news & politics:discussion

[SheffJeff]

1 hour ago, steviewevie said:

 

Didn't Putin claim one of the main reasons for the invasion was to 'denazify' Ukraine? These demands contradict that rhetoric surely.

[Guest]

 

 

[steviewevie]

 

[steviewevie]

I am interviewing a Russian tomorrow at work. I guess it will be a case of don't mention the war (or special operations).

[steviewevie]

I guess he will get a lot of applause and then everyone will look at their feet when he starts talking about a no fly zone.

[km9]

On 3/6/2022 at 5:28 PM, Kurosagi said:

Don't know if people are familiar with Media Lens? They've been going for best part of 20 years and keep an eye on some of the worst excesses of the UK journalists. They used to have an excellent (now defunct) public forum that helped keep me sane during Blair's Iraq war, a bit like this thread does now (and the old 'shit' thread did during covid).

Their latest long read about the crisis in Ukraine is as illuminating as ever:

https://www.medialens.org/2022/doubling-down-on-double-standards-the-ukraine-propaganda-blitz/

A little taster from their conclusion:

...But why speak up now, in particular? Shouldn’t we just shut up and ‘get on board’ in a time of crisis? No, because war is a time when propaganda messages are hammered home with great force: ‘We’re the Good Guys standing up for democracy.’ It is a vital time to examine and challenge these claims.

What critics dismiss as ‘Whataboutism’ is actually ‘Wearenobetterism’. If ‘we’ are no better, or if ‘we’ are actually worse, then where does that leave ‘our’ righteous moral outrage? Can ‘compassion’ rooted in deep hypocrisy be deeply felt?

Critics dismissing evidence of double standards as ‘whataboutery’, are promoting the view that ‘their’ crimes should be wholly condemned, but not those committed by ‘Us’ and ‘Our’ allies. The actions of Official Enemies are to be judged by a different standard than that by which we judge ourselves...

This thread and the shit thread keep you sane?? 😂

[Neil]

9 minutes ago, km9 said:

This thread and the shit thread keep you sane?? 😂

talking of sanity, what the fuck am i doing, just over a year since serious illness, and i've just put i n a 18 hour day and i'm still working at nearly 10pm.

[steviewevie]

 

[SheffJeff]

9 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

 

When I saw this I did think what the fuck but he does go on to clarify... whether Boris deserves the credit for this though is another matter entirely.

 

[steviewevie]

50 minutes ago, SheffJeff said:

When I saw this I did think what the fuck but he does go on to clarify... whether Boris deserves the credit for this though is another matter entirely.

 

maybe it would be wise to let loads of Ukrainian refugees in after all.

[steviewevie]

16 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

maybe it would be wise to let loads of Ukrainian refugees in after all.

(and will have to give then the vote)

[Kurosagi]

2 hours ago, km9 said:

This thread and the shit thread keep you sane?? 😂

For some people, monitoring stuff helps keep their anxiety in check. Similar to ADHD kids being given stimulants to help them focus.

[steviewevie]

kin'ell

 

[Zoo Music Girl]

4 hours ago, steviewevie said:

 

WTAF

[Zoo Music Girl]

8 minutes ago, Kurosagi said:

For some people, monitoring stuff helps keep their anxiety in check. Similar to ADHD kids being given stimulants to help them focus.

I think I might be one of those people too. 

[Guest]

54 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

kin'ell

 

That's only one pollster showing gains for him, all the others don't or at least not to that level so I would think this is a rogue poll. It says a lot about him as PM that he has to rely on a pandemic and a war to get his rating up. The government will make another cock soon I'm sure and then what will he have to fall back on.

[Lizzim]

53 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

I think I might be one of those people too. 

Me too, but not sure it's helping 😟

[Guest]

 

 

[Zoo Music Girl]

5 minutes ago, Lizzim said:

Me too, but not sure it's helping 😟

Yeah probably not. I just can't stop reading/watching/listening about it, worse than with Covid actually.

[Guest]

 

[Guest]

 

Decent little thread on Johnson in that recent poll.

[steviewevie]

8 hours ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

Yeah probably not. I just can't stop reading/watching/listening about it, worse than with Covid actually.

Yeah, doomscrolling. Just hoping and praying that the reports of a demoralised/crap Russian military losing this war against a brave and determined Ukrainian resistance are true, and that somehow something happens on a diplomatic front that brings some peace to Ukraine...because we are on Ukraine's side but not enough to directly fight with them because of the fear of further escalation to something much worse.

If, and probably a big if, Putin's regime does fall...the west has to work better with whoever comes after...because there is no justifying this invasion but the west has probably made some mistakes in past....not working harder on closer ties and assistance with Russia in the 90s (including Nato expansion), US and Russia doing more to rid the world of nukes, and then seeing what was coming with Putin with Chechnya/Georgia/Syria/Crimea and rethinking where europe bought all their gas/oil from.

[steviewevie]

7 hours ago, Ozanne said:

 

Decent little thread on Johnson in that recent poll.

I don't know how everyone thinks...but everything seems to have moved on massively, partygate seems like history and I hate to say it but a little trivial considering what is going on now. Just have to see what comes from police inquiry...that might be quite low down on the news when that comes out. May local elections are still key...people will probably be feeling the cost of living crunch coming, maybe govt will postpone the NI rise to counter that, but if things are still bad with Russia then maybe people will be less bothered about punishing the govt.

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

I don't know how everyone thinks...but everything seems to have moved on massively, partygate seems like history and I hate to say it but a little trivial considering what is going on now. Just have to see what comes from police inquiry...that might be quite low down on the news when that comes out. May local elections are still key...people will probably be feeling the cost of living crunch coming, maybe govt will postpone the NI rise to counter that, but if things are still bad with Russia then maybe people will be less bothered about punishing the govt.

I think a majority of people in recent polling still claimed partygate was major news. It is far from over and this is just a temporary break from it. 

Edited March 8, 2022 by Ozanne

[Zoo Music Girl]

1 hour ago, steviewevie said:

I don't know how everyone thinks...but everything seems to have moved on massively, partygate seems like history and I hate to say it but a little trivial considering what is going on now. Just have to see what comes from police inquiry...that might be quite low down on the news when that comes out. May local elections are still key...people will probably be feeling the cost of living crunch coming, maybe govt will postpone the NI rise to counter that, but if things are still bad with Russia then maybe people will be less bothered about punishing the govt.

I've got to agree I'm afraid. I was as angry as anyone about Partygate but I've pretty much forgotten it in the past couple of weeks. I still want Johnson out but I did anyway - I'm not sure how Tory voters and undecideds will feel now the dust has settled.