Matt Purple Begins To Suspect Something.

 Matt Purple of The American Conservative concludes that:

Our Elites Couldn’t ‘Reset’ a Wall Outlet, Let Alone the Global Economy

Ah, lovely. Some messages finally begin to trickle down and make Purple, using the example of the founder of the World Economic Forum held in Davos, question competence of Western elites. Purple delves into Klaus Schwab's background and ideas, such as proverbial 'Reset': 

Some explanation is in order. Back in 2014, an economist named Klaus Schwab emerged out of the hive of sentient buzzwords that is Davos to declare that it was time for an elite-engineered “Great Reset” of capitalism. There was just one problem: the little people who inhabit economies had been through quite enough disruption of late and weren’t especially keen on more. Schwab’s idea found little purchase outside of the global Gulfstream gentry. ...Just who is this Schwab? You will be relieved to learn that he’s a lifelong academic and founder of the World Economic Forum. And yet, you wonder, does he have any honorary doctorates? He does, in fact, no fewer than 17 of them. Yet it’s here that we damn him with robust praise. Back in parts of the world where bacon-wrapped scallops are not instantly available upon request, policy doesn’t trickle down from globe-girdling theorists; it comes from elected leaders and national civil servants. (What’s the one thing that might make Angela Merkel belly-laugh? Try telling her Jean-Claude Juncker used to run Europe.) And while politicians are occasionally tempted towards radical change, they’re also accountable to voters, whose lives they can’t afford to blow up by, say, holding down the economy’s power button for 10 seconds. Progress has to be more gradual and piecemeal than that. Disruption even amid a pandemic can garner serious pushback.

That explains it a bit why this "scholar", pardon my insult to real scholarship, makes mutually exclusive suggestions in his grand idea of 'Reset'. This IS expected from Western "elites" and Purple's references to Merkel or manifest alcoholic Jean-Claude Junker  hardly makes his case against contemporary Western elites stronger. I am not sure what is the reason behind Junker being drunk whenever dealing with the so called "global" and European economy--maybe the recognition of a deep shit this economy is in--but Merkel, far from laughing belly-laughing herself is a laughing stock of a stateswoman who must serve as an Exhibit A in any future school of government of how not to run the country. 

But I generally agree with Purple, Western "elites", including most of Washington D.C. do not know shit from shinola, which is not that surprising when overwhelming majority of them are the products of humanities programs, which, basically, teach nothing about modern world other than moribund cliches about travails of electoral politics and simulacra of governing. And here is the point--the only skills Western elites have are those of how to run perpetual election campaigns to retain their place at the trough of government spending. Moreover, the United States is not-governable in principle, because it is nothing more than a geographic playground for a political power clans who see themselves only within the framework of monetarist policies and Wall Street's, and military-industrial complex' fat tit of contributions. What governing? What steering the ship of state in the right direction? You are talking about a bunch of white-board "academics"  most of whose life experience was confined to comfortable offices of banks and law firms, with some breaks for lunch or dinners in upscale restaurants, and whose grasp of the geopolitical, economic, military and other relevant realities, or lack thereof, is conditioned by a bunch of "theories" which are nothing more than an excuse for the entrance into the clubs of Western "intellectuals", who, as Purple correctly wonders about Schwab:

I’m starting to wonder whether he could successfully back a car out of a garage.

He can't, neither can modern Western "elites" run anything complex in reality. What the fuck do you expect from some financier or "analyst" who saw CNC machining center on TV and thinks that war is just the matter of sitting at the monitor with joystick. Want to see a parade of morons--look no further than TV and main-stream media. One cretin after another selling you unreality and opinions on matters they cannot possibly have any opinions about. I write about stupidity of West's "elites" for years, decades really. It would have been comical if it wouldn't have been so dangerous because these people, as the irrefutable empirical evidence suggests, will continue to pretend, or believe sincerely, that they have what it takes to save what they themselves helped to run into the ground by their doctrine-mongering. Financial capitalism is not viable, as is not the whole concept of post-modernism and its ugly ejaculate of the white-board "academics"--post-industrialism. One cannot go against fundamental laws of physics and its underlying truism that development which matters for humanity IS energy. More energy--more real development, emphasis on real. Energy, all sorts of it, is material and it proved already that making money is not a substitute for a real technological development and new social reality which cannot be stopped, even by the invention of ANTIFA and BLM, and acts of political pedophilia Greta Thunberg embodies. Those are all acts of desperation by modern Western "elites", who are not ready to face history doing what she always does--continuing its unrelenting step. These "elites" have only two options--either get out of the way or be smashed by whatever method this history will chose, even after we were told that this history has ended.

