219 thoughts on “Saturday’s Papers”

  3. TheWhiteWolf

    For some reason this sonnet has been on my mind the past couple of days.
    I imagine it has something to do with that wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command threatening nuclear obliteration that we all heard and saw.

    But who knows?

    I met a traveller from an antique land
    Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
    Stand in the desart. Near them, on the sand,
    Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
    And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
    Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
    Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
    The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
    And on the pedestal these words appear:
    “My name is Ozymandias, king of kings;
    Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
    Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
    Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
    The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

    1. stephen moran

      Far better to roast the hog live of air and to expose him to public ridicule and by proxy the Irish apologists for HMV so they can be shamed by association. McCullagh gave some gammon from the Northern Taliban (aka The DUP) a fierce going over a few weeks back.

        1. Timid

          This could lead to WW3 and with all world wars come conscription
          We are no longer neutral we signed up to PESCO
          So beware of salivating
          Unlike WW2 we are part of a federation

    1. Kali

      Yes but some people are easily wound up. You can see the frenzy of comments here calling for blood. Its like early 2020 when they were crying LOCKDOWN, LOCKDOWN NOW!!!! Its a bizarre way of seeing the world. You’d have to be very childish or very thick to climb on board these hate bandwagons

      1. Aunt Feb

        Not you though, far too clever for all this nonsense. If only all were as informed as you, me and Nick Kelly, we would be laughing all the way to the oil fields.
        The Vax is killing everyone, it is not time to forget that!

          2. Aunt Feb

            Go on outta that, theres a reason you have to put your mobile on private number every time you call someone. The drivel you post on here is a disgrace to the Irish education system. Hinged.

    2. Aunt Feb

      You are barely in a position and cant see you prevailing at anything anytime soon. Never too late too change though.

      1. Kali

        The world is more than black and white. I’m sure it’s comforting to think you have a moral high ground. But whenever you’re asked to explain your position in detail you cop out and call others bots and or throw insults.

        What you’re looking for is an echo chamber where you can talk to only those that share your opinion. You’ll never grow and learn anything new unless your challenged. Not everybody has the same view, welcome to the real world. The next time you read an article on rte, try to analyse what’s being said and the tone used rather than just digesting the content. A real damnation of our education system is people who think independent thought is a dirty phrase.

        1. Aunt Feb

          1nce again, go on outta that. Rte? Will you get a gript. Look at where you are and who you hanging out with. Fake war, fake pandemic, vax is here to kill us all, trans people are here to eradicate the family unit, Chile has just introduced legislation to allow mutant humans to be ’employable’ ffs. I’ll tell you one thing for free, no charge-r, there is no one paying for bots on this site, absolute lunacy.
          Ps. many of your ‘non echo chamber’ viewpoints are actually paid for by the Russians. Learn how to use the internet better.

  8. TenPin Terry

    It’s a known fact that the world’s smallest book is entitled Italian War Heroes.
    Italy’s PM Mario Draghi is refusing to kick Russia out of the Swift financial system but instead has focused on gaining an exemption from EU sanctions for luxury goods.
    And with a failed German Defence Minister as EU President and a doddery old fool as leader of the free world the people of Ukraine must be wondering where any support will come from.
    Their president has turned down Biden’s offer of evacuation with a withering ” I need ammunition not a ride. ”
    All those lickspittle liberal commentators who welcomed Sleepy Joe’s election as the start of a new era are strangely quiet today.
    Isn’t that right Fintan ?

    https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/eu-leaders-bewildered-by-russian-attack-seem-stranded-in-the-world-of-yesterday-1.4812393

    1. George

      Trump’s assessment of the invasion of Ukraine was that it was “wonderful” and that Putin is “going to go in and be a peacekeeper.”

  9. stephen moran

    It’s a shame we can’t just fast forward to the good bit at the end when the fascist totalitarian sociopath Putin shoots himself in the bunker.

  10. Duncan Wheeler

    It’ll be good to see the ‘murcans getting proxy shafted. The Neo nazi who was set up as de facto president of Ukraine will not be tolerated by Putin, proper order. Can you imagine if Putin set up the president of Mexico and gave him weapons right on the US border the howls of protest from der wesht This is a shi* show and if one follows the recent historical timeline was always going to happen. Not a huge fan of Putin but less so the antics of the criminal enterprise that is, allegedly, the US.

    1. paddy apathy

      You need to reread your recent history, maybe concentrate on the period from late 90s to 2014. Especially the poisoning of Victor Yuschenko.The labelling as neonazis anyone who opposes Russian expansionist power and aggression is a very old trope and one actively promoted by FSB and Russian backed troll factories. Your anti US goggles have clouded your judgement to the simple fact that an overwhelming majority of Ukrainians support a western outlook to their future and a turn back to leaning on Russia as a step backwards.

          1. Me So Harney

            There are over 4,000 registered microbiological laboratories in Ukraine, but only 2 of them have a permit to work with microorganisms of the first pathogenic group, 402 laboratories have a permit to work with the microorganisms of the second pathogenic group, and all others are allowed to work only with microorganisms of the third and forth pathogenic groups.
            National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Biosecurity Challenges of the Global Expansion of High-Containment Biological Laboratories: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13315.

