For years, Russian secret services have placed agents in European nations, from where they conduct an unnoticed war against the West. They destroy, spy on, and murder dissidents while infiltrating IT firms. It has lasted much longer than the war in Ukraine and is a struggle for authority, influence, raw commodities, and money. On the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a significant number of American Viasat customers unexpectedly lost their satellite internet connection, demonstrating how closely the unseen war is tied to the apparent one. The Ukrainian army was the true objective of the strike, and 5,800 wind turbines in Germany lost contact with the grid centre.

According to the weekly Der Spiegel, one of the key objectives of Russia’s “invisible” war is Germany. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) expressed alarm over attacks on the country’s electrical networks in July. The administrations in Berlin, Paris, and Rome preferred to keep a blind eye although Eastern European nations, the United States, and Great Britain had been warning about Russian intelligence services for years, according to Spiegel. Koji thinks that the German governments were equally unaware of the threat posed by Russian espionage as they were of their reliance on Russian energy supplies, particularly gas.

Russian espionage, disinformation efforts, and cyberattacks now pose a greater threat because of Russia’s aggressive assault against Ukraine, according to German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Given Germany’s federal structure, her ministry issued a warning that the federal level’s authority was insufficient to address the current threat. German foreign intelligence agency BND (Bundesnachrichtendienst) even ceased counterintelligence efforts following the September 11, 2001 terrorist assault on the US on the grounds that Germany needed to focus on a new type of adversary.

Russia is now present in our networks, Wolfgang Wien, deputy director of the BND, has issued a warning. He claimed that the agency has a thorough understanding of the cyber world and that what they have discovered there is troubling.

Like the battlefield in Ukraine, where it has been demonstrated that soldiers still play a crucial role, Russia still relies on cadres and specific personnel for its espionage operations in Germany.

Maria Adele K. is one of the examples that made headlines. Adele K.’s passport bears the serial number of a member of the GRU’s (Russia’s military secret service) elite unit, which was established in 2009 and tasked with eliminating rivals. This unit was also responsible for the murder in Berlin’s park and attempted to kill former spy Sergei Skripal in Velika Britain. According to Western reports, the GRU and SVR (Russia’s foreign intelligence arm) are holding only about 70 “illegals” in the West. More agents are employed by the Russian Federation’s embassies and consulates, which enjoy diplomatic immunity.

Western intelligence agencies estimated that at the start of this year, more than 150 Russian spies with diplomatic immunity were working in Germany alone. Few of their interlocutors assist them out of political commitment; most do it out of avarice or ignorance of what they are doing.

Ralph G. might have complied because he was politically committed. The German military reserve lieutenant colonel has been on trial in Düsseldorf since August for giving information to a GRU agent between October 2014 and March 2020. He met Mikhail Starov, a Russian attaché, during the Bonn Air Force Ball. Starov paid the reserve officer a visit a few months later at his residence in Erkrath, North Rhine-Westphalia. According to Ralph G., he gave him the names of Bundeswehr officials he believed to be pro-Russian. He utilised email addresses that were registered on web.de and Gmail, which made it simple to identify him. Although he allegedly didn’t work for pay, he reportedly took many paid visits to Moscow to attend a security conference.

The case of Ilnur N, a Russian PhD student at the University of Augsburg, serves as an illustration of the operations of Russian spies. He was waiting in line to purchase fish in the summer of 2019 when a “random” consumer struck up a conversation with him in Russian. It was Leonid Strukov, who was formally serving as Munich’s deputy consul general. This is an SVR officer, according to the German authorities. Strukov informed him that he frequently visited Augsburg and invited them to meet up for a beer. Ilnur N. describes how Strukov then revealed to him that he was aiding a former co-worker who was looking for investment opportunities in aviation companies at a Russian bank.

He asked N. if he might assist by sharing his knowledge of emerging areas of aeronautical technology research. N. concurred. He gathered data from open sources, but he also utilised his access to the university’s data archive to get some information that was available for a fee.

Although he didn’t divulge any private information, the deputy consul general nevertheless paid him; initially it was 100, then 200, and then 600 euros. The European Ariane 6 rocket caught the Russian spy’s attention in particular, and N. was a significant source of intelligence there as well. The young scientist eventually started telling Strukov about his own studies into the creation of a cryostat, a chamber where extremely low temperatures are produced to test materials for space travel. Strukov first didn’t seem interested, but during a subsequent encounter, he inquired in detail about the challenging problem.

Additionally, he requested that N. send him some of the research-related documents. He could just use his phone to take a photo of the screen if necessary. The BFV, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitutional Order, which at the time already had Strukov under surveillance, put a halt to everything. N., like many of the Russians’ informants, was essentially a useful moron.

 

 

Have you ever felt as though someone is watching you? Offline or online? That your every move has been monitored and perpetrators used your information on social media against you?

It should go without saying that victims of cyber stalking can experience tremendous mental suffering and find their mental health deteriorating rapidly. Often, even those in the close circle of the victim don’t notice changes in their behaviour until it is too late.

According to Tech Jury: “Victims of cyberbullying are 1.9 times more likely to commit suicide.”

It is easy to find documentaries about cybercrime and cyber stalking on today’s streaming service platforms, however, it seems no one takes this criminal activity seriously until it happens to them.

Finding out if you are being stalked online is even more challenging than figuring out if someone is monitoring you offline.

