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British Civil Liberties Film Released

An anonymous reader sends us to a BBC article about a British film likely to attract the attention of civil liberties supporters. The film, Taking Liberties , is a documentary about eroding civil liberties in present-day Britain. It will be showing in cinemas in major cities across the UK starting next weekend. From the article: "Director Chris Atkins wants Taking Liberties to shake the British public out of their apathy over what he sees as the dangerous erosion of traditional rights and freedoms. 'This film uses shock tactics. We needed to be unashamedly populist... Once you give up traditional liberties such as free speech and the right to protest you are not going to easily get them back,' says Atkins."

282 comments

  1. I'll take back some of my liberties... by A+beautiful+mind · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...and just download this documentary. It sounds interesting.

    --
    It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
    Be yourself no matter what they say
    1. Re:I'll take back some of my liberties... by Von+Helmet · · Score: 1

      Pray tell, what liberty is there to download films illegally? Or are we operating under Slash-Law where it's your inalienable right to enjoy everything for free?

    2. Re:I'll take back some of my liberties... by aussie_a · · Score: 1

      Some believe that it shouldn't be against the law to use things for personal use without adhering to a license or paying for it. This belief, I believe, is starting to gain mainstream awareness in Sweeden, so it isn't simply "Slash-Law."

    3. Re:I'll take back some of my liberties... by aussie_a · · Score: 1

      What I mean by personal use is non-commercial use.

    4. Re:I'll take back some of my liberties... by arkhan_jg · · Score: 1

      Free speech laws. I (should) have the right to speak freely, whether it's actual speech, text, or video. This includes the right to publish anything in my possession, even if someone else first recorded it.
      I can tell stories around the campfire, even if I'm not the original author.

      Copyright removes my free speech right, and grants exclusive rights to make copies of a work to the author for a limited period, in order to encourage more authors creating for the public domain. Except it's not the author benefiting, it's the media companies taking all the money, and the bargain of limited exclusivity before the work enters the public domain has been broken by media company lobbying. As long as disney exists, nothing will ever enter the public domain again from copyright expiration.

      Far as I'm concerned, all published works enter the public domain immediately, instead of the 200 odd years its now supposed to be. Hey, they broke the bargain first. You think that's unfair? Well, fix copyright so its fair to authors AND the public domain INSTEAD of just a money making method for middlemen.

      --
      Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.
    5. Re:I'll take back some of my liberties... by Von+Helmet · · Score: 1

      Fine, so you can pay to watch the film, then tell everyone about it. That about fits your campfire metaphor, right?

    6. Re:I'll take back some of my liberties... by Arthur+B. · · Score: 1

      First of all, liberty has nothing to do with legality. The fact that it is "illegal" to download films is completely irrelevant.

      The question is: am I invading someone's property when I download music, am I breaking a contract ? While it is definitely wrong to copy a CD when the license prohibits you to do so, once it is released on P2P, this license does not bind any third party. Property is acquired through exchange or by transforming nature's resource with my work. It is justified because finite resources and products are scarce. There is however no such thing as scarce information, the only scarce things are information production (and I can make people pay for producing information or releasing it) and diffusion (in P2P people offer their bandwith for free)

      --
      \u262D = \u5350
  2. We needed to be unashamedly populist... by Threni · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Yes, but if you overdramatize it people will say "it's not that bad - most of those laws will never negatively affect my life" and whenever they hear about the issue in the future they'll think "Oh, I've considered that - I even saw a film about it once - but I've decided it's not really a problem".

    1. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by Original+Replica · · Score: 4, Insightful

      but I've decided it's not really a problem".

      Which is why political change usually comes in the form of War. Most people don't do anything about anything unless they see it as a problem that is costing them more than it would to address the problem. When it comes to regaining eroding freedoms, the cost of getting arrested at a real protest is too high for comfortable middle class folks. Only when things get bad enough that there is no "comfortable middle class" will the masses be likely to deal with the problem of bad government. By that time the only solution is civil war. When a government takes away your freedoms they don't willingly give them back.

      --
      We are all just people.
    2. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by ajanp · · Score: 1

      "it's not that bad - most of those laws will never negatively affect my life" I think that's the problem. People will never wake up to an issue or care to do anything about it until they are directly influenced by it. We all go about our daily lives despite the rampant deterioration of civil liberties, but until you get thrown into gitmo (at which point its probably too late anyways), you (or atleast most people) probably aren't going to take any active steps to make the situation better.

      I think that poem you hear quoted more often nowadays by the German anti-nazi activist Niemöller seems appropriate:

      First they came for the Jews
      and I did not speak out
      because I was not a Jew.
      Then they came for the Communists
      and I did not speak out
      because I was not a Communist.
      Then they came for the trade unionists
      and I did not speak out
      because I was not a trade unionist.
      Then they came for me
      and there was no one left
      to speak out for me.
      --
      File Deletion is Murder.
    3. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Which is why political change usually comes in the form of War.

      Just like in the Great Woman Wars, when the suffragettes fought their way, rifles in hand, to the ballot box, the Race Wars waged in the '50s under the careful, analytical and ruthless direction of Martin Luther King, and the Gay/Lesbian Guerrillas of the '70s(who still, of course, meet the Christian Right Crusaders in occasional skirmishes).

      Or perhaps there are other ways to change unjust systems in democracies? I'm painfully aware that democracy doesn't work as well as we'd like, but saying that a war is the "usual" way these changes happen seems either overly prematurely defeatist("We can't stop this from devolving into a war"), apathetic("I'm not going to do anything about this until it devolves into a war") or like a survivalist fantasy("Can't wait 'till the war!").
    4. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by Ash+Vince · · Score: 1

      Interesting that you put jews into the poem. The original never mentioned Jews at all.

      The other problem is the order. Hitler rounded up the communists first long before he had even looked at the Jews.
      After he dealt with the communists he moved on to the Gypsies. The Jews were actually the last victims of the holocaust, although they do probably make up the greatest number.

      Where did your version of the poem come from?

      --
      I dont read /. to RTFA, I read /. to offend people in ignorance.
    5. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by smittyoneeach · · Score: 1

      When a government takes away your freedoms they don't willingly give them back.
      What I find somewhat amusing about contemporary political dialogue from some quarters is that they are quick to make noises like "Chimpy McHitlerBush", and follow that up with some talk about universal health care.
      The Patriot Act and Department of Homeland Security, etc. etc. have had a net negative impact on individual freedom from interference. Deciding whether or not the tradeoff is worthwhile or suicidal is an exercise for the reader.
      But if they're going to protest Bush in good conscience, help me grasp why they turn around and want the federal government intruding with health care and other entitlements. If one is to believe articles such as this http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article260048 9.ece then the consensus doesn't seem in favor of the socialized future that some appear to favor for the US.
      Hats off to Massachusetts for passing their health care legislation. It is a no-kidding feature of these United States that there is a spectrum of policy, and people can simply go where they agree with the way things are done. Also, their votes compete with fewer opposers to their political expression. Furthermore, if the ideas don't pan out, then, hey: fewer citizens driven off the bridge. Or something.
      Thus, I'm contending that any economies of scale attained by concentrating power at the federal level are overshadowed by the suckiness of federally concentrated power.
      Policy might be better if were tested with questions like:
      • Does it minimize the tendency for excessive power to accumulate in DC?
      • Does it maximize individual responsibility and freedom?
      Let's have a strong states-rights tack in US politics--it's long overdue.
      --
      Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
    6. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by ajanp · · Score: 2, Informative
      I actually just googled "first they came" cause I didn't remember the exact wording and chose one of Niemoller's versions, but I guess there are actually a bunch of different variations on that poem. The translation of the original german poem (according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came...) says the original order is communists, social democrats, trade unionists, me (no jews mentioned).

      Although other versions mentioned are from the New England Holocaust Memorial -> communists, jews, trade unionists, catholics, me. A version in Time Magazine says Communists, Jews, Catholics, me. Apparently there have been a number of versions/ translations of this poem since it was originally made, but it seems like you're right since most of the versions seem to mention communists before jews (and some of them don't even mention jews).

      Regardless of which version is used, I was just supporting the idea that often times, most people aren't motivated to take action until it's too late.

      --
      File Deletion is Murder.
    7. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by BeerCat · · Score: 1

      According to the Niemoller site, that version probably comes from the Congressional Record of 1968 (copy of text) , although there is an earlier citation from 1955.

      However, it does appear that there is no "correct" version, as Niemoller himself was wont to change the order to suit the audience.

      --
      "She's furniture with a pulse"
    8. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by Anonymous+McCartneyf · · Score: 1

      That Independent article didn't directly speak either way about socialism in Germany. The problems acknowledged were high taxes, low wages, and a large guest-worker program--and I imagine many of us could argue that America already reached that point itself, or will reach it soon if our president has any say.
      High taxes may be related to socialism, but that's not the only reason for high taxes. And I had never heard how low wages were related to socialism.
      Guest-worker programs aren't directly related to socialism: they are intended as a way for corps. to get cheap labor without annoying natives who don't want "foreigners" working up the social ladder. Socialism should be trying to make the cheap jobs appealing to natives, not importing workers that'll settle for the current conditions and making sure their standards don't rise.

      --
      There is a fine line between recklessness and courage... -- Paul McCartney
    9. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by MBraynard · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I think the start of the current version is 'First they came for the Islamic terrorists who were in the country illegally and making videos of their plans to kill the people in the rest of this poem.'

    10. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by smittyoneeach · · Score: 1

      You're right; the link was less than explicit between Socialism and people ejecting from Germany.
      Having married a lovely German lady, I sort of took it for granted that everyone knew that the micro-management of the economy by the government was stifling the economy and driving people out.
      To drop an example, my father-in-law is slated to retire in a year or two. He is by law precluded from, say, opening a bicycle shop or something.
      Lovely place to hang out, but I find myself in disagreement with a lot of their policies.

      --
      Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
    11. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by Original+Replica · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You are correct. Where there is a free press and democracy, full on civil war is not required. That's how Ghandi was successful in his pacifist revolution. But also remember that Martin Luther King Jr. was assasinated, and there were many deaths before his in the pursuit of African-American rights (800 dead in the 1919 Elaine Race Riot, alone). Homosexuals have suffered their share of lynchings and violence as well. The Stonewall Riots lasted three nights of 2000 Homosexuals violently confronting 400 armed police. I think one of the main reasons for the lesser (but not absent)violence of Women's Sufferage is that all participants are the wives and daughters of voting men.

      So no, it may not be War, like the American Revolution, but it would still be war, like those pushing the issue have reason to fear for their safety. Still far too much commitment. What Rights are you willing to get beaten with a police baton to protect?

      --
      We are all just people.
    12. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And let's call a spade a spade: this isn't "erosion" of freedom, this is oppression of freedom.

      Erosion is what happens to sandy beaches, due to the forces of nature. Oppression is what happens to human beings, due to other human beings in power who make a conscious decision to oppress the subject class. What, are we too afraid to face the truth?

    13. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      That's how Ghandi was successful in his pacifist revolution.

      Its Gandhi

    14. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by Original+Replica · · Score: 1

      eek. of all the names to spell wrong. Thanks for the catch.

      --
      We are all just people.
    15. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by lawpoop · · Score: 1

      It seems like what you are implying is that 'any form of violence' == War? Or 'any violence against people peacefully working towards greater justice' == War?

      The grandparent didn't say that the movements were without violence, but the people instigating them didn't really launch an all out war, did they? And the violence they encountered, does it really rise of the level of war? Or can we just call it violent?

      --
      Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
      -- Pablo Picasso
    16. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      Then they just started randomly killing people based on a ten-year-long grudge. One that replaced a secular dictatorship with a vaguely democratic theocracy. And more terrorism. Basically reversing our progress in Afghanistan.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    17. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by Blue+Stone · · Score: 1

      >"I think one of the main reasons for the lesser (but not absent)violence of Women's Sufferage is that all participants are the wives and daughters of voting men."

      The sufragettes used bombs - they blew stuff up. I can't imagine them standing the slightest of chances now - they'd be off the gitmo, or having their torture outsourced to some brutal third world dictatorship.

      --
      Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
    18. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by dodobh · · Score: 1

      Historical texts generally fail to mention that the British left India after WW II because the Indian armed forces rebelled. Gandhi merely took the credit.

      --
      I can throw myself at the ground, and miss.
    19. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by MBraynard · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      And then we withdrew... from Detriot and Washington DC, leaving it to the gangs that make it more dangerous than living in Iraq.

    20. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just like in the Great Woman Wars, when the suffragettes fought their way, rifles in hand, to the ballot box,...

      You are not married, are you?

      I'm thinking that you're not.

    21. Re:We needed to be unashamedly populist... by halr9000 · · Score: 1

      Dude, +10 insightful & funny. Someone needs to make a movie about the violent peace activistas. :)

  3. Gah! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We needed to be unashamedly populist Are they trying to say that if you have to lie or distort the truth, it is OK because the ends justify the means? I don't doubt that the UK has started to turn into a surveillance state but that doesn't excuse a filmmaker from making populist political propaganda. This will just polarize people rather than help people come to a common decision that these surveillance techniques are extreme. It will be about as useful for changing things as Fahrenheit 9/11 was.
    1. Re:Gah! by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I don't doubt that the UK has started to turn into a surveillance state but that doesn't excuse a filmmaker from making populist political propaganda.

      So, we should just accept all the propaganda that's being shoved our way via Fox News, talk radio (ClearChannel, Salem, TRN)? You don't think that Tom Paine or Ben Franklin wrote "political propaganda"?

      I'm not saying there should be any support for dishonesty, but the best political messages have a little drama. You have to get people's attention before you give them the message, yes?

      When the mainstream media as used by corporate power is putting their resources toward putting people to sleep and hypnotizing them to be good consumers and borrowers, then maybe it's time to WAKE THEM UP. I mean sure, life will go on the day after we are all slaves to corporate power. We'll eat, sleep, fuck, except our souls will have become superfluous. We'll still be able to watch American Idol after work, and we didn't really need to read all that depressing anti-Bush, anti-Growth, anti-Profit nonsense. Did we?

      I'm not going to fault someone who cares about freedom because they used the tools of propaganda to slap these sleepy-assed sheep awake. That's why, in spite of his shortcomings, I think Michael Moore is a patriot, and is doing something very necessary. Of course, the people on the Right will tell you that you shouldn't listen to him because HE'S FAT, but his documentaries are a lot more carefully researched and intellectually honest than anything you'll see come from Rupert Murdoch's sausage-grinder. Sure, it's propaganda, but thank God.
      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    2. Re:Gah! by aichpvee · · Score: 1

      Are you a moron? Populist hardly means untrue.

      --
      The Farewell Tour II
    3. Re:Gah! by moderatorrater · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Actually, the way that he distorts the truth and offers obviously one-sided arguments is what turns most of the people I know away from him. He's not waking up the sheep, he's pissing them off and making them less likely to listen to a similar message, but one that's presented in a way that they'll listen to. Just because "HE'S FAT" doesn't mean that's what people ignore him for.

      Also, you yourself will never be effective at influencing people, because you're so fucking confrontational and arrogant that you think other people who think differently than you are actually "sheep." In actuality, a lot of very intelligent people support viewpoints that are different than yours because they're priorities and assumptions are different.

      I know that I'm being a troll here, but I don't understand how an arrogant asshat like yourself, who believes so sincerely that you know better than everyone else, gets away with not having a troll label.

    4. Re:Gah! by MBraynard · · Score: 0, Troll
      I know that I'm being a troll here, but I don't understand how an arrogant asshat like yourself, who believes so sincerely that you know better than everyone else, gets away with not having a troll label.

      Because this is /. and here he is in the minority. Your reasoning is also why the big fans of Linux here are utterly incapable of convincing anyone to switch to that OS, etc. I'd warn you not to make them aware of their style of conversation having an obnoxious body odor, but I know them well enough that they aren't going to learn or change.

    5. Re:Gah! by MBraynard · · Score: 1

      er, minority = majority above.

    6. Re:Gah! by Raenex · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think Michael Moore is a patriot, and is doing something very necessary. He made millions with his films. He's just pushing his own political agenda, in a screechy, one-sided way. If he's a patriot, then so is Rush Limbaugh.