          2. Me So Harney

            One of the laboratories that has a permit to work with the microorganisms of the first pathogenic group did, however, recently undergo an international audit as a BSL-3 laboratory and received a preliminary positive evaluation. This is one of the laboratories of the SI (State Institution) “Ukrainian I. I. Mechnikov Anti-Plague Research Institute” of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine (Odessa), which is responsible for the identification of especially dangerous biological pathogens. This laboratory was reconstructed and technically updated up to the BSL-3 level through a cooperative agreement between the United States Department of Defense and the Ministry of Health of Ukraine that started in 2005. The collaboration focuses on preventing the spread of technologies, pathogens, and knowledge that can be used in the development of biological weapons. The updated laboratory serves as Interim Central Reference Laboratory with a depozitarium (pathogen collection). According to Ukrainian regulations, it has a permit to work with both bacteria and viruses of the first and second pathogenic groups. A second laboratory of the SI “Ukrainian I. I. Mechnikov Anti-Plague Research Institute” of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine also has a permit to work with microorganisms of the first pathogenic group, but it is not updated to the BSL-3 level. This laboratory works only with the especially dangerous infections of bacterial etiology. The third laboratory upgraded to the BSL-3 level belongs to the Central Sanitary Epidemiological Station of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. This laboratory was updated within the State program and the above-mentioned cooperative agreement between Ukraine and the United States. It has a permit to work with microorganisms of the second pathogenic group and is intended for work with especially dangerous infections.
            National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2012. Biosecurity Challenges of the Global Expansion of High-Containment Biological Laboratories: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13315.

        2. stephen moran

          The usual totalitarian trope of distract, divide and deflect from the fascist reality of an unhinged dictator who has clearly lost the plot. I look forward to his demise hopefully and the hands of his own people who seem to be none to impressed by his invasion of another independent sovereign state contrary to every tenet of international law and the UN charter. Enjoy the echo chamber.

        4. Aunt Feb

          Is it hundreds or is it thousands? Sitting here with my hands clasped thanking God for your existence. While everyone in Ireland breaths in the media frenzy whilst breakfasting, it is comforting to know that I can simply fold over the times pop it in the recycling bin and left click into the broadsheet for the truthiest truth. Harney you are an absolute legend, very jealous of your family! Please dont ever stop.

      2. Gerry

        You mean nazis like the ones chopping Sudetenlands off their neighbours (Abkhazia, Ossetia, Crimea, Donbass) and engaging in aggressive war?

      1. bisted

        …the nazis were of a time and place…the holocaust was their most heinous crime…their modern day equivalent are the zionists who are given free reign to outdo the nazis…I don’t know if Zelinski is a zionist sympathiser but he seems to surround himself with all flavours of alt right…

    4. Aunt Feb

      Duncan Wheeler, not a huge fan of Putin. They should stick that on your tombstone whenever the time comes.

  11. Gabby

    The brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine casts a great gloom over Europe. Yet I fear that BANNER HEADLINES proclaiming the Courage, Resolution and Defiance of the underequipped and militarily outnumbered Ukrainian defence forces are raising false hopes among readers of these newspapers. The military outcome of the Russian brutal onslaught is obvious – the Russians are going to overwhelm Ukraine and then ‘invite’ the defeated government to ‘negotiate’ a peace deal. So I recommend less banner headlines and more attention to the political outcome of this invasion. A small country like Ireland can aid Ukrainian refugees and send, through the Red Cross and other agencies, medical and other assistance to the invaded country.

    1. stephen moran

      Russia’s economy is similar in size to Spain. This is not the USSR. The Rand Corporation estimated for example that for the US to “successfully” occupy and subdue an insurgency Iraq & Afghanistan would have involved a force larger than their entire standing army. Russia have a fraction of that manpower and far shallower pockets. Russia will go broke from any prolonged occupation and insurgency as the Ukraine is vast, its people are resourceful and it’s far easier to resupply militarily than the Mujahadeen were. Putin’s incendiary threats regarding Finland & Sweden will come back to haunt the despot. Hopefully Vlad has bitten a lot more than his vanity can digest and will impale himself. I wouldn’t neglect the effect of the body bags also (I know they have mobile crematoriums) – but you can’t hide the facts in this techno world (despite what the counter factual crew here say) & the domestic protests have been an eyeopener for those who thought he enjoyed monolithic support at home.

      1. Me So Harney

        Wrong.

        The metric for measuring Russias economic and financial strength is skewed.

        Russia has no debts and has operated for the past 30 years under sanctions.

        They are way above your foolish estimate.

        1. paddy apathy

          60% of Russia’s economy is based on coal, oil and gas. About 5 years till the whole place falls over a cliff. Russia is a dinosaur.

          1. Me So Harney

            The US and Britain have been saying that for decades, look at where its got them.