Let’s discuss the following:

– Who could be an online stalker

– Why cyber stalkers stalk

– Types of cyberstalking

– Comparing offline and online stalking

– What should you do if you believe you are a target of cyber stalking?

 

Different tactics can be used in cyber stalking.

Cyber stalking is happening across all digital gadgets, and for younger generations cyberstalking is mostly conducted on mobile phone devices.

Cyber stalking is a relatively new identified criminal activity; however, we can certainly draw parallels with stalking.

According to AIC (Australian Institute of Criminology, No166 Cyberstalking) “Cyberstalking is analogous to traditional forms of stalking in that it incorporates persistent behaviours that instil apprehension and fear”.

It’s possible that someone is quietly gathering data or that they’ve made contact. Online harassment, slander, libel and slander are all forms of cyber stalking.

Private messages or emails from people you don’t know could be sent to you. It’s possible that you’ll discover that someone has hacked into and used your online accounts. If you have your phone with you, someone may be using spyware to monitor the GPS tracker, allowing them to always know where you are.

 

Who could be an online stalker?

Anyone could be a stalker and the reasons for stalking someone online can vary.

Some people experience stalking from strangers, while other do so from acquaintances.

A cyber stalker could be an abusive spouse or an ex-partner.

A cyber stalker might be an overbearing parent, it can be a former co-worker or even a stranger.

The majority of cyberstalking victims already know the individual who is pursuing them.

People who are well known and famous are more likely to face stalking from strangers.

The reason why we don’t have a profile for a “cyber stalker” and its modus operandi is simple. Everyone feels safe behind their screens, believing no one will discover them and bring them to justice.

 

Why cyber stalkers stalk?

Online harassment and stalking are the most common types of abuse.

Harassment online can be done under some degree of anonymity. The online harasser does not have to leave the comfort of their home in order to find, pursue, and harass the target because they have no fear of physical retaliation.

Love obsessed stalkers frequently think that the object of their desires truly loves them, which makes it impossible for them to understand the word “NO”. A love fixation might begin with an online engagement that ends because the rejected partner is unable to accept the breakup.

Then, there are the hate-revenge stalkers. In this group, more men are the target. An argument or disagreement that spirals out of control may serve as the catalyst for a hate vendetta. Another reason someone can be the target of a vendetta is because of their beliefs.

The ego trip stalkers typically chose a victim at random, someone they don’t know. The harasser’s goal is to impress themselves and their friends with their talent. They are using the victim to show their dominance within their own group; they don’t hold a personal grudge against the victim.

 

Comparing offline and online stalking.

Stalking occurs more frequently with former intimates. The majority of victims are women and the majority of stalkers are men. Most stalkers are driven by a desire to exert control over the victim.

Online stalkers can be found anywhere, unlike offline stalking which typically requires both the stalker and the victim to be in the same region. With the use of electronic communication technologies, it is considerably simpler for a cyber stalker to persuade others to harass and/or threaten a victim without actually confronting the target.

Types of cyberstalking:

• • Email Stalking – if we compare to stalking before internet, stalkers would use their personal or public phones, and mail to harass the victim. Today, the phone is replaced with email. Instant communication can occur between the stalker and victim and emails can be sent with viruses, subscriptions to pornographic sites, spam etc.A stalker will try to establish a “relationship” with the victim, repair a relationship or perhaps attempt to traumatise the victim to the extent of suicide.
  • Internet Stalking – this modus operandi is where the stalker follows the victim on all social media platforms, monitoring and recording what the victim does. The stalker usually uses public domains to place false information and discredit and defame the victim.
  • • Computer Stalking – the stalker will utilise and exploit vulnerabilities on the operating system of the victim’s computer (hacking). In that way, there is a buffer between victim and stalker, usually physical distance. That said, the stalker will then do their best to control the victim’s computer remotely.

   

 

What should you do if you believe you are a target of cyber stalking?

First of all, do not share personal information in public spaces, public domains and even if you do share information, please, keep that that to a minimum.

No one is saying that your personal information cannot be found but why would you give it up on a silver platter?

The first step in protecting ones’ self from cyber stalking is to take action.

• • Change the passwords on your accounts and confirm that you are using the privacy controls offered. Make sure to block the stalker if you think you know who is following you.

• • Check that all of your linked devices have operational and up to date antivirus and antispyware software.

• • Ensure password protection is in place for your wireless router.

• • • Keep copies of every communication as proof. Don’t change or edit them in any way.

  </ul >

  • • • Additionally, keep a record of any interactions you have with the law, such as Police or internet system administrators.
      • Make contact with your local police station and give them as much information as you can about the circumstance or refer to the relevant government body.

Be careful and know that as soon as you are in a public domain, you must be prepared for the chance that someone will try to stalk you.

 

 

 

Waking up in the morning what is the first thing you do after opening your eyes?

Some people make coffee, pray, start complaining about all the daily chores that await to be actioned. But for most people the first thing is?

Grab that mobile and check what has happened while you were sleeping within the world of Instagram, Facebook, Tinder, Twitter just to name a few.

Social networks are an essential part of life today, I think that very few of us who don’t check the news, the screen, and any new posts to see whether we “missed” anything when we have awoken in the morning.

Influencers are crucial when discussing social networks.

Who has the most impact in your life or on your life right now?

You follow him or her on social media for what reason?

 

Now I have another question for you.

Are leaders’ influencers?

Leader/Influencer.

 

Are all leaders’ influencers, or are all influencers’ leaders?

It depends on whoever you ask.

Although they are related, influence and leadership are distinct concepts.

We must consider their objectives and obligations if we are to truly differentiate between influencers and leaders.

The main objective of a typical influencer is to market a lifestyle, item, or brand to their enthusiastic audience.

Influencers are only one aspect of good leaders.

Influencing others to work towards a shared vision is the process of leadership.

While leadership cannot be value-neutral, influence can.

Influence of marketers, influence of authors more is required for leadership then giving people the power to work on building a future that is in line with their own values.

A system can transform deeply and urgently with the aid of leadership. With influence there is a lot more needed.

Influencers drive ideas, whereas leaders drive people. To transform ideas into reality, leaders must learn how to formalise concepts and activate teams.

Great leaders bring about change among known individuals, environments, and occupations. A leader’s charisma or a persuasive speech can produce a group of followers.

However, influencers need more than just leadership to change strangers’ ideas or ideals and have them follow them into uncharted territory.

Leadership has more to do with who you are than what you can impact.

Without leadership, influence is possible but will only last briefly.

As you improve being a leader, make space within your life or business for others to grow and impact others positively. As a result, leaders develop organic influence and serve as change agents.

When influencing someone, a person has a certain aim in mind which determines whether the influence was successfully based on whether the target was reached.

Influence is a common component of leadership and is typically including the idea that the person being influenced has evolved into a better version of themselves; someone who is capable, competent, and confident.

We all have an impact on others. Which can be good or bad (positive or negative).

Leaders are conscious of their power. To have the influence they seek; individuals adjust their thinking and actions.

They are conscious of themselves and their surroundings.

Leadership requires more than just the capacity for influence.

This indicates that they are aware of how their emphasis, behaviours, and beliefs impact other people, also able to read a situation to determine the appropriate language, behaviours, and beliefs.

Although, who do you follow, influencers or leaders?

 

It is the Year 1989.

If you follow the Chinese calendar, it was a year of the Snake.

A year which would change the European and World political landscape forever and 30 years later, the East would clash with the West in Ukraine.

Now imagine a wall. I mean a really big, long, high thick wall, built 13th August 1961.

On top of the wall are barbed razor wires. Every few hundred meters, guard towers, manned by East German military and supported or rather, supervised by the Russian military. (Please bear in mind that the USSR had almost 400,000 of their own troops stationed in East Germany).

In 1962, the Soviets and East Germans added a second barrier, about 50 metres behind the original wall, creating a tightly policed no man’s land between the walls.

You may ask yourself why do I need to understand 1989? Yes, we know the USSR collapsed, the Eastern Bloc and Warsaw Pact dissolved a year later and countries like Hungary, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia transitioned from communism to democracy. While one country from the Eastern Bloc, Romania – well they had a little bit of a turbulent uprising which showed signs of what a communist system had on their disposal and why.

Without a doubt, they had security intelligence apparatuses which were able to fight the military, police and citizens like in the case of Nicolaou Ceausescu. We know how that ended.

Shot, after a brief trial in some old village house on the 25th December 1989. Some 2 weeks later Romania abolished the death sentence, conveniently, right?

Maybe you didn’t know but Nicola Ceausescu was signing “The Internationale” just before he was executed.

I do remember we as a kids used to sing that song, “like it or not, it was good for our health”, you know what I mean.

Then we come to 1991 and the civil war in Yugoslavia, well more like the Yugoslavia People’s Army, decided that there will be no democracy within Yugoslavia and that 6 republics and 2 territories will be crushed if they dare opposed.

Croatia did dare and we went to war to free ourselves from communist enslavement, hence me spending almost 1800 consecutive combat days in war.

But that is a story for some other time.

Now let’s sum up what actually did happen to communism when the communist states crumbled and were crushed by the weight of their own people, workers etc.

Citizens wanted revenge on those who spied on them, put them into prisons, and killed their loved ones. So voila, Hungary, Poland and others opened their secret archives to the public.

I mean they really opened secret archives, after of course some files had been removed, just in case.

Most of the security intelligence apparatuses stayed intact, at least at the top but the rest of them, well they needed to find new employers.

Just to give you perspective, here’s what I am talking about:

• Romania “Securitate” 11,000
• Hungary “State Protection Authority” – 33,000
• Bulgaria” Committee for State Security” – Sector 7 ( Smersh type hit squad around the world) – 1981 attempt to assassinate John Paul II – approx 10,000
• East Germany “STASI 91,015” regular employees and you know who was one of their supervisors? Yes, that guy Vladimir Putin.

 

This number is just a fraction of a few countries, whose agents are now in their late 40s or mid 50s with a sour taste in their mouth looking to cash in on their knowledge, allegiance to communism and the list goes on.

But, in reality, the West didn’t want to see two things:

Hundreds of thousands of ex-intelligence officers working under the umbrella of communism, supervised by the KGB, and secondly is the book.

Which book?

Potemkin villages from Grigory Potemkin.

This book is important for one reason, disinformation, or how to utilise disinformation as a part of psychological warfare and deceiving enemies.

A part of the origins of disinformation and one of the most famous examples of disinformation is Grigory Potemkin (1739-1791), who orchestrated the building of fake villages to impress his former lover, Empress Catherine the Great, when she visited newly conquered territories in 1787.

It is a beautiful story, but a fake one. The idea of the Potemkin villages was designed to disinform the Ottoman Empire into believing that the Russian Empire was weak and that they just built wooden facades. It encouraged the Ottoman Empire to go to war with Russia over Crimea. They lost, resulting in the Treaty of Jassy that confirmed Crimea as a part of the Russian Empire.

Modern age disinformation was widely adopted by the USSR under the term, dezinformatsiya. According to Ion Mihai Pacepa, a high-ranking official in Romania’s secret police, who defected in 1978, there were many examples of how the USSR utilised disinformation against the West.

Definitions of disinformation and misinformation are easy to find. The important distinction between the two is the intent that sits behind them.

Misinformation is the sharing or publishing of information that is more or less accurate. It can be spread by anyone, by any means and without the intent to deceive. We see this daily on our social media platforms, through the continuous arguments and counter arguments, which may even include some facts.

Disinformation, on the other hand, is created deliberately with the intent to deceive. Its deceptive nature is designed to cause problems within countries, organisations and the general public.

It is often directed against prominent members of society. It is a common tactic employed by foreign countries and their intelligence agencies, who use friendly, reliable supporters to help distribute disinformation on a large scale.

Disinformation is usually based on true events, so it will include facts around which a false story will be built. These typically use sources, like social media platforms, where misinformation is flowing.

Disinformation is a part of daily life, alongside misinformation. It is important for corporations to understand the modus operandi of both, in order to protect their brands and reputations by maximising trust and confidence within their consumer and supplier communities.

Now imagine the year 1989. Hundreds of thousands of sacked ex-communist secret intelligence agents are looking for a highest bidder for their services, and perhaps a utopia of communism coming back.

 

 

Lets’ talk Inflation.

And recession.

Regardless of whether we want to admit it or not, things have been a little different in the past 6 months.

That being said, I am not an economist nor working in finance, however, I will talk about something related to inflation, recession and how you can respond to it in the way you THINK and ACT.

Before we dig deep into this awesome topic, I know there may be some people who would rather sing Kumbaya all day, holding hands and chanting mantras. How will the world change for the better just by holding hands and singing happy songs?

They tried in the 60s and that ended with Watergate.

It will not.

Period.

 

What is inflation?

According to the mighty internet (more precisely Investopedia.com), inflation is a decrease in the purchasing power of money, reflected in a general increase in the prices of goods and services in an economy.

 

What is recession?

A period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced, generally identified by a fall in GDP in two successive quarters – basically declining economic activity.

Let’s go deeper into history and list 5 of the World’s Most Devastating Financial Crises:

•   The British Credit Crisis of 1772

•   The Great Depression of 1929–39

•   The OPEC Oil Price Shock of 1973 (Jackal, Carlos Ramirez Sanchez – 1975, kidnapping)

•   The Asian Financial Crisis of 1997

•   The Global Financial Crisis of 2007–08

 

I do remember inflation in the 1980s – allegedly because of the Iran revolution but I didn’t know better, I was just a teenager with big dreams, like owning a pair of Nike sneakers.

But what I do remember was that petrol was sold to car owners like, if your rego ends with an odd number on an odd date, you can put petrol in your car, as well as many winter nights where the electricity was shut down around 4pm. I was doing homework under candlelight as if I was Galileo and Copernicus. I would finish my homework, no excuses.

I also remember clearly now how I used to stand in line in front of the local store from 8 am till 3 pm, then my father from 3 pm till 3 am, then my mother could follow in the morning buying one litre of cooking oil, 200 grams of coffee beans, 1 kilo of sugar and, if I was lucky, a mandarin or two.

I needed to share with my younger brother which I didn’t like, not one bit.

Inflation was a topic for adults, and in communism people didn’t talk publicly but with a chosen few. You never knew who was an informant.

The most important thing is that in communism there were no financial planners or mortgage specialists.

But what we did have was TV (the truth is, there was only 2 channels, in black and white, no colour).

And on TV was declarations of how communism is great, and our leadership is doing everything to manage the inflation as fast as possible so the working class can go back to the factories happy. This was the news.

News like the US president Ronald Reagan and his speech about “Star Wars”. Funny, Ronald Reagan never watched Star Wars according to his memoirs.

I apologise I can hear it, the Imperial March.

The news was that the US developed Star Wars which suddenly created money. Money for who?

The Military. No need to talk about that in this episode.

What we have seen in the past 2 years are statements such as, “it is cheap money, buy more properties”; and “money was printed, galore, I mean galore, like there is no tomorrow”.

We have seen the phenomena “WFH”. Now we can see the results from those advisors, those financial planners.

So, let’s dig into what you can do and what you should not do. This advice is about your thinking.

There is famous quote:

The Latin cogito, ergo sum, usually translated into English as “I think, therefore I am”, is the “first principle” of René Descartes’s philosophy.

In a nutshell:

We humans operate on a daily basis and future wishful thinking.

Daily basis we can describe as “tactical” and future thinking as “strategic”.

For individuals looking to utilise tactical, operational, or strategic thinking, I would like you to visualise this as a 3-dimensional operation between:

1.  Time

2.  Space

3.  Force: that is Money or Resources

 

In the simplest terms, inflation and recession create uncertainty, obstacles, fear, and anxiety. No questions asked.

So, when someone tells you to think strategically, usually they want you to think about the future.

Stop there right now.

You need to think about now, today, not what will be in 12 months’ time.

You should apply a tactical approach, which means you will need to utilise less time, space, and resources to overcome elements of inflation or recession.

 

What does that mean?

For starters, source cheaper food over the next 7 days. Think how you can reduce cost for your household for the next 30 days. That is tactical thinking.

If you chose strategic thinking, looking beyond the horizon. You will need to spend more time, space, and resources to fight the uncertainty of inflation or recession and plan for the next 12 months’ time. It is impossible due to the everyday changing situation.

Many situations have no answers or crystal ball, so act now for tomorrow not on wishful thinking.

And at the end, I must say, I am always surprised about how the last people who learn that inflation is happening, are the taxpayers.

Take the tactical approach, not strategic.

Strategies can be played well after a crisis is gone and brighter financial days come.

 

 

It is the year 1945 and the month of May.

On the 8th of May 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender to the 4 powers (Russia, UK, USA, and France) and World War II in Europe officially ended.

Needless to say, it took a few more months of bloody battles in the Pacific and the Japanese island of Okinawa, and 2 atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima to see the end of World War II globally.

A few months before, in February 1945, the leaders of Russia, UK and the USA met in Yalta, Crimea to discuss how the future of Europe would look. Of course, the sphere of influence of Russia had been sealed.

All ex-allies of Germany (Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Romania) somehow became buffer zones between the West and East. There is one communist country which didn’t like that idea.

That country was called Yugoslavia, once upon a time.

Stalin, on behalf of Russia, told brotherly Yugoslavia and its leader Marshal Tito to hop on the train and ride together toward the red dawn of communism.

Stalin expressed his concerns that the Communist Party of Yugoslavia didn’t follow the principles of Marxism, that they were thieves, looters and literally embarrassing Communism.

In 1948, Stalin withdrew military consultants from Yugoslavia because Tito didn’t like the idea that the USSR were interfering with the internal affairs of Yugoslavia and geopolitical relationships.

However, the crumbling relationship between Yugoslavia and the USSR culminated because Yugoslavia started helping Greek communists in Greece (1944 – 1949). Stalin didn’t like that one bit because he didn’t give his blessing.

Stalin had stipulated that Yugoslavia was having too great a bilateral relationship with the West and that they would become bourgeois and stop being communist.

Stalin started flexing his muscles in the countries surrounding Yugoslavia and threatening a full scale invasion.

Stalin asked true communists of Yugoslavia to remove Tito and his government. No doubt, there were a number of communists in Yugoslavia who were not so happy with Tito and they sided with Stalin.

In a nutshell, the USSR conjured a civil war in Yugoslavia.

Tito responded with his famous “NO” to Stalin in 1948, and Tito not only started a new era in Yugoslavia’s relations with the Soviet Union, but also one of the country’s bloodiest chapters following the Second World War.

Execution and imprisonment was the fate given to those who went rouge against the Yugoslavia Communist Party and its leader Marsal Tito.

Economically, Yugoslavia sided temporarily with the West which made Stalin angrier and even more revengeful. Why? because no one says “NO” to Mr Stalin.

 

Tito’s Response

At the end of 1948 Tito and the Communist Party authorised investigations (torture and interrogations, applying all the forbidden methods in order to obtain confessions) for citizens who supported Stalin and the USSR, and even people who listened to Russian songs.

Imagine, imprisonment of those who saw Stalin and Russia as a raw model, those who believed in communism and that all communists across the globe are equal.

We all heard or saw in movies about the infamous prison called Alcatraz, popularly called The Rock.

Alcatraz is situated in San Francisco Bay and prisoners could see San Francisco, land in the distance. It was considered to be a maximum security prison.

What you never heard about was the most brutal political prison. A prison that even Russia’s Gulags are considered kindergartens by comparison.

Now imagine an island 4.5 km2 in size, uninhabited, only rock and more rock.

The sun above, sea around. No fresh water.

Tito and his close associates belonging to a security-intelligence apparatus decided to turn this rock into a political prisoner camp.

That camp was called Naked Island, Goli Otok.

The most well-known political prisoner camp in socialist Yugoslavia, Naked Island is one of the historical phenomena that has not yet been thoroughly studied.

The camps were a top-secret state operation at the time they existed.

Prisoners of Naked Island said that in the German concentration camps, Germans would kill the body, but the Yugoslavian prison, Naked Island, was designed to kill humanity and the human within the body.

The welcome party for new groups of prisoners was organised by prison guards. They made 2 columns of one or two thousand prisoners beat the passing new inmates.

Daily work consisted of extreme hard labour, smashing the rock and building a camp from that rock.

 

This prison was organised to re-educate political prisoners in the following way:

1. Confess

2. Repel

3. Prove yourself a worthy member of the Yugoslavian Communist Party

 

Interestingly enough, the prison stopped taking political inmates in 1956 after Yugoslavian- Russian relationships improved.

The Prison didn’t close its doors; on the contrary, it was used until 1989 when it was officially closed.

 

Aftermath

Books and newspaper articles addressing that delicate subject didn’t start to appear until the middle of the 20th century.

There is still not enough information available on the network of pro-Soviet opposition camps and prisons in Yugoslavia.

The majority of the materials were unavailable for many years due to the politically sensitive nature of the topic.

Is there any chance that significant sources have been saved at all?

The documentation was destroyed; therefore, the precise number of prisoners is still unknown.

The reasoning behind this practice is likely to do with the fact that the documentation about the camps also included evidence of the breadth and depth of repression, which may subsequently be utilised against UDB officials or specific politicians in the event of any unforeseen developments.

“Dissidents” started to be transported to Goli Otok in July 1949, a little over a year after the then Soviet Union published the Informbiro Resolution to appoint a new political leadership for Yugoslavia. This was following the breakup between Josip Broz Tito and Joseph Stalin.

Due to its isolation, lack of drinking water, and inaccessibility, the same named island in the Adriatic Sea has a reputation as a notorious camp.

Before that, the Soviet Union and its leader were portrayed as Yugoslavia’s closest friends, and Soviet models in the economy, culture, sports, and other fields were imitated and put into practice.

Naked Island is a place where people were “re-educated” to change their opinions because they could not accept that this was no longer the case or were thought to be on Stalin’s side.

Dissidents were typically sentenced to “re-education” by administrative decision without being tried, while military members were tried in simulated trials. They were given sentences of at least three and as much as twenty years in solitary confinement.

According to Wikipedia, 16,101 persons who passed through Naked Island and other information bureau camps between 1949 and 1956 have names listed in the 1963 Census prepared by the UDBA.

In these detention facilities for information bureau officers, 413 prisoners died in various ways (murder, suicide, natural death).

The precise number of detainees was never determined, as I previously stated, therefore the documents contain a variety of information, some of which read:

In Yugoslavia, 55,663 individuals have received sentences, “according to the IB line”, since 1948.

The number of victims ranges from 17,000 to 60,000, and it is still unknown how many convicted or unconvicted individuals (of whom there were the majority) remained on Naked Island.

Additionally, although some estimates put the number of victims at several thousand, it is believed that about 500 captives were killed or died in the camp (i.e., the intention was not to kill people but to kill the spirit).

To end, I would like to highlight one thing.

Communism was notorious for executing their own pupils, those who were leaders, intelligentsia and true revolutionists because they represented a threat to those who came to power, thanks to those who were true believers in communism and revolution.

A great example we can see is where Che Guevara was executed by his second in charge, Fidel Castro and Fidel executed all his associates.

Naked Island was not only hell on earth but a place where security intelligence apparatuses trained themselves in the ways of torture and interrogation.

 

 

 

Modern society is facing something called “climate change or global warming”.

There’s no doubt that the climate is changing and no doubt that global warming is real.

What is unrealistic is that we still continue to drum the same thing over and over again and that is?

Let’s reduce our carbon footprint. So, governments embraced solar, wind, and ocean power and humanity realised well, we can build cars powered via electric battery.

That is a great initiative, except, all the tools we need to harvest that natural energy trough must be built from something, right?

I am not a scientist but certainly, we will still need to dig iron ore, minerals and then we need to melt them, shape them, and put them into operation.

Long story short, I was wondering after an interview with Professor Clive Smallman about why we humans cannot save the planet in any other way than through renewable energy?

Then Professor Smallman explained in simple terms, if we want to save the planet, we need to plant more trees.

Plant trees?

Did I hear that correct?

Like more trees, no wind turbines, solar panels, electric cars? Trees.

Interestingly enough, I do remember as a kid that we were taught in school how trees are the lungs of the planet.

Fact:

In addition to the carbon dioxide trees capture, they also help the soil capture and store carbon. Despite not doing as such an incredible job as the ocean – absorbing around 90% of all carbon emissions and then suffering the impacts of acidification – trees are extremely important to help stop climate change.

So, on my recent trip I visited Singapore.

It should go without saying that I love Singapore. I fell in love with this city in 2012 when I first visited.

Yes, I was told by many “be careful in Singapore, this city has all sort of bans, like don’t throw chewing gum on the road.” Wow, this is something you learn on the first day in school, do not throw garbage, do not litter.

Singapore is a truly amazing city.

An aesthetically shaped and maintained city, incorporating all features necessary for citizens to be happy and proud of their city, state, and country.

So much green is planted in Singapore which is 180,000 acres and yet the government incorporated in architecture, what?

Planting trees and plants?

All around trees and greens.

So, I asked a few of my contacts there, why so many trees, plants, and greens?

They told me that apart from the beautiful look and offering cleaner air to citizens, they are doing their bit for the planet by absorbing more carbon monoxide and making amends for their land destroyed by the previous generation where most of the rainforest is gone.

End of chat.

Let me clarify something.

Singapore is 180,000 acres according to the almighty internet and daily, humans cut almost 10,000 acres of rainforest (according to The Guardian). So, we basically burn one city the size of Singapore in 18 days.

Singapore has gone so far with adjusting citizens, work, and life around climate change; adding more greens, more trees and keeping their carbon footprint so low. The rest of the world is still chasing the magical formula in forms like, “let’s build electric cars and wind turbines”, which require more and more digging, melting, shaping, and welding, while the solution for a cleaner planet was always here.

Trees. Those beautiful, silent natural wonders all around us.

Trees and greens.

You want to save the planet, then plant more trees. It requires less effort, less pollution, and less manufacturing.

Save the planet and plant a tree, that is something we all can do.

 

 

Before I start with this article I would like to ask, have you ever been the victim of hacking or unlawful accessing of your data?

Has your business computer been hacked? Has someone stolen your intellectual property?

The reality is we are living in the digital age, and it is so rapidly evolving with all those new updates, gadgets, and cyber security software that sometimes even I have found myself “left behind”.

Then for a moment I ask myself, “how many people have no clue what is going on with cyber security and how fraudsters and hackers operate and who they are targeting, when and why?”

The Covid lockdowns and remote work in actuality left most of society and business very much vulnerable while fraudsters and hackers utilised these circumstances to the maximum for their advantage.

I must now define what is Cyber Security and what better source to ask, than the always correct, willing and ready to answer, internet.

Yes, correct. I asked the internet to define Cyber Security. No doubt, if I asked several Cyber Security experts, I would be given different answers so let’s keep it nice and tidy and let the all-mighty internet answer for all of us.

Hence, the definition Cyber Security is:

“Cybersecurity is the protection of internet-connected systems such as hardware, software and data from cyberthreats. The practice is used by individuals and enterprises to protect against unauthorised access to data centres and other computerised systems.”

By this definition, we can all agree that our computers, phones and all our digital gadgets are a part of the nexus where cyber security and protection from cyber threats is applied.

In reality that is not so true.

According to Savvy’s online report (Bill Tsouvalas, 12th May 2022) [1] , in Australia 1 cyber-attack occurs every 10 minutes targeting SME’s, one in four Australians have fallen victim to identity fraud, and cybercriminals can penetrate 93% of company networks.

The most interesting and scariest fact is that cybercriminals can penetrate 93% of company networks. That is a truly scary fact and even more so as we are “working from home” where our security of our digital devices depends on commercial software and downloads from the internet.

I needn’t go further; the fraudsters and cybercriminals have already explored the loopholes.

While we, I mean, we humans, individuals, cannot protect our digital assets, perhaps we can believe that governments can protect themselves better.

An absolutely fair belief, however, pollination of cyberthreats is going from individuals to companies to the government sector. Perhaps via different modus operandi of executing cyber-attack but the true target remains the same, the human.

For more understanding on how governments and countries are becoming a target of cyber attackers, hackers and cyber terrorists please check the current war in Ukraine and Russia and how governments respond to prevent hacking and cyber terrorism. According to MSSP Alert’s article (Joe Panettieri, 23rd

June 2022) [2] one thing we all have in common is in the palm of our hands. Regardless of whether you are a government employee or an individual working in your business or perhaps you are in charge of developing new medicine, it is your mobile phone.

A strange fact is that smartphones are the primary delivery method for attacks, cyber-attacks, and hacks.

To add weight on that fact, we can certainly say that there are plenty of senior citizens who don’t know what cyber terrorism is, what hacking is. After all, I personally find myself wondering sometimes when I get an SMS.

An SMS with a link from the government of course. Just click the link, or the Tax Man will be after you. This is my favourite and people will either click the link or press that number to “cancel” because they are late with their tax return. It is becoming harder and harder to distinguish between true and false links, phone calls, and emails.

Fraudsters are utilising their best weapon on disposal, their imagination. Imagination supported with documents, facts, web sites, and of course, SOPs on the internet on how to prevent fraud, cyber-attacks, and hacks.

The first line of defence and the last one in cyber space is the human. The human firewall, not software, not technological or mechanical, but human.

 

 

References

[1] B Tsouvalas, Savvy, last updated 12th May 2022 at 10:25am, https://www.savvy.com.au/media-releases/cybercrime-in-australia-report/

[2] J Panettieri, MMSP Alert, 23rd June 2022, https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-news/ukraine-russia-cyberattack-timeline-updates-amid-russia-invasion/

 

 

Covid 19. The word that will live infamously forever and ever. As practice shows, one day soon, we will watch on Netflix, Stan or Prime Video some documentary about what really happened to the world in March 2020.

I do remember that I was in the Middle East when I got the news “borders are shutting down” and message “if you don’t come home in 24 hours you will never be able to come home”!

At first, I faced a dilemma, how is that possible that I cannot come back home? I was looking for more info about this pandemic but got nowhere except, we all going to be inside our homes for 2 weeks only, to ‘flatten the curve’. Well, these were the exact words I heard and of course we need to go through an education on “how to wash our hands” and “why masks on our faces are our best friends”.

At least so many medical experts were drumming on the media 24/7 about this pandemic and lucky me, I found that spot on the plane and was on my way back home. Into lockdown. Our only window to the world was the TV, Internet and 24/7 hammering by medical experts. The world opened in late 2021 and finally we can travel again, see loved ones and perhaps go for holidays because it’s safe. Or not?

It is May 2022 and I am on the road, well on the plane and traveling the world from Australia to Eastern Europe to the Middle East to Asia and finally back home to Australia. It was 20 something days between continents, cities, hotels, sun and sand storms. So let me start with the departure. After 2 years of walking in the park and talking to trees, my decision was made to fly and see clients, family and loved ones.

The departure from Australia was truly demanding: various apps to be installed, PCR tests and above all proof of vaccination and then on airplane amongst 400 passengers, where mask on face is must. Except when we eat. Or drink. Or sleep. Otherwise, masks on face. No one is policing if masks are on our faces once when airplane become warmer and cosy after a delicious meal, which is better to avoid than eat.

It doesn’t make sense, 400 souls on plane sharing a confined common space by inhaling and exhaling air amongst each other, but OK we done all paperwork before traveling, at least the virus is not amongst us… or at least we believe so.

