The Saker is not optimistic

Even though Biden has, to a certain extent, backed down, The Saker is still concerned about the prospects of war over Ukraine:

Bad news all around today.  The US has just slammed provocative sanctions against Russia even though the US ambassador to Moscow was summoned to the Foreign Ministry and clearly told that if the US imposes more sanctions there will be no meeting between Putin and Biden.

Then there is this: the US has informed the Turkish authorities that they will not send two USN ships into the Black Sea.  This is politically a good sign, but in military terms, this is what the US should be doing if they were preparing for war.  Why?  Because any USN ship in the Black Sea at the moment of the initiation of a conflict would be sunk withing minutes: not only do the Russians have formidable missiles – Bal and Bastion – they had SIX advanced diesel-electric submarines of the 636.3 class ready to “greet” them.  Keep in mind that engaging submarines without air cover is another form of collective suicide.

So, the phone call was a deception and the US is still going down the road towards war with Russia.

In my professional opinion, what I see is a joint preparation by the Ukronazis and the USA (along with the UK and Poland) to attack the Donbass and force a conflict upon Russia.

It is very hard for me to see how a war could be avoided.

UPDATE: Biden has just declared a national emergency in the USA in response to the Russian threat.  He will make a special address to the nation tonight.

I don’t have an opinion, simply because I have no confidence about who is actually calling the shots behind the scenes of the Biden Not-Administration. If it’s China or the neoclowns, there will be war. If it is the US military, there will not be war.

Biden, of course, has no idea what is going on. The question is, who is writing his script? 

Mailvox: Sigma vs Alpha

 A reader wonders what the likely outcome is:

It’s clear that Putin is a legit Alpha….and dealing with Biden (not sure what to categorize him as, regardless of previous state/current state), Biden is getting devastated. Generally speaking, what happens when a Sigma and and Alpha go at each other? 

I do realize that part of being a Sigma is knowing when to respect the hierarchy and current status, but there are lines that a Sigma refuses to concede….I am seeing it now at my present employer, and I am curious how it will shake out, were I a betting man; Too many individual variables to post here, just a “finger in the air” how these types of altercations end up being resolved. 

Were I to be honest, I am a Venn diagram of Alpha/Beta (I look around any group and look to see if competent leadership is present or active before I start to engage, but really enjoy being a lieutenant), and I am not looking to change allegiances, but my personal scenario has the makings of tremendous collateral damage; The Sigma involved is a longtime employee, brilliant software engineer, fit, tall and handsome, and generally left to tackle big projects in a silo, with trust from the leadership he will deliver.

In the event of all-out conflict, the Sigma will vanish. This usually counts as victory from the Alpha perspective, because he retains his control over the hierarchy. However, the victory can be pyrrhic in nature if the Sigma is a valuable team member.

The wise Alpha will find a way to let the Sigma do his thing separately, but within the larger context of the team. Think skunk works, or the way IBM set up its Boca Raton group to develop the PC without the interference of the larger organization.

Since the reader is a Bravo, not an Alpha, he should probably try to find a way to back down and stay out of the Sigma’s way, or he may find that the Sigma’s talents are more important to the organization than his loyalty and leadership.

Backing down with alacrity

The neoclowns are belatedly beginning to realize that a proxy war with Russia over Ukraine is not going to end well for them or their clown-puppet regime:

