Then Lucy Thomas is one of them. Her outward and internal beauty, not to speak of an absolutely breathtaking singing, is what must be defined as one of standards of human and artistic beauty if we ever want to come to our senses. I agree, the beauty is in the eye of a beholder, but this girl's "message" in a variety of ways is so powerful that it must be recognized, especially in the post-modernist world of visual, sonic and behavioral ugliness sold as the next "big thing".
There is, definitely, some emotionally healing element in what she does. Enjoy.
So called "realists" in the US have no real chance to change US foreign policy no matter what they do and no matter how they try to convince themselves that they have a shot at it without addressing a fundamental issue of the American nationhood and economic system. To start with: large portions of the American "realists" are beholden primarily, not exclusively, to GOP, which is a party of cowards well entrenched with the military-industrial complex and values of Washington Consensus. So, do bees hate honey? Moreover, American "realists" have no real narrative, because they cannot have one in the only framework they know--and this one, yet again, assumes America's primacy in economy and military matters. This is not to say that "realists" do not understand a simple fact that the United States simply cannot fight and win modern wars against even mildly competent enemy--some of them do understand that--it is just that any appeals to "restrain" or attempts to engage overwhelmingly dominant neocon interventionist D.C. establishment in some "scholarly", presumed to be "rational", discussion is a waste of time. This is not to say that "realists" do not try.
A week or so ago there was a tempest in the ideological teacup of America's "strategizing" circles when utterly neocon and incompetent Foundation for Defense of Democracies (I know, I know--it is hilarious) released yet another, in the long list of the US geopolitical wet dreams, "strategy" on how to "defend" the US by means of "forward defense", which is, when translated from pseudo-academic lingo of "specialists" in US security means simply--more money and more interventions. This whole collection of essays is duly noted by Daniel Larison who writes:
This is all true but how about we follow my advice from a long time ago and concentrate not on the same old, regurgitated constantly, America' "strategies" which simply do not work--US military record in the last 20 years is abysmal across the board--from technological dimension to operational and strategic ones--but on personalities. Show me any tangible result, any attainment of serious political objective by the United States anywhere, under any conditions, including having sometimes overwhelming material preponderance over American "enemies", many of who are not enemies at all. Right. But then Larison makes a crucial mistake--he begins to "negotiate" with such characters as former national Security Advisor H.R. McMaster or other sinecures' abusers such as Jonathan Schazner or shady pro-Israeli "venture capitalist" as Mark Dubowitz. Larison engages:
Not surprisingly, the consistent misreadings and distortions of history
are some of the biggest flaws in the report. Bradley Bowman and Clifford
May rattle off historical “facts” about wars throughout history that
elide far more than they reveal. For instance, they speak of
“Persian-Roman wars” running from the battle of Carrhae between the
Roman Republic and the Parthians to the battle of Nineveh in the seventh
century between the Byzantines and the Sasanians. That lumps together
many different regimes and dynasties in very crude fashion, and it also
misleads the reader into thinking that conflict was incessant when it
was not.
This is a mistake. Or, rather several mistakes by Larison.
1. You cannot argue with neocons, or, for that matter with majority of US punditry, but especially neocons, based on the merit of historic facts because:
a) History is not a valid "science", because often it barely can present even a limited number of causalities, which can still be challenged by opponents. If that wouldn't be the case, we wouldn't have had a vibrant and, actually, prospering field of gross revisionism, some of it reaching a full blown grotesque.
b) For any person with a mildly decent education and being an avid reader it would be not difficult to produce even on the bases of exhaustive research several mutually contradicting narratives on the single event.
2. So, when even very recent history, well documented and archived, including using modern means of movie documentaries, photographs etc. produces this:
It is down right risible trying to argue about the realities of the events which took place 2000+ years ago with the technologies of spears and bows and arrows and the economy of Roman Empire. Boy, talk about being (ir)relevant in a discussion with people from FDD most of who never saw modern weapon up-close, or, if military as McMaster or Ben Hodges, have a whopping record of military and national security failures.
