Putin is a war criminal and should be tried as a war criminal by an International Criminal Court in The Hague. It is unlikely he will ever leave Russia now, this action will prevent him travelling the world as the Russian President. Putin will now become an international pariah.

He may attempt to travel directly to a friendly nation but risks being intercepted, his aircraft may even get shot down by a Buk missile from a separatist movement. What we do know is ex KGB officer Vladimir Putin is a war criminal, the Russian war crimes perpetrated against Ukraine are crimes against humanity. This includes attacks on infrastructure vital to people’s survival such as the energy grid and of course hospitals.

Based on comments by Sir Geoffrey Nice [British Barrister and Judge], the lead prosecutor for former Yugoslavia President Slobodan Milošević in The Hague, Putin is a war criminal and should face justice by the International Criminal Court. Based on civilian targeting of missiles, Putin leads the military and sets the military direction. Russia is losing on the battlefield, they cannot attack military targets so their weakness is the targeting of civilian infrastructure to try to freeze the population during winter – it didn’t work.

The Chinese Uighur problem [for want of a better term] in the far western Xinjiang region of the country is driven by ideological issues. The Muslim Turkic population have been rumoured to engage in terrorist activities in China, that was some time ago though. I certainly do not support terrorism in any way shape or form.

Possibly, that was because they have been threatened, not that I condone such activities. I purely seek to provide a balanced argument. So, if the Uighur population is engaging in terrorist activities, then the government has an obligation to address these pressing issues. I do not think this is the case though, a whole group of people are being unfairly targeted.

China is a vast country, they have 23 regions or provinces, and one could argue numerous sub-regions within those regions. Then there are the bordering countries with Nepal and Bhutan to the south-west, Mongolia to the north with Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan to the west. China has borders with a number of countries and seems to have a few disputes with every country in the region. To be fair, with such diversity in this region, the possibility of issues could reasonably occur.

It is these western regions to the west that concern the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The Muslim Turkic people that inhabit this area have two main issues that trouble the CCP, firstly they are not ethnic Chinese, the CCP views anyone not Chinese as inferior. Secondly, a Muslim religion is not compatible with CCP ideology, well that could be any religion as the CCP views itself above the people. My experiences working for a Chinese company, they are arrogant and they despise any non-ethnic Chinese people.

So add into this warped ideology a religion that is totally opposed to communist principles where the totalitarian regime is the religion where the people of China must submit to the will of the elite. Communism is all about the party, it is not about the people, they are inconsequential. So way out west away from the main centres, the Uygiers are living in the vastness of Western China. Whilst Western media is highlighting the activities of the CCP, even relating it to genocide, I expect these prisons to continue to target the Uighur minority unless sanction are leveled against the CCP.

When dealing with authoritarian leaders, the cost of doing nothing far outweighs the cost of action. We have the United Nations, this has unfortunately become an ineffective organisation more interested in cocktail parties and talk-fests. The Security Council with the five permanent members, the then nuclear powers and the right to veto military actions.

This is an outdated philosophy, only the United States and possibly China are superpowers, the UK, France and Russia are spent powers, their heyday has passed. There is really no place for Russia on the UN Security Council, their veto power is abused and this does nothing for the world, there are additional nuclear powers that should also be involved – including North Korea and Israel.

When we look at what the world, more so the western world, has allowed, I view this as a failure of leadership. When the Putin dictatorship invaded Chechnya in 1999, the world watched on, as the second conflict erupted, nothing happened as the Chechen were defeated and Putin puppet Razan Kadyrov was installed to control the people.

Likewise, when Putin’s forces invaded nearby Georgia in 2008, the world collectively did nothing and Georgia was subdued in a matter of days, this is understandable, the Russian military overwhelms non-peer nations. So, where does this leave Russia as a fallen power? Georgia fell to Russian control in a matter of days as they received no support from the western world – we just left them to lose.

The newly elected Obama administration wanting to improve relations with the Kremlin was weak in negotiations. The ceasefire brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy favoured Russia sending a clear message to President Putin, this behaviour is acceptable and would be tolerated. The Kremlin views this attempt to offer concessions as weakness, they know they can gain benefits they were unlikely to get by other means.

