Datalagringsdirektivet: Kjekt å ha!

En av konsekvensene av Stopp Datalagringsdirektivet ser ut til å være at de som støtter datalagringsdirektivet nå ser seg nødt til å komme ut i mediene og faktisk forsvare det. Sist ut er John Ståle Stamnes fra KRIPOS, som skriver i Aftenposten at politiet trenger all denne informasjonen for å fange pedofile, og .. eh, beskytte personvernet ditt.

Det er noe halvhjertet over dette. Jeg får en kjekt å ha-følelse: Jo takk, denne informasjonen skal vi nok finne en bruk for. En eller annen gang.

Og det vil de nok. Desto mer politiet vet om oss, desto lettere vil det være å forhindre og etterforske forbrytelser. Men vi betaler for det med privatliv. For noen typer informasjon er gevinsten stor og kostnaden liten. Andre ganger er gevinsten liten og kostnaden stor.

Jeg synes det å lagre hvilke IP-adresser du er i kontakt med, hvem du ringer, og hvor du var da du ringte, er en stor kostnad. Da holder det ikke med en litt nølende: Det kunne jo hende vi fakket en pedofil.

Vi gir bort personvernet vårt på mange områder, gjennom teknologivalgene vi gjør hver eneste dag. F.eks. hver gang du sender en ukryptert e-post. Det bekymrer meg. Men denne trusselen er i det minste desentralisert og kaotisk.

Det som virkelig bekymrer meg er når myndighetene ser på dette, og sier: Hm, tro om vi kunne samle og organisere alle disse dataene. Datalagringsdirektivet er et videre skritt i denne retningen.

Andrew Marr’s history of modern Britain

I’ve been enjoying Andrew Marr’s BBC documentary series about the history of 20th century Britain. First The History of Modern Britain (2007), about the second half of the century, and now the ongoing The Making of Modern Britain, about the first half.

Marr focuses on social history. He looks at how people saw the world and their place in it, and how this changed over time. He portrays the rise of mass politics, and shifting power networks. It’s not primarily about telling “what happened”, cramming as many big events as possible into the story, but about how people perceived things at the time.

The central events of the story are events that changed those perceptions, or illustrates them. I like history that allows the past to speak in its own voice, and Andrew Marr does that well here. He digs up these gems that seem to capture a mood or a turning point. Little facts and events, or just a short piece of footage, that force you to broaden your view of a period.

But he’s also opinionated, in the same evenhanded way that I liked in Rick Perlstein’s book Nixonland.

It all breaks down as he approaches the present, of course, with platitudes and odd priorities, but all history at that level does. It’s hard to understand change you’re right in the middle of. But the rest of the series gives an idea of the kind of insights historians will one day provide about our own time. I can’t wait.

40’s movies marathon – part 42

Ossessione (1943, Italy) – A hobo arrives at a café, and starts seducing the wife of the owner. He succeeds, and now there’s a fat, opera-loving husband to get rid off. Based on The Postman Always Rings Twice. Watched it all.

The More the Merrier (1943, USA) – The Odd Couple, wartime edition, with Jean Arthur as Jack Lemmon, Charles Coburn as Walter Matthau, and Washington D.C. as New York. Also starring Joel McCrea as Sir Destined-to-hook-up-with-Jean-Arthur. Not bad, but the farce gets a little too goofy. Watched: 34 minutes.

Our Enemy the Japanese (1943, USA) – It turns out that Japan isn’t awesome after all. They’re fanatical murderers, whose minds are completely alien to a Westerner. Watched it all.

Hangmen Also Die (1943, USA) – Reinhard Heydrich, a cartoonish Nazi villain, wants the Czechs to respect his authoritah. Watched: 6 minutes.

Phantom of the Opera (1943, USA) – A Romantically disfigured violinist spreads terror and music at the opera house. Not a great movie, but the music is good, and it’s not by Andrew Llllloyd Webber. Somewhat different from the original by Terry Pratchett. Watched it all. The opening credits say Fritz Leiber has a role, and throughout the movie I tried to guess who he was. Turns out he’s playing Franz Liszt as an old man, and that the Leiber in question is Leiber Sr., the actor, not his son Leiber Jr., the author. Makes sense.

