Book review of "Julian Assange- The unathorised autobiography"

Introduction

Wikileaks - a not for profit organization has been a phenomenal attempt at uncensored reporting. It is a war on secrecy. It stands as a paradigm for the kind of statesmanship referred to by US president Theodore Roosevelt in his words " Behind the ostensible government sits an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to befoul this unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of statesmanship".

Various dictatorial and totalitarian governments (Libya, Zimbabwe, Kenya etc) and their atrocities were exposed . Major leaks like Iraq war logs and Afghan war logs brought to light the faux claims of the US about their secretly held barbaric military exploitations in these countries. Even India has not been kept of the hook with Cablegate (A series of US confidential diplomatic cables) releases exposing the deep seated corruptions, darker shades of few politicians, foreign policies, arms control etc of the country [1][2]. Though global community has opposing views on the impact of the work with adversaries claiming that leaking of 'confidential reports' will inevitably lead to security issues, the work itself has gained attention and countries like Brazil, Ecuador, Russia, Venezuela and even United nations have expressed solidarity with the project.

The book

The book is conceived and documented when he is under house arrest at Norfolk, East London 2010 for the stir that Wikileaks had created by then. Chapters two to seven serves as a personalized anecdotal references to explaining what constitutes the activist in Mr. Assange. Being born to parents for whom " idea of non conformity was only real passion worth being ruled by", his Tom Sawyer like childhood was spent traveling the breaths of Australia changing almost 30 schools in the span. In his own words " It was just that kind of life where consistency was a matter of style and values, not of there you parked your car or how you paid your debts". 

It was his mom's sexual affair with a man named Leil Meynell who was associated with a cult called 'The family' and the events  which followed that instilled in Mr. Assange his profound hatred for authority and coercion. It was during this period that a commodore 64 computer entered his life and changed the way he viewed world. " Computers provided a positive space in a negative field: they showed us we could start again, against 'self hood', against 'society', building something less flawed and less corrupt in these fresh pastures of code", he states.

The computers and modems also opened up a new arena for him: hacking. The challenge to break the artificial barriers created to restrict entry and guard private interest for profit and truths became almost an addictive hobby. His adventures took him to the information corridors of NASA, Pentagon, US military and scores of private organizations like Citibank, Norton etc. It was one of these electronic expeditions to Nortel's information system that got him and three of his companion hackers (together they called themselves ' The international subversives') get convicted for the 'trespassing into private information'. One could see the integrity in him even when his companions turned in for private gains when the case got stronger. He says " I couldn't abuse a private or a working friendship for a public gain". It was during these experiences that he basked in the true powers of Internet and had glimpses of how communication is a tool to pursue Justice and freedom of speech. 

He had also come into contact with a cryptographic movement named 'Cypherpunks' that championed the cause of individual information privacy to give individuals power to protect their own data from corporations and governments (Paypal was founded from this). This exposed him to Mathematics, cryptography and its power in changing the world.

When the world of Mathematics turned addictive enough, he decided to attend University of Melbourne for furthering his pedantic interests in Mathematics and physics. He details his mood about the university as " At first the university felt like a sheltered workshop for mental outpatients. Everyone was so tame, and the days were so structured and everyone so absorbed in a way that made it seem like the real world had somehow been filtered out". Elsewhere he condemns how "universities were being used by people interested in military profiteering".  

The law of causality expounded by quantum mechanics got him thinking of ways to relate the same to information and Internet. This was his true eureka moment and the birth of idea of Wikileaks. 

The rest of the book deals with the process of how Wikileaks came to be established and the particulars relating to its whistle blowing experiences. He also gives his side of the story about the allegation of rape for which he is facing extradition to Sweden currently. This part of the book also parades the reader through the nature of standard media publications and their unscrupulous ethics that makes one question whether media is really the fourth pillar of democracy or is it a propaganda mechanism to manufacture consent as warned by many  famous intellectuals including contemporary Mr. Noam Chomsky.

Why you should read this book

If you want to know what essentially makes up the man who believes " Technology can be used to pursue Justice", this is the book to turn to.

References

1. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424053111903285704576556110060658854#1

2. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/slideshows/nation-world/what-wikileaks-revealed-about-emergency-era-indian-politics/slideshow/19467056.cms

3. All the relevant references are provided as web-links on keywords.

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Book Review of " Francis Ittikora" by T. D Ramakrishnan

Genre: Malayalam Fiction, Alternate history.

Plot

Xavier Fernando Ittikora, a U. S military soldier who participated in the Iraq war is disappointed about his falling libido after witnessing the atrocities of the war. He contacts 'The school' - a secret 'school that teaches you the art of love making' situated in Kochi, Kerala and run by three friends Bindu, Rekha and Rashmi to help him regain his vitality through their expertise in sexual gratification. He also requests them help him in collecting more information about his ancestral links in Kerala thought to originate from a man addressed as 'Korappapan'. ' Korappapan' is said to be a spice merchant operating out of earlier port township of Kunnamkulam in Thrissur, Kerala. In their inquiries Bindu, Rekha and Rashmi  come into contact with a secret society run by an influential family named 'Pathinettam Kootukar' who considers 'Korappapan' to be their God.

