Well, It Is The 4th, Ater All...

Happy 4th to everyone. A pure American art form which conquered the world. Especially as Joe does it...

Enjoy your BBQs or, like me, pure American food... bratwursts)))
 

Sure, Sure...

 ... as if anybody cares what Berlin thinks. 

Berlin must not back any call for a truce that would see Kiev admit defeat, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said. As Scholz took questions from members of the Bundestag on Wednesday, Left lawmaker Gesine Loetzsch asked about Germany’s involvement in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the possibility of a ceasefire. “In my view, a ceasefire that involves Ukraine’s capitulation is one that we as Germany must never support,” Scholz replied, according to the state broadcaster Deutsche Welle. The German chancellor argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s truce terms amounted to Ukraine’s surrender, calling Moscow “cynical” and not interested in ending the conflict. “Putin only talks about peace negotiations in order to continue the war. We will not allow this,” Scholz said.

In related news, Germany is an occupied country and...

The Association for the German Language chose the term Krisenmodus as the ‘Word of the Year’ for 2023. I’m not sure they’ve ever awarded a back-to-back winner, but krisenmodus (crisis mode) looks to have a chance to repeat in 2024. The current government coalition has lost almost all trust from the public, yet they soldier on determined to make things worse for the vast majority of Germans. The Greens push for more war, the Free Democrats want more social spending cuts, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his Social Democratic Party (SPD) are in the middle adopting the worst from both sides and leading Germany to ruin.

Not only it is being repeated now, it is getting worse, much-much worse. And this is just a warm-up. This the freshest (from 2023) enterprises' electricity prices. Look at the cut-off around the US for combined West. 

And here is what gasoline prices (per liter) are around the world for 2023. 

Look at Europe. It was always high, but now EU should kiss India's ass because it is India which resells Russian oil to the EU. So many clues, so many processes to follow. You may say I don't have heart--not true, I do. But as I stated, Europeans voted for that being played for fools which many of them turned out to be. Sad, but this is the reality and, as I state non-stop, when shit hits the fan big time--it is when, not if--never a foot of Russian soldier be put on European soil, not a drop of blood to be shed for Europeans. Let them sort it out between themselves, luckily economically and militarily they are pathetic and any hypothetical rise of new Hitler can be easily addressed by a nuclear whip which Russia has. Europe produced two world wars, Russia will not allow the third one coming from it.

Oh! Not Again!

Military "analysis" about why NATO already lost and finding reasons on the surface, instead of looking at what the US military ultimately is. 

The two and a half years of war since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have produced no decisive result. After thwarting Russia’s initial advances, Ukraine’s hopes of regaining all of its stolen territory by military force have stalled—despite a flood of Western aid. Since the failure of Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive in 2023—and after little movement along the frontlines over the past year—Russian forces have started to make incremental advances. In the spring of 2024, they consolidated moderate gains around Kharkiv—Ukraine’s second largest city—in what could be a preview of Moscow’s broader plans to go on a summer offensive. As the Russians moved forward quickly in May, Ukrainian defensive fieldworks in Kharkiv remained unbuilt or deficient amid allegations of corruption.¹ Confronted with far less Ukrainian progress than they’d hoped for, Washington has tended to blame itself rather than ask deeper questions. Many analysts see belated or insufficient military aid to Ukraine as the main cause of Moscow’s gains and Kyiv’s failures, regardless of the underlying facts. Ukraine, it is said, is losing not because of its own limitations or errors, but the irresolution of its backers. But faster or larger aid packages wouldn’t have made the decisive difference many presume, either then or now. Instead, Ukraine continues to falter on the battlefield for four main reasons: an endemic manpower shortage, an inability to generate offensive combat power, diminishing returns on a litany of supposed “game-changing” Western weapons, and poor tactics. More military aid will do little to fix any of these problems.

The issue is not just aid, of course, or lack of capacity of the combined West. This all is just one of many factors which contributed mightily to this clusterfuck of a war. The main factor is lack of any serious strategic intelligence (author of this piece should know--he is former CIA military analyst) and forecasting in Washington--always very weak, now--absent altogether, and, of course, lack of any experience in building effective military machine from the top--General Staff--down to the basic tactical sub-units. The US simply has no structure for that, nor does it have experience. One can pontificate on "the finest fighting force in history" whatever one wants, but...

