Though it may slip under the radar, particularly due to the West’s obvious desire to keep it quiet, to me the actual most consequential news of the day is that we have a semblance of the first truly genuine, high level confirmation that Zaluzhny may in fact be kaput.
May 25, 2023·edited May 25, 2023Liked by Simplicius
I'm pretty sure he's dead or a vegetable. Even if he was a vegetable they'd probably show a video in hospital of him "recovering" as proof he'll back in fighting shape in no time just like Ukraine. You can't keep a "good" nazi down and all that. The west is lready doing weekend at Bernies routines with the likes of Biden & Dianne Feinstein if they could do it Zaluzhnyi the would the fact they haven't means he's probably dead. I'm surprised they haven't claimed he's gone full Rambo and is fighting on holding Bahkmut by himself.
The Ukrainian channel that distributed this video doesn't mention that this is the era of the deep fake, in which video evidence is readily forged. A video is no longer proof of anything. Unfortunate, perhaps, but true.
The "general" never turns his head, and the "interviewer" turns the camera to him to increase dramatic effect. Plus, the general has time for a brief appearance on a show but can't make a normal public appearance?
Devushka itself made the point with a follow-up post:
I confess that the uncanny, easy shift of facial features caught me believing that the impersonations were actually the impersonator simply changing facial expression.
But the real issue is simpler. Zaluzhny has been an important public face of Ukraine for a long time. Why disappear at this critical moment? Why the need for the fakes that have appeared, including one that I saw from a Ukrainian military source on Facebook? Why not an indisputable, even semi-public appearance? With the general being important to Ukrainian morale, it seems that hiding him would damage morale considering the rumors going around. It looks off.
Sounds practical to me. A better solution would be for Russian hunter/killer teams to assassinate all Zionist overlords in a synchronised attack wherever they are. Just a few hundred at the top should do it.
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12FOR OUR STRUGGLE IS NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and AGAINST THE SPIRITUAL FORCES OF EVIL IN THE HEAVENLY REALMS . 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Everyone always comments on how this war is lining Pentagon and US MIC pockets.
Why you think it's not the same for Russia?
I mean, I've worked with a few companies that were Rostekh partners, you can't imagine what amount of money everyone is shoveling down on the back of the SMO.
Russia is absolutely capable of continuing this conflict indefinitely, at least at this level of commitment. From my couch I can deduct that's the whole plan, since Ukraine is militarily de-industrialialized and no amount of land-lease can cover up lack of homegrown, safe production.
A lot of westerners like to point out how the land-lease saved USSR, but leave out the part that USSR moved its MIC production behind the Urals where Nazis couldn't strike. The land-lease bought time for that shift, true, but in the end, it was pumping out tanks and warplanes by the thousands, was what really sealed the deal.
Ukraine doesn't have Urals. It doesn't have a comparable - to Russia - MIC. Western companies wouldnt dream of building a tank factory in a place thats easily reachable by missiles.
So all the ukrops can do, is buy. But that's not really sustainable in a war of slow attrition.
As we say here: "while the fat man slims, the thin man dies".
Go and educate yourself - read Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, for example:
May 24 – Ep. 88 -- Dems’ New Star—Manhattan Billionaire Heir Dan Goldman—Fiercely Defends Security State. Plus: Jeffrey Sachs’ Break w/ the Establishment on Ukraine, COVID, & More
Jeffrey Sachs: US biotech cartel behind Covid origins and cover-up
Prof. Jeffrey Sachs is the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and the President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
He has also served as the chair of the COVID-19 (year-long) commission on the virus origin for leading medical journal the Lancet.
Russia was prepared. The "West" wasn't. Russia has an industrial base, of which a large part is specialized in War Production.
Most Russians know that Americans and Europeans are taught (and believe) they should hate Russians. With little concern of their helpless ignorance.
Someone in the USA, likely the Donald and/or RFK, jr. will need to upset the War Mongering messaging, since the bulk of the American People do NOT want this war.
I'm going off on a bit of a long-winded tangent here, but I think this needs to be said.
Please, time here is relative.
In any case, time is definitely on Russia's side here.
Russia has shown that it is willing and able to commit the people and other resources to see this fight to the finish.
However long it takes.
This has become a war of attrition, not of movement.
Kiev lost the opportunity for movement when it couldn't quickly push Russia out of their territory before Russia rooted itself.
That opportunity came and went a year ago.
Some would say 2014 when Russia took Crimea.
Whatever the case may be, now it's much too late.
Kiev has aggravated Russia to such an extent that it most likely won't even negotiate anymore.
All it probably wants to see now is Zelensky and his scumbags dead and gone.
And that is exactly what is happening.
Slowly and extremely painfully for the people of Ukraine.
In wars of attrition whoever can last longest militarily will be able to force their will on the other party.
Here that is Russia.
It has very short lines of supply, centuries of experience and the masses of people and resources needed to fight a large war of attrition.
Russia can maintain this level of effort and more for at least the next year or two - even though it is immensely expensive and a terrible drain on the country.
Probably indefinitely with some reorganization and China's help.
Economics are the sinews of war.
You can only fight a war as long as your economy can sustain it.
There is no way Ukraine can match Russia.
It is a shambling zombie being propped up by it's "partners" - especially the US.
Partners that are losing interest as their own populations are becoming restive because they see their idiotic "leaders" making dumb decisions that are not in their interests and throwing away their hard earned money, their and their children's futures and are quickly causing their living standards to go to the dogs.
They ask themselves these questions:
Why should we suffer for Ukraine?
That's a conflict that, in actual fact, has virtually nothing to do with us.
To put it brutally:
If Ukraine disappears tomorrow, then how will it affect us?
The answer is:
It probably won't affect us much - if at all.
So, why should we care?
Let Russia squish them then.
Let Ukraine disappear like mist in front of the morning sun.
It is expensive and a drain because Russia has to use people that would have been part of it's economy ( I.e. busy generating GDP) in it's armed forces. Armed Forces which have these main purposes: Making war, destroying its enemies and preventing them from attacking the Russian civilian population.
That is really expensive and draining to any country.
That said, I am a white South African.
I have first hand experience of Russia (As the old USSR) making war in South Africa’s Bush War.
Russia learned long ago how to fight wars on the cheap - something neither the US nor Europe or their allies ever seems to have learned.
That doesn't make Russia any less effective or reduces its ability to give its enemies nasty surprises though.
What it does do is exponentially increase Russia’s ability to fight long wars of attrition.
I.e. outlast its opponents while constantly grinding down their ability to resist and completely destroying their armed forces in the process.
To my mind this is exactly what's happening to Zelensky and his crew.
