Canadian Officer's position.

I can only express my gratitude and admiration for retired Canadian Armed Forces' Captain Brad Cabana for being an honorable man and a professional--the combination of qualities which today is getting harder  and harder to come by. 

The West's Shame

Cabana, actually, forestalled me--and it is all good--since I was getting ready to write a piece on a shameful display of West's political "elites" regarding attending Victory Parade in Moscow on May 9th. This year it is 70th Anniversary of Victory in Europe. This blog of mine is just a tiny attempt to educate people on the realities of the 20th Century history. Captain Cabana did an excellent job and I gladly provide the link to his blog.

Meanwhile, celebrations on the West are coming and we all will hear and watch an endless stream of panegyrics to the victory of the West over Nazi Germany and how "Arsenal Of Democracy" managed to do it.

This Is More Like it

Amidst the stream of worrying news, the glimmer of hope. I guess people who have practical tasks to work with are way more sensible, not to mention on the different thinking plane, especially when it is about space exploration. NASA and Roscosmos agreed to build a new ISS and to coordinate efforts in preparation to Mars mission. How 'bout that--it is cool, it is necessary from every point of view, be it economics, science or, even, geopolitics. It is all for the better, because in space exploration there are only two entities: first--US and Russia, and second--the rest of the world. It is only natural for two countries to cooperate in such a massive endeavor. 

Russia announces plan to build new space station with NASA 

I wonder if John McCain or Vicki Nuland (and her hubby) will have aneurisms. 

Russia & US agree to build new space station after ISS, work on joint Mars project 

As they say--God Speed, or Poekhali. 

In 1981 while on a leave...............

I was sitting with my older naval academy buddy in his Baku apartment, while on liberty, listening to Village People from his collection of LPs, sipping the beer, and wondering why this sounded so good. It also sounded really good on my naval academy's discotheque's opening. Now, 34 years later I am witnessing all this which was inconceivable then. Pay attention to all those "suppressed" Russians circa 2015. Strange things happen......

Can US Still Save Itself-II?

By now, the results of PIAAC (Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) should be known by anyone who has any investment in the future of the US.

Overall Results – Millennials 

The fact that US public education system is a sham is a secret only to a people who are sublime to the point of being idiots or to a very high, and I don't mean administrative position, dejects. Yes, many US schools are well-equipped, some of them are architectural masterpieces, and even some school lunches are not that bad, but that makes no difference. While politically correct, humanities-educated teachers are discussing the issue of creationism, they forget what is this all about and it is NOT about biology or high school football--it is about:

1. Precise sciences, which are Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry. Such "subject" as "science" doesn't exist, unless, of course, it is in some American high school. I don't mention here all those "computer" (aka "technology") things, since any person with good math and physics background can get the basics of programming fairly easily;

2. Linguistics--knowledge of a proper native language, its usage and preservation, including through own literary masterpieces;

3. Ahem....history. Well, here I would abstain, since US History is a subject which can only be described by Schrodinger's Equation and is good only for some predictions of what US History is going to be in the future. I am pretty sure that at some point of time all of the Renaissance and Enlightenment (its best part), that is European,  heritage will be demolished in US.  Of course, what Tolstoy or Bach have on Spike Lee. Oprah will take it from here. 

None of them, especially pp.1 are taught properly in US public schools anymore. Yet, those are the subjects which DEFINE national intellect and abilities. How do I know this? I spent many years teaching American kids (yes, if you are 23 year old, you are still a kid), and by American I mean kids with European background--90% of them wonderful, talented and ethical human beings. All of them are as good as their European or Asian peers, yet they are the subjects of indoctrination, which, at this stage, becomes a totalitarian system of "education", which deplores serious knowledge and ability to think critically--and it always starts with Mathematics. So, for now, no surprise that American hi-tech industries can not employ all those "free thinkers", who are at the bottom of the global skills pool and who are losing it to the kids from Eurasia. Yes, my last years in education were spent teaching the kids from India and China--they work their asses off to get Newtonian Mechanics and Partial Derivatives. Have it ever occurred to anyone that more and more US Physics Nobel Prize Winners (not that Nobel is anymore a defining award) have Chinese names?   

