JD Vance probably thinks the Earth is flat too.

 Whilst Biden did seem pretty much past it in his later years, you did get the impression that most of his decisions were made behind the scenes by reasonably informed and intelligent people. I don't get that with this Trump presidency. Indeed, it does appear that a lot of policy is made on the hoof and I am not at all impressed with the intelligence displayed so far by many of those making these decisions. Trump himself is pretty thick and I am not so sure he's even that good a businessman, most of the Trump empire having been established by his father and it probably hasn't been that difficult for accountants and managers to maintain it regardless of whatever the boss may have done. Vance has occasional glimmers of good ideas but then lets himself down badly when asked questions he hasn't prepared for and I do wonder whether he might not have been one of the remarkably large number of Americans who believed that the Earth was flat in 2018 when, in a study reported on by Scientific American, only 82% of 18 to 24 year old American respondents agreed with the statement "I have always believed the world is round". That same research also found that 2% of Americans actually agreed with the specific statement that the Earth is flat.

Vance also has a touch of the Scientologist about him and if he is not yet completely bonkers I predict he will be in the next few years. The fact that he seems to think it is perfectly reasonably for his wife to be visiting Greenland at this time supports this view of his rapid descent into the world of Trump and Nonsense, the difference between him and Trump being that he probably believes everything he says. Trump certainly doesn't and, indeed, seldom remembers much for very long, if at all. And that's not just because he's in his late 70s, although that doesn't help, but mainly due to the fact that he doesn't really care too much what anyone else thinks about what he says but he does care about an image and so will be inclined to float with what he sees as good TV publicity. Not that he always gets that right, though, as the debacle with Zelenskyy showed a little while ago. The whole world apart from the White House idiots and a few people in Russia regarded Zelenskyy as seriously insulted for no constructive purpose by both Trump and Vance as well as another journalist fool who suggested Zelenskyy get a suit. He, incidentally is married to a White House spokesperson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, who yesterday shouted at a British Sky reporter making some very polite and reasonable enquiries. She shouted rudely in response to say that 'we', as in some kind of royal White House, 'don't give a crap about your opinion' and suggested that she 'go back' to the UK.

These are seriously badly behaved and poorly educated people, whatever letters they may or may not have gathered after their names. The world is beginning to lose a lot of respect for America which is surprising after Trump's pretty impressive victory so recently. I admire the determination to get jobs done and there is certainly a lot to be said for Musk's approach to cutting through the deadwood in committees, quangos and across government generally. There is, however, also a lot wrong in half-boiled announcements, tariff threats and ridiculous announcements to buy Greenland and make Canada a State of the United States. I suspect we shall be hearing about toys and prams before too much longer.

In the meantime Ukraine fights on, clinging to what land it can against a renewed onslaught by North Korean troops and a few russians. It's tough, although weapon supplies are reinstated and they have huge moral support from most of Europe. Ukraine has made some very effective drone strikes on missile bases inside russia and I do hope they continue to reduce the numbers of major serviceable weapons that Putin will have at his disposal. Many commentators report that Putin needs to finish this quickly or the country will run into trouble and he will start to run out of attack facilities other than people. Maybe even people if North Korea decides enough dead is enough.

 A problem does lurk on the horizon and that is some banking or EU rule about the time that funds can be withheld from russia through sanctions or similar controls that were placed upon deposits. I think that there is a timescale that will soon expire and it requires an unanimous EC Committee vote to be extended. Countries like Hungary appear to support Putin or, at least, don't support Zelenskyy and so are unlikely to support the motion when it is next presented. In that instance, Putin gets several hundred billion back to use as he pleases and you can bet that he will grab the whole lot as soon as he gets a chance and before anyone seeks to place some new restriction upon the various accounts.

So something needs to happen pretty quickly now if all that money is not to be heading back into armaments and restrictions on the russian economy, quite effective so far, just fade away.

I do not see Ukraine even vaguely accepting the deal currently offered by the States, although they may nod in approval to avoid another debate and withdrawal of weapons support. There's no way a Ukraine parliament will approve such a deal anyway. It's quite preposterous for any country to demand repayment of military and economic assistance on such terms. Ukraine will, I think, decide to fight on regardless. Some say Zelenskyy will need to tread carefully to avoid upsetting Trump but I am of the view that the world at large now sees Trump as a bully and a bit of a fool. He has really got nowhere in his negotiations with Putin and I don't see many supporters for his view of a world in which he controls the West and Putin controls the East and bollocks to China, who may well spoil everyone's breakfast by taking over Taiwan any time soon. While America talks, China walks.

There is also the matter of Putin's health. He's no sprightly youngster either. One can never be completely sure of which Putin we're seeing in images and on TV although I do not subscribe to the view that many have that he is very ill and seldom seen in public. He may well not be around for that much longer, however, so Zelenskyy's comment that he will outlive Putin has some merit and is worth considering. It may well be the case that many of the present demands made by russia are actually made by Putin and, if he goes, then those who succeed him may be less inclined to continue the very costly and rather unproductive war. I can see a deal being made with other people in due course, even maybe reversing something that has to be given up in the meantime. But there is another problem with Zelenskyy's comment; that is the fact that it will really hit hard and make Putin desperate to prove it to be untrue by sending a whole bunch of nasty people here there and everywhere to bump off the Ukrainian one way or another.

