Larry and Me ...

 ... couple of days ago. 

If True, This Is A Decomposition ...

... of the force. I want to introduce a caveat immediately--there are occasions when officer mess hall eats differently from the rest of the crew. Special occasions, such as officers' birthdays, visits by important guests--the galley may cook a special meal--and something special officers bring onboard bought with their own money. The rest of the time--officers eat same food as their subordinates. Here is what Larry reports: 

During a conversation with the Marine’s mother, I mentioned the emails I had received from the sailor’s mom. The Marine mother, who does not know the lady who had sent me the emails, told me her son had the same experience, i.e., lousy chow and big weight loss. Pete Hegseth is calling these parents liars.

According to Ms. Mayes-Osterman: Both the Navy and Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth denied reports of food problems. “My team confirmed the logistics stats for the Lincoln & Tripoli,” Hegseth said in a post on X. “Both have 30+ days of Class I supplies (food) on board. NavCent monitors this everyday, for every ship. Our sailors deserve — and receive — the best.” 

The only liar is Hegseth. He reportedly visited one of the ships and had a splendid meal in the Officer’s Mess. He did not eat in the dining facility for the enlisted personnel. That is a failure of leadership. My dogs eat better than these sailors and Marines. This is not just a problem on the USS Tripoli and USS Boxer. Similar complaints came from sailors posted to the USS Abraham Lincoln. The officers on board these ships have a duty and obligation to ensure their troops are properly fed. In theory, officers are supposed to eat last. But that is not the reality on board the ships conducting war missions off the coast of Iran.

Evidently Pete Hegseth thinks that his tour in Afghanistan and career of media personality make him a very special guest who can bypass galley realities of the ships on station and accept his great meal as a confirmation of everything being rosy with feeding the personnel. Of course, any deployment does have an effect on the weight, but if it is the "big weight loss"--this is more than just bad food or effects of protracted deployment, this means NOT ENOUGH food. 

Evidently the problem with feeding the personnel on these deployed ships persists. 

Well, deodorant should be the least of the concerns there. Food, water for showers and laundry, and functioning toilets should be. That's fundamental for deployment and the morale. What we observe, however, is a sheer incompetence on part of Trump Administration (no surprise here) and US military. This is a third world. This is also inadmissible. It has two layers to it, the first one, of course, is that the US shouldn't be there in the first place, the second--who allows these conditions to persist? As Stalin used to say--each problem always has a name. 

Larry Counts Hours ...

 ... as a former CIA analyst is supposed to. 

Let’s follow the timeline. According to the official story: 911 call from his DC residence at 8:30pm ET on July 11 for suspected cardiac arrest. He “died at home.” This is total bullshit! So let’s go thru the timeline. Senator Graham arrived in Kyiv between 09:45–10:45 local on July 10th. The train he took from Poland departed Warsaw at 18:15 hours local on July 9th. It was an overnight train. To arrive in Poland in time to take the 18:15 train, Lindsey would have departed Dulles International Airport at around 0700 local on July 9 — the flight from Dulles to Warsaw is 9 hours. So Lindsey Graham arrives in Kyiv by 11 am Friday morning. He meets with Zelensky and tours a drone factory. Then we are asked to believe that he returns to Washington, DC after spending less than 24 hours on the ground. Again, I call bullshit!! 

The earliest train back to Warsaw departs Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi at 07:40–08:00 on the 11th and arrives Przemyśl Główny in the afternoon (~17:00–18:00). That is at least nine hours. That would make it roughly 1100 hours in Washington, DC. Let’s assume he has an hour to get to the airport and the plane takes off at 1900 hours local from Poland. The flight going west takes 10 hours… This means the earliest the plane could have landed at Dulles is midnight on the 11th. That is 3 ½ hours after Graham reportedly died at home. As I noted at the outset… The story of Lindsey Graham’s death at home is BULLSHIT!

