Sunday, June 11, 2023

"Ukrainian Counteroffensive Runs Into Defensive Wall"

"Ukrainian Counteroffensive Runs Into Defensive Wall"
By Scott Ritter

"Over the course of the past few days, Ukraine has thrown two of its best-trained, best-equipped mechanized brigades into offensive operations against entrenched Russian defenders in the Zaporozhye sector of the front lines. These two brigades had been hand-picked for this job, having been equipped with modern Western tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, supported by Western-supplied artillery, and using NATO-specific tactics shaped by NATO-provided intelligence and NATO operational planning. In short, these two brigades represented a top-level NATO-level capability, the epitome of the nexus between Ukraine and the Collective West in their ongoing war to destroy Russia.

As the world comes to grips with the imagery of destroyed US-manufactured M-2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and German-made Leopard 2A6 tanks abandoned and burning on the Ukrainian steppe, the harsh truth regarding the futility of its larger designs - the strategic defeat of Russia - is starting to sink in.

The reality, however, is that Ukraine was never going to achieve its stated objective of punching through the Russian defenses to sever the land bridge connecting Crimea with Russia proper. This was pie-in-the-sky thinking promulgated by Ukraine’s Western supporters to motivate the Ukrainians into committing the equivalent of mass suicide to inflict similarly prohibitive casualties among the Russian defenders. The Western hope was that Russia would become demoralized by these casualties and accept a negotiated end to the conflict on terms acceptable to both Ukraine and its Western allies.

The genesis of this failure can be traced to two things. First, the low-opinion Ukraine and their NATO allies had regarding the combat capabilities of the Russian army, and in particular those forces deployed in the Zaporozhye region, and second, the unrealistic expectations assigned to NATO training and equipment that had been provided to the Ukrainian forces assigned the task of breaking through the Russian defenses.

The area selected by Ukraine and its NATO partners as the focus of effort for the counteroffensive was held by the 42nd Guards Motorized Rifle Division, part of the 58th Combined Arms Army. The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think tank with close ties to US and NATO, claimed that the troops of the 42nd Guards Motorized Rifle Division “are predominantly comprised of mobilized recruits and volunteers and are therefore likely to face some problems with poor training and discipline.” Moreover, it accused at least one of the subordinate regiments - the 70th motorized rifle regiment - of performing poorly during the initial phases of the Special Military Operation in 2022.

It is therefore reasonable to believe that NATO and Ukrainian military planners, using intelligence assessments that highlighted perceived command and control weaknesses and poor morale among the Russian forces which, when combined with poor past performance, believed that the Russian defenses in the Zaporozhye sector manned by the 42nd Guards Motorized Rifle Division would collapse under the weight of a NATO-style assault, allowing Ukrainian forces to penetrate deep into the Russian defenses.

While the fighting in Zaporozhye is not yet finished, the initial results on the battlefield show that, contrary to the expectations of Ukraine and its NATO partners, the men of the 42nd Guards Rifle Division performed their tasks in a professional manner, decisively defeating the Ukrainian assault forces. The 70th Motorized Rifle Regiment has been singled out as performing very well under difficult circumstances. The same can be said of the 291st Motorized Rifle Regiment and the 71st Motorized Rifles Regiment, along with special forces soldiers from the 22nd Spetsnaz Brigade. Analysts from ISW, in assessing the initial successes of the Russian defenders, noted that “Russian forces appear to have executed their formal tactical defensive doctrine in response to the Ukrainian attacks.”

This, of course, should have taken no one by surprise, since the individual in command of Russian forces in the Zaporozhye area is Colonel General Alexander Romanchuk, the man who is responsible for conceiving modern Russian defensive doctrine. In April 2023 Romanchuk, who at that time was serving as the Rector of the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (the equivalent of the United States Army’s Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth), co-authored an article titled “Prospects for Improving the Efficiency of Army Defensive Operations.”

In the article, Romanchuk noted that the main mission of a defending force “is to neutralize the initiative of the advancing enemy, i.e., to bring him to the state of impossibility to continue advancing with deployed forces. Ultimately, this allows you to reduce his activity and seize the initiative by going over to a decisive counter-offensive to defeat the enemy with shock groups.”

This represents a restatement of Soviet-era doctrine. Indeed, Romanchuk draws upon the defeat of German offensive operations in the vicinity of Lake Balaton in March 1945 as representing an ideal implementation of this doctrine, underscoring “a bold maneuver of the reserves…especially artillery, the skillful use of anti-tank reserves, vigilant detachments of obstacles and the arrangement of fire ambushes” by the Russian forces in defeating the German attack.

