Doing the right thing does not make you popular
People hate you in fact
for being, young ,beautiful, black, white, asian, tall, fat , thin
any reason because you refuse to conform
I am NOT a Brummie and never will be
I and the Village Idiot
despite having a PhD intellect
yes come and talk and discover it in 5 mins
I hid it all my life
but the LIARS in public office
office have awoken a sleeping Giant
so they will get what they deserve
I'd rather stay in the Gutter with the people and Frassati
could money and power corrupt
and absolute power and money
corrupt absolutely
like charging the victim the cost of the bullet
that is used to execute him
so cremate the body in a shopping trolley
outside the dear leaders house
I am an accidental Jesuit
or BASTARD as everybody calls us
and I think US is the correct word
cos I have stumbled into my vocation
and If folks hurry up and buy my IP
I'll have the ESOL for Japanese business and for Arabs too
and my whole whale of 3,4 million words etc
will give me a comfortable life
but I promise to give back to the Gutter
and I won't be held accountable
for its my money so I will choose
Cafod and Islamic Relief combined
with Sir Andy Street as steward
IF it finally comes to Pass
so remember me in your prayers
so all my many illnesses don't kill me first
or speeding cars in the school road
00:0102:24Read MoreAnd authorities in Crimea are urging citizens not to panic amid ongoing 
+9View galleryCars queue for fuel at a gas station after Russian authorities restricted fuel sales in Crimea on June 1. Ukraine has relentlessly targeted Russian oil installations in recent months
+9View galleryPeople put their names on a list to join the queue for fuel at a gas station in Crimea
+9View galleryVladimir Putin has been warned that his war in Ukraine is unaffordable
+9View galleryA house is on fire after a Ukrainian drone attack in the village of Subbotino, Naro-Fominsk District, in the Moscow regionTRENDING
+9View galleryA hotel and cafe destroyed following a drone attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on a cafe in the Moscow-controlled part of the Kherson region
+9View galleryUkrainian rescuers work at the site of a Russian strike on a car dealership in Kyiv on June 2
+9View galleryDestruction and debris litters the streets following a massive combined strike by Russian missiles and drones on June 2The Economy Ministry expects gross domestic product to expand by 0.4 per cent this year, down from a previous estimate of 1.3 per cent.The deteriorating forecast came after Putin in April demanded answers from his officials as to why the economy was performing poorly.The admission that the economy was facing issues appeared to signal his anger that officials had not managed to avoid a slowdown. Russia’s budget deficit has reached an unprecedented level despite a rise in oil revenues linked to the conflict in the Middle East. Official data shows the shortfall for the first four months of the year climbed to 5.9trillion rubles, equivalent to 2.5 per cent of GDP, around half again as large as the government’s target for the entire year.The budget has recorded deficits in each of the past four years, including a 5.6trillion ruble gap in 2025. Although the current deficit remains below the 3.8 per cent of GDP recorded during the pandemic in 2020, Russia’s economy is now operating under far greater pressure from sanctions, while liquid reserves in the National Wellbeing Fund have fallen by roughly 60 per cent compared with levels before the invasion of Ukraine.Officials based the current budget on relatively cautious assumptions, including a slight narrowing of the deficit and a gradual reduction in military spending. In an effort to maintain fiscal discipline and comply with the country’s budget rule, the government introduced tax increases this year as part of a broader attempt to cool an economy strained by wartime spending.Expectations that a negotiated settlement to the war might ease financial pressures have failed to materialise. As a result, policymakers are now faced with the challenge of closing the budget gap, either by reducing spending or identifying additional sources of income.Government officials are also sceptical that higher oil prices will persist. At the same time, the strength of the ruble has added to fiscal difficulties by reducing the value of export earnings.Speaking last week, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in an interview with Kommersant that restraint was needed in public expenditure.He said: ‘Reserves are not endless. Weakness in finances cannot be tolerated in the context of such large-scale transformations in the world,’ adding: ‘We need to improve the efficiency of budget expenditures.’It comes as Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed head of the government of Crimea, said on Tuesday that people should be patient and calm amid gasoline shortages on the peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.Crimea has been suffering from fuel shortages after Ukrainian drone attacks constricted supplies from adjoining Russian-controlled territory.More than four years since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia is facing almost daily Ukrainian attacks on its oil infrastructure while Western sanctions have made crude exports more costly. Aksyonov said limits had been imposed on sales of the most commonly used gasoline, Ai-95, and that people would have to use fuel coupons for purchases.In Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea and the traditional base of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, long queues were witnessed at filling stations.’I haven’t been able to fill up for two days now,’ resident Oksana Senchenko said.’Yesterday there was no gasoline, and today I’m driving around town and there’s no gasoline, neither 92 nor 95,’ she said.Sevastopol is working to replenish stocks to resume gasoline sales as usual from Wednesday, with sales conducted via fuel coupons only on Tuesday, Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-backed governor said.’This is a temporary measure,’ he said on the Telegram messaging app early on Tuesday. ‘I want to underline: there is no need to line up early in the morning or spend the day waiting in queues.’Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out ceding territory occupied by Russian forces and has said Ukrainian sovereignty of Crimea must be restored. And Ukraine has slowly been gaining the upper hand as the pace of Russia’s advance has been slowing since late 2025, hobbled by the increasing effectiveness of Ukraine’s frontline and mid-range drone strikes, according to the ISW.Moscow had lost control of around 120 square kilometres (46 square miles) in April, the first month in which its forces gave up more ground than they captured for two and a half years.However, Russian soldiers are still infiltrated in most of the areas where Ukraine has retaken territory, the ISW said.The Russian army regularly sends small groups of soldiers to take up positions along parts of the frontline and hide there – a tactic designed to pave the way for larger groups of troops to advance later.Ukraine’s gains in April and May – around 403 square kilometres (156 square miles) in total – remain marginal, representing around 0.4 per cent of the total territory held by Russia.But they nevertheless point to a positive trend for Kyiv, which has touted itself as having recently gained the upper hand in the four-year conflict.’Ukraine’s successful mid-range and frontline drone strike campaigns are limiting Russia’s ability to transport personnel to the frontline and to supply and sustain frontline positions,’ the ISW reported last week.Most of Ukraine’s gains were in the eastern Donetsk region, which Russia claims as its own and is fighting to capture in full, and in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.The estimates exclude advances claimed by Russia but that the ISW has neither confirmed nor denied.Share or comment on this article: Putin’s triple war humiliation: Officials warn economy is on the brink, Ukraine continues to seize territory and Crimea issues desperate plea for citizens not to panic as tide turns Kyiv’s way
