Hurly Burly

Report anything unusual, or suspect-looking, you say?

There are several suspicious-looking (unmarked, one rented) vans and people-carriers sitting around outside my house, hovering on double yellows, with various burly-looking blokes in them.

I'd be tempted to report them, if I didn't know they were Police.

No heckling, no photos. Just sit and clap, please.

How to piss off your own party members. Good job, boys. Dem terrorrists sure are pesky.

Regarding seizure of media footage, I've heard some thoughts before about schemes such as wireless-enabled cameras to send data remotely asap. There are definitely a wireless camera or two out there, but nothing that does it automatically, AFAIK. Anyone have any hints or tips?

Update, 30th Sep: Well, Blair and Straw have apologised now that Wolfgang (suspected terrorist) has become a national hero - it's amazing what a little press coverage can do. No such grace, however, for the 600 innocent people stopped and searched throughout the conference*, or for the various local people getting arrested for bearing anti-blair slogans, under the anti-terrorism act, no less.

Hecklers, protestors and people doing nothing are all terrorists now. This turned into a comedy farce a while ago.

* An unmissable quote from the police spokeswoman:

"By definition, many totally innocent people going about their normal lawful business will be stopped and checked," she said. "This is what creates the deterrent for terrorists."

There's definitely a push for the norm to become a population of innocent people prepared to put up with whatever crap the police push onto them. The true effects of this continue to go unquestioned.

60 days for disturbing the reality.

Curious. A man has been jailed for 60 days after showing someone one of the Iraq beheadings videos via his mobile phone.

The magistrate told Younis: "I struggle to understand why you had images on your phone entailing the death and degradation of another human being, regardless of their religion or race.

Personally, I hate the phrase "I don't understand why..." - if lack of understanding stands behind our criminal system, then our judicial system is considerably more pre-Enlightenment than I had been led to believe.

The problem in this case, perhaps, is that there currently exists a very fine line between sensationalism, distressing images, and political/moral resourcing. There are also, for instance, various videos of military helicopters bombing and gunning down people, widely available. This line between the Disney-esque illusion of "clean", faraway wars, and the very gritty, very disturbing reality of a violent battleground is in some ways thicker than ever, thanks to a media landscape based on political agenda and consumer-friendliness, and a self-spun cocoon to separate our Western lives from harsh truths. The "distressing" pictures we get to see tend to be rather censored, and in a broadcast scenario with many people watching, perhaps that's a good thing.

But it also leaves us unprepared. And without the shocks of a violent world, how are we placed to judge whether the political decision to go to war is really justified? How can we arrive at an informed opinion if the only arguments we have are political, hypothetical, intangible, and our sphere of understanding lacks any sense of physical pain, and the plight, torment, or hostility of the people involved?

Everyone agrees that the first world war was a terrible thing. But all the remembrance ceremonies, poppies and poetry in the world have never made such an impression on me, never made me think about what war really is, as much as a black and white photo in my history text book depicting the corpse of a soldier attached muddily to a barn-wire fence.

We are adults, we should be acting as adults. Some times, we need to face up to what is really happening in the world. 60 days in jail, for a misunderstanding during a political discussion, highlights where we are in terms of what we want to be shocked by (reailty TV, usually), and what we often just want to sweep under the carpet - but that in actual fact represents the effects of choices we make every day.

Or perhaps if we know what war truly is, we won't be so supportive of it next time?

(Side note: This post written just metres from the PM himself, I believe.)

Fringe Meeting in Brighton, this evening

Oops, a little late in bringing it up, but there's a NO2ID-organised fringe meeting this evening in Brighton, in amongst all the others.

Address is Brighthelm Auditorium, North Road. 7.30-8pm. Speakers aren't listed on the above link, but the Rt Hon Clare Short's on the panel, for sure. Have't got a leaflet one me now, so can't tell you who the others are. Rumours are that Home Office ID Honcho Andy Burnham will be turning up as well, so could be a good one.

