Zircon Flies Again.

3M22 launched again couple of days ago by Admiral Gorshkov, Russia's MoD provided video today. Reached M=8+, hit the floating target at 450+ kilometers range.  

Pay attention to how carefully cloudy weather is chosen for launches. In related news Kazan launched 3M14 couple of days ago at the target at 1000+ kilometers, now she is getting ready for the launch of Zircon. Generally, one can see from the videos of two Zircon launches which were provided by Russia's MoD the insane acceleration which is achieved by the missile upon the exit from VLS (3C14).

72 Hours, No Less.

Incoming (pun is intended) Biden Admin, same as Germans, has a knack for appointing unqualified people (the fact that they are women is secondary here) to most important government posts. Enter Michele Flournoy a new Sec.Def. Let's open the biography of this "remarkable" woman. We start with "education":

Flournoy attended Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California. She was an exchange student in Belgium for one year, where she learned French. She studied at Harvard College where she received a bachelor of arts degree. She received an M.Litt. in international relations in 1983 from Oxford University, where she was a Newton-Tatum scholar at Balliol College. From 1989 until 1993 she was at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, where she was a research fellow in its International Security Program.

As you can see yourself--Flournoy has an educational background which forms, always, professional outlook in any person with IQ higher than room temperature, from the git go, in humanities. Flournoy's "foundation" is that in the literature, or, speaking broadly, degree in glorified English. In this case, how the Harvard's JFK's School of Government can help run a DoD remains a complete mystery to me, because studying "government" and "researching" it is really easy for anyone with a half-brain in the their heads, especially the way it is being done in the US, while, as an example, studying Theory of Operations or principles of weapons' design and integration is hard. Really really hard, because to even approach these studies one needs to be really good in math, physics and other natural sciences in mid to high school, then carry this "goodness" over to educational institution which trains one in STEM expansion to the robust university level and only then, one may start talking about even approaching the level of "foundation" which is imperative for understanding military, any military, but especially one on the level of the US military. 

Recall Russia's Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin's truism. 

I know a large number of absolutely wonderful financiers, economists who used to be not very good engineers, but I don't know a single, even not a very good one, engineer who used to be good financier or economist.  

Mind you, Mishustin graduated Russia's (much deeper and much harder programs than Western Bachelor of Science) famous STANKIN and completed his post-graduate studies there with specialization in Systems Engineering. So, the guy knows what he is talking about. And this is what precisely applies to Flournoy whose accomplishments under Clinton and Obama, when she was involved, include:

1. While serving under the Clinton administration as a deputy assistant secretary of defense, Flournoy assisted in drafting the 1997 Quadrennial Defense Review, which argued that "determined U.S. forces must be capable of fighting and winning two major theater wars nearly simultaneously." I know, I know, keep your smirks to yourself, I do;

2. While serving in the Obama administration, Flournoy crafted the administration's policy of counter-insurgency in Afghanistan. She supported the surge of troops in Afghanistan and helped to design the administration's policy in that regard. In 2009, as Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, she also supported a US "civilian surge" in Afghanistan, coupling increased economic aid with at least 400 new counter-insurgency experts, and doubling the US military presence to 68,000 troops by the end of the year.

As you can see, Flournoy's list of "accomplishments" (LOL) includes some really fascinating things which Arkady Averchenko long ago described in his immortal "The Specialist In Military Affairs". I elaborate on the "quality" or, rather lack thereof, of America's "elites" who are utterly uneducated and unqualified to run the country in depth in all my books. Those who read them know how many examples I present in them--many, very many. Flournoy fits the bill of America's military incompetence really well. So, Flournoy's recent stratagem is a fucking wowser!

