Dear friends,
It is with great regret that I have to announce to you that my webmaster Gevorg has decided to resign from his position. He has asked me to inform you that no more donations should be collected for him and that enough has been sent.
I am personally very saddened by his departure and I want to express to him my deepest gratitude for the fantastic job he did on this blog. If anybody ever needs an excellent webmaster – he is one which I would recommend with enthusiasm.
The Saker
Oh nooo!
He was doing a great job. I hope everything is ok with him, with you and with the site – you guys are doing vital work.
The very best to Gevorg, wherever he goes.
Same here!
Thank you very much Gevorg, for all the work you did.
I am very saddened too and will miss very much definitely leading the moderators. I wanted to also thank all the great work on the blog and especially patience and kindness shown to me due to my clumsiness with IT.
I hope all is well back in Armenia, Gevorg.
A big hug for you and your whole family.
Thank you and best wishes to you, Gevorg!
What a great ‘platform’ this is which you’ve created.
Are you going to be ok without him Saker ? Oh dear. I suppose Gevorg might step in if you have troubles. Maybe he needs to get back to work. What a great guy.
Perhaps a more official ‘job’ could be arranged for him ? Hmm.
Dang, it’s hard finding and keeping a good team. Obviously there’s a back story, but whatever the circumstances, there is no question that Gevorg has done a fabulous job on the new site. Saker, I wish you the best in finding someone equally as talented to fill his shoes.
Dear Gevorg,
Wishing you all the best. Thank you so much for everything you have done to help the Saker’s new site. I hope all is ok with you and we hope you will still pop into the comments every now and again to say hi.
God bless you.
Rgds,
Veritas
Like the Lone Ranger riding off into the sunset when the crisis has been dealt with?
Sorry to hear it, he is so good at it, but I guess people need a life of their own too.
Thank you much Gevorg for all the work. I wish you the best.
OT I’m just posting this in case somebody would lilke to watch it…a trailer for the full conference.
Secret Space Program
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=CsW1XvXY3fs
this is very interesting, Ann. thanks for posting.
here’s Catherine’s trailer for the Secret Space Program
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=CsW1XvXY3fs
“THREATENED” PERIOD BEGAN?
http://dima-piterski.livejournal.com/192814.html
or
“УГРОЖАЕМЫЙ ПЕРИОД” НАЧАЛСЯ?
https://z5h64q92x9.net/proxy_u/ru-en.en/dima-piterski.livejournal.com/192814.html
That was a disturbing read, precisely because it makes perfect sense. There will be no telegraphing of intentions prior to a first strike. Imagine what would transpire in America if, for instance, the power grid was wiped out (easy to do). Already the country is a heartbeat away from anarchy with the racially motivated shootings, massive poverty, drought, bankrupt cities, anger at the banks/1%ers etc.It would morph into a Hobbesian nightmare instantly if the lights went out.
A task well done.
Hope security remains on alert.
Here’s Catherine’s full lecture at the Secret Space Program
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0mimIp8mr8
Obama Meets With Top Russian Spy, Warns He Can’t Stop War.
A new report from the Federation Security Council (SCRF) on Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov’s [photo 2nd left] recent private visit with President Barack Obama at the White House, in Washington D.C., grimly states that America’s leader has “privately advised” President Putin that a global war is nearing…and he “may be powerless to stop it”.
Director Bortnikov, it is important to remember, is in some Kremlin circles believed to be the third most powerful person in Russia after President Putin, along with being known as the Federations top counter intelligence commander.
As an agent of the Committee for State Security (KGB) since 1975, Director Bortnikov, over the past 40 years, ascended through the ranks of Russian intelligence and from 2004-2008 was head of the FSB’s Economic Security Service and a Deputy Director of FSB, after which he became the Director on 12 May 2008.
Reports of Director Bortnikov’s travels to meet President Obama a few weeks ago, it is interesting to note, did not emerge until the FSB published a press release announcing he was already in the United States. The release specifically mentioned that Director Bortnikov had been invited by the US State Department and the White House.
Though Director Bortnikov cannot travel to EU countries or Canada because he is on their sanctions list, it is interesting to note, he is notably absent from the US list and “officially” he was in the United States for two days to attend the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism.
