When Google (and others) meet politics

Some years ago, at the Wikimania gathering at the Barbican Centre, noticed at reference 3, I was struck how some contributors reported getting lots of online abuse, to the point where anonymity was essential. Online abuse arising from writing more or less factual entries in Wikipedia about controversial people or controversial events. Writing articles about the Battle of Waterloo might get a few people hot under the collar, but not usually the sort of people who write hate mail. Even less so the Battle of Thapsus, which took place a very long time ago. But writing about something which is both current and tricky, say Brexit, President Modi (the rather extreme Hindu in charge of India) or abortion does. It also becomes a political act of sorts, a political act which might draw the attention of whichever politicians who happen to be in power.

In which context I have been interested to read about the palace which has been built on the Black Sea, allegedly for the use of President Putin. A palace which is the subject of a helpful Wikipedia article (reference 1), help which includes an address (reference 2). A place which appears in satellite view in gmaps, from where the snap above was taken.

So it seems that there certainly is a large Italianate palace on the Black Sea, the sort of thing that Hollywood stars and moguls used to build for themselves. Or our own Premier League footballers. Which our Queen, sitting on her pile of old money, stolen long ago, might think rather flashy and vulgar.

Ownership of the palace is much more tricky. Probably just about as tricky as the web of shadowy companies big PLC's over here build to hide their affairs from the prying eyes of taxmen and regulators.

Which leaves for me the question of who uses this palace? How does anyone get any value out it?

Possibly the nearest beach

No point in owning such a place if you don't use it occasionally. And you can hardly use it by yourself; that would be a bit silly. You need glitzy parties, guests with lots of bling and lots of staff, indoor and outdoor. You need fawning courtiers: not too servile because that becomes tiresome, but courtiers who know their place just the same. You need supplies to be delivered and rubbish to be taken away. You might even want some insurance. And what about a spot of sea swimming? Or a drive around the bay in your equally flashy and vulgar yacht?

Dense leylandii hedging

All this amounts to quite a big footprint. Such a place can't exist in a vacuum and all the bars roundabout must know all about it. Perhaps if one was a Russian it would be interesting to try to walk the perimeter, presumably something a bit more serious than the park wall that country estates used to run to in this country. Chain link fences, topped with razor wire and cornered with watch towers? Death zone patrolled by packs of Dobermans? Miles and miles of dense leylandii hedging to stop people peeping in at the cavorting, aging oligarchs?

Reference 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putin's_Palace.

Reference 2: palace address: Gelendzhik Urban Okrug, Krasnodar Krai, Russia. 44.4198035°N 38.2052456°E.

Reference 3: http://psmv2.blogspot.com/2014/08/and-another-six.html.