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Journal by turgid

I'm worried, What happened to the lessons of the last century? I had a grandmother who lived through both world wars and lived to own and use a smartphone.

Much important history has faded from living memory. We mock, harass and intimidate our historians and philosophers.

We for get the optimism and courage of our parents' generation who stood up for civil rights, equality and social justice. We look the other way as hard-won rights are eroded. We sit idly by while we let tyrants exploit us and dismantle our democratic structures and rob us of our sustenance.

At times like these I turn to popular music for inspiration and wisdom. I would like to share one particular retrospectively enthusiastic piece I've recently discovered from more optimistic times and I'd like to think it hasn't been in vain quite yet. We are still the human race.

It's by Montrose (also a Scottish town) and is called Space Station #5 and goes like this:

Start, with the sun
And move on out
The future's in the skies above
The heavens unfold
And a new star is born
Space and time makin' love

Now, I'm sure that's the sort of thing Homer Simpson had on his 8 track in his car back in the day.

I don't care. It's much better than war.

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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday February 15 2022, @04:48PM (28 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 15 2022, @04:48PM (#1221772) Journal
    Here's how I see it. President Yanukovych pulls a bad decision out of his ass and rejects EU integration unilaterally. The Euromaidan protests started at that point. Then two months later as the protests have been building, he gets parliament to ban protests. Then half a million or more people show up in the streets and Yanukovych leaves for Russia. The public participation is what you're missing here.
  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday February 15 2022, @06:06PM (27 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 15 2022, @06:06PM (#1221802) Homepage Journal

    Here's how I see it.

    That's cool. Just, please, stop trying to pass your faulty vision off as reality. https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/ugly-freddy-young-man-smiling-2926103.jpg [dreamstime.com]

    --
    Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday February 15 2022, @06:17PM (26 children)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 15 2022, @06:17PM (#1221808) Journal
      I just need to be right, Runaway. And well, there's good reason to disbelieve that Koch cooties can get the kind of turnout that the Euromaidan protests saw at the end.
      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday February 15 2022, @06:25PM (18 children)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 15 2022, @06:25PM (#1221813) Homepage Journal

        You repeatedly mock the "Koch cooties". It's almost like you believe the Koch Brothers were solely responsible? Like, the US government wasn't backing them? All those rich Ukrainian oligarches who are abandoning ship today weren't helping? Good grief - the Koch boys were just the biggest investors, not the only investors.

        --
        Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday February 15 2022, @09:06PM (17 children)

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 15 2022, @09:06PM (#1221882) Journal

          It's almost like you believe the Koch Brothers were solely responsible?

          I believe we have several posts where all you mention of the Euromaidan protests was the Koch brothers. Like here [soylentnews.org] in this very thread.

          Take away Koch funding, how does Maidan sustain itself?

          Here [soylentnews.org]:

          You didn't listen to the man, did ya? The "west" engineered that coup. Mearsheimer doesn't say so, but I'm aware that the Koch brothers were prime movers in the coup. We quite literally backed fascists and neo-Nazis in the coup.

          Here [soylentnews.org]:

          You might ask if the US' actions in Ukraine conform with international law. Let us not forget that the Koch brothers invested 14 billion dollars into overturning Ukraine's existing, legitimate government.

          Here [soylentnews.org]:

          Absolutely not. Why would I? I'm perfectly well aware that the Koch brothers spent 14 billion dollars to overthrow a government in Ukraine. I should believe they wouldn't do the same here? I'm to believe that Soros wouldn't do the same?

          Here: [soylentnews.org]

          Russia was not the "enemy of the United States" until the United States started diddling Russia and her neighbors. Do Ukraine and Georgia ring any bells? If there's a "cold war" or any other type of war, WE STARTED IT!! In effect, we allowed the Koch brothers to bombard a near neighbor (Ukraine) with 14 billion dollars worth of economic munitions. They toppled the ligitimate government, and installed a fascist government in it's place, RIGHT ON RUSSIA'S BORDERS!!

          Here: [soylentnews.org]

          If the US were concerned about corruption in Ukraine, the Koch brothers would have been blocked from overthrowing the legitimately elected, if corrupt, government they found there.

