28 days

Sunday and its snowing outside. Todays total for the countdown is +3100 words, which makes a total of 82 900 words or 169 pages). Its 28 days left until I have to hand it all in.
The picture of the day is the Avro Avian IVM biplane.

This plane crashed and was wrecked beyond repair in Cartierville, 1939. From the Aviation History Online Museum. Nice advertising on the airplane.

Todays reading tip: Harris Property and Justice, Oxford University Press. Unfortunately its not online but you can read a review by David Lametti “Property and (Perhaps) Justice” McGill Law Journal.

29 Days

The first day of major re-writing. 29 days left until I have to hand it all in. Result of the day: -2200 words (todays total: 79 800)

Builders
Sternberg – Builders

The main topic of the day was Access. Recommended reading: Ken Worpole & Liz Greenhalgh “The Freedom of the City” (1996).

Debatt 24/1 – Göteborgs Posten

Här är debattartikeln som Henrik Sandklef & jag fick med i GP idag. Hos GP finns den här.

Naiv tro på teknologi som brottsbekämpare

Högteknologi löser inte brott. Det som behövs är fler poliser. Dessutom måste brottsbekämpning balanseras med integritet. Det borde justitieministern begripa. Utan respekt för rättigheter har syftet med brottsbekämpning misslyckats, skriver Mathias Klang och Henrik Sandklef.

På mycket kort tid har Sverige infört ny repressiv lagstiftning samt ändrat i befintlig lagstiftning på ett sådant sätt att mänskliga rättigheter kommer i kläm. Sverige inför DNA-databaser, ökar polisens möjligheter till avlyssning, ökar användning av kameraövervakning, diskuterar massavlyssning av mobiltelefoner och hemliga husrannsakningar.

Sverige har även varit drivande på Europanivå genom sin entusiasm för
datalagringsdirektivet. Direktivet innebär att operatörer skall tvingas lagra kundernas kommunikationsdata. Denna information omfattar till exempel vem du ringer till, samt, om det är mobilsamtal, var du befinner dig, innehållet i dina sms, vad du tittar på när du är online och så vidare. Datalagring motiveras med kampen mot terrorismen, men ändamålsglidningen har redan börjat.

Efter datalagringsdirektivet antogs, kunde man i Computer Sweden (14/12) läsa följande uttalande av Inger Segelström (s), “Jag är tacksam och glad att vi fÃ¥r en gemensam lagstiftning för hela Europa. Det här är ocksÃ¥ garantin för att integriteten och de mänskliga rättigheterna inte Ã¥sidosätts.”

Repressiva förslag
Logiken är Orwellsk i stil med Krig är fred. Att motivera inskränkningar i vår integritet med just inskränkningar i denna integritet borde vara ett argument som vem som helst genomskådar.

DN skriver i en ledare (22/12) att vi aldrig har haft en justitieminister som på så kort tid initierat så många repressiva förslag. Han kallas en fara för rättssäkerheten. Bodström motiverar behovet av repressiv lagstiftning genom att hänvisa till terrorbekämpning. Denna abstrakta hotbild utnyttjas hänsynslöst, utan reflektion över dess sannolikhet. För att skydda det öppna samhället mot terror måste den öppenhet vi försvarar förminskas. Tyvärr litar vi på Bodström utan att tänka på vad som egentligen händer.

Sverige var en drivande kraft för genomförandet av omfattande datalagring inom EU. Information som lagras kommer att användas. Spärrar utlovas, men är luddigt utformade och kan lätt modifieras. När information finns tillgänglig kommer det att vara svårt att förhindra missbruk.

Enligt Bodström handlar inte detta om nyreglering utan en kodifiering av det som polisen gör. Datalagringsdirektivet en väsentlig skillnad från polisens tidigare praxis. Polisen kunde, om informationen fanns lagrad, få tillgång till materialet. Skillnaden nu är mängden och typen av information som måste lagras.
Sedan bör en justitieminister vara mer aktiv i avvägning av de rättigheter som polisens agerande innebär. Bodströms roll skall inte enbart vara att säkerställa polismetoder genom lag, utan även att begränsa polisen när deras agerande kränker eller hotar rättigheter.

