I love reading the conversation you had with yourself, but I wonder why you showed us that violent picture of two mirror-image puppies eating two bathroom sinks.
So here’s my 3D theory of the situation and comments to 5D Rolo.
1. Re the rationale for the SMO: NATO expansion that includes Ukraine is vastly different from Finland (which for Russia is also undesirable). In particular, Ukraine is bigger in size and population (esp west of the Dniper closer to Russian borders - and Moscow) and filled with rabidly anti-Russian zealots. Keep in mind that while “Nazis” are now sold by the West as solely being anti-Jewish, Hitler was as scathing towards the Russians who he also considered untermenschen. The modern west decries attacks on Jews but increasingly overtly supports the centuries old European view that Russians are genetically, culturally inferior to Europe (being an Asiatic polluted race as per their worldview). What Hitler had got wrong, in this view, was in clubbing the Jewish people together with the Russians for extermination instead of just the latter which Europe would have been fine with. This indeed is the current position which is why discrimination, terror, deaths of ethnic Russians in Ukraine doesn’t excite comment let alone sympathy in the West where as even perceived criticism of Jews is cracked down hard. And the guys who are going to “solve” Europe’s centuries old “Russia problem” is the rabid Galicians and their overt anti-Russian philosophy. This is also why the Israel Govt and much of the Jewish diaspora (who hate Russians as well) support the Galicians (as long as they don’t attack Jews as well of course). This is why for example the West finds it horrifying if Nazi symbology is used in the west (because it is directed against Jews) but approved against Russia (because it is against Russians)
2. The Kremlin’s calculation - which they got wrong (everybody did) - was that a show of force (versus actual force) would get Kyiv to the table to be neutral. And in fact by end March 2022 that seemed to be the case. But the UK - which institutionally loathes Russians back to when they were both Empires - stepped in and pulled Zelensky back. And the neocon/neolib elites who run the West saw this as the perfect opportunity to wage war against Russia without losing their own troops even if it meant economic losses for the masses.
3. Everyone acknowledges that Kyiv would have surrendered - even now - without NATO arms/ISR/command. When it became clear to Russia that (a) Kyiv would not surrender (b) was willing to conscript millions (including ethnic Russians) backed by NATO arms to fight even if they died in huge numbers, Russia had to devise a plan B.
4. This involved retreating to defensible lines closer to supply chains, reluctant partial mobilization, cranking up arms and preparing for not just a localized conflict but an all out NATO war aimed at dismembering Russia (one that the Kremlin had hoped to forestall with the pre-emptive action). They also had to fix (and still fixing) a host of operational and supply chain issues an all out war would entail. This includes mitigating if not rooting out systemic corruption present in all armed forces worldwide and building up industrial capacity in greater numbers.
5. At the same time the Kremlin had to ensure that Russia would not only not collapse economically but even grow. A war won militarily but that devastated the economy and demographics is a Pyrrhic victory. For example Ukraine whatever happens is ruined owing the West billions and with its male population depleted further accelerating a downward demographic spiral it had been on.
6. All this meant that Plan B is, for now, an attritional warfare where preserving Russian army life (vs militias) takes priority over land acquisition which looks good on maps but is very costly when it comes to urban areas in life, economics and defense & maintenance post-conquest.
7. I don’t think Russia has a deep 5D Plan - it is impossible to predict how this will go. An event can happen that can tip the scales: elections, coups, economic realities, deaths (whether natural or induced), exhaustion and so on. The Kremlin believes that time is on their side. Using a chess analogy, Russia is playing like an Anatoly Karpov absorbing blows while systematically wearing down the opponent and improving its position slowly as well as playing within its capabilities vs loud trash talk. This may not be flashy or exciting (and I ironically preferred Kasparovs play which was bold and fun to watch) but seems rooted in Soviet doctrine.
8. This does not mean that the Kremlin is all knowing and playing 10 steps ahead. In Chess for example, one creates positions (or patterns) that are favorable for success later on but the exact sequence of play depends on the opponents play (who is also similarly trying to create patterns). The Kremlin seems to believe this is the optimal play at this point. (Critics insist that the Kremlin is in a zugzwang but unlike chess, here one can choose to skip your turn and react to your opponent which sometimes can be good. Perhaps this is Putin’s favored Judo strategy)
9. What pro-Russian critics call out the Kremlin on - the corruption, the sclerotic bureaucracy etc - are valid but that’s part of the constraints that even the most honest leader needs to struggle with to optimize.
10. Finally, not declaring a concrete end goal or rather not deviating from the party line is or now the optimal move. It is lofty enough to provide a motivating force but vague enough to leave room for compromise.
11. And re Belgograd: it is virtually impossible to guard the entirety of the vast unpopulated border. While there are clear signs of intelligence failures, incompetence, the Kremlin seems to prefer to react to where the fire is rather than spend resources on fire prevention. Not sure whether this is a deliberate strategy or a compromise to the ground realities of present Russian capabilities.
It looks like you put some effort into your comment and want others to read it and engage with it.
You know, I do something similar here. I write a blog where I try hard to get to the bottom of things and explain my own logic and reasoning.
If you want me to read and respond to your thought-out comments, perhaps you could first extend the curtesy to me and scroll through the last 6+ months of me posting where I answer or address many if not all the points you make multiple times.
I have been lurking for a while and read many of your blogs as well as those allied you link to. And of course Karlin (on Twitter) and Strelkov (on telegram) me others. I am familiar with the theory that there is a powerful neoliberal faction within the Kremlin and the Russian elite who are essentially in league with the globalists in the West to self-sabotage the Russian effort and Russia in general. I have also been following the daily history since around 1990 (just before the wall fell).
Just as I discount 5D theories (I’m with you and others I mentioned above), I discount some deep self-sabotage. Certainly there are elite factions who prefer to hang on to their wealth even if the Russian masses suffer (and perhaps especially if they do) just as there are nationalists who would turn Russia into a complete North Korea like autarkic system free of global influence. Strelkov himself appears to be a monarchist. And there are Communists et etc. Putin himself seems a Russian (in the national not ethnic sense) nationalist but with a globalist mindset (comparable to say Xi, Modi et al) trying to balance out the interests of various factions amidst institutionalized corruption (and it’s unclear how corrupt they themselves are). I do think Putin himself through his various discourses has been fairly consistent: he wants a Russia that is simultaneously sovereign while part of the global system. This may sound like a contradiction given that the global system is run essentially out of DC which brooks no sovereignty, but an alternative is to change the nature of the system to be less hegemonic which is what is being attempted with various levels of successes and setbacks by various non-western groupings.
I don’t want to get too deep into whether I believe any sort of globalist system will truly alleviate inequality or lift the masses up. But like it or not, Putin (in my opinion) is a committed globalist just one that doesn’t want it run via the dictates of DC. In that he is a “sovereignist” as well.
Getting to the present: I think the reasons that Russia went on the SMO - it’s not officially called a War for legal reasons within the Russian constitution - are pretty much as stated. 2014 might have been a better time militarily, but I think Putin genuinely thought he could avoid this conflict. And I think in 2022 for a variety of geopolitical and national timings (change of guard in the west, 2024 Russian elections) be and his clique decided that the conflict could not be put off. I disagree with you that bioweapons were a ruse. Their existence and dangers have been highlighted for a decade at least. Bioweapon research - specifically how to target certain genotypes whether groups or individual - while mitigating the risks to the attackers themselves is an active area of research (this is similar to the same mentality as using any kind of weapons of mass destruction: how to prevent self harm).
Just like 5D-ers see a deep Russian strategy to eventually win the war through cleverly seeming to lose battles, doomers or sabotagers see a deep neoliberal strategy within Russia to eventually lose by pretending to want to win. While pro-Kremlin acolytes refuse to see corruption and incompetence in the armed forces, the doomers see only that. Corruption in the armed forces is present virtually anywhere: I mean look at the West. Anytime there are vast amounts of money to be made grifters will appear. The entire NATO is one gigantic grift probably the biggest in human history.