I agree with Larry--the timeline issue is critical here. Could it be that Lindsey met his end in Kiev? I am not saying it is 100% but the probability is very high that he died in Kiev. Was he an accidental (or maybe deliberate?) victim of Russian strikes at the drone factory he visited or was something else involved in his demise? Who knows. But there is very little doubt that he was a war criminal, warmonger, supporter of terrorism and genocidal maniac. Good riddance. 

Randy, Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky ...

 ... Larry and yours truly on Friday. 

Day Of Videos ...

 ... and radiobroadcasts today. Larry and me a couple of days ago. 

Plus Randy, Ambassador Polyansky, Larry and me on WBAI's today. 

I Think Larry and Pepe ...

 ... have a point about Iran's nukes. It is likely (how likely, IDK) it exists. What is absolutely positive--it is Iran's delivery capability. If nukes exist Iran has a very good delivery capability against any target in the region (Israel, that's you) and parts of Europe. 

There has been a dramatic and noticeable shift in Donald Trump’s rhetoric and social media posts regarding Iran since Pepe and I received the report of Iran’s threat to do a demonstration detonation of a nuclear warhead if the US does not cease its attacks on Iran. Coincidence? I don’t think so. Iran is still willing to negotiate a peaceful end to the war with the US and Israel but is insisting that the US end its blockade, stop its attacks on Iranian vessels, and halt the Israeli attacks in Lebanon. In the latest news we received from the Pakistani source, Pakistani officials are expressing optimism that they will be able to broker a deal between the US and Iran that will culminate in a meeting between Donald Trump and Iran’s President, Masoud Pezeshkian, in Islamabad, Pakistan within the next 40 days. Here’s the raw intelligence:

As is correctly pointed out in graphics--Trump is now selling offramp. 

Meanwhile, Scott unleashes a fiery takedown of Europe at SPIEF and I entirely agree with Scott. 

In fact, I subscribe to every word. Europa Delenda Est! In the US--we will try to figure something out on our own. 

Exactly. This Is Called Truism ...

 ... that is the statement which is obviously true and is universally accepted as such. It is present in different iterations across all cultures. As Larry notes: If You Have to Tell People You’re the G.O.A.T., Then You Are Not. Correct. Larry elaborates:

I think most of you reading this post will agree that Donald Trump is an insecure, toxic narcissist, but he posted a flurry of posts on Truth Social on Monday that sealed the deal. This is not normal behavior. For those of you not familiar with current slang, G.O.A.T. stands for Greatest Of All Time.

Here is the complete list of the 12 Truth Social posts (original posts and reposts) made by President Donald J. Trump between 10:24 PM and 10:30 PM ET on May 10, 2026 that triggered me. This was part of a much larger evening posting spree (over 40–55 posts total that night) focused on self-praise, election-related claims, and supporter-generated memes. Most items in this narrow 6-minute window were rapid reposts of flattering content from supporters rather than original long-form text from Trump. Instead of focusing on Americans who are paying soaring prices for gasoline, diesel and food — all a consequence of Trump’s boneheaded, dangerous policy gambits — Trump pretended he was the wicked Queen in Snow White and asked the mirror, Who is the Greatest Of All Time:

Read the whole thing at Larry's blog. And here is GOAT verbatim:

I don't think any comments on his priorities are necessary. 

System Breakdown.

 Larry had excellent discussion. 

Yes, About The Address ...

 ... by the guy who is now both political corpse and a clown. Larry explains. 

Wow! That was awful. Was Trump sedated? His monotone, delusional delivery reminded me of the character Dustin Hoffman played in Rainman. Trump plowed no new territory. Instead, he provided a Reader’s Digest summary of his recent Truth Social posts… i.e., Iran is defeated, the Iranian Navy and Air Force are destroyed, victory is ours, but we’re going to bomb the hell out of them over the next three weeks. I am pretty sure that some on Wall Street will continue to delude themselves with the belief that this war is nearing an end and, once Trump declares the final victory in three weeks that he will order US troops to come home and the war will be over. Not a chance. During the next three weeks, Iran will continue to degrade and demolish the US bases and equipment that is in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. As long as Qatar does not allow combat aircraft to take off from Al Udeid, Iran will ignore it. Prior to his speech, the market for oil futures had dropped significantly, with both WTI and BRENT falling below 100. After his speech, both surged back above 100, increasing 3.5% and 4.4% respectively. Trump’s speech failed to reassure the oil markets that the war would end anytime soon.

