“…only a miracle could turn Russia into a (economic) superpower
Phariah | Jan 7 2023 14:52 utc | 204
______
In a typical own-goal, the West is already accomplishing an economic miracle in Russia.
As Arnie said in Predator, “Stick around!”

Posted by: Doug Hillman | Jan 7 2023 15:07 utc | 203

“We are fulfilling the NATO mission today” – Oleksiy Reznikov on TV

Posted by: rk | Jan 7 2023 15:19 utc | 205

The imperial system is an oxymoron. The metric system is Vulcan. Water freezes at zero and boils at 100. A liter of water weighs 1 KG. How many lbs of water is a cubic foot?

Posted by: steve | Jan 7 2023 15:31 utc | 207

“Russia will even lose supporters from the ROw if it doesn’t start winning battles with blood and fire. Noone in the RoW will help Russia as it is. Noone likes a loser, so if Russia wants allies who will stick their necks out for them one day, Moscow better start winning.”
Brother Ma | Jan 7 2023 13:07 utc | 185
______
Channeling Rasputin? I suspect there are here are still many civilian hostages I Bakhmut. Your solution portends a humanitarian disaster typical of US’ MO. Putin, Surovikin, Shoigu et al, seem to be managing the demilitarizing meat grinder quite ably, without the help of “shock-n-awe” armchair generals.

Posted by: Doug Hillman | Jan 7 2023 15:39 utc | 209

To Steve at 208
62.4 lb/ft3 without looking!
I did check via Google though.
The British imperial system changed in 1833, bur the US carried on using the old British system.
Notably, in the US a pint of water weighs 1lb, but in the UK, “a pint of water weighs a pound and a quarter”.
Accounts for the disparity in MPG per gallon.
Growing up imperial, even did pre Uni maths in Imperial units, shows my age.
Happy Orthodox Christmas.
Oldengineer

Posted by: Oldengineer | Jan 7 2023 15:47 utc | 211

Speaking of the metric system (and yes, this is off-topic), the original metric unit is the mile.
‘Whaaat?’ I hear you say. Mile comes from the latin ‘mile’ or ‘mille’, meaning ‘thousand’.
‘A thousand of what?’ I hear you say.
Roman soldiers marching 1000 paces cover one mile (one pace = left then right foot). About 5.28 feet per pace. Take two paces, and you’ve walked about 10 feet. Take 6 paces and you’ve walked 10 yards (30 feet).
If you’re ever gone hiking, count paces and when you get to 1000, you’ve gone a mile.
Try to estimate kilometers when you walk 🙂 (621 paces)
If the French (who are often stupidly abstract) had defined the meter as 5.28 feet (1000 of a mile), the mile and kilometer would have been identical. Using the distance from the equator to the north pole to derive the meter did nothing useful for physics.
It was useful though to define the kilogram (mass of 1/1000 of a cubic meter of water) and temperature scale (0 = freezing, 100 = boiling) to be related to properties of water.
But hey, ho – it’s all water under the bridge 🙂

Posted by: Contrarian_Ed | Jan 7 2023 16:07 utc | 213

Well done, people: Fahrenheit v. Celsius/Centigrade as the OT discussion of the day. My suggestion for the next Ukraine thread: Vegemite v. Marmite.
Hope the good news from Soledar and Bakhmut is confirmed. The French media (ever more grotesque) have unanimously mocked and sneered at Russia’s Orthodox Christmas ceasfire offer. They are currently trumpeting ‘Ukrainian advances in the Donbass’. Where could that be?

Posted by: B. Wildered | Jan 7 2023 16:19 utc | 215

@ B. Wildered | Jan 7 2023 16:19 utc | 216

Well done, people: Fahrenheit v. Celsius/Centigrade as the OT discussion of the day. My suggestion for the next Ukraine thread: Vegemite v. Marmite.

And Imperial vs Metric … IgNobel prizes & the rest …
Quite so. An outstanding effort by all concerned …

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 7 2023 16:31 utc | 217

@218 Best bit of OT posting I’ve seen yet. Surprised someone didn’t call it trolling.

