Free Republic

Yes. It would be hilarious to see women crewing 155mm guns. Or loading 5” ammo on a Destroyer. Arming aircraft with 750 pound bombs.

There is a mental motivation issue as the IDF learned. It’s one of the reasons they don’t use women in combat units.

That may well be true.

My issue is the physical demands of combat that women cannot meet, the logistical and biological issues involved in deploying a mixed sex unit, and the impact on unit cohesion that is natural when young men and women are put together in dangerous situations.

It is physical strength and biological issues, not mental skills or even leadership skills that I reference.

As I said, it isn’t a knock on women that I don’t want them in combat positions. It is a statement and evaluation of factual data.

Now, if our country was being overrun, that is a different thing. I would expect everyone to be in a combat position to fight, even elderly or children.

“Stupidly loyal”

How appropriate

Кремлевская табакерка

Patriarch Kirill demanded that all clergy be provided with gasoline and given fuel on a priority basis.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church sent such a demand personally to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. “In these difficult times, the Church remains one of the few hopes that the situation will improve. We pray for the protection of our refineries, we protect them with icons and crosses. Now we will begin special prayers for overcoming the fuel crisis, which will definitely help us overcome difficulties,” the patriarch said in his address, which was quoted by a source close to him.

In this regard, the Primate demanded that the authorities make sure that bishops, priests, and all the clergy do not experience problems with fuel. In particular, the patriarch would like the Church to receive an unlimited number of gasoline coupons. And the clergy were allowed to pass in queues at gas stations and would not be refused to refuel their vehicles - both personal and belonging to church communities. “It is very wrong to deprive those thanks to whom this gasoline will eventually return with gasoline,” the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church said.

He also asked the Kremlin to help fulfill the church's demands. As far as we know, they promised to help there. “Difficult times are ahead. But our prayers will help us get out of all crises. In the meantime, we need to endure, pray and respect the Church, which saves Russia from troubles,” said another of our sources close to the patriarch.

https://t.me/kremlin_secrets/6239

He has very powerful and convincing arguments. ;-)

If you would like more information about what’s happening in Oregon, please FReepmail me. Please send me your name by FReepmail if you want to be on this list.

If you would like more information about what’s happening in Oregon, please FReepmail me. Please send me your name by FReepmail if you want to be on this list.

You’re joking right? He has zero Second Amendment rights....he’s a felon with a deportation order in place from 2024. He is not a US citizen....you can’t be serious..and if you are..you’re beyond help.

Кремлевская табакерка

Russians were promised that they would live up to 100 years. Experiments have already begun, for which Putin's daughter is responsible

Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said that Russians will be able to live up to 100-120 years. Thus, she confirmed our insider: Vladimir Putin instructed to launch a project aimed at extending life in our country. It will be headed by the president's daughter Maria Vorontsova.

Sources in the Kremlin told us some details of the work on the project. “Experiments are already gradually beginning, in the coming months they will unfold in full force. There are positive results, there are negative ones. Therefore, we are now experimenting exclusively on volunteers. In particular, on prisoners who decided to exchange participation in the experiment (its consequences are still difficult to predict) for early release from prison. Then, when everything goes well, we will select 20-30 people who are the first to be guaranteed to extend their lives to 100-120 years. These, of course, will be representatives of the elites, those on whom the fate of Russia depends. After that, we will make new plans,” said one of the channel's interlocutors in the Presidential Administration. He refused to say who exactly will be included in the first list of centenarians. He noted that “these will definitely be people critically important for the future of Russia.”

Another source predicts that the first results of the experiment, which received the conditional and unofficial name “Eternal Russians”, will become known around the same time as the first state children are born within the framework of the “Cuckoo” project. This is expected to happen next year.

https://t.me/kremlin_secrets/6237

Life expectancy would increase if they stopped fighting.

If I want a cartoon, I will stick with an honest one such as Bugs Bunny.

**************************************

Rocky and Bullwinkle.

The same way they and Canadian Parliament celebrated some WW2 thug who fought the USSR — as a Nazi soldier.

The Feds need to set up truck driver inspection stations on Federal Highways and put an end to this crap.

From NYS, mid May...

NY inspector makes a call that gets a trucker deported. Gov. Hochul says he was wrong

LOL ping!

