A few important items to share with you on this quiet Sunday

Dear friends,

While I am in the process of fully re-involving me with the fulltime work on the blog, I wanted to share a few things with you.

First, now that I am fully back, I want to ask our guest authors to return to the practice of sending me their contributions to the usual email address: vineyardsaker@gmail.com and not to my assistant Amarynth as we have been doing over the past 3 months (and for some even before).

I want to use this opportunity to thank Amarynth for the immense work she has done so superbly for the blog, especially during my leave of absence. We all owe her a debt of gratitude for all she has done.

Second, I need to share a “good news, bad news” thingie with you. First, the (apparent) good news: during the early months of this year, the blog served over 10 million pages a month. Then, when then Russian SMO seemed to produce less “breaking news”, this number gradually began to go down, and even more so after I had to take my leave of absence. I asked our chief of IT and webmaster Herb, and he told me that we are down at about 5 million now. That is about half of our max, but much more importantly, this is STILL way above are usual “cursing speed” of about 1,5-2 million pages served per month. Is that a good or a bad thing? I will let you judge after reading this:

First, this huge visibility resulted in a very sophisticated attack against our servers. While in the past some script kiddies did try a few things, this time it was clearly a well coordinated, sophisticated and carefully targeted attack, which points to some source of big money, probably a private group hired by a state actor. Thanks to the superb and critical job of Herb and one more person, we eventually bounced back.

Still, all this means is that those who tried to silence us will try to do so again.

The problem is that this explosion in readership brought A LOT of new commentators who are not regular readers of the blog and whose comments were often quite disruptive of the normal mood of our comments section. So alongside plenty of very good commentators, many with true expertise, we good flooded with all sorts of very unhelpful types, including for example these:

GROUP A: the sincere (however misguided) ones

“Drive by commentators”: they leave one sentence, such as ” this author is an IDIOT”. No argument, nothing, just an insult.
“Preachers”: they have some agenda, say that nuclear weapons are an invention and do not exist. They will not even bother reading the article, they will just plug their slogans.
“Jew haters”: for these folks, Jew and only Jews, are responsible for all the bad things in creation, so all they can talk about is Jews, Jews, Jews and more Jews. These are the folks who will use that stupid trick of writing trick (((Raevsky))) around the name of anybody they suspect might be a Jew.
“Religious nutcases and assorted Bible-thumpers”: for them it is all about quoting Scripture ad nauseam no matter what the topic is. The worst of those are those who *think* that they know something about Christianity but, in reality, not only know close to nothing, but the little they know, they wholly misunderstand. They will bombard you with scriptural quotes to try to hide their own ignorance of the Scripture and its meanings.
“Brainwashed corporate media drones”: they will say that they read in, say, the so-called Institute for the Study of War, Foreign Policy or even CNN/FOX that the Russians are out of ammo, Putin has cancer, and the latest US Wunderwaffe will turn the tide and defeat Russia.
“Self-advertisers”: they just want to use the comments section to “plug” their website, book, ideology, etc.
“The offended ones”” these are the folks who are offended by something a guest author or myself have written and they are on a vendetta to get back to me/us.
“The entitled ones”: they believe that commenting on the Saker blog is a God given right, even if they don’t bother reading the moderation rules, and if their comment is not posted, they get seriously offended.
“Idiots”: these are folks who are too dull to realize their level of ignorance and incompetence. They think that they have the “right” to their opinion and they deliver their inanities with great gravitas and pomp. When their comments get intercepted, they go into rage.
“Sloganeers”. They are under the mistaken impression that a few disjointed sentences brough together in a paragraph amount to an argument. Typically, here is what they would write like this: “Putin is just a WEF puppet. The Russian army is getting hammered by HIMARS. Russia will soon run out of aircraft. So-and-so is a scumbag (and probably a Jew). The US F-22s and F-35 can quickly defeat the Russian forces.” 5 slogans, separated by period, no factoids, no substantiation, nothing but slogans. And BOY do they get offended if you tell them that they need to learn how to think before sharing their “gems of wisdom” with the rest of the planet.

There are many more, but I will stop here.

GROUP B: the deliberate trolls

Technique one: they flood the comments with questions/statements which are aimed at pushing the discussion within the confines of the official narrative. For example, they will repeat mantrically that the Ukrainians have defeated Russian forces in this or that location.
Technique two: they wait for a new post, and then the pounce like a pack of wolves. The idea is that if under an article the 10 out of 12 comments are very negative, then the article probably deserves that. That is an old psychological trick (read up on the Asch conformity experiment for interesting details).

GROUP C: computer generated trolls

These are trolls which don’t exist, they are just paid PSYOP operators supported by AI machines. One of the things which gives them away is that they never check if their comments are posted. We have had some of these which for YEARS post 3-10 comments PER DAY even though we banned them many years ago and none of their comments ever get posted. Yet they still continue.

Now, I would argue that the only perfect comments section is one which does not exist. For any other comments section, even a very well managed one, there will always be “leakers”, that is just a fact of life.

I do not want to close the comment section simply because for all the problems and frustrations many of us, including myself, have had with it, it represents something important to our readers and the Saker community. However, I do feel that due to the sharp increase in readership and the proportional sharp increase in “troll attacks” (let’s call them that), I want to make the following changes:

First, I want to restrict the comments section only to those who have signed up and where given login credentials, that is a username and password. And just to clarify, you do NOT have to use your real name so your anonymity is not threatened here. The goals for this measure are:

Make “drive by comments” impossible
To easily eject any of the types of commentators I described above in “GROUP A”.
To inject a sense of responsibility into those commentators who think that the comments section is their private and personal trash bin into which they can spit, or worse, with no regards for others.
I want to reduce the workload for the moderators. Without giving our any real figures, I can tell you that the number of intercepted comments on a daily basis is typically over 30 and often higher than that. As for our list of banned trolls, it is over 100 entries long.

IMPORTANT NOTE: even after this change, all the rules of moderation will remain in place and the moderators will STILL parse every comment. I do hope, however, that their workload could be eased and brought back to more manageable numbers.

Second, from now on (well, after a transition period of maybe a week or two), I want to give each guest author the option to chose “I do want comments under my article” or “I do not want comments under my article”.

Why? Because some of our authors are literally persecuted by various groups and interests who try to pollute the comments section under anything these targeted authors write. The goal here is also to provide each author with a “safe and clean” place to share his/her ideas.

To me this measure is a no brainer and uncontroversial. Think of it as a courtesy to our honored guests :-)

Okay,

Now a last comment about yours truly: when I came back to the blog, a week ago, I did not expect two things to happen. First, as Murphy’s law would mandate it, I got sick with COVID, and in my case, pretty severely. So I was “out” from Monday until Friday. Now I am happy to report that I am doing well again, I just need a few days to get over the residual exhaustion of my body (slept 14 hours last night!). But, again, I am 100% fine, no need to worry or advise me on meds. However, that explains why I did not write anything since last week.

Second, when I came back there were quite a few administrative problems (including the comments section issues I mention above) which also took the little time and energy I had to deal with them first. I am dealing with them now and I am confident that at the end of this process, things will be better than before. I just ask for two things:

Please be a little more patient during this transition/reorganization period
Forgive me for a slower than expected transition to fulltime writing as I will have to spend a lot of time dealing with “behind the scenes” before I can fully dedicated myself to writing analyses.

Right now all of the above is our plan, and we will keep you posted. There might be a few false starts and kinks to deal with, but the bottom line is this: we are simplifying/optimizing how we work behind the scenes and this will only benefit the blog and its readers.

That’s my news update for the day.

I wish you a great Sunday!