      Of course, the people on the Right will tell you that you shouldn't listen to him because HE'S FAT Now you're acting just like you accuse "the Right" of. I'm sure there are plenty of fat jokes at his expense, but there's more criticism than that. After reading Truth about Bowling for Columbine some years back, I lost all desire to see any of Moore's films.

      but his documentaries are a lot more carefully researched and intellectually honest than anything you'll see come from Rupert Murdoch's sausage-grinder. Sure, it's propaganda, but thank God No thanks. I don't like spin from either the right or the left. I'll take a Frontline documentary. They actually know what the meaning of documentary is.
    7. Re:Gah! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think Michael Moore is a patriot, and is doing something very necessary. Of course, the people on the Right will tell you that you shouldn't listen to him because HE'S FAT,

      Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot

      Fucking right-wing smear-tactic.

    8. Re:Gah! by metamatic · · Score: 1

      Perhaps if you watched Bowling for Columbine with the criticisms of that page in mind, you'd see how ridiculous most of them are. The whole overblown thing about "misrepresenting" the Denver NRA meeting is just laughable, especially if you read the full transcript of the smug speech from Heston. (Which, incidentally, Moore has on his web site.)

      See also http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/8/12/171427/607

      --
      GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
    9. Re:Gah! by Raenex · · Score: 1

      I read the Truth site years ago, and I did the research then. I just didn't take Mr. Hardy at his word. I saw the video clip, I read the full speech, and I read Mr. Moore's justification. It was clear to me Moore edits his films to spin a story that isn't true.

      What saddens me is that people who apologize for it, either saying it is innocent or justified. Reading the kuro5hin site does not convince me of otherwise. It is just more denial.

      You may think I'm a hardline conservative, but I'm not. Some issues I lean left, some I lean right. What I really want is unbiased, intellectually honest discussion about issues. I cannot stand spinning, sound bytes, screechy attacks, etc. I hate this "us vs them" attitude.

      Watch the Frontline documentary on the case for WMD before the Iraq war if you want to see what real journalism is about. Both sides are presented fairly; no conclusions are drawn beforehand with a film crafted around it. Moore's pictures are not documentaries. They are political agenda films, completely biased, and intellectually dishonest.

    10. Re:Gah! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't you mean CNN, BBC, and MSNBC?

    11. Re:Gah! by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      Actually that was just for a catchy title. The rest of the book is about the "idiot" bit(in fact, he apologizes about the fat thing). And the whole OxyContin hypocrisy.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    12. Re:Gah! by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      See, the beauty of using film in the documentary style is you can't really say something didn't happen. Unless you're prepared to believe that Michael Moore used a CGI-George Bush to read My Pet Goat, you don't have much choice but to conclude that the President is a complete moron.

      I'm always amazed by people who will try to say that Michael Moore was "making stuff up" when he mostly just puts the camera on someone and lets them be themselves. They'll try to say that Charlton Heston didn't say exactly what he said despite the fact that they've got film of the speech. As if by some liberal magic Moore was able to use mind control and make Heston stupid just for that one speech.

      If you thing Rush Limbaugh can be compared to Michael Moore, I question your ability to discern even the most basic differences. Plus, Michael Moore has never had his maid score hillbilly heroin for him or been caught bringing "somebody else's" prescription for Viagra home from a Central American whorehouse safari.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    13. Re:Gah! by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      You may think I'm a hardline conservative

      Actually, no. I think you're a half-assed conservative apologist.

      Moore's pictures are not documentaries.

      If you asked a film scholar, you would find out that you are quite wrong.
      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    14. Re:Gah! by rtb61 · · Score: 1
      Perhaps one day I might understand the term that 'both sides were fairly represented', when logically one side is the truth and the other side is a lie. When something is being presented to the public and it is a lie, the only way to 'fairly' represent it, is as a lie.

      Unfortunately it is us (the majority) vs them (the greedy minority), when it comes to the two sides of most 'stories' being presented now days, my way of gauging stories is by vested interest, who profits most in the belief in a story, when it comes to Moore's work, nobody profits except him, when it comes to the opposition's work it is quite clear that many corporations will profit but not the forgotten creator of the work (nobody is really interested in that message any more, apart from a greedy minority).

      Moore is obviously passionate about his work, and his work does reflect his politics, he obviously has no desire to be 'neutral' but is endeavouring to achieve change that he believes to be in the public interest and there are plenty of sources for the opposite message, in fact just about every major media outlet. Nobody expects him to be neutral that expect him to present the opposite side to the 'story' that is presented in mass media 'every minute of every day' and he does a good job of it.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    15. Re:Gah! by Raenex · · Score: 1

      See, the beauty of using film in the documentary style is you can't really say something didn't happen. Yes, that's the "beauty" of spin. There's always a grain of truth to fall back on. I don't want one-sided spin. I want an honest, intellectual discussion of the issues.

      Unless you're prepared to believe that Michael Moore used a CGI-George Bush to read My Pet Goat, you don't have much choice but to conclude that the President is a complete moron. I'll give Moore credit for digging up film that hasn't seen the light of day. It's part of history, and I'm glad to see it exposed. However, I can't definitively conclude anything based on that video. My personal speculation is that the Bush is not good under a crisis situation. He didn't know what to do, so he just kept on doing what he was doing. Others see it as evidence for a conspiracy, taking it that Bush was not surpised by the action. Whatever.

      They'll try to say that Charlton Heston didn't say exactly what he said despite the fact that they've got film of the speech. As if by some liberal magic Moore was able to use mind control and make Heston stupid just for that one speech. Now you're just lying. The complaint wasn't that Heston's words were altered, but that they were taken out of context and spliced together to portray a message that wasn't true. From Truth about Bowling for Columbine: "A major theme in Bowling is that NRA is callous toward slayings. In order to make this theme fit the facts, however, Bowling repeatedly distorts the evidence." The editing Moore did is then described in detail.

      If you thing Rush Limbaugh can be compared to Michael Moore, I question your ability to discern even the most basic differences. One's on the left, one's on the right. They both make lots of money appealing to their extreme base. I don't expect unbiased views from either. "ditto head" seems to apply equally well to fans of both.

      I'm done with this thread. You are clearly happy with propaganda because it supports your point of view. I am not.
    16. Re:Gah! by Raenex · · Score: 1

      Perhaps one day I might understand the term that 'both sides were fairly represented', when logically one side is the truth and the other side is a lie. Try watching the Frontline documentary: The War Behind Closed Doors, and then maybe you would understand. Or read the transcript. This documentary aired one month before the invasion. It is by no means favorable to the neo-cons. Yet it is not spin. It is an honest look at the issues. Compare this with Moore's films.

      my way of gauging stories is by vested interest Maybe you should gauge them based on evidence? I mean seriously look and think about contrarian points of view. You're not doing any favors to your cause by being deceptive to support it.

      Unfortunately it is us (the majority) vs them (the greedy minority) Greed is not a minority position. People making over $100k a year get upset over the millions CEOs make. How do you think the guy making minimum wage feels about the $100k guy? How do you think the immigrant worker feels? How do you think some poor person in a 3rd world country feels?
    17. Re:Gah! by rtb61 · · Score: 1
      Evidence? in a digital world is there anything that you can call evidence, man, I would have to be telepathic to differentiate between fact from fiction at the end of an Internet connection. As for doing it rather than making vague claims about doing it, one can day weeks and months to do properly, accurately and truthfully, the other is just spin about having done so.

      By your own definition greed is indeed a minority position as by far the majority are 'some poor person' in a third world country, it does in fact take millions of poor people and their willing ignorance to make one rich person, statistically our planet is proof of this.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    18. Re:Gah! by Raenex · · Score: 1

      What a copout. Anything could be a lie, even before the digital world. What something like the Internet has done is made it easier to check different sources. Just judging stuff by whatever makes you feel good is dishonest and lazy. You could spend one hour looking at the Truth about Bowling link I provided, the evidence he provides, the reactions by Moore himself and others, etc.
      Just look at the transcript of Heston's speech. You'll find the same one on Moore's site.

      It isn't that hard, except you'd have to accept the possibility that something you believed in was deliberate spinning of the truth. But human nature is to not to question our long-held beliefs.

      Regarding greedy, nearly everybody is greedy, even the poor. I'm guessing you don't live in a shack and donate the majority of your money and time to charity. And neither would a poor person given the chance to rise out of poverty. It's just that everybody tends to look at those better off as greedy, but not themselves.

    19. Re:Gah! by MysteriousPreacher · · Score: 1

      an ad hominem and an appeal to authority in one post. Pretty good going.

      Moore's films may be describable as documentaries but his creative editing and downright dishonesty just harm his cause. I've seen Farenheit 911 and found it entertaining in parts, sometimes thought-provoking, but certainly not convincing.

      Michael Moore does half-decent satire but he's about the limit of his ability.

      --
      -- Using the preview button since 2005
  4. We needed to be unashamedly populist... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm afraid that is partially how we got into this mess.

    Too many of the people willing to give up freedom in the name of the illusion of security.

    Too many natural patriots who have nothing to hide.

    Too many of the people willing to meddle with those who have distasteful beliefs and habits.

    Hope the same people wake up. Because they will have to get us out of this mess, but I have my doubts.

  5. Joke? by matt+me · · Score: 0, Redundant

    The first time I clicked "read more" on this story I got the "Nothing for you to see here. Please move along." error.

  6. most ppl are stupid by erlehmann · · Score: 2, Interesting
    FTFA

    People will only wake up to the destruction of their civil liberties when it is too late to do anything about it. for most ppl i know, this is just plain wrong. they are just not interested.
    oh, and before you ask, many of them regard themselves as 'intellectual' (a.k.a. they don't read yellow press etc.).

    kinda seems like only IT ppl and civil rights activists are concerned now. and i absolutely cannot see anything that would change that.
    1. Re:most ppl are stupid by Geekbot · · Score: 1

      I once had an American librarian tell me it was a good idea for government to track what people read in libraries because it would stop terrorists.

    2. Re:most ppl are stupid by hxnwix · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Sometimes you can be aware and yet still asleep:

      When the Nazis came for the communists,
      I remained silent;
      I was not a communist.

      When they locked up the social democrats,
      I remained silent;
      I was not a social democrat.

      When they came for the trade unionists,
      I did not speak out;
      I was not a trade unionist.

      When they came for me,
      there was no one left to speak out.

    3. Re:most ppl are stupid by Urusai · · Score: 1

      Another effective way to stop terrorists is kill everyone. Let's start with people like this librarian.

    4. Re:most ppl are stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      seems like only IT ppl and civil rights activists are concerned now.
      Just what is it about IT folk that makes us more aware of social privacy issues? Is it because computer security is a huge issue and that helps us be more receptive to civil liberty issues? I have occasionally run in to programmers who have no understanding of the erosion of civil rights, but it's rare.
    5. Re:most ppl are stupid by YouTookMyStapler · · Score: 1

      Most people aren't so much stupid as just plain ignorant.

      It is also the matter that people tend to be apathetic about anything that doesn't [currently] effect them, but when the government do get around to infringing on or taking away whatever thing that they do care about they wonder how it could have happened.

  7. The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by NeverVotedBush · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Call me a troll if you want, but the Bush administration has clamped down hard on free speech, monitors just about everything, litmus tests public servants, puts whoever it wants on various lists, puts others in prison without charging them, declares pre-emptive war with no legal basis, and does it all while putting every citizen and their children so deep in debt they will probably never get out.

    Talk about disappearing civil liberties, but this country might have well reverted to monarchy rule. It would really be tough to call it a democracy any longer.

    1. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The UK is worse. Get back to me when there are talking CCTV cameras in New York and DC.

      We are headed there too, but they're one step ahead of us.

    2. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Could you please provide an example of the Bush administration's limiting free speech in a way that it was not limited before the administration, monitoring anything that wasn't monitored before Bush was elected, using hiring practices that were not in use before the election, illegally imprisoning people without charge, declaring war illegally, or forcing anyone into debt? ($5 says you will now post about censoring speech that was never protected by free speech to begin with, a wiretapping program that was found in court to be legal, attorney firings that were also done by the previous administration, imprisonment of people who have nowhere else to go because their home country will not accept them, a war that has been voted in favor of by the Congress time and time again, and cutting programs to steal from working people to pay off lazy bums.)

      As far as the US no longer being a democracy, could you please provide any evidence of that, besides "The president was democratically elected, but I don't like him, therefore he must not have been democratically elected"?

    3. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So that's why we still see blithering idiots at protest rallies on TV? If Bush was really clamping down on free speech, all of those people would be arrested, the Muslims shot or deported, etc. None of that has happened and you're a loon who just wants to make sure that the West no longer has the will to defend itself from its enemies (who will fuck you over 1000x worse than you can imagine).

    4. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by CountBrass · · Score: 4, Informative

      Even better. Here in Birmingham (central England) we have Policeman and Traffic Wardens equipped with cameras in their hats/ helmets. Seriously.

      --
      Bad analogies are like waxing a monkey with a rainbow.
    5. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by bigstrat2003 · · Score: 2, Insightful
      To quote an AC post that got modded flamebait (and I honestly hope it was because of the little rant at the end, not the rest, because this is a very valid question):

      Could you please provide an example of the Bush administration's limiting free speech in a way that it was not limited before the administration, monitoring anything that wasn't monitored before Bush was elected, using hiring practices that were not in use before the election, illegally imprisoning people without charge, declaring war illegally, or forcing anyone into debt? I'm not trolling. I'm not accusing you of lying. I really don't know of any good examples of the limitations of free speech which you accuse the Bush administration of. If they really do exist, I wish to know about them (well, no, I don't, but I need to know).
      --
      "16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
    6. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      they are just using those to track down the doctor.

    7. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by BlackPignouf · · Score: 1

      So your point basically is:
      the US may not be a democracy anymore, but it's not a problem because it's been like this for a long time, and Bush isn't responsible?

    8. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Lunar_Lamp · · Score: 1

      Even better. Here in Birmingham (central England) we have Policeman and Traffic Wardens equipped with cameras in their hats/ helmets. Seriously. Surely that is less worrisome that other kinds of cameras? The camera just records what the policeman is watching normally as they walk down the street - I'm sure someone will probably try and say it's a good thing as it will discourage them to start at the hot girl walking past as that will be recorded on the camera and have to be explained later.
    9. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by bigstrat2003 · · Score: 1

      No, my point basically is: I haven't heard of Bush cracking down on freedom of speech, and if he has, it's good for me to know about it. Simply that. I don't have a point, so much as a request for information.

      --
      "16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
    10. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by IWannaBeAnAC · · Score: 1

      "Free Speech Zones"? I'm not American, so I don't know much of your domestic history, but the first time I heard of these was only a couple of years ago.

    11. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by ajanp · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Probably worth mentioning that Michael Moore is making a sequel called Fahrenheit 9/11 1/2. It's unfortunate that he's the one making it though because everybody knows that his films are completely biased and one-sided. Fahrenheit 9/11 was more of an anti-bush propaganda film than a documentary, and that's exactly why his sequel is going to be discredited before it's even released, regardless of whether or not its actually good.

      What needs to happen is that somebody reputable, well-known, and with the actual power to influence events has to come out and start actively fighting for restoring civil liberties. An Inconvenient Truth was a large success because Al Gore is known to have strong feelings on the environment and he is in a position to bring about change, especially with the help of a growing populace who support his viewpoint and believe global warming is an important issue. With Gore's success, his film has convinced a lot of people about the importance of combating global warming today or atleast supporting his viewpoint should the issue be raised when they can use their vote to help (political candidates nowadays can't just totally ignore the issue when asked about it). But the film did well and the issue is being discussed now largely because Gore made it and can use his connections to increase awareness and help institute change over time (if Moore made the film it would be immediately demonized and forgotten).

      --
      File Deletion is Murder.
    12. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by nEoN+nOoDlE · · Score: 1

      Here in Birmingham (central England) we have Policeman and Traffic Wardens equipped with cameras in their hats/ helmets.

      I think policemen need cameras in their hats/helmets. Now someone could actually watch the watchers - just so long as the people watching the camera footage aren't corrupt themselves.

      --
      Don't trust a bull's horn, a doberman's tooth, a runaway horse or me.
    13. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Sperbels · · Score: 1

      Talk about disappearing civil liberties, but this country might have well reverted to monarchy rule. It would really be tough to call it a democracy any longer.
      Come on, it's not that bad. We get a whole new monarch in a year and a half.
    14. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As the wannabe AC stated, "Free Speech Zones" have not occurred under any other American president. This is an unprecidented abridgement of Americans' rights clearly spelled out under the first amendment to the constitution.