The next Pentagon chief could cement the US’ already hard defence line on China, with one contender suggesting that American forces could bolster deterrence with the ability to “sink all” Chinese vessels “within 72 hours” in the South China Sea

Let me be very clear here, before I comment on this absolute fucking stupidity which can only be used as an Exhibit A of human arrogance and lack of any culture--the United States Navy is much better than PLAN. Even if to consider the US Navy's rough shape today. It is better not only because the US Navy has submarine forces which make China's submarines look like a bunch of obsolete jalopies, or because the US Navy has more aircraft carriers. No, within First Island Chain even this advantage drops precipitously because the US Navy simply has no viable weapon systems which are adequate to deal with modern Air Defense which China has, ranging from Chinese "versions" of S-300s to Russian-made S-400. No, the US Navy's advantage is in its operational history and still (for how long, I don't know, probably another 10-15 years) very high level of professionalism of the officer corps and still very impressive esprit de corps' which rests on the foundation of a magnificent history in the Pacific Theater in WW II. China simply has nothing comparable and, in the open ocean, such as Indian Ocean SLOCs, the US Navy would tear a new one to PLAN, especially if it deploy there couple-three CBGs if, God forbids, shit hits the fan in biblical amounts. 

But South China Sea? Did Flournoy even bother to look at the map? Does she even have a concept of how naval forces deploy, how they interact with heterogeneous forces such as Air Force, Air Defense forces, how targeting is developed, what is required.... But wait a minute, even these guys understand some, hm, "minor" issue with South China Sea, because the Island of Hainan is located so strategically into the South China Sea that:

Two data points, including a Notice to Airmen that cordoned off a patch of airspace southeast of Hainan Island and a maritime exclusion zone announced recently by the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration, paint a picture of a ballistic missile test. (See this helpful map from Henri Kenhmann at East Pendulum.)...In fact, Sunday’s ASBM test may have inaugurated the PLARF’s new base on Hainan Island, which is China’s southernmost province, adjacent to the South China sea. As analysts noted last year, a new PLARF base has been established some 10 kilometers west of Danzhou city on Hainan. The base’s location makes it an excellent candidate site for a possible ASBM launch that would have flown through the NOTAM zone and splashed down in the maritime exclusion zone. The range from the Danzhou PLARF base to the maritime exclusion zone suggests that missile in question may have been the 1,500 kilometer-range DF-21D.

I understand, they do not teach those things in Literature programs in universities or in JFK School of Government, but if they would, they would have provided a serious review of China's military capabilities in this precise area and how China's system out-ranges anything the United States has in its arsenal to attack China's naval assets there. Flournoy, obviously, doesn't understand the concept of a salvo(s) and deployment of forces for launching it(them). She obviously doesn't understand how criteria of effectiveness (usually P(s)--probability of success, predicated on the probabilities P(k) of hitting and killing targets) are calculated not how required forces are calculated also. I am sure she read some books on war while writing her Literature thesis--you know Lord of the Rings or Star Wars books--but evidently this lady has about the same grasp of the modern war as I have of the Chinese choreography. She really should look at the map, for a warmup, and using compass try to draw circumferences which stand for the ranges of Chinese (and Russian-made) missiles and combat aircraft of PLAAF which could be brought to bear in the South China Sea if the United States decides to commit a suicide by "sinking in 72 hours" whatever the PLAN has there. Good luck doing this, especially once Chinese Air Force (PLAAF) deploys there part of its fairly impressive combat aviation--a thing US carrier aviation never encountered in ages, in fact since the Vietnam War. Add here Russians providing real time situational awareness and targeting to Chinese... so, you get the idea. If ever new Russian 3M54 appear there, the survival rate of the US Navy surface assets will drop precipitously, but then again, who knows what Chinese already have from Russia. I know redeployment of Chinese SU-35s and SU-30s alone to the theater may pretty much close the issue of US CBGs in the area, not that they are not going to be fat prestigious targets. 

