By using the customary tariff threat which he employs to discipline governments worldwide, President Donald Trump urged Russia to agree asap to a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Dmitri Medwedjew answered by threatening the United States with nuclear arms, and Trump responded by saying he is sending two nuclear submarines toward Russia.
A silly game among two braggards, or the world’s most explosive moment since 1945? Who can tell?
There are a few facts to consider. Medwedyev loves inflammatory language and is understood as voicing Putin’s true opinion if unbridled by cautious statesmanship.
Trump is torn by competing urges: he hates the idea to be challenged by a subordinate, low level windbag. Although probably wishing to maintain his special relationship with Putin (Krasnov!) there is no reason for him to tolerate a bigmouthed nobody like Medwedyev.
Being addicted to his preferred media, Trump apparently rates Medvedyed’s threats as sufficiently important for the American public opinion to feel urged to counteract. By moving nuclear submarines (or at least pretending such a move) Trump nobilitates Medvedyev.
What an honor for a Russian blogger (with a remarkable past and a rather modest present) to have moved two foreign nuclear submarines!
So far, so weird. But let's assume that the mentally impaired current US president had decided to shed his “Krasnov” persona and discover beneath it a courageous American patriot who resists possible blackmail because of Putin’s compromat.
A new Trump, following in the footsteps of his predecessor Biden, so to speak. The world watches, torn between amusement and horror. Ukraine's Zelensky is a happy camper...
Why should the world pay special attention? Because there is nobody left who could prevent Trump from committing a possible folly. He started his second term of office by surrounding himself with acolytes. None of them would stop him from pressing the red button.
Since it is certain that Putin will continue the Ukraine war at all cost (failing to achieve victory could end his own life), Trump is facing a wall in his ill-conceived efforts to exert pressure on Moscow. Will Trump accept defeat when realizing that Putin will not budge, no matter what?
--ed
...the Kremlin isn’t budging. Putin has made it clear he’s in this for the long haul—aiming to cement control over four partially occupied Ukrainian regions, shrink Ukraine’s military, dodge reparations, and secure recognition of its illegal occupation of Crimea. With backing from India, China, Iran, and North Korea, Moscow has little reason to fear Trump’s Friday deadline for “peace or sanctions.” In short: threats and tariffs may sting, but they won’t force Putin to retreat.
Several Russian media outlets have reported in recent days that the Kremlin would be prepared to propose a halt to deep air strikes by missiles and drones “if Kiev approves this proposal.” This “offer” would obviously not be free of charge, as it would also suit Moscow's interests, since Kiev would no longer be able to strike Russian refineries and fuel depots.
The president had been on something of a winning streak. But when faced with facts and foes that wouldn’t bend to his will, he responded with impatience and disproportionate intensity.
Trump's weird babbling in Scotland reveals his cognitive decline. It was nice of Donald Trump to travel to Scotland and show our European allies we're led by a self-absorbed, weird man in obvious mental decline.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, referred to Gaza as “an inseparable part of the Land of Israel”, also predicting that the West Bank, currently partly governed by the Palestinian Authority, would come under Israeli sovereignty.
The problem for Israeli supremacists is that the Palestinians won’t disappear. They are too numerous to exterminate, and their Arab neighbours have said they won’t take them in, ostensibly for reasons of solidarity but in reality for fear of destabilising their own fragile societies. The last thing Egypt’s current strongman, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, wants is an influx of Gazans clamouring for jobs, houses and a political voice — Jordan, whose indigenous population complains of being swamped by their Palestinian guests, being the example to avoid. Finally, the Palestinians possess a keen appreciation of the deadly intentions of their adversary and something approaching a relish for the fight to thwart them.
The 95th Regiment of the 5th Brigade of the Russian 51st Army has come under renewed scrutiny after two of its battalion commanders – likely captains or majors – disappeared following meetings with their superior officers.
'Petr Lundstrem' *) writes:
"[The] commander of the 2nd battalion, ... Yuri Burakov, call sign Sedy ... was summoned by the commander of the 95th regiment, call sign Starina – we know the full name of this man.Since then, Sedy has been missing and has not responded to communication.