Got it, thanks for clarifying. I completely agree. The West was hoping for the financial shock to cripple Russia. There was never going to be military solution against Russia tht would bring it down. Once that backfired, they were toast. Now it's just a matter of time, and time is what the West just does not have. I mean, look at Chechnya - look at how long Russia dealt with that. They are not afraid for a long war. They will do - as they have done throughout their history - whatever it takes.
Not that my opinion counts for jack sh*t but perrsonally I'm pretty sick of Prigozhin running his mouth at this point. I was sick of it a while ago. I thought it was maskirovka for a long time now I'm not sure I am sure he needs to STFU.
If he's not doing a master-level psyop, his complete lack of discipline is an embarrassment for the Russian MoD and political leadership, as they should not allow this insubordination to continue.
Your summary of casualty summary best defines my confusion. The glimmer of mathematical hope is in that French article which damages Ukrainian hope. It's ironic that the unnecessary slaughter, on both sides, of clerks, cashiers and other people like us, is the path to peace.
Worked, thanks. I assume that's a mirror of Archive.org. It's scary that there are forces afoot to take down internet archives, a move that would assist propagandists. Imagine a world with ChatGPT propaganda 24hrs a day and no archive to hold them responsible - https://blog.archive.org/2023/03/25/the-fight-continues/
This is only further confirmation that THE SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN is hell bend to rather drag EVERYTHING into THE ABYSS it created itself than succumbing to servitude to THE TRUTH and THE LIFE.
Good info as always. And I'm sure some of the other people to whose Substacks I subscribe can see that I comment here and assume that I'm pro-war so long as it's anti-Empire. On that point, Simplicius, are 'major' Substack authors, presumably with access to better tools than the rest of us, able to see what your subscribers do elsewhere at Substack? I've always been curious based on some strange behavior from a few of the others after I started commenting on your page.
No, to my knowledge I can only see some statistics about an individual user's interactions with my own blog only. For instance which posts they've clicked on or viewed and made comments on. But I can't see anything they do outside of my blog on other blogs, etc.
Honestly thanks for that info. I was genuinely curious. I'm telling you I have been kinda shadowbanned by one author who seems to have a vested interest in the outcome of the Ukraine/Russia/Nato war.
Haha nah the person I'm referring to has steadfastly avoided the topic because he and his wife are very connected to the real situation on the ground and I happen to share both of their anti-war/anti-imperialism views.
I've been banned by one of the biggest sites wherein I posted an informative link to an anti-Russian site (my other links and writing, anti-war, were ignored from the 'judgement'). Another popular site strangely deletes my comments (shadowbanning). Fact is, some of the sites I value most have a slant whilst pretending to be only truthful. It doesn't matter so long as they provide me info that I can compare to other info. If the search for truth isn't hard, then the truth doesn't matter more than politics which is corruption. I'd love a community but I'm too old to want that more than reality.
But keep in mind it's a small world and niche community. many of us read the same stuff. So for instance, I read many other authors on substack and I see many of you guys comment on their comments sections, so presumably it'll be the same for other authors who might read my blog and see you commenting, etc.
How touching the story about the little girl and the soldier reuniting at the statue. We need statues here in the US South of the soldiers and the people they interacted with when they liberated the Confederacy.
May 25, 2023·edited May 25, 2023Liked by Simplicius
Liberated confederacy? You mean the illegal war of northern aggression that killed the countries own people for profit? You realize all our problems today (feds) with government overreach is because of the north winning right?
The defeat of the American Revolution with the cooptation of the British Empire by the American ruling class though the founding of the CIA in order to prevent to collapse of bourgeois rule over the US disproves this, as there is a near-total break in continuity between the First American Civil War and the post-1945 executive overreach problems. It's very good that the Confederacy was defeated, as it was just another British puppet that would've completed MI5's mission of anglofying the US enough for the British Empire to make it its new, more vital home 80 years earlier. The Confederacy deserved everything the Union gave it.
The history of the American Civil War works strenuously to avoid the British wanting to keep their slave-picked cotton supply flowing to the Industrial factories in England.
Like most "white-washed" (ahem) history, Britain would also rather not talk about Indentured Servitude, where illiterate people signed up for a life-time of servitude, by putting their "mark" of slavery onto a piece of paper. For Room and Board you became a servant/slave to your better/master, wherein you gave the best years of your life.
There's a reason that there were a large number of Confederates who used the British controlled parts of Canada as a home base, including the planning for the assassination of Lincoln after the war.
"He (Zelensky) got rid of the competition and prevented an unsuccessful counterattack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine"
Well, that's a hard sell, considering that out of the two, it's Zelensky who's making military decisions based on political / PR reasons instead of military ones. Considering the pullout order from Bakhmut was ordered back in February, and it was vetoed probably by someone on Zelensky's end. Same for the "Great Kherson Counteroffensive". If I recall correctly Zaluzhny was opposed to that as well, as it was just as unsound strategically. So I doubt it was Zaluzhny pushing for a counteroffensive.
But the internal assassination angle isn't implausible. It wouldn't be the first time, remember the crashed chopper "accident" that killed the entire leadership of the Ukraine Ministry of the Interior?
"Pulling a Stalin" would be waiting until the 5th columnist issue has become a crisis to do anything about it, only to just arrest or exile most of the offenders with only a few of them being executed as diserved. One of my criticisms of Stalin is that he was too agreeable and too prone to hesitation to properly deal with the perpetual crisis he found himself in (and this is why all his successors were ineffectual failures that got couped by Khrushchev).
This is a suggestion for a future article: could you write something about the geography of Ukraine and surrounding areas? Frankly I don't know the area that well and get confused by all the town names that get mentioned. And also find it confusing that there are both Russian and Ukrainian names to the same place (for a long time I thought Artemivsk was a separate place from Bahkmut!). I also hear about the problems of mud, but I assume that in a country as large as Ukraine that some areas would have different terrain than other areas, and I know that different terrain pose different challenges.
Except for the towns with Greek names (Mariupol, Melitopol, Ovidiupol, et al) and a few outliers (like "Sacco & Vanzetti"), literally every town in Ukraine has two names/spellings, one Russian and one Ukrainian.
Example (Russian/Ukrainian):
Kiev/Kyiv
Odessa/Odesa
Kharkov/Kharkiv
Lvov/Lviv
On top of that, there are hundreds of towns whose names changed both during the Soviet period (usually named after a Soviet hero) and then after the 2014 Maidan (to "de-Russify" the name). So yeah, it can be confusing. On top of that, there are many, many towns which have the same name as a town elsewhere in the country LOL.
As for the terrain, almost all of Ukraine is flat or very gently rolling slopes/hills with the exception of the Carpathian Mountains on the southwestern border with Romania (nowhere near any of the fighting). Some areas have somewhat dense stands of trees (called "forest belts"), but for the most part, it's either farmland or steppe (fields of grass) terrain.
