Padraig

Isn't that the problem that people are trying to solve? Setting up such an entity. Less rhetoric, more common sense.

Very interesting. Erdogan won last year in similar conditions but he wasn't running himself this time, which probably did matter. There is a question about whether this is his last term. He is 70 years old and his final term is supposed to end in 2028. But there could still be shenanigans (e.g. apparently if they call for early elections, he is entitled to run since he didn't complete his full term). The repeated failure of his party when he doesn't run may give him pause for reflection. But he did say very recently that this was his last election. Before he lost.

Pellegrini must be favourite for the run off though, as the guy who came third seems much more aligned with him than Korcok.

Yes. Weird to be a little down hearted by a championship success but we started on a high and its been downhill since then. And even that high against France was probably a lot due to their WC hangover. The Scottish game was frustrating to watch. So, lots of questions. It will be curious to see what happens on the tour to South Africa in the summer.

This is a good article on views in Europe about Ukraine. Here is the full article. Long though. Probably more pessimistic than I was hoping for but it does play up the (lack of) leadership angle, which is what I have been thinking about. Here is the conclusion...

In other words, ignoring Germany, there is not a huge drop in support in Europe (to bring us back to how this started). There was always some Putin friendly politicians but if Italy can't afford to give anything to Ukraine, that's primarily an economic factor not a Ukraine factor (and existed at the start of this conflict, its not new). I think the media is rather lazy about this topic. They see what is going on in the US and just applied it everywhere to make the story simple.

I don't agree with most of that also. The biggest party in the Slovak government is friendlier towards Russia (but it wasn't the main reason it was elected, as you say) but the other parties are not. When it was elected, I feared they would back Hungary in its maneuvering against Ukraine but Hungary was left on its own. Meloni in Italy has also been surprisingly positive on Ukraine. There was a headline in the NY Times only a few days ago saying that "Biden Unites With an Unlikely Ally to Champion Ukraine". The unlikely ally being Meloni. In any French election, Russia isn't going to be the driver of votes but even Le Pen has put some distance between herself and Putin. Germany, I give some credence since it has a post world war reluctance to get deeply involved in wars, but i'm not sure I believe the 40% figure. Another I imagine the financing angle is driving more negativity than in other countries. I'll ignore the comments about the US since I explicitly said I was talking about Europe. There is a question about throwing more and more money at Ukraine. I touched on that in my last email. There is definitely some leadership lacking on that side. Although, the EU did get a major 4 year package agreed for Ukraine only in February. Generally, I think Scholz makes people jump to the wrong conclusion because of his dithering. As he is reacting to shadows, when he could be leading on things.

I'm not sure about all of that. I've seen surveys that say that other Europeans are much less confident that Ukraine can win the war. But I haven't seen anything in Europe that says that there has been a significant increase in people thinking European countries should reduce their involvement. I could easily have missed some surveys in other countries though. For example, I doubt many Europeans know anything about the Kerch bridge. If they are asked about it, the way they are asked about is would be very leading. People are probably worried about whether Europe has a plan around Ukraine and would be unsure of spending money on something when a plan doesn't exist. But that isn't the same thing as not supporting Ukraine.

And you are right! Shows that I should always read the preceding posts before I post!

I do think Godfather is a work of genius at least!

I finally got around to watching movies from the early 2000s. That means Lord of the Rings. Hate to say it, didn't hold up. I really loved them when I watched them originally but this time all the flaws really jumped out. The never ending Gollum scenes I had forgotten how late the Shelob stuff was. The elves, Gimli, Denethor. The same things people have been complaining about for the last 20 years. The first movie is by far the best. Not that they are bad movies. I just had built them up far more in my mind. I did also see Almost Famous. This seemed more magical, conversely. Or maybe when you are older, you simply dig nostalgia more. And Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Truly imaginative but brutally honest. Great movie.

True. But it can also last till the guy dies of old age. Speculating about it seems kind of pointless given it is unknowable until something happens. If it ever does.

While Ireland did well in the first half but the second half was not easy to watch until the end. Scrum improved a lot but lineout was very shaky. And then we started giving away a lot of silly penalties. Ended up with a bonus point but certainly opened the door a little to Wales first.

It sounds like you know something, the rest of us don't? When most people think of communism, they think of the USSR and its vassal states. Hardly something to aspire to. But sure, if you think of something more positive (Marxism or socialism?), good for you. But it is certainly going to mislead people. I'm not sure why you'd want to purposely mislead people. I'd say that every country (including the US) has some level of socialism and capitalism. All people are arguing about is where to balance things. The problem with Big Pharma is that something like oxycontin should be one big conspiracy theory but its actually depressingly true. Vaccines read much better. In the end, while regulations are normally the whipping boy from capitalists, they are more essential than ever.

Yes. He and the new Vice President are not the most reassuring choices but hopefully it will be ok.