1. Home
  2. Journal

Suzy McHale’s Journal: 2023

My obsessive focus on the Russia-Ukraine war continued through this year, so a lot of link-heavy entries make for tedious reading (sorry!). This would lead to mental burnout on the issue; it caused me as much, if not more distress than the pandemic lockdowns. In my real life, this would be the last year of relative normality for my parents and I, though as I noted in my 4/4 entry, our home’s garden was neglected and my elderly parents and I did not have the energy to maintain it. I was also increasingly looking after them, and often remarked on my tiredness and many headaches. On 5/5 I gave my old hand-me-down PC a thorough clean and noted a couple of persistant mild ailments. The cleaning seemed to damage the PC as from 8/5 it began to malfunction. On 16/5 there was a hard disk drive failure. On 17/5 I noted that I had lost interest in movies and music. PC problems continued on 21/5; Dad gave me yet another old hand-me-down to use on 22/5, but I still had various issues as detailed in subsequent entries for the next few days. On 29/5 there was an earthquake, which are frequent but can only occasionally be felt. On 18/6 and 26/6 I noted that I was under stress from interacting with my aging parents and cleaning up after them. Another earthquake on 30/6. Dad had an episode of disorientation while driving to the doctor on 3/7, forgetting his route there – a sign that cognitive decline was afflicting him as well as Mum. On 5/7 I said that I did not attend the 16/6 35-year reunion for my school class year of 1988 (I had never been to one yet). A remark on 7/7 on a teenage gamer boy next door. More distressing cleaning up poop on 15/7. My parents were ”sundowning” and wandering at night (23/7 entry). Dad’s decline was affecting his handyman skills (12/9 entry). A note on 21/9 on the dress color scheme I had been using for years. Another earthquake on 22/10. I had to deal with closing Dad’s old Chariot ISP account and making him a new one at TPG on 25/10 and 26/10 – a task he would have dealt with a few years ago, but could no longer cope now (porting our landline number took 3 weeks – 10/11 entry). He was also getting up at erratic times (31/10 entry). On 22/11 I remark yet again on how fatigued I am. On 27/12 an attempted break-in at the next-door neighbours on our house’s north side. My sister and her husband moved from Brisbane to Wagga Wagga on 30/12.

January

Sunday 1/1: I still stand with 🇷🇺; Putin’s New Year Speech but no greetings to Australia

Reiterating that I still support Russia and its Special Operation in Ukraine! My links to similarly supportive non-mainstream blogs and other sites are on my Links page.

President Putin’s New Year Address to the Nation.

Key points:

He also sent New Year greetings to foreign heads of state and government … but only friendly ones, as “yalensis” pointed out in his blog entry “Ukraine War Day #311: Happy New Year To Some, But Not To All.” Australia, being a designated unfriendly country no thanks to our government’s slavish and unfortunate support of Ukraine, was unsurprisingly not included.

Monday 2/1: Hot and headachy; corrupt Ukraine; two speeches; bought I Will Die in a Foreign Land; no Roskosmos access yet

Hot, humid, unsettled tropical weather again; a very warm (mid-20s) and uncomfortable night with thunderstorms forecast for this afternoon. Developed a headache overnight into this morning, which is debilitating me as it usually does.

“Ukraine run by ‘f****d up people’ – US instructor,” RT, 27/12/2022. The Ukrainians being trained by foreign mercenaries in the Mozart Group are not the gallant fighters the Western media portrays them as. “Milburn stated that Ukraine is a ‘corrupt, f****d-up society.’ While he stressed that continued Western support for the country was important and justified by the need to uphold ‘global norms,’ he suggested that the whole point was ‘not about Ukraine.’ […] He also stated that ‘a number of things’ that Kiev’s forces do with Russian POWs violate the Hague convention on the laws of armed conflict, especially when it comes to filming interrogations of captured Russian soldiers and posting them online.”

“Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia’s Vladimir Putin promise 2023 victory in separate New Year’s speeches,” ABC News, 1/1. Contrast the biased pro-Ukrainian tone in reporting the two: “Mr Zelenskyy – recalling some of the most dramatic moments and victories of the war – filled his emotional, 17-minute video message with footage of Russia’s attacks on the country and words of pride for Ukrainians withstanding attacks, darkness and cold.” Zelensky as the heroic underdog. “Mr Putin – breaking with tradition by delivering his New Year message flanked by troops rather than the Kremlin’s walls – talked sternly and combatively about 2022 as the year that ‘clearly separated courage and heroism from betrayal and cowardice.’ While trying to rally support among Russians amid embarrassing battlefield setbacks and growing internal criticism of his military strategy, Mr Putin thanked Russian troops, but he also demanded more from them.” President Putin increasingly desperate and humiliated (according to Western mainstream media narratives). Impartial reporting here is non-existent.

I ended up buying a physical copy of I Will Die in a Foreign Land (10/10/2022, 26/10/2022 entries), despite it being something of a “hate-read” due to its one-sided Ukrainian bias. It is … not good literature but oddly compelling in its badness and blatant propagandizing of the conflict. (“The Joy of Hate-Reading,” BookRiot, 9/1/2018.)

I still can’t access Roskosmos (or Roscosmos, to use the alternate transliteration of Роскосмос) normally; I am still using a web proxy. I hoped they would unblock foreign access to their website for the New Year, but no sign that they ever will, so far. It is frustrating as they could promote the Russian spaceflight program to foreign visitors; there is a lot of interesting information on the site now (though all in Russian; I use a browser translator to read it in approximate English).

Tuesday 3/1: A walk; what if the USSR had not broken up? Russian New Year photos; pointed cartoon; Slavic mythology images reinterpreted; coincidental oligarch deaths or not? A devastating strike; one true leader out of three

Much cooler today, thankfully. I went for a walk – I have not been going out every day due to lack of energy and/or unpleasant weather (too hot at this time of year). I ended up going to Centenary Park and back (3/7/2022 entry), nearly an hour’s round trip.

“The future belongs to the leftist renaissance. To the centenary of the USSR.,” The Greanville Post, 30/12/2022. “There is no doubt that if the USSR were now within the former geographical boundaries and on the former ideological and political basis, but with the inclusion of controlled elements of the market and a multi-structural economy, it would now be what China is, or even more. […] The combination of passionate ideology and strategic planning with economic freedom under the protection of the nuclear umbrella and the most powerful military-industrial complex on the territory of one-sixth of the planet’s land, which was the USSR, would give us a much more stable and developed world. Having abandoned the Soviet experience, we threw out the baby with the bathwater. This is what we need to understand first of all on the day of the centenary of the USSR.”

“Russia celebrates New Year (PHOTOS),” RT, 1/1. Lots of lovely photos of Russian cities with celebratory illuminations.

An awesome symbolic cartoon, “Ukranium Ring” that was posted at r/Sino: “Happy New Year: This pic is going viral on the first day of the new year on the Chinese social network Weibo.” A Russian knight and Chinese soldier (in traditional armor) confront the many-headed hydra of the G20 nations (Germany, USA, France, UK, Japan).

“Meet the artist who turns Russian folk tales into modern fantasy,” RT, 2/1. Some cool interpretations of characters from Slavic mythology by Roman Papsuev (a 2015 article: “Russian Superheroes: Slavic fairy tales in perfectly detailed sketches,” Russia Beyond, 19/11/2015).

“How the mysterious deaths of 23 elite Russians sparked a global murder mystery,” The Age, 3/1. The supposedly suspiciously linked deaths of various oligarches is being highlighted in Western mainstream media as a Putin-related conspiracy – “The string of mysterious deaths has attracted global attention, with growing fears sinister forces are at play, even though the deaths have mostly been attributed to misadventure and mental health issues” – though such speculation is normal with anything Russia-related. The deaths could merely be coincidence – “Fortescue wasn’t convinced the deaths were a concerted campaign from a single source, such as Putin. ‘We know Putin and the state aren’t shy of using violence and coercion, but the links in these cases aren’t particularly convincing,’ he said.”

“Making sense of NATO strikes against Russia,” The Vineyard of the Saker, 2/1. On the awful strike on the Russian barracks in Makiivka, that Western media will gleefully highlight. Larry Johnson also comments: “Western Reaction to Confirmed Deaths of More Than 60 Russian Soldiers Is Quite a Tell!” “But this attack is a lie. It was not carried out by highly trained Ukrainian troops sitting on an ample supply of Himars. This was done with Western supplied intelligence that identified the troop concentration and provided the coordinates for launching a precision strike. Moreover, it is highly likely that NATO troops were helping operate the Himar system. This attack actually is a sign of Ukrainian and Western desperation. It changes nothing in terms of the strategic picture.”

“Russia says rockets killed 63 soldiers in Donetsk’s Makiivka – Ukraine says the death toll is 400. Here’s why there’s such a difference,” ABC News, 3/1. “Typically in war, the side that is interested in reporting on its success exaggerates figures, while the losing side is likely to report lower figures, Dr Muraviev says.”

“Five factors that will shape the Russia-Ukraine war in 2023,” Mick Ryan, ABC News, 3/1. “Three leaders U.S. President Biden, Russian President Putin and puppet Zelensky hold the fate of 2023 in their hands – and the world is watching.” Moronic Mick’s musings are back for the New Year (he got criticized in my 24/8/2022 and 5/10/2022 entries). Acerbic comments on the related Twitter post: “The comedian the leader and the joke, so only one true leader and he will prevail;” “One leader, and two crooks;” “And two are the biggest problem we have today.”

Wednesday 4/1: Haircut; Russian quislings

Had my hair cut today; still one length but quite short (to just below my chin).

“‘We’re not afraid’: Australian-based Russians taking on Putin,” The Age, 4/1. What the West defines as “good Russians” (12/12/2022 entry) – Russian fifth columnists, in other words. (The Svoboda Alliance were previously mentioned in my 25/12/2022 entry.) “Melbourne-based Manakova admits changing Russians’ perspective of the world, some of whom are steeped in Kremlin narratives, won’t be easy. ‘It will be very hard for people who lived in this environment to learn all these stories they’ve been told are fake,’ she said referring to the patriotic education and conspiracy-theory driven Russian news.” If these fools believe the West is a paragon of virtue and freedom, they are seriously deluded.

“Russia raises death toll to 89, blames soldiers’ mobile phone use for Ukraine’s strike in Donetsk’s Makiivka,” ABC News, 4/1. The article typically has to find an anti-Russian angle in that it highlights dissent against authorities.

Thursday 5/1: Donbass death toll; Rogozin still trolling; war on cash

“Number of civilians killed in Donbass revealed,” RT, 3/1. “Over 4,400 people have been killed in the Donetsk People’s Republic alone since the start of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev.” Carnage that will not be reported by the Western mainstream media, which are focused on Ukrainian casualties (the only ones that matter, according to their biased view).

“Ex-Russian space boss sends shrapnel to French ambassador,” RT, 4/1; “‘No one will escape punishment’: Macron sent shrapnel that pierced Russian space chief,” The Age, 5/1. Dmitrii Rogozin is still trolling the Western idiots at least!

Cashless concerns: “Australians are hoarding more banknotes but how far is a cashless society in a digital world?” ABC News, 5/1. Many people distrust banks and digital currency for good reason – the government can trace and control one’s finances. Cash is anonymous and not dependent upon electricity to be used. “But he believes that as time passes, fewer people will want to use cash to buy goods and services, aided by new, faster and more efficient, electronic means of payments. Mr Kelly says as that happens, he doesn’t think cash will be banned per se, but that governments may move to ‘restrict the amount of money that we can pay each other in cash’.” And that is precisely why cash must stay in use; this continued narrative in the media that cash is becoming irrelevant seems like a sneaky use of “nudge theory.”

Friday 6/1: More Holodomor debunking; Dmitrii’s letter; a loss of enchantment

“The Real Truth Behind Holodomor,” Natasha Wright for The Strategic Culture Foundation, 4/1. “The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that that Resolution is yet another horrid effort to justify a campaign to demonize Russia and the Russians, which is brutally being disseminated in Ukraine sponsored by the Collective West to cajole the ethnic Ukrainians to turn against the Russians and the other nationalities in Russian Federation and the former USSR. The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that this Bundestag Resolution is absurd because it distorts the historical facts to a great extent.” Also, while on the topic, from 2014: “Holodomor, myth and reality,” ML-Theory, 7/6/2014. “Famine was common before the Soviets took power and the country started to rapidly industrialize in the 30s. Before that there had been famines in some part of the Russian empire almost every couple of years. […] Therefore the fact that there was a famine in Ukraine is not so unusual. It was only a matter of time when famine would hit once again, unless agriculture was modernized and industrialized. […] there is no evidence, documentary or otherwise to suggest the famine was intentional or man-made, as the most far-right of the anti-communists claim.” (Previous mentions debunking the Holodomor accusation: 27/11/2022, 28/11/2022, 2/12/2022.)

Text of an address to the Ambassador of France from Dmitrii Rogozin (5/1 entry):

AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND PLENIPOTENTIARY OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

Mr. PIERRE LEVY

Your Excellency Mr. Ambassador!

I remember with pleasure our talks with you, our joint visits to Borodino field and Baikonur. We often discussed the prospects of Russia-France political and economic cooperation.

Unfortunately, the position of your country and NATO countries on cultivating a military threat to Russia near our borders led to a tragic denouement. Words and deeds of France have diverged diametrically. Official Paris betrayed the cause of the great De Gaulle and became one of the most bloodthirsty nations in Europe. Your country submitted to Washington’s dictates and became a puppet state like the Vichy government that served Hitler’s basest instincts. It pains me to write about it, because I have always loved French history, know the language and culture of France, and cherish the memory of the glorious deeds when Russians and French fought together against common threats.

Recently, as a result of a dastardly terrorist attack in Donetsk, I was seriously wounded. It is only thanks to the great skill and patience of Russian military and civilian doctors that I am alive again and almost healthy. In this envelope, along with my letter, you see a shrapnel from a shell fired by a French 155mm Caesar self-propelled artillery piece. It pierced my right shoulder and lodged in the fifth cervical vertebra only a millimetre from killing me or rendering me immobile. This shell fired by a French howitzer killed two of my young friends, leaving their wives widowed and their children orphaned. These boys accompanied you and me on our trip to Baikonur, you shook hands with them. Now they have been killed with weapons supplied to Ukraine by your country. You probably know how many civilians, civilians were killed in Donetsk and frontline towns in Novorossiya by French weapons and French mercenaries. That’s hundreds of people, including children.

Mr. Ambassador, what is France doing in the conflict that Western politicians have ignited between the Slavic peoples? I hope you understand the extent of your personal responsibility for these murders! You are the extraordinary and plenipotentiary representative of the Fifth Republic, you are responsible. And I ask you to give the fragment the surgeons cut out of my spine to the President of France, Emmanuel Macron. And also tell him that no one will escape responsibility for the war crimes of France, the USA, the UK, Germany and other NATO countries in Donbas. All our victims are on your conscience, just as the appearance on the map of Europe of fascist Ukraine is also on your conscience.

Please accept, Mr. Ambassador, the assurances of my respect for your diplomatic status, but I am afraid that your mission is a complete failure.

DMITRII ROGOZIN

“The Nature of Enchantment,” John Michael Greer, 4/1. A post that resonated with me, musing on the loss of wonder that our culture’s current rational view of the world has inflicted, and the spiritual malaise (otherwise known as mental illness) that has consequently affected so many (previously noted in my 29/11/2022 entry).

In an age of enchantment, what we call the “symbolic” is as real as a rock. That’s a lesson that most people in today’s disenchanted societies have a very hard time grasping. More generally, it seems to be very hard these days for most of us to grasp that people in different ages and cultures really did experience the world in a radically different way. They weren’t simply playing make-believe. They really did look east toward the rising sun and see a vast, golden, radiant person gazing back at them. They really did feel the hands of a saint, a spirit, or a god guiding their own hands as they recited a charm over the herbs they were brewing into a healing potion.

In my 21/2/2021 entry I noted a blog post by Bret Devereaux where he made a similar point: that peoples in past cultures sincerely believed their particular worldviews. (On a side note, that historian is a pro-Ukraine supporter, so I will disregard anything he writes on that particular issue.)

So what happened? What was it that broke the enchantments that made the world what it was to our ancestors, and brought in the very different consciousness that most people nowadays think of as normal and natural? That’s going to be a central theme of the posts to come.

Of course the conventional wisdom of our time has a pat answer to that question. That answer, baldly put, is that the modern disenchanted state of consciousness is right and the enchanted state of consciousness is wrong. Central to the entire worldview of modern industrial culture is the belief that “we” (meaning here the minority of human beings during the last four centuries or so who have embraced the disenchanted state as truth, and believed devoutly in the ideology of scientific materialism) are the only human beings in all of history who have ever understood the world accurately, and everyone else down through the ages was just plain wrong. If that answer sounds arrogant to you, dear reader, let’s just say you’re not alone. […]

If we’re so much smarter than our ancestors, and thus presumably so much better at understanding and meeting human needs with our omniscient science and almighty technology, how come so many of us are blowing our brains out or drinking and drugging ourselves to death because of the sheer misery of life in the world that reason has made?

Saturday 7/1: MH17 trial weighted against Russia; Steve Jobs bio; resentful of royals

“Eight-Year-old Debunked Lie Blaming Russia for Shooting Down Malaysian Passenger Flight in 2014 is Given New Life by Dutch Judge,” CovertAction Magazine, 4/1. On the refusal to let Russia present its side of the story in the biased so-called trial. “That the trial was unfair is indicated by the judge’s ruling that all evidence supplied by Dutch and Ukrainian state organizations was admissible in court; but all evidence supplied by Russian organizations were inadmissible.” (Previously: 23/7/2022, 18/11/2022, 20/11/2022 entries.)

I bought the Steve Jobs biography for $2.50 in a charity shop. Ended up redonating it as the physical copy is too big and heavy.I don’t normally read biographies, but this one is quite interesting (previous mention: 17/11/2022 entry). Despite its issues I am still an Apple fan, though it is not my main operating system (I am still on the soon-to-be-obsoleted Windows 8.1). And of course I miss Steve like a lot of other Apple users. The company is trying to diversify too much (far too many iPhone and iPad models, for example) and has lost its focus; I also dislike its increasing reliance on subscription services.

More tenuously, there is also the company’s association with its home state of California (the California Dream) and that state has been a sort of dream place for me since my teenage years.

A big fuss is being made about a certain British Royal releasing a tell-all autobiography that is very unflattering towards the rest of his family. Like many I am indifferent, and this sort of self-pitying indulgent whinging from very privileged people who will never know hardship leaves me utterly unsympathetic. As I have said previously (4/9/2022, 11/9/2022, 15/9/2022, 19/12/2022) I utterly loathe them, and the concept of monarchy generally, and would like to see the lot of them meet the same fate of the Romanovs. Speaking of which, “Maria Nikolaevna Romanova …” Reminiscence of the Future …, 3/12. On this I would strongly disagree with Andrei Martyanov; she might have been beautiful but that does not excuse what she represented. If the family had survived, they might have been used to undermine the Revolution from abroad. I do not want to see Russia reinstate any monarchy, and I also am dismayed that the Romanovs were canonized.

Sunday 8/1: A warm spell; Soviets against anti-Semitism; breakup of Russia plans; no positive Russia books; Conservapedia dilemma; left-wing Grandpa

Weather is warming up; it will be warm to hot all week. It is nice, though, to go outside in the early morning and see a clear dawn sky with a few fading stars.

“The long history of anti-Jewish prejudice and violence by Ukrainian nationalists, and how Soviet Ukraine fought against it,” Dmitri Kovalevich for New Cold War, 19/10/2022. “Soviet Ukraine and the broader Soviet Union fought against all forms of racism and national discrimination during their founding and during the years that followed. […] Simply put, the Soviet policies of education for all and the central place of internationalism in the Soviet outlook proved to be effective in forestalling and limiting the Holocaust as it unfolded.” The Jewish people were protected in Ukraine when it was part of the USSR, but anti-Semitism has resurged since Ukraine became independent after the breakup of the USSR.

“The Plan to Carve Up Russia,” Mike Whitney for the Strategic Culture Foundation, 6/1. The ultimate aim of the Western nations, led by the USA, is to see Russia pacified, broken up and weakened, and exploited for its resources. “The top priority of US foreign policy ‘is to prevent the re-emergence of a new rival, either on the territory of the former Soviet Union or elsewhere, that poses a threat on the order of that posed formerly by the Soviet Union.’ […] Putin is well-aware of this malignant plan and has discussed it openly on many occasions.” (Previous mentions of this ultimate endgame: 15/10/2022, 27/10/2022, 29/10/2022 entries.)

When perusing the Russia-themed books in bookstores, I see that they are all unrelentingly negative about Russia, and demonize President Putin if he is the topic. Nothing positive to say about the USSR and Communism, only treating this era as an aberration. (Previously: 18/10/2022 entry.)

Last year I linked to the NATO war in Ukraine page at the Conservapedia wiki website, which favored the Russian side of the conflict. However, being right-wing and Conservative, it is rabidly anti-Communist, as that page entry shows. So I have mixed feelings about linking there

Just remembered this personal tidbit from my 9/3/2006 Journal:

Mum said today that Grandpa (her father – my maternal grandfather) had been a real Lefty – practically a Communist! Cool! (He apparently had a lot of Communist-type literature, but my uncle later burned this :-(.) He believed very strongly in unions. He was a music teacher (violin) before the 1930s Depression, but couldn’t get students when the economy went bad, so his other job was as a fitter-and-turner in a factory, and he was in several strikes. I never really knew him (he died in 1982), unfortunately. He would likely be appalled at how the gains over the last 100 years have virtually been erased today, under the Howard Government (he hated the Liberal Party).

Learning that about my grandfather today cheered me up somewhat! I have been despondent due to various things all week.

Monday 9/1: Russian-Ukraine hoarded links catch-up

Some older hoarded Russia-Ukraine links that I will catch up on; more examples of the incessant pro-Ukrainian propaganda in the mainstream media here. (I try to briefly comment on the links I post – and similarly I comment on quoted Tweets on my Twitter account – to give some context; I dislike lists of links and nothing else.)

“How Putin is creating a fake war in Ukraine,” ABC News YouTube video, 14/4/2022. “Lies, denial and fake footage are all part of the Kremlin’s disinformation playbook. Russia is creating an alternative reality to the Ukraine invasion, and the longer the war goes on, the more elusive the truth becomes.” A laughably hypocritical ABC News informative video from last year, given that the “trustworthy” news channel is irrevocably biased against presenting the Russian side of the conflict. They do briefly (and, one suspects, grudgingly) mention that Ukraine has produced some footage later found to be false; it and its Western allies have created their own “alternative reality” with incessant propaganda.

“US warns Russia of ‘catastrophic consequences’ if it uses nuclear weapons,” The Age, 26/9/2022. Russia has not threatened to use nuclear weapons in offense – only in retaliation if the other side launches against Russia first (17/12/2022 entry). “On Wednesday, for the first time in more than six months, Putin revived his nuclear threats, saying he could use all arms available to him in the war – remarks interpreted by officials in both Russia and the West as a veiled threat about the use of nuclear weapons. ‘If Russia feels its territorial integrity is threatened, we will use all defence methods at our disposal, and this is not a bluff,’ he said. ‘Those who are trying to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the winds can also turn in their direction.’” Something Western media has deliberatedly obfuscated.

“Putin is fighting two wars, only one of them with bullets,” The Age, 26/9/2022. A military war and an economic war. “The problem is not only a German one. Most of the nations of Europe rely, to a greater or lesser degree, on Russian hydrocarbons. […] But beyond Ukraine’s western border, the social, economic and political impact of energy shortages over coming months will be dramatic. It remains to be seen how much sacrifice other Europeans are willing to endure, and how much political pain their sometimes fragile governments are prepared to take, as they suffer the effects of Putin’s energy war through the bitter winter ahead.” Something they did not figure into the equation when imposing their unreasonable sanctions, and they are now experiencing massive blowback. No sympathy.

“Russia’s ‘most-complex’ disinformation push since Ukraine invasion taken down, Facebook owner says,” ABC News, 28/9/2022. “Since the war began in February, the Kremlin has used online disinformation and conspiracy theories to try to weaken international support for Ukraine. Groups linked to the Russian government have accused Ukraine of staging attacks, blamed the war on baseless allegations of US bioweapon development and portrayed Ukrainian refugees as criminals and rapists.” Perhaps there is truth in these allegations? And Ukraine and its Western supporters have been waging their own disinformation war.

“Amid war with Russia, Ukrainians face a nuclear threat with grit and dark humour,” ABC News, 5/11/2022. A human interest story to garner sympathy.

“Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian activists share 2022 Nobel Peace Prize,” The Age, 7/10/2022. Proof of what a farce this Nobel Prize is. “The prize will be seen by many as a condemnation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is celebrating his 70th birthday on Friday, and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, making it one of the most politically contentious in decades.” The only “good Russians” are those who oppose President Putin, according to them (12/12/2022 entry).

“The day I came face-to-face with Russian brutality in Ukraine,” The Age, 29/12/2022. A very one-sided report, with the usual allegations. “I have also seen hospitals and schools attacked. In one case, Russia claimed a school at Dachne on the outskirts of Odesa had been targeted because it housed Ukrainian and international fighters as well as military equipment. My colleagues and I visited the school a few hours after the attack and saw no evidence to back those claims. From what I could see, it was functioning solely as a school.” Civilian buildings have been used to house military personnel and equipment, so Russia is not unreasonable in targeting these.

“As Putin calls for Russians in Kherson to evacuate, former president Dmitrii Medvedev paints conflict with Ukraine as a bid to banish Satan,” ABC News, 5/11/2022. Medvedev has made a lot of outlandish statements; one suspects he is trolling the Western media to elicit outrage from them and they are gullible enough to respond.

“Four senior Russians died suddenly over Christmas,” News.com.au, 1/1. What passes for reporting in one of the Australian tabloid. “There is little indication of foul play. India’s police say the two hotel deaths are under investigation, but are not suspicious. Speculation but no proof: But the deaths do fit a pattern. And that’s all Putin needs.”

Tuesday 10/1: Secret room dream; Arctic rivalries; Ukraine election foreign intefering nothing new; NATO proxy war

Had a mild headache overnight. Also a recurring dream, where I climb up through a secret passageway in my parents’ home (which is a storage space in a bedroom in the real world home) and find myself on an upper-level floor with bedrooms and a staircase (the house is one-storey in real life). I think it is a distorted memory of a two-storey holiday house my family rented at Inverloch in the 1980s; it feels like that.

“The Arctic ice between Russia and the US is melting. What’s at stake at the top of the world?” The Age, 21/10/2022. Another article from last year, but printed in a recent paper edition (7/1). The Arctic is shared between Russia and northern NATO nations. Russia is, predictably, presented in a negative light as desperate and failing: “Russia is basically drowning in Ukraine, all its resources and political attention are going there […] The nature of European security has changed. We can no longer trust anything Russia says. And vice-versa! […] And the weaker Russian conventional forces become, the more likely they are to threaten nuclear weapons […] Still, although Putin is under increasing pressure at home to produce a victory, Zysk expects some rationality will win out in the Kremlin war room. Russia knows it cannot beat all of NATO, and threatening to break the nuclear taboo has so far failed to stop the Western flow of weapons into Ukraine – or curb fierce Ukrainian resistance […] Bouffard says China is no longer cosying up to Russia so much as bullying it. ‘They’re in charge. They’re gonna help them out but on their terms, with bad deals for Russia.’”

“US campaign behind the turmoil in Kiev,” The Guardian, 26/11/2004. An old article (screencapped on a Twitter post), but proof that the USA was blatantly intefering in elections back then. “But while the gains of the orange-bedecked ‘chestnut revolution’ are Ukraine’s, the campaign is an American creation, a sophisticated and brilliantly conceived exercise in western branding and mass marketing that, in four countries in four years, has been used to try to salvage rigged elections and topple unsavoury regimes. Funded and organised by the US government, deploying US consultancies, pollsters, diplomats, the two big American parties and US non-government organisations, the campaign was first used in Europe in Belgrade in 2000 to beat Slobodan Milosevic at the ballot box.”

“Ukraine Humiliated Western Propagandists After Its Defense Minister Admitted It’s A NATO Proxy,” Andrew Korybko, 7/1. NATO is fighting a proxy war with Russia via Ukraine. “Approximately $100 billion worth of their hard-earned tax dollars weren’t diverted from domestic socio-economic projects to ‘protect Ukraine from Russian aggression,’ but for NATO to aggressively exploit Ukraine as a literal proxy for waging Hybrid War on Russia. […] everything that everyone’s been told about this conflict by the MSM is built upon the ‘Big Lie’ that Ukraine is a ‘fiercely independent state’ that was ‘randomly victimized’ by ‘Russian aggression.’ The reality is that it’s Russia that’s the fiercely independent state that was victimized by NATO’s proxy war aggression via Ukraine, though this wasn’t done randomly, but as punishment for its leading role in accelerating the global systemic transition to multiplexity away from US-led unipolarity.”

Wednesday 11/1: Russia in the Arctic; Wagner in Africa; oil sanctions workarounds; Zelensky begs again; Saakashvili shills for the West

Weather heating up again; up to 38°C on Saturday.

“As Russia launches more nuclear ice-breakers, how global warming could lead to a new hotspot in the Arctic,” RT, 5/12/2022. Pertaining to the previous Arctic article (10/1 entry), this Russia Today feature covers the same topic from a more Russian point of view. (TASS also has an Arctic Today section.)

“Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group owned by a key Putin ally are stoking influence in resource-rich Central African Republic,” ABC News, 11/1. “To accompany their physical presence, a Russian misinformation and propaganda campaign has been effective in exploiting anti-French sentiment in the Central African Republic, flooding social media with pro-Russian messaging.” Of course, this is only “propaganda” when Russia does it :-S. The usual shadowy allegations (no proof) of rape and misbehavior, and President Putin being described as “desperate.”

“Crude reality: Oil sanctions on Russia are having a big effect,” The Age, 11/1. The oil price cap imposed on Russia by the West is affecting the country, according to this (biased as usual) report. “It would appear that the diminished pool of remaining buyers are exploiting the leverage provided by their status and the G7 sanctions to drive hard bargains, in the knowledge that Russia is dependent on its oil income to finance the war in Ukraine.” I am not knowledgable to offer informed opinion on the issue. TASS has an Oil & gas industry section; “Western sanctions reshaping global energy markets – WSJ,” RT, 10/1. Russia is simply finding alternative markets for its oil. (There is also Russian Oil and Gas Industry: News #4 at the Russia Defence Forum.)

Zelensky gets screen time for more begging at the Golden Globes:

Zelensky Addresses Stars at the Golden Globes

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared in a pre-recorded video message of thanks to supporters of Ukraine after being introduced by actor Sean Penn.

Mr. Zelensky, a former comedian who has captured the world’s attention for leading Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s invasion, appeared at the Globes to rally support for his cause.

“It is now 2023,” Mr. Zelensky said. “The war in Ukraine is not over yet.” He went on to say he believed Ukraine would emerge victorious. “There are still battles and tears ahead.”

Last year, just after the war had begun, he made a plea to the public at the Grammy Awards. Almost a year later, his message to the Golden Globes recalled the first ever Golden Globes ceremony, which were held in January 1944 during World War II.

“There will be no third world war,” he declared. “Ukraine will stop the Russian aggression on our land.”

“The West can stand up for democracy – and save my life,” Georgia’s former President Mikheil Saakashvili, 10/1. An unhinged rant from another Western shill and Georgian fifth columnist (previous mentions: 27/11/2004; 14/9/2006; 11/8/2008 Journals). “All my life, I have worked to promote democracy and Western values. I have stood up against Russian aggression. Acted as a traitor, in other words. […] I am being punished for my commitment to democracy and Western values and for my ties with Georgia’s Western allies, including the US […] Under my administration, Georgia was a showcase of Western influence in the post-Soviet region. Because they are working to undermine Russia, which rightly does not want insurrection on its border To make an example of us, Mr Putin punished Georgia with a surprise invasion in August 2008 in the middle of the night through the Roki tunnel in the Caucasus Mountains. His goal was to depose our democratically elected government. Elected with Western and particularly U.S. inteference.”

Thursday 12/1: Soyuz MS-22 decisions; General Surovikin reassigned (and opposing narratives about this)

Updates from Roskosmos on the Soyuz MS-22 situation:

Decisions of the State Commission on the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft and the ISS flight program

On Wednesday, January 11, 2023, the State Corporation Roscosmos held a meeting of the state commission on the situation with the Soyuz MS-22 manned spacecraft at the International Space Station.

During it, the conclusions of the working groups formed to find out the cause of the depressurization of the external contour of the radiator of the thermal control system of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft on December 15, 2022, the analysis of the technical condition of the spacecraft and the development of further actions, as well as the recommendations of the council of chief designers on changing the flight program were considered for the Russian segment of the station in 2023.

The version of technical damage to the radiator during manufacture has been considered and is not confirmed. The conclusion about the breakdown of the radiator pipeline as a result of an impact by a sporadic meteoroid has been experimentally proved.

Based on the analysis of the state of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, thermal calculations and technical documentation, it was concluded that the spacecraft should descend to Earth in an unmanned mode. In the event of particularly critical situations on the ISS, the possibility of using the Soyuz MS-22 to rescue the crew will be determined by a separate decision of the state commission.

To ensure the necessary reliability, taking into account the positive statistics, the state commission decided to launch the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft on February 20, 2023 in an unmanned mode with the delivery of cargo to the ISS. It was previously planned that on March 16, 2023, the crew of the 69th long-term expedition, consisting of Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, would go to the station on March 16, 2023.

It was also decided to extend the flight of Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Prokop’ev and Dmitrii Petelin and NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio to the ISS and return them to Earth on Soyuz MS-23. They were previously scheduled to land on the Soyuz MS-22 on March 28, 2023.

Sergei Krikalyov, Executive Director for Manned Space Programs of Roscosmos, spoke at a NASA briefing about the situation with the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft and changes in the ISS flight program.

(Roskosmos VK.com post)

“Russia announces new head of Ukraine mission,” RT, 11/1. “The head of the Russian General Staff, Army General Valerii Gerasimov, has been appointed to lead Moscow’s joint forces group in Ukraine, the defense ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. The former commander of the military operation, Army General Sergei Surovikin, has been made his deputy.” This is due to the increased complexity of co-ordinating troops and upscaling operations. Compare this report to the usual misreporting in Western media – examples of the parallel narratives that this conflict has produced (Western mainstream media vs. other independent and Russian outlets): “Russia’s struggling invasion of Ukraine spurs reshuffle of top generals,” The Age, 12/1. “Russia ordered its top general to take charge of its faltering invasion of Ukraine in the biggest shake-up yet of its malfunctioning military command structure after months of battlefield setbacks.” Anonymous Internet bloggers are quoted (a dubious source?) who have a negative view of the reshuffle. “‘The sum does not change’: Russian military commentators unimpressed by new commander of Ukraine invasion,” ABC News, 12/1. Again, various “prominent military bloggers” are quoted. “All this moving of the same individuals from one chair to another, at the height of military hostilities, may say whatever you like but not that ‘everything is going according to plan’,”ß Mr Gallyamov said.”

Related posts on some of the blogs I follow: “The city of Soledar has been liberated by the Wagner PMC,” The Vineyard of the Saker, 11/1; “Ukrainian Defense Lines And What Happens When They Are Breached,” Moon of Alabama, 11/1; “In Ukraine, ‘There’s Something Happening There’,” Larry Johnson, 11/1 – “Yes, Chief of General Staff General of the Army Valery Gerasimov was named the commander of the Joint Group of Forces and Sergei Surovikin named Commander-in-Chief of Aerospace Forces General of the Army. This was not a command shake up because of unhappiness with Surovikin’s performance over the last three months. Just the opposite – I believe it signals that Russia is setting the table for a major escalation in its operations to eliminate the Ukrainian military threat.”

Friday 13/1: Toilet dream again; Soledar success

Had one of my odd recurring dreams of being in a public toilet and wandering through a maze of endless rows of stalls. I mentioned this in my 26/1/2022 entry, and a r/LiminalSpace Reddit post where others had similar dreams. No particular meaning; just imagery from the society we live in.

“Russian forces press deadly assault for breakthrough in eastern Ukraine’s Soledar,” ABC News/The Age, 13/1. Both stories repeat nonsensical claims by Ukrainian officials that “The Russians have literally marched on the bodies of their own soldiers, burning everything on their way […] that the Russians were ‘moving over their own corpses.’” RT has a detailed article: “‘The entire town is littered with bodies’: how Ukraine suffered a humiliating defeat in Soledar after a relentless Russian assault.”

Saturday 14/1: Tanks still relevant; Putin tells a minister to speed things up; Soledar victory downplayed

Very hot today; up to around 37°C. Also forecast to be hot Tuesday (same temperature) after a brief reprieve.

“Don’t ditch the tank if you want real firepower,” The Australian, 12/1. Last year I noted my surprise that tanks were still relevant (27/5/2022 entry); this article pitches their relevancy for the Australian Army. Predictably he can’t resist disparaging Russian tanks: “Sure, Russia’s tanks are taking a hammering in Ukraine. They have lost nearly half their main battle tanks – evidence, say the critics, of their fatal vulnerability to modern anti-tank missiles and drones. But Russia’s losses seem more to do with faulty tactics and abandonment.” On the tank he suggests: “If the tanks on order are cancelled, we should look to acquire a version of the next-generation Abrams-X tank, which is already being demonstrated in the US. This is superior to anything else on offer, with an advanced system for shooting down incoming anti-tank weapons.” The Abrams-X, though, is only a technology demonstrator, not a practical battle-tested model.

Larry Johnson mentions the Abrams (current in-use verision, the M1) vs. Russian tank in this entry, “Can The United States Fight A Two Front War?,” 5/11/2022: “The Russians also have an economic and tactical edge when it comes to the modern battle tank. Compare the newest Russian tank with the latest edition of the U.S. M1-Abrams. The Russian tank weighs 22 tons less than its U.S. counterpart. That makes it more maneuverable and more fuel efficient. It only requires a crew of three because it comes with an automatic loader for shells. The M1-Abrams is still doing it old school, i.e. one crew member has to load the gun.” Andrei Martyanov is also unimpressed in this 5/1 entry, “Cleaning My Monitors …”: “As WaPo explained, there are some ‘minor’ technical issues for Abrams tanks because they weight in excess of 55 tons, consume enormous amounts of fuel and are prone to … well, how to put it politely – breaking down. Obviously, as is natural for US media and Pentagon, they explained that those tanks are also extremely complex and require a very specialized technical service. In other words, Ukies are on a lower development level to handle such an amazing equipment ;-)) Hey, I am just quoting here, alright? Translating into normal human language it means M1 Abrams is not designed to fight a serious enemy and the US will rather blame 100% guaranteed failure of Bradleys on their improper use by Kiev Regime, than see M1 Abrams burning on the battlefield in industrial quantities, especially with those pesky Russian Air Force capable to attack them beyond whatever the feeble air defense they may have.” (From the Washington Post article: “The administration continues to rule out sending even larger Abrams battle tanks, which weigh 55 tons and rely on a turbine engine that guzzles fuel at a drastic rate, said a second senior administration official. They are also prone to breakdowns and require extensive maintenance expertise. The battle tanks are so heavy that then-President Donald Trump was dissuaded from plans to include them in the 2019 July Fourth celebration in Washington on grounds that their steel-plate tracks would destroy city streets.”)

There is also a M1 Abrams Discussion Thread at the Russia Defence Forum (Abrams-X mentioned on page 7), and this Reddit post at r/tanks, “what do you guys think about the abrams x? the u.s army is going to replace the m1 abrams with it.”

“‘Why are you playing a fool?’: Putin snaps at minister over warplanes,” The Age, 13/1. Typical making a mountain out of a molehill reporting by Western media over President Putin’s comments to a minister (official transcript: “Meeting with Government members”). The exchange comes across as more measured in the transcript.

“Why the salt mines of Soledar, a ‘network of underground cities,’ are prized by Russian mercenaries,” ABC News, 14/1. Now that Russian forces have taken the town, Western mainstream media is trying to downplay its strategic importance. “Amid the relentless fighting, and the heavy casualties on both sides, something is missing – a strong rationale from either side as to why so much blood has been spilt over these two small, seemingly unremarkable towns. […] What is most likely going on, Western analysts and intelligence agencies say, is that Russia is focused on securing a political victory in taking Bakhmut, rather than a purely military one.” The Ukrainian puppet president has also made a nonsensical statement that the “surrounding land is covered in Russian corpses.”

Sunday 15/1: Cool break; sanctions blowback; Zelensky overexposure; life in Russia mostly normal; a long war ahead?

Much cooler today, after a very warm night. A brief reprieve before the temperature spikes up on Tuesday.

“How Western sanctions blow back, hurting Europe, deepening Asian integration,” New Cold War, 13/1. “Western sanctions have led Russia to greatly increasing trade with Asia, while devastating Europe’s economy. The US tech war against China is damaging its own industry.”

“Top 20 Most Cringeworthy Zelensky PR Moments,” Caitlin Johnson, 14/1. Needs little elaboration! The puppet president and professional grifter who has conned nations has become the most extensively propagandized and tiresomely overexposed public figure since last year.

“Ten months into the Putin’s war in Ukraine, has life in Russia changed?,” ABC News, 15/1. To the author’s surprise, it mostly continues as normal, with some adjustments. “The general impression from conversations with people in different businesses is that their main focus is adapting to the new normal. Many things will be less efficient and more expensive, but the Russian economy will not collapse. […] One of the biggest lessons from my trip is the huge gap between representations of Russia in the West and what you see when you arrive there.”

“The War in Ukraine Will Be Long. Is the West Ready?” The Australian, 15/1. “It takes a great deal of will, and wars are fundamentally a contest of wills.” The Russian military is slowly but steadily grinding down the Ukrainian and Western forces and will (hopefully) outlast them. “Now that Russia has mobilised 300,000 reservists, it has solved its manpower problem just as it’s starting to run low on ammunition and materiel.” Still got plenty of the latter two (Russia has been “running out of ammunition” since last year, but it is still performing artillery and missile attacks on Ukraine unabated.)

Monday 16/1: Russian news sources more trustworthy; celebrity virtue signalling; Russian economy surviving

“Russian news-media are more honest than U.S.-and-allied ones are,” The Greanville Post, 14/1. Something I have learned over the past year! I trust Russian media more than hypocritical Western media now; the latter are as biased as the alternative news sources they disparage.

“The Golden Globes dominated by the US war drive and identity politics,” The Greanville Post, 14/1. Irksome virtue-signalling by celebrities at awards is nothing new, and support for Ukraine is the latest fashionable issue. Zelensky makes another tiresome appearance at the behest of actor Sean Penn. “Every aspect of Zelensky’s appearance was cynical. His reactionary propaganda was forced on the viewing audience, and those in attendance, who had no choice in the matter. Again, however, recognizing that support for the war was not widespread, the entertainment media made as little as possible of Zelensky’s presentation.”

“Fake: Russia is struggling for survival because of problems with the economy,” War on Fakes, 14/1. More elaboration on what I noted yesterday (15/1 entry), that Russia is coping despite the harsh Western sanctions, and is finding alternative means of obtaining products.

Tuesday 17/1: Zelensky to beg at the UN; Mick Ryan returns; tank ramp-up; only Ukrainian lives matter; tennis tantrums; generations popular culture

“Ukraine’s Zelenskyy plans UN visit on anniversary of Russian invasion,” ABC News, 14/1. Yet another excuse for the grifter president to extract more funding from his gullible supporters. Wish the UN building could be nuked with him in it. “Russia has discredited the UN Charter, which opposes the use of force against another country, and flouted international law and should be isolated by the international community. Wrong – the SMO was a lawful intervention – ‘Under UN Security Council Resolution 2202 endorsing the Minsk Accords, Vladimir Putin has the right to intervene in Ukraine as a guarantor under his “responsibility to protect.” She said the Ukrainian armed forces are highly motivated and are fighting to protect their land and people, ‘but the Russian army doesn’t understand what they’re fighting for’ Wrong, they certainly do. […] If Ukraine were to lose, Ms Dzhaparova said, Putin won’t be satisfied ‘and I’m sure that Russia would attack other countries in the nearest future.’ Wrong yet again – Russia has no desire to invade other countries; the SMO was in response to NATO provocations.”

Not one but two Mick Ryan opinions on the same day (previous mention: 20/12/2022 entry). Still trying to portray Ukraine as “winning.” “No stalemate in Ukraine, at least not yet,” Mick Ryan for The Age, 16/1. There is something of a lull, but he is playing up Ukraine’s position unrealistically (as usual).

“Two battles in eastern Ukraine lay bare the differences between Putin and Zelenskyy’s strategies,” Mick Ryan (again!), ABC News, 17/1. Of course he is positive about Ukraine in contrast to Russian strategies. “For the Russian offensive, there has been a singular focus on securing towns like Bakhmut and Soledar that have limited strategic utility. In the main, the massive Russian losses suffered for these towns are not justified by the minor gains they present. This is indicative of a Russian military institution that cares little for its people. The mentioned towns are in fact strategically important (see Moon of Alabama blog post linked in my 12/1 entry), and the Russian military most assuredly cares for its soldiers (the campaign has been slow and cautious with regard to not sacrificing personnel). […] For Ukraine, its army is reinforced by a steady flow of volunteers that understand their purpose and have demonstrated for nearly 11 months the willingness to sacrifice themselves in the defence of their nation. Russia, on the other hand, has had to resort to using mercenaries – many of them pardoned convicts – for its most important campaign in Ukraine. Ukraine’s foreign volunteers have certainly been ‘sacrificed’ – slaughtered by Russian forces! The mercenaries have worked well with the other Russian forces and are quite successful, in fact. […] Putin’s military has not been able to achieve his political objectives – securing the five oblasts annexed in 2022. Therefore, Putin needs something before the one-year anniversary of his Ukraine invasion that he can portray to the Russian people as worthy of its costs. Soledar and Bakhmut fit this bill. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has a different challenge. His forces ended 2022 in the ascendancy. They had achieved significant battlefield victories over the Russians in Kherson and Kharkiv. Coming into the new year, they have the momentum and morale that will underpin their 2023 offensives. What reality is this deluded columnist living in?”

“Can Western-made heavy tanks push back Russian troops and break the Ukraine war stalemate?” ABC News, 16/1. Hopefully not. The ongoing supply of more potent weapons by Western forces means the war is gradually being ramped up, though (the “boiling frog” metaphor). “Countries like Germany have argued that sending equipment like tanks, which are offensive weapons, risks drawing the West further into the conflict. There were also concerns such moves could be seen as an escalation. […] Moscow has condemned escalations in arms supplies for Ukraine in the past, but it has not led to any military consequences for the West.” So far …!

“Death toll rises to 40 after Russian strike on Ukraine apartment building as UN says more than 7,000 civilians killed since invasion,” ABC News, 17/1. No mention of the thousands of civilians in Donbass killed by Ukraine forces; their lives apparently do not matter to the Western media. “Asked about the strike, Kremlin spokesman Dmitrii Peskov said the Russian military does not target residential buildings and suggested the Dnipro building was hit as a result of Ukrainian air defence actions.” Relevant: “Fake: Russian Armed Forces hit a residential building in the city of Dnipro with a missile,” War on Fakes, 16/1. “The damage to the house was caused by a gas explosion, which was the result of Ukraine’s air defence.”

Controversy at the Australian Open tennis! (Not that I care about it, or sport generally.) An audience member dared to hold up and display a Russian flag, and the Ukraine ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, threw a tantrum (his Tweet said: “I strongly condemn the public display of the Russian flag during the game of the Ukrainian tennis player Kateryna Baindl at the Australian Open today. I call on Tennis Australia to immediately enforce its ‘neutral flag’ policy.”). Unsurprisingly, the craven cowardly officials there caved in to his demand: “Russian and Belarusian flags banned at Australian Open after controversy during Ukrainian’s match,” ABC News, 17/1. This will no doubt dominate Australiam mainstream media headlines for a few days.

To a completely different (and lighter!) topic: a recent Reddit post – “Childhood Pop Culture of the Boomer to Gen Alpha generations.” The image linked to features a montage of movie posters, TV shows, book covers and various computers and gadgets that were hallmarks for each generation (I am “Core Generation X kid culture, popularity 1977-1983, primary audience: born 1970-1975”) These are, admittedly, America-centric, but Australia was and is very influenced by American culture also (though some of the cartoons listed were not screened in Australia).

Wednesday 18/1: Dream of the dead; disgraced mercenary; Australia ever-more ensnared in Ukraine; Russian flag tennis fan profile; Russian economy withstanding sanctions; ending NATO arms deliveries

Had a dream involving the appearance of some of my deceased relatives (maternal grandmother and uncle – her son). Details have faded, but we were in a house somewhere in Ormond, off North Road (along where I went on bicycle rides a couple of years ago). Wish I could see them again in real life.

Feeling exhausted yesterday (due to the intense heat) and today, so I did not go out walking. Cool change arrived during this morning and it has been unpleasantly drizzly.

“High-ranking member of Russian private military contractor Wagner Group seeks asylum in Norway,” ABC News, 17/1. A comment on the Russia Defence forum: “Shortly thereafter, Prigozhin himself commented on it, and said that the guy in question is in fact a Norwegian citizen and was being investigated by Wagner itself for crimes and had a warrant out after him, which prompted him to flee. Prigozhin says that Wagner has a ‘Norwegian battalion’ called Nidhogg (from Níðhǫggr, a dragon in Norse mythology), in which this guy operated. RBC above thinks it might be a joke, as nobody has heard of this before. But then again, Wagner only recently started doing any kind of PR, and they haven’t been very transparent about their organization, so there might as well be particular ‘battalions’ of certain foreign volunteers like this, who knows.” A later comment: “Repeat of Wada … criminal escapes Russia claiming persecution and claiming innocence is embraced by the west with a wild story of widespread criminality going all the way up to Putin himself … no evidence for any of it. He will be a hero in Norway ….”

“‘Operation Kudu’ marks shift in Australian support for Ukraine, from material aide to training,” ABC News, 17/1. I can’t adequately express my disgust and dismay at this development. Ukraine is not Australia’s concern; we have, and continue to, antagonize Russia, ensuring that relations between Australia and Russia (a far more important country) will be hostile for many years, if not decades. “Mr Wallace said that none of these exercises could be considered acts of aggression by participating countries against Russia. ‘None of the international support is an attack on Russia, or NATO-orchestrated aggression, let alone a proxy war,’ he said. ‘At its heart, it is about helping Ukraine to defend itself, upholding international law and restoring its own sovereignty.’” Who is he trying to fool? As I noted yesterday (17/1 entry), the West is gradually escalating the intensity of the conflict against Russia.

I hope NATO and the other Western nations involved get thoroughly humiliated, economically devastated and rendered powerless. This would be appropriate karma for the deprivations and social chaos Russia endured after the disaster of perestroika and collapse of the USSR, in part instigated by the West (3/11/2004 entry).

“The Russian tennis fan whose flag sparked a diplomatic incident,” The Age, 17/1. Somewhat disappointingly, they don’t support the current Russian government or SMO. “Routman, who described Russia as an authoritarian state, wore a T-shirt with the words ‘Mother Russia’ and an image of a shirtless Vladimir Putin on horseback, but affixed with devil horns. He said this was meant to “take the piss” out of Russia’s president.”

“Vladimir Putin’s plans to freeze Europe melt away with warm weather, as his economy withstands bracing winds,” ABC News, 18/1. “‘the sanctions have also had little effect on societal resilience in Russia. We’ve seen quite a creative adaptation of the Russian economy and Russian society.’” Hopefully Russia can defy spiteful ill-wishers such as the writer here, and thrive independent of the Western economic system.

An opinion piece by Jacques Guillemain, “a retired, pro-R, French Air Force officer,” from a French alternative news website, linked to from a Twitter post, and computer-translated:

There are only two ways to end NATO arms deliveries

Either Putin says stop, announcing that he will directly attack the interests of the co-belligerent countries.

Either he launches his winter offensive as quickly as possible and crushes the Ukrainian army and the NATO mercenaries who support it.

This permanent one-upmanship is encouraged by the lack of Russian reaction for a year. The rise in arms deliveries to Ukraine has not been the subject of any reaction from Putin, apart from a few criticisms without any effect.

We are delivering increasingly sophisticated heavy tanks and air defense missiles. NATO troops, especially Polish ones, are fighting in Ukraine in Ukrainian uniforms but with Western equipment.

How far will this escalation go? Until World War III? Is Ukraine worth the price of collective suicide? Let Biden and his European lackeys tell us.

This localized operation, which was supposed to end smoothly, like the recovery of Crimea, has been transformed into a war of civilization between Russia and NATO by the madmen of Washington, who give a damn about Zelensky and Ukraine, but who dream of permanently weakening Russia, which they hate more than anything.

Biden may claim in each of his speeches that he will not be the president who will start World War III, he does everything for that. If Westerners have not understood that neither Putin nor the Russian people intend to lose this war and that Ukraine will not avoid butchering, they are preparing for a tragic aftermath.

Not long ago I wrote that after the delivery of the French AMX 10 RCs, the American Bradleys and the German Marders, the time would come for the Leclerc tanks, Abrams and Leopard 2s. We are there. The English are preparing to deliver Challengers and the delivery of Leopard 2 is in the making.

Therefore, I see only two solutions to put an end to this mad escalation, which not only can end in a world tragedy, but which also prolongs this war, kills on both sides and increases the suffering of the Ukrainian people.

First of all, Russia has the means to unleash its hackers on targeted objectives and to paralyze certain sensitive Western sites. No co-belligerent country, including France, is safe from a major paralysis orchestrated by Moscow. Is this what Macron and the French people want?

The second solution is to accelerate the winter offensive and totally destroy the residual military potential of Ukraine, in order to make arms deliveries useless.

I do not at all share the point of view of those who think that Putin has every interest in playing for time, on the pretext that each passing day weakens the European economy, as well as the NATO armies which are tragically losing their that they are already impoverished. We have 200 Leclerc tanks, just like the English who have 200 Challenger. Do we have to deliver fifty of them to Ukraine so that they end up under Russian shells and missiles?

If time weakens our economies, it also allows NATO to arm Ukraine ever more and to train its soldiers in Western weapons. Therefore, the sooner this war ends, the sooner reason will regain its rights. Because to this day, it is rather crazy people who are at work in Washington and Europe.

I understand that the Americans are dreaded by a Russian victory and that all their propaganda makes us dangle a Ukrainian victory, which remains in the realm of an absolute dream. But European followerism is suicidal.

This war will lead to the dismemberment of Ukraine, which everyone in the West makes fun of, but above all it will consecrate the omnipotence of Russia, victorious alone against the 40 nations that support Kyiv.

It will be the beginning of the end for the American empire which cannot live without war, it will be the end of NATO, this aggressive war machine which risks taking us to China to save Taiwan, it will be the end of the EU totally ruined, it will be the end of the dollar king who claims to dominate world trade until the end of time, it will be the emergence of the multipolar world which will rid us of American arrogance and its endless colonial expeditions.

In a word, it will be the victory of a conservative civilization, rich in its ancestral values, over a decadent West, plagued by multiculturalism, Wokism and LGBT delirium, a West which has forgotten what it was when the the words nation, family and patriotism still had meaning.

In the meantime, I repeat what de Gaulle said: “It is impossible to defeat Russia.”

It’s time to admit it.

Thursday 19/1: Russian psychic warfare; Lavrov’s 2022 diplomacy overview

“Russia Is Afraid of Western Psychic Attacks,” Foreign Policy, 3/1. (Article linked to in that one: “Enemy within the Kremlin Gates. FSO gets ready to protect Putin from coup by using priests, hypnotists and political officers,” The Insider, 21/11/2022 – this is a Russian fifth-columnist, Europe-approved “independent” site; therefore of dubious legitimacy). “Pseudoscience and mysticism are common among the Moscow elite. […] Belief in mystic powers is relatively common in Russia, where roughly 20 percent of people have visited a psychic and more than 60 percent believe in some form of magic. Natalia Antonova, a Washington-based writer and Russia expert who spent seven years reporting from Moscow, said ‘This issue of hypnosis and telekinesis, whatever it is that they’re attempting to do, I think the Russians truly believe it. Most of us are still trying to exist in the real world, and the Russian leadership are not. They’re not trying anymore.’ Such fears may be enforced at the top. It’s long been rumored that Russian leaders, including Putin, believe in mysticism, astrology, numerology, and psychics – as well as a conviction that their rule over a greater Russia is predestined. As far back as 1988, the New York Times reported that ‘horoscopes, folk medicine, psychic healing and all manner of mysticism occupy a prominent place in Soviet society, part faith, part fad, but no joke.’ Mysticism merges with more conventional Russian Orthodox beliefs about apocalyptic scenarios and satanic influence.” (In my 19/11/2022 entry I mentioned a book called The Return of Holy Russia which covers the same theme.) Of course, in this age of extreme rationality (6/1 entry), the spiritual or supernatural aspect is mocked and derided. But who is to say there is no truth in the mystical?

“US deception, future of Ukraine conflict, and no business as usual with West: key points from Lavrov’s big Q&A,” RT, 18/1. A summary of Russian diplomat Sergei Lavrov’s annual press conference. “Military action in Ukraine justified; no meaningful proposal on talks with Kiev; Biden asked for meeting of top spies; no ‘business as usual’ with West; Washington has colonialist mentality; three most important words: war, victory, victory.”

Friday 20/1: Morning balloons; NYT full of lies; what lies ahead for Russia in 2023; psychic warfare continued; forgotten horror novel; Baba Yaga fantasy novel

I saw four hot-air balloons this morning! Just before 6:30 a.m., drifting north-west towards the city (wind was south-easterly). Would not mind a ride on one, but it is expensive ($300 minimum).

“The NYT: SHAME! Lie to me once, shame on you. Lie to you a thousand times, shame on all of us.” Julian Macfarlane, 19/1. “The New York Times has become a soulless tabloid. It no longer does ‘journalism.’ Instead, it mews and spews US State Department and CIA propaganda.” Opinion piece on deliberate misreporting of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict by the NYT, with its inaccuracies corrected.

“2023 will be make-or-break year for Russia,” RT, 19/1.A look ahead at what may transcend in relations between Russia and the West this year. The Ukraine war shows no signs of a resolution and the West continues to escalate and prolong hostilities by supplying weapons to Ukraine. “The objective of the US is to exclude Russia from among the great world powers, initiate regime change in Moscow, and deprive China of an important strategic partner.” Relations between the West and Russia will be poisoned for years to come, even decades. Russia does at least have tentative allies in the East, though relations with some of these countries are complex.

Continuing yesterday’s derisive article about Russia’s interest in mysticism (19/1 entry), the US military conducted its own foray into this area, namely the Stargate Project that involved remote viewing; however it is predictably regarded with rationalistic skepticism. I had much interest in such topics in the early 1990s (5/4/2006 entry).

A horror novel from the 1980s I recall reading then – but, to my frustration, can’t recall the title or author of (an American or British author) – involved the theme of psychic warfare between two specialist American and Soviet military units during the Cold War. A psychically-gifted Afghanistan boy was used to conduct remote psyops against the Americans. Things ended badly for the Soviet group when demons were summoned by the boy and there was a gruesome scene where an opened portal ejected the bones of the Soviet psychics into the room where the Americans were. The cover of the novel had a picture of the Iranian Ayatollah on it.

A couple of short extracts from The Return of Holy Russia (also mentioned yesterday):

The Russian soul was able to contain contradictory ideas and polar opposites in a way that a Western logical mind would find impossible. For example, for Russians, the idea of a “rational mysticism” or a “mystical rationalism” is not contradictory; it is the sign of a higher consciousness.

But in Putin’s Russia, the extreme liberalism and permissiveness that characterize Western society – its “anything goes” sensibility – smacks of little more than decadence, and our commercialization of practically everything reeks of selfishness and ego gratification, Steiner’s independent Western “I” turned into a gluttonous, consuming “me.” Nothing seems to resist the spread of the “me” economy, in which everything is yielding and negotiable, even reality. To this Putin’s Russia upholds more “traditional” standards, and its attitude toward sex, family, and gender roles seems to the “progressive” West highly conservative, if not repressive.

As with other pagan people converted to Christianity – of whom the Russians were one of the last – this tradition did not die out but was maintained alongside the new Christian belief, an arrangement known as dvoeverie, “double faith,” an example, perhaps, of the ability of the Russian soul to hold contradictory ideas simultaneously, and of the tensions at work in doing so.

It strikes me that the kind of brute nationalism and “exceptionalism” that Western critics see in the work of the Silver Age sages would have been the furthest thing from their minds. They were not concerned with furthering Russia’s interests at the expense of the rest of the world, but in understanding what Russia could offer to a Western world that seemed in great need of help, and to a Russia that needed it even more.

This hoped-for union of the mystical East with the scientific West is a common theme in much writing about Russia, and in Russia itself the opposition between these two polarities has produced enormous tensions over the centuries that at times have torn the country apart. Placed between the materialist West and the spiritual East, Russia is thought to partake of both opposites and to offer the promise of some future creative synthesis, as Schubart argued, a “third way,” that would transcend the polarities and bring into existence something new.

Yet we’ve seen that the ability of Russian man to hold contradictory views was an asset here. Through the magic of dvoeverie or “dual belief,” he was able to satisfy both the “intense spirituality” that the rigors of the land generated, with its powerful sense of another world awaiting him in eternity, and also the deep connection that he felt with his roots right here in Damp Mother Earth. This meant that the gods of the ancient land were not cast out, but remained in power, side by side with the new pantheon, the two often being worshiped simultaneously.

Saw a new fantasy novel in the bookstore today, The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore, a “feminist retelling of the Baba Yaga folktale set in 16th-century Russia.” As much as I like Russian mythology, this current trend of “feminist retellings” of traditional mythologies irks me; it is a bastardization of the original tale. The titular character, Baba Yaga, relates the novel in first person and she seems to have a very modern (Western feminist) mindset, which is off-putting in a historical setting. The author was born in Moscow, Russia, but raised in the US, so she is indoctrinated with Western “values” and mindset.

Came across this lengthy critical review at Goodreads (a very user-unfriendly site, incidently): “this book has got praise for its ‘authenticity,’ and yet, to me it’s been the least authentic depiction I’ve ever read of Baba Yaga for more reasons than just the characterisation. The author might be from Russia, but about all the difference that made from Baba Yaga retellings by Western writers is that Olesya Gilmore knows the proper gender of Russian names. Big achievement, that. The rest? She goes for the same stereotypes and clichés about Russia and Russians that Western authors get regularly roasted for.”

Saturday 21/1: No “good” kings; Big Serge’s latest

“The Good Kings: 10 points in favor of monarchy,” The Saxon Cross, 11/1. A traditionalist attempting to justify monarchism: “it’s worth pointing out why monarchy is the system that best serves the human spirit, as opposed to republics or democracies.” One of the most odious points: “A monarchy follows the symbology of the world’s hierarchy. As God is above man, so a king is above the people. Elected governments destroy this hierarchy.” No, no, no! No one is inherently above anyone else simply because of their class; this is utterly against any notion of fairness and egalitarianism. One’s position should be earned by merit. (See my comment on a blog entry with the same theme in my 19/12/2022 entry.)

“Russo-Ukrainian War: The World Blood Pump,” Big Serge, 21/1. His latest detailed analysis of the current situation (as recommended by Larry Johnson: “If You Haven’t Read Big Serge, You Must!”).

Sunday 22/1: Patriarch and Putin; tanks still relevant; Bret Deveraux disinformation; Navy SEAL killed; growing up Soviet; Russian alphabet resource

“With his luxury watch and murky Soviet past, Patriarch Kirill is Putin’s spiritual leader and power broker,” ABC News, 22/1. The latest attempt at character assassination by this pathetic excuse for an Australian news service (not that the others are any better), for the apparent crime of owning an expensive watch: “But an object adorning his left wrist would later come back to haunt him: a designer watch. For years, rumours swirled around this flashy piece of jewellery after it was first spotted on the patriarch during a tour of Ukraine in 2009.” The article is full of the usual allegations and hearsay. “Most recently, Patriarch Kirill has been a vocal supporter of the war in Ukraine, blessing troops in his weekly sermons and espousing the familiar nationalistic narrative that paints eastern Ukraine as rightfully Russian. In his first sermon after Putin sent his troops across the border, Patriarch Kirill blamed ‘Western values’ for the unfolding violence, describing a struggle of ‘metaphysical significance’.” My feelings on the influence of the Orthodox Church are again conflicted. In my 28/7/2005 and 30/9/2006 entries, for example, I expressed dismay at the Church’s revival after the fall of the USSR, and how intertwined they were with the monarchy (I strongly dislike their canonization of the Romanovs – 7/1 entry). I actually prefer the ancient pagan beliefs (20/1 entry), which to me seem kinder and more appropiate for Russian culture.

“Does the tank have a future?” The Economist, 15/6/2022. Pertaining to my 27/5/2022 entry, an article from last year. It is unsurprisingly disparaging of Russian tanks (which, to my limited knowledge, are tough and sturdy) and their deployment: “It would be wrong, however, to write the tank’s obituary based on its performance in the war, precisely because Russia has made such poor use of them.” I am not, obviously, a military expert (which is why I refrain from commenting on Russia’s prowess in the Ukraine war), so I don’t know enough to add commentary on this.

In my 6/1 entry I noted that academic Bret Devereaux (“Ancient & military historian specializing in the Roman economy and military”) was a Ukraine shill; a recent Twitter post by him: “As we see footage of blasted apartment buildings in Dnipro and more signs of Russian forces targeting civilians – not even dual-use infrastructure, just homes – I’m reminded of what I wrote in April, that atrocities are a product of org. culture and command decisions. All wars contain atrocity – it’s the nature of war. But some armies develop consistent patterns of atrocities and that’s not an accident. Putin built a war-crimes machine, from its institutional culture to its leaders to his own rhetoric. He and they are responsible. I can’t stress this enough: not every army today or through history behaves the way we’re seeing the Russian armed forces. Always there are mistakes, there are violations of the laws of war, but a pattern of rewarded atrocities is different and that’s what we are seeing. Some armies, when an atrocity is committed, investigate and put the perpetrators on trial. When the 64th Mot. Rifle Brigade butchered the people of Bucha, Putin made them a ‘Guards’ unit – an honor – for their crimes. Ukraine destroyed the unit in Izium, where it was redeployed. My point in all of this is that these are choices, not inevitabilities – Putin chose to make his army a war crimes machine, he chose to have them practice that in Syria, then he chose to declare a war and unleash them on Ukraine. And now we see the result of his choices.” Absurd “Russia is particularly brutal” nonsense. And the alleged Russian military atrocities in Bucha were fake news (“What happened in Bucha? A full analysis of the Ukrainian provocation,” War on Fakes, 7/4/2022; “Bucha, Revisited,” Scott Ritter, 22/10/2022).

A Moon of Alabama comment on a U.S. Navy SEAL “deserter” (or perhaps a covert operative) killed in Ukraine:

Dead (non-performing) SEAL:

A former American special operator died early Thursday morning after being wounded days before fighting alongside the Ukrainian military during intense combat in the eastern frontline city of Bakhmut. Daniel Swift, 35, lived mostly in the Pacific Northwest and served as a Navy SEAL. The US Navy told Rolling Stone on Friday that Swift is currently designated as an active deserter, and has been since March 2019. Divorced, he leaves behind six children. Swift represents a climbing number of US military veterans that have been killed over the past year while fighting Russian forces.

Adam Thiemann – a former U.S. Army Ranger who previously fought in Ukraine with Swift and stayed in contact with his platoon through phone calls and late-night text messages – told Rolling Stone that during an operation in Bakhmut on the night of Jan. 14 and into the early morning of Jan. 15, Russian forces launched an anti-personnel rocket-propelled grenade at Swift and two other soldiers, killing them.

“Navy SEAL Deserter Killed During Intense Ukraine Battle,” Rolling Stone, 20/1.

Twitter comments:

A more likely explanation (besides an elite soldier going AWOL) is that he was fighting in Ukraine while on active duty. This would be an admission that there are US combat forces in Ukraine, so instead they lie.

How did he travel to Ukraine without being detained if he had a warrant out for his arrest?

Married special US operators with children gets recruited by reddit? Seriously? At least try to make sense when going along with the meme.

“The US Navy told Rolling Stone on Friday that Swift is currently designated as an active deserter, and has been since March 2019.” Absolutely no one believes this horseshit. He was an off-the-books zogbot who has been stirring up trouble in Syria & Ukraine for four years.

“Yet, by April 2019, a felony bench warrant had gone out for Swift for the primary charge of false imprisonment related to his divorce. The judge in North County Superior set his bail at $250 thousand. The San Diego County Sherriff’s Department told Rolling Stone the warrant is still active. A month before the U.S. Navy listed him as an active deserter.” Q: How does one get a felony “false imprisonment” charge? Did he tie his ex wife up or something? A: Its all bunch of bullshit written after the fact, literally his cover story for when they burn his rep post mortem.

“Yet, by April 2019, a felony bench warrant had gone out for Swift for the primary charge of false imprisonment related to his divorce. The judge in North County Superior set his bail at $250 thousand. The San Diego County Sherriff’s Department told Rolling Stone the warrant is still active. A month before the U.S. Navy listed him as an active deserter. Thiemann told Rolling Stone that when Swift unexpectedly turned up in Irpin, Ukraine, he had no equipment of his own but would still go on operations.” ?? What. How is this possible?

“AWOL" is just a cover. Dude was for sure an armed advisor acting on behalf of the US government. “‘Active deserter’.” Sure DoD. Sure. A more likely explanation (besides an elite soldier going AWOL) is that he was fighting in Ukraine while on active duty. This would be an admission that there are US combat forces in Ukraine, so instead they lie.

@sethharpesq

And from Seth’s Twitter…(off topic) (but not really) … (Ukraine being Ground Zero now the Afghanistan show has closed): “Former Navy SEAL and CIA special agent James Dennis Smith Jr faced up to 40 years in prison for trafficking drugs from Central America to the US in his private plane. Instead, he was sentenced to a mere 18 months, got released early after just 9, and promptly disappeared.”

Posted by: Melaleuca | Jan 21 2023 22:57 utc | 179

“A few words about the USSR,” Maria Kondorskaya for The Reading Junkie, 20/1. An interesting blog guest post about life growing up in the USSR. “To sum up, I would say that the USSR was a beautiful attempt of the people to build something better. I call you for respecting this attempt.”

A useful primer by Ryan Estrada: Learn to Read Russian in 15 Minutes (in graphical format).

Monday 23/1: Twitter account (temporarily) suspended

Twitter is required by German law to provide notice to users who are reported by people from Germany via the Network Enforcement Act reporting flow. We have received a complaint for the following content from your account, @suzymchale: Tweet ID: 1616921517090295809; Tweet Text: [url] We have investigated the reported content and have found that it is not subject to removal under the Twitter Rules or German law.

Well, I managed to get my first Twitter violation notice! By none other than Bret Devereaux (or one of his sycophantic followers) who must have reported my Tweet from yesterday (22/1 entry) (note that, as is my habit, I retweeted the post – a “quote Tweet” – and commented on my own account, not his). I removed it per the rules and my account is restored, but now, as far as I am concerned, he is a miserable coward and I despise him utterly (and loathe Ukraine supporters even more than I did). He obviously can’t take criticism (if someone Tweeted about me I would respond in my own Tweet, not seek to have the other censored). I won’t be silenced.

Tuesday 24/1: Putin at fault for … everything; absurd Russian body count; Wagner and Rasputin; Ukraine begging again; cyber warfare – Ukraine vs. Russia; war crimes hypocrisy

Still in a sour mood from yesterday’s Twitter ban.

It’s Putin’s fault! This is almost a meme now. A satirical article (computer-translated from Russian):

A joke about Putin proved the failure of Western propaganda

January 22, 2023, 10:45

An NTV TV presenter joked about the love of Western politicians of blaming the President of Russia for all troubles

On the air of the “Meeting Place” program on NTV, TV presenter AndreI Norkin told a joke about the presidents of the Russian Federation and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky, proving the double standards of the West.

“According to Time magazine, the reason for the invasion of Ukraine is Putin. The cause of the migration crisis in Europe is Putin. The cause of the energy crisis in Europe is Putin. The cause of the economic crisis in Europe is Putin. The cause of the political crisis in the United States is Putin. The cause of the food crisis around the world is Putin. The most influential person on the planet is Zelensky,” Norkin said.

In addition, the TV presenter concluded that the more the West tries to denigrate Putin, the more the head of state is loved in Russia.

“Almost 180,000 Russians dead or wounded in Ukraine, Norwegian general says,” ABC News, 23/1. An absurdly inflated figure, but will be reported as fact by Western media. The general made the statement “without specifying how the numbers were calculated. […] These figures cannot be independently verified, and Moscow and Kyiv have not provided reliable accounts of their losses for months.” And, in the same article, Wagner boss Evgenii Prigozhin has a tart response to a British newspaper comparing him to Rasputin: “However, while Rasputin treated the son of the tsar for haemophilia, Mr Prigozhin said his job was not to staunch bleeding but to spill the blood of Russia’s enemies.”

“Wagner founder explains US hostility,” RT, 23/1. He also points out the hypocrisy of the USA designating his group as a terrorist organization. Full interview below:

Request from the editors of the RT channel and response:

Hello! My name is Nikolai, producer of the RT channel. We would like to ask Evgenii Viktorovich a question: The US government’s formal listing of the Wagner PMC (ЧВК «Вагнер») as a transnational criminal organization came just days after its success on the Soledar battlefield. This is despite the fact that the United States has been throwing various accusations against Wagner for several years now. What do you think explains these new steps by US officials? We will be very grateful if Evgenii Viktorovich can answer our question!

We publish a comment by Evgenii Viktorovich:

There is always a fight between good and evil in the world. PMC Wagner is a force. Russian strength. And this force is always on the side of good.

Of course, if you philosophize, then for someone PMC Wagner is good, but for someone it is evil. But this is evil for our enemies. America and Russia are sworn enemies, it’s a given, no matter what views you hold.

The task of the Americans is to destroy Russia into small parts, and then take on China and other rivals, and then remain the largest and most powerful country in the world, that same conversation about the multipolarity and unipolarity of the world.

And so far, the United States is doing a very good job with this task. Take the USSR as an example.

PMC Wagner did not commit any crimes. For days on end they tried to stick various crimes in various parts of the world to us.

But unlike the American paramilitary structures, Wagner PMC destroys only the enemies of the world and does not commit crimes. Of course, if you engage in the substitution of concepts, you can get to the bottom of anyone. But then it’s worth asking questions.

Who dropped the only atomic bombs in the history of mankind on Hiroshima and Nagasaki without any consequences for themselves?

Who arranged wars and revolutions in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Mozambique, Central Africa and so on? PMC Wagner later came to some of these countries and stopped wars with an iron fist.

Therefore, if we consider Wagner PMC as a criminal organization, then the United States is the most powerful criminal syndicate that exists on the money of the whole world. From which it follows that next to this criminal syndicate PMC Wagner is more like a vice police.

I have many secrets that upset America so much, I have witnesses who remember how the CIA trained Osama bin Laden, brought bags of money and weapons for ISIS in Syria and other countries.

They trained bandits and terrorists around the world so that everywhere: in Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, it would be restless. It should have been calm only on the blue dream island called the USA.

Most world powers try not to conflict with America. Those regimes that fight back are usually declared anti-democratic, then criminal, and then terrorist.

PMC Wagner is not a country or a regime, it is a young unbridled force that Americans are so afraid of.

They tried to destroy this force near Deir ez-Zor in 2018, but she perked up and looks into the eyes of the personification of world evil without fear.

It is very important that we never behaved aggressively towards the Americans, but, nevertheless, we did not allow them to be rude.

More than once, we caught armed groups and American intelligence officers who tried to harm the Wagner PMC and organized assassination attempts.

Each time, we kicked them in the ass and let them go in peace (video footage abounds), before being sent home, “feeding them lunch and dinner.”

Therefore, the Americans are at a loss: it seems that we don’t touch them, but we don’t let them spread our fingers. That’s why they get so upset. We don’t need someone else’s, but we won’t give up our own either.

Damn, you hit me to the core. It seems to have fully answered.

Also: “Evgenii Prigozhin: The Americans fear my Wagner organization, because they know we can kick their asses,” RT, 23/1.

“Ukraine to Australia: Don’t succumb to war fatigue,” The Age, 23/1. The Ukrainian ambassador to Australia begging again for more (ammunition and money). “Myroshnychenko wrote to Defence Minister Richard Marles earlier this month to request more military assistance from Australia in the form of additional Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles, tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, drones, mine-sweeping equipment and ammunition. The government announced its most recent support package – which included 30 extra Bushmasters and military training for Ukrainian recruits in the United Kingdom – in October. The commitment took Australia’s total military contribution to Ukraine since the war began to $475 million.” At this point I would not be upset if the damnable country were annihilated.

“The software giant warning Ukraine where Russia plans to strike,” The Age, 24/1. Technology companies in the West are aiding Ukraine in cyber warfare. From RT, though, some better news: “A top British think tank has revealed Russia’s cyberwarfare dominance over Ukraine – why has Western media ignored its report?,” 23/1.

“International push for Nuremberg-style tribunal to hold Vladimir Putin responsible for war in Ukraine,” ABC News, 24/1. More absurd and hypocritical posturing – no mention of Ukrainian war crimes, and the USA has arguably perpetuated more such crimes against all the countries it has invaded.

Wednesday 25/1: Laptop internet connection frustrations; more Holodomor refutations; Mike Ryan promotes defence spending; music triumphs over war

Been having frustrations over the last 3 days trying to fix a missing network adapter driver on Dad’s ASUS E510 laptop. I have tried every solution as suggested at the official support site, tried resetting the BIOS to default settings, resetting the network, reinstalling Windows 10 and so on (and I can’t download the MyASUS diagnostic app from the Windows store as the laptop has no Internet connection), but nothing has worked; there is no adapter displayed in the Devices panel. So I am exhausted and stumped. I wonder if the hardware component itself has become faulty. Though the problem initially occurred after a first clean install of Windows 10 (I deleted a partition). The laptop can support Windows 11, but I don’t know if upgrading to that would solve the issue.

“The Holodomor Myth,” Scott Ritter, 15/12/2022. More countering of the hysterical Ukrainian Holodomor propaganda (previous mention: 6/1 entry).

“More Russian attacks are a matter of time, and geography. Australia must look and learn,” Mike Ryan for The Age, 25/1. His latest inanity (previously: 17/1 entry). “Europe and the United States have now evolved their strategy for Ukraine. They have shifted from a strategy focused on defending Ukraine, to one encompassing the defence of Ukraine and the defeat of Russia. The quality and quantity of military aid being provided ensures Ukraine has the capacity and confidence to conduct offensives in 2023 to reclaim its territory.” Delusional thinking – Russia will not tolerate the prospect of being defeated!

“Dmitri Shostakovich – “Leningradskaia”: The End of the Siege and the Triumph of the Spirit,” by Nora Hoppe for the Saker blog, 24/1. A harrowing but uplifting story of art overcoming great adversity during the horrendous Siege of Leningrad.

Thursday 26/1: Not a proud 🇦🇺; defying Russian flag ban at tennis; know-nothing Putin “experts”; NATO mission creep; tanks may or may not be a game-changer; possibility of nuclear conflict

Australia Day; not that I am interested, and, after the past year, am embarrassed to be Australian, given its slavish support for Ukraine, ostracizing Russia and kowtowing to the USA.

“Russian tennis fans detained after provocative political statement,” The Age, 26/1. “Supporters have flouted policies banning Russian and Belarusian flags from the grounds of Melbourne Park since the tournament began on January 16. But the incident on Wednesday night, in which the group of four men brandished flags with Russian insignia with one bearing the image of Putin, is the most serious breach yet.” Another defiant display of the Russian flag at the Australian Open! (Previously: 17/1 entry.) An updated report: “‘Long live the Russians’: Djokovic’s dad filmed alongside fans with banned flags.”

“Drafting half a million more soldiers into Russia’s war in Ukraine could backfire on Vladimir Putin,” ABC News, 26/1. More theorizing by Western “experts.” “The former ambassador believes Mr Putin remains secure in his leadership for now, but that the first round of conscription and the ongoing failures of the war are having an impact. ‘Every now and again you see him in a state of real worry. For example, to me when he went alone to the church for the Orthodox Christmas. That was a frightened and oddly uncomposed man.’” So apparently the former British ambassador to Moscow can read Putin’s mind now? And Russia is far from “failing” in the war.

“Mission Creep? How the US role in Ukraine has slowly escalated,” Responsible Statecraft, 23/1. The proxy war intensifies. “Little by little, NATO and the United States are creeping closer to the catastrophic scenario President Joe Biden said ‘we must strive to prevent’ – direct conflict between the United States and Russia.”

“NATO’s best tanks are going to Ukraine, what will it mean on the battlefield?” RT, 25/1. NATO has stupidly agreed to send Ukraine various tanks this week. Ultimately, “The battlefield is the only litmus test for all advantages and drawbacks of any type of weapon or military equipment.”

“90 Seconds to Midnight?” Scott Ritter Extra, 25/1. On the prospect of direct nuclear conflict between Russia and the USA, though Scott points out, “Current Russian nuclear doctrine does not allow for a nuclear first strike; indeed, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it clear that Russia would not be the first nation to use nuclear weapons in any future nuclear conflict. But he also emphasized that Russia would not be the second, either, meaning that Russia would release its nuclear arsenal without waiting for any US first strike to impact Russian soil.” He also reiterates the legality of Russia’s SMO in Ukraine: “Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine on February 24, 2022 was not an unprovoked act of aggression, but rather a legitimate exercise of its right, together with the newly independent republics of Lugansk and Donetsk, of preemptive collective self-defense in the face of the imminent threat of aggression by Ukraine’s newly trained army which was, by design, little more than a NATO proxy.”

Friday 27/1: A walk; no WiFi on laptop workaround; more tennis controversy; tank provocvation

Had a headache yesterday morning and felt off all day; felt better today. Went for a walk; I have not been for one for the previous four days. Felt too tired. Weather is heating up; 35°C tomorrow.

I found a workaround for the laptop not detecting the WiFi network adapter (25/1 entry)! I remembered reading somewhere that a live boot Linux USB can be used to access a laptop if Windows is having issues, so I created a live boot USB of Linux Mint, booted into the laptop and Linux detected the WiFi! I was able to connect to the network as normal. So the network issue is obviously software-related, not faulty hardware; Windows 10 is just not installing the driver for some reason. I am now considering installing Mint anyway for Dad on that laptop as it looks quite usable, though I have no experience with Linux so far.

The Australian Tennis Open flag controversy continues! “Novak Djokovic’s father Srdjan appears to be in Melbourne Park video next to Australian Open fans holding banned Russian flag,” 26/1; “Ukrainian ambassador calls for Novak Djokovic’s father to be banned from Australian Open over Russian flag incident,” ABC News, 27/1. “Ukrainian ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko said the flag was a symbol of the invasion of Ukraine, and called on Tennis Australia to ban Srdjan Djokovic for the remainder of the tournament. ‘It’s unacceptable, it’s a disgrace for the tournament,’ he said. ‘There must be sanctions imposed.’” Of course this twat has to whinge, and the government will slavishly grant his request. Not one government official has ever spoken in support of Russia:

When asked about the incident, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reiterated Australia’s support for Ukraine. “Australia stands with the people of Ukraine,” he said. “We don’t want to see any support given to the Russian invasion of Ukraine that is having a devastating impact on the people of Ukraine.”

Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton called the incident “bizarre.” “The Russian onslaught continues, and frankly everybody of goodwill should be trying to deter, not encourage, President Putin. So, it’s a bizarre act,” he told Channel 9. “It’s an issue for Tennis Australia as to how they react.”

Victorian minister Ingrid Stitt said any further repercussions for those involved were a matter for Tennis Australia, but reiterated the state government’s stance against the invasion. “The Victorian government, let me be very clear, is absolutely opposed to the war in Ukraine – it’s abhorrent,” she said.

“Why Sending Leopard 2 & M1 Abrams Tanks to Ukraine is NATO’s Grave Mistake,” Sputnik News, 26/1. “First of all, the Russian military has ‘tens – if not hundreds – of thousands’ of rockets, missiles, and other munitions that it can use to blow NATO’s MBTs up. […] Second, neither 100+ Leopard 2s, nor 30+ M1 Abrams is likely to dramatically reverse the situation on the battlefield. […] Third, ‘it will take months for the US and other NATO countries to train the Ukrainian military to operate US M-1A1 Abrams, German Leopard 2 and British Challenger 2 tanks before they can be deployed to Ukraine’ […] Fourth, since the Ukrainian military won’t be able to operate the M1 Abrams and Leopard 2s without proper training, it cannot be ruled out that the machines will initially be staffed by NATO crews […] Fifth, announcing an escalation like this allows Russia to do the necessary planning to counter the threat and destroy it.”

Saturday 28/1: Success regaining laptop WiFi with Windows 11; a stupidly hyperbolic opinion piece; mercenary hypocrisy; whinging sports writer

I ended up installing Windows 11 on Dad’s laptop this afternoon (27/1 entry), and it detected the WiFi again, so obviously a software issue with Windows 10. I find Windows 11 disagreeable just with that try of it; extremely annoying and intrusive with nagging everywhere.

“Victory for Ukraine is essential for the West,” The Australian, 28/1. The hyperbolic nonsense in this opinion piece is surreal. A few snarky comments (I am tired so this is a bit rambly): “And Ukraine’s success is of tremendous direct importance to Australia. In Ukraine we have a free, sovereign and democratic nation willing to bear enormous costs for freedom. ‘Democratic’? Corrupt beyond redemtion. […] In Ukraine, the US has an ally willing to do all its own fighting, all its own dying, rather than live as slaves. Russia’s Vladimir Putin does not believe Ukraine has the right to exist as an independent nation, even though Russia had given Ukraine security guarantees and as recently as a year ago Putin claimed he had no intention of invading. I believe the SMO was in response to Ukrainian and NATO provocations; in his 24/2/2022 address he states, ‘The purpose of this operation is to protect people who, for eight years now, have been facing humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kiev regime. To this end, we will seek to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, as well as bring to trial those who perpetrated numerous bloody crimes against civilians, including against citizens of the Russian Federation. It is not our plan to occupy the Ukrainian territory. We do not intend to impose anything on anyone by force.’ If the West won’t supply material assistance and financial aid to an ally like Ukraine, it is no longer the West. It would be doing the sensible action in not interfering. Then follows more blather in the opinion piece criticizing some political sides for believing ‘that Western aid to Ukraine is provocative to Russia,’ and more character assassination and baseless assumptions about the Russian President. […] The far right also embraces the left’s traditional postmodern contempt for democracy, arguing nonsense propositions that equate the US morally with China and Russia because, allegedly, all great powers want spheres of influence. So it’s hypocritical for the US to assist Ukraine in fighting for its independence. This debilitating, fraudulent moral equivalence was characteristic of the far left through the Cold War. Now you see it on the far right. Perhaps both political sides were, well, right in this? […] But the striking thing about European politics is how strongly the pro-Ukraine position has held together. During the European summer, it was thought that the reality of a winter with much­reduced Russian energy supplies would cause a great falling away of support for solidarity with Ukraine. Instead, that solidarity, and the military and economic aid, has grown. Uh, no, there still is dissent and discontent. […] Zelensky’s personal heroism is undoubted. He could have had a safe and affluent life in the West. Instead, he decided to stay and fight. The writer must surely be delusional? […] The Russians have committed shocking war crimes, bombing and murdering civilians. Allegations only, and Ukraine is demonstrably far worse with its war crimes against Donbass civilians. […] The Russian military performance in Ukraine has been very poor, much worse than any mainstream analyst expected. Actually they have gained territory and are moving slowly but inexorably. […] The US has three important international adversaries: China, Russia and Iran. […] Ukrainians are fighting, magnificently, for their own freedom and country. They are also fighting for the West. I am supporting the adversaries; the West is morally bankrupt and corrupt.”

“Private military competition: Why the US is really so worried about Russia’s Wagner,” RT, 27/1. “Interference in other countries’ affairs via private contractors has long been a staple of US influence operations. Now, Washington is trying to accuse Russia of doing the same, and it’s suddenly a bad thing.” So, a case of the pot calling the kettle black. “The real problem with the Wagner Group for the US and its allies is that it competes with Western counterparts and could serve to protect the interests of clients that depart from the Western agenda.”

