Michael Ramirez for June 13, 2024

From what I see, their main problem is inflation… and a lack of actual cash. This does pose a problem: Printing more pesos would exacerbate inflation…

Looks like ted not the only one earning the rubles

Maybe those sailors can drive some ‘57 Chevys while they’re on shore leave there …

Cuban missile crisis 2.0. I can only imagine if trump were in the white house when shootin putin launches nukes aimed at mar-a-lago from Havana

Cuba is a leftist utopia.

If Russia wanted to impress the Cubans wouldn’t they send new or newer cars?

A U.S. Fast-Attack was on the Russian sub’s tail ever since it crossed the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. If Russia tried anything, that sub would have been sunk before their sailors could finish their boiled potatoes for dinner.

If we had not installed / supported fascist dictators like Batista who put the interest of US companies like United Fruit above the interest of the Cuban people for 50 years Castro would never have come to power.

Russia and Cuba sitting in a tree, M-I-S-E-R-A blee!

Good one Mike.

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander as I’ve heard.This was all preventable. Biden=Nero.

Funny how in America “freedom” is such a big deal, yet a tropical island just off their coast is forbidden territory. The rest of the world finds Cuba an interesting vacation paradise.

Does Russia really think they’re going to rattle Joe Biden? Think again. Trump would have them parking their nuclear subs at Mar-A-Lago.

All because Biden ticked off his biggest supporter by arming his other biggest support with missiles that took out a Russian early warning system.

A real joke among those of us who follow maritime traffic is Military vessels do not turn on their location transponders unless they are in a congested traffic area, Tokyo Bay is and example of that. But with Russian war ships you can alway tell where they are because of the Ocean going tug boats that follow them around, being civilian vessels they have to keep their transponders active. When the Russian Aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov traveled down the English channel on its way the Syria, the Royal Navy radioed the ship to inform them they had 2 deep sea tugs standing by to tow them to a port of their choice if they broke down. It was a supreme insult. The Russians had a sea going tug trailing behind the Kuznetsov just in case that happened.

Oh and there is another thing that Ramirez hints at. Russian sailors do not have any money to spend during a port call, if they are lucky they might get paid every 6 months. Contrast that with the US Navy. The Navy had a port call in Iceland by USS Arlington (LPD 24) in May 2022. This visit astonished the Icelanders. Besides spending a lot of money what surprised the Icelanders was the sophisticated tastes the sailors had. They went the the best restaurants, and literally drank the island dry of Icelandic micro brewed beer. I know USAF airman who were stationed on Iceland. They told me that a single male servicemen was fair game for the local ladies. They all tell me these Icelandic ladies are knockdown beautiful and are of the type to take home to introduce to your own parents.

And gun boats to round up fleeing refugees.

From Jim Wright’s post on FB:

Yeah, it’s a message all right. That rusty bucket is one of Putin’s very few remaining strategic nuclear assets.I believe this is the Kazan, a Russian Yasen-M class fast attack boat. Pretty modern and fairly capable. But one of the very few modern vessels they have. Note: It’s nuclear POWERED, not armed with nuclear bombs.(though, yes, it could technically carry tactical nuclear armed cruise missiles, though it would be unlikely for that ordinance to be onboard. Conventionally armed cruise missiles are a lot more useful)

Ahahah… today the USS Helena, a fast attack submarine, entered Guantanamo Bay the day after the Russian Kazan cruise missile submarine pulled into Havana with her rescue tug escort. The Helena is no doubt the designated tracker of Kazan. I wonder who the Russians will be war gaming with in addition to Cuba. This will be interesting.

I was on a USN ship that essentially T-boned a Norwegian Oiler as it was jockeying to get into a refueling position. No one was hurt, but for the balance of the journey, there was a problem. See, ALL of the toilet paper for the entire ship was stored below the forecastle (“focsle”) and was rendered into a large blob of papier-mâché.

The remainder of the trip back to the ’Yards had some interesting consequences:

“Uh, anybody got some TP?”

. . .

“Anybody?”

. . .

“Anybody got five ones for a five?

Subsequently, BuShips amended their regulations vis-à-vis TP storage.

And this cartoon brought it all back. ;-)

Sorry, Russia doesn’t have either. Certainly not enough to spare.

Seems only fair, as their doctrines and policies created the mess.

Yay! Welcome back Mr Ramirez! I was a little concerned. Wonderful artwork as always, and for a bonus an on-target message.

The line is humorous, but food and toilet paper would just be wasted on the Cuban people. What impresses Communists are things that can be used to ensure the people remember their place, which is under the control of the Party.