At any rate, I think the current Russian “strategy” given the circumstances, is more or less optimal. Kyiv is being pressured to attack. It will certainly have some breakthroughs but assuming Russia has its defenses worked out, it should prevail in the main. As to what happens then, it remains to be seen: the key is to emerge from each phase of a war with an advantage of shaping the next phase not planning the moves down to a T (that’s futile since there are too many variables which can change on way or the other out of one’s control).
the jews love to create division amongst the people they seek to conquer, the opposition is usually fake and are 2 sides of the same coin. They have used blacks and minorties in the US to great effect to conquer and subjugated the majority of American whites. They first infiltrated the courts and once the laws are in place it was GG.
I don't know if some powerful Jews are the 'ONLY' actors in that devilish game (poker?) but blacks and minorities are also victims of those sinister psychopaths aka 'space lizzards'.
As a white knowing perfectly his ancestry in Anglo-French rooted small nobility, I can see the wrong done to whites and as a father of loved African-White children (having been living for years in africa) I am concerned by the fate of all human beings in the hands of black/white/Jew or whatever... psychopaths.
Wherever you are Michael, stay safe, keep your sense of humour and your ampathic abilities as human.
Very enlightening and instructive comments. Yet, there are a few things I fail to properly understand, or a few thoughts to throw in if you prefer.
According to Moscow's narrative and SMO's rationale, RF does not want to have across its border potential enemies armed to the teeth and with the ability of deploying nuclear missiles pointing to Russia. Those are allegedly the Kremlin's main "security concerns": political neutrality and NATO (or filo-NATO) weapons/missiles on the border. They do not mention population density, country size or hatred. Thus, in this sense, Finland (along with Estonia and Latvia, btw) may pose even a bigger threat to the RF than Ukraine, for its common borders are twice or thrice as long. On the other hand, considering that Russia-hostile countries, no matter the poignancy of their anti-Russia sentiment, never act against RF on their own initiative, but at the behest of USA, I fail to see why--again, according to the Kremlin's goals for Ukraine--Finland accessing NATO does not "deserve" another SMO. At Washington's orders, Moscow and St. Pete can be as easily and likely targeted from Finland or the Baltics than from Ukraine; and militay airplanes can as easily take off from either hostile country.
One might argue: "Well, that's the Kremlin's official rationale, but what _really_ worries them is not so much the deployment of strategic nuclear warheads on its borders, as the enemy population's disposition to march over RF's territory, this danger being a lot bigger in the case of Ukraine." That'd be fine, but then the rationale we've been given turns out to be mostly false, thus undermining Moscow's justification for its SMO in the eyes of the international community and the general public, I think.
A lot has been spoken about the supposedly almost-agreed peace deal by March 2022, immediately frustrated by Boris Johnson. But I for one, having followed the events as close as the next, never saw anything like that: not for a moment seemed to me that Kiev was serious about those conversations or any ceasefire--let alone accepting Moscow's demands. None of Zelenski's declarations at that time, that I know of, could be interpreted as having any will to settle down the conflict except after Russia's total capitulation. Actually, what I saw instead was one of Kiev's negotiators assasinated by its own government. However, this non-fact (the imminence of a peace agreement), this false premise seems to have been taken as "dogma fidei" by many analysts, based upon which they build other arguments.
I understand and might agree with Moscow's reason--however painful and disappointing--for retreating to more defensible lines closer to supply lines when it was forced to devise a plan B, but if the new outlook was an all out NATO war, the partial mobilization--however reluctant--has turned out to be clearly insufficient; yet the Kremlin has not yet made up its mind for new reserve calls. On the other hand, from what I read in doomers' blogs (I myself knowing almost nothing about RF's internal politics) and from Prygozhin's yells (questionable as his sincerity and motives can be), I am not sure how much Putin has done during the last twelve months to mitigate--let alone root out--systemic corruption within RF's military or to build up industrial capacity. Likewise, albeit Russia--to its leaders' credit--has certainly not collapsed economically, I do not know to what degree the Kremlin is ensuring Russia's economic growth. Giving away oil to India or selling it to China under the West's "price cap" does not seem to me like the optimal recipe for economic growth.
To an ignoramus on war matters like me it seems impossible to win any military war without taking casualties. Preserving one's soldiers' lives is morally laudable, but the RF is now, as derived from its present constitution, a partially occupied country and the enemy can't be pushed out of its territory without asuming a lot of people will die. Honestly, I do not understand the "land acquisition is secondary" argument, for if "sovereignty and integrity" does not mean preserving your land, I do not know what does. The "war of attrition" idea would sound reasonable to me if Russia were fighting an army susceptible of being totally annihilated (in men and weapons) in a reasonably short term, but Kiev's conscripts store seems as inexhaustible (there are still millions of men that can be sent to the front) as NATO's arms supplies. Despite the 5D narratives, every single day for the last 15 months we are informed of a dozen ammo depots or fuel tanks (with Russian oil) destroyed by RAF and yet new depots pop up like mushrooms after the rain.
Lastly, I am not at all convinced that time plays on the Kremlin's side. Methinks that relying on a providential event (elections, coups, etc.) is a loser's strategy, and there are as many chances--if not more--of some unpredictable event turning out providential for the enemy. After all, the West has a lot more pawns under their control, ready to trigger "unexpected" events, than Moscow has. I would tend to think that the best way of winning a war, when you have potentially overwhelming military capacity over your enemy, is to do it fast and big.
Very revealing. Thank you. Indicates that you've really got no more idea than we do. Whereas I've been thinking you do have. That you have somehow 'inside' information about Russia and its politics and its politicians, actual forces and groups and power plays etc.
Very good to know where we are at.
This I can believe. No one knows.
I can even believe that no one 'within' knows. That the military of Russia is chaotic and fighting itself at the top, hamstrung perhaps by politicians and perhaps oligarchial interference and the politicians the same.
In fact such a situation actually strikes me as being the most likely.
That actually no one knows. That actually the situation is such that there can be no one in charge really because too many factions exist side by side all pursuing their own interests. Free to do so.
That's one theory. The 'chaos' theory.
I have another: that the whole thing is a struggle at a level and in an area that we know nothing about.
that what happens on the ground is a mere theatre.
the purpose of that theatre is for the players in this struggle to demonstrate their bona fides, their sincerity, their resolve, their commitment.
Like if I said to you I will fight you with everything I have.
And we started a struggle and began escalating from small beginnings.
I want something from you or you want something from me and if we don't get what we want we will persist in this struggle.
I want you to sell your Pacific Island to me.
So I drive my car over your lawn
So then you drove yours through my fence.
So then I bulldozed dirt into your pool.
Then I cause your kids schoolbus to crash: putting threats to your kids into play.
Then you cut off the water to my house threatening my whole family..
And so on...
And all the world sees the conflict which keeps escalating - but of course, we quickly withdraw our families and such from any danger - and marvels at the destruction.
But we keep totally quiet about what it is really about.
Poor imaginative construct there of course, sorry. But that's the idea: that the whole thing if it has any rationale, any real 'structure' at all, is merely the theatrical aspect of something else, something that NO ONE in the whole Western world or even perhaps the whole world knows anything about.
And we don't even try to know.
Do we?
For the players are so few really. The cast of characters is so small.
All the billions of people involved are discounted immediately.
Most of the politicians we can forget, they also are of no account.
The real activists in all this are so relative few we could list them on a couple of pieces of paper I imagine. Identify them. The names of their families. Their holdings. Their interests.
We could identify the principals behind it all.
Like it seems certain that it is as simple as that that the evil witch Hilary Clinton was behind the invasion of Libya and all those thousands of people suffered and a nation destroyed for NO OTHER reason but that the madwoman wanted it!
That the explanation for sort of 'earth shattering' events is to be found amongst a small handful of lunatic families and their insane desire.
See? I'm saying it wouldn't surprise me to find the whole thing, the whole thing, to be merely a struggle between a couple of 'families'.
And we ought to stop talking about 'nations'. It is no struggle between 'nations'. Nations are collections of people. There is NO recourse to the people in any of this. The people have been utterly discounted since Covid times. It is accepted wholly by politicians now that people can be utterly disregarded.
It is certainly a conflict between such as Clinton and that's what and where that should be identified.
We've got to get to what matters, who matters. And it is not 'the nations' and it is not 'the people' and it is not even 'the politicians' and it is not even generally 'the oligarchs' for they are not organised. Who or what is it?
We are not looking in the right place. We haven't identified the real principals.
And when we do it'll make little difference apparently but people such as we that read stuff like this will at least be satisfied to some extent.
