BaaLocks

Without flying off on a Brexity type discussion, are we with them though? That FTA is withering on the vine, and WWII did show us that they're only really with us when they need to be, yet we are pulled in in places like Iraq when we are made feel it is to our benefit to be there at the off.
Look, trying to be fair and recognising your 'handle' I understand that - America should do what is right for America, that's their right and nobody denies it. But for those in the countries that seem to see advantage from being in their favour, it never comes free and I do feel (strongly, but let's try and stay friends) not always in a mutually beneficial way.

Fair point and agreed, you clearly haven't taken a single moment to consider a word I (or others) wrote but just simply rolled out the same arguments you've cited over and over. That's probably why it feels like you're going round in circles, and I agree there's not much point in our discussing it further.
I mean, by way of final examples, your very first sentence states "NATO has had a long-standing commitment of mutual defence in Europe" as if it is the divine right of America to be responsible for that. Yet whenever it gets to Putin he's "re-establishing and re-asserting Russian spheres of influence". The irony is palpable.
And then in the second sentence you say "Given in the past 10 years of Putin's actions" when the whole point of previous mails was that Putin has become what he has become based on events stretching way back before that. Again, no attempt to address the point, just another chance to roll out the same arguments again and again. Which is why myself and others have observed you're not listening, you don't want to listen, because you have a PhD, have read the views of experts and clearly know better than those of us trying to get a grasp on what is going on.
You obviously have your agenda firmly set, your views are not for bending, let's not waste each other's time any further.

Fair point and agreed, you clearly haven't taken a single moment to consider a word I (or others) wrote but just simply rolled out the same arguments you've cited over and over. That's probably why it feels like you're going round in circles, and I agree there's not much point in our discussing it further.
I mean, by way of final examples, your very first sentence states "NATO has had a long-standing commitment of mutual defence in Europe" as if it is the divine right of America to be responsible for that. Yet whenever it gets to Putin he's "re-establishing and re-asserting Russian spheres of influence". The irony is palpable.
And then in the second sentence you say "Given in the past 10 years of Putin's actions" when the whole point of previous mails was that Putin has become what he has become based on events stretching way back before that. Again, no attempt to address the point, just another chance to roll out the same arguments again and again. Which is why myself and others have observed you're not listening, you don't want to listen, because you have a PhD, have read the views of experts and clearly know better than those of us trying to get a grasp on what is going on.
You obviously have your agenda firmly set, your views are not for bending, let's not waste each other's time any further.

Everything that has happened since Feb 24th is wrong, inexcusable, horrific (a point everyone, except Putin, agrees on). But you seem to be saying "ah, see, that's why we asked for NATO bases in Romania, Estonia, Poland, Ukraine. Because if we didn't have them then we wouldn't be able to defend against this lunatic whose now invaded their neighbours. Ergo, we were right". But the point is that the argument falls down when you say "but their reaction justifies our initial action" because we all know that if the initial action hadn't been proposed we wouldn't have the reaction. Newton's Third Law!
NATO, a blatantly Cold War construct akin to the Warsaw Pact in it's arcaneness, is now suggesting it is right to place military installations right up against the border of Russia and everyone, including Russia, should appreciate this is being done for defensive purposes. Nothing aggressive in that at all. Just making sure we're all safe in our beds. What is NATO there for? What is it's purpose? Genuinely, in the absence of the Warsaw Pact and the Cold War what purpose does it serve, other than to be an aggressor to those that America choose to provoke or believe to be hostile in their intent? Team America World Police it sure ain't. yet those who don't buy into the model of manifest destiny are somehow blind and stupid because they can't see the wonder that American democracy, white picket fences and free trade deals on Chevrolet cars is going to bring them.
To your point on Trump (or Biden) - I wonder how he would have reacted if Russia had proposed military support of Mexico and potential missile installations right up to his famous wall. Don't answer that, we all know.