Just recently in 2021, after unrest in Kazakhstan, Russian forces entered Almaty and took control of the capital and quelled the protests. A friend of mine was in Almaty when Russian troops arrived, he just made it to the airport after Russian troops were erecting roadblocks and checkpoints. He returned two weeks later after his leave was over, the unrest was over and Russian soldiers patrolled the streets.

Putin invaded Crimea in 2014, the poorly trained and equipped Ukrainian troops had no chance, Russia quickly established control of Crimea and no real international pressure was applied. After that period, Ukrainian troops received NATO training and integrated western military doctrine and tactics into their armed forces. This western strategy is effective against Russia, sure Ukraine is receiving western weapons and intelligence, but they are the ones fighting the enemy, show them how to operate these weapons and they will do it.

I can see Putin’s reasoning here, he expected a lightning raid on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv to seize control of the country, kill President Zelensky or Zelensky flees the country and lives out his life in exile. Either way, Ukraine is ineffective and weak so Putin wins. Instead Zelensky has shown great leadership to unite has country against this barbaric enemy that is ill prepared for the modern battlefield.

We see Zelensky out with his troops, every one of them is armed and he does not fear for his life. Zelensky was there not long after the liberation of Kherson, he was at the front lines at Bakhmut before he jetted off to directly address the US Congress to secure support and weapons. Do we see Putin out on the front lines with his troops? Not a chance, Putin is going nowhere near armed soldiers, he knows what will happen, he will be shot and the war is over.

Putin then stations troops in Ukraine, steals the riches of the country whilst setting up a pro-Russian puppet government where Putin dictates the terms, he runs the country through proxy. NATO and the European Union would do nothing, they will hold some meetings for no tangible outcomes, condemn Putin in public but then collectively sit on their hands and engage mostly in infighting.

This is straight out of the Russian playbook, they feel the west is weak and ineffective and it was hard to argue otherwise. The strong defence of Ukraine has taken everyone by surprise and has suddenly woken up western Europe and the world. Look at Russia’s allies, Iran and North Korea; what other large or medium power wants to side with Russia? Not even China wants to align with Russia.

Sure China and India are buying Russian oil cheaply, they are seeing an opportunity and whilst I don’t condone their actions, I see what they are doing here. The price cap on Russian oil is a great move, nations who still rely on Russian oil in the short to medium term will eventually find new suppliers and they cannot shut down their economies, they need a transition period to identify new suppliers.

We have not seen the invasion of a European nation since the second world war. Putin frequently cites the Nazi line, but it was Hitler’s Nazi regime that invaded European nations. There is a distinct similarity in authoritative regimes and invading sovereign nations. We can all see the authoritarian regime invading a democracy is a crime against humanity. The fascist government of the Russian Federation only knows brutality, they are learning that the Russian way is a failed methodology.

We all laughed when Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was blown up in Yevgeny Prigozhin’s restaurant in St Petersburg. There was the gift delivered during his personal event, he proudly held the gift up, this was all caught on video, the next scene was the blast and that was the end of Tatarsky. This is like a scene out of the Pink Panther movies with Inspector Clouseau receiving a gift from Keto and the ensuing fight scene.

Vladlen Tatarsky was a convicted bank robber who had spent time in prison, he apparently broke out of prison to fight with the Russian backed Donetsk People’s Republic before being captured and returned to prison. So why was military blogger Vladen Tararsky so despised? What did Tarasky do and say that made him a target? “We’ll defeat everyone, we’ll kill everyone, we’ll rob everyone we need to. Everything will be the way we like it.”

This put a genuine fear into Russian military bloggers, getting the Kremlin’s message out is now a little harder. A whole cohort of military bloggers has determined this is just now not worth their lives. There is a Russian resistance, we know they are targeting infrastructure such as oil refineries and fuel depots, rail freight and rail lines, and military assets such as airfields. The anti-Putin forces are gaining momentum. I am interested to watch the Russian resistance target further Russian bloggers and pro-war propagandists.

The preamble to the laws of cricket is the preamble, the spirit of the game. Ok, so there are laws, better known as rules, so the umpires make their decisions based on the laws of cricket. So when we see the Alex Carey stumping of Jonny Bairstow, it was within the laws of the game and rightly given out.