But we can see there'll be no difference made in the world. Discovering the evil of Clinton made not the smallest difference, discovering the evil of Obama made no difference, Biden flaunted his pipeline evil before it even happened - the knowledge of that makes no difference.
So exposing this truth whatever it is isn't going to change it or anything else.
But it would be satisfying to us.
One thing for certain sure: the bloody conflict is theatre able to exist only because of the staggering docile stupidity of the masses as demonstrated during covid years and examplified totally now by Kiev Ukrainians standing on land they've invaded, shooting at donbas Ukrainians all in pursuit of the goal of extirminating all Ukrainians with Russian connections: and firmly believing they're standing on their own land stoically repelling a Russian invasion!
The lunacy begins with the people. We see it right there.
People are not intellectually equipped as yest for democracy, only for peasant status in autocracies is the plain fact.
great rant, but Clinton, Obama, Biden are all just paid agents for whomever it really is that wants all of this to go on.
they get their little grift on, play their role, enjoy the act a bit too much. like someone who plays a great British ponce and can't quit the accent when he gets home. like Val Kilmer breaking into "love her madly" for years after playing Morrison.
those agents have their crimes, for sure but they are not the prime movers. just because Killary the Clintoon cackles at the deaths of other former paid agents (Saddam, Gaddafi) doesn't mean she's in charge.
and yeah, i too believe she has probably ordered or at least begged for some deaths to occur to cover her and Uncle Bill's crime log. along the lines of a "won't someone rid me of this troublesome priest", with plausible deniability all along the way.
so if even the agents are careful about plausible deniability, we still don't have the names much less their holdings, families, motivations, etc.
Sure, yep, is what I"m saying. I stop at clinton because I don't know where to go next but yes I'm quite ready to believe she's a stooge. And that makes the real manipulators even fewer if we can discount all those at the Clinton level doesn't it? So who are those few?
Yes. I am very uneducated in all of this. Very. About the only thing I know that I can use to connect with it is reading of Churchill in WWII. His own writings. I forget the name of the book if that's what it was.
What struck me about it was how everything was being arranged as amongst members of a club. And how positions with great responsibility were apparently handed out to members of the club who had nothing else going for them but that they were 'good chaps' or something.
I got a distinct impression that Britain was ruled by a club in fact.
Not by people qualified for positions and selected for positions the way most of the world does it: you learn what you need and then apply for jobs and get vetted etc...
They're all on a first name basis and their families have known each other forever.
That's all I know and it's just an impression. Not much to go on is it?
The staggering docile stupidity of the masses is of colossal importance. I first noted in with the Covid madness. It is a fact we now have to swallow.
And I think it leads to another fact we have to swallow: democracy is singularly inappropriate.
Devised by Greeks in a completely different era and developed through the ages by activists and theorists it may have everything going for it in theory: for a people vitally interested in politics and governance and willing able and ready to keep abreast of things and to constantly monitor and direct their representatives.
The truth is the human race currently at least shows no signs of being like that really. They want a benevolent dictatorship. That is what they WANT. They always act as though they are already in dictatorships. What were the feeble and few resistances and protests regarding the covid wholesale stripping away of all our rights etc? They were parades in the streets, truck convoys blocking highways, inarticulate primitive displays of sullen truculence by a bovine herd.
What you do in a dictatorship. Not what you're supposed to do in a democracy.
Luckily, we hope, the internet and ubiquitous smartphone gives us a way out, we don't need to throw away democracy and revert to dictators. I think. For I imagine it is possible to construct a kind of democracy that allows people to be as dumb and uninterested as they like and yet at the same time as able to contact their reps and dictate to them and monitor them whenever they do wish and with an ease that will please even the most couch bound of them.
For it can all be done by appropriate software on computers, on smartphones. Perpetual referenda. Constant polling of public opinion on any issue at all. Feeding of facts and figures on any issue at all to the electorate. And so on.
And that's my hope. We cannot dispel what we read as the 'staggering stupidity' of the masses for it is in fact the nature of the average human being who just wants to live with family and friends and minimum discomfort and inconvenience. And why not? What's wrong with that as an aim?
We need to accommodate our social organisation to suit the people rather than try to force the people into the mode that we want: that's what all the monsters of history have done.
They are not really staggeringly stupid, we know that. They are the mass of humanity. Well over 90% given that at most it looks like 10% of us are taking this kind of interest.
So obviously they're doing 90% of what gets done in the world and it takes some smarts to get done what gets done. Well there's no doubt: we all know doctors are 'smart' don't we? Have to be. Axiomatic. But they fit in our current 'staggeringly stupid' category because there they all are, denying the science, denying logic, bowing to madness, giving foul injections, refusing people medicines that work, turning their backs and deaf ears to the most intelligent and brightest of their peers.
Yep. So they're not really so stupid But they behave that way currently. Well that can change.
I guess that's about right. So we need to look carefully at it when we think we need to change peoples minds and we need to be sure we know what people's minds are before that.
In fact it can often be our own minds need changing. The thinkers are the activists are the trouble makers as often as not or perhaps more often. How the people are has presumably a right to be.
All this while on another tab I have open "Belgorod Attack Helps Kiev to Disguise Its Military Disaster in Bakhmut" on globalresearch.ca. These people will never learn
Another thought (and smile) provoking post. Seems I'll never be able to get out of my confusion, and new and old questions come to my mind. Not exclusively because of this post, but also previous ones. Excuse me if some of my thoughts are a bit off-topic.
Most of the war events since February last year tell me that this war is for real. There is here true animosity, real foes contending. Kiev definitely wants to humiliate and defeat Moscow, though I'm not sure the opposite holds true. In any case, how understand that--according to many analysts--this war is a farce and that, behind the scenes, the West and Russia shake hands on bringing us the Brave New World the Davos crew has designed? If they are in collusion, why wage a war in the first place?
Many people claim--and I find it plausible--that there is a broad project or aspiration (long ago conceived), on the part of USA, for breaking the RF apart into smaller and easily controllable countries in order to plunder its enormous natural resources. This war--among other events--seems to support that thesis. Weaken Russia, bend its arm, defeat and change its regime. If this holds true, then how come the allegedly corrupt, treacherous, West-loving and--most importantly--almighty Russian elites (under whose influence or with whose support Putin governs) did not simply comply with the plan and sell the RF out, fragment it and spread out the loot with the West? If the Russian population is as passive as it seems, not much resistance was to be expected from their part.
Now, Putin. Let's first suppose he is a betrayer and a WEF puppet. Then, why wage this war against NATO? Now let's assume he is a true patriot who loves his country and wishes the best for the RF and its citizenry. In this case, well, he is either a weakling or he is not. If he is, how could he begin this war against the interests and influence of the elites? And if he is not, how can't he take the steps to really win the war?
Regarding Russia's selling of hydrocarbons to its enemies, I often wonder how necessary that revenue is for financing the war effort? Would the RF have enough money to continue fighting wihout the income from oil and gas, or would it not? I have no clue. If someone knows, please share. In any case, I suspect the equation is not as simple as that. There may be powerful political reasons--unfortunately unexplained by the Kremlin--for keeping selling energy to the West and Ukraine. Might then these secret political motives be the reason for not formally declaring war on Ukraine?
As to Belgorod, here I'll take the cudgels for 5D Rolo. Russia's fortification map shows a reasonably dense fortification line all along northern Ukraine's border. But that border may be 800-1000 km long. I guess it's almost impossible to make the line so thick that not a rabbit can cross it. Besides, fortified spots are placed a few km off the border (I suppose in order to be out of reach of Ukraine's artillery). In such circumstances, probably it is extremely difficult to avoid some break-in or other on the part of the UAF.
Of course the de-nazification argument is childish garbage. (I have my owh theory about the non-existence of Nazis in the XXIst century, but I won't bore anyone with that.) And the neutral Ukraine argument has been proven false after, as Rolo points out, Finland joined NATO and Moscow not batting an eyelid. What? NATO weapons on Ukraine's border are a threat, but on Finland's is not? More yet: even supposing that the Russian AF not only totally defeat the Ukrainian AF but take and annex the whole territory of Ukraine, well, then the RF would share a 2000 km-long border with NATO countries! Would then Moscow demand Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova be neutral? It makes no sense to me.
