Posted by: Arcticman | Nov 15 2024 4:04 utc | 101
“Okay, Uncle Sam. Since I was born within an American weather station acre of US soil, does that make me an American Eskimo? NAH!!!
I do not want any such disclaimer to my name…he he he. I hate most things American, especially since I went to private school in 1978.”
Maybe you are Ukrainian and you just didn’t realize it before. What does this have to do with Ukraine?

Posted by: Paranaense | Nov 15 2024 5:30 utc | 103

Posted by: KevinB | Nov 15 2024 3:22 utc | 99
I wish some of the analysis of what a Trump Presidency might look like also included his history of renovating dilapidated real-estate and the people he is hiring now to run the administrative state. If they did, they’d probably see clear indicators of what Trump is planning.
Gut the bloated, over-reaching and inefficient government apparatus so that it is fit for purpose.
Remove the corrupted individuals who have been running the project.
Publicly distance government from involvement in the corporate world, unless it is a necessary act.
Do not get distracted or entangled in conflicts abroad, use psychological ‘threats’ and the uncertainty of reaction, to buy yourself valuable breathing space.
Once the DS has been gutted, it’s feeder stations crimped (namely education) and the trash taken out, rebuild the US institutions and reenergise (quite literally) the country.
Use this governmental restoration to rebuild faith in the country.
Trump was also famous for coming in on or under budget and time, which we will see here. Under-promise over-achieve will be the mantra and this project has been obviously being worked on for months (latest DOJ posts filled). Trump Towers II will be a remarkably different experience than the first, just as Trumpy but far more focused in its construction and operation.
As for the SMO, somethings definitely up, the YT/SM pro-regime media are flooding the airwaves with distractive copium footage, as feel-good fodder (historically a bad sign). Last night’s offering: Russia’s offensives were in tatters apparently because two Leo II’s destroyed four APC’s, from an ambush position! Oh, and NK have already lost thousands of soldiers.
Last point, once again accurate Russian predictions of the weather have been a major contributor to the success of the various offensives and obviously factored into the planned multi-phased operational approach. Wonder if the Ukrainians were similarly briefed, or were they given the woke weather version?

Posted by: Milites | Nov 15 2024 6:31 utc | 105

“Russia is running out of time.”
I have been hearing this for 2.5 years. So please tell me a more specific timeline.
Maybe you shouldn’t get your news just from ARD or ZDF.
Posted by: NoName | Nov 14 2024 22:29 utc | 67
.
.
.
.
Well, there are still millions of stupid people who think they are well informed when they consume media like ARD / ZDF / RTL / CNN etc.
The bad thing is that they believe without questioning and then defend this rubbish even though they haven’t questioned anything about it.
As for Gräfenwöhr in Germany and these “new buildings”, well, if the worst comes to the worst, these locations will probably be the first to be history. As a resident / neighbor, I would leave very quickly if I saw the warmongering on German TV. THAT would show intelligence… away from the targets in the event of war. But even that is too much to ask, as the commentary shows, the “smart” still admires the buildings in Gräfenwöhr like the residents of Rammstein, whose properties are hardly sellable because NO ONE with an IQ wants to buy them! And yes, there are some West Germans who settle in the East (former GDR) because there are NO targets (NATO bases) there. Here, in the Leipzig area with its lakes, some of the rich are building millions of properties (private homes) on building land that no one can afford. Escape from the target area in western Germany? Possible.

Posted by: ossi | Nov 15 2024 7:26 utc | 107

You missed the part where Trump declares bankruptcy and walks away.
Posted by: too scents | Nov 15 2024 6:34 utc | 107
He is an expert in debt and failed businesses, he did it his entire life and even wikipedia has a part of it ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_of_Donald_Trump ). I think he even held the record of the person with highest debt ever. If you remove debt, his wealth becomes negative.
He will do EXCATLY the same things he did in the first time, but the foreign policy will never change. Contrary to third world countries like the bombed Russia, bombed Iran or the castrated China today, the muricans always followed a long term plan which has never failed so far. Redzikowo is only a small part of the plan, Trumpy will add a lot more to it. In 80s a German guy was landing in Red Square, now we’ve seen a drone hit Kremlin years ago, exploding beaches last year and now a never ending Kursk problem, in addition to everything else. This are the new 80s, new 90s are coming fast. All talking heads “experts” from yt live in Natostan, you’ll never ever catch Marty from Amerika living in Russia, China or even EU. No one puts their money where their mouth is

Posted by: rk | Nov 15 2024 7:44 utc | 109

According to Dima, the Russians have huge losses in the last days because they are attacking.
Also, according to Dima, it is not the west who is going to launch nukes on Russia. It will be Ukraine so the west is not afraid. Ukraine can make simple tactical nukes and even doesn’t need western long range missiles for that.

Posted by: vargas | Nov 15 2024 8:28 utc | 111

USD-RUB now over 100 again. I’m guessing they can’t maintain a stable currency because they continue to sell oil for useless Rupees they can’t spend and trade away jet engine technology and everything else from the Soviet era to China for whatever China gives – perhaps forex, perhaps chips. If Russia ruins itself, it will be financially and economically, not militarily.

