Moon of Alabama Brecht quote
August 10, 2017

NYT - Russia Wants Innovation, But It’s Arresting Its Fraudsters

Russia is BAD we are told on a daily base. It is hacking U.S. elections it is claimed, even when the evidence says it did not do so. The public is only mildly convinced by the anti-Russian propaganda campaign.

The attempt of the borg to reignite a cold war and to vilify Russia is hampered by that fact that Russia is no longer an ideological enemy of the "west". Russia is no longer communist and there are no soviets ruling it. Today's Russia is indeed capitalist and even neo-liberal.

The new way to vilify Russia must then proceed on a different route. "Yes, Russia is capitalist, but it is capitalist in a bad way." Thus we get this NYT headline and story: Russia Wants Innovation, but It’s Arresting Its Innovators:

AKADEMGORODOK, Russia — Dmitri Trubitsyn is a young physicist-entrepreneur with a patriotic reputation, seen in this part of Siberia as an exemplar of the talents, dedication and enterprise that President Vladimir V. Putin has hailed as vital for Russia’s future economic health.

Yet Mr. Trubitsyn faces up to eight years in jail after a recent raid on his home and office here in Akademgorodok, a Soviet-era sanctuary of scientific research that was supposed to showcase how Mr. Putin’s Russia can harness its abundance of talent to create a modern economy.

A court last Thursday extended Mr. Trubitsyn’s house arrest until at least October, which bars him from leaving his apartment or communicating with anyone other than his immediate family.

Noticed how bad Putin is? How very authoritarian his government thugs are? They even arrest an "entrepreneur with a patriotic reputation"!

But why is the man in front of a court?

Mr. Trubitsyn, 36, whose company, Tion, manufactures high-tech air-purification systems for homes and hospitals, is accused of risking the lives of hospital patients, and trying to lift profits, by upgrading the purifiers so they would consume less electricity.

Most important, he is accused of doing this without state regulators certifying the changes.

"Upgrading" something so "it consumes less electricity" is of course good. We all know this.

Ten paragraphs follow to further convince us that the guy is really on the good side and that Putin led Russia is bad, bad, bad.

Only then do we learn what Trubitsyn's company really did:

[Chief technical officer] Amelkin said the company was approached by the regulatory agency and said that it had changed its design and removed a supplementary filtering device that laboratory tests had shown was redundant and wasted electricity. The company then amended its registration documents and thought the matter was over, Mr. Amelkin said.

So here is what really happened. The company produces licensed medical filter equipment. It eliminated one stage of the expensive filters and sold the degraded equipment without telling anyone about the change.

Yes, the modified equipment does "consume less electricity". It does so because it filters less than it is supposed to do. The degraded and cheaper produced medical product was sold without a valid license. Finally some of the companies competitors noticed this and informed the regulators about the dangerous fraud. The "Innovator" CEO of the company was arrested for fraud and will have to go to jail.

That all seems very normal to me and the way product regulation should work. When some German car manufacturers cheated with diesel emission tests their U.S. competitors complained and the regulator put some company officials to jail. That was lauded, even in the NYT, as good regulation. But when Russia does the very same it is defamed as stifling innovation.

Propaganda works. The author of the NYT piece managed to convince his readers. Of the current 29 "Reader recommended" comments 28 are negative towards Russia. Only one commentator, from Vancouver, points out that the system worked as it is supposed to work everywhere. That the company was penalized for a fraudulent product and the responsible manager punished.

One wonders how the author of the piece, and his Russia bashing readers, would feel about insufficiently filtered air when they lie in intensive care.

Posted by b on August 10, 2017 at 19:02 UTC | Permalink

Comments

Propaganda pieces often come complete with trolls or they stovepipe to a network. Zionists publicly brag about their social media network. Comments may not be an accurate indicator of public opinion
On the other hand, even my well educated intelligent children believe way too much of what they read in the papers and hear on television, knowing they have been lied to repeatedly by same.

Posted by: CDWaller | Aug 10 2017 19:39 utc | 1

The US must resort to incessant and childish tactics trying to smear Russia, while attempting to obscure its own domestic sins and worldwide crimes.
US standing in the world has sunk so low and has come to the point where anybody not immersed in the western dominated media culture can see as plain as day who the primary (and only serious) threat to humanity today really is.
Just as a guilty child points the finger at others in attempts to deflect from and lessen their responsibility for bad deeds done, the US must make Russia the scapegoat for anything and everything the media tells us is bad.
America cannot claim virtue on any subject, any longer, anywhere in the world. Correcting itself is not an option, and therefore it must resort to this dead end tactic.
Hysterical children are easier to pacify, this freak needs to be put out of its misery.

Posted by: spinworthy | Aug 10 2017 19:55 utc | 2

The author of the NYT piece managed to convince his readers. Of the current 29 "Reader recommended" comments 28 are negative towards Russia.

given that they are probably all regular NYT readers and commenters they wouldn't have taken much convincing.

Anyone that hangs out regularly at the NYT website, and especially those that bother to comment there, can't be that smart in the first place

Posted by: Just Sayin' | Aug 10 2017 20:11 utc | 3

All you need to know about the article is the name of its author: Andrew Higgins. Mr. Higgins metier is CIA propaganda, and I would fall over in a faint if he is not on their payroll. I offer the following:

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/12/world/europe/mystery-surrounds-death-of-fiery-ukrainian-activist.html

Higgins must laugh hysterically when these things are published. The "activist" in question was a common criminal. A thug imported from the Chechen "opposition" to murder and steal in Ukraine.

But not for Mr. Higgins. For Mr. Higgins he is misunderstood. A victim.