Again, keep in mind--all this is about paper energy (futures), which is nothing but speculation. Trump's (and the courterie of his sycophants and Zionists in administration) idea of governance is that of self-aggrandizing and enriching, serving Israel and trying to manipulate the so called "markets". 

As you can see current "market"--it is not impressed. 

Neither are Iranians, pummeling Bahrain and the US 5th Fleet's HQs non-stop.

Meanwhile, India gets five more S-400 batteries. 

The S-400 deliveries are late, but the fifth and final system is also expected this year, perhaps in November. After the S-400’s impressive performance during Operation Sindoor, the four days of fighting with Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack last year, India has decided to buy five more systems. The S-400 could be part of the countrywide air defence system, Sudarshan Chakra, that will be in place in coming years.

You see, those S-400, for some reason (wink, wink), do perform brilliantly in REAL combat. Who would have thought, if you know what I mean. 

Iran's Mysterious Gift ...

 ... to Trump. LOL)) 

Follow the link to Larry's blog where he elaborates on this "present" to DJT))

How Broadsides ...

 ... sound. China's representative explains to the West its place. 

This place is not what the West thinks it is. As Larry defined it today:

Trump’s Schizophrenic Policy Towards Iran is Sabotaging Relations with China and Russia

Yes, it is legitimate to call it schizophrenia, especially against the background of Iran literally mocking and trolling Israel and the US. This place is a mental asylum. 

Nima, Larry Johnson and Colonel Wilkerson.

Excellent discussion. 

Larry's Excellent Writeup ...

 ... on Gulfies and India. Especially India. 

Russia, instead of leaving India to sleep in the bed it made with Israel, highlighted its readiness to support India, but at a cost. For instance, earlier in March (around March 4), sources indicated Russia was prepared to divert oil cargoes (e.g., ~9.5 million barrels near Indian waters) and potentially raise India’s share of Russian crude imports to up to 40%. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak mentioned receiving “signals of renewed interest” from India in larger volumes due to the crisis. Amid the surge in demand for Russia’s Urals crude, Russia hit India with a firm, but diplomatic, reminder of the cost of betraying a friend. Prior to the attack on Iran, Russia sold oil to India with deep discounts ($10-13 below Brent pre-conflict). While promising to help India compensate for its loss of Persian Gulf oil, Russia inoformed Modi that India would have to pay a premium of $4-5 over Brent for March/April deliveries. This reflects market forces rather than explicit “assurances” of continued discounts; some reports frame it as Russia treating it more as “business” without prior friendship-based concessions.

A reminder (again): 

Russia can remain magnanimous ... for additional price, of course, and India is about to learn it the hard way.  

Good Conversation.

Nima and Larry today. 

Yes, Absolutely.

They try to cope, but even in this--not enough real professionalism. 

Despite claims of battlefield momentum in Ukraine, the data shows that Russia is paying an extraordinary price for minimal gains and is in decline as a major power. Since February 2022, Russian forces have suffered nearly 1.2 million casualties, more losses than any major power in any war since World War II. At current rates, combined Russian and Ukrainian casualties could reach 2 million by the spring of 2026. After seizing the initiative in 2024, Russian forces have advanced at an average rate of between 15 and 70 meters per day in their most prominent offensives, slower than almost any major offensive campaign in any war in the last century. Meanwhile, Russia’s war economy is under mounting strain, with manufacturing declining, slowing growth of 0.6 percent in 2025, and no globally competitive technology firms to help drive long-term productivity.

This is from CSIS. This drivel is produced by one boy and this dude. 