This is what is called "tank country", right? I guess that's why so many armchair wargasms are eager to see "big arrow" offensives with plenty of armour.
While I wrote several essays on the topic of the proxy war, the last one being "U.S. Russia War: 'The Gas Station' Strikes Back; Are the cracks and failures in the world's largest defense and security trade show of the West's weaponry, in the bloody, tragic war in Ukraine, signaling the beginning of the end of the war?" something bothers me—long before the SMO—and keeps niggling in my mind.
I am aware this might sound paradoxical, but what if, at some point, 'someone' in the military decides Putin is weak, meek, and too patient? After all, NATO creeps so close; Estonia and Latvia are NATO members on the border, now Finland. For two decades he wanted to be 'friends' with the West, despite all his serious warnings being totally dismissed by the same West. John McCain's smirk at him back in Munich, 2007, embodied the stance the West had and still has toward Putin and Russia.
War is insanely expensive and its costs cost a leg and an arm. There's no end in sight. And if it ends with Ukraine intact in the West, the danger would never stop. In a few days, I will publish a short article, "U.S. Russia War: 'As Long as it Takes'"; using the West's 'help' for a calculation--if someone spends $100 billion over one year, they would be spending approximately:
$273,972,602.74 per day,
$11,415,525.11 per hour,
$190,258.75 per minute, and
$3,171.53 per second.
This is how insane the costs are. Russia pays even higher price in the lives of her men and women and Ukraine is bleeding its people at a much higher rate.
But, what if someone in Russia, other than Putin, decides 'enough is enough' given the West will keep their 'As Long as it Takes' insanity and goes on the full path of destruction?
"But, what if someone in Russia, other than Putin, decides 'enough is enough' given the West will keep their 'As Long as it Takes' insanity and goes on the full path of destruction?"
This SMO/war is going on in many levels, not only military. The "As long as it takes" argument is being forwarded by bankrupt G7 countries. Their will is being sapped. Their finances are being sapped. NATO is in a turmoil. Moldova, Georgia and Bulgaria are in revolt. The list goes on.
"But, what if someone in Russia, other than Putin, decides 'enough is enough' "
Who would this "someone" in RU be? What makes you think that the war is only V.Putin's "idea."
Recent commentary out of the RF are forwarding the idea that the UA did not exist before the Soviet Union. This seems to be gaining traction. What does this portend?
Nothing I wrote implies that I believe the war is solely V. Putin's idea. I have no clue who would be that 'someone,' but even the smallest sign of Putin's weakness could bring them out of the woodwork. He's not Stalin; he did not kill the people close to him. But I am not here to argue. I am expressing one serious concern.
My other serious concern, your comment made me mention, is that despite the G7 criminals underestimating Russia, the West is not as weak as it may seem. We all understand that the Parasite Class Cabal ruling the West has put it on a destructive path, but the U.S. dollar still holds a 59% share of the world's currency reserve, albeit declining. The EU vassal's EUR is at around 24%, I believe. As long as they maintain such dominance, they can 'pay' for whatever they need to continue and escalate this war. They are not going to fold their billions, scrap their gazillion weapons, and turn into Pollyanna dancing Kalinka with the Red Army Choir on the Red Square in Moscow and ask for forgiveness.
The vast majority of people do not read Simplicius or Taibbi. I think those "concerns" of mine reflect enormous undercurrent dangers.
Edited: I hope this is not against the ethic of commenting. I am not as ignorant about the obvious reality https://trygvewighdal.substack.com/p/united-states-vs-russia-political as I am ignorant, like most of us, about what lies beneath the obvious, on both sides of this U.S. Russia war.
"In a Monday note, strategists Joana Freire and Stephen Jen calculated that the greenback accounted for about two-thirds of total global reserves in 2003, then 55% by 2021, and 47% last year.
"This 8% decline in one year is exceptional, equivalent to 10 times the average annual pace of erosion in the USD's market share in the prior years," the authors said."
.................
The dominance you speak of is fast fading. 47% today. Who knows what tomorrow will bring but it won't be back to 59%. :)
While the west may be able to pay for whatever they need, I believe that their deindustrialization may be an obstacle. There are reports about the ridiculously small number of shells that the west manufactures each month, the contracts for necessities needed now to be filled in ‘2024 or 2025’ etc. I am no military expert, but it appears to me that while Russian factories have ramped up to a 24/7 rate, there is no current ability in the west to do so, despite their ability to pay…???
I abhor the West's elite; let me make it clear. When I wrote "underestimating" the West, I meant that we might underestimate 40 countries—the EU member states, other members of the G7, as well as Australia, South Korea, Turkey, Norway, New Zealand, Switzerland, China, Taiwan, and India—that the US managed to muscle up and force them to join "support" for Ukraine. (weapons deliveries)
No matter how messed up the industry is in the US or any of those countries, I fear that 40 of them have enough reserves and are able to produce even more. I don't trust anyone's estimate that helps that side's narrative.
Just from my interpretation of what I read, the EU, and in particular Germany, is suffering due to lack of fossil fuels (or their expense) which is leading to their deindustrialization as well. Turkey is in a somewhat interesting position, sitting on both sides of the fence between NATO and Russia. And while China has tremendous industry, their current relationship with Russia would make it unlikely that they would join the west and assist with weapons. The published lists of arms that the US is providing no longer shows the number of whatever is listed, which would lead me to believe that the amounts are getting smaller with each package. For example, the public info indicates that the US currently manufactures about 14,000 155mm Howitzer shells per MONTH, and hopes to increase to 20,000. Ukraine is firing approximately 6,000 per day. While perhaps not part of the original plan, it appears that the conflict is demilitarizing the west as well.
Apparently you missed the 20-30 years of stripping of American, Canadian, European and even Japanese factories. The scrapping of the steel and the melting down of said scrap in Chinese Steel foundries'.
Add in the insult to the knowledgeable people that ran and built these factories who have long ago seen their families, towns, entire communities reduced to shanty towns and drug nests. I am one of those that built and ran factories. But I will NEVER again help to destroy local people and assist in the Divide and Conquer disease that the greedy, ignorant A.H's forced onto otherwise fine and decent countries.
So. Good Luck. The Bright Light Bulbs were too stupid to know their entire foundation was destroyed, by themselves.
I don't want to hijack Simplicius's essay thread by engaging in too many comments on my initial comment, but what did I miss, for Christ's sake? Did I discuss the production of shells or the closing of the factories? It's as plain as the nose on someone's face—everyone knows how the Cabal destroyed the unions, the manufacturing, etc.
