In an age of war, the closure of Heathrow airport today is very suspicious.

Posted by: pepe | Mar 21 2025 10:32 utc | 203

Re: Posted by: unimperator | Mar 20 2025 14:02 utc | 15

The reason AFU/EU are screaming for ceasefire is because they have run out of ready fortified positions both in the eastern Zaporozhye /Dnepropetrovsk region, and also they fear a collapse in one of the areas in Kupyansk front, which may be fatal for the rest of AFU holdings in Donbass.

The AFU and/or EU are not definitely not screaming for a ceasefire.
The only one who is is President Trump who wants out – no one else is.
Where do you get this notion?!?
Send me links to the videos of Macron, Starmer, Von der Leyen, Kallas, Zelensky, Rutte streaming for a ceasefire.
I know you can’t do that because there are no such videos.

Posted by: Julian | Mar 21 2025 10:44 utc | 205

Reply to 207
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/uks-starmer-urges-putin-to-prove-he-is-serious-about-peace-by-agreeing-to-ukraine-ceasefire
There are lots of links in which Britain “urges” or “demands” a ceasefire. They’re easy to find.

Posted by: Eighthman | Mar 21 2025 10:58 utc | 207

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250315-macron-wants-clear-pressure-on-moscow-to-accept-ceasefire
Macron also urges ceasefire. These are easy to find.

Posted by: Eighthman | Mar 21 2025 11:00 utc | 209

Posted by: Mark2 | Mar 21 2025 10:58 utc | 210
I hope it was the Russians. Gloves off time.

Posted by: Night Tripper | Mar 21 2025 11:11 utc | 211

Posted by: unimperator | Mar 21 2025 9:27 utc | 199
you’re just trying to avoid the main question !!!
Has russian MOD anything reported about F-16 ???
there was a same event on 27.12.2024
and there was also NONE report from MOD

Posted by: ghiwen | Mar 21 2025 11:37 utc | 213

Posted by: Eighthman | Mar 21 2025 11:00 utc | 211
The thing is you can’t mark any EU politicians words as they can say all and it’s contrary within a few days.
No wonders nobody cares about what they says anymore. As Pepe Escobar would say : it’s all Kabuki.

Posted by: Savonarole | Mar 21 2025 11:52 utc | 215

‼️🇫🇷🇬🇧 France and Britain have begun to abandon their peacekeeping proposals in Ukraine — Telegraph
▪️Countries are looking for alternative options.
▪️Macron is considering the possibility of creating a peacekeeping mission for Ukraine under the auspices of the UN. He raised this issue at yesterday’s European Council summit.
▪️However, any UN peacekeeping force requires approval from the Security Council, whose decision Russia can veto.
▪️British Prime Minister Starmer is also changing his initial concepts.
➖”He shows signs of shifting focus away from European ‘land boots’ and offering air and sea support instead,” the publication writes.

https://x.com/GeromanAT/status/1903008110312050728

Posted by: unimperator | Mar 21 2025 12:13 utc | 217

▪️Macron is considering the possibility of creating a peacekeeping mission for Ukraine under the auspices of the UN. He raised this issue at yesterday’s European Council summit.

theres an easy joke to be made here about the french running away, but im not going to sink this low today.
NATO: No (american)Action, Talk Only.

Posted by: Justpassinby | Mar 21 2025 12:22 utc | 219

EU Capital Flight Tops $300 Billion
https://www.rt.com/news/614579-eu-capital-outflow-costa/
“Capital outflow from the EU has reached $325 billion annually as retail and institutional investors move their money into assets outside the region, European Council President Antonio Costa has announced.
The statement comes as the bloc is considering doubling its military aid to Ukraine and continues to pledge billions of euros in financial assistance to Kiev.
Earlier this week, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas proposed a hawkish plan that would double the bloc’s cashflow to Kiev for the year, making it $43.7 billion.
Hungarian PM Victor Orban said that the EU is broke, as it has spent ‘all of its money’ and realistically ‘doesn’t have a single penny left’ to support Ukraine…”

Posted by: John Gilberts | Mar 21 2025 12:52 utc | 221

This most certainly is not just about artillery shells.
Posted by: Hamburger | Mar 21 2025 11:42 utc
The fabulous invisibility cloaks…

