Russia: Bourdain’s Field Notes

 British Columbia man flees to China after being charged for scam impersonating Canada Revenue Agency

Russia: Bourdain’s Field Notes

It’s February 2014, and the Sochi Olympics are just coming up when I arrive in Moscow. It’s a different Moscow every time I come here. The ’80s-style go-go capitalist, conspicuous consumption, see-who-can-spend-the-most-money, disco-techno thing that I encountered when I first came here back in 2001 is still going strong. In fact, these days, Moscow has one of the highest concentrations of billionaires in the world. But as never before, it’s imperial Russia now, a one-man rule. All power emanates from, every decision must consider [Vladimir Putin].

Whatever you think of this guy—his dead, affectless eyes, his smooth pulled-tight-like-a-snare-drum face—he ain’t going anywhere. Look at him. He’s the Russian Superman, the KGB middle manager desk jockey turned expression of Greater Russia’s hopes and dreams.

Putin's Russia

‘Police are knocking’: Russian authorities raid home of investigative journalist Daria Litvinova

Russian bears lead the way when it comes to gaining enough of a foothold in your networks to perform a successful data breach according to the 2019 Global Threat Report from CrowdStrike. This matters, because having an understanding of how quickly the bad guys can move across your networks is vital in getting to grips with the 1-10-60 rule. And that determines how likely you are to stop them succeeding in breaching your data.

OUR SOBER, SENSIBLE, RESPONSIBLE RULING CLASS:

To be fair, most of them probably think that because they themselves are being paid by China.

THE GREAT GAME: China and the Taliban Begin Their Romance. “China is quietly attempting to secure its interests in post-U.S. Afghanistan. Beijing has reportedly been actively engaging with Kabul on construction of the Peshawar-Kabul motorway, which would connect Pakistan to Afghanistan and make Kabul a participant in China’s massive infrastructure and investment plan, the Belt and Road Initiative. 

  Cotton Slams Coke for Sponsoring China’s ‘Genocide Olympics’.

ADF soldiers will be deployed to help police with compliance checks in Sydney.(Supplied: NSW Police ) via ABC as Soldiers help enforce COVID compliance

GENERAL MILLEY HAS A RICH FANTASY LIFE:

General Milley had no direct evidence of a coup plot. But in the days after Mr. Trump’s electoral defeat, as the president filled top military and intelligence posts with people the general considered loyal mediocrities, General Milley got nervous. “They may try,” but they would not succeed with any kind of plot, he told his aides, according to the book. “You can’t do this without the military,” he went on. “You can’t do this without the C.I.A. and the F.B.I. We’re the guys with the guns.”

MICHAEL WALSH:  The FBI is made of snitches, often trapping Americans into committing crimes.

UPDATE:  FBI Delenda Est-But No Cato or Scipio Are In Sight.

After all, the FBI had advanced warnings about the Pulse nightclub shooter, the Parkland HS shooter, the Fort Hood shooter, and the San Bernardino shooters. Yet they all blazed away unmolested by our vigilant Federal dicks. (I also wonder about the Las Vegas shooter, whom the FBI cannot even figure out ex post. Or supposedly can’t. Maybe their ex post befuddlement is an attempt to conceal ex ante knowledge.)” . . .

Global phone hacks expose darker side of Israel's 'startup nation' image 

Confessions of a New York Times Washington Correspondent – Bob Smith Pt 1/2

The New York Times is impartial when convenient…which wasn’t during Watergate, My Lai, the Iraq War, and the Trump era, for instance

Medium: “Google is telling anybody who will listen that the APIs and functionalities built into its Google Cloud platform will remain stable over time and will not fall victim to arbitrary decisions by the company, a fiction designed to avoid discussion of the company’s longstanding disregard for its users, which has led it, over the years, to ruthlessly eliminate countless services that had large user bases. Google’s infamous Spring Cleanings have long spread alarm among users, who feared seeing a product they had often invested time and effort disappear with little explanation. Over the years, Google has accumulated more than two hundred deleted products, carefully buried in the Google Graveyard, and the body count grows. What happened to the people who used those products? They went looking for alternatives provided by other companies…”

 The details of how the delta variant works, better than I was expecting.