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[Owlbread]

Some thoughts, unrelated to the discussion: the British government is using the new war in Iraq as a smokescreen to direct the attention of the public away from issues like social justice, constitutional reform and unjust government policies like the bedroom tax. There will be far, far more government cuts (genuine cuts this time) and worse as the need to stabilise the zig-zagging UK economy grows. Right-wing political parties like the Conservatives can exploit Islamophobia in their electorates for votes (always a plus) and turn the focus away from things like the EU, which strengthens them against UKIP. Labour will be pushed further to the right as a result to compete with the English electorate, but to be honest I don't think they needed much pushing anyway given that they're already a centre-right political organisation.

Newspapers in the UK, even certain broadsheets are included here, also enjoy a win-win scenario. Their readership is aging as most younger people are looking to social media for their current affairs, if at all. The readership of newspapers has thus become far more conservative; people buy newspapers with scary headlines, they don't want to read anything positive. They want to feel angry about something so they can complain/have something to worry about. This means newspapers can start ramping it up with sensationalist headlines about Islamic extremists on our doorstep; with papers flying off the shelves and the poll figures for pro-war/hawkish/hardline parties like the Conservatives and Labour will go up. So what if decent British Muslim folk get demonised in the process? Every generation needs a bogeyman. Anjem Choudhary has already become the new Abu Hamza for the papers, even the BBC, another organisation which has similar interests to the newspapers due to an aging viewing audience. The defence lobbies (with close ties to the Royal Family) and the military industrial complex that hold enormous influence in the country will also benefit enormously from this war.

Given that newspaper editors and political journalists belong to an elite very closely related to the politicians and political party elites (they regularly cross over) it is no surprise that they work so well together.

Did you notice the kinds of things that started to happen after Osama bin Laden died and the focus drifted away from the War on Terror? People started caring more about the little ways the British government shafts them, across the length and breadth of the Isles. The far-right, such as EDL, Britain First and other organisations, were suddenly the terrorists; those who attacked mosques while our Muslim communities gained public sympathy. The Scots suddenly decided to have an independence referendum too - another little example of the kind of thing people in the UK would start debating if convenient bogeymen like the Islamic State and Al Qaeda weren't present.

There's something we tend not to learn in history in schools in Scotland. In 1914 a bill was being debated in the House of Commons to give devolved powers to Scotland similar to that of Ireland. We would have gotten it if we hadn't been dragged into the First World War by the elites. Some things never change.

[MarcAFK]

P.S. I've seen somewhere that Russia is dismantling weapons plants from rebel-held areas and shipping them home. But it didn't cite sources, anyone heard about this?
[/quote]
Ukrainian ranger mentioned this weeks ago, Ive seen one news story confirming this about a 2 weeks ago but can't find a source for it.

[burningpet]

Some thoughts, unrelated to the discussion: the British government is using the new war in Iraq as a smokescreen to direct the attention of the public away from issues like social justice, constitutional reform and unjust government policies like the bedroom tax. There will be far, far more government cuts (genuine cuts this time) and worse as the need to stabilise the zig-zagging UK economy grows. Right-wing political parties like the Conservatives can exploit Islamophobia in their electorates for votes (always a plus) and turn the focus away from things like the EU, which strengthens them against UKIP. Labour will be pushed further to the right as a result to compete with the English electorate, but to be honest I don't think they needed much pushing anyway given that they're already a centre-right political organisation.

Newspapers in the UK, even certain broadsheets are included here, also enjoy a win-win scenario. Their readership is aging as most younger people are looking to social media for their current affairs, if at all. The readership of newspapers has thus become far more conservative; people buy newspapers with scary headlines, they don't want to read anything positive. They want to feel angry about something so they can complain/have something to worry about. This means newspapers can start ramping it up with sensationalist headlines about Islamic extremists on our doorstep; with papers flying off the shelves and the poll figures for pro-war/hawkish/hardline parties like the Conservatives and Labour will go up. So what if decent British Muslim folk get demonised in the process? Every generation needs a bogeyman. Anjem Choudhary has already become the new Abu Hamza for the papers, even the BBC, another organisation which has similar interests to the newspapers due to an aging viewing audience. The defence lobbies (with close ties to the Royal Family) and the military industrial complex that hold enormous influence in the country will also benefit enormously from this war.

Given that newspaper editors and political journalists belong to an elite very closely related to the politicians and political party elites (they regularly cross over) it is no surprise that they work so well together.

Did you notice the kinds of things that started to happen after Osama bin Laden died and the focus drifted away from the War on Terror? People started caring more about the little ways the British government shafts them, across the length and breadth of the Isles. The far-right, such as EDL, Britain First and other organisations, were suddenly the terrorists; those who attacked mosques while our Muslim communities gained public sympathy. The Scots suddenly decided to have an independence referendum too - another little example of the kind of thing people in the UK would start debating if convenient bogeymen like the Islamic State and Al Qaeda weren't present.