“Game, set and match against Djokovic senior,” The Age, 27/1. The writer is practically frothing at the mouth with rage at the father’s support for Russia. “Djokovic senior said he meant no harm, but merely was celebrating with fans after his son’s win. Pigs! We might not readily have distinguished a Russian flag from a Serbian flag, but he should have. In any case, the Z on a T-shirt was a bit of a giveaway.” Suck it up, you ignorant hack.

Sunday 29/1: Loss of computing control; Ukraine targets hospital; Serbia and Russia against the West

Did some more tweaking of Windows 11 on Dad’s laptop (28/1 entry) to make it a little less annoying. The most recent post at Cheapskate, “How to Retain Your Personal Computing Freedom and Avoid Going Back to the Future,” presents a disturbing picture of how personal computing is regressing – more and more control over one’s computer is being gradually removed by the companies that provide hardware and software. “I have written a number of articles explaining in detail the mechanisms by which the taking of our computing freedom is occurring and showing how normal people are choosing to go along with Big Tech’s plans for relieving us of said freedom. I and many others have repeatedly urged normal people to wake up before it is too late. But most enthusiastically embrace Big Tech’s locked down devices. They can’t get enough of them. What this means is that from this point forward, new technologies will be focused on bringing the masses under control. Methods will be found for preventing free speech on the Internet and the personal possession of copyrighted material. Any consumer computing platforms that have not already been thoroughly locked down will be soon. This means the minority of us who understand what is occurring and wish to retain our computing freedom will likely have to expend much more effort to do so.”

“Ukraine and allies discuss fast-tracking weapons, as Moscow blames Kyiv for fatal hospital missile strike,” ABC News, 29/1. “Russia alleged the hospital was deliberately targeted. Russia’s claim of a strike in Novoaidar could not be immediately verified.” Of course Western media will only reluctantly report this Ukrainian war crime. But the article starts with a Ukrainian presidential aide urging (begging) the West to “fast-track” its weapons donations!

“Srdjan Djokovic has put Serbia and Russia’s relationship in the spotlight. How has Belgrade responded to the invasion of Ukraine?” ABC News, 27/1. “Serbian minister Nenad Popovic said his country and Russia ‘always have been on the right side of history.’” Also the side the West portrays as villains. “Russia backs Serbia’s claim over Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008. The dispute between Serbia and Kosovo has remained a source of instability in the Balkans long after the 1998-99 war, which ended with a NATO intervention that forced Serbia to pull out of the territory.” Of course, NATO “intervening” in Kosovo did not receive the same worldwide condemnation that Russia intervening in Ukraine has. Double standards again. Also: “Belgrade forum reminds the world: ‘Never forget’ Nato war on Yugoslavia,” The Communists, 12/4/2022.

Monday 30/1: Tennis officials now shilling for Ukraine; tanks again!

“Australian Open director Craig Tiley calls on tennis, other sports to do more to support Ukrainian athletes,” ABC News, 29/1. “‘I would like the tennis world to support the Ukrainian athletes more, because I spend a lot of time with the Ukrainian athletes and I actually learned a lot about their situation as well,’ he said. ‘And the biggest thing is that no Ukrainian can go home. They’ve got no home to go to, so when they’re travelling around the world to play tennis, they just have to go to the next city to play tennis. And the other athletes, we can all go home – so I think we’ve got to all be more conscious of that and I would like the tennis world and maybe other sports, every week where there is a Ukrainian athlete, that tournament should support that athlete financially all the way through until the next week.’” No, no, no, absolutely not – I am utterly sick of the constant grifting and begging by and for Ukraine. I never was much interested in tennis (or sport generally), and this Australian Open, with its banning of support for Russia, has incited hatred of the event. “However, Tiley said he did not want to forget about Russian athletes in a time of war. ‘We don’t support banning Russian athletes, they competed as individual competitors, but we do support them not being able to compete as part of a Russian team. Then we need to be conscious that the Russian players are also struggling with this situation, they just happen to be from that country,’ he said. ‘Everyone I’ve spoken to are against the war, you saw Andrey Rublev had written on the camera lens “No war” at a tournament in Dubai. They all have family back in Russia so it’s always dangerous for them to come out, and they have, and be outspoken against the war, because I’m sure it puts their families at risk as well, so their mental health and wellbeing also needs to be monitored.’” How many has he spoken to (just a few fifth columnists?), and those who do support the war would not speak out for fear of being ostracized and banned.

“Ukraine’s Zelensky rejects neutrality in sport at time of war,” The Age, 29/1. Of course the entitled grifter president has to get his say. “Zelensky said on Friday that Ukraine would launch an international campaign to keep Russia out of the 2024 summer games, which will be held in Paris. Russia said that any attempt to squeeze it out of international sport was ‘doomed to fail’.” Let’s hope Russia gets its way. “Ukraine says it could boycott the Games if Russian and Belarusian athletes take part.” Good! Go away and stay away.

“Putin’s propaganda stunt at the tennis shows his desperation,” SMH, 27/1. An absurdly convoluted attempt to “blame Putin”! “The support the men expressed for Putin’s murderous regime – the group even flashed a ‘Z’, the official logo of the Russian invasion – is shocking to us here in Australia. Not to all – some of us support Russia and Putin is far from ‘murderous.’ Opposition Leader Peter Dutton called it “bizarre.’ […] The main risk in this incident, however, is that it will be blown out of proportion and hand Putin a propaganda victory. So he has a personal stake in this now? If Australia comes down too hard, it will be open to accusations by Kremlin mouthpieces that our defence of free speech and multiculturalism is hypocritical. The Herald condemns in the harshest terms Putin’s invasion of Ukraine but there must be space for legal expression of diverse views. This incident should not obscure the fact that Russia is only pulling stupid stunts like this because it is losing the bigger propaganda war. Putin’s indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainian civilian targets have shown the world that it holds human life in contempt. More like the opposite.”

Two recent articles at New Eastern Outlook on the impact (or not) of tanks by a commentator who seems to be well-respected, Brian Berletic: “The Trouble with Western Tanks in Ukraine,” 17/1 – “The idea that the West transferring their main battle tanks to Ukraine will be a “game changer” is rooted in the myth of Western main battle tanks being ‘superior’ to their Russian counterparts. […] the tanks used by Iraqi forces during Desert Storm are not comparable to the type of tanks Russia has today. The T-72s operated by Iraqi forces during Desert Storm were protected only by the steel armor they were originally manufactured with […] the U.S. crewmen were highly trained as individuals […] Conversely, Iraqi forces had none of this training.”; “US to Send Abrams Tanks to Ukraine: Will it make any Difference?” 27/1 – “While Western leaders and the media claim that Western armored vehicles represent a significant increase in Ukrainian capabilities, the reality is quite the opposite. Far from giving Ukraine an advantage on the battlefield, Ukrainian forces will struggle merely to get the vehicles on the battlefield and keep them there. Additionally, recent conflicts elsewhere in the world have proven Western armored vehicles including main battle tanks are neither ‘invincible,’ nor ‘game-changing’.”.

He also is skeptical of the latest new wonder jet, the B-21 stealth bomber (4/12/2022 entry): “America’s B-21 Raider and Why the West Can’t ‘Spend’ it’s way Out of Ukraine,” 13/12.

“Tanks for Ukraine,” Adam Tooze, 29/1. A more impartial look at Russian vs. Western tanks, concluding that the latter will not make much difference in the relatively small numbers supplied to Ukraine. I am finding tanks and ATVs quite interesting, given their heavy use in the Ukraine war so far.

Tuesday 31/1: Life in Russia discrepancy; The Saker blog closing; advocating the breakup of Russia

“Ukraine: The Lies, The Battle And The Weapons,” Between Two Worlds, 31/1. An update from Hal Freeman at his personal blog on his situation in Russia, which is very different from the consistently negative Western media portrayal (and a lengthy and informative first comment by “Red Outsider”). “The vitriol in the West continues to increase. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said openly, ‘We are fighting a war against Russia.’ It has gone beyond just supporting Ukraine. NATO is at war. Lindsey Graham, whose ignorance about this part of the world seems to know no limits, just continues the worn-out mantra, ‘We have to fight the Russians over there so we won’t have to fight them here.’ This from a man who supports the 800-900 U.S. military bases outside the borders of the United States. The U.S. literally has military bases all over the world, but it is Putin who is trying to take over the world.”

“Important message about the blog from Andrei,” The Saker, 30/1. Dismayingly, it looks like the site owner will be discontinuing it from late February for unspecified reasons.

“The Imperial Russia: Conquer, Genocide & Colonisation,” The European Conservatives and Reformists Group. Came across this hostile Russophobic group (“a centre-right political group in the European Parliament”) via a comment on Moon of Alabama; this is an ad for a conference tomorrow. Also a related article by them, “The dissolution of the Russian Federation is a far less dangerous than leaving it ruled by criminals,” Euractive, 27/1. They want to forcibly breakup Russia and render it a weakened shadow of its current self. “We should be aware that the dissolution of the Russian Federation might bring certain difficulties and risks, as with any transition period. However, those risks will be far less dangerous than leaving this aggressive empire unchanged. After a period of sleep, it will return with further aggressions as it has done throughout centuries. There are many possible solutions and strategies for a controlled, constructive, and non-violent dismantling of the last colonial empire in Europe.” I’m sure Russians would not tolerate such an imperialistic intervention!

February

Wednesday 1/2: NATO hypocrisy; UK aggression

“NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg criticises China for ‘bullying neighbours’ as he meets with Japanese PM Kishida,” ABC News, 1/2. The latest egregious case of the pot calling the kettle black. “Mr Stoltenberg, who is visiting Tokyo, said China and Russia are ‘leading an authoritarian pushback against international rules-based order’ Which is a complete farce – the ‘rules’ only apply when the circumstances favor the West […] a victory by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine would send a message that authoritarian regimes can achieve their goals through brute force. Says the organization that invaded and bombed Yugoslavia (29/1 entry)”

“The UK’s 83 military interventions around the world since 1945,” Declassified UK, 10/1. It’s not only the USA that has engaged in unwanted “interventions” in other countries.

Thursday 2/2: Sister here; an unwanted involvement; a Russian patriot; space cadet religion

My sister arrived from Queensland today and is staying at my parents’ home until Monday.

“Richard Marles, Penny Wong visit Australian troops training Ukrainian recruits in fight against Russia,” ABC News, 2/2. I am dismayed and angry at Australia’s ever-deeper involvement in this war that is irrelevant to us. We should not be siding with Ukraine. And the grifter country is still begging for “more”: “While Ukraine has welcomed Australia’s help in training its troops, in private, their officials are asking Australia for more military equipment to be urgently sent to Ukraine. […] However, Ukraine says it needs more from Australia. The Ukrainian ambassador to Australia has called on Australia to join the international ‘tank coalition’ of nations donating tanks to the frontline.”

“‘This conflict will fundamentally change Russia’: A young Muscovite explains why he volunteered to fight Ukraine,” RT, 1/2. An interesting and refeshingly honest profile of an IT worker who volunteered to serve in the People’s Militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic as a drone operator. No doubt fifth columnists and those in the West will regard him as “brainwashed,” but one could say that equally about those fighting for Ukraine. For example, his views on those who fled Russia: “‘Our domestic media are very low-tech and can be challenged even by individuals, let alone foreign states employing channels of soft power. […] Those who fled (and that’s where their naivety shows) voluntarily abandoned their country at a dangerous and trying time and ran to foreign states, mostly poorer ones and with cultures that are not complementary to their own culture. I feel really sorry for them. I think my future in my home country is much brighter than theirs. I wake up in the morning these days feeling that I know what I live for and being fully aware of doing a noble deed, protecting my people, and it gives me strength. It doesn’t matter what inconveniences I may have to put up with at the moment or what challenges and dangers I’m facing. At the end of the day, I know why I’m here and what I’m fighting for. Which is more than I can say about the guys who left.’”

I came across this Substack account, “Against Mars: Space Colonization and its Discontents,” by Manu Saadia, a contrarian view of the space colonization mindset (reminiscent of the 2005 article, “The Dream Palace Of The Space Cadets”) – “a critical inquiry into the origins, prospects and future of humanity in space. […] What if space colonization was merely science-fiction, a narrative, or rather a meta-narrative, a myth, an ideology like any other? And therefore, how and why did it catch on? What is so special and so urgent about space colonization that countless scientists, engineers, government officials, billionaire oligarchs and indeed, entire nations, have committed work, ingenuity and treasure to make it a reality. What if, and hear me out, space colonization was all bullshit?” The viewpoint certainly won’t go down well with space enthusiasts, but it has valid points to make. Colonizing Mars is a dream of many such enthusiasts, but in reality, once the novelty of being on another world wore off, the prospect of staying there permanently would become an ordeal.

Friday 3/2: Communism vs. Church; traitors wanting to destroy Russia; Holodomor indoctrination books; bring back Stalingrad; training cannon fodder; fighting Nazis again

“‘There is no God here’: How conflict between the Orthodox Christian Church and the Soviet Union helped define modern Russia,” RT, 2/2. “A religious believer who also sincerely supports Communist ideals and feels nostalgic about the USSR is a seemingly contradictory and exotic type of person, but rather common in Russia.” I don’t think religion should be suppressed, but I do not want to see the Orthodox Church become a State religion. Russia would not have advanced like it did had the old system remained. (My wish for Russia: that a form of Communism ☭ be reinstated – learning from past mistakes – and that it not become a monarchy again, or a theocracy; State and Religion should remain separate.)

“Ukraine War Day #344: Russian Existentialism,” Awful Avalanche, 2/2. Highlights an opinion-editorial at RIA Novosti (in Russian) – “Emigrants plan to return and steer Russia: we are promised lustration” – this a scathing critique of a Foreign Affairs opinion piece by two discredited fifth columnists (both living in exile), Garry Kasparov and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, “Don’t Fear Putin’s Demise.”

“A Hunger for the Truth: Two Middle Grade Novels About Brave Children in 1930s Ukraine,” NYT, 17/1. Two children’s books perpetuating (and indoctrinating) the myth of the Holodomor (previous mention: 25/1 entry); the newspaper is, like all mainstream U.S. media, a Ukraine propaganda outlet.

“Kremlin reacts to calls to bring back Stalingrad,” RT, 2/2. I think it should be, as do some of the commentators: “TomBradley: It is shameful for Russia to deny its great history. Stalin was a great man who did a lot for Russia. He put Russia’s interest first and mechanized Russia. And so what he was born in Georgia? That makes him less Russian? The Russian Empire extended all the way to Warsaw.” “Michael16: Maybe returning the name is not a bad idea. Stalin is the one that kept Russia strong. He understood the true nature of the western world. President Putin spent a few years to learn what kind of beast the west is and upgraded Stalin way of dealing with west. Peter the Great is a personification of Russia connections to the west. The West is a demon playing on people weakness and desires.”

“The 46-year-old mother Australia is training to fight Putin’s invaders,” The Age, 2/2. Future cannon fodder.

“A note from a secret location: I write to you in tears from a place I cannot name,” The Age, 3/2. “Through a female interpreter, I learn that Olena is driven by love for her 18-year-old daughter and for her motherland. This is what has brought the 46-year-old to England to learn how to fight; how to kill Russian invaders and survive their attacks. She speaks of her grief but also of her resolute belief that Ukraine will win.” No, her belief is misplaced. The newspaper continues to peddle these “human interest” Ukraine propaganda pieces.

“Russian President Vladimir Putin compares Ukraine invasion to Stalingrad fight against Nazi Germany,” ABC News, 3/2. “Russian President Vladimir Putin has compared the Ukraine invasion to the fight against Nazi Germany in a speech to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the battle of Stalingrad, as he again repeated unfounded claims of Nazism. No, they are not ‘unfounded’ but proven. […] Western capitals and military analysts have said Moscow could be running short of some military supplies, having pounded Ukraine with millions of artillery shells and thousands of missiles since it invaded last February. Right, they have been asserting that for months – it is something of a joke now. […] ‘The enemy is able to use its sole resource, which it has in excess – its men,’ Mr Dikiy told Espreso TV, describing a landscape to the north-east of Bakhmut ‘literally covered with corpses.’ Ukraine and its Western allies say Moscow has taken huge losses around Bakhmut, sending in waves of poorly equipped troops, including thousands of convicts recruited from prisons as mercenaries. Baseless nonsense yet again.”

Saturday 4/2: Women escaping war; Australia in proxy war with Russia; an existential fight; Coronoavirus retrospective

“Russia-Ukraine war: Ukrainian women in Australia tell their stories a year after the beginning of the war,” The Age, 4/2. More maudlin “human interest” stories to try to bolster support for Ukraine and hatred for Russia. This propaganda rag never stops.

“Is Australia Currently At War?” Cameron Leckie, Australians for War Powers Reform, 30/1. “[…] it is clear that we have, without any apparent thought for the consequences, entered into a conflict that may very well seriously harm Australia’s interests.” Some disagreeing comments, but one does agree: “Ted: This is the worst decision made by Canberra since WW2, in my opinion. Apart from our decision to join in with branded Biden’s failed sanctions, Albanese has spent $500 million on Ukraine, a country which Australia has no connection with. Australia is not a member of NATO or the EU. We have no dog in this fight. Obeying Washington DC, Australia is also training soldiers to kill Russian soldiers, and providing Kiev with weapons to do so. It’s been a terrible failure, with 200k+ Ukrainian men now dead. Apart from the humiliation of watching Federal politicians yet again relegating Australian national interests to those of Washington DC, they have also placed a fat, juicy target on Australia’s back – not militarily, as much as economically – the first target likely being our exports. Russia is a foundation member of BRICS, China’s #1 global ally and also a member of OPEC+. The payback is guaranteed – it’s a question of when, not if – and consequences for Australia will be harsh.”

“Why building a new world order is now an existential issue for Russia,” RT, 3/2. Since the Ukraine SMO began, the past year has seen irrevocable hostility expressed by Western countries towards Russia, and punitive sanctions applied. Trying to integrate with the West (economically and culturally) has clearly been a mistake. If the West defeats Russia in the conflict, this could destabilize the country, so victory is absolutely essential. “The strategic goal of a post-war Russia should be its consolidation as one of the world’s leading powers, which is a condition for survival and security.”

“This week marks three years since COVID-19 was declared a global health emergency. Here’s a look back at the three months that changed the world,” ABC News, 4/2. I noted in my 7/4/2022 entry that I almost feel a peculiar nostalgia for the lockdowns now – they seem less traumatic than the open hostility directed towards Russia by the West in the last year. (And I am not the only one; an example Reddit post: “Is anyone else here really nostalgic for lockdown?” r/CoronavirusDownunder, 10 months ago.

Sunday 5/2: Pushing for an Olympics boycott; spy death mystery; stealing assets

“Ukraine’s battle to block Russia from 2024 Paris Olympics warms up, finds allies,” The Age, 4/2. “Pushback has been fierce in the 10 days since the IOC set out its preferred path for Russian and Belarusian athletes who do not actively support the war to try to qualify for Paris as neutrals.” Ukraine trying to arrogantly dictate the actions of other governments yet again. Unfortunate that only athletes who don’t support the SMO will be allowed. Sport, though, has never been apolitical (“Sport is war minus the shooting” – George Orwell) so it is disingenuous to assert that it is otherwise. (Earlier article at RT, 27/1: “Ukraine threatens Olympic boycott.”)

“Denys Kireyev was a Ukrainian spy hailed as a hero who saved Kyiv from Russian invaders. So why was he killed for treason?” ABC News, 3/2. For some reason this case (from March last year) was reported on again, perhaps to incite blame on Russia. RT has a different perspective: “Ukrainian secret police shot the man who ‘saved’ Kiev – Zelensky aide,” 19/1. “Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Podolyak: ‘These were the first days of the war. His murder is due to the fact that there was no unified coordination between law enforcement agencies. There were certain claims against him, they did not have time to settle these claims in a dialogue format’ – The banned ISIS are naive children compared to the Kyiv regime.” (Mariya Zakharova Telegram post, 20/1, as quoted in the RT article)

More government-sanctioned theft:

Transfer of businessman’s assets to Kiev regime is “outright theft” – Russian embassy

US Attorney General Merrick Garland made earlier the statement on the transfer of forfeited assets of Konstantin Malofeyev worth $5.4 mln to Ukraine

WASHINGTON, February 4. /TASS/. The transfer of assets of Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeyev to Ukraine shows that funds of foreign businessmen in the United States can be confiscated at any time, the Russian Embassy in the US said in a comment.

“We took notice of the statement of Attorney General Merrick Garland on the transfer of the forfeited assets of the Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeyev to the Kiev regime. An egregious precedent has been set,” the Russian diplomatic mission noted. “Using various legal tricks and manipulations, local authorities resorted to outright theft of private possessions for the sake of opportunistic interests,” the Embassy said. “Such actions are undermining the investment climate in the United States,” the diplomatic mission informed. “A signal has been sent to foreign businessmen that their assets are not protected by local laws and can be seized and forfeited at any time under false pretenses,” it noted.

The policy pursued by the US administration “devalues the basic principle of American society regarding the inviolability of private property. In addition, it clearly demonstrates the bias of the judiciary. The American ‘Themis’ turned out to be completely led by the political will of the White House,” the Embassy added.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland made earlier the statement on the transfer of forfeited assets of Konstantin Malofeyev worth $5.4 mln to Ukraine.

Monday 6/2: Zak rants; saving soldiers; Seagal sanctioned; deculturing Ukraine; historian histronics

Was reading a page on Russian fifth columnist Anatoly Zak’s RussianSpaceWeb page (previously: 18/12/2022 entry), and the Russia-hate and Ukraine-shilling is creeping in there: “The agreement ensured that with any emergency departure of one crew vehicle from the ISS, the station would still have the second international crew staffed with specialists in the Russian and American segments. NASA went ahead with the agreement despite unspeakable brutality and bloodshed perpetrated by Russia in its unprovoked war against Ukraine.” I don’t know why he continutes to maintain his site if he feels that way, though almost all new pages are paid-subscriber “Insider content” only now, so it is becoming useless as a reference for casual visitors.

He is still Tweeting his hate:

Jan 30 FROM SPACE TO GENOCIDE: Remember that hapless robot that flew to #ISS on #Soyuz in 2019? Now, the company that built it is rolling out a robotic vehicle to kill Ukrainians! And, who is driving the project? Seemingly unscathed Rogozin. … let’s hope this machine will be as dysfunctional as its space predecessor. Fortunately for civilized world, Russians unable to see link between democracy and aerospace/defense. Along with Ukrainian heroism, we should thank Putin’s corruption and illiberal political system for wasting and stealing billions and thus failing Russian invasion of Europe. In every discussion of their aerospace sector from top down, Russians talk endlessly how they have to eliminate corruption, nepotism and incompetence among industry leaders, but, because of their historic disdain for democracy, they are clueless about real roots of the problem. It is like moving chairs on the deck of the Titanic, Russians naively think that through some kind of new arrangement or a decree, they will get competent leaders, while their mentality does not accept that it is their medieval political system that prevents progress everywhere.

“Update on the situation in Ukraine: January 2023,” New Cold War, 3/2. Of interest is this note on how the lives of Russian soldiers are preserved as much as possible (in contrast to the nonsensical Western media reports of Russian troops being regarded as expendable):

The Russian army, as before, uses the tactics of long-range artillery followed by assault groups entering the destroyed positions. If significant pockets of resistance still remain, retreats followed by more artillery strikes take place. As Russian military correspondent German Kulikovsky writes on Telegram, “We do not take high losses in our offensives, or even in our defensive postures. This explains, by the way, the slow pace of our offensives. Surely, old-school generals are sad that it is not possible to send 10,000 soldiers out in dashing attacks and then, having lost some 30% or whatever, report success to the top-command. For today’s good divisional commanders, everything is completely different. They take care of people, actively using military deceptions, as needed.”

This is actually what is taking place today at front-line positions. Russian forces advance in relatively small assault groups on clearly selected targets – Soledar, Bakhmut, Maryinka, Avdeevka, Kremennaya. At the same time, missile strikes against the energy infrastructure of Ukraine are taking place, increasing the cost and the complications for the U.S. and European allies of Ukraine engaged in combat.

“EU urged to sanction action movie icon – media,” RT, 2/2. Steven Seagal has long supported Russia (previous mentions: 11/8/2022, 8/10/2022entries), and he is now a pariah. “The ‘90s Hollywood star, who has been a Russian citizen since 2016, was included in the list for expressing his support for the Kremlin’s military operation in Ukraine and flying to Moscow in April to celebrate his 70th birthday with associates of President Vladimir Putin, whom he called a ‘great world leader.’”

“Tolstoy, Pushkin binned in campaign to ‘de-Russify’ Ukraine,” The Age, 5/2/The Economist. The utter stupidity and madness of “cancelling Russia” continues. Ukrainians who feel this way don’t deserve culture.

“‘Inaction supports Putin’s escalation’: World must keep standing up to Russia, historian says,” The Age, 5/2. More wheedling and begging for support from a Ukrainian historian. “The comments came after Putin used a speech to commemorate the battle of Stalingrad in 1941 to say he was leading a struggle against ‘the ideology of Nazism in its modern form’ – a false claim used in Russian propaganda to justify the war.” No, not “false” but proven.

Tuesday 7/2: Unwanted jets; Patriarch spy; sanctions not effective?

My sister flew home to Queensland yesterday.

“US Congress suggests sending B-21 stealth bombers to Australia under AUKUS partnership,” ABC News, 7/2. A dismaying prospect – Australia is too enmeshed with the USA already.

“Head of Russian Orthodox Church ‘was a spy for KGB’,” The Age, 7/2. Patriarch Kirill has served as an “International Man of Mystery” apparently! Western media is still looking for any angle to discredit him. “During the Cold War, religion was treated with suspicion in the USSR and used mainly as a tool to promote the Kremlin’s worldview. Clergymen often had to become KGB agents before they were allowed to travel abroad.” So, a not uncommon task for religious people.

“Putin is raiding his piggy bank as his cash woes grow,” The Age, 7/2. “Russia’s latest budget update shows the price caps on its oil are starting to bite even before the more recent caps on its diesel and other refined products take effect. […] That says the West’s strategy of trying to maintain flows of Russian oil with price caps above Russia’s costs of production, while reducing the amount of revenue those sales generate, is working as planned.” But a (hopeful) counterview: “Sanctions on Russian oil not working – analysts,” RT, 3/2. “Sanctions imposed by the West on Russian crude oil exports have so far “failed completely,” and new price caps could also prove ineffective, according to a CNBC report on Friday, citing analysts. […] Paul Sankey also noted that ‘oil friendships are greasy’ and there’s a lot of different ways to move Russian oil around the world, bypassing the price caps.” And another: “Russia’s Economic Future – Semiconductors, Arms, And More,” Simplicius76, 3/2.

Wednesday 8/2: Authors angst; dubious body count; off-grid dwellers

“Rereading Russian Classics in the Shadow of the Ukraine War,” MetaFilter, 5/2 (and The New Yorker article). MetaFilter members are, with tedious predictability, Ukraine sympathizers (as is The New Yorker), so much angst over how to regard Russian authors. (I have not posted previous Ukraine posts from MeFi as these are similar in hating Russia.)

“Ukraine says Russia has suffered its deadliest day, Germany and allies to provide more tanks,” ABC News, 8/2. “The Ukrainian military increased its running tally of Russian military dead by 1,030 overnight. Russia claims to have killed 6,500 Ukrainian troops in January. The Ukrainian claim of more than 1,000 Russian troops killed over a day could not be independently verified. Russia has also claimed to have killed large numbers of Ukrainian personnel in recent weeks.” Needless to say, I would take Russia’s word over Ukraine’s. But of course the ABC News has to cast doubt on Russia’s figures: “Although tallies of enemy casualties from either side have typically been seen as unreliable, and Kyiv offered few details of the latest battles, Ukraine’s assertion that the day’s fighting was the deadliest so far for Russian troops fit descriptions from both sides of escalating close-contact trench warfare.”

A different topic. “‘I didn’t want to be part of the human machine’: The Victorians powering up off-grid,” The Age, 5/2. An interesting profile of a few people choosing to live off-grid (off mains power and services), though not self-sufficient as they use solar panels for electricity (which require a complex and international manufacturing process and mined materials). Such a lifestyle involves hard and unending physical work, particularly when growing some of one’s own food and chopping wood for hot water. So there are tradeoffs. “Keith Bradshaw grew up in East Bentleigh, in south-east Melbourne, in the 1940s and remembers life without electricity. ‘We had lamps and candles, you know, so I was quite used to that. Poor Mum, she raised six of us without solar power,’ he says.” My suburb! It did not get mains utilities (sewerage, electricity, gas) until after World War II.

Thursday 9/2: MH17 verdict travesty; Zelensky scamming tour; Nord Stream sabotage culprit; to ultimately destroy Russia

“International investigation into downing of flight MH17 suspended, Putin ‘strongly implicated’,” ABC News, 9/2; “Putin approved supply of missiles that shot down MH17 in 2014: investigators,” The Age, 9/2. An unsurprising verdict, given the MH17 Joint Investigation Team’s anti-Russian bias, but “Dutch prosecutor Digna van Boetzelaer was careful not to label Mr Putin a ‘suspect,’ instead saying there were ‘strong indications, but we do not reach that high bar that it is a closed case.’” No definitive proof, in other words, but still an opportunity to demonize President Putin even more. From RT: “MH17 probe suspended,” 8/2. “They admit, however, that there is not enough information to meet the “high bar of complete and conclusive evidence,” which is why the investigation cannot make any definitive accusations. The team also stated that it has been unable to confirm the identities of the Russian officers believed to have been operating the BUK system allegedly responsible for the tragic incident. […] Russia has repeatedly denied responsibility for the downing of MH17 and has insisted that Ukraine possessed the same type of weapons system used to shoot down the airliner. Moscow has also blasted the JIT probe for neglecting to include evidence provided by Russia and failing to take into account Ukraine’s failure to provide raw radar data from the day of the tragedy.” (Previous mention: 18/11/2022 entry, and dissenting views at John Helmer’s “Dances With Bears” blog.)

“Ukrainian President Zelenksyy visits UK, makes impassioned Westminster speech,” ABC News, 9/2; “Ukraine’s Zelensky makes surprise visit to UK, appeals for fighter jets,” The Age, 9/2. On yet another begging-for-weapons tour, scamming gullible politicians. Now he’s upgraded to fighter jets! “Zelensky visited King Charles III and said it was a great honour to meet the monarch at Buckingham Palace. Charles told him that ‘we’ve all been worried about you.’”

“Ukraine war: President Volodymyr Zelensky visits the UK,” BBC News In Pictures, 8/2. The UK plumbs a new low. The sychophantic awfulness of the photos of politicians posing with the puppet president is cringe-inducing in the extreme, and as for King Charles and Zelensky … my hatred of both Ukraine and the monarchy only intensifies.

“I sat in Churchill’s armchair and felt his bravery, says Volodymyr Zelensky,” The Telegraph, 8/2. “As he soaked in the applause of Britain’s political elite, a grinning Volodymyr Zelensky shyly raised his right arm aloft in the V for Victory pose. The bashful tribute followed an impassioned speech during which he spoke from the heart about how our greatest wartime leader inspired his own steely resolve.” More hyperbolic cringe :O= (not that Churchill was a paragon of virtue, either: “Winston Churchill: hero or monster?” The Communists, 8/5/2019 – “British propaganda has created the myth that prime minister Winston Churchill was the foremost fighter against fascism during the second world war. The truth, however, is that he was a racist, rabidly anticommunist reactionary, who hated British workers as much as he hated colonial slaves, and was not shy about expressing his considerable sympathies for fascism. His main concern was the defence of the British empire.”).

“How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline,” Seymour Hersh, 9/2. A lengthy investigation by a respected journalist into the real culprit behind the Nord Stream gas pipeline sabotage (no surprises as to the suspect country – certainly not the nonsensical suggestion by Western media that Russia did it! Previously: 28/12/2022 entry).

“Danilov: ‘Ukraine’s national interest is Russia’s disintegration’,” The Kyiv Independent, 6/2. I wouldn’t normally link to this Ukraine propaganda outlet, but the National Security and Defense Council secretary bluntly states the ultimate goal of his country and the West: “The endgame is clear for Danilov: Nothing less than Russia’s disintegration and a push to give up its nuclear weapons. ‘Leaving Russians with arms and nuclear missiles is not in our national interest and not in the interest of any country neighboring Russia,’ he said. ‘Now is the time for a total dismantling of the Soviet system.’” But Russia will not allow this to happen at any cost.

Friday 10/2: Mangushev murder mystery; START Treaty misreporting; Olympics outrage; hugged by a dubious hero; jets wish considered; MeFi in denial; ESA picks the wrong side; pioneering scientists

Notorious Russian nationalist Igor Mangushev reportedly shot dead in Ukraine

Thu 9 Feb 2023 at 6:47am

By Tom Williams

Russian army captain and mercenary Igor Mangushev has reportedly died in hospital, days after he was allegedly shot in the head at close range in occupied Ukraine.

The BBC reports that Mangushev’s wife Tatyana described his killing as an execution.

Mangushev is said to have commanded an anti-drone unit in occupied Luhansk, but had also been one of the founders of a mercenary group fighting Ukrainian forces in 2014.

An extreme nationalist, Mangushev reportedly said Russia was not at war with people, but with an idea of Ukraine as an “anti-Russian state,” and it did not matter how many Ukrainians died.

Found an article from last year about him at Russia Today: “Grandma sells sprouts, sends the money to fighters battling Ukraine’s forces: How Russia’s civil society helps support the Donbass,” 22/5/2022. A sad loss, as he was doing good. The BBC article predictably portrays him negatively: “Notorious Russian army captain and mercenary […] An extreme nationalist.”

“Foreign Ministry statement regarding the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START),” MFARF, 8/2, in response to misleading Western media reports such as, “US says Russia violating New START nuclear arms control treaty,” ABC News, 1/2. “In August, Moscow suspended cooperation with inspections under the treaty, blaming travel restrictions imposed by Washington and its allies after Russian forces invaded neighbouring Ukraine, but said it was still committed to complying with the provisions of the treaty.” The statement refutes this: “We categorically reject the US representatives’ allegations about Russia’s non-compliance with the provisions of the New START Treaty. […] Regarding the suspension of inspection activities under the treaty, we would like to note that it was the US activities that violated the standard inspection procedures. Washington adopted anti-Russia restrictions, which prevented the Russian Federation from holding unobstructed inspections in the territory of the United States and thereby created obvious unilateral advantages for the American party.”

“IOC president urges Ukrainian Olympic Committee against organising Paris Olympic Games boycott,” ABC News, 9/2. Ukraine getting arrogant and assuming that other countries and organizations will bow to its will. Though the IOC regrettably supports Ukraine, “International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said a boycott would go against Olympic principles and would only harm the athletes of Ukraine since, ‘previous boycotts did not achieve their political ends.’” But, Russian 🇷🇺 and Belarussian 🇧🇾 athletes cannot compete under their national flags: “The IOC has since revised its outright ban on athletes from Russia and Belarus and is investigating ways they can compete under a neutral flag – such as the Olympic flag, as athletes from Yugoslavia did in Barcelona 1992.”

“‘It was amazing’: Ukrainian journalist scores hug from Zelensky,” The Age, 10/2. A woman journalist got a hug from the puppet president which made her day, apparently. The media is really desperate when this rates as an article. He is increasingly resembling a cult leader.

“Zelenskyy says EU leaders ‘ready’ to give Ukraine combat aircraft, but no promises on bloc membership,” ABC News, 10/2. “Mr Zelenskyy told reporters that several EU leaders were ready to provide Kyiv with aircraft to help it fight against Russia’s invasion.” Any guesses as to whether his latest outrageous wish will be granted by these gullible fools? “The EU said it would announce further sanctions against Russia, including new export bans and the targeting of propagandists for Russian President Vladimir Putin. ‘We will target Putin’s propagandists because their lies are poisoning the public space in Russia and abroad,’ European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.” More pointless posturing with sanctions, and the lies of the Western media are arguably even more insidious, under the guise of a “free” society.

“‘The only flaw was the decision to do it.’,” MetaFilter, 9/2. Linked to the Seymour Hersh article (9/2 entry) Being pro-Ukrainian, the commenters are all in denial that the USA is likely behind the Nord Stream sabotage. One such nonsensical comment: “My prediction: the Russian government was trying to do something clever with the pipeline to saber-rattle, and accidentally blew it up from the inside. I got nothing against the skills of Russian engineers and technicians, but if you think the US has a dysfunctional management culture, that’s nothing compared to Russia. I think this will turn out to be like Chernobyl or Space Shuttle Challenger: management trying to be more clever than the physics allows.” I won’t read through all of the comments for I will explode with anger at them.

“Here’s why Europe is abandoning plans to fly aboard China’s space station,” Eric Berger, Arstechnica, 8/2. (Note that Berger is, like everyone in the Western spaceflight community, a Ukraine shill – 18/12/2022 entry.) ESA has turned away from its Russian partnership (10/9/2022 entry) and “picked a side” to align with NASA and the West. “Generally, European space officials like the Artemis program and are seeking areas for greater involvement. This is drawing them closer to NASA. Then came Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago. This has badly shaken the continent, and Russia’s war against Ukraine has strengthened ties between Europe and the United States across several fronts, including space. Conversely, the war has driven China and Russia closer in some respects. Over the last 18 months, China and Russia have been drawing up plans for an International Lunar Research Station. They intend to establish a base of operations at the Lunar South Pole, and this is correctly viewed as a Chinese-Russian alternative to the Artemis program. Europe has been watching, and China’s passive support of Russia amid this aggression has pushed its capitals to revisit their partnerships with China. For spaceflight, this has fortified Europe’s view that it has a more stable future working with NASA and other like-minded partners in low-Earth orbit, as well as deep space.” Well, the wrong side in my view; a stupidly shortsighted decision. I hope Russia and China will continue to co-operate and ultimately prevail in space against the West.

“Lasers, spaceflight, surgery, nuclear power and the secrets of Mayan civilization: How Russian scientists changed the world,” RT, 8/2. A more positive article about Russian scientific innovations and scientists.

Saturday 11/2: Solitary Siberian; assuming unproven tensions

I watched a YouTube VICE 2013 documentary, “Surviving in the Siberian Wilderness for 70 Years” about Agafia Lykova (Агафья Карповна Лыкова), a now-elderly Russian lady who lives alone in Siberia. “In 1936, a family of Russian Old Believers journeyed deep into Siberia’s vast taiga to escape persecution and protect their way of life. The Lykovs eventually settled in the Sayan Mountains, 160 miles from any other sign of civilization. In 1944, Agafia Lykov was born into this wilderness. Today, she is the last surviving Lykov, remaining steadfast in her seclusion. In this episode of Far Out, the VICE crew travels to Agafia to learn about her taiga lifestyle and the encroaching influence of the outside world.” She is not entirely alone as there have been and are various people watching over her, but hers is a difficult life nonetheless; though not entirely self-sufficient, her daily chores entail a lot of hard physical labor (related: my 30/1/2022 entry regarding prepper reality checks). She was, at least, given a new log cabin by a kindly oligarch in 2021 (“Siberian Survivor’s New Home,” ExplorersWeb, 25/3/2021). She – understandably – has no desire to move to a city and the modern world, despite its comforts. She is content living in the wilderness with her various animals.

“Vladimir Putin’s snub casts doubt on Evgeny Prigozhin’s ploy to use his Wagner Group to shore-up power,” ABC News, 11/2. Really digging for a negative angle here! A lot of speculation and assumptions – “Analysts believe the snub is indicative of deeper tensions bubbling beneath the surface.” “Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Wagner recruits were being used in ‘wave after wave after wave’ of attacks, leading to a high number of deaths.” Utter nonsense (but anything “Ukraine says” is by now rotely believed by Western media). (Andrei Martyanov, incidentally, has nothing complimentary to say about the Institute for the Study of War mentioned in the article.)

Sunday 12/2: Another Russian spaceship coolant leak; Prigozhin prognosis; Olympics Russia ban row; legality of SMO; overview of conflict; Brad Thor’s upcoming Russia-bashing effort; an old-growth forest

A new situation of concern aboard the ISS: Progress MS-21, an unpiloted Russian cargo ship that has been docked since 28/10/2022, has, bizarrely, also developed a thermal coolant loop leak (like the piloted Soyuz MS-22 on 15/12/2022). (Note that the loop itself is depressurized, not the body of the spaceship.) Of course there will be (probably gleeful) speculation in the spaceflight community about sabotage from disaffected pro-Ukrainian workers. More validly, it may be a manufacturing process defect (if not due to a micrometeorite impact – though two such in the same area on different ships would be highly unlikely).

I am just so angry and despairing – these setbacks are the last thing the Russian space program needs, and only fuels the nasty snark and insults from Western space enthusiasts (for example, the comments at the Ukraine shill Eric Berger article, “Another Russian spacecraft docked to the space station is leaking,” are predictably unpleasant). There is no one who feels the same way I do, and I feel isolated in my views.

“Wagner boss says Russia could take years to capture east Ukraine regions,” ABC News, 12/2. Mr Prigozhin enjoys trolling the Western media (Reminiscence of the Future … blog entry comments: Larch445: “I consider it a troll and a prod. The troll is to send a message that Russia has no timetable, no operational schedule. Whatever it takes to do whatever has to be done. The prod is like everyone, Prigozhin would like to speed up the pace, but he knows he has to work within the GS operational decisions. Intensity is more important to his Wagner tactics, but he doesn’t address that because, so far, he has all the ‘intensity’ his guys need. He likes to troll the Ukies, NATO, the US, the media and haters within Russian media.” ted richard: “absolutely he is trolling the west … his contempt drips right through every word.” ) “The United States assesses that Wagner currently has about 50,000 personnel deployed to Ukraine, including 10,000 contractors and 40,000 convicts recruited from Russian prisons. It has accused the group of committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses and designated it last month as a Transnational Criminal Organisation. Mr Prigozhin denied that and asked Washington to ‘clarify’ what crime Wagner was accused of.” Considering that the West has utilized its own private military contractors (“Private military competition: Why the US is so worried about Russia’s Wagner,” RT, 27/1), the USA has absolutely no grounds in criticizing Russia for doing likewise.

“Paris Olympics row deepens as 35 countries demand ban for Russia, Belarus,” The Age, 12/2. Still Ukraine pushes its arrogant demands on banning Russian and Belarus athletes (10/2 entry). “United States, Germany and Australia are among those calling for a ban.” Shame on Australia for supporting this.

“On the Legal Question of Russia’s Military Intervention,” Joe Lauria for Consortium News, 10/2. “As is often the case with law, the question is not as simple as it might seem. […] The U.N. Charter has something to say about the legal use of military force. It allows it in two cases: when it is authorized by the Security Council and when it is legitimately used in self-defense. […] Neither an Article 51 self-defense measure, nor a collective security resolution was ever passed by the Security Council. Therefore, according to the strict letter of today’s law, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is illegal. But after what the U.S. has done tragically to the laws of war and the jungle it has created, it hardly seems to matter anymore.”

“The Ukraine War in 2023,” February 2023, Swiss Policy Research. This is a more impartial overview of the war to date.

American thriller author Brad Thor (one of those authors who churns out series books; previous mention: 28/9/2022 entry) has a new novel forthcoming. Note what the topic is!

Lethal operative Scot Harvath is dispatched to avenge the killing of American citizens abroad in #1New York Timesand #1Wall Street Journal bestselling author Brad Thor’s new pulse-pounding thriller.

In the war-ravaged borderlands of Ukraine, a Russian military unit has gone rogue. Its members, conscripted from the worst prisons and mental asylums across Russia, are the most criminally violent, psychologically dangerous combatants to ever set foot upon the modern battlefield.

With all attention focused on the frontlines, they have pushed deeper into the interior to wage a campaign of unspeakable barbarity. As they move from village to village, committing horrific war crimes, they meet little resistance as all able-bodied men are off fighting the war.

Simultaneously, a team of Russian mercenaries has been dispatched by the Kremlin to loot truckloads of art and priceless cultural treasures hidden away in a host of churches, museums, and private homes.

When multiple American aid workers are killed, America’s top spy is sent in to settle the score. But in a country almost the size of Texas, will Harvath be able to find the men in question and, more importantly, will he be able to stop them before they can kill again?

There will be many more novels by others with that now-culturally-acceptable theme of plucky (Western-allied) Ukraine vs. “evil barbaric” Russia in the next few years. His novels are generic rubbish, but will still reinforce these stereotypes. Never mind that both Russia and China have civilizational histories stretching back more than a thousand years.

A photo that I oddly liked is one by Ran Prieur in a 2/10/2020 journal entry of an old-growth forest remnant called Magpie Forest, near Pullman and Washington State university. Something about the dense trees appeals; it looks a hidden and secretive place. I would like to walk through an old-growth forest by myself (14/7/2022 entry), a healing place away from the human world. I get stressed and agitated even on my walks around my suburb, due to the presence of other people and the harsh, artificial noises of an urban area.

Monday 13/2: USA interventions; Russian movies resurgence; how far the West has fallen; war’s end scenarios

“With fire and sword. How the US imposed ‘democracy’ across the world through wars,” War on Fakes, 9/2. Points out the USA’s shameless hypocrisy in criticizing Russia for its intervention in Ukraine, when the USA has invaded a lot of countries to impose its own will (whether the residents want it or not).

“Hollywood abandoned Russia one year ago, but the country’s box office has just set an all time record: How did this happen?” RT, 12/2. The termination of U.S.-based films and TV distributions due to the SMO means opportunities for the Russian-based industry. No great loss from Russia’s point of view. Many young people, however, will see the West as “cool” and still want to see their media, as Hollywood is very good at marketing to such. It is a challenge to counter this insidious “soft power.”

“Volodymyr Zelensky reminds us how far West has come,” The Australian, 9/2. More accurately, how far the West has descended into delusion and hypocrisy. “Volodymyr knew that Charles always got it, even when others didn’t. On his way to the palace to see the King, the Ukrainian president said he would be conveying gratitude for the support shown by the monarch when he was heir to the throne. For example, in 2014, visiting Canada following the Russian takeover of Crimea, the then Prince of Wales met a woman whose family had fled Gdansk when the Nazis annexed the city 75 years earlier. ‘And now Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler,’ Charles remarked – a perfectly accurate comment for which he was roundly condemned at the time.” Given that the British monarchy has had ties to, and sympathized with the Nazis (“The Nazi-Connected British Royal Family Still Wields Incredible Power,” NEO, 23/12/2015), the condemnation is deserved, and is just one of innumerable examples of how out-of-touch the monarchy is. The article notes that popular support (i.e. that of voters) for Ukraine in the West is faltering, but then uses the gullible governments’ support as dubious evidence that it isn’t.

“Four scenarios for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine,” The Australian, 13/2. In short: Ukraine wins (regains lost territory); Russia wins (defeats Ukraine) – “The aim of the Russian leadership would be to establish a cordon sanitaire of buffer states such as the one it enjoyed in the Warsaw Pact, which effectively created defence in depth for Russia, putting at least 1000km between it and the nearest NATO borders.” Which is a reasonable strategy, given that NATO has steadily been advancing towards Russia since the Cold War’s end. “The final two scenarios involve negotiations on both sides resulting in a durable truce and international safeguards against any repetition of military attacks across agreed international borders. The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, has indicated recently that from a military standpoint this war ‘is likely to end in a negotiation.’ Such an outcome effectively would reduce Russia to no longer being able to regard itself as a great power (velikaya derzhava).”

Tuesday 14/2: Progress MS-21 and Soyuz MS-22 damage update; latest Mick Ryan ramble; Scott shilling for Ukraine

Feeling very tired today due to many chores. Did not go on a walk. Wishing I could stay in a beach house at Inverloch by myself for a week or two, and just lie down, or walk along the beach (my family used to stay a week before Christmas for a few years during the 1980s, in a house on Lohr Avenue. The beach was just a few minutes’ walk away).

Update from Roskosmos regarding the damaged Progress MS-21 and Soyuz MS-22:

Yuri Borisov on the work of the commission on the situation with the Progress MS-21 spacecraft on the ISS

Director General of Roskosmos State Corporation Yuri Borisov spoke about the work of the commission formed to find out the cause of the depressurization of the thermal control system of the Progress MS-21 cargo ship, which occurred on February 11 at the International Space Station.

Over the past few months, there have been two emergency situations on the ISS related to a violation of the thermal control system of the Soyuz MS-22 and Progress MS-21 spacecraft. They have the same result: the coolant has evaporated and the thermal control regime has been violated, which can affect the safety of the cosmonauts’ flight.

What is Roskosmos doing in this situation? An emergency commission has been created, which considers all options systematically and in detail. Although the result of both abnormal situations is the same, the causes may be different.

As for the emergency situation that happened to the Soyuz MS-22, we were able to get high-quality images and clearly see the violation of the outer skin. The presence of this hole gives reason to believe that it was the cause of external influence that led to a violation in the thermal control system.

As for the emergency situation that happened on the Progress MS-21, we are taking measures that will allow us to get optics and photograph the place of a possible violation of the outer skin. If this violation is really present, then there is an assumption that this can also be an external impact by a meteorite or some kind of space debris.

Now we are forced in the absence of this information to consider all possible versions. Among other things, we once again check the entire technological process of creating a spacecraft and, in particular, the thermal control system.

At the same time, I must emphasize that nothing threatens the safety of the crew. An emergency situation occurred after the docking of the Progress MS-22 spacecraft, when the Progress MS-21 was already prepared for the descent, which was scheduled for February 18. But until we are convinced and get to the place of a possible breakdown, the launch of the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft in unmanned mode has been postponed until the maximum of the first decade of March this year.

The commission still has time to unequivocally determine the nature of this malfunction.

“A year after Russia invaded Ukraine, Putin is beginning new offensives – and he desperately needs a victory,” ABC News, 14/2. Mick Ryan’s latest joke of an analysis (previously: 25/1 entry), still trying to portray President Putin as “desperate” – “Putin needs a victory. His forces over the past 12 months have suffered battlefield defeats in the north, south and east of Ukraine.”

I should avoid former astronaut Scott Kelly’s Twitter account to avoid exploding with rage – he is still shilling for Ukraine (previous mention: 18/11/2022 entry). A few recents: 3/2 – “Russia is a terrorist state that must be defeated. The sooner the better.” 7/2 – “Roman shares a powerful account of the situation in Bakhmut. An inspiring young soldier defending his country and the idea of freedom and democracy. Ukraine needs our continued support.” 11/2 – “@elonmusk Ukraine desperately needs your continued support. Please restore the full functionality of your Starlink satellites. Defense from a genocidal invasion is not an offensive capability. It’s survival. Innocent lives will be lost. You can help. Thank you.” (In response to “Musk explains purpose of Starlink in Ukraine,” RT, 13/1: “Musk doesn’t want the conflict to escalate into World War III, he said. The explanation was part of Musk’s response to astronaut Scott Kelly, who is a vocal supporter of the Ukrainian cause. Kelly urged restoration of full functionality of the system.”)

Wednesday 15/2: Russian Wolves; Russia losing war (not!); 30 years of Communist Party; kidnapped children misreporting; Ryan roasting; a dubious survey; Lynx Vilden memoir forthcoming

“How a storm over Djokovic’s dad uncovered Melbourne’s pro-Putin Night Wolves,” The Age, 14/2. A new attempt to perpetuate Russophobia in Australia, this a report on a spurious association with a Russian-based motorcycle group. As motorcycle clubs are often associated with organized crime in Australia, this will only reinforce the stereotype and demonize those reported on here. “On social media, the Night Wolves post seemingly innocuous local activities, such as bike rides and gatherings with other military and social motorcycle clubs, as well as visits to Orthodox churches and military memorial sites. On online community pages, its members tend to promote Putin’s activities, and their narratives reflect anti-US and anti-NATO views, along with support for Russia’s international activities. The club has an affiliate group, known as Russian Motorcyclists International, which has members in both Victoria and Queensland. […] Academics are concerned about the influence the Night Wolves’ ideologies – which are staunchly anti-West – could have in Australia. In Harris’ 2021 study, published in the Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, which analysed the club’s presence in Australia, she warned that its members’ activities could ‘amplify community tensions and undermine sovereignty’.” Supporting Russia is not a crime in Australia! Of course, an association with President Putin will immediately portray them as a sinister force in the West.

They have featured in a few news items on Roskosmos and TsPK websites (searching under their Russian name, Ночные Волки, Nochnye Volki).

“Dissatisfaction with West doesn’t amount to support for China, Russia-led world order,” The Age, 14/2. “‘Dissatisfaction with the West in key countries in the “Global South” does not translate into a desire to see China and Russia exercise more influence over the future international order,’ the report said, referring to the developing nations in Africa, Asia and the Americas. ‘Respondents in India, Brazil, and South Africa mostly want a greater role for developing nations when it comes to shaping international rules.’” 12,000 people responding is not representative of the countries surveyed!

“‘Global pariah Russia has lost war’: Chair of US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley,” The Australian, 15/2. Delusional thinking. General Milley said after meeting with NATO defence ministers, and 10 days before the anniversary of Russia’s widespread invasion of Ukraine: ‘Russia is now a global pariah and the world remains inspired by Ukrainian bravery and resilience. In short, Russia has lost; they’ve lost strategically, operationally and tactically.’” But “Instead the US-led Ramstein group, which comprises the NATO alliance and other like-minded countries including Australia, was trying to co-ordinate and maintain supplies of ammunition that Ukraine is burning through at more than 7000 rounds a day – a faster rate than all of Europe’s production.”

“Meeting with Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov,” President of Russia, 13/2, on the 30th anniversary of its creation. Russia still has a Communist Party, but it is, sadly, not influential.

“US-backed report says Russia has held at least 6,000 Ukrainian children for ‘re-education’,” ABC News, 15/2. More misreporting, and the fact that the report is “US-backed” immediately discredits it as biased. “UNICEF responds to Ukrainian child abduction claims,” RT, 12/4/2022: “Moscow has denied accusations that it has forcibly sent Ukrainian refugees to Russia, while UNICEF has stated that it possesses no evidence to suggest that Russia has been abducting children, in response to claims from Kiev.” The President of Russia website has some news items on the children who were evacuated: “Orphans to be adopted by Russian families arrived in Russia with assistance from Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova,” 16/9/2022; “Maria Lvova-Belova brought orphans from the DPR to the Nizhny Novgorod Region for placement with foster families,” 22/9/2022; “Maria Lvova-Belova brought children from Donetsk People’s Republic to Russia,” 7/10/2022. Not exactly “kidnapping.”

A Twitter thread from Cameron Leckie, who gives Mick Ryan’s article, which I linked to yesterday (14/2 entry) a much-deserved roasting:

Haven’t seen much of @WarintheFuture on @abcnews or @smh recently. Thought they might have ditched him, but alas not. A critique of his latest, starting with the headline: “A year after Russia invaded Ukraine, Putin is beginning new offensives – and he desperately needs a victory.” Where is the evidence that he is desperate? Russia is solid as a rock, hardened by the external pressure. It is methodical not desperate. Ryan attributes Russia partial mobilisation to the “result of the casualties suffered in the first six months of the war.” Highly debatable, partial explanation at best.

Yes, Russia took casualties. But this highlights a deeper misunderstanding of Russia objectives during the first stage of the war. They sought, and nearly had by some accounts, a negotiated outcome with Ukraine by April 22. The failure of the negotiations, and NATO’s enormous support to Ukraine meant that the original force allocated to the SMO were insufficient to achieve Russia objectives. Hence mobilisation.

Ryan states that Russia has suffered “battlefield defeats in the north, south and east of Ukraine.” Enough time has now passed that it is clear that the use of the term “defeats” is inappropriate. Russia withdrew its forces (which were never enough to capture Kiev) in good order as they had achieved their aim (force Ukraine to the negotiating table) not because of Ukraine pressure. Yes Ukraine Kharkiv offensive recaptured a lot of terrain, against a relatively small number of Russia troops (punching air is one description), but they did so at high cost. And in Kherson Russia executed a tactical withdrawal of its own volition to improve its position. From Wikipedia: “A withdrawal may be undertaken … to consolidate forces, or to occupy ground that is more easily defended” The Ukraine offensive is now a long way in the rear view mirror. It has culminated and Russia won’t be caught out again.

Ryan: “Putin needs offensives to take ground and generate momentum in Ukraine as well as in the global influence battle.” This statement highlights a complete lack of understanding of the Russian strategy. Russia is laser-focused on the destruction of the Ukraine military, which it is doing so very efficiently. Taking ground will come later once it has won the battle of attrition. And Russia, outside of the collective West, has largely won the global influence battle. It’s apparent slow progress in the war is part of plays into this. If Russia went too hard too quickly, they may have lost the influence battle. The longer the war progresses the better for Russia in this regard, the duplicitous revelations of Merkel, Hollande, Poroshenko and Zelensky about Minsk 2, and the Biden administration’s Nord Stream 2 sabotage being prime examples.

So much of what Ryan writes is projection, e.g: “Tens of thousands of new, inexperienced soldiers injected into an exhausted and depleted Russia army will not provide this capability.” That describes the Ukrainian position (five weeks of training for civilians), not the Russian (months of collective training for previously trained reservists).

In desperation, Ryan then states that Russia assaults “will probably be a mix of human wave and combined arms activities” Where is the evidence of these human wave attacks? You should know better General! Ryan’s apparent hatred for Russia has precluded lucid analysis throughout the war. This article is no different. Ukraine’s situation is impossible, the sooner this is recognised the better, for Ukraine! Our Media keep telling us about “Human Waves” of Russian mercenaries and conscripts, and “Fields of dead Russians.” Considering there are literally thousands of Ukrainian drones at the front, why haven’t we seen a second of footage of these “Human Waves”? Think about it.

To a different and pleasanter topic, Lynx Vilden (previously mentioned: 18/3/2022 entry) has a memoir coming out soon: Return: A Journey Back to Living Wild, which should be interesting reading.

Thursday 16/2: Author controversy; a case for regicide; Iranian socialism; MFARF statements; dubious Putin rumors

“Adelaide Writers’ Week defends scheduling author who is critical of Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy,” ABC News, 16/2. “Mr Fursenkso said Palestinian-American author Susan Abulhawa’s views contradicted what most had felt about Ukraine’s position. […] Mr Fursenko accused Ms Adler of being a ‘useful idiot’ in Russia’s propaganda machine.” The hysterical Ukraine diaspora goes into conniptions over the AWW President for daring to invite an author who goes against the pro-Ukraine propaganda here. I hope the AWW can stand up to these bullies and stick to their principles.

Why royalty should be regicided during a revolution (as happened during the French and Russian revolutions): there is the lingering threat of their returning and reinstating the archaic institution. “Could a democracy movement ‘led’ by Iran’s exiled prince Reza Pahlavi help free the country?” ABC News, 15/2. “After more than 40 years living abroad, mostly in the United States, Reza Pahlavi remains a polarising figure. While he espouses the democratic, secular, and liberal aspirations that many Iranians hold, the shadow of his late father, the Shah, continues to loom over him. And while there are many who are firmly against the theocratic system of the Ayatollahs, not everyone wants a return to a monarchy.” Given the events of the last year, I am skeptical of this “democracy movement” that would merely see Iran become subservient to the West – Iran, Russia and China have increased co-operation against the Western hegemony.

Ramin Mazaheri – previous mention of him in my 24/12/2022 entry – has written on socialism in Iran. An older critical article at The Saker blog: “Reza Pahlavi sells himself at a 98% discount to MBS’ propaganda channel,” 15/7/2019, The Saker blog. Also: “Iran: Socialism’s ignored success story,” 23/5/2017; “WSWS on Iran protests: Good leftists going bad at the worst time, again,” 4/1/2018.

“Isolated Vladimir Putin faces ‘quiet rebellion’ in the Kremlin,” The Australian, 15/2. Anecdotal hearsay at best, from an exiled (and probably resentful) official: “In place of triumphant speeches in the Ukrainian capital, Putin’s image as a master strategist has been shattered, leaving him arguably weaker than at any time during his 23-year rule. His failure to secure a swift victory has cost him the respect and unquestioning loyalty of top officials, said Gennady Gudkov, a former KGB colonel and MP who lives in exile. […] Leonid Volkov, the former chief aide to Aleksei Navalny, the jailed opposition leader.” Hardly unbiased sources, then. Also repeating the nonsensical rumors about Putin’s supposedly failing health and eccentric treatments (disinfecting tunnels! Deer blood baths!).

A couple of MFA RF statements on: “Press release on the sequence of events in the Alexey Navalny case,” 6/11/2020 (previous mention: 27/12/2022 entry); “Statement by the Russian Federation on the false allegations against the Russian Federation made by Ukraine to cover-up its own violations of international law and military crimes against civilian population of Donbass as well as Kharkov, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions,” 27/9/2022.

Friday 17/2: Heatwave; Andre Vltchek (RIP); a shameful Tweet; Russian quislings; good riddance to Western companies

A very hot day, a late-summer heatwave; temperature here reached around 40°C – the hottest day in 3 years – before a late afternoon cool change.

I came across this interview, “How I Became A Revolutionary And Internationalist: Andre Vltchek,” Countercurrents.org, 4/12/2018. Andre was refreshingly passionate about his beliefs:

BM: What is your insight to break the strangle hold of imperialism?

AV: One cannot negotiate with fascism and imperialism.

Oppressed, plundered countries, have to unite and fight.

The first round of struggle was already won, in the past. For instance, heroic Vietnamese nation defeated both the French colonialists, and the US imperialists, militarily.

But then, the Western imperialists regrouped. Emboldened first by successfully dividing China and Soviet Union, and then by ruing Soviet Union under that nitwit Gorbachev and criminal alcoholic Yeltsin, they grabbed again what they lost, shouting “Peace, Peace!”, meaning “do not dare to fight us, just accept and submit!”

Imperialists can be defeated. It was clearly demonstrated in Syria, and now both China and Russia are standing firm, confronting Western threats, provocations, sanctions and intimidation.

One should never show the weakness, when faced by Western terror.

Look at the planet; look what happened to the countries that surrendered, knelt: look at that horror in Indonesia, in East Africa, in the Middle East, Southeast Asia. Look at India after it began to worship market fundamentalism. Is this the world that we want? If not, all anti-imperialist forces should unite and fight.

And we should never expect that the Western public joins us. Western public is spoiled by privileges, and it does not have any left wing, anymore, only self-promoting, weeping discussion clubs. Countries truly fighting against Western imperialism have almost no allies in the West.

“Was,” as he sadly died in 2020; his website is still online. An earlier article by him on the same website: “To Be Russian,” 8/5/2015 – “But the greed and nihilism of the West refused to die. The obsession with controlling and plundering the world had reached an unimaginable peak. All the forces of the Empire were mobilized. Light and hope were confronted by darkness and cynicism. Beautiful and pure dreams were antagonized by corruption. In an orgy of dirty tricks and deceptions, the Soviet Union was destroyed. In one single historical moment, the oppressed of the world lost their most powerful guardian. […] Fascist hordes thought that this time, finally, they had won. In Moscow, Yeltsin, an alcoholic and lackey of the West, began shooting his own people on the street, and bombing his own Parliament. That was ‘democracy’ the newspapers in Paris, London and New York wrote almost immediately. This was what the West dreamed about: a weak destabilized Russia, mad, drunk, on its knees, at mercy of the Empire. […] Russia has regrouped under new Russian flag. It is not perfect and not as ‘socialist’ as many of us would like it to be, but there is a great Soviet inertia in Russia’s foreign policy, as there is great pride and determination to improve the world, to protect the weak.”; and, pertaining to Iran mentioned yesterday (16/2 entry): “Why Should Iran Be Cherished And Defended,” 29/7/2019. “In the past, it was colonized by the West, and its democratic government was overthrown, in 1953, simply because it wanted to use its natural resources for improving the lives of its people. The morbid dictatorship of Shah Pahlavi was installed from abroad. And then, later, again, a terrible war unleashed against Iran by Iraq, with the full and candid support of the West.”

A Tweet from the Prime Minister that disgusted me: “Slava Ukraini 🇦🇺🇺🇦 Australia stands with Ukraine. Today our Parliament paused to reflect and to stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine who are bravely defending their country against Russia’s brutal and illegal invasion.” I do not “stand with Ukraine” and my government does not speak for me! Shame on him.

“They Are Russians Fighting Against Their Homeland. Here’s Why.” NYT, 12/2. They are quislings and traitors, in other words. “Caesar, who moved his wife and four children to Ukraine over the summer, said he did not believe he was fighting against fellow Russians, but ‘scoundrels and murderers’ who have no nationality. ‘I’m sitting before you, an example of a Russian man, and an example of a man that Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky wrote about,’ he said. ‘That’s the kind of man I am. Not them. They aren’t Russian.’” No, he’s not Russian if he is fighting for the enemy.

Found the NYT article via a French-language website, Russie Politics; computer translation below:

Conflict in Ukraine: From the “Nazi Russian Liberation Army” to the “Atlanticist Legion of Free Russia”

Published 14.02.2023; updated 14.02.2023

Information warfare was not created today and the methods repeat themselves. During the Second World War, the Nazis created from scratch a mythical “Russian Liberation Army” or “Vlassov’s army”, whose aim, in addition to repressions against civilians, was mainly political and propagandist: Russians fight against Stalin. The Axis countries are now taking up this technique of the Nazis in Ukraine, declaring loud and clear the constitution of a Legion of Free Russia, made up of Russians, who are fighting against Putin – and against Russia, like their ancestors. In this scenario, any resemblance to Nazi methods is not coincidental.

The NYT has just graced us with an interesting announcement, which perfectly resumes the register of Goebbles’ propaganda organs. Thus, within the International Legion in Ukraine, combat units made up of Russians, who fight “against Putin” obviously on the side of the Axis in Ukraine, are created. It is the same device as those Soviets, who fought with Vlassov against Stalin with the Nazis. Both are mostly propaganda outlets, to show that Russians support Nazism, then and now – oops, support freedom. Both have very little military interest. Both are above all a political and communicational operation.

Thus, this new army of Vlassov is made up of people, who deeply hate current Russia and Putin, without all coming from Russia:

They took up arms against Russia for a variety of reasons: a sense of moral outrage at the invasion of their country, a desire to defend their adopted homeland of Ukraine, or a visceral dislike for the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin.

At the time of Vlassov, 35-45% of the members were Russians. And they too were supposedly fighting against Stalin, they too were indignant – indeed, how had the USSR had the audacity not to allow itself to be invaded by civilization? Today, how dare Russia not allow the Russian populations of Donbass to be bombed, how dare it not allow the neighboring regions to be bombed, how dare it raise its head when everyone lowers it? However, this would have made it possible to discredit Russia and by collapsing on itself, it would then have fallen entirely into the hands of global power. But like back then, it didn’t work.

Their leaders, Stalin then, Putin now, are therefore responsible … for ensuring that their country, at these two key moments in history, does not allow itself to be devoured by an external power. They are therefore logically the enemy. Which explains both the focus on them and the visceral hatred they provoke in the West, in Europe – in this Europe, where most countries were actively collaborating with the Nazis at the time, where the ruling elites are subject to the global power today. Nothing has changed, no lessons have been learned.

And after a moment of distrust of these Russians, who are going over to the enemy, Ukraine finally opened its arms to them:

“The group operates under the umbrella of the Ukrainian International Legion, a fighting force that includes units made up of American and British volunteers, as well as Belarusians, Georgians and others. Nearly a year into the war, the Russian unit has received little attention – partly to protect soldiers from Russian reprisals and from their relatives.

At the start of the war, Ukrainian law prevented Russian citizens from joining the armed forces. But the unit has now gained enough trust from Ukrainian commanders to take its place among the forces, which are fiercely fighting the Russian army south of the strategic town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, in one of the most brutal theaters of war.”

And the name is posed, the Legion of Free Russia , which is reminiscent of the former Nazi Russian Liberation Army . Officially, there would be a few hundred people. Who are not all from Russia.

Let’s go back a bit to this Russian Liberation Army, which directly inspired this Legion. The history of this Nazi Liberation Army goes back to December 1942, when Vlassov and Baersky addressed themselves to the leaders of the Third Reich, to form an army to “liberate Russia from communism”. Concretely, this army fought neither communism nor the Red Army (until February 1945 on the banks of the Oder), but it was above all constituted as an element of propaganda, to show that power was contested in the USSR. They were also used in the repression of resistance fighters and civilians and in this sense are war criminals.

The first brigade appeared in 1943, made up of 650 people, from nationals of the USSR and mostly made up of White Russians. They wore the SS uniform, which must underline their patriotism, and their main mission was to fight against the partisans in the Pskov region. After the defeat at Kursk, other brigades were formed and armed.

And then another unit formed from prisoners of war (the Russian 1st National SS Brigade “Druzhina”), almost at full strength, taking with them 10 artillery pieces, 23 mortars, 77 machine guns, small arms, 12 radio stations and other equipment, went over to the side of the partisans and began to fight against the soldiers of the Wehrmacht.

After that, Vlasov’s army was disarmed and disbanded. Officers have even been placed under house arrest. Then they changed their minds and sent everyone to France, away from the Eastern Front and contact with the partisans.”

This must also explain their popularity in Europe …. It was not until the end of 1944 that, having nothing more to lose, this army was rearmed, and a division of 18,000 men was formed by the Nazis, at from prisoners, collaborators, emigrants, etc. It was then in Prague that they set up their Committee. Thanks to Nazi funding, by April 1945 this army numbered some 120,000 men.

The goal here was more political than military: seeing the end of the war coming, this army of Vlassov, which declared itself neutral with regard to the United States and Great Britain, was to be used as a third force against the USSR and it was at the end of the war that it actually took part in some combat against the Red Army, mainly on German territory. It was necessary to anchor the legend. At the end of the war, the Allies returned to the USSR two thirds of the members of this army, who were imprisoned and 6 members of their command hanged.

The story repeats itself. Especially when lessons are not learned.

Karine Bechet-Golovko

“Gangster state: Why Western companies should never return to Russia,” The Age, 17/2. “Until there is a complete change of regime in the Kremlin, and one that has shown over many years it is committed to democracy, then it is not a country where anyone can do business. In other words, make itself subservient to the West. […] Russia is not the market it was in the 1990s, when it was still full of promise. It is losing the war, its energy industry is in decline and it has little chance of ever growing again. In the 1990s the country was devastated by Western-imposed so-called ‘shock therapy’ – ‘Why have Russians rejected the West’s “values”?’ RT, 21/11/2021. Russia has coped well with the current sanctions, and is better off supporting its own companies rather than seek investment in the West, where assets can be seized by hostile governments.”

Saturday 18/2: Dubious volunteers; Russia failing wishful opinion; UAE ignoring sanctions; Canadian propagandizing children; right-minded traitor

“On Ukraine’s frontlines, Australian volunteers are risking their lives to help the most vulnerable,” ABC News, 18/2. Another “human interest” story to maintain focus on Ukraine. I reckon a few of the “volunteers” are disguised military personnel. “It’s estimated that 20,000 foreigners are currently fighting in the Ukrainian Foreign Legion in a war of attrition with multiple fronts. That also includes the distribution of aid and supplies, with hundreds of volunteers from Australia and elsewhere across the globe working on the ground.” Mercenaries, in other words – yet Russia gets criticized for using its own Wagner group.

“Mission impossible: Putin can’t continue his disastrous war,” The Age, 17/2. A wishful thinking opinion piece, originally published in the U.K. Telegraphy (which is as Russophobic as every other mainstream media publication). “The US Treasury said that Russia is cannibalising dishwashers and fridges to find chips for the military, but this is desperate bootstrap stuff. These circuit boards are not instantly interchangeable.” Still peddling that myth (which is hearsay). “Russia is not going to run out of fuel or food but it lacks much else needed to sustain its war machine, and it is massively outpowered by the West.” Well, it is still advancing slowly but steadily, and certainly is not running out of ammunition, and there are no food shortages in shops there.

“The desert oasis thwarting efforts to isolate Russia’s billionaires,” The Age, 17/2. “The UAEs has refused to follow the Western sanctions regime imposed on Russians with links to the Kremlin, making it essentially a safe haven. These warm ties have been a boon to the Emarati economy in recent years. […] the White House appears to have taken a softer approach in forcing the UAE to crack down on Russia amid a wider Western demand for oil.” Well, good on the UAE – they are under no obligation to obey the West’s dicates, and I hope they continue their alliance with Russia.

Via a comment at Larry Johnson’s blog – “It’s off the scale now in Canada. They’re even pushing the propaganda at the grade school level now. Despicable. ‘Russia declared war on Ukraine. Here’s why’; ‘Thunder Bay schools show support for Ukraine with blue-and-yellow day.’”

“British embassy guard who spied for Russia jailed for 13 years,” ABC News, 18/2. “Prosecutors said Smith, who had previously spent 12 years working in the Royal Air Force, had fallen prey to extremist conspiracy theories. They said he had expressed sympathy with Russian authorities, and had hung a poster in his work locker of a cartoon Vladimir Putin with his hands around the neck of former German chancellor Angela Merkel. Smith accepted the allegation of subscribing to conspiracy theories from the likes of Alex Jones and David Icke, but denied being pro-Russian or having far-right sympathies. Judge Mark Wall dismissed this and, in sentencing Smith, noted he was motivated by extremist anti-British and pro-Russian views.” As the saying goes, nobody loves a traitor, but in his case I sympathize (he had the right intentions). Unfortunately for him his life is pretty much ruined.

Sunday 19/2: Naïve spy; what Russia should not become; Harris the hypocrite

“British embassy spy sentenced to 13 years for leaking secrets to Russia,” BBC News, 17/2. A timeline of the hearing and sentencing for the unfortunate David Ballantyne Smith. I sympathize with him; he seems to have been naïve and inexperienced, and was caught easily in a “sting” operation. “The judge tells Smith that he ‘developed anti-British and anti-Western feelings’ during his period of employment at the British embassy in Berlin. The judge tells Smith his co-workers heard him criticise Britain and Germany and ‘they formed the impression you were more sympathetic to Russia’ and to President Putin.” He certainly is not the only one who feels that way!

“Kleptocrat Vladimir Putin and his cronies must be removed for Russia’s future,” The Australian, 18/2. Yet another arrogant opinion piece of what Russia “should” aspire to be, after “removing” the current regeime (like the West, and subservient to it): “However, if the mass of Russians is to be won over to a vision for a post-Putin transformation, there will need, also, to be contingency planning for a viable ‘Marshall Plan’ for Russia, which is to say a rebuild analogous to that provided for Germany and other parts of Western Europe after 1945. […] But unless one seeks no more than an armistice with a truculent and aggrieved Russia, some such vision is going to be vital. And it must be founded on the open statement that Russia is not only a great power, if much less of one than the Soviet Union was, but more importantly a great Indo-European culture. It is the homeland of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, Pasternak and Sakharov. That Russia should be embraced by Europe. Its spiritual leader, Aleksei Navalny, is currently being slowly murdered in Putin’s prisons.” Navalny is a West-subservient quisling and fifth columnist, and is the last person an independent Russia needs as President. Russia is not a Western culture, and never has been.

“Three women joined a millionaire’s rag-tag team of fighters in Ukraine. Only two survived the year,” ABC News, 19/2. Ukrainian human interest story. The civilians fighting for the Russian side are never featured.

“NATO doubles down: Highlights from the Munich Security Conference,” RT, 18/2. One of the lowlights: “Russia has committed ‘crimes against humanity’ in Ukraine, says Kamala Harris,” The Age, 19/2. Quote from one RT commenter: “Harris was hypocritically accusing Russia of ‘war crimes’ while obviously ignoring the U.S. track record of far worse violations of human rights and wholesale deaths in its various invasions and supposedly targeted aerial bombings.”

Monday 20/2: War crimes response; nearly a year of the SMO

“US trying to demonize Russia – Moscow,” RT, 19/2, on the nonsensical “war crimes” allegations, and Ambassador Anatoly Antonov’s answer to a media question:

Question: Dear Mr. Ambassador, how could you comment on the statements by the administration officials about Russia’s alleged involvement in crimes against humanity in Ukraine?

Anatoly Antonov: We consider such insinuations as an attempt, unprecedented in terms of its cynicism, to demonize Russia in the course of a hybrid war, unleashed against us.

There is no doubt that the purpose of such attacks is to justify Washington’s own actions to fuel the Ukrainian crisis. First of all, it concerns the rampant militarization of the Kiev regime. At one point the Americans said, that they would supply the republic with only defensive weapons, but now ship heavy armored vehicles, artillery, multiple launch rocket systems with long-range munitions. The U.S. provides intelligence to Kiev Nazis, trains militants. By the will of the White House an egregious act is being committed – just like 80 years ago – tanks with crosses are attacking our country.

How can we trust the West and try to come to any type of agreement after all these statements and actions? Basically, they told us one thing, but acted in the opposite direction.

Officials in DC ignore the use of prohibited indiscriminate ammunition by the armed forces of Ukraine, which are delivered there in huge quantities, taking lives of hundreds of civilians. This fact was even confirmed by American humanitarian NGOs, which can hardly be suspected of pro-Russian sentiments.

At the same time, the US simply turns a blind eye to the atrocities of the Zelensky regime. Washington prefers not to notice the horrific scenes of the shootings of unarmed captured Russian soldiers. It forgot about the bloodcurdling burning of people at the Trade Union Building in Odessa in 2014.

The United States completely ignores the attacks that have been going on for many years on settlements in Donbass – kindergartens, schools, hospitals and residential buildings. Although it should be clear to any sober-minded person that no threats come from there.

Washington’s two-facedness is outrageous. Why is the State Department silent about the atrocities of Ukrainian cutthroats? What are the American human rights organizations thinking? Why is no one calling for the punishment of fascist thugs?

24 February will mark a year since Russia’s Special Military Operation began, so various summaries are appearing (very negative ones in the mainstream media, as always).

“A year at war,” ABC News, 20/2. The article is trying to put a negative angle on how Russia is coping, and only interviews disaffected citizens – hardly an unbiased view. More speculating on a coup to depose President Putin, and that he is beset by doubt and fear: “But Ms Stanovaya believes he may now feel trapped. ‘There is no good scenario for Putin,’ she said. ‘He knows that he can’t be confident in anyone 100 per cent.’” Those who have left are fifth columnists who want Russia to become like the West, so good riddance to them: “Among those who have left are Elena and Evgeny, the kind of contemporary, sophisticated professionals who were transforming Russia’s big cities before the war. For them, the invasion of Ukraine last February was a breaking point. ‘You just feel, “This is it,”’ Elena said. ‘This is the final point where you can no longer have any hopes that it will change for better, in the way that it will become a democracy.’”

“How the world has changed since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022,” The Age, 20/2. “There are fears for thousands of children forcibly removed to Russia. No, they were evacuated as refugees, not ‘kidnapped’ – 15/2 entry.” The rest is the usual negative portrayal of Russia, but the opposing countries imposing sanctions on Russia became a self-inflicted wound, as the unintended consequences ensued.

The Moon of Alabama blog is posting day-by-day summaries of the buildup to the war in Ukraine. The MoA Week In Review – (Not Ukraine) OT 2023-40 has 13-18 February 2022 summaries.

A Substack author called Simplicius The Thinker is getting recommendations from other alternative news blogs (including Larry Johnson’s) for their Ukraine war sitreps.

“Rubble and Rhetoric,” Deep Dive with Lee Slusher, 9/2. Another post with a view of how the conflict might progress. “Even now, many Westerners – leaders and laypeople alike – believe a host of fictions about Russia’s present circumstances. They believe the Russian military is incompetent and on the brink of failure. They believe the Russian economy is crippled by sanctions and, likewise, on the brink of failure. They believe Russia has become an international pariah, instead of only a Western one. They believe Putin to be mentally ill – perhaps even terminally ill – and always under the constant threat of assassination or forcible removal from office. Some even insist the world prepare for the imminent collapse and dismemberment of modern Russia, which – they demand – must never be allowed to rise from the ashes. Most in the West have never really understood Russia. This has been helped, in no small part, by the unflinching insistence of Russians themselves that no one else could possibly understand what it means to be Russian, as if it were some mystical plane of existence. For nearly twenty-five years, I have had to contest the belief – both in English and in Russian – with many of my Russian friends and acquaintances. […] There was never a common understanding, much less an acceptance, that Russia – despite its flaws – had long earned its position among the world’s great nations. Russia has contributed as much as any other country to the advancement of the arts, sciences, and technology. Russia has produced world-class athletes (the recent and audacious doping scandals notwithstanding.) Russia controls a formidable military and a vast, capable nuclear arsenal. Glib proclamations that Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country ought to earn officials and pundits a permanent seat at the children’s table of politics.”

Tuesday 21/2: Justified regicide; dog-and-pony show; Australia supports Russia Olympics ban

“Goodbye Tsar: 100 years since the end of the bloodstained Romanov dynasty,” In Defense of Communism, 17/7/2018. Found this article, to my delight – it is scathing of the monarchy and unapologetic in its opinion. (A phrase I just thought of: “Regicide is justified.”)

The Great October Socialist Revolution – the most significant world-shaking event of the 20th Century – prevailed on November 1917 thus giving a death blow to the barbaric Tsarist regime and beginning the construction of the new, socialist society.

Around eight months later, on 17th July 1918, in the city of Yekaterinburg, the remaining members of the Romanov dynasty, the Tsar and his family, were executed by the armed hand of the Bolshevik revolution. Justice had been delivered and the Romanovs received what they actually deserved after centuries of tyranny against the Russian people.

The execution of Tsar Nicholas II and his family by the revolutionaries marked the end of a savage dynasty of megalomaniacs after 304 years. For more than three centuries, the people of Russia were living under a highly repressive, brutal and corrupted regime.

The reality behind Hollywood fairytales – like Disney’s Anastasia – is extremely harsh. The dynasty of the Romanovs was marked by brutal violence, cultural regression, bigotry. The Tsar, his family and friends were living in immense wealth and luxury, while the vast majority of the people were starving.

After the counterrevolution in the Soviet Union in the beginning of the 1990s, the bourgeois historiography, in collaboration with the highly reactionary Russian Orthodox Church, has tried to “restore” the Romanov dynasty. In 1991, President Boris Yeltsin himself attended the state funeral(!) of the remains of some family members.

In 2000, the reactionary Russian Orthodox Church announced the canonization of the Romanov family, thus declaring “martyrs” a bunch of megalomaniac parasites who lived at the expense of the poor Russian masses. In another outrageously ridiculous decision on October 2008, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled that Tsar Nicholas II and his family were victims of political repression and rehabilitated them!

The bourgeois establishment of post-Soviet Russia, alongside the Orthodox Church, have made everything in order to rehabilitate the Romanovs. However, the historical reality is much different than the phony image of Romanov dynasty they want to present.

In 1918, the revolutionary forces of the Russian people threw the Romanovs where they truly belong – in the dustbin of History. This is the place where the bourgeois democracy and the reactionary forces will, sooner or later, end up.

The dog and pony show begins, with President Biden making a “surprise” visit to Ukraine and gladhanding the other puppet President. “Over the ring of air raid sirens, US President Biden’s visit to Ukraine sends thunderous message of western unity to Putin,” ABC News, 21/2. A laughable and transparent attempt at pro-Ukrainian propaganda, bolstering the “cause”: “The message was clear. President Zelenskyy was still leading his country in the fight against Russia, and President Biden would provide ‘unwavering support’ to ensure the sacrifices of the Ukrainian people in defending their ‘independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity’ would not be in vain.” And, conversely, presenting President Putin as being isolated and paranoid (so what else is new :-S): “His appearance in a city which has faced multiple drone and missile attacks in recent months is in stark contrast to Putin’s continuing aversion to taking risks. […] The Russian leader famously uses a three-pillared oval-shaped white table to keep a significant social distance of around six metres between himself and other world leaders, reportedly to minimise exposure to coronavirus. Putin has rarely been seen in public, let alone a war zone, in recent years. […] as Putin laid a wreath in Volgograd, he was surrounded by soldiers who had been stripped of their weapons, suggesting ‘a tangible fear of uprising and things going terribly wrong.’” The air raid siren was also for show, as “US ‘notified’ Russia before Biden’s Kiev visit,” RT, 20/2. The Age has a similar “rousing” report: “‘Ukraine stands, democracy stands’: Biden makes surprise visit to Ukraine.”

“Australian government joins international movement pushing back on plan to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at Olympics,” ABC News, 21/2. Shame on Australia for supporting this, though given our government’s slavish support of Ukraine, it is not surprising.

Wednesday 22/2: Spaceships update; Ryan hyperbole; President Putin’s speech

Predictable anti-Russia snark from NASAWatch, repeating the baseless “war crimes” accusation by the U.S. (20/2 entry):

Do Space Cooperation And Crimes Against Humanity Make A Good Mix?

Keith’s note: Whenever I am asked about the Russian issue on the ISS on TV I usually reply that while things are bad back on Earth, somehow we always managed to cooperate in space with the same people we cannot get along with on Earth – and that maybe how we live in space can provide us a lesson with how we should live on our home planet’s surface. Indeed I think the idea of ISS as a Nobel Peace Prize winner is a good one. In the past several years that in-space cooperation has been tested with regard to Russia. We’ve seen that relationship challenged by Nauka’s malfunction, leaky Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, accusations of American astronaut tampering, and repugnant rants from the (former) head of Russia’s space program (who is now an active participant in the invasion of Ukraine). Yet the ISS continues to operate surprisingly smoothly. Now the U.S. has openly declared that “The United States has formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity.” Is Bill Nelson going to address this? Probably not. Oddly Bill Nelson has been quite vocal for months about China (not a NASA partner in space). Yet when it comes to a formal U.S. accusation of crimes against humanity in Ukraine by Russia (an actual NASA partner in space) Nelson is surprisingly quiet. Why is that?

Updates from Roskosmos regarding the impact hole in Progress MS-21 and Soyuz MS-23. Wish I could focus fully on the Russian space program, but Earthly events are distressing and distracting me.

“A year when Ukraine reminded us what a lion’s heart looks like,” Mick Ryan, The Age, 22/2. The latest delusional nonsense from this hack, ending in extreme hyperbole: “In the past year, there have been comparisons between Zelensky and Winston Churchill. This is apt for many reasons. […] In the past year, we have seen anew what a nation with a lion’s heart looks like. And with its young, charismatic leader, Ukraine and the world were lucky that Zelensky was called upon to give the roar. It behoves us all to strive to live up to the courage and commitment of the Ukrainian leader and his people. In his darkest hour, when asking for ammunition instead of a ride, Zelensky demanded of the free world not a way out of the war but a way to stay, save his people and win the war.” Ugh. And Churchill was no saint (9/2 entry).

President Putin made his anticipated Presidential Address to Federal Assembly.

Larry Johnson’s review of the speech: “Russia’s Declaration of Independence – A Review of Putin’s Speech to Russia’s National Assembly.”

“Western bet on neo-Nazis in Ukraine, failed sanctions and key nuke deal suspension: Highlights from Putin’s major speech,” RT, 21/2.

“Key moments from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state of the nation address,” ABC News, 22/2. Mainstream media predictably looks to find negative points. “the familiar rhetoric about radicals in the West […] Putin rattled off his usual justifications for the war in Ukraine […] Since Putin’s previous mobilisation in September last year, numerous accounts have come out describing poor living conditions and substandard training and equipment.”

“Fear and loathing in Moscow: Putin lays out a paranoid vision of the world,” The Age, 22/2. As blatantly biased and negative as an article can be. “It is hard to take Putin seriously as a family-friendly moral crusader when his troops have raped and pillaged their way across sovereign nations, his political opponents have been assassinated or incarcerated, and he continues to send thousands of young men to their deaths.” The “rape” (and other) allegations have been proven false. Putin is not “paranoid” but truthful.

“It’s been 12 months since Russia’s war in Ukraine began. When will the war end, and is Ukraine any closer to joining NATO?” ABC News, 22/2. A slightly less-biased overview of events, but still slanted toward the Western point of view.

Thursday 23/2: Ways of warfare; mainstream media madness

I did some more possessions purging this week (books and DVDs). What used to interest me no longer does. I don’t listen to music or watch movies; I just feel indifferent.

