Mandy Lifeboats

I am a bit OCD and I've decided that all of the problems in this country could be solved if we made the UK symmetrical. I've now finalised my plans and I am ready to start it off. Stage 1 Birmingham. This would remain unchanged initially and would be the central point from which symetry would be measured. Stage 2 London. It's the biggest city so we leave it where it is. It would be stupid to move a city as big as London. Stage 3. Bristol and Cardiff would be merged and moved to a new location that makes a symmetrical triangle with Brum and London. This might be somewhere in the Bristol channel but we'll be filling a lot of that in to make the Severn and the Thames match. Stage 4. Liverpool. Moved slightly to ensure symetry with Bristodiff (see above). The Mersey would be altered to match the Thames and the Severn. Stage 5. Hull. The last of the 4 cities that will form a square around Brum. It might need to be moved a bit. Stage 6. Edinburgh stays in the same position. Now we have the easy stuff sorted we can tackle the more difficult stuff. Stage 7. We need to create a symmetrical equivalent to Edinburgh. But to do s, it will need to be in France. Invasion is a possibility but could get messy. Much better to swap most of Wales with them. Flattening Wales to be symmetrical with East Anglia is going to be time consuming so we avoid that problem. Stage 8. Decide whether to fill in the Channel or dig a symmetrical version north of Hull & Liverpool and south of Edinburgh. Filling in the channel would assist with the invasion (Stage 7) and provide a place to put all the rubble from the Welsh mountains (see above). I'm not sure of the best option for Stage 9. Does anyone have any suggestions?* *Find a good psychiatrist is already in progress.

Russia chat show TV is claiming that the UK is starving and we are having to hunt squirrels.

TASS has changed its reporting agenda in the past week. They have reported on several occasions that China wants to act in the best interests of China and not involve themselves in wider issues. TASS also reported that China would be looking to exploit opportunities that arise. In my opinion this is a hint that Putin is becoming iritated by China exploiting Russia but offering very little in return. TASS has also quoted Putin saying that Russia is fighting to maintain its sovereignty and is under real threat from external and internal enemies. This could be to raise fear in the public so that they support the next mobilisation. It could be a reference to the increasing number of attacks on Russian soil. It might even relate to Wagner's statement that they are the only thing stopping the Ukrainians overrunning the front lines. Or is it a sign that civil war is now a credible threat? The West didn't freeze without Russian gas and Putin's rapidly running out of cards to play.

The UK Embassy in Iran used to be located on Bobby Sands Avenue. We tactfully put the letterbox in another street.

I think we are in agreement. There is definitely a lack of shells. Ukraine can how hit munition stores quite distance behind the lines. It's definitely causing problems. But the average Russian soldier is armed with more than a rifle and an entrenching tool. I was referring to that specific statement.

Throughout the war the MOD has issued some updates which seemed like blatant propaganda. This is another one of those. I have little doubt that something similar to this incident happened somewhere along the front lines. But its clearly not reflective of the overall position. If it was, Ukraine would have been making widespread gains.

Collecting shopping trolleys?

It’s seems pretty clear that Ukraine is withdrawing from Bakhmut in an orderly fashion. This will be a morale boost for Russia and a kick for Ukraine. Russia is continuing to take metres of land with high losses and without any significant breakthrough. Ukraine needs those western tanks for a Spring counterattack.

This is what happens you are running out of tanks but have some old bits left over from a warship. It’s clearly a Russia troop transporter but I am not sure if it’s been captured by Ukraine. Is that turret actually on there? Or is it behind the vehicle and it’s just an optical illusion.

Great. Let’s recap. We are 6th cleverest. We have got 4 that are above us. Paris, Ronald Trump and Africa. Only 3 more to go and we’ve cracked it!

We are 6th. So who are then 8 countries more cleverer than what we is? I bet one is Paris. I hate them and there fetish for bullfighting.