Bodström har, på ett vilseledande sätt, jämfört datalagring med fingeravtryck. Att hänvisa till fingeravtryck är att förenkla och fördumma debatten.

Kartlägger handlingsmönster
Datalagring handlar inte om att bekräfta identitet utan snarare att kartlägga kommunikations- och handlingsmönster, det vill säga att registrera vad du gör, läser och skriver samt vem du kommunicerar med och om vad. Datalagring avslöjar dina åsikter, fingeravtryck din identitet.

Vi förringar inte vikten av brottsbekämpning men förblindas inte av teknologi. Högteknologi löser inte brott. Det som behövs är fler poliser och det kostar. Bodström visar en naiv teknikoptimism genom att lägga resurser på utveckling av övervakningsteknologi. Dessutom måste vi hela tiden balansera brottsbekämpning med integritet. Utan respekt för rättigheter har syftet med brottsbekämpning misslyckats. Vi uppnår inte rättvisa genom minskade rättigheter.

Demokrati bygger på att vi kan kommunicera ostörda av rättsapparaten. Nu har dessa möjligheter tagits bort. Bör vi vara oroliga?

Bodström säger “Bara den som har nÃ¥got att dölja har nÃ¥got att vara rädd för”. Den här retoriken är tyvärr vanligt förekommande i historien, med helt andra resultat för medborgare än vad Bodström vill pÃ¥skina.

Att påstå att oskyldiga inte har något att frukta är ett hån. Oron inför statligt missbruk av personlig data är inte överdriven. Flera stater har utnyttjat olika former av id-handlingar för att förfölja och förtrycka hela folkgrupper. Instanser av statligt missbruk av data och dess effekter är viktiga att komma ihåg, eftersom det felaktiga argumentet att oskyldiga människor inte har något att frukta upprepas ofta, trots att historien regelbundet visat att detta inte är sant.

Vi måste säga nej
En upprepad felaktig tes blir inte sann och att vara oskyldig är ingen garanti för rättvis behandling.

Nu kommer polisiära resurser att läggas på datalagring i stället för annan brottsbekämpning. Vi måste aktivt delta i debatten, vi måste sluta upp med vår blinda tilllit, vi måste ifrågasätta det som låter bra, vi måste säga nej till åsiktsregistrering som faktiskt blir en direkt effekt av datalagring. Men framför allt måste vi sluta acceptera en justitieminister som inte värnar om medborgarnas rättigheter.

Writing days

Some days are better than others. Today the letters would not form words, the words refused to be sentanced and the brain just didnt want to work. The approaching deadline is one day closer with nothing gained. This amazing macro-image comes from the photo-blog of Martin Kenny called Seen Objects its even more impressive in close-up.

macro-match

Happy Phd Writer?

In his work Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus writes about the meaning of life and basically the question why we do not commit suicide. The first sentance says it all: “There is only one really serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide.”

Camus takes the myth of Sisyphus as a metaphor for life. Sisyphus was a smart man who managed to trick the god of the underworld to let him go back for a brief errend. Once Sisyphus gets home he refuses to return to Hades – eventually he is forced back. As a punishment he is forced to role a huge stone up a hill only to have it role down again and Sisyphus must start again from the begining.

Sisyphus rock

This is usally seen as the pointless and depressing work. However Camus finishes his book with the words:

“I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain! One always finds one’s burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night filled mountain, in itself forms a world. The strugg le itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”

Right now I am spending long days in front of the computer attempting to reach the big deadline (see counter to the right) and hand in my Phd thesis. Its tiring and not very uplifting. At times very pointless. At this stage I am prepared to disagree with Camus. Sisyphus is not happy. He has no time for hapiness and no chance of free time to look forward to.

New Years Eve

Soon time for a new year – according to the Gregorian calender today is the last day of 2005 and tommorrow it will be 2006.

According to the Islamic calendar the year is now 1426
According to the Persian calendar the year is now 1384
The French Republican Calendar has the year at 214
The Poundian year is 84
The Hebrew year is 5766
The Mayan year is 5118

Hope you have a good time!