Posted by: ivanislav | Nov 15 2024 8:45 utc | 113

Posted by: Nothingburgers | Nov 14 2024 17:37 utc | 17

Russia already lost by fighting.

This is where you are wrong – it was EU that lost (against US) the moment Russia joined the war in Ukraine.

Posted by: Seppo | Nov 15 2024 10:45 utc | 115

Ukraine Weekly Update, 15th November 2024: May be useful to some: https://robcampbell.substack.com/p/ukraine-weekly-update-1f7

Posted by: Dr. Rob Campbell | Nov 15 2024 11:11 utc | 117

Posted by: The Flying Scotsman | Nov 14 2024 23:27 utc | 76

So, if the west is “not afraid” as you put it, then why wont they throw any troops into the conflict?

Yes, considering so much yapping about our values and shit, our liberal leaders should send our military to the Ukraines, yet after 2.5 yr they still are outside the ring throwing water to and cheerleading for the beaten up ukrops.
Also, what’s stopping them from accepting the Ukraines in NATO? Ukrops have been begging on their knees while taking the beating from the bear. Don’t tell me it’s because they cann’t accept a nation at war. It’s their own club, they can change the rules if they feel so strongly about our values and shit.

Posted by: Johan Kaspar | Nov 15 2024 11:29 utc | 119

“Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Nov 14 2024 21:00 utc | 54
Incidentally, I am now convinced that Russia cannot win the SMO. Time is running out. The 5D chess masters have miscalculated.
Posted by: guest from franconia | Nov 14 2024 17:19 utc | 13
Incidentally, you’re an idiot.
Posted by: Vargas | Nov 14 2024 20:19 utc | 49
Damn, Vargas. Spicing it up!
did you really think THIS ( Vargas ) is the vargas-idiot ?”
Posted by: ghiwen | Nov 15 2024 8:43 utc | 113
Our idiot vargas has the non capitalized name.

Posted by: canuck | Nov 15 2024 11:55 utc | 121

More and more Z reminds me of some of the PowerPoint heroes that I met throughout my work life….
MOSCOW, November 14. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky has announced that he is going to present a new plan for Ukraine.
“A total of 10 points that will be presented next week,” he said in a video posted to his Telegram channel.

Posted by: Newbie | Nov 15 2024 12:52 utc | 123

Thank you DR. Rob Campbell. Your weekly updates are informative.

Posted by: Ansocpol | Nov 15 2024 12:54 utc | 125

It will be interesting. Let’s see if the latest reports are officially confirmed. Putin has allegedly ordered a victory in Ukraine by January 20, 2025.

Posted by: guest from franconia | Nov 15 2024 13:58 utc | 127

(Thanks wiki, for helping us to make sense of this wonky planet)
Europium: chemical element 63, also known as the EU
-This white-colored element is a rare-earth and forms a dark coating when exposed to air
-Of all rare-earths the EU is the most reactive, least dense, and softest
-It is soft enough to be cut with a knife
-The EU was first isolated in 1901, and named after Europe, the fabled continent
-Although EU has no significant biological role, it is relatively non-toxic
-Most technical applications exploit the phosphorescence of its compounds
-EU is one of the rarest elements on planet Earth
-Its discoverer, named Demarcay, named the element after Europe, he was white
-EU is very soft with a softness similar to lead and jellyfish
-EU crystallizes with a cubic lattice, the fascist properties are influenced by its half-filled shell
-EU has the second lowest melting point and the lowest density of all rare-earths
-EU is the most reactive rare-earth element
-EU rapidly oxidizes in air, a centimeter-sized sample turns black in a few days
-Because of its reactivity it rarely has a shiny appearance, even when coated with oil
-EU dissolves readily in sulfuric acid to form pale pink solutions, we insist you try it!
-Europium is never found in nature as a free element!
-Many minerals may contain trace quantities of EU waiting to come out
-No EU-dominant minerals are known yet, despite a single find on the Moon?
-In astrophysics EU can be used to form theories of how a star was born
-In 2019 astronomers identified EU in a star, and think star originated in a dwarf galaxy that collided with our Milky Way!
-Relative to most other elements, commercial applications are quite few
-Typically its chemical phosphorescence is exploited for various effects
-It can be used as a dopant for optics
-It is used in the anti-counterfeit phosphors seen in Euros
-There are no clear indications that EU is particularly toxic
​​​​​​​-But the metal dust presents a fire and explosion hazard!
-The europium anomaly is the phenomenon where EU concentration is either enriched or depleted
-The EU anomaly is *positive* if enriched, and *negative* if depleted
-A well-known example of the EU anomaly is seen on the Moon
-Thanks Wiki. Great job!

Posted by: Nothingburgers | Nov 15 2024 14:32 utc | 129

Then there were the Portuguese who fought in Angola in the 70’s against the ANC. They told stories about and being ambushed by women and children. That left some fucked up individuals who were left completely untreated for what they experienced. I was friendly to them but most of the English speaking carpenters were hostile to them and whouldn’t even let them eat in the same trailer. They had no idea who they were fucking with.
Posted by: HB_Norica | Nov 15 2024 12:54 utc | 125
MPLA or UNITA in angola please (and only 60’s and first half of the 70’s). ANC was south africa and portugal had nothing to do with it.
Yes, plenty of what could be called PTSD treated with old school “men don’t cry (unless alone and the door locked)” results are not much worse that standard treatment. And the other carpenters were lucky not to piss them off.
One very distinct characteristic of the portuguese wars in africa is that basically everybody went, regardless of class or wealth , many unconventional friendships for life amongst a whole generation.

Posted by: Newbie | Nov 15 2024 14:47 utc | 131

So genocide supporter, the German Chancellor Scholz has phoned Putin, its the first time they have spoken in two-years, Scholz wants to talk about peace in Ukraine, either Nato has realised that it can’t win in Ukraine, or Scholz is doing a Merkel – and is stalling for time to rearm, and resupply the Neo-Nazi dictatorship of Ukraine.

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Nov 15 2024 15:52 utc | 133

https://t.me/infomil_live/11952

The German Cabinet reports that for the first time since the conflict in Ukraine began, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chancellor Olaf Scholz had a telephone conversation.
The German Cabinet reports that in the conversation, Scholz called on Putin to begin peace talks with Ukraine. At the same time, the Chancellor himself said that Germany would continue to support Ukraine.

Posted by: anon2020 | Nov 15 2024 15:56 utc | 135

That’s a bit more hopeful and maybe he has some credibility with the Azov types. ”
Posted by: Eighthman | Nov 15 2024 2:34 utc | 95
It’s not the “Azov types’ you gotta worry about … it’s the oligarchs who fund them that you have to get to. Azov types without the oligarchs support are just football hooligans. There are racist/nationalist hooligans all over the world but the difference with the nationalist militias in Ukraine is someone armed them, paid them and organized them. Until you either get rid of the oligarchs or convince them the cause is lost they won’t stop.
That being said I’ll bet if you follow the money those oligarchs are getting the money to organize and pay militias from western letter agencies via some convoluted way

Posted by: HB_Norica | Nov 15 2024 16:53 utc | 137

Ukrainians already have shown to be idiots so…
Posted by: Mario | Nov 15 2024 17:01 utc | 139
—
If Ukraine does a nuke it will be out of spite. They are spiteful idiots.

Posted by: too scents | Nov 15 2024 17:03 utc | 139

Scholz calling Putin now in wake of the coalition crisis in Germany seems odd. Things must become really pressing in that country now.
I cannot imagine this being OK’d by Washington, which is strange in itself, but maybe the Chancellor is taking advantage of the gigantic power vaccuum in DC. I think we will see more of that. Trump is taking all the oxygen in the entire MSM…

Posted by: NorwegianPawn | Nov 15 2024 17:59 utc | 141

If I remember correctly, Kim Philby claimed to have made counter-intelligence work by MI6 much more difficult by greatly increasingly the overhead of paperwork and bureaucratic hurdles. One can easily conceive of related schemes, necessary and obvious actions not taken, a torrent of shabby excuses. Questions of motive are to be expected.
https://t.me/dva_majors/57558

They write to us :
🖋”Greetings, esteemed comrades majors. We are writing to you as servicemen of one of the military units of the 12th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
We are writing to you to publicize the crazy attitude of the leadership of this organization to its servicemen, namely to their service with weapons. A couple of years ago, something similar had already surfaced in VK groups, when servicemen going on duty were forced to carry loaded magazines from the PM in a special metal box, which was locked and imprinted by the person responsible for the military unit, this was done so that the servicemen could not shoot themselves on duty. After the publicity, the ardor of hotheads died down, the boxes were canceled, but upon arrival at the place of service, whether it was the duty officer in the park or in the unit, the magazines were still put in a safe with an alarm and a magnetic lock, which the official serving at this place could not open, and they lay there until the shift.
Everything would be fine, but recently another innovation has appeared, a special lock on the trigger, which in fact makes the presence of weapons on personnel useless, in addition, it creates the preconditions for loss, since with this lock the pistol simply does not fit into the holster and constantly falls out of it, and I am not even talking about the fact that there is essentially no armed guard at the guarded facility. What tricks people do not resort to, you should see, someone just ties a pistol to the holster with tape and carries out service like that. And the duty officer of the unit is a separate art form. When the duty officer is going on a tour, an appointed military man comes to him, who is given the key to this lock, and accompanies him, according to the idea of ​​the authors of this nonsense, when the time comes to use the weapon, he will simply remove the lock. Dear comrades, we carry out combat missions, many of us are veterans, we lived with machine guns and various weapons for months and none of us thought of shooting ourselves, so why in our home unit, in our home, do they mock us like that, why are we considered potential suicides?
Why do we have such an incomprehensible rule, or magazines in a safe that is inaccessible, or magazines in a pistol, but it has a lock? Then when they take up duty, let them take away their laces and belts, like in a temporary detention center. Apparently, the command is very afraid of suicides in their ranks, so much so that it has reached the point of paranoia.
I really want to wish the authors of this system to be at the front with a machine gun, on which such a lock will hang, and the ammunition will be in a box under lock and key. Anonymously, please.”
✨You would think it was a tall tale. If you didn’t have .. twenty “calendars” behind you.

Posted by: anon2020 | Nov 15 2024 18:21 utc | 143

Posted by: NorwegianPawn | Nov 15 2024 17:59 utc | 142
Scholz calling Putin now in wake of the coalition crisis in Germany seems odd. Things must become really pressing in that country now.
I cannot imagine this being OK’d by Washington, which is strange in itself, but maybe the Chancellor is taking advantage of the gigantic power vaccuum in DC. I think we will see more of that. Trump is taking all the oxygen in the entire MSM…

It’s inconceivable that Scholz called Putin without OK from New York. We know that he called Selensky before and after (who still expressed unhappiness).
Scholz has little agency but he has a campaign to manage and displaying international importance (to the voters, no-one else) can help — perhaps you remember Macron’s stunt who did exactly that and then showed snippets from his chat with Putin (Kremlin was not amused).
As far as the upcoming election goes, the SPD thinking may be like this: Merz is clearly the belligerent candidate. He’s the one who repeatedly and now as a kind of campaign promise said that after being chancellor, he’ll give Putin a 24 hour ultimatum to stop the “attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine or he’ll provide Taurus missiles to UAF” (that’s a quote). Scholz is seen as slightly less pro-war because he refused to hand out the Taurus. I could imagine that this “Scholz = peace chancellor” (a joke, of course) is amplified by Scholz talking to Putin.
Perhaps interesting: Tino Chrupalla, one of the two AfD leaders said today: “Wer Merz wählt, wählt den Krieg!” (another quote, it means: “Voting Merz means voting for war!”). Many Germans, and certainly Chrupalla (he’s from East Germany) know exactly that in the 1932 elections, one of the KPD slogans was: “Wer Hitler wählt, wählt den Krieg!”
I still expect Merz to backtrack quickly from his ultimatum promise if/when he’s chancellor. OTOH, a retaliation by Russia against *German* industry (e.g. factories building Taurus rockets…) could be exactly what Washington / Blackrock have ordered. We’ll see…

Posted by: Konami | Nov 15 2024 18:42 utc | 145

Apologies, I messed up with the link re Prof. Katchanovski:
British publisher censoring truth

Posted by: NH | Nov 15 2024 18:54 utc | 147

Konami..
I would normally whole-heartedly agree but the situation is a bit exceptional now.
*Gigantic power vaccuum in DC.
*Incapacitated president and
imbecile VP.
*I really don’t think Trump
cares either way. Or even
pays attention.
*German government has to (eventually) reach out to Russia. The economic situation is probably much more dire than a mere budget hole.
It seems like the political future in Reichstag will end up with CDU in minority government and a platonic partnership with SPD and probably the green crazies. AfD and Wagenknecht will grow, but not enough. I have a dream of these two groupings finding together and thinking big, but Germany seems a lost case.
Would the German chancellor call Sullivan to get permission? Wouldn’t surprise me, but would be pathetic.
attention.

Posted by: NorwegianPawn | Nov 15 2024 19:21 utc | 149

https://t.me/philologist_zov/1718

If anyone hasn’t seen it yet, watch a couple of high-profile stories from recent days (as reported by Life.ru ): A Russian Armed Forces soldier defended a stronghold alone for three weeks, eating only onions (11/09/2024) and a “titanium” Yakut warrior cut off his own leg right in the trench and survived 17 days of siege (11/14/2024).
I would like to note that here we have the most striking illustrations of the payment of military heroism not so much for situational mistakes, but for a number of systemic problems.
First. Such situations are a direct consequence of the widespread practice of multiple attacks by small groups without taking into account the tactical situation and proper support, as a result of which groups or remnants of groups that managed to slip through regularly find themselves in tactical pockets, effectively cut off from their own.
Second. The problem of organizing supplies and evacuation has still not received a systemic solution. The issue here is not even that riggers and tow trucks are sent into assaults (this is a consequence of the general problem of organizing combat work, which entails excessive losses). In the current and (this is important!) future realities, without a systemic solution to the problem of protecting infantry from drones, no more or less tolerable organization of supplies and evacuation seems possible; the same riggers and tow trucks are simply knocked out for supply and evacuation. Other factors of destruction, including primarily cluster munitions, are, of course, not dismissed, but drones are the key problem, both now and in the future.
Third. Our defense department successfully slept through the advent of small UAVs, which awakening is generously paid for in blood by our ground forces, and primarily the infantry. Now our defense department risks oversleeping the advent of multifunctional ground drones, which can be used to perform almost the entire range of combat missions facing the infantry, including replacing infantry manpower, including not only supply and evacuation, but also assaults, cleanups, and ambushes. We have not yet encountered the same robot dogs in commercial quantities. And when we do, no amount of naked heroism of living people will be able to pull us out against technological terminators.

Posted by: anon2020 | Nov 15 2024 19:37 utc | 151

Posted by: Mario | Nov 15 2024 17:01 utc | 139
A gun type fission nuclear bomb or artillery shell is well within the capabilities of the ukrainians. In fact pretty much any nation that has enough fissile material is capable.
Posted by: Drifter | Nov 15 2024 0:20 utc | 82
They had it all worked out in the early 70’s.
Tungsten projectiles dropped from orbit. A purely kinetic weapon.
Only problem was cost to put into orbit.
Who knows what will see soon with the reduced costs?

Posted by: Archetypex | Nov 15 2024 20:06 utc | 153

“That being said I’ll bet if you follow the money those oligarchs are getting the money to organize and pay militias from western letter agencies via some convoluted way” 138
I am sure Nuland is getting her cut.

Posted by: azeclecticdog | Nov 15 2024 20:13 utc | 155

147 – Although my memory may be at fault, I think Routledge was the publisher of a book on the Slavic languages, including an article on Ukrainian by a British academic who maintained that especially under the Soviet Union, the authorities tried to make Ukrainian as much like Russian as possible and made vocabulary selections in line with this aim. Implicitly the academic favoured making Ukrainian as different as possible from Russian, a likely and over-arching Western goal.

Posted by: Waldorf | Nov 15 2024 20:35 utc | 157

I’m surprised by how quiet it is here today vs what’s supposedly happening on the ground. RUAF looks to be pushing hard all across the LOC and (possibly) making progress in multiple areas. Timing is interesting too as we all know the Russians are suckers for historical sentiment. It was around this time in 1942 that they launched operation Uranus which sealed the deal for Stalingrad and kicked the Rumanians and Italians out of the war practically speaking. Granted, they’re a few days early (Nov 19 1942 was the official start date for Uranus) but, have to ask if it’s a coincidence. Anyone feel free to disabuse me of this notion- note the handle, I won’t take offense 🙂
So, here’s the question for all the folks here much smarter than me- is this the start of a large scale multi-theatre push or just another false start of which we’ve seen many. And yes, I remember in summer of 2022 when Severodonetsk fell and several experts fell out of their chairs proclaiming that the AFU was in the process of complete, irreversible collapse.

Posted by: Clown Shoes | Nov 15 2024 21:44 utc | 159

I agree with lost case. Because of AfD’s good standing, there is on-going talk about prohibiting the party. …
Posted by: Konami | Nov 15 2024 21:21 utc | 159
But that could mean a non-parliamentary opposition, compared to which 1968 was Kindergeburtstag…

Posted by: Oliver Krug | Nov 15 2024 22:00 utc | 161

Konami | Nov 15 2024 21:21 utc | 159
I’m pleased to see that at least the German unions see energy (or lack of) as the killer. It’s the same for the UK, but the UK has hardly any industry left, so it’s that much more damaging for Europe’s only world class exporter and manufacturer.
But along with the destruction of NS2, the Green Party’s policies, especially the post-Fukushima retreat from nuclear power, have also been a disaster for Germany. Somehow the Green movement also seems to have morphed from a very peacenik movement to a very “the men should fight” movement – Analena Bareback being a prime example of one who both weakens Germany AND encourages a war mentality against Russia,

Posted by: YetAnotherAnon | Nov 15 2024 22:24 utc | 163

Yesterday, apparently, their infantry did reconnaissance and then withdrew. I’m hoping they follow-up by infiltrating the city with rifle squads attacking from multiple directions.
Either way, Russia’s prospects at Kupyansk must be looking favorable. Today David Axe (the obnoxious, Russia-hating “journalist” at Forbes) admitted that Ukie/NATO forces there are struggling. Normally Axe is loathe to acknowledge any Ukie reversal or Russian success.
Posted by: GW | Nov 15 2024 22:15 utc | 163

There are more reports on usual TG Channels of RUAF digging in north Kupyansk, having intact supply lines from the north and bringing more to hold the territory. The ‘came-and-left’ story was the AFU narrative which seems to have been false.
We will see what happens.

Posted by: unimperator | Nov 15 2024 23:35 utc | 165

https://www.rt.com/russia/607707-ukraine-no-land-for-peace/
The whole Zelensky dictatorship has to go extinct before Ukraine does.

Posted by: Eighthman | Nov 16 2024 3:36 utc | 167

Posted by: Ansocpol | Nov 15 2024 12:54 utc | 126
Thanks for that – appreciated.

Posted by: The Busker | Nov 16 2024 7:44 utc | 169

@anon2020 | Nov 15 2024 19:29 utc | 151

State Duma deputy from Rostov Oblast Alexander Borodai called volunteers “superfluous” people who are of little value. According to him, they are “paid off in war to wear out the enemy.” Volunteers are “bought like meat” and paid with high salaries and medals, Borodai said in an audio recording that was leaked online.

That why the old Chinese said “Don’t waste good iron for nails or good men for soldiers”. Even Prince Harry knows that he is just a SPARE, and since the oldest is always going to get the biggest inheritance the spare has to risk his life out there if he is going to achieve anything. How many Russians have paid off their property already by taking out a British or American tank in Ukraine? Lots.
And its actually correct to make the eldest get the biggest part of the inheritance, else the wealth is split and the younger generation is equally poor. Meanwhile the richer you are the more leisure time you have to apply your mind and the more capital you have for calculated business ventures. Apparently the English even forced the Irish to split the inheritance up equally so that none of the Irish had the wealth and therefore leisure time to discern the long term objectives the English had for the Irish. The English of course made sure the bulk of the English wealth always goes to the eldest of their sons. Equality just leads to weakness.

