I am a dog lover. I have two Rottweilers. And as smart and athletic as my dogs are, they fail to understand that their chance of nabbing a pesky squirrel is pretty slim. Despite the slim odds, my dogs, like most canines, can’t help themselves when they catch a glimpse of a bushy tail running across the lawn or scampering up a tree. Dogs do what dogs do. Just check out this video.
Damn entertaining. I suppose this is what our ancestors did for amusement when there was no television or internet.
If you had an army of trained squirrels and you were facing off against a foe with a pack of hungry hounds, what would you do? Deploy the squirrels and force the dogs to exhaust themselves by fruitlessly chasing the wilily critters? Bet your ass you would.
My friend, Steve Bryen, has a new piece in the Asia Times — Still an enigma, Prigozhin resurfaces in Belarus. Steve frankly admits (which is why I respect the man) that his previous assessment of Prigozhin’s status was wrong:
One of my readers took note that I was wrong about Yevgeney Prigozhin. I had argued that Prigozhin was no longer the leader of Wagner and had been sidelined and was missing. But I was not right, assuming the news reports that Prigozhin has surfaced in Belarus are correct.
The official Russian press is entirely silent on the matter, so what we have to go on is a brief statement attributed to Prigozhin and a very fuzzy video of Prigozhin welcoming the Wagner troops. The person pictured could be anyone but is said to be Prigozhin.
Presumably, these troops arriving in Belarus were part of a large convoy that traveled from Russia last week.
You have to love and admire a guy who admits he may have been mistaken. Speaks volumes about his integrity. And let me add I have no better clue than Steve about what the hell is going on with the Prigozhin diversion. I am just offering up my opinion based on my experience as an intel officer. Steve is giving his best guess based on his experience as a senior Department of Defense official. Our respective attempts to decipher the mystery of Prigozhin and the Wagner Group is not drive by ideology. Unlike the neo-con cranks like Blinken, Nuland and Sullivan, Steve and I are genuinely puzzled by Prigozhin’s reappearance.
My view is that Prigozhin is a dandified squirrel with the sole mission of getting NATO and the rest of the morons in the West to chase him around the tree. By focusing almost exclusively on this sneaky, crafty little bastard, the NATO forces are not looking at the real threats posed by the rest of the Russian Army.
And let’s not forget that squirrels are smart and resourceful. Anyone with a bird feeder in their backyard will quickly learn that squirrels are talented tacticians in defeating obstacles designed to stop them from pillaging bird seed. Then there are those examples where technology defeats the squirrels (I had one of these in my backyard in Bethesda).
But then we have video evidence that squirrels also are incredible problem solvers. So I leave you with this question — are the Russians smarter than squirrels? (You’re going to love the following video.)
“Prigozhin is a dandified squirrel” may be unnuttifying description of the enigma.
Watching that Wagner video, yesterday, was the most interesting moment of my day. I will download the squirrel and watch with someone in hope of it being today’s highlight 🙂
I shared that William Arkin video link about CIA capabilities with you but it’s appropriate that I highlight part of the transcript.
“The CIA is an intelligence agency, so its no. 1 mission in Ukraine is to collect intelligence, not just on what the Russians are doing but also on what the Ukrainians are doing… and that’s the biggest blind spot.
The United States knows as little about what Zelensky is up to, and what he’s thinking, and what his views are about the future, as it does about Vladimir Putin and his future plans and intentions.
This might come as a surprise to some people but, as my sources explained it to me, the reality is that Ukraine is not an ally of the United States, we have no treaty obligations towards Ukraine, and the United States is not at war with Russia. This is a particularly unique battlefield in which the CIA is playing an outsized role.
The CIA’s primary mission is to figure out what the Russians and Ukrainians are doing, as well as its augmented mission which is to play a greater role in the provision of arms to Ukraine, a greater role in counter intelligence, a greater role in corralling all the neighbour states to Ukraine so that they stay firmly engaged in the war, some countries in which the domestic population not as enthusiastic about war with Russia as is, for instance, Poland.
This role stretches the CIA quite thin in terms of what it’s doing, but also its got its hand in a bit of everything.
I would give it low marks on understanding the intentions of Putin or Zelensky, very high marks on understanding what’s going on on the battlefield, but the most high marks are in moving the billions of dollars’ worth of weapons that the United States and NATO has pledged to Kyiv…
So, the CIA represents these many interests, the interest not to escalate with Russia, the interest not to have Russia resort to the use of nuclear weapons, trying to understand what Putin’s position and Putin’s thinking is. But at the same time, it struggles with the question of whether or not it understands well enough what it is that Ukraine wants, and also what it is that Ukraine will accept, beyond its public rhetoric, in trying to end the war…
I don’t really have a lot of confidence that the CIA is fully on top of what either of these two leaders think…
The CIA might have put a lot of pressure on Zelensky and his government in order to be more transparent or to deal with corruption or to deal with accountability, but it’s not altogether clear that Zelensky has full control over the Ukrainian military or the Ukrainian secret services, nor is it necessarily the case that the United States is in a position to really exert much leverage against Ukraine at this point…
In the structure of the Ukrainian government, you have the presidency and the office of the president. It’s a rather new democratic institution, so it only has so much power. And during a war, that power is somewhat diminished. Then there’s the military itself and its commander-in-chief, who is the most powerful actor in Ukrainian society today. But you also have the National Guard, and you have Ukrainian intelligence, and you have the Ukrainian secret agencies, including secret special operations forces, and it’s not clear who indeed is in charge of all of them. My guess is that the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is nominally in charge…
The structure of the government and how the decision-making is actually working and what the power of these secret agencies are and how much they have and have not done inside Ukraine, well, that in itself is a bit of a mystery. It’s not one that anyone has a clear understanding of. And that “anyone” might include the president himself, Zelensky himself.”
I’ll put it succinctly — the CIA does not have a clue.