I can go on, and on, and on on this issue but... behold, this is America's (most likely) new Sec.Def--a person with degree in arts and in how to "run" the US, which is ungovernable at this stage in principle. Scary, eh? Well, welcome to the brand new world where your gender, or skin color, are the main criteria for being hired. This is not to speak of womanisation of the Western governance in general, when women with at best questionable backgrounds are being assigned top positions only because they are women, not because they are competent--there are many competent women out there, who are no political appointees but top notch professionals. They will never make the list. So, and you though Trump's national "security" team was bad. LOL. Get the load of that--that could be fun. Boy, you should read a biography of incoming Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, I don't know how Russia's professionals are going to communicate with her--excusing themselves to leave the room to go out and laugh hysterically, before returning back to the negotiating table. The farce of the American governance can not be hidden anymore, what is transpiring has only one name--full disintegration of institutions of power and that is already having very serious ramifications but don't try to explain it to incoming Administration--they will not be able to even grasp it, they are that unqualified across the board. I am sure they will be hard at work planning defeat of Russia and entering Kremlin in five days after the start of the war. Hey, and why not? I am sure Michele Flournoy can even write a book on that, after all--she has a graduate degree in literature. I am sure she can write this book in 72 hours, or 12 parsecs, or whatever...

Symptomatic.

As it has been observed not for once, European "elites", especially when it comes to defense and foreign relations are not good, like in "they suck". Russians also have a saying: once every century Europeans gather their forces and go to Russia to get the shit beaten out of them.(c) As their American counterparts in the foreign policy establishment, Europeans also prefer degrees in law to be a background for bloviating on geopolitical matters. Germany is especially interesting in this respect since apart from having Heiko Maas as Germany's Foreign Minister, Germans also love women to be in charge of Germany's "defense". Enough to recall Ursula von der Leyen's tenure in charge of defense of Germany, which saw basically an emaciation of already badly mauled Bundeswehr--now Ursula applies her educational background as a children's doctor as a biggest honcho in EU--now a new (relatively) lady with degree in law gets to run Germany's defense. 

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is your typical party worm careerist with zero understanding of global politics (not a strong trait of modern German "elites" as a whole), let alone global military balance. This, however, does not prevent her from being a globalist shill  and she demonstrated it yesterday when made statements such as reported by TASS:

"Мы должны усилить нашу позицию, - заявила министр, призвав вести переговоры с Россией по таким вопросам, как разоружение, "с позиции силы". Эта всегда была хорошая позиция германской внешней политики, и так должно остаться в будущем."

Translation: We must reinforce our position--said Minister--calling on conducting negotiations with Russia on such issues as disarmament "from the position of strength". It was always a good position of German politics and it should remain such into the future. 

It might be pure coincidence but Annegret's father, as her bio states, was a special education teacher. Just saying, but one cannot shake the impression off that much of current German "elite" are people who came out of the special education (or alternatively gifted) programs. I am not being facetious--they are that stupid and unaware. They also have a very short memory. Last time Germany, with the help of the rest of Europe, tried to speak to Russia "from the position of strength" we all know how it all ended. Germany is a military midget compared to Russia, and Russia is also not impressed with the US posturing, which is implied in Kramp-Karrenbauer's statements, because in case of Russia being attacked by the US, first things after Washington which will go up in flames will be a number of strategic locations in Germany. Germany alone is no threat to Russia and, generally, Annegret doesn't have any instruments to even grasp complexities of the "position of strength". Yet, in the midst of this delirium and chest thumping, one factor can not be ignored. Here it is:

PARIS/BERLIN (Reuters) - The German defence minister's warning against the "illusions" of pursuing European defence autonomy rattled French President Emmanuel Macron so much that her comments became a topic of discussion at a cabinet meeting this month in Paris. "We found it regrettable, but we noted it was only an isolated position and not (Chancellor Angela) Merkel's line," an official present in the room at the Elysee palace told Reuters, putting a brave face on the divergence of views.   

I have some news for Germany's Defense Minister who, if she studied "law and politics", should know that, as I stated few days ago:

No, really, ha-ha, Macron doesn't seek "leadership", what he seeks is an age old arrangement in case Germans really get all pissed off with continuous national suicide and France, as usual, will be in the way, this is when Russia comes in.

