Si chiama Gig Economy ed è basata su di una forma di sfruttamento coordinato via internet della manodopera. Alla faccia di due secoli di lotte sindacali e dei lavoratori. Come argomenta il New York Times, però, le cose stanno cominciando a cambiare. Avere lavoratori più protetti ed efficienti è interesse anche (di alcune) di queste aziende. Ma quanta differenza tra lavorare per Uber o lavorare per un Apple Store: qualcuno queste cose dovrebbe cominciare a notarle.
Money quote: "The use of independent contractors is hardly an innovation. Traditional businesses like garment factories, construction companies and trucking have often misclassified employees as contractors to avoid offering benefits, paying payroll taxes and abiding by labor laws. What makes this different is that gig economy businesses are arguing that their use of the independent contractor model is in fact better for workers"
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/10/opinion/the-gig-economys-false-promise.html
Money quote: "The use of independent contractors is hardly an innovation. Traditional businesses like garment factories, construction companies and trucking have often misclassified employees as contractors to avoid offering benefits, paying payroll taxes and abiding by labor laws. What makes this different is that gig economy businesses are arguing that their use of the independent contractor model is in fact better for workers"
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/10/opinion/the-gig-economys-false-promise.html
NY Times
Opinion | The Gig Economy’s False Promise (Published 2017)
Instead of freedom, workers at companies like Uber have encountered low wages and coercion.
Qual è la nostra idea di pensiero scientifico? Quale ruolo ha il metodo rispetto alla filosofia? E come si muove quest'ultima?
Money quote: "The relative instability of philosophical positions is a result of how the discipline is practised. In philosophy, questions about methods and limitations are on the table in a way that they tend not to be in the physical sciences, for example. Scientists generally acknowledge a ‘gold standard’ for validity – the scientific method – and, for the most part, the way in which investigations are conducted is more or less settled. Falsifiability rules the scientific disciplines: almost all scientists are in agreement that, if a hypothesis isn’t testable, then it isn’t scientific. There is no counterpoint of this in philosophy. Here, students and professors continue to ask: ‘Which questions can we ask?’ and ‘How can we ask, much less answer, those questions?’ There is no universally agreed-upon way in which to do philosophy"
https://aeon.co/ideas/how-fashion-says-what-can-and-cant-be-asked-in-philosophy
Money quote: "The relative instability of philosophical positions is a result of how the discipline is practised. In philosophy, questions about methods and limitations are on the table in a way that they tend not to be in the physical sciences, for example. Scientists generally acknowledge a ‘gold standard’ for validity – the scientific method – and, for the most part, the way in which investigations are conducted is more or less settled. Falsifiability rules the scientific disciplines: almost all scientists are in agreement that, if a hypothesis isn’t testable, then it isn’t scientific. There is no counterpoint of this in philosophy. Here, students and professors continue to ask: ‘Which questions can we ask?’ and ‘How can we ask, much less answer, those questions?’ There is no universally agreed-upon way in which to do philosophy"
https://aeon.co/ideas/how-fashion-says-what-can-and-cant-be-asked-in-philosophy
Aeon
How fashion moves philosophy forward
The rise and fall of popular positions in the field of philosophy is not governed solely by reason. Philosophers are generally reasonable people but, as with the rest of the human species, their thoughts are heavily influenced by their social sett...
Due o tre cose da chiedersi a proposito del populismo
Money quote: "Populism is driven by the reaction against two groups in particular—affluent and educated urban cosmopolitans who are the bearers of liberal or progressive values, and immigrants who speak different languages and have different religions. The combination of the two work together to create and reinforce the belief that traditional norms and values are being eradicated from modern societies"
https://www.citylab.com/politics/2017/03/what-is-really-behind-the-populist-surge/519921/
Money quote: "Populism is driven by the reaction against two groups in particular—affluent and educated urban cosmopolitans who are the bearers of liberal or progressive values, and immigrants who speak different languages and have different religions. The combination of the two work together to create and reinforce the belief that traditional norms and values are being eradicated from modern societies"
https://www.citylab.com/politics/2017/03/what-is-really-behind-the-populist-surge/519921/
Bloomberg.com
The Real Roots of Populism
It’s not about “economic anxieties.”