      Of the other items mentioned, certainly this administration is monitoring the intarweb more than previous administration, though this is clearly for technological reasons (i.e., there was no intarweb in the Kennedy administration). The Civil Service Act came to be, precisely because back in yon olden dayes everyone from postmaster to dogcatcher got changed out whenever the local leadership changed hands... so that could accurately be termed as regressive.

      Illegal wars and illegal imprisonment are, sadly, hallmarks of many administrations and not unique to G.W. Bush. However, I do not find this fact particularly comforting or excusing.

    15. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Ian+Alexander · · Score: 1

      "I think policemen need cameras in their hats/helmets. Now someone could actually watch the watchers - just so long as the people watching the camera footage aren't corrupt themselves."

      How about a live webcam?

    16. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Jerf · · Score: 1

      Free speech zones have a long history, and it's not all American either.

      It's also worth pointing out that if the intent of the protesters is to actively disrupt the target, and I think that's a fair assessment of many anti-Bush protests, the zones really are promoting Free Speech, which targets of the protest have as well. Free Speech is not an unlimited right to disrupt the speech of others.

      Free Speech zones are a sort of dangerous precedent, but unfettered protesting is a problem too. If protesters believe they have a right to be disruptive and violent because of the sheer overpowering purity of their souls, they'll need to be contained to prevent them from stomping on the rights of others. The protesters are significantly responsible for these zones.

    17. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Jerf · · Score: 1

      How many civil liberties are disappearing all around the world while demagogues are distracting you by yelling about the United States' supposed civil liberty problems, which after seven years of rule by a supposed monster has mostly manifested as annoying and mostly pointless security checkpoints at airports?

      While you're distracted by the mostly fanciful descriptions of the evil of Bush, Britain is being plated with surveillance cameras, Venezuela is sliding into dictatorship (just got the most popular TV station shut down by executive edict and nothing else a couple of days ago... how many media outlets has Bush done, well, anything to? How many politically-motivated national-security leaks have their been to provide more-than adequate cause that have just been ignored?), Russia looks more like the USSR every month, the entire Arabic world is consumed by a culture that muzzles women, kills gay people, and literally has roving bands of men in the streets enforcing laws like "no smoking", "no listening to music", and even various laws about facial hair with mob-justice-applied death penalties.

      And that's just a partial list of the true evil that you are ignoring while you are high and mighty about the evils of the United States, the opposition of which requires uniquely little effort in practice since they mostly don't exist. (It's not a coincidence you hear the same charges over and over again, after all, because even with millions of people watching every move to look for every evidence of injustice, that same rather short list is all they can come up with.)

      This British thing is a problem that needs to be faced up to and addressed. You can't just say "The US is t3h wrose!!1!" and consider yourself pure for speaking "truth" to power. It's not that easy.

    18. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by CommunistHamster · · Score: 2, Informative

      This concept is called sousiveillance ("watching from below" as opposed to surveillance "watching from above"). The general idea is that the people collectively monitor themselves, rather like Wikipedia. It is often advocated by cyborg/wearable PC enthusiasts.

    19. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by NeverVotedBush · · Score: 3, Informative

      Free speech: a) "free speech zones" so that he needn't be bothered with people confronting his policies. Anyone wanting to protest (a freedom of speech issue) can only do so some blocks away in a cordoned off area. b) muzzling the heads of NASA, EPA, etc and telling them all publications have to be proofed by the White House so they can limit any voices that present information counter to the Bush mandates. c) monitoring phone calls and internet traffic which puts the brakes on many people expressing their views. Monitoring: a) illegal wiretaps with no court oversight. (the wiretapping has not been found to be legal - in fact, the FBI was crawled on the carpet for not following even the laws that do still exist) b) wholesale monitoring of internet traffic. c) requiring ISPs to keep records on what websites their customers visit, what they post, etc. Hiring: a) litmus tests for all key positions Imprisonment: a) Gitmo b) Gitmo c) Gitmo It's obvious you would kiss Bush's butt were he to bare it for you...

    20. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Ian+Alexander · · Score: 1

      'This concept is called sousiveillance ("watching from below" as opposed to surveillance "watching from above"). The general idea is that the people collectively monitor themselves, rather like Wikipedia. It is often advocated by cyborg/wearable PC enthusiasts.'

      Thanks for the terminology. I was thinking more like monitoring the people with the nightsticks, though. After all, the government ideally ought be accountable to its "beneficiaries"; what better way to get started than making a publicly-accessible place for people to see what the agents of their government are doing?

    21. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Anonymous+McCartneyf · · Score: 1

      Is that better or worse than cameras in police cars (found in police cars all over America)?

      --
      There is a fine line between recklessness and courage... -- Paul McCartney
    22. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by HobophobE · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The man substantial difference in the firings of attorneys was when it occurred. It is traditional (even if idiotic) for new Presidents to fire lots of people from such jobs upon taking office and filling those positions with people who have assisted in their election efforts. It is not typical to, in the middle of their term, decide some people aren't aligned with their political views and terminate their employment on that basis.

      The issue of forcing us into debt is couched in the fact of cutting taxes while raising spending to miraculous levels. It is completely irresponsible to do so and creates more debt for our nation than has ever been created before. Against our will.

      Cutting programs? Ha! More like building giant monolithic bureaucracy that dooms our intelligence agencies to ignorance. Any sound investor can tell you diversifying your investments is very important. Hard to do that when they're all in one basket.

      Illegally imprisoning people without charge has occurred in the past, but not in the recent past on such a scale as we see today. Whatever the past may say, it was wrong then and it is wrong today to do so.

      And that's where I find the biggest problem with your questions. Two wrongs have never, ever, ever made a right. Just because others have done the same thing does not justify it. It is wrong to place a wiretap or otherwise eavesdrop without the oversight of the courts. It is wrong to take someone into custody and question them without either granting them immunity from prosecution (in which case they are free and merely detained for their protection, isolated from prisoners) or charging them with a crime (in which case they have the right to a trial, legal representation, to confront their accusers and evidence against them before a jury).

      If we have such a big problem in this country with doing things by the book, according to the letter of the law, then we might as well hang up our hats. There is no such thing as asymmetric justice and liberty. It's either, as the Pledge says, "with liberty and justice for all" or it's "without liberty or justice for any."

      As for the democracy issue, it's hard to say when a nation stops being a democracy just as it's hard to say when a grocery store stops becoming commerce. If I'm wildly misinformed and ignorant of the products in the grocery store (their contents, uses, costs, externalities) when does my decision to buy them stop being reasonable? Obviously there is some point at which it does. If everyone in the nation voted on randomness would it still be democracy? That is an interesting question which would take some time and thought to answer.

      No doubt you've posted because A) you believe what you say or B) you don't believe anything you say. If it's the former then you ought to stick to defending the decisions rather than those that make them. And not by saying "it's been done like this before." If it's the latter I applaud you for use of Socratic Irony.

      --

      -HobophobE
      Nothing laughs forever.
    23. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Puff+Daddy · · Score: 1

      Nice troll, almost got me.

    24. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You didn't even bother to read the Wikipedia article that you're using as "evidence", did you? It directly disputes your claim that Free Speech Zones have only been used under the Bush presidency, and provides evidence that they have been in use in the US since the 1980s.

      BTW, name-dropping the Pendleton Civil Service Act isn't fooling anyone about your understanding of this issue.. We all took grade school history, and you aren't going to convince anyone that Bush has reinstated the spoils system.

    25. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Deadstick · · Score: 1

      At least the cop car cameras begin doing their thing when you've been pulled over, hopefully with some degree of probable cause.

      rj

    26. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So now you're saying that it's OK to fire public servants for purely political reasons at the beginning of their term, but then it's suddenly no longer OK to let them keep their jobs for a couple of years and then fire them in the middle of a term? Wow, that really makes a lot of sense. It's pretty evident that you're grabbing at any superficial distinction you can make to condemn Bush without criticizing past presidents who did exactly the same thing. You either believe that it's right or it's wrong...what sense does it make to say "Well, it's ok to do it at certain times, but at other times it's worse."

      And the point of asking "What has Bush done that other presidents haven't?" is not to say "Two wrongs make a right." The point is to point out the obvious hypocrisy of people that have a problem with Bush doing certain actions, but kept their mouth shut about previous presidents of other parties did the exact same thing, and will again keep their mouths shut when the next president of their preferred party repeats that same action again.

    27. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You there! Stop attempting to confuse us with actual facts!

      If we were to take your facts at face value we might actually have to stand up to some really bad folks instead of just pretending to be all enlightened and socially progressive.

      People like you suck all the fun out of scaremongering.

    28. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by SadGeekHermit · · Score: 1

      The brits are funny, with their talking cameras... We New Yorkers like our cameras QUIET, so the cops can sneak up behind the guy and properly deliver his can of whoopass.

      --
      NO CARRIER
    29. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by metamatic · · Score: 1

      Call me a troll if you want, but the Bush administration has clamped down hard on free speech

      Like the UK government, which has banned protests in parts of London unless you have a license for your free speech?

      monitors just about everything,

      Like the UK government, which is an enthusiastic participant in ECHELON, runs GCHQ, and used to spy on the National Council for Civil Liberties, CND, and other "subversive" organizations?

      litmus tests public servants,

      Like the Labour Party, which imposes pre-vetted "New Labour" candidates approved by Central Office, and forces locally chosen Labour candidates to run as independents? And even tried to do it in the high profile London mayoral election?

      puts whoever it wants on various lists,

      Like the UK government, which has lists of prohibited organizations and the people believed to have joined them?

      puts others in prison without charging them,

      As opposed to the UK government, which puts people in prison indefinitely without charge?

      declares pre-emptive war with no legal basis,

      As opposed to the UK government, whose Prime Minister lies to everyone in order to get the country involved in said war, and still gets re-elected after his lies have been documented?

      and does it all while putting every citizen and their children so deep in debt they will probably never get out.

      Oh, well, you've got me there, the US economy has definitely been mismanaged worse than the UK.

      --
      GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
    30. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by StressedEd · · Score: 1

      Like the UK government, which has banned protests in parts of London unless you have a license for your free speech?

      As a consequence of this the comedian Mark Thomas organised mass lone demonstrations, setting the world record for the number of political demonstrations in 24 hours. Unfortunately his original broadcast on the BBC is no longer available on their listen again facility (keep on the lookout for a rebroadcast - it was really very funny.

      Details can be found on his web page about the demonstration zone and applying for a permit.

      Following is a brief synopsis of his broadcast, for those with a mischievous sense of humour. I may have some of the details wrong, but you'll get the main thrust of it!

      1. A law is passed (SOCPA) to restrict protest outside Parliament, with the presumed intention of removing the thorn in their side Brian Haw
      2. After taking this to court it's ruled that the law doesn't apply to Brian Haw since he was protesting continuously since before its inception. In effect the wording of the law meant he is the only person on earth to whom this law does not apply!
      3. Mark Thomas picks up on this and decides to have some fun with the new law...
      4. ...comedy ensues
      5. He ends up in the Guinness Book of Records for the most political protests held in 24 hours.
      6. Since it's now a record, someone is going to try and beat it!
      --
      Be nice to people on the way up. You will meet them again on your way down!
    31. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      Executing Saddam was wrong because the death penalty is no longer needed in modern civilized society. As for Bush, I don't want to see him executed, just as far away from actually being able to influence things ever again as possible.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    32. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      The biggest enemies of the United States are not the Muslim nations who have only attacked us on our soil twice since the fall of the USSR. The biggest enemies of the United States are the antichoicers and the white supremacists who want to send the United States back to the Stone Age, and who have made thirty-two attacks in 2007 alone.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    33. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      Okay, name me one other president who had to have "free speech zones" following him. All the other examples were in party conventions.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    34. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "The death penalty is no longer needed" is a pretty hypocritical thing to say, when condemning the execution of a person who executed many thousands of people.

    35. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Banner · · Score: 1

      You know that A, B, C, all began prior to Bush, right?

      Litmus tests? What president? and CONGRESS hasn't? Remember all those judges asked by democrats about abortion? That's a litmus test too.

      The wiretaps were not illegal. Sorry.

      Gitmo? Nothing illegal there, been done in EVERY SINGLE WAR we've ever been in.

      The only obvious thing here is that your memory doesn't predate Bush's election and that you've never read any history.

    36. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Banner · · Score: 1

      Actually he's defending Bill Clinton's firing of all the attorneys, some of whom just happened to be investigating Bill Clinton. But it's not okay to fire attorneys, who had been getting poor job reviews.

      It's what's commonly called 'Intellectual Dishonesty'. Or more commonly: Hypocracy.

    37. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Banner · · Score: 1

      Bill Clinton.

      Next Question?

    38. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Banner · · Score: 1

      So your point basically is:
      the US may not be a democracy anymore, but it's not a problem because it's been like this for a long time, and Bush isn't responsible?


      The US was never a democracy, it's a Republic.
    39. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Executing Saddam was wrong because the death penalty is no longer needed in modern civilized society.

      Really? PROVE IT.
    40. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by justthinkit · · Score: 1

      The general idea is that the people collectively monitor themselves, rather like Wikipedia. It is often practiced by the illuminati.

      Fixed that for you.

      --
      I come here for the love
    41. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by HobophobE · · Score: 1

      I'm doing nothing of the sort. I'm defending the practice of a new President to wipe the job roster and fill it. I think there are cases to be made against it, but ultimately it is the prerogative of the President to decide which, if any, of the old employees should remain in their positions, move positions, etc.

      And I think that's fine. I think that fluidity is an important trait of our economy and that we should seek to make it easier for people to secure while moving from business to business, from hat to hat, from project to project. Should a President evaluate existing workers before firing them? Certainly. Is it their discretion who stays and goes? Yep. Should the public hold these decisions to scrutiny? Without a doubt.

      Is there a substantive difference between wiping the roster at the beginning and suddenly deciding to change the line mid-game? Yes. Is it the President's right to do so? Without a doubt. Ought it be held up to scrutiny? Most certainly. And, the kicker, if it was done for political reasons in the middle of his administration, is that condemnable? It is.

      Do I care about Bill Clinton? No. Do I believe he made mistakes? Yes. Was he as bad as Bush? Debatable. There was lower spending, a balanced budget. Those are traits one should expect (based purely on rhetoric and not at all on past performance) from a Republican Presidency. Aside from Tax Cuts the Reagan and Bush Presidencies look a lot more like what the Republicans claim the Democrats do. Record deficits with record spending.

      Stop kidding yourselves. Just because I have a problem with Bush doesn't mean I'm a Clintonite. That's not only absurd, it's the same bent rhetoric the President himself uses when he says "If you're not with me, you're with the enemy." In this case the enemy being Clinton rather than Bin Laden. I stand not with Clinton, Bin Laden, or Bush, thank you very much. And it's truly intellectually dishonest to claim I do.

      --

      -HobophobE
      Nothing laughs forever.
    42. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by Pope · · Score: 1

      Only Congress can declare War, and I don't remember them doing it any time recently.

      --
      It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
    43. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Even better. Here in Birmingham (central England) we have Policeman and Traffic Wardens equipped with cameras in their hats/ helmets. Seriously
      So what?

      If you're stupid enough to do something illegal right in front of a policeman where they can film you, I don't think you've got any reason to complain if they catch you on camera.

      BTW, these cameras were initially introduced to help the police improve the quality of their evidence for such crimes as wife-beating. If you show a jury a video of a bleeding, crying woman, and her boyfriedn swearing and acting like a twat in front of the police, they're more likely to believe that he is a violent clown, rather than relying on a policeman's stilted notes. (There was an article about this in the Guardian a few weeks ago).

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    44. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by CountBrass · · Score: 1

      You've missed the point. The cameras are not to keep an eye on the police it's to gather evidence against everyone else. Yet another example of the police using technology to avoid having to do their job.

      --
      Bad analogies are like waxing a monkey with a rainbow.
    45. Re:The Film Would Be Even Longer If Made In The US by nEoN+nOoDlE · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but I'd still rather have actual evidence than a "he says - she says" story in which the judge only believes the cops because they go way back. Cameras collecting the hard facts of what happened is a lot better than the current system we have now, just because I believe the majority of cops are at least a little crooked.