Since I am Russian, I have to, and, yes, I know Russian education system was destroyed by all kinds of liberal morons, but the truth is--it is real. Russian 10th Grade homework--simple trigonometric identities. US homework, of course, differs with the real estate. 

 To be continued............

   

Strange Bedfellows?

Some interesting development in Ukraine. A month ago, in my Announcement post, I mentioned the possibility of Moscow (and Novorossia) at least exercising the idea of Benya Kolomoyski as "Our Son Of A Bitch". That idea doesn't seem that far-fetched anymore. Evidently, Kolomoiski and Novorossia exchanged some pleasantries which come down to recognizing each-other as viable political (geopolitical) subjects. Zakharchenko today offered Benya to create independent Dnepropetrovsk Republic.

Pleasantries exchange

I am in no position to give an expanded explanation to this play--I am still very busy with translating the book--but it is clear that Moscow can, and if necessary, will play really rough if Kiev's junta will continue to follow Washington's orders. Meanwhile I continue to follow this remarkable development. 

Let the force be with...or they don't make them like this anymore.

In 1984 a movie came out. No, I am not talking about "it can get there in 7 parsecs" Star Wars VI which, actually, if my dementia doesn't fail me, came out in 1983. No, I am talking about Dune. Specifically, David Lynch's Dune, made as an adaptation of Frank Herbert's immortal novel. Basically, Herbert's Dune is a War And Peace of Sci-Fi and, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest geopolitical novels of all time. But that is not the point--the point is the movie, which since then was condemned, degraded, humiliated to the point that David Lynch disowned it, having some Alan Smithee shown as a director and none other than Judas Booth (rings a bell?) as a scenarist, exhibited in a credits to a famous 3hr 15 minutes uncut version. 31 years has passed since a "box-office bomb" and all "thumbs down" version which became....a cult classic. What was forgotten, that Herbert was extremely dry in describing the universe of Dune. He wrote a superb geo(space)political palace intrigue and drama, while remaining surprisingly uninspiring in giving us a glimpse into what this world looks like. It took David Lynch's genius to give us a picture which, since 1984 disturbs, excites and fascinates true lovers of a genre. Herbert himself conceded that, far from being "consultant" on the set, he was simply amazed at what he observed. 

All those art "specialists" define the style of Lynch's Dune as noire-baroque. It is more than that--it is bizarre, it is dark, it is horrifying, it is paleo futuristic  and it is inhuman and that is precisely why Dune's characters come across so alive (how about outstanding actors' work?) and so human. No adaptation (well, Sci-Fi Channel's one) came even close in conveying the awe, horror and wonderment of an incredible world of the Spacing Guild, Space Travel, Bene Gesserit and a boy, grown to become a leader. The picture which was painted did become Dune and I am eternally grateful that this cinematic masterpiece came out when there were no imbecile teenagers publishing their "opinions" on the net from their iPhones and when the standard of human (especially female) beauty, friendship and sacrifice was high. Ah, yes! In the year 10191 there is NO democracy and the Universe is ruled by the Padishahs-Emperors. It is feudal.....and no computers. 

Music by ToTo and Brian Eno--it is the awe and shock!!

The spice must flow...........

  

Ben Hodges on Ukraine

There is a lot in US Armed Forces which can create a respectful and a professional attitude towards it. American soldier is generally a good soldier and there were some serious contributions by US military professionals to the art of war. US Army currently is second largest in the world, is best equipped and has a significant operational experience. That is why the statement by Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, the commander of U.S. Army Europe, two days ago can only be viewed as highly unprofessional. The esteemed General "confirmed"  "that even beyond the 12,000 soldiers, the Russian military is casting a large shadow in the Ukrainian conflict in other ways. He said that there were 29,000 more Russian soldiers located in Crimea that Moscow annexed from Ukraine last year."

