Russian Police Seize Kasparov 495
An anonymous reader writes "Russian police seized Garry Kasparov, the Russian chess champion, for staging a political rally against Vladimir Putin. IBM's Deep Blue computer was the first to beat a world champion when it defeated Kasparov, who is one of the strongest players in history." He's also been a giant critic of the Russian administration which is increasingly restricting free speech.
obigatory joke (Score:5, Funny)
Seriously, this sucks.
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what, what?
Re:obigatory joke (Score:5, Funny)
In Soviet Russia, Pawns seize Kasparov!
sigh... I had to say it
Re:obigatory joke (Score:5, Funny)
Re:obigatory joke (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:obligatory joke (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:obligatory joke (Score:4, Interesting)
Even less while imprisoned.
Re:obligatory joke (Score:5, Interesting)
They said the same about Nelson Mandela...
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Is this guy from the KGB? Or how they call it now... FSB?
Re:obligatory joke (Score:4, Insightful)
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But you raise a good point. No, it's not as dumb, it's much worse. You can't compare CIA to KGB. As much as CIA is disliked in the US (and people really love to hate CIA, it's so "in"...), they really don't deserve this treatment. The CIA's job, and this should be really trivial when you think about it, is to PROTECT american citizens, and this is what they do every day. Often while endangering their own lives. I real
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Re:obigatory joke (Score:5, Interesting)
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I think I might like to move there.
Wow.
Re:obigatory joke (Score:5, Interesting)
Look, I am not saying that Russia doesn't have the right to choose a system which trades central control over infrastructure development and management of the country instead of one which safeguards individual liberty. This is a choice for Russians alone and I don't think we should interfere with that part itself. However, when Putin starts assassinating dissidents outside of Russia, then he crosses a line which makes him pretty clearly a problem everyone in the world has to face. We *should* have done this when Litvinenko was assassinated with polonium from a Russian nuclear reactor. Maybe this will help people start to realize the danger that Putin poses outside Russia.
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I think your country is seriously fucked up, and as a foreigner, I'd fear for my safety.
I think our country is seriously fucked up too, but then again, name me one that has a population over 5 million people and isn't fucked up. But the great thing about our country IS Fox news, or rather, if you don't like Fox news, you don't have to watch it. There are other media outlets to satisfy your progressive tastes. And if you are the type that likes Fox news or the 700 Club, well, that's available for you as well. We don't have some government autocrat dictating what's allowed and what isn't al
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This hasn't been the case for at least the last 2 years. You have to obtain permission from the local government for any form of public protest (i.e. a demonstration), and they can refuse to grant it without explanation. In fact, the vast majority of requests filed by Other Russia (they planned demonstrations in many cities throughout the country, not just Moscow) were declined.
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If he can just hit that bulls-eye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards!
Chris Mattern
The Kremlin Plays Brutal Chess (Score:5, Informative)
According to a report [washingtonpost.com] recently issued by Reuters, the leading political candidate representing the liberal anti-Kremlin Yabloko party has been shot by an unknown assailant. The candidate is now in serious condition in a hospital. This attempted assassination caps a year-long effort, by the Kremlin, to rig the parliamentary election on December 2. Under orders from the Kremlin, banks have refused to accept donations from supporters for deposit in the accounts of opposition parties [iht.com]. Owners of assembly halls have canceled contracts allowing opposition politicians to stage rallies. The police have seized the newspapers of opposition parties in a draconian attempt to prevent them from spreading their message.
In early November, the election-monitoring arm of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) declined to send election observers to Russia [timesonline.co.uk] to monitor the 2007 parliamentary election. This OSCE decision resulted from (1) the Kremlin's refusing to allow more than 70 OSCE observers to enter Russia and (2) the Kremlin's delaying the granting of visas to them. In 2003, the Kremlin had accepted 400 OSCE observers [iht.com], but after the OSCE condemned the 2003 election for being unfair, many folks in the Kremlin vowed to stymie OSCE's efforts in future elections.
Re:The Kremlin Plays Brutal Chess (Score:4, Interesting)
It puts on a lazy show of elections like any dictatorship is expected to do, even goes as far as not having the party in power not win with 97% of votes but that doesn't change anything to the reality of what's going on there. Made up wars (although the "western" democracies seem to do that a lot lately), numerous murders, broadlight corruption at every level of the state...