            Meanwhile since 2000 every Russian is approximately 150% richer, the economy of Russia is much more diversified and as all the other countries of the western world fall into decline, Russia becomes richer.

            A hit and a miss paddy..

          2. stephen moran

            We’re into 1980’s Cuban sugar beet production figs stuff nw. Russia’s GDP per capita is below that of Turkey. The Gini coefficient (which measures relative inequality) of the country is off the charts. If you want to live in some universe where economic gravity doesn’t exist then fine -wallow in your self delusion. The US occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan cost approx $6 trillion (thats trillion not billion) which is 20% of the total US national debt. There is no way even the former USSR could afford a fraction of that cost & the insurgency in the Ukraine will be far more bloody and better armed. Enjoy

          3. Me So Harney

            “the insurgency in Ukraine will be far more bloody..”

            Lol, what match are you watching..

            Maths betrays you as per usual stepho..

            As for the false equivalence of the invasion of oil rich Iraq and heroin rich Afghanistan..

            Lolololololols

            Hit and a total miss..

          4. Nigel

            The Iraq/Afghanistan invasion had insane support in the US, and even though there was fierce opposition from liberal voters, it was politically neutered. Obviously Putin has no political opposition, but I don’t think he has the support, either.

            Now that I think of it, was the almost magical channeling of the outrage for a national tragedy to the military invasion of a country that had nothing to do with it the first major manifestation of the national-level reality-bending of Trumpism?

        2. Aunt Feb

          How does one become as clever as you? I feel like an uninformed fool just reading your insights. Do you do classes? I would be happy to pay for myself and my two idiot children.

          1. stephen moran

            Adult education is a wonderful thing. I’m retired after 35 years in international finance so I’m reduced to prostituting myself even further by giving grinds in economics.

    2. ANO

      I don’t think anyone is lingering under any illusions as to the inevitable military victor of this invasion but Zelenskyy’s bravery has given his people something to rally around. If he can somehow remain alive and on the ground there then the political victory may remain out of Putin’s reach. That too does seem like a forlorn hope but it remains a hope nonetheless.

      Fully agree with your closing words on what we as a small nation can do.

    1. stephen moran

      According to the wires Italy has also (been embarrassed / shamed into) changing their mind re SWIFT. Just the Germans holding out now – it would encourage the US to get a bit more broadbrush & perhaps roll back on the (argi & energy) exemptions in Biden’s package. Embarrassing countries via peer pressure seems to be the only way to get this ratchet to tighten on rogue nation Russia. Talk of the ‘Pool playing in the Ukraine colours versus Chelski upon the morrow – hard to see the Thai sponsor wearing that though

      1. goldenbrown

        very nicely done if they make it happen…would gladly put my dislike of the scousers away for the day if they were to go for it

        1. stephen moran

          Being humbled and humiliated in public is more than virtue signaling and wokism when you are dealing with a vain paranoid little bollix like Putin – Why do you think Sochi and the WC were so important to him personally. Poland refusing to play their WC qualifier, having them probably thrown out of the WC and taking away the F1 GP and the Euro final (in his hometown) do have an effect on the Russian body politic and get a bit messy to explain domestically.

      3. SOQ

        70% of Germany’s energy supply comes from Russia. It is not surprising that they don’t want to cut that off.

          1. Me So Harney

            With no alternative..

            Way to go.. Never going to happen

            Certification of NS2 to be released by Monday..

    2. goldenbrown

      apparently now Orbán has also agreed to drop objections to the SWIFT disconnection

      hopefully the French and Germans cop realise what’s really at stake here and cop tfck on

      today

  15. Verbatim

    Trump the “Russian puppet” speaking at the table in Brussels with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg (2018) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu57D9YcIk0

    About 1/4 of Europe’s gas supplies arrives from Russia, via Ukraine, that’s some leverage there for the Russians.

    If you don’t pay for your gas, well it gets cut off now, doesn’t it?
    Swiftly at that!

    1. goldenbrown

      you’re not wrong about Germany, Verbatim
      Merkel has a lot to answer for BUT the rest of us now need to make the decision for them and say fupp their gas and whatever other stuff Putin and the gang ride in on

      as people sit comfortably watching the rugby this weekend
      or mosey around the tescos
      they should realise that they’re now under a proper existential threat TODAY

      the only question is does the EU really (really) have the unity of purpose and actually even the firepower to halt this mfkr progress? do they have a plan to eliminate him?

      early indications are not good, arguments over what to do with SWIFT, dallying around commercial stuff, likes of that utter twonk tory James Heappey on BBC this morning with the big word salad (check it out) are worrying things to see

    2. Nigel

      ‘If you don’t pay for your gas, well it gets cut off now’

      If you cut it off, you don’t get paid for it, which, if it’s the one thing keeping your crippled economy afloat and your oligarchs fat, is a bit of a financial, political and your-gangster-mates-aren’t-happy-with-you disaster waiting to happen.