Andrei

nobodyherebutuschickens on July 31, 2022 · at 10:34 pm EST/EDT

I almost exclusively lurk. I find staying out of the fray and discourse affords a more constructive and insightful experience. But that is personal choice only. Besides in a way my comments are nothing, non-important in the larger sphere, just a drop in an ocean. But, but Solidarity is a really really great thing. And to never take council from your fears is a biggie, that way you can’y be beat and win more easily. Win the Liberty and its blessings. One phrase I always get a chuckle from was posted on Zero Hedge long time now, “commenting is akin to a thousand ants on a pinhead on a soapbox floating down the Potomac all trying to be heard at once, (and everyone is busy listening with their mouths instead of their ears said another commenter). LOL’s! Its not that entirely, its actually always informative to peruse the commentariats dialogue.
No question when blogging began the commentary thread became revolutionary. Seriously. Bet a left arm nobody saw it coming either. Thinking about it, there has never been a medium quite like it, where ordinary readers could put their 2 cents into the pot, fairly, unfettered. And the contest too. There’s that in spades.
In history one moment happened in the Colonial Era, there are certain parallels to now, the “Pamphlet Wars”, where those pesky rebels and terrorists and future model for all dastardly horrible privileged white American supremacists, like Sam Adams and his compatriots “snuck” around posting short concise rabble rousing subversive pamphlets in the town square or at the town pound, and the British Empire was at a total loss to interdict these agents provocateurs or run effective counter info warfare to stop this grass roots open source information warfare. It seems the pen is always mightier than the sword, but you got to wield either in the first place to be effective. And therein lies the crux of the matter.
Sometimes comment threads are deluged with a myriad of agents provocateurs, (once you see them, they can not be unseen, as they or IT are just unseemly and inherently dishonest/disingenuous or ulterior motive driven, they all got individual tells, and even though they employ various avatars after time they become individually recognizable, never mind they seem to infest everything), and pretty reliably it will be a blog post which tells or exposes or is an instrumental piece that helps the reader get at the truth which has been proscribed, which is of course the whole thing. Truth. Free. Unfettered. Truth. Facts. Events. Kind of like with Time Honored Traditions: Forbotten! Or you will be Othered.
Once this wonderful genie of unfettered exchange of Truth Insights Evidence and Events gets loose, like Kermit The Frog; “I’m Free! I’m Free!” from Miss Piggy putting the mash on him, its really difficult to stuff the Freedom Genie back in its bottle where it resided for most of history, once the first tyrant or what have you, decided to limit or block information undesirable or proscribed. Seems their ilk pass it on like a family heirloom or something.
What appears to be the case presently on the inter-webs is there exists concerted operations to brain wash and mislead readers, create doubt, discontent, confusion, these truly are insidious things, subtlety cunning, dare say highly organized in the darkness, the basic results being the timeless strategy of divide and conquer. And “they” can not leave anything un-poisoned with hate. Among an entire raft, a whole gamete of other ugliness, hate, derision, contempt, and ulterior intent. In simplest terms, across the board all the terrible things being done, is best summed up simply as Good Folks do not do such things to others. Period. Full. Stop. Go ask yourself that next time. Keep that in mind and a lot of things suddenly become rather apparent. Getting swooped up in a world of intentional hate tends to subvert.
Yeah, all that is apparent with experience and basic critical thinking. But some things must always be stated clearly with brevity. We are regular folks, we so not do such to others, its why we are good folks. And another thing cause it to can never be said enough, it is the dirt people who ever effect positive change in this world. No others, There are no others. But the inverse applies in an awful way also, “they”, need good folks to give their tacit consent for what they are doing to us, without that consent manufactured or otherwise all “they” got is the power to hurt, the unequivicable power of force and violence, but, they need folks to tacitly let them mess with our lives meddle in ev ery facet in the sphere of our activities, just like it says in the greatest document of freedom written: “He hath sent his agents hither to eat out the peoples existence.” And thats exactly what these trolls and shills in effect cause. They eat out our unfettered natural right to communicate freely between ourselves. It is devilish. In fact I contend as a really brave young lady recently said “Hell is empty and the devils are here on Earth.”
The noodle baker is what to do about it and preserve freedom of expression simultaneously. Its been cunningly made a pickle, or may be thats ruthlessly so. Maybe there is something, a little thing really, quite simple, something like a troll list is established, because first it is becoming evident thru time there’s some pretty regular actors whose job is to infiltrate comment threads and fracture or break a constructive thread or a thread that is leading towards forbidden or proscribed truth and facts or events as they actually happened unfiltered by gate keepers.
So why not do unto the enemy in similar fashion, is a sense of instead of fighting to control or limit these trolls, give them a spotlight, shills and other agent provocateurs give them some notoriety, along with other disruptive elements cockroaches do not like the light of day, they love them some scurrying about sneaking, always sneaking, and since they seem to be operating along the fringes of the shadows, why not provide them with plain old fashioned recognition for their efforts?
Its probably certain the last thing they or It desires, after all they and It are working from a foundation of clandestine surveillance and intelligence gathering, meddle in all the things, immoral/ulterior discretion, from the shadows always, it is not common randomness, it is deliberate, malicious, and highly organized, from one or maybe two central forms of evil, as the only way to describe something that is insidious, of something a lot darker, out to destroy all thats beautiful good right and time honored tradition. It certainly is not for positive change. I know thats obvious, but it can not ever be overstated.
So maybe there is a tactic or strategy to counter the negative effects of this insidiousness. May be it is as simple as a 100 greatest troll hit list. Or say a sticky blog post or a side bar link, maybe a weekly post, which lists these actors and agents questionable “commentary”. And following the true to form intent of blogs of the alt-media, to inform, provide folks with news and insights so they can make up their own mind. I mean after all, once ine hits the post or publish button, you have given your blessing to freely posting you written words. Maybe the situation is too complex and convoluted for simple effective remedies, but, one thing is crystal clear these actors and IA or algorithms exist for truly ulterior motive driven reasons. Why else sneak around, snipe, and disrupt, or as Russian’s understand better than any folks, to “Subvert, Undermine, and Destroy,” in that order, and we see that pattern in everything of questionable veracity.
Why not, to steal a great comment from times past, “Give em’ a belly full of what they intend for us.”
As it is said how, Sunshine is always the best disinfectant. After all, they must operate from the fringes of the shadows because they are up to no good, they are doing things they shouldn’t be doing, and doing things to us good folks they know we will eventually come after them for if they do not attain absolute power over us, while getting us to go at each-others throats in rabid discourse, we doing their dirty work for them, or genocide all as is also becoming crystal clear, all of us who they already know and certainly target who would naturally, rightfully, resist such and defy such powers over us. Does not need to be complicated, and it could easily be an across the alt-media blogosphere shared list of greatest trill and shill list. Why make it easy for those who would do us harm? Why not turn the same weapon they use on all of us on them? War is War. After all. And It Is War being waged upon us, even if it is words and ideas. It is war, by other means nonetheless.
Better than boolits and bombs and genocide. I for one am constantly amazed by the courage, indeed, the tenacity, and most awesome of all the perseverance of folks like Saker and his alliance of wordsmiths and tellers of Truth across the Alt-Media, and quite frankly, just imagine the place the world where we would all be without these Warriors.
In salute to you guys; If Winning The Hearts Is An Art Then Winning The minds Is A Science.

130 Comments

Hapalong Cassidy on July 31, 2022 · at 5:10 pm EST/EDT

I would add to Group B the “Concern Trolls” – a concept which I first became aware of reading this site’s comment section. The strategy is to pretend they are on “your side” but they have “concerns” about the way things are going. These “concerns” vary only slightly from the mainstream pro-Ukro narrative.
- The Saker on July 31, 2022 · at 5:51 pm EST/EDT
  
  You are absolutely SPOT ON. Yes, I call them “well wishers” who simply want me to stop “hurting” the “credibility” of the blog by not mentioning some specific topic.
  Quite amusingly, I have both Zionists telling me, for my own good, to drop the Zionism topic AND I had Nazis explaining to me that I should not conflate the wonderful and kind Russia-loving Nazis of WWII with the bad bad not really Nazis in the Ukraine.
  The Russian language is great, all we need to do when faced with that is to send them to three letters which every Russian knows :-)
  So yes, point taken, the “well wishers”, thank you!
  - Markos on July 31, 2022 · at 9:04 pm EST/EDT
    
    I found Vinyard of the Saker some time between the outbreak of the Syrian war and the Maidan Coup.At that time there was almost nowhere , that I knew of, to go for information apart from official propaganda so i was glad to find this source. In between then and now Ive left a couple dozen comments and Im probably guilty of being a bad commenter – mostly a drive by offender (and a sloppy editor) . In my defense I will say this.Im not a professional writer or someone who is going to leave a thesis in the comment section and I never felt that that was the place for it Having made my comment I usually let it be.If its posted by the mods, others can ignore it, or respond to it if they will, without a string of rebuttals from me.I apologize to the mods for wasting any of their time
    - Mo on August 01, 2022 · at 1:21 am EST/EDT
      
      Me too, I also found this blog around the same time desperately looking for an alternative to the MSM sludge. I think it may have been through iraqwar.ru but this was a while ago. Anyways since then this has been one of my top 3 go-to sites and a day doesn’t go by that I don’t check it at least once.
      Anyways, I have a question that may seem stupid, but I can’t find where I would log in? Is this a new feature to be implemented, or has it always been there? I just went over the site twice and could not find it. Pardon my ignorance in advance if it is already there. Had I known about it in the past I would have signed up ages ago.
    - Kerwas on August 01, 2022 · at 1:43 am EST/EDT
      
      I will also add that i am a kind of “drive by commenter” like you and maybe many others.
      
      My point in this is plain:
      I have a hierarchy in things like this and this is “only” a _moderated_ _comment_ section with a _very limited_ ability fo come back to ones own comment to keep eventual emerging discussions going, NOT a full fledged forum with all the tools to keep track of his own writings and is considered therefore on the bottom of that hierarchy as exactly what the saker not wanted to be, a “drive by comment section”.
      
      Putting Hours in a construction of a Comment that i can barley track afterwards seems to much for me.
      
      Reading now that the saker himself is not fond of those comments, he maybe should consider to make a more permanent comment platform, that comes usually also with far better moderation tools, and therefore can also lower the load of his moderators, given that the moderator side is also that “barebone” ui many users face.
      
      How feasible this is in terms of his own resources and staff i can’t tell for sure, but given that far smaller groups with far lesser experienced staff than his, can run far bigger forums than this, should give you some inside of how much better a proper forum could be.
      
      Also given the fact that his Admin team of two are able to fight of a full fledged serious attack means that both are more than suited to manage a proper Forum. given the age of this platform, i can fully understand why this comment section is how it is, but the saker should really think about to modernize, not only the code, but how things get organized in this comment section versus a full fledged forum.
      
      The article.
      Given the Authors a choice for comments to avoid witch hunts on a fully moderated drive by comment section is a bit of a sad direction but the propaganda war is out in full force and given the load the moderates already have, anything that lowers those load is welcomed. this is also part of the tool set modern forum have.
      
      for the comment section:
      there should be really something like at least a “profile” section, in wich people can track their own comments and moderators can far better keep the trolls in check.
      
