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13. desember 2006
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It has long been suspected that Russia is ruled by KGB-FSB officers. Now it has been further confirmed.
Four out of five political leaders and state administrators in Russia either have been or still are members of the security services, a study suggests.
The unprecedented research implies a huge expansion of KGB-FSB influence in politics and business in recent years.
Many of the officials concerned have been appointed under President Vladimir Putin - himself a former spy chief.
Even tough he is elected, Vladimir Putin has far more powers than an head of state would have in a real democracy. The Duma is reduced to a rubber-stamping assembly, and the courts are firmly in the government's pocket. Whoever succeeds Putin will almost certainly be his appointed successor. Russia isn't a democracy, if it ever really was one.
11:55:09 PM 
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Alex Mindlin in the New York Times has, along with the market analysis provider Forrester Research, contributed to a general sky-is-falling avalanche of bad news coverage around the world with his brief "analysis" arguing that online music sales is slumping. Mindlin's argument is as follows:
At any given point, the cumulative number of songs sold by the iTunes store has generally been about 20 times the cumulative number of iPods sold, according to Forrester Research, the technology consulting firm. That ratio has recently crept up to roughly 22 to 1, as 1.5 billion songs have been sold. The figures were compiled from public statements by Apple.
So iTunes is still selling well, but there are less songs sold per iPod. Thus, the argument goes, there is a decline in online music sales. There is a big hole in this argument, as Adrian Kingsley-Hughes points out on ZD Net.
The flawed logic here is clear - 67.4 million iPods sold does not equate to 67.4 million iPods still in use. Far from it. Over the last four years a huge number of iPods will have been lost, stolen, damaged or just plain broken. You could come to a similar flawed conclusion by looking at the numbers of cars sold since 2000 and the volume of gasoline sold. You come up with a number, but it's a meaningless one.
Another market analysis has also contradicted the unlikely "collapse" prediction from Forrester.
But Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster wrote in a research report that the number of songs sold per week on iTunes had risen 78 percent in the first nine months of 2006 compared with the same period in 2005.
"Contrary to recent reports suggesting sales on iTunes are declining rapidly, our analysis of Apple company data ... shows strong growth (year over year)," Munster wrote.
Doesn't sound like a collapse at all to me.
9:39:41 PM
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This is allegedly a test given to children in kindergarten: Which way is this bus driving, towards the left or right? Why?
The answer and spoiler is given below in white-on-white, so mark it with the mouse to read it. Don't peek before you have given it some thought.
The bus is driving towards the left, the children answered, because you can't see its door. This is correct. If you live a country where you drive on the right side of the road, like Britain, I assume you reverse the answer.
Nope, I didn't get this one. I am not sure young children would really get it, but it is a very nice riddle from Bergens Tidende. Hat tip to Goldie.
7:02:49 PM
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According to the NYT:
Saudi Arabia has told the Bush administration that it might provide financial backing to Iraqi Sunnis in any war against Iraq’s Shiites if the United States pulls its troops out of Iraq, according to American and Arab diplomats.
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia conveyed that message to Vice President Dick Cheney two weeks ago during Mr. Cheney’s whirlwind visit to Riyadh, the officials said. During the visit, King Abdullah also expressed strong opposition to diplomatic talks between the United States and Iran, and pushed for Washington to encourage the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, senior Bush administration officials said.
The Saudi warning reflects fears among America’s Sunni Arab allies about Iran’s rising influence in Iraq, coupled with Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. King Abdullah II of Jordan has also expressed concern about rising Shiite influence, and about the prospect that the Shiite-dominated government would use Iraqi troops against the Sunni population.
So there we have it. Saudi Arabia, and probably other Sunni Arab states, intend to wage a proxy war with Iran in Iraq if US troops pull out prematurely. That is what they say anyway. But if the Saudis told that to the Bush administration, doesn't that mean they try to make the coalition forces stay in Iraq?
9:38:54 AM
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© Copyright 2007 Jan Haugland.
Last update: 01.01.2007; 08:21:33.
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