Retired scientist. Conservative who values the environment and believes in fairness and respect for all. Alternative views welcome but no personal abuse.
Elwood
Joined March 2011
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Barry Kelly retweeted
Gestern setzt sich dieser Kriegsverbrecher tatsächlich vor die Kameras und erzählt:
Er und First Lady Melania Trump müssten jetzt die Menschen retten, die er jahrelang hat leiden lassen.
Aber die Ukraine sei schuld! Sie habe die Zufahrtswege vermint und damit „praktisch eine humanitäre Katastrophe“ verursacht.
Dabei hält Putins Armee die ukrainische Stadt Oleschky seit 2022 besetzt. Sie wurde überflutet, weil Putins Armee den Kachowka-Staudamm in die Luft jagte. Menschen wurden bei der Evakuierung von Russen beschossen. Jahrelang hungerten die Menschen unter russischer Besatzung, hatten weder Strom noch sauberes Wasser.
Aber die Ukraine war's.
Putin hat sich dieser Tage ja bereits bei der First Lady für ihren Einsatz für die von Russland verschleppten ukrainischen Kinder bedankt. Kinder, deren Verschleppung Putin selbst zu verantworten hat und für die der Internationale Strafgerichtshof in Den Haag einen Haftbefehl gegen ihn ausgestellt hat.
Putin ist der Grund allen Übels in der Ukraine. Er hat diesen Krieg gewollt, begonnen und zieht ihn inzwischen im fünften Jahr weiter blutig durch.
Russland lässt die Menschen in den besetzten Gebieten im Elend zurück. Außer natürlich, es gibt teure Luxuswohnungen zu verkaufen. Dann wird gebaut, vermarktet und kassiert. Die Ruinen von Mariupol lassen grüßen.
Putin beschuldigt trotzdem erfolgreich die Ukraine. Und selbst bei uns wird dieser Menschenfeind dann auch noch als Menschenfreund gefeiert, weil er sich großzügig bereit erklärt, die Menschen vor den Folgen seiner eigenen Verbrechen zu retten.
Eins steht fest: Die russische Propaganda ist Weltklasse. Denn es gibt immer noch genügend Dumme, die sie schlucken, als wäre sie lebensspendendes Manna.
Barry Kelly retweeted
THE MOST INCOMPETENT WAR IN HISTORY: SARAH PAINE ON TRUMP’S IRAN DISASTER
Dr. Sarah Paine, a leading historian of great-power conflict and strategy, delivers a blunt verdict on the Iran war. She calls it one of the most incompetent wars in human history. The decision ignored basic principles of assessment, put maximum costs on America itself, and left permanent damage to the country’s power and alliances. This is not hindsight—it is the predictable result of hubris meeting reality.
THE CORE VERDICT
➡️ “The Iran war is probably one of the most incompetent wars in human history.”
➡️ A competent war puts the costs on the enemy and minimizes them for yourself.
➡️ This one did the opposite.
THE COST CATASTROPHE
➡️ It trashed the US economy.
➡️ It blew the US alliance system.
➡️ Iran is hurting, but the collateral damage is taking down the world’s economy.
➡️ That transforms the United States from a partner into an annoyance—and for many, a primary adversary—because it is threatening their economies.
➡️ “That’s breathtakingly incompetent.”
THE STRATEGIC BLIND SPOT
➡️ Any serious assessment looks at the enemy’s strengths and your own weaknesses, plus everyone else who might intervene.
➡️ That was absent.
➡️ The first thing Iran would do is shut Hormuz. Narrow seas close in wartime. Ukraine already showed this with the Black Sea.
➡️ Shore artillery, mines, and other tools stop traffic. There is no mystery here.
➡️ The big naval base in Bahrain becomes unreachable. The fallback is Diego Garcia, 2,500 miles away in the middle of nowhere. “That would be a mess.”
THE HUBRIS THAT MADE IT POSSIBLE
➡️ The people making the calls are historically unqualified for the job. That makes them profoundly dangerous.
➡️ Type A hubris assumes all decisions that matter happen in the United States.
➡️ Type B hubris assumes being good at one thing makes you good at everything.
➡️ Half-court tennis: you only watch your own side and never study the other team.
➡️ The Iranians understand Americans far better than Americans understand them.
THE UNFEASIBLE OBJECTIVE
➡️ Trying to “solve” Iran with 90 million people was never realistic.
➡️ Nazi Germany had roughly 80 million and required an occupation force of about 1.5 million just to hold it after the war—before counting everyone else.
➡️ The goal was unattainable. Pursuing it guarantees overextension and a bad ending.
➡️ The lesson the world takes is simple: get a nuke. The war incentivized proliferation.
➡️ This was a pivotal error. The choices that existed before are gone and will not return. “We will never be the trusted partner ever again. It’s done.”
THE BOTTOM LINE
The Iran war did not merely fail. It maximized American costs, destroyed trust with allies, and handed every rival a clearer reason to treat the United States as a threat to their own prosperity. Competence would have contained the problem at affordable cost. Hubris chose the opposite.
This is what permanent strategic damage looks like.
#IranWar #SarahPaine #StrategicIncompetence #HormuzDisaster #USHubris #AllianceCollapse #CatastrophicMistake
HT: YouTube The Diary Of A CEO
Barry Kelly retweeted
In 1952, an English teacher named Cecil Dormand secretly paid for a dirt-poor 11-year-old to take a drama course.
He never told him and the boy didn’t find out until decades later.
By then, he was a knight, that little boy’s name was Patrick Stewart.
He was born into a poor family in Mirfield, a small mill town in Yorkshire and his father came home from World War II a violent man, and he was violent toward Patrick’s mother.
Young Patrick learned exactly when to step between his father’s fist and his mother.
An English teacher put a copy of Shakespeare in his hand and told him to get up and perform.
He never stopped and left school at 15.
By 19 he was completely bald... most agencies told him he'd never make it because of that.
In 1987, the LA Times called him an “unknown British Shakespearean actor” when he was cast as Captain Picard.
Then he became one of the most famous faces on Earth.
You’ve probably heard that part.
Here’s the part you haven’t:
He spent decades as a patron of Refuge, sheltering women and children from domestic violence.
But he never stopped trying to understand his father.
He dug up a 1940 newspaper clipping that said his dad had come home with severe shell shock.
He went to France and walked the ground where his father’s unit was pinned down under bombing for hours.
He learned his father had PTSD, and nobody ever helped him.
So Patrick became an ambassador for Combat Stress, a charity that helps veterans.
In 2013, a young woman at a Texas convention told him she was a survivor of domestic violence.
He asked, “My dear, are you okay?”
Then he hopped off the stage, held her, and told her: “You never have to go through that again, you’re safe now.”
At Dragon Con, a Make-A-Wish girl dressed as Spock came to meet him.
2,000 people were waiting for him to speak... he sat down and talked with her for 15 minutes, making all of them wait.
He told her that since they were friends now, whenever she saw him on screen she could wave and say, “Hello Patrick.”
After 9/11, he felt helpless, so he brought his one-man A Christmas Carol back to Broadway for a full week of charity shows.
He played every character himself and donated every cent.
In 2019 he did it again, and every dollar went to feeding hungry New Yorkers.
In 2017, he fostered a pit bull named Ginger, who had been rescued from a dogfighting ring.
She was his first dog in more than 50 years.
He couldn’t bring her home to England, so he found her a family.
Then he kept fostering more.
When he said he was done with Star Trek so many people told him the show had gotten them through the hardest times of their lives.
So he wanted to see if Picard could do it one more time.
Rest in Peace, Sir Patrick 🖖
Barry Kelly retweeted
Now would be a good time to remind everyone of these Trump facts, because apparently some people still need the refresher.
Please meet the President of the United States:
Flew on Epstein’s plane at least seven times. Just friends, I guess.
Pleaded the Fifth more than 400 times in a single deposition. Nothing says “innocent” like refusing to answer a single question about your own business.
34 felony convictions. A record most people would call disqualifying. And 91 criminal charges.
Accused of sexual misconduct or assault by at least 26 women. But sure, tell me again how he’s a great guy.
6 corporate bankruptcies. The self proclaimed greatest businessman alive somehow keeps running out of money.
5 draft deferments. Funny how the toughest guy in the room never actually showed up for duty. He said, "no thanks", when asked to serve his country. Speaking about McCain, Trump stated: "He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured."