So, we are at a point where America has made no useful progress in establishing any bridge between the warring parties. Putin wants lots of territory and seems to have outplayed Tump at every turn. He is, however, running out of time economy and maybe even in respect of several other nations' support. Even with some planned massive further attempts to get in to Kharkiv and other major centres, Ukraine will not be beaten and will resist and will continue to hit targets in russia too. With Europe talking about how to support some ceasefire or even a peace plan, although that seems unlikely to me, we now need less talk and more walk from whoever is willing to go and actually help on the ground, in the air, over the internet.

I believe that it is possible to end this and largely on Ukraine's terms if only nations would actually do something. Of course, it could end tomorrow if America had the guts to stand up to Putin and tell him it's over. But America is piloted by idiots at the moment and we'll have to hope we can get by without them.

Three years.

Heavens alive. Three years and we're still having everything thrown at us by russia for no good reason that I can understand other than that Putin wants to turn the clock back to 1990 or whenever it was that the United Soviet Socialist Republics existed.

So many people have died or had their whole world turned upside down, or simply destroyed, either partially or, in many places, completely. Children and even whole families have disappeared into russia, never to be seen again. Terrible atrocities have taken place which we only know a little about but, be sure, we will read about many, many more in time to come.

So where are we now? 

Events have taken a curious turn and I am not too sure what to make of them.

We have the most extraordinary (and appalling) votes in a United Nations session. The US opposed a European-drafted resolution condemning Moscow's actions and supporting Ukraine's territorial integrity - voting the same way as Russia and countries including North Korea and Belarus at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. Then the US drafted and voted for a resolution at the UN Security Council which called for an end to the conflict, but contained no criticism of Russia.

However powerful Trump may believe the US to be on the world stage, to me they are beginning to look extremely bad, standing together with such ridiculously badly-run nations as North Korea, Belarus and goodness knows who else on the far edges of what we recognise as society. How must Americans be feeling to see their country on that side of history? I had already lost all respect for Trump last week but this merely confirms everything. He must have a very muddled mind to believe that he will in any way be praised for any of these actions. Or that they will achieve anything but distrust and a move by those genuine allies that we have to view a future world in which we can just ignore America.

My guess is that Trump sees all this as a sort of business transaction. He wants to have trade with russia because it is a huge country with massive resources of all sorts which he will be hoping to access cheaply by this new association with Putin. By not criticising Putin's actions and not actively supporting opposing forces or voices he is hoping for some deals. That Zelenskyy has rejected the first deal is encouraging, although it did cause trouble for him. He's stayed strong, though, and I am so relieved that many other nations have stood by him, both physically with presence in Kyiv but also in words and actions this week.

It can never be easy to disagree with a character like Trump, especially when he is President of the United States of America but so far several leaders have done so and pointed out his error in insulting Zelenskyy and encouraging russia to expect a deal that would lose Ukraine territory with little in return.

I wrote all the above, intending to publish on the third anniversary of russia's invasion but every day since brought a fresh development. 

First we had the Starmer meeting with Trump which looked good but actually achieved of value little that I could distinguish other than that Britain wasn't being completely side-lined and some of the previous bad-mouthing of Zelenskyy was rolled backed a bit. You have to grimace at the reposnse Trump gave to a question from a reporter about referring to Zelenskyy as a dictator. "Did I say that? I'm sure I didn't!"

Next we had the meeting with Zelenskyy in the White House. I need not write about it as you'll know what happened and I imagine that a huge number of people in America, never mind the rest of the world, were appalled at some of the comments made by Trump and his Vice President. They both lost a great deal of respect, as if they still had much to start with, and I started to realise that this war would have to be tackled without much further help from across the water.

Today we have seen some good developments at long last. We can only hope that they do actually flourish. The events in the White House appear to have shocked many politicians and they've been encouraged to talk today about what they can do.

I have long maintained that it would be some sort of NATO-lite grouping which would be the best way to move forward. Putting troops from across Europe into Ukraine and supporting, with russian money we're holding through sanctions, development of arms and military effectiveness will make it abundantly obvious to Putin that Ukraine is not going to be russian and he will not succeed in getting much further and, indeed, could well find himself forced back. Whether that is to the original borders I can't say. That's unlikely but it may be enough for Zelenskyy to strike a deal.

Russia is likely to be pretty mad should there be European troops on the ground in Ukraine and I can see trouble arising should some be attacked. As these troops may well be going in under their own steam rather than as specific nations or NATO then Article V may not be implemented. It could be messy but World War III doesn't start at that point. 

Whether all this will happen remains to be seen. Certainly the language of support from several countries today is very encouraging and more than makes up for the disappointment and frustration of the idiot Trump and Vance bullying attitude. Whatever the case, surely America will eventually have to side with Europe or whoever goes in to help Ukraine. To stand by and watch would consign Trump to history as a feeble man who talked tough but did nothing.

So what I would like to see happen and which may just be feasible is this:

1. Zelenskyy to sign some sort of deal with America regarding some mineral rights, patching up whatever nonsense went before with some ceremonial handshake to close the book on what went before and retain America's interest in getting some income from Ukraine land and giving Zelensky some way to offer some thanks and repayment for services rendered by the US. I say this because I doubt that European nations can go in and make any peace agreement with russia on their own.

2. The group of 'those willing' as Starmer calls the nations to be involved in helping will specify the extent of their involvement, whether military, advisory or monetary support to show russia that this is a serious development. Before, most countries' contributions tended to be ignored but I think en masse this group may have some greater effect and influence, especially as they are willing to do something to make Ukraine considerably stronger even if they're not about to start fighting on the front line themselves.

