Waylander

2003. Here's an interesting thing I was working in the Southern Hemisphere and a young woman I was sitting near was in a religious group (Christian) she mentioned to me about the terrible regime for women's rights in Afghanistan. I thought that was kind of strange as Afghanistan was a poor country. I asked what her Church said about women's rights in Saudi Arabia. Two weeks later I was back in the UK having lunch as 9/11 unfolded live on tv.

Having marched against the attack on Iraq close to 20 years ago and talking with members of the Respect group and Anti-War coalition I am pretty sure 100s of millions probably wanted Bush to meet a quick and ugly demise as they bombed the water and energy infrastructure of Iraq. They even used tanks to bomb the hotel where Western journalists were staying. The UN staff on the ground were also being attacked. It was purely regime change yet they underestimated other players on the ground perhaps Russia will too. Doesn't make this right yet seems to be an ugly cycle by which ever force thinks they can get away with it and normal people in the wrong place pay the price.

We are told that Russia's economy is just the size of Italy and yet they have the biggest armed forces in Europe by some margin. So how do they keep it funded, there are obviously some things we do not see or recognise. I expect a lot of their economy is self sufficient or self contained and running without imports so think economic action by the West will be limited. Of course some oligarchs will see their fortunes shrink by a large margin.

War is coming, expect it to go to a nuclear stand off like '62 after it starts to escalate. Some of the rhetoric is bizarre and have noticed this before when bad stuff happens.

Talking with my brother yesterday, his take is the US will turn Ukraine into a killing zone for Russian troops and that Putin has fallen into a trap. I mentioned I had heard Zelensky used to be a comic and he already knew and said he made a serious faux-pass on one interview yet seems to have done his career no harm at all. Can't recall much more as the football was on.

This is from Oliver Stone in 2016 very interesting and shows outside forces trying to destabilise Ukraine. My take is Ukraine should split, it is clear there are two very strong idealogies and they are poles apart.

From Bloomberg news, major US Banks don't want Russia excluded from Swift and here is the interesting part for me, t might also encourage the development of a SWIFT alternative that could eventually damage the supremacy of the U.S. dollar. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-25/wall-street-counsels-washington-against-kicking-russia-off-swift This was probably why Johnson hesitated the other day in parliament when this was proposed ,the knock-on effects may even be worse........

I'm not surprised Ukraine is a flashpoint in following the last US election it was clear, Trump equals pressure on China and Biden represents Ukraine 'warming up'. We will never know for sure what prompted the Russians to move so decidedly after the latest shooting match between the Ukrainians and Russian militants in Eastern Ukraine. Some claim Zelensky mentioned getting nukes and that was the red flag. Personally felt at the time before the invasion Johnson's rhetoric was way OTT about escalations and further escalations almost as though they are trying to provoke the Russians. Well it certainly provoked them to go all the way.

When Bush and Blair launched their military missions in the Middle East, Bush said, 'You are either with us or against us,' Putin has allegedly warned Finland and Sweden about becoming NATO members saying that would be a declaration of war. Turkey tried to close the Hellespont, the access to the Black Sea and Russian missile ships made threats so they were re-opened. Israel virtue signalled support for Ukraine and Russia reminded them that even if they build on the Golan heights they are building on occupied Syrian land. France has seized a Russian ship in the Atlantic belonging to a Russian oligarch. So we have a very volatile situation brewing.

This guy did in the US back in 2004, US football player, he was killed by friendly fire. I have read on alternative sites they think he was murdered as being disgusted by some US troop actions in Afghanistan yet whatever he took a stand. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Tillman Putin thinks he has the right to do this thanks to Bush and Blair, IMO.

The thing is rightly or wrongly approx 40% of European fuel comes from Russia, turning off Swift means probable power cuts. The Bush Neocon regime set a very bad example of what can be done using military might. Then we have the attacks on the Russian areas of Eastern Ukraine with UK and US sending military hardware and specialist teams there and then pulling them out a day or two later. Then the leaders of the West start threatening the harshest sanctions almost as though they wanted to provoke the Russian Bear. Did they expect this reaction? Will they stay in Ukraine? What happens next in Syria the fighting goes on and on, the US base in Syrian desert, Israel sending missiles over, fighting against Anti-Assad forces in Northern Syria with the Turks threatening periodically to hit the Kurds. All very messy and volatile.

