The coming collapse of Russia 囚: Purges & freEbooks

free ebooks at the end of this post Monday only

May 01, 2023

Russia: Purge and counter-purge continues & intensifies.

Kremlin tries to purge corrupt cops: quickly discovers all the Russian police are corrupt. “A series of raids on police stations by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) over the last week made it clear that the Kremlin has ordered a crackdown on its own police. The nation’s law enforcement and security services have been turned against each other.”

Prigozhin says Wagner Group may soon cease to exist, as it’s running out of Wagnerites

Russin Navy decrepit, China laughing, leader purged. I’m not a supporter of Navalny, he wouldn’t do much different, closer to Zhirinovsky than Gorbachev; but anything for a crib: NAVY NAVALNY NAVAL NY NEW YORK good hunting.

Putin-faces-threat of military-mutiny (Girkin agrees with me again!)

Desperate-Putins-last-chance-for-a-reboot

fuel-tank-ablaze-Sevastopol-drone-attack

Sanctions constrict Russia’s economy, hampering its war effort.

Russia-secret-plans-Belarus-Baltics-Putin GLWT…

Ukrainian army needs ammunition.

Ukrainian Air Defence: Field Testing Iron Dome, ABM, Chickenwire.

Saving Children, seeeking peace.

Audio: work on your English listening comprehension & rest your eyes with The Economist’s Russia Podcast: “Next Year in Moscow”

Opponent Modelling: Some countries start and then fight wars, expecting to lose the war, in order to win aspects the peace that follows. This may seem like a horrible strategy but in the face of overmatch it is in fact rational! Refined political strategies in combination with horrible military strategies can achieve their goals, but at a hellish cost in one’s own forces, which may be desired e.g. by a dictatorship which distrusts and wants to rebuild its own military. Your opponent very likely does not see the world as you do so quit assuming they think like you. Get inside their head, see it from their perspective this is one of the reasons you must become fluent in your adversary’s language: then you understand them, their world-view, and can better predict their actions and reactions. Know your enemy.

CIA-and-NSA-spies-are-losing-their-edge-to-China-and-Russia

“Traitors and collaborators. Who helped Hitler?”

“Why did neighbors joyously exterminate Jews and expropriate?”

IRAN

Iran-poisonings-schools-protests-girls

Iran-says-were-no-school poisonings. Well that settles it then! Problem solved, after all everyone else is lying and you can only trust the religious people

Clerical Assassination in Iran

Suspected Islamic State chief Qurayshi killed in Syria, Turkey says

I did it. I totally did it. I would do it again. It made my Mom so fucking proud.