Lavrov And Gerasimov "Inform" Merkel.

It is rather a peculiar development. No, not the fact of Lavrov meeting Frau Kanzlerin in Berlin as was agreed prior with Vladimir Putin. Nothing special about that. What is special and peculiar is that Frau Merkel also met with:

The meeting, agreed last week by Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin, was also attended by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and the head of Russia’s military general staff Valery Gerasimov, said the spokeswoman in a statement.No further details were given.

Valery Gerasimov is not the kind of guy who attends diplomatic meetings, him being present in Berlin together with Russia's foreign minister signals something very important in the making. Discussing Syria? Sure, seems natural but as Russia's news agencies report and I quote: "The issue of Ukraine was also discussed". I think, that this is it. 

Syria, no matter how important it is for the world today, would not have necessitated the Chief of General Staff to be in Berlin and meet the head of German State. After all, Berlin plays secondary role in Syria and, in fact, failed to participate in any meaningful military way there in supporting all kinds of terrorist groups, aka "rebels", "Free Syrians", unikorns etc. Ukraine, however, is a totally different issue. It was Frau Merkel and her cabal of sycophants both internal and external, who made Germany one of the main driving forces behind Ukrainian catastrophe which followed a violent coup inspired and financed by the combined West. So, Germany is one of the major culprits in creating a black hole in the midst of Europe and, accidentally, one of the main drivers behind hysterical Russophobia in Europe. We all know very well how "free" and "independent" German media are.         

So, is anything drastic expected to happen in Ukraine which is in a tail spin economically and mentally? Consider this:

1. Triumphant World Cup in Russia is over. 

2. Russia is surprisingly nonchalant about all those economic sanctions (hey, Deutschland, rings a bell?) by EU and here are two among a vast stream of facts which tell that Russia is getting ready to react "dramatically" to something (Ukrainian violence against Donbass).

Fact A: Russia is to completely localize (in Russian) manufacturing of high power gas turbines by 2019, moreover huge tax breaks will be given to companies using Russian-made equipment.  Recall who played huge role in this business in Russia prior to Ukrainian events? Right, Siemens.  Recall who is also a major player in this field in Russia? Right, General Electric. Hm. This is not manufacturing of lingerie, Ladies and Gentlemen, we are talking here about. 

Fact B: Russia raised, entirely legitimately, the pain threshold for Ukraine in and around Azov Sea. Now Ukraine will pay dearly for taking hostage the crew of Russian fishing vessel Nord. All, in violation of the mutually-agreed status of Azov Sea. This is not to mention, of course, some threats to blow up Kerch bridge which periodically heard from Ukraine. 

3. Ah, yes. Helsinki. Recall Putin's offer to hold referendum in Donbass, recall his very own warning to Ukraine not to do stupid things since it will be...well, the end of current Ukrainian statehood.   

Now, once one considers that Ukraine is an anti-Russia asset for globalist cabal in Washington and is, in fact, under the external control of Obama's operatives, against the facts that this whole Russiagate thing goes nowhere and fast, it is not only possible, but highly probable that people such as former VP Biden or HRC's State Department operatives (never discount McCain here), DNC and others will not be, in their desperation, against some conflagration in Ukraine. In fact, it becomes a very probable scenario--anything to sabotage Russian-American relations in general and Presidency of Donald Trump in particular.  It is a general scenario but this is precisely a scenario which would necessitate highly professional explanations from Chief of General Staff to some German state bureaucrat, however highest of them all, what she and her vassals in Europe must expect if their very own German Sons of Bitches in Ukraine will unleash a provocation which will provide enough Casus Belli for Russia's Southern Military District to start the final countdown for criminal Kiev regime and its pure Nazi accomplices. But these are just my thoughts. Boy, would I love to hear at least 5 minutes of Trump-Putin conversation tete-a-tete in Helsinki. In the same time, I can only imagine what kind of revulsion both Lavrov and Gerasimov felt towards this German leader who managed, after almost 70 years of Germany being denazified to help spawn a truly Nazi regime in Kiev.     

UPDATE: Lavrov and Gerasimov are already in Paris (in Russian) and met with Macron. In case of Paris visit, discussing Syria is natural, yet Ukraine was discussed there too. Hm. Syria, I can understand, Ukraine--well, one is left guessing now. 

Asia Times' Review Of The Book By Pepe Escobar.

Here is the fresh, in depth, coverage of my book by Pepe Escobar in Asia Times. I post here some opinions expressed in the review. You can find the whole piece here:  

Here’sthe real reason the US must talk to Russia. 

