Apti Alautdinov...

 ... explains some realities of this whole Kursk NATO FUBAR. 

Last figure I saw was 14, 200--a full blown US division with three BCT (Brigade Combat Teams) gone. I stress, Russians are extremely conservative in their VSU losses count. Now we have a cauldron forming, and Sumy and surroundings are without electricity and newly arriving reserves of VSU are being pulverized even before they reach the border. 

And then, there is a rather interesting article about fates of the United States by Russian thinker (he has a graduate degree in Physics, if anybody wonders) Timofei Sergeitsev with a shocking title: Russia Will Have To Take Away US Nuclear Weapons. One may debate merits of this piece, but Sergeitsev, paradoxically, makes an interesting case of WHY the US Armed Forces will not save the US, unlike it happened with Russia in 2000. Remarkably, very similar idea was floated by Colonel Larry Wilkerson (you can find this video of his on You Tube). 

Военные — те, кто воюет и умирает на поле боя, а не просто числится военнослужащим в мирное время — единственная каста, которая может править. Такова древняя традиция, но такова и современная ситуация, поскольку власть требует неограниченной ответственности, когда в залог отдается жизнь, а не уставный капитал. США — общество, где власть узурпировали торговцы. А они в принципе избегают ответственности, даже ограниченной, стремятся к перенесению максимума рисков, убытков и издержек на других. В СССР власть в ХХ веке присвоили священнослужители безбожной религии — веры в коммунизм. Этот перекос политической системы привел ее к разрушению. Перекос политической системы США также ведет их внутренний кризис к точке невозврата. Военное сообщество США развращено притоком внешних ресурсов, логикой грабежа. Строить государство — систему воспроизводства власти с опорой на внутренний, собственный ресурс — оно не готово. Два века торговое сообщество США покупало услуги собственных военных, фактически сделав из них наемников. Но на это внутреннее наемничество остается все меньше средств. А также наемники не имеют и не могут иметь политической квалификации.

Translation: The military — those who fight and die on the battlefield, and are not simply listed as military personnel in peacetime — are the only caste that can rule. This is an ancient tradition, but this is also the modern situation, since power requires unlimited responsibility, when life is pledged as collateral, not authorized capital. The United States is a society where traders have usurped power. And they, in principle, avoid responsibility, even limited, and strive to transfer the maximum risks, losses, and costs to others. In the USSR, power in the twentieth century was appropriated by the clergy of a godless religion — the faith in communism. This imbalance of the political system led to its destruction. The imbalance of the US political system is also leading its internal crisis to the point of no return. The US military community is corrupted by the influx of external resources, the logic of robbery. It is not ready to build a state — a system for reproducing power based on internal, its own resource. For two centuries, the US trading community bought the services of its own military, essentially turning them into mercenaries. But there are fewer and fewer resources left for this internal mercenary activity. And mercenaries do not have and cannot have political qualifications.

The fact that this piece was published by Ria is telling. I meanwhile simply beg--get me into this "what could have been" for a day. Let me marvel and rest.

I need a full-length movie about this world;)) Amazing.

"Do Something" PR.

As I repeat ad nauseam since 2023--it is being done, and everything that follows is merely a PR designed for domestic consumption. They take a known fact and... recycle it over and over again. 

US President Joe Biden has given Kiev permission to use American weapons to hit targets in the part of Russia bordering Ukraine’s Kharkov Region, a US official told Politico on Thursday. Update: the White House later confirmed the decision in a written statement to multiple media outlets. “The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use US weapons for counter-fire purposes in Kharkov so Ukraine can hit back at Russian forces hitting them or preparing to hit them,” the official said. According to Politico, this decision was “secretly” communicated to Kiev some time before its official confirmation.

These moves are needed to cover up an utter failure in 404. Plus, good for RT piece to at least point this out:

Moscow has dismissed the debate over such strikes in Western capitals. “American weapons are already being used against various targets outside the combat zone,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters last week. “We proceed from the fact that American and other Western weaponry strikes targets on the territory of Russia, primarily civilian infrastructure and residential areas.”