The presence of Higgins on the staff of the Times is the clearest evidence there can be that its content as it sees fit is as fake as fake can be. Pure propaganda having nothing to do with reality.

Posted by: Burt | Aug 10 2017 20:32 utc | 4

As the vaunted and respected NYT is a huge warmongering partner in the MSM, stories like this one are typical. Sultzberger and many others belong in prison for war crimes.

They are excused because they pretend to be ignorant of the facts. That excuse doesn't work with the cop who pulls you over, but it works for them.

Posted by: fast freddy | Aug 10 2017 20:35 utc | 5

Long live Western democracy as they say
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-40885353

Posted by: Mina | Aug 10 2017 20:35 utc | 6

b, why do you write "re-ignite" the cold war? If you ask me, it never ended. Is smouldered with little smoke to see when Russia was the good girl under Jelzin, but this mild phase ended when Putin arrested Khodorkovsky. Just my two cents ...

Posted by: Gesine Hammerling | Aug 10 2017 20:57 utc | 7

If this "quiet equipment downgrade" butthole actually did help kill any patients, it would have been clear proof to the Jew York Times that "Russia is still a corrupt mess where the pseudo-capitalist thugs do the the ordinary people as they please".

And for an extra dose of Mazel-Tov, likely to be taken Orth Xian lives too, now that almost all fellow Ashkenazim have left Siberia.

Posted by: Quadriad | Aug 10 2017 21:02 utc | 8

wanted to say "do to the ordinary people", but "do the ordinary people" makes more sense. Freud speaking outta me - apologies all.

Posted by: Quadriad | Aug 10 2017 21:04 utc | 9

b
" The public is only mildly convinced by the anti-Russian propaganda campaign."

Cant agree with that statement, most people in the west are totally brainwashed by the daily antirussian articles.

Posted by: Anonymous | Aug 10 2017 21:31 utc | 10

The first rule of propaganda is repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. Repetition works. People hear the same message repeated over and over again and come to accept it as truth. This would not work if the public had a more skeptical and critical attitude towards the slop the MSM passes off as "news" but they don't (although this is slowly changing) and it remains a very simple and effective mind control technique. The first person to publicly comment on this phenomenon, and endorse it wholeheartedly, is that nice chap A. Hitler.

Posted by: Temporarily Sane | Aug 10 2017 21:44 utc | 11

A majority of US Americans believe most of the bullshit which the MSM feeds them. Cognitive Dissonance. The six corporations which own the respected, consolidated mainstream media wouldn't lie to us about important stuff. Besides, conspiracy theorists are crazy. Also Kardashians, big asses and America's got talent.

Posted by: fast freddy | Aug 10 2017 21:46 utc | 12

He must have learned this from Amerikas own dod contractors. The only difference is in Amerika they get another contract or pay a small fine and in Russia they do the right thing and put the bum in Jail

The nyt is nothing but propaganda.

Posted by: jo6pac | Aug 10 2017 21:46 utc | 13

Gesine@7,
"b, why do you write "re-ignite" the cold war? If you ask me, it never ended. Is smouldered with little smoke to see when Russia was the good girl under Jelzin, but this mild phase ended when Putin arrested Khodorkovsky. Just my two cents"

I would only disagree with the first part, the Cold War was being waged under Yeltsin, under whose regime Russians were dying off by 800,000-958,000 a year, its just that he and his drunken incompetent comprador buffoonery was the tool USG was using to wage it. No one in DC said a thing when he turned tanks on his legislative branch while it was conducting the legal & constitutional process of impeaching him, nor when he wrote massive unchecked executive power into the 1993 constitution, nor when his 'reforms' started to have horrible impact on the lives of Russians, nor when he stole the 1996 presidential election. What was important was that he was using his vast powers in ways detrimental to Russia, that have caused its power to be significantly and permanently diminished.


You are totally correct that the US moved to open hostility to Putin personally when he busted Dick Cheney's golden boy Khodorkovsky for massive tax fraud before Kh. could sell half of Yukos to Exxon-Mobile. With the political power of the energy oligarchs now destroyed, he was able to reform energy sector taxation, giving the Russian government reliable tax revenue for the first time since the Soviet collapse. Putin used that revenue to pay off the Russian gvts crushing external debt, pay gvt workers regularly, and fund social policies that closed the death birth gap enough that immigration filled it by 2009, and closed it entirely by 2012.

And it is that which earned Putin the undying hatred of the Anglosphere Foreign Policy Elite & Punditocracy (AFPE&P).

Posted by: rkka | Aug 10 2017 22:09 utc | 14

Burt, #4:

Besides the editorial staff, Higgins is the chief American in the NYT stable of regular Russia bashers. It began with Masha Gessen at least three years ago and since then about a dozen ex-pat Russians were added.

Gessen has gone on to other venues, but I recall some of her earlier pieces about Russian monkeys and the lack of good imported cheese following the early sanctions.

Posted by: Bart | Aug 10 2017 22:14 utc | 15

I think the Times Post and Guardian all have paid resident trolls who weigh in with the correct responses and Attack anyone who is not sufficiently orthodox. You can see it happen in real time. An article is posted, there is a lively and varied discussion, the house trolls move in and try to restore ideaological order.

The papers would like to do away with the comments, but it turns out, that's the only way they can attract eyeballs these days. Nobody believes a word of the crap they push as news.

Posted by: Anon | Aug 10 2017 22:17 utc | 16

the chinese were wise to reject Higgins

'So much for the Washington Post's three-year long attempt to actually get its China bureau chief into China. Ever since the Post hired Andrew Higgins in 2009, the paper has been trying to convince the Chinese government to grant him a visa, even enlisting the services of Henry Kissinger at one point.'