But all those comments are telling me that we're in the bubble here, reading the same stuff, hating the same monsters. All I was asking, and I ask it again, aren't we underestimating the Cabal's power? The 40 damn countries that are engaged in a war against Russia? I don't care about them not producing 200,000 or 20,000 155mm shells at the moment; they do have F-16s and will send them to Ukraine. I worry about the "losing side"—what are they going to do? If Russia, whose very existence is in danger, receives a serious blow? If Ukraine folds and all the U.S./NATO/U.K. et al. weaponry is destroyed, what then?
Those F-16s will be flown by the West's pilots. Sure, the S450 and S500 can take them down, but then the F-16s will fly with B61 nuclear bombs. What then? Say, Russia dawned them all. What's next? They'll send F-35s and/or Super Hornets, and if those are destroyed, again, what's next? And, like in that movie about the Cuban Missile Crisis:
"They shoot down one of our planes, in response, so we bomb their anti-aircraft sites in response to that, and they attack Berlin, so we invade Cuba. And they fire their missiles... And we fire ours."
Yes, you're right. The West may have all the dollars in the world, but it cannot produce trivial shells. There are no factories, materials, competencies, personnel, and so on. Also, there are no idiots willing to invest in shell production.
Things are different in Russia. Military production belongs to the state. Therefore, Russia will produce even more shells, missiles, tanks, planes. Dollars are not needed for this.
>>> " ... but the U.S. dollar still holds a 59% share of the world's currency reserve, albeit declining." <<<
Only if one FULLY realises what FIAT CURRENCY means one realises that this statement is as hollow as the SYSTEM it refers to. Its a RELIGION OF DECEIT and once "the faith" is gone IT IS GONE and there is nothing THE SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN - THE CULT OF DECEIT -can do about it.
The U.S. dollar, like every fiat currency, is founded in belief. The American "Exceptionalism" Story is beyond belief.
Unless you want to understand that U.S. Leadership is exceptionally stupid and corrupt.
Like every declining Empire, the coin of the Realm, starts to lose value at the outer edges, then rapidly loses value at home. U.S. inflation is 2 to 3 times the "official" propaganda.
Contained within the Final Costs of U.S./European arms is a profit margin that varies from 50 to 90% of the selling price.
Therein, Russia has an exponential advantage. U.S. overhead and deadweight that increases costs and does nothing to assure the efficacy of arms.
A $100 Billion Final Cost to Ukraine can be funded for less than $30 billion by Russia. And Russian weapons don't go through the "Political" bribing process for approval for crappy weapons and results. I give you the flying garbage can, the F35, for example.
Because you've mentioned Martin Armstrong several times recently, here's some background info on his predictions you may find useful: https://armstrongecmscam.blogspot.com/
"The drills will include a massive deployment of aircraft from the US Air National Guard, which is tasked with defending the homeland but, according to Defense One, also maintains units for "prompt mobilization during war." "
The US Air National Guard - "weekend warriors" has even less training than regular air force. They are not a game changer. - missile fodder flying F16s
I have to disagree. Their pilots are very good and very experienced. Often much better than the Air Force pilots. Many are full time warriors. A lot are airline pilots and former full time military. They even train US Air Force...
2 o the 3 bases that cover Air Force One are National Guard. They are kind of lax with weight standards however . And promotions, seeing that don't get shifted from base to base as regular military, are often more political.
I have to agree with BlueDevil's disagreement: I was aircrew who transferred from active-duty to the reserves, and easily maintained the same number of flight-hours.
The bigest changes for me is that, in addition to being closer to home, I was also (formarly) working another job and going to school full-time [while on active-duty, I was moonlighting when I was available and taking classes remotely].
While in the reserves, I was on-site at the base or flying at least 2-4 days a week. Now I know that there are some Guard and Reserve jobs that only require two days a month attendence, but, as far as I'm aware, not for operational roles-- support, yes, but not ops.
"Is NATO/West planning some devious action during upcoming mass exercises?"
i find this survey question a bit misleading. nato may be "planning" a devious action but that is a long way from executing a "devious" action. It goes w/o saying that they are planning something or other. :)
I'm pretty sure he's dead or a vegetable. Even if he was a vegetable they'd probably show a video in hospital of him "recovering" as proof he'll back in fighting shape in no time just like Ukraine. You can't keep a "good" nazi down and all that. The west is lready doing weekend at Bernies routines with the likes of Biden & Dianne Feinstein if they could do it Zaluzhnyi the would the fact they haven't means he's probably dead. I'm surprised they haven't claimed he's gone full Rambo and is fighting on holding Bahkmut by himself.
Being a vegetable has never held anyone back in their service to the Empire.
True.
Even Emperor Biden himself is not exactly conscious in the full sense of the word.
Undead, undead, undead
With thanks to Bauhaus for Bela Lugosi's dead. ;O)
A fun example comes from the Donbass Devushka Telegram channel mentioned above:
https://t.me/s/DDGeopolitics/65319
The Ukrainian channel that distributed this video doesn't mention that this is the era of the deep fake, in which video evidence is readily forged. A video is no longer proof of anything. Unfortunate, perhaps, but true.
The "general" never turns his head, and the "interviewer" turns the camera to him to increase dramatic effect. Plus, the general has time for a brief appearance on a show but can't make a normal public appearance?
Devushka itself made the point with a follow-up post:
https://t.me/s/DDGeopolitics/65384
I confess that the uncanny, easy shift of facial features caught me believing that the impersonations were actually the impersonator simply changing facial expression.
But the real issue is simpler. Zaluzhny has been an important public face of Ukraine for a long time. Why disappear at this critical moment? Why the need for the fakes that have appeared, including one that I saw from a Ukrainian military source on Facebook? Why not an indisputable, even semi-public appearance? With the general being important to Ukrainian morale, it seems that hiding him would damage morale considering the rumors going around. It looks off.
Stand with Russia -- it fights for all of us !
But I also have a concern: War effort is expensive, including for Russia. War should not go infinitely....
What are the best options for Russia??
Nuking London would be the most satifying, but the least practical.
Sounds practical to me. A better solution would be for Russian hunter/killer teams to assassinate all Zionist overlords in a synchronised attack wherever they are. Just a few hundred at the top should do it.
>>> "to assassinate all Zionist overlords in a synchronised attack ..." <<<
And the next minute they would pop up somewhere else -
THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN ILLUMINATE DARKNESS WITH DARKNESS YOU CAN ONLY ILLUMINATE DARKNESS WITH LIGHT!
YOU CANNOT UNCOVER A LIE BY MORE LIES ONLY THE TRUTH CAN PREVAIL!
Let me reiterate
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12FOR OUR STRUGGLE IS NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and AGAINST THE SPIRITUAL FORCES OF EVIL IN THE HEAVENLY REALMS . 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Eph 6, 10-20
Lunatics or trolls...