That the states play the "our good friend Putin" game because of the hydrocarbons flowing out of Russia is one thing, but that a lot of people still somewhat believe it's a "rough" democracy still baffles me (not that the parent poster sems to believe so).
Re:The Kremlin Plays Brutal Chess (Score:5, Interesting)
It doesn't matter. It never did. As long as they're not Communist, everything is hunky-dory.
Re:The Kremlin Plays Brutal Chess (Score:5, Interesting)
Then why does America still have such close ties to China? Nixon and Kissinger really helped improve things, true; both America and China had bones against the USSR; and it's better to be at peace than at war (at least in my opinion, but why is there no strong ideological war being carried out? The real answer is that they're awesome trading partners, unlike the inefficient, walled-off USSR. I feel like I'm playing a shell game, and at some point, "democracy" was replaced with "capitalism". As was said before, now that they're pumping dinosaur juice out to the rest of the world and we can build a McDonalds in Red Square, we like Russia.
I suppose this is a trite observation. Of course democracy has been usurped by capitalism. I just hadn't really thought about it in terms of foreign policy before.
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Re:The Kremlin Plays Brutal Chess (Score:4, Interesting)
They could accomplish the same goal by dumping the goods into the Pacific as quickly as they were made. The USA hasn't had anything significant to offer by way of trade in a long, long time. If you're going to talk about China-US relations, you really need to fully digest these realities, or you're going to end up way off.
To the people of China, working in those factories is no more practically useful than the Pyramids were to the Egyptians.
Agreed (Score:5, Insightful)
The big difference is that, unlike Saddam, Putin actually does have weapons of mass destruction.
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And another big difference is that not much you can do about this :-)
But really all this naming game ("democracy", "dictatorship", "monarchy") starts getting silly. We now see, on US's own example, that democracy does not work (it's too easy to manipulate.) In Europe you can see that the democratic governments are pandering to the electors instead of doing the right things. So why all the surprises that for R
Re:Agreed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Someone sieze that bitch Hillary (Score:5, Insightful)
Mod GP "Funny" (Score:2, Offtopic)
Also, the authour is anonymous; what does it matter? Without a name, it matters little what the intent is. You don't even know whether the other reply to your post is the same guy! Despite my comments about punishment above (a disguised critique of the fact that funny can't at least cancel down-mods), there's no need to punish such people. If your find it funny, mod it accordingly! I
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If you can't handle freedom, go somewhere where you can have big-daddy-authority-figure hold your hand and change your diaper. Scared little bitch.
Do YOU have a problem with THAT, you anonymous little shitstain?
Don't Worry (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Don't Worry (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Don't Worry (Score:5, Funny)
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Perhaps that was meant as some joke (Score:2)
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Followed your link, actually read further than the summary, and it turns out GP was right!
From the Wikipedia page that you linked:
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Re:Don't Worry (Score:5, Insightful)
In Soviet Russia (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:In Soviet Russia (Score:5, Insightful)
In Soviet Russia, they shoot dissidents.
Not quite there yet, guys.
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Re:In Soviet Russia (Score:4, Funny)
Re:In Soviet Russia (Score:5, Informative)
In Soviet Russia, they shoot dissidents.
Not quite there yet, guys.
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Ever heard of Anna Politkovskaya?
I hadn't, so I looked it up. The Wikipedia article is here [wikipedia.org]. It's an unfortunate story. It makes me recall an NPR segment where a reporter was mentioning that the journalistic freedoms and protections we have in the larger, more powerful countries don't exist in elsewhere. Because of this, journalists have a reasonable expectation of protection from harm, but elsewhere there is no real journalism because everyone gets killed. It's too bad Russia is going down that rou
Re:In Soviet Russia (Score:5, Informative)
But Politkovskaya was no mere political dissident. She had been prevented from mediating an end to the standoff in Beslan but was poisoned on her way there. This lead her to accuse Putin of direct involvement in the school massacre. Soon after this, she is shot dead. Litvinenko, on investigating her death, is then poisoned with Polonium from a Russian nuclear reactor.
Even if Politkovskaya's allegations of Putin's involvement in the Beslan massacre turn out to be inaccurate, the subsequent assassination of both her and Litvinenko can only be called state sponsor of terrorism.
So, then Russia is a state sponsor of terrorism (Score:3, Interesting)
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In putin's russia they deny shooting dissidents.
