It turns out that at least one of the two Ohio Class ballistic missile submarines (with each submarine equipped with a minimum of 80 nuclear warheads) mentioned in US President Donald Trump’s truth social post is in fact a new deployment, the submarine was not currently on patrol as previously assumed.

An Ohio Class ballistic missile submarine was spotted on a weather camera livestream, transiting out of the Hood Canal on 1st August 2025. It was accompanied by an aircraft patrol.

Cropped images of the submarine

Original image

Source for the aircraft patrol

So yes, the USA is deploying at least one additional Ohio Class SSBN to patrol with Russia in mind, that was not previously on patrol.

If you’re not looking for jobs, you’re not part of the statistics!

Think that’s how most countries in the world fudge the numbers.

In BRICS, South Africa has a coalition government now in the unholy marriage of the ANC and DA, and the EFF lost a lot of support to the MK party. This has really screwed up the political scene and is part of why the ANC and DA leaders both went to the US to meet Trump and get embarrassed on TV.

There’s not much to post about to be honest. I could do some posts on the evolving air war in Ukraine, or Iranian ballistic missile performance, or various air defence systems, but actually writing it out would take hours, it’s quite complicated, and it’s not really “news”. There also hasn’t been any changes in the past few weeks, so I’d just be repeating myself, which is a waste of time for me, for the news mega readers, for everyone involved.

Russia is still attacking Ukrainian airbases with the weekly attack on Kiev, Ukraine is still attacking rail infrastructure with the weekly strike on Russian oil infrastructure. Russian long range air defence struggles to shoot down Ukrainian fighter aircraft due to an over-reliance on ground based sensors, Ukrainian fighter aircraft’s air to air missiles are outranged by Russian aircraft’s air to air missiles. Iranian ballistic missiles with the range to hit Israel still have relatively poor accuracy, shorter range Iranian ballistic missiles have precision strike accuracy.

Breaking down air defence systems and their capabilities would probably be the most interesting and new content.

The recent rants of Dmitry Medvedev, ex President and Prime Minister of Russia, and current deputy head of the security council. Medvedev has been Putin’s right hand man since the 1990s, for over three decades, this is why what he says matters to an extent. Russia uses Medvedev’s social media posts and ramblings to portray more controversial (and sometimes straight up outrageous) opinions, allowing Putin to avoid the flak, and allowing for these posts to be seperate from official government statements. A “good cop bad cop” strategy, if you will. Medvedev’s not just a random shit poster, though you’d be forgiven for thinking that, given just how out there some of his statements are. Up until now, no one has taken what he’s said completely seriously, because of the above. But that’s changed.

Medvedev, July 15th, in response to Trump’s press conference with NATO leader Rutte on Twitter:

Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin. The world shuddered, expecting the consequences. Belligerent Europe was disappointed. Russia didn’t care.

The usual type of thing you’d expect from him. But Medvedev’s tone changed abruptly two days later, July 17th, in a TASS interview. Turns out Russia did actually care, and Medvedev starts talking about pre-emptive strikes:

“We [Russia] need to act accordingly. To respond in full. And if necessary, launch preemptive strikes [against NATO]. What is happening today is a proxy war, but in essence it is a full-scale war (launches of Western missiles, satellite intelligence, etc.), sanctions packages, loud statements about the militarisation of Europe”.

On July 28th, when Trump announced a 10 day deadline for a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war, Medvedev took to Twitter again:

Trump’s playing the ultimatum game with Russia: 50 days or 10… He should remember 2 things:

1. Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran.
2. Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country. Don’t go down the Sleepy Joe road!

And in response to Lindsey Graham:

It’s not for you or Trump to dictate when to ‘get at the peace table’. Negotiations will end when all the objectives of our military operation have been achieved. Work on America first, gramps!

Medvedev then took to his personal Telegram to issue a thinly veiled nuclear threat, with regards to a second strike this time:

About Trump’s threats against me on his personal network Truth, which he banned from operating in our country

If some words of the former president of Russia cause such a nervous reaction from the whole so formidable president of the USA, it means that Russia is right in everything and will continue to go its way.

And about India and Russia’s “dead economy” and “entering dangerous territory” - well, let him remember his favourite Walking Dead movies and how dangerous a non-existent "dead hand"😂 can be.

In reference to the Perimeter/Dead Hand nuclear weapons control system in Russia, designed to launch Russia’s ICBMs even if all command centres are taken out, by detecting radiation from a first strike on Russia. It’s speculated to be both operational in a semi automatic mode, where a commander must first activate/switch on the system, and after that it can operate in a fully automatic mode, operating without the need of human intervention to launch ICBMs. Medvedev could be hinting that the system is in high alert mode/operating fully automatically at the moment, or threatening to put it in such a mode.

Trump and the United States have, for the first time, chosen to take Medvedev seriously and at his word, and have publicly announced that two Ohio Class Ballistic Missile Submarines are currently patrolling with Russia in mind , via Trump on Truth Social.