Everything that has happened since Feb 24th is wrong, inexcusable, horrific (a point everyone, except Putin, agrees on). But you seem to be saying "ah, see, that's why we asked for NATO bases in Romania, Estonia, Poland, Ukraine. Because if we didn't have them then we wouldn't be able to defend against this lunatic whose now invaded their neighbours. Ergo, we were right". But the point is that the argument falls down when you say "but their reaction justifies our initial action" because we all know that if the initial action hadn't been proposed we wouldn't have the reaction. Newton's Third Law!
NATO, a blatantly Cold War construct akin to the Warsaw Pact in it's arcaneness, is now suggesting it is right to place military installations right up against the border of Russia and everyone, including Russia, should appreciate this is being done for defensive purposes. Nothing aggressive in that at all. Just making sure we're all safe in our beds. What is NATO there for? What is it's purpose? Genuinely, in the absence of the Warsaw Pact and the Cold War what purpose does it serve, other than to be an aggressor to those that America choose to provoke or believe to be hostile in their intent? Team America World Police it sure ain't. yet those who don't buy into the model of manifest destiny are somehow blind and stupid because they can't see the wonder that American democracy, white picket fences and free trade deals on Chevrolet cars is going to bring them.
To your point on Trump (or Biden) - I wonder how he would have reacted if Russia had proposed military support of Mexico and potential missile installations right up to his famous wall. Don't answer that, we all know.

Why can't people just grasp that a country that has...
Been in nearly 400 military conflicts
Been in conflict for over 90% of its existence 
Has 750 military bases in 80 countries
Uses atomic bombs, Agent Orange, Napalm strikes
Waterboard a captive in 83 times in 1 month!! check out Abu Zubaydah... lovely read. Thinking of booking Guantanamo Bay for next year, myself. 
Pumps billions of dollars into Israel to help it defend itself (grown a bit that place, hasn't it)
Chose to not publish drone strikes (of which there were over 2,000 in Trump's first 2 years but they probably were all landing on those goat feckers so ah well)
Armed rebellions, provided weapons and financed wars across the globe. 
Engineered incidents/made false accusations to justify wars
Account for a sizable portion of the world's gun crimes
Had a President that threatened to "totally destroy" an enemy nation
Accidently kills thousands and thousands of civilians (but most of them are far away so they're not really real people)
... why can't people just grasp that this country is not aggressive. OK, so a few Muslim farmers get hit in the crossfire but understand that America only does this to protect our freedoms and the freedom of this poor citizen... oops, not you... this poor citizen here. 
Is it really that hard to understand they're just trying to make the world a better place and there's no power to be gained from them. 
Some may say that they're the Ying to Russia's Yang. But not me. I say this nation is entirely defensive and anybody who disagrees is obviously from the barbarians hordes to the East or just not as smart as I am. 
Feck Putin too btw. Just in case somebody starts saying "you like dead Ukranian children" or some such nonsense. 

If you want to get in and out of Russia for personal (or business) reasons you can but it's not easy. You can fly out of the Middle East hubs such as Doha or Dubai and a lot of traffic is going through Armenia.
For tourists there are apparently stalls in Moscow offering Italian visas that have popped up, given lots of places are going to be a little more tricky to get to. Not sure how they will travel but be sure they only want sanctions to apply in one direction. Some of the traditional locations such as Goa and Turkey are still open for business for Russians. Vietnam just removed all visa restrictions for Russians and most of SE Asia is happy to receive them.
But they should be careful what they wish for, I would be more likely to be supportive of Putin before I would endorse the actions of the average Russian tourist. If you think Brits abroad are something special you've obviously never encountered a group of Russian holidaymakers at an all inclusive buffet.

If you want to get in and out of Russia for personal (or business) reasons you can but it's not easy. You can fly out of the Middle East hubs such as Doha or Dubai and a lot of traffic is going through Armenia.
For tourists there are apparently stalls in Moscow offering Italian visas that have popped up, given lots of places are going to be a little more tricky to get to. Not sure how they will travel but be sure they only want sanctions to apply in one direction. Some of the traditional locations such as Goa and Turkey are still open for business for Russians. Vietnam just removed all visa restrictions for Russians and most of SE Asia is happy to receive them.
But they should be careful what they wish for, I would be more likely to be supportive of Putin before I would endorse the actions of the average Russian tourist. If you think Brits abroad are something special you've obviously never encountered a group of Russian holidaymakers at an all inclusive buffet.

If anyone is interested in helping by taking in a refugee please contact me. My wife is working on matching people with families to sponsor. I short supply are people with capacity to host a family of 4 or more. 
Below are some pictures I have been sent. I won't vouch for their authenticity, before anyone challenges me. 

Except for continuation of sanctions - which only serve to impact on the civilians in Russia plus will likely harden their resolve against the West - I'd pretty much agree with all of that. And the 'send to Coventry' piece I would just say that you are absolutely right, nobody should be justifying the war, the invasion and the destruction. But you have to listen to the reasons behind it, what got all sides to this place and then act from there. Because just a blanket 'you are wrong' stance is not going to solve anything.