          Here: [soylentnews.org]

          There are about 14 billion witnesses to the Koch brothers financing the overthrow of Ukraine's legitimate government. Of course, you'll probably have to dig them out of cellars and whatnot.

          To summarize, you probably should have been saying something different for the past three years. I also see that the very last post I quoted cites some crazy blogger by the name of Karoli Kuns who in the 2014 story you cited (which would have taken place during the final protests prior to President Yanukovych's departure and removal from office) made zero effort to make a coherent argument. For example, this is her take on the Koch brothers.

          In December, Koch Industries acquired Molex for $7.2 billion. Molex is a global company which maintains business centers in Ukraine, Russia, Poland and other European countries. The acquisition does not necessarily suggest anything untoward, but the Molex acquisition was the first I found with operations in that country. Would there be a vested interest in exacerbating the underlying conflict in order to create enough chaos to dislodge the oligarchs?

          I don't know. I do find it curious that countries with dangerous levels of unrest -- Ukraine, Venezuela and Thailand -- are struggling under the burden of oligarchies, inequality and corruption, something the libertarian Kochs know a lot about.

          Perhaps this statement from Koch Industries' press release about the Molex acquisition reveals more than they intended:

          "We’re looking forward to applying our Market-Based Management philosophy at Molex to help identify and capture additional opportunities.”

          These protesters need to be careful not to trade one set of oligarchs for another.

          The only solid facts, related to the Koch brothers, in here are that the Koch brothers made a purchase of a business with some sort of presence in Ukraine (she didn't even bother to determine how much of a presence) and a pretty vanilla press release about the merger. From that, she spun a tale of US oligarches preying on countries with "dangerous levels of unrest".

          I never did see anything backing up your claim that the Koch brothers spent $14 billion USD on Euromaidan. But that claim did get repeated a lot.

          All those rich Ukrainian oligarches who are abandoning ship today weren't helping?

          Why are they abandoning ship, Runaway? Russia isn't invading, right?

          It's an interesting case of cognitive dissonance here. Russia supposedly is just defending its interests. But then you smugly observe the chaotic effects that this alleged defense has on poor Ukraine.

          • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday February 15 2022, @09:17PM (16 children)

            by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 15 2022, @09:17PM (#1221884) Homepage Journal

            Why are they abandoning ship, Runaway? Russia isn't invading, right?

            Well, if they do, it's a shame they didn't invade quickly enough to line some oligarches up against the wall.

            --
            Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday February 15 2022, @10:20PM (15 children)

              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 15 2022, @10:20PM (#1221928) Journal
              There's more of that smug, dissonant pathology.

              Way back when, fusty was spinning [soylentnews.org] a tale about how corrupt the US was (it was a straw man argument, apparently, without my knowledge, I had come to believe that the US was much less corrupt than Canada and the UK) and that somehow that excused the much greater corruption of China. So he linked [transparency.org] to a map of countries sorted by perceived corruption, ignoring that China was much more corrupt by that index than the US was - yet another fusty own goal.

              Anyway, if you look at that map, you see an interesting thing. The Ukraine was pretty bad, but Russia was worse. So maybe they would execute all the mean Ukrainian oligarchs. But it's more likely that they'd just steal a bunch from them and transfer that to mean Russian oligarchs.
              • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday February 15 2022, @10:32PM (3 children)

                by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 15 2022, @10:32PM (#1221937) Homepage Journal

                But it's more likely that they'd just steal a bunch from them and transfer that to mean Russian oligarchs.

                Better to transfer that wealth to mean Western oligarchs.

                --
                Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
                • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday February 15 2022, @10:47PM (2 children)

                  by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 15 2022, @10:47PM (#1221944) Journal

                  Better to transfer that wealth to mean Western oligarchs.

                  They already are.

                  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday February 15 2022, @11:16PM (1 child)

                    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 15 2022, @11:16PM (#1221957) Homepage Journal

                    Thank you for that admission.

                    --
                    Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
                    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday February 15 2022, @11:36PM

                      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 15 2022, @11:36PM (#1221965) Journal
                      That was relevant why? I'll note that Russian oligarchs are western too. But there are places a lot more straight than Russia.
              • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday February 16 2022, @02:52AM (10 children)

                by fustakrakich (6150) on Wednesday February 16 2022, @02:52AM (#1222021) Journal

                You're funny... Euromaidan was pure American/CIA. Funny how this story has you all shooting at each other. The idea here is to keep Europe from trading with Russia/China and forming real competing (with US finance) economic alliances. "De-dollarization" is seen as the real threat. The IMF will blow up the universe first

                Nobody but the US wants war. Russia doesn't want it on its border and Ukraine certainly doesn't want it on its territory.

                You may now resume your propagandapalooza fest

                --
                La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
                • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday February 16 2022, @04:54AM (9 children)

                  by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday February 16 2022, @04:54AM (#1222060) Journal

                  Euromaidan was pure American/CIA.

                  Then where did the huge number of protestors on the streets come from?

                  The idea here is to keep Europe from trading with Russia/China and forming real competing (with US finance) economic alliances. "De-dollarization" is seen as the real threat. The IMF will blow up the universe first

                  Unless, of course, you happen to be wrong, say because you don't have a clue.

                  Nobody but the US wants war. Russia doesn't want it on its border and Ukraine certainly doesn't want it on its territory.

                  And yet, Russia is the one playing the war games and the war is on neighboring Ukraine's territory. You need a new narrative fusty.

                  You may now resume your propagandapalooza fest

                  I find it remarkable how people are coming up with these stilted, dumbass narratives and blaming me for bringing the propaganda. I didn't make you all idiots.

                  • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday February 16 2022, @05:01AM (8 children)

                    by fustakrakich (6150) on Wednesday February 16 2022, @05:01AM (#1222062) Journal

                    blaming me for bringing the propaganda

                    :-) Not just you... Eh, whatever, go nuts, you're fun to watch

                    --
                    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
                    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday February 16 2022, @06:14AM (7 children)

                      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday February 16 2022, @06:14AM (#1222073) Journal
                      Didn't take you long to go to those empty one liners [soylentnews.org]! Power move!
                      • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday February 16 2022, @06:18AM (6 children)

                        by fustakrakich (6150) on Wednesday February 16 2022, @06:18AM (#1222074) Journal

                        There's no other way to respond to lies and propaganda

                        --
                        La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
                        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday February 16 2022, @02:13PM (5 children)

                          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday February 16 2022, @02:13PM (#1222133) Journal
                          As before, I accept your abject surrender. Throw that sword on the growing pile. As before, I wonder what mental defect makes you think that merely calling something a lie somehow makes it so. Well, not my problem.
                          • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday February 16 2022, @09:36PM (4 children)

                            by fustakrakich (6150) on Wednesday February 16 2022, @09:36PM (#1222282) Journal

                            As before, I accept your abject surrender.

                            :-) Of course you do... since you have nothing to say anyway. Objectively, you are doing what you are accusing me of... Exactly how your war mongers are doing in their information wars. Today's the day, right?

                            --
                            La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
                            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday February 17 2022, @12:01AM (3 children)

                              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday February 17 2022, @12:01AM (#1222323) Journal

                              Exactly how your war mongers are doing in their information wars.

                              Who again has 150k troops on the border of the Ukraine? You've lost this argument weeks ago.

                              • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday February 17 2022, @12:36AM (2 children)

                                by fustakrakich (6150) on Thursday February 17 2022, @12:36AM (#1222329) Journal

                                :-) Where do you get your news from? You're still war mongering there. Look at the bright side, you can declare victory every day the invasion doesn't happen, like those crazy Christians with their failed doomsday predictions..

                                --
                                La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
                                • (Score: 2, Funny) by khallow on Thursday February 17 2022, @12:49AM (1 child)

                                  by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Thursday February 17 2022, @12:49AM (#1222335) Journal

                                  Where do you get your news from?

                                  No, the problem here is not the news, not the imaginary Western warmongers, but that there's a pile of Russian troops on that border.

                                  Look at the bright side, you can declare victory every day the invasion doesn't happen

                                  Sorry, it's going to take regime change in Russia for a real victory at this point. As long as Putin or his like are in power, we can return to this situation in a few short weeks.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 15 2022, @09:59PM (6 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 15 2022, @09:59PM (#1221913)

        there's good reason to disbelieve that Koch cooties can get the kind of turnout that the Euromaidan protests saw at the end.

        If you never read Debord [wikipedia.org] you don't understand the game. [thenewamerican.com]

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday February 15 2022, @10:41PM (5 children)

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 15 2022, @10:41PM (#1221941) Journal
          Sounds like an utter waste of time. First, Debord is Marxist. Sorry, it might have meant something in 1850, but now that's just self-signalling that you're utterly ignorant - the world moved on. Second, sounds like bike shed material. Debord doesn't know a thing about modern society (and its important features like automation and the market economy), but he does know about "spectacles". So let's talk about spectacles.

          And third, there's some interesting weasel language in the second link complaining about Soros and his alleged support of Euromaidan protests. An example that leaps out at me:

          Many of the participants in Kiev’s “EuroMaidan” demonstrations were members of Soros-funded NGOs and/or were trained by the same NGOs in the many workshops and conferences sponsored by Soros’ International Renaissance Foundation (IRF), and his various Open Society institutes and foundations. The IRF, founded and funded by Soros, boasts that it has given “more than any other donor organization” to “democratic transformation” of Ukraine.

          How many is "many"? Is it 10 or 10 million? That haziness infects the entire piece. And I find it interesting how this is supposed to damn the Euromaidan protests rather than burnish Soros's legacy! We've seen what an utter shit Putin became after his boy, President Yanukovych got kicked out by Euromaidan. Sounds like Soros and the Koch brothers made the right call.

          Sorry, I'm not going to hand wring because there are Soros/Koch brother cooties on the Euromaidan or speak vacuously of "the game".

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 16 2022, @01:04AM (4 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 16 2022, @01:04AM (#1221979)

            So let's talk about spectacles.

            Would you like a new pair of shoes? [justinmcguirk.com]

            speak vacuously of "the game".

            Have your shadow government in place, dominate the media, sow civil unrest (do you like shoes?), incur maximum costs to the state and provoke an election crisis. And variations thereof. [wikipedia.org] Do you think NED, NSAID and OSF invest in countries out of the goodness of their hearts?

            * Also why they still target Trump. With more media support, he would have turned the typical final stage of the game plan against the cartel in 2020.

            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday February 16 2022, @03:47AM (3 children)

              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday February 16 2022, @03:47AM (#1222032) Journal
              Thank you for demonstrating my point. That's an impressive amount of vacuousness, terrible application of Marxist thought to looting, spitting out obscure acronyms (one or two which is wrong), and vague intimations of cartel and self-interest. So what does that have to do with the mess in the Ukraine?
              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 16 2022, @04:31PM (2 children)

                by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 16 2022, @04:31PM (#1222198)

                So what does that have to do with the mess in the Ukraine?

                I explained how color revolutions work. Do you doubt it [consortiumnews.com] or why the establishment was upset when Trump cut funding. [newsweek.com] My interjection was specifically in response to your claim...

                the kind of turnout that the Euromaidan protests saw at the end.

                Ever seen interviews with protesters at mass protests who can't explain exactly what the protest is even about? Beatlemania!

                • (Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday February 16 2022, @05:38PM

                  by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday February 16 2022, @05:38PM (#1222227) Journal

                  I explained how color revolutions work. Do you doubt it or why the establishment was upset when Trump cut funding.

                  And I ignored that because it was and remains irrelevant and yes, I sure do doubt it. Your first link merely notes that Russia shut down a bunch of US-supported organizations - no evidence given that would support their use in your alleged "colour revolutions". Similarly, so what if someone complains because Trump cut funding. Every dollar spent by the US government has a vocal constituent/recipient. Someone would have complained no matter what he cut.

                  Ever seen interviews with protesters at mass protests who can't explain exactly what the protest is even about? Beatlemania!

                  In other words, you concede this point. I see, for example, an absence of Euromaidan protester interviews that might theoretically support your flimsy argument!

                • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday February 19 2022, @01:13PM

                  by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday February 19 2022, @01:13PM (#1223115) Journal

                  Ever seen interviews with protesters at mass protests who can't explain exactly what the protest is even about? Beatlemania!

                  Also, anti-democracy rears its ugly head. Why not just put me in charge so that those poor, clueless protesters never need make/face any hard decisions ever again? I'll make Russia/Ukraine happy and productive! In fact, they'll be so happy and productive, they'll be glowing. So let's call this mighty new nation, SureGlow. We shall have a long, long half-life of happiness! (TM)