      --
      Don't trust a bull's horn, a doberman's tooth, a runaway horse or me.
  8. sadly, not going to happen ... by erlehmann · · Score: 2, Insightful

    the day they wake up is the day when more ppl are afraid of dying in a car accident than dying in a terrorist attack.

    the possibility of such an event ?

    1. Re:sadly, not going to happen ... by daveschroeder · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It's not that people are necessarily more "afraid" of dying in a terrorist attack than a car accident. In fact, I think this whole idea that (most) people are "afraid" of terrorists (any more than anything else that can kill them) is pretty much a straw man. People die every day from all manner of accidents and disease. Some preventable, and some not.

      The problem, however, is that many kinds of individual accidents can't all be prevented, and thousands of people will still die from them. We can come to terms more easily as humans with someone dying from an accident, like falling off a ladder while cleaning your gutters, no matter how meaningless or even preventable. It's a part of life.

      What we don't deal well with is knowing that there is a group of people who - for whatever reason - deliberately plan to kill as many innocent Americans as possible, at the same time causing billions upon billions of dollars of damage to the US economy. The whole idea is to terrorize and paralyze people in the hopes of getting some of your own demands met.

      The other issue is that incidents of mass casualty - plane crashes, natural disasters, Virginia Tech, mine collapses, etc. - generally hit humans harder and make the national news. Whether accidents or not, 10 or 50 or 300 people dying at once is an "event" and resonates with people, no matter how unlikely it is in comparison with the things that are (sometimes preventably) killing people every day.

      Still another issue is that things like obesity, smoking, etc., that someone is bound to bring up when talking about the "fat and lazy Americans" don't kill a person right away. A big plane crash or bus fire does. In an instant. It's not just "terrorism"; it's mass casualty. The additional problem people have with "terrorism" is that it's another person or group of people plotting harm or death for others. And in the case of non-domestic terrorism, people not even from within our own borders. That's why so many see it as a military, foreign policy, and critical national security issue, not a simple civil or criminal law enforcement issue that we shouldn't take any specific or particular action to stop.

    2. Re:sadly, not going to happen ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have a choice about whether to decide the risk is worth it, and get in the car.

      Getting blown up by a bomb does not involve me making a choice, or assessing whether I would like to get blown up or not.

      People can drive less to reduce the possibility of a car accident, but they cannot personally dictate their countries foreign policy to reduce the risk of terrorist attack.

    3. Re:sadly, not going to happen ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "What we don't deal well with is knowing that there is a group of people who - for whatever reason - deliberately plan to kill as many innocent Americans as possible, at the same time causing billions upon billions of dollars of damage to the US economy."

      So, to counter this, we deliberately invade as many tangentially related countries as possible, spending hundreds of billions of dollars, sacrificing thousands of our soldiers' lives and "accidentally" killing tens or hundreds of thousands of innocent foreigners. We imprison thousands of people and deny them trials. We torture some, and send others to third-world countries that we know will torture them for us. We pass laws to make it impossible for any citizen to tell whether government officials are following the law. We empower the military operate within our borders, against our own citizens.

      Sounds like a logical, non-hysteria-inspired reaction to me.

    4. Re:sadly, not going to happen ... by daveschroeder · · Score: 1

      Intent matters.

      So, to counter this, we deliberately invade as many tangentially related countries as possible, spending hundreds of billions of dollars, sacrificing thousands of our soldiers' lives and "accidentally" killing tens or hundreds of thousands of innocent foreigners.

      We don't intend to kill innocents or civilians (isolated - yes, isolated - incidents where some individual person MAY "intend" to kill a civilian in war aside). It is not condoned nor supported by policy or our population. The US spends literally billions of dollars on weapons systems with no other purpose than ever-increasing the precision so as not to destroy or harm infrastructure or persons not intended.

      And if you're talking about Iraq, the "hundreds of thousands" (e.g., 655,000)-type figures simply don't stand up to any kind of serious scrutiny.

      We imprison thousands of people and deny them trials.

      Huh? Where? Who? At most, there were hundreds of people in Guantanamo Bay, and dozens in rendition programs, and frankly, I - and thankfully many others - see terrorism and the fights against Islamic radicalism in general as a military issue, not an issue for the courts. Even things like the Military Commissions Act, designed to clarify US response to enemy combatants and their status, DOES NOT apply to US citizens or persons with a valid US immigration status.

      So, I kind of don't know what you're talking about here.

      We torture some, and send others to third-world countries that we know will torture them for us.

      Whatever. We also kill some. Surprising, isn't it? That throughout history, humans kill others who would kill them?

      And as to torture, this is torture. Not bright lights and music. Not medical treatment darlings of the American left claim is far better than what 9/11 first responders are receiving. And believe it or not, one can still support an effort while simultaneously not excusing or condoning unacceptable acts that may be intermingled.

      The problem is in that delightful world of moral relativism, intent doesn't matter. So if the US kills X number of innocent people in an invasion, even though that is the last thing it wants to do, it's the same as anyone else killing X number of innocent people. And people like Al Qaeda and Wahabbists fighting for their "way of life" are no different that, say, the West fighting for its "way of life". Unfortunately, moral relativism is so misguided that it's almost laughable, and the general values of democracy and freedom massively trump the general values of Panislamic radicalism and its tenets.

      We pass laws to make it impossible for any citizen to tell whether government officials are following the law.

      Not sure which of the various blog-fodder "laws" you're talking about here, but no, we in fact don't do this, and the fact that government officials have been able to operate in secrecy on issues which are classified is hardly new in this nation or any other. And on the subject of classified material, some entity or entities has to decide what is and isn't classified, else the entire longstanding system of information classification is utterly meaningless.

      We empower the military operate within our borders, against our own citizens.

      Wrong. If you're talking about the update to the Insurrection Act of 1807, the military has no further power to operate within US borders, "against our own citizens", than it has for 200 years.

      The conditions that must be met for domestic use of the military are as follows:

      2) A condition described in this paragraph is a condition that--

      (A) so hinders the execution of the laws of a State or possession, as applicable, and of the United States within that State or possession, that any part or class of its people is deprived of a right, privilege, immunity, or protection named in the Constitution and secured by law, and the const

    5. Re:sadly, not going to happen ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      "Intent matters."

      You're playing dumb and you know it. Say you don't intend innocent deaths as much as you like. If you take actions that are guaranteed to result in innocent deaths, and you're in possession of a mature human mind, then your intent is to cause those deaths along with whatever other goals you've set for yourself. In this case, your stated goal is to reduce terrorism -- but, curiously, even the people you're directly waging war against generally have nothing to do with terrorism. Well, correction: they had nothing to do with terrorism, but since you went and killed their families they've probably been having second thoughts.

      "The US spends literally billions of dollars on weapons systems with no other purpose than ever-increasing the precision so as not to destroy or harm infrastructure or persons not intended."

      You are so generous with your money! Spending billions of other people's tax dollars, all to ensure that you don't kill quite as many innocent civilians!

      You were fretting in your previous post about the billions of dollars of damage terrorists might want to cause. I reminded you, as you might have overlooked the fact, that you have now spent hundreds of billions of dollars "fighting terrorism" in military invasions that don't have anything to do with fighting terrorism.

      You've also killed thousands of American soldiers and tens or hundreds of thousands of innocent foreigners (yes, I said tens or hundreds of thousands because I, and you also, have no idea of the actual figure). This cost, in money and lives, far exceeds even the greatest cost of terrorism in your overactive imagination. Meanwhile, it does nothing to reduce terrorism. If anything, it increases its future likelihood.

      "Huh? Where? Who? At most, there were hundreds of people in Guantanamo Bay, and dozens in rendition programs, and frankly, I - and thankfully many others - see terrorism and the fights against Islamic radicalism in general as a military issue, not an issue for the courts. Even things like the Military Commissions Act, designed to clarify US response to enemy combatants and their status, DOES NOT apply to US citizens or persons with a valid US immigration status."

      Well, in case you've forgotten, the executive branch of the United States government claims it has the right to detain U.S. citizens without trial, and has done so already. Ever heard of Padilla?

      As for the number of detainees, this article put the number at over 83,000 just between 2001 and 2005.

      You like to pretend foreigners don't deserve trials, and that is an understandable attitude for someone so selfish and delusional. Nonetheless, a person with an ounce of sense and any conscience whatsoever will grant certain ... shall we say, unalienable ... rights to other people, regardless of their nationality. Why is this? Because we grant those rights for a reason. You and your ilk would like everyone to think the right to a trial is rewarded like some lottery prize, only to those born in the Nation of the Free. You don't actually believe in upholding those rights -- you just take them for yourself.

      "Whatever. We also kill some. Surprising, isn't it? That throughout history, humans kill others who would kill them?"

      Yep, you torture some, and you kill some, and it's not really surprising at all. It's only surprising that you still think you're killing and torturing people who were trying to kill you, when all evidence is to the contrary.

      You even want to pretend it's not really "torture" when you waterboard somebody. Well, consider this. Many would think of drowning as a pretty horrible way to die. Now think of drowning. Then, you're alive again. Then you're drowning. Over and over again, experiencing a painful, wracking, struggling death.

      Some people would call that torture. Not you. To

  9. This film will be enormously interesting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...but not necessarily because of its content. No, what is interesting is how the film maker will decry the loss of liberties, the encroachments of freedom, and the institution of censorship -- in a film openly distributed and marketed to the general public, and all without the government shutting him down. Yessireee...a police state! That's what we're living in for sure. The jackbooted thugs will be here any minute now...any minute now...I'm sure they're almost here...somewhere. Well, maybe their black helicopters broke down or something, but I'm sure they're on their way!

    1. Re:This film will be enormously interesting... by daveschroeder · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You're absolutely right.

      And yes, we all understand that there are more cameras, modifications of laws to account for acts of terror, etc., but people simply can't see the application of technology or updates of laws for what it is: for the most part, a genuine, honest attempt by persons within free governments in free societies to protect that system that are no more sinister than the police or the state adopting any other new technology that makes its charge from society easier, or an update to any other law, which we ostensibly value in societies that are based on rule of law.

      Are there people with ulterior motives and are people in power looking to stay in power? Sure. Absolutely. But the CCTV systems in the UK aren't a part of some larger plot to create a secret police state and keep "the people" down. I find it humorous that the people who live in what are essentially the freest, richest nations that afford them, in general and on balance, the widest variety of personal freedoms coupled with the rule of law required to maintain order and stability in society for all, seem to think they're living in rapidly degenerating 1984-style police states.

      We are certainly not perfect. But to paraphrase Churchill, the general systems of what we loosely call "democracy" are a hell of a lot better than any other systems we've seen tried over the centuries. We have the freest flow of information ever, the ability to communicate and share ideas across the globe to nearly anyone instantly, and the ability to produce alarmist films like this without retribution (save by others who disagree with you, which it is also their right to do).

      Sure, be vigilant. Be watchful. But this idea that society-at-large is nothing but consumerist sheep who have been brainwashed into complacency by corporations and government, and only the truly enlightened who see the "truth" that we're in a rapid decline to totalitarianism - and I don't care if it's the US, the UK, or EU in general - are going to save us all is just garbage, and these people really need to get some perspective on things, and perhaps a healthy grip on reality at the same time.

    2. Re:This film will be enormously interesting... by Dogtanian · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And yes, we all understand that there are more cameras, modifications of laws to account for acts of terror, etc., but people simply can't see the application of technology or updates of laws for what it is: for the most part, a genuine, honest attempt by persons within free governments Whether or not the attempt was made in good faith, the risk of any such system being misused by any future government is even more important that what this one are likely to do with it. It's a cliche, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

      Personally, I don't trust the current government very far, but if I did, the same principle applies.

      I find it humorous that the people who live in what are essentially the freest, richest nations that afford them, in general and on balance, the widest variety of personal freedoms Yep. You're damn right that I enjoy and want to keep those freedoms.

      Are there people with ulterior motives and are people in power looking to stay in power? Sure. Absolutely. But the CCTV systems in the UK aren't a part of some larger plot to create a secret police state and keep "the people" down. Perhaps not. But does it carry the risk of being abused for the purpose you describe? Yes? Are there sufficient measures in place to prevent this? No? Then please excuse my scepticism, but I don't trust any system that is reliant upon the goodwill of the people administering it.

      But to paraphrase Churchill, the general systems of what we loosely call "democracy" are a hell of a lot better than any other systems we've seen tried over the centuries. What is your point here? That because these moves have been carried out by a democratically elected government, that they're beyond criticism? Nope. Democracy does not mean being unable to point out the flaws of our elected leaders plans; on the contrary, what's the point of democracy if we're not free to criticise and suggest that things might be done differently, by different people?
      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
    3. Re:This film will be enormously interesting... by makomk · · Score: 3, Interesting

      ...but not necessarily because of its content. No, what is interesting is how the film maker will decry the loss of liberties, the encroachments of freedom, and the institution of censorship -- in a film openly distributed and marketed to the general public, and all without the government shutting him down. Yessireee...a police state! That's what we're living in for sure. The jackbooted thugs will be here any minute now...any minute now...I'm sure they're almost here...somewhere. Well, maybe their black helicopters broke down or something, but I'm sure they're on their way!

      I see someone has already pointed out your strawman argument, but think about this for a moment. If someone were to prevent distribution of the film, Britain still has enough of a free press (and enough freedom of speech) to kick up a major fuss. On the other hand, if it's distributed, so what? A few people who already agreed with it get their views confirmed, people like the AC and the public dismiss the message and use the film's existence to reassure themselves that we have free speech, and the Government is unaffected. You're looking for the wrong kind of censorship in the wrong place.

    4. Re:This film will be enormously interesting... by easyTree · · Score: 1

      lol

    5. Re:This film will be enormously interesting... by ciggieposeur · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No, what is interesting is how the film maker will decry the loss of liberties, the encroachments of freedom, and the institution of censorship -- in a film openly distributed and marketed to the general public, and all without the government shutting him down. Yessireee...a police state! That's what we're living in for sure. The jackbooted thugs will be here any minute now...any minute now...I'm sure they're almost here...somewhere. Well, maybe their black helicopters broke down or something, but I'm sure they're on their way!

      That's how the modern police state works, you see. Freedom of speech is still allowed, dissent is still recorded, and people thus think they aren't really living in a police state.

      However, start organizing against the state and see just how quickly you can get shut down. Your activist groups will be infiltrated, investigations into your personal life will begin, and at the slightest hint of significant success at changing the status quo you will be arrested and charged with a bogus crime to end your career as a political radical. Web sites will describe your fate and complacent onlookers will marvel that in their free society -- which is clearly free because people can read these stories -- some people can still go crazy about such fringe political topics.

    6. Re:This film will be enormously interesting... by Tuoqui · · Score: 1

      Yes it is openly distributed and marketed because the state needs to maintain the illusion that people have rights. Dont worry once they have the population brainwashed enough they'll burn all copies of this movie.

      --
      09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0
      +2 Troll is Slashdot's way of saying groupthink is confused
    7. Re:This film will be enormously interesting... by moderatorrater · · Score: 1

      I agree that these people are ridiculous, but in part it's people like this that keep people in line. Knowing that even an innocent suggestion or law can be twisted to resemble the most sinister act from 1984, policy makers are more careful about what they say and do. The best way to keep things from crossing the line is to make sure that nobody can even come close to the line. So while I agree with you that people like those making this film are blowing things out of proportion, and while I personally don't agree with them, I do believe that what they do is important and healthy for society.

      I also like them because people who purposely blow things out of proportion are the people that have no credibility with the public. They're preaching to the choir, not gaining any converts, so I'm okay with it.

    8. Re:This film will be enormously interesting... by rich_r · · Score: 1

      Oh, for some modpoints! Mod it up, mod it up!

    9. Re:This film will be enormously interesting... by Stevecrox · · Score: 1

      This is all a lovely idea but you need to think about a few things first.

      1.Do CCTV camera's effect People's reactions?
      While they do generally stop thugs and chav's do they stop me acting like I normally do? The answers no, the only time I'm even aware of the things is when I'm walking through a rough area and I'm glad to see them. For the rest its like the security camera's in a shop, while people know they exist their not aware of them.