It is not a secret. In fact, it is a European truism that France's security has a very strong Russian "flavor." Recall with what pomp Maurice Paleologue was received in St.Petersburg (shortly to be renamed Petrograd) on the eve of WW I. And this teeny-weeny historic fact, as well as Stalin making sure that France is included into the cohort of WW II Victors should give some hint to how deep down France looks at Germany, even despite all those strides made in a direction of European "unity" since the end of the WW II, as a potential threat. After all, France is a nuclear power. But here is a question to ponder--what if German, at some point of time, decide to become one too? Of course, they lost a lot of expertise and being the America' door mat I am not seeing it happening any time soon. But, as practice of international relations has shown, the pseudo-intellectual crap of the "End of History" was just that, an ejaculate of a prolonged "intellectual" masturbation, which resulted in a corruption of a realist (as much as it is possible today in the increasingly totalitarian West) view of the world. 

World is still run by nation-states and passions of the past cannot be ignored, history tends to vow itself into the national DNA and nothing could be done about it, no matter how "scientific" next big ideology tries to present itself. They all are crap. Passions will erupt because contradictions will accumulate--it is inevitable. And since Russia owes nothing to anyone, my calls for erection of the Iron Curtain between Europe and Russia will continue. Judging by nervous (to put it mildly) Paris' reaction to a geopolitical stupidity of Germany's Defense Minister one can clearly see those teeny-weeny cracks which begin to appear in the European "unity" because Europe is too small to be accommodating for several regional super-powers. Even slaves often had some scores to settle. For Russia both France and Germany are local powers and markets, especially Germany. But if Germany will continue to produce people of such intellectual ability as Maas or Kramp-Karrenbauer, there will be no talks at all, from any position, strength or otherwise for Germany. Russia and China may have different views on the world, but China desperately needs Russia's energy and she will gladly take whatever will be freed from European consumption. The infrastructure for that is being built as I type this. 

Now in terms of position of strength, Russia can do this not only to Germany but to the combined West, not least because of things like that. Judging by the intense test launches, technologies like that are fully operational and either are deployed or are about to. This is few days ago.

Russia can talk from the position of strength to Germany, especially being now totally independent in terms of ships' propulsion (MTU, bye, bye), the opposite is not only not true it is impossible in principle. The sooner Germany's Defense Minister learns this simple fact of life, the better it will be for Germany, and Europe as a whole. But then again, she is a party functionary with "politics" degree, I am not even sure she can comprehend what she sees in these videos, unless it is explained to her. They don't teach material science and sensor fusion at those departments. And it shows. Iron Curtain between Russia and EU is needed.

2020 For You. Now, Maradona.

I never liked him after the Hand of God, I just couldn't bring myself to it, but for all his shenanigans there was no denial that he was a genius. Paradoxically, it wasn't his and Argentina's triumph at World Cup in Mexico in 1986, which made me call him then a genius. In 1986 Argentina had a wonderful team. It came later, in 1990 World Cup when he, Maradona, with the help of incredible, incomparable Sergio Goycochea in the frame and ever versatile and experienced Burruchaga took shitty, boring, uninspiring mediocre team Argentina could assemble for that World Cup to the freaking finals. It was a mind-numbingly mediocre team, which took the third place in the qualification group losing to Cameroon, tying Romania and winning USSR. Argentina met mighty Brazil in the knock out stage. Everyone thought Argentina was finished. Well, without Maradona it would have been. But Argentina had him and, as usual, he created a goal out of nothing leaving Caniggia with an easy task of putting a ball into the Brazilian net.

You look at this an can only say--Son of a Bitch, how does he do this. Yet, Maradona surely missed his penalty kick against Yugoslavia in a penalty shootout after the game in which Yugoslavs dominated, but then again, Argentina had Sergio Goycochea. Then were the hosts, Italy, ever dangerous Italy. Maradona again, made a goal and he didn't miss his penalty kick which took Argentina to finals. 

