Yevgeny Zhovtis - the political prisoner of Kazakhstan

Grigory Pasko, journalist

During the time of my brief sojourn in Almaty, I met with many people - journalists, jurists, human rights advocates - and asked of them: what do they think of the Yevgeny Zhovtis case? One thing became clear and distinct from all our talks: this human rights activist is now widely considered as a new political prisoner of modern-day Kazakhstan - a state which although masquerades its commitment to democratic principles, regularly violates the rights of her people and flouts its own laws through its deeds.

Если Вы хотите прочитать оригинал данной статьи на русском языке, нажмите сюда.Read parts one, two and ...

With fear of stating the obvious,  I have returned from Greece and baring any unforseen events, regular services shall return at Alpha.Sources within the next few days. I am preparing a bumper piece on a the theoretical link between export dependency and ageing (very long and very wonkish!), so stay tuned.

Greece naturally was wonderful and although we lived close to Athens we were not affected by the fires which now, sadly, seems to be almost out of control.

I managed to thoroughly relax and did not even get to read up on that textbook I had brought. This I imagine is a good sign :). I did however read David Leavitt. I finished the Indian Clerk and Arkansas. Leavitt is an excellent writer and the Indian Cleark is a fabulous, if sometime very windy, tale whose characters are explored with an almost excessive hunger for detail by Leavitt.

The fact

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Just as most people, not to mention school children, wind up, here in Denmark, to re-emerge from their holiday I will be pulling the plug and kick start my two weeks break. Especially this last bit about pulling the plug will of course be difficult and I always tend to get the cravings for news, blogs, data very quickly while away sitting on the beach. I take comfort in the fact that these breaks are, after all, healthy or so I have been told. I will however be packing a bit to stimulate my rather large inner wonk in the form of a some papers and even a textbook which I need to look into while away (but only one chapter mind you).

The lion's share of the reading will hopefully be David Leavitt and to the right you can see the titles I am bringing.

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VioSolar Inc. is an alternative energy company, with activities in the Solar Energy sector. Headquartered in Athens, Greece, the company’s business plan includes the construction, management, and operation of Solar Parks in Greece as well as other South and South Eastern European Union countries. VioSolar’s corporate mission is to make renewable energy, and specifically solar energy, commercially viable.

VioSolar Inc. plans to take advantage of the incentives in the renewable energy sector offered by different European countries. The company’s operations involve large-scale investments in Grid-connected Photovoltaic Parks and in innovative Photovoltaic (PV) Technologies in South and Southeast Europe. They are also working to pursue innovative technology in the research and development of new, more cost and energy efficient solar panels. The Company consists of two distinct entities. These are VioSolar Inc. and VioSolar Parks, which develops Solar Energy Parks. The Company has already secured suitable locations to build photovoltaic parks of

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Vodafone (VOD), the world’s largest revenue-generating wireless carrier, has reportedly launched the most advanced wireless high-speed Internet service in Greece based on the new HSPA+ (High Speed Packet Access) mobile broadband technology.

The newly launched service which is also one of the first of its kind in Europe, will offer theoretical peak download speed of 21.6 megabit per second (Mbps), a significant improvement from the present download speeds of 14.4 Mbps offered by Vodafone in Greece.

The company will initially offer this advancement in the selected areas of Athens and extend the service in other areas in due course. The company recently completed commercial rollout of HSPA+ based mobile broadband service in Portugal as the first operator in that country to offer maximum download speed of 21.6 Mbps.

HSPA+, also called HSPA Evolution, represents a major advancement in 3G-based wireless broadband technologies, aimed at improving customer experience by

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Last weekend, we journeyed to Boston to attend a college graduation. Thousands of callow scholars were on display. Each was handed his papers…and then marched out of the hockey stadium. To the tune of ‘Pomp & Circumstance,’ wearing a long, red robe, he entered the outside world solemnly…like a patsy joining a poker game.

So far, not a single major university has asked us to make the commencement address. Nor a minor college. Not even a school of cosmetology or taxidermy. But here at the Daily Reckoning headquarters in London, protected by a broad ocean and a narrow reading of the First Amendment, we will give them – and UK graduates too – advice no one asked for.

“Plastics,” was the advice given to college graduates in Mike Nichols’ ’67 film. But that was when there was still hope for America’s manufacturing sector. Even then, it was too late.

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The luck of one generation is the curse of the next.

Last weekend, we journeyed to Boston to attend a college graduation. Thousands of callow scholars were on display. Each was handed his papers…and then marched out of the hockey stadium. To the tune of ‘Pomp & Circumstance,’ wearing a long, red robe, he entered the outside world solemnly…like a patsy joining a poker game.

So far, not a single major university has asked us to make the commencement address. Nor a minor college. Not even a school of cosmetology or taxidermy. But here on the back page, protected by a broad ocean and a narrow reading of the First Amendment, we will give them – and UK graduates too — advice no one asked for:

“Plastics,” was the advice given to college graduates in Mike Nichols’ ’67 film. But that was when there

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Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (CCH) has begun to buy back shares after the resolution was passed at the Extraordinary General Meeting of shareholders on April 27th. On April 30th, the Board of Directors approved the buy-back of up to 5% of the company's paid-in capital over the next two years. Based on the company's current balance sheet and the stock's price, over 18 million shares could be repurchased.Since Coca-Cola Hellenic is headquartered in Athens, it acts in accordance with the Regulations of the European Commission. My email inbox has been flooded with daily reports of the share repurchases. On May 13, 24,000 shares were repurchased; on May 15, 25,300 shares; on May 19, 27,000 shares; on May 20, 21,800 shares; and on May 21, 25,000 shares.Interpreting the results, it appears it took the company about two weeks to implement the repurchase program. Considering the ...

Jon Stewart torched Jim Cramer live on TV, but did he do more harm than good by slamming long-term investing as well?

For anyone who didn't catch it on March 12, comedian Jon Stewart put to shame many hard-nosed financial journalists when he caught CNBC's Jim Cramer in outright lies about his scamming ways running hedge funds.

Stewart, host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," also blasted Cramer for his less-than-substantive antics on CNBC's "Mad Money" show. 

We should all stand up and applaud Stewart's performance. But he took it too far when talking about how his elderly mother had bought into the industry's long-term investing mantra.

Stewart should've stayed on-topic, drilling Cramer and not letting him off the hot seat. Instead, he ventured too far afield when relating the apparent drubbing his mom took in the markets during the ongoing recession.

Although ex-journalist Cramer is the sort of slumdog

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With the arrest of both Satyam Computer Services Ltd.'s (SAY) ex-CEO and ex-CFO, the interim management announced that it'll make all attempts to clean up its books and appoint a new auditor. A new Board has been formed to spearhead the task of salvaging the company, and three members have already been appointed by the Government of India itself.A majority stake sale is currently being undertaken, and the Board of Directors announced that it will release the Request for Proposals (RFP) to all registered bidders. Previously, the Indian government announced that it would not step up to help Satyam with any financial assistance, citing the company's current receivables of approx. $350 million.Given the recent developments, we had earlier downgraded SAY shares to a Sell and have suspended our estimates and target price. Read the full analyst report on "SAY"Zacks ...