Police riot across the US slate.com/news-and-polit…

Horrified and fed up that 30m of our brick copings were taken last night. A nice greeting to visitors to #Walsingham just as we ease lockdown. Are you topping a wall in #Norfolk? Please report if offered reclaim coping bricks #heritagecrime @NorthNorfPolice Norfolk Rural Crime - Operation Randall #rural

Next week, we'll be talking about the impact of #US elections on the broader #MENA with RUSI @ISS_RUS fellows @MikeRStephens ᴅʀ. ʜ.ᴀ. ʜᴇʟʟʏᴇʀ 🖖🏾 ⚜️ Ziya Meral Gareth Stansfield Tobias Borck Clovis Meath Baker and Antonio Giustozzi. Should be good! rusi.org/event/impact-u…

Hoorah for the Deep State: ‘In 2017, conservative writer David Frum quipped that if you replaced “Deep State” with “rule of law,” you’d have a better understanding of Trumpist complaints.’ See arcdigital.media/qanon-woke-up-…

#Kabul 1989 - the letter we received. #Kabul 2021- the tweet we read. #KeepCalmAndCarryOn #Afghanistan

Clovis Meath Baker - where are you now? And how does this compare with 1989?

Helen Goodman In 1989 we expected the (Communist) regime to collapse quite soon after the Soviets left. It lasted more than 2 years, until the Russians stopped support for it. Parallels with the end of South Vietnam. In 2021 we expected the Afghan regime to survive, and it hasn’t.

Helen Goodman Lessons, not pleasant: Violent authoritarian regimes are stronger than consensual democratic ones. Young men are readier to fight for militaristic authoritarian ideologies than for liberal values. Our Western society and values are not universally attractive.

Helen Goodman If we feel obliged to intervene in unstable countries, then we have to be both cleverer about it and more ruthless if we are going to succeed (cf Russia, Iran). I’m not sure any democratic Western government can ever do that, if not faced by an existential threat.

Helen Goodman An Oxford philosophy don once accused me of moral relativism, to close me down. But in the world as it is I can’t see any other way of operating.

Steve George🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 david allen green Helen Goodman Russia seems to have come to an accommodation with the Taleban: Russians are not leaving Kabul, and their embassy is being protected by Taleban ‘soldiers’. A victory for realpolitik/cynicism.

The first zero alcohol ‘beer’ which really works for me.

Read this if nothing else about Ukraine today: A Ukraine No-Fly Zone Would be Ineffective, Dangerous and a Gift to Putin | Royal United Services Institute - rusi.org/explore-our-re…

If he didn’t think he broke the COVID rules, why did he pay the fine? He was entitled to refuse to do so and, if charged, could have set out his defence in court. Paying the fine whilst denying the offence is just more cakeism.

Green energy: trees become woodchip fuel for district heating system

Who would have ever thought it? Pro- Shah display, Trafalgar Square.

No wonder Shell have posted record profits - 10 litres of their Adblue (own brand) is £39.13 - and only £22.99 from Screwfix. #gofigure #Shell

Clovis Meath Baker In India maximum price will be around £9 for 10Ltrs. I can supply incase any bulk quantity on attractive price.

This is disgraceful - the UK government has a duty to get former members of this Afghan unit to safety. Afghanistan: A Final British Betrayal? | Royal United Services Institute rusi.org/explore-our-re…

Crikey! If a job’s worth doing it’s worth doing well.