Lastly, seeing as Wagners seem to be the only army capable of gaining some territory, and considering it took them eight months to take a city the size of Artëmovsk, how many decades will the RF need to "liberate" the rest of its--according to Russia--territories? A sad future lies ahead of Moscow's pretentions, I am afraid. And, by the way, how valid were the referenda carried out in Zaporozhia and Kherson oblasts for joining the RF, considering that around half their population lives in Ukraine-controlled territory and could therefore not vote? Who can seriosly take those referenda?
This was a fun read, Rolo. You do have a talent, sir. When you put the 5D perspective down like that, it does sound delusional. "2 more weeks" has now turned into "5 more months." Just wait out NAFO and the funding will dry up as the US rolls into an election cycle (funny how it did not matter last year).
So a battalion strength force rolled into Russia proper and attacked two villages in the Belgorod region? Seriously no one is running drones or any form of border surveillance. I wouldnt be surprised if this was some NAFO unit since "Russian Anti-Kremlin" groups claimed credit (CIA loves a good front group). Oddly AlJazeera is the best "western" source that I could find. These probing attacks are only going to escalate along the border. I fear your predicted offensive is coming soon.
Rorschach Test: "We simply see two different realities as starkly as a mentally-disturbed patient sees demons in blots of ink, where another patient might see bunnies."
I shall shamelessly steal this analogy and apply it to many other things that I try to clear pill people on such as food, politics, and how the world works.
It does not work, as Rolo instructs his guests not to criticize Putin, thus nothing can be explained properly. E.g. Nikola tweets [1] almost every day about Putin's treachery, idiocy and cowardice, while when talking to Rolo, Putin is not mentioned. I'd not be surprised if Marko gave up on being a guest due to that.
Olive branches however well-advised are useful only to a point. Wisdom is defined by letting go of things you can’t control 😊 There comes a time when magnanimity no longer works but becomes counterproductive even. You tried, hard 👌
ETA Plain fun shrink session and its aftermath, charmingly narrated!
I may have missed it, but did anyone consider (publicly or otherwise to your knowledge) that the real purpose (or it's 4D immersional projection from 5D hyperspace multiplied by its complex adjoint conjugate and then subjected to the Fifth-root operator, of course) of Gospodin Prihozhin's Hyperdimensional rants in front of slain Russian men in the prime of their lives had the intended purpose of alerting the greater Russian audiences and even the wider world to, how to say, the possible severe perils of removing his Nibsovitch chez Gremlin? If the rants occured only after the two drones hit the fortress on krasnaya ploshad, which I can't recall, then oh nevermind. Names that end in "in" - Lenin, Stalin, Putin, Prihozhin ..
Physics is undefeated, no amount of spin, group hugs, rousing renditions of Kumbaya or self-identification can alter what is coming SOON.
8-10% (likely more) inflation in energy prices per annum forever!
4.5-6.5% drop in living standards per year ad infinitum! I don't really see how a new monetary system would change this much - somebody is going to miss out.
All the activists will be struggling to get enough to eat.
The reality check of the ages is coming.
Current oil fields are depleting at over 10 million barrels per day every year i.e. 10 mb/d has to be brought online every year for production to stay flat. The shale boom delayed it all for a few years but that too is rolling over.
The renewable greenie types have no clue along with economists, politicians and most people. You can bet the spooks know though.
Russia would be well placed if genuine patriots were running the show. Would the West go to war for Russia's oil?
It could be part of a humiliating peace settlement for the West to get a big chunk of Russia's oil at the right price. Could that have been the game all along? Watch at 22:40. Sorta defeats the purpose to irradiate the oil fields.
Forget about the Rorschach test a blini with a cup of black tea will yield more logic. 😵💫
But after all you gotta admire the
"info warriors" they've spun a smorgasbord of narratives filled with everyone's favorites ready to gobble up at command. And once the delicious, but non-nutritrious substances are digested you're only briefly satiated before feeling hungry again and desiring much more, sorta like Western/Chinese feed.
This unerupted digestive process continues until indigestion or food poisoning sets in, at which time the unfortunate victim either develops terminal sepsis or is placed on a very restricted bland diet; a fate worst than death.🤮
NONONO Rolo is a CIA agent trying to mislead you, here is the truth from one of my 5D bros:
''The grim reality is that after Ukraine refused (probably wasn’t allowed) to reach terms at the outset of Phase One before the Russians invested too much to compromise, they adopted a grim strategy of eliminating every soldier Ukraine could muster and blowing up all of their equipment while allowing NATO to deplete its stockpiles. This keeps the suicide operation going until a solution can be imposed once the other two sides have nothing left to offer in terms of conventional combat.
NATO doesn’t have anything close to sufficient military industrial capacity to sustain this war effort, not even a fraction based on what could be produced per month versus what’s required. After these finite resources are exhausted, the situation will collapse and then the comprehensive territorial acquisitions to resolve Russian political and security objectives will happen along with other measures the Ukrainians won’t find agreeable.
The best place to conduct this slaughter is in Donbass, where Russia owns the skies and its troops can be easily rotated and supplied. It makes no sense to waste Russian soldiers by the tens of thousands (perhaps more) punching through a fun house to make direct contact further to the west with extended, vulnerable supply lines where they’d take even more losses. It’s much better to let the Ukrainians come east for suicide.
It’s been designated an SMO (Special Military Operation) for a reason. They’re trying to minimize the losses of Russian personnel, not sacrifice them in a pointless narrative war with the West, which would never admit the truth anyway. Regular Russian forces generally don’t even storm urban areas. That’s done by the PMCs, Chechen volunteers, and the militias.
What you’ll never see on television is that these operations are deliberately allowed by the Russians as part of this strategy of eliminating the entire Ukrainian military and everything NATO can send. As stated above, it’s much easier and safer to do this in Donbass rather than trying to locate units scattered over the vast western expanses of Ukraine because the logistical network has been knocked out.
The winter strikes against the electrical grid that didn’t cripple it were meant to drain irreplaceable interceptor missiles, as two are fired per intercept attempt. It’s now obvious why much of the Ukrainian logistical network is still in place despite their ability to take it all down from the start: the Russians want Ukraine accumulating men and material for missile and drone strikes to the west, and also moved into the east to get blown up by airstrikes and artillery.
A lot of this stuff only becomes clear in hindsight to outside observers because the Russian General Staff would never be stupid enough to disclose its plans. Putin’s initial statement on the morning the tanks got rolling was that his objective was to “de-militarize” Ukraine, but what that meant wasn’t clear at the time. As it turns out, “de-militarize” is a very sanitary term for this process of wholesale, indirectly-facilitated destruction described above.
As forces are assembled ahead of the much-hyped third counteroffensive, the Russians have been striking these concentrations with massive missile and drone barrages. In other words, why blow up the trains before the other side can pack them full of men and material? They’re essential to moving large amounts of both for long distances. If this grim logic is applied, the paradoxes marketed as evidence of Russian failure starts making sense. They don’t want to paralyze the Ukrainian military for a guerrilla war, that would be counterproductive.
The Ukrainians have accumulated billions worth of NATO munitions and equipment in massive stockpiles to the far west ahead of this counteroffensive. A series of missile strikes have produced the largest explosions of the war. It’s clear Russia knew this all along and waited to let them get packed full, before blowing everything to hell. Some of these recent explosions register on the Richter Scale.''
I love reading the conversation you had with yourself, but I wonder why you showed us that violent picture of two mirror-image puppies eating two bathroom sinks.
Same here,except those 2 puppies are attacking a giant cockroach.Please get it right before commenting here.
So here’s my 3D theory of the situation and comments to 5D Rolo.
