Latest Moan From You and Me 2025

Love the colour of that middle one, @Fat Controller. My father had a pale green one for some yrs. Very smooth experience as a passenger. I believe it was an XJ6, but I might be misremembering that! Cars are not my “thing” and I generally can’t tell one make from another. I identify my own by colour alone!

 

My OH doesn't realise what he's missing by not participating in GC. He worked in Jaguar garages all his UK life and was well and truly bitten by the bug :-) He was also well placed to buy a beauty of an XJS abandoned at the garage by a customer who decided the minor repairs weren't worth the cost. Sadly, totally impractical for the new life in France, he's been hankering for another ever since we got here. He's just about at the point where, instead of saving his remaining centimes for Macron to cream off, he's going to do what he wants rather than what he should :-) Can't say I blame him.....:-) I just hope that I get a say in the colour....not his priority lol

 

Just heard that Starmer has said if Putin doesn't play ball with the ceasefire we should up sanctions on Russia.

Are they saying that after 3 years they haven't exhausted all possible sanctions on Russia.

 

We've currently got 2 jags, a red one and blue one. We sold an xjr a few years ago that had air suspension. It was like floating on a soft cloud. So comfy and large leather seats too. I'm impressed at the quality. But it's hubby's "hobby". He is on a Jag forum, but it all looks so boring what they talk about on there. I do wash them now and again if given permission!

 

Trump once said he could do something to Russia that only he knew about. Could that be cutting off their Internet?

 

I don’t think sanctions are effective now that “the west” is not a cohesive unit and given China is, if not supportive out loud, at least neutral about Russia. China influences a lot of Africa, South America, and North Korea. It is sort of Europe v global forces now. The pivoting of the US, even if it were to only last 4 yrs, is a game changer.

Except, of course, it is not a game. It is quite literally life and death.

 

Australia and Canada are in there.

Pivoting of America, not sure what you mean.

 

Well I sent back that roulette game to Russia.It was useless.

 

@pete, pivoting of America away from a firm alliance with Europe and towards a sympathetic assessment of Russian actions/motives.

Trump wants the war over so he can lay claim to a Nobel peace prize. How long any ceasefire lasts is not really his primary concern, as long as any relapse does not interfere with minerals acquisition.

 

I'm probably a bit naive but to me the war is going nowhere fast, at some point Russia will take Ukraine in the next 10yrs or so if it carries on.
Nobody was talking, just throwing money at the problem and keeping it all at arms length.
Trumps motives maybe to America's gain but something needs to be done rather than what has been going on.

As far as I know he's just told the UK and Europe that we need to get off our backsides and start pulling our weight, if not then he's not prepared to back us in any conflicts.
Kind of sounds reasonable to me.

It's only what many presidents have said in the past but have never called Europe's bluff.

 

On a different note, my moan today is that we have been waiting in for three days now ( at varying times) for a parcel delivery and still a no show. I even watched the delivery drivers route yesterday and thought when I saw he was in our area that we would get the delivery shortly after. Nope! Off he went, all over the place and ended up back at the depot. Have just found out today that the place isn’t open over a weekend, pfft

 

I think what’s different now, @pete, is that the US wants a deal regardless of whether Ukraine ends up crushed and Russia more powerful. Previous presidents would have looked to contain Russia’s ambitions. And if you factor in all the things Trump has said about taking over Canada and Greenland, aims that would be helped by Russia being seen to win in Ukraine, it’s a very different situation to former US policy. For sure, the US has always gone round the world taking what it wants in terms of resources, but actually forcing another country to become part of the US is a new stated ambition.

Will it happen? Personally I doubt it, but just having the idea out there shows the proposed direction of travel away from the collective ideals of NATO. (Not that NATO is an unqualified success, of course, and it does need a shake-up to cope with modern-day dictators and despots.)