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Comment Re:How propaganda decides wars (Score 0) 269

There will always be stooges in any movement

Well, the opposition to the Korean war — as I outlined from the get-go — never rose to anywhere the same pitch. Not while the war was running, not later. Soldiers returning from Vietnam war were "baby-killers", but those who came back from Korea were not. The "peace-movement" being infested by stooges is a confirmed theory that explains all of the known facts. It may be difficult for you to accept, probably, because you and/or your parents participated — without knowing, who got the ball rolling, of course, being sincere useful idiots — but that's what it is.

Meanwhile, I noticed, that every post I make here gets marked as "Troll" within minutes and I'm getting tired of it. So I'm not posting again — you aren't going to admit it and the anonymous collective with too many mod-points are too cowardly to speak-up.

As it turns out it was actually a very well informed protest movement as the invasion of Iraq was by any metric a disaster.

The currently-existing "disaster" was not at all inevitable, and it did not become a disaster for any of the reasons known at the time.of those coordinated protests.

but I doubt many [Russians] are actually backing the invasion

Yes, unfortunately, many are. Though Putin's support is nowhere near he enjoys in Russia (86%), plenty in the diaspora approve of him or outright like him.

Fringe opinion-makers whom I'd never heard of. I don't think they're really affecting anything.

Well, you may not like Michael Savage, but he certainly is not "a fringe"... And the already mentioned Justin Raimondo has his loyal following.

It should be noted that the West's hands aren't completely clean in this. NATO was started as an anti-Russia alliance

There you go! NATO was meant to check USSR's advancement further into Europe — without it more countries would've shared the fate of Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and others. Because while NATO membership was voluntary, membership of the Warsaw Pact was not. And the Pact invaded those, who tried to get out. What's "unclean" about NATO, I'll never know.

expanding into former Warsaw pact countries after the end of the Cold War was absolutely moronic. Without that expansion there's a decent chance that everyone is still on relatively good terms.

Huh? If they weren't NATO-members, Baltic states would've been taken over by the same "polite" troops long ago. Moldova and Georgia were invaded before Ukraine.

But, it is interesting... So, in your peace-loving opinion, NATO should've rejected Eastern Europe's attempts to join it to please Russia... Just how do you justify this? What sort of ethical standards do you have? What books did momma read to you? Should the wisest of the Three Pigs have rejected his brothers' attempts to hide in his masonry house — so as not to aggravate the Wolf? Wow!

Again remember many grew up in the USSR, people are going to naturally defend their side.

I grew up in the USSR too, you insensitive clod.

But in a fight between Russia and Ukraine many will be drawn to defend the entity they identify more with from their youth.

Point is, their propaganda works — Obama's lukewarm response to Putin's bona-fide textbook evil is evidence of it. It took him months to authorize "non-lethal" supplies (blankets, tents, rations) for Ukraine's defendants. And even today things like helmets and body-armor are still not authorized.

Because he and his people aren't paying attention. Either that, or — which is the same thing — they know, their electoral base is not paying attention.

Comment Re:"Fruit of poisonous tree" does not apply (Score 0) 144

the court should be quite capable of determining without the help of advantageous timing by prosecutors to avoid their pervue

Yes, I'm sure, a court would be quite capable of dismissing any attempts to muddy the waters by an unrelated crime. The defense could've just as well brought up one of the agents' past jaywalking or some even a more serious (alleged) misdeed.

The prosecutor would've objected on the grounds of irrelevancy and the judge would've sustained the objection right away.

Seriously, imagine: "Your honor, we ask for this DUI case to be dismissed with prejudice on account of the arresting policeman stealing the whiskey bottle from my client's car after arresting him..."

Comment Re:How propaganda decides wars (Score 0) 269

You're not overestimating the enemy's impact, you're accusing your ideological opponents of being stooges.

The links I've posted by now confirm beyond reasonable doubt, that they (or some of them, anyway) are, in fact, stooges. That's a settled question. Just how many — that's a problem of (under/over)estimation.

a) People expect a lot more of the US than Russia

Khm, it does not seem like many people think, Russia is doing anything wrong.

b) by invading Iraq it helps legitimize things like Ukraine

Your Bush-blaming fails. Putin's number one justification (at least within Russia) was not Iraq, but Kosovo — for over a year now Russians online are arguing, that if it was Ok for the US to run a referendum there, it is Ok for Russia to run one in Crimea. (That, unlike Americans in Kosovo, Russian occupiers of Crimea had an obvious conflict-of-interest seems to have escaped their attention.)

Greece in particular might have a legitimate problem

Greece is an EU-member and can break the union's consensus-driven foreign policy.

in the English speaking West Russian propaganda is a joke.

It is good, you've kept a level head, but I've already given you a number of links to English-speaking opinion-makers, who were affected by KremlinTV. Another aspect you are ignoring is the Russian-diaspora living in the West. They still watch nostalgic movies on Russian channels and the propaganda "analysis" in between. Then, when asked about current events by their non-Russian peers, they help spread Putin's point of view.