Cari tutti, oggi festa. Se lo è anche per voi, l'augurio di una felice e serena Pasqua
Ci sono cose che le donne non sanno fare? Le raccoglitrici/coltivatrici, rispetto ai maschi cacciatori, sono forse inadatte a muoversi nei territori sconosciuti ed inesplorati? Nonostante le idee della società dell’epoca, all’inizio Novecento un piccolo numero di ardimentose cercò di spiegare con l’esempio che le cose non stavano così. Cercarono di spiegare cioè che le esploratrici-donne esistevano eccome. (La storia ha decisamente un lieto fine).
Money quote: “Over the previous decades, the women—Harrison, Blair Niles, Gertrude Shelby and Gertrude Emerson—had collectively covered hundreds of thousands of miles across five continents. Between them they spoke nearly a dozen languages. Niles was a travel writer and novelist who traveled by ox cart through Colombia; Shelby, an economic geographer, who had lived by herself in a small village on South America’s “wild coast”—a region that includes modern-day Suriname—studying the folklore of the indigenous inhabitants; and Emerson, the youngest of the group at 34, an editor and budding activist who had traveled with and interviewed Mahatma Gandhi in 1921. Each, like Harrison, had written extensively about the cultures, geographies and economies they had encountered in their work, but their contributions went under-appreciated by the public, which saw the woman explorer as mere novelty.”
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/society-of-woman-geographers
Money quote: “Over the previous decades, the women—Harrison, Blair Niles, Gertrude Shelby and Gertrude Emerson—had collectively covered hundreds of thousands of miles across five continents. Between them they spoke nearly a dozen languages. Niles was a travel writer and novelist who traveled by ox cart through Colombia; Shelby, an economic geographer, who had lived by herself in a small village on South America’s “wild coast”—a region that includes modern-day Suriname—studying the folklore of the indigenous inhabitants; and Emerson, the youngest of the group at 34, an editor and budding activist who had traveled with and interviewed Mahatma Gandhi in 1921. Each, like Harrison, had written extensively about the cultures, geographies and economies they had encountered in their work, but their contributions went under-appreciated by the public, which saw the woman explorer as mere novelty.”
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/society-of-woman-geographers
Atlas Obscura
The Intrepid ’20s Women Who Formed an All-Female Global Exploration Society
Excluded from the men-only Explorers Club, they established their own group for adventurers.
Pian piano qualcosa si sta rompendo dentro il sistema della pubblicità di Google. Che è in realtà automatico (programmatic) solo di facciata, dato che dietro c’è un esercito di scimmiette che cercano di tenerlo assieme. Ma è il sistema che è bacato? Sempre più piccole aziende escono da questo meccanismo. Una dopo l’altra. Qualcosa alla fine potrebbe succedere.
Vi consiglio di leggere tutta la storia, perché mostra come, in cambio di qualche centinaio di euro, le pubblicità di Google inquinino l’immagine editoriale di un sito, che a sua volta viene bersagliato dalle pretese e dalle interpretazioni più sballate da parte del motore di ricerca.
Money quote:
“So Google accepts get-rich-quick ads featuring famous people without their permission, but will not let us run those adverts on a page with a photograph of nudity, even if it depicts news in the public interest. The insane hypocrisy and irony of it!
Perhaps at some point online publishers, in South Africa or internationally, will come together, agree to chuck out Google Ads, and find a new way to solicit advertising from reputable companies that pay properly. Meanwhile, we’re dumping Google Ads.
Obviously the behemoth in Mountain View won’t miss GroundUp, but we take some pride in saying the feeling’s mutual.”
http://www.groundup.org.za/article/why-were-dropping-google-ads/
Vi consiglio di leggere tutta la storia, perché mostra come, in cambio di qualche centinaio di euro, le pubblicità di Google inquinino l’immagine editoriale di un sito, che a sua volta viene bersagliato dalle pretese e dalle interpretazioni più sballate da parte del motore di ricerca.
Money quote:
“So Google accepts get-rich-quick ads featuring famous people without their permission, but will not let us run those adverts on a page with a photograph of nudity, even if it depicts news in the public interest. The insane hypocrisy and irony of it!
Perhaps at some point online publishers, in South Africa or internationally, will come together, agree to chuck out Google Ads, and find a new way to solicit advertising from reputable companies that pay properly. Meanwhile, we’re dumping Google Ads.
