During the reign of Scott Morrison the Prime Minister seen fit to secretly usurp the powers of some of his ministers, in the areas of health, finance, treasury, home affairs and industry, science, energy and resources, a very broad range of responsibilities. All this was done whilst keeping the Australian people in the 'dark', and most of the government and the rest of parliament as well. This was an attack on the basic principle of open government enshrined in the Westminster system. For some it will be a case of who cares, so what, all legal, nothing to see here, but our democracy is fragile and can easily be eroded by those who seek power for powers sake.

In the words of Solicitor-General Dr Stephen Donaghue his (Scott Morrison) actions "fundamentally undermined" the principles of responsible government. There are many rightly upset by Morrison's actions, including some on his side of [politics, the Solictor-General's advice on Monday to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will not be the end of this matter and we can expect fireworks when Parliament resumes

Paul1405,
With citizens like yourself a benevolent Dictator is by far the most moral alternative !

Does anyone feel "fundamentally undermined"?

Get over it, you big babies. Tell Albanese to start acting like a Prime Minister and not like the whingeing opposition leader that he was. The fool has enough to worry about, with his wild Socialist policies, without worrying about Morrison smirking away on the opposition back bench, totally immune to pathetic sticks and stones from a hick who has something to hide from us. Why else would he be clucking about a vanquished Morrison! He won the election. What more does he expect?

For a bloke whose party was wanted by less than a third of the electorate, Albanese really needs to get a grip on his own responsibilities, right now.

Morrison did nothing illegal; and who the hell expects politicians to be smart or moral? Morrison was an arse. He got his comeuppance. End of story.

Seen at a rock concert last night; dressed in a Tshirt, and standing up waving a plastic beer pot at the mob, Albanese has a lot more to worry about than harping on the faults of his predecessor.

The hitherto unknown example of a Dictator who puts himself up for re-election and accepts the legitimate results without demur.

Is that the Dictator you're whining about Paul? Every other Dictator in history ignores or fixes election. But this new version of Dictator that Paul has discovered endorses and accept election. Behold the new form....a democratic Dictator. Berk!

I get the faint feeling that Paul et al are already recognising that Albo and co. are out of their depth and are trying to deflect the discourse elsewhere.

We've now been told that our former Prime Minister
Scott Morrison was secretly appointed in 2020 and
2021 by Governor General David Hurley as a minister
in the health, finance, treasury, resources and
home-affairs portfolios.

The cabinet didn't know, parliament didn't know, and
the public didn't know about these appointments.
So far it appears that Mr Morrison only exercised his
secret ministerial power in the resources portfolio.

Another former PM, Malcolm Turnbull has described this
as being "sinister." And former PM Tony Abbott has
also voiced his opinion on this matter describing it as
"unusual, unorthodox, and strange."

It is clear that we should not have secret ministries.
Parliament must act to prevent this ever happening again.

Parliament must re-assert its supremacy over the
executive and ensure that the exercise of ministerial
power is accountable to parliament.

Parliament should amend legislation (Ministers of State Act)
to require the Governor General to publish in the Gazette
every appointment of a minister, every change to the portfolios
held by a minister, any change to which government departments
are responsible and any change to which the minister is
responsible. Transparency is paramount.

Changes also need to be made at the state level as well to
prevent this from happening there.

I'm not going to question Mr Morrison's motifs for doing what
he did. He will be dealt with by his own party and constituents.

I’m not going to question his motifs either.
Wonder who did his design work?

Clearly, the resident village idiot can't tell the difference between a dictator (most of which were socialists) and completely legal use of power.

Since the AG shot Albozo down in flames by completely vindicating Morrison, the idiot has tried to make a left whinge mountain out of thin air.

We don't have a democracy.
All the decisions are made by foreign bureaucrats.
They leave us with the choices and decisions that don't matter for the sake of appearances.
- Things that keep us arguing with each other whilst they keep shifting their own globalist goalposts.

Man can't serve two masters.
Our leaders either serve the globalists or the Australian people.
In service to the globalists, they instead change the demographics of the Australian people.

Change the people = Change the governments.

The real village idiot, shadowminister, can't tell the difference between the ATTORNEY-GENERAL (AG) a politician by the name of Mark Dreyfus and the SOLICITOR-GENERAL (SG) a public servant by the name of Dr Stephen Donaghue. What a tosser, comes on here and makes such a simple mistake, two different people fool. Next thing he'll be calling his folk hero Donald Trump the President of Australia.

BTW; This is the same village idiot who once claimed another Attorney-General, 'Cry Baby' Porter, had nothing to worry about. In fact our resident Rumpole claimed Porter was in for $10 million+ in compensation from the ABC, a groveling apology, and 100 ABC staff sacked to pay for it all. Well next thing you know Porter is out on his arse, and shodowminister is made look like the tosser he is!

Crybaby Paul,

Once again you are lying through your teeth.

You should see a therapist about your pathological lying.

Maybe it is due to a head injury that reduced your IQ to that of a rodent.

Dear Paul,

I contest this title of "Village Idiot":

I don't care, and why should you, whether Big Brother is one or many, what titles he uses, what rules if any he is supposed to follow or whether it is his right arm that hits us, his left leg that kicks us or his rotten tooth that bites us.

Ultimately there is nothing we can do to stop Big Brother, but till he devours us, at least let us preserve our sanity by being true to ourselves and not believing any of his nonsense propaganda.

There was never a democracy, there exists no democracy and there never shall be a democracy between the wolf and the lambs. The state and its mechanisms, under whichever names they come, be it called "government", "prime minister", "attorney general", "governor", "politicians" or "public servants", is a predator - that's all it is, it is out there to get us, to harm us, to feed on us - it is not us and it is not ours, nor shall it ever be.

Best die with your intellect intact as the Village Idiot or the brave jester who says out loud:
"O King, your shiny bum provides you with more vitamin D than you will ever need, we all see that glorious exposed hole and know that whatever is going to drop on us from it, is not going to be candies!"

Well done Yuyutsu [smiley face]

Generally speaking those who complain about current democracies are really complaining that their point of view isn't given sufficient weight. "If only people thought and voted like me, then democracy would be much improved."

Its the authoritarian impulse trying to usurp democracy and wear its banners for their own aims.

We see quite a number of OLO-ers who also constantly rage about how we haven't got a real democracy and it almost always comes down to them complaining that their opinions don't win. True democrats to a man <sarc off>.

I have to say that I don’t understand these people wetting themselves over Morrison’s 'usurping' of a few ministerships - which he never exercised - apart from knocking a valuable gas project in the head (which should have pleased the self-wetters), when the very same people meekly accepted Morrison’s dodging of his responsibilities by setting up an unconstitutional 'national cabinet' and handing draconian laws over to power-crazed state premiers, who made Australian's lives miserable, and removed any respect and trust there might been for the political class. Morrison also handed his responsibilities over to unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats during the Covid panic. In opposition, Albowhine never said boo about these things.

Hey mhaze,
You obviously don't see the bigger picture in regards to my reasons.
Democracy is the stepping stone to world government.
And world government means we Australians don't govern anything in our country,
- and nor does anybody else in theirs.

It's the best system for globalists, bankers and elites to get what they want, not the best system for the people of each nation to get what they want.

Erdogan once said 'Democracy is a bus. You ride it until you reach your destination, and then you get off.'

The left and the right, are 2 wings of the same bird.

1. Why isn't the UN right to self determination recognised in Crimea?
2. Does support for democracy include a legitimate right to undermine, overthrow, and install a puppet ruler that supports western interests?
- Even in countries that have parliaments and hold elections?

Tell me about your so-called 'democracy'
How exactly does it work, what are the rules?
- Or do they just change the rules to suit their own interests?

Examples
Kurdish right to self determination - Yes
Crimean / Donetsk / Luhansk right to self determination - No
Right to overthrow democratically elected leader of Ukraine in 2014 - Yes

Can anyone explain to me what are these international rules?
What is democracy other than a assumed right to take over other nations?
If you support democracy, then I ask that you defend it,
Tell me exactly how this system works.

