The Decliner

One of Russia’s most prominent political youth movements, the anti-Fascist group “Nashi” (or “Nashe”,) was recently back in the news for asserting that it had been behind denial-of-service attacks on Estonian web servers back in 2007, following that country’s removal of a Soviet memorial in the city of Tallinn to a less prominent location.

The statue, referred to as the “Bronze Soldier,” was transported to a cemetery after it was deemed inappropriate by ethnic Estonians because of its commemoration of Soviet rule. Unfortunately, Russia’s foreign relations under Putin’s leadership with former satellite states of the Soviet Union demanded (and demands) a certain amount of docility, and removing the statue set off a firestorm of criticism from the Kremlin, along with its junior, color-coordinated Nashi brigade.

DDoS (denial-of-service) attacks are nothing new, but the severity of the cyber attacks inflicted on Estonia dring the “Estonian Cyberwar” was of a scope rarely seen before. Websites for the Estonian parliament, banks, ministries, and many of its news sources were overwhelmed and shut down. Other attacks involved modification of existing websites, such as the Estonian Reform Party’s (the liberal, free-market party).

Arts Technica reported that Nashe’s “Commisar,” Konstantin Goloskokov, freely admitted that his group had been behind the cyberwarfare directed at Estonia:

“I wouldn’t have called it a cyber attack; it was cyber defense,” Goloskokov said. “We taught the Estonian regime the lesson that if they act illegally, we will respond in an adequate way.”

The fact that Goloskokov is willing to acknowledge his group’s complicity in what is obviously an illegal act only reinforces his comfortable position with the Russian government, and one wouldn’t expect any kind of reprimand to result from the admission.

Still, while Nashe seemed to be at its height of popularity with the Kremlin following the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine, and leading up to national election of Dmitry Medvedev, it is reported that the Kremlin’s support of the group has been on a definite decline. It’s not so much that the nationalist ideology behind Nashi has dissipated, but that it is simply no longer necessary to generate support (or intimidate rival political groups) for a pro-Putin/Medvedev platform.

Moreover, while Putin’s government allegedly used Nashi as a proxy to express its “displeasure” with foreign interests and shape public discourse, in the last few years, as Putin’s Kremlin has become far more direct in its foreign policy (such as cutting off natural gas supplies to neighbors, for example), it must seem pointless to take such an indirect approach.

The 2007 DDoS attacks (now attributed to Nashi) have since become a case study used by militaries around the world to highlight the potential dangers that such a seemingly low-tech onslaught can have on a country’s internet infrastructure.

While high-tech attacks like satellite killers and super hackers infiltrating nuclear launch sites might seem like the more glamorous side of cyberwarfare, it is far likelier that we will see DDoS attacks with greater frequency, simply because of the relative ease with which they can be launched by patriotic youth sitting in a non-descript internet cafe somewhere in central Moscow.

I leave you with this, a Nashi production to promote enlistment in the Russian army (in Russian). Note the giant American octopus/Cthulhu creature spreading its tentacles into Russian territory, and the excited man representing Japan bowing agreeably:

You guys, marriage is under attack. As we speak, ground forces organized by the ACLU, MoveOn.org, and the Human Rights Campaign (and SAURON) are assembling outside of your state to undermine your heterosexual union, destroy your family, and kick over your mailbox.

The video below, “One Man. One Woman,” was released by West Virginia for Marriage (www.wv4marriage.com).

This gem of video and sound editing goes into explicit, terrifying detail:

Yellow states are flashing because of lesbians and something involving courts and lawyers! Large numbers and graphics! And the words “mother” and “father” are crossed out on a blackboard — what does that mean??

This is terrible, something horrible is going to happen. Oh my god, look at this, there is a sniper after this heterosexual couple in West Virginia and their beautiful children. Are you listening? Hello?? Run, get indoors!

(Via Political Machine)

Resiste un Archivo, which translates literally to “An Archive Resists,” or  “An Archive Remains,” is a website devoted to documenting some of the televised material seen in Argentina, from the late 1970’s and into the 1990’s.

Beyond some truly eccentric pop culture, the most interesting material comes from the seventies and into the early eighties, which is when the military dictatorship or “proceso” was at its prime in the country — the period now referred to as the Guerra Sucia, or “Dirty War.”

One of the most iconic televised moments during this period occurred when Argentina hosted the FIFA World Cup in 1978. The dictatorship of General Videla had been under increasing international scrutiny, as news of the brutal repression of political dissidents had begun to leak out. In response, the military government made every effort to portray the country in the best possible light, and to use the event to unify the nation with patriotic fervor.

To showcase the best technology that Argentina had to offer at the time, the government carried out project A78TV (Argentina 78 TV), an elaborate broadcasting program to televise all games live, and in color throughout the world (while domestic aerial broadcasts remained in black and white).

The video below is a collection of different segments: live footage of the televised games, commercials that aired during that time celebrating the games and A78TV’s accomplishments, and others taken from the now infamous film, La Fiesta de Todos — “A Celebration for All.”

La Fiesta de Todos was a film released in 1979, which documented the celebration of the World Cup, and Argentina’s victory in those games. Over the years, the movie has been heavily criticized for its complicity in the dictatorship’s propaganda program, portraying the country as unified and “festive” during a time when it was anything but.

The next video was a commercial funded by the government, which aired in the months leading up to the World Cup. The premise of this advert was to promote good behavior among Argentinians, as international travelers arrived in the capital, Buenos Aires, to attend the games:

A young man chases after two foreign men (Dutch, I believe) to return their belongings, while the commentator declares “This young man has just scored a goal for Argentina. In this World Cup, we must all score goals such as this one,” while the slogan at the end remarks “Let us show the world what Argentinians are like.”

You can imagine that, even if the public might have been unaware of the darker connotation of this commercial on the day that it aired, that is certainly not the case today. The clip’s title reads “Brutal Honesty“:

Since 1985, when Radio Marti was established by the Reagan administration, the U.S. government-funded station has been transmitting over short and medium-wave to the Island of Cuba.

Transmitters in Delano, California and Greenville, North Carolina broadcast shows meant to promote democracy in the island nation (is that working?), though the signal in Havana is generally jammed by the communist government.

Signals for Radio Marti are also carried by U.S. aircraft flying in the vicinity of Cuba, a practice which was declared illegal by the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2007:

“A radio broadcasting station that functions on board an aircraft and transmits only to the territory of another administration without its agreement cannot be considered in conformity with the radio communications regulations.”

In retaliation, Cuba broadcasts English-language radio programming directed at the United States (the signal also reaches Europe and South America) via Radio Havana Cuba. The broadcast is now also available on-line. Listening casually one will hear a comprehensive coverage of world news and cultural/educational programs — though the station never misses an opportunity to call into question American foreign policy, or take jabs at the U.S. government (sometimes, they also transmit intelligence code signals). The continuing U.S. embargo over the country, for example, is constantly mentioned.

The effectiveness of Radio Marti was recently called into question by the GAO (Government Accountability Office), which calculated that of Cuba’s 11 million inhabitants, few report ever tuning in:

…the best available research suggests that Radio and TV Marti’s audience is small. Specifically, less than 2 percent of respondents to telephone surveys since 2003 reported tuning in to Radio or TV Marti during the past week.

Considering the level of indoctrination that Cubans undergo on a daily basis, it’s not entirely surprising that few of them would be interested in tuning in to yet another politically charged station.

TV Marti, on the other hand, might see greater success by buying space on broadcasts picked up by DirecTV, which are regularly pirated by Cubans, despite the government’s persistent efforts to prevent the practice.

The senate’s economic stimulus package — all 680 pages of it — has been released.

Having neither the time nor the inclination to read through it (not a single picture!), I have instead opted to generate a Wordle word-cloud to share with you below.

Let’s see here… the big pertinent words (section and HR are simply part of the document’s language) look like HEALTH, with “EH” directly below, and I see a tiny-ish looking “housing” on the bottom, left of center. Education is to the right of that.. and look for energy below STATE at the center, and I see “security” up top, right of center, and that makes me feel better.

Conclusion: Based on this highly scientific visualization, the stimulus package looks like a sideways rocket ship, careening towards prosperity.

I look through several data visualization sites regularly, but this one didn’t come to my attention until a few days ago.

The concept is pretty fascinating. Capitol Words aggregates word frequency taken from congressional records, and compiles visual reports based on specific terms:

Capitol Words are determined by capturing the full text of the House, Senate and Extension of Remarks sections of the Congressional Record for every day, dating back to the second session of the 106th Congress (January 20, 2000).

When I searched for “economic stimulus,” the results were what one would expect: major spikes in the last few months.

Use the site for some interesting data mining. Capitol Words will also let you know what lawmakers are using specific terms. For example, a search on “terrorism” reveals a significant decline into the new administration.

One can also track individual lawmakers, and see what they are talking about by generating world clouds. Make fun of Richard Durbin (D-IL) for having the highest usage of “puppies.”

What is Lieberman saying this month? The most frequently used term is “district,” followed closely by “security” (which seems to be his favorite subject for the year. Shocking).

And which is the loudest state in the country? California, led by Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein and David Dreir (Texas comes in second).

Probably the most high profile victim of the global financial crisis has been the small nation of Iceland. A week ago, its Prime Minister, Geir Haarde, resigned amidst mounting pressure, stemming from the failure of Iceland’s banking institutions and its now virtually non-existent currency, the krona. (The new Prime Minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir, is now the first openly lesbian head of government in Europe).

For a country that was ranked by the United Nations’ Human Development Index as the most developed country in the world (2007), the quick fall of Iceland’s once prosperous economy was shocking. And while elsewhere in the world this category of economic chaos might have led to a general collapse of society, the reaction of average Icelanders is not exactly what one might expect.

The protest at Austurvöllur (old town Reykjavik) on January 20th was photographed by Jóhann Þröstur Pálmason — check out some of his other work here.

Icelanders threw food at police in riot gear, at the house of parliament, and set the square’s christmas tree on fire:

Every year, the Alfalfa Club convenes in Washington, either to enjoy some filet mignon, lobster and/or to plot the re-birth of the Confederacy.

This year, the main guest of honor was President Barack Obama (awkward). As Political Machine previously reported, no one few ever seem to dwell on the fact that the Alfalfa banquet originally began as the yearly celebration of Robert E. Lee’s birthday.

Not sure what it celebrates now, though former Supreme Court Justice W. Rehnquist described it as a club that “met once a year to listen to patriotic music and ‘hear some funny political speeches.’” Well, OK.

Precious excerpts of Obama’s speech to the assembled:

I am seriously glad to be here tonight at the annual Alfalfa dinner. I know that many you are aware that this dinner began almost one hundred years ago as a way to celebrate the birthday of General Robert E. Lee. If he were here with us tonight, the General would be 202 years old. And very confused.

That’s pretty good humored, considering the Alfalfa Club did not admit blacks until the 1970’s, and women until 1994. For the record, women were finally admitted after Bill Clinton boycotted the event in 1993.

Obama did manage to include some jabs, as Politico reports:

“In just the first few weeks, I’ve had to engage in some of the toughest diplomacy of my life,” he said. “And that was just to keep my BlackBerry. I finally agreed to limit the number of people who could e-mail me. It’s a very exclusive list. How exclusive? Everyone look at the person sitting on your left. Now look at the person sitting on your right. None of you have my e-mail address.”

The black-tie dinner climaxed during the probable election of John McCain to the presidency of the United States (the Alfalfas nominate a presidential candidate each year, just for fun). It likely took several hours to convince Sarah Palin, also in attendance, that the nomination was not legally binding. Apparently she found a flight out of Alaska, after all.

Some conservative bloggers are shocked, shocked, that now-former President Bush’s farewell did not invoke good will from all.

Although it was not apparent via some major network’s exhausting coverage of the event, there were indeed disapproving jeers as the Executive One sikorsky lifted off with Mr. and Mrs. Bush aboard, whisking them away, back to the Texas vortex from whence they came.

Amidst all the pomp and insane crowds (and the largest t shirt sale in history), it’s a pretty special day here in D.C. Already, the gears are turning and the new administration has hit the ground running.

Everyone was there: Senators, and former presidents (mostly related!).. also, Ray Nagin and Magic Johnson. The wikipedia entry went up before Obama completed his inaugural speech. Aretha Franklin’s hat was glorious. It may be given a cabinet-level position. Chief Justice Roberts forgot the oath of office, and will now be tried for treason.

Obama’s inaugural speech was concise, under 20 minutes, and full of specifics:

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

The format and content of the speech will likely be well received, while the absence of superfluous oratory gave it a grounded, pragmatic feel. It may not be remembered as one of the most “soaring” inaugural addresses, but it fit the moment well.

In other news, Tom Brokaw apparently spent an entire day out in Bull Run, communing with the spirits of our ancestors, producing a historical retrospective in preparation for today’s broadcast (uh, OK?):

MR. BROKAW:  I spent yesterday at Bull Run at Manassas.  I drove out there, 25 minutes from here.  That happened five months after Lincoln took office. And it was supposed to be the battle that would end the war, and of course it was the battle that started the war.  And I thought about that time and what Lincoln faced, and I think the lessons that still carry forward is how he could adapt to all of the bad news and the tough stuff that was going on–changing his generals, changing his strategy in dealing with it.  And I think that’s going to be the test of Obama.  We’re in the abstract now.  You know, Tuesday he walks into the Oval Office, he’s taken the oath of office. That’s when the rubber hit the road.

MR. GREGORY:  Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm indeed.

#43’s helicopter has touched down at Andrews Air Force Base for his private farewell speech to Dana Perino and any staffers that have yet to sign a tell-all book deal, and the nation now begins the slow process of repealing most all of the legislation he has passed over these eight years.

And now, because it is loosely related, and because #43’s final video was hilariously unbearable (farewell, Barney the dog), Bill Clinton’s farewell video: