Gray Connolly Profile picture
Jul 15, 2022 6 tweets 4 min read Read on X
Wanted to thank Conway Stewart pens @BespokeBritish1 for delivery of my Winston fountain pen - a refreshingly large pen. I am aware graphophiles follow me & can strongly recommend Conway Stewart, which we have used across generations, esp if you prefer broad nibs #FountainPens Image
Only thing better than a new fountain pen is rebuilding an old pen from parts - all my years learning about gunnery, riflery & like naval trades helped me repair my late mother's 1980s Dunhill fountain pen, which writes very well again. #FountainPens Image
This ink well was made from the timber of HMAS Sydney (1), which destroyed the German raider SMS Emden in the Battle of the Cocos Islands in 1914. #fountainpens Image
This is my late mother's Parker 51 from when she was a young convent girl and then at university. Still works with the original bladder and writes very smoothly. I use it a good deal. Image
Some of these were my late parents' pens and some are mine - Conway Stewart, Montblanc, Faber-Castell, Schaeffer, Parker, Lamy, Parker ... all do a very good job. Conway Stewart & Montblanc do cater for the broad nib aficionado #fountainpens ImageImage
I bought this Pilot broad nib fountain pen in January 2020 (just before the pandemic) while in Kyoto and it is a flawless pen to write with - a veritable Lexus of the written word with perfect balance and Japanese precision Image

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More from @GrayConnolly

May 8
US delaying arms & munitions to Israel is all about domestic US politics - US allies especially in the Middle East see Biden Admin wiling to dirk *even Israel* here means Egypt, Jordan, Gulf Kingdoms etal start to reevaluate relying on the US vs an Iranian arc with PRC/RUS ‘help’ Image
Rightly or wrongly, the US' allies seeing that if the Biden WH will cut *even Israel* adrift on arms and munitions supplies in a war after a massive terrorist attack, that their alliance with the US, too, operates purely at the whim of domestic US politics ... Obama's 3rd term Image
A global military alliance of intelligence support & arms sharing (going to standardisation of kit & calibres etc) is only sustainable, ultimately, to the degree that allies trust in the support of each other, esp when the going is hard... no one respects disloyalty esp enemies
Read 4 tweets
Feb 8
Putting Tucker to one side here .... weirdest part of Putin's villain role in the contemporary Western mind (admittedly an historically illiterate mind] is that if Putin dropped dead tomorrow, his successor would follow the same policies, probably more aggressively.
In July 2018, I wrote this piece, "The Sources Of Russian Conduct", on my blog, in an effort to put "The Russians" in some context for that part of the lay Western readership that was not totally brain damaged by America's internal convulsions

strategycounsel.blogspot.com/2018/07/source…
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Reality is that the West will never be close to Russia - we will have bouts of accomodation & OK times - but we also have many friction points. But we will need a modus vivendi with Russia in space, Arctic, and esp as Russia spans 11 time zones & Eurasian landmass Image
Read 5 tweets
Dec 12, 2023
I am shocked - shocked I tell you - that the same people who were (catastrophically) wrong about Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, etal, have now been proven wrong about the war in Ukraine ....


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The auguries of genius statecraft Image
The true classic of the genre Image
Read 5 tweets
Jun 23, 2023
Twitter trying to work out whether Prigozhin is "for real" this time or whether he is a character from the Cyrillic production of Turkey's 2016 'not quite a coup' ... or an Ernst Rohm or Lin Biao...regardless a lesson taught in these regimes is to never overrate your usefulness.
A key change in how RUS state fought the UKR war over past 6-10 months was to move slowly from 'war on the cheap' (Luhansk/Donetk militias & Wagner) to mobilising Russian reserves + bringing in more of the regular Russian armed forces hence extensive prep for UKR offensive
On any view, Wagner in 2022 filled gaps the RUS state wanted filled-it provided combat power ivo Soledar & Bakhmut in late 2022/early 2023. At same time, regular RUS units were being filled out & commencing the sappering & digging in for the very slow UKR offensive we see now.
Read 16 tweets
Apr 22, 2023
ANZAC Day Thread
Tuesday is ANZAC Day (April 25th) which commemorates the landing in 1915 by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli. It is Australia's national day for remembering our war dead, wounded, and war veterans, and their families
awm.gov.au/commemoration/… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… Image
If you or a family member are "On Parade" on Tuesday and not in uniform, a useful dress and bearing guide from @MHHVic here Image
For #AnzacDay, an Australian tradition is the making of "Anzac Biscuits". The Anzac Biscuit is hardy, it is practical, it goes well with any hot brew, esp Tea, and, has become, since the Great War, the sustenance of a free people. Recipe here awm.gov.au/articles/encyc… Image
Read 7 tweets
Apr 1, 2023
Retirement will be a luxury that occurred in a brief historic period of high birth rates where workers could support retirees .... hard to have retirements with QE, money printing, and, especially, low birth rates.
Sorry but anyone who thinks what is happening in France with riots over a minor upwards revision of pension ages is not coming to every western society is kidding themselves… Right politics that made it harder not easier for larger families are their own worst enemies
Likewise western military establishments will be very hard to maintain in societies where birth rates are so low … the devising of foreign legions and Wagner groups in all but name - however well disguised by law - are as much the likely Western future absent action as the past
Read 6 tweets

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