Rayvin

Good question and I've no idea. I wouldn't have thought it'll be Medvedev since he's fallen from favour now apparently. Unless there is an obvious successor that is waiting in the shadows then I think the more likely scenario is indeed a collapse as you say.

That's the thing, many of us having been saying Putin is the enemy behind the curtain for years. I remember @PaddockLad posting that analysis from Carol Cadwalladr about how we have been in an information war with Russia since 2014, that we weren't officially aware of or acknowledging which really and truly allowed me to see Russian interference not as opportunism but as a deliberate, long term strategy. So yes, nothing new to those of us with our eyes open, but it's still significant that these reports are getting traction now. Seeing the enemy for what it is will be a huge step forward. The Tories ran their own investigation but specifically told that review not to look for evidence of Russian interference into Brexit... the US has had to do it for us. We knew, but I'm glad to see this anyway.

Sorry but, a lifetime ban for -asking if he could boo or not-. That's not even a lifetime ban for booing, that's a lifetime ban for demonstrating that his opinion is anti-monarchy. As for Charles, I can get Cat's point here that yeah he's human and this is probably a very bewildering few days for someone who is a completely ordinary human being in every conceivable sense other than that they've just been thrust to the top of the world's largest cult. I reckon that would do a number on anyone. At the same time though, he has been brought up to believe that he's a better class of person, and is seeing right now as we speak that his life is worth more than everyone else's, so it's not surprising if he's a total cunt in general.

No. Fuck off with your tawdry American bollocks.

There has certainly been a big shift in the perception of the Russian military in all of this. Some of it will be propaganda I'm sure but some of my formerly Putin sympathetic friends (left wing, but I'm glad to say that sentiment didn't survive this war where the obvious flaws in their perception have been revealed) used to talk about Russia as if it was a real and serious threat to the US war machine Fucking no chance on this evidence. They're a greater real and serious threat to themselves than anyone else.

Apparently the eternally reliable and factually accurate Italian media have picked it up again

Man the new thread they have for us though Exile sucking his own cock, racism towards middle eastern people, cancel culture, misogyny, desperate hope that PIF buy Inter (proving that they don't remotely give a shit about the human rights considerations). 5 pages in and they've managed all that.

Was speaking to a Swedish (left wing) friend on this and he claimed that part of the reason this is happening is because successive left leaning or pro-immigration governments have failed so utterly at integration. That alongside reports like this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45269764 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9625035/Asylum-seeker-raped-girl-14-avoids-deportation-Sweden-refusing-Covid-test.html Word of caution on both - the BBC one simply states it was reported by Swedish state TV, and references only convictions not total reported rapes. The second one is the Daily Mail. But that sort of messaging will be cutting through.

In the sense of what Putin might want to escalate to, tactical nukes make sense. I could see him wanting to do it. Not quite as certain as everyone else that the chain of command in Russia would prevent this from happening, but I can see the argument. Depends how unstable things are now. If they did it, what would the response from everyone else be - Ukraine can't fire back on the same footing so the only robust response possible would be a separate nuclear power getting involved. And I'm still not sure anyone would if they haven't been targeted directly. So yeah it would be harrowing and would see condemnation from around the world (maybe China, not totally sure on that myself) but would that result in anything substantive happening in response..? To prevent it absolutely, I think we need to be very clear that the consequences of it happening are nukes going back the other way.

Not sure anyone else is allowed to die or be mourned during the 10 days mate, sorry RIP nonetheless.

Can't actually see that he's said anything tbh. Just been harping on about his F1 delusions. Mick Lowe would tear him limb from limb for this ffs.

Judging by the number of "I'm a grown man and I'm literally in tears marra' style comments, and a seeming determination to have Liz renamed as "Queen Elizabeth the Great", I guess it must have been!

Yeah think I saw one of them say something like that. He was shouted down. I'm noticing as well that they've gone into full 'thoughts and prayers' mode and I would estimate about 30% of their entire community currently has Liz as their avatar.

