This segment of my interview with Respublika.kz reporter Yevgeniya Plakhina starts with me asking when the DDoS attacks began, and moves over into what triggers these kinds of governmental crackdowns on the press. I have omitted a long section about the political assassinations that have been occurring in Kazakhstan.

At the end of the video, we talk about what happened to me -- that is, the food (?) poisoning that put me in the hospital with my kidneys shut down, my heart in tachycardia and delirious from a 104 degree fever. Apparently, I should have known better than to try to teach "about such a sensitive subject." I feel almost ashamed to talk about this relatively minor matter, which when compared to what the Kazakh journalists have to endure, would be like a resort vacation. Except that the doctors told me I was on the brink of cascading organ failure and that in another 6 hours, I probably would have died.

I will probably never know if what happened to me was deliberate or just a bad piece of chicken, but the locals are pretty sure that there are no accidents anymore in Kazakhstan. "You aren't paranoid when they're actually out to get you," is a joking phrase that no longer makes people smile. (less info)