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Well, it is Friday…

Is this like that time when a bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich 'cause he was hungry?

Some pretty grim comments from Biden in this BBC report: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-63167947 In particular, these quotes: "For the first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis, we have a direct threat to the use of nuclear weapons, if in fact things continue down the path they'd...

All the more heartwarming when you think back to February and mainstream news was predicting that Kyiv would fall within 24-48 hours. Not even close. Fair to say that the entire world, not least Vladimir Putin, underestimated the resolve and resilience of the Ukrainian people.

I've tried to keep my myself away from the minutiae of what's going on in Ukraine right now, because after the first couple of weeks of the invasion I realised it was not doing my own state of mind any good. But I did find myself compelled to read this story and the scale of personal tragedy is...

Is this the beginning of the end for this war? I sincerely hope so. I can see ‘Ukraine’ being used as a common analogy for overcoming adversity in the face of a seemingly ‘greater’ opponent, for centuries to come. David versus Goliath. The Alamo. Ukraine. Super-human levels of patriotism and...

"Amazing news, darling, I got a 100,000 rouble bonus this month". War is grim.

This is an excellent read, with a mildly chilling conclusion. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60767454

Indeed - very well put together. I must say, I've massively ramped up my respect for the FT as a publication since the beginning of the Corona-crisis; it it comfortably led the way then in terms of measured reporting and it's been excellent once again in these troubling times. Thanks for sharing!

Some incredible BBC journalism here, from the front line. Well worth four minutes of your time. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60785679

Not seen it discussed much on here, but the BBC is reporting survivors emerging from the bombed theatre in Mariupol which was acting as a makeshift bomb shelter, and had the word CHILDREN written in Russian across the front of it. I really hope it’s a lot of people, as there were apparently...

Quite. Let’s just assess what he’s managed to conclude here… “The entire civilised world isn’t with me. My most significant ally in China isn’t with me. My most influential countrymen aren’t with me, and don’t even want to live in their country of birth. Christ, an unprecedented number of my...

Slipped some mind-bending drugs, given a few electric shocks to the cerebral cortex, and is now a sleeper agent for the Kremlin.

Nuclear weapons, even if ‘tactical’, used in or around Kyiv really would be crossing the rubicon for Russia and the world. I still believe ANY nuclear weapon used on a civilian population would be the beginning of the end, and I hope and pray that Putin isn’t mad or stupid enough to resort to...

It must be out already, surely. There is something like 20m - 30m currently living outside Russia, who have the ability to see exactly what's going on. A great many of which are presumably living in the west, and likely to be less suspicious of western media than those subjected to a torrent of...

Once again, one or two seem to have slipped into a bit of a binary ‘good vs bad’ or ‘right versus wrong’ viewpoint. Yes, there are lots of things wrong with Chinese culture, just as there is with western culture, and as a society we have become unhealthily dependent on their cheap labour. But...

Fake news. :p The video did say “mayor of Kyiv”, which is Vitali to be fair, so I’ll let you off.

Tit for tat, political PR bullshit. I suspect of no more significance than their cessation of Lada exports as some kind of supposed sanction.

That’s Vladimir Klitschko, Vitali’s brother, but I agree those are incredibly stirring words spoken from the heart and not from a script. He’s a hugely impressive man, and more eloquent and charismatic when speaking the English language than most Englishmen. Brave as a fúcking bear. I wish him...

It's a lot easier for the entire developed world to sanction a single country than it is for a single country to sanction the entire developed world. I understand why they've done it from a political point of view, but this is a mere drop in the ocean to the west. They could of course block...