Lavrov On Sanctions.

Yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in his interview with Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter in Moscow was very explicit about Western sanctions:

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, Moscow, April 28, 2016  

Question: Is there any hope that the sanctions will be lifted?

Sergey Lavrov: I was just going to tell you that we rely solely on ourselves now, and we have all we need to do so. Thankfully, the Lord and our forefathers have left us a self-sufficient country. Now we will be working hard to replace the products we used to import from other countries. This is our strategy. This does not mean isolation or a closed economy. And if one day our Western partners decide to return to their normal policy, it would give us additional opportunities for growth and developing cooperation. But in essentials, we are only going to rely on ourselves from now on.

I wrote about it in this blog many times. I will repeat it again: Western sanctions were the blessing in disguise for Russia. While Obama was boasting that Russian economy was, thanks to him, in tatters,  Russian economy was actually retooling itself. Yes, even uber-liberal Medvedev's cabinet recognizes that all this monetarist mambo-jumbo is just that, the real economy is in the REAL sector of economy, the foundation of which is manufacturing. When even Bloomberg begins to suspect that Obama lives in the parallel universe when dealing with Russia, this speaks volumes. 

While many in the West were dismissive of Russian "importozameshenie" (import substitution), the reality of it was very different from what Wall Street understands as economic development, that is defrauding markets. All those Wall Street "analysts", as always, missed the most important economic fact of Russia--look at the Military Industrial Complex first and only then try to view what is behind it. For some guy with Ph.D in economics from Ivy League it could be an insurmountable obstacle to understand that real, in all senses of this word, economy lies with (again) enclosed technological cycles, it lies with manufacturing of strategic products: planes, rolling stock, processors, machining centers, electric machines, nuclear reactors, scientific instruments, MRI and X-Ray machines and...weapons, weapons and, again, weapons. For a real professional, a single look at and inside Armata tank, Su-35C or SSGN of Project 885 (Severodvinsk-class) will tell more about the real state of Russian economy than looking at BS graphs (most of them rigged anyway) of some piles of abstract economic and financial data from Wall Street. Apart from that, it is manufacturing which creates in European peoples the sense of self-worth, in the end--we just love to create, make things, be it machining centers or space ships. That's what sets us apart and that's what makes us who we are. 

Then comes the question, was import substitution a success. Not as successful as it was expected to be, after all Medvedev and his cabinet is a collection of headless monetarists, while Medvedev, who is a lawyer by trade, goes in Russia by humiliating moniker iPhonya--hardly the type of people who know how to run any real business of manufacturing. Yet, import substitution is by no means a failure, not even close. Consider this: Russia started production of the latest advanced diesel engine and diesel generators. This is huge, since this opens the road to not only independently completing series of Project 20380 (20385) corvettes but also will have a major impact on Russia's shipbuilding industry--both civilian and military. If not for sanctions, this and very many other projects would have never been started. Today, Russia produces the line of most sophisticated machines which ranges from MRI diagnostic centers, CNC machining centers, microprocessors, jet planes and, well, space ships. Many of these advances come today by the way of Military-Industrial Complex and fields associated with it and it is being done much more efficiently than it was done in USSR. Technologies and materials which are being developed in MIC find their way into civilian and purely consumer fields. 

Russia's internal market, its demands are such that import substitution and developing of domestic producers is a natural path for Russia, which also corresponds well with what is going on in the US in terms of slogans--Trump's making America great again can not come without restoration of the US manufacturing base and that means tariffs and good ol' economic nationalism, especially in the field which matters MOST--for financial analysts, if any, who read this text it is time to either step away from monitor or take something which will prevent them going apoplectic--MACHINES and everything they entail. No machines, no real economy--it is an axiom and I, and not me only, don't care what Moody's credit rating is given nor what is the capitalization of such BS as Facebook or Apple (what's next for iDiots--3D time and life wasters with their useless toys?), without machines--no civilization. We, as a people are in dire need to build things which make us proud, from computers to jet airliners, to space ships. Without it, without grand technological ideas we are nobody, stuffed in our cubicles in some real estate or financial office totally removed from seeing the results of our ideas, inspirations, creativity and labor. Even some green peaceniks are getting it. 

       

 

Sanctions should stay in place;-)

Kazakhstan, Nothing Personal--Just Business, That Is Geopolitics.

As was expected, with Vostochny(i) Cosmodrome coming on-line, Kazakh expert community, and, evidently not only them, got upset. And why are they upset? The answer is obvious--introduction of Vostochny will have a direct and very negative (for Kazakh side) impact on legendary Baikonur Cosmodrome. In plain language it means the transfer of the majority of launches to Vostochny, with that the juicy river of the rent which Russia pays to Kazakhstan has a prospect of shrinking down to a small stream. There are two aspects to this situation, both of them tightly intertwined.

