This post was published in Santa Barbara Current.
“There Might Never be a Better Time for China to Attack Russia” (The Telegraph)
When I visited the Soviet Union—Moscow and Leningrad—during the summer of 1980, I came away with a valuable insight about how Russians think.
This derived from my conversations with Intourist guides and others (along with an American diplomat attached to the U.S. Consulate in Leningrad I knew from childhood).
Russians could not understand why ethnic whites, i.e. most Russians, most Europeans and most Americans, were conflicted in a Cold War. (Jimmy Carter had just boycotted the summer Olympics in Moscow due to Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan.) The real enemy, they told me, were the “Orientals” to the southeast, specifically, China.
Fast forward 44 years: China’s leaders are no doubt delighted as they watch Russia expend its military resources in Ukraine. And once depleted, China may exploit Russia’s weakness by making its move on contested turf currently under Russian control.
From seven months ago…
“Beijng Silent Over Russia’s Reported War-Gaming of China Invasion” (Newsweek)
Classified Russian military documents from 2008 to 2014 reveal the Kremlin’s plan to use a tactical nuclear weapon against China if it tries to re-take contested regions of Russia.
"The order has been given by the commander-in-chief ... to use nuclear weapons ... in the event the enemy deploys second-echelon units and the South threatens to attack further in the direction of the main strike," the document said.
And speaking of China…
“Ex-Hochul and Cuomo Aide and Husband Worked as Foreign Agents for China, Splurged Millions on Mansion, Hawaii Condo, Ferrari: Feds” (NY Post)
Linda Sun and her husband, Chris Hu, have been indicted in New York for receiving and laundering millions of dollars in illicit booty from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in exchange for Sun’s manipulation of NY Governors Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul to ice out Taiwan.
This isn’t the first time Democratic politicians have been duped by agents of the CCP.
Please recall…
“Details Surface About Sen. Feinstein and the Chinese Spy Who Worked for Her” (CBS News, August 2018)
Diane Feinstein’s staffer drove her around to official engagements days in day out and acted as Feinstein’s liaison to the Bay Area’s Asian-American Community—for nearly 20 years!
Nor was it the second time…
“Exclusive: Suspected Chinese Spy Targeted California Politicians” (Axios, December 2020)
California Rep. Eric Swalwell got snookered by Chinese agent Christina Fang a.k.a. Fang Fang.
Christina got her fangs into Swalwell while he was a Dublin City Council Member and helped him raise money for his election to Congress.
Clearly, the CCP was grooming Swalwell for higher office.
Axios: Private but unclassified information about government officials — such as their habits, preferences, schedules, social networks, and even rumors about them — is a form of political intelligence. Collecting such information is a key part of what foreign intelligence agencies do.
And more China…
“Comer Launches Probe into Governor Walz’s Extensive Engagement with China and CCP Entities” (Oversight.house.gov)
Walz’s connections to China raise questions about possible CCP influence in his decision-making as governor—and should he be elected, as vice president.
Americans should be deeply concerned that Governor Walz, Kamala Harris’s vice-presidential running mate, has a longstanding and cozy relationship with China. Mr. Walz has visited China dozens of times, served as a fellow at a Chinese institution that maintains a devotion to the CCP, and spoke alongside the President of a Chinese organization the State Department exposed as a CCP effort to influence and co-opt local leaders.
So, for a laugh, I looked up Kamala’s position on China—and was richly rewarded...
“Harris Doesn’t Have Much to Say About China” (Bloomberg)
But as we’ve all learned (even those who don’t seem to care but should), the Kackling Kamel has almost nothing to say about anything that isn’t “joyful” small-talk of a trivial nature.
On the rare occasion Kackle actually addresses policy, her flip-flopping is faster and funnier than a frog on bennies trying to escape the jaws of a snapping turtle.
Next hit…
“A Look at Harris' views on US Policy Toward China” (Voice of America)
VOA compiled some of Harris's remarks on China policy during her tenure as vice president and earlier as a U.S. senator.
Said the the Kamel (in a word-salad toss) about China in September 2023 (and almost nothing since): "We, as the United States, in our policy, it is not about decoupling, it is about de-risking. It is about understanding."
Kackle missed her calling. She should have been a therapist for pre-teens in need of superficial gobbledygook.
“Bill Gates says he wants to work another 20 to 30 years: ‘Warren Buffett still comes into the office six days a week’” (CNBC)
And perhaps with the help of a Chinese “organ donor,” wonder boy (no longer, at age 68) may succeed.
“President Xi praises Bill Gates as an ‘old friend’” (NBC News)
Yes, an old friendship based on utilizing Chinese slave labor to further enrich Trey (wonder boy’s old nickname) while financing the development of new intercontinental ballistic missiles aimed at the USA.
“Putin Ally Predicts US Will Collapse in 'Imminent New Civil War’” (Newsweek)
The Putin ally predicting such a possibility is former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, known best in Moscow for sousing his sagacity with Stoli.
Truth is, putrid Putin’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) is trying to influence victory for neither Harris nor Trump.
No, the SVR’s strategy is to generate election chaos and confusion and foment civil unrest. The outcome they seek, as directed by Mad Vlad, is an election so close that both candidates and their supporters claim victory so that Russia’s objective— insurrection and violence—might follow.
This is because Putin has long dreamed of doing to the USA what he believes the USA & UK did to his beloved Soviet Union (which he intends to resurrect): Fracture our union into independent regions, i.e. civil war.
And here is the means by which Putin and the SVR hope to accomplish their goal…
“Russia is Using Artificial Intelligence to Interfere in Elections” (PBS)
They have declared war, full-scale, hot war, information war on the rest of the world.
They have decided to use A.I. and use all kind of new methods to make it indistinguishable from the regular flow of information we're getting.
They plan to do insertion of advertising, hidden as news, and bombard the target population with things that may be misconstrued as news, but is in fact advertising content.
They will infiltrate Western organizations, some of them organizations that are even in defense of Western values… and create disruption.
Andrey Shcherbakov (ph), the SVR officer delegated to this program, travels around Western Europe and the United States on a diplomatic passport.
These hit jobs go under the cover program named “Ledorub” (icepick), the tool with which Stalin organized the assassination of Trotsky. [In this case] the metaphorical icepick is a character assassination tool.
WORLD EXCLUSIVE!
From an authoritative source (not two sources, always needed to nail s story, but someone truly dialed-in): The reason Joe & Jill Biden vacationed in the Santa Ynez Valley late last month was to scout real estate.
The first couple’s search for a post-presidency retirement home centered not on wine-drenched Los Olivos nor Danish-inspired Solvang. More specifically, they honed in on the sophisticated cowboy town of Santa Ynez.
Based on price (given kickbacks from Ukraine and China) and U.S. Secret Service security concerns, here is a house, currently listed, that might have snagged their interest…