Russian invasion of Ukraine

[Guest Jedi]

World may well be better overall, but Putin has just turned the clock back...we are going to be living with the effects of this for some time to come.

Its going to push technological change, with a ramping up of green energy sources across Europe and the UK (heat pumps replacing gas fired boilers, electric cars, more nuclear power, renewable energy, carbon capture and storage etc). Just a few months on from the Cop summit, these things are now priorities, not just to tackle climate change but to reverse dependence on Russian supplies in the longer term.

Its going to force a major rethink of attitudes to refugees and immigration, with a massive influx of Ukrainians across Europe...from the rhetoric of Breixit and pulling up the drawbridge to the necessity now of doing something.

Its going to seriously undermine Scottish independence...why break away from a larger neighbour and its armed forces when the world has just become a much more dangerous place? Defence will now be the Yes/No battleground.

Its going to force a major rethink of attitudes to the EU...the UK has ended up in the worst possible time to leave an organisation which has now assumed far more importance, economically and militarily. A push to rejoin? as our 'natural' allies are now surely the EU countries.

A serious spotlight will need to be shone on where parties (ie the Tories) get their (oligarch driven) funding from. and how the city of London, in particular disinvests from such sources

There is going to be economic pain in the form of energy price hikes on top of what was coming anyway.

And its going to see living with more fear of ongoing, escalating conflicts in Europe, not something we have had for a very long time.

 

 

Edited March 1, 2022 by Jedi

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

 

 

[TommyDickFingers]

12 minutes ago, Zen Archer (Raconteur) said:

 

 

[RandomGuy.]

15 minutes ago, Zen Archer (Raconteur) said:

 

 

I know this is seen as some form of "win", but is it not a bit worrying they can hack into superpowers to this degree?

[Del79]

1 minute ago, RandomGuy. said:

I know this is seen as some form of "win", but is it not a bit worrying they can hack into superpowers to this degree?

Maybe some disgruntled Russians are making it easier for them?

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

1 minute ago, RandomGuy. said:

I know this is seen as some form of "win", but is it not a bit worrying they can hack into superpowers to this degree?

I DM'd them, apparently if you keep quiet they are getting me free Prime and Discovery+

I'll give you the pass code as soon as I get it live.

[Sergeant Wilson]

3 hours ago, Andre Bo said:

I have no time for nostalgia, 

Aye, it's a thing of the past.

[Tony Ferrino]

9 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

I know this is seen as some form of "win", but is it not a bit worrying they can hack into superpowers to this degree?

Aye, well it is Ash Wednesday tomorrow.

[Mark Connolly]

1 minute ago, Tony Ferrino said:

Aye, well it is Ash Wednesday tomorrow.

The Russians will probably pancake something tonight

[Sergeant Wilson]

14 minutes ago, Mark Connolly said:

The Russians will probably pancake something tonight

Putin has thanked Clyde for diverting the world's attention while he fires of a few thermobaric salvos.

[Loonytoons]

Unless I missed something, I don't think he did.
Personally, I'm speaking about living in this country. I know other places are obviously different.

"For all the problems, I think the planet we are leaving our children is considerably better than the one our parents left my generation in the 60s."

Direct quote.
Pretty sure it was meant to mean the human world but the planet, no chance.
Personally speaking, yup far better.
I asked my auld man, who was waxing lyrical about his youth in the 50's, if life was better then. No chance was his answer.

Linking the above to the war at the moment, my boys actually asked what the likelihood of being conscripted was. That was a question I never had to ask my auld man.

[Andre Bo]

7 minutes ago, Loonytoons said:

"For all the problems, I think the planet we are leaving our children is considerably better than the one our parents left my generation in the 60s."

Direct quote.
Pretty sure it was meant to mean the human world but the planet, no chance.
Personally speaking, yup far better.
I asked my auld man, who was waxing lyrical about his youth in the 50's, if life was better then. No chance was his answer.

Linking the above to the war at the moment, my boys actually asked what the likelihood of being conscripted was. That was a question I never had to ask my auld man.

It is a very broad question but there is not much doubt Hitler set humanity back dramatically, and what Putin is doing right now has made life in the short term worse. I would be surprised if anyone could find a serious historian who would characterise human history as a matter of basic progress. That doesn't really confirm or deny anyone's thesis, instead it complicates it.

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

2 minutes ago, Andre Bo said:

It is a very broad question but there is not much doubt Hitler set humanity back dramatically, and what Putin is doing right now has made life in the short term worse. I would be surprised if anyone could find a serious historian who would characterise human history as a matter of basic progress. That doesn't really confirm or deny anyone's thesis, instead it complicates it.

Hugo Boss definitely made an impact style wise to the Reich, Putin has set back style one hundred years.

[Tony Ferrino]

Saw some vids of folk using polystyrene to make petrol bombs earlier. I have loads after getting a new washing machine. 
How can I send it? It’s bulky but won’t weigh a lot.

[SweeperDee]

Saw some vids of folk using polystyrene to make petrol bombs earlier. I have loads after getting a new washing machine. 
How can I send it? It’s bulky but won’t weigh a lot.

Enduring fact about polystyrene for me is that it’s one half of the ingredient list for Napalm, the other being petrol. Fucking wild.

[Patrick Noubissie]

I think most people would accept that there is a lot of progress to point to globally. Here and in many similar countries, I really don’t see how society is in better shape than in the few decades before it. 

That is obviously a truly tiny sample of time in the big scheme of things but people should challenge barriers to progress where they see it. It hasn’t really been said here tbf but usually the point about how good we all have it is used to dismiss some pretty legitimate bigger arguments.

4 hours ago, oaksoft said:

Same goes for finding where rental accommodation is available. That doesn't of course make finding a job and a place to live easy but it gives you a wider net to cast into.

I’d disagree with a few of your points but this is maybe the perfect example of where convenience of information but less actual opportunity doesn’t make make things better.

I’ve looked at rental property recently and the situation is genuinely fucking grim. Is your contention that listing aggregators make for a healthier marketplace that helps renters find good opportunities; or that modern technology makes it easier to move somewhere with better housing? The first is just not true on any level and the second is pretty depressing by itself.

I’d rather have to pop down to a letting agent but be able to find some okay options there than pick up my phone and have it confirmed in 30 seconds that I’m getting shagged up the arse.

Edited March 2, 2022 by Patrick Noubissie

[Arabdownunder]

True reflection of advances in human progress is that it took about a year for the coronavirus thread to become a binfire.  This looks like it'll be unreadable within a month.

[Fullerene]

4 hours ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

Aye, it's a thing of the past.

Nostalgia is not as good as it use to be.

[Theroadlesstravelled]

Clearly the Tories are absolute crooks. Anyone that voted Tory and or for Brexit is very stupid.

[HeartsOfficialMoaner]

7 hours ago, Detective Jimmy McNulty said:

This is the thing, once the decision was made to invade, the optimal outcome for minimising loss of life was a swift Russian victory/Ukrainian capitulation. Sounds terrible, but it's the reality of the situation.

Of course the resistance is brave and understandable, but if you're at the stage of emptying prisons, getting grannies to make molotov cocktails and inviting every wingnut on the planet to join your foreign legion, then maybe it's time to sit down and have a think about the best way to get out of this.

Yep, it's terrible but less terrible than the present terrible.