Romanchuk, however, did not simply reiterate old doctrine in his paper. Instead, he emphasizes the concept of “dispersed forces” in building a defensive scheme capable of prevailing on the modern battlefield. “A dispersed defensive operation should become a logical response to a superior enemy,” Romanchuk writes.

Such an operation “is based on the retention of important areas, objects and transport hubs in separate most important directions,” and is “characterized by an even distribution of forces and resources in areas, and decentralized use of formations and military units of the armed forces and special forces.”

Romanchuk then went on to describe the ideal deployment scheme for these “dispersed forces” - one which focuses on three separate “zones of defense responsibility” separated by distances of between 8 and 12 kilometers. These gaps are covered by Russian artillery. The first “zone” is the “cover” zone, whose task is to define the main axes of the enemy’s advance. The next “zone” is the “main line of defense”, which is designed to halt enemy attacks using obstacle belts and fire power (artillery and air strikes). The last “zone” is the “reserve”, which is responsible for mounting counterattacks designed to push the attacking forces back to their original positions.

Romanchuk’s doctrine was the blueprint for the Russian defensive scheme employed in Zaporozhye. Indeed, Romanchuk was pulled from his teaching position at the Combined Arms Academy and put in command of the Zaporozhye sector. In other words, the place chosen by NATO and Ukrainian intelligence as the “weak spot” in the Russian defensive scheme was designed by Russia’s top specialist in defensive combat and placed under his direct command.

NATO and Ukraine gambled that Russia lacked the military capacity to successfully implement its own military doctrine, believing that Russian command staffs lacked the communications necessary to coordinate the complex operations necessary to implement this doctrine, and that the Russian forces - especially those who were recently mobilized - lacked both the training and morale needed to perform well under stressful combat conditions.

NATO and Ukraine’s poor assessment of Russian military capability mirrored their own exaggerated assessments of Ukrainian units tasked with attacking the Russian defenses in Zaporozhye, namely the 33rd and 47th Mechanized Brigades. Both units were the recipients of modern NATO equipment, including Leopard tanks (the 33rd) and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles (the 47th). The officers and men of both units had been provided with the best training NATO could provide regarding modern combined-arms operations, including weeks of specialized training in Germany which focused on platoon, company, and battalion tactics and operations integrating firepower and maneuver while undertaking offensive operations.

The Ukrainian troops, working side by side with their NATO instructors, started by using computer simulations to introduce them to the complexities of the modern battlefield, before moving to the field for realistic hands-on training using the very NATO-provided equipment they would use against the Russians. US “experts” like Mark Hertling, a retired US Army general believed that the combination of advanced western military equipment and superior NATO-style tactics “will allow Ukraine’s emerging combined-arms teams to conduct high-tempo maneuver” capable of overwhelming the Russian defenders in Ukraine.

Hertling and his active-duty NATO brethren would have done well to listen to the words of General Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, when speaking before a Swedish defense conference this past January. “The scale of this war [i.e., the Russian-Ukraine conflict] is out of proportion with all of our recent thinking,” Cavoli noted.

The takeaway from this revelation is that NATO is neither trained nor equipped to fight the kind of fight they are demanding Ukraine execute against Russia. The sad truth of the matter is that there are no NATO forces capable of successfully executing the offensive tasks that have been assigned to Ukraine. No one doubts the courage and commitment of the Ukrainian forces which have been thrown against Colonel General Romanchuk’s defensive barrier. But courage and commitment cannot overcome the reality that NATO lacks the ability, both in terms of equipment and doctrine, to successfully defeat Russia in a force-on-force confrontation, especially one which has Russia playing to its doctrinal strength (defensive operations) while NATO seeks to do something (an assault against prepared defenses) that it has no experience in doing.

Moreover, NATO and the Ukrainian high command threw the Ukrainian brigades into the teeth of the Russian defensive buzzsaw without adequate fire support, meaning that the Russians were free to maximize their superiority in artillery and air power to neutralize and destroy the Ukrainian attacking forces before they could generate the momentum expected from “high-tempo maneuver.”

