I think that the powerless proles will eat whatever crap he feeds them as there is nothing else on the shelf; and they are conditioned to authoritarian leadership.

I think the powerful elite will have access to other sources of information and it is they who hold the cards.

But I think Putin knows this well, so his security apparatus is keeping them in check and under his control. Given their limited number and culling of those who have historically opposed him, I suspect this task is not hard.

Words I may come to eat, but I finally think that those who suggest that this could all end with Putin being ousted in a coup are pure fantasists.

A fascinating lecture given in 2018 on what happened after the break up of the Soviet Union in 91 and how events led to Putin taking control. A lot said seems to be highly prophetic.

[Link]

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

I would certainly that there can be an element of truth to it here. In a more full on society like Russia, my concern would be that it may have little to do what individual parents wanted, and was a decree from above that had to be followed regardless of personal opinion. It appears that all of those in the hospice may have taken part.

But generally I certainly agree yes, that seeing children dragged into marches or holding placards is unfortunate. With everything is can be a matter of degrees and contextualised though. As in seeing children arrested for being at an anti war march, make me consider that the biggest concern isn't their or their parents actions. 10,000 arrests at last count. I wonder how many now.

Certainly.

Russia has never been a democracy, regardless, the laws on protest in Russia are nothing short of an outrage.

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

Yes, they're making jets and tanks as we speak, and calling up hundreds of thousands of people to arms.
As it actually turns out, Germany cannot fully implement sanctions due to the oft-mentioned energy reliance. There are loads of countries doing whatever they like.

Red and Blue Army!

I am not sure what you are referring to as hogwash. Just for reference, it was on 18th Jan 2018 that Farage made the remarks. He also, of course, graphically posed in front of a giant poster showing queues of migrants - as untrue then as it is now.

Britain as the senior partner in Europe? Not in my judgement it isn't despite all the highly convenient posturing of Johnson. More about his political survival than anything else as Rory Stewart so accurately outlined the other day.

Supplying aid to Ukranians? Tell that to the 1m+ refugees who have been welcomed by Poland whereas we, by contrast, scramble around to open a processing centre in Calais; according to Patel there is one but in reality there isn't. The true colours of this Brexit led government are there for all to see.