Sunday, March 22, 2020

Putin is being protected from coronavirus around the clock, Kremlin says

"Interesting to learn that a global pandemic was the only thing that could cure my FOMO." fear of missing out
I definitely think jokes are appropriate, to keep us sane and laughing. We can joke about the way it's affecting everyone's lives, but it has to be funny, not just sad or scary. 

Putin is being protected from coronavirus around the clock, Kremlin says

Russian President Vladimir Putin is being protected from coronavirus around the clock, the Kremlin said on Wednesday,  Reuters reported, saying all Kremlin staff involved in his events schedule were undergoing mandatory testing for the virus. 
Russia has recorded 147 cases of coronavirus so far and the authorities have temporarily barred foreigners from entering the country in an effort to prevent it spreading further. 
"Everything needed to protect the president from viruses and other illnesses is being done around the clock," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.  "The president's work schedule is public and the best proof of the state of his health." — Holly Ellyatt 




stasi putin from amp.theguardian.com
It was not clear whether the card indicated Putin worked directly for the Stasi




A photo ID card issued to a young Vladimir V. Putin by the Stasi. Source: BStU, MfS, BV Dresden, HA KuSch, Nr. 7216, pp. 4a-4b.
Recently, a press sensation began in Germany and spread across the globe when an identification card from the East German Ministry of State Security (MfS, or Stasi) was found in the Stasi Records Archive with the name and picture of the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Enemies everywhere: photos show absurdity of life under the Stasi East German secret police saw evidence of western sabotage in the most mundane events

A football kicked over a wall, a lightbulb thrown out of a window, a suspiciously unkempt lawn: for East Germany’s secret police, even the most mundane event was recorded as potential proof of the capitalist enemy trying to sabotage life in the socialist republic.

Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, researchers at the Stasi Records Agency have for the first time systematically analysed the vast photographic archive the surveillance state amassed as a result of its untrammelled paranoia.
Philipp Springer: Der Blick der Staatssicherheit

Der Blick der Staatssicherheit Fotografien aus dem Archiv des MfS

About 35 passengers on the metro in the Czech capital Prague took part in the annual 'No Pants Subway Ride'...


Destroyed Habitat Creates the Perfect Conditions for Coronavirus to Emerge