1. Re the rationale for the SMO: NATO expansion that includes Ukraine is vastly different from Finland (which for Russia is also undesirable). In particular, Ukraine is bigger in size and population (esp west of the Dniper closer to Russian borders - and Moscow) and filled with rabidly anti-Russian zealots. Keep in mind that while “Nazis” are now sold by the West as solely being anti-Jewish, Hitler was as scathing towards the Russians who he also considered untermenschen. The modern west decries attacks on Jews but increasingly overtly supports the centuries old European view that Russians are genetically, culturally inferior to Europe (being an Asiatic polluted race as per their worldview). What Hitler had got wrong, in this view, was in clubbing the Jewish people together with the Russians for extermination instead of just the latter which Europe would have been fine with. This indeed is the current position which is why discrimination, terror, deaths of ethnic Russians in Ukraine doesn’t excite comment let alone sympathy in the West where as even perceived criticism of Jews is cracked down hard. And the guys who are going to “solve” Europe’s centuries old “Russia problem” is the rabid Galicians and their overt anti-Russian philosophy. This is also why the Israel Govt and much of the Jewish diaspora (who hate Russians as well) support the Galicians (as long as they don’t attack Jews as well of course). This is why for example the West finds it horrifying if Nazi symbology is used in the west (because it is directed against Jews) but approved against Russia (because it is against Russians)
2. The Kremlin’s calculation - which they got wrong (everybody did) - was that a show of force (versus actual force) would get Kyiv to the table to be neutral. And in fact by end March 2022 that seemed to be the case. But the UK - which institutionally loathes Russians back to when they were both Empires - stepped in and pulled Zelensky back. And the neocon/neolib elites who run the West saw this as the perfect opportunity to wage war against Russia without losing their own troops even if it meant economic losses for the masses.
3. Everyone acknowledges that Kyiv would have surrendered - even now - without NATO arms/ISR/command. When it became clear to Russia that (a) Kyiv would not surrender (b) was willing to conscript millions (including ethnic Russians) backed by NATO arms to fight even if they died in huge numbers, Russia had to devise a plan B.
4. This involved retreating to defensible lines closer to supply chains, reluctant partial mobilization, cranking up arms and preparing for not just a localized conflict but an all out NATO war aimed at dismembering Russia (one that the Kremlin had hoped to forestall with the pre-emptive action). They also had to fix (and still fixing) a host of operational and supply chain issues an all out war would entail. This includes mitigating if not rooting out systemic corruption present in all armed forces worldwide and building up industrial capacity in greater numbers.
5. At the same time the Kremlin had to ensure that Russia would not only not collapse economically but even grow. A war won militarily but that devastated the economy and demographics is a Pyrrhic victory. For example Ukraine whatever happens is ruined owing the West billions and with its male population depleted further accelerating a downward demographic spiral it had been on.
6. All this meant that Plan B is, for now, an attritional warfare where preserving Russian army life (vs militias) takes priority over land acquisition which looks good on maps but is very costly when it comes to urban areas in life, economics and defense & maintenance post-conquest.
7. I don’t think Russia has a deep 5D Plan - it is impossible to predict how this will go. An event can happen that can tip the scales: elections, coups, economic realities, deaths (whether natural or induced), exhaustion and so on. The Kremlin believes that time is on their side. Using a chess analogy, Russia is playing like an Anatoly Karpov absorbing blows while systematically wearing down the opponent and improving its position slowly as well as playing within its capabilities vs loud trash talk. This may not be flashy or exciting (and I ironically preferred Kasparovs play which was bold and fun to watch) but seems rooted in Soviet doctrine.
8. This does not mean that the Kremlin is all knowing and playing 10 steps ahead. In Chess for example, one creates positions (or patterns) that are favorable for success later on but the exact sequence of play depends on the opponents play (who is also similarly trying to create patterns). The Kremlin seems to believe this is the optimal play at this point. (Critics insist that the Kremlin is in a zugzwang but unlike chess, here one can choose to skip your turn and react to your opponent which sometimes can be good. Perhaps this is Putin’s favored Judo strategy)
9. What pro-Russian critics call out the Kremlin on - the corruption, the sclerotic bureaucracy etc - are valid but that’s part of the constraints that even the most honest leader needs to struggle with to optimize.
10. Finally, not declaring a concrete end goal or rather not deviating from the party line is or now the optimal move. It is lofty enough to provide a motivating force but vague enough to leave room for compromise.
11. And re Belgograd: it is virtually impossible to guard the entirety of the vast unpopulated border. While there are clear signs of intelligence failures, incompetence, the Kremlin seems to prefer to react to where the fire is rather than spend resources on fire prevention. Not sure whether this is a deliberate strategy or a compromise to the ground realities of present Russian capabilities.
It looks like you put some effort into your comment and want others to read it and engage with it.
You know, I do something similar here. I write a blog where I try hard to get to the bottom of things and explain my own logic and reasoning.
If you want me to read and respond to your thought-out comments, perhaps you could first extend the curtesy to me and scroll through the last 6+ months of me posting where I answer or address many if not all the points you make multiple times.
I have been lurking for a while and read many of your blogs as well as those allied you link to. And of course Karlin (on Twitter) and Strelkov (on telegram) me others. I am familiar with the theory that there is a powerful neoliberal faction within the Kremlin and the Russian elite who are essentially in league with the globalists in the West to self-sabotage the Russian effort and Russia in general. I have also been following the daily history since around 1990 (just before the wall fell).
Just as I discount 5D theories (I’m with you and others I mentioned above), I discount some deep self-sabotage. Certainly there are elite factions who prefer to hang on to their wealth even if the Russian masses suffer (and perhaps especially if they do) just as there are nationalists who would turn Russia into a complete North Korea like autarkic system free of global influence. Strelkov himself appears to be a monarchist. And there are Communists et etc. Putin himself seems a Russian (in the national not ethnic sense) nationalist but with a globalist mindset (comparable to say Xi, Modi et al) trying to balance out the interests of various factions amidst institutionalized corruption (and it’s unclear how corrupt they themselves are). I do think Putin himself through his various discourses has been fairly consistent: he wants a Russia that is simultaneously sovereign while part of the global system. This may sound like a contradiction given that the global system is run essentially out of DC which brooks no sovereignty, but an alternative is to change the nature of the system to be less hegemonic which is what is being attempted with various levels of successes and setbacks by various non-western groupings.
I don’t want to get too deep into whether I believe any sort of globalist system will truly alleviate inequality or lift the masses up. But like it or not, Putin (in my opinion) is a committed globalist just one that doesn’t want it run via the dictates of DC. In that he is a “sovereignist” as well.
Getting to the present: I think the reasons that Russia went on the SMO - it’s not officially called a War for legal reasons within the Russian constitution - are pretty much as stated. 2014 might have been a better time militarily, but I think Putin genuinely thought he could avoid this conflict. And I think in 2022 for a variety of geopolitical and national timings (change of guard in the west, 2024 Russian elections) be and his clique decided that the conflict could not be put off. I disagree with you that bioweapons were a ruse. Their existence and dangers have been highlighted for a decade at least. Bioweapon research - specifically how to target certain genotypes whether groups or individual - while mitigating the risks to the attackers themselves is an active area of research (this is similar to the same mentality as using any kind of weapons of mass destruction: how to prevent self harm).
Just like 5D-ers see a deep Russian strategy to eventually win the war through cleverly seeming to lose battles, doomers or sabotagers see a deep neoliberal strategy within Russia to eventually lose by pretending to want to win. While pro-Kremlin acolytes refuse to see corruption and incompetence in the armed forces, the doomers see only that. Corruption in the armed forces is present virtually anywhere: I mean look at the West. Anytime there are vast amounts of money to be made grifters will appear. The entire NATO is one gigantic grift probably the biggest in human history.
At any rate, I think the current Russian “strategy” given the circumstances, is more or less optimal. Kyiv is being pressured to attack. It will certainly have some breakthroughs but assuming Russia has its defenses worked out, it should prevail in the main. As to what happens then, it remains to be seen: the key is to emerge from each phase of a war with an advantage of shaping the next phase not planning the moves down to a T (that’s futile since there are too many variables which can change on way or the other out of one’s control).
While Ukrainian 'nazis' are fighting, Ukraine is being rebuilt, 'nazi' style ESG:
https://unlimitedhangout.com/2023/05/investigative-reports/ukraines-future-lies-in-the-great-reset/
While Russia is fighting 'nazis' and 'nazi' style societal project, Russia is implementing a reconstruction of Russia with ESG, non 'nazi' style:
https://edwardslavsquat.substack.com/p/the-esg-agenda-is-marching-across
Maybe it not a chess game after all...
the jews love to create division amongst the people they seek to conquer, the opposition is usually fake and are 2 sides of the same coin. They have used blacks and minorties in the US to great effect to conquer and subjugated the majority of American whites. They first infiltrated the courts and once the laws are in place it was GG.
