The Bewilderness

Extrobritannia: Simon Young

I am off to a meeting where Simon Young, a founder of the World Trade Association, is speaking on his new book "Designer Evolution".  As usual, I have left it very late to look at the website and collection of quotes (it is not a blog!), but apart from the  music  (too grand, verging on the bombastic in places for my taste), but am rather taken by what I see.

Hopefully Mr Young is not an objectivist but his book and blog make the right noises in regard to new technology and individualism. The ideas are represented as a compleat philosophy, constructed outside of the realms of academia. This is usually a standard ploy to render the philolosophy impervious to criticism, on the grounds that if you knock away one pillar, the whole edifice will fall. It is all grandly Victorian, echoes of Comte, or Spencer's "Social Statics".

I developed my philosophical system gradually and methodically over some 20 years, while supporting myself as a piano player in the hotels and piano bars of London and Europe (the term ‘Designer Evolution', for instance, occurred to me while playing Jerome Kern/Fred Astaire's ‘Pick Yourself Up', at The Ritz).

         

The result of twenty years work is a comprehensive philosophical system spanning thousands of pages, based on the original concept of Transhumanism as ‘evolutionary humanism', which I've condensed as best I can into the 417 pages of my book, Designer Evolution: A Transhumanist Manifesto.

Why go, then, if I am striking a rather sceptical, indeed critical, note? It is interesting to see how this system will incorporate libertarianism, as the Ayn Rand quotation suggests an Objectivist bias. Secondly, Young cites Julian Huxley as a forebear, for coining the term and pursueing liberal and humanist concepts of science at a time when Darwinism was also appropriated by the hard left such as Needham and Haldane.

The term ‘transhumanism' was coined in 1957 by the English biologist-philosopher Julian Huxley, as a synonym for his philosophy of ‘evolutionary humanism'. I first came across Huxley's philosophy in 1984, in a copy of the book Beyond The Outsider (1965) by the English philosopher Colin Wilson, that I discovered in my father's study. I immediately adopted the term transhumanism in my private journals, and decided to use it as a starting point for the development of a modern philosophy suitable for the 21 st century (I was thinking ahead!).

I shall report back.

Cash 4 Peerages: Ruth Turner

The police are now questioning Ruth Turner: will Blair prove himself ruthless in the last few months in office?

Ruth Turner, Downing Street’s director of government relations, was interviewed last week by Scotland Yard detectives investigating cash-for-honours allegations, Labour sources confirmed.

She was asked about e-mails and documents that raised questions about which Labour lenders might be placed on a list to be submitted to the House of Lords Appointments Commission.

One fairweather speech will not dispel the problems that soundsurround this administration.

NATO and Afghanistan

NATO died at a conference in the Czech Republic some time ago. Yet, the alliance is lingering, although none of its European adherents are willing to work for strategic objectives or provide for collective security.

"Allies must step up to the plate to meet our collective commitment to support the government and people of Afghanistan," he said.

However, even as Mr Browne headed for Slovenia, Spanish officials briefed the Madrid press that their government — in conjunction with France, Germany and Belgium — had seen off a request from the military commander of Nato, Gen James Jones, to mobilise ground forces from the

"Eurocorps" — a rapid reaction force made up of troops from several European nations.

Spanish sources told El Pais newspaper that the four European nations had told Gen Jones the rapid reaction force was for unforeseen emergencies, and not for propping up an existing mission.

The political class in Europe loves to turn defence into a jigsaw soup, but is unable to  turn its eyes towards war. Battles postponed are harder to win.

Meanwhile, the heat on the fighting forces will grow. Musharraf has called off the Pakistani Army from Waziristan following discontent, allowing the Taleban a free rein to recruit and slip over the border from the 'Tribal Areas'. This is a cause of huge dissension between himself and Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan, and may go some way towards explaining the position of many European nations. On this basis, the war will hot up:

Under the deal, the tribal leaders were supposed to stop “foreign fighters” crossing the border, in return for regaining their traditional autonomy. One spokesman said soon afterwards that no such commitment had been made. The Taleban are hardly “foreign” to the areas; they come from the same families. Many treat the border, drawn by Britain in 1893, as meaningless.

Since the deal, the Taleban have opened offices in Waziristan, as Pakistani media reports have recorded. They have also welcomed Pakistan’s release of about 200 militants, the return of weapons, and the withdrawal of some warrants against Taleban leaders, which accompanied the deal.

Nanotech: Look Over Your Shoulder

Forbes was citing Robert Cresanti, Undersecretary for Technology at the Department of Commerce, on the dangers of underestimating China's advances in nanotech:

'China is one of the players that is gaining on us. We are wise to take a look at what they are doing that's been successful, and see how it might apply to improve our system,' the newspaper said, citing Robert Cresanti, undersecretary for technology at the US Department of Commerce.

    Cresanti, who is in Beijing to meet with Chinese policymakers, said China's gains were obvious.
'We saw labs today full to the rafters with scientists and machinery. There has also been a dramatic increase in the quality and quantity of papers on nanotechnology published by Chinese scientists,' he said.

And Europe? Well FP7, the latest round of funding won't help...

A Swift Resolution

A few months ago, the New York Times was criticised for revealing the trawl through SWIFT that allowed US authorities to link financial transactions to terrorist financing. It now appears that this programme also broke EU data protection laws, though SWIFT is not to be prosecuted.

