Vlad began summarizing what he knows about the origins of the Russian mafia. He explained that it started out in imperial Russia in the early 18th century, with a small group of thieves who began operating as a small secret criminal society. They began with good intentions, stealing from the czar, who possessed all the wealth, as a way to revolt against an oppressive regime. In early Russian society, the only way to revolt was to become a criminal, but their profits were divided amongst the poor; in essence, they were regarded as folk heroes. The group soon developed their own honor code, which emphasized loyalty to one another and resistance to the czar. We discussed how this was actually quite similar to Robin-hood style bandits - and was a way to retaliate against an oppressive regime - to rob from the rich and give to the poor. In later years, Lenin attempted to wipe them out, but failed, and when Stalin took over, people were thrown into gulags (labor camps) where the most powerful criminals worked their way up in the organization to become "thieves-in-law." They conveyed their status through complicated tattoos, which are still used by Russian mobsters today. It should be noted here however, that Vlad is considering changing his research topic as it is very difficult to find reputed sources to validate and authenticate findings. Vlad completed his research on how to putt and has already handed in his paper.