Director Bortnikov’s private White House visit with President Obama a few weeks ago, it should be further noted, follows a similar meeting held this past May between America’s leader and SCRF Secretary Nikolai Patrushev [photo 3rd left] (known as the second most powerful person in Russia), who, likewise, has been a longtime KGB-FSB spy.
As to why President Obama has chosen over the past year to meet privately in the White House with the Federations top two spies this SCRF report doesn’t say, but it is understandable in the context of a similar crisis between Russia and the US that occurred in the early 1960’s when then President John F. Kennedy chose to use indirect backchannels with both Cuba and Moscow to defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis as he did not trust his own country’s warmongers in the Pentagon and Congress.
President Obama’s choice to meet with Director Bortnikov, the “shadow CIA” global intelligence organization STRATFOR further reports, is due to the FSB Director’s knowing the ins and outs of Russia’s support for separatists and intelligence on US moves in the region.
Also, STRATFOR correctly reports, Director Bortnikov is an economist by trade and understands the pressure created by Western sanctions on Russia and has the comprehensive knowledge needed to discuss all these issues in Washington.
To President Obama’s “warning” to Director Bortnikov, this SCRF report says, that he may be powerless to stop a global war was further accentuated last week when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) reported that Minister Sergey Lavrov had endured a nearly one-hour tirade from US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland who, among other claims, “raged” that former Vice President Richard “Dick” Cheney was in charge of the United States, not President Barack Obama.
With President Putin, and other top political and military officials, remaining today under the “protection” of the Ministry of Defense due to fears of a first-strike nuclear launch against the Federation this coming week, a horrific plot uncovered by the FSB, the SCRF in this report notes that communications to avert total war are currently ongoing, but the outcome is not certain due to no one in the Kremlin even knowing who is in charge of the United States anymore.
In other words…as the Western propaganda news media continues to print stories about a possible coup d’état in Russia against President Putin, the more likely truth is that one is currently underway in the United States.
http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1847.htm
Obama Meets With Top Russian Spy, Warns He Can’t Stop War
Holy говно, Batman! Did Rahm’s boitoi actually meet with Anna Chapman? Wow! Did he get her autograph?
Well, Anna Chapman was swapped for Igor Sutyagin (and the other 9). Igor has written an incredibly detailed 10 page PDF March 2015 report for the Royal United Services Institute called ‘Russian Forces in Ukraine’. See links below
I am unsure why Nemstov’s buddies will need to wait till April to release details of Russian involvment in Ukraine when there is the level of detail as shown in Igor’s PDF. It lists dozens of Russian brigades and battalions making up the ‘9,000 Russian troop’s fighting in Ukraine rotated from the ‘90,000 on the Russian border’.
I have no means to assess any of the detail but I become a little suspicious when it talks about low morale amongst both the rebels and regular Russian forces in Ukraine and the need for punitive barrier and anti-retreat squads. It sounds like a WWII Russia re-hash portrayed by Hollywood. I assume the report has that sprinkle of truth necessary for a great lie but is otherwise all hogwash. Any comment?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Sutyagin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegals_Program
https://www.rusi.org/analysis/authors/ref:B4DD39DA614B84/
https://www.rusi.org/go.php?structureID=S4332B0360080C&ref=O54FDBCF478D8B
SanctuaryOne did you read these links before putting them here?
How realistic do you consider claims made in that “incredibly detailed” report such as
with ~10,000 troops in Ukraine, Russia is struggling to keep it up [ Russia has about 740,000 military right now, they forget to mention]
Happy to see you got a little bit suspicious about this:
morale is LOW among the REBELS so much so they have to use BARRIER troops…. have you EVER heard the “rebels” shooting their own? just to make them fight?
How much sense for Russia to send over platoons from dozens of brigades (gathered from all over Russia)? nah, they’ve just listed dozens of brigades to LOOK DETAILED. But lists like that are all over the net even Wikipedia. There is no evidence any of them are in or even near Ukraine.
Er, yes, of course I read it completely. Perhaps I understated when I said “I assume the report has that sprinkle of truth necessary for a great lie but is otherwise all hogwash”?
hog·wash n.
