To pick out this one CIA mistake (if true) is absurd. The USSR and its satellite states were brutal dictatorships: no free speech, a crooked judicial/ state security and police system, no free press, no freedom of travel, no free elections. The upper casts made sure they had all the bananas and luxury items from the west. I visited some of those states; I was always glad to travel home; I knew and visited many friends in the DDR, and they weren’t happy, longing for freedom. Life was extremely drab and suppressive. I also knew several colleagues personally who attempted to leave (DDR, Rumania, Albania, …), they were punished psychologically and physically in the most brutal way. Let’s not invent a new narrative, inform yourself about the truth of “socialism”. (Having said that, I regard myself as a social democrat - that’s a completely different political philosophy. Built on Marx’s ideas, it is still in favor of a free market, yet seeks a more fair distribution of funds).

I hate fifa like the next gal, but it’s their IP.

Which site was that? IP should in general be protected: Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states: “Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary, or artistic production of which he is the author.” I own quite a bit of IP myself, and some try to steal it, very cumbersome.