Well I read something a few years back. Wiki now has more, the family was business was granted a state monopoly to run certain businesses and paid only 3% tax when they should have been paying 15%. Courts got involved yet never got settled as they came to UK and bought Leicester. In the meanwhile govt changes and coups and as Spike says they are partly funding para-militaries political groups in Thailand and so it is all a bit murky and looking very unsavoury.

Russia had sent several missile ships to the Black Sea, seem to have anticipated this and they also have that naval base in Syria. Additionally they placed naval ships in the Atlantic close to the communication lines on the seaboard between US, UK and EU.

They were in Thai politics before football.

It's a bit more than Chelsea as you have Usmanov formerly of Arsenal and now at Everton. The Thai owners at Leicester were also thought too have ripped off Thai citizens though don't think they are at risk yet due to purely Russian focus. Then you have the autocratic Arab oil wealth in City and Newcastle. So this could get messy. Abramovich was also involved in a very prominent court case here against Boris Beresovsky so am not sure how this will play out.

If he has pushed the 'nuclear' button and conducted an invasion where does he stop and does he stay? The rhetoric of the Western Media about escalating actions while they are potentially initially being shelled or bombed was probably too much of a Red Flag. Also Ukraine is reasonably close to Russia's biggest oil fields. So they have jumped the gun. I don't want any war yet with our media keep threatening to support yet without any significant ground forces suggests it was just about rhetoric (except for those unfortunate citizens in the firing line who may now see their country occupied or divided). I picked up somewhere else about recent Chinese conversations with South Korea as China does not want US military bases near China. South Korea mentioned the North Korean threat and China suggested they get nukes for security. So they can't hide it now the Cold War mk II is seriously underway. We also have a mini oil crisis as without Russian fuel we have a supply shortage.

I think part of the disagreement is that the Russian speaking population are in a small part of Donbass yet the Western media is suggesting Putin will claim the whole region of Donbass. Russian says it will cut off Nordstream pipelines that goes into Germany. German business interests are unhappy yet don't see that changing anything as before they were unhappy with the UK being pushed towards Brexit and were not able to influence their govt.

This one: https://www.theshedend.com/discover/unread/?id=1

This argument is almost hypocritical by the West when you consider Kosovo, Kosovo was allowed independence then surely the same should be allowed to occur with Donbass. Of course this is not about logic it is more about geopolitics. I think Germany will be the main loser as a new cold war and trade wall rises in Europe.

Being on another forum for CFC fans only, (some friendly others join too and) the feeling of the fans CFC there was that the hotel should come down and the Shed End extended backwards. This was seen as a cheaper option than the official wrap around sleek looking official design. Everyone thought we could easily sell over 50k for the big games yet not for the less attractive ones so a much bigger stadium was not thought of as worth the cost.

Pinocchio might disagree.............

Interesting I recall a couple of things. The last one was redeveloping Stamford Bridge and plans were made and council permission granted yet was about the time RA's passport issue arose under Theresa May's govt. Was redeveloping SB an issue for the CPO holders? The other proposal was for a sight potentially near Earls Court and I'm thinking this may have bombed due to the CPO holders. What is your take?

@Dr. Gonzo I think Abramovich wants to sell I recall Radcliffe of Unilever offered £2bn and RA wanted £3bn. So nothing happened. So think the focus is to keep winning trophies while staying within FFP or as close as possible with the hope someone else buys the club. This is why I don't think we will get a long term plan.

This is from the one of the number of sites I periodically take a look at. China and the US are competing for influence in Equatorial Guinea https://archive.vn/OoAvX#selection-807.13-807.91 Interestingly this was the state the UK mercenary leader, Simon Mann was aiming for when he was intercepted in Zimbabwe for some years ago. The country is known to be oil rich. The article speculates the US is concerned that if China succeed they will build naval bases in the Southern Atlantic.

For me the Bush regime was the worst. Trumps the most bizarre. What comes next. News on the alternative front. One report - It has been acknowledged by a Supreme court investigation that voting machines can be hacked yet arguments over how that is worded publicly. No mention of any action to be taken. Biden wanted to give 800,000 illegals voting rights despite calls of vote gerrymandering, think it is still on the agenda yet not through. Biden's infrastructure program to repair things like dilapidated bridges is meant to add trillions to US debt and so also faces political resistance. Ukraine, well people said that would be an issue before he was inaugurated, Trump was big on China and Biden is big on confronting Russia over Ukraine. Israel and Iran is on the backburner neither Trump or Biden appear to have helped or stirred things up though still time if Biden decides to.