1. Worthless, false, or ridiculous speech or writing; nonsense.
It would be good to know what, if anything, is true in this report in order to know whether it is good propaganda or bad and how it was contrived.
It is claimed that Igor has a ‘PhD in History of Foreign Policy and International Relations (1995) from the Institute for US and Canadian Studies in Moscow’, and so it would be interesting to know if, for example, the “247th Guards Air-Assault Regiment (7th Guards Air-Assault Division)” or the “45th Guards Spetsnaz Regiment of the Airborne Troops (VDV)” actually exist.
Western MSM propaganda that quotes some US government or NATO official as saying ‘they have definite proof of invasion of Russian tanks etc. in Ukraine and then fails to give any proof is impossible to refute in the sense that there is no ‘proof’ to refute. This is the polar opposite, overloaded with ‘facts’ waiting to be substantiated or proven false. Given the level of detail and its broadcast in British media I am surprised that I have seen no comment on it beyond its verbatim publication in the highly biased British media.
I’d like to see a little science applied to assessing it rather than simple reflex rejection. Is that too much to expect?
You already have the Wikipedia link for the author of the report. Did you READ IT? where it says he spent 11 years in a Russia prison for spying? which he denies? does that give us some idea of how neutral he may be? and what side he may be on?
Then check Wiki for RUSI which turns out to be oldest think tank in the world, a British spy agency setup from 1831 yes EIGHTEEN 31 and are the Brits being very pro-Russian these days?
Google Russian Military Wiki and you’ll get a choice of Wiki pages. Very quickly you can get to big lists of named brigades and where they are based. Some of those you can also google separately. And all of them you can check for identical spelling, punctuation or list order etc etc to see if some report just copy/pasted a slab of Wikipedia.
I am going to ask you people to calm down and stop yelling at me. Do you have some ideological blinkers that prevent you from understanding the word ‘hogwash’?
I had already decided on my very first comment that it was ‘hogwash’. Having decided that I am not interested in wasting my time rummaging through WIki looking for Russian military battalions because although most information there is correct, anyone can change it. If you doubt that, check the maximum altitude listed for an SU-25. If you misplace your keys do you keep looking for them further after you find them?
What I am interested in is getting the viewpoint of a military analyst e.g. The Saker or anyone else qualified to assess the damage this document might cause.
To anyone who is not sufficiently informed, lacking in critical thinking, lacks cynicism or is wowed by intellectual and scientific sounding literature and persons, this document for the most part looks extremely professional, factual and credible. Don’t start screaming at me- I said ‘looks’.
‘Apeal to education’ and ‘appeal to authority’ logical fallacies work on most people.
Given that this document was available via major British newspapers to the population of Britain (64 million) added to exposure in Europe (742 million), N.america (528 million) and elsewhwere in the world, I think it worth unemotionally assessing its content and damage potential.
It is your prerogative to disagree but I am going to suggest that reflex rejection is as bad an ideology as those that read and believe the MSM. Both are rejecting critical thinking.
@ Sanctuaryone,
Q: and the need for punitive barrier and anti-retreat squads.
R; I’m going to give a you very blunt [and absolutely not personal] example why this is BS; would you need punitive barrier and anti-retreat squads when your enemy has killed your mom, raped your sister and shot the legs off of your aunt?
It seems my last reply went AWOL with the ‘you are posting too quickly message’.
Let me ask you some questions.
1) Why out of 10 pages of fairly dense content did I extract and reference that one particular line?
Do you think maybe because I thought it was ‘hogwash’?
2) Have you read the entire 10 page report?
It is a well known and effective propaganda technique to accuse your opponent/enemy of doing exactly what you are doing to put them continually on the defensive while you continue your verbal offensive.
Those that don’t follow alternative media won’t know that ‘anti-retreat’ squads didn’t exist on the DPR/NPR side -if only because there was absolutely no need.
So the seeds of doubt are sown and the poison works. And, so far, barely a peep from alternative media.
that ;message ‘you’re posting too fast’ only means you hit the post button too fast…it happens to me all the time…don’t take it personally buddy.
If Dick Cheney is running the war mongers show then it means England and no body else is running this war against Russia show because dick chenny and his wife ate English agents and are not neocons but Anglo ies working for English paradites.
