Nicole Nailed It.

Especially considering the fact that Milei (Argentina's President) is a fanatical Zionist and Leo Messi did his part in indicating that he is an Israeli puppet. 

There is very little doubt that this WC has a political dimension and that Argentina is being pushed to the finals and probably setting up the rematch with France. For those people, btw, who still believe in objective refereeing, here is a trip down the memory lane.  

This time UEFA needed FC Barcelona in the finals and Ovrebo literally killed Chelsea. 

Disgrace continues. So does "explanation" effort on part of "interpreters" of the rules who worship their Israeli stooge Leo Messi and the country which seems to be strangely attuned to Israel's interests, as was FC Barcelona in 2010 with all this UNICEF BS and we are "the good humanitarians" image. 

Yegorov Of "Zvezda" Confirms...

 ... albeit using the older video of a surface launch, that Kazan officially carries 3M22 Zircon. Here is his report from Havana (in Russian), including some details which you will not find in Western media. The condition for both ships entering Havana was the absence of nuclear weapons on board. 

Even without nukes, combination of weapons on both ships is strategic in nature. Also, pay attention to US buoys (hundred +) spent in attempts to track Kazan. 

Another Zircon-Onyx-Kalibr-Otvet carrier Marshal Shaposhnikov together with RKR Varyag (this one, unlike sunk Moskva, is fully upgraded and digitized) was visiting Egypt. Well, will wait for Military Acceptance with more details of those visits.

Well, Well, Well.

After tribulations and layover in Helsinki and being mecilessly questioned by FSB Border Guards at Torfyanovka Crossing and spending a whole day in St. Petersburg with my classmates, I reached Moscow. So, here I am reporting from Moscow and getting ready to do more videos. For now we are staying with my dear friend from childhood and naval academy classmate and trying to figure out how to navigate their mosntrous 4,000+ sq.feet  three storey house. My buddy complains that he is not living well, LOL)) But seriously, after sleepless St.Petersburg--I mean it--most stores (forget cafes and restraunts), Galeria works 24/7. Humanity moves even in the night. 

Russia doesn't seem to be affected by SMO in any meaningful way, despite some certain things which are new for the country at war with combined West. I will omit here the glitz and sensory overload. But here is the thing which may have slipped under the radar. First, Egypt refuses to supply arms to 404, now this:

Cairo is working to attract more Russian investment and promote joint projects, according to the Egyptian General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI). The government body wants to facilitate foreign investment flows into the North African country.

“Russia is present in many investments in Egypt. They invest in a number of industries, such as food, oil, and engineering,” GAFI chief executive Hossam Heiba told RIA Novosti during a press conference this week. Moscow and Cairo have been ramping up economic cooperation and saw trade turnover jump to over $6 billion in 2022, marking a 30% increase on the previous year. Russian President Vladimir Putin said during the Russia-Africa Summit in July that relations with Egypt are strategic in nature, noting that the two countries have numerous large-scale joint projects. One such venture is Egypt’s first nuclear power plant at El Dabaa, which is currently under construction and is run by Russian state energy major Rosatom. The plant will consist of four units using Russia’s VVER technology, each with a capacity of 1,200 MW and equipped with generation III+ VVER-1200 reactors, the most advanced technology currently available. Egypt expects the facility to be operating at full capacity by 2030.

Keep in mind Soviet-Egyptian cooperation and the monument to it which is Aswan Dam and many other things. So, all of it is only natural. One can clearly see the dynamics of Russia's return to Maghreb and Arabs are impressed--first Syria, and now SMO. So, here is the situation, my friends, and stay tuned. 

Oh, Boy! And Larry On Propaganda and Lies.

That is a shocker..., not really. I totally expected that from Turkey but:

БРИКС ждет пополнения: заявки на вступление в организацию, помимо Аргентины и Ирана, готовятся подать также Саудовская Аравия, Турция и Египет. Об этом «‎Известиям»‎ заявил высокопоставленный источник, осведомленный с ходом процесса. По его словам, наследный принц королевства Саудовская Аравия (КСА) Мухаммед бин Салман «‎серьезно настроен на вступление в БРИКС»‎. Собеседник уточнил, что этот вопрос был затронут в том числе во время визита главы МИД РФ Сергея Лаврова в Эр-Рияд 1–2 июня. — Россия поддержала стремление Саудовской Аравии присоединиться к организации. Помимо КСА интерес к БРИКС проявили еще Турция и Египет, они изучают возможность присоединиться уже несколько лет. Но на саммите в Пекине вопрос с их вступлением не обсуждался, а вот членство КСА обсуждали серьезно. Участники объединения ищут дипломатическое решение, — отметил осведомленный источник.

Translation: BRICS is waiting for new members: in addition to Argentina and Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt are also preparing to submit applications for membership in the organization. This was stated to Izvestiya by a high-ranking source who was aware of the progress of the process. According to him, the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) Mohammed bin Salman "‎is serious about joining the BRICS"‎. The interlocutor specified that this issue was also raised during the visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Riyadh on June 1-2. — Russia supported the desire of Saudi Arabia to join the organization. In addition to the KSA, Turkey and Egypt also showed interest in the BRICS, they have been studying the possibility of joining for several years. But at the summit in Beijing, the issue of their entry was not discussed, but the membership of the KSA was discussed seriously. Members of the association are looking for a diplomatic solution, - said an informed source.