1. Pure (almost) geopolitics. Remember Friedrich Engels: "Russia, despite her Slavic dirt and baseness provides civilizing influence on her Middle Asia subjects". Mind you, this is from the guy who couldn't stand Russians because he thought them to be too backward to launch a proletarian revolution. Boy, was he wrong on Russian account, but then again, as was stated by me many times, Western Russia's "expert" community was always not much of an expert one. Russia, indeed, for centuries was building schools, hospitals, libraries and industrial plant in her Middle Asian (and not only) underbelly. With the rise of the Soviet Union in place of Russian Empire, the process shifted into overdrive. Old backward villages became cities, metallurgy, machine building, universities, scientific labs, hydroelectric dams, massive agricultural complexes sprung up in what became the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. Lastly, most important Soviet Space Port of Baikonur was built in Kazakh steppes.

Make no mistake, the unprecedented growth was not without its price, sometimes tragic--enough to look at the fate of Aral Sea. But truth is, with this growth came the  real nationhood of Kazakhs, not least through appearance of their own intelligentsia, which was nurtured by Russian/Soviet effort. Well, times changed, USSR dissolved, Kazakhstan became its own state but some very important ties with Russia were preserved, not least through the efforts of Nazarbaev and of massive ethnic Russian diaspora (27% of Kazakhstan population). But Nazarbaev is getting old and by far not all of Kazakh ethnic elite sees itself as a part of inevitable Russia's sphere of influence. History of Middle Asia (and Caucasus) has many, including very recent, records of shallow civilized veneer falling off in an instant and the mayhem of ethnic cleansing, "De-Russification" and even outright genocide breaking out in what seemed to be rather calm places. I am not saying that this is the fate of Kazakhstan but there are some worrying signs and, in the end, if to factor out the Soviet period of, sometimes genuine, Soviet internationalism, there is no reason to believe that new generation of Kazakh elites would want to stay "Russified" at all.  That means only one thing--NO RESURRECTION OF THE SOVIET UNION. Not only Kazakhs do not want that but, most importantly, overwhelming majority of Russians doesn't want it too. 

No doubt, ODKB and Eurasian Customs Union structures will endure, if anything else out of pure economic and security necessities of the smaller members, Kazakhstan included, but cultural drifting apart will continue and nothing can stop it, short of the resurrection of Soviet internationalist model--but that ship has sailed. With this cultural drifting apart comes inevitable cooling and possible volatility between Russia and Kazakhstan, this automatically translates into "Ukrainian scenario" in terms of crucial economic ties and infrastructure. Russia finally learned her "Ukrainian" lesson, when she was blackmailed for 20 years by threats (however impossible to realize) of evicting Black Sea Fleet from Crimea and when Russian Navy recently got burned by relying on Ukrainian ships' power plant producers. There is absolutely no reason to believe that any reliance on Russia's "allies" (bar ever wobbly Belarus, but here the cultural commonality is huge) in Middle Asia will pay off. After all, who knows who will come to power in Astana in 10-20 years. It could be some moderately well-disposed to Russia leader or it could be some radical and irrational Russophobe and those are plentiful in Kazakhstan (and Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan). So, Russia cuts her risks and possible losses--nothing personal, folks, just pure geopolitics (and business). As Russian Emperor Alexander III succinctly observed Russia has only two allies--her Army and her Navy. In the end, Russians have gotten fed up with keeping silent while the insults are being hurled at them by people, who, if not for Russia, would have been today in the state reminiscent of contemporary Afghanistan. 

2. This aspect is very obvious--development of the Russian Far East, of which Vostochny will be one of the major economic, scientific and infrastructure pivots. 

So, here it is. Russia seems to be finally learning her lessons. For decades, Russian Federation, being a central part of the USSR, was a milking cow for Soviet fringes. Very often it was at the expense of Russian and other peoples of Russia. History dramatically demonstrated Russia's pivotal role in Eurasia. Looking at the death of Ukraine's economy, or at the deindustrialization of some of the former Soviet Caucasus republics, looking at de-facto economic death of Baltic States, and, especially, looking at what Middle Asia is becoming--just to give an example, Tashkent had, among many other industries, a whole aviation plant which produced Il-76 planes--with most of real industries gone, it is an undeniable fact that Engels was right about Russia at least once.  It is easy to built a shopping mall or bank. Building massive industrial, scientific and military infrastructure, such as Vostochny, is a different game altogether. With Vostochny coming online yesterday Russia demonstrated who is the real superpower, together with China, in Eurasia and that Russia will make her moves the way she thinks are to her, not to someone's, advantage and serve her national interests and that is a very healthy development.     

