Julian Macfarlane
NEWS FORENSICS
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Russia Losing?
No, it is not the US
The [Western] Mainstream Media is full of reports that Russia intends to reduce its military spending next year and the year after.
June 27, 2025, President Vladimir Putin announced plans to reduce Russia’s military spending starting in 2026 during a press conference in Moscow.
This decision comes after a historic 25% rise in defense expenditure in 2025, which increased military spending to 6.3% of GDP, occurring alongside a marked deceleration in economic expansion and a 24% reduction in projected energy revenues.
Putin acknowledged that higher military spending contributed to persistent inflation projected above 8% in 2025, while Russian and Ukrainian negotiators remain in contact and Moscow prepared to return 3,000 Ukrainian soldier bodies.
On June 25, NATO members agreed to boost their combined defense budgets to 5% of GDP within the next ten years, a move that President Vladimir Putin condemned by saying the increased spending would mainly benefit U.S. defense contractors and emphasized that this was a matter for NATO to decide, not Russia.
The proposed reductions in Russia’s defense budget could alter its international military posture, influence employment within the defense sector, and indicate a broader fiscal adjustment in response to persistent inflation, sanctions, and economic challenges facing the country.
Notice the last sentence: "a broader fiscal adjustment in response to persistent inflation, sanctions, and economic challenges facing the country."
Also, notice the reference earlier in the excerpt to ”a marked deceleration in economic expansion and a 24% reduction in projected energy revenues”. While oil prices are lower, the effect on Russian GDP is rather minor and compensated for in other areas. And the article does not explain how these “projections” were made.
Sanctions? They have not hurt the Russian economy at all – in fact, they have stimulated it. They hurt most those who impose them.
However, the military budget for 2025 was increased —as a planned temporary measure — to modernize Russia’s military and the defense industry, in order to, for example, mass produce Oreshnik missiles and other weapons systems — as well as to create new industrial infrastructure to support more cost-efficient military production. This includes technologies which are strictly speaking commercial industrial advances with military applications. Modernization is happening in all areas of Russian industry.
Nonetheless, the MSM is still committed to its old story — a kind of political catechism — that Russia and its economy are falling apart, if not now, soon...Genuflect to Washington and repeat.
The truth is, however, that the Russian forces are gearing up to take all of Russian-speaking Ukraine. Once the war moves into the steppe land west of the Dniepr, everything will accelerate. Already, the NeoNazi factions are competing for power, fighting over the rotten carcass of the Kiev regime.
As I said, the increased military budget for 2025 was always intended to be temporary, only for one year. With the West heading for economic recession, if not collapse, Russia also anticipates a reduction in oil prices. Back to horse & buggy days?
By 2026, with Ukraine largely defeated and the war winding down, further increased expenditures on advanced military technology will not be necessary. Funds can be redirected to where they are needed elsewhere in the economy, something that Putin mentioned at the SPIEF, as he has in other speeches.
Thus, the overall budget may not decrease that much, just military spending.
Russia can control its military spending. The US cannot.
In the US military budgets just grow and grow to support a military industrial complex out of control. In addition, Russian military hardware is on average at least a third the cost of the same category of thing in the US arsenal — but often twice as effective.
Putin, speaking at the SPIEF.
Despite a challenging international landscape, Russia’s GDP has been demonstrating an annual growth rate of over four percent over the past two years, which is above the global average.
Regarding the structure of this growth, let me share a specific indicator with you – the so-called non-oil-and-gas GDP. It excludes sectors related to hydrocarbon production. In 2023, Russia’s non-oil-and-gas GDP increased by 7.2 percent, followed by an additional 4.9 percent, or almost five percent, in 2024. These are solid figures exceeding the overall GDP growth rates.
…defence manufacturing was not the only driver of our overall GDP growth, as some may believe. Of course, it did play a role in this regard, but we must keep a close eye on the way this growth has been structured.
Over the past two years, the top performing industries have included agricultural production, manufacturing in general, the construction industry, logistics, services, finance and the IT sector, covering almost all the key, essential segments of the national economy.
What does this mean? It means that thanks to the efforts of tens of thousands of enterprises and companies, their teams, managers, and their proactive approaches, as well as the work of millions of entrepreneurs, the Russian economy has been steadily developing, achieving new heights in terms of quality, complexity and diversity. The idea of the Russian economy being completely commodity-based and dependent on the exports of hydrocarbons is clearly outdated; it is becoming a thing of the past. We are living in a different reality now.
Russia is the world’s fourth largest and Europe’s number one economy in terms of GDP. I am not talking about the per capita GDP, but about the sheer size of the economy. Still, this is a major milestone.