This was a friend of mine's guess for today - he's boiling about it still 

I condemn the war, the actions on Ukranian citizens, the decision to send Russian soldiers to their deaths, the indiscriminate bombing of civilian locations, the attacks on nuclear power stations that could easily go wrong, the used of thermobaric weapons. I condemn it all and it should stop at the earliest opportunity. Both sides will need to compromise for that to happen - Zelensky is saying as much himself - but I do condemn the war.
I do hope that is clear enough for you, all my previous statements to the same effect seem to have passed you by.

I condemn the war, the actions on Ukranian citizens, the decision to send Russian soldiers to their deaths, the indiscriminate bombing of civilian locations, the attacks on nuclear power stations that could easily go wrong, the used of thermobaric weapons. I condemn it all and it should stop at the earliest opportunity. Both sides will need to compromise for that to happen - Zelensky is saying as much himself - but I do condemn the war.
I do hope that is clear enough for you, all my previous statements to the same effect seem to have passed you by.

I condemn the war, the actions on Ukranian citizens, the decision to send Russian soldiers to their deaths, the indiscriminate bombing of civilian locations, the attacks on nuclear power stations that could easily go wrong, the used of thermobaric weapons. I condemn it all and it should stop at the earliest opportunity. Both sides will need to compromise for that to happen - Zelensky is saying as much himself - but I do condemn the war.
I do hope that is clear enough for you, all my previous statements to the same effect seem to have passed you by.

I fear that could well be the case.  Ordinary Russians may blame the West's sanctions for the hardships they are enduring and that will only stiffen there support in support of Putin's war in Ukraine.  And that's obviously not what the West had hoped for. 
Unfortunately it's reasonable to assume that Russians are constantly being bombarded by misinformation regarding the war. Not that we get unbiased information here, but the situation in Russia seems to be of a different order.  Press freedom, being ranked as 150th out of 180 countries before the war, has been curtailed even further so it seems inevitable that the average Russian is constantly being fed little more than state propaganda with respect to the war in Ukraine.
Nevertheless, judging by the Putin speech above, he still seems to be worried about dissent within Russia.  The most common way to attack people that are not following the state's orthodoxy is to accuse those voicing different opinion of being traitors. Pathetic and predictable but almost inevitable  It's a playbook we've seen countless times before and not only by dictators such as Putin. 
 

And then he was poo again. The bit in the middle was like a four inch sandwich made from two inch slices of poo with a sliver of tasty ham about seven atoms thick, that also somehow smelt of poo as well.

Show me one single statement where I have supported the invasion of Ukraine?
Show me one single statement that I should be deeply ashamed of?
Show me one single statement where I have suggested you weren't (au contraire) in Crimea or Ukraine?
Show me one single statment where I have suggested how much you know?
In absence of that please try to appreciate this has been a well informed, respectful discussion back over many weeks and has included many opinions from all sides - that have not always met with agreement. But it has not resorted to emotional rhetoric about asskicking, statement of FACTs that are simply not correct.
I appreciate this is emotional and it seems you have strong affection for Ukraine and likely great hurt as to what is happening there. But, play decent or find another thread - thx!

Show me one single statement where I have supported the invasion of Ukraine?
Show me one single statement that I should be deeply ashamed of?
Show me one single statement where I have suggested you weren't (au contraire) in Crimea or Ukraine?
Show me one single statment where I have suggested how much you know?
In absence of that please try to appreciate this has been a well informed, respectful discussion back over many weeks and has included many opinions from all sides - that have not always met with agreement. But it has not resorted to emotional rhetoric about asskicking, statement of FACTs that are simply not correct.
I appreciate this is emotional and it seems you have strong affection for Ukraine and likely great hurt as to what is happening there. But, play decent or find another thread - thx!

Best English CB not even in the squad again.
Maguire, Stones, Mings, White, Coady and Guehi all chosen instead of him.

This was a friend of mine's guess for today - he's boiling about it still 

This was a friend of mine's guess for today - he's boiling about it still 

This was a friend of mine's guess for today - he's boiling about it still 

You're right in that (hey, first time we've agreed in about three years, miracles do happen) but I guess the point is that there is so much more volatility at this end of the table. Five games ago I had us tracking a PPG average that was enough to overtake Reading (based on season to date). That calculation doesn't still hold (I don't think!) but three, even two, wins on the bounce and it certainly will.