The German General Staff in the shape of Ludendorff sent a “bacillus in a tube” as Churchill described the sealed train conveying the Bolshevik V. I. Lenin to the Finland Station………..
The British conveyed the Menshevik Leon Trotsky (born in Kherson) from New York on a British ship together with New York gold via Newfoundland……….as their dog in the fight to counter the Bolsheviks…….
Trotsky joined the Bolsheviks………..Major Hill of MI6 ended up working with Trotsky to create GRU……..
and so the “West” in its collective intervention in Russian Empire led to the implementation of the notions of Karl Marx of Trier as modified by the dictatorship of V I Lenin and the Okhrana police agent J V Stalin
Churchill ended up turning 1920s Warsaw into a hotbed of SR activity with men like Boris Savinkov until Dzerzhinsky lured him into the trap through his “front” The Trust – a fake opposition group – thus MI6 also lost Sidney Reilly, its significant anti-Leninist asset
Another Army Intelligence agent – Adolf Hitler – was promoted and funded by US “friends” as the anti-Bolshevik and he terminated the cooperation on military matters 1919-33 which had rebuilt the Wehrmacht.
Intelligence Agencies create the very problems…………Saddam was a CIA asset as was Netanyahu and as was Noriega
Which CIA assets run Germany or UK today ? Or Spain or Italy ?
UK rarely has overt disputes with USA unlike 1960s – so how do they put people like Truss or Sunak in place and get a Trilateral Commission man in Keir Starmer in place ?
Agreed. That’s pretty much it, in a nutshell.
The Russian version of cia, like Putin, is functioning at a much higher level.
Prigozhin is a thug, a crook and greedy, what better asset for the Russian “intel” community.
My dogs catch squirrels and give me target practice, just saying.
You all are missing the bigger picture of the Russian military grouping for the NATO folks when they enter the meat grinder of Ukraine.
All those competent generals getting fired, like Mini Me are cooking up something good. I pray for the Christians and that the west will wake up to the utter destruction that we are facing.
Russia is primarily a Christian country, especially not the US. No country in the West is Christian anymore.
As an old sheriff’s deputy I knew used to say: Its not that they don’t have a clue, they don’t even suspect. Hillbilly wisdom lol.
I’ll pass on a saying from one of my college instructors who survived WW2 about such confusions: “It’s like trying to nail jello to the wall.”
He meant that it might seem you understand it, but somehow it falls apart and leaves a big mess.
Coming down hard on Prigozihin and Wagner would have been a public PR and military rank-and-file morale disaster. Wagner’s troops have done some very costly heavy lifting for Russia in many places, where the use of the Russian military would have been illegal under Russian law or diplomatically ill-advised. No point in destroying the hero reputation the Wagner fighters earned with the public and military because the guy running the corporation is an aggressive loose cannon.
Col. Macgregor compares Wagner to the French Foreign Legion, unlike Prince’s “we’ll kill for money” mercenaries. Putin was merely following the letter of the law, where Wagner forces cannot be active within Russian Federation Territory. Donetsk and Lugansk are now RF territory. Simple.
Progozhin stood to lose a ton of money in the conversion of the local Wagner group to Russian army personnel, and his graft has been revealed and apparently removed from his possession. You can bet he will have auditors up the wazoo from here on out. And maybe future corruption charges if tries any more funny business.
So win-win for Putin again. He gets to more-or-less privately slap down Prigozhin while maintaining the public image of the Wagners fighters as heroes to be emulated.
Judo Master indeed. The CIA/NeoCons don’t even have a clue they don’t have a clue.
It’s a familiar refrain. Pretty much every nominally former intel officer, in the West, writes the same thing of his or her nominally former colleagues. “Freaking lazy morons!” “Traitors!” “A clueless bunch of idiots!” “Psychopaths who excrete 40 billion dollars of crap!” And so on.
The various publications review boards sign off on it. The half-awake minders nod approvingly, and note in their reports that an intimidation team should be dispatched to persuade the disillusioned former officer to continue in the same vein.
Often, I’ve wondered whether the nominally former intel officers who write these things – often very persuasively and with impressive élan – were or are cognizant of who they actually work(ed) for.
Once, I heard one of them blurt it out. The truth. Pure as newly fallen snow – as if a three-year-old infant had spoken it. Of her, I heard nothing more afterward.
Myself, I’ve never held a government security clearance or set foot inside a facility that required one. I only observe, from the outside, albeit sometimes in relatively intimate proximity.
CIA and its ilk have long been (in)famous for ‘quiet quitting’, a practice among the personnel that today, perhaps, is somewhat reduced owing to 24/7/365 algorithmic surveillance of employee behavior. Yet I find myself asking: were and are the quietly quitting “morons” and “clueless” truly morons and clueless? Or is it rather that, consistent with the psychological profiles that qualified them for recruitment, they saw through the façade, and had understood that their actual bosses cared not one whit for the people it was their ostensible duty to protect?
Yeah, but the squirrels and the squirrel guy in your video do.
Squirrel guy for POTUS!! (we need him)
PS: Thanks for the laughs. All the actors were amazing.
Your source is BSing himself. When you provide most of the equipment and munitions used by one party to fight another, including some of the most advanced equipment available, and you essentially pay for their army, and you provide continuous, high quality battlefield intelligence and targeting information then you are a co-combatant.
The US is waging war against Russia and only weasel-worders would try to claim otherwise.
Russia knows the US is waging war on it. It appears there have been something like 30,000 – 40,000 Russians killed in this war and some multiple of that wounded. In addition, Russia knows that many times more of Ukrainian citizens who were ethnically and culturally Russian have been killed in a war at the behest of and fully supported by the US Government.
The US was totally outraged by 911, which killed about 3,000 Americans. Assuming Russians will not be outraged by a much higher death toll (from a smaller population) in a war they understand was engineered by Washington to destroy their country is foolish. Expect them to not forgive and forget, and to seek payback in one way or another.
