“…in that space one can easily indulge in depravity, lies, vulgarity…”
Here’s a sort of comment about the Internet that you don’t see much in the news.
The Russian government news service RiaNovosti is reporting that Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia (head of the Russian Orthodox Church), told school students in Moscow that “Nowadays the Internet is a kind of laboratory where an individual should be formed and where a character should be sharpened.”
“He also said the Internet has become ‘an examination on our authenticity, an enormous power challenge’ as in that space one can easily indulge in depravity, lies, vulgarity, and the desire to lash out with aggression and impunity,” the news service reported.
Story here: “Internet is examination for human race – Patriarch Kirill”
Created 1991, RiaNovosti traces its history back through various Soviet/Russian government news agencies to the 1941 Soviet Information Bureau. That bureau, (Sovinformburo) was set up by the USSR Council of People’s Commissars and the Central Committee to provide international news and coverage of military events and domestic life.
Its web site includes links to Pravda.ru’s space-aliens-land-in-Russia-type tabloid fare as well as pro-government news in eight languages. The “Strange but True” section is a scream (http://en.rian.ru/strange/)
Check out the piece: “Two-headed calf born in Estonia” A two-headed animal, once seen as a predictor of impending war, is now viewed as an omen foretelling an improving economy — at least according to the farmer who owns it. Maybe the U.S. Federal Reserve Board should get one.