Opposition grows to killings of dissidents in Russia

In 2008, British lawyer Sergei Magnitzky, after

after allegedly uncovering a web of corruption involving senior officials, while working for London-based Hermitage Capital Management.

[Dominic] Raab [Member of British Parliament and Raab, a former Foreign Office lawyer] said: “Between 2007 and 2008, working for Hermitage Capital, he exposed the biggest tax fraud in Russian history, worth $230m US (£146m).

“His legal team was then subject to varying forms of intimidation and, while other lawyers left Russia in fear of their lives, Magnitsky stayed on to make a stand for the rule of law in Russia and strike a blow against the breathtaking corruption that has taken place there.”

Mr Raab added: “That bravery cost him his life. He was arrested in 2008 on trumped up charges of tax evasion. Iin Putin’s Kafkaesque Russian justice system the very tax investigators that Magnitsky exposed turned up to arrest him.”

‘Stark reminder’

After eight months in prison his condition deteriorated and he was taken [pullquote]Magnitzky died in custody aged 37. His cause was taken up by human rights groups as one of the most glaring examples of corruption and prison abuse in modern Russia. He had suffered from pancreatitis and gallstones, and had been found with broken fingers and bruising to his body, the Kremlin’s Human Rights Council said in July 2011.[/pullquote] to hospital for emergency surgery. But he was not treated, but instead handcuffed and beaten, Mr Raab said. “Doctors found him an hour later lying on the floor. He was dead.” Despite 60 people implicated in the abuse of Mr Magnitsky and the original tax fraud, “the Russian authorities blocked all attempts to bring those responsible to justice”, Mr Raab said. “All the suspects were cleared by Russian investigators. Some have been promoted, some decorated. In fact, the only people on trial are Magnitsky’s employer and Magnitsky himself, now the subject of Russia’s first ever posthumous prosecution.” Mr Raab’s motion also covered other cases “wherever there is evidence that a state official anywhere is responsible for torture, extra judicial killing, some other gross human rights abuse or is complicit in covering it up”. Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt said: “The death of Sergei Magnitsky serves as a stark reminder of the human rights situation in Russia, and questions about the rule of law there.”

MPs urge government sanctions against Russia over Magnitsky death (BBC)

The BBC reports we’ve read so far don’t address Sergei Magnitsky’s citizenship – Russian, British, dual or other. And perhaps his nationality is, or should be irrelevant. At a minimum, as a British attorney, he was an officer of the United Kingdom justice system. He uncovered serious corruption in Russia, he was arrested on what appear to be false allegations, and killed in prison. We think that this evidence, taken together, is overwhelming evidence of at least probable cause of a crime and cover-up.

HP v Apple: The Secret or The Curse

Hewlett Packard‘s CEO Meg Whitman has her work cut out for her. It’s not just the losses due to alleged fraud committed by the management at Autonomy prior to its acquisition by HP. HP, a $25.05 Billion company, is writing off losses of $18.3 Billion to $18.5 Billion in calendar year 2012. The losses equate to 73.0% to 73.8% of the company’s value.

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HP: What Next After Autonomy?

The adult in the cartoon is not Carly Fiorina, Mark Hurd, Leo Apotheker formerly of HP, or John Lynch, formerly of HP & Autonomy. While the three ex-CEOs were paid a total of $80 Million after being fired (here), they did NOT create shareholder value. Under their guidance, the company lost 77.92% of its peak value; the shareholders lost $81.54 Billion between Dec. 31, 1999 (here) and the close of trading, Nov. 23, 2012.

While Autonomy’s $10 Billion valuation may have been John Lynch’s fraud – the FBI and it’s counterparts in London are investigating (here) – HP’s acquisition of Autonomy was Leo Apotheker’s error, and has become Meg Whitman’s problem. I’m sure that if Whitman is unsuccessful, or the Board fires her before she can be successful, she will be well taken care of, as were Fiorina, Hurd, and Apotheker. Meanwhile Bill Hewlett & Dave Packard – who created value for the shareholders and other stakeholders – must be turning over in their graves.

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Global Warming, New York, The Jersey Shore, and Canada

Image 1: People enjoying the beach in Montreal, Canada, courtesy Jazz Hostels

While climate change and global warming will mean longer and hotter summers and shorter and warmer winters farther north in the northern hemisphere than previously, and even though we make like longer hotter summers and shorter, warmer winters …

Warmer and shorter winters mean thinner ice on frozen lakes – and people crashing through the thin ice and drowning in places like Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Alaska, and Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia.

Longer hotter summers also mean warmer oceans and an atmosphere that can hold more heat.

