Bradley Manning's Post-Sentencing Statement

This statement from Bradley Manning was read after hos 35-year sentence was passed by his lawyer, David Coombs.

The decisions that I made in 2010 were made out of a concern for my country and the world that we live in. Since the tragic events of 9/11, our country has been at war. We’ve been at war with an enemy that chooses not to meet us on any traditional battlefield, and due to this fact we’ve had to alter our methods of combating the risks posed to us and our way of life. 

I initially agreed with these methods and chose to volunteer to help defend my country. It was not until I was in Iraq and reading secret military reports on a daily basis that I started to question the morality of what we were doing. It was at this time I realized in our efforts to meet this risk posed to us by the enemy, we have forgotten our humanity. We consciously elected to devalue human life both in Iraq and Afghanistan. When we engaged those that we perceived were the enemy, we sometimes killed innocent civilians. Whenever we killed innocent civilians, instead of accepting responsibility for our conduct, we elected to hide behind the veil of national security and classified information in order to avoid any public accountability. 

In our zeal to kill the enemy, we internally debated the definition of torture. We held individuals at Guantanamo for years without due process. We inexplicably turned a blind eye to torture and executions by the Iraqi government. And we stomached countless other acts in the name of our war on terror. 

Patriotism is often the cry extolled when morally questionable acts are advocated by those in power. When these cries of patriotism drown our any logically based intentions [unclear], it is usually an American soldier that is ordered to carry out some ill-conceived mission. 

Our nation has had similar dark moments for the virtues of democracy—the Trail of Tears, the Dred Scott decision, McCarthyism, the Japanese-American internment camps—to name a few. I am confident that many of our actions since 9/11 will one day be viewed in a similar light. 

As the late Howard Zinn once said, “There is not a flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.” 

I understand that my actions violated the law, and I regret if my actions hurt anyone or harmed the United States. It was never my intention to hurt anyone. I only wanted to help people. When I chose to disclose classified information, I did so out of a love for my country and a sense of duty to others. 

If you deny my request for a pardon, I will serve my time knowing that sometimes you have to pay a heavy price to live in a free society. I will gladly pay that price if it means we could have country that is truly conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all women and men are created equal.

One might wish that President Obama could put up such a principled defense for his scurrilous conduct in handing over the security of the American people to secret courts and universal surveillance.

A Thank You to Eric Sterling

Offered for the attention of those who attended Eric's recent keynote at DjangoCon and, most especially for Eric himself. I still remember the talk and the panel session he took the time to contribute to fondly, and I particularly enjoyed the unique flavor he added to the lunch he attended.

The Future Has Arrived

So, after a very nice lunch I am sitting here typing this blog post on my MacBook Air (a device well beyond the limits of the imaginations of most of the science fiction writers of my youth) using a device which I invented three years ago, as I imagine did many other switched-on technologists.

Fortunately unlike most of us Novatel wireless went a bit further and actually built what Verizon are marketing as the "MiFi". It's a device about the size of a credit card and maybe just over a quarter of an inch thick incorporating a cellular broadband wireless router and an 802.11b/g wireless interface.

So to get Internet-connected all I have to do is switch it on (the only control is an on/off switch) and my laptop associates with it and is immediately connected to the 'Net. Not only that but the connection can be shared by up to five wireless devices, so my lucky pals will also be able to take advantage of the connectivity.

As far as I can see the MiFi is a sensible little device that is destined to become the preferred way of accessing the Internet. I hope that coupled with solar chargers it might also help African and other less-developed nations to build a viable Internet infrastructure (not that this will necessarily be their most urgent need).

Quite where this leaves the plans to enforce an Internet ban on copyright offenders in the various jurisdictions of the world I have no real idea. Technology sometimes makes fools of those who would control it, and it is only a matter of time before the MiFi or something similar is available as a "pay as you go" service to all comers.

Equal-opportunity (network neutrality) is an excellent ideal. The problem is with those who would abuse their power to change the laws unfairly to their own advantage, and those who stand idly by as their rights are eroded. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2011. Celebrate the new year by joining the EFF or at least making a donation!