Obviously the behemoth in Mountain View won’t miss GroundUp, but we take some pride in saying the feeling’s mutual.”
http://www.groundup.org.za/article/why-were-dropping-google-ads/
GroundUp
Why we’re dropping Google Ads
The advertising model is broken: we’re opting out
United Airlines l’ha fatta grossa: il passeggero “espulso” per overbooking (ma in realtà volevano far volare quattro dipendenti) è finito all’ospedale con il naso e due denti rotti e contusioni varie compreso un trauma cranico. La compagnia aerea, e soprattutto il suo Ceo, non è stata capace di gestire la crisi e anzi, in un certo senso l’ha anche avallata.
Quindi, se volate con United o avete comunque un minimo di influenza in rete o tra amici, è arrivato il momento del boicottaggio. Perché un giorno potreste essere voi quello “espulso” di peso dall’aereo. Su certe cose non si sposta.
Moeny quote 1: “Drop United is a Chrome extension that drags United Airlines off your flight search results.
So the next time you search for a flight United won’t have a seat in your options.”
Money quote 2: "Currently works on Google Search, Google Flights, Kayak, and Expedia.”
http://dropunited.com/
Quindi, se volate con United o avete comunque un minimo di influenza in rete o tra amici, è arrivato il momento del boicottaggio. Perché un giorno potreste essere voi quello “espulso” di peso dall’aereo. Su certe cose non si sposta.
Moeny quote 1: “Drop United is a Chrome extension that drags United Airlines off your flight search results.
So the next time you search for a flight United won’t have a seat in your options.”
Money quote 2: "Currently works on Google Search, Google Flights, Kayak, and Expedia.”
http://dropunited.com/
Drop United
Corporations can treat you like shit because you’ll eventually forget you were ever mad. Drop United is a Chrome extension that drags United Airlines off your flight search results. Welcome to the United States of Humanity.
Ops, I did it again
Money quote: "United booted a couple traveling to their wedding, just days after public relations fiasco"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2017/04/17/united-booted-a-couple-traveling-to-their-wedding-just-days-after-public-relations-fiasco/
Money quote: "United booted a couple traveling to their wedding, just days after public relations fiasco"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2017/04/17/united-booted-a-couple-traveling-to-their-wedding-just-days-after-public-relations-fiasco/
Washington Post
United booted a couple traveling to their wedding, just days after public relations fiasco
A spokeswoman for the beleaguered airline said the two passengers “repeatedly” tried to move to upgraded seating and refused to go back to their assigned seats.
Il culto dei Grateful Death. Pezzo affascinante e visionario. Buon rientro a tutti.
Money quote: "“I think there are a lot of Deadheads who would have been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome later,” Silberman said. “I am talking about Owsley himself — famously irascible, talented, precise, whether making LSD or the template for the modern sound amplification system. I think he was on the spectrum and I think some of the most obsessive Grateful Dead tape collectors were too.”"
http://www.latimes.com/local/abcarian/la-me-abcarian-grateful-dead-20170416-story.html
Money quote: "“I think there are a lot of Deadheads who would have been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome later,” Silberman said. “I am talking about Owsley himself — famously irascible, talented, precise, whether making LSD or the template for the modern sound amplification system. I think he was on the spectrum and I think some of the most obsessive Grateful Dead tape collectors were too.”"
http://www.latimes.com/local/abcarian/la-me-abcarian-grateful-dead-20170416-story.html
latimes.com
Deadheads aren't the only ones who'll enjoy this 'Long Strange Trip'
With never-seen footage and a spectacular sound track, Amir Bar-Lev's four-hour "Long Strange Trip" is one of the most engrossing rock docs ever made
Il buco nero di Apple rivisitato. Quando l’azienda ha smesso di aggiornare il Mac Pro, dopo averne prodotto una versione più limitata delle precedenti come espandibilità, è andata in corto circuito una parte piccola ma influente della sua clientela. Adesso c’è di nuovo speranza, con l’atipico annuncio di una futura versione in via di completamento (fra un anno almeno).
Questo articolo ripercorre in maniera dettagliata la storia della rivoluzione creativa digitale e il ruolo che hanno giocato i Mac.
