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Some Rights May Have To Be 'Eroded' For Safety

Turn-X Alphonse writes "The BBC is reporting on a speech given by the head of MI5 in the UK. Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller claims in the future some civil rights may have to 'erode', in order to keep everyone in the country safe from terrorism." From the article: "MI5 has recently let it be known that it is in favour of making telephone intercept evidence admissible in court. Previously the intelligence and security services had expressed concern such that evidence might reveal operational details. Meanwhile, Home Secretary Charles Clarke has been calling for EU states to keep mobile phone and e-mail records for longer, to help fight terrorism and crime."

11 of 665 comments (clear)

  1. Mr $100 by emidln · · Score: 4, Informative

    You know, there was a crazy american towards the end of the 18th century that seems to have been quoted about this...

    Then again, his countrymen don't seem to take him seriously, so why should anyone else?

  2. Re:Personal Responsibility by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    I don't see how personal responsibility can save me from being blown up.

    Have you actually RTFA? She's not calling for diminished civil liberties. She's calling for public debate. Treating it as some sort of taboo subject that must not be discussed is just as bad as assuming that diminished civil liberties are a necessity.

  3. Re:The laws are worse than the terrorists. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative
    Terrorism is a insignificant problem, 3000+ at the world trade center,
    It's no surprise because the media doesn't do its job properly but you're still using the erroneous figure of "3000+". That was the total the propaganda machine catapulted whilst it suited the Government but the actual figure is significantly lower. Not a great deal lower but significantly so.

    http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/10/29/wtc.dea ths/
  4. Re:US Heading in same direction. by SLi · · Score: 1, Informative

    Hitler card, you lose.

    No but seriously, it's not like they talk about the state but the human life being the highest priority.

    While I myself agree that any move towards a police state is a bad thing, please try to be even correct. :P

  5. Re:The War On Poverty by aaronl · · Score: 2, Informative

    Remember that we don't need cars. All the US is just like Europe types, and environmentalists that don't actually think, say so. They could've just used public transit to get out, because cars are bad, mmmkay.

    Anyway, enough of that.

    There are so many things that went wrong about this hurricane. Busses and trains should have been kept running to the last minute, getting people out. Hell, if the companies are that greedy and uncaring about human life, then use some of that disaster money to pay them for the rides, or simply force the infrastructure to keep operation and free of charge. That's happened before for good reason.

    Next would be to get FEMA, and all those other idiots, to get out of these people's way. Let people leave, don't imprison them. Allow the donations, volunteers, and corporations to aid. You had Walmart donating trucks and trucks of supplies, and they were barred access by the government. You have people dying because they're forced to stay in the Superdome.

    The reason the hurrican devestated the area so much was because the government didn't spend their tax revenue on what it is supposed to be for.

    Most of the problems were *caused* by the government. There was ample time to get most of the residents out of there, had the government done what they are supposed to. There would less death and suffering, right now, this very minute, if the government got their collective heads out of their asses.

  6. Re:bombs on train tracks... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    "To place a bomb and not report it, if people are injured or die and you get caught, its the death sentence, no if ands or buts about it."

    I think someone was winding you up - No EU state has the death penalty.

  7. Re:Personal Responsibility by uncqual · · Score: 1, Informative
    I've never actually met a Libertarian

    Ah, be a sport, invite a Libertarian into your basement sometime - if your parents will let you.

    It's remarkable that you have never met a Libertarian - you must live a pretty sheltered life - which may explain your closed minded response and your toddler like (or sociopathic) desire to punch someone for "fun". (I don't know how you would know that you never have, but I'll have to take your word for it.) Branch out and meet more people -- I've met Communists, Socialists, Green Party members, Peace and Freedom Party members, Republicans, Democrats, and others. Engaging in conversation and debate with these people is really useful. I recognize that it may shatter your world to actually consider others views rather than simply dismiss them as "stupid", but you probably should grow up sometime and join the adult world.

    I honestly think it would be fun to just up and punch him (or her) in the mouth and drive him to the ground, with no warning or discussion.