The end result: Russian reality trumped NATO theory on the battlefield, and it is Ukraine’s military that once again paid the heaviest price. Moreover, there is no reason to believe that this situation will change anytime soon, if ever, a fact that bodes poorly for the future of Ukraine and NATO going forward."
Hat tip to The Burning Platform for this material.
o
Full screen recommended.
Hindustan Time, 6/11/23
"Russian Forces Crush Zelensky's Soldiers in Donetsk; 
Ukrainian Strongholds Pounded, Attacks Foiled"
"Russian troops repelled Ukrainian attacks in the Soledar-Bakhmut direction. Russian Aviation Units reportedly hit Ukrainian strongholds in a number of cities in Donetsk region amid reports that Ukraine has already launched its counteroffensive. Russian Defence Ministry said Ukrainian forces had in the past 24 hours made "unsuccessful" attempts at attacking Southern Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions which are the two areas subject to heavy fighting recently. Watch this video for the latest update from the battleground."
Comments here:
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Full screen recommended.
Military TV, 6/11/23
"Here's All About One Of Russia's Strongest 
Arsenals Being Deployed In War - Pantsir Missiles"
"Also known as SA-22 Greyhound, the Pantsir missile system embodies a combination of advanced technology, mobility, and firepower. Its alternate name, "Carapace," alludes to the impenetrable armor of a turtle, further emphasizing its defensive strength and resilience on the battlefield. Operating on mobile, ground-based platforms, the Pantsir missile system is designed to counter a wide range of threats, including aircraft, helicopters, drones, and precision-guided munitions. It is equipped with both surface-to-air missiles and rapid-fire cannons, providing a layered defense against aerial targets."
Comments here:

Greg Hunter, "CV19 – A Propaganda Masterpiece"

"CV19 – A Propaganda Masterpiece"
by Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

"Professor Mark Crispin Miller teaches media studies at New York University (NYU) and is an expert in propaganda. Dr. Miller says just about everything concerning Covid was simply an elaborate exercise in propaganda. Dr. Miller explains, “The propaganda dimension is crucial to our understanding of what went down. Some people like to say this is a result of a number of ‘blunders’ by the health authorities and the government. ‘Blunders.’ No, these are not ‘blunders.’ When everything they recommend is deleterious and destructive of people’s health, when they suppress the truth about life saving remedies in furtherance of this so-called ‘vaccination program,’ and when the so-called ‘vaccines’ have abysmal records for safety and effectiveness and those records are all hidden, we cannot reasonably conclude this is all the result of ‘blunders.’ 

I have called the period from 2020 through the present a ‘Propaganda Masterpiece.’ Covid and every aspect of that whole crisis was engineered with extreme brilliance and sophistication of a propaganda operation. This was followed by the George Floyd moment. This served a number of purposes quite in line with the Covid crisis, which is to shut down society, cripple the economy and destroy the middle class. Also, another important aspect of this whole propaganda epic has been to divide the American people. No matter what side of the struggle we are on, what matters is the struggle took place at all. It is deeply divisive.

Dr, Miller goes on to say, “I know a lot about propaganda, and this is unprecedented in the history of mass persuasion. There has never been anything like this because this is global. This has never happened before. We had Stalin’s crimes. We had Hitler’s aggression and the Holocaust. We had 911 and the ‘War on Terror.’ None of those actually begin to compare to what we have now because what we have now is planetary. It’s worldwide.”

Dr. Miller does not call the CV19 bioweapon/vax a genocide. He says it is really a global democide. Meaning everyone and anyone is being murdered with the CV19 bioweapon/vax. Dr. Miller says, “My Substack is called ‘Died Suddenly.’ I started it in February of 2022 when I noticed many, many people were dying suddenly for no given reason. In the history of obituaries, certainly in the United States, that is unprecedented. Obituaries always tell you why somebody died. Even if the person is very, very old, you have a cause of death. Now, all kinds of people are dropping dead for no reason and often very young. We do a weekly overview with as many pictures of these people as possible. This is the point. There are many statistical claims of the numbers of people who are dying. But as Stalin said, ‘One death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic.’ This is brutal, cynical wisdom, and he was absolutely right. If you read 1 million people starved in Ukraine, you say that’s too bad. If you look at page after page after page of people’s faces and names with the names of their survivors, it’s not so easy to shrug off.”

During the so-called “Covid Pandemic” (October 2020), Dr. Miller was teaching a propaganda class at NYU, and one of the subjects covered was the science around wearing masks that show they were ineffective for stopping Covid. We now know wearing masks was more propaganda than any sort of protection from the CV19 infection. More than 2 dozen professors wanted Professor Miller fired for going against the official narrative or propaganda. According to Dr. Miller, they said all sorts of things that are not true. Dr. Miller says, “They made me out to be a monster.” Dr. Miller sued, and so far, the suit has been dismissed by two New York courts. In the last dismissal, the court ruled the lies told about Dr. Miller are simply an opinion. 

Dr. Miller is appealing and says, “From now on, the have nots, the dissidents who have good reason and solid ground for suing for liable and those who defame us won’t be able to do it anymore because anything that is said about us can be defended on the grounds that it is just an opinion, and opinion is protected by the First Amendment. This second decision is catastrophic for free speech. The people who have the power and the money will still sue for libel, and they will sue people like us. They will sue people who contradict prevailing narratives.” USAWatchdog.com will be following this important appeal. There is much more in the 1-hour and 7-minute interview.