Ittikora's friend Hashimotto Morigami, a Mathematician who earned her PhD from Princeton in 'The history of Non European Mathematics' is already busy collecting information about 'Korappapan' as a part of her research publication coauthored by the world renowned Mathematician Paul Erdos. Her quest leads her to startling conclusions about how 'Korappapan' or 'Francis Ittikora', might be the real father of European Mathematics. She discovers that against its commonly assumed history, European Mathematics is largely based on theories of Hypatia- a Greek Alexandrian Neoplatonist philosopher in Egypt who lived around AD 350.

What unravels after this is an exciting story that threads through the history of Mathematics, lives of famous mathematicians like Hypatia of Greece, Paul Erdos, Alexander Grothendieck, Peruvian revolutionary Tupac Amaru and a cannibalistic secret society that survived him, Italian statesman Lorenzo de medici and Italian painters Michelangelo and Raphel.

My opinion

Being a history freak, what got me engrossed was the fascinating fictional history(blended with real history) of various famous people, world events, secret societies and the possibility of how most of them could be tied to one man named 'Francis Ittikora'. I also enjoyed the way author progressed on multiple story threads spanning various characters, timelines and countries without loosing grip only to tie them into a beautiful knot at the end. However, I felt that the climax was rushed through and the curtains fell before I could anticipate them.

Bottomline

This book is a nice example of how interesting 'alternate history' could actually turn out to be. So if you find topics of history and mathematics  interesting, this fiction will be a joy to read.

Book review of "Why I am not a Christian and other religious essays" by Bertrand Russel

"Why I am not a Christian and other religious essays" by Bertrand Russell

Introduction

Bertrand Russell was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, social critic and political activist. His strong condemnation of organized religion, imperialism, war, communism met with severe opposition from religious groups and governments alike. Another topic on which he was severely deprecated was on his liberal viewpoints on sexuality. On more than one occasion American press had termed him as " a desiccated, divorced and decadent advocate of sexual promiscuity... in this libertarian rules for loose living in matters of sex and promiscuous love and vagrant marriage...".

"His work has had a considerable influence on logic, mathematics, set theory, linguistics, artificial intelligence, cognitive science,computer science  and philosophy, especially philosophy of language, epistemology and metaphysics[1]".

Read more about Russell here.

Essays I found interesting

1. Why I am not a Christian

2. Has religion made useful contributions to civilisation?

3. Can religion cure our troubles?

In these three classic essays Russell constructively presents his arguments in favor of his disbelief of organized religions. In the first essay, he is particularly critical about the Existence of God, Christianity and concept of salvation. He suggests fear to be the foundation of religion and that Church has retarded the progress of human consciousness and free thinking than elevating it. He also comments that Church's indoctrination of sex as a 'indulgence' and its firm opposition to birth control techniques are dangerous to the human welfare. He also decouples the idea of righteousness from religious dogma. 

4. What I believe

In this essay Russell holds the view that : " The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge". He discusses the idea of 'love' in depth. He maintains that love is a right mixture of delight and well wishing. It is stupidity, he says, to disseminate love from knowledge. He also notices that morality in its essence must arise out of scientific inquiry and not superstitions. He advocates that a society which works towards eradicating fear in people will flourish intellectually.

5. Our sexual ethics

This essay is a deep analysis of sexual morality in the context of modern society.

6. Freedom and colleges

Russell argues that academic freedom in America was threatened by Plutocracy and Church. In his view, minority opinions howsoever diverged they are from the majority opinion must be given due regard. This hold especially in the case of academia which is supposed to instill in students ability to weigh arguments without prejudice. Collective wisdom in his opinion, is not above individual intelligence. He proposes that in a working democracy there must freely exist independent bodies that criticizes the state. He also strongly condemns the taxpayers' demand for right to interfere in the nature and direction of education in universities simply because they are paying for it.

Other essays

 Do we survive death, 'Seems,Madam? Nay, it is', On Catholic and Protestant Sceptics, Nice people, The existence of God- A debate, Religion and Morals.

I personally enjoyed reading Appendix too where the history of a particular instance of American opposition to Russell's appointment as Professor of Philosophy at City college, New York is accounted. It shows the strong opposition and denunciation faced by him from the zealots and the enthralling support he enjoyed from the intellectual community spanning the world.

Bottomline

Like most of his other works, this collection of essays are intellectually stimulating and food for deep thoughts. His authoritative reasoning is a joy to ruminate upon. I must however warn you that its not a easy bed time read. True to his nature as a mathematician, he will present you the most intricate reasoning which will demand some time and tease of your mind.