To be fair though you can be accidently shot in the head five times in the UK If your french you can blow up boats in new zealand and if your mossad you can pretty much do as you please. Of course if your in bhopal then even corporations get to cause bloody mayhem.
depressing isn't it.
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0567GS02("jokes", "expect");
Thank you for your time.
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In the USA we have the Filth amendment but the way things are going that may not last.
Russian Reversal! (Score:2)
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gratuitous IBM inclusion (Score:5, Insightful)
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What, is it suddenly though thtat slashdotters have no clue who Kasparov is without referencing Deep Blue?
Whup... better reference Linux somehow in this post... otherwise noone will have the slightest clue what the hell I'm talking about...
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Yes, it is a little overboard, but better safe, than sorry.
Re:gratuitous IBM inclusion (Score:5, Informative)
Re:gratuitous IBM inclusion (Score:5, Interesting)
In 2004, the Libertarian and Green candidates for President of the United States were arrested for attempting to enter the building in which the presidential debates were being held.
Yes, it is that serious, and, yes, it does happen here.
Re:gratuitous IBM inclusion (Score:5, Interesting)
And here in good old Blighty, let us not forget the frail, old Holocaust survivor who got arrested under Anti-Terrorism laws for shouting, "Nonsense," at a Labour Party conference.
Keep on rockin' in the Free World.
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Finish the analogy (Score:3, Interesting)
This is also akin Hillary organizing illegal political rally against George Bush.
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Actually I think being the last human to hold the absolute title of "chess champion" is pretty significant too. Not that they won't keep having contests to see who the currently best human is, but the fact that the very best chess players are computers has changed chess for me. Humans have never been the fastest runners on
"Stern but fair?" (Score:4, Insightful)
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I know, that's nuts. But people are brainwashed and don't believe in real democracy. It is more like wanting to be blind just because you can't handle real life. You want someone else (in this scenario Putin) to deal with all shit in your country.
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I don't want to be guilty of downplaying what Putin is doing. But on the other hand, we have to realize that a cold war is a two-sided thing; our suspicion and rush to judgement of everything they do could
Re:"Stern but fair?" (Score:5, Interesting)
You have to understand the political climate in Russia to see that Putinism does not have many alternatives, given sincere dislike of what West looks like in the light of American foreign policy.
Putin came to power "with the blood of Chechens up to his elbows", but he made some good changes in Russia after the lawlessness of 90's. That happened many time in history, that is how autocratic rulers usually come to power: after screw ups of democracy, they fix many things (and then they fall, of course, and that what will eventually happen to Putinisim as well). Autocratism vs democracy is like dinosaurs vs mammals. Dinosaurs are bigger and stronger, but mammals are more resilient.
Kasparov and other liberal opposition have ZERO influence or support in Russia. The only (very weak as well) opposition in Russia is a Communist party (do not laugh, it is not funny). The West of course do not care and they will support this puppet liberal opposition, anyway...
Putinism in Russia is for long for better or for worse (for whom?).
And "fairness" has very little to do in politics. Laws are typically broken by the powers.
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If it is true that Kasparov et al. have no influence or support, then why on earth would the powers-that-be arrest him and risk sympathetic attention--strike that--any attention whatsoever be paid to him?
I think they are calculating from a different set of numbers than you, my friend.
Mod up please. (Score:2)
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Political parties - no matter how disgusting, crackpot, or offensive - are not banned in the U.S. I'm not aware of any Nazi Commie parties, but we have just plain Nazis and just plain Commies (and probably even a radical Islamist party) and they're perfectly legal.
Surprised? (Score:3, Insightful)
Yeah, I know, it sucks, because no one wants another Cold War. But seemingly US and West pays now for their lack of involvement of helping Russia to scurb corruption, investigating old crimes and anything else.
Now we all pay the price.
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I know. If only Russia had been a small Middle Eastern country we'd have gone in and fixed up their entire government. Maybe next time we'll do the right thing, assuming we're all done with this terrorist thing.
this is all still a remnant of Gorbachev's legacy (Score:4, Insightful)
See, if only Kasparov had a soft, supple (Score:3, Funny)
Meet the new boss... (Score:4, Funny)
At least with Russia, the citizens can blame Putin for their woes. In the USA, we've got nobody to blame for Bush but ourselves.