4 criminal indictments. Not two. Not three. Four.
2 impeachments. A club of exactly one president.
2 of his own companies convicted of criminal tax fraud. Convicted. Not accused. Convicted.
During the 2016 presidential election, Trump’s campaign orchestrated a televised Iowa fundraiser meant for veterans but directed the foundation’s money to boost his political campaign. The charity was used to buy personal items, including a $10,000 portrait of Trump. The New York State Attorney General filed a lawsuit in 2018, regarding Donald J. Trump Foundation, alleging a "pattern of persistent illegality" and self-dealing. The investigation found that Trump used the charity as a personal "piggy bank."
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. The Eric Trump Foundation Controversy: This investigation revealed that the charity raised money under the guise of FUNDING THE ST. JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL, but was allegedly charged over $1.2 million by the Trump Organization for using Trump-owned golf courses, shifting donor money meant for sick children back into Trump businesses.
1 fake university shut down. Trump's charities always involved cheating and grifting. HE AND HIS FAMILY ARE NO LONGER ALLOWED TO RUN A CHARITY IN NEW YORK He and his family are no longer allowed to run a charity in New York because the Trump Organization used the funds for Trump-owned golf courses, SHIFTING DONOR MONEY MEANT FOR SICK CHILDREN INTO TRUMP BUSINESSES. He was ordered to pay 2 million dollars for looting his own so called charity.
Paid 25 million dollars to settle the Trump University fraud lawsuit because scamming people who believed in you costs money eventually.
Ordered to pay 5 million dollars in the first E Jean Carroll sexual abuse verdict, then hit with 83.3 million more in the second. A jury said it twice so nobody could pretend it was a fluke.
First president in modern history to increase the deficit every single year of a full term. Fiscal responsibility, apparently, was always just a talking point.
Kept the debt to GDP ratio above 100 percent for his entire first term.
Presided over the largest single day point drop in Dow Jones history at the time. So much for the guy who claimed to be a genius with money.
Set the record for the longest government shutdown in US history in his first term at 35 days, then couldn’t resist beating his own miserable record in his second term with a 43 day shutdown, followed by yet another shutdown just months later. THE ONLY POTUS TO HAVE 3 GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS IN HIS TERMS.
Added roughly 2.25 trillion dollars to the national debt in his first year back in office alone, pushing the debt past 39 trillion dollars.
Somebody remind me who the party of fiscal discipline is again.
Pushed through the largest defense budget increase since World War Two while the debt kept climbing anyway.
Purged more than 300,000 federal employees in his first year back.
Pardoned nearly 1,600 January 6 Capitol rioters on his very first day back in office, including Oath Keepers and Proud Boys leaders convicted of seditious conspiracy.
Law and order, except when it’s inconvenient. At least 40 of those pardoned rioters have already been rearrested, charged, or sentenced for new crimes since walking free. Shocking absolutely nobody.
His family’s crypto ventures, including a meme coin and World Liberty Financial, pulled in more than 1.4 billion dollars in disclosed earnings while he sat in the Oval Office.
Draining the swamp was apparently code for filling his own pockets.
Sent the National Guard into American cities at a cost of nearly 500 million taxpayer dollars in 2025 alone, then BRAGS about lower crime. He has no long term solution - ever. He just sends in the military. The military seems to be his answer to everything.
His own tariffs are projected to cost the average American household more than 2,500 dollars this year.
YOU'RE PAYING FOR THIS. NOT CHINA. YOU!
Got America involved in a forever war with Iran, though promised the exact opposite.
Peace deal with Russia and Ukraine on Day One. He has continued to side with Putin and has never admitted that Russia invaded Ukraine - UNPROVOKED.
Now sitting at one of the lowest approval ratings of his second term, stuck in the mid 30s while inflation and gas prices make everyday life harder.
None of this is a conspiracy theory, a rumor, or something you saw in a group chat.
It is the actual, documented record, sitting in plain sight for anyone willing to look.
So the next time someone tells you to relax and give him a chance, ask them how many more indictments, judgments, and shutdown records he needs to rack up before that chance runs out.