Ukraine has warned Russia that it will bear ‘very painful’ consequences if it invades as Vladimir Putin continues to mass his forces in eastern Europe. Dmytro Kuleba, the country’s foreign minister, added that Moscow is ‘openly’ threatening Ukraine with ‘destruction’ by stationing 80,000 troops along its border – with more arriving every day.
He issued the warning following a meeting with the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – NATO allies in the region – saying ‘the four of us condemn the exacerbation of the situation by Russia.’ 
‘The world is on the side of Ukraine and international law, and this is one of the elements of restraining Russia from reckless actions,’ he added.
He spoke as Joe Biden prepares to slap sanctions on Russia in response to bounties put on American troops in Afghanistan, attempts to interfere in US elections, and the SolarWinds cyber attack of federal government data which US intelligence services blame on Moscow. Sanctions are likely to include the expulsion of 10 Russians from the US including diplomats, extending a ban on US banks trading Russian sovereign debt, and targeted measures against 30 Russian entities, US media reported, saying the move could happen as soon as today.
In response, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that Mosow will respond in kind to any ‘illegal’ sanctions, adding that it ‘will not help’ the prospect of talks between Biden and Putin. He added that it is ‘too early’ to talk about de-escalating tensions along the Ukraine border despite Biden’s calls for restraint earlier in the week….
In another sign that Biden is now softening his tone towards Moscow, the deployment of two US destroyers into the Black Sea was cancelled last night.
Turkey had originally confirmed that Washington had asked for permission for two warships – the USS Donald Cook and USS Roosevelt – to transit through straits which it polices and into the Black Sea in a move that was assumed to be a deterrent to Putin.
But last night Turkey said the U.S. Embassy in Ankara had notified the foreign ministry of the decision, without giving a reason. U.S. officials were not immediately available for comment. 

Once more, we see Vladimir Putin demonstrating the difference between influence and power. It’s all fun and games until someone sends 100,000 troops supported by air, armor, and artillery on your border. However, it’s important to note that the USA is now clearly in a state of cold war with both Russia and China, only this time the economic, technology, and demographic trends are not in its favor.

Mailvox: a theory about golf

 A reader has an idea about the decline of golf:

The reason golf is dying is that it no longer offers the benefit that used to make it popular.

For a generation and more, a golf course was a place a man could go to get away from his wife. Oh yes, and family, and work, but mainly wife. A place beyond her reach. A peaceful, green sanctuary.

The mobile phone changed that. Golf is never coming back. Perhaps weekend spiritual retreats – where you check your phone in at the door – might.

I’m dubious. First, it’s not that hard to turn your phone off, or simply not bring it with you in the first place. Second, if it’s harming their business, golf courses should simply ban mobile phones on the links. 

I think golf is in decline – to the extent that it actually is in decline, I don’t pay enough attention to it to actually know – is that golf is essentially a Boomer activity. Generation X and the younger generations grew up playing video games alone and with each other rather than activities with their parents, and as with so many other Boomer failures to pass things on, Boomers failed to instill a love of golf into their children.

A few of my friends back in the States golf, but none of them are anywhere nearly as serious about it as I remember my best friend’s father being. So, I suspect that as the Boomers continue to age into decrepitude, there will be fewer and fewer men on the golf courses.

It’s not me, it’s you!

Sports journalists are less willing than alcoholics to admit they have a problem:

Almost every single sport has experienced a TV ratings erosion over the past year, and dishonest people with an agenda have liked blaming the lower ratings on sports becoming more political.

Well, the least political sport on the planet just got some depressing ratings news. This weekend’s Masters on CBS generated its lowest viewership numbers in 28 years.

I don’t follow golf closely, but to my knowledge, there have not been any golfers who have kneeled during a playing of the national anthem. There have not been many golfers who have protested anything. Courses have not featured political messages.

Yet the biggest tournament of them all just pulled its worst numbers since 1993.

Have a few people here and there stopped watching sports in some ridiculous protest because of politics? Yes. Is it a significant, game-changing number? No.

The obvious and most significant reason for any and all sports TV ratings loss is cord-cutting. People are saying goodbye to cable at a rapid rate. From 2014 to 2020, 23{3549d4179a0cbfd35266a886b325f66920645bb4445f165578a9e086cbc22d08} of households cut the cord. Approximately 6.6 million households cut the cord in 2020 after 6.3 million households cut the cord in 2019.

While we have data on cord-cutting, we don’t have numbers for how the pandemic has changed the viewing habits of sports fans. But it’s obvious people’s lives are different, their schedules have changed and their priorities have shifted. We can’t quantify any of these things, but they are absolutely a factor in sports across the board losing viewers.