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/news/city-desk/blog/13066073/posts-chinese-visa-fight-ends-with-a-whimper

Posted by: brian | Aug 10 2017 22:33 utc | 17

Russia is the most reviled official enemy. No, maybe North Korea. China is up there. So too is Venezuela. Let's not forgot Iran. Lesser lights but still targets of scorn for "the newspaper of record" are Duterte of the Philippines, Corbyn of the U.K. Labour Party, Le Pen of France's National Front, Erdogan's Turkey. There are more, but onto the heroes.

The Gray Lady loves French President Emmanuel Macron, adores German Chancellor Angela Merkel, has a crush on Canada's PM Justine Trudeau, and considers Obama the Messiah.

Per Gesine @ 7: It would be interesting to have a discussion when the Cold War was actually rebooted. Khodorkovsky was arrested in 2003 and sentenced in 2005. The Russo-Georgian War was the summer of 2008. The safe-harboring of Snowden the summer of 2013. But the Crimea vote to join the Russian Federation following the coup in Kiev is what led to NATO's suspension of cooperation with Russian, spring of 2014. That's when I say the official start to the New Cold War began. The MH17 false flag three months later cemented it in place.

Posted by: Mike Maloney | Aug 10 2017 22:40 utc | 18

Patrick Lawrence of The Nation has published (and republished by Consortium News) an excellent item, "A New Report Raises Big Questions About Last Year’s DNC Hack: Former NSA experts say it wasn’t a hack at all, but a leak—an inside job by someone with access to the DNC’s system,"
much of which we've already uncovered and discussed at MoA. Here's the meat:

"Forensic investigators, intelligence analysts, system designers, program architects, and computer scientists of long experience and strongly credentialed are now producing evidence disproving the official version of key events last year. Their work is intricate and continues at a kinetic pace as we speak. But its certain results so far are two, simply stated, and freighted with implications:

"•There was no hack of the Democratic National Committee’s system on July 5 last year — not by the Russians, not by anyone else. Hard science now demonstrates it was a leak — a download executed locally with a memory key or a similarly portable data-storage device. In short, it was an inside job by someone with access to the DNC’s system. This casts serious doubt on the initial “hack,” as alleged, that led to the very consequential publication of a large store of documents on WikiLeaks last summer.

"•Forensic investigations of documents made public two weeks prior to the July 5 leak by the person or entity known as Guccifer 2.0 show that they were fraudulent: Before Guccifer posted them they were adulterated by cutting and pasting them into a blank template that had Russian as its default language. Guccifer took responsibility on June 15 for an intrusion the DNC reported on June 14 and professed to be a WikiLeaks source — claims essential to the official narrative implicating Russia in what was soon cast as an extensive hacking operation. To put the point simply, forensic science now devastates this narrative."

And there's so much more as the above merely sets the table, https://www.thenation.com/article/a-new-report-raises-big-questions-about-last-years-dnc-hack/
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/08/10/new-cracks-in-russia-gate-foundation/

Posted by: karlof1 | Aug 10 2017 23:02 utc | 19

here is the odd duck comment over on NYT:
' makhanko Vancouver 22 hours ago

Just because something is called "innovative" it does not automatically make it good. Think about VW's "innovation" in diesel testing technology. The fact that VW engineers thought of a very cool way to cheat EPA and the public, did not give VW immunity.
Thie case in Russia is similar - the manufacturer is accused by the court of circumventing regulations to make the air-purifiers cheaper. How is this unjust?'


The rest of the comments seem to show how effective is brain washing in USA..even if an american has spent time in russia, he/she repeats the same propaganda talking points.

note this is the educated class commenting in NYT

Posted by: brian | Aug 10 2017 23:14 utc | 20

Thanks for the story - nice illustration of the 'if Moscow does it, it must be bad' narrative.

There's one point, only mildly related...:

"the fact that Russia is no longer an ideological enemy of the "west""

-> That's a commonly quoted phrase, but I would strongly doubt that it is accurate.
Both Russia and China may have a strong private/ 'capitalist' economy, but key sectors continue to be either owned or tightly controlled by the state. There can be no doubt about who's in charge in Moscow or Beijing, whereas in western countries this is often far from clear. Primacy of politics vs. "cohabitation" - whose interests and logic dominate political decisions? The 'strong state' model seems on a global roll...

My opinion - would be curious to know what others think.

Posted by: smuks | Aug 11 2017 0:08 utc | 21

@ smuks who asked for others opinion about: "Primacy of politics vs. "cohabitation" - whose interests and logic dominate political decisions? The 'strong state' model seems on a global roll..."

It depends on how you define 'strong state' and then back to your "Primacy of politics vs. "cohabitation".

In my desired world I think that the state should own/control key sectors of the "economy". Which of you "Primacy of politics vs. "cohabitation" is that?

I believe that China/Russia are capitalist in the sense that they are connected to the current private global finance arrangements.....and I see that situation in current flux.

Again I bring folks back to the understanding that private control of global finance is the evil in our world that is being defended by all this proxy propaganda focused (like that of the posting) at China/Russia/Iran/North Korea.....all folks not entirely under the jackboot of private finance.

Does strong state = socialism/communism and can that concept be projected globally around finance?

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 11 2017 0:30 utc | 22

@smuks21

Profit prophets have no place in the public sphere, as they (by law) will never have the public good as their focus.