I think you are referring to Bakhmut which is almost encircled but not quite. Ukraine has 12,000 troops in that area forming 3 lines of defence. Those troops rotate between all 3 lines. It would take an amazing assault to break all 3 lines and encircle 12,000 troops. Ukraine has been losing ground very slowly and I get the feeling that Bakhmut will soon become untenable and Ukraine will withdraw. Russia will claim a massive victory. But the land to the west is very hilly and perfect for defence. Ukraine will have their pride dented. But defensively most people agree that they should have withdrawn by now. They are taking heavy loses. The only consolation is that Russia is taking even heavier loses.

I have been back to every house I've lived in. I had the chance to look around the house where I was born. I didn't. They can't be bothered to put up a blue plaque.

This is so simple. Why can't people grasp it? Think of the building as a white dog. The air defences are spots. Camouflage is a dog coat. If a white dog is wearing a coat it may of may not have spots underneath the coat. Even if it has spots it doesn't make it a dalmatian. If a dalmatian wears a coat with spots is does not mean its 2 dalmatians. Nor does a coat with stripes make a non-dalmatian a zebra. But a zebra is still a zebra if it doesn't have stripes. Even a child could grasp that.

That’s pretty normal. The other common occurrence is for an American F15 to fly towards the North East coast and be intercepted by UK Eurofighters. Presumably it’s NATO forces testing one another.

This is what I love about this forum. We can have opposing viewpoints. But by using intelligent and sensible discussion we can achieve a simple compromise. We agree that there is nothing there and nothing has been there for a while. We both remember a post I made about nothing being there and the actions that Russia haven't taken to camouflage something that wasn't there and hasn't been there. We agree that they need to put something there and not camouflaging it the way they originally didn't camouflage it. We both remember my post that I didn't make. That all seems perfectly simple to me.

What air defences? All I see is an empty roof. If Russians has put air defences on that roof its effectively camouflaged for the urban environment. They wouldn’t have just thrown a bright green sheet over it to make it bigger and easier to spot. If they did something stupid like that I am sure I would have posted it on this thread at the time. (hint hint)

I doubt it. If Russia tried to crash a drone into a location near Moscow we would have read about it hitting Belgium.

Russian media is openly reporting the recent Ukrainian drone attacks deep within Russia. Even TASS is reporting that Moscow is now within range and will be increasing its air defences. That’s more manpower, equipment and resources being dragged away from the front lines. This building needs some air defences installed on the roof immediately.

Russia has announced that it’s “decided” to reduce the amount of crude oil it produces by 500,000 barrels per day. (BPD). Before the war Europe imported 2.7 million BPD from Russia. That figures halved and continues to drop. There are some very easy conclusions to draw. 1. Russia hasn’t found alternative markets willing/able to buy the crude oil once exported to the West. 2. Sanctions work.

Spike was a genius.

It's interesting to see the different patterns. Today the RAF flew from the UK to the North Poland then followed the NATO border south, flew across black sea then turned around and flew a similar route to return to the UK. That's typical for the UK planes. Whereas all the other countries loiter over 1 particular area. Other highlights from today was a B52 that left Spain, flew up to Norway and flew very tight circles up and down the Norwegian coast. Techology is great. I remember filling in my Eye-Spy book of aeroplanes from the viewing lounge of Birmingham Airport. I forged my parent's signature on the completion certificate in order to fraudulently claim my completion badge.

There seems to be a set pattern to these surveillance craft. Swedish Airforce patrol the Baltic and south into Poland. The US covers the central area of the NATO border. The Italian airforce patrol Moldova. A Global Hawk from a US base in Italy covers south Crimea. British planes cover the entire area as required but don’t tend to loiter. They appear to work from the UK to Cyprus or vice versa. There is then a third layer. Turkey patrols behind the Italians and Americans. The Netherlands patrol behind the Swedish and the USA. The US provides a tanker that flies around Romania and South Poland. The UK has openly said that our planes have a fighter escort. They are rarely visible. I know the Dutch have fighters in Poland that protect the border. I presume the second line of surveillance is to protect the first line and secure the airspace.

See screenshot below. Not much more to add. Happily flying in circles.