"When his wife asked, the regiment commander said that Sedy was a "voluntary deserter".This is the second battalion commander in 5 days to disappear in this way.
"I appeal to the people holding Sedy and the second battalion commander: everything can still be fixed – return the officers to their units.There is no need to make them missing in action, there is no need to "zero" [execute] them, there is no need to do irreparable things.
"It will not be possible to hide this, or to make it look like an accident. I promise you that I will personally go to the very top. Not to the command with whom you are in collusion, but to the people who were previously unaware of your existence."
*)
Petr Lundstrem, Violin (Russia) - the contestant of the international classical music competition
The Middle East doomsday scenario
A doomsday scenario may be sketched out as follows: recognition of a Palestinian state being dead on arrival, the Palestinians continue to be persecuted not only in Gaza but also the West Bank and Israel proper, while Israel engorges itself on militarism and nationalism that drive out the last vestiges of compassion and good sense.
The Arab states, for their part, captured by groups that apply themselves to Israel’s destruction, in cahoots with a rejuvenated Islamic Republic of Iran and cheered on by antisemites in the West, are unable to provide basic services to their people.
More and more brown people come out of the region and into the lands of white people who don’t want them. Pretty, isn’t it?
With Europe re-arming without the expectation that the United States will help them in their defense, the more Europe will de-couple it’s geo-political position from Washington and become a more independent actor.
This should be a major concern for Russia as it has always operated under the assumption that Europe is America’s subordinate and as long as Russia can steer the US it can manipulate Europe. A truly independent Europe without Washington to constrain it is a significant threat to Russia. A fundamental misunderstanding within the Kremlin was that NATO served dual purposes. While it was expressly made to protect the democratic European countries from Soviet expansionism, it was also made to prevent another European arms race that would threaten to spill over across the continent as it did in both World Wars by keeping European defense within a comprehensive structure.
Given these geopolitical shifts, the Russian position is gradually deteriorating. Increasing reliance with China threatening to make Russia a client state of Xi Jinping, the rearmament of Europe, the increasing cost of the Ukrainian conflict and growing internal fissures within the Russian political hierarchy means Putin does not have the infinite amount of time or manpower that he wishes to project. In fact, the clock for Russia is creeping towards midnight.
Today (Friday, 8/8) was supposed to be the day that Trump announced crippling secondary sanctions designed to bring Russia’s oil economy to its knees.
Did it happen? India got slapped earlier, but China knew Trump doesn’t have the cojones to go after them too.
And remember those reports about how Trump was insisting that Putin meet with Zelenskyy? Yea, that was fantasy as well.
And now Trump is all giddy about striking a ceasefire deal that would stab Ukraine in the back — because Trump can’t help but think he can still make a deal with Putin.
The tough talk was all horse shit.
The US and Russia are discussing a ceasefire deal that would cement Moscow’s control over Crimea and eastern Donbas. The plan envisions freezing fighting, but leaves issues like the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant unresolved, while requiring Ukraine to withdraw from parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions..
Does Ukraine get to decide their future? Who put Trump in charge of Ukraine's future? Putin owns Trump. We all know that Trump turns to rubber in Putin's presence.
The issue isn't that we don't spend enough. It's the absolute waste and stupidity.
Why don't we have enough missiles? We fired 100s at Iran and the Houthies, with an avg cost of 6-11 million per. We wasted 100s.of missiles firing at guys with a $2000 rpg.
Why don't we have more money? We wasted 350 billion in the Ukraine fighting a proxy war ... That we started when we talked the Ukraine into trying to kick Russia out of its own naval base in the crimea... And we are losing.said war. That's 4x the entire USMC (US Marine Corps) budget for a year. Colossal waste.
Why can't we build more ships? We shut down our shipyards and didn't replace them. We build ships to benefit congressional districts.
We build ships that dont even work - littoral combat ship was a boondoggle if there ever was one.
We take ships that do work like the USS constellation design and modify it until it no longer works
We spent 4 billion to study how to make more subs..Here's an idea - take some of the billions for studies and actual ship building and put it into a shipyard so you can actually build more ships. We have 4 shipyards, we should have 7-9 shipyards.
