The Perils Of Flying Russian

I came across this in Diena.lv this morning and have provided a rough translation from the original Latvian into English below. There is a nice video at the site of the original article in Russian, well worth the listen:


Russian businessman beats in-flight cabin crew and vowed to kill pilots and all 47 passengers

Author: Diena.lv. 2013th OF 25. January 12:30

Russian entrepreneur Sergei Kabalov jumped up during a flight that went from Moscow to Hurghada, Egypt. He has beaten one of the cabin crew and threatened to kill the pilot reported foreign media.

The 54-year-old businessman was very drunk and threatened to kill anyone who "come into his way" as well as to make the airplane crash in the water. He was very intoxicated and did not like the flight attendant reporting to the pilot of a host of aggressive behaviours directed towards passengers and staff.

"He blocked Dennis in the aisle, hit him with a knee in the face, then repeatedly beat his head against the wall," says a witness, actress Elena. The businessman according to the witness threatened that he would kill him, and cursed the rest of the passengers. Other passengers also found that the aggressive man smoked in the toilet several times, but when the flight attendant has mentioned this behavior and asked him to stop, the business man attacked him from on top his head.

"From the start, I will get all of you, and then we'll see. Special Services, I am a deputy, I can kill a person with two fingers," cried the aggressive man.

He irritated passengers by trying to break into the cockpit and shouted that all would suffer death. "All the passengers were in a panic, the children cried, he was shouting very loudly. One man stood up and tried to calm him, but he broke his nose," says the actress.

Airline security officer tried to calm the mad passengers and warned that Kabalovs behavior can be seen as a hijack of the aircraft, but even that did not stop the aggressive Kabalov.

Eyewitnesses said the aircraft immediately after landing in Hurghada was met by the local police. However, it appears that no penalties were imposed on the aggressive man - he's still resting peacefully in Egypt.

"We have already written a request to address the aggressive male behavior. Stewards and pilots made a service report, but the actress produced a written application to the police," the media informed the airline. "But we were told it is unlikely he will get a fine. Afraid that such a person will not be sentenced to anything," said airline employees.

That's not a machine translation which simply cannot handle Latvian, but it's the best I can provide. The video backs up the written story with the addition of the facts that the man smoked five cigarettes in the WC and when exiting the aircraft held his tiny daughter in front of him close to his chest so that the police could not grab him. Also mentioned is the fact that the actress tried to provide a written report to the police but they could not speak Russian and so it went nowhere.

It triggered memories of a trip Mrs. T and I had made on a chartered flight from Moscow to Tunisia in 2004. Interesting to see that little has changed!

The fun started right at the departure gate at Sheremetyevo II where a half dozen fellow passengers decided to wait for the boarding call by sitting cross legged on the floor passing around a 40oz of Vodka. A "glass" bottle of hard liquor! When the boarding call came one large fellow simply strolled past the gate attendant with his open glass bottle of spirits (he had thrown the cap away to illustrate his commitment to the task at hand) and boarded the plane with no fuss. I shrugged my shoulders and boarded as well. From there on it got weird.

My wife and I had opposite aisle seats on a rickety TU-154 and sitting to my left was a newly wed couple who seemed fairly normal, so I settled in for the flight. After about an hour I noticed that the large bottle toting fellow was sitting several rows in front of me and was actually accompanied by a woman and a small baby. There was some activity that I could not make out but it made me nervous and once the liquor cart had moved on by I could see that he was standing in the aisle with a plastic wash basin which was full of baby urine and was now starting a wobbly trip to the toilets in the back, sloshing the basin contents badly. He made it past me safely enough and I felt the tension slowly leave my neck and back. With a slight sigh I turned to my left to see if my seat mates had caught that little performance only to witness them produce their own bottle of vodka and some apples out of a carry on. Great I thought. And the pièce de rẻsistance, a 12" sst carving knife which was promptly put to use butchering apples on the wooden board which had appeared out of thin air as well. They even had beautifully decorated silver Georgian shot cups of the type you find for sale all over Moscow. I felt the tension creeping back up my spine once again and could barely turn my head on a stiffening neck to see if my wife was catching any of this only to observe that she was blissfully unconscious. I was on my own.