      2. Camera's are watching everyone all the time!
      Obviously false I've heard about my local CCTV monitoring rooms, considering the number of camera's in the city its amazing that a dozen or so people monitor them all.

      3.Going against the Government
      Well last time I checked I could stand as an independent if I wanted, without hassle and I used to know two people who have since run as independents (didn't win, but one was running with BNP motives and the other can only be described as 'strange' so that wasn't a shocker.) As for protests they are still allowed and I do agree the law banning protests outside of parliament is wrong I have done my bit to see if I can get it repealed. Do I support terrorism similar to the "V for Vendetta" film? Well the UK's not a dictatorship and blowing stuff up and killing people is bad, so I guess I can forgo that 'liberty'.

      4. "Arrested with a bogus crime"
      Claims like this make me wonder if you have even met a British police officer? My experiences with them have been nothing but positive, my friends experiences with them have sometimes been frustrating (bouncer pulled friend aside and nutted him, while CCTV showed him disappear and reappear with a bloody nose, there is no evidence so they couldn't do anything) I've yet to see the police behave unjustly (there are bad ones but I always find out about them from reading the paper.) Night Club bouncers worry me as they are becoming increasingly arrogant and violent (tip to Oceana bouncers when I'm sober and handing you my ID and inquiring if there is a age sting going on (out of curiosity) don't get aggressive and try to deliberately provoke me) If you were really going to take a person down you would let the tabloids do it. This is moot anyway, since important members of government http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6108496.stm are the ones telling us we have entered a surveillance society.

      5.Data rentention
      Most of the CCTV recordings are kept for 3 weeks to 3 months, unless your profiling a specific individual there's no way you could do this on a mass scale (currently.)

      6. "Group Infilitration"
      The Uk system has alot of different parties from the thuggish appearing BNP, the more right wing than the tories "New Labour" and my personal favourite the Monster Raving Looney Party http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_Monster_Ravi ng_Loony_Party if the OMRLP can exist within the system then I really don't fear for our democracy.

      Whips are something which have been in the government for hundreds of years, you may want to read up on them before you start saying how 1984 we are going.

      Rather than sensationalise the fact that the UK (as advertised on Sky News, ITV News, Channel 4 News and BBC News) that the UK is now in a surveillance society. Lets find out why there is apathy about the issue and why those who are aware generally don't think its a bad thing.

    10. Re:This film will be enormously interesting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course the Loony Party isn't targeted. I'm not saying I think there are government agents infiltrating parties, but the Loony Party is not a threat at all, and its existence is not indicative of a free democracy. Now, if the Loony Party started winning seats across the country and blocking government bills with gusto, all without being hindered at all? Then, yes, you could conclude that our democracy is in good health.

      It is a common error to assume that just because the government does not interfere with groups or movements that pose no threat to them, that they do not interfere with any other groups.

    11. Re:This film will be enormously interesting... by Stevecrox · · Score: 1

      The BNP pose a serious threat, their thugs and many of the leaders have been convicted of racisim (and they still carry on making the same remarks.) The UKIP is again anouther 'dangerous' party which gained a seat or two in the last election, the BNP has five or six seats. If you were going to shut down a party you'd shut down the BNP because due to the huge influx of foriegners there is a wave of dislike for anyone not british in the country. The BNP are sadly a party which is going to grow in strength for a number of years to come. Perhaps the racisim charges were spurious? Umm no, I've meet several BNP party members and their views (which make me think of a generalised KKK) shouldn't be encouraged. Look at the UK system and parties before you spout this nonsense.

    12. Re:This film will be enormously interesting... by Darby · · Score: 1


      And yes, we all understand that there are more cameras, modifications of laws to account for acts of terror, etc., but people simply can't see the application of technology or updates of laws for what it is: for the most part, a genuine, honest attempt by persons within free governments in free societies to protect that system that are no more sinister than the police or the state adopting any other new technology that makes its charge from society easier, or an update to any other law, which we ostensibly value in societies that are based on rule of law.


      And you are a deeply disturbed, naive fool if you believe that sort of entirely idiotic nonsense.

      There are no genuine or honest people involved in government. You are a fucking moron if you haven't realized that by now.

      Any law they pass is designed, in large part, to fuck you.
      Believing anything else is absolutely fucking stupid.

      There is not a damn thing in history you can point to to demonstrate that such a position is even sane, let alone reasonable.

      Seriously, argue the individual points of individual laws if you like, but when you spew such brain dead sycophantic tripe as that, you really prove yourself to be a delusional fool.

  10. Film as political persuasion by mollog · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I had recently seen to videos that conveyed messages about some current events; http://www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com/, and Al Gore's http://www.an-inconvenient-truth.com/.

    It's interesting to me that video has become the newest, best tool to portray a point of view on an issue. Now if we could get these videos on the airwaves on a regular basis, I think the public good would be served. I realize that oil companies, tobacco companies, and other groups with an agenda might tend to drown out the discourse with their own videos. Still, these videos are better than the 30 second sound bites that we get in our broadcast TV channels.

    --
    Best regards.
    1. Re:Film as political persuasion by Anonymous+McCartneyf · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Taking Liberties is, but it may be in a delicate position.
      This is a small film, so why is it being released in summer blockbuster season? Maybe it will get an audience--after all, the BBC is advertising it. But it's also possible that this film will be in the cinemas for two weeks and then be pulled for "lack of interest," since so many Brits will be watching Pirates of the Caribbean 3 or the latest Harry Potter film.
      And who distributes this to DVD? When it does reach DVD, the DVDs might all be region 1... [sigh]

      --
      There is a fine line between recklessness and courage... -- Paul McCartney
    2. Re:Film as political persuasion by MBraynard · · Score: 1
      No, actually, false. If the producers wanted to allow this, they could and they could even make the donations tax deductable if they wanted to.

      Thanks so much for another moronic viewpoint regarding copyright laws on slashdot.

    3. Re:Film as political persuasion by ewl1217 · · Score: 1

      If they really cared about civil liberties, they would release it freely online via P2P. Of course, they wouldn't make money from it, but that's not the goal, or at least it shouldn't be. If you have to pay for it or obtain it illegally, only those who are already concerned about civil liberties will see it, but if it is distributed freely, then it has the potential to reach a much larger audience. That's what their goal is, right?

    4. Re:Film as political persuasion by Amiga+Trombone · · Score: 1

      If they really cared about civil liberties, they would release it freely online via P2P.

      Aaron Russo distributed his Freedom to Fascism via Google video.

      Have a look. It's the American equivalent of Taking Liberties.

    5. Re:Film as political persuasion by Anonymous+McCartneyf · · Score: 1

      Are you sure more people would see this film on P2P? Or that more of those people would need to see this film?
      Maybe making money for this film shouldn't be the primary goal, given the urgency of this subject. But the filmmaker had his girlfriend mortage her place to get this film made. If he now gives this result away, how will he pay her back? She's already holding this film against him as it is!

      --
      There is a fine line between recklessness and courage... -- Paul McCartney
  11. I'm waiting to see the promos by 91degrees · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Banned in all the cinemas, NOW!"

  12. Can we.. by bryan1945 · · Score: 1

    make one for the USA?

    how many different "associations" do we have in the US that /. almost daily points out how "they" are trying to put the screws to us?

    "Viva Nepal!" (sorry, couldn't help that)

    --
    Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
  13. saw it by Teach · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm pretty sure I already saw this movie when it was called V for Vendetta. Or was it Children of Men?

    --
    Graham "Teach" Mitchell, computer science teacher, Leander HS
    1. Re:saw it by Anonymous+McCartneyf · · Score: 1

      Children of Men won't be a documentary for another twenty years.
      Note well: if you want to stop fascism in Britain, don't bomb Liverpool!

      --
      There is a fine line between recklessness and courage... -- Paul McCartney
    2. Re:saw it by jez9999 · · Score: 1

      Not really.

      People come out of V for Vendetta saying, "Wow, imagine living in a society where your liberties are taken away!"
      You want people to come out saying, "Wow, our liberties are being taken away! And parliament ISN'T blown up yet!"

  14. We need more cameras by kahei · · Score: 2, Insightful


    So in this one South London neighborhood that I occasionally frequent, there was an armed robbery at 4 in the afternoon on the main street last Saturday. It's a quiet neighborhood, very well-balanced, well-off, so it makes sense to come there and rob people.

    There was a similar robbery the previous week.

    The week before that, it was on a weekday evening, I guess they had a busy schedule that week. It's the same guys each time. They live in this totally different neighborhood a way to the south, though.

    And there is absolutely nothing anyone can do about it. Nothing at all. What are you going to do? Call Batman? The UK police are very nice guys (compared to any other police force I've met) but they really can't do much in this situation.

    The trouble is, this particular chunk of street doesn't have any cameras. The south half of the street near the station does, and the north half near what's called a 'roundabout' does, but there's this bit in the middle that doesn't. So all you have to do is rob people there, since nobody around here is fool enough to intervene and get jailed or killed, and there's no chance of a conviction (or even police attention) without video evidence. If you have video evidence, and there is a history of crime, and someone gets hurt, then in the end, you can get a custodial sentence passed. It's an uphill struggle, though, because there's a hell of a lot of civil liberties in the way.

    If nobody gets hurt, there's nothing you can do even with cameras. Every weekend, kids come up the road from the other, nastier neighborhood to the south, and as they go they kick over stuff and pull flowers out because, well, that's the local culture. It's not a life-threatening problem -- it just means you kind of have to remember to get stuff indoors by a certain time on Fridays. And don't grow rosebushes in the front yard.

    But all is not lost. Armed robbery generally *does* mean someone eventually getting hurt, and next year there will be cameras for that bit of street, yay! And none of this is really *Real Violent Crime* such as you might find in south chicago; it's just that there's no reason *not* to mug people or kick stuff over so it just becomes the normal expectation that those things will happen.

    The thing about 'omg they are taking our libertiez!' is, Civil Liberties in this sense aren't as important as for example the liberty to *not* be mugged or the liberty to *not* have your stuff smashed or the most important liberty of all, the liberty to *not* have the nature of your life dictated by the whims of thugs. The liberty of not being recorded on camera is actually pretty trivial by comparison.

    So install some more freakin cameras. Create new powers to stop 'public nuisance', use electronic tags, maybe suspend habeas corpus or something. Take away more civil liberties. Here, have some of mine. I'll expect them back when I leave the UK.

    --
    Whence? Hence. Whither? Thither.
    1. Re:We need more cameras by pete-classic · · Score: 4, Insightful

      it's just that there's no reason *not* to mug people or kick stuff over so it just becomes the normal expectation that those things will happen.


      Do you recall if it was like that there before cameras were installed in the surrounding area?

      -Peter
    2. Re:We need more cameras by dosius · · Score: 2

      But as Franklin said, those who would sacrifice their freedom for a little safety deserve neither (and will get neither).

      -uso.

      --
      What you hear in the ear, preach from the rooftop Matthew 10.27b
    3. Re:We need more cameras by CountBrass · · Score: 3, Insightful
      No the trouble has nothing to do with a lack of cameras. There were no CCTVs 20 years ago and you know what, policemen did their job and, shock horror, caught thieves.

      The actual problem is the competence of the police, or lack thereof. They've become over-reliant on the law bullying the populace. Since the beginning of the year littering has become an arrestable offence and if Tony "Uncle Joe Stalin" Blair has his way before he leaves we'll have the "Suss laws" returning: police can arrest and question you on suspicion of doing something.... no evidence, you just have to look a bit shifty, in the police's opnion.

      --
      Bad analogies are like waxing a monkey with a rainbow.
    4. Re:We need more cameras by themoors · · Score: 1

      police can arrest and question you on suspicion of doing something.... no evidence, you just have to look a bit shifty, in the police's opnion. I better loose the beard and bulky, square shaped torso then! I remember a time when the police did actual police work, y'know looking into crimes, investigations, interviews and all that archaic stuff.. I hear they are lowering their entrance requirements... anyone remember the song "things can only get better"??
    5. Re:We need more cameras by Bertie · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Meanwhile, in my sleepy small town in Surrey, where nothing has ever happened, there's a CCTV camera right outside my bedroom window.

      Big Brother is watching you, but he most certainly isn't watching the fucking criminals.

      Now, just for a minute, try and do something that British people are generally terrible at, and try and look at the big picture. Why is there so much armed crime round your way? Clue: the answer is not "because there aren't any CCTV cameras".

      The real, underlying problem with life in Britain today - the problem which is a major cause not only of this sort of crime, but of the creeping totalitarianism that this documentary is about - is that the majority of the populace care about absolutely nothing besides the value of their fucking houses. The greed and selfishness is the root cause of the crime, and it's the reason why the government can get away with the stunts they've been pulling. As long as those house prices keep going up, nothing else matters to the average voter.

    6. Re:We need more cameras by JustNiz · · Score: 1

      I agree.

      The UK police are completely focussed on automatic revenue-generating activites like giving out speeding tickets. They don't want to actually do real police work and deal with the crime that affects peoples lives on a day to day basis.

      You never see a policeman on the beat any more. The few that you still see are all in cars avoiding any contact with the public.

    7. Re:We need more cameras by mormop · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's not so much a matter of Police competence as it is paperwork. Twenty years ago, the Police didn't have to fill in an hours worth of paperwork for an arrest for a minor offence which is why they were on the streets doing their job in the first place. For each minor arrest, a copper can be kept off the streets for a minimum of 1 hour documenting every detail of the incident. If a kid vandalises a car, robs someone and is picked up on a description the reaction is more likely to be "fuck off you can't prove it" than "I won't do it again".

      And there's the truth of the matter. Everyone in the UK knows their rights but too many have no sense of responsibility and they are fully aware of the fact that some smart arse lawyer who doesn't give a shit about truth because that's not what he's paid for will get them off on some minor procedural technicality. And the worst part is that it's a small section of the Police that bought this situation about. Remember the West Midlands Serious Crime Squad that caused as much crime as they stopped? The Birmingham 6 & Guildford 4 convictions, the Special Patrol Group etc. Normally, when things get out of control there's a swing back towards the other side five years down the line only in this case, the swing has continued to the point where your average thug has the same immunity to consequences that the above had in the 70's and 80's.

      CCTV should not be a necessity. Unfortunately, in this "have your cake and eat it" society it is a sticking plaster over the gaping wound of idiot thuggery that seems trendy at the moment. If you can work out how to make being an evil little tosser uncool then you may have a chance of improving things but sadly it seems to be evil little tossers that run this country seem happy to put up more cameras.

      --
      Hmmmmmm..... Deep fried and look like Squirrel.
    8. Re:We need more cameras by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This sounds like the perfect real-life example of a 'slippery slope'. More and more cameras along with more and more laws that make it easier to control and monitor people.

      The grease on this slope is comments like "they really can't do much in this situation", or "if nobody gets hurt, there's nothing you can do even with cameras". It's this gradual progression of reasonable sounding, but flawed, logic.

      There are laws. There are police. It sounds like there are also many witnesses (and from the affluence of the neighborhood, they're probably all upstanding citizens to boot).

      Call the police, describe the thugs, get them arrested.

      I suppose this isn't the perfect example of a slippery slope, as you've yet to see the bottom.

      What would make it perfect: the neighborhood gets annoyed with your constant demands for better surveillance and unnecessary laws and, after some horrible North Korean nuclear aggression, the neighborhood identifies you as a threat and get you sent off to an Internment Camp.

    9. Re:We need more cameras by Gibsnag · · Score: 1

      I see a reasonable number of policemen on the beat in my home village (in Devon). Although when one of my friends was running along to our local park (to meet myself and a few others) one of them stopped him and asked him where he was going. And not in a "Whats the rush? Ho ho ho." kind of way, but being quite serious.

    10. Re:We need more cameras by CaponeX · · Score: 1

      And none of this is really *Real Violent Crime* such as you might find in south chicago;

      Hey, wait just a minute. Violent crime in the city of Chicago has dropped markedly over the past 10 years or so. Perhaps you meant St. Louis or Detroit, two cities that are chronically at the top of the U.S. Most Dangerous Cities list (http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/30/real_estate/Most_ dangerous_cities/index.htm). Notice that Chicago isn't even in the top 25 most dangerous! Know the facts before you type. Thanks.