Moronic claims which may resonate in the beltway bubble are totally unconvincing to Russians and most of the world.
Us is not only paying for Ukrainian Army/Mercenaries but for civil administration…….it is paying operating costs including pensions.
Clearly Americans are not aware of just how far they are meeting payroll in Ukraine and what salaries are floating around……..reports of mid-level apparatchiks on $10,000/month abound as do reports of border patrols in EU stopping cars with bundled packs of US dollars moving westwards – yet told to flag them through in breach of Money Laundering/Tax Evasion laws applied to Mortals.
Just as pallets of US dollars vanished in Iraq and ghost armies on payroll meant funds siphoned to offshore accounts, so in Europe US folding money is on the move in surreptitious channels
I fear it is the EU budget which pays for the salaries of the Zelensky mafia and government employees.
The US, in any case, sends millions of dollars in weapons, produced by the MIC, but with the security of return, as BlackRock ( which is like to say the Biden adminsitration…) has offered Zelensky to manage, “for free” they say, European funds which we do not know where they finally end…probably in BlackRock´s pocket for to investing through high frecuency trading in what their robot Alladin deems more profitable, and in tax havens like Delaware and the like….
Of course, some millions fall between the fingers of the most prominent officilas in the Zelensky mafia….Like this one…
https://t.me/elespiadigital/15052
How in the Earth a minister of a failed state, in war for a year in a round with a superpower, can afford such a villa? Or is it because of it that he can?
When, in his most wet dreams, would had this moron, of unknown occupation till now, seen himself living in a villa in the French Riviera, even if president of Ukraine at peace time?
There are presidents of European countries who, officially, do not earn such ammount….Of course, during the “pandemic” all red lines were blurred and they threw the house through the window as they were promised impunity by the US elites who bought them, and highly likely they are all multimillionaire now, after having sold their populations to medical experimentation with dangerous US bioweapons, of which BalckRock has many shares into, and an historic tranfer of wealth to BlacRock, that is the US, with the excuse of “War in Ukraine”…
We are being sqeezed so that a mafia which belongs in a high security prison enjoys the good luxurious life while misery and poverty spread through Ukraine and Europe for the ages to come…
We should keep the account of the billions looted so that to requisition all this money when we are able to detain these mafia running scot free…for now….
well said BAZZA
Whether they are paying for it or have a clue are two distinct issues. Sure they are paying for it, and yes, they have no clue. Generally over the last several months that has been the overarching theme here. Throwing cash and weapons into Ukraine with no idea of what’s going on there and no sensible strategy of any kind, just wishes and hopes.
I hadn’t seen the link to that article, Mike, so thanks for posting some of it. You can’t know what everybody is doing and thinking, everywhere, all the time. No clue why they think that’s possible but that won’t stop them from stumbling through the geopolitical mine field.
Mike Hamilton,
Good observations, but there is a certain entity in the Middle East with whom we have no treaty obligations yet still gets access to billions of dollars of US money, and even more, they have gotten their big, dumb golem, the US, to expend the lives of their military in wars that serve their interests as they perceive them, and not our interests. And this despite their having betrayed the interests of the US through espionage that they sold on to our competitors, privileged access to our technologies and intelligence for free, and even rising to the level of actively slaughtering US personnel in the case of the USS Liberty, and all without benefit of a “treaty obligation”. And this is not to mention the pervasive corruption of our governmental processes (Epstein, anyone?), too, that permits this to continue unchecked.
So, the situation is not unique, and given the thumb in the pan exercised by their fellow tribesmen (Larry Fink, for example) and (particularly in the person of V. Nuland) tribeswomen in the US, who feel themselves entitled to vengeance against Russia and the Russian people for events in the often distant past against the Tribe, they work an unsubtle influence over US policies and actions despite its dire possibilities for our true national policy interests.
To paraphrase Voltaire, you will know those who rule you, by those whom you are forbidden to criticize.
Love your video Larry. That squirrel is living dangerously and teasing your dog. It could easily shoot up the tree out of dog’s reach but prefers to stay at a height that tempts your dog. Which I guess is your simile with Prigozhin.
The squirrel’s ability to move around the tree at speed, flipping upside down at times is amazing.
Did we ever see actual evidence that the 15 airmen killed by Wagner were real or actually killed?
No evidence. Two or three were named by VVP but they could be casualties from elsewhere. 15 is an exaggerated story that grew legs.
There was a squirrel on moonofalabama who kept gnawing on that nutshell – still hasn’t gotten to the nut.
The only visual evidence I’ve seen are a couple of brief videos, of a Wagner Pantsir on the road to Moscow and of some firemen dousing a helicopter tail in a field: neither in convincing context.
That was my thought as well..
I don’t see too.
And,i want.
Thanks.
Did we ever see actual evidence that the Earth is not flat?
Thanks for these videos. I love dogs. But I live in a small apartment in Tokyo. Not the best place for rottweillers! I keep two cats, one of which thinks he is a dog. That’s my contribution to the Woke silliness– I have a Trans Cat. LOL.
https://medium.com/@julianmacfarlane/we-are-all-trans-b3e8ac5268a3
Apart from that I have a long relationship with squirrels. First in my parent’s garden in Canada…and then in the zoo I worked i later (really). I actually spent some time locked in a cage of giant African squirrels (it was a joke by my mates). They were very friendly, which was nice.
I heard about maskirovka here first, and you gave all the reasons and were right. Nothing else makes sense. When your enemy has no plan, give them one. then another, until their logistics just don’t allow it to continue.
It is very strange that the Ukr are continuing to send meat to the grinder in Artemovsk. Is there something in the underground tunnels in the neighborhood? They have spent a huge amount of everything trying to win and even after losing they are still desperate to protect the road west?