 

 

Russia As A "Gas Station".

Well, it happened. Make no mistake, not before some financial violations and outright theft were uncovered and labor issues were resolved, and not before the first launch was delayed by a day--automatics did the job. But the first launch from brand new space port Vostochnyi did happen today and it was a success. 

 

Putin Was Also There. 

 

What is the significance of this event? It is enormous. But before I proceed with elaborations, here is a bit of a stroll down the memory lane. The name of the guy is James Oberg. He passes in the USA as an "expert" on Soviet/Russian space program. He wrote a truck load of books on the issue and, actually, does know some people in Russia and visited not for once Russia's space facilities. For decades the guy was a doom speller for Russia's space program.

James Oberg Profile 

Here how he positions himself (from his site):

Oberg is widely regarded as a world authority on the Russian and Chinese space programs. He has several times been invited to testify before Congress about the problems facing the Russian space industry and the prospects for China in space, and regularly lectures at government 'think tanks' on these themes. He is a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society and in 1993 was invited to become the first foreign member of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics. He is also on the editorial board of "Air & Space" magazine, sponsored by the Smithsonian's "National Air and Space Museum", and of SPECTRUM, the monthly magazine of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, and writes a monthly column on upcoming space missions for 'Astronomy' magazine. He provides expert assessment and forecasts of Russian space industrial and technological elements for corporate and government clients.

Do you get my drift? Well, it is becoming a tradition in Western "expert" community to suffer from what Bryan MacDonald defines as Russophrenia--that is a condition where the sufferer believes Russia is both about to collapse, and take over the world. Since 2013, instances of this ailment have reached epidemic-like proportions in certain parts of Washington, London and Brussels.  

Well, at least James Oberg changed his tune somewhat as of lately and he is, indeed, a good engineer--there was never doubt about that. However, by far  most seriously affected by Russophrenia are Russian-born "experts", such as odious Yuri Karash who peddles, very often to the point of being ridiculous, US "vision" of space and aeronautics, which is expected from the graduate of a bunch of US "Ph.D" programs in all kinds of pseudo political "science" fields. According to Karash, the prospects for Russia to break free of its tendency to commercialize old tech instead of developing new things is unlikely: “There is no coherent and logical space policy in Russia. Whatever happens serves the interests of separate groups, not national interests.” Karash of the Academy of Cosmonautics said that “space science programs will most likely just remain at the ‘propaganda’ level, with just enough funding for the state-controlled media to create an impression that Russian space science is still alive.”

These are people who have been proven wrong again and again and here is this "again" again, for all to see. What is their expertise' worth? Very little. But then again, this pattern repeats itself over and over again. See any mainstream Western "analytical" materials on Russia's military--a pile of rubbish mostly. Launching a new space port is a huge event since there are only a handful of nations in the world who can afford to do it and I don't mean just financial aspect of it. Obviously, creating such an immensely complex and truly hi-tech structure is enormously expensive. But most importantly, it is also a testament to the industrial prowess of the nation which builds one--from sophisticated automatics, to complex electronics, to software, to material science and, in the end, to the rocketry itself. This is what I long defined (see my Military Power posts) as main pillars of national might--enclosed technological cycle(s). Very few of those come more complex than that. Here are characteristics:

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NEW COSMODROME  

THE TECHNICAL AREA is designed to prepare the launch, including fueling. In 121 buildings totaling 170,000 square meters can accommodate 1,800 workers. Constructions, utilities and transportation lines are located in a 42-hectare area.

THE ASSEMBLY AND TESTING FACILITY OF THE CARRIER ROCKET is designed for equipment, assembling, incoming inspection and separate and integrated tests of the carrier rocket. It maintains a precisely preset temperature and humidity. The total area of the building is almost 45,000 square meters, and the height is 37 m.

THE SPACECRAFT ASSEMBLY AND TESTING FACILITY where space vehicles, upper-stage and launching units are prepared and tested. The assembly of the space ascent unit is carried out here requiring the highest air purity.

LAUNCH SITE – 83 buildings of total area of 45,000 square meters. Up to 270 people can work here simultaneously.

THE INDUSTRIAL AND CONSTRUCTION BASE – repair and engineering works, warehouse, highway authority, checkpoint, administrative and amenity building, 34,000 square meters in total.  