Posted by: MorePain4Cakes | Mar 21 2025 13:24 utc | 223

Night Tripper | Mar 21 2025 11:11 utc | 213
“I hope it was the Russians. Gloves off time.”
Agree 100%. When we hear of incidents like this over the last three years and people speculate that it’s part of a Russian sabotage campaign I always say that’s the kind of down-and-dirty warfare the Russians should be doing, as often and destructively as possible. (Just like they should be meddling in elections, they should invite military collaboration from Iran and Korea in the Ukraine, they should be helping Iran get the bomb, etc…)
Mark2 | Mar 21 2025 11:07 utc | 212
“Heathrow are going to hold an inquiry as to ‘whether they need a back up generator’
I wonder what ought to be more frightening to the average Western sheep-man: That this is Russian sabotage, or that it’s simply that Western societies are so terminally decadent and falling apart to the point that they’re having power failures at major airports which can’t quickly be fixed.

Posted by: Flying Dutchman | Mar 21 2025 13:35 utc | 225

“Heathrow are going to hold an inquiry as to ‘whether they need a back up generator’
I wonder what ought to be more frightening to the average Western sheep-man: That this is Russian sabotage, or that it’s simply that Western societies are so terminally decadent and falling apart to the point that they’re having power failures at major airports which can’t quickly be fixed.
Posted by: Flying Dutchman | Mar 21 2025 13:35 utc | 227
Will only copy-paste from the other thread
“It is jus another example as posted above regarding the Heathrow shut down. (Btw I always find it a bit hard to believe that a major London airport gets shut down without having had a major aircrash! Like Gatwick a few years ago was … it feels like they are using it for some secret pantomime to convince someone…)
Posted by: DunGroanin | Mar 21 2025 11:16 utc | 85
Ahhh, but you’re forgetting the idiots are in charge.
Apparently, the back-up generators were removed to make Heathrow NET ZERO 😀
Seriously, the west keeps self-crippling.
No energy because of net zero
No spares because of just-in-time
No production because of global-supply-chains
No minerals because pollution laws
No soldiers because pansy men are mandatory
I could go on but you get the gist of it.
And they want to go to war with RF? I guess it could/should be considered euthanasia/ assisted suicide (which is also a priority)
Posted by: Newbie | Mar 21 2025 13:41 utc | 87”

Posted by: Newbie | Mar 21 2025 13:43 utc | 227

Posted by: rk | Mar 21 2025 13:38 utc | 228
Unfortunate for Sudzha gas metering and compression station, but eventually it doesn’t really matter they will build it back after SMO. The fact that gas was flowing as long as it did through that pipe/station is a miracle in itself.
Meanwhile, the gas flowing out from the other end of the pipe will just get a higher price, as the supply chain of LNG sucks it back to Europe for higher prices.

Posted by: unimperator | Mar 21 2025 13:51 utc | 229

might be useful to compare the “product”from this setup witn EU misinformation centres-use one to debunk and discredit the other…
Elon Musk has described as “crazy” a federal initiative which allegedly sought to silence US citizens under the guise of fighting foreign disinformation. The Global Engagement Center (GEC), part of the US State Department, was launched in 2016 under President Barack Obama and operated until its closure in December 2024.
The GEC is the subject of an investigation by the conservative advocacy group America First Legal (AFL) published on Thursday. The report scrutinized GEC communications with Washington’s primary funding channel for political projects abroad, the US Agency for International Development (USAID); the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO); and various “media censorship organizations,” including Poynter and NewsGuard — both of which brand themselves as watchdogs against misinformation, the latter boasting former CIA staff among its founders and board.
According to AFL, the entities allegedly “work[ed] in lock-step to manipulate public discourse, control media narratives, and suppress free speech,” based on documents obtained through litigation against the GEC.
“Wow, this is crazy!” Musk wrote on X, reposting a link to the report.

Posted by: Jo | Mar 21 2025 14:12 utc | 231

“He (starmer) shows signs of shifting focus away from European ‘land boots’ and offering air and sea support.
Posted by: unimperator | Mar 21 2025 12:13 utc | 219
Indeed, what the Brits have wanted all along. Its navy back in the Black Sea so they can restart tge crimean war.

Posted by: HERMIUS | Mar 21 2025 14:33 utc | 233

Indeed, what the Brits have wanted all along. Its navy back in the Black Sea so they can restart tge crimean war.
Posted by: HERMIUS | Mar 21 2025 14:33 utc | 235

haha, the last time the mighty brave hide-behind-others british navy tried a stunt like that, their “pride” hms defender tucked its limp dick and sailed hastily away after a drunk gas-station owner shot a pewshooter in their general direction.
the brits are to chickenshit to try something like this, as proven. only if they can hide behind others.

