French President Macron has addressed all Europeans to prepare for war with Russia.
This was broadcast live across the continent.

"Europe will not accept capitulation of Ukraine to Russia under the guise of "peace negotiations."
Americans must decide whose side we are on."

And China has told the USA if they want war to "bring it on".

A complete madman in orange make-up has completely shattered all alliances and brought us to the brink of war.

The same one who his worshipers believed when he said he's stop war despite his proven daily endless fabrications and blatant lies.

I think many people believe that catastrophic war will just never happen to them, or our countries again, when of course it can.

I also think a lot of people "over think" Trump and assume there is some refreshing cunning plan behind all this. Likewise Musk. There is not.

People want comfort. I understand that. This is also why so many cling to conspiracy theories: a desire to perceive some order and meaning now God has been widely lost.

But the simple truth is: widening divisions, severed alliances, threatening rhetoric = BAD.

BAD = we are all more likely to be blown up. I just hope it is quick if it comes.

People should prepare themselves for death not war Macron.

The days of a long drawn out traditional war are over. And our entitled youth won't fight anyway.

They are the centres of their own Universe. Their country, their God, is themselves. Why on earth risk that for "nothing"?

I'm afraid I'm one of those who do NOT think there is a war coming. Any fight, if it does come, will be cyber and concern systems being hacked and shut off, not bombs and soldiers and tanks. I think the Russian people do not want war. Ditto Palestinians and Israelis. I think, like Covid, this is media inflated hype - it's a great story. Nuclear war? No way.

Yes WYOT wise words.

I often spoke to my parents about their war experiences and my grandfather who fortunately left Lithuania before WW2 but could never visualize being in a war situation.

Us baby bombers have lived in a dream era.

However, let's not forget Macron/Starmer and the rest of Europe have capitulated to Benny over in Israel. They didn't jump up and down when he was bombing the shit out of Gaza. Didn't bat an eyelid when Israel started to widen the war by bombing an Embassy in Iran. Zilch. Nada.

JK2006 wrote:
I'm afraid I'm one of those who do NOT think there is a war coming. Any fight, if it does come, will be cyber and concern systems being hacked and shut off, not bombs and soldiers and tanks. I think the Russian people do not want war. Ditto Palestinians and Israelis. I think, like Covid, this is media inflated hype - it's a great story. Nuclear war? No way.

You may well be correct JK; but systems wars, cyber shutdowns could lead to the same end: mass death. Through starvation, civil society ending etc.

Trump appears to be deepening fault lines globally as he wades into the more localised issues in Ukraine/Palestine.

Let's hope it is just words from US/China in particar, but as any psychologist can tell you words make actions easier to do. It is a dangerous game.

JK2006 wrote:
I'm afraid I'm one of those who do NOT think there is a war coming. Any fight, if it does come, will be cyber and concern systems being hacked and shut off, not bombs and soldiers and tanks. I think the Russian people do not want war. Ditto Palestinians and Israelis. I think, like Covid, this is media inflated hype - it's a great story. Nuclear war? No way.


It doesn't matter what the Russian people want though does it. I agree they probably don't, but in the face of Putin they are helpless passengers until they try and grab the wheel and run him off the road.

Wyot was correct in the first line of his first comment. I've had this conversation recently to family, we seem to cocoon oursleves nowadays that something very bad like a wider war could not possibly happen to our nice Western European countries again. But why think like that? Don't you think people here in the mid thirties and even 1938 thought there was no chance of another catastrophe, many easily recalling the Great War of only 20 years earlier with all that pointless carnage. Yet it did happen again and even worse and for even longer. That's without the possibility on top of simple miscalculation leading to a chain reaction of events.

This kind of old style carnage in Ukraine was not supposed to happen again but has been doing so for three years now, and there is only one person responsible for that and any further carnage and that person does not wear orange make-up like Hedda says, he lives in the Kremlin and his dozens of dachas and his name is VLADIMIR VLADIMIROVIC PUTIN.

Perhaps I'm too cynical about media coverage (inflating and exaggerating everything) and the simplification of everything (orange makeup). Putin and even Trump may be gone soon. Perhaps neither wants war. I think we should be concentrating on humanity - specifically in Gaza and the Rohingya - instead of imaginary panic and monsters.

hedda wrote:
Yes WYOT wise words.