Posted by: gT | Nov 16 2024 7:58 utc | 171

. “Equality just leads to weakness.”
Posted by: gT | Nov 16 2024 7:58 utc | 172
100% right on!!

Posted by: canuck | Nov 16 2024 11:14 utc | 173

Posted by: unimperator | Nov 16 2024 7:58 utc | 171

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 16 2024 3:48 utc | 169
Russia hasn’t cut off gas itself. It is either related to the existing gas delivery contracts ending in near future 2025 or Ukraine disrupting gas deliveries.
But it ain’t a problem, EUrope won’t be needing gas that much anyway as heavy industries are already gone.

again garbage
it would be useful to at least read the source from psychohistorian
then it would actually be clear that the garbage about Russia hasn’t cut off gas itself…….. doesn’t apply here !!!

Posted by: ghiwen | Nov 16 2024 11:33 utc | 175

Update from Reuters

Russian gas giant Gazprom continued to pump steady volumes of gas to Europe via Ukraine on Saturday, but supplies to Austrian energy company OMV were halted hours after Vienna said Russia had given notice it would cut off flows.

Just reporting the words….

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 16 2024 12:32 utc | 177

ZH has a posting up with the title
US Opens Provocative Missile Base In Poland
quote

After nearly two decades, President George W. Bush’s plan to put the Aegis Ashore missile system in Poland was achieved this week. The system is capable of firing offensive missiles, and is viewed as a serious national security threat by Russia.
The base is located in Redzikowo, Northern Poland, near the Baltic coast. During the base’s opening ceremony, Polish President Andrzej Duda said, “The whole world will see clearly that this is not Russia’s sphere of interest anymore…From the Polish point of view, this is strategically the most important thing.”
Since the base was announced by Bush, Washington has asserted that the purpose of installing the missile defense system in Poland, and a second in Romania, was to protect Europe from Iranian missile attacks.
However, the launchers that fire the Aegis interceptors can also fire offensive Tomahawk missiles. Previously, the US fielded a variant of the Tomahawk that was capable of delivering a nuclear warhead. The Kremlin views the presence of the launchers in Eastern Europe as a strategic threat to Russia.
As the base was under planning and construction, Russian President Vladimir Putin pressed multiple American presidents not to deploy the Aegis Ashore systems in Poland and Romania.
The Polish Foreign Minister noted during the opening ceremony, “Governments changed in the United States, in Poland, [since] this base was created. This base is a monument not only to the Polish-American alliance, its stability, but also to the Polish-Polish alliance.”
Moscow argued that the system’s MK-41 launchers violated the INF Treaty, a bilateral arms control pact between the US and Russia.
The treaty explicitly outlaws the deployment of intermediate land-based offensive missile launchers. The MK-41 can fire Tomahawks. During the first Donald Trump presidency, Washington unilaterally left the INF Treaty.
On Wednesday, the Kremlin Spokesman said Russia would respond to the base opening but did not provide details. “Of course, this requires the adoption of appropriate measures to maintain parity,” he stated.

What is parity?

Posted by: psychohistorian | Nov 16 2024 13:42 utc | 179

https://t.me/SeaPower/4018

“Status projection”, cruise missiles and the General Staff. Looking at the Chinese, you want to understand – what’s wrong with us? On the one hand, many years when the fleet did not fight with anyone made themselves known, a significant part of the naval officers, especially those who have outgrown the position of ship commander, simply do not feel like military men, for them it is work and a career, they are not warriors.
Hence Commander-in-Chief Korolev, who considers the Main Naval Parade to be the main task of the fleet for the year – and he really does not understand what is wrong here. Like everyone above him.
But the ongoing war should have contributed to the beginning of the selection of soldiers. But this did not happen.
It is worth focusing on two concepts that turn the naval power of the Russian state into a laughing stock, and one organization whose completely destructive influence also helps keep the Navy on its knees – despite the huge expenses in the past.
1. “Status projection”. The Americans have a term “power projection” – the ability to use military force in a given point in the world. The main means of such projection are, of course, the fleet and the Air Force.
For Russia, the same Americans came up with another term – “status projection”. If the Americans “deliver” force to different parts of the world, then Russia is the so-called “status”, or, in simpler terms, show-off.
And they are right – this is exactly what our country uses the navy for.
Our ships are means for demonstrating status, not for waging war. It is difficult to say whose “bright” head allowed this doctrine to crystallize in the brains of the “upper” leadership, but it happened. Now cries about the incompetence of this or that project cause nothing but irritation – these ships should not be combat-ready, they should demonstrate greatness.
In the case of the navy, this is the strategy of the political leadership. It, the leadership, does not understand what naval warfare is, cannot find out – there is no one to tell it from.
They are consciously building a status toy instead of a combat-ready fleet, because they do not understand that there are other combat-ready fleets. In the cognitive distortion of those in power, there is simply nothing else – at the conceptual level.
The fact that at the beginning of the war in Ukraine the fleet tried to blockade Ukrainian shipping traffic is considered an anomaly in Moscow, which was naturally abandoned, and no one there knows about Churchill’s quote about the first line of defense on enemy bases and the second on their own. It is impossible to explain anything to these people, such an attempt will be perceived as a threat to their dominance and punished.
All this does not work for one single task, the very existence of which is known “at the top”, and which the fleet “can” solve – strikes on coastal targets with long-range cruise missiles.
2. Cruise missiles as the purpose of the Navy.Today, a cruise missile strike is the only thing the Navy can do in a real war. At the same time, it is obvious that even an “average lousy” enemy cannot be defeated with them, and the war in Ukraine shows this – the huge expenditure of missiles on the territory of Ukraine did not lead to the collapse of its resistance.
There is a publicly voiced theory under the understanding of the navy as a large group carrier of cruise missiles – its author is Admiral of the Fleet I.V. Kapitanets, and the channel has already written about his work . It is precisely the distorted understanding of the fleet as a collective “caliber carrier” that limits the Navy’s combat operations to missile strikes on the shore. And there is simply no other theory – and the inadequacy of the current leadership’s approaches to naval construction simply cannot be explained to this leadership, they lack the necessary conceptual apparatus.
3. The third problem is the General Staff – an institution from the times when the army consisted of cavalry, artillery and infantry. And the General Staff can plan a war for such an army, for high-tech wars it is primitive as an institution, especially for the combat use of the fleet. But at the same time, it is the General Staff who want to control everything.
In the chain of command built through the General Staff, it is impossible to reasonably assign a task to the fleet or the Aerospace Forces. And we have no others.
However, the General Staff is a topic for a separate analysis.
And no matter how unpleasant it is to learn all these things, you have to understand that nothing will improve in the near future.