    11. Re:We need more cameras by trewornan · · Score: 1

      "The actual problem is the competence of the police, or lack thereof."

      I recommend you read Wasting Police Time by David Copperfield ISBN:0-9552854-1-0

    12. Re:We need more cameras by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That article you link to says Illinois was left out of the survey:

      Illinois was left out because the state's rape case data do not match the FBI's.

      So perhaps that's why Chicago, Illinois was not on the list?

    13. Re:We need more cameras by deacon · · Score: 0

      These problems can be fixed with a combination of new law and technology.
      The new law is "stand your ground"
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand-your-ground_law
      and the right to use force to protect property.

      the technology can be found here:
      http://www.collectorsfirearms.com/

      May I suggest this for the home:
      http://www.collectorsfirearms.com/admin/product_de tails.php?itemID=14220
      and one of these for when you are out and about
      http://www.parahawg.com/pistols.html

      Brits have been heading in the wrong direction socially on this issue for 50 years. As the problems have gotten worse, the various govt. administrations have increased the rate of progress in the wrong direction.
      As you point out, when seconds count, the police are only minutes away..
      People need to be allowed practice their natural civil right of self defense, and they need to be given the technology to do so. With the right technology, a 70 year old granny is equal to 12 thugs.

    14. Re:We need more cameras by AJWM · · Score: 1

      Thing is, it sounds like you've already lost a key liberty -- the right to defend yourself. Or perhaps the will.

      Next thing you know, the populace is asking Big Brother to please keep an eye on everything, because they're too helpless themselves. Oh wait, you've already asked for that.

      --
      -- Alastair
    15. Re:We need more cameras by rich_r · · Score: 2, Informative

      Or the blog from which it's drawn. I don't normally go about recommending blogs, but this one's quite good!

    16. Re:We need more cameras by bbtom · · Score: 1

      Well, perhaps if the cops could actually arrive as a crime is taking place, that might be useful. As might having them on the beat. You still have to pay someone to sit in the little room watching the CCTV cameras - why not pop them out on to the street instead?

      Also, if I was living in a south London estate (I don't thankfully, I live down in rural Sussex), I'd rather like to own a gun. The government play this little game where they make 'guns' seem like an evil, evil thing which only south London gangsters would have. I'd like all the respectable, middle class home owners to own guns too. Especially women. Women commit virtually no crime - statistically speaking. If you gave every woman a gun and trained them how to use it, rape would virtually disappear overnight.

      How many South London gangstas would be meddling with your house if they knew that the barrel of a shotgun could poke out the letter-box at any moment?

      The liberty to not be mugged is tied quite heavily to the liberty to defend yourself using whatever technology you deem appropriate. We do not have that liberty in the UK, and it's a bloody shame that we don't. In the meantime, I'm gonna be keeping a nice, sharp kitchen knife in my bedside table, and you can bet I will defend myself with it. And I'm gonna be looking in to getting a Green Card and going to a state which doesn't see fit to prevent me from defending myself with a gun.

      --
      catch (HumourFailureException e) { e.user.send("You, sir, are a humourless idiot."); }
    17. Re:We need more cameras by Anonymous+McCartneyf · · Score: 1

      Yeah, that would fix some of the problems--who wants to attempt armed robbery on someone who's armed? But the type of law you speak of is controversial even in America, where we have the right to bear arms and mixed feelings about that right.
      The UK doesn't have the right to bear arms, and may be reluctant to create one--I mean, look how we Americans use ours!
      The UK also outlawed defending one's home with force outright--the exact opposite of the proposition you want. Their reversing that could be as hard as our revoking Prohibition.

      --
      There is a fine line between recklessness and courage... -- Paul McCartney
    18. Re:We need more cameras by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is the consequence of a state that is more concerned about population control than protecting the population. The people of England are effectively disarmed, if they are law-abiding, and you are as likely to be arrested yourself as a "vigilante" if you act to stop crime as a private citizen as you are to stop a criminal.

      Damn shame.

    19. Re:We need more cameras by PenGun · · Score: 1

      Yeah ... you probably want to stay out of Canada too. We are such assholes about that kind of stuff. You want the cool place to the south no doubt. It's a bit dangerous here too. Almost tripped over a big black bear this morning on my run. Beautiful guy with a really glossy coat, in wonderful condition. I'm gonna call him Tom in your honor, I'll very likly see him again.

        Just to put it plainly. You weapons creeps are all cowards.

    20. Re:We need more cameras by 777a · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I've been a lurker for years, and this is only my third ever post, but I've got to point out the flaw in your logic.

      So in this one South London neighborhood that I occasionally frequent, there was an armed robbery at 4 in the afternoon on the main street last Saturday. It's a quiet neighborhood, very well-balanced, well-off, so it makes sense to come there and rob people.

      There was a similar robbery the previous week. ...

      The trouble is, this particular chunk of street doesn't have any cameras


      It looks like you've got some small time crooks with an IQ over 90 deliberately targeting areas without CCTV.

      Please, think about what your asking for. Will putting CCTV on your street make these crooks apply for jobs at the supermarket, or will it just make them target a street 500 yards away.

      CCTV doesn't prevent crime, it just redirects it.

      I live about a 15 minutes walk from the town centre, a few years ago the council did a pilot scheme of putting CCTV everywhere in the town centre and the two most deprived areas in the town.

      CCTV worked, very well, the crime rate in town fell, the council called it a massive success, while my area saw a massive rise in crime (we're situated between town and one of the deprived areas), the police fly-postered warnings about bag snatchers, burglaries rose (3 on my street of 20 houses within a year, I'd only heard of 2 burglaries in the previous 2 decades).

      My area got CCTV about 18 months later, and crime has dropped to marginally higher than before, so while I'm happy that my area has CCTV, I'm not fooling myself, the crooks are still committing crimes, the council just spent a fortune on CCTV to make them walk a few hundred extra yards to commit crimes.

      We still get local kids being vandals, but they've largely moved off the main streets and into side streets (a few weeks ago every car on the street was vandalised, the local cemetery has been vandalised repeatedly), the CCTV still catches the dumb crooks, or the ones so desperate for a fix that they don't care, but any even remotely smart crook is now targeting somewhere else.

      The only way CCTV can actually prevent a non-idiot crook is by putting CCTV literally everywhere. Everywhere.

      So yeah, you're right, The trouble is, this particular chunk of street doesn't have any cameras, but the only reason it's your problem is because someone else decided to shift the problem onto you, and your solution is to shift the problem onto someone else. Can't blame you, it really sucks living in a high crime area, but when the entire country tries to shift the problem onto someone else it doesn't really work.

      My solution: Don't really have one, Britain already has by far the highest prison population per capita in Europe (141 per 1000, 2nd place is Germany with 98 per 1000), so I doubt building more prisons would help, I guess the only real options are to go the absolute sissy route, treating the thugs nicely and train them to be productive members of society, or to bring in daily torture in prisons to make thugs really not want to go back. Hopefully there is a 3rd way I'm not seeing, but the current system isn't working.

    21. Re:We need more cameras by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "..next year there will be cameras for that bit of street, yay!"

      And that same week, someone in a completely different street, just up the road where there aren't any cameras will be robbed/shot/killed/mugged/raped..... etc etc.

      Cameras don't solve crime, they merely force it in to other areas, where there are no cameras. Then when those areas are covered with cameras, it will move on.... and so on and so on until there is a camera on every street corner... for your safety and to fight crime of course. Don't be a fool.

      Tell the government to stop spending money on cameras and deal with the root of the problem - a working class culture of "who's the hardest on our street" and one upmanship in theft, robbery and drugs.

    22. Re:We need more cameras by evought · · Score: 1

      Doesn't sound like you need cameras. Sounds like you need competent police. If they cannot be bothered to interview witnesses and investigate the crime, what makes you think that they will do substantially better with the video? They would still have to track down the actual offenders and tie them to the scene, and that takes work. You yourself said that video won't do any good if no one actually gets hurt. I'll bet that if someone does get hurt, they'll nail the first poor sod to the wall that matches their fuzzy video image regardless of whether they can actually tie them to the scene or put a weapon in their hand--- easier that way, better for the media.

      The cameras are not there to make people safer, they are there to make law enforcement lazier, to keep them from having to do real investigation. In some places I have lived in, the police would put armed plain-clothes officers (often women) on the street in question to be there when the robbers showed up. End of problem. They could also patrol the street on a regular basis to discourage attacks. Your bobbies aren't doing their jobs.

      Incidentally, this kind of situation is one of the reasons for a right to bear arms in the US. When the police are unwilling or unable to provide protection (often enough), at least the individual can defend their own life in the last extreme. In the rural area I live in, any attack would be long over by the time the police arrive. It is unconscionable for the state to say to someone: "We won't defend you or your family, but don't you dare stand up for yourself!" The right to bear arms, admittedly, causes a host of other issues, but there are underlying reasons.

    23. Re:We need more cameras by eclectic4 · · Score: 1

      That's not what he said, but in your defense it's misquoted often. What B.F really said was, "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." And he's right. But remember, you only have to scare 51% of the people into thinking that if we don't we will all die, and doing so is getting easier every year. Our knowledge of public relations and swaying popular thought is so deep that I unfortunately do not see those with the power to do the things they are doing giving it up so easily. Either many more have to turn on their critical thought caps (which again, seeing how our public school system is being dried of all things creative, thinking included I just do not see this happening), or revolution, it's all downhill from here. So, you pick... apathy until death, or changing things for the better. Kinda tough, I know, but you can blame every voter in the last several elections if it makes you feel better (probably won't... sorry about that!)

      --

      "The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel Boorstin
    24. Re:We need more cameras by bbtom · · Score: 1

      Cowards? That may be true, but it is irrelevant. I know that in a fist fight, I would probably not win. I'm athletically unfit and not trained to fight (uh huh... that might be why I'm a Slashdot reader). But might does not make right, and any technology that helps make us weedy or fat or unfit guys (and women - hence the thing about rape - men are usually stronger than women, and that's why I'd love to see women be able to defend themselves better) a bit more even in the game of life is good technology, methinks. A gun is just a tool towards that end, and it's one I'd really want beside my bed if I lived in an area where violent attack or burglary was a high risk.

      Just as if I have a lot of calculations I would use a computer, if I have a violent attacker coming at me I'd like to have a loaded gun in my hand - it's just a piece of technology that helps solve a problem. The computer helps solve the problem of processing bits of data in series of predefined ways and the gun helps stop humans who are coming towards you with the intent of attacking you. Both can be misused in the wrong hands. But just as governments shouldn't ban the Internet because of child pornography, they shouldn't ban guns on the basis that nasty people will use them but hope that nice people will use them more effectively than the nasty people. A use of an item cannot define that item, however much certain people want it to be so.

      --
      catch (HumourFailureException e) { e.user.send("You, sir, are a humourless idiot."); }
    25. Re:We need more cameras by PenGun · · Score: 2, Informative

      Ever fire a gun? A useful one, one that will stop a big ugly guy, is a heavy kicking beast. If it ever comes down to a gun fight the guy in better shape will be able to aim more rounds faster.

        Your puny ass is puny armed or not.

        The point is that if there are no guns around the damage will be done by other, much less lethal means. Another point is that it is much harder to kill someone when it's up close and personal, like with a knife.

        I just want the sharp objects out of the nursery. It most surely is, as you and most of the rest of this comment section display pretty juvenile thinking.

    26. Re:We need more cameras by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "But all is not lost. Armed robbery generally *does* mean someone eventually getting hurt, and next year there will be cameras for that bit of street, yay! And none of this is really *Real Violent Crime* such as you might find in south chicago; it's just that there's no reason *not* to mug people or kick stuff over so it just becomes the normal expectation that those things will happen.
      The thing about 'omg they are taking our libertiez!' is, Civil Liberties in this sense aren't as important as for example the liberty to *not* be mugged or the liberty to *not* have your stuff smashed or the most important liberty of all, the liberty to *not* have the nature of your life dictated by the whims of thugs. The liberty of not being recorded on camera is actually pretty trivial by comparison."

      So why aren't the people standing up for themselves? If I faced a likelihood of being attacked if I went outside I would arm myself or otherwise get trained to defend myself. If your laws make that a crime there's a real problem in your area that has to do with government, not crime. The idea that I should expect or hope that the "authorities" will protect me is laughable. At best they will take a report after the fact and catch and punish the perpetrators. Too late for the victim.

      The funny thing about civil liberties is that you don't often have your need for them tested. When it is and you find them gone is when you realize the importance of what you've lost...

    27. Re:We need more cameras by metamatic · · Score: 1

      The real, underlying problem with life in Britain today - the problem which is a major cause not only of this sort of crime, but of the creeping totalitarianism that this documentary is about - is that the majority of the populace care about absolutely nothing besides the value of their fucking houses.

      Yeah, I think of it as the legacy of Thatcherism. I can't help noticing that the ASBO kids are exactly the generation that grew up knowing only Tory rule.

      --
      GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
    28. Re:We need more cameras by strikethree · · Score: 1

      That is an awesome demonstration of what is wrong with the UK nowadays...

      You are completely helpless and are unable to defend yourself against even small-time crooks. You are 100% dependent on the government to provide even the most basic level of security. Your government is free to walk all over you. Your civil liberties exist only at the whim of those in charge.

      Stick a fork in it... the UK is done. It is all over except some screaming and shouting.

      strike

      --
      "Someone needs to talk to the tree of liberty about its ghoulish drinking problem." by ohnocitizen
    29. Re:We need more cameras by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      The parent hits the nail right on the head.

      The basic problem is that out society has become even more unfair that it used to be. Social mobility has decreased, while the gap between the rich and poor has increased. On the one hand, they keep telling you to do your best, try harder, get qualifications, become something, own that new phone, want that new car etc. On the other hand, there is no real opportunity and people feel they have no prospects. That's when they turn to crime, to heavy drinking, get stressed and agressive.

      I suppose it doesn't help that parenting seems to be a lost art, and that most families need both parents to work now so there is even less contact with the kids.

      I was lucky, I had two really good parents, but I still fell into the trap. From age 12, I tried so damn hard. Social life went out the window, I got good GCSEs. My dad died during my time at college, but I carried on and eventually got an Honours degree in Computing. Ended up earning £10,000 ($20k) a year fixing PCs because there are just no jobs or prospects. The government wants 50% of people to go to University, but only 5% of jobs need a degree. This means there is much less opportunity for bright people now, because even once you get a degree there are a hundred other people with the same bit of paper.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    30. Re:We need more cameras by ShakaUVM · · Score: 1

      In America, some homeowners with big sticks would start sitting on their fences at that certain time of the evening.

      Violence might not always be the answer, but sometimes it is the best answer.

    31. Re:We need more cameras by vertinox · · Score: 1

      And there is absolutely nothing anyone can do about it.

      Whats preventing private citizens from installing alarm systems and their own CCTV?

      In the states it costs me a paltry $20(US) a month for an alarm system with remote monitoring.

      I could install a CCTV system for $5,000 or less, but I don't really see the need due to the monitoring.

      --
      "I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
      -Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
    32. Re:We need more cameras by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      The biggest problem with guns is the fact that the people who clamor most for gun rights are the people who shouldn't be allowed to even have a squirt gun.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    33. Re:We need more cameras by Blue+Stone · · Score: 1

      >"It's not so much a matter of Police competence as it is paperwork. Twenty years ago, the Police didn't have to fill in an hours worth of paperwork for an arrest for a minor offence which is why they were on the streets doing their job in the first place. For each minor arrest, a copper can be kept off the streets for a minimum of 1 hour documenting every detail of the incident. If a kid vandalises a car, robs someone and is picked up on a description the reaction is more likely to be "fuck off you can't prove it" than "I won't do it again"."

      Except that now, they get a little gold star for arresting a couple of kids having a scuffle in a school playground - adds to their detection statistics - and so everything petty and minor which would have been dealt with by a quiet word, gets those involved a criminal record, and the copper involved a nice boost to his stats.

      --
      Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
    34. Re:We need more cameras by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      All modern U.S. buildings higher than 15 floors have explosives planted in them to allow for easy demolition. Do you have a source for this? Is this a 9/11 conspiracy theory?
      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    35. Re:We need more cameras by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ever fire a gun? A useful one, one that will stop a big ugly guy, is a heavy kicking beast.