“In The Spirit Of Russian ‘Total War’,” Simplicius The Thinker, 22/2. An in-depth analysis of the differences between the Russian method of warfare and the West’s. “Russian weapons are made with the doctrinal purpose and philosophy known as: Total War long-term, grinding war. Whereas, Western weapons are made for ‘limited’ war short-term war.” Russia has had to fight invaders throughout its long history, and the sheer bloodiness and toll of these has ingrained themselves in their culture. “The point is that, after many years (centuries, some might argue) of the West’s attempts to subdue or outright destroy Russia – and after two generational wars in the 20th century that saw a combined 50-70 million dead – the entire Russian psyche and collective unconscious are fundamentally attuned toward treating conflict in exclusively existential terms.” A fight for their nation’s survival. “[…] given the understanding that ‘Total War’ as a rule results in mass casualties on all sides, the other point of prevailing philosophy is that weapons systems must adhere to strictures of pragmatism, ease of use, and ergonomic design. […] In this proposed concept of ‘Total War’, only weapons which privilege absolute practicality of use, and can be produced for long term sustainment, are fit for procurement and mass-production.” In contrast, the highly-technologically sophisticated U.S. weapons systems are effective in a short-term war (with ample support), but are rendered vulnerable by their complexity of ongoing maintenance.

“Under siege: How has Donbass lived through its first year of official separation from Ukraine?” RT, 21/2. An overview of how the new Russian-aligned republics have fared.

Australian mainstream media is really ramping up the Russophobia this week to unbearable levels. A barrage of such from ABC News:

Friday 24/2: One year of Russiaphobia

One year since the Special Military Operation in Ukraine/Специальная военная операция на Украине began, and the mainstream media is in full hyperbolic Russia-hate mode. I am extremely distressed, exhausted and can hardly bear to look at news sites.

A ridiculously hyperbolic post from the NATO Twitter account: “Ukraine is hosting one of the great epics of this century. ‘We are Harry Potter and William Wallace, the Na’vi and Han Solo. We’re escaping from Shawshank and blowing up the Death Star. We are fighting with the Harkonnens and challenging Thanos.’” (“NATO blasted for comparing Ukraine conflict to Star Wars and Harry Potter,” RT, 23/2.)

ABC News:

A barrage of hateful articles from The Age:

From The Australian:

“Navalny”, The Oscar Nominee For Best Documentary Film, Is Disinformation,” Dances With Bears, 22/2. An incisive criticism of the documentary, which is a propaganda piece for the neurotic Navalny (previous mention: 16/2 entry).

“From Vikings to PMCs: How Russia fought wars during its thousand year history,” RT, 23/2. Some interesting Russian military history.

Saturday 25/2: Russia hate continues in media

Some of today’s Russia-hate from ABC News (with bonus Sinophobia) – in frantic Ukrainian propaganda mode:

And some of today’s Russia-hate from The Age:

“One year on, here’s how the Ukraine conflict is changing the world order,” RT, 24/2. “In geopolitical terms, the war in Ukraine energized Washington to build a global coalition to oppose Russia. […] US efforts to get China to distance itself from Russia appear ridiculous in a situation where Washington’s strategy appears to be to defeat/contain its two main adversaries one by one, and, moreover, to pit them against each other. The famous Kissingerian triangle is now pointed in a different direction: it is Washington that has the worst possible relations with the other two. As for Moscow and Beijing, they are getting even closer as a result.”

“The Buildup To War In Ukraine – Closure,” Moon of Alabama, 24/2. All posts on the leadup to the SMO last year.

Still doing a massive purge of books and DVDs. I buy physical copies but they never get read or watched, so they are just taking up space and adding weight. Also I have utterly lost interest in what I liked a couple of years ago; I feel mentally and physically dull and lethargic. Only Russia, and especially Russian spaceflight, hold my interest now.

Sunday 26/2: A plagarism scandal; easy vs. difficult novels; repulsed at royalty again; refugee dancers puff piece; misguided mercenary; China criticizes U.S. hegemony

Literary scandals can be oddly compelling. “Being John Hughes: How did an acclaimed Australian author become one of the most prolific literary plagiarists in history?,” The Monthly, March 2023. A profile of an (admittedly obscure) Australian author who plagarized a lot for his novel (the publisher’s removed statement mentioned in the article has been archived, and The Guardian also covered his case – “John Hughes: I am not a plagiarist – and here’s why,” with links to related stories). Never heard of him before this, and I doubt I would find his novels interesting – as is the case for me with much modern so-called “literary” fiction (the elitist type that wins various awards); these are no rivals for older classics like those by Tolstoy. And (sigh) there is a Ukrainian connection (can’t get away from that topic and country presently!).

There is a mention of another, older scandal (curiously, both involve Ukraine): that of Helen Demindenko/Darville/now Dale, whose first notorious novel, The Hand that Signed the Paper, won an Australian literary award in 1994. She pretended she was Ukrainian until she was found out, and oh the controversy that ensued! There was (and is) the opinion that only people of a particular group can “authentically” write about that group’s experiences, and Helen was not in that category. The whole affair was quite amusing in hindsight.

The Miles Franklin Literary Award, often called Australia’s most prestigious book prize, is also its most scandal-prone. In 1994, it was won by an outright fraud, Helen Darville, who cosplayed as Helen Demidenko, a descendant of Ukrainians. She wore braids and a peasant’s dress, and led her supporters in a fake Slavic dance at the prize ceremony. Her novel, The Hand That Signed the Paper, concerned Ukrainian atrocities in World War Two. Before news broke that she was from Brisbane and the daughter of British parents, John Hughes reviewed the book for Meanjin. He had met with Jenny Lee, Meanjin’s editor, in Melbourne, where they went to the football together. It was his first time seeing AFL live.

Hughes told Lee that he was less than impressed by The Hand That Signed the Paper, an assessment that went against the tenor of the book’s reception. With Hughes’s Ukrainian heritage in mind, Lee commissioned him for a review. And his reading was sensitive and acute. Hughes sensed something amiss about the novel, a failure of writerly imagination, he thought, with an emptiness at its heart. “The juxtaposition of a number of different voices might give the novel the illusion of polyphony,” he wrote, “but underlying this complex veneer is the inescapable feeling that the structure has not been fully thought through”.

Helen is, though, a Conservative Libertarian, hostile to Communism and supports Ukraine, so I have little interest in what she writes. One example, “World War II’s Unfinished Business,” Helen Dale, 16/3/2022, where she goes into her thought processes behind writing the novel, and how events then relate to the current SMO (as she sees it, unsurprisingly from a pro-Ukrainian viewpoint). I read her novel many years ago and found it bleak and almost “torture porn” in its relating of atrocities. Perhaps this was her intended effect, but it is not an enjoyable read. She apparently used the book The Black Deeds of the Kremlin in her research for the novel, a discredited book (mentioned in this Tweet).

Helen does tend to use hackneyed clichés in her writing, which gets irritating. She has also told so many versions of her life story over the years that one is hesitant to take anything she says at face value. There are archived snapshots of her old website, the last of that from 2004. Unfortunately, like too many authors, her main Web presence is now in the walled gardens of social media; no substitute for a proper personal site. She also has a Substack account for some of her writings (Substack is another irritating trend, another walled garden that nags visitors to sign in to read articles).

On a tangent, an article by the mentioned publisher, Terri-ann White: “Where have all the adventurous readers gone?” Seesawmag, 3/9/2021. On the upward battle of trying to persuade the public to read “difficult” Australian works, which are pushed into obscurity by the overwhelming popularity and dominance of overseas franchises. “In recent decades you may have noticed the concentration, at the front of bookshops and in the media, of multi-volumed or series-focused books to a degree we have never seen previously. […] I connect this up with a withering of success for Australian literature of the ground-breaking variety. I think you’ll know what I’m getting at here: books that take more concentration, perhaps, with less of a direct connection to the idea of entertainment. […] These are the writings that’ll still be in the system in 100 years time.” While one can’t blame the public for wanting easily-digestible entertainment, I can certainly see the publisher’s point. Good literature is also good “brain food” – it makes you think, your mind work, rather than passively read. Reading stories from one’s own culture (rather than the dominant imported ones – USA mainly) helps support local writers. “I’ve had plenty of time to observe how detached many readers in Australia have become from reading literature about this place and out of this society. It reminds me of a few other cultural moments: how I grew up here watching American and British television and then what a revelation it was when the Australian voice came to the fore.”

“King Charles meets Australian soldiers training Ukrainian recruits in United Kingdom,” ABC News, 26/2. Yet another reason to despise this monarchy (and royalty generally). I doubt President Putin will ever want to meet him.

“The ‘universal language’ of dance connects this Ukrainian community and builds resilience as war continues,” ABC News, 26/2. Ukrainian “human interest” puff piece. Russia, of course, has its own rich traditions from which Ukrainian ones are derived, given their shared history.

“An Australian’s message for those tempted to join Ukraine’s fight: ‘Don’t’,” The Age, 26/2. Yet another naïve fool gets a reality check. I would be quite sure he is actually partaking in combat, not just “training” others, so he is essentially a mercenary. “There is also a risk that when Felix does come home, he could find himself on the wrong side of Australia’s foreign incursion laws. The laws prohibit anyone from entering a foreign country with the intention to ‘engage in a hostile activity’ unless serving with the armed forces of that country’s government. It is unclear whether Felix’s activities in Ukraine have breached this provision. He says his involvement has been limited to training rather than fighting, first as a member of a private volunteer training group, the Trident Defense Initiative, that is personally endorsed by President Volodymr Zelensky and, more recently, attached to Ukraine’s 72nd battalion, a battle-worn mechanised infantry.” Given the Australian government’s blatant support of Ukraine, though, one suspects he may get lenient treatment.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People’s Republic of China released a bluntly-worded document, “US Hegemony and Its Perils, 20/2.” “This report, by presenting the relevant facts, seeks to expose the U.S. abuse of hegemony in the political, military, economic, financial, technological and cultural fields, and to draw greater international attention to the perils of the U.S. practices to world peace and stability and the well-being of all peoples.”

Monday 27/2: Soyuz MS-23 docks to ISS; Ukraine internet battle; not a worthwhile defence; bought The Dogs

Soyuz MS-23 launched uncrewed and docked to the ISS yesterday with no issues so far, so a small positive at least in the now-openly acrimonious space partnership. Hopefully the thermal radiator leak will not appear again. If it does, it will unlikely be space debris impact again (three times in three ships is an unlikely coincidence!) but perhaps a problem occuring somewhere when being constructed.

An interesting (computer-translated) tidbit via the Novosti Kosmonavtiki forum, originally on Telegram:

About Heat Carriers of Progress and Soyuz ships

Information began to appear that on the Progress MS cargo ship and on the Soyuz MS manned spacecraft, different coolants are used in the external circuit (Hinged radiator circuit (KNR)/Контур навесных радиаторов [КНР]), which caused red spots to appear somewhere around the hole, and somewhere the reason for their absence.

To be honest, this came as a surprise to me (that there are different coolants), I asked about five specialists from different organizations – no one has seen this either, either in the documentation or in the course of their work – LZ-TK2 isooctane, and that’s it. Unfortunately, I don’t have any friends who refuel ships at Baikonur, I don’t even want to question SOTR specialists – they already have a lot of work to do now. That is, many have always thought, and perhaps it is true, that the coolant is the same and this is LZ-TK2 – according to the documentation, it is exactly the same.

Probably, I would have written here that they say there is nothing to discuss further, especially this “stuffiness” does not affect anything. But I was prompted by one open article of RKK Energiya in 2015, which is very difficult to navigate due to the huge number of special chemical terms and abbreviations.

But I found something “understandable” for me for sure (maybe the chemists will read it and give more detailed information in the comments, I will attach the article). So, it turns out (in fact, it is logical), isooctane is still a fire hazard and experts suggested using another coolant – silicon-organic liquid PMS-1.5r (used at the Mir station). I must say right away that these holes are clearly not due to the fire hazard of isooctane, since it has been used on versions of the Soyuz ships for a long time (otherwise some will begin to draw conclusions from the air again), and another coolant is attributed to the truck, and the nature of the damage is the same and the same. And there, in the article, there is another quote: “Heat media LZ-TK-2 and PMS-1.5r are interchangeable and are used when refueling the Soyuz manned transport spacecraft and the Progress cargo spacecraft. Both coolants, not being electrolytes, have low corrosivity to all metallic materials used in SOTR KA. The PMS-1.5r coolant was used for the first time for filling the external circuits of the modules of the Mir orbital station. Coolant PMS-1.5r filled the outer contours of the International Space Station and its modules.”

What can I say then:

  1. Red spots may well be due to the oil origin of isooctane, definitely not “rust, corrosion” (I also saw this version in some comments)
  2. The viscosity of the PMS-1.5r body carrier is indeed higher than that of isooctane, and therefore the nature of the “emission” of these flakes may differ. At −70 degrees (up to 13 versus 4), and at −20 degrees (1.6 versus 0.7). But some experts say that the nature of the “ejection” of the coolant could look different due to the position of the chamber, the sun, etc.

It’s great that we figured out that another coolant can be used in cargo ships, but this is unlikely to solve the problem. The Soyuz MS-23 Rescue Ship has been fully tested and will be launched soon. I believe that everything will be fine.

Reference:

Update: accordingly, the red color around the hole on the Soyuz is fully explained by the yellow liquid, and the absence of such a spot on the Progress is due to a colorless coolant.

By the way, I am revealing another “secret” of Roskosmos. Why did the Scientific and Technical Council of Roscosmos extended the operation of the Russian Segment of the ISS precisely until 2028, and not until 2030, as the Americans want to extend the operation of their segment? The answer is simple: money! Why should the state now (!) allocate funds for the development of ROS and launch the first module in 2027, if Russia remains on the ISS until 2030? But in order to receive funds for the design of the station right now, you need to show the government that in 2028 we are leaving the ISS. Then the necessary funds will be allocated. And there, of course, no launch, unfortunately (forgive me), will not take place in 2027 and it will be possible to extend the operation of the Russian segment indefinitely. We all wanted an eternal station, right?

“Russia claims an ‘external impact’ damaged its Progress spacecraft,” Eric Berger for ArsTechnica, 22/2 (previous mentions of him: 10/2, 12/2). A snarky article (“Do you believe in coincidences, comrade? Two Russian spacecraft in two months have been struck this way. Supposedly.”), and the comments are full of vitriol.

“The battle to keep Ukraine connected to the internet amid Russian missile attacks,” ABC News, 27/2. Another “plucky Ukrainians defying the Russian bully” story; the ABC relentlessly keeps pushing Ukrainian propaganda. I would like to see the damned country cut off entirely.

“Defence of freedom in Ukraine will be long, costly and worthwhile,” The Age, 24/2. Certainly long and costly, but definitely not worthwhile. Ukraine is a money pit and a worthless cause.

I happened to see that novel mentioned yesterday (26/2 entry) in a Southland bookstore, coincidentally, and I ended up buying it somewhat impulsively. It is not the sort of novel I would normally buy, but the plagarism scandal piqued my curiosity. Also the mentioned article about difficult Australian works. Is it worth my time to read, though? What do I gain from reading such a novel? How do I know if it is “good” (well-written) or not? How does one define good prose as opposed to pretentious twaddle? Will I even get around to reading it?

Tuesday 28/2: Crazy Scott Kelly; Russia-hate show

Another interesting tidbit (previously: 27/2) from the “Closed space/Закрытый космос” Telegram account – a pointed reference to former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly (previous mention: 14/2 entry) and his manic Russophobia: “How life separated people on different sides of the barricades. Mikhail Borisovich Kornienko, together with astronaut Scott Kelly, spent almost a year on the ISS in 2015-2016. And now Kelly is spreading rot on Russia in every possible way on Twitter, and Mikhail Borisovich supports our army. (Telegram of Kornienko.) P.S. What shocked in Scott’s book My Year in Space was the obsession with the war. Constantly in his memories of the ISS, the thought flashed that here are the Russians, he learned to kill them, and he had to fly into space with them. And after February 24, the ‘uncle’ went completely crazy.”

In Kelly’s latest Tweet, he is extremely peeved that actor Steven Seagal (previous mention: 6/2 entry) was awarded the Russian Order of Friendship “for a large contribution into the development of cultural and humanitarian cooperation.” Kelly’s response: “Disgraceful a US citizen would accept such an honor (or dishonor).” Definitely a honor, and good on Steven for openly supporting Russia (a very difficult stance to take in the West now, sadly).

ABC News continues its relentless barrage of Russia-hate. The Q+A program had a “Ukraine, Putin and Spies” episode last night, which, needless to say, I could not bring myself to watch, knowing how biased it would be. A related article: “Russian President Vladimir Putin labelled a narcissist and vitriolic hater of the West on Q+A.” The headline description being from “former general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, Sharan Burrow, who shared a stage with Mr Putin in 2012 and met him several times. Ms Burrow said that even over a decade ago, Mr Putin showed his hand about his feelings towards the West.” Well, given how events have unfolded, one cannot blame him for his “vitriol” – an example being the disasterous collapse of the USSR and the economic “shock therapy” (previous mention: 17/2 entry) that caused great hardship for many (“The immense social achievements of the USSR were succeeded by illusory promises by the new capitalist Russian government for – supposedly – more democracy, for more social freedoms and for a free-market economy which would improve the people’s lives. The so-called ‘shock therapy’, which included several policies of economic liberalisation during the 90s, had multiple negative effects in people’s lives: rapid increase of social inequalities, destruction of the socialist welfare state, extreme increase of poverty for the working class, decrease of the life extectancy rate, resurgence of nationalist claims between former soviet republics and the emergence of economic oligarchs as actual rulers of the new capitalist Russian state.” “USSR 1991 – History did not end with the counterrevolution; Socialism is timely and necessary,” In Defense of Communism, 23/12/2021). Also, “Panellists agreed the only acceptable outcome for the war was a Ukrainian victory” – no, only a Russian victory is.

March

Wednesday 1/3: Saker blog frozen; Putin on the Soviet collapse; Reddit roasts Seagal; Putinology

The Saker has “frozen” his blog from the end of February, so a loss of an alternative refuge from the mainstream media and its relentless hate of Russia. Granted, I did not agree with everything written on the blog, such as the dislike of Communist Russia from some, the odd obsession with “AngloZionists” and the related unhinged conspiracy theories posted by some commentators, which tend to discredit the blog (or any such alternative sites).

“Putin: Soviet collapse a ‘genuine tragedy’,” NBC News, 26/4/2005. An old article, but reinforces the “vitriolic hater of the West” article I linked to in my 28/2 entry. “Russian President Vladimir Putin told the nation Monday that the collapse of the Soviet empire ‘was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century’ and had fostered separatist movements inside Russia. In his annual state of the nation address to parliament and the country’s top political leaders, Putin said the Soviet collapse also was a tragedy for Russians. ‘First and foremost it is worth acknowledging that the demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century,’ Putin said. ‘As for the Russian people, it became a genuine tragedy. Tens of millions of our fellow citizens and countrymen found themselves beyond the fringes of Russian territory. The epidemic of collapse has spilled over to Russia itself,’ he said, referring to separatist movements such as those in Chechnya.”

Reddit post, related to Steven Seagal (28/2 entry): “Putin gives US actor Steven Seagal Russia’s top state award for ‘humanitarian work’.” As Reddit users are generally and virulently anti-Russian, the derogatory comments are execrable.

“Putinology: the art of analyzing the man in the Kremlin,” NPR, 23/2. So “Putinology” – psychologically analyzing the Russian President from afar – is an actual “profession.” I wonder what he makes of all these “experts” trying to get into his thoughts. Perhaps his aides collect the more outrageous articles for his amusement. It’s notable that the Putinologists mentioned are all fifth columnists, Russians living abroad, who would not be welcomed back.

“Western advocates of appeasement need a crash course in Putinology,” Atlantic Council, 15/5/2022. Linked to from the previous article, this is scathing of those who would “appease” Putin and Russia. The author is Anders Åslund, a discredited “mercenary Russia-hating writer based in Washington and financed by Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk” (Dances With Bears) who also insigated economic shock therapy. He is obviously biased: “In reality, neither bleeding heart liberals nor diehard realists truly understand Vladimir Putin. They fail to recognize that he is an authoritarian kleptocrat who does not care about Russia’s national interest and is focused instead on his power and wealth.” The Atlantic Council is another anti-Russia thinktank: “a nonpartisan organization that galvanizes US leadership and engagement in the world, in partnership with allies and partners, to shape solutions to global challenges.” In other words, to ensure the U.S. and Western hegemony is continued, and keep other nations subjugated.

Thursday 2/3: New battle formation documents; burned tanks disrespect; Russophobia in the USA; baseless kidnapped children allegations; Putin’s (alleged) palace

“The BTG Is Dead, Long Live The BTG!” Simplicius The Thinker, 1/3. “We examine recently ‘recovered documents’ outlining a new Russian doctrinal replacement to the BTG system.” Mick Ryan gets a mention, with caveats: “Of course, as usual, his positions are premised on a host of misapprehensions and outright erroneous data, such as Russia’s over-inflated losses, and things of that nature […] Once again he anchors his position on known fallacies: Russian forces are destroyed, equipment is low, etc. thus they can’t possibly make this work. This is all patently false, but of course he wouldn’t know it from the echochamber he undoubtedly subsists on.” One commenter, though, has doubts about the validity of the documents themselves. “However, both source and context for this discussion are highly dubious. I think it is apt here to remember that this is an Infowar, and those parties which do not send theirs into the front itself i.e., NATO+, are especially busy at this virtual ‘front’ of perception management and efforts to tarnish competing brands – in this case the ‘brand’ so targeted being the Russian Army. Given the material’s suspect origins and context, the fact that one of the NATO+ generals publicly amplifies such claims around it is, in my view, an example of very cynical and unethical professional misconduct.”

“Display of burnt-out Russian tanks in Baltic capitals leads to clashes as some Russian sympathisers lay flowers,” ABC News, 2/3. The article predictably highlights those who support the display, but, “Anatoly Yarkov, a 78-year-old Soviet army veteran who showed up to see the tank in Tallinn, said that he feels bitter about Ukraine fighting against Russia in a war that he said had been rooted in the 1991 collapse of the USSR.‘Russian tanks are burning again like it happened during the war with the Nazis,’ Mr Yarkov said. ‘The Russian people always stood against the Nazis, no matter what flag they used. And I’m very sorry to see that the Ukrainians aren’t on our side today.’” Though more deliberately false reporting: “Russian government officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have promoted a false narrative that Moscow’s military is fighting against neo-Nazis even though Ukraine has a Jewish president who lost relatives in the Holocaust and who heads a Western-backed, democratically-elected government.” To counter, as verified by one who was in Ukraine: “Ukraine’s army has a big Nazi problem, ex-US soldier tells RT,” 28/2. “The former American soldier recounted his experience in Ukraine, and explained why he grew disillusioned with Kiev’s cause. ‘When I came, I was really surprised. Everybody had tattoos and Nazi symbolism,’ he told Gazdiev. McIntyre also admitted he did not believe ultra-right ideology was ‘that big of a problem’ for Ukraine until he saw things on the ground himself.”

“The Red Scare 2.0: Russophobia in America Today,” Scott Ritter, 1/3. On the unprecedented, irrational and hysterial Russophobia that has infested the USA (and Western societies generally) since the beginning of the SMO last year.

“Russia’s Theft of Children in Ukraine Is Genocide,” Foreign Policy, 1/3. “It has involved the wholesale killing and mass rape of Ukrainians. And, with increasing obviousness, the war has involved the mass theft of Ukrainian children by Russia – an act of forced population transfer that meets the definition of genocide according to the 1948 Genocide Convention.” Repeats the baseless accusations of Russia “abducting” children from Ukraine (previous mention: 20/2 entry). “The numbers are vast and difficult to confirm. But the stories are now being widely reported.” Most of the accusations seem to be anecdotal hearsay.

Some tabloid “entertainment”: “Investigation finds Putin ‘lives in golden mansion alongside gymnast lover’,” The Age, 2/3. The media are really desperate to find any means to disparage the Russian President. The sources are “Unnamed officials … unnamed whistleblower … jailed opposition leader Aleksei Navalny” which immediately discredit this “investigation.” The report is sourced from The Telegraph, a Russia-hating tabloid (every single article is hostile towards Russia), which further discredits this.

Friday 3/3: Sick of sensitivity nonsense; more Nazis in Ukraine

“‘Sensitivity readers’ changed Roald Dahl and James Bond. But who are they?” The Age, 1/3. I strongly dislike the concept of “sensitivity readers” (21/1/2022 entry). “‘The ideal situation is that the author themselves has the lived experience with what they are writing about, so they can bring that authenticity to the work. These days we are a little bit wary about authors writing in the first person of an experience that is nothing like theirs.’” That attitude, for me, goes against one of the main points of writing fiction – to imagine other lives and cultures very different from one’s own, and then write about them. If a writer limits themselves to only what they have experienced, they will not get very far!

I am utterly sick of the current social trend of slavishly catering to identity politics and every so-called marginalized group. More broadly, my own opinions are that all people in a society should be treated equally, and that people should gain a position on merit and qualifications alone.

Pertaining to yesterday’s mention of no Nazis in Ukraine (which is fake). “From Neo-Nazi to militant: The foreign fighters in Ukraine who Australia’s laws won’t stop,” ABC News, 1/5/2018. An older article, but describes foreign fighers of right-wing inclination fighting in Ukraine as mercenaries. And from last year: “Fake: There is no Nazism in Ukraine,” War on Fakes, 11/4/2022.

Saturday 4/3: Headachy; dubious registration accusations; kidnappings debunked; rainbow Ukrainians

Had a headache this morning, which debilitated me. Did some rearranging of my possessions and that is exhausting. I am out of space for them, so have to sort through and purge some every so often.

“Ukrainians say they were pressured to register babies as Russian during occupation,” ABC News, 4/3. Seeing as Kherson was Russian-occupied, requiring children to be registered as Russian citizens would be expected. And, “Reuters could not independently corroborate their account.”

More debunking of the alleged kidnappings. “Fake: Russians continue to kidnap Ukrainian children,” War on Fakes, 27/10/2022. From the linked Telegram channel, 16/10/2022:

Fake: Russia illegally deported several thousand children from the territory of the Kherson region. So say the Ukrainian telegram channels.

Truth: There was no question of any deportation. The administration of the Kherson region helped only those who wanted to go on vacation to neighboring regions of the Russian Federation, including families with children.

Due to the incessant missile attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on peaceful urban infrastructure in Kherson, Nova Kakhovka, Hola Pristan, Chernobaevka, some local residents are worried and want to leave the region for a while. At the request of the Acting Governor of the Kherson region Vladimir Saldo, the regional authorities of the Russian Federation organized the possibility for Kherson families to travel to other regions of the Russian Federation for recreation and study.

The balance said : “We suggested that all residents of the Kherson region, if there is such a desire, to protect themselves from the consequences of missile strikes, also go to other regions.”

At the moment, live 1,200 residents of Kherson and Zaporozhye regions in health resorts, hotels and children’s camps in the Krasnodar Territory, about 700 of whom are children. 400 children from the new territories of the Russian Federation have a rest in Anapa.

“Now the main thing is now you are safe. Household issues come to the fore. We will provide all the necessary support. We will work with every family, offering people jobs based on their qualifications. And then you have to decide whether to stay in the Kuban or return when the situation permits,” said the Governor of the Krasnodar Territory, Veniamin Kondratiev.

“Russia may be weaponising homophobia, but the war has strengthened Ukraine’s fight for LGBT rights,” ABC News, 3/3. I really don’t care what a person’s gender or orientation is – what consenting adults do between themselves is none of my business – but I am tired of having the topic pushed so prominently in the news. I would treat the lurid story at the beginning of the article in the same way as other unsubstaniated allegations – “Due to the lack of internet and phone connections, it has been difficult to gain information on the full extent of the brutality.” Russia has banned the promotion of the topic (though the act itself is not illegal, to my knowledge): “Russian ‘LGBTQ propaganda’ law signed by Putin explained,” RT, 5/12/2022. One can hardly blame more conservative cultures for reacting against the bizarrely extremist Western fads and fashions (which is essentially what the current obsession with gender is).

“‘The first target’: Why Ukraine’s ‘unicorn battalion’ is taking the fight to Putin,” The Age, 4/3. “‘Because right now, we have a lot of open LGBTQI people in the military, serving in the army, fighting on the front line being openly gay or trans, and there are a lot of media reports about them – the so-called “unicorn battalion,” – they’re not an official battalion, it’s just what they call themselves. And this shows to Ukraine, to the world, to the society that LGBTQI people are actually very active citizens supporting Ukraine and fighting for freedom.’” More fools they, whatever their orientation.

Sunday 5/3: A little better; rogue reformers of Russia

A good morning is when I don’t have a headache, and also when the sky is clear and I can see stars when I go outside. Today is hot – low 30s – but nothing as brutal as the 40°C of a few weeks ago (17/2 entry). I did not go for a walk, but tried to rest for a while (can never really relax, though, unless I am by myself, which is all too rare now). Tired and my initial mental energy (such as it is) has evaporated. It is autumn and the intensity of summer is waning.

A commenter at Larry Johnson’s blog linked to a 1998 article about some of those responsible behind Russia’s disasterous and traumatic economic “reform”: “The Harvard Boys Do Russia,” 14/5/1998 (reproduced locally as the origin site is very annoying to visit). “After seven years of economic ‘reform’ financed by billions of dollars in U.S. and other Western aid, subsidized loans and rescheduled debt, the majority of Russian people find themselves worse off economically. The privatization drive that was supposed to reap the fruits of the free market instead helped to create a system of tycoon capitalism run for the benefit of a corrupt political oligarchy that has appropriated hundreds of millions of dollars of Western aid and plundered Russia’s wealth.” “Evil” is an appropriate description of these selfish and abhorrent criminals. (Previous mention of “shock therapy” in my 28/2 entry.)

“How Harvard Lost Russia,” Institutional Investor, 13/1/2006. Another article on the architects of economic shock therapy in Russia. But I would argue that Russia did not need “reforming” merely so it would meet Western capitalist standards; it was better under Communism and following the transitional path that China has may have been more beneficial (23/12/2022 entry).

Monday 6/3: Skripal scrutiny and skepticism; 70 years since Stalin

“Embassy comment of the fifth anniversary of the Salisbury incident,” The Embassy of the Russian Federation to the UK, 4/3. “We now realise that from the very outset London never had any interest in establishing the truth. The Salisbury chemical incident was deliberately fabricated in order to start preparing the UK population and allies for a showdown with Russia, which has now assumed military-political characteristics in Ukraine.” John Helmer at Dances with Bears has entries tagged with Skripal casting doubts on the official mainstream media version.

“70 years after Stalin’s death: How Western propaganda has rebranded the Soviet dictator from villain to hero, and back again,” RT, 5/3. Stalin (like Putin now) has been so relentlessly demonized in the West that it is impossible to have a rational discussion of him. Some contrarian links in defence of him (Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин/Iosif Vissarinovich Stalin):

What I feel when reading Communist sites is, oddly, relief – after my digressions of the last couple of years, returning to this alignment is like coming home, to a familiar place. The insane Russophobia that erupted in the West last year when Russia began its SMO was the main trigger; I realized how much Russia still meant to me. Perhaps I sound naïve, but, to hell with cynicism.

Tuesday 7/3: Russia and China mutual friendship; Putin the spy

“China and Russia deepen ties over Ukraine,” The Australian, 7/3. “Western intelligence judges that without Beijing’s help, Moscow would be in much worse shape than it is now. Really? No firm evidence then, and Russia is doing quite well in its campaign without outside support. […] Paradoxically, they’re also influenced by Western self-hatred. Many such nations consume much Western media. They often take the wildly exaggerated condemnations of the West by its own media and academia at face value. When I spent time visiting Islamist extremists in Southeast Asia I was surprised how frequently I saw the tomes of figures such as Noam Chomsky, John Pilger and other haters of the West’s strategic position. Numerous national leaderships in these nations are cynical about the global rules-based order. Democracies are less successful now, so democracy itself enjoys less prestige. Then the Americans sometimes criticise them for human rights violations, whereas Beijing never does. Beijing helps ensure much of the global south doesn’t buy into sanctions, even if most will support motions criticising Russia at the UN General Assembly. And the Western self-critics are only pointing out the hypocrisy of their own nations.”

“The Soviet spy films that inspired a young Vladimir Putin,” ABC News, 7/3. An interesting insight into President Putin’s earlier incarnation in his KGB career, but still with a negative angle: “It became clear as his career developed that Putin was a master manipulator. […] His days in counter-intelligence, Glasser argues, imbued him with a conspiratorial edge. […] He is a great manipulator; he is a brilliant psychologist […] Putin’s reign has been punctuated by publicity stunts.” And so forth. But, “Putin’s own past, particularly his early years, is coloured by this mythology. Much of what biographers know of his youth comes from his 2000 autobiography, First Person: An Astonishingly Frank Self-Portrait by Russia’s President. ‘There are huge gaps in our understanding that are almost extraordinary when you consider the role that Putin has played on the world stage for the last two-plus decades,’ Glasser says.” So, again a lot of guesswork and speculation.

Wednesday 8/3: An unwelcome increase; Gab account deleted; Challenge space movie trailer posted

Was upset to get an email from the mobile phone plan provider informing of a $5 increase to the monthly charge. Might not sound like much, but that is an extra $60 per year. I can barely afford the current plan, and the other major companies are more expensive for their basic plans. Mobile plans in Australia are rip-offs generally, so if one wants such coverage (pretty much a necessity now), one is trapped.

I deleted my Gab account (17/1/2022 entry); I am no longer interested in their politics.

The trailer for the Russian movie filmed on the ISS last year, Challenge/«ВЫЗОВ», Vyzov, has been posted on YouTube. It looks quite good but, sadly, is unlikely to be released in the West. The director and principal actress flew up as a tourist flight on Soyuz MS-19.

Long-time Russia spaceflight-hater and Conservative Mark Whittington can’t resist snarking at the film: “A new frontier in space: Moviemaking,” The Hill, 15/1/2023. “The Russian space program has seen better days. However, what it can no longer do in real life, Russia is about to do in the form of a major motion picture.”

His article was briefly but sardonically mentioned on a Russian site (link via a post on the Novosti Kosmonavtiki forum):

The Hill: Actor Tom Cruise will film in space to answer the Russian film Challenge

The columnist for The Hill criticized the Russian film Challenge and announced the intention of the United States to make its own film about space, which, of course, will become better and more successful than the Russian one. This became known to the information and news publication Solenka.info.

However, at the moment, the American film does not yet have a plot and titles. It is only known that the main role in the film will be played by actor Tom Cruise, who during the filming will have to go into outer space. According to preliminary data, 200 million dollars were allocated for the creation of the film.

It is worth noting that despite the criticism, the author of the publication noted that while watching the announcement, he was impressed by the scenes from the Russian film Challenge, filmed on the ISS. The journalist also liked the acting.

Thursday 9/3: Russophobic magazine; a misguided philosopher; legality of Russia’s invasion

While in a newsagent, I happened to look through a magazine called New Eastern Europe, and the articles inside and their website shows them to be rabidly Russophobic. As it is published by the College of Eastern Europe in Poland, the absolute hatred of Russia is not surprising.

“‘Such relentless rawness’: The French philosopher on Ukraine’s battlefields,” The Age, 9/3. Another misguided Ukraine supporter, this one a French intellectual, Bernard-Henri Lévy. “This time, however, he said the stakes were far graver. If Russian President Vladimir Putin weren’t stopped, he warned, there would be a new Cold War, with Russia, Iran, China, Turkey and Islamic militants menacing the world and nuclear despots empowered to blackmail the West. Menacing, how? They are challenging the Western hegemony and are fed up with the USA’s dominance. Those in the US Congress and European capitals who complain that arming Ukraine is too expensive, he said, are quite simply ‘morons.’ No, they are not – they are rightly wanting for their own countries to concentate on their own citizens first; Ukraine is irrelevant.”

“Why Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine On 24 February 2022 Was Legal,” Eric Zuesse for Oriental Review, 6/3. States the case for the Russian SMO in Ukraine. “Russia didn’t launch nuclear war against the U.S., but did launch a conventional war against Ukraine, which was forced upon Russia by the U.S. and NATO decisions to reject on 7 January 2022 Russia’s essential national security demands.”

Friday 10/3: Purging continues; cretinous celebrities

Purged more possessions this week; just books. Problem is the accumulated physical copies get so heavy.

“Celebrity network helps Ukraine buy kamikaze drones,” The Australian, 10/3. Virtue-signalling celebrities are obnoxious at the best of times, but their support for Ukraine brings that to a new low. (Outliers like Steven Seagal – 1/3 entry – are a rare exception.) “When asked about the military side of the project, many ambassadors were uncomfortable that the line between charity and warfare had blurred. Only Hamill appears completely at ease. ‘This is a simple fairytale of good vs evil. Everyone has a responsibility to do the right thing, not just for yourself but for the good of mankind. That’s why Mr Zelensky refers to Russia as an “evil empire”,’ he told The Times, promoting autographed Star Wars posters available at the project’s website, u24.gov.ua. […] ‘Who’s going to side with Russia apart from the whackos?’” Well, I certainly am siding with Russia, as are a lot of other sane people! I will loathe Hamill forever now, and not watch any Star Wars movies again.

Saturday 11/3: Russophobic Zubrin; more foreign interference hypocrisy; Russia still regarded as a space threat

Longtime manned Mars mission advocate Robert Zubrin turns out to be yet another pro-Ukraine shill, judging by some posts on his Twitter feed. Is there any one in the Western space programs who is not? (If there is, they presumably would not dare say so for fear of being ostracized.)

“Ukraine says Bakhmut battle is grinding down Russia’s best units, US says Russia stirring trouble in Moldova,” ABC News, 11/3. Reverse what “Ukraine says” and one arrives closer to the truth. Does anyone seriously belive them anymore? And as for the accusation of Russia interfering in Moldova: “Lavrov likens protests in ex-Soviet state to 2014 Kiev coup,” RT, 10/3. “The massive protests Georgia has been facing over the past week closely resemble the 2014 Maidan coup in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday. Backed by external powers, these protests are just another plot attempt […] Over the last week, thousands of people have gathered by the Georgian parliament in Tbilisi in order to protest a bill that would have required individuals and organizations with foreign funding to register as ‘agents of foreign influence’.” And, “Georgia ‘lost chance for sovereignty’ – Moscow,” RT, 10/3. “The US opposed Georgia’s “foreign agents” bill because Washington does not want the country to have political sovereignty, Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, said on Friday. He argued that the legislation, which was withdrawn after protests and clashes with police in Tbilisi, was aimed at limiting Washington’s ability to meddle in Georgia’s affairs.”

On my Russian Space News page, I posted an item from RIA Novosti about the latest annual threat assessment of Russia by U.S. intelligence agencies; an extract relevant to space.

Sunday 12/3: Pointless sanctions posturing; Maginsky articles; generation gap

“‘Apply sanctions on these murderers’: Opposition calls for action over downing of MH17,” The Age, 11/3. A pointless action, given that the trial verdict was a travesty anyway. “Anton Moiseienko, a lecturer at the ANU College of Law, said it would be easy to sanction all three men, but considering they were unlikely to have assets in Australia, it might not be a priority.” (Previous mention: 9/2 entry.)

While doing a search at RT for the Magnitsky laws mentioned, came across several related articles:

Simplicius the Thinker has written a couple of particularly memorable articles on Substack. “Dead Internet,” 10/3. On the corporate and for-profit ad-infested wasteland the once-promising Internet has become. “Shibboleths Of War: The Clash Of Old World vs. The New in Ukraine,” 3/10. On the contrasting media imagery of Ukraine vs. Russia: “The entire governmental structures of Ukraine and the AFU are modeled precisely to appeal to the glossy whims of Gen-Z – those pamphlet-waving college-aged liberals, thrumming with the flighty juvenile excesses necessary to attach themselves to any fashionable cause populaire. Contrast that with the soft-spoken, paternalistic demimonde of Putin’s siloviki, that stour-faced, seasoned crop of old-fashioned bellwhethers representing a wholly different, bygone age. […] One’s aesthetic is angsty teenager, edgelord grunge. […] The other side adopts the devices of the Old World; religious imagery and symbolism, Soviet heraldry – things rooted and steeped in a true sentimentality, a looking backwards, rather than the irony-laden, giggle-stirring shibboleths and meta-jokes of the post-modern era.”

Monday 13/3: Determination not one-sided; postcards to fascists; an undeserved Oscar

“Putin’s army unleashes untold misery on Ukraine every day. But amid the devastation is a sense of absolute determination,” ABC News, 13/3. Yet another “heroic Ukrainian underdogs” human interest story from what has become one of the main Ukrainian propaganda outlets in Australia masquerading as news. (ABC News has an editorial policies page – “The ABC has a statutory duty to ensure that the gathering and presentation of news and information is impartial according to the recognised standards of objective journalism” – obviously not adhered to when it comes to Ukraine.) To counter this, a view from the opposite side: “Unbreakable: The Women of Donbass,” Sputnik News, 8/3 (photo special for International Women’s Day). “Since the beginning of the Ukrainian conflict nearly nine years ago, many Donbass women now stand side by side with their husbands, brothers and sons, providing whatever assistance they can. These are the stories of but a few of these women – women who could not be broken by the entire might of the Ukrainian war machine backed by the United States and its European allies.”

“Postcards to the Front representative collects messages from Australians for Ukrainian soliders,” ABC News, 13/3. Good intentions, but wrong side chosen. Literally supporting neo-Nazis (a recent RT article as an example: “Neo-Nazi brotherhood: How American friends of Ukrainian fascists plotted a terror attack in the US and the media ignored the story,” 7/3.)

More evidence of how irrelevant and politicized the Oscars are (and serve as another pro-Ukrainian propaganda outlet): “Best Documentary Feature Film goes to Navalny,” ABC News, 11/3. “Navalny has taken out Best Documentary Feature Film. It followed Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny while he was in hiding from the Russian government in Germany. Yulia Navalnaya, Mr Navalny’s wife, accepted the award alongside the filmmakers. ‘My husband is in prison just for telling the truth,’ she said. ‘My husband is in prison just for defending democracy. Aleksei, I am dreaming of the day when you will be free.’” (Previous mentions: 24/2, 16/2 entries.)

Tuesday 14/3: Pedantry pontifications; defecting mercenary; Navalny fiasco; dud sub deal; another Stalin tribute; more on Georgian protests; Ukraine shelling ambulances

More purging of books (to a charity shop). Am exhausted from carrying a heavy load, and sorting and rearranging some of my possessions.

“Collections: One Year Into the War in Ukraine,” Bret Devereaux, 24/2. The obnoxiously patronizing ancient and military historian, one of whose followers got my Twitter account temporarily suspended (23/1 entry), and pro-Ukraine shill. “And of course once again, I said right around this time last year, ‘I am not going to pretend to be neutral here. I am on the side of the nascent democracy which was ruthlessly and lawlessly attacked without provocation by a larger and more powerful foreign power.’”

“American Mercenary Defected To Russia,” Oriental Review, 13/3. More on John McIntyre, the American mercenary who defected to Russia after a year in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. (2/3, 13/3 entry). “It has become an unpleasant reality to the American that Nazi ideology is widespread in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and Nazi symbols are widely used. It is also used by mercenaries from Croatia and the Czech Republic.”

“Navalny documentary wins Oscar,” RT, 13/3. More on the undeserved Oscar for the documentary about neurotic Navalny (13/3 entry). “Some Russian officials argued that the situation was likely orchestrated by Western special services in concert with Navalny’s team.” Also a brief TASS article: “Kremlin slams best documentary award for Navalny film as politicization of Oscars,” 13/3. “Awarding an Oscar to the Navalny documentary may be ‘an element of politicization," Kremlin Spokesman Dmitrii Peskov said. ‘I cannot judge the documentary’s qualities because I haven’t seen it,’ he noted. ‘However, even though I haven’t seen it, I dare say that there is an element of politicization of the issue. Hollywood sometimes does not hesitate to politicize its work, so such things happen. Still, I wouldn’t talk about the cinematic merits of the film,’ Peskov told reporters, when asked how the Kremlin assessed the fact that Daniel Roher’s film about Russian blogger Alexey Navalny had won the Oscar for best documentary feature.”

“Australian nuclear submarine program to cost up to $368b as AUKUS details unveiled in the US,” ABC News, 14/3. Oh, am I upset and furious over this huge decades-long extravagance that will bankrupt Australia’s economy while enmeshing us even deeper with the USA (to whom our government is just a gullible vassal). The Australian-based alternative news site, Pearls and Irritations, has some good articles to counter this; one of the latest being “We don’t need subs or war with China,” Jack Waterford, 14/3. Former Australian Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating also wrote a highly critical opinion piece over the mainstream media stirring up anti-China paranoia: “Capital city newspapers urge nuclear war by Australia against China: God help us,” 10/3. I am too tired to go into this further (and want to mostly concentrate on Russia), but pro-Ukraine shill Mick Ryan (previously: 2/3 entry) gets a mention: “And then there is Mick Ryan. One of scores of former army Generals, who has spent most of his career focused on Afghanistan, the Middle East and Ukraine. Hardly people of independent and judicious mind.” His bias is also noted by Caitlin Johnson – “No, Australia Does Not Actually Need To Prepare For War With China,” 7/3: “This first ‘expert’ is Mick Ryan, whom I have written about repeatedly because he seems to feature in literally every single Australian news media piece geared toward propagandizing Australians into accepting war with China as an inevitability which must be prepared for. Ryan is an Adjunct Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), which is funded by military-industrial complex entities like Raytheon, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, and is also directly funded by the US government and its client states, including Australia and Taiwan. SMH and The Age make no note of this immense conflict of interest.”

“On the 70th death anniversary of Joseph Stalin,” In Defense of Communism, 13/3. An unapologetic tribute. (Previously: 6/3 entry.)

“Echoes of Maidan: Georgia has a huge Western-funded NGO sector and regular outbreaks of violent protest, is there a link?” RT, 11/3. Another article on the suspicious motivations behind the Georgian protests. (Previously: 11/3 entry.)

“Frontline medics face daily choice of who lives and dies,” The Australian, 13/3. “So effective are Ukrainian medevac teams at rescuing soldiers and returning them to combat that they are credited by the country’s NATO allies with maintaining the morale that has turned the tide of the war in Ukraine’s favour. They say they are relentlessly targeted by President Putin’s forces as a result and have had to daub olive paint over the red crosses on their ambulances.” I think a fair bit of that is ‘friendly fire’ – ‘Fake: Russian army carries out ruthless shelling of Donetsk’s Petrovsky district,’ War on Fakes, 27/2; ‘three ambulance personnel died on the spot and another died in hospital. Ten EMERCOM personnel were also injured to varying degrees of severity and are currently under medical supervision.’ […] The Russians are using old Soviet tourniquets that are ineffective, they have a nurse at battalion level instead of a qualified physician, as in NATO, and their damage-control centres are further from the front line, only at division or army corps level. I find that hard to believe? Russia looks after its soldiers.”

Related: “Ukrainian army bombs ambulance in Donetsk, then releases video proving its war crime,” Donbass Insider, 28/2. “It has long been obvious to those who have been following the Donbass conflict since 2014 that the Ukrainian army regularly and deliberately targets ambulances, rescue teams, repair brigades, and journalists who come to already bombed areas.”

Ukraine shill and former astronaut Scott Kelly (previous mention: 28/2 entry) tweets about this topic often: “Russia continues to target Ukrainian ambulance and other humanitarian and civilian infrastructure. Russia is a terrorist state that must be defeated. Please consider a donation to purchase ambulances to save Ukrainian lives.” I would not believe a word of his.

Wednesday 15/3: Headache; DNF The Dogs; destroyed drone furore; Baikonur payment dispute; International Russophile Movement launched

Had a headache overnight and into this morning, which debilitated me as usual.

I returned The Dogs (27/2 entry) to the bookshop as I was not finding it enjoyable or particularly interesting. Something about the detached writing style made the story seem like a literature exercise rather than one written with real passion. Sometimes reading discussions (or in this case, a scandal) about a book is more interesting than reading the actual book! I had a go of reading it at least, but such is not for me.

“US surveillance drone conducting ‘routine operations’ struck down by Russian fighter jet over Black Sea,” ABC News, 15/3. A big kerfuffle over this, but Russia was well within its rights to, given that the USA is covertly involved in aiding Ukraine in the war. “Moscow has repeatedly voiced concerns about US intelligence flights close to the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.” Not “illegal”! (“Crimea broke away from Ukraine and voted to join Russia shortly after the 2014 coup in Kiev. In July, Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said that the refusal “by Ukraine or any NATO state” to consider Crimea a part of Russia would be considered a threat.” “Ukraine could seize Crimea next month – deputy defense minister,” RT, 19/11/2022.) “Russia comments on US drone crash in Black Sea,” RT, 14/3. “The Pentagon routinely uses the phrase ‘unsafe and unprofessional’ to describe incidents in which Russian interceptors chase off US drones, spy planes or fighters that come too close to the border.”

Russian spaceflight. A dispute between Kazakhstan and TsENKI (Center for the Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure at Baikonur)/ЦЭНКИ (Центра по эксплуатации наземной космической инфраструктуры). Kazakhstan being “difficult” because it can. Summary from the Закрытый космос/“Closed space” Telegram account:

On the situation with Baiterek

I did not want to get involved in this disassembly at all, but, apparently, I will have to.

So what do we have:

Naturally, taxes must be paid, all court decisions must be followed, and the laws of one’s country and the country of residence (Kazakhstan) must be observed.

However, I believe that both the court decision and the unexpectedly discovered unpaid taxes may be the result of the decision taken by the leadership of Kazakhstan to suspend cooperation with Russia (at least on this project).

Why is it possible:

Thus, Kazakhstan can now try to withdraw from the project with minimal losses for itself.

If it’s still not about politics, then for a positive way out of the current situation with Baiterek, there are, at first glance, three options:

Arrest of Russian property at Baikonur - suspension for the Soyuz-5 project?

Updated: 07.03.2023

The Bailiff Service of the Republic of Kazakhstan informs that the property of TsENKI (Center for the Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure), located in Kazakhstan, has been arrested. The company, which is a subsidiary of the state-owned Roskosmos, is prohibited from withdrawing wealth and assets from Kazakhstan. The travel ban also extended to the head of the unit – until the end of the investigative actions, he cannot leave Kazakhstan.

The ban on the use of resources and the conduct of financial transactions, as well as the instability of negotiating positions in general, slows down the priority area of work at Baikonur – the construction of a new launch pad for the Soyuz-5 rocket. on a rocket, which, due to the lack of a launch pad, may no longer fly anywhere Such a kind of “suspension” can turn into a financial “black hole” – 62 billion rubles have been spent. On the joint project “Baiterek” it is also possible, apparently, to put an end to it, as well as on the whole idea to replace the Ukrainian “Zenith” with our own development.

Many cite “incorrect behavior” and harsh statements by the new head of Roskosmos, Yuri Borisov, as the main reason for such actions. Back in 2022, when it came to postponing construction by six months, he criticized the delays in launching the launch pad, in particular, the Minister of Communications of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Bagdat Musin, who is engaged in the space industry in Kazakhstan.

In turn, Bagdat Musin calls the criticism of Yuri Borisov a “diplomatic miscalculation.” Our sources explained that Mr. Musin is using the situation for his own PR. It is obvious that he has good skills in undercover diplomacy. This is evidenced by his rapid career growth, as well as a penchant for excessive theatrical attacks. Our people love politicians who show their independence to Russia, and Musin is happy to once again play for the public by playing the card of independence.

Despite the fact that cooperation in the field of space is beneficial for both countries, it is not clear why Bagdat Batyrbekovich is trying to drive a wedge between Tokayev and Putin. Moreover, he uses various methods to denigrate Yuri Borisov. Sources of the kz4.news editorial office express fears that the actions of our minister can really lead to disagreements, which will primarily affect our economy and the development of the research base.

The actions of officials can turn into a serious blow to the entire bilateral space and research program. There is still no replacement for Baikonur, which has a unique geographical location, and there will never be. Maybe officials should calm down their personal ambitions in such a turbulent time, or go to aggravate the conflict.

Bagdat Musin: Almost 13.7 billion tenge will be recovered from a subsidiary of Roskosmos

March 14, 2023, 12:32 p.m. 2270

The Russian enterprise received these funds under a contract from the SP Baiterek, but did not fulfill the promised scope of work.

According to the decision of the court of the Astana International Financial Center, more than 13 billion 684.5 million tenge will be recovered from the Russian AO Center for the Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure (AO TsENKI) in favor of Joint Kazakh-Russian Venture AO Baiterek said the Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan Bagdat Musin on the sidelines of a government meeting.

The head of the ministry confirmed the information about the recovery of a large amount from AO TsENKI (a subsidiary of Roskosmos, which operates the property of the Baikonur cosmodrome) and the accompanying arrest of the company’s property located in Kazakhstan, as part of enforcement proceedings. He admitted that the court decision would be followed by further proceedings in the court of appeal.

“There were certain lawsuits. These are two enterprises. On the one hand, AO SP Baiterek, and on the other hand, AO TsENKI. They had lawsuits in the AIFC Arbitration Court, as a result of which the AIFC made a certain decision. As a result the bailiff takes the actions that he is obliged to take under the law of the Republic of Kazakhstan. This does not apply to the property of the entire Baikonur complex, this applies to TsENKI, its property on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan,” Bagdat Musin explained.

The minister stressed that, according to his information, the management of AO TsENKI is now in Kazakhstan and is negotiating with the SP Baiterek. He clarified that we are talking about the amount “in the region of a billion or two billion rubles.”

As it became known to the editors of Informburo.kz, the lawsuit between the Baiterek joint venture and AO TsENKI JSC is connected with non-fulfillment of the terms of the contract for the development of a draft design of the Baiterek complex, which the Russian enterprise received from the joint venture. As part of the contract, the subsidiary of Roskosmos was supposed, in particular, to conduct an environmental impact assessment (OVOS). Since the supplier did not complete this part of the work, SP Baiterek filed a lawsuit with a demand to recover its actual cost from AO TsENKI.

The court of the Astana International Financial Center satisfied the corresponding claim back in November 2022, AO TsENKI received a notice of initiation of enforcement proceedings in January 2023. Since the Russian enterprise, obviously, did not pay the amount of the penalty voluntarily, as part of the enforcement proceedings, its property in Kazakhstan was arrested.

“Action movie icon says he’s ‘million percent’ Russian,” RT, 14/3. “Movie star Steven Seagal made an appearance at the inaugural meeting of the International Russophile Movement in Moscow on Tuesday.” Steven Seagal (previously: 1/3 entry) is one actor courageous enough to vocally support Russia, for which he is ostracized in the West. “Vladimir Putin sent his greetings to the participants and guests of the founding congress of the International Russophile Movement” and “Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s remarks at the opening of the founding congress of the International Russophile Movement,” 14/3/2023.

Thursday 16/3: NATO provocations admission; the West versus the rest; anti-Tsar Twain

“NATO alliance not without blame in Putin’s bloody war,” The Australian, 16/3. “It is hardly popular – or even perhaps useful – to say this is a war that probably could have been avoided. The extension of NATO to the Russian borders in the late 1990s and early 2000s provoked at the time the warnings of the American diplomat with most experience of Russia, George Kennan, who said ‘expanding NATO would be the most fateful error of American policy in the entire post-Cold War era.’ This may have seemed a somewhat apocalyptic pronouncement when made in 1997 but it turned out to be prophetic. Even more significant, however, in the lead-up to the war was the removal of the elected Ukrainian government in 2014 with considerable moral and financial support for this exercise from the US. Arguably this resulted in a conclusion by Putin that he was not prepared to tolerate a regime hostile to Russia on his immediate borders.” A little crack in the narrative there! A grudgin admission that maybe Russia had good reason for finally launching its SMO after years of deliberate provocations by NATO and the West.

“The Worst Deal Ever – Australia To Pay U.S. For Nuclear Insecurity,” Moon of Alabama, 15/3. The obscenely expensive and traitorous agreement by the Australian government to buy U.S. submarines gets roundly criticized, as it should. I found a particular comment of interest, a little tangential to the subject:

What the United States, Great Britain and Australia hold in common is a product of our shared histories: We are bound, above all, by our belief in a world where we, the Anglo-Saxons, are supreme, and all other peoples inferior. Blinded by our exceptionalism and hubris, we hold that our ways are fundamental and universal; that there can be no alternative civilizational systems of culture or governance conducive to human wellbeing and advancement.

We of Australia, the United States of America, Great Britain, Canada and New Zealand are, in our shared core ideology, truly racist. The Chinese, the Russians, the Indians – all non-Anglo-Saxon peoples – are lesser. Ours is the natural “rules based order.” We make the rules; you follow our orders, or your individual dignity or national sovereignty be damned.

As Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) long ago observed, we are a race of thieves, highwaymen, pirates. Our private creed: “When the Anglo-Saxon wants a thing he just takes it.” Our modus operandi is perfidious subjugation and plunder. We are the “Empire of Lies.” In our civilizational supremacy, all our actions are justified.

I loath this accursed AUKUS alliance. It doesn’t need to be this way. We could and should have an unaligned foreign and defence policy appropriate to our demography and geography. Will Australia awake from its self-delusion? Maybe eventually. I fear, on the evidence, that Prime Minister Albanese and ministers Marles and Wong never will.

There is no foe with imperial ambitions threatening us. Not China. Not Russia. Not any other nation. Through the AUKUS alliance we are confirmed as complicit enemies of humanity and the venal opponents of the historic and inevitable transition towards global multipolarity (as persuasively propounded by Presidents Xi and Putin).

And we are the enemy of our own national security and national interests.

I have noticed this ingrained, unconscious racism in older generations in particular: namely, that people who are not white-skinned and not of Anglo-Saxon/UK heritage are inherently “inferior” merely due to their cultures and ethnicity. It is an irrational and abhorrent opinion, but trying to argue with them against such an attitude is futile as they grew up during the White Australia policy era (and the British Empire colonial era). There was also an echo of this patronizing attitude when a EU diplomat, Josep Borrell, was controversially quoted as saying, “The rest of the world … is not exactly a garden. Most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden. The gardeners should take care of it, but they will not protect the garden by building walls.” Namely, Europe, the UK, USA and the West generally are “civilized” and countries outside of this group are threatening barbarians (“the West versus the rest,” to be more succint).

And, off on another tangent, Mark Twain (mentioned in that quote) was an ardent anti-monarchist and, “Twain supported the revolutionaries in Russia against the reformists, arguing that the Tsar must be got rid of by violent means, because peaceful ones would not work.” (Wikipedia) (Previously about my hate for the Tsar: 21/2 entry.)

Not surprisingly, Twain supported not only revolutions of the past, but also those of his present. He defended the 1905 revolution in Russia and was bitterly disappointed by its defeat: “Russia was on the high road to emancipation from an insane and intolerable slavery; I was hoping there would be no peace until Russian liberty was safe … One more battle would have abolished the waiting chains of billions upon billions of unborn Russians, and I wish it could have been fought ….”

In response to Russian reformists who were afraid of revolution, Twain asked:

What is the Czar of Russia but a house afire in the midst of a city of eighty millions of inhabitants? Yet instead of extinguishing him, together with his nest and system, the liberation parties are all anxious to merely cool him down a little and keep him.

It seems to me that this is illogical – idiotic, in fact. Suppose you had this granite-hearted, bloody-jawed maniac of Russia loose in your house, chasing the helpless women and little children – your own. What would you do with him, supposing you had a shotgun? Well, he is loose in your house – Russia. And with your shotgun in your hand, you stand trying to think up ways to ‘modify’ him.

When we consider that not even the most responsible English monarch ever yielded back a stolen public right until it was wrenched from them by bloody violence, is it rational to suppose that gentler methods can win privileges in Russia?

– The Mark Twain they didn’t teach us about in school

Friday 17/3: Drone hyperbole; Ukraine conflict facts; Russophiles ridiculed; miffed minister

From the latest Larry Johnson post, “Can We Stop Playing Make Believe? Where are the Adults When It Comes to Ukraine?” a particularly acerbic comment on the overblown U.S. drone shootdown controversy:

All this noise over a drone is ridiculous and scary. During the Cold War both countries regularly carried out this sort of surveillance with manned reconnaissance aircraft. Given the state of electronics in those days, they were often modified bombers and the like with crews of up to ten or eleven men sometimes. And there were screw ups and deliberate shoot downs by both side with complete loss of all crewmen. But generally, both sides kept it quiet and some of those missions and losses remain classified to this day. They kept it quiet because generally the plane was somewhere it legally shouldn’t be and neither side wanted to create an incident that would needlessly inflame their populations, force political/military responses, and escalate tensions.

In short both sides f*cked around and found out fairly regularly during the Cold War but kept it quiet because neither side actually wanted a war. This is a drone. Not a single crewman was lost. It was doing risky things in a war zone. It getting downed was expected. The only reason one would make a big deal about it is if one was actively looking for a reason to escalate. That’s the scary part.

We are not being led by competent and sane adults. They are children who think they can do as they please without consequences. At this point, there is no realistic endgame. Putin isn’t going to be overthrown. Russia isn’t going to be beaten in Ukraine by Ukrainian forces. Direct intervention by the US or NATO will surely result in escalation that could threaten our very existence. And yet, they keep on.

There simply has to be some pushback in the Pentagon and certain circles against this insanity. I think it is more likely that Biden is pushed out than Putin. At some point someone surely will stop this shit.

From a Twitter post by Cherbureki Man:

Hard facts about the Ukraine conflict:

“Italian princess, conspiracy theorists and Steven Seagal: meet Russia’s friends overseas,” The Guardian, 16/3. A typically disparaging article about the International Russophile Movement (15/3 entry), portraying the members as “political marginals and conspiracy theorists. […] this week 90 delegates, including many conspiracy theorists, gathered willing to parrot the Moscow line.”

“Kazakhstan Impounds Property Of Russian Cosmodrome Operator In Baikonur,” RadioFreeEurope, 14/3. Kazakhstan being difficult because it can (or, rather, its Minister of Communications, Bagdat Musin, being a snit). “Kazakhstan’s move to impound the space company’s property came days after the chief of Russia’s Roskosmos space agency, Yurii Borisov, publicly criticized Kazakh Communications Minister Baghdat Musin for his team’s decision to postpone the construction of a new spacecraft launch area at Baikonur. Musin called Borisov’s criticism ‘a diplomatic miscalculation.’”

Saturday 18/3: A year of fakes; more Russophile snarking; Putin arrest warrant farce

“The Year of Fakes. A Big Investigation of Disinformation from the Ukrainian army psychological operations center,” War on Fakes, 15/3. An overview of Ukraine’s intensive propaganda and fake news campaign, that was aided by the West.

“Vladimir Putin’s almost friendless folly in Ukraine,” The Australian, 17/3. A nasty spiteful article by some hack disparaging the International Russophile Movement (17/3 entry). “I’ve often said you can discover a lot about an individual’s politics when it comes to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. […] They don’t want the war to stop. They simply want Ukrainians to lie down and let Russian tanks roll over them. […] Jeremy Corbyn on the left hates NATO and hates the US. Always has, always will. At least there’s some consistency there. And for good reason – these entities are responsible for many invasions and huge amounts of resulting deaths. They are far more imperialist than Russia is accused of being. […] Russia’s list of celebrity followers, the Russophile Internationale, may be of the Z-grade type but its political supporters remain strong around the world. The good news is it’s easy to spot them. They are either from the extreme left or the hard right.”

“ICC issues arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over Ukraine war crimes,” ABC News, 18/3. The non-mainstream, non-Western media has been uniformly scornful of this transparently politically-motivated edict. “You have no power here: What the ICC ‘arrest warrant’ means for Putin,” RT, 17/3 sums up the main points of the warrant.

Kremlin dismisses “outrageous” ICC claims

The Hague-based body has no authority in Russia, spokesman points out

Moscow is under no obligation to acknowledge the “arrest warrant” for President Vladimir Putin announced by the International Criminal Court on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitrii Peskov has said.

“We consider the very premise outrageous and unacceptable,” Peskov told reporters when asked about the warrant for purported war crimes. “Russia, like many other states, does not recognize the jurisdiction of this court. Accordingly, the Russian Federation considers any of its pronouncements null and void from the legal standpoint.”

The ICC on Friday issued warrants for the arrest of Putin and Russia’s Children’s Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of “unlawful transfer” of children from Ukraine to Russia. They claim Putin and Lvova-Belova bear both individual and command responsibility for the alleged war crime.

The Russian authorities have evacuated thousands of residents from Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson – four regions that overwhelmingly voted to join Russia last September – to the interior, due the deliberate shelling of civilians by Ukrainian forces, often using NATO-supplied weapons.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine have ratified the Rome Statute that established the ICC. The US, which underwrote the tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda on which the ICC was based, adopted a law authorizing a military invasion of the Netherlands if any American is ever detained by the court.

Sunday 19/3: A walk to Centenary Park; a longing for nature; threatening the President; Russia should (not) aspire to be “normal”; regime change the ultimate aim

I went for a walk to and around Centenary Park, though I was not intending to. Too many people around, which makes me irritable and agitated. I wish I could walk along a beach or through a forest by myself; a park is nice but no real substitute for proper nature. Preferably a forest of the Northern Hemisphere, a deciduous or boreal forest (taiga). Solitude is the only time I can find some mental peace.

Am feeling depressed at the world (the Russia-hate in particular) and am struggling for motivation to write anything, so I am unfocused.

“Don’t think I won’t nail Vladimir Putin, says British prosecutor,” The Australian, 19/3. Mainstream media is making much of the farcical war crimes arrest warrant for President Putin; a politically-motivated witch hunt if there ever was. “The world must not miss a unique chance to restore faith in global justice, he adds. ‘It represents an opportunity for us to succeed but also a risk because if we can’t show that international justice can play a role here when the world seems on a precipice – and I don’t think that’s hyperbole – then there will be no confidence in international institutions.’” And good reason for that “no confidence” seeing as the West is using this as another strike against Russia.

Foreign Policy is yet another Russian-hate site; the “Russia’s War in Ukraine – understanding the conflict one year on” section has nothing but negative articles. “Can Russia Ever Become a ‘Normal’ European Nation?” is one such, by Adrian Karatnycky (a member of the Russophobic Atlantic Council – 1/3 entry). “There is no security against Russia if the country and its people do not shed their imperial mindset and become a ‘normal’ European nation-state.” “Normal” as in weakened and subjugated to the West, presumably. And, contrary to what he opines, Yeltsin’s presidency was an utter disaster for Russia after the traumatic collapse of the USSR. Regarding the “imperial” label, a commenter called “Red Outsider” has a related series of comments on Hal Freeman’s latest blog post (“Vladimir Putin and Historical Fabrications”), starting with, “Ironically, I’d say the ‘Roman model’ was successfully revived and implemented in the Russian empire back in the day – and this fact is key to the survival of Russia today. ‘Leave them as they are and simply claim tribute and overlordship’ was basically the way other ethnicities and, indeed, tribes were incorporated into the imperial fold. That’s what puzzles Western observers most, because they try to impose the Western European colonial model of ‘destroy and loot the local cultures and exterminate anyone not found worth keeping for exploitation’ on Russian history and come up with extreme misunderstandings.”.

As mentioned by Scott Ritter, “Give Peace a Chance,” 25/2, he and Karatnycky had a barbed exchange on Twitter on a different matter: “Scott Ritter raises a toast to Russia’s war against Ukraine in the company of the Army that is perpetrating this genocide.” Scott in reply: “Where were you, Mr. Atlantic Council? For someone whose ostensible raison d’être is the furtherance of fact-based analysis, one would think you’d be at the tip of the spear when it comes to garnering important insights into complex issues. And yet … absent, on all counts.”

“U.S. & Allies Seek Regime-Change in Russia,” Eric Zuesse for SouthFront, 18/3. A writer who does “stand with Russia.” Points out the hypocrisy in Putin’s “conviction.” “And, now, on 17 March 2023, NBC News headlines ‘International Criminal Court issues arrest warrant for Putin over alleged Ukraine war crimes’ and reports that the U.S.-and-allied regimes are starting a case in the International Criminal Court – which has no jurisdiction over Russia and over Ukraine and over the United States, all three of which nations refused to ratify and therefore are not subject to that Court’s jurisdiction (since it’s not a ‘Universal’court like the U.N.’s International Court of Justice is) – initiating this purely propaganda ‘case’ against Russia. Why did they NOT do that against America and UK, when those regimes invaded and destroyed Iraq on the basis ONLY of lies (which Russia certainly did not do in the case of the now U.S.-controlled Ukraine)?”

Monday 20/3: Miffed Mark; Putin 🇷🇺 and Xi 🇨🇳 hang out; Simplicius mega-post; a biased interview; Robertson rants

“Boy, The Guy Is A Sore Loser,” Reminiscence of the Future …, 19/3. Senator Mark Kelly – twin brother of Ukraine shill and former astronaut Scott Kelly (14/3 entry) – gets a deserved roasting from Andrei Martyanov. “This is really sad when the guy with Kelly’s C.V. lowers himself to a petty exhibition of own complexes, but this is a reaction of classic sore loser, because Kelly wouldn’t be able to fly real combat missions in SU-30SM, SU-35 or SU-57 because he simply doesn’t have skills and experience to operate such technology. Now, seeing how Russian Air Force downs dozens upon dozens of Ukie combat planes beyond visual range got to him and his complex of inferiority reared its ugly head.”

The meeting between the Chinese 🇨🇳 and Russian 🇷🇺 Presidents is the dominant event of the week (and one reason why Putin was charged with spurious “war crimes” to discredit him beforehand). “Vladimir Putin’s Article for People’s Daily Newspaper, Russia and China: A Future-Bound Partnership,” President of Russia, 19/3. RT provides a summary: “Russia-China ties have no limitations – Putin.” Also at Sputnik News: “Presidents Putin and Xi Pen Articles in Each Other’s Countries Ahead of Xi’s Visit to Moscow.”

“US paranoid about Russia-China summit,” M. K. Bhadrakumar at Indian Punchline, 19/3. “The arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Vladimir Putin can only be seen as a publicity stunt by the Anglo-Saxon clique, with the US leading from the rear. […] The Anglo-Saxon clique is watching with dismay the talks in Moscow tomorrow. To be sure, Moscow and Beijing have decided to stand together to bury the US hegemony. […] Suffice to say, the drone incident and the ICC warrant vitiate the climate for any dialogue between Moscow and Kiev. Evidently, the Anglo-Saxon clique is worried like hell that China might spring another surprise as it did by mediating the recent Saudi-Iranian deal.”

“SITREP 3/19/23: AND Weekend Mailbag Answers Extravaganza,” Simplicius the Thinker. A long post covering various topics, but worth the read.

“Russia’s ambassador to Australia accuses International Criminal Court of bias,” ABC News, 19/3. An upcoming TV interview by the acerbic Sarah Ferguson, which I will not watch as I can confidentially predict the interviewer will be extremely rude, hostile, and not let the Russian Ambassador state his case as she will keep interrupting him. And, needless to say, ABC News is irrevocably biased against Russia.

“Arrest warrant may signal the beginning of the end for Putin,” Geoffrey Robertson for The Age, 19/3. More misinformation and spurious allegations. “Vladimir Putin is a man who kills children. He is someone who kidnaps them from home and family. That is the contention of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). And again the fake news about “abducted” children.[…] On the charge of illegal deportation of children, the great irony is that Russia determined to convince its naive public that this was a genuine humanitarian effort, and many pictures were broadcast of Putin congratulating his ‘children’s rights commissioner’ on transporting Ukrainian ‘orphans.’ The truth is that these children had been abducted for ‘re-education’ in Russia, contrary to the Geneva Convention, and both Putin and his commissioner are now indicted for the crime. False – “Fake: Russians continue to kidnap Ukrainian children,” War on Fakes, 27/10/2022. […] Russia was recently identified by ASIO as running a “nest of spies” at its embassy in Canberra. Those who support the abduction and killing of children should not be tolerated in this country, and the Russian ambassador as well as his diplomats should be declared persona non grata and thrown out.” Absolute rubbish, and his opinion should be disregarded.

Tuesday 21/3: A farcical interview; Russia and China get together; “kidnapped” children to be returned when safe; French mass protests continue

Two Russian spaceflight news items, to which I will link to the posts on my Cosmonaut news and Russian space news pages.

“VIDEO: Russia’s ambassador to Australia accuses International Criminal Court of bias,” ABC News, 20/3. The video and transcript of the execrable interview with the Russian ambassador is online; I have not watched it as I would explode in rage. The obnoxious Ukrainian ambassador gets his say in a document linked from there, which is quoted below; full of delusional lies. He sounds like a toddler throwing a tantrum; claims of Russian “defeat” are more accurate when describing Ukraine’s situation (and the Ukrainian ambassador sounds desperate to convince). The “propaganda” claims apply equally to the Ukrainian side (and the West generally).

Responses from Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko. Question: The Russian Ambassador to Australia, Dr Alexey Pavlovsky, told Sarah Ferguson that Australia’s decision to supply military equipment to Ukraine would protract the war. What’s your response?

Vasyl Myroshnychenko: The war would end tomorrow if Russia simply withdrew to the borders it has illegally crossed to invade a peaceful and smaller neighbour, and practice ethnocide against its people. If it does not do so, the fastest way to end the war, achieve peace and return stability to the world and Australia, is to help Ukraine be victorious in the coming months. Ukraine is very grateful for Australia’s support of sovereignty, democracy and the rule of law. We fight for the same values against an out-of-control, terroristic Russian regime ruled by an indicted war criminal.

Question: The Russian Ambassador also claimed that Australia was planning to supply Ukraine with munitions, specifically 155mm shells, that could be used against innocent civilian populations in the Russian occupied areas of Donbas, part of a pattern he claimed of the Ukraine army targeting civilians.

VM: This is pure propaganda from the Ambassador. He, like all cowardly Russian officials, lie on an industrial scale. Nearly every word they say is an utter lie. As recently admitted by the Russian military high command, propaganda is and has been an official weapon of war in Russian military doctrine for decades. Nothing that the Ambassador says or alleges can in any way be believed. He cannot lie straight in bed. Russian propaganda exploits Western practices and institutions. For example, the concept of “two sides of the story” Russia knows it can put out propaganda and lies, but that they wil still get a run in the Western media and thereby achieve a legitimacy that lies simply do not merit. It’s about creating an alternative reality where nothing is true and therefore the most heinous acts against humanity become possible. There is no equivalence between a fire and the firemen who seek to put it out.

Question: Dr Pavlovsky also said that Russia considered China’s statement on a political settlement “interesting.” He says the Russian government will consider it thoroughly. Is the Ukrainian government open to considering China’s peace plan?

VM: When Russia talks about peace, it’s an admission that it has already been defeated in its attempt to completely destroy Ukraine, Ukrainians, and Ukrainian democratic statehood. Any so-called “peace” that involves Ukrainian citizens being forced to live in Russian-occupied territories – territories gained through illegal force of arms, brutality and documented war crimes – is a death sentence for those citizens and therefore unpalatable. We know this from the mass murderers and mass rapes of Bucha and many other communities that were occupied by Russian forces.

Question: President Zelenskyy has put forward a 10 Point Peace Formula which is being supported by the international community, including Australia. Dr Pavlovsky also said Ukraine was not a sovereign country on the eve of the invasion because it didn’t put the interest of its citizens first. Do you have a response?

VM: This is again pure propaganda from the Ambassador. He, like all Russian officials, lie on an industrial scale. Nearly every word they say is an utter lie. As recently admitted by the Russian military high command, propaganda is and has been an official weapon of war in Russian military doctrine for decades. Nothing that the Ambassador says or alleges can in any way be believed. He cannot lie straight in bed. Since its independence from the USSR – or quasi-Russian empire – Ukraine has democratically elected successive Presidents including President Zelenskyy – whereas the indicted war criminal Putin has ruled Russia as a dictator for 22 years. It is repulsive for the Ambassador to speak of the interests of Ukrainians since his regime has unilaterally and without provocation killed and injured some 20,000 Ukrainian civilians, deported thousands Ukrainian children to Russia for “re-education,” committed countless war crimes for which its leader is now indicted by the ICC, and destroyed thousands of schools and hospitals. The Ambassador would do better to consider the interests of his fellow Russians – some 150,000 of which have been sent to their needless deaths by the regime that he spouts propaganda for. What does the Ambassador have to say to mothers in Dagestan and Buryatia where 60 out of 100 young men recruited have died in combat?

“Here’s why Xi’s Moscow visit is a key moment in the struggle to end US hegemony,” RT, 20/3. “What is at stake here is not just the fate of Ukraine or the future of Taiwan. The issue is the existing world order itself and its current organizing principle – America’s global hegemony. This status, roundly rejected by Moscow and Beijing, is now in question.”

“What does Xi want from Putin?” The Age, 21/3. In contrast to the RT article, a typical negative and cynical slant by a Western media outlet on the countries’ relationship. “In Xi’s eyes America represents the greatest potential threat, and China has no other big power on its side to help resist Western economic or military pressure. […] Rather than downgrade the relationship Xi appears to be strengthening it, while exploiting Russia’s miscalculations in Ukraine to tilt the balance of power in his favour. It is easy to see why. Xi has won access to discounted energy supplies. And he has almost certainly extracted an assurance that Putin will back him diplomatically in a war over Taiwan.”

Regarding the “kidnapped” children (one “war crime” the Russian President was farcically charged with):

Russia to return evacuated children to Ukraine when conditions safe, envoy assures

UNITED NATIONS, March 21. /TASS/. Russia intends to return children who have been evacuated from the conflict zone to Ukraine when the conditions there are safe enough for that, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said at a news conference on Monday. We wanted to spare them of the danger that military activities may pose. That is it. The issue of children ‘brought to Russia forcefully’ is totally overblown,” Nebenzya said. “We want to show it at the UN Security Council Arria formula meeting scheduled for early April – TASS,” he added. “When conditions are safe, of course, why not,” the Russian diplomat said.

“French workers fight for their pension and retirement rights,” The Communists, 18/3. I mentioned France’s “Yellow Vests” movement in my 24/12/2022 entry; this article provides an overview and update of the mass protests. Good to see workers fighting for their rights, opposing so-called pension “reform,” despite the obnoxious French President’s efforts to thwart them. Ultimately, only a Communist revolution will secure their rights. “Even without a communist leadership, the French workers are standing up to the aggression of their state, slowly putting together the all-important puzzle of who rules, why and what to do about it and naming all the guilty parties. It can only be a matter of time before those real communists that do exist within the French proletariat become a real force to be recognised.”

Wednesday 22/3: Baikonur blackmail; a pivotal historical moment?

“Kazakhstan’s seizure of Russian space assets threatens the Soyuz-5 rocket,” Eric Berger for ArsTechnica, 22/3. Now that he (12/2 entry) has highlighted the dispute (15/3 entry), there will be a lot of nasty comments against Russia. “It appears to be good politics for Kazakh officials to stand up to this kind of bluster. The dispute over TsENKI’s assets in Kazakhstan has been spearheaded by Kazakh Communications Minister Bagdat Musin, who sees political value in asserting this independence from Russia. Musin has said his government needed to seize the assets, in part, because of a lack of communication with the chief of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov.” No, to me the dispute seems to be blatant extortion by the insulted minister, because he (regrettably) has the upper hand.

“You Have Witnessed History Today in Moscow and It Is Consequential,” Larry Johnson, 21/3. “There are moment in time that change the world. […] And you have witnessed another one today, with Russia and China signing historic, unprecedented agreements.” I certainly hope so; that his assertion will be proven correct.

Thursday 23/3: Morning storm; the New World Order; more fake news examples; Ryan lies; meddling monarchy; nervous breakdown nonsense; Russian culture can’t be cancelled

A big dark storm cell passed over Melbourne from around 8:30 a.m. with heavy rain; fortunately it did not stay very long.

“AUKUS is Australia’s message to China that the Western alliance is strong. Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin aren’t buying it,” Stan Grant for ABC News, 23/3. (Note that Stan Grant ejected a member of the Q&A audience last year for daring to question the mainstream anti-Russian narrative: “Q+A host Stan Grant asks pro-Russian audience member to leave the studio after Ukraine claim,” 3/3/2022.) Stan does make some salient points in his opinion piece – “In truth, it was never a global order anyway – it was always a Western-dominated order, an order that favoured the West, whose rules were made and broken by Western powers.” But “Clearly Australia has chosen. The AUKUS deal is our message to China that the Western alliance is strong. But is it enough?” Hopefully not – ideally Australia should at most be neutral, and not be a vassal of the USA.

“Fake News Western Propaganda in the Media About Ukraine and Russia,” Devend Online, 7/3/2023. More on the blatantly false reporting of the Western media about Russia, which influences public opinion here nonetheless (as it is intended to).

“Why Xi wants the West to watch Russia rather than China,” Mick Ryan for The Age, 22/3. This shill’s uninformed blatherings again (previously: 14/3 entry). “Russia is desperate for such shows of support – as well as an economic lifeline. Its invasion of Ukraine has become a morass for the Russians. They have very little to show for the continuous flow of coffins back to Russia. They are running short on munitions and armoured vehicles. Economic sanctions are hurting Russian manufacturing of high-tech items, especially weapons. Repeating the usual untruths in a rather desperate-to-convince tone.” And the “war criminal” false label: “Xi and Putin have embraced each other. Even though he stands next to an accused war criminal who has personally overseen the largest war and the worst war crimes in decades, Xi has shown that his dislike of Western ideals – and Western cohesion over Ukraine – exceeds any distaste for Putin’s actions.” Ending with the usual begging: “It is all the more reason why Australia should provide more assistance to Ukraine to help them win this war.” No we should not!

“Prince William makes surprise visit to troops in Poland,” The Age, 23/3. One of the useless eaters doing a publicity stunt.

“Putin is driving Russia to a nervous breakdown,” The Australian, 22/3. More hysterical hyperbole (originally in the UK The Times, a bastion of fake news when it comes to Russia). Traumatized war veterans are hardly restricted to Russia. It reiterates the “kidnapped children” fallacy: “It’s surely right, then, that the first war crime charge to be lodged against Putin relates to his abduction and forced Russification of thousands of Ukrainian children: he is stealing their futures, trapping them in trauma. His actions are driving a great chunk of Europe to the brink.”

Something a bit more positive: “Cheburashka VS the West: Why Russian Culture Can’t Be Displaced in the West,” War on Fakes, 22/3. Russian culture can’t be cancelled, despite the efforts of Russophobes in the West. “Although some hotheads are trying to fight Russian culture, it does not work very well. Dostoevsky, Tchaikovsky, Pushkin are names that Europeans and Americans know exactly, love and appreciate their work. […] Undoubtedly, Russian culture can be considered one of Moscow’s most effective weapons.”

Friday 24/3: Arrest the ICC; Medvedev trolling the West; no Iraq invasion equivalency

“Russia defies Vladimir Putin arrest warrant by opening its own case against ICC,” ABC News, 21/3. “The move was a symbolic gesture of defiance, three days after the ICC accused Mr Putin and his children’s commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova of the war crime of deporting children from Ukraine to Russia.” And the ICC accusation was equally symbolic and blatantly politically motivated. “The Kremlin has called the issuing of the warrant outrageous but legally void, as Russia is not a signatory to the treaty that created the ICC. On Monday it said the court’s move was a sign of the ‘clear hostility’ that exists against Russia and against Mr Putin personally.” And a repeat of the fake accusation of the so-called “kidnapped” children: “Ukraine says more than 16,000 children have been illegally transferred to Russia or Russian-occupied territories since the war started nearly 13 months ago. […] Russia has not concealed the programme under which it has brought thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia, but presents it as a humanitarian campaign to protect orphans and children abandoned in the conflict zone.”

“Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev threatens Germany, dangles nuclear warning,” ABC News, 24/3. Annoying clickbait headline. “Mr Medvedev has issued a barrage of similarly strongly worded statements in the past, blasting the US and its NATO allies for what he described as their efforts to break up and destroy Russia. It has been a drastic metamorphosis for the politician who once was hailed by the West as a liberal hope. […] ‘Our relations with the West are already worse than they have ever been in history,’ he said.” He has perhaps realized that trying to appease the West has not benefited Russia, and the SMO has brought out the latent Russophobia in Western countries to an extreme level. His seemingly provocative statements are simply stating the truth and calling out Western hypocrisy.

“Putin’s war has uncomfortable parallels with our invasion of Iraq,” Waleed Aly for The Age, 23/3. No, could not disagree more. As Irish Friends of Russia notes, “It’s different in the sense that Russia is justified!! They came to the assistance of the Russian people being persecuted in Donbass where as the US came to plunder a country that never threatened America or Americans.”

“Here was Vladimir Putin invading a sovereign country on massively trumped-up pretexts, without any of the necessary authorisations under international law. The SMO was lawful (12/2 entry). […] Both invasions relied on a similar melange of dubious justifications. For Iraq, the claim that Saddam’s regime had weapons of mass destruction, as well as connections with terrorist organisations which made it a terrorist threat to the West – all of which was quite predictably untrue. For Ukraine, that it was seeking NATO membership, thereby continuing NATO’s onward march to surround Russia, placing American forces on the Russian border and leaving Russia seriously under threat. Not a lie; NATO has been encroaching on Russia since the Cold War’s end. […] Then there were the human rights justifications. In Iraq, Saddam’s persecution of non-Sunnis, and especially the Shiites – which was true. In Ukraine, an alleged genocide of ethnic Russians – which was not. Ask the people in Donbass who have been persecuted by Ukraine since 2014. […] Putin apparently figured he’d take Kyiv in a few days, has manifestly failed, and may never win the war. Don’t speak too soon – Russia is progressing slowly but surely.”

Saturday 25/3: Royal not welcome; kidnapped children allegations again; Russia’s new policy; Lithuania not innocent victims; NASAWatch not liking flag display

“King Charles III postpones France trip as violent protests erupt to decry pension reforms,” ABC News, 24/3; “King Charles’ visit to France cancelled amid threats, protests,” The Age, 25/3. Good – why was one of these royal parasites even invited to visit? “King Charles’ trip would have included a lavish banquet at the Palace of Versailles.” An insult to France’s history! Best quote: “Graffiti left in Paris during Thursday’s march read: ‘Charles III do you know the guillotine?’”

“Russia signals it will take more Ukrainian children,” The Age, 24/3. Pushing the false “kidnapped children” narrative yet again (23/3 entry). “Its leaders have made clear that they intend to continue deporting children to Russia in what they have billed as an act of humanitarian compassion.” So moving children out of harm’s way is kidnapping? One recent article to counter the allegations: “ICC wants to arrest Putin for sheltering children from AUF bombing,” Donbass Insider, 19/3. “The ICC is not accusing Vladimir Putin of sordid war crimes in Ukraine, such as the bombing of civilians and mass rapes, no, it is accusing him of having sent children to Russia, who would otherwise have remained in territories regularly subjected to bombing by the Ukrainian army!” From a comment below the article: “This particular ICC ‘judicial’ gang thinks removing children from active battle zones featuring heavy weapons and battalion strength combined arms attack and defence, a war crime. Charging Putin and his subordinate with war crimes based on these outrageous lies is contemptible. It’s particularly odious as Zelenskiy and the AFU, at the direction of US-NAYOYO advisors, planned to fight in cities and towns with the intention of completely destroying ethnic Russian areas while refusing civilians and children water, food, safety, and evacuation.”

“After Tania arrived from Ukraine, Nadia helped make ‘Australian school’ less scary,” The Age, 24/3. Another “human interest” story to maintain support for Ukraine (big bad Russia forcing children refugees to emigrate, here).

“Ukraine is begging the west for more military support, and the people of Lithuania are answering the call,” ABC News, 25/3. Ukraine grifting for more funds into its bottomless money pit, and Lithuania has a grudge complex – “Since Russia’s war on Ukraine began the Lithuanian government has been a frontrunner in taking action against Russia.” Hope they suffer economic consequences as a result. Lithuania collaborated with the Nazis in World War 2 (one article that came up during a quick search: “Lithuania’s Blind Eye to Nazi Past,” Los Angeles Times, 4/1/1998 – “U.S. and Israeli critics contend that Lithuania’s lack of action stems from its unwillingness to face its wartime past and the fact that many of its citizens cooperated wholeheartedly with the Nazis in killing 220,000 Lithuanian Jews – about 95% of the country’s Jewish population.” And a blog entry that links to it: “Lithuania’s Blind Eye to Nazi Past, redux,” Grant Arthur Gochin for The Times of Israel, 16/11/2021.)

“Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s article for Razvedchik (Intelligence officer) news magazine,” 24/3. Sergei Lavrov’s “understanding of the current international developments, as well as Russia’s foreign policy priorities.” A scathing indictment of the hypocrisy of the West. It is a sobering read; Russia is no longer in any mood for co-operation. And Australia is, sadly, one of the “unfriendly countries,” being effectively a vassal state of the USA.

[…] the US-led so-called collective West is doing everything to revive the unipolar model, which has run its course. They want to force the world to live in a Western-centric rules-based order that they invented themselves, while seeking to punish those who disagree with these rules, even if no one has ever seen them and they are nowhere to be found. We never had any illusions as to who we are dealing with. It was clear to us that after the Cold War ended, Washington and its NATO satellites sought total hegemony and wanted to resolve their own development challenges at the expense of others. […]

Today, our relations with the United States and the EU are at the lowest ebb since the end of bipolar confrontation. When the special military operation began, the West declared a total hybrid war against Russia. Its goal is to defeat us on the battlefield, destroy the Russian economy and undermine our internal political stability.

We have drawn the necessary conclusions from this. There will be no “business as usual” again. We will not knock on the closed door, let alone make unilateral concessions. If the West comes to its senses and offers a resumption of contacts, we will see what exactly they offer and will act based on Russia’s interests. Any hypothetical agreements with the West must be legally binding and must include a streamlined mechanism of their verification.

To tell the truth, we no longer have any illusions about converging with Europe, being accepted as part of the “common European home,” or creating a “common space” with the EU. All these declarations made in European capitals have turned out to be a myth and a false-flag operation. The latest developments have clearly shown that the ramified network of mutually beneficial trade, economic and investment ties between Russia and the EU were not a safety net. The EU did not think twice about sacrificing our energy cooperation, which was a pillar of their prosperity. We have seen that the European elites have no independence and always do whatever they are ordered to do in Washington, even if this results in direct damage to their own citizens. We take this reality into account in our foreign policy planning. […]

If the West decides to abandon its Russophobic line and opt for equal cooperation with Russia, this will above all benefit them. However, we are realists who know that this scenario is improbable in the near future. Besides, it will take a great deal of effort to win back our trust. Washington and Brussels will have to work very hard to do it.

Keith Cowing of NASAWatch has a Twitter whinge about the Russian and Chinese flags being photographed on the ISS (Cosmonaut news at my RuSpace site, 20/3 entry): “Meanwhile in outer space #Russia and #China celebrate their growing #Ukraine invasion alliance inside the U.S. Segment of the International Space Station pic: Dmitry Petelin @Roskosmos @TASS #ISS #NASA.” Suck it up, Russia (and China) haters.

Sunday 26/3: Bitter Baltics; two against the West misinterpretations; Russian ISS space schedule update

“The West wants to leverage Estonia against Russia,” The Communists, 26/3. The rabidly Russophobic Baltic states are being used by the West to stage weapons, soldiers and bases, and further provoke Russa. “The Russian ambassador in Tallinn, Vladimir Lipayev, who disclosed that western countries plan to supply Estonia with the most modern types of conventional weapons, also said that the imperialists had an interest in creating an anti-Russian outpost in the Baltic country in order to put economic, political, cultural and military pressure on Russia.”

“How Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping have joined to thwart the West,” The Australian, 25/3. Idiotic opinion piece that belittles the legitimate anger of China, Russia and allies against the West, continually referring to their leaders with deliberately loaded language as “authoritarian” and “dictators.” “In Western societies, leaders talk, rightly, of preserving an international rules-based order. Yet just a couple of days after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin, for war crimes, Xi arrived in Moscow for a visit of several days, lavishing praise and support on Putin, who certainly lavished back. The ‘rules-based order’ is farcical – it is only for Western countries – and the war criminal charges against Putin are equally nonsensical. […] Davis echoes other analysts when he concludes that Beijing now dominates Moscow, but it’s still a two-way street. The ‘junior partner’ meme that has deliberately been filtered throughout mainstream media to humiliate Russia – ‘The “Junior Partner” Meme Gives No Insight To Real Changes,’ MoA, 23/3. […] Thus March also saw the stunning announcement of the AUKUS deal. A creation as elegant as it is purposeful, this is the lyric soprano aria of the geo-strategic moment, Tosca on the balcony (though hopefully with a different ending). […] AUKUS has been hailed around the world. It’s not only a huge win for Australia, it demonstrates US and British resolve. No, utterly delusional – it has been savagely criticized, none the least by former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating (14/3 entry, and ‘The Worst Deal Ever – Australia To Pay U.S. For Nuclear Insecurity,’ Moon of Alabama, 15/3).” […] Xi’s visit brings powerful benefits for Putin. China is strong, Russia weak. Xi’s visit enhances Putin’s prestige, domestically and internationally. Russia is doing quite well and is equal with China.

“After fleeing Ukraine with few possessions, Anna Mykhalchuk creates art to stay connected to home,” ABC News, 26/3. Another “keep up interest in Ukraine” featuring an immigrant artist.

To spaceflight (what should be a happy topic, but unfortunately is not in the current political climate). An overview from Roskosmos news (which, frustratingly, I still can only access via internet proxy sites) on the current schedule for the ISS:

The State Commission approved the revised flight program for the Russian segment of the ISS in 2023

Today, March 24, at a meeting at the State Corporation Roskosmos, the state commission approved the revised flight program for the Russian segment of the International Space Station in 2023.

On April 6, it is planned to re-dock the Soyuz MS-23 manned spacecraft from the Poisk small research module to the Prichal hub module. It will be performed manually by Roskosmos cosmonaut Sergei Prokop’ev, along with him in the ship during the movement will be Roskosmos cosmonaut Dmitrii Petelin and NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio.

The re-docking of the Soyuz MS-23 is carried out to ensure the safety of spacewalks under the Russian program from the Poisk module.

In the spring and summer, several spacewalks by Sergei Prokop’ev and Dmitrii Petelin are planned, the main task of which is to complete the integration of the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module into the Russian segment of the ISS. In particular, the module will be equipped with an additional radiation heat exchanger and an airlock, which will be transferred to the Nauka module from the Rassvet small research module using the European remote manipulator ERA, controlled by Roskosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.

The launches of Progress MS-23 and Progress MS-24 cargo spacecraft to the ISS are expected on May 24 and August 23, respectively.

The Soyuz MS-24 manned spacecraft with Roskosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara is due to fly to the station on September 15. The landing of the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft with Sergei Prokop’ev, Dmitrii Petelin and Francisco Rubio is scheduled for September 27.

Monday 27/3: ESA ExoMars Russian equipment return plan; pirating blessing; Russia-China relations questions; Australia in hostile anti-Russia Axis

An update regarding the former Russian-European ExoMars mission that ESA stupidly cancelled last year (10/2 entry) due to supporting the Ukraine war sanctions against Russia (“ExoMars suspended, ESA Press Release, 17/3/2022” and “ESA statement regarding cooperation with Russia following a meeting with Member States on 28 February 2022”):

On the return of Russian equipment for the ExoMars-2022 mission from Europe

The State Corporation Roskosmos and the European Space Agency have developed a plan for the mutual return of equipment for the ExoMars-2022 mission.

To prepare for the return of the Russian material part (landing module with a landing platform and scientific instruments), the necessary work is being carried out at the Thales Alenia Space Italy enterprise in Turin (Italy) with the participation of Russian specialists.

The State Corporation and the Russian Academy of Sciences are exploring the possibility of exploring Mars, taking into account the groundwork created in the framework of the ExoMars project, including the possibility of attracting foreign partners.

The launch to Mars of the automatic interplanetary station ExoMars-2022, consisting of a European flight module, a Russian landing module with a landing platform and a European rover, was planned in September 2022 from the Baikonur cosmodrome by a Proton-M launch vehicle with an upper stage Breeze-M.

In March 2022, the European Space Agency suspended cooperation with the Roskosmos State Corporation on the ExoMars-2022 mission, and in July 2022 announced the decision taken by the Council of the ESA Member States to terminate cooperation on the project by the agency and offered to organize a mutual return of equipment.

Roskosmos’ proposals to launch an automatic interplanetary station to Mars in the “astronomical window” of 2024 or 2026 were categorically rejected by the ESA.

The mission was due to launch from Baikonur in 2022, but since ESA sabotaged itself in cancelling this partnership, a new mission is being funded: “FAQ: The ‘rebirth’ of ESA’s ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission,” 13/3/2023, with the next launch opportunity being in October 2028! A waste of already-expended effort and funding, and there are unlikely to be any partnerships with Russia again, for years if not decades, due to the betrayal by ESA.

ESA is launching a robotic mission to Jupiter, JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer). The launch rocket has artwork painted on the fairing, done by an 8-year-old from … Ukraine. Seems to be a pointedly political statement (and equally pointedly made in a r/space Reddit post).

“Former president urges Russians to pirate Western content,” RT, 25/3. Official endorsement of getting media by other means! Serve the West right. Not that there is a lot worth watching; much content produced is populist rubbish.

“What you need to know about Russia-China relations, but were afraid to ask,” RT, 26/3. The questions and my attempt at summaries: “Are Russia and China allies? Not directly, but still friendly. […] Is the relationship equal? Both have different strengths and weaknesses. […] Did China support Russia in the Ukrainian conflict? Again, not directly stated, but not opposing it either. […] Has there been an economic breakthrough or will the economy remain the weakest link in our relationship?” Russia has faced difficulties with the Western sanctions, but there are now more opportunities for mutual benefit between China and Russia.

“Putin accuses Australia of joining a military ‘axis’ as part of a ‘global NATO’,” The Age, 27/3. “Putin named Australia, New Zealand and South Korea as being in line to join a ‘global NATO’ To Australia’s shame, or this should be. […] Putin has depicted Russia’s actions in Ukraine as a defensive pushback against an aggressive hostile West, drawing parallels with Moscow’s fight against invading Nazi German forces during World War II.” A reasonable comparison, seeing as NATO has been inexorably encroaching on Russia’s borders as more nations sign up; a threatening move given Russia’s past history of being invaded.

Tuesday 28/3: Yet another headache; Mick Ryan rantings; document on Putin’s SMO decision; a somber anniversary

Another headache overnight and into this morning, so debilitated again.

“Ukraine’s new offensives against Russia will aim to retake territory, inspire hope and reignite Western attention on the war,” Mick Ryan for ABC News, 28/3. His latest Ukraine shilling and fictional attempt (previously: 23/3 entry). As Cameron Leckie Tweets, “Emotive language, generalities, lack of historical awareness, unproven/contested & outright false claims, failing to see the big picture & the cherry picking of evidence. #FICTION is a more appropriate descriptor than #ANALYSIS. Maybe the ABC should bring Doug Macgregor on?”

A Twitter thread, which I will quote here, linking to a recommended document:

Everyone should take time to read this article from the Journal of Military and Strategic Studies on the “Immediate Origins of Putin’s Preventative War on Ukraine.” It’s a careful review of Putin’s public statements in the runup to his decision to invade. It really goes into detail about Russian proposals to solve the Ukrainian crisis by peaceful means, and the US response of endless escalation. Western media usually date the crisis with the Russian military buildup in Fall/Winter of 2021, but they completely ignore the extreme levels of provocation earlier in the year.

32-country NATO exercises off Russia’s coast, along with written NATO partnerships with Ukraine. ou may see things like the “NATO Expansion Myth” but this has been an expressed concern about Putin for the entire year leading up to the invasion.

May 2021: “It appears […] Ukraine is being turned, slowly but steadily, into an antipode of Russia.”

June 2021: “We cannot but be concerned over the continuous build-up of NATO’s military potential and infrastructure in the vicinity of Russian borders, as well the fact that the Alliance is refusing to consider in a constructive manner our proposals on de-escalating tension.” In July 2021, Putin published his long essay, widely cited in the Western press as evidence of Hitlerian ambitions. Of course audiences and probably journalists never actually read it.

The historical background he he cited was far from a call to re establish the USSR: The “true sovereignty of Ukraine is possible only in partnership with Russia” was widely reported out of context in the West and used to call Putin a “madman.” But the surrounding text was usually omitted and ignored: “Putin stressed his commitment to the Minsk Accords to settle the situation with the breakaway Donbas republics, stating ‘I am convinced that they still have no alternative’ than the peaceful Minsk settlements.” Of course that wasn’t reported in the Western press much if at all.

Putin met with Angela Merkel in August and there too, he was concerned about the fact that Ukraine was avoiding a peaceful settlement, and being two-faced in negotiations: “We have no other tool to achieve peace.” This is when Putin began his diplomatic offensive, stressing “we need precisely legal, juridical guarantees, because our Western colleagues have failed to deliver on verbal commitments.”

After talks with Biden, Putin still stressed his NATO worries. “We are bound to be concerned over the prospect of Ukraine’s potential accession to NATO because this will be followed by the deployment of corresponding troop contingents, bases and weapons […].” On December 17, Putin submitted serious proposals on security guarantees to both NATO and the US about their expansionism.

Later he reiterated fears of what I call, the Ukrainian missile crisis. Ukraine in NATO inherently means US missiles pointed at Russia. The US actually seemed to start to talk about weapons placement, and Putin was pretty pleased at that. (I reported on this back in January ’22) But the US refused to guarantee that Ukraine wouldn’t join NATO, which was Russia’s core concerns. (As an aside, it was reported that the US was offering verbal agreements that Ukraine wouldn’t join NATO. Hilarious on so many levels)

You can see Putin growing desperate at the obvious US aggressive designs: “Suppose Ukraine is a NATO member. It will be filled with […] modern offensive weapons will be deployed on its territory just […] who is going to prevent this?”

This quote from Putin is pretty telling: “Imagine that Ukraine is a NATO country and starts these military operations. What are we supposed to do? Fight against the NATO bloc? Has anyone given at least some thought to this? Apparently not. We need to find a way to ensure the interests and security of all parties to this process: Ukraine, the other European countries and Russia. But this can only be done if the documents we proposed undergo a serious, thoughtful analysis.”

Over the next weeks, Putin is still reiterating the dangers of NATO expansion as a core concern. Putin continued to talk about the failure of negotiations. As late as February 15, Putin was publicly saying that a peace settlement along the lines of the Minsk accords was still possible.

On February 17, Putin responded to US counterproposals and said that if they couldn’t come to an agreement, Russia would resort to “military-technical means.” The nail in the coffin seems to be Zelenskyy’s insane and irresponsible speech at Munich, in which he waved around the idea of Ukraine getting nukes.

Are these the words of someone seriously looking to avoid a war? Add to that, the Ukrainians side began launching a massive attack on the Donbas republics, an overt provocation. Anyone who says that NATO expansion is not a primary cause for the war is a dumb f*ck or a liar.

I spent a mentally exhausting afternoon manually converting that PDF document to more accessible HTML (stored locally); I hate reading PDFs online. I found out one useful Regular Expression function: how to convert a plain URL to a live link:

  1. Find: (\(?\bhttp://[-A-Za-z0-9+&@#/%?=~_()|!:,.;]*[-A-Za-z0-9+&@#/%=~_()|]) or (\(?\bhttps://[-A-Za-z0-9+&@#/%?=~_()|!:,.;]*[-A-Za-z0-9+&@#/%=~_()|])
  2. Replace: <a href="$1">$1</a>

“Kremlin backs ex-president’s ‘piracy’ call,” RT, 25/3. More official endorsement! A little bit of revenge upon the thieving West (27/3 entry).

“Death of the most famous man in the world: How space pioneer Yuri Gagarin lost his life”; “Photos of Gagarin’s fatal crash released,” RT, 27/3. A sad anniversary of Gagarin’s untimely accidental death. TsPK commemorated the occasion (news articles on its website, in Russian): “Делегации Роскосмоса и ЦПК почтили память легендарных летчиков у Кремлевской стены/Roskosmos and TsPK delegations honored the memory of legendary pilots at the Kremlin wall;” “55 лет последнему полету двух героев/55 years since the last flight of two heroes.”

Wednesday 29/3: Launch dream; Soyuz successful return; Star Wars star shilling for Ukraine; another fifth columnist; Bernhard burnout; breaking up Russia; nervous about nukes

I had a curious dream last night: I was to fly as a tourist on the Soyuz rocket and spacecraft to the ISS, but on launch day I lost my nerve and sneaked away! I was then wandering around various shopping centers and streets back home; distorted but familiar dream locations. I was trying to hide as the launch personnel and officials were searching for me, and were angry and disappointed.

Some good news (or what passes for it): Soyuz MS-22 made a successful uncrewed landing in Kazakhstan. Some brief reports from the TASS news, computer-translated:

The damaged Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft left the ISS without a crew

KOROLYOV / Moscow region /, March 28. /TASS/. The spacecraft K. E. Tsiolkovskii (Soyuz MS-22), which in December had a depressurization of the external contour of the radiator of the thermal control system, undocked from the Russian segment of the ISS on Tuesday, it will return to Earth without a crew, a TASS correspondent reports from the Control Center flights.

It is expected that the descent vehicle will land at 14:45 Moscow time in the regular area southeast of the city of Zhezkazgan. It will return about 218 kg of cargo, including the results of scientific experiments and station equipment for analysis and reuse. In particular, the spacesuit battery, which was discharged during the spacewalk of cosmonauts Oleg Artem’ev and Denis Matveev in August last year, the results of the Cascade experiment to grow mushroom culture and the Probiovit experiment to create a probiotic drink in space will be delivered to Earth.

After turning on the ship’s engines for braking, it will deorbit, the habitation compartment with the removed cargo and the instrument-aggregate compartment will separate from the descent vehicle, later they will burn out in dense layers of the atmosphere. Upon entering the dense layers, the descent vehicle will begin aeroballistic braking, a plasma cloud with a temperature of about 2 thousand degrees is formed around it. Having slowed down in the dense layers of the atmosphere, the descent vehicle will continue braking due to parachutes. Soft landing engines must fire before touchdown.

The Soyuz MS-22, named after the Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovskii, departed for the ISS on September 21, 2022 and delivered Roskosmos cosmonauts Sergei Prokop’ev, Dmitry Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio to the station. The launch was the first under the agreement signed in 2022 between Roskosmos and NASA on cross-flights.

Krikalyov: the thermal regime of the damaged Soyuz MS-22 is better than the worst calculated

Sergey Krikalyov, executive director of Roskosmos for manned space programs, said that the approximate figures for the heating of the ship during the descent will be obtained after analyzing different parts of the structures.

KOROLYOV / Moscow region /, March 28. /TASS/. The thermal regime of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, which experienced a depressurization of the external contour of the thermal control system radiator in December, after undocking from the ISS is better than in the worst calculations carried out by specialists. Sergei Krikalyov, executive director of Roskosmos for manned space programs, told reporters about this.

“Estimates were made of how the thermal regime will change in different compartments of the ship, different elements of the structural equipment. As usual, estimates are made with a certain margin, the worst case is considered. We want to see how the worst calculated case differs from the real one. So far, the results show that the real case is better than the worst,” Krikalyov said.

According to the executive director, approximate figures for how hot the ship warmed up during the descent will be obtained after analyzing different parts of the structure.

The descent vehicle of the damaged Soyuz MS-22 landed in the steppe of Kazakhstan

KOROLYOV / Moscow region /, March 28. /TASS/. The descent vehicle of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft without a crew landed southeast of the city of Zhezkazgan, a TASS correspondent reports from the Mission Control Center.

The Soyuz MS-22, which in December suffered a depressurization of the external contour of the radiator of the thermal control system, undocked from the ISS on Tuesday at 12:57 Moscow time. The damaged part was located on the instrument-aggregate compartment, which was separated from the descent vehicle as planned and burned up in the atmosphere.

About 218 kg of cargo returned on the ship’s descent module, among them the results of scientific experiments and station equipment for analysis and reuse. In particular, the spacesuit battery was delivered to Earth, which was discharged during the spacewalk of cosmonauts Oleg Artem’ev and Denis Matveev in August last year, the results of the Cascade experiment to grow mushroom culture and the Probiovit experiment to create a probiotic drink in space.

The Soyuz MS-22, named after the Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovskii, departed for the ISS on September 21, 2022 and delivered Roskosmos cosmonauts Sergei Prokop’ev, Dmitry Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio to the station. The launch was the first under the agreement between Roskosmos and NASA to conduct cross-flights.

On December 15, 2022, Soyuz MS-22 experienced a depressurization of the external contour of the radiator of the thermal control system. After analyzing the situation, the state commission decided to launch the damaged ship in an unmanned mode, and return Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio, whose mission has been extended, on the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft. Experts in the rocket and space industry conducted research and came to the conclusion that the Soyuz MS-22 was damaged as a result of a sporadic meteoroid impact.

“Mark Hamill, Star Wars’ Luke Skywalker himself, is now the voice of Ukraine’s air raid alert app,” ABC News, 28/3. More reason to despise this deluded Ukraine-shilling actor (10/3 entry) and “cancel” his movies; he and they are dead to me. “The actor says he has admired – from afar, in California – how Ukraine has ‘shown such resilience … under such terrible circumstances.’ Its fight against the Russian invasion, now in its second year, reminds him of the Star Wars saga, he says – of plucky rebels battling and ultimately defeating a vast, murderous empire.” Conveniently ignoring the murderous crimes of the Ukrainian neo-Nazis.

“Putin’s death would end Ukraine war, says Russian opposition figure,” The Age, 28/3. “Leonid Volkov, the chief of staff of jailed opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, is visiting Australia this week to meet with senior foreign affairs officials and representatives of Foreign Minister Penny Wong to push his message that only sustained economic, military and political pressure on Russia would put enough strain on Putin that he would make a mistake.” An exiled fifth columnist who meets the Western definition of a “good Russian” (12/12/2022 entry) – one who wants to see Russia subservient to the West.

“The Burden Of Blogging,” Moon of Alabama, 28/3, a short post: “Some times it’s just like this. I am not feeling well. I am not sick but something is just not right. I have no idea what to post about. Every theme and issue feels so repetitive. It is the burden of blogging, especially when one tries to post every day. I need a pause. Likely only for a few days. I will continue to post open threads. I will continue to clean the spam queue and to somewhat police the comments. But over the next few days there will be no new original content here. I will do something other than reading news, thinking and writing about it. I hope that it will help to clean my mind to then come back with some fresh ideas.”. Bernhard, the author of the blog, is, understandably, affected by burnout, from the massive effort involved in his detailed posts, and the continuing mental battle against the propaganda of the mainstream media and Ukraine supporters. I certainly feel the same way, as no doubt do many other likeminded supporters. The constant Russophobic hate since the SMO began eats away at one’s mental health. For me, the formerly latent Russia-hate that emerged in full amongst those in the Western space program and spaceflight enthusiasts has been added distress.

“The world still needs a policeman. Let’s hope the US doesn’t quit the job,” Simon Tisdall for The Guardian, 26/3. An astonishingly clueless and patronizing opinion piece – the non-Western countries have had quite enough of being “policed” by the former (the USA in particular – so-called “American global leadership”). “In Moscow, meanwhile, Xi Jinping, stringing along his Russian puppet, Vladimir Putin […] That phrasing discredits the article immediately. Evidently, the US often messes up. Yet do critics of American ‘hegemony,’ deeply flawed, self-serving and arrogant though it undoubtedly is, really believe autocratic bullies such as Xi or war criminals such as Putin would do a better job as global policeman? Pull the other one, it has bells on.” Could they do any worse? They might meet the definition of “civilization.”

“Ex-VP Dick Cheney confirmed US goal is to break up Russia, not just USSR,” Geopolitical Economy Report, 1/2/2022. An older article, but reinforcing the notion that the West’s ultimate goal is to neuter and weaken Russia. “The reality is that the US empire will simply never allow Russia to challenge its unilateral domination of Eurasia, despite the fact that the government in Moscow restored capitalism. Though the restoration of capitalism ended up being a huge social tragedy. This is why it is not surprising that Washington has utterly ignored Russia’s security concerns, breaking its promise not to expand NATO ‘once inch eastward’ after German reunification, surrounding Moscow with militarized adversaries hell bent on destabilizing it.” (15/10/2022, 29/10/2022 entries.)

“Putin steps up nuclear menace,” The Australian, 28/3. A typical misinterpretation of Putin’s intentions – “There is no reason for the Western democracies, led by the US, to be anything but alarmed and fully prepared for whatever strategic skulduggery flows from Mr Putin’s act of nuclear proliferation and the accompanying threats.” RT articles: “Russia will place nuclear weapons in Belarus – Putin,” 25/3 – “The president also said that Moscow does not plan to hand over control of any tactical nuclear weapons to Minsk and that it would only deploy its own arms to Belarus. […] The move was prompted by the UK’s decision to provide Kiev with depleted uranium munitions”; “Moscow accuses Washington of nuclear weapons ‘hypocrisy’,” 28/3 – “The US stations its nuclear weapons in other countries and as such its criticism of Russia’s plans to place tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus rings hollow […] For the last 60 years, Washington has stationed its tactical nuclear weapons in five non-nuclear weapon states – Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Türkiye.” Also, “Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s comment on a number of Western countries expressing concern over Russia-Belarus nuclear cooperation,” 27/3.

Thursday 30/3: Gergiev returns; that Navalny fifth columnist again; more stolen children fake news; NATO provocations

“Star Russian conductor makes international comeback,” RT, 29/3. Great to see! “Valerii Gergiev (Валерий Абисалович Гергиев) gives a performance in China after being fired in Germany for refusing to condemn Moscow’s actions in Ukraine […] Gergiev previously served as the chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic in Germany. However, like many prominent Russian artists in the West, he was sacked in March 2022 after refusing to publicly denounce President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine. New York’s Carnegie Hall and Metropolitan Opera also banned Gergiev, as well as other Russian musicians and organizations, from performing at their venues.” The West acted disgracefully in trying to “cancel” Russian artists and culture (previously: 8/6/2022, 27/8/2022, 23/3 entries), but the latter will prevail!

“Aleksei Navalny’s chief of staff says increased economic pressure could push Putin out of office,” ABC News, 29/3. More publicity for this fifth columnist, only because he opposes Putin. “In Australia for meetings in Canberra and with the large Russian diaspora, Mr Volkov said increased economic pressure from the West could make it difficult for Mr Putin to continue to finance his invasion of Ukraine, and ultimately push the dictator out of office. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Australia has imposed sanctions on Russian oligarchs, as well as on trade and other commercial activity.” Well, it hasn’t worked so far! And hopefully will never do so.

“Ukraine urges Russians not to adopt ‘stolen’ Ukrainian children,” ABC News, 29/3. Again with the false allegations of “stolen” and “kidnapped” children, who were in fact moved out of harm’s way from Russian territory in the Donbas (25/3 entry).

“Sweden summons Russia’s ambassador over ‘legitimate target’ statement,” ABC News, 30/3. “Russian ambassador Viktor Tatarintsev said that rather than becoming safer, Sweden was ‘taking a step towards the abyss’ by joining NATO. ‘After the accession of Finland and Sweden, the total length of the border between Russia and NATO will almost double,’ he added.” As Russia is becoming ever-more encroached-upon by NATO-aligned countries, it’t can’t be blamed for reacting negatively!

Friday 31/3: Africa machinations; spy accusation arrest furore; Russia-UK relations ruined; Soyuz and Progress leaks overview

“How a shadowy Russian organisation is pulling strings across Africa,” ABC News, 31/3. “This Kremlin-backed group is doing the dirty work of the Russian state across Africa and getting rich along the way. It’s now ‘an extension or a low-cost outsourcing of Russia’s military and diplomatic engagement in the continent’.” Demonizing the Russian Wagner Group again.

A contrarian view: “Wagner Group’s Head Yevgeny Prigozhin challenges the Unipolar World and might Change the Geopolitical Reality,” Devend Online, 30/3. “[…] the unique geopolitical position of Wagner is the ability to concentrate control over large territories and population groups using small number of resources. The creation of an anti–American enclave in the heart of the African continent, which for centuries has been controlled and mercilessly exploited by the empires of the West, countries such as the Central African Republic (CAR), Mali and Sudan, is a brilliant move in its geostrategic prospects and capabilities.” Also, from RT, 20/3: “Putin makes prediction about Africa.” “Russia and African nations stand together against ‘the neo-colonial ideology’ imposed by certain powers in the world, Putin went on […] Moscow is committed to continue building a ‘strategic partnership”’ with Africa, while multiple Russian state-owned and private companies are already actively investing into the continent.” (The conference referred to: “International Parliamentary Conference Russia – Africa in a Multipolar World.”) (Related: 28/1 entry.)

“Patrushev: Have they completely lost their fear?” Global South, 27/3 (the site is run by “Amarynth,” who used to post at the now-frozen The Saker site). A computer translation of an interview with Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev on the US so-called “summit for democracy”, and a related article, “Web of U.S. Foreign policy,” 30/3.

“Russia arrests Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich for alleged espionage,” ABC News, 30/3. Of course the USA and Western media will be outraged and protest his “innocence,” but, “Kremlin comments on arrest of WSJ correspondent,” RT, 30/3. “Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed that as far as he was aware, Gershkovich had been caught in the act of trying to collect intelligence about a defense facility, in violation of Russian laws on state secrets. […] the status of correspondent had previously been used as cover by other Western nationals attempting to obtain classified Russian intelligence.” So, in the current tense geopolitical climate, one can hardly blame Russia for arresting him for such pointed queries!

According to a translated article at Vzglyad, “[…] the American journalist asked questions related to the Ekaterinburg defense industry, mentioned the Novator enterprise and others […] The journalist was also interested in the reorientation of production in the Sverdlovsk region: a change in the profile of the enterprise and personnel. […] In addition, Gershkovich was interested in the founder of Wagner PMC Evgenii Prigozhin.”

Larry Johnson is of the opinion (“Evan Gershkovich, Meet Mr. Julian Assange,” 30/3) that Russian authorities erred in arresting him: “I will make this simple. What Moscow is doing to Evan Gershkovich is the same thing that London and Washington are doing to Julian Assange. Both Russia and the West are guilty of egregious conduct with respect to investigative journalists. I think the FSB made a stupid mistake in arresting Gershkovich because it feeds the Western narrative that Putin is an authoritarian and eager to recreate the horrors of the former Soviet Union.” But the majority of his commenters disagree with him in this case (as do I, for the reason I stated in the previous paragraph). One such comment by “Michael56”: “I am generally in agreement with what you write but what you are saying here is a false equivalence. The WSJ reporter was in Russia actively seeking information about Russian weapons manufacturing while his own country, the US, is actively in support of and pursuing an extremely violent proxy war against Russia in Ukraine with a publicly declared objective of hurting Russia. On its face that is classic spy stuff for which people could realistically be executed, and we all know that journalism is frequently used as cover for spying activity. Obviously you know a lot more about that than I do. Russians are being murdered within Russia by Ukrainian operatives (Daria Dugina). Attacks on Russian infrastructure within Russia are a regular event. In the circumstances they have an absolute right to arrest spies, or those suspected of spying.”

A short article at TASS: “London totally ruined architecture of relations with Moscow – Russian ambassador,” 31/3. “‘London ruined the entire architecture of bilateral relations. It broke it down in the economic area, the humanitarian area, the scientific one, the educational one and the political one first of all. It was purely its initiative – the destruction of that architecture,’ Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrei Kelin went on to say.”

An overview of the depressurization of the Soyuz and Progress (computer-translated from a Russian article, linked via Закрытый космос/“Closed Space”):

It returned without a crew: 5 basic questions about the accident of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft

On Tuesday, March 28, the damaged spacecraft was undocked from the ISS and returned to Earth without a crew.

Roman BELOUSOV, 29/3/2023

On December 15, 2022, the Soyuz MS-22 manned spacecraft received a hole in the instrument and assembly compartment – a coolant leaked out of it into space. On February 11, the same problem was repeated on the Progress MS-21 cargo ship.

Today, March 28, the descent module of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, which undocked from the International Space Station (ISS), returned to Earth.

What were its problems? Manufacturing defects – ships began to make worse? Space debris damage? Meteor shower? Let’s try to figure it out.

1. Why did they fly without an emergency before, but here in a short time – two holes in two ships?

The design of the Soyuz spacecraft (of any generation) consists of three modules:

  1. Habitation/orbital module – there is equipment for docking, a toilet and various devices, cosmonauts can change clothes there during the flight to the station;
  2. Descent module, clad with special thermal protection – there are cosmonauts during launch, descent and docking/departure from the station
  3. Instrument-Assembly Module – there are engines, solar panels and other electronics for the orientation of the ship.

The first two modules completely burn up in the atmosphere when returning to Earth. In Kazakhstan, only the descent module lands on a parachute. So, various meteoroid impacts occur, but they are very difficult to identify after returning. But as two modules were completely burned out, and the one that returned, although it can be studied, was also burned in the atmosphere so that no traces of impacts are visible.

Perhaps a hole in the Soyuz MS-22 could have been made by the Geminid meteor shower, which just then passed near the Earth. At a speed of 35 km per second, any grain of sand has tremendous destructive power. So, most likely, our Soyuzes have received blows to the hull before, but never with such accuracy.

As for the Progress MS-21 – it could get hit on the same ill-fated day on December 15, but “dozed” for the time being, for the time being. And it “woke up” when the Progress MS-22 cargo ship docked to the station. It arrived on February 11, 2023, shook the ISS during docking, and the MS-21 “blew off the plug.”

2. Why it was dangerous for the inhabitants of the ISS

The main danger on December 15, 2022 was the inability to use the ship for its intended purpose. In the event of an emergency at the station, cosmonauts jump into spacesuits, undock from the ISS and return to Earth. After the emergency, emergency evacuation became impossible. The situation was further complicated by the fact that two of the three Russian cosmonauts were preparing to go into outer space. Sergei Prokop’ev and Dmitrii Petelin had already dressed in heavy Orlans and were preparing to leave the hatch, when the alarm sounded.

And let’s imagine a situation when this ill-fated micrometeoroid gets not into the Soyuz, but into the ISS. What if the station itself were depressurized? Such a scenario was just beaten up in the movie Gravity. Then Prokop’ev and Petelin simply would not have been able to first get out of bulky spacesuits for extravehicular activity, then put on light KV-2 Sokols to jump into the Soyuz and fly home. And what happened to those who would have been inside at the time of depressurization of the station – it’s even scary to imagine

3. What would happen if, in the event of an emergency evacuation from the ISS, our crew descended on this ship

I immediately recall all the space disasters that entailed human casualties – Soyuz-1, Soyuz-11, two exploded shuttles. But here the situation could (I emphasize, could!) develop even worse. When returning on a ship with no cooling, overheating could occur in the Instrument-Assembly Module. And overheating is not for cosmonauts – they have their own, separate circuit. And overheating of devices responsible, for example, for engines. The instruments would break down, the engines would turn off, and the cosmonauts would remain hanging out in an orbit of 250 km, hitting the atmosphere, but not entering it. It could take up to three weeks for cosmonauts to naturally return to Earth (due to friction with the atmosphere, the ship would still begin to sink into it). And the Soyuz MS spacecraft is not designed for such a time of autonomous flight outside the station. The cosmonauts would have died of suffocation.

4. Why did only Russian ships suffer from space debris?

As the NASA report showed, not only Russian ships suffer from strikes in orbit. Experts counted as many as 14 impact marks in Crew Dragon-4. And for the period from 2012 to 2020. Dragon ships returned to Earth! on first generation Over 300 micrometeoroid/space debris impact marks found.

They did not pierce the skin through and through, but it was significantly battered. There is one more thing to take into account – the ISS flies with the American segment forward in orbit. Therefore, their ships and modules are slightly stronger than ours.

5. What are the consequences of this state of emergency?

First of all, cosmonauts Sergei Prokop’ev and Dmitrii Petelin, and astronaut Frank Rubio with them, will fly to the ISS not for half a year, but for a year due to the replacement of the ship.

Secondly, the flight of the Belarusian female cosmonaut is postponed for an indefinite period. The candidate was to launch on a short-term expedition, but now Roskosmos has one ship less. In addition, the contract with RSC Energiya has not been extended for the ships. Ships could end unexpectedly in 2025.

Fourth, the timing of the integration of the Nauka module has been shifted. There hasn’t been a single spacewalk since December.

Summary

What conclusions should be drawn on Earth so that this does not happen again?

Every month, not just a year, there is more and more space debris in orbit (thank you, Elon Musk, yeah). This leads to the fact that already now the skin of spacecraft is becoming thicker and thicker. In 10 years, you will probably have to fly into space on a tank right away.

In general, the answer is simple – we need to come up with the best protection against space debris and micrometeoroids. Develop a monitoring system – now it cannot detect objects less than 10 cm.

Roskosmos has already stated that it will not make changes to the design of Soyuz and Progress due to this situation. But for the ship Oryol in development, engineers will take into account this contingency and come up with something.

April

Saturday 1/4: Royal meddling; a new foreign policy; Russian ambassador interview; a foolish journalist

“Charles lauds German support for Ukraine in bilingual Bundestag speech,” The Age, 31/3. “He praised the two countries’ current unity in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. […] Later, he met with some Ukrainians who have taken refuge in Berlin since Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022.” My hatred of royalty and monarchy is once again reinforced.

“Russia’s revised foreign policy doctrine: Key points,” RT, 31/3. A summary of “The Concept of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation” that was just released. Revised due to the “‘aggressive anti-Russian policy’ of the US and its allies” that has emerged in full Russophobic virulence since the beginning of the SMO in February 2022.

“AUKUS a ‘grave risk’ to stability in Asia-Pacific, says Russian ambassador Alexey Pavlovsky,” The Australian, 31/3; related: “Full transcript: The Australian’s interview with Russia’s ambassador to Australia Alexey Pavlovsky.” A generally neutral interview for a change, with the Ambassador stating his country’s case. “Shanahan: What is the Russian attitude to continued aid to Ukraine from Australia? Pavlovsky: In principle, any country sending lethal weapons to Ukraine becomes de facto a party to the military conflict. We don’t take it lightly, and that of course entails a lot for Russia Australia relations for now and into the future.” Which, sadly means that relations have been extremely, if not irrepairably, damaged for many years.

“The Unimaginable Horror of a Friend’s Arrest in Moscow,” The New Yorker, 31/3. A rather histronic title. “I don’t know exactly what Evan was working on in recent days. According to Russian press accounts, it may have had something to do with the military and the Wagner Group, which has supplied mercenaries to the war effort. Perhaps the particulars of this reporting triggered the paranoid minds in the F.S.B., who even before the war were primed to see spies and agents everywhere. The incentive to ferret them out has only increased; Putin has recently made several appeals for the F.S.B. to be on alert for those seeking to undermine and destabilize the Russian state.” Well, as I have said (31/3 entry), given the hostility towards Russia in the West, and the deliberate provocations of aiding Ukraine with weapons and training, can one blame Russia for being “paranoid”? The fact is the reporter should have known better.

Sunday 2/4: Baikonur dispute; war criminal charges analysis; unwanted Australian involvement; Russia in charge of UN Security Council; biased reporting on Belarus

“Seized property at Baikonur threatens Soyuz-5 program,” NASASpaceflight.com, 31/3. A reiteration of the Kazakhstan government dispute with TsENKI at Baikonur Cosmodrome (17/3 entry). (Also a link there to descriptions of Russian spaceflight exhibitors at the Army2022 expo.)

“War crimes and lawfare: The ICC’s arrest warrant for Putin,” Tim Beal for Pearls and Irritations, 31/3. Another look at the farcical “war criminal” indictement of President Putin; can be summed up as “the use of law as a weapon of war.”

“Second rotation of ADF troops prepare to fly to UK to train Ukrainian soldiers in Operation Kudu,” ABC News, 2/4. “They will be contributing to Operation Interflex, a British-led mission which has the ambitious goal of training 20,000 Ukrainian troops this year, some of whom have no combat experience and have never fired a weapon.” Bad news; Australia should not be involved, especially as we are effectively now an enemy combatant of Russia.

“Russia takes over presidency of UN Security Council, despite Ukraine anger,” The Age, 2/4. Zelensky is having conniptions, unsurprisingly – bugger him, hope he chokes on it.

“This woman could have stopped Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine. Now she’s in exile and a jail sentence awaits her in Belarus,” ABC News, 2/4. Exiled fifth columnists, these ones from Belarus. “‘Lukashenko himself is selling our country to Kremlin.’ If in charge, though, she would undoubtedly sell Belarus to the West. […] Within Belarus, a partisan movement has sprung up to try to derail Mr Putin’s co-opting of their country as a staging post for his war on Ukraine. In March last year around 80 acts of sabotage were carried out on the rail network to try to stop Russian troops entering Ukraine. An army of tens of thousands of volunteers have continued to provide key intelligence to Ukrainian officials about troop and equipment movements inside Belarus. […] Belarus’s leader in-waiting wants the West’s help now to end his reign of terror.”

Cameron Leckie’s Twitter post about the biased ABC article:

Compare and contrast on Belarus. First, the @abcnews: “Mr Lukashenko, the so called ‘strongman’ of Belarus 🇧🇾 is on one hand fearful of Mr Putin, and on the other hand scared of democracy, dissent and the will of the people.” Then Gilbert Doctorow (lifelong Russia analyst): “Alexander Lukashenko’s call today for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Ukraine and opening of peace talks without preconditions.” No mention in the ABC article of Lukashenko’s call for peace!

Two extremely interesting postscripts to Doctorow’s article: “I direct the attention of my Russian-speaking subscribers to the video recording of an important and most timely speech delivered this morning by President Alexander Lukashenko to the Parliament […] there can be no doubt that Lukashenko conferred with Putin before making his appeal […] This is not because Putin fears defeat on the battlefield. It is because he has lost confidence in the sanity of the U.S. political leadership & doesn’t want to be goaded into further escalation […] on the front lines the soldiers on both sides understand that they are being sent to their deaths for NOTHING. He says that Ukrainians are warning Russians of attacks about to be launched and Russians are doing the same for the Ukrainians who are maybe 50 m away.”

These two articles highlight just how critically important it is to read from as wide a variety of sources as possible. Our MSM aims to simplify things into black and white, good vs evil etc, which does little to help understanding the 1000s of shades of grey in this proxy war.

Monday 3/4: EU energy supply self-sabotage; targeted assassination; exiled ballerina; West vs. Eastern Orthodoxy

Feeling weary as usual, though at least I did not wake up with a headache and the weather has been pleasant. Daylight Savings ended yesterday also.

“How EU leaders destroyed relations with Russia – and denied their citizens access to reliable cheap energy,” RT, 2/4. Essentially, the EU betrayed Russia’s trust by imposing extreme Russophobic sanctions, which backfired upon the EU. “The EU will survive this crunch and find solutions eventually, but at a high cost. The pity is that it had a dependable, trustworthy trading partner providing the cheapest and currently cleanest solution to meet its energy needs. But Western leaders chose to take extreme measures against Russia and have now passed the point of no return.”

“Blast that killed Russian war blogger: What we know so far,” RT, 2/4. A pro-Russian media personality was sadly killed in an apparent assassination attempt with an improvised explosive device in a St Petersburg café. Andrei Martyanov has a somewhat different perspective in “To Those Who Worry About ‘Optics’.” “What many forget that among those ‘patriots,’ many, including Tatarsky, have been involved in large money collection operations ‘for the front,’ and that once Russia started to tighten the noose around those ‘operations’ the ‘feeding base’ for this type of ‘activists’ shrank dramatically. I omit here the fact that most of those ‘bloggers’ and ‘voenkors’ have zero military education and many are what Saker called them a ‘sixth column,’ and many are straight defeatists or, like low lives Sladkov or Podolyaka, are completely off the rails. Tatarsky fits perfectly this very same group, which has some serious issues between them in terms of monetary issues – competition. So, keep this fact in mind and, please, stop idealizing LDNR, where even today the remnants of the ‘old guard’ are being removed due to their corruption and inability to get incorporated into Russia’s administrative structures – a ‘heritage’ of Ukraine. There is a reason why I do not read TG channels and bloggers, unless people ask to react, except for official TGs (e.g. Ministry of Foreign Affairs), or get information from people whom I know as extremely reliable, honest and professional.” Even if the victim did have a murky history, his loss is still lamentable as Russia needs all the supporters it can garner.

“Ukrainian ballerina who fled after Russia’s invasion stars in Swan Lake in Budapest,” ABC News, 3/4. The Ukrainian propaganda outlet posing as Australian “news” with yet another human interest piece to maintain publicity for their side.

“Sanctions over Ukraine invasion extend to spiritual as Queen is laid to rest,” The Australian, 19/9/2022. On the “schism between Russian and Ukrainian religion.” The author being extremely Russophobic, the Russian Orthodox is, of course, presented negatively: “The late political scientist Samuel Huntington noted that many scholars drew a distinction between Western civilisation and Orthodox civilisation, the latter of which is centred in Russia and has: ‘Byzantine heritage, 200 years of Tartar rule, bureaucratic despotism, and limited exposure to the Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment and other central Western experiences.’” I do prefer that Church and State be separated; some supporters have framed the SMO as, ultimately, a spiritual war between the decadent, corrupt, “Satanic” West and the true Old Faith of the East, but I dislike such extreme views. I would prefer Russia to become Communist again, learning from the mistakes of the first regime. Myself, I prefer paganism as it is kinder (22/1 entry), unlike the intolerant and harsher Abrahamic religions that supplanted the old ways.

Yalensis has a series of posts on his blog: “Characteristics and Limitations of Ukrainian Tomos – Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI.”

Tuesday 4/4: No energy for home maintenance; overview of Ukraine from 1991; response to foolish Finland’s provocation; Sergei Lavrov’s latest interview; Security Council question session

A pleasant sunny Autumn day. The garden of my parents’ home has become very overgrown and neglected. My parents are elderly and do not have the energy to maintain it anymore (Dad, incidentally, turned 90 last week!) and I do not have the physical strength either, with looking after my parents. A dream of mine is to raze the house (which is very old and slowly deteriorating) and garden and have a new one built, a modern and modest energy-efficient home that is elderly- and disabled-friendly, with a low-maintenance garden. As that would be very expensive, it remains a dream.

“Ukraine: From coup d’état to war,” The Communists, 2/4. “A brief history of Ukraine from 1991 til today, which aims to fill in a few of the gaping holes in the western corporate media narrative.” A useful overview from a Communist point of view.

“Russia to respond to Finland’s NATO ascension by ‘strengthening’ military on border,” ABC News, 3/4. As Finland has stupidly and provocatively joined NATO, the organization is now directly at Russia’s border.

From “Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s interview with Argumenty i Fakty newspaper, Moscow, April 4, 2023”:

Question: Earlier, you often visited EU countries but now the geography of your trips has changed for obvious reasons. Do you think the EU has lost Russia for a long time to come?

Sergei Lavrov: Indeed, the geography of my foreign trips has changed. Now it reflects Russia’s international priorities in line with the updated Foreign Policy Concept.

You have made a very good point that the EU has lost Russia but this is of its own making. The EU countries and EU leaders are openly talking about the need to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, as they put it. They are pumping the criminal Kiev regime full of weapons and ammunition, and are sending instructors and mercenaries to Ukraine. This is why we consider the EU to be an unfriendly association.

We have drawn the necessary conclusions. We will respond to hostile steps in a tough manner if need be, guided by the national interests of Russia and the principle of reciprocity that is universally accepted in diplomatic practice.

If the Europeans decide one day to give up their anti-Russia course and start a mutually respectful dialogue with Russia, we will review their proposals and make decisions proceeding from our national interests that President Vladimir Putin has approved in the new Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation.

“Press Conference by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia dedicated to the beginning of the Russian Presidency of UNSC in April 2023,” 3/4. Quite a few pointed responses to various questions, including Russia’s presidency of the Security Council, President Putin’s arrest warrant, the furore over the arrest of American Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich in contrast to the bare reporting of Vladlen Tatarsky’s assassination (“We heard no reaction to that crime from the international community, the UN or journalist organizations. We still consider it to be selective to a large extent when assessing what happened to journalists here and there”). Also, “On the second part, that we will use the Presidency to spread disinformation about Ukraine, this statement is in vein with the Western narrative that Russia does nothing but spreads disinformation about Ukraine. In fact, we think it is just the opposite. And among the disinformation that the Western media and Western official are spreading is the situation of Ukrainian children who were allegedly kidnapped from Ukraine and brought to Russia against their will.”

Wednesday 5/4: Soyuz MS-22 update; dubious defector; USD dominance challenged

An update on Soyuz MS-22:

RKK Energiya started post-flight maintenance of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft

At the Rocket and Space Corporation Energiya (part of the Roskosmos State Corporation), routine maintenance began on the descent module of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, which made an automatic landing on March 28, 2023.

On March 29, 2023, the Soyuz MS-22 descent vehicle arrived at the assembly shop of the Experimental Machine Building Plant (ZEM/Завода экспериментального машиностроения (ЗЭМ, part of RKK Energiya) from the landing site. During the next day, the company’s specialists unloaded the ship, which delivered resource equipment and packages with the results of scientific experiments from the International Space Station.

Currently, on the territory of ZEM, the autonomous recording means of the spacecraft’s descent module are being dismantled to decipher and analyze data on the functioning of the systems during flight and landing. The next stage of post-flight maintenance of the descent vehicle at the manufacturing plant provides for assessing the condition of the structural elements and the heat-shielding coating, checking the serviceability of the service equipment and checking the tightness of the onboard connections.

The launch of the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle with the Soyuz MS-22 transport manned spacecraft to the ISS took place on September 21, 2022 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

“Elite Putin security officer Gleb Karakulov, who defected, says the Russian president is ‘a war criminal’,” ABC News, 5/4. Another disaffected defector fifth columnist with some rather tall tales of Putin’s supposed eccentricities. Given that “The Dossier Center, a London-based investigative group funded by Russian opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky, interviewed Mr Karakulov multiple times and shared video and transcripts of more than six hours of those interviews with The Associated Press,” his account immediately becomes doubtful. Khordorkovsky himself was convicted of theft and money laundering charges by a Moscow court back in 2010 (“Khodorkovskiy Is Guilty,” Moon of Alabama; “Russian court finds Mikhail Khodorkovsky guilty,” The Guardian, 17/12/2010.)

“Why taking down the US dollar is easier said than done,” The Age, 4/4. “While it is likely that, as has been the case since the turn of the century, the pervasiveness of the dollar in global trade and financial transactions will continue to wane, it is improbable that the end of dollar dominance will occur any time soon.” Downplaying the move by China, Russia, and other non-Western nations to move away from the U.S. dollar as a global reserve currency. Hopefully this opinion will be proven wrong! A couple of dissenting comments:

“Cut2thechase”: The dollar was weaponised when the US 1. signed the Bretton Woods Treaty and 2. when the US quit the gold standard. Both happened long before China became threat. When the US was the undisputed economic leader. Those days are gone.

The US has used its fait currency as a major weapon to maintain its global hegemony by abusing its role with polically motivated sanctions, protective trade policies, unfriendly laws like CAATSA and, about every 10 years, provoking a dollar crisis to avoid its creditors. Which, usually, provokes a recession in the world’s more productive nations. The old US saying: “Our dollar, your problem” has never been more apt than now.

The world desperately needs an alternative and, slowly, it seems to be happening as more and more countries set up alternatives. Including the EU. What happens to an increasingly impoverished and perpetually profligate US after its dollar looses favour will be interesting.

“sporran”: Is it about “taking down” the $US or simply providing an alternative trading system? Since 1973 with Nixon’s actions to remove the link between currency values and asset values the USA has increasingly abused its powers as the holder of the world’s dominant trading currency. This move opened the door to the USA’s ever expanding use of money supply growth to claim global dominance in trade and related financial transactions.

Should the BRICS move to create a trading currency based on a basket of currencies backed by resources as assets eg; oil, gold, coffee etc. then resource rich but capital poor nations will finally have some control over their finances and trading terms. The Western-run financial agencies such as the IMF and World Bank will lose their controls of global finances and mechanisms such as SWIFT will have an alternative.

What these developments do is to provide nations and traders with alternatives. The $US will continue to be a major currency in global finances but it will not continue its dominance (already trending down) and the controls it places in Washington’s hands. No longer will the USA be the arbiter of global financial levers and the nation that determines who gets what and on what terms. It has only itself to blame as it merrily imposes sanctions, confiscations/freezes and secondary boycotts across the globe … no nation should solely posses such power over others, especially when it is unashamedly used for political ends. It can no longer be trusted to act for the “greater good” of the global economic order and these developments are the proof that the level of mistrust has reached critical levels.

One can only hope Australia ensures it has a non-aligned approach to these moves and is prepared to work with both systems … leaving all eggs in the US/G7 basket would be imprudent and foolhardy for a global trader such as ourselves.

Thursday 6/4: Know-nothing “experts”; Finland provocation; NATO’s futile threat; paranoid Putin nonsense again; world order should be destroyed; Artemis apathy

“Moscow alleges Ukraine and domestic opposition were behind the fatal bombing of a St Petersburg cafe. These experts aren’t so sure,” ABC News, 5/4. The Western so-called “experts” pontificating again, one of their dubious theories being “factions within the Russian establishment.”

“Finland’s NATO membership doubles alliance’s border with Russia in major blow to Vladimir Putin,” ABC News, 5/4. The utter stupidity of this deliberately provocative move can’t be overstated. The official response, 4/4: “Foreign Ministry Statement on Finland completing the process to join NATO,” 4/4. “The line of contact between NATO and the Russian Federation’s border has more than doubled. This constitutes a major shift for Northern Europe, which used to be one of the most stable regions in the world. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has made another step to move closer to the territory of Russia. […] By joining NATO, Finland has given up on its unique identity and lost its independence, which for decades gave it a special status in international affairs. […] Make no mistake, Finland’s accession to NATO will have a negative effect on the bilateral relations between Russia and Finland.”

“Chinese help for Russia in Ukraine war would be an historic mistake, NATO head says,” ABC News, 6/4. “Any Chinese supply of lethal aid to Russia for the war in Ukraine would be a ‘historic mistake with profound implications,’ NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. The same could be said for NATA allowing Finland to attain membership. […] he also said Russia’s announcement that it would station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus showed a Russia-China joint statement days earlier, in which they jointly declared countries should not deploy nuclear weapons outside their borders, amounted to ‘empty promises.’” Russia and China should, in turn, ignore this cretin’s empty threats!

“Vladimir Putin ‘pathologically afraid for his life’,” The Australian, 5/4. Repeating the same nonsense spouted by defecting traitor Russian intelligence officer Gleb Karakulov (5/4 entry), and the ludicrous health treatment claims: “Putin has been visited at least 35 times by a cancer specialist in four years, the Proekt opposition website reported last year. It said that he had resorted to taking baths in blood from the antlers of young reindeer, a traditional remedy in Russia’s Altai region. Putin has also been seen walking with an apparent limp on a number of occasions.”

“AUKUS will ‘stop China destroying world order’: US Navy Secretary,” The Australian, 6/4. “Two of the most influential figures in the US Navy have cast the AUKUS security pact as a bulwark against Chinese and Russian attempts to ‘change the world we live in’ The current Western hegemony needs to change! […] ‘Having been born in Cuba I personally understand what communism is all about, and it is indeed the threat of China and their destruction of the world order that we are committed to as three nations to defeat in every possible way.’” So US Navy Secretary Carlos del Toro is one of those virulently anti-Communist Cuban exiles who fled after Castro’s revolution.

The four astronauts for NASA’s Artemis Moon program were announced on 3/4. I have little interest in their program and only wish Russia were doing similar.

Friday 7/4: Soyuz MS-23 redocking; ISS RS life to extend until 2028 proposal; NATO encirclement of Russia; abducted children false accusations again; leaked war plans

Soyuz MS-23 was undocked from Poisk and redocked to Prichal on 6/4, to free up the former module for Russian spacewalks (VKDs).

Roskosmos sent proposals to the government to extend the operation of the ISS until 2028

The Council of Chief Designers, held at the Energiya Rocket and Space Corporation, previously recommended extending the life of the Russian segment of the ISS for this period

MOSCOW, 6 April. /TASS/. Roskosmos proposed to the Russian government to continue operating the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) until 2028. This was reported to journalists at the state corporation on Thursday.

“The Roskosmos State Corporation has sent proposals to the government of the Russian Federation on extending the life of the Russian segment of the International Space Station until 2028 inclusive,” the state corporation noted.

At the end of February, a meeting of the Scientific and Technical Council (NTS)/научно-технического совета (НТС) of Roskosmos was held with the participation of the management of the state corporation, subsidiaries and organizations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which are co-executors of work on the Russian segment of the ISS. Following the meeting, the NTS approved the decision to extend the life of the Russian segment of the station until 2028 and began preparing documents for filing with the government.

In early February, the Council of Chief Designers, held at the Energiya Rocket and Space Corporation (part of Roskosmos), recommended extending the life of the Russian segment of the ISS until 2028.

Last November, Roskosmos CEO Yuri Borisov said in an interview with TASS that the term of participation in the ISS project would depend on the technical condition of the Russian segment, the timing of the deployment of the Russian Orbital Station (ROS)/Российской орбитальной станции (РОС), the start of flights to it by Russian cosmonauts and other factors.

In turn, Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov (Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation) at the end of October 2022 told reporters that Russia considers it possible to extend the operation of the Russian segment of the ISS until 2028 until the deployment of ROS in a minimum configuration.

“US sees in Finland’s NATO accession encirclement of Russia,” Indian Punchline, 6/4. “This is an act of motiveless malignity toward Russia on the part of the NATO, which of course invariably carries the imprimatur of the US […] Finland’s NATO membership would extend NATO’s frontline with Russia by 1,300 kilometers (length of border Finland shares with Russia), which will put more pressure on Russia’s northwestern regions. […] the US is nonetheless relentlessly piling pressure on Russia with the objective of perpetuating its hegemonic system. Ronald Reagan’s strategy to use extreme pressure tactic to weaken the former Soviet Union and ultimately drag it down, is once again at work. […] In military terms, Russia is being forced into sustaining the heavy financial burden of a 360 degree appraisal of its national security agenda.” The ultimate goal by the US is to force Russia to disperse and dilute its military strength by presenting threats from many borders.

“Russian charged with war crimes defends Ukrainian child abduction at UN,” The Age, 6/4. Disgracefully biased and false reporting, as usual. “Lvova-Belova should not be allowed ‘to have an international podium to spread disinformation and to try to defend her horrible actions that are taking place in Ukraine,’ Thomas-Greenfield said.” So removing children from a war zone to safety is “horrible”? “The Associated Press investigation found Russian officials deported Ukrainian children to Russia without their parents’ consent, lied to them that they weren’t wanted by their parents, used them for propaganda, and gave them Russian families and citizenship.” And that immediately discredits the investigation, given that it was done by a biased Western media outlet. “Ambassadors from Western countries boycotted the informal UN Security Council meeting, sending low-level diplomats instead. And diplomats from the United States, Britain, Albania and Malta walked out when Maria Lvova-Belova started to address the meeting by video link.” Petulantly childish behavior on part of the Western diplomats, but to be expected now.

“Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at Arria-formula meeting of UNSC members ‘Children and armed conflict: Ukrainian crisis. Evacuating children from conflict zone,’” Russian Federation UN site, 5/4.

“Leak of Ukraine war plans, some altered, prompts Pentagon investigation,” The Age, 7/4. Good on whoever leaked them! “Military analysts said the documents appear to have been modified in certain parts from their original format, overstating US estimates of Ukrainian war dead and understating estimates of Russian troops killed.” Alternatively, the modified documents reflected the actual truth. “The analysts warned that documents released by Russian sources could be selectively altered to present the Kremlin’s disinformation. ‘Whether these documents are authentic or not, people should take care with anything released by Russian sources’.” At this point I trust Russian sources over Western ones.

Saturday 8/4: Stressed; Stalin supporter; doubt over leaked documents

Weary and had some crying fits; just feel emotionally and physically overwhelmed, both by my own circumstances and the continued hostility towards Russia by the West. Roaming the Internet and visiting my regular sites for updates can be an exercise in extreme stress, spaceflight particularly so; as I have said earlier (such as in my 10/2, 12/2, 29/3 entries), it used to be a refuge but with Russian sites such as Roskosmos closed off and the unrelenting derision and hate of their space program from Western space enthusiasts, it is also depressing. China, SpaceX and NASA dominate spaceflight news (and am I ever tired of hearing about SpaceX!); China is now what and where the USSR used to be – a mysterious and respected opponent.

“ABC under fire for airing pro-Stalin comments on Hard Quiz,” Herald-Sun, 7/4. “Asked by host Tom Gleeson if he liked the man’s history or ideology, Robin said: ‘Is it weird to say both?.’ When asked again if he liked Stalin’s ideology, Robin said: ‘I’m not really allowed to say that without making Sky News angry”.’ Later in the show, and amid laughter from the audience, Robin said Stalin’s notorious five-year economic plans had ‘achieved their goals.’” So for the apparent heresy of going against the Western narrative demonizing the Soviet leader, the contestant will get verbally crucified. Of course, the Ukrainian diaspora have to get a word in, perpetuating the myth of a deliberately-engineered Holodomor: “Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations chairman Stefan Romaniw condemned Robin’s comments, but said he was misguided to say that Stalin’s five year plans had been successful. ‘His plan was to eradicate the Ukrainian nation, and the cost was over seven million lives in the Ukrainian Holodomor, the starvation of a nation,’ he said. ‘He did not achieve this genocidal aim, the Ukrainian nation lived on with grit and determination – the same determination that will see Ukraine defeat Russia now.’”

“Newly promoted Andrews Government minister comes under fire for comments praising Joseph Stalin’s Red Army,” Herald-Sun, 22/6/2020 – the older article linked to in the previous one. “Referring to a proposed persecution memorial in Melbourne by then Opposition Leader Matthew Guy, Mr Pearson said he was surprised that Mr Guy ‘did not talk about the great contribution the Red Army made in supporting Western liberal democracy by […] destroying fascism. We are all the beneficiaries of the great contribution the Red Army made (such as) Marshal Georgy Zhukov, who won the Order of Lenin […] it is important that the contribution of the Red Army be acknowledged,’ he said.” Again, that is the truth – the Red Army’s role in WWII is almost ignored in the West. Cue howls of outrage from the usual groups. “State Liberal frontbencher Tim Smith said it was outrageous that Premier Daniel Andrews had appointed a Red Army sympathiser to his ministry. “Imagine what would happen if he appointed a Nazi sympathiser,” he said.” Communists ≠ Nazis!

“Here’s why the leaked ‘secret plan’ for a Ukrainian military offensive doesn’t add up,” RT, 7/4. Casting doubts on the authenticity of the “leaked” documents about an imminent Ukrainian offensive (7/4 entry). Deliberate misinformation instead?

Sunday 9/4: Finland’s Faustian bargain; rescued children returned

Left writing too late, so just a couple of items.

“Sanna Marin was the world’s youngest prime minister. Her legacy alters Finland’s course for generations to come,” ABC News, 9/4. Of course she is lauded in the West for “defying Vladimir Putin” by abandoning her country’s neutrality for a Faustian bargain in joining NATO, but the decision demonstrates her lack of maturity. “‘There was a big change in public opinion from the majority being against NATO membership to a very large majority being for NATO membership after February last year’ […]” Though I did read somewhere that only a minority supported membership, and a referendum on the issue was not held.

“Embracing the empire: What does NATO accession mean for the once famously neutral Finland?” RT, 7/4. A more measured view, with a variety of opinions from various Russians (I trust their experts much more than Western ones). “[…] experts polled by RT believe that NATO’s primary gain in admitting Finland is to expand the bloc’s influence and get closer to Russia’s borders.”

“More than two dozen Ukrainian children back home after alleged deportation to Russian territory,” ABC News, 9/4. Again with the “kidnapped” children fake news. “Three children – two boys and a girl – were present at the media briefing in Kyiv. […] The three said they had been separated from their parents, who were pressured by Russian authorities to send their children to Russian summer camps for what was billed as two weeks, from occupied parts of Kherson and Kharkiv regions. At the briefing, the children said they were forced to remain at the summer camps for four to six months and were moved from one place to another during their stay. He added that they were told their parents no longer wanted them.” I wonder if they were “coached” to make these statements by the Ukrainains in charge of them. (Previously: 7/4 entry.)

Monday 10/4: Sports sanctions squabbling; Pope plea; another war analysis

“War, politics, and ‘all sorts of mess’ – how fencing is threatening to derail the Paris Olympics,” ABC News, 9/4. Continuing controversy over allowing Russian athletes to compete, with Ukraine throwing fits of pique over the idea. “Ukraine has banned its athletes from competing – in any sport – where Russians or Belarusians are competing. Such a boycott of qualification events means Ukrainians are likely to be absent from Paris 2024, even if the war was over before the games begin. Russia, meanwhile, prevented its fencers from travelling to an Olympic qualifying event in Poland because of ‘unacceptable’ conditions asking athletes with Russian or Belarusian passports to sign a declaration stating they condemn the war, meet neutrality conditions and are not soldiers” – insulting requirements for some Russian athletes (“Moscow critical of terms for Olympic return,” RT, 26/1). I hope Russia is included and Ukraine boycotts the Olympics – good riddance to the latter. Sports are diminished without Russian participation.

“Pope Francis appeals to Russians on Ukraine war, decries Middle East violence, in Easter message,” ABC News, 9/4. “Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, Francis has at least twice a week referred to Ukraine and its people as being ‘martyred’ and has used words such as aggression and atrocities to describe Russia’s actions.” I doubt anyone in Russia will be listening!

“As Russia and Ukraine prepare for violent spring offensives, this next year could be the war’s most decisive stage yet,” ABC News, 10/4. Another round of detached opinions from various Australian academic “experts.” “And Russia is now casting itself as being on the side of historical justice, bizarrely arguing that its war in Ukraine in fact is a stand against Western neo-colonialism which seeks to perpetuate a unipolar world rather than embrace the multipolarity which Russia avows. The simple truth, in fact – nothing ‘bizarre’ about Russia’s viewpoint outside of mainstream media.” Cameron Leckie points out a contradiction: “A Q for @TheLyonsDen. Virtually everyone agrees that Russia has a ~10:1 advantage in artillery, which in this type of fighting causes the majority of casualties. So how do you figure this to be the case: ‘Meanwhile, Russia has been taking dreadful human losses – far worse than Ukraine.’” He continues: “So why continue to peddle such nonsense? IMO this narrative is targeted at maintaining consent to keep the war going for as long as possible. Keeping up the appearance of Ukraine having a chance justifies ongoing support for Ukraine.”

Tuesday 11/4: Russian space industry interviews; leaks furore continues

Spent most of the day editing two computer-translated interviews posted on the Roskosmos website (Andrei El’chaninov, Андрей Ельчанинов, First Deputy General Director of the Roskosmos State Corporation and Aleksei Varochko, Алексей Варочко, General Director of the Khrunichev Center), linked to from my Russian space news page.

The furore over the allegedly leaked NATO plans for Ukraine documents continues. Opinion is divided over whether the leak is genuine, or a deliberately distracting ploy. Will Scryver is of the latter view: “My brief opinion on the ‘leaked’ *TOP SECRET* order of battle documents that are being widely discussed in western media: My initial instinct and persistent judgment is that they are some species of limited-hangout disinformation ‘the strategy of mixing partial admissions with misinformation’, whose full purpose remains as yet unclear to me.” Some postings by others: “MAJOR: Nato Plans for Ukraine Leaked,” Simplicius the Thinker, 8/4. “Russo-Ukrainian War: Leak Biopsy,” Big Serge Thought, 10/4. “Ukraine SitRep: Leaked Briefings, Holding Roads, Split Training,” Moon of Alabama, 10/4. “NATO Intel Leak or Disinformation?” 6/4; “New Leaks of U.S./NATO Military Intelligence Documents Alarms Washington,” 7/4; “Why Putin May Have Exposed The US/NATO Ukraine Operations Documents,” Thomas Lipscomb at Larry Johnson’s blog, 9/4; “One Possible Source of the Leaked Classified Documents on the War in Ukraine – A Combined Operations Center,” Larry Johnson, 10/4.

Mainstream media reports: “US allies the apparent subject of leaked intelligence documents as investigation underway into the origins of the leak,” ABC News, 10/4. “Officials say the breadth of topics addressed in the documents, which touch on the war in Ukraine, China, the Middle East, and Africa, suggest they were leaked by an American rather than an ally.” “Dozens of top-secret US military documents have been leaked online – are they legitimate and what do they reveal?” ABC News, 11/4. “US officials believe most of the materials are genuine.Some, however, appear to have been altered to show inflated U.S. estimates for Ukrainian battlefield casualties since Russia invaded in February 2022, as well as understated numbers for Russian forces. It is unclear which of the documents might have been salted with misinformation and if they could be part of a Russian misinformation operation or a US scheme to mislead Moscow about Kyiv’s war plans.”

Wednesday 12/4: Bashing Boikov; Ukraine begging for more handouts; mysterious Milnov

“Time running out for Vladimir Putin’s man in Australia, Simeon Boikov … if Putin knew who he was,” The Australian, 12/4. Some snarky columnist, Peter Hoysted, trying to be clever by making fun of a Russia supporter. The writer instantly loses credibility when he describes Gleb Karakulov (6/4 entry) as “a genuine defector.” He got a mention in this article from last year, “Putin’s patriots,” ABC News, 15/2/2021. “A Four Corners investigation has uncovered the activities of a cluster of dedicated pro-Russian nationalist groups operating here. Some are explicit about their mission – to wage a propaganda war to help further the Kremlin’s global agenda – prompting analysts to warn Australia that it should be paying close attention.” The ABC stirring up suspicion about and paranoia of Russia, as always.

“‘Disposable pawn’: Aussie Cossack condemned by Sydney Russians,” The Age, 11/4. Another Boikov-bashing article. “Boikov said he despised the Svboda Alliance, and those who turned against Russia over the war would find no doors open to them. ‘I remind our Russian diaspora that, at the eleventh hour … in the dark hour, you don’t want to be embarrassed for your position,’ he said.”

“‘Our soldiers’ new crush’: Ukraine enlists AC/DC in plea for Australian Hawkei military vehicles,” The Age, 11/4. The beggin for “more” never ends. “Australia has provided an estimated $510 million in military assistance to Ukraine since the Russian invasion last February, including 90 Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles plus armoured vehicles and ammunition.” An appalling waste of taxpayer funds!

“Vladimir Milov once served under Putin. Now exiled, he’s using his insights to bring down the Russian regime,” ABC News, 12/4. An exiled (living in Lithuania) associate of Navalny, so therefore a “good Russian” (12/12/2022 entry) from the West’s point of view. “The 50-year-old economist resigned from the Russian ministry in 2002 when Mr Putin vetoed his plans to break up the oil and gas giant Gazprom. Since then, he has dedicated his life to exposing corruption and bringing democratic reform to Russia, working closely with three of the most prominent Russian opposition politicians, all of whom paid the price for daring to challenge Mr Putin. […] Mr Milov said the Russian president was behind the attacks on all three men.” So Milov presumably is another exile with a grudge against Putin and unsubstantiated claims of the President’s supposedly nefarious deeds. I can’t find much about Milov at all when searching, though.

Thursday 13/4: Cosmonautics Day; barbaric beheading doubts

Cosmonautics Day! (Well, yesterday for Australia.) “7 Greatest Achievements of Soviet/Russian Cosmonautics that Changed the World,” Russian Embassy in Australia.

“Video appears to show beheading of Ukraine POW, Kyiv calls for ICC investigation,” ABC News, 13/4. “Reuters could not immediately verify the authenticity or provenance of the video on social media, which appeared to show a man in green fatigues wearing a yellow armband, typically donned by Ukrainian fighters. He is heard screeching before another man in camouflage uses a knife to decapitate him.” More fake news? But it will get reported and highlighted in Western mainstream media as the latest outrage from the “barbaric Russians,” nonetheless, reinforcing the stereotype in the public’s collective mind.

“Serviceman execution video a low-grade fake aimed to discredit Russia, says LPR’s Marochko,” TASS, 13/4.

The video footage depicting the execution of an alleged Ukrainian serviceman is a low-grade fake, created within the Ukrainian Center for Informational and Psychological Operations (CIPsO), says retired LPR Lieutenant Colonel Andrey Marochko.

“It is my deep conviction that this is a low-grade fake, created by the CIPsO in order to discredit the army of the Russian Federation. […] Ukrainian militants have never complied with international humanitarian law. To that extent, they disseminate this kind of video footage with altered voices and unclear geographical location. […] In my practice, I’ve seen this kind of videos repeatedly, but they have never been confirmed by actual facts,” he told TASS Wednesday.

Marochko underscored that Russian servicemen, including volunteer units, comply with international humanitarian law in terms of treatment of POWs. He also speculated that Kiev involves members of terrorist organizations currently fighting among Ukrainian forces, including ones from the ISIS terror group (outlawed in Russia), to film this kind of videos.

“Ukrainian forces include members of terrorist organizations, including ISIS, which is outlawed in Russia. It is they who work on this kind of fakes,” he added.

(2/6/2022 entry: “Rules Of War For Russian Soldiers In Ukraine,” Southfront, 31/5.)

“Lawyers for jailed Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny say he is being poisoned,” ABC News, 13/4. The latest of neurotic Navalny’s imagined poisoning episodes (previous mention of this: 9/12/2022 entry).

Friday 14/4: Haircut; beheading ballyhoo; brainwashed students

Had my hair trimmed today; one length but quite short again, and feels much better. A nice sunny Autumn day for a change.

“Russia opens probe into alleged beheading video, Norway expels 15 Russian diplomats suspected of spying,” ABC News, 14/4. Of course the alleged beheading is being highlighted by the media here, and Zelensky is in full histronic mode. Simplicius gives an opinion of it in his “SITREP 4/12/23: Offensive … or Collapse?”: “A few things about this. Firstly, CossackGundi (Aiden Aslin), on his account, confirmed that it was a mercenary Kraken/Foreign Legion member who was beheaded, with some reports claiming that the Russian soldiers were in fact Wagner troops. Kraken, I need not remind, is one of the two ‘worst of the worst’ groups in Ukraine, along with the Tornado battalion, infamous for mass child-rape and every type of rape and murder imaginable. Secondly, lost amid the outrage was the fact that two new videos from the AFU side have now surfaced in seeming ‘retaliation’, showing AFU soldiers beheading a DPR soldier then stuffing the DPR flag into the mouth of his severed head while lifting it to the camera. And another video showing the live burial of some sort of unnamed POW by AFU troops. Apart from all the previous infamous videos I’ve seen from the AFU, including one where a Russian POW’s eyes are gouged out by a knife as he is killed, one showing a crawling POW who is impaled through his back by a long metal pole then told to ‘crawl’ further before he is killed, other videos including the infamous ‘knee capping’ tortures, and a video of a Russian POW being set on fire while chained to a metal tank hedgehog – apart from all these things, and the other gruesome revelations like AFU members who collect the bones/teeth of Russian servicemen and sell them online, and even a mercenary who collects the severed fingers of deceased Russian soldiers. On top of all these things, there are other grotesque programs the AFU is currently openly running which include the following: A website called SignMyRocket where you can purchase a message written onto artillery shells and various other munitions to be fired at Russia. […] Ukrainian soldiers have started a new venture where you can even pay to torture a captured POW. Different rates can purchase varying degrees of torture. […] AFU ghouls are now selling personal letters from the children of deceased Russian servicemen as ‘souvenirs’ online.”

“What Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine has meant for Russian students studying in Australia,” ABC News, 14/4. Of course only the anti-war students are profiled (though none who support Russia would likely dare to speak out here). “Valentin came to Australia from Russia nine years ago and has been vocal about his opposition to the war, but the majority of his family in Russia hold the opposite view. He thinks his family supports the invasion because of ‘propaganda’ they have been exposed to. ‘It’s a bit rude to say, but they’re brainwashed,’ he said.” Well, propaganda works both ways! The Western media has certainly brainwashed most here against Russia. “Dr Kitaeff said young Russians, especially students, had been at the forefront of protests against the war. Russian students’ time in Australia could play an integral role in changing their mindsets and catalysing reform, he added. ‘This change will not be possible without young Russians learning about democratic and liberal principles and values,’ he said. ‘Educating students is an opportunity for Australian universities to disseminate Australian values: peace, democracy, social harmony. "That opportunity is not to be missed.’”

Saturday 15/4: Ukrainian sports team in a snit; Wikipedia bickering with Russia; Royal egger fined

“Ukraine bans its national teams from competing with Russians and Belarusians,” ABC News, 14/4. “Ukraine has banned its national sports teams from competing in Olympic, non-Olympic and Paralympic events that include competitors from Russia and Belarus.” Good riddance.

“Wikipedia stands its ground over Russian demands to remove war reports,” The Age, 15/4. “‘These orders are part of an ongoing effort by the Russian government to limit the spread of reliable, well-sourced information in the country,’ Wikimedia’s senior legal manager, Leighanna Mixter added, asserting that Wikimedia would resist all attempts to ‘try to curb free knowledge’.” Seeing as Wikipedia’s editors are generally biased against Russia (not presenting impartial facts as a true encyclopedia should), the “demands” are justified (though I do not like Internet website access being censored).

“Man who threw eggs at King Charles found guilty of threatening behaviour,” ABC News, 15/4. Unfortunate for him. I only wish he could have thrown a hand grenade! “Thelwell was heard booing and shouting ‘This country was built on the blood of slaves’ and ‘Not my king’ during the incident before he was detained by police. Some people in the crowd reacted by chanting ‘God save the King’ and ‘Shame on you’ at Thelwell.” Demonstrates how brainwashed citizens (many of whom would be working class with difficult lives) are into accepting royalty as normal, despite the latter enjoying unearned and inherited priviledge and status.

Sunday 16/4: Energiya website redesign; Putin polemic; troublesome tourists; Zak snark

The Energiya website has had a makeover! A modern look, to fit in with Roskosmos. (Screenshots: old and new.) The previous version, which served well for many years, can still be viewed at the Internet Archive. Unfortunately I still can only access both via a web proxy; they are still closed to normal access. Will they ever allow foreign users to visit again? There also appears to be no English version, unlike the older site.

“How Russian President Vladimir Putin built his rogue state,” The Australian, 15/4. Yet another lengthy Putin character assassination article, this one by a Michael Kimmage who “has wide-ranging academic, policy, and think tank experience.” Another so-called “expert” analyzing a world leader from afar, so to be discredited. He “is a professor of history and department chair at the Catholic University of America” – an anti-Communist, so another strike against him.

One point: “A conspicuous example of Stalinist lawlessness was the execution of approximately 20,000 captured Polish officers in 1940, with the aim of destroying elite resistance to Soviet domination. The Soviet Union blamed the crime on Nazi Germany, and the cover-up lasted for decades.” This is the Katyn massacre, debunked – a couple of rebuffs: “Germans Committed the Katyn Forest Massacre,” The Espresso Stalinist; “‘Katyn Memorial Day,’ April 13, Is A Fraud!” Grover Furr; “Katyn massacre,” ProleWiki.

“An influx of Russian visitors fleeing Vladimir Putin’s war has changed the dynamic in Bali,” ABC News, 16/4. Must be a slow day for Russophobic news as now the national Ukrainian propaganda outlet are highlighting a few badly-behaved Russian tourists – as if they are the only nationality to be thus? Australian tourists in Bali have long had a notorious reputation for being unruly and disrespectful.

More well-deserved snarking at Zak at the Russia Defence forum!

That’s a pic of the A-7 concept and I doubt that is what is being considered. A schedule of 2024 strongly suggests it’s the A-5V, ie A-5M with the hydrolox u/s and a capacity of 37T to LEO. Dunno I’d call it a SHLV but thats a fk-ton of payload, more than enough for any conceivable payload over the next 10 years (including the nuclear-electric Zeus) and capable of doing manned lunar in multiple launches.

Edit: Hmmm … maybe not according to An*ltoy Zak … (deliberate misspelling >:-)): “Apparently, recent pics of SLS and Starship made quite an impression on somebody who never uses the Internet ;-)”

Zak and his usual anti-Russia political bullshit. What a slimy little 5th-column prick. An*ltoy indeed.

An*l toy indeed … his amazing analytical skills where he assumes Putin saw pictures on the internet because that is of course the only way he could possibly see images of the SLS and Starship, means he must be using the internet … he is already at the level of western intelligence … he is earning his money …

I am sure when the West collapses and the cheques start bouncing he will claim he was really a true blue Russian and was trying to destroy the west from the inside by taking their money …

Zak is a retard. The SHLV clearly has nothing to do with Musk and Bezos. It has been around as a concept long before these US clowns had any rocket production involvement. The obvious reason for the uptake in the program is the new hard cold war with NATzO. The SHLV is military infrastructure. As for crap from Musk and Bezos, only clowns like Zak care.

Monday 17/4: More attacks on Zak; Challenge movie released; reading Russian spaceflight books

Zak snarking continued! (16/4 entry)

Anatoly Zak is probably of Ukrainian origin. He used to be quite decent pre-2014, but pretty much lost his nuts after the Maidan.

Maybe he bought his wife in Ukraine.

“Russia holds premiere of first-ever movie filmed in space,” TASS, 13/4. The Challenge movie, some of which was filmed on the ISS, the actors visiting on Soyuz MS-19, premiered on 12/4. The attitude towards it in forums such as Novosti Kosmonavtiki seems to be unenthusiastic, though (“Challenge – of all the arts, cinema is the most important for us,” “Challenge – execution cannot be pardoned -2”.) A NASASpaceflight.com forum thread is predictably negative and snarky: “The Challenge – Russian movie filmed on the ISS.”

Andrei Martyanov had a brief entry about it, “This Is Not CGI,” 13/4.

I am currently (and slowly) reading Soyuz: A Universal Spacecraft, a physical copy of which I ordered back in 2020. It is a decent read; the obstacles and failures – and tragic crew deaths – the Soviet space program endured is incredible. They persisted despite the setbacks (and being a prestigious priority in the Soviet era helped too – unlike the program of today). I would like to order more books by that publisher about the Russian space program, but they are pricy. So far I have precious physical copies of: Russia’s Cosmonauts: Inside the Yuri Gagarin Training Center, Russian Spacesuits and Russia in Space: The failed frontier? by the Springer-Praxis publisher (these are all rather old, though – published in the early 2000s), and also Soviets in Space: Russia’s Cosmonauts and the Space Frontier (12/12/2022 entry). There are many more Russian-language ones on the topic, of course, but I can’t read Russian (though I do know the alphabet and can still recognize various words) and translations are not available here anyway, sadly.

Tuesday 18/4: Kinzhal kill; countering outside influence; energy economic war misreporting; Finland’s fence; Bolton bloodlust

Via a post at Gilbert Doctrow’s blog, “Is ‘alternative news’ on the Ukraine war having an impact on ‘mainstream media’? Proof is in the pudding,” 15/4. A rumor that has been floating around – though not reported in Western mainstream media – is that early in March, near the town of L’vov, “Russian Kinzhal, «Кинжал» (‘Dagger’) hypersonic missiles destroyed a secret bunker with 200 officers of NATO and the Armed Forces of Ukraine inside.” The blog entry linked to a Russian-language article (computer-translated and stored locally here).

Simplicius answered a question about outsider influences in Russia in this “4/9/23: Sunday Mailbag Answers Extravaganza” post (question 4: “I am astonished at how strong the ‘liberal’ anti-Slavic, anti-Russian movement is in Russia, among Russians. What are the cultural factors and what could Putin do to counter it? […]”). He replies that the main channel of Western influence currently: “It’s well known that NGO’s are the chief vessel by which the West spreads its new forms of neoliberalism into Russia. However, the true most potent weapon in their arsenal, and one that is hardest to weed out, is the higher education / university system.” The exchange of ideas means that the universities can’t be isolated (and it would be counterproductive to). Also, “The bigger issue is the fact that Russian people view themselves as European to the extent that they share similar cultural perspectives, unlike for instance, the Chinese people. So this makes Western ideals of neoliberal progressivism much more easy to rub off on Russians as opposed to Chinese.” Western popular culture (“soft power”) has permeated Russian culture to a much greater extent than that of China’s. “However, to further answer your question about what can be done by Putin to counter it. He has worked towards countering it in ‘softer’ ways. For instance, on the same topic of music/culture, Putin has strived to promote more traditional and patriotic artists, over the liberal, anti-Russian ones.” He has an uphill battle as such a focus on tradition is likely to be seen as “uncool” and dated by young urban people (13/2 entry). The Internet is also a major factor now, as people all over the world can communicate and share ideas (and circumvent attempts at censorship).

“Putin’s energy offensive has failed,” The Age, 13/4. The usual inaccuracies reported as fact (Russian “huge losses” – actually Ukraine forces have suffered such; “But this offensive stalled once Ukraine acquired Western precision weapons, especially the now famous HIMARS, which wreaked havoc on Russian rear areas.” The effectiveness of HIMARS has been somewhat overstated. “The third Russian offensive, a winter attack in the Donbas region, is still underway, and it’s possible that Ukraine may choose to pull out of the embattled city of Bakhmut, a place of little strategic importance that has nonetheless become the scene of incredibly bloody fighting.” If Bakhmut is of little importance, why the intense fighting? Contradiction in one sentence there.) “Europe has weathered the loss of Russian supplies remarkably well. Euro-area unemployment hasn’t gone up at all; inflation did surge, but European governments have managed, through a combination of price controls and financial aid, to limit (but not eliminate) the amount of personal hardship created by high gas prices.” An understatement – a lot of those affected are angry and fed up with a war of no relevance to them. “And Europe has managed to keep functioning despite the cutoff of most Russian gas. Partly this reflects a turn to other sources of gas, including liquefied natural gas shipped from the United States; partly it reflects conservation efforts that have reduced demand.” Imported US gas is very expensive compared to the Russian supply. “And yes, it was an unusually warm winter, which also helped.” Can’t count on that for the next winter!

“NATO member Finland breaks ground on Russia border fence,” ABC News, 16/4. A Finland fence to keep out rogue Russians.

“John Bolton Declares Total War on Russia,” Simplicius the Thinker, 16/4. A scathing assessment of the former US National Security Adviser’s latest inane Russophobic rant, “A New American Grand Strategy to Counter Russia and China” – “so wantonly incendiary as to deserve its own article response. It is a total declaration of war on Russia, with the openly stated intent to see Russia completely destroyed, balkanized, and absorbed.”

Wednesday 19/4: First Russian VKD for the year

Feeling off-color today (trapped gas!) so even less energy than my usual meager amount. I just can’t face the daily barrage of Russophobic articles.

Two Russian cosmonauts are currently performing a spacewalk (ВКД, Внекорабельной Деятельности/VKD, Bnekorabel’noi Deyatel’nosti, out-of-ship activities, exit) on the ISS! Details and links on my ISS VKD page (19/4/2023). This is the second attempt at the same tasks of the previous aborted one on 25/11/2022, much-postponed due to the Soyuz MS-22 and Progress MS-21 coolant leaks drama.

Thursday 20/4: VKD successful; review of The Challenge; actress not a Hero of Russia

The Russian spacewalk (19/4/2023) was completed successfully! Something to be happy about. The next will be on 25/4.

A rather less-than-enthusiastic and sardonic review of the filmed-in-space movie The Challenge (via the NK forum):

The Challenge by Klim Shipenko comes out on screens

Klim Shipenko’s space drama The Challenge, «Вызов», is being released, for the filming of which the lead actress Yulia Peresild and the director himself really flew into space to the real ISS. Julia Shagelman is not sure that the result was worth the spent budget and heroic efforts.

The picture romanticizes not so much the distant expanses of space as the close Mission Control Center, Центр управления полетами (TsUP).

The Challenge is a paradoxical case when an active promotional campaign that started in a completely different life, two and a half years before the release of the film, instead of warming up interest in the film, rather acts the other way around. After all, all the most interesting things have already happened, and the audience was privy to all the details of the filming process. First, the then head of Roskosmos, Dmitrii Rogozin, and the general director of Channel One, Konstantin Ernst, came up with the idea that it was necessary to make a movie in space, then they began to look for performers and write a script for it. It would probably be more logical to first come up with a film and, realizing that there is no other way to bring it to life, go to surf the expanses of space, but what is there, this is not the first situation when logic recedes before the main task.

