Christopher Hitchens, one of my heroes, is dying. Everybody is dying, but for Hitchens “the process has suddenly accelerated”.

He’s been diagnosed with a particularly ferocious form of throat cancer and is currently undergoing chemotherapy. Yet he still continues to write, and even found time to do a video interview with The Atlantic:

Hitchens is not shy about his cancer, choosing not to retire in to obscurity to wage his war against the disease but to fight it openly and in plain sight, for all to see.

For this I admire the man even more than I already did. He has always been a public figure, and the fact that he’s not letting a little thing like cancer get in the way of that says volumes about his strength and determination.

I enjoy reading books. I buy new books nearly every week, and at any given moment I have anywhere up to five different books on my bedside locker in various stages of reading.

I have a preference for certain types of books. Science fiction, specifically. One of my favourite SF authors has always been Dan Simmons. His 4-part Hyperion saga is one of the finest works of SF to date.

Recently I picked up a copy of the 20th anniversary edition of Carrion Comfort, Dan Simmons’ horror masterpiece about mind vampires. Yet after reading the new introduction Simmons wrote for it, I’m loathe to continue reading it.

You see, the introduction reminded me of the fact that Mr Simmons is actually not a particularly nice man. For starters in the introduction Simmons is guilty of a certain type of barely veiled chest-thumping that doesn’t sit well with me. I’m no fan of false modesty, but some of the phrasings in that introduction felt a little too much like arrogance and conceit.

Additionally, it reminded me of why I stopped visiting his official website years ago. One glance at the forum’s “Hot Button” category quickly reveals a certain type of right-wing nutcasery usually associated with the worst excesses of Fox News, ranging from revisionist Iraq-invasion apologetics to climate change denialism and raving anti-socialised healthcare madness.

Mr Simmons himself is an eager participant in this orgy of Glenn Beck-style paranoia and douchebaggery, especially when it comes to the topic of Islam. He’s the exact opposite of anti-Semitic - he’s plainly Islamophobic.

Now I have my own issues with Islam, primarily on civil liberties, women’s rights, and freedom of speech. But the vileness of the particular brand of Islamophobia rampant on those dansimmons.com forums is nauseating to behold, as it’s rooted purely in ignorance and hatred.

So my challenge now lies in separating the books from the author. So far I’ve received great satisfaction from reading Dan Simmons’ books, but I can’t deny that his political opinions are what I’d consider horrendously hateful and misinformed. I’m afraid my continued enjoyment of his works relies on my ability to forget about the author when I’m reading the book.

Since I moved to Northern Ireland I’ve tried to make this wee country my new home. I’ve gotten to know many new people, I’ve read up on local politics and culture, and have tried to understand the country’s national identity.

The latter, however, is something I’ve failed horribly at. Not only that, I’ve become increasingly frustrated with what seems to be an utterly schizophrenic sense of nationality that reigns not only within Northern Ireland, but the UK as a whole.

First some basic background on which is which, as many people outside of the UK get confused (actually, a lot of people inside the UK get confused too):

The UK refers to the “Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”. Great Britain, in turn, is divided in to three countries: England, Wales, and Scotland. You can read a great illustrated explanation of the whole structure here: the difference between the UK and Great Britain.

Adding to this, different names are applied to different collections of the 4 countries that make up the UK. There’s a superb diagram on Wikipedia that tries to explain the whole complicated nomenclature in one glance: British Isles terminology.

Then, when it comes to sports, things start to get ugly. In football, all four countries of the UK have a separate national team: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. In rugby, however, there is no Northern Irish team - instead they play as part of the Ireland national rugby team.

In the Olympics, there is a ‘Team GB’, which if the name was accurate would mean it includes only athletes from England, Scotland, and Wales. But, wait a minute, there are Northern Irish athletes in Team GB as well, so it should actually be called Team UK.

It gets worse when you look at national anthems. When Wales and Scotland compete in a sport, their own national anthems are played. When England competes, however, it’s not the English national anthem that gets played but the anthem for the whole of the UK (”God Save The Queen”). Apparently England has no anthem of its own, so it opts to use the UK’s anthem. But this doesn’t always sit well with the Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish, as England doesn’t represent the whole of the UK so it shouldn’t necessarily be allowed to use the UK anthem.

The Northern Irish situation regarding national anthems isn’t straightforward either. In rugby for example, depending on where the match is being played you’re likely to hear at least two different national anthems for the Ireland team. And in football Northern Ireland often uses the UK’s national anthem, except in the Commonwealth Games, where Northern Ireland uses a different anthem (”Londonderry Air”).

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales each have different bones to pick with the English when it comes to the appropriation of the UK’s national identity - each country, to varying extents, wishing to be seen as separate but also as part of a greater whole. Referring to the UK as ‘England’, that consistent error foreigners make (myself included before I moved), doesn’t help.

The somewhat nauseating focus of British politics and media on England tends to make matters worse. It often seems as if the English have forgotten that the UK is more than just England, something which is an endless source of ire for the Scottish, Welsh, and (Northern) Irish.