They lost there to Germany, on penalty kick by Brehme. I hated that Argentina team but I saw already then how massive a player Maradona was. The fact that this crap of a team made it to finals thanks to Maradona and Sergio--I never saw anything like this in my life. I remember my beloved Italy of 1982--but that was a Team, a dream-team, really, which resurrected themselves after the scandals to overcome greatest challenges of a time: Argentina, Brazil and West Germany. But here, it was one guy who literally pushed a POS of a team into finals. This was a true greatness. I surrendered and I said to myself that he is a SOB, but, God, how good is he. Don't give me this Messi crap, the guy is a midget on international arena where it only matters and where reputations are made. Maradona since 1986 WAS a team and he was busting his ass for the team. Maradona's titles list with a national teams is something Messi can only dream about

Diego Maradona, one of football's greatest-ever players, has died aged 60. The 1986 World Cup winner had surgery to remove a blood clot on the brain earlier this month. The Argentine Football Association confirmed he had died this afternoon. "The Argentine Football Association, through its president Claudio Tapia, expresses its deepest sorrow for the death of our legend, Diego Armando Maradona. You will always be in our hearts," they said. Another of football's greats, Pele, has led the tributes to: "Certainly, one day we'll kick a ball together in the sky above."

Yes, he was a drug junkie and he was eccentric, but so was George Best, an alcoholic. I guess this comes with a territory for geniuses. Maradona was a genius of the game, every fvcking single fan of football in the world will tell you this. Go to Naples, ask them what Maradona did and means for S.S.C. Napoli. Read about Maradona Era in Napoli where he is still revered as deity. He was only 60. Was Maradona better than Pele? Probably, Pele didn't play the game which was being played since mid-1970s with tightening defense and increasingly skillful and hard defenders--I am not sure that Pele would do well against the likes of Franko Baresi or Collovati. Maradona tried, he didn't like it. What can I say, what a fvcking year--it takes the best. RIP, SOB, you were the best. I am sad, really sad.

How You Name The Ship...

I didn't want to do it, but here it is. Since I didn't serve around Vladivostok so I do not know for sure configuration of Russia's territorial waters there, I just know that in accordance to 1984 document, and that is what US, or whoever runs it today (is there anybody out there?), refers to, stating that Zaliv Petra Velikogo (The Peter-the-Great Gulf) is not exactly Russian waters. Here is what the US Navy had to say:

The U.S. 7th Fleet issued a statement that said the McCain had operated in accordance with international law, and that Russia had in 1984 illegally claimed the area as "internal waters." The boundary claimed by Russia is "inconsistent with the rules of international law as reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention to enclose the waters of a bay," according to the U.S. statement. International maritime boundaries are typically recognized a certain distance offshore. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union claimed a large portion of the Peter the Great Gulf — which Americans refer to as a bay — beyond these traditional boundaries. The U.S. and its allies reject this claim. The 7th Fleet said that McCain’s operation was intended to demonstrate that these waters are not Russia’s territory.

I kinda put together what it may look like in terms of the Gulf, distance measure black lines very roughly following those basic lines, which Russia considers her territorial waters. If someone will have the time (I am simply lazy to go over it in detail) and finds the actual maps, feel free to post it in discussion. 

This is not the first time the US Navy tries to exercise "freedom of navigation" thingy. Before this one, the latest one was in 2018. 

US Warship Sails Near Disputed Waters to ‘Challenge Russia’s Excessive Maritime Claims’

Generally speaking, this whole thing has nothing to do with FONOP (Freedom of Navigation Operation) but with the United States being very interested in things around Bolshoy Kamen, where a mastodon Zvezda shipyard is located, and especially parts of it where all those Oscars (pr. 949A SSGNs) are refitting for who knows what kind of weapon systems, wink, wink. 

Photo above is the old one, today Zvezda looks like this:

An extremely busy (loaded to the hilt with orders for major ships) shipyard. So, why not get closer to it; this, plus good ol' signal collection, plus the main base of Russia's Pacific Fleet is there, so you get my drift. Come on, we all know that curiosity is a natural trait of humanity. This, plus showing off. Russians sent out Admiral Vinogradov to shadow the American ship.