Slipp skoledataene fri

Nettavisen har analysert de nasjonale prøvene og funnet ut at private skoler gjør det best i engelsk.

Det er morsomt å se leserkommentarene: Jammen, det er ikke så enkelt allikevel, fordi ..

Selvsagt er det ikke så enkelt. Det er derfor man trenger å offentliggjøre denne typen data, slik at vi kan analysere dem, og finne ut hva det er som skiller de gode skolene fra de dårlige. Hva er det de beste gjør riktig? Er dette noe resten kan etterligne?

Tilhengere av offentlig skolemonopol kan ikke både påstå at dette er den beste løsningen, og samtidig forsøke å hemmeligholde alle tall som kan brukes til å vurdere påstanden.

Selv tror jeg ikke skoler blir bedre fordi de er private. Men hvis vi skal lære oss hvordan man skal drive gode skoler – for vi er ikke akkurat der ennå – så trenger vi skoler som har frihet til å eksperimentere. Så kan vi vurdere resultatene, og de dårlige skolene kan lære av de gode.

Private skoler er en naturlig del av dette, og frihet til å velge. Men viktigst av alt er å offentliggjøre data om tilstanden på hver enkelt skole. Det virker ganske lite troverdig når noen sier: “Dette er best! Stol på oss! Men vi vil ikke fortelle deg hvordan vi vet at det er slik. Du kunne jo misforstå tallene.”

Hypotese: Offentlig skole er best. Flott, så legg ut alle tallene, og la foreldre velge fritt. Stemmer hypotesen er det ingenting å frykte.

Vis dere nå, som nybrottsmenn og ikke som nølende ekspeditører for avholdenhet

Med en fersk finanskrise forhåpentligvis mer bak oss enn foran oss, passer det godt å kikke litt nærmere på den forrige. Bankerott (1993) av Stein Imset og Gunnar Stavrum forteller historien om de villeste årene i nyere norsk bankhistorie. En periode som begynte med liberalisering og endte med milliardtap og statlig overtagelse av storbankene.

Hvert kapittel følger omtrent samme mønster: En traust regionalbank møter 80-tallets økonomiske tøvær med friskt mot. De dytter millioner i hendene på luringer med spinnville prosjekter. Problemene som så oppstår møter banken i fire stadier: 1 – gi de dårligste kundene mer penger, 2 – budsjettjuks så det ser ut som det går bra, 3 – fusjonering med andre, forhåpentligvis mer stabile banker, 4 – total kollaps og statlig inngripen.

Bank etter bank gjør de samme tabbene. Hadde dette vært en roman ville det vært kjedelig forutsigbart, og ikke helt troverdig.

Imset og Stavrum legger skylden på Willoch-regjeringen, for å ha oppmuntret til utlånseksplosjonen, og på et umodent bankvesen, som brukte sin nyvunnete frihet til å avholde historiens dyreste hjemme alene-fest.

Lærdommen er at finansielle institusjoner ikke alltid vet sitt eget økonomiske beste. Spesielt ikke når de har blitt skjermet fra virkeligheten gjennom tiår med kvelende reguleringer.

Imset og Stavrum skriver at krisen kunne vært unngått hvis aktørene hadde kjent sin bankhistorie, for den var et ekko av tidligere kriser. På samme måte er det mye her som går igjen i dagens finanskrise. Lære, denne gangen?

40’s movies marathon – part 41

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943, UK) – Follows the life of an English soldier, a veteran of the Boer war. As the decades pass, he grows more and more out of touch with his country, until, at the time of the Second World War, he’s seen as a stuffy remnant of the past. His old German friend explains why: He’s a gentleman, but “this isn’t a gentleman’s war”. There’s no room for fair play when you’re fighting for your existence. Bittersweet comedy that sees both sides: Britain has learned a lesson, and has become bolder and quicker on its feet, but it has also lost something. Watched it all.

Submarine Alert (1943, USA) – All expenses were spared: The Japanese voices are made by running the audio track backwards. Watched: 7 minutes.

Crazy House (1943, USA) – Olsen and Johnson wants to make a followup to Hellzapoppin, their nonsensical 1941 comedy. And that’s the plot of their followup, which is just as nonsensical, and pretty funny. The real star here is Cass Daley, pictured above. Watched it all.

Around the World (1943, USA) – A patriotic war musical. I hate patriotic war musicals. Watched: 6 minutes.