So I’ve decided to give up on the whole national identity thing. There are limits to what I’m willing to endure for the sake of integration. I’ve come to realise that it’s much easier for all involved if I’ll just stay totally and irrevocably Dutch. I may even enhance my Dutch accent.

Zo dere joo haf it. Ai em a dutsjman in nortern airlant.

Remember about a year ago when I declared my support for Geert Wilders?

I still stand by most of what I said then - free speech is under threat and we need to oppose censorship in all its forms.

But I will not be voting for the party of Mr. Wilders, the PVV. You see, I’ve read their election programme, their ‘manifesto’ if you will.

And it’s stuffed full of rather, well, silly ideas. No, scratch that, ’silly’ doesn’t quite cover it. It’s stuffed full of plain stupid ideas.

Some of their ideas are even downright dangerous, direct threats to the freedom of Dutch citizens (which is ironic for a movement that calls itself the Freedom Party), such as preventative personal inspections and ethnic registrations.

And some of their ideas I just principally oppose, such as the PVV’s intention to repeal the smoking ban, their general anti-EU attitude, and their support of Christian and Jewish education - but not Islamic education. Is that distinction even legal? If you allow some religions but not others, isn’t that a classic example of religious discrimination - something that is outlawed in our constitution?

The PVV doesn’t seem to be in favour of free speech either, which is doubly ironic. They want to severely cut back spending on state media (the only source of genuinely independent news without any commercial incentives to bias their reporting). Additionally the PVV seems to think that everyone is not equal. If you’re white and speak Dutch you’re somehow a better person. And that, simply stated, is fucking bullshit.

I know what you’re thinking: “Barry, you should have known that was coming!” Yes, I should have. I was blinded by my own ferocious opinions on free speech, and I thought the PVV were fighting the good fight.

But they’re not. They’re probably the most anti-free-speech party in the whole country. They’re anti-freedom and anti-equality. They are, as I now realise, a truly dangerous political movement.

I was wrong. Fortunately I realised this before the election in June. Looks like it’s going to be another left-wing vote for me after all.

P.S. Before you vote, read the election programmes of the parties you’re considering. Please. Understand what you’re voting for. There’s no excuse for ignorance.

Now that the Dutch cabinet has fallen and new elections are on the horizon, Dutch digital rights organisation Bits of Freedom has started a Digital Rights 2010 campaign to create awareness among political parties of the issues of internet freedoms.

As any regular reader of this blog knows I’m a fierce advocate of digital freedom, firmly believing in the ideal of an open, free, and unregulated Internet.

Nefarious closed-door treaties like ACTA are threatening to destroy everything that made the Internet so successful.

Now more than ever we need political strength and vision to oppose corporate forces. Media corporations, focused single-mindedly on profit and profit alone, will always choose greed over freedom, lawsuits over expression, and censorship over innovation.

So I would urge you all to support Bits of Freedom. Put the banner on your site, spread the word via Twitter/Hyves/Facebook, and spam your political party of choice with questions about their stance on digital rights.

The next Dutch government may last the full 4 years - an eternity on the Internet. If we get it wrong this time, we might have missed the opportunity entirely. In 4 years’ time the corporate lobbyists may have succeeded in pushing their greed-inspired agenda, and the open & innovative nature of the Internet may be destroyed for good.

But only if we let them.

Once more I am ashamed to be Dutch.

The Dutch cabinet has fallen over the Iraq issue. The left-wing PVDA has chosen the fleeting comfort of public opinion and opposes an extended mission for Dutch troops in Afghanistan.

The result is that at the end of the current mission in August all Dutch troops will withdraw from the Uruzgan province.

This is a Very Bad Thing. I could try to explain why, but this NY Times opinion piece does a much better job. An excerpt:

“The war in Afghanistan is not just about America’s security. It, too, is about denying sanctuaries to Al Qaeda, which has also carried out deadly terrorist attacks in Europe. NATO is stronger when it stands together. The Netherlands weakens itself and all of its allies by choosing to stand alone.”

The irony is that the PVV, the party of Geert Wilders, also opposes the Dutch presence in Afghanistan. This is stupendously ignorant of them.

Wilders keeps on pointing out the dangers of Islamic extremism in the Netherlands, but utterly fails to realize that this is exactly why we need to oppose Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

You can’t have your cake and eat it too, Geert. The success of our struggle for western values over Islamic fundamentalism doesn’t end at the Dutch borders. You either get on that train all the way, or not at all.

In Afghanistan we’re fighting for much more than our own safety. Our withdrawal from that fight makes us nothing short of spineless ignorant cowards.

We should all be ashamed. I certainly am.

Let’s take stock:

• Copenhagen, despite the moderately positive statements from politicians, has failed.
• Climate change denialists are increasingly polluting the airwaves with their anti-scientific rhetoric.
• Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise exponentially faster than ever before in the history of our planet.
• We don’t have a viable alternative to fossil fuels.