Whichever way you like more your way towards destruction!
I try not to insult folk, but have had a bad day and maybe too much wine....
Almost ever Brit I knows wants Westminster nuked.
Even the ones who support Ukraine want Westminster nuked.
I would suggest we set up a gofundme to bribe Putin to do it but GoFundMe would close it down.
Everyone always comments on how this war is lining Pentagon and US MIC pockets.
Why you think it's not the same for Russia?
I mean, I've worked with a few companies that were Rostekh partners, you can't imagine what amount of money everyone is shoveling down on the back of the SMO.
Russia is absolutely capable of continuing this conflict indefinitely, at least at this level of commitment. From my couch I can deduct that's the whole plan, since Ukraine is militarily de-industrialialized and no amount of land-lease can cover up lack of homegrown, safe production.
A lot of westerners like to point out how the land-lease saved USSR, but leave out the part that USSR moved its MIC production behind the Urals where Nazis couldn't strike. The land-lease bought time for that shift, true, but in the end, it was pumping out tanks and warplanes by the thousands, was what really sealed the deal.
Ukraine doesn't have Urals. It doesn't have a comparable - to Russia - MIC. Western companies wouldnt dream of building a tank factory in a place thats easily reachable by missiles.
So all the ukrops can do, is buy. But that's not really sustainable in a war of slow attrition.
As we say here: "while the fat man slims, the thin man dies".
Go and educate yourself - read Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, for example:
May 24 – Ep. 88 -- Dems’ New Star—Manhattan Billionaire Heir Dan Goldman—Fiercely Defends Security State. Plus: Jeffrey Sachs’ Break w/ the Establishment on Ukraine, COVID, & More
https://rumble.com/v2psc1y-system-update-88.html
May 23 – Ep. 87 -- US Continues Dangerous Escalations in Ukraine, Sprinting Toward Catastrophe. Plus: Saagar Enjeti on Ukraine, Anthrax/COVID, GOP Race, Tucker Carlson, & More
https://rumble.com/v2pkavs-system-update-87.html
May 22 – Ep. 86 -- The Largely Forgotten—And Still-Highly Suspect—2001 Anthrax Attacks That Enabled the Iraq War & Shine Light COVID's Origins
https://rumble.com/v2pcs3i-system-update-85.html -- Mystery of the 2001 Anthrax Attacks – Links to COVID Debate
The most definitive proof that Covid-19 was designed and developed by US bio laboratory:
https://youtu.be/morj-3rdWwM
Jeffrey Sachs: US biotech cartel behind Covid origins and cover-up
Prof. Jeffrey Sachs is the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and the President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
He has also served as the chair of the COVID-19 (year-long) commission on the virus origin for leading medical journal the Lancet.
The prices of their weapons are so low that the corruption can not be that bad.
Twenty years ago all the customs posts took bribes.
I don't know what it is like now though.
Also, I don't know how much else was bad.
You could get anyone killed anywhere back then if you knew the right person and had the cash but I think that is maybe not the case anymore.
I have no way of knowing.
It does feel like the place has been cleaned up.
Russia was prepared. The "West" wasn't. Russia has an industrial base, of which a large part is specialized in War Production.
Most Russians know that Americans and Europeans are taught (and believe) they should hate Russians. With little concern of their helpless ignorance.
Someone in the USA, likely the Donald and/or RFK, jr. will need to upset the War Mongering messaging, since the bulk of the American People do NOT want this war.
This is a standard supporter response on Russia -- which may or may not be correct.
What if time is not on the side of Russia?
I'm going off on a bit of a long-winded tangent here, but I think this needs to be said.
Please, time here is relative.
In any case, time is definitely on Russia's side here.
Russia has shown that it is willing and able to commit the people and other resources to see this fight to the finish.
However long it takes.
This has become a war of attrition, not of movement.
Kiev lost the opportunity for movement when it couldn't quickly push Russia out of their territory before Russia rooted itself.
That opportunity came and went a year ago.
Some would say 2014 when Russia took Crimea.
Whatever the case may be, now it's much too late.
Kiev has aggravated Russia to such an extent that it most likely won't even negotiate anymore.
All it probably wants to see now is Zelensky and his scumbags dead and gone.
And that is exactly what is happening.
Slowly and extremely painfully for the people of Ukraine.
In wars of attrition whoever can last longest militarily will be able to force their will on the other party.
Here that is Russia.
It has very short lines of supply, centuries of experience and the masses of people and resources needed to fight a large war of attrition.
Russia can maintain this level of effort and more for at least the next year or two - even though it is immensely expensive and a terrible drain on the country.
Probably indefinitely with some reorganization and China's help.
Economics are the sinews of war.
You can only fight a war as long as your economy can sustain it.
There is no way Ukraine can match Russia.
It is a shambling zombie being propped up by it's "partners" - especially the US.
Partners that are losing interest as their own populations are becoming restive because they see their idiotic "leaders" making dumb decisions that are not in their interests and throwing away their hard earned money, their and their children's futures and are quickly causing their living standards to go to the dogs.
They ask themselves these questions:
Why should we suffer for Ukraine?
That's a conflict that, in actual fact, has virtually nothing to do with us.
To put it brutally:
If Ukraine disappears tomorrow, then how will it affect us?
The answer is:
It probably won't affect us much - if at all.
So, why should we care?
Let Russia squish them then.
Let Ukraine disappear like mist in front of the morning sun.
I agree, apart from "it is expensive and a terrible drain on the country".
Latest reports show Russia is only spending 3% GDP on this war. It's nothing. They can pretty much carry on as long as they need to.
Sorry, I did not make myself clear.
It is expensive and a drain because Russia has to use people that would have been part of it's economy ( I.e. busy generating GDP) in it's armed forces. Armed Forces which have these main purposes: Making war, destroying its enemies and preventing them from attacking the Russian civilian population.
That is really expensive and draining to any country.
That said, I am a white South African.
I have first hand experience of Russia (As the old USSR) making war in South Africa’s Bush War.
Russia learned long ago how to fight wars on the cheap - something neither the US nor Europe or their allies ever seems to have learned.
That doesn't make Russia any less effective or reduces its ability to give its enemies nasty surprises though.
What it does do is exponentially increase Russia’s ability to fight long wars of attrition.
I.e. outlast its opponents while constantly grinding down their ability to resist and completely destroying their armed forces in the process.
To my mind this is exactly what's happening to Zelensky and his crew.
Got it, thanks for clarifying. I completely agree. The West was hoping for the financial shock to cripple Russia. There was never going to be military solution against Russia tht would bring it down. Once that backfired, they were toast. Now it's just a matter of time, and time is what the West just does not have. I mean, look at Chechnya - look at how long Russia dealt with that. They are not afraid for a long war. They will do - as they have done throughout their history - whatever it takes.