What Do We Tell the Government?

This coming Thursday I am speaking at GOSCON, a conference organized with the specific intentions of informing governmental IT users about open source. Most of the speakers will be from the government side if the last such event I attended is typical, so I am giving a talk called No Free Lunch. The idea is to suggest ways that government can maximize the benefits of using open source, and provide open source teams with resources that will enable us to increase production, so this isn't just a talk for the Python Software Foundation - I want to represent a wider community if I can.

Twitter friends have already provided some useful ideas, but I will be happy to weave more in there if you can provide them. So, what would you like to see government (which in this context is principally the executive branch, but I am happy to include points for the legislative and judicial branches if you have them) doing for open source?

Pony Outlook Fine, Say Wu and Holden

There's been some reportage about the presence of Congressman David Wu at DjangoCon this year (to which the most I could do yesterday was briefly allude). After my Labor Day post I think I can safely say that Chairman Wu's presence was reassuring to the many at DjangoCon who might have been seriously inconvenienced by the pony shortage, which has been discussed in panels at the conference.

Of course it would have been terribly unfair to the Congressman to have asked public questions, and as he is in a busy campaign I know you would not have wanted me to delay him in your name. After a breakfast meeting this morning I am happy to be able to tell you, though, that his staff have convinced me there really is no sign of a pony shortage (and I doubt many reading this will have bought more ponies than I of late). In fact, had I known that I could have procured the ponies locally (Oregon price: 50c less than manufacturer's) I might have saved the cost of carriage, too. Next time I'll just call the store in advance.

If further reassurance is needed, I would like to note that after a third meeting with Congressman Wu I am happy to endorse him as a two-pony family man. Those ponies will be in safe hands, and the people of the First District of Oregon would be ably represented by a Congressman of such integrity.

Open Source and Politics Mix

Kirby Urner has written this great summary of the events of late Wednesday (DjangoCon time).

Technology for Keeping People Honest?

Simon Willison and his team at the Guardian in the UK have brought a dream a step nearer to becoming true for me with his new Investigate Your MP's Expenses site. After looking at government profligacy in the USA I decided the only thing to do was to open up public accounts to public scrutiny.

Simon's site (quite independently conceived) is a practical demonstration of the idea's feasibility on a large scale. All we need now is a sponsor with deep pockets and an interface to Mechanical Turk. The next election is going to be interesting.

On the Take?

While we're at it, what about politicians like Tom Daschle, who now says he's "deeply embarrassed and disappointed" about his failure to pay more than $120,000 in taxes. Seems to me that being a senator should be a full-time job or, if not actually full-time, it should keep you busy enough to preclude your earning $5.2 million advising people in the industries the government is supposed to be regulating. [UPDATE: Daschle earned this money after standing down as a senator].

I believe Daschle is Obama's poorest pick yet, and this choice of nomination for the head of Health and Human Services seriously threatens to undermine Obama's credibility. Even ignoring the fact that the guy might (or might not) be a tax cheat ("What, you want me to join the cabinet? Damn, I'd better undo a few lies") Daschle owes the health services industry a lot, and he's unlikely to turn and bite the hand that's fed him once he joins the cabinet.

So think again, President Obama and the Senate Finance Committee. This is one nomination that shouldn't be confirmed. Let Senator Daschle retire on his nest-egg and let's see whether we can't actually give the Office of Government Ethics some teeth. Or maybe $5.2 million isn't enough ...

Religion is not Python

About six months ago I made a post called Python is not a Religion, discussing some aspects Python advocacy in response to some comments by Doug Napoleone. About two weeks ago I see a new comment (by Jonathan) appear against that piece:

I noticed that your Blogger profile says "Catholic tastes" for your favorite music. Are you a Catholic, and would you be interested in joining the recently formed Association of Catholic Computer Programmers?

