -- Russia does that and how many other of its allies get nervous)
Who knows what the transition would entail, but there are reasons why they want access to Ukraine's rare minerals.
Putin is not dumb -- this is not really about Greater Russia but controlling the minerals. Until this week, I didn't really understand about the minerals and where they were precisely. Funnily enough the biggest concentration is in the disputed regions.
However Ukraine is not a vassal state of the US and should have some say in the negotiations, rather than being presented with an ultimatum.
I do believe there is a deal to be done and given what Danish intelligence reported this week, Europe is going to have spend more on defence.
Michelle: I should not have personalized my response. Here’s a revised version.
It is simply beyond belief that the EU with a GDP of $19 trillion can’t create a defense against Russia with a GDP of $2 trillion. Far past time for the US to cut those assholes loose to defend themselves. We bailed them out in WW’s One and Two and have paid for their fucking defense since. Enough.
My answer remains the same and I actually do believe the freeloading nations which does include Canada should be doing far more. Canada has a huge part to play in the Pacific and the UK should not be giving up the Chagos Islands. One of the international judges who made the ruling was ...Chinese.
There are reasons why Estonia and Poland are pumping so much into defence. How Poland was betrayed in WW2 was incredible. Actually part of Eastern Poland remains part of Ukraine (the Hitler-Stalin pact).
I also worry about the US losing influence. I think the US is a force for good in this world, but it can't come at the expense of its people. If you read the MAHA commission parameters, the US does need to look to its own before looking after the world.
The waste is far beyond what people suspected. I think the 2023 upper estimate of $521 billion waste will be revealed to be a gross underestimation. The EU needs to do a DOGE (they won't) but the fraud is incredible. The UK also needs to do something like this because taxpayer's money has been wasted. A charity which receives over 50% of its funding from the government isn't really a charity (QUANGO or NGO) is it?
I appreciate you trying to keep up with the avalanche of daily news coming from both sides of the pond. The Trump Daily To Do List is unreal and it spills over to your side.
It is incredible, isn't it? There is much to be done. I have been shocked at the waste. I keep waiting for doge.gov to get its receipts up and to see some sort of grand total about how much is being saved through the elimination of ephemeral projects which should either have never been green lit or should have been wound up a long time ago.
I had a certain amount of sangfroid that Rory Stewart's wife NGO lost £1 million. Did Afghan women really need to be told about urinals as artwork? https://archive.ph/CUvgF
Also given the size of the US presence in Poland, I really don't think the US will be bowing out of NATO soon. It is just a Hadrian's Wall moment if you will. https://pl.usembassy.gov/nato_us/
And this is from Stars and Stripes about what Poland is doing to support US troops on their soil. They will be the first NATO country to spend over 5% of their budget on defence.
Some of that is going to enhance US bases in Poland. https://www.stripes.com/branches/army/2024-10-22/poland-american-military-base-spending-15588987.html
Yes the POles really stood alone and they know they will probably have to stand alone again.
It is quite shameful for what happened to them and then again afterWW2.
Happy Valentine's Day! Thanks for the background info on same.
I never made the "Jesus was a Jew" connection. I knew Nazis were anti Christianity, especially so toward Catholicism.
I learn something new every time I read what you write. Thank you.
Hello Northumberland! Good to see You again. Another great roundup.
That was interesting about February.
And that was interesting about Rachel Reeves. Since when does five years and change equal "the better part of a decade"? I'll say there are questions. I wonder if anything will come from it.
Germany is in a sad situation. The whole of NATO is. That's a scary article by Ben Wallace. Thanks for the link to the Nazi podcast.
I agree with Kiera Bell and James Esses about the PB trial.
The article on the Roman Basilica is the second interesting article by the BBC You've presented.
And wanna say a hardy congratulations on Your getting the revisions done and handed in. Good luck.
But I'm so sorry to hear about Paddy. Poor fella.
TY, as always, Michelle. Always a pleasure.