      Other than that:
      get well saker and don’t worry too much, things will sorted out by itself, one way or another.
    - Leider Lincoln on August 01, 2022 · at 10:59 am EST/EDT
      
      I – and indeed many commentators here – am Brazilian. Indirectly, I knew about this blog for many years, because many things were republished in Portuguese. But never for a long time, because vloggers acavacan norrendod and cancer, around the time when almost all nationalist and/or left-wing political leaders in Latin America had this same disease. Because of this, I started to read it in the same source and even repost it on other social networks.
  - Rhys Jaggar on August 01, 2022 · at 6:15 am EST/EDT
    
    I found the same thing happened when I used to comment at the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph in the UK MSM. Guardianistas came close to calling me Boris Johnson’s bum chum (when neither of us are practicing homosexuals), whereas the rabid far right minority of the DT blogosphere regularly called me a Communist for expressing views somewhat to the left of Genghis Khan.
    
    It’s the price for trying to engage with most strands of opinion. You end up getting hated by them all!
    
    And all that has happened is that both the Guardian and the DT are now echo chambers for the mutual reinforcement of whatever ignorance and prejudice is ‘du jour’ at those outlets.
    
    Private clubs are all very well when the most serious matter to be debated is whether the 18th green needs to be mowed a bit more often.
    
    When they want the most far-reaching political decisions to be taken based on a uniform set of cloned political conformists spanning but a narrow part of the spectrum of opinion, it’s downright dangerous.
  - Thomas on August 01, 2022 · at 11:09 am EST/EDT
    
    I am all for free speech but NOT everywhere (a striking example: Satanists are not aloud to preach in Orthodox Christian churches). Your blog is a private undertaking which is not directed towards promoting free speech of everyone who happens to come along but on spreading your subjective truth which is an example of exercising free speech. You are in no way obliged to tolerate behavior going against your rights as the blog’s owner.
    
    Btw what I find most disturbing about the comments section are the number of posters who act according to the rule “everything has been said but not by everyone”. Who wants to read the 110th reader’s contribution?
    
    In your case I would restrict readers’ posting to
    1. 30 comments per article and finish
    2. posters who are logged in and have laid open their REAL identity when having registered.
  - TBeholder on August 02, 2022 · at 8:58 am EST/EDT
    
    The Nazi thing is not that simple.
    Well, obviously the “Nazi” from Ukraine cannot be real members of NSDAP. They still are vile clowns, however. And so are the Wehraboo concerned with defending said party’s reputation.
    
    But there’s an overlap of reactions from different sides.
    The Clown World necessarily dislikes “nazi nazi nazi” thing, because they still use “Nazi are under every other bed OMG” scarecrow, so they don’t like it when people bring up their ties with the real SS (in Canada) or Wehraboo (Ukraine, Baltic states), since any light in this direction shows how fake they and their outrages are.
    Those opposing them also often dislike “nazi nazi nazi” thing… because it’s a pet scarecrow of the Clown World, duh.
    So it does make one sound like a tumblrina (or at best a post-Soviet dinosaur) and as such repulses those not on board with the Proglodites (The People’s Cube crowd, for example).
    Yes, even when Putin does this. But he has better reasons than “they baited us with this thing, so here”: pushing the buttons of various necropatriots (they tend toward loyalty to USA outside “USA vs. USSR” themes) and lack of ready Russian references for personnel lustration less obscure than Denazification (without implying bloodier purges… and he is already from KGB… what sort of PR would be that?).
    The crowd here seems to not consist of Goblin’s minions (they are identifiable by jargon), and the forum language is English, so neither is a problem.
    Practically, it probably doesn’t matter much, as most people aren’t exactly princesses. It just that when overdone this turns into another version of “Nazi are under every other bed OMG”… which only helps to disguise the kind of critters that really are under every other bed. The Clown World does this because those are their critters, of course. But what’s the point for anyone else to do it?
- Lone Wolf on July 31, 2022 · at 7:13 pm EST/EDT
  
  @ Hapalong Cassidy on July 31, 2022 · at 5:10 pm EST/EDT
  
  Agree 100%.
  
  I called them “subliminal trolls,” paying lip service to the subject matter, injecting their venom in a not-so subliminal way, questioning this or that, asking quizzical questions of the type “why cannot Russia stop the shelling of Donetsk”? Or a not-so subliminal troll I had a spat with recently, “why Russia doesn’t acknowledge links to Wagner PMC?”
  
  Sometimes the questions are honest, come out of concern, it has to be discerned from the context.
  
  Lone Wolf
  - Robert Lindsay on August 01, 2022 · at 2:02 am EST/EDT
    
    Wagner are Russian contract soldiers. They are not mercenaries at all according to the Geneva Conventions. On the other, many of those fighting in the Foreign Legion for Ukraine are also probably not mercenaries either.
Larchmonter445 on July 31, 2022 · at 5:13 pm EST/EDT

“Less is More”.

Some good process ideas. The changes should help bring the Vineyard back from the shark-jumping that began before the SMO but accelerated greatly during.

Brevity by all would also help.
- Turk 152 on July 31, 2022 · at 7:06 pm EST/EDT
  
  Incidentally, there is a new Larchmonter on Unz who is a rather intense Hadith pushing MBS fan, who states that he is your relation. I am not sure if this is a new type of trolling. Can you confirm? Apologies for the digression.
  - Larchmonter445 on July 31, 2022 · at 8:34 pm EST/EDT
    
    Not me, not a relative, just an Unz assholio desperate for attention, I assume.
    
    Unz collects the desperate. Though masturbation is their primary pastime.
    - Turk 152 on July 31, 2022 · at 9:20 pm EST/EDT
      
      The Unz wankers are easily ignored, it’s the ones that should be in chains that concern me.
      
      Cheers
    - David Parker on July 31, 2022 · at 10:15 pm EST/EDT
      
      You wrote: “… just an Unz assholio desperate for attention, I assume. Unz collects the desperate. Though masturbation is their primary pastime.”
      
      In my estimation Ron Unz’ is a thorough investigator, he doesn’t pull punches, and he lays a foundation for what he writes, especially in his American Pravda series. As for the other authors who post on Unz.com, do you mean to suggest they are not factual or knowledgeable? It would be very helpful if you would identify who among the authors on Unz.com you believe to be worth reading create a Saker “whitelist”. Still I most likely will not have time to read them all.
      - Larchmonter445 on July 31, 2022 · at 11:38 pm EST/EDT
        
        @ David Parker
        
        It was reported per Turk 152 a commenter, not an author, was using the Larchmonter name.
        
        I didn’t say a word about Unz himself nor the other article writers.
        
        If you like the site, enjoy it.
        
        I never thought much of it. To each, his own.
        
        By chance, if the clown using Larchmonter has actually posted an article and Ron Unz ran it, shame on him.
        
        But I still think Turk 152 was speaking of some commenter.
        
        David Parker on August 01, 2022 · at 12:11 pm EST/EDT
        
        You wrote: “Unz collects the desperate. Though masturbation is their primary pastime.”
        which to me belies your statement “I didn’t say a word about Unz himself nor the other article writers.” To me saying that Unz collects the desperate is to say that Unz offers no useful information.
        I read the primary articles posted on Unz.com same as on TheSaker.is but not all the comments. My concern is your backhanded slap in the face to Ron Unz who I consider has done a very good work with his site posting archive material that would most likely gone down the memory hole without his work to preserve it.
      - TBeholder on August 02, 2022 · at 12:15 pm EST/EDT
        
        Unz does have a lot of interesting articles, yes. Even if lately he did fall for Wuhan Voodoo. The authors obsession with Teh Joos isn’t strong enough to turn the site into garbage, but probably does not help to improve the audience.
        Their site collects a lot of shills, larpers and morons. That’s inevitable, but comments aren’t filtered or moderated much, so while there are many good comments, but they are often drowned in drool.
- Antoinetta III on July 31, 2022 · at 10:28 pm EST/EDT
  
  Another process idea:
  
  Make the username unique within this blog. It helps to follow certain trains of thought, if one can read several posts by the same individual. This doesn’t happen when half the commentary is listed as “Anonymous.”
Diamond Dee on July 31, 2022 · at 5:22 pm EST/EDT

I am onside with the suggestions on the requirements for the comments. Go ahead Sir.
- The Saker on July 31, 2022 · at 5:53 pm EST/EDT
  
  Thank you!
Ruben Bauer Naveira on July 31, 2022 · at 5:43 pm EST/EDT

Thank you so much Amarynth, for “holding the line”!

Nashe delo pravoe! Pobeda budet za nami! (Our cause is just! Victory will be ours!)
Hal on July 31, 2022 · at 5:52 pm EST/EDT

Andrei
Welcome back.
I’m with you in your decision to weed out the comments section. It was getting quite overgrown. And, I do hope most of your writers choose to allow comments, especially under the new rules. I maintain they are the salt in the soup.
Hal
T Paine on July 31, 2022 · at 5:58 pm EST/EDT

The last few weeks have been a rite of passage for the Saker and its crew. Congratulations are clearly in order, and changes are only to be expected. Well done to all and sincere appreciation from the peanut gallery.
Degringolade on July 31, 2022 · at 5:59 pm EST/EDT

I cannot see a single thing I disagree with in your proposals. I value your blog immensely.

I kinda veer away from reading comments. Your writers are excellent and give me enough to think about without trying to have someone else explain to me about what wasn’t taken into consideration or what incorrect premise was used. Figuring that out by myself on those rare occasions when it occurs or just enjoying solid writing is enough for me.

I think that accounts are an excellent idea. I haven’t regretted even for a moment asking for permission to read the writings within the “moveable feast”. I can’t see how having a gatekeeeper function in any way detracts from the thoughts being discussed.

