Robert Pogson

One man, closing all the windows.

Posts Categorized / Uncategorized

  • Nov 25 / 2013
  • 6
Uncategorized

Countering The USA’s NSA

The USA calls their NSA, The National Security Agency. The NSA is not about security at all but insecurity. Spying on innocents is an act of war.“If all of the known National Security Agency surveillance wasn’t enough, the organization infected 50,000 computer networks with malware that could "steal sensitive information" according to new slides published by the Danish paper, NRC.”nsa1024 While the problem is huge, it is possible to fix. Every nation on Earth should be outraged by the USA and take these steps:

  • Set up economic sanctions against USA including:
    • Cashing in all treasury bonds from USA,
    • Stop all interbank transfers just as the USA called for Iran,
    • ban all trade in goods and services with the USA or USAian corporations,
    • fork all FLOSS projects headquartered in USA if they will not voluntarily relocate,
    • ban all software from Microsoft and “partners” headquartered in USA, including Google, whom we cannot trust if they are subject to USAian laws promoting NSA,
    • prosecute for espionage all collaborators who helped NSA undermine communications and security globally,
    • terminate all peace, military, cooperation and trade agreements with USA,
    • block flights, trucks, shipments or vessels to or from USA, and
    • bar entry to all persons bearing USAian passports.
  • Seek out and undo all alterations of communications networks worldwide sponsored by the NSA, and
  • Replace all satellites forming part of the global networks.

How long do you think the NSA would continue its reign of terror if the world stood up to the USA like this? Not even a few months. The NSA would be shut down by the very people who set it up out of their own sense of self-interest.

See Report: NSA-planted malware spans five continents, 50,000 computer networks | Ars Technica.

  • Nov 23 / 2013
  • 0
Uncategorized

China Sparring With Japan

There is no love-loss between these two, probably going back to ancient times but certainly since before WWII. A few weeks ago there were rumours: “The Chinese People’s Liberation Army is considering setting up an air defense identification zone that would overlap with Japan’s over the East China Sea — a move that is likely to heighten tensions between the countries — according to an internal Chinese military document.” but now there is a map:
New_Chinese_Air_Identification_Zone_Near_Japan Here is the text of the associated announcement. “Issued by the Ministry of National Defense on November 23
The government of the People’s Republic of China announces the establishment of the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone in accordance with the Law of the People’s Republic of China on National Defense (March 14, 1997), the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Civil Aviation (October 30, 1995) and the Basic Rules on Flight of the People’s Republic of China (July 27, 2001). The zone includes the airspace within the area enclosed by China’s outer limit of the territorial sea and the following six points: 33o11′N (North Latitude) and 121o47′E (East Longitude), 33o11′N and 125o00′E, 31o00′N and 128o20′E, 25o38′N and 125o00′E, 24o45′N and 123o00′E, 26o44′N and 120o58′E.”

This could be just tit-for-tat because Japan’s “identification zone” extends towards China past the midline on the ocean. The reality is that China is powerful, united and resourceful. China has nothing to fear from Japan. Dreams of empire died decades ago in Japan. It’s time both countries accepted reality and agreed to live and let live. China needs to treat Phillipines, and other neighbours well too. Just because China is strong there is no reason to be a bully. China should relax a bit and enjoy peaceful prosperity. They earned it by hard work over a century. So did others.

  • Oct 26 / 2013
  • 1
Uncategorized

Saudi Government Versus Women

Saudi Arabia is an interesting country. Hammered out of nomadic tribal regions living a Stone Age existence in the 1920s with Islam as a unifying force, Saudi Arabia has one foot in the Middle Ages and another in the 21st century. Women are getting restless there because they have to depend on the men of the family to go to work or to shop or just to travel from A to B according to custom. Since the Gulf War when women drove while the men were called to military duty, the restlessness has increased. Expect news today as a protest by women is being organized. I can tell you from experience that Saudi women organized is a force to be reckoned with. Prohibition may just kindle a bigger fire…

At a time when Saudi Arabia is breaking its long history of collaboration with USA over Syria and Egypt, unrest on the home front is not something the leadership will want to deal with. I predict some compromise after some token of enforcement. The old guard in Saudi Arabia is on its last legs and Saudi Arabia will emerge as a modern democratic society. The only question is how long it will take. Saudis are patient and persistent. So are their women.