I am pleased you found the articles interesting JT
The whole series on the Nazis from the Rest is History is good. It explores an aspect which I knew something about but not a great deal. I need to listen to the earlier series about the Nazis before 1930. The latest series took the Nazis up to 1939. There was a great episode on Wojcik the bear. I have been to the Chain bridge honey farm in Northumberland which gets a mention (apparently you can still see the claw marks)
If you listen to the podcast, you will see that Trump is definitely not the 'new Hitler'. For one thing, Trump is a businessman and dislikes war. Hitler wanted war and actively embraced it. It is at the heart of his strategy.
Yes the whole of NATO is in peril and that is scary as it has worked in the main.
Paddy has now recovered and is back to his bouncy self. It was quite scary when he wasn't.
And Naomi Cunningham has been setting off her traps in the tribunal this morning. The nurse in question tumbled straight in and has ended up contradicting herself etc. I suspect in the end the NHS Fife will lose.
The Rest is History has started the last two years with series on the Nazis. They have many such episodes in their back catalog as well. But they aren't just a Nazi history podcast. 😄
No they are not. They are fun to listen to. You can pick and choose what you want to hear. The Titanic episodes were surprisingly good. Sandbrook is of course excellent on US politics in the late 60s as that is what he did his Phd on.
Tom Holland's brother James does a podcast which is fully focused on WW2 battles.
I love the episodes Sandbrook does on American politics. Tom and Dominic are an excellent pairing. I think they are the most popular history podcast, it is very well deserved!
I've started listening to one of their sister podcasts, The Rest is Classified, and it is very interesting as well. They go into various secret service operations from different countries. One of the hosts is a former CIA agent.
Yes the accolade is v well deserved.
The Rest is Classified is good, particularly the episodes on Syria as McCloskey was a CIA analyst there. His books are good. I am currently reading his latest.
OK, I was going to comment on something else (prolly the AfD stuff, but I think Bruce M already covered that in Celia's substack). However, the "tail sprain" had me - still has me - rolling on the floor laughing. I know, this is not proper etiquette. I love dogs and do not want them having pain. But, but, but ...
I cannot imagine "spraining" a dog's tail. I've got a 10 year old Golden Retriever. When happy he wags his tail quite hard -if next to a wall, a chair, lying on his side on the floor - he makes a racket. a seriously loud thumping noise. I just can't imagine him "spraining" that thing!
I was totally shocked. The vet asked me if he did a lot of swimming as it is called swimmer's tail. He doesn't. One of the vet nurses said that she had a dog who developed that as well. I know that spaniels can have problems with their tails (one reason for docking) Paddy doesn't have a docked tail. I don't think they ever docked lab or retrievers tails.
He may have rough housed with the two dogs he went to see on that Friday but on the night before, he did give a sudden yelp as he got off the sofa. He did not have a problem with his legs and I never thought tail. It is a mystery to me how it happened.
I can only think somehow it bent backwards
Of course the article on the Roman find in London made my heart go pitter-patter on this Valentine’s Day! Thanks for sharing it.
I had not heard of The Rest Is History but am eagerly looking forward to discovering it.
One minor quibble, if I may: you cite “compassion, tolerance, and a respect for human dignity” as Christian virtues, but they are very much Jewish virtues embedded in the Torah that Jesus followed. One example is the very strong prohibition on embarrassing someone in public; it’s considered almost akin to shedding his blood, as the embarrassed person’s face becomes white or red. An extension of this principle is why we cover the challah with a cloth on Friday night—we don’t want it to feel inferior that its blessing and honor come second to the blessing over the wine. If we take care not to embarrass a loaf of bread, how much more should we take care not to embarrass another human being? This is the sort of thinking Jesus would have learned as a Jew that was carried over into Christianity by his Jewish apostles—but rarely recognized in Christian society as inherently Jewish codes of behavior.
Speedy recovery to poor Paddy and his tail!
Yes thank you. The thing about Christianity which I am not sure Jesus understood at the beginning was that it opened up God's words etc to the Gentile (ie the non-Jew). There are reasons why Western culture is Judeo-Christian. I had not realised that the Nazis were so down on the Christians because this was 'Jewish' culture in its origins. I suspect they wouldn't have had the same problem with Islam as Ishmael's mother wasn't Jewish? Just bonkers in many ways and astonishing that people believed and became entranced.
