[GlennF]

Yeah pretty primitive really relying on neighbours to dob people in.

They need to import the facial recognition tech that Russia and China are using to arrest protestors.

It will be awesome for nabbing people for socially inappropriate behaviour like littering or smoking in a non smoking zone.

[Carl Fenn]

Yes but some of them are primitive people, the police use proactive informers here who report people for cash payments, their identities remain secret and are protected no official record of their existence, it’s totally pathetic and should be made illegal can you trust thy neighbours not really.

[Richard230]

Here is an article that was published in my newspaper today regarding auto factory wiring harness supply problems.   

[Carl Fenn]

 l saw the same think in a different paper.

[AzCal Retred]

This is an outgrowth of Putin's distraction. The Solomons are about 400 miles due East of New Guinea, maybe 600 miles North of Australia. A base there would be a great idea for China in the event of a move by them towards Australia. No wonder the boys are making noises, eh? Interesting times...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/solomon-islands-china-security-pact-rcna25692
April 24, 2022, 1:30 AM PDT ; By Emanuel Stoakes
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — A tiny island chain in the South Pacific has Western governments scrambling after it agreed to a security pact with China that the United States and its allies fear could enhance Beijing’s military power in this strategically important region.
The deal between China and the Solomon Islands, a nation of 700,000 people that had deadly riots last year, poses “serious risks to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” officials from the U.S., Australia, Japan and New Zealand said in a statement on Wednesday.
Alarm in Washington and other capitals is so high that on Friday the highest-level U.S. delegation in years visited the Solomon Islands. Kurt Campbell, the top White House official for Asia, and Daniel Kritenbrink, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, met with Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare in Honiara, the capital.

The Solomon Islands has grown closer to China under Sogavare, giving Beijing a major win in 2019 when it severed long-standing diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Unease about China’s role in the country’s affairs, and claims of Beijing-linked corruption, contributed to violent unrest in November that targeted the capital’s Chinatown and left four people dead. Australia sent peacekeeping forces under its own security agreement with the country.
According to Sogavare, the security pact with Beijing is needed in part so Chinese police can protect Chinese-funded infrastructure. But opposition leader Matthew Wale said he feared Sogavare, who has tried to postpone the 2023 general election, could use Chinese forces to prop up his government. The Solomon Islands Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not reply to an email request for comment.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/us-officials-heading-solomon-islands-china-pact-worries-rcna24942

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Solomon+Islands/@-9.2645286,152.5271508,5z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x68d351e0555009d1:0xb44cc0a017442980!8m2!3d-9.64571!4d160.156194

[Richard230]

At least there is good news from France. French President Macon has been reelected by 58% of the vote. That is a very good thing for both Ukraine and for NATO.

[GlennF]

You do get the feeling the UK Brexit vote may have came out the other way if the Ukraine war was going on back then.

[derottone]

You do get the feeling the UK Brexit vote may have came out the other way if the Ukraine war was going on back then.

Looks like they've got almost the opposite they've voted for anyway. Atleast no one asked the Germans weather they want to join the EU with it's € or not with only demands and no return.

[Carl Fenn]

Well the Germans are preoccupied at the present worried about their gas supply and industry.

[Richard230]

Well the Germans are preoccupied at the present worried about their gas supply and industry.

At least we are heading toward summer and not a cold winter in the Northern Hemisphere. It would have been really rough for the Germans to cut back their gas consumption during the winter. I can't blame them for worrying about gas and oil supplies and how it affects their citizens. Hopefully they can hang in there and finally get off the Russian tit by the end of the year.

[derottone]

Getting off the russian tit is a wet dream even Donald was dreaming. No one seems to offer a comparable tit though so far.

Almost as good idea as getting off the chinese tit. Before that happens maybe politicos ought to consider the reintroduction of border controles within the EU.

[AzCal Retred]

The SecDef & SecState went to Ukraine for a "private" electronic-intercept free confab. Mebbe the "No-Fly" zone is imminent. Can't have 155mm mobile howitzers & tanks grinding around on the battlefield without air cover, you are just supplying targets. I'm sure tired of Putin calling the shots. If he starts getting too crazy, the Kremlin crowd will have to do something out of self preservation. In any event, the Black Sea will be reduced to floating only some life boats and a few big oil slicks about 20 minutes after the festivities start.

https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3009451/blinken-austin-meet-ukraines-president-in-kyiv/

[derottone]

Without joking, sunflower oil seems to be all sold out since a month or so, mayne due to the bio diesel drivers hamstring?

[Richard230]

Without joking, sunflower oil seems to be all sold out since a month or so, mayne due to the bio diesel drivers hamstring?

You can always switch to palm oil. There seems to be a lot of that stuff around. I recently bought a jar of Peter Pan Almond Butter  for 99 cents and noticed that the second most ingredient, after Almonds, is solidified palm oil, followed by sugar. There is also a warning in red stating that the product contains almonds. Well that good to know. 

[derottone]

I don't know, if you drive a bio diesel you may expect the roads to be covered with palm leaf for you, that might cause a shortage of palm oil soon too.