Charles Curtis Rone
Barry Kelly retweeted
Profesor ekonomii na uniwersytecie stwierdził, że kiedyś oblał całą klasę. Ta klasa upierała się, że socjalizm działa i że nikt nie powinien być biedny, a nikt bogaty, że wszyscy są równi...
Nauczyciel powiedział im: „OK, przeprowadzimy eksperyment z socjalizmem w tej grupie.
Wszystkie oceny będą uśrednione, a każdy dostanie tę samą ocenę, więc nikt nie oblany i nikt nie dostanie 10”.
Po pierwszym teście oceny zostały zsumowane i podzielone przez liczbę studentów, i każdy dostał 8.
Studenci, którzy uczyli się intensywnie, byli zdenerwowani, ale ci, którzy uczyli się mniej, byli zachwyceni.
Gdy zbliżał się drugi test, studenci, którzy wcześniej uczyli się trochę, uczyli się jeszcze mniej, a ci, którzy uczyli się intensywniej, powiedzieli sobie, że oni też chcą „darmowego prezentu”, więc też uczyli się mniej.
Średnia z drugiego testu wyniosła 6.
Gdy przeprowadzono trzeci test, średnia ocena wyniosła 4. Ku wielkiemu zaskoczeniu wszystkich studentów, wszyscy oblali.
Nauczyciel powiedział im, że socjalizm w końcu zawiedzie, ponieważ gdy połowa populacji widzi, że nie musi pracować, bo druga połowa się nimi zajmie, a gdy ta połowa, która pracowała, zdaje sobie sprawę, że nie ma sensu już pracować, bo inni korzystają z ich pracy, to jest koniec każdego narodu.
Ta historia może być bajką, a nie faktem, ale morał jest prawdziwy.
Za @nettermike
Barry Kelly retweeted
Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins
GOAT Trio ✖️
Overrated trio ✅️
-A fast bowling trio conceding 400+ runs against Bangladesh at home in 2026
- Conceded 650 runs vs India at 2019 SCG and lost the series 2-1
- Failed to defend 350 vs England at 2019 Headingley(Starc did not play)
- Failed to bowl out India twice on consecutive tests Day 5 ( conceded 300+ runs in 4th innings at SCG 2021 - India saved the test)
- Failed to defend 329 vs India at Gabba 2021 and lost the series.
- Conceded 592 runs vs England at Manchester 2023.
- Conceded 395 runs vs England at Oval 2023, 3rd innings.
- Lords 2025 failed to defend 282 vs South Africa, WTC finals
- Perth 2024 vs India conceded 487 runs for the loss of 6 wickets.
- Failed to bowl out Pakistan in 2 days conceding 443 runs in the 4th innings.
- Conceded 554 vs Sri Lanka 2022 ( Hazlewood did not play)
Barry Kelly retweeted
Sheer stupidity, appalling captaincy from Pat Cummins.
Who selects Nathan Lyon and then bowls first ? Dropping Scott Boland is foolish
Lyon picks up wickets in the 4th innings of test matches.
Cummins lack of confidence in his batsmen is a disgrace.
@CricketAus
Barry Kelly retweeted
Zelenskyy: “Trump Is Demanding That I Surrender to Putin”
Finally, the moment has come when we can stop pretending to be diplomatically polite, carefully choosing our words, and acting as though we are dealing with some sophisticated peace negotiations rather than the blatant coercion of a victim into surrender.
For the first time, Zelenskyy has said out loud what many have long suspected: according to him, the Trump administration is taking steps that are forcing Ukraine to surrender to Russia.
“I don't want to think that our American partners believe it is possible to end the war faster at Ukraine's expense. But that is exactly what it looks like.”
Trump is demanding capitulation!
Pay attention to that last sentence. No hysteria, no diplomatic scandal, not even an accusation. Just a statement of fact from a man who has spent far too long trying to convince himself that his ally really is an ally.
And indeed, a rather interesting picture is emerging.
Russia bombs Ukrainian cities, while Washington demands that Kyiv stop striking Russian oil refineries. Ukraine purchases American missiles for its Patriot air defense systems, but according to Zelenskyy, deliveries are being delayed. Restrictions on satellite communications are emerging, making it significantly more difficult for Ukrainian troops to conduct military operations.
