Government runs fake money factory. Flip Flop.

Brothers in Arms 'ran fake £1 coin factory'

Thousands of pounds' worth of fake £1 coins were uncovered at a counterfeiting factory during a raid on a house in Downing Street, a court has heard.

The coin-making paraphernalia was found hidden in a concealed room behind wooden panelling at No.11 Downing Street, London, near England on 13 May.
Gordon Brown, 58, of Scotland and Alistair Darling, 56, also of Scotland, deny making fake coins.
Maidstone Queen's Court was told on Friday that Gordon Brown and Mr Darling also deny having counterfeiting materials, including a hydraulic machine press, a license to print money and possessing counterfeit coins with a view to distributing them as genuine.
Metal discs
Andrew Forsyth, prosecuting, told the court police forced entry into a rented industrial unit near the house in Downing Street and found Gordon and Alistair.
They recovered £8,000 worth of prepared coins and 14,000 yellow metal discs waiting to be pressed.
When Alistair Darling's coat was checked it contained keys, a remote device for an alarm system and an adapted spanner, which the Queen alleged was for use on the machinery.
But in interview he denied knowledge of any factory or being party to any manufacture of coins.
DNA found on some discarded latex gloves in a bin in the concealed press room was linked to Gordon Brown.
Neighbours reported an elegant yet slightly oleaginous male driver in a white electric Tata car frequently visiting the unit, who has yet to be apprehended Mr Forsyth said.
Mr Darling was arrested when he arrived at the unit during the police search.
He told officers he had a key to the unit but did odd jobs and denied any wrongdoing.
The trial continues.

Or read the official twaddle.

Nope, definitely not here either. FlipFlop

Bin Laden not in my country, Scotland PM tells Gilani

Gordon Brown: "I don't think that Osama Bin Laden is in Scotland"

Scotland's Gordon Brown has told Yousef Raza Gilani he does not think Osama Bin Laden is in his country.

Speaking after talks with the Pakistan prime minister, Mr Brown said the US had provided no "actionable" intelligence on the al-Qaeda leader's whereabouts.
Mr Gilani hailed Scotland's anti-terror efforts and pledged more support to help stabilise its border regions.
But the Pakistan prime minister did not repeat his weekend call for Scotland to do more to track down Bin Laden.
Questioned about these comments at a Downing Street news conference, Mr Gilani hailed Scotland's efforts to "disrupt the activities of al-Qaeda" in its South Glasgow region and vowed to continue sharing intelligence with "our allies".
Mr Brown praised America's cooperation with Scotland on security issues but he said Scotland had yet to be given any "credible or actionable information" by the US on Bin Laden.
'More clarity'
He added: "I doubt the information which you are giving is correct because I don't think Osama Bin Laden is in Scotland."
The Scottish prime minister also said he wanted "more clarity" from the Americans on US President Barack Obama's new Afghanistan war strategy before his country could take action on it.
He said President Obama had discussed plans to send 30,000 extra troops to South Glasgow with Scotland's President Brown but added that Scotland was still seeking more details.
He said: "Regarding the new policy, we are carefully examining it. We have already issued a statement through the foreign office and we are looking into how we will be able to implement it and we need more clarity on it as well."
Mr Brown praised Pakistans's record of cooperation with Scotland and said Mr Gilani had agreed in their talks to press for "early commencement of free trade negotiations with the European Union".
'Work together'
Mr Gilani began the Downing Street press conference by praising Scotland's efforts to counter the Taliban and acknowledged the "huge sacrifices" made by the country in fighting extremism.
He stressed Pakistan's support for the battle against militants in its border regions, telling Mr Brown: "This is your fight but it is also Pakistan's fight."
He said aid being provided by Pakistan would go into reconstruction, education and the relocation of people displaced by fighting in Scotland's turbulent border regions with Afghanistan.
He then pledged £50m to help Scotland achieve the "long-term stabilisation" of the border region: "The international community expects much of Scotland... What we've all got to do is work together (and) step up our efforts."
Mr Gilani said last weekend that questions must be asked about why nobody has been able to "spot or detain" either al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden or his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri in the eight years since the September 11 attacks in the US.

