MH17 got shot down by the Russians though?

Is this the Russia that denied having any active units in the Crimean region of Ukraine? Hmm... who to believe...

Phillip.

A bit like they were not invading the Crimean region of Ukraine?

Phillip.
PS you should probably look at a map. Ukraine is quite big.

Russians are being paid to flood the site with propaganda. Unfortunately it doesn't make any sense so you can't argue with it. You just have to sift through the crap to find the real comments.

Phillip.

I think the wholesale failure of web 2.0 sites to facilitate any discussion of these issues over the last few weeks proves just how shallow their promise of a brave new web is. The scope and scale of the censorship seen around this issue is to my knowledge unprecedented.

Slashdot had the right ethics and mores all along, Anonymous Cowards and all. The community can mod them down, but even they should be free to speak.

I'm bewildered. Is this a real post or something computer generated? If the latter then the algorithms need some tweaking as it's the most bizarre drivel I have ever read.

Phillip.

It hasn't. This latest invasion by Russia is of interest to all free countries in the world. Putin has provoked that start of WW3, and we can forget for now this "economic crisis" which pales into insignificance compared to this Russian aggression. And to get ourselves completely off Russian gas is going to need some new tech otherwise we are going to suffer a lot of economic pain.

Phillip.

It's a shame /. doesn't have a way of allowing Anonymous comments but the ability to kill them off based on an IP. Then I could read this thread without all the spam from the Russian troll above.

Phillip.

Wow that is some pretty powerful Russian propaganda you have been drinking there. Calling normal peaceful Ukranians "fascists"? Check. Calling it a "violent overthrow" despite it not being one? Check. Calling the government "ultra nationalist"? Check. Blaming the US despite them having nothing to do with anything? Check. Russians have a "right to use force"? Check.

Thanks for popping in Putin, but your deluded views aren't welcome here.

Phillip.

You've been listening to too much Russian propaganda. A peaceful revolution kicked out a corrupt Russian puppet president in Ukraine (you notice Yanakovich has gone to live with his mate Putin in Russia?). Ukraine wanted to build strong trade links with Europe and Russia. Russia wanted Ukraine to itself. Now Putin has had a tantrum and has vowed to destroy Ukraine.

Of course the West wants peace. However when a crazed dictator starts invading European countries then you need to sit up and take notice. This is the 3rd time he has invaded Europe recently.

Phillip.

Putin's first instinct is to go to war. He has invaded Ukraine once and gotten away with it. He is invading a second time. Next will be Moldova. Then Georgia. Then Latvia. Then the rest of Europe until it is under Putin's rule. Better to stop him on his doorstep, rather than wait until he is parading himself through Paris.

Phillip.

I think you commented on the wrong thread. This one is about the 2nd invasion of Ukraine by Russia, not the US going into Iraq.

Phillip.

I think a poster on the escapist forums but it most succinctly: "The gaming community is being bullied for profit".

The gaming community is being singled out for being misogynist, over the film/tv industry, over the music business, over religious groups, because they are a relatively easy target who won't put up as much of a fight. While it's almost certain that Sarkeesian has received threats, let's be honest, they do not carry anywhere near the same weight as those which would come from, say, a religious group who was called out for being conservative. Gamers also lack the PR money to respond, which would be readily available to entertainment companies. Overall, it's a fairly safe group to criticize.

I'm sure that misogyny exists in video games, but no more (and I would argue to a lesser extent) than that seen in general society and other forms of entertainment. Yet Sarkeesian and her backers have launched what amounts to an internet crusade against the most counter-cultural -- and I would argue visibly progressive -- media industries.

Her videos present selectively chosen examples from several video games, purporting to show that games are actually hateful towards women. Many of us have played several of these titles, and can judge how exaggerated such claims are. Indeed, using Sarkeesian's techniques, it would be perfectly possible to go through these games and more, and selectively picks clips and examples "proving" that games and the gaming industry promote animal cruelty.

Yet no-one makes the animal cruelty argument about video games. And the reason is I think obvious -- The misogynist argument makes more money. Sarkeesian has been backed to the tune of $150,000 to makes these videos. Sites like Kotaku generate huge ad-revenue from the inevitable click-bait headlines which follow from these exaggerated claims. The more games who take the bait, who defend their hobby from these accusations, the more revenue goes to the people making and promoting them.

This does not represent a genuine feminist movement. This represents a business model. Gamers are being singled out and bullied -- over religious conservatives, over music video directors, over corporate policies towards women -- because gamers are an easier and more lucrative target. Gamers are "hate-baited" with very, very ugly accusations painting them as haters of women, so that their predictable responses can be farmed out to ad-servers and marketing firms. Bullied; for profit.

I've played video games since 1990; I do not hate women; My hobby does not hate women; The vast majority of people who play video games do not hate women. Please, Sarkeesian's of the world, turn your attentions to the people who do.

But if you don't puff up your offspring with enough praise early one, how will they have the iron-cast confidence to windbag their way to the top in todays bullshit world? Again, what use is true intelligence if you don't have the bellicosity to shout down all gainsayers?

If you RTFA, you'd see that they referenced ISIS PR videos, so it's not just "oh that looks like it might be training camp" but "these geo features from the videos correspond exactly to this thing here on the map" type of analysis.