Russia’s ‘Loony’ Diversification into Canadian Dollars and Other Tidbits

Hasn’t been anything major coming out of Russia that justified a post, but I’ve collected a few items that warrant some comment.

• The FSB first banned Oleg Kozlovsky from leaving Russia, then reversed itself after its action unleashed a storm of international protest. Further evidence of the retrograde nature of Putinism, but an illustration of the difficulties of reverting to a full-blown police state when there are some channels of communication outside of the government’s control. All the more evidence of the vital importance of keeping the internet independent in Russia–which, of course, will also serve as a spur to the authorities to strangle

  it.