Ukraine Watch...

[UndercoverElephant]

Turkey have been candidates since 1999, North Macedonia since 2005, Montenegro since 2010, Serbia since 2012, Albania since 2014 etc, according to Wikipedia.

All of those examples pose serious problems due to Islamic factors of one sort or another -- they're all involved in what is effectively a cultural border dispute between Europe and the Islamic world. Ukraine obviously poses major problems of other sorts, but they may prove easier to solve, being primarily political rather than religious.

[UndercoverElephant]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67724357

Hungary has blocked €50bn ($55bn; £43bn) in EU aid for Ukraine - just hours after an agreement was reached on starting membership talks.

A reminder of one of the main reasons I voted for brexit. The power of one member to veto anything makes internal EU politics a total nightmare. Can hungary unilaterally scupper EU support for Ukraine in a situation where the other 26 members want it to continue? The EU needs to be a proper federal state to stop this from happening.

[northernmonkey]

Northernmonkey:

“The majority of posters on this site are either predictably petite bourgeois with all of the predictable world views that implies”

I disagree. I’ve been following discussions on this forum for many years and have read through many of the threads from their very beginnings. I value and respect the opinions of the core community of long term contributors to Powerswitch and find their informed and intelligent input extremely valuable in many areas.

I do obviously have an opinion on the Ukraine issue that may appear to be at variance with the consensus here - but I appreciate the fact that, despite some initial knee-jerk assumptions that I should be banned as a ‘Russian troll’, we are all still discussing the issue and are reasonably tolerant of sometimes opposing viewpoints.

If you seriously believe the majority of posts on here to be reasonable, I am, to say the least, disappointed

Meanwhile, a bit of history

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u7X0lgHqic

[Default0ptions]

“Kyiv forced to cut military operations as foreign aid dries up”

“Top general Oleksandr Tarnavskyi said troops faced ammunition shortages along the "entire front line", creating a "big problem" for Kyiv.”

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67748813

“Ukraine and its backers need a credible path to victory - Financial Times“

https://archive.is/UVMOU (Archive link to avoid paywall)

Some commentary on the Financial Times article from Moon of Alabama:

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/12/u ... ctory.html

[Default0ptions]

Latest news from the Dnipro River (NY Times):

“Soldiers frustrated by positive reports from Ukrainian officials break their silence, describing the effort as brutalizing and, ultimately, futile.”

‘Since the war’s outset, Ukrainian officials have sought to maintain a positive narrative in an effort to maintain morale at home and support abroad. Casualty numbers are not published, nor are details of setbacks suffered by Ukrainian troops.

In the case of the Dnipro, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and other officials have suggested recently that the marines have gained a foothold on the eastern bank. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a statement last month claiming they had established several strongholds.

But marines and soldiers who have been there say these accounts overstate the case.

“There are no positions. There is no such thing as an observation post or position,” said Oleksiy. “It is impossible to gain a foothold there. It’s impossible to move equipment there.”

“It’s not even a fight for survival,” he added. “It’s a suicide mission.”’

https://web.archive.org/web/20231218150 ... ussia.html

[Default0ptions]

“No, Ukraine Is Not Starting To Lose The War, Says An Agitated Zelensky”

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ ... d-zelensky

[UndercoverElephant]

Looks like Trump has been kicked out of the presidential election. That is good news for Ukraine.

[adam2]

Looks like Trump has been kicked out of the presidential election. That is good news for Ukraine.

AFAIK, this only applies in Colardo, not nationaly, still good news for Ukraine though.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67768873

[Ralphw2]

The ruling will probably be overturned by the Supreme Court, which Trump stuffed with supporters

[clv101]

Indeed, the Colardo court is all Dem, the Supreme Court is majority Rep, highly likely this will be overturned.

[BritDownUnder]

The ruling will probably be overturned by the Supreme Court, which Trump stuffed with supporters

As far as I know only 3 appointees to the Supreme Court were made by Trump. As I mentioned before more fool Obama for not getting Ruth Bader Ginsberg to retire and get a solid Democrat replacement on there. Also you could hardly call Sotomayor a raving Trumpist.

For all I know, Colorado being a liberal state, may have its Supreme Court dominated by Democrats. Perish the thought!

[Ralphw2]

Texas is threatening to bar Biden from the election.

Back in the UK, judging by the voting on the bbc news web site, the UK public still want Ukraine to be given more weapons to win this war, by a margin of at least 4 to 1

[UndercoverElephant]

Texas is threatening to bar Biden from the election.

What is happening in the US is very worrying indeed. It looks like a total politicisation of the court system, which could lead to serious problems if the result is close. Once you lose faith in the courts to actually uphold the law instead of ruling in favour of their political allies, then you are close to total breakdown of the political system.

[Default0ptions]

Texas is threatening to bar Biden from the election.

What is happening in the US is very worrying indeed. It looks like a total politicisation of the court system, which could lead to serious problems if the result is close. Once you lose faith in the courts to actually uphold the law instead of ruling in favour of their political allies, then you are close to total breakdown of the political system.

Welcome to the future

[northernmonkey]

Northern European civilisation, along with its New World offshoots (otherwise known as "the West"), is on the brink of collapse. Economically, politically and culturally. The first domino to fall due to the limits to economic growth on a finite planet. But, it was already on the cards. Our Spenglarian Winter was overdue in any event. Not long to wait now.