      Wrong. 2 9mm JHP rounds to the chest will stop a big ugly guy, and a 9mm semiauto is not a heavy kicking beast. Neither is a .45, and anybody who is serious about self-defence will train. From the Weaver stance, you can pump two .45 rounds downrange (and we're talking 5m range in a self-defence situation) with the required accuracy.

      Your knowledge of firearm facts, to put it honestly, borders on the total ignorance. But then you are ignorant and your post shows that.

    36. Re:We need more cameras by Ravenger · · Score: 1

      > Except that now, they get a little gold star for arresting a couple of kids having a scuffle
      > in a school playground - adds to their detection statistics - and so everything petty and minor
      > which would have been dealt with by a quiet word, gets those involved a criminal record,
      > and the copper involved a nice boost to his stats.

      And of course they get some more samples for their DNA database.

    37. Re:We need more cameras by SummitCO · · Score: 1

      [blockquote]So all you have to do is rob people there, since nobody around here is fool enough to intervene and get jailed or killed, and there's no chance of a conviction (or even police attention) without video evidence. If you have video evidence, and there is a history of crime, and someone gets hurt, then in the end, you can get a custodial sentence passed. It's an uphill struggle, though, because there's a hell of a lot of civil liberties in the way.[/blockquote] Perhaps it is other civil liberties that have been taken away that are contributing to the problem? The English system legally prevents citizens from defending themselves with guns, or knives... or anything at all much less coming to the aid of others. The criminals know this and all they see walking around the streets are LEGALLY MANDATED VICTIMS. Is it a wonder that they rob with impunity?

    38. Re:We need more cameras by MentalMooMan · · Score: 1

      I'm not disagreeing with your point, but I think you read the site that you link to incorrectly. The actual number of prison-dwellers is 141 per 100000, not per 1000 - a considerable difference, I think you'll agree.

      --
      43rd Law of Computing:
      Anything that can go wr
      fortune: Segmentation violation -- Core Dumped
    39. Re:We need more cameras by 777a · · Score: 1

      You're 100% correct, a huge difference between 1,000 and 100,000, when I proofed my post I was focusing on the other point (that the UK has 43% more prisoners than any other western european country), so unfortunately it slipped through.

      Thanks for the correction.

    40. Re:We need more cameras by strikethree · · Score: 1

      Saw it on a Discovery Channel special about building demolition. No conspiracy.

      strike

      --
      "Someone needs to talk to the tree of liberty about its ghoulish drinking problem." by ohnocitizen
  15. Repect for the law by PingXao · · Score: 1

    I'm in the US, so things are a bit different. Apathy is the same. Here, we have our rights enshrined in a Constitution. In Britain everything is based on tradition and the consent of the Crown rather than a written document, unless you go back to the Magna Carta. I could be wrong on that so flame gently if required.

    Nevertheless, when the most sacred and cherished documents in history are trashed by a government of men (British or American) over a period of years, apathy sets in the longer it goes on without anyone doing anything about it. When the key documents are shat upon, I, for one, lose respect for every written rule, law, regulation and contract. Writing isn't worth the paper it's written on.

    I don't go around breaking contracts because I believe a person's word is their bond and carries honor. Everything else, however, is debatable IMO.

    1. Re:Repect for the law by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      The English system is based on common law, ie tradition. When there is no precedent, judges in courts of law decide, but this can be appealed up to the House of Lords in Parliament. Parliament can introduce new laws but if they come in conflict with common law then courts could refuse to apply them as invalid. This would result in a consitutional crisis as Parliament is the body with greatest legislative power in England.

      The Magna Carta restricts the power of the monarchy such that it is bound by the rule of law, so there is no consent from the crown, but rather the other way round -- the monarch rules with the consent of the people and has to do so bound by the common law. No individual in England has anywhere near the power that a US president has to introduce new laws or restrict civil liberties. Neither the queen or prime minister can veto Parliament, for example. So if/when Parliament introduces laws that restrict civil liberties then it is the judges/courts that ultimately decide if the new laws are enforcable. In actice new laws have to pass through the house of lords, and the law lords there (very senior judges) advise on whether the proposed law is in fact enforcable.

    2. Re:Repect for the law by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      The US presidents don't have any power to introduce new laws or restrict civil liberties. They have vetoes but that's it and those are very often overturned--they also have a stigma attached to them making them rarely used. As for influencing power, your Prime Minister as leader of majority party in Parliament has more of that than the President as a seperately elected official, especially when the President and Congress are locked against each other.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
  16. Bad timing by kirun · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Who's going to go watch a documentary about civil liberties when Big Brother's on TV?

    --
    I'm scared of numbers that can't be written as a fraction. It's an irrational fear.
  17. you've got it right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    a few years ago there was a train crash, loads of people abandoned trains and took to their cars... how damn stupid can you get? It seems easy to ignore the 2500 road deaths in the UK. or

    "Around 5,000 deaths in the UK per year may be directly attributable to the presence of a hospital acquired infection, and in a further 15,000 deaths, hospital acquired infection may be a substantial contributor." (http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405 /cmselect/cmpubacc/554/55405.htm)

    we don't see cameras taking photographs of cleaners/nurses/doctors in hospitals to sort this out do we?

    1. Re:you've got it right by Zombywuf · · Score: 1

      We also don't see mandatory quarantine for anyone entering hospital, or the kind of tough cleaning regimes the food industry has to deal with in hospitals. What we do see is emails being intercepted, computer seized, stop and search and a whole raft other measures to prevent a minor problem.

      --
      If you can read this you've gone too far.
  18. Intresting quote on the site by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty nor security.

    It is intresting because the words in bold are not usually included. Watch the excellent british series "yes minister" ("the right/need to know" I believe) for why these words are so fucking important.

    In that episode it is the word "significant" wich is added to a sentence to make it into weasel language.

    Yes, if this quote above is correct, then Benjamin Franklin was a weasel.

    After all, just what do you classify as essential or for that matter tempory. The right to travel outside your own country is hardly essential for the majority of us, and if a sacrifice would grant you a million years of security by the age of the universe that would still be temporary.

    They are weasel words, words that can be used to, well weasel out of commiting yourselve to anything firm. Franklin by including these words could always claim that he never meant for something to be considered an essential liberty or that security measure in his eyes was not temporary.

    The world changes. Take travelling, pasports have been known for a long time and used to be documents that merely asked of friendly powers to let this person pass unharmed. The dutch pasport at least still has text that asks friendly powers to allow the owner of the pasport to free passage and any aid or assitance necesarry. Officious language from an age when the vast majority of people never travelled from their place of birth.

    Nowadays you can easily find a job were you pass several borders each and every day. Taking a long weekend on the other side of europe is common as hell and airports handle millions of people everyday.

    Obviously then a passport today is much different then it once was. More and more info linking the intended owner to the document is included. Loss of an essential liberty? Providing temporary security OR the price for a liberty that gives us some security. Discuss, but know that Benjamin Franklin's famous quote does NOT take a firm stand against any amount of biometrics to be included on your pasport, not even if it was to be injected in your body. "Essential" and "temporary".

    Liberty is a noble goal. Just go ahead, disable the traffic lights on a busy intersection, see how well people cope with liberty. The simple fact is that for instance speed cameras do have a positive effect, areas known to be heavily controlled show a drastic reduction not only in the speeding itself but also in accidents. The essential freedom of being able to speed sacrificed for the temporary security of not being killed by some idiot who thinks he is Michael Schumacher?

    Play an MMORPG for a while, say WoW and see what a world looks like when the police and the state are essentially absent. It ain't pretty. Yes it is freedom, but at what price?

    We should always be wary of what is being done in the name of security, but next time someone quotes Benjamin Franklin and leaves out the two weasel words take note of it. These words were included by a smart man for a good reason, why did they choose to leave them out?

    1. Re:Intresting quote on the site by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      These words were included by a smart man for a good reason, why did they choose to leave them out? One of Orwell's rules of writing was: "If you can cut a word out, cut it out". Because anybody with a brain knows that every generalization has its limits(thank you for pointing them out) those weasel words have only poetic purpose.
      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
  19. Nice try by Dogtanian · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...but not necessarily because of its content. No, what is interesting is how the film maker will decry the loss of liberties, the encroachments of freedom, and the institution of censorship -- in a film openly distributed and marketed to the general public, and all without the government shutting him down. Nice strawman, but he was warning against the destruction of civil liberties, not claiming that Britain was a police state yet.
    --
    "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
  20. no one will see it anyway.... by advocate_one · · Score: 1

    they'll be too busy watching the blockbusters that are stacked up for showing over the next few weeks... the only way to get a real audience would be to show it before the main feature or else in primetime on the main channels... but there's no way the main broadcasters would shift their soaps for that... 'tis weird that the really good programmes get shown opposite the cruddy soaps...

    --
    Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
  21. Right to bear arms? by m0nkyman · · Score: 0

    How much do you want to bet that the right to bear arms isn't mentioned in the film?

    --
    ~ a low user id is no indication I have a clue what I'm talking about.
    1. Re:Right to bear arms? by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 3, Insightful
      We in England have never had the right to bear arms, nor the right to arm bears.

      Furthermore, not one British citizen on 10,000 would want anyone to have such a right. the other 9,999 are 100% behind the full enforcement of 7 years jail for anyone posessing a weapon, legally or otherwise. The American right to bear arms is seen as the reason why American deaths from gunshot wounds run at around 100 times the rate here, adjusted for population size. In short, almost everyone in the UK sees weapons as the problem, and none see them as the solution.

      A few criminals have guns, and probably a similar number of country dwellers have them, and perhaps a few who shoot competitively as a sport, but carrying guns is not something many in the UK would consider. Those with a sound legal reason for carrying a gun have very little support here.

      Our police dont normally carry guns, but have still managed to shoot more innocent people than guilty ones. Each time a policeman is shot by a criminal, there is a clamour to arm the police, but I do not recall any incident where this would ahve prevented the policemen being shot. AFAIR 75% of American polise shot are shot with their own gun, or by a colleague.

      How about a right to bare breasts? Now that really would be popular!

      --
      Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
    2. Re:Right to bear arms? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, British people prefer to leave the arms on bears - it seems to be the least cruel option.

    3. Re:Right to bear arms? by m0nkyman · · Score: 1

      We in England have never had the right to bear arms, nor the right to arm bears.

      No more than you have the right to free speech, etc. etc.

      Your last vestige of the right bear arms was taken away, and in short order you see your other rights sliding slowly away. And there's no correlation.... Slashdot really needs to implement smilies, 'cause I really need to use :rollseyes: right now.

      --
      ~ a low user id is no indication I have a clue what I'm talking about.
    4. Re:Right to bear arms? by Kandenshi · · Score: 1

      How about a right to bare breasts? Now that really would be popular! Legal protection for topless women already exists in Ontario, Canada. I'm not aware of any efforts made in other provinces in Canada, but the Ontario supreme court ruled back in 1996 that it was fine for women to be topless in public.

      http://www.fcn.ca/Gwen.html

      Few women do so, but I've seen women sunbathing topless in the park south of my house in the summer(grassy area, near Lake Ontario). It's not really made a huge deal of, at least that I've seen. The women have no shirt on, and neither do the men. They get a tan and then go home. *shrug*
      A boob is just a boob, not anything to get TOO frantic about.
    5. Re:Right to bear arms? by UncleFluffy · · Score: 1

      We in England have never had the right to bear arms,

      Not true, in fact archery practice was mandatory for quite some time, and in some border towns killing Welsh people was regarded as a public service. If by "never" you mean "in the last 100 years" and by "arms" you mean "guns", I think you'll find that the restrictions were very different pre-WW2, definitely pre-WW1.

      How about a right to bare breasts? Now that really would be popular!

      Hrm. Maybe. Depends on the breasts.

      --

      What would Lemmy do?

    6. Re:Right to bear arms? by Weedlekin · · Score: 1

      "We in England have never had the right to bear arms"

      I suggest you check your own history, paying particular attention to the 1689 Bill Of Rights, which (among various other things) gives the right to have armaments for personal defence.

      --
      I'm not going to change your sheets again, Mr. Hastings.
    7. Re:Right to bear arms? by Guuge · · Score: 1

      There isn't that correlation in the US. In fact, gun groups like the NRA are usually at odds with civil liberty groups like the ACLU. So if anything there's a reverse correlation in the US. Can you back up your thesis in any way? Because it seems to me that the erosion of rights in Britain has more to do with the so-called "War on Terror" than gun issues.

    8. Re:Right to bear arms? by m0nkyman · · Score: 1

      Really? You want to back up the assertion that the NRA are at odds with civil liberty groups like the ACLU?

      --
      ~ a low user id is no indication I have a clue what I'm talking about.
    9. Re:Right to bear arms? by Guuge · · Score: 1

      I'll let you do the endorsement research. Let's just say they don't often concur.

    10. Re:Right to bear arms? by Weedlekin · · Score: 3, Informative

      "If by "never" you mean "in the last 100 years" and by "arms" you mean "guns", I think you'll find that the restrictions were very different pre-WW2, definitely pre-WW1."

      You're pretty much correct. The first British gun licensing laws were enacted in 1870, but they were essentially a revenue generation tool. You had to pay ten shillings for the right to carry guns around in public places, but could keep as many at home as you wanted without one, and the licenses were handed out at post offices to anyone who could pay for them. The first actual control legislation was in 1903, when certain classes of pistol could only be sold to people who produced a valid game or gun license, although once again such licenses were extremely easy to obtain, and any other sort of gun could be bought without them. True gun control didn't happen until 1920, and was largely a reaction to the 1917 Russian Revolution, where private gun ownership played a significant role in overthrowing the Czar, and the British government feared that the millions of recently demobbed (and therefore extremely cheap) weapons from WWI would be used to start a massive armed revolt.

      --
      I'm not going to change your sheets again, Mr. Hastings.
    11. Re:Right to bear arms? by m0nkyman · · Score: 1

      Neither do the ACLU and the World Wildlife Fund. Doesn't mean they're at odds, just that they're working on different things.

      --
      ~ a low user id is no indication I have a clue what I'm talking about.
    12. Re:Right to bear arms? by wheelgun · · Score: 1

      The right to bear arms is a universal right not given by men, as are all the rights described in the original ten Amendments to the Constitution. They are inaliable rights. That's something almost everyone (particularly and sadly, Americans) forget or have never been taught in the first place.

    13. Re:Right to bear arms? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      England isn't down-town Baghdad. Even if we had the right to bear arms there's not a single person in this country that would risk getting themselves killed to try and claw back their civil liberties. It would have to get a whole lot worse before it got to that point, so bad in fact that any gun law would be irrelevant anyway, because the people would be arming themselves in the same way the IRA did - through backchannels.

      The right to bear arms with the aim of fighting back against the goverment is rather irrelevant in todays day and age, the difference between civilian arms and the military they'd be fighting against, assuming the army backed the goverment is too big for people to give their lives unless things got so bad that people felt their lives had already been taken. Of course the more realistic scenario is that the army wouldn't back the goverment, why? Because even people in the army are better educated than they were, back when these ideas of being able to bear arms to rebel against the goverment were introduced, soldiers themselves are citizens who'd have to be willing to be supressed, if the goverment gave them special conditions and more rights over other citizens then there's still the soldier's families the soldiers are going to care about, and friends of the soldiers family and on and on.

      The only thing the right to bear arms does realistically is make American citizens think they're in control, when the reality is quite obviously the opposite, the cost of this false security they have is many countless unneeded murders and accidents caused by the plethora of available firearms.

    14. Re:Right to bear arms? by spike1 · · Score: 1

      What does the american constitution have to do with this issue?

      Apart from nothing at all, that is?

    15. Re:Right to bear arms? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nonsense. This trend towards lost civil rights was in place in Britain long before the so-called "war on terror" began. Not everything in the world is Blair's fault or Bush's fault.

    16. Re:Right to bear arms? by pipingguy · · Score: 1

      the full enforcement of 7 years jail for anyone posessing a weapon, legally or otherwise.

      The above doesn't seem to make sense.

    17. Re:Right to bear arms? by LupusCanis · · Score: 1

      Most of this is 100% true, but just to be pendantic, the right to bear arms was enshrined in law in Saxon and mediaeval times, I believe, but as it became less necessary and more archaic it pretty much vanished.

