Really great piece. I spent decades in an industry based on intellectual property, and it was only toward the end of my career that I began to challenge its assumptions.
I still regularly reference Lessig's books, and point people to the two editions of "Code: And other laws of cyberspace" to discuss still missing transparency and accountability required for software.
Great stuff. Lessig and Geist were the two authors that helped reshape my views on so called IT. I celebrate the Creative Commons, and I have been involved in repurposing and appropriating visual representations as “fair use” for commentary and satire.
I taught logic as part of my literature classes.......and we should do more of it.
Refusing to deal with our own dirty business by pointing here there or everywhere at other situations is classic.
Few want the whole story, few imagine taking responsibility. In the west, everything has become about winning the debate.........not eliminating the errors that obscure our view of the whole truth,
We're stupid people, imagining there's a short cut to being right.
Check out Scott Ritter's view on the current war, and the role of AI in bombing that girl's school in Iran:
Useful for context, but I don’t subscribe to ad hominem as there are ideas to learn even if the specific source has been dismissed. It is not like this individual has done things as bad as the Epstein Class that is currently in charge of the US government.
This is only one part of the learning. There is some critical aspects of regional geopolitics that are missed in what I watched, especially when the conversation of the “why” Israel and USA would target Iran (and have had it as a target for decades).
I know nothing of his personal life, but another commenter did say something about a rape charge. Thing is, the country that has protected a high end sex trafficking ring for decades, isn't above framing a truth teller. They did it to Julien Assange, trying to get him back to America, so the morons could try a non-American citizen for treason.
I don't think there is any depths to which American status quo won't sink.......or conspiracy fiction they won't fall for. They'll be lamenting the victims of Epstein, while covering up for the perpetrators, AND ignoring the growing obviousness of Epsteins Israel connection for years to come.
They keep everything in separate silos. Be glad to demonize someone like Ritter, while continuing to vote for someone like Trump. So to conclude: Scott told the truth, where it mattered; America bought the 'weapons of mass destruction' lie.
I don't imagine their courts are that much smarter. Everyone down there knows when to fall silent or point the finger.
There was an even more odd form of Whataboutism recently that included an offensive attempt to entirely diminish the concept of a "refugee". I was thinking of writing an article about it, but now feel that a comment on this article is sufficient sharing.
I unsubscribed from that author when they made the claim that Western worldview loyalists were somehow "refugees" from places like Hong Kong once Western occupations finally ended. They kept using the term “human rights” when referencing Western European legal concepts and ideologies that are far from universal across the human species.
My wife is of South Asian descent, her parents born in pre-Partition India (but still within what remains of India after British induced Partition). As a high school teacher she has been talking to me for decades about the harm when some students abuse the term "racism" when they really only mean they disagree with what some non-racialized teacher did or said (IE: that teacher didn't give the student a grade the student incorrectly believed they deserved).
In the context of the Whataboutisms, it is disgusting when terms like "refugee" or "racism" are flipped in meaning and/or abused to promote Western Empire, Eurocentrism, or White Supremacy! It diminishes the meaning of these terms, and makes the world much more dangerous for everyone!
There was a comment thread I was part of, but the author deleted it. I consider the claim that Western loyalists leaving Hong Kong after the 99 year lease ended being "refugees" to be even less credible than Trump's claim that Afrikaners --- White South Africans -- are "refugees" after the end of Apathaid. In the case of Hong Kong the end of the British occupation was known before anyone alive today was born, and presuming Eurocentrism would continue forever is merely a supremacist ideology (regardless of the melanin of any individual who has internalized that ideology).
The Sun Must Set on the British Empire!!!
The discussion (that the article author deleted) included the following:
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I'm curious:
Situated between Ireland and Great Britain, the Isle of Man at 574 km^2 is about 60% the size of the leased territory (roughly 952 km^2) commonly referenced as Hong Kong (Hong Kong Island itself has a land area of approximately 78.6 km^2). What region is given that name has changed
over time.