Firstly, I should like to point out that I am not a member of any church. I have no interest at all in worshipping anybody else's imaginary friend, though I try (with varying degrees of success) not to make too much fun of other people's delusional belief systems. I have my own to maintain. In this case I am going to make an exception. Without my really knowing why, this particular comment got right up my nose. I suppose, now I think about it, it's the shallowness of understanding that led the person to post the comment. Google has a lot to answer for.

Secondly, the word "catholic" in my profile is specifically used in the sense of "free from provincial prejudices or attachments", but apparently some Catholics don't appreciate that the name of their church has a broader (and far less exclusionary) meaning, dating back to the days when you were Catholic or you were on the rack, buddy. The Catholic church is so named because it was originally the "general or universal" Christian sect. Of course Henry the Eighth laid waste to that when he started the Church of England, and as far as I can see the Christian faith has more branches than the average oak tree. Whatever.

The Association of Catholic Computer Programmers (Catholics interested in software engineering best practices) appears to be a little schizoid. Are they a social network, a religious institution, or a movement? Some of the discussions are interesting, with comments like "I think we should start a project to benefit a charity of our choosing and put our collective talents as Catholic SEs to good use", which makes me wonder what skills Catholic software engineers have that I don't.

The same guy who started ACCP has started "a pro-life network", though apparently it have only four nodes so far. There's a pretty badge people can use "to identify themselves as being pro-life". Well, of course I am pro-life. Without life I'd be nowhere, and you wouldn't be reading this drivel now. In fact I find it difficult to understand how any living being can be anti-life, with the exception of the dysfunctional. But of course there's a hidden semantic trap there: the opposite of pro-life isn't really anti-life at all, it's "murderer".

The most revelaing thing of all to me is that neither the ACCP nor the above-mentioned network are prepared to do what enabled the commenter to make his or her comment in the first place. They require sign-up to make any sort of input to their site, while my blog allows anonymous comments from anyone (though as a spam reduction measure they aren't immediately posted). So the Catholic Programmers aren't at all catholic in their approach to discussion.

I know a lot of good Christians, but I don't want to join that club. Sorry. I suppose Jonathan can only hope there's no such thing as bad publicity.

Shameful Day in American History

So, it's official. Corporations are above the law, individual freedom should be subservient to corporate profits and if the president tells you to break the law well you can just go ahead and break it. The revolution moves a little nearer.

Help Shoot Down New Telco Immunity Threat

From the Electronic Frontier Foundation [italics added here]

ACTION ALERT: THE SHAM TELECOM IMMUNITY "COMPROMISE" IS LURKING IN THE WINGS, awaiting the signal for showtime. Though some members of Congress are guilty of selling the [rumored] bill's telecom immunity provision as a "compromise," there is still time to expose the telecom immunity proposal as a sham and to halt the bill before its too late. Already, some Congressional leaders have expressed concerns, and other influential members have expressed resistance to the scheme. Please join in and make your voice heard to all the members of Congress -- no false compromises for lawbreaking telecoms!
http://www.eff.org/action/no-false-compromises

I fully expect to see some shameful special-interest pandering by the exiting Bush administration as it breathes its weary last. Corporate America must learn to be responsible for its actions, even when it has broken the law at the President's request. Otherwise it will make foreign nations much more reluctant to house American enterprises. I seem to remember a time when "I was just obeying orders" wasn't accepted as an excuse for any kind of wrongdoing.

Impeach?

I mostly keep politics (except perhaps the politic of open source) out of this blog, so if you aren't interested you won't want to follow this link. I'm not sure why I got so fired up about this today, specifically, except that the day's news has been full of politics. But when wasn't it, lately?

Damn Those AdWords!

OK, this is a guilt trip. You have been warned.

One of the things about being an AdWords user is that you realize the cost of a click-through.

So just now, trying to find out exactly how far the proposed $102,000,000,000 (that's an obscene waste of taxpayer dollars) spend on the Iraq war would go towards making sure everyone in the world had potable water to drink, I clicked on a sponsored link. As soon as the page came up I realized that I had just cost these people money.