2020 Hits Hard. Paolo Rossi, RIP.

It hits hard in human sense, not just geopolitical or economic one. Maradona--recently. Now, one of my, and the whole generation, football heroes, the slayer of Brazil and West Germany at World Cup 1982 in Spain, the master of the first deft touch, Paolo Rossi is not with us anymore. He was an ultimate finisher, clinical, unlike anyone there ever was. His ascendance to greatness, same as of the whole Enzo Bearzot's squad, which barely qualified from the group, was a stuff of legends, it still is. You couldn't fail to fall in love with that Azzurri squadron. Paolo was one one of the major reasons for that.    

RIP, legend. Ciao, Paolo. What a team Italy had then!!! The whole epoch is passing. I am sad. Thank you, Paolo, for everything, for magic.

In Oregon She Will Probably Get Promoted.

She, certainly, will become (if not already) a meme, but Oregon (and Washington) are full of this kind of wome... I mean whatever these types identify themselves with nowadays, and this "teacher" has a bright future in her line of work bringing up and "teaching" children. She is a role model and, I am sure, she graduated some liberal arts college, where she excelled in gender studies, or queer studies or whatever "studies". She is a perfect epitome of a Pacific Northwest which, together with other American coastal localities, claim the title of America's "intellectual" hubs. Hey, give her, it, this, whatever she is, a break--she was addressing today, surprisingly, some Oregon protesters against the lock-down. After all, here "students are dying", no really--America needs to review its attitude towards insanity, not that it is not a new normal. America's mental health is a serious concern. 

Oh boy, her, it's, this' huswife is a lucky... it, this ah...whatever. The girl should try for educational secretary in Biden's Admin. Or as an anchor at CNN.   

Couldn't They Put This Guy In Charge Of Voting In Michigan?

Granted, he is living in Denali National Park, but he is well behaved, thorough and very detail-oriented. He should have been in charge of votes count in Michigan. Plus, he wouldn't ask too much in terms of accommodation. Maybe some extra salmon and honey. 

This is a responsible, in fact, exemplary US bea... I mean citizen, who loves his country nice and organized. Can he run for Congress?

On Chubais' Removal And Other Things.

Generally speaking, the removal of odious Anatoly Chubais from the position of a biggest honcho in Rusnano is significant only in terms of symbolism--the author of a barbarian privatization in Russia in 1990s which lead to the economic catastrophe and de facto economic genocide of population deserves everything which may be coming to him. Some say that investigation is coming, if true--good. But by far most important conclusion is that pro-western so called "liberal" elites are in the process of final removal from Russia's governance. Chubais was a symbol of liberal bacchanalia and radical pro-western economic course, meaning, yes, privatization, a non-stop privatization and de-regulation, which, in the long-run was about fragmentation of Russia and radical weakening of it. Some say Chubais is an asset of Western intelligence services, he is certainly the member of the Bilderberg Club and is a representative of the Davos culture in Russia. 

So, he was removed by Putin, who also refused to have a parting meeting with him--a first sign of some trouble coming his way--but let's not overestimate, as some pseudo-patriots do in Russia, Chubais' real significance for modern Russia. Liberal "block" in Russia's economy was on its way out even during Medvedev's tenure as Prime-Minister and coming of brilliant Mishustin and Belousov in their own was basically the finalization of the power transfer in Russia to statehoodniks and, actually, competent people. Chubais' removal is a mopping up operation and s symbolic middle finger to remnants of "liberal" bureaucracy which was contemplating a revenge for a while. But if was Crimea which signed the death sentence for them as a class and a brilliant operation of getting the main financial "distributor" of Russian liberda Michail Abyzov. So, only blind or fanatics wanted to deny the fact that Russia's "liberals" of Gaidar-Chubais mafia were being removed for years now. For people who are not well acquainted with the governance and the nature of political power--for these people nothing other than massive execution of everyone from liberal camp will be satisfactory. Yet, one should never forget that crooks, direct Western intelligence and influence assets, Russophobes have been planted into Russia's powerful bureaucracy since 1990s and instant removal of this cabal would mean a collapse of the system or even massive violence. 