3. Ukraine continues to fight and pushes russian troops back or, at the very least, holds positions to the point where russia has to appreciate that it cannot get further. With suitable additional restraints on their economy and, perhaps, some indication from America that they're not as supportive as Putin had assumed, or that Trump is not as malleable as he'd hoped, Putin may have to consider withdrawal at which point he is likely to choose one of two options in a few months' time. One is to drop a nuclear weapon on part of Ukraine. The other is to go to the table and try and get what he can as a starting point.

4. If he drops the bomb then all deals are off and I cannot predict what happens next. My guess is that he realises his country would be demolished in any escalation and doesn't take that step and we'll hope and assume the other option is chosen. Once he's at that table and fighting is stopped then there's an opportunity to pile in as many people as we can all spare and ensure that there is no hope for him in restarting any time soon. He, therefore, gets some face-saving arrangement with some areas of Ukraine remaining under partial control while we work out what people there actually want in a fair way. Much as I would love to see Putin simply defeated and sent back with his tail between his legs and his country fined massive amounts of money for the rebuilding work etc., I don't see that happening at this point.

5. We then have a period when there is an uneasy sort of peace. It'll take some time to negotiate any new border and, indeed, Zelenskyy may refuse to accept any border different from what it was in 2022, maybe even demanding now that the Crimea region is returned too. Provided there is enough support to make it clear that no attempt to take further land in Ukraine will be successful then that peace should last and perhaps Putin will get old and decrepit and be replaced. The replacement, of course, may be no easier to deal with but for that we can only wait and see what happens.

6. Agreements need to be exchanged and set in stone. We let Ukraine down badly on several occasions in the past. We cannot allow that to happen again and we have a duty to establish the new borders, the new responsibilities and help Ukrainians return to a new life in their own country once more. I expect there will be some loss of territory and Trump will have deals with russia for trade and various minerals as well as his interest in Ukraine. Provided that we make very sure Ukraine has a strong military force of their own, as they're not being let in to NATO any time soon, then russia is unlikely to try an invasion again for a long time. We may need to watch some other borders, though, as they will also be able to grow their military capabilities. The cold war will continue as long as Putin, or someone of similar views of Ukraine as a nation, remain in control.

So, before yet another twist happens in this rapidly-changing story, let me share these thoughts and hopes.

Trump, you're not of a sound mind. You're fired!

 Just who is advising Trump at the moment? What is it that has produced this ridiculous and so very wrong series of insults and blame assertions about Zelenskyy and absolutely no adverse comment or remarks about Putin? Who, in their right mind, could possibly maintain, never mind actually believe, that Ukraine started the war in 2022? Who, in their right mind could possibly maintain, never mind actually believe, that it could possibly be reasonable to suggest that Zelenskyy is a dictator and not someone who has more than a tiny support of the Ukraine people? Who in their right mind could possibly maintain, never mind actually believe, that the damage and destruction and loss of lives and terrible injuries that have been the result of three years of aggression have been the responsibility of Zelenskyy?

This is a terrifying moment in the history of this planet. Someone is clearly not in their right mind.

We are familiar with history being invented, altered, deleted by the remnants of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the form of Russia but we are shocked to discover that powerful leaders in the West appear either to be willing to attempt to do the same or, at the very least, turn a blind eye to wholly incorrect statements from Putin and others.

We are all expecting that Trump will come out with some pretty crazy stuff. In a way, his ability to tell it as it is has been refreshing after the muddling nonsense from Biden and the laughably implausible ideas that we might have had to cope with under Harris. Indeed, the Vice President JD Vance actually made an extremely appropriate and interesting speech a few days ago which highlighted just how bad many aspects of life in the West had become through the lack of any control in allowing wokeism to become rampant and diversity and equality initiatives flourishing left right and centre. Trump's suggestion that USA buy Greenland was amusing but made us all think. His idea of making Canada another of the United States was amusing but didn't make us think other than that that was a bit silly. Behind it all, of course, was the concept that Canada and Greenland represent a huge border protection for North America which Trump would want to be as much under USA's control as possible . . . but against what threat? What is the danger Trump appeared to fear when making these pronouncements? Invasion by communist forces. And the country most likely to be taking that route? Russia. So to hear Trump regard Putin as anything other than the aggressor in Ukraine and to wish to absolve Russia from either blame or, possibly even payment for all the damage is like listening to a completely different person. As I said. Someone not on their right mind.

I really had hoped that we would see some good, strong action imposed by Trump which would demonstrate clearly, not only to Putin's Russia but also to North Korea, Iran and all the other nations who appear to hate the West and promote terrorism in one shape or form against our nations' people, that we are not to be messed with. We will fight back and support any other nation who is troubled. We said a lot of good things in 2022 but actually did little. Eventually some decent weapons and money did reach Ukraine and this has been useful but nothing like enough.

We are to blame, in fact, for the huge loss of life and, to a large extent, the continued war. If we in the UK, in most of Europe and, of course, in the States, as well as the British Commonwealth leaders too had backed our words with real action then Putin would have had to stop. Ukraine on their own pushed the initial Russian advance way back. That was the crucial moment when we should all have weighed in behind them and finished the job. We talked about it but no-one actually did anything. We didn't even give permission for Ukraine soldiers to use some of the weapons we'd provided in a way which would have sent Russia in reverse.

It's Putin's fault that the invasion started. No question - and any sane person who can read and look at contemporary reports of people who were there at the time, including myself, can argue with that.

But it is our fault - and that includes both Trump and Biden and all their advisors - it is our fault that the war continues today. We could have stopped it but we just talked. It was entirely understandable that Putin would take advantage of our lacklustre leadership, our dilatory decision-making, our arguments within our ranks as to this or that and all he had to do was rattle a nuclear weapon or two and have countries like Germany running for cover and even many Brits frightened to make too much noise in support of Ukraine.