That is why this whole "escalation" is primarily a verbal one and when yet another illiterate boy from Valdai tries to wax strategic, having about zero background in anything related to military and modern warfare:

Dmitry Suslov: It’s time for Russia to think about a ‘demonstrative’ nuclear test. The US-led bloc has lost its fear of the mushroom cloud, but seeing one would perhaps focus some mind. 

You can dismiss it as an attempt from this pathetic Moscow copy of already pathetic CFR and their publication Foreign Affairs to signal own relevance. Needless to say, most of those "experts" from Valdai wouldn't be allowed to command a platoon, let alone express their opinions on matters of national security which are based on a serious intel whose knowledge requires the highest levels of clearance and even that may not be enough, but here we are. RT continues to provide tribune to these nincompoops--get a load of the C.V. of this Suslov guy--but, hey, they need to feed their families too, you know.

Brilliant Michael Brenner...

... on the history of Palestine and starting at 11:00 he hits the nail on the head of America's evangelicals obsessed with Israel and Jews in Holy Land--in other words, America's so called Christian Zionism. 

The damage evangelicals did to America is immense, and now they should see the results of their fanatical Zionism each day--what now has become an all out genocide of Palestinian population in Gaza. But then again, these are Christians in name only--in reality they are Old Testament eschatological death cult. 

As Brenner speaks bluntly--the West is in the state of a collective psychopathology. Every single tenet of morality, right and wrong universal for much of the world is being annihilated through mass hysteria. 

Psychopaths in Newsweek salivate on what amounts to nothing special, pretty regular yield nuclear weapon, but this neocon rag gets high just talking about it. 

A US nuclear bomb planned for development has the potential to level central Moscow and kill more than 300,000 of its 13 million inhabitants, Newsweek magazine reported on Friday, citing a simulation created through the online tool Nukemap. The Pentagon announced late last month that it would seek to make a new variant of the B61 nuclear gravity bomb – the B61-13 – pending authorization by Congress. The weapon would have an estimated 360-kiloton yield, which is 24 times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima during World War II.

So, if Pentagon thinks that it can use gravity bombs on Moscow, they surely have to take basic classes on modern air defenses. Russians will respond with a single (Russia has more) RS-28 Sarmat with 16 hyper-sonic Avangards with up to 2 megatons yield. A single Avangard will be enough to flatten Manhattan. Unlike the carriers of gravity bombs, one cannot intercept Avangard. So, here we have essentially WW II technology with nuclear ordnance trying to announce how it can do against the technology of the XXI century. It is madness, the fanatical zeal which is being infused into combined West while it collapses. Here is one such specimen:

Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu has suggested that his country could launch a nuclear strike on Gaza. The controversial remarks caused outrage across the Israeli government, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspending Eliyahu indefinitely. During an interview on Sunday with Radio Kol Berama, Eliyahu, who is a member of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, was asked if Israel could drop an atomic bomb on the Palestinian enclave. The minister replied that “this is one of the possibilities.”

Meanwhile in backward Russia:

Emperor Alexander III SSBN is getting ready to join the fleet. It is the seventh in Borei-class strategic missile submarines and the fouth of Borei-A (pr. 955A) SSBNs. Five more of these stat-of-the-art subs to go. As Nikolai Patrushev stressed:

Russia has secured an edge over its rivals in the realm of nuclear weapons, Nikolay Patrushev, secretary of the country’s Security Council, has said. He warned earlier this year that while Moscow had never used its military advantage to intimidate other countries, it could annihilate any foe if its very existence was at stake. Speaking at the ‘Znanie’ (Knowledge) education marathon in Moscow, Patrushev stated that “for the first time in the history of the existence of nuclear missile weapons, our country is ahead of its competitors in this domain.” He added that Russia now has “unique strategic weapons, including hypersonic ones” in its arsenal. According to Patrushev, these strategic systems “will guarantee Russia’s security for many decades.”

This deterrent and the most advanced conventional forces are two required elements for keeping bat shit crazy fanatics in the West in check. 