THE TOWN OF TSIOLKOVSKY.  12,000 people will live here, drive their children to four kindergartens and two schools. There will be sports complexes, malls, cafes, restaurants and parking areas. The town is being built in two stages: at first for 7,000, then for 5,000 more.
  
  In the end, Vostochny, as well as Plesetsk Cosmodrome, will be able to launch a family of brand new Angara rockets. Not too shabby for a country which is about to collapse and is unlikely to develop anything new according to many "experts".  It is also pretty good for a country which, as Senator John McCain thinks, is merely a Gas Station. Yet, there are some lessons to be learned from all that and some good to be taken out, especially against a very symbolic background of the 71st Anniversary of the meeting at Torgau on Elbe River on 25 April 1945.  

Emphasis on bridge-building between Russia and U.S. at Elbe ceremony

It seems almost by providence that US and Russia are still tied very close to each-other in space. It is this frontier that holds both an enormous promise but also poses an enormous risk. It was always my contention that despite other nations entering the space age, none of them holds a candle to Soviet/Russian and American achievements in space. Both Russia and the US still remain true space superpowers, both have an immense potential in space exploration. Will there be a cooperation in both near and deep space (which is a way to go) exploration or will it be a dream buried by the geopolitical realities and heating up of the Cold War 2.0? I don't know, I am not an "expert" in the field but the possibilities are tantalizing. It is an interesting and symbolic fact that Alexey Leonov, a first man in the open space, was present three days ago at the dedication of  the monument to the Soviet-American linkup at Elbe in 1945. 

General Bruce McClintock and cosmonaut Alexei Leonov. Source: Moskva Agency

 Can there be a real linkup in space to eventually travel to stars?

Karaganov's Article.

I don't like Karaganov, he is smug, pretentious but once in a while he gets some things right. Here is the link to the translation of his article in Izvestya. 

The New Ideological Struggle: What Russia Offers the World 

or 

Same But In Russian 

The article is worthy of paying attention to. It gives a good simple overview of the mental framework of contemporary world. While still having traces of typical Karaganov's smugness, such as Russia managed somehow to win these wars at a monstrous cost--obviously Karaganov is not aware that there is no real Soft Power without the Hard one--but it is what it is and it is correct in many important aspects, even though he misses on Huntington's magnum opus, which makes his initial supposition totally wrong. So, enjoy.

Deutschland Kaput.

Pretty much does not require any comments:

Majority of Germans Want Obama to Run for President Again 

But I still will make several points. Unless majority of Germans are up to secretly dealing an irreparable damage to the US (which I don't believe is the case) we are witnessing a complete imbecialization of the nation, which had so much potential once, long time ago. 

There is no doubt that George W. Bush was a horrendous President, prior to him, this wandering willy Clinton was not much better--he was just luckier. But if anyone embodies a complete degeneration of the American political class it is Barak Hussein Obama. Here are some pretty obvious and empirically proven Obama's features as a "statesman" which make (and always did) him utterly not fit to run not only the United States Of America but even have a seat on the city council in some God-forsaken locality somewhere in the mid-West. 

a) The guy is absolutely narcissistic, in fact, he seems to be a megalomaniac of the first order. Being first black US President and a recipient of, however preposterous and discredited, Nobel Peace Prize will do this to you if being humble and having your feet on the ground was not nurtured in you since childhood.

b) Being a lawyer, Obama understands (probably) legalistic side of process of governance but he has no a single feature which makes a statesman as opposed to politician. And a consummate politician he is being good only in one thing--creating and nurturing an image. 

c) He has a very vague idea about international relations, he is even worse "strategist" and policy generator, he doesn't understand economics but he is certainly very good in the issues of LGBT agenda, throwing his weight behind a bunch of hood black criminals (you know,  if Obama had a son...), promoting suicidal cultural policies and he loves diversity. The hell with those who really are creators of what used to be a massive American wealth--working class mostly white America. 

d) Obama does have a very strange relations with Islam, to say the least--all of them against the overwhelming empirical evidence of Islam not being exactly a friendly force towards what is considered a Christian cultural realm. In the end, anyone who calls Al Azhar University an ancient "center of learning" should really check their definition of "learning" in those ancient times. 

e) He is weak and his "team", especially in Foreign Policy is a living proof of that. In the end, it is Obama who started (most likely because of utter incompetence and petulance) Cold War 2.0.  

