In the news

Was he a better captain after you'd finished?

Bullshit.

Regardless of the owner's wishes, no professional mariner ignores SOLAS.

He is, was and always shall be one of the worst. His management technique was to creep up beind you and watch you working without saying a word. He'd just glower at the back of your head until you realised he was there. Then you'd say hello, but he wouldn't reply. Just more glowering for a bit, then walk off. Hardly ever ate with the crew. When he did, he wouldn't speak. Didn't introduce himself when new crew joined the ship. Tried to impress the owner by saving money on crew amenities. (E.g. no wifi, just one laptop in the mess to be shared by 20 people. When crew quarters were inspected for cleanliness you'd have to pass the white glove test - the First Mate puts on white gloves and runs them everywhere in your cabin, including all the places you can't see. The glove must not pick up any dirt. When crud is found it's written up longhand on a big whiteboard in the mess. Name and shame them all, even the officers! Turnover was huge. A third of the crew on my voyage were new. One of them gave notice within days and was dropped off at the next port of call. Now and again I look at crew photos on the web...I've hardly ever found a familiar face.

I didn't say they would. There are lots of boats in the Med. You can use the radar to make sure you're not one of the nearby ones when there's an emergency.

5 October 1960
Radar equipment in Thule, Greenland, mistakenly interpreted a moonrise over Norway as a large-scale Soviet missile launch. Upon receiving a report of the supposed attack, NORAD went on high alert. However, doubts about the authenticity of the attack arose due to the presence of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in New York City as head of the USSR's United Nations delegation.

It feels like pure luck that we’ve not all been blasted into oblivion really.

I think on a long enough timeline, we’re quite fucked.

A nuclear winter has become more of worry. It used to be seen as a consequence of full nuclear exchange, but it's now thought that even a small nuclear war would cause it. Which is good, because Russia and the US now have even less of an incentive for a first strike or the use of tactical battlefield nukes. But it's also bad, because an India-Pakistan war could kill people all around the world. I read somewhere that the US has special forces ready to seize Pakistan's nukes in case of a revolution by extremists.

Interesting reporting that the leader of the Wagner group is claiming the defence minister started the war in Ukraine to further his career.

This giving Putin a pass to de-escalate. I doubt it will but it's an interesting change of direction in terms of public pronouncements

Linky

It's all kicking off in Moscow https://twitter.com/DAlperovitch/status/1672363000764719106

Wagner fighters apparently expecting to be killed? https://twitter.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1672338798691115009

Sounds like a suicidal move by Prigozhin. Zero chance of anything except arrest/death.

Tanks out in Moscow streets, signs of some kind of military lockdown in Rostov... suggesting the administration has become very nervous of the malign genie they uncorked. Meanwhile. Prigozhin has a video out saying, among other things, that Putin's account of the reasons for the Russian invasion is all based on lies.

Wagner work for the highest bidder, is that correct?
I’ve not been following closely over the last week as I’ve been on holiday but is it possible someone’s made them a better offer?
I know they’ve been complaining about poor logistics and lack of supplies for a while.

The MoD passed an order in the last week or two that all PMC's must full under state control and they don't like if
Plus he's always moaning and appears to take behind issue with Shoigu and Gerrasmov

Prigozhin has a video out saying, among other things, that Putin's account of the reasons for the Russian invasion is all based on lies.

He presumably knew this while happily accepting all the roubles before things went tits-up.

It's interesting that he says the Russian military leadership lied to Putin and tricked him into thinking Ukraine was a threat. A conspiracy theorist might say that Prigozhin is, on Putin's orders, floating a story that Putin could use as an exit strategy: blame the military for the whole fiasco.

I started a war and killed tens of thousands of our guys because some guys lied and told me to is not really a strong look for Putin.

CIA probably funding Prigozhin now.

This is getting interesting. Chickens coming home to roost for Putin

Ta for this. looks good

Wagner work for the highest bidder, is that correct?

No. They're connected to the murkier parts of the Russian security forces (i.e. GRU) and whatever discretion they may have, they've never worked for clients opposed to Russian interests. They wouldn't work for, say, Poland any more than Blackwater would for North Korea.

CIA probably funding Prigozhin now.

What makes you think the CIA is involved?

It's your fault for being in your own homes rather than our fault for funneling all your cash to shareholders and not fixing any pipes for decades.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/23/south-east-water-blames-working-from-home-for-hosepipe-ban

https://twitter.com/DrDavidJeffery/status/1672498832423153666

Sounds about right. Obviously all these people must not exist when they aren't at home.

I for one don't drink and become a dessicated husk when out of the house.

Boris never misses

1 Attachment

Maybe getting a hint here of why the COVID response was fucked