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Alexandru Csete, a/k/a OZ9AEC: open-source/software defined radio leader

The use of computers in conjunction with radio devices is not new: since we’ve been liberated from having to have a crystal, vacuum tube, or transistor specfically fabricated to transmit or receive over particular frequencies, the costs of manufacturing devices which can send and receive voice or data signals has dropped as their flexibility has increased. We’re going to try to explain how this works – and how it works within the United States (i.e. F.C.C. domestically, the International Telecommunications Union – I.T.U., an arm of the United Nations, and F.C.C. equivalent organizations in individual countries). This by way of introducing Alexandre Zcsete, call sign 0Z9AEC (in case readers are wondering, I do not know if the first character is an upper-case letter “O” or tthe number “0”(zero). We’ll be addressing this in a future post or posts; we believe the most elegant solution is to idenify a common, open-source – i.e. F.O.S.S. font which readily distinguishes between the number “zero” and the upper-case “O,” as in “Orange,” “Octagon,” “Oscar” (used by the U.S. Military and Nato, and, depending on your generation, you can imagine The Oscar Awards, Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street, or Oscar Madison of The Odd Couple). Without furher digression, we’ll now permit Mr. Csete tto introduce himself, using text from the “About” page on his blog, oz9aec.net.

My name is Alexandru Csete, also known as OZ9AEC. I am a physicist from the University of Aarhus and I work as a development engineer in the antenna department at Thrane & Thrane. Before that I was 8 years in the European space industry working on the Automated Transfer Vehicle called Jules Verne and the Gaia scientific mission.

I have been the holder of a CEPT Cat. 1 amateur radio certificate since 1991. My primary interests today are satellite communications, software radios, digital high-rate modes, microwaves and developing free software for Unix-like operating systems.

It’s my educated guess that Mr. Csete is the holder of a license equivalent to one of the FCC’s amateur or “ham” licenses; we’ll try to pin that down and update this piece. Non- American readers may not be aware of the American-language idiom that “so-and-so” is not a “rocket scientist” is a way of saying that someone isn’t particularly smart, the implication being that being a rocket scientist requires substantial smarts. Alexandru Csete is, in fact, a rocket scientist – or the functional equivalent: he works on teams which use rockets (propulsion systems) to hurl functional systems into space.

At this point, we’re not going to explain how things work – not because we don’t think our readers will follow the explanations. Contrariwise, we’re pretty certain that if it’s my byline on the piece, we’ll get things wrong – perhaps terribly wrong – and we’d like to avoid that.

Here is one extremely cool thing that Alexandru Csete has come up with: a means of adding some software and some hardware to a PC and directly download NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) satellite images. This is, on its own terms, quite a feat, but it has serious practical implications: in a crisis, the NOAA servers are at risk of being overloaded, or suffering from power failure. A greater risk is a local power failure or network failure in your neighborhood or region prevents Internet access. Mr. Csete’s application (that is, the combination of hardware and software) provides a direct link between your PC and NOAA’s satellite(s).

Image(s) retrieved from NOAA on May 23rd, 2012

Yet another good reason that community-based disaster risk assessment, response, and rebuilding should have – among other things – reserve power to keep laptops, radios (both two-way and receivers) and other critical equipment powered. Emergency power is another subject we hope to address comprehensively – although , initially in the form of “posts,” in order to force some discipline in keeping our explanations clear and concise.

If you’re ready to start your swim at the deep end of the pool, with the sharks, gators, and piranhas, you have our admiration and respect, and we wantto hear about it. Start with Simple APT decoder prototype on the oz9aec.net blog. Mr. Csete has his own suggestions for beginner reading and projects in this post: GRC Examples. (“GRC” stands for “GNU Radio Companion”).

Mr. Csete’s Flickr Photostream

CBS’s David Martin breaks story of SEALs disciplined

This story has now made it around the web and print media, See Navy SEALs punished for revealing secrets to video game designers Robert Burns, AP Correspondent, published at the Christian Science Monitor’s website, CSMonitor.com. Burns credits David Martin, CBS News National Security Correspondent, for breaking the story. Our reading is that Mr. Martin broke the story in two pieces, 7 Navy SEALs disciplined for role with video game and SEALs disciplined for role in “Medal of Honor” video game video.