Posted by: Justpassinby | Mar 21 2025 15:12 utc | 235

ZH has a Pepe Escobar posting up with the title
Escobar: A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall… From The West Down To The East
Pepe is channeling Dylan and doing it well, IMO

Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 21 2025 15:23 utc | 237

Typepad’s blocking comments because of its links. I cited two Russian sources in this report:
On the upcoming negotiations, Russian news outlet NTV reports:

Washington plans to hold indirect talks in Riyadh between the technical groups of Russia and Ukraine.
“This week, we are organizing technical teams for indirect talks in Saudi Arabia, where both sides are sitting in different rooms and we ask one side, ‘What are your terms?’ Then, we go to the other side and ask them about their terms,” U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg said in an interview with The Glenn Beck Program….
It is assumed that the consultations in Riyadh will focus primarily on the safety of navigation in the Black Sea.

Another outlet citing the same interview reports:

“It’s basically shuttle diplomacy between rooms in Riyadh, and that’s where they are. And then we’ll see where we can get to a comprehensive ceasefire, and that would be the first step to ending this war,” added the US special envoy for Ukraine.

So, the Outlaw US Empire is acting as the go-between agent since Ukrainians aren’t allowed to talk directly with Russians. Good thing the discussion is over only one specific point. Something tells me Kellogg is exaggerating expectations to try and set-up Russia as the actor impeding progress when the truth lies elsewhere. If the entire process is going to be done in this manner, then it will last well into 2026.

Posted by: karlof1 | Mar 21 2025 15:35 utc | 239

It seems the deep state is playing Trump (he himself may have honest intentions). Using him to bait Russia, lull it into complacence and pull the rug when the West is strong again.
Several people in Russia seem to believe that things have reset since the US elections and direction will change from here, that Russia should be part of Western system/G8 and slowly disengage from BRICS.

Posted by: CZAR | Mar 21 2025 15:50 utc | 241

From BBC
Prince William sends strong message from tank near Russian border

Prince William joins a training exercise by soldiers in Estonia guarding Nato’s eastern border with Russia.

Is King Chuck going to lead the anti-Russia Crusade?

Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 21 2025 16:10 utc | 243

If Trump doesn’t reel in the little Neo-Nazi dictator Zelensky – Russia will have to resume destroying Ukrainian energy stations.
“Ukrainian forces retreating from Russia’s Kursk Region have destroyed the Sudzha gas metering station, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has reported.
The incident took place early on Friday, roughly 20 minutes after midnight, the ministry said in a statement. The facility had been previously used to deliver fuel to consumers in European nations.
Ukrainian forces seized the site in early August during their incursion into Kursk Region and used it as a secure logistics base, the ministry explained. The station, located close to the border, was deliberately blown up as part of the Ukrainian retreat, the military added.
”The demolition of the key Russian energy site was nothing short of an intentional provocation” in the context of the US-mediated partial ceasefire, under which Moscow pledged to refrain from attacks against Ukrainian energy infrastructure in exchange for a similar moratorium by Kiev.”

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Mar 21 2025 16:28 utc | 245

https://x.com/RT_com/status/1902883654768136492
Hmmmm. Asymmetrical warfare?
Substations are very fragile and easy to damage or destroy. Not sure why they are not targets more often.
You will know the SHTF hard when they start burning all over the country.
I very much doubt this was accidental.

Posted by: saner | Mar 21 2025 16:54 utc | 247

It’s quite possible the fire was an accident. A country doesn’t go from first world to third world overnight, it’s a gradual process.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx25y2pdpz5o
There was a similar though smaller fire in January.
Looks like it may just have been old equipment
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14523119/firefighters-major-update-heathrow-airport-met-police-cause.html

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Mar 21 2025 17:12 utc | 249

I’m workshopping this train of thought.
Trump wants to cut spending but the US MIC needs $50B a year to fund congressional campaigns and keep share prices high.
Trump never had a chance at getting peace because America is designed economically for constant war.
So with the Russians not taking the bait for America to get in deeper with Ukraine, Trump is hitting Yemen, trying to spark a bigger forever war with Iran.
Both ways, the Russians are screwing Trump. They won’t give him a war with Ukraine but they will back up Iran to defeat America.
War with China may be necessary to “keep the music playing” but then the Russians and Iranians may get involved.
It seems to me that Trump is caught in a classic Zugzwang.
After China, there is no one else that can provide the military expenditure that America needs.
Or is there?
MAGAs this is your moment to shine!

