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Sorry to be using a news source (BBC) from doze furriners:
Ukraine war: Viral conspiracy theories falsely claim the war is fake
The first anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has led to a spike in false claims about the war on social media, with some posts gaining millions of engagements.
A number of US right-wing accounts with large followings posted a series of baseless claims that suggested the entire Ukraine war might be a hoax perpetrated by Western media and governments.
Those spreading the most viral claims included some who had previously been suspended from Twitter and allowed back onto the platform following Elon Musk's takeover.
One false claim that has been gaining traction on Twitter and elsewhere suggested that the entire war has somehow been faked.
Ah, so it is Elon Musk's fault. He was triggered that bad people were not being allowed to spread misinformation and hate while violating the TOS multiple times and finally being booted off the platform after Twitter had no other recourse available to them.
I'll repeat something I've said before: there's no such thing as a free speech absolutist. Like unicorns, they don't exist. That phrase is virtue signalling trying to disrupt the adults in the room figuring out what might be a good and workable acceptable use policy -- on any platform. Musk himself claimed to be a free speech absolutist yet was happy to knee jerk censor things that triggered him. And he's happy to allow harmful and hateful nonsense such as the subject of this BBC article.
Let's go Dilbert.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 28, @04:10PM (6 children)
SN even had limits back when free speech absolutism was pushed by the old administrator. Obviously every public space, even a libertarian fantasy land, requires some minimum basic rules. I can already feel the troll mods for insulting the basis of buck feta, butt facts don't care about your snowflakes!
Musk is just irritatingly pathetic at this point, devolved into a school yard bully that thinks they are wiser than all the teachers.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday February 28, @05:02PM (2 children)
Whether a site is right or left leaning (or maybe just its users are?) it won't have free speech absolutism. I think maybe the only site that came close to that was 8chan.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 28, @07:30PM (1 child)
Yes, and we all know how well that went. Let's face facts: there are some really shitty people online whose only purpose in life is to watch the world burn.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 28, @09:12PM
There are also a ton of uninformed idjits and authoritarians that tryhard to make their ideas appear popular.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday March 01, @02:25PM (2 children)
So what? There's no forum, even Twitter, without such basic rules. A hypothetical perfect free speech absolutism just isn't relevant.
Indeed. We should have crappy video ads load at the top of every SN story. The exodus from Slashdot wasn't because of perfect ideals of free speech, but because the old site had been made so dysfunctional and mercenary that it was unusable.
A pathetic school yard bully that runs multiple successful companies. I don't know whether Twitter will be one of those companies - Musk has spectacularly flubbed here - but I don't consider crazy people on the internet a sign of Musk's decline.
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 01, @04:25PM
Suckin dat billionaire skin flute, have some self respect!
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday March 01, @05:48PM
The Exodus from the green site was due to a combination of factors, but the impetus was waking up one morning and having your favorite text only news outlet turned into a copy of every other news outlet. I.E. Full of random junk advertisements. At a certain point, your user base can and will revolt or at least just stop using your site. In the case of SoylentNews, the green site was based on open-source code and just needed a bit of a push, shove, and hard work to pull off.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 28, @04:37PM (2 children)
Question: how did they get Putin on board with this disinformation campaign? He has been making several high-profile appearances on the one year anniversary to tout the war's success. So strange!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 01, @08:17PM
Obviously that's not the real Putin, it's a Deepfake.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 03, @07:04AM
I guess "war is hoax" conspiracy theory is the next step for people who bought into the Putin mythology. He couldn't possibly suck this much - must be faked.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday February 28, @04:59PM (11 children)
But all the reasons for the war are bullshit.
"Remember the Maine!" The sinking of the Maine provided all the necessary reasons to go to war with Spain. But, in fact, it was bullshit. Also remember all the maneuvering by the US president, to get the US involved in WW2, when he was ready, and on his own terms.
Anyone who doesn't believe the government is lying to us, is a chump, of the lowest order. The most frightening words you could ever hear, are "We're from the government, and we're here to help." If you just believe, you may well be the next person denied medical treatment, so the government can better understand how syphilus progresses.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday February 28, @05:36PM (5 children)
Referring to Putin's explanations for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I would agree.
I wasn't born yet. I don't remember this. I never heard of "Remember the Maine!". But I was taught about a wild conspiracy theory called Perl Harbor.
I also was taught about the lend lease act.
Government lie. American administrations lie. They all, every one of them, want to make themselves look good. But some do things for no discernible reason. Unless they are working for someone other than the American people.
1. Trump wanted out of NATO.
2. He wanted reduced forces in Europe.
3. He met in private with Putin.
4. He took translator records of the meeting.
5. He accepted a soccer ball microchipped by Putin.
6. He denied military aid to Ukraine.
Some people believe government lies hook line and sinker. MAGA hat guys wear T-shirts that say:
I'd rather be Russian than Democrat.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 1) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday March 01, @03:42AM (4 children)
What kind of excuse is that? Have the schools dropped history? I wasn't born yet when Washington crossed the Delaware, or when Napoleon lost his first war, or the second. I wasn't born yet when the Magna Charta was signed. But, I remember reading about those things, and listening to teachers lecture about them.
Leave it to a computer nerd to come up with that. Perl wasn't a language yet when Pearl Harbor was bombed.
Mmmm. I understand the sentiment.
But, back to history. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Of course, you probably weren't born yet when George Santayana said that.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 01, @08:46PM
Hey! Listen!
The nazi idiot of SN would rather be Russian than Democrat #NotShocking #WallDonatersRDumb
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 01, @10:55PM (2 children)
Russia wants you, the time to emigrate is now!!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 01, @11:22PM (1 child)
Sleepy Joe got to Kyiv before Runaway/Putin.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 02, @10:11AM
haha. true things are always the funniest.
unless it was deepAIfaked footage of sleepy joe...
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 28, @10:44PM (2 children)
Runaway is the real (t)chump here! Steve Bannon may be going to court soon, so Runaway and other fools can get their $200 back from the "Build the Wall" scam. Left out the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, Iran-Contra Affair, W's yellowcake, and all the other Republican dog-wagging operations. Shut the Fork Up swabbie!
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 01, @03:53AM (1 child)
Wasn't there a Democrat in charge when the Tonkin Gulf incident took place, and the Tonkin Gulf Resolution?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03, @05:23AM
Trouble is few democrats are actually liberal, and labeling groups that way is the laziest form of intellectualism. Unless we're diacussing current day Republicans. Did you know one member of congress helped plan the coup, and is now selling t-shirts with "enemy of the state" on them? Also CPAC with their new slogan "we are all domestic terrorists." With the current GOP actively pursuing sedition it is fair to generalize.
That help babe?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday March 01, @07:33AM
Like that the Ukraine has Koch brother cooties [soylentnews.org] and thus should be invaded by Russia? Or that Ukrainian nazis are much worse than Russian nazis? That sort of bullshit reason?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 01, @11:14AM
But FOX News said Spain did it. Did Tucker lie to us again?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Mojibake Tengu on Tuesday February 28, @05:34PM (8 children)
How do you know the unicorns do not exist?
https://www.thespruce.com/use-of-pi-yao-pi-xiu-for-good-feng-shui-1274920 [thespruce.com]
For what I've heard, they feed strictly on gold, silver and gemstones only (and that's law by celestial emperor's decree), so it is reasonable to expect you can hardly see one living in a forest or grassland...
Concerning free speech: must be paired adequately with another co-process of listening freely, even with the possibility of freely not listening, otherwise it's not a free speech at all but compulsory propaganda broadcast.
Verily I am free from listening BBC.
The edge of 太玄 cannot be defined, for it is beyond every aspect of design
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday February 28, @05:42PM (7 children)
I've never seen one.
I suppose I could try leaving food out for them on the front sidewalk and see if it disappears? That would be strong evidence supporting the existence of unicorns.
Fortunately in the USA the 1st amendment guarantees us the right to force other people to listen to us.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday February 28, @11:47PM (6 children)
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 01, @01:09AM (4 children)
Ayn Rand is dead, stop trying to impress her!
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday March 01, @06:50AM (3 children)
(Score: 1) by Woodherd on Wednesday March 01, @09:59AM (2 children)
Communists took away the unicorn that Ayn Rand would have gotten for her birthday.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday March 01, @03:09PM (1 child)
Other types of adult toys remain available for Ayn Randy to purchase.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 01, @10:50PM
You mean, Alan Greenspan?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday March 01, @03:04PM
The true reason unicorns went extinct is because they stopped at starbucks on the way to Noah's ark, and didn't make it before the door had been closed. The door could not be re-opened. A few drops of water fell from the sky which was heretofore unknown. The sign came on to remain seated and fasten safety belts.
There is a reference translated as Unicorn in KJV in Job 39:9-12:
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 28, @05:52PM (4 children)
are the provocations, or lack thereof. We know who benefits from the war, and we know (but deny) who provoked it, choosing to believe the official conspiracy theories. Can't rock the boat and jeopardize the paycheck.. Keep your head down, eyes front. We are deep into the new McCarthyism, worse than the old one
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 28, @07:33PM (1 child)
OK Tankie.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03, @02:12AM
27±4 seconds to midnight
unless
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 28, @07:42PM (1 child)
I can't wait to see how you blame "Operation Himmler" on Poland.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday February 28, @11:25PM
(Score: 4, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Tuesday February 28, @07:48PM (37 children)
Humanity has more nuttiness than I imagined even after a few cult suicides (Branch Davidians and Heaven's Gate) and the appearance of the term "going postal". Now we have near daily mass shootings and conspiracy theories that seem to be competing for attention through maximum shock at how incredibly stupid and senselessly vicious they are. How quaint the 1990s now seem, when such was more easily dismissed as a few lone wolves losing it. File this under "Birds Aren't Real".
But I wonder, has such insanity gotten more prevalent and worse in recent decades? One thing I worry about is that we are overpopulating, and this is putting strain on our societies, which manifests as the sorts of ugly craziness that too conveniently lead to deaths. Or is it that it only seems so because the media has grown more capable of and more wanting to amplify the crazy?
What do we do about it? Maybe, not give insanity any more leg than necessary?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 28, @08:06PM (9 children)
It comes from mixing the madness of abundance with the hypocrisy of scarcity.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 03, @07:07AM (8 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03, @07:28PM (7 children)
I would expect nothing less from the banker's errand boy. Your system cannot function without scarcity. Gotta sell those refrigerators to the Eskimos
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday March 04, @03:18AM (6 children)
Let me guess: your system would be better because it cannot function with scarcity!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 04, @04:47AM (1 child)
Scarcity is a myth spun by tyrants. The workers must seize political power to abolish war and the nation-state system. There is more than enough to go around.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday March 04, @05:27AM
Only if you manage to get it. Workers with "political power" aren't more likely than tyrants to give me a lifespan measured in millennia.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 04, @06:40PM (1 child)
My system is better because it doesn't need scarcity the way yours does to profit from usury. One of your methods to create scarcity is to start a war., and this one is probably more profitable than Afghanistan/Iraq. "Blood is a big expense"
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday March 05, @12:35AM
My system doesn't either. Scarcity is baked into reality and thus, any such need, even if it did exist, is trivially satisfied. So "need for scarcity" is vastly far less relevant than "can work in the presence of scarcity".
And my experience is anyone who casually spouts off about usury is self-signaling that they're completely clueless about economics. It's an iron law.
I haven't heard yet what your alleged system is, but my bet is that the wheels come off very quickly once you run into significant scarcity. Perhaps even things like those wars you speak of above.
An irrelevant quote from The Godfather? I guess this trainwreck of an argument wouldn't be complete without a proof by movie fallacy.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Sunday March 05, @04:46PM (1 child)
When 2% own over 50%, there appears to be scarcity to everyone except those 2%.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday March 05, @06:43PM
Of what? If you speak of wealth, 2% wealth is not so good for 98% needs.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Tuesday February 28, @09:06PM (18 children)
I don't have a factual answer to your question but I will point out that virtually all of the news services we use in the USA are sponsored via advertisers. The court case about Dominion vs. Fox News is illustrating that VERY well, profit is more valuable than facts. I'm unaware of an American news outlet that doesn't make the public suffer over it. Can this lead to an amplification of crazy? Welp, according to conservative meme-sharers on my FB feed Biden made gas grills illegal and lotsa people got back at Brandon by harassing M&Ms. I think it's a strong possibility.
Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩
(Score: 5, Informative) by turgid on Tuesday February 28, @09:25PM (17 children)
Talking of that very lawsuit [theguardian.com]
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Tork on Tuesday February 28, @09:44PM (16 children)
Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 28, @10:29PM (7 children)
Nah, fascism has just become normalized so he doesn't have to worry about admitting easily verified facts.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday February 28, @11:15PM (6 children)
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 01, @12:24AM (5 children)
(Score: 2, Touché) by khallow on Wednesday March 01, @07:37AM (4 children)
Thus, I will endeavor to counterfabulate and earn your cringing fear and tear-eyed dismay!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 01, @06:52PM (3 children)
The goals of you rightwing nutters are truly disturbing. Did you inject limpbaugh's hate straight into the vein?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday March 01, @07:16PM (2 children)
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 01, @08:48PM (1 child)
I find your lack of morality, disturbing. Not surprising, just disturbing.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday March 02, @12:11AM
I doubt you have the ability to find anything. You probably couldn't find your ass with both hands and road signs to point the way.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 01, @12:06AM (5 children)
His legal team thinks he can avoid personal liability by making those statements. Having talked with a lawyer that does defamation cases like that, he is pretty convinced that defense will end up working quite well for him personally.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday March 02, @12:15AM (4 children)
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Tork on Thursday March 02, @01:52AM (3 children)
Does it? You've never heard Trump complain about reporters not asking 'nice questions'? I dunno about the ministry of truth but I do totally see a desire for Fox News to appeal to the Trump Base that just wants to hear how 'awesome' he is.
Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday March 02, @04:39AM (2 children)
How many billions of dollars is that really worth?
(Score: 2) by Tork on Thursday March 02, @05:29AM (1 child)
Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday March 02, @05:56AM
Looks more like $1.5-2 billion [yahoo.com] per year post-tax (for example, current $2.1 billion pretax income over trailing twelve months minus almost $600 million due to taxes). Still good money.
And the proposed Dominion lawsuit amount would thus be the better part of a year's profit (it'd be applied against the pre-tax income).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 02, @04:21PM (1 child)
I think it much more likely that he was visited by three (or more) lawyers from the plaintiff's legal team who pointedly reminded him of the possible consequences of perjury.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03, @01:16AM
There are plenty of ways to avoid perjury other than saying what he said and inviting all the potential negative consequences to News Corp and Fox News. Instead of drawing the line where perjury starts, he and his legal team decided to draw it somewhere else. And since one of the consequences is avoiding personal liability for himself outside of just the perjury concern, it isn't a stretch to say that could very well be his real concern.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 28, @09:22PM (1 child)
This is just a fake conspiracy theory to distract from the other things that are going on. Nothing to see here.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 01, @07:52PM
Exactly. One guy gets paid to say something, then he's trotted out to discredit everyone who disagrees with ${narrative}. Nevermind that nobody else anywhere even remotely agrees with the conspiracy that is supposedly widespread among them.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Freeman on Wednesday March 01, @06:57PM (5 children)
While there was a significant number of suicides in the Branch Davidians case, it was a seriously botched job by the government. 79 people were killed in a fire, that was possibly started by improper use of munitions by the government agencies present. In any event, there was a whole lot of butt covering and lying done by the government agencies. A portion of the people (20) were likely death by suicide (gunshot) or murder-suicides.
