The State of Affairs in Russia

[Tamas]

I am sure Languish warrants a dedicated Russian agent. 

[The Brain]

I'm waiting for my honeytrap.

[Berkut]

Funny that Russians are saying the opposite. They're expecting a false flag chemical attack in eastern Ukraine to justify a NATO casus belli against Russia.

Nothing funny about it.  As I said before, which you interpreted as a shot at Russia but is in fact just a factual observation, Russia mirrors accusations as a default gaslighting tactic, about anything and everything. 

Ukrainians are accusing Russians of being behind the snipers that shot 100 protesters in 2014?  Russia will accuse the protesters of sending snipers as a false flag operation.  It doesn't have to be plausible (yeah, protesters sure have easy access to all the high points to put snipers on so that they could shoot their own), the point is to muddy the discourse so that black and white facts become "he said, she said".  It works well enough, so why stray from the winning formula?

As I said earlier, is is fascinating to watch it happen right in front of our eyes, with people dutifully falling into the assigned roles right here and now.

[DGuller]

I am sure Languish warrants a dedicated Russian agent. 

Obviously we are being a little paranoid, but at the same time we don't know the exact details of how the professional trolls operate.  It wouldn't surprise me at all that it works like a multilevel marketing scheme, where trolls just hit up all their social media spaces where they have an established presence, even if some of those spaces are not that large.  None of these spaces in isolation amount to much, but when you take X number of trolls and multiply it by Y number of small social media spaces where they have a credible presence, and provide them with Z number of general talking points to to start with and then adapt to individual contexts, you can have quite an effective propaganda campaign.  The US intelligence did indicate an elevated level of online propaganda being deployed to justify an aggression against Ukraine.

[Valmy]

I am sure Languish warrants a dedicated Russian agent. 

RUSSIA IS INVADING LANGUISH!!!!11111

Look it makes perfect sense Gaijin would have a more Russian view of things, him being Russian and all even if he doesn't live there full time or whatever.

[Tamas]

I am sure Languish warrants a dedicated Russian agent. 

RUSSIA IS INVADING LANGUISH!!!!11111

Look it makes perfect sense Gaijin would have a more Russian view of things, him being Russian and all even if he doesn't live there full time or whatever.

Indeed.

[Jacob]

Oh is Finland a western country and do its citizens speak for western strategic planning now? I am never quite clear on where Finland stands in the whole Eastern Euros vs Western Euros thing.

Finland is a Western country. It's a Western country that has had to be extra careful because it's right next to Russia - but in terms of governance, values, economy, standard of living, and so on it's 100% Western.

[Jacob]

I guess Gaijin de Moscu is one of the secret Russian operatives working in social media to further Russian propaganda. Funny how he suddenly re-appeared recently. I wonder why...

[Jacob]

I guess Gaijin de Moscu is one of the secret Russian operatives working in social media to further Russian propaganda. Funny how he suddenly re-appeared recently. I wonder why...

Damn. We are getting paranoid in our old age.

And hey even if he is, so what? What harm can he do here?

Not much, other than time & energy being wasted in trying to counter his posts. I suggest we treat him like we should any troll, by ignoring him.

Then don't respond to him.

[garbon]

On mirroring accusations... it goes both ways. You choose to see one side of it, I choose the other. We can talk for many pages funding credible examples illustrating both points of view.

Thank you for proving my point.

And you proving mine.

Both sides have zero trust to each other. This exact point of the West mirroring Russian accusations (and projecting its intentions onto Russia) is very popular in Russia these days.

Some day, this mutual demonisation must stop.

Most of the time we don't even think about Russia apart from when Russia starts acting wild. Reminds me of this:

[DGuller]

There is a hint of genuine belief in that delusion, Russians have always genuinely believed that Americans are constantly thinking about them.  I think realizing that Americans truly don't give a shit about them unless they make themselves a nuisance is probably too much of an ego hit for them. 

However, that genuine delusion has been professionally propagandized, and many Russians believe that CNN is actively conducting a campaign against Russia.  Why CNN?  Probably because the propaganda officials creating the talking points have been greatly impressed during their formative years by CNN's reputation in 1990ies, when many Russians were watching it to see the Russian tanks firing at the Parliament building, and they don't realize what an irrelevant joke it has become since then.

[Gaijin de Moscu]

I guess Gaijin de Moscu is one of the secret Russian operatives working in social media to further Russian propaganda. Funny how he suddenly re-appeared recently. I wonder why...

[Maladict]

I guess Gaijin de Moscu is one of the secret Russian operatives working in social media to further Russian propaganda. Funny how he suddenly re-appeared recently. I wonder why...

Imagine someone getting paid to troll Languish. 

[Gaijin de Moscu]

Imagine someone getting paid to troll Languish. 

Or the Paradox forums where many posters here (including me) come from... all the way back from 2002.

I do miss a lot of the "old" personalities. Tim, Count de Money, Korea, many others... hope they're all well.

[Tamas]

Imagine someone getting paid to troll Languish. 

Or the Paradox forums where many posters here (including me) come from... all the way back from 2002.

I do miss a lot of the "old" personalities. Tim, Count de Money, Korea, many others... hope they're all well.

Jimmy Olsen is Tim.