Schizophrenia, Anyone?

National Institute of Mental Health defines schizophrenia as a serious mental illness and lists one of its major symptoms, among delusions and hallucinations, as: 

Thought disorder: When a person has ways of thinking that are unusual or illogical. People with thought disorder may have trouble organizing their thoughts and speech. Sometimes a person will stop talking in the middle of a thought, jump from topic to topic, or make up words that have no meaning.

Here is why this thing came to my attention (via Ria.Ru) which reviewed a public opinion poll by ELABE which was reported by French TV Network BFMTV. In this poll ELABE asked next question and received next responces:

Les sanctions économiques contre la Russie jugées pas efficaces pour mettre fin à la guerre. Des Français plus partagés sur l’efficacité du soutien militaire et financier à l’Ukraine. 74% des Français considèrent que les sanctions économiques prises par l’Union Européenne et les pays occidentaux contre la Russie ne sont pas efficaces pour mettre fin à la guerre (dont 51% pas vraiment et 23% pas du tout).

Translation: Economic sanctions against Russia deemed not effective in ending the war French people more divided on the effectiveness of military and financial support for Ukraine 74% of French people consider that the economic sanctions taken by the European Union and Western countries against Russia are not effective in ending the war (including 51% not really and 23% not at all).

There is absolutely nothing sensational about it, if not to consider the OTHER question in this poll:

Face à la pression sur le pouvoir d’achat, l’adhésion aux sanctions contre la Russie et au soutien à l’Ukraine faiblit dans l’opinion publique

Concernant le soutien à l’Ukraine et les sanctions contre la Russie: 40% des Français (-6 depuis le 24 mars) des Français estiment que le soutien à l’Ukraine et les sanctions contre la Russie sont la priorité, même si cela a un impact de plus en plus important sur leur quotidien et le pouvoir d’achat des Français; 32% (-2) qu’il faut continuer de soutenir l’Ukraine et sanctionner la Russie, mais si cela a un impact trop important sur leur quotidien et le pouvoir d’achat des Français, il faudra réduire nos sanctions contre la Russie et notre soutien à l’Ukraine; 27% (+8) que le quotidien et le pouvoir d’achat des Français est plus important que le soutien à l’Ukraine et les sanctions contre la Russie, il faut stopper les sanctions pour rétablir la situation économique et commerciale;

Translation: Faced with pressure on purchasing power, support for sanctions against Russia and support for Ukraine is weakening in public opinion. Regarding support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia: 40% of French people (-6 since March 24) believe that support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia are the priority, even if this has an increasingly significant impact on their daily lives and the power of purchase of the French: 32% (-2) that we must continue to support Ukraine and sanction Russia, but if this has too great an impact on their daily lives and the purchasing power of the French, we will have to reduce our sanctions against Russia and our support for Ukraine.  27% (+8) that the daily life and purchasing power of the French is more important than support for Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia, the sanctions must be stopped to restore the economic and commercial situation  

In simpler words: sanctions do not work but 72% of French still support them. See definition of schizophrenia and thought disorder above. What can I say, the times when rational thought was being birthed in the confines of once great Sorbonne more than 700 years ago are long gone, and the ability to think straight is not a European value anymore. Schizophrenia descended upon Europe, yet, it MUST be understood that this poll also reveals something which I write about for more than a decade--a deep seated Russophobia of a general European population. Some, sometimes significant, exceptions merely confirm the rule.

But then again, rationality left what used to be Western Civilization some time ago, and events in Kharkov Oblast today demonstrate it perfectly with militarily useless PR-driven "offensive" which, as Russia's Permanent Representative to UN Nebenzya stated (in Russian), resulted in fields near Nikolaev, Kharkov and Zaporozhie, "seeded" with thousands of corpses of VSU servicemen, who are not allowed to retreat by "zagrad" detachments. This is the level of military "expertise" in Pentagon and London. Especially since they know they cannot fight such a war. Ah yes, there is other reason for this madness:

Most Americans, Even A Majority Of Democrats, Don’t Want Biden To Run in 2024: Poll

Believe me, it is a huge factor in militarily suicidal decision by Pentagon on this "offensive" in which many thousands of Ukrainians will be killed, and tens of thousands will be wounded. Hey, whatever it takes to save American "democracy", right?