If China had a 99 year lease on the Isle of Man, would you believe that island should remain under Eastern Asian worldviews, laws and governance systems after the 99 year lease ended? Would it be reasonable that it would be restored to being governed as part of Western Europe? Would it be reasonable that mainland Europe would consider that island an ongoing national security threat if it remained governed under Eastern Asian worldviews/laws/etc? (That island being under Chinese occupation was always a threat, but with the expiry of the 99 year lease that threat should be allowed to expire as well).
Note: Vancouver Island is itself about 30 times larger than the region of China that was under the 99-year lease to Britain. Under the logic you have offered me and others who have replied, since you have never lived on that island, how can you possibly have a legitimate opinion about what those on the Island think or what anyone governed under the British Columbia Crown thinks?
I didn't use Vancouver Island in my example, as I don't consider the European/Eurocentric (Spanish, British, USA, Canadian) claims to that island over time to be any more legitimate than a Chinese claim would be.
I really don't understand why it is not obvious to you that it is personal and not political that you are inflating the importance of Western European worldview loyalists who are upset that a tiny region in East Asia is no longer under British occupation?
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How about another comparison:
The Haldimand Tract is more than four times larger than the part of Hong Kong that was under the 99-year lease. That tract of land was carved out by the British from their occupation, and was never legitimately considered part of Ontario.
Do you side with the Ontario and Canadian governments that believe this land should be governed under Canadian law, or do you believe it should be governed under Haudenosaunee law?
What are you doing to protect the rights of the Haudenosaunee of the Grand River from foreign Ontario and Canadian law, settlers and settlements?
The tiny postage stamp they are allowed to live on is a short drive from Toronto, one of the foreign occupation capitals.
Really great piece. I spent decades in an industry based on intellectual property, and it was only toward the end of my career that I began to challenge its assumptions.
Have you read Lawrence Lessig’s books on IT and the Creative Commons? In Canada we also have Michael Geist’s work on the subject.
I was at Michael Geist's book launches, and involved in that community quite actively.
That is also the context that I first met Charlie Angus https://charlieangus.substack.com/ , who was also involved in digital copyright. https://r.flora.ca/p/mp
There are archives of that era - https://r.flora.ca/p/closing-digital-copyrightca-21-07-15
I was even blogging for IT World Canada during that era https://r.flora.ca/t/itworldcanada
I still regularly reference Lessig's books, and point people to the two editions of "Code: And other laws of cyberspace" to discuss still missing transparency and accountability required for software.
https://substack.com/@russellmcormond/note/c-221407074
Thanks for engaging!
Great stuff. Lessig and Geist were the two authors that helped reshape my views on so called IT. I celebrate the Creative Commons, and I have been involved in repurposing and appropriating visual representations as “fair use” for commentary and satire.
I re-read something I wrote from 2010, and the more "Copyright" related commentary at the time in relation to Eastern vs Western censorship.
Google, China, Hillary Clinton and the filtered Internet
https://r.flora.ca/p/google-china-hillary-clinton-and
I taught logic as part of my literature classes.......and we should do more of it.
Refusing to deal with our own dirty business by pointing here there or everywhere at other situations is classic.
Few want the whole story, few imagine taking responsibility. In the west, everything has become about winning the debate.........not eliminating the errors that obscure our view of the whole truth,
We're stupid people, imagining there's a short cut to being right.
Check out Scott Ritter's view on the current war, and the role of AI in bombing that girl's school in Iran:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi-057Asvvg
I checked it out.
I also read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Ritter
Useful for context, but I don’t subscribe to ad hominem as there are ideas to learn even if the specific source has been dismissed. It is not like this individual has done things as bad as the Epstein Class that is currently in charge of the US government.
This is only one part of the learning. There is some critical aspects of regional geopolitics that are missed in what I watched, especially when the conversation of the “why” Israel and USA would target Iran (and have had it as a target for decades).
I agree....Scott is military intelligence.
I know nothing of his personal life, but another commenter did say something about a rape charge. Thing is, the country that has protected a high end sex trafficking ring for decades, isn't above framing a truth teller. They did it to Julien Assange, trying to get him back to America, so the morons could try a non-American citizen for treason.
I don't think there is any depths to which American status quo won't sink.......or conspiracy fiction they won't fall for. They'll be lamenting the victims of Epstein, while covering up for the perpetrators, AND ignoring the growing obviousness of Epsteins Israel connection for years to come.