Join Greg Hunter on Rumble he goes One-on-One with 
NYU Professor and propaganda expert Dr. Mark Crispin Miller.

"Sell It All"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly 6/11/23
"Sell It All"
"The numbers don’t add up in the economy. We are being told that we are now in a “bull market“ for the stock market. Bank of America just stepped forward and said “sell all stocks“ Foreclosures are rising in the United States right now."
Comments here:

"How It Really Is"

 

Saturday, June 10, 2023

"The Truth Behind Blown Dams and Military Offensives"

Scott Ritter, 6/10/23
"The Truth Behind Blown Dams and Military Offensives"
Comments here:

"West Coast Shipping Crisis Heating Up; McDonald's Prices Are Crushing Consumers"

Jeremiah Babe, 6/10/23
 "West Coast Shipping Crisis Heating Up;
 McDonald's Prices Are Crushing Consumers"
Comments here:

Musical Interlude: 2002, "Land of Forever"

Full screen recommended.
2002, "Land of Forever"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"What's that below those strange clouds? Presidents. If you look closely, you may recognize the heads of four former US Presidents carved into famous Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, USA. More obvious in the featured image are the unusual mammatus clouds that passed briefly overhead. Both were captured together by a surprised tourist with a quick camera in early September.
Click image for larger size.
Unlike normal flat-bottomed clouds which form when moist and calm air plateaus rise and cool, bumpy mammatus clouds form as icy and turbulent air pockets sink and heat up. Such turbulent air is frequently accompanied by a thunderstorm. Each mammatus lobe spans about one kilometer. The greater mountain is known to native Lakota Sioux as Six Grandfathers, deities responsible for the directions north, south, east, west, up, and down."

Free Download: Jack London, "The Iron Heel"

"I know nothing that I may say can influence you. You have no souls to be influenced. You are spineless, flaccid things. You pompously call yourselves Republicans and Democrats. You are lick-spittlers and panderers, the creatures of the Plutocracy." 
- Jack London
Freely download "The Iron Heel", by Jack London, here:

Read online The Project Gutenberg eBook 
of "The Iron Heel", by Jack London, here:

Chet Raymo, “The Sadist Next Door”

“The Sadist Next Door”
by Chet Raymo

“The TLS (“Times Literary Supplement”) had an absorbing review of American Historian Joel Harrington's book on the manuscript diary of a 16th-century German executioner, Franz Schmidt of Nuremberg. Remarkably, Schmidt kept a full record of the criminals he executed, the crimes they perpetrated, and the gruesome ways they met their fate. It is a tale that would chill most 21st-century readers.

Hangings, beheadings, burnings at the stake, and breakings with the wheel. In the latter custom, a heavy cartwheel is dropped onto the person to be executed, who is tied down spreadeagled on the execution platform, starting with the feet and working the way up to the head. There are also less final punishments: floggings, finger-choppings, ear-choppings, brandings, and an ingenious catalog of tortures.

For Herr Schmidt, it was all in a day's work. He might as well have been a butcher, baker, or candlestick maker. He had a family to support, and he was good at his job. His neighboring townspeople attended the executions. It was good public entertainment.

Of course, there is nothing unique to the 16th century or Germany about any of this. Hideous tortures and executions have been part of human history from the beginning. Think of the Roman gladiatorial entertainments with their cheering crowds. Or the public stonings, beheadings and amputations still common in certain parts of the world today. It seems that only in the post-Enlightenment West do we look with disapprobation on Herr Schmidt's trade, ostensibly at least. We have the grisly torture chambers of the Gestapo and NKVD to remind us that Enlightenment values are fragile.

All of which raises the question: Is taking pleasure in the infliction of pain on others nature or nurture? Are we born with a good angel on one shoulder and a bad angel on the other? How do we explain the huge popularity of slasher movies and shoot-'em-up video games? Is there something of Herr Schmidt in all of us?”

"Be Like The Bird..."

"What matter if this base, unjust life
Cast you naked and disarmed?
If the ground breaks beneath your step,
Have you not your soul?
Your soul! You fly away,
Escape to realms refined,
Beyond all sadness and whimpering.
Be like the bird which on frail branches balanced
A moment sits and sings;
He feels them tremble, but he sings unshaken,
Knowing he has wings."

