28 March 2007

Reiman vs Alfa - Waxman Relents

For the PR-niks who subscribe to Ruminations to determine whether your antics are being reported on - hi.

Anyway, tucked in to the bottom of page 3 of Monday's physical version of the FT is a tiny headline - Waxman retreats on Diligence probe (no link love).

Do you think that someone pointed out that his support of IPOC probably flew in the face of a ton of established legal case history?

For those of you who lack my fascination with the Reiman vs Alfa battle (world population minus 1). Henry Waxman is "the Democratic chair of the US House of Representatives' top investigative committee."  Diligence is a UK-based/led "investigative agency" whose Chairman (given that Chairing a company is quite difficult and not possible in English) is Michael Howard, one of the swathe of useless Conservative Party leaders of recent history, and Home Minister under John Major who would have given Genghis Khan a run for his money as a right wing nut.  So reasonable potential for diplomatic consequences.

It would appear that Diligence was retained by/on behalf of etc, Alfa to prove what had been a matter of market knowledge for sometime.  It would appear that Diligence's methods were only slightly more ethical than those employed by the board of HP (pretexting - which is not what happens before you send a sms.)  Which caused someone to get someone on Waxman's staff to get all uppity and subpoena John "Genghis" Howard, or one of his flunkies anyway.  You would have had to have been me to even know, or cared, that this happened in the first place.  You would probably have to be me for a wry grin to cross your face after the subpoena was withdrawn.

I used to use a tennis analogy to follow the ups and downs of this saga.  Well try this one for size - this match is now Tim Henman (Reiman) vs Roger Federer (Alfa) in the quarter final of Wimbledon - only one winner.


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The new Silicon Valley: Siberia

Fortune Magazine published an article entitled about Academgorodok, Novosibirsk entitled The new Silicon Valley. It is the most delicious-ed article with Russia as a tag, outdoing even English Russia, and its very wrong.

Once upon a time I would have gone to great lengths to explain why, but having read new Silicon Valley articles about, Cambridge, Mass, Cambridge UK, Bangalore, New York (Silicon Alley), China, Moscow etc there is little reason to specifically rubbish Academgorodok.  The author conspicuously fails to explain how Academgorodok will suddenly develop the attributes which makes Silicon Valley home to a unique successful risk-taking culture and Academgorodok to unfeasibly large mosquitos.


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23 March 2007

Kremlin Responible For Bob Woolmer's Death

Given that VVP and his Fifth Directorate Thugs gets the blame for just about anyone who shuffles unnaturally of this mortal coil.  It is clear that the unnatural death of Bob Woolmer, Pakistan's cricket coach, due to applied asphyxiation (strangling) is as a result of rumours that Bob had been outspoken about VVP's version of controlled democracy and witheringly sarcastic about his "rule of law."  Clearly an enemy of the state. 

I am waiting for Edward Lucas' explanation of the facts to appear in any number of UK-based papers shortly.


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11 March 2007

Rescuers save all 15 fishermen drifting on ice in NW Russia

Delighted to report that the weather and local populations attempts to succumb to an early and watery death have returned to more normal pattern.

Rescuers save all 15 fishermen drifting on ice in NW Russia:

Rescuers have saved all the 15 fishermen who went drifting on three ice floes toward the Gulf of Finland in northwestern Russia Saturday morning, a rescue official said.

Earlier reports put the number of fishermen at 23. The exact number could not be established because the ice floe, which carried the fishermen to the open sea, had broken into several pieces.

"The operation is over, 15 people have been rescued from the ice floes drifting in the Gulf of Finland," rescuers said, adding that the fishermen's health was out of danger.

The source said the fishermen had been rescued by a helicopter because motorboats were not very effective in the rough seas.

Despite warnings from rescue services, catching fish from ice-holes remains a favorite pastime for Russian fishermen in winter. The latest incident occurred on the Volga in mid-January when rescuers saved more than 60 fishermen stranded on drifting ice.

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07 March 2007

From the Daily Telegraph.

The best quotation:

"A man who thinks he has six children but cannot be sure, Sutyaging kept up a commentary on the adventures he anticipated if his skyscraper had been completed."

