Category Archives: Transhuman News

Published October 3, 2014. By Joshua Farrington

Granta Books has signed To Be a Machine: Encounters with a Post-Human Future by Mark O'Connell.

Senior editor Max Porter signed UK and Commonwealth rights at auction from Karolina Sutton at Curtis Brown on behalf of Amelia Atlas at ICM.

The book is described as "intellectual anatomy" of the transhumanist movement, those who believe technology can enable mankind to transcend the biological conditions of humanity, blending history, cultural criticism, in-depth profiles and essayistic reportage.

Porter said: This is an outstanding piece of work. Marks proposal could be cryogenically frozen to show the robots of the future what a perfect non-fiction pitch was in 2014. To Be a Machine will be deeply intelligent, profoundly timely and frequently hilarious. All of us at Granta believe we have found a non-fiction super star.

North American rights were sold to Doubleday and deals in other foreign territories are being negotiated. To Be a Machine will be published in 2016.

Link:
Post-human study to Granta | The Bookseller

Phnom Penh has a poor record on refugee protection and basic rights, says Human Rights Watch.

Photo credit: abc.net.au

A new refugee agreement between Australia and Cambodia does not meet Australias commitment to send refugees to a safe third country, and will undermine refugee protection in the region, Human Rights Watch has said.

A Cambodian government press release states that the Australian immigration minister, Scott Morrison, will sign a Memorandum of Understanding on the settlement of refugees in Cambodia with the Cambodian interior minister, Sar Kheng, in Phnom Penh on 26 September 2014.

Australia and Cambodia have not released the terms of the agreement. However, Morrison has previously said that up to 1,000 asylum seekers sent by Australia to Nauru, where they have been recognised as refugees, may be transferred to Cambodia on a voluntary basis. Although Cambodia is a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, it has failed to protect refugees and asylum seekers, returning them to countries where they faced persecution.

Australias deal with Cambodia will send people to a country that has a terrible record for protecting refugees and is mired in serious human rights abuses, said Elaine Pearson, Australia director at Human Rights Watch. Australia should have examined these refugee claims itself instead of diverting asylum seekers to Nauru, but at least it should take those found to be refugees instead of shipping them off to Cambodia. Despite Canberras claims, the reality is Cambodia is both unsafe and ill-equipped to handle large numbers of refugees who will be given one-way tickets to Phnom Penh.

Since September 2012, Australia has been sending asylum seekers who arrive by boat to Nauru and Papua New Guinea to be screened there for refugee status. Under the terms of an agreement with Nauru, Australia is committed to helping settle refugees to a third safe country.

Australia has refused to accept returning anyone found to be a refugee to Australia on the grounds that it is pursuing a regional burden-sharing solution. As of 31 August 2014, 1,233 asylum seekers are detained in Nauru. As of 18 September 2014, the Nauru government has carried out 250 status determinations, 206 of whom have been recognised as refugees.

Australia will be failing to meet the terms of its agreement because Cambodia is not a safe third country, Human Rights Watch said.

The Australian government has referred to the transfer to Cambodia as resettlement. However, a spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, has described resettlement in Cambodia as not being a durable solution. Its not in the spirit of resettlement, the spokesman said.

See the article here:
Australia-Cambodia deal puts refugees at risk

With all the vitriol, ridicule and scorn it attracts, its easy to forget the Human Rights Act is a force for good. Although the law only came into force in 2000, it incorporates the post-war European Convention On Human Rights, inspired by Sir Winston Churchill.

Ironic when its his Tory party that now want to axe it.

Civil liberties champion Michael Mansfield QC says: If the Human Rights Act were scrapped people would soon realise how our daily lives benefit whether its in health, people in care, child abuse and so many other issues.

But with the amount of flak its facing, its time to ape the classic Romans scene in the Monty Pythons Life of Brian and answer the question: What has the Human Rights Act ever done for us?

An obsession with UFOs saw Aspergers Syndrome sufferer Gary McKinnon hack into Pentagon and Nasa computers. US prosecutors tried to extradite him and he faced a 60-year jail term.

Following a 10-year fight by his family, Home Secretary Theresa May blocked the request in 2012 under Article 3 of the Human Rights Act which forbids degrading treatment or punishment. She said Gary, 46, of Notts, was seriously ill and he would probably commit suicide if taken to the States.

Servicemen and women sent off to war without the correct equipment can now use the Human Rights Act to sue the government.

The UK Supreme Court ruled that relatives of four servicemen who died in Iraq had a right to life when they died inside the lightly-armoured Snatch Land Rovers, nicknamed mobile coffins. At least 37 UK soldiers have died in Iraq and Afghanistan inside these vehicles.

Beth Warren won the right to have a child using her dead husbands sperm thanks to Article 8 of the Human Rights Act, which enshrines respect for for privacy and family life.

After he died in 2012 a sample frozen before he had cancer treatment was due to be destroyed under existing rules until Beth, 28, used the act to block the move. Now the sperm will be frozen until 2023, giving her the choice of when to start a family.

Link:
It helps us every day but what has the Human Rights Act done for you?

Bern, Switzerland (PRWEB) October 02, 2014

In appointing Jrg Vollmer, Swiss Post is sending out a clear signal regarding the further development of the business process outsourcing (BPO) segment. In his current function as Vice President, the 47-year-old is responsible for the European BPO business of Hewlett-Packard where he has headed up the development of the business unit in various roles since 2005 and managed more than 6,000 staff in document management, accounting, human resources and customer relationship management. On 1 January 2015, he will succeed Frank Marthaler, who left Swiss Post at the end of June 2014. Jrg Vollmer is married and has two grown-up children.

Market position strengthened With his longstanding experience in strategy development and implementation in various countries, German-born Vollmer has extensive expertise and an intuitive feel for the inter-nationally focused business of Swiss Post Solutions. Swiss Post Solutions offers solutions for business process outsourcing and secure electronic communication. Jrg Vollmer will continue to pursue the group units strategic path in order to strengthen its leading market position, especially within document management and information processing. A further goal will be the ongoing optimization of business processes in line with customer requirements.

See the original post:
Jrg Vollmer to take over as Head of Swiss Post Solutions