The "overlords" are the Russians. Crimea is Ukrainian territory. The Russians have invaded Crimea, which means they have invaded Ukraine. It similar to having invaded Germany if you invade Bavaria.
There have been plenty of pro-Russian commenters on Slashdot over the last couple of days defending the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
I expect that will continue.
It makes for an interesting change in the tone of discussions. Many of the first to cry "imperialism" or some such when the US does anything don't seem to be kicking up much of a fuss. The new would-be overlords of Ukraine seem to be meeting with either approval or acquiesce.
Prohibition seems to work only in very limited contexts, like preventing individual citizens from buying material useful for making nuclear weapons. Drugs, porn, sex, alchohol, cigarettes etc, prohibition only seems to increase the value of the stuff that is sold.
Prohibition of alcohol in the US cut per capita consumption significantly. Even after prohibition ended consumption was much lower than it had been previously, and it took about 40 years to return to pre-prohibition levels.
Now that marijuana use is being legalized in various US states it appears that consumption is significantly rising.
Lastly, legalizing the sale or distribution of child porn which is already out there, while coming down extremely hard on the producers could in theory change the economics such that it's no longer profitable to make new child porn.
A lot of it is generated out of personal interest, so that isn't going to help. If anything it will likely make the problem worse.
This is likely to be a growing issue in the future. There are various cultures in the world that accept sex between adults and children, and there are elements in Western society chipping away at the taboo. Pedophilia seems to be nearing the state that homosexuality was in the US in the 1950s. Abuse taking place in schools is a much bigger problem than many people realize. Society is rapidly dispensing with ideas of traditional morality, and it is unlikely that what remains will be able to stem the tide.
There have been a lot of materials developments in battery designs over the last year or two. Some of them are providing 10x or better power storage with varying lifetimes. I'm really looking forward to seeing some of this make it into production. It would be better if they could couple improved batteries with some minimalist portable computer designs. People comfortable with Unix would get by with something with much lower specks than is typical today (assuming a minimalist interface), and the battery could probably last for hundreds of hours. I wouldn't mind that a bit.
Some of the other battery tech could be very useful for emergency situations.
Except that GP was not talking about copying the US' computer-based espionage operations, but the US' various illegal wars.
The story is about Russian hacking. Naturally the subject won't turn to Russian hacking, or even Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but to false allegations of "illegal" wars by the US. Typical, and a diversion.
So, which "illegal wars" is the US uniquely "guilty" of?
You know, there is a bit of a mess unfolding in Ukraine. There are pro-russian and pro-european factions and the russians are obviously supporting the former -- with a completely illegal show of force.
I've heard.
Less well known is that the pro-european factions supported by the West are largely far-right nationalists. Neonazis, pretty much. See, e.g. this piece by Max Blumenthal.
Yes, I'm familiar with Russian charges that they are going to fight fascists in another smaller neighboring country. That was the excuse to invade Finland. The charge is recycled to invade and take territory from Ukraine.
During the Stalin era, Soviet propaganda painted Finland's leadership as a "vicious and reactionary Fascist clique". Marshal C. G. E. Mannerheim and Väinö Tanner, the leader of the Finnish Social Democratic Party, were targeted for particular scorn.[52] With Joseph Stalin gaining near-absolute power through the Great Purge of 1938, the Soviet Union changed its foreign policy toward Finland in the late 1930s. The Soviet Union began pursuing the reconquest of the provinces of Tsarist Russia lost during the chaos of the October Revolution and the Russian Civil War. The Soviet leadership believed that the old empire had ideal security and territorial possessions, and wanted the newly christened city of Leningrad to enjoy a similar security. -- Winter War
Yes, that is all too familiar.
As for Max Blumenthal, I'm aware of his work. I don't consider his views useful given their crank fringe attributes.
You can see the nonsense in his piece that you link to. As part of the "proof" he mentions "white supremacist banners and Confederate flags," but somehow passes over the British, French, Canadian, and other flags present. Does that mean that the Ukrainians are also secretly French, British, and Canadian too, or just crypto-Confederates? It contains no small bit of rubbish. He is a useful idiot making excuses for Russia's invasion.
Besides, if it the concern that prompted the invasion really was fighting "fascism," why didn't Russia take care of their own neo-Nazi and fascist problems at home first? It isn't a small problem, and they have been letting it bleed into Ukraine.