I don't know if some powerful Jews are the 'ONLY' actors in that devilish game (poker?) but blacks and minorities are also victims of those sinister psychopaths aka 'space lizzards'.
As a white knowing perfectly his ancestry in Anglo-French rooted small nobility, I can see the wrong done to whites and as a father of loved African-White children (having been living for years in africa) I am concerned by the fate of all human beings in the hands of black/white/Jew or whatever... psychopaths.
Wherever you are Michael, stay safe, keep your sense of humour and your ampathic abilities as human.
Very enlightening and instructive comments. Yet, there are a few things I fail to properly understand, or a few thoughts to throw in if you prefer.
According to Moscow's narrative and SMO's rationale, RF does not want to have across its border potential enemies armed to the teeth and with the ability of deploying nuclear missiles pointing to Russia. Those are allegedly the Kremlin's main "security concerns": political neutrality and NATO (or filo-NATO) weapons/missiles on the border. They do not mention population density, country size or hatred. Thus, in this sense, Finland (along with Estonia and Latvia, btw) may pose even a bigger threat to the RF than Ukraine, for its common borders are twice or thrice as long. On the other hand, considering that Russia-hostile countries, no matter the poignancy of their anti-Russia sentiment, never act against RF on their own initiative, but at the behest of USA, I fail to see why--again, according to the Kremlin's goals for Ukraine--Finland accessing NATO does not "deserve" another SMO. At Washington's orders, Moscow and St. Pete can be as easily and likely targeted from Finland or the Baltics than from Ukraine; and militay airplanes can as easily take off from either hostile country.
One might argue: "Well, that's the Kremlin's official rationale, but what _really_ worries them is not so much the deployment of strategic nuclear warheads on its borders, as the enemy population's disposition to march over RF's territory, this danger being a lot bigger in the case of Ukraine." That'd be fine, but then the rationale we've been given turns out to be mostly false, thus undermining Moscow's justification for its SMO in the eyes of the international community and the general public, I think.
A lot has been spoken about the supposedly almost-agreed peace deal by March 2022, immediately frustrated by Boris Johnson. But I for one, having followed the events as close as the next, never saw anything like that: not for a moment seemed to me that Kiev was serious about those conversations or any ceasefire--let alone accepting Moscow's demands. None of Zelenski's declarations at that time, that I know of, could be interpreted as having any will to settle down the conflict except after Russia's total capitulation. Actually, what I saw instead was one of Kiev's negotiators assasinated by its own government. However, this non-fact (the imminence of a peace agreement), this false premise seems to have been taken as "dogma fidei" by many analysts, based upon which they build other arguments.
I understand and might agree with Moscow's reason--however painful and disappointing--for retreating to more defensible lines closer to supply lines when it was forced to devise a plan B, but if the new outlook was an all out NATO war, the partial mobilization--however reluctant--has turned out to be clearly insufficient; yet the Kremlin has not yet made up its mind for new reserve calls. On the other hand, from what I read in doomers' blogs (I myself knowing almost nothing about RF's internal politics) and from Prygozhin's yells (questionable as his sincerity and motives can be), I am not sure how much Putin has done during the last twelve months to mitigate--let alone root out--systemic corruption within RF's military or to build up industrial capacity. Likewise, albeit Russia--to its leaders' credit--has certainly not collapsed economically, I do not know to what degree the Kremlin is ensuring Russia's economic growth. Giving away oil to India or selling it to China under the West's "price cap" does not seem to me like the optimal recipe for economic growth.
To an ignoramus on war matters like me it seems impossible to win any military war without taking casualties. Preserving one's soldiers' lives is morally laudable, but the RF is now, as derived from its present constitution, a partially occupied country and the enemy can't be pushed out of its territory without asuming a lot of people will die. Honestly, I do not understand the "land acquisition is secondary" argument, for if "sovereignty and integrity" does not mean preserving your land, I do not know what does. The "war of attrition" idea would sound reasonable to me if Russia were fighting an army susceptible of being totally annihilated (in men and weapons) in a reasonably short term, but Kiev's conscripts store seems as inexhaustible (there are still millions of men that can be sent to the front) as NATO's arms supplies. Despite the 5D narratives, every single day for the last 15 months we are informed of a dozen ammo depots or fuel tanks (with Russian oil) destroyed by RAF and yet new depots pop up like mushrooms after the rain.
Lastly, I am not at all convinced that time plays on the Kremlin's side. Methinks that relying on a providential event (elections, coups, etc.) is a loser's strategy, and there are as many chances--if not more--of some unpredictable event turning out providential for the enemy. After all, the West has a lot more pawns under their control, ready to trigger "unexpected" events, than Moscow has. I would tend to think that the best way of winning a war, when you have potentially overwhelming military capacity over your enemy, is to do it fast and big.
But what the hell do I know?
Very revealing. Thank you. Indicates that you've really got no more idea than we do. Whereas I've been thinking you do have. That you have somehow 'inside' information about Russia and its politics and its politicians, actual forces and groups and power plays etc.
Very good to know where we are at.
This I can believe. No one knows.
I can even believe that no one 'within' knows. That the military of Russia is chaotic and fighting itself at the top, hamstrung perhaps by politicians and perhaps oligarchial interference and the politicians the same.
In fact such a situation actually strikes me as being the most likely.
That actually no one knows. That actually the situation is such that there can be no one in charge really because too many factions exist side by side all pursuing their own interests. Free to do so.
That's one theory. The 'chaos' theory.
I have another: that the whole thing is a struggle at a level and in an area that we know nothing about.
that what happens on the ground is a mere theatre.
the purpose of that theatre is for the players in this struggle to demonstrate their bona fides, their sincerity, their resolve, their commitment.
Like if I said to you I will fight you with everything I have.
And we started a struggle and began escalating from small beginnings.
I want something from you or you want something from me and if we don't get what we want we will persist in this struggle.
I want you to sell your Pacific Island to me.
So I drive my car over your lawn
So then you drove yours through my fence.
So then I bulldozed dirt into your pool.
Then I cause your kids schoolbus to crash: putting threats to your kids into play.
Then you cut off the water to my house threatening my whole family..
And so on...
And all the world sees the conflict which keeps escalating - but of course, we quickly withdraw our families and such from any danger - and marvels at the destruction.
But we keep totally quiet about what it is really about.
Poor imaginative construct there of course, sorry. But that's the idea: that the whole thing if it has any rationale, any real 'structure' at all, is merely the theatrical aspect of something else, something that NO ONE in the whole Western world or even perhaps the whole world knows anything about.
And we don't even try to know.
Do we?
For the players are so few really. The cast of characters is so small.
All the billions of people involved are discounted immediately.
Most of the politicians we can forget, they also are of no account.
The real activists in all this are so relative few we could list them on a couple of pieces of paper I imagine. Identify them. The names of their families. Their holdings. Their interests.
We could identify the principals behind it all.
Like it seems certain that it is as simple as that that the evil witch Hilary Clinton was behind the invasion of Libya and all those thousands of people suffered and a nation destroyed for NO OTHER reason but that the madwoman wanted it!
That the explanation for sort of 'earth shattering' events is to be found amongst a small handful of lunatic families and their insane desire.
See? I'm saying it wouldn't surprise me to find the whole thing, the whole thing, to be merely a struggle between a couple of 'families'.
And we ought to stop talking about 'nations'. It is no struggle between 'nations'. Nations are collections of people. There is NO recourse to the people in any of this. The people have been utterly discounted since Covid times. It is accepted wholly by politicians now that people can be utterly disregarded.
It is certainly a conflict between such as Clinton and that's what and where that should be identified.
We've got to get to what matters, who matters. And it is not 'the nations' and it is not 'the people' and it is not even 'the politicians' and it is not even generally 'the oligarchs' for they are not organised. Who or what is it?
We are not looking in the right place. We haven't identified the real principals.
And when we do it'll make little difference apparently but people such as we that read stuff like this will at least be satisfied to some extent.
But we can see there'll be no difference made in the world. Discovering the evil of Clinton made not the smallest difference, discovering the evil of Obama made no difference, Biden flaunted his pipeline evil before it even happened - the knowledge of that makes no difference.
So exposing this truth whatever it is isn't going to change it or anything else.
