Putin has been consistent and explicit on the purpose of Russian nuclear forces - to deter Western forces from fighting side by side with Ukrainian. That works for him. Nuclear use for any lesser scenario jeopardises that purpose. samf.substack.com/p/escalation-r…

so, er, throw good money after bad? #UkraineRussiaWar

'The Ukrainian manpower situation is also a very important factor & the new mobilization laws will not give effect until later in the summer.'
even then, manpower shortage will be decisive, & it's not mentioned often enough #UkkraineRussiaWar

note, esp to women: how to remain a factotum for ever

surprised they can locate that many, frankly. the rest should clearly be deported for lack of initiative

'Mass migration undermines the wages of resident workers... '
Yes, but every time I say this, an army of academics wades in to claim the effect is negligible

Building a fairer and more productive nation ukonward.com/reports/a-cons…

ICYMI - formal debates are useful for testing the arguments on either side. This is a particularly good one re #US (& by extension, Western) support for #UkraineRussiaWar

opentodebate.org/debate/should-…

what rubbish. in fact, more older ppl than younger may be affected, but there can be no democracy in the world that does not require voter ID

when you can't tell #Newsnight from #Mumsnet - time to switch off #smartphones

The last thing President Biden wanted was a Middle East war. Now he’s got a big one on his hands, and there is no easy way out. wsj.com/articles/the-m…

Ukraine’s Top Five Challenges Are Unsolvable open.substack.com/pub/korybko/p/…

v misleading article. #China is NOT arming #Russia & Antony Blinken knows that, hence the weasel words
'The US’s top diplomat said that China is a “prime contributor” of weapons-related technology to Russia'

theconversation.com/why-is-china-r… via The Conversation

this means v little w/out equivalent figures from other side.

Staggering Russian losses in Ukraine conflict detailed by UK Minister msn.com/en-gb/news/wor…

'for the moment, western governments are just about controlling the information flow, but if the situation is as bad as it looks... then at some point we are going to see panic break out...'
indeed
Ukr Panic, Rus Advance; Xi... youtu.be/SLSI3EpTY1w?si… via YouTube