Prior to CSIS, Dr. Jones was director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at the RAND Corporation. Before that, he served in several positions in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and U.S. Special Operations Command. He served as representative for the commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, to the assistant secretary of defense for special operations. He was also a plans officer and adviser to the commanding general, U.S. Special Operations Forces, in Afghanistan (Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command–Afghanistan). Dr. Jones served on a congressionally mandated panel that reviewed the FBI’s implementation of counterterrorism recommendations contained in the 9/11 Commission Report.

Dr. Jones despite a fountain of "credentials" does not understand war, as most of Pentagon doesn't and despite his good-sounding CV would be laughed out with his level of awareness (euphemism for butthurt) because he is ... a political "scientist", meaning he has no viable academic and experience bases to pass judgement on anything other than upcoming Oscars and new line of lingerie from Victoria Secret. RAND at which this "academic" worked too didn't produce any serious strategic paper like ... ever, and the high pitch coping and continuing to come up with numbers, such as "production of Iskanders" by these amateurs is met with Homeric laughter among people who are responsible for both manufacturing and combat use of these systems. But I am sure that Jones knows better. Of course he does--look at the war record of "the finest fighting force in history". 

And so, they cope, hard, because the butthurt is insufferable and recognizing oneself being in the midst of the collapsing structure of military fairy tales is extremely painful. It also requires a personal courage to face the reality. But the guy continues to produce things like this compendium of amateurish military BS and propaganda not understanding that he and his buddies from Capitol Hill and Pentagon do not have a tool kit to recognize how badly they lost. Meanwhile Russians, using Iskanders, organized the slaughter of US HIMARS in 404. 

But then again, can you imagine what it takes to explain to American political "scientist" what modern RUK/ROK are, how they integrate into overall netcentric structure of Russian military, and how real air defense should work. Nope, impossible. Here is Larry explaining how the famous now colonel ... well, read for yourself)). 

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon (a retired British Army colonel, former commander of the 1st Royal Tank Regiment, chemical weapons expert, and frequent commentator on defense/military matters) is at it again, having just published an article on January 30, 2026 in the Telegraph titled, “Desperate Putin is coming to the end of the road” (also headlined as “Putin’s army is on its knees. When it still has them”). This is not the first time that Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon makes a fool of himself… He has a proven track record of being completely wrong about the war in Ukraine. Consider his bold and totally wrong predictions on Ukraine’s 2023 offensive that was supposed to push the Russians into the Black Sea. (Spoiler alert: The Russians completely defeated the Ukrainian offensive by the end of August 2023.)

Delusion is a foundation of military edukeishn in NATO. 

And, in conclusion--Happy Birthday to Larry. We all wish him good health, good fortune and long-long years of productive life. 

Larry Comes To Important Conclusions ...

... when considering the key candidates for traitors of Maduro.  

• Director of SEBIN: Major General Alexis Rodríguez Cabello Appointed in October 2024, he remains in position as of early January 2026. He is a cousin of Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and has been sanctioned by the U.S. for alleged human rights abuses. The acronym SEBIN stands for Servicio Bolivariano de Inteligencia Nacional in Spanish. This translates to Bolivarian National Intelligence Service in English. It is Venezuela’s primary civilian intelligence and secret police agency, established in 2010 as a restructured successor to the former DISIP (Dirección de los Servicios de Inteligencia y Prevención). The agency reports to the executive branch (historically the Vice President) and has been widely criticized by human rights organizations for political repression, arbitrary detentions, and alleged torture.

• Director of DGCIM (and Commander of the Presidential Honor Guard): Major General Gustavo González López Appointed by Delcy Rodríguez on January 6, 2026, replacing the previous director. González López is a longtime Chavista hardliner who previously served as SEBIN director (2019–2024) and Minister of Interior and Justice. The acronym DGCIM stands for Dirección General de Contrainteligencia Militar in Spanish. This translates to General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence in English. It is Venezuela’s military intelligence agency, responsible for countering espionage, monitoring potential threats within the armed forces, investigating alleged plots against the government, and handling internal security matters related to the military. The DGCIM has been widely accused by human rights organizations (including the United Nations) of systematic torture, arbitrary detentions, and extrajudicial actions as part of state repression.