Money quote: “Without a truly top-tier workstation, Apple will miss out on a huge segment of digital creatives that can craft the future of human-machine interaction — something way beyond tapping a piece of glass. It would lack a Mac workstation with the raw computing power to prototype VR and AR interactions, build game worlds, simulate complex models and render the effects of tomorrow’s great feature films all the while offering those same creatives a platform to create for its own mobile devices.”
https://medium.com/@sdw/why-pro-matters-75593220cb1a
E qui c’è invece gente che si appassiona ai Surface: in cerca di un’altra Apple chiamata Microsoft?
https://www.quora.com/Would-you-replace-your-iPad-and-MacBook-with-a-Surface-Pro-3-Why-or-why-not
Questo articolo ripercorre in maniera dettagliata la storia della rivoluzione creativa digitale e il ruolo che hanno giocato i Mac.
Money quote: “Without a truly top-tier workstation, Apple will miss out on a huge segment of digital creatives that can craft the future of human-machine interaction — something way beyond tapping a piece of glass. It would lack a Mac workstation with the raw computing power to prototype VR and AR interactions, build game worlds, simulate complex models and render the effects of tomorrow’s great feature films all the while offering those same creatives a platform to create for its own mobile devices.”
https://medium.com/@sdw/why-pro-matters-75593220cb1a
E qui c’è invece gente che si appassiona ai Surface: in cerca di un’altra Apple chiamata Microsoft?
https://www.quora.com/Would-you-replace-your-iPad-and-MacBook-with-a-Surface-Pro-3-Why-or-why-not
Medium
Why Pro Matters
In the light of Apple’s recent, incredibly surprising reveal of their plans for the Mac Pro, I wanted to write a bit about the (literally…
I memoriali della Prima guerra mondiale negli Usa hanno praticamente tutti la stessa statua che rappresenta un soldato americano con il pugno alzato, in una posa che ricorda quella della Statua della Libertà (tra tutte le cose…). Sono frutto di una intelligente iniziativa imprenditoriale di uno scultore con il pallino per gli affari. Un discreto pallino, direi.
Money quote: “By 1920, two years after the war ended, Viquesney applied for a patent for his design, because he planned to mass market it, thus making the memorial statue more affordable and easier to set up all across the nation. His ingenious idea? Instead of carving each doughboy out of marble on demand, he created a mold for them. When one was ordered—at a reasonable rate of $1,500 (around $20,000 today, as opposed to the tens of thousands in 1920s dollars that a personalized memorial cost) Viquesney simply ran one in either pressed copper or cast zinc and then coated it in bronze. They were lighter than marble, thus easier to ship, and the molding process took much less time than sculpting each by hand. He also created smaller versions of the sculpture, as well as one that served as a lamp base, making it possible for veterans or others to place a doughboy in their homes. So much for not making any money as an artist.”
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/wwi-doughboy-statue
Money quote: “By 1920, two years after the war ended, Viquesney applied for a patent for his design, because he planned to mass market it, thus making the memorial statue more affordable and easier to set up all across the nation. His ingenious idea? Instead of carving each doughboy out of marble on demand, he created a mold for them. When one was ordered—at a reasonable rate of $1,500 (around $20,000 today, as opposed to the tens of thousands in 1920s dollars that a personalized memorial cost) Viquesney simply ran one in either pressed copper or cast zinc and then coated it in bronze. They were lighter than marble, thus easier to ship, and the molding process took much less time than sculpting each by hand. He also created smaller versions of the sculpture, as well as one that served as a lamp base, making it possible for veterans or others to place a doughboy in their homes. So much for not making any money as an artist.”
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/wwi-doughboy-statue
Atlas Obscura
Why Do So Many U.S. Towns Have the Same WWI Soldier Statue?
Decoding the Doughboy, one of the first mass-produced memorials.
Nel caso i due astronauti che sono sbarcati per primi sulla Luna ci fossero anche rimasti per qualche possibile (oltre che probabile) guasto, i ghostwriter dell’allora presidente Usa Richard Nixon gli avevano preparato un discorso “dell’addio”. Niente male il memo. Per gli amanti delle teorie del complotto: avete visto che tipo di scrittura a macchina viene usata? Era davvero disponibile già nel 1969?
