There’s a scared little man in the Kremlin

There’s  a scared little man in the Kremlin these days. Putin looks scared and his threats have no substance.  Zelensky who is leading from the front and fighting with his troops: Putin in contrast sits behind a large table and requires or orders others remotely to do his cruel bidding from a position of isolation and safety. Putin dare not go out among the Russian people so scared is he. He may feel that schoolchildren and airline hostesses  are acceptable to meet  because they pose no threat but in reality Putin is scared and increasingly  isolated from his people who are now suffering as a result of the sanctions imposed on Russia.

Putin has declared the sanctions of the West  as an act of war almost but it was telling that his response to that very real threat was measured in a style that we really aren’t  accustomed  to from him: backing down from direct confrontation. Increasingly  he is looking scared and vulnerable and possibly reflective about the damage and potential damage he has brought upon his own country and possibly  himself and his abilities  to carry on as  leader of Russia.

Putin now has limited options available  to him other than to impose martial law and cast Russia back several decades. To do this to a population considerably different from those of the previous generations  of the USSR would be a huge challenge ( perhaps even idealistically impossible). These old Soviet block policies may not work in days of mass communication and of Social Media. The challenges  of imposing martial law and making a citizenship believe in Old style propaganda is so much more difficult  in the digital age. People have got used to getting information  from many sources and government  propaganda probably  isn’t  high on their agenda.  It simply isn’t  going to be enough to control such a mass of people. So instead he must weild an iron fist threatening and bullying his population into mass capitulation. But this is also not a strategy that will work forever. Population  has memory and will make comparisons and come to conclusions despite what Putin tells them.

Where Zelensky  is Spartacus: an inspiring figure who is loved by those he commands: Putin is despised and feared.

Human waste now even extends beyond Earth

It’s  official, human waste now even extends beyond Earth. As another triumph for humanity we have now officially colonised a part of our galaxy with human waste. We have officially crashed some space debris into our Moon. Could this unhappy  accident actually  be a solution to the expanding waste problems on Earth? Maybe there is actually  a purpose to space exploration that could help us with our own dilemma about what to do with our waste?

Putin is at war not just with Ukraine but also with Russian citizens

The clampdown on freedom of speech in Russia shows that Putin is not just at war with Ukraine but also with Russian citizens. Putin wants a return to the bad old days of Stalin, ruling with fear and harsh punishments.

Any pretences of an elected democratic leader fell by the wayside this week as Putin revealed  to the World and to the citizens of Russia just who he has become: namely a dictator,  brutal and ruthless tyrant a new Tsar of Russia willing to defend his privledge and position at any cost, even at an expense to his own citizens. Putin wants to turn Russia back into a military state exerting authoritarian control over it’s  own citizens. Much the same as the Tsar. Everything that the Russian Revolution stood for and hoped for is about to reversed and buried as the new Tsar reveals his intentions.

Continue reading Putin is at war not just with Ukraine but also with Russian citizens

Give the Russian Oligarchs time to pack a suitcase

Give the Russian  Oligarchs  time to pack a suitcase and take them to nearest Port or Airport.  Let them leave with only a suitcase as resembles the plight of many refugees fleeing the Ukraine 🇺🇦.  Then seize all their assets and use them for funding the refugee crisis taking place in Europe. One way of making Russia and Russians pay for the chaos that they have caused.

NATO has let people down because of it’s inability to get involved

It seems the role of NATO has been to look the other way, first in Syria, ignoring Putin’s crimes, then in the Crimea and now in the heart of the Ukraine. NATO’s attitude of only protecting it’s  members has proved to be it’s  inherent weakness which has been openly exploited by Putin. To some degree you could also argue that NATO  has been complicit in the suffering and deaths of many throughout  the world in recent times although Russia and Putin has been the main perpetrator and aggressor.

The situation can be traced back to the situation  in Syria when NATO failed to get involved and sort Assad out. Instead it let Assad seek a powerful ally of Putin and with Russia’s help the subsequent  devastating consequences upon a certain section of the Syrian population is well documented. The same situation prevailed in the Crimea. Again NATO was unable to get involved and became a bystander  just sitting on the fence. Now with what is unrolling in the Ukraine we are witnessing much of the same. Again this situation  and reliance upon the same stoic response from NATO has again allowed Putin to unleash the might of his war machine and the make his plans and fulfill his designs.

My argument is that NATO  is no longer fit for purpose because it only serves it’s  own interests. NATO  is no longer interested in serving humanity in it’s  hour of need but instead of protecting  only it’s  own interests whilst it allows aggressors to go about their business unchecked. The NATO  moto should  be, as long as it’s  not happening on our doorstep then it obviously doesn’t  concern us. Putin knows and understands  NATO ‘s stance and has found to his advantage  that it serves him well. Again NATO  are culpable  in complacency. Increasingly  though NATO  are looking shamed and disgraced.

One reason for this is that there appears to be no strong leadership taking place in NATO. Strong leadership is much needed as well as people who can understand  what is actually  taking place and is willing to take tough decisions to challenge the actions  of unhinged aggressors like Putin. Tough decisions have consequences such as entering a new Cold War situation  with Russia and actually  standing up to them. Tough decisions yes but increasingly  these decisions are evidently  becoming more and more necessary to protect the vulnerable in the World and stand up to aggressors like Putin. Continue reading NATO has let people down because of it’s inability to get involved

What would Churchill have done to the threat of Putin ?

I think the time has come to ask ‘ what would Churchill have done in response to the threat of Putin? We need a western leader to step up to the bullying behaviour of Putin. Someone who can galvanise Nato against the threat of Putin someone who is prepared to say that enough is enough and willing to make a commitment to support the ideas embedded in the democratic freedoms of the world . Ukraine 🇺🇦  is no match by itself to the overwhelming war machine that Russia is bringing to bear. This is democracy  and democratic freedom being crushed by a powerful bully without any support of it’s  so called friends who supposedly  share the same values. It’s  time for a real world leader to step into the shoes of Churchill.

Exactly Who is making money from these Energy Price Hikes?

A question on everyone’s  mind at the moment concerns exactly  Who is making money from these Energy Price Hikes. I have watched reports and can’t  seem to get to the bottom  of it. There has been suggestions  that Price Hikes are because  of infrastructure  costs such as pipes and wires but that simply doesn’t  add up. Surely  our taxation system  provided money to develop things like nuclear  power stations etc so why isn’t  the public in control  of these businesses?