In fact, the name of one of the sources is known, she is Purnima Anand, the head of BRICS International Forum. So, there you go. Turkey, obviously, looks as a fit for BRICS, but Saudis joining BRICS--that is something else altogether and that is a sentence to what passes in the US for "diplomacy". So, this all comes against the background of this event:

MOSCOW, July 13 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Wednesday that it hoped President Joe Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia would not be used to try to foster anti-Russian relations, just as the United States seeks to convince Riyadh to boost oil production amid soaring prices. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday that Biden will make the case for greater oil production from OPEC nations to bring down gasoline prices when he meets Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia this week. 

This is not posturing at all, though. Because Saudi permanent, if not paranoid, fear is... Iran. And the security "guarantees" which the US allegedly provided for KSA lost a lot of their value. Not least through Iran demonstrating that they are ballsy people in 2020, after General Soleimani's assassination. And now Iran is on the fast track to BRICS and much closer ties to Russia. Saudis are not complete idiots, they watch TV and have their own sources of information. They surely saw Russian operations in Syria and see SMO in real time, they also see what the US is trying "to accomplish" both on the oil market and how it destroys itself and, even more so, Europe. What is always appreciated in the Middle East is resolve and power. Did you see Joe Biden recently, or behavior of Jake Sullivan or Tony Blinken? If you think that it is all a projection of confidence and power, you live in the alternative reality. 

As I already stated not for once, the only things Western "elites" are good at is PR and killing defenseless. West's resource base is shrinking dramatically. And while some Turkish analysts think that joining BRICS is not the best time now because of Turkey's economic issues, this might be precisely the reason why some in Turkey are preparing applications for BRICS. Larry, actually, ads to the case of BRICS and how it is viewed in other parts of the world by means of demolishing yet another NYT propaganda piece:

If you were holding out hope that the media and military analysts predicting the imminent collapse of Russia because of the failed invasion of Ukraine would get a grip on reality, think again. I take the New York Times as the leading indicator of the establishment mindset and the Times published a piece that reveals the delusion and confusion about the war in Ukraine that infects the Washington/New York Swamps.Put simply, the article–Ukraine’s Demands for More Weapons Clash With U.S. Concerns–tacitly concedes Russia is winning but holds out hope for a dramatic Ukrainian come back.

Larry uses a very effective math and logic when concludes:

The real question that Schmitt and Barnes should have asked, how long can US officials continue to bullshit themselves and pour expensive weapon systems into a rat hole? The speed of Russia’s advance appears to be accelerating. There are reports today that Russian forces are entering the outskirts of Seversk, one of the key strong points of the new Ukrainian defensive line. If true, the Russians are likely to achieve a strategic breakthrough in the Donetsk. What the gullible reporters and the morons who staff the CIA and DIA fail to comprehend is that Russia’s tactic of systematically destroying the air, armor and artillery assets over the past three months appears to have achieved Clausewitz’s culminating point–i.e., the point at which a military force is no longer able to perform its operations. 

Read the whole thing at Larry's blog.

While Your Attention...

May be focused on this:

More than 20 deals have been signed on Monday between Moscow and Riyadh during President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to Saudi Arabia.Agreements include the charter for long-term cooperation between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-cartel oil producers. Along with the charter, the two countries have signed a protocol on energy cooperation.The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), and ESN Group agreed to invest in designing, building, and operating a methanol plant in Russia’s Far East, in the Amur region. The plant is expected to have an annual capacity of up to 2 million tons, according to RDIF.

And more along the same lines of direct Saudi investments and even leasing planes in Russia. The real wowser is, actually, this: 

Egypt will substitute its large tank park of old Soviet T-55 and T-62 tanks with T-90MC (in Russian). 

Recall also that Iraqi 35th Mechanized Brigade preferred T-90 to US made Abrams tanks. Egypt, meanwhile, altogether produces pre-kitted Abrams tanks in Egypt. I guess Syria answered a lot of questions regarding combat performance of the military hardware. So, as you can see, things are getting extremely interesting in the world. Now, we have to see where this whole anti-Constitutional coup will lead all of us; but if Trump's bold moves and bold anti-interventionist and anti-neocon statements are any indication, we may yet see a long-overdue cleansing of the treasonous camp, as James Kunstler thinks it will happen:

An eerie silence cloaked the political landscape this lovely fall weekend as the soldiers in this (so far) administrative civil war scrambled for position in the next round of skirmishes. Rep. Adam Schiff fell back on the preposterous idea that he might not produce his “whistleblower” witness at all in the (so far) hypothetical impeachment proceeding. He put that one out after running a similarly absurd idea up the flagpole: that his “whistleblower” might just testify by answering written questions. I was waiting for him to offer up testimony by Morse code, carrier pigeon, or smoke signals. 

Read the whole thing and keep an eye on Syria. That's Monday for ya.