We see it coming, we know the repercussions, and we’re not doing enough. Most of us aren’t doing anything at all.

The universe doesn’t care about disinformation. It doesn’t care about political rhetoric. It doesn’t care about who can shout the loudest on national TV and sell his point of view to the masses.

Our planet is an exceedingly rare gem, providing an exquisitely fragile environment precariously balanced to provide us with the conditions in which we can survive. The rest of this unimaginably vast universe is extremely hostile to human life. We can’t live anywhere else but here on this planet.

Let me repeat that so you really get it: There is nowhere else for us to live except right here, on this earth.

And we have tipped the balance. Our planet is changing from a world hospitable to human life to one that is increasingly unable to support human life.

We are failing the Great Filter.

Today, September 30, is International Blasphemy Day. Blasphemy is, as you know, the ultimate victimless crime. It’s an imaginary offense against an imaginary being that somehow makes delusional people so upset they’re ready to kill over it.

Blasphemy is an archaic and medieval concept that has no place in a modern, free society. Blasphemy is often used by religious fanatics as an excuse to silence criticism and stifle open debate.

“The objective of International Blasphemy Day is to open up all religious beliefs to the same level of free inquiry, discussion and criticism to which all other areas of academic interest are subjected.

Why September 30? The last day in September is the anniversary of the original publication of Danish cartoons in 2005 depicting the prophet Muhammad’s face. Any visual depiction of Muhammad is considered a grave offence under Islamic law. The fury which arose within the Islamic community following this publication led to massive riots, attacks on foreign embassies and deaths.

The newspapers which chose to publish these cartoons were in many cases blamed for the outpouring of violence which followed. This unfortunate yet inevitable sequence of events clearly demonstrated a dangerous misconception that had piggy-backed into the 21st century on the shoulders of ignorance, fear and apathy, that all religious beliefs and ideas deserve respect and are beyond criticism or satire.

International Blasphemy Day is a movement, not just a day, to remind the world that religion should never again be beyond open and honest discussion or reproach. Our future depends on it.”

So go forth and celebrate Blasphemy Day. Taking the Lord’s name in vain is optional, but encouraged.

Following the dreadful example of France, the UK is now bowing to corporate lobbyists whispering disinformation in the ears of MPs - a new law proposed by Lord Mandelson would disconnect UK internet users after being accused of downloading copyrighted material.

Let’s forget that the whole ‘copyrighted material’ issue is a grey area to begin with, subjected to hopelessly antiquated laws designed for an era without instant digital reproduction. Instead let’s focus on what this would mean for the average citizen.

First, it’s ridiculously easy to download copyrighted material. It’s so easy in fact that you’re likely to do it several times in any given week’s regular internet activity, probably without realising it yourself.

Secondly, it’s nearly impossible to prove that a particular individual downloaded copyrighted material. An IP address can belong to an entire household or even a whole building, and can also be easily spoofed. Yet IP addresses are used exclusively as evidence of individual copyright offences.

Thirdly, cutting off internet access means you won’t be able to do a lot of things that are necessary in these modern times. You won’t be able to do your banking online any more. Can’t book any flights or tickets online. Unable to look up the latest screen times of that new movie you want to see. Won’t be able to download that discount voucher.

Cutting people off from internet access is a ridiculous penalty. It’s like prohibiting convicted drivers from using the road - not just from driving cars, but from using any means of road transport at all!

Unfortunately the pro-copyright corporate lobby is rich and powerful and is polluting our governments with disinformation. One government after the other is succumbing to their lies and manipulation. We must stand up to this to protect our digital rights.

So sign the petition and support organisations like the Open Rights Group. This is important, and it deserves our attention and our action.

As you probably know by now, Scotland has released the man convicted of the Lockerbie-bombing on ‘compassionate grounds’.

Without delving in to the debate of whether he’s actually guilty (there are strong reasons to suspect he was innocent), the facts are simple: Al-Megrahi is dying of cancer, and Scottish law has a rule about terminally ill convicts. Al-Megrahi’s release is simply an adherence to this rule.

A very commendable rule, in my opinion. Justice, you see, is not about revenge, no matter how many Americans seem to confuse these two concepts. Justice is about protecting society and rehabilitating offenders. It’s not about “an eye for an eye” or other equally medieval mantras.

Scotland has done a brave thing. They’ve adhered to their own rules, their own concept of justice, regardless of what the Big Bully on the block has to say about it. They’ve stood up for what they believe in, and I admire that.

What I do have a problem with is the hero’s welcome Al-Megrahi received in Libya. Not a very subtle move, and a bit of a “fuck you” towards the West.

I’m looking forward to Al-Megrahi’s side of the story which, with the appeal dropped, he is now free to tell. A shallow scan of the Lockerbie trial shows the prosecution’s case leaned heavily on a single eyewitness account to confirm a fragile link between Al-Megrahi and the explosive device that caused the disaster.

And we already know how notoriously unreliable eyewitnesses are.