Day 1,313 of the Muscovian invasion. 970 [average is 845/day], i.e. more than 40 Russians and Norks/h. Vehicles and fuel tanks more than 85% and artillery more than 5% above average.

1 Helicopter
+UAVs September total a record 1,0241.

Duh they were all double agents. Khrushchev told Kennedy that the KGB and CIA should merge because it’s all the same people.

Yes!! Thank you!

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Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, September 29, 2025

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued the decree to start the semi-annual fall conscription cycle on October 1. Russia holds two conscription cycles in the spring and fall every year, and Putin signed a decree on September 29 authorizing the Fall 2025 cycle, to conscript 135,000 Russian citizens between October 1 and December 31 for 12 months of mandatory military service outside of the active combat zone in Ukraine.[1] Russia conscripted 134,500 Russians in Spring 2022 and 120,000 in Fall 2022; 147,000 in Spring 2023 and 130,000 in Fall 2023; and 150,000 in Spring 2024 and 133,000 in Fall 2024.[2] The fall cycles have historically conscripted fewer Russians than those in the spring, but the number of conscripts has grown each season since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. Deputy Chief of the Main Organizational and Mobilization Directorate of the Russian General Staff Vice Admiral Vladimir Tsimlyansky emphasized on September 22 that the upcoming conscription cycle is not related to the war in Ukraine.[3] Tsimlyansky stated that conscripts will only serve on Russian territory and will not conduct tasks related to the war – meaning conscripts will also not serve in occupied Ukraine that Russia illegally defines as ”Russian territory.” Tsimlyansky stated that the Russian military command will start sending conscripts to assembly points on October 15 and that a third of the conscripts will receive specialized training in training units and at military bases.[4] Russian law prohibits the deployment of conscripts to combat, and Russian forces have typically relied on conscripts for border security, including in Bryansk, Belgorod, and Kursk oblasts.[5] Conscript border guards’ participation in combat during the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk Oblast caused particular discontent in Russian society.[6]

Conscripts from Russia's semi-annual conscription cycles become reservists after their 12 months of service, and Russia can call up reservists in the future. Conscripts that eventually join the inactive reserve are notably different than the active strategic reserve that Russia reportedly has been forming since July 2025 of soldiers who have signed contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD).[7] Russian officials continue to deceive and coerce conscripts to sign military contracts with the Russian MoD to increase the number of servicemembers deployed to combat in Ukraine or to the active strategic reserve.[8] Russia appears to be taking efforts to mitigate bureaucratic bottlenecks that would slow down Russian involuntary reservist call-ups in the future, including expanding conscription administrative processes to be year-round.[9]

The Kremlin plans to spend 17 trillion rubles ($183 billion) on national security and defense in 2026 — about 38 percent of its planned annual expenditures. The Russian government submitted to the Russian State Duma on September 29 a draft budget for 2026-2028 that projects federal revenues in 2026 to be roughly 40.3 trillion rubles ($485 billion) and federal expenditures to be roughly 44.1 trillion rubles ($531 billion).[10] The budget calls for 12.9 trillion rubles ($155 billion) to go towards “National Defense” expenditures in 2026 – a decrease from 13.5 trillion rubles ($163 billion) in 2025.[11] The draft budget projects that defense spending will increase to 13.6 trillion rubles ($164 billion) in 2027 and then decrease to 13 trillion rubles ($156.5 billion) in 2028. The 2026 budget also calls for 3.9 trillion rubles ($47 billion) towards “National Security” – an increase from 3.5 trillion rubles ($42 billion) in 2025. Russia plans to commit roughly 38 percent of its expenditures in 2026 to combined “defense” and “security” expenses – a decrease from 41 percent in 2025.[12] The budget allocates 58 billion rubles ($698 million) in 2026 to fund compensation payments and social benefits for servicemembers killed or wounded in action and their family members – a decrease from 78 billion rubles ($939 million) spent in 2025.[13] The budget also allocated roughly 13.9 billion rubles ($167 million) in 2026 to fund the “Defenders of the Fatherland Fund,” which supports Russian veterans and their families – a decrease from the roughly 34.7 billion rubles ($418 million) spent in 2025.[14] Russia is reducing its defense and security spending in 2026 by roughly 200 billion rubles ($2.4 billion) as compared to 2025, despite Russia's ongoing economic struggles. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov claimed on September 18, for example, that Russian authorities expect the share of Russia's revenues from oil and gas sales funding the Russian federal budget to be about 20 to 22 percent in 2026, which Siluanov noted is a decrease from about 50 percent previously.[15] The Kremlin recently announced an increase in value-added tax specifically to fund defense and security, which the Russian Finance Ministry estimated will generate about $14.2 billion in additional revenue in 2026.[16]

