- After “Political Spanking,” Ehlers Joins Hoard in Backing Joe Dill
- The Greenville GOP’s Candidate Kiss of Death Strikes Again
- The SC Freedom Caucus Becomes a Target in District 10
- “Farms That Grow Nothing” Served at the Republican Runoff Breakfast Table
- Published by James Spurck
- Evert's Electables
- When the Liberty Bell Found Its True Voice
- The Iran War, the 14-Point Memorandum, and AIPAC
- Pakistan, the Iran War, and Regional Security
- Update on the Iran War 6-15-2026
- The 14-Point Memorandum of Understanding
- Back to Basics: Understanding Your Greenville County Property Tax Bill from Start to Finish
- The U.S. National Strategic Petroleum Reserve
- The Republic of Türkiye and the Iran War
- American Independence and the Battle of Cowpens
The Ukrainian Drone Attacks on Wildberries
- Details
- By Mike Scruggs
- Category: Mike Scruggs' Column
The Magyar Bird Strategy to Weaken Russian E-Commerce
Wildberries is the largest Russian online retailer, comparable in business strategy and operations to Amazon.com. Estimated revenues in 2025 were at least $15 billion, accounting for more than 40% of Russian online retail sales. Wildberries fills 7 million orders per day. Its founder and CEO is Tatyana Kim, mother of 7 children, whose net worth is now estimated at 8.1billion.
Kim was born in 1975 in Grozny, Chechnya, USSR. She is of Korean descent. She met and married Vladislav Bakalchuk around 2001. She conceptualized and tested the idea of Wildberries, starting with selling used clothes, while she was on pregnancy leave as an English teacher. Following the birth of their first child in 2004, she launched Wildberries without any capital. Bakalchuk, however, a talented engineer and entrepreneur, sold his internet service company, Utech for $7.5 million. By 2006, increasing success and expanded sales lines, inventory, and logistical advantages resulted in moving Wildberries’ headquarters to Moscow. By 2022, Wildberries was the largest E-store in Russia, also doing considerable international business. In 2026, the company uses all the advanced AI, robotic, automation, and safety equipment available to it. The company is under U.S. sanctions. This has not stopped Wolfberries’ phenomenal growth. Wildberries’s revenue increased 98% in 2025 and is forecast to grow 35-40% in 2026 and 2027.
Turkish Naval Force Deploys in Eastern Mediterranean
- Details
- By Mike Scruggs
- Category: Mike Scruggs' Column
Alarming Indication of Possible Cross-Purposes with NATO
Outside of U.S. forces, Türkiye has the largest and most powerful armed forces in Europe and West Asia. By approximately July 17, the Turkish Navy had deployed 14 capital ships between Cyprus and three major Turkish Navy bases on its Aegean and Mediterranean coasts, probably Aksaz, Foca-Izmir, and Iskenderun. This might be only a training exercise, but it could also be a strong statement of changing Turkish alignments.
Moreover, Cyprus has been the scene of ongoing ethnic conflicts and tensions between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and Greece and Türkiye since 1955. Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom in August 1960. The island of Cyprus is about 75% Greek Christian and 25% Turkish Muslim. In 1974, reacting to a Greek Cypriot nationalist and Greek military coup that would have made Cyprus part of Greece, a Turkish invasion effectively divided Cyprus into an autonomous northern Turkish government and the southern Republic of Cyprus. About 200,000 people were displaced. The population of the southern Republic is currently about 923,000. The northern Turkish state has a population of 383,000 The northern Federated State of Cyprus declared its independence in 1983. This is recognized only by Türkiye, although it should be acknowledged that the Northern Turkish Muslims would be terribly unhappy to be a minority in a predominantly Greek Christian republic.
The Republic of Türkiye and the Iran War
- Details
- By Mike Scruggs
- Category: Mike Scruggs' Column
West Asia’s and Europe’s Most Formidable Military Power
In 2022, at the request of the Turkish government, the United Nations changed the English spelling of Turkey to Türkiye. This was to reflect the actual native pronunciation and avoid any inappropriate association with the large American bird. English does not have an umlauted ü as German does, so perhaps English speakers can be excused for spelling it Turkiye.
The vast majority of Turkiye’s territory, approximately 97%, lies in West Asia. The West Asian part or eastern part of Turkiye is historically known as Anatolia, which includes 85% of the population. The smaller 3% of western Turkiye lies in Europe in a region called East Thrace, bordering Greece and Bulgaria. The European portion of Turkiye includes part of Turkiye’s largest city, Istanbul, and thus a disproportionate part of the Turkish population at 15%. The Dardanelles Strait (also known as the Gallipoli Strait) leading from the Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara, and the Bosporus Strait leading to the Black Sea are the border between Europe and Asia. A part of Istanbul lies across the Bosporus in Europe.
American Independence and the Battle of Cowpens
- Details
- By Mike Scruggs
- Category: Mike Scruggs' Column
Also Reviewing the Battles of Kings Mountain and Guilford Courthouse
I am writing this on July 4, 2026, the Birthday of the Declaration of American Independence. I have always been a strong supporter of the tremendously important principles of the Declaration of Independence and an admirer of Thomas Jefferson and his other writings, political ideas, immense intellect, and character. One of my great-great grandfathers on my mother’s side was named Thomas Jefferson Bradsher. Folks back then frequently revealed their own principles and sometimes politics by the names they gave their children. At least two of my ancestors on my father’s side are recorded as having served the American cause at the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina on January 17, 1781.
Pakistan, the Iran War, and Regional Security
- Details
- By Mike Scruggs
- Category: Mike Scruggs' Column
Plus Reports on Israeli and Iranian Strategies
Pakistan is a South-Asian nuclear military power estimated to have 170 nuclear warhead weapons, making it the 6th most powerful nuclear power in the world. Global Firepower ranks Pakistan 14 of 145 nations in overall military strength and firepower. It currently has 650,000 personnel in its active armed forces.
According to Worldmeter, the 2026 population of Pakistan is just over 259 million, the fifth largest in the world. It ranks 33 in geographic size, being almost twice as large as California. It borders Iran, India, China, and Afghanistan. It also borders the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman and is thus a major player in the Indian Ocean.
Pakistan has been an important and invaluable channel for unofficial communications and negotiations between the United States and Iran. The key Pakistani leaders involved are Field Marshall Asim Munir, Chief of Defense; Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardar, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbar Sharif, and Pakistani Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar.
Mike Scruggs is the author of two books: The Un-Civil War: Shattering the Historical Myths; and Lessons from the Vietnam War: Truths the Media Never Told You, and over 600 articles on military history, national security, intelligent design, genealogical genetics, immigration, current political affairs, Islam, and the Middle East.
He holds a BS degree from the University of Georgia and an MBA from Stanford University. A former USAF intelligence officer and Air Commando, he is a decorated combat veteran of the Vietnam War, and holds the Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, and Air Medal. He is a retired First Vice President for a major national financial services firm and former Chairman of the Board of a classical Christian school.
Click the website below to order books. http://www.universalmediainc.org/books.htm.
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