- Because I can't possibly defend this system without understanding the rules.

Crimea is recognised as a part of Ukraine that is presently occupied by Russian invaders.

The Russian organised "vote" was as fraudulent as possible and not recognised by most of the world.

The Treasurer or the deputy PM - can't remember which genius it was - said that there had to be 'political consequences' for Morrison’s naughtiness. Well, duh! Morrison has already suffered those consequences: the voters gave him the boot for all of his sins, not just the one that they are not interested in, and would not have known about had it not been for a 'learner' PM, desperate for things to cover up his racist ramblings and his jobs 'summit' that will entail sucking up to big business, massive immigration of taxi drivers, old folk's bum wipers and child minders with nowhere to live, no doctors to consult, and suppressed wages, with double digit unemployment.

"The Russian organised "vote" was as fraudulent as possible and not recognised by most of the world."

It's not as simple as that shadowmisister, it's not about what the western world decides at a given time to suit the western world.

I can show you footage of where members of the Ukrainian parliament spoke out about a coup backed by the US prior to the Maidan, in the parliament when it was sitting.

Yanukovych was ousted after members of Right Sector (Ukrainian NAZI aligned nationalists) started shooting other protesters indiscriminately during the Maidan, to make it look like the government was killing them, then they went on a rampage and killed 180 odd people burned alive in the Odessa Trade Building, then they decided to officially outlaw the Russian language;

And it was then that the Russian speaking people of Crimea and the eastern regions decided they wanted no part of this new western-backed nationalist government in Kiew and voted firstly for their own independence, and then secondly to join the Russian Federation.
These are all facts, the western-backed coup didn't go exactly how the west wanted, because the people themselves living in those regions said NO.

Do they or do they not have the recognized UN right of self determination, and if not then why do people in another western backed attempted overthrow of Assad do have a recognised UN right of self determination.

Crimea is a part of Russia and has been for 8 years.
The people themselves decided this themselves, not the puppet rulers in Kiev, or the United States.

I can show you the footage, 95% of people voted to join Russia, - There's no hiding it that this is what actually happened.

Morrison Makes Mussolini Much More Magnificent.

Quite what the quality or otherwise of the Crimean referendum has to do with the nature of the Australian democracy is something you'll need to explain more fully.

In the meantime, AC wrote: "You obviously don't see the bigger picture in regards to my reasons." I think I do understand the big picture you think you see, but I'd opine that you can't see the trees for the forest. You have somehow convinced yourself that democracy is under threat by those pushing world governments or whatever and that the only way to save democracy is to destroy it. Its a fundamental misunderstanding of the internal resilience of the democratic impulse and yearning for freedom of the western civilisation.

Democracy is not, primarily, about having the best system to achieve the best policy outcomes. Its not even one of its aims. If you want to have a system of government like that, then go for something like Plato's philosopher dictator.

Democracy is about liberty. Its about maintaining and protecting a nation of laws. The rule of law, not the rule of men. Only in a democracy can you have the rule of law. By definition all other forms of government devolve to the rule of men.

The individual policy decisions reached under the democratic system may not be, and often aren't , the best. But giving the people the opportunity to change the government ensures that the government adheres to the rules of the society.

Now, as I said, people like AC are unhappy with those rules and think things would be better if the rules were as they decree. Its the most basic of authoritarian impulses.

Hey mhaze,
If you're an big Trump supporter, you might find it interesting to get into some of this stuff.
http://georgewebb.substack.com/

Here's his latest article.

How Trump Turns The Raid Into A Deep State Takedown
http://georgewebb.substack.com/p/how-trump-turns-the-raid-into-a-deep

I've followed George on and off since prior to Trump being elected in 2016, I've even spoken to him a few times via email.
He doesn't always get everything spot on, sometimes misses things but not very often.
He's as close as anyone could be to stuff that's going on behind the scenes.

AC,

Yes I'm aware of Webb and a dozen or more similar commentators who understand the Trump revolt. The very fact that Trump exists and still has a chance of ousting the global elites that current run US policy, is why democracy is the last best hope to defeat the globalist agenda.

You wrote "Democracy is the stepping stone to world government." But that's exactly wrong. Democracy is the only bulwark against world government.

Hey mhaze,

Trumps not perfect by any means, he has his ego, maybe a bit of arrogance; general flaws.
He's got his work cut out for him to drain the DC swamp properly, that's for sure, and an army of corrupt politicians and career bureaucrats with plenty more experience in government will pull every trick in the book to stop him.
I hope he succeeds, I'm sure he's learned a few things about how things really work since last time around.
You couldn't get much worse than the other team.

I wonder whether he will get manipulated into a war with 'Chaina' though.
He never started any wars in office last time, but he did get manipulated by the warmonger advisers like Pompeo and Bolton he surrounded himself with.
Dems are trying to blame him for the vaccine rollout now, I heard.
- Even though they supported it more than anyone.

- And yes, I'm sorry I went off topic, not really much to do with Scomo and his secret expanded portfolio.

Hi Paul,

Quite a few political commentators are asking if it's really
possible that our former PM Scott Morrison could
undermine the principals of responsible government,
mislead the public, treat his colleagues with
contempt and "trash democracy" and face no sanctions?

According to Chris Uhlmann channel 9's political editor,
in the absence of a breach of law - there appears no
real reasons for Scott Morrison to leave Parliament.

No law was broken. Certainly convention was thrashed.
But as I stated earlier - the only people to impose
severe political consequences on our former PM are
his constituents and his political party - which at
present seems to be standing by him. We have to wait and
see what the future will bring.

Therefore the only way of closing the loophole that created
this mess appears to be the only likely concrete outcome
that needs to be done. As I stated in my earlier post -
Parliament should amend legislation (Ministers of State Act)
to require the Governor General to publish in the Gazette
every appointment of a minister, every change to portfolios
held by a minister, any change to which government departments
are responsible and every change to which a minister is
responsible.

If this does not happen then further erosion of trust and
confidence in government will continue.

Hi Foxy,

Its easy for the unscrupulous coward to hide behind the law; "It was all perfectly legal". Taken to its nth degree, Hitler could claim everything he done was "legal", after all he made the laws.

A country can be run according to the rule of law or it can be run according to the rule of men. In the former "the people (including, one should add, the government) should be ruled by the law and obey it" while in the latter the law is whatever the rulers decree it to be as suits the circumstances.

In the main, democracy is a system under the rule of law. Laws are set and followed. What is not illegal is legal. People cannot be punished for retrospectively breaking some new law.

Of course, we have some OLOers who have long since adhered to regimes where the rule of man is the norm ie where the law is what the rulers decide it to be and punishment for doing what was previously legal but now determined to be illegal, is accepted, even lauded. Those people now call for Morrison to be punished for doing legal things that the mob now determines is unacceptable.

Its a bad and unhappy precedent for a once free peoples. We've seen it in the woke mobs who seek to cancel others for holding views a decade ago that are now determined to be unacceptable. It is ultimately lawless.

In the past, the defeat of a political opponent in elections was considered sufficient sanction for the loser. But now the baying mob wants more. The pound of flesh is no longer enough. Its a recipe for disaster. These people always operate as though they'll never be subject to the same standards once they are defeated in some future election.

But they will eventually be out of power and will, then, look askant when the rules they invented are applied to them also.

Democracy survives and thrives on the basis of
transparency and clear lines of responsibility.
Transparency is a fundamental component of
democratic government. It promotes accountability
and provides information for citizens about what
the government is doing.

Is it really possible that Scott Morrison could undermine
the principal's of responsible government, mislead the
public, treat his colleagues with contempt, and face
no sanctions?

Voters and his political party will decide his political future.
The current government shall hopefully close the loophole that
created this mess.

" It promotes accountability
and provides information for citizens about what
the government is doing."

Were the people uninformed about what the government was doing due to the dual ministers? Was the one and only decision made by deputy minister Morrison unknown to the people - as I recall the decision was widely known and commented on.

