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July 28, 2006
Discussing emerging technologies of human enhancement
Anders Sandberg has been invited to speak at the TransVision 2006 conference in Helsinki, Finland.
The event between August 17- 19 is held at the University of Helsinki. Anders Sandberg's speech held on August 19th is entitled Cognitive Divide or a Mind-Meld? Scenarios of Cognitive Enhancement.
Among the other scheduled speakers are: Professor Timo Airaksinen, William S. Bainbridge and Aubrey de Grey.
Posted by Waldemar at 02:53 PM
July 27, 2006
Intervention rapide: la méthode suédoise
Le 27 juillet Waldemar Ingdahl écrit sur comme la Suède a rapidement évacué ses ressortissants du Liban dans l'article La méthode suédoise. L'article a été publié dans le premier quotidien francophone du Canada, La Presse de Montréal.
Posted by Waldemar at 05:20 PM
The big ripoff
The Heritage Foundation presented Timothy P. Carney's book The Big Ripoff: How Big Business and Big Government Steal Your Money on July 12th in Washington DC.
Among those invited to comment was Waldemar Ingdahl from the Eudoxa think tank. You can listen to the seminar in the mp3 format from Heritage's homepage. Ingdahl's intervention starts at 40.40 into the file.
Posted by Waldemar at 01:54 PM
The first round in the battle over stem cell research
In his The Pulse article Is the Stem Cell Petri Dish Half Full or Half Empty? of July 27th, Anders Sandberg writes about the recent controversy regarding the EU funding for stem cell research.
While the first round ended in a stalemate compromise that changed little, Sandberg means that divisions between bioconservatives and bioliberals may soon prove an increasingly important factor in EU healthcare politics.
Posted by Waldemar at 12:35 PM
July 24, 2006
Algblomning kan inte bekämpas med enbart politik
Anders Sandberg skriver i artikeln Algblomningen kan inte bekämpas med enbart politik om hur debatten om algblomningen har förändrats i år.
Artikeln har varit publicerad i Nya Wermlands-Tidningen (20/7), Enköpings-Posten (22/7), Ulricehamns Tidning (22/7), Folket (24/7) och Gotlands Allehanda (3/8).
Utifrån sin rapport Algblomningen- En debatt i grumligt vatten beskriver Sandberg hur nya kunskaper om ekologin visar hur regeringens politik hittills varit missriktad.
Posted by Waldemar at 09:02 AM
July 22, 2006
Answering Cathy Young
By Anders Sandberg
Criticism of human enhancement is often based on a bioconservative perspective. Libertarian criticisms such as Cathy Young's in The Boston Globe (Transhumanism: Yearning to transcend biology, July 10th 2006) are much rarer, and welcome.
But overenthusiastic promotors are a minor problem. There is no shortage of critics, the real shortage is in attempts to find out what will work and what the consequences will be. The risk of intrusive laws based on hypothetical problems is significant. Human enhancement poses many complex questions that are unanswereable without experimentation. We should not be reckless, but there is a value in having actual experiences when we are trying to find the real problems.
Transplantation surgery was at its inception highly controversial but experience has shown that the initial fears of eroding human identity were largely overstated, while finding more severe problem areas in organ procurement and the ethics of death. Similarly IVF (in-vitro fertilization) has proven safer and less controversial than initially expected. Had regulations been set up based on the initial fears, the technology would likely not have benefitted more than a few thus benefitting precisely the elitism Young fears.
Posted by Waldemar at 06:05 PM
July 20, 2006
The rise of Swedish piracy
Waldemar Ingdahl writes a follow-up to his TCS Daily Europe article Pirates of the European.
In the July 20th article Pirates of the European II: The Empire Strikes Back he writes about the recent developments on intellectual property in Sweden, and how the issue regarding a raid on a pirate server united the PlayStation- generation under the banner of the Jolly Roger.
Posted by Waldemar at 12:10 PM
Harm reduction in tobacco control
In his The Pulse article First, Do Less Harm of July 19th, Anders Sandberg discusses his experiences at the 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health held in Washington DC and his impressions of the ongoing debate of harm reduction in tobacco control.
Posted by Waldemar at 11:10 AM
July 18, 2006
New and improved harm reduction BBS
The Eudoxa harm reduction BBS, launched in June, now has a new and improved format, with new features.
Be sure not to miss editor Dr. Anders Sandberg's articles about World Conference on Tobacco OR Health (WCTOC) in Washington DC July 12-15th.
