Rosbif, étant né qqpart, j'admire surtout Georges Brassens- My articles on Plato, Wittgenstein, & Iris Murdoch (some about all 3) listed @RobjantDavid
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Joined October 2019
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I wrote a thing about Orwell and "patriotism"; the odd and interesting "love" part in "love of country", that isn't dinner dates but might be to do with possession and jealousy. You should read it because it is amusing, some think insightful.
abc.net.au/religion/the-patr…
David Robjant retweeted
En 1914-1918, des milliers de Tchèques et de Slovaques ont choisi de combattre aux côtés des Alliés. Leur engagement pour la France a contribué à la naissance de la Tchécoslovaquie. À Vouziers, dans les Ardennes, 282 d’entre eux reposent dans une nécropole. #LestWeForget
David Robjant retweeted
Lord Sedwill is right: the UK should consider going on the offensive to impose a real cost of aggression on our adversaries.
Offence is often the best defence. This is what I’ve been saying in Parliament.
teapaw.org/threshedthought/status…
🚨 The UK and its NATO allies should consider going “on the offensive” to defend against Russia - put pressure on the Kremlin, cause them a dilemma and create jeopardy - rather than leaving the initiative with Moscow and defending against whatever Russia does, Lord Mark Sedwill, a former Cabinet Secretary and long-serving UK National Security Adviser, has said.
He said this could be done by using conventional or hybrid defences.
Lord Sedwill, a highly regarded and leading voice in the security community, was speaking on the Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier in Norway at the opening of a conference attended by serving military chiefs and ministers as well as members of the defence industry from across Europe and beyond.
Lord Sedwill posed three questions for the attendees.
Firstly, how can the UK and its allies defend effectively the North Sea and the North Atlantic - Britain’s “frontline” with Russia?
Secondly, how can allies defend against Russian, Iranian and other hostile grey zone attacks such as cyber hacks, assassinations and hoax bomb threats?
But his third point was the most strident.
Here is what Lord Sedwill said at the Atlantic Future Forum:
“This is something I really do want to emphasise. It is not just about defence.
“NATO is a defensive alliance but the most effective form of defence is often to cause a dilemma, it is often to go on the offensive against our adversaries.
“So how can we present our Russian adversaries in particular with a set of strategic dilemmas?
“How do we make them feel they are under threat? Not simply leave the initiative to them and defend against it.
“That is true whether we are talking about land, sea and air but it is also true if we are talking about the hybrid space, space, cyber space and indeed in the information space as well.
“I hope we can think that through as well.
“How - whether it is in conventional defence or in hybrid defence - can we put some pressure on the Russians?
“Because deterrence requires not just effective defence, it does require there to be some jeopardy to our adversaries in continuing to probe us.”
David Robjant retweeted
Among a stream of stupid replies, no one seems to absorb the fact that half the musicians are Arabs. One person compares it with all white orchestras in South Africa. Are they just not reading that the musicians are Jews and Arabs?
David Robjant retweeted
Oui.
"La société française vit dans l’inconscience du péril" : l’historien Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau estime que la France "est entièrement centrée sur ses problèmes domestiques", et sous-estime le risque d’un conflit entre l’OTAN et la Russie.
radiofrance.fr/franceinter/p…
Pinned post maybe? Or need I write it up long form for those at the front as well as the back? Like Socrates I think even the most shouty political passions can be based on basic errors of logic and fact. And errors of politeness (since brits love to concede others have a point)
The claim that if you substitute bilateral for multilateral treaties your parliament is more “accountable” is a stupid person’s idea of a clever argument. It is the argument of people who either don’t understand what treaties are or don’t see why anyone needs them. Just nutty.
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“I don’t beleive that vodka is medicinal; I think, tho, that vodka is medicinal”
Put an academic tone on lunatic self contradiction and it passes.
'As long as Russian state believes its greatness depends on its right to dominate other states, there is no prospect of peace in Europe.'
I don't agree this is what the Russian state (or Putin) believes. I do think, tho, that spheres of influence are a fact of geopolitical life
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David Robjant retweeted
BREAKING. #France attributes to #Iran the #cyberattacks on supermarket #fridges —which took place overnight from October 11 to October 12 in over 700 retail locations across France. This cyber-offensive, carried out for the purpose of sabotage and resulting in tens of millions of euros in damages, is linked to the Shahid Kaveh unit, an entity affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/presse…
David Robjant retweeted
Porozprávam vám príbeh. Chcete? Ja rada rozprávam príbehy.
Predstavte si rok 1942. A list, v ktorom obyčajný človek z východného Slovenska žiada o arizáciu, teda o pridelenie židovského obchodu svojho suseda. Človeka, ktorého pozná po mene. Možno sa kedysi aj priatelili. Aspoň si to o sebe predtým zrejme mysleli.
Fašistický štát mu umožní stúpať po politickom rebríčku, stane sa okresným náčelníkom. A z iných dokumentov vieme, že o pár mesiacov neskôr vyškrtne z deportačného zoznamu rodinu, ktorú poznal. Zrejme ju tým zachránil. Lenže my už vieme aj to, že keď žiadal o arizáciu a jeho sused prišiel o živobytie, urobil z neho človeka odsúdeného na smrť.