Not that my opinion counts for jack sh*t but perrsonally I'm pretty sick of Prigozhin running his mouth at this point. I was sick of it a while ago. I thought it was maskirovka for a long time now I'm not sure I am sure he needs to STFU.
Lol he managed to troll the Ukies into attacking and losing 1k men though.
True
If he's not doing a master-level psyop, his complete lack of discipline is an embarrassment for the Russian MoD and political leadership, as they should not allow this insubordination to continue.
He's going to reap what he is sowing - EVERYONE WILL!!!
Dang if the Anya story doesn't bring the need for a Kleenex. I bet unlike in America 100 years from now that statue will still be there.
I think something must of got in my eye when I read that part *sniff*.
Your summary of casualty summary best defines my confusion. The glimmer of mathematical hope is in that French article which damages Ukrainian hope. It's ironic that the unnecessary slaughter, on both sides, of clerks, cashiers and other people like us, is the path to peace.
That French article's link is https://www.valeursactuelles.com/clubvaleurs/monde/les-ravages-de-la-guerre-dattrition but unfortunately behind a paywall.
Try that https://archive.is/dot22
Worked, thanks. I assume that's a mirror of Archive.org. It's scary that there are forces afoot to take down internet archives, a move that would assist propagandists. Imagine a world with ChatGPT propaganda 24hrs a day and no archive to hold them responsible - https://blog.archive.org/2023/03/25/the-fight-continues/
Corporate algorithm is the enemy of our ability to control our sane minds.
This is only further confirmation that THE SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN is hell bend to rather drag EVERYTHING into THE ABYSS it created itself than succumbing to servitude to THE TRUTH and THE LIFE.
>>> " ...is the path to peace." - ACTUALLY NO IT IS NOT! IT'S ONLY THE NECESSARY PRECURSOR!
ONLY PEACE CAN BRING PEACE - THE SAME WAY ONLY TRUTH CAN BRING TRUTH!
... after posting my 1. response I have to admit the key word IS "PATH" in this regard
I AGREE!
A 6hr, 6min and 6sec Oliver Stone movie is needed to tidy the mess that Prigozhin delivers.
Good info as always. And I'm sure some of the other people to whose Substacks I subscribe can see that I comment here and assume that I'm pro-war so long as it's anti-Empire. On that point, Simplicius, are 'major' Substack authors, presumably with access to better tools than the rest of us, able to see what your subscribers do elsewhere at Substack? I've always been curious based on some strange behavior from a few of the others after I started commenting on your page.
No, to my knowledge I can only see some statistics about an individual user's interactions with my own blog only. For instance which posts they've clicked on or viewed and made comments on. But I can't see anything they do outside of my blog on other blogs, etc.
Honestly thanks for that info. I was genuinely curious. I'm telling you I have been kinda shadowbanned by one author who seems to have a vested interest in the outcome of the Ukraine/Russia/Nato war.
I can only guess who that is. There's a very well known passive aggressive 2d blogger
Haha nah the person I'm referring to has steadfastly avoided the topic because he and his wife are very connected to the real situation on the ground and I happen to share both of their anti-war/anti-imperialism views.
2d? Tuppence?
Oh, two dimensional....
I've been banned by one of the biggest sites wherein I posted an informative link to an anti-Russian site (my other links and writing, anti-war, were ignored from the 'judgement'). Another popular site strangely deletes my comments (shadowbanning). Fact is, some of the sites I value most have a slant whilst pretending to be only truthful. It doesn't matter so long as they provide me info that I can compare to other info. If the search for truth isn't hard, then the truth doesn't matter more than politics which is corruption. I'd love a community but I'm too old to want that more than reality.
But keep in mind it's a small world and niche community. many of us read the same stuff. So for instance, I read many other authors on substack and I see many of you guys comment on their comments sections, so presumably it'll be the same for other authors who might read my blog and see you commenting, etc.
Point taken.
How touching the story about the little girl and the soldier reuniting at the statue. We need statues here in the US South of the soldiers and the people they interacted with when they liberated the Confederacy.
Liberated confederacy? You mean the illegal war of northern aggression that killed the countries own people for profit? You realize all our problems today (feds) with government overreach is because of the north winning right?
The defeat of the American Revolution with the cooptation of the British Empire by the American ruling class though the founding of the CIA in order to prevent to collapse of bourgeois rule over the US disproves this, as there is a near-total break in continuity between the First American Civil War and the post-1945 executive overreach problems. It's very good that the Confederacy was defeated, as it was just another British puppet that would've completed MI5's mission of anglofying the US enough for the British Empire to make it its new, more vital home 80 years earlier. The Confederacy deserved everything the Union gave it.
Matt Ehret touches on this in his writings.
First ive heard of it as well. If anyone was a British puppet it was the union. They wanted the Souths resources, same as the American empire of today
The history of the American Civil War works strenuously to avoid the British wanting to keep their slave-picked cotton supply flowing to the Industrial factories in England.
Like most "white-washed" (ahem) history, Britain would also rather not talk about Indentured Servitude, where illiterate people signed up for a life-time of servitude, by putting their "mark" of slavery onto a piece of paper. For Room and Board you became a servant/slave to your better/master, wherein you gave the best years of your life.
There's a reason that there were a large number of Confederates who used the British controlled parts of Canada as a home base, including the planning for the assassination of Lincoln after the war.
"He (Zelensky) got rid of the competition and prevented an unsuccessful counterattack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine"
Well, that's a hard sell, considering that out of the two, it's Zelensky who's making military decisions based on political / PR reasons instead of military ones. Considering the pullout order from Bakhmut was ordered back in February, and it was vetoed probably by someone on Zelensky's end. Same for the "Great Kherson Counteroffensive". If I recall correctly Zaluzhny was opposed to that as well, as it was just as unsound strategically. So I doubt it was Zaluzhny pushing for a counteroffensive.
But the internal assassination angle isn't implausible. It wouldn't be the first time, remember the crashed chopper "accident" that killed the entire leadership of the Ukraine Ministry of the Interior?
He's trying to pull a Stalin.
"Pulling a Stalin" would be waiting until the 5th columnist issue has become a crisis to do anything about it, only to just arrest or exile most of the offenders with only a few of them being executed as diserved. One of my criticisms of Stalin is that he was too agreeable and too prone to hesitation to properly deal with the perpetual crisis he found himself in (and this is why all his successors were ineffectual failures that got couped by Khrushchev).
This is pulling a Night of Long Knives.