Posted by: dh | Jan 7 2023 16:52 utc | 219

I’m guessing at this point, temperature scales, regardless of measure, are like time blowing in the wind, a conundrum known only to humans….
Cheers M

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Jan 7 2023 17:03 utc | 221

The fact remains that a side of a war that is reorganizing, reequiping, forming new units from the remains of old is not winning.
Now a fully formed grouping of 75,000 trained personnel with enough heavy equipment in the spring is a potential problem for Russia. But the spring is still a long ways away and no numbers from western training equal 75,000, not to mention the quality of that training is worth questioning. But for the US, it is now in too deep to pull out. Biden bet all of the US reputation on this. Yes, the American people can probably be convinced to forget it ever happened but consider the propaganda is also pointed at the president and PMC, they cannot. The rest of the world is already slipping away and the only path back now is defeating Russia.
This includes Europe. If the US doesn’t defeat Russia now, then Europe will be gone in 5-10 years. The whole arrangement is US protection. It’s an existential, planetary war now but both sides need to keep some powder dry for escalation.

Posted by: Lex | Jan 7 2023 17:04 utc | 223

The imperial system is an oxymoron. The metric system is Vulcan. Water freezes at zero and boils at 100. A liter of water weighs 1 KG. How many lbs of water is a cubic foot?
Posted by: steve | Jan 7 2023 15:31 utc | 208

That is the old Kilogram 😉
https://www.britannica.com/science/kilogram
The old definition is only true at sea level and at a certain air pressure. As altitude rises and/or air pressure is lower, the boiling point of water is lower.
Also, the density of water changes with temperature, with the max density at 4 deg C.

Posted by: Opport Knocks | Jan 7 2023 17:18 utc | 225

figleaf23 @ 219
1984 was autobiography. It was about Orwell’s wartime service with the BBC. He spoke Burmese and broadcast propaganda to Burma. Room 101 at Broadcasting House was where he recorded his show. Worst place in the world, where he betrayed himself and all he stood for.

Posted by: oldhippie | Jan 7 2023 17:22 utc | 227

Thanks and a ‘tip of the hat’ to Uncle Tungsten for the reference to Weeb Union. I had seen the links to it on Ewe Toob but never watched before today when I saw his live show. He seemed to spend as much time screwing around with his system as anything else. I hope he tightens up the canned shows. I often have to jump ahead with the two Alexanders in order to find something of interest but they are still informative. I will add Weeb Union to the watch list.
I hope the sudden advance in Soledar is not a trap for the Wagner troops but they seem to be aware of the danger of being caught in a Whack a Mole situation.

Posted by: Quid Me Vexare | Jan 7 2023 17:30 utc | 229

Intel Slava Z
🇷🇺🇺🇦 Prigozhin on the essence of the battles for Artemovsk and the nature of the hostilities for the city.
“Bakhmut is the central point of the Eastern Front and a serious logistics center. And our task there is to die as little as possible, and to destroy the enemy as much as possible.
Bakhmut’s feature is in its unique historical and geographical defense capabilities, which include, first, the division of the city into several parts by water barriers.
Secondly, the neighborhood of Bakhmut is a complex of settlements that create a unified defense system.
Thirdly, this is a unique landscape, ravines and heights, which are natural tunnels.
And the icing on the cake is the system of Soledar and Bakhmut mines, actually a network of underground cities. In which there is not only a cluster of people at a depth of 80-100 meters, but also tanks and infantry fighting vehicles move. And stockpiles of weapons have been stored since the First World War.”