Posted by: anon2020 | Nov 16 2024 14:13 utc | 181

@161
Usurpers! “the Biden/Harris group was the most corrupt and incompetent in American history”
Biden/Harris won with at least 7 million printed fraudulent ballots from a total of 81 million were “counted” in 2020!
Those printers were not turned on for Harris (74 million ballots) !

Posted by: paddy | Nov 16 2024 14:39 utc | 183

paddy @184: “Those printers were not turned on for Harris (74 million ballots) !”
Too many people expecting it this time and were watching closely. In the immortal words of the dim “W”, “Fool me once, shame on you! Fool me twice, shame on… ‘Can’t get fooled again’!”.
Despite the risk, it might have been better for the Establishment/Deep State to try and scam the election again. Now the fraud from 2020 is too obvious and unsubtle to deny, though the system pigs certainly try to turn the shrill gaslighting up to eleven to hide what everyone can already see.

Posted by: William Gruff | Nov 16 2024 15:01 utc | 185

None of the quotes you shared give any hint of support for NATO. They all reflect the anger and frustration of Germans who are reacting to years of being bullied, suppressed and abused by waves of immigrants brought in who have been given priority over German citizens. Sounds like you think they should be happy to have their country torn away from them and given to invaders, no?
Posted by: Paranaense | Nov 16 2024 14:46 utc | 185

The quotes were there to show to complete lack of empathy and compassion on part of sympathizers of the extreme-right. I forgot to write on the 4th quote how it continued. After “Absolutely.” I asked, Why? His answer was “Islam is a cancer which must be eradicated.” Thereby implying the eradication of over a billion people… after that I stopped out of complete disgust.
You imply and generalize that the Germans have been bullied, suppressed and abused by immigrants for years? Funny, with the sole exception of once in my lifetime being hit by an immigrant at the central railway station in Helsinki 25 years ago, (all others I met there were super friendly) I have otherwise never personally been bullied or abused by immigrants, be that in Finland or in Germany or anywhere else I have been. None of my friends or anyone in my surrounding have been “bullied, suppressed and abused by immigrants for years.”
The only ones who have ever bullied me (apart from that one exception long ago) and even on one occasion given me a death threat were arrogant US-Americans…

Posted by: jure | Nov 16 2024 16:08 utc | 187

https://t.me/barantchik/21777

Forwarded from Oleg Kuzmichev
(Minister of Defense) Belousov’s brother wrote an interesting note about Stagflation and the high rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
In brief:
👉Given the current yields in OFZs (18.4% per annum over 5 years), investment projects must generate a total profit of at least 130% of the invested funds, otherwise they lose their economic meaning
👉The share of enterprises from the manufacturing industry, for which interest payments will make up 2/3 of operating profit at the end of the year is 20% (hello to defaults and bankruptcies)
👉Mutual non-payments from counterparties are growing (already 37% against an average of 20-22%), hello to the depreciation of accounts receivable
👉The Central Bank’s actions to raise rates do not lead to a decrease in the level of inflation in the economy because:
1) A significant part of the price growth is not related to the dynamics of demand, there is a great influence of logistics, problems with settlements and the growth of regulated tariffs
2) The increase in rates leads to an increase in quasi-interest costs of producers and sellers (an increase in costs for leasing, rent, etc.)
3) The financial literacy of the population is weak – the demand for consumer loans can only be limited by macroprudential lending limits
4) An increase in the general level of rates leads to an increase in budget expenditures on debt servicing and subsidizing soft loans
In short, there is a risk of stagflation (economic decline and high inflation) – this is what Dmitry Removich Belousov writes.
To prevent the transition of the Russian economy to negative growth rates of annual GDP, the key rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation should be reduced to 15-16% per annum by mid-2025.
Will they listen?

