Random stuff 7:
1) It's been such a long time of me being quiet here, so I figured I might as well make a random post.
Bonus points for being an instant pick-me-up.
2) Conclusion drawn from having lived about six months in student apartment building: Student apartment buildings are in greater need of sound isolation than most other apartment buildings. (Or just less tenants that play retarded beats the drunker (and thus more deaf) they get.)
3) You know how there are some things you're really familiar with, due to geographical convinience or cultural upbringing, that you assume is familiar for everyone else, and then find out that it's specific to one particular demographic group you belong to? Like how some Americans think that Sunday is the first day of the week in every country, or how I assumed that every country has some use of cardamom and/or nib sugar when baking.
Of all things to add to that list of assumed-global-actually-local:
Rape definition.
What the hell? What the fucking hell, man?
According to this article Sweden has much stricter definition of criminal rape than other countries. Even to the point where get this:
"While unprotected sex cannot in itself be interpreted as rape in Sweden, sexual intercourse with a person who is asleep is considered nonconsensual."
lolwhut?
Wouldn't that imply that in other countries, sexual intercourse with someone who is asleep might not be considered nonconsensual? And Assange's constant defense that it was a dispute over "consensual but unprotected sex" does give me the general idea that he had unprotected sex with someone who did not consent to unprotected sex, and yeah to me that sounds like rape! Because rape = nonconsensual sex, and if one partner does not consent to unprotected sex, having unprotected sex with them would be, you guessed it, RAPE!!
In fact, refusing protection specifically, sounds really skeezy to me. If not rape, than baby-trapping and/or disease-spreading, neither of which are in any way a "not bad" thing to do.
Now, I don't give two shits about this. I really don't. I'm interested in news about wikileaks, I'm interested in news about actually putting a rapist away from the street. But this? This whole scandal? This is about some jerk that cares more about his personal image than he does about the image of the cause he is known to support with heart and soul, the cause he started. If he were extracted to Sweden, something he seems prepared to fight to the bitter end, he would be safer from American courts than he is in Britain. Sure, Sweden has sucked up a lot to America in the past years, but our laws are still more liberal and stricter on the freedom of press. (Members of the Swedish government are for instance forbidden to have official statements regarding our news reporting, regardless of publisher, due to constitutional law. Something I know thanks to the Aftonbladet-scandal the other year.) Britain is generally considered America's closest ally, and doesn't have quite as liberal laws.
My point: His fighting extradiction to Sweden does not help against America's courts, and if the rape allegations are purely political in motivation, his current position aids said politics.
In other words: I'm a little tired of the martyre treatment he's getting over this. I don't give a shit what happens to that man. The only important news these days, is that every high power person that ever used the phrase "those with clean conscience has nothing to hide" to defend increased surveillance of civilians, gets to eat those words up with a helping of irony. Whether for or against wikileaks, that seems to be the most important thing here, to me at any rate.
4) I also wanted to just say that lately, I've been a bit overstressed. Some times it just feels like there's too much going on around me, and too much I have to do, and too little time or strength to deal with any of it. It's feeling a bit better today, as I have looked over my priorities a little better.
5) Now go back to the youtube-clip on top and look at the laughing baby again. Best stress relief ever!
Click to viewBonus points for being an instant pick-me-up.
2) Conclusion drawn from having lived about six months in student apartment building: Student apartment buildings are in greater need of sound isolation than most other apartment buildings. (Or just less tenants that play retarded beats the drunker (and thus more deaf) they get.)
3) You know how there are some things you're really familiar with, due to geographical convinience or cultural upbringing, that you assume is familiar for everyone else, and then find out that it's specific to one particular demographic group you belong to? Like how some Americans think that Sunday is the first day of the week in every country, or how I assumed that every country has some use of cardamom and/or nib sugar when baking.
Of all things to add to that list of assumed-global-actually-local:
Rape definition.
What the hell? What the fucking hell, man?
According to this article Sweden has much stricter definition of criminal rape than other countries. Even to the point where get this:
"While unprotected sex cannot in itself be interpreted as rape in Sweden, sexual intercourse with a person who is asleep is considered nonconsensual."
lolwhut?
Wouldn't that imply that in other countries, sexual intercourse with someone who is asleep might not be considered nonconsensual? And Assange's constant defense that it was a dispute over "consensual but unprotected sex" does give me the general idea that he had unprotected sex with someone who did not consent to unprotected sex, and yeah to me that sounds like rape! Because rape = nonconsensual sex, and if one partner does not consent to unprotected sex, having unprotected sex with them would be, you guessed it, RAPE!!
In fact, refusing protection specifically, sounds really skeezy to me. If not rape, than baby-trapping and/or disease-spreading, neither of which are in any way a "not bad" thing to do.
Now, I don't give two shits about this. I really don't. I'm interested in news about wikileaks, I'm interested in news about actually putting a rapist away from the street. But this? This whole scandal? This is about some jerk that cares more about his personal image than he does about the image of the cause he is known to support with heart and soul, the cause he started. If he were extracted to Sweden, something he seems prepared to fight to the bitter end, he would be safer from American courts than he is in Britain. Sure, Sweden has sucked up a lot to America in the past years, but our laws are still more liberal and stricter on the freedom of press. (Members of the Swedish government are for instance forbidden to have official statements regarding our news reporting, regardless of publisher, due to constitutional law. Something I know thanks to the Aftonbladet-scandal the other year.) Britain is generally considered America's closest ally, and doesn't have quite as liberal laws.
My point: His fighting extradiction to Sweden does not help against America's courts, and if the rape allegations are purely political in motivation, his current position aids said politics.
In other words: I'm a little tired of the martyre treatment he's getting over this. I don't give a shit what happens to that man. The only important news these days, is that every high power person that ever used the phrase "those with clean conscience has nothing to hide" to defend increased surveillance of civilians, gets to eat those words up with a helping of irony. Whether for or against wikileaks, that seems to be the most important thing here, to me at any rate.
4) I also wanted to just say that lately, I've been a bit overstressed. Some times it just feels like there's too much going on around me, and too much I have to do, and too little time or strength to deal with any of it. It's feeling a bit better today, as I have looked over my priorities a little better.
5) Now go back to the youtube-clip on top and look at the laughing baby again. Best stress relief ever!