The Belgian data protection registrar declared today that the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), which handles financial transactions on behalf of banks and other financial institutions in G10 countries, had violated Belgian data protection law by complying with the US Treasury's secret investigation....

The US Treasury had demanded to examine SWIFT's records in a hunt for terrorist financiers after 9/11.
It had unlimited access to this data for an unspecified time. The opinion said that in order to protect the privacy of its client's data, SWIFT should have ensured that the US snooping of its records was proportionate, that they were only retained for a limited examination, that the investigation was transparent to the European authorities and so on.

SWIFT found itself in a conflict situation. Was this because the US could not trust  allowing certain European nations to have a transparent overview of its activities. Would you trust Belgium?

Another indication that we may not all be on the same side.

An Order of Eurocon, with rotten Flounder on the side

The European political class debates the fate of the Constitution behind closed doors, with occasional second-stringers flying kites on the best way forward. One is Socialist MEP, Jo Leinen, Chairman on the Committee of Constitutional Affairs at the European Parliament. His compromise differs from other proposals in that cherrypicking the Constitution is attacked and retention of all of the articles is defended. Leinen is one of the staunch Constitutionalists, who argues that as the national governments have signed up, they should implement the Constitution. His interview with Euractiv does not mention the referenda at all.

His proposal recommends removing those parts of the Constitution already ratified under the Treaty of Nice, and reorganising the remainder into a new Treaty, in order to render Europe more governable, ie. more Sprouted under Brussels.

The idea is not to write new articles for the Constitution. We understood that the Constitution is too long and too complex for citizens. Therefore, it could be feasible to slim it down, by removing all parts that are already ratified with the Treaty of Nice, which is around 83% of part III, and only keeping the new articles. The remaining articles have to be regrouped and reordered. The result will be a new treaty including all articles from the first, second and fourth part as well as the new articles from the third part.

Still, the Commission never learns. After France and the Netherlands kicked the Constitution out, tired old faces have sprung up on a "wise men" committee to provide political will for this defecated foundation. What will Chris Patten, Michel Barnier Paavo Lipponen and Wim Kok achieve, except a report arguing that it were best for the peoples of Europe not to have their say because they might say 'No'. And Barroso at the Commission adds ballast with enlargement blackmail, stating that there will be no further expansion until an "institutional arrangement" has been achieved. That promise could come back to bite you on the ass if a tipping point towards decentralisation is reached.

RFID: California extends privacy

California is close to passing a new RFID law in response concerns about data privacy on the chips. The Bill was sponsored by a state senator (obviously Democrat), Joe simitian, and is awaiting the signature of the Gubernator. The law allows th e consumer to choose what personal data is included on RFID chips and ensures that encryption technologies are utilised.

The bill, authored by State Senator Joe Simitian (Democrat), would also give Californians the right to decide who can access their personal information stored on RFID cards in documents such as driver's licences, library cards and the like.

"RFID technology is not in and of itself the issue," said Senator Simitian. "The issue is whether and under what circumstances the government should be allowed to compel its residents to carry technology that broadcasts their most personal information."

Lots of reports on Technorati, welcoming the proposed legislation, but no real analysis, as yet.

Is Georgia a new Chechnya

Look for Russia to continue all actions except for all-out war to suborn Georgia and topple the  democratic government of the rose revolution:

Georgian authorities detained four Russian military officers on spying charges Wednesday, and security forces surrounded Russia's military headquarters in Tbilisi to demand that another suspect be handed over, the interior minister said.

The Russians are said to have used terror.

He said the ring was led by a Russian agent who staged a February 2005 mine explosion that killed three police officers in the town of Gori.

MOD: Armchair Warriors

The Sun succinctly shows the priorities of the Blair government:

DESPITE the costs of operations in Iraq increasing, the number of British armed personnel has shrunk over the same period.

A government report showed that since 2001 Britain's armed forces have shrunk 4.6 percent, but in the same period Iraq operational costs have risen by 5.3 per cent.

At the same time:

The reduction has been put down to an armed forces restructuring programme.

It also showed that the number of civilians working in the Ministry of Defence has risen by 12 per cent.

Armchair warriors.

Afghanistan: Own Goals

James Ingalls provides an overtly critical and anti-US overview of the Afghanistan perspective, with anti-American fervour crowding some more nuanced descriptions of the current insurgents, that he coins the 'neo-Taliban':

This new coalition includes “Afghans loyal to the former Taliban regime, disenchanted and nationalist Pashtuns [the largest Afghan ethnic group], religious conservatives, criminal gangs, opium traffickers, and a new generation of Pakistani and Afghan scholars educated in the madrassas along the Pakistan-Afghan border.”  Senlis calls the new coalition, “the neo-Taliban.”  Finally, according to Senlis, “The remnants of the Taliban, related groups and new insurgent actors currently operating in Afghanistan no longer have any clear ties to Al Qaeda or an unambiguous relationship with those that carried out the September 11 attacks.”

The inference is that the presence of foreigners in Afghanistan has spawned the neo-Taliban.  Ingalls then moves on to blame the United States for this, citing violent counter-insurgency methods and erasing the existence of provincial reconstruction teams. Why settle on anti-Americanism, the unthinking clod's fodder?

Is not the own goal of eradicating the major income cash crop of Afghanis sufficient as an explanation?