Privacy, what's it good for?

A new international ranking of privacy protections. Britain is the "worst in Europe":

Britain, the country with the world's biggest network of surveillance cameras, has the worst record in Europe for the protection of privacy, according to a report from a London-based international watchdog. The UK is billed as "an endemic surveillance society" alongside Russia, the US, Singapore and China in the survey of 47 countries by Privacy International (PI).

No surprise there. On the other hand, not to crow about this too much:

Canada heads the international table, with Argentina, Iceland and Switzerland close behind.

This might help to explain why I care so strongly about the subject. I guess I just grew up in a place where the government and police mostly stayed out of our lives, and that seems 'normal' to me. Here, everything I do is recorded and likely analyzed, even though it's just boring everyday crud. Makes you feel like a suspect, it does. It's always in the back of my mind, and as a result I always make a subconscious effort to do little things like paying in cash, and leaving blank spaces in paperwork when I think it's none of their business. I just assume that any information I allow companies and the government to gather about me will be misused. All the same, they announced just last week that they'd lost some of my personal information.

[ I took the driving theory test between the dates in question ]

Corporate leadership and the giant sucking sound

By the way, more about that song: Air Canada commissioned it as its new theme song for its 'relaunch' three years ago.

I'm currently experiencing redundancy (a.k.a. layoff) for the first time, as a result of some corporate cost-cutting cleverness. They're closing our whole office, which is one of the most productive development centres in one of the fastest-growing business segments.

Sales of software are down, you see, but not for any obvious reason. A good executive might ask himself why. Is there some change in the economy? Perhaps we're not making the right kind of software? Perhaps the sales or marketing departments need to rethink something? Fire some executives? Fire some sales and marketing guys?

Solution: Fire the developers, 'cause they cost a lot (and of course, many more will quit, as being one of the remaining developers continues its downward spiral of sucking). The point is, it'll help the bottom line, and the stock price next quarter, and that's what really matters according to our CEO in a recent conference call. So what happens in a year or two, when the software product falls behind the competition, because the company has lost its best and most experienced developers? What happens when sales start to drop for a good reason? Gun. Foot. Open fire. Trust me, by then Mr. CEO will already have bailed out with the help of his golden parachute.

Segue back to Air Canada, Celine Dion, and the sound of sucking. Imagine you're the CEO, and other airlines are eating your lunch. Canadians nickname you 'MapleFlot' because your service stinks. Other airlines are cheaper and better, and customers love them. Your airline has just managed to scrape itself out of bankruptcy by cost-cutting staff salaries, among other things. So what do you do next? Obviously you repaint your planes and pay Celine Dion millions of dollars ($20 million, I heard) to sing for a marketing campaign. For added impact, force the passengers to watch the video when they're on the plane. This is bound to help.

Even sporting lipstick, it's still a pig.

I didn't go to business school, but why not try making a better product?

What we need is a little justice

CIA destroyed interrogation tapes:

The New York Times, which broke the story, quotes current and former government officials as saying the CIA destroyed the tapes in 2005 as it faced Congressional and legal scrutiny about its secret detention program.

Officials feared the tapes could have raised doubts about the legality of the CIA's techniques, the newspaper says.

Well of course they did. And we are expected to believe that the government "lost" the interrogation video of Jose Padilla, too. No one likes a war crimes trial.

America's honour will be restored when they a) stop torturing; and b) put those responsible on trial -- and I don't mean the individuals who carried it out, a la Abu Ghraib. The men responsible for the policies need to explain themselves to a jury.

Nothing less will make it right. I'm not holding my breath.

I'll show you a big head, Todd

News from the Clinton campaign:

in recent days the Clinton presidential campaign's "official" song -- You And I sung by the Canadian diva [Celine] Dion -- has been replaced at campaign events by Blue Sky, from the Colorado-based band Big Head Todd and the Monsters.

Well, at least they stuck with a big head theme.

The policeman's balls

It takes some cojones and not a little hypocrisy for a man like this to go blazing around country roads in his Audi:

One of Britain's most senior policemen was yesterday banned from driving after pleading guilty to speeding at 90mph. Meredydd Hughes, the former chairman of roads policing at the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), was caught on a speed camera exceeding the 60mph limit on the A5 near Wrexham, north Wales, in May.

I mean, one doesn't want to enjoy this too much; even off-duty policemen get caught speeding. Speed cameras in Britain are supposed to be conspicuous, to deter speeders (as opposed to just catching people out and/or being obvious money spinners). Never mind for the moment that the camera that got me was hidden behind an overpass at the time (since moved in front of the overpass). However, this man wants hidden speed cameras. To make more money, err, to catch more people out, umm... "slow down traffic":

As Acpo's chairman of roads policing, Hughes argued in favour of “less conspicuous” speed cameras as a way of slowing down traffic.

In that case, up yours buddy. Enjoy the bus.

When your American friends are bullies

AMERICA has told Britain that it can “kidnap” British citizens if they are wanted for crimes in the United States.

A senior lawyer for the American government has told the Court of Appeal in London that kidnapping foreign citizens is permissible under American law because the US Supreme Court has sanctioned it.

Presumably the US won't make much of a fuss then, if a foreign country abducts Americans from the States. For example, Americans who name their teddy bears Mohammad, could be kidnapped and taken back to Iran or Saudi Arabia for trial, yes?

No? This wouldn't be the umpteenth example of American exceptionalism, would it?

When people like Karen Hughes try to tackle the problem of America's negative image abroad, it's an uphill struggle. No wonder she's giving up. Because, spin it all you want -- it's the substance of America's behaviour in the world that stinks. A good starting point might be showing respect for other countries' sovereignty, just as America expects for its own.