The Russian government is planning to increase funding to televised propaganda – in line with increased restrictions on social media and internet access. Russian opposition outlet Verstka reported on September 29 that the Russian government plans to spend 106.4 billion rubles ($1.28 billion) on state television channels in 2026 – a significant increase from the previously planned 69.1 billion rubles ($832 million) in 2025.[17] The Russian 2025 budget allocated 4.5 billion rubles ($47 million) and 49 million rubles ($511,000) towards the Solovyov Live Telegram channel and Readovka online news aggregator, respectively, likely as part of the Russian government's efforts to adapt its propaganda to social media.[18] The significant rise in funding toward television in 2026 suggests that the Kremlin is returning to traditional methods of disseminating state propaganda, particularly against the backdrop of recent restrictions on social media, and the creation of the Russian state messenger Max.[19]

US Special Envoy to Ukraine General Keith Kellogg acknowledged that Ukraine has US permission to conduct long-range strikes against Russian territory. Kellogg responded in an interview on September 29 with Fox News to a question asking if US President Donald Trump has authorized Ukrainian long-range strikes against Russian territory.[20] Kellogg stated that Trump's, US Vice President JD Vance's, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statements all indicate that there are no sanctuaries in Russia and that this is why Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has requested US Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs). Kellogg stated that it is up to Trump to decide whether the US will provide Ukraine with Tomahawks. ISW has long argued that Russia should not be permitted to leverage sanctuaries that Western restrictions on Ukrainian strikes against Russian territory create.[21] Russia has, in the past, been able to amass ground forces, materiel, and subsequently launch new offensives into Ukraine and conduct long-range strikes against Ukraine within the protection of these sanctuaries.

Kremlin officials are trying to preemptively deter the United States from providing Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles. Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov questioned on September 29 whether it would be Ukrainian or American forces that would be launching the Tomahawk missiles into Russia and questioned who would be conducting the targeting for the Ukrainian strikes.[22] Peskov claimed that the Kremlin must determine which forces will be involved in the process before it can determine its response. Peskov attempted to downplay the effect Ukrainian Tomahawk strikes could have on the Ukrainian war effort, claiming that Tomahawk missiles will not change battlefield dynamics.[23] First Deputy Chairperson of the Russian State Duma Defense Committee Alexei Zhuravlev claimed that US provisions of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine will be a new stage in the war, with the United States becoming a direct participant.[24] Zhuravlev threatened that Russia will respond by moving its Oreshnik ballistic missiles closer to the United States, possibly to Venezuela. Chairperson of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building Alexei Pushkov claimed on September 29 that Ukraine would conduct “dangerous” provocations with US-provided Tomahawk missiles, directly involving the United States in the war.[25] The Kremlin is attempting to portray US Tomahawk deliveries to Ukraine as a dangerous escalation to deter the United States from sending such weapons to Ukraine, just as the Kremlin has previously employed similar tactics when the United States was discussing sending the Ukrainian Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), F-16 fighter jets, and Abrams tanks.[26] These efforts are part of Russia's long-standing reflexive control campaign that aims to push the West to make decisions that actually benefit Russia. Previous Ukrainian strikes using US-provided long-range weapons systems did not trigger an escalatory Russian reaction, and the West and Ukraine have repeatedly violated Russia's alleged “red lines” in the past with no resulting escalation, as the Kremlin warned.[27]