For more information on Calenders

Minister of (in)Justice – part 2

Sweden has never had a Minister of Justice who has managed to push through so much legislation hostile to civil liberties in such a short space of time as the minister we have today: Thomas Bodström. Here are some of the highlights
Dagens Nyheter
22 December 2005.

Phone tapping – Secret surveillance with hidden microphones will be permissable for a long list of crimes (not only the present day murder, manslaughter and armed robbery. This is despite the fact that investigators have been unable to show whether these devices are efficient police tools.

Data retention – Sweden has stood on the forefront demanding that the EU implement data retention. The EU have now approved rules (BBC report) that will force ISP’s and other telecommunication companies to retain data for at least six months. This data includes the time, date and locations of both mobile and landline calls (as well as whether or not they were answered) along with logs of internet activity and email.

Hemlig telefonavlyssning. En regeringsutredning vill ge Säkerhetspolisen utökade möjligheter till hemlig teleavlyssning. Den ska ske även i “preventivt syfte”, alltsÃ¥ innan ett brott har begÃ¥tts. Enligt förslaget ska ocksÃ¥ den öppna polisen ges utökade möjligheter att registrera svenskarnas telefonsamtal, vilket Advokatsamfundets generalsekreterare Anne Ramberg kallar för “ett paradigmskifte i svensk tvÃ¥ngsmedelshantering”.

Den påtänkta lagstiftningen ger staten kraftigt utökade möjligheter att övervaka medborgarna. Tillämpningsområdet är ytterst brett och möjligheterna till ett rättssäkert förfarande minimala. Både Säpo och polisen skulle ges laglig rätt att kontinuerligt avlyssna miljöer som de finner intressanta. Varken någon lag­överträdelse eller konkret misstanke krävs.

Försvarets underrättelseverksamhet. En departementspromemoria föreslår att den traditionella signalspaningen ska utvidgas till att omfatta all trådbunden trafik som passerar Sveriges gränser. Försvaret ska alltså inte som i dag bara kunna övervaka etern, utan också telefonsamtal, e-post, fax och dylikt som strömmar genom landet naturligtvis utan domstolsprövning. Förslaget innebär ett genombrott för övervakningsstaten, särskilt om det kombineras med tankarna på att försvaret även ska hantera vissa polisiära uppgifter.

Secret Data Surveillance – A proposal has been put forward that will allow the police (with a court order) can enter and insert software to eavesdrop on individuals computers.

These are just a few of the ideas which have been pushed through on the ministers initiative or suggestion. There are many more examples of tough stances against civil liberties – all done to fight crime or terrorism.

handcuffs

Sweden is no longer the country fighting for rights and liberties but it is using the ghost of terrorism to frighten and bully through oppressive legislation. Leadership by fear. In addition to this the approach has been to argue that oppressive legislation actually improves civil liberties. In a comment on the recent data retention decision a fellow party official stated that data retention protects civil liberties. Swedish quote here – “Jag är tacksam och glad att vi fÃ¥r en gemensam lagstiftning för hela Europa. Det här är ocksÃ¥ garantin för att integriteten och de mänskliga rättigheterna inte Ã¥sidosätts, säger Inger Segelström, s”.

This is straight out of Orwell! Remember: “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength”. Big Brother would have been proud.

Intelligent Design?

BBC report that the American Supreme Court have banned the teaching of “intelligent design“. While intelligent design sounds like a valuable course at a technical university it actually refers to the newest form of anti-Darwinism. Basically the idea is that nature is too complex for natural selection.

Do you want proof that there must be an “intelligent” force guiding the choices nature makes then look at any complex animal or organism. This is of course bull. If anyone wants to believe – thats fine. But proof? No way. Also I would like to know if these people find “flawed” or even really bad design in nature as a proof that unintelligent design forces are at work?

platypus
Is the Platypus evidence of humorous design?*
To point at an anthill, beehive, weaver bird nest or the human eye and say “oh! thats complex” is fine. But to take complexity as a proof of a higher power is to regress “…back to cavorting druids, death by stoning and dung for dinner” (Blackadder). Historically, that which we did not understand was referred back to some higher being. But this gets scary today when we have both more knowledge and methods for understanding more of the truth than ever before and still some people prefer the mythology to the facts. Its time to face it (if you have not already done so) Darwinism may not be what you want to hear but it is a fundamentally better theory than anything else around.