Per recent attack and "sunk" ship (corvette)--as was the case with "destroyed" submarine recently, one of the corvettes which are being built (in other words, non-functional ship) at Kerch shipbuilding plant was damaged (in Russian). Some fragments of one of the shot down Stormshadow/Scalp missile also fell into the dry dock--no damage, no casualties. 13 out 15 missiles shot down, 13/15=87% combat effectiveness of the Air Defense in the area. It will get even better. I wonder how French or British will do if 15 Kinzhals or even 3M14s would fly into Saint Nazaire or Govan (Scotland)? We all know that all of them will reach targets. So, here is your primer for Sunday.

I Respect Ramzan Akhmatovich...

... profoundly and I can totally see where he is coming from defending Margarita Simonyan, but... What The FUCK! 

Симоньян 3 октября заявила, что ядерный взрыв в 100 км над Сибирью не принесёт вреда населению, но электромагнитный импульс выведет из строя все спутники над Землёй. Пресс-секретарь России Дмитрий Песков подчеркнул, что она не является госслужащим, а потому её мнение не всегда отражает позицию Москвы. Он напомнил, что Россия не выходила из режима отказа от ядерных испытаний. Симоньян также 9 сентября призвала предъявить Западу ультиматум из-за снарядов с обеднённым ураном, поставляемых на Украину. Она заявила, что в противном случае Запад не прекратит наращивать поставки Киеву всё более опасного вооружения.

Translation: Simonyan said on October 3 that a nuclear explosion 100 km above Siberia would not harm the population, but the electromagnetic pulse would disable all satellites above the Earth. Russian press secretary Dmitry Peskov emphasized that she is not a civil servant, and therefore her opinion does not always reflect the position of Moscow. He recalled that Russia did not abandon nuclear testing. Simonyan also on September 9 called for an ultimatum to be presented to the West over depleted uranium shells being supplied to Ukraine. She said that otherwise the West will not stop increasing supplies of increasingly dangerous weapons to Kyiv.

Simonyan, having zero professional education in anything except for BS they "teach" in the US journo schools, has ZERO business commenting on any military-technological affairs. She literally is semi-literate in any affair other than manipulation of media facts. Only a complete shithead could have proposed this, not to mention having NO tool kit whatsoever to pass assessments on any matter related to the use of nuclear weapons. Simonyan's ONLY skill is that of rubbing shoulders with Moscow's elite and this is the extent of it. 

No surprise then, that RT invites "military experts" fresh from the high school or consistently provides the tribune to all kinds of remnants of Moscow's closet pro-Western beau monde. I understand that Ramzan being a gentleman tries to support his friend, but Simonyan has been out of her depth for years now and suggesting this BS to other BSers she hangs out with she discredits not only herself (that is a done deal) but Russia. In related news, she should learn a simple fact that Russia has all necessary means WITHOUT the use of EMP of nukes, to dramatically degrade US (NATO) ISR satellites constellation. Recall how Vladimir Putin humiliated Megyn Kelly? I think RT is long overdue for change of the guard.

Why Karaganov Wrote This...

... shit? 

Sergey Karaganov: By using its nuclear weapons, Russia could save humanity from a global catastrophe. A tough but necessary decision would likely force the West to back off, enabling an earlier end to the Ukraine crisis and preventing it from expanding to other states 

I want to immediately point out that most people who reacted to Karaganov's amateurish BS, be that "Colonel" Trenin, Fyodor Lukyanov, other Valdai boys, who continue to discuss mental excrement by shyster from geopolitics, have absolute zero knowledge about nuclear weapons, system of command and control of nuclear deterrent, technological issues related to use of nuclear weapons. None, it is down right risible when colonel with philological degree or a "thinker" with degree in "journalism" begin to wax "strategic" on things they have no clue about. Like this "profound" conclusion by the guy who wouldn't know the difference between shit and shinola.

Sergey Karaganov’s article, arguing that “the use of nuclear weapons could save humanity from global catastrophe” has provoked a strong reaction. This was probably the author’s intention.