We'll give them some money, maybe some weapons, maybe train some troops but don't ask us to put ourselves in danger. And as soon as you say that, Putin knows he's going to win because he can keep threatening and occasionally letting loose some extra weapons to maintain the tension and prevent anyone but the really strong standing up to him.

Throughout all this time Zelenskyy has done his best and controlled the situation as well as I think anyone could have done. I am sure there will have been a lot of funds that went astray and a lot of people who pretended to back him but secretly worked for Putin and colleagues but, despite their best efforts we can see how little they actually have achieved in all this time. The whole population knows full well that the constitution does not allow any elections during wartime. Indeed, one wonders just how practical it could be to run an election when a whole tranche of your people are living abroad and the other actively engaged in trying to maintain the nation's existence! Of course there will be people who might prefer someone else to be in charge but ask any Ukrainian you meet and they'll want either Zelenskyy to remain or be replaced by someone who will fight even harder the threat posed by Putin. The only reason Putin wants to see Zelenskyy have an election is to give him some chance to have elected a president who will agree to Putin's demands. And that would be attempted to be achieved by the well-established practice of dissemination of false information and hacking of electoral registers and voting software, something in which both Russia and North Korea are specialist. An election when administrative controls are already weak and likely management dissipated would be vulnerable to considerable abuse. That's why Ukraine hasn't had one and shouldn't have one until it can be assured of a peaceful period and sufficient control to make the result credible. For now, any observer on the ground there will tell you quite clearly that the one result Putin seeks is not what they'll be voting for.

Many of us have been appalled at how weak our leaders in Europe have been in dealing with Putin. Now, I fear, many of us are appalled how weak our leaders in Europe are going to be when dealing with Trump. This is bad news for our future.

As of 7pm this evening, 19 February 2025, the Prime Minister of my country, has yet to make any objection to Trump's most objectionable statements. I have to say that credit is due to the Conservatives for their immediate reaction but they're lost in opposition at this time. One also wonders just how Farage is going to handle this. So far he has been steadily building a big base of support with his common sense and generally sound comments that hit the right note with the British public. But what now? Will he be the one to stand up and tell his friend across the Pond just how stupid, just how wrong, just how appallingly bad he's being?

I had hoped for much better from Trump. He was one person that I thought would stand up for what is right and, if not end the war, at least show Putin that the West find him and his actions despicable. Instead Trump has shown himself to be despicable and the sooner he is removed from the scene the better for the world. Let him manage USA, by all means, but as far as I am concerned, he's fired.

No deal

 It is just a matter of days now before the third year of war with russia ends and a fourth year of death and injury and destruction starts. I had been expecting some attempt to be made to bring this dreadful business to an end at around this time and had been heartened somewhat by Trump's initial suggestions. To learn now, though, that he has had a long call with Putin and appears to be giving the guy some degree of respectability is difficult to swallow at first.

I am trying to avoid reacting too quickly and I am also not taking too much notice of the many headlines and news that Ukraine is going to be sold down the river and will have to accept some new border. How can it possibly be right that anyone can support russia being able to retain any land as a result of their invasion? It is as if the terrible atrocities committed in the early months in Ukraine's villages and towns, the destruction of the massive dam and flooding of huge areas of the country and the almost total destruction of towns in the south and east have faded from people's memory and all that they now see are two tired armies throwing stones and an occasional missile at each other every week with neither really making much of an advance or impact.

With such a view it is understandable that many people will say it is time for both sides to stop and that doing so will prevent many more deaths and injuries on both sides. That would, of course, be true and certainly a cessation of fighting anyone would be glad to see. But at what price? 

It simply must not be accepted that russia can somehow walk away from this with the present people continuing to be in control of the nation's government. I accept that Russia as a country may eventually be allowed to participate in world trade and affairs again but not the russia as it stands with Putin and other awful people at the helm of what has been such an evil ship. There should be no way that any end to this war can be achieved without a return to at least the 2022 borders as a starting point. All the children taken away to russia from families in Ukraine need to be returned. All the families forcibly removed from Ukraine to strange places in russia or obliged to take up russian citizenship - even though they remained in Ukraine - should be permitted to return home and call Ukraine home again. These are just the very beginnings of what must happen. But I hear nothing of this.

There has to be a clear demonstration that russia's invasion was wrong and actually downright evil in many respects and so abhorrent that international condemnation needs to be made quite obvious. Those nations who somehow consider that it has been quite OK for russia to do all this need to be shown most clearly that they are very much on the wrong side of history.

There may be nothing wrong in Trump having a long conversation with Putin. No-one really knows what was or was not said and you can be absolutely sure that both sides will seek to make us believe that what they did say was most favourable to their particular cause. Trump wants to be seen as the Big Peacemaker and Putin as the Strong Leader who wins battles. So we are hearing things that tend to support each of these images. But neither really make much sense in my opinion. I reckon there's a lot more to come and a lot more we shall not hear about.

I am inclined still to take little notice as I cannot believe that Trump will honestly imagine that Zelensky, never mind people like me and 90% of Ukrainians, will agree to anything that does not restore people and land back to where they started, or pretty close to that. It is reasonable to accept that there will have been many Russians in Ukraine who were not averse to moving to Russia and towns where there may well have been more support for Putin than for Zelensky despite all the atrocities. It is reasonable to exclude returning Crimea to Ukraine at this stage too, pending a proper examination of what area was supposed to have been allocated to whom way back after World War II. Whilst these matters are discussed and properly debated and ultimately resolved, hopefully peacefully by academics and the people rather than politicians, then I have always maintained that the sensible solution is to place disputed areas under some third party control and government.

