Afternoon people. Not a bad night sleep.still extremely windy. Hosta,I had a dream about you!!! Nope, I don't know what you look like. You were a Russian Oligarch,and wanted me to accompany you on some diplomatic mission and pretend to be your girlfriend. I am available if the offer is still available!!!
Grey and miserable out, so yet another day inside. Wasted most of yesterday reading. I started a new book, and got so gripped that I couldn’t put it down. Making up for it by catching up on the laundry, and clearing up after OH, who is doing sample patches of paint on the living room walls. Finally seem to have chosen an option that we both like, not easy! OH thinks his O level Art trumps my ( superior! ) taste! I don’t have O level Art because I was put in the Latin class instead, but I bet I’d have done well! luckily I can be quite stubborn, so we have to keep trying different options until we reach agreement or he gives up.
@didyw put very simply, son thinks Putin has a point ... his Ukrainian friends say that a large part of the Ukraine is Russian-speaking and has wanted to be part of Russia for years ... 'White Russians' all hale from the Ukraine region ... the current Ukraine president is a populist (remember he was a tv comedian who ran for president for a laugh) backed by a very right-wing militia who have now been absorbed into the Ukrainian army ... many are allied on the internet with the right-wing militias in the US and use the same websites. The Russians feel that they were mislead by promises made by the west in the pas. They are enraged by the positioning of NATO forces and missiles in Eastern European countries pointing towards Russia ... after all, look what happened when Russia was invited by the Cubans to put its missiles there ... the US didn't like it one bit, so why ... after the supposed end of the Cold War, has NATO been treating Russia like the enemy. Russians tell him that they thought they would be treated, if not as friends, at least not as enemies. They thought they could combine with the west to be a force for stability in the world. However they now see that's never going to happen. They talk about how Russia tried to deal with the violent extremism in Afghanistan but instead of combining forces with them the west armed the Mujahadeen against Russia ... look where that landed us? We then tried to sort out the mess we made and failed miserably ... combined with Russia it might have been sorted. Anyway, now Russia is trying to keep its western boundaries secure ... it just doesn't trust the west ... and the west seems not to realise that Russia is forming alliances with China ... sharing military developments etc. The west really ought to look a bit further than the end of its nose. That's the view of my son and many of his friends ... a lot of it makes sense to me.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thanks for that @Dovefromabove. I suppose the West always has to have some kind of perceived enemy for political reasons. China is more dangerous I think because it is more insidious - buying up infrastructure all across the globe. But our UK govt. makes money out of Russian money so not sure where the tough stance is coming from with them. If we were really serious we would prevent all Russian money from being held by UK banks and prevent Russian oligarchs buying up property only to leave it empty with the disastrous knock-on effect that has on the housing market.
On reading back, I am glad that the stormees are safe and sound! I hope the ensuing weather doesn't affect you too much. Sunny here today but again the cold blustery winds make stuffing around in the garden tiring. Although I did some serious stuffing around this morning!
@Pat E Good night! Your mountain is winking at us!!
The UK has always wanted to have it's cake and eat it @didw ... it wants to be out of the EU but to keep all the benefits ... it wants the US to defend us, but wants Russian (and Chinese) money invested here. We want to have influence in the world but aren't prepared to make the investment that requires. Chickens may well come home to roost.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
@Dovefromabove,an interesting perspective, but it doesn't excuse Putin for the way he acts in other ways. If you haven't already done it, maybe you should put this on the politics thread.
It's funny how we expect Russian leaders to behave better than the ones in the west do isn't it? The west has done some pretty despicable things too.
We in the west seem to think that once a country has an elected government they should adopt other western behaviours ... but there are different ways of seeing the world. Most Russians despise the US tendency towards individual freedoms rather than the collective responsibilities that Russians believe to be more important ... I'm no apologist for Putin but I know how many Russians regard him ... they believe that a vast country like Russia with the huge number of different ethnicities , has to be governed firmly and they believe that he does that. But I'm no authority ... I only know what my ex DIL and her family tell me ... my son has much more knowledge and understanding of the wider situation than I do ... so I'll leave it at that.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Posts
luckily I can be quite stubborn, so we have to keep trying different options until we reach agreement or he gives up.
What is she trying to tell me?
@didyw put very simply, son thinks Putin has a point ... his Ukrainian friends say that a large part of the Ukraine is Russian-speaking and has wanted to be part of Russia for years ... 'White Russians' all hale from the Ukraine region ... the current Ukraine president is a populist (remember he was a tv comedian who ran for president for a laugh) backed by a very right-wing militia who have now been absorbed into the Ukrainian army ... many are allied on the internet with the right-wing militias in the US and use the same websites. The Russians feel that they were mislead by promises made by the west in the pas. They are enraged by the positioning of NATO forces and missiles in Eastern European countries pointing towards Russia ... after all, look what happened when Russia was invited by the Cubans to put its missiles there ... the US didn't like it one bit, so why ... after the supposed end of the Cold War, has NATO been treating Russia like the enemy. Russians tell him that they thought they would be treated, if not as friends, at least not as enemies. They thought they could combine with the west to be a force for stability in the world. However they now see that's never going to happen. They talk about how Russia tried to deal with the violent extremism in Afghanistan but instead of combining forces with them the west armed the Mujahadeen against Russia ... look where that landed us? We then tried to sort out the mess we made and failed miserably ... combined with Russia it might have been sorted.
Anyway, now Russia is trying to keep its western boundaries secure ... it just doesn't trust the west ... and the west seems not to realise that Russia is forming alliances with China ... sharing military developments etc. The west really ought to look a bit further than the end of its nose. That's the view of my son and many of his friends ... a lot of it makes sense to me.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
@Pat E Good night! Your mountain is winking at us!!
Enjoy what's left of your Sunday, if you can.
Tui
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.