COUNTERFEIT

One of the most dangerous infusions into our daily lives is counterfeit commodities.  I’m not really talking about clothing, shoes, jewelry, sweaters, belts, etc etc., I’m taking about microchips, fasteners, ferrous and polymer materials, etc.  Don’t get me wrong, counterfeit “anything” is bad enough but there are no dangers to having a pair of “sneakers” made just like NIKE, in China or someplace in the Middle-East.   The production and trafficking of counterfeit goods poses a significant health and safety threat to consumers. It also impacts the economic growth of legitimate businesses and consumers through lost revenue, downtime, and replacement costs. To mitigate these threats and help ensure public safety, agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center), work alongside federal, state and local law enforcement partners across the country to dismantle counterfeit operations and hold individuals involved in them accountable. 

DRUGS:

Now, if we look at pharmaceuticals, the most fundamental challenges remaining as we move forward is that most pharmaceuticals and protective personal equipment are manufactured outside the United States. It was a shock for many people to learn during the COVID pandemic many essential medicines and products came from off-shore. In keeping with trends that have emerged in recent decades with manufacturing in general, China and India are big suppliers of medicinal drugs, as are places such as Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, France, Israel, South Africa, and Brazil. Most American drug companies have outsourced manufacturing to foreign locations. In that situation, supply chains are long and there often are logistical problems that limit availability of needed treatments. 

FASTNERS

If we look at fasteners, we see the following:

The United States has one of the largest shares of the fastener market.  We use a tremendous number of fasteners each year; consequently, those fasteners need to be of the highest quality to meet the needs of manufacturers in the U.S.  How would you like an “off-quality” fastener used in your airplane, MRI, bridges, equipment used by the armed forces, etc?  Just think about it.

MOST DANGEROUS:

In addition to the ones listed above, some of the most dangerous counterfeit products involve automotive parts, electronics, safety equipment, prescription drugs, microchips, cosmetics due to the potential threats they present to public safety and public health:

• Counterfeit airbags and their components can cause severe malfunctions ranging from non-deployment, under inflation, over inflation to explosion of metal shrapnel during deployment in a crash.
• Counterfeit lithium-ion laptop batteries pose significant risk of extreme heat, self-igniting, and exploding.
• Counterfeit helmets and baby carriers can break.
• Counterfeit prescription drugs may not contain the active ingredient or could lead to accidental overdose.
• Counterfeit cosmetics can cause severe skin reactions.

MICROCHIPS:

With the current world-wide microchip shortage, manufacturers are desperately scrambling to keep their production lines going for electronic goods, including automobiles.  I know that the Ford Corporation has had several lines idle due to chip shortage.  Other companies are shipping product without chips with a promise to send product as soon as available.  One solution many companies are turning to is the so-called “grey market” or non-authorized suppliers of obsolete and excess component stocks.  Counterfeit ICs are sometimes marked as originating from different IC suppliers and sold as new.  Some unscrupulous companies are removing chips from used or damaged PC boards, repairing, re-branding, and shipping as new.  Completely counterfeit.

Counterfeiters use several methods to produce their fake goods, namely:

• Empty packages marked to resemble actual ICs.
• Cheap ICs re-marked to resemble more expensive ICs.
• IDs with similar but poorer specifications re-marked to resemble better specifications or more expensive ICs.
• As mentioned above, ICs salvaged from used circuit board.

These counterfeit goods usually bear the trademark of legitimate and trusted brands, but were produced by another party and are not made to the specifications of the original manufacturer. They’re often produced illegally and sold at a profit to fund other criminal activities. This makes the production and trafficking of counterfeit goods a transnational crime, commonly linked to transnational criminal organizations (TCOs). As such, related commercial fraud violations are also investigated by HSI’s Border Enforcement Security Task Forces (BESTs).

HOW BIG IS THE PROBLEM?