They keep everything in separate silos. Be glad to demonize someone like Ritter, while continuing to vote for someone like Trump. So to conclude: Scott told the truth, where it mattered; America bought the 'weapons of mass destruction' lie.
I don't imagine their courts are that much smarter. Everyone down there knows when to fall silent or point the finger.
There was an even more odd form of Whataboutism recently that included an offensive attempt to entirely diminish the concept of a "refugee". I was thinking of writing an article about it, but now feel that a comment on this article is sufficient sharing.
I unsubscribed from that author when they made the claim that Western worldview loyalists were somehow "refugees" from places like Hong Kong once Western occupations finally ended. They kept using the term “human rights” when referencing Western European legal concepts and ideologies that are far from universal across the human species.
My wife is of South Asian descent, her parents born in pre-Partition India (but still within what remains of India after British induced Partition). As a high school teacher she has been talking to me for decades about the harm when some students abuse the term "racism" when they really only mean they disagree with what some non-racialized teacher did or said (IE: that teacher didn't give the student a grade the student incorrectly believed they deserved).
In the context of the Whataboutisms, it is disgusting when terms like "refugee" or "racism" are flipped in meaning and/or abused to promote Western Empire, Eurocentrism, or White Supremacy! It diminishes the meaning of these terms, and makes the world much more dangerous for everyone!
https://canadianreturnee.substack.com/p/canadas-refugee-welcome-has-a-colour
There was a comment thread I was part of, but the author deleted it. I consider the claim that Western loyalists leaving Hong Kong after the 99 year lease ended being "refugees" to be even less credible than Trump's claim that Afrikaners --- White South Africans -- are "refugees" after the end of Apathaid. In the case of Hong Kong the end of the British occupation was known before anyone alive today was born, and presuming Eurocentrism would continue forever is merely a supremacist ideology (regardless of the melanin of any individual who has internalized that ideology).
The Sun Must Set on the British Empire!!!
The discussion (that the article author deleted) included the following:
------
I'm curious:
Situated between Ireland and Great Britain, the Isle of Man at 574 km^2 is about 60% the size of the leased territory (roughly 952 km^2) commonly referenced as Hong Kong (Hong Kong Island itself has a land area of approximately 78.6 km^2). What region is given that name has changed
over time.
If China had a 99 year lease on the Isle of Man, would you believe that island should remain under Eastern Asian worldviews, laws and governance systems after the 99 year lease ended? Would it be reasonable that it would be restored to being governed as part of Western Europe? Would it be reasonable that mainland Europe would consider that island an ongoing national security threat if it remained governed under Eastern Asian worldviews/laws/etc? (That island being under Chinese occupation was always a threat, but with the expiry of the 99 year lease that threat should be allowed to expire as well).
Note: Vancouver Island is itself about 30 times larger than the region of China that was under the 99-year lease to Britain. Under the logic you have offered me and others who have replied, since you have never lived on that island, how can you possibly have a legitimate opinion about what those on the Island think or what anyone governed under the British Columbia Crown thinks?
I didn't use Vancouver Island in my example, as I don't consider the European/Eurocentric (Spanish, British, USA, Canadian) claims to that island over time to be any more legitimate than a Chinese claim would be.
I really don't understand why it is not obvious to you that it is personal and not political that you are inflating the importance of Western European worldview loyalists who are upset that a tiny region in East Asia is no longer under British occupation?
------
How about another comparison:
The Haldimand Tract is more than four times larger than the part of Hong Kong that was under the 99-year lease. That tract of land was carved out by the British from their occupation, and was never legitimately considered part of Ontario.
https://www.sixnations.ca/LandsResources/HaldProc.htm
https://www.sixnations.ca/LandsResources/
Do you side with the Ontario and Canadian governments that believe this land should be governed under Canadian law, or do you believe it should be governed under Haudenosaunee law?
What are you doing to protect the rights of the Haudenosaunee of the Grand River from foreign Ontario and Canadian law, settlers and settlements?
The tiny postage stamp they are allowed to live on is a short drive from Toronto, one of the foreign occupation capitals.
------