If the United States "history" field saw it as totally normal and natural to steal valor from USSR in WW II, I guess even most recent events in which the United States claimed "victory" over ISIS, merely prove my point. Remember? Two years ago:
What "history" are we talking about here? And WHO are those "historians"? McMaster who still cannot resign himself to the fact that the United States sustained humiliating defeat in Vietnam and still tries to "replay" the war? Does he, or Ben Hodges even have a clue on what it means to be under sustained fire impact in real war? I don't think so, as I repeat ad nauseam--no American soldier fought in defense of his motherland. None, zilch, nada. McMaster is altogether a comical figure who apart from commanding a tank regiment against supremely incompetent Iraqi military, has no serious operational experience commanding a division, corps, let alone army or army group. These people are losers primarily on the merit which only matters in issues of polices and actual strategies which work--being a true statesman. Many of them, actually, know or sense this about themselves and that is why they are dealing in Bullshit, not reality. I remind you again--remember my advice? Do not argue with them on the merit, especially of such a propaganda-driven "history" as it is taught in the US--go for ad hominem. Yes, question human, academic and other relevant qualities of people most of who wouldn't qualify in normal country to run a gas station or maintain an apartment block. None of them have any grasp of what will happen to them when their families and livelihood, their country will come under fire. Let's face it--all of them are a small league doctrine-mongers. As I wrote more than three years ago:
There is no point whatsoever in arguing with those people. Only pointing out to a pathetic state in which the United States resides today, as well as constantly proving those people ignorant on the account of the modern warfare to which US Armed Forces are utterly unprepared and exposing those people's incompetence and corruption, not discussing with them some irrelevant ancient history's minutiae, only then some effect could be achieved. But I don't hold my breath: for starters most of "realist" people in the US suffer from the same historic and military ignorance and, finally, very few of them have courage to admit to themselves that the United States is not this irresistible hegemonic superpower but a country which is in a dramatic, precipitous decline, across the board and no amount of attempts to draw grossly inaccurate parallels to ancient history, not to speak of learning all the wrong lessons, will change the dynamics of global military and economic balance in which the United States finds itself increasingly marginalized, not to speak of being laughed at. The United States got lucky in 1945, it blew it. As for "forward defense", boy--same shit just the view from a different angle.
In related news, Shaposhnikov, meanwhile undergoes trials and shoots good ol' X-35 Uran in the Sea of Japan. Kalibrs, I guess, are next.
But it is a New Year time and Shoigu opened yesterday a Winter Festival in the park Patriot. It is a joyful and very symbolic occasion against the background of the magnificent main cathedral of Russian Armed Forces.
I cannot emphasize enough the powerful symbolism behind all that. Life continues and it is well defended in spirit and weapons.
Project 971 subs (NATO: Akula, in reality--Schuka, Pike) are great ships, always were. Extremely silent, reliable and overall one of those things which belong to the category of "if ain't broke, don't fix it" technology. Modernize? Sure, but don't "fix" it. Now, one of these subs Leopard underwent totally expected modernization with adding to her this nasty ability to launch Kalibr family missiles and who knows what else. But this is not what is funny about the ceremony of getting her out in the open. Listen to the music.
Hark, what are those charming sounds? Of course, who can forget:
Ah, Russian mindfuckery again, LOL. What kind of hints are Russians sending. Albeit, truth to be told, Russian subs armed with 3M14 and even 3M54 do not need to get near Texas. But the point, of course, is simple--if ain't broke, don't fix it. Project 971 SSNs are superb subs which have a lot of life left in them and armed with all those "toys" such as Kalibrs, Onikses and Zircons their deadliness increases many folds. Among new things, SU-57 started its serial delivery to air force.
Basically, all this BS of the past few years that SU-57 ran into problems, that Russia cannot produce it etc. as always turned out to be exactly that, a BS and a butthurt of Western military porn enthusiasts who still think that modern war is some kind of iteration of WWII with armadas of aircraft engaged in the air to air combat akin to strategic bombing operations by Allies or massive fighter brawls over Kursk or Kuban in 1943.
Meanwhile, yet another corvette of pr. 20380--Hero of Russia Aldar Tsydenzhapov--is officially commissioned to Pacific Fleet. Recent maneuvers with MiG-31Ks carrying hypersonic Kinzhals with them relocating to Far East bases, shows that Russia increases her options and shows support to China... just in case. I am sure when Admiral Nakhimov with all her 174 VLS tubes packed with Zircons, Kalibrs and a variety of AD missiles will be re-commissioned to Russian Navy they will be playing this:
In what country the Commander of the Air Force has the name of.... Sergei DRONov. This is really ominous when the guy in charge of the only air force which can destroy pretty much anything globally has a second name like this.