    By the way, if you do meet a Libertarian and are unable to control your childish impulses, I suggest you might want to rethink the order in which you assault them. Keep in mind that Libertarians don't think that the Second Amendment is an accidental ink splotch on a scrap of paper called the Constitution here in the States. Also, keep in mind that Libertarians believe in personal responsibility and the right to defend themselves. Thus you may want to spit first (most people won't kill you for that) and sucker punch second -- otherwise you may never get the chance to exercise that ever so sophisticated and intellectually stimulating act of spitting.

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    Why is there an "insightful" mod and why isn't it "-1"? If I wanted insight, I wouldn't be reading /.
  8. Re:The laws are worse than the terrorists. by swiftstream · · Score: 2, Informative

    Gun deaths are the same thing: not visible, so ignored.

    You obviously didn't experience the sniper shootings in the DC area a few years ago. I used to live a couple miles from and went shopping at the shopping center where one of the shootings took place. Though I moved a couple months earlier, I still had many friends in the area, and those "gun deaths" were anything but ignored!

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    Be a PATRIOT--because the only thing we have to fear is the lack thereof.
  9. Re:Prevalence is no justification by drakaan · · Score: 2, Informative
    There's plenty you can do. The fact is that if 50% of the population decided against the top 1%, they'd be done. That's 50% of everybody, though , not just 50% of everybody that gives a damn.

    Apathy is the word of the day. It's a creeping, sublime disease that permeates the psyche of more people in the US every day. Very occasionally, (9/11/01, more recently in the early days of the hurricane flooding), large numbers of people awaken from their malaise, and try to do something...feel like taking action...for a while.

    So many people fail to get involved and fail to feel the need to get involved (what difference am I going to make, anyway, it's all done behind closed doors, money talks, etc, etc.), that they royally fuck up the system.

    So, your government doesn't represent you, and you feel as if you have no voice? How much of the voting-age population feels that way? A bit over 40 percent would be my guess...maybe closer to 70 percent *feel* that way (the 30% that voted for the guy that lost, plus the 40% that didn't bother voting). The only solution is to go out and fill out a ballot when given the opportunity to do so.

    I definitely don't do it on every issue, but I definitely *do* vote on issues that I feel are important, or where I want my voice to be heard. I talk to friends about things, and let them know why I feel a certain way. I ask people what they think about different issues.

    Most people really don't care. They just don't. Either it's too much work to think about, or they are embarrassed that they haven't read more, or they go with whatever the newspapers, TV, or talk-radio tell them to think.

    We have exactly the government we've asked for. We pay nearly no attention to it, unless there's some supremely obvious benefit or detriment to us personally. Like mold, it grows in the dark, while we ignore it on one hand and wail about it being such a corrupt, stinking mess on the other.

    The problem is not corruption, that's a symptom. The problem is not our percieved lack of representation, that's a symptom, too. The problem is as simple as one boring word that 40 percent or more of the voting-age population in the US needs to look up and understand intimately.

    The problem is apathy.

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    "Murphy was an optimist" - O'Toole's commentary on Murphy's Law
  10. Re:Personal Responsibility by Pete+(big-pete) · · Score: 2, Informative

    To be fair, I think they only condone shooting commuters that ignore repeated warnings to stop, happen to be seriously overdressed for the weather, and are heading for recently-bombed commuter trains at a high rate of speed...

    Okay - it's a very late reply, so you'll probably be the only one to read this, but I suggest you read some of the more recent reports of what happened, such as this one.

    A choice quote is:

    The documents and photographs confirm that Jean Charles was not carrying any bags, and was wearing a denim jacket, not a bulky winter coat, as had previously been claimed.
    He was behaving normally, and did not vault the barriers, even stopping to pick up a free newspaper.
    He started running when we saw a tube at the platform. Police had agreed they would shoot a suspect if he ran.

    -- Pete.

  11. Re:Personal Responsibility by MysteriousPreacher · · Score: 2, Informative

    I heard about this CCTV footage. I was wondering, has the footage been made available or have the police agreed with this new version of the events?

    It'll be interesting to see the final results of the investigation since we've clearly got two very different sets of eye-witness reports.

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    -- Using the preview button since 2005