Read my lips--the REAL combined arms war which propelled the United States in 1945 to the position of superpower happened on the Eastern Front, period. You either show the winning record or you don't. Want to try to change things? How about starting from studying the real history of WW II with proper relation of scales, scope and contributions. That's gonna be a good start--to study the history of two real finest fighting forces in history duking it out between themselves from 1941 through 1944 until it was over. That's what is called "showing the money". It also means learning REAL lessons on what it takes to fight a real war, which the US has about zero experience of fighting. Now these people lament:

It is now clear Ukraine cannot reclaim all of its occupied territory via military force. It lacks both the manpower and hardware necessary to generate new combat power or achieve an advantage in fires that will lead to sufficient offensive capacity. Russia is getting better at blunting the impact of Western weapons, and Ukraine’s poor tactics can’t simply be ignored forever. Because more aid alone is unable to rectify these problems, both Washington and Kyiv must now consider other avenues to end the war. Ukraine’s deputy chief of military intelligence recently stated there is no pathway for Ukraine to win on the battlefield. If the best Kyiv can do—as Biden administration officials are now admitting—is to hold what it has, then Washington should press Kyiv to begin talks before Ukraine loses more territory. But even a shift to a defensive strategy aimed at demonstrating enough resilience to Moscow to force talks will be difficult to execute. The hope that Putin begrudgingly accepts that the frontlines are unlikely to move, thereby increasing Moscow’s willingness to negotiate, seems farfetched. As long as Russia has a 5:1 latent manpower advantage, it has time on its side.

I have news for these guys: it was clear from the first day of SMO not "now". The only issue was how Russia will approach escalation and the gradual involvement of NATO until it becomes clear that it is between combined West and Russia. Well, let me give you the date--April 12, 2022. Here is from my latest book. 

This date can be marked as the official start of the slip of the combined West, headed by the U.S., from its 500-year long supremacy toward a long descent into global obscurity. As with any large landslide, it starts initially with tremors and a few rocks rolling down the steep slope, but eventually the number of rocks increases dramatically, and it becomes a deafening stream of rocks, trees and dust until the whole slope yields and rushes down where once a peaceful and undisturbed foothill lay.

This was the date when clown Boris Johnson, on behalf of Biden Admin, sabotaged Istanbul talks and the REAL SMO has started. I know for a fact that General Staff fully anticipated NATO's involvement from the start and contingency planning has been done accordingly. Now, the combined West pays for its arrogance and delusions. And don't get me started on technological dimension of this all. Short of the transfer of nuclear weapons to 404 the US arsenal is nothing more than a collection of pieces not suited for the real war of the XXI century. As per talks--Russia's conditions are known, if Washington wants to talk it better rush, because this offer expires soon and the next one will be even more humiliating. Meanwhile Abrams tanks continue to be annihilated, this time it is GLONASS and laser-guided Krasnopol--a nasty-nasty SMART munition.

I am sure Russians sacrificed so many washing machines and dishwashers to get chips for all that. So, will the US military get a General Staff? Nope, profit margins for Raytheon are more important and to thrive it needs conflicts, there is one problem--this time they chose a wrong enemy... But then again, when was the last time the US fought the "right" one? Or as Cuba Gooding says--show me the money. In the end talking about strategy and practicing it successfully are two completely different sets of skills.

Lovely Nuclear Loafs.

About consequences. 

 

A Visit...

 ... Russian ships in Venezuela. 

So, Venezuelans treat Russians with... ahem, whatever that thing is, LOL))) 

In related news, try to find Fed's chair Jerome Powell's thoughts on the US national debt in US (Western) media from yesterday on the central bankers' forum in Europe. Second day since this admission and guess what... not a word about it. I speak about it in my new video but this is all simply astonishing--the US has become the Soviet Union in its worst manifestations. But when even such moron as Powell, who thought that printing money does not create inflation, admits that this cannot continue anymore--that's the real news. Not discussion of the American political theater which completely discredited US political system and media. 

In related news: agree 100%. 

Victory for Le Pen’s party will change nothing in France. The highest turnout in forty years demonstrates the electorate’s desire and hope for change. But voters are very unlikely to get what they want. 

The voters are about 20 years too late.

Garland Wrote An Excellent Piece...

 ... on the so called debates. It is free to read. Some very good points and I concur with the title--it is a full political collapse. 

A Debate That Exposed Political Collapse. From Stem to Stern, This Debacle Exposed the Rot of a Political System in Rapid and Irreversible Decline

Excellent write-up!

This Is Not Just "Demonstration Of Flag"...

 ... albeit this is how demonstration of force was always called in naval affairs. 

