Sanctions against Russia

[pmccarthy]

They also have some serious serviceability problems due to poor design. Access for basic servicing. 

[onetrack]

Peter, they wouldn't be orphans in that respect. There's some God-awful lack of accessibility for servicing in a large proportion of the highly-engineered items we buy today, such as vehicles.

 

The only thing I've ever seen, that had a modicum of thought put into accessibilty was the old mans 1959 Triumph Herald. The forward-opening bonnet that gave you total access to the entire front end and engine was a marvel to anyone he showed it to. It's just a shame that the Standard-Triumph company didn't put more quality into their engines, and make more profit out of what they did build.

[Old Koreelah]

1 minute ago, onetrack said:

The only thing I've ever seen, that had a modicum of thought put into accessibilty was the old mans 1959 Triumph Herald. The forward-opening bonnet that gave you total access to the entire front end..

I wasted many days sitting on the driver’s side front wheel of my 1961 Herald, trying to balance the twin Carbs. It was only ten years old, but a wreck.
I somehow kept it going for a year or two, then abandoned it by the roadside in total disgust. A couple of month later some bloke sent me actual money, because he wanted to buy it! This impoverished student couldn’t believe his luck!

[Jerry_Atrick]

11 hours ago, onetrack said:

European products idiocy we have come to expect from Defence and Thales in recent years

Well, Thales is a French company after all...

 

[facthunter]

Putin says he will support Lukashenko if there's an uprising in Belarus by the people.   Nev

[onetrack]

Fighting on two fronts is not exactly the premium masterplan for success. Putin needs to ask Adolf Hitler about that technique.

[Old Koreelah]

2 hours ago, facthunter said:

Putin says he will support Lukashenko if there's an uprising in Belarus by the people.   Nev

So he’s saying stuff what the citizens want, they’ll stay in a dictatorship. 

Very sad to see Russia continuing it’s age-old strategy of using it’s neighbours as a buffer zone against the outside world. 

They still haven’t learned what other nations have: that if you play nice with the other kids your life might be better.

[facthunter]

Lukashenko would be lucky to make old bones in any case. He's a SICK man and they both NEED each other.  Nev

[Jerry_Atrick]

1 hour ago, Old Koreelah said:

So he’s saying stuff what the citizens want, they’ll stay in a dictatorship. 

Maybe I have misread this, but I can't see too many people wanting Lukashenko nor Putin... The military are the only thing keeping him in power there.

[facthunter]

Lukashenko gives them cheap fuel but I don't think He'd walk the streets alone at night.. He'd NEVER be missed except by Poutain. Nev

[Bruce Tuncks]

I reckon that Australia is stupid for not having nukes, as I reckon Ukraine was stupid for giving them up.

[facthunter]

 A nuclear war will finish  the world as we know it. Only totally MAD people consider it.  Nev

[Bruce Tuncks]

Correct, Nev. Nukes are a deterrent only. Do you think Russia would have attacked Ukraine if they had nukes and he was setting off ww3?

[facthunter]

Hard to tell with MAD people. but being disliked by the US is not where I'd want to be. Their leaders (USA )aren't that swish either  Mutually ASSURED Destruction  MAD should be a deterrent but not if you're dropkick MAD. Nev

[Bruce Tuncks]

It's a difficult question I know, but surely you are unelectable if you really are mad? Even Trump was not that crazy. I dunno about Putin, but his caution about getting bumped off by one of his own  bodyguards is obvious, so surely he will not want to be nuked?

I've just read some accounts from students who shared with insane room-mates, and they did really insane things like smash a hole in a wall because they were "trapped". None of them would have been elected or made dictator, in fact they generally dropped out.

Gosh I hope to be right here. Funny how the fate of the world is hanging on just how crazy Putin is or is not.

 

[facthunter]

Medvedev said if Russia is of no significance we might as well all die. Putin is also sick so may well take all of us with him. It's not whether they are MAD it's HOW MAD?  Nev

[willedoo]

Medvedev is mad but he's also an alcoholic and rarely sober when he makes his gibberish statements. I think the rest of the Kremlin just humour him. Probably why he was demoted from the position of PM; too loose up top.

[facthunter]

HE only kept the seat warm for Putin.   Nev

[willedoo]

57 minutes ago, facthunter said:

HE only kept the seat warm for Putin.   Nev

That was the presidency, then he went back to being PM again. When putler got those constitutional changes through he demoted the clown to deputy chairman of the security council. Didn't even trust him to be chairman. The biggest joke is that when Medvedev was president, the west thought they had it made and that he was pro-western. He turned out to be a sheep in wolf's clothing.

[facthunter]

More like a stool pigeon? Nev

[Bruce Tuncks]

Medvedev is a case in point....  he was too obviously insane for him to have his fingers anywhere the red button.

Putin is insane too, but in a much more cautious way.

[Jerry_Atrick]

I can't help but to think, after watching the below YT vid, that Ukaine has been betrayed by both the East and the West...

 

[willedoo]

The  big Nova Kakhovka hydro-electric dam on the Dnipro River upstream from Kherson has been blown. It looks like the hydro-electric plant is totally destroyed (bottom right of photo).

 

[willedoo]

When the reservoir empties it will be the end of Crimea's water supply. They'll be back on water restrictions and water piped from mainland Russia.

[willedoo]

The Australian Financial Review is reporting on the possibility of some of our retired legacy Hornets going to Ukraine.

 

https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/retired-raaf-fighter-jets-could-be-sent-to-ukraine-20230605-p5de0h