Actually, it’s much more likely that there is a knock-on effect. I didn’t watch the Masters, so I have no idea if it was a big diversity fest, although the fact that a Japanese golfer won it for the first time ever does tend to indicate that it might have been.

But at this point, I suspect people are beginning to assume that televised sports are all converged, and they’re actually beginning to preemptively turn them off. I haven’t not only quit watching NFL football, but I’ve quit watching Premiership and Seria A football as well, in addition to the Champions League. I assume that they’re chock full of SJW hectoring, but I don’t actually know, because I preemptively stopped watching them. 

The NCAA commits to equality

The NCAA is 100 percent committed to equality concerning the non-payment of all student-athletes, regardless of sex or sexual identity:

The National Collegiate Athletic Association Board of Governors said on Monday that it “firmly and unequivocally supports” transgender biological male athletes competing in women’s sports at the college level.

It comes amid an ongoing push by Republican-led states to enact measures that seek to protect female athletes, who are likely to have a biological disadvantage if forced to compete against male-born students.

“The NCAA Board of Governors firmly and unequivocally supports the opportunity for transgender student-athletes to compete in college sports,” the board wrote in their statement. “The NCAA has a long-standing policy that provides a more inclusive path for transgender participation in college sports.”

NCAA also addressed questions about how the association determines which states will host championship games.

“When determining where championships are held, NCAA policy directs that only locations where hosts can commit to providing an environment that is safe, healthy and free of discrimination should be selected,” the board wrote.

The states should respond to this by passing laws forbidding universities to charge for tickets or for television and merchandising rights to sporting events in which the players are not monetarily compensated.

The USA is the Adversary

Russia issues a pair of very clear warnings to the US about its continued provocations over Ukraine:

Two detachments of the Russian Army, along with three airborne units, are ready to act in the event tensions with the West escalate into full-blown fighting, Moscow announced on Tuesday following a surprise inspection of troops.

After paying a visit to the soldiers, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told journalists that the personnel met the standards required for the situation. “The troops have shown full readiness and ability to fulfill the tasks of ensuring the country’s military security,” he said. “Currently, these associations and formations are engaged in drills and exercises.”

Shoigu said that the redeployments had taken place “in response to the military activity of the alliance that threatens Russia.” The move comes amid escalating tension with the US-led NATO bloc and after bloody fighting in eastern Ukraine between Kiev’s forces and two breakaway republics….

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told journalists that there is “absolutely nothing” that requires the Americans’ presence near his country’s Black Sea shore, accusing the White House of trying to provoke Moscow.

“Provocative in the literal sense of the word: they are testing our strength, playing on our nerves. They won’t succeed,” he said, noting that Washington would also be better off staying away.

“It will be for their own good,” Ryabkov added, also dubbing Washington as Moscow’s “adversary.” His use of the term marks a departure from Moscow’s usual manner of referring to the Americans as “partners.” He also accused Washington of “doing everything to undermine Russia’s position in the international arena.”

The official’s words come after the US told Turkey that two American warships would pass through the Bosporus Strait into the Black Sea next week.

It is often said that there is stupid, there is very stupid, and there is invade Russia stupid. The rule is very simple and straightforward. If your name is not “the Great Chingiss Khan”, you do not invade Russia under any circumstances.

And especially not because a Jewish comedian holding political office is sufficiently ignorant of military matters to start a war on its borders. In Ukraine, Clownworld is not a metaphor, it is quite literally Clownworld.

Vladimir Putin has made it clear that Russia does not intend to fight its next war inside its borders. And I don’t think he’s referring to Ukraine either.

UPDATE: this doesn’t bode terribly well.

The Russian navy will hold snap live-fire drills in the Black Sea today as the first of two US warships is expected to arrive, the military has announced. Two missile ships – the Graivoron and Vyshny Volochek – will take part in target practice alongside the missile hovercraft Samum, accompanied by the frigate Admiral Makarov and mine-sweeping ship Ivan Golubets, the Russian navy’s Black Sea fleet command said.

