'Run you fools, you will die'; Meet the unit of Russian defectors fighting for Ukraine

It sounds like a line out of a movie. But who’s saying it? Is it a threat to kill them if they run away? Is it a group of people volunteering to commit treason against their military? Perhaps they could take control of the military as well if they have enough resources, or fund their own country. But they’ve actually left home. They might not be allowed to return if their identity is discovered, and they’ll have to prove where they’ve been and what they’ve up to during this time. But if they operate from the other side, it makes things easier for them. Some of them have even served on the other side before defecting, recognising the evil that’s occurring. But fighting back this way may not give the home side much persuasion to follow suit. It might be more humane to rescue the injured Ukrainians which will steer you out of trouble.

Dear Evan Hansen

This was a captivating film and I wanted to see if it would end in tragedy or success. Some of the songs are quite catchy, but some of them need a bit of work, and it would have been nice to have a bit of realism thrown in there as a reaction; i.e. why has this person suddenly decided to break into song in this situation? It would have been good to have seen a therapy session as well, perhaps at the beginning. It might have been more relevant if they had addressed COVID since that was occurring during its filming. But it does demonstrate how people are trying to cope with things. The video is quite inspirational. And it’s great to see a woman of strength assist Evan, despite what he may throw at her. It’s also a story of pride. It’s also interesting to see how people react to the lie.

Go West Young Lamb #henley 2

Heading west, we crossed through a wood to reach a stile at the end, then climbed a hill in a north-westerly direction. Just before we reached another stile, we turned left and headed directly west which brought us out onto the road. Turning left, we followed the road around the bend until it turned directly south, then turned right into the church car park. After passing the church, we continued west and crossed a stile to follow the path downhill towards the road. We passed through the kissing gate and walked directly through the gate opposite to pass through a farm. Continuing west, we crossed eleven stiles along a ridge until we descended onto a road. A short turn right found our next stile on the left, which brought us onto a descent to a road. Turning left, we walked back through suburbia to a T-junction, where we turned right followed by the first left.

 

The Playground

It’s hard to envision what’s going on sometimes. The focus is to play on the next piece of equipment. They’re constantly on the move and don’t like to wait. Sometimes they want to seek out the attention of a parent our sibling to demonstrate what they’ve learnt, especially when they’re trying something new. If there’s a friend or sibling with them, they’ll taker the time to compete or organise a game or create some rules. Sometimes they’ll cry out to their guardian for help if there’s something that upsets them or stops them from what they’re trying to achieve, or if it’s something that they don’t understand. They’ll want to keep an eye out or know where to go to get help. Sometimes they’ll be followed around by a responsible person. They may happily chat back at you. Others are solely focused on the new experience in front of them. Some kids will get bossy and will lay down rules.

The Hills of Henley #henley 1

Leaving the car park at the north, we turned right onto a footpath that curved south past a children’s playground. As it joined the road, we followed it south until it reached another road. Crossing it, we turned left and headed east past the school until we came to a gate just past the last house. Entering the field, we headed south and crossed over the stile into a ploughed field, and after passing the farm buildings on our right, the path bore south-east and began to cut through another field. The path followed the river around a meander until it reached another stile, then shortly afterwards we bore east to cross another stile to reach a road. Heading south, the road crossed the river then we turned left to follow the road over to the canal. Turning left onto the towpath, we followed the canal underneath the main road, and passed under another bridge before reaching a third.

By George

He’s tall and thin, and has a smile on his face. He knows how to greet people. He has thin wispy hair and a classic handlebar moustache alongside a large nose and stick-out ears. He has a small build with a bit of a bulge on his belly. He always aims to dress smart with the simplest of clothes, even when at home. He’ll always wear some kind of shirt; either a formal one or a polo shirt. He’ll take care in his appearance to  be well-groomed with the shiniest of shoes or the whitest of trainers. He listens very intently to people’s answers, and isn’t afraid to ask questions, although he does do it to insist that he does not mean to offend. He’s actually very intelligent, although he doesn’t like to show it, especially with a deep, loud and slow black country accent. He’s rather surprise people with what he can do.

Screening out for Change

It’s that time of day to log on and chat nonsense. We can talk about our worries or just muck about with what’s in front of us. Not much may have happened but we want to analyse everyone’s movements. It’s also good to hear that everyone is doing OK, and to see about getting people help and advice if they need it. But there’s not much that we can do if we don’t know about it. We also make plans based on the assumption that nothing is going to change in the near future. It’s odd that some of us have decided to use a company’s logo as an avatar when we’re not representing that company. I don’t think that the company would be very impressed. But we didn’t get too many invites to other people’s parties which probably said a lot about ourselves. We should really take the time for some self-improvement.