Russian Propaganda is for Idiots

Note the title. That's pretty much what the author of this YouTube video says.

And he should know: He lived in Ukraine pre-USSR dissolution, and is now seeing his country at war with its former master.

The video was prompted by people in comments on his other videos getting mad that he was comparing Russia to Nazi Germany. Their argument was that the Nazis were much worse than the Russians, and that anything being reported as "worse" had to be western propaganda.

So he lays into them, saying that Western propaganda has to rely on half-truths, while Russian propaganda relies wholly on lies.

Inserting my own opinion here: We now have a major political party in the United States that has shifted to relying on lies for their propaganda, and the idiots on their side are lapping it up.

Just about everything this political party says triggers what this YouTuber calls the "imbecillamus," viz:

This is also the pinned comment on the video, from its author (warning, a swear in the last paragraph):

That idiotic black/white response he's talking about? It's the same from the idiots of the political party I've mentioned. So they're textbook idiots, based on the defininiton this author shares of idiocy.

Leave Schulz Out of It

 

I culled this from Facebook earlier this week, just to talk about it.

I've loved Peanuts since I was a very young child. I saw myself in Charlie Brown, sometimes in Linus. But everywhere I looked, I saw a creation that understood some of the anxieties children faced, even if I didn't know I was facing anxieties at all.

So it kinda makes me mad, seeing stuff like this.

Linus never said this. Don't put words in his mouth. Leave Charles Schulz out of whatever it is you're talking about.

Because this isn't the comics page. This is using a beloved (by some) comic strip character in propaganda. And we all know how I feel about using things as propaganda.

Tax Time

Dig the propaganda. Except that today we don't have Hitler or Hirohito to blame, or, for that matter, thrifty Scotsmen to stereotype. Nevertheless, can't deny that it's tax season.

I don't mind so much. What with having three children lying around the house, tax time is a time of rejoicing in our house. We'll pay some bills with the refund, including a big hunk of money on our car payment. That'll feel good.

Here's something else that feels good:

Factories making guns. Machine guns. Anti-tank guns. Long-range guns. Guns. Guns, All kinds of guns! To blast the aggressor from the sea!

Forgive me a cruel chuckle, Hiss. (If you don't understand, you've got to watch the propaganda provided.)

I do my own taxes, which Louis Tully tells me I shouldn't do, but I do it anyway because I figure I'm smart enough to figure it all out.

A new wrinkle this year: Schedule M. This comes from the oddly-named Making Work Pay act, or something or other like that. I can't think of another reason to go to work than for pay, unless, of course, it's Uncharted and I'm doing it all voluntarily because it gives me something to do in the off hours when I'm not working for pay. Aside from writing for all these blinking blogs. Back to Schedule M. Maybe I expected things to be too obvious, but just try to find an explnaation about who can take this credit. Seems like everybody, and if I'm reading the schedule instructions right, and if the trial run I did through H&R Block's online tax software is right, I can take the credit, even though I got the reduced payroll deduction. It's all a bit hazy, though. But I'll take the money. It's just like Grampa Simpson says: the money is coming because "I figured it was because the Democrats won power again."

Other good news: I'm off the Lifetime Learning credit as of this year, since I'm done earning my masters degree. But for this year, we ought to be lucky enough to have Michelle enrolled as a full-time student, so that'll mean the credit can keep on rolling our way.

Then there's the instant exemption for property taxes paid. That's a weird one. But this is the government we're talking about, and if it knows anything, it knows weird. Oh, the stories I could tell on that one but won't because I'm currently employed by the government and applying for another government-related job, so, hi to those in the NSA who are spying on me right now. I know I haven't showered yet, but it is my day off, you know. Busy figuring my taxes.