Keep up the good work, good to have you back and busy. Don’t take on too much all at once, Old bodies like ours take longer to bring back up to speed.

John
- Jerry on August 01, 2022 · at 3:04 am EST/EDT
  
  I sometimes read comments. Depending on how they start out I may only read a couple or the whole string.
  
  No problems with having to sign in.
Steve from Oz on July 31, 2022 · at 5:59 pm EST/EDT

Good to see the comments will continue.

I possibly speak for many readers when I say that your commenters have widened my horizons immeasurably.
Rob on July 31, 2022 · at 6:05 pm EST/EDT

I’m a long time reader and very casual commenter here, but I suppose I’d be happy to “sign up” to comment again in order to reduce the “troll” comments.

I look at it like this: it’s an information war out there where the enemy has unlimited funds to pay people and use computers (AI) to spam the entire web, so logging in to comment is just a tiny way that I can contribute to help win this war.
Amerikanski on July 31, 2022 · at 6:10 pm EST/EDT

It’s nice to see you back, Andrei! Some of the peculiar symptoms show up 2nd – 3rd weeks out. Take care and rest up, I’m sure you know what to do. I look forward to your insights to this ongoing tectonic shift in geopolitics.

And I shall try to keep them brief, or nonexistent — every time I look at one of my published comments, it says much less and seems less intelligent than I thought when I wrote it.
slorter on July 31, 2022 · at 6:14 pm EST/EDT

A very good coverage of the types of commentators!
I hope I am not guilty of being one of them ! I try not to be!!

A good post to makes everyone think a little bit about the benefits of constructive meaningful comments!
dman on July 31, 2022 · at 6:15 pm EST/EDT

thanks alot saker hello from canada
Hawaii on July 31, 2022 · at 6:15 pm EST/EDT

Будьте Здоровы, Дорогой Андрей! I wish you the best for a quick and full recovery. Your blog has always provided us all with an invaluable resource, even more so since the start of the SMO. I fully support all the changes that you will be instituting and I thank you, Amarynth, Herb, and the rest of the team for your dedication and hard work.
Surferket on July 31, 2022 · at 6:28 pm EST/EDT

To paraphrase Mao “those who don’t do research should not comment. Holds true to some commentators who rush to shoot from their subjective bias not based on verifiable facts and info.

And this is my ID online in both Saker and MOA.
Kesnet on July 31, 2022 · at 6:39 pm EST/EDT

Your house your rules amigo.
Happy to keep getting educated on this site.
James on July 31, 2022 · at 6:40 pm EST/EDT

I just want to say,thank you for your wonderful site sir. Also a big thank you to everyone who works with you. I am unsure if you fully appreciate how much the site is cherished by your readers.
The information you share is invaluable, and of outstanding quality. In these dark times you are a beacon of light.
Many of the commentators also provide genuine insight. It would be a shame to lose them, due to some issues with a few bad actors.
Thank you all once again for your fabulous work.
Niccos on July 31, 2022 · at 6:47 pm EST/EDT

Where can I sign up? Is that already possible?
- The Saker on July 31, 2022 · at 7:01 pm EST/EDT
  
  Oh no, this is just a plan, we will gradually make that happen and, of course, keep everybody posted!
  No worries, you will be on our guest list :-)
  cheers!
Roger G. Mattingly on July 31, 2022 · at 6:52 pm EST/EDT

Although I don’t consider myself to be a “religious nutcase,” I certainly fall under the “GROUP A: the sincere (however misguided) ones.”

I don’t feel ashamed if someone mockingly refers to me as a “Bible-Thumper.” I unashamedly read the Bible every opportunity I get.

My question is this: If a guest author writes about or mentions God or religion, do your rules mean that I can’t respond? Or, if you permit a commenter to respond with a religious comment, do your rules mean that I can’t respond to that person as well?
Hud on July 31, 2022 · at 6:54 pm EST/EDT

Hi there Saker and community. This is only the second comment that I have ever put on your blog.
This site is my favourite reading post. Keeping me up to date on what is probably the most important ongoing event and related events that are taking place in the world today.
I have to agree with the points that you have just posited, after all, it is your site. And yourself and your team are taking the time and energy to make it happen and provide all of this information for us, the readers.
So, firstly, thanks.
Secondly, thanks to the majority of the commenters, who post here. For me, the comments are a huge part of my attraction to the site. The amount of world history, and all kinds of really interesting information, theories and opinions, philosophies, etc. I find are fantastic mind food. Some good humour too.
So I hope that the comments aren’t reduced by too much!
Anyway, thanks again for a fantastic, informative site to be able to come and visit.
I’m way away from it all, and kind of insulated from the activities going on in the Northern Hemisphere, down here in NZ, although we still feel the effects of the madness that takes place to a degree.
And we have a Government (in power and opposition), along with our paid for media, that has bought the western narrative – hook, line and sinker!
Divagante on July 31, 2022 · at 6:55 pm EST/EDT

Once again, welcome back!
Goshawks on July 31, 2022 · at 7:00 pm EST/EDT

Andrei, we (I) are just glad you are back. Safely and healthily. Take all the time you need, both for bodily needs and for site matters. We understand…
Nepoznat on July 31, 2022 · at 7:01 pm EST/EDT

A good idea Andrei. Neka ti Gospod Bog Sačuva. Does anybody have any news of what is happening in Kosovo? I am concerned another operation storm will be unleashed on my Serbian brethren.
WTFUD on July 31, 2022 · at 7:09 pm EST/EDT

Trolls have feelings too, most suffering low self esteem. Reduced to creeping around like damp up a wall in a dingy bedsit or in their parents basement.
Aaron on July 31, 2022 · at 7:18 pm EST/EDT

I knew a fella who once had a very successful blog on 4×4 off road vehicles etc.
He shut it down.

Asked him why and he replied, the hate, ranting and raging and plain vicious comments were depressing him and frightened his wife.
80% came from America the rest from any country with a cowboy culture.
It’s not a Jew thing or a Russian thing, it’s a bullying thing!
The human brain is weird. Or is it fear?

Please understand my cave is higher up the mountain than your cave…..got it!

PS Get well soon and try the Cardiac Diet for life. Clean fresh and easy on the body. It takes awhile to work but when it does you feel brand new and loving it.
Lone Wolf on July 31, 2022 · at 7:24 pm EST/EDT

@ Saker

When it rains, it pours.

Chi va piano, va sano, chi va sano, va lontano.

@ Amarynth

Спасибо.
————————————-

Lone Wolf
Robert M. Peters on July 31, 2022 · at 7:26 pm EST/EDT

This is my go-to site for information and analysis dealing with the world beyond the Collective West and with the machinations of the Collective West against that world. I would be “flying blind” in the skies of international affairs were it not for this site. Thank you!
Xywrite on July 31, 2022 · at 7:45 pm EST/EDT

Where, how, do you sign up, get a username and password?
Lone Wolf on July 31, 2022 · at 7:47 pm EST/EDT

Russia Navy Day
———————-

It is always fun to pay a visit to A. Martyanov’s blog on a quiet Sunday, particularly on Russia’s Navy Day.

Besides a couple of new posts crucial to read,

https://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/

Larchmonter posted a link on his blog to Russia’s new Maritime Doctrine, another crucial reading.

As per Martyanov,

Sunday, July 31, 2022

Russian Navy Day.

As Larch already provided in other thread some summary on the new Russian Maritime (Морская) Doctrine–it is not just Naval, it is broader–it is geopolitical. Some already called it a challenge to the US Navy. While you can see English summary of new Doctrine in Larch’s post here, it has to be stated clearly that Russian Navy was always a challenger to the US Navy based on a simple principle, with the exception of utterly catastrophic 1990s, that it was a Sea Denial force designed specifically to remove naval threats from Russia’s shores and this task remains the core of Russian Navy’s mission. Five years ago I wrote for the US Naval Institute:

Such carriers and their battle groups would be able to meet any challenge in remote areas and would provide Russia with strategic stability near her shores ,and a few zones of interest in a time of dramatic global power rebalancing. The Russian Navy doesn’t need to fight for a global sea control. The Russian Navy is not going to challenge the U.S. Navy’s global maritime dominance. The Russian Navy’s main task is to provide a reliable defense of Russia’s shores and avoid war by presenting a defensive and forbidding posture. The Russian Navy is an organic part of the larger military force of Russia, whose only concern is preventing a global conflict. In this sense, the Russian Navy is completely integrated into the Russian tradition of national security, which spreads across the wide spectrum of activities, encompassing diplomacy, coherent foreign policy, intelligence and military force—a set of security imperatives erroneously dubbed in the West “hybrid warfare.”[15] Sergei Gorshkov prided himself on turning the Soviet post-World War II Navy into a modern fighting force by the end of 1960s. That fleet was called the “Raketno-Yadernyi,” the Missile-Nuclear Navy. Today, the Russian Navy is on its way to becoming a leaner and more potent Raketno-Yadernyi version of its former Soviet self, capable of carrying out any task in defense of its country. By doing so, the Russian Navy has finally found its mission. Considering Russia’s immense and tragic experience with warfare, such an accomplishment is no small feat. Especially in the absence of a coherent navy specific doctrine.