And all of this is accompanied by endless talk about peace.
What kind of peace, gentlemen?
Imagine a robber breaking into your home, murdering your loved ones, setting your bedroom on fire, and then a police officer arriving at the scene. But instead of arresting the criminal, the officer demands that you immediately put down your gun because the shooting is disturbing the neighbors' sleep.
And, as a friendly gesture, he promises to help the robber get more gasoline.
That, in my opinion, is exactly what American diplomacy looks like today.
Trump loves to repeat that he wants to stop the bloodshed. A wonderful desire. Yet somehow, almost all his demands are directed at the country defending itself, while the man who unleashed the largest European war of our time is offered negotiations, economic concessions, and yet another opportunity to bargain.
There is one inconvenient detail for Trump here.
Zelenskyy cannot sign Ukraine's capitulation for the simple reason that Ukraine does not belong to him.
It is not a hotel that can be sold together with its guests, nor a golf course that can be handed over to creditors to settle debts.
Behind this country stand millions of people who have buried their loved ones, lost their homes, endured occupation, torture, and Russian prisons.
Trump can put as much pressure on Zelenskyy as he wants. But forcing Ukrainians to voluntarily recognize Russia's right to determine their fate is an entirely different matter.
The most disgusting part of this story is not even the pressure on Ukraine itself, but the attempt to present capitulation as a great humanitarian achievement for which humanity should thank the American president.
Putin demands Ukrainian land.
Trump demands peace.
And Ukrainians are expected to pay the price for both demands.
You know, history has seen deals like this before. They were usually signed by people who were absolutely convinced that someone else would have to pay the price.
And every single time, there was some solemn gentleman announcing that he had finally brought peace to Europe.
The only difference is that this time, Ukraine is still holding its weapons.
And it has no intention of laying them down.
© Valeriy Bochkov
Barry Kelly retweeted
Pat Cummins will always favour his friends and minions over talent,sooner cricket Australia get rid of him better it will be for their cricket
Barry Kelly retweeted
The message is pretty clear. Performance doesn’t really matter. We just wanna pick the guys we like.
This will be Australia’s XI for the third Test v South Africa:
Renshaw
Head
Labuschagne
Smith
Green
Carey WK
Connolly
Starc
Cummins
Lyon
Hazlewood
OUT: Boland, Maddinson, Webster
IN: Lyon, Green, Connolly
On air with SEN from 6.30pm AEDT. 🔥🇿🇦
@7Cricket @1116sen @SEN_Cricket @7NewsMelbourne
Barry Kelly retweeted
BREAKING: TRUMP BETRAYAL! Zelensky reveals he offered the U.S. THREE OPTIONS to halt Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries — but Trump accepted NONE.
President Volodymyr Zelensky just provided stark evidence of Donald Trump’s betrayal of America’s commitment to defend Ukraine from the Russian invasion of its sovereign territory.
Trump has been pressuring Zelensky to unilaterally stop taking out Russia’s oil refining infrastructure, but the Ukrainian leader said in an interview with the Kyiv Post that the United States has met none of the three conditions he says his country requires before agreeing to a stop to its successful campaign to cripple Russia’s revenue-generating energy businesses. Therefore, the strikes continue.
Here are the conditions that Zelensky said that Trump can choose from to convince Ukraine to impose a ban on blowing up Putin’s petroleum refineries:
Option one: an “energy truce,” where Russia stops hitting Ukraine’s power infrastructure. “That is fair,” Zelensky said, and it’s hard to argue with that. Expecting Ukraine to stop hitting Russia, while its opponent continues to bomb away, makes no sense at all.
Option two: enable Starlink coverage over Russia so Ukraine can show the U.S. where Russian ballistic missile launchers are and destroy them. Zelensky noted that Trump’s team has said Elon Musk doesn’t want to. Who the f@#k cares what Elon Musk wants? If Musk continues to be an obstacle, the U.S. should nationalize Starlink on security grounds and turn Ukraine’s spigot back on.
Option three: if Starlink is off the table, give Ukraine missiles for its Patriot systems, something that “doesn’t depend on Musk or Putin.” Given the fact that the American military has blown through a significant portion of its arsenal in the misbegotten Iran war, this last option might be the toughest for Trump to fulfill.