Baaaaad summary (Score:2)
Did I read that right? (Score:2)
In a Russian City, Clues to Putin's Abiding Appeal (Score:2, Informative)
As Bill Clinton would say: "It's the economy, stupid". From the article:
Nobody is watching. (Score:3, Insightful)
Obviously it isn't quite that simple; I don't for a minute think that the current administration (or many before) even cares about the rights of it's own citizens tpo petition for redress, let alone the citizens of Russia - but now they can't even pretend to pressure these other countries to allow freedom of speech and respect the rights of the individual.
Unfortunately it seems like things are trending toward the corporations and governments getting all of the rights, basically becoming untouchable - while the individual is is losing rights, control and even "having a say" by the day.
Thug-ocracy (Score:4, Insightful)
A *hard* challenge for AI (Score:3, Insightful)
Until then, its just a glorified calculator brute-forcing its way through a mechanical computation, as impressive as a newspaper press making 500,000 copies of todays celebrity news faster than 50,000 human scribes.
I wonder (Score:3, Interesting)
Why is there so little reporting on what this Kasparov actually stands for? Check wikipedia, about the only thing I can find is that he is far-left (communist?) and that the Other Russia party is a coalition of parties including communists and nationalists. Well, that is a load of my mind. That is Stalin and Hitler in one party, why choose when you can have two!
It is kinda like the US people who keep saying vote Ron Paul, then you read up on the guy and learn that, yes there people who would make even worse presidents then Bush.
Just what does Kasparov stand for, just because he is against Putin who clearly ain't all that nice does NOT make kasparov himself any better. The problem with the media is that they like the idea of heroes, Putin clearly no longer is one so they need someone else. The world doesn't work like that.
No comments so far seem to explain anything about Kasparov except one commenter who points out that his dad was jewish. Oh well that eases my mind. I think another person rallying against a troubled goverment promising better things had a jewish father (step-father).
Godwin or not, just what does the Unitied Civil Front (his real party, Other Russia is a coalition of multiple parties) stand for? I do not know and don't speak russian and the western media seems almost reluctant (or kasparov just ain't as intresting as britney spears) to report on it.
ObChess (Score:3, Funny)
In Soviet Russia (Score:3, Funny)
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Re:another obligatory joke (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:The Deep Blue Win (Score:5, Interesting)
He's got a massive ego, so people dismiss him as a bad loser. But his accusations of cheating aren't without merit [about.com].
My respect for him has gone up quite a bit because of this incident. I wonder if I would have the courage to stand up to police and arbitrary imprisonment, knowing what Russian jails must be like these days.
I hear lots of griping about the state of the world on /. and elsewhere, but I wonder if any of us would have the courage to put our beliefs into action like he has.
Re:The Deep Blue Cheated (Score:3, Insightful)
I'll consider computers as better at chess when they can honestly beat someone at Kasparov's peak WITH
Re:Kasparov's allies... (Score:4, Informative)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Civil_Front [wikipedia.org]
Which is part of a larger organization:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Other_Russia [wikipedia.org]
This more a case of politics makes strange bed fellows. All those groups have one thing in common: opposition to the current government and the direction Russia is heading. Take that common cause away, and I doubt many of these groups would have much to do with each other.
So saying Kasperov is guilty by association in this context isn't exactly fair.
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Re:Since slashdot is also against free speech (Score:4, Insightful)
Show me the censorship. That's all I ask. Back that childish whining up with some bruises from the abuse you've taken. Oh, that's right, slashdot doesn't censor.... ever. That's right, I said it, EVER, as in being an absolute (I'm the kind of guy that likes to tack qualifiers and quantifiers on everything). That's why it's one of the few places I actually post instead of lurk. (I know, it looks like I'm saying I troll alot, I don't, I troll alittle, (and almost exclusively non-anon) I'm just principled about free speech like that)
As far as your list of topics goes, you're not being censored, you're RIGHTLY being pushed to the back of the room by the CROWD (not the site) for being a... well... what IS the right-wing equivalent of a tin foil hat wearer? Oh yes, a Kool-Aid drinker. Very few of the little factoids you present have any basis in real-life at ALL, and those that do have a tenuous connection to reality at best.
To sum up: You're not being censored for being 'edgy', you're being ignored for being ridiculous. You don't get to be a martyr for that.
Help, help, he's being oppressed! (Score:3, Insightful)
Claiming that it's cowardly to protest Bush and get stuffed into the Pier 57 cages just makes it seem more pathetic that you're simultaneousl
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Malum in se versus malum prohibitum (Score:3)