This is a suggestion for a future article: could you write something about the geography of Ukraine and surrounding areas? Frankly I don't know the area that well and get confused by all the town names that get mentioned. And also find it confusing that there are both Russian and Ukrainian names to the same place (for a long time I thought Artemivsk was a separate place from Bahkmut!). I also hear about the problems of mud, but I assume that in a country as large as Ukraine that some areas would have different terrain than other areas, and I know that different terrain pose different challenges.
Except for the towns with Greek names (Mariupol, Melitopol, Ovidiupol, et al) and a few outliers (like "Sacco & Vanzetti"), literally every town in Ukraine has two names/spellings, one Russian and one Ukrainian.
Example (Russian/Ukrainian):
Kiev/Kyiv
Odessa/Odesa
Kharkov/Kharkiv
Lvov/Lviv
On top of that, there are hundreds of towns whose names changed both during the Soviet period (usually named after a Soviet hero) and then after the 2014 Maidan (to "de-Russify" the name). So yeah, it can be confusing. On top of that, there are many, many towns which have the same name as a town elsewhere in the country LOL.
As for the terrain, almost all of Ukraine is flat or very gently rolling slopes/hills with the exception of the Carpathian Mountains on the southwestern border with Romania (nowhere near any of the fighting). Some areas have somewhat dense stands of trees (called "forest belts"), but for the most part, it's either farmland or steppe (fields of grass) terrain.
This is what is called "tank country", right? I guess that's why so many armchair wargasms are eager to see "big arrow" offensives with plenty of armour.
I have to agree that Zaluzhny's either dead or severely disabled.
Given the pathetic performance of the AFU since his "disappearance", it seems babboons are currently running the Ukrainian army.
Looks like babboons are in the ascendant in Ukraine.
Judging from Zal... looks - he does not look "human" either! - just saying...
So the proverbial saying - what's on the mind/ in the heart is on the bones - seems really showing here ...
While I wrote several essays on the topic of the proxy war, the last one being "U.S. Russia War: 'The Gas Station' Strikes Back; Are the cracks and failures in the world's largest defense and security trade show of the West's weaponry, in the bloody, tragic war in Ukraine, signaling the beginning of the end of the war?" something bothers me—long before the SMO—and keeps niggling in my mind.
I am aware this might sound paradoxical, but what if, at some point, 'someone' in the military decides Putin is weak, meek, and too patient? After all, NATO creeps so close; Estonia and Latvia are NATO members on the border, now Finland. For two decades he wanted to be 'friends' with the West, despite all his serious warnings being totally dismissed by the same West. John McCain's smirk at him back in Munich, 2007, embodied the stance the West had and still has toward Putin and Russia.
War is insanely expensive and its costs cost a leg and an arm. There's no end in sight. And if it ends with Ukraine intact in the West, the danger would never stop. In a few days, I will publish a short article, "U.S. Russia War: 'As Long as it Takes'"; using the West's 'help' for a calculation--if someone spends $100 billion over one year, they would be spending approximately:
$273,972,602.74 per day,
$11,415,525.11 per hour,
$190,258.75 per minute, and
$3,171.53 per second.
This is how insane the costs are. Russia pays even higher price in the lives of her men and women and Ukraine is bleeding its people at a much higher rate.
But, what if someone in Russia, other than Putin, decides 'enough is enough' given the West will keep their 'As Long as it Takes' insanity and goes on the full path of destruction?
"But, what if someone in Russia, other than Putin, decides 'enough is enough' given the West will keep their 'As Long as it Takes' insanity and goes on the full path of destruction?"
This SMO/war is going on in many levels, not only military. The "As long as it takes" argument is being forwarded by bankrupt G7 countries. Their will is being sapped. Their finances are being sapped. NATO is in a turmoil. Moldova, Georgia and Bulgaria are in revolt. The list goes on.
"But, what if someone in Russia, other than Putin, decides 'enough is enough' "
Who would this "someone" in RU be? What makes you think that the war is only V.Putin's "idea."
Recent commentary out of the RF are forwarding the idea that the UA did not exist before the Soviet Union. This seems to be gaining traction. What does this portend?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY9P0QSxlnI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY9P0QSxlnI
For the RF this is existential. What does that mean?
Nothing I wrote implies that I believe the war is solely V. Putin's idea. I have no clue who would be that 'someone,' but even the smallest sign of Putin's weakness could bring them out of the woodwork. He's not Stalin; he did not kill the people close to him. But I am not here to argue. I am expressing one serious concern.
My other serious concern, your comment made me mention, is that despite the G7 criminals underestimating Russia, the West is not as weak as it may seem. We all understand that the Parasite Class Cabal ruling the West has put it on a destructive path, but the U.S. dollar still holds a 59% share of the world's currency reserve, albeit declining. The EU vassal's EUR is at around 24%, I believe. As long as they maintain such dominance, they can 'pay' for whatever they need to continue and escalate this war. They are not going to fold their billions, scrap their gazillion weapons, and turn into Pollyanna dancing Kalinka with the Red Army Choir on the Red Square in Moscow and ask for forgiveness.
The vast majority of people do not read Simplicius or Taibbi. I think those "concerns" of mine reflect enormous undercurrent dangers.
Edited: I hope this is not against the ethic of commenting. I am not as ignorant about the obvious reality https://trygvewighdal.substack.com/p/united-states-vs-russia-political as I am ignorant, like most of us, about what lies beneath the obvious, on both sides of this U.S. Russia war.
"U.S. dollar still holds a 59% share of the world's currency reserve,"
See:
The dollar's dominance as a reserve currency eroded last year at 10 times the pace seen in the past 2 decades https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/dollar-dominance-global-reserves-china-euro-russia-ukraine-war-greenback-2023-4?op=1
"In a Monday note, strategists Joana Freire and Stephen Jen calculated that the greenback accounted for about two-thirds of total global reserves in 2003, then 55% by 2021, and 47% last year.
"This 8% decline in one year is exceptional, equivalent to 10 times the average annual pace of erosion in the USD's market share in the prior years," the authors said."
.................
The dominance you speak of is fast fading. 47% today. Who knows what tomorrow will bring but it won't be back to 59%. :)
My "still holds" (those 59%) tells you that we practically think the same only our approach to the issues is different.
While the west may be able to pay for whatever they need, I believe that their deindustrialization may be an obstacle. There are reports about the ridiculously small number of shells that the west manufactures each month, the contracts for necessities needed now to be filled in ‘2024 or 2025’ etc. I am no military expert, but it appears to me that while Russian factories have ramped up to a 24/7 rate, there is no current ability in the west to do so, despite their ability to pay…???
I abhor the West's elite; let me make it clear. When I wrote "underestimating" the West, I meant that we might underestimate 40 countries—the EU member states, other members of the G7, as well as Australia, South Korea, Turkey, Norway, New Zealand, Switzerland, China, Taiwan, and India—that the US managed to muscle up and force them to join "support" for Ukraine. (weapons deliveries)
No matter how messed up the industry is in the US or any of those countries, I fear that 40 of them have enough reserves and are able to produce even more. I don't trust anyone's estimate that helps that side's narrative.
