Closing Ceremonies of SL10B

This is from a press release by Gemma Cleanslate in the SL10B press group.

"Two weeks ago, the flags were raised to signify that the SL10B Community Celebration was open.

Flags Aloft! Photograph by Pygar Bu

Now, two weeks later, the event is coming to an end and the flags will be lowered at 12 noon on Saturday 29th June.

Once again, the idea is that as many people as possible can watch the flags lowered, marking the end of the Celebration. The flags are stationed around the sims (you can see their locations marked with red X‘s on the map below).

Position of Flags for the Closing Ceremony

You don't have to land right on top of a flag (that would be rather painful!). The idea is to land close – you'll be able to find a spot where you can see the flags lifting!

Following the flag ceremony, there will be fireworks (organised by Marianne McCann) at the gorgeous Cake Stage (which will be viewable from many points).

The Cake Stage, photograph by David Abbot

And to round off events, from 1pm – 9pm SLT, there will be a party on the fabulous Turtle Stage on SL10B Impressive and SL10B Spellbound. Details of the DJs who'll be performing will be published soon.

So come and join us for the Closing of Second Life’s 10th Birthday Community Celebrations – and then stay to enjoy the party!"

On the Turtle Stage, photograph by Argus Collingwood

Bock, Whats Your Beef With Assange?

As I have written more than a few posts on Julian Assange and the extradition circus, that is now in its final stages, I have sometimes been asked by friends - and others - what I have against Assange or for that matter WikiLeaks.

Conversations in IM chats have their difficulties and many facts get lost, overlooked or forgotten, so I thought I should try to summarize my points of view on some of the issues debated.

Before starting I would like to emphatically stress the fact that everything as yet is based on what has been reported in the media coverage of the matters which are not always the most reliable sources. At the present time Julian Assange is only wanted for questioning by the Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny on charges made against him. Assange has not been indicted and is far from condemned by a court of law.

1. WikiLeaks
I firmly and wholeheartedly admire and support the work that WikiLeaks has done, is doing and hopefully will continue to do. I also admire Assange for his co-founding of this organisation.

In my mind every healthy society - and the world community as a whole - needs to be informed about the wheeling and dealing and misdoings of the powers that be, especially in foreign policy and military matters.

Whistle-blowing, i.e. people passing on secret information to the press, is a fundamental and inherent part of a democratic society and are essential for a free press. However, sometimes information alone is not enough as this can be swept aside as hearsay or speculation. In these cases the press has to be supplied with corroborating documentation to prove the case. Passing on classified documents is however a crime in most countries, even when - as in Sweden - the passing of information itself is allowed and supported by the constitution.

My only objections to WikiLeaks is that the organization should try even harder to protect their sources so  they do not risk criminal charges and - perhaps - also should try evaluating if, when and in what form the publishing of certain information and documents could put human lives or liberty at risk.

2. Rape or not?
I was raised to believe that women and men are equal, with full and equal human rights. As a part of this I also fundamentally believe that no one is allowed to force sex on anyone else without prior consent. It is also my belief that any consent to sexual activity can be given with whatever limitations a woman or man sees fit, even if the limitation should be that the one penetrating them should use a condom.

If anyone then with disregard of the limitation stated  proceeds to have sexual activity with someone else the ensuing act is done without consent.

Sex without consent is correctly named rape. Rape is a crime in most countries.

Assange´s supporters, among these most notably John Pilger (Australian journalist and documentary filmmaker) and Michael Moore (American documentary filmmaker) have both embarked on a crusade to vilify the two Swedish women and the Swedish system of justice. Their main arguments seemingly being that this is not the usual violent street-rape and that Sweden is acting in cahoots with the United States military complex in getting at the, in their mind, lily white Assange.

3. Is Assange a rapist?
Hell, I don´t know and neither does anyone else, except for Assange himself and the two Swedish women that have made the charges. It is precisely for that reason Sweden wants Assange to come to Sweden to answer the questions of the Swedish prosecutors. Admittedly there seems to be conflicting evidence but this is a matter for the prosecutor to evaluate and weigh before she decides if Assange should be indicted or not.