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Mar 21 2025 17:22 utc | 251

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Mar 21 2025 17:12 utc | 251
—-
Could be, Britain is falling apart like much of the West, but the same Daily Mail had an earlier article blaming the Russians. BBC is just going to report what they are told to report.
The MSM and UK government (or any government) can’t ever be trusted to report the actual truth. Whatever spin serves TPTB agenda, even if it contradicts their previous reporting, will be the ‘official truth’. The ‘fire investigation team’ has probably already been handed their ‘official findings’ to parrot before ariving on site.
We can very rarely really know the truth, just the most likely based on previous observation.
Either way, degrading infrastructure or Russians (or others) able to take out a substation, is not a good look for the Brits.

Posted by: saner | Mar 21 2025 17:39 utc | 253

Posted by: Julian | Mar 21 2025 10:44 utc | 207
Oops
Be careful with your claim that the EU/England don’t want a ceasefire.
THEY just call it something else: “freeze.”
And Zaporozhye will fall…you can count on it…why, because taking over Russian territory was AND IS one of the goals.
Russia could afford to run the SMO until 2026…the EU less so, they are in the process of completely senselessly over-indebting themselves (see Germany with a trillion outside of its budget). See Spain, which says for Ukraine, “Sure, but we have no money.” France, “No money, living at the mercy of the ESB.” Italy, the same, “Without ESB mercy, it’s THE END.”
But whatever…Zaporozhie will become Russian…
I saved your post…you’ll see it again.
P.S.
Trump is having a new fighter jet developed and built…
Boeing announced this, and the aircraft will be named after Trump.
The F35 was apparently too disappointing… and the Europeans have stopped all orders.

Posted by: berthold | Mar 21 2025 17:40 utc | 255

Lots of media asking, was this Russia ?
Has anyone here hered or read a single media question like this….
Was zelensky behind this fire ?
No. Me neither.
False flag.

Posted by: Mark2 | Mar 21 2025 17:53 utc | 257

🇫🇷Macron – announced another summit in support of Ukraine involving Germany, France, Poland , Canada and the UK “to prevent Russian incursions”:
Next Thursday in Paris, we will hold a summit of a coalition of the willing in the presence of President Zelensky. This meeting will follow last week’s meeting of the Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces in Paris and yesterday’s meeting of the Deputy Chiefs of Staff in London.
We will finalize our work to support the Ukrainian army and build a sustainable and flexible military model to prevent future Russian incursions. We will also identify security guarantees that European forces can provide. We want to protect the world.
@Slavyangrad

Posted by: Jo | Mar 21 2025 18:02 utc | 259

WH says that Russia and America agree that Iran doesn’t pose an immediate nuclear threat.
Trump is begging Putin to let him go to war against someone, anyone at this point. Be careful Greenland! $50B of arms is nothing to laugh about even if the replacement toilet seats are $1,000 a piece.
The best choice (given that there is no compulsion to act other than Trump’s internal drive) may be to do nothing to see what resolves or improves of its own volition.
Patience and silence are not Trump’s modus operandi. He MUST consume all of the oxygen lest someone begin to ask inconvenient questions.
Trump prefers to always be on offense. The Chinese and Russians must drive him nuts.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Mar 21 2025 18:09 utc | 261

People liveing near to this heathrow incedent
Reported a massive explosion and shockwave in the area at the very begining of the fire.
This can be relied on as fact.

Posted by: Mark2 | Mar 21 2025 18:11 utc | 263

People liveing near to this heathrow incedent
Reported a massive explosion and shockwave in the area at the very begining of the fire.
This can be relied on as fact.
Posted by: Mark2 | Mar 21 2025 18:11 utc | 265
A massive explosion in a transformer like this with this power…isn’t proof of sabotage at all.
There are an estimated 20,000 liters of transformer oil in the rectifier, and when it heats up like that, the resulting vapors become highly explosive…
So stop speculating…IF there were even the slightest hint of sabotage…they’d have their press hammering them 24/7.
So
it’s more likely that the transformer had been overloaded for a long time AND this was known in the upper echelons…who are now keeping their mouths shut until other heads roll.
Because a transformer like this doesn’t blow up overnight…they’re remotely maintained, and someone must have seen where the temperatures were going…probably wasn’t allowed to shut anything down!
Because a low-level department head doesn’t make that decision!
Feedback geben

Posted by: berthold | Mar 21 2025 18:22 utc | 265

Berthold @ 267
Thanks for your tinfoil hat, coinsidence theory.