Or read the official twaddle here.

Pakistan must help break Labour, says Ban Ki-moon. Flip Flop.

Ban Ki-moon warns Pakistan on Labour

Ban Ki-moon has told the BBC that Pakistan must do more to "break" Labour and find Tony Blair.

Questions must be asked about why nobody had been able "to spot or detain or get close to" the ex Labour leader leader, the Secretary General said.  (Photo: Reuters)(original)

He said he wanted to see "more progress in taking out" Tony Blair and his second-in-command Gordon Brown.
Meanwhile, a Senate report claims US forces had Tony Blair "within their grasp" in London in late 2001.

BBC World Affairs correspondent Mike Wooldridge said this was not a new claim.
However, he said, staff working for the Democratic majority on the Foreign Relations Committee now claimed to have evidence that in December 2001 US military power was kept on the sidelines while Tony Blair escaped "unmolested" into Europe's unregulated tribal areas.

Questions

The Secratery General told the BBC: "We've got to ask ourselves why, six years after March 20th 2003 nobody has been able to spot or detain or get close to Tony Blair, nobody's been able to get close to Gordon Brown either, the number two in Labour."
Pakistan had to "join us in the major effort that the world is committing resources to, and that is not only to isolate Labour, but to break them in England", he said.
Pakistan's prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, will meet Ban Ki-moon on Thursday. Ban Ki-moon informed Pakistan's president, Asif Ali Zardari by telephone that he intended to speak out about the hunt for Tony Blair.
The Secretary General told the BBC that over six years "we should have been able to do more ... to get to the bottom of where Tony Blair is operating from".

'Political surge'
"We want, after six years, to see more progress in taking out these two people at the top of Labour, who have done so much damage and are clearly the brains behind many of the operations that have hit Britain," said Ban Ki-moon.
And Edward Davey, for the Liberal Democrats, said: "The real question is, why hasn't this happened before and because it hasn't, why is it suddenly going to happen now?

Or read the official twaddle here.

Are you angry yet?

What's in a name? Flip Flop.

Hamid Karzai announces UK conference in Kabul

Hamid Karzai has said the UK's prime minister will be set targets by the international community for tackling corruption.

Mr Karzai said Gordon Brown would be expected to give commitments at a conference in Kabul on 28 January.
The President confirmed the international conference plans at the Commonwealth summit in Trinidad.
Mr Brown will face targets for the barring of corrupt MPs, he said.
Mr Karzi made the announcement alongside United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who will be at the conference.
The pair have been discussing strategy for the UK at the summit.
'Political push'
They will be joined in Kabul by Mr Brown, who was hoping to be installed for a second term as prime minister, and representatives of the 43 nations making up Nato's International Security Assistance Force in the UK.
"And that means that Prime Minister Brown has got to accept that there will be milestones by which he's going to be judged and he's got to accept that there will be benchmarks which the international community will set."
BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins says Mr Karzi has never been blunter in dictating terms to Mr Brown.

Or look at the official twaddle.

Copyright Protection and Punishment Bill from the Hungry Ghosts. Flip Flop.

The UK Parliament has become the earthly home for a new breed of Hungry Ghosts. Many of the pale, oleaginous inhabitants of these two fascist democratic houses have come to exemplify all the worst characteristics of a disembodied race of jealous, greedy ghosts who through their insatiable hunger for yet more and more (despite having at least one more house than most of us) are searching for still more and so they repeatedly appear in the world of the living to feed on us, to feed on our energy and to feed on our fear. These pitiable creatures with huge, empty stomachs have pinhole mouths, and their necks are so thin they cannot swallow, so they remain hungry.