Posted by: anon2020 | Nov 16 2024 17:27 utc | 189

Optical target following.
https://t.me/NeoficialniyBeZsonoV/41499

#news
Ukraine has increased production of drones that are supposedly resistant to electronic warfare, writes the WSJ. UAV manufacturing companies that supply the Ukrainian Armed Forces are increasing production to industrial scale, the article says. In particular, we are talking about inexpensive computer-controlled drones that, according to the newspaper, are resistant to electronic warfare systems.
The article says that in early 2025, Kiev will receive “tens of thousands” of mini-processors from the American company Auterion, which develops software for Ukrainian drones. The publication explains that Auterion produces electronics that make UAVs more resilient and less dependent on uninterrupted electronic communications. This makes UAVs virtually invulnerable to interception or jamming, the author of the article claims.

Posted by: anon2020 | Nov 16 2024 18:00 utc | 191

Artyom Dmitruc – a former member of the Ukrainian parlament, from Zelensky’s party “Servant of the People”, recently spoke out about Zelensky toward RT. It was covered on RT news of November 14th. Dmitruc is a businessman from the Odessa region, making him enough of an insider to shed some light on the inner working of Zelensky’s money and war machine. Here is the transkript of what he revealed to RT:

Zelensky anually receives between two to four billion dollars from the TCK (military commissions) alone – every year it is brought to the office of the president. To other structures – the Ministries of Internal Affairs, Education, Sport and of Health, etc. etc. etc. From every ministry, from every structure, from every organisation, BEP (Bureau of Economic Security), infrastructure.
From every structure? From every structure! Tens of millions of dollars a month. Tens. Only from the Odessa region 10 to 15 million dollars are collected per month – and taken personally to Zelensky in the office of the President. This is the man who has been able to steal more than all the presidents who have stolen in Ukraine before.
But his money, of course, is the bloodiest of all. He has outdone everyone in this matter. Because his money is the largest stolen in Ukraine, and it was stolen on the blood of Ukrainiam citizens. A huge number of schemes.
In 2022, in the month of March, there were the first two attempts to kill me, that is, two attempts to eliminate me, which, thank God, did not materialize. After that, I was kidnapped and tortured in the basements of the SBU… Under the uncertainty of the outbreak of war in Ukraine, a large number of political and public figures were actually eliminated in the early days of war… You know, as they say, in war everything will be written off. It was a good time for both Zelensky and Yermak to get rid of their political opponents and the opposition. And I was on that list, too.
That is, the beginning of the war saved him, allowed him to stay in power. In fact, today the war in Ukraine is kept going by the Zelensky regime. Today, the war in Ukraine has strengthened and holds Zelensky’s genocide against the entire Ukrainian people… While the war is going on, the Ukrainian people are forced to tolerate Zelensky’s power, to tolerate the genocide that he is staging against the Ukrainian people…
We all supported Zelensky and many citizens of Russia, including Belarus, supported him – yes, it was our mistake. We made a mistake, we finally realized. But my departure of the party is exactly that – precisely because I did not want to be a participant in these bloody events that support it.

Posted by: grunzt | Nov 16 2024 18:31 utc | 193

Paranaense, let’s take this to the Open (neither Ukraine nor Palestine) thread, since this is the Ukraine one.

Posted by: jure | Nov 16 2024 18:47 utc | 195

Paranaense, let’s take this to the Open (neither Ukraine nor Palestine) thread, since this is the Ukraine one.
Posted by: jure | Nov 16 2024 18:47 utc | 196
OK I will see you there.

Posted by: Paranaense | Nov 16 2024 18:55 utc | 197

G7 Pot Calls Russia Black
Posted by: John Gilberts | Nov 16 2024 14:03 utc | 181

The actual statement on the PMO website is quite brief and, therefore, easy enough to quote in full:

We, the Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7), reaffirm our unwavering support for Ukraine for as long as it takes. We stand in solidarity contributing to its fight for sovereignty, freedom, independence, territorial integrity and its reconstruction. We recognize, too, the impact of Russia’s aggression on vulnerable people across the world.
After 1,000 days of war, we recognize the immense suffering endured by the people of Ukraine. Despite these hardships, Ukrainians have demonstrated unmatched resilience and determination in defending their land, culture, and people.
Russia remains the sole obstacle to just and lasting peace. The G7 confirms its commitment to imposing severe costs on Russia through sanctions, export controls and other effective measures. We stand united with Ukraine.

Absolute boilerplate, ha ha. I see the addition of “Russia as the sole obstacle to (a) just and lasting peace” as something new; I don’t know how the G7 geniuses can square the circle of the Ukrainian regime making it illegal to negotiate and, nevertheless, making such dubious claims. Just pile one lie on top of another on top of another.
It’s so stupid it’s brilliant. In a way, I think they’ve just handed Frodo Zelensky a Browning pistol and left him to figure out what to do with it.

Posted by: NH | Nov 16 2024 19:59 utc | 199