A new book details why future historians may well identify Putin’s landmark March 1 speech as the ultimate game-changer in the 21st century New Great Game in Eurasia

From quoting Alexis de Tocqueville and Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace to revisiting the balance of power during the Soviet era and beyond, Martyanov carefully tracks how the only nation on the planet “which can militarily defeat the United States conventionally” has reacted to a situation where any “meaningful dialogue between Russia and America’s politicians is virtually impossible.”

What is ultimately revealed is not only a case of disregarding basic Sun Tzu – “if you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles” – but most of all undiluted hubris, turbocharged, among a series of illusionistic positive feedback loops, by Desert Storm’s “turkey shoot” of Saddam Hussein’s heavily inflated, woefully trained army.

 Or: 

Martyanov’s must-read book is the ultimate Weapon of Myth Destruction (WMD). And unlike the Saddam Hussein version, this one actually exists. As Putin warned (at 7:10 in the video), “They did not listen to us then.” Are they listening now?  

1982.

San Remo 1982:

Paolo Rossi, Dino Zoff, Gaetano Shirea, Conti, Tardelli, Altobelli, Orialli...

Of course, bone-crushing Gentille, Colovatti and legend Enzo Bearzott. Half of them from Old Signora--Juventus. It was the year of Azzuri in USSR. It was also the year of magical Antonella Ruggiero and Matia Bazar:

Ahhh, those Rich and Poor. 

Remember This?

THE ultimate in (portable) sound. 

Still The Best

Russians have this thing about staying loyal to good times (and good music, from rock to pop) even after decades. And these Austrian guys certainly made an impact in 1980s. That is why Moscow has this Discotheque of 1980s and people come there to see and listen to their special musicians. I always count myself to be a good serious listener to my favorite blues, jazz, fusion, progressive rock, but once in a while I still yield to glam, mood and... nostalgia. Plus, it is Friday. 

John Mearsheimer And Stephen Cohen--Succinct.

No comments are needed. Listen attentively to Mearsheimer's remark on "freedom" in geopolitical sense.  That is pure, distilled and very healthy Realism--the way it is supposed to be.

 

So, Russians Are Also Humans.

Would you believe that? I didn't know that I am human until I stumbled upon Vzglyad's article on this issue this morning. I thought they exaggerated and I followed the whole thing to the source--namely Die Tageszeitung, and lo and behold, Andreas Ruttenauer of this newspaper after visiting World Cup in Russia did arrive to this controversial conclusion that:

           Russen und Russinnen sind also auch Menschen

Yes, yes, we Russians, are also people--not horses, not sheep, not fish, not even cockroaches--but humans, granted, genetically inferior in accordance to America's former top spy. Can you imagine that? What a relief. So, I am very pleased with the fact that Herr Ruttenauer--a fine product of contemporary German so called "culture" and its media--finally figured that out. I will go even further and will disclose to an incisive and wonderful representative of famed school of German journalism that Russians also drive cars, dress well and, generally, call things the way they see them and, unlike fine German intellectual class--Russians call rape a rape, sodomy a sodomy and they do not use political correctness. In fact, Russians, for some unknown reason, have no use for it at all. 

So, may I, as finally identified as a human, however genetically inferior untermensch, propose to Herr Ruttenauer that average Russian today is on the order of magnitude freer than any German and for all Russia's real problems--things like mass rapes with blaming victims for being raped are not possible in Russia. In Germany, however, it is rather normal occurrence and German media go out of their way to hide that thus promoting a culture of degeneracy and crime. After all, German men, with active participation of its media, were completely emasculated and Germany is being turned into multi-cultural cloaca, one can only expect to see anti-rape fashion growing there. It is impossible to imagine such a "progressive" trend in this backward Russia where women still remain women and do expect their men to defend them, until law enforcement arrives. Indeed, life expectancy for rapists in Russian prisons drops precipitously compared to other felons. For some reasons Russians are having old fashioned sexual relations between man and a woman, don't appreciate "sexual education" for children and resist European "culture" with all their means. Maybe this is why they are still human, right? As Margarita Simonyan suggested to this high moral ground German journalist--why wouldn't he try to replace word Russians in his article with Jews? I think Ruttenauer should try it and see what happens. 

The Ambiguity Of Russia's Foreign Policy.

Oh, Sergei Viktorovich, but who would blame you when such a beautiful woman is next to you. Wait, he must be looking at cameras;-)) 

Nice Cameras.