As a global, multibillion dollar crime, organized criminal groups have not hesitated to cash in on the trade in counterfeit goods. In many parts of the world, international, regional and national law enforcement authorities have uncovered intricate links between this crime and other serious offences including illicit drugs, money laundering and corruption.    Some estimates put the counterfeit business at well in excess of two hundred and fifty billion ($250) billion U.S. dollars per year and hundreds of billions more, if pirated digital products and domestic counterfeit sales are included.  With the combination of high profits and low penalties resulting from a greater social tolerance compared to other crimes, the illicit trafficking of counterfeit goods is an attractive money-making avenue for organized criminal groups.

The following table will give you some idea as to the scope of the illegal activity.

FOODSTUFFS:

Another area that continues to be exploited by counterfeiters — and one that is often not considered in the public mind when discussing fake products — is foodstuffs. Every year consumers throughout the world are deceived into buying expensive counterfeit foodstuffs. A ploy favored by criminals is to intentionally mislabel and misrepresent foods as luxury items or as originating in certain countries, allowing them to raise prices. A recent estimate based on data from the United Kingdom Food Standards Agency41 suggested that fraud could affect as much as 10 per cent of all the food bought in that country. One such example is that of “wild” salmon, which, it is estimated, is in fact farmed fish in one out of every seven cases.  Think about this if you are a seafood lover. 

LEGISLATIVE ACTION:

Adopting and fully implementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime: The counterfeit business is a global operation spread across numerous countries and organized by cross-border criminal networks. As a result, there is an ever-growing need for action at both local and international levels. The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime is the world’s most inclusive platform for cooperation in tackling organized crime. One hundred and seventy-nine (179) countries are currently Parties to the Convention and have committed themselves to fighting organized crime locally and internationally by such means as collaboration and ensuring that domestic laws are suitably structured. As an important instrument in tackling transnational organized crime, the Convention fosters international cooperation and, aside from encouraging the adoption of measures such as the establishment of domestic criminal offenses, urges countries to put in place frameworks for extradition, mutual legal assistance and law enforcement cooperation. Within the Convention’s framework, States Parties could decide to adopt tougher laws in order to tackle the illicit trafficking of counterfeit goods, particularly in the case of public health and safety threats. Strengthening money laundering legislation: With the illicit trafficking of counterfeit goods and money laundering intrinsically linked, there is a profound importance in ensuring national laws are securely in place to counter all forms of money laundering. Given the danger of re-investment into other forms of organized crime, tracking and confiscating illicit funds is critical. The United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP) recently presented a comprehensive argument on this issue. Advocating for the confiscation of the proceeds of crime, the two organizations called on Governments to seize profits made by organized criminal networks from counterfeiting as a more effective response than just imprisonment.

CONCLUSION: Every consumer and manufacturer can aid the efforts of law enforcement by being aware first, that this is a huge problem.  Then, turn over the suspected item to law enforcement and let them track down the culprits.  They are looking.

EINSTEIN—WALTER ISAACSON

I don’t know if you have ever read a book by Mr. Walter Isaacson. He is very meticulous and tireless with the research done prior to writing.  For the book “Einstein”, he provides one hundred and eighty-eight (188) pages of sources and notes as well as a complete index relative to subject matter.  In my opinion, he is one of the best authors our country has ever produced, if you are after the absolute facts.  He does not produce fiction—just facts.

Just about every adult has heard of Albert Einstein and his Theory of Relativity AND his mathematical formula E=mC².  This formula links total energy to mass and the speed of light squared.   We all basically know that.  You mention Einstein and automatically you think of E=mC².  What I did not know: this man was a very complex individual with a tremendous independent personally.  A bit of a lady’s man to boot.

The book can be at times can be very tedious but that’s because Isaacson takes GREAT pains to provide factual and accurate information, sometimes at the expense of detailing minutia.  So, with that being the case, I will not try to re-write the book.  What I would like to do is provide several comments from noted individuals.

“An illuminating delight ……This is a warm insightful, affectionate portrait with a human and immensely charming Einstein at its core.  A wonderfully rounded portrait of the ever-surprising Einstein personality”.  Janet Maslin, The New York Times.

“Once again Walter Isaacson has produced a most valuable biography of a great man about whom much has already been written. It helps that he has had access to important new material.  He met the challenge of dealing with his subject as a human being and describing profound ideas in physics.  His biography is a pleasure to read and makes the great physicist come alive”.   

Murry Gell-Mann, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics and author of The Quark and the Jaguar.

(NOTE:  I can’t say it any better than Dr. Gell-Mann.)  Isaacson paints a very personal picture of Dr. Einstein as well as describing the paths leading to much, if not most, of the very important work he accomplished in his lifetime.  This provides a complete picture of the man.  Einstein was remarkably focused, at times to the detriment of his family. 

“Isaacson has given us a life, not just a mind, perhaps the greatest in the twentieth century, but also a personality, as imperfect and fallible as all the rest of us.  This unique combination of sheer brilliance and human uncertainty makes this one of the greatest biographies of our time”

Joseph J. Ellis.  Author of Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation.

“Isaacson has triumphed…producing a thorough exploration of his subject’s life, a skillful piece of scientific literature and a thumping good read…It’s one of the greatest stories of modern science and to his credit—Isaacson has done a first-rate job in telling it.  This is, quite simply, a riveting read”.

Robin McKie, The Guardian (UK)

I think you get the picture.  This is a profound book certainly worth reading.  You must be patient, take your time, check some of Isaacson’s references and sources and read the book. 

As always, I welcome your comments.

2034

2034 is one of the scariest books I have read lately.  It’s co-authored by Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis.  As you might expect, the events in the book start occurring during the year 2034.  Two factors making the book so believable are the credentials of each author.  Mr. Ackerman is a former White House Fellow and Marine.  He served five (5) tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan where he received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star with Valor, and the Purple Heart.   Admiral Stravridis understands how naval fleets work and has clearly given a great deal of thought to America’s greatest strategic risks.  The top of that list is how we deal with China.   Stavridis was educated at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and has held positions as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and commander of U.S. Southern Command.  No rookie!

War with China is the most dangerous scenario facing the United States and the world at large.  Both countries have nuclear capabilities. That fact is developed and unpacked during the pages of this book How that could happen may surprise you. 

The book starts at 14:47 March 12, 2034 in the South China Sea.  It ends at 07:40 April 16, 2039 in New Delhi. During this time, we see the destruction of San Diego, California; Galveston, Texas; Xiamen, China, Fuzhou, China; and Shanghai, China.  In the beginning, a Chinese cyberattack neutralizes a US naval squadron in the South China Sea, and Iran takes a hotshot F-35 pilot hostage after neutralizing the electronics in his fighter.   This leads to a series of escalations, and soon, as mentioned, several US cities are reduced to radioactive craters as American nuclear counterattacks devastate Chinese cities.  This is not a “happy” book and the possibilities are spelled out in a very real fashion. 

Among the most interesting elements of the 2034 plot is the role technology plays in demarcating China’s rising and America’s declining power. Beijing is portrayed as an unrivaled cyber power: Just as negotiations break down, China shuts down all White House systems, piling a devastating cyber-attack on top of a devastating kinetic one. Beijing also hacks the networks of the U.S. carrier group in the South China Sea, cutting off external communications and leaving commanders reliant on manual navigation and weapons deployment. Undergirding all these plot points is the assumption that the U.S. is incapable of defending against cyber incursions or responding in-kind: ” If the Americans had really wanted to threaten the Chinese, they would’ve launched a massive cyberattack. The only problem was that they couldn’t.”   Both authors plainly indicate the Unites States had better wake up relative to cyber security and learn how to deal with an enemy that’s really good at shutting down electronic systems, even in moving aircraft. 

I read this book in about two (2) days and consider it very hard to put down once you have started.   This is also during March Madness so you know it’s very engaging. I can definitely recommend it to you.

DOES ANYONE REMEMBER AM RADIO?

Some of the data for this post is taken from MPD Microwave Product Digest article written by Mr. Barry Manz.

I grew up with AM radio because growing up in the “country” that’s just about all that was available.  I suppose one of the most, if not the most, surprising thing about AM radio is it’s still here. There are long-battled obstacles ranging from regulations that mandate power reductions after sundown, extreme sensitivity from electrical noise, limited audio bandwidth, and truly mediocre AM selections in radio receivers. Worse yet, its location in electromagnetic spectrum inherently makes twenty-four (24) hour local reception problematic, as propagation changes from ground wave during the day to skip at night. The skip is really aggravating.  Skip is defined as follows:  In radio communication, skywave or skip refers to the propagation of radio waves reflected or refracted back toward Earth from the ionosphere, an electrically charged layer of the upper atmosphere. We are definitely talking about weather effecting and producing skip, if I understand the technology.  Amplitude modulation (AM) is by far the oldest form of modulation known. The first broadcast stations were AM, but even earlier, CW or continuous-wave signals with Morse code were a form of AM. They’re what we call on-off keying (OOK) or amplitude-shift keying (ASK) today. 

There still remain over six thousand (6,000) AM stations in the United States today. Most people still listen in their cars or trucks. There is a wide range of talk radio shows and as mentioned above, you can still hear a baseball or football game on AM. Music options have diminished, as they have mostly moved to FM. Yet, there are some country and Tejano music stations on AM. It all depends on the local audience, which is quite varied.

If I may, let’s take a look at what is available relative to existing services.

AM RADIO:  AM is short for amplitude modulation, which refers to the means of encoding the audio signal on the carrier frequency. In many countries, AM radio stations are known as “mediumwave” stations.  

FM RADIO: (Frequency Modulation radio) Radio broadcasting in the 88-108 MHz frequency band. In the former Soviet countries and Japan, the 65-74 and 76-95 MHz bands are used respectively. FM technology modulates a carrier by varying the frequency, not by signal strength as with AM.

SIRIUS XM RADIO:  The Sirius system is similar to that of XM. Programs are beamed to one of the three Sirius satellites — the satellites then transmit the signal to the ground, where your radio receiver picks up one of the channels within the signal.

STREAMING RADIO:  Online radio means listening to radio via the internet. The radio signal is not transmitted via AM or FM, but streamed via the internet. This means that your device needs to be connected to the internet to receive the radio station. The internet connection can be Wi-Fi or mobile data.

SHORT-WAVE:  AM is also the main modulation of short-wave radio, which can be heard worldwide from five to thirty megahertz (5 to 30 MHz).  It’s still one of the main sources of information for many third-world countries. Short-wave listening also remains a popular hobby.

These five (5) methods are most prevalent in today’s radio broadcasting world. Nevertheless, AM radio is very popular for local news, weather, traffic reports, local sports, etc. etc.  Also, like cable, the number of people listening to AM radio has been declining for some years now.  According to the FCC, the average age of an AM radio listener is approaching sixty (60), and among people age twenty-five (25) to thirty-four (34), AM accounts for only seven percent (7%) of radio listening.  In fact, I would suspect most people under the age of thirty (30) have never even clicked the AM button on their vehicle infotainment display to see what is available.  Some stereo systems long ago removed AM broadcast from their receivers, not that it matters much today as they are now reserved for audiophiles with big budgets.  Tesla recently removed both AM, FM radio and even Sirius/XM radio from its Model S and Model X modules when the company upgraded its master computer unit on older models. 

Where does this leave AM radio?  Some believe AM broadcasting is headed to the annals of radio history.  As Mr. Manz says, ‘time and technology march on’.