Thursday 15th May 2025
Re: Thursday 15th May 2025
Morning
A quick one before i zoom off to the market to get whelks, and two days' worth of jabs --
" After that, the mask of pretend rage slipped, and real bitterness came out. Liz Saville Roberts, the Plaid Cymru leader, rose to ask about the most vicious question I can recall at PMQs, certainly in the Starmer era.
“This prime minister once spoke of compassion and dignity for migrants and for defending free movement,” she began. “Now he talks of islands of strangers and taking back control. Somebody here has to call this out, Mr Speaker.” There was already a sense that a bit of a moment was about to happen. The Welsh Nationalists are, broadly speaking, on Labour’s side, and attacks from friends always hurt far more. She carried on: “It seems the only principle he consistently defends is whichever he last heard in a focus group. I ask him, is there any belief he holds which survives a week in Downing Street?”
All benches winced as one. It was from almost that exact spot that Vince Cable of the Lib Dems once said of Gordon Brown that he’d “gone from Stalin to Mr Bean”. It was such a devastating blow precisely because of where it had come from, and who had delivered it. You really ought to know you’re in trouble when the good guys come for you.
Starmer is neither the most articulate nor the most ruthless when in attack mode. “Yes”, he shot back, “the belief that she talks rubbish.”
Tom Peck https://archive.ph/sxgD4
A quick one before i zoom off to the market to get whelks, and two days' worth of jabs --
" After that, the mask of pretend rage slipped, and real bitterness came out. Liz Saville Roberts, the Plaid Cymru leader, rose to ask about the most vicious question I can recall at PMQs, certainly in the Starmer era.
“This prime minister once spoke of compassion and dignity for migrants and for defending free movement,” she began. “Now he talks of islands of strangers and taking back control. Somebody here has to call this out, Mr Speaker.” There was already a sense that a bit of a moment was about to happen. The Welsh Nationalists are, broadly speaking, on Labour’s side, and attacks from friends always hurt far more. She carried on: “It seems the only principle he consistently defends is whichever he last heard in a focus group. I ask him, is there any belief he holds which survives a week in Downing Street?”
All benches winced as one. It was from almost that exact spot that Vince Cable of the Lib Dems once said of Gordon Brown that he’d “gone from Stalin to Mr Bean”. It was such a devastating blow precisely because of where it had come from, and who had delivered it. You really ought to know you’re in trouble when the good guys come for you.
Starmer is neither the most articulate nor the most ruthless when in attack mode. “Yes”, he shot back, “the belief that she talks rubbish.”
Tom Peck https://archive.ph/sxgD4
Re: Thursday 15th May 2025
An Eternal War with the stench of a death cult
" The recent celebrations marking 80 years since the end of World War II left a set of clear messages.
While most countries try to build societies where aggression and war cannot develop, today’s Russia has advanced on a trajectory where most if not all important parts of society are honed towards war. Putin’s speeches, including on 9 May, celebrate the effort as an almost religious calling, and the Russian Orthodox Church has followed suit. War has become a key raison d'être of the Putin system, so do not expect this to stop suddenly.
The latest practice by Russian state outlets of featuring war widows almost worshipping their lost husbands, brothers, or sons as sacrifices to Russia, or as carrying out their highest duty in life, marks a new level in state propaganda. Besides being an obvious attempt to keep countering what previously was a rather vocal Russian civil society group, the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers of Russia, now hit by legal means, Russian authorities are introducing the stench of a death cult which goes hand in hand with the massive military parades that absorb the individual into the collective. It is also an obvious attempt by Moscow to gloss over and manage a self-inflicted consequence: the very high number of casualties. "
" ‘Root causes’…
‘Root causes’ is Kremlin shorthand for obstruction, playing for time, or a flat rejection of the West’s rejection of several show-stoppers. The key ones are: Putin’s unilateral demands issued to NATO in December of 2021 (meaning a NATO roll-back to its 1997 state of pre-enlargement); the removal of President Zelenskyy and the current Ukrainian political leadership; and Ukraine de facto being disarmed, having a neutral status, and remaining outside NATO, perhaps with weak security guarantees bordering on the pointless. Add to this the Russian claim that occupied Crimea and large parts of Eastern Ukraine are Russian territory.
More likely, the Russian approach is, first, to demand addressing so-called ‘root causes’; use that discussion to announce a ceasefire, or rather, a pause to rebuild forces; and then march on to new battles."
https://mailchi.mp/euvsdisinfo/dr361-62 ... 8b331813de
" The recent celebrations marking 80 years since the end of World War II left a set of clear messages.
While most countries try to build societies where aggression and war cannot develop, today’s Russia has advanced on a trajectory where most if not all important parts of society are honed towards war. Putin’s speeches, including on 9 May, celebrate the effort as an almost religious calling, and the Russian Orthodox Church has followed suit. War has become a key raison d'être of the Putin system, so do not expect this to stop suddenly.
The latest practice by Russian state outlets of featuring war widows almost worshipping their lost husbands, brothers, or sons as sacrifices to Russia, or as carrying out their highest duty in life, marks a new level in state propaganda. Besides being an obvious attempt to keep countering what previously was a rather vocal Russian civil society group, the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers of Russia, now hit by legal means, Russian authorities are introducing the stench of a death cult which goes hand in hand with the massive military parades that absorb the individual into the collective. It is also an obvious attempt by Moscow to gloss over and manage a self-inflicted consequence: the very high number of casualties. "
" ‘Root causes’…
‘Root causes’ is Kremlin shorthand for obstruction, playing for time, or a flat rejection of the West’s rejection of several show-stoppers. The key ones are: Putin’s unilateral demands issued to NATO in December of 2021 (meaning a NATO roll-back to its 1997 state of pre-enlargement); the removal of President Zelenskyy and the current Ukrainian political leadership; and Ukraine de facto being disarmed, having a neutral status, and remaining outside NATO, perhaps with weak security guarantees bordering on the pointless. Add to this the Russian claim that occupied Crimea and large parts of Eastern Ukraine are Russian territory.
More likely, the Russian approach is, first, to demand addressing so-called ‘root causes’; use that discussion to announce a ceasefire, or rather, a pause to rebuild forces; and then march on to new battles."
https://mailchi.mp/euvsdisinfo/dr361-62 ... 8b331813de