Then Channel One held a competition among hardy actresses, the winner of which was Yulia Peresild, then she, together with the director, prepared for the flight, then the flight took place, and its course was covered in all the news. All in order to, according to Mr. Ernst, to show the real space, which “the audience has not yet seen in the cinema.” The fact that this real space, without knowing the background, cannot be distinguished from the space reproduced with the help of scenery and visual effects from numerous Hollywood films (which, without saying it out loud, the authors are guided by), apparently remains a problem for the viewer.

It all starts with a scene quite frankly borrowed from Gravity by Alfonso Cuarón (2013) – when viewed, it is remembered almost as often as the serial production of the same Channel One. During a standard working mission in open space, two cosmonauts (they are played by real cosmonauts Oleg Novitskii and Petr Dubrov) start to fall on some kind of interstellar debris, and one of them … no, does not fly away into a vacuum where no one can hear your scream, like George Clooney in Gravity, but gets a chest injury. After consulting with the chief surgeon (Andrei Shchepochkin), the TsPK decides not to return the victim to Earth (he may not survive the flight), but to operate on him directly on board the ISS. But not before flight director Volin, with a wise fatherly squint (Vladimir Mashkov), encourages Peter, who is doing a tracheotomy on the injured Oleg, that “a well-connected girl does not need caresses” – thus setting the tone of humor in the film.

At this time, Zhenya Borisova (Peresild), a student of the chief surgeon and a talented surgeon herself, leads an ordinary life on Earth as a wounded single mother, torn between work and the upbringing of her teenage daughter (Varvara Volodina). Since in a film as ideological as Defiance the heroine cannot be divorced or never married at all, she is a widow. A black-and-white flashback with her husband (Mikhail Troinik) who died in an accident will return many times, each time reminding her that she blames herself for his death. A routine with mental anguish, three surgeries a day, a relationship with an attractive colleague Vladislav (Milos Bikovich) frozen at some ambiguous point, and calls to school for her daughter who had a fight with a classmate, is interrupted by a much more important call – to the TsPK, where Zhenya must develop a detailed plan of action. At the same time, no one is going to send her into space for the simple reason that she is a woman.

But thanks to the same promotional campaign, of course, we know in advance that it is Zhenya who will fly to the ISS, whom Volin will prefer to all other candidates at the last moment. From that moment on, the film turns from a melodrama into a sci-fi about the structure of the ISS: it is arranged closely and uncomfortable, and the actress’s beautifully flowing hair in weightlessness seems to be such a blatant violation of safety regulations that it completely distracts from what is happening – however, it was here that the authors decided to sacrifice realism for the sake of spectacular shots. The cosmonauts pronounce their lines with the desperate awkwardness of people who for some reason have been distracted from serious work, Yulia Peresild demonstrates an enviable physical shape, the mother of the heroine (Elena Valyushkina) is responsible for comic interruptions. Crowning everything successfully – and this is also not a spoiler – the operation, after which Zhenya returns home, having received a kiss of hands from the leadership of the TsPK and a declaration of love from Vladislav as a reward. If directors fly into space, then someone needs it, but the answers to whom and for what are definitely not in this film.

A proposal to award the Hero of Russia star to the main actress Yulia Peresild also met with a hostile response from cosmonauts (article on my Cosmonaut news page), and quite rightly so – “If the award happens, it will devalue the feat of real cosmonauts.”

Friday 21/4: Starship schadenfreude

The much-hyped first test launch of Space-X’s Starship did not end well – several of the Raptor engines in the first stage shut off and the stages did not separate; the rocket lost control and had to be remotely destroyed. Of course the Elon Musk fanboys are trying to put a positive spin on this “successful failure.” I can’t help feeling that this failure is a little bit of karma for Musk’s support of Ukraine by allowing them to use the Starlink satellites against Russia (“the Starlink satellites operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX have become important tools for the Ukrainian troops in the ongoing conflict with Russia,” RT, 5/4; “Fact Check: Did Kremlin Threaten to Destroy Starlink Satellites?” Newsweek, 16/9/2022; “How Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network is aiding the Ukrainian war effort,” Yahoo! News, 17/8/2022). Some like-minded glee from the Russia Defence forum (which, frustratingly, I still can’t join):

Big_Gazza: STARSHIP BLOWS ITSELF INTO A MILLION FCKING PIECES WHEN IT CATASTROPICALLY LOSES ATTITUDE CONTROL PRIOR TO STAGE SEPARATION AND EXPLODES ON ITS INAUGURAL FLIGHT AT 04:06 AFTER LIFT-OFF :-P

Not that I’m gloating … Very Happy! The most hilarious part is the cheering of the crowd when it blows its guts out. These morons are so overdosed on hopium/copium that they celebrate a monumental failure. The Soviet N1 was a shit system cuz it failed 4x test flights. Yet exceptionalist Murkan hyper-tech is no better, and the crowd are celebrating …. Unbelievable, but amazingly satisfying. Looks like the US military are just going to have to wait a little longer for their suborbital global rapid-reaction deployment system :-P Lunar and Mars (:-P) colonists even longer.

owais.usmani: Would have been much better had it exploded right at take off and taken out the launch site with it.

Big_Gazza: You read my mind :-D Oh well, the N-1 flew free of the launch pad on its maidan flight before KO’ing the pad on the 2nd attempt. Hopefully Starshit will emulate its elder brother. :-P It really surprises me how close SpaceX place their pad infrastructure to the pad itself. Fuel storage facility is a stones throw from the rocket itself and they don’t invest in deep flame trenches to divert the engine wash. Compare the level of infrastructural investment between the spartan Starshit base and the Angara pad at Vostochnyi. SpaceX seems to assume that catastrophic failures on the pad (like N-1 L-3) can’t occur so build it simple (and cheap), while Ruskies clearly plan for the worse case events and invest massively in well distributed and buried facilities.

Arkanghelsk: Starship is a stupid concept. By 2035-2040, Russia would be in a good situation if the ROSS can be orbited. I would like to see more than 1 Roscosmos station at multiple orbits and to practice shuttling equipment between them. Imagine a constellation of stations where modules with equipment can be docked as they are ferried to the Moon. I think that is the most sensible plan and would be worth investing in rather then a reusable giant ship which runs the risk of losing the entire crew and its payload on launch or ferrying missions. Yes it would take more time to setup that kind of shuttle system, but we won’t have the technology to establish a lunar base until 2040-2050 anyway and maybe even later than that

Saturday 22/4: Site housekeeping

Did some “housekeeping” – purging and removal of a few personal pages from my website.

Sunday 23/4: More Starship snark; Rogozin’s reaction; Putin’s mystery millions

More from the Russia Defence forum on the failed Starship launch (21/4 entry):

jon_deluxe: It is surreal to see the press and large swathes of the internet lose their minds over a failed launch, celebrating over what was basically a failure like the ones that plagued the N1 program half a century ago. The unbridled jingoism is out of this world (unlike Musk’s rocket :-D). You just know if it was a Russian or a Chinese rocket that exploded they’d lose no time making fun of them, saying that their technology is outdated, Soviet-era crap, or cheap, inferior copies of Western designs, respectively.

GarryB: They better put lots of resources into the crew escape system moving forward. It is interesting that the Americans claim to worry about human life but it was Buran that had the crew escape module and the US Space Shuttles that didn’t.

Big_Gazza: Regarding safety, I find it absurd that SpaceX only conducted lift-off & landing tests until they managed to get a single test that could be called a success before shifting to full stack development. SN8, 9, 10 & 11 all failed catastrophically with total loss of vehicle, and even with the “successful” SN15 they had a fire in the engine bay, loss of tank pressure and an engine outtage. I mean for FFS, their vehicle has a landing technique that requires instant starting of 3× engines, subsequent flawless operation and performance of a flip to orient the vehicle for a tail-first controlled landing. If anything goes wrong, the vehicle will be DESTROYED and all occupants will be KILLED. No 2nd chance, no fly-around, no diverting to a secondary landings trip … you get a big KABOOM and up to 100 PAX obliterated. :-O Does this sound like a practical transport system?

Furthermore, the Manned Dragon has its emergency crew escape rockets built into the capsule rather than on a jettisonable external tower like every single other manned space transport in history has done. The crew must go into orbit with 4× sets of hypergolic propellents on the other side of the pressure retaining bulkhead, and undergo the heat of re-entry hoping that these potential bombs don’t leak and that the thermal protection of the rocket exhaust ports holds true …. The test of the recovered LZ-1 capsule in 2019 resulted in explosion and catastrophic loss of the capsule that would have killed all occupants, but did SpaceX reconsider this bad design? Nope, they just pushed on and whitewashed the outcome rather than accept the delays of a re-design. Yeah, I think its 100% safe to state that crew safety is not SpaceX primary consideration.

Former Roskosmos chief Dmitrii Rogozin’s reaction to the Starship failure:

Rogozin wished Mask good luck after the rocket explosion with the Starship prototype

MOSCOW, 20 April 2023. /TASS/. The former head of Roscosmos, Dmitrii Rogozin, who now heads a group of military advisers and the Tsarskie Wolves scientific and technical center, wished good luck to SpaceX founder Elon Musk after the explosion of a launch vehicle with a prototype of the Starship spacecraft.

“And I wish him success. He who dares will achieve his goal,” Rogozin wrote in his Telegram channel, commenting on the post of his son Alexei about the rocket explosion.

Back in 2019, while in the position of head of Roscosmos, Rogozin spoke skeptically about Starship. He noted that the presentation of the project “did not impress” him, and the specialists of the state corporation consider the ship project to be unrealistic. Rogozin added that “out of what was said, 20 percent is feasible. Everything else is ordinary noise, white noise that accompanies such projects, which are also needed to attract investors,” he said.

On Thursday, the launch vehicle carrying the prototype Starship spacecraft exploded four minutes after liftoff. The 120-meter rocket, having reached a height of 38 km, began to rotate uncontrollably about two and a half minutes after launch. A minute and a half later, an explosion followed.

Rogozin said that Elon Musk’s Starship ship project is only 20% feasible

MOSCOW, 3 October 2019. /TASS/. Roscosmos experts consider the Starship project of the American company SpaceX, presented by its founder Elon Musk, to be unrealizable. This was announced on Thursday by the head of the state corporation Dmitrii Rogozin.

“I watched the presentation. I wasn’t impressed,” he said, answering a relevant question from a TASS correspondent. “We asked for the opinion of technical specialists, they believe that 20 percent of what was said is feasible. Everything else is ordinary noise, white noise, which accompanies such projects, which is also needed to attract investors.”

The presentation of the Starship modification Mk1 took place on September 29 in Texas. The head of SpaceX said that the first orbital flight of the ship is planned to be completed within six months.

Starship is a reusable spacecraft designed for flights to Mars and designed for 100 people. As Musk has repeatedly emphasized in the past, he founded SpaceX in 2002 with the goal of helping humanity colonize Mars. As a temporary reference point for sending researchers to Mars, he called 2022.

Elon Musk and Russians in their space industry have had a combative history (30/4/2021 entry). Dmitrii and Elon have verbally sparred previously (“‘Hard to argue with Elon’: Roscosmos head taunts Musk’s praise of Russian rockets,” RT, 8/3/2019; “Russian space chief says he would NOT hire Elon Musk,” 8/6/2019; “Russian space agency boss invites Elon Musk to discuss ‘extraterrestrial life’ over cup of tea in Moscow, praising SpaceX founder,” 8/9/2021). Though I wonder if some of it is just a little teasing on both sides?

“Putin is one of the world’s richest men. But the money isn’t in his name,” The Age, 19/4. Repeats the old allegations about the mystery millions Putin supposedly has stashed away somewhere. “‘Putin’s the richest man in the world,’ says US financier and human rights campaigner Bill Browder. In 2017, he estimated Putin had accumulated up to $US200 billion in assets over his two decades in power. ‘But he doesn’t keep any money in his own name.’ The funds are spread through a secret web of shell companies and trustees, as investigations such as the Panama Papers have revealed. ‘Other people acting as proxies for him,’ explains Browder.” (Browder is an untrustworthy source – 13/10/2022; 12/3 entries.)

Monday 24/4: Seeking peace; NASA website design and Starship critiques

A lovely mild Autumn day, with a clear blue sky and sunshine, which seems to have been infrequent over the last year or so. Sunny days lift my mood a bit, but cloudy and inclement weather distresses me.

I have been avoiding social media for the most part; I am tired of the barrage of hostility and virtual screaming. Been slowly simplifying my website design and coding a bit.

Just thinking how I have no ambition to be or do anything now; I just want to exist quietly and not be bothered by anyone or anything.

I visit Ran Prieur’s website and blog, which (happily) is an old-fashioned, hand-coded plain HTML one like mine. It’s a quiet and calming place.

Regarding NASA’s last website redesign in 2015, I have previously complained (18/6/2021 entry) about its lack of accessibility without Javascript enabled. I came across this passage mentioning it in an online web design book, Resilient Web Design (Chapter 4): “Despite JavaScript’s fragile error‐handling model, web designers became more reliant on JavaScript over time. In 2015, NASA relaunched its website as a web app. If you wanted to read the latest news of the agency’s space exploration efforts, you first had to download and execute three megabytes of JavaScript. This content – text and images – could have been delivered in the HTML, but the developers decided to use Ajax to retrieve this data instead. Until all that JavaScript was loaded, parsed, and executed, visitors to the site were left staring at a black background. Perhaps this was intended as a demonstration of the vast lonely emptiness of space.” The previous static design was much more usable in comparison – the current one cannot be accessed and read by the Lynx text-only browser.

Came across this much-downvoted but valid Reddit comment criticising the Starship launch debacle:

User DonaldRudolpho:

Dear Eric,

Did you expect to find any SpaceX employee declare this anything but a spectacular success?

Regards,

Rest of the World.

Bravo for SpaceX for getting this thing off the ground and dozens of kms in the air. Major accomplishment. But let’s take an objective look at the mission:

  1. 7% launch failure of control engines, 10% failure of outer engines at launch. 9% overall engine failure at launch.
  2. Massive engineering failure on strength of foundation for the launch pad.
  3. Minor safety estimation of “safe zone,” sacrificing a mini-van.
  4. Apparent explosive failure in engine bay at ~T+32 seconds.
  5. Loss of fourth engine at ~T+40 seconds, down to 88% of engines.
  6. Loss of fifth engine at ~T+60 seconds, down to 85% of engines.
  7. Loss of sixth engine at ~T+100 seconds, down to 82% of engines.
  8. Apparent failure of MECO.
  9. Failure of stage separation.
  10. Subsequent failure of attitude control
  11. Possible failure in speed of activation of flight termination systems.

“Everything after clearing the launch was icing on the cake,” does not make this a successful mission.

The majority of the mission objectives were not completed.

If this was a publicly funded NASA mission, there would be a massive outcry and inquiry.

Mock NASA all you want for their turtle-like speed and possibly excessive careful nature, but they launched their SLS, got their capsule into Earth orbit, went further away from Earth than other any human-rated space craft, orbited the Moon, returned to Earth and landed the capsule back on the surface of the planet on their FIRST try.

That’s what mission success looks like.

Tuesday 25/4: Coding and idling; spacewalk delayed

Another fine, sunny Autumn day; a rare occasion when the weather is just perfect.

Been tinkering with the coding of my website a little; behind-the-scenes things with the stylesheet. Trying to simplify it more. I like to do this as a way of relaxing, almost meditating.

A recent post at The Cheapskate’s Guide: “Introducing the Concept of Radical User Friendliness in Web Design,” 18/4. That echoes my philosophy. (He has many more articles on similar topics.)

I just tried viewing my website via the Links web browser (a command-line browser similar to Lynx). Mine displays just fine, as it is plain HTML.

The Russian spacewalk that was scheduled for the 26th has been postponed until May, disappointingly: Roskosmos, 24/4/2023: “The exit, previously scheduled for April 26, 2023, was postponed, tentatively, to the beginning of May due to the need for a more detailed study of its tasks. During the exit, the cosmonauts will have to ensure the transfer of the airlock using the ERA manipulator from the Rassvet module and its docking to the Nauka module. The airlock is designed to transport payloads overboard the ISS with the help of a manipulator and return them inside the station in the interests of the applied scientific research program.”

Wednesday 26/4: Missile strike misreporting; more Putin potboilers

Had a headache overnight and into this morning, so debilitated as usual.

“A small boy killed by another Russian missile attack on Ukraine is a stark reminder of the power, violence and ego behind the war,” ABC News, 24/4. A blatant attempt at emotional manipulation, and Putin is personally responsible, as always. The same event, via the Donbass Insider website: “The deadly strike on the residential building in Slaviansk by a ‘Russian’ missile,” 24/4. “Today, the propaganda apparatus of the Kiev regime has once again made a serious mistake by showing the serial number of the rocket (more precisely, of its engine): 5V55. Why is this a serious mistake? It is very simple: this number 5V55 (5B55 in Russian) is the one assigned to the first series of the S-300 PS air defense complex. Namely, this is one of only three anti-aircraft missile systems that the Ukrainian armed forces have had since 1991 (apart from the brand new deliveries of Western systems): S-300 PT, S-300 PS and S-300 V. […] Not a single S-300 PS system is still in service with the Russian military. Thus, the Kiev propaganda apparatus unwittingly confirms that the deadly attack on the residential building in Slaviansk – a city, the majority of whose population is deeply pro-Russian – was inflicted by a missile from their own air defense system.”

“Kremlin denies Vladimir Putin has body doubles and sits in a bunker,” ABC News, 26/4. “The Kremlin has rejected what it said were lies that President Vladimir Putin had lookalike body doubles who stood in for the 70-year-old leader and that he spent much of his time shielding in a nuclear bunker.” So-called “trusted,” taxpayer-funded news service repeating another tabloid nonsensical claim about the President.

Thursday 27/4: Noodling and coding

No headache at least, this morning. Very windy and unsettled; a big rain front swept through around 9 a.m. but passed after lunchtime and the afternoon is fine again, though still windy.

I took the bus to Chadstone Shopping Centre; stayed around an hour then took one home again. Only takes around 20 minutes to get there during school holidays when traffic is lighter. As this bus route has a stop only a few doors up from my parents’ home, it is easy and convenient!

Still idly tweaking my website’s style sheet (just “noodling,” as I use the idiom). HTML (markup) and CSS (presentation) are the only sort of coding I get enjoyment from; I have no interest in programming and scripting languages (Javascript, PHP and so on). Perhaps because HTML/CSS are a form of artistic expression in the form of a webpage and images. I have not done any drawing in a couple of years at least (I am in an artistic drought period), so my website is a limited form of created expression.

Friday 28/4: Only Ukrainian children suffer

Did very little; more noodling on my website CSS. Left writing too late again, so only a brief post.

The Ukrainian propaganda outlets posing as Australian news media continue to churn out articles to garner sympathy. A couple focusing on children in the war zone – but no mention of the children in Donbass who have suffered due to Ukrainian hostilities.

“Ukrainian child’s diary highlights impact of war on children,” ABC News, 27/4.

“I turned 16 in a bomb shelter: Three Ukrainian teens on coming of age in wartime,” SBS News, 23/4.

Saturday 29/4: Leaked Vulkan documents; the Indie Web

“The Vulkan Files: Secret trove offers rare look into Russian cyberwar ambitions,” The Washington Post, 30/3. Have not seen this mentioned before in the alternative news sites and blogs I visit, so I don’t know how significant the illicit release is (hopefully a form of disinformation?). “An anonymous person provided the documents from the contractor, NTC Vulkan, to a German reporter after expressing outrage about Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The leak, an unusual occurrence for Russia’s secretive military industrial complex, demonstrates another unintended consequence of President Vladimir Putin’s decision to take his country to war.”

In the last year or so I have come across the concept of, and community around, the “Indie Web” (independent web and websites) and the related “small web”. Both advocate for personal, independent websites as opposed to the profit-focused, privacy-invading walled gardens of social media that have regrettably become a dominant presence on the Internet, to its detriment. I guess my website would fit in the Indie/Small category, as it has always been personal, hand-crafted and non-profit. I certainly like the concept, anyway – though to maintain a web presence unfortunately requires financial output for a domain name and web hosting.

The once-simple process of producting a web page (HTML and CSS) seems to have become awfully convoluted, though. This post, “Automation for my static blog publishing workflow,” seems a horrendously tedious way of creating a blog entry. I guess it makes it easier for sites with a single blog entry per web page (as most are now) that can add up to hundreds of such pages, but it is not a method that appeals to me, though my method is very old-fashioned by current standards and inefficient.

Sunday 30/4: Rapacious royals; Elon’s space cadet cult; journalist propaganda school; Russia off travel list

“Two very different lists of names: While King Charles’s staff check off coronation RSVPs, foodbank volunteers draw up a waiting list,” ABC News, 30/4. The obscenity of the contrast between an extravagant and archaic ceremony for privileged useless eaters and the real struggle of their “subjects,” so-called “commoners.” “However, 53-year-old Stewart Lendor, who relies on the food store to feed his family of four, says the estimated 100-million-pound ($189 million) price tag on the coronation is hard to swallow. ‘They’re feeding the rich and the poor are getting poorer,’ he says. ‘It’s all about them.’”

“The Musk superfans who want to live on Mars with Elon,” The Economist, 21/4. Elon Musk and his (very fanatical) legion of fans are the definition of a personality cult – a secular version of a religious one, whose ultimate aim is to ascend to the heavens and live on Mars. If that very difficult project were achieved, the colonists might become disillusioned with the harsh prospect of reality of living out the rest of their lives on that desolate world for the rest of their lives, once the novelty wore off. Elon’s followers seem to be to be lost and looking for a purpose in their lives: “The people who had gathered to watch its dawning were not casual space nerds. The viewing area is owned by Rocket Ranch, a motel and campsite near Starbase, the facility where SpaceX has been building and testing its rockets for the past few years. Some people had been staying there for months in anticipation of the Starship launch. A few had even quit their jobs in order to be sure of witnessing it. Others were so captivated by SpaceX and Musk’s Martian ambitions that they had permanently moved to the ranch. […] At the outpost, I met Praveen, an Indian engineer and college student, who drove for 22 hours from his university in Georgia to catch the Starship. ‘Musk is almost like a demi-god,’ he said.” (Again, I’ll refer back to the 2005 article, “The Dream Palace Of The Space Cadets,” last mentioned in my 2/2 entry.)

“Inside the school where Russia’s state TV journalists are trained,” The Economist, 26/3. A purported propaganda school for journalists – but, as I have repeatedly noted, Western journalists also toe their governments’ line on some subjects, bolstering Ukraine and demonizing Russia being a dominant current topic. I do not, however, like Yuri Kot’s stance (“Kot sets off on an extended riff which encompasses tsarist history, the causes of the war in Ukraine and the tenets of Orthodox Christianity. […] At the end of the lesson, Kot sets the homework: the journalism students must write a paragraph on the murder of Tsar Nicholas II and read an 11th-century sermon (the Russian Orthodox church has played a key role in building support for Putin and his war).”) – he presumably opposes Communism.

“The new bucket list: The places to add (and the ones to remove),” The Age, 29/4. Noting that Russia is, sadly, out-of-bounds (though the writer is obviously not). “Alas, for obvious war-related reasons, Russia is an impossible destination at present – and it may remain so for some time, even permanently for many travellers. […]It is not just the Trans-Siberian that has fallen off the travel agenda thanks to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its vanishing behind an invisible Iron Curtain of its own making. No, that was the choice of the West with its ill-though-out sanctions and cancellation of Russia. Russian culture – of which there is much, and much of it is great – is also lost to Western tourists for the foreseeable future (understandably, the federal government’s Smart Traveller advisory website currently has the entire map of Russia coloured in do-not-travel red.” As I remarked back in my 5/9/2022 entry, I would go to Russia regardless, if I were in a position to travel.

May

Monday 1/5: Swearing at, not to; Irish sellouts; chilled Putin, and a plea to him

Had a bad nosebleed this morning (which I am occasionally prone to).

“Archbishop of Canterbury invites public to pledge allegiance to King Charles III during coronation,” ABC News, 30/4. Unbelievable, the arrogant entitlement from the elite of expecting people to bow and scrape verbally with servile gestures such as this. “The public is then asked to state the following: ‘I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God.’ The bishop then says ‘God save The King",’ to which all are asked to reply ‘God save King Charles, long live King Charles, may The King live for ever.’” The only “swearing” I will do is of the vulgar kind!

“Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill to attend King Charles’s coronation,” The Guardian, 26/4. A betrayal of “the party’s strict Irish republican heritage. […] As an IRA mouthpiece during the Troubles, it condemned the royal family as part of a colonial ‘war machine’ and celebrated the 1979 assassination of Lord Mountbatten.” And I would not be upset if the same fate befell the current royal parasites.

“Austrian chancellor reveals Putin’s chilling response to Russian casualties,” The Age, 30/4. “But Nehammer said his account of the scale of the loss of Russian life made no impact on Putin. ‘He didn’t show any sign of impression, he was not impressed by that number at all; he was impressed by the fact of the sanctions against the Russian Federation. He was, and I think he is, completely in his own war logic.’” Or perhaps the President is not one to show emotion? What a stupidly trite article. And citing the disgraced “former US General and CIA director David Petraeus” discredits it entirely (Petraeus was recently verbally eviscerated by Larry Johnson – ‘Yes, America’s Political Elite Are Really This Delusional,’ 18/4).

“Zyuganov to Putin: ‘Form a patriotic front against the imperial west!’,” The Communists, 25/4. Republication and translation of an impassioned letter “sent to Russian president Vladimir Putin by Communist party chairman Gennady Zyuganov on 13 April 2023.” Yes, the language is florid in some places, but he has valid points, in my view – in contrast to the archaic pro-Tsarist views of Yuri Kot (30/4 entry). Sadly, the current Communist Party in Russia is much diminished in influence. “The current woes of Russia, Ukraine and other republics of the USSR are a direct consequence of the heinous crimes of Gorbachev and Yeltsin. It was anti-Sovietism and russophobia that were directly to blame for the tragedy of the USSR. It was then that fraternal Ukraine began to turn into an anti-Russian bridgehead. […] Neoliberal dogma has cost our people dearly. It is high time to recognise that nurturing hatred towards the Soviet era is a harmful and criminal practice.”

Tuesday 2/5: File renaming; Ran’s blog; comforting dream places; walking wishes

I renamed my Journal files from journalweb to journalsuzy, which makes more sense. I doubt anyone has linked to them (assuming anyone visits!), so no inconvenience. Ran Prieur (previously: 12/2, 24/4 entries) has a new blog entry for 1 May (he usually posts every few days). “Last week I took my yearly LSD trip. In Pullman I would always walk up the Palouse River. In Seattle I walked around Westcrest Park, an urban forest that has gone long enough without logging to have trees you can’t reach halfway around. And it was nice, but I still like the river better. I feel like the best part of the forest must be up in the treetops where the sun is.” I wonder what effect psychedelics would have on me, though I have no clue as to where to source them, and am uncertain of their legality here. I would like to visit my dreams, and the familiar yet different landscapes I frequent in them: the streets and suburb where I live and other urban areas that I occasionally pass through. I had a recurring dream scene earlier this week, of opening and entering a secret cupboard in a dream version of my parents’ home and some others, though the dream house is double-storied. There is an upper cupboard and storage space in my sister’s old bedroom that the dream cupboard is obviously based upon.

The weather has become inclement. I have not been out walking every day; sometimes I just do not feel like it. I wish there were a proper forest to walk through, but those are a long drive away. All there are here are relatively tame parks; better than nothing, but still there are usually too many people around, and I get agitated. I really wish to walk through the pine and deciduous forests of the Northern Hemisphere.

Tuesday 3/5: Imminent Russian spacewalk

Very windy and cold, with heavy rain early this morning. Did not go out walking. The single-digit mornings have begun, an ominious sign of the forthcoming winter.

Feel tired and overwhelmed by the constant barrage of news online; no commentary today. More tweaking of my website’s code.

The delayed Russian spacewalk (25/4 entry) occurs tomorrow; from 6 a.m. in Melbourne here

Thursday 4/5: Successful spacewalk; drones drama

The Russian spacewalk (VKD-57) has been completed!

More soberly, drama over – and embarrassment for – the Kremlin as two drones were shot down after an apparent attack attempt yesterday. No one harmed but, to use a currently trendy phrase, the optics look bad. Of course the Western media will be gleefully crowing, and there are already claims that the strikes were a “false flag” instigated by the Kremlin: “Russia says Ukraine tried to kill Vladimir Putin but Ukraine flatly denies it. Could the drone attack on the Kremlin have been a false flag?” ABC News, 4/5. “Some experts, such as John Spencer, the chair of urban warfare at West Point’s Modern War Institute, are pointing to the incident as a possible false flag operation, meaning Russia may itself have staged the attack in order to justify a significant increase in hostilities as part of its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. ‘Think twice about this. 1) Russia lies more than truth 2) Russia needs such an attack to justify continuing their illegal war in Ukraine 3) Ukraine not that stupid, no military target in Kremlin 4) Plenty want Putin dead.’” Nonsensical in my view, and reiterating some extremely Russophobic and biased assumptions. Ukraine’s puppet president has denied involvement and of course he will be believed. Amarynth at Global South has a post, “An early Russian Reaction after drone attack on the Kremlin.”

Friday 5/5: PC cleaning; physical pains

I took my desktop PC outside, opened it up and gave it a thorough dusting – quite a lot of accumulated dust came out! A fine windy day so a good opportunity to do it. Had to blow dust out using a squeeze bulb as compressed air cans are, frustratingly, very difficult to find (not in the common retail stores). I was quite exhausted after that (my PC is rather heavy to carry), so nothing else for the day.

My PC also needs a new internal USB port for the front; one of the two ones there has a loose connection somewhere and keeps disconnecting external drives. Another frustration and inconvenience is that there are no computer stores locally anymore, or anywhere; most sales are now online, which involves extra costs if ordering (postage charges) and the delay in getting a part delivered. The Covid-19 pandemic-induced supply chain crisis of the last couple of years has not helped in this area. I don’t mind tinkering with computers; I think I could build my own given money and parts! But too expensive now.

A couple of physical ailments troubling me are the pain or ache over my left ribs, which has persisted for a few years now, and extremely painful cramping of my feet if I curl them inwards (agonizing to the point of screaming). Too apathetic to go to a doctor, though, and I doubt they could help.

Saturday 6/5: Tired and tweaking; Prigozhin posturing?

Rain overnight and into this morning; cold, cloudy and generally gloomy and unpleasant. Felt stressed and agitated for most of the day for various reasons. Have not felt inclined to go for a walk at all the last few days.

Still tinkering with my webpages’ CSS file; getting some elements and their renderings to work; others don’t. A mildly meditative activity, if sometimes frustrating when I can’t figure out why a particular style rule won’t work.

“Prigozhin says Wagner Group mercenary force will withdraw from Bakhmut due to lack of ammunition,” ABC News, 5/5. “Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of Russia’s Wagner Group mercenary force, has said in a sudden and dramatic announcement that his forces will leave Bakhmut on May 10, having tried to capture the Ukrainian city since last summer. […] It was not clear if his latest statement could be taken at face value, as he has frequently posted impulsive comments in the past.” He does have a tendency to make outlandish, attention-grabbing statements, but Larry Johnson has a different view in his entry, “Evgeny Prigozhin – Truth Teller, Mad Man or Maskirovka?” 5/5. “I want to suggest that the Prigozhin operation is the shiny object a skilled magician uses to distract audience attention from the real magic. Thanks to social media, the West, including intelligence agencies, have been convinced that the fighting in Bakhmut is the center of the military universe. But it is not.” And, he concludes: “One more point to consider – the Western narrative insists that Putin is a brutal dictator who brokers no dissent. Really? If that was true then Prigozhin would be in shackles headed for a secret prison were he would die of some unexpected illness. But that is not what we are seeing. Prigozhin is posting outrageous comments and videos and is still walking around. That fact alone persuades me that he is playing a role in Russia’s current Maskirovka campaign.” (Note: his name in Cyrillic is Евгений Пригожин, directly transliterated to Evgenii Prigozhin, but spelling varies depending upon the transliteration system used.)

Sunday 7/5: Royal bore; drone debunking

The coronation happened, with saturation coverage on TV. A tedious and anachronistic carry-on. Needless to say, President Putin was not on the international dignitaries invite list, according to TASS, 6/5/2023: “London did not invite heads of state from Afghanistan, Belarus, Venezuela, Iran, Myanmar, Russia, and Syria to the coronation ceremony. With respect to North Korea and Nicaragua, invitations have been made out to high-ranking diplomats. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be present at the coronation, while the US will be represented by First Lady Jill Biden.” And the cost of the procedure is, of course, obscene: “The Times estimated the expenses will reach 100 million pounds ($124 million).” They deserve the same fate as the Romanovs (21/2 entry).

“Debunking Kiev & Blinken’s Latest Lie That Russia Staged A False Flag Attack Against Putin,” Oriental Review, 5/5. Debunking the Western media assertion that the drone strike was instigated by Russia, and that no statement by the Kremlin is to be trusted. Russia has no valid reason to conduct a “false flag” – “Russians are already very patriotic ahead of this practically sacred commemoration of their people’s victory over Nazi Germany so there’s no reason for the government to stage a false flag attack against President Putin for that purpose.”

Monday 8/5: PC panic; Ukrainevision

Was in a panic this morning when my computer rebooted when I was out of my bedroom and got stuck in a loop – it beeped several times, would not POST and kept restarting. Turned out it was a portable hard disk drive I had plugged in that was apparently faulty; after removing it, I turned my PC on and it started as normal. The HDD had been read as faulty a few times, so something in it was disagreeing with my PC. I will not use the HDD again, but destroy it. Hopefully my PC is OK, but I’ll have to see. (From the Event Viewer, I think the related event is “A fatal alert was received from the remote endpoint. The TLS protocol defined fatal alert code is 70.” But I am not an expert there, so am not certain of that.)

After that stress, I have been too exhausted for anything else.

More Ukrainian propaganda from SBS this week; a documentary, Zelenskyy: Citizens at War, is being screened, and there is the Eurovision Song Contest which will be saturated with similar propaganda and thus be even more unwatchable (it might as well be renamed “Ukrainevision”).

Tuesday 9/5: My PC borked – or not?

My PC went into the same boot loop again last evening, so it is not the HDD but either the PSU or GPU overheating, as far as I can ascertain, so I am not using it but am instead using the old laptop inherited from Dad (24/7/2022 entry) as a stopgap; it is not as easy to type on and use as the desktop PC. Don’t know if the PC will be usable again, assuming the cause of the malfunction can be found. Don’t want to pay to try to get it repaired as this would be expensive (the PC is 10 years old) and there are no computer shops nearby (or anywhere) now, as I complained in my 5/5 entry.

From some quick searching:

It could be, in order of suspicion:

  1. Bad power supply.
  2. Bad incoming power to the power supply.
  3. Possibly you have too many devices drawing power inside your machine.
  4. Bad RAM.
  5. CPU is overheating and automatically shutting down. Clean heatsink, or remove CPU, reapply thermal paste, and reinstall.
  6. Expansion card, such as graphics card or other PCI/PCI-E device defective.
  7. Bad hard drive.
  8. Anything else attachable to the system might be causing something wonky, such as a keyboard or USB device.

I am using portable programs in preference now (such as portable Notepad++); the fewer programs to reinstall on a SSD or HDD, the better.

Update: managed to get the PC working apparently normally again (so far) – I think the culprit might have been a loop of wire that was brushing intermittently against the fan over the CPU, perhaps dislodged when I cleaned the inside of the case on Friday. Tied it with a cable tie. I tried backing up to a HDD as I normally do, and there were no overheating shutdowns and reboots. I’ll have to see how it functions (will it turn on tomorrow?).

Wednesday 10/5: Computer still working OK; Victory Day

My desktop computer still seems to be functioning normally; I have been copying a lot of files to backup portable hard disk drives with no issues.

“Victory Parade on Red Square,” President of Russia, 9/5. A more muted commemoration this year, which the Western media have done their best to downplay, disinform and disparage (“Vladimir Putin uses ‘cheap’ Victory Day parade to rail against West,” The Australian; “Annual Victory Day parade in Moscow a rare scaled-back event,” ABC News – “‘This is supposed to be a showpiece for Russian military might. But so much of that military might has already been mauled in Ukraine that Russia has very little to show on its parade in Red Square,’ Keir Giles, a Russia expert at London’s Chatham House think tank, told the Associated Press. The BBC’s disinformation specialist Alistair Coleman said: ‘Clearly, Moscow has a more urgent need for its military equipment elsewhere.’”).

A Twitter thread from last year by “Big Serge”: “Friends, a May 9 thread about the scale of Soviet losses in World War Two.”

Thursday 11/5: Upcoming spacewalk; begging ambassador; old PCs; tech/developer personal sites

Yesterday morning I had a headache; perhaps in part induced by the stress of trying to repair my PC. The weather has also been cold, rainy and miserable, which I loathe – but, happily, today has been fine and sunny. I have not been out walking for a few days; have not felt inclined to.

The next Russian spacewalk takes place on the 12th.

“My people’s plea to Australia: Send ‘Swiss Army knives’,” The Age, 11/5. The Ukrainian ambassador to Australia histronically begging for more funding and military equipment, making nonsensical claims about Russia: “First, Vladimir Putin staged a fake drone assassination attempt on himself, according to the independent Institute for the Study of War. […] On the same day, Russian forces shelled and fired missiles at Kherson, a port city of some 280,000 people, or about the size of Hobart. […] These two events – one bizarre and the other barbaric – show that the Russian despot is increasingly desperate and dangerous.” Wish he would just p*ss off.

I have been discovering and visiting various programmer/web developer blogs who post some topics I find of interest. Came across this post, “The Story My Decade-Old Computer” by LiterallyHifumi (and related, “Reviving My Dead Computer”); so I am not the only one with a PC that old!

Other technical/web developers include Jackson Chen, Matthew Graybosch, Brad Taunt and Chris Wiegman.

Friday 12/5: Old is still usable; hex color change; ambassador take-down

Continuing from the topic of using older computers (11/5 entry), more blog posts: “Why I use old hardware,” Drew Devault, 23/1/2019 (this was the post I was trying to remember yesterday); “Only Use Old Computers!” Luke Smith; “How and Why I Stopped Buying New Laptops,” Kris De Decker at Low-Tech Magazine, 20/12/2020.

I changed the colors on my website to their “web-safe” versions, which can be abbreviated to three hex digits or letters, and I liked the symmetry of these (see 2023 screenshot on my About my site page).

Cameron Leckie comments on the Ukrainian ambassador’s begging article from yesterday (11/5 entry):

Ukrainian Ambassador @AmbVasyl, @smh OpEd seeking additional support from Australia in the Russian-Ukrainian proxy war raises many questions. A short-list:

  1. Why should we believe his claims that Russia launched drone attacks upon the Kremlin? Is there evidence of this? Claims like this from Ukraine who (prewar) faked the murder of a journalist, produced the heroes of Snake Island & the Ghost of Kyiv suggest scepticism is required.
  2. Can @TheStudyofWar be considered “independent,” being located in DC, funded by defence companies & being cheerleaders of the neocon cause? Seems like a long bow to call them independent.
  3. Are Russian attacks killing Ukrainians anymore barbaric than those of Ukraine who has been bombing its own citizens for nearly nine years, including a significant escalation in attacks in the days immediately before the launch of the SMO? Or is this a case of worthy & unworthy victims?
  4. Given Russian clear preponderance in artillery, the leading cause of casualties in attritional battles, if Russia is taking 100-500 casualties a day, how many is Ukraine taking?
  5. If Bakhmut is of no operational value, why has Ukraine invested so much blood and military hardware defending it?
  6. The link between Ukraine & “liberal values” seems somewhat tenuous, another longbow perhaps? Closing down opposition media, opposition political parties, cracking down on labour rights etc seems antithetical to liberal democracy
  7. If the Ukrainian offensive is “pending,” as in imminently, it would seem that further Australian support would be too late for the offensive. Or is this an acknowledgement that Ukraine has insufficient resources to launch an offensive with any chance of substabtial success?
  8. Is the any example in modern military history where the attacking side has succeeded when it lacks air defence, artillery and the ability to achieve at least air parity, relative to the defending side? The probability of Ukraine succeeding seems infinitesimally low.
  9. At what point will Ukraine negotiate? Minsk looks like a bargain in hindsight. Or will Ukraine fight on until there is no country left to defend? Or until WW3 is triggered, after which there will be no world left to defend …

Saturday 13/5: Spacewalk successful; worrying web monopoly; another personal site

A cold and foggy morning, but it eventually burned off to a fine sunny day. Autumn leaves on deciduous trees are showing their gold and red colors now, which is always a lovely sight. I have not gone out walking for a few days, though; have not felt like it. I just want to stay inside and huddle.

The Russian spacewalk, VKD-58, concluded successfully!

“The Modern WWW, Or: Where Do We Want To Go From Here?” Hackaday, 27/4. On the overwhelming dominance of Google’s browser and its derivatives on the current World Wide Web, to the latter’s detriment, particularly for those using older or alternative web browsers.

I have been doing more behind-the-scenes tidying-up of some of my website pages, which is mentally exhausting, so I have no energy now.

Came across another personal/tech blog (some previous ones: 11/5 entry), Michael Harley’s blog. None have an extremely “old-fashioned” plain HTML format like this Journal, though; they use static site generators to create separate entries, a tagging system and so on (“Building my personal site with Eleventy” is a relevant post on his site). This is undoubtedly a more readable format for visitors, but the steps required to generate posts are convoluted and laborious, and need various external dependencies to operate. My Journal, though, is one massive page dump and is probably unreadable. But it is the way I do things, and I don’t wish to change; it suits me. Ran Prieur (previously: 2/5 entry) does have a similar, simple hand-coded blog, but he is a rare exception

Sunday 14/5: Knocked knee; Eurovision entitlement; Groggy

I bruised the outside of my right knee by colliding with the edge of a table this morning; there must be a nerve over the bone there as there was an agonizing pain spike like an electric shock, enough to make me howl, and the knee collapsed under me! I recovered after a few minutes, and can walk OK, but the pain was incredible.

Another lovely sunny Autumn day, but I do not want to go out walking. Still doing tedious behind-the-scenes tidying up of some of my web pages.

“Zelensky v Eurovision: A political song and dance over the future of Europe,” The Age, 13/5. The puppet president acts like the entitled drama queen he is as Eurovision won’t let him spout his usual propaganda plea for funds (though, as the article points out, EV is still pro-Ukraine and inconsistent in applying its “no politics” rule). But “Kiev blasts UK media over Eurovision claim,” RT, 12/5. “The office of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has denied reports that it asked the Eurovision Song Contest organizers to allow him make a video appearance at this year’s event.” Presumably they are backpedaling to avoid embarassment.

Another technical/computer personal site which I have been visiting for many years is that of Greg “Groggy” Lehey, “a retired Unix kernel hacker.” I saw him profiled in Australian Personal Computer (APC) magazine sometime in the 2000s, and have visited regularly ever since. He lives in rural Victoria. He keeps a daily diary, mostly plain HTML but using some PHP scripting to display tagged sections. He was born in 1949, so is now elderly. Despite his technical computing background, even he is finding modern computer programs – and mobile phones in particular – difficult to use (perhaps in part due to age-related cognitive decline? My Dad used to be reasonably adept at using a computer, but is also now finding them and figuring out how to use websites increasingly difficult)

Monday 15/5: Website tidying continues; operating system dilemma

Fine and sunny again, but rain due tomorrow, unfortunately. I would be happy to never experience rain again, I hate it that much. A good day today for drying washing outside on the clothesline (and something as trivial as that feels like a small victory! Rather pathetic, but that is how reduced my life is).

Finished tidying up files in one of my subdirectories here; a tedious chore but they are more consistently formatted now.

I have no interest in watching movies or listening to music; I just feel a dull disinterest regarding most activities. Reading is the only activity I still engage in, though what interested me a few years ago does not now.

Been edging towards the idea of installing a distro of Linux – most likely Mint – on my main PC rather than upgrade to Windows 10 (as I will reluctantly have to soon). I am not sure how compatible my hardware will be, and my main concern is: will the OS be able to read and write to my NTFS-formatted backup disks? Another Unix-based OS is FreeBSD, though I am not sure how beginner-friendly that one is, or how compatible. I am fed up with how dumbed-down both Windows and Apple operating systems are becoming (aimed at casual users rather than computer geeks), and how locked-down and privacy-invading they are. The companies are also moving towards selling subscription services rather than their original foundations as computer OS providers.

Came across this post, “FreeBSD, Linux, and I (2023),” by Jonathon Vasquez, who is trying out various OSs on his laptops.

Tuesday 16/5: HDD failure

My internal hard disk, on which my personal files are stored, stopped working today (there was a scraping sound for a few minutes before) and could not be read, so I have replaced it with one Dad dug out. At least I have external backups, so a failure is an inconvenient nuisance rather than a disaster. But a worrying reminder of how fragile digital data is; precariously reliant upon fallible electronics.

Wednesday 17/5: Digital decluttering

The chilly Autumn mornings have begun, making arising more difficult. The red and gold leaves are lovely to see, though.

Am attempting to do some digital decluttering of my hoarded data. Hundreds of gigabytes of files that I have saved over the years and never looked at again. A habit carried over from physical hoarding of books, newspaper articles and magazines. It is a stressful and mentally tiring chore (what should I keep – what will I need in the future?).

I feel like I am retreating further from everything; as I noted on 15/5, I have no desire to watch movies or listen to music, so virtually all of these have been purged. I just want silence and stillness, aside from the sounds of nature. I stopped listening to audiobooks for the same reason; an irritating distraction from the thoughts in my head, and I could never concentrate for long on what I was listening to.

Thursday 18/5: Approved criminal mercenaries; keeping one’s sanity against propaganda; Russian spaceflight book extract (negative as usual) and ESA self-sabotage

I tested the apparently-troublesome HDD (16/5 entry) in an external dock, and did a scan – no errors were found, according to Windows. So I am not sure what happened to it on Tuesday.

“How a former yakuza criminal went from a jail cell in Japan to fighting the war in Ukraine,” ABC News, 17/5. So, criminals employed as mercenaries are exempt from criticism so long as they are fighting for Ukraine? Unlike the Wagner group fighting for Russia? (See 11/2 entry for ABC News’ negative reporting on them.) Hypocrisy, much?

A sardonic guide, the original PDF linked to from the Moon of Alabama blog, and transcribed below:

Safeguarding Your Mental Health from the Harmful Effects of Western War Propaganda – Ten Top Tips

By Geoffrey Roberts FRHistS, MRIA, Emeritus Professor of History, University College Cork

  1. Beg, borrow, or buy a copy of Robert H. Thoules’s Straight and Crooked Thinking. Pay particular attention to the sections on the manipulative use of emotive language (“Russia’s unprovoked, criminal, aggressive and genocidal war on Ukraine”), diversionary arguments (“you can’t negotiate peace with an indicted war criminal”) and drumbeat repetition (“Ukraine has won, is winning and will win the war”).
  2. Beware bait and switch articles. Promising pieces with headlines like “in reality, the Ukrainian are losing’ or “West exaggerates Russian losses’ often turn out to be Neocon op-eds arguing for all-out western military support for Ukraine whilst blandly asserting that Putin would be crazy to escalate the war.
  3. Get into the habit of scanning articles about the war before reading them. If you espy the words “Hitler,” “appeasement,” “Munich” in the same piece - bin it, unless it is written by a trustworthy historian with the initials GR.
  4. Unsourced casualty claims from the Pentagon or the British MoD are a no- brainer: simply divide those for Russia by 10 and multiply those for Ukraine by the same factor.
  5. Keep to hand a stack of old Ritter and MacGregor interviews predicting that a storm of Russian armoured steel will soon sweep all before it and bring the war to a rapid conclusion.
  6. When things are going badly for the Russkies, mute the sound on reports from Weeb Union and the Military Summary Channel. Then close your eyes and re-imagine the meaning of all those little arrows flickering across the screen.
  7. When things are going really badly, restrict your YouTube viewing to Alexander Mercouris’s nightly vlog. Nothing is more reassuring than Alexander’s dulcet tones reminding us for the umpteenth time that he is not a military man before launching into a lengthy explanation as to why a 50-metre advance by the remnants of the Azov Brigade may not be as strategically significant as some panic-mongering Russian bloggers would have us believe.
  8. Goebbels was wrong. The Big Lie is not the most effective propaganda: it is the cumulative effect of little lies, evasions, distortions and misdirection. The best antidote is a daily dose of Responsible Statecraft supplemented by a generous dollop of Naked Capitalism, Moon of Alabama and Antiwar.com.
  9. If you don’t read Russian, invest in a machine-translation programme that will enable you to follow Strana.UA’s sane and sensible coverage of the war.
  10. Subscribe to a curated list of links that – at no cost to you - filters out the most mentally damaging Western war propaganda.

GR/05/2023

A couple of Russian spaceflight news items on its RuSpace page: an extract from a newly-released book about the future of politics and geography in space, and a brief article on the European Space Agency’s chief on his foolish decision to abandon partnership with Russia in space. (Previously: 10/2; 27/3 entries.)

Friday 19/5: Faulty new HDD; cancelling Russian

A headache this morning and some vertigo; felt very debilitated again.

I ordered a new internal HDD from Scorptec which arrived by post today (I had to order online as there are no stores nearby). Unfortunately, and frustratingly, the 2TB Seagate Barracuda spun up but was not detected! I tried it in two external HDD docks, and also connected it directly to my PC in place of the second HDD in use, but still no detection. I don’t know what else I can do, so I submitted a returns request, and will have to go through the hassle and inconvenience of posting it back. Again the local computer shops are sorely missed (9/5 entry); the “big box” stores only sell peripherals or prebuilt PCs for casual buyers, but none of the internal components separately for dedicated PC builders.

“Speaking Russian became too painful for Olena Fedosieieva so she ditched her mother tongue,” ABC News, 18/5. Even the Russian language is getting “cancelled” now. “Historically, the Russian language has been dominant across parts of Ukraine, explains Olga Maxwell, a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne’s School of Languages and Linguistics. She tells ABC RN’s Counterpoint it is the result of Ukrainians’ ‘centuries of persecution and Russification’.” Ukrainian is closely related to Russian, as are the peoples. Conservapedia – Ukraine entry: “A ‘Ukrainian state’ was created by the Bolsheviks with remnants of the Russian, German and Austro-Hungarian empires. No entity known as ‘Ukraine’ existed prior to 1918.” Yes, it is biased, but no worse in this case than the extremist Ukrainian nationalism “approved” by the West.

Saturday 20/5: HDD posted for return; extravagance for Elizabeth; Mark Kelly snark; G7 Russophobia; I like Cats

Had a recurring dream scene where my parents and I are driving on a daytrip in the country (outside Melbourne) and we pulled into a campsite in a densely-canopied forest. Other dream characters were there also.

I went to a post office to post the possibly-defective hard disk drive back to Scorptec (19/5 entry); it won’t be taken out for delivery until Monday. If it is defective, I don’t know if I should opt for a replacement or refund.

“Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral cost UK government 162 million pounds AU$304 million, Treasury papers reveal,” ABC News, 19/5. A profligate waste of taxpayers’ money, and the recent coronation’s cost has yet to be revealed.

“Sen. Mark Kelly flew with Russian pilots in the Navy and with NASA, and he said the Russian fighter jet running into a US drone shows ‘how incompetent they are’,” Yahoo! News, 20/3 (mentioned in my 20/3 entry). Demonstrating what a deluded Ukraine shill the former NASA astronaut is.

“‘Diamonds are not forever’: West tightens screws on Russia with more sanctions,” The Australian, 20/5. The 2023 G7 summit is underway and Russia gets yet more savage restrictions. The puppet president also makes an appearance. I sincerely hope that the Russia-hating nations will experience extreme blowback.

“Can We Stop Runaway A.I.?” New Yorker, 18/5. I have been well aware of the hype and hysteria surrounding (so-called) artificial intelligence programs over the last year (one of the most prominent being ChatGPT), but I feel a lot of it is exaggerated (and I have many more other immediate concerns to occupy myself with). The programs themselves mimic human speece but are not truly self-aware, unlike how AI is usually depicted in science fiction.

To a different topic entirely. My unpopular and contrary opinion: I like Cats, the 2019 film of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical! It is pleasant escapism and is really not as bad as its haters make it out to be. But it got a massive internet pile-on when it was released, with almost entirely negative reviews (it “was panned by critics, and is considered to be one of the worst films ever made”). A lot of it seemed to be just plain nastiness (as in this Reddit official discussion thread). I have not seen the original musical, unfortunately, though I do have the earlier movie made of it in 1998.

Sunday 21/5: PC problems still; uses this

My PC was having issues again today; when copying files to the second HDD, the computer froze up and would not boot on restarting. After a few tries it booted to a blue recovery screen. I turned it off, then on again after a while, and it booted normally, but I think there is something wrong with the HDD connection? I am baffled and exhausted as there seems to have been one problem after another the last couple of weeks. I have disconnected the second HDD and only have the SSD with the main OS on it connected, and am writing my Journal on a portable USB stick as a makeshift solution. I can’t trust this PC anymore, anyway; it seems to have become unreliable. One of the two front USB ports is malfunctioning also (connector error or something?). A new PC is not affordable.

I like to visit “Uses this” pages on various personal sites. Some examples: Gwern Branwen; Andy Bell; Jack Baty; Marc; Bradley Taunt; Chris Wiegman. Most seem to use Apple products and software, and Linux-based or other open source. No Windows OS, apparently!

Have been reading Gwern’s “November 2016 Data Loss Postmortem,” on his travails with malfunctioning computers and backup drives. Interesting and a sobering reminder of how fragile our electronic data storage is. I do not encrypt my drive/s for fear of being unable to recover them due to encryption.

Monday 22/5: Some PC progress; mental spoons; Russia in no mood to help with hackers; Mick Ryan shilling for Ukraine yet again

Dad gave me use of his desktop PC, which he rarely uses now. It is not new, but about the same year as my current one (a decade old or so); it is (apparently) in working order, though! It will do for the time being; a new one is just too expensive at the moment (as much as I would still like one). I spent today installing Windows 10 (a tedious process that took about 2 hours), and will take a few days to “move house.” I know the issues surrounding Windows (and Microsoft generally); it does not have “geek cred,” but I am just unable to cope mentally with learning a new OS such as a Linux distro at the moment, though I am still open to this.

I came across the concept of “Spoon theory” – “a metaphor describing the amount of physical and/or mental energy that a person has available for daily activities and tasks, and how it can become limited due to mental and physical health issues.” That describes my ability to do tasks fairly accurately; I can only do so much each day before I become mentally and physically overwhelmed and exhausted, and shut down. That is why a task such as installing a new operating system and moving all my files, and adjusting to a new routine and OS is so daunting for me. My apparently-malfunctioning current PC has forced me to act there, but I can only do so in small increments (on top of all my other daily chores).

“Russia now knows who hacked Medibank, but it’s doing nothing about it,” The Age, 22/5. “AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw has revealed his agency briefed Moscow via international policing agency Interpol on the individuals and groups responsible for the hack, but his Russian counterparts had provided no assistance in response.” Do Australian authorities seriously expect Russia to be co-operative after the disgraceful way Australian “cancelled” everything Russian and is openly hostile towards the country? (Echoed by one commenter, MikeM: “Why would anyone expect Russia to help Australia when we, along with other Western countries, are actively waging war against it?”)

“We’ve become a bystander in the Ukraine war, and China will notice,” The Age, 22/5. “But as 2022 turned to 2023, and other nations decided to turn up the spigot on aid to support spring offensives by the Ukrainian army, Australia has done an about face. This year, the Australian government has made no major contributions to the defence of Ukraine with the exception of a small consignment of uncrewed aerial vehicles. That, and a couple of selfies by parliamentarians in Parliament House. There is a term for this. Bystander behaviour.” Ukraine shill Mick Ryan (previous mention: 28/3 entry) at it again, trying to shame Australia into sending more futile aid to Ukraine.

Tuesday 23/5: Moved to a different PC

Decided to “move house” to my “new” old computer (22/5 entry – yet another Dad build! From around 2012 or so, I think). Quick specifications:

Processor
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2500 CPU @ 3.30GHz
Installed RAM
8.00 GB
System type
64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Edition
Windows 10 Pro
Version
21H2
OS build
19044.2965
Installed on
22/05/2023

Nothing fancy, but it works (for now!). Windows 10 is certainly an improvement, despite its irritations. The PC is too old to upgrade to Windows 11. I have been installing my various programs and trying to organize my personal files, so I will take a while to settle in and get back into my normal workflow.

Wednesday 24/5: More computer annoyances

Still having frustrations with my computer! Though I have at least found reasons for these:

So more problems to frustrate me, but at least I have learned the reasons for them (and I have used up my “spoons” – 22/5 entry – for today!)

Thursday 25/5: Computer problems continue

Well, I spoke too soon when I said the replacement PC was working (23/5 entry) – it lost its Internet connection today after I restarted it and I have been unable to restore this, despite trying everything I can think of (Windows diagnostics, network reset, moving the WiFi adapter to different USB ports, and so on). The Internet modem is working properly; other devices I have connect with no issues. Only reason I am able to upload to my website via FTP is due to the old laptop I inherited from Dad, though my desk setup with it is very uncomfortable. So another day of stress and frustration. I have no one with technical expertise to ask about these problems, and I am just mentally and physically exhausted from dealing with one unrelated computer issue after another during the last couple of weeks (I am seriously wondering if I am a jinx on computers!). I have no energy to write about other topics at the moment

Friday 26/5: That Windows WiFi bug again; replacement HDD works

I remembered the success I had with booting with the live boot Linux Mint USB when having Windows 10 not detecting WiFi on Dad’s new laptop (27/1 entry), and tried that last night – and it worked! I figure it is the same problem; obviously a Windows 10 bug. I got the connection back last night, but lost it again this morning after a restart (which, oddly, seems to trigger loss of WiFi). On top of that, Windows Explorer (explorer.exe) failed to load after restarting. After more stress and frustration I gave up and did a fresh reinstall of Windows 10, which seems to have resolved those issues … for now. If they begin again, I will consider installing Linux Mint instead (though then there is the stress of learning a new operating system, and finding replacement programs such as a HTML editor).

One small tidbit of good news is that my replacement hard disk drive (19/5 entry) was sent from Scorptec and arrived today; it works, at least (after formatting)

Saturday 27/5: PC working (so far); dull mood

My PC detected the WiFi link this morning with no issues (so far), so that is one small tidbit of good news. Reinstalling all my programs is a pain, though. I really wish I had someone with computer expertise to talk to in real life, but there is no one (unless you pay for help, which I can’t afford to do).

I was in a very low mood when waking this morning; a feeling of utter disinterest and apathy. I have lost enthusiasm for most of my former interests, and just feel dull.

Sunday 28/5: Data organizing; avoiding the conflict

My PC had no issues detecting WiFi when powered on this morning X=; will this last? I am in a constant state of low-level anxiety, and having my desktop PC – the main focus of each day – malfunction is extremely distressing.

My backups of my files (personal creations and those saved from the Internet) are in a bit of a muddle, and the disruption to my usual workflow with PC problems has not helped! I have spent a lot of the last few days trying to figure out how to organize them (and have been ruthlessly culling them – yes, I am a data hoarder as well as a physical objects hoarder). The setups of some in the linked subReddit are quite sophisticated; I just have a few external HDDs and can’t afford anything more elaborate.

I have been mostly avoiding looking at anything related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict; I get angry and frustrated at the continued Russia hate here, and am burned out on it. I have been visiting various personal sites (11/5 entry). A post by “Jw,” “Decluttering,” certainly feels particularly relevant at the moment! Many of the site owners invite visitors to send them an email (they have come to dislike social media also); I have not worked up the courage to yet! (Though I am desperate for someone to talk to, if just virtually.) My own Journal is a very basic and unsophisticated setup, but I am “set in my ways” and would be reluctant to change.

I have not been out walking for a couple of weeks; I just do not want to, and the miserable wet cold weather does not help.

Monday 29/5: Earthquake!

There was an earthquake in Melbourne last night! According to Geoscience Australia, it was magnitude 3.8, 2 km deep and the epicenter was under Sunbury, west of Melbourne. at 11:41 p.m. I felt it as a tremor moving across under me (I was lying in bed) and the old weatherboard house creaked and cracked a bit as the shockwave rolled past. Quite unnerving! I did realize what it was instantly, though; there is no mistaking a tremor for other events.

The previous earthquake under Melbourne was on 22/9/2021, but I did not feel that (though it was stronger than last night’s at 5.9). The last one I felt strongly was on 19/6/2012.

Tuesday 30/5: Educate, don’t censor

Still getting my PC file backups sorted out – a tedious chore.

“Russian senator calls for Chinese-style internet firewall,” RT, 29/5. I understand the sentiment – there is a lot of crap on the Internet – but still disagree with censorship; it also makes it harder for genuine users to access sites in Russia (such as my being able to access the Roskosmos website due to country IP blocking). I agree with this commenter: “Instead of banning expression of ideas (even overt propaganda) from abroad, it is better to concentrate upon schooling people into critical thinking.”

Wednesday 31/5: Command puzzle; walked; wicked witch

Trying to figure out a particular Windows xcopy or robocopy command that will copy new and changed files, and exclude some directories. Have not got this to work yet! It is mentally tiring, so have left it for today.

I went for a walk yesterday and today. How awful is it that I have to force myself to do this!

“Meet Ukraine’s Witch, the lawyer who became a mortar commander fighting Russians in Bakhmut,” ABC News, 30/5. Ukraine-promoting puff piece, portraying the subject as some heroic resistance fighter. Her more absurd statements are in need of fact-checking: “Olha described Wagner units as ‘the most cruel and mad’ she came up against and said they forced their own troops at gunpoint to de-mine her unit’s defensive positions. ‘They were using people for de-mining territories. That’s medieval. They were doing it to make a hole in our defence and then to attack our positions,’ she says. ‘Behind them were guys with machine guns in case they decided to go back, their commanders would kill them.’”

June

Thursday 1/6: Replaced HDD; coding program frustrations

Replaced the 500 GB HDD in the Dad’s replacement PC with the 2 TB Seagate Barracuda one today (19/5 entry); all seems well with it, though it is a slower “green” drive.

I’ve had a lot of interruptions today, so am feeling unsettled and not much like writing. I am having a continuing frustration with Notepad++ (my main HTML editor) where it insists on opening this particular page with ANSI encoding rather than UTF-8, which means that Unicode symbols get corrupted. It seems to be an ongoing bug. I also use VSCode to a lesser degree, but that program is hugely bloated (757 MB with 24,813 files and 4,279 folders!). I just want a relatively simple coding program for HTML and CSS that is open-source and multi-operating system/platform (Windows, Linux, Apple), but I have yet to find one.

Friday 2/6: Notepad++ issue solved (hopefully)

I seem to have fixed yesterday’s Notepad++ encoding issue (1/6 entry) by copying and pasting the first couple of lines from another page into the misread one. There was also an issue with recorded macros showing numerical entities rather than their Unicode symbols, but this was explained in “v8.5.3 Macros and Run-Menu Commands.”

Notepad++ v8.5.3 changed how it interprets the Macros and Run-Menu commands in shortcuts.xml […] In Notepad++ v8.5.2 and earlier, if you had a “special character” in your macro or run-menu command – whether it was in the name of the macro/command or in text that it uses – then inside the XML, it would be stored as an XML entity. For example, ☺ would be stored as ☺ or π as π.

In Notepad++ v8.5.3, it changed to storing those characters as actual UTF-8 encoded characters, and it treats entities as raw text. Thus, π is interpreted by v8.5.3 (and newer) as 8 characters, not an entity-representation of the underlying character.

This change in interpretation may make it so your old macros or run-menu commands don’t work as expected.

I will still use VSCode as well (I tend to switch between various editors for some tasks). The main irritation with Notepad++ is the creator’s pushing their political stance on some issues (most recently the “Stand up for Ukraine” version – unfortunately he is another Ukraine supporter). I guess it is his right to, as the project is his creation, so I will ignore it. Another problem with these independent software creations is that their development is precariously dependent upon ongoing upkeep from their creator, and if anything happens to him or her, or they lose interest, the software ends up abandoned. So it is important not to become dependent upon any one item of software to produce one’s work; try to have alternatives ready.

Saturday 3/6: One coding issue solved; another underway

I found solutions for both coding problems that were frustrating me!

X-copy and exclude some folders (31/5 entry): put a space before the folder entries in the separate exclude file (each folder listed on a separate line) and use a slash before and after each file. Then use the command you want – for me it is xcopy d:\ e:\ /d /y /e /s /j /EXCLUDE:D:\exclude-ssd-blue.txt. Two Stackoverflow entries of relevance: /exclude in xcopy just for a file type; Xcopy Command excluding files and folders [duplicate]. (Note: only works on NTFS-formatted files? Does not seem to work on an exFAT-formatted external SSD. Will investigate this further.)

Punctuation keybindings in VSCode: searching led to this Reddit post – “Use curly quotes instead of straight quotes in VS Code?” and a link there to this archived page, Visual Studio Code key bindings for curly quotes.

My keybindings.json setup 
[
{
"key": "ctrl+j",
"command": "editor.action.joinLines"
},
{
"key": "alt+[",
"command": "editor.action.insertSnippet",
"args": {
"snippet": "“$TM_SELECTED_TEXT$0”"
},
"when": "editorTextFocus&&editorHasSelection"
},
{
"key": "alt+[",
"command": "type",
"args": {
"text": "“"
},
"when": "editorTextFocus&&!editorHasSelection"
},
{
"key": "alt+]",
"command": "editor.action.insertSnippet",
"args": {
"snippet": "‘$TM_SELECTED_TEXT$0’"
},
"when": "editorTextFocus&&editorHasSelection"
},
{
"key": "alt+]",
"command": "type",
"args": {
"text": "‘"
},
"when": "editorTextFocus&&!editorHasSelection"
},
{
"key": "shift+alt+[",
"command": "type",
"args": {
"text": "”"
},
"when": "editorTextFocus"
},
{
"key": "shift+alt+]",
"command": "type",
"args": {
"text": "’"
},
"when": "editorTextFocus"
},
{
"key": "alt+'",
"command": "type",
"args": {
"text": "’"
},
"when": "editorTextFocus"
},
{
"key": "alt+-",
"command": "type",
"args": {
"text": " – "
},
"when": "editorTextFocus"
},
{
"key": "alt+.",
"command": "type",
"args": {
"text": " … "
},
"when": "editorTextFocus"
}
]

I will try to use VSCode more, despite my dislike of its huge size (1/6 entry). There are versions for Apple and Linux users, and there is a large company behind it (though there are suspicions about Microsoft’s ulterior motives, given its history of “embrace, extend, extinguish”).

Sunday 4/6: Backup scripting issue fixed (hopefully); walking woes; Starlink contract; on enshittification

I got the file backup command prompt to work (3/6 entry) – I used this Robocopy prompt (example of one for a particular external drive of mine): robocopy D:\ H:\ /E /J /XD D:\BACKUPS D:\Computers D:\Countries D:\Esoterica "D:\My Photos" "D:\My Pictures" D:\PERSONAL D:\Programs "D:\Programs portable" D:\Spaceflight "D:\Web design" /R:1 /W:5 /V /ETA. (Note that folder names with spaces need to be surrounded with double quotes.) It needs some refining, but it worked for the SSD. I also opened the command prompt as Administrator, which might have been a factor. (Microsoft guides for robocopy and xcopy.)

I went for a walk – the day began overcast and gloomy, but this cleared up by mid-morning to a nice sunny day – but there were too many other people around and I got agitated and irritated, as usual. I wish I could walk by myself without seeing anyone else (and through a forest or along a beach), but that is impossible in an urban area.

“Pentagon to pay for Starlink in Ukraine,” RT, 1/6 (and the referenced Bloomberg article: “Elon Musk’s SpaceX Wins Pentagon Deal for Starlink in Ukraine”). Elon Musk trying to hedge his bets? He is volatile (to use one description) and this latest news for a contract supporting Ukraine is disappointing.

As noted in my 28/5 entry, I have generally been limiting my visits to the conflict-related sites, and to social media generally; the constant barrage of vitriol is seriously mentally exhausting. Tangenitally, writer Cory Doctrow has a much-quoted essay on “Tiktok’s enshittification” (and that of social media generally). “Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die.”

Monday 5/6: Ritter in Russia; Simplicius worth a look

Did a lot of chores today and am tired, so no walk today.

“‘Waging Peace’: How a tour of Russia showed me that propaganda perverts reality in the minds of Americans,” RT, 2/6. Guest column by Scott Ritter on his latest visit to Russia. Ironically, he encountered more hostility back in the USA than in Russia.

Simplicius the Thinker is always worth reading for his updates regarding Russia’s SMO in Ukraine. Larry Johnson about him in a recent post:

I do recommend you read the latest from Simplicius the Thinker. It is behind a pay wall. He offers a fascinating, detailed analysis of the next steps in the war. I believe that Simplicius is not the sole author of the excellent pieces posted at his Substack. I believe he is a conduit for providing the view of Russian military intelligence about the state of play in the war Russia is waging in Ukraine. He is getting help from knowledgeable folks on the Russian side. Please do not misinterpret what I am trying to convey – I am not accusing Simplicius of being a Russian stooge. Far from it. I think he represents a rather sophisticated information operation designed to try to communicate with the West the reality of what Ukraine faces in this war.

Simplicius is a clever vehicle for getting information to the public that is not covered with the taint of a Russian Ministry of Defense briefing. I am not suggesting that the Russian MOD is lying. Just pointing out the the establishment West routinely rejects anything the MOD provides. Simplicius, as a Substack author, is not an immediate lightning rod and his well reasoned pieces appear to be having the intended effect of educating people in the West about what is really going on and what may happen. I realize that some, like Charles Kupchan, immediately reject what Simplicius is presenting by labeling it as “Russian propaganda.” Simplicius, in my view, is not a propagandist or a spin artist.

Tuesday 6/6: Airplane crash dream; Putin-bashing propaganda continues; joined Mastodon; passkeys doubts

A vivid dream from last night: I am standing in the backyard of my parents’ home with some other people. I have just come down here from the street going up the opposite hill eastwards, waiting with Dad for a man to come repair my computer. Some regular air traffic passes overhead, flying to or from Moorabbin Airport. Suddenly a light aircraft zooms overhead, very low and out of control, obviously in trouble. It flies in a circle until it crashes behind some nearby houses. I exclaim, “I knew this would happen someday – I have had dreams about this!” (A recursive sort of comment.) “Wait for it ….” A massive fireball then explodes. This is a recurring dream, unsurprisingly, since the house is under a flight path and there has been occasional crashes (near Moorabbin Airport, not nearby – so far; one of the last being a helicopter crash onto a house roof last year).

Some silly Putin-bashing. “Putin’s exploits as KGB ‘super spy’ likely an exaggeration, investigation finds,” The Age, 2/6. “Vladimir Putin was not a Soviet super spy in East Germany in the 1980s but a plodding pen-pusher eager to please his superiors, an investigation has found.” Really? There is nothing in his official online biography at his Presidential website that seems exaggerated, so it is the tabloid Telegraph groping for a negative angle, as it usually does, and is to be discredited.

SBS TV is also doing its Putin-bashing duty in screening yet another negative documentary series, Putin vs. the West. Which, for obvious reasons, I am not watching.

I created a Mastodon account, initially at mastodon.social. Not sure if I will post there yet, but the account is made if I want it.

“Passkeys: A loss of user control?” Jeff Johnson, 7/5. I do not like the push to do away with passwords; signing in to services such as iCloud is an onerous process already.

Wednesday 7/6: Demands and rules

“Hawkei armoured cars bound for Ukraine war in Australian support deal,” The Age, 6/6. “d Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov told the Herald and The Age the vehicles were number one on his list of ‘demands’ from Australia.” Ukraine demands, the gullible Australian government obliges. Will it ever come to its senses and realize that Ukraine has well and truly conned the Western nations.

“Democracies’ twin mission crystallises: A Russia defeated, a China deterred,” The Age, 6/7. More delusion from one of this newspaper’s pro-Ukraine shills. “The Australian deputy prime minister says Ukraine’s fight is Australia’s fight: ‘There’s a degree to which they are doing it for us. From an Australian point of view, this is about the sanctity of the rules-based order – Russia’s flagrant disregard for it cannot be allowed to stand.’” “Rules-based order” is a joke; it means other nations being subservient to the West. “To Beijing’s discomfort, democracies everywhere increasingly are making this everyone’s business: the twin mission is that Russia must be defeated and China deterred.” “Must”? Russia and China will rightly oppose that patronizing view!

Thursday 8/6: Australia not doing enough for Ukraine? Snowden safer in Russia

Took the bus to Chadstone SC this morning; I seem to be doing this once a week or so. Very convenient to have the bus stop only a few doors up from my parents’ home! I have not taken the train into the city, though, for a few months now; have no urge to go.

“‘Not pulling our weight’: Bipartisanship collapses over Ukraine support,” The Age, 7/6. “Birmingham and Hastie said they ‘share the growing concerns of many in the Australian-Ukrainian community and, it would seem, the government of Ukraine that Australia is no longer pulling our weight commensurate with the efforts of our partners’.” Why the hell should Australia be “obliged” to help Ukraine? The country is irrelevant to us (disregarding the virulent and noisy Ukrainian diaspora living here), and we have antagonized a far more powerful and important nation – Russia – for this pointless crusade. I will also refer back to a relevant article from last year, “How we bet the house on Ukraine … and lost,” The Spectator Australia, 25/6, on Australia’s baffling support for Ukraine. (7/9/2022 entry).

“Edward Snowden reveals why he chose to stay in Russia,” RT, 7/6. Ironically he was safer staying in Russia as protection from his home country of the USA! “By the time Snowden landed in the Russian capital, the US had revoked his passport, effectively trapping him in the airport lounge. While he was there, the US orchestrated the forced landing of a Bolivian government plane carrying then-President Evo Morales, who was returning home from Moscow. The US authorities suspected that Snowden was onboard. ‘Even the Russians were shocked at the extremity of this conduct,’ Greenwald said, referring to a conversation he had with a Russian consul, who recognized his name when the journalist applied for a visa to visit Snowden in Moscow.”

Friday 9/6: Soothing soft toys

“Robotic pets bring joy, return memories, improve interactions with aged care residents,” ABC News, 8/6. A good news item! Elderly people, particularly those with dementia, find great comfort in holding soft toys (animals, baby dolls) – my own elderly mother does this. I do find the moving robotic animals a little creepy though – an “uncanny valley” effect, where the subject is almost, but not quite, lifelike, and thus registers as “off-kilter” or “wrong”. But plain old-fashioned soft toys are just as effective (and much less expensive!). Younger adults (including yours truly!) find comfort as well, and there is nothing wrong with that!

This recent related case, “Junee Multipurpose Service nurses ‘tormented’ 85-year-old patient during doll bashing, watchdog finds,” ABC News, 17/5 – “An 85-year-old woman with dementia was tormented by two aged care staff who bashed her doll which she ‘believed to be a real baby,’ according to the NSW medical watchdog” – was quite upsetting to read; at least those guilty were caught and punished.

Mum is particularly taken with Eeyore (of Winnie-the-Pooh), and by extension I have become so, too! He is mordant and woeful, yet also sympathetic; his face has a woebegone but kind expression. The house has a growing collection of soft toys and memorabillia.

Saturday 10/6: Dark forests

A grey and overcast day, but no rain at least.

I ordered a copy of Mythago Wood (27/7/2022 entry) as it is one of those rare novels that have re-read value. The image of the eternal and mysterious Wild Wood (TV Tropes: Enchanted Forest), an ancient old-growth forest, is one that appeals greatly (12/2 entry). For me it is calming and peaceful; a place of stillness and shelter. It is the vast forests of the Northern Hemisphere.

Which reminds me, years ago I came across an evocative 1946 photo by W. Eugene Smith, “The Walk To Paradise Garden.” Two children holding hands walk away from the viewer, through a gap in a forest, off to explore and play. It appeals to me greatly; that feeling of entering a mysterious and wild forest.

Sunday 11/6: Dead Fall novel excerpt; another pro-Ukraine history book released; Unabomber deceased

Despite not intending to go for a walk (I didn’t yesterday), I ended up plodding all the way to Centenary Park. Quite tired now, though. At least there were fewer people around (4/6 entry), probably due to the Queen’s Birthday long weekend Monday public holiday (more irrelevant than ever now).

A chapter excerpt from author Brad Thor’s upcoming thriller, Dead Fall (12/2 entry), has been posted (as a PDF) at his website, and it is as egregious as I expected. A heroic American nurse (of Ukrainian descent) is saving the day at an orphanage in Ukraine, and must fight the dastardly and beastly orcs Russian soldiers who come visiting. Yes, it is that simplistic, and no doubt the rest of the novel will be as bad. I will try to force myself to hate-read it when released, but it will be a big effort!

In their minds, based on the characters they watched on TV, most American women were fiercely independent and didn’t take shit from anyone. Throw in being an attorney, and it took Anna’s badassery in their eyes to a whole different level. Of course – just to establish her credentials. […]

Fast-forward to now and the orphanage was dealing with a whole new threat. Russian soldiers had been spotted on the outskirts of town.

They were moving from house to house. Scavenging. The stories of their looting were legion. Microwaves, winter clothing, washers and dryers … there had even been reports of the soldiers’ removing the ballistic plates from their tactical vests and inserting laptops and tablets they had stolen along the way. Their thievery, however, wasn’t the worst of the conduct they had become known for. Author is repeating the fake anti-Russian propaganda news reported as facts in the Western media.

Kidnap, rape, torture, and murder were what Ukrainians feared the most. Anyone was fair game for the Russians – not just women and girls, but men and little boys as well. They were barbaric.

The evil flowed straight from Moscow. Russian soldiers had not only been encouraged to commit sexual assaults, but they had even been issued Viagra. “Fake: Russian Soldiers Given Viagra to Rape Ukrainians,” War on Fakes, 19/10/2022; “Russia responds to UN official’s rape claims, RT, 16/10/2022.

The Russians were known to raid a village and stay for days, carrying out their horrors via round-the-clock shifts. The word nightmare didn’t even begin to describe the abominations they so zealously perpetrated. […]

So that is a sample of the author’s attitude towards Russians, as demonstrated in his previous novels – namely, presenting them as barely-civilized brutes (“beasts from the East” – 16/3/2022 entry).

“How Vladimir Putin turned Ukraine into a nation to be reckoned with,” The Age, 9/6. Review of a new history book by Serhii Plokhy; approving only because the author is pro-Ukraine: “Plokhy, Ukrainian by ethnicity and education, was born in what was then Soviet Russia. That doesn’t mean his sympathies are divided, but it gives him a degree of familiarity in dealing with both sides. Plokhy’s side is the Ukrainian one, with a special animus against Putin for his interpretations of Ukrainian and Russian history. In addition to this intellectual stake, Plokhy has a personal one: a cousin, who died fighting in the Ukrainian Army near Bakhmut, to whose memory this book is dedicated.” Right, so totally not biased :-S. “Old-fashioned Russian imperialism is foremost, reinforced by Putin’s conviction, shared by many Russians, that the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991 was a tragedy From their perspective and experience, it certainly was, under the West’s brutal economic ‘shock therapy.’.” The review goes on to repeat the usual untruths and Russophobic propaganda.

The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, has died on 10/6/2023. Despite his crimes, I feel some empathy for him, due to his living as a hermit for many years, and the opinions expressed in his anarchist manifesto. To end one’s days in a hellish supermax prison, isolated away from nature, is a dreary awful way to die. An essay at Dark Mountain by John Jacobi: “Ted Kaczynski and Why He Matters,” 6/5/2016.

Monday 12/6: Vision hit or miss? Reddit rebellion

A quiet day. Mostly did tedious chores – Monday seems to be a sort of washing day. I would not want to return to the old days without the convenience of modern appliances! Chores were even more time-consuming and exhausting then (though not for the wealthy upper classes who had the luxury of hiring servants).

A couple of current tech events. The much-hyped announcement of the Apple Vision Pro “mixed reality headset” was the big tech news of last week. Reactions were predictably mixed. The device is of no interest to me – unaffordable, for starters (AU$5000+ if it is eventually released here), no use case even if I could, and requires lens inserts (“custom optical inserts”) for glasses wearers such as myself, which is an inconvenience and adds more expense. They also look bulky and cumbersome. A Wired magazine article, “Apple’s Vision Pro Isn’t the Future,” 8/6, also has doubts about the viability of the product.

The Great Reddit Rebellion, over ludicrous price increases for third-party applications prior to going public. Reddit has been declining in usability over the last few years (the enshittification process) and this is the last straw for many. I have been a member for 11 years(!) but have rarely posted. I found it easy to sign up and post, with many niche subReddits that catered to one’s particular interests. However, the increasing censorship in recent times – particularly the banning of any pro-Russia subReddits – has been very annoying. I don’t know where else to go, though. I access the site via old.reddit.com for links, as this is still mostly usable, compared to the abomination that is the “modernized” Reddit interface.

The Cheapskate’s Guide (25/4 entry) webmaster has a small forum, Blue Dwarf, which I signed up to.

Tuesday 13/6: Influenza and fourth COVID vaccines done today; bullied into withdrawing; Ukraine propaganda tactics

Had my influenza vaccine and fourth COVID vaccine (Moderna – last booster on 6/12/2022) done at the local chemist today! Both can be done at the same time, according to a government ad in the paper, so I thought I would. I have no patience for anti-vaccine hysterics and conspiracy theorists. I also habitually wear a mask in crowded areas such as shopping centers; makes sense to, even without the threat of COVID.

“‘Eat, Pray, Love’ author cancels release of Russia-set novel,” RT, 12/6. Disappointing to see an author feeling forced to cave in to the Ukrainian bullies and hysterics. “Gilbert revealed that she would withdraw the book from publication after receiving ‘an enormous, massive outpouring of reactions and responses from my Ukrainian readers expressing anger, sorrow, disappointment, and pain’ at the fact that she would ‘release a book into the world right now – any book, no matter what the subject of it is – that is set in Russia. It is not the time for this book to be published,’ Gilbert continued. Despite the fact that the book was set decades before the conflict in Ukraine, and in a country that no longer exists, Gilbert claimed that releasing it would ‘harm’ her Ukrainian readers.” This only intensifies my loathing for the country (I share this blogger’s sentiment: “To Hell with Ukraine”).

“Ukraine’s propaganda machine is vital for Zelensky: Here is how it works,” RT, 11/6. “Kiev has arguably achieved more success on the information front, than on the ground. There the ‘fighters’ aren’t just journalists and information and psychological warfare specialists, but content makers and PR experts. Influencing the psyche, mindset, and emotions of ordinary people has become a big deal, as shaping Western public opinion is vital for President Vladimir Zelensky’s regime.” Ukrainian propaganda has obviously, and unfortunately, been successful in Australia.

Wednesday 14/6: Vaccines side-effects felt; header links removed

The side-effects from both vaccines yesterday (13/6 entry) came overnight, with soreness, tiredness, a little fever and a headache. So I am not feeling very good today. The effects are not as bad as my first AstraZeneca vaccine (15/6/2021 entry).

Decided to remove the heading anchor links again (4/8/2022 entry) to reduce markup clutter.

Thursday 15/6: Recovered from vaccines; embassy cancelled; President meets reporters; altering the narrative; Russian view of history disparaged; still no information on forgotten novel

Feeling better today; vaccine side-effects have mostly faded.

A lot of Russia-related news as usual, too much to keep up with, so I will link just a few obnoxious examples from the usual idiots, plus some good articles.

“Government terminates lease for new Russian embassy,” ABC News, 15/6. “The Australian government introduced a bill to parliament on Thursday morning that would terminate the Russian embassy’s lease, as the prime minister said the government had received advice it posed an intelligence threat.” More paranoid, relationship-damaging stupidity from the Australian Government. Even during the Cold War, there was a Russian embassy presence here.

“Round Two? There Is No Round Two.” Aurelien at Substack, 14/6. “Game pretty much over in Ukraine.” Recommended by Will Schryver in a Tweet – “This is the single best analysis of the Ukraine War I have read. Its scope encapsulates everything I have ever written on the topic, but does so far better and more comprehensively ….”

“Meeting with war correspondents,” President of Russia, 13/6. “The President met with war correspondents at the Kremlin.” He fielded some very candid questions from the gathered reporters. A RT recap: “Here’s what Putin told journalists about Russia’s goals in Ukraine conflict,” 13/6. A briefer summary:

“Putin Invites Top Russian Correspondents For Candid War Q&A + SitRep Updates,” Simplicius The Thinker, 14/6. His usual lengthy and detailed analysis of the meeting. Compare with the negative slant taken by the mainstream media: “Vladimir Putin says he may try to seize more Ukraine lands near Russian border to prevent more strikes,” ABC News, 14/6. The use of the word “claims” insinuates that he is not stating facts. Also playing up the seizure of some minor villages by Ukraine forces.

“New Zealand public broadcaster apologises for publishing ‘pro-Kremlin garbage’,” The Age, 12/6. “The head of New Zealand’s public broadcaster apologised Monday for publishing ‘pro-Kremlin garbage’ on its website after more than a dozen wire stories on the Ukraine war were found to have been altered. Most of the stories, which date back more than a year, were written by the Reuters news agency and were changed at Radio New Zealand to include Russian propaganda.” Or, changing stories to reflect a different point of view from Western propaganda pro-Ukraine garbage?

“It’s not just Putin: What we get wrong about Russia’s motivations for war in Ukraine,” The Age, 15/6. A review of two very biased books by the same author. “Some of the West’s disbelief over Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 came from the absurdity of Vladimir Putin’s stated justifications.” The “Russian historical narrative” is, of course, false, while the Western version is the only true one :-S.

I still have not found the title for the Cold War era Young Adult I mentioned back in my 31/3/2021 entry, frustratingly! I would really like to read it again.

Friday 16/6: Russophobia wrongly revoked

A fine and sunny day; all-too-rare it seems! I am too tired to write much; used up what little energy I have for the day.

A short section from the book review yesterday (15/6 entry, Jade McGlynn, Memory Makers) on Russophobia. She patronisingly disparages Russia’s justified fears of this. No doubt she would regard supporters such as myself as brainwashed by Kremlin propaganda.

The conceit that Russia is being targeted in a campaign of historical falsification is difficult to maintain without the assertion that the world, especially the West, is awash with Russophobia. President Putin and others have even gone so far as to equate Russophobia with antisemitism, describing hatred of Russians as the “new” hatred of Jews (Prezident Rossii 2017b). This narrative has become especially intense since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has predictably and regrettably sparked many more genuine instances of Russophobic attacks, covered by Russian media with gleeful abandon.

Ostensibly, this same crazed Russophobia is driving Western revision of historical narratives and pursuit of historical falsification. It is not enough for the Kremlin to have a diplomatic or political dispute with someone; the opponent must also be characterized as a Russophobic heir to Russia’s historical enemies, seeking to rewrite history to justify their ancestors’ past crimes (Prezident Rossii 2014a; Mironov 2014). While politicians are quite free with their accusations of Russophobia, these assertions are usually fairly broad and the accusers rarely give specific examples. Moreover, the accusations often relate to memory wars; for example, at a meeting of the Victory Organizing Committee in 2019, Putin fulminated over alleged attempts by foreign states to “revise the role played by the Red Army in the routing of Nazism and the liberation of European nations from the Nazi plague,” as well as to “attack Russian history” as fuelled by and part of “anti-Russian propaganda.” Similar sentiments were echoed by Sergei Shoigu, Minister of Defence, at this same committee (Prezident Rossii 2019).

By dismissing historical disagreements as bad-faith conspiracies fuelled by Russophobia, Russian politicians paint any disagreements over memory as the result of blind ethnic hatred rather than a genuine, perhaps even well-founded, divergence of opinion. In her aforementioned briefings, Mariya Zakharova has over the years worked hard to thread a narrative of Poland and the Baltics as Russophobic ingrates with little more to do with their time than target and destroy Soviet war memorials (Smirnov 2015; MID 2015e, 2015j). During these tirades, this contender for the world’s most impolitic diplomat has at no point provided any background as to why some Poles may view the arrival of Soviet troops not as a liberation from the Nazis but as a takeover, from one occupation to another, or as to why many in the Baltic States perceive 1940–91 as an occupation. Instead, Zakharova and the media sources that loyally amplify her arguments depict citizens of these countries as zombified by nationalist propaganda that is constantly spewing anti-Russian hatred. In this way, Russophobia becomes both a cause and a result of historical falsification, reflecting the tautological nature of an accusatory narrative that relies on rallying emotion rather than appealing to logic.