Karaganov, like Lukyanov, knows nothing about ANY weapons, let alone nuclear ones, and none of them are qualified to utter anything on the issue of warfare, be that pro or contra, because they are fucking amateurs with degrees and skills donkeys can obtain after a few years of taming. 

Karaganov's piece and the "discussion" by media amateurs at this moment is in direct contradiction to yesterday's Sergei Lavrov's de facto statement of principles of Russian nuclear doctrine and rejection of US and 404 speculation on... what Karaganov calls for...

Johnny Rotten, thank you for translating it. Moreover, the whole thing comes across as pure provocation in the moment when country just went through a dangerous period. I am on record--it is time to remove all kinds of political "scientists", journos and other "soft degrees" BSers from serious geopolitical debate and power balance politics because none of them is qualified to pass any judgement on a critical component on power balance--they simply have NO education for that, period. BTW, where is Margarita Simonyan who spends so much time on all kinds of TV shows by the same ignoramuses as she is--last few days she simply evaporated from the TV screens and social media. I wonder why? 

And now who doubted (I will name names) two days ago:

US backs coup attempts whenever it can benefit – Lavrov

FSB is looking into this matter, but Vladimir Putin stated this clearly an hour ago:

“They [the West and Ukraine] wanted Russian soldiers to kill each other, so that soldiers and civilians would die, so that in the end Russia would lose, and our society would break apart and choke on bloody civil strife,” the president said. “They rubbed their hands, dreaming of getting revenge for their failures at the front and during the so-called counteroffensive, but they miscalculated.”

Wagner is kaput. The rest is history. Those who will decide to join Prigozhin (for now) in Belarus will live their remaining (not very long) lives in fear. When their end comes, they will know why and by who.

Larry Makes Some Very Good Points..

In his latest. It is symptomatically titled: Why Didn’t Russia Do This Sooner? In it he notes:

The war in Ukraine clearly has entered a new phase, with Ukraine failing to press its offensive and Russia solidifying its lines of defense and launching counter attacks that are pushing Ukraine out of key strategic areas in Donetsk. It appears that the combination of the murder of Darya Dugina, the sabotage of the Nordstream pipelines, the bombing of the Kerch bridge and the spoiled drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Sevastapol convinced the Russians to step up its military strikes to destroy critical electrical and energy infrastructure that they had previously left intact. Yet, even while achieving success in systematically turning off the lights and heat throughout Ukraine, Russia is focusing on destroying transformers and key transmission installations rather than blow up nuclear, thermal and water power plants. If those sites are still intact, Russia will face an easier reconstruction task once Ukraine is defeated. It is easier to install new transformers and power lines than it is to build a new nuclear reactor. Right?

And he answers his question, after reviewing state of the affairs in Europe and elsewhere.

Here is the bottomline–Ukraine’s military position will continue to erode in the coming weeks while economic conditions in England and the rest of Europe will worsen. The latter will make it impossible to sustain political support to continue sending unlimited financial and military aid to Ukraine. 

And that is why today even the White House had to debunk NYT's BS (US MSM produces ONLY BS and propaganda):

The US does not see any indications that Russia is getting ready to use its nuclear arsenal in the conflict in Ukraine, White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday. However, he added that Washington considers such a possibility “deeply concerning” and takes it “seriously.” Earlier on Wednesday, the New York Times published a piece citing “multiple senior American officials,” who claimed some Russian generals had been discussing “when and how Moscow might use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine.” Russian President Vladimir Putin was not involved in these discussions, the paper said. The conversations took place at some point in mid-October, it added.

In related news, I discussed with some of my friends our plans to conquer the galaxy and, especially, resources rich planet Zoltar. President Vladimir Putin and POTUS Joe Biden "were not involved in these discussion".  At this stage neither NYT, nor WaPo, nor WSJ, among many others fit the bill of even the last ditch post-apocalyptic toilet paper, because who needs anus and brain cancer wiping one's own ass with this toxic garbage.