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Democracy as raw as it gets

I am a big fan of democracy. I dont mean the kind of democracy that serves merely as veneer for the politics of the elite and corporations. Most democracies today have managed to reduce our political practice to 'tick a box' every few years. We call it represetational democracy, where we elect someone else who then votes on our behalf.

Liberal democacies in theory are useful but how much of the representation is actually ours. It seems mostly to be dominated by wedge politics and diversive policies used to galvanise and polarise. The key is to get elected and then relected. And to finance this, we need funding from corporations - who give mony out of the goodess of their hearts. And its a coincidence that most politicians end up in the private sector upon 'retirement'.

Anyway, I digress.

This is what has shocked me.

"Dutch pedophiles are launching a political party to push for a cut in the legal age for sexual relations to 12 from 16 and the legalization of child pornography and sex with animals, sparking widespread outrage." [ref]

Is it their democractic right to want a voice? To at least try and see if they can have a voice? To ban them, would that be anti-democractic?

Must be expecting one hell of a party

The Singapore Police are spending more than S$ 18, 000, 000 on some new toys.

1. customised, portable barricades are being developed. These "public order barricades" can be transformed into a 2.5metre-tall structure weighing 500kg to respond to different "threat levels". They are also built with razor mesh on top to prevent rioters from climbing over.
2. a multi-functional van, which — besides patrolling and transporting personnel in custody — can also be deployed to maintain public order. The police are bringing in 33 units of the vehicle at $140,000 each. Equipped with an automated barricade fence, the windows of the 4.25-tonne vehicle are reinforced by security mesh and its undercarriage is protected against petrol bombs.
3. 47 vehicles at a cost of $13.79 million. Designed to withstand impact, these purpose-built vehicles also come with protective features such as an undercarriage fire extinguishing system and a ventilation system that prevents harmful gases from seeping in. They are also equipped with features such as detachable, front-mounted barricades, strobe lights, gun ports and 360-degree video recording systems.
4. and at least two other types of vehicles. [ref for all above]

But Singapore is a country of law and order. There last time there was a ruckus of any real significance was ages ago [in 1964].  The most exciting thing to have happened recently was the Hello Kitty Wars in 2000.

So what's with the firepower upgrade? Nothing sinister. Nothing to do with the elections. Nothing to do with James Gomez.

Irrepressible.info

Amnesty International has launched a new campaign, Irrepressible.info, that will bring together all their campaigns about the repression of the internet and the jailing of net dissidents. It will focus on both the role of governments as well as corporations on repression of the internet.

"... the internet itself can become a tool of repression where the monitoring of communications, the censoring and filtering of information and the amassing of immense databanks of information enhance the ability of authoritarian governments to restrict the freedoms and basic human rights of their citizens. Such national restrictions can affect not just those living within that country but anyone who  seeks to impart or receive information in relation to that country." The Internet And Freedom Of Expression: A New Frontier For Human Rights? [pdf]

"... there is a real danger of there being ‘two internets’– one that is an arena for the free and peaceful exchange of ideas, and another thatis a tool for political oppression. It is a danger that threatens to undermine the very principleon which the internet was founded." Irrepressible Information [pdf]

Who will free me from my slavery to advertising

So much of the advertising we encounter we don't even think of anymore as advertising. the logos on our t-shirts, shoes and bags. the packing on our toothpastes, cornflakes and plastic bags. Our journey through our day has a constant companion in advertising.

So it was a rude shock to me to read this letter in Today.

"Public spaces are the responsibility of the Government. Licences for aesthetically-designed and strategically-placed billboards can be awarded to advertising agencies on a revenue-sharing basis. ...

State land can be rented out for suitable events. Lampposts can have small television sets attached to them.

... What is needed is a single coordinating body between the various Government ministries and the advertising agencies." [ref]

Andrew Yap, who wrote the letter, actually wants more advertising. He want the government more involved in commercial activity. What he is suggesting is that the state set up some kind of trust fund into which advertising revenue from leasing out public space is channeled. state land, lampposts, parking coupons - its all worth using for advertising.

the essential concept and the first truth

I have often wondered if we could have another Kakfa or Camus in our age. They were two great adsurdist writers, but I think they would struggle to make things more adsurd that they already are.

"...Saudi girls would have to change into workout gear - and good girls should not disrobe outside their homes. Changing in a locker room might cause them to lose the shyness that is the hallmark of good morals, the booklet warned.

It went on to say that the girls might become attracted to each other after seeing their classmates in tight leotards and tops.

...

But it's not just a matter of persuading them to get off their couches. It's changing a mentality that believes that workouts in schools, gyms or outdoors are an evil that will lead, through giving women more freedoms, to the decline of society.

...

