Monday, February 28, 2005
Why Blair is wrong about emergency legislation
Tony Blair believes that emergency legislation, allowing the Home Secretary to place terrorist suspects under house arrest, is justified. He's wrong. His argument is essentially that Her Majesty's subjects have a right not to killed, and that that right outweighs the right of terrorists not to be detained indefinitely without trial. I can see why his argument is attractive, after all good people should be protected and bad people... well, bad people deserve what they get. Right?
The trouble is, who decides who the baddies are? In cowboy films they wore black hats (either that or they were Indians or Mexicans), but there are no such handy divisions in 21st-century Britain. Blair's argument is perfectly logical: people who've committed illegal acts do deserve to be punished. The illogicality rests on his connection of that argument with the new legislation. Terrorist suspects are not the same as terrorists. The law cannot regard them as such until their guilt has been proved.
And this isn't wishy-washy liberal hand-wringing. While the Government might have a duty to protect us against specific dangers, we do not have a right to protection against any unspecified threat. (If that were the case, then I'd be demanding my 'right' to protection against being killed by a falling tree.) The right to trial is a fundamental element of our civil society.
If there is enough evidence to show that a place is going to be attacked, then the authorities can prevent the attack happening. If there's enough evidence to prove that an individual is going to take part in the attack, then there's enough evidence to arrest the individual under normal law, try him, and imprison him. If the evidence isn't good enough to obtain a conviction, then how can it be good enough to put an individual under house arrest?
I suspect that there are two reasons for this legislation: The first is political, and that is that the present Government thinks that it can scare people into believing that they are in constant danger, and that only 'strong leadership' can protect them. The second is that what evidence is available to the Home Secretary comes from the Intelligence Services, and such evidence would either be inadmissible or would make the spooks uncomfortable. Inadmissible evidence is, however, inadmissible, and there's a good reason for that.
In the end, I do not have a right not to be killed in unspecified incidents, but I do have a right not to be detained without trial.
The trouble is, who decides who the baddies are? In cowboy films they wore black hats (either that or they were Indians or Mexicans), but there are no such handy divisions in 21st-century Britain. Blair's argument is perfectly logical: people who've committed illegal acts do deserve to be punished. The illogicality rests on his connection of that argument with the new legislation. Terrorist suspects are not the same as terrorists. The law cannot regard them as such until their guilt has been proved.
And this isn't wishy-washy liberal hand-wringing. While the Government might have a duty to protect us against specific dangers, we do not have a right to protection against any unspecified threat. (If that were the case, then I'd be demanding my 'right' to protection against being killed by a falling tree.) The right to trial is a fundamental element of our civil society.
If there is enough evidence to show that a place is going to be attacked, then the authorities can prevent the attack happening. If there's enough evidence to prove that an individual is going to take part in the attack, then there's enough evidence to arrest the individual under normal law, try him, and imprison him. If the evidence isn't good enough to obtain a conviction, then how can it be good enough to put an individual under house arrest?
I suspect that there are two reasons for this legislation: The first is political, and that is that the present Government thinks that it can scare people into believing that they are in constant danger, and that only 'strong leadership' can protect them. The second is that what evidence is available to the Home Secretary comes from the Intelligence Services, and such evidence would either be inadmissible or would make the spooks uncomfortable. Inadmissible evidence is, however, inadmissible, and there's a good reason for that.
In the end, I do not have a right not to be killed in unspecified incidents, but I do have a right not to be detained without trial.
- Research published in two pychology journals suggests that the phenomenon of 'left neglect' is linked to ADHD in children
- Speed dating sessions are being held on Saturday on a park and ride bus parked in a Cambridge city centre street
Saturday, February 26, 2005
- Another javascript web app toolkit, integrating PHP and javascript
Friday, February 25, 2005
- Tells you what google knows (or thinks it knows) about a subject. Gave an accurate description of me (apart from the quarterback bit)!
- Like the description says... All sorts of useful suggestions and links(categories: firefox)
- This Slovakian bloke, Brano Meres, describes the construction of a bamboo bike frame. It looks really lovely!
Good job I don't believe... Oh, urm...
The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Seventh Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:
Take the Dante's Inferno Test
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:
| Level | Score |
|---|---|
| Purgatory (Repenting Believers) | Very Low |
| Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers) | Very Low |
| Level 2 (Lustful) | High |
| Level 3 (Gluttonous) | Moderate |
| Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious) | Moderate |
| Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy) | Very High |
| Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics) | Very High |
| Level 7 (Violent) | Extreme |
| Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers) | Very High |
| Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous) | High |
Take the Dante's Inferno Test
Monday, February 21, 2005
- An opinion piece in Al-Jazeera. I don't 100% agree, but this is a considered article with some interesting points.
- An operation carried out at an Egyptian hospital to remove the parasitic head of a baby's undeveloped twin appears to have been successful.
- Mysteriously cuts out at 1961, but otherwise useful.
- The Lonely Planet Guide's page on Syria's history. This one's briefer, but does go up to 2000.