I often spoke to my parents about their war experiences and my grandfather who fortunately left Lithuania before WW2 but could never visualize being in a war situation.

Us baby bombers have lived in a dream era.

Schools should teach children much more about war and death.

And perhaps not in a history lesson, as this makes them think it is all in the past and not the constant threat to mankind it is and has always been.

Show them how hateful "other" thinking in every day life leads ultimately to war and holocausts.

Perhaps then people would be more careful about embracing the likes of Trump and cheer on compassionate public figures instead.

And also Europe should be trying a road to peace also. Not wanting more missiles and aggression. Surely they know it's either peace or the end of days for us all? And again condemn Putin whilst having supported Israel whom have also broken every level of International Law. The Good Friday Peace Agreement meant tough and unpopular choices. We didn't double down on retaliation and bomb the crap out of Ireland. The greater strength comes from diplomacy and talking until blue in the face. This isn't 1939. It's a new and lethal ball game when playing with fire.

JK2006 wrote:
Perhaps I'm too cynical about media coverage (inflating and exaggerating everything) and the simplification of everything (orange makeup). Putin and even Trump may be gone soon. Perhaps neither wants war. I think we should be concentrating on humanity - specifically in Gaza and the Rohingya - instead of imaginary panic and monsters.




Tell that to the residents (if many are left) of Mariupol!

Our problem in the West, and especially here in Europe is our leaders believed in the so called "peace dividend" after the Berlin Wall came down and the USSR was dismantled in the early 90's. We should never have let our guard down and become so complacent and unable to see what Russia may have been in the 90's was not what Russia may be later on over the horizon coming.

Our real enemy may yet be coming for us, and that's China. Many consider Putin's Russia a paper tiger. I'm reminded of a film the late John Pilger did a few years ago where he pointed the Chinese threat out and mentioned the coming war with China and the USA and he wasn't talking cyber. I think Trump sees China as a major threat to the United States and the West far worse than Russia. So what would Trump do if they invade Taiwan?

The Coming War On China? - John Pilger (2016) - youtu.be/V42KtSeo3uI?si=2bnaSF9nvzeCbObR


Within the last hour I have just seen a massive American B-52 bomber flying close by the area I live at about 10,000 feet, and looked it up on Flightradar24 to see it left RAF Fairford for a trip to the Baltic where it circled off the coast of those three countries, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia without landing before heading back to base in the UK. I have never seen a B-52 like that before nearby overhead. I've seen comment elsewhere that since Trump took office these bombers are arriving at bases like Fairford.

JK2006 wrote:
I'm afraid I'm one of those who do NOT think there is a war coming. Any fight, if it does come, will be cyber and concern systems being hacked and shut off, not bombs and soldiers and tanks. I think the Russian people do not want war. Ditto Palestinians and Israelis. I think, like Covid, this is media inflated hype - it's a great story. Nuclear war? No way.

Don't worry, JK you are vaccinated like Hedda. Wash your hands whilst you sing Happy Birthday and wear a mask, whilst the country grinds to a halt.

Then watching rolling news with nothing but from bar and line graphs. 2 weeks to flatten a curve on a piece of paper.

Green Man wrote:
JK2006 wrote:
I'm afraid I'm one of those who do NOT think there is a war coming. Any fight, if it does come, will be cyber and concern systems being hacked and shut off, not bombs and soldiers and tanks. I think the Russian people do not want war. Ditto Palestinians and Israelis. I think, like Covid, this is media inflated hype - it's a great story. Nuclear war? No way.

Don't worry, JK you are vaccinated like Hedda. Wash your hands whilst you sing Happy Birthday and wear a mask, whilst the country grinds to a halt.

Then watching rolling news with nothing but from bar and line graphs. 2 weeks to flatten a curve on a piece of paper.

Thanks for reminding me GM (genuinely) as I must get my Flu vaccine which has worked for me for over 20 years.

I'm really prejudiced about the Lockdown as we obviously had it here in Oz as well.

But as a then carer for an elderly person I was legally allowed to go out and drive on blissfully empty streets It was heaven.