I constantly stress that I am no specialist in region and trust Larry's judgement on that, but it is clear that the treason was at the very military-political top. Moreover, questions about WHO actually killed Cuban contingent still lingers. Current version is that these were not US "Deltas". So, pop-corn, pop-corn time. Greenland is next. 

Larry's Info ...

 ... corroborates additionally the betrayal at the very top of Venezuela's political power. 

I learned today from a reliable source that a member of Maduro’s inner circle betrayed him and facilitated the US military operation that led to the abduction of Nicholas Maduro and his wife… It was not Delcy Rodriguez. 

Was it Venezuela's intel who worked with the CIA? Not only it is possible but fairly probable. But in the end, it doesn't matter anymore because it doesn't change the power of a donkey loaded with gold which works in this kind of localities.  

Just Random.

No relation to anything (wink, wink). Just because ... Smart people will understand. 

Meanwhile, Garland and Larry had a very good conversation today with some important conclusion. 

This Is A Working Hypothesis ...

 ... by Larry about (emphasis!!) attempt on Putin's Novgorod residence. 

Did Zelensky approve the attack? I doubt it. I think this was ordered and executed by Ukrainian intelligence, with assistance from at least the British services, in order to sabotage the talks and damage Zelensky. This was not an actual attack to kill Putin because he has been living in the Kremlin for the last four years in order to reduce his vulnerability to an attack like this. The Ukrainian officials who ordered this were more intent on embarrassing Zelensky than on killing Putin. I believe this is one more indicator that Zelensky’s days are numbered as his opponents in Ukraine, with encouragement from Western intelligence operatives, appear to be maneuvering to replace him and keep the war going. News broke over the weekend that General Zaluzhny, who has been in London for more than a year as the ostensible Ukrainian ambassador to the UK, is heading back to Kiev at the end of this week. The chess pieces in this iteration of Game of Thrones are moving.

It makes political sense and we know that Ze is a dead man walking. But it must be stressed--in the last 10 years Western (lack of) intel services paraded themselves as amateurs in terms of strategic intelligence and, especially, strategic forecasting. They simply have no clue about what real war is and how strategy works. 404 is a spent entity as is European NATO whose industrial and military capabilities are puny. They hope to keep the war going but they only know PR. Some among their military top brass really think that Russians will be impressed with 60 French Rafales or 20 British obsolete Tornadoes. But Larry has a point--for them it is whatever extends the life of utterly corrupt and incompetent Western "elites". As I stress non-stop, at this stage Russians simply don't care. 

Diplomacy is continuation of war by other means(c) Zhou Enlai. 

There Is A Saying In Russia...

... a very popular one, actually, that "for those who don't know what Physics is--the world is filled with miracles". It is, of course, a bit over the top but its foundation is solid and could be interpreted as judging things on their own merit when you have the tool kit. As SMO demonstrated, and, in fact confirmed it unequivocally--media all over the world are simply incapable of proper reporting, let alone analysis of modern warfare and they will NEVER be able to grasp as a professional class anything beyond lower level tactics (and even that is questionable) at the most on the company level, period. Anything above and what transitions into the high level tactics (brigade-level) let alone operational-tactical (division), not to speak of operational-strategic (corps, army, all forces) is and will remain beyond their grasp. 

And so--we had last 72 hours of all kinds of info-shysters who would have issues even with famous book by Alexander Vainer The Tactical Calculations, not to speak of things which are classified and require clearance. 

But then again, people who never commanded a squad in their life and do not understand what combat training of even enlisted rank is, they will not grasp it. Some of them, of course, will continue to push their agendas and do it in the most amateurish manner, which is characteristic of most media. Here is an example--a boy, a graduate of the Moscow State's Journo "department" who doesn't even have command of proper professional military terminology who passes at English RT for ... military expert.

Here is his CV. A typical butthurt liberal. 

Sergey Poletaev is an information analyst and publicist. He specializes in Russian foreign policy and in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Born in 1980 in Moscow, Poletaev is a graduate of the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University. In 2017, together with researchers Oleg Makarov and Dmitry Stefanovich, he founded the information and analytical project Vatfor. A Russian expert on international relations and a contributor of the Russian International Affairs Council, his articles have been published in specialist media like Russia in Global Affairs, Profile, Eurasia-Expert, and others. Poletaev is also a facilitator/organizer of interviews, online streams on political topics, as well as scientific and workshop conferences.

And this is all while real military and intel experts such as Larry Johnson or Scott Ritter appear in writing only occasionally on English RT. The issue here is NOT that the wider audience should suddenly be drowned in the issues of Required Force, communications networks (highly classified), or Combat Effectiveness of units and formations. NO, average Joe doesn't need it, but what average Joe (or Ivan) need is a professional assessment, which cannot be done at all by anyone with "degree" in journalism. You may ask but what about Marat, well--Marat being a very bright person and, actually, war correspondent--he communicates with real serious professionals on the level of Chiefs of Staffs of Brigades and Divisions. Plus, his and our friend, combat veteran Colonel Mikhail Popov is always there. Feel the difference? 

Same goes for me. I do not have expertise in all of it, but I know my limitations and when need be I ask and communicate with my good friends Colonel Trukhan, Lt. Colonel Shalandin and other people, many of who are senior and very senior officers with enormous academic and command (including operational) experiences such as many of you know--this group of sharp-witted dudes known as Callsign Katzman, or simply--Katzmans. And, of course, I constantly study myself. I can continue with this list for a long time--this is what "social circle of professionals" means, we know each-other and recognize each-other as professionals. Same goes to my good friends Larry Johnson, Scott Ritter, Colonel Daniel Davis and his friends, Colonel Jaques Baud, Commander Robinson Farrinazo of Brazilian Marines et al. My work has been recognized already in 2018 by Vice-Admiral Kumar, then Commander of one of the two fleets of Indian Navy. And, of course, I am invited to RT all the time. Last time I declined was ... three days ago. I declined--Christmas, you know.)) I will be there soon. I hope media, including RT, will learn some lessons. 

My task here is to underscore that while in the US we are staying more or less informed due to a vast and powerful network of the alternative media, not that what they report is necessarily always accurate, in Russia a completely obverse situation has developed--the so called "alternative media" in Russia (not all, of course) are, actually, the main generators of FUD and downright misinformation, while state or close to the state media, not least through the press-service of Russia's Defense Ministry, remain most truthful and non-dramatic. I am not going to go here into who and how covers up a destructive activity of all those Rybars, Podolyakas, or how the graduate of the philosopy department can run reviews on military-technological developments, but I want to stress, again--none of those are "military experts". All of them do not even know what it means and what comes into this. It is also understood that they are all being watched.

As hysteria around Kupyansk demonstrated in the last 72 hours--informational hygiene remains a critical requirement for extricating oneself from emotionally charged and downright hysterical "news cycle" and much of it depends on tuning out from those "voices" and info shysters who for the last 40 months completely discredited themselves and confirmed what Hunter Thompson (actually Agnew) noted astutely:

The press is a gang of cruel faggots. Journalism is not a profession or a trade. It is a cheap catch-all for fuckoffs and misfits—a false doorway to the backside of life, a filthy piss-ridden little hole nailed off by the building inspector, but just deep enough for a wino to curl up from the sidewalk and masturbate like a chimp in a zoo-cage.

This is who most of them really are. They decided to ride the wave of war but forgot that it was for real professionals, especially starting from the brigade level up--a level at which none of them can understand what hits them and they do not even grasp how those levels operate. In the end, the lowest unit which gets its own staff is battalion. There is a reason for that. 

In related news, Randy, Larry and yours truly exchanged opinions on shit yesterday)) 

Randy also got the cameo in what is shaping to be a huge blockbuster this season: Marty Supreme. 

Randy plays ... a rich man)) In conclusion, never stop learning--I heard from doctors that it is not "training" of the brain through repetition but constant learning new things, which is real neural stimulation, which helps to stave off dementia. SMO is an incredible learning opportunity.