A ak by sme jeho osud sledovali dosť dlho, nájdeme stranícky dotazník KSČ z roku 1948, v ktorom ten istý človek píše, že počas vojny pomáhal prenasledovaným. O arizácii ani slovo. Na konci dotazníka napíše "Česť práci!" a dodá, že verí ľudovodemokratickému zriadeniu a vždy bol oddaným komunistom.
Kým teda tento človek bol? Kolaborantom? Oportunistom? Záchrancom? Fašistom? Komunistom? Alebo jednoducho klamárom?
Moja odpoveď znie: áno, nie, čiastočne.
A práve takíto ľudia ma zaujímajú. Pretože ich vidím stovky, tisíce. V počítači, z ktorého práve píšem, mám viac ako 600 tisíc takýchto dokumentov. Životopisov, úradných záznamov, udaní, kádrových spisov. Ľudí, ktorí za jeden život prežili niekoľko režimov a každému z nich o sebe rozprávali trochu iný príbeh. Všetci máme niekoľko životopisov. A k tým oficiálnym ešte tie osobné, ktoré z dokumentov nepoznáme.
O diktatúrach zvyčajne rozprávame cez dve skupiny. Cez tých, ktorí vládli, mali moc a sedeli v centre. A cez tých, ktorí proti nim bojovali. Cez hrdinov odboja.
Lenže väčšina spoločnosti, väčšina z nás, v inom čase a možno aj teraz, žije niekde medzi. Chodí do práce, stará sa o deti. Možno si myslí, že každý režim raz skončí. Ľudia robia kompromisy. Niekedy malé, inokedy také, na ktoré nie sú hrdí.
Asi sa často opakujem a samozrejme to súvisí s tým, čo robím. Mám však pocit, že sa s nebezpečenstvom nedemokratických režimov nevysporiadame, ak budeme dejiny rozprávať len cez tých, ktorí ich budovali, a tých, ktorí proti nim bojovali. Chcela by som – aj cez ten film, sakra! – aby sme sa naučili rozprávať príbeh 20. storočia aj cez tých, ktorí sa dejinám prispôsobovali. A prispôsobovali sa opakovane.
Pretože nie každé prispôsobenie je súhlas. A nie každý nesúhlas je odpor.
A aj dnes, keď sledujeme, ako naša demokracia slabne, pozeráme sa najmä nahor. Na ministrov a predsedu vlády, ktorí, samozrejme, určujú smer. Neurčujú však rýchlosť. Je veľa ľudí, ktorí môžu prehodiť výhybku alebo celý pohyb spomaliť. A sme medzi nimi aj my.
V skratke, a asi by som sa mala naučiť písať stručnejšie: z dejín sa nepoučíme, ak ich budeme rozprávať len cez ľudí, ktorými sa nikdy nestaneme. Musíme sa pozrieť aj na tých, ktorými by sme sa za istých okolností stať mohli.
Alebo ktorými sme sa už stali.
Ex Graun columnist / vatnik there, causally suggesting that the reunification of Germany gives Moscow carte blanche to annex the neighbours. Deranged.
territory. No border changes was sacrosanct priinciple under Yalta, but all that changed w/ unification of Germany, Kosovo etc. non-recognition - as per West & Baltic states - would be poss holding solution.
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David Robjant retweeted
A Jewish-Arab ensemble should be able to perform beautiful music together without being inundated with sectarian hatred and vitriolic bigotry
The British Library is hosting an event with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO). Join us at a protest outside the event at 6PM tomorrow and read on to find out why we are calling for this event to be protested and boycotted. 1/5 palestinecampaign.org/psc-st…
Looney tunes from UK vatnik central- but all “all we are saying” is give neutrality towards the war criminals who invaded your country a chance.
Russia existed beside Nato and beside an independent Ukraine with very little tension, incl when Ukraine had fiercely pro-Western leader after Orange Revolution. This was possible so long as Ukraine was neutral. It should be neutral again
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David Robjant retweeted
It's an orchestra. Playing music.
The British Library is hosting an event with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO). Join us at a protest outside the event at 6PM tomorrow and read on to find out why we are calling for this event to be protested and boycotted. 1/5 palestinecampaign.org/psc-st…
David Robjant retweeted
Contrairement à ce que pensent certains esprits chagrins, Munich n'a jamais été autant d'actualité. Les Munichois sont toujours là, prêts à sacrifier la liberté d'un peuple qui ne demandait qu'à vivre dans cette paix dont ils se rengorgent pour mieux céder à l'agresseur.
Devant une foule complaisante ou crédule, Mélenchon marche sur les traces de Chamberlain et Daladier : l’occupation d’abord, puis des urnes sous la pression de l’occupant, et enfin un nouveau tracé des frontières. Pierre Raiman décrypte ce piège.
desk-russie.eu/2026/11/09/au…
David Robjant retweeted
Kushner:
#russia is asking Ukrainians and Europeans are they really genuinely ready for peace?
Wait. What? #russia the country that started the war, the one that’s been killing Ukrainian civilians and destroying all livelihood in #Ukraine is not sure if we want peace?
This is so ridiculous. For #moscow the sign #Kyiv is ready for peace = Kyiv is ready to surrender. Territories in Donetsk and Luhansk russia doesn’t event hold control over. Remission of russia to European energy markets and the lifting of sanctions is also a condition for russia to believe Europe and Ukraine truly want peace.
This is typical putinist coercion and manipulation. The only thing such an approach yields is a waste of time and human lives.