МЕХИКО, 2 июл — РИА Новости. Корабельная ударная группа Северного флота ВМФ России зашла в порт венесуэльского штата Ла-Гуайра, передает корреспондент РИА Новости. Она состоит из атомной подводной лодки "Казань", фрегата "Адмирал Горшков", спасательного буксира "Николай Чикер" и танкера-снабженца "Академик Пашин", который зашел в порт первым. Командует группой начальник оперативного управления Главного штаба ВМФ вице-адмирал Михаил Неупокоев. Как сообщили в пресс-службе Северного флота, во время стоянки экипажи российских кораблей смогут отдохнуть и ознакомиться с местными достопримечательностями. Уточняется, что деловой заход продлится несколько дней, после чего корабельная группа во главе с фрегатом "Адмирал Горшков" продолжит выполнение поставленных задач в акватории Атлантического океана, в их числе: демонстрация флага и обеспечение военно-морского присутствия в оперативно важных районах дальней океанской зоны.

Translation: MEXICO CITY, July 2 – RIA Novosti. The naval strike group of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy entered the port of the Venezuelan state of La Guaira, a RIA Novosti correspondent reports. It consists of the nuclear submarine Kazan, the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, the rescue tug Nikolai Chiker and the supply tanker Akademik Pashin, which entered the port first. The group is commanded by the head of the operational department of the Main Headquarters of the Navy, Vice Admiral Mikhail Neupokoev. According to the press service of the Northern Fleet, during the stay the crews of Russian ships will be able to relax and get acquainted with local attractions. It is clarified that the business call will last several days, after which the ship group led by the frigate "Admiral Gorshkov" will continue to carry out its assigned tasks in the Atlantic Ocean, including: demonstrating the flag and ensuring a naval presence in operationally important areas of the far ocean zone.

 

Keep in mind that in this particular case the "flag" consists of a mix of 48 missiles of Kalibr, Onyx and Zircon variety. Add here Venezuela, Caribbean and shit and you get the picture. For now, Kazan is logging more surface hours demonstrating, indeed, that there could be something else underwater. Now get the load of this, and I mean THE load. 

Предполагается, что "субмарина выполнит испытательные пуски гиперзвуковой ракеты "Циркон" с надводного и подводного положения", сообщил ранее другой собеседник агентства.  КРОНШТАДТ, 26 июня. /ТАСС/. Атомная подводная лодка (АПЛ) "Иркутск" проекта 949АМ Тихоокеанского флота (ТОФ) после ремонта и модернизации вышла на заводские ходовые испытания. Об этом ТАСС сообщил источник в кораблестроительной отрасли в кулуарах Международного военно-морского салона (МВМС) "Флот-2024". "Ремонт и модернизация АПЛ "Иркутск" на одном из дальневосточных заводов практически завершены. Лодка вышла на заводские ходовые испытания", - сказал он.

Translation: It is expected that “the submarine will test launch the Zircon hypersonic missile from surface and submerged positions,” another agency source said earlier. KRONSTADT, June 26. /TASS/. The nuclear submarine "Irkutsk" of project 949AM of the Pacific Fleet (PF) after repair and modernization entered factory sea trials. A source in the shipbuilding industry reported this to TASS on the sidelines of the International Naval Show (IMMS) Fleet-2024. “The repair and modernization of the Irkutsk nuclear submarine at one of the Far Eastern plants is almost complete. The boat has entered factory sea trials,” he said.

The funniest thing about deeply modernized good ol' pr. 949A lovingly known in the fleet as Loafs, and in NATO as Oscar-II, is that nobody knows the exact number of missiles it carries now. It is clear it is way more that 30 but how many? The base number is 48 but is it more? Some say it is 72. Well, look at those lovely Loafs...

This is K-132 Irkutsk before modernization. This is the worst nightmare of any surface fleet and shipping. 

But here is West's worst nightmare. Although I speak about for years, let me rub this in again:

Russia becomes ‘high income’ country – World Bank. Moscow’s economic growth has defied Western sanctions 

The worst nightmare having two components.

1. Russia is beginning to live better than most EU countries. Soon Russians will live better than ANY EU country and will be on average reaching the US, allowed for climatic and geographic peculiarities. 

2. This is the worst one: while definitely capitalist, Russia is very social and, in fact, a mixed economy which is performing amazingly and that is the key--Russian economy is NOT neo-liberal economy and that drives globalist types insane. 

