Completing the Political Compass Iconochasms quiz led me to a 2005 article in the Guardian: George Churchill-Coleman, who headed Scotland Yard’s anti-terrorist squad as they worked to counter the IRA during their mainland attacks in the late 1980s and early 1990s, said Mr Clarke’s proposals to extend powers, such as […]
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Times Online – Drivers will have no escape from new speed cameras
From the Times: Clusters of speed cameras that will monitor drivers’ average speed on all routes across a wide area are to be deployed on hundreds of roads next year. It will be impossible to evade detection because the digital cameras will cover every entry and exit point and, unlike […]
Read MoreThe Republicans and the Democrats
People occasionally ask me how the Democrats and Republicans relate to our own parties. To the extent that they do and simplistically, the Democrats are of the left and the Republicans are of the right. However, if you look at The Political Compass, you find that the main candidates are […]
Read MoreSkype spies give pause for thought in China – Times Online
Chinese Skype users had been delighted to find a way to circumvent their state panopticon, until they found Skype’s Chinese partner had been archiving politically-sensitive words and messages. Back on May 20, the Times reported plans for the UK’s own phone, email and web browsing database. Time we woke up? […]
Read MoreBritish liberty, mapped
Found here: View Larger Map read more | digg story
Read MoreTelegraph: “Police will keep driving records for five years”
According to the Telegraph: Police plan to map all journeys made by drivers on major roads and store the data for five years. A national network of roadside cameras will be able to read 50 million number plates each day enabling officers to reconstruct the movements of motorists. In one […]
Read MoreNUJ protest restrictions on photography in public places
“Collateral Damage”, a video by the National Union of Journalists: More here: Speaking after the TUC vote, NUJ General Secretary Jeremy Dear said: “Journalism is facing grave threats in an age of intolerance. Whilst on the streets dissent is being criminalized, independent journalism is being increasingly caught in the civil […]
Read MoreEU plan: The rise and rise of the securocrats
The creation of an EU-US common security area by 2014 and “convergence” on surveillance and data gathering, redefining “home affairs” as a matter of EU internal security. This story is reported at least by the Telegraph and the Guardian. The original leaked report is here. To say the least, I […]
Read MoreWhy not spy on your neighbours?
According to the Telegraph: Advertisements looking for people to sign up for the unpaid “environmental volunteer” jobs have been posted across the country in recent months. Critics said the scheme is encouraging a Big Brother society where friends and neighbours will be encouraged to “snoop” on one another. A network […]
Read More“Anti-terror laws hold kid boozers”
According to the Mirror, thirty under-age drinkers have been arrested by police using anti-terrorist legislation which addresses the misrepresentation of documents for ID purposes. Inspector Neil Mutch in Sheffield, South Yorks, said: It is one way of trying to keep kids out of clubs. The act was brought out for […]
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