Meanwhile, the mutations proceed apace

The US has halted use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, while its European rollout has also been delayed:

U.S. federal health agencies are recommending an immediate “pause” in the use of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine after six U.S. recipients developed a rare disorder involving blood clots. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a joint statement Tuesday that the pause has been recommended “out of an abundance of caution.”

However, news that people are dropping dead, sporting newly-acquired tales, and developing dark and mysterious occult powers from the three not-vaccines has not occasioned any action by the US government, although the CDC did issue an urgent notice for persons who have been injected with the Pfizer product, and informed them that if they begin developing a taste for human blood, they should avoid exposure to direct sunlight.

Unauthorized welcomes St. Efan

Unauthorized.TV is very pleased to announce that St. Efan himself, Stefan Molyneux, has joined UATV. Not only will his videos be available to UATV subscribers, but he is already producing UATV-exclusive content, including his very first video: The Terrible Truth About the Shooting of Daunte Wright.

Stefan is one of the most highly regarded philosophers on the ideological Right, and an undaunted truthseeker who does not hesitate to confront some of the greatest shibboleths of our time. His intellectual pursuit of the truth has cost him dearly, as he may be the third-most-deplatformed individual after Milo and Owen, having been banned from Patreon, Paypal, Twitter, and YouTube, just to name a few of the converged platforms that have pronounced him anathema.

As such, St. Efan is without question highly unauthorized by the thought police, he is the perfect addition to the collection of intellectual outlaws who presently make up Unauthorized. If you would like to support Stefan’s Unauthorized channel, you can subscribe to it here. And if you are already a UATV subscriber and happen to be active on Gab, you may wish to note his announcement on joining UATV there.

UPDATE: A subscriber asks how to support multiple creators:

I’ve been a Feed the Bear subscriber of UATV since it was launched and have been quite pleased with the content and the creators. I am delighted that Stefan Molyneux has joined, as I had been hoping that he would come on board since the inception of UATV. To get to the point, I would like to support Stefan, Razorfist and Dr. Brown in addition to the big bear but don’t see a way to add subscriptions for them. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Subscriptions are connected to emails. So, you can take out another subscription with a different email. Eventually we will add the ability to have multiple subscriptions per account/email, but that is not a top priority at the moment.

There will be no due process

In which we are reliably informed that due process is not an aspect of good leadership:

The Brooklyn Center City Manager, Curt Boganey, has been fired after he publicly disagreed with Mayor Mike Elliott’s assertion that the police officer who fatally shot a black man in the Minneapolis suburb should immediately be fired.

As City Manager, Boganey controlled the police department.

Speaking earlier to reporters, he said the officer who shot 20-year-old Daunte Wright would get ‘due process’ after the shooting. 

‘All employees working for the city of Brooklyn Center are entitled to due process with respect to discipline,’ he said. 

But the mayor, unhappy at the public disagreement quickly took the police department under his control and the Brooklyn Center City Council voted to fire Boganey, a longtime city employee, during an emergency meeting.

‘Effective immediately our city manager has been relieved of his duties, and the deputy city manager will be assuming his duties moving forward,’ Elliott wrote on Twitter. ‘I will continue to work my hardest to ensure good leadership at all levels of our city government.’ 

For the vast majority of you who are not familiar with the Twin Cities, Brooklyn Center is an inner ring suburb of Minneapolis that has always had a noticeable African population, although it is still majority white. I’m very familiar with it because Brooklyn Center was in the Tri-Metro Conference with my high school back then, so I ran track against their sprinters on a regular basis. 

If I recall correctly, when I won the 100-meter at the conference championship my senior year, the second-, third-, and fourth-place finishers were all from Brooklyn Center. Unsurprisingly, they took the 4×100 relay that year. I still remember my main rival from BC, a short, powerful guy named Simmy, who had a rocket start. It was intimidating, but I soon learned that as long as I wasn’t more than two steps behind once I was fully up, I’d catch him at the 50-meter mark.

Fortunately, thanks to three decades of anti-racist indoctrination since then, the Africans there no longer see color. It’s like seeing Martin Luther King’s dream come true!