Hopefully it won't result in some form of mutant giant man-eating amoeba like things, or something. Of course a virulent microscopic blood-borne disease organism would be bad too.
The point being that I don't get any financial benefit, as you had asked. The fact that my sig had a link to the book's page on Amazon doesn't change that.
I have read it, and it's relevance to TFS/TFA is about as close as Kevin Bacon is to Mary Pickford.
You must have missed my point about the long history of Russian involvement with espionage by computer, as shown in the book.
No, I don't. I point people to it since it is both a good read and informative on many subjects that are discussed here, both directly and indirectly. If you read it you might understand.
I prefer to have informed discussions. Unfortunately that is often difficult here, especially on certain topics. If more people were better informed, and maybe left behind various fringe theories or ideas, the discourse would be more useful.
You aren't "straightening out" the picture so much as trying to confuse it.
The Sudeten crisis was Germany supposedly rescuing ethnic Germans from mistreatment. Does that sound familiar? That is what the Russian government claims they are doing - saving ethnic Russians from mistreatment. Just like they were threatening to do in the Baltic republics in the 90s.
Any place that has someone with Russian blood is apparently in danger of invasion by Russia to "save them."
... Russian ethnicity and citizenship trump national sovereignty. At the very least, they provide a convenient pretext for territorial expansion, as they did in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, where Russia was also ostensibly protecting Russian citizens—also newly minted for the occasion. Just this week, for instance, Russia introduced a law to make it easier for Ukrainians to get Russian citizenship—you know, to give Russia someone to protect.
If Russia is "well within its rights" to invade, then, I would say that NATO is well within it rights to come to the assistance of Ukraine at Ukraine's request, and Ukraine is well within its rights to rearm with nuclear weapons. Happy?
Why don't you complain about the USSR's actions to the Supreme Soviet. That would seem to be appropriate. It seems likely Putin will start reviving that once he is done rehabilitating Stalin.
Ukraine isn't Russia. Russia's current behavior is a menace to peace. If Russia was keeping Russian military forces in Russia instead of invading a neighbor we wouldn't be having this discussion. So, why don't you mind your own business and keep your country out of Ukraine?
It does apply, and Russia is applying it. How about this, you have Russia pull its forces out of Ukraine and then we talk about it, or get the UN or some other organization involved?
It's still no reason to strip said Russians of their rights like Baltic countries did. The fear is that the new Ukrainian government would do similar steps and the fact that one of the first laws passed by the new government was to remove Russian's language "regional language" status is a strong indication for it.
That is no reason for invasion either. That is a fig leaf for Russian aggression.
Ukraine is calling it an invasion. They are in a position to do that.
The presence of any local Russian majority population does not constitute an open invitation to invasion.
The Sudetenland is quite appropriate as a comparison. And yes, it is an occupation - by Russia. The Soviet Union transferred the Crimea to Ukraine, and Russia has recognized that in their treaties leasing the military bases.
Slashdot Mirror
The Russians seem to be more honest about what is going on, if only because they lack the level of Chutzpah the US sources can muster.
I would say that an invasion, and vote authorizing annexation in the Russian parliament, is chutzpah enough, don't you think?
The "overlords" are the Russians. Crimea is Ukrainian territory. The Russians have invaded Crimea, which means they have invaded Ukraine. It similar to having invaded Germany if you invade Bavaria.
There have been plenty of pro-Russian commenters on Slashdot over the last couple of days defending the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
I expect that will continue.
It makes for an interesting change in the tone of discussions. Many of the first to cry "imperialism" or some such when the US does anything don't seem to be kicking up much of a fuss. The new would-be overlords of Ukraine seem to be meeting with either approval or acquiesce.
Prohibition seems to work only in very limited contexts, like preventing individual citizens from buying material useful for making nuclear weapons. Drugs, porn, sex, alchohol, cigarettes etc, prohibition only seems to increase the value of the stuff that is sold.
Prohibition of alcohol in the US cut per capita consumption significantly. Even after prohibition ended consumption was much lower than it had been previously, and it took about 40 years to return to pre-prohibition levels.
