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Chemist Jailed In Russia For Giving Expert Opinion In Court
scibri writes "Think the imprisonment of Pussy Riot is a miscarriage of justice? Check out the story of their cellmate: Chemist Olga Nikolaevna Zelenina heads a laboratory at the Penza Agricultural Institute. She is an expert in the biology of hemp and poppy, and is a sought-after expert in legal cases involving narcotics produced from these plants. Last year, she was asked by defense lawyers to give her opinion in a case involving imported poppy seeds. The prosecutors didn't like her evidence though, and now she's in prison accused of complicity in organized drug trafficking."
in a way, yes
beat the population, you teach the population power and strength means beating the population. some break the cycle, but enough continue the brutality to keep the brutality going generation after generation
no country is immune from this
in the usa, we have a bunch of ignorant rural southerners who faithfully vote republican, even though they live shorter, unhealthier lives, because of republican policies
how is this possible? well, education is deemphasized: that's evil liberal indoctrination. so you get them with the constant litany of teaching ignorant things. that mr. CEO deserves his ridiculous salary because he worked hard to get it all by himself from scratch (pay no attention to the favor daddy called in to his country club chums to get him his first job). that the idea that he has to sit on a silver toilet, and not a gold toilet, so some of his workers get healthcare, is evil socialist redistribution
even more amazing: rural southerns will be shouting that redistribution is evil, even as the rural south receives the lions share of federal subsidies. amazing, isn't it? the ignorance, the blindness? get a kid young, you can teach him the craziest shit, and he will believe it and defend it, as a point of pride
my fellow americans: everyone should start out on the same footing, with good healthcare and good education, and where they wind up should be a simple reflection of how much hard work they do. a meritocracy. i believe in that
but what the hell that idea has to do with a predatorial class that uses those words to defend its existence, even as it redistributes money UP, making you poorer and unhealthier and your kids more stupid, is beyond me. why do so many fools who understand the idea of meritocracy, understand so strongly when a poor nonwhite women staying on welfare is wrong, but don't understand when mr. i-got-my-job-from-my-dad's-country-club-chums is bailed out and pays a ridiculously low tax rate: no, that's fair. wtf? wake the fuck up
america believes in working hard, you get your just rewards. the upside of this belief is that a lot people actually do just that. but plenty others work hard, and get shit, and don't perceive the class structures keeping them down. classism is alive and well in america, but america's work hard ethic masks the bad side effects of classism, people only blame themselves, not the class structures holding them down. in europe, they readily recognize classism. and so "evil socialist redstribution" isn't seen that way, but instead seen as a good correction for genuine class structures that keep the poor unfairly down
if everyone doesn't start on the same footing, you can't believe where they wind up is fair. you correct that by making sure everyone gets a good education and good healthcare. then you erase a lot of the unfairness of what is real and alive in america: class structures
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
They did something that was against the law. You know, we call it committing a "crime". It doesn't matter really if you agree with it or not. They should have (and probably did) expect this as the result. In some countries they think the Americans are crazy for jailing folks for smoking pot. In America we think other countries are crazy for jailing or executing someone for drawing a funny picture of a religious leader. Different strokes.