As I said, some want to punish a defeated foe for doing something that was perfectly legal at the time and still is. The authoritarian impulse always rises to the surface among those some.

This is not a question of wanting to punish a defeated foe.
That statement is an attempt in trying to excuse bad
and unacceptable behaviour. What this is about is
an inquiry to consider the implications of Mr Morrison's
actions - which will result in the closure of the
disclosure loophole that will not allow this to ever happen
again.

The facts are that the Parliament, the public and the other
ministers, who administered the departments with Mr Morrison
were not informed of his appointments and that these
appointments were inconsistent with the conventions and
practices that form an essential part of the system of
responsible government prescribed by the constitution.

The Solicitor General said it was "impossible for the
Parliament and the public to hold ministers accountable for the
proper administration of particular departments if the identity
of the ministers who have been appointed to administer these
departments are not publicised."

The Solicitor-General said this conclusion "does not depend"
on whether and how many times Mr Morrison exercised his powers."

Hey Paul,

Remember Scott Morrison's "It's not my job!" mantra?

Well it turns out that he thought it was all his job:

http://lismorecitynews.com.au/story/7861272/turns-out-he-thought-it-was-all-his-job/

Hi Foxy,

One can see from the Forums 'Usual Suspects', they easily identify themselves, how a totalitarian despot could take power. With their "its all legal, its not my problem" attitude a Trump or a Morrison could easily usurp the democratic process and declarer himself the new "Il Duce" for life.

Yes, 'Its Not My Job' Morrison seems to have made everything his job. Well what can we say.

"This is not a question of wanting to punish a defeated foe."

Oh? OK.

Its just that earlier today someone was calling for sanctions against Morrison. Now who was that?

The Solicitor General has called on the government to
fix the "deficient" rules around the disclosure of
appointments that allowed Mr Morrison to keep his
extra ministeries secret. To ensure that this does
not happen again.

As for Trump,
These are the 3 statutes for which former President Donald Trump is being investigated.
'Gathering or removing', 'keeping and concealing', 'altering or destroying';
These are criminal statutes for which the penalties upon conviction are severe, like 10 years in jail for each.
They all emanate from the Espionage Act of 1917.

If Donald Trump wanted to read these documents after he left office he would have had to get permission to go to a federally approved venue, where wifi doesn't work and surveilance is impossible;
- But possessing them in the non-federally-approved venue, this is what the crime is that they're looking for.

AC,
And having compromised the “chain of evidence” nothing will come of this latest attempt to further smear Trump, from the word go, the Dems have made it impossible for a prosecution to succeed.
Personally I prefer to follow the doings of Judd Trump.

Here's an interesting article on Trump:

http://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/08/donald-trump-2024-presidency-rnc-desantis.html

" this is what the crime is that they're looking for."

They've been looking for a crime to pin on Trump from the moment he decided to run back in 2015. Two impeachments and myriad other gotcha schemes and Trump remains untouchable.

Beria, with whom many in the FBI have more in common than is comfortable, said "Show me the man and I'll show you the crime" ie he could pin something on anyone no matter how innocent.

The Mar-a-Lago raid is just the latest attempt. They are terrified Trump will run again and at the moment polls show he'd win. They are also terrified that he has so invigorated the GOP that they might (1) win in November and (2) actually do what they promise including launching investigations into all the shenanigans the Democrats in general and the Biden crime family in particular have been up to.

So they go after him and use the tools of the deep state to manufacture 'crimes'. The FBI was aware of the documents since 2019, had been invited to Mar-a-Lago to view them and had expressed thanks for the way they were being handled. Its another attempt to get the man that most threatens their power and wealth.

And its unravelling.

The real Trump can be found in the link I gave from
Slate magazine earlier.

Worth a read.

"Worth a read."

I read it. Its not.

Its just a regurgitation of the myriad articles that uniformly fail to understand the Trump revolt, only persuasive among those who equally just don't understand the MAGA movement

Yes I read it too, and that's a fairly good summary mhaze.
What the writer and maybe Foxy too doesn't understand is that the more they push to try go after Trump,
(as well as the likes of Slate, Rolling Stone, Daily Beast etc.)
- the more that red-blooded Americans are actually going to get behind him.

So if you want Trump to win again, go ahead and keep pushing.
The more the deep-state or shadow government exposes themselves with this endless witch-hunt,
- The better his chances actually are.

Have you been away for a little while Foxy?
I hope everythings alright.

Hi AC,

Bless you for noticing.

My health hasn't been the best lately. I'm trying my hardest to
stay positive but its sometimes a bit difficult. My husband
has earlier dementia and I have to watch his behaviour.
For example, he often turns on the gas and forgets to light it.
But that's life, I guess. OLO for me provides an escape for which
I'm grateful. And for having people like you who care.

Dear Paul,

Just thought it worth mentioning that former Soviet
Leader Mikhail Gorbachev died on Tuesday aged 91.
A man who broke the Soviet mold. He was a divisive, often
detested figure in Russia and the state he led - the
Soviet Union - no longer exists. He's been praised in the
West including by US President Joe Biden.

Gorbachev ended the Cold War without bloodshed and
introduced Glasnost and Perestroika the 2 policies considered
to be at the heart of USSR's disintegration. He won the
Nobel Prize and is to be buried in the cemetery of the
Novodevichy Convent next to his wife Raisa. Nikita Krushchev
and Boris Yeltsin are also buried there.

The Russian media says that he will not be given a state
funeral. No surprises there.

May he Rest in Peace. At least he was a Soviet leader who was open
to democratic changes.

Reagan (with help from Thatcher, J-P11, Kohl, Walesa and Havel) ended the Cold War. Gorbachev was merely the hapless shmuck who was in charge when the music stopped.

From an article I saw way back when...
"“You know what caused the downfall of the Soviet Union? You know what did it?” demanded a senior [Soviet] general, a little flush with vodka.

Some racked their brains with thoughts of missile defense, perpetual shortages of everything from soap to vodka, the U.S. military buildup. The general banged his fist again. “That damn speech about the evil empire! That’s what did it!” The general was standing now, and to the questioning eyes of one American he added: “It was an evil empire. It was.”

Another I saw yesterday...

"On the morning of April 20, 1989, ....he insisted my father drink a toast. He wanted to celebrate our new freedom, which also meant his: By leaving him our half of the apartment, we were bypassing Soviet restrictions on the sale of state property.

Agreeing, my father suggested they toast to Gorbachev. After all, our neighbor was a common day laborer, unlikely to be up on the complex realities of international politics; and more than likely to have imbibed his fair share of politburo propaganda, which Gorbachev, in his hick Caucasus accent, spouted daily. Our neighbor only laughed. “Gorbachev? You think Gorbachev gave me this apartment? We’ll drink to Reagan. Reagan gave me this apartment.”

Hi Paul,

Here's two links that may be of interest:

http://alamy.com/stock-photo/raisa-novodevichy-cemetery.html

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bp_o0xktjsg

Dear Paul,

Lets not forget that Gorbachev's efforts to democratize
his country's political system and decentralize its
economy led to the downfall of communism and the break
up of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Because he ended the Soviet Union's post war domination of
eastern Europe he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in
1990.

There's more at:

http://cnbc.com/2022/08/30/mikhail-gorbachev-ex-soviet-leader-who-ended-the-cold-war-dies-aged-91-report-says.html

And this also is worth a read:

http://wilsoncenter.org/event/reagan-and-gorbachev-how-the-cold-war-ended

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, dead at 91, rest in peace old man. Regardless of his "colour", Gorby was a great world leader, and a man of peace, a worthy recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace. He managed to oversee the destruction of the Soviet Union and Communism there, and in Eastern Europe, without bloodshed, for that we should all be eternally grateful.

Someone with a special affinity with Lithuania might be interested in this...

http://www.euronews.com/2022/01/13/mikhail-gorbachev-accused-of-war-crimes-by-six-lithuanian-citizens

Did he end "the Soviet Union's post war domination of eastern Europe" or was incapable of stopping the collapse of the Soviet Empire? He certainly tried to stop it.

