Monday 12 January 2009
Update . .
I see that a Downing Street Petition has been started to object to the spying proposal without warrant. If you want to sign it you can do so HERE
Big Brother hits Rock Bottom
This from blog.wired.com on January 05, 2009
"The UK's Home Office is supporting a proposal that would allow British police or MI5 agents to hack home, office and other private computers without a warrant to intercept e-mail traffic and monitor a user's other computer activities.
The proposal, initiated by the European Union council of ministers, calls for British police to install spyware on personal computers at the request of other European nations that suspect UK residents of involvement in criminal activity".
I have long since ceased to be surprised by the total disregard the Home Office shows for personal privacy and individual rights - indeed all of government for that matter - but what is really bewildering about this is that it appears to be at the behest of the EU. I have absolutely no problem with law enforcement agents using all the technology at their disposal to track child molesters, terrorists or criminal masterminds - and this authority is only supposed to be available if the people being monitored are suspected of offences punishable by three years inside or more.
What is really deeply disturbing about this is the lack of judicial supervision. It speaks volumes about the way this has been carefully preplanned to be open to abuse. The law of conspiracy kills the three year safeguard stone dead. It is a licence to spy on anything and anybody. But far worse than that, it is a clear indication that there is one thing government fears more than anything else - accountability. Why else would the Home Office proposal bypass judicial scrutiny? Because, like the criminals they claim to be watching, the one thing they really fear is justice. When society has reached the point where government is afraid of the judiciary, it has sunk about as low as it can go.
(Read the whole piece HERE)
"The UK's Home Office is supporting a proposal that would allow British police or MI5 agents to hack home, office and other private computers without a warrant to intercept e-mail traffic and monitor a user's other computer activities.
The proposal, initiated by the European Union council of ministers, calls for British police to install spyware on personal computers at the request of other European nations that suspect UK residents of involvement in criminal activity".
I have long since ceased to be surprised by the total disregard the Home Office shows for personal privacy and individual rights - indeed all of government for that matter - but what is really bewildering about this is that it appears to be at the behest of the EU. I have absolutely no problem with law enforcement agents using all the technology at their disposal to track child molesters, terrorists or criminal masterminds - and this authority is only supposed to be available if the people being monitored are suspected of offences punishable by three years inside or more.
What is really deeply disturbing about this is the lack of judicial supervision. It speaks volumes about the way this has been carefully preplanned to be open to abuse. The law of conspiracy kills the three year safeguard stone dead. It is a licence to spy on anything and anybody. But far worse than that, it is a clear indication that there is one thing government fears more than anything else - accountability. Why else would the Home Office proposal bypass judicial scrutiny? Because, like the criminals they claim to be watching, the one thing they really fear is justice. When society has reached the point where government is afraid of the judiciary, it has sunk about as low as it can go.
(Read the whole piece HERE)
Wednesday 7 January 2009
New Year Blues
It is seriously cold here in Budapest - and possibly about to get a whole lot colder. This is not a weather forecast. Natural gas is the fuel of choice for large numbers of people for heating. It is clean, relatively environmentally friendly and it works. Works, that is, until a bunch of idiots somewhere a long way east of here decide to play politics with it. It is interesting to see the elaborate exchanges of rhetoric between Kiev and Moscow about who is to blame but they are playing a very dangerous game indeed. Their problem is that the gas has been bought and paid for. It is fair to say that we do not particularly care who is to blame. We want it fixed and we want it fixed now. Medium term, Europe will undoubtedly seek alternative sources (Turkey has already done a deal with Iran). Long term, we will move to more credible and environmentally friendly solutions. Russia will lose business either way and if it transpires that Ukraine has been ripping off the western supply, they can wave goodbye to any credibility as a candidate for EU membership. Time, I think, for them to sort it out.
In the meantime, we observe what the good judges meant at Nuremberg when they said 'never again'. They meant never again - unless it is in the defence of Israel. The argument is that something has to be done to stop Hamas from lobbing rockets into Israel. Amen to that. What the argument does not say is that it is OK to indiscriminately target civilians in this or any other conflict. The Israelis will, of course, deny that they are doing this but the bottom line is that 40 civilians in a UN school compound do not die unnecessarily unless someone takes the decision that civilians do not matter when wider political issues are at stake. Nothing may have been learned at Nuremberg but a great deal was learned from the Nazi persecution of civilians. They learned how to do it.
Talking of the democratic process, I note that Britain's descent into mediocrity and confusion continues apace. Mr. Brown and his fellow deluded control freaks continue to believe - in the face of all evidence to the contrary - that creating a siege mentality by encouraging a climate of fear will somehow save the Union. Ironic that the one thing New Labour might just be able to claim credit for (although all the donkey work was done by the previous government) is the Northern Ireland peace agreement. Now they risk undermining the whole thing with ridiculous internal border controls. The one remaining hope for the Union is federation. I suspect the SNP is about to lead the way towards an end to the union and once that process has started, it will become unstoppable. All strength to their arm, say I. In the meantime, a cloud of uncertainty continues to hover over it's component parts - all that is except Northern Ireland where 'the future is bright, the future is orange'.
This rambling post might suggest that there is nothing much to be cheerful about for the New Year but I have hopes. A decent turnout for the EU parliamentary elections, a major breakthrough for the SNP and a new dawning in Washington might - just might - turn it all around but I am not optimistic. A general election in the UK would raise a smile though. Time to go Gordon.
Special thanks to PTTP for his greeting, warmly reciprocated
In the meantime, we observe what the good judges meant at Nuremberg when they said 'never again'. They meant never again - unless it is in the defence of Israel. The argument is that something has to be done to stop Hamas from lobbing rockets into Israel. Amen to that. What the argument does not say is that it is OK to indiscriminately target civilians in this or any other conflict. The Israelis will, of course, deny that they are doing this but the bottom line is that 40 civilians in a UN school compound do not die unnecessarily unless someone takes the decision that civilians do not matter when wider political issues are at stake. Nothing may have been learned at Nuremberg but a great deal was learned from the Nazi persecution of civilians. They learned how to do it.
Talking of the democratic process, I note that Britain's descent into mediocrity and confusion continues apace. Mr. Brown and his fellow deluded control freaks continue to believe - in the face of all evidence to the contrary - that creating a siege mentality by encouraging a climate of fear will somehow save the Union. Ironic that the one thing New Labour might just be able to claim credit for (although all the donkey work was done by the previous government) is the Northern Ireland peace agreement. Now they risk undermining the whole thing with ridiculous internal border controls. The one remaining hope for the Union is federation. I suspect the SNP is about to lead the way towards an end to the union and once that process has started, it will become unstoppable. All strength to their arm, say I. In the meantime, a cloud of uncertainty continues to hover over it's component parts - all that is except Northern Ireland where 'the future is bright, the future is orange'.
This rambling post might suggest that there is nothing much to be cheerful about for the New Year but I have hopes. A decent turnout for the EU parliamentary elections, a major breakthrough for the SNP and a new dawning in Washington might - just might - turn it all around but I am not optimistic. A general election in the UK would raise a smile though. Time to go Gordon.
Special thanks to PTTP for his greeting, warmly reciprocated
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