Based on the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that. Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

Each Ohio Class SSBN can carry 24 Trident II SLBMs each, with either 8 high yield nuclear warheads (475kt W88) per Trident II, or 12 lower yield warheads (5-100kt W76, depending on variant) per Trident II. Under the NEW START treaty, the SSBNs were limited to 20 Trident IIs each, and averaged around 4 warheads per Trident II. But Russia withdrew NEW START in 2023, neither Russia or the United States are obligated to follow it as of now, and it’s set to expire in February 2026. The submarines were likely already there beforehand, the US has 4 SSBNs on patrol at any time. Trump’s statement just serves as a very public reminder. Russia is not the only country that can play this game in the media with thinly veiled nuclear threats, and mentioning pre-emptive and second strike capabilitiy, is what Trump is trying to say.

Exclusive: Indian state refiners pause Russian oil purchases, sources say - Reuters, 31 July 2025

Indian state refiners have stopped buying Russian oil in the past week as discounts narrowed this month and U.S. President Donald Trump warned against purchasing oil from Moscow, industry sources said. India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, is the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian crude.

The country’s state refiners - Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS), Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL.NS), Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL.NS), and Mangalore Refinery Petrochemical Ltd (MRPL.NS) - have not sought Russian crude in the past week or so, four sources familiar with the refiners’ purchase plans told Reuters.

IOC, BPCL, HPCL, MRPL and the federal oil ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

The four refiners regularly buy Russian oil on a delivered basis and have turned to spot markets for replacement supply - mostly Middle Eastern grades such as Abu Dhabi’s Murban crude and West African oil, sources said.

Private refiners Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) and Nayara Energy are the biggest Russian oil buyers in India, but state refiners control over 60% of India’s overall 5.2 million barrels per day refining capacity.

On July 14, Trump threatened 100% tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil unless Moscow reaches a major peace deal with Ukraine.

This isn’t a suprise, as the Indian state owned refiners (Indian Oil Corp in particular) already said that they would no longer be purchasing Russian oil over a week ago.

Lots of US, UK and Australian military exercises in the region. Australia practiced sinking naval targets using US anti ship ballistic and supersonic cruise missiles (PrSM and SM-6) recently. Japan launched Type 12 anti ship missiles. USS Carl Vinson and HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carriers are in the region, with squadrons of F-35C and F-35B aircraft, Japan will deploy their F-35Bs to the Nansei Islands.

So far it looks like the usual military exercises, just larger scale than before.

Israel is currently carrying out airstikes in the Beqaa Valley in northeastern Lebanon, reportedly targeting underground Hezbollah missile and rocket production facilities.

F-35C (carrier variant), second ever write off/full loss after the one that had a ramp strike in 2022. Over 100 have been delivered to the US Navy. First flight for the prototype occurred during 2010, entered service in 2019, combat debut in 2024.

Genocide and war continue, and Israel may announce formal annexation of parts of Gaza in the coming days. Don’t know what will happen to the civil leadership of Hamas in Qatar.

The situation is extremely depressing, to say the least. I have other words, but I won’t say…

I think it’s to do with Israel’s suspected plan to formally annex parts of Gaza, which is speculated to be announced tomorrow. By “recognising a Palestinian state”, these countries can absolve themselves from a potential Israeli annexation of Gaza, as theyformally recognise it as Palestinian land. As for countries like Qatar signing onto such statements, a last ditch effort to avoid the annexation from happening and pressuring Hamas into surrendering.

So why are multiple countries, including Qatar (where much of Hamas’ civil leadership is currently located), Egypt, the UK, France and other EU member states suddenly putting out statements or making UN statements about recognising a Palestinian Authority led Palestine State, with Gaza demilitirised and Hamas surrendering all power?

I think it’s because of the latest Israeli ultimatum, according to Israeli sources. These sources have said that if Hamas do not sign the “60 day ceasefire”, Israel will formally annex parts of Gaza, speculated to be the so called “buffer zone” first, followed by the rest of Gaza if no agreement is reached. The Israeli plan is obviously supported by the United States, if the US didn’t come up with it themselves. There’s speculated to be a 48 hour countdown on this, which started at 14:00 UTC, July 29th. It’s currently 01:00 UTC, July 31st, so 35 hours have passed. This means that Israel, if they’re going to follow through on this, will have to announce the plan sometime on July 31st. This would explain all the statements on recognising a Palestinian state sans Hamas that have come out over the past days, both a last ditch effort to pressure Hamas into signing the 60 day ceasefire/surrender (especially in the case of Qatar) to avoid the formal annexation being triggered, and as a way for some western European countries to wash their hands clean of the potential upcoming formal annexation of Gaza, as they won’t officially recognise it.

