“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
Pablo Picasso

Morning. Farm is keeping me busy and distracted. Harvesting and processing the various fruits, herbs and vegetables has been taking up all spare time the last few weeks. Unusually successful season.

Visualizing history.

A series of English reenactment documentaries are available on tubitv.com. Wartime Farm focuses on the dramatic changes forced onto the British farmers during WWII. Capitalist competition alone had not been able to cause the migration to modern farming methods. Martial law slowly controls all aspects of life and some of its tentacles can be seen in our contemporary society.

Simply bringing back the draft will not solve this problem.

77% of US youth unqualified for military service Asia Times Sept 6, 2023

In March 2023, American Military News reported that a 2020 Pentagon study revealed that 77% of young Americans do not qualify for military service without a waiver due to drug abuse mental or physical problems, or being overweight.

The most prevalent disqualification rates were being overweight (11%), drug and alcohol abuse (8%) and medical/physical health (7%), with the most significant increases in disqualification estimates observed between 2013 and 2020 were for mental health and overweight conditions.
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Ben Kensling notes in a July 2023 article for the Wall Street Journal that the US Army expects this year to end up 15,000 recruits short of its 65,000 target, the US Navy ending up 10,000 short of 38,000 recruits, and the US Air Force ending 3,000 short of 27,000 recruits.

While Kensling notes that the US Marine Corps met its target last year of sending 33,000 recruits to boot camp, service leaders have described recruitment as challenging. He also says that Pentagon data shows only 9% of people aged between 16-21 would consider military service, down from 13% before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Resilience - Shorten the supply chain for self production of key products. The concept can be used by individuals and countries.

Russia defies sanctions with homemade Sukhoi Superjet Asia Times Sept 8, 2023

A Russian passenger jet built almost entirely with domestically manufactured components completed its first test flight on August 29, a launch that gave Yakovlev Design Bureau and United Aircraft Corporation’s (UAC) respective shares on the Moscow Exchange a buoyant lift.
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The original SSJ-100, constructed largely with foreign parts and components, first flew in 2008. About 40 imported systems and components have been replaced with Russia-made alternatives in the new version.

The indigenously-made parts include the fuselage, avionics, flight control system and auxiliary power unit as well as power supply, air conditioning and fire protection equipment in the plane’s cabin.
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Last February, Alexander Neradko, director general of Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, told media that Airbus and Boeing aircraft operated by Russian airlines could remain in service until 2030 if properly maintained.

That should be enough time for them to be replaced by entirely domestically-made aircraft, though production deadlines in Russia have a tendency to slip.

SMIC bypasses US curbs to make 7nm chips Asia Times Sept 5, 2023

Speed and performance testing conducted by Canadian research firm TechInsights for Bloomberg showed that Mate60 Pro’s speed reached 350 megabits per second, which is on par with Apple Inc’s iPhones. It found that the phone is equipped with 5G wireless capabilities and a system-on-chip (SoC) processor made by SMIC.
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Lu says if these estimations are close to reality, it means that Chief Executive Liang Mong-song and his team have made a significant breakthrough in SMIC’s 7nm chip technology. He says other industry players should pay attention to this development.

4 days later....

China bans iPhone while touting Huawei’s Mate60 Pro Asia Times Sept 9, 2023

Shares of Apple Inc have dropped by 6.4% in two days after China reportedly banned employees of central government agencies from using iPhones for security reasons.
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The ban notably coincided with Chinese state media’s campaign to promote the launch of Huawei Technologies’ Mate60 Pro, which is equipped with Kirin 9000s, a 7 nanometer chip produced by the local Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC).

Lv Tingjie, a professor at the School of Economics and Management of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunication, told China Central TV that the launch of Kirin 9000s is a milestone for the development of China’s chip sector. He said the nation’s chip technology gap with the West has now been narrowed to about three to five years.
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After US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao on August 28 that there is no room for the US to compromise or negotiate on matters of national security, the China side seemed to have given up on discussing the issues with the US and moved on to other topics.

On August 29, Huawei commenced the sale of its Mate60 Pro. Research firm TechInsights has since found that the phone’s Kirin 9000s was made by SMIC using its N+2 technology.

Maybe an opening of negotiations for Ukraine conflict. Worth a full read.

Ice cracking sounds on frozen lake of US-Russia relations India Punchline by MK Bhadrakumar Sept 8, 2023

Any longtime observer of Russian politics would know that the state of play in the Russian-American tango is best assessed from subplots, often obscure and unnoticed, away from its amphitheatre where gladiators cross swords.
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Some compromise formula on Ukraine may still be negotiated. If so, its parameters will be an indicator of the extent to which Moscow and Washington are inclined to bridge their respective interests and expectations.

Meanwhile, on September 6, Blinken embarked on quite an untypical visit to Kiev. There was no fire in his belly. For once, he didn’t threaten Russia or ridicule Putin from Ukrainian soil. Nor did Blinken show much enthusiasm for Kiev’s counteroffensive.