Did Prohibition Really Work? Alcohol Prohibition as a Public Health Innovation
Now that marijuana use is being legalized in various US states it appears that consumption is significantly rising.
Lastly, legalizing the sale or distribution of child porn which is already out there, while coming down extremely hard on the producers could in theory change the economics such that it's no longer profitable to make new child porn.
A lot of it is generated out of personal interest, so that isn't going to help. If anything it will likely make the problem worse.
This is likely to be a growing issue in the future. There are various cultures in the world that accept sex between adults and children, and there are elements in Western society chipping away at the taboo. Pedophilia seems to be nearing the state that homosexuality was in the US in the 1950s. Abuse taking place in schools is a much bigger problem than many people realize. Society is rapidly dispensing with ideas of traditional morality, and it is unlikely that what remains will be able to stem the tide.
By the way, I do hope you're getting treatment, and mouthwash.
You guess wrong. It was obvious that you are socially maladjusted from your previous post. All you really did was confirm it.
That's not my thing. Besides, I wouldn't want to steal your food from out of your mouth.
That is pitifully stupid.
Now we're done.
The "illegal war" description doesn't fit Afghanistan at all, and not really Iraq either.
There have been a lot of materials developments in battery designs over the last year or two. Some of them are providing 10x or better power storage with varying lifetimes. I'm really looking forward to seeing some of this make it into production. It would be better if they could couple improved batteries with some minimalist portable computer designs. People comfortable with Unix would get by with something with much lower specks than is typical today (assuming a minimalist interface), and the battery could probably last for hundreds of hours. I wouldn't mind that a bit.
Some of the other battery tech could be very useful for emergency situations.
This might be one to keep an eye on: A Battery That Runs On Sugar Could Soon Be Powering Your Electronics
...don't attribute to stupidity what can be explained with NSA's malice.
What do you think about attributing Russian invasion forces in Crimea, Ukraine, to Russia?
I'll assume you're opposed to that, but I'm curious as to what whimsical reason you'll give.
Except that GP was not talking about copying the US' computer-based espionage operations, but the US' various illegal wars.
The story is about Russian hacking. Naturally the subject won't turn to Russian hacking, or even Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but to false allegations of "illegal" wars by the US. Typical, and a diversion.
So, which "illegal wars" is the US uniquely "guilty" of?
You know, there is a bit of a mess unfolding in Ukraine. There are pro-russian and pro-european factions and the russians are obviously supporting the former -- with a completely illegal show of force.
I've heard.
Less well known is that the pro-european factions supported by the West are largely far-right nationalists. Neonazis, pretty much. See, e.g. this piece by Max Blumenthal.
Yes, I'm familiar with Russian charges that they are going to fight fascists in another smaller neighboring country. That was the excuse to invade Finland. The charge is recycled to invade and take territory from Ukraine.
During the Stalin era, Soviet propaganda painted Finland's leadership as a "vicious and reactionary Fascist clique". Marshal C. G. E. Mannerheim and Väinö Tanner, the leader of the Finnish Social Democratic Party, were targeted for particular scorn.[52] With Joseph Stalin gaining near-absolute power through the Great Purge of 1938, the Soviet Union changed its foreign policy toward Finland in the late 1930s. The Soviet Union began pursuing the reconquest of the provinces of Tsarist Russia lost during the chaos of the October Revolution and the Russian Civil War. The Soviet leadership believed that the old empire had ideal security and territorial possessions, and wanted the newly christened city of Leningrad to enjoy a similar security. -- Winter War
Yes, that is all too familiar.
As for Max Blumenthal, I'm aware of his work. I don't consider his views useful given their crank fringe attributes.
Are Mainstream Liberals Embracing Max Blumenthal’s ‘I Hate Israel Handbook’?
You can see the nonsense in his piece that you link to. As part of the "proof" he mentions "white supremacist banners and Confederate flags," but somehow passes over the British, French, Canadian, and other flags present. Does that mean that the Ukrainians are also secretly French, British, and Canadian too, or just crypto-Confederates? It contains no small bit of rubbish. He is a useful idiot making excuses for Russia's invasion.
Besides, if it the concern that prompted the invasion really was fighting "fascism," why didn't Russia take care of their own neo-Nazi and fascist problems at home first? It isn't a small problem, and they have been letting it bleed into Ukraine.
