

Putin dissolves state news agency, tightens grip on Russia media - mankypro
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/09/us-russia-media-idUSBRE9B80I120131209

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eplanit
It's interesting how people ignore the irony of the nature of Snowden's new
home -- odd pairing for a 'whisteblower' to seek refuge under the wing of a
country led by the former chief of the KGB. Snowden's supporters certainly wax
eloquently when they condemn the history of the Western world. Where are all
the pithy insights regarding the history of human rights and liberty in
Russia, and that of the KGB?

~~~
protomyth
Its not irony. Snowden is an embarrassment for the US Government, so it works
to Putin's advantage. One of those cases for Snowden where the enemy of my
enemy is my (temporary) ally.

~~~
buckbova
I believe eplanit is attempting to point out a glaring hypocrisy of Snowden
and his supporters.

"Nobody is turning a blind eye to Russia's offences."

Except Snowden. Hence the hypocrisy. Obviously he is there to save his own
neck and I get that.

I was pointing out what epalnit was getting at because obviously those
commenting didn't understand.

~~~
jbigelow76
Snowden isn't living in Russia because he is unaware of its human rights
abuses. He is living there because if he lives anywhere else his ass will get
deported.

The guy met his martyr quota already, he doesn't need to go to jail.

~~~
malandrew
I've always been curious if he would be okay if he could get to a country like
Iceland. I know traveling to Iceland by plane is a no-go because of passenger
manifests and the US government's willingness to down any plane to check if he
is on board. However, I don't get why he hasn't attempted to get smuggled out
of the country by boat via a northern port along Russia's huge coastline. With
enough sympathetic supporters, I would imagine that this is a very workable
plan since surveilling ocean ports and ocean vessels is an order of magnitude
more challenging than surveilling air transport.

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amima
Why is this in the top of Hacker News? I live in Russia, this may be a big
concern for me, but even in Russia it's not the top news of the day, this
media, which was dissolved, it always was pro-government, the funding came
from state etc. It's easier to say that it just was renamed and will now make
more propaganda than real news. But how is this local political news about one
media from one single country is something that is of any interest for Hacker
News?

~~~
EarthLaunch
A powerful and influential country with a dangerous history is taking another
step into fascism.

~~~
amima
There are not much political news of this type about USA on Hacker News (if
this is not something about Snowden, which has direct influence on IT). Do not
overestimate this media event, it's nothing but another Russia Today, which
already exists. And this event is definitely has nothing to do with fascism,
because this media already was government media in the first place.

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kushti
That's not a big issue, I think, as Putin had control over it before. The
strange thing is, even "Novosti" workers got known about transformation
today(my friend works there).

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salient
Does he really expect this to go well in the long term? Tyrants never learn
from history, do they?

~~~
protomyth
That hasn't stopped a single one of them from trying.

~~~
tonyedgecombe
Well we don't really know that do we.

~~~
protomyth
Admittedly, the survey and statistical data on Tyrants and their beliefs /
trends is a little weak, but it does seem the natural progression of "I'm now
the Tyrant of this Country".

