StringJunky

Putin has deployed nearly 100% of pre-staged forces into Ukraine- U.S. official (Reuters)

I that was what was amassed at the border.

I read not long ago that the Russians were openly mocking reports that they were waiting for the ground to go hard before rolling in because of the mud. It seems they were BSing. It is appearing more amd more to me that Russia's past conflicts against unresourced opponents has given them false confidence to go boldly into this invasion.

I would have liked the letters in blue. Will be doing a trek through my city centre at the weekend. Got a strong cohort of E.Europeans here. Will see if there's any reaction.

Done. Bit chily to wear atm. I see Putin is offering Ukrainians a corridor... into Russia (AP)

Climate change adaptations may take a back seat for a while.

I struggle with it too, that's why I'm asking.

Is blocking Russian state media broadcasts counterproductive to the western audience getting a clear multi-sided view of the conflict... even if it's totally false? It may make our western governments look to be doing the same as our adversaries: controlling the narrative and what we see i.e. propaganda.... pot, kettle.

If the Russians kill Zelensky, it will be a great career move for him in terms of his posthumous stature. Sometimes a person's untimely death makes them historically notable figures. Shame one can't enjoy it though in person.

It's done and heading my way.

He needs to be guided into a face-saving escape route, if he gets really cornered. There's no winning by anyone in this sorry situation, only averting disaster.

Is that what a Russian would put?

I put that in Translate and in the GB vernacular it would be: К черту Путина (Fuck Putin). Yours looks stylishly better though. Gonna see how much a t-shit costs with it on.

If you don't append a post as opinion, you will be called on to support it, otherwise how can we have a constructive conversatiion. It is courtesy, so that we know how how to receive and respond without too much space-wasting, time-wasting ballache, like this. @TheVat The stirrings of WW3 is not good for insomnia.

It is quite common to to see such a post end with 'imo' or 'I think'. Try not not to make your post look like an assertion if you don't want to be pulled up for citations. This IS a science forum and one does well to clarify the veracity, or not, of a post. In my opinion, your current posting style is distracting from this serious subject. Chill.

We may have to call his bluff and get stuck in. This seems weird to me because I was 60 in February and the Cuban missile crisis was in 1962 when I was born. It's profound enough to know I'm now officially old without this!

Just saw that on AP. Putin is going to really scrape the bottom of the barrel, like this, to win. I wonder what it will take for us engage him directly.... https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-live-updates-cbd6eed3e1b8f4946f5f490afd06b4be

Not directly, I'd have to find the AP article, but the sense I got off Biden's tone was that Nordstream wasn't going to happen.

You'd rather let the bullies win, to keep the peace.

For evolution, the mutation occurs in the egg. If a mutation occurs in the roaming chicken, it's got a tumour. The difference is global vs local

The words of a 'giant vagina': "I need ammunition, not a ride".

Threat of sanctions on associated upstream suppliers seems to be the US MO when they don't like something, it seems to me. Yes, his administrations actions come across as quite measured. He's obviously a team player, unlike Trump.

If the Ukrainian can get bedded into the brickwork, most of Russia's war toys will useless overkill. They'll have a 1970's Northern Ireland street war on their hands, witrh their adversary remotely assisted by well-funded and miltarized sources. This seems to be turning out as a proxy war for NATO against Russia. I wonder how Russia likes that, now the shoe is on the other foot? I sense it is going to be the greyest of grey wars.

It's a tough one, It's shame to see two countries people so closely related coming to this.

All the world's a stage...