Very interesting update, and the squirrel videos are amazing & hysterically funny, especially the second one. Definitely loved that one, that guy is super geeky, funny, and a great narrator too.
I have to admit that I am coming to the same conclusion – Prigozhin is Putin’s squirrel. Otherwise, how could an ex-con lead ex-cons under the auspices of the Red Army, decide to revolt and march on the Kremlin, and yet all be apparently forgiven and Prigozhin and his commanders even getting a personal audience with Putin? They were exiled to Belarus, but they weren’t. Prigozhin under house arrest in Belarus, but he was in St Petersburg. Wagner is being disbanded, but it isn’t.
All kinds of turds being thrown at the West and they can’t see it because they are so filled with hatred for Russia. Dogs after squirrels.
Laughing at your enemy…sends them crazy. Nothing destroys a wannabe tough guy more than ridicule.
Another favourite is little things that irritate them. At morning tea break or Crib….Just stir your cup of tea and tap the cup edge three times, every morning. They who hate, will go nuts.
Putin has the, “Wagner tail,” screwing with the clown show.
QUESTION : who will be the first to publish,
“The Complete works of the SMO.”
…..Fools, tactics, strategy and spys…..
PS Larry, feel free to use the title…I will buy a copy.( get in quick before the salty bears publishes. Or the old Colonel for that matter.
Aaron,
The old colonel, Colonel Patrick Lang, is gone. He was an honorable man. Peace be on his memory.
Ishmael Zechariah
The ex-con story is becoming a meme. The majority are professional soldiers. Also AFAIK the recruitment of prisoners only happened since the SMO.
an ex-con lead ex-cons under the auspices of the Red Army
Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная а́рмия or RED ARMY was the designation applied to Bolshevik Forces fighting the WHITE ARMY backed by UK, US, France, Canada when invading Russia in 1919……..
The term RED ARMY of Peasants and Workers…….was abolished in 1946 when it became THE SOVIET ARMY
So unless you want to call US Forces the Doughboys or talk about the Wehrmacht and think of the US Military as racially-segregated as it was until Executive Order 9981 was issued on July 26, 1948……….
You should not use the term RED ARMY especially not in the context of the Russian Federation which is NON-Communist and today much less ideologically-rigid than USA
Paul DON’T OVER THINK …………………IT.
I was born and bred in the military also served in the Army. I’m 70 years old. Brought up with the Red Army singing and Cossacks dancing on the BBC black and white TV.
Used to sit and watch the big victory Red Square parade on the Telly with dad. All considered normal. Unless Red Square is now forbidden words because it is USSR scary.
By the way my uncle Tom was torpedoed three times on the Murmansk run. Merchant (British) navy supplying food to the starving people defending Leningrad. Whoops St Petersburg.
Well well well my uncle Tom helped keep Putins family from starving to death.
What a small world.
The Red Army bled to death so my family and millions of other families are alive to day.
Russians are bleeding to death to day fighting the Nazi grand kids of NATO and the murderous safari thugs calling themselves freedom fighters of the rules based order.
PRESIDENT PUTIN…….. give us a call….got a funny story to tell you about my Uncle Tom and a sack of sugar that never made it to Russia.
Sorrry…. but you get that….
Unless Red Square is now forbidden words because it is USSR scary.
Красная площадь is a misnomer – it is Krasnaya Ploshchad or “Beautiful Square”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Square
I am well aware of Murmansk Run and knew some who survived………
The point is that in US parlance they say “CCP” instead of “Communist Party of China (CPC)” BECAUSE it looks like “CCCP” and the “Reds”
Just as they imply Russian Federation is Communist and Red Army is going to suppress workers in Hungary or Poland…….and deliberately use Cold War imagery to set the tone for the Hate Cult…………..the same people who do back flips to prevent you “dissing” Jews or Muslims …………
If you cannot see how the direction works you are too detached from modern reality – look at the GDR Stasi tactic of “Zersetzung” – that is what is being instilled by use of Communist imagery to imply Russia is still USSR
Actually, Красная площадь can mean either “Red Square” or “Beautiful Square” – Красная is equivalent to both meanings, red and beautiful.
Technically, you are correct. However, many, many people in Russia (and around the world – probably for different reasons) refer to the Russian army colloquially as the Red Army, as it was known, as you have stated, until just after the end of WWII when it officially became the Soviet Army, and subsequently, becoming the Russian Army.
I’ll not quibble over such details, but being an oldster and also one who recognises the immense contribution to the world of the Red Army in the past, I have to admit that I prefer to keep their memory alive – just as the Russians hold the Red Army Flag close to their hearts even today.
question — are the Russians smarter than squirrels?
After being reminded by this article of a running battle I had with Squirrel number 5, after getting 4, in a bid to get aunt Polly plenty of Squirrel for the Squirrel gumbo she had planned, there is no way I am going to get into that debate.
However, after watching the shenanigans in this ol world for lots of years, I would be willing to bet that Russian squirrels are smarter than NATO Squirrels.
From Cow Bell to Lipstick on a Pig…
….never imagined anything beating the pig. But the squirrel and the dog did it !
Maybe western intelligence services are so super smart that they know he is a squirrel.
But they deliberately behave as though they do not realise. It is a reverse deception by the geniuses of the CIA and MI6.
Or at least, that is what they will claim in a few years. After Russia has won, but they will overlook that detail. As they always manage to. After all, no one talks about the evacuation of Kabul anymore. Nicely buried.
Watch ‘Our Man in Havana’, Steve. In the Empire of Lies we are living in, only failure get’s rewarded. Any one with an ounce of intelligence get’s demoted or sacked. Group think rules!
Graham Greene was a beautiful writer of prose about flawed characters and the world around them.
Our Man in Havana mocked MI6 but it was based on true knowledge of German wartime agents in Portugal during WW2……….fake reports to HQ was and is commonplace – just as in latter days of KGB from overseas stations……….
