Waylander

Yep from Lisbon to Shanghai with no water in between. In the 90s worked with a chap that had travelled on the trans-Siberian Express. Recall him saying they got stopped by Russian police and after showing their tickets and passports were waved on. In China he mentioned having a meal and after returning to his lodgings relaised he did not have his wallet. After a mini panic he went back to the restaurant to see the chap behind the counter smiling knowingly with his wallet in his hand. He had a good sense of humour and was a relaxed CFC fan and used office work to pay for travelling.

There is a lot of talk about biolabs being built in Ukraine with serious diseases in. Vicky Nuland has mentioned this at a government hearing saying it is very dangerous if the Russians take over them yet little if any background as to who set them up. Independent analysts think the US may have been planning to release bio weapons against Russia in a way to weaken it like it did with Afghanistan in the 80's-90s. They add that intensive shelling of the Russian Eastern region was a ploy for the Russians to invade though they were caught out by the scale of the Russian action which is much more extensive.. Why would they do this, well allegedly the US dollar is the reserve currency for the world which allows it to maintain such a dominant military without draining the economy yet with China and Russia making bilateral deals in local currency and countries like Turkey and India buying Russian missile systems the US feels threatened yet do not feel strong enough to take both Russia and China on at the same time. I can provide links if requested to the biolabs claims.

I think the new owner will be the one who donates the most to the Ukrainian charity fund nothing to do with suitability so probably another billionaire with little football or even sports knowledge. Just hope we don't have to go through purchases like Torres and Shevchenko again, it's bad enough with Lukaku though think that was a desperate purchase due to lack of suitable options.

On another forum I sometimes visit listened to Boehly and liked what he was saying about building a complementary squad. Unfortunately I think it will be a different billionaire that knows little about football yet wants the kudos of a successful club.

Interesting. Just reading the other day that Russia may ignore intellectual property rights due to the economic war being waged against it. There is talk about the US and allies splitting from Russia and China and they may pull on to their side Iran, Pakistan, Central Eurasian states and maybe some African and South America countries to create a bi-polar world. So this would be the debt drowned West against asset rich Russia, Iran and currency manipulating China and other countries with heavy trade or angry at treatment by the US. Sounds very Orwelllian in concept and of course still time for an exit though looks grim.

Agree on the legal precedent and its knock-on effect in Common Law. The situation is unique to football in that war time sanctions have never been applied to a UK football club. The knock-on effect of the sanctions is administration if the owner and buyer cannot agree terms under the permissible conditions of sanctions yet administration does have a precedent and the govt does not bail out football clubs. Very messy indeed.

I had a scout on a few forums yesterday out of interest and the fur was flying so to speak, One I remember was along the lines of the Glasers as a US company were responsible for the deaths from the wars in the Middle East. Leave off, one answered, the Glasers are not responsible for the US govt they are not murderers, yet they have murdered Machester Utd .......

I think the club probably has about 10 days before they pull the plug and shut up shop. Also it is not even the case that the plot can be sold to property developers due to the CPO holders so it would get messy. Very interesting to see how this plays out. Lets remember RBS is still in govt hands 13 years later................

The CPO holders are independent so what ever happens no premium residential property can be built over the pitch. Just in case the propery barons are sharpening their knives. The CPO holders prevented RA from moving to Earls Court. So think this will go on for a bit yet, think a deal will be done though will it be a quick-fire sale to the lowest PC bidder?

I personally think Russia will let the Western (Catholic) area go independent as otherwise they will need to police it. Expect it to be smaller in size due to this conflict than it might otherwise had been.

I don't often watch MMA yet this flashed up on my youtube and as it was a Chinese fighter thought I would take a look. Commentators said the best female fight they had ever seen, for me exceptionally brutal and well fought. Also I could not tell who had won.

@BluewolfCan't see Zelensky's appeal making any difference. Cameron backed out of sending troops to Syria because of public opinion I don't see this as any different. Much to risky to get into a shooting war with the Russians as that is what it would become. A lot of people also know despite media propaganda that since 2014 this is not a simple case of good vs bad, it is much more complicated. Yes people are dying and being made refugees and it has happened in a lot more places in the last 21 years.

I think it is more complicated, unfortunately. Even before Biden got in people were saying Trump = face-off with China or Biden means trouble in Ukraine. The US has something called the Monroe Doctrine authorising it to take action against any foreign power meddling in the Americas ( from Chile to Alaska) so to be willing to talk about fighting with the Ukrainians against Russia on Russia's doorsteps to me seems crazy. In 2014 there was a coup to remove the Russian friendly govt and this was when the trouble started and they were extreme even calling Klitscho a traitor, even though him and his brother have now taken up arms. Personally think it would have been better to have partitioned the country, now think that may happen through the Russian military and not as fairly. Ukraine had a lot of corruption, Hunter Biden has been called out for investigation yet won't be due to repercussions yet other senior Democrats children were involved with Ukrainian business ventures too. Zelensky is also alleged to have properties around the world including London. This is why I say this is much more complicated despite the media hype, of course a lot of Ukrainians are going to suffer terribly due to the invasion.

