steve g pope

I'm selling tickets to Waves Festival 2024 on Twickets (face value or less) twckts.com/CP9V #Twickets

BREAKING: Zelensky just landed in the UAE and signed a defence cooperation agreement with President MBZ. The deal on the table changes everything about this war. Ukraine is offering Gulf states 1,000 drone interceptors per day. Each Sting interceptor costs $2,100. Each Patriot missile it replaces costs $3.9 million. In exchange, Ukraine wants the Patriot missiles the Gulf states are burning through, because Kyiv cannot get enough of them to stop Russian missiles. Read that again. The country America refused to arm fast enough is now arming America’s allies with a weapon that costs 1,857 times less than the one America cannot produce fast enough. The National reported on March 27 that Zelensky told reporters: “We’d like to quietly receive the Patriot missiles we have a deficit of, and give them a corresponding number of interceptors.” AFP confirmed the UAE agreement on March 28. Eleven countries have formally requested Ukraine’s drone defence expertise per Zelensky’s own count. Over 200 Ukrainian military specialists are already deployed across the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Jordan. Here is the arithmetic that should terrify every Pentagon procurement officer on earth. The United States fired 943 Patriot interceptors in the first four days of the Iran war per a US Congressional study cited by the Jerusalem Post. That is eighteen months of Lockheed Martin’s annual production consumed in 96 hours. Each of those 943 shots cost $3.9 million. Total expenditure: $3.68 billion in four days on defensive interceptions alone. Iran produces 10,000 Shahed drones per month per Reuters. Each drone costs $20,000 to $50,000. The cost exchange ratio is 114 to 1 in Iran’s favour per Military Times. Ukraine’s Sting interceptor inverts this arithmetic entirely. At $2,100, the cost ratio flips from 114-to-1 against America to roughly 10-to-1 against Iran. Ukraine can supply 1,000 per day. That is 30,000 per month against Iran’s 10,000 Shaheds per month. For the first time in this war, the defender’s production rate exceeds the attacker’s production rate at a fraction of the cost. And the country that built this weapon is the same country that Trump publicly rejected. “No, they are not helping. We do not need their help. We know more about drones than anyone else” per Fox News. He doubled down: “The last person we need help from is Zelensky.” Meanwhile the Pentagon notified Congress of plans to redirect $750 million in Ukraine-bound Patriot missiles to Gulf states per House of Saud reporting. America is simultaneously refusing Ukraine’s cheap solution and cannibalising Ukraine’s expensive one. Zelensky framed this explicitly. He told The National: “No matter how many Patriots, THAADs, or other air-defence systems are in the Middle East, that alone is not enough for fully effective air defence.” He told the UK Parliament: “When it comes to shooting down massive Shahed attacks, only Ukrainian experience can really help with this today.” The Pentagon is spending $3.9 million per interception, raiding Swiss fighter jet accounts to cover shortfalls, and diverting Ukraine’s own Patriot supply to the Gulf. Zelensky is offering the same result for $2,100 and producing 1,000 units per day. The market has a word for this kind of disruption. The $2,100 drone is the most important weapon in this war. And the country that built it is the one America said it did not need. Full analysis - open.substack.com/pub/shanakaans…

@timeswmariana Israel

@RedEagleUpdates 50

MIKE PENCE is considering running for PRESIDENT. What are the chances you’d consider him in 2028? A. 100 B. 50 C. Zero

On Saturday I had a lovely night celebrating with my pals Lucy Connolly, Allison Pearson & her lawyer - then posted a pic.  This morning I got a call from the general manager of Joe Allen restaurant asking to take it down because trolls had called us “racist rats”. I wouldn’t usually post about this but I’ve had enough.  This would never happen to an Islamist or someone on the left. Ever.  Do we really want to live in a society where only people of your political persuasion are welcome at restaurants? Or a society where trolls have this much power over private businesses because, as he puts it in the call below, some people are “offended”? Offended by what? A group of friends – who include a star Daily Telegraph columnist, top barrister, Conservative party councillor and, yes, a former inmate – toasting our freedom together... I was genuinely shocked & dumbfounded by the call as you can probably tell.  I’ve asked Joe Allen’s general manager Tommy Bretherton on Outspoken this evening so he could explain but he has “politely declined”. So I’ll be discussing with Lucy Connolly instead as she joins our Superstar Panel for the first time. But I will never eat at Joe Allen again, after many years as a patron, and I would urge any other patriot to do the same thing.