Posted by: Tannenhouser | Aug 11 2017 0:47 utc | 23

Drudge has a WaPo article up that pushes the idea that the Russians deliberately lured Team Trump members to that meeting to leak it and create the upheaval. Interesting theory but still pushing the idea of deliberate Russian interference in the election. Syria's dropped off the MSM radar for now. Libya's been out of the picture for years since the Obama's mission accomplished there.

Posted by: Curtis | Aug 11 2017 1:04 utc | 24

What do you expect, the NY Times "reporter" is the fairly infamous Andrew Higgins.

He was the author of the January 2015 "article" in the Times that said there had not been a coup in Ukraine in February 2014--the claims read a lot like much Holocaust denial.

Posted by: Jay Connor | Aug 11 2017 1:21 utc | 25

@psychohistorian

Sorry, I realize that I didn't express this very clearly:

'Primacy of politics' describes a society where (not necessarily democratic) state institutions dominate the fundamental/ strategic decision-making process. Some would oppose this to 'primacy of the economy', but I wouldn't go as far, instead using the term 'cohabitation' to describe a society where political and economic actors and interests jointly 'rule'. And yes, I am fully aware and agree that these two spheres often can not be clearly analytically separated in the real world.

'Being connected' is not the same as 'being dominated'. China and Russia certainly have important features of capitalism in their economies, but are they 'capitalist countries'? Chodorkovsky was mentioned somewhere above, and indeed this was a vital episode determining which path Russia would choose.

"Does strong state = socialism/communism...?"

Both Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt represented a 'strong state' idea, and I would call neither of them socialists. Classical liberalism actually requires strong state institutions to guarantee fair competition and prevent the formation of mono-/ oligopolies. Neoliberalism is almost the opposite, an aberration of real liberalism which demonizes all regulation.

Same with 'private finance' - the question is whether it dominates or is merely a tool, master or servant. In the 90s and 00s the tendency was towards the former, not so today. It's usually shamefully omitted, but banks & Co. really completely fckd up in 2007 and would be dead and gone had the states not kept them going. These days it's mostly central banks and IFOs running the global financial system imv, with much of private finance basically on life support.

@Tannenhouser

Imo the profit logic should never dominate society, but it can be a part of it in certain areas. Even China at some point acknowledged the amazing results of private profit-driven enterprise, and found ways to put it to work for its five-year plans. The difficulty lies in keeping it contained...

Posted by: smuks | Aug 11 2017 1:34 utc | 26

@ smuks who ended with: "The difficulty lies in keeping it contained..."

That assumes it is contained to begin with. Please explain how that is the case with global private finance.

I agree that the yet to exist capitalism does have a place in our form of social organization but it shouldn't control finance tools, IMO Because it does/has for centuries, we have the class system, self serving decisions like the car culture in the US, bad risk management decisions like Fukushima, and I could go on......they don't make societal decisions for the potential betterment of the masses, which I consider extinction level ignorance.....and it continues to be perpetuated by propaganda like this posting refers to.

Humanity can do better this this shit sandwich society we currently live in. I hope the current upheaval produces some structural change in our social structure for the betterment of the masses.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 11 2017 2:04 utc | 27

Harness the horse to the cart, to move the cart. Don't tie the horse up too much or it will not be able to pull the cart. The horse does not need to know the carts destination. The horse has no say in the final destination of the cart. Remember to keep the horse fed, but don't overfeed it. Crack the whip to steer the horse but don't whip the horse. Just because the horse has pulled the cart does not mean the horse owns the cart and its contents.
The horse=profit driven competition, The cart=society
---Argument by analogy is illustrative not probative---

Posted by: Køn | Aug 11 2017 2:55 utc | 28

The US has never stopped fighting the Cold War since 1950. The USSR/Russia dropped out for a while but the US continued with the Cold War in spite of the fact that they had no opponent. Recently Russia has been re-adopted as the opponent that the US aims the Cold War at.

http://www.heritage.org/sites/default/files/~/media/images/reports/2010/b2418_chart1_1/b2418_chart1_2.jpg
From the heritage foundation no less.

Posted by: Køn | Aug 11 2017 3:06 utc | 29

Thanks b again for tracking down the NYT and MSM propaganda and straight lies. You have have your job security beyond your retirement guaranteed since NYT CIA handlers will not let it go, they rather burn it and relegate infamous NYT embellishments into a garbage dump of history we all should forget not because Orwellian attitude but because is was all garbage from it inception to the coming soon end.

Who remembers yesterday's garbage?

However there are other subjects worth addressing because they highlight bias and even sometime prejudice that exists among people who oppose US imperial mayhem, namely, not only what Russian and Chinese elites are against but what are they for as far as society and governance is concerned.

Case in point is an article from RT, strangely not picked up by NYT or MSM as far as I know and clearly is indicating an easy target for Putin bashing as a tyrant.

https://www.rt.com/politics/399206-moscow-court-convicts-four-people/

But I'm guessing the narrative of this RT piece about Russian political organization calling for referendum, as a terrorist group sentencing them to years in prison seems not be be as appealing as Russia gate nonsense because this organization is leftist aligned more with Russian communists.

Please b enlighten us of what is going on since even RT does not claim they were funded by NGO/CIA or DC neocons to overthrow the Putin, but they want to do that on their own via referendum.


Posted by: Kalen | Aug 11 2017 4:23 utc | 30

What if the so called conflict between China, Russia and the US is simply fake. Its really right out of Orwells 1984 which some people call prophetic but I suspect was a leaked plan for the future (one of many). Basically East Asia (China) Eurasia (Russia) and Oceania (NATO) are at each others throats in perpetual war. The purpose being so that their populations don't become comfortable enough to become politically-minded and overthrow them. Food for thought.