 

But the problem with the American ship was the fact that its name is DDG-56  USS John McCain. You know, symbolism, especially when one (US side) declares that it sails and flies wherever it wants to (BS, of course, but for the sake of argument), US 7th Fleet should have known when dispatching DDG-56 to demonstrate anything to Russians that Russians know about late Senator, after whose admiral father DDG-56 was named, as much, if not more, than Americans and this particular American "hero" in Russia is a clownish, very comedic, figure and, as was expected, Russian web-sphere exploded with acerbic comments which I prefer not to post here. But as you might expect the most neutral was tongue in cheek "It is how you name your ship". So, let's put it this way--McCain's family is not taken seriously in Russia and the father, whose name DDG-56 bears, can thank his son for parading himself as mentally unstable and bile and revenge-driven person which gave this aura to the whole McCain seed. 

Naturally Admiral Vinogradov did what Russians traditionally do--promised to ram DDG-56 if she is not going to leave Russia's territorial waters. DDG-56 left the Gulf and the whole scene was reminiscent of Ilf and Petrov's comedic masterpiece 12 Chairs. Sorry for my non-native Russian speaking friends but I couldn't resist. LOL.

On a more serious note, at some point of time Russians may get tired of this BS and may "accidentally" find a way to pay back with the same coin. If simple Russian intelligence ship created a shitstorm in US media, while being well in the international waters, can you imagine what happens when completely modernized Admiral Nakhimov will undertake round-the-globe trip to check on its new rather lovely weapons and sensors suite and will sail near the United States. I guess we all are entering the time of great tribulations and the less everyone show-off the better it will be for everyone, but one may only hope. So, don't hold your breath.

Recall This?

I will remind you what I wrote in March this year once the whole thing with COVID-19 unfolded. 

As I stated earlier, I will still reserve my opinion on the origin of this Covid-19 situation but, if your read my comments, I was in no way distraught over the fact that Trump defunded WHO. Even RT gave the tribune to such an opinion. ....So, we may face ahead even larger adjustments which will change statistics of Covid-19 and social outlook dramatically. I don't think China necessarily lied, I think Chinese were simply trying to feed info as it was unfolding  and WHO did "cry wolf" before. Swine flu, remember? So, take it anywhere you want but do not forget which US political party is tightly connected to supranational structures under UN auspices and represents radically globalist.... Oops, I misspoke, never mind, never mind, wink, wink.   

Now, I can be more specific. Before being more specific I need to remind you couple things: 

1. You all well know that I am no Sinophile--I am on record, constantly, that Russian-Chinese "alliance" is a situational one, and that it is predicated on political and economic stability of China. Russia is a thing in itself and is civilization on her own. But modern Russia IS NOT an Asiatic country.

2. China is a great civilization with rich culture and an extremely complex ethnic and cultural composition. It also has a mind-boggling variety of dialects, which precludes any person without highly focused effort to study China, to be called a Sinologist. I am no Sinologist, not even close and I fully understand this. I, as well as many others in my line of writing, thus are forced to rely on the opinions of real Sinologists. 

I have couple of sources I use for insights into China's economic and political reality, one of those sources being Nikolai Vavilov (no relation to other Vavilov, a geneticist of Stalin-times fame) who has an excellent grasp of Chinese political and economic elites. Here is  one of his books on China (The Uncrowned Kings of China) in Russian, New one came out recently and Nikolai has a serious claim on knowledge on China, not only he lived and worked in China for many years, including work for Chinese Xinhua news-agency. He is fluent in many Chinese dialects, so when he speaks, I listen. And now important stuff. 

1. China DOES NOT offer world the alternative to globalism. China IS a globalist power and for many people who for years have been misled by China's massive scale economic plans, the recent G-20 address by Xi should come as an unpleasant surprise. Here are some points, we start with this:  

Xi expressed his opinion on the priority of the fight against the novel coronavirus. The G20 should respect the World Health Organization (WHO) and create a global mechanism coping with pandemics. Xi also suggested a specific measure that the G20 can take to bring the pandemic to a stop, which is an international recognition mechanism of the "health code." The code should be based on the global standard of QR code technology and the result of the COVID-19 nucleic acid test. He wished more countries can join the effort of creating a standardized "express passage" for people to travel between nations.