I just came back from Germany — both in Munich and Frankfurt there are pro-Putin signs on the walls and fences. His support there is mostly among Socialists, but those assholes are a considerable power there — and Merkel has to defend herself from their sniping.

Putin's evil is, indeed, obvious to those paying attention, but there are too few of those in the comfortable West today — the others' short attention spans can be easily swayed by his propaganda efforts.

Comment Re:Unsealed after Ulbrich conviction (Score 3, Insightful) 144

He probably does have a few days until his 60 day deadline to appeal lapses though.

What relevance to his facilitating drug-trafficking does the prosecuting agents' unrelated misconduct have?

Bitcoin, banknotes, or gold — whatever the pigs tried to steal — he is still guilty of a (different) crime.

Hopefully, he and the duo of thieves will share the prison floor running into each other for years to come...

Submission + - 2 former federal agents charged with stealing Bitcoin during Silk Road probe (cnn.com)

mpicpp writes: The federal government became owners of one of the biggest troves of Bitcoin, thanks to seizing millions of dollars in the digital currency from criminals associated with the online black market Silk Road.

Two federal agents who led the probe allegedly decided they wanted some of the money for themselves, according to a new federal court documents.

The two now-former agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Secret Service are charged with wire fraud, money laundering and other offenses for allegedly stealing Bitcoin during the federal investigation of Silk Road, an underground illicit black market federal prosecutors shut down last year.

The charges in a criminal complaint filed in San Francisco federal court paints a picture of corrupt federal agents trying to enrich themselves as they tried to bring down one of the Internet's top cybercriminals.

The charges against the agents could end up causing complications for the government's case against Ross Ulbricht, also known as "Dread Pirate Roberts", the Silk Road founder. Ulbricht was found guilty last year of aiding drug trafficking with his site. He is awaiting sentencing. As a result of the case against Ulbricht and others, the federal government seized bitcoin that it said at the time was valued at over $33 million.

Comment Re:Why is penetration in quotes? (Score 1, Troll) 308

Though I agree with you on the matter of Michael Brown, your attempt to conflate him with Miriam Carey needs to be countered.

Unlike Mr. Brown, who attacked the sole officer present. Although her (successful) attempt to drive through a fence-segment placed in front of her car may be considered an attack on the man, who placed it there, the multiple officers shooting her later had no reasons to fear for their lives, when they opened fire — and that's important.

Officer Wilson acted in self-defense shooting Mr. Brown. There was no reason for Secret Service et al. to kill Ms. Carey — though they did have ample reasons to want to arrest her...

That said, I find it strange, that her race was not immediately known — and that her death did not cause any "Black lives matter" protests. In fact, I didn't know, she was Black until I opened the above-posted link. I guess, there just was no need at the time to trump-up the police's supposed "racism" — or, maybe, the Federal officers reporting to Barack Obama and Eric Holder just can not be "racist" no matter who they kill any why...

Comment Re: Why is penetration in quotes? (Score 3, Informative) 308

Well, saying that Michael Brown "roughed up the clerk" definitely seems to be rewriting history.

Well, thanks to the omnipresent (and privacy-invading) video-taping, we know, he really did rough-up the clerk. Without the video, who could've guessed the gentle momma boy could've hurt a fly on his way out of a convenience store with stolen goods?..

Yes, someone in this thread is attempting to rewrite history... I guess, I'm a KKK too now...

Submission + - Seed from ancient extinct plant planted and brought back to life

schwit1 writes: Israeli scientists have successfully gotten a 2000-year-old seed of an extinct date plant to grow and now reproduce.

Methuselah sprouted back in 2005, when agriculture expert Solowey germinated his antique seed. It had been pulled from the remains of Masada, an ancient fortification perched on a rock plateau in southern Israel, and at the time, no one could be sure that the plant would thrive. But he has, and his recent reproductive feat helps prove just how well he’s doing.

For a while, the Judean date palm was the sole representative of his kind: Methuselah’s variety was reportedly wiped out around 500 A.D. But Solowey has continued to grow date palms from ancient seeds discovered in the region, and she tells National Geographic that she is “trying to figure out how to plant an ancient date grove.” Doing so would allow researchers to better understand exactly what earlier peoples of the region were eating and how it tasted.

Comment Re:How propaganda decides wars (Score 0) 269

Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist party?

A perfectly valid question to ask. Communism is the most murderous school of thought known to humanity — even Hitler bizarre brand of Fascism was but a distant second.

Nothing "paranoid" about it. The above-mentioned Rosenberg was introduced to Soviet spies by a fellow American Communist (Bernard Schuster). Thus, belonging to CPUSA was not only indicative of supporting the Communism (whose murderousness was not as well-known back then), but also of a high likelihood of being a traitor.

I'd say the number of non-threats who were actively and vigorously blackballed

Citations needed.

Then add in civil rights discontent

The civil rights discontent was also actively instigated by the USSR. Both by covert payment to Americans and overt propaganda by the Soviets themselves.

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