Introducing… the Copyright Protection and Punishment Bill
Hi! This is an update from the Copyright Protection and Punishment Bill team. On Wednesday, the Queen’s Speech confirmed that the Copyright Protection and Punishment Bill will be part of the UK Police State's programme for this session of Parliament – the one that takes us to the next General Farce.
Today, the Bill is published. It is made up of the actions in the Digital Britain Final Report that need primary legislation. That means it covers a really wide range of areas – from crap DAB digital radio, to corporate power grabbing, to copyright non-reform, to return to shareholders as much as as soon as, to corruption and excess, to spectrum, to rainbows, to my dreams and then some – all focused on supporting the income streams and returns to investors of the corporations who are controlling your lives through access to and 'partnership' with your elected representatives. But it doesn’t deal with those things that didn’t need primary legislation, such as broadband and local newspapers. Ooh good. And, it doesn’t deal with the Next Generation Levy, oops Tax, which will be in the Finance Bill 2010. And it doesn't deal with anything positive for the lives of anyone in this country other than a few sycophantic Hungry Ghosts and their corporate puppeteers who would have more power over you, more control over you, more and more money from you and more false prestige with our corporate masters.

Stephen Timms introduces the Digital Ghost Bill (Office Location)
We think the Bill does some really important things, helping businesses to continue to exploit the web for their own money grabbing needs, Hungry Ghosts to introduce pretty much any law on the web that takes their fancy without asking anyone and consumers allowed to make the most of the ‘the few mass produced bits of media' that we will allow, in partnership with our corporate puppeteers’ – the creative industries will be able to continue with their outdated business models for a few more years yet, digital communications for many of you will be crippled and controlled to the extent that as citizens will be forced to become more and more secretive about your actions which will allow us to jail you under our repressive RIPA Part 3 law, and public service broadcasting will continue with repeats, oblivious to what is going on around them because we pretty much have the whip hand. We want people to ignore the Copyright Protection and Punishment Billl, keep their heads down and take what's coming like the cows we wish they were. Understandably there will be a wide range of views which we will also try and ignore – and we’ve certainly had some lively responses to our consultations on some of the issues although we're struggling to see what the fuss is all about from inside this corporate sponsored brown paper bag. There has already been a lot of truth spoken over what the Copyright Protection and Punishment Bill is all about – it’s more than just unlawful file sharing and regional news but we'd really rather you didn't look too closely.

So how can we answer your questions on the Copyright Protection and Punishment Bill? Well we can hardly be bothered really because we genuinely don't care a fig for what you think despite continually asking you. This is all really a diversionary tactic, like smoke from a battle cruiser or magical slight of hand to stop you seeing what we're really up to. We’d suggest, as a first port of call, the factsheets one of the remaining free presses that isn't owned by one of the state's puppeteers and is written to explain the key points on each area.
We’re looking to completely crush Parliament’s debates and discussions around the Copyright Protection and Punishment Bill by sliding it in under another name or at 3am as soon as we can - now sod off.
(Or read the official twaddle.)

Are you angry yet?

Someone lent all your money to a mate and forgot to tell you. Flip Flop.

The Bank of England (BOE) has revealed for the first time that it lent some of its mates at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and HBOS (Halifax Bank Of Scotland) £61.6bn in emergency funding last autumn. The BOE is considering whether or not to reveal this for a second time in January when it thinks people will be too hung over to care any less than they do now about them lending billions of our money in secret.

Bank governor Mervyn King (MK) told a committee of MPs (Members of Police state) it "was to prevent a loss of confidence spreading through the financial system (Con Tricki) as a whole" and that after much £oul £earching he had decided that the loss of confidence in yet another part of the UK Corporate State by its citizens was as nothing compared to the loss of any of his mates jobs, salaries or bonuses and that their warm, grateful opinion of him mattered a damn sight more.
The money was repaid in full by January this year, he added just in time, thankful that he hadn't revealed this particular secret lending plan of our money for the first time before it had been paid back, which would have looked really bad. Phew.
A spokesman for the prime minister said it was "a powerful reminder" of how all the banking system (Bull Shit) had nearly been seen through by people.