Patrick Armstrong On Governance. And Other News.

I am on record for years that the United States is an ungovernable entity which tries desperately to maintain a decorum of  a functional state. Functional, let alone claiming to be "democratic", states do not have Russiagates being a dominant political factor for years and having an effect of a a cancerous metastasis on the political system as a whole. The United States is not governable in any sense and that is why upcoming virtual meeting between Putin and Biden will have the same agenda which existed since who knows when: NATO, 404 etc (in Russian). You also know that I am on record since the inception of this blog that any treaty or deal agreed upon with the US is not worth the paper it is written on. I am not the only one who thinks like that or in this direction.

Patrick Armstrong left an acerbic comment on his web-site today commenting to Sputnik on Patrushev-Sullivan phone call:  

Answer to question from Sputnik on significance of Sullivan-Patrushev phonecall

None of these questions can be answered until we have an idea who’s in charge in Washington. For example: are Russian troops massing at the Ukraine border — the State Dept says they are, the Pentagon says they aren’t. Is Taiwan part of China or isn’t it? Are they trying to have predictable and stable relations with Russia or are they provoking Russia by arming Ukraine and sending ships and aircraft near Russia? Are they trying to return to the JCPOA, or destroy it for all time? 

The US behaves itself today completely like a schizophrenic (that is, by medical definition) and that is the problem. It is one thing when some EU pipsqueak gets the folie de grandeur bout, totally another when a nuclear superpower begins to behave erratically. So, it doesn't matter what Putin and Biden will decide, on the American side any positive development will be sabotaged and we all know by who. Well, that's Putin's cross to bear to communicate with American POTUSes who since the Clinton tenure in 1990s parade a variety of moral and social anomalies to the world and are incapable to form anything even remotely reminiscent of a common sense policy. 

In related news today, Admiral Gorshkov frigate launched today yet another 3M22 Zircon, it did what it is supposed to do and struck surface target in the White Sea scoring a direct hit (in Russian). The missile will start to arrive to a surface fleet early 2022 and will be deployed on the ships with 3C14 VLS which can accommodate 3M22. For submarines, they will receive already modernized 3M22M, which, most likely, will have longer range and higher speed. 

Sadly, but understandably, Russian MOD cuts off the sound part after (you can clearly hear it) the end of work by booster motor and you can hear only for a second or two a start of the march engine and fading sound of missile itself. It fades ridiculously fast, which means it is already hyper-sonic by the time the sound cuts off. 

Also, Paul Robinson asks the question if: Can a space war be stopped? He laments: 

Most notably, Russia's deployment of hypersonic glide missiles has made the tens of billions of dollars invested by Washington in ballistic missile defence worthless. Even if the Americans could develop some space-based defence system against these missiles, the cost would be gargantuan, and by the time the system could be deployed, new technologies would already have produced counter-measures. The idea that America needs to weaponize space in order to defend itself against nuclear attack doesn't stand up to scrutiny. The Russian anti-satellite test may be seen as an effort to try to force the United States to recognize its vulnerability and so bring it to the negotiating table. This may not work. The gargantuan sums of money mentioned above mean that there are powerful institutional interests in the United States who will resist any such effort. This is highly regrettable. Nobody but generals and arms manufacturers will benefit from an arms race in space. The sooner everyone recognizes this the better.

My answer to this question is very simple: NO, it cannot be stopped. Especially because of the US facing what already is towering in the background as Zevs, whose first mission is planned for 2030. While it is purely scientific mission, military applications for such a system are clear. The United States will, indeed, either throw gargantuan sums of money for PR or will die trying. So, until either of two events happens we will have a steady militarization of space and Russia shooting down a satellite couple of days ago did send shivers down the spines of many in Pentagon. Recall, hailed by many, American shoot down of defunct satellite in 2008. It was intercepted at 247 kilometers. Russia took down Tselina D (Kosmos 1408) from 645 kilometers. That's the difference, which also demonstrated the capability to shoot higher, much higher--precisely where most US recon networks are. So, for now we have to live with the fact that space will continue to be militarized and space-based weapons are coming. Sad, but it is what it is.