Money quote: “On July 18 of 1969, as the world waited anxiously for Apollo 11 to land safely on the surface of the Moon, speechwriter William Safire imagined the worst case scenario as he expertly wrote the following sombre memo to President Nixon's Chief of Staff, H. R. Haldeman. Its contents: a contingency plan, in the form of a speech to be read out by Nixon should astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become stranded on the Moon, never to return, followed by some brief instructions relating to its broadcast. Luckily for all those involved, the memo was never needed.”
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2010/11/in-event-of-moon-disaster.html
Money quote: “On July 18 of 1969, as the world waited anxiously for Apollo 11 to land safely on the surface of the Moon, speechwriter William Safire imagined the worst case scenario as he expertly wrote the following sombre memo to President Nixon's Chief of Staff, H. R. Haldeman. Its contents: a contingency plan, in the form of a speech to be read out by Nixon should astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become stranded on the Moon, never to return, followed by some brief instructions relating to its broadcast. Luckily for all those involved, the memo was never needed.”
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2010/11/in-event-of-moon-disaster.html
Lettersofnote
IN EVENT OF MOON DISASTER
On July 18 of 1969, as the world waited anxiously for Apollo 11 to land safely on the surface of the Moon , speechwriter William Safire ...
Bye bye Intel Developer Forum. Praticamente il giorno dopo che è uscita una serie di miei articoli su Nova24 del Sole 24 Ore sulla legge di Moore (sorry, carta only), Intel annuncia un po’ in sordina di cancellare il suo evento di San Francisco per gli sviluppatori sulla piattaforma x86 e dintorni. Giusto in tempo!
Money quote: “IDF has been Intel's yearly home to major product announcements. This has spanned from CPU announcements like Skylake and Kaby Lake, to storage products like Optane, to networking fabrics like Omni-Path. So the cancellation of IDF means that Intel no longer has a (currently scheduled) venue to announce new products and update the public and investors on their plans. Though what's more interesting is how this will affect developers (both presenting and attending), who were the heart and soul of the show.
While it seems highly unlikely that Intel is doing away with trade shows and launch events entirely, it’s clear that something is afoot at Intel, and that as a result the traditional IDF is gone. With Intel's product roadmap becoming increasingly elongated and less aligned to a yearly cadence, a yearly tradeshow is obviously a harder event to hold and justify. But what will replace their combination trade show and venue for product announcements remains to be seen.”
http://www.anandtech.com/show/11279/intel-discontinues-the-intel-developer-forum-idf17-cancelled
Money quote: “IDF has been Intel's yearly home to major product announcements. This has spanned from CPU announcements like Skylake and Kaby Lake, to storage products like Optane, to networking fabrics like Omni-Path. So the cancellation of IDF means that Intel no longer has a (currently scheduled) venue to announce new products and update the public and investors on their plans. Though what's more interesting is how this will affect developers (both presenting and attending), who were the heart and soul of the show.
While it seems highly unlikely that Intel is doing away with trade shows and launch events entirely, it’s clear that something is afoot at Intel, and that as a result the traditional IDF is gone. With Intel's product roadmap becoming increasingly elongated and less aligned to a yearly cadence, a yearly tradeshow is obviously a harder event to hold and justify. But what will replace their combination trade show and venue for product announcements remains to be seen.”
http://www.anandtech.com/show/11279/intel-discontinues-the-intel-developer-forum-idf17-cancelled
AnandTech
Intel Discontinues the Intel Developer Forum; IDF17 Cancelled
In a bit of breaking news this morning, it appears that Intel has decided to cancel their Intel Developer Forum tradeshow going forward, including this summer’s expected IDF17.
Lo smartwatch? Non andrà da nessuna parte. Parola del Ceo di Huaweii…
Money quote: ““I am always confused as to what smartwatches are for when we have smartphones,” Eric Xu Zhijun, Huawei’s rotating CEO, said during the company’s Global Analyst Summit 2017 held in Shenzhen on Tuesday.”
http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2086751/not-my-watch-huawei-ceo-sees-no-future-wearable-smart-devices
Money quote: ““I am always confused as to what smartwatches are for when we have smartphones,” Eric Xu Zhijun, Huawei’s rotating CEO, said during the company’s Global Analyst Summit 2017 held in Shenzhen on Tuesday.”
http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2086751/not-my-watch-huawei-ceo-sees-no-future-wearable-smart-devices
South China Morning Post
Not on my watch: Huawei CEO sees no future for wearable smart devices
It turns out even people at the very cutting edge of technical innovation are entitled to a “technophobe” moment....