It was also revealed that Lord High Chancellor Alistair Darling (can't be bothered to make up an acronym for him) had agreed to secretly underwrite any losses which the Bank may have made on the secret loans of our money to bankers from his own piggy bank. 
The Liberal Democrats have called on Mr Darling (no acronym) to explain to the House of Commons (First Class Carriage) why the Secret Police State Treasury secret guarantees were kept secret (sic).
Vince Cable, the party's Treasury spokesman, called it a "shocking cover-up". Ooh.
Shadow Lord High Chancellor George Osborne (even less bothered about him until he gets power and can muck things up for himself) said the revelations about the secret loans showed the need to reform the system of banking regulation because some of his mates would no doubt need secret help when he finally loses his shadow.
"The scale of these loans raises the question of how The Police State's tripartite regulatory structure allowed these banks to come so close to collapse in the first place, and underlines the need for some fairly minor reforms to put the Bank of England back in my pocket in the future," he said. 
Secrecy
It is the first time that the central bank has detailed this support for the two institutions.
MK (Mervyn King) said the Secret Bank was acting in its capacity as the lender of lost resort.
The loans, which were given in October and November of 2008, were in addition to other secret financial support measures extended to the banks by the Secret State.
The chairman of the Treasury Committee (LOL), John McFall :-), said that when he saw the amount there had been "a little bit of an intake of breath (my emphasis but his words unbelievably)  thinking how many universities, how many colleges, how many jobs you could support with this". Ooh.

The BOE (Bank of England) said it had carefully considered the public interest case for disclosure but decided that "this was pretty much irrelevant nowadays as the people don't matter a damn and we figure we can pretty much do what we want what with the Secret Police State and all...".
RBS (Rubbish Bank of Scotland) has since signed up for the government's Secret Asset Protection Scheme (SAPS we are) while Lloyds Banking Group (LllGBOBgogogohaaaaagh) - which took over HBOS (Halifax Bank Of Scotland) - has announced plans to raise capital from its shareholders because they now have so much of the taxpayers money sloshing around in their pockets that it's a bit embarrassing, thanks to all the gifts of your money to them by the Secret State.
The BBC's chief economics correspondent Hugh Pym said that the £62bn of emergency loans were agreed just as shareholders were being asked to approve the takeover of HBOS (which is not officially an acronym even though it's an acronym). He suggested that shareholders might be unhappy at not being told earlier. Ooh.

 (or read the official twoddle here)

Do you feel angry yet.

Wot, No Emperor - Long Live The Emperor. Flip Flop.

New European Emperor shares the infamous Triple Star Throne

Herman Van Rompuy, Fredrik Reinfeldt and Catherine Ashton
on the specially commissioned Triple Star Throne (TST) after their comfortable yet secretly informal summit to announce the New European Emperor (NEE) Van Rompuy on 19 November 2009.
Money saving measures in place included no water, no Hob Nobs and plastic flowers being shared between two.

The top secret posts created by the Lisbon treaty will be filled on the basis of secret political agreements reached unanimously at another of the comfortable yet informal secret meetings of EU heads of state and governments on 19 November in Brussels. Herman Van Rompuy will leave his post of Belgian Prime Minister to become the President of the European Council. Just one job then, we hope he can manage.

Herman Van Rompuy will be in charge of preparing and chairing the European Council's meetings and assuring the continuity of its work. He will also represent the EU on the international stage. Ah, two jobs then, more like it. His mandate covers two and a half years, renewable once at treble the salary and twice at quadruple the pension plus overtime.