In general, Obama can not stand what Roger Scruton defines as Western Civilization, which, in essence, is a Christian one. Obama is hell-bent on destroying it, starting from the US--this is what stands in the way of his vision for America and the world. I lived through Obama's Presidency and I can testify to the fact that while US political class was going down the drain for a while, it is Obama who is most divisive, conniving and damaging US President in modern US history. 

Now, that is a suicidal "standard" Germans chose to live up to, if the numbers of the poll in Germany are correct. For anyone, who judges people not by their lofty rhetoric but by their actions and results they produce, seeing the results of this poll seems to be beyond comprehension. But don't be surprised. Germans have been brain-washed now for decades. German media are not free by even most lax definition of freedom of speech, any nation which has Green Party as a viable and, in fact, influential political force is not healthy by definition. Everything German was steadily purged from Germans by their NATO "partners" by means of promoting cultural policies of "tolerasty" and multiculturalism. We saw the results of that recently and that is just the start. Well, what can I say, the nation which admires Barak Obama and what he stands for, and 62% is a huge number, the sentence is already set in stone--Kaput. No lives left.

                                       GAME OVER

    

Who's Next?

For this solo alone.........with delay, RIP. 

Should I Write A Book?

I was thinking about it for a while but the range of things I would love to cover is fairly large and, knowing that some people read my blog, I would like to ask their opinion on what subjects (and most of you already know my range) should I concentrate? I need to narrow things down and outside feedback would be highly appreciated. 

S-500 Prometei (Prometheus) Has Arrived.

According to Superintendent Of Air Defense of Russia's Air Space Forces, Lieutenant-General Victor Gumennyi, first batteries of S-500 Prometheus Air Defense complex will be procured shortly, if not already, as I write this. That means IOC. I am no big fan of expensive military toys but this one is a real game changer. Very little is known about this S-500, but what is known is impressive, to put it mildly. One small detail--the speed of S-500's missile is 3600 meters per second, this is 3.6 kilometers or roughly 2.25 miles per second. These are M=10+ missiles capable of killing anything very low (such as hyper-sonic cruise missiles, when they will appear)  and very high, including low orbit satellites and strategic intercontinental ballistic missiles and their MIRVs with speeds up to 7,000 meters per second. It is capable to also detect and kill any so called "Stealth" targets. Considering the range of S-500 (40Н6М missile) for aerodynamic targets of 600 kilometers it changes the air-space battlefield dramatically, since S-500 is capable to "reach" even AWACS platforms. Integration of S-500 into the Russian national early warning system makes Russia's air space basically impenetrable.

This partially explains why Russia agreed to sell S-400, a monster of air defense in its own right, to China. It also tells a bit about the state of Russia's development of hyper-sonic weapons but it was clear already, once Zircon was included into the weapons' suite of modernizing project 1144 nuclear cruisers. The interesting question here, however, is this--will S-500 have its navalized version. This will completely reshape carrier force, which already is going through operational and strategic crisis. Will naval versions of S-500s appear on the future Russian DDG? Who knows, but the impact of this system deployed to sea will be massive, not that navalized S-400  or updated S-300 are bad. Considering massive ECM and ECCM capability S-500 can, indeed, change a warfare profoundly. But if there is anything constant about warfare it is changing of its technological dimension, which later causes massive changes on tactical, operational and strategic levels. 

"Hybrid" Warfare. A Side (Irritated) Thought.

I don't know how this idiotic term came about but whoever invented this label should have known better. The reason for my irritation is simple--all warfare is "hybrid" by definition and widely known in narrow military-analytical circles as Gerasimov Doctrine is nothing more than further development of, to a significant degree, Marxist view on the warfare. Warfare is more than just application of military power and is fought in many fields simultaneously. Yes, you know all those fields such as propaganda, operations of influence, strategic diversionary operations, info operations, famous Soviet "maskirovka", economic warfare and on, and on, and on. Thankfully, there are many true professionals in US Armed Forces who cut the crap and get to the essence, such as Charles Bartles from Foreign Military Studies Office at Fort Leavenworth.

Getting Gerasimov Right 

And Bartles makes an absolutely correct conclusion:

Gerasimov’s position as chief of the General Staff makes him Russia’s senior operation-strategic planner and architect for future Russian force structure and capability development. In order to execute these duties,the individual in that position must have the foresight to understand the current and future operating environments along with the circumstances that have created those environments and will alter them. Gerasimov’s article is not proposing a new Russian way of warfare or a hybrid war, as has been stated in the West. Moreover,in Gerasimov’s view of the operational environment, the United States is the primary threat to Russia

 