It’s hard to imagine 7 active-duty SEALs giving away important tactical details. Indeed, Noam Cohen, writing in the Times’ Media Decoder, notes that the SEALs were cited for two violations: First, consulting on the video without prior permission, and second, showing the game producers classified equipment carried by SEALs on missions. Since the second violation might have involved something as trivial as the rails system (which allows attaching flashlights, IR lights, UV lights, video equipment – all manner of gear – to customized versions of standard rifles) – we suspect the more serious violation is the first – failing to ask permission – and perhaps if permission had been asked, it would have been granted – with guidance about what could and could not be discussed.

FEMA & Red Cross Links

FEMA Links: CERT / Medical Reserve Corps / Ready.Gov / Veterans
Red Cross Volunteer / Disaster Volunteer / Blood Drives

Power, Infrastructure, Hurricanes, and Emergencies

Hurricane Sandy, the 1,000 mile diameter storm brought rain, wind, water and power failures to 10.4 million from North Carolina up to Maine, and west to Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan in the USA and another 145,000 people in Canada, over 1.5 million people. As NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, here, “We have old infrastructure and new weather patterns… climate change is a reality, extreme weather is a reality, it is a reality that we are vulnerable.”

We need to build infrastructure that is more resistant to extreme storms, and resilient in the face of these kinds of storms.

Map showing people without power from Hurricane Sandy

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Hurricane Sandy, the Frankenstorm

Hurricane Sandy, NOAA handout satellite image taken on October 27, 2012. Note the size and position of the storm.

Hurricane Sandy, aka “The Frankenstorm,” a Hurricane with Snow, the 19th named storm of the 2012 season, is projected to hit Delaware, then New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Snow is expected in West Virginia. Winds and rain are expected as far west as Ohio. Additional satellite images are available at NOAA. Note that the Frankenstein monster was created by man.

While some are calling this the storm of the century, I see it, like Hurricane Irene of 2011, discussed here, and Katrina and Rita a few years ago, as a harbinger of things to come.

Several natural phenomena are combining with several man-made factors to interact in ways that will make this a very significant storm, and one that we expect to see repeated every few years. ABC News, National Hurricane Center, NOAA, other news and information media are providing up-to-date coverage. Popular Logistics provides analysis.

Natural Phenomena:

Hurricane Sandy is 900 miles wide – bigger than Irene.
It will interact with a cold front coming from Canada that will form a Nor’ Easter.
It will also interact with the Jet Stream, that will pull it northward, then refocus it back south-westerly arc toward New York City, Long Island, and New Jersey.
The full moon – which triggers higher tides – will trigger a storm surge.

Man made factors that will exacerbate the storm’s damage:

Atmospheric CO2 and water vapor – the concentration of carbon dioxide and water vapor is higher today due to burning fossil fuels. This means the atmosphere can hold more heat, and is holding more water, the oceans are warmer; thus storms will be bigger and more severe.
Coastal development – sand dunes gone from Long Island make us more vulnerable to storm surges and flooding
Crumbling infrastructure gives us a diminished ability to weather the storm.
Lack of emergency preparedness gives us a diminished ability to weather the storm.
Satellites, in need of repair, give us a diminished ability to monitor the storm.
Nuclear Power plants in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut will need to be monitored. Some will be shut down, as they were last year during Hurricane Irene, leading to power outages. See “Nuclear Power, Natural Disasters, and Security.”This gives us diminished ability to weather the storm, and forces us to deploy resources to safeguard infrastructure.

In August of 2011 the Millstone 2 & 3 plants in Connecticut and the Brunswick 1 & 2 plants in North Carolina were operated at reduced capacity during and after Hurricane Irene, while the Oyster Creek plant in New Jersey, and the North Anna 1 & 2 plants in Virginia, were offline. The North Anna plants were shut down before the hurricane due to the earthquake. I expect Hurricane Sandy will effect most of those plants, and also the Calvert Creek plant in Maryland, Hope Creek, and Salem in Jersey, Indian Point in New York, and Vermont Yankee, in Vermont.

Solar power, wind, and wave power won’t work during a hurricane, but don’t need emergency crew on hand to make sure cooling systems are operational. And geothermal will function.

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As an analyst with Popular Logistics, I am available for research and analysis on a per project or a per diem basis. I can be reached at ‘L Furman 97” @ G Mail . com and US 732 . 580 . 0024.

“Grandpa” Wen Worth $2.7 Billion: NY Times Blocked in China

Wen Jaibao, NY Times, 10/25/12

Guangxi River

Child in Linfen

The NY Times reported, here, that Wen Jiabao, the Prime Minister of China, has amassed approximately $2.7 billion, and so according to the Guardian, here, access to the Times has been blocked within China by the “Great Firewall of China.” In term’s of China’s population, Wen’s family fortune is approximately $2.08 for every man, woman, and child in China. This is ¥12.978 , at current rate of ¥6.2465 CNY to the $1.0 USD. The Times also details the Wen family empire, here.