Today we know that the Russian state is strong enough to go for a jugular in corruption and treason and removal of  a cancerous growth and new cadres, real Russian elite, begin to arrive to the stage.  

MOSCOW, December 2. /TASS/. First Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Military-Industrial Commission Sergey Kulikov has welcomed the Russian President’s proposal appointing him as the head of the Rusnano company. Putin invited Kulikov to head the Rusnano company at a meeting on Wednesday. "This is an extremely important task, the dream of any technology investor, and of any manager. This is such a large-scale extraordinary task to create products and conditions for the implementation of our main national advantages at priority rates," Kulikov said, answering the question of the head of state about how he sees his tasks at the new position. Kulikov added that he considers it important to "learn how to turn ideas into products, sales into life cycle contracts with services, and experimental production into industrial ones."

When you read Kulikov's biography--you read Russia's history in effect, because it was always Russia's military-industrial-intelligence complex and its adjacent structures  from where best people of Russia traditionally emerged. It is just the way it is. Russian leaders are either competent former officers or, in general, military leaders, or the country gets Gorbachev and Yeltsin and is thrown into the chaos. For Russia chaos is ending an one can find Kulikov's biography (in Russian) to appreciate what kind of cadres are getting to the top of Russia under the wings of brilliant military-industrial engineers such as Sergei Chemezov and Yuri Borisov. Not since the times of Stalin could you see such a concentration of industrial management and military-industrial talent in one place. This fact also testifies to massive industrial and scientific plans Russia has and it is also clear that Russia asserts herself as a separate geopolitical entity which moves completely on her own irrespective of the external pressures to which she now fully able to respond. 

Which brings us to famous Ivan Krylov's fable "Quartet": 

 "And you, my friends, no matter your positions, 
        Will never be musicians!"

The United States decides that it needs to contain Russia's aggression in Atlantic. 

The Navy's fleet structure is not set up to deal with today's challenges, the service's top civilian leader told lawmakers on Wednesday. Terrorism is no longer the biggest threat facing the U.S., Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite said during a hearing on Navy and Marine Corps readiness. Threats from Russia and China are increasing, and the Navy must reorganize to address them. "To meet the unique maritime challenges of the Atlantic theater, we will rename Fleet Forces Command as the U.S. Atlantic Fleet," Braithwaite said. "We will refocus our naval forces in this important region on their original mission -- controlling the maritime approaches to the United States and to those of our allies."

Let me be very clear here--I do respect, in fact there is a lot of admiration for the US Navy, its history, its accomplishments, but this is not, in 2020, a navy whose problem is in the structure. It is not the structure which is "not set up"--it is the whole thing which, as Krylov's says--no matter your position--is not a force capable to fight XXI century naval war. US Navy simply has no tools to do so. Of course, the US Navy's submarine force is excellent, advanced but other than that, modern US Navy is the navy built around Sea Control as it was conceived in the middle of the XX century. Sure, one can "change structure" and build more aircraft carriers, as an example, but how can such a navy control approaches "to the United States and to those of our allies"? How can any navy do this today? Sure, one can build all kinds of bases, increase number of the Patrol/ASW aircraft, build more frigates and destroyers, which, granted US' economic situation is a whole other matter altogether. But how can US Navy "control maritime approach" to, say, Europe? Hm. Russia doesn't really need navy to rearrange stones in every NATO's European country, including sinking all their navies in their bases. 

If those navies, in case of war, manage to get out of bases, it makes very little difference in terms of survivability of surface assets against modern strike weapons. I am constantly on record that four-five MiG-31Ks operating from Khmeimim base in Syria "close off" pretty much whole of Mediterranean for any type of naval force practically to the entrance of Gibraltar Strait, with the news of latest dedicated anti-shipping version of 3M54 Kalibr having the range of 1,500 kilometers or disclosure of updated 4,500 kilometer range 3M14's capable of hitting moving targets, I mean, come on. Let's be real. What is "control". In case of real war, God forbids, Russia simply will shut off the space around Europe and even Caspian Flotilla will have little problem targeting anything in Persian Gulf and I mean ships. Now, Russia, having permission to set up a base in Sudan, the treaty allows simultaneous basing of four ships, including with nuclear propulsion, has some plans. Just imagine newly modernized Admiral Nakhimov "parked" in the Red Sea. All those Zircons, Kalibrs and Onikses and who knows what else will be packed into the Red Sea. What a lovely place to control ALL of the Middle East. Times changed, so did warfare. If I would have told anyone in 2010 that two small missile ships of Buyan-class can launch 16 anti-shipping missiles (M=2.9 supersonic on terminal) from Caspian Sea and sink or damage dramatically a whole fleet, including aircraft carrier, in Persian Gulf--I would have been looked at as a madman, or laughed at. Nobody laughs in 2020. Simple as that. I warned about paradigm shift for years.

