Scott Bradford: Off on a Tangent

Shades of World War II

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Jack Kelly writes in RealClearPolitics about Russia’s apparent invasion of neighboring Georgia, comparing the current situation to the lead-up to World War II. In the late 1930s, Neville Chamberlain—Prime Minister of the United Kingdom—had joined with French Prime Minister Edouard Daladier and German Chancellor Adolph Hitler to discuss Hitler’s territorial ambitions. Germany had already annexed Austria with virtually no opposition, and the three leaders now agreed to Hitler’s desire to annex the Sudetenland—part of Czechoslovakia—with Hitler’s fervent assurances that he would then be done.

Chamberlain and Daladier each went home to their respective countries declaring that they had achieved a peaceful resolution to the German crises. Chamberlain famously stated, “My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time.”

Hitler, of course, was not a man of honor, and the agreements England and France made with him did not bring peace. We now know that appeasement doesn’t work, and once a regime gets a taste for invasion and annexation it tends to continue doing it. There is legitimate concern that Vladamir Putin’s Russia, which continues its invasion of Georgia despite having agreed to a cessation of hostilities, is beginning a walk down the same path in an effort reconstitute the bygone Soviet Union (the collapse of which Putin has called “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century”). Chillingly, as Kelly states, “Putin is using the same excuse for invading Georgia (protecting Russian ethnic minorities) that Hitler used for invading Czechoslovakia and Poland (protecting German minorities).”

We need to be very careful not to repeat the mistakes of Chamberlain and Daladier, and to treat the Georgian crisis with appropriate seriousness as a potential harbinger of things to come from Putin’s Russia.

War for South Ossetia . . . or the Whole of Georgia?

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I haven’t written about the War for South Ossetia yet since, initially, the confliict seemed to be pretty minor and inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. South Ossetia is, technically, part of Georgia (the country, not the U.S. state) though it declared independence in the early 1990s and has essentially operated independently since then, though no U.N. members have recognized South Ossetia as independent.

Neighboring North Ossetia is part of Russia, and Russia has (unofficially) supported South Ossetia and opposed Georgian influence in the region. The situation between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia began to spiral out of control last week. Georgia, claiming that seperatists in South Ossetia had initiated violence, sent troops into South Ossetia on Thursday. With surprising speed, Russian military forces amassed on the border and entered South Ossetia pushing Georgian troops out of the breakaway province.

If it had ended there, it would have been a non-story. But Russian forces continue to press into Georgia proper and bomb Georgian targets, and the Russian government has refused to accept a cease fire offered by Georgia. Russia has publicly issued an ultimatum to the Georgian government, demanding their complete withdrawal from South Ossetia and binding agreement to never reenter South Ossetia with military forces.

Some are beginning to suspect that Russia’s intentions may extend beyond securing South Ossetia to annexation of the province, and perhaps the entirety of Georgia, as Russian forces continue to invade sovereign Georgian territory without provocation.

A Bike for Leaving the Beaten Path

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So last fall I bought a Trek 7100 hybrid bicycle (right), which has served me very, very well over the last year or so. I’ve put quite a few miles on that bike and have enjoyed [pretty much] each one of them. There’s just one small problem.

The Trek is a hybrid, which means it has elements of a mountain bike and elements of a road bike. Its geometry, tuning, and tires (300c) are all designed for traveling primarily on pavement—roads and paved trails—and very, very limited off-road use when absolutely necessary. That makes it similar to a road bike. The main difference between a ‘hybrid’ and a road bike is that the general shape is more like a mountain bike and you sit more upright—helpful if you have back problems, like my scoliosis. That makes it slower than a road bike, but much more comfortable.

Anyway, you don’t want to be riding very far off-pavement on a hybrid with its smooth, narrow tires and comfort-oriented geometry. That rules out some of the major unpaved bike trails in the area: many segments of the Cross County Trail and the entire C&O Canal Towpath are two prime examples.

So yesterday I bought a relatively inexpensive low-end mountain bike—the Schwinn Mesa (right)—for when I feel like a shorter, rougher ride than the on-trail excursions I’ve been doing on my Trek. I rode about 5 miles on the Cross County Trail yesterday (the northernmost segment) successfully, though my mountain biking reflexes are a little rusty and I did manage to take one impressive spill (you should see the colorful bruise on my knee). All-in-all, it was fun. I’ll probably aim for about 70 percent road/trail riding on my Trek, and about 30 percent off-road on my Schwinn.

I also figure the Schwinn, being quite a bit less expensive than the Trek, can be my project bike for learning how to do all my hard-core bicycle maintenance and make sure it works before touching the Trek ;-). If I can avoid taking either to the bike shops, I figure it will cover its own cost within a year or two of heavy riding and regular maintenance/repairs.

Prince George’s County SS Brigade

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I am a big supporter of law enforcement, and I have the absolute utmost of respect for most police officers. They do a difficult and usually-thankless job. I’ve had interaction with various police officers and departments in my life—after reporting stolen property (in high school), being pulled over for speeding (twice in the early 2000s), getting ticketed for being in a park after hours (2001), after one car accident (2002), when I’ve stuck around after witnessing various accidents, while they canvassed my neighborhood during an investigation (2007), while they were providing event security, and socially. These officers have all been kind, fair, and professional.

I’ve had two unpleasant experiences. One, involving Fairfax County Police Ofc. Graham Buck, I’ve written about extensively before. The other, involving Fairfax County Police Ofc. George Lopez, I characterize as more minor and have not written about before. While driving through the Clifton Day festival at extremely low speed to go pick up Melissa and her art displays, Ofc. Lopez stopped me and literally got in my face and yelled at me because, apparently, his vague hand gesture I had been trying to decipher meant ‘stop the car now’ and I, busy trying to decipher it, hadn’t stopped right away. (I did file a complaint since Ofc. Lopez was extraordinarily rude, and the Internal Affairs Bureau found that he had not broken any law or department policy. That does not necessarily mean he wasn’t informally reprimanded by his superiors, but if he was it was ‘off the record’.)

But neither of these incidents compares to the egregious abuse of power committed recently by the Prince George’s County Police in Maryland more reminiscent of the Nazi SS than an American police force.

Read more . . .

The Kaminsky Bug In-Depth

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I’ve written a couple entries over the past weeks regarding a critical bug in the Domain Name System (DNS)—one of the core engines behind a functioning, secure Internet. This bug, if exploited, would have allowed attackers to redirect legitimate Internet traffic to malicious sites and could have destabilized the entire web. Dan Kaminsky, the security researcher who discovered the bug, worked with major DNS software maintainers and various major web sites on the web to put out an unprecedented multi-vendor patch, and many system administrators around the world deserve commendation for testing and applying those patches.

If you’ve been waiting for details (as I have), they’re now available in a downloadable PowerPoint presentation over at Dan Kaminsky’s web site. The bug is as bad (and perhaps even worse) than all the chatter and speculation led us to believe.

Over on Kaminsky’s site you can also check your DNS servers to see if they are secured (which is likely your ISP’s responisibility). Do your part too: run Windows Update (Windows), Software Update (Mac), or apt-get/yum/Update Manager/Pup/whatever (Linux) to make sure your system is up-to-date.

Scott Bradford is a writer and technologist who has been putting his opinions online since 1995. He believes in three inviolable human rights: life, liberty, and property. He is a Catholic Christian who worships the trinitarian God described in the Nicene Creed. Scott is a husband, nerd, pet lover, and AMC/Jeep enthusiast with a B.S. degree in public administration from George Mason University.