Saturday 17/6: Russian vs. Western reality; “fixing up” Russia book; Ukraine begs for more

Very windy and unsettled today, which makes me nervous. At least the sun is out, but rain due later.

“Why Do They Hate the Russians?” Between Two Worlds, 12/6. Another of his entries worth reading; how President Putin is perceived by his citizens as opposed to his demonization in the West. Unfortunately some of the commenters make some unhinged posts – nutty conspiracy theorists are a plague on these alternative news and blog sites (those who rant about Jews/Zionism, globalism, the Great Reset, Satanism and so on) – so they are best ignored.

I espied another Putin-bashing, patronizing “how to fix up Russia” recently-published book in a bookstore today: Z-Generation by Ian Garner.

How did Vladimir Putin win Russians’ support for his genocidal war in Ukraine and why are so many of them willing to embrace fascism? This vivid, bottom-up narrative reveals the dark realities of youth fascism in Russia – and the darker future awaiting the country if that hold cannot be broken.

Wartime Russia is drowning in fascist symbols. Zealous patriots attack journalists, opposition activists, and anyone suspected of betraying the motherland. Hordes of online trolls and sleek videos of angry young men urge citizens to join the cause. State television terrifies viewers with false tales of anti-Russian conspiracies and genocidal yearnings. Child soldiers proudly parade across Red Square. This is Russia in the 2020s: a land of performative rage and nationalist untruth, where pretence and broken promises are a way of life, and an apocalyptic mindset is seizing tomorrow’s Russians.

As compelling as it is chilling, Z Generation shows how Russia has ended up here, and where its young people may be headed: a fascist generation more violent and ideological than anything the country has seen before.

According to the author, Russia infects its population with nationalist propaganda, and “reform” involves adopting Western values (and its so-called “democracy” which is a charade). But media here is as much saturated with propaganda as the Russian version he criticizes.

The last chapter – “Conclusion: Deprogramming a fascist” – is linked here. “So what can we do about a problem like the Z Generation, before yet more wars are wrought in and beyond Russia? I’ve spoken to politicians and experts to find out. They all agree. The time to act is now. Neo-fascism is embedding itself deeply in Russia’s young. And its tentacles are reaching into our young people’s smartphones and minds too.” He suggests various methods by outside nations in the West to influence young Russians, similar to deprogramming cult members. Reading all this patronizing “advice,” is it any wonder Russia generally is so hostile and suspicious?

“Ukraine’s plea for Hawkei vehicles ‘unsupportable at this time’, government letter says,” The Age, 16/3. “The Albanese government says it is unable to send Hawkei protected mobility vehicles to Ukraine in the near future despite increasingly desperate pleas from Kyiv, citing braking issues and a lack of spare parts. […] Members of the Ukrainian-Australian community have been running a #freetheHawkei campaign including rallies across the country and a large billboard near Canberra Airport that greets federal politicians arriving in the capital.” The begging never ends. How much more will the Ukrainan grifters manage to extract from the gullible Australian government? (And to hell with the Australian-Ukrainian community here!)

Sunday 18/6: Wishing for solitude; media conspiring with governments

Entering my afternoon mood slump. Altercations with ageing parents spoiled my initial rare good mood this morning. Stressed and anxious about what else might go wrong with them. I am in a near-constant state of anxiety daily, especially as to the dismal prospects for my future. Things feel tenuous and fragile, ready to fall apart at any moment. The old house is slowly falling into disrepair (a lot of repair jobs needed), and the garden is very neglected and overgrown. No one has the mental and physical energy to tackle any of this.

My simple wish is to be by myself; to have my own little house or flat. Not to have to interact with anyone else. Being near other people gets me extremely stressed after a while.

“Ukraine: Taking leave of our senses,” Cameron Leckie (previously: 12/5 entry) for Pearls and Irritations, 17/6. On the alignment of mainstream media with current Western governments’ hostility towards Russia; the only reporting of other points of view is by independent news sources (disparaged as “fake news” by the former). Gives the example of the scapegoating of the reporter who published so-called “pro-Kremlin garbage” for the New Zealand radio station employing them (15/6 entry). The events that provoked Russia into launching its Special Military Operation in Ukraine/Специальная военная операция на Украине have been “whitewashed” and now ignored.

Monday 19/6: Colored scrollbars for me! Space no escape route

Very cold and wet weather – my most hated type. Have not been out walking for a few days; don’t feel like it.

“Don’t use custom CSS scrollbars,” Eric W. Bailey, 3/5. Have to disagree with this assertion, though for somewhat trite reasons – I like being color-co-ordinated, and have liked colored scrollbars since they were first implemented in Internet Explorer (then depreceated) years ago. They are a not-negotiable design appearance feature for me! Not essential to viewing my site, of course, but (like a lot of CSS) a nice visual “extra.” (Colored scrollbars are hill to die on!)

“The Most Dangerous Story Ever Told: Ecological Collapse, Progress, and Human Destiny,” John Halstead, 5/10/2022. An essay on the danger of believing that colonizing other worlds as a form of escape will solve humanity’s problems on Earth. “The movie Interstellar is actually just the latest version of a very old story, the most dangerous story ever told, the story of progress. Except in the older versions, instead of the stars (i.e., the ‘heavens’) being our destination, it was heaven. Whether it is the heavens or heaven, though, the goal is the same: a fresh start, unburdened by the consequences of, or the burden of having to learn from, our past mistakes. From ancient times to the present day, the dominant myth of civilization has taught us that our home is not the Earth, that our destiny is to transcend our physical limitations, that those who would be heroes must reach beyond the here and now. But […] the dominance of this transcendental narrative has had disastrous results for our planet.” Certainly an opinion that would rile the rabid “space cadets” such as the SpaceX/Elon Musk fanboys, but a valid one.

Tuesday 20/6: Ukraine will (not) prevail; a spy revealed; Ryan rantings

“There’s hard and soft power. Then there’s the kind Ukraine has in spades,” The Age, 20/6. Opinion piece by Peter Hartcher, discredited by the usual false assertions (“A trademark of the Russian fighting spirit is the fact it routinely deploys so-called ‘blocking troops,’ soldiers positioned behind Russian lines for the purpose of shooting any of their own personnel trying to retreat. […] Putin deliberately has targeted civilian populations to sap their willpower, ordered the kidnapping of thousands of Ukrainian children to rob their hope ‘Moscow acted correctly in moving Ukrainian children – Putin,’ RT, 18/6, castrated some of their prisoners of war before sending them home as a deterrent to other Ukrainians ‘Russia accuses Ukraine of mistreating POWs,’ RT, 3/8/2022, and perpetrated every barbarity he can think of in an effort to crush Ukraine’s will. But the harder he tries, the harder it grows.”). And Russia has patience, and will outlast Ukraine and the West in this existential battle. The nation has endured far worse in its history.

“Identity of mole who sold Russia secrets from within Australia’s spy agency uncovered,” ABC News, 19/6. This was during the Cold War; why is this being brought up now? “ASIO spent years trying to extract a confession so they could assess the damage to national security. But Peacock always denied the accusations and refused to cooperate with their investigation. He died in 2006, taking his secrets to the grave.” Good on him, then.

“Vladimir Putin’s plan to win quickly in Ukraine failed. Russia is now implementing an even more brutal strategy,” Mick Ryan for ABC News, 20/6. More Mick Ryan inanities; still shilling for yet more Ukraine support and funding. “The West should consider sending Ukraine everything needed to defeat the Russians as quickly as possible.” Yes, just send more billions of dollars down a black hole.

Wednesday 21/6: Roskosmos recruits rumors

Very cold this morning; 4 or 5°C. Very hard to endure in an already-cold old house with poor insulation (essentially a “wooden tent”).

“It appears that Roscosmos really is recruiting soldiers for the Ukraine War,” Eric Berger for Ars Technica, 20/6. “A new report in the Financial Times appears to confirm that the main Russian space corporation, Roscosmos, is recruiting and training a militia to join the country’s war effort against Ukraine. The ‘Uran’ battalion, which translates to Uranus, is to be made up of employees of Roscosmos, as well as those from its dozens of state-owned subsidiaries in the aerospace business.” Another excuse for Western space enthusiasts to hate on Russia (as the article’s comments demonstrate). And no direct evidence for the RK recruitment – just a FT article that itself relies on hearsay (“Ruslan Leviev, an independent military analyst and head of the Conflict Intelligence Team, said his team tracking the Uran battalion’s recruitment drive had yet to find evidence it had been deployed on the frontline”). Even if true, Russian citizens, including cosmonauts, have a right to support their country!

Thursday 22/6: Submersible saga

Like most others on the Internet, I have been ghoulishly riveted by the loss of contact and search for the Titan submersible that was visiting the wreck of the Titanic. Today they run out of oxygen, if the sub is still intact and they are still alive.

Friday 23/6: Sub sunk; embassy battle

Got a haircut today.

Bad news for the missing submersible, the OceanGate Titan: scattered debris found not far from the wreck of the Titanic; presumed to have catastrophically imploded due to hull failure with the near-instantaneous death of its five occupants. No bodies to recover; they would have been reduced to a red mist. (Update pages at ABC News, The Age, The Guardian. There is also a subReddit.)

“Standoff: Russia defies Albanese, refuses to leave prime Canberra site;” “Russia’s embassy battle with Anthony Albanese over a plot of Canberra land is theatre of the absurd,” The Australian, 23/6; “Squatting Russian diplomat refusing to leave terminated Canberra embassy site,” ABC News, 23/6. More Russophobic nonsense from these useless excuses for mainstream media, and the Australian government doing its part to further poison relations between Russia and us. “A Kremlin spokesman lashed the Albanese government’s decision, accusing it of ‘Russophobic hysteria’” and warning of potential retaliation. ‘Another unfriendly display from Australia,’ said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to a report published by Russia’s TASS news agency last week “Australia diligently continues to move in main stream of Russophobic hysteria – Kremlin”. ‘We will take this into account and if there are issues on the agenda that require the principle of reciprocity, we will act accordingly.’” And additionally: “Russia launches High Court challenge to Australian government’s embassy decision.” As usual now, Russia is disparaged: “Russia’s challenge to the validity of the law is not unexpected. This is part of the Russian playbook.”

“Vladimir Putin’s former ‘chef’ was an ally of the Russian leader. Now he and the Wagner boss are locked in a potentially dangerous feud,” ABC News, 23/6. Speculations and hearsay on the relationship between the two.

Saturday 24/6: Australia vs. Russia again; a possible coup? Another Ukraine novel

Hostilities between Australia and Russia are unfortunately in the headlines again. Seems rather curious; almost like a distraction from something else?

“Australia to sanction three pro-Russian soldiers over MH17 tragedy,” The Age, 23/6. “The trio’s Russian national Sergei Dubinskii, Ukrainian national Leonid Kharchenko, Sergei Muchkaev designation under the Autonomous Sanctions Act will in effect freeze any assets they hold in Australia and prohibit them from travelling here.” As they are unlikely to want to travel here, such a ban is more political theater.

“Jacinta Allan, 12 members of the Australia Day Council of South Australia among those sanctioned by Russia,” ABC News, 23/6. More tit-for-tat sanctions.

“Embassy standoff: Kremlin launches ‘lawfare’ legal challenge,” The Australian, 24/6. “Lawyers representing the Russian Federation filed an injunction in the High Court on Friday afternoon arguing the legislation used to seize the embassy site was invalid because it wasn’t ‘supported by a head of power,’ and the Constitution dictates the acquisition of property must be carried out on just terms.”

Evgeny Prigozhin of the Wagner mercenary group is suddenly in the headlines again during an apparent attempt at an armed insurrection. Again, the timing of this seems odd, not to mention the murky and confused motivations being speculated (the Internet is useless for any accurate information on this; too much hysteria and gossip). On the surface, this plays right into NATO’s and the West’s collective hands – dissent within Russian forces and government will weaken the Russian SMO. Simplicius has a “Special Report: Emergency Situation as Prigozhin Goes Nuclear Option” posted. A variety of opinions, from the coup being what it seems, to it being a calculated ploy to distract the enemy (a маскировка, maskirovka – masking or deceptive ploy). “There is still the possibility this is all some kind of elaborate psyop. Anything is possible because the situation is simply so ‘out of left field’. The reason it’s out of left field to me in particular is Prigozhin really did not appear to have any substantive justification for any of this. As I said, Russia was crushing the AFU and has recently been in the best position of the entire SMO. Why would something like this happen now, if it were legitimate? It simply defies belief that Prigozhin would be so incensed about all the ‘failings’ of the MOD at the time of the MOD’s singularly greatest glory on the battlefield.” I am of the latter view (and I hope it turns out to be true). Unfortunately, more fodder for the Western mainstream media to gloat over.

A Telegram user called “Slavyangrad” asserts:

To clear some questions:

  1. no, no coup was announced
  2. no, there is no coup going on right now

Calm down, people. Avoid being victims of ukronazi propaganda. Wait for details on the Wagner situation, but one thing is clear: THERE IS NO COUP, AND THERE WON’T BE ANY COUP.To clarify, we got sources in Moscow. Everything is calm. There is tons of bullshit around at the moment, and Ukraine is taking advantage of the psyop that gained momentum. We will update if necessary.

Another TG account called “Remylind23” agrees: “90% of the information going around is fake. So please don’t believe every little piece of nonsense that is written. Wagner is currently neither in Rostov nor in Moscow. And there is no 50km long Wagner column on the way. I give every single one a good tip to spend a few days dealing with information warfare and deception during a war. Many here simply believe everything that is written or told, without even beginning to question anything. few weeks ago there was a productive meeting between Putin and Prigozhin. Just as a reminder.”

Author Martin Cruz Smith has a new novel released, Independence Square. The Age review: “From the creator of Gorky Park comes a ninth Arkady Renko novel. In this one, the fictional Russian detective suffers a blow drawn from Martin Cruz Smith’s own misfortune. The author has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and Independence Square contains an autobiographical flourish in which Renko faces the same challenge. It’s June 2021, and Renko already knows of Putin’s intention to make war upon and annex Ukraine, as he did with Crimea in 2014. To distract himself from his diagnosis, Renko throws himself into his work. His latest case – finding an anti-Putin activist who’s disappeared – will lead him into a complicated reunion with an old flame, and potentially lethal danger as the drums of war grow louder. Martin Cruz Smith taps his expertise on contemporary Russia to create another page-turning work of crime fiction set on the eve of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.” So cashing in on the current conflict, and a safe bet that it will side with Ukraine and demonize Putin.

Sunday 25/6: Revolt revoked? Relaxing Ran

I really don’t want to look at the news today as Russia is in the headlines again for all the wrong reasons. An Address to citizens of Russia is posted on the President of Russia official site.

… And later on, the crisis seems to have been … resolved? (And hopefully I can sleep tonight?) “Prigozhin’s Siege Ends – Postmortem Analysis.” “Prigozhin has announced the end of his siege and that Wagner is leaving. Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko is supposed to have carried out a long negotiations and reached some sort of agreement with Prigozhin. There was one claim showing Prigozhin denied this, but that came from a fake account pretending to be Prigozhin. The negotiations did appear to occur.” “Main events in Russia’s aborted Wagner revolt,” RT, 24/6. (“Simmering Wagner-MOD tensions; Prigozhin begins ‘march on Moscow’; Putin condemns revolt; Mutinous units turn back after deal reached.”)

“Russia’s Academy Award Winning Performance For Best Coup, Prigozhin Scores Best Actor” – Larry Johnson speculates on the crisis being an elaborate маскировка, maskirovka, deception.

“Revisiting Russia’s 5th and, especially, 6th columns,” The Saker, 8/2/2022. Article from last year, on traitors within and without Russia.

I like to reread Ran Prieur’s site (previously: 13/5 entry), such as his zines from the late 1990s-early 2000s. His writing has a cadence I find soothing. I really wish I could buy the original hand-written paper copies of these, but they were published a long time ago in small numbers and are likely not available.

Came across this old post and discussions in his subReddit, “Ran Prieur … BEFORE and AFTER … what happened?” on the changes in his philosophy and writings as he gets older – compromising on some of his youthful ideals.

Monday 26/6: Stressed; more money wasted; embassy thwarted

A nasty cold strong wind yesterday; not so bad today but still leaden gray skies and some rain. Awful weather. I have not been out for a walk in over a week; simply do not want to and I am exhausted from chores and dealing with ageing parents (including cleaning up after them). I dread each day and night for what new crisis might happen. House and garden are very neglected and deteriorating.

Still more taxpayers’ money to be sunk into the Ukraine black hole:

Australia will send extra 70 vehicles to Ukraine

By Matthew Knott

Australia will send an extra 70 vehicles to the frontlines of the Russia-Ukraine war in a new $100 million package of military assistance for Ukraine announced by the Albanese government.

However, the package does not include Ukraine’s key requests for assistance: a fleet of Hawkei protected mobility vehicles, tanks or additional Bushmaster four-wheel drive vehicles.

The package announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today includes an extra 28 M113 armoured vehicles, 14 special operations vehicles, 28 trucks and 14 trailers.

Australia will also send an additional supply of 105 mm artillery ammunition to Ukraine, and contribute $10 million to the United Nations for its Ukrainian Humanitarian Fund for shelter, health services, clean water and sanitation.

“This additional support will make a real difference, helping the Ukrainian people who continue to show great courage in the face of Russia’s illegal, unprovoked and immoral war,” Albanese told reporters in Canberra.

“This is a significant commitment, but it is one that is necessary.”

The latest announcement brings Australia’s total contribution to Ukraine to $790 million, including $610 million in military assistance.

Also at ABC News: “Australia pledges $110 million in military and humanitarian support for Ukraine’s battle against Russia.”

“High Court throws out Russia’s bid to stop Australian government taking control of embassy site,” ABC News, 26/6. Predictable outcome, of course.

Tuesday 27/6: Travel dreams

Still cold windy weather. Took the bus to Chadstone SC this afternoon; did not stay long (half-hour or so). Too many people (COVID and flu vectors!) swarming around, and I find crowds stressful after a while.

Too weary to do my attempt at refuting of the idiot Russiaphobic articles published in mainstream media; at the moment they are dissecting the coup-that-wasn’t and asserting that President Putin’s position has been “weakened.”

Just noodling; not much to write about otherwise. Ran Prieur (previously: 25/6 entry) currently lives in Seattle, according to his current About me page. He seems to have spent most of his life in that corner of the USA: Pacific Northwest. It seems to be a generally nice region, where the giant redwood forests stand, and I like the sound of the Cascades word and imagery. It is one region I would like to see if I ever travelled there (which is unlikely in my current situation, perhaps never); to walk amidst the ancient trees. Seattle itself, though, seems to have quite a lot of social problems (though no city is without these) and is very expensive. There is a r/Seattle subReddit. Coincidentally, someone just posted, “Is anyone else tired of the ‘Is Seattle that bad?’ or ‘Is Seattle really a dystopian nightmare?’ equivalent posts?”

Multiple times a week there are people coming in here or the other Seattle subreddit asking how “bad” Seattle is. I admit I used to be very ~online~ and would let the media coverage and doom loop affect my feelings about the city, but I’m pretty fed up with it and the overall coverage of Seattle and most cities these days. And the one-off posts about how they were a victim of a random crime or got yelled at by a homeless person downtown are getting so old.

It is a city. It has issues. It is not perfect. There are things I would change about the quality of life related issues 100% and there is still room for improvement no doubt. But it is getting better and trying to get better and in my opinion, is far better than it was during the worst of COVID. The good far outweighs the bad. I swear some people think if they visit Seattle or move here they will instantly get robbed as their plane lands or get assaulted if they go downtown and will be surrounded by homeless people every second they spend in the city and will hate their entire time here. I’ve genuinely considered just leaving the two Seattle subreddits to no longer see such posts or see the one-off crime posts.

If you go any city in the US, you are almost guaranteed to see something or experience something you might not like and if you spend long enough anywhere, you might become a victim of something unfortunate happening to you.

I have not travelled outside of my home state of Victoria for decades. I have only gone overseas three times in my life so far (England family trips in 1975 and 1978; a New Zealand Year 11 class week-long tour in 1988). I have never visited other parts of Australia. I have not even ventured outside of Melbourne for a couple of decades at least, and my territory is now limited to around 6 km or so (no further than Chadstone SC). I must be a rarity these days – an outlier – as most people seem to travel overseas fairly regularly, despite this being hugely expensive. They also move house quite frequently, but I am still in the same old house I have lived in all my life so far with my parents.

Wednesday 28/6: Mutiny musings; give Ukraine yet more; anti-Putin propaganda

Grey, cold, rainy. Awful depressing weather. No sign so far of the warm, dry winter and spring forecast due to El Niño becoming prevailent again.

“24 hours that shook Russia: Experts weigh in on the Wagner mutiny,” RT, 26/6. Russian experts in this case, so worth reading. Still no one can say for sure what the real motivations were and there are all sorts of theories on the Internet. One comment following the article: “This unexpected event is … weird. Before this, all the back and forth heated exchanges between Wagner and MOD were already weird. This one is even weirder. I don’t know if the problems Wagner had with MOD while they operated in Ukraine was real or not, as it could be a diversion to the West, including Ukraine. I don’t know if the problems Wagner had with Kremlin in this munity was real or not, as it could also be a diversion to the West, including Ukraine. It’s too soon to say, yet, at the same time, we might never know what truly happened and why.”

For reference, President Putin’s “Address to Defence Ministry, National Guard, Federal Security Service, Interior Ministry and Federal Guard Service units which ensured law and order during the mutiny,” and “Address to citizens of Russia.”

“Australia is not giving Ukraine the military support it needs – sending our retired jets would be a start,” ABC News, 28/6. “While this support package was welcomed by the Ukrainian government, it has been criticised by some for being too small, tokenistic and not providing the level of equipment and support needed to counter Russia’s invasion. […] But as Matthew Sussex, one of Australia’s leading Russia experts, has pointed out, Russia is a strategic competitor to Australia that will increasingly pivot its attention to the Indo-Pacific region. As such, our geographic distance is no excuse for weak support to a state attempting to counter an illegal and devastating invasion by Russia. We can, and should, be doing considerably more.” No, no, no! Australia has given too much to Ukraine already – we should not be sending anything, and should never have become involved.

“The riddle, mystery and enigma of Prigozhin’s coup attempt,” Gerard Baker for The Australian, 27/6. A nastily patronizing opinion piece. “The image Mr. Putin’s Russia presented these last few days isn’t one of strength but of a crumbling husk of a former empire, and its main value should be as a powerful rebuttal to the strange little army of Putin apologists in the U.S. It will be some time before we understand what just happened and what it portends for Mr. Putin, his regime and the war in Ukraine. But we can surely already see that the abortive Wagner mutiny has revealed how wrong the critics of America’s support for the war have been.” No, the critics are still correct.

“Q & A: Putin’s enemies are circling. Our experts answered your questions about the war,” ABC News, 28/6. Only approved (i.e. pro-Ukraine) questions, of course, and a lot of misinformation.

“How To Plant Propaganda: ‘Putin has been weakened. Russia is crumbling.’” Moon of Alabama, 27/6. On the repeated message in all mainstream media. “The very same (false) talking points, repeated over and over again, are a sure sign of lies and an organized propaganda campaign.”

Thursday 29/6: Wistful Wind; wandering god

Cold and dreary, but at least the sun made an appearance. I can’t face writing about the usual stressful real-world topics today.

I just re-read two of my favorite chapters in the children’s classic novel, The Wind in the Willows:

Rather oddly, and annoyingly, these two chapters are cut from some editions of the novel as they are apparently regarded as irrelevant or deviating from the main plot. I hate it when publishers alter classic texts! Also, reading this reinforces my view that a lot of modern children’s literature is dumbed-down rubbish by comparison.

To another favorite topic. Of all mythologies, the one that seems to appeal to me the most is Norse mythology, and my favorite deity from that is Odin (see the old mythology book in my 21/2/2021 entry). For me I feel preference for his guise as the mysterious one-eyed old man who wanders the ancient Northern forests; he is in robes and has a long beard. I did have the whimsical thought today that if he were in Australia he would disguise himself as a roaming swagman!

Friday 30/6: Another earthquake!

There was an earthquake at 1:33 a.m. this morning, for around 5-6 seconds. Felt my bed shaking. Magnitude 4.6, epicenter 7 km under Rawson, 150 km east of Melbourne. (Previous felt earthquake: 29/5 entry.)

“The Really Big One – The Earthquake That Will Devastate the Pacific Northwest,” The New Yorker, 20/7/2015. An article speculating on the consequences of the predicted next major earthquake in the region. Devastation would be immense, with thousands dead and many unable to evacuate. That and active volcanoes are the major threat to living in the region; I guess one has to make an informed choice and prepare as best they can for future disasters. A MetaFilter post, “Cascadia Subduction Zone,” discusses that article.

July

Saturday 1/7: No dry winter yet; Putin ponderings; billions down a black hole; Ambassador interview

Exhausted and stressed as usual from dealing with (and cleaning up after) elderly parents. I have stopped going on a daily walk for a while as I have no energy for it.

I was grumbling about the absence of the so-called dry winter we were promised (28/6 entry); an answer is provided in “Heavy June rainfall defies BOM’s dry outlook across large parts of Australia,” ABC News, 30/6.

Apparently deciding to bolster any hint of flagging Ukraine support, there are various articles in Australian mainstream media disparaging President Putin – treating Russia politics generally as a joke (conveniently forgetting that UK politics, for example, has undergone its own turmoil and scandals, not to mention US politics) – and speculating on his eventual ending or departure. “What Catherine the Great tells us about Vladimir Putin today;” “His mystique in tatters, Putin is about to find out who he can trust,” The Age, 1/7. “Vladimir Putin faced an unprecedented challenge to his authority. What could his eventual end look like?” ABC News, 1/7. “As Vladimir Putin enters his twilight, what comes next could be worse,” The Australian, 1/7 – “The whole of Russia is bathed in paranoia. All the intelligence agencies want to show Putin, or whoever might be in charge next week, they are identifying the conspirators within. In truth, Putin has entered the twilight of the dictator. […] The granular detail of Moscow’s byzantine power struggles is compelling, even though motivations are shrouded in mystery. Yet the stakes for the whole world are such that Western governments and analysts must attempt broad interpretation.” The usual foreign “experts” trying to second-guess the President.

“Study reveals extent of Western aid to Kiev,” RT, 30/6. “$170 billion in military, financial, and humanitarian assistance between January 2022 and February 2023.” An astonishing amount vanishing into the money pit that is Ukraine; an utter waste that would be better spent on the donor countries’ own citizens.

“Russian Ambassador to Australia Dr Alexey Pavlovsky’s Interview with Steve Evans of Canberra Times,” 27/3. The Russian Ambassador to Australia gets to state his opinion on the farcical cancellation of their new embassy, and related matters, with much sardonic and justified criticism: “It seems to me that in this case, the self-induced anti-Russian hysteria among Australian politicians prevailed over the basics of statecraft and common sense.”

Sunday 2/7: Lying and idling; Ran’s old writings; murky mercenaries; yet another Russia-bashing book

Dull, cold and drizzly weather yet again. I “crashed” after lunch – the little energy I have abruptly ran out – and had to lie down for a while. Also have a mild headache. I just lie there and do nothing; no reading or anything. I recalled this recent AskMefi: “Why are animals more able to do nothing than we are?” Meaning just sit or lie down passively (“noodling” as I nickname it). I am increasingly able to do that also. If I can’t sleep at night (a common occurence now!) I don’t fret about it; I just lie there with eyes closed. Time seems to pass quicker at night for some reason.

Have been browsing Ran Prieur’s (previously: 27/6 entry) old writings and versions of his site (2004 onwards) at the Internet Archive. (His site design has changed little and I hope it remains thus; being plain HTML it loads quickly and is easy to browse.) He sounds so much more energetic and idealistic when younger. The recent Leafbox interview describes him as a “philosopher, writer, blogger, and is well known for writing on collapse, society, psychology, freedom, drugs and consciousness.”

“Private mercenary groups like Wagner are a thriving illegal industry in Russia, offering Putin ‘plausible deniability’ on the battlefield,” ABC News, 2/7. Russia are certainly not the only nation utilizing PMGs; the USA had Blackwater (now Constellis Holdings); there is currently the International Legion (Ukraine) and a variety of other foreign “volunteers” fighting against Russia. So, the focus on Wagner is disportionate. (Conservapedia: NATO-backed mercenaries in the Ukraine war.)

“Putin’s imperalism put in its place as history sheds light on Russia’s future,” The Australian, 27/6. Review of a new book by Serhii Plokhy, which is of course approving as the book’s author is pro-Ukraine. (There are no books about Russia in bookstores here that dare to present a positive view of the country as it is now; all are gloom and doom. And still no travel guides for the country at all!) Some comments at Moon of Alabama: “At a friend’s house last week saw on the table a freshly printed history of Ukraine. The book was written by a full professor at Harvard. Looking inside it seemed to be written for sixth graders by a committee of eight graders. My wife the copy editor took her turn and said the publishers editors had simply given up.” 81. “Do not want to do a commercial for that tripe. The author was a Ukrainian spelling Serhii, last name was something like Plokhy or Plokny. Published by Basic Books/Hachette, who should be embarrassed. Harvard should be embarrassed. The title is currently a bestseller.” 87, “OldHippie”, 18/2/2022.

Monday 3/7: Brain glitch

Had something of a disrupted afternoon as Dad had a brain glitch and could not remember the route to a local medical clinic, so I had to go with him and direct his driving (we have been there many times before; it is not far away). His age (turned 90 in March) is increasingly showing in his behavior. I am in a constant state of anxiety as to what might next go wrong. I’m not one of those who can selflessly care for others; I am often impatient and resentful as I simply do not have the temperament or training for such a role. I am not financially independent and my future looks bleak.

Tuesday 4/7: Cold day and home; Highway Man still walking; Twitter travesty

Another cold, wet, gloomy day. An r/Australia Reddit posts laments, “Why are these houses so freaking cold ?!?!” The topic is raised here every so often; apparently homes in many countries have decent insulation by default – sadly uncommon in Australia! (Previously: 19/7/2022, 21/6 entries.)

In my 22/8/2018 entry I mentioned Grant John Cadoret “The Highway Man,” first featured in an ABC 2004 documentary (no longer online on that page, but the transcript is). An official Facebook group – The Highway Man: A: Grant John’s journey. The original page – is following him and its members aid him on his travels when they can. “This group page has been created so that you can follow Grant John Cadoret ‘The Highway Man’ on his endless journey. You can keep updated with his rough location & can post your sightings and photos. If you wish to you can offer John food and drink and you can find a list of suggestions on the file tab; however John does not beg nor does he expect anything. He has survived for 40 years on his own but he is grateful if support is offered. Please don’t post exact locations of sightings or mention giving him money – this is for his protection. To family and friends he is Grant but over the past 40 years he has been known simply as John or John the Highway Man.” He is visibly aged and lost quite a few teeth, but is probably in a better mental state than many settled and wealthy people. His is certainly not a comfortable lifestyle, but he seems content. He is something of a modern-day swagman (29/6 entry).

Since Elon Musk messed up Twitter yet again and made it even more enshittified (“Elon Musk announces limit for how many posts users can read on Twitter,” ABC News, 2/7), I probably will not post as much, or even at all. Similarly with Mastodon (6/6 entry); I probably will not use the account, or post on it. I hate being so fragmented across the Internet, and I just want to focus on this website, my personal space, though I do not receive any feedback.

Wednesday 5/7: Another earthquake; another missed reunion; a stealthy wish

Apparently there was another earthquake early this morning at 1:26:57 a.m., only a small one (magnitude 2.5), epicenter under Pakenham. Unlike last time (30/6 entry) I did not feel it distinctly, but was awake at that time (as I normally am) and had a vaguely uneasy feeling, and a vague sensation of a slight trembling through the house, and heard a cracking noise or two.

The 35-year reunion for my school class year of 1988 took place on 16 June. As usual I did not attend; I would be embarrassed at how I am now and seeing former classmates after decades would be disconcerting (though I would also be curious to see how their lives had progressed).

One odd little daydream or wish I have fantasized about for years is to go “stealth camping” in the countryside northwest of Melbourne, where my family used to drive around on daytrips in the 1970s and 1980s (we had many relatives living in the Ballarat region, on my mother’s side of the family). (Never mind that I have never been camping, don’t own a car and can’t drive …) I would spend a week by myself hiding in the bush in a small tent (thinking of somewhere around Mt. Buninyong or Mt. Franklin) and just sitting by a small campfire and decompressing mentally. I would likely be cold and uncomfortable, but the fantasy persists. There is a subReddit on the topic, r/StealthCamping, though it is mostly US-focused.

Thursday 6/7: CSS frustrations; another personal site; Tim Cook article

Having a frustrating day trying to figure out a CSS display issue; I can’t solve it despite trying everything I can think of! CSS is becoming hugely complex now; I miss the days a decade or so ago when it was much simpler (if limited); even the old-fashioned website layouts. A 2022 CSS-Tricks article asks, “Is There Too Much CSS Now?” Jens Oliver Meiert feels the same way: “My CSS Wishlist – Trim it. CSS is awesome, all the new features are fantastic, we’re making classless web development an actual option, but CSS is sooo complex, it isn’t only impossible that anyone could master it – it’s also getting clear that more and more of it is ballast.” (Originally, HTML was for markup, CSS was for presentation/appearance and Javascript was to enable interaction. CSS is now a quasi-programming language which is beyond what its scope should be, in my opinion.) Perhaps I should simplify my own CSS more – a lot of it is decorative.

Via a post at Athena Andreadis’ blog, I followed a link to another personal site, The Moonspeaker. To my delight, she has a strong dislike of modern bloated websites and hers is an “old-fashioned” hand-coded one (previously: 13/5 entry); she goes into details on her ABOUT THE MOONSPEAKER page.

“Tim Cook on Shaping the Future of Apple,” GQ Magazine, 3/4. An interesting profile of, and interview with Apple’s CEO.

Friday 7/7: CSS problem solved! Gamer next door

I seem to have (hopefully!) fixed the CSS generated content issue (6/7 entry) though I am still baffled as to what was causing it. The answer came to me during my shower earlier – it was the generated link using a:target, as styled below:

:target:after {
color: #a0a0a0;
content: "\00a0\0023";
}

This puts a temporary generated hash (#) symbol and a   space when an anchor link is clicked on. When clicking on a target <id> within a table row, the generated symbol pushed out the cells in that row (only a temporary effect), but I did not realize that then and spent a few frustrating hours trying to puzzle out what the issue was. The browser developer tools (accessed via pressing the F12 key) helped pinpoint the CSS style rule affecting the target cell. So, another CSS peculiarity learned!

There is a teenage boy next door (south of me, in the house outside my bedroom) who seems to spend a lot of his time when at home playing online multiplayer games, from what I have ascertained. He does this in a room with the north-facing blinds drawn, and I hear him talking and exclaiming to others presumably elsewhere. It is school holidays now so he is spending most days when at home doing this. As far as I can tell he is enjoying himself, but it seems such a waste of time to me, and not mentally or physically healthy. Perhaps he has no real-world friends to hang out with? (Do teenagers generally do that anymore in the digital age?) And, yes, there is a subReddit for gamers seeking to quit their addiction, r/StopGaming. So many there regret spending hours of their days gaming with ultimately nothing to show for it. I have never had any interest in gaming (at most, only in the lore and worldbuilding behind them) and have never played any on my computer.

Saturday 8/7: Windy; more on CSS :target

Afternoon; am weary and lethargic as usual. Gale-force winds overnight and today, which I hate; they make me restless and I am fearful of power cuts.

A bit more on yesterday’s CSS target issue: I can simply exclude tables from the :target:after rule:

:target:not(table tr, table td):after {
color: #a0a0a0;
content: "\00a0\0023";
}

Sunday 9/7: Wishing for rest and solitude; Second Life still going

A quiet day; the gale-force winds of yesterday have mostly abated. I lay down for nearly an hour this afternoon, which I am rarely able to do. I fantasize a lot about simply being able to sleep in and go at my own pace. To live by myself in my own flat and not have to interact with other people.

“The Digital Ruins of a Forgotten Future,” The Atlantic, December 2017. The Second Life virtual reality world was a big trend over a decade ago, but seems to have faded into obscurity now, though it still has a lot of users. I could somewhat relate to the woman profiled in the first few paragraphs: “But each morning, before all that – before getting the kids ready for school and putting in eight hours at the call center, before getting dinner on the table or keeping peace during the meal, before giving baths and collapsing into bed – Bridgette spends an hour and a half on the online platform Second Life, where she lives in a sleek paradise of her own devising. Good morning girls. I’m slow moving, trying to get out of bed this morning. She wakes up at 5:30 to inhabit a life in which she has the luxury of never getting out of bed at all.” I don’t know how women who are carers for both young children and elderly parents (the “sandwich generation”) manage to cope. I am certainly burned out.

I wonder if joining SL is worthwhile; I would probably just lurk and not do much.

Monday 10/7: Chores done; sister coming

Somewhat sunny and windy; got the weekly washing dry. Even this mundanity feels like a minor achievement, but I am tired now and have zoned out for the day. Feeling uninspired.

My sister is coming to visit and stay for a few days from tomorrow.

Tuesday 11/7: No royal revival for Russia, thanks! Future Russian Internet cutoff concerning; still reading Ran; plain HTML is best!

My sister arrives tomorrow, not today. Sunny today, at least.

“Where Are You Going, Russia?” Batiushka (“a Russian Orthodox priest in Western Europe”) for Global South, 5/7. I disagree with the premise of this opinion piece (though the church is, by its nature, certainly corrupt). “there is no place here either for Soviet Communists …” No, their revival is more needed than ever! The destruction of Soviet system was a massive social tragedy. I do not want Russia “to bring forth an Orthodox Tsar” – this would be a backwards step and a betrayal of the Revolution. (Previously: 3/2, 21/2, 16/3 entries.)

There is a website dedicated to lionizing Tsar Nicholas – “Emperor Tsar Saint,” the embodiment of everything I despise about this revival movement. It is by a Westerner, Paul Gilbert. “The indignation comes from Nicholas II’s many detractors, among them Communists, Leninites, anti-monarchists, etc. They accuse me of hagiography. romanticizing or whitewashing the truth, or viewing the reign of Nicholas II through ‘rose tinted glasses.’ So be it! What is so frustrating is that these are the same people who simply refuse to remove their blinders and examine new documents and research discovered in post-Soviet archives in Russia in recent years.” No, the anti-monarchists are right – there is no justification for maintaining a monarchy at all. The Tsar and his family deserved their fate.

“Russia briefly turned off ‘international’ internet,” RT, 6/7. “The ‘international Internet was turned off’ at one point between Tuesday and Wednesday, as the media regulator Roskomnadzor checked the performance of Russian sites and network-dependent services in the event that the country is disconnected from abroad.” A concerning development, even if this were “only” a test run. If cutoff became permanent, I don’t think I could then access the already-blocked Roskosmos spaceflight website even with an Internet proxy.

To pleasanter topics. I am slowly reading through the Internet Archived pages of Ran Prieur’s website (previously: 2/7 entry). On a 2006 version of his About Me page he has a note on his site about how he codes it:

What blogging software do you use? And why don’t you enable comments on it?

There are three reasons I don’t do comments, any one of which alone would be sufficient. 1) I love hand-coding my own html (so I don’t use any blogging software), and comments are tricky to code. I feel a spiritual need to keep things uncomplicated. 2) Allowing comments would obligate me to read all the comments, and I spend too much time online already. 3) I want to have only stuff of the highest (subjective) quality as permanent content, and doing it the normal way, with comments and permalinks, would make it impossible (or rude) for me to filter down my own posts, and all the reader comments, to the best stuff. A principle of permaculture is that anything in high enough quantity becomes a pollutant, and I think the internet has been polluted by too much storage capacity – if people can save everything, they forget how to know quality.

A philosophy I agree with! (I hope he keeps his website like that – “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”) In the past I have occasionally considered starting a content-managed Wordpress blog – and even had Wordpress installed here for a few months – but uninstalled and deleted it as I disliked the huge size of the installation and complexity of using a database. A long time ago, in 2014, I tried transferring my Journal of then into a Dokuwiki installation (24/2/2014, 16/6/2014 entries) but went back to the static HTML Journal that I still keep now (11/9/2014 entry). The IndieWeb wiki has a page on database antipatterns – “the false assumption that a database is the best option for primary long-term storage of posts and other personal content (like on an indieweb site). Disadvantages include additional maintenance costs, uninspectability of the raw data, platform-dependence, and long-term fragility of databases and their storage files.” Admittedly, having one huge dump of entries – one year per page now – is not as usable as tagged separate blog posts, but the format suits me, and is intended for offline long-term archiving (hopefully).

Wednesday 12/7: Sister arrived; an anarcho-primitivist profile

Sister is here. I am feeling in a low mood and uninspired again. Am furious at the Australian Prime Minister’s rabid support for Ukraine.

Via a link from an archive of Ran Prieur’s front page, “Wild Times Ahead,” 13/7/2006, an old article profiling an anarcho-primitivist, Kevin Tucker (also at The Anarchist Library). “Civilization, primitivists argue, germinates all our ills: government, which is necessarily repressive; private property, and thus crime; war; social, economic and sexual inequality; environmental degradation; and endless, numbing work routines. Progress is a myth, they contend: We’ve lost more than we’ve gained. Modern technology promises fulfillment but delivers isolation, cocooning us from each other, from nature, from the consequences of our destructive, unsustainable ways.” I have had an interest in such philosophies for some years (in contrast to my interest in spaceflight).

Thursday 13/7: Found out how to use RSS feeds; deluded about Putin

Fine again today, but windy, almost gale-force, which makes me nervous and restless.

RSS feeds have long puzzled me as to how to implement them (Matt Webb: “How would I improve RSS? Three ideas,” 29/7/2020). The Mozilla Firefox browser used to include an inbuilt feed reader but discontinued this. I found out that the Mozilla Thunderbird email client can also import feeds (in the Menu Bar, click File > New > Feed Account), so I have done this with a few.

I don’t think RSS can be set up for my Journal as it is not in a suitable format (as I noted in my 11/7 entry, it is one massive year-to-a-page dump of text rather than the now-normal separate tagged blog entries, though it is still well-formed basic HTML).

“Vladimir Putin is NATO’s greatest recruiter. Here’s what we learned from the final day of the Vilnius summit,” ABC News, 13/7. Wishful thinking on the part of this deluded journalist. The Ukrainian conman masquerading as a president is described receiving “the sort of welcome one would normally expect for a rock star.” Cameron Leckie Tweeted: “A lengthy puff piece on the NATO summit by @TheLyonsDen, masking how pitiful the result was. What was agreed? Training Ukrainian pilots on the F16 (woopty do) & Ukraine joining NATO at some undetermined time after some undetermined conditions are met. They’ve lost.”

Friday 14/7: A humiliating hug; Russian hackers; Google being very evil

Headachy and off-color this morning. Had a minor family crisis late this afternoon too, so I have been a bit distracted.

“‘If you’re invaded, we’ll help you’: Ukraine insists it is grateful for assistance,” The Age, 13/7. “Senior American and British officials have called for Ukraine to show gratitude for the tens of billions of dollars being provided to help the country’s war against Russia as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged to send 30 more Bushmaster troop carriers to the country. The puppet president acting like a spoiled entitled child, and Australia’s shamefully gullible Prime Minister continues to send taxpayer-funded military assets to this corrupt excuse for a country. […] “Australian Defence officials have been reluctant to give up Australia’s newest equipment to Ukraine, arguing internally that doing so will drain crucial military resources unless additional funding is allocated to cover the shortfall. […] Albanese’s announcement of an extra 30 Bushmasters – taking Australia’s total contribution to $890 million – came after military experts and the federal opposition criticised a package announced last month as underwhelming.”

Wired magazine is as rabidly Russophobic as other Western publications (articles tagged “Russia”). A couple of article links I have been hoarding: “The Kremlin Has Entered the Chat,” 2/2 – on Russian government monitoring of a popular social media platform, Telegram; but Western governments also covertly monitor ones such as Twitter and Facebook (“Elon Musk Says U.S. Govt ‘Had Full Access’ To Private Twitter DMs,” Forbes, 17/4). Also, “The Underground History of Russia’s Most Ingenious Hacker Group,” 28/5.

Via a link at Adactio, “Pulling my site from Google over AI training,” Tracy Durnell, 11/7/2023. “It wasn’t enough to steal all our personal data, now they want to steal all our IP too. I didn’t sign up for Google to own the whole Internet.” Not sure if I should follow suit, though my website is very obscure.

Saturday 15/7: Pooped

Some stressful events yesterday and today. Had to clean up poop from a relative’s accident yesterday (I can’t describe it delicately); thank goodness my sister was here to help (I was nearly having a breakdown). Also the toilet was partially clogged this morning; some plunger use seems to have cleared it for now but it might reoccur. Three (or currently four) people and one toilet in an old and deteriorating house is not an ideal situation. So I am distracted and anxious about what else might go wrong.

Sunday 16/7: “Good” vs. “bad” activists; gone to the dark side; everyday paganism; magical fox

A chilly night and morning – 5°C or so – but a fine still day at least. Used up what energy I had in doing chores, then I “crashed” in the afternoon.

“Who is Drew Pavlou, anti-CCP activist and human rights campaigner?” The Age, 14/7. Profile of an anti-China and now pro-Ukraine protester (“Just weeks after Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine, Pavlou made a spontaneous trip with some buddies to the Poland-Ukraine border to help deliver humanitarian aid. His social media feed is increasingly focused on Ukraine and documenting the activities of ultra-nationalist Putin supporters in Australia. ‘This is our generation’s Spanish Civil War,’ he says of the conflict. ‘If Ukraine falls, Taiwan will fall.’”) Compare this relatively benign report to that of pro-Russia supporter Simeon Boikov (12/4 entry), who gets mercilessly mocked and defamed in mainstream media.

“Jumping the Gap: Where Green Transphobia Leads,” John Halstead for A Beautiful Resistance, 8/2. A strong critique of former radical environmentalist Paul Kingsnorth and his shift towards conservatism and traditionalism after his conversion to Christianity (after bouncing around other belief systems) – and the author’s disillusionment with his former idol. “But something has happened, and given how much I have promoted his ideas, I can’t in good conscience stay silent. Kingsnorth’s story is a study in how someone squarely on the Left can slip into proto-fascism.” (I am not going to comment on the trans- and gender issues raised as I have no interest in addressing the convoluted and controversial topic). “And then recently, following the death of Queen Elizabeth, he wrote an essay defending monarchy. An anarchist defending monarchy?! Something was definitely off.” Well, that is enough to discredit Paul Kingsworth in my eyes, too! Defending the monarchy is abhorrent in my view (11/7 entry). There is a lot more in the essay, but I will leave it for now (getting late).

John Halstead also has a thought-provoking essay on another site, “Paganism Isn’t Where You Think It Is,” that the numinous can be found in the world around oneself, in everyday life, rather than in esoteric rituals and traditions that only the initiated might access.

To a much more pleasant (and soul-soothing) topic. “Encounter With a Fox,” Philip Kane, 1/7. “And then, quite abruptly and as if materialising from thin air, the fox was there, right in front of me. Maybe a mere three or four feet away. The fox froze in place. I froze in place. The fox looked at me with eyes of gold. The woodland may have paused in its breathing for a moment, too.” A short but lyrical muse upon a magical encounter. Foxes are common in Melbourne; I have seen them occasionally when I was going out in the early morning on walks or bicycle rides (neither of which I do now). On 18/7/2019 I was out in our backyard and one sauntered by not far from me! I did not record that sighting in this Journal, but in a TiddlyWiki journal I was keeping at the time:

I saw a fox in our backyard this morning! I was outside doing a bit of sweeping as usual, and around 5:45 a.m. I noticed a creature walking up the south side of our house, from the backyard eastwards to the side. Thought it was a stray cat at first, then realized it was a red fox! It sat and looked at me for a couple of minutes, then continued on its way. I have seen them around the neighborhood occasionally, but this is the closest encounter! They are classified as a feral pest species, but I don’t mind them – I prefer them to the native possums, which are in plague proportions, leave droppings all over the footpaths and are a nuisance generally. So a nice incidental encounter.

In retrospect, such an unexpected meeting seems dreamlike, almost magical. I do like the creatures of the Old World (northern hemisphere – Europe and North America) the most; they have been part of human mythology since the last Ice Age. (More generally, this reflects my feeling of “not belonging” to Australia, despite having been born and growing up here – in contrast to the Australian Indigenous Aborigines, who have lived here for tens of thousands of years, and are a part of the land in a way those who arrived since European settlement – or invasion, depending upon one’s perspective – will never be.)

Monday 17/7: Glorious sunshine; sister departed; tagging perplexion

Praise the sun! (Literally, in my case.) A fine and sunny day after a chilly morning. So wonderful to see it after so many cloudys, damp, cold days. I am about to collapse from exhaustion, though, after doing the usual Monday chores.

My sister has departed for Brisbane today.

Been trying to figure out how Greg Lehey implements the topics code for his diaries. He describes it in his March 2009 diary (14th onwards), but it seems to involve some PHP and/or Javascript wizardry that is beyond me. I would like to do similar for my Journals – a basic form of “tagging” entries – but there seems to be no way of enabling this (or it is beyond my limited knowledge).

Tuesday 18/7: Brain fog

And back to rain and gloom today, sadly – though the front passed and the afternoon fined up a bit.

Am in my afternoon slump, and am feeling uninspired again. I have lost interest in so much; I have no desire to draw or write creatively, stopped listening to music and watching movies years ago, and can barely concentrate on reading. Anhedonia, I guess. Also “brain fog” from being underweight (but putting on weight is non-negotiable as my clothes would no longer fit, and a lot of money thus wasted). However, I am too passive and apathetic to make any effort to seek treatment (not to mention that treatments cost a lot).

The few personal sites I visit regularly provide some comfort for me (some being Ran Prieur, Greg Lehey,), although I may not agree with all their views on various topics (and wish some would update more often, though they are of course not obliged to!).

Wednesday 19/7: Homesteading dreams

Some afternoon sunshine again today.

Ran Prieur has an archived section on his website, Landblog/Houseblog 2004-2014, on his experiment with homesteading a block of rural land he bought. He describes it as “doomed to fail but I learned a lot” – he did make a good go of it, though! As Ran found out with his land, it is a lot of hard physical work to maintain, and a car is necessary to carry loads up and back. It put me in mind of the block of land in Clarendon my parents bought, on the site of which once stood the cottage where my much-missed maternal grandmother grew up. They held it from 1992 to 1999 and went up there on a weekend day to do some maintenance. I think they purchased it out of nostalgia, but the local council’s bureaucratic bullshit paperwork and rates expenses proved too much and they eventually sold it. I now wish they could have kept it; perhaps it might have served as our/my own homesteading site or campsite (not that we were ever into camping, but one can dream!). Even if they still owned the block of land, though, they are too old now to drive the long distance up there and back.

Mum and my sister outside Gran's former home, 1975 Gran on her old block of land, 1992

Left: Mum and my sister standing in the doorway of the dilapidated cottage where my maternal Gran and her family lived; right: Gran in 1992 on the site of her childhood home.

Thursday 20/7: Anchor linking

Very cold and windy with afternoon rain again.

Another entry from Ran Prieur’s archived blog about it (previously: 11/7 entry) – this particular post is no longer on the current version:

February 21 2010. Adam comments that it’s frustrating to link to my blog from his blog, because I don’t have permalinks, and he suggests some new software called Jekyll that can generate a web 2.0 site from static html.

I liked web 1.0 better, back before the ads started to move and talk, when you could still get around with dial-up, when people went online for information and still looked for community in the physical world. And I’m really more interested in web 0.0 – using the internet, as long as it lasts, to prepare for a world without an internet. So even if someone made a mirror of this site, and turned every post into a permanent file with comments, I wouldn’t go there myself.

But I can make one concession for permalinks. First, every post that I’ve ever archived already has a permalink. You can find it by doing view source on the archive page and reading the name in the (a name="") tag at the top of the post. Then the link is the archive URL, a number sign, and the name. For example, here’s the permalink to my January 13 post about the book Gaiome: http://ranprieur.com/archives/028.html#gaiome. So, from now on, when I make a post that I don’t think would be a waste of time to link to, I’ll pre-archive it immediately and post a permalink.

My links work much the same way, but the Table of Contents at the top of each page instead links to each entry heading.

Friday 21/7: Email letdown; meddling in Mongolia; MI6 misinformation; Bill’s reading list; upcoming unmanned Moon mission!

It is rather disappointing to see what looks like a nice email in my inbox, only to find out it is just marketing spam – someone claiming to improve my site for Search Engine Optimization (similar to what Nayuki gives examples of).

“Inside Russia-Mongolia border’s secret military bases from the Soviet-era,” The Age, 19/7. The usual negative portrayal of the USSR, here its remnants in Mongolia. “Mongolia, like other states with deep links to the former Soviet Union, is wrestling with its ongoing ties to Moscow. It is divided into generations who were educated in Russian and those now learning in English. By those who believe they owe a debt of gratitude to the Russians that gave some of them running water and heating, and those appalled by what they are seeing unfold in Ukraine. ‘This nation is squeezed,’ says the leader of Mongolia’s youth-focused third party, HUN, Togmidyn Dorjkhand. ‘We are very opposed to this situation in Ukraine.’” The meddling Western “color revolution” agents have been making trouble in such former USSR countries as these; it is notable that mostly younger people there have been attracted to the West. (Global South has a brief report on Mongolia from 7/12/2022 – “Events very similar to those in Kazakhstan in January are unfolding in Mongolia. There, protesters have marched into the centre of the capital and are trying to break into administrative buildings. […] There are enough signs of a ‘colour revolution’ going on.”)

“Prigozhin reappears in public as MI6 reveals ‘deep fractures’ in Russian elite,” The Age, 20/7. Anything Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service says is immediately cause for doubt, given that it is a part of the Western propaganda blitz. Also, this tidbit had me bemused: “MI6 chief Richard Moore said the Ukrainians were moving more cautiously to preserve Ukrainian lives, in stark contrast to Russia’s tactics of throwing men into the ‘meat grinder’ – a reference to the huge casualties Russia has sustained on the battlefield. ‘They have still recovered more territory in a month than the Russians managed to achieve in a year,’ he said.” Turn that 180° and it is closer to the truth? According to the alternative news sites and blogs that are not also Western propaganda outlets.

“Bill the Butcher,” (Biswapriya Purkayastha) who comments a lot on some of the alternative sites I visit regarding the Ukraine conflict, has posted a Reading List Modifications Notice with his recommended sites. He is no fan of Andrei Martyanov (whom, I admit, can be sometimes distasteful with his comments in some posts regarding women, as do some of his more extremeist commentators). He also draws the “Raghead the Fiendly Neighbourhood Terrorist” cartoons, which are amusingly sardonic (once you adjust to the drawing style).

To what will hopefully be a good news item for Russia’s unmanned space program: the Luna-25 spacecraft is to launch from Vostochnyi Cosmodrome/Космодром Восточный this coming August; it “is a small-sized demonstration landing station for testing basic soft landing technologies in the near-polar region and conducting contact studies of the South Pole of the Moon.” NPO Lavochkin is the company that has built it. There is a project overview page (in Russian; and a more basic one in English; also a NASASpaceflight.com forum thread). I feverently hope the launch and mission will succeed; if not, the nasty scorn and derision from Western space enthusiasts and pro-Ukraine shills will be intolerable.

Saturday 22/7: Russia ideas

An observation from “A Matryoshka of Psyops: And Why General Armageddon Is Not Going Anywhere,” Pepe Escobar for Global South, 1/7:

Yet the main problem faced by Russia is not the Hegemon and NATO: it’s domestic.

Based on conversations with Russian analysts, and their impressions from very sharp people who lived in Russia, Ukraine and in the West, it would be possible to identify basically four main groups trying to impose their idea of Russia.

  1. The “Back to the USSR” gang. Includes, of course, some former KGB. Have some kind of support from the general population. A lot of educated specialists (old school pros, mostly pension age). This project suggests a revolution – a 1917 on steroids. But where is Lenin?
  2. The “Back to the Tsar” people. That would imply Russia as the “Third Rome” and a prominent role for the Orthodox Church. Hefty funds behind it. A big question mark is how much popular support, especially in “deep” Russia, they really have. This group has nothing to do with the Vatican – which is sold to The Great Reset.
  3. The Plunderers – as in robbing Russia blind in favor of the Hegemon. Congregates 5th columnists, and all manner of “totalitarian neoliberals” worshipping the “values” of the collective West. The remaining ones will soon get a knock on the door by the FSB. Their money is already blocked.
  4. The Eurasianists. This is the most feasible project – in close collaboration with China, and aiming towards a multipolar world. There’s no place for Russian oligarchs here. Yet the degree of collaboration with China is still highly debatable. The real burning question: how to really integrate, in practice, the Belt and Road Initiative with the Greater Eurasia Partnership?

Ideally, I would like to see point 1 imposed (a sort of Communism reboot or 2.0); certainly not point 2, given my hatred of the archaic Church and Tsar (11/7 entry), or point 3. Point 4 is a bit risky, given that both countries can have their own sometimes conflicting motives.

Sunday 23/7: Perambulating parents; Voice vexation; survivalist fad

A disrupted night due to elderly parents wandering around (Dad blundered into my bedroom a couple of times), so I have been frazzled and exhausted, not to mention anxious. “Managing” them is too much for me to cope with, given my own health issues. I have not been out on a daily walk for a few weeks as I am too exhausted. With all of this, I am not much interested in world events and news generally.

One upcoming national issue I am very disengaged with is The Voice referendum, which is being debated to a tedious degree in Australia. I will probably vote “No” as I am so weary of being lectured about it in the media. Attitudes towards Aboriginal people in Australia have gone from one extreme to the other in the last few decades, and a balance is badly needed. In my view, all citizens should be regarded equally and promoted on merit; no pandering to identity politics.

“Survival of the fittest: Ordinary families learn to live with nature,” The Age, 23/7. “Instead of apocalypse preppers, ordinary families are increasingly signing up for bushcraft courses because they are worried about supply chain disruptions, the cost-of-living crisis and the feeling of being unprepared for emergencies.” Though there are simply not enough resources in Nature to sustain a large amount of people foraging and such, with society’s currently large population.

Monday 24/7: Not removing Google

Manu has a post with his thoughts concerning Google using personal data for AI training (14/7 entry), “Who are you writing for?” 19/7: “And no matter what I do with this site, if someone wants to ‘steal’ my content and use it as training data, they will be able to do so. Every minute spent fighting this battle is a minute not spent focusing on what really matters: writing and connecting with other humans.” I think that I will take similar action (i.e. not bother about removal).

Tuesday 25/7: Dead Fall released

Sunny this afternoon and still; calming weather.

Brad Thor’s latest thriller (previously: 11/6 entry) has been released (ebook only in Australia). As I said, I will set myself the grim task of hate-reading it, as it looks to be a wish-fulfilment story (“heroic” Ukraine vs. “evil” Russia). Whether I can finish it is uncertain! The Russian President in the story is named Fedor Peshkov, though it is clear he is an alternative-Universe Putin – certainly modeled on him in a very unflattering manner: “President Peshkov placed little value on the lives of his citizens. He had been feeding his people nonstop into the wood chipper that was the war in Ukraine.” The author clearly believes the Western media’s reports that Russian soldiers are being used as cannon fodder (when it is Ukrainians who have become such). And also: “Al-Masri and the IRGC instructors were being protected by the Russian National Guard and officers from the Federal Security Service, also known as the FSB, successor to the KGB. In theory, they would be alert, disciplined, and well practiced in close protection. But in reality, they were still Russians, which meant they were prone to being lazy, undisciplined, and assigned at the last minute to work they were unqualified for.” That’s just from the first chapter! All the worst stereotypes of Russian villains will be set to maximum levels.

A dig at those who seek out alternative news sources (due to skepticism about the Western mainstream media narrative): “All of this made Carolan’s job exceedingly difficult. He not only had to battle the Russians, but he also had to contend with some of his own countrymen and -women – American taxpayers – of whom he was a servant. The fact that so many were acting as repeater stations for anti-American propaganda was a difficult pill to swallow. These otherwise good and patriotic people simply couldn’t be bothered to do even a modicum of fact-checking.” Or, perhaps, they are thinking for themselves?

And some rah-rah patriotism cringe: “No other country on Earth empowered the individual the way America did. Nowhere were the rights and liberties of citizens so well protected. There were times he shuddered to think about what his life might have been like had he been born in another country, especially one not nearly so free.”

I will end up quoting most of the novel at this rate, so will end there for today!

Wednesday 26/7: Mundane vs. magical writing; Ran subReddit posts of interest; Russian space program failing (yet again)

Struggling through Dead Fall (previously: 25/7 entry). Reading this reinforces how awful the writing style itself is: drearily mundane, with no wonder or magic (metaphorical or literal). That is typical of such genre novels, churned out to make money but with utterly no literary merit. Such books will be long forgotten in 50 years. I will be in desperate need of literary palate cleansers.

The Anarchist Library has a large selection of texts stored there. Came across this marvellous short essay, “Childhood, Imagination, the Forest,” by Sever. “Games of imagination came naturally, unbidden, while I wandered in the forest. The other kids played video games, and while I never kept myself entirely pure from that pursuit, I quickly noticed an inverse relation between imagination and the consumption of imaginary worlds. I always preferred computer games to video games, the more open-ended the better, and especially those that allowed character development and the exploration of other universes. Nonetheless, they had a numbing effect. I found that with just a stick, and perhaps a friend or two, in the woods I could accomplish so much more, and afterwards I felt exhilarated, alive, kept up at night thinking about what adventures the next day would bring.” I think of that teenage boy next door (7/7 entry) and how much of each day he spends in a darkened room, online multiplayer gaming. It is not healthy, physically or mentally – but there is no wilderness to explore for a long way around here. (Admittedly I too spend much of my day online, though just Internet surfing and writing.)

There is a collection of writings by some I follow: John Jacobi (of the now-unfortunately defunct Wild Will Project site), John Zerzan and Ran Prieur.

Some older posts at the r/ranprieur subReddit: “What does Ran do all day?” “Compliment from the Archdruid’s commenters” – some critical comments of John Michael Greer (“Unfortunately the Archdruid himself is gradually turning from an insightful curmudgeon into a hateful crank.”) He does seem to be rather abrupt in many of his replies on his postings. “Response to Ran’s interview” – this was a 2019 interview by John Jacobi (mentioned in Ran’s April 12-15 2019 blog), but the latter’s Wild Will site is offline, and the relevant page was not archived.

“Russia’s Space Program Reels After Putin’s Ukraine Invasion,” Bloomberg, 25/7. Posted on r/Space, with the predictably Russophobic comments. The usual wishful thinking narrative of the ever-failing Russian space program – but the ending paragraph contradicts: “Yet it’s too soon to write off Roscosmos, says Luigi Scatteia, leader of PwC Advisory’s Global Space Practice. The Russians have been exploring space longer than anyone, and they have a record of reliably launching spacecraft with people aboard. That experience would be useful to potential partners, and even though Roscosmos has lost customers aligned with the US, ‘the world is more than just the West,’ Scatteia says. While their space program ‘is greatly diminished,’ he says, the Russians ‘really have some deep expertise, and that still has value.’”

Thursday 27/7: Digital foe; to allow search indexing or not?

Fine and sunny today, with some wind.

“Mykhailo Fedorov Is Running Ukraine’s War Like a Startup,” Wired, 25/7. “Ukraine’s deputy prime minister has helped the country bootstrap and innovate its war effort, creating a defense industry from scratch, and using his Big Tech ties to cut Russia off from the world.” Wired magazine doing its share of pro-Ukraine propaganda. The digital realm is where Ukraine has, unfortunately, done better than Russia (at least, initially?) in garnering public support. The arrogant audaciousness of the demands made to various companies to boycott Russia, though, beggars belief – I wish the companies’d had the courage to tell the minister to sod off.

“Silence Implies Consent,” Starbreaker, 25/7. Matthew Graybosch weighs in on the question of allowing Google to index personal sites, given that the company has well and truly become evil. His compromise is to only allow indexing of the main (index.html) page and sitemap. For myself, as I said in my 24/7 entry, I will not change things for now.

Friday 28/7: TiddlyWiki tinkering; another threat to the open Web

“TiddlyWiki as a note taking tool – Positive and negative aspects – Let’s discuss” – a post at the TiddlyTalk forum. References TiddlyWiki – an exit interview, as to why the user is giving TW up:

As a tool TiddlyWiki has persisted for 15+ years and earned praise from industry giants. So before dismissing it based on anyone’s opinion, it would be only fair to give it a try.

On the other hand, I would ask the long-time TiddlyWiki users to stop and consider for a moment if TiddlyWiki is actually aiding expansion of their knowledge, or is it merely satisfying their urge to tinker with stuff. […]

For some years I have been noticing this pattern:

  1. I forget why I stopped using TW5.
  2. I restart using TiddlyWiki.
  3. I realize why I stopped
  4. I stop using TW5 again.

For this reason I am logging those reasons so I won’t have to use my time and energy to rediscover them another couple of times.

I have sporadically used TW in the past, following a similar pattern to the(previous mention: 19/11/2021 entry). I gave up on it as it is suffering from increasing bloat and “feature creep.” TW is not suitable for novices, despite what the official page claims – it is more a programmer’s tool. There are a huge number of note-taking software programs available, but none qualify as “one program to rule them all.” (I have addressed this before on my Data storage formats page.)

“Web Environment Integrity: Expectations, Reality, and Entitlement,” Matthew Greybosch, 27/7. The WEI is a worrying new initiative by Google to wield even more of a monopoly over the open Web (also detailed in “Google’s nightmare ‘Web Integrity API’ wants a DRM gatekeeper for the web,” ArsTechnica, 25/7). As its Chronium browser engine is used by Chrome and other derivative browsers, this would give websites the power to block any visitors using adblockers (without which visiting most commercial sites is unbearable).

Saturday 29/7: A curious dream; another fifth columnist Russophobe; deleted Reddit comments; Swanfolk

Had an oddly unsettling dream that still lingers. I was in the backstreets around my home with some dream characters. Dad was there – a much more hostile presence in the dream – and did not like someone whom I (or one of the characters) was seeing, so he called an airstrike on their home! A jet (vaguely resembling an F-4 Phantom) flew over and launched a missile at the house.

Yet another Russophobic book briefly (and, of course, glowingly) reviewed in The Age, this by a self-exiled and self-hating Russian journalist:

War and Punishment, Mikhail Zygar

In 1670, a German monk, a historian, wrote a book proclaiming the existence of a ‘pan-Russian orthodox people,’ including Ukraine. Russian historian Mikhail Zygar takes this as his starting point in examining the complex and troubled relationship between Russia and Ukraine, ‘a chronicle of how Russia has oppressed Ukraine for the last five centuries.’

It is a history of the myths that sanction this oppression, the central one being that Ukraine has long been part of the Russian Empire and that Putin’s war is effectively saving the Ukrainian people from their own government.

His aim in this timely, entertaining, forthright and angry study is to deconstruct these myths, taking in pivotal events such as the emergence of the USSR up to Putin’s invasion, contextualising the war and seeing it in the light of centuries of myth-making.

He was mentioned in a very uncomplimentary (and NSFW) post on the Russia Defence forum:

Comedy attempt of the day with Western Neolibfag propaganda. I burst out laughing when I saw the end of the article. This cretin claims to speak for Russia, and be in a position to talk about ‘who oppressed who’ in the Pukraine. He really needs to get a life. […] But according to Western propaganda … this shitmasher is the representation of the Russian majority. Yeah right ….

The article: “Mikhail Zygar: ‘The worst scenario for a post-Putin Russia? A huge civil war and becoming a new North Korea.’” So, a fifth columnist, as evidenced by the first few sentences in the book: “Zygar’s new book begins with a sad, sobering confession. ‘I am guilty for not reading the signs much earlier,’ he writes. ‘I, too, am responsible for Russia’s war against Ukraine.’ Moscow has trampled on Kyiv for 350 years, he argues, without the Russian people ever accepting the tragic cost of this colonialism over Ukrainian culture and society. Too few writers have challenged the myths that make Russians proud of their country’s various past empires, which still saturate ‘propagandist’ history books today and have been used by Putin to falsely justify his war.”

As many are doing, I decided to delete all my comments at Reddit (11 years’ worth!). As most were of little value, the deletion is no loss. I had to use a third-party deletion program as manual deletion is an extremely tedious chore otherwise. The comments may also return if a site backup is done, apparently. I won’t delete my user account, though, as I have a lot of saved posts and I want to keep my profile.

In contrast to the awfulness of the Brad Thor Russia-hate novel I am struggling through (26/7 entry), I have found a short novel by Icelandic author Kristín Ómarsdóttir, Swanfolk (English translation) oddly compelling (and I felt compelled to buy a physical copy today). It does not a straightforward plot but is an odd surreal dream of a story, and it does feature literal swanfolk (hybrid human-swans). From one of the Goodreads reviews:

This is a beguilingly strange narrative with a dream-like feel, the prose lit with bright colours throughout (“I came from a country that did not exist and lived from birth in its capital, by a blue bay and a violet mountain whose slopes were scaled by a verdurous green in summer and in winter were veiled by snow”), and where the uncannily strange and the everyday become inextricably intertwined.

Did I always know how to make rational sense of this book? No – but I was wooed by its strangeness and the play of images that activated all kinds of sub-rational ideas in my head. With themes (I think) of gender, trauma, power, resistance, retreat and recuperation, this works fascinatingly at a kind of archetypal level. Not one for readers who want “reality” and a logical narrative of progression and clarity, this works more like liberatory poetry that frees the imagination.

– Roman Clodia

Swan maidens seem to be a trope in some mythologies; the first linked page is an old book extract about them.

I still like the Nordic countries, despite my annoyance at their siding with NATO and the West against Russia (glares at Finland). They would be my choice of destination if visiting Europe (not likely to happen for me in this lifetime, alas). I would like to see the northern taiga forests and landscape.

Sunday 30/7: Yet another Zelensky puff piece

Fine, windy and sunny, but rain forecast, unfortunately. Seeing a clear dawn sky is cheering for me.

Feeling a bit mentally and physically tired, so I am just passively visiting some personal sites.

“He’s the face of the war in Ukraine, but how good a military strategist is Zelenskyy, and what will his legacy be?” ABC News, 30/7. The latest Ukrainian propaganda puff piece pushed out by Australia’s national news service. “Expert” opinions include the delusionary fantasies of the odious Mick Ryan: “While the ultimate outcome of the war remains to be seen, Zelenskyy is already being favourably compared with Winston Churchill and his leadership from 1940 onwards. This is fair, although Zelenskyy’s job is even harder. There were no Germans in Britain raping, pillaging and murdering his citizens when he came to power in 1940.” From another “expert”: “The fact that Zelenskyy remains on message while Putin lurches more and more towards the fantastical is a powerful indication of how the war is progressing for both sides. More like the opposite?” President Putin comes across as calm and resolute.

ABC News certainly is not meeting its Code of Practice (from the PDF document on the linked page):

The ABC has a statutory duty to ensure that the gathering and presentation of news and information is impartial according to the recognised standards of objective journalism.

Aiming to equip audiences to make up their own minds is consistent with the public service character of the ABC. A democratic society depends on diverse sources of reliable information and contending opinions. A broadcaster operating under statute with public funds is legitimately expected to contribute in ways that may differ from commercial media, which are free to be partial to private interests.

Judgements about whether impartiality was achieved in any given circumstances can vary among individuals according to their personal and subjective view of any given matter of contention. Acknowledging this fact of life does not change the ABC’s obligation to apply its impartiality standard as objectively as possible.

Monday 31/7: Hermit dream vs. reality

“Young people in China embrace ‘hermit’ lifestyles, seek escape from pressures of modern life,” ABC News, 30/7. Notably, idealistic young people, similar to the “back-to-the-land” movements throughout history (as the Wikipedia page describes). Of course, the “hermit lifestyle” is no idyll, but a lot of difficult hard work and discomfort! As the lady quoted at the article’s end points out: “Rather than a romantic utopia, Ms Tu says living in the mountains always requires a ‘gift from nature’ and it comes with many practical difficulties.” The sheer physical effort involved in daily chores becomes a lot more onerous as one ages. A comment on a recent post at the r/preppers subReddit elaborates:

The answer to that is extremely low depending on how you qualify “prepared.” I’d wager, out of all preppers (which is already a very small percentage of the population) maybe 0.0001% are prepared … or consider themselves prepared. Those people would mostly be the homesteaders. Folks with land, and the infrastructure on that land to be self-reliant. People that already live that lifestyle. They grow and gather their own food and have their own water.

I’d say the question isn’t even “How many are prepped to live off-grid?” Being prepared isn’t enough. Once you leave the comforts of civilization and decide to become self reliant, your life expectancy drops immediately. You enter a world where a minor inconvenience can be life threatening. There are so many things outside of your control. You could have a lifetime of experience living off-grid and being self-reliant, with the best possible gear and supplies, and still die suddenly from a relatively minor accident. That’s just the reality of the situation. Chopping wood without eye protection? Oh no there’s a splinter in your eye. Infected, fever, death. Step slightly wrong on a rock? You’ve fallen and sprained a tendon in your knee, now you’re immobile for a couple weeks. Guess you can’t farm/forage/fish/hunt, can’t cut firewood or transport water to camp.

Surviving off-grid, even when “prepared,” is always life-threatening. Some folks do it, and through a mix of skill and caution and luck, they can avoid any life-threatening accidents or miscalculations. But luck is a big part of that. I’ve always had “bugging out” as an option, but as a last resort. Since childhood I’ve been passionate about rural and primitive skills and technology and wilderness survival. I feel like I’m better prepared than even most preppers to survive some length of time off-grid in the wilderness if push comes to shove. But I have no delusions about how dire the situation would be if I had to resort to roughing it in the wild. I just consider myself lucky I live in a place with vast untouched wilderness on my back step, and some of the highest density of rivers and lakes in the world. If there was anywhere someone had a chance of “living off the land,” this is probably it. But again, I have no delusions of grandeur. Even with my specialized and niché skills, I’m not convinced I’d survive a single season. There’s just too many factors outside my control.

August

Tuesday 1/8: Anti-cash conspiracy? Plowing through Dead Fall

Cashless concerns (previously: 5/1, 16/6/2021, 4/11/2020 entries): The Age seems to be determinedly pushing the “cash usage is declining” narrative. An article from yesterday: “The looming end of cash will fuel conspiracy theories and hoarding.” The opinion writer disingenously correlates those suspicious of the implications of an all-digital economy with conspiracy theorists, and implies that those with criminal intentions still want to retain cash transactions. Quite a lot of readers strongly disagree in the comments. The ones below were published in the paper The Age today, under “The Digital View”:

I just use cash …. I don’t wish to part of the electronic surveillance and if your business is tap and go then you don’t have my business.

– kevine

We cannot allow cash to disappear. It’s not a conspiracy theory – paying for goods with cash doesn’t require internet connection, electricity or any form of surveillance. It also doesn’t lose its value through repeated transactions the way electronic payments do.

– Loffy

I still pay for odd jobs in cash (to people on a pension). I know in theory pensioners can earn a certain amount without worry, but some of these people feel safer with cash transaction. Makes their life much simpler. Also cash can be useful to entice a tradie for a small job (say, replacing one tile). I would never pay cash for major work. I must admit I like having a ready $100 in my purse.

– Passionfruit

Cash is king for the crims and the black market. Will a digital currency shut this down???? If not, leave cash alone thanks!

– Glenn

I still keep a small amount of cash in my wallet, but only use it if the Eftpos is down. It’s also good to have a cash backup for emergencies such as power failures, bushfires or floods. There are still some businesses who don’t take cash at all or only accept cash for purchases under $10. When I encounter these businesses, my first thought is usually “I wonder when the ATO will catch up with them?” Some people say that cash gives you privacy from government surveillance, but unfortunately it also gives the crooks anonymity. There is simply no need to use cash for big purchases such as property or luxury cars if the transaction is legitimate. Another argument is that using cash is said to save you Eftpos fees, but when using cash the costs for the business of handling cash are just invisibly added to the cost of your product.

– Brian

What most of us fail to realise is the effect of the “lazy tax.” By using credit cards and EFT, your money is being siphoned off to the banks with each transaction: If I were given $50 of credit, and used that to pay for something via cashless means, then that seller used that $50 to buy something else in a cashless transaction, and so-on, that $50 would be lost to bank fees merchant fees and interest (for credit cards) within an average of 18 transactions. Won’t to go cashless? – Sure. Just understand you are simply feeding bank profits …

– dW

When I have cash, I spend less. I think nothing about paying with eftpos, but think twice about breaking a $20 or $50 bill. The psychology of it is interesting.

– Irene Jennings

The removal of cash will send us down the US conspiratorial track faster than a goanna down a rabbit hole. For the sack of business bottom lines, to move our population off cash is disgraceful and anti social and any prospective government that shows it is moving against this trend will have my support.

– RTP

Voted “Most respected” before comments were closed:

Cash means anonymity. Why does the world need to know if I’ve bought some chewy or a blue slurpie? Even more insidiously, why does the world need to know if I’ve bought a magazine or a newspaper – purchases which could be held against me if, say, a right-wing white religio-conservative government wasn’t happy with those items?

Cash means independence from technology. It still works when the power’s down, or when the internet’s down – inconveniences rendered even more likely during paranoid times.

Cash means safe storage. One’s life savings can be erased in an instant by a negligent bank or a clever hacker – uncommon, but very definitely possible.

Cash does not mean crime. Are the anti-cash brigade seriously proffering that the elimination of cash will mean the elimination or even reduction in crime? That’s like saying if we ban the sales of balaclavas, robberies will plummet. Patently false.

Cash means the freedom to be an independent, autonomous citizen within a functional civilisation. Banning cash means we give that up.

– Prof Antiantihoon

Another opinion piece in today’s The Age, “My adventures at Starbucks in LA showed why cash is still king,” where the writer visits the USA and finds it behind Australia in still preferring cash in many transactions (implying that the USA is backwards in this respect). “Standing outside Starbucks, I was reminded of how advanced Australia’s digital payments space is. Unless you’re willing to trade in some dignity, if you venture abroad a physical card or cash should remain decisively on your packing list.”

Still grimly struggling through Dead Fall (previously: 26/7 entry). Of course, if the roles were reversed (heroic Russians vs. the dastardly West and Ukrainians) I might get some enjoyment out of it. Some choice quotes for one’s sardonic amusement:

The Russians were labeling all foreign fighters assisting Ukraine, particularly those from the West, as mercenaries and “unlawful combatants.” As such, in Russia’s opinion, they could be tried as criminals and immediately sentenced to death. It was not only incorrect, but it was also a blatant war crime. The Russians were beyond the point of caring. No matter how many civilians they killed, no matter how many international laws and conventions they broke, they were committed to victory. Foreign fighters are essentially mercenaries; their status under international law is somewhat complex (Doctors Without Borders: Mercenaries).

There was also the persistent rumor that any Russian who attempted to retreat or who fell short of their mission was being shot on sight. That kind of policy was never going to be good for morale, but it undoubtedly boosted soldiers’ interest in getting the job done, which only added to the pile of smart money pointing to at least one more sniper still being out there. Again, fake news.

Whenever the Russians were involved, the maxim was always: Anything worth doing is worth overdoing. It wouldn’t have been enough to have sabotaged the tracks and destroyed the train. Survivors needed to be killed and then booby traps needed to be set. That way, any first responders unlucky enough to roll over one of the bodies would have the very unpleasant and likely deadly experience of a grenade going off in their face. The Russians really were animals. This particular Russian animal, however, was about to be culled.

“In every situation,” she declared. “That’s what sets us apart. That’s what makes the United States that shining city on the hill. We are the world’s last greatest hope, because we do the right thing. And the right thing is always hard. If it wasn’t, everyone would do it.” Right … :-S

Orcs were a hideous, humanoid monster popularized in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and a popular pejorative adopted by the Ukrainians for Russian soldiers. Then again, Orcs are tough, scary and generally “bad-ass,” so from another point of view, a compliment?

“Why this place?” asked Jacks. “Of all places. Why here? Why nuns?”

“Because they’re Orcs,” said Krueger. “It’s what they do. And whoever these Ravens are, they’re the worst of all the Orcs.”

Some dissenting negative Goodreads reviews:

Scot Harvath goes on the rampage in an orgy of justified blood and violence against the Evil Russians(TM) as he rescues an American citizen who has been kidnapped by a rogue Wagner unit. The book is incredibly simplistic and badly conceptualized and written, but who cares? It supports the CIA’s coup in Ukraine … er … I mean the Glorious and Patriotic Ukrainian Freedom Movement (TM), so this book is GREAT!

In this 100% agenda-approved novel commissioned by the US Department of Glorious Pro-Ukraine Proxy War Propaganda (USDGPUPWP), the TOTALLY not corrupt FBI catches some pesky Russian agents, the purer-than-whitest-snow US Government sends a few more billions in weapons to Ukrainian mobsters, and Scot Harvath slaughters some vile PTA moms who dare to question their children’s gender-affirming genital mutilations … oh wait, that’s the NEXT book! Sorry for the spoilers.

Rest assured, readers. Even the wokest fan will approve of this one! I just have one question: who killed Brad Thor, and who is ghost-writing his novels? Rating: One Glorious Star(TM)

– Josh

Boy, what a flop … starting from laughable “Russian soldiers have been dispatched by the Kremlin to loot truckloads of art and priceless cultural treasures hidden away in a host of churches, museums, and private homes” to “… American aid workers are killed, America’s top spy is sent in to settle the score.” With all the “settling the score” and “protecting democracy” all other clichés that you would normally read from a propaganda bulletin there is not space left for the story or thrill or suspense.

– Greader

Nothing like an author playing for the wrong side. I finished 3 pages of this book and gave up on it. Thor has no idea, or if he does he’s ignoring it, that the Ukrainians are the ones that have been bombing, raping, stealing from, and murdering their own citizens since 2014. But he wants to sell books. Too bad he has to peddle lies to do it.

– Terri Sanislo

Wednesday 2/8: Forest fantasy

Fine and sunny today, but rain coming later tomorrow. Sighted pink plum blossom on some street trees.

Not feeling like much today; tired of the news. Below, a selection of forest images found at one of the wallpaper sites that appear on Google searches (WallpapersCraft in this case). They are devoid of people and are still and peaceful. The trees are those of the Northern Hemisphere: pines, beeches, larch and so on. A similar image is a photo of Magpie Forest from Ran Prieur’s site (12/2 entry).

Thursday 3/8: Asteroid dream; exploring the PNW; minimalist websites that aren’t

Fine, sunny and windy again – rain not due until tomorrow.

Had a dream that I was in a city on a west coast, and there was an asteroid strike into the ocean, so I was fleeing up into the hills with other people to escape the oncoming tsunami. Can’t recall the details; the dream is very vague now. Put me in mind of Ran Prieur’s short novel, Apocalypsopolis, that he wrote in 2004. Though I think the “big one” (earthquake – 30/6 entry, and another related article to add to the one linked there: “Quakenami! Why the Pacific Northwest Is Doomed,” Outside Online, 25/8/2011) is a more likely occurrence than the remote chance of an asteroid strike.

Was jusţ re-reading through one of his old online zines, Superweed 4, part 1, describing a bicycle camping trip “on a bike trail at the edge of the Seattle metropolitan area, on the first day of a summer of wilderness bike camping around the northwest.” Couldn’t figure out where it might be using Google Maps. I did have a pleasant virtual drive on the east side of the Olympic National Park last night, though; along endless winding roads lined with pine trees. (I do enjoy exploring around there and other parts of the world using Google Street View; likely the only way I will ever “travel” to anywhere.)

A related r/Seattle post: “Has anyone moved to the PNW from living in the east coast all their lives and how has it been?”

“The Rise of Minimalism in Web Design: Less is More,” noupe.com, 25/7. Minimalism appeals to me too – but with web page creation, as a linked article, “Simplicity in Good Web Design,” points out, there is minimalist in appearance vs. minimalist in the underlying HTML and CSS code. “Just beware of creating a site that looks simple but is actually very complex. Aim to keep your code as bare-bones as possible. […] Some simple-looking sites are a mess in the backend.” I thought of Gwern.net (12/2/2022 entry) and the massive backend (coding) complexity of his seemingly minimalist website (as featured in this Hacker News post, Design of This Website (2021)). One commenter there reasonably points out:

I read most HN on a 9-year-old iPad. Its savage, raw compute would be fast enough, but limited RAM and pinned to a very old version of Mobile Safari. I generally keep JavaScript disabled, otherwise hangs are all too common.

If I can’t at least read the basic idea of a web article at these settings, I move on. Perhaps it’s arrogant of me, but I’m exasperated by current web design practice that requires megabytes of JavaScript to render a landing page.

gwern.net does not suffer from absolute madness, but the use of custom font means that the site is a blank page for thousands of milliseconds, and this old iPad has trouble scrolling the page of text even after the font is rendered.

My comments are probably irrelevant, but I’m not going to be surfing the web on a 16-core workstation with 32 gigabytes of RAM.

Not everyone can afford to “just upgrade” their device if it is an older model.

Friday 4/8: Windy; another indie website

Very windy today; gale-force winds as a cold front approaches, so I am irritable and unsettled. Have not felt like doing much.

Another old-school/indie website found via Hμblog for 2023-07: Koshka’s Kingdom, a very colorful website (literally!) whose creator is autistic. He has the same dislike for the modern commercialized web as do many others (and myself too).

Saturday 5/8: Cranky

The awful gale-force wind of yesterday eased, at least. But a cranky and unproductive sort of day nonetheless; just exhausted from having to “manage” parents and sniping at an irascible Dad. I did manage to lie down for a half-hour or so, but I never get any real rest. I fantasize simply about being by myself and not having to interact or clean up after others. Just being able to relax a bit and do tasks at my own slower pace.

Sunday 6/8: Tired; Ran updates; computer still OK (so far!); upcoming NASA website redesign

Exhausted myself again from the usual round of chores today. I have not been out walking for some weeks now; I no longer have the energy or time for this.

Ran Prieur (previously: 3/8 entry) updated his About me page: “What’s new? August 2023. I’ve been in Seattle a year now and I love it. It’s totally worth hearing crazy people shouting, to not have to own a car. I’m working on multiple fiction projects that have a long way to go, and lately I’ve been really enjoying making Spotify playlists.”

I have settled into my “new” old computer since my previous one malfunctioned (27/5 entry), and have mostly adjusted to Windows 10. I do not want to go back to Windows 8.1 now. Of course there is still the valid concern about the direction Microsoft is taking with its operating system – turning it into an ad-supported software-as-a-service, remotely-controlled OS with the end user having less and less control over their PC. No longer owning the OS.

Looks like NASA is doing another site redesign (previous mention: 24/4 entry, and last redesign was in 2015 – 29/4/2015 entry). The beta version is currently online (mentioned at NASAWatch). Wordpress (ugh!) is being used as the Content Management System; the underlying code is predictably hugely bloated.

Monday 7/8: Khannea and other lives

Very still, cold and overcast today, in contrast to the Friday 4/8 gales.

In her 1/11/2022 blog entry, Khannea Suntzu (previous mention: 25/11/2022 entry) posted a translation of this curious article on her blog: “Can you imagine how courageous it is for a Russian trans girl to write this on VK?” (“Life without looking up. How I came to know that I am transgender.” Original Russian: «Жизнь не поднимая головы. Как я осознала свою трансгендерность.») There is an unbelievable aspect to the story, as though it is based on a dark fairytale rather than anything in real life.

Khannea is also sporadically writing entries for two separate RPG worlds of hers (Khannea’s Dreamlands and Amsterdam By Night), all pages collected under a wiki pages tag (links might disappear). I do wish she would update more often as I like to read these! Aside from her virulent hatred of Russia (then again, I feel the same way about Ukraine).