- Victor Hugo

“The 11 Nations Of The United States”

Click image for larger size.
“The 11 Nations Of The United States”
by Andy Kiersz and Marguerite Ward 

“The map above shows how the US really has 11 separate ‘nations’ with entirely different cultures. Author and journalist Colin Woodard identified 11 distinct cultures that have historically divided the US. His book American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures in North America” breaks down those cultures and the regions they each dominate. From the utopian “Yankeedom” to the conservative “Greater Appalachia” and liberal “Left Coast,” looking at these cultures sheds an interesting light on America’s political and cultural divides. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, some governors are acting among these factions – like California, Oregon, and Washington, of all which have parts comprising of “The Left Coast” group.”
Please view this complete and fascinating article here:

The Daily "Near You?"

New Britain, Connecticut, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"For This Is What We do..."

"What keeps you going isn't some fine destination but just the road you're on, and the fact that you know how to drive. You keep your eyes open, you see this damned-to-hell world you got born into, and you ask yourself, 'What life can I live that will let me breathe in and out and love somebody or something and not run off screaming into the woods?'"
- Barbara Kingsolver

“For this is what we do. Put one foot forward and then the other. Lift our eyes to the snarl and smile of the world once more. Think. Act. Feel. Add our little consequence to the tides of good and evil that flood and drain the world. Drag our shadowed crosses into the hope of another night. Push our brave hearts into the promise of a new day. With love: the passionate search for truth other than our own. With longing: the pure, ineffable yearning to be saved. For so long as fate keeps waiting, we live on. God help us. God forgive us. We live on.”
- Gregory David Roberts, “Shantaram”

"Mark Strand on Dreams: A Lyrical Love Letter to Where We Go When We Go to Sleep"

"Mark Strand on Dreams:
A Lyrical Love Letter to Where We Go When We Go to Sleep"
“Something nameless hums us into sleep… 
We feel dreamed by someone else, a sleeping counterpart…”
by Maria Popova

"The mystery of dreams has always bewitched humanity, tickling art and science in equal measure. Freud was besotted with it when he laid the foundation for the study of the subject, as was his eccentric niece Tom when she illustrated that gem of a vintage children’s book about dreams. Dostoyevsky found the meaning of life in a dream, and so did Margaret Mead. Leonard Bernstein sought the solution to his sexual identity confusion and the key to the creative process in his dreams.

However detached from the reality of life dreams may seem, they affect our every waking moment and even help us regulate our negative moods. And yet, try as we might to control our dreams, we still know so very little about where we go when we slip into that nocturnal wonderland. For all the advances science has made, it still seems best left to the poets - and the best of poets only.

In one of the many masterpieces in his "Collected Poems" (public library), Pulitzer-winning poet and MacArthur “genius” Mark Strand (April 11, 1934–November 29, 2014) explores the delicate and disorienting world of dreams with unparalleled elegance. The poem is a supreme testament to Strand’s belief that it is the artist’s task to bear witness to the universe, within and without."
"Dreams"

"Trying to recall the plot
And characters we dreamed,
     What life was like
Before the morning came,
We are seldom satisfied,
     And even then
There is no way of knowing
If what we know is true.
     Something nameless
Hums us into sleep,
Withdraws, and leaves us in
     A place that seems
Always vaguely familiar.
Perhaps it is because
     We take the props
And fixtures of our days
With us into the dark,
     Assuring ourselves
We are still alive. And yet
Nothing here is certain;
     Landscapes merge
With one another, houses
Are never where they should be,
     Doors and windows
Sometimes open out
To other doors and windows,
     Even the person
Who seems most like ourselves
Cannot be counted on,
     For there have been
Too many times when he,
Like everything else, has done
     The unexpected.
And as the night wears on,
The dim allegory of ourselves
     Unfolds, and we
Feel dreamed by someone else,
A sleeping counterpart,
     Who gathers in
The darkness of his person
Shades of the real world.
     Nothing is clear;
We are not ever sure
If the life we live there
     Belongs to us.
Each night it is the same;
Just when we’re on the verge
     Of catching on,
A sense of our remoteness
Closes in, and the world
     So lately seen
Gradually fades from sight.
We wake to find the sleeper
     Is ourselves
And the dreamt-of is someone who did
Something we can’t quite put
     Our finger on,
But which involved a life
We are always, we feel,
     About to discover."

"Dreams", by Mark Strand 
https://www.youtube.com/

Complement the immeasurably rewarding "Collected Poems" with Strand on the heartbeat of creative work and his lyrical love letter to clouds.”