This is more than an echo of the “Arab Spring”, all over the world the old guard is dying off. USSR became the Russian Republic, women are running more governments, Africa is healing from centuries of imperialism, USA keeps getting younger,more idealistic leaders and representatives (not necessarily a good thing in the case of the Tea Party, but at least they stir the pot), social media are having important influences, and news is immediate so cumbersome bureaucracies cannot respond promptly to changes. Governments responding to change expose their vulnerabilities. This empowers individuals and minorities who find they are not alone. Change is good often but not always. We live in interesting times.

“The authorities in Saudi Arabia have stepped up warnings to women not to defy a ban on female drivers by taking part in a mass driving protest.”

see Saudi government warns women over driving protest.

  • Oct 16 / 2013
  • 0
Uncategorized

Snow, Not That I Like It, But We Need Some

Just when I have my snowblower tuned up for some heavy lifting the weather-people predict below average snowfall here. Bah! They’re probably wrong as usual. I need at least enough to replenish the ground water and to help me slide a big buck out of the bush next month.

  • Oct 16 / 2013
  • 0
technology, Uncategorized

Republicans Encourage Spying On US Government

“Partly as a consequence of the US Government shutdown, there are presently more than two hundred .gov websites using expired SSL certificates. Although the shutdown is expected to be a short term measure, the widespread use of expired certificates on .gov sites may cause long term harm. The US Government is effectively training its citizens and employees to click through SSL warnings, and once the users of a website treat SSL error messages as normal, attackers may be able to perform otherwise difficult man-in-the-middle attacks.”

see US Government aiding spying… against itself.

Government Of the People, is what they call themselves, but they are really economic terrorists doing real harm to the country they claim proudly as their own, damaging it hundreds of ways by their absurd tactics. Typically of terrorist groups, the Republicans are indoctrinating their young that they should kill them all and let God sort them out. Perverting the power of the USAian government, the Republicans are harming war-widows, small businesses, veterans, the ill, the poor and the young. Bastards!

  • Oct 13 / 2013
  • 3
technology, Uncategorized

Holding A Bird Too Tightly

Holding a bird too tightly has two likely outcomes: the bird dies or the bird escapes, never to return. That could happen to the Internet if it is not pried out of the claws of USA soon. The same could happen to international commerce and finance.
“post-NSA revelations, the United States has lost its standing as the Internet’s defender. Instead, it has been revealed that as a country we have systematically worked to undermine its encryption, and the inherent privacy that it grants users.
Instead of keeping the Internet safe, we have built an industry designed on its subversion. And now the Internet is ready to break up with us.”

see ICANN, W3C Call For End Of US Internet Ascendancy Following NSA Revelations.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. The world is primed to sanction USA for all its insanity: global terrorism, the war on just about everything, spying, failure of its government to budget or even operate and soon, failure of its government to pay its bills. Unfortunately, my country, Canada is welded at the hip to USA and may well be sucked under by the turbulence when USA sinks. I was looking forward to a peaceful retirement but now it looks as though I may have to return to the bush just to survive. Good luck to the rest of you.

  • Oct 13 / 2013
  • 1
Uncategorized

If the Government of the USA Continues Its Shutdown It’s Time to Start Over

“It means that they may go broke. They may have that extra financial stress on an already stressed life. It could be, in worst case scenario, a suicide spike; emotional stability drops. I mean, we’re talking about a population of veterans that are not seeking out the mental health care they so desperately need.”

see Veterans groups to push to end government shutdown.

So, the veterans are complaining and will march on Washington… They are not the only ones who should do that. If one million marchers won’t change the government, perhaps ten million will. In a modern society integrated globally with many other modern societies, IT IS INSANE TO SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT. If the politicians elected last time don’t see that, it’s time to start over. Citizens should demand a new election and the opportunity to turf the bastards out. Those politicians are little more than terrorist scum using dollars instead of bullets and bombs. People did not vote them in to shut down the government. They voted them in to run the government.