European officials continue to report unidentified drones operating within NATO airspace. Norwegian Armed Forces Operational Headquarters Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Vegard Finberg reported on September 29 that the Norwegian Armed Forces observed drones near unspecified military facilities in Troms and Finnmark on the evening of September 28.[28] A spokesperson for a Norwegian airline reported that authorities observed unidentified drones within the exclusion zone at Bronnoysund Airport in Nordland on the evening of September 28.[29] The Romanian Ministry of National Defense reported on September 29 that witnesses reported unidentified drones in the Sontea Noua Canal area and that Romanian officials are investigating fallen debris in the area.[30] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported on September 28 that intelligence indicates that Russian forces are likely launching drones to violate NATO airspace from tankers that are part of the Russian shadow fleet.[31] Ukrainian Navy Spokesperson Captain Third Rank Dmytro Pletenchuk reported on September 29 that Russian forces are leveraging civilian vessels to conduct reconnaissance and sabotage missions in international waters, including targeting underwater cables with anchors.[32]

The pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) won a parliamentary majority in the September 28 elections in Moldova, as Kremlin-linked Moldovan politicians and Russian officials are preparing to appeal the results and call for protests in the coming days. PAS won 50.2 percent of the vote, securing 55 out of 101 seats in the Moldovan Parliament.[33] Igor Dodon, a Kremlin-linked former Moldovan president, called on Moldovans to conduct peaceful protests outside of the parliament building in Chisinau on the afternoon of September 29.[34] The September 29 protests were limited and calm, with about 300 people in attendance and lasting only about 30 minutes.[35] Dodon stated on September 29 that the leaders of the Patriotic bloc, which won 24.17 percent and 26 seats, do not recognize the results and will appeal.[36] Kremlin-linked Moldovan politician Ilan Shor claimed on Russian state television channel Rossiya 24 that his Pobeda electoral bloc, which Moldovan authorities barred from running in the elections, also does not recognize the results and plans to appeal.[37] Shor stated that the Pobeda bloc will discuss its plan with unspecified colleagues over the “next day or two” and then will call for protests.[38]

Kremlin-linked Moldovan and Russian officials are alleging election fraud and procedural violations to set conditions to appeal the results and call for protests. Shor claimed that the elections were “obviously rigged” and that Moldovan authorities intimidated ten to twenty percent of voters to prevent them from voting.[39] Vasile Tarlev, the leader of the Future of Moldova party within the Patriotic bloc, claimed on September 28 that Moldovan authorities restricted observers’ and journalists’ access to polling stations to “conceal fraud and provocations,” including in Transnistria (the pro-Russian parastate in eastern Moldova).[40] Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed on September 29 that “some political forces” in Moldova are declaring their disagreement with the election results and are discussing possible election violations.[41] Peskov claimed that Russia can “confirm” that Moldovan authorities “denied” hundreds of thousands of Moldovans living in Russia the opportunity to vote.[42] Russian Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) Head Leonid Slutsky claimed on September 29 that Moldovan authorities violated electoral rights and freedoms, falsified the results, and are leading the country “down the path of Ukraine.”[43] First Deputy Chairperson of the Russian State Duma Defense Committee Alexei Zhuravlev claimed on September 28 that Western intelligence agencies interfered in the Moldovan elections.[44] ISW continues to assess that the Kremlin has been setting conditions to generate (possibly violent) protests to remove Moldovan President Maia Sandu from power after the elections.[45]

https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-september-29-2025/

They may take Taiwan(and success is a big if),the infrastructure and manufacturing and plants won’t be “good to go “IMO

TSMC has a huge fab making the smallest nanometer chips for NVidia AI, AMD, Apple. This means 3 nanometers. Only TSMC can pull off 3 nanometers. TSMC has announced that its plant is wired to blow if China-CCP invades Taiwan.

TSMC is building chip fabs in USA where its fabs will not be so vulnerable. Sooner they are up running, the better. Though getting their new USA fabs down to 3 nanometers will take 3 more years (my guess) ........... Rumors abound that Apple will be coming out with a new line of lower priced laptops that will be powered by their A18 Pro chip that goes into their phones. I would love to see TSMC making these A18 Pro in America. And Apple to make these laptops in USA or second choice, India.

From his Wikipedia entry, Todd Blanche represented Trump during Alvin Bragg's witch hunt in New York. Before that he represented and Paul Manafort and Igor Fruman over the Trump-Ukraine scandal.

Despite being a Democrat most of his life, he defended Trump and his allies from the Democrat lawfare. From Trump's POV, that makes him trustworthy.