Any Chance We Can Move Alissa Milano To Minneapolis?

No, not Minneapolis of Mary Tyler Moore. Come on, that was such a lovely town, no, I mean it: 

I am talking about this Minneapolis:

Minneapolis has suffered a surge in crime that has coincided with a severe shortage of police officers. Undeterred, City Council members want to make further cuts to law enforcement.Police have registered a 537-percent increase in violent carjackings in the city compared with last November, the local Star Tribune reported. More than 125 such crimes have been recorded over the past two months, with three separate carjackings reported within a one-hour period on Saturday morning. One of the victims, an elderly woman, was struck on the head by her assailants. “The numbers are staggering,” a Minneapolis police spokesperson told the paper. “It defies all civility and any shred of common human decency.” Authorities have blamed the crime wave on “small groups of marauding teens,” but acknowledged that adults have also been arrested in connection to the string of carjackings. The surge in this type of attack has prompted the city’s police force to create a new coding system to help keep track of the criminal acts. The spree of carjackings isn’t the only public safety crisis facing the city: An analysis by the Star Tribune in September found that violent crimes – including homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assaults – were up 17 percent from the previous five-year average for this period.More than 500 people have been shot in Minneapolis so far this year, the highest number of gunshot victims in more than a decade. The Minnesota metropolis has also seen 79 homicides since January, a figure approaching the record annual murder count of 97 in 1995, which earned the city the title of “Murderapolis” in the New York Times. 

As I stated on many occasions, I think any city which voted for "progressive" agenda, especially for "defund the police" shouldn't have any police presence at all, especially in districts and counties which voted Democrat, not that I like GOPers, they are also POS, but at least they sell you out not so blatantly and behind the scene. For example, Seattle doesn't need a Police. In fact, Seattle PD should be disbanded and good police officers should be afforded the move to other communities where they will be hired immediately and provided with the support of the communities which will gladly see Law Enforcement Officers moving into their locations. Meanwhile, Mayor of Seattle and Seattle City Council members should be issued protection by Social Workers. I am sure governor Inslee, being a swell dude who looked the death in the eye not for once (wink, wink), will also entrust his personal safety (and his family's) to the members of ANTIFA and BLM. Same goes for the shithole known as Portland, OR. 

In the same time, Californians, who turned Pacific Northwest into a shithole since 1990s, after turning their own state into the third world shithole, should be really looked at attentively--wherever these guys move the real estate market goes bananas and once nice places turn into dumpsters. There is something about these guys, I guess you can take a person out of California, you cannot take California out of this person. I guess the infection's source is Hollywood and campuses in California, and then it spreads up the coast, turning once nice places into, well... shitholes. But then again, you cannot reason with these people, especially if they were dumbed down and brainwashed into graduate degrees in social work or gender studies, so no use to even try. I guess, this is a new American reality and looking at Minneapolis, Seattle or Portland one can officially declare the death of the American city as such. After all, Chicago, let alone Detroit and even NYC have been rotting and poisoning environment around them with their putrid odor for a long time now. Real America with more or less sane people lives primarily, not exclusively, outside cities.

Dmitry Orlov wrote today a very good piece and one phrase in it attracted my attention because I and my editor are a half-way in editing my, now completed, book. Here is what Dmitry says: 

Collapse is bad enough when you and everyone around you can acknowledge it. But if everyone from the president (pick either one) to the lowliest convenience store clerk is incapable of accepting it as real and thinking through some of the immediate consequences, that makes it much, much worse. I refuse to accept any of the responsibility for this dreadful state of affairs; I've been doing all I can to warn people for a decade and a half now. It is now pointless for me to issue any more warnings. All I can do now is watch the inevitable unfold.   

I can only subscribe to every word here. Any chance we can move Alicia Milano to Minneapolis? I am sure many would even be willing to participate in crowdfunding this move. Where is Ted Baxter when you need one.

Yep, Sounds About Right.

 One of those few times I agree with Lou Dobbs.