So let’s take a look at the spirit of cricket as published by the MCC, let us see how the MCC fared here. Did MCC members show respect to the players forced to walk through the Long Room? No. Did they respect the authority of the umpire? No. What about creating a positive atmosphere? No again. Show self discipline even when things go against you? No, they did not. Congratulate the opposition on their successes? No, they just complained. So who is complaining about the spirit of cricket again? Oh, no fine leg to stand on here.

• Respect is central to the Spirit of Cricket.
• Respect your captain, team-mates, opponents and the authority of the umpires.
• Play hard and play fair.
• Accept the umpire’s decision.
• Create a positive atmosphere by your own conduct, and encourage others to do likewise.
• Show self-discipline, even when things go against you.
• Congratulate the opposition on their successes, and enjoy those of your own team.
• Thank the officials and your opposition at the end of the match, whatever the result.
• Cricket is an exciting game that encourages leadership, friendship and teamwork, which brings together people from different nationalities, cultures and religions, especially when played within the Spirit of Cricket.

The MCC is not above the laws of cricket, they are ok when the game or series is going their way but quick to invoke the sprit of the game that is not actually aligned to the laws of cricket. What galled many is the hypocrisy, the MCC issued a statement at the end of day 4 on the laws of the game when the third umpire ruled the Mitchell Starc catch of Ben Duckett not out. The preamble of the spirit of cricket does not overrule or override the laws of cricket, this is especially true when you tried the same stumping move on on day 2 of the match but missed the stumps. Behaving like a bunch of sore losers – pull your heads in and get on with it.

The Ashes just got a whole lot more interesting, the reaction to the stumping of Jonny Bairstow was one of the most hypocritical displays I have ever seen on a cricket field. The remaining three matches are going to be hostile, this is exactly what we want – bring it on. This has pumped new life into a series that at 2-0 was going to meander along, the English crowds will be all worked up and full of life – there will be some passion.

What made me laugh firstly was the MCC response to the Mitchell Starc catch of Ben Duckett in the deep, the catch was ruled as not out and Duckett returned to the crease. Guess who was up the other end, none other than Ben Stokes himself. Stokes did not invoke the spirit of cricket as captain of England and tell Ben Duckett to walk. It was a good catch by Mitchell Starc, but a sloppy slide where he grounded the ball in his slide despite controlling the catch. Mitchell Starc will learn from this and not make that mistake again. The third umpire ruled not out – so we all move along.

I am not disputing the decision, the third umpire made their ruling and that was the end of it, Ben Duckett walked back to face Cameron Green, Ben Stokes did not have a forceful discussion with the umpire about the spirit of cricket. There was no remostration in The Long Room when Ben Duckett finally walked off Lords after being caught by Carey for 83, adding another 34 valuable runs to the score in their run chase. The best part was the MCC deciding to release a statement at the end of day 4 regarding the Starc incident reminding everyone of the rules, they are quick to act when it is in their favour.

What is not in the spirit of cricket is the boorish behaviour exhibited by the MCC members in The Long Room where the players have to walk through to enter and exit the ground. The attempts to manhandle the players along with the boos and abuse cannot be tolerated. This requires a full and transparent investigation by the MCC to identify all members engaging in this low class behaviour. The initial step would be for the MCC to request all members who were in the The Long Room to come forward and self-report. Then we will see how many members with their memberships on the line actually step forward in the spirit of cricket. Interestingly, the spirit of cricket takes on a whole new meaning when you have something of value on the line.

Then Stuart Broad came to the crease and had plenty to say to everyone, I really liked his theatrics, Broad plays a brilliant villain. His comments after the match are pure comedy gold regarding the worst thing he had seen on a cricket field. I would have thought the worst thing Stuart Broad had seen on a cricket field was a thick edge fly off his bat from an Ashton Agar delivery to first slip and not walking because he knew there were no reviews left. Maybe he forgot to mention that one to umpire Ahsan Raza in his selective memory rant. Great bowler, carries on like a flog, but in his defence, his entertainment value is first class.

Let’s not forget Jonny Bairstow in all of this, brilliant at the start where he carried off the field a Stop Oil protester and was unceremoniously dumped over the boundary. Bairstow himself tried to stump Marnus Labuschagne on day two but missed the stumps. What Alex Carey did was not new, this type of stumping had already been attempted in this very match; the difference between himself and Carey was Bairstow missed and Carey hit. So how could a wicketkeeper get caught out like this? One thinks Bairstow needs a little more awareness, I think Bairstow comes across as a pretty good guy, he was just dozing as the ball was released from Carey’s gloves in a single motion as soon as he took the ball.