Well, what can I say--too bad, they should have studied real economics and history instead of wasting their time in Ivy League degree mills. Try to explain to any economics Ph.D from Harvard what real war is and how it shapes humanity for tens of thousand of years. But I repeat myself.

Sure...

 ... but have you seen Russian real estate lately? 

The World Bank’s annual national income rankings, released on Monday, showed that Russia has advanced from “upper middle” to “high” category on the strength of its economic growth. The bank measures gross national income (GNI) based on a method dating back to 1989, and updates its classifications every July 1, based on the previous calendar year’s GNI per capita. The income is measured in the equivalent of US dollars. “Economic activity in Russia was influenced by a large increase in military related activity in 2023, while growth was also boosted by a rebound in trade (+6.8%), the financial sector (+8.7%), and construction (+6.6%),” said a post on the World Bank blog.

First, keep in mind who those children who keep World Bank's blog are. Second, the US still keeps the edge due to accumulation and retaining its infrastructure from Ike's time--this was an immense investment. But it slowly changes, albeit US infrastructure is still, for now, is not too bad. But then... If you have $100 grand... 

This is relatively near Moscow, mind you... Relatively. If you ask me--I can tolerate Moscow for about 10 days, same goes for St.Petersburg. After that I begin to miss my... Pacific Northwest, ocean, mountains, country fried steak (well, that's important too, you know) and the breeze...  

Yep, That's About Right...

Larry nails it. 

Trump (and his cabinet) are definitely culpable in what is going on today. The guy couldn't get a decent cabinet in two years, and when he appointed Bolton as NSA--forget it, it was over. Trump, most likely, is going to win elections. You think anything will change? No. It is going to be same ol', same ol', but wrapped into different rhetoric. Medvedev nailed it four days ago--the US is facing the defeat it could never have conceived. Consuming own fairy tales about "defeating Hitler" or "winning the Cold War" will do it to you. Now, the reckoning has come. What are you going to do? Go nuclear? Good luck with that...

How Russia Was "Lost"?

Easily. Luckily, Russians don't give a flying coitus about Europe (and West) anymore other than seeing them as cowardly enemies. 

 

Totally Natural...

 ... and about time. 

МОСКВА, 1 июля. /ТАСС/. Комитет Совета Федерации по международным делам поддержал и рекомендовал палате принять 3 июля заявление Федерального собрания о приостановке участия российской делегации в Парламентской ассамблее Организации по безопасности и сотрудничеству в Европе (ПА ОБСЕ) и выплате взносов в ее бюджет. Сенаторы поддержали документ единогласно, сообщил ТАСС источник, участвующий в заседании комитета. Как отмечается в проекте заявления, сенаторы Российской Федерации и депутаты Государственной думы уверены, что применение ограничений на участие в мероприятиях ПА ОБСЕ в отношении парламентариев, выражающих волю и интересы своего народа, недопустимо. "Приходится констатировать, что в сложившихся условиях возможности для продолжения конструктивного диалога в ПА ОБСЕ полностью исчерпаны. В связи с этим сенаторы Российской Федерации и депутаты Государственной думы считают обоснованным и закономерным приостановить участие делегации Федерального собрания Российской Федерации в ПА ОБСЕ, а также выплату взносов Российской Федерации в бюджет ПА ОБСЕ", - говорится в документе.

Translation: MOSCOW, July 1. /TASS/. The Federation Council Committee on International Affairs supported and recommended that the chamber accept on July 3 the statement of the Federal Assembly on the suspension of the participation of the Russian delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA) and the payment of contributions to its budget. The senators supported the document unanimously, a source participating in the committee meeting told TASS. As noted in the draft statement, senators of the Russian Federation and deputies of the State Duma are confident that the application of restrictions on participation in OSCE PA events in relation to parliamentarians expressing the will and interests of their people is unacceptable. “We have to admit that under the current conditions, the possibilities for continuing a constructive dialogue in the OSCE PA have been completely exhausted. In this regard, senators of the Russian Federation and deputies of the State Duma consider it justified and logical to suspend the participation of the delegation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation in the OSCE PA, as well as the payment of contributions to the Russian Federation to the budget of the OSCE PA,” the document says.

They still left the clause that "should things change". Not on their watch, they will not. Present Europe should be allowed to collapse and its population experience all joys of what Russia experienced in 1990s. It is coming, and, in fact, is already happening. In my video today I am not impressed by Le Pen's party preliminary win--too little, too late. Change in rhetoric doesn't mean change in policies.