The Quiet American is perhaps more apt for Americans today – to see how they get themselves ever deeper into war…………
The Quiet American is based in true experiences which Greene knew about. Particularly the episode of the mystery explosive – C4 probably , which was secretly developed at that time and still unknown – used in Vietnam in a false flag attack by the Americans in November 1962 to discredit the Diem government which was arguing against US build up there.
I have even read a certain Captain Scott of the US Army placed the explosive. It was an airburst bomb and had the peculiar effect of blowing victims heads off but leaving no damage below the chest on the majority of its victims. A photographer for Life had been tipped off about the explosion and produced astonishing photographs that were subsequently used for the intended political purposes of the false flag operation. Recognize that MO?
That right there is the disregard US foreign policy has for innocent civilians and has been repeated ever since.
I recommend the book ‘JFK and the Unspeakable’ by Douglas Murray, where this incident is related, for readers interested in knowing more about the evil of US foreign policy. ‘The Devils Chessboard’ by David Talbot is also a good source.
Larry you may want to correct your friend re Matryoshka dolls Vs Maskirovka.
He has the two confused “When you deal with Russia you always have to try to separate what is real from what is fake. Sometimes in Russia, this is called Matryoshka, named after the famous Matryoshka dolls that feature one doll inside another.”
In (Soviet) Russia everything is Maskirovka, including Matryoshka, Ushanka and Buhanka. Expecialy Buhanka.
http://autoxan.com/UAZ/2016/01/16/uaz-2206-buhanka-luxe-offroad-tuning—exterior-and-interior-walkaround—moscow-offroad-show-2015.html
How to convince someone to jump in an erupting volcano? Or cross a mine field in a combat zone?
1. The line of defense is far away, we can see it from satellite.
2. The mine field is short, 100m -200m, and we were trained what to do when we step on a mine.
3. The enemy will run, not bombarding us.
4. The military command will be paralyze.
Prigozhin is anywhere?
As funny as the squirrel video is the video of a trench one hand size created in order to protect Moscow for the advancing troupes.
Is your rottweiler being punked by your resident squirrel to chase it around a tree all day, like Prigozhin was produced by the Russians to punk the entire West and Western trees?
The only thing I know for certain is that most squirrels are better looking than Prigozhin.
Unlike Mr Prigozhin, the squirrels are cute and amusing in their antics. As for dogs, dumb but loveable when they’re your dogs, potentially dangerous when they’re somebody else’s.
With so much going on in Ukraine and Europe, perhaps CIA is an acronym for Covert Interference Agency.
Larry,
Heads up.
This just came over TASS – https://tass.com/politics/1649857
Russia pushing conscription age ceiling to 30, leaving lower limit at 18 — senior lawmaker
In its first reading version, the bill had initially called for raising the lower age limit for men to join military service from 18 to 21 years old
MOSCOW, July 21. /TASS/. Under a bill to increase the maximum conscription age for compulsory military service in Russia, the conscription age bracket will be 18 to 30 years old, State Duma Defense Committee Chairman Andrey Kartapolov told reporters on Friday, commenting on amendments to the bill as it undergoes the crucial second reading in the lower house of the Federal Assembly, Russia’s parliament.
Russia is preparing for the long fight… They understand WWIII has already begun.
Since 2014 and the Maidan coup, Russia has been readying itself for civilizational conflict. The US/NATO/EU, which instigated this war and are fanning its flames, did not.
That mountain of western hubris leads inexorably to total war. Russia understands this… The only real question is when will the West catch on? Before or after they pull the nuclear trigger…?
Russian State Duma deputy Andrey Kartapolov said that Wagner’s men were sent to Belarus in case Russia needs the Suwalki Gap.
Poland and Lithuania are again rabbiting around.
https://global.espreso.tv/wagners-troops-in-belarus-will-be-needed-to-take-the-suwalki-gap-russias-state-duma-deputy
“”We are talking about the fact that the shock fist is ready, which this unfortunate corridor will take in a matter of hours,” the deputy said.”
NATO has that dogged habit of barking up the wrong tree.
Well, that just proves it. 30 is the new 21.
Wagner were used as “the big bag guys” by everyone.
I was watching the interview of a Belarusian ambassador on The Duran the other day (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8XuoX32ml4 ) and he said the SBU used the Wagner name as scapegoat in their elections meddling in Belarus a few years ago (Just the name, not the actual Wagner group).
Seeing how much the PMC became a two edged sword, I understand why the Russian decided to, somehow, kind of dismantling it (or not, time will tell). Anyway , there are other PMC in Russia that are eager to get the propaganda spotlight now. More Squirrels !
Another wonderful blog post!
It’s always a joy to read you, Mr. Johnson. I am grateful for your taking the time to educate the likes of me.
Appreciated!
Me too
Dogs may chase after squirrels, but they better not try it with bunnies!
https://youtu.be/cCI18qAoKq4
Squirrel scene from the movie Up.
https://youtu.be/hdLV_L0RlNo
The west is not paying very good attention.
I have long thought that Prigozhin is classic Vladislav Surkov (nothing is as it seems) with a new updated version for military tactics and strategy. About a year ago reports appeared suggesting Vladislav Surkov was arrested. Yeah right, ha ha ha…he was probably instructing Prigozhin.
The menace of unreality. There will come a time of two phases: “a time of games and a time of blood.”
https://en.desk-russie.eu/2023/04/30/vladislav-surkov-the-aesthete.html
That is why I keep one screen off a rear window in my house. And keep a rather primo Diana pellet rifle primed. If the squirrel just runs, I let it go. If it is teasing my Malinois? I hit them in the low back, and the .177 does not kill them. But it knocks them out of the tree. And then Stella is a very happy Belgian.