Mr Bazball himself Brendon McCullum does not miss out either. We all remember McCullum as wicketkeeper running out Muttiah Muralitharan in Christchurch when he left his crease to congratulate Kumar Sangakkara on scoring his century in 2006. Not to be outdone, as wicketkeeper McCullum has stumped players in the same fashion, we haven’t forgotten Mr Bazball stumping English player Paul Collingwood in a one-day match only to have captain Daniel Vettori withdraw the appeal as the umpire had already called over.

This is Ashes cricket, this is the longest and most ferocious sporting rivalry and this adds to Ashes history. Hopefully England rethink the flat lifeless wickets and actually prepare a wicket with movement and bounce instead of the car parks they have prepared for the first two matches in an attempt to counter the Australian bowling attack. I am already sick of the short ball attack and duck approach as this is just dull. England know when they play in Australia in the next series there will be movement and life in those wickets, I suspect the Bazball experiment will be all finished by then.

“It’s within the rules of the game and that’s how it is!” – Jonny Bairstow (2014). How these words have come back to haunt Jonny Bairstow when he pulled off his own stumping back in 2014. Bairstow stumped Samit Patel after holding the ball close to the stumps and waited for him to lift his foot up before whipping off the bails.

Even better, he cited learning the move from English wicketkeeper Matt Prior against South Africa’s Morne Morkel at Lords. Now I have to remember back, I do not recall any booing at that match and I certainly do not recall the MCC members in an uproar calling the English team cheats as they walked through the Long Room to their changerooms. We are loving pointing out the hypocrisy here, I would do better to spell the word hypocrassy because that was what the MCC members’ behaviour was – crass.

I am no fan of Donald Trump, so I am a little surprised at the veracity of the charges against him. The unsealing of the indictment against Trump actually gives his follower’s arguments a degree of validity. This does look from the perspective of a casual observer what Trump describes as a witch hunt. just knock Trump off at the polls, he will fail at that hurdle.

To use this Trumpism, is this a witch hunt? Is this a Democratic conspiracy to bring down Trump via the justice system after their failed attempts to bring him down in the political arena? I could certainly put a case forward that this is indeed the reason. Lets face it, Trump supporters are not backward in latching onto insane conspiracy theories, so this Democratic Party move appears to be pretty believable.

This will supercharge his 2024 election campaign, this will unite his supporters, they now have a common enemy. I really don’t think this was a well thought out strategy at all, this pretty much reinforces what they were saying the whole time. Forget the cabal, pizzagate, Q drops and a whole host of other loony tune theories, the Trump indictment gave Trump followers exactly what they wanted.

It is not an understatement to say Donald Trump was a terrible president, from the Capital riots, the announcement of the withdrawal from Afghanistan [yes, this was a Republican initiative] to Trump’s undermining of NATO giving Putin the confidence to invade the country, the lack of support of Ukraine to his lavish praise of Putin. From what we have seen, Putin is neither a smart guy or a smart operator.

As we move towards a potential conflict with China, there is no confidence Trump will back Taiwan. It is likely it will be a Trump v Biden presidential campaign. I think there are concerns about the state of the economy, people remember the economic sunshine under the Trump Administration even if it was mostly inherited from the Obama administration.

This was despite the fact he inherited a healthy economy from the Obama Administration that had grown unabated over Obama’s two terms. As Clinton once stated, “it is the economy stupid” that Americans respond to, all thy will remember is the economic hardship mostly caused by the post covid inflation that the Biden Administration inherited.

We are entering a new era, the threats to Australia’s sovereignty are real. As a nation, we once planned for a ten year build-up period. I believe we are now in this ten year lead-in time frame. Ok, so the defence of the Australian mainland is real, we need a genuine deterrence, the air force is the primary defensive mechanism protecting Australia.

Yes, Australia is a trading nation so the defence of our sea lanes is imperative. The air force is required to provide air support of naval assets. The F-35 will be the primary defensive weapon to support the defence of Australia. Yes, this is deterrence, an invading force will need to determine if it is worth the losses to invade the Australian mainland, we need to ensure it isn’t.