And Ukraine:
I have stated on numerous occasions that, in my view, the Russian and Ukrainian peoples are essentially one people. In that sense, we see Ukraine as ours.
Also:
There is an old saying, not quite a proverb, but a long-standing principle: wherever the foot of a Russian soldier steps is Russian land.
At the same time, however, Russia respects the right of self-determination, which Putin says was one of the reasons for supporting Donbass and Lugansk, who had declared that right.
So, as I have said in other posts, Russia will most likely carry out oblast by oblast referenda to allow people to choose independence or some form of union with Russia without coercion.
The adjustments to military budgets indicate a military timeline for Ukraine — the next couple of years. They also indicate a long-term plan of economic and industrial development.
Can’t afford a parrot? Try adopting a crow.
I should mention that at the zoo, we had a baby seagull who loved to sit on my head in my hair. Very sweet. The trouble is that it wasn’t housetrained!
It’s June 30 here in Japan. One day until July.
A Time of Heroes
Introduction
This post is based on my Special Article for Coffeebuyers —Putin 4—which has now been revised over and over again. The article, however, covers a wide range of topics besides this. It has been delayed on account of the Iran -Israeli war but hopefully will be finished soon.
Putin? Antichrist?
I looked at the pictures of Mr. Putin trying to look for a trace of humanity. I should have known better . Margaret Thatcher
If you try researching Vladimir Putin on the Internet, you will find a plethora opinions about who— and what he is. Most of them--in English at least--are like Thatcher’s. He is not a person, not a human being – he is something else—satanic, alien and dangerous— a “murderer”, a “killer”, “soulless”.
In the West, Putin is one of the most hated leaders in history, usually conflated with an artist gone bad known as Adolph Hitler or a seminarian gone political called Joseph Stalin.
“Western” cultures love hate.
Until the 1950s, Americans were by far the most heavily propagandised people on Earth. A sizable portion of Europeans knew better. Now, the Big Lie has infected the whole collective West.
Hate
In the US and Europe, ordinary people, world leaders, academics, journalists, politicians, all agree Putin is a monster — they only disagree on the kind. There are so many variations of the calumny that this generates, expressed with a thoughtless, irrational viscerality.
Hatred has as many faces as those who are driven by it.
Sometimes it is directed at a people.
Black people, native Americans, Latinos, Jews, Arabs, Muslims. People of a different tribe, as with the Hutus and Tutsis. We understand this kind of prejudice very well, and pretend that we don’t think that way, when of course we do.
Prejudice towards identifiable groups is one thing.
Other times, hatred attaches to an individual, usually an outlier such as the smart fat girl in the 10th grade with zits, somebody who stands out and cannot defend themselves.
Whether the object is a group or an individual, hatred dehumanizes not just its target but those infected by it.
A little biology goes a long way
That depersonalization and dehumanization is because hatred is as unnatural as it is “normal”…..
Animals feel anger, fear, and helplessness just as we do – but they do not hate.
Hatred, you see, is abstract. Its etiology is not biological but behavioral, which is to say, social.
Despite what some psychologists say, I do not believe it is not rooted in the mid-brain, the amygdala, but in the neocortex in the part of the brain responsible for “executive function”, which means a set of “heuristics” to manage social responses and perception— a concept popularized by Kahneman in “Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow”. The book was a best seller since most people think too fast to understand stuff like this and too slow to notice that they don’t understand.
Such heuristics are acquired from others in the form of beliefs, attached to images and emotional triggers. They inhibit, control and structure imagination and thought so that we can fit into socially regimented groups. They are our internal “AI” programming our behaviors – always derivative, always reflecting an a-logical consensus.
Person A sees Person B. Bells go off, lights on. Little sirens in the mind. Hormones and neurotransmitters like Substance P, catecholamines, and certain types of serotonin. The Putamen in the central brain, which controls fuck / fight / flight responses activates.
Beliefs can generate a maladaptive biological response like irrational hatred. But those beliefs are learned.
Are you programmed?
So when someone tells you they “hate” Vladimir Putin it is not them speaking—but other people — parents, teachers, friends—certainly the media.
That is also why prejudice can shift suddenly, why Jews and blacks and gays were once the object of ridicule and targets for violence; then suddenly not – paradoxically loved for their “difference” as long as they conform to middle class norms. “Sure, he’s gay, but just like you and me, married, monogamous, has kids.”
Prejudice is never natural. It is derivative.
So, our view of Putin has little to do with who the man actually is but part and parcel of a belief system generated by an unequal society in which some people must always dominate others, ultimately be more “important” than others – more valuable – more human, deserving of respect, if not love! And others must be abominations. Ironies abound.