And there is a lesson there. For both Russia and the USA. If you fuck around too long, things outside of your current understanding might happen. It happens in all facets of life. As a police officer? Very hard to catch one off thieves, or even murderers. But they never stop. They keep going until you catch them. But just like squirrels, people cannot help themselves.
American public are the dogs in this shit show. Why aren’t there any significant msm voices crying out in the wilderness about KM’s CBDC to be unleashed in the west, particularly USA? While we are distracted by yellow subs, balloons , Oppenheimer and sound of freedom we are being geo fenced straight into America digital gulags and no f’ing body is talking about it except a few brave former msm financial people on alt media.
Larry, I’m a chess player to” and in my humble opinion, Prigozhin, may be a move on the chess board that gives you options, spreads the field and you get to see the enemy’s reaction, by that reaction you may get a hint of there plan, it also makes the polish people think”, and if Prigozhin attacks well it was not Russia who did it, also you have an army capable to match the 82nd with recent combat experience in nato tactics. like watching the movie Patton in real time.
Hello Larry, I’ve been grabbling since last year, with the end game for western Ukraine, post this conflict. Poland have their tentacles deeply embedded in the west of Ukraine for opportunistic and historical reasons. Ru does not want to have anything to do with the non Slavic areas but must ensure the SMO’s goals are met there too. What in your opinion is the best outcome for Russia with regards to the west of Ukraine¿
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/how-britains-secret-cyber-unit-targets-russia-and-china-online
Big report on Britain’s NCF National Cyber Force .
A hilarious thought – NCF is all over digital media, rather like 77 Brigade and Zinc, what if the CIA picked up some of NCF’s digital noise an went scampering doggedly after digital squirrels???
It would make my cat bark! Said Alice…
The first thing i read in the morning is your post.
I learn a lot.
In Brasil.
Thanks.
Hello Larry,
As usual, you nailed it. I am not a Russian but I lived in Russia towards the end of the USSR and its aftermath. Let me tell you this, in those days as a foreigner or local if you were jailed. if the MVD wanted let alone the KGB, they could keep you in jail indefinitely not even tell your family. Your family would have to find you. Like many countries in Latin America if they wanted to do so MVD among other agencies could shoot you and dump you on the side of the road. Today Russia has vastly improved in terms of human rights.
However, even today the punishment for crimes like pedophilia is death inflicted by the locals in a collective neighbourhood and it would never be investigated by the police.
The point is this! If the Prigozhin drama was for real? Rest assured Progozhin would be fertilizers for Daisies. So Yes, Now all Russias know, as I do, that Yevgeny truly is a superb actor far outweighing that creep who plays the piano with his penis in Ukraine.
Very cool videos lol
“Anyone with a bird feeder in their backyard will quickly learn that squirrels are talented tacticians in defeating obstacles”
Tends to depend upon their levels of integration in “exceptionalism” and contextually perceived requirements.
I think that the Russians may very well be playing with Washington and London. It’s a distraction, from other things.
I saw a video last year, at the beginning of the SMO, that showed Belorussian forces massing at Brest-Litowsk. I’m still expecting a thrust out of Brest, to take L’vov, and cut off the rail lines and roads to the Polish border. And to forestall any potential U.S. moves against Odessa, or Western Ukraine, generally. They’re still remotely thinking in Washingtovn that they can insert themselves into Ukraine, without Russia simply going to war with them on the spot.
Watched a video of Prigo rallying his orchestra at dawn and it was beautiful.
Thank You’s all around and don’t offend our Belorussian hosts with some unkind words for the GAE rainbow rump rangers.
Some big music is coming.
“So I leave you with this question — are the Russians smarter than squirrels? (You’re going to love the following video.)”
I guess you haven’t seen the latest video in his squirrel series. Spoiler, the Russians are the bad guys. Yes, really.
https://youtu.be/lg5wznn3IBE?t=1200
There is something indeed with grave uneasiness, arising from the fact, that the power of the Russian Army is restrained, now that by gradual actions and operations it has attained great power, and there is no doubt that it should finally defeat the enemy, but it is still on the defensive. All those who believe that the Russian army should attack have been removed:
https://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/?p=271264
Strelkov was also arrested this morning
https://avia.pro/news/dodiskreditirovalsya-igor-strelkov-zaderzhan-sotrudnikami-fsb
The grave discomfort is that Putin is really under the control of Chabad, and is holding back the victory, in order to bring about the plan, the Khazars, with a peaceful solution.
Too bad you are not high on the list of 6th columnists, and we will have to suffer your verbal diarrhoea for a forseable future.
It’s easiest to immediately accuse someone else, but you yourself are not able to read carefully and responsibly, I was talking about the “discomfort” that occurs among discerning people, It is high time for Russia to show its great strength, which Putin led a fish on a hook to bait, and all reactions are calculated and easy to predict. The Russian people, the army have been placed in a narrow corridor of defense, and thus Russia exhibits weakness in addition to its enormous power. Russia lacks Stalin, now top war generals are being purged in Russia, and thus the projection of power is impossible. If Russia continues to defend itself, it will lose everything, because one who defends itself cannot win. Putin is restraining Russia from projecting power, and the weakest point is Putin, because he is under the control of Chabad. All his answers are familiar and easy to predict. If from this attack on the Crimean bridge, Russia does not start to completely defeat the enemy, that is the end of it.
It is high time for you to go back to kitchen. This concerned troll role is not for you. Sadly, I have no hope we will see the end of it.
Russia knows this war goes to the Channel. Was it Medvededv said as much??? Maybe not with troops on the ground, but certainly with a rearrangement of the european security systems. They are defeating the enemies AND they have to be careful the enemies do not drag down the whole world for company as they go down.
Bleeding out the US – that’s what’s going on. And that is going to lead to the worst possible consequences here in the US. Well, unless Congress volunteers for the front lines…
“The grave discomfort is that Putin is really under the control of Chabad, and is holding back the victory, in order to bring about the plan, the Khazars, with a peaceful solution.”
