In June 2010, the FBI famously broke a ring of eleven Russian intelligence operatives (including one in Cyprus) who were in "deep cover" - not necessarily participating in a short-term mission, but rather attempting to blend into American society and to obtain positions close to people in power wherever possible. Bombshell redhead (fake, as it turns out) Anna Chapman, who was working as a Manhattan real estate agent when she was arrested, quickly became the public face of the group, capturing the world's attention. All ten USA-based operatives pleaded guilty; following a spy swap negotiated between the US and Russian governments, the failed spies were given a hero's welcome when they returned to Russia.
Three years later, after Edward Snowden fled the USA, Chapman tweeted a marriage proposal:
Anna @ChapmanAnna
Snowden, will you marry me?!
But a Russian defector has just revealed that Chapman's proposal wasn't from the heart after all, but rather was ordered by her Russian spy bosses, presumably at SVR.
For those who wonder why this news would be of interest to readers of this site (other than the Snowden/NSA angle), the following video provides more context.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday December 08 2014, @01:15PM
real estate agent
Its a good cover, because half of them are double agents anyway.
(The joke is they're paid by commission, a fraction of sales price, so even a supposed "buyers agent" has a financial goal of getting the sucker to pay as much as possible. Real estate is pretty crooked business at best case, aside from Russian spies.)
More seriously its a really good cover because they're expected to travel around to weird buildings and meet people constantly. Just because the articles in public claim she never really did anything, doesn't mean that she wasn't mixmastering dead drops on a daily basis, just never got caught and its not like she has anything to gain by admitting it.
(Score: 1) by Bill Evans on Monday December 08 2014, @03:57PM
It's more complicated than that. A buyer's agent has incentive to maximize an offer amount not only to increase his commission, but also to increase the likelihood that the seller will accept the offer, allowing the buyer's agent to move on to other matters. In other words, minimize turnover time.
The seller's agent, on the other hand, may wish to maximize the asking price, just to entice a potential seller into a contract with that agent; but if that seller's agent has enough deals cooking at the same time, he will then want (contrary to his client's interest, perhaps) to persuade the seller to accept a lowball offer, just so the agent can grab that commission and pivot to working his other deals and generating new ones. In other words, minimize turnover time.
Probably true most of the time. Though when I bought this house, I adopted the seller's agent as my agent also. When she heard my offering price (over the asking price), she persuaded me to look around at the work that needed to be done on the house and maybe lower my offer, which I did, by $10,000. But this is a small town, with long memories, and that's how things are done here.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday December 08 2014, @04:49PM
But this is a small town, with long memories, and that's how things are done here.
That's not how most of the world does it. Before I bought my first house I researched the situation and when our real estate agent tried to pull the old "there's multiple offers" on me, on a listing that was like two months old, I laughed at her. She was pissed.
I was under intense time pressure due to a lease situation but I was smart enough not to tell her that. She was pissed off about that when she later found out.
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Monday December 08 2014, @01:25PM
tweeted a marriage proposal... wasn't from the heart after all
You don't say.
For those who wonder why this news would be of interest to readers of this site (other than the Snowden/NSA angle), the following video provides more context.
Mildly amusing, but the place for gags is in the comments.
If the only reason you can come up with as to why this news would be of interest to readers of this site is that HahaLookJamesBond, then maybe it's not that newsworthy after all.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Monday December 08 2014, @04:27PM
I don't want to watch the video. Can you summarize for us what should have been summarized in TFS?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 08 2014, @05:19PM
It's a couple of Bond Girls rubbing themselves with Crisco and wrestling.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Monday December 08 2014, @05:52PM
Hmmm, maybe I do want to watch it.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Monday December 08 2014, @07:05PM
So there is precedent for including gratuitous titty^H^Hilation to keep the nerds happy. Doesn't make it right, of course.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday December 08 2014, @01:25PM
(Score: 3, Interesting) by jcross on Monday December 08 2014, @02:22PM
I don't think so, because according to the documentary Citizenfour, his girlfriend is already living with him in Moscow.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 08 2014, @05:08PM
The "proposal" was a long time ago. How long has the GF been there?
Either way, when the "proposal" was made it was pretty clearly just a publicity tweet from a celebrity.
No one with experience of the modern world would take it as anything more than that.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday December 08 2014, @11:20PM
No one with experience of the modern world would take it as anything more than that.
Except the people who are paid to take such things seriously.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Monday December 08 2014, @02:35PM
So why is this interesting to the SN crowd and what is the context ..?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 08 2014, @05:26PM
Because Anna is fscking hot , you homo.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 08 2014, @05:51PM
Shut up Ethanol.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Ethanol-fueled on Monday December 08 2014, @06:57PM
If that were me, I would have said, "Fucking." So fuck you, you fucking fuck.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 08 2014, @08:12PM
It was a pre-emptive shut up. Didn't work though.
(Score: 2) by jimshatt on Monday December 08 2014, @09:31PM
(Score: 3, Funny) by Bot on Monday December 08 2014, @06:37PM
It's useful. I didn't know marriage proposals existed.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by rts008 on Tuesday December 09 2014, @05:15AM
It's a trap!!!
You were better off oblivious.
There is a fix though...
Go read youtube comments for an hour, and you will want to become a recluse/hermit/solitary confinement/etc...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 08 2014, @02:39PM
I'll tell you what the context is. It's that the queue is low, this is one lamx liked the best. Or maybe this is the sort lamx likes anyways.
That's the context.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Monday December 08 2014, @11:34PM
I see, if only there was the option of NOT POSTING crap like this or the minimum wage one, and instead WAITING FOR SOMETHING APPROPIATE
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 09 2014, @02:54AM
That would require editorial discretion.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Monday December 08 2014, @07:14PM
I remember seeing a picture of her. She was quite attractive. At least the Russians made Snowden a good offer.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by arslan on Monday December 08 2014, @09:42PM
Exactly.. at least its not una-brow..
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Monday December 08 2014, @11:02PM
considering that it would only take a few extra moments to explain why this story is of any interest at all to the SN crowd without lining to a video clip I have to ask myself if the whole point of this story and summary was to drive views to the youtube clip.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."