This is, for now, merely a suggestion but the nature of this suggestion is that the world should follow China's already in place and in active use code system which does this (In Russian):

a) Each Chinese city has its own "platform" on Alipay or WeChat, where everyone is obliged to register with their own "code";

b) The system tracks everyone by their QR-code and assigns the color in which "green" means that you can go pretty much anywhere, and then limitations are imposed if the code is "orange", let alone "red" which forbids any movements. 

Well, my friends, if this de facto electronic concentration camp (or ghetto) hasn't been implemented yet in your neighborhood, let's open Comrade Xi's remarks on the BRICS summit five days ago and here is what he said:

Around the world, COVID-19 is posing a grave threat to people’s life and well-being. The global public health system is facing a severe test. Human society is going through the most serious pandemic in the past century. International trade and investment have shrunk considerably. The flow of goods and personnel has been impeded. Factors for uncertainty and instability are numerous. The world economy is witnessing the worst recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s. Unilateralism, protectionism and acts of bullying are becoming rampant, and the deficit in governance, trust, development and peace is widening instead of narrowing. Despite all this, we remain convinced that the theme of our times, peace and development, has not changed, and that the trend toward multipolarity and economic globalization cannot be turned around. We must keep people’s welfare close to heart and pursue the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind. Through concrete actions, we will contribute our share to making the world a better place for everyone.

Wait a minute! No, no, no, no--this is NOT how it works--it is precisely economic globalization and the orthodoxy of a Free Trade which are in the foundation of the global economic crisis, for which grossly inflated threat of COVID-19, serves as a good excuse. Including a strange correlation between Chinese so called Komsomol (Hu Yaobang's Trotskist and globalist heirs) leaders getting to power with American Democratic Party Presidents being elected. Correlation doesn't mean causality, do not misinterpret me, but what is not open for misinterpretation is the fact that:

1. China needs globalism because...

2. Chinese economy, for all its gigantic size, is not doing that well

3. US Democrats are truly neo-left globalist cabal who also seem to "influence" Comrade Xi at BRICS Summit. Like this, as he himself states:

Fifth, we need to pursue green and low-carbon development, and strive for harmony between man and nature.

How not well, you may ask, is China's economy? Simple: China STILL is dependent on these two markets:

1. The United States--a lot of statistics is being faked to show China "reducing" this dependency. Reality, however, is grim for China and the US--the level of mutual dependency remains very high.

2. Japan. And then South Korea.

Remove them and China's economy collapses. But then, of course, there is this:

In this report, we show how China’s production of coal-intensive products is accelerating. In October, steel production rose 13% year-on-year, aluminium  rose 11%, cement rose 10%, and electricity production rose 7%. China’s GDP data confirms that the industrial sector provided a higher proportion of its economic growth this summer than at any time since at least 2016. Consequently, China has produced almost 60% of the world’s steel, aluminium and cement so far this year. In addition, steel and aluminium exports have collapsed, meaning China itself is using more of these products. Meanwhile, China’s coal-fired electricity generation is unchanged from last year, because of high electricity demand outpacing clean electricity investment. Coal generation in the rest of the world, by comparison, is expected to fall by about 12% this year, meaning China’s share of global coal generation will rise to 53%.

Pay attention to highlighted and remember, 65% of China's electricity generation is based on coal, which increasingly becomes scarce and increasingly expensive to extract with many mines in China already going as deep as 1,000 meters (1 kilometer). And we all know what that means, right? Just to give you some idea on generation--in the United States coal amounts to 22.8% of generating sources, In Russia--it amounts to around 16%, so you get my drift, right? Well, this also is not the whole story, costs for China will continue to grow and the shift from coal to gas, nuclear and other sources is a daunting task for the export economy the size of China's and which is dramatically vulnerable to fluctuations on markets. Let's remember what was the foundation of Trump's economic platform which he was running on--right, decoupling from China. Recall also an abrupt limitation to education of Chinese students and researchers in the United States. Nasty, aggressive? Undeniably so, typical arrogance BUT...give Trump, for all his bluster and being full of shit, a credit, he found Chinese cojones and grabbed them. And now the main part:

1. China's attempt to focus on domestic consumption to support her economy has failed (in Russian);

2. "Second circulation" policy is now in place, another attempt at internal market. Enter Nikolai Vavilov (sadly in Russian only). 

