Coup to oust Putin is ‘already under way’: Ukraine’s spy chief believes tyrant will be deposed by August – as oligarch claims Russia’s leader has blood cancer Daily Mail’

How does someone who was unemployed twice in the 1990s become president of Russia in less than four years, and then by 2014 head the Forbesmagazine list of “The World’s Most Powerful People”? In Vladimir Putin’s case, luck has clearly been involved. He has benefited (at least until recently) from a tenfold increase in the price of oil between 1999 and 2008. Inheriting one of the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals did not hurt either.

Vladimir Putin did not like the prying. It was 2008, and the ..

Secret for years, sanctions shine light on Putin's private life

Ukraine: From Bad To Worse? Andrew Basevich, The American Conservative

Kyiv-born author Peter Pomerantsev asks: how do you deal with the hate? | The Book Haven.

Fox News deals in Kremlin propaganda. So why not freeze Rupert Murdoch’s assets? Nick Cohen, Guardian

Because it is a media conglomerate, sanctions would be an attack on free speech. I say this plainly because so many writers and political actors pretend that they are not demanding censorship when that is precisely what they are doing. Nevertheless, in this case the threat to freedom is minimal. Murdoch would not be punished for revealing embarrassing truths about the west but for spreading demonstrable lies for a hostile foreign power

EVERYTHING IS GOING… SWIMMINGLY: How Russian Forces Got Obliterated Trying To Cross A River

Putin’s Road to War

When Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February it came as a shock to many.

Why would Vladimir Putin want to overturn decades of stability by sparking the biggest security crisis in Europe since the end of the Cold War?

For those who have studied Putin for decades, this war has been long in the making.

Four Corners traces Vladimir Putin’s rise to power from his days as a KGB counterintelligence officer to his emergence as a global power player in the post Cold War era.

He’s a professional liar. To lie is what he was taught in the intelligence school. He was pretending that he was going to pursue the same development of Russia as Yeltsin did. But that’s all is just one big lie.” Russian journalist

Vladimir Putin is more dangerous than he's ever been at any point in the last 22 years. He will not lose. He will grind the country down to a fine, fine ash.” Author

Dawisha nevertheless argues that the KGB’s return to power begins not in 2000, when Putin became president, but in the late 1980s. At that time, the then leaders of the KGB, who distrusted Gorbachev, began transferring money that belonged to the Soviet Communist Party out of the Soviet Union and into offshore accounts tended by Swiss or British bankers. At least initially, these transfers took place with the Party’s knowledge.

Vladimir Putin, the KGB and the British and Swiss tax havens

ALL IS NOT AS IT SEEMS: Russia spook power shifts from FSB (former KGB) to GRU (military intelligence); why Putin’s propaganda effort did not work all that well in the “independent” Donetsk and Lugansk “republics”

UK sanctions target Putin’s financial network including rumoured girlfriend

Liz Truss says move is aimed at exposing ‘shady network propping up Putin’s luxury lifestyle

A devil’s deal Africa is a Country

Newly released video shows 9/11 hijackers with alleged Saudi intelligence operative CBS You don’t say.

Embracing the new age of agility Asana Embracing the new age of agility -Asana

Asana – “The uncertainty of the past two years has created a clash of work cultures, but leaders can transform this rare moment into a profound opportunity. We surveyed 10,624 global employees to learn what’s working—and what’s not—in their organizations. Some of what we discovered is on this page. All of what we learned is in the full report.”

Why Do Humans Have a Taste For Alcohol?Discover

What It’s Like When Your Body Can’t Feel Pain Mel Magazine

Taxes Are a Wild Card for Public Companies Holding Crypto CoinDesk

A Minsky moment for venture capital? FT

Millions of Americans Are Turning to Therapy, and Investors See an Opportunity WSJ

Massachusetts should have a state-owned bankBoston Globe

Gaining momentum – Results of the 2021 BIS survey on central bank digital currencies Bank of International Settlements

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: India, second-largest wheat producer, bans exports amid food supply concerns

Why I May Move To Great Britain: They Protect Bald Men.