No, the Russians do war by mathematics, which means they are waiting for the depletion calculations of Ukrainian resources to reach the point where their offensive overruns them with low costs.
Chabad, Chakmah, Binah, Datt which the Sefer Yetzirah states that it is ten not eleven makes the Lubavitchers idolators. The Gaon of Vilna was correct calling the founders destroyers.
Thomas
@Larry: thanks for introducing me to Steven’s substack, I’ve subscribed. I’ve personally given up trying to figure out how/why/who regarding the Wagner “uprising” (we’ll probably never really know the deets), but it was sure fun to watch. In Steven’s post from yesterday that you have here, he had a really interesting theory – did Lucashenko get involved of his own volition because he saw an opportunity for himself/Belarus? (or maybe he was in on it from the get go) I think he’s onto something and I say that because I had just watched an interview on The Duran with Dmitry Mironchik, the Belarussian ambassador to Sweden & Norway. Suffice it to say, Belarus has some very real and valid concerns for its security in regards to NATO & Poland. He also made it very clear that Belarus is, and will always be, an ally of Russia.
In the piece Steven posted the day before, he had links to two videos of Wagner commanders, which you reposted here. If folks haven’t seen those, its worth a few minutes to watch. They’re definitely there for a purpose other than exile. One was a big, burly dude behind a desk and he seemed to say that any problems with the MOD were put aside for now, there was still work for them to do. That work may have to do with the Sulwicki gap and/or Kaliningrad. I’ve noticed NATO aviation traffic circling the area like vultures. I had an interesting exchange with Steven about it in the comments.
Its going to be interesting watching what the Wagnerites get up to in Belarus. If nothing else, Prigozhin has cemented himself as one of the most interesting figures in this whole conflict. He certainly understands the “squirrel” theory lol!
A nice and funny comparison, Larry!
Although I would compare Prigozhin to a rat rather than a squirrel!
That said, the rat is a very clever animal!
Perhaps even more cunning than the squirrel, but this animal also brings with it a greater plague!
As a dog owner and lover, I would like to introduce to you my favourite breed : the Sarplaninac
This fantastic mountain dog is an ancient guardian of humans and animals and comes from Serbia.
It is super strong, and very intelligent!
He brought one of our cats, to catch the rat that had slipped into the henhouse.
Because he knows he probably would not catch the rat byhimself!
Perhaps we can make this comparison with Prigozhin the rat? And maybe Putin is using Lukashenko’s help to get rid of the rat?
Although I also think this is much bigger, and the rat is being used like a pawn in a chess game to achieve a different goal, than what seems logical to everyone at first.
Perhaps Putin has already loaded his rifle, and is waiting in front of the henhouse!
While I am pleased that the gentleman in question admitted his mistake, we shouldn’t have to admire him for it, we should expect it. The notion that simply admitting you are wrong is an act so rare that its appearance provokes awed respect is as repellent a sign of our cultural collapse as any could be.
Typical West, one dog isn’t catching the squirrel get two dogs. If that doesn’t work get four, just keep doubling down on the wrong course of action.
I’d try a cat.
I have not heard anyone speak of the relationship that Progozihin had with Shoigu in Syria that caused all the Wagner forces to die because of no air cover that had been promised. I do remember the US officers bragging about Wagner not being so tough and the killed many of the Wagner forces.
Israel Shamir has some very interesting history. Can it be verified?? See this link https://www.unz.com/ishamir/the-march-on-the-kremlin/
Dear Larry,
In fact, really we know nothing about this Prigozhin character !
but
Sir,
We now know that you are a genius !!
The videos are the best ! you are a true Wizard !
Also with this dark humor about the military !
Thanks again !! Greetings !
“In fact, really we know nothing about this Prigozhin character!”
Well, he did send home the bodies of fallen fighters from Bakhmut so the newly created widows and orphans can mourn and memorialize their loss along with making the Ze Regime pay them their justly entitled benefits. Also an US citizen was sent home with customary military honors. He has either an heart or is shrewd manipulator, most likely both.
Another one he did with his Wagner boys was a “Where is Zaluzhny” video which ended with him wishing to get well. Implies Zalzuhny was injured and I would suspect that he was the VIP in the German military hospital back in May. I don’t see a callousness with the man but the dark humor you cite which is great for carrying out a sophisticated info op.
In a follow up on Zaluzhny, is the story of Blown -up Budanov. The only video I saw of him was with Azov commanders homecoming and by that individual’s demeanor it looked like he earned the part as fill in for this season’s run of Servant of the People: Apocalypse Today.
All. In regards to maskirovka and squirrel chasing, take into account communication intercepts of key officials (Sullivan, Nuland, etc.) and how they are reacting to these stories, because in the end they are the real decision makers. Those are some transcripts I would love to read.
Thomas
“Also an US citizen was sent home with customary military honors”
Is there a count available as to the total number of US citizens who have died in Ukraine?
“Is there a count available as to the total number of US citizens who have died in Ukraine?”
Gwf,
There is a track a mercenary site that Simplicus shows from time to time and local news programs in the US will announce people killed that volunteered. I believe that the last I saw was in the 26-28 range.
Prigozhin made a couple videos from Bakhmut of this individual (former SEAL) showing his body and ID card, followed by the flag draped coffin being sent back to the Ukrainians so his family could bury him.
Thomas
The first video where the author claims to own two Rottweilers, and the video shows a Doberman dog!
why lie? just a question? Do you make videos about your dogs? or you don’t know what a Doberman breed video is?
but it doesn’t matter, it’s not so vital, okay. It’s just disgusting when the public is taken for fools. if I want to feel like an idiot, then I will read the BBC or CNN.