However since Darwinism is not compatible with a litteral interpretation with the bible schools have attempted to ban the teaching of evolutionary theory. Therefore to comply with this certain schools of thought began developing intelligent design. Its not a well grounded theory – it does not have to be since it demands faith rather than proof.

Anyway the US Supreme Court have now found that Darwinian evolution must be taught as fact in biology lessons. Good work!

*Robin Williams about the platypus:
“Do you think God gets stoned? Take a look at the platypus… I think you think he might.” (mimes toking on a joint) “Hey Darwin! Yo. Here ya go! I’m gonna take a beaver, and put a duck’s bill on it.” (cackles stonily) “Then, I’m gonna give it webbed feet, and it’s gonna live in water. Then (tokes again) it’s gonna be a mammal, but it’s gonna lay eggs! Muahahahaha! Hey, I’m God, what’re you gonna do, eh?”

The DeadLine, or this is not a vida

To those of you who read this blog, friends (do friends read friends blogs?), as you may know the realest* of all my deadlines is fast approaching. At this stage I am disinclined to follow the thoughts of the sage “I love deadlines. I especially love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by”** and attempt to manage the impossible (hitting deadline) if only to get the damn thing*** over and done with. This first hurdle of all hurdles is not the vida but the internal seminar were the wise ancients of the Dept of Informatics (there is no place like home) climb down from their mountain-tops to throw lightening-bolts, murmer incantations and generally discuss the suitability of the dullard attempting to pass through the gates which they are set to keep. Therefore I am left to arrange my defence and attempt to explain myself. All that remains are the words “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.”****

And it didnt take me 20 years even though some of you may have thought so…

the blind bard
the blind bard

THEN Ulysses tore off his rags, and sprang on to the broad pavement with his bow and his quiver full of arrows. He shed the arrows on to the ground at his feet and said, “The mighty contest is at an end. I will now see whether Apollo will vouchsafe it to me to hit another mark which no man has yet hit.” On this he aimed a deadly arrow at Antinous, who was about to take up a two-handled gold cup to drink his wine and already had it in his hands. He had no thought of death- who amongst all the revellers would think that one man, however brave, would stand alone among so many and kill him? The arrow struck Antinous in the throat, and the point went clean through his neck, so that he fell over and the cup dropped from his hand, while a thick stream of blood gushed from his nostrils.*****

————–
* Social Constructivists among you would dispute this but even the most active social constructivists tend to agree that deadlines exist and follow them – why is that? Wouldnt a real conference on social constructivism really be a a group of people not submitting on time, another group not following the compulsory paper format and eventually at the conference no groups turning up?
** Douglas Adams, who else?
*** Phd…if you didnt know this you have not been paying attention.
**** Douglas Adams, who did you think?
***** Odyssey Book 22 Samuel Butler (trans.) A funny illustrated story version here.

Swedish Slave Trade

It is not surprising to note that even the Swedes attempted to join in on colonialism, nor is it surprising that they also were a part of the slave trade. But it is good to remember even the darker parts of oour history. This is from wikipedia:

In the year 1784, the king Gustav III of Sweden bought the West Indian island of Saint-Barthélemy from the French. The first report concerning the island came from the Swedish general council in the French town of L’Orient, Simon Bérard. He reported that:

It (Saint-Barthélemy) is a very insignificant island, without strategic position. It is very poor and dry, with a very small population. Only salt and cotton is produced there. A large part of the island is made up of sterile rocks. The island has no sweet water; all the wells on the island give only brackish water. Water has to be imported from neighbouring islands. There are no roads anywhere.

In 1786 a privilege letter was made for the West India Company. The Company was granted the right to trade slaves between Africa and the West Indies. Paragraph 14 in the letter states: “The Company is free to operate slave trade on Angola and the African coast, where such is permitted”

People from all over the Caribbean would come to this island to buy slaves. People who came from other islands to buy their slaves on Saint Bartholomew had to pay a small duty when they exported slaves from the island. There was also a difference between a slave who had been taken to the New World on a Swedish ship and a slave who have been transported on a foreign one. The duty to export a Swedish-owned slave was only 50% of that of a “foreign”.