Allowing, therefore for some peaceful resolution to issues of borders, Putin has to be persuaded that no amount of further fighting, missiles or threats will get him or russia anywhere. He has achieved very little to date other than huge destruction of vast tracts of land and massive loss of life and injury, sadness and frustration. We are told that the russian economy is beginning to break and the idea of making oil prices fall would have a great impact on Putin's ability to fund more weapons and troops. Although they have made minute gains in the last few months they have been at massive cost and of little real significance.

More significant to the outside world, I believe, have been Ukraine's success in hitting many key targets within russia - airports, ammunition holdings, control centres and others we may never hear about. These embarrass Putin on every occasion and in many ways Ukraine has shown that they are prepared for an even longer haul if necessary. North Korea's entry on the battlefield has also been an indication of just how less able that country is than we had all assumed, with the outcome being only that 10,000 less russians were killed or injured as North Koreans took the hit instead to virtually no advantage.

Trump may meet with Putin in the coming weeks but I simply do not see how Zelensky can be told to cease fighting without some very clear indication that russia's actions have been wrong and that, not only will no land be given away but that russia will be obliged to pay for all the repairs and rebuilding of the country it attempted to destroy. Funds currently held that had belonged to russia can be used so it would not even be necessary for Putin to agree. It could just happen and he'll have no choice and hope his people don't hear too much of the detail.

Ukraine will want to be sure that there will be no further attempt to take over the nation by russia. How is that to be secured? Whilst making Ukraine a member of NATO seems beyond agreement at the moment and unlikely even in the next ten years, I can imagine that an agreement by a group of countries to defend Ukraine in the event of attack - essentially a NATO lite arrangement - and one in which UK should surely be part of and one would hope that the US would also support, could be the one thing that Zelensky could achieve in negotiations which would permit him to cease. Even with some loss of territory I believe a deal could be struck.

What has to happen, though, and where it may all fall apart if it doesn't, is for that acknowledgement by the world that what Putin and his government did in 2022 was totally and absolutely wrong on all counts. There were no grounds of any sort for the invasion. No-one was threatening russia. Russia has had no valid claim to own any of Ukraine's territory. Russian troops behaved abominably. Russian controllers in occupied areas have done things which no-one can possibly condone. No agreement which in any way condones, ignores, and certainly not rewards russia can be considered even vaguely feasible. I do fear, though, that there will be those who say there has to be an agreement to save future loss of life. 

My guess is that Ukraine will settle for more loss of life than to allow Putin to walk away from all the chaos he has caused with a reputation the world will see as largely unblemished.

A walk in the park

 I had to go to a different hospital today for a routine check. A 9:24am appointment at Kettering General Hospital was not the most convenient of times to travel but when you get appointments by text which you can't reply to there's not a lot of choice in the matter.

I looked at Google Maps and it said that the journey could take anything between 20 minutes and an hour. I reckoned the hour would be more accurate at that time. I got to Kettering easily enough, although that did require travelling through the wilderness that is now Wellingborough town centre. What a dilapidated state everything seems to be in there. The roads are dreadful but everywhere just looks dirty and shops shut or plastered with adverts and everyone that you do see wandering around looks bedraggled and generally fed up.

Once north of that place, though, things improve and the hospital is on the outskirts of Kettering town so I didn't get to see how good or bad that might be. There appear to be two car parks for the Hospital. One sort of on the grounds and just off the main road but which declares itself to be full. One ponders waiting to see whether someone might emerge and make the sign change to whatever it says when there is a space but with precious little sign of life amongst the cars there I reckoned that may take far too long. I drove on and found myself on a typical trek around a British hospital grounds. Red lines right and left prohibited any thoughts of stopping anywhere on most of the road. Blue 'Assisted Space' places were tempting but I decided to behave, however much I thought I could genuinely claim to needing 'assistance' in finding a place to park if not actually doing the parking itself. I passed them by but was certain that the fine lady getting into a smart Mercedes at one of these blue-lined spaces was not in any way in need of assistance and was tempted once more but continued nevertheless.

Next I came to some places where there were notices on the wall which said something about the space being for relocation or something. I felt quite strongly that I was relocating in many senses and was going to leave the car and hope but decided, once again, to err on the side of bureaucracy and continue looking.

The road ended rather oddly and I had to turn round and go back. One or two hatched sections of road did appeal briefly and I noted them as potential stopping places should life get very difficult and 9:24 more imminent. As it was I had 20 minutes or so left. I came out of the hospital completely and drove across the road to a fairly recently-built housing estate. Right on the entrance road another car was parked and I could see no yellow lines, nor was the place I stopped in anyone's way, blocking any drive or near to any junction. It was a small walk back across the road to the hospital but this seemed a reasonable place for a short while that should upset no-one and seemed legal too.

Then I spotted the sign. £100 caught my eye. It was one of those places where some private organisation has been granted the right to charge people for parking - in other words this was probably an unadopted road on a new estate and not just some random bit of highway. It doesn't need yellow lines, red lines or even 'Assisted Parking' blue lines. If I'm unlucky some bloke on commission will spot me on his daily rounds and slap a fine notice on the windscreen or, worse, a clamp on a wheel. So that was a no-go area after all.

