Your enemy's enemy is your friend. As in all proxy wars one side supplies/supports one side against the other. That there is also money to be made in defence deals is also true. I struggle to think of any wars that weren't like that. Probably, if anything the US should supply more arms to Ukraine: just as Russia and China did to those fighting the US. None of those conflicts were WW3 so why should this be any different? As for ethics, I don't really see them as that valid. Look at civilian casualties in Vietnam for a start. Smarter weapons helped bring these numbers down in Iraq, but no weapon is so smart that it only kills who you want to kill - only an individual can do that, and these wars are largely not in the hands of individuals. Did anyone really blame China and Russia for supporting Vietnam? It just seemed like the stark reality that was a product of power and the perception of and use of that power. Largely done to make one side look bad, or to weaken one side, or to prolong a conflict, hence more arms sales - you can see the similarities here without me saying much more.

The 4-0 victory over Everton was special. I have been a Palace supporter for more than 60 years. Every player put in a great shift and we fully deserved the victory.

For 90 minutes I escaped from the World and my Crystal Palace took my mind off life.

Now I am back to reality. My beautiful wife and 16 year old daughter are in a town called Melitopol in Eastern Ukraine. Melitopol is under the control of Russian forces. There is little food or water, limited electricity and internet, and it is extremely cold. The local hospital was bombed. Life is hell. It is not that far from Mariupol where the maternity hospital was attacked, and at this time there is little possibility of getting them out of the country. I fear that I may never see my family again. I for one am extremely worried.

Eastern Ukraine is suffering a humanitarian crisis which none of us have experienced. Charities are doing excellent work in providing humanitarian aid but their focus is on the Polish border and western Ukraine, whereas there is currently little or no help in eastern Ukraine.

I know eastern Ukraine well and have direct access to volunteer groups who are able to deliver food and medicine to the area.

I have set up a JustGiving page in association with a Northern Irish charity to provide humanitarian aid to the area. All I ask is that the wonderful Palace supporters consider contributing a nominal payment for a wonderful cause. The link is:

[Link]

Don't count on BenitoMussolini contributing.
I've donated to a couple of Ukranian appeals and would encourage others to do so as well.

This is fantastically entertaining. The mental gymnastics to put all this together really is something

Not in the context that conspiracy theorists want to portray it though.

He means the way Putin's invasion of Ukraine, and the way the west has united in response, has changed the world. Which it has.

I've not seen one post with anyone defending neo nazi types (well the ones in Ukraine anyway..). Certainly the politics within a nation or its people can be troubling, but anyone with any sense takes 'massive neo nazi problem' to be as ridiculous a statement as it sounds. Primarily because it's Putin's ludicrous propaganda push to legitimise barbaric mistreatment and murder of the Ukrainian people. Clearly they have not invaded Ukraine to, as Putin claims, take on 'drug-addicted, neo-Nazis'. Russian politicians are now increasingly talking about the 'denazification of Poland' too. You're not obliged to peddle Putin's propaganda for him.

Edited by BlueJay (22 Mar 2022 7.56pm)