Posted by: Pft | Aug 11 2017 5:57 utc | 31

The media takes advantage that most people don't read beyond the headlines. A Facebook friend of mine was upset about a Washington Post article about a Russian place that few over Washington, DC recently. I initially smelled bullshit and it was confirm when I saw in another article that the Russian plane was authorized by the Open Skies Treaty. I then went to the original article and actually read it and it mentions the Open Skies Treat and that the Russian plane had been authorized by the Capitol Police in the second paragraph. In this instance the misinformation was not the fault of the person who wrote the article, but of the person who wrote the headline, often times the two are different. The Washington Post took advantage of the majority of people not reading beyond the headline to induce fear.

Posted by: MusicofE | Aug 11 2017 6:49 utc | 32

thanks b.. i agree with a number of posters here

@3 just sayin'
@ 5 and 12 fast freddy.
@ 10 anonymous
@11 temporarily sane
@13 jo6pac

@21 smuks... interesting topic.. maybe i can comment tomorrow, but i do agree with @23 Tannenhouser

Posted by: james | Aug 11 2017 7:08 utc | 33

@32 MusicofE.. that just confirms the general view of creating this attitude of hate and distrust towards russia... why are the main msm outlets in the west doing this? this is an ongoing question.. what is behind it, other then lies and deceit? folks paying attention want a straight answer, and i doubt any will be forthcoming..

Posted by: james | Aug 11 2017 7:11 utc | 34

@32 MusicofE.. that just confirms the general view of creating this attitude of hate and distrust towards russia... why are the main msm outlets in the west doing this? this is an ongoing question.. what is behind it, other then lies and deceit? folks paying attention want a straight answer, and i doubt any will be forthcoming..

Posted by: james | Aug 11, 2017 3:11:07 AM | 34

The maintenance of a climate of fear creating the supposed justification for a massive military budget that far outweighs the combined military budgets of most of the rest of the world. Given the scale of cost inflation involved in the pricing of military hardware, most of that budget ends up in the pockets of US Oligarchs, who also happen to own the msm which helps create the climate of fear in the first place. etc etc round and round we go, grab yer missiles dozy doh

Orwell laid it all out quite clearly in his Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism

Posted by: Just Sayin' | Aug 11 2017 8:06 utc | 35

@psychohistorian

"Please explain how that is the case with global private finance."

Actually I did in my previous post: It collapsed in 2007, and today owes its very existence and half-way stability to the life support given by central banks.

What you mention are some of the common problems with capitalism (def: An economic system based on private property rights, in which the desire to make profits and thereby accumulate capital is the principle driving force.). To reduce or eliminate them, there's two possibilities: a. replace it with an economy controlled by the state and/ or stakeholders (which raises new, different problems), or b. enforce strict regulation with tough sanctions.

Hard to say how best to achieve 'betterment for the masses'. In capitalism, this is always just a side effect of the main show, which is capital owners trying to make money to buy more capital (= accumulation). The results of which can be quite spectacular, and even benefit the broader population, just look at China.
Big 'but': Capitalism always tries to 'break its chains', i.e. overcome any constraints seen as a hindrance to maximizing profits. It strives to eliminate/ reduce/ ignore state regulation, and to do so seeks direct political influence, if necessary by using threats and bribes. If it succeeds in 'conquering' the state, i.e. dominating politics, the system is doomed - destroying the regulatory frame means destroying its own very basis.

If one thing is certain, it's that society is always changing, there's no 'end of history' or whatever propagandists choose to call it. In the broad scheme of things, it's changing for the better imo, with crises tending to accelerate this, so I'm cautiously optimistic.
One system disappears or rather: is (gradually) replaced by another once people realize that it doesn't offer solutions for pressing issues. If you ask me, today's main problems/ challenges are 1. resource depletion and climate change, 2. inequality - and I don't yet see capitalism as being able to handle them.

Oh dear, another lecture. Sorry once again, I'll try to improve.

Posted by: smuks | Aug 11 2017 10:14 utc | 36

Friends now? Defense Secretary Mattis is all smiles as he meets Trump's Washington Post owner nemesis Jeff Bezos and takes a tour of his Amazon factory
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4779754/U-S-Defense-Secretary-Mattis-begins-tech-outreach-Amazon-visit.html

Posted by: Anoui | Aug 11 2017 10:19 utc | 37

The comments at the NYT are amusing for their ignorance. Pretty much unanimous in calling Putin corrupt and all-powerful and assuming the main reason for the arrest is the guy didn't bribe enough people.

Anyone with a brain can see it was a simple case of fraud. Removing a filter but charging the same after fiddling the paperwork. If, instead, the company had presented a proper analysis of removing the filter to the health service, that demonstrates it did not pose a health risk and the benefits including a lower purchase price and lower energy usage, and the health service had accordingly approved the new design, all would be well. As it is, this article is pure propaganda.

Posted by: John A | Aug 11 2017 10:29 utc | 38

Typical anti-russia lunatic in the social media:
@Olga_Lautman NYC

Russia is aligning with Iran and has increased funding to North Korea.. Hope all the Pro Putin #MAGA understand this! #TrumpRussia
https://twitter.com/olgaNYC1211/status/894032586401607680

Russia "increased funding"? So Russia not only "fund" North Korea according to this lady they have "increased" it. These people are making up whatever lies and disinformation it seems and repeat it to make it sticky.

Read her bio:
"NYC-Investigating The Rus Mole 🇷🇺in The Form of US President..Any Tips DM Me "

Completely filled with hatred, what will she do if she find any "mole"? These people could get real dangerous.


