Letter to the Ambassador from Bahrain to the US
Letter to the Ambassador from Bahrain to the US
To: Her Excellency Ms. Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United States of America
Your Excellency,
It is with great concern that I have read of the suppression of peaceful protesters on Lulu Square by armed force. Such violent and extra-legal actions by the security forces damage the standing of Bahrain in the world community and threaten its internal stability.
I strongly urge you to inform the King and his Government of the concerns of the American people in this regard, and to urge His Majesty to step in to dismiss the current Government and to hold those responsible for the armed and violent attack on peaceful protesters in the square accountable to the full extent of the law.
I thank Your Excellency in advance for her prompt attention to these matters.
sincerely,
Henry Edward Hardy
(street address)
USA
Copyright © 2011 Henry Edward Hardy
Letter on “Egypt’s Autocrats Exploited Internet’s Weaknesses”
Letter on “Egypt’s Autocrats Exploited Internet’s Weaknesses“
Regarding “Egypt Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet“:
Dear James and John,
Interesting article. However, the following paragraph and much of what follows is incomplete or inaccurate.
Because the Internet’s legendary robustness and ability to route around blockages are part of its basic design, even the world’s most renowned network and telecommunications engineers have been perplexed that the Mubarak government succeeded in pulling the maneuver off.
The fundamental “building block” of the Internet is the Autonomous System (AS). Each AS is uniquely identified by an Autonomous System Number (ASN). In short, the internet is comprised of independent networks which voluntarily connect to each other by following the internet standards documents, known as RFC’s (“Request for Comments”).
How do systems know how to route traffic to other systems?
Today this is accomplished via BGP (Border Gateway Protocol).
Generally speaking, each AS broadcast routes via BGP over port 179.
What happened in Egypt is that, on January 28, most Egyptian AS stopped broadcasting routes via BGP, and thus became suddenly unreachable by almost all other internet AS. This was not a mystery to experts or even run-of-the-mill system engineers. It was immediately understood and documented.
How is it you did not talk to a single person with a clue as to what they were talking about? Or, did they know and simply not want to tell you so other governments would not exploit the same technique? In any event, had you googled “Egypt BGP” the answer would have become blindingly obvious to you instead of a “mystery.” The BGPmon post was referenced by at least 105 other blogs in the days following Jan 28, so the information was, and is, widely known and available.
See http://bgpmon.net/blog/?p=450
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_system_%28Internet%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Gateway_Protocolbest regards,
Henry
Note: Article was being revised, and retitled, by nytimes as I wrote this letter.
Copyright © 2011 Henry Edward Hardy
Here’s to the State of Arizona
Here’s to the State of Arizona (with thanks to Phil Ochs):
May be sung to the tune of “Here’s to the State of Mississippi” aka “Here’s to the State of Richard Nixon”:
Here’s to the state of Arizona,
For Underneath her borders, the devil draws no lines,
If you drag her dusty desert, nameless bodies you will find.
Whoa the fat trees of the forest have hid a thousand crimes,
The calender is lyin’ when it reads the present time.
Whoa here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of,
Arizona find yourself another country to be part of!
Here’s to the people of Arizona
Who say the folks up north, they just don’t know respect
And they tremble in their shadows at the thunder of Glen Beck
The sweating of their souls can’t wash the blood from off their hands
They smile and shrug their shoulders at the shooting of a Congressman
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Arizona find yourself another country to be part of
Here’s to the schools of Arizona
Where they’re teaching all the children that they don’t have to care
All of rudiments of hatred are present everywhere
And every single classroom is a factory of despair
There’s nobody learning such a socialist word as “fair”
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Arizona find yourself another country to be part of
Here’s to the cops of Arizona
They’re chewing their tobacco as they lock the prison door
Their bellies bounce inside them as they knock you to the floor
No they don’t like taking prisoners in their private little war
Behind their broken badges there are murderers and more
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Arizona find yourself another country to be part of
And, here’s to the judges of Arizona
Who wear the robe of honor as they crawl into the court
They’re guarding all the bastions with their phony legal fort
Oh, justice is a stranger when the prisoners report
When a Mexican stands accused the trial is always short
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Arizona find yourself another country to be part of
And here’s to the government of Arizona
In the swamp of their bureaucracy they’re always bogging down
And criminals are posing as the mayors of the towns
They’re hoping that no one sees the sights and hears the sounds
And the speeches of the governor are the ravings of a clown
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Arizona find yourself another country to be part of
And here’s to the laws of Arizona
Congressmen will gather in a circus of delay
While the Constitution is drowning in an ocean of decay
Immigrant mothers should be sterilized, I’ve even heard them say
Yes, corruption can be classic in the Arizona way
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Arizona find yourself another country to be part of
And here’s to the churches of Arizona
Where the cross, once made of silver, now is caked with rust
And the Sunday morning sermons pander to their lust
The fallen face of Jesus is choking in the dust
Heaven only knows in which God they can trust
Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Arizona find yourself another country to be part of
Copyright © 2011 Henry Edward Hardy
Response to “Why Wikileaks is Wrong”
Here is my response to “Why Wikileaks is Wrong” by Amy Bruckman:
Amy, your argument falls by the categorical imperative: if your argument was correct, then any government openness would be bad and all government information should be classified. You are opposing and undermining the very essence of democracy.
“The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness.”
–Nils Bohr
quoted in Kantrowitz, “The Weapon of Openness,” in Crandall and Lewis, “Nanotechnology, Research and Perspectives,” 1992
Wikileaks has received the 2008 Economist Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award and the 2009 Amnesty International Human Rights Reporting Award (New Media).
Please reconsider your analysis in this light. Let’s talk about this.
You quote a five step test for when to whistleblow. Here are my responses regarding the war in Afghanistan and whether or not whistleblowing is justified in this context.
1 Do you believe the problem may result in ‘serious and considerable harm to the public’?
The war in Afghanistan has resulted in 1338 confirmed deaths of US personnel and tens of thousands of Afghan deaths, mostly civilians. The US has conducted and condoned assassinations, secret disappearances and kidnappings, torture and rape, all contrary to US and international law.
2 Have you told your manager your concerns about the potential harm?
In November, 2001 I attempted to bring a written resolution before the Washtenaw County Democratic Party opposing the War in Afghanistan. It was ruled out of order by the chair without being submitted to discussion or a vote.
I went to the Rules Committee to ask for a rule permitting debate on my resolution. I was told, “Henry you can stay but if you open your mouth, if you say one word, you will be arrested and removed by force if necessary.”
3 Have you tried every possible channel within the organization to resolve the problem?
Since 2001, I have attended public meetings, written extensively in my blog, written repeatedly to my congresspeople and spoken to several of them in person. I have stood on a street corner by the Ann Arbor Federal Building holding a sign on many cold winter days, often alone.
4 Have you documented evidence that would persuade a neutral outsider that your view is correct?
There is ample evidence that the war in Afghanistan is unwinnable, that it serves no strategic purpose, that it is an illegal war of aggression under US and “customary” international law (in particular, the Nuremberg Principles). And bin Laden is not there, he is in Pakistan, protected by our “ally”.
5 Are you reasonably sure that if you do bring this matter to public attention, something can be done to prevent the anticipated harm?”
I am not sure that what Wikileaks has done will prevent the anticipated harm. But I think it will help. I am sure that if nothing is done, the harms will continue and intensify.
Having said that, I myself would not access or release data in this manner, because I think it would be professionally unethical from the perspective of the System Administrator’s Code of Ethics.
Henry Edward Hardy
Cambridge, MA
https://scanlyze.wordpress.com/category/afghanistan/
Wikileaks
Why Wikileaks is Wrong
Copyright © 2010 Henry Edward Hardy
Rest in Peace Benoît Mandelbrot
Rest in Peace Benoît Mandelbrot 20 November 1924-14 October 2010.
I fondly remember being intellectually slam-dunked by Mandelbrot at a lecture during question time at the University of Michigan sponsored by the Physics Department I think some time in the early 90’s. I had been thinking about rhythm and harmony in music. I realized that the frequency ratio of a octave is 2:1, a fifth is 3:2 and so on and I theorized that rhythm and harmony were fractally self-similar and that there was a deep underlying relation between the two.
Mandebrot listened with a smile on his face. He probably was used to enthusiastic grad students spouting off their wild ideas. Then he said:
“Henry, do not think that just because you have this big idea that makes it science. You must design controlled, rigorous, repeatable experiments to prove or disprove your thesis.”
He talked about how when he had his early ideas about fractals that the scientific community did not take it seriously until he was able to show fractal patterns in the financial markets. Then it became interesting to people.
A wonderful man, sly, humorous, a good listener and a very quick wit. à bientôt.
Benoît Mandelbrot
Fractals and the art of roughness
Mandelbrot, father of fractal geometry, dies
Benoit Mandelbrot the Maverick, 1924-2010
“He Gave Us Order Out of Chaos” — R.I.P. Benoît Mandelbrot, 1924-2010
Benoit Mandelbrot, Mathematician, Dies at 85
Copyright © 2010 Henry Edward Hardy
About Scanlyze
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Scanlyze is an online magazine of essays, commentary, satire, and analysis. Were we half as clever, for inspiration we would take Mark Twain, Ambrose Bierce, Swift, Montaigne, or Seneca.
“The men who create power make an indispensable contribution to the Nation’s greatness, but the men who question power make a contribution just as indispensable, especially when that questioning is disinterested, for they determine whether we use power or power uses us.”
John F. Kennedy, October 26, 1963
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