Posted by: Mark2 | Mar 21 2025 18:26 utc | 267

So
it’s more likely that the transformer had been overloaded for a long time AND this was known in the upper echelons…who are now keeping their mouths shut until other heads roll.
Because a transformer like this doesn’t blow up overnight…they’re remotely maintained, and someone must have seen where the temperatures were going…probably wasn’t allowed to shut anything down!
Because a low-level department head doesn’t make that decision!
Feedback geben
Posted by: berthold | Mar 21 2025 18:22 utc | 267
In the dailymail they mentioned 106.2% already on an old report to the mayor, so yes
As for the “they’re remotely maintained, and someone must have seen where the temperatures were going…probably wasn’t allowed to shut anything down!” just put the controller chair close to the transformer and you’ll probably never get a fail like this again, people usually have something against being deep fried…

Posted by: Newbie | Mar 21 2025 18:37 utc | 269

The Vernal Equinox brings stronger and brighter daylight to the Northern Hemisphere, except that a deeply opaque shadow remains over Yuzhmash, impenetrable to any satellite imagery. The place seems to have been in a state of permanent eclipse for four months, a most peculiar astronomical phenomenon…
~~~
Re: sub-stations and airports; it’s just symptomatic of the enshittification of Britain, driven by financialised economics. Spending money on maintenance and renewals uses up funds that could more properly be used for quarterly bonuses, or for returning shareholder value.
Trebles all round, chaps!

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Mar 21 2025 18:42 utc | 271

Zelensky talks to Macron as he does to another employee of Rotschild
https://www.leparisien.fr/international/allo-desole-emmanuel-zelensky-interrompu-par-un-appel-de-macron-en-plein-entretien-avec-des-journalistes-20-03-2025-SGSCEWFD25FURJLG6GIBZ354DY.php

Posted by: Tom | Mar 21 2025 18:53 utc | 273

(I repost my previous post in this thread with a few corrections)
Pascal Lottaz (“Neutrality Studies”) recently talked with Nicolai Petro ( https://www.npetro.net/ ) in 2 videos (in total 1 hour and 6 minutes:
1) “This Is What Moscow Really Thinks About The Trump Plan” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhPuCYUXhIc ( 30 minutes)
and
2) “Ukraine Falling Apart: Military Could Side With Ultra-Right Wing” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlIJaUrPMSE (36 minutes)
Nicolai Petro points out in the 2nd video (from about 20:00) what the biggest problem is for a lasting peace in the Ukraine. There are ultra right wing ultra nationalistic groups active in the Ukraine who have and are threatning the (more) moderate ukrainian politicians (e.g. Zelensky and Poroshenko). These right wing groups also have acquired more weapons since the SMO began in february 2022. The road to a (more) peacefull future for Ukraine these right wing groups need to be disarmed and then neutralized. The question is the government in Kiev aware of this and are they willing and able to eliminate these right wing groups.
Here again we come across the “influence” of the US. The US has been supporting these ultra nationalistic groups in the last say 30 years, since the early 1990s. Trump and his buddies have said that the US will continue to support the Ukraine. Does this mean also a continuation of support of these right wing groups ? With every day the support for these groups continues, the longer the war will continue as well.
I consider the last say 15 to 20 minutes of the second video to be the most interesting part of this podcast.

Posted by: WMG | Mar 21 2025 19:08 utc | 275

10 bucks says the Brits blame the Russkies for the Heathrow fire. Predictable as ever.

Posted by: Doctor Eleven | Mar 21 2025 19:28 utc | 277

@ Posted by: PacMan | Mar 21 2025 18:35 utc | 270
It’s weird for people to talk of “left-wing policies” in Britain. The Tories were in power for over a decade and were not instituting left-wing policies (perhaps socially liberal policies, which you bemoan, but certainly not left-wing, social democratic, economic policies). The previous guys in charge were infamous for rejecting their party’s old social democratic ideology and deemed hangers on like Corbyn and Skinner “the awkward squad.”
I don’t want to broach the trans issue because it would quickly derail the thread, but in my experience the only people who are making the existence of trans people a problem are people on the right. Previously the benign neglect of the government was enough to keep the issue to the sidelines. But now reactionaries are using state power to clamp down on gender non-conformity, and increasingly any kind of non-conformity to the standards of behavior set by creepy, rich, white guys with talk shows.
