16 Comments

I've missed your essays over the past ten days or so. I'm so glad you're back & writing.

Come to think of it, in a world that seems filled to overflowing with politics and war, reading an essay on metaphysics would be like applying salve to an infected wound.

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I second that. You have been missed Rolo! And...I need some metaphysics to open my mind, make my head hurt, and make me feel smart for even trying to understand this stuff lol

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That's a pretty decent assessment on your part Rolo.

Well done.

A definite advantage to the retreat option will see attempts to blow the Nova Kakhovka dam & flood the area, towns & Kherson will cease with the Russians gone.

Lives conserved, substantial infrastructure de-risked and wider land area spared devastation.

That's already a win plus the military will certainly fight another day & another way for the next win.

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Alright but if Russia is literally being forced by military necessity to abandon Kherson than how the hell can Moscow keep justifying restraint against the jews infastructure in Ukraine? Either Russia cant actually cripple the Ukraines infrastructure or they are officially abandoning literal Russian cities while simultaneously not escalating proportionally.

How can Moscow say "nah we dont need to go all out on the enemy's infastructure to defend our cities"? You can show restraint when you are fighting from a position of total dominance but showing restraint while losing your own cities just telegraphs gayness and possible treason. I agree that its good if the military is calling more shots now but if surrendering cities that are literally part of the Russian Federation now isnt met with escalation of some sort than the patriotic people in Russia are still going to be rightly furious.

Again restraint against the jews infastructure in Ukraine cant co-exist with the jews hohol golems taking cities that literally belong to the RF.

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It is always best to retreat and fight another day more convincingly. I guess that means a hard winter campaign to retake the area and much more, bringing the war to a merciful end. Maybe!

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Bravo on your call on Kherson!

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So it seems the Ukie attacks on the bridges (one across a dam) and Russian supply lines across the Dnieper have paid off. Now can anyone explain why the Ukies bridges across the Dnieper and their supply lines to their armies in the East are still, after nearly nine months, standing - and it seems virtually untouched? Russia has plenty of missiles powerful enough to do it. I have heard it said Putin does not want to win the war, but is he actually trying to lose it?

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I tend to agree with Pepe Escobar on this one:

Let's cut to the chase.

In the eyes of Russian public opinion, this is a major DEFEAT.

Russia is losing RUSSIAN territories.

The ones responsible are among the ones who planned the SMO.

And now the MFA wants...negotiations!

When Russia is in a weakened position.

Everything may start to change in December - of course. Armageddon is no slouch.

But as it stands, Russia seems to be hobbled by political and military IMPOTENCE.

Because since the beginning, back in February, the Russian Armed Forces have NOT been presented with the necessary means to fulfill their mission.

This is as serious as it gets.

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This might be the right decision but you can certainly argue the opposite. Not to sound smug (I am not being mangled by an artillery shell), but it sometimes sounds as if Russia want to win the war, without losing any soldiers. They might do it, if they have enough missiles and are willing to use them to completely take out the electrical grid and keep it off.

Of course saving soldiers now might not work out in the long run, if by doing so, you encourage the US to send NATO troops into Ukraine. Then it might not just be soldiers, but all of us who end up dead.

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> Kherson's Russian-appointed governor Vladimir Saldo said his deputy had been killed, adding that the dead official had left behind five children and had a sixth on the way. Russian President Vladimir Putin later issued a decree posthumously awarding him the Order of Courage, a prestigious state medal. Interfax news agency quoted officials as saying the crash happened on a road between Kherson city and Armyansk, a town to the south-east in Russian-annexed Crimea. Vladimir Rogov, a Moscow-installed official in neighbouring Zaporizhzhia region, said Mr Stremousov died when his vehicle tried to avoid a lorry driver who made "a dangerous manoeuvre". "There was simply no chance of surviving such a catastrophe," Rogov said on Telegram, posting photos of a destroyed vehicle by a roadside. "Kirill's departure is a very big loss for all of us," he said.

Obviously it was the Russians who smoked him. Perhaps someone got incensed he let slip of the retreat before the official announcement.

Or, Shoigu and Surovikin were forced to make the official announcement of the retreat, because of Stremousov's premature declaration.

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>Obviously it was the Russians who smoked him. Perhaps someone got incensed he let slip of the retreat before the official announcement.

I don't see this at all. Surovikin himself said exactly what Stremousov said about "hard decisions".

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For all I try I cannot conceive the 'lorry driver who made "a dangerous manoeuvre"' as just a bad luck accident.

It happened exactly the day before the official announcement of the retreat, there must be a link.

The timing is off for some personal revenge, or a provincial power struggle in local pro-Russian Kherson politics.

Plus they were ready with medals and commemorations. Very suspect.

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tl,dr: A Special Traffic Operation

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Yeah but why?

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If you've lost subs over your (correct) prediction then they're hardly worth loosing sleep over.We must always face the hard reality over the comforting lie.The boomers never learned that and we face the consequences of their choices.

Stay true.

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