Gorbachev visited China in 1989. "Deng Xiaoping thought Mikhail Gorbachev was an idiot."

Dear Paul,

Mikhail Gorbachev was a divisive, often detested figure in
Russia and also the state he led - the Soviet Union, no
longer exists. For which people like Putin, et al can not
forgive him or forget.

However Vladimir Ryzhkov, a former member of the Russian
Parliament and a Kremlin critic lauded Gorbachev for
freeing hundreds of millions of people from tyranny and
for drastically reducing the number of nuclear warheads.

He said Gorbachev had given Russia a chance to be free.
"It's not his fault we couldn't use it,"said Ryzhkov.

As a person of Lithuanian ancestry - I am grateful to
Gorbachev for allowing Lithuanioans to vote with their
feet as a result of his policies of - Glasnost and Perestroika.

"Deng Xiaoping thought Mikhail Gorbachev was an idiot". If Deng thought Gorbachev was an idiot, what did he think of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, now there was a couple of warmongering fruit loops straight out of the box. If he was alive today, what would Deng make of Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and Joe Biden, me thinks he would call them the new "Three Stooges'.

Hi Paul,

When Michael Reagan attended the 2004 funeral of his
father former US President Ronald Reagan the man sitting
behind him, he recalls, was the last leader of the Eoviet
Union, Mikhail Gorbachev.

" What I most remember is him telling me that every time
my father and him met, my father would always end every
meeting with, " If it's God's will," and Mikhail
Gorbachev would say to me, " I would look around the
room to see if God was there."

Also the assessment of Mikhail Gorbachev by Margaret
Thatcher became international news when she said that she -
"could do business together."

Lets also not forget that in 1987 Reagan and Gorbachev signed
the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF).
The landmark agreement proposed to eliminate all intermediate
and short range ground-based missiles and launchers from'
Europe.

I have a special personal connection with the Gorbachev premiership. On 10/3/85 I landed in Moscow. In those days I regularly visited for business purposes. Normally I was met at the airport by a representative of the company I was visiting to ensure I got to the hotel - being a lone westerner in Moscow wasn't always safe. But this time no one met me so I made my own way to the hotel.

After a few hours I still hadn't seen any of my business partners so I decided to walk to their office which was just off Marx Prospekt. But as I walked I kept coming across detours and ended up hopelessly lost. In the end I jumped in a taxi who got me as close to the hotel as he could.

12 hours later I was finally contacted and advised that Chernenko had died and the entire nation was in a period of official mourning. All meetings would be delayed for three days. I was staying in a hotel called The National which is just off Red Square. As such I had a birds-eye view of all the preparations for the funeral and the actual funeral. ( on the day of the funeral I was informed that I'd have someone in my room -probably KGB - to ensure I didn't take any photos. He was there for 6 hours and we shared more bottles of vodka than I'd care to remember).

My Russian contacts were exceedingly excited that Gorbachev would succeed Chernenko, thinking he was a new broom who would rejuvenate the USSR. Even in those days they were making plans as to how they'd take advantage of the opening of markets. Speaking with some of my western colleagues, we felt they were being hopelessly naive as to how hard introducing free market policies would be in a society that had been sovietised for 70 years.

I visited Moscow and a few other cities regularly up to 1991. Each trip it was clear that the people were becoming increasingly disillusioned with Gorbachev and his policies.

Gorbachev did not develop the power to implement
his decisions. His policies were simply not put into
practice. In order to fully understand the situation
of the Gorbachev era -
one needs to know the entire economic history of
the country and how it worked. The following link
may help:

http://britannica.com/place/Russia/The-Gorbachev-era-perestroika-and-glasnost

The true terror that the Russians had in the Gorbachev years was Reagan's Space Defence Initiative ie a space system that would knock ICBM's out before they could deliver their payload. Even though we now know that SDI would never have worked, the Soviet's were terrified it would eliminate their first strike capacity.

That was why Gorbachev worked toward the various treaties to reduce nukes. It had nothing to do with their desire for peace, and everything to do with their fear of Reagan's military build-up. Not just in space but in the army and airforce as well. Russia was near to bankrupt and couldn't hope to keep pace with the US spending. So again they were forced to seek peace.

Then, as Reagan began to apply pressure to their empire ("Tear down this wall") they realised they had neither the capacity nor the will to resist. They also miscalculated, thinking that their satellite states wanted to remain communist. The Soviet as well as the East German leadership were completely blindsided by the desire of their subjects for freedom, once the military occupation was shown to be a paper tiger. This is why Deng thought Gorbachev was an idiot.

Gorbachev opposed each move toward freedom (eg by eliminating freedom activists in places like Lithuania) until he couldn't. Then he tried to make the best of the disaster.

He is among the most overrated leaders of our time. A pawn of those who truly made history like Reagan and Thatcher.

Gabrielius Landsbergis, the son of Vytautas Landsbergis
who led Lithuania's independent movement in the early
1990s, and is now its top diplomat tweeted that:

"Lithuanians will not glorify Gorbachev."

Memories are still fresh in the Baltic country of January
13th, 1991, when hundreds of Lithuanians headed to the
television tower in Vilnius to oppose Soviet troops deployed
to crush the country's bid to restore its independence.

In the clashes that followed 14 civilians were killed and more
than 140 others were injured. Moscow recognized Lithuania's
independence in August that year.

"We will never forget the simple fact that his army murdered
civilians to prolong his regime's occupation of
our country. His soldiers fired on our unarmed protesters
and crushed them
under his tanks. That is how we will remember him."

However Gorbachev's policies enabled the eventual independence
of the 3 Baltic countries - Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
That is how I prefer to remember him.

1987..."President Reagan, declaring Baltic freedom day, said Monday the United States will never recognize 'the Soviet Union's illegal and forcible' takeover of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia."

1987..."Reagan to Soviets: 'Get out of the Baltic'"

1987..."'The United States government has never recognized, nor will we, the Soviet Union's illegal and forcible incorporation of the Baltic states,' Reagan said. 'The United States staunchly defends the right of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to exist as independent countries."

2010..."Mr Reagan is extremely popular in Eastern Europe due to his tough stances during the Cold War confrontation with the Soviet Union. He is also credited with fostering the spread of democracy in the region." Lithuania's parliamentary foreign affairs committee.

Reagan strived for and achieved freedom for the captured nations including Lithuania. Gorbachev strived for, fought for and killed to try to keep the captive nations including Lithuania in the Soviet Empire. Crediting Gorbachev places the credit in the exact wrong spot.

The United States has never recognized the de jure
occupation of the Baltic States by the Soviet Union.
It however did accepted the de facto situation that
existed.

It was commendable that President Reagan made the gestures
of acknowledging the Baltic Independence and Freedom
Days - which had been (and are) celebrated throughout the
Baltic and in all of their communities overseas.

Yet the Baltic states remained under Soviet occupation
despite Mr Reagan's speeches and proclamations.

It was the activists in the Baltic States, and their
organisations both in their countries
and abroad that actually achieved results.
And they took the opportunity under Gorbachev's
policies of Glasnost and Perestroika to force the issues.

Mr Gorbachev may not have realized what he was starting - but
once it started - it could not be stopped.

Reagan was a warmonger, as was Thatcher, Reagan's doctrine during his time in office was to wage war through proxies. As a puppet of the US military/industrial complex Reagan promoted wars in Afghanistan, Angola, Lebanon, Grenada, Nicaragua and Cambodia.

Good Morning Paul,

Just checking in to remind people that
Father's Day is only a couple of days away.
I want to wish all the dad's on OLO a Happy
Father's Day - and may you all enjoy the day with
your family members and forget about politics.

Why do we close our eyes when we pray, cry, dream?

Because the most beautiful things in life aren't
seen but felt only by the heart!

Take care.

The Baltic slave-states were controlled by Moscow for 45 years. Reagan takes up their cause and two years later they are free. But somehow, Reagan had nothing to do with their achieving freedom?