Well, the coherence finally was provided today in new Doctrine. It is based on two fundamental pillars which, naturally, have been overlooked in the West:

1. Revelations of the real size and scope of Russian economy, which, as it turned out (surprise-surprise), is huge and immensely influential globally;

2. Real Revolution of Military Affairs, which provided truly revolutionary weapon systems which changed the fate of classic carrier-centric navies. FYI, 3M22 Zircon starts it serial procurement to first line surface ships of Russian Navy this September…
————————————————-

Read on.

https://tass.ru/politika/15353849?utm_source=disq.us&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=disq.us&utm_referrer=disq.us

Activities in the Arctic and the creation of LNG facilities.
————————————————————————-

The main provisions of the Maritime Doctrine of the Russian Federation
————————————————————————————————

Lone Wolf
A Nigerian Guy on July 31, 2022 · at 7:48 pm EST/EDT

Just wanted to welcome you back Saker from a well-deserved rest and let you know that I have been reading your articles as far back as 2013 (when you were still a full-time operator of the Vineyard of The Saker blogspot ). I am also aware that lots of my fellow Nigerians also read your work appreciatively, but prefer not to post comments.
Vicki on July 31, 2022 · at 7:50 pm EST/EDT

What a relief!

The rabid anti-Jewish commentary lead me to decide neither to comment nor donate to The SAker anymore.

I understand that Russia is a Christian nation but its championing of its Chechen fighters shows me that the Russian people are so much bigger than that.

We Americans quake in fear at the sight and sound of Allahu Akhbar. Demonizing the Other is the normal modus operandi in our failing empire.

I could be mistaken, but Russia seems to be a vast improvement. Thank you for clarifying, Andrei.

Russia seems able to include and celebrate differences and imho, that is one of the most admirable things about it. And a reason why Russia will triumph.
Jim on July 31, 2022 · at 7:52 pm EST/EDT

I’m not a troll, but I made a legitimate comment on the WHO article, and it was deleted. I think I had only made 2 or 3 comments in the year or so I was aware of the blog. So, I don’t comment anymore (present comment excepted, obviously).
Roger G. Mattingly on July 31, 2022 · at 7:54 pm EST/EDT

I wish there were a search function available to enable me to find specific comments or commenters so that I didn’t have to wade through 300 comments just to find one that I had responded to previously.
- Lone Wolf on July 31, 2022 · at 8:08 pm EST/EDT
  
  @ Roger G. Mattingly on July 31, 2022 · at 7:54 pm EST/EDT
  
  I wish there were a search function available to enable me to find specific comments or commenters so that I didn’t have to wade through 300 comments just to find one that I had responded to previously.
  ———————————————————————————————————————————-
  
  Really, there is no need for that. Just google “saker mattingly search function” and your posts will fill the page. I can find old posts very easily that way, and I don’t even use Google (too invasive). Try it, or a different search combination, you will find any post you want.
  
  Lone Wolf
  - Roger G. Mattingly on August 01, 2022 · at 3:33 am EST/EDT
    
    I tried your suggestion. It takes me to the website and the author’s message. But, it gets me no closer to my original message or responses.
- Marcos Pereira de Sousa from Brasil on August 01, 2022 · at 3:13 am EST/EDT
  
  At least in a computer browser I use a ctrl-F with success always. (find function)
  I really don’t know exactly in phones…
Blair T. Longley on July 31, 2022 · at 7:56 pm EST/EDT

We are all speaking English, which is the biggest bullies’ bullshit language supreme.

Imagine if there was some consciousness which attempted to moderate a polyglot blog, wherein all known languages were attempting to be interconvertably translated. Hah! After all, like fish in the sea, I do not believe that we can escape from the degree to which we take for granted our use of the English language.

Oh well, it is sad to face the facts that criminally insane warfare is increasingly manifest on the Internet. It is tragic that “moderation policies” have to get more stringent. However, I am not aware of any alternatives than end up automatically deluged.
- iR.47 on July 31, 2022 · at 9:39 pm EST/EDT
  
  …”It is tragic that “moderation policies” have to get more stringent. “…
  
  I view it more as a necessary countermeasuer to Empires ‘jamming’ of genuine communication. The signal to noise ratio needs to be conditioned.
  
  The Group C : Computer generated trolls where new to me. I guess in the future as AI improves, lot of time and attention will be wasted on debate with these voids.
Uncle Davy on July 31, 2022 · at 8:05 pm EST/EDT

Speedy recovery, Andrei.

All good ideas.

I’ve found over time I just go to the Dashboard and look up the commenters who are totally across their facts. And, of course, Per’s Newsfeed articles – so many gems right there!

Saves heaps of time rather than wading through opinions.

Thanks also to Amarynth & Herb – you’ve succeeded over and above the call of duty.

More than happy to sign up to continue casually commenting.
John on July 31, 2022 · at 8:20 pm EST/EDT

It´s all good Andrei, do what you need to keep the place to your satisfaction. The tide is turning against the trouble makers and they are on the run. It may be a bit more hectic and that is always the case; darkest before dawn.

Welcome back to the fray. There is still a long fight ahead. Keep your smile. Don´t let anybody take it.

My best to you and yours

PS. Amarynth rocks!!!
iR.47 on July 31, 2022 · at 8:36 pm EST/EDT

The account based commentary system sounds like a wise move.

Best wishes for your health, Covid sounds rough.
Patricia A. Ormsby on July 31, 2022 · at 8:42 pm EST/EDT

Welcome back, Andrei! I love your analyses, and the moderators have been fantastic. A big thank you to Amarynth, too. Seeing my mug up by Gonsalo Lira’s a few weeks back on your home page will always be one of the highlights of my life.
Jgk on July 31, 2022 · at 8:46 pm EST/EDT

Thank you, and your fabulous staff. Health, family, God. Light speed.
Akram abu Abs on July 31, 2022 · at 8:55 pm EST/EDT

Just one question/suggestion: is it possible to make YouTube videos available on another platform that doesn’t require me to fire up my VPN?
Fidelios Automata on July 31, 2022 · at 9:08 pm EST/EDT

“Cursing speed,” love it!
Randy on July 31, 2022 · at 9:09 pm EST/EDT

“… on this quiet Sunday” ?

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/rumors-serbia-kosovo-clashes-send-border-tensions-soaring-president-addresses-nationn
- Greifenberg on July 31, 2022 · at 9:56 pm EST/EDT
  
  I support Serbia liberating Kosovo on principle. I just think that this needs to be approached cautiously and with as much dialogue as possible.
Fran Macadam on July 31, 2022 · at 9:11 pm EST/EDT

Appreciate the alternative insights that allow a bigger picture and context.
Greifenberg on July 31, 2022 · at 9:34 pm EST/EDT

I love the comment section. I regularly read most of the comments and have learnt so much by doing so. I have read and do my best to adhere to the moderation rules. I am not afraid of any difference of opinion and I’m willing to discuss in a logical manner. The moderation team as down a tremendous job of eliminating bots and state sponsored shills. I’m a little concerned with signing into any database as my opinions are often unwelcome and frequently censored in my country of origin. Maybe I’m a bit paranoid but I like a certain amount of anonymity please.
David Parker on July 31, 2022 · at 9:40 pm EST/EDT

Where do we sign up?
Gary on July 31, 2022 · at 9:42 pm EST/EDT

Well done. I admit sometimes my comments are far less sophisticated and analytical many of your submitters. So I will probably revert to being primarily a lurker (and learner).
Edward on July 31, 2022 · at 9:50 pm EST/EDT

I am sorry to hear you have COVID. Unfortunately, this disease can do terrible, sometimes hidden, long term damage, whether one is vaccinated or not. I hope you are spared this. I always wear a p100 respirator, or at least an N95 mask now. Best wishes on a speedy convalescence.
Lone Wolf on July 31, 2022 · at 10:00 pm EST/EDT

Is NATO about to use Kosovo to open another anti-Russian front in Central Eurostan?
——————————————————————————————————————

News are coming Kosovo is using flimsy pretexts to ratchet up pressure against Serbs.

Cui bono?
—————-

https://sputniknews.com/20220731/serbian-mp-kosovos-kurti-is-a-puppet-used-to-remind-belgrade-to-back-west-against-russia–1097986439.html

Serbian MP: Kosovo’s Kurti is a ‘Puppet’ Used to Remind Belgrade to Back West Against Russia

Earlier in the day, tensions in the already strained relations between Serbs and Albanians in the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo arose from the abrupt decision of the Kosovo authorities to ban entry into the region vehicles using Serbian license plates.

Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti is nothing more than a puppet of the West, and is used to apply pressure on Belgrade, in particular on the issue of supporting anti-Russian sanctions, Serbian parliament’s Committee on Kosovo and Metohija head Milovan Drecun said on Sunday.

“He is the most common puppet. The West needs this Kurti to remind Serbia that it must fully join the Western bloc, especially when it comes to joining sanctions against Russia,” Drecun told Sputnik. “Since Serbia does not agree, they send a signal – if you do not impose sanctions, we will turn a blind eye to Kurti’s antics.”

Drecun went on to say in his remarks to Sputnik that Serbs in Kosovo have been subjected to systematic bullying for years.

“Serbs are fed up with the systematic bullying that has been going on for years,” the politician indicated. “People cannot live under such pressure and constant threat.”

Regarding the reasons for the crisis outbreak, the MP noted that the explosive situation in Kosovo was caused by Pristina’s decision to ban citizens with Serbian identity cards and K&M license plates from entering the southern Serbian province.

“If Pristina decides to use violence, including with the use of firearms, the situation will spiral out of control,” he said. “Although it is difficult to predict the further course of events, one thing is certain – none of the Kosovo Serbs will agree to be a ‘clay dove’, and secondly, Serbia will protect its people.”