Found this amusing some interesting data

Expect rather it is the shady side of Britain's less obvious banking industry that has dipped its toes into this murky pool. Of course if it is all seized will that create a wider liquidity issue?

This chap reminds me of Kenny Everett

I read earlier a comparison with the US in Iraq where their military campaign changed as the conflict developed. I think Putin forces will do the same, if they are hit by insurgents then they will use major force and so civilian areas will be devastated. Some analysts are saying this already, at first surgical strikes then because of ambushes this is going to become a war of attrition which means major destruction. Longer term think they will annex 60% of Ukraine just leaving the Western part independent.

The US is an 'empire', the corporations provide the money for the parties on the understanding that US influence will keep expanding their reach so they can expand into new markets under US military protection and increase revenue. Trump was an aberration as he did not buy into this and so was attacked from the off and in an unrelenting manner. The problem for the US model is they are starting to run up against the sphere of interest of major other powers. The voting public is a diverse bunch and have seen many failures, banking crises, outsourcing of jobs, wars in foreign places stripping national assets and infrastructure declining. Many also use alternative medicine so resent paying higher taxes for medicare. Then you have the radical promotion of LGBT agendas in school and of the BLM movement descendng into looting mobs with police being unable to or unwilling to intervene. . Now the group that won't understand this side of US grievances are new immigrants as the US is likely to be better than where they have come from.

I have been looking at youtube news and discussion in particular this retired Major General GD from India. He hammers the Western Nations saying they have abandoned Ukraine and says it is now too late to do anything as the Russians have the ports and control the borders. He says the Ukrainians are using guerilla warfare and though this is brave it is foolhardy. He adds the Russians started carefully though after attacks from Ukrainians have now gone to standard warfare which will mean surrounding the enemy and using bombing, missile attacks and blasting using tanks. Insurgents will hide in cities so the cities will be attacked and reduced to rubble. Russia always allows a humanitarian corridor before the bombardment starts. He thinks the Ukrainians should surrender to avoid the destruction of their cities and thinks there is no shame as they have been abandoned. Of course the Russians would certainly look to punish some of the leaders, unless a deal could be reached.

Agree totally.

Boris was questioned today by a Ukrainian women clearly upset saying her country had been betrayed and should have been supported with Western armies and instead asked for a no-fly zone. Boris although frequently coming across as bumbling clown actually came out with something I have recently read, he said we could not enforce a no-fly zone against a nuclear power like Russia as the risk of serious conflict was just too high. Of course little comfort for the woman yet explains why the West largely stays out of Syrian airspace.

I picked this up from a US forum I visit, not saying it is true just a perspective from the Russian POV, I think the split going forward is probably how it is going to play out, unfortunately. The Ukrainians also have a sad and grim future until the dust settles and probably forced to stay within the Russian sphere. https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/03/disarming-ukraine-day-7.html#more Mark Sleboda has served as nuclear engineer in the U.S. Navy. He has studied at the London School of Economics. He has married a woman from Crimea and now lives in Moscow as a Russian citizen. He is a frequent commentator in Russian media. Sleboda has previously criticized president Putin for being too soft with the 'west'. His analyses and predictions are more dire than mine but he is probably right (thread edited for readability):

Well it might be back to the early 2000's when we beat Liverpool at the end of the season to qualify for the Champions League. That summer RA took over. Or back to the early 90s when it was grim.

I see Putin is being portrayed like Hitler and him and his people threatened with war crimes and he is calling the West the Empire of lies. The Empire of Lies is clever as we can all see duplicitous actions by governments from time to time, despite from generation you are from. Oliver Stone was saying social protests movements were being funded and using social media to generate support for protests and once big enough the police would be needed and then mercenaries would shoot protesters and the police.The social media protesters would blame the government and the police would think a coup attempt was underway. About a 100 were killed in 2014 to overthrow the elected government in Ukraine and move from a pro-Russian govt to swing back to pro the West and joining the EU. Now I recall similar things happening in Syria with shooters being at the later protests and then a police crackdown and the slide towards war as foreign groups of mercenaries attacked from all sides. Assad was criticised as being a dictator and then stories started to come out from the Northern Sunni areas where local guys decided to form their own protective militias and later then the 'Islamic' mercs would come in and assassinate them, very reminiscent of Orwell's time in the Spanish Civil War with Soviet Russia attacking other anti-fascist forces. With the Arab spring, we supported some yet not others especially if they were oil rich states. The rumour mill is Putin has thwarted the West's desire for a new Afghanistan in Ukraine and are drawing up plans now for Myanmar though some senior people want action or a going away present delivered to the Russians. There is also the US carrier fleet in the Med heading towards the East Mediterrean. Now Russia has a naval base in Syria and the Black Sea can only be access though the Hellespont which is Turkish territory. Turkey has been playing both sides in Syria and buying the Russian missile defence system so has history on both sides. There is a major risk of escalation here if Turkey tries to stop say Russia sending ships through to confront the US fleet. Now perhaps the US might not go to the Hellespont and will just hang around to flex it muscles.

Yes think it did. Though was the march before the big one that apparently was a million though numbers disputed.