Everything Hurts

How To Prevent A Recession

Ready?

*drum roll*

Switch off TV & Radio. Don’t read newspapers.

Simple isn’t it? You know I’m right.

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Barack Obama

A More Perfect Union

Largest Rally Yet

Recent Campaign Announcement

Yes We Can Music Video

@0806241008

David Davis Resignation Speech

“The name of my constituency is Haltemprice and Howden. Haltemprice is derived from the medieval proverb meaning ‘noble endeavour’. Up until yesterday I took the view that what we did in the House of Commons representing our constituents was a noble endeavour because for centuries our forebears defended the freedoms of the British people – or we did, up until yesterday.

“This Sunday is the anniversary of the Magna Carta, the document that guarantees that most fundamental of British freedoms, habeas corpus, the right not to be imprisoned by the state without charge or reason. Yesterday this House decided to allow the state to lock up potentially innocent citizens for up to six weeks without charge.

“The counterterrorism bill will in all probability be rejected by the House of Lords very firmly. What should they be there for if not to defend the Magna Carta. But because the impetus behind this is essentially political not security the government will be tempted to use the Parliament Act to overrule the Lords. It has no democratic mandate to do this since 42 days was not in the manifesto. Its legal basis is uncertain to say the least. But purely for political reasons this government’s going to do that.

“In truth 42 days is just one, perhaps the most salient example, of the insidious, surreptitious and relentless erosion of fundamental British freedoms.

“We will have shortly the most intrusive identity card system in the world. A CCTV camera for every 14 citizens, a DNA database bigger than any dictatorship has, with thousands of innocent children and a million innocent citizens on it. We’ve witnessed an assault on jury trials, that bulwark against bad law and its arbitrary abuse by the state, shortcuts for our justice system that make our justice system neither firm nor fair, and the creation of a database state, opening up our private lives to the prying eyes of official snoopers and exposing our personal data to careless civil servants and criminal hackers.

“The state has security powers to clamp down on peaceful protests and so-called hate laws which stifle debate, while those who serve violence get off scot-free. This cannot go on, it must be stopped and for that reason today I feel it is incumbent on me to take a stand.

“I will be resigning my membership of this House and I intend to force a by-election in Haltemprice and Howden. I will not fight it on the government’s general record; there is no point repeating Crewe and Nantwich. I will fight it on my personal record. I am just a piece in this great chess game. I will fight it. I will argue this by-election against the slow strangulation of fundamental British freedoms by this government. That may mean I have made my last speech to the House, possible. And of course that would be a cause of deep regret to me. But at least my electorate and the nation as a whole would have had the opportunity to debate and consider one of the most fundamental issues of our day. The ever-intrusive power of the state into our lives, the loss of privacy, the loss of freedom If they do send me back here, it will be with a single, simple message. That the monstrosity of al aw that we passed yesterday will not stand.”

@0806121006

Too Much To Ask For?

Apparently, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown responds directly (by telephone, no less) to members of the public who write to him. In addition, he also responds to questions via YouTube.

If I were a cynical person, I might think that all of this was just a clever PR exercise to make our PM look like he’s in touch with the common man.

But I digress.

To be honest, I’d rather our fearless leader spent his every waking moment trying to find ways to dig us out of the economic shithole we’re all in, rather than wasting precious time responding to inane individuals with nothing better to do.

Having said that, I suppose it is good to be able to have a discourse with your government leaders. In fact, I’m sure that any moment now, Gordon Brown is going to respond to the 4,772 people (and counting) who have signed a petition I created last year on the UK Government website requesting a clarification of the law surrounding photography in public places. To not do so would make him appear a hypocrite, wouldn’t it?

A new police poster campaign further highlights the divide between the law, and the interpretation of it by those who enforce it. As Bruce Schneier from The Guardian recently wrote:

“The 9/11 terrorists didn’t photograph anything. Nor did the London transport bombers, the Madrid bombers, or the liquid bombers arrested in 2006. Timothy McVeigh didn’t photograph the Oklahoma City Federal Building. The Unabomber didn’t photograph anything; neither did shoe-bomber Richard Reid. Photographs aren’t being found amongst the papers of Palestinian suicide bombers. The IRA wasn’t known for its photography. Even those manufactured terrorist plots that the US government likes to talk about — the Ft. Dix terrorists, the JFK airport bombers, the Miami 7, the Lackawanna 6 — no photography.”

I couldn’t have put it better myself. Top police chiefs have stated they want to return to “common sense policing”. Does this sound like common sense?

Do we really believe that all terrorists care about is blowing things up, including themselves? If so, why would they care about CCTV cameras and escape routes? In reality, terrorism is really all about psychology and creating change through fear.

The Government would love for us to believe that everyone is a potential terrorist, distracting us from the important issues, but when you look at the numbers, it really puts things in perspective.

They have already shown that they love to watch and control us. The scary thing is that “terrorism” has given them new reasons to justify both.

@0806110328

iPhone 2.0

Apple just conquered the world yesterday (the world just doesn’t realise it yet). Garmin & TomTom have new reasons to be worried this morning. Also, Nintendo, should careful not to dismiss the iPhone as a potential to challenge their dominance in the mobile gaming market. Though I imagine the worst affected will be Research in Motion (Blackberry) and pretty much every other major mobile handset manufacturer.

Strangely though, I still won’t be buying one. Cost is no longer the governing issue, instead I find myself asking why would I need one?

I have full internet access at both work and home, and between those places I am usually at the wheel driving. My existing Nokia 1100 phone works great (and I have two in reserve for when it breaks). My iPod 80GB isn’t about to be superceded, my TomTom gets me from A to B just fine, and my camera certainly will never face stiff competition from iPhone.

So for me, it’s a toy. A hugely competent one, yes, but right now there are better things for me to be spending my hard earned money on.

@0806100828

Powers of Ten

Powers of Ten is still as enthralling to watch today, as when it was first released in 1977 over 30 years ago.

@0805251201

Weekday Tiredness

It’s the strangest phenomenon. On weekdays when I have to go to work, I can barely wake up in the mornings. It takes a monumental effort to get out of bed, and generally speaking I am tired throughout the whole day. During the week, I tend to go to bed around midnight, and get up around 7.45am.

Then comes the weekend when I tend to go to bed later (1am or so), yet my body clock regularly wakes me up around 5.30am on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I don’t feel the same tiredness that I do during the week, and I have this urge to get out of bed and get on with my day.

What the hell is up with that?

@0805030715