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 7 2023 17:32 utc | 231

After Depleting Oil Reserve, Biden’s Energy Department Refuses to Fill It Back Up

The Biden administration released some 180 million barrels of oil from America’s emergency stockpile ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, ostensibly to try to get a grip on the skyrocketing price of gas at the pump, with the reserve subsequently tumbling to its lowest levels since 1983.
Tasked with the purchase of three million barrels of sour crude oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in February, the US Department of Energy has reportedly rejected multiple offers from producers, hoping to get a better deal … The failure to get a deal means the purchase will be put off until an unspecified later date, the Energy Department has confirmed in a statement.
…
Washington’s strategy of holding off on the purchase of crude oil to fill up its depleted reserves bears a passing resemblance to the disastrous policy by European countries in the spring and summer of 2021 to gamble with their energy security by holding off on refilling their underground natural gas storage reserves, hoping for a drop in prices at a later date. The price drop never came, and the surge in orders caused by pent up demand caused a major supply crunch in the fall and winter of 2021, which was exacerbated through 2022 by shocks caused by the crisis in Ukraine, and Brussels’ rejection of Russian energy. It remains to be seen how the US Energy Department’s strategy will play out in the long run.
Created in 1975 in the wake of the OPEC oil embargo, the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is, as the name suggests, America’s backup energy stockpile, designed to cushion the blow of any major domestic or global emergency that results in a dramatic decline in oil production or imports.
In January 2022, the United States had some 593 million barrels of sweet and sour crude oil in its emergency reserves, enough to last the country – which consumes about 20 million barrels of petroleum daily, approximately 30 days in case of a complete halt in production and imports for any reason. In March of 2022, President Biden announced a historic release of 180 million barrels of oil, and by December 30, the reserve had plummeted to 372 million barrels, enough for about 18-and-a-half days of import- and production-free consumption…

US/NATO going to War whilst the SPR is …

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 7 2023 17:56 utc | 233

US/NATO going to War whilst the SPR is …
Posted by: Outraged | Jan 7 2023 17:56 utc | 234
I always thought it should be cheaper to just leave it in the ground. This business of pumping it out, buying it, and then putting it back in the ground sounds like a grift.

Posted by: Bemildred | Jan 7 2023 17:59 utc | 235

@ Exile | Jan 7 2023 18:01 utc | 237

French, German, and American ‚tanks‘ (Tanks ???)
These Infanty transporters have (Only) enough armor to withstand rifle fire and light shrapnel.

AP auto grenade launchers, RPGs, ATGMs, 30mm AP auto-cannons, sustained 14.5mm AP MGs, even WWII RF AntiTank rifles (mobility/sensor kills), Artillery/Rocket barrages, even heavy mortars … RuAF CAS along the FEBA with zero AFU Air Defense, myriad suicide/attack drones … all occurring in mostly close confined combat, or on the move, with insufficient ground recon & limited situ awareness, unsupported with AFU infantry routinely stripped away by direct/indirect fires ?
Even a near miss from a single 152mm arty round will destroy these IFVs/APCs, if not, a mobility kill & crew abandons vehicle, especially wheeled. The case, daily, going on almost 11 months now.

Posted by: Outraged | Jan 7 2023 18:27 utc | 237

Outraged @234–
Thanks for that report. I’ve touched on the energy aspects of our current situation several times with an eye to future developments–which bloc will have lots of energy resources at its disposal versus the other bloc which will face rapidly depleting resources, the Dollar Bloc being the latter. Escobar’s latest and first of the year deals with part of this large equation. As you’re aware, US/UK policy focused on control of global energy flows to ensure the “right” nations got the most, but they have now lost control of that policy to OPEC+ and the loose confederation of gas exporting nations. As I’ve pointed to, the huge problem for the Dollar Bloc is the rapidly diminishing amounts of proven reserves of all fossil fuels juxtaposed to the inability to raise energy generation via non-fossil fuel means–particularly the failure in atomics versus Rosatom’s clear successes.
To reboot Dollar Bloc industrialism would require a massive effort to increase energy generation, but the monies required are being given to the Pentagon to be wasted in the most wonton and irresponsible fashion imaginable. What happened gasoline/diesel price-wise within the Outlaw US Empire was what I posited at its beginning–Monopolistic pricing to generate massive levels of excess profits that Biden–and the D-controlled Congress–allowed to happen. Since oil market prices never rose to the levels that would justify the retail price gouging, prices have dropped to avoid the political repercussions since energy prices are one aspect capable of uniting people that would otherwise remain divided. Given the focus of both the Executive and Congress, I expect no progress to be made on the energy issue until 2030 when it will be too late to avoid a massive crisis unless the political situation is drastically altered.
Thus, the Dollar Bloc is in woeful fundamental shape from a real economy, productive standpoint combined with a huge debt and other overheads that make the Bloc’s economies uncompetitive versus the RoW Bloc. And that’s without a change in the international commerce regime that removes the dollar as the main trade medium of exchange. When that occurs, the bifurcation–fracture–of the global economy into two major blocs will become reality. It’s this analysis that’s being completely ignored by the Neoliberals who think they can continue doing what they’ve been doing since 1945. Crooke and others are right to focus on the dysfunctional group think that will be the cause of the West’s downfall. The Global Strategy being employed by China, Russia and their allies just needs to be continued for Win-Win to finally bury Zero-sum.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 7 2023 18:51 utc | 239