“Ukraine had received none of the three proposed forms of support,” he said. “That is why the reaction is what it is. We are fighting for our lives.”
Zelensky also argued the refinery strikes can’t move global prices much, since Russia accounts for only 2% of global diesel exports and the other 98% comes from elsewhere.
Zelensky smartly warned against lifting sanctions on Russia before negotiations, saying they were imposed in response to aggression, “not as a price for the mere opportunity to talk.” He said lifting them early would leave Ukraine without leverage and that rebuilding support for new sanctions after more than 20 packages would be hard, a warning that lands after Trump waived sanctions and tariffs on Russia. “I do not want us to find ourselves without any leverage,” he said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. delegation went to St. Petersburg after talks in Oslo and then gave Kyiv a briefing. Now a broad meeting between Ukraine, the U.S., the EU and NATO is planned in Brussels this week. As long as Trump is in Vladimir Putin’s pocket, however, the prospect for successful negotiations is slim to none.
Of course, the Kyiv Post is only reporting Zelensky’s point of view. The White House has not responded yet to his comments. But one of his points is hard to dodge: Ukraine is being asked to hold back while the other side keeps firing. Only a fool like Donald Trump would expect any invaded country to agree to a deal like that.
Please like and share if you think Russia should end the war by withdrawing its forces from Ukrainian territories!
Barry Kelly retweeted
If Australia lost the 3rd test and series
- Pat Cummins needs to be sacked as captain
- George Bailey and Andrew McDonald need to be thrown out from their respective posts.
- Marnus Labuschagne and Nathan Lyon never picked again for Australia.
Barry Kelly retweeted
Miksi Putin haluaa niin kiivaasti Donetskin, jota Venäjän armeija ei ole onnistunut valloittamaan vuosien sodankäynnistä huolimatta?
Kyse on paljon suuremmasta asiasta kuin yhdestä maakunnasta Ukrainan itäosassa.
Putin ei aloittanut sotaa vain saadakseen haltuunsa lisää ukrainalaista maa-aluetta, vaan palauttaakseen Ukrainan Venäjän vaikutuspiiriin ja estääkseen sen kehittymisen itsenäiseksi, länteen integroituneeksi valtioksi. Tämä on ollut Venäjän strategisen ajattelun ytimessä jo pitkään.
Donetsk on tässä kokonaisuudessa poikkeuksellisen tärkeä useasta syystä.
Ensinnäkin alue on ollut historiallisesti yksi Ukrainan taloudellisista ja teollisista keskuksista. Donbasin hiilikaivokset, terästeollisuus, konepajat ja energiantuotanto olivat aikanaan keskeinen osa Neuvostoliiton teollista perustaa.
Vaikka sota on tuhonnut valtavasti alueen tuotantokapasiteettia, Donetskin taloudellista ja historiallista merkitystä ei pidä vähätellä. Venäjän näkökulmasta sen hallinta merkitsisi samalla Ukrainan taloudellisen perustan heikentämistä.
Vielä tärkeämpi on kuitenkin sotilaallinen ulottuvuus. Ukrainan hallussa olevat Slovjansk ja Kramatorsk ovat osa vuosien aikana rakennettua puolustusvyöhykettä, joka suojaa Ukrainan sisäosia Venäjän etenemiseltä. Kyse ei ole vain kahdesta kaupungista, vaan kokonaisesta puolustusjärjestelmästä, jonka rakentamiseen Ukraina on käyttänyt yli vuosikymmenen.
Jos Ukraina luovuttaisi nämä alueet ilman taistelua, Venäjä saisi haltuunsa strategisesti arvokkaita asemia, joiden valloittaminen sotilaallisesti voisi vaatia vielä vuosien taisteluita ja valtavia tappioita.
Samalla Ukraina menettäisi yhden tärkeimmistä puolustuslinjoistaan, eikä vastaavan rakentaminen lännemmäksi olisi yksinkertaista. Tämä voisi avata Venäjälle huomattavasti paremmat lähtökohdat myöhempään hyökkäykseen syvemmälle Ukrainaan.