Right, 12 years China was effectively printing money, they went, right, right, right, into the real estate. Guess, China was becoming the US 2.0 by producing debt. Guess what this second attempt will be? Right, inflation and debt and "export", again. But now even more, while many praise recent RCEP signed by China and East Asian nations, many forget that this same RCEP, which originally was a Japanese idea, reduces 90% of tariffs not only for China-made consumer goods, but for such things, among many, as Japanese cars and parts for them, same goes for Korean automakers. Bye, bye Chinese auto-industry. Now that you know these peculiar facts, ask yourself a question if at least some influential parts of Chinese elites were not interested in removing radically anti-Chinese Trump and getting a democrat in the office? There is another funny fact, the origin and spread of COVID-19 somehow was limited to the cities and provinces which are managed by those very same representatives of China's Komsomol who made fortunes at the American market. Coincidences, coincidences. How can you remove Trump? Right. 

But in general, especially after Xi's remarks at BRICS' summit it remains patently clear that the only way China can remain more or less (primarily less) healthy, for now at least, economically is to continue to export until the whole thing collapses, because globalism and Free Trade are collapsing. Yet, Xi praises these moribund practices as if nothing what is happening in the world today is related to the subjects he praised. I will omit here the sheer anti-scientific idiocy of CO2 emissions. Of course, Chinese didn't congratulate uncle Joe with becoming a President-elect (and he is still not), in fact, the statement of Chinese Foreign Ministry (a level below official protocol) was down-right humiliating to Biden, who insulted Xi and China not for once. But behind globalist totalitarian mafia of the Democratic Party we all can see the silhouettes of the Clintons and the Obamas and their vast network of political operatives who want to turn the United States, the remnants of the flawed Republic, into the playground of the most destructive, amoral, anti-human and criminal forces which will stop at nothing, including high treason to get to power. Remember this? 

"I certainly do think that the Chinese government and central bank are making a smart decision by continuing to invest in Treasury bonds," she said during an interview Sunday with the popular talk show "One on One." "It's a safe investment. The United States has a well-deserved financial reputation." To boost the economy, the U.S has to incur more debt, she said, shortly before departing for Washington. "It would not be in China's interest if we were unable to get our economy moving," Clinton said. "So by continuing to support American Treasury instruments, the Chinese are recognizing our interconnection. We are truly going to rise or fall together. We are in the same boat and, thankfully, we are rowing in the same direction.

I do. It is a good idea to refresh sometimes a decade old statements, they contain so much in them. Recall who was China's President then? Right, and read what Hu Jintao's one of the main foreign policy "accomplishments" was during his term.

He improved ties with Japan, but effectively downgraded relations with Putin’s Russia, which repeatedly disappointed Beijing in terms of arms sales and energy deals. 

This phrase opens a whole new can of worms which allows to understand why Russians are really nonchalant about CREP and why all this blatter about Russia being junior partner in Russian-Chinese duo is just that--pure BS. There are many things we don't see, as it is supposed to be in the real life, but there is a reason why I constantly point out to a simple fact of China still preferring Russia to lead in geopolitical arena. So, do I say that COVID-19 is a global operation of influence? No, what I say it that there is a viable motive. And again, correlation does not mean causality but only sober and factual assessment of real strength of participants in the game can give good insight into intentions of everyone. 

A Bit For The Mood.

This is beyond good, it is magnificent:

David Lynch and his muse Chrysta Bell (Agent Tammy Preston in Twin peaks: The Return). Stunning.

And this too: