One Book That Is Definitely Banned In Russia!!!!

      Love him or hate him, we all can agree on one point. Vladimir Putin is one man that you would not want mad at you. People have gone to prison for many years after arousing his displeasure. In other cases, such deadly agents as poison and radiation have allegedly been used to end the lives of those who have made Putin mad. In other cases, old-fashioned hits have been made with firearms.

     Catherine Belton is a very brave British woman whom you probably have never heard of. She spent years of in-depth research. Her subject was Vladimir Putin, his inner circle, and the super-wealthy oligarchs who transformed him from a poor public servant to a man with a net worth estimated to be between $100,000 billion US all the way up to $1 trillion US.

        Her book is entitled simply "Putin's People." Even before its publication, it drew the ire of Putin and those close to him. We have no evidence that Putin dispatched a hitman or hitwoman to liquidate her. An attack was mounted on her through millions of British pounds spent on the best law firms in Britain and Australia using libel laws. The courts would not stop the publication of her book. Even when it was published and a best-seller, the battle continued to have it removed from public view.

    Her publisher spent millions of pounds defending against this barrage of lawsuits. It led to reforms in British libel laws. The argument put forth was that the very wealthy and powerful had the resources to use lawyers and courts to censor what the public reads.

    I listened to a 26-minute podcast with this author sponsored by the Financial Times of London. There were some fascinating revelations. Putin's inner circle is not the wealthy oligarchs. It is a group of former KGB, FSB, and military operatives. The oligarchs formed a partnership of sorts with Putin. They helped him to become a very wealthy man. In return, Putin protected them. He gave them all sorts of favors and special deals.

     She pointed out that corruption and stealing are an ingrained part of Russian life. For example, Russian engineers and scientists develop brilliant weapons systems. Those delegated to procure these weapons start "cutting corners" and putting a part of the budget into their pockets. When military personnel get these weapons systems, they often perform below expectations or fail. We have seen many examples of this in Ukraine.

    Catherine talked about the moment when Putin put Russia's nuclear weapons units on high alert (Defcon 3) and made veiled threats about the use of nuclear weapons if anyone interfered with his Ukraine invasion. This was met with shock and disbelief by members of the inner circle. She went on to say that the inner circle was very dissatisfied with how things were going in Ukraine. When the dust settles, Putin will be punished in some way or removed from power.