Since 12 June this website was just flat gone. Neither the URL, nor the associated IP address were reachable. All my efforts timed out. I hoped it would be a temporary ISP technical hiccup or just another DDOS attack. Both problems have occurred before and were resolved.
But this time it was different. I stopped getting timeout messages. I couldn’t get a cached version of blog pages. That’s when I tried ping and traceroute from a terminal screen. Nothing. This was serious. I contacted Harper, who put me in touch with Pat’s old IT guy and neighbor. Although not involved in managing this website, he went to work trying to determine the problem and solve it. The source of the problem was a server migration in the Icelandic data center that went horribly wrong.
Now we’re back. Being down didn’t bother me all that much. Not having access to a good backup of the site’s posts and comments bothered me. We will remedy that situation. In the meantime, welcome home everybody. We’ll start tomorrow with a discussion of Recent events in Russia. It will do us all good to contemplate what has occurred and continues to occur overnight before we engage in discussion.
TTG
Well that’s a relief.
Some of us thought you had pulled the plug from humiliation. A few other Zelensky cheerleaders have.
Since you’ve been gone:
The Ukranian’s have failed to reach the first line of Russian defenses
the 2020 election and Biden administration have been demonstrated to be illegitimate (thus making all US forpol undertaken by the globlaist cabal that controls him illegitimate)
the Chinese humiliated the US Secretary of State, whose effforts at improving relations were undone by his boss in less then 24 hours
several retired US generals have reinforced their image as cluess liars and frauds
Putin crushed a rebellion/coup/circus against the state and did so by killing fewer people than the Capitol Police did on Janury 6th
Another handful of nations have applied to join BRICS, accelerating the collapse of the GAE.
Hopefully you’ve had time to purge some of the globalist neocon kool-aid you have poisoned yourself with. Back in the before time, when you are not mindlessly advancing ziocon talking points, you had a lot of interesting insights and observations.
welcome back!
Man, what a job of putting cheap lipstick on a deformed hog!
Good to know you are back.
Technology is the problem. But this beast is made to be overcome.
Well done.
TTG – Glad you’re back.
What’s your take on Prig’s exile to Belarus? Or is that even true? What happens to his troops? And what about Wagner units in Africa?
TTG
I was fearful the site might be lost somewhere in the mish mash of the web.
We all depended on Col. Lang to keep the gremlins at bay.
John Minnerath,
Are you still doing those fantastic astrophotography shots? I’d like to feature some more of your work here.
TTG
Thanks for remembering that. Sadly old age has taken a big bite out of what I use to be able to do. Along with the other tarnished blessings of my “golden years”, I’m now almost blind. I turn 80 next month.
My collections of images have been lost, permanently I think.
I can find some of the old Solar Hydrogen Alpha and White light work I used to do and even those are getting hard to dig up.
Even got rid of much of my gun collection, especially rifles, because I could no longer see through a scope.
John Minnerath,
Sorry to hear that. Old age comes for us all, but it does beat the alternative. I hope you still enjoy the serenity and sounds of the Western nights. I can no longer detect the rear sight on a rifle, but I’m still OK with a pistol or an SKS. Other than scout-sniper school, I never used any optics.
I’m going to republish some of your old work from SST and The Atheneum. Those old blogs are full of gems like your photos and marvelous works by Pat and others.
Glad you are back.
Food for thought by Tom Cooper. Best analysis I’ve seen
https://xxtomcooperxx.substack.com/p/russian-civil-war-24-june-2023-the
Apologies if links like this are inappropriate — please delete.
Thank whom ever needs to be thanked! The light are on again. For me, this blog is the ‘who do I listen to’ source for events in eastern Europe. Relief. I have read recent events described anywhere from ‘tin foil hat’ stuff to Occam Razor simplicity.
So happy to read this, TTG. I learn so much from you and other commenters here. Welcome back.
To join the chorus:
Glad you’re back 🙂
I am glad you are back.
My first thought for the first few days was that the site was under some kind of attack from pro-Russian or anti-Ukrainian forces.
After a few days more, I began wondering whether you and the other co-posters and co-leaders of the blog had decided to take it private and were giving a special passcode to every commenter who would be allowed to access the private-club site. And since I never got any such passcode notice in my email, I was beginning to wonder whether I should feel excluded and humiliated by that exclusion.
I am relieved to know that it was neither one.