I get back in the car and head back the way I'd come in search of some space somewhere. There were several spots outside people's houses on the other side of the road but these on the grass and probably liable to get me fined by the normal police as the road itself bore double yellow lines. I reckoned I might try to get away with one or two places without blocking a driveway but no opportunity arose to cross the road with traffic piling up behind me and non-stop coming towards me. On I go and then I spot what looks like a big car park on the left.

At the next roundabout there's even a sign for Hospital Car Park A or B so I am hopeful there's a big one here. Turning into this, however, it is clear that the spaces immediately available are for staff and behind barriers and visitors are directed towards an ugly-looking construction on two floors with a barrier entrance at which a couple of cars are waiting with a sign declaring 32 spaces. I pull up behind the waiting cars and eventually they move inwards and I get past the barrier. The signs then loudly declare that only staff can access the upper floor so we visitors are left to negotiate this dimly lit rabbit warren of a construction where goodness only knows those 32 places reside.

A very narrow lane takes you past rows of parked cars. Occasionally there is a space but the size of the space is minute and not something I could imagine getting into without causing considerable delay behind and then, without a sunroof or rear hatch on my BMW Coupé I would be stuck inside anyway. I keep following a vehicle in front in the hope of finding something with a slightly more reasonable degree of accessibility. After some time and considerably delay while someone else attempts to manoeuvre into some possible space I find what I think is worth an attempt. We're talking inches singular here in terms of how close I have to go on one side and I have no idea how the person in the next car will get in their car if they're anything other than sylph-like but I'm in and I can just about squeeze out.

This is an awful place to be with fumes from all the cars trundling around in search of a space really quite objectionable. Indeed, I felt that this exercise was far worse for my health than anything I would normally do in the course of a day, including lying around watching TV and eating chocolate. This was one hospital visit where, without doubt, I would be going away from in rather worse health than I had arrived. More than having to breathe the foul fumes, I was also getting pretty stressed as the time was now not far off the 9:24 when the appointment was due and I still had no idea where to go.

That brings me to the second major problem with Kettering General Hospital. It has signs galore where you can't easily read them or probably don't need them but zero indication of how to find the main entrance, for instance. I do eventually find that but then there are long corridors with signs for this and that but none translated into what I was looking for and which my telephone appointment message described. I asked someone who pointed down one very long corridor and said to turn right and go down at the end. I did that but there was no obvious down until another member of staff dashing from one place to another pointed through a small door which would take me down and, indeed, out into nothing other than a ruddy road with no signs or, for that matter, signs of life either.

I wandered along in a random direction and hoped for some sort of salvation. It was a long time coming but after several turns and guesses I came across a sort of mobile home with a sign matching my appointment description. I was even spot on time too. Except the nurse or whoever was managing the list of expected people did not have my name on it. After some time she realised that I should be in another place. I protested that the message had told me to come here but the 'other place' was just across the road from where we were and also bore a similar name on the outside of the building. There I did finally find myself vaguely wanted and all was well.

A matter of ten minutes later I was out and then began the search for my car. No sign to any Exit, no sign to any Car Park. I tried retracing steps but places look different in reverse and I only managed this with some approximation. It was some 15 minutes later when the car was in sight.

The payment machine - yes, I had to pay for all this awful facility - did work well and my car was recognised at an exit barrier although a sign warning one that you're about to launch into a stream of traffic and not some quiet access route would have been helpful. I am sure there must have been multiple collisions at that point of exit. You can see nothing as you go through the barrier and there is no room to stop on the other side without it crashing down on top of you so the natural inclination is to keep going into the road running horizontally across the exit and kinda hope for the best.

Boy was I glad to get out of there. Driving through Wellingborough town centre wasn't that much more appealing but give me those pot-holed roads and tired shop fronts and miserable inhabitants any day over that ruddy hospital.

What are they thinking?

 It’s over 1000 days since russia invaded Ukraine and, with the third anniversary rapidly approaching with no end to the deaths and destruction in sight, I sit here and wonder just what the hell is in the minds of those who are the key players in all this.

It is just a handful of people who can bring this to a conclusion. Putin, of course, either has to decide or be persuaded to cease the attacks. He is not going to decide just like that, waking up one morning and concluding that he’d done enough and might as well bring the troops home. So he’ll need to be persuaded. And the only way persuasion will be effective would be if he were about to lose something. People aren’t important to him so it would be land or the ability to defend russia effectively.

Ukraine has a chunk of land in Kursk which they’re just about hanging on to but I doubt they’ll manage for much longer. So there’s not much in the land department that Ukraine can take. That leaves defence facilities, buildings where systems are installed and where they’re managed, which may well be different in these days of remote control and the weapons installations and storage buildings themselves. Someone will know where every one of these is and will have shared this information by some means or another and one would hope that the co-ordinates are already specified in suitable target summaries within NATO.

I think that every one of these needs to be hit very soon. Not in an obvious way. One important miss and there would be the certainty of russia identifying the source of whatever missiles hit and some remaining silo or storage facility would fire back and all hell would be let loose. The hits need to be carried out by means that are not so obviously identified and using Russians to do the job would make response tricky to manage. There must be thousands of people in russia who are totally fed up with what’s been going on, even if they only see one side on Russia Today or whatever program they’re permitted to watch these days. These people can surely not want to take control of Ukraine, have no desire to rape and torture and kill innocent families just across the border and they certainly have no desire to be citizens of the first nation to fire a nuclear weapon in anger. My guess is that a good number could be persuaded to assist in the task of switching off vital links to services and cancelling response abilities in return for some impressive financial and other rewards from a grateful world later.

