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Inside Putin's Circle

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Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#21

Post by zaptrem »

user249 wrote: post #18

Quoted post unavailable.

Building and exporting weapons is illegal (without lots of government approval). Attacking computer systems of other countries is illegal (even if they're Russia). Russians already have all the tools they need to bypass censorship.

Do you have any ideas?

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#23

Post by hvs »

user249 wrote: post #18

Quoted post unavailable.

Hacker News isn't an activist group, it's a tech website. Individuals on this site may or may not be "doing" something about Ukraine but there is no reason to associate this with HN being "good" or "bad".

I've seen this sentiment in other places as well. Everything doesn't have to be coopted into activism for the current cause.

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#24

Post by sgt101 »

ordu wrote: post #20
lordnacho wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> other organization with a dress code that requires a gun Sounds a lot like organized crime, is it supposed to have that undertone?

Policemen wear guns, and it doesn't sound like an organized crime. The root of the word "siloviki" is "sila", which means "force". And it is about using force in order to perform their job. Like policemen do. Or security guards. Or soldiers. And it is not used to refer to crime activities. They also use force, but they are not "siloviki".

In some places, in theory, the police use consent of the overwhelming majority to do their job.

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#26

Post by int_19h »

zaptrem wrote: post #21
user249 wrote: post #18

Quoted post unavailable.

Building and exporting weapons is illegal (without lots of government approval). Attacking computer systems of other countries is illegal (even if they're Russia). Russians already have all the tools they need to bypass censorship. Do you have any ideas?

Not OP, but Russians don't necessarily have easy access to those tools, or won't have it going forward. Running Tor nodes or organizing to provide VPN access is something that all of us can do.

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#27

Post by tunesmith »

user249 wrote: post #18

Quoted post unavailable.

I'm not as surprised, given the kind of discussion we've seen the last few years. Hacker News main audience isn't true hackers. A large proportion of its readers are techno-libertarian startup/venture corporatists, many with an authoritarian bent.

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#28

Post by mekkkkkk »

I read an incredibly thorough book about Putin a year or so ago, and what stuck with me is how political his career in the KGB was. In those final years of the USSR, everything was in shambles, and any position of power became so through-and-through political. That makes his rise so interesting and frightening. He has been forged in a dark web of covert slush funds, power projection and kompramat. He was obviously very good at that game, and it continues today.

EDIT: The book was "Putin's People" by Catherine Belton

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#29

Post by IncRnd »

lordnacho wrote: post #9
ordu wrote: post #3

> These men are known in Russia as the “siloviki” — “men of force”, or perhaps even, in the Irish phrase, “hard men”. Just to clarify. The word "siloviki" made from "силовые структуры", which may be translated literally as "structures of force", or less literally but preserving some meaning "armed organizations" (maybe "armed forces", but I think that in English "armed forces" doesn't include the likes of police and…

> other organization with a dress code that requires a gun Sounds a lot like organized crime, is it supposed to have that undertone?

> Sounds a lot like organized crime, is it supposed to have that undertone?

As does "Department of Homeland Security". That was the first federal agency named that way, and prior to that people would have thought that sort of naming to be associated with the Stassi or a totalitarian regime. I suppose it is commonplace now.

Re: Inside Putin's Circle

#30

Post by DamnYuppie »

user249 wrote: post #18

Quoted post unavailable.

Business, despite all its press and media to the contrary, isn't war. People are not dying and suffering and you don't really face any repercussions from your actions. War is a totally different thing so asking people to "move fast and break things" doesn't really make sense in that context especially when there are actual physical repercussions.

Also why should the people on this site really care? Honestly I get it is not great but in the grand scheme of things I don't care. I am tired of war, I have watched my friends and family members server in wars for this country since the early 90's. I don't recall Ukraine sending f*ck all for them. As such I just don't have it in me to give a sh*t at this point in time.

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