Posted by Waldemar at 02:27 PM
July 17, 2006
Eudoxa på radio
Anders Sandberg intervjuades i kulturprogrammet Flipper på Sveriges Radio P3 om begreppet övermänniskan och hur det relaterar till hur tekniken och medicinen kan skapa en ny mänsklighet som är mentalt och fysiskt vida överlägsen oss som lever idag.
Programmet sändes första gången lördagen den 15 juli kl. 18.03-20.00, med repris söndagen den 16 juli kl. 20.03-22.00
Posted by Waldemar at 11:00 AM
How proven life-saving benefits weigh less than unproven risks
In his The Pulse article Magnetic Resonance of July 12th, Anders Sandberg explains how the EU is creating problems for patient requiring MRI scans. This is because Commissioner Vladimir Spidla holds on to the precautionary principle in health care.
Posted by Waldemar at 10:05 AM
July 09, 2006
Eudoxa at the Atlas International Thursday
Waldemar Ingdahl, director of Eudoxa, will give a presentation at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation: International Thursday meeting on July 13th in Arlington, VA. The meeting's special focus is on Europe and European affairs.
Other confirmed speakers are Vito Tanzi (former undersecretary of finance Italy and former Director of Fiscal Affairs at the IMF), Daniel Runde (Director, Office of Global Development Alliances, USAID) and Alexandre Pesey (Institut de Formation Politique, France).
From the left; Pesey, Ingdahl, Runde (obscured) and Tanzi listening to questions from the audience of meeting at Atlas.
Posted by Waldemar at 02:30 PM
Eudoxa at the Wednesday meeting
Waldemar Ingdahl will give a short presentation of Eudoxa at the Wednesday Center- Right Coalition meeting in Washington DC on July 12th, hosted by Americans for Tax Reform.
Posted by Waldemar at 01:58 PM
The next step in brain evolution
Anders Sandberg is interviewed by Richard Woods in the article The next step in brain evolution in The Sunday Times of July 9th.
Posted by Waldemar at 11:38 AM
July 07, 2006
Sweden- an IP friend or foe?
Waldemar Ingdahl was quoted on the issue of intellectual property in Sweden in the article France and Sweden: IP Friends or Foes? by Scott A. LaGanga and Katherine Boyle in the Propery Rights Alliance Trans-Atlantic Policy Series.
Posted by Waldemar at 10:44 AM
July 06, 2006
What Bertie Ahern didn't want to hear
In his The Pulse article Lies, Blatant Lies and Statistics of July 6th, Anders Sandberg writes about the impact of the European Health Consumer Index and why the terrified Irish prime minister Taoiseach Bertie Ahern accused it of just being blatant lies.
Posted by Waldemar at 01:00 PM
Statement of Concern for Freedom in Russia
At the European Resource Bank Meeting in Vienna on July 1st, representatives of pro-freedom think-tanks and movements, united by common principles and values, declared their support for the individual rights of the people of Russia to associate without harassment by the authorities. In particular with the NGOs of Russia, which are struggling under the burden of bureaucratic harassment and efforts by the authorities to suppress the independent forces of civil society.
Director Waldemar Ingdahl of Eudoxa was one of the signatories.
Posted by Waldemar at 10:50 AM
July 05, 2006
Algblomningsrapport omnämnd i Barometern
Den 4 juli skriver Per Dahl artikeln Men låt oss då bekämpa algerna som det ogräs de är i Barometern om Anders Sandbergs rapport Algblomningen- En debatt i grumligt vatten.
Posted by Waldemar at 06:19 PM
July 04, 2006
In Sweden we have already solved this problem
The Swedish social model is still discussed in many European countries as an example for reform.
In the essay In Sweden we have already solved this problem, Waldemar Ingdahl puts into question if the image of Sweden given by both welfare state and free-market advocates abroad is relevant to properly describe contemporary Sweden. What has changed, and what can other countries really learn from the Swedish experience?
Posted by Waldemar at 10:19 AM
July 03, 2006
Grumlig debatt om algblomning
Sommaren är här och med den återkommer debatten om algblomningen.
I rapporten Algblomningen- En debatt i grumligt vatten, som utgivits i serien Timbro Briefing Papers, skriver Anders Sandberg om hur frågan om Östersjöns ekologi blivit en symbolfråga om naturens tillstånd och används som ett argument för omfattande regleringar och styrning av mänsklig verksamhet.
Rapporten kan laddas ned från Timbros hemsida som en pdf-fil.
Hur står det egentligen till med Östersjön? Vad beror algblomningarna på? Är forskarna eniga om orsakerna och om vilka åtgärder som är lämpliga? Anders Sandberg pekar på att det beror på vilken förståelse vi har av hur ekologin fungerar.
Posted by Waldemar at 01:47 PM