Soviets Politics in America

Finally, in the last of three random posts in a row: A former Soviet spy says exactly what's been on my mind, but better than I ever could.

Here are some quotes:

Sowing the seeds of anti-Americanism by discrediting the American president was one of the main tasks of the Soviet-bloc intelligence community during the years I worked at its top levels. This same strategy is at work today, but it is regarded as bad manners to point out the Soviet parallels. For communists, only the leader counted, no matter the country, friend or foe. At home, they deified their own ruler--as to a certain extent still holds true in Russia. Abroad, they asserted that a fish starts smelling from the head, and they did everything in their power to make the head of the Free World stink...

Competition is indeed the engine that has driven the American dream forward, but unity in time of war has made America the leader of the world. During World War II, 405,399 Americans died to defeat Nazism, but their country of immigrants remained sturdily united. The U.S. held national elections during the war, but those running for office entertained no thought of damaging America's international prestige in their quest for personal victory. Republican challenger Thomas Dewey declined to criticize President Roosevelt's war policy. At the end of that war, a united America rebuilt its vanquished enemies. It took seven years to turn Nazi Germany and imperial Japan into democracies, but that effort generated an unprecedented technological explosion and 50 years of unmatched prosperity for us all.

Great article. Here's a bonus quote on Soviet propaganda on the Vietnam War:

During the Vietnam War we spread vitriolic stories around the world, pretending that America's presidents sent Genghis Khan-style barbarian soldiers to Vietnam who raped at random, taped electrical wires to human genitals, cut off limbs, blew up bodies and razed entire villages. Those weren't facts. They were our tales, but some seven million Americans ended up being convinced their own president, not communism, was the enemy. As Yuri Andropov, who conceived this dezinformatsiya war against the U.S., used to tell me, people are more willing to believe smut than holiness.

Here's a question: how much of the news we hear today is actually propaganda..? And a followup: how can you know for sure? Hmm.

The Mysterious Legoman

Here's a weird thing: A giant lego man washes up onshore in Holland. No real details, except that, oddly, "the toy was later placed in front of the drinks stall."

I hereby call for an investigation.

Google: The Right Call?

OK, I'm super-busy, but I've got several items to post here before I lose them, so here goes:

Google has announced a new, free, 411 service. Yep, you can call on your phone, talk to a pretty smart computer, and have it read to you from the phone book. It's pretty smart, and very interesting.

Now I like Google--their stuff is innovative, often best-in-class, and usually at a price that can't be beat (read: free). And they've figured out how to make a ton of money at those ridiculous rates. But as they keep dominating every industry they decide to enter, they are starting to scare me a little. I mean, 411 services, for crying out loud! It's pretty far afield from web search (which they'd argue, as their stated goal is to organize the world's information--but my point stands).

Don't misunderstand me; I'm a free-enterprise guy, and I don't think anybody should try to regulate them into little pieces or anything. I'm just saying that their seemingly unimpeded march through all in their path is making me a little nervous. I know their informal motto is "Don't be evil", but if they decide change their mind they could, I dunno... usher in the apocalypse or something.

All that said, if Google wants to buy any web properties from me, just a few million bucks could change my mind.