"How It Really Is"

 

"Crime Seems To Pay"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly 6/10/23
"Crime Seems To Pay"
"It is getting more and more ridiculous that criminals are getting a break. They now want to pass a law that you cannot confront shoplifters. People are stealing mail and robbing mailmen. Crime Pays."
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Gerald Celente, "A Total Collapse Is Coming"

Strong language alert!
Gerald Celente, 6/9/23
"A Total Collapse Is Coming"
"In this video, Gerald Celente discusses various topics including the current state of the economy, global market trends, and the impact of AI. He criticizes the government's handling of the debt ceiling and expresses concern about the weakening manufacturing numbers in the United States and China. Celente also highlights the potential decline in the dollar's dominance and the negative effects of high office vacancy rates in cities like New York and Chicago. He emphasizes the rise in food prices in Europe due to sanctions and inflation. Additionally, Celente mentions the recession in Germany and introduces the AI section in the latest edition of the Trends Journal."
Comments here:

"Wars And Rumors Of War"

Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 6/9/23
"Border Evacuated, Nukes Being Moved Miles
 From NATO Summit; 72 Hour WW3 Exercise; Huge Fires"
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
Hindustan Times, 6/10/23
"Ukraine's Counteroffensive a Flop Show?
 Dramatic Video of Russia Destroying Kyiv's Tank Unit"
"Ukraine's long-pending counteroffensive has begun but failed to impact Russia. Despite the massive influx of western weapons, Kyiv is unable to cope with the Russian blitz. A new video released by the Russian Defence Ministry is proof of Ukraine's struggles. The video shows how an entire tank crew on the battlefield of Donetsk was destroyed. The Russian missiles, one after the other, hit the Ukrainian armored vehicles. All the tanks on the spot and their crews were blown up in smoke within seconds. The combat operation seems to be part of Russia's "hunt and kill" mission."
Comments here:
o
Full screen recommended.
Hindustan Times, 6/10/23
"Russia Onslaught Brings Kyiv To Its Knees;
 Ukraine Loses Over 1200 Troops In just One Day"
"A ferocious Russian onslaught literally brought Ukrainian troops to their knees. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Ukrainian Army has lost up to 1,240 troops. Ukraine suffered massive losses during its "long-expected counteroffensive." Not just lost lives, but Ukraine also faced massive weapon destruction. Nearly 40 Ukrainian tanks were blown up in the Russian blitzkrieg. The Russian Defense Ministry said that Kyiv's 30 infantry fighting vehicles, 38 armored vehicles, and a dozen pieces of artillery were also wiped out. This is not all; two Ukrainian military jets, two UK-provided Storm Shadow cruise missiles, and 13 drones were intercepted by the Russians in the last 24 hours. The losses that Ukraine suffered show that it failed to capitalize on the new western weapons provided to it for the mega counteroffensive."
Comments here:
o
o
Hey, don't you look away Good Citizen! See the horror that you and I and all of us have paid at very least $120 billion to create! Col. Douglas Macgregor said Ukraine has lost 300,000 soldiers killed, while Russia has lost 30,000 dead, and for what? This was NONE of our business, and we all may die in a nuclear war, and for what?! All that blood's on our hands, and we should hang our heads in shame and disgrace and beg God for forgiveness, which we do not deserve... - CP

"Stock Up Now At Kroger! Get Prepared! What's Next!"

Adventures With Danno, 6/10/23
"Stock Up Now At Kroger!
 Get Prepared! What's Next!"
"In today's vlog, we are going over a massive amount of grocery items that we recommend everyone should be stocking up on. With inflation at an all-time high, we have to prepare like never before to save money in the grocery stores!"
Comments here:

Friday, June 9, 2023

"16 Great Depression Foods Everyone Will Eat In The Months Ahead"

Full screen recommended.
"16 Great Depression Foods Everyone 
Will Eat In The Months Ahead"
By Investing Future

"The Great Depression was an era of scarcity-induced creativity, with millions of people out of work and widespread shortages of food and goods. Families had a hard time scraping money together to feed their children. They had to make things work without household staples and other products that weren't readily available at the stores when they needed them. Their innovations came out of necessity, from women dyeing their legs with tea instead of using stockings to men mending their shoes with cardboard.

Americans during the Great Depression used their resourcefulness to make do with what little they had. Inventiveness became a survival mechanism. Soup kitchens sprung up across the country to ensure that unemployed workers got at least one meal daily. It was precisely in the kitchen that you could see the biggest reflection of the ingenuity and desperation of that era. Those who lived in rural areas typically planted gardens and raised chickens and cows. Men used to go to the woods to hunt and fish. New recipes were concocted, and many food combinations that would be considered disgusting today were actually delicacies during that time.

Spurred on by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who encouraged families to save money and resources by practicing frugal home economics, many meals that people didn't consider eating were now consumed without question in the face of hunger and misery. Our society was forced to adapt.