“When you group special forces at administrative crossings, poison the Serbs in the North, constantly arrange incidents and collect 20 tons of fuel each, does it mean you are ready for dialogue or vice versa?” he questioned.

Moments before, the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) mission declared its readiness to intervene to restore stability in the region. Drecun noted the peacekeeping mission in the breakaway territory would prevent the weapons’ use by Albanian special forces in the region and adhere to the agreement that Kosovo’s security forces cannot be deployed in the area.

“KFOR must prevent the use of weapons by special forces against Serbs in the north and recall the agreements with NATO that members of the Kosovo security forces cannot be in the north,” he stressed.

Hours after Kosovo authorities caused an uproar and a deterioration in the situation between Belgrade and the breakaway territory, the Kosovo government announced early Monday that they were delaying the entry restrictions until September 1 in response to US Ambassador Jeffrey Hovenier’s appeal.

On Sunday evening, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic had arrived to the General Staff headquarters, later detailing that Belgrade was working to defuse tensions and that General Milan Mojsilovic, the chief of the General Staff, had spoken with the KFOR mission’s commander, who was scheduled to arrive in Kosovska Mitrovica soon.
———————-

Lone Wolf
- the punisher on July 31, 2022 · at 10:32 pm EST/EDT
  
  @ Lone Wolf
  
  “Is Nato about to use Kosovo…”
  
  Good points. If this following video is any indication, considering the immediate area geography, these peoples’ reception shown toward particular visitors could be regarded as cool or “chilly.” Maybe an indication of underlying sentiments over a broad area?
  
  Indeed, people appear fed up. Hope it goes viral.
  
  https://www.bitchute.com/video/zSQSkK7d7VoH/
- TBeholder on August 03, 2022 · at 1:54 am EST/EDT
  
  A puppet reminding puppets to be better puppets, and presumably endorsed by other puppets. It’s like “turtles all the way down”, but with too many strings attached.
  Yet unfortunately nothing unusual, for over half a century.
John on July 31, 2022 · at 10:09 pm EST/EDT

Glad you are feeling better. Thanks for your work and caring about us.
Lone Wolf on July 31, 2022 · at 10:23 pm EST/EDT

Forgot
———

My bad, on my thanks to Amarynth, forgot to add my gratitude to Herb, webmaster extraordinaire, who went into details researching the reason the Saker’s blog guard was rejecting one of my posts. He kindly let me know the reason, a script can be inserted in a “:” after a word I don’t remember, I believe it was “data.”

Also, grateful to the anonymous person who helped get the blog back from the DDoS black hole.

Cheers.

Lone Wolf
war is on on July 31, 2022 · at 10:27 pm EST/EDT

Ukraine’s government says it will not hesitate to strike Russian territory with the new long range weapons Washington has provided. “If needed the government will act without hesitation.” As the idiot British government did with the “Polish Guarantee,” the idiots in Washington have given a Nazi government in Ukraine power to put us into direct military conflict with Russia.

How can this possibly have happened? The answer is that no one takes Russia seriously. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that the Kremlin might strike the Ukrainian leadership should Russia be attacked, but no one believes him. It is taking Russia so long to drive Ukrainian forces out of Donbass that no one believes the Russian military is capable. Strategically, it has been mindless for the Kremlin to take no action against the Ukrainian leadership, leaving Kiev and the enemy’s communications and non-military infrastructure intact and untouched. By protecting the Ukraine leadership, the Kremlin enables the destruction of its own troops just as the Kremlin does by continuing to supply its European enemies with energy so they can make the weapons to send to Ukraine.

That the Kremlin thought it could conduct a limited operation in Donbass demonstrates that when it comes to war, the Kremlin is out to lunch. How could anyone in Russia possibly have thought that Washington would let them limit the war?

https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2022/07/28/the-war-continues-to-widen/
- Lone Wolf on July 31, 2022 · at 11:53 pm EST/EDT
  
  @ war is on on July 31, 2022 · at 10:27 pm EST/EDT
  
  “…How can this possibly have happened? The answer is that no one takes Russia seriously…”
  ———————————————————–
  
  Oh well, PCR again.
  
  I already gave you my dictum a few threads ago about PCR, and it is still valid now.
  
  PCR cannot understand the subtleties of Russian political-military thought, and he insists on the Russians using a sledgehammer, while they prefer an stiletto. While PCR is yelling and screaming at the destruction of the Russian forces, Allied forces work at annihilating piecemeal the UkroWerhmacht.
  
  Just yesterday, 350 Krakenovtsy were sent to Banderastan at once.
  
  https://voenhronika.ru/publ/vojna_na_ukraine/svodki_iz_okopov_peski_gorjat_idet_samyj_moshhnyj_shturm_svo_poslednie_novosti_s_ukrainy_karty_boevykh_dejstvij_utro_1_avgusta_16_video/60-1-0-12726
  
  “…The Ukrainian Armed Forces in Kharkiv suffered huge losses. We can talk about several hundred corpses. Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the Russian army attacked the location of the Nazis from the Kraken. According to the ministry, up to 350 Ukrainian militants were killed. The city found direct confirmation of this information. In Kharkiv, a mobile morgue was installed: “The day before, a mobile morgue appeared on Akademika Pavlova Street (direction to the Circuses). The morgue consists of a dozen white shipping containers, near which refrigeration units work. All this is under the flag of the Red Cross, ” the source said…”
  
  The day before,
  
  https://voenhronika.ru/publ/vojna_na_ukraine/mjasorubka_v_peskakh_i_avdeevke_zhestkoe_video_s_peredovoj_za_poslednij_chas_novosti_vojny_na_ukraine_22_video/60-1-0-12716
  
  “a direct hit destroyed a military train carrying an elite battalion of the 1st separate brigade of the President of Ukraine, killing more than 140 soldiers. The strike was carried out at the Krasnoarmeysk station in the DPR, – the Russian Defense Ministry.”
  
  The UkroWerhmacht has “suspended” (for now?) the “counter offensive” to retake the south, Kherson first, afraid as they are it will be a total failure, plus they will lose Nikolaiev, next in line on the way to Odessa.
  
  Shoigu’s “hurry up” is coming to fruition, the Avdiivka/Krasnohorivka fortified zone is under relentless attack, day and night, and the outskirts of the Avdiivka fortress are beginning to crack under the pressure. Pisky, a key town for the defense of Avdiivka, is already in dispute, Allied forces have boots on the ground inside the town, Marinka/Krasnohorivka are coming closely behind.
  
  Operation Donbass Arc is going well, the demilitarization of 404, one of the goals of the SMO is going at full speed, while Russia continue to use about 10% of its military force, and counting. Not bad for a beginning, knowing that, as Putin warned them, “you haven’t seen anything yet.”
  
  And they haven’t.
  
  Tovarishch Zircon is about to join the fray, come September.
  
  I would suggest to diversify your sources of info, PCR’s old age seems to be having an effect on him.
  
  Here is my take on PCR from an old thread, which I shared with you.
  
  /https-has-been-disabled-use-http-thesaker-is-to-access-our-site/#comment-1119874
  
  Cheers,
  
  Lone Wolf
  
  PS: Take a look at this article, which I posted on a former thread just recently. I quote a couple of paragraphs, just to contrast Lt. Col. Daniel Davis’ assessment of Battlefield Ukraine with that of PCR. I disagree with some aspects of his analysis, but in general, it remains objective.
  
  Enjoy.
  
  https://www.19fortyfive.com/2022/07/ukraines-big-million-man-offensive-against-russia-seems-like-a-mistake/
  
  Ukraine’s Big ‘Million Man’ Offensive Against Russia Is A Mistake
  
  “…First of all, it is crucial to understand that wars and battles are not primarily won and lost based on numbers of platforms, such as tanks, artillery pieces, and personnel carriers, but on the quality of the troops and their level of training. On June 15, David Arakhamia, one of Zelensky’s closest advisors and Ukraine’s lead negotiator with Russia, said that Ukrainian troops were suffering up to 1,000 total casualties per day in the Donbas fight. A large percentage of these losses have been among the most experienced and trained troops, leaving increasing proportions of the fighting force in the hands of inexperienced troops.
  
  Yet concurrent with the loss of their most effective fighters, Ukraine has also been bleeding equipment. On the same day Arakhamia admitted the Ukrainian Armed Forces lose up to 1,000 troops per day, Brig. Gen. Volodymyr Karpenko, the Land Forces Command logistics commander, told National Defense Magazine that “we have lost approximately 50%,” of the military kit they had at the start of the war, saying “1,300 infantry fighting vehicles have been lost, 400 tanks, (and) 700 artillery systems…”
  - jojo on August 01, 2022 · at 2:18 am EST/EDT
    
    But where is the proof of all these killed. I mean it reads like propaganda:
    “The day before, a mobile morgue appeared on Akademika Pavlova Street (direction to the Circuses). The morgue consists of a dozen white shipping containers, near which refrigeration units work. All this is under the flag of the Red Cross, ”
    
    So where is the photos or videos of the “mobile morgue”, where is the shipping containers and refrigeration units as well as all that with a flag of the Red Cross? Anyone can make claims and estimates of killed, but where is the evidence?
    - Lone Wolf on August 01, 2022 · at 7:32 am EST/EDT
      
      @ jojo on August 01, 2022 · at 2:18 am EST/EDT
      
      But where is the proof of all these killed. I mean it reads like propaganda:…
      …Anyone can make claims and estimates of killed, but where is the evidence?
      ——————————————
      
      It is sheer naïveté to ask for evidence of the enemy camp that would or could reveal the means of obtaining it. You don’t need to come here to get convinced, and I will not waste my time and effort in a useless exercise. Gen. Konashenkov, RF Armed Forces spokesman, is not know for lying or embellishing reports on the war.
      