But it would be satisfying to us.
One thing for certain sure: the bloody conflict is theatre able to exist only because of the staggering docile stupidity of the masses as demonstrated during covid years and examplified totally now by Kiev Ukrainians standing on land they've invaded, shooting at donbas Ukrainians all in pursuit of the goal of extirminating all Ukrainians with Russian connections: and firmly believing they're standing on their own land stoically repelling a Russian invasion!
The lunacy begins with the people. We see it right there.
People are not intellectually equipped as yest for democracy, only for peasant status in autocracies is the plain fact.
great rant, but Clinton, Obama, Biden are all just paid agents for whomever it really is that wants all of this to go on.
they get their little grift on, play their role, enjoy the act a bit too much. like someone who plays a great British ponce and can't quit the accent when he gets home. like Val Kilmer breaking into "love her madly" for years after playing Morrison.
those agents have their crimes, for sure but they are not the prime movers. just because Killary the Clintoon cackles at the deaths of other former paid agents (Saddam, Gaddafi) doesn't mean she's in charge.
and yeah, i too believe she has probably ordered or at least begged for some deaths to occur to cover her and Uncle Bill's crime log. along the lines of a "won't someone rid me of this troublesome priest", with plausible deniability all along the way.
so if even the agents are careful about plausible deniability, we still don't have the names much less their holdings, families, motivations, etc.
Sure, yep, is what I"m saying. I stop at clinton because I don't know where to go next but yes I'm quite ready to believe she's a stooge. And that makes the real manipulators even fewer if we can discount all those at the Clinton level doesn't it? So who are those few?
Yes. I am very uneducated in all of this. Very. About the only thing I know that I can use to connect with it is reading of Churchill in WWII. His own writings. I forget the name of the book if that's what it was.
What struck me about it was how everything was being arranged as amongst members of a club. And how positions with great responsibility were apparently handed out to members of the club who had nothing else going for them but that they were 'good chaps' or something.
I got a distinct impression that Britain was ruled by a club in fact.
Not by people qualified for positions and selected for positions the way most of the world does it: you learn what you need and then apply for jobs and get vetted etc...
They're all on a first name basis and their families have known each other forever.
That's all I know and it's just an impression. Not much to go on is it?
The staggering docile stupidity of the masses is of colossal importance. I first noted in with the Covid madness. It is a fact we now have to swallow.
And I think it leads to another fact we have to swallow: democracy is singularly inappropriate.
Devised by Greeks in a completely different era and developed through the ages by activists and theorists it may have everything going for it in theory: for a people vitally interested in politics and governance and willing able and ready to keep abreast of things and to constantly monitor and direct their representatives.
The truth is the human race currently at least shows no signs of being like that really. They want a benevolent dictatorship. That is what they WANT. They always act as though they are already in dictatorships. What were the feeble and few resistances and protests regarding the covid wholesale stripping away of all our rights etc? They were parades in the streets, truck convoys blocking highways, inarticulate primitive displays of sullen truculence by a bovine herd.
What you do in a dictatorship. Not what you're supposed to do in a democracy.
Luckily, we hope, the internet and ubiquitous smartphone gives us a way out, we don't need to throw away democracy and revert to dictators. I think. For I imagine it is possible to construct a kind of democracy that allows people to be as dumb and uninterested as they like and yet at the same time as able to contact their reps and dictate to them and monitor them whenever they do wish and with an ease that will please even the most couch bound of them.
For it can all be done by appropriate software on computers, on smartphones. Perpetual referenda. Constant polling of public opinion on any issue at all. Feeding of facts and figures on any issue at all to the electorate. And so on.
And that's my hope. We cannot dispel what we read as the 'staggering stupidity' of the masses for it is in fact the nature of the average human being who just wants to live with family and friends and minimum discomfort and inconvenience. And why not? What's wrong with that as an aim?
We need to accommodate our social organisation to suit the people rather than try to force the people into the mode that we want: that's what all the monsters of history have done.
They are not really staggeringly stupid, we know that. They are the mass of humanity. Well over 90% given that at most it looks like 10% of us are taking this kind of interest.
So obviously they're doing 90% of what gets done in the world and it takes some smarts to get done what gets done. Well there's no doubt: we all know doctors are 'smart' don't we? Have to be. Axiomatic. But they fit in our current 'staggeringly stupid' category because there they all are, denying the science, denying logic, bowing to madness, giving foul injections, refusing people medicines that work, turning their backs and deaf ears to the most intelligent and brightest of their peers.
Yep. So they're not really so stupid But they behave that way currently. Well that can change.
Gone on a bit too long haven't I. Sorry. :)
I guess that's about right. So we need to look carefully at it when we think we need to change peoples minds and we need to be sure we know what people's minds are before that.
In fact it can often be our own minds need changing. The thinkers are the activists are the trouble makers as often as not or perhaps more often. How the people are has presumably a right to be.
All this while on another tab I have open "Belgorod Attack Helps Kiev to Disguise Its Military Disaster in Bakhmut" on globalresearch.ca. These people will never learn
Another thought (and smile) provoking post. Seems I'll never be able to get out of my confusion, and new and old questions come to my mind. Not exclusively because of this post, but also previous ones. Excuse me if some of my thoughts are a bit off-topic.
Most of the war events since February last year tell me that this war is for real. There is here true animosity, real foes contending. Kiev definitely wants to humiliate and defeat Moscow, though I'm not sure the opposite holds true. In any case, how understand that--according to many analysts--this war is a farce and that, behind the scenes, the West and Russia shake hands on bringing us the Brave New World the Davos crew has designed? If they are in collusion, why wage a war in the first place?
Many people claim--and I find it plausible--that there is a broad project or aspiration (long ago conceived), on the part of USA, for breaking the RF apart into smaller and easily controllable countries in order to plunder its enormous natural resources. This war--among other events--seems to support that thesis. Weaken Russia, bend its arm, defeat and change its regime. If this holds true, then how come the allegedly corrupt, treacherous, West-loving and--most importantly--almighty Russian elites (under whose influence or with whose support Putin governs) did not simply comply with the plan and sell the RF out, fragment it and spread out the loot with the West? If the Russian population is as passive as it seems, not much resistance was to be expected from their part.
Now, Putin. Let's first suppose he is a betrayer and a WEF puppet. Then, why wage this war against NATO? Now let's assume he is a true patriot who loves his country and wishes the best for the RF and its citizenry. In this case, well, he is either a weakling or he is not. If he is, how could he begin this war against the interests and influence of the elites? And if he is not, how can't he take the steps to really win the war?
Regarding Russia's selling of hydrocarbons to its enemies, I often wonder how necessary that revenue is for financing the war effort? Would the RF have enough money to continue fighting wihout the income from oil and gas, or would it not? I have no clue. If someone knows, please share. In any case, I suspect the equation is not as simple as that. There may be powerful political reasons--unfortunately unexplained by the Kremlin--for keeping selling energy to the West and Ukraine. Might then these secret political motives be the reason for not formally declaring war on Ukraine?
As to Belgorod, here I'll take the cudgels for 5D Rolo. Russia's fortification map shows a reasonably dense fortification line all along northern Ukraine's border. But that border may be 800-1000 km long. I guess it's almost impossible to make the line so thick that not a rabbit can cross it. Besides, fortified spots are placed a few km off the border (I suppose in order to be out of reach of Ukraine's artillery). In such circumstances, probably it is extremely difficult to avoid some break-in or other on the part of the UAF.
Of course the de-nazification argument is childish garbage. (I have my owh theory about the non-existence of Nazis in the XXIst century, but I won't bore anyone with that.) And the neutral Ukraine argument has been proven false after, as Rolo points out, Finland joined NATO and Moscow not batting an eyelid. What? NATO weapons on Ukraine's border are a threat, but on Finland's is not? More yet: even supposing that the Russian AF not only totally defeat the Ukrainian AF but take and annex the whole territory of Ukraine, well, then the RF would share a 2000 km-long border with NATO countries! Would then Moscow demand Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova be neutral? It makes no sense to me.