And you of all people will love the Rest of History -- it took them a little time to get into it and later series are better than the first ones. My children got me on to them. The French Revolution is good. The start of WWI and the ones on 1968. Of Course Tom Holland is a Roman historian (how I first discovered him many years ago). Sandbrook is more contemporary. They make a good duo.
I’ve started on the rise of naziism and I love it so far. They are very engaging. I was so excited to see the breadth and depth of their episodes. Thank you again! ❤️
They really are. I do hope you enjoy. I think they are great and there are many series to listen to. I am currently listening to the Falklands War one.
The episodes on the Nazis are really good imho because you being to understand what they were like and why such a label should not be sprayed around like cat litter.
I am biased against Ukraine, so I don't care how much they scream "Putin started it". It is easy to talk big with your hand on someone else's wallet. I do believe the bank of Biden is closed. They will need to make some concession to Russia. Europe has not been a good boy and should expect no supper from the US unless it minds it's manners.
We can agree to differ on this. I am pro-Ukraine. I think the West did give them a guarantee in the 1990s when they relinquished their nuclear arsenal. I have problems with the way the Biden administration handed out its aid. Europe has given more than the US.
Certain European nations must pay more. I also have little sympathy for them. I do think Russia is a threat in the longer term. I'd rather Ukrainians dying. And I am pleased the war did end up in Assad falling.
Not sure what your last paragraph is missing. Surely you do not mean you'd rather Ukrainians dying. Maybe I am missing something else, as the trillions of dollars spent by Ukraine somehow defeated Assad? Like I said, I believe Ukraine is hopelessly corrupt, killed many civilians over 2 decades and deserves no more allied money or support. Whatever the Bidens owed, Americans have paid for in triplicate. I would say Go F yourself for taking on Russia instead of making an alliance with your powerful neighbor, but that is just my opinion. The European nations have gone after American money, while forbidding free speech and free trade. You made your bed, now lie in it.
The one of the major things which propped Assad up was Russia. Because of the Ukrainian front Russia was not able to spare the manpower or assets. The Assad regime fell. Now Russia has a problem about the bases, bases which it used to supply its assets in Africa.
As I am sure you are aware Danish Intelligence this week assessed that Russia was preparing for a land war in Europe within five years. There are reasons why Poland and Estonia are spending so heavily on defence. They are well aware of Russia's ambitions.
And on balance, I would rather Ukrainians died for their country than British soldiers or American ones. (Sorry if I wasn't clear) It is their country and they should be the ones defending it. One of the massive problems in Afghanistan (for example) was that the trained Afghan soldiers were not prepared to do their job when confronted with the Taliban and ran.
Actually Biden expected Zelensky to run as well and had the helicopters on stand by. Zelensky decided to stay and fight. At the moment Russia can't win and Ukraine refuse to lose. This means the conflict will most likely be 'frozen'. The US has said that unlike Korea, it is not going to supply the peacekeepers. It is very much a Hadrian's Wall moment (the writ of the Roman Empire stops there) for the US.
Personally I do believe Europe should be stepping up. David Lammy (who I don't rate) and John Healey (who I do rate) have done an op ed this morning explaining what Britain is doing and why Britain will continue to be supporting Ukraine. I am far more frustrated with Portugal, Spain, Luxembourg, Slovenia etc. One of the troubles with NATO is that there is no real way to enforce the percentage of defence spending. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/14/bad-peace-deal-with-russia-will-cause-damage-beyond-ukraine/ or https://archive.ph/cElA1
There are dangers to US isolationism for the US, but I can entirely understand why it is happening. For one thing the US has been giving large amounts of aid and other people (private individuals, NGOs and governments) have been taking the credit for it.