Yes, his second name is Dronov--what kind of mindfuckery is that. He was born in 1962 and that tells you that Soviets were contemplating drones already then. Now, that this guy runs Russian combat aviation, one shouldn't be surprised with the fact that one of TU-95s yesterday controlled a Dronov...ahem, I mean a drone. Then this thing flies as an interceptor and dog-fighter, not just a sidekick for SU-57.
What kind of sick routine do Russians run? Can you imagine a reaction in Pentagon and CIA when in 2019 they learned that Russia's Air Force commander's second name is Dronov. What's next? Russian Navy's new commander with a second name of Bigmotherfuckingcarrierov, or Strategic Missile Forces Commander Onefuckingdeadlymissilov? You know, Russians, you can never trust them, just be on the lookout for their second names. After all, Putin means Path in Russian and who knows where this path will take those damn Russians;)))
Generally speaking, when you have two TU-95MS capable of carrying 16 X-101/102 cruise missiles with a range of 5000+ kilometers--the message cannot get any clearer.
As ABC notes:
It follows Russian President Vladimir Putin's statement in October that
the idea of a future Russia-China military alliance can’t be ruled out —
a signal of deepening military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing
amid growing tensions in their relations with the United States.
It is, certainly, a very high level military cooperation once one considers that both types of bombers are nuclear capable and this joint patrol gives a taste of Russia's involvement with China, and vice-versa. of course, traditional Western media routine followed with headlines like this:South Korea scrambles jets as Chinese, Russian aircraft enter air defense zone. But it is a pretty routine thing for aircraft to cross many countries' "air defense zones" while not violating national airspace. Once one considers a concentrated dysfunction on the display in the United States, some reminders about red lines become necessary because today, with the United States--who knows. The country is, for all appearances, collapsing in a sense that it is a perfect storm of a systemic and institutional disintegration. One MUST ask questions about what is going on when the law of the land is being gang-raped, together with common sense and morality, with none other than former AG Barr entering the mode "nothing to see here, folks, move along, move along".
This whole thing is a wowser--I can see, obviously, a reaction in Russia on that and it is one of disbelief. A third world country run by mafia still pretending that it is "free" and is "democracy". It is a pathetic show of law and order being thrown out of the window by "elites" who are corrupt and unprincipled to the utmost. If you think you have seen it all, wait for this. The Nation, US preeminent lefty magazine produced this few days ago:
Meanwhile, Washington still cannot pass a normal Stimulus Bill which is urgently needed to give desperate tens of millions of people some relief in the what passes for the economy, which is in a state of paralysis. Merry Christmas, you, deplorables. The scale of a clusterfuck the United States has become defies the imagination. The signs are unmistakable--the dysfunction metastasized and threatens to grow into a complete chaos. Most likely it will before turning America into the Orwellian nightmare. We are getting there. As I always say, drawing any historic parallels is a fool's errand, this is an uncharted territory because the world changed so much.
Meanwhile in a truly bizarre world of America's greatest nation that ever was, circus continues:
Demoralized Russian Armed Forces and intelligence services are about to capitulate unconditionally and declaration of unconditional surrender due to American sanctions to follow shortly, any minute now. Or maybe not. That is why Russian-Chinese full-blown military alliance may be closer than we think--its contours are already visible now. In fact, it could be the only thing which can prevent the US from going rogue fully, but then, God help us all.
This is a famous (in fact, genius) Georgi Sviridov's music piece Time, Forward.
You may not know it, but at least half of this clip is not Soviet--it is American. Here is a full "American version" of it dedicated to the builders of... Hoover Dam.
Funny, when you think how Soviet music fits great industrial undertakings and revolutionary change in the society. It needs to be a crescendo of industrial prowess and creative scale. Same as it was with Soviet ascendance.
Similarities are uncanny. But I already wrote about this exclusive league of nations who can create, truly. The foundation of it is a labor of people. Generally, people need a dream (not us, of course, we are too sophisticated and "deep", nah, I am screwing with you) but we still live in industrial world and ability to make things, small and immense in scale is what really matters. But I thought it was funny how universal Sviridov's incredible industrial music piece was. Not to speak of it being an icon of progressive rock, which Avtograph delivered with authority.