Gorbachev sends his uniformed and un-uniformed thugs into the Baltic states to kill and otherwise neutralise freedom activists. But somehow, their freedom is credited to him?

_________________________________________________________________

Paul regularly demonstrates that his historic knowledge is on a par with my budgie's understanding of General Relativity but this is a beaut. Russian launches an unprovoked invasion of Afghanistan. Reagan responds by helping the Afghanis with weapons. Somehow Reagan is the warmonger? I think the logic (for wont of a better word) is that all wars are caused by the USA, at least in the minds of unrepentant Trotskyites.

Paul,

Thatcher never started a war which makes your claim a lie.

PS. Russia was happily starting wars and proxy wars, so the US responded in kind.

Shadowminister, I swear your brain must be about as melted as Bidens sometimes.
US overthrew Ukraine in 2014, empowered the Banderite NAZI's to outlaw the Russian language and then started shelling Russian speaking civilians.

You're a muppet for US wars.
10% for the big-guy and 10% for shadowminister.
- If you're not on their war profit payroll, you really should be.

I don't know who's worse, the ones that start the lies, or the ones that keep repeating them.

Regarding the Baltic States?

Two links are worth a read:

http://britannica.com/place/Baltic-states/Soviet-republics

Scroll down to the heading "Reestablishment of Independence."
It explains the situation that existed in the Baltic prior
to the re-establishment of independence and the part that
Mikhail Gorbachev played.

http://brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2019/10/17/would-the-soviet-union-have-collapsed-without-mikhail-gorbachev/

From Foxy's link....

"A series of other moves designed to reinstate pro-Soviet governments and to undercut the Baltic resolve for independence followed. These culminated in bloodshed on January 13, 1991, during the Soviet military occupation of the Vilnius television tower. A few days later a bloody incident occurred in Riga. Sporadic outbreaks of violence continued throughout the spring and summer."

Yep, clearly Gorby was anxious to give the Baltic states their freedom </sarc>

I have not stated that Gorbachev was "anxious to give
the Baltic States their freedom."

He merely provided the circumstances that made it happen.

There's a difference.

It's there in the links I gave.

The question is whether Albozo is a dictator?

What do you call Russia's dictator
when he's mad?

Put-out.

SM, you have to realise your side lost the War, and you'll just have to get over it. No going back.

Hi Paul,

Talking about wars.

Did you happen to see the film last night - "American
Sniper," with the actor Bradley Cooper?

It's a true story adapted from the autobiography of
Chris Kyle, a legendary US sniper who sacrifices
everything just to protect his comrades.

Clint Eastwood made this move and the film totally
deserved the Oscar it got in 2016.

The film follows the life of Kyle who became the
deadliest sniper in US military history with 255
kills from 4 tours of the Iraq War. 160 of which
were officially confirmed by the Department of
Defense.

Kyle tragically was killed back in the US by a veteran
he was trying to help. He was buried with full military
honours. The film is an amazing statement on war.
It made a very deep impression on me.

G7 countries are real busy hammering the nails into their own coffins.

Russia scraps Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline reopening stoking European fuel fears, as G7 pledges oil price cap
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-03/russia-scraps-nord-stream-1-gas-pipeline-reopening/101402996

Leaders at the G7 summit pledge to continue supporting Ukraine for 'as long as it takes' in the fight against Russia
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-28/g7-leaders-renew-pledge-ukraine-support-russia-sanctions/101188438

They're gambling that their citizens care about Ukraine more than they care about the cost and standard of living in their own countries.
They'll certainly be on the losing end of this battle.

Since the beginning, they pledged unwavering support for Ukraine.
They thought economic sanctions would create an economic crisis in Russia, which would then lead to a political crisis that might result in Putin's ousting.

They miscalculated.

Now all they can do is 'double down on stupid' because they're not willing to accept any of the blame for bringing their own problems on themselves, which would leave all their leaders admitting they were wrong and eating humble pie, which would see out their governments.

When winter comes, and they start shutting down industries they will be facing huge amount of civil discontent and from the business community, which will make way for more populist nationalistic governments.

The worlds inhabitants care more about food and energy than weapons for Ukraine, meanwhile Zelensky's conscripts are used as cannon fodder.

Insane effort yesterday, sending 60 troops to attack the Zaporizhzhia NPP prior to IAEA inspection.
What the hell were they thinking?
The Great Kherson Counter-Offensive failed, with heavy casualties.
Morgues in Mykolaiv overflowing.

- Looks like it's beginning already, is the EU starting to fracture?

'This Is Not Our War': At Least 70 Thousand People Took Part In Rallies In Prague

"The organizers of the action criticized the government for high energy prices, as well as the generally pro-Western course of the current government.

On September 3, a large rally demanding the resignation of the government was held on Wenceslas Square in the center of Prague. According to the Czech police, about 70 thousand people took part in the peaceful demonstration. The organizers of the campaign called “The Czech Republic in the first place!” declared that there were about 100 thousand participants.

The organizers demanded that the government resign by September 25, saying that they would hold new actions if this did not happen.

The rally united citizens with different views, politicians from various political parties and movements, as well as activists of different organizations who decided to “fight together for the future of the country.”

The demonstrators demanded the ensuring of gas supplies at low prices, i.e. from Russia, change of the electricity payment system and free the Czech industry from dependence on foreign companies. The citizens also demanded to free their country from direct political subordination to the EU, WHO and the UN. Among the demands there are the assurance of freedom of speech in the media . The protesters demanded the declaration of neutrality of the Czech Republic in the Ukrainian war and “stop diluting the nation with Ukrainian refugees.”

The predicted chaos in Europe begins, and it is expected to gain momentum in various countries in the coming months."
http://southfront.org/this-is-not-our-war-at-least-70-thousand-people-took-part-in-rallies-in-prague/

- It's funny how some news you never hear the end of, like Johnny Depp and Amber Heard for example,
- and other news that you think we should hear about gets a full media blackout.
It's clear the media is either biased or controlled.
Some issues are promoted, while others are suppressed.

Jeffrey Sachs: U.S. Policy & "West's False Narrative" Stoking Tensions with Russia, China
http://youtu.be/wmOePNsNFw0

Well worth watching.
- Whats happening in Ukraine, was part of a plan going back 20 years.
Keep that in mind, and you'll realise it matters little whether or not Trump or Biden were at the helm.

The whole system was always rigged against the peoples interests.
Democracy is just the best system to build wealth from the peoples labours
And the best system with which to transfer that wealth into the hands of the rich and powerful.
It was never about the interests of citizens any more than it was about the interests of others

Truss wins, as I stated in the beginning.
OPEC cuts production, reminds the west that it controls the price of oil not them
And after using conscripted men as cannon fodder Ukraine now conscripts women to do the same

Imagine that, the corrupt Ukrainian leadership conscripts your husband, father and brother to stand beneath a barrage of Russian artillery.
Then once they're all dead, - they send you in - the wife and mother whom the men fought to protect to do the same.
And no men are left to stand up for you, they're all gone.
- What a sad bloody state of affairs this is, sending women to the Donbass meat grinder

And the whole entire west has to pay for this utter stupidity.
With western leaders vowing to keep the BS going....

They must've all gone insane.
Our Western leaders should all be locked up in the madhouse.

More odd behaviour by the Governor-General:

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/05/move-to-disallow-18m-leadership-program-grant-pitched-by-david-hurley reported 5 Sept 2022:

"Move to disallow $18m leadership program grant pitched by David Hurley

Shoebridge said the grant was “an $18m mates deal that was agreed in private after repeated lobbying of [then Prime Minister Morrison] by the governor general”.

Shoebridge alleged that this lobbying “impacts on the political independence of the governor general”.

“We can’t have the governor general owing the government of the day any favours if we want to keep that position out of politics.”

Shoebridge said that Morrison should have rejected requests to support the program, to protect the independence of the governor general’s office.

The Governor-General lobbying the gov for $18 million in funding for a program that doesn’t seem to do anything, that doesn’t even have a website, and wasn’t publicly disclosed, is all pretty weird.

We’re doing something about it. If it’s kosher, fine. If it’s not, we’ll end it."

