The Browder Affair and the Death of Russian Economic Reform 1/3

by Nomad

Here's a three-part post on the investor who led a crusade to clean up corrupt newly-privatized companies in Russia. The Browder affair ended up leading to an international crisis, the death of one man, another man in fear for his life. 

Meet William Browder, once the head of a London-based investment fund called  Hermitage Capital Management. In his prime, Browder became the poster child for a new kind of investor, one that was ready to seize the moment and jump into the emerging Russian market.  At one time, it was considered where bold investors went.

Today, Browder is  reportedly in fear of being kidnapped by Russian criminal syndicates working with the Kremlin. His story may sound like a thriller novel but it also serves as a warning to any foreign investor thinking about doing business in Russia. 

The Backstory

The story William Browder, it has been said, reads like a real-life LeCarre novel. It is, in fact, much more than that. In many ways, the Browder case reflects everything that went wrong with the hope and promise of Russia in the post-Soviet era. 

Browder is, without question, a complex character. It's in his genes. He is the grandson of Wichita-born Earl Browder. (Another biography made for film) Earl was certainly a man of strong political beliefs when to be a Communist was a dangerous thing to be.

During World War I Browder served time in federal prison as a conscientious objector to conscription and the war. Later he became a union organizer and later in 1927 went to Moscow, married a Russian woman named Raissa. Afterward, upon his return to the US, Earl became the head of the Communist Party in the United States.

Around 1933, Earl was already warning.

"There is little doubt that Hitler will rearm Germany and, with the help of the Western capitalist powers, unleash war against the Soviet Union."

Felix Browder, Earl's son, and father of the subject of this story became a noted Princeton mathematician.
From those roots, Earl's grandson, William Browder, drew his impeccable credentials as a hybrid communist-capitalist for the post-Soviet age.

William Jennings Bryan vs. Tea Party Anarchists

by Nomad

Drug Patent Extortion: Indian Court Defeats Corporate Greed in Hepatitis C Cure

by Nomad

An Indian court has thrown a monkey wrench in an American pharma's plan to reap exorbitant profits from its Hepatitis cure.

Last year, we reported about a breakthrough in the treatment of one from of Hepatitis C.

This orally-administered drug, Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), was, from the clinical trial reports, not a life-long treatment, like HIV drugs but a genuine cure for the disease itself. The therapy required a 12-week therapy but at the end, the patient would be free of the disease.

In 2012, when Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) announced the final trial results conducted with Gilead Sciences for the treatment of hepatitis C (HCV), the news seemed too good to be true. A 100% cure rate within 12 weeks. The possible side effects, such as, headache, fatigue, and nausea, were minor compared to other treatment drugs.
All good news? A victory for modern medical science, right?
Not quite.

According to a press release by Médecins Sans Frontières

The oral drug, which first received regulatory approval in the US in November 2013, and has been priced by Gilead at US$84,000 for a treatment course, or $1,000 per pill in the US, has caused a worldwide debate on the pricing of patented medicines. A study from Liverpool University showed that sofosbuvir could be produced for as little as $101 for a three-month treatment course.

Although the corporate decision was widely criticized at the time, the pharma companies seemed determined to put the profit margin at the top of its priority. Some say that decision was indefensible.

Challenge in Indian Court

According to one report, this example of what some see as corporate extortion has been challenged in Indian courts.  The Indian authorities have taken a strict approach to granting pharma exclusive patents in favor of generic production.  In a recent patent decision, the Patent Office Controller of India rejected the patent application by Gilead on the grounds- admittedly weak- that the drug was not unique.

Why Palin's Incoherent Iowa Speech is Just the Beginning of Republican Humiliation

by Nomad

After Palin appearance in Iowa, many Republicans snapped awake from their hypnotic trance and asked "Who is this character?" It's a little late in the day, of course. As one columnist points out, looking at the next wave coming out of Texas, the fun has only just begun.

There's no denying it. Sarah Palin's speech in Des Moines had a lot of conservatives shaking their heads in dismay. Could it be possible that they have finally awaken from their "long infatuation" with that woman from Wasilla? 

Jim Schutze, writing for the Dallas Observer, has an interesting op-ed piece on that very subject. It seems that when it comes to Palin, the thrill is definitely gone.
Schutze quotes conservative Matt Lewis in The Daily Beast :

"It's worth considering that maybe her early critics saw some fundamental character flaw -- some harbinger of things to come -- that escaped me."

Harbinger, shmarbinger!
It might have escaped you, Matt, but the truth about Palin and her character flaws was pretty damned obvious to the rest of us. 

How a Community Quilt Project Reveals the Other Side of Selma

by Nomad

Selma, Alabama might have a long dark history of strife and discord, but one project underway is a symbol of unity for the Alabama town. 

Journalist Alaina Denean, writing for the Selma Times-Journal, explains how the residents of the Alabama town have been working on a quilt as a sign of their united community.

Selma has a long history, much of which centers around discord, confrontation and  defiance against injustice. The quilt project recognizes this history but is also a symbol of harmony by as equal contributors. Selma has, the organizers say, changed for the better.
The quilt, when finished, with be part of an upcoming walk on Sunday March 1.