I means Russia has to crush the head of this snake which is England and finish that evil nation once for all.
My note on Sorcha Faal is that it’s David Booth, a real life cointelpro paid hack (like duff & scores of others), who used to post to fourwinds10.net
Booth has been around since the days of windows 95, i’m sure of it.
that site is still up, but the content & format is definitely way different. Runs now out of SD state it says.
I think Ben Fulford has taken over writing that Sorcha schtick.
Some fools are posting this crap on good pages.
Both authors you mentioned are clowns and people
should know better.
This as you mentioned is well known going back years.
That sounds way over the top to me.The US isn’t known to operate like that.There is more wind-up before aggression.I’ll need more than one report from a questionable source to believe it.
:0 – If this has any truth to it – my first question is are Director Bortnikov and Nikolai Patrushev Atlantacists or Eurasianists? I think we all know the Neocons are running US foreign policy/Defence – that is pretty obvious. I also read on here today in the comments about the UK first strike nuclear doctrine that was discovered – this would tie in with this stroy….hmm…I would like to mull this over. Thank you for posting it.
Rgds,
Veritas
This a comment about an opinion of Brad Cabana at http://rocksolidpolitics.blogspot.com/2015/03/world-economy-war-one.html?spref=tw
1 comment:
LesMarch 15, 2015 at 7:04 PM
If the US response is indeed cowboy, then the window of opportunity is now before the new Russian submarine fleet deploys with its missiles, before the deployment of the Russian 5th gen airforce, before the new silk road, before the gas lines to China make the US naval pivot to the SW Pacific irrelevant for controlling China.
How profoundly interesting that you post this at this time. Putin (and much of the Russian high command) has been absent for some 10 days now – with a “head cold”. Meanwhile the hugely significant re-routing of top UK and US military info through Ukraine and Russia – including UK nuclear launch codes (http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/13/8208413/uk-nuclear-weapons-russia-traffic-redirect) goes unnoticed in the media. It is reported that “The (Russian)Ministry of Defense (MoD) is reporting today that the Federation is now in a “state of war” thus bringing to full activation President Putin’s “Dead Hand” nuclear order issued 29 July 2014 to The Strategic Missile Forces (SMF).”
According to this report, the full activation of the much feared “Dead Hand” nuclear option was authorized under President Putin’s previous order due to the discovery that the nuclear forces of the United Kingdom (UK) were preparing a first strike against military and civilian targets located in the Federation.
If true, First Strike readiness is a huge and complicated step. The UK would not do so alone, nor if some incident were not anticipated. Was the ‘incident’ planned for the Putin Kadyrov meeting to sign the Eurasian economic Union agreements? It would have been quite the statement if it was. That it never happened as Putin got “sick” is perhaps divine – or ‘intelligent’! So Putin was sick – for ten days. The same ten days during which western military info was massively hacked. A hack that showed whatever the plot was, it was tied to a Much Bigger Plot. Was the plan to use Ukraine as the source of a missile that would decapitate Russian leadership, with a full first strike positioned and ready if they retaliated? The mix of the Nato ships in the Black Sea look like a set of sitting ducks – ducks designed to get buy in from all the reluctant partners to a potential Nato strike.
There is something that tells me we just dodged a bullet… perhaps the most comic piece in it all is the confusion over whether Russia did aggressively encounter the Nato fleet (with its nominal Canadian ship) in the Black sea. Perhaps the Canadian minister let something slip that was supposed to stay silent – i mean really, what other time does Nato weigh in to counter such political statements?
any thoughts?
okay, I realize this is a superficial response, but I have to say I simply cannot imagine a little Island nation daring to make a first strike against Russia. I understand their history and the malevolence of the Western elite, but self-preservation must play some role in their thinking, no matter how deranged…?
They are playing with fire.
I think the two of them together, with some other, are true friends of Putin, and therefore Eurasianist.
I would call the “group / team of St. Petersburg”, but this is one of my deduction, I have no confirmation.
Friend senior estrategist not loose garment about this.
It would be nice he to came around here, if he is not focused on somewhere, and tell us something.