There's something we tend not to learn in history in schools in Scotland. In 1914 a bill was being debated in the House of Commons to give devolved powers to Scotland similar to that of Ireland. We would have gotten it if we hadn't been dragged into the First World War by the elites. Some things never change.

Are you claiming that's simply a natural phenomena or a deliberate creation of external enemy by the british government so they could distract the population from the really important matters?

[Ukrainian Ranger]

Russia Demands Facebook, Google and Twitter Comply With Law on Data Storage

Any predictions? What result will we get? Will corporations fold to Russian demands?

[ChairmanPoo]

Russia Demands Facebook, Google and Twitter Comply With Law on Data Storage

Any predictions? What result will we get? Will corporations fold to Russian demands?

Probably, as they've folded to similar demands from the US in the past.  I doubt very much they'll take a stand this time, either.

[Sheb]

But then, Google took a stand in China. I guess it'll depend on what exactly they need to do to comply (Doesn't the law require them to store data on Russian soil?) and whether their market share is big enough in Russia to make it worth complying.

[scriver]

When did Google take q stand in China? As far as I've heard they've been nothing but accommodating towards them.

[Sheb]

Google quit China in 2010, officially over their censorship policy, although cynics say Google was loosing the Chinese market to Baidu anyway, so it wasn't much of a loss. I could imagine something similar happening in Russia with Facebook for example, since vKontakte leads the market there.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

Read more about that law... well, no Google, Twitter and Facebook for Russians* starting from January first. 

You see, Russiam law demands ALL data to be stored in Russia. Not only Russian citizens or residing in Russian Federation. But just every user. If Facebook, for example, isn't willing to give FSB access to all data from all users, they will be illegal.  Any site** in the world can be shut down by Russian authority if their servers aren't located in Russia. Even if it is some South Korean site in Korean language. The law doesn't care. Of cause that law will be applied selectively as Internet censorship tool 

*Russians that don't know how to use proxies
**3000+ unique visitors

[XXSockXX]

Well, if that law works like it's described in the article, if that's not a censorship tool, I don't know what is.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

It may be less extreme than I wrote above, but the article I read claims that there are no words "Russian citizens" or "Access from Russian territory" in the law. Maybe Russia will demand only data on Russian citizens only

But IMO that law is an excuse for censorship: Make demands that are impossible to meet. Then ban

[Owlbread]

Some reflection on the Yes movement and Scottish nationalism:

Here are 9 images taken from the closing days of the campaign last week that illustrate the kind of people the Yes movement brought together. I can provide corroboration for the conclusions the blog comes to with my own experiences. Perhaps this may challenge any preconceptions you fellows may have about Scottish nationalism, who knows.

Here are some words from RIC, the Radical Independence Campaign, who take a different perspective on whether or not we campaigners and Yes voters really were "nationalists" in the end. I know I was, and I always will be; but you may find their perspective interesting.

[nanomage]

UR, you're confusing two of the new russian laws:
first, there's a law that any website with 3000+ daily visitors (as assessed by RosComNadzor, the Russian censorship office) is obliged to register with RosComNadzor as an Internet media and be subjects to all restrictions that apply to media in Russia (they mostly boil down to no anti-govt speech). Otherwise these sites risk being blocked by all Russian providers. This is of course purely a censorship tool, though not a very necessary one - authorities already have the right to shut down sites arbitrarily here. I think it hasn't even been used yet - all current blocks have been implemented through other means.

second, there's a law that all personal information on Russian citizens is to be stored on the servers located on Russian soil. Personal info is defined very vaguely in the law so it's pretty much anything: mails profiles hashes etc. This is the new one, coming into effect in the new year. The only obvious use I see here is that govt can always get physical hold of any data stored on Russian soil by confiscating the equipment.

[martinuzz]

second, there's a law that all personal information on Russian citizens is to be stored on the servers located on Russian soil. Personal info is defined very vaguely in the law so it's pretty much anything: mails profiles hashes etc. This is the new one, coming into effect in the new year. The only obvious use I see here is that govt can always get physical hold of any data stored on Russian soil by confiscating the equipment.

That would mean Russia can no longer use Windows, google products, or any other internet products that have their company base in America. American law obliges these companies to store, and provide such information, as described by the Russian law, to the American government, if it asks them to. This means that any Russian using software made by such companies in breaking the law, because his personal data will be stored on American soil.

EDIT: it would be friggin awesome if every last Russian switched to using Linux

[Owlbread]

An interesting fact about Scottish politics: there are 6 openly LGBT MSPs (Members of Scottish Parliament) in Scotland right now. 4 out of the 6 are in the SNP, the other two include the Green Party leader Patrick Harvie (pro-independence) and the leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party, Ruth Davidson. Labour has no LGBT representation at all.