Lastly, seeing as Wagners seem to be the only army capable of gaining some territory, and considering it took them eight months to take a city the size of Artëmovsk, how many decades will the RF need to "liberate" the rest of its--according to Russia--territories? A sad future lies ahead of Moscow's pretentions, I am afraid. And, by the way, how valid were the referenda carried out in Zaporozhia and Kherson oblasts for joining the RF, considering that around half their population lives in Ukraine-controlled territory and could therefore not vote? Who can seriosly take those referenda?
This was a fun read, Rolo. You do have a talent, sir. When you put the 5D perspective down like that, it does sound delusional. "2 more weeks" has now turned into "5 more months." Just wait out NAFO and the funding will dry up as the US rolls into an election cycle (funny how it did not matter last year).
So a battalion strength force rolled into Russia proper and attacked two villages in the Belgorod region? Seriously no one is running drones or any form of border surveillance. I wouldnt be surprised if this was some NAFO unit since "Russian Anti-Kremlin" groups claimed credit (CIA loves a good front group). Oddly AlJazeera is the best "western" source that I could find. These probing attacks are only going to escalate along the border. I fear your predicted offensive is coming soon.
Wow, what a great column and a fantastic analogy:
Rorschach Test: "We simply see two different realities as starkly as a mentally-disturbed patient sees demons in blots of ink, where another patient might see bunnies."
I shall shamelessly steal this analogy and apply it to many other things that I try to clear pill people on such as food, politics, and how the world works.
Please invite Nikola to discuss the latest incursion. The rapport between you two is amazing.
And Marko
Yeah and please invite Marco
It does not work, as Rolo instructs his guests not to criticize Putin, thus nothing can be explained properly. E.g. Nikola tweets [1] almost every day about Putin's treachery, idiocy and cowardice, while when talking to Rolo, Putin is not mentioned. I'd not be surprised if Marko gave up on being a guest due to that.
[1] Nikola Mikovic (@nikola_mikovic) | Twitter https://twitter.com/nikola_mikovic
Nikola was writing articles like this long before the Ukraine debacle. https://intpolicydigest.org/vladimir-putin-symbol-of-russia-s-humiliation/
Yes, and aside from damaging Russia, Putin also betrayed most true friends and true partners of Russia including Serbia - see my comment: https://roloslavskiy.substack.com/p/maybe-prigozhin-was-telling-the-truth/comment/16286650
Wow, did not know that.
Are you an American ? You really sound like many patriotic Russia out here.
Olive branches however well-advised are useful only to a point. Wisdom is defined by letting go of things you can’t control 😊 There comes a time when magnanimity no longer works but becomes counterproductive even. You tried, hard 👌
ETA Plain fun shrink session and its aftermath, charmingly narrated!
Rolo,
I may have missed it, but did anyone consider (publicly or otherwise to your knowledge) that the real purpose (or it's 4D immersional projection from 5D hyperspace multiplied by its complex adjoint conjugate and then subjected to the Fifth-root operator, of course) of Gospodin Prihozhin's Hyperdimensional rants in front of slain Russian men in the prime of their lives had the intended purpose of alerting the greater Russian audiences and even the wider world to, how to say, the possible severe perils of removing his Nibsovitch chez Gremlin? If the rants occured only after the two drones hit the fortress on krasnaya ploshad, which I can't recall, then oh nevermind. Names that end in "in" - Lenin, Stalin, Putin, Prihozhin ..
Rolo please read this , it reads as if it has been written by yourself or Riley. https://rodinananeve.ru/dve-rossii-odna-umiraet-za-vtoruyu/
I wish 5 d dunces could read this.
The issue contained in this video dwarfs everything else.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt5FG90Q0QI
Physics is undefeated, no amount of spin, group hugs, rousing renditions of Kumbaya or self-identification can alter what is coming SOON.
8-10% (likely more) inflation in energy prices per annum forever!
4.5-6.5% drop in living standards per year ad infinitum! I don't really see how a new monetary system would change this much - somebody is going to miss out.
All the activists will be struggling to get enough to eat.
The reality check of the ages is coming.
Current oil fields are depleting at over 10 million barrels per day every year i.e. 10 mb/d has to be brought online every year for production to stay flat. The shale boom delayed it all for a few years but that too is rolling over.
The renewable greenie types have no clue along with economists, politicians and most people. You can bet the spooks know though.
Russia would be well placed if genuine patriots were running the show. Would the West go to war for Russia's oil?
It could be part of a humiliating peace settlement for the West to get a big chunk of Russia's oil at the right price. Could that have been the game all along? Watch at 22:40. Sorta defeats the purpose to irradiate the oil fields.
Rússia today is being turned into some kind of doormat country, by her banana's republic kind of dictator.
Just trust the Plan and live and let die.
Forget about the Rorschach test a blini with a cup of black tea will yield more logic. 😵💫
But after all you gotta admire the
"info warriors" they've spun a smorgasbord of narratives filled with everyone's favorites ready to gobble up at command. And once the delicious, but non-nutritrious substances are digested you're only briefly satiated before feeling hungry again and desiring much more, sorta like Western/Chinese feed.
This unerupted digestive process continues until indigestion or food poisoning sets in, at which time the unfortunate victim either develops terminal sepsis or is placed on a very restricted bland diet; a fate worst than death.🤮
NONONO Rolo is a CIA agent trying to mislead you, here is the truth from one of my 5D bros:
''The grim reality is that after Ukraine refused (probably wasn’t allowed) to reach terms at the outset of Phase One before the Russians invested too much to compromise, they adopted a grim strategy of eliminating every soldier Ukraine could muster and blowing up all of their equipment while allowing NATO to deplete its stockpiles. This keeps the suicide operation going until a solution can be imposed once the other two sides have nothing left to offer in terms of conventional combat.
NATO doesn’t have anything close to sufficient military industrial capacity to sustain this war effort, not even a fraction based on what could be produced per month versus what’s required. After these finite resources are exhausted, the situation will collapse and then the comprehensive territorial acquisitions to resolve Russian political and security objectives will happen along with other measures the Ukrainians won’t find agreeable.
The best place to conduct this slaughter is in Donbass, where Russia owns the skies and its troops can be easily rotated and supplied. It makes no sense to waste Russian soldiers by the tens of thousands (perhaps more) punching through a fun house to make direct contact further to the west with extended, vulnerable supply lines where they’d take even more losses. It’s much better to let the Ukrainians come east for suicide.
It’s been designated an SMO (Special Military Operation) for a reason. They’re trying to minimize the losses of Russian personnel, not sacrifice them in a pointless narrative war with the West, which would never admit the truth anyway. Regular Russian forces generally don’t even storm urban areas. That’s done by the PMCs, Chechen volunteers, and the militias.
What you’ll never see on television is that these operations are deliberately allowed by the Russians as part of this strategy of eliminating the entire Ukrainian military and everything NATO can send. As stated above, it’s much easier and safer to do this in Donbass rather than trying to locate units scattered over the vast western expanses of Ukraine because the logistical network has been knocked out.
The winter strikes against the electrical grid that didn’t cripple it were meant to drain irreplaceable interceptor missiles, as two are fired per intercept attempt. It’s now obvious why much of the Ukrainian logistical network is still in place despite their ability to take it all down from the start: the Russians want Ukraine accumulating men and material for missile and drone strikes to the west, and also moved into the east to get blown up by airstrikes and artillery.
A lot of this stuff only becomes clear in hindsight to outside observers because the Russian General Staff would never be stupid enough to disclose its plans. Putin’s initial statement on the morning the tanks got rolling was that his objective was to “de-militarize” Ukraine, but what that meant wasn’t clear at the time. As it turns out, “de-militarize” is a very sanitary term for this process of wholesale, indirectly-facilitated destruction described above.
As forces are assembled ahead of the much-hyped third counteroffensive, the Russians have been striking these concentrations with massive missile and drone barrages. In other words, why blow up the trains before the other side can pack them full of men and material? They’re essential to moving large amounts of both for long distances. If this grim logic is applied, the paradoxes marketed as evidence of Russian failure starts making sense. They don’t want to paralyze the Ukrainian military for a guerrilla war, that would be counterproductive.
The Ukrainians have accumulated billions worth of NATO munitions and equipment in massive stockpiles to the far west ahead of this counteroffensive. A series of missile strikes have produced the largest explosions of the war. It’s clear Russia knew this all along and waited to let them get packed full, before blowing everything to hell. Some of these recent explosions register on the Richter Scale.''