The Japanese swept down through South East Asia in the 1940s, they were stopped in New Guinea, now the air force will prevent any incursion on Australian sovereignty. We saw the Japanese build up in the 1930s, their treatment of Korea and China should be a stark warning to us all. Now Japan is a leading member of our alliance. Prior to that, the Chinese were on our side. This is an ironic turn of events, the geopolitical forces that shape our region are concerning.

The forward operating bases are Australia’s first line of defence. The army is the largest force in terms of manpower, but really the weakest by terms of weaponry. We have limited artillery, armoured vehicles, main battle tanks and our missile defence is rudimentary. We have a limited army, if our shores were invaded, the army is the last line of defence. That capability is not all that capable, really, the army needs to be controlling the missile defence systems.

So the air force, working in tandem with the navy is the main defensive structure protecting the Australian mainland. The air force will seek to destroy enemy shipping approaching Australia, the stealth and networking capabilities of the F-35 should first seek to destroy enemy shipping approaching Australian shores. Any attacking force would be airborne initially with naval support, that would include armour, artillery and mobile missile vehicles.

Australia has a vast interior, the potential to house long range missile defences far from the coast is vital to the Australian defensive structure. Sure, medium range missile defences need to be stationed closer to the coast, long range artillery to protect the major cities is not out of the question. Really, for an island such as Australia means main battle tanks as a defensive mechanism means the mainland has been invaded by ground forces.

The F-35 is the primary air defence aircraft, Australia has no strategic bombers, so fighter aircraft are the primary means of defence. The P-8 Poseidon is the primary maritime reconnaissance aircraft to identify naval assets The F/A-18F is the non-stealth aircraft, this fighter attack aircraft has been the main fighter aircraft in the air force for decades, supported by the EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft.

There are three northern air force bases, there is RAAF Base Scherger at the Cape York Peninsula in far north Queensland, RAAF Base Curtin in the Kimberly region of Western Australia protecting the two forward flanks with RAAF Base Learmonth protecting the north west cape. These are base bases, they have minimal facilities, although RAAF Base Curtin is set for an upgrade without becoming a full time base with air defences stationed at the base.

There are a number of approaches, an invading force would likely be naval with air support and could come through the Indonesian island archipelago, there are a number of passages with the likely route between Indonesia and Papua Guinea. With the Solomon Islands supporting Chinese ##, a route through the Solomon Islands is a real threat for the eastern approach and the western approach could be down through the South China Sea, between the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java.

Whilst there is a small population in the north of Western Australia, there is oil and gas infrastructure and mining infrastructure including mines, rail networks and port facilities. Losing this capability will seriously damage the exports of the country, these revenue earning assets need to be protected and there are no real military assets to protect such important national infrastructure.

The main air base is located is RAAF Base Tindal with the newly acquired F-35 stealth aircraft based there, US B-52 heavy bombers and at times US B-1 supersonic bombers. This makes sense for strategic bomber platforms that have an extended range and armed with anti-ship missiles, they do have the range to protect Australia’s northern approaches. If Australia is able to purchase the B-21 Raider as part of the AUKUS alliance then we will have a sovereign defence capability.

The breaching of the Nova Kakhovka Dam and hydroelectric power station is a war crime based on the Additional Protocol I determination in Geneva Conventions. This act needs to be immediately investigated by the United Nations to determine who ordered the demolition charges be laid.

This occurred in the Russian occupied area of Ukraine with all evidence pointing to Russia. Of course Russia has countered these claims that the dam failed due to Ukrainian shelling of the dam, but any person with just a basic grasp of engineering knows this to be false. Just as the Russian artillery strikes on the Maternity Hospital No 3 in Mariupol where they tried to blame it on Ukraine or the claims of actors lying in the streets of Bucha, we know Russian lies are unbelievable.

But what the Russian forces did was blow the dam early, they are so fearful of the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the south they flooded the Dnipro River to prevent an unlikely river crossing. A better option would be to blow the dam as a river crossing was taking place washing their forces away. Whilst still reprehensible, this at least would have a military objective in an attempt to thwart the Ukrainian offensive.

What the Russian military has done is brought more pain to the Ukrainian people, now the Ukrainian forces now have to rescue stranded people, animals and restore utilities. We are looking at drinking water, irrigation and cooling for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. Thousands of people have been forced from their homes, the risk of disease [cholera] is real so once again, the people of Ukraine wear the cost of this action.