      You can believe whatever you want.
      
      Your privilege.
      
      Lone Wolf
- iR.47 on August 01, 2022 · at 1:11 am EST/EDT
  
  “That the Kremlin thought it could conduct a limited operation in Donbass demonstrates that when it comes to war, the Kremlin is out to lunch. ”
  
  When de-nazification and de-militraisation of the whole of Ukraine was a stated goal at the outset of the SMO, I doubt the Kremlin imagined that action would be limited to Donbass.
  
  Before the SMO the Kremlin told Empire it needs to pull back to it’s ’97 border … non negotiable.
  
  The SMO is part of this, which carried a warning from Putin not to interfere … or they would come to regret it like they had never regreted anything in their history. What happened ? The majority of the western elites came out of the closet as russophobes. Intervention big time.
  
  What is happening ? The West is becoming history.
  
  Unforseen ? I don’t think so. Putins warning can in retrospect be viewed as friendly advise.
nobodyherebutuschickens on July 31, 2022 · at 10:34 pm EST/EDT

I almost exclusively lurk. I find staying out of the fray and discourse affords a more constructive and insightful experience. But that is personal choice only. Besides in a way my comments are nothing, non-important in the larger sphere, just a drop in an ocean. But, but Solidarity is a really really great thing. And to never take council from your fears is a biggie, that way you can’y be beat and win more easily. Win the Liberty and its blessings. One phrase I always get a chuckle from was posted on Zero Hedge long time now, “commenting is akin to a thousand ants on a pinhead on a soapbox floating down the Potomac all trying to be heard at once, (and everyone is busy listening with their mouths instead of their ears said another commenter). LOL’s! Its not that entirely, its actually always informative to peruse the commentariats dialogue.
No question when blogging began the commentary thread became revolutionary. Seriously. Bet a left arm nobody saw it coming either. Thinking about it, there has never been a medium quite like it, where ordinary readers could put their 2 cents into the pot, fairly, unfettered. And the contest too. There’s that in spades.
In history one moment happened in the Colonial Era, there are certain parallels to now, the “Pamphlet Wars”, where those pesky rebels and terrorists and future model for all dastardly horrible privileged white American supremacists, like Sam Adams and his compatriots “snuck” around posting short concise rabble rousing subversive pamphlets in the town square or at the town pound, and the British Empire was at a total loss to interdict these agents provocateurs or run effective counter info warfare to stop this grass roots open source information warfare. It seems the pen is always mightier than the sword, but you got to wield either in the first place to be effective. And therein lies the crux of the matter.
Sometimes comment threads are deluged with a myriad of agents provocateurs, (once you see them, they can not be unseen, as they or IT are just unseemly and inherently dishonest/disingenuous or ulterior motive driven, they all got individual tells, and even though they employ various avatars after time they become individually recognizable, never mind they seem to infest everything), and pretty reliably it will be a blog post which tells or exposes or is an instrumental piece that helps the reader get at the truth which has been proscribed, which is of course the whole thing. Truth. Free. Unfettered. Truth. Facts. Events. Kind of like with Time Honored Traditions: Forbotten! Or you will be Othered.
Once this wonderful genie of unfettered exchange of Truth Insights Evidence and Events gets loose, like Kermit The Frog; “I’m Free! I’m Free!” from Miss Piggy putting the mash on him, its really difficult to stuff the Freedom Genie back in its bottle where it resided for most of history, once the first tyrant or what have you, decided to limit or block information undesirable or proscribed. Seems their ilk pass it on like a family heirloom or something.
What appears to be the case presently on the inter-webs is there exists concerted operations to brain wash and mislead readers, create doubt, discontent, confusion, these truly are insidious things, subtlety cunning, dare say highly organized in the darkness, the basic results being the timeless strategy of divide and conquer. And “they” can not leave anything un-poisoned with hate. Among an entire raft, a whole gamete of other ugliness, hate, derision, contempt, and ulterior intent. In simplest terms, across the board all the terrible things being done, is best summed up simply as Good Folks do not do such things to others. Period. Full. Stop. Go ask yourself that next time. Keep that in mind and a lot of things suddenly become rather apparent. Getting swooped up in a world of intentional hate tends to subvert.
Yeah, all that is apparent with experience and basic critical thinking. But some things must always be stated clearly with brevity. We are regular folks, we so not do such to others, its why we are good folks. And another thing cause it to can never be said enough, it is the dirt people who ever effect positive change in this world. No others, There are no others. But the inverse applies in an awful way also, “they”, need good folks to give their tacit consent for what they are doing to us, without that consent manufactured or otherwise all “they” got is the power to hurt, the unequivicable power of force and violence, but, they need folks to tacitly let them mess with our lives meddle in ev ery facet in the sphere of our activities, just like it says in the greatest document of freedom written: “He hath sent his agents hither to eat out the peoples existence.” And thats exactly what these trolls and shills in effect cause. They eat out our unfettered natural right to communicate freely between ourselves. It is devilish. In fact I contend as a really brave young lady recently said “Hell is empty and the devils are here on Earth.”
The noodle baker is what to do about it and preserve freedom of expression simultaneously. Its been cunningly made a pickle, or may be thats ruthlessly so. Maybe there is something, a little thing really, quite simple, something like a troll list is established, because first it is becoming evident thru time there’s some pretty regular actors whose job is to infiltrate comment threads and fracture or break a constructive thread or a thread that is leading towards forbidden or proscribed truth and facts or events as they actually happened unfiltered by gate keepers.
So why not do unto the enemy in similar fashion, is a sense of instead of fighting to control or limit these trolls, give them a spotlight, shills and other agent provocateurs give them some notoriety, along with other disruptive elements cockroaches do not like the light of day, they love them some scurrying about sneaking, always sneaking, and since they seem to be operating along the fringes of the shadows, why not provide them with plain old fashioned recognition for their efforts?
Its probably certain the last thing they or It desires, after all they and It are working from a foundation of clandestine surveillance and intelligence gathering, meddle in all the things, immoral/ulterior discretion, from the shadows always, it is not common randomness, it is deliberate, malicious, and highly organized, from one or maybe two central forms of evil, as the only way to describe something that is insidious, of something a lot darker, out to destroy all thats beautiful good right and time honored tradition. It certainly is not for positive change. I know thats obvious, but it can not ever be overstated.
So maybe there is a tactic or strategy to counter the negative effects of this insidiousness. May be it is as simple as a 100 greatest troll hit list. Or say a sticky blog post or a side bar link, maybe a weekly post, which lists these actors and agents questionable “commentary”. And following the true to form intent of blogs of the alt-media, to inform, provide folks with news and insights so they can make up their own mind. I mean after all, once ine hits the post or publish button, you have given your blessing to freely posting you written words. Maybe the situation is too complex and convoluted for simple effective remedies, but, one thing is crystal clear these actors and IA or algorithms exist for truly ulterior motive driven reasons. Why else sneak around, snipe, and disrupt, or as Russian’s understand better than any folks, to “Subvert, Undermine, and Destroy,” in that order, and we see that pattern in everything of questionable veracity.
Why not, to steal a great comment from times past, “Give em’ a belly full of what they intend for us.”
As it is said how, Sunshine is always the best disinfectant. After all, they must operate from the fringes of the shadows because they are up to no good, they are doing things they shouldn’t be doing, and doing things to us good folks they know we will eventually come after them for if they do not attain absolute power over us, while getting us to go at each-others throats in rabid discourse, we doing their dirty work for them, or genocide all as is also becoming crystal clear, all of us who they already know and certainly target who would naturally, rightfully, resist such and defy such powers over us. Does not need to be complicated, and it could easily be an across the alt-media blogosphere shared list of greatest trill and shill list. Why make it easy for those who would do us harm? Why not turn the same weapon they use on all of us on them? War is War. After all. And It Is War being waged upon us, even if it is words and ideas. It is war, by other means nonetheless.
Better than boolits and bombs and genocide. I for one am constantly amazed by the courage, indeed, the tenacity, and most awesome of all the perseverance of folks like Saker and his alliance of wordsmiths and tellers of Truth across the Alt-Media, and quite frankly, just imagine the place the world where we would all be without these Warriors.
In salute to you guys; If Winning The Hearts Is An Art Then Winning The minds Is A Science.
John Neal Spangler on July 31, 2022 · at 10:35 pm EST/EDT

Welcome back and congratulations for surviving Covid.
JackJC on July 31, 2022 · at 10:53 pm EST/EDT

I am relieved that there are plans to regulate the recent idiocracy that was dragging down the blog. Depending on how the sign up is prosecuted I may be restricted from future posts due to certain government sensitivities in one of my jobs.

I would like to state my appreciation for the Saker staff who carried the blog during Andrei’s absence and also wish a speedy recovery to Andrei.
the punisher on July 31, 2022 · at 11:04 pm EST/EDT

Good update Andrei, especially on the troll category.

Being the target of organized DDoS attacks is a spot to be in, as hackers compete to dissolve reality…. even if from someone else’s basement. But, they want what you’ve got and money can’t buy: credibility.

We’re witnessing the Nazi’s twisted narrative falling apart in real life. In real time, first at The Saker.

The invaluable knowledge provided from many authors including Mr. Martynov, Operation Z, et al. Including commenters in their areas of specialty. Some fantastic insights and info!