Posted by: Anoui | Aug 11 2017 11:07 utc | 39

"All you need to know about the article is the name of its author: Andrew Higgins. Mr. Higgins metier is CIA propaganda, and I would fall over in a faint if he is not on their payroll. I offer the following:

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/12/world/europe/mystery-surrounds-death-of-fiery-ukrainian-activist.html"

Actually, I am not sure if this is a "propaganda". On one hand, the title is misleading, so Mr. Muzychko may be included in extensive list of "mysterious deaths of Putin opponents", but the only mystery seems to be if he indeed shot himself in a confrontation with UKRAINIAN police, or if he was shot, what may be more probable. Higgins puts in various propaganda phrases that seem code words for a very unappealing person, "fiery opponent of Russia" ( = crank that does not give credit to the system of psychiatrist care), "pugnatious" ( = involved in fist fights, perhaps figuratively as the fights were not restricted to fists), "mercurial" ( = erratic, seeing and attacking enemies everywhere). However, most of the readers does not try to look closely at the meaning of those codes. That makes me thinking, why the propaganda genre of NYT involves on including such information.

Similarly, the article about Trubitsyn provides details that suggested that in USA he would be sued by FDA, probably without a criminal case because American justice system is very lenient on white collar crime. He eliminated a filtration stage and regardless if that was still OK he would need to go through complicated process of getting the approval/attest, and without it selling the devices was fraudulent. By the way, making money on offering a cheaper medical devices or medicines in USA is surprisingly difficult, while eliminating cheaper competition is surprisingly easy.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Aug 11 2017 12:10 utc | 40

Big 'but': Capitalism always tries to 'break its chains', i.e. overcome any constraints seen as a hindrance to maximizing profits. It strives to eliminate/ reduce/ ignore state regulation, and to do so seeks direct political influence, if necessary by using threats and bribes. If it succeeds in 'conquering' the state, i.e. dominating politics, the system is doomed - destroying the regulatory frame means destroying its own very basis.
smuks | Aug 11, 2017 6:14:39 AM | 36

With obvious variations, this is common to ALL political systems. The actors are ambitious (otherwise they would not be active in the power system but they would tend their gardens etc.), and there are always a factions that seek gain even when it undermines the fitness of the system. They can be feudals, greedy and slothful bureaucrats or rapacious capitalists, dependent on the actual system.

Everyone is aware of that in part, but amazingly, only in part. For example, American conservatives postulate that bureaucrats in charge of welfare state do not want to solve the problems lest they got budget cuts etc. But they are less suspicious of the bureacrats in charge of foreign policy (except small number of paleocons and pacifist libertarians).

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Aug 11 2017 12:29 utc | 41

spinworthy says:

The US must resort to incessant and childish tactics trying to smear Russia, while attempting to obscure its own domestic sins and worldwide crimes

it's the incessancy that does the trick, that cultivates the mindfuckery. perhaps a more oblique response is in the cards...

Posted by: john | Aug 11 2017 13:52 utc | 42

There's one point, only mildly related...: "the fact that Russia is no longer an ideological enemy of the "west""

-> That's a commonly quoted phrase, but I would strongly doubt that it is accurate.
Both Russia and China may have a strong private/ 'capitalist' economy, but key sectors continue to be either owned or tightly controlled by the state. There can be no doubt about who's in charge in Moscow or Beijing, whereas in western countries this is often far from clear. Primacy of politics vs. "cohabitation" - whose interests and logic dominate political decisions? The 'strong state' model seems on a global roll... My opinion - would be curious to know what others think. Posted by: smuks | Aug 10, 2017 8:08:30 PM | 21
Response => The people of Russia are just like the People of America (they study to acquire enough knowledge to get, keep jobs and raise families).. Nations of people are each led by small groups of sometimes very devious persons (or corps) who acquire by appointment, contract, election, or employment (ACEE) what I like to call "masquerade power". A person(corp) with Masquerade power behaves as if they are the government itself. Being so positioned Masqueraders can abuse the use of government, act accordingly to their personal beliefs, hates, and aspirations or do abusive things to advance net worth,all being abuses of the people who are governed. Sometimes the masquerade abuses commutes to the world a stereo-typed vision of those nation trapped persons; they are essentially labeled by attribution and made to stick by propaganda. Governments trap those it governs. It does not matter who is in charge; the masses are trapped and must go along with the masquerade. However, the world over, the underlying masses (real people) are the same, victims or benefactors of their governed environments. I generally agree with your analysis.. the power of the state is rising, and I attribute that rising power to the power of propaganda. I don't see is that the USA or Britain or Germany are any different than the Russian Federation; they are all manipulating the trapped by masquerade power.

Posted by: fudmier | Aug 11 2017 15:35 utc | 43


"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. ...We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. ...In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons...who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind." Edward Bernays 'Propaganda'
Even so, it is remarkable how the media stay in lockstep, as though our very existence were at stake. Non-conformity is viewed almost like sacrilege.

Posted by: Shakesvshav | Aug 11 2017 16:23 utc | 44

@35 just saying'.. thanks. we see it much the same! left without an answer - that is how i see it as well.. essentially generating fear to sell war, or the build up to war.

@41 Piotr.. good comment in response to smuks@36.. it seems like it is human nature - greed and capitalizing on fear.. alternative views or approaches to living life are generally always seen as a threat but the insecure - which would include a large number of people in power it would seem..

Posted by: james | Aug 11 2017 16:32 utc | 45

@44 shakesvshav.. thanks.. i didn't see your post when i posted mine! it is remarkable about the media not functioning as a source of knowledge and information, so much as another tool of the corporations to continue the manipulation - story from the nyt that b is discussing being a good case in point!