Friday, February 18, 2005
Thursday, February 17, 2005
- An interesting response to the USA's obvious desire to have another war. I wish Blair would join this common front, but it seems unlikely somehow.
- The World Community Grid has clocked up more than 4,000 years' worth of computer calculations in under three months, as part of a project to examine the role of proteins in bodies.
- Why does the USA even bother going through the motions of diplomacy?! It would save us all a lot of time and effort if Bush just demanded fealty from all the world's leaders, and then bombed the crap out of anyone who refused to bend over and take it.
- Moronic Cambridge burglar, Ben Park, was caught out by a householder who'd set up his webcam to send its pictures to an email address.
- The Vatican university is launching a new course for exorcists. There's a bit of a panic about Satanists on at the moment in Italy apparently
- Two skulls originally found in 1967 have been shown to be about 195 000 years old, making them the oldest modern human remains known to science.
- Dates and class codes of all UK censuses from the 1841 onwards
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
- The relationship between verbal reasoning ability and intelligence is questioned by a recent study. I wonder, though, whether the study is flawed in its assumption that verbal reasoning still has to be intact at the point of the test.
Monday, February 14, 2005
Sunday, February 13, 2005
- Bert Christensen's collection of recipes to make you gag (though some of them might be quite nice actually)
Saturday, February 12, 2005
- A US man has been charged with using an internet chat room to try to set up a mass suicide pact for Valentine's Day.
Friday, February 11, 2005
- Dubai is marking its month-long shopping festival with a series of world-record attempts, including most people with the same name in one gathering
- Someone from England recently attempted to send a postcard addressed to Hitler. Deutsche Post deemed that they couldn't refuse to deliver it just because the addressee was know to be dead, so they delivered it to the Bundestag
Thursday, February 10, 2005
- An initiative to 'barcode' all Earth's species has been launched. A single segment of the gene Cytochrome c Oxidase I -- present in all lifeforms, but slightly different in each -- will be used as the barcode.
- The state of Virginia has voted to outlaw the trend of wearing trousers so low that underwear hangs over the top. Can't say I'd really feel moved to make it illegal, but I do think men with their arses hanging out of their trousers look utterly ludicrous.
- Ramesh Kumar, a goldsmith from Tamil Nadu, says his liking for cockroaches has developed since childhood. He wants to challenge the world record for cockroach consumption.
- Good. I think Charles and Camilla have been treated pretty unfairly over the years. I don't see why his being a member of the Royal Family should prevent him marrying.
- Clearly the diplomatic incentives weren't enough... Presumably this will formalise the status of the smaller members of the 'Coalition of the Willing' as mercenaries?
- The French architect, François Roche, has many wonderful ideas, including construction robots whose only design brief would be to build according to the current need of the human occupants(categories: architecture robots)
- A paper in this week's Nature on the use of bacteria in gene transfer heralds a revolution in bioscience. It is one of the first biotechnologies to be released under a flexible license issued by Biological Innovation for Open Society, or BIOS.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
- This thought piece begins by stating that the USA can't continue acting as 'World Policeman'—with which I entirely agree—but goes on to argue that a new 'World Counterterrorism Organization' should be founded based around the USA and its friends. This club would be invitation only and its members would be permitted to engage in military 'intervention' in non-member states. This smacks of the kind of imperial paternalism that Americans used to censure the Old World for. Also, it implies that member states are necessarily 'White Hats' in international affairs. Well, if Russia and the USA are held up as representatives of the virtuous nations, then count me out!(categories: errorism)
- A star being swung round the centre of our galaxy so fast that it'll probably shoot out. The possibility of carbon-based planets (earth is silicon-based), with seas of oil, and vast fields of diamonds nearer the core. A teeny, weeny star.(categories: astronomy)
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
- Blimey. A TV station for teachers. Available as part of the NTL base package apparently
- Shmoo Group have demoed a simple exploit which allows any domain to be spoofed. Fools pretty much any browser apart from IE (more by luck than judgment!). As ever, don't go clicking on links from people you don't trust
- An army pilot who diverted his chopper on a training flight, in order to deliver a pizza to his girlfriend has been told off
Friday, February 04, 2005
- A nine-month-old Peruvian girl, Milagros Cerron, born with sirenomelia (a condition in which the legs are fused together) is to have an operation to separate her legs
- A statue of the Belgian colonial king, Leopold II, has been taken down just hours after it was re-erected in the Democratic Republic of Congo capital
- A JavaScript widget library (which I'm thinking of using for my online family tree project)
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
- The Avian Brain Nomenclature Consortium of 29 world neuroscientists has deemed that birds are brighter than cats and dogs in some respects
- Searchable, categorised resource for urban legends. Classes them according to veracity/likelihood
- A contender for best headline of the year... (A man attacked a policeman who was trying to arrest his son)
- Taiwanese researchers have shown that just 45 minutes of relaxing music before bedtime can make for a restful night
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
- A hack to emulate the CSS 2 positioning scheme position:fixed for Internet Explorer