Incidentally, I came across a very old pre-transition photo of her, when she was male (Ruud Dirvin, age 25 in 1990). An approximate Google translation of the Dutch caption: “The Voorburg maestro Ruud Dirven with an overview map of the Omphalian (Omphalisch) Empire in his right hand and a map of the city of Rinyldissen in his left hand. Dirven started his campaign in 1983 and cannot estimate how many years he has left.” As I noted in my 12/12/2021 entry, I find it difficult to envision her as male now!

A sidenote: I tend to be fascinated by various people for themselves, rather than the philosophies or beliefs they might espouse. Perhaps it is a way of living vicariously through their lives? (As I also noted similarly in my 6/2/2022 entry, other lives interest me.)

Tuesday 8/8: Signs of spring; Ran’s route

A chilly, foggy morning but a fine sunny day emerged (though still cold!). Still and calm; the sort of weather that soothes me. Pink plum blossom is flowering on more street trees now; always a welcome sight.

Spent some idle time attempting to trace Ran Prieur’s epic bicycle trip (July 15-20, 2004). I screencaptured (351 KB) a Google map with the approximate places he mentioned. It looks a very long distance! The forested mountainous scenery is spectacular. Google Map links: Capitol Hill → Burke-Gilman trail → Bothell → Tualco Road → Ben Howard Road → Sultan → Deception Falls → Stevens Pass.

Wednesday 9/8: Windy again; temporarily(?) unable to upload

Fine and sunny after a chilly morning, but unfortunately gale-force winds have returned.

I was unable to upload files to my website host last evening due to an odd error message about the disk being full. I tried again this morning and the files uploaded normally. I don’t know if it was a temporary glitch or not, but it had me in a panic – if my hosting is ended where I am, I don’t know where else I will go. Finding a decent host seems to be a minefield, and I would want an Australian-based one due to the US-AUD currency exchange not being in Australia’s favor, and the international money transfer fees charged by banks. I don’t know where to go and cannot afford ongoing costs due to unemployment and thus having no reliable income. As an interim, I reserved free site space at Neocities and uploaded mirror pages there (which can be accessed via the Sitemap there as the current landing page is just a placeholder – I linked to these on the front page of this site also, so bookmark them!). It is not ideal – the free tier is limited in function – but better than nothing. My site size is currently around 80 MB; Neocities allows a generous 1 GB for free sites.

Thursday 10/8: Completed Russian VKD; upcoming lunar launch; self-hosting site musings

Another Russian spacewalk (VKD-60) successfully completed from the ISS earlier!

And Luna-25 (21/7 entry) launches tomorrow! From Vostochnyi Cosmondrome/Космодром Восточный. With the current extreme hostilities between Russia and the West, Russia desperately needs this mission to be successful also, to defy the haters and deriders. A repeat of the failed 2011 Fobos-Grunt/Фобос-Грунт Mars unmanned lander mission would be utterly devastating.

One option for finding a website host (9/8 entry) is to host one’s own instead! But it is a daunting endeavour, with rather a lot of technical knowledge and equipment setup involved. The Cheapskate’s Guide website has some articles on the topic, one being “Moving Up from a Raspberry Pi Web Server to a Low-Cost, Low-Power x86 Web Server.” I still would like to attempt it one day as my website is a basic HTML/CSS one with no database requirements; just some CGI script (for searches) and .htaccess customizations.

Friday 11/8: Luna-25 launched! Graffiti book find

“Luna-25: the first Russian spacecraft in 47 years heading to the Moon,” NASASpaceflight.com. Luna-25/«Луна-25» (10/8 entry) has been launched and is in orbit! That is the first part of a difficult and perilous journey completed, but it must be injected into a circumlunar orbit then land.

For the first time in the modern history of Russia, an automatic station went to the Moon

Today, the Luna-25 automatic station, launched from the Vostochnyi cosmodrome by the Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle, has been launched onto a flight path to the Moon and separated from the Fregat upper stage.

After separation, Luna-25 was taken over.

The launch of the automatic station into a circumlunar circular orbit with a height of 100 km is scheduled for August 16, and its soft landing on the surface of a natural satellite of the Earth is scheduled for August 21 in the area north of the Boguslavsky crater (the coordinates of the center of the ellipse are 69.5450 degrees south latitude and 43.5440 degrees east longitude).

The automatic station Luna-25 was sent to the natural satellite of the Earth for the first time in the modern history of Russia. It will have to work out the soft landing technology, take and analyze the soil and conduct long-term scientific research, including the study of the upper layer of surface regolith in the region of the South Pole of the Moon, as well as the lunar exosphere.

In terms of landing Luna-25, created at the Scientific and Production Association named after S.A. Lavochkin (part of the Roskosmos State Corporation), is fundamentally different from its predecessors: the Soviet lunar stations landed in the equatorial zone, the new station must make a soft landing in the circumpolar region with difficult terrain.

Fortuitously found a book, Graffiti New York, in a charity shop today. Back in 2019, an ABC News article featured a graffiti photographer, Martha Cooper, who has documented street art for decades. The article mentions her 1984 book, Subway Art – and looking at the photo of it, I recalled that I’d read that book at school! I was to do some sort of art project about graffiti in 1987 or 1988 – I vaguely remember photographing a few pieces that Dad pointed out in the city – and the book served as a reference, and I also simply liked to look at it. My nervous breakdown and mental health issues, though, sabotaged that project (and my last year at Kilvington, where I never graduated from Year 12 – I went through what is now called “school refusal”). I do remember that the art teacher was able to give me the book before I left as a kind gift. Alas, I did not keep it – I don’t know what happened to it. I still feel an odd and fond nostalgia for that era as the heyday of such art and hip-hop culture was in the 1980s! Despite my grumbles about graffiti and tagging in earlier years here, I can appreciate it as an art form, an anarchic form of self-expression in an over-regulated, youth-hostile society – and the grumbles of the NYC authorities in the linked article seem very dour and curmudgeonly now.

Reminds me of the photo I took last year (12/9/2022 entry) of a graffiti mural on a now-demolished old factory, of trains stranded in an apocalyptic landscape. Was it commissioned or spontaneous (not authorized)? I rather hope it was the latter.

Saturday 12/8: Another purge; colony dreams

Well, I had second thoughts about that graffiti book (11/8 entry); it was big and heavy, so I did a purge and donated it back, along with a few other books accumulated during the last few months (as I tend to do). I have limited space and books unfortunately get very heavy.

“New Space Race: What does Russia seek to achieve with its historic Moon mission and where does it stand compared to rivals?” RT, 11/8. As I have noted (11/8 entry), a difficult mission and Russia has a lot of prestige hanging on the success of this!

NSS Gerard K. O’Neill Space Settlement Contest 2023 Grand Prize, awarded to students for a proposed interstellar mission. Some interesting hard sci-fi ideas in the PDF linked on the page there, for fiction at least! “In our scenario, humankind needed a space station to travel to another planet. We researched Earth-like planets that would be habitable for humans. Ross 128b was the most Earth-like, but the downside was its extraordinary distance from Earth of 11.02 light years. The ship would need to reach Ross 128b before the passengers went crazy from boredom or died of old age. The fastest spacecraft that humankind has built is the Helios-2 which travels 70km per second. This would take 47,000 years to reach Ross 128b. To make the trip faster we designed an accelerated plasma propulsion engine that would travel at 1G for 60 days, then at a constant speed for 65 years, and deaccelerate on the last 60 days. Even though this engine is fast, the travel time is too long for the human lifespan. To manage this, we proposed artificial hibernation.” Wired magazine recently featured a story on hibernation: “The Hibernator’s Guide to the Galaxy.”

“Lost in Space,” Alina Utrata for Boston Review, 14/7/2021. A negative view of the prospect of space colonization. “The billionaires concur that it is humanity’s destiny to settle the stars. And, without much real public debate, private space corporations appear to have settled the matter: space will be humanity’s next frontier. […] But the rhetoric and history of celestial exploration reveal how the logics of capitalism, colonialism, and corporations have always been intimately, and violently, intertwined. And, as history shows us, allowing corporations the power to colonize space may result in outcomes that even states cannot control.” Space enthusiasts will, of course, scoff at such concerns. The sentiment in the article is reminiscent of the essay by John Halstead linked in my 19/6 entry. I can empathize with both points of view; my feelings are conflicted. My spaceflight interest still percolates along, though muted by the awfulness of the past year in politics and world events. Will it revive, and can I create a world in it again? At the moment, I have no real urge to.

Sunday 13/8: Weary

Crashed from exhaustion this afternoon, so have no energy to write much today. Have just been doing my usual passive Internet surfing.

Monday 14/8: Luna-25 OK, so far; Interstellar website

Another day of weariness. The Luna-25 probe enroute to the Moon (12/8 entry) is so far functioning normally, at least.

A nice website on the theme of interstellar colonization is Interstellar by Michel Lamontagne, featuring a lot of information and illustrations of various ideas of enabling this; a useful worldbuilding reference also. (He posts as “lamontagne” on the NASASpaceflight.com forum – a thread by him is Webcomic – The Meridian Way.)

Tuesday 15/8: First Luna-25 camera images!

A chilly morning but a lovely fine day followed.

Luna-25 (11/8 entry) sent back its first inflight photos! (There is a new thread on the mission in the NASASpaceflight.com forum.)

The Moon from Luna-25 Earth from Luna-25 Mission emblem of Luna-25

“The STS-L/СТС-Л onboard television cameras received the first images from space, which will go down in the history of Russian cosmonautics. These images show elements of the Luna-25 structure against the background of the Earth, from which we have already departed forever, and against the background of the Moon, to which we will soon arrive. The third picture shows the mission emblem and the onboard manipulator bucket.” (Via Roskosmos)

Wednesday 16/8: Jeffersonian still gone

Fine and sunny, after a very chilly morning – 2°C or so.

Was thinking of “Jeffersonian” (Karl Leffler – previous mention 17/10/2022 entry), whose website has been offline for over a year (domain name not renewed; some of his site is preserved at the Internet Archive). His web presence seems to have vanished. He was facing homelessness and was in extreme mental distress. I don’t know if he is even alive or not; his last blog entry (19/5/2022) was “The World Sucks That’s enough. Goodbye.”

Thursday 17/8: Luna-25 in lunar orbit! Lost space colony dreams

Luna-25 is in orbit around the Moon, according to its maker Lavochkin: The Luna-25 automatic probe, created by the Scientific and Production Association named after S.A. Lavochkin (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation), entered orbit as an artificial satellite of the Moon. This was ensured by the igniting of the propulsion system of the automatic station. The first activation was performed at 11:57 Moscow time by a corrective braking engine and lasted 243 seconds, the second by soft landing engines and lasted 76 seconds. […] All Luna-25 systems are functioning normally, communication with it is stable. Sessions are being taken to measure the current navigational parameters.

Luna-25 color self-portrait

A color version of the image posted in my 15/8 entry, of a self-portrait of Luna-25. (Lavockhin).

Via a post at the Blue Dwarf forum, a somewhat cynical or disillusioned article, “Space Colony Art from the 1970s,” with some images of the wonderfully visionary paintings (hand-done – no computer graphics then!) in the distinctive art style of that era. The first link there leads to the National Space Society website, which has extensive resources on the topic. The L5 Society section is an archive of now-wistful nostalgia: “It is difficult today to realize the excitement that was generated in the early years of the L5 Society. Every issue of the L5 News contained reports of new studies and progress in the field. Underestimating the enormous weight of political inertia that would need to be overcome, L5 members at the time thought that they would really get the chance to personally live in space within their lifetimes. […] Excitement over the L5 scenario probably peaked in 1977.” I was born in 1970, so was a child then.

Some PDF issues of L5 News are there for download; one of interest is January 1979, with a section on Soviets in Space, when the Soviet space program seemed to be going strong (see again the National Geographic article I have reproduced locally, “Soviets in space: are they ahead?”). Unfortunately, China has taken their place in the public consciousness.

What happened? What happened to that optimism and promise of a boundless future in the solar system and, ultimately, on other worlds around other stars? Now there is just a dreary turning inward, of hysteria and doomsday predictions (climate change, artificial intelligence, an ever-more polarized political scene, not to mention all the wars and conflicts).

Friday 18/8: Luna-25 Moon surface photo; scientific breakthrough disillusionment; ITER in trouble; space billionaire dictators

The first photo of the lunar surface from Luna-25 (17/8 entry) was released! “The image, taken today at 08:23 Moscow time, captures the south polar crater Zeeman on the far side of the Moon. The co-ordinates of the center of the crater correspond to 75 degrees south latitude and 135 degrees west longitude. […] Also today, the Luna-25 automatic station carried out observations using the ADRON-LR and PmL/АДРОН-ЛР и ПмЛ instruments, created at the IKI RAN/ИКИ РАН, and ARIES-L/АРИЕС-Л, created at the IKI RAS in cooperation with Astron Electronics. Fluxes of gamma rays and neutrons from the lunar surface were measured, and the parameters of the circumlunar space plasma and gas and dust exosphere in the circumlunar orbit were also obtained.” (Lavochkin)

John Michael Greer’s (6/1, 26/7) latest Ecosophia post, “Futurus Interruptus.” On the cynicism of the public towards much-heralded scientific breakthroughs that prove to be false promises (fusion power – in viable form, always decades into the future – and room-temperature superconductors being ones cited here). “So why hasn’t this announcement been met with gladsome cries? Because for decades now the media has been full of exciting new scientific breakthroughs that turned out to be bogus. We’re constantly being told that this or that or the other wonderful technological revolution is about to happen. It’s the follow-through that deserves attention here, because the vast majority of these announcements are pure hype, meant to separate fools from their investment money in the time-honored fashion.”

A commenter there linked to a Scientific American article on the troubled and still-delayed ITER fusion reactor: “World’s Largest Fusion Project Is in Big Trouble, New Documents Reveal,” 15/7; “[…] billions of dollars over budget and decades behind schedule.”

“Musk and Bezos Offer Humanity a Grim Future in Space Colonies,” SciAm, 26/6. Another article found there warns that the privately-funded space colony proposals will not be benevolent for those living in them. “Privately owned space colonies are more likely to be totalitarian nightmares than libertarian utopias.” Elon and SpaceX fanboy fanatics will, of course, scornfully dismiss such concerns.

Saturday 19/8: Forum Russophobia

Some (well-deserved) snark directed at anti-Russian posters in the NASASpaceflight.com forum from the Russia Defence forum:

Oh, there will definitely be mourning on the Nasaspaceflight forum no – they were so hoping for an accident, they had already written so many nasty things about this mission there.

Another brilliant expert in the field of cosmonautics forgets that in all the recent joint missions of Roscosmos with ESA, the components associated with ESA, and not with Roscosmos, suffer failures. For example, it is the European part that does not work in Spectrum-RG at the moment, and the Russian components, including the platform itself, work without any complaints. Whatever these people will do to justify their russophobia.

NSF is chock-full of exceptionalist fuktards who sneer at Soviet/Russian acheivements, and who openly hope for mission failure. They are not going to be happy campers when current geopolitical realities reach their inevitable conclusions ….

The Can the ISS survive the Russian invasion of Ukraine? topic thread is an example of such hate against Russia. (See 6/10/2022 entry for more space enthusiast Russiaphobic examples.)

Sunday 20/8: Luna-25 in trouble; fellow sympathizers

Sadly, it looks as though the Luna-25 spacecraft (18/8 entry) may have been destroyed; there is no clear confirmation yet. The only official Roskosmos update so far: “Today, in accordance with the flight program, at 14:10 Moscow time, the automatic station Luna-25 was given a command to transfer to the pre-landing orbit. During the operation, an emergency situation occurred on board the automatic station, which did not allow the maneuver to be performed with the specified parameters. The management team is currently analyzing the situation.” The spacecraft may have impacted the Moon’s surface and been destroyed. An extremely disappointing end for a long-delayed mission and another humiliation for Russia; its haters in the West will no doubt be gloating. I dare not visit

Somewhat happier on a personal note, I found two pro-Russian people on the NASASpaceflight.com forum whom I have seen elsewhere: “big_gazza” (also at the Russia Defence forum; he is from Melbourne, Australia too!) and “hfakos” (Akos Horvath), who has liked a lot of my posts at Twitter.

Monday 21/8: Luna-25 lost; punctuation dilemma

Fine and windy, but a cold change and rain are approaching. Got today’s washing hung out and dried, at least! (A minor sense of accomplishement!)

Luna-25 has met a bad ending, sadly. Another humiliation for Russia, and more ammunition against its space program for the haters in the West. A NASASpaceflight.com article: “Looking past Luna 25’s lunar landing failure: what’s next?” Roskosmos: “In accordance with the flight program of the automatic station Luna-25, on August 19, it was planned to issue an impulse to form its pre-landing elliptical orbit. At about 14:57 Moscow time, communication with the automatic station was interrupted. The measures taken on August 19 and 20 to search for Luna-25 and get in touch with it did not produce any results. According to the results of the preliminary analysis, due to the deviation of the actual pulse parameters from the calculated ones, the automatic station switched to an off-design orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the lunar surface. A specially formed interdepartmental commission will deal with the issues of clarifying the reasons for the loss of Luna-25.”

Been ruminating, as I sometimes do, on what type of punctuation to use in HTML documents – a main issue being curly quotes vs. straight quotes. The English keyboard only has the latter on its keys, and I need to use ALT + a sequence on the numeric keypad to type curly quotes. I have been using the latter quotes and method for years as they look better and make searches easier (HTML markup is written using straight quotes), though it does interrupt the flow of my typing. The issue is vexed – David A. Wheeler says on his Curling Quotes in HTML, SGML, and XML page that numeric codes should be used rather than the keypad method to ensure compatibility with all types of file formats, though this means that underlying HTML markup becomes more bloated and unreadable. He does note that the W3C conversely recommends that “the W3C recommends only using such escapes as an exception.” The W3C similarly advises: “It is almost always preferable to use an encoding that allows you to represent characters in their normal form, rather than using named character references or numeric character references. Using escapes can make it difficult to read and maintain source code, and can also significantly increase file size.”

Tuesday 22/8: Luna-25 aftermath; influential Elon Musk

Feeling morose and despairing today due to the loss of Luna-25, and the predictable mockery and hate from Western space enthusiasts and journalists. The latest from Russophobe Eric Berger (some previous mentions: 10/2, 27/2, 22/3, 21/6 entries): “The failure of Luna-25 cements Putin’s role as a disastrous space leader.” Can’t be bothered to quote it (or wade through the odious comments), but it can be summed up as “it’s Putin’s fault.” Also he opines that Russia “has partnered with China on its plans to build a lunar space station in the coming decades. But it is clear that Russia will be nothing more than a junior partner of China, going as far as China goes on the Moon and as far as China will permit its vassal to participate. The leash, undoubtedly, will be short.” How true – or not – this is, I don’t know, considering that Russia helped China develop aspects of the latter’s space program in earlier years.

Roskosmos Director General Yurii Borisov did an interview with a Russian TV channel; some quick summaries via RIA Novosti headlines:

“‘Things do go wrong’: Why Russia’s Moon lander mission failed,” The Age, 22/8. An overview, but makes a predictable reference to Russia’s “illegal invasion” of Ukraine (which is patently untrue).

“Elon Musk’s Shadow Rule,” New Yorker, 21/8. “How the U.S. government came to rely on the tech billionaire – and is now struggling to rein him in.” A lengthy overview of the ubiquitous multi-billionaire, who has a dangerously influential role in the U.S. government policies. Unfortuately, given the publication’s pro-Ukraine bias, the article devotes much text to criticizing Elon’s doubts about helping Ukraine. “Initially, Musk showed unreserved support for the Ukrainian cause, responding encouragingly as Mykhailo Fedorov, the Ukrainian minister for digital transformation, tweeted pictures of equipment in the field. But, as the war ground on, SpaceX began to balk at the cost. […] Musk was also growing increasingly uneasy with the fact that his technology was being used for warfare. That month, at a conference in Aspen attended by business and political figures, Musk even appeared to express support for Vladimir Putin.” Oh, the horror :-S.

If Ukraine were to be annihilated, I would not be upset; I feel that much antipathy towards the place after over a year of hostilities.

Wednesday 23/8: Walking; cashless push

Fine and sunny today. I have managed to go for a half-hour neighborhood walk again every day since Sunday; the gradually-warming weather is an incentive. May not go every day, depending upon how I feel.

Cashless concerns (previously: 1/8 entry) – ABC News still pushing the “cashless is inevitable” narrative: “Australia’s transition to a cashless society raises concerns about financial exclusion, privacy and safety,” 23/8.

Thursday 24/8: Indian Moon lander success; Russian space still a contender; finished Dead Fall; Prigozhin perished

A difficult and stressful morning due to age-related erratic behavior from Dad (arising much earlier than normal; happened a few times now). Also on Tuesday an episode of what seemed to be Micturition syncope (found via a quick Web search), which also occurred a few months ago.

Read a post in r/AgeingParents, “Yesterday I hit ‘the wall’”, where the overstressed poster underwent a sort of physical collapse. I feel like I am heading that way too, though so far I only just manage to grind through each day.

“India’s Chandrayaan-3 makes historic landing on the lunar south pole,” ABC News, 24/8. Of course, to top off a bad week for Russian spaceflight, this achievement rubs salt into their wounds after the Luna-25 failure. No doubt there will be snarky comments comparing India and Russia in this regard.

“Despite the Luna-25 failure, Russia is not a declining space power,” Daniel Duchaine for The Space Review, 21/8. “In the light of the Space Power Index, a different picture of Russian space power emergfes. While Russia’s scientific space sector has plateaued, Russia’s share of launches increased gradually and Russia’s share of military capabilities increased this decade. Momentary failures should not dictate our understanding of a nation’s overall capabilities. We should not underestimate Russia’s capabilities. Luna-25’s demise is not emblematic of Russia’s space trajectory, and it should not distract from the reality that Russia is rebuilding its military space systems, stabilizing its space power, and remains a capable and potentially dangerous space power with a highly capable space military.” The initially-promising headline is deceptive; the article treats Russia as a hostile power and states the usual rote claim of “Russia’s abhorrent actions in Ukraine.”

I managed to finish Brad Thor’s odious Dead Fall (previously: 1/8 entry); a chore that was! Not much to say about it. The literary equivalent of junk food, as novels of this genre tend to be.

“Prigozhin plane crash: What we know so far,” RT, 23/8. “The Wagner Group chief was traveling on board a private jet that crashed in Russia with no survivors.” And now the Internet is alight with conspiracy theories of a targeted assassination as retribution from President Putin. The crash certainly does look very convenient, considering Евгений Пригожин’s recent antics. Simplicius has an initial analysis of the accident, “Special Report: The Curtain Closes On Yevgeny Prigozhin,” 24/8.

Friday 25/8: Prigozhin puzzle; The Ross 248 Project novel bought

A lovely sunny day.

“Putin comments on Prigozhin plane crash,” RT, 24/8. I am not going to bother linking to mainstream media articles about the predictable “Putin did it” nonsense being spouted over Prigozhin’s apparent death in the jet crash.

I ordered, and received today, a copy of The Ross 248 Project, a collection of short stories by various authors on the colonization of (currently-fictional) planets around the red dwarf star Ross 248. The technology is reasonably realistic – no FTL – though still somewhat hypothetical (antimatter-fuelled engines for the colony ship). I am still interested in realistic interstellar travel, though my EmGem creative project is mostly still in hibernation (coping with ageing parents and stress in general, especially COVID lockdowns and then the Ukraine SMO, has sapped my creative energy). If it is ever revived, it would be in somewhat different form (as regards traits of the characters, possible aliens and so on).

I still prefer Mundane Science Fiction – that which uses plausible and achievable technology (such as laser-propelled lightsails) rather than speculative magic such as Faster-Than-Light travel or wormholes (14/4/2019). I prefer hibernation technology used for interstellar ships in fiction as the same characters can be featured throughout (rather than generation ships).

Saturday 26/8: Jeffersonian backup site

I took the liberty of uploading what I had saved of the Jeffersonian/Karl Leffler (16/8 entry) website to a Neocities site, mainly his blog (August 2002 to May 2022) and the chapters of his The Jeffersonian Republic project sci-fi story that he posted online. I did not upload most images as there are a lot of them. I miss reading his blog and story (though I do not share some of his beliefs and opinions, for example I am not very interested in the gun control controversy), and there are still no updates as to what has happened to him (nothing further on this gun forum thread, Anyone know Karl Leffler (Jeffersonian)? since the last post on 23/5/2022 there).

Sunday 27/8: New toilet seat wingnuts; silent walking nothing new; another hand-crafted website; Russia welcome in Africa

Minor achievement for today: I changed the wingnut fasteners and bolts on the toilet seat (Dad had to buy new ones) as the ancient plastic wingnuts originally there disintegrated. I have occasionally removed the seat to clean it on previous occasions, so am used to that, but trying to reposition it back on the bowl is very fiddly!

A recent post at r/AskOldPeople: “‘Silent Walking.’ How many of us were doing it before it was trendy?” An article that comes up after a quick search: “What is silent walking? The latest viral workout trend has some intriguing benefits,” Today, 26/8. “At its core, silent walking is about clearing one’s mind and going for a walk alone, free of distractions – a practice that Buddhism teaches can transform exercise into a session of personal meditation.” In short, the apparent new social media fad is the ancient art of merely walking outside without listening to music, podcasts or looking at one’s smartphone. Which, as many in the forum post dryly point out, is something many there have always done (I include myself in that). For a time I was listening to various audiobooks from around 2018 to 2020, but as I noted in my 25/4/2022 and 17/5 entries, I found them increasingly irritating and I could not concentrate. I prefer to walk without distractions, and lose myself in my memories of decades ago; of my maternal grandmother, and of people and places that no longer exist. (I do carry my iPhone 11 in a small bag, but only bring it out to take photos.)

I have managed to go for a walk every day since last Sunday; the weather is gradually warming up which helps.

Another personal website found last night: [chuck.is]. A nice minimalist website – actually built by hand, no static site generators involved (an all-too-rare trend today); “Transitioning to a static HTML/CSS website.”

Cameron Leckie’s Twitter/X comments on a ABC News anti-Russia propaganda piece.

@abcnews articles remind me of John Schumann’s lyrics from The Last Frontier: “’Cause the ABC just couldn’t make it real / Colour documentary From a beanbag on the floor: / Never shows as much as it conceals.” The article below – “Why is Russia meddling in West Africa, and could it plunge the region into war?” 26/8 – is a prime example. Man in white shirt and sunglasses looks serious while holding sign that says “Long Live Russia, Long Live Niger and Nigeriens.” “There’s a long history of foreign powers landing in African nations and laying claim to land, resources, even people.” Why not name those foreign (colonial …) powers? Those powers that now lecture the rest of the world on human rights, etc. “France is in the region for two main reasons – to fight terrorism, and to dig up its resources.” Why put terrorism first? When the 2nd reason is the primary reason. And terrorism is a function of exploitation of Africa’s resources. “In less than three years, Western influence in this key part of the world will have collapsed. France, the US, and their allies in the region are desperate to prevent this.” In other words, the end of the colonial domination of Africa is coming to an end. Isn’t that good for Africa?

For comparison, “Russia more trusted than West in Africa – tycoon,” RT, 26/8. “Russia is perceived on the continent as a reliable partner that can contribute to maintaining stability and also assist in the fight against terrorism.” Russia never colonized the continent (unlike many Western countries) and helped anti-colonial groups there in their fight for independence during the Cold War era.

“‘

Monday 28/8: Chinese child carers; 8 years since last periods

Sunny today. Weather is warming up slowly; forecast is into the 20s later this week, though some rain in the next couple of days.

Am weary from the usual round of chores.

“As China’s economy continues to struggle, young people are choosing to become ‘full-time children’,” ABC News, 28/8. “Ms Zhang now spends her days in her new role looking after her parents’ wants and needs. In return, they pay her a monthly ‘salary’ of 8,000 yuan ($1,600).” A situation very similar to what I am in, though I have drifted into my role rather than it being an active choice. My future, though, is very uncertain and could be dismal.

Just realized again that I have not menstruated since 22 September 2015 (nearly 8 years ago); I began losing weight from that year and once my body got down to a certain weight, my hormones shut off. It is probably unhealthy – an early induced menopause – but I do not miss them at all; one less tiresome physical inconvenience. I don’t know if I would naturally be in menopause now, or approaching it, were my weight higher/normal; I don’t want it to go back up.

Tuesday 29/8: Space doomers and astronaut Russophobes

Applied for my Health Care Card renewal online today, on the Centrelink website; a more streamlined process than it used to be. Hopefully it will be renewed before the expiry date of my current one.

“Why Russia’s Moon Mission Failed,” James Oberg for The American Conservative, 23/8. James Oberg in doomer mode again, his usual default for anything regarding Russia. Link via a comment at Andrei Martyanov’s blog (who had no complimentary comments about him: “James Oberg is pompous idiot who lives still in 1990s. […] Oberg made a ‘career’ from hanging out with Roscosmos big honchos and smearing shit on Russia while NASA for years was catching flights to ISS on Russian ships.” From another commenter: “Man, that Oberg is a pompous incomptus mentus. Did he ever understand that Russia only lost Gagarin during a training flight, not as a cosmonaut on a mission. How many people did NASA lose? I rest my case.”)

“‘It’s like doing an Arctic expedition with German scientists in 1943’: life on the International Space Station at a time of war,” The Guardian, 26/8. Article via a Закрытый космос/Closed Space Telegram post, who vents his feelings on the Ukraine shill astronaut’s opinions: “Anti-Russian hysteria in foreign media continues. Astronaut Terry Virts compared flying to the ISS with Russian cosmonauts to living with the Nazis. ‘It’s like cooperating with German scientists on an Arctic expedition in 1943,’ he told The Guardian. Fortunately, our cosmonauts are too well-mannered and educated than to sink to the moral bottom of Virts. In addition, I don’t remember the condemnation of American astronauts in the Russian media during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya. Somehow we are more cultured or something …. On the eve of Sergei Viktorovich Lavrov, he well described such foreigners: ‘They work with the language.’”.

“‘I do know,’ says Berger, ‘that a lot of cosmonauts are very sympathetic to the war.’ Samokutyaev, Virts’ former colleague, is not the only one to have been sanctioned. Many are products of the military, and they only hear one side of the story. ‘Some of them are completely brainwashed out of their minds. It’s just insane,’ claims Scott Kelly, a former Nasa space station commander who returned his Russian space medal in disgust after the invasion.” Scott Kelly (14/3 entry) is another vocal astronaut shill for Ukraine. The cosmonauts are no more “brainwashed” than their American compatriots; what a stupidly patronizing remark, but typical of Kelly the Russophobe. To hell with these deluded fools, and yet again I wish Russia had its own space station rather than the ISS “partnership,” for which Russia has been belittled and derided in the West ever since it joined the program.

Wednesday 30/8: Depicting fractions in HTML

Rain overnight and into this morning, unfortunately, also windy, but not really cold. September is the time of year where this sort of weather becomes common.

Continuing my website punctuation dilemma (21/8 entry), this on the vexed question of how to represent fractions. Jukka Korpela has a page, Math in HTML (and CSS) with descriptions of various methods; for now I decided to try his suggestion: “To stay on the safe side, you could use markup like <span class="frac">5/6</span> for fractions and use the style sheet rule .frac {white-space: nowrap;}.”

Thursday 31/8: Suspicious bank transaction; re-reading comforts

Inclement weather today; had to cut short my walk due to a sudden shower (did not bring an umbrella). Took the bus to Chadstone Shopping Centre this morning.

Dad found an odd transaction in his bank account statement that he could not recall authorizing, from some company called Totalavcom for nearly $200. He queried it at his bank branch, and was able to get his card cancelled and the amount charged back. It seems to be a scam of some sort, but I have no idea how he would have signed up for such a deduction, unless he clicked on some email. It is concerning at any rate (and another source of stress and mental exhaustion for me). Trying to navigate an increasingly complex Internet is very difficult for many older people, which is frustrating as there is such a push to move essential services online.

I am getting an odd sort of comfort out of re-reading the Jeffersonian’s old blog entries (26/8 entry). I was thinking that he bought guns and accessories like I buy clothing! His entries in the last few years, though, display increasing mental agitiation (but so do mine, I think, first with the ongoing stress of the pandemic lockdowns, then the Russian SMO and its shunning by the West). I still have the fascination with other lives I mentioned in my 6/2/2022 entry (add to that list Ran Prieur – 3/8, 6/8, 8/8 entries – and Greg Lehey – 14/5, 18/7 entries).

September

Friday 1/9: Haircut; 100-year website hosting plan offer – for a price

Officially Spring today! Rain cleared up at least.

Got my hair trimmed today; quite short – almost a bob – to just under my chin. Always feels much nicer afterwards. $30 for a simple trim though! This at a supposedly cheaper walk-in hairdresser; when they opened a decade or so ago, such haircuts were only $7. I don’t know of anywhere cheaper.

Via Jeremy Keith, The 100-Year Plan at Wordpress.com: “The 100-Year Plan ensures that your stories, achievements, and memories are preserved for generations to come. One payment. One hundred years of legacy. US$38,000. A domain is your most valuable digital asset. While standard domain registrations last a decade, our 100-Year Plan gives you an opportunity to secure your domain for a full century.” An interesting proposal, but the huge upfront cost is rather steep! This, in my view, is a legacy that a government should provide for its citizens: a (more-or-less) permanent taxpayer-funded personal website space for archival purposes. There would obviously be restrictions on what could be posted, but it provides reassurance for leaving a digital presence. Probably no domain name, but a personal subdomain after the government hosting site.

Saturday 2/9: Mick Ryan reaming

A perfect sunny Spring day, after a chilly morning; calm and serene. All-too-rare weather.

“Just When You Thought Retired U.S. Generals Are the Biggest Buffoons, a Retired Aussie Takes the Cake,” Larry Johnson, 31/8. Retired military “expert,” and Ukraine shill Mick Ryan (recent previous mentions: 22/5, 20/6, 30/7 entries) – who is afforded far too much TV and print space in Australia (particularly on the ABC TV, ABC News website and in The Age) – gets a well-deserved verbal evisceration!

Sunday 3/9: Sunny; to Centenary Park

Another lovely sunny day, up to 20°C with a clear sky, but rain forecast for later tomorrow, unfortunately.

I managed to walk all the way to Centenary Park (eastwards of me) today; have not done that for quite a few weeks! (Last mentioned in my 11/6 entry.) Too many people around, but that is inevitable.

Am rather tired now, though; not much to write about.

Monday 4/9: A day of chores

Windy and unsettled, with a cool change incoming. Felt off-color for most of the day (digestive upset), so little energy for anything, and did not go out on a walk. At least I got the washing line-dried and put away.

Tuesday 5/9: Cold again; weary of the world

Unpleasant rainy and cold weather returned overnight. Managed to go for a short half-hour walk.

I don’t feel like commenting on world events for the most part (namely the current war); I am weary and burned-out on it all. I still stand with Russia, of course, but reading the various associated alternative news and blogs has become wearisome and many of the comments on posts are just odious (too many deranged conspiracy theorists and misogynists are allowed to comment).

Still re-reading through the Jeffersonian’s/Karl Leffler’s blog (31/8 entry). The term for what I like about his and similar blogs is “slice of life,” the depiction of the minutiae of the lives of others, rather than grand events and philosophies. I just wish my life were a bit more interesting to write about in that regard, but it is not; just mostly extremely restricted and monotonous (aside from unwanted health dramas involving parents).

Wednesday 6/9: De-banking those disapproved

Windy to an irritating degree, but sunny at least, though cold.

Visited a familiar recurring dreamscape last night, a particular long road to the southeast surrounded by a forest, that heads out into the countryside surrounding Melbourne. This time I was in a car; sometimes I am riding a road bicycle on a very long journey.

Via a post at Global South, a concerning development in Australia as regards to “de-banking” customers whose financial transactions are deemed unacceptable: “Social Credit Lite? Unraveling Australia’s Orwellian Crackdown on Bank Clients,” Sputnik, 4/9. “If it deems it necessary ‘to protect a customer or another person from financial abuse,’ the National Australia Bank reserves the right to ‘suspend, cancel or deny an account holder’s access or use of the account, card or an electronic banking service.’ […] What makes the NAB’s guidelines dangerous is that by taking upon itself the right to independently arbitrate whether or not a person or organization has committed abuse against another person, a financial institution will be doing a job ordinarily restricted to the state, effectively serving as judge, jury, and executioner. […] Banking restrictions are the latest, and perhaps most insidious, form of cracking down on the free speech rights of those outside the political mainstream, since they are designed not only to ‘de-platform,’ but to literally strip ‘offenders’ of access to money – the resource people need to feed, house and clothe themselves.” The government and business push towards a cashless digital money system of course makes this social credit system much easier. Russia and China get much criticism from the West for being authoritarian regimes, but the West is little better in this regard – just more subtle about it.

Thursday 7/9: Web godmother gone

Warm and windy again, but rain approaching.

Sad web-related news that “Tucson’s Molly Holzschlag, known as ‘the fairy godmother of the web,’ dead at 60,” Tucson Sentinel, 5/9. She was a well-known web designer and advocate in the late 1990s and 2000s (along with contemporaries such as Eric Meyer – who wrote a poignant memorial post – and Jeffrey Zeldman); sadly, she developed various illnesses and all-but-vanished from the industry. She was no fan of how it has developed since then (and rightly so). (And how sad is it that many in a Reddit post about her did not know who she was – “I’ve been on the Internet since before the world wide web and it’s the first time I’ve heard of her.”)

I miss the Old Web, the democratic and anarchic network of hand-coded quirky websites, where anyone could learn to code HTML and CSS in a simple text editor from a book and put their presence online. Now web development is an esoteric and complicated process involving convoluted web stacks, dependencies and a lot of fuss and bother just to create a bloated and bland website.

Friday 8/9: Gales

Awful gale-force winds with gusts of over 100 km/h overnight and into today across Melbourne and Victoria; much damage ensuing. I hate to think what enduring a hurricane (such as the recent Idalia) is like.

Saturday 9/9: Calmer weather; r/SameGrassButGreener

The awful gale-force wind abated today, thankfully, though it was still cold.

One subReddit that I have been finding of some interest is r/SameGrassButGreener, where people who want to move from one place to another ask advice. Though ostensibly for “people who want to move to a new city, state or province in their country,” most questions are focused within the USA (as Reddit is an American company). It still is enlightening to read people’s opinions on each city or state; the cultural differences between each seem to be much more pronounced than capital cities and states of Australia (at least to my observation). For myself, the Pacific Northwest holds appeal, though there are downsides of the earthquake threat (30/6 entry), high cost of living in major cities and apparently gloomy overcast winter weather and rain for a few months.

Sunday 10/9: A long walk; tech-savvy oldies ignored; Karl’s first car

Managed to walk again to Centenary Park (3/9 entry). Feeling fatigued, so my pace was very slow. Too many people around, as usual.

“They love tech. They have money. So why does Big Tech ignore old people?” The Age, 8/9. I’m in the over-50 age group mentioned there! Unbelievable to me still. My elderly parents are, however, not tech-savvy (Mum never was able to understand computers, and Dad can no longer cope with the increasingly complexity of software and using the Internet – 14/5 entry). I consider myself tech-savvy – I can find my way around the interior of a PC and figure out most programs and, of course, this website has been my main online hobby for years – but utterly loathe social media and, like many now, use it only sparingly to preserve one’s mental health.

Am reading through my archive of Jeffersonian/Karl Leffler’s blog. In his May 2003 blog he buys his first car (“195 – Saturday, 17 May 2003: HOLY CRAP I BOUGHT A CAR!”) – “I paid $400 cash ($500 painted on window, $450 OBO in advertisement) for a 1.9-liter 4-speed, meter says 35k but has almost certainly rolled over. It’s even my color, dark green!” Unfortunately, the secondhand car turned out to be something of a “lemon,” as can sometimes be the case with used cars. From then on it was constantly breaking in one way or another, and he was having to buy replacement parts. Not the initial bargain it seemed, unfortunately (“Various little things wrong with it of course, but street-legal as far as we can tell”). I have never (yet?) owned a car – I am certainly not in a financial position to do so – and need to re-learn to drive in any case. (There are so many adult rites-of-passage that I have never done.)

Monday 11/9: Driving zone-out; car automony and repairability concerns

Had a debilitating headache overnight, so am still lethargic. Yesterday’s longer walk (10/9) seemed to tire me more than usual.

The weather is warming up at last – into the mid-20s later this week!

Also continuing from yesterday, Ran Prieur finds driving mentally exhausting (his 1/5/2019 entry): “Driving really wears me out mentally. Most people can just zone out, but I have to give it my full conscious attention to not crash, and it always seems like everyone is going much too fast …. I actually believe there’s some kind of collective unconscious that prevents car crashes, because when you look at how incompetent humans are generally, and how casual people are about safe driving, there should be a hundred times as many crashes.” That’s why the prospect of re-learning to drive intimidates me; I find prolonged concentration difficult (not to mention spatial awareness of where the car is in the immediate environment around it).

The increasing computerization of cars is a major concern – both from repair and privacy aspects – and an article I came across notes: “Why smarter cars are a privacy nightmare,” CarExpert, 7/9. As well as data-gathering by companies, governments could ultimately also use such data to control use of such cars – remotely disable a vehicle if its owner has breached the law (similar to how iPhones can be remotely wiped) – the same potential threat that other now-digital functions such as currency and banking hold.

For all the problems he had with his first car (yesterday’s entry again), Karl Leffler was able to source and replace many parts himself – try doing that with an electronics-dependent and electric-powered Tesla.

From a survivalist/prepper perspective, an older analog, petrol-fueled vehicle would seem a better choice to me; biofuels could be grown and used for fuel once petroleum became unavailable, and, assuming one had the proper tooling and mechanical aptitude, spare parts could be manufactured (my maternal Grandpa and Dad were mechanically-adept and could fix almost anything that was not electronic). That is admittedly an extreme scenario (and I am no mechanical expert!), but electric vehicles are precariously dependent upon complex, remotely-manufactured batteries to function, as well as computer software. These components do not last forever, and the vehicle would become useless after they stopped working.

Tuesday 12/9: Tap tinkering gone wrong; happy Hawaiian hermit

A fine and sunny day.

Dad attempted to replace a hot water bathroom sink tap but ended up with the screw-in part being the wrong size and hot water flooding the floor (I had to dash outside to turn the hot water tank valve off), so he put the old one back on (after a mop-up with old towels – how does a seemingly small amount of water make such huge puddles?). Really, he is getting a bit too old for the handyman work he was good at; should really call a plumber (though they can be expensive).

Ran Prieur (31/8, 11/9 entries) linked in his 6/9/2023 entry to a YouTube documentary, The Art of Life. “It’s about Michael Behrens, who is basically the Unabomber’s 11/6 entry good twin. He was a math genius who took the position vacated by Ted Kaczynski at Berkeley, and later built a house on primitive land. He has lots of cool stuff to say, but don’t romanticize his lifestyle too much – if he got his food in any other way than driving into town, they would have shown it. It’s funny, for someone who talks about the value of doing nothing, he’s very good at doing something, or he wouldn’t have cleared that land and built that house. In my experience, western Buddhists are naturally busy people who are drawn to Buddhism to keep themselves in balance.” Michael seemed mostly content (he was 72 years old when the documentary was made in 2015, and is still going), though he did mention once that he got lonely and would have liked some companionship. He looks very fit and healthy for his age; his lifestyle involves much physical labor.

I have lost interest in, and am disengaged from all the major religions. I have no interest in theology (it bores me). I subscribe to no belief, though at best I would describe my outlook as agnostic (and am more amiable to paganism, though again I have no interest in any particular group there). I feel the same way about politics; I just do not want to get involved.

Wednesday 13/9: Tap tinkering continues, toilet next; bank bumble; RegEx replace lowercase with uppercase letter; our Kombi van

After the hot water tap flooding yesterday (12/9 entry), the pipe feed to the toilet cistern seems to be partly blocked, perhaps due to the black sand-like substance that was also expelled into the bathroom washbasin from the hot water tap. Another repair job, after Dad tried again today to replace the sink taps – which he did, no mishaps this time X=.

Am quite annoyed with my bank. Last week I made a coin deposit – some accumulated silver low-denomination coins, less than $5 worth – into a branch’s coin deposit machine (one of two; the main one was out of service). For some reason the machine did not give me a receipt, and the deposit was not recorded into my account. I notified the bank, but they could do nothing due to there being no record of the deposit (I did use my card and put my mobile number in also). I was not sure of the exact amount, or even the day I did it (just early last week). So, I went in again today to ask, but they still could not find the transaction. So I have lost that money, annoyingly – just a relatively small amount, but it’s the principle of the issue also. They have effectively got that money for free. I have been with the bank all my life, and do not want to “shop around” with the associated hassle of closing and opening accounts (side rant: I am sick of being advised by the media to just “shop around” for better services generally – this can be a major inconvenience and also mentally exhausting and stressful). I will make sure to get a receipt next time.

Regular Expression note: how to replace a lower-case first letter in a word with uppercase:

  1. Find: <abbr class="emote" title="(\u)
  2. Replace with: <abbr class="emote" title="\U$1

Continuing the topic of older cars (11/9 entry), my family owned a used Kombi van for a few years in the late 1970s to early 1980s; it took us on many daytrips to the countryside around Melbourne (Ballarat region and Dandenongs), which are now fond memories. It was a burnt-orange Kombi with a white top, registration LDH-203; the orange color was very popular in the 1970s (Mum’s Renault-12 was that color also!). The older Volkswagen Kombies seemed to be very durable and practical, and last for decades with proper maintenance; I have still sighted an occasional one a few years ago. I now wish we could have kept it! (Some previous personal memories: 2/4/2021; 1/10/2022; 19/7 entries.)

My family at Mt Franklin in December 1980

My family with the Kombi during a daytrip to Mt. Franklin in December 1980.

Thursday 14/9: Retail therapy; toilet still refilling slowly, no solution yet; iPhone 15 released

Took the bus to Chadstone Shopping Centre; spent too much at Uniqlo, as I do some weeks. Really can’t afford it (and, annoyingly, their prices have increased, like those of so many other retailers), but damnit, I need some retail therapy. Jeffersonian blog: “433 – Saturday, 13 March 2004: […] Anyway I (probably …) won’t be buying any .38/.357 components ’til next payday at least, having blown a hundred bucks on another percussion revolver. Sigh. My name is Karl, and I’m a hoploholic …. Anyway scoring the reloading gear is nothing to be ashamed of.” As I noted in my 31/8 entry, he bought guns and related accessories like I do clothing! There is still no activity from him on his social media sites, and his former domain has not been renewed.

Dad attempted to diagnose and locate the apparent partial blockage of the toilet cistern refill feed pipe, but could find nothing obvious – seems to be further down the pipe – so looks like the next step is to call a plumber. Cistern bucket refills in the meantime (last time we had to do this was on 26/1/2022).

The latest iPhone model, the 15, has been released. The pricing in Australia starts at $1500 for the basic model; ridiculous and well out of my range. A good basic desktop PC could be assembled for less than that. Apple products are now a luxury purchase.

Friday 15/9: Cistern replaced and working; electric car prepper perspective

Another fine, sunny day – an unprecedented sequence of them this week!

Dad replaced the partly-blocked cistern inlet valve (14/9 entry); said there was a buildup of debris in the previous one but could not get replacement parts for it, so he bought a new one. It flushes normally now, thankfully, though there is a little water leakage out the bottom of the cistern where the feed pipe joins, so more adjustments tomorrow.

Again continuing the maintainable car theme (11/9 entry), “An Electric Car for TEOTWAWKI? – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3” at James Wesley Rawles’ SurvivalBlog.com. “Consider this a basic tutorial on the electric vehicle ‘platform’ conveyed through the lens of prepping.” Advantages and disadvantages of an all-electric car in a survivalist situation. Disadvantages: long battery charging time (in contrast to filling up with gasoline and driving away), cold temperatures affect battery power negatively (longer charging time, shorter range), internal heating draws power from the battery – “In a gas vehicle, running the heater has little to no effect on the vehicle’s performance because you are just pulling heat from the engine compartment that is a byproduct of the engine running. Although running the air conditioner (AC) in a gas vehicle is supposed to reduce the miles per gallon (mpg) you achieve, I have never noticed much of a difference in the myriad cars I have driven over my life. However, in an electric car, the same battery that powers the engine also powers the heating and AC.” The battery is also very heavy, so an electric car will be heavier than a petrol-fuelled car of the same size.

Saturday 16/9: Parental dramas; Ran’s truck

Fine and sunny again. Unfortunately Mum had a messy incident again last night (previously: 15/7 entry) which entailed much stress and cleaning up. Am exhausted and not coping with this; I dread what might happen every day.

Cars again! (15/9 entry) I rather liked the pick-up truck Ran Prieur linked to in his January-April 2009 landblog. “May 2009 update: My original plan was to get 1989-1995 Toyota, because of their legendary durability. But several readers suggested a Ford Ranger, and in March when I started looking at vehicles, Rangers were roughly five times as plentiful as Toyotas, and half the price for the same year and condition. I ended up getting a 1997 extended cab with 120,000 miles for $2600, from a nice private seller. Here’s a photo of me and my truck.” It looks sturdy and practical, and I like the light metallic blue color and the more angular/boxy lines (in comparison to the boringly curved modern variants). He does not own it anymore, but it would not be as electronically-dependent as newer models.

Sunday 17/9: Tricky Teslas; analog appliances wish

The usual chores, then I walked to Centenary Park (10/9 entry) and back, so fatigued again.

Continuing the over-complicated digitalized cars topic (16/9 entry): “I rented a Tesla for a month. It was a steep learning curve,” ABC News, 16/9. The writer concludes thaţ a Tesla is “not a car. It’s an operating system with wheels. […] Cool? Yes. Needlessly complicated? Also yes.” (A post and comments at r/RealTesla on the article.)

Related rant: I am fed up with overly-complex digital appliances generally. Our washing machine, for example, almost needs a programmer’s degree just to figure out all the washing options (Cotton, Extra Rinse, Eco Cotton, Quiet, Duvet, Towels, Delicates, Quick, Soak, Intensive, Option). All I want is to set a basic wash time and water level, rinse and then spin time. I have a “Favorites” shortcut which I use that has those options; the rest just go unused. There would surely be a market for a more back-to-basics analog washing machine (or similar simple digital) for those who feel the same way?

Another old-fashioned utensil that seems to be unavailable is a clothes wringer or mangle – the hand-turned gadget that squeezes washed clothes through rollers to wring out excess water, no electricity needed.

Monday 18/9: Evaporating parents; silly survival book bought; Lucifer’s Hammer a comfort re-read

Had the depressing realization that the mother I previously knew – her personality – is gradually evaporating as old age and dementia take their toll. This is an insidious process, and just thinking of how she was a few years ago makes me realize how much she has changed for the worse. Dad is in a better state, but old age is affecting him too. I am not psychologically prepared to deal with this, and don’t have the skills to cope.

Bought a copy of The Ultimate Prepper’s Survival Guide by James Wesley, Rawles, which I had been deliberating over for some time. A somewhat silly purchase, but I get an odd sort of comfort out of reading such dire scenarios as presented in these books (I think of this old blog post, Preppers are LARPers: “tensions in modern life contribute to why all of us, not just Preppers, tend to romanticize the dire and horrifying situation of characters thrown into a post-apocalyptic scenario” – 20/1/2022 entry). His is very American-focused and of the patriotic/libertarian/gun-rights mentality which does not bother me, but I strongly dislike the religious angle. I am debating whether to order his novel Patriots; not great literature but more of a fun read.

Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle (Jerry being sadly deceased in 2017) is an old but still-good novel I like to comfort re-read when in the mood (20/2/2022 entry). I feel it is a realistic portrayal of how humans might react, though younger people reading it now complain about the sexist and racist attitudes of the characters. (What happened to the tsunami surfer in the novel? Revealed in Story Night at the Stronghold.) A related point I made in my 20/8/2022 entry is a link to a blog post, “Feminism Will NOT Survive the Industrial Collapse.” No, it is not a pleasant prospect, but people in survival mode are likely to ignore whatever cultural peculiarities are currently in vogue (the ever-multiplying, so-called “genders” being one bizarre fashion) – “luxury beliefs is a term for them.

Tuesday 19/9: Unwanted virtue-signalling and pandering

Had a headache overnight; it had faded by the time I arose, thankfully. Very warm and windy before forecast rain.

A rant at the New Catallaxy blog on the irksome and unvoted-for virtue-signalling of companies and government bodies.

According to Wikipedia, numbers of local councils, sporting bodies and clubs, churches and religious organisations, and public companies, have from somewhere found a voice and expressed their support for the Yes-case. I don’t believe that any of the movers and shakers behind these bodies have canvassed their ratepayers, or members, or congregants, or shareholders. But even if they had, they would need 100 percent support. That is simply because each of these bodies is operating outside of its remit.

People don’t pay rates to authorise their council to be party to the social engineering fad of the day or to have a view on a constitutional change remote from the business of councils; which, let’s recall, is to maintain roads, parks, local amenities and collect garbage. Equally, people who join sporting clubs are interested in participating in, or supporting, their sporting code or simply socialising. People attending church are interested in worshiping God; and, I can attest, have quite different views on the topics of the day. Those buying shares are interested in the financial performance of the companies in question and in obtaining dividends. Speaking up, let alone gifting funds, to support this or that unrelated social-cum-political cause is not any part of the deal.

Those in leadership positions don’t have carte blanche to do whatever they fancy in the name of the body they represent. Unfortunately, that’s not generally appreciated in today’s cockeyed world.

My local council, for example, has a Rainbow Pride Advisory Group – “Glen Eira’s Rainbow Pride Advisory Group is an opportunity to share your voice on important matters for the Glen Eira rainbow/LGBTIQA+ community.” This nonsensical pandering to identity politics is certainly outside the remit of any Council. (And I will refrain from ranting about that ridiculous acronym that seens to get longer every year.) As I noted yesterday (18/9 entry), this is the sort of luxury belief that would fall by the wayside if society underwent a collapse.

I have also griped about the overcompensatory pandering to Aboriginal people and culture that is endemic in government organizations (16/1/2022 entry). The upcoming Voice referendum (23/7 entry) has accelerated this into overdrive. I agree with the Liberal Democrats’ view on this issue:

Liberal Democrats NSW President Dean McCrae says creating a special Indigenous “Voice” to parliament favours one culture above all others, which is is at odds with an inclusive, multicultural democracy.

“It risks a type of social apartheid,” Dean says.

“Voters should pick all those heard in parliament and this should not be determined by race.”

The Liberal Democrats support equality before the law and oppose introduction of laws for specific groups including Aboriginal traditional law.

My basic tenets are that all citizens of a country are equal before the law (no particular group or culture should get special treatment), and a person should be appointed to a position on merit alone, not on their ethnic group or gender.

Wednesday 20/9: Electric cars downsides; Boikov bashed again; Tsar no visionary; space habitation pessimism

A cold change and rain today.

More dissenting articles against electric cars at The Patriot Post (17/9 entry).

“Anti-Voice rallies organised by pro-Putin conspiracy theorist,” The Age, 20/9. Simeon Boikov (12/4 entry) gets another mainstream media character assassination, discrediting him by describing him as a “pro-Kremlin activist and anti-vaccination campaigner.” A Telegram channel post: “@aussiecossack has been targeted by the msm once again, this time labeled a “conspiracy theorist” lol Obviously he’s had a little bit too much to think and is waking people up to the truth about the war in Ukraine, and the truth about dodgy, divisive and dangerous referendum. He has emerged as one of the few real journalists in Australia and his channel is growing daily. No wonder they are targeting him.” On his Twitter account: “Well played Miss @Sherryn_G from the @smh. An outrageous & clever way to remind 80% of Australia to march in the NO campaign’s rally across Australia this Saturday 23rd of September!”

“The Thwarted Vision of Tsar Nicholas II,” Batiushka for Global South, 18/9. Do not like the opinions expressed in this somewhat obtuse article: anti-Revolution, pro-monarchy, and a bizarre conspiracy theory also. “Then just as Russia was on the point of victory, there came the British-orchestrated overthrow of the Tsar in Saint Petersburg in 1917. The British even sent the military genius Trotsky from Canada in order to bolster the incompetent Marxist ideologue Lenin, himself sent by Germany to sabotage the Russian war effort. In 1918 came the murder of the Tsar and his family on orders issued from New York, as was pointed out by the contemporary Russian historian Piotr Multatuli over a decade ago.” He is an Orthodox priest (24/5/2022, 11/7 entries), so not surprising, but his opinions are thus discredited for me.

“Why We’ll Never Live in Space,” Scientific American, 1/10. A very pessimistic opinion on humans inhabiting space long-term. “Humans evolved for and adapted to conditions on Earth. Move us off our planet, and we start to fail – physically and psychologically. […] Physical and mental health problems – though dire – aren’t even necessarily the most immediate hurdles to making a space settlement happen. The larger issue is the cost. And who’s going to pay for it? Those who think a billionaire space entrepreneur is likely to fund a space colony out of a sense of adventure or altruism (or bad judgment) should think again. Commercial space companies are businesses, and businesses’ goals include making money.” Despite all the listed negatives, I am sure some motivated billionaires will make the attempt to colonize space and other planets regardless.

Thursday 21/9: More clothes; color scheme; handcrafted HTML; 2001: A Space Odyssey movie

Took the bus to Chadstone SC; spent too much on clothes at Uniqlo (as usual!). Well, it’s my one indulgence and makes me feel better (albeit temporarily). I get a small enjoyment out of being color-co-ordinated with my clothes. I rotate through a color scheme each week: this week is a (shades of) pink-themed week, then next week will be blue, then purple, then green, then pink, blue, orange, green and so on. (These are the colors I use on my website also, not coincidentally :-).) The base colors I also use are black, grey, navy blue and off-white; black is “warm” so paired with pink and orange; blue is “cool” so worn on blue weeks; the others can be either of the remaining colors. I have been following this dress scheme for years!

HackerNews post link to Writing HTML by hand. Which is exactly what I do, though many of the commenters seem to like to overcomplicate their own methods. Just plain HTML for me!

SBS screened 2001: A Space Odyssey last Sunday, some of which I watched (in between other tasks). It still holds up well against modern sci-fi movies (and is still far superior to most of these). It is slow-paced, but this does not bother me – in fact I prefer it to the usual frenetic pacing and scene-cutting endemic in modern films; the latter becomes stressful. I recall doing a presentation about the Arthur C. Clarke novel that the film was based on for English at school (1980s); I made a small plasticine or clay model of the Discovery ship! The movie shows an alternate space program that will, alas, never be now (17/8 entry).

Friday 22/9: City visit; Woke sci-fi woeful; Libertarian leanings; missing Jeffersonian; bank branch closures

I took the train into the City (Melbourne CBD) for the first time in months! Just to go to the Uniqlo Emporium there to buy a hoodie top in a color that the Chadstone store was sold out of. Had to rush around as usual to try to keep my travel time at the 2-hour ticket price limit, annoyingly (next tier is daily, twice as expensive). Purchased what I wanted, at least. A quick dash into City Basement Books to see what their secondhand sci-fi books section offered; very little, as usual and disappointingly. I still like the type of sci-fi Baen Books publishes (20/2/2021, 14/1/2022 entries) – which mainstream bookstores do not stock, aside from Minotaur Books (also in the CBD). The mainstream stores have the almost-unreadable “Woke” rubbish that passes for sci-fi now, but they do stock some classics – and these are designated thus for good reason!

My views have, again, swung back a little toward a sort of Libertarianism; I agree with the philosophy on some points (small government and minimal interference in citizens’ private lives) but still believe big corporations need to be regulated and also believe in a basic income (enough to enable survival), public housing, basic public healthcare and so on. A (somewhat contradictory) mix of the two! I am emphatically not conservative in the sense of being religious and right-wing, both of which are anathemea to me. If I were American I would likely vote for the Libertarian Party there (a sort of “third way” between the dominant two).

I really miss reading the Jeffersonian/Karl Leffler’s Rifleman blog and sci-fi story (10/9 entry); still no indication of his offline condition or whereabouts. I am still reading what I saved of his blog; he read a lot of Baen sci-fi also. I don’t always agree with his views, but still enjoy his writings regardless.

Cashless concerns (23/8, 6/9 entries): “How the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ and NAB bosses justify closing hundreds of branches across regional Australia,” ABC News, 21/9. Again with pushing the “cash usage is declining” narrative. This is an example of where government regulation should be imposed, to force banks to perform their duty of providing basic services for customers – no closing bank branches and ATMs to force customers online and thus to easily-traceable money transactions. The ability to pay with cash should be a basic right.

Saturday 23/9: Bright blossom

A fine and sunny day, but I have used up what little energy I have. A lot of blossom trees still blooming. There is a particularly vividly-colored one on a nearby naturestrip in a street behind my parents’ home; the blossom is a deep hot pink and the approximate web color hex equivalent is pink (Pantone), #d74894.

Sunday 24/9: Curbing car speeds; more pro-Ukraine books review

Sunny and warm again. Went for a long walk up (eastwards) to Centenary Park and back; an hour’s round trip. Very tired from the usual morning chores also, and had an altercation with parents, which spoiled my mood. I dream of being by myself and being able to rest, physically and mentally.

“Road-safety experts push for 30km/h speed limit to save lives,” The Age, 22/9. Again with the nanny-state – and local councils – making life more difficult and irritating for drivers (along with sneaky “nudging” measures such as reducing parking) (24/1/2022, 12/2/2022 entries).

“Three books that explain why Russia invaded Ukraine, and what happens next,” The Age, 22/9. Unsurprisingly, the reviewed books meet the article writer’s approval as they are critical of Russia and pro-Ukraine. Perusing bookshelves, I have yet to see a book that presents Russia’s point-of-view, or is positive about Russia in general. I doubt bookstores here would stock such a book in any case (the vindictive Ukrainian diaspora community would howl in protest).

Monday 25/9: Sister visiting

Sunny and fine again! Sister and her husband are visiting here for a few days, having flown from Queensland.

Been rearranging and adding some pages on my site. Tired; used up my limited energy today.

Tuesday 26/9: Website re-arranging; Victorian Premier resigns

More re-adding formerly-deleted pages – now consolidated onto one page – and the small photo gallery (won’t link directly to them in case I change the page URLs).

Victorian Labor Premier Daniel Andrews has unexpectedly resigned, after 9 years in office. No reason given as of yet. I guess he got his job done, though he certainly endured much vitriol, especially under the COVID-19 pandemic and enforced lockdowns (and I certainly resented him then – see my Journal from 26/3/2020).

Wednesday 27/9: Still website tinkering; digital ID concerns

Still reorganizing and consolidating some pages on my website, which is mentally tiring.

“A national digital ID scheme is being proposed. An expert weighs the pros and (many more) cons,” The Conversation, 26/9. The article focuses more on the security implications of such a move, but the scheme is more sneaky steps towards a social credit system, where one is required to have a digital identity and pay electronically in order to function in society (see 22/9 entry regarding bank closures and cashless concerns).

Thursday 28/9: The ATM ate my card (again!); in support of cash

Another fine sunny day; warming up to just under a forecast 30°C on Sunday. Days like this I miss riding my bicycle along Beach Road (1/1/2020 entry). I think the last time I rode was late in 2020 – I went for a few nervous forays after my accident (15/5/2020), but lost all enthusiasm after that. My bicycle would need refurbishing and a tune-up were I to ever ride it again; I thought of also having the drop handlebars replaced with more upright straight ones.

An ATM outside the branch of my bank at Southland SC swallowed my card and would not return it after making a deposit! It did the same last week – I naturally assumed it had been repaired since then, but it malfunctioned again; three other people also lost their cards. These were retrieved and handed back by bank staff (but ID was required before they did so). Very annoying. Perhaps I should revert to the more old-fashioned method of using a human teller!

Cash! by Holly Frost at According to Hoyt (writer Sarah A. Hoyt’s blog). A short tirade in support of using cash for privacy reasons (22/9 entry). “If you have cash or checks, and your local stores are as smart as our feed store, they’ll even be able to do business with you when the internet is down. That was a memorable day. The credit union also pulled that one off, but most businesses had to close because they couldn’t figure out how to ring up tickets and take money without working registers. The credit union and feed store just went to pen and paper for the duration. The more people insist on not using electronic payments, the more businesses will insist on their favorite politicians keeping cash around. Make a minor scene if some place won’t take cash. Not a major scene, just ‘Oh, I guess you don’t want to sell me this’ and leave it on the counter and walk out. Encourage others to use cash.”

Sarah Hoyt is emphatically anti-Communist and anti-Left, though, so I am not always in agreement with her opinions (she doesn’t take well to criticism, though). She has a lot of regular commenters on her blog.

Friday 29/9: Sister departed; moving later; Apple software updates

My sister and her husband departed back home to Brisbane today. Dismayingly, they are moving to Wagga Wagga in NSW after Christmas. Her husband is an Australian Army Chaplain (he joined a few years ago), and is thus at the beck-and-call of the Army (go where they assign you). No way would I want to join the military. (Their support for Ukraine is another discouraging factor – I would have no doubt that some military personnel are secretly “assisting” within Ukrainian borders.)

Unlike me (so far), my sister and her family have moved house several times since she married in the early 1990s! (Melbourne → Rochester, Victoria → Brisbane, Queensland.)

Updated all of our 4 Apple devices (Dad’s and my iPad Generation 8s, his iPhone SE, my iPhone 11 – 11/11/2021 entry) to iOS 17. A tedious chore that is! Nearly 9 GB downloads total. I barely use any of the features, though; mainly Safari browser, Apple Notes, Photos and iBooks. I prefer Apple devices for portable, but a desktop Windows PC for my main workstation. My phone is only 64 GB though, which is increasingly becoming inadequate, despite it only being 2 years old when bought new, though released in 2019. But, as I noted, the latest models are hugely expensive now (14/9 entry).

Saturday 30/9: Wild weather approaching; Daylight Savings begins; DIY diesel fuel

Moderately hot today; to just under 30°C. But rain coming later next week – “Flood and storm threat for southern Australia after record-hot and dry September weather,” ABC News, 30/9. Also Daylight Savings begins overnight, so arising even earlier for me.

Australian Rules football Grand Final day; not that I am interested. This country’s sport obsession is just cringeworthy.

Found via Ran Prieur’s Links page: Bio Diesel Primer – how to make your own diesel vehicle fuel out of vegetable oil. Unfortunately the misguided forced phase-out of ICE cars (and fossil fuels generally) will make this difficult, if not impossible in the near future (20/9 entry).

Sunday 10/10: Jet-lagged; a plot to end car ownership

Had a mild headache overnight, and up an hour earlier due to Daylight Savings beginning, so feeling off-color and jetlagged. I did not go for a walk, but lay down on my bed and rested for an hour or so. Did not (could not) nap; just lay there with my eyes closed and thoughts percolating. I did feel a bit better for a while afterwards. Just being able to truly rest seems to be a luxury now; I could only truly do so when by myself, with no one else around whose clutter and mess I have to clean up after.

“WEF Admits It Wants To End Private Car Ownership,” Steven Symes, 26/7/2022. The author is an automotive writer with a skeptical view of anti-car environmental initiatives. This article outlines a disturbing push by the World Economic Forum to discourage use and ownership of cars, as well as the forced and unnecessary obsolescence of internal combustion engined-vehicles. “The same tired argument I’ve heard before that most private cars are left parked most of the time is deployed. While that’s true, this fact also provides one key element: freedom. Rideshares might not be logistically possible everywhere. They come with their own shortcomings, not the least of which is nobody feels the need to really, truly take care of the vehicles as if they owned them because they don’t. If people want to engage in such a service, they should be free to do so and in many urban areas they can. But nobody should be compelled to give up their private property and share public property like this.”

Monday 2/10: Still waiting on Health Care Card renewal; more survivalist car tips

Feeling a little better today, but still jetlagged.

My Health Care Card expired nearly 2 weeks ago; I reapplied for a renewal well within the time limit, but it is still “in progress.” I know the Centrelink service is always very busy, but this is really annoying, as I need the card for public transport fare concessions and visiting a doctor.

Another useful car-related link (15/9 entry): “Vintage Car Repair – Part 1, Part 2,” “Reelfisherman” at SurvivalBlog.com.

Tuesday 3/10: Bloody nose; royal website DOS; no secure housing for older women

The forecast rain arrived this morning, unfortunately, after a warm night; heavy falls.

Had another (1/5 entry) nosebleed yesterday afternoon (right nostril, the usual one for these), perhaps induced by the warm unsettled weather, and a couple of asprin (an anticoagulant as well as a painkiller) I took earlier in the week. A tip I read is to use an antidecongestant spray such as Sudafed, which I did, and that helped (it shrinks blood vessels), but it is still fragile and will take a couple of days to heal.

Tried to ring Centrelink yesterday regarding my HCC (2/10) but getting through on the phone is hopeless; a half-hour wait at least after wrangling with the automated reply which had a great deal of trouble understanding my Customer Record Number when I spoke it. I hung up in exasperation as I can not wait that long.

“Royal family website ‘targeted in Russian cyberattack’,” The Age, 2/10. Russian hackers doing good work! The king has previously openly expressed his support for Ukraine (1/4 entry). If only the useless parasites that are the monarchy could be targeted and eliminated physically. Their continued existence and assumed privilege is offensive.

“Skyrocketing rental costs pushing older women into shared housing,” ABC News, 2/10. This, I fear, could be my future after my parents are deceased – a precarious and stressful existence of moving from one rented house to another, if not becoming homeless altogether. “Women over 50 were the fastest-growing cohort of people in Australia experiencing homelessness in the 2016 census, but the rate stabilised in the 2021 census.” And one woman’s unpleasant experience of having to live in her van: “A housing crisis means thousands of Australians are living in their vehicles. This is what ‘van life’ is really like,” 26/5.

Wednesday 4/10: Centrelink frustrations

Rainy and cold; awful weather. Feeling weary and frustrated as there is still no indication of when my Health Care Card renewal (3/10 entry) will be completed. Tried ringing Centrelink again, but still did not get through. An r/CentrelinkOZ post on the topic has others venting their frustration also (the robot voice that takes calls is incredibly obtuse and stupid; it will not recognize my Customer Reference Number no matter how many times I repeat it clearly).

Thursday 5/10: A new Russia-hate novel

Espied yet another newly-released Russiaphobic fiction novel: Code Red by Vince Flynn and Kyle Mills, a generic poorly-written action-thriller in the same genre as Brad Thor’s Dead Fall (24/8 entry). Just a couple of randomly-picked quotes displays the authors’ stance:

Rapp couldn’t help but smile. Russia was unique in that it was an almost entirely destructive force. The human race would be infinitely better off if the whole country just slid into the ocean.

– Chapter 47

The American scowled. “The Russians are nothing if not consistent. Every time they screw up or get caught with their hand in the cookie jar, they try to make it some kind of American conspiracy. […]

Both Syria and Russia were scrambling to carry out whatever damage control they could. In Syria’s case, the issue would blow over. They were a minor thorn in the world’s side, and it was already known that they were heavily involved in the drug trade. Russia, though, was very different.

Historically, the West had met Russia’s recklessness with a certain amount of restraint. The goal was to avoid direct confrontation and instead to just stand back and let the country slowly collapse under the weight of its own compulsions. Unfortunately, restraint wasn’t a trait that the Russians shared with their Western counterparts.

– Chapter 48

Don’t know if I will bother to waste my time reading it (probably not).

Friday 6/10: HCC update – approved? Berger bashing Roskosmos again; Luna-25 crash details

I visited the Services Australia office in Cheltenham today (not far from Southland SC) as a last resort regarding my Health Care Card delay (4/10 entry). Surprisingly, I only had to wait around 10 mintues or so (a handful of other customers there), and the lady who saw me said the HCC processing delay was due to high demand. She did upgrade my renewal to urgent status, and said it should hopefully be done in 48 hours (though, as the weekend is tomorrow, more likely sometime next week). So, tentative progress perhaps? At least I got to speak to a person this time!

… Later today, I had a look at the app on my digital devices and saw the renewal had been approved! The new digital card was displaying; the paper card should arrive from next week. (Rather oddly, there was still a request to upload scans of ID documents, so I did so.)

“Russia talks a big future in space while its overall budget is quietly cut,” Eric Berger for Arstechnica, 5/10. The latest negative article on Russian spaceflight by this hater (22/8 entry – he again repeats the Western media lie that the Ukraine conflict was “unprovoked”), this on funding cuts affecting grandiose space plans presented by Yurii Borisov at the 74th International Astronautical Congress. The current planned deployment date for the Russian Orbital Station is 2027-2032.

Via Roskosmos: “Yuri Borisov recalled that for now Russia has extended its participation in the International Space Station project until 2028. ‘Further participation will be determined by the technical condition of this station. Unfortunately, this wonderful project will someday end and the station will cease to exist. My colleagues and I will make every effort to correctly deorbit it,’ said the General Director of Roskosmos. He noted that the Russian side is open to international cooperation in the ROS project, providing opportunities for foreign partners both to send cosmonauts and to build individual modules.” Brazil, Turkey and South Africa were invited to participate in the project of the new Russian orbital station.

An update was given on the reasons for the landing failure of Luna-25 (22/8 entry): “It was established that the most likely cause of the Luna-25 accident was the abnormal functioning of the on-board control complex associated with the failure to turn on the accelerometer unit in the BIUS-L device (angular velocity measurement unit) due to the possible inclusion of commands with different execution priorities in one data array device. In this case, the distribution of commands in data arrays is random (probabilistic) in nature. In this regard, the on-board control complex received zero signals from the accelerometer unit of the BIUS-L device. This did not allow, when issuing a corrective pulse, to record the moment the required speed was reached and to timely turn off the spacecraft propulsion system, as a result of which its shutdown occurred according to a temporary setting.” “Closed Space/Закрытый космос” on Telegram linked to a more detailed article.

Russia was apparently snubbed at the Congress:

Borisov was surprised by the absence of Russian cosmonauts in the video greeting to the Astronautical Congress

BAKU, October 3. /TASS/. Roskosmos General Director Yuri Borisov is surprised by the decision of the organizers of the International Astronautical Congress not to include cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub in the welcome video from aboard the ISS, shown at the opening of the plenary session.

The head of the state corporation expressed gratitude to his Azerbaijani colleagues. “It’s a wonderfully organized forum in terms of all the events,” Borisov told reporters.

“I must say that I personally had a certain tension on the first day in the plenary session, when I did not see our cosmonauts during the greeting from the orbit of the International Space Station. Neither Oleg Kononenko, nor Nikolai Chub – it was a surprise for me,” he said.

“Everyone knows the role and place of Russia in this project and not seeing them Russian cosmonauts as part of the international crew …. Let’s leave it on the conscience of the organizers of this forum, our European colleagues. It means they chose this path,” Borisov noted.

The International Astronautical Congress is an annual event held under the auspices of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) and is one of the main space events. In 2022, Russia did not participate in the congress, since most members of the delegation were denied visas, despite the fact that the Russian Federation has been a member of the IAF since 1993 and is represented in the bureau of this organization.

Mars advocate and Ukraine shill Robert Zubrin (11/3 entry) continues to rant on about “evil” Russia in his Twitter feed, and he has also written several articles for the Kyiv Post (how I hate that stupid re-spelling of Kiev).

Saturday 7/10: Dream of a hidden room

Had a recurring dream of a previously-unknown hidden cupboard or room in my parents’ house (a common dream symbol), with a feeling of delight or anticipation upon discovering it. I am skeptical that dreams have any intentional meaning, though. All human brains obviously have the same basic biology, so similar basic imagery would show up in dreams, then further influenced by the culture a person has grown up in (a hunter-gatherer would obviously not dream of cars, cities and buildings if they had never encountered these).

(Decided to add my sporadically-updated Dream Diary to my Journal section.)

Sunday 8/10: Silent walking trend; Voice vexations continued

A fine and sunny day after a chilly morning, but I am too exhausted after chores to go for a walk.

“‘Silent walking’ is taking off on TikTok, but what does it actually say about us?” ABC News, 8/10. Another mention of so-called “silent walking” (27/8 entry) – simply walking without audio distractions. “What the ‘silent walking’ trend highlights is that some of us are now so used to being distracted, or relying on background noise, that not relying on that stimulation can feel like an extreme lifestyle change.”

The annoying and irrelevant distraction that is the Indigenous Voice to Parliament Referendum is voted on next Saturday 14/10, so publicity and propaganda will be overwhelming for this coming week. I am still voting “No” as it is unnecessary and divisive, and Aboriginal people get plenty of special treatment, concessions and so on already (19/9 entry). The patronizing attitude of many on the Left towards those voting against (that negative voters are “misinformed” – an example of such a biased view is “Are Chinese Australians getting both sides of the argument on the Voice?) I am just sick of this excessive pandering to one particular group; it has reached ridiculous levels. Some of my gripes:

Monday 9/10: Bag buying; collapse reality check; social malaise

On an impulse, took the bus to Chadstone and bought a couple of bags at Uniqlo – which I arguably did not need, but they were in a color I wanted – so a bit of retail therapy.

Have not been walking again for a few days; just too tired from chores and such. Weather is nice again today.

I really don’t care about world events; most are irrelevant to me.

Via a Hacker News post, “Everyone Daydreams About Collapse. Few Understand It.” OK Doomer, 27/9. A reality check for those who fantasize about society collapsing. “A lot of westerners live in denial. Some look forward to collapse. They think it’s going to free them from the world’s problems while bestowing some kind of elusive meaning on their life. They believe it’ll give them an excuse to break the social contract. Look around, and you see a growing number of people who seem to want civilization to collapse, for all the wrong reasons.”

Again, that vague feeling of malaise (6/1 entry) and mental exhaustion in society generally, and when I peruse my favorite personal websites. Ran Prieur (31/8 entry and later) has not been posting very much, and only short entries. Recent entries (2023): “October 2. Not feeling smart this week, or maybe just less interested in words. […] September 25. I don’t know if it’s causal or coincidental, but at the same time that I’m getting better at being fully present in each moment, I’m getting less inspiration for writing.”

Tuesday 10/10: Nauka coolant leak; Centauri Dreams blog solar sail posts

Weary and dull-witted again, as usual. Managed to go for a slow and plodding walk.

The Multi-purpose Laboratory Module Nauka has apparently experienced a coolant leak (NASASpaceflight.com forum thread):

On the multipurpose laboratory module Nauka of the Russian segment of the International Space Station, a coolant leak occurred from the external (backup) radiator circuit.

The main thermal control circuit of Nauka operates normally and provides comfortable conditions in the living area of the module. The crew and the station are not in danger.

The work of the main operational management group continues to analyze the current situation. (Roskosmos, 9/10/2023)

The Centauri Dreams blog had a recent post on hibernation prospects for space travel, and several previous on the topic of interstellar light-propelled sails. As I have previously noted (25/8 entry), my EmGem story is not dead but in hibernation itself, and I still have interest in the topic (14/8 entry).

Wednesday 11/10: Alcubierre warp drive disproven; another interstellar doomer

Via Hacker News, “Warp drive’s best hope dies, as antimatter falls down,” Big Think, 3/10. Pretty much definitive proof that the most vaguely-plausible seeming way of achieving Faster-Than-Light travel, the Alcubierre Drive, is not attainable. “In order to make a working ‘warp drive,’ there must be some way to not only curve the fabric of space, but to curve it in fundamentally different directions ahead of and behind the spacecraft. By creating a positively curved region ‘contracting”’ the space in front of a spacecraft and a negatively curved region ‘rarefying’ it behind, a ‘warp bubble’ could be created. However, that would require negative mass/energy, and negatively-gravitating antimatter could have done it. Unfortunately, physics said otherwise: antimatter falls down.”

More vindication that Albert Einstein was right, and continues to be verified (amazingly!). To reiterate again, any science fiction that uses faster-than-light travel is effectively fantasy-with-spaceships (Atomic Rockets labels this “Handwavium”: “It flat out violates laws of physics. We’re waving our hands and saying pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. FTL is handwavium in its many forms. I tend to hold that all these designs that ignore thermodynamics are handwavium, as are force fields and gravitic whosimawatchises.”); true hard science fiction uses only the currently-proven laws of physics. Technologies such as inducing hibernation and sustained nuclear fusion (that generates more energy than that used to produce it) are theoretically possible. A couple of pertinent comments from the HN post concerning those in stubborn denial:

jfengel: A lot of people seem weirdly aggrieved by the limit of the speed of light. It’s not really the reason we can’t go to space – if you had magic energy density you could go to the stars in as little time as you wish, due to relativity. (Weird stuff happens when you try to come back, but nobody ever seems to care about that anyway.)

I think people hear “Einstein said you can’t go faster than the speed of light” and think, “Surely I can figure out how to be smarter than Einstein.” It appears to be parallel to the ones who get cranky when being told that Newton says you can’t make a perpetual motion machine.

I suspect that they don’t spend as much time thinking about the brain-in-a-box version is that it opens up too many scenarios that are hard to think about. If you decouple consciousness from bodies, who are you? Why not make multiple copies? Why go anywhere at all, when you could just stick the sensors there?

People really want the cowboys in space, and get aggrieved that somebody told them they can’t. So they focus on overcoming a limit that seems like it can be solved just by thinking really hard, and leave the engineering details to the peons with calculators.

api: Agreed. Thing is we can still have our cowboys in space. The solar system is insanely huge and can be traversed in human time scales with technology based on known physics. The baseline world of The Expanse (minus the alien stuff) is entirely feasible.

Interstellar travel is entirely possible too as long as you are okay with it being effectively a one way trip. Suspended animation is probably possible; we can do it to some animals and individual organs. So you go to sleep for a very long time and wake up in another star system. It would make the most sense to send a bunch of robots to build yourself a settlement first. Or alternatively send sentient AI which would find it much easier than humans to simply turn itself off for the duration of the trip.

From another SciAm article, “Is Time Travel Even Possible?” about the equal implausability of wormholes: “Billings: Ah yes, wormholes – the last refuge of scoundrels and desperate physicists. The trouble with wormholes Clara, is that, unlike a DeLorean, we have no evidence they actually exist – and, even if they did, it seems the only ways to make them traversable and stable involves using negative energy or negative mass to prop them open. And, guess what, just like wormholes themselves, we have no evidence these weird forms of matter and energy actually exist, either. And let’s just beat this dead horse one more time – even if wormholes exist, as well as the means to make them traversable, to go back in time seems to require anchoring one end in a region of very warped spacetime, like around a black hole, or accelerating it to nearly lightspeed. Are you sensing a theme here, Clara?”

I have previously (14/4/2019, 25/8/2023 entries) expressed irritation at “FTL magic” in otherwise hard SF novels, and still feel that way. The Alcubierre Drive has been popular in SF since it was announced, so now all the authors using (or wanting to use) this magical tech in otherwise hard SF may need to reconsider.

“The interstellar dream is dying,” Chris Taylor for Mashable, 2018. “Why we’ll never actually travel to the stars.” Another (20/9 entry) gloomy opinion on the prospects of interstellar travel and colonization of other worlds. But, in comparison to debunked and unobtainable FTL travel, such a venture is still more plausible on slower-than-light colony or sleeper ships, if the money and will could be found to construct them.

Thursday 12/10: City visit; ISS radiator leak update

In contrast to yesterday, wet and miserable today. I took the train to the City (Melbourne CBD), made awkward and uncomfortable no thanks to the rain, but I got there and back OK. I like being able to sit on the train and read books or web surf on my phone, but getting to the station and back is still unpleasant (walking in the rain). I visited 3 bookstores, but little of interest in my favorite section, sci-fi and fantasy. At Minotaur I did espy and buy a copy of Ballistic by Travis S. Taylor (6/6/2022 entry) which I am partway through; it is not too bad (but even mass-market paperbacks are expensive here; $23 for this!). Minotaur are the only bookshop that stocks Baen Books but, as I noted in my 22/9 entry, a lot of sci-fi published now is just awful.

Update on the Russian ISS module Nauka radiator leak (10/10 entry):

Sergei Krikalyov about the absence of influence of a leak from the additional radiator of the Nauka module on the ISS and its crew

Executive Director for Manned Space Programs of the Roskosmos State Corporation Sergei Krikalyov spoke about the absence of influence of coolant leakage from the additional radiation heat exchanger of the multi-purpose laboratory module Nauka on the comfort of the crew of the International Space Station, the performance of experiments and the flight program.

According to him, the external thermal control system of the Nauka module consists of two duplicated circuits running both in the module and in the additional radiator. “In one of these circuits there was a coolant leak from the additional radiator pipeline. Due to the fact that the Nauka module has redundant heat dump capabilities, one circuit and then the other operate alternately. And in the circuit that was not working, there was a leak,” explained Sergei Krikalyov.

He noted that there is no threat to the ISS and its crew, since one circuit of the thermal control system is enough to dump heat from the Nauka module. “In this circuit, we actually only had one pump working out of all that are there, in order to minimize heat loss and not cool the module too much. From the point of view of the flight program, the possibility of conducting scientific experiments and the comfort of the crew, no changes are felt,” said Sergei Krikalyov.

According to him, during the spacewalk, tentatively scheduled for October 25, Roskosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub will have to carefully examine and photograph in detail the leak site. They will also cut off the leaky part of the additional radiator in order to be able to restore the functionality of the rest of the Nauka module’s thermal control system circuit by refueling it. “We will understand the feasibility and complexity of restoring the tightness of the additional radiator circuit when we understand the cause of the leak,” added Sergei Krikalyov.

He noted that the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation named after S.P. Korolev (part of the Roskosmos State Corporation) has a technical commission that will develop recommendations for restoring functionality and plans for using an additional radiator in the future. “This radiator is designed to dump a lot of heat when needed. If some experiments suddenly appear that require a large discharge of heat from the station, then this radiator can provide such an additional opportunity. This is potential for the future,” explained Sergei Krikalyov.

Friday 13/10: Novels ordered; war on cars continues

I ordered two novels by Patrick Chiles from Minotaur Books (I did not think to look for them there yesterday – 12/10 entry): Frontier and Escape Orbit (sequel to Frozen Orbit – 26/4/2020, 19/9/2020 entries; I finished this and felt interested enough to buy the paperback sequel). Also to buy later is the sequel to Delta-V by Daniel Suarez (also mentioned in my 19/9/2020 entry): Critical Mass. All these are hard/mundane science fiction, with realistic technology (already available, or in development).

More anti-car activism (29/10/2021, 3/12/2021, 6/1/2022, 27/4/2022, 1/10 entries), making life ever-more difficult for drivers (article reproduced below as the originating site is too annoying to visit):

City declares diesel, petrol cars banned

Stockholm plans to ban petrol and diesel cars from some city areas starting in 2025 to reduce traffic noise and improve air quality, according to the city’s vice mayor for transport. The plan creates an environmental zone in the heart of Stockholm, spanning 20 blocks that include high-end shopping streets and some of Sweden’s priciest office spaces. The Green Party, part of Stockholm City Council’s left-wing and environmentally-focused ruling coalition, aims to accelerate the transition from combustion engines to electric cars. “Nowadays, the air in Stockholm causes babies to have lung conditions and the elderly to die prematurely. It is a completely unacceptable situation,” Green Party Vice Mayor for Transport Lars Stromgren said.

A class-three environmental zone allows fully electric cars. Exceptions apply for larger vans, which may use plug-in hybrid vehicles. Some vehicles, such as ambulances, police cars, and those used by people with disabilities, are exempt from the regulation.

The Green Party plans to expand the environmental zone beyond its initial introduction. Transport companies argued the plan was excessive and recommended investing in electric charging points instead to encourage voluntary change. “Since 2010, we have reduced emissions by 34 per cent. But the Green Party and their colleagues in the city of Stockholm are now in far too much of a hurry,” the Swedish Confederation of Transport Enterprises said.

However, according to Bloomberg reports, consumers in Sweden are shying away from EVs due to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. Earlier this year, Mobility Sweden lowered its forecast for new EV registrations in 2023 to 35 per cent from 40 per cent of total registrations.

Stockholm is set to become the first city in Sweden to introduce a class-three environmental zone. Cities worldwide are taking steps to reduce vehicle emissions and promote sustainable transportation. Brussels banned non-essential and non-local car traffic in December on 10 central city streets. London also introduced one of the most ambitious vehicle emissions policies by expanding its ultra-low emissions zone in August. However, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently delayed the government’s green agenda by five years, moving the plan to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars to 2035.

