Category: Russia

DANGER AHEAD: Cyber Hacking On The Rise

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Cyber threats to world economies is growing daily

DANGER AHEAD:

Cyber Hacking On The Rise

Colonial Pipeline was hit with a devastating ransomware cyberattack in May 2021 that impacted computerized equipment managing the pipeline. The attack forced the company to shut down approximately 5,500 miles of pipeline in the United States, crippling gas delivery systems across the Southeast and Mid Atlantic states and panicking consumers.

By William Jones and D.S. Mitchell

Terrorists. Criminals and Cowboys

The ongoing digitization of all aspects of modern life should be concerning.  Governments world-wide are facing new challenges to keep both business and government secrets private in an increasingly threatening world of cyber criminals, state sponsored terrorists, and cowboy hackers. With increasing online and data usage, government databases have become primary targets for hackers and other cyber terrorists and criminals. Recent events have shaken the U.S. government and citizen confidence. Hackers can compromise data and as Chris Krebs said recently, ransomware attackers are the greatest threat to our digital world. Krebs served as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in the United States Department of Homeland Security from November 2018 to November 2020.

Cyber Warfare

Cyber warfare is defined as actions by a nation-state to penetrate another nation’s computers or networks to cause damage or disruption. It may also include non-state actors, such as terrorist groups, private companies, political or ideological extremist groups, criminal organizations, and activists.  Cyber attacks  have been a cause of concern for years, as the frequency of data breaches has increased along with their complexity and (economic, military, and political) implications, including elections and military catastrophe an ever growing possibility.

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Alexi Navalny And His Current Situation

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Alexi Navalny And His Current Situation

Jones William and D. S. Mitchell

Massive protests 

Alexi Navalny is a pain in Putin’s side.  Allies of the Russian dissident began protests April 21st, 2021, demanding Putin’s most vocal critic receive proper hospital care. People despite government crackdowns on protests showed up in large numbers.  Many supporters believe only mass protests can save Alexi’s life and many people are willing to risk imprisonment and harassment by the police.

Alexi Navalny Today

Alexi Navalny was arrested the day he returned to Russia after being treated in Germany for what appeared to have been a nerve agent poisoning.  During this most recent imprisonment, on March 31st, 2021, Navalny went on a hunger strike, demanding proper medical treatment for loss of sensations in his hands and legs and severe back pain.

Deteriorating

Recent news reports indicate an electrolyte imbalance. His high potassium levels increase his risk for a cardiac arrhythmia. His personal physician pleaded that Navalny should be moved to an intensive care unit because of his deteriorating condition.  Navalny also risks severe renal impairment.  Navalny’s wife, Yulia, said her husband’s weight is down to 167 lbs from 187 lbs when he started the hunger strike at the end of March.

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Russia: Music & The Disaffected Youth

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Music in Russia is always under threat by Putin's government

THE OTHER RUSSIA:

Music And The Disaffected Youth

By Trevor K. McNeil

Mother Russia

Russia is a different kind of place. It boasts the world’s largest land mass. It is the only place that stopped an invasion by both  Napoleon and Hitler. It is also one of the most insular nations in the world. Significantly it is a Slavic language. It has it’s own unique alphabet derived from Cyrillic script for Old Church Slavonic. It is also functionally unilingual, the vast majority of Russians, unless they have lived or were educated elsewhere, speak only Russian.

No Discord 

It would be tempting to say “The Russians” in the grand narrative sense, it is however, far more accurate to say the Russian government, which is itself divided and distinct. To the point that there are technically two people in charge at any given time. Quite apart from the political sphere, there is also the everyday civilian dimension in which most people live. While there are certainly many who fall into line with Putin’s way of thinking, either naturally or because they have been swayed by propaganda, there are many who do not. Which really only stands to reason, it being a statistical impossibility that in a country of hundreds of millions that the majority would completely, or even strongly, agree with those in power.

Give Me Music

One of the lesser known aspects of Russian culture is its large and diverse music scene. One of the most popular genres is a modern incarnation of Russian folk music. Some mix it with elements of rock music, like the infectiously catchy and usually upbeat Otava Yo. Others are more traditional like Igor Resteryaev who sticks to accordion and vocals, in a style that can veer from the pensive to the goofy depending on the song.

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Alexi Navalny: Enemy of the Rogue State

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Alexi Navalny: A Thorn In Putin’s Side

Putin has political opponents he just doesn't care how he silences them

Alexi Navalny:

ENEMY OF THE ROGUE STATE

By Trevor K. McNeil

 

Rebel Roots

No nation has ever been completely peaceful, no matter what some might like to claim. As though in a self-aware correction to this, some don’t even bother to try and appear civilized, such as the Mongols or the Spartans. Others go through periods of stability, though the next invasion, rebellion, conquest or border war isn’t a matter of if, but when.

On a Reverse Trajectory

One of the main perpetrators of the meat-grinder of Europe was Russia or, as it was known for the majority of the century, the Soviet Union. That doesn’t mean the Czarist period was a picnic, either. Under the czars, someone was always fighting or planning to fight, someone else. Even during the days  of the purges, the threat of being purged surely was enough to make a lot of people angry. Russia, is a direct rebuke to the notion of history progressing in a linear trajectory.  Putin’s Russia more closely resembles 1961 than the first attempts at democratization in 1991. If anything they are moving backwards. Now, as then, there are those opposing the government, often at risk to their lives by way of assassination by the state. One such death-defying rebel is Alexi Navalny.

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