28 March 2007

Reiman vs Alfa - Waxman Relents

For the PR-niks who subscribe to Ruminations to determine whether your antics are being reported on - hi.

Anyway, tucked in to the bottom of page 3 of Monday's physical version of the FT is a tiny headline - Waxman retreats on Diligence probe (no link love).

Do you think that someone pointed out that his support of IPOC probably flew in the face of a ton of established legal case history?

For those of you who lack my fascination with the Reiman vs Alfa battle (world population minus 1). Henry Waxman is "the Democratic chair of the US House of Representatives' top investigative committee."  Diligence is a UK-based/led "investigative agency" whose Chairman (given that Chairing a company is quite difficult and not possible in English) is Michael Howard, one of the swathe of useless Conservative Party leaders of recent history, and Home Minister under John Major who would have given Genghis Khan a run for his money as a right wing nut.  So reasonable potential for diplomatic consequences.

It would appear that Diligence was retained by/on behalf of etc, Alfa to prove what had been a matter of market knowledge for sometime.  It would appear that Diligence's methods were only slightly more ethical than those employed by the board of HP (pretexting - which is not what happens before you send a sms.)  Which caused someone to get someone on Waxman's staff to get all uppity and subpoena John "Genghis" Howard, or one of his flunkies anyway.  You would have had to have been me to even know, or cared, that this happened in the first place.  You would probably have to be me for a wry grin to cross your face after the subpoena was withdrawn.

I used to use a tennis analogy to follow the ups and downs of this saga.  Well try this one for size - this match is now Tim Henman (Reiman) vs Roger Federer (Alfa) in the quarter final of Wimbledon - only one winner.


Technorati Tags: ,

The new Silicon Valley: Siberia

Fortune Magazine published an article entitled about Academgorodok, Novosibirsk entitled The new Silicon Valley. It is the most delicious-ed article with Russia as a tag, outdoing even English Russia, and its very wrong.

Once upon a time I would have gone to great lengths to explain why, but having read new Silicon Valley articles about, Cambridge, Mass, Cambridge UK, Bangalore, New York (Silicon Alley), China, Moscow etc there is little reason to specifically rubbish Academgorodok.  The author conspicuously fails to explain how Academgorodok will suddenly develop the attributes which makes Silicon Valley home to a unique successful risk-taking culture and Academgorodok to unfeasibly large mosquitos.


Technorati Tags:

23 March 2007

Kremlin Responible For Bob Woolmer's Death

Given that VVP and his Fifth Directorate Thugs gets the blame for just about anyone who shuffles unnaturally of this mortal coil.  It is clear that the unnatural death of Bob Woolmer, Pakistan's cricket coach, due to applied asphyxiation (strangling) is as a result of rumours that Bob had been outspoken about VVP's version of controlled democracy and witheringly sarcastic about his "rule of law."  Clearly an enemy of the state. 

I am waiting for Edward Lucas' explanation of the facts to appear in any number of UK-based papers shortly.


Technorati Tags:

11 March 2007

Rescuers save all 15 fishermen drifting on ice in NW Russia

Delighted to report that the weather and local populations attempts to succumb to an early and watery death have returned to more normal pattern.

Rescuers save all 15 fishermen drifting on ice in NW Russia:

Rescuers have saved all the 15 fishermen who went drifting on three ice floes toward the Gulf of Finland in northwestern Russia Saturday morning, a rescue official said.

Earlier reports put the number of fishermen at 23. The exact number could not be established because the ice floe, which carried the fishermen to the open sea, had broken into several pieces.

"The operation is over, 15 people have been rescued from the ice floes drifting in the Gulf of Finland," rescuers said, adding that the fishermen's health was out of danger.

The source said the fishermen had been rescued by a helicopter because motorboats were not very effective in the rough seas.

Despite warnings from rescue services, catching fish from ice-holes remains a favorite pastime for Russian fishermen in winter. The latest incident occurred on the Volga in mid-January when rescuers saved more than 60 fishermen stranded on drifting ice.

Technorati Tags:

07 March 2007

From the Daily Telegraph.

The best quotation:

"A man who thinks he has six children but cannot be sure, Sutyaging kept up a commentary on the adventures he anticipated if his skyscraper had been completed."