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The amount of propagandish trolling in this thread is incredible. It is absolutely clear that this is a smear campaing. C'mon, a man who knows is being watched

The amount of propagandish trolling in this thread is incredible. It is absolutely clear that this is a smear campaing. C'mon, a man who knows is being watched by intelligence agencies because of the information he divulges, agencies which have covert and public disinformation programs, would actually go ahead and do such criminal behavior? Possible? Perhaps, but absolutely unlikely to the point where the notion is absolutely ridiculous. I'm beginning to wonder how many of the posts claiming that it's a likely possibility are paid shills from the various disinformation services.

jacquesm 16y ago
You're out of line I think. The suggestion that people that have been here for years are paid shills guilty of disinformation is beyond the pale. I agree that this is most likely a smear and at a minimum blown up, but evidence is where it is at and people that defend the 'other side' of the argument (especially ErrantX and DanielBMarkham) are for the most part just playing the devils advocate and cautioning you to think for yourself instead of following the herd.
- Daishiman 16y ago
  General Motors hired prostitutes to solicit Ralph Nader because of his automobile safety activism (from Reddit): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Nader#Automobile_safety_activism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Nader#Automobile_safety_a... Believing that these claims, at this point in the affair, have any serious possibility of being real is to be ignorant of the history of the way power structures way. Discrediting dangerous figures which are too well-known to be dissuaded silently is common to the extreme. And seriously, we're talking about the same power structure that has put dictators and thieves in places throughout the world when it was convenient. A smear campaign is about the least dishonest thing that they could do.
  - jacquesm 16y ago
    What's that got to do with the price of tea in China, that's just handwaving. You accused a bunch of people and now you point outside of HN to bolster your non-existent case. Rubbish. I'm not taking issue with your interpretation of the case against Julian Assange, I'm taking issue with your case of there being paid shills in this thread. Give HN some credit.
tome 16y ago
I'm beginning to wonder how many of the posts claiming that it's a likely possibility are paid shills from the various disinformation services. Then I think you've misunderstood Hacker News.
- Daishiman 16y ago
  Have you seen Reddit when there the topic of health care or global warming was raging? There was an incredible amount of new users with no comment history suddenly jumping in and defending ths position strongly and not commenting on anything else. It's public knowledge that corporations, PR agencies, governments, militaries and intelligence agencies have disinformation programs, some of the them frighteningly public and hidden in plain view. The credibility of Assange is about a thousand times better than his opponents, even if you don't agree with his position.
  - tome 16y ago
    Perhaps then you could clear up the misunderstanding by pointing to posts you think are from "paid shills".
    - jacquesm 16y ago
      Seconded. I've looked pretty closely and have found absolutely no evidence of any of that.
motters 16y ago
Paid shills or "astroturfers" seem to be fairly common in other areas of endeavor - especially where there is money or political influence at stake - so I also wouldn't rule out the possibility of it also happening here. One way to unmask such individuals it to check their profiles to see how long they've been members of the forum. If their membership is in the order of a few weeks or less, and they havn't commented on other stories then it's quite possible they could be astroturfers.

jacquesm 16y ago

You're out of line I think. The suggestion that people that have been here for years are paid shills guilty of disinformation is beyond the pale. I agree that this is most likely a smear and at a minimum blown up, but evidence is where it is at and people that defend the 'other side' of the argument (especially ErrantX and DanielBMarkham) are for the most part just playing the devils advocate and cautioning you to think for yourself instead of following the herd.

Daishiman 16y ago
General Motors hired prostitutes to solicit Ralph Nader because of his automobile safety activism (from Reddit): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Nader#Automobile_safety_activism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Nader#Automobile_safety_a... Believing that these claims, at this point in the affair, have any serious possibility of being real is to be ignorant of the history of the way power structures way. Discrediting dangerous figures which are too well-known to be dissuaded silently is common to the extreme. And seriously, we're talking about the same power structure that has put dictators and thieves in places throughout the world when it was convenient. A smear campaign is about the least dishonest thing that they could do.
- jacquesm 16y ago
  What's that got to do with the price of tea in China, that's just handwaving. You accused a bunch of people and now you point outside of HN to bolster your non-existent case. Rubbish. I'm not taking issue with your interpretation of the case against Julian Assange, I'm taking issue with your case of there being paid shills in this thread. Give HN some credit.

tome 16y ago

I'm beginning to wonder how many of the posts claiming that it's a likely possibility are paid shills from the various disinformation services. Then I think you've misunderstood Hacker News.

Daishiman 16y ago
Have you seen Reddit when there the topic of health care or global warming was raging? There was an incredible amount of new users with no comment history suddenly jumping in and defending ths position strongly and not commenting on anything else. It's public knowledge that corporations, PR agencies, governments, militaries and intelligence agencies have disinformation programs, some of the them frighteningly public and hidden in plain view. The credibility of Assange is about a thousand times better than his opponents, even if you don't agree with his position.
- tome 16y ago
  Perhaps then you could clear up the misunderstanding by pointing to posts you think are from "paid shills".
  - jacquesm 16y ago
    Seconded. I've looked pretty closely and have found absolutely no evidence of any of that.

motters 16y ago

Paid shills or "astroturfers" seem to be fairly common in other areas of endeavor - especially where there is money or political influence at stake - so I also wouldn't rule out the possibility of it also happening here. One way to unmask such individuals it to check their profiles to see how long they've been members of the forum. If their membership is in the order of a few weeks or less, and they havn't commented on other stories then it's quite possible they could be astroturfers.