https://www.congress.gov/congressional-report/106th-congress/house-report/1037/1 [congress.gov]
All of that is very much different than the definitive mass suicides of the Heaven's Gate cult: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven%27s_Gate_(religious_group) [wikipedia.org]
The Heaven's Gate suicides were much more in line with the "Jonestown" mass suicides: Peoples Temple Agricultural Project "Jonestown" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown [wikipedia.org]
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by DannyB on Wednesday March 01, @09:04PM (1 child)
Good recap. Some of us here are old enough to remember all of these.
There is one lesson that Jim Jones could have learned from Trump: Trump would have charged them money for the kool aid.
How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 02, @01:02AM
Trump also would never commit suicide. Suicide is for suckers. Having others kill themselves for your benefit...that makes America grate again!
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday March 01, @09:31PM (2 children)
Oooff..., I forgot to include the source for the first, quote. Which is this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Koresh [wikipedia.org]
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Thursday March 02, @01:40AM (1 child)
I recall reports that the Branch Davidians had doused their compound in gasoline. Then they played the feds for suckers. In hindsight it was apparent that they'd planned mass murder/suicide all along, but wanted the feds to provide the spark so law enforcement would look bad. This wasn't well understood then, but now, there's more recognition of "suicide by cop" in which a person who wants to die basically swats themself. Tell the police there's some dangerous emergency so they come ready to shoot, then point a gun at the cops. The cops will scramble to shoot first.
However exactly it all happened, it's obvious the Branch Davidians were being extremely provocative. There are many other courses of action they could have chosen that would not have lead to all the deaths.
Anyway, I hope mass murder/suicides aren't becoming more common, driven by overpopulation pressure. An alternative explanation is that citizen surveillance powered by the ability of smartphones to record video has exposed what used to be ignored. We now clearly see that police work is highly attractive to bigots. Before Rodney King, there were plenty of rumors but no pics, and "pics or it didn't happen" ruled.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday March 02, @02:32PM
It's possible that they planned "suicide by cop" or mass murder/suicide, but that is not proven. Yet, it is proven that the government lied in so many ways. It's hard to know what the truth was, since most everyone that was in the compound, died in a literal fire.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 01, @12:01PM
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 01, @08:33PM (6 children)
The bombs and deaths of the peasants are real. But for the actual reasons for the war, the Romans had a good line.
Cui Bono?
Who profits. Look at the outcome, assume it was intended , and see who gets the most benefit from that. You can go one obvious step further and assume that everyone who profits was helping it along. No need for a smokey room conspiracy, anyone with the power to affect the situation is perfectly capable of modeling the behavior of all the other players and reacting accordingly.
(Score: 2, Funny) by khallow on Thursday March 02, @12:08AM (3 children)
In other words, look at the shitshow and assume someone planned it that way. Right.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 02, @08:00PM (1 child)
No. Look at the shitshow, see who's making money from it, and assume they were in favor of it.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 03, @02:50AM
This is a huge case of begging the question. I agree that there are those who can benefit from anything, no matter how bad. But that doesn't mean that they had the power to create the situation. My take is that it was a straight-forward case. Putin thought he could invade and get a pliant Ukraine - huffing his own propaganda supply. Well, it didn't work.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 03, @01:08AM
"Shitshow"? Totally depends on your POV, my friend... For the profiteers it's really good shit, turns lead and blood into pure gold
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 02, @01:10AM
Perhaps you could do a little bit more research and demonstrate that your assumptions are correct. Or would that wreck your entire narrative? Of course, once you have tackled that, you could actually address the (possible) elephant in the room: assume Putin is a dumbass who overplayed his hand.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 02, @10:25AM
or uese the more popular: coniuratio seu galli up
it will almost never be coniuratio.