The recipes of that period may come back to our tables as the economy moves towards another devastating crisis. That's why today we decided to compile unusual foods that were very popular in the 1930s. But before moving on, we kindly ask you to support our work with a thumbs up, and don't forget to subscribe. Without further ado, here are 15 weird foods that were common during the Great Depression.

1. Snapping turtle soup: Snapping turtles are cold-blooded reptiles and a cousin to lizards, snakes, and alligators. On average, they weigh 10 to 36 pounds each. Capturing them is not easy; they hiss like a cat if you get too close, and their jaws can easily bite off a finger. Folklore claims that the head can still bite you even after a snapping turtle is beheaded. While that may be part of the myth, turtles could be acquired in the spring during mating season when they were on the move and were spotted crossing roads. When they leave their natural water environment, they're much easier to catch. Turtle soup is essentially a vegetable stew with green onions, carrots, and turtle meat instead of beef or chicken. People say it tastes like a combination of pork, clams, and chicken thighs. Although it may seem weird, this soup was a way to survive during such hard times. Today, they're still considered a delicacy in many famous restaurants.

2. Garbage plate: Before you think this dish has anything to do with dumpster diving, it's nothing that extreme. People at the time used to do lots of manual labor, and workers needed fuel to have the energy to do their jobs. Garbage plate was the name given to meals loaded with carbohydrates. They were built from the items each cook had in their kitchens. For example, they would place a giant scoop of macaroni salad onto a plate, then add a scoop or two of baked beans on top of that. Some fried potatoes or maybe a fried hot dog or two, or maybe fried bologna if it was available. To make it even more calorific, people added mustard, chopped onions, ketchup, and some chili - whatever was on hand, really. After eating a garbage plate, workers were ready to face long hour shifts to earn their living.

3. Prune pudding: This humble dessert became famous after First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt convinced her husband, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, to serve the dish during a dinner event for international guests at the White House. Prunes were widely available at that time, much cheaper than many other fruits. They were easy to store and to make desserts with. On top of that, prunes are packed with nutrients, fiber, and vitamin K, making this a very popular recipe all across the country.

4. Mock apple pie: In the 1930s, the United States faced a nationwide shortage of apples, but that didn't stop hungry Americans from creating their own version of their cherished apple pie."

Discussed on the show:
'20 Signs Walmart is Falling Apart Before Our Eyes", Redacted with Clayton Morris
"Economic Collapse", Redacted with Clayton Morris
"It's Over", Redacted with Clayton Morris
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"15 Fast Food Chains Closing Stores This Summer"

Full screen recommended.
"15 Fast Food Chains Closing Stores This Summer"
by Epic Economist

"With Americans eating out increasingly less to save on costs, some of the biggest fast-food chains in the US are taking desperate measures to survive the ongoing recession. For many of them, that means conducting mass store shutdowns to improve their financial health and get rid of potential risks. Unfortunately, this also means that many of us will lose our favorite shops in the months ahead.

For example, in November 2022, Popeyes started closing a number of locations, and it seems like things haven’t changed in 2023. Newsbreak reports more permanent closings in the coming months as sales decline and profits shrink. In California, the chain is facing an even bigger challenge. Several locations may have to be shuttered after the company broke child labor laws. Teenage employees filed complaints accusing the outlet of forcing them to work long hours and late shifts. The minor employees were asked to skip school for shifts and work past 11 p.m., The Washington Post reported. California labor laws state that those under 18 years old aren't permitted to work more than four hours on a school day, nor work past 11 p.m. Meanwhile, one of its biggest franchises, Premier Cajun Kings filed for bankruptcy last month after its founder’s untimely passing coupled with a brutal operating environment left the company in limbo.

Similarly, Chick-fil-A is not showing the financial resilience expected from a chain of this size and scope. The company is amongst the 15 largest fast food chains in America, but that doesn’t mean it is standing on solid footing. The chicken shortage of the past few years has certainly caused some major headaches for Chick-fil-A, which increased prices three times in three years. Lower sales, higher costs, and supply chain disruptions continued to impact its bottom line, and now several shops are closing doors for good. On top of the shutdowns announced in Florida, Maryland, Alabama, Tennessee, and Missouri, the chain is closings its first-ever restaurant after more than a half-century in business. The company did not reveal the reason for the shutdowns, but CNN experts believe some of the locations haven’t been able to turn out a profit in at least four years.