Nicknamed “Grandpa Wen” because of his reputation of concern for the underprivileged, or, in Marxist parlance “The Proletariat,” for there are no “Privileged” people in the People’s Republic, Wen has called official corruption a threat to the ruling Communist Party. He should know. This is what happens when a disregard for rights is coupled with tremendous power. However, given that the Chinese leadership has embraced a form of capitalism, wherein the people who run the state own or manages the corporations that produce things or allocate resources, it must be noted that China seems to be following a fascist political and economic model, rather than a Marxist or Maoist communist political and economic model.

What would Mao say? Hard to tell. He ate well during the “Bitter Years” from 1958 to 1962, when an estimated 15 to 43 million people died (wikipedia).

Political and economic theory aside, when coupled with what we know about air and water pollution, working conditions in Chinese factories and coal mines, official attitudes toward intellectual property (Business Week / Popular Logistics) , the challenge posed by a demographic imbalance of a population of 700 million men and 600 million women, cultural attitudes towards homosexuality, prostitution, and HIV AIDS; the long term prospects for socio-economic stability in China seem low.

A small boy walks through the smog of Donglu, on the outskirts of Linfen, where villagers have difficulty in selling their crops because of the severe pollution. Linfen, a city of about 4.3 million, is one of the most polluted cities in the world. China's increasingly polluted environment is largely a result of the country's rapid development and consequently a large increase in primary energy consumption, which is almost entirely produced by burning coal.

Linfen, a city of about 4.3 million, one of the most polluted cities in the world. Courtesy Greenpeace.

Air and water pollution in China, as documented by Elizabeth Economy in The River Runs Black, in 2004, ISBN: 978-080-1442-20-9, available at the Strand Bookstore, here, and also documented by Greenpeace here and here here and here, present tremendous long term threats to the people of China to breathe, drink, and to eat.

River Guangxi

As a public service to the people who make smart phones, laptops, routers, and clothing for use here in the USA, the NY Times article is reproduced below. It is not the policy of this blog to quote entire articles. However, given that the entire article – and the entire web-site – is blocked from within “The Great Firewall,” we have made an exception in this case. We trust that the writers, editors, and publishers of The Times will understand. Continue reading →

Amphibious vehicles: images

We hope to follow up with more details about particular applications of amphibious vehicles. However, these images are intended to illustrate the variety of amphibious transport which already exist: even a small number of these can replace a bridge, be used as ferries, and can make transportation (supply, bringing rescue personnel in, wounded or immobile persons out) during floods a simple matter. Clearance no longer matters; the question of vehicles shorting out as water hits the electrical system through the underbody is moot.

Plus – in our opinion – some of them look pretty cool.

[imagebrowser id=106]

Apple: Worms Eating the Core or Golden?

Apple stock closed on October 9, 2012 at $635. While up $247, or 64%, for the year, the stock price has dropped 70 points, 10%, from the peak of $705 reached on Sept. 21, 2012. Where will it go next? What caused this 10% drop? And what about Amazon, Google, Microsoft, & Research in Motion?

Here’s what I think:

Apple (AAPL) will announce earnings on October 25, 2012. I expect $46.79 to $48.9 per share on an annualized basis, up 10 to 15% from the current $42.54 per share.
Apple’s share price will increase back to $700, and then to $750 by year-end, 2012.
Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOG) and Microsoft (MSFT) will be stable thru to year-end, 2012.
Research In Motion (RIMM) will be acquired by June 2013.

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The Approach of Danger

“At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? No! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with the treasures of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not, by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point, then, is this approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It can not come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time or die by suicide.”

Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln was likely right for the most part, as he was on most matters. What he doesn’t seem to have foreseen – and how could he have – was that we’d foul our own environment sufficiently to poison entire communities, laying waste to our fellow citizens in ways that Lincoln knew was beyond the reach of outside armies.

Urgent Private Admin Message

Have started to close in on the bug which was preventing me from toggling function frames in the New/Edit Post page. Started by disabling plugins one at a time. Too slow. So I disabled all plugins except those which are security related, and WP-Footnotes, which we’ve used since the first year, and seemed an unlikely suspect. So – I stayed up way too late, bad, but have solved the basic problem, and will, by the end of the day, have identified and deleted.

I’ve forced the evil troll out of the blog, and reclaimed my right to post on it.

Victory is within sight. Please be careful when – or refrain entirely from — activating plugins.

Jon