Just from my interpretation of what I read, the EU, and in particular Germany, is suffering due to lack of fossil fuels (or their expense) which is leading to their deindustrialization as well. Turkey is in a somewhat interesting position, sitting on both sides of the fence between NATO and Russia. And while China has tremendous industry, their current relationship with Russia would make it unlikely that they would join the west and assist with weapons. The published lists of arms that the US is providing no longer shows the number of whatever is listed, which would lead me to believe that the amounts are getting smaller with each package. For example, the public info indicates that the US currently manufactures about 14,000 155mm Howitzer shells per MONTH, and hopes to increase to 20,000. Ukraine is firing approximately 6,000 per day. While perhaps not part of the original plan, it appears that the conflict is demilitarizing the west as well.
Apparently you missed the 20-30 years of stripping of American, Canadian, European and even Japanese factories. The scrapping of the steel and the melting down of said scrap in Chinese Steel foundries'.
Add in the insult to the knowledgeable people that ran and built these factories who have long ago seen their families, towns, entire communities reduced to shanty towns and drug nests. I am one of those that built and ran factories. But I will NEVER again help to destroy local people and assist in the Divide and Conquer disease that the greedy, ignorant A.H's forced onto otherwise fine and decent countries.
So. Good Luck. The Bright Light Bulbs were too stupid to know their entire foundation was destroyed, by themselves.
I don't want to hijack Simplicius's essay thread by engaging in too many comments on my initial comment, but what did I miss, for Christ's sake? Did I discuss the production of shells or the closing of the factories? It's as plain as the nose on someone's face—everyone knows how the Cabal destroyed the unions, the manufacturing, etc.
But all those comments are telling me that we're in the bubble here, reading the same stuff, hating the same monsters. All I was asking, and I ask it again, aren't we underestimating the Cabal's power? The 40 damn countries that are engaged in a war against Russia? I don't care about them not producing 200,000 or 20,000 155mm shells at the moment; they do have F-16s and will send them to Ukraine. I worry about the "losing side"—what are they going to do? If Russia, whose very existence is in danger, receives a serious blow? If Ukraine folds and all the U.S./NATO/U.K. et al. weaponry is destroyed, what then?
Those F-16s will be flown by the West's pilots. Sure, the S450 and S500 can take them down, but then the F-16s will fly with B61 nuclear bombs. What then? Say, Russia dawned them all. What's next? They'll send F-35s and/or Super Hornets, and if those are destroyed, again, what's next? And, like in that movie about the Cuban Missile Crisis:
"They shoot down one of our planes, in response, so we bomb their anti-aircraft sites in response to that, and they attack Berlin, so we invade Cuba. And they fire their missiles... And we fire ours."
Yes, you're right. The West may have all the dollars in the world, but it cannot produce trivial shells. There are no factories, materials, competencies, personnel, and so on. Also, there are no idiots willing to invest in shell production.
Things are different in Russia. Military production belongs to the state. Therefore, Russia will produce even more shells, missiles, tanks, planes. Dollars are not needed for this.
>>> " ... but the U.S. dollar still holds a 59% share of the world's currency reserve, albeit declining." <<<
Only if one FULLY realises what FIAT CURRENCY means one realises that this statement is as hollow as the SYSTEM it refers to. Its a RELIGION OF DECEIT and once "the faith" is gone IT IS GONE and there is nothing THE SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN - THE CULT OF DECEIT -can do about it.
THERE IS ONLY ONE SOVEREIGN!
The U.S. dollar, like every fiat currency, is founded in belief. The American "Exceptionalism" Story is beyond belief.
Unless you want to understand that U.S. Leadership is exceptionally stupid and corrupt.
Like every declining Empire, the coin of the Realm, starts to lose value at the outer edges, then rapidly loses value at home. U.S. inflation is 2 to 3 times the "official" propaganda.
Since the US can print money, it can print as much as it likes,
And if you look at US Government debt prices, the markets see no major issues for the foreseeable future.
Let me introduce you to Costs and Profits.
Contained within the Final Costs of U.S./European arms is a profit margin that varies from 50 to 90% of the selling price.
Therein, Russia has an exponential advantage. U.S. overhead and deadweight that increases costs and does nothing to assure the efficacy of arms.
A $100 Billion Final Cost to Ukraine can be funded for less than $30 billion by Russia. And Russian weapons don't go through the "Political" bribing process for approval for crappy weapons and results. I give you the flying garbage can, the F35, for example.
Because you've mentioned Martin Armstrong several times recently, here's some background info on his predictions you may find useful: https://armstrongecmscam.blogspot.com/
Budanov needs to be next
"The drills will include a massive deployment of aircraft from the US Air National Guard, which is tasked with defending the homeland but, according to Defense One, also maintains units for "prompt mobilization during war." "
The US Air National Guard - "weekend warriors" has even less training than regular air force. They are not a game changer. - missile fodder flying F16s
I have to disagree. Their pilots are very good and very experienced. Often much better than the Air Force pilots. Many are full time warriors. A lot are airline pilots and former full time military. They even train US Air Force...
2 o the 3 bases that cover Air Force One are National Guard. They are kind of lax with weight standards however . And promotions, seeing that don't get shifted from base to base as regular military, are often more political.
That said F-16's will have a hard time against modern AA.
I have to agree with BlueDevil's disagreement: I was aircrew who transferred from active-duty to the reserves, and easily maintained the same number of flight-hours.
The bigest changes for me is that, in addition to being closer to home, I was also (formarly) working another job and going to school full-time [while on active-duty, I was moonlighting when I was available and taking classes remotely].
While in the reserves, I was on-site at the base or flying at least 2-4 days a week. Now I know that there are some Guard and Reserve jobs that only require two days a month attendence, but, as far as I'm aware, not for operational roles-- support, yes, but not ops.
Most ANG's fly the F-16 C/D. (Block52)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Air_National_Guard_Squadrons
The latest F-16 incarnation of the F-16 is the (Block 72)
https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/f-16.html
....so basically they are flying an somewhat obsolete aircraft.
In 2021 ANG fighter pilots were flying, on average, 7.3 hr/mo.
In 2021 Active Duty fighter pilots were flying, on average 6.8 h/mo.
How many h/mo do you thing RF fighter pilots are flying in actual combat??
"Is NATO/West planning some devious action during upcoming mass exercises?"
i find this survey question a bit misleading. nato may be "planning" a devious action but that is a long way from executing a "devious" action. It goes w/o saying that they are planning something or other. :)