Looking nervous is crime enough

The Guardian had it on Thursday, SpyBlog and BoingBoing covered it... still, it's worth another mention to flag just how dangerous stepping outside your own front door is these days. And not from terrorists...

Ordinary man arrested on tube

So many people are still under the illusion that the police will be careful about who they arrest. The death of De Menezes woke them up a little, but all that's changed is that people get Tazered instead of shot. It's pretty clear now that any kind of suspicion is sufficient for detaining someone.

Write to your MP, start kicking up a fuss about shit like this. Shatter people's illusions.

N.B. The incident took place on July 28th. Curious that the Guardian don't make that clear until halfway through the article. This was still less than a week after the shooting of De Menezes.

A climate of terror

The prime minister told the United Nations yesterday that its failure to agree a tough line against the environment had only strengthened the forces of nature.

Tony Blair ... used his speech to warn world leaders that they would only defeat the devastating might of the planet when their determination and unity matched the single-minded will of "a global weather system hell-bent on destruction".

He said: "Hurricanes, tsunamis and rapidly-spreading plagues will not be defeated until our determination to prosper is as complete as theirs, our defence of living as we want as absolute as their lust for death, our passion for progress as great as their passion for regression."

The BBC report that

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) said any attempts to "disrupt essential goods and services that rely on oil" would be met by "firm action" from police forces.

The Guardian goes into a little more depth:

If the situation deteriorates the government can invoke powers under the Civil Contingencies Act, brought in after the 2000 protests to give police more muscle against protesters.

Once emergency laws to protect or restore the fuel supply are in place police powers could be "limitless", according to the Cabinet Office. In a worst case scenario, this might include calling in troops.
...
A spokesman for [ACPO] said: "We have a raft of legislation to deal with this."

The morning bulletin from ePolitix (I can't find a copy on the site yet) has a slightly more specific take on it:

The Army plans to use heavy vehicles to remove blockading lorries and the government could use anti-terror laws to stop the country being held to ransom by the protesters.

(My emphasis, naturally.)

Exclusion Zones, 2 is a crowd... Has the ability to protest (/argue) under our democracy died out yet?

Update, 15 Sep: A little old to warrant a new post, but also relevant here. Spyblog reports on 6 NO2ID protestors being arrested whilst they drove to a European summit, on "suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal damage" (my emph again).

Miscellanea

Mostly caught up after being sans news for a couple of weeks. A few quick links...

Seems like the Blairite God complex is in full swing again, as he starts demanding cash to ake people respect each other. In any sensical universe, the idea that you can solve deep emotional problems through financial motivation/punishment and strong-arm techniques would be one met with loud, echo-ey laughter. Only in the UK could it be used to actually try and gain public popularity. The moronic state of affairs is summed up best, I feel, by a quote from this BBC article:

Mr Blair dismissed accusations of a "nanny state".

"People need to understand that if their kids are out of control and they are causing a nuisance to the local community, there is something that is going to happen," he said.

I'm sure I remember my nanny saying something very similar to me. Still. More commentary on this to come.

Back on ID Cards, Dr Emily Finch talks to a career criminal and recognises (quite rightly) that the technology is generally not the problem in any system - the human is.

"What fraudsters know about is human nature."

Criminals adapt. Humans are fallible. Are we so naive as to think otherwise?

Finally, the Independent has an interview with Lord Falconer, in which Mr Blair's former room-mate steps around politically sensitive questions, and makes a quick jab at the host paper about the issue of trust vs Iraq.

"There were very, very profound disagreements in parts of society about that particular policy, in particular in The Independent newspaper," he says. "That there was disagreement about that issue should not lead to a corrosion in trust. Plainly those who disagree with us on Iraq do not in any way forfeit our trust, and it should be visa versa."

Hmm, I trust the cabinet less after Iraq because I felt they deliberately fed me poor arguments and patronising information, and refused to listen to any counter discussion. Nothing seems to have changed too much, either.