buctootim

Try singing to them next time. It might relax you

Amazing nerves to perform in front of that many people at that age.

At least one of them was blown up so it might have to be a jigsaw puzzle instead

Did everyone see these amazing pics from the Alps? Snowy mountain tops covered in Saharan sand

The Azov battalion used to be right wing nationalist self governed private army that a very militarily weak Ukrainian government had to lean on during the Russian invasion of 2014. Since then they have been transformed brought under the control of the Government, the nationalism diluted by many of the original members dying in Donbass and transferring in regular recruits. It has very little in common with the battalion of 2014

Im not really one for corporate name and shame campaigns. But these companies are hoovering up new business and profit from companies who have done the right thing and left the Russian market.

Great news ofc, but as Plastic says, almost entirely due to releasing the £400m of Iranian the UK has been holding pretty much illegally for 30 odd years.

Ukraine does have a corruption problem, institutional since the Soviet days BUT its gradually reducing and nothing like the levels of corruption in Russia. In Russia its not even corruption as we'd understand it, it starts with outright theft of state assets at the very top and cascades down to things like paying to pass university courses. You want to be a surgeon, have no experience but have money? sure no problem. You want to be a surgeon after six years of medical school but can't afford to bribe the examiners? sorry no chance.

The Eastern Shore in Delaware in nice.

We'd just put tariffs on, which would change the economics of importing Chinese goods.

Thats the way they operate. Hit her with a modest slap on wrist to demonstrate what a free and liberal society Russia is then when the focus on her moves on accuse her of corruption or some other crime and bang her up for 10 years.

Buying less of their stuff. The EU and US account for two thirds of their exports

Ukrainian farmer goes all in

I imagine it's speeded up since the invasion f'sure but its been going on since basically Putin dropped his western democrat act in the late 90s. My friends son came to England six years ago and never went back, now works as an qualified engineer. His new wife who he met here is also Russian, a brilliant economist, did something very similar.

Absolutely, don't disagree with any of that.

I'm not sure that's true in Russia's case. In part the reason for the lack of substantial opposition in country is that people dont feel it is possible to overthrow this regime and are instead leaving. There has been a brain drain over the past 20 years - Russia's brightest and best young people are voting with their feet. It really does feel like a country in terminal decline, exactly because its not possible to ditch the source of the problem.

I just got this email from a long time friend, a medical doctor in Russia, who has always been upbeat and positive. Ukraine might be bombed but it seems it's Russia which is broken. "It’s difficult for me to say anything certain these days. At the start of this war, we collapsed as a nation. There is no united Russian nation now and probably never will be. The crack that went through Russian society during the annexation of Crimea has now turned into a rift, and this abyss can no longer be plugged. There are two peoples inside my country. One lives with the feeling that the end of the world has come and does not know how to deal with it, while the other one has ordinary life and worries only about prices. This is not yet a civil war, but the thickness of the blank wall between these peoples can already be envied by Berlin. The absence of a general popular reaction to the terrible evil that the Putin and government are doing means only one thing: the Russian nation has no backbone, and it cannot stand without support. The only thing holding her back is the force of inertia. What unites us all after the moral catastrophe that occurred? What is now common between a resident of Krasnodar and a resident of Khabarovsk? What will make them stand under a common flag? What will keep all these people in a single eggshell when this power is inevitably overturned and when everyone who has eyes is horrified by what they are left with? It seems nothing. The Ukrainian nation is now truly born under the bullets of Putin. Ours is dying. Putin confident that he is a collector of Russian lands, that he is able to take and shove back into the USSR those who escaped by force from there, and recreate this monstrous Frankenstein. In fact, over all the years of his reign, he has achieved only one thing - truly and finally destroyed Russia. It is not yet visible to the eye but it will certainly become"

I might. I have a couple of friends who are deciding where to go - one is in Warsaw and one Berlin. Tbh Im advising them they'll be better off in a EU country rather than dealing with the hurdles and lack of support Britain is bound to make them face.

Would be nice to think so

It odd. Almost as if someone is deliberately effing it up.

Wouldn't be surprised if some deal has been struck with China and that line was the price.

Just when you thought the justifications couldn't get any more bizarre.

Lots of EU staff based there European institutions established in Luxembourg Luxembourg is now home to a large number of European institutions, agencies and bodies, including, in particular: the Secretariat General of the European Parliament; theEuropean Commission, with entities from many Directorates-General; thePublications Office of the European Union (PO); the Court of Justice of the European Union the European Court of Auditors; the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF); the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF); the European Stability Mechanism (ESM); theTranslation Centre(CDT); the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (CHAFEA); the Euratom Supply Agency (ESA) the EuroHPC.

Figures are distorted by people like Apple and Google channelling EU profits through them, but still.

You know they are wealthier than us right?