I suspect that it is not necessary in every instance to blow up some place but rather incapacitate it. 

That’s what’s in my mind but I doubt that’s in anyone else’s. We’re looking at the moment to Biden and team in the USA and a few decision-makers in NATO countries and the organisation itself. I don’t see Biden doing anything more, nor the vast majority of NATO countries. They had the chance to do something useful 1000 days ago and did nothing. They have not even honoured commitments to Ukraine made in clear language in previous years when Ukraine agreed to give up the nuclear weapons stored in the country and again after russia seized control of Crimea. It makes me sad that my own country has not kept its word and how we have all run scared ever since January 2022 and that fright has taken root in so many of our population too.

So what is in the mind of many of our decision-makers is fear. Quite simply they’re frightened to do anything other than hope that someone else will do something instead. 

The move that is in everyone’s minds but which no-one dares talk about is the one we should have made, in unison across NATO, at the very start: send in masses of troops and sufficient weapons and material to show russia that they have no chance of making any worthwhile progress in Ukraine.

It may well not even have been necessary to attack any russian troops or positions, merely demonstrate that the whole of NATO and the USA and best part of the British Commonwealth was going to stand firm. No way would russia have attacked any of the NATO troops as they know only too well that their country would be annihilated. Yes, some places and maybe many thousands of people in the ‘West’ might also suffer terrible loss in such an exchange but russia would die for certain before more harm was done and that would be the end of that.

I wonder too how the good Russian people, and there are plenty of them, feel about their countries relationship with North Korea? I am pretty sure that if someone asked them to vote as to which nation they would like to have as a special chum for the future not one would have ticked the North Korea box! But there we have it now. Many thousands of North Korean troops fighting in Ukraine in the name of the Russian Federation. Not only that but there is now the madness of russia donating technology to North Korea to help them defend themselves. Now we all know just how unpredictable the leaders of North Korea are. They have about as much knowledge of the planet and other nations as the snails in my garden. Read any material published by them and it makes little or no sense, just massive propaganda or constant moaning about their South Korea neighbour. Of all the countries in the world, russia chooses to support North Korea? I used to argue with people who tell me that Putin is mad but I do have to wonder sometimes just how he can justify this. Imagine him waking up one morning and chatting with his generals about the war.

“Oh, I’ve just done a deal with Kim Jong Il.He’ll give us some troops and in return we’re going to help him defend his country.”

“So if Kim tells you he’s being attacked by South Korea you’ll fight South Korea?”

“Er . . .”

“‘Cos you know Kim is always telling people he’s being attacked by someone, usually South Korea. The bloke’s mad, you do realise? You’re getting into bed with a crazy twerp who is in charge of probably the most introvert nation on the planet and the last place anyone else on the planet wants to live. You can’t even tour the place without being guided by someone and the vast majority of the population are living hand to mouth with little by way of possessions.”

“I’m not getting into bed with Kim . . .”

“But you’ll still get screwed!”

I am struggling to make sense of how we have arrived at this debacle of a world position. I started wondering what was in the minds of those who might feasibly do something to sort this out. I have to conclude thinking that the only people who can end this are the good Russians themselves. They need to be brave enough to speak out in the communities and question what is really happening. I don’t mean mass demonstrations but subtle infiltration of committees where decisions are taken and maybe there will be some who can change the stance of people close to Putin and rescue their nation from this madness.

If they don’t then I predict that russia will never be forgiven for the atrocities and breaking international law and rules for decent treatment of one’s fellow man. They’ll have one ally in North Korea and will find themselves dragged into some conflict with yet another country before long as a result, becoming more and more absent from meaningful world activity and trade, their people less respected or trusted. Despite the considerable mass of the Russian Federation, it will have as much influence on the world as North Korea has on a good day, which is zero.

Some deal will be struck in due course by men too frightened to stand up for what is right. And while Ukraine families mourn their loss and the West helps rebuild what russia destroyed, russia and russians will fade from view to the vast majority of people in the rest of the world. It is sad because there are some good Russians. 

After the last war, the phrase everyone remembers is: We shall not forget. 

And yet we will.

Time line thoughts

 I came across a time-line document I had made some years ago and thought I should take the opportunity to bring it up to date. My book Somewhere In Switzerland ended in March 1985 and it is also probably about time I wrote the second part, for which that time-line would be useful.

It is remarkable how much has happened in the last few years and yet how easily I have been able to forget which years things started in. COVID, for example, and the russian invasion. Surely I would remember when they started? I suppose I would have eventually figured it out but I have had to look at my posts here to be sure!

Yes, of course, COVID-19 hit us in early 2020, my first post in March 2020 being about how the postman would throw my parcels at me and scamper away whereas he would have stood on the doorstep chatting for ages a week or so before.

russia invaded Ukraine in January 2022. I used to write every few months, deploring the lack of assistance being provided or, where it was promised, the lack of delivery and generally how useless we have all been.

COVID-19 appears to have gone, although there is talk of yet another strain of the virus doing the rounds in a big way at the moment. I know quite a lot of people have had colds recently. But they are just that. Colds. No-one is really talking about COVID anything like as much - but still, interestingly, using the same old testing devices and donning masks as soon as they test positive. I really don't believe that there is much to fear now. We've survived and a lot of people now seem to appreciate just how wrong lockdown and all the closures and the compulsory mask-wearing and so on really were. I cannot blame the government of the day. They were caught very much with their pants down, some almost quite literally, and there had been no realistic plan in place for such a thing. People made things up as they went along and very sensible-sounding scientists came to very sensible-sounding conclusions at the time which we only now realise were mostly bonkers. But never mind. It was a crazy time and caused a lot of trouble and inconvenience but we survived. Those who didn't may well not have had that many years left on this planet anyway.

