Were the 2013 Moscow Elections falsified?

This in about Politics, and tagged , , , , , was written by on September 10, 2013 . 7 Comments

1. The CEC results Here they are. The turnout was 32%. Sergey Sobyanin – 51.37% Alexei Navalny – 27.24% Ivan Melnikov – 10.69% Sergey Mitrokhin – 3.51% Mikhail Degtyaryov – 2.86% Nikolai Levichev – 2.79% Invalid ballots – 1.53% 2. Pre-elections opinion polls: Navalny’s support – among those who indicated a clear preference for one candidate or another – rose from […]

The Russian Cross Becomes A Hexagon

This in about Demographics, and tagged , , , , was written by on January 30, 2013 . 31 Comments

One of the standard memes about Russia’s demographic trajectory was the “Russian Cross.” While at the literal level it described the shape of the country’s birth rate and death rate trajectories, a major reason why it entered the discourse was surely because it also evoked the foreboding of the grave. But this period now appears […]

List Of Estimates On Fraud In Russia’s 2012 Presidential Elections

This in about Politics, and tagged , , , , was written by on March 21, 2012 . 2 Comments

This post is a follow-up to a similar one for the 2011 Duma elections. It contains an extensive list of blogger, pundit and “expert” opinions on the extent of fraud in the 2011 Duma elections. Interspersed among these opinions and analyses are results from federal opinion polls, election monitors, and other evidence. In general, it seems we can […]

Why Statistics Only Support 3%-6% Fraud

This in about Politics, and tagged , , , was written by on March 21, 2012 . 5 Comments

Remember Sergey Shpilkin? He is the mathematician, blogging as podmoskovnik, who estimated 16% fraud for the Duma elections (also the one whom the WSJ plagiarized off). He got this figure by assuming that in a fair election, the share of the vote for each candidate at each level of turnout had to be a constant factor. This […]

Why Golos’ Own Figures Support Only 3%-6% Fraud

This in about Politics, and tagged , , , , was written by on March 6, 2012 . 19 Comments

Since yesterday, the following image from an article by liberal journalist Evgenya Albats has been making the rounds on the Internet. It shows that whereas Putin’s official tally was 65%, independent observers put it close to or below the 50% marker that would necessitate a second round, such as Golos’ 51% and Citizen Observer’s 45%. Predictably, […]

List Of Estimates On Fraud In Russia’s 2011 Duma Elections

This in about Politics, and tagged , , , was written by on December 27, 2011 . 33 Comments

Despite Olga Kryshtanovskaya’s disapproval, I thought it would be interesting and useful to compile a comprehensive list of blogger, pundit and “expert” opinions on the extent of fraud in the 2011 Duma elections. Interspersed among these opinions and analyses are results from federal opinion polls and other evidence. In general, it seems we can identify three “theses” […]

Measuring Churov’s Beard: The Mathematics Of Russian Election Fraud

This in about Politics, and tagged , , , , , was written by on December 26, 2011 . 33 Comments

In the aftermath of the 2011 Duma elections, the Russian blogosphere was abuzz with allegations of electoral fraud. Many of these were anecdotal or purely rhetorical in nature; some were more concrete, but variegated or ambiguous. A prime example of these were opinion polls and exit polls, which variably supported and contradicted the Kremlin’s claims that fraud was […]

Russia Demographic Update VII

This in about Futurism, and tagged , , , was written by on October 24, 2011 . 63 Comments

It is now increasingly evident that Russia’s population has settled on a small but decidedly firm upwards growth trend. I have been vindicated. According to the latest data, in the first eight months of the year births fell by 1.4% (12.5/1000 to 12.3/1000) and deaths fell by 6.2% (from 14.6/1000 to 13.7/1000) relative to the […]

Russia Demographic Update VI

This in about Demographics, and tagged , , , was written by on June 3, 2011 . 18 Comments

As we’re now approaching mid-2011, I suppose its time to give my traditional update on Russia’s demography. So here’s the lay-down: 1. In February, I predicted a population decline of c. 50,000 in 2010 (after a 23,000 rise in 2009). This was due to the excess deaths of the Great Russian Heatwave of 2010, and […]

Simmered to the Edge of the World

This in about Futurism, and tagged , , , was written by on May 31, 2010 . 14 Comments

When denier ideologues make the transition to accepting the reality of anthropogenic global warming, one of the arguments they start to use tends to go something along the following lines: “Sure, the polar bears might get screwed over, but otherwise things will be just great. Crop yields will increase and northerners will get to have […]

Book Review: Donella Meadows et al. – Limits to Growth

This , in about Futurism, and tagged , , , , , was written by on February 16, 2010 . 8 Comments

If I could recommend just one book to someone with a business-as-usual outlook, someone who believes human ingenuity and free markets will always bail us out of any resource scarcity or environmental problem, it would be Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update (henceforth LTG). After reading it, you may never look at the world in quite […]

10 Myths about Russia’s Demography

This in about Demographics, and tagged , , , , , was written by on December 7, 2009 . 36 Comments

This post tries to debunk some popular, but misguided, views on demographic trends in today’s Russia. These consist of the perception that Russia is in a demographic “death spiral” that dooms it to national decline (Biden, Eberstadt, NIC, CIA, Stratfor, etc). Some extreme pessimists even predict that ethnic Russians – ravaged by AIDS, infertility and alcoholism […]

Cliodynamics: Mathematizing History

This in about History, and tagged , , , , , , , was written by on December 4, 2009 . 5 Comments

One of the most interesting emerging sciences today, in my opinion, is cliodynamics. Their practitioners attempt to come to with mathematical models of history to explain “big history” – things like the rise of empires, social discontent, civil wars, and state collapse. To the casual observer history may appear to be chaotic and fathomless, devoid […]

The Deeper Meaning of Climategate

This in about Futurism, and tagged , , was written by on December 1, 2009 . 13 Comments

As someone who has stuck his neck out for the imminent reality of anthropogenic global warming (AGW) in both his real and online life, it would be fitting for me to comment on the Climatic Research Unit e-mail hacking incident (and as per usual, what was originally meant as a “comment” has blossomed into a […]

Book Review: Vaclav Smil – Global Catastrophes and Trends

This in about Futurism, and tagged , , , , , was written by on September 28, 2009 . 3 Comments

Smil, Vaclav – Global Catastrophes and Trends (2008) Category: futurism, climate change, geopolitics, catastrophes; Rating: 5/5 Summary: Google Books Vaclav Smil, an energy theorist and language connoisseur, brings his talents to bear on this idiosyncratic, incisive and balanced book on the global future. From the outset, he outlines his skepticism in universal theories of history […]

Russia’s Demographic Resilience II

This in about Demographics, and tagged , , was written by on September 26, 2009 . 15 Comments

As little as a few months ago, alarmist commentators were forecasting Russia’s demographic doom. They predicted a wave of abortions that would strip down its post-2006 fertility gains, and a prolonged period of fertility postponement that would have longterm effects deep into its dark Putinist future. Meanwhile, there would be a renewed pandemic of vodka […]

Top 10 AGW Denial Myths

This in about Science & Technology, and tagged , , was written by on June 6, 2009 . 8 Comments

I’ve long viewed the anthropogenic global warming (AGW) denial movement with a certain sense of bemusement. The causal links are rock-solid – could it really be a coincidence that atmospheric CO2 levels started rising at the very same moment as industrial civilization got into swing, within decades reaching magnitudes big enough to decisively interrupt the […]

Oily Origins of the Economic Crisis

This in about Futurism, and tagged , , , was written by on February 18, 2009 . 9 Comments

In an article some months ago I suggested that “perhaps this crisis is simply an unconscious recognition of this inconvenient truth?” – namely, the peaking of oil extraction and all that it implies for the continued survival of a financial system built on assumptions of continuous economic growth. In other words, the fashionable approach of […]

Demography III – Faces of the Future

This in about Demographics, and tagged , , , , , was written by on July 21, 2008 . 18 Comments

I developed a model on Russia’s future demographic development in Matlab. First, I will describe (non-mathematically) the essentials of how it works; then I will present a range of different possible scenarios. Our data is sourced from Rosstat and the Human Mortality Database. Demography is a social science, and as such it is impossible to […]