Hi Maverick,

The Governor General is about as "independent" as a mouse in a cats cage. The GG is an intricate part of the Establishment, and at the end of the day, like other Von Hindenburg's will do his duty to the Establishment. End of story.

Good on ya Davo!

Pauliar,

Your side lost the war in 2013, and will certainly lose it again sometime in the future.

AC,

The US provided moral support to the 100 000s of Ukrainians that rose up against the corrupt Russian puppet running the country. But the US never overthrew the government.

As for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is worsening for the Russian army as Ukrainians start using the increasingly sophisticated weapons supplied by the democracies. The HIMARs are regularly destroying Russia's supplies, and the new HARM missiles are wiping out their air defences to the point where the Bayraktar drones can now freely operate and are destroying tanks etc on a regular basis.

Last month the Russians gained virtually no territory, now they are in retreat on all fronts. Even the occupied Crimea is under attack.

Hey shadowminister,
"The US provided moral support to the 100 000s of Ukrainians that rose up against the corrupt Russian puppet running the country. But the US never overthrew the government."

Don't kid yourself.
Victoria Nuland - US has invested $5 billion in Ukraine - April 2014
http://youtu.be/rPVs5VuI8XI

"Victoria Nuland gives a speech at the National Press Club, Washington DC confirming that the USA had spent $5 billion promoting 'democracy' in the Ukraine. The speech was sponsored by Chevron Oil, the US oil giant"

Do you think I forget the news just because it was a few years back?
Or is it that you were never watching the news in the first place?
Which is it?

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/mar/06/ukraine-crisis-great-power-oil-gas-rivals-pipelines

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odesa-Brody_pipeline

Ukraine will continue to lose troops and territory, it's inevitable.
- And there's nothing that can be done to stop it, because they can't retake and hold any ground and western weapons shipments are starting to dry up.
Russia will probably break Ukrainian defense lines in Pisky in the coming weeks, and the whole eastern line of contact will start to collapse.

What do you think happened in Mariupol, Severodonetsk and Lysychansk?
Ukraine refused to give up territory and make a tactical withdrawl and end up taking heavy losses, they lost heaps of tanks and armoured vehicles keeping this strategy.

Russia's even got a blown-up Bushmaster on display in Moscow.

What do you think happened in Kherson?
Russia does make small tactical withdrawls when necessary, they deliberately allowed the UK trained Ukrainian troops to move into flat open territory and rained hell down upon them with artillery that outnumbers Ukraines several times over, and Ukraine has no air cover and takes heavy losses.
Russia has already retaken the lost territory, Ukraine can't take back territory no matter what YouTube or the TV is leading you to believe. Every time they try they are beaten back and with heavy losses.

Russia has all the time in the world.
It can afford to take it's time, as it outnumbers them in artillery and moves slowly save troop losses, besides this the longer it takes, the more UK, Europe and the collective West falls victim to their own economic war policies and begins to run out of their own military assets feeding it into a losing war.

That's why Ukraine came begging a few days ago.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11179693/Ukraine-asks-Australia-Hawkeis-patrol-vehicles-win-war-against-Russia.html

We've already given 400 million to Ukraine.
- And what for, just so we can give our military technology directly to Russia?
They are getting a great collection of all the Wests weapons.
- That's all we're doing, because it's not going to change anything on the ground.

Dream on AC.

Russia hasn't made a significant advance since the HIMARS were introduced. It seems now as if they are making many tactical withdrawals. A document has been leaked showing payments being made to more than 48000 Russian families for soldiers that were killed.

As for equipment Russia is having to buy obsolete equipment from North Korea to compensate for all their ammunition that has been destroyed. They are also relocating SAM batteries from Syria and other parts of Russi to compensate for all the systems destroyed by HARM missiles.

As for the economy, Russia's oil sales just about cover their military costs but they have lost nearly all their gas revenue and other trade revenue and are running a budget deficit of nearly $15b per month.

I see Russia making a tactical withdrawal from Kherson by winter.

Not only does SM claim to be a "man of legal letters" re; his terrible 'Beat Up' Bolt and 'Cry Baby' Porter legal prognostications. Now he is claiming to be an "insider" in Ukraine, and a military genius to boot. Probably has his head stuck down the barrel of a Russian tank!

I may not always agree with AC, but I give him credit as knowing what he is talking about, unlike SM who is all at sea and jabbers on with nonsense 99% of the time.

Crybaby Pauliar,

Once again you are lying. I never claimed any such thing.

Pauliar,

What is available on the net is assessments by senior military figures in Nato and other countries that know a whole whack more than AC.

Hi Paul

Ageed.

Albo has now made another good decision regarding questionable representations by the Governor General.

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/sep/07/labor-cancels-18m-grant-to-controversial-foundation-backed-by-governor-general

"...The Albanese government has axed a controversial $18m grant to a leadership foundation that the governor general, David Hurley, personally lobbied the Morrison government to back.

The decision late on [7 September 2022] follows senior government officials suggesting the Australian Future Leaders Program was under review as part of the October budget process.

Guardian Australia understands a decision has already been made to axe the program. Concerns were raised due to it being established with a one-off grant without a competitive tender.

On [8 September 2022], the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, confirmed the government had concluded the $18m initial grant and $4m a year of ongoing funding “didn’t pass muster” and did not represent “value for money”..."

Hi again Paul

Not great timing by GG (even for Legacy) standing next to Lockheed Martin in this photo

http://asiapacificdefencereporter.com/lockheed-martin-australia-sponsors-legacy-centenary-community-days/

That this leadership program was backed by Andrew Wilkie a former Green must make this a coalition conspiracy.

Another home goal by the village idiot.

The Queen of England has passed away, sad as it is, but no one lives forever. RIP, Elizabeth Windsor.

Hi Paul

Somewhat less tragic than the Queen's passing, it gives a reprieve for one oddball.

This event is allowing a Morrison aligned GG to redeem himself http://youtu.be/9-wLsW9sPKQ .

Hey shadowminister,
"What is available on the net is assessments by senior military figures in Nato and other countries that know a whole whack more than AC."

Most of my info originates from sources on the ground.

The senior military figures from NATO are just as much involved in fighting a propaganda war as Zelensky is.
Where else are you getting info from?
Maybe the Institute for the Study of War
i.e 'Kagan' family's 'Institute for the Study of War'

A case study in American propaganda
What is the Institute for the Study of War? And why do America’s elite media outlets trust it for all of their on-the-ground Ukraine information?
http://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/06/12/a-case-study-in-american-propaganda/

FYI, if you read that article, the Project for the New American Century is a think tank devoted to ensuring America's dominance in the world. i.e. 'The Rules Based order', something that is completely separate from 'International Law'.
Also Victoria Nuland, married to Robert Kagan, is the most instrumental person who helped overthrow the country in 2014 and helped created this mess.

[Cont.]
They need to keep the useful idiots like you and me at home thinking that Ukraine can change the situation on the ground shadowminister, that's the only way they can keep supplying weapons and keep the war going. If the decision-makers in Washington think it's a worthless cause and the people at home start protesting too much about the imposition of the war, (price of food, energy, etc.) then they're going to be constrained to be able to send more money and weapons.

This current counter-offensive in Izyum was possible because Russia dropped the ball and failed to reinforce many of the smaller villages with regular Russian forces. FYI, a large majority of troops are made up of Donetsk and Luhansk peoples militia, Wagner group, as well as Chechen and other battalions. The 3 senior Russian defense officials are currently over in the far east for the war games in Vostok.

After this counter-offensive has been mopped up, (pushing deep into Russian held territory will only result in them becoming encircled - which will result in heavy losses) Ukraine may not even possess the troop capacity to effectively conduct any more counter-offensives, but they will get more money and weapons from the west for making a show of it.

AC,

Your naivety and self-delusion are amusing. Ukraine is smashing its way through any defences the Russians can mount and have effectively cut Isyum off from supplies and reinforcements from the north and are likely to encircle the soldiers there.

In Kherson, the 25000 Russians there (many taken from Kharkiv) are trapped like rats against the Dnipro river and are retreating into an ever smaller pocket.

The Russians are getting smashed, their aircraft are getting shot down and the Ukranian drones are free to roam after the Russian air defenses are smashed by HARM missiles.

On top of this the Russian economy is winding down. Soon Western Secondary sanctions will cut the sale of Russian oil and the end will be near.

Yes, they need for you to believe this to keep the money and weapons flowing.
You march to the little drummer boy, what a good little schmuck.
Show me that these gains were consolidated in a weeks time.
There will be a lot of dead Ukrainian conscripts / territorial defense left uncollected and bloating up in the sun by next week, great job shadowminister.
I notice like a dumb parrot you didn't mention Russian gains in the Donbass, move along nothing to see here.

AC, please show mercy towards our Village Nazi, he is convinced by the propaganda that the Fatherland is scoring glorious victory after glorious victory against the Russians! He only hopes the Fuhrer doesn't dispatch him anytime soon, to the Eastern Front.

Hi Paul1405,

Well, Ukraine did launch a successful counter-offensive at the Izyum front - their first so far in the war, they did catch the Russians out a little, it will boost their morale.
Russia knew about the troop buildup their over the last few weeks, I'm not sure why they didn't reinforce those positions with regular units.

Reconstruction of the Izium attack
http://youtu.be/e3gYecCWLEY

Troops from all over Russia are being pulled together and sent to Ukraine now, and reinforcements have been sent to Kupyansk.
http://www.youtube.com/shorts/XKMVsyJv0bo

If you look at the map here, you'll see they have just gotten themselves encircled, its a propaganda win nonetheless, but I'm not sure they will be able to hold the territory for too long.
http://defensepoliticsasia.com/Ukraine/

Well well well, EU decides not to commit economic suicide afterall...

EU drops plan to cap Russian gas prices
http://youtu.be/ke948HiS2Ec

It's probably just as well, it might have ruined all of us.

Here are the YouTube channels I'm watching at the moment.

Alexander Mercouris
http://www.youtube.com/c/AlexanderMercourisReal
Alex Christoforou
http://www.youtube.com/c/AlexChristoforou
The Duran
http://www.youtube.com/c/TheDuran
iEarlGrey
http://www.youtube.com/c/iEarlGreytv
The New Atlas
http://www.youtube.com/c/TheNewAtlas
Defense Politics Asia
http://www.youtube.com/c/DefensePoliticsAsia
Itapirkanmaa2
http://www.youtube.com/user/Itapirkanmaa2

Some of the info is sourced by the Rybar team.
I also 'follow' some of the Chechen activites on Twitter and I also 'follow' Dmitry Medvedev on Telegram though I don't really keep up with their posts.

This was a fairly good video yesterday, it gives a bit of info in regards to the West lying about global food crisis and all the grain shipped from Ukraine, 95% went to the EU, as well as some background info on the technicalities of the gas crisis.
Skip the daily war coverage and go to 30 minute mark.
http://youtu.be/ykS1i5HFHxU

Putin's condolences to King Charles III was fairly dignified.
No snidely jabs like one would expect from the West.
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/FcKWFezWIAAGL7n.jpg

Kharkov Offensive 2.0: Winning Headlines Today, Hastening Defeat for Tomorrow
http://youtu.be/n3zNxBahukU

AC,

No one else sees this as anything but a major thrashing for Russia. In less than a week Russia lost Kupiansk and Isyum and with it huge stores of ammunition, equipment, many soldiers captured and the loss of road and rail supply lines to Russian occupation forces in Donbas.

The fighting in Kherson has been much slower and bloodier on both sides, but Ukraine has made much more progress than the tiny gains the Russians have made in the Donbas. The Russian army is showing signs of exhaustion and with a considerable chunk of its army trapped in Kherson, the rescue party might need rescuing itself.

Also, why are you stupid enough to repeat Putin's bollocks that 95% of the grain shipments are going to the EU. Firstly the EU has a food surplus not a shortage, secondly, if it needed grain from Ukraine it could plenty far cheaper using rail

Hi AC, I stuck this in the wrong spot;

Thanks for that AC, you are certainly keeping yourself well informed about the war in Ukraine. Unfortunately I can't say the same about the insulting Village Nazi on here, who shoots from the hip, and likes to insult others at every opportunity.

Yes, I was surprised by the condolences from Putin, re the death of QEII. I was even more surprised by the heart felt condolences from the Chinese people and their leadership. If at these times those intent on war can say "sorry" about the death of someone they all respected, why can't they come together and settle their differences peacefully. It can't be that hard!

I see the village idiot has made an appearance.

"No one else sees this as anything but a major thrashing for Russia. In less than a week Russia lost Kupiansk and Isyum and with it huge stores of ammunition, equipment, many soldiers captured and the loss of road and rail supply lines to Russian occupation forces in Donbas."

A thrashing was what the UAF got in Kherson.
Yes, I've seen the news and am aware of some of the details, I know some Russian tanks were left behind and that some rather well informed Russian vloggers are panicking.
I haven't seen any info about Russians captured, but I'm sure there's at least some.
- But there's a difference between a thrashing and a tactical withdrawal.

Russia knew it was thin on the ground there and made a decision to pullback, and regular Russian troop reinforcements and columns of military vehicles are on the way.
As I told you earlier, a lot of the allied forces on the ground aren't regular Russian troops, they're Donbas and Luhansk peoples militia, Wagner Group and others, and aren't as well trained as Russian regulars.
The Ukrainian forces who spearheaded the attack are likely freshly trained from UK and Germany.

In many ways this was actually not a particularly good strategic move by Ukraine as Russia will regroup, encircle and hammer them, but Ukraine for now gets a win, some more weapons from its sponsors and a well needed morale boost.
I'm not sure they can consolidate their gains and hold onto the territory there, but in any case, Russia is likely going look at what happened and will likely ramp things up.

The West has spent over 8 years building up the Ukrainians, and 60 bln just this year alone, with weapons going to Ukraine from over 30 countries.
Ukrainian forces outnumber the Russians 3 fold, but Russian weapons specifically artillery outnumbers the Ukrainians by large multiples.

AC,

Russian Forces in the north have been routed. The forces in Kherson have made slow progress, but are pinning down 25 000 of Russia's troops while the entire Donbas is under threat.

There is no way to spin this in favour of Russia.

I'm was told Russia destroyed 50% total Ukrainian Energy infrastructure in 2.5 hours. About to catch up on the morning vids.

"Russian Forces in the north have been routed."

Yes I've heard that said, but there's a number of different theories going around at the moment, it's hard to know exactly which ones are correct at the moment.

It's hard to know how much of it was a tactical withdrawal, and how much much of it was actually 'routed'. It's clear this has been a planned counter-offensive for some time, and I think NATO is heavily involved in the Ukrainians military strategy now.

AC,

I suppose pointing out that destroying civilian infrastructure is a war crime is pointless as it is just one of the 1000s of Russian war crimes.

Secondly, most of the damage can be repaired reasonably quickly whilst the 1000s of Russian men and vehicles destroyed or captured cannot.

As for the 1000s of Russians abandoning 3000 sq km of territory incl 2 large cities and dozens of settlements along with dozens of functioning tanks and other vehicles and 1000s of tons of ammunition is not by any description an orderly withdrawal.

Kherson is not much better for the Russians with accurate western artillery and drones constantly picking off tanks, men and ammunition stores that cannot be replaced.

This is the beginning of the end for Russia and Putin.

Hey shadowminister,
US conducts their wars like this, so whats the difference?
They were pulling dead civillians out from under the rubble in Raqqa for months, and I need not remind you about Madeleine Albright saying 500,000 Iraqi babies was a fair price to pay for success in Iraq.
Success in what actually, since there were no WMDs...
(Regime change for US, Israeli and Military Industrial Complex interests more likely)

I haven't actually heard any more info on the attack on electrical infrastructure, honestly.
I know the west is still trying to dictate terms in the Ukrainians favour regarding the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

If you want a good roundup on current events and thinking watch this.
This what I watch every day, so you can either get up to scratch with a more broader understanding of whats going on, or just stay less informed I suppose.