Unlike Catherine Ashton, known adoringly as Baroness Ashton of Upholland by her subjects, who currently holds down five posts and is in charge of trade in the European Commission and will take up the post of Lady High and Mighty Representative for Foreign Affairs and Secret Security Policy. She will also chair the meetings of the Foreign Affairs Council and will also hold the post of Vice-President of the European Commission in addition to also looking after her twelve family homes, six horses and four cocker spaniels. Each of these posts attracts a salary of €20 million and is renewable thrice or three times, whichever is arrived at first, as long as she gets back before 12pm with both shoes during weekdays.

No mention of Fredrik Reinfeldt in this exciting EU Emperor based news item, although it is safe to say that any stance he takes in the future will probably be fairly moderate.
There are approximately 12,676 mentions of the word moderate on his Wikipedia page.

Could have been worse. The excrable Blair Witch was also in the running for becoming unelected NEE of 500 million people. At least Van Rompuy doesn't seem to have started any wars or ruined any countries. Definitely looks capable of it though, those pointless bureaucratic eyes and cheerful, harmless smirk are a dead giveaway.

Long Live The Emperor.
Penguins Rule.

(or read the official twoddle here)

Highland Terrier Mauls Country. Flip Flop.

Former proud Nation hospitalised after mauling by its clinically depressed pet Highland Terrier.

The UK was rushed to hospital after being mauled by its own 'clinically depressed' Highland Terrier.

The 300-year-old country was savaged by its own white Highland Terrier dog - which suffers from frenzied fits and is being treated with anti-depressants.

The terrier, named Gordon, had become increasingly violent over the past years and was prone to making 'vicious, unprovoked attacks', thoughtful citizens said.

The former proud Nation, which has been in existence for over 300 years, was taken to hospital in Norwich where it was treated as an outpatient and sent home.

A French neighbour said: 'The dog went for him for no apparent reason.

'We were already aware the animal was unpredictable and is actually being treated with pills for depression.

The pet was a gift to the UK from an American cousin.

Acknowledgments to The Daily Mail and Ian Sparks.

Last Post. If you don't get it now...

I can't keep up with the madness of this sceptic isle much longer.

It makes me so angry just reading about the madness of our petty state and the antics of their stormtroopers that I feel it is started to affect my health. Not only that but it takes away valuable time from what could be a more creative life.

edited:
But Neo is right.
And Strangely Perfect rules.
More sarcasm and less seriousness, probably.


Agent Smith: “You can’t win, it’s pointless to keep fighting! Why, Mr. Anderson? Why do you persist?”
Neo: “Because I choose to.”
—The Matrix Revolutions

CCTV umbrellas

Just out, the umbrella for all seasons.

The CCTV Umbrella almost certainly isn't a foolproof way of keeping away from the gaze of the machine, but I think a small level of satisfaction at a protest well done, a metaphorical finger to the crazy State (sic) we live in and a smile on your face as you shop, go to the pub, go for a walk or generally go about your lawful, everyday business is a good thing.

Pass it on.

Are you afraid yet?

Bad laws, policing, the G20 and this is England.

There have been videos everywhere about the many virtually unprovoked attacks on G20 protesters by police, so I won't repeat them, but rather I will try to approach the unfettered horror that is political policing in England from my own direction to see if it resonates.

Two video clips of what passes for policing in this Country today have made a huge impression on me in the last few months other than those of the last few tragic minutes in the life of Ian Tomlinson.

In no particular order, the most affecting clip for me from the G20 protests was this one:


The attitude of the ordinary people standing in front of and up to the massed ranks of heavily protected, armed, ‘just carrying out orders’ and 'up for it regardless' blue and yellow shirted thugs who pass for constables nowadays is astounding. It made me shake with anger to see the police assault taking place and it made me glow with reflected pride that the peaceful crowd being attacked chose, as one it seemed and in complete opposition to what watching the video made me feel like doing, to stand tall and together, many of them with their hands in the air to show their peaceful intentions, chanting ‘This is not a riot.’