Yet, we all are still treated to all kinds of journos' banalities such as "Stealth" or "Gerasimov" or "Powell" "Doctrines". Now this--"hybrid warfare". Even an amateur, curious enough to spend some time reading popular WW I and, especially so, WW II history, will easily find all evidence necessary to conclude that "hybrid warfare" is as old as a...well, I wouldn't go as far as the times of Sun Tzu, but Clausewitz is explicit in defining the principle of the maximum exertion of force. After all, Napoleon had no inhibitions to flooding Russia with counterfeit rubles prior to his ill fated invasion in 1812. That is as "hybrid" of a warfare as it comes. In the end, we see this "hybrid" warfare everyday on out TV screens and on radio in the stream of annoying commercials in which competitors are humiliated, lied about and simply trashed. There you go--element of a "hybrid" warfare at its best. And if we go back to Clausewitz we can not miss his definition of a war as an act designed "to compel the enemy to do our will". Enemies differ and so do means applied to them in order to make them submit, that is surrender. Nothing new here. Cold War, in essence, was one huge act of "hybrid warfare", however inconclusive, damaging and controversial results it produced.  

The incessant stream of all kinds of labels, often completely misleading or purely hollow, coming out of "communities" who are neither qualified nor capable of correctly generalizing complex trends and realities of the modern warfare is really troublesome. This becomes truly annoying for just about any field of human activity, i.e. "hot real estate market" means merely the fact of horrendous over-pricing of houses, but even more so when it is about a war. Some idiot, who didn't even bother to study both military and socio-cultural realities of Crimea prior to its referendum and return to Russia came up with this crappy label just by looking at Russian soldiers and we now have to live with it. Marxists, quite astutely, proposed that world's existence is in unity and struggle of opposites. All life on Earth is struggle, it is a conflict and we live this conflict every day, some while conversing with wives or friends, others throwing shit at their academic "colleagues", while defending, or debunking, some scientific theory, others--with AK-47s or in the cockpits of Su-35s doing the actual killing. One may disagree with Marxists, but it is impossible to deny the fact of this world being in a state of perpetual conflict. After all, even geopolitical realism of Hans Morgenthau, let alone of Zbigniew Brzezinsky, is as "hybrid warfare" as it could possibly be. In this case the only advice for all those magnificently ignorant pop-strategists is to abandon the catchy labeling and, instead, concentrate on studying the phenomenon of war itself.  

 

Midnight In Paris (Coming To The Neighbourhood Near You)

I don't mean Woody Allen's film, of course. This is the battle at "Stalingrad" (yes, this is the name of one of Paris' metro station). French civilian patrols tried to dislodge migrants' camp near this station. Here is what happens next. 

New European reality. It will get even more interesting in coming months. With "leaders" like Hollande or Sarkozi the outcome is guaranteed. The "enrichment" continues. Anyone understands now why Putin created Russian National Guard? 

I Was Returning From Work Today.........

It happened maybe 12 years ago. Somebody rang the bell at the front door. I opened the door--and there she was, red haired angel with freckles. She was probably 9 or 10, her father, towering behind her, was about 30. She was, most likely Irish, and she was trying to sell Girl Scouts' cookies to me and I didn't have any cash and I already had diabetes killing me. I apologized, closed the door and we parted our ways, until I remembered the silent tears in the corners of her eyes and the look of desperation on her father's face. 

My son was saving money for his new computer, or PS 2, I don't remember what, and he had cash in his wallet. I knew where wallet was. I caught up with them in the end of our street and happily offered to buy couple of boxes--we never ate them, we hate mint. I saw happiness in those eyes and and heard the sigh of relief from her father. I barely got home with my heart ready to jump out of my chest, diabetes palpitations will do this to you.......That was then. Since then several manufacturing plants closed in our area. People got more tattoos and more marijuana "dispensaries" opened.  I was driving home today and I stopped (the car in a front of me had some troubles) and there she was, dirty but happy face, framed with blonde hair,  waving at me in the opened window from the back seat of the run down Ford Escort, with, obviously, mother sitting in the front seat getting over her...whatever she was taking. It was near the convenience store, the type which still exists today, far away from Organic Food stores and community gyms for lean un-feminine calculating bitches, capable of taking EBT cards and selling cheap booze. I waved back and smiled and then it struck me......

These were 1970s when Geordie with Brian Johnson, yes, THE future Brian Johnson of AC/DC recorded Little Boy:

  

We copied those chords and I still can do those fills on drums. Who would think.......  I never thought that I would witness all that, many times over, decades later. I always loved children, but what I saw what was done to them in 1990s Russia changed me forever--that is why I will never accept or trust Putin completely. Now seeing those innocents having no future in what once was called the land of opportunity--go to your nearest Food Bank.....witness white America die. 