So much for continuity. Glad they found the right drop for your cable. Yes to cloud backup. Especially when you have to start over from scratch. Hardware fails, not an if but a when.
Glad the site is back up, and Big Thanks for your work reviving it and keeping it going!
welcome back. A counterbalance is needed to the russian fanboys and turcopolier did it well.
Things aren’t going well for Ukraine or Russia for that matter.
Then there is the pure and saintly Biden family and that monster Trump……..or not.
Given a choice between Russia and this
https://www.foxnews.com/us/nyc-drag-marchers-chant-were-coming-your-children-during-pride-event
I’ll definitely take Russia.
Keith Harbaugh,
That’s over the top sarcasm in a cultural scene that is already over the top. Judging by the the arrests I see in the news, I’d be far more worried about church leaders, youth pastors, police and politicians coming after our children.
i·ro·ny
noun
the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.
Do you think it is barely possible that they were chanting that in order to troll anti-gay bigots who spread the “THEY WANT YOUR CHILDREN” line?
Keith –
Russia has it’s fair share of fags and pedophiles. But they are more predatory and inclined to beating their child rape victims rather than grooming them.
If I were you I wouldn’t bring your children along when you ask for asylum there.
Great to get the site back online. Thought the overlords had pulled the plug
Just in time to lay bets on how long Putin will last and who will do the dirty.
Will Putin throw the Wagner troops back into jail? Who but Prig can hold them together and throw them into battle?
Harper and TTG…
Good Job at Coming In Out of the Cold…The Col. Would be Proud of Your
Recovery…And Preservation of All Data..With Backups..Like SST..has..
regarding Head liners..My Impression is.based on Daily Mail storys with Videos and Photos. Chef Priz Oz Won the Cook off ..With Data stating His Group..Headed for
Moscow…Shot Down six Helicopters…3 Being MI-8 MTRPs..(Electronic Warfare types)
Three Other Helos…And One Airplane A Illyushin-22 Command and Control Type
Probably with a High Ranking General..Its Reported Wagner shot it down with
a PANTSIR Missle..Supplied By Russian Troops…There at Photos of it going down
on The Daily Star…
Its no Suprise to me Prigozshir is now in Belarus…He Made a great Deal..and
Putin..is the One Out in the Cold Now…The Cook off continues… What Type of
Weapons get lit off by the Fourth of July is Interesting But It Could Be Big..Bad..
and a Chefs Suprise..
JT
So glad you’re back. Have seen other sites just die in similar circumstances. Thanks for pushing through and glad the IT guy was willing to help.
Followed this site since 2006, may it live long
Concur
https://youtu.be/dVM8_jAL86w
An interesting question that came up while you were away:
How effective was the U.S. SOSUS system at detecting the implosion of the Titanic hunting Titan?
This sheds some light on that:
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/06/23/navy-heard-tourist-sub-implode-it-shouldnt-have-changed-search-effort.html
Keith Harbaugh,
Describing that detection as “prescient in hindsight” sounds about right. That’s what I thought when the news of the Navy detection came out. I doubt they kept it quiet just to protect the collection capability.
Welcome back. you are part of my healthy and varied daily diet of opinion and insights.
TTG,
Most of my software developer colleagues don’t even know how to use traceroute. Kids today!
Good to know you’re back.
That’s all it was…. dang. There go a whole bunch of nifty conspiracy theories.
Glad to see you are back. Well done.
“The source of the problem was a server migration in the Icelandic data center that went horribly wrong.” I bet. But you can’t be more of a USG shill than you were before, so let’s have at it.
I apologize for using the “shill” word. Felt bad about it for two days. Glad SST is back on line and that TTG is moderating it.
It still seems to me like it takes a long time for this site to load/respond. Anyone else experiencing lag here?
elkern,
It sometimes takes a while for pages to load for me as well. Haven’t had a problem since it came back up. I’m sure it can be better optimized, but that’s not within my expertise at all. One of my sons could probably do a bang up job. Just be thankful you don’t have a 1200 baud rate dial up connection.
Ha, “upgrading” from dial-up has been a mixed blessing! Sure, the bits move faster, but the value -per-bit has gone *way* down since then! (Memes, etc)
elkern,
It’s been that way for me for a long time.
a pleasant surprise!
Good you all are back – decided to try just one more time… and voila!
I would have missed the perspectives offered here.. glad the valuable archived discussions are still here – those can be quite informative
kj