The statement that in the Russian press: “..the official Russian press is generally silent on this matter..” Well, this is such a lie!!!! through the official Russian press, there are many reports that Wagner partially signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense – all heavy equipment was returned to the state, because. Wagner was sponsored by the Department of Defense. And today in Belarus, at the training ground near the town of Osipovichi, the Wagnerites are training the Belarusian army. A LOT of this in the RUSSIAN PRESS!!! Why lie about this SILENCE in the Russian press?
what the heck!!!! from fraud about Rottweiler dogs and videos from the Doberman breed, to lies that the Russian press is silent about Wagner.
Well what the hell!!! Well, do not be ashamed, Author !!!
You must be trolling, right? Dog video is on a channel named ViralHog. Why would anyone think it’s Larry’s channel/dog. Your writing style also resembles another troll poster.
Not a Doberman and also not Larry’s (you are correct there Sherlock).
You’re a moron and a troll.
For some reason, I have never bought into a narrative and predictions of harsh punishment. 1st. Putin was not the object of distain, 2nd, why anyone expected that “assault troops Wagner” will just meekly turn into pushovers when facing a dissolution by MOD. 3rd, nobody sane would dismantle best military assault outfit in the middle of a war., so of course they were going to make up. Wagnerians had no intention to be managed under “everything in triplicate” Russian MOD, and be at the mercy of MOD logistics. Their manager is hated by Russian, and western elites, since he is not impressed with their pedigrees and lack of courage. [ PS. Prighozin came from solid middle class, even elite childhood, and was an athlete who graduated from a cross ski boarding school.
I believe Prigozhin is in Belarus to orchestrated another Wagner Group from the inmates of Belarus. Putin needs more grunt workers and Prigozhin is good at “orchestrating” that type of outfit.
At any rate, it would seem to me that the oligarch controlled Biden and the orchestrated media lies are losing the narrative that Ukraine is fighting for its democracy. Recently Seymour Hersh wrote an article about making movements as if Americans haven’t already tried that route with the guy he interviews, Thomas Frank, whom never mentioned the Tea Party as a movement nor what happened to it.
The Tea Party took form out of conservative folk whom hated George Bush and Cheney. They were on their way to becoming a very strong force until Fox News Murdoch funded their outfit and by his money managed to change the message, making the Tea Party sound more and more stupid, chasing them back into the Republican Party.
That was what gave the the Republic Party Donald Trump, because the Tea Party didn’t really go anywhere. When the American people try to make a movement the oligarchs are quick to find ways to push it in another direction.
The pro bred squirrel model is the Original Mountain Cur
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_x9rfBv68Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fh9wU8emCo
Curs VS Feist hounds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fh9wU8emCo
Martyanov here :
https://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2023/06/so-prigozhin-decided-to-go-for-it.html
shows Prigozhin is a gopnik.
Says you can take the man out of prison, cannot take the prison out of the man.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopnik
Easy for well fed Yurpeans, Brits Ami’s to mock – I wonder what the English for gopnik is – there will be millions unless this is turned around.
English for gopnik would be something like hooligan.
I tell dog owners that it is good for the hawks that their dogs cannot catch squirrels.
Today 54yr ago 2 guys landed on the Moon on an empty tank. 15min clip. Those rocks are as big as cars, and the crater shadow is -200C – could ruin your whole day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfNhkYHrfj0
Better than WWIII?
Best laughs I’ve had in weeks — especially that first clip. However, I think that doggie in the first video probably has more brains, gumption, and common sense than than all of Zelensky’s lackeys in the American Congress combined.
And the lying Marxist Traitors over at CNN, too.
Nice analogy, Larry!
(You seemed to have called this… and seen through this ruse.. right from the start. Meanwhile, over at CNN, they were waving the pom-poms and breaking out the champagne. Seemed like they were ready to throw an on-air party. But their celebration of Vladimir Putin’s demise was somewhat misplaced… and premature.)
Communists CNN hates Putin because he is no longer KGB agent.
Good point!
Sorry gotta roll back to the squirrel videos. I have a new appreciation for the little bastards after today. The obstacle course fellow is amazing. Was kinda surprised to hear him say he had a wife lol. Whatever he is he would make one helluva a booby trap builder. Son of a bitch could dial up a punji trap from hell like that boys.
Need right tool for the job…Rots are manstoppers you need a Fox or smaller Terriers they’ll actually catch a squirl. All dogs will tree one though and bark hopelessly lol.
KIEV !! . . . . KIEV !! . . . . KIEV !! It’s called “Kiev” That’s been it’s name for the last thousand years !! The “Kievan Rus” I maybe wrong but “Kyiv” sounds more like the Coke Head has had a ‘I-hate-Russians-so- we’re-gunna-call-it-Kyiv’ moment. And the whole Western world has suddenly started calling it that. Pisses me right off. Even the Dr Colonel Douglas uses it . . . mainly. Grrrrr
You do understand that calling it KYIV is the Russian pronunciation? I find it ironic and laughable. Most of the folks mouthing this don’t have a clue. I think Doug MacGregor is doing it as a sly way of ridiculing those in the media who repeat it like a magic phrase.
Wasn’t having a ‘go’ at you Larry, just a generalised one at commenters (led on as you so aptly describe as the medias “Magic Phrase” – good one) who 2 – 3 years – a decade ago would’ve been saying “Key ev” (with ‘ev’ as in ‘Evan’) . . . a la “Chicken Kiev.” I did NOT know that the ‘Kyiv’ pronunciation WAS the way Russians say it – I’d assumed that the new spelling/pronunciation was just another tentacle in the ongoing anti Russian propaganda Crusade. Even at my age, just goes to show that you CAN learn something new every day . . . if you’re that way inclined.
Appreciate the site Larry & all the analysis you & your occasional guest writers provide. Cheers from New Zealand.
No worry. I didn’t take offense. I share your view about the nonsense of the pronunciation. I made that point early on in the SMO. Most of the people saying KYIV did not realize it was the Russian version, yet they thought it showed solidarity with Ukraine. Morons.