Freedom not Fear
Posted on | October 12, 2008 | 7 Comments
Like Josh at Milkboys and maybe 100,000 other people, I protested against extended surveillance of Internet and phone data today. More about the demonstration here.
Liberal social critic Oscar Swartz was there.
Russian police raid gay club in St. Petersburg
Posted on | September 25, 2008 | 2 Comments
As part of a murder investigation, Russian police raided the St. Petersburg gay club Central Station, reports The St. Petersburg Times. All clubbers were driven by bus to a police station to be interrogated.
It’s always hard to argue what’s necessary measures and what’s pure harrassment, if the imprisonment of a murderer is at stake. However, this witness’ report makes it easier:
They asked who is gay and who is straight. Two said they were straight and were allowed to leave.
The magazine continues:
The police were abusive and threatening, picking out people with dyed hair or piercings and using offensive, homophobic insults, the witness said. At one point they asked the group which among them were “tops” or “bottoms.”
Oh, well then. Guess they gonna catch the murderer pretty soon.
Milkyboys.net hacked!
Posted on | September 19, 2008 | No Comments
The boy blog Milkyboys.net (not to be confused with Milkboys.org) has been hacked.
Saggy jeans law ruled unconstitutional
Posted on | September 18, 2008 | 2 Comments
Last summer, a Florida teenager was arrested and had to spend a night in jail because his jeans were saggy enough to expose 10 cm of his boxers. He risked fines or jail for “indecent exposure”. Seems I’m not the only one obsessed with the in-your-face beauty of sexy skater boys…
Now a judge has decided that the law is unconstitutional, reports BBC today.
Picture from Saggers España.
Vote for Oscar!
Posted on | August 29, 2008 | 2 Comments
For the ninth year in a row, the internet magazine Politics Online will select the The Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics.
Or rather, you will select them, choosing from the 25 finalists on their site. It’s a diverse crowd, stretching from world celebrities like Barack Obama to less famous ones.
One of the less famous, at least internationally, is the Swedish economist and critical blogger Oscar Swartz. Mainly through his blog, he’s been one of the driving forces behind the “blog quake” that made the proposal and subsequent passing of a new surveillance law the most discussed political issue in a long time in Sweden. The government tried the whole summer to suppress the widespread resistance against the law, but it seems now it might be repealed, and when or if that happens, Oscar’s non-profit work will have contributed immensily.
Oscar has always been a strong defender of integrity and a critic of too much state intervention, not the least in the debate about filesharing and The Pirate Bay. He founded Sweden’s first ISP Bahnhof in 1994, which is still the only ISP in Sweden which markets it services with arguments about integrity.
Furthermore, I enjoy the privilege of being Oscar’s friend. 
« go back — keep looking »