      1. bisted

        …lovely to see you too Nigel…it’ll be great to get the Democrat perspective…after all, they precipated it when they incited the mob to invade the Capital building in Kyiv…oh, the irony…

        1. Nigel

          They’re road-testing fresher pro-war propaganda than that, bisted. It’s all about the urgency of the bio-weapons labs that Putin forgot to mention in his rambling speech justifying the invasiaon of a neighbouring democratic state.

          1. SOQ

            A government that jails the opposition is hardly democratic. On second thoughts, in your world it probably is.

          2. Doxxy Chainsaw

            Like Putin did with Navalny?

            I know, I know… Putin’s not a government, he’s a dictator. (subtle difference, eh?)

          4. Nigel

            Democracies jail people all the time, sometimes for the worst of reasons, sometimes they jail the innocent by mistake or through sheer indifference, and way more likely if you’re poor than if you’re rich. They’re still democracies. Russia isn’t, and does all those things as a matter of course and by design.

          5. SOQ

            Any country which jails the opposition is not a democracy- dear God almighty.

            Otherwise- let’s just lock Mary Lou up eh?

          6. Nigel

            It depends. Was the opposition being funded, promoted and having various dodgy dealings with a hostile foreign power in ways that broke national laws? Because if that were the case, jailing them is how you would preserve democracy.

            If Ghadaffi was still around and funding Sinn Fein and supplying arms to the IRA and engaging in exchanges of sensitive information and deploying cyberwarfare and propaganda campaigns on their behalf, then I would not be opposed to careful investigations of that sort of thing. Fortunately those dark days are behind us.

          8. Nigel

            Well, Ghadaffi has. Probably still plenty flowing from the US, though. But that doesn’t make Sinn Fein a US puppet. Or does it?

  16. ce

    Russian-based/enabled hackers destroy the health service…

    Russian willy-waiving off the Irish coast…. stopped by unarmed fishermen…

    And Comical Yuri barefaced lying to our government, news media, and population…

    “Yeah but… insert favourite what about-ism here…”

    Enjoy the weekend everybody, be thankful you don’t have to pick up a gun to defend your home and kids

  17. Nigel

    Doing a drive-by to check how things are going, and I see pandemic-truther scrotes out here pumping pro-war propaganda. How surprising.

    Russia’s a totalitarian capitalist neoliberal hellhole led by one of the richest men in the world, but the guys claming to oppose the growing power of global financial and tech elites love the place and love the man and love his murderous war, lying to justify of the sort of military adventurism any western democracy would be rightly villified for. Is it cos he’s anti-woke?

    (Denazification? Couple of Nazi flags at a right wing protest can be ignored and dismissed, but the existence of of a few neo-Nazis in a country of millions justifies a full-scale invasion? What a sick joke.)

    Bail out, everyone else, if any of you are left. This site isn’t edgy enough to qualify as an internet cess-pool, and it’s too well-established to attract the Trumpist types, who prefer big new shiny hypey alternative platforms that steal their data then explode like the Hindenberg. It’s a limp lazy middle-class middle-aged 4chan that can’t shake off the vestiges of everything that made it a fun, cosy, snarky place to hang out. It claims to have knowledge of the worst crime against humanity in all of history and responds with snarky headlines about RTE.

    Later haters.

    1. GiggidyGoo

      G’way outta dat. You’ve been looking every day, dying to type something but you just couldn’t resist.
      Still clinging to the covid era yourself then?

      1. Nigel

        I’d be lying if I said that in these stupid and evil times I missed venting at stupid and evil little people.

          1. Nigel

            See, that’s the kind of thing that passes for sparkling wit I’ve actually missed. You can say what you like to people who think this is the height of repartee and not feel bad about it, which, I admit, is not necessarily healthy, but is probably better than cultivating a drug problem.

          3. Nigel

            Thanks Janet. If it werent for invasion I’d never have come back at all but I seriously need the outlet. Blame Putin.

          4. Janet, dreams of an alternate universe

            I have tried to leave many times too….but here I am, scratching the old itch, blame the weather.

      1. Aunt Feb

        Nigel, you were always too good for this dump. Sad to see you back, dont do ti to yourself. These clowns are nothing without you.

          2. Aunt Feb

            I hear ya, Ive been picking at a scab on me face all day. I know I shouldnt and I know its no good for the healing but sure here I am, a bloody mess.
            Hope you get back on the wagon soon chef.

  21. Hughie Luas

    “Local lad says Ukraine not playing a defensive 4-4-2 formation has lost them the war”

    For more, read anything by Tom Clonan.

  22. SOQ

    Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy

    In 2015, Zelenskyy became the star of the television series Servant of the People, where he played the role of the president of Ukraine In the series, Zelenskyy’s character was a high-school history teacher in his 30s who won the presidential election after a viral video showed him ranting against government corruption in Ukraine.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Zelenskyy

    Zelenskyy was inaugurated as the real president on 20 May 2019, which is as close to life imitating art as it is possible to get.

  25. goldenbrown

    ask yourselves this…
    why is a certified p***k like Viktor Orbán
    all of a sudden out of nowhere
    behaving like a model European
    hm?