Rather, his focus was on the war’s horrific trail causing human suffering, Ukraine’s post-conflict recovery as a democracy and its economy’s reconstruction. Blinken said repeatedly that he was undertaking the visit on Biden’s instruction.
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Meanwhile, in an interesting coincidence, on September 6, Ukraine’s parliament Verkhovna Rada approved the appointment of Rustem Umerov as the new Defence Minister replacing Alexei Reznikov. A Crimean Tatar born in Uzbekistan (USSR), Umerov has no previous military background. But he is trusted by Zelensky and is acceptable to the Americans.

What distinguishes Umerov is that he was a key negotiator at the peace talks with Russia in Istanbul last year in March, which actually resulted in an agreed document (from which Zelensky subsequently retracted under Anglo-American pressure.) Again, he was instrumental in negotiating the Black Sea Grain Initiative (so-called grain deal between Ukraine and Russia) which became operational in July last year at Istanbul. These are straws in the wind that must be duly noted.

There still are those who are looking for a larger conflict.

WW3 has already begun – Ukraine’s security chief Russia Times Sept 8, 2023

Speaking at the Kiev Security Forum on Tuesday, Aleksey Danilov argued that NATO needs Ukraine as a member, as global turbulence is set to continue. “We’re going to strengthen the alliance,” he insisted.

“If somebody thinks that World War III hasn’t started then it’s a huge mistake. It has already begun. It had been underway in a hybrid period for some time and has now entered an active phase,” he said.

Sitting on stage beside former CIA Director General David Petraeus, Danilov said that “if somebody thinks that it [the conflict in Ukraine] is about settling the scores between Kiev and Moscow then it’s a mistake. Things are much more complicated.”

Russia is not going to let the issue disappear into silence.

US Seeks to Establish Global Biological Control - Russian Defense Ministry Sputnik Global News Sept 6, 2023

Russia has documented evidence that the US State Department has been participating in the implementation of the Biosecurity Enhancement Program since 2016, Kirillov told the briefing.
According to the general, the data shows that Washington has been actively taking part in bioresearch in other countries, striving to use third-party performers to conceal the customers and goals of the ongoing research.

NOKO Kim Jong Un may meet Putin - Changing the World's Stage? w/Ray McGovern (23:30 min) Sept 5, 2023
note: a number of US bias regarding North Korea are included in the discussion, inhibiting a nuanced understanding of the historical and potential future relationship between Russia and North Korea.

A Renewed Axis: Growing Military Cooperation Between North Korea and Russia Center for Strategic and International Studies Sept 6, 2023

Moscow has interest in warm water ports on the Korean peninsula for its Pacific Fleet and in energy and transport infrastructure projects that connect Northeast Asia to Siberia and the Eurasian land mass through the Korean peninsula.
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The implications of the growing military alignment between North Korea and Russia for the U.S. are clear. The tactical advantage that each foe gains in expanding cooperation complicates U.S. efforts in the war in Ukraine. It is noteworthy in this regard that U.S. officials in condemning DPRK munitions transfers to Russia no longer downplay the supplies as trivial. It also complicates U.S. efforts at shoring up extended deterrence on the Korean peninsula with its South Korean ally as North Korea demonstrates increasingly more capable and potentially survivable ICBMs. In this regard, Putin may be trying to demonstrate that actions taken in Europe by the U.S. will have consequences not just in that theater but also in the Indo-Pacific detrimental to U.S. interests.
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There are limits to what the U.S. can do in response to the new Russia-DPRK axis. But there are some policy options that Washington could consider. First, the United States can push the envelope in terms of the deliverables from the Camp David trilateral summit in August such as multi-domain trilateral exercises and enhanced information sharing. The United States can also expand missile warning sharing data arrangements with the ROK and Japan. Second, to counter and deter further ICBM launches by North Korea, Washington could declare that the US and its allies will not rule out neutralizing missiles in flight (particularly if they are not on a lofted trajectory) or on the launchpad. Third, Washington should list Russian entities and individual involved in any DPRK arms deals and seek similar sanctions from like-minded parties. Fourth, it should warn Beijing about neither participating nor condoning the Russia-DPRK axis. Fifth, it should continue to draw attention to Russia-DPRK cooperation at upcoming forums like UN General Assembly, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this fall by downgrading intelligence for public consumption as part of the DNI transparency program.

Great recap of the 30 plus years leading up to the Ukrainian conflict.

Ukraine War History - Why it was a Predictable Bloodbath w/Jeffrey Sachs (31:52 min) Sept 8, 2023

Includes discussion on expanding areas of negative influences for the US around the globe due to the Ukraine conflict. Sept 6, 2023

Ukraine Shifting the World's Stage w/Col. Doug Macgregor (22:32 min)

Narrowing down who is in-charge of US actions in Ukraine.

Wrongheaded U.S. Leadership in Ukraine - Intel Roundtable Larry Johnson, Ray McGovern (22:48 min starts at 4:41) Sept 8, 2023

The livestream videos this week by Judge Napolitano channel ongoing discussions regarding current Ukraine/Russia conflict. The interviews are generally posted on Monday through Thursday if would like to view them in a more timely manner. The link opens in the LIVE column, occasionally an interview only appears in VIDEOS section.

What is on your mind today?