Carry on, and good health!
John MR on July 31, 2022 · at 11:28 pm EST/EDT

+ Saker Glad you are back, and sure the changes will be taken by the Sakeristas in the most collaborative way. Is this the last of Amarynth though?
Macca on July 31, 2022 · at 11:51 pm EST/EDT

In these wartime propaganda and censorship times, it is not surprising that The Saker would suffer an attempt to silence it.
Mike Byrne on August 01, 2022 · at 12:30 am EST/EDT

Have you considered adding an “ignore button”? Zero Hedge has an ignore button which I use all the time. Once I check that “ignore” button I am never again bothered by the poster who posted a bothersome post. I usually let one or two posts by the blogger slide bye, but if he gets out of line I “ignore” his posts permanently.

This could probably reduce the workload done by your staff.
Lone Wolf on August 01, 2022 · at 12:33 am EST/EDT

@ arkx Brasil

Dear arkx Brasil,

I went back to an old thread to catch an old post of mine, and I found one of your excellent posts.

FYI, you are sorely missed.

/https-has-been-disabled-use-http-thesaker-is-to-access-our-site/#comment-1120091

Lone Wolf
rert on August 01, 2022 · at 12:34 am EST/EDT

Saker: “A few important items to share with you on this QUIET Sunday”

Kosovo: *tries to start a war*

LOL xD
Beldar Conehead on August 01, 2022 · at 12:58 am EST/EDT

Welcome come, Andruka! Before commenting, I often find it useful to read what the other commenters have written, as nine times our of ten, that which I have wanted to opine has already been said, and likely more eloquently.
Sasha on August 01, 2022 · at 12:59 am EST/EDT

Hi
Get well soon Andrei. Rest is the best medicine.
We would like to learn about Kherson – the bridge, the military situation around it, the possibility of Ukraine attacking Kherson, the defence preparedness etc
If possible do post about the situation around Kherson
Thank you
- Robert Lindsay on August 01, 2022 · at 1:52 am EST/EDT
  
  Bridge is still working. Not sure what is going on around Kherson, but Ukraine is not making much progress. Russia is in a holding action there. Yes, Russia is preparing a defense and possibly offense in the area. Many troops are being moved down to that region.
Viola Tricolor on August 01, 2022 · at 1:03 am EST/EDT

Very good changes, last time many comments had little or no value. Some of the authors were obviously new users who didn’t even bother to read the forum rules. The rest, however, were various trolls, their number has grown considerably since Vineyard began to be visited by a much larger audience.

Amarynth – you are great! Many thanks to Herb (and one more person).
Chuck Coffer on August 01, 2022 · at 1:08 am EST/EDT

I enjoy what you write.
Victor on August 01, 2022 · at 1:41 am EST/EDT

“First, I want to restrict the comments section only to those who have signed up and where given login credentials, that is a username and password. ”

I am assuming this has not happened yet as there seems to be no place where one can set up login credentials?
rosemerry on August 01, 2022 · at 2:28 am EST/EDT

Thanks Andrei, Amarynth, Herb and any moderators. I greatly appreciate this blog and would be happy with rules regulating the comments. I find the articles essential reading, and enjoy the comments too, especially those showing such knowledge as many of the regulars do.
Travis on August 01, 2022 · at 2:33 am EST/EDT

Unlike perhaps most of other followers of this blog i’m much more interesting to read economical and geostrategic articles instead of focusing mostly just Donbas battleground events. It’s just like with Jom Kippur War where warfare itself was nothing compared to economical consequences: ending 26 years period of endless fast economic growth, birth of Petro dollar etc. I was seeing similar first signs in March 2022. This war will have huge even gigantic effect in global geostrategic economical arena. Let’s not forget it took just two weeks in August 1914 to explode whole gold based monetary system once planned to be everlasting.
- Rhys Jaggar on August 01, 2022 · at 6:10 am EST/EDT
  
  Travis – there has actually been loads of comment here within articles about the economic impact of e.g. EU sanctions on Russia.
  
  This site flagged up immediately what economic suicide it was for Germany to kowtow to the USA over gas from Russia. It flagged up immediately the way that Poland and the Baltics showed their contempt for Europe as the USA’s new diplomatic call-girls, this after Poland in particular having received billions in EU state aid after joining the EU and millions of its citizens moving to Western Europe to earn hard Euros to send back home to Poland.
  
  This site flagged up immediately how most of the non NATO world refused to condemn Putin and Russia and the economic implications that such diplomatic stances were going to imply.
  
  There are numerous occasions I disagree with articles posted here, but the value of this site is precisely that it airs opinions and viewpoints, sometimes premature or inaccurate, which run counter to the Western propaganda.
Olai on August 01, 2022 · at 2:45 am EST/EDT

Hello Mr Raevsky.

I am a relatively new reader of your portal, and have practically never commented on the posts. But I agree that you take the measures you deem appropriate to reduce the “noise, echoes and reverberations” that do not add anything of interest.

Best wishes.
Olai

PS: Victory will be ours.
Ian Shears on August 01, 2022 · at 3:30 am EST/EDT

Sounds good.

For me, even if I am a ‘bad commenter’, the time has passed for substantive comment. In the three months off (for the taking of which I would like to thank you) the world has changed for me irreversibly – and I suspect many others as well. People (not this site) we were hoping to trust turned out to be fifth columns so there is now a clear case for ‘going into one’s chamber and hiding’.

Regards
Now's the time on August 01, 2022 · at 4:16 am EST/EDT

Dear Saker
Ever greatful for your human spirit!
More power to your elbow!
Lucas on August 01, 2022 · at 4:20 am EST/EDT

Group B / technique two:
Why don’t you wait (block comments) a few hours after a new post, collect, let’s say, the first 20 or so comments and publish them only then in a random order. This would dilute the negative comments and make them less efficient.
Alonso on August 01, 2022 · at 4:42 am EST/EDT

That seems very good to me. In my opinion, the original site, its guest analysts and high-level intelligent commentators have made it an indispensable place to be protected.
Good health and blessings.
JJ on August 01, 2022 · at 6:04 am EST/EDT

I hope we do not have the disquus thingy….nervous of this googly type thing
Cappuccinobear on August 01, 2022 · at 7:37 am EST/EDT

Your insights have been invaluable, thank you. And as with other blogs I tend to follow, the restrictions on comment sections tend to be very beneficial to the core and periphery audiences.

Good health, and Godspeed.
tranquilocomp on August 01, 2022 · at 9:12 am EST/EDT

Well, the owner knows what is best. I can only disagree with the changes. It is not 5,000,000 hits without the commenters. The columnist is not a bigger protagonist than the commenters as a whole, even though his decision not to allow comments would have this wrong message of more importance. This great Vineyard consists of both articles and comments (for most people, 50-50). If it’s 60-40, then the decision is well-grounded. The relative importance of each is a core reality you can’t be wrong on (so to speak). In my opinion, it’s bad to pretend that the columnist is more than the commenters as a whole. I can think of only two exceptions, the Saker himself and Pepe Escobar (renowned columnist internationally, mega star if you will, who could choose to be the exception), but it would not be good for them to be the exceptions, either. I believe the best solution is to just not post the comments you don’t approve or don’t like for your website. After trying a few times, almost all commenters will stop insisting.

Apropos of commenters, I am the most attacked or vilified commenter. I have no idea why (I’d have to be a psiquiatrist). I’m the supposed “subliminal troll” (don’t even try to imagine what that must be!) and other ugly things. I see in the Dashboard (above) that I am this month the #2 “Top Commentator Last 30 Days”. #1 is Jorge Vilches, with a count of 235. I have 231. In the third place is Lone Wolf with a count of 165. Last month I was number 2 also. I don’t know what it means, but it sure looks nice. Thank you.
- vera on August 01, 2022 · at 9:32 am EST/EDT
  
  I agree that the comments are key to what is happening on the Saker site. Even if the article is weak, the comments will still make it worthwhile.
  
  It’s a shame that registration will be required to comment, because every time I have seen it implemented, the comments fall off radically. Any conversation among commenters dies.
  
  At the same time, I am so grateful for the site, and for what all of you do, who run it. And if the trolling is too much, as it seems to be, then that’s what you have to do. All the best, Andrei and crew. This place has been invaluable!
  - tranquilocomp on August 01, 2022 · at 10:38 am EST/EDT
    
    The information that it’s 5 million and used to be 1.5 or 2 million hits before, brings to mind the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” advice. Just based on this post, I would let it ride and ride, and after a year or two it’s clearer.
frankly on August 01, 2022 · at 9:36 am EST/EDT

Agree on brevity, not much time to go through it all. Often skip altogether long winded comments.

When the comments are so high quality that it’s intimidating to post for fear of appearing ignorant, is when they are at their best. Not so often lately does that happen.

Perhaps limit the first 24 hours of comments to only those with a history of the attributes that work for your crew and then open them to the smelly masses that includes us high school dropouts afterwards. Or when topic is most serious, label as for trusted commenters only. Maybe a step too far to have your content occasionally limited to the trusted, maybe not.

The kind I don’t like seem to have an elusive sophistication, can’t really put my finger on what they are saying, get their foot in the door with that kind of bs and then sneak in MSM narrative. Fancy pants, make something incomprehensible with jargon, lingo and a slick style, with no ultimate real insight for me.

It’s a fine line Saker, but I for one trust you and yours to do the right thing with eventually, and thank God for you guys!

Odd last thought, to go with the others. Perhaps have two different comment streams for each article. One called, Lets work together and another called the Battle Ground. Occasionally like to embrace the colorful language we employed on the boat. It wasn’t about learning, it was about winning.