If the prosecutor should find that she does not have a strong enough case to get a verdict she will close the inquiry and Assange will be deemed innocent of all charges. Should the prosecutor however decide that there is enough proof to indict Assange the cases will go to trial and all the proofs in the cases will be laid before the Swedish courts, by both the prosecution and the defense.

Before the final judgement of the courts has been made in these cases none of us can know a damn thing about whether or not Assange is guilty of any crimes or not.

On Contemporary (Swedish) Journalism

I firmly and wholeheartedly believe that an independent, free and powerful press and other news media are both essential and fundamental for any democracy.

The reason for this is my belief that the press and news media are needed to monitor, investigate, analyze and report to the citizens how the powers-that-be are using, misusing or even abusing the powers that have been granted to them.

The press and news media are the Third Estate in Sweden - in English speaking countries the Fourth Estate, and are - as they should be - the most powerful of the three (or four as the case may be).

Sweden has one of the oldest and strongest freedom of press acts, and later acts to grant the same freedom for other news media.

We also have laws stating that any document, including memos etc, in all local or national authorities is public and should be handed without questions to anyone who wants it for whatever use they may have of it. The only exception from this rule is if the specific document has been declared classified in accordance with the rules that are set for doing so. These rules are strict and are not to be used other than to protect the rights of an individual or national safety.

Sweden also has laws prohibiting all local or national authorities from searching - or even trying to search - for the source that may have leaked a story to the press or other news media.

With all this power comes a great responsibility for the press and other news medias to fulfill their obligation toward the citizens. These obligations are not set in any law but is rather a code of ethics that has evolved by the press and news medias themselves. There are no sanctions - nor should there be - if the journalists do not perform according to their part of the deal.

We - the citizens of every democratic nation on earth - have bestowed to the press and news media this tremendous power in our societies to set the agenda, to investigate, to analyze and to report freely anything and everything they wish with the sole reason to safeguard us from crimes and misdemeanors by the two (or three) other Estates and in fact everyone or everything else that may occur.

Auberon Waugh (17 November 1939 – 16 January 2001) was a British author and journalist.who once said  "Generally speaking, the best people nowadays go into journalism, the second best into business, the rubbish into politics and the shits into law.”

Although I am a lawyer myself - and even if Waugh´s statement is a gross generalization - I do believe what he said holds some truth.

So here we have this "institution" in our midst that we have granted total liberty to supervise itself and set it´s own rules of conduct and we also send them our best and brightest people. 

The question I have asked myself - and joked about in a comment on a Swedish SecondLife blog yesterday - is do the journalists deliver on their deal? Do the press and the other news media fulfill their obligations to us to the full extent of their powers? 

My answer is unequivocally: Hell no, they are not even close!

In my not so humble opinion the contemporary press - at least in Sweden - and other news media mostly are squandering and misusing their powers with sensationalism and gossip. 

The contemporary journalists hunts of "offenders" have become a public entertainment, much like the pillories of shame or the public executions once were. These hunts are rarely motivated by the offenders position or failings but rather for the sole purpose to sell more copies. 

The statement I got yesterday from a journalist (and resident of SecondLife) that "The newspapers only write ... and readers only read." is an expression of exactly what I think is the fundamental problem with today's journalism and journalists. 

I willingly admit that this is also a gross exaggeration but nonetheless it is as true as Waugh´s statement that I mentioned earlier. It's always difficult for non-journalists to criticize journalists, as difficult as it is to criticize the police force. Both professions have a sick "esprit de corps" which essentially leads to the following position among both corps, "Whatever you do or say to one of us or about our work in general is an attack on the entire profession so we all have to huddle together in self-defense". 

There is so much crap and abuse of power to investigate even in our little paradise that exposing the crap and making sure that those in power stay on the narrow road should and could be full-time work for our brilliant journalists - if only they wanted to do what they owe us. 

I am now thinking "Too long, Bock, this post is too damn long."

Bock Hits the International Press

Not the picture used by the press

My bosom buddy Apmel found this, so I am going to direct traffic to him, go look here.

The Lucia pageant, if you still remember that, well it seems it made the International Press, including a beautiful picture of yours truly in full Lucia attire and regalia!

OK, OK the article in the January 2011 issue of "Best of SecondLife Magazine" (BOSL) does mention Lucia herself also, but I am sure the reporter felt she had to do that.