What would become of that girl in 15 years........... 

      

        

 And Geordie's  lyrics still ring true after so many years:

This world has got no hero's
where it's going nobody knows
This world is such a cruel place.

You'll leave home one day it's true
Then their gonna want you
but it's too late, you've gone................

EU "Democracy" In Action.

Russia, give this poor man an asylum. 

Germany grants Turkish request to allow for possible prosecution of comedian who joked about Erdogan  

Answers the question of what Europe has become, doesn't it? This is just the beginning or, rather, the end. 

 

My Apologies To The Whores (Update on G7).

Very often, when writing about Western political and media class, I use the term "whores". It just occurred to me how wrong I am. I mustn't have insulted real, hard working, whores with this comparison and for that I am profoundly sorry. A whore is, usually a woman (there are also men-whores), who sells herself for money and proud of it. No high moral ground, no pretense, no mentoring--one gets what one paid for. In some countries prostitutes even have their own trade unions. Some are cheap, others are very expensive, but they are what they are. Not so with Western political class--it loves to feel righteous. Well, this class, obviously, prostitutes itself on any available occasion but it does it with lofty rhetoric, under the cover of, very often, very expensive, despite being useless, media and political "scientific" degrees and, what is absolutely fascinating, despite many among this class being lowlifes, it really thinks of itself as highly moral and deserving. No doubt, unlike your average street prostitute, they have much better access to financial resources, much better hotels, cars and a much finer whiskey. This class' pimps are also very "high class", many of them even have private yachts and Lear jets. 

And it is this "high moral ground" audacity of this class' representatives which always strikes me silly. Consider this. Famously teary and sentimental Federica Mogherini stated recently that there will be no business as usual until Russia "starts to respect the international law". Well, as Maria Zaharova  of Russian Foreign Ministry stated today--there will no "business as usual" in principle, without any "until".  Russia had enough. I may, or may not, disagree with number of Russia's positions internationally but all this recent EU posturing regarding "political process" in Syria or the issue of the terrorism in Europe (that is why Steinmeier floated this silly idea of Russia returning to G7), is nothing more than....possibly, maybe, theoretically a beginning of the the process of dawning of the reality on EU's "elite" that they are powerless against Islamic terrorism. EU is facing a really tough times, now they want Russia to do "favors" for Europe and yet they want to remain on their "high moral ground" mentoring Russia on European "values" which are one of the most important factors in creating a geopolitical mayhem of biblical proportions stretching from Maghreb to Paris and Brussels. No, really, at least when hiring a prostitute one knows a range of "services" he gets. This is not the case with EU scumbags. 

1. EU as a real power is pathetic--it doesn't have what it takes to tackle Islamic terrorism in its own house, let alone at the source. The reasons for that are:

  a) EU's military power is a joke and there are NO prospects  for it  to be restored any time soon, if ever;

 b) Intelligence capabilities of EU are absolutely inadequate for tackling what is happening and what is coming;

2) EU population is brainwashed and utterly emasculated. The only thing this population cares about is preservation of its social benefits and of "human rights" in EU interpretation which are utterly anti-European post-modernist poison which destroys Europe as I write this.

3. There are only two nations which can tackle the issue, but one of them, apart from being exhausted militarily, is known to support "moderate" terrorists historically and there is very low probability of any positive outcome of this power's interference--it has a stellar record of creating an absolute bloody chaos precisely in the places where the interference is required.

That leaves only Russia which has what it takes, but here is this nagging question--WHY? Russia is doing (very successfully) her part in Syria and, in the end, should concentrate on securing her southern underbelly. As I already stated, even "lifting" of economic sanctions, which even uber-liberals like Dvorkovich admit are not that big of a deal, and, in fact, had some positive impact, should change nothing in Russia's emerging consensus on EU. Let EU face the dire consequences of its adventurism, sometimes US-initiated, sometimes, like in Libya,  of own making. Let EU deal with its terrorist threat on its own, let them also face their Muslim population. Why should Russia interfere? Why should Russia want to return to meaningless G8 Format? What are the "benefits" of tight cooperation with EU backstabbers--they betrayed not for once, they will betray again. Indeed, the times of "business as usual" are over. It is not Russia but EU which is in dire need of Russia's cooperation and Russia's services are damn expensive, since they are first class. No "lifting of sanctions" or hollow promises will do as a payment, especially when those services are asked for by someone who makes whores look like respected professionals.

Why Would Russia Need G7?