Donetsk on myös osa Venäjän omaa turvallisuusmaantiedettä. Alueen hallinta kasvattaisi Venäjän hallitsemien alueiden syvyyttä ja suojaisi sen Itä-Ukrainaan rakentamia sotilaallisia huoltoyhteyksiä. Laajemmassa kokonaisuudessa Donbas liittyy myös Etelä-Ukrainan miehitettyihin alueisiin ja Krimille johtavaan maayhteyteen.
Taloudellisten ja sotilaallisten kysymysten lisäksi Donetskilla on Putinille valtava poliittinen ja symbolinen merkitys. Kreml on vuodesta 2014 lähtien rakentanut kertomusta Donbasin venäjänkielisen väestön suojelemisesta ja alueen kuulumisesta niin sanottuun venäläiseen maailmaan.
Vuonna 2022 Venäjä julisti koko Donetskin alueen liitetyksi itseensä, vaikka ei sitä kokonaan hallinnut. Koko alueen haltuunotto antaisi Putinille mahdollisuuden esittää sodan lopputulos historiallisena saavutuksena.
Venäjän vaatimukset eivät silti rajoitu Donetskiin. Kreml on vaatinut myös Ukrainan Nato-jäsenyyden torjumista ja sen sotilaallisen toimintavapauden rajoittamista. Yhdessä alueluovutusten kanssa nämä tavoitteet voisivat jättää Ukrainan tilanteeseen, jossa sen taloudellinen perusta, puolustuskyky ja mahdollisuudet päättää omasta tulevaisuudestaan olisivat nykyistä huomattavasti heikommat.
Tässä mielessä Putin voi saavuttaa neuvottelupöydässä jotain, mitä hän ei ole kyennyt saavuttamaan taistelukentällä.
Siksi mielestäni olisi virhe tulkita Donetskin vaatimista vain Putinin tarpeeksi saada sodalle jonkinlainen "kunniallinen päätös".
Putin voi olla valmis lopettamaan sodan ilman, että hän luopuu alkuperäisistä tavoitteistaan. Siksi Donetskin kysymys on paljon suurempi kuin miltä se kartalla näyttää.
Barry Kelly retweeted
I saw something on here saying #TheBeatles are ‘overrated’ because their music was ‘formulaic’. Rather than knee-jerk reacting to this comment I think my objective response would be to say, yes it was formulaic - in the beginning. However, the remarkable thing about that band to me was their almost supernatural ability to keep living up to and exceeding the hype, so that they soon became anything but formulaic. The industry grew out of what they did, much like it had with Elvis and on that basis alone, I do think it’s absurd to suggest they were overrated. You can say you don’t like their stuff, but ‘overrated’? No way. That’s just a bloody-minded refusal to accept historical fact.
Barry Kelly retweeted
Any agreement that includes guarantees from the United States of America raises one question: how did previous American guarantees turn out?
The US guarantees provided under the Budapest Memorandum ended in expressions of “deep concern.” While russian tanks were approaching Kyiv and Kyiv residents were desperately trying to board trains to escape toward the border, the United States was suffering from deep concern. We can only sympathize with the American officials who had to endure such stress.
President Biden’s guarantees to support Ukraine for as long as it takes ended along with Biden’s presidency. And then the very same people who applauded Zelenskyy in Congress in 2022 bent the knee before presidential candidate Donald Trump and collectively blocked weapons deliveries to Ukraine for six months.
Europe gave the United States unprecedentedly favorable trade conditions in exchange for guarantees of protection against the USSR/russia. But Trump first demanded that Europe increase its defense budgets to purchase American weapons, and then began withdrawing American troops from Europe. Security guarantees for Europe are collapsing right now, before our very eyes.
So when Zelenskyy now talks about some hypothetical peace backed by US guarantees, we must clearly understand that he is describing a fantasy scenario.
In the real world, American guarantees ceased to exist long ago. They are just as real as Santa Claus and healthy food at McDonald’s.
Any agreement with the russians based on American guarantees is not worth Marco Rubio’s oversized shoes or JD Vance’s eyeliner.
I strongly advise the president of Ukraine to think a hundred times before walking into a trap and mistaking wishful thinking for reality.
We all want peace, but peace is not on the negotiating table right now. Instead, sitting across the table from Ukraine are the two biggest liars in the world: Trump and Putin. Neither of them can be trusted with a single penny, let alone the fate of the entire Ukrainian nation.