@ james 227.
Thanks for the compliment. Wish you and family all the very best in 2023.

Posted by: Likklemore | Jan 7 2023 19:07 utc | 241

When it comes to real life conditions, in a large land like the U.S., the kilometer gets trounced by a mile.
Posted by: aristodemos | Jan 7 2023 18:49 utc | 239
When it comes to a Really Large land like Russia, the U.S. mile get trounced by the kilometer. (neener, neener)
Here in Norway/Sweden we trounce the U.S. mile with our mile or mil which is 10 kilometers. Not accurate enough
you say? Then we revert to the ol’ metric system. eg. 10.6 mil = 106 kilometers.

Posted by: waynorinorway | Jan 7 2023 19:14 utc | 243

karlof1@240
Once again you have hit the nail on the head. As the U$$A economic system amounts to nothing more than the FIRE (finance, insurance and real estate rackets) and with the addition of the WarDefense industry with its greasy corruption; the resistance bloc with state monitored, and even state owned enterprises are not driven by that profit motive, rather in most instances the good of the nation.
Ultimately, a huge dichotomy develops. Focused specifically on the Ukraine situation, this division becomes highlighted for all to see. Massive failures for those entities ruled by profiteering considerations as against carefully coordinated pro-national policies by their growing number of opponents.
The issue is not in doubt, provided that the financier controlled politics of the West devolves into a felt need by the most influential interests to double down by means of first-strike nuclear weaponry…in which situation the Northern Hemisphere, at the least, would be devastated.
Worst element of the scenario is that the “Chosen” Department of $tate controllers might possibly influence the highest ranking and most brown-nosed elements in the Pentagon to go along with such a “Samson Option”.
Barring that insanity, there is virtually no doubt as to the ultimate victors in the Ukraine campaign.

Posted by: aristodemos | Jan 7 2023 19:25 utc | 245

In all the grand different temperature debate, I never saw anything about “wind chill effect” temperature. Maybe Euros and other non U.S. people don’t worry or talk about “wind chill effect” but out here in the middle of a continent with almost no tree cover or elevation differences at 40+ Latitude (sorry, I can’t convert to decimal degrees in my head and they don’t really give me any geographic context anyway except an specific coordinate), windchill is king in the winter time. There’s a whole bunch of difference between being cold and calm and cold with a serious wind. People here make a lot of decisions based on what the windchill temp is or is going to be for the day.

Posted by: DakotaRog | Jan 7 2023 19:42 utc | 247

@ Posted by: abrogard | Jan 7 2023 4:09 utc | 115
Russian Federation is winning and will win. Ukraine cannot sustain its loses, RF is sending new hardware to the front and Ukraine is running out of T-55s and assorted junk.
I cannot say for sure, but RF strategy might be to move the lines just enough to maintain advantage, it seems their primary goal ATM is to kill and injure as many UAF members as possible. Cripple the threat for the near future. At some point it will be about taking territory, for now…kill or maim as many as possible.

Posted by: MillerJ | Jan 7 2023 21:03 utc | 249

Posted by: TruthSeeker | Jan 6 2023 23:44 utc | 74
Re counterpunch. I noticed some time ago, can’t recall exactly when, that some of the political positions posited by some of the contributors at that website compelled me to permanently remove it from my regular reading list after visiting the site for many years.
Sad but true

Posted by: nwwoods | Jan 10 2023 17:28 utc | 251