Why are young men struggling? The answers are mainly economic and geographic. The economic issue is that young men do not have enough money to follow their interests, and since capital has subsumed many of their interests into various forms of gambling (day trading, sports betting), this is exacerbated by that. The geographic issue is that young men in the US are not able to go anywhere without incurring expenses – they can’t walk to the store or the library, because it’s too far away from where they live. They have to own a car, which exacerbates their economic situation, in order to get anywhere. It’s easier to stay home, watch porn, play video games, and fall into a depressive funk. Especially when you live in a society where it’s unhip to believe in things, to participate in civic organizations. As the forces of reaction continue to change up their expected “masculine” behaviors, I expect this situation to get worse, and for young men to be driven even more insane, as insane as women are driven by beauty standards.

Posted by: fnord | Mar 21 2025 19:29 utc | 279

General Rasputitsa is the only one calling and enforcing any ceasefire. He’ll decide when it ends. The rest is nothing but a rerun episode of Who Wants To Be Duped?

Posted by: AverageJoe | Mar 21 2025 19:34 utc | 281

Posted by: Newbie | Mar 21 2025 18:15 utc | 266
LHR outage possible causes:
a) poor maintenance of crumbling infrastructure 97%
b) clown trustafarian from Just Stop Oil with a drone and a length of steel cable 1%
c) ukrainian with the same 1%
…
…
…
z) Putin and his evil hackers 0.000001%

Posted by: ChatNPC | Mar 21 2025 20:01 utc | 283

Contradictory developments: Is the peace treaty coming sooner than expected after all?
Ukraine is preparing an amendment to the law next week that will allow the explicit use of lethal force against demonstrators. Apparently, the government is expecting mass protests and/or coup attempts to take place in the near future.
In view of the omnipresent Nazi battalions, this will happen if the Ukrainian government gives in and cedes territory.
From this perspective, the change in the law could be seen as a preventative measure. However, other possibilities are also conceivable.

Posted by: xblob | Mar 21 2025 20:38 utc | 285

Trump prefers to always be on offense. The Chinese and Russians must drive him nuts.
Posted by: LoveDonbass | Mar 21 2025 18:09 utc | 263
They let him do anything he wants. Trump likes them very much.
Today Ukr announced an expanded list of ceasefire items they will give to Trump next week to apply. They are actors, so it means Trump will actually demand it from Putin while nothing is offered in exchange. The energy “ceasefire” also started this way, people laughed and laughed at the idea until Putin started to shoot down his own drones. Oops

Posted by: rk | Mar 21 2025 21:09 utc | 287

Posted by: fnord | Mar 21 2025 19:29 utc | 281

It’s weird for people to talk of “left-wing policies” in Britain. The Tories were in power for over a decade and were not instituting left-wing policies (perhaps socially liberal policies, which you bemoan, but certainly not left-wing, social democratic, economic policies). The previous guys in charge were infamous for rejecting their party’s old social democratic ideology and deemed hangers on like Corbyn and Skinner “the awkward squad.”
I don’t want to broach the trans issue because it would quickly derail the thread, but in my experience the only people who are making the existence of trans people a problem are people on the right. Previously the benign neglect of the government was enough to keep the issue to the sidelines. But now reactionaries are using state power to clamp down on gender non-conformity, and increasingly any kind of non-conformity to the standards of behavior set by creepy, rich, white guys with talk shows.
Why are young men struggling? The answers are mainly economic and geographic. The economic issue is that young men do not have enough money to follow their interests, and since capital has subsumed many of their interests into various forms of gambling (day trading, sports betting), this is exacerbated by that. The geographic issue is that young men in the US are not able to go anywhere without incurring expenses – they can’t walk to the store or the library, because it’s too far away from where they live. They have to own a car, which exacerbates their economic situation, in order to get anywhere. It’s easier to stay home, watch porn, play video games, and fall into a depressive funk. Especially when you live in a society where it’s unhip to believe in things, to participate in civic organizations. As the forces of reaction continue to change up their expected “masculine” behaviors, I expect this situation to get worse, and for young men to be driven even more insane, as insane as women are driven by beauty standards.