Some good news from a researcher into this age-old battle between Good and Evil:
As these spirits of air, earth, and water are numerous, it is a comfort to learn from the Talmud that, while the bad ones are exactly 7,405,926, the good ones number, in the rougher estimate, 1,064,340,000,000,000./
Admittedly, Nutty, Cookie and Dick are not factored into this estimate.
Really, don’t be such a dummy. The link shows the article you quote to be by Sorcha Faal. She constantly writes 100% flase “novels” l8ike this one.
Such a bunch of utter nonsense.
Are there still people out there who actually think that comedy website is real? Whoa…
Trash website with trash writer known by the astute for years.
Both website and author are so blatant and trash they should be banned.
Nothing that goofball writes is accurate going back years.
Sorcha FAIL
Goal is to muddy the truth.
Thank you to all the brothers in arms.
Let’s hope that sanity prevails.
http://dima-piterski.livejournal.com/192760.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-PxUyBnqqo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Sw15QrHcnM#t=49
I wish him the best, and thank him for his contribution to this community.
Just my opinion, but with your blogmaster leaving I will share my thoughts.
Less is more.
I preferred the old format. The power of your blog is that it is straight reporting, almost memo style. We don’t need pictures or fancy graphics.
Also, as I have written elsewhere, the old format allowed it to be very clear what was the chronological order of the articles. It was very easy to know which articles were most recent.
Also—and this is extremely important—some of the most up to date reporting I can find anywhere is from the comments to your articles and posts. The most recent postings usually contain the comments with the most up to date real time reports and recent links. The new blog makes this very difficult to almost impossible to track.
Sure, you might want to add a picture or two to the straight what-you-see-what-you-get format. But I wish you would go back to it. If your webmaster is gone, no hard feelings, right?
Regrettably, I concur.
I think this site is beautiful, and with no detriment to the content.
I could wish for some searching functions, such as list of newest comments after I was last here, or some time I could specify, and a list of follow up replies to comments I’ve made — stuff to make it faster for me to find these things — but that’s minor, and was not in the old blog either. I appreciate the security and stability too.Overall it’s very ‘professional’ and better than most commercial sites. Very usable and classy!
“Also—and this is extremely important—some of the most up to date reporting… The new blog makes this very difficult to almost impossible to track.”
— Exactly correct. Especially important when events are happening quickly. But also important when trying to understand the general development of the comments. A “sort by post time” feature would help in this regard.
I have to agree with Writer. The “reply” function is nice, but not critical to the value of the blog. Also, it means that one can easily lose track of the main thread.
With the new site I keep it permanently on the Blog page (whose name has now changed to something else). Because the homepage, with its compartmentalization, is too confusing and, frankly, uninteresting. This is the checkerboard, “predigested” format that enraged readers of The Guardian with their latest redo.
At least with the blog page one can scroll up and down and find most recent comments. Clearly, the interest/relevance of comments is not limited to the ostensible subject matter of the story that leads the thread. I think many most topical comments will be posted at the most recent article thread, regardless of the topic of the story.
Also, attaching a visual to each story is kind of homogenizing. Not all stories need their own visual. Or a link can be provided. All in all, I have to say that I prefer the old blog format. However, I do understand that there may be security issues and the webpage might be more secure.
Thanks in any event to Gevorg, because a webpage was what The Saker wanted, and Gevorg delivered.
Katherine
for CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
bookmark this link
/latest-articles/
or click the Latest Articles button on the main page.
I agree, somewhat regrettably too. It has also lost the immediacy of that very safe, personal, communicative space for the news, sitreps, comments/links and more.which is of such indescribable importance for all of us in our world now.
The website is beautiful of course, no doubt about that, and sincerest thanks and best wishes to Gevorg.
click the big Latest Articles bar, or boomkmark this /latest-articles/ to go straight to the latest, in chronological order.
I have to say, I agree with Dean Arnold, Jack, Writer and others on other threads who proclaim a preference for the cleaner, simpler look of the blogger site (which could be as easily attained on WordPress or other platforms).
This new site does look a bit like the proverbial dog’s breakfast, the result of trying to be too clever by half (no offence intended to the Saker, who no doubt left design considerations to others more (ahem) qualified in such matters). Someone who peered over my shoulder said it resembled something you’d see on those old “web pages that suck” compendiums that the likes of Jakob Nielsen would point out.