As Russians say: umerla tak umerla, or, in English, if it died let it stay dead. Obviously Germany's Foreign Minister Herr Frank-Walter Steinmeier still thinks that Germany has some real influence in global power politics since makes such statements:

"I would not like the G7 format to be a long-term one; we need to create conditions for return to the G8 format."  

Well, Herr Foreign Minister of the occupied country, let me break you some news--it is not up to you to decide on G7 format. In fact, your nation, populated with emasculated, impotent, brainwashed "electorate" has a weight in serious global power politics which approaches zero and is run by a collection of imbeciles and cowards. Your own nation is clear and present danger to itself and  goes down the toilet fast as I write this. The fact that it is being run from Washington D.C. is somehow lost on you. But that is not the issue--at issue here is WHY would Russia want to be the part of G7? 

Obviously, some Moscow uber-liberals would love to be invited to those G7 (G8) meetings and we all know that current Russia's President Mr. Putin is a Germanophile but here is the conundrum...for Russia.

1. A disastrous role of Germany in fomenting the Ukrainian catastrophe is well known. 

2. The internal German politics, and not just a current one, is nothing more than a panopticon of people who, under normal circumstances, should be in psychiatric ward for evaluation. In general, Germany's energy and cultural policies are suicidal. 

3. Germany is a nominal center of the disintegrating EU and will inevitably be put under the American thumb through Trans-Atlantic Trade And Investment Partnership. 

4. In general, Germany is not really a sovereign nation. 

This list could be much longer but what is known will suffice to ask a question--what can possibly Russia discuss with Germany on any real serious issue of European security and economy? Pretty much nothing. German political class is infested with Atlanticists who, for all intents and purposes, could be easily characterized as German version of R2P and neocon crowd. So, as the saying goes: what's in it for Russia? Not much. Obviously the issue of Russo-German relations is much more complex than this compressed resume but, even if to consider some serious common economic interests, especially in energy field, a popular Russian perception of United States being afraid, and thus acting to prevent, that somehow Germany and Russia will find the common ground and will create a new economic super-pooper European entity is nothing more than a wishful thinking, if not the day dreaming altogether. As of today, what's left of Germany is incompatible on a fundamental level with what Russia represents today globally. Germany is Russia's opponent on a fundamental "genetic" level, it is also a potential deadly enemy. The same applies to any G7 or EU member. 

The Kremlin and the White House have a direct phone line and Moscow doesn't need any broker services from Germany when dealing with the power which decides what German Chancellor will say and how on any global issue. Superpowers, which Germany is not, communicate, if need be, directly. After all, Russian and US military communicate directly in Syria on a daily bases. It is also a great disservice to Russian position to view Angela Merkel as a politician who under duress (presumably from the US) speaks not what she thinks. This is a huge mistake, Merkel, as well as most of German "elites", think exactly what they say regardless of pressure applied by the US. The sooner Russian attitudes to Germany will be led away from the primrose path of pretense and false hopes the better it will play out in a long run for Russia. Yes, there is a lot of economic potential in Russo-German relations but that is as far as this all should go: pure pragmatism and viewing Germany for what it is--hostile to Russia nation, which played a key role in starting two European tragedies, one in Balkans, by being a driving force behind disintegration of Yugoslavia, another--by being directly culpable, together with US, for the mayhem in Ukraine. Who needs enemies when one has such "friend" as Germany. 

In the end, Europe as a cultural entity is finished and it will take a bit more time for brainwashed Europeans to understand that. Economically EU is unsustainable and NATO is nothing more than an official facade for racket against third world countries, and it can not solve dire security problems of own making which Europe faces. So, why would Russia want to get back to G7, when she can talk and cooperate, where circumstances call for it, with G7 members on a bilateral bases? Back to Germany. Yes, Germany does have some segments of the society which are either neutral or sympathetic to Russian causes but those are not majority and have no real influence on the decision-making. But even if to imagine for a second that somehow US involvement with Germany and Europe will stop, there still will be no open arms for Russia from the EU, welcoming her as an equal partner--EU will sooner open its borders to more Muslims. It seems that more and more people in Russia begin to understand that and this is a healthy process.  Europe in general, and Germany in particular, is in the state of final decline and the only real business Russia has with Europe, which is roughly 57% of G7, is to protect her borders and observe how this whole EU house of cards collapses. One has to think that ever conspicuous leader of LDPR Vladimir Zhirinovsky was right when predicted recently that in the end it would be up to US and Russia to settle the fate of what once was European Civilization. This seems today more and more the only scenario. In this case G7, G8 or G-whatever will be as relevant as Frank-Walter Steinmeier's statements.