Back in the U.S.S.R.

You may have thought the Soviet Union long dead, and thus it should be, but it is not. When the Berlin Wall tumbled, so did an entire corrupt way of life for many bureaucrats and butchers. But under Boris Yeltsin an entire new wave of corruption came to exist in the form of the oligarghs. The reaction to those thieves was Vladamir Putin, who even though his puppet has been installed, still runs the show in Moscow.

Under Putin, yet another wave of thugery has gone on. One cannot criticize the government. Crime still runs rampant, only now it’s organized. Gangs run massive botnets. The Soviets have kicked out all foreign entrepeneurs they don’t like (read: anyone who invested in oil). And now the coup de grace: they are attacking their neighbors in Georgia.

President Bush has stood idly by and let all of this happen. The real threat isn’t Iraq, it’s Mr. Putin and his thugs. Perhaps he’s scared of getting beat up for saying these sorts of things. I am.

Why Extradition of Hackers Is Important

Each day we hear about different forms of fraud and theft on the Internet. Someone in America gets phished from a computer in the UK that is controlled by another computer in Switzerland, that is controlled by an individual in Italy, and their bank account emptied to a mule in America, and the money ends up with some gang in Russia.

Even if you found the individual in Italy you have to answer this question: where was the crime committed? The Convention on Cybercrime of the Council of Europe addresses this very question, and fosters cooperation amongst cooperating societies. Extradition is so rare that it is worth pointing out when it happens. On the 30th of July a UK Court refused to block extradition to someone who is accused of having caused many hundreds of thousands of dollars to US government systems. While in this case the government was a victim, something that happens all too often, far more often it’s individuals who are harmed. In this case the person sounds a bit disturbed. Let’s hope that next time they extradite people who do this sort of thing to make money, and demonstrate to them that it is not worth the risk.

Because the risk of getting caught is so small, this is an instant where the penalties should be very high when intent on theft, fraud, or disruption of services is clearly evident.

Doha Dead

World trade talks collapsed this week in Doha over food subsidies. I had previously discussed the potential impact on Switzerland. However, the collapse of these talks, the inability to reduce barriers, particularly subsidies in the U.S., has harmed countries where agriculture is still the dominant export, or would be if such tarrifs didn’t exist. The question remains: what protections are appropriate, even absent tarrifs? What sort of quality standards must be observed? If they are observed, then does the cost of living and production overcome the cost of transportation? And is the impact of transport on health and environment understood and accounted for? Many millions of lives and lifestyles depend on the answers. Food has to be affordable to all and safe to produce and eat.

Ignore This Day!

Ever wonder how talk show hosts come up with topics? I’ve been doing this blogging thing now for a month, and I am beginning to gain some appreciation for topic selection. I’ve often been told that it is better to say nothing at all than to say something meaningless. Not that I’ve listened, but that’s what I’ve been told. There are an infinite number of things going on in this world, and a nearly infinite amount of things that I have no opinion on. So that leaves open a question: if I want to blog regularly, what to talk about?

Today I could complain yet again about the Bush Administration and their perversion of justice by hiring cronies. I could complain about the fact that they blew the budget by $482 billion, much of which was spent on a war that was mismanaged from the beginning. I could add to the sympathetic sighs that singer Amy Winehouse continues to go through her travails, or that Kelsey Grammar goes through his.

Instead, this space is reserved for something positive to say about the world. Not so much today, eh?

The President Is Not A King

July 24th, was the 34th anniversary of United States v. Nixon, in which the Court told the President that he was not above the law, no matter what executive powers he claimed. Thank goodness they did, because we now know what a whacked out weirdo Nixon was. Written by the Chief Justice, Amazingly that decision was uanimous where the majority were Republicans. Watergate was notorious for the abuses of power President Nixon thought he could get away with, and for the way our constitutional system performed. It took a Republican stalwart the likes of Barry Goldwater to tell President Nixon that he had to go.

Why didn’t this happen with the tremendous abuses of power the current administration has committed? One answer is that removal from office is an inherent political act, and intentionally difficult. Put another way, the Democrats are chicken. They are fearful that the public will shift against them. It is because they are afraid to lead. No Democrat is more fearful than my own Congresswoman, Nancy Pelosi.

While it may be the case that President Bush would not be convicted, we will never know. Too much information has been hidden. One could not imagine the current Court showing the courage the Burger court showed in 1974. The current Court has demonstrated a willingness to show such deference to this administration as to anoint this president King George.

War or no war, if we do not protect our civil liberties and protect against fascism, we will lose our freedom. That has been the major accomplishment of this adminsitration: to strip individuals of their freedom. To think that the previous president was impeached for a considerably lesser charge while that this one has gone untouched is just shameful.