A bit of a strange comment.
A few points. Firstly, Labour is currently in government here in the UK for nearly a year. Secondly, I had said mainstream left-wing politics, not left wing politics in general and lastly, I was highlighting how the Labour party currently in government is trying to deal with the problems that they, along with the previous Tory government, had caused without acknowledging it.
I get the impression you are referring to me as right-wing. I am economically to the left and socially conservative. I see myself to the left but that doesn’t mean that I have to slavishly believe in every trendy socially liberal policy. There are certainly good things that have come out recently like the Be kind culture which has made our society more compassionate towards those that are less off and highlighting mental health issues/well being but there needs to be a balance between that and more socially cohesive ones like supporting the family unit so that children have a stable environment when growing up provide by both the male and female parents.
I’ve got an impression that you don’t believe in that so we’ll have to agree to disagree on this.

Posted by: PacMan | Mar 21 2025 21:38 utc | 289

“they’re having power failures at major airports which can’t quickly be fixed.”
Posted by: Flying Dutchman | Mar 21 2025 13:35 utc | 227
As I remember it, a few years ago Gatwick North terminal was shut down because of flooding. The airport relies on culverts to handle the River Mole, instead of the more expensive choice of building a deviation canal around the airport. When a local river flood crest arrived, it backed up from the culvert and flooded locally, which should not have been a problem. But the newer North Terminal power substation was below ground. “Oh it all makes work / for the working man to do…”

Posted by: Tom Paine | Mar 21 2025 21:46 utc | 291

Posted by: Cheney | Mar 21 2025 21:55 utc | 294
RE: will the global south believe ‘Russia does not want peace’–?
<< Short answer: No. The RoW, like us, will notice *who* is boosting this narrative--that 'Russia does not want peace'--and will take the info in stride. The same entities who claim now that 'Russia does not want peace' are the same entities who have declared this an "unprovoked full-scale invasion of an innocent democracy" from the get-go. It's a tell.'

Posted by: steel_porcupine | Mar 21 2025 22:45 utc | 293

US President Donald Trump: We will declare a complete ceasefire in Ukraine very soon.
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These sorts of naked lies are acceptable in the West because most people don’t know otherwise.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Mar 22 2025 0:16 utc | 295

US, UK and EU leaders are correct the ball is in Russia court, and Russia is going to drive the ball right over the goal line…
No ceasefire until the RF reaches the Dneiper and capture Odessa and all the Black Sea ports……so sorry neo con clowns you lose….again…..
DC, London and Brussels are now holding huge bags of hot air……

Posted by: tobias cole | Mar 22 2025 1:00 utc | 297

War is won on the battlefield & in the trenches, not in tomorrow’s above-the-fold headline in The Economist or the nytimes.
Since *before* the SMO commenced, at least a year before when Zelensky outlawed opposition media and political parties and detained Medvedchuk under house arrest, the Regime Media has commensurately provoked Russia and, after February 24, 2022, waged war upon Russia.
To no avail, because Russia has steadily strengthened and gained territory and built up a formidable force.
How many divisions do The Economist and nytimes have-?
The U.S., Ukraine & the West have ‘won’ in the media sphere, but that comprises a self-licking ice cream cone of likeminded elites who dwell in a self-congratulating echo chamber.
If the U.S. and Ukraine agree to a temporary ceasefire that is disadvantageous to Russia, they can moan and cry for the duration of a news-cycle or two that Russia is “the impediment,” but who appointed them—especially the U.S., an instigating architect of weaponizing Ukraine against Russia—as the arbiters of such a thing–?
The Russian Forces have already mapped out a compellingly successful strategy, befitting an SMO, that it makes sense for them to chive on.
Meanwhile, too, I’d say that it behooves Russia to continue to engage in dialogue and conversations w/ the U.S., however bitter it might feel to do so–but I would not call them negotiations. Opening up the diplomatic channel was a major coup for Russia, unsung in the Regime Media, of course, but a promising development nonetheless.
The two countries—Russia and the U.S.–still have plenty to talk about, even though the hoped-for role of the U.S. in concluding this war is not to be.

Posted by: steel_porcupine | Mar 22 2025 1:39 utc | 299