Russian Neo-Nazis Are Now Beating Up Gays in Ukraine
Russia neo-Nazis jailed for life over 27 race murders
Russia: Far-Right Nationalists And Neo-Nazis March In Moscow
Viral Vigilantism: Russian Neo-Nazis Take Gay Bashing Online
Russian Neo-Nazis Made These Horrifying Videos of Anti-LGBT Attacks
The Russians seem to be good at finding fascism and fighting it in all their neighbors, not
You're assuming the giant virus didn't cause the problem. ;)
Hopefully it won't result in some form of mutant giant man-eating amoeba like things, or something. Of course a virulent microscopic blood-borne disease organism would be bad too.
That is also a direct relationship, is it not?
No, it's not.
The hacker in the book was working for the KGB. That is a direct relationship.
Are we done?
No, I don't.
It was in your sig at one point.
The point being that I don't get any financial benefit, as you had asked. The fact that my sig had a link to the book's page on Amazon doesn't change that.
I have read it, and it's relevance to TFS/TFA is about as close as Kevin Bacon is to Mary Pickford.
You must have missed my point about the long history of Russian involvement with espionage by computer, as shown in the book.
No, I don't. I point people to it since it is both a good read and informative on many subjects that are discussed here, both directly and indirectly. If you read it you might understand.
I prefer to have informed discussions. Unfortunately that is often difficult here, especially on certain topics. If more people were better informed, and maybe left behind various fringe theories or ideas, the discourse would be more useful.
Everyone is copying the US now. I wonder where Russia's GITMO will be?
That's kind of cute. I take it that for you history begins in the year 2000 and is limited to the US?
Just as an FYI, Russia (nee Soviet Union) has been involved with espionage via computer for a very long time. One famous case:
The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage
You aren't "straightening out" the picture so much as trying to confuse it.
The Sudeten crisis was Germany supposedly rescuing ethnic Germans from mistreatment. Does that sound familiar? That is what the Russian government claims they are doing - saving ethnic Russians from mistreatment. Just like they were threatening to do in the Baltic republics in the 90s.
Any place that has someone with Russian blood is apparently in danger of invasion by Russia to "save them."
Putin's War in Crimea Could Soon Spread to Eastern Ukraine
... Russian ethnicity and citizenship trump national sovereignty. At the very least, they provide a convenient pretext for territorial expansion, as they did in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, where Russia was also ostensibly protecting Russian citizens—also newly minted for the occasion. Just this week, for instance, Russia introduced a law to make it easier for Ukrainians to get Russian citizenship—you know, to give Russia someone to protect.
If Russia is "well within its rights" to invade, then, I would say that NATO is well within it rights to come to the assistance of Ukraine at Ukraine's request, and Ukraine is well within its rights to rearm with nuclear weapons. Happy?
Why don't you complain about the USSR's actions to the Supreme Soviet. That would seem to be appropriate. It seems likely Putin will start reviving that once he is done rehabilitating Stalin.
Ukraine isn't Russia. Russia's current behavior is a menace to peace. If Russia was keeping Russian military forces in Russia instead of invading a neighbor we wouldn't be having this discussion. So, why don't you mind your own business and keep your country out of Ukraine?
It does apply, and Russia is applying it. How about this, you have Russia pull its forces out of Ukraine and then we talk about it, or get the UN or some other organization involved?
And how many of those did the US annex or take territory from? Zero (0). None, from those that it was even in.
And how many of my list were annexed or territory stolen from them by you know who? All of those, and more.
Your post is a load of bull. Many happy returns to you.
It's still no reason to strip said Russians of their rights like Baltic countries did. The fear is that the new Ukrainian government would do similar steps and the fact that one of the first laws passed by the new government was to remove Russian's language "regional language" status is a strong indication for it.
That is no reason for invasion either. That is a fig leaf for Russian aggression.
Ukraine is calling it an invasion. They are in a position to do that.
The presence of any local Russian majority population does not constitute an open invitation to invasion.
The Sudetenland is quite appropriate as a comparison. And yes, it is an occupation - by Russia. The Soviet Union transferred the Crimea to Ukraine, and Russia has recognized that in their treaties leasing the military bases.
Trolling? I think that's your job.
... give it a shot.
I hate Otto Korrekt and his cruel invention.