Rich wrote:
[quote]JK2006 wrote:


Our real enemy may yet be coming for us, and that's China. Many consider Putin's Russia a paper tiger. I'm reminded of a film the late John Pilger did a few years ago where he pointed the Chinese threat out and mentioned the coming war with China and the USA and he wasn't talking cyber. I think Trump sees China as a major threat to the United States and the West far worse than Russia. So what would Trump do if they invade Taiwan?

The Coming War On China? - John Pilger (2016) - youtu.be/V42KtSeo3uI?si=2bnaSF9nvzeCbObR



Should we worry here in Oz and risk being caught in the middle?

Near Darwin there is now a huge US military base yet a previous government recently sold the Port of Darwin to China.

Then there is the US top secret spy facility Pine Gap in the middle of the desert from which every US military action worldwide is directed from.

Ideally located as the massive land mass surrounding it renders it impenetrable but it would be a prime military target and could be taken out with a nuclear weapon (mind you the UK atom bombed these areas in the 50s)

People here seem to think we are somehow safe via distance yet the Japanese succeeded in bombing Darwin to smithereens in WW2 and even made it into Sydney Harbour with midget subs and bombed several areas including a street not too far from me.

Of course modern warfare may be very different.

With all this talk of European countries needing to boost their defence spending and of US commitment to NATO in doubt, I wonder if Putin, if he's planning to strike a NATO country, will wait until these countries have boosted their military capabilities. Or are these countries counting on Russia needing time itself to boost its capabilities to take them on?

Trump promises massive sanctions on Russia if they keep pounding Ukraine. He tells Russia to get to the table. Credit to Trump.

Downing Street Cat wrote:
Trump promises massive sanctions on Russia if they keep pounding Ukraine. He tells Russia to get to the table. Credit to Trump.

Perhaps he should slap 100% Tariffs on Russia. The trouble is that we don't want much that comes out of Russia do we, they produce very little of any worth. But if Putin reciprocated with American/Western imports then surely that would seriously hurt Russia, even if it burnt us a bit.

Maybe Trump has seen the latest polls out this week seeing his figures going negative for the first time in ages and since he was re-elected. Even his MAGA voters won't want to see America looking weak in the face of Russia, no matter what the cost is financially. Making America Great Again doesn't mean reducing it's superpower status does it.


Hedda, never heard of Pine Gap, interesting. I do know that Cyclone Alfred is about to hit and Brisbane Airport was shut a few hours ago to all air traffic. When people in Europe talk of nuclear war and safe places to go they always mention Australia and even more so New Zealand, but the truth is nowhere would be safe, even if you avoided a direct hit or a nearby one, the fallout would be global anyway.

I recommend listening to Rory Stewart talking on his podcast. I've disliked much of what he has said these past 5 years and found him insufferable, but credit where it is due, this was extremely good analysis of Putin as he tries to work out what would happen in various outcomes, none of which appear very appetising because in the end Putin can never and should never be trusted on anything.

The Rest Is Politics - US Slashes Aid, Rory Breaks Down The 3 Possible Outcomes.

youtu.be/xfccsaSaqFY?si=UHdur2xXtXsEiwQK

I did fair bit of driving during lockdown but unvaccinated.

hedda wrote:
Green Man wrote:
JK2006 wrote:
I'm afraid I'm one of those who do NOT think there is a war coming. Any fight, if it does come, will be cyber and concern systems being hacked and shut off, not bombs and soldiers and tanks. I think the Russian people do not want war. Ditto Palestinians and Israelis. I think, like Covid, this is media inflated hype - it's a great story. Nuclear war? No way.

Don't worry, JK you are vaccinated like Hedda. Wash your hands whilst you sing Happy Birthday and wear a mask, whilst the country grinds to a halt.

Then watching rolling news with nothing but from bar and line graphs. 2 weeks to flatten a curve on a piece of paper.

Thanks for reminding me GM (genuinely) as I must get my Flu vaccine which has worked for me for over 20 years.

I'm really prejudiced about the Lockdown as we obviously had it here in Oz as well.

But as a then carer for an elderly person I was legally allowed to go out and drive on blissfully empty streets It was heaven.

George Carlin: "What do you think you have an immune system for? It's for killing germs, but it needs practice. It needs germs to practice on."