In the neighbouring country of Norway’s capital, Oslo, which has been leading the way in electric vehicles, the municipal environment agency has recommended the introduction of a zero-emission zone in the inner city. The target is to first include heavy transport and trucks in 2025, followed by cars in 2027.

– news.com.au, 11/10/2023

Saturday 14/10: No to the Voice; so-called sacred sites; social class system critique

Grudgingly performed my duty as a citizen today and unhesitatingly voted “NO” on the Voice referendum ballot (8/10 entry). Another gripe to add to those listed in that entry is the nonsense about so-called “sacred sites” – an article at Quadrant Online, “Secular Thoughts on Sacred Sites,” 10/8, critiques the concept, which is too often now abused. “Other Australians hold contrary views. Some see sacred sites and the status accorded them as a cultural anachronism, out of time in a modern democratic society. They disagree with the legal authority vested in sacred sites, which effectively weaponises them for groups opposing development projects or making land claims in urban areas. Put bluntly, they view most sacred sites in urban areas as fabrications for political or monetary purposes.” But the overriding view now romanticizes Aboriginal spirituality:

There has always been a romanticism about the land among urban Australians, including many with mixed Aboriginal heritage: that the “real” Australia lies in the “outback” beyond the city limits. But many now see that land as once populated by Aboriginal nations living peacefully in harmony with nature and each other and blessed with a spirituality unknown to “white” people. This idyllic society has more to do with Disney and New Age ideology than with the reality of pre-colonial Australia, but it is increasingly the popular view of traditional Aboriginal life.

Sacred sites are seen as proof of that timeless spirituality, unchanged and burning bright in the far “outback” but with embers still aglow in urban dreams. People who see nothing spiritual in a landscape created by the Christian God, reverently hold sacred mountains fashioned by mythic dogs and rivers carved by serpent spirits. […] For many, religion is an unsustaining secular blend of faded Christianity and mysticism, and sacred sites seem to provide a spiritual reassurance, as though satisfying some ancient longing for a sacred grove or, in the modern vernacular, a place where the crawdads sing.

Such beliefs accord well with the nature worship that is now so prevalent in Western societies, including Australia. Optimism and faith in society and technology are lost; pessimism and belief in nature prevail – the ever-changing balance in the Western mind that historian Geoffrey Blainey called “the Great Seesaw”. Many Australians are metaphorically turning away from civilisation and back to the forest. This intellectual malaise blighting Western thought has worsened in recent decades, courtesy of critical race theory and other woke notions. Science is dismissed as just another tool of Western racist colonialism; wisdom belongs with the “lived experience” of the elders.

From the reader comments: “They are great yarn tall story spinners and will tell you what they think you would like to hear and have suckered the general populace and governments in for a long time now, at least that’s the opinion of many of us who grew up in the bush and the “secret” business is mainly a nice way of telling you to mind your own business. They are a class act when it is all said and done and are as good as if not better than asylum seekers at using the word that begins with -bull – to get their way. When on surveillance forty and more years ago I tried using a Kundela (bone usually or sometimes a stick used for bone pointing) to place the death wish on asylum boats etc. without any obvious positive results so that destroys another myth about them. What isn’t mythical about them is the amount of taxpayer dollars thrown at them that hasn’t improved the way of life of those poor buggers who are fringe dwellers and a voice won’t change their plight in the slightest. (Botswana O’Hooligan)

“The Class system – the one thing it lacked was in its name.” Spleen Squeezin’s Livejournal, 30/7/2007 (linked by the still-absent Jeffersonian/Karl Leffler [22/9 entry] in his 31 July 2007 blog entry). A strong critique of the hateful embedded class system as still seen in England, and which the USA has tried to escape from. “But obsession with class … culture or caste, either kind … leads not just to elitism and arrogance, but to cultural fossilization (see either the caste system of India, ancient China, or Japan) and to the crushing of human hope and the erasure of human worth.” One particular quote from the reader comments (slightly edited for spelling errors):

One thing I would like to mention, and this goes along the same lines as you, is something else America offered the undertrodden of Europe and France, and even those who still live in class systems today. America offered those people, and offered these people something they have never befor had. Something that is their own.

The English servants really had nothing of their own. Not their own home, their own clothes, or anything. It was surfdom, slavery, and servitude under a pompus noble blue blood ass. Your very livelihood as a servent rested soley on the “nobility” doing right by you, and in many cases they did not.

America offered something so much more. Yes the land you bought out in the West was wild, untamed, with beasts and savages roaming and lurking everywhere, but to the imigrant who bought that land, it was their very own piece of land! IF the land succeded or failed it would rest solely upon the backs of the family who bought the land. It was theirs and theirs alone and no one had the right to take it from them.

Even the Range Wars of the Old West, fought for increasing the land size one rancher had over the other, it was still their land they were fighting for. They weren’t being sent off to fight for some noble’s whim of fancy, they were fighting to protect what was theirs.

After all is said and done, America offers something no one, and no where else in the world can offer you. Something that is your very own. More than that, the American Spirit cries out that once you have your own, you keep it, protect it, and cherish it, and you die fighting for it.

This nation, is ours, made by the blood sweat and tears of our fore fathers and ancestors who settled this great nation. What we have, and what the people who still come here have, is their own and no one has the right to take from us what is ours. Not some out of touch politician, not some pompus hot air “global warming” scumbag and all his ilk, not some snotty nosed Hollywood punk, and definitly, not any of the old world nations who owe their very freedom from the tyrany of the Third Reich and hell most of all the advances in medicine science and standard of living in the past five hundred years to America, or some backwater stone-aged people who wage a holy war against us.

They have no right to take anything we have, to try to change us in anyway shape or form but by what and how We the People so choose to take this nation. We, however and by God Almighty, have the right to fight and kill for the right to protect what is our own.

Australia is, like America, eglitarian in theory – though in reality there is still a class system of sorts (Old money; “The six-class system dispelling myths of an egalitarian Australia,” ABC News, 24/1/2018). Unfortunately all human societies seem to form themselves into stratified social classes despite the best efforts of reforms and revolutions. That doesn’t mean citizens should not keep trying to eliminate or minimize class differences, however.

Sunday 15/10: Voice vetoed!

In some good news, the Indigenous Voice to Parliament Referendum was defeated. A pointless and hugely expensive exercise in taxpayers’ funds being wasted on virtue-signalling and appeasing one particular social group. “Aussie ‘deplorables’ have struck a blow against identity politics,” Spiked Online, 14/10, provides an acerbic opinion on the whole charade. “In voting No, Australians have done more than just reject the Voice to Parliament initiative. They have also reaffirmed some crucial democratic principles. A Yes victory would have meant inviting unelected representatives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to form a constitutionally sanctioned lobby group, or ‘Voice’, supposedly to represent indigenous views to the federal parliament. Details beyond that, as to what powers this body would have to influence or veto legislation, or how its members would be chosen, were kept vague by the Yes campaign and by Labor prime minister Anthony Albanese. Yet whatever precise form the Voice might have taken, it was abundantly clear that giving indigenous people a special constitutional body would have meant dividing Australians on the basis of race. It would have undermined the principle of one person, one vote. It would have made a mockery of the idea that all citizens are equal.”

Monday 16/10: Roskosmos dream; books arrived

Unpleasant inclement weather with a strong south wind and intermittent heavy rain. Have not been walking for a few days; just do not feel like it.

Had a dream last night involving Roskosmos; something about a crisis there which I was not aware of that involved more hostility between them and the Western space agencies. I also wandered around the familiar dream version of my local backstreets. One odd recurring scene is of trying to climb down a very steep, almost vertical, road cutting embankment in the evening – though there is nothing like this in my real-world suburb. Another (though not last night) is of deep open sinkholes residing under the road network here.

My ordered books arrived (13/10 entry), so they are added to my small physical collection of sci-fi novels.

Tuesday 17/10: Behind-the-scenes code tidying

Have spent a very tedious few hours doing some behind-the-scenes HTML code tidying-up; mainly with <blockquote>s. A lot of regular expression search-and-replacing (and then manual checking). Very mind-numbing and mentally tiring! I like my code to be as perfect as possible. I am also still dithering over Unicode symbols versus the limited ASCII version (e.g. trademark: <sup>(TM)</sup> in code or ™ ALT + 0153 entered with the keyboard): whether to keep my code as backwards-compatible with older browsers and text editors that might not understand Unicode entities (it also makes typing simpler as I can just use the displayed symbols on my English keyboard), or to use Unicode symbols where possible (as the W3C recommends).

Wednesday 18/10: Weekly retail therapy; USA will muddle along

Had a debilitating headache from early this morning until around lunchtime; could barely function to do my daily chores. I did take the bus to Chadstone SC for some more “retail therapy” (buying items I don’t really need with money I can’t really afford to spend), but to hell with it, I do feel (temporarily) better.

“A Second American Civil War?” Glenn Harlan Reynolds for TCS Daily, 29/11/2020. Not in the immediate future, but the extreme partisianship on both sides of the political spectrum are a dangerous distraction. I don’t think the USA is in danger of collapse, despite the grim predictions of doomsayers; it has a robust democratic foundation and will continue to muddle along (like most of the rest of civilization).

A recent Reddit r/TrueUnpopularOpinion post which I don’t disagree with, “America is one of the best places in the world to live in.” (Related: 14/10 entry.)

For all the bitching that happens on Reddit about how much America sucks, it’s still probably one of the best places in the world to live in. I live in Canada now but I grew up in a third world country and spent quite a few years in the US. Yes, it’s not perfect and has its own set of issues, but it’s far safer, with more opportunities, infrastructure, established systems and procedures etc than most other places in the world. And I actually have found American people to be some of the nicest I’ve come across. There’s a reason why so many people want to move there – it’s pretty damn great in most ways.

In addition, a lot of the places that ignorant redditors fetishize, like Japan and Western Europe, have their own set of ingrained flaws and issues, and the funny thing is, a lot of the time, it’s the exact same things that people complain about for the US (i.e. income inequality, rampant capitalism, rising cost of living etc.)

Thursday 19/10: Clothing purging

No headache this morning – makes a big difference in how I feel (at least, at the beginning of the day). Sunny warm weather, but unwelcome rain due Sunday.

Spent some time sorting through older clothing that I have not worn in a long time and taking them to charity bins to donate. A tiring chore, but it helps reduce some clutter. I am now weary though and my limited energy has run out for the day.

Friday 20/10: And more purging; An Animist Rambling’s Substack

Still more clothing sorting and purging, so am utterly exhausted again. Weather is very warm; high 20s, with a 19°C night forecast.

I am just disengaged from world events and news, with no inclination to comment on anything. I am burned out and fed up with the hysterical posts on social media.

Followed a Reddit user’s link to his Substack, An Animist’s Ramblings. Some lengthy but thoughtful posts on trying to live sustainably, and whether this is ultimately futile (so no starry-eyed idealism). He is one of many Westerners living in South-East Asia – Thailand in this case. Not something I would want to do if I had the means; the cost of living there is lower but there is no social security and poverty is far worse and more evident than in Western countries. Also the hot, humid climate would debititate me.

Saturday 21/10: Yet more clothes purging

Very warm overnight – to mid-20s – and overcast today, with rain slowly building up. Did a little more clothes purging and general tidying, so am tired again and feeling flat.

Sunday 22/10: Yet another earthquake! Car congestion tax proposed; HTML named entities

Back to rain and cold winds; yuck.

Felt an earthquake – well, just a minor tremor – at 2:12 a.m. this morning! (Previously: 29/5, 30/6, 5/7 entries.) I was in bed awake as usual, given my erratic sleep pattern. There was a strong wind blowing outside, so I initially thought the house trembled briefly due to this, but quickly realized the 5 seconds or so of slight shaking and creaking was a real tremor. Magnitude 5, near Apollo Bay on the Otway Ranges coast (143.49 longtiude, −38.65 latitude, 7 km depth), and an aftershock nearby around 6 a.m. (which I did not feel) of 3.6 magnitude. The event got the obligatory r/Melbourne post at Reddit.

War on cars (similar to “cashless concerns,” a continuing topic now! Most recently: 1/10, 13/10 entries). “CBD congestion charge needed as city grows: Infrastructure Victoria,” The Age, 20/10. Yet another irksome and expensive imposition upon drivers; the hated congestion charge (or paying for the simple right to drive through a city) is already in use in some countries (London, Stockholm, Singapore are mentioned in the article) and, given the anti-car attitudes prevailent in some sectors of society, may well be introduced here. I do prefer to use public transport where available, but it is not always convenient or reliable – and wet, cold, inclement weather makes the process miserable. Also, when wanting to do grocery shopping, for example, a car is a much more convenient method of carrying a heavy and bulky load of items.

Behind-the-scenes webdev minutae: regarding the HTML Unicode entities dilemma (30/8, 17/10 entries), a compromise for now is to use the named entities for less-used ones, and those with no ALT+ (3-number code) keyboard alternative (one can input these via enabling hexadecimal Unicode input, but this is an extra imposition that involves editing the Registry and is only Windows-applicable). For example, the minus sign (−) is &minus; for the named entity code, compatible from HTML 4 onwards. It also means that the Unicode symbols don’t get mangled when a page is encoded as ASCII rather than UTF-8. (Though David A. Wheeler in “Curling Quotes in HTML, SGML, and XML” advises against using named entities but to use numeric equivalents instead for maximum backwards compatability – but the article dates from 2002, so it might be safer to now.)

Monday 23/10: Meh Monday

Did not wake up with a headache. A good start to the morning when that happens! But am now tired as usual and am lacking inspiration for a topic, again.

Tuesday 24/10: Burned out on news; Internet dropout

Decided to delete the “Stand with Russia” links on my Links page as I am utterly burned out on the topic (but of course I still support Russia!). I just want to avoid politics as much as possible.

The broadband Internet connection from our modem to the outside dropped out from around 1 p.m. and is unavailable; very frustrating! I can connect via my mobile phone, but that is via the separate mobile tower network (and a different provider), and I am limited in what I can do. Dad used to have Chariot ISP as the home Internet provider for many years, but it got subsumed into TPG and Chariot email was discontinued last year. He does not have a TPG account to log into (his Chariot email and password just get redirected to the defunct Chariot website), but is getting a regular usage charge from TPG on his bank statement. Other than that we can’t contact anyone! He cannot understand such matters anymore, and I cannot contact anyone, so the account is in a sort of limbo. I am baffled and frustrated as to what to do.

Wednesday 25/10: Still no Internet connection

No Internet reconnection yet, and the ISP “support” has been abysmal. Outsourcing call center support to countries with staff who can barely speak understandable English (Manila, Philippines, according to a Whirlpool forum reply) seems to be an all-too-common practice now. Managed to contact a human at Chariot today, but they told me they only dealt with email (which I thought had been discontinued last year?) and any NBN connection problems were dealt with by TPG. I found a forum TPG 25/10 post by a user with a similar issue – “No NBN Network Outage but no Internet connection,” and posted my own problem.

And, of course, I can do no website updating via FTP until I (well, my parents’ home) get an NBN Internet connection again. My smartphone (iPhone 11) is my only link to the Internet at the moment, and a frustratingly limited one, too – the battery drains quickly, typing is difficult and I can only passively view websites.

An update: was told by the community moderator to contact Chariot by email, and they replied: “Looks like the reason why you don’t have Internet is due to billing issue. The last payment attempt was rejected because of expired credit card. You may need to contact TPG Helpdesk directly to correct this.” A customer reference number was given. So another wearisome attempt at contacting TPG again, and I don’t have anymore energy for this today.

Dad would have dealt with this a few years ago, but is now in cognitive decline and can barely understand what is going on with this account, or how the Internet connection works generally – I have to explain over and over that the mobile phone connection is on a separate mobile tower network to the NBN line, and he does not seem to grasp that difference, and I end up yelling at him. I have no one to help me and I am extremely distressed and frustrated.

Thursday 26/10: New ISP account; Internet available again (hopefully)

Finally got the ISP NBN disconnection issue sorted, after a series of long phone calls. Ended up with Dad getting a new TPG account; an exhausting procedure but we should hopefully be reconnected to the Internet in 24-48 hours. A new modem to be delivered sometime in the next few days. The onerous terms and conditions of the account are concerning, but too exhausted to “shop around,” and most other ISPs are much the same. I did most of the talking and procedures; Dad could not have done it by himself. Good practice for me at “adulting,” but still very stressful. I am exhausted once again. Having a mobile phone as the sole Internet interface is a very subpar experience; I really need my desktop PC for any serious work.

Edit: the Internet connection seems to be back on again (hopefully! X=). At least for now. So a bit of online catching-up to do. But this emphasizes that one can’t take being online for granted.

Friday 27/10: Headachey and tired; two planetary romance novels bought

Still feeling exhausted and frazzled from yesterday; I also had a headache this morning which drained me even more. Then there is the new modem to be delivered, installed and set up, which I am not looking forward to.

I online-ordered the omnibus edition of Planet of Adventure by Jack Vance (a re-buy actually, as I foolishly donated my previous copy in one of my book purges – nearly $50 to buy a paperback via Amazon Australia; ouch!) (mentioned in my 21/11/2017 entry and Books read page). On beginning to re-read it again, I realize how evocative Jack Vance’s descriptions of the alien world and characters and creatures are; a sepia-toned world lit by an amber sun with dark and exotically-colored vegetation; of grey and red skies.

I also felt compelled to buy an omnibus copy of the first three stories of John Carter and Barsoom by Edgar Rice Burroughs (A Princess of Mars; The Gods of Mars and Warlord of Mars – public domain text available on the BARSOOM NOVELS page at the ERBzine official author estate website, and Project Gutenberg). I wonder if these foundation novels had some influence on Jack Vance’s story (a man stranded on an alien world who rescues a princess in distress). I have never yet read ERB’s Mars novels, though I know of them.

The ERBzine website is the “Official Edgar Rice Burroughs Tribute and Weekly Webzine Site Since 1996 ~ 15,000 Web Pages in Archive.” A (to my eyes now) marvellously old-fashioned static HTML website; very dated hand-coding (deprecated <font> tags and such) but at this stage it is a relief from the dreadfully bloated and bland Wordpress sites endemic on the Internet now.

Saturday 28/10: Landline phone number to be ported; Elon Musk bio review; CIA proxy war

Spent a couple of hours this afternoon phoning TGP customer service to get my parents’ landline phone number ported (our house has had the same one for decades, so it is embedded in long-term memory). If all goes well, it should be transferred sometime next week. The Filipino (I think?) call center operators were quite helpful, so the process was not as onerous as the first time (25/10 entry). I was better prepared for it mentally also (though still anxious about it). The new modem is scheduled to arrive early next week, so setting that up will be another trial – mainly, entering the new WiFi password for all our various devices. I sometimes miss the days of analog phones and everything being done by paperwork. The digital version seems to be even more complex (and fragile).

A review of Walter Isaacson’s Elon Musk biography in today’s The Age: “Life in Elon’s orbit.” “Ever since he emerged at the turn of the century as a Silicon Valley tech wizard, the surly bonds of Earth have never been able to contain his ambition. But the devotion to that vision combined with the quirks of his personality raise a vexing question. Is he a super-heroic Iron Man or simply a super-tiresome man-boy? Is he going to save civilisation or destroy democracy?” And he should not support Ukraine in any way.

Via Larry Johnson, “Ukrainian spies with deep ties to CIA wage shadow war against Russia,” Washington Post, 23/10. A slightly more objective article than the usual pro-Ukraine bias, though still mentions that “Russia illegally annexed Crimea.” Hopefully Russia will be ruthless in combating these foes; it is obvious a proxy war against it is being fought (one of many the CIA has conducted over decades).

Sunday 29/10: Overcomplicated tech gripes; 53 soon; a wish for rest; book arrived with damage

Sunny and pleasant weather, but I have not been walking due to the usual fatigue.

Relevant to my grumbles about overly-complex appliances in my 17/9 entry, an r/AskOldPeople subReddit post: “Who else here HATES household appliances with control panels that resemble a NASA command post?”

My 53rd birthday approaches. As I have previously states (9/7 entry), my real wish is simply for rest, sleep and solitude.

My book order for Planet of Adventure arrived today (27/10 entry), but unfortunately the paperback was somewhat damaged, with noticeable spine creasing. I decided to return it to Amazon for a replacement (which will hopefully in better condition), so will mail it back tomorrow as instructed.

Monday 30/10: Trials and tribulations; techno-optimism

An exhausting day. Dealing with cantankerous parents again (Dad getting up much earlier than normal). I fantasize about being by myself and not having to cope with the presence of other people.

Got the damaged book (29/10 entry) mailed at the post office to send to Amazon.

Toilet got partially blocked but some plunger work cleared it (hopefully).

Still awaiting delivery of new modem and router. Also rang TPG again as they sent an SMS requesting this; no dramas, just clarifying the porting of our old landline number. Call center staff were friendly and helpful – I am doing much of the talking now as Dad is no longer capable of coping with a lot of this.

“The Techno-Optimist Manifesto” by Marc Andreessen is predictably attracting a lot of flak (a couple of example critical articles: “What the Techno-Billionaire Missed About Techno-Optimism,” Wired.com; “A Tech Overlord’s Horrifying, Silly Vision for Who Should Rule the World,” NYT), given its aggressively positive assertion that the advance of technology and progress is a force for good. I am ambivalent about this view.

Tuesday 31/10: Dad up too early; new modem installed

Dad had yet another brain glitch when he arose extremely early again (around 3 a.m.! 30/10, 24/8 entries) and got his breakfast as normal. He seemed to be confused as to what the time was. I am stressed and exhausted from coping with ageing parents, and full of anxiety about what will go wrong next. I have no one to help me.

Got the new modem plugged in and connected.

November

Wednesday 1/11: City visit; Cherryh novel bought

Took the train to the City today; did not stay long as usual to keep my travel time under 2 hours, so much rushing about. Ended up buying Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh; the only novel of hers on the shelf at Minotaur bookstore. I went off her a few years ago, so I currently have none of her novels in physical copies (previous mention: 4/2/2017 entry; Books read page). This is one of her older novels (1981), semi-hard sci-fi as faster-than-light travel is introduced eventually. Her best novels were published then; she is still producing some but has suffered many health issues in recent years, some old-age related, unfortunately. To quote from a recent blog entry: “[…] but the passing of Jane’s sister and the acquisition of Tanner a cat; the loss of our carpenter (who moved out of state); then Covid, cancer (mine), gall bladder (Jane’s), chemo (mine), and 4 hip replacements (ours), rather well kept us off balance.” Her work is still superior to much of which is published today in sci-fi, though her writing style is terse and can be difficult for readers not used to it.

Feeling flat and mentally dull.

Thursday 2/11: Last week of being 52; gloomy sky; an unexpected bag exchange

One week until my 53rd birthday.

Dull and overcast again today; rather depressing weather, though at least there is no rain. Seattle in the USA seems to have a lot of similar weather from what I have read. I dislike such weather (seasonal affective disorder in part, I think), but am used to it. It is one place – or region – in the Pacific Northwest USA I would still like to live if I ever had the option (not likely in my current situation!).

Ended up taking the bus to Chadstone SC today. A bag I recently bought had a factory defect – a twisted shoulder strap that could not be straightened due to being sewn in place. I had not kept the receipt or left the tags on as I was not expecting to get an exchange, so I got another with a normal strap to rebuy. On telling the cashier, she called the supervisor and, due to the purchase being recorded on my online store account, was able to exchange the bags anyway! A nice surprise and saved me money on a repurchase.

Friday 3/11: The usual altercations

Started off the day in a good mood, but this had soured by the morning due to the usual altercations with parents. Feeling dull and irritable all day now. I wish for solitude, and when not, just to be able to have a coherent conversation with normally-functioning people.

Saturday 4/11: A pro-cash activist

More altercations with parents. Repeating the same behaviors over and over again. I am utterly burnt-out and fed up.

Cashless concerns (previously: 22/9 entry): Via a Hacker News post, “10 reasons to fight cashless contagion,” Brett Scott, 2/11. A pro-cash activist presenting some good arguments against a digital-only currency society. The push towards this and the vilification of cash is an insidious usurpation of an individual’s control over their method of spending, and of their privacy. He has other articles there on the topic worth reading.

Sunday 5/11: New iPad!

Weather warming up; into the high 20s for the next couple of days.

A better day regarding interaction with parents. For a birthday gift, I also upgraded to a new iPad! The one released last year, iPad 10, blue color. I traded in my Generation 8 for it. Have spent the afternoon upgrading the operating system to the latest version then syncing my iCloud data; I also found (after arriving back home) that I need a USB-C to USB A cable and/or adapter so I can backup to my PC, which of course I don’t have, so yet another necessary dongle to purchase. Transferring from one device to another is quite stressful – a digital version of moving house – so I will need a few days to settle in. First thing I did after opening the box was fit a screen protector and case (as I did with the previous iPad).

Want to go to bed, so no more for today.

Monday 6/11: Replacement book little better; setting up iPad continued

Much warmer today, but the heat saps what little energy I have.

The replacement for Planet of Adventure was delivered today (29/10 entry), and the packaging was better – but the replacement book was similarly damaged! I give up; I just can’t go through all that process again.

I have mostly configured my new iPad (5/11 entry) to the way I had with the previous one, but I utterly loathe the onerous security procedures Apple enforces just to use the device. Also the locked-down file system where I cannot view everything stored on the iPad as I would normal files and folders in the Windows OS.

Tuesday 7/11: No landline number ported yet

Hot; high 20s, so no energy. Public holiday today for an increasingly irrelevant and archaic horse race.

Still little progress on getting my parents’ old landline number ported to the new TPG account after nearly 3 weeks of a lot of phone calls (30/10 entry). I have been doing most of the talking to various call center staff in the Phillipines (I think – 25/10 entry) as Dad simply can’t cope. They are friendly and helpful, but somewhat hampered by the company protocol. I rang again today; there is some sort of delay in the procedure checklist, so more waiting and future calls. I am too tired to elaborate on the details. Other than that issue, the Internet connection has mostly not had any issues.

Wednesday 8/11: Partly-eaten possum; Optus mobile major outage

My last day of being 52. Stormy and unsettled weather.

Had to pick up, bag and bin a partly-eaten dead possum on the backyard lawn this morning – gross! Mostly eaten, but with the intestines left in a neat pile. Probably a fox or cat would be the culprit. I loathe possums – they are in plague proportions, and make a dreadful mess (poop all over footpaths). Unfortunately there is a stupid law that renders all Australian wildlife protected, so culling possums (which are not endangered) is officially forbidden (though I suspect a few residents would quietly ignore that, and I don’t blame them. “Devour and conquer: Victoria’s possum war,” The Age, 14/2/2014 – “‘some people get frustrated by possums causing garden damage and making a noise and illegally poison them or trap them.’” I have no tolerance for deluded animal activists, and would not hesitate to cull nuisance animals).

“Optus mobile and internet services down across Australia with millions of customers affected,” ABC News, 8/11. A major outage that renders much of digitally-dependent society almost unable to function, and again emphasizing the danger of relying on such a fallible technology. According to a comment thread on a r/Australia Reddit post:

Word on the street is that this is likely (as expected) a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) misconfiguration. […]

Still assuming, but likely they made a change to the way their network devices find paths around the network, it propagated around their entire network, locking themselves out of their own devices. (In this case BGP protocol, but ignore that detail).

Usually you manage these remotely from a central configuration tool, but you can’t do that if you’ve so badly screwed it up that your tools to do so can’t even access then anymore.

So if it’s that, they need to both

  1. Stop whatever is propagating that config change
  2. Physically go to each network device, (like, drive out to it, wherever it is), connect a cable to it and configure it manually at the site of each device.

’Cos every device (if it’s similar to older BGP outages) is completely remotely inaccessible.

Thursday 9/11: 53

I am 53 today. I just feel mentally and physically flat and dull; no enjoyment from anything. I have not had a birthday party since my childhood.

Friday 10/11: Landline number ported at last!

Hot today; up to 30°C. Nice to see Venus near the Moon in a clear morning sky to the east.

Some good news at last: my parents’ old landline number has finally been ported to the new TPG account! As I found out when test-calling from my mobile phone. So people can make incoming calls again. Been 3 weeks (24/10 entry) since this saga began. Hopefully our Internet and landline will work normally again.

Saturday 11/11: Cash still essential; push towards Passkeys; HTML hand-coders; C. J. Cherryh appreciation

Very warm overnight and into this morning until a cool wind change blew through. I have been feeling off-color (trapped gas again!) all day.

Cashless concerns (previously: 4/11 entry): “The Optus outage has thrown our cashless society into question, but experts say there’s no going back,” ABC News, 11/11. Why does ABC News keep pushing the opinion that physical cash is becoming obsolete? The Optus outage debacle on 8/11 only reinforced how necessary cash still is (and I preferentially use it).

“Are Passkeys really the beginning of the end of passwords? I certainly hope not!” “Unixsheikh,” 9/11 (his real name is not revealed on his website). In this piece he criticizes the latest security fad, Passkeys (yet another method of making accessing online accounts even more onerous). “Of course all of this requires a reliable and modern computer or smartphone which makes Passkeys inaccessible to the poor, underprivileged, or anyone who does not own or operate a capeable device. […] the Passkey concept pushes data ownership one step closer to the Big Tech industry. Taking another vital element of informational self-determination out of the hands of end users by favoring biometric-based authentication factors over something that is actually available solely to the user. […] My password is mine. I control my password. I own my password. I am not dependent upon some third party closed proprietary operating system or device to handle my security. I would rather have a piece of paper with all my passwords written down, stored in a drawer at home, than have Google, Apple, or Microsoft handle anything regarding security for me!”

I find myself agreeing with many of his opinions, on having a user of technology retain control and ownership of their data, of not overcomplicating technology. Happily, he hand-codes his webpages: “Come full circle – back to HTML,” 18/10/2020 – “As it turns out I have now come full circle back to manually typing HTML and I have actually found the return to pure HTML refreshing. No tools and no conversion is needed, just type and upload!” (Related: 11/7, 21/9 entries.)

He also linked to another similar website in the first article here, by Jeff Johnson; one entry from that: “Blogging without a blogging engine,” 2/11/2022 – “I write all of my blog posts in plain HTML using BBEdit. It doesn’t suck.” He does have each entry on its own webpage, which makes topics easier to find but also means that one could end up with thousands of individual blog entries (my Journal entries total 2388 so far!).

C. J. Cherryh (1/11 entry) has, after her previous health ordeals, been diagnosed with breast cancer. From her Facebook fan page (not publicly accessible), a 9/11 post: “Well, a less than happy mammogram. Biopsy says, yep, not good. What IS good is that it’s a very small item – and didn’t get too far. My oncology doc’s been watching everything like a hawk, and leaning on tests, tests, tests. It paid off bigtime, and caught this when it’s smaller than a pencil eraser. The OTHER piece of good news is – it’s entirely unrelated, genetically, to the colon cancer I beat. This means THAT particular cancer didn’t spread. It’s not that problem. This is just its own thing. And this also is caught – early. About to be dealt with.” She was born in 1942, so is 83 and getting frail, sadly; hopefully she will live for many years yet.

A r/printSF post from a year ago: “Of course The Expanse writers were influenced by Cherryh!” I feel some interest in reading some of her Alliance-Union books, the ones with humans as main characters; they are semi-hard sci-fi (with faster-than-light travel, though, which in my strict interpretation disqualifies a novel from being true hard sci-fi – I’ll forgive her stories for that, though). In my opinion she is a far superior writer to the James S. A. Corey team (Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck). The latters’ style tends to be rather simplistic; easier to read perhaps, but they have a habit of laboriously stating the obvious.

A relevant comment from another post about Cherryh, worth quoting:

Secondly, without Cherryh, no Expanse.

Thirdly, I’d say she almost single-handedly created gritty, realistic sci-fi with social-political commentary – albeit for societies and politics which don’t exist. Which is what makes her work so compelling.

She DOES do great battle scenes. The space combat in Downbelow Station ranks among the best I’ve ever read. The problem is, her battle scenes are very rare. Also, very, very realistic. Bren Cameron, in Foreigner, knows damned well that he’s just a geek with a gun and, every time he fires it it’s very much “spray and pray.” Mostly, he just follows his security’s orders to keep his fucking head down and stay out of the way and that’s how you get to see most of the action he is involved in.

Finally, I feel safe in saying that Cherryh would be hailed as one of her generation’s finest writers, if only she weren’t a woman who began writing in a niché, male-dominated genre in the 1960s and ’70s.

This is the big problem with Cherryh (or her strongest draw, in my opinion). She writes in a very tight-focused third person perspective, much like Tolstoy in War and Peace. This means that you see the world as her characters do and nothing more. Often times, HUGE plot points are simply not enunciated – they are implied. This is rather like jazz: you need to play close attention to the notes that are NOT being played as well as the notes that are in order to reconstruct what the artist is actually doing.

This also crosses over into her universe and how it works. It’s hella detailed, but Cherryh never puts it down on paper. For example, for all she’s written about interstellar travel, we still don’t know how it works. Fans have gathered together and, piece by piece, they’ve come up with a great and deep understanding of how Cherryh must ASSUME it works. This required an almost biblical-level of exegesis, however. Why? Because the characters NEVER tell you, flat out, how jumps work, in the same way a modern person would never think to themselves how internal combustion works when they turn the engine over in their car.

This causes a lot of attrition and confusion with incautious or, frankly, bad readers. And there’re a lot of those in scifi fandom because scifi is still seen as sort of a literary “comfort food.” If you really like Star Wars or Warhammer novelizations, for example, Cherryh will probably not appeal to you in the same way that going to a McDonalds and finding that their menu consists solely of locally-sourced, traditional Roman cuisine wouldn’t appeal to you. You need to acquire a taste for Cherryh and some people never do. At eleven years of age, for example, I bounced off of Downbelow Station like a sparrow off a patio door. By 15, I could read it. By 18, I began to enjoy it. But I only REALLY got into it at 25. Now, it (together with Cyteen) is in my desert island library.

Tldr: Cherryh is the best author in scifi in my opinion, but also one of the most complicated. It is hard to read her for simple fun. Rather, getting into Cherryh is like getting into rare and strange Scottish whiskeys: you really need to develop a palette and put some effort into it. If you do, however, there are few experiences more rewarding.

Sunday 12/11: Not walking again; finished The Ross 248 Project

I have not been walking for a couple of weeks; just do not want to, and am exhausted from chores and wrangling parents.

I finished The Ross 248 Project novel (25/8 entry). It was OK; none of the stories made a big impression. Don’t know if has any re-read value. I was a bit disappointed to see the now-disproven Alcubierre warp drive (11/10 entry) introduced in the final stories, which makes them no longer strictly realistic sci-fi.

Monday 13/11: Cherryh and damn; Optus post-mortem

A sunny but not hot day. Finally back to normal regarding Internet and landline phone operating (we hope!).

A trivial C. J. Cherryh (11/11 entry) writing style observation: one of her favorite swear words seems to be “Damn” (and variations of), judging by the number of times it appears in her novels! (Alliance Rising, for example, has around 245 instances.)

I am utterly burnt out on the topic of the Russia-Ukraine conflict; it may be noticeable that I have rarely mentioned it for a few weeks now. I simply do not wish to comment much on politics and world events generally; they are wearisome and boring, and I have no mental energy to care.

“Signal failure: Inside Optus’ day from hell,” The Age, 11/11. An overview of how the massive outage unfolded. A point of note, related to the “cashless concerns” topic (11/11 entry): “‘Optusfail’ will have far more profound consequences, given the critical functions – payments, transport infrastructure, hospitals – that have migrated to mobile networks in the last decade. Ten years ago, Australians could easily go to a bank branch or an ATM to access banking services in the event of a telco outage. Now there are fewer ways to get cash, less cash being used, and the nation’s banking, energy, electricity, transport and health systems are all reliant on telecommunications networks, which often are susceptible to a single point of failure. This week, businesses across Australia faced disruptions as payment systems froze, while any applications requiring two-factor authentication or text message verifications, like banking apps, were also hamstrung.” Perhaps, then, businesses should rethink phasing out cash and other “old-fashioned” methods of payment and processing? As perhaps society should as a whole.

Tuesday 14/11: Cash preferred by many still; against privatisation; techno-baron tormenters

A dull and wearisome day. Spent some time lying down and trying to rest in the afternoon, but I can never truly relax unless I am by myself, which is only a dream in my current situation.

Cashless concerns (previously: 13/11 entry): “Cash is king: meet the Australians who don’t want dollars to die,” The Australian, 14/11. “Many shoppers re-evaluated cash last week amid Optus’s national outage hitting more than 10 million customers, banking and retail. When your tech fails, nothing is as secure as a few notes stuffed somewhere handy. As readers’ letters and emails have shown in recent days, future problems like Optus – or big hacking scandals at financial or government institutions – will probably increase cash’s popularity and potentially reverse its decline.” Though there is still the unfortunate insinuation that criminals use cash and that digital currency will somehow make such transactions harder.

“Britain’s ‘unbearable’ sewerage problem is a warning against privatisation in Australia,” ABC News, 14/11. Strong arguments in favor of governments retaining control over the provision of essential services (and in this I disagree with the Libertarian view of letting private enterprise provide these). The decades-long experiment of privatisation of these assets has, for the most part, been a disaster for citizens. “What if one asks thornier questions about what contribution privatisation has made to the creation of a better, fairer, more harmonious society? Has recidivism been reduced? Are buses and ferries running on-time more often? Are more of the unemployed being helped back into work? In other words, have these public sales been good for us? The public doesn’t think so, and it hasn’t for a long time.”

Via MetaFilter, “We’re sorry we created the Torment Nexus,” a talk by sci-fi writer Charles Stross. He is no fan of wealthy and influential techno-barons such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos (founder of Amazon) and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) and Peter Thiel, and argues that they have taken the wrong messages from the science fiction they grew up on and wanted to emulate. “Did you ever wonder why the 21st century feels like we’re living in a bad cyberpunk novel from the 1980s? It’s because these guys read those cyberpunk novels and mistook a dystopia for a road map. They’re rich enough to bend reality to reflect their desires.” They tend towards Libertarian individualistic philosophies, while Charles Stross is very much Socialist Left. (Interestingly, there is a political philosophy called Libertarian socialism.)

I do want to see Elon Musk et al succeed in their visions for space colonization, though, despite their many naysayers (20/9, 11/10 entries); they are the only ones with the singular drive and funding to push towards this.

Wednesday 15/11: Dentist appointment made; ridiculously low speed limits

I reluctantly made an appointment at the Southland dentist for a long-overdue checkup and clean on Monday 27/11 (my last was on 23/2/2022). As usual I am dreading it for fear of more cavities being discovered, so I will be fretting over the upcoming appointment.

The latest “war on cars” stupidity (previously: 22/10 entry): “Two Melbourne suburbs set to get 30 kph speed limit in expansion of local trial,” ABC News, 15/11. Local councils seem to be infested with environmental activists who want to discourage car use; this speed limit proposal was mentioned in my 3/12/2021 entry. I’m sure some of these idealistic fools would like to re-establish the old Red Flag Law!

Thursday 16/11: Haircut; speed limit controversy

Got my hair trimmed today (previously: 1/9 entry). Just a little off the ends; so it is pretty much a one-length bob to just below my chin.

“‘Ridiculous’: Police chief dismisses 30km/h trial as an answer to soaring road toll,” The Age, 16/11. Continuing the absurd suburban 30 km/h limit trial topic from yesterday (15/11 entry). Car-hating Reddit not surprisingly generally is in favor, as many comments on the relevant r/Melbourne post show. Most are obviously from the younger generations that have been indoctrinated with climate change doomsaying for the last couple of decades. Bicycles and public transport are simply not convenient, or comfortable, or readily available for many people, particularly the elderly and some disabled.

Friday 17/11: Speed control

Via MetaFilter (most commenters there are anti-car so they are, unsurpisingly in favor), a new dangerous erosion of personal automony: “NTSB Calls for Technology to Reduce Speeding in All New Cars.” This is in the USA, but other countries will surely adopt the proposal (including “nanny state” Victoria). “Intelligent speed assistance technology, or ISA, uses a car’s GPS location compared with a database of posted speed limits and its onboard cameras to help ensure safe and legal speeds.” Another example of how the increasing computerization of modern cars is removing driver independence and control.

Saturday 18/11: More space settlement musings

A post on the sci-fi book & TV series r/TheExpanse subReddit that I agree with: “I wish The Expanse had an alternate universe with no protomolecule – just 100-200 years of solar system war and politics.” The series would have been more interesting were it constrained by the current laws of physics with no “magic” faster-than-light and physics-defying alien technology. (Aliens would be just as subject to the laws of physics as humans.) (Previously on my irritation at FTL: 11/10 entry.)

In my 12/8 entry I linked to a Boston Review article that was very negative about the space obsession of some billionaires; a sentiment that is shared by a lot (14/11 entry; I suspect many, though, are secretly jealous of such billionaires). I felt that way for a time earlier this year; but my views have swung back towards being in favor of space colonization; only billionaires have the will and funds to begin such an endeavour. Peter Hague, of the Planetocracy Substack – he is a solar system settlement advocate – has a critique of a new book, “Review of A City On Mars (Part I).”

Also linked from that Boston Review article is another favorable review of a book that ultimately rejects space colonization, Dark Skies by Daniel Deudney: “The Case Against Mars,” 26/5/2020. “His impressively synoptic new book throws down the gauntlet to ‘space expansionists’ like Musk and his ilk.” The Space Review has a more critical review of the book also, “Not so dark skies,” by Al Globus – “However, the core conclusion, that space settlement is a serious threat to humanity that must be strangled in the crib, is simply wrong.”

One commenter’s rebuke to those who think human society on Earth should be “fixed” before any attempt at colonizing space is made: “It’s also ridiculous to think that we should wait 200 years to expand, giving time to ‘improve Homo Sapien’s habits.’ Given 5000 or more years of known history, do we really believe we’ll change our nature that drastically, or that it won’t be for the worse? Humanity is not perfect, and probably never will be. We have to live with that. The argument to ‘wait’ is just another way to try to kill off space settlement.”

Sunday 19/11: Starship rapid unscheduled disassembly

A quiet day of the usual chores. The weather was pleasant: sunny but not hot.

Another “successful failure” for the second SpaceX Starship test launch: “Rocket launched by Elon Musk’s SpaceX fails in space after launch from Starbase site in Texas,” ABC News, 19/11. The first stage exploded after separation; the second stage was lost around 9 minutes into flight for unknown reasons. More: NASASpaceflight.com forum thread; SpaceX website news item; “Starship brought the thunder as it climbed into space for the first time,” Ars Technica, 19/11; r/SpaceX launch thread at Reddit.

I suppose Elon Musk’s many detractors will be gloating (he is as polarizing as former U.S. President Donald Trump), but I hope he ultimately succeeds in his Mars colonization ambition to spite them.

Monday 20/11: Bought some of The Expanse DVDs

A peculiar grey, overcast day; still mild and what the weather report would describe as “fine,” but the sun never managed to break through the cloud cover.

I ended up buying a DVD box set of the first 3 seasons of The Expanse (previously: 18/11 entry) as there was 30% off for the “Black Friday” sales. I had been eyeing it for a few weeks but decided to today as it would be gone otherwise. Not the best quality resolution compared to a Bluray, but I can play a DVD on any TV or computer, as opposed to Bluray disks whose encryption often makes playback on a PC impossible.

A couple of years ago, a post in r/TheExpanse subReddit asked, “Anyone else feel they were born in the wrong time and wish they could live the time The Expanse is set in?” Some comments pointed out that though the setting looks cool in contrast to the society we currently live in, it is effectively a dystopia, though “Yeah, like, they have the same problems we do but they also have motherfuckin space ships so it’s still a huge upgrade from what we’ve got now.

Tuesday 21/11: RegEx for ordinal superscripts; skeleton girl dream

Found the Regular Expression method to surround ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, etc.) with superscript tags:

  1. Find: (?<=\d)(th|st|nd|rd)\>
  2. Replace: <sup>$1</sup>

The syntax seems to work in a stand-alone program, grepWin, but VSCode objects to it (“Invalid regular expression /u: Invalid escape”).

There seems to be a split between should they be depicted as such or not – it is a stylistic choice – but I prefer the look of them.

A disturbing dream yesterday evening: a skeletal thin girl – literally a skin-covered skeleton that could be seen through – was lying on an examination couch, on abdomen and elbows, yelling in agony as a doctor examined her. She then got up and was helped to walk around the room, slowly and painfully.

Wednesday 22/11: Chronically fatigued

A nice sunny day, but weather is warming up with rain forecast for the next few days; not pleasant.

I have not been walking again; I just don’t enjoy it and am too exhausted from my usual chores and parents interaction/cleaing up after. I crave and fantasize about proper sleep, rest and solitude like one would an addictive drug. I look at myself in the mirror and realize how old I appear now; my exhaustion is very apparent and my expression is dull and almost lifeless.

Feeling mentally flat and uninspired today; no interest in the tedious world events and crises.

Thursday 23/11: Pushing for 30 km/h; coding as meditation

War on cars: “Lowering speed limits can help save lives,” The Age, 21/11. Editorial predictably in favor of the ridiculously low proposed limit, given the paper’s political slant (17/11 entry). Other road users (pedestrians, bicyclists) can do stupid maneuvers that puts themselves in danger. Also, as the population increases, the number of people killed in accidents proportionally increases.

“The Healing Power of Code,” Craig Mod, April 2021. I have mentioned before how meditative coding can be (25/4, 27/4, 11/7 entries), and this blog entry expresses the same sentiment. “Code soothes because it can provide control in moments when the world seems to spiral. Reductively, programming consists of little puzzles to be solved. Not just inert jigsaws on living room tables, but puzzles that breathe with an uncanny life force. Puzzles that make things happen, that get things done, that automate tedium or allow for the publishing of words across the world.” Though the writer is referring to specific programming languages such as Javascript, it applies to HTML and CSS as well. He does note that he was converting some of his older sites to plain static HTML:

The old websites of mine are ghosts. Nobody will look at or think to hunt them down. I moved them because I feel a stewardship over them, feel that they have a right to go on living in bits.

A lot of this server work involved making complicated sites less complex. That is: Making the dynamic static. Gutting these sites of their PHP cores, Benjamin Buttoning them back into sleepy HTML and CSS, making them low maintenance and future friendly. It’s funny how even something as simple as a MYSQL database requires pruning, nurture. How a PHP script – so seemingly innocuous! – is rendered obsolete a decade later as deprecation creeps, mental models of languages evolve. But take a page of HTML from the early ’90s, and it renders as well as ever on most anything with a screen.

In that spirit, as I moved my homepage I also rebuilt it as a so-called static site. A simpler version that should continue to work for the next hundred years. It looks nearly the same as it did before. With static sites, we’ve come full circle, like exhausted poets who have travelled the world trying every form of poetry and realizing that the haiku is enough to see most of us through our tragedies.

Friday 24/11: Books of The Expanse and 1970s sci-fi art bought

Weather has turned somewhat humid with a stormy change incoming and rain, unfortunately.

So-called “Black Friday” sales being hyped here, with 20% off at the Southland bookstore, so I bought a box set of the first three books in The Expanse series (20/11 entry) – I don’t think I will buy physical copies of the rest, though, as they are bulky and heavy. I also fortuitously happened to espy an art book, Worlds Beyond Time – Sci-Fi Art of The 1970s, featuring the marvellously colorful and imaginative book covers that artists produced during that period, and which I have nostalgic memories of seeing from childhood (Dad had a small collection of these paperbacks with such covers). One reviewer feels similarly: “Being of a certain age and having left school in 1972 (you can work it out) I grew up seeing this kind of stuff all the time and always had an interest in art from an early age. When I saw this book I knew I had to have it and was not disappointed. Good size book and some great work in here, some I have seen as I have been collecting books for Years but quite a lot that is new to me. Well worth the money if you are into this kind of art.” I prefer them to the dreary bland covers mostly produced currently, even if the ones from decades ago are regarded as tacky and lurid now. The subReddits r/CoolSciFiCovers and r/BadSciFiCovers feature many of these! (And that is why I still like browsing in physical bookstores; you can come across books of interest that you might not otherwise find.)

Saturday 25/11: Book returned; poser or not? A minimalist blog

Weather humid and unsettled. Had a debilitating headache overnight and into this morning.

Decided to return the art book I impulsively bought yesterday; it is physically heavy. I am terribly indecisive.

Looking at the website of the author of the coding as meditation article (23/11 entry), Craig Mod, he is yet another Westerner living in, and enamoured of, Japan (the West generally has had a long fetish for the country). He seems nice but a cynical part of me regards his creative work – photos and essays – as self-indulgent hipster posing; are photos in his pricey books true art or just pretentious posturing? I find it hard to ascertain either way – the same question as I posted in my 27/2 entry about what constitutes “good” literature.

Most programmer/developer types of his generation seem to use Apple products and a convoluted build process to produce their websites.

An interesting blog experiment: a text-only blog at Blog.txt – “The most minimal blogging platform in the known universe.” It’s actually easy to save my own Journal as a .txt file in Firefox, which adds some basic Markdown-style formatting to the file.

Sunday 26/11: Dentist dread; a massively complicated microwave

Rainy and generally unpleasant weather. At least I did not have a headache this morning. Had a dream about meeting a dream character in a local park who was a woman unknown to me; she invited me to come to her house for lunch or something like that. There was a slight hostility to her demeanour, as though she would become angry if I refused. (In my 16/9/2022 entry I noted this odd hostility from dream characters if confronted.)

Dentist appointment tomorrow, so dreading that as usual.

Relevant to my previous 29/10 post about overcomplicated technology in modern appliances, I came across this blog post, “Communication, Language, and My Stupid Microwave,” on the relative ease of using a microwave with simple analog controls versus the complex programming knowledge required to figure out the myriad command combinations for a digital microwave.

Monday 27/11: Teeth OK(?), Lithica update

Dentist today. No visible cavities. She wanted to take x-rays but I could not afford them ($48 each, on top of nearly $200 for inspection and cleaning), so next time, perhaps; I’ll just have to risk there being any hidden cavities. Cleaning was a rather painful ordeal as usual, given my ongoing gum recession (I do use a soft toothbrush and don’t press hard, so condition is more due to ageing and genetics). Will have to try to not leave such a gap between visits.

For a change of pace, was looking at Lynx Vilden’s (15/2 entry) Lithica project website. There was one Gathering in June; I still wish I could attend but it is impossible for me in my situation. It would certainly have its physical discomforts – it is learning useful “rewilding” skills, not a luxury retreat – but the Norway landscape looks beautiful and such a getaway might provide a much-needed mental destressing and decompressing.

Tuesday 28/11: Vipassana; a perilous populist

Overcast, a bit drizzly and a little humid – yuck weather. What happened to that dry El Niño that was forecast?

Reading random articles at Craig Mod’s website (25/11 entry), he has two essays featuring a challenging form of meditation he undertook: “Vipassana Meditation, Leica M10, Acceptably Beautiful Books,” 27/6/2017; “A Whole Lotta Vipassana,” 31/8/2017 – “Ten days. We’re allowed no phone – of course – but also no books, no papers, no pens or pencils. Everything is collected the night before the course begins, placed in a sack, hidden away. Furthermore: No speaking, no direct communication, no eye contact. And so we’re left with only our mind, and for good reason.” I learned of Vipassana in another article from a few years ago, “The Quiet Hell of Extreme Meditation,” Men’s Journal, 16/6/2018. “I have – we all have – signed a pledge to observe what’s called ‘noble silence.’ This means no speaking, no gestures, no eye contact. ‘You must live here,’ we’re told, ‘as if you’re completely alone.’ There is also no exercise permitted, except walking. No cellphones. No computers. No radios. No pens or paper. No books, pamphlets, or magazines. Nothing at all to read. There will be only two simple vegetarian meals a day. My suitcase, with my phone and laptop, is locked away in the meditation center’s office. I have just a day bag, with a couple of toiletries, a med kit, and a single change of clothes.” Ten days of sitting by oneself in a form of extreme solitary confinement, with no external distractions. By all accounts a very challenging experience, both physically and mentally. A sort of mental cleansing. (I do wonder if the technique would aid prisoners who spend years in solitary confinement; normally regarded as a form of torture – “Hellhole – Is Long-Term Solitary Confinement Torture?” The New Yorker, 23/3/2009.)

I wonder how I would fare? The thought of being solitary does not upset me; I have expressed such a wish over and over again here. (There is a Vipassana Centre Victoria, but it would be difficult for me to get to even if I were free to.) I am mentally agitated with a feeling of internal emptiness; that at my core I am just a void pretending to be human.

A pertinent quote from a 17/6/2023 blog post by author Neal Asher: “Now with over a week having passed since the internet first dropped out I’m glad. It has been a real eye-opener for me just how mentally disruptive is the constant flood of information at the touch of a screen. It fills the mind up with incomplete equations, hundreds of images, fragments and blobs of information and the angry shouting of the mob. Without that option there I can think more clearly, enjoy books more and generally feel a lot calmer.”

Craig mentions a populist history author, Yuval Harari, who also undertook a course: “Yuval Harari, author of Sapiens, on how meditation made him a better historian,” Vox, 28/2/2017. (Unfortunately I found that, looking through Yuval’s website, he is a Ukraine supporter – “Why Vladimir Putin has already lost this war,” The Guardian, 28/2/2022 – which immediately discredits him in my view, and his history books seem to be somewhat controversial – a skeptical article, “The Dangerous Populist Science of Yuval Noah Harari,” Current Affairs, July 2022, discussed an example Reddit post.)

We have been seduced by Harari because of the power not of his truth or scholarship but of his storytelling. As a scientist, I know how difficult it is to spin complex issues into appealing and accurate storytelling. I also know when science is being sacrificed to sensationalism. Yuval Harari is what I call a “science populist.” (Canadian clinical psychologist and YouTube guru Jordan Peterson is another example.) Science populists are gifted storytellers who weave sensationalist yarns around scientific “facts” in simple, emotionally persuasive language. Their narratives are largely scrubbed clean of nuance or doubt, giving them a false air of authority – and making their message even more convincing. Like their political counterparts, science populists are sources of misinformation. They promote false crises, while presenting themselves as having the answers. They understand the seduction of a story well told – relentlessly seeking to expand their audience – never mind that the underlying science is warped in the pursuit of fame and influence.

Wednesday 29/11: Miserable rain

“Rain for four days straight: Victoria set for a sodden start to summer,” The Age, 29/11. Awful near-constant rain today and until the weekend. Hate this weather like no other. Would be happy to never see rain again; it makes doing any outside activity much more difficult.

Thursday 30/11: More tech-bro critique

Via Ran Prieur’s 29/11 blog entry (previously: 9/10 entry), “‘We will coup whoever we want!’: the unbearable hubris of Musk and the billionaire tech bros,” Douglas Rushkoff for The Guardian, 25/11. Yet another critique of Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and similar others (previously: 14/11 entry). “Unlike their forebears, contemporary billionaires do not hope to build the biggest house in town, but the biggest colony on the moon, underground lair in New Zealand, or virtual reality server in the cloud. In contrast, however avaricious, the titans of past gilded eras still saw themselves as human members of civil society. Contemporary billionaires appear to understand civics and civilians as impediments to their progress, necessary victims of the externalities of their companies’ growth, sad artefacts of the civilisation they will leave behind in their inexorable colonisation of the next dimension.”

December

Friday 1/12: A year since Dad’s COVID; Melbourne visit

A year since Dad was taken to hospital with COVID (1/12/2022 entry). I don’t think he has still fully recovered; may not ever.

Took the train into the City (Melbourne CBD). Did not stay long; just bought some more clothes at Uniqlo and visited City Basement Books; a dismal selection this time though in the secondhand sci-fi/fantasy section, as there was last time. Little else of interest for me, though. Also I find visiting there stressful and tiring.

Saturday 2/12: Uninspired

Had a headache overnight and into the morning, so feeling debilitated. Weather very rainy, which is also unpleasant. Nothing much to write about.

Sunday 3/12: Ordinal superscripts removed

Some rain this morning, but cleared by the afternoon. Weather is heating up for a few days, up to 30°C or so. A pertinent article today: “El Niño usually brings dry weather, so why have we just had weeks of heavy rain?” ABC News, 3/12. “[…] the BOM’s long-range outlook, which forecast a dry spring overall, has fallen short, although Dr Braganza said the modelling did predict some wet weather. […] There are some factors that climate scientists say may be influencing the behaviour of El Niño. […] warm ocean temperatures were one of those factors.” So the current conditions are something of an anomaly.

Decided to remove the superscript surrounding ordinal numbers (21/11 entry) as I found that there were a few within URLs as well, making them unusable. The Wikipedia Manual of Style advises against using them in any case. It’s a little less markup.

Monday 4/12: Forests, birds, books

Weather heating up. Nice to see a clear sky in the early morning for a change!

Random Google street – well, forest road – view on the Olympic Penninsula: Rocky Brook Rd, Brinnon, Washington. The type of scenery I like: a quiet winding road through an endless forest of pine and birch trees. No other people in sight. I seem to like the Seattle and Washington state region for some reason, though the many grey overcast days seem to be an issue (a recent r/Seattle post: “It’s not the gray/rain that gets me. It’s all the bare trees after all the leaves are gone”). Melbourne, though, certainly has its own gloomy weather, as much of this year seems to have been, so I am not unused to it (we don’t have snow at our low altitude, however!).

Two of my favorite North American birds are Cardinals and Blue Jays, with their strikingly vivid coloration. One of the online people I follow, “Swankivy” (Julie Sondra Decker) photographed both species at her backyard feeder in a 27/11/2023 blog post.

Some books I used to have and enjoy when little (1970s) were the How and Why Wonder Books. They are dated now, but still quite wonderful to look through, with their hand-painted illustrations. Someone uploaded many of them to the Internet Archive, so the link works (for now). The Birds book has a lovely Blue Jay painting on the cover (I think I had this book), and I definitely remember owning the Horses edition during my late childhood obsession with horses (as many little girls seem to have). Sadly, my collection was given away long ago, like all my childhood books.

Tuesday 5/12: Go away Royals; ISS movie; cash vindicated once again

“King Charles and Queen Camilla plan spring Australian tour,” The Age, 5/12. Another unwelcome and taxpayer-funded visit from these professional grifter parasites. If only they could be greeted with a forced march to the guillotine!

Via r/movies, an independent film about the International Space Station, unimaginatively titled I.S.S., with the plot an obvious cash-in on the current Ukraine-related tensions between Russia and its space partners. “Tensions flare in the near future aboard the International Space Station (I.S.S.) as a worldwide conflict breaks out on Earth. Reeling, the US and Russian astronauts aboard each receive orders from the ground: take control of the station by any means necessary. Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite brings together a stellar cast including Academy Award®-winner Ariana DeBose in this high-stakes space thriller.” I am not sure what to make of the premise; hopefully the movie will not take the predictable route in making Russia the villains?

Cashless concerns (previously 14/11 entry): Yet another digital bank outage (The Age, ABC News). People who eschew physical cash had no means of paying: “One user said they had to leave their trolley full of groceries at the checkout because they couldn’t pay for it.”

Wednesday 6/12: Hosts file messup

Took the bus to Chadstone SC; ended up getting a later bus as I managed to miss the usual one at 8:49 a.m. or so.

More hot weather coming – up to 30°C on Friday – but unfortunately another few days of yuck rain to follow.

I tried altering the hosts file with Steven Black’s list to block various unwanted websites, as I had with Windows 8.1, but messed it up somehow and could not restore the original hosts file (kept insisting it was being used by another program), so did a Recovery (hold down SHIFT key while restarting) and that seemed to fix it. (Note that “Recovery” is the search keyword to find System Restore in Windows 10.) Another alternative is to restart in Safe Mode. So I will just leave the hosts file alone from now on.

Thursday 7/12: Dreaming of rest and solitude

A nothing sort of day. Tried to lie down to rest for a little while, but can’t do so for long with other people (namely, parents) around. I dream of being able to be by myself and simply lie and rest for most of a day; I would probably not sleep but just lie there with my eyes partly closed and thinking of nothing in particular. That is my dream and fantasy now: solitude and rest.

Was looking at the Japanese-tagged design items and houses on a site called Minimalissimo (run by Manu). Such a visual philosophy does appeal to me as it is simply mentally restful to look at; very calming.

Most real Japanese homes – like most in other countries – do not meet that ideal, of course; this r/Tokyo poster – “How are Japanese people so clean and tidy?” – was rather sharply disconceived of their idealized image. My bedroom – and my parents’ old weatherboard house generally – is full of clutter, effectively a hoarders’ house. It is stressful to live in but too exhausting to even begin to clean up.

Friday 8/12: A petulant driver; NYC horse era; Cherryh surgery

Very windy, hot and unsettled weather; rain this morning, then more due from late this afternoon as a strong front approaches from the west; Western Australia then South Australia get these first in succession.

Got the bus to Chadstone SC again this morning, and made sure to get to the stop earlier so I got the bus at my usual time. Along the way, some petulant stupidity from a car driver: the bus driver pulled out from a stop along Centre Road while indicating; he honked at a passing car that did not give way (cars are supposed to give way to buses). The car driver then deliberately stopped in front of the bus, blocking it for around a minute, before continuing slowly driving. I hope the bus driver will report them for such deliberate provocation.

Via a Hacker News post, “Reminiscences from the End of the Horse Era in New York City,” Untapped New York. Not a pleasant read as the life of a transport horse could be quite brutal (and short). “In the winter time there were many pitiable sights in the streets of horses trying to draw their loads when the pavements were like glass with ice or snow. The horses would fall in great numbers. Then they lay quiet, open-eyed, puzzling, until pulled up by the bit and lashed at by the barking drivers. The horses would then scramble up, steel hoofs dashing sparks. If, falling again the horse broke a leg, a policeman would draw his gun. On old Murray Hill there has certainly been frightful carnage.” They seemed to be mostly regarded as tools rather than sentient creatures, and treated accordingly.

I previously mentioned (21/7/2012 entry) that there used to be horse-and-cart milk delivery in the early mornings in the suburbs here; I recall the clop-clop-clop of the passing horse. These ceased in the late 1970s or early 1980s.

Sci-fi author C. J. Cherryh (previously: 11/11 entry) had her lumpectomy surgery and came through OK so far. From her Facebook page, 5/12: “Surgeon said everything was as expected, no surprises, and we'll get labs in a week – hoping for no return engagement, but we'll know then. The offending lump (hence the lumpectomy term, which is a bastard combination of English and Greek) – is about .25 inch in size, the removed bit about 2.25 inches all round, and let's hope for one-and-done!”

Saturday 9/12: Disinformation doubt; mythical meddling hackers again

Rain all day; yuck. Gradually cooled down overnight. I had a bit of a headache overnight also, again (like the last two Friday-Saturday nights).

“How AI is leading the fight against disinformation in Ukraine, Gaza,” The Age, 9/12. The hypocrisy of this article is too egregious to ignore (the author, Chris Zappone, is yet another pro-Ukraine shill). “Disinformation” is any opinion that goes against the government-approved narrative. “AI technology lets Osavul parse volumes of information being pushed in a co-ordinated manner far out of sight of any single set of human eyes. Being made in Ukraine also has its advantages. Ukraine is at war with Russia, which is a propaganda superpower, of sorts.” But Ukraine has its own propaganda channels (13/6 entry, and “Ukraine’s Propaganda War: International PR Firms, DC Lobbyists and CIA Cutouts). And perhaps treat citizens as adults capable of making their own decisions on various issues?

“‘Star Blizzard’: Britain blames Russian hackers for meddling in 2019 election,” The Age, 8/12. Those pesky Russkie hackers making mischief again. As if the equivalent working for Western intelligence agencies don’t do their own share of “meddling”?

Sunday 10/12: Then compared to now; Larry Johnson’s Russia visit

A couple of posts at r/AskOldPeople (I am officially in that age category!): “People who were kids during the 60s, 70s, 80s how was it like?” Most replies are USA-relevant, but some I can still relate to. This reply by “DrHugh” was particularly interesting: “I grew up in the 1970s in Chicago, and another aspect you don’t really get is how much ‘old’ stuff there was. Today, you may visit some town in a state park that’s preserved to look like the way it was, and you can go into the general store and it feels old-timey. But imagine you go to a second-hand store, and the lights and ceiling and floor are still that old-timey look, like they came out of a 1930s gangster movie. You go to an L train station, and the metal work, benches, lights, even the L cars themselves, feel like they date to the 1920s. Most of the buildings where people live were built early in the 20th century; the few things that were built in the previous decade or so are rare in the neighborhoods.” A similar experience in my maternal grandmother’s old house, and neighborhood of Gardenvale and Elsternwick; it dated from the 1920s and had a lot of furniture from that era, and the streets and houses still had architecture from then.

I am surprised by the repeated reminiscences here (and in many other replies) about how children were able to go out for most of the day unsupervised. “I was a kid in the 70s and early 80s. I spent my summers outside all day, every day. I rode my bike all over the place without a helmet with not a care in the world. When it was time for dinner, my dad would use the two finger whistle that I could hear anywhere in the neighborhood. I don’t remember smells, just freedom.” (Onlychild_Annoyed) “Also, our parents never knew where we were. I’d walk or ride my bike for miles across town without telling anybody and the adults were never worried. It was really cool way to grow up because we learned independence and self reliance at a very young age.” (ErickaDaNutSucker) “You never called to say who’s doing what, you knew where everyone was by all the bikes lying in the front yard. And 1 more never really mattered. We swam in the pond and road home with squishy shoes. Had to be home by time the street lights came on. I miss those days.” (holybucketsitscrazy) I did not have that experience at all, certainly not in the suburbs of Melbourne. Other things for me: analog everything (landline phones, cassette recorders and later CDs, big bulky TVs, cameras with film), a lot of little independent shops in local shopping strips and much variety of these then, the proliferation of milk bars (two in the shopping strip up from my parents’ home) many products still manufactured in Australia rather than being outsourced to China and elsewhere, having to go to a library to look up any information. Long daytrip drives in the surrounding countryside around Melbourne with my parents and sister. I do miss those times now, of course.

“What is something you dislike about 2023 compared to the world 50 years ago (1973)?” Many personal (age-related ailments) and society generally. The Internet and the toxic social media culture that ensued is a common theme. For me on a personal level: not being young (of course!) and noting my physical decline; the loss of youthful energy and idealism; the feeling of most of my life being ahead of me and still having some hope for my future; the relatives still alive then whom are now deceased.

Larry Johnson is visiting Russia and has posted a Moscow Trip Report. One aspect I did find dismaying: “The most surprising revelation is the rebirth of the Russian Orthodox Church. Faith is vibrant and the people of Russia have rediscovered and fully embraced their historic Christian roots. I met three Americans who have moved to Russia and are serving in various capacities as clergy/priests in Russia. I attended a service on Monday at the Sretensky Monastry. It is the oldest monastry in Moscow, founded in 1397. It stands now as a testimony against the efforts of the Communists to eradicate Christianity. The Communists are gone and the Christians are alive and free to worship.” Ugh, that is such a retrograde step, betraying all the gains that Communism made during the USSR era. I hate the Church, its intolerance, conservativism and undue influence on Russian politics. A commenter called Epicurus, describing himself as a Slavic Pagan, posted a rebuttal: “‘Faith is vibrant and the people of Russia have rediscovered and fully embraced their historic Christian roots.’ This is a terrible misconception, to say the least. The real historic roots of Russians – as of all Slavic peoples – are not Christian. Christianity is a foreign, Jewish importation. The real roots of Russian culture are Pagan. Over a million Russians are aware of this, and are trying to bring the truth to the ignorant Christian masses. […] This Pagan spirit, captured so magnificently in Arkona’s song, is the real spirit of the Russian soul and power. Not the alien, contrived dogmas of Christianity, whether orthodox or catholic or protestant or any other.”

Monday 11/12: President Putin in for life? An anti-monarchy argument

Another big dump of rain (and some thunder) this morning, dismayingly. Yesterday was dull and overcast all day, but no rain at least. The wet weather makes doing any outdoor activity a lot more unpleasant and difficult, such as having to walk to get to public transport.

“Putin and the opposition: Everything about the 2024 election in Russia,” RT, 8/12; “2024 Russian Presidential Elections,” TASS. President Putin remarked during a conversation with participants in the ceremony marking Heroes of the Fatherland Day that he was intending to make another bid for Russian President in the elections next year: “Make no mistake, I had all kinds of thoughts on this matter at different times. However, you are right – the time to decide has come. I will run for President of the Russian Federation.” This would be his fifth term in office if he is elected. My thoughts about this? It is not a good move. He is dangerously close to thinking himself as indispensable, and will only reinforce the rest of the world’s view of him as a dictator/“strongman.” He is 71 and certainly not young (though apparently in decent health for his age), and aging does affect one’s mental cognition and outlook. He would be better to nominate his choice of successor to vote for, and depart with grace, trusting the people to make their own decisions as to whom to represent them – quit while he is ahead and not outstay his welcome. Instead he is becoming something of a personality cult. As an opinion piece, “The Xi personality cult is a danger to China,” FT, 13/9/2021, explains: “The China model of reform and opening, put in place by Deng Xiaoping, was based on a rejection of the cult of personality. Deng urged officials to ‘seek truth from facts.’ Policy should be guided by a pragmatic observation of what works, rather than the grandiose statements of Chairman Mao. […] Term limits were also intended to solve the succession problem that often plagues one-party states. Henceforth, the party’s collective leadership would matter more than the charismatic leadership of a single man. […] All personality cults are based on the idea that the great leader is wiser than everyone who surrounds him. […] The Xi cult means that insincerity and fear are now baked into the Chinese system. Extending Xi’s leadership long into the future is also a recipe for a future succession crisis. The Chinese leader is 68 years old. At some point, he will no longer be fit to govern. But how will he be removed?”

“The monarchy rests on a lie, the UK needs an elected head of state,” Graham Smith for Declassified UK, 20/2. A good argument and summary for abolishing the parasitical institution that is the monarchy. “The monarchy is sustained by dishonesty and built on outmoded values. It demands we be spectators, called upon to watch as the royals wave from their gold carriages. A republic makes us participants, called on to come together to determine the shape of our constitution and choose our head of state. It is sustained by honesty, accountability and integrity, and rests on the most profound values of democracy, equality and the rule of law. Our country deserves that democratic alternative to the monarchy.”

Wednesday 12/12: Insane blog commenters

A peculiar morning with humid, drizzly fog, then the sun came out later and the weather is now hot and humid. At least I can hang out clothes to air-dry. Unpleasant for walking, though (I have mostly stopped exercise walking, aside from an occasional trip to the local shopping center).

I did post a brief comment on that Larry Johnson blog entry, in support of “Epicurus”: “I find the resurgence of Orthodoxy in Russia dismaying (the Church is conservative, backwards and intolerant, has far too much influence in politics and is hostile to any other way of thinking) but do like Russian folk tales and their Pagan origins.” It did not (perhaps predictably) get a good reception. I have given up commenting on such blogs generally (Andrei Martyanov’s blog being just as bad), and reading the comments is an odious exercise; many commenters seem borderline insane with some misogynic posts (namely, a hatred and fear of feminism, and a wish for women to be “traditional” – i.e. subservient breeders) and spouting nonsensical conspiracy theories and religious rants. As with social media, the barrage is bad for one’s mental health, so I will avoid engaging.

Wednesday 13/12: Pay to use cash proposal; Holodomor refutation

Tropical humid stormy unsettled weather today – what I hate the most. A storm cell passed over last night around 11 p.m.; with a short but violent lightning display.

Took the train to the City; just visited some of my usual stores (Uniqlo, Dymocks Bookstore, City Basement Books). I spend a lot of time just walking from one place to another, so I can’t stay long, in order to keep to the 2-hour fare limit.

Cashless concerns (previously: 5/12 entry): “RBA governor asks if Australians should pay a fee to use cash,” ABC News, 12/12. (r/Australia thread on the issue.) No we should certainly not, and such a move would penalize the poor. Physical cash should always remain a currency option. One suspects this is a form of “nudging” to get people more accepting of the proposal, if it is repeated often enough.

“‘The Holodomor’: How Ukraine distorted the history of a tragic Soviet famine to help build its modern national myth,” RT, 11/12. Refuting the persisting Holodomor myth (previously: 25/1 entry).

Thursday 14/12: Cherryh clear

Weather is cooler and calmer today, which is refreshing.

Been doing more purging of possessions (surplus shoes), so I am exhausted.

C. J. Cherryh on her recent surgery (previously: 8/12 entry), via her Facebook account: “Final word from the surgeon and the lab. They got all the site, no spread. I’m clear, no further surgery, lump excised. I will be on 5 years of Tamoxifen and a real short course of radiation, by what I understand. But no spread. Damage hardly discernible from surgery, except the incision lines.”

Friday 15/12: Cherryh (unfortunately) for Ukraine; conspiracy nutters

Sunny and mild; a relief after the awful stormy humidity of earlier this week.

Still doing a bit more possession purging.

Was disappointed to see that C. J. Cherryh is a Ukraine supporter, going by the meme posted on her Facebook account (a symbolic cartoon showing Ukraine depicted as a cracking dam wall, with Russia as a flood building up behind it, and Europe below the wall under threat from the flood – a reference to Putin’s Russia supposedly wanting to invade Europe, which is nonsense). Still, I won’t “cancel” her because of that as I otherwise like her writings, and will try to ignore it.

A short example of the incoherent nutty conspiracy comments some of the blogs I visit unfortunately tend to attract (12/12 entry):

And what of the oligarchs running the US, and all their Western vassals?

You know, the Bilderberg Group and their front the WEF?

Or, in other words the Beast of Revelation 13, and its False Prophet?

The ones who run every scam against the Western nations to destroy them, in order to make it easier for the oligarchs to take over ?

Yes, those oligarchs … the WESTERN ones.

If they want to be taken seriously, blog owners should moderate and ban such obvious nonsense, and those who post it.

Saturday 16/12: Aging anhedonia

Feeling dull, unfocused and disinterested again. I find little comfort online; few sites that don’t agitate me for various reasons. Ran Prieur’s site (previously: 30/11 entry) is one exception, though even he is only posting every few days, mainly links and songs he likes. He does note on his About me page, “Your early writing was more exciting. What happened?” I do like reading his old entries (also various versions via Archive.org). Age seems to have tempered his youthful idealism, but that seems a common occurence for people generally. (I rarely re-read my own Journal, curiously; but a quick skim gives an impression of more … passion? Certainly more engagement and enthusiasm.) To misquote a well-known line in a poem, “Age does weary them.” Still, his site provides a mellow refuge from the hysterics and polarized hate of other sites I have visited (12/12 entry).

Sunday 17/12: Rest would be the best present

Sunny and calm again; still pleasant weather. Hot forecast for tomorrow (low 30s) then unsettled Wednesday.

Tired and lethargic mentally from the usual chores. Just over a week until Christmas Day. Not doing anything now as usual; just at home with parents for a quiet day. The best present for me would be solitude and rest.

Monday 18/12: More purging; another pro-Ukraine novel

Overcast, warm, rather sullen day; becoming unsettled with splatters of rain. This type of weather puts my mood on edge. Felt a bit headachy this morning.

Another possessions purge; books and DVDs.

Spotted a new pro-Ukraine novel, The Sun Will Rise by Misha Zelinsky (an Australian journalist of – judging by his name – Ukrainian descent?). Of course, the Ukrainians in the novel will be presented as saintly heroes and the Russians dastardly demonic villains.

Oksana Shevchenko remembers life as it once was.

Before the War.

Before the Invaders stripped her freedom away.

Before the Motherland decided to take what wasn’t hers, and call it her own.

As the leader of the local Union, thirty-one-year-old Oksana has met her match in enemy officer Lieutenant General Mikhailovich, who will stop at nothing to win glory for the Motherland – and himself. After he captures the city of Heryvin, the young, ambitious Mikhailovich forces Oksana and her Union comrades to operate the local nuclear power plant for the Motherland’s gain, while sapping its capacity to operate safely. It’s a nightmare for a city still reeling from the disastrous Accident that took the lives of dozens – including Oksana’s father – decades before.

Caught between her loyalty to those resisting the Occupation and a nuclear catastrophe threatened by increasingly impossible orders, Oksana must find a way to defeat Mikhailovich before his sadistic determination leads him to doing the unthinkable. But Oksana might not be alone in her fight, because war makes heroes out of the ordinary and the unlikely.

A grandmother defiantly waving the colours of her nation.

A school principal offering a safe haven for students dreaming of brighter futures.

A young adult choosing courage in the face of mortal danger.

A country quietly showing that glory belongs to those who dare to hold on against impossible odds. Because one day soon, the sun will set on dictators. And the sun will rise on freedom once again.

Inspired by true events in Ukraine, The Sun Will Riseis a tribute to those bravely fighting for their freedom – and ours.

Tuesday 19/12: Fifth COVID-19 vaccine today; Ukrainian cyberhackers

Had my 5th vaccine booster today (as did my parents), in response to “New COVID-19 vaccines targeting Omicron ‘Kraken’ subvariant XBB 1.5 are now available in Australia,” ABC News, 11/12. (Previous dose: 13/6 entry.) I have no patience for ridiculous anti-vax conspiracies; an example is this hysterical Dreamwidth blog, Transcriber B, with entries full of supposedly vaccine-related deaths and illnesses. I did note back in my 13/12/2022 entry that I believe much of these are coincidental or psychosomatic. (The author of that blog comments on John Michael Greer’s blog; he also posts a regular dubious Covid-skeptic open post.) Another anti-vax nutter is Vox Day, who seems utterly convinced of his supposedly superior knowledge.

“IT ARMY OF UKRAINE: How U.S. Intelligence Agencies Have Elevated Cybercrime in Ukraine into a Freedom-Fighting Cult,” Valeriy Krylko for Covert Action Magazine, 5/12. There is much ado about “Russian hackers” in Western media (9/12 entry), but the same tactics are used by the opposing side. Bloomberg article unpaywalled link mentioned in the article: “Ukrainian Hackers Gather Data on Russian Soldiers, Minister Says,” 21/12/2022.

Wednesday 20/12: Vaccine temporary side-effects

I had some temporary side-effects from the Moderna vaccine yesterday into the night, similar to last time (14/6 entry): a sore arm, fatigue, and a vague feeling of being off-color. Just my immune system booting up to combat the new variant of the virus. Those symptoms seem to have mostly faded now, though my arm is still sore and I am still a bit tired.

Thursday 21/12: Still fatigued; continuing Swanfolk; wanting escape

Still felt the after-effects of the vaccine yesterday, as did my parents: mainly fatigue, a very sore arm at the injection site, and a vague feeling of being off-color. A bit better today.

A fine sunny day but with an irritatingly strong south-easterly wind. Went to Chadstone SC on the bus this morning.

I am still slowly reading (and savoring) Swanfolk by Kristín Ómarsdóttir (or, in Anglicized form, Kristin Omarsdottir) (29/7 entry). I would describe it as “magic realism.” Unlike my other attempt at reading a literary novel (John Hughes’s The Dogs – 15/3 entry), this is not a chore to read, and the (translated) writing style is compelling. From the translator’s end note:

I had worked with Kristín before, editing and translating her selected poems, Waitress in Fall, published in the UK in 2018, and so I was familiar with the verticality of her writing, the stratic depth of her words, but did not appreciate just how much this feature would carry over into her prose until I started translating Swanfolk and the author suggested that I “translate it as if it were a poem.” To be honest, I didn’t take her advice at first. But the deeper I got into the translation, the more I came around to her advice. I began to understand not only that each and every word in the novel had been selected with the eagle eye of a poet, but also that the sequential or even spatial arrangement of images within its sentences is not incidental but deliberate and meaningful, creating a subtle imagistic effect that is a hallmark of Kristín’s style, her voice, her literary landscapes.

A couple of interviews with the author I found: “Sharpening the Pencils: Kristín Ómarsdóttir Challenges the Structure of the World,” The Rumpus, 7/10/2022; “The PEN Ten: An Interview with Kristín Ómarsdóttir,” Pen America, 17/11/2022.

An angry post in r/OffGrid that piqued my interest: “Just won my SSI appeal of 4+ years. Intend to invest every cent of backpay (25k) into real-estate. I: can’t drive; can’t take busses; can’t ‘go out’; foodbanks offer nothing; can’t work; don’t qualify for HUD. There is *NO* advantage in staying here, I intend to escape or die trying. Advice needed.” BrazenlyOzen did not get a good reception (assuming he is for real), but the idea of going offgrid and escaping does appeal, even if impractical in reality.

Friday 22/12: No use for Christmas; Nordics wish

The very tiresome last days before Christmas. If I were by myself I would not do anything to mark the occasion; just continue my routine as usual. The whole manufactured hype and fake sentiment are meaningless to me.

The summer solstice was yesterday; now the days will gradually start shortening again, unfortunately. Another bout of unpleasant wet humid weather is forecast for Christmas and a few days after, dismayingly.

Wikitravel has a section on the Nordic countries. As I previously remarked (29/7 entry), I would like to visit there, in the unlikely event of my being able to (probably never). I still seem to feel most interest in Finland. I would most like to see the forests and wilderness areas. I am, though, still annoyed at the Finnish government for destroying neutrality with bordering Russia by joining NATO and allowing American military forces to be stationed in the country (“Putin announces response to Finland joining NATO,” RT, 17/10). Stupidly provocative. And expensive: “Finland Raced to Join NATO. What Happens Next Is Complicated.” NYT, 25/9. “‘Joining NATO is an expensive business, and supporting Ukraine is an expensive business, and there’s no end to that in sight,’ said Janne Kuusela, director-general for defense policy at Finland’s Ministry of Defense.”

Saturday 23/12: Father Frost at Moscow Mission Control

Fine and sunny today, but the last such nice day for much of the week, if the forecast is correct. Nasty rain and humidity approaching from tomorrow.

Some whimsy: “Grandfather Frost” (Дед Мороз/Ded Moroz) made his annual appearance at TsUP (Moscow Mission Control)! (Previous mentions: 31/12/2005; 26/12/2022 entries.) As KosmosNews reported, “Le Père Gel en visite au TsOuP,” and the photos are from the related Roskosmos Telegram post: “Holiday of magic at TsUP: Today, residents of the Moscow residence of Father Frost visited the Mission Control Center, met with the children and talked with the crew who are now working on board the International Space Station! Праздник волшебства в ЦУПе Сегодня жители московской резиденции Деда Мороза посетили Центр управления полётами, встретились с детишками и пообщались с экипажем, который сейчас работает на борту Международной комической станции!”

Sunday 24/12: Christmas Eve grinching

Weary. No interest in all the Christmas hype and nonsense. All that gave it meaning and anticipation for me has long gone – all the relatives I used to know and see back then are deceased, as is the culture and atmosphere of the time then. Would be happy to spend the day by myself; solitude is the only time when I can feel mentally calmer.

Monday 25/12: Religious rants; more supposed election interference; Russian Santas

The threatened rain dump arrived overnight, unfortunately, and looks to continue for a couple of days at least.

“Christian leader calls for ‘extraordinary’ demographic measures,” RT, 24/12. Another example of why I loathe this church and organized religion generally, and the anachronistic conservative direction in which Russia seems to be headed. “Speaking during an annual Eparchial meeting in Moscow earlier this week, the Patriarch described boosting the country’s birth rates as an ‘imperative’ for its survival. […] ‘I’ll put it straight: if extraordinary and effective measures are not taken, then not during the lifetime of this generation, but during the next generations already, Russia may cease to be a great power, which means a potential loss of territories and, possibly, its disappearance as a single country,’ he added.” One wonders what those “measures” entail; the conservatives seem to want to relegate women to the breeder status akin to those in The Handmaid’s Tale.

“How Russian and Chinese interference could affect the 2024 US election,” The Age, 24/12. Getting in early with the (dubious) interference allegations! (“ODNI Releases Intelligence Community Assessment of Foreign Threats to the 2022 U.S. Elections” – link to news release with report PDFs.)

Nicer things: found via a Facebook post, a photo by Vladimir Sevrinovskii, “‘Santas’ of Northern Russia: on very left, Yamal Iri, the ‘White Elder’ of the Yamal Peninsula, belonging to the indigenous Nentsi people; Second from the left is Russian Ded Moroz himself; Third from the left Chyskhaan, the ‘Bull Man’ of the Sakha people of Yakutia, in Northern Siberia; next one, the lady, is Tugeni Eneken, ‘Mother Winter’, of the Evenki and other tundra nomads; after her is the visiting official Santa Claus of Finland; and then Pokkaine, the youngish ‘Santa’ of the ethnic Karelian people.”

Tuesday 26/12: Stormy

Had a headache overnight, but it abated by morning, though am still tired. The tropical unsettled weather continues; some sunshine this morning at least, but stormy conditions and heavy rain returned this afternoon.

I have fully recovered from the temporary side-effects of my latest COVID vaccine a week ago (19/12 entry). Took me a couple of days; my arm was quite sore around the injection site.

Wednesday 27/12: Attempted break-in next-door

Still humid and unsettled, but the stormy weather is abating.

Next-door neighbors experienced a break-in attempt overnight, so one of them informed me early this morning when I was out the front yard doing some sweeping. I don’t think the offenders succeeded, fortunately, but it is an alarming incident nonetheless. Obviously they informed the police. I won’t go into much detail.

Thursday 28/12: A dream of Gran

Drizzly weather this morning, but clearing by the afternoon. Went to Chadstone SC by bus.

A vivid and poignant dream yesterday evening of my maternal grandmother: I was in the backseat of a car (Mum’s old Renault-12), departing a tree-lined car park somewhere near Southland SC. Saw Gran standing there with some other dream characters (also, simultaneously, outside her old home in Bridge Street, Elsternwick). I rolled down my window to say farewell to her. She came forward and gripped my hand. I was very upset at parting from her as was she, and I told her so with tears in my eyes. I awoke then, still teary and upset. Though she died in October 2000, I think of her and miss her every day. Ultimately, all that really matters are my memories of family and times gone by. My other interests seem almost superflous as they change so much and are external to me, as are world events generally.

Friday 29/12: Spoke to Aunt

Fine and sunny and pleasant – a rare such day in the last year or so – but more rain due tomorrow.

Had a brief landline phone chat to my paternal aunt (Dad’s younger and only sister) who lives in Tasmania. She is 84 and still in reasonable good health. She and her family emmigrated from England to Australia in 1981, and they are now scattered around Australia and England. She has been trying to email Dad but it is not getting through, so I will try to help (I seem to be unofficial IT support for my parents now).

Saturday 30/12: Sister moving; more cash is dying articles; Swankivy’s house

Last day of this year tomorrow; as usual I am not doing any celebratory activities or making any resolutions.

Sister and her husband are in the stressful process of moving from Brisbane, Queensland to Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, though at least the Army takes care of the process.

Cashless concerns (previously: 13/12 entry): “Will consumers have to pay to access cash or face a future without banknotes?” ABC News, 30/12; “Costs stack up as payments go digital, but some insist we’ll never go cashless,” The Age, 29/12. Again with the “cash is becoming obsolete” narrative. I am also extremely irritated with people who believe those who advocate for cash are digital Luddites (or criminals, or clueless elderly); an example comment: “Some people embrace change some people think the sky will fall in. Sure there may be some issues with cashless, but I already know lots of people that already are. These don’t include drug dealers and tradies doing cashies. Are all the naysayers happy with the amount of tax evasion that occurs which is facilitated through use of cash? Time to move on folks.” (MrMoo) Those who use digital-only payments can have their movements and purchases tracked and controlled by governments and financial institutions; there is no privacy with them.

One of the people I follow online, Swankivy, has a page with photos of her current residence – “I live in a three-bedroom house in Tampa, Florida!” I am rather envious! Inside looks quite nice, though the large tree outside is making an awful mess of leaves on the roof and yard, and could be a danger if a hurricane hits the area. I am always interested to see how others in the world live and their daily lives (6/2/2022; 7/8 entries).

Sunday 31/12: Another year gone

Last day of 2023; fine and sunny. In a very tiny achievement, I have managed to post every day of this year! Not always anything of substance, but it is a habit I have maintained.

Not a happy year; one of watching my parents decline further as they age. Much stress for myself; no proper rest or adequate sleep.

A 1971 Soviet postcard of Lunakhod on the Moon via USSR Pictures on Twitter/X. Sadly, the 2023 rover did not make it (22/8 entry). The Ukraine conflict is unfortunately sucking resources away from the already-strained Russian space program.