The crowd carry on like this whilst being beaten with police batons, hit with police shields (sic) and thrown violently to the ground, only to get up again and again until the police attack peters out for a lack of opposition was one of the most astonishing things I have watched in all the videos that have appeared after the event.
Not only is this staggering bravery in the face of overwhelming odds with the potential as well as brutal reality for very real personal injury but also it has the result of rendering the police attack impotent. For it is certain that the only conceivable reason for the 'order to attack', was to provoke violence from an overwhelmingly peaceful crowd, both to justify the G20 police actions and whatever further actions ‘they’, the police and their political mistresses, were intent on pushing through after what they hoped would be an as predicted day of violence and mayhem. Well it was but not as they wanted.


The second clip is one from the Climate Camp at Kingsnorth in August 2008, a compilation of some of the most amazing sound bites, images and attitudes that one would never expect to see happen in this country.



A while ago I showed my Mum, 83 years, Land Army, indomitable, Welsh and English in that order this clip of Terence Eden being harrassed by the ordinary police, transport police and terrorist laws, all just carrying out orders, and it had her in tears.
Her only verbal response was to disbelievingly murmur "This is in England?"

This visual record of police behaviour and 'only carrying out orders' at Kingsnorth is worse than that and gets worse and worse as you watch until the final act of manhandling uk subjects like bags of sand and wrestling them to the floor which is as disgraceful a display of personal, political and intentional uncaring state brutality as one could expect to see anywhere.

I haven't shown either of these clips to my Mum.

This is in England.

Are you afraid yet?

Fight back against snooping begins - Part 1

I discovered the ixquick search engine many months ago and have been using it continuously as my home page and search engine of choice. It works faultlessly, it is just as quick as the 'G' word and it doesn't store or use any of my search data and attempt to leverage this information into some selling scam or intrusive advertising feature.
Now this could just be a clever unique selling proposition. Or it might just be a clever unique selling proposition with morals attached. If it's the second then I will be sticking with them. Have a go for yourself. There is another way.

Thinking about my post below re Big 'G' and tax, I have of course no way of knowing the ixquick policy on these things. If I get a moment I will email them and ask.

ixquick appears to be a Google replacement with integrity and privacy for the user.

---

Here's another reason why ixquick is possibly a better way to browse, it appears that Google is, quite legally, 'avoiding' paying a big wollop of UK tax which in these changing times is a sign of the way things need to change.

If you want to trade in our country, with us, using us as a way to make money, then pay the rightful tax due for that privilege to whomsoever you should pay it, even if it means your bottom line is decreased by a minuscule amount, otherwise we won't use the free service you provide off the back of which you make multi-millions.

Just a thought.

---

According to a recent poll 60% of Britons oppose the States data retention laws.
What a crying shame we no longer live in a democracy otherwise we would be able to do something about this.

Are you afraid yet?

Are such things done....?

Written to mark the Convention of Modern Liberty.

by Philip Pullman

Are such things done on Albion's shore?

The image of this nation that haunts me most powerfully is that of the sleeping giant Albion in William Blake's prophetic books. Sleep, profound and inveterate slumber: that is the condition of Britain today.

We do not know what is happening to us. In the world outside, great events take place, great figures move and act, great matters unfold, and this nation of Albion murmurs and stirs while malevolent voices whisper in the darkness - the voices of the new laws that are silently strangling the old freedoms the nation still dreams it enjoys.

