Open Thread.

Very busy today. 

It Is No Surprise ...

 ... and I am on record, terrorism is the weapon of the weak. 

MANILA /Philippines/, July 22. /TASS/. The United States is not just helping, but directly involved in directing Ukrainian weapons at targets, including civilians, on Russian territory. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov following his participation in ASEAN events in the Philippines.

I understand how difficult it is for decent people inside the US military to accept the fact that they are not the best, they are involved directly in terrorism and war crimes and that most of what they know about themselves is primarily from internal propaganda. So, what's left? Well, let's kill some civilians. The desire to "kill some Russians" is deeply ingrained in the US military-political top because of complex of inferiority, being not in the same league and recognition of what I speak about non stop for more than a decade--the US lost the arms race, it is all about spite and racism. But then again, US military for all intents and purposes is an Israeli military and has no a single serviceman, top-bottom, who would be able to coherently state when did the US military actually defend the US and her actual national interests. 

These are all hallmarks of a decomposing empire. Here are some results of the activity of the "finest fighting force in history".

The "most moral" military force of IDF looks at their apprentices from Pentagon with approval. 

Gloves Off ...

 ... and why. 

This Is Not ...

 ... how I imagined the fight between PLAN and Philippines' Navy, but this is tense but still funny. 

But reality, of course, is much more serious and the US will continue its, however useless, buildup in the area and use its vassals, I mean "allies", to provoke China. I am not going into the legal aspect of all those waters and all those Spratlys and all that, but here is a delusion on part of "intellectual" (I elaborate on this in my video today) Kazianis who lives in 1965 or maybe, indeed, in his 1945 outlet and never heard of antishipping missiles. 

China Is Building Toward Nine Aircraft Carriers. America Has Eleven — and Can’t Replace Them Fast Enough.  

Why China builds them is clear--it is symbolic because China has a monstrous shipbuilding industry which dwarfs that of the US and China leverages it, but also because she still copies very many views on war, in this case naval one, from the US. What many people still cannot grasp--China doesn't have strike weapon systems which guarantee sufficient number of leakers to stop US CBGs. Anybody who continues with a delusion of Chinese "hypersonic" weapons--I have news, China doesn't have them. Calling ballistic missiles which enter atmosphere at hypersonic speed a "hypersonic weapon" is the same as calling Packard autos the same generation as 2026 Honda Accord. 

This is the reality which very many people who do admire (I do it too) Chinese achievements (not least through first Soviet aid and then the US transplanting here manufacturing to China) cannot accept--in terms of naval warfare China is not in the same league because for all of its huge issues, including WW II based fighting doctrine of the US surface navy, China is nowhere near in terms of submarine component of the US or Russian Navies. Plus, the issue which many want to ignore but which Iran learned the hard way--Chinese AD turned out to be not what was promised. Russia warned Iran, but China outbid Russia. Well ... That's the reality and it is much more nuanced than merely proclaiming existing capability which is a much more inferior copy of original. Just to demonstrate:

I forestall many China fanboys who will rush to defend China while having no clue about realities of technological dimension of modern warfare. I repeat again, Russia "helped" (euphemism for built) Chinese missile attack early warning system. Get a hint and a clue. 

Correct!

And he is saying nothing new. Schumpeter anyone? He also forgets to include "economics" into this, because these are precisely "intellectual" ideas by modern economists who drove the combined West into the ground.  

And then comes this fact--so called "intellectual elites" everywhere possess absolutely zero grasp of how societies operate, be that on lower level of interactions or in such highly complex fields as engineering, warfare, medicine et al. 

Numerical view of the world? 

I wouldn't put lawyers in this list, despite the fact that it is definitely necessary occupation and it is a hard one. Recall what type of "degrees" dominate American politics. Correct--lawyers. Senate alone has 50% of senators who are lawyers. However, Law Degree is not enough for navigating complexities of the modern world at legislative and executive levels. You all know how the US Congress "operates". 

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda.