Ben Hodges: Ukraine Getting Weapons From US Would Put Pressure on Putin 

The issue here is not Russia "casting a shadow", that is understandable and if Russia wouldn't cast this shadow, Putin would have been overthrown by now. At issue here is this "12,000" Russian troops, as was "estimated by US Military". For a graduate of a respected West Point Military Academy, an officer with a huge combat and operational experience, it is strange to hear him articulate something which no serious military professional in the world takes seriously. It is Ben Hodges' full right not to like Russia, in fact, even if he hates Russian guts--it is still OK. What is not OK for a high level cadre officer of the US Army is to repeat some claim which is so preposterous that it contradicts every single bit of knowledge about Russian Army's order of battle, doctrine and combat manuals--these are precisely the things Ben Hodges, as a Commander Of  US Army Europe MUST know as a professional. That is what officers are taught in any serious military academy and then follow on throughout their military careers--a potential adversary. 

Now, let's clear some things here:

1. There are many Russian volunteers fighting for Novorossia. How many? I don't know, but the number is substantial, it could be in thousands. 

2. Does Novorossia's Army (VSN) receive С4SIR help from Russian side? Absolutely. Again, if help wouldn't have been available, Putin would have been at this point a former President of Russia.

3. Are there (in Donbass) operatives of FSB or GRU? I am sure (and this is a hunch) that there are. How many? I would take a wild guess--between hundred and two hundreds. 

4. Who are those numerous Russian volunteers? Many of them are people in their 40s and even 50s--a veterans of the Soviet Armed Forces.  There are many young people too. But it is this generation of 40 and 50 year old guys who have a very good combat experience (Afghanistan, both Chechnya Wars, Caucasus hot spots etc.) and an intimate knowledge of the field and combat manuals. 

5. Are present, cadre, officers of Russian Army there (not just GRU or FSB)? Possible, but this number of "vacationing" professionals is not large. 

Now, what US Military analysis offers us here is a "new word" in the art of war. This so called "analysis" suggests that Russians manage to introduce a division size organized force into the conflict with the corps size operations and nobody still didn't find a single evidence of those pesky Russian rifleman being there. That means that movement of 12, 000 troops through the border of Russia and Donbass, was missed by a superb US Intelligence and Reconnaissance capabilities, including its satellite grouping. Well, now comes the fact that even Ukrainian top military brass openly states that there are NO Russian troops in Donbass.  Field officers also know it.

There are no regular troops in Donbass 

The case of debunking these fairy tales created in the sick minds of

likes of Victoria Nuland or US stooge in Kiev Arseni Yatsenyuk is really simple. But I'll take a very short path (among many) to put it down. If there would have been a division size regular Russian Army unit in Donbass, the Ukrainian Army (what's left of it anyway) would have been now feverishly taking a defense around Kiev. Kiev knows it and, what is sad, Ben Hodges himself knows it. I can not believe that American military professional of this level doesn't have a good idea about how Russian Army fights. He is paid to know it. His statement, thus, could only be judged as a toeing the party line set by neo-con sociopaths in the top levels of government. As for General's cliche that "When mothers start seeing sons come home dead, when that price goes up, then that domestic support begins to shrink"(c) I would suggest to him to study Russia a bit deeper. Especially her military history. The West Point Military History Series, such as The Second World War, written under the supervision of Series Editor General Thomas E. Griess, of Department Of History of US Military Academy, is a good primer. But if US "military analysts" want to continue to live in parallel universe--it is their choice (is it?) but the power of OODA Loop, especially of those two O's remains unchallenged. I saw a political career of a great man, great American military leader destroyed publicly for the whole World to see and it made me sad.   

The Russian caption in this picture reads:"irrefutable evidence."