"There is no faster way to corrupt nations than the emancipation of women - that is getting her out on the street to entice men and ruin their morals," he added." [ref]

Arundhati Roy on India, Iraq, U.S. Empire and Dissent

Arundhati Roy recently gave an interview [audio file] to Amy Goodman at Democracy Now!. She is talking particularly about GW Bush's recent visit to India especially about the bits that we did not see. She also provides a context for a lot of what is happening in India at the moment and in particular the stronger embrace of neo-liberalism and how the people are reacting to it all.

"There were massive demonstrations, where hundreds of thousands of people showed up. But it didn't seem to matter either to Bush or to the Indian government, which went ahead and signed, you know, deals where this kind of embrace between a poorer country or a developing country and America. We have such a litany of the history of incineration when you embrace the government of the United States. And that's what happened, that the Indian government, in full servile mode, has entered into this embrace, has negotiated itself into a corner, and now continues to do this deadly sort of dance." [ref]

She also refers often to the impossibility of satire as the things that are already happening could not be more ironical or ridiculous.

"...he [Gandhi] stood for nonviolence, and here it was really the equivalent of a butcher coming and tipping a pot of blood on that memorial and going away. It was -- you know, there was no room left, as I said, for satire or for anything, because it was so vulgar, the whole of it." [ref]

Definite worth a read or listen.

Winter Morning

  Winter Morning 
  Originally uploaded by terryjohal.

Sometimes, there is nothing more peaceful walking to work with Nancy Wilson and a latte on a foggy winter morning.

Nike+ iPod Sneakers - Tune Your Run

It had to happen eventually.

I remember back in the day of the discman, I had this idea. How if we could configure a music system such as it would be able to sense the pace at which one was walking and adjust the beat of the music to work in sync with the walker. Apple and Nike have now got together and launched the iPod compatible sneakers.

It looks to be a pedometer type sensor sensitive accelerometer that is inserted into one's shoe which then transmits wirelessly to the iPod nano. The iPod nano requires an attached receiver which records and displays the distance and pace [in imperial units or so it seems. Will there be a metric version I wonder]. But that's not all. When you get home, you need to celebrate your wheezing around the park by syncing to your achievements to nikeplus.com.

Remember each run. Analyze your performance. Break your last record. Stay in tune with your goals. Nikeplus.com keeps stats on every step. Check your speed, distance, and calories burned — by run, by week, or by month — all from a graphical interface as intuitive as it is stunning. [ref]

That must appeal to the inner German accountant in all of us. But that would not be enough. What about the athlete all the advertising tells us we are? Not to fret.

Nikeplus.com keeps you connected with runners from every corner of the web. And that’s where the real race begins. Use nikeplus.com to challenge anyone, anywhere to a virtual race. Run on your own time, on your home turf, then log on to nikeplus.com to retrieve your results. [ref]

So I have now the shoe and the iPod and the Nike+iPod Sport Kit. I am ready to run and be all like this guy.

Is yeochoewtong.com that powerful?

www.yeocheowtong.com is taking credit for the retirement of its namesake from the cabinet in Singapore. There is a discussion going on at the moment on Sammyboy's Alfresco Coffee Shop about this matter.

The rationale is that since www.yeocheowtong.com has served up much 'dirt' on Cheow Tong [back story], it has forced the hand of PAP through the power of the Internet.

"Is yeocheowtong.com that powerful? Not even the PAP can overcome the power of the Internet."

Let try and answer that.

The rationale is that since PAP leaders have often made said that if the one's reputation has been sullied by another, then its imperative that one must sue for defamation.

"When I call a man openly, you're a liar, you're dishonest, and you do not dare to sue me, there's something basically wrong." MM Lee [ref]

MM Lee said this recently in reference to the James Gomez affair. MM Lee called Gomez a liar and accused him of being dishonest. The argument is that Gomez should take MM Lee to court to clear his name and redeem his reputation. Should Gomez not do so, the logical inference would be that MM Lee was correct about Gomez and that he was a liar and dishonest. 

Network Neutrality - Why it matters.

"The Internet is increasingly becoming the dominant medium binding us. The neutral communications medium is essential to our society. It is the basis of a fair competitive market economy. It is the basis of democracy, by which a community should decide what to do. Let us protect the neutrality of the net.” Neutrality of the Net, Tim Berners-Lee

There is a rather important battle brewing at the moment over in the United States over the Internet.

I think its rather important that we educate ourselves on what is happening even though we might not be in the US. What is at stake here will eventually go beyond  geographical boundaries. What is at stake here is the very notion of the Internet, the very nature of the Internet.

When talking to students about Network Neutrality, it strikes me at the number of blind spots we have, probably as the Internet and it practises has become ordinary and everyday for so many of us. There is no much that we have taken for granted that the possibilty of it being taken away is hard to conceptualise.

For more information, please read the FAQ at save the internet.com

Available here