
Mystery 'poison plot' sends Czech mayors into hiding - RickJWagner
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52500865
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KCUOJJQJ
So the Prague 6 district council decides to move the statue of a Soviet. Then
the Russians get angry and send a man carrying a poison into the Russian
embassy, the embassy next to the mayor of that district, for the plan to
poison that mayor. The transport of the poison was detected, but there was no
way to stop that transport? My logic filter says no.

~~~
praptak
The article says the man was travelling on a diplomatic passport which means
diplomatic immunity.

~~~
foogazi
Is there diplomatic immunity to transport ricin ?

Can an diplomat carry nuclear weapons and just walk past security?

~~~
praptak
In theory, diplomatic immunity only covers official stuff necessary for the
functioning of the embassy. But there is no easy way to check. And yes,
diplomatic status has a history of abuse, including drug smuggling.

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craz8
“Mystery” in the title seems a stretch.

“Russian” would seem like a reasonable replacement based on reading the
article

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praptak
_" Russian former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in
Salisbury in 2018, by agents thought to have been sent by Russian
intelligence."_

I appreciate the cautious wording ("thought to") but is there actually any
doubt about Russian intelligence having killed (edit: poisoned, not killed)
Skripal? I mean especially after the Bellingcat report.

~~~
Waterluvian
That wording, as silly as it sounds, fulfills an important role in the
fundamental integrity of journalism.

Try to imagine what journalism looks like if everyone just starts collapsing
"mostly certain" into "certain". And how that can decay integrity over time.

The beauty of the way journalists write is that they aren't the ones making a
judgement call. They just report what some other authority has concluded (or
failed to).

~~~
barry-cotter
Indeed, it does fulfill an important function; it makes journalists much
harder to sue.

The beauty of this fiction that journalists are not making a judgment call in
choosing who to quote, on what topic, when, is that it makes some trusting
people think they’re in some sense impartial.

The internet has broken this fiction wide open. All kinds of authorities used
to unthinking deference from their subjects are now having to deal with the
fact that said subjects can now talk about them, with each other, in n public.
See Martin Gurri, _The Revolt of the Public_. Newspapers may have shut down
their comments sections but they haven’t shut down twitter, Facebook or other
competing websites. So newspapers don’t get to control what the conversation
is about any more and memory holing inconvenient principles is becoming more
difficult. Twitter is the best thing to happen to accurate perception of the
media ever. Unfiltered access to how journalists actually think, unimpeded by
editors who want the public to trust them.

No wonder trust in the media has been dropping for the past two decades.

~~~
akiselev
_> Twitter is the best thing to happen to accurate perception of the media
ever. Unfiltered access to how journalists actually think, unimpeded by
editors who want the public to trust them_

You _think_ you have a more accurate perception thanks to Twitter. That's the
product they've been selling since day one.

~~~
fit2rule
Its not just Twitter. Its the entire open Internet.

The exposure of corruption to the day of light occurs wherever free people are
allowed to communicate, freely, for their own purposes.

Twitter is just a manifestation of the human template.

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Waterluvian
The worst position to be in. A minor figure whose life isn't worth a war,
wanted dead by Putin. I can't see how you guard against that. That will ruin
your soul and sap your energy even if you do continually fend it off.

~~~
ashtonkem
As a matter of national policy, you’ve got to incur a heavier price on Russia
for this stuff, although it will be hard for the Czechs alone to do it.

Why? Because if becoming mayor means that you’re likely to be assassinated,
then your country will be sapped of all political talent overnight. You can’t
let a foreign nation hold your internal affairs hostage, much less with
violence.

What exactly would count as a proportionate response is beyond my level of
creativity, and is left as an exercise to the reader.

~~~
esemor
Exactly, this is where the strength in numbers and economical power of the EU
comes into play. EU commisions should contact the Russian foregin ministry and
demand a full response immidiately.

~~~
iphone_elegance
EU needs Russian oil and gas they can't put up a serious fight

~~~
baybal2
At the current hydrocarbon pricing, they can heat their homes with top grade
gasoline. Western elites need to stop inventing excuses not to fight.

~~~
catalogia
Anybody as eager for any war as you is insane.

~~~
ashtonkem
There is a huge range of responses between “do nothing” and “war”.

~~~
catalogia
And the user I responded to called for acts of war, not the lesser responses
you suggest.