So, I could have sent them a couple of bucks to salve my conscience. Instead I decided I would give them something scarcer, so I am taking a few minutes of my time to ask you to visit their Web site, and understand (or at least struggle to understand) why one sixth of the world's population is unable to take clean drinking water for granted, and think about what that must be like for them. I figure that if only ten of you click the link then I have probably contributed the equivalent of at least $10. If you bother to post a comment here saying you have clicked, I will also send PlayPumps $6 per person, thereby providing someone with clean water for ten years—I doubt I have so many readers, but prudence cautions me to limit the total to $480.

Then go to my other blog and look at the mounting cost of the Iraqi suppression at the top right hand corner. If the USA spent one-tenth as much providing drinking water to the world as it does spilling blood it would be hailed as a benefactor, and welcomed throughout international society. Wouldn't it be nice to have a few other countries on our side for a change? How about a "coalition of the grateful"?

How come lame duck presidents never seem to grapple with this as they piss away their few remaining months in power? God forbid it should get in the way of the plans for yet another self-congratulatory presidential library. Don't they realize these kids will be programming in Python once they get their OLPCs?

[Final update, April 7: Not as ruinous as feared, but I have
just send PlayPumps a check for $120. Thanks for participating! Steve]

Bruce Perens Needs Your Help

A co-founder of the Open Source Initiative, Bruce Perens is now concerned that the body is becoming increasingly dominated by vendor representatives who do not necessarily have the interests of the open source community at heart.

You can read about why he feels this is necessary on his campaign page. I would suggest that perhaps a change in bylaws is also required, since it appears from Article V Section 5 that the Board of the OSI is, or has the potential to become, a self-perpetuating cadre with no outside accountability. I can't help feeling that's a little unhealthy.

Please visit Bruce's Web site and support him in his campaign to keep Open Source open!

Back to the Drawing Board for OOXML?

Even some pretty shady manipulation of the various national committees doesn't appear to have helped Microsoft much in their bid to get OOXML, the proprietary format describing Office documents, declared an international standard. The ISO/EIC Ballot Resolution Meeting in Geneva has ended with what can at best be considered an inconclusive result, with only eight of the 'P' countries and ten countries altogether registering any kind of vote on the main matter put to them.

The real problem here is Microsoft's attempt, with the assistance of ECMA, to put the standard through the fast track process; that was clearly not appropriate for a standard of such complexity and political significance. There were over 1,100 dispositions to be decided at the meeting, and only 20 substantive dispositions received any measure of individual attention.

The meeting's convenor attempted to reach a conclusion by bundling together 900 dispositions that had not been discussed and asking the delegations to vote on each without discussion. Unfortunately this led to over 80% of the delegations either refusing to register a vote or abstaining on all dispositions.

The real problem is that rather than being a standard driven by the requirement to describe structured documents of all types, OOXML is simply an XML-based description of an existing proprietary format.If Microsoft truly want to embrace standardization they should now get behind the Open Office ODF format and support it with all the weight they can. This seems unlikely given their prior position on ODF support, which can at best be described as half-hearted. They apparently have a lot of work to do to make OOXML acceptable.

Technically there is now a 30-day period in which the ISO/IEC members can vote to approve the adoption of OOXML. I doubt even Microsoft has sufficient clout to persuade them that this travesty or a process represents a satisfactory basis on which to build an international standard.

EU Slam Microsoft with Further Fine

The saga continues. The European Commission have fought Microsoft to ensure that, in Europe at least, they have to play by the rules rather than making them up as they go along. Unlike the US government (which not only refused to declare them a monopoly despite their domination of the desktop but also failed to properly enforce the rather tame sanctions they imposed), the EU has repeatedly told Microsoft to stop behaving in an anti-competitive way.

The latest action, in which the Commission sued Microsoft for failing to comply with previous antitrust decisions, has resulted in a €899 m ($1.35bn) fine. Though it has only led to a 12c drop in the stock this represents about a tenth of Microsoft's annual profits, and may finally give the company reason to think seriously about complying with court rulings rather than ignoring them.