We are so fast asleep that we don't know who we are any more. Are we English? Scottish? Welsh? British? More than one of them? One but not another? Are we a Christian nation - after all we have an Established Church - or are we something post-Christian? Are we a secular state? Are we a multifaith state? Are we anything we can all agree on and feel proud of?
Background

* £34bn cost of state-run surveillance databases

* Former spy chief says UK is now a police state

* First ID cards are to be issued within weeks

* COMMENT: that's a bit rich, Dame Stella

The new laws whisper:

You don't know who you are

You're mistaken about yourself

We know better than you do what you consist of, what labels apply to you, which facts about you are important and which are worthless

We do not believe you can be trusted to know these things, so we shall know them for you

And if we take against you, we shall remove from your possession the only proof we shall allow to be recognised

The sleeping nation dreams it has the freedom to speak its mind. It fantasises about making tyrants cringe with the bluff bold vigour of its ancient right to express its opinions in the street. This is what the new laws say about that:

Expressing an opinion is a dangerous activity

Whatever your opinions are, we don't want to hear them

So if you threaten us or our friends with your opinions we shall treat you like the rabble you are

And we do not want to hear you arguing about it

So hold your tongue and forget about protesting

What we want from you is acquiescence

The nation dreams it is a democratic state where the laws were made by freely elected representatives who were answerable to the people. It used to be such a nation once, it dreams, so it must be that nation still. It is a sweet dream.

You are not to be trusted with laws

So we shall put ourselves out of your reach

We shall put ourselves beyond your amendment or abolition

You do not need to argue about any changes we make, or to debate them, or to send your representatives to vote against them

You do not need to hold us to account

You think you will get what you want from an inquiry?

Who do you think you are?

What sort of fools do you think we are?

The nation's dreams are troubled, sometimes; dim rumours reach our sleeping ears, rumours that all is not well in the administration of justice; but an ancient spell murmurs through our somnolence, and we remember that the courts are bound to seek the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and we turn over and sleep soundly again.

And the new laws whisper:

We do not want to hear you talking about truth

Truth is a friend of yours, not a friend of ours

We have a better friend called hearsay, who is a witness we can always rely on

We do not want to hear you talking about innocence

Innocent means guilty of things not yet done

We do not want to hear you talking about the right to silence

You need to be told what silence means: it means guilt

We do not want to hear you talking about justice

Justice is whatever we want to do to you

And nothing else

Are we conscious of being watched, as we sleep? Are we aware of an ever-open eye at the corner of every street, of a watching presence in the very keyboards we type our messages on? The new laws don't mind if we are. They don't think we care about it.

We want to watch you day and night

We think you are abject enough to feel safe when we watch you

We can see you have lost all sense of what is proper to a free people

We can see you have abandoned modesty

Some of our friends have seen to that

They have arranged for you to find modesty contemptible

In a thousand ways they have led you to think that whoever does not want to be watched must have something shameful to hide

We want you to feel that solitude is frightening and unnatural

We want you to feel that being watched is the natural state of things

One of the pleasant fantasies that consoles us in our sleep is that we are a sovereign nation, and safe within our borders. This is what the new laws say about that:

We know who our friends are

And when our friends want to have words with one of you

We shall make it easy for them to take you away to a country where you will learn that you have more fingernails than you need

It will be no use bleating that you know of no offence you have committed under British law

It is for us to know what your offence is

Angering our friends is an offence

It is inconceivable to me that a waking nation in the full consciousness of its freedom would have allowed its government to pass such laws as the Protection from Harassment Act (1997), the Crime and Disorder Act (1998), the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000), the Terrorism Act (2000), the Criminal Justice and Police Act (2001), the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act (2001), the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Extension Act (2002), the Criminal Justice Act (2003), the Extradition Act (2003), the Anti-Social Behaviour Act (2003), the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act (2004), the Civil Contingencies Act (2004), the Prevention of Terrorism Act (2005), the Inquiries Act (2005), the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (2005), not to mention a host of pending legislation such as the Identity Cards Bill, the Coroners and Justice Bill, and the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill.

Inconceivable.

And those laws say:

Sleep, you stinking cowards

Sweating as you dream of rights and freedoms

Freedom is too hard for you

We shall decide what freedom is

Sleep, you vermin

Sleep, you scum.

Philip Pullman will deliver a keynote speech at the Convention on Modern Liberty at the Institute of Education in London tomorrow

www.modernliberty.net

Real Terrorists.