Posted by: james | Aug 11 2017 16:35 utc | 46

I am a great admirer and faithful reader of "b" and this website, but there is no evidence presented in this article above as to whether the up/down-grade of this air filtration system (by removing an extra "redundant" filter):

Reduced safety or air quality;
Increased power efficiency;
Remained the same price:
Was properly reported to the regulatory agency.

Did the company assume that 'amending its registration documents' would automatically amend its license? VW or any other regulatory cases have no bearing on this without more data. While NYT's assumptions are often suspect, those of "b" are usually reliable AFAIK, but this time the data is sketchy, and the issue seems muddled.

Posted by: dus7 | Aug 11 2017 16:50 utc | 47

Kon @ 28: Like the analogy, actually, the capitalism model in today's America, and a good portion of the globe, workers are considered " beasts of burden ", and treated as such.

Posted by: ben | Aug 11 2017 17:02 utc | 48

b wrote: The attempt of the borg to reignite a cold war and to vilify Russia is hampered by that fact that Russia is no longer an ideological enemy of the “west"

True enough! Nevertheless —- : the war on Russia is of very long standing, and was seemingly only shortly halted by WW2 (in which the US and the Soviet Union ended up on the same side, and the Russkies defeated the Nazis, pace US soldiers’ graves in Normandy) but shortly after something had to be found to blame and vilify the Soviets, and that was Kommunism. If Communism was so horrific and the Soviets adopted it, the best would have been to let them get on with it.. hmm ok.

The US + poodles made great headway - gains with the breakdown of the USSR - Gorby, Yeltsin, … ‘Satellites’ and supporters were lost, and/or broken up (e.g. Yougoslavia), Russians suffered horrendously. Putin took over from Yeltsin, and since then Russia has ‘recovered’ steadily. Note the 10-year gap between the fall of the Wall, 1989, and Putin as Prime Minister, 1999.

Russia is big and ressource-rich. It’s recovery aka rising from the ashes was a surprise for the US, the usual rapine, territorial holds, Corp. and banking tricks, more, etc. etc. was expected to cripple it enough for subsequent augmented notch by notch oppression to be facile.

The US cannot coutenance that the neo-nazi coup in Ukraine (care of the US, and Germany) failed, with Crimea returning to Russia and the ‘civil war’ in the Donbass not drawing the Russkies in for defeat / vilification - and being stalemated for many years now.

To sum up, it is not a resucitation of the cold war, but a long standing war that has become hotter, as the previous ‘winners’ realise that serious setbacks / losses are evident and now don’t know how to react. One way of exacting revenge is thru ‘news’, vilifiying anything / everything that walks and talks, as that can always serve and gives 'good feels'...

Posted by: Noirette | Aug 11 2017 17:42 utc | 49

For the real story:
https://en.crimerussia.com/gromkie-dela/who-contracted-innovative-businessman-dmitry-trubitsyn/

Posted by: Nard | Aug 11 2017 17:47 utc | 50

(certainly not how it's presented in the NYT!)

Posted by: Nard | Aug 11 2017 17:48 utc | 51

The holding management had initially considered the Roszdravnadzor claims formal complaints and started correcting the inconsistency in the documentation. The company had explained the inconsistency between the product registration certificate and actual instrumentation of the device by the flawed legislation regulating the registration of upgrades to the already-registered products. The company representatives have stated as follows: “these inaccuracies had been committed during the previous periods of our work due to the flawed legislation. But the inaccuracies have later been rectified in due course and in close collaboration with respective governmental bodies”. Originally, the air cleaning and disinfection devices produced by the company had photocatalytic filters. But then the developers have replaced those with adsorption–catalytic ones produced in TION laboratories. This know how has allowed to reduce the production costs and make the TION equipment cheaper. In addition, photocatalytic filters remove only gaseous molecular pollutants, but not dust or microorganisms. The developers state that adsorption–catalytic filters performing this function in TION products remove molecular pollutants just as well as photocatalytic filters. On the other hand, the investigation claims, citing the results of an expert assessment performed by a Roszdravnadzor center, that after the exclusion of the photocatalytic filtration, TION products stopped killing viruses and bacteria and, therefore, became dangerous for health.

TION representatives note some interesting details in that expert assessment. There is no semantic chapter there; this allows to suppose that no technical tests of TION products were actually performed – this makes the assessment a meaningless piece of paper. Physical scientist Oksana Trubitsyna, a cofounder of the holding, said that the conclusion that the equipment is hazardous had been made on the basis of an inaccurate matching of the air cleaner mass provided in the instruction manual and its mass indicated in the registration certificate. According to her, the statement that after the exclusion of the photocatalytic filtration, TION products stopped killing viruses and bacteria is wrong. The filtration of viruses and bacteria is based on HEPA-filtration; the captured microorganisms are indeed inactivated by ozone that later degrades on the adsorption–catalytic filter. It is necessary to note that the TION products had earlier passed all the required certification and obtained a medical registration without photocatalytic filters; up until the beginning of 2016, Roszdravnadzor had no complaints against those.