Moreover, just like rival Starbucks, Dunkin’ is a coffee shop and bakery that offers locals a place to get their caffeine fix on every corner. But East Coast customers may be disappointed to hear that the chain is now closing 450 outlets in the region. An announcement from the company revealed that gas station’s Dunkin’ stores don’t generate much revenue, contributing to less than 0.5% of its sales. For that reason, the chain is closing such facilities and redirecting all maintenance funds to other successful locations. “We’re convinced that by leaving these locations with little financial impact, we’ll be better positioned to serve many of these trade regions with new Dunkin’ NextGen stores that have a wider menu in the future,” said chief financial officer Kate Japson. That's why today, we brought you an updated list of restaurants that announced store shutdowns in the months ahead."
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"Shocking Rent Costs; You Will Own Nothing; What Happens When The Dollar Collapses?"

 

Fill screen recommended.
Jeremiah Babe, 6/9/23
"Shocking Rent Costs; You Will Own Nothing; 
What Happens When The Dollar Collapses?"
Comments here:

"Information, Please"

"Information, Please"
By nkit

"When I was a young boy, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember the polished, old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother talked to it. Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person. Her name was “Information Please” and there was nothing she did not know. Information Please could supply anyone’s number and the correct time.

My personal experience with the genie-in-a-bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer, the pain was terrible, but there seemed no point in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy. I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway.

The telephone! Quickly, I ran for the footstool in the parlor and dragged it to the landing. Climbing up, I unhooked the receiver in the parlor and held it to my ear. “Information, please,” I said into the mouthpiece just above my head. A click or two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear. “Information.” 

“I hurt my finger…” I wailed into the phone, the tears came readily enough now that I had an audience. “Isn’t your mother home?” came the question “Nobody’s home but me,” I blubbered. “Are you bleeding?” the voice asked “No, “I replied. “I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts.” “Can you open the icebox?” she asked. I said I could. “Then chip off a little bit of ice and hold it to your finger,” said the voice.

After that, I called “Information Please” for everything. I asked her for help with my geography, and she told me where Philadelphia was. She helped me with my math. She told me my pet chipmunk that I had caught in the park just the day before, would eat fruit and nuts.

Then, there was the time Petey, our pet canary, died. I called, “Information Please,” and told her the sad story. She listened, and then said things grown-ups say to soothe a child. But I was not consoled. I asked her, “Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers on the bottom of a cage?” She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, “Wayne, always remember that there are other worlds to sing in.” Somehow, I felt better.

Another day I was on the telephone, “Information Please.” “Information,” said in the now familiar voice. “How do I spell fix?” I asked

All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. When I was nine years old, we moved across the country to Boston. I missed my friend very much. “Information Please” belonged in that old wooden box back home and I somehow never thought of trying the shiny new phone that sat on the table in the hall. As I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me. Often, in moments of doubt and perplexity I would recall the serene sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.

A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down in Seattle. I had about a half-hour or so between planes. I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then without thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and said, “Information Please.” Miraculously, I heard the small, clear voice I knew so well. “Information.”

I hadn’t planned this, but I heard myself saying, “Could you please tell me how to spell fix?” There was a long pause. Then came the soft-spoken answer, “I guess your finger must have healed by now.” I laughed, “So it’s really you,” I said. “I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time?” “I wonder,” she said, “if you know how much your calls meant to me. I never had any children and I used to look forward to your calls.” I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister. “Please do,” she said. “Just ask for Sally.”

Three months later I was back in Seattle. A different voice answered, “Information.” I asked for Sally. “Are you a friend?” she said. “Yes, a very old friend,” I answered. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this,” she said. “Sally had been working part time the last few years because she was sick. She died five weeks ago.”

Before I could hang up, she said, “Wait a minute, did you say your name was Wayne?” “Yes.” I answered. "Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you called. Let me read it to you." The note said, “Tell Wayne that there are other worlds to sing in. He’ll know what I mean.” I thanked her and hung up. I knew what Sally meant."

Musical Interlude: 2002, "To Touch the Sky"

Full screen recommended.
2002, "To Touch the Sky"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“Why isn't this ant a big sphere? Planetary nebula Mz3 is being cast off by a star similar to our Sun that is, surely, round. Why then would the gas that is streaming away create an ant-shaped nebula that is distinctly not round?
Clues might include the high 1000-kilometer per second speed of the expelled gas, the light-year long length of the structure, and the magnetism of the star visible above at the nebula's center. One possible answer is that Mz3 is hiding a second, dimmer star that orbits close in to the bright star. A competing hypothesis holds that the central star's own spin and magnetic field are channeling the gas. Since the central star appears to be so similar to our own Sun, astronomers hope that increased understanding of the history of this giant space ant can provide useful insight into the likely future of our own Sun and Earth.”