    1. stephen moran

      because he’s facing an election and he’s behind in the polls to a moderate candidate the opposition parties have all agreed upon. In addition the ECJ have ruled that it is legal for the EU to sanction Hungary monetarily for breaching EU law – the prospect of losing power & being out of pocket does make up behave in lcass

  26. SOQ

    US Bombed Somalia Amid Russian Invasion of Ukraine

    “You do not, in fact, have to choose between American and Russian imperialisms,” wrote one anti-war reporter. “The correct choice is to detest and resist both.”

    Just before Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale military assault on Ukraine, which has drawn accusations of potential war crimes and received global condemnation, the United States hit Somalia with the latest drone attack in its 15-year war against the impoverished nation.

    https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/02/25/us-bombed-somalia-amid-russian-invasion-ukraine

  28. SOQ

    OK now this is not a conspiracy theory, it is actually happening.

    Chile Approves a Law to Protect Employment Rights of Mutants and Genetically Modified Humans

    There have been numerous warnings that the experimental mRNA injections modify the human genome, that they are gene therapy and not a “vaccine.” Covid injections are mutagenic, meaning they permanently alter human DNA.

    Chile is one of the most highly vaccinated countries in the world and at the beginning of February 2022 a campaign to administer a fourth dose began for most of the population. Despite the country having one of the highest vaccination rates in the world it was passing through its highest rate of infection of the entire pandemic, record infection rates, at the time the fourth dose campaign began, Associated Press reported.

    https://dailyexpose.uk/2022/02/25/a-law-to-protect-genetically-modified-humans/

    What do they know to prompt this law?

      1. SOQ

        Yes but why legislate for it? Why would they be discriminated against in the first place? Are they suffering from some sort of health issues which would make them less employable?

        1. Nigel

          Why ask these question when you could go find out? Instead you could just ask leading questions that seem to support your implied conclusions without actually providing any concrete facts? How is that conspiracy theorising, i ask you?

        2. Chris

          @SOQ Elevated LINE-1expression would mean a massive increase in cancers. Who would you rather employ, a healthy individual or someone that is prone to serious recurrent cancers?

          The legislation is to prevent the ‘vaxxed’ from being discriminated in the workplace going forward.

          1. SOQ

            Well there is a definite reason for this legislation which will be revealed in due course- very much a ‘watch this space’ I think.

            It may be as you say that people will require much more time off because they will be sick or it could be due to increased infectivity. Or, it may also be some sort of cognitive decline, as we know the spike protein does pass through the blood-brain barrier. Neurological conditions like Parkinson have already been suggested.

            Whatever the reason, it seems to elevate vaccinated people to a special status like disability, which is worrisome.

          2. Nigel

            Or it may be that Nazi scientists hiding in South America after the war created a race of mutants and genetically modified humans who overthrew their evil creators and now just want the same protections as the rest of us.

    2. Nigel

      I love the idea that there’s a grand global conspiracy to mutate and genetically modify humans, but in fairness they’re making the effort to safeguard their inhuman rights.

        1. Nigel

          ‘it said eugenic or genetic practices should be banned,’

          Implants don’t mutate or genetically modify organisms.

          1. Chris

            “We’ve reached the point now where we could potentially manipulate people’s DNA to breed into them extra strength, endurance and other things just as we do with animals,” Clarke said”

            “Due to DNA manipulation, future soldiers could also be immune to disease and feelings.”

            “French armed forces minister Florence Parly warned, “we have to be clear, not everyone has the same scruples as us and we have to prepare ourselves for such a future,” she said.”

          2. Nigel

            Wow, that’s a real concrete connection you’ve drawn between this speculation and that new law in Chile and the vaccine.

            Bet Putin doesn’t have any of those scruples, for sure.

  29. Chris

    ‘Poland has 1000 tanks, Spain has 300 tanks, Germany has 250 tanks, France has 240 tanks, Britain has 200 tanks, and Russia has 13,000 tanks and 6255 nuclear warheads.’

    One thing Russia doesn’t have is the West’s recently discovered alchemical knowledge – that ‘Men can have periods too’ .

    We need to parachute recently returned comrade Nigel – deep behind enemy lines – with leaflets explaining all of our wonderful pronouns. The resulting baboozlement will leave Moscow as sitting ducks, as their armed forces leave the front lines – to cue for gender re-alignment surgeries. This whole sorry mess could be over by Easter, but only if we act now!

    1. Nigel

      Oh, yeah, they know how to deal with LGTBQ people in Russia. No pronouns there. Admittedly they had to build a vast military to protect themselves from scary wokism, but obviously it was worth it to keep them safe from the Trans Menace. The say denazify, but they’re all about detransifying, so at least their Nazis and other flavours of ethnonationalists will have common ground with Ukrainian Nazis.

  30. stephen moran

    ⚡️Reuters: Kadyrov confirms deployment of Chechen forces to Ukraine (to fight against Ukraine)

    Kadyrov’s forces are infamous for serial human rights abuses in Chechnya.