When a government does not have the consent of the governed it’s time for change. If citizens can’t have an election they should form a new constitutional convention and explicitly limit the powers of the politicians to prevent such madness from ever happening again and start the whole damned thing over again. RESET if recall isn’t enough. The world, the USA and all its individuals cannot wait for the damned politicians to get their act together. The government was not set up to enhance the power/prestige of politicians but to do the things which are best done collectively by and for the people. Apparently the powers that be have forgotten that or they hope citizens have forgotten.

  • Sep 25 / 2013
  • 14
firearms, Uncategorized

Defending Soft Targets

The recent attack by terrorists on a shopping mall in Nairobi shows why soft targets are important. Once inside, the terrorists have numerous defenceless high-value targets. The bad guys, having automatic weapons and explosives can do a lot of damage in a short time. Being unafraid of dying for their cause, they can then use the high ground and prepared fire-zones to hold even military forces at bay for hours or days to maximize the propaganda value of their effort.

There have been suggestions that the attackers had hidden supplies in the mall and infiltrated fighters to use them when the time came. That could well be true, so, how does one defend a large soft target from enemies without and within? A few security guards at the gates and wandering around won’t do it. The mall in Nairobi apparently had a layered defence outside but the attackers had plenty of time to design a plan to overwhelm the defence. Once inside, the terrorists had hours to do great harm and to prepare a defence of their position in the building. The police and military had to run gauntlets of fire to gain entry being in the open with snipers able to fire on them from concealment. Only the large size of the mall and the small numbers of terrorists enabled the government to eventually regain control after days of fighting.

This is not good enough. Terrorists will always have opportunities. They have the advantage of knowing where they will strike, blending in with crowds and planning effectively whereas the good guys, the ordinary citizens will always be unsure where safety lies and where treachery lies. Either society has to trade lives and money for business as usual, treating safety as a cost of doing business or society has to build defence in depth everywhere.

What would have made a difference in Nairobi was a few strong points where well-armed guards could have clear lines of site in the high traffic areas. A single guard can easily hold off a dozen attackers flooding through a choke-point like a doorway if he has a long-range automatic rifle, plenty of ammunition and a bit of armour. In Nairobi, a few guards well-positioned could have prevented all but a few terrorists from entering and the event would have involved much less asymmetry in body-counts for the police could have flooded the building before as many civilians were slaughtered. Considering the number of guards involved and the value of the building, this is affordable. We need to do this for all public buildings: schools, government offices, shopping centres, sports arenas, theatres, etc. At the very least it would force the terrorists to pick smaller soft targets where the expense of better defence might be seen as excessive.

Above all, we should stop creating “gun-free zones” where terrorists and ordinary criminals can operate with impunity knowing there will be no defence. Having a significant fraction of citizens well vetted, armed and trained is a cost-effective solution to providing defence in depth around our big soft targets. Ask the survivors of Nairobi whether or not they could have dealt with the terrorists in short order had they been properly prepared and equipped. There was plenty of courage and daring exhibited by citizens but without proper means of defence many were slaughtered for being in the wrong place at the wrong time or not being able to demonstrate the right beliefs when confronted by murderous bastards.

Kenya, in fact, is better prepared than Canada to deal with such attacks. They at least did have multiple layers of defence but they crumbled, not being mutually supportive. The attackers had only to peel the onion’s outer layers to get inside. Meanwhile malls and schools where I live are naked, utterly defenceless except by 911 and a few locked doors. Terrorism, as demonstrated in Nairobi, can devastate a school and escape before police could even appear on the scene. A typical school is ~100m in size. It would take only a few minutes to distribute bombs in such a building and depart. The fastest 911 response here is 3 minutes on a good day, with a tail-wind. What happens if the terrorists create diversions or the weather is bad or traffic is heavy? What happens if a few guards armed with rifles defend each corridor and the schoolyard? We wear seat-belts for a reason. They work most of the time. So do armed guards.

  • Sep 17 / 2013
  • 2
Uncategorized

Sarin Was Used By Syrian Government. What’s Your Next Move, World?

There is an insufferable monster among us, Assad of Syria. He used chemical weapons against civilians as they slept. He lied about it. His sponsor Putin claimed the USAian Secretary of State lied about it. What will Assad do next? What will Putin do next? What will the next monster do?

Read the whole report at Report on the Alleged Use of Chemical Weapons in the Ghouta Area of Damascus on 21 August 2013.

Some highlights from the report:

  • “.The Secretary-General reiterates that any use of chemical weapons by anyone under any circumstances is a grave violation of international law.”
  • “On the basis of the evidence obtained during our investigation of the Ghouta incident: the conclusion is that chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syrian Arab Republic, also against civilians, including children, on a relatively large scale. In particular, the environmental, chemical and medical sample, we have collected, provide clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used in Ein Tarma, Moadamiyah and Zamalka in the Ghoute area of Damascus. The result leaves us with the deepest concern.”
  • “Survivors reported an attack with shelling, followed by the onset of a common range of symptoms, including shortness of breath, disorientation, rhinorrhea (runny nose), eye irritation, blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, general weakness, and eventual loss of consciousness. Those who went to assist other community members described seeing a large number of individuals lying on the ground, many of whom were deceased or unconscious. These individuals reported observing labored breathing and excessive salivation among a large proportion of the survivors. Several of these “first responders” also became ill, with one describing the onset of blurred vision, generalized weakness, shaking, a sensation of impending doom, followed by fainting.”
  • “several surface to surface rockets capable of delivering significant chemical payloads were identified and recorded at the investigated sites. These were carefully measured, photographed and sampled. Samples later confirmed to contain Sarin were recovered from a majority of the rockets or rocket fragments.”
  • “Blood, urine and hair samples were withdrawn from 34 of the 36 patients selected by the Mission who had signs of intoxication. The positive blood and urine specimens provide definitive evidence of exposure to Sarin by almost all of the survivors assessed by the mission.”
  • “Impact Site Number 1
    The munition linked to this impact site, by observed and measured characteristics, indicatively matches one of the variants of the M14 artillery rocket, with either an original or an improvised warhead (not observed at the impact site). In the final stage of this trajectory the projectile hit and pierced through a vegetal screen existing over one of the adjacent walls, before impacting the ground producing a shallow crater.
    The line linking the crater and the piercing in the vegetal screen can be conclusively established and has a bearing of 35 degrees. This line represents an inverse azimuth to the original trajectory of the rocket, that is to say, the original trajectory of the projectile as it hit the ground, had an azimuth of 215 degrees.
    Impact Site Number 2 is located 65meters away from number 1 and with an azimuth of 214 degrees. Both relative positions are fully congruent with the dispersion pattern commonly associated with rockets launched from a single, multi-barrel, launcher.”

It’s not hard to figure out from where the rockets were fired: Assad’s territory south of the centre of the city.

View Larger Map

So, world, are you going to stop this evil before it spreads or mutates? I’ve never seen any good come of delaying an appropriate response. The situation will just get worse as long as Assad is in power. There’s no point to being diverted from the ultimate solution by the promise to get rid of a few weapons. The real problem is Assad and his supporters, not chemical weapons. The chances of complete disposal are slim to none but the chance of Assad killing thousands more innocents is near certainty. Stop him now!

  • Sep 11 / 2013
  • 33
Uncategorized

Don’t Fix Syria. Fix The UN

“The war remains deadlocked as both sides labour under the illusion that a military victory is possible. The Government has maintained control of major cities and lines of communication. It continues to rely on its superior weaponry and control of the skies.”

see Address by Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, to the United Nations General Assembly Plenary Session, New York.

I have news for the UN. Wars are winnable with enough manpower, munitions and weapons. All that it will take for the rebels to overthrow Assad is a little help from external parties:

  • communication equipment and training in its use,
  • grounding Assad’s air-force and punishing his command/control systems and artillery,
  • assault rifles and sniper rifles, plenty of ammunition and training,
  • food and medicines,
  • fuel, and
  • light armoured vehicles and light artillery.

The problem is not that the civil war is not winnable but that the UN and the world have to decide that Assad is a bastardly tyrant who should be charged with massive violations of human rights and jailed or killed along with his sycophants. The rebels should not have to do it alone. The world wants what they want, freedom. They will gladly do the work if provided a little help. The war could be over in a few months with the right assistance. The rebels are human beings. They can be trusted to do what is in their best interests once Assad is gone. If not, the world is no worse off but I think the result will be better with help from the outside providing some baseline of decency/organization. Assad brought chaos to his country, not the rebels. Assad tortured and killed his citizens long before the rebellion. People protesting politely were slaughtered. It is unconscionable to hold the rebels fighting for life to the standard of bureaucrats in secure offices.

UPDATE: CNN has a “Breaking News” banner which reads, “Weapons funded and organized by the CIA have begun flowing to Syrian rebels, a U.S. official tells CNN.” It’s better late then never. Think of the civilians who might be alive today had the support flowed two years ago…

  • Aug 31 / 2013
  • 7
Uncategorized

1429

While the world dithers …
“British intelligence had put the number of people killed in the attacks at more than 350. The U.S. report quadrupled the death toll to 1,429. Kerry said that more than 400 of them were children.”

see U.N. inspectors tote evidence out of Syria as Obama weighs options.

The world cannot afford to have monsters like Assad running free anywhere. It’s long past the time that the world should ramp up sanctions, with extreme prejudice. As far as I know France and USA are the only ones willing to do even limited punishments. Turkey wants to go much further. Turkey is right. The UN is way behind the curve thanks to Russia and China backing Assad. Shame on them.

No. Whether it’s one or thousands, the willingness of Assad to murder his own people in his own capital city shows he is a monster who must be stopped physically not just by words. Arm, train, equip and support the rebels. Bomb Assad into the Stone Age. Hunt him down and prosecute him as a criminal. Worrying about possible consequences instead of reality makes us complicit in the atrocities, makes us less than human just like Assad.

  • Aug 25 / 2013
  • 2
technology, Uncategorized

Fixing The House Of Syria After The Fire Engulfs The Main Floor

The time to have intervened in Syria was two or more years ago when it was just a skirmish in comparison to today. Now, Tehran and Al Qaeda and others are in it up to their eyeballs and the old regime is no longer happy to kill only 100 per day. They want ~1000 before intervention happens. The Russians have upgraded the air-defences… Who knows what the Chinese have done? Now forces are being focussed from the outside and plans are being made.
“AMMAN – Military commanders from Western and Muslim countries are to meet in Jordan to discuss the impact of the Syria conflict, a Jordanian official said in remarks published on Saturday.”

see Army chiefs meet in Jordan to discuss impact of Syria conflict.

Those who argue that Syria is “not our problem” are ignoring history. The world created Syria by drawing arbitrary lines on a map nearly a century ago. Those lines crossed tribal, linguistic and religious lines making a region extremely difficult to grow consensus. It was almost certain to become an undemocratic tyranny. The world created the problem and must solve it. The problem is confounded with armed thugs on all sides. Only military intervention with overwhelming force can bring any semblance of order.

What will happen now when the outsiders intervene? The old regime will drop all pretence of civility and punish wholesale regions for disloyalty. The death-toll could approach a million. How much better the world would have been if that toll could have been limited to ~1000 by supporting and aiding the rebellion vigorously long ago? The old regime would have been toppled with a lot lower cost in people and money and material and Syria could be nearly recovered by now. No. That would have been too easy. The world seems to love doing things in the most complicated, expensive and faulty manner possible these days. The best way to do anything is right the first time. That may seem risky but it’s often best in the long run. Waiting for the weeds to give up doesn’t work in anyone’s garden. The gardeners have to go after them promptly and preemptively.

UPDATE: “Two key members of congressional foreign affairs panels say they expect the United States to strike Syria following reports of chemical weapons attacks in that country last week, though other lawmakers interviewed Sunday cautioned that unilateral action would be misguided.”

see Key U.S. lawmakers: Expect strike in Syria.

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