At least if you were getting the same info I'm getting we could have a less toxic or less petty tit-for-tat discussion.
http://youtu.be/CoAx_alGBHI

BLACKOUT across at least half of Ukraine; Putin is finally pissed - uses NATO/US strategy
http://youtu.be/xvzb4pF48Ng

Just watching the first 5 minutes of this and I learned Russia struck several locations of Ukraine's electrical infrastructure.

When he took out electricity infrastructure, it also resulted in shutting off the water pumping stations and the rail network.
As well as that, because of a risk of power surges the other nuclear power plants in Ukraine have had to be disconnected from the power grid.

I think it's going to take more than a couple of days and 1000 workers to fix it shadowminister, and if Ukraine does fix it, well, he'll just hit it again, won't he?

He let this go on for 6 months with Zelensky acting like he was on top of things, and in 2.3 hours he brings the entire country to it's knees.
No power, no water, no rail to move equipment.
Sorry EU, no more excess electricity in Ukraine for you.

AC,

If you listen to the likes of Alexander Mercouris and you can't sense the bullsh1t, then you have serious problems. In this "goodwill gesture" the Russians have given away more territory than they have won since April and now have the Ukrainians encircling 1000s of Russians south of Isyum.

Also, the quotes about M Albright are bollocks.

In Kherson, there are 25000 Russian Soldiers caught like rats in a trap. With no way of resupply, their lines are collapsing and Ukrainians are 15km from the city of Kherson and days away from encircling the Northern half of the Russians west of the river.

What are you talking about ya goose?
She admitted it on 60 minutes right here

Madeleine Albright - The deaths of 500,000 Iraqi children was worth it for Iraq's non existent WMD's
http://youtu.be/RM0uvgHKZe8

Well then...
- I guess that it just seems to me that you will just disagree with anything that doesn't support your own pre-existing Ukraine-biased beliefs.
Not much point even bothering to talk to you then.

Even Mercouris said of the Russian side that it was a debacle.
(in regards to the Izyium counter-offensive)

I already showed you in the earlier article how your ISW info is biased to the Ukrainian side and that your effectively listening to the same people (neoconservatives Nuland and Kagan) that started the damn war.

Tell me where else are going to get better commentary than the channels I already showed you?
The Guardian? CNN?

Did you even watch the second video?
- I suppose you think reports he discussed regarding events yesterday taking out power, water, trains (and resupply) and disconnecting the other NPPs from the grid are made up too?
I'm guessing you would...

I told you all about the media bias yonks ago.
That they promote news they do want you to know and suppress news they don't want you to know.
No end of stories regarding Ukraine's glorious successful counter-offensive.
- They play that info up.
Little to no info at all regards Russians damage to electrical infrastructure yesterday.
- They play that info down.

I suppose I'd better let you get back to your CNN and The Guardian.
- Pretty sure CNN got caught out doing fake news on green-screens several times.
You'd be the schmuck that fell for it...

AC,

For starters, the 500 000 child deaths were bogus claims. And MA simply didn't comment on it. Secondly, you said "Madeleine Albright saying 500,000 Iraqi babies was a fair price to pay for success in Iraq"

Thirdly, there has been massive coverage in the media wrt the attack on the electricity network.

Finally, the 25000-35000 Russians in Kherson are trapped and running out of food, ammunition and equipment and facing a harsh winter without adequate clothing all while the Ukrainians are constantly shelling them and attacking them with drones.

PS the US has just announced a further $2,5bn of weapons being shipped to Ukraine.

The end is approaching.

In Kherson they've achieved nothing of any significance.
In contrast, losing well over 2000 sq km in Izyum...
- Seems consistent with a withdrawal rather than territory Ukraine won in battle.
Look at the bigger picture.

The offensive in Kherson is going more slowly but is still going. The troops there are slowly destroying the Russians, and some Russians are surrendering and I'm sure will perform a goodwill gesture and "regroup" in Russia.

Meanwhile, the Kharkiv offensive is still sweeping east, and as far as I understand is now entering Lysychansk.

When danger reared its ugly head,
The Russians bravely turned and fled.

typo

The Ukrainians are now well into Luhansk.

Can the Village Nazi see all this from his first floor bed/sit in Moonee Ponds?

PaulNazi,

You tell me, you are the Nazi.

Well it is true Paul, the Ukrainians have taken territory in Luhansk.
- But the amount of territory is insignificant, it's about as far into Luhansk as one could hit a golf ball.
It's more of a symbolic victory with bragging rights than any kind of meaningful gain, see for yourself.
http://tinyurl.com/2s4nrpa

12000 people out of 35000 used for this counter-offensive.
4000 dead and 8000 wounded Ukrainians in the last 5 or 6 days.
I've even seen video of convoys of ambulances and other vehicles going through Kiev.
That's what Zelensky had to throw at this to get that 2.9 billion shadowminister.
The Americans were starting to get cold feet and they needed to see gains to continue giving support.
Zelensky had to cooperate more with them given the talk of sent weapons being untraceable, and being sold on the dark web.
Ukraine's now working more closely with the US in military planning.

On the other side of things Russian forces who conducted a tactical withdrawal are largely intact, and will live to fight another day.

It was a huge blunder on the Russian side, but from what I understand they just didn't have the troops to hold the territory, and decided it was best to conduct a tactical withdrawal.

The reason Russia lacked troops was because he was constrained by the framework (terms) of the 'special military operation', and up until yesterday, he hadn't targeted civilian infrastructure.
Yesterdays attack on electrical infrastructure signals a new stage on the conflict.
The Russian people are pretty mad, and it's they who are now pushing Putin to ramp things up.
You see Putin already convinced them that America was serious threat to Russia with NATO in Ukraine, and Russians have seen all the hate directed at them.
When the allies took the territory they promised the people in the towns they would be there forever, but when they left these people have now been left to reprisal attacks by the Ukrainians as they take back territory.
Russians aren't happy about these people being left to fate.

Russians are well aware of the war games in the far east and have asked why 50,000 Russian troops there weren't in Ukraine.
They are now openly discussing on nightly Russian TV that Putin should take out more electrical infrastructure, take out the rail and all the bridges including the ones on the Dniper etc.
As well as that you've got some pretty reliable voices in Russia saying that a response is coming.

From what I understand Putin has come to the realisation that he can't achieve what he set out to do withing the constraints of the terms of the 'special military operation' and that changes are going to have to be made. The attack on civilian infrastructure might be a sign he accepted the situation and will now move to a more serious kind of war.

As far as the attack on electrical infrastructure is concerned, I heard somewhere that after the power shut down, as well as water pumping stations which rely on power, and traffic lights, internet, trolley buses and trains - which were stranded and military supplies cant be moved easily, but also that Russia hit a train stranded full of Ukranian soldiers, though I'm not sure it's true or not.

12000 dead and wounded Ukrainians.
Russian forces largely intact.
- They traded territory for the lives of their troops as they were largely outnumbered, some reports say by 8 to 1.
Expect changes in the conflict to be forthcoming.

Putin has been trying to conduct a 'noble war' as much as possible, the original aims were to demilitarise and denazify, and not harm civilians or civilian infrastructure.
Looks like now he's taken the gloves off.

AC,

The Russian casualties are nearly 50 000 dead and nearly 100 000 wounded. They have lost so many soldiers that they couldn't fight both in the south and the north. They have captured not only territory but scores of tanks vehicles and 1000s of tons of badly needed ammunition that will now be used on the Russians which will fit in nicely with the $2.5bn of new weapons from the US.

Ukraine has now recaptured nearly 6000 sq km and the Kherson front line for the Russians is collapsing as they run out of ammunition.

As for the electricity in Kharkiv, this does nothing to blunt the Ukrainian military but has given them an excuse to fire directly into Russia. Maybe Russia can do something but they better do it fast otherwise they will lose badly.