Landing in Dubai was smooth. After 14.5 hours of enjoying sounds of engines finally I can feel the ground under my feet and with time to collect my suitcase, face the customs and take my mask off. Guess what?! No one in the airport asks you to wear a mask. We were moving forward and showing our passports. The customs officer is checking my identity and literally shows no interest for my vaccination status, apps, mask or did I wash my hands.

Welcome to Dubai. A society which is living freely. No advertisements around about Covid and no Covid marshals, police, SWAT teams to enforce masks.

Time to depart for Eastern Europe. Of course, rules around covid in Eastern Europe are even less strict, in contrary no one cares and surprise, surprise I am the only one who wears the mask. Needless to say, I was told by taxi driver “don’t worry about masks” Covid is around us so I was little bit reserved until taxi driver sarcastically said “my friend we are not in Australia, relax this is Eastern Europe”. I was silent. My silence was the answer. Taxi driver then turned and asked, “are you from Australia?” so I replied Yes. We both become silent in the confined space called – car.

Me with mask on in the back seat, him on his mobile phone talking to someone, or at least he was pretending to do so. After Eastern Europe I am back into Dubai on my way to Asia. No need to repeat the same wording and experiences but, you know what I would say anyway.

So often I asked myself the question, how is possible for the world to move freely in this “post-covid era” when in the moment you sit on plane, rules are changed, relaxed and not enforced? For the past 2 years medical experts drummed on around the clock about Covid but what I am interested in is how come medical professionals are not united around the fight against Covid? Isn’t medicine a universal discipline around the globe? Understanding what the virus is and how to combat this pandemic? Then ask yourself the question, what will happen when the next pandemic hits, more violent or deadlier than Covid19?

And at the end, imagine being a tourist in some country where you are a total stranger and don’t understand their rules or don’t know how to read advertising or promos about the pandemic and how to behave?

Perhaps the world will unite in rules and messaging around how to tackle pandemics, how travel is during a pandemic and most importantly, be kind with avoiding lockdowns and isolations from the rest of the world.

I still see that signage on “how to wash your hands”. I’m not sure if this is truly real or governments were sarcastic, but at least it was universal signage.

Do you remember that moment when you waited for someone at the airport or travelled to wait for someone who you love so much? How did you feel in that moment? Good? Excited? Anxious?

It goes without saying that sooner or later we will travel. Sometimes that choice will be that we travel for holidays, which is exciting. Particularly if we are going to visit some exotic place and drink fresh coconut.

When we travel for business, there is nothing exciting in that except a few shots in first class and placing those images on social media. Of course who wouldn’t take a few shots when your company is paying? After all under the images goes that hashtag successful, influencer and, well no one cares for you being in first class. Last and most important travel is, to see your loved ones. Boyfriend, Girlfriend and some perhaps unicorns and mermaids, but after all that type of traveling is boosted with emotions.

There is the moment in life when we either wait for someone, or we go to someone for whom we believe we can’t breathe, walk, talk, work or sleep? Did you have that moment in your life? I certainly did. But today is not about me but about me observing events on airports as an innocent bystander. The reason is that I recently travelled from Sydney to Dubai and all the way around the globe back to Sydney. So, I had time to see people at airports and observing their body language and behaviour while waiting for their next flight.

And of course, sipping some type of coffee with a ridiculous price tag. Coffee tastes like the airport, aesthetic, cold and no emotions while drinking with occasional peek into my photo album on my mobile. They are still there in my album, good. Anyway, I do remember in my old times; train stations were a battlefield of emotions. Today airports add into this personal experience in intelligence that I cannot not see or hear.

I saw a few couples on that trip, he waited for her, she was escorting him onto the plane. She waited for him. He waited for her. A vicious circle indeed. Overall, the first step is flying around the globe. The second is waiting in the crowd for that magical moment. For that sliding door to open so that emotions can explode, kisses can land on lips, cheeks, hands wrapping around bodies like a King Mambo snake.

Beautiful scenes that I wish I can go back in time for and be younger, not a senior citizen. Then there are couples who are saying good bye to each other at the airport terminal. Funny, how those moments when you say good bye to someone who are flying compared to when you arrive, you believe you have all time in the world. How wrong we humans are. We are and let me tell you why…

Airports are connecting us with loved ones, but in reality, they are separating us and it breaks my heart when I see those couples. Those silent tears with aching pain in the stomach, head and who knows where else. We don’t appreciate the one most valuable thing in our life we got at birth.
Time. It is our most valuable commodity in life.

Airports don’t stop time or slow down, they are amplifying killing fields of our emotions. Airports leave that vacuum of unsaid, unspoken words. Airports are like abbys which need to be filled with hopes, dreams and anticipations till next, what? Airport waiting of course.

So what I concluded, is that despite airports being the emotions killer we need to learn to appreciate time we have with our loved ones and to manage time ahead of us with the same people we are waiting for, and when traveling too.

Time is the answer. Time, at the airport is ultimately the beginning of something beautiful or death of emotions. So live your life, make plans now. Don’t’ spend time on airports. Instead be the one who is taking the suitcase of loved ones and give that hug and start the life together.

I am still flying for business (and with no influncers shots from first class) but I know that time is the biggest ally and biggest downfall for emotions and airport coffees are not so good to feed our emotions.