Yes, moderator, I think most people have “got it” by now that there is a link for viewing chronologically, and there’s now that clunky and somewhat unintuitive slider across the top serving a similar purpose.
This misses the point of a lot of those comments I’ve read deprecating the new look, which is more that straightforward, clean chronological presentation is absolutely the strength at the Vineyard (for immediate access to the Saker’s latest analyses) and that has now been lost in a mishmash of graphics, themes, stories, buttons, banners, slogans, &cet.
the old format was ‘blogger’ a division of google. Saker wants out of that corporation…Gevorg helped him move to a safer place in Iceland. This new blog is fine. Its easier for Saker, and that’s important.
Thank you Gevorg for everything you have done for us.
This was never a money making endeavor. Yes, the west promises wealth, but pays only for death. It is the poor middle class of the empire you address, and want to be paid. A couple pieces of silver, perhaps. If you want to make money, I’m sure CNbc etc. has plenty. Thank you for your service to the people of this planet. Your services are appreciated.
Once upon a day I walked with my young daughter over a graveyard and after a while she stopped singing, stared at a few headstones for a while, then looked up to me and asked, “Daddy, where do they bury all the bad people?”
God bless, Gevorg. You’ve helped us all to be better informed, and the trail from us has led to others and others. Your good works may be larger than you know. Vaya con Dios.
Dear Gevorg,
I really hope that the secret service is NOT harasing you and that you have decided to step down. You have no idea how extremely important job you have done for this site and for the world.
I do really thank you for your hard work. I know you have contributed enough to the world change for something much better.
I’ve been reading your blog for around a year (I actually ran into your work in Fall of 2013 – the “Is the 20 year Pas de Deux Over?” post on another site, before starting to read on your own blog as the Ukraine coup happened. Great work, keep it up.
I’m sorry to hear Gevorg resigned. I’ve been meaning to make a donation for a while now, but some things came up, and I wasn’t able to cover a donation. I just donated $200 and would have liked to have $75 of it go to Gevorg. If that’s not possible, just keep the entire amount for yourself for all the great work you’ve done since the Ukraine crisis started. I also really like the community that’s formed around your blog. Gives one hope. I’ll try to make another donation next month, as I don’t think I’ve paid my debt of gratitude for all the great info and links I’ve gotten here.
Best wishes to you, your family, and the entire Saker Community
Thank you on their behalf.
You can pay forward, by passing the good word on other sites you visit.
Yes, Good Fortune to you Dear Gevorg,
Fine job, sorry to see you leave us.
Hey All, Has anyone else here noticed Kerry’s weekend announcement that he is willing to “negotiate” with Assad? The article [RT] states that the Syrian “opposition” is willing to offer to accept that Assad remain in power for two years.
WHO has the right or authority [besides the electorate] to determine how long a Sovereign Head of State may remain in power?
Kerry’s hubris knows no bounds.
@ Anonymous on March 16, 2015 · at 1:03 am UTC
“My note on Sorcha Faal is that it’s David Booth, a real life cointelpro paid hack (like duff & scores of others), who used to post to fourwinds10.net”
Can you share with us the basis of your criticism of Duff?
thanks, Christine
Christine, consider the information in this blog post of January 2014,
https://therearenosunglasses.wordpress.com/2014/01/23/the-veterans-today-conspiracy-to-misinform/
I’m sorry to hear of your departure.
You have “righted” the ship so it’s journey may continue – pursuing the truth.
May the great spirit reward your kindness and vision many times over. Thank you !
I think the current website is just fine but could use a few tweaks: ability to edit your own comments; better graphics resolution (some text on graphics is unreadable); embedded graphics in comments. Thanks and Good Luck to Gevorg! Why did he resign? (if it’s not too personal to ask)
on a slightly unrelated issue.
i read you had a problem with maximum connection in Apache.
It also seems that your server uses naked Apache, which leads to wasting server resources: http://www.kegel.com/c10k.html
think about installing some reverse proxy like LigHTTPd or like http://wiki.nginx.org/Main