    Mmmmmmm more Russian “peace keepers” then. Nice

      1. stephen moran

        It’s not a Junior Cert essay on compare and contrast. I have no truck with US or British ne-imperialism of post colonial adventurism. I am merely documenting what is going on now. I was as equally unforgiving of Bush / Blair et al back in the day for their war crimes. What I am saying is this is happening again and Putin has misread the lessons of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and because unlike the US, modern day Russia lacks the resources to bankroll this strategically naive venture he will ultimately win the very definition of a pyrrhic victory in which he is either ousted unceremoniously or bankrupts his country – or both. The noose is tightening socially, politically and economically. SWIFT access will be cut Monday / Tuesday , the sanctions will be ratcheted up another notch and the arms supplies will flood in from the west now that NATO has given nod. Putin like the Japanese did with the Peral Harbour attack has awoken the slumbering giant in the west and there is no way he can compete with that on any front and certainly not morally

        1. Me So Harney

          “I’m retired after 35 years in international finance ..”

          Lololololololols

          Than you’d know that VP is a capitalist who likes open trade, Russia with its mineral wealth is way too tempting for all the top greedy financial institutions in Europe and further not to dip into.

          There’s billions upon billions trapped in Russia. And pulling swift means that’s all gone.

          Won’t happen, any financial analyst with even basic accumen would know that.

          “It’s not a Junior Cert essay on compare and contrast..”

          Scarlet for you stephen..

          1. stephen moran

            It’s trillions they will need not billions & I can assure you most oligarchs money is offshore not in Russia. I’ll talk to you when SWIFT is cut next week and remind you

          2. Me So Harney

            “I’ll talk to you when swift is cut next week..”

            And all those trillions get funnelled through the Russian alternative to swift SPFS.

            Putin has been preparing for this since 2014. Cut swift and it plays straight into his hands. The Chinese are already on board with it.

            A hit and a miss, yet again..

          3. Aunt Feb

            Seriously, its astonishing how stupid you dont realise you are. I’m Harney, Harney, Harney, Harney!
            Edit’ you do not know how swift works and you are too dumb to realise there is simple alternatives. Clownsville.

          4. Nigel

            ‘VP is a capitalist who likes open trade,’

            VP is an oligarch who likes massive corrpution, total power, the restoration of the USSR, and putting foreign businessmen and their representatives in jail if they don’t pay the graft or dare to speak out about it.

          5. stephen moran

            there are currently 26 banks linked up to the SPFS system (almost all of them are in former USSR countries) versus appox 12K to SWIFT (I started as a maker / checker on the system in the early 90’s) when it was still done via Telex.

          6. Me So Harney

            Yeah, sure you did..

            As they switch and progress plenty more will come on board, Russia has more or less dedolarized their economy, its all in yuan and euros, these “sanctions” will only benefit Russia in the long term.

            As I said, any analyst with any acumen would know that. Not stepho though, with his 35 years “experience” and his history building the swift system, lololololololols..

            Another hit, another miss..

          7. Nigel

            ‘Putin has been preparing for this since 2014. Cut swift and it plays straight into his hands’

            Me So Pravda

          9. Nigel

            He really, really wants Ukraine, and probably the other old Soviet Republics, back, and he got tired of waiting for Trump to get re-elected?

          10. SOQ

            stephen moran- would you like to hazard a guess as why Putin kicked off at this point?

            Or

            Are you just a failed improve comic noise which is damaging this site? A bit like ‘Nigel’- nothing to say but plenty to say about it.

            Dangerous territory JR.

  32. goldenbrown

    just the Germans now on the SWIFT question?

    Merkels design is already in tatters just accept the fupping mistake already and get on with it

    unless ye’re planning a Deutschland ’83 prequel

    disconnect them today

  34. stephen moran

    I believe the chaps & chapettes from Anonymous are having some fun today taking down official Russian sites and even playing patriotic Ukrainian ditties on one. They are allegedly going to be sharing a few more details on some of Putin’s LondonGrad chums “financing” later……. they’ve promised it just in time for the Sunday papers……

    1. SailorGerry

      Interesting that you think a US backed bunch of hackers are Ok to cyber attack Russia, but if Russia responds it triggers article 5 and escalates to the limit of President Putin patience or strategic rationale.

      That is as dumb as dirt thinking.

        1. Aunt Feb

          Lay off the warp speed Harney, no good for your noggin nor your organs, also is a f%%cker to try and sleep on the stuff.

  37. stephen moran

    PARIS, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Discussions among European Union members about excluding Russia from the SWIFT international payment system are close to reaching a successful conclusion, a French presidential official said on Saturday.

    I’m not going to say I told you so to a certain poster here but…….

    The Russian “replacement” system currently has 26 correspondent banks (mostly in former USSR countries), SWIFT has about 12,000 financial institutions linked up

    1. Me So Harney

      Heard you the first time stepho..

      Tell us what happens when those trillions start flowing through it?

