This site is hereby declared dead in this current format. Something different will replace it eventually.

There is the instance of the Gadarene swine, where it certainly was not very kind to the pigs to put the devils into them and make them rush down the hill into the sea. You must remember that He was omnipotent, and He could have made the devils simply go away; but He chose to send them into the pigs. Then there is the curious story of the fig tree, which always rather puzzled me. You remember what happened about the fig tree. “He was hungry; and seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, He came if haply He might find anything thereon; and when He came to it He found nothing but leaves, for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it: ‘No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever’ . . . and Peter . . . saith unto Him: ‘Master, behold the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.’” This is a very curious story, because it was not the right time of year for figs, and you really could not blame the tree. I cannot myself feel that either in the matter of wisdom or in the matter of virtue Christ stands quite as high as some other people known to history. I think I should put Buddha and Socrates above Him in those respects.

I was recently stopped by Homeland Security as I was returning from a trip to Syria. What I saw in the hours that followed shocked and disturbed me.

At JFK Airport, Denying Basic Rights Is Just Another Day at the Office

Swedish: Det här är varför vi inte vill ha FRA-lagen, eller andra lagar i stil med den, motiverade med någon slags vag vädjan till rädslan för terrorism. “Vi måste försvara oss mot yttre hot!” Jag ser det som betydligt viktigare att vi försvarar oss mot den här typen av interna hot. Ner med polisstaten för helvete.

It is quite simple. If you are american, and you do not vote for Barack Obama this election, you suck. It doesn’t really matter what the actual politics of the candidates are, or that both parties in the US are basically the same. The fact is that voting for McCain, or not voting at all, or voting for an irrelevant third party candidate, is a vote for at least four years of ‘more of the same’.

So what does that mean? Maybe considering local politics within the USA, not that much. The American economy is in a terrible state. There is not much hope that any candidate, no matter what his/her politics are, will be able to do much to save that situation (although not throwing billions and billions into wars of agression would help). However: Consider international relations and the image of America abroad. There is only one thing that can help America in the next four years: Electing a president who is NOT ‘more of the same’.

Obama is right. America needs Change. Does it matter what Change is? I would argue no. I urge you to vote for Obama, if you can. If nothing else to stir things up. To cause change. Worst case scenario, another party controls the third chair. Let McCain win, and the whole world will suffer. But none will suffer as much as the united states of America, in the end standing alone with all the frustration of the world turned against them.

War in Iraq. War in Iran. Russia increasingly confident. An European Union increasingly sceptic to the world view projected by the American government. A China with growing confidence and diminishing respect for American interests. Perhaps voting for Obama won’t change the outcome. One thing is certain: Voting for someone else (or not voting at all) is guaranteed not to.

There are so many stories about how even visiting the US has become a horrendous experiment in dehumanisation. Everyone is a suspect, herded like cattle, prodded, recorded and humiliated in the name of ’security’. I read a different story about a US mayor whose two dogs were killed and whose family was put in shackles and threatened at gunpoint by cops in civilian clothes in the name of drug enforcement, despite not having any real cause for suspicion. Sure, some noise was made about this, but mostly because the victim happened to be a mayor. How often does this happen to innocent citizens? How can these things be accepted?

The worst thing is seeing this insanity spread even to sweden. Despite NO terrorist threat, NO threat from aggressor states, no real threat to ‘national security’ whatsoever, the government still manages to pass surveillance legislation against all popular consensus. No one in sweden wants this form of protection. What is that quote, whoever gives up his freedom for security deserves neither? Well, in the US this is exactly what has happened. Step by step, by small steps of gradually lost liberties, human rights are taken away. Suddenly anyone can be held indefinitely, tortured until dead, harrassed without warrant. Where are the riots? Why isn’t anyone saying enough?

It makes me sick.

After being up to “red storm” and typhoon signal 8 during the night, we’re now back down to signal 3. It is still raining though. This is what the view from the window was in the morning.

A cyclone is passing Hong Kong and typhoon warning signal 3 is in force. Not entirely sure what that means in practice, everything seems perfectly calm right now. I guess I’ll find out.

Recently, there has been a shocking reveal in the development of this case. According to Copyriot, Jim Keyzer, the police officer in charge of the investigation against the Pirate Bay (and the officer who dropped the charges against MediaDefender for sabotage), has been hired by Warner Brothers.

In an interview with Sydsvenskan, Peter Althin, the lawyer representing the men behind the Pirate Bay, calls it a ‘judicial scandal’.

If there have been discussions with the opposing party during his time as an investigator in this case, it is astonishing to say the least.

Monique Wadsted, the lawyer representing the MPAA in sweden, naturally doesn’t see a problem with this:

I guess it means Warner Brothers in sweden think Jim Keyzer has done a good job.

It is clear to me that it is deeply unethical and morally reprehensible for the police officer investigating a case to leave his job to be employed by one party in the case. If that doesn’t show unfair bias, what would?

According to Ulf Göranzon, representative for the swedish police force, Jim Keyzer is still employed by the police, and is on temporary leave for six months to work for Warner Brothers. Presumably to continue working as a chief officer in copyright infringement cases when he returns, one would think.

Article about Jim Keyzer in english:
DailyTech: Pirate Bay: Head Investigator Employed by Warner Bros

Further links (in swedish):
kopit.se: Polis som utredde TPB-fallet börjar jobba på Warner Bros.
IDG: Pirate Bay-polis fick jobb på filmbolag
Swedish Radio: Pirate Bay-polis jobbar på Warner Bros
Google: Jim Keyzer
Free the mind: Warner Brothers mutade polisen Jim Keyzer
Christian Engström: Den mutade polisen heter Jim Keyzer