About Kherson...

... Optics is bad, operationally it is understandable.

Russia has decided to withdraw its troops from the right bank of the Dnieper River, including the regional capital of Kherson. The Defense Ministry explained that it wants to avoid unnecessary losses among its forces and spare the lives of civilians. While saying the decision was not easy, the commanders see little sense in keeping the troops on the right bank, the chief of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, Army General Sergey Surovikin, told Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu on Wednesday. The general pointed to continued Ukrainian attacks on the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric dam on the Dnieper River, arguing that it could mean the total isolation of Russian troops in Kherson. “If the Kiev regime … launches an even more devastating attack on the Kakhovskaya dam, a flow of water could arise that would flood large areas, causing significant civilian casualties,” Surovikin added. This, according to the commander, “would create further threats for civilians and risk total isolation of our force grouping on the right bank of the Dnieper.”

The Dam issue did factor in and several weeks long evacuation of civilians from Kherson (115,000 have been evacuated) was an indication of serious considerations regarding the possibility of VSU destroying the Kakhovka Dam and flooding the area making it completely indefensible. Understandably, all kinds of IPSO trolling started already, as is--naturally--hysteria among the same category of public which was behind spinning a few days ago a complete BS of "high losses" of 155th Marines Brigade in Pavlovka, which was utterly debunked, so, what's new? Could it be the trap? Certainly possible. I should be a part of Gonzalo's Roundtable, together with Brian Berletic, tomorrow and we will discuss this issue. So keep an eye on Gonzalo's channels on YouTube. 

But the real news is this--current at the time of this post: 

This is the start of the final countdown for the United States as a unified country. Yes, I mean physical disintegration of the country down the road within, maybe, 8-10 years, maybe slightly more. We did our civic duty by voting, but above you see the statement of a paralysis of a political system and governance, with huge segments of the American society being in favor of a complete destruction of their own country, which cannot exist as a unified nation. In the end, Kensington Avenue is the future now, no matter who gets to power. 

In the spring, Fetterman won his primary easily, even though he suffered the stroke four days before the vote, which required him to be outfitted with a pacemaker and defibrillator on the day of the election. Fetterman’s strategy, which dates back to a failed 2016 Senate bid and his successful 2018 lieutenant governor campaign, was to visit every Pennsylvania county, even the rural ones that Republicans had been winning in blowouts. His theory was that those visits would not just potentially flip some GOP votes because he had showed up, but motivate the local Democrats to become more involved in the campaign.

Well, looks like America loves her leaders either demented and geriatric or completely incapacitated and incapable of carrying out their duties. You know my attitude towards Trump--I dislike the guy--and it is time for him to just get out of politics because he blew his chance in 4 years from 2016 through 2020 due to being a demagogue and a coward. But I am on record--the crisis is systemic, meaning it is impossible to fix the machine without fully redesigning it completely, no matter what oil, gears and hoses you change. Didn't I warn about it?

Here is your biggest indicator yet. 

Larry On Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex Before Midterms. Germany And Diesel...

Larry continues to review one very important book ( I need to read it too) on US defense "industry" and comes to the conclusion:

Politics and defense spending are intertwined in ways that most people do not appreciate. I gained some insight into the corruption of this process thanks to my neighbor (when I lived in one of the Washington, DC suburbs). My former neighbor is 15 years younger than me and owns the largest defense lobbying firm in Washington, DC. His job entailed signing up major and minor manufacturers of weapons and military equipment. They paid him hefty monthly fees. In turn, my neighbor–let’s call him “Mr. D”–would wine and dine key members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. He was the man the legislators wanted to see because he could host “dinners” that raised money that was poured in turn to the bank accounts of those members of Congress. Buying influence in Washington is a multi-million dollar business that generates billions for the Defense Industry and has inflicted misery, suffering and death on millions of foreigners. I am afraid that tomorrow’s election in the United States will not alter the defense incest that dominates Washington, DC. The corrupt system will have to be broken by an outside force. What worries me is that the United States, in a moment of hubris, will find itself in a war with Russia or China and will discover the hard way that the expensive weapon systems will fail or be destroyed quickly on the battlefield. Like an alcoholic at the end of his ropes, the system must hit bottom and admit the addiction. Only then is reform possible.  

I agree completely. I also do not think midterms will change much in this respect, but as always--the logic of the events and circumstances sometimes is even stronger than corruption and greed. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Or (I stole it from comments from PJW's excellent video), as they say: My father has been a life long Republican until he died. Then he voted Democrat.(c) LOL)). Watch PJW's superb video and, if anyone ever doubted that PJW was not a neocon--he never was--his position on SMO and Russia completely dispels any speculation on this issue--I continue to watch him with pleasure all the time and I totally get the place he is coming from. Part of my roots is in this place too. 

In related news, Russian Duma has a bill ready for the first reading in which it is forbidden to show German porn in Russia, because it creates unrealistic expectations from young Russians on the speed with which plumbers arrive to customers' homes. This is absolutely impossible in real life and this perception creates absolutely unreasonable expectations from young customers. But jokes aside, Andrei Raevsky posted a superb series by Thorsten J. Pattenberg in which he with a stylish literary finess  demolishes the myth of Germany's "mighty" industry, especially in the modern geopolitical (Chinese) context and a complete degeneration of Germany's current ersatz "culture". He notes:

Germany depends on China’s industries A LOT. China might be the only nation that unconditionally keeps up with the German poop and still deals with the neonazis after Berlin started WW III with Russia this summer. If the Middle Kingdom was Middle Earth [an Anglo-Saxon fantasy world], then the Germans would be the Balin dwarves toiling under the mountains. It would be good for cave king Stoltz to discuss steel legions, rare earth mining, and bolt-throwers. But maybe the German mines ran dry and empty, so the Stoltz people crawled back to the surface with this new business plan of… morally harassing orcses, wizards, and little Chinese girls alike. Germany is a beaten, crushed, debilitated US-occupied nation. It should not exist in this form. But the victorious Western allies did not release these poor wretched people. Instead, they decided to chain them to the BRD regime [Federal Republic of Deutschland] and tell lies about how great it is to change from a glorious 1000-year-old Reich into a homo anal-fixated Iew-worshiping seepage. Watch any US movie and the villains are probably Germans. Also, watch gay porn, German’s best.

Read the whole piece--it is bitter and brilliant. But since we all know Russians are again meddling in US elections, here is another wowser form those evil Rooskies. Trying to figure out Four Reasons Why The U.S. Is Grappling With A Diesel Shortage, they "suddenly" discovered:

But the primary reason is the cutoff of Russian imports. Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. was importing nearly 700,000 barrels per day (BPD) of petroleum and petroleum products. Most of those imports were finished products and refinery inputs that boosted distillate supplies in the U.S. The loss of those Russian imports have caused problems for refineries as they struggle to fill holes in their product slates. Refineries do have a small amount of flexibility in shifting gasoline production to diesel production. But it’s a relatively small amount (e.g., ~5% in a refinery I once worked in). That also means that if refiners do shift production, that also potentially creates shortages in the gasoline market. Some relief is on the way, as some diesel imports are on the way from Europe to the East Coast. But, the distillate market won’t likely return to normal before next summer at the earliest.

Indeed, Russian perfidy knows no bounds. To convince the US to cut off Russian imports--what a plan, what a plan...