      Lolololololols

      1. Aunt Feb

        Mad for the lols is this clown. Heard you were caught interfering with yourself on the cctv there last week, no wonder you are pushing your libertarian paranoid mania. Lay off the ‘spinach’ popeye and get some zzz’s
        LOOOLLLAHHHHH

  38. goldenbrown

    ai…tanks with “white flags” piling over the border now…

    https://mobile.twitter.com/noraneus/status/1497610338744864770

    hopefully they’ve a few tricks up the sleeve to hobble them

    disconnect SWIFT
    delete brass plates
    evict the ferrero stooge up in Orwell Road and turn the site into something useful like accommodation for Ukrainian refugees

    that place worth a look on maps…what are they building up there exactly??

  39. stephen moran

    German government just decided to deliver 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 “Stinger” surface-to-air missiles from Bundeswehr stocks to Ukraine to support the country against Russian attack.
    “The weapons will be delivered to Ukraine as soon as possible,” spox said. Better late than never – looks like they are side stepping restrictions like a French winger. Regarding SWIFT – the optimum time of of course to cut it is before Auckland kicks off trading on Sunday circa 21.00. Longer term this thing has really grown legs in geo political terms over the w/e & Putin’s actions have must likely tilted public opinion in Finland & Sweden firmly into the join NATO camp. The laws of unintended consequences geo political chess apply when you make mind numbingly stupid moves

    1. Me So Harney

      All that artillery will be destroyed.

      Penny smart, pound stupid..

      Swift exclusion plays into Putins hands.

      Dumb and dumber

      1. stephen moran

        A total ban from SWIFT will start a bank run in Russia (as would you hold a deposit in a bank that can’t access the international payments system and this will eat into reserves very quickly. Russia has $643bn in reserves but less than half are in currencies that can be used for intervention (the rest are in Gold which they can’t sell or CNY which isn’t any use for intervention to prop up the ruble) or for bank bailouts. That’s how markets work. The war is costing about $10bn a day. You can do the math. As I said Russia’s alternative payments system only has 26 correspondent banks & most are tadpoles or else won’t transact if Russia is outside SWIFT. If the US then targets the Russian Central Bank (Bank of Russia) as well then things could unwind a good deal faster. Two months of that pressure would set the country back years. TINA. The final nail would be of course to get Saudi Arabia to ramp up oil production though that doesn’t seem likely just get though things are moving very fast even compared to where we were yesterdays o who knows.

          1. goldenbrown

            that’s coming anyway unless the Russians themselves deal with him

            I see Germans now making noises about agreeing to selective SWIFT work…”targeted and functional”

            if true that’s about as useful as a ham sandwich and misses the point…it has to be all or nothing…the pain has to be delivered onto the streets of Moscow (see above)

            the only endgame here that works for us and our way of life is for the Russians to deal with this utter bonkers c**t

            realise that he intends to restore post WW2 map (the one that Stalin originally intended)

          2. goldenbrown

            looks to me that Nord Stream 2 was nothing more than a multipurpose weapon…a dirty trick that seduced a well intentioned Merkel, a honeypot and now a humiliation device for the Germans

            Putin isn’t worried about money, it’s the mission

          3. Nigel

            His oligarch pals and their children running NS2 and the banks rely on them for their wealth, between potentially jamming them up and freezing lots of their cleverly distributed offshore funds their respect for his long-game asymmetrical war skillz might start running out. On the other hand, if he goes, they probably follow sharpish. They must be REALLY unhappy at the sight of the international community actually gathering their nerve. They’re probably mad at him for not doing this while Trump was still president.

          4. goldenbrown

            aii. if this had happened on Trumps time? jesus wept
            you think that was the plan all along but Trump (lucky for us) dropped the ball? interesting

          5. Nigel

            Christ, who knows with these guys? Macho swagger, brute cunning and an illusion of unpredictability are their major strategies. Europe have to take the lion’s share of their own responsibility for giving Putin so much endless leeway that he thinks he can get away with literally anything, but with Trump in charge of the US the international response would surely not be coming together the way it is now.

    2. Shayna

      Lyse Doucet reporting live for The BBC in Kyiv is currently wearing her armour including helmet. Never a good sign. Putin has banned the use of words, such as war, invasion in relation to Ukraine in Russia’s “reportage”. Joe Brolly entered the fray of comments on the 13 Ukrainian soldiers on Snake Island who told The Russian sailors to, “Fupp off!”. The Ukrainians were killed. Joe may not know much about GAA football, but his sentiments, politically are on the right side. With that, the ball is being thrown in, in Ballybofey – Come on Tyrone, I hear the chorus of BS.ie commenters cheer!

  42. SailorGerry

    I think this is all Nick’s fault anyway….

    Post a provocative article, followed by the word “fight”, and someone with English as a second language took it as a literal command.

    As an aside, could we not keep the anti tank weapons here, to defend ourselves against the only country that ever attacked us since the Vikings; just thinking out loud…..

    1. SOQ

      Agreed- there an element of why use one word when twenty will do. which is fine- but maybe those of the co.uk variety could bugger off and set up their own URL?