The russians, however, have not gone. After a period when Ukraine seemed to be gaining the upper hand we are back at a stage where russian troops are advancing in some areas but being held back in others. An estimate by a BBC UK and an independent russian source study suggests that russia is losing over 1000 people every month and 70,000 people have been killed or injured in the last six months alone. Yet still they come, with vast numbers of men being sent from all over russia to fight. It is the pure weight of numbers that has enabled russia to make progress but at what a price. One does have to wonder how long it can be before there are serious protests by mothers who are losing so many of their sons. Or are they mostly from villages where there is little chance of communication and even less chance that anyone would dare speak up anyway?

My concern is the new involvement of North Korean troops in the war, many now being seen on Ukraine territory, although so far largely only in construction work in towns which russia has taken over. North Korea has a huge army and I get the impression that, whilst not experienced in combat, they would simply do whatever their masters tell them.

Using the word masters here reminds me of all the woke nonsense that we have to put up with - people telling us British how bad we are for all sorts of slave trading some centuries ago. Why can these people not be as vocal about what is essentially thousands of slaves being sent to their likely death or certainly of illness or injury by their russian or North Korean masters? It is extraordinary that there are people demonstrating on our streets (and even more violently in other countries) about a whole range of past issues as well as the fate of Hamas supporters in Gaza but who seem totally unable to express any sympathy, never mind support, for the people of Ukraine.

If only all these loud demonstrators and political movers and shakers would get their act together on something which is happening today, pretty much here and now, or at least not very far away, where some nasty people are destroying innocent people's homes and lives. Children have been taken away from families and just disappeared in russia somewhere. How the hell can that be allowed to continue without some real protest by people who are good at protesting about oil or what is or is not happening to the planet.

Let me tell you now that what is happening in Ukraine is causing far greater damage to our planet than anything oil executives are doing or that some government minister is not doing. Some idiot minister can cancel the issue of new oil or gas drilling licences in the North Sea at the drop of a hat but ask anyone in the government to do anything of any real significance to deter russia or anyone else destroying life and limb in Ukraine and they'll just mumble about looking into it or make a speech and shake someone's hand but actually do bugger all.

Time and time again it has been made very clear that this war could have been ended had every country that found russia's action offensive and wrong made their views perfectly clear by providing support for the Ukraine army, on the ground, in the air, over cyberspace and at every international meeting where there was an opportunity to demonstrate, yes, demonstrate that support in whatever way they felt would get the message across to Putin and his team. "Get out now or we will force you out. There are plenty of us. We're well-equipped and willing to stand and defend the innocent."

Instead, we have all shuffled around on the outskirts and mumbled how bad it is and how 'someone ought to do something'. We should be shouting that someone needs to do something. That someone is our Prime Minister who should instruct our forces to go and do what's right. The last one should have done that as should the two before him. President Biden talks a good talk when he gets the words the right way round but, again, nothing actually happens. Everyone simply hopes, if they were to tell the truth, that the problem will just go away. That Putin will stop at some point and try to settle for what he has gained and just you try arguing against 'peace' at that point! Anyone objecting will be all too quickly placed on the pedestal of bad people wanting to prolong war, the loss of more lives and so forth. 

Even those politicians who have managed to send some actual planes or material to Ukraine have tied the hands of the Ukraine commanders and their troops over there by restricting what they can do with them. This is sheer madness. If russia knows that they are not going to be hit by a missile by staying a few miles inside the border, on their own territory, and firing off all kinds of nasty stuff from there then they will do so. If they thought that they might get pulverised by a few NATO missiles falling out of the sky then they'd think twice, move away and some hospital, train or electricity station might now be intact and children not buried under rubble.

There must be a hundred scenarios whereby russia can be appropriately restricted and pinned back in key areas if only other countries would add their men and weapons and intelligence to the battle. It could even be difficult to identify which country was supporting in this way and so impossible for russia to justify launching anything offensive at a NATO country which it would, in any event, do at its peril as that would most certainly bring a hail of metal down upon towns and key installations in russia.

"Oh, but what if they fire a nuclear missile at us?" you ask. 

"If they do, it gets intercepted and, at the same time a lot more get sent their way from every NATO base that has one ready. Whilst, yes, one or two towns can be demolished and a great many lives lost, the whole of russia will be devastated. They lose. They know that. So they won't fire first anything of much significance."

It's one of those questions that annoying women ask at meetings - like "So you don't mind innocent people getting killed?" How can you answer that? "No. I am perfectly happy to see people dying." or "No, you're quite right, we shouldn't risk any more loss of life". Clearly the latter is the more reasonable, more human-sounding. But the clever question misses the point. By not fighting the bully, the bully wins. Every time. Is that what she wants? Russia to take over Ukraine? Keep the kids they stole? Not acknowledge or be punished in any way for the atrocities at so many cities, towns and villages? So we have to say "Yes, I am prepared to see innocent people killed if it means that there is a chance of the bully being stopped and more killings avoided. It is not a pleasant concept. It is risky. But if Russia does not believe that we will cause considerable damage if they do not cease then they will not cease. " It really is as simple as that. There will be more loss of life and there is nothing we can do about that. Let us just try to ensure that there are no more Ukrainian lives or livelihoods or land or schools or hospitals or crops or power stations lost.

Now, back to that timeline:

August 2024. Trip to Ukraine . . .