I gemelli diversi iPhone 7s e iPhone 8 scompagineranno il mercato? - il mio articolo per Macity
http://www.macitynet.it/gemelli-diversi-iphone-7s-iphone-8-scompagineranno-mercato/
http://www.macitynet.it/gemelli-diversi-iphone-7s-iphone-8-scompagineranno-mercato/
Macitynet.it
I gemelli diversi iPhone 7s e iPhone 8 scompagineranno il mercato?
Apple cerca il colpo risolutivo per ampliare il divario con la concorrenza. Il cambio di strategia nella modulazione dei prodotti potrebbe essere la chiave
Il senso delle cose. Luciano Floridi rimette in prospettiva le fake news e l'evoluzione del web
Money quote: "The appetite for populism is not a new problem. In the ferocious newspaper battles of 1890s New York, the emerging sensational style of journalism in Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World and William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal was dubbed “yellow journalism” by those concerned with maintaining standards, adherence to accuracy and an informed public debate. We now have the same problem with online misinformation"
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/nov/29/fake-news-echo-chamber-ethics-infosphere-internet-digital
Money quote: "The appetite for populism is not a new problem. In the ferocious newspaper battles of 1890s New York, the emerging sensational style of journalism in Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World and William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal was dubbed “yellow journalism” by those concerned with maintaining standards, adherence to accuracy and an informed public debate. We now have the same problem with online misinformation"
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/nov/29/fake-news-echo-chamber-ethics-infosphere-internet-digital
the Guardian
Fake news and a 400-year-old problem: we need to resolve the ‘post-truth’ crisis
The internet echo chamber satiates our appetite for pleasant lies and reassuring falsehoods and has become the defining challenge of the 21st century
Certo che la ggente è strana. Un giorno ti spara perché mangi le mele, e il giorno dopo a quell'altro che si abbuffa di pomi non dice niente, anzi lo loda. Perché? Immaginate se il primo presidente nero degli Stati Uniti avesse fatto o portato avanti la metà, un terzo dei conflitti e delle contraddizioni di Donald Trump. Sarebbe stata l'epocalisse.
Money quote: "Imagine Michelle Obama demanded to live in a gold-plated penthouse in the middle of Manhattan, costs be damned, while President Obama lived in the White House alone. The outrage would be riot-level fierce. Now, conservatives no longer care."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/king-conservatives-hated-uppity-negro-golfing-president-article-1.3065230
Money quote: "Imagine Michelle Obama demanded to live in a gold-plated penthouse in the middle of Manhattan, costs be damned, while President Obama lived in the White House alone. The outrage would be riot-level fierce. Now, conservatives no longer care."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/king-conservatives-hated-uppity-negro-golfing-president-article-1.3065230
NY Daily News
KING: Conservatives hated an uppity negro golfing President
No President in American history has ever golfed more per week than Donald Trump.
Il problema qui è semplice: il rapporto con la criminalità in Russia è istituzionale. Anzi, è parte delle istituzioni. Da questo ne consegue che c'è un uso costante di strumenti e canali criminali da parte del governo. Alla fine questo però si ripercuote nella cultura di un paese e del suo senso della statualità, con conseguenze temibili.
Money quote: "The Russian state is highly criminalised, and the interpenetration of the criminal ‘underworld’ and the political ‘upperworld’ has led the regime to use criminals from time to time as instruments of its rule"
http://www.ecfr.eu/publications/summary/crimintern_how_the_kremlin_uses_russias_criminal_networks_in_europe
Money quote: "The Russian state is highly criminalised, and the interpenetration of the criminal ‘underworld’ and the political ‘upperworld’ has led the regime to use criminals from time to time as instruments of its rule"
http://www.ecfr.eu/publications/summary/crimintern_how_the_kremlin_uses_russias_criminal_networks_in_europe
ECFR
Crimintern: How the Kremlin uses Russia’s criminal networks in Europe
European states and institutions have to consider the challenges posed by Russian-based organised crime, and adopt measures to combat it.