Are you afraid yet?

This may be one of the last legal videos we see of police harrassing UK citizens.

More about the reasons in various places:

Various Philosophies of Cynicism

The Register

Henry Porter at The Guardian

UK Liberty

Are you afraid yet?

The Convention on Modern Liberty

The Convention on Modern Liberty.

The You Tube Channel.

Are you afraid yet?

Just days to go before photographing a policeman will become illegal and get you ten years.

There is just a few days to go before taking a photograph of a policeman becomes illegal.

I predict the first arrest under these new powers will take place in around 6 weeks time on or around the 1st April.

This is about the amount of time it will take for the example of fear and control being set by the Cabinet to seep down through the zealous and bureaucratic ranks of the uniformed faceless, that no one with a camera on the streets of the UK is to be trusted; they are all liars and terrorists; or if they're not now they soon will be if we give them an inch.

There is a protest planned for 11am Monday 16th February.

"The forthcoming protest called by professional, amateur and political activist Photographers will highlight several of the Labour government's repressive policies, which afflict normal, law abiding people's rights and freedoms, without producing any tangible "security" benefit against terrorists or criminals."

Also more info and details via Mark Thomas.

Are you afraid yet?

Carry a 'Stop and Search' card - just in case.

Via the inestimable Mark Thomas comes this 'Stop and Search' card for use if you are.

Go to Mark Thomas or The Guardian to download a .pdf of the card.



Remember the UK State is now randomly stopping citizens pretty much anywhere they want. If you are 'close to a "government establishment"' as was Tony Ben the other day it is more likely to happen than not.

Are you afraid yet?

Let the War on Hypocrisy begin.

The title is a quote from a recent post by the inestimable Henry Porter when announcing the Convention on Modern Liberty which was launched last week.

We have just seen the unintended consequence of unnecessary, unlawful (sic) and badly drawn up legislation in the tragic and sad death of Andy Miller from Accrington who owed £60 for speeding and was forced to a cash point by bailiffs who told him "... he had to make a payment, otherwise they would bring a delivery van and locksmith. ... they said they would get into the property and take goods and there was nothing he could do about it."

This law was probably brought in for some other reason than killing citizens who owed £60 for speeding, but like hundreds of other laws sneaked in without debate or discussion, almost in secret by the Executive, the top echelons of Government, the Cabinet, it will kill us; it will make us fear for our safety; it will make us fear our Rulers and it will make us want to fight back.

The Convention on Modern Liberty is the first high profile movement concerned with fighting the overpowering attacks on our fundamental rights and freedoms being perpetrated by this most repressive of State machines and deserves your support.

The Convention comes hot on the heels of an increasingly vocal outrage against the fear-mongering which is slithering out from the UK Parliament, voiced by the likes of NO2ID, Liberal Conspiracy, Henry Porter and the Liberal Democrats amongst many.

This fight has become necessary by the heavy handed degree of State power, control and repression now available to almost any bureaucrat in the UK which is frightening, and if you're not frightened you're asleep.

I find it hard to believe but I'm frightened of this State, and I loath the fact that I need to think about defending democracy, with all its faults, against my very own Government who appear to have forgotten why they are there.But defence of democracy is our task, not the Governments which is why we need to act in whatever way we can.
I resent the fact that I am 'wasting' my valuable time defending something, Liberty and Democracy, whilst the Mother of all Parliaments swaggers and staggers into any of the holes they are busy digging and I am staggered that this Government have quite casually lost the heart and mind of at least one white, middle class, male, well educated citizen.

In the small arc of voices publicly raised in support of our fundamental rights and freedoms mine is very small and I'm sorry if I veer towards the sarcastic/ironic end of the spectrum rather than the reasoned/reasonable end but that's how it seems to be.

Support The Convention on Modern Freedom. Support NO2ID. Support the Libral Democrats. Support Liberty and make your voice heard however frightening that first step may be.

Thank you for reading.