This is for people who still cannot get the obvious answer to question of Why Now. Why now Russia dropped the gloves. Let me explain again, which is difficult for Western audiences to accept because it all lies beyond their political and life experiences. So, why now this:

Or, in other words why not only Kiev is being denied the remnants of its industry and in parts begins to look like this:

But the whole of 404 is being turned into the barren land and is being isolated from the Black Sea. You don't need to physically take Odessa to do so, you just need to stop shipping to and from Odessa and Nikolaev--Sea Denial smoothly translating to Sea Control. 

Starobelsk? Sure, NATO terrorism is good enough casus belli for wiping out the remnants of the cancer combined West created. But for those people who do follow actual state of Russian society--granted, impossible to do if you consume Western media propaganda--it is incomprehensible to accept that Russian society is extremely sophisticated in terms of war and understanding the nature of the conflict, because it is in a cultural genetic code. Combined West doesn't have this cultural DNA, especially the US. Obviously, all kinds of fake Western "academicians" may bloviate about "support" or lack thereof of American people for some military adventure, but there is NO cultural and spiritual connection between average Joe and TPTB because it cannot exist--there are no conditions for it. 

In Russia, especially today, this connection is profound and Russian political power is well attuned to the mood of the average Ivan, and Ivan now wants blood and 404 gone. In fact, average Russian Ivan today wouldn't mind Berlin, Brussels and Paris with London be gone too--a dramatic shift from the earlier phases of SMO with "they are still our people" moods being prevalent. Those are over. And Kremlin reacts, because REAL wars, unlike post WW II adventurism of the US in Vietnam and elsewhere, are not fought by public opinion polls and media propaganda--they are fought by a synapse between society and TPTB. 404 must and it will die (that is cease to exist in its present form) and if it takes the suffering of whatever remains of this political nation--Russia gladly provides it already. Russia could have done this earlier, but the most important element was still missing--a sense of justice shared by the whole of Russian society. Now it is in place and operational tempo increased dramatically and it will increase even more in coming weeks. All conditions are finally in place. Wait, where did we encounter it before? Ah, yes ...

“Yes, yes,” answered Prince Andrew absently. “One thing I would do if I had the power,” he began again, “I would not take prisoners. Why take prisoners? It’s chivalry! The French have destroyed my home and are on their way to destroy Moscow, they have outraged and are outraging me every moment. They are my enemies. In my opinion they are all criminals. And so thinks Timokhin and the whole army. They should be executed! Since they are my foes they cannot be my friends, whatever may have been said at Tilsit.”

But then again, what do those Russians know about the war. They are not "the finest fighting force in history"(c). /s

I Actually Agree ...

 ... Dostoevsky is not for everyone and he is definitely not my favorite Russian writer. So one British dude contemplates ...

On the back of my copy of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 1869 novel The Idiot, there’s a quote from the English philosopher A.C. Grayling that tells you what to think of it. “One of the most excoriating, compelling and remarkable books ever written,” it reads, “and without question one of the greatest.” That “without question” bothered me. Why assume that every classic deserves its reputation? We should make up our own minds after having read one, as we do with any other book.  

That wasn’t the only reason why I treated Grayling’s claims with skepticism as I edged my way into this gargantuan novel (I can’t remember exactly when that was, but I know I was a much younger man at the time). Having kicked and dragged myself through the same author’s late “masterpiece” The Brothers Karamazov (1880) last year, I knew what I was in for. And now, having almost finished The Idiot, I can say with confidence that Dostoevsky is a dreadful writer. Dreadful.   

Obviously he didn't read Solzhenitsyn in original, Russian language, version--this is the rape of taste and mind 101, while there is a lot to be said about Nabokov. I would suggest Mark Nayler read Sholokhov's Quiet Flows the Don (that will blow his mind). But, I want to remind you about Sir Michael Caine (as the last vestige of an English culture, euphemism for England, we all used to love and admire--not anymore). 

And his story telling which is exemplary.