The Ox Bow Incident (1943, USA) – A real western, at last: A dark tale from the borderland between law and anarchy. A man is murdered, and a lynch mob is formed. It starts roaming around the countryside in the middle of the night, looking for someone to hang. Watched it all.

Who wants me to write about John Galt?

It’s fun to see the search queries people use to find your site. Here’s two from probably the same person: “”babes on broadway” publicity still spanked” and “”bright eyes(1934)” spanking“. Spanking scenes from old movies is one very specific fetish that I’m unable to cater to. Shirley Temple movies particularly so.

Then there are the automated search queries, set up by people who want to follow blog posts about a particular topic. When I review books, I often get a hit from the author’s name the next day. I actually do the same thing myself, in order to hunt down and ridicule anyone who says anything bad about me.

But here’s one that baffles me: “site:bearstrong.net “atlas shrugged”” What makes it odd is that this query has given me regular hits for over a month.

Somebody wants to be notified immediately the next time I write about Atlas Shrugged. Don’t ask me why. Fetish queries (“site:bearstrong.net “atlas shrugged” spanking“) I can understand. This, less so. It’s a bit passive aggressive. “Hey, it’s your blog and you write about whatever you want to. I just want you to know that if you ever do write about this book that I love/hate, I’ll be there immediately to read it, because that’s how much I care. But hey, you know, whatever.”

So I’ll make a deal: If whoever is doing this explains why they care, I might write a post about Ayn Rand.

Also, my deepest apologies to all Ayn Rand spanking enthusiasts I’ve now accidentally led here.

40’s movies marathon – part 40

The Fallen Sparrow (1943, USA) – A veteran of the Spanish civil war tries to solve his friend’s murder. He meets a creepy Norwegian history professor whose stories about ancient torture techniques causes memories from his own torture in a Spanish prison to resurface, slowly driving him insane. Watched it all.

War of the Wildcats (1943, USA) – Ah, the good old days, when men were assholes. Watched: 11 minutes.

The Mad Ghoul (1943, USA) – A mad scientist has invented a method whereby you can make a person undead, and then, simply by transplanting a new heart into their body, make them alive again. God knows why. Watched: 12 minutes, then fast forwarded to see the ghoul, a drowsy student.

San Demetrio, London (1943, UK) – Cheerful sailors cross the Atlantic. Watched: 10 minutes.

The Heavenly Body (1943, USA) – William Powell is an uninteresting astronomer surrounded by stupid women and stupid black subordinates. Watched: 7 minutes.

Flesh and Fantasy (1943, USA) – Moderately spooky stories, told badly. Watched: 8 minutes.

Tender Comrade (1943, USA) – Makes coming home on leave to Ginger Rogers seem dull. Watched: 6 minutes.

The Cross of Lorraine (1943, USA) – French prisoners of war are sent to a Nazi labor camp, where they’re guarded by Peter Lorre. Watched: 23 minutes.

Hello Frisco, Hello (1943, USA) – The good thing about this musical is that it isn’t about the war. Watched: 6 minutes.

The joys of being a cultural interpreter

That Fjordman post reminded me of how tempting it is to be a cultural interpreter.

A cultural interpreter is someone who explains their culture to outsiders who know little else about it. This is a powerful role to play. You can be marginal voice inside the culture, but a great authority to people outside it. You can shape the worldview of the outsiders in a way you could only dream of doing with insiders.

A language barrier makes the interpreter particularly powerful, but the barrier can also be that there’s not much information available at all, or that your audience is too lazy to check other sources.

Fjordman, the anti-Muslim version of Johan Galtung, often plays this role in his descriptions of Norway’s descent into a Muslim hellhole. So does the commenter “kritisk borger” when he explains to the readers of Gates of Vienna that “the majority in Norway believes that they are being overtaxed, by unscrupulous politicians”. Which is stupid. But who there is going to contradict him?

I’ve played this game myself, back when I had mostly foreign readers. It frightened me to realize that I could write almost anything about Norway, in an authoritative voice, and nobody would know if it was bullshit. I’ve written a lot of stupid things. I don’t want that power.

Which means: Don’t be fooled by marginal interpreters from other cultures. The reason they’re talking to you may be that you don’t know enough to tell that they’re nuts.