I'm a little shocked that "supporting Ukraine" means being okay with Ukrainians dying. The US isn't isolating itself, it's just tired of paying for stupid stuff for people that cry like spoiled children wanting sweets. Trump has temporarily stopped foreign aid, and it was discovered that foreign aid was aiding Isis, Al Qaeda, Hamas etc. The US has a long ugly history of meddling in foreign politics and unfortunately we are damned if we do and damned if we don't. I think it's better if we don't. the massive budgets passed under Pelosi need to be cleaned up. We do not need to raise taxes to send trans coloring books to Peru, pay for Guatemalans Trans surgery, support "Free Palestine" in Gaza and a LGBTQIA+ musical in Ireland, and teach Afghan women to use pronouns. The US has decided to use the strength of it's economy to convince countries that want access to that wealth to stop fighting us surreptitiously. It seems, so far, to be a very effective negotiating tool. War might break out. Russia may do something crazy. The option is not for the US to keep propping up Zelensky and seeing more people die in this losing conflict, seeing natural resources exploded or exploited. The best option is for Europe and the UK to defend themselves. Or learn Russian.
Poor Paddy! I hope he is better soon.
The Roman basilica is incredible. I love that you include these finds in your roundup. The tile with the finger marks is so amazing. Thank you!
Interesting. Doesn't have the feel of being hydrated with a fire hose (and being a former firefighter I know what that REALLY means) that we have Over Here. Curious
Careful as I happen to be American as well. My American roots are long on both sides of my family.
I understand completely why the US participates in NATO and why it should continue to participate.
I understand why the overseas bases are important and in fact the first real ramping up of EO was FDR's Lend-Lease Act which enabled the US to have overseas bases.
Isolationism by the US is not the answer. But Europe and in particular certain countries such as Portugal, Spain, Canada, Luxembourg should be spending what they said they would spend and in fact increasing it. Canada's expenditure is only 1.37% of its GDP. Canada needs to be ramping up because the CCP. https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2024/6/pdf/240617-def-exp-2024-en.pdf
I also agree that should Russia's war end particularly abruptly, its economy is going to be in real trouble. Basically one of its major strengths was defence kit. That kit has been shown not to work. Their economy is currently on a total war footing and they are supplying Ukrainian front flat out. Part of the reason, Assad collapsed suddenly is because Russia could not supply its ally. It remains to be seen if Syria will allow Putin to keep its bases (the price is supposed to be Assad's return -- Russia does that and how many other of its allies get nervous)
Who knows what the transition would entail, but there are reasons why they want access to Ukraine's rare minerals.
Putin is not dumb -- this is not really about Greater Russia but controlling the minerals. Until this week, I didn't really understand about the minerals and where they were precisely. Funnily enough the biggest concentration is in the disputed regions.
However Ukraine is not a vassal state of the US and should have some say in the negotiations, rather than being presented with an ultimatum.
I do believe there is a deal to be done and given what Danish intelligence reported this week, Europe is going to have spend more on defence.
Michelle: I should not have personalized my response. Here’s a revised version.
It is simply beyond belief that the EU with a GDP of $19 trillion can’t create a defense against Russia with a GDP of $2 trillion. Far past time for the US to cut those assholes loose to defend themselves. We bailed them out in WW’s One and Two and have paid for their fucking defense since. Enough.
My answer remains the same and I actually do believe the freeloading nations which does include Canada should be doing far more. Canada has a huge part to play in the Pacific and the UK should not be giving up the Chagos Islands. One of the international judges who made the ruling was ...Chinese.
There are reasons why Estonia and Poland are pumping so much into defence. How Poland was betrayed in WW2 was incredible. Actually part of Eastern Poland remains part of Ukraine (the Hitler-Stalin pact).
I also worry about the US losing influence. I think the US is a force for good in this world, but it can't come at the expense of its people. If you read the MAHA commission parameters, the US does need to look to its own before looking after the world.
The waste is far beyond what people suspected. I think the 2023 upper estimate of $521 billion waste will be revealed to be a gross underestimation. The EU needs to do a DOGE (they won't) but the fraud is incredible. The UK also needs to do something like this because taxpayer's money has been wasted. A charity which receives over 50% of its funding from the government isn't really a charity (QUANGO or NGO) is it?