I could obviously be very wrong here, this is speculation. But the timeline is very coincidental. It also lines up with the September 2025 part of the Palestinian recognition. If a 60 day ceasefire is signed on July 31st, it would last until 29 September.

Why is a formal annexation different from current and previous Israeli military occupation? To reverse/undo annexation, two thirds of the Israeli parliament must vote in favour of it’s reversal (80/120 seats) or a national referendum must vote in favour of reversal, according to past precedent. The military or Netanyahu can’t just decide to withdraw if annexation goes forward, any withdrawal or reversal will require large political alignment.

Netanyahu Proposes to Annex Parts of Gaza in Attempt to Appease Far-right Minister if Hamas Does Not Agree to a Deal - Haaretz

Yes this is a low follower random twitter account, but their reporting has been highly accurate in the past:

Israel is set to decide on the annexation of territory in the Gaza Strip within 48 hours, should Hamas fail to agree to a deal - 29 July 2025, 14:00UTC

Prime Minister Netanyahu is considering a plan to annex territories in Gaza if Hamas doesn’t agree to a ceasefire plan - ABC News New York affiliate

Qatar, Saudi, Egypt join call for Hamas to disarm, give up Gaza rule - France24

Precedent on annexation, archive link

Water is beginning to recede on the coast of Kauai Island in Hawaii. The Tsunami will make landfall very soon, hopefully it’s not that bad.

Before: After:

Source

The tsunami from the large earthquake has just made landfall in Severo-Kurilsk, Paramushir Island, Kuril Island Chain, Sakhalin Oblast, Russia. TASS is reporting a 3-4m/9-12ft high wave.

Video

It looks like the water has made it over 300m/1000ft inland.

The water level is now receding in the bay of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kamchatka Krai, Russia. Sand is viable, not a super rapid recession, but not ideal either. First wave should have passed already, but there’s always the possibility of a follow-up.

That’s massive, biggest earthquake since the 2011 tsunami?

Because we’re in the end stages now, so they can waffle along and signal how “moral and good” they are, while having done nothing to prevent the catastrophe and genocide. Look at the “two state solution” statement signed by Qatar and Egypt (and the EU) at the UN a few hours ago. It calls for Hamas to give up control of Gaza and surrender their weapons to the Palestinian Authority.

It’s Marjorie Taylor Greene though, the same woman who actually believes that the government controls the weather and that jewish space lasers exist, amongst other things. Not exactly an intellectual. She is more from the “isolationist” camp of the Republican party who have increasingly been sidelined by Trump, in the wake of the Israel/US-Iran war. Other more senior isolationist figures like Gabbard, Witkoff, and Hegseth to an extent, have also been sidelined at the moment.

And some people’s backs are born messed up, or become messed up as they hit puberty growth spurts because genetics.

Just great!

Poland just wants to buy as much military equipment as they physically can in the shortest amount of time possible. Just look at the lists of what they’re buying, it’s quite wild for a country with less than 40 million people. Obviously the money doesn’t exist to buy all this stuff right now, so they have to use loans. The US is more than prepared to give out such loans (at least for now), so they can arm Poland to the teeth. 32 F-35s and 6 Patriot batteries on order, as well as looking at the South Korean KF-21 4.5/5th generation aircraft (with 36 South Korean FA-50s already on order), and US F-15EXs. There’s already an AEGIS ashore site in Poland as of last year as well. And that’s just higher level air defence and air force stuff, not counting all the tanks they want to buy. Poland borders Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania and most importantly, the Russian enclave Kaliningrad.

Yeah, the Rafale is ultimately a 4th generation aircraft. It may be a very good 4.5/4+++ generation aircraft, but ultimately still a 4th generation aircraft. There are many competitors in this regard, from the Su-35, to the F-15EX, to the Eurofighter Typhoon for heavy fighters, and the J-10, Gripen, F-16V in the light fighter category. Self protection systems/electronic countermeasures/towed decoys cannot replace stealth and 5th generation capabilities. In fact, stealth greatly enhances how effective all of the above is. If your radar cross section is smaller, the effective range of electronic countermeasures/jamming can be a lot higher, as the radar signature you’re trying to obscure is a lot smaller.

As for the India-Pakistan conflict, a lot of that was due to poor mission planning/intelligence on Pakistani capabilities, and overconfidence on the first strike, where India thought they could just launch a limited attack on Pakistani territory without engaging Pakistani ground based air defence and limited engagements with Pakistani fighter aircraft. That was obviously not the case, Pakistan engaged India with all of their capabilities, and India lost 4-5 aircraft. On the second Indian attack, India hit all their targets without losing a single aircraft, and Pakistan was unable to intercept the Indian aircraft and shot down very few incoming Indian stand off munitions. So once India took Pakistan’s actual capabilities into account, they were able to carry out strikes with little to no consequences, and the Pakistani retaliatory strikes did little damage. So Pakistan won the battle but lost the war, I would say.