This is the first time in 50 years that such action has been taken by the EU, because every other company losing such an action chose to comply with the spirit and the letter of the decisions.

Microsoft faces further trouble with the EU, which recently started a new investigation into Microsoft business practices relating to their dominance in the word processing and spreadsheet arenas, and to determine whether the company unfairly tied Internet Explorer to Windows. The recent announcement about API sharing will also come under scutiny, and the European Competition Commissioner, Neelie Kroes, observed it's the fifth time that Microsoft has made an announcement about improving interoperability. She said "Talk is cheap. Let's wait and let's find the reality in this case. They have to deliver and implement."

Senate Says Corporations Can Ignore the Law

[UPDATE: see this Salon.com article for a great summary of the position].

For a good while now there has been a political campaign to provide immunity to telecommunication companies that supported President Bush's illegal surveillance of US citizens. This appears to mean that "I was just obeying orders" is about to become a valid legal defense in the USA, and that corporate managers need take no account of the law when the executive branch asks them to take actions without any support from legislation and in clear defiance of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The House passed a surveillance bill in November 2007 that leaves the companies that assisted the CIA's spying mission responsible for their actions. Yesterday the Senate passed a similar bill, but one that would grant the telcos retrospective immunity for their lawbreaking.

The President has lost touch with reality to the extent that he appears to believe that he is above the law, and he now proposes to put the corporations that spied on their customers in the same happy position. Anyone who supports these actions needs to think really carefully: the founders of the Constitution established clear limits to Presidential authority, and if nobody takes the trouble to convince Bush and Cheney that they are mistaken it will be a bad day for us all.

I'd like to see them impeached: if a stupid sexual peccadillo was sufficient to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton's behavior, how much more appropriate is it to do so when a president takes the country into a bogus war on the basis of manufactured intelligence and spies on his fellow countrymen? This is a chance for the American people to show the rest of the world that the rule of law really does mean something in the USA.

This affects us all as technologists: we may be asked to take part in the spying next time (if we weren't this time), and soon there may be nothing to stop us from being thrown into prison merely for failing to comply. This represents the first step onto a very slippery slope indeed, and we need to help ensure that corporations and the executive remain subject to the rule of law. It isn't a party political matter. It's about standing together and taking action when the law which is supposed to protect us all is threatened.

RESTORE Act - Reject Telco Immunity

We disenfranchised immigrants don't even get to vote for our congressman. If you have a congressman's ear I would encourage you to ask them not to vote for telco immunity provisions should they appear in this bill. The Electronic Frontier Foundation have provided a succinct summary of the issues which I commend to your attention. Basically it would be an attempt to write retroactive immunity for criminal behavior.

Subversive Activities

I have supported the EFF with everything except money since they opened for business, and they deserve wider support than they receive, since they are fighting to define important constitutional rights (even for us disenfranchised immigrants) in the USA. Time I gave then some money.

I also bought a GNU T-shirt back in 1980-something to support development of Emacs and the the FSF. So sue me.

Refactoring for Journalism

Strange journalistic synchronicity.

Today the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) notified their contacts of a telco lobby to the administration to evade legal liability for possible anti-constitutional crimes. I wanted to blog about it in my Yorkshireman in America blog, and sought editorial scrutiny from the Foundation. Their Danny O'Brien replied:

Looks fine! Perhaps worth adding that Congress still has a chance to show some spine, and that you can call Pelosi or Reid to demand they stand up to the lobbyists.

So I did. Look at me, Ma, I'm a journalist :-)

All this success on the same day I learn that the first issue of the new Python Magazine is going to be electronic and free (as in beer, at least - the editor will have to speak to the rest). Look for the news on holdenweb.com - if I can get that blasted del.icio.us summary program working again ... but anyway I have some sort of an end-piece in it (which I wrote so long ago I am unsure of its subject, let alone its gist).