So today I thought I'd try to see what the other side of the political aisle are saying about all of this, and as normal for the poorly informed right wing views of "the average joe" I headed over to RTG. https://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/lets-discuss-the-monarchy.1589094/ Obviously there's some balance in there but some really incredible things posted too: No respect the Youth ,my lad wouldn't even sing the national anthem at Wembley, he chose to sit down . We had Strong words My son is 19, I’m very proud that he admired the queen, saddened by her death and will respect King Charles. He is a monarchist Like his dad And grandad before him. When I took mine to Twickenham last year, he told me on the way he would be singing the national anthem loud and proud in case it was his last opportunity to sing God Save The Queen, sadly he was right. A very proud moment to see him belting it out that day. The public around the world loved her. Accept that you are in a small minority globally and move on. Simply by you trolling these threads proves she meant more to you than you think. If she stirred up enough feelings in you to comment on the negatives without really knowing any facts then you must ask yourself the question ‘why didn’t I like her?” In response to someone asking what she really did in to be so worthy of respect and admiration, this random mackem makes clear that he actually hasn't got a clue but is going to shut people down for challenging the issue regardless: Really mate? Are you being serious? There is not enough bandwidth to list everything that she did for this country. You are coming across as a bit ridiculous now marra. Even the most ardent anti royalist wouldn't pose that question marra.

Other than personal ambition and justifying his life in some form, why has Chuck even taken this role on? What is he going to do with it, exactly? Does he have a vision or plan for the future of the monarchy or is he just wasting a few years of Bill's life out of entitlement?

Exactly this. All of this.

Not saying Pearson was wrong in this at all, but it always amuses me when people around the age of 20 offer to be a shoulder to cry on - as if they've got any idea of the horror of the real world, or how to navigate it I'm sure Mick is certain to take him up on the offer of advice and a chat, so that all 6 months of Adam's life experience as an adult can be leveraged against the issue.

We should be very grateful for each other IMO, that we have this space to robustly challenge our views

The West said they'd need to submit to an application with the same scrutiny and checks that other countries have to go through, including a functional democratic mechanism. Russia walked away from this because it didn't want to "join the back of the queue like just another small country". The reality I suspect is that they weren't prepared to go through the reform. I am very suspicious of information blaming NATO for all of this given how well Putin has poisoned information within the Western world in general. We know he's hit the right on that front, it is not inconceivable to me whatsoever that he went for the left as well. The Kremlin released a statement literally detailing why they did this - it was to restore the greater Russian empire, a gift that Putin is giving to future generations of Russia. Finally solving the Ukrainian question. When speaking to Western outlets, he talks about the need to push back against NATO - IMO this is because he knows this view will get more sympathy than "I'm empire building". But if that view was accurate, why has Russia not responded to the overtones from Finland and Sweden to join NATO? Why has Russia brought NATO right to its door, justifying every step it has taken, in order to "purge" its presence from Ukraine. If NATO is the reason he's done this, then after years of being a fucking mastermind he's shown himself to be an absolute moron. If it's empire building, then I would suggest that after years of being an egotistical fascist, he has... continued to be an egotistical fascist. The consistency of the latter position is what I think the real justification is.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/08/we-have-already-lost-far-right-russian-bloggers-slam-kremlin-over-army-response The Russian far right blogosphere thinks they've lost. Not saying that means anything but pressure is clearly building from Putin's fellow fascists and genocide enthusiasts.

If Ukraine do manage this - and I am wary of getting carried away here since I just can't really get my head around Russia allowing this to happen - then they are a nation of fucking heroes. To be standing up to that fascist, autocratic, genocidal bellend in the way they have is impressive enough. To think they might actually be able to win would just be incredible. The debt that the west would owe them would not be insignificant. I hope we would see considerable effort in helping them rebuild.

What will Putin do if forced to confront this loss of face?

It is absolutely with Celtic in mind, although I didn't realise the scouse were that opposed to the royals. Suspect the rest of the country would be fine.

Is the sovereign also a citizen, and does that status take precedence over any and all other considerations?

Which newspaper ran that story It's Daily Mail esque and yet they would never cross the cult leaders like that. News of the world? If it wasn't public then I'm not sure it should be a scandal really, deviant though he may be - unless the scandal was the phone tapping which absolutely should have been. Royalty or not it's incredibly low to do that to people.