Soon enough the now empty vodka bottle was rolling around on the floor under the seats forward and the newly weds were nodding off. The large fellow was in repose snoring mightily as well and I again began to relax. And then the newly weds woke up and started fighting while the attendants tried to get everyone back in their seats and restrained with seat belts as we descended to land. I couldn't wait to get off that plane but the comedy wasn't over yet!

There was no gate for us so we stood around on the tarmac waiting for buses but the engines were still turning. So my last sight of that flight and it's deranged passengers was of a member of the flight crew running around pulling lit cigarettes out of the mouths of all these nicotine starved drunks who were of course taking shelter from the blazing North African sun under the aircraft's wings and all around those still turning turbines.

We sat in the grass some distance away and caught some other bus from some other flight.

Accelerate The Protons

Latvian Authorization Contracts (Power of Attorney)...

...and yet another reason why Latvian society needs to deal honestly with the non-Latvian language speakers in their midst. Because ethnic Russian speaking persons represent >40% of the population I hear!

This will be the first of several posts meant to share what I am learning about Latvian Law as I address the false charges of assault made against me stemming from an incident last September 3, 2012 and mentioned previously on this blog.  

As the prosecutor's office repeatedly kicks my file back to the Tukums Region State Police inspector in charge of this investigation I am forced to give my advocate Power of Attorney so that my wife and I can move on with our day to day life since the end result of all these procedural violations is that every time I, my wife and my lawyer take a day off from our normal work routine to meet with the Tukums Regional State police in Tukums to finalize this case we are met with further requests for information! The file is now quite huge with no end in sight, another form of harassment if you will. I am reminded of some sage words from another lawyer, "...among criminals there is more order and respect than among police." Truer words have never been spoken. It is also worth noting that Latvia is a small country with a small population and everyone seems to know everyone else. It is very clannish and nepotism runs wild. There are only 1,000 advocates and they all know each other, know who is dirty and who is not. The same goes for judges and doubly so for the police who frequently work for the private security firms that have sprouted up everywhere since the economic collapse had politicians outsourcing law enforcement. Latvia is really just a big village and if you want to stand up for your rights you might be doing yourself a favour by just assuming that everyone will be aligned against you until proven otherwise. There is no respect for proper procedure in the system so situational awareness on your part is called for.

The specifics change slightly from country to country but this is how it is here in Latvia;


pg 441 of “Obligation Law”

Chapter 18

Claims arising from Management of the Property of Other Persons

SUB-CHAPTER 1

Authorization Contracts

General Provisions

2289. Pursuant to an authorization contract one party (authorized person, assignee) undertakes to perform a certain assignment for the other party (person granting the authorization, authorizing person, assignor), and the person granting the authorization undertakes to recognize the activity of the authorized person as binding on him or her.

2290. An authorization contract shall be based on the agreement of the contracting parties, which may also occur implicitly if a person knowingly allows a third person to conduct his or her affairs. Notwithstanding, the silence of the person to whom the assignment was given shall not be considered sufficient and, in case of doubt, shall be interpreted as a sign of disagreement.

2291. An authorized person may be assigned not only the conducting of separate and specific affairs - with a special power of attorney - but also management of all the affairs of the authorizing person - with a universal power of attorney - or only affairs of a particular category - with a general power of attorney.

( bolding mine)

If you understand that you then go to a Notary with your lawyer (and translator if you do not speak Latvian), pay Lvl 25 to each of them which results in a document as reflected in the redacted example shown below. 

Well, that was pretty simple and straightforward right? 

Ridiculously my Russian wife can go to the bank and in one day get a certified statement of her account balance and transaction history (Lvl 5 English/Russian/Latvian) in order to apply for a visa at the consulate to fly across the pond (Lvl 42) and be served in English/Russia/Latvian or whatever. The difference between commercial and State enterprises is worth noting.

<EDIT>

I am adding the bulk of the contract text in the original Latvian with the English translation because some of you are apparently too lazy to do it yourself, but it will take a few days to complete and clean up. 

PILNVARA

pārstāvēt mani visās valsts iestādēs, pašvaldībās, visa veida un instanču: tiesās, šķīrējtiesās, administratīvās, archīvu, prokuratūras, policijas, visās tiesībaizsardzības iestādēs, dzimtsarakstu nodaļā pie zvērinātiem notāriem, un citās iestādēs, visa veida ub ranga Latvijas Republikas un ārvalstu amatpersonām, privātos nodibinājumos, visās Cilvēktiesību aizsardzības institūcijās Latvijas Republikā un ārvalstīs, Eiropas Kopienu tiesā, Latvijas Republikas vēstniecībās un konsulārajās iestādēs, ārvalstu vēstniecībās un konsulārajās iestādēs, ar visām tiesībām, kādas ar likumu piešķirtas prasītājam, pieteicējam, atbildētājam, cietušajam, lieciniekam, kā arī - personai, pret kuru uzsākts kriminālprocess, aizturētajam, aizdomās turamajam, apsūdzētajam, notiesātajam vai trešajai personai, izpildot visas proceuālās darbības un izlietojot visas procesuālās tiesības, kādas paredzētas Latvijas Republikas likumdošanā, tā arī ãrvalstu likumdošanās, tai skaitā - ar tiesībām iesniegt prasības, pretenzijas, atzīt prasības vai atteikties no tām pilnībā vai pa daļai, grzīt prasības priekšmetu, pamatu; iepazīties at lietas materiāliem, dokumentiem, datiem; manā vārdā izteikt viedokli, informēt par manu atrsšanās vietu; manā vārdā parakstīties, pieprasīt, iesniegt un saņemt pasta nodaļās korespondenci un visus cita veida sūtījumus; ar mani iepriekš saskaņojot pieprasīt, saņemt, pasūtīt, iesniegt un parakstītvisa veidadokumentus un inforācija, tai skaitā visa veida fiziskas personas sensitīvos datus: radniecībuapliecinošus dokumentus, dokumentu izrakstus, norakstus, jebkura veida dokumentācijas un datu oficiāli apliecinātas kopijas, veikt visa veida dokumentu un fiziskas personas datu, tai skaitāvisa veida sensitīvo datu, un visa veida pierādījumu un paraugu reproducēšanu: fotokopēšanu,  faksimileksemplāru izgatavošanu, skenēšanu, gaismas kopēšanu, fotograēšanu, elektronisko, audio un video u.c. fiksēšanu, sniegt paskaidrojumus, iesniegt pierādījumus, piedalīties pierādījumu pārbaudīšanā, celt iebildumus, dot mutvārdu un rakstveida paskaidrojumus, izteikt argumentus un apsvērumus, kārtotun samaksāt visa veida maksājumus, nodevas, nodokļus, rēķinus, izbeigt lietas ar mierizlīgumu, vienošanos kriminālprocesā; atzīt prasības vai atteikties no tām pilnībā vai pa daļai, grozīt prasības priekšmetu; pārsūdzēt visa veida un visu instanču tiesu nolēmumus Latvijas Republikā, tā arī visa veida un visu instanču ārvalstu tiesu nolēmumus, pārsūdzēt visa veida un rang |Latvijas Republikas un  ārvalstu amatpersonu, policijas, prokuratūras, visa veida tiesu medicīnas un cita veida ekspertu atzinumus, visa

POWER OF ATTORNEY

represent me in all state institutions, municipalities, and all kinds of bodies: courts, arbitration, administrative, archive, prosecutors, police, all law enforcement agencies, at the registry office sworn notaries, and other institutions, all kinds of ub-ranking Latvian and foreign officials, private foundations, protection of human rights in all Latvian Republic and abroad, the European court of Justice, the Latvian embassies and consular offices, foreign embassies and consular offices, with all the rights which the law awarded to the applicant, the applicant, the defendant, the victim, a witness, as well - the person against whom criminal proceedings have commenced, detainee, suspect, accused, convicted, or a third party in compliance with all proceuālās action and use all procedural rights as provided for in the legislation of Latvian and foreign laws, including - with the right of action, claim, declare requirements or to renounce them in whole or in part, grzīt subject matter, basis, to meet at the file, documents, data, my name to express an opinion, aware of my atrsšanās site, sign my name, ask for and get the post office and all correspondence other items, with me prior approval request, receive, order a and parakstītvisa veidadokumentus and inforācija, including all types of individuals sensitive data: radniecībuapliecinošus documents, extracts from documents, transcripts, any documentation and data officially certified copies, make all kinds of documents and personal data, it skaitāvisa kind of sensitive data, and all kinds of proof and model reproduction: photocopying, facsimile copies, scanning, copying, light, fotograēšanu, electronic, audio, video, etc. lock, to be heard, to present evidence, to participate in the testing of evidence, to object, to provide oral and written explanations, arguments and comments kārtotun to pay all charges, fees, taxes, bills to end things amicably, agreeing criminal proceedings, or refuse to declare the of them in whole or in part, to amend the cause of action, appeal to all types and all courts rulings Latvian Republic, as well as all kinds and of all of the foreign court rulings to appeal to all types and rang | Latvian and foreign officials, police, all types of forensic and other expert opinions, all

Spam Bots Not Allowed

Sorry, I had to turn on Word Verification for the comments section due to spammers.

Aerating The Baltic Sea

Interesting article in Der Spiegal about artificially aerating the Baltic sea to improve oxygenation. After two decades working in Pulp & Paper Mills where the plants effluent is run through an aeration lagoon before discharging into the local water supply I seriously wonder if this is a practical idea. While the lagoons I serviced were equipped with electrically driven aerators that required cables and power distribution centers, and of course personnel and a barge and motor rebuild shop and PM program to maintain it all, it was quite a small commitment at 20,000 gpm flow in comparison to the somewhat larger Baltic sea and required an array of dividers or sheets to direct flow back and forth to increase retention time and allow the bugs to do their job. The basin was also lined with clay to further assist the attempts to control and modify the effluent and I recall the waste & water operators having fits of aggression whenever they had to shut down an aerator for service as this negatively affected their test numbers. As you can imagine this was an expensive proposition. Just churning up the water doesn't sound like a very well thought out idea. But I suppose a seriously polluted stream from an industrial plant is different from a huge oxygen dead body of water?

Pumping New Life into Brackish Baltic Sea

By Laura Höflinger

Polluted and virtually cut off from the restorative flow of other bodies of water, Europe's Baltic Sea is slowly running out of oxygen. But one scientist hopes to artificially oxygenate it with pumps. Critics worry there could be unforeseen consequences.

The thin ice crunches as the cutter breaks through, chugging along at a leisurely pace to the middle of the fjord. In the wheelhouse, Anders Stigebrandt has his steel blue eyes locked on the screen in front of him. He's in a great mood. It's been another good day of outsmarting nature.

The boat passes a few red wooden houses on the shore beyond the Swedish port city of Uddevalla, where too much industrial sewage has been allowed too drain into the fjord.

The nutrients contained in the runoff of fertilizers, sewage sludge and liquid manure all encourage the growth of algae. When the algae later dies, it sinks to the sea floor, where it decomposes with the help of micro-organisms, which consume the oxygen of the deep in the process. In turn, fish, mussels and crustaceans disappear from these oxygen-poor areas.

The Byfjord on Sweden's west coast serves as Stigebrandt's model for the largest marine death zone ever created by humans -- a 60,000 square kilometer patch of the Baltic Sea floor. Over the years, some 20 million tons of nitrogen and 2 million tons of phosphorus have flowed into the semi-enclosed sea, and it is slowly running out of life-giving oxygen.
Stigebrandt wants to artificially aerate it, and his experiment in the fjord is intended as the start of a much larger project in the Baltic.

Big Plans for the Baltic

His two colleagues jump onto a raft anchored in the water, where two pumps with propellers as large as cement mixers are rotating above the surface. They are pushing water masses into the depths below.

At this location the fjord is around 40 meters (131 feet) deep. From the shore, the sea floor drops rapidly to form a basin, and the conditions are comparable to those in the Baltic Sea, where the water near the surface has more oxygen and less salt than the water below. Due to the difference in salt content, the two layers hardly mix naturally at all.

The propellers whir, and the apparatus sounds like an over sized aquarium. Slowly, the pumps begin to mix the water layers, bringing more oxygen to the deep and more salt to shallower depths. This helps the water to mix better. But Stigebrandt is also hoping to take advantage of another effect: When oxygen is present on the sea floor, it also helps to bind the phosphates that are so damaging to sea life populations to the sediments -- thus reducing the amount of phosphorus found in the water column.

Next, Stigebrandt wants to test the pumps in the Baltic Sea, preferably powered by wind. Swedish authorities have funded his initial experiment with some €230,000 ($302,000). It is estimated that oxygenating the Baltic Sea would require around 100 pump stations, and would come at a cost of around €200 million.

Doubts About Environmental Benefits

Stigebrandt's biggest critic, Daniel Conley, says he finds the experiment fascinating, but hopes the idea never comes to fruition. "Of course it could work," says the biochemistry professor at Sweden's Lund University. "We sent people to the moon and dried up one of China's largest lakes. If we wanted to, we could oxygenate the entire Baltic Sea." But, he adds, it would likely never be the same.

The oceanographer warns that a lower salt content on the sea floor could drive marine life away. "It's possible the codfish would cease to spawn," Conley says. Furthermore, toxins from the sediment that has thus far been resting on the sea floor could be introduced into the food chain -- poisons such as DDT, an insecticide that was banned in Germany in 1972.

"That's ridiculous," Stigebrandt says, adding that his group has examined the project's risks closely. Far more remarkable, he says, are the results of the testing in the fjord, where sea worms have settled in because there is now enough oxygen for them to inhabit the area. Certainly his critics could have wished for nothing more, the scientist adds.

Unpredictable Sea

At the same time, it is also true that immense water circulation can still occur naturally in the Baltic, which is connected to the North Sea via small straits. When wind conditions are favorable, oxygen-rich water flows in, although this has been happening less frequently in recent decades.

In the 1980s, countries that border the Baltic Sea coast began modernizing sewage systems and restricting excessive fertilization by farmers. The result was that fewer nutrients have been drained into the water, but it is likely the state of the inland sea will only change slowly over the next 50 to 100 years. The intent was to make the waters ecologically sound again by 2021.

Advocates of the artificial oxygenation like Stigebrandt argue that waiting alone won't suffice and urge that action be taken. Similar experiments involving pumps are being conducted in the Gulf of Finland. And in the Stockholm archipelago, another group is testing a chemical in the water that has been used to purify sewage. Nevertheless, none of these projects eliminates the root cause of the glut of nutrients in the water.

As to the question of what the effects the project would have on the ecosystem, both supporters and critics are cautious. The sea is unpredictable, they say.

As a resident of Riga I can point to the description of the water as "brackish" as being an understatement. I recommend nuking it from space. It's the only way to be sure!

Putin & Depardieu as Obeliks & Asteriks

Photoshop excellence. I came across this wonderful image here and dutifully post it for your perusal. It should win an award of some kind. I wonder if Putin sits in his bed at night with his glass of kifir Googling himself? I bet you he does. Comedic genius!

Welcome Year of the Snake

Goodbye 2012. Hello 2013.