Beware the propaganda

Igor Ushakov, a good friend of mine (who passed away last year) was a member of the communist party in the Soviet Union … because he had to be. You see, he was a top notch scientist and key architect of communication systems in the Soviet Union, and such a position required the membership.

I met him around 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union, when I interviewed him for a position at Qualcomm in San Diego. Typically, I was tagged to interview people with unusual and broad backgrounds. It was strange to think that it was I interviewing him and not the other way around. Without a doubt, when you find talent, you grab it, so we hired Igor.

There are many stories to tell about Igor, and maybe I will indulge myself with some warm memories and post more of these. But for now, I want to tell only about this comment that he made to me: “[Arne, you Americans have a propaganda machine that makes that of Pravda seem primitive.]”

With Igor I had to listen carefully because of his very thick accent and his “Ushakov English,” but it was worth the effort; his thoughts were pearls of wisdom.

Look at this article:

https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2016/05/16/some-northwest-elected-officials-candidates-embrace-extremist-%E2%80%98patriot%E2%80%99-agenda-federal

and you will see that Igor was correct.

This reminds me that Igor was appalled that Janet Reno called for kids to let the authorities know about family issues … http://tammybruce.com/2009/08/kids-turn-in-your-parents.html .

The propaganda machine is hard at work.