      Likewise US.

    1. Aunt Feb

      A lot of people on here dont like anyone pointing out de bad grammerz but when you are posting articles that open up with lines like ‘With attempts to peacefully resolve the situation peacefully’ would you not be slightly concerned that you may be reading the work of a transition year trainee journalist/incel. For reals Jerry, love your name, its class and reminds me of better times but you havnt a fuppin breeze how to use the internet. Bon voyage ya mad bisterd.

  45. stephen moran

    EU’S VON DER LEYEN SAYS WE WILL PARALYSE THE ASSETS OF RUSSIA’S CENTRAL BANK, THIS WILL FREEZE ITS TRANSACTIONS AND IT WILL MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE CENTRAL BANK TO LIQUIDATE ITS ASSETS

    This is very significant as Adam Tooze (who IM (humble)O is probably the best contemporary writer on finance) has been tracking Bank of Russia assets (Russia’s Central Bank). He, having read the tea leaves on flows & published data in reports is off the opinion that a large % of the Russian Central banks funds (reserves) are actually held at the German Bundesbank. Russia also has approx 35% – 30% of its reserves in Gold – its highly likely much of this is held abroad as it was bought over the last few years and you don’t just move Gold physically (too expensive and risky) – you get a receipt from the chap who sold it to you & its stored either with the Bank of England or in a vault with a Swiss bank. We live in interesting times if you like this kind of train spotter stuff. Russia also holds about 15% of its reserves in CNY now which is basically of zero use for foreign exchange intervention to defend the ruble. It has 15% in $ & about 35% in euros.

    1. Nigel

      They’re really piling it on. Pity they didn’t effectively indicate their seriousness of intent BEFORE he invaded, but oh well.

    2. goldenbrown

      ok but what about the joe soaps and creating a run on their ATM’s
      will this kind of selective configuration succeed in causing riots….make your average bus driver or FSB employee fret about putting bread on the table next week…ask themselves that all important WTF? question
      the only way to stop this is for them to lynch him themselves

      1. stephen moran

        Well I wouldn’t like to have a deposit in a bank that has no access to foreign funds. Roughly half of Russian households have an account with Sberbank. They have been cut off from $ funding NOT just booted off SWIFT – that is way more serious as it’s now illegal to deal with them. You are looking at 12-14 years. If for example you have a Sberbank Visa card it doesn’t work outside of Russia or on the Net for non Russian purchases. A bank cannot operate without a $ a/c i.e. i cannot offer foreign exchange services as everything is based off the $. It can’t transact trade financing. So they are buggered. A bank run is a funny thing nowadays – its more like a silent keyboard run but there will be a few busy tellers and cashiers in Moscow bank branches in a few hours methinks.

  46. Fearganainm

    “We, the leaders of the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States condemn Putin’s war of choice and attacks on the sovereign nation and people of Ukraine. We stand with the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people in their heroic efforts to resist Russia’s invasion. Russia’s war represents an assault on fundamental international rules and norms that have prevailed since the Second World War, which we are committed to defending. We will hold Russia to account and collectively ensure that this war is a strategic failure for Putin…”

    Statement on further restrictive economic measures:

    https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/02/26/joint-statement-on-further-restrictive-economic-measures/

    1. Chris

      “people who are hoping Putin will save us from the woke menace” Could you point to any of these imaginary people? You 100% re-constituted potato flake – I doubt you could.

      Liberalism if left unchecked, devolves into complete deconstructionism. ‘Woke’ is the tool the elites are using to accelerate the process. And you’re their clap happy servant. No one really cares if you wear women’s underwear Nigel, what cogent people care about is the end of liberal democracy & the paradigm that will replace it.

      1. Nigel

        Woke was US black slang for people who showed some awareness about racism. The US right took the term and monstered it into a threat to civilisation. And you sucked their it down like mother’s milk.

        1. Chris

          You’re the one associating it with child grooming in your first post. Because, that’s what gender ideologues are doing in education. Grooming.

          1. Nigel

            That’s certainly the sort of hateful message the Russian oligarch and right-wing US funding is pushing through fundamentalist Christian and other anti-LGTBQ groups, anyway. Well done on being on-message.

  50. SailorGerry

    K. Cavan
    I agree with you mostly.
    My friend is on a bus out of Kiev today to Poland because the Russians left a humanitarian corridor of egress for civilians.
    They view Ukrainians as family apart from those that glorify Stephan Bandera. Adar and Azov battalions will be fertilizer and the world will be a better place for that.
    Russia has all the big toys, but they will not use them, restraint is not weakness.
    When this is done, Russia will leave back to its borders, Ukraine will be neutral and never join NATO, and Donetsk and Lugansk will be rebuilt better than before.
    This would never of happened if the Minsk agreements were honoured.
    This would never of happened if the US had not funded two colour revolutions.

  53. Hughie Luas

    For all the sabre-rattling and bragging, the Russian military turned out to be not up to much when the shooting starts. Good.

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