The story has made another twist this summer. In the beginning of the month, searches were performed in TION offices in Moscow, Novosibirsk and Berdsk and in apartments belonging to Dmitry Trubitsyn and his potential – although not identified yet – accomplices. The operatives have seized draft accounting books, computers, and several air disinfectants. A few days later, the company founder has been remanded in custody for the duration of the investigation. Dmitry Trubitsyn denies any guilt. Back in fall 2016, he has posted on his Facebook page an opinion on the buzz around the TION products and the interest of law enforcement structures to the company and himself: “So, we have been attacked and we accept the battle! The time of confusion is over, we know exactly what’s going on and who is behind this. An action plan has been produced, we are mobilized, all fighters are ready, and the evidence base is almost complete. But we are going to keep a relative silence for some time”. After the arrest of Trubitsyn, his comrades have ceased the regime of silence and accused, almost with one voice, the enforcement structures of fulfilling a contract to ruin a perspective innovative business. Boris Titov, the Commissioner for Entrepreneurs' Rights, said that “it is a major overstatement to call the actions of Trubitsyn a crime. The experts believe that the consumer qualities of products shipped by TION haven’t degraded due to the change of their parameters in comparison with those set in the Roszdravnadzor documentation. It is important to bring their stance to the court”.

Public activists and politicians of Novosibirsk Akademgorodok submitted a petition to Vladimir Putin (its text is available at Change.org) asking to take the case against Dmitry Trubitsyn and TION under his personal control and develop a comprehensive set of measures “to prevent such disgraceful practices as forcible pressure on law-abiding businesses”. The results of such pressure can be illustrated by many criminal cases against businessmen – some of those had collapsed in court but still achieved their main goal by ruining successful enterprises.

...bottom line...this is a common tactic used by competitors to take over market share. Read who the shady oligarch is who is likely behind it. Smear the business (bribing quasi-gov't bureaucrats), tie it up in court (serious backlog of cases in the Russian courts), scare off investors/clients, take over with your substitute product.

Posted by: Nard | Aug 11 2017 17:55 utc | 52

Piotr Berman ....the NYT article about "Shashko Bilyi" which is his gangster nom de plum is total BS. He was nothing but an over-the-top gangster at heart with trapping of neo-fascist affiliations....hence his involvement with Chechnyan terrorists fighting against the Russians in the 90's. His demise is no mystery...it was recorded live and broadcast on Ukrainian TV...he was a mad dog that even the coup couldn't allow to remain on the loose. Knew too much and threatened too many.

Posted by: Nard | Aug 11 2017 18:16 utc | 53

(above post regarding "Mr. Muzychko"...Mister indeed not)

Posted by: Nard | Aug 11 2017 18:17 utc | 54

photos of Shasko Bilyi's last hours above ground: there was a shootout at the café (in Bandera-loving western Ukraine) between his thugs and the Ukie law enforcement. He ran away but didn't get far.
https://www.google.com/search?q=sashko+bilyi+photos&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjdy7Sy5c_VAhUk04MKHWC1A3UQ7AkIQw&biw=1440&bih=776#imgrc=v_wK102UuDRBiM:&spf=1502475504308

Posted by: Nard | Aug 11 2017 18:21 utc | 55

@47 dus7... let me ask you this.. if the data is sketchy, how does a paper with any integrity put this as the articles title? "Russia Wants Innovation, but It’s Arresting Its Innovators

who needs facts when you can slur another country regardless of facts??? we see this 24/7 from the western msm today... i say the nyt, wapo and wsj aren't worth the paper they are printed on.. they are propaganda outlets and nothing more... facts don't have to enter into any of it... and my not so humble opinion is that they lie on a regular basis when they aren't also leaving out relevant info as this article highlights..

Posted by: james | Aug 11 2017 19:21 utc | 56

First stop is to actually stop CLICKNING on Washington post and other psyops propaganda outlets. Thats what they all want, visitors.
Focus on news, articles etc that you believe in and push and argue for those arguments instead of giving space to the wapo & other trash MSM.

Posted by: Anoui | Aug 11 2017 19:56 utc | 57

'Noticed how bad Putin is? How very authoritarian his government thugs are? They even arrest an "entrepreneur with a patriotic reputation"!

But why is the man in front of a court?

Mr. Trubitsyn, 36, whose company, Tion, manufactures high-tech air-purification systems for homes and hospitals, is accused of risking the lives of hospital patients, and trying to lift profits, by upgrading the purifiers so they would consume less electricity.

Most important, he is accused of doing this without state regulators certifying the changes.'

------------------------

Strange isn't it, how pathological knavery and folly, even when described in a quite sober and factual fashion, reads so amusingly.

Posted by: pbecke | Aug 12 2017 22:02 utc | 58

...
After the arrest of Trubitsyn, his comrades have ceased the regime of silence and accused, almost with one voice, the enforcement structures of fulfilling a contract to ruin a perspective innovative business. Boris Titov, the Commissioner for Entrepreneurs' Rights, said that “it is a major overstatement to call the actions of Trubitsyn a crime. The experts believe that the consumer qualities of products shipped by TION haven’t degraded due to the change of their parameters in comparison with those set in the Roszdravnadzor documentation. It is important to bring their stance to the court”.
...
Posted by: Nard | Aug 11, 2017 1:55:38 PM | 52

The weasel-ish non-denial denial in the sentence I hilighted (from the Commissioner for Entrepreneurs' Rights, no less) is typical of the half-truths and obfuscation deployed in defense of charlatans who are careless enough to get caught red-handed.

Trubitsyn, at 36, could be just another of those "smart young things" such as Khordokovsky whose blatant dishonesty caused Russia such financial grief under Yeltzin with AmeriKKKa's help.
This case smells like lawfare > crooks betting/ hoping that their smart lawyers can out-smart the government's smart lawyers.

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Aug 13 2017 2:05 utc | 59

Why did the FNYT cover Dmitri Trubitsyn of all fraudsters out there? Does he have family in Brooklyn?

Posted by: Heinz | Aug 15 2017 20:08 utc | 60

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