Our military leadership needs to be fired.
Putin won’t give up his imperial ambitions to make Donald Trump look good. Ukrainians won’t give up independence to make Donald Trump look good. Imagining a final settlement that makes Trump look good is easy; getting the combatants to accept it is not.
Retirer le droit de vote aux femmes ? Hegseth, le secrétaire à la défense américain, partage une vidéo qui le prône
Pete Hegseth, le secrétaire d’État américain à la Défense a partagé sur les réseaux sociaux une interview du pasteur ultra conservateur Doug Wilson.
Par Inès Chaïeb
Le ministre américain de la Défense Pete Hegseth a repartagé une vidéo appelant à la fin du droit de vote des femmes.Le ministre américain de la Défense Pete Hegseth a repartagé une vidéo appelant à la fin du droit de vote des femmes.
ÉTATS-UNIS - Une nouvelle attaque du camp Trump contre les droits des femmes. Vendredi 8 août le secrétaire d’État américain à la Défense Pete Hegseth a repartagé sur les réseaux sociaux une vidéo dans laquelle un pasteur américain connu pour sa radicalité se dit favorable à la fin du droit de vote des femmes aux États-Unis.
Cette vidéo est un extrait d’un reportage de la chaîne CNN sur le pasteur conservateur et théologien radical Doug Wilson. Interrogés par la journaliste, Doug Wilson et d’autres pasteurs affirment dans ce reportage qu’ils souhaitent la fin du droit de vote des femmes.
Drones have upended the old ways of war. Military doctrine, tactics, and organization will never be the same. Armies everywhere will need to completely revamp their doctrine and training to reflect the realities of fighting on a drone-swept battlefield. And the best way to prepare for the future of combat is to speak to those fighting this war.
Historians often call World War II a “war of factories.” The same is true for the war in Ukraine today. Ukraine produced more than two million drones in 2024 and plans to make over four million by the end of 2025. Its adversary is also getting better at drone production: last year, Russia was building 300 Shahed drones a month. Now, it can produce 5,000 in the same time frame. The side that consistently builds the most drones is the one most likely to prevail. And it is in the interest of the West, and of the United States in particular, to support the Ukrainian people in their dogged determination to win that fight—not only for Ukraine’s sake but also for its own, so it can learn to reckon with this new reality of war.
The world is buzzing with stories trying to anticipate the likely outcome of the Anchorage summit of Putin and Trump.
Some observers expect Putin to offer Trump lucrative personal business opportunities in exchange for Ukraine. A Trump Tower hotel in every Russian city above 100,000 inhabitants? Putin will certainly not shy away from offering one more small sacrifice considering how much he has already sacrificed to achieve his dream of rebuilding the nucleus of the Soviet Union.
Other observers expect Trump to offer Putin lucrative mining opportunities in Alaska in exchange for a Ukraine deal. Many commentators, however, simply suspect Trump to melt like chocolate in the sun when facing Putin.
From the European vantage point the likely result of the Anchorage summit is simple: the Europeans and their friends will be on their own supporting Ukraine's contnuing fight since there is no way Ukraine would accept any armistice or agreement on Putin's terms. Unless Trump could convince Zelensky that Ukrainian suicide is the only option.
-- ed
President Donald Trump on Tuesday returned to his tactic of blaming Ukraine for Russia’s unjustifiable invasion of the nation. Trump’s latest edition of his blame game comes as his recent attempts to negotiate an end to the war have foundered.
“It’s not a war that should have been started. You don’t do that—you don’t take on a nation that’s 10 times your size,” Trump said during an appearance on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” widely understood to be his favorite show on the right-wing network.
By shaking Putin’s hand, Trump acknowledged that Russia remains a power to be reckoned with, not a pariah state.
More importantly, the summit amounted to an indirect acknowledgment that the West has effectively lost this war. Ukrainian forces cannot retake the territories annexed by Russia. On the contrary, Moscow continues to make incremental advances on the battlefield. This reality makes a negotiated settlement the only possible exit from the conflict — one that would necessarily involve territorial concessions: Crimea, plus the four annexed eastern and southern oblasts.
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