O Captain! my Captain! (Walt Whitman)
Whitman, who believed he “contained multitudes” mourned Lincoln, as the “Captain” of the Nation more than he did the 750,000 people who died and the many more maimed.
Seeing is believing?
No, believing is seeing. Or rather seeing of a kind for the people who hate Putin, do not actually see him.
The question therefore arises….
Who is Putin really?
The answer is simple. He is you and me. At least, that is the best place to start if you want to know about him — or, for that matter, anybody else.
He is many sides. He is a person, shaped by birth and upbringing, parents and friends, challenges, and circumstances. Just like you and me.
If you look at the wealth of biographical material available and testimony of people who know him personally, listen to his videotaped interviews in which he is remarkably candid, he is different from what Margaret Thatcher “saw”.
“I see, therefore I think, therefore I am”.
If you watch Oliver Stone’s documentary on Putin, you see a very, very human Putin—considerate, empathetic, a little shy, with a disarming sense of humor. It is not just what he says, it is his expressions. He is a real person, unlike American presidents, who are creations of propaganda and PR.
Editor's Note: This publication made the effort to publish Stone's interviews, but they were all systematicallyblocked and sabotaged. Examine for a moment the mangled section dedicated to this this topic, and ask yourselves, WHO does this this? And for whose benefit? (https://www.greanvillepost.com/2017/06/16/the-putin-interviews-oliver-stones-greatest-contribution-videos/ )
He is, contrary to what people think in the West, not motivated by wealth or power.
He is 72 now. But he is still what he was. A boy. We are all what we were.
In this, Putin is again like all of us.
And as a boy, he dreamed of being a hero.
The Boy Who Would Be a Hero
You will notice that Putin talks constantly of heroes.
How those who fought in WWII were “heroes”.
How those fighting in the SMO are heroes.
How those supporting them are heroes.
The heroism of the warriors who protect the country’s vital interests serves as a moral guide for millions of our fellow citizens outside military service.
They work selflessly to achieve the goals set. These are employees of defence enterprises, economic sectors, science, culture, and the social sphere. Scientists, designers, engineers, and workers provide reliable reserves for the security and technological sovereignty of the state. Millions of people in all regions of our vast country, each in their place, strive to contribute to the common cause. Everyone is united by the main value: love for their home country, involvement in its fate, and pride in Russia and its heroes.
It is “the Time of Heroes”.
He has a program to reward people who have made significant contributions to the SMO, militarily or otherwise, training them and fast-tracking them to executive positions in the government and government industries.
To be trained and then get some executive positions is not an award, not a privilege. It is yet another opportunity to continue serving the Motherland. Well, for some people, in new systems, in a new place, perhaps completely unrelated to their previous experience or occupation, but it is an opportunity to further fulfil themselves and serve the Motherland.
“Heroes” serve and sacrifice for the greater good, according to Putin.
His father and mother were both in their own ways heroic--which means willing to sacrifice themselves, for each other, for their last, surviving child, and for their country.
Putin was that only child. Saved by sacrifice.
And, like many such children, he did not quite fit in. He had to find his own way.
So, he dreamed.
He wanted to be a hero. To serve. To make a difference.
That is what drove him. He learned what he needed to achieve his goals. He studied law to join the KGB, the successor to the NKVD in which his father had served during WWII. Although maligned in the West, the KGB had the most integrity of all Soviet institutions. [Soviet institutions were and continue to be demonised by the West, frequently as part of the constant anti-Stalinist campaign, which is actually a form of constant anti-communism.—Ed)
In 1997, as he prepared to enter politics, he studied economic policy related to resources, which obviously came in handy later. And when he had the chance to serve, he did.
Born to serve, he is still serving. No leader in modern history, with the exception of Xi has made such a difference.
The Boy who would be a hero became a man. And the man was – and is – a hero, according to his own definition of what that means, which is also the definition of honor, a concept that died a long time ago in Western countries, except among a few.
Are you orange and white?
Chappy is orange and white. (Male) orange and white cats are famously sweet. Their coloration is a result of genetic mutation which somehow affects personality.
This phenomenon has important ramifications because it supports genetic research linking genetic mutations affecting behavior in human beings.
We also are friendlier than other primates and that is the result of just over a hundred genetic factors that are tied not only to cognitive and physical functions and behaviors.
Please support Orange&White and also Ichi and the Servant, WhatsHisName.
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ALL CAPTIONS AND PULL QUOTES BY THE EDITORS NOT THE AUTHORS