Taking the promises of people who have already violated every possible agreement at face value is the ultimate degree of infantilism and intellectual deficiency.
Ukraine must never repeat its mistakes and trust American guarantees ever again.
Source: translated and adopted from the text of Serhil Marchenko
Barry Kelly retweeted
Liebesgrüße aus Moskau
Spritpreise steigen in für Russen astronomische Höhen. In vielen Landesteilen und auf der Krim gibt es Abgabebeschränkungen von oft nur 20 Litern pro Tankvorgang sowie lange Warteschlangen.
Die Inflationsrate liegt in Russland aktuell bei 6,3 % bis 6,8 %, ist also doppelt so hoch wie hier bei uns. Alles wird ständig teurer. Arbeitsplätze sind auf dem Land, in der breiten Fläche kaum noch vorhanden. Für Privat-Kredite stehen bis zu 20 Prozent Zinsen an, für Firmen bis zu 25 Prozent. So investiert natürlich niemand mehr in irgendwas.
Die angeblich so stolzen Russen wollen keinen LADA kaufen, Autos aus dem Westen gibt es nicht mehr, also fahren sie jetzt halt Chinesen.
Der gesamte Haushalt für Russland wird 2026 ca. 550 Milliarden Dollar betragen.
Die Kriegsausgaben belaufen sich für 2026 auf geschätzte 200 Milliarden Dollar, so das die Einnahmen die Ausgaben schon lange nicht mehr decken. Das Haushaltsdefizit liegt bei ca. 88 Milliarden Dollar.
Finanziell sieht es also nicht gut aus für Putin, gar nicht gut.
Die Infrastruktur in Russland geht den Bach runter, es wird nichts mehr gemacht, da kein Geld mehr dafür da ist. Überall stehen halbfertige Gebäude die in öffentlicher Hand sind, zum Beispiel Schulen und werden nicht fertig gebaut.
Eine russische Industrie im klassischen Sinne gibt es fast nicht mehr. Das Land lebt von der Rohstoffschöpfung und den Kriegsgütern die hergestellt werden. Alles andere wird einfach in China gekauft.
Die Menschen haben eine unterschwellige Angst, vor allem vor einer drohenden nächsten Mobilmachung, bei der es jeden Mann erwischen kann. Reservisten können auch noch mit einem Alter von 60 Jahren einberufen werden.
Und nun haben die Russen auch noch Angst vor Drohnenangriffen aus der Ukraine. Über den Krieg redet niemand, ist alles tabu.
Fresse halten, weg ducken und hoffen das der Kelch an einem vorüber geht, ist die Devise.
Die Sowjetunion lässt schön grüßen und wir DDR-Bürger kennen das ja.
Putin weiß das natürlich alles, denn er ist ja nicht dumm, tut aber absolut nichts dagegen. Gar nichts, denn die Menschen im eigenen Land sind im genau so egal, wie die Menschen in der Ukraine.
Und was kann das russische Volk dagegen tun? Ich glaube sie warten auf ein Wunder.
Teilen und kommentieren wie immer erwünscht. 🙏
ALT Putin Kriegstreiber
Barry Kelly retweeted
Meet Chairman of Selectors George the Clown Bailey
Picked Nicolas Maddinson who hadn't played a First Class game in 18 months and failed miserably in two tests.
-Picked Jake Weatherhald, gave him a central contract and then dropped him for good after failing in one test against Bangladesh.
• Continuing to pick and persist with a 32 year old Marnus Labuschagne who hasn't scored a test 💯 in his past 25 tests (47 innings) and a 50 in his last 14 innings.
• Backing a 38 year old Nathan Lyon who has two major knee injuries and is a shadow of the bowler he once was and not picking younger players like Murphy/Kuhnemann/ Rocchiccioli.
• Not showing faith and trust in younger players of Australia like McSweeney, Konstas who are the future.
• Diabolical team selections in every format.
• Another puppet of captain woke Pat Cummins and dances to his tunes.
• Is seen seated in the dressing room with the players and always having a hearty laugh.
• Thinks Australian Cricket Team is his father's property.
The shamelessness, arrogance and ego of this man has no end. Shame on this cunt!