🚨BREAKING: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reveals the NEW numbers. Russia is LOSING 20,000 SOLIDERS a Month. Putin also had to increase taxes to fund the War. "They're LOSING 20,000 men a month. That means fathers and sons. Think of it, 20,000 a month is the same amount as the soviet Union spent in Afghanistan for ten years." "Putin had to increase taxes." "You only do that if there is absolutely no alternative left. He is doing this, which is a very unpopular measure, which means they are not in a good place, but in the end, we cannot wait them out. We have to solve this, and this is exactly what the president tries to do." END THE WAR!

A Russian victory in Ukraine will cost us more as other nations like Moldova, Georgia, and Azerbaijan could fall next. Ukrainians are doing the fighting, but they need our weapons support to survive. Standing up to bullies is essential for our national security interests.

In the last 24 hours it has become crystal clear to everybody in the UK that the reason the state took winter fuel payments from British pensioners, raided British family farms, and piled taxes on British businesses was so it could spend billions secretly importing dangerous Afghans into the country while funding welfare for people who are neither British nor even working. It a total violation of the British people’s sense of fairness and fair play. It is outrageous.

russia threw 50,000 troops into sumy to try and clear a 12km deep security zone.. months later it went from 5 miles deep to 1.5 in most places, and they are still falling back. and ukraine is using minimal forces

I spoke with @POTUS. It was a very good conversation. Thank you for the willingness to support Ukraine and to continue working together to stop the killings and establish a lasting and just peace. President Trump shared details about his meeting with the @SecGenNATO. It’s important that we have such a good relationship, and that the Alliance countries are working to increase defense spending. We discussed the necessary means and solutions with the President to provide better protection for people from Russian attacks and to strengthen our positions. We are ready to work as productively as possible to achieve peace. We agreed to catch up more often by phone and coordinate our steps in the future as well. Thank you, Mr. President! Thank you, America!

Update - The Bell Hotel Epping

U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said during an interview today with CBS News that people should “stay tuned” for tomorrow’s announcement from President Trump regarding Russia, with him adding, “The game, regarding Putin's invasion of Russia, is about to change. I expect, in the coming days, you will see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves. I expect, in the coming days, that there will be tariffs and sanctions available to President Trump he has never had before. I expect, in the coming days, more support from Europe regarding the efforts to help Ukraine. Putin made a miscalculation here. For six months, President Trump tried to entice Putin to the table. The attacks have gone up, not down. One of the biggest miscalculations Putin has made is to play Trump.”

⚡️🇩🇪 Germany provides Ukraine with weapons to strike deep into Russia The first long-range systems capable of hitting targets far behind Russian lines will arrive in Ukraine by the end of the month, according to Bundeswehr General Christian Freuding. The head of the German Defense Ministry's support group for Kyiv is confident: the new deliveries will significantly boost Ukraine’s air defense and strike capabilities in the coming weeks🔥.

All Kyiv is abuzz in the past hour, as a cargo plane is spotted above the city - the first (not fighter jet) seen in 3 years.

@AdamMoczar No

⚡🇭🇺 Do you support Viktor Orban becoming the next President of the European Commission?

Kellogg: We're trying to get to a ceasefire. We got to a reasonable point with Ukraine. But Russia never follows through. 1/

👀🇺🇦 Ukraine is regaining its positions and continues to hold Kursk and Belgorod regions, — Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi.

❗️The production of 🇺🇦Ukrainian drones has increased by as much as 900% (!) Now Ukraine produces over 200 thousand UAVs per month, — writes Defense Express

❗️The 🇺🇸US Department of Defense confirmed that at Trump's direction, they are sending additional weapons to 🇺🇦Ukraine. "At President Trump's direction, the Department of Defense is sending additional defensive weapons to Ukraine to ensure that Ukrainians can defend themselves while we work to achieve lasting peace and stop the killing.

President Trump: Ukraine needs Patriot missiles for defense. We might [send them]. We're looking at it.

Shameful: Hegseth halted weapons for Ukraine despite military analysis that the aid wouldn’t jeopardize U.S. readiness nbcnews.com/news/military/… via @nbcnews