    18. Re:Right to bear arms? by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      The rights in the first ten amendments to the Constitution were given to us by James Madison writing in his Virginia home, not passed from God to Moses on Mount Sinai.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    19. Re:Right to bear arms? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You have no idea how refreshing it is to see someone who knows their history. In addition to the above, some of the earliest strong British gun control was inspired by the 1934 American National Firearms Act. Which was, as far as I know, largely passed with the aid of massive media exaggeration of Mob use of the Thompson. Whether you're for it or against it, the history behind gun control is fascinating, and quite depressing. Please tell me you're British, so I know I'm not the only one on this godforsaken island.

  22. nice fearmongering, try responsiblity instead. by Original+Replica · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So all you have to do is rob people there, since nobody around here is fool enough to intervene

    Ahh. there is your problem. People in that nieghborhood don't give a shit. How did nieghborhoods ever have low crime rates before CCTV? Because they stood by their nieghbors and acted in their own best interest by actually doing something about it themselves. By hiding behind closed doors pretending not to see, they are getting the shitty neighborhood they deserve. Act like a victim, get treated like a victim. I have more than once come out of my apartment into the street and made my presence known, when there is a disturbance on my street.(I live in New York City) Guess what happens when I walk out and look them in the eye? Well usually it's some arguement that is starting to turn physical, but when suddenly there is a witness threats go back to being just words. The one actual mugging that I encountered the guy just ran away.

    --
    We are all just people.
    1. Re:nice fearmongering, try responsiblity instead. by indiechild · · Score: 1

      Bravo, good on you for doing the right thing! I'm curious, do you carry a firearm? I wouldn't be gutsy enough to make my presence known without carrying a gun (whether concealed or in open view). I just keep imagining a scene where I step outside and meet a hail of bullets.

    2. Re:nice fearmongering, try responsiblity instead. by jez9999 · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, there have been a few well-documented cases recently of people being killed when confronting evil little thugs, and without a gun (which Blair insists is completely unnecessary for any citizen), it can be quite hard to take them on.

    3. Re:nice fearmongering, try responsiblity instead. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Doesn't matter. Having a gun-free society is more important than the petty life of some subject. They can be replaced easily.

      A few deaths is a price I'm gladly willing to pay if it means no guns. Bravo, Tony!

    4. Re:nice fearmongering, try responsiblity instead. by Aeron65432 · · Score: 1

      I know, you wouldn't believe it! I hung out with 3 of my friends on the way to Paris and watched a fat guy get mugged, it was pretty funny. But I was convicted on the Good Samaritan law and sentenced to two years in prison. I'm just getting back to my job now....Bee Movie in theaters this fall, see it!

  23. What is liberty by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    The world used to be so simple, when I was young primates had a male leader who had beaten the previous male leader in a fight and replaced him. Younger males could live under his care until they became too dangerous to his rule and were forced to live outside the group, were natural selection would make on of them the next challenger.

    It all made sense, was simple and that was how the monkeys lived and in some way so did humans.

    Turns out that is not the case at all. The male leader may very well win temporary control just by beating the old leader BUT if he then acts like an asshole to his new harem of females and is too rough with their young then he might just learn that a dozen pissed of female monkeys can seriously hurt one male leader, especially one not smart enough to have a second in command.

    So in one docu the old leader is replaced by a new upstart, the females don't like his attitude and give him a near lethal kicking and the old leaders second becomes the new boss with the old leader now being the second in command. So the females really decided who they wanted after all. Revolution in the monkey world.

    Note however that at no time did the monkeys bother with election or trying to correct the behaviour of the hooligan monkey. He died of his wounds. Execution.

    Yet for the last couple of decades both left and right wingers have toned down the element of punishement for crimes in our own society, the left because they are bleeding hearts and the right because they are to cheap too pay for prisons and other essential tools of a justice system.

    This leads to repear offenders by wich they don't mean people who are commiting their second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eight, etc etc crime but people whose offences are in the triple digits, and still are getting non-sentences that are often not even applied.

    What does a sentence forcing someone to do a few hours of community work sentence but a clear message that working is a punishement (how would you like to have a job to wich other people are sentenced) especially if people then can use excuses like actually perfoming this sentence would place an undue burden on them.

    Note that both the left and the right are to blame for this. The left because they believe the softly softly approach will work despite several decades of failure and the right because they think you can keep cutting costs and still get the result. It is odd that right wingers are all for locking people up for life and executing them but when you ask them cover the cost of the bullet they can't be found. Just as odd as the left wingers who shout the hardest never ever seem to live in the areas affected by their social experiments. Odd eh.

    The situation you describe is the end result of years of mis-management, were rights granted to combat excesses were taken to far and now create just as much problems as they were supposed to correct.

    I do not think it is right childeren should be sentenced as adults. HOWEVER that does not mean that kids under a certain age cannot be touched by the law. There are criminal gangs that use children because they know the police does not have any power to stop them. A kid who commits a crime knowing he cannot be punished is a sign that things have gone to far to the other side.

    Perhaps a person needs a second chance BUT at the moment the system seems to be more like a person needs another chance, and another and another and another add infinitum.

    I take public tranport in amsterdam, holland as an example. There used to be conductors on the trams. They were removed. The left thought the people could police themselves, the right wanted to cut staffing costs. Problems encurred, were muffled over by both sides until finally the problems became just too big, too many people not paying and security problems. So now we have both cameras and the conductor back. One huge failure of a social experiment but does anyone bother to interview the people t

  24. Slow down quick draws. by boolithium · · Score: 1

    You know my grandfather used to say you can't comment on something you know nothing about. I was just glancing at the comments to see, if anyone has actually seen this movie, and what they thought about it. I noticed people going off about propaganda before they gave it a chance. A free society comes complete with propaganda. An educated individual views all media as propaganda of one kind or another, then views it with an open mind and draws conclusions thusly.

  25. It never was a bloody democracy. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Unites States of America is a "republic".

    A republic!
    REPUBLIC!

    Jeez...

  26. Nonsense by DiamondGeezer · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Once you give up traditional liberties such as free speech and the right to protest you are not going to easily get them back,' says Atkins

    We've never had them in the first place, Mr Atkins. In order for there to be inalienable rights like freedom of speech, there must be constitutional limitations on the power of the state, legislature and judiciary, all three of which needing to be subject to the rule of law.

    WE DON'T HAVE SUCH A DOCUMENT. WE DON'T LIVE IN SUCH A STATE.

    We never have.

    Therefore your film about rights we've never had is as useful as a chocolate teapot.

    --
    Tubby or not tubby. Fat is the question
    1. Re:Nonsense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      We've never had them in the first place, Mr Atkins. In order for there to be inalienable rights like freedom of speech, there must be constitutional limitations on the power of the state, legislature and judiciary, all three of which needing to be subject to the rule of law.

      WTF are you talking about? The UK is a constitutional monarchy. Our constitution is not a written document, but rather spread across several laws. There are indeed limits on state power and recognition of natural rights, going back all the way to the original Bill of Rights and the Magna Carta. Since we joined the EU last century, we have further restrictions on state power.

      WE DON'T HAVE SUCH A DOCUMENT. WE DON'T LIVE IN SUCH A STATE.

      50% right, 50% wrong. We do live in such a state, it's just that there's no one singular document that we can point to and say "that's it". It's way more complex than that, mostly because the UK is comprised of a mixture of constituent countries that are a thousand years old.

      I'm getting really fed up with people spouting off these misinformed "factoids" that they heard somewhere, like "Oh, Brits aren't citizens, they are subjects". Nonsense. Don't repeat somebody else's opinion you heard on Slashdot as fact. Not only are you wrong, you are actually spreading ignorance.

    2. Re:Nonsense by JaxWeb · · Score: 1

      We have multiple. What are you on about? Don't talk in future!

      --
      - Jax
    3. Re:Nonsense by Bomarrow1 · · Score: 1

      about as useful as a chocolate teapot Oh no, my great idea! You really think it won't work?
    4. Re:Nonsense by Smauler · · Score: 1

      No one has true free speech.... it is an illusion, there are always restrictions.

      The UK has had a tradition of free speech throughout the years, which has been eroded by the recent Labour government (See incitement to ??? laws for direct free speech violations). This is what the film is addressing, I assume, though I've not seen it as yet.

      I'll say again : Free speech is not an absolute - It is all about degrees.

    5. Re:Nonsense by Von+Helmet · · Score: 1
    6. Re:Nonsense by lysse · · Score: 1

      But there used to be lots of other monarchies, and there used to be lots of other governments that placed themselves above the rule of law.

      Now there are not so many.

      Whilst I'm no ally of government at all, that progression gives me hope for the more distant future, no matter how bloody depressing the short term looks...

    7. Re:Nonsense by ribuck · · Score: 1
      > Since we joined the EU last century, we have further
      > restrictions on state power.


      You think so? The European Convention on Human Rights doesn't restrict state power, it enables it. Most of the Convention's protocols follow the pattern of: "Humans have some right ... except as prescribed by law". For example:

      ARTICLE 10: Everyone has the right to freedom of expression ... The exercise of these freedoms may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law...

      Yeah, like that really helps.
    8. Re:Nonsense by DiamondGeezer · · Score: 1

      No WTF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

      Its fucking morons like you who waste my time and everyone else's time by repeating lies and serial delusions. The Constitution of the UK is whatever the British State says it is.

      Limitations on State Power? Don't make me laugh. Absolute power is wielded by the State and there are no rights that cannot and have not been trampled into the earth on many occasions. Freedom of speech? Not even on Speakers Corner. Freedom of expression? Nope.

      I'm getting really fed up with people spouting off these misinformed "factoids" that they heard somewhere, like "Oh, Brits aren't citizens, they are subjects". Nonsense. Don't repeat somebody else's opinion you heard on Slashdot as fact. Not only are you wrong, you are actually spreading ignorance.

      No its brainless pinheads who interpret "traditions" as if they were not the imaginary documents that politicians of all persuasions don't tear up and laugh every single day. That the Civil Service ignores with gay abandon.

      The UK is a constitional monarchy only because it says it is. The fact is, that as a subject of the Crown, my rights are loaned to me by the State and can be rescinded in a heartbeat.

      You're living in a dreamworld.

      --
      Tubby or not tubby. Fat is the question
    9. Re:Nonsense by DiamondGeezer · · Score: 1

      Name a single monarch or single Prime Minister who didn't tear up that document and laugh. The Magna Carta has protected nobody and prosecuted nobody. It has no legal standing at all.

      --
      Tubby or not tubby. Fat is the question
    10. Re:Nonsense by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      I don't think any of them did--that's the sort of thing you can only do once. What they did was ignore it.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
  27. just not by Michael Moore by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can we.. make one for the USA?

    Just please don't have Michael Moore do anything with it. Last time he alone made me almost vote for Bush.

  28. Remember 1984 tells us about a dictator by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A nasty mean spirited person in total control over his subjects. No other then the author, George Orwell.

    An author is an absolute dictator, in his story nobody acts or think without his express wishes. The sun rises on his command, love is stirred at his whim, death occurs only as he wishes.

    This may sound trivial but just ask yourselve how an author would react if a novel was democratic. Just imagine 1984 is the readers could have voted for the outcome. Would Orwell have welcomed this freedom of the masses and have changed his novel to have a happy outcome if the readers had voted it as such?

    Not bloody likely.

    It is important to remember that when an author uses his story to tell us something that he is in total control of the events. He decides what the world is like and what we see of it. The world of 1984 is not a real world any more then a television set is. Ever notice that no matter how small the income of a sitcom character his/her apartment is always HUGE and way beyond their means if it was real life?

    Same as tv sets do not have to bother with the messy fourth wall, or prices of real estate, an author does not have to deal with anybody living in his world that he does not want to deal with.

    In Star Wars, A New Hope, nobody bothers about who is in all those other jail cells aboard the death star. They were added for scenery but the author did not want to bother about the messyness of rescuing only the nobility and leaving the common soldiers to die, so he didn't.

    Same with more serious novels like 1984. We never see the real lives of all the characters because offcourse they do not have them.

    A basic lesson in story writing is that you do not say a person is X but let that become apparent through the telling of the story. Do not say your lead is smart, have them act that way.

    1984 is a quality novel but I get to much the feeling that the characters act the way they do because the author tells them to do so, rather then acting naturally as they would if the novel had not been fiction.

    The diary of Anne Frank is for me way more disturbing because it is real, nobody designed the people in her diary to fit the message they wanted to send. What happens is real and the people obviously behaved as they would as if they were real because that is what they were.

    1984 is an excellent novel and well worth reading but you have to remember that it is a fictional world, made up and no more real then any other piece of fantasy. 1984 is no more valid a warning about surveillance then say Lord of the Rings is about creating powerfull weapons.

    It is a novel, not a view into a possible future. Fantasy, not fact. Act like it is anything else and you might soon find yourselve forgetting the real stories out there which tells us not what might happen in an authors mind but what has happened and is happening.

  29. No, it hasn't. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The site's own schedule states that the earliest release date is June 8th. So nobody can watch the video now, which makes this both an incorrect and useless post.

  30. Grammar Nazi, Here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I had recently seen to videos

    Two, three, four, five
    Too, also, in addition to
    To, towards, because of

  31. free speech and the right to protest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Every living person has free speech and can protest. You cannot GIVE freedom to a human being, he is free by definition. I'm living in a country where by law you cannot protest, and you can be punished for "wrongly" speaking - it's Israel, so what? At most you spend some time in jail (which I and many my friends did) or killed, but your mind is always free.

  32. You must mean _Fahrenheit_451_ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    see subject.

  33. interesting? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Shouldn't that have got modded funny?

  34. There is one for the USA by kungfujesus · · Score: 1

    There is one: "America: Freedom to Fascism" Full movie here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-165688030 3867390173 site: http://freedomtofascism.com/

    1. Re:There is one for the USA by bryan1945 · · Score: 1

      Thanks, looks interesting from the promo. I'll check it out over the weekend, methinks.

      --
      Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
  35. You are not a troll. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You are just ignorant.

  36. scarier in the U.S. by bcrowell · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I just got done sitting on a jury for a drug trial. It was a frightening experience. The evidence was so weak and indirect that I couldn't even believe they had charged these two people with a crime. One of them was a transsexual prostitute who was clearly (to me) just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Well, when the jury started to deliberate, there were four of us who all thought it was going to be an open-and-shut not guilty verdict, but we ended up with a hung jury, 8 voting guilty and 4 not guilty. This is the kind of offense that can easily land you in prison for life under California's three strikes laws. And no, you don't have to be a career criminal to fall under three strikes. The prostitute was charged with three felonies from the same night, and that's enough. There's a guy who's in prison for life under three strikes for stealing four chocolate chip cookies. After the trial was over, I visited the place where the cop claimed he'd conducted surveillance from using binoculars. Well, you absolutely cannot see the stuff he claimed to have seen from that location. There are buildings, trees, and walls in the way. I hope these defendants don't have to go to trial again, because next time they might be unlucky in the jury they get.

    1. Re:scarier in the U.S. by Smauler · · Score: 1

      Why did the 8 jurors think they were guilty, if it was an open and shut case? Why did the CPS (or your equivalent) choose to prosecute, if it was an open and shut case? I'm sorry, but I'm not cynical enough to believe that the entire police, prosecution, and jury have somehow been subverted (though I don't know all the facts).

    2. Re:scarier in the U.S. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's literally impossible. California's three-strikes law requires three felonies that are committed through separate and distinguishable events, not 3 charges that were a part of the same action in one night. It sounds like you failed to do your job as a juror, and decided "not guilty" based on your personal misconceptions about the legal and criminal system instead of the facts.

    3. Re:scarier in the U.S. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dude, thats amazing. You are obviously smart and competent, and they let you go through the process to get on a jury? Usually they just pick housewives or anyone who is desperate to get the trial over and done with so they can go home and watch American Idol or some shit like that.

    4. Re:scarier in the U.S. by Per+Abrahamsen · · Score: 1

      > Why did the 8 jurors think they were guilty, if it was an open and shut case?

      Because the defendant was a transsexual prostitute?

      Just guessing.

    5. Re:scarier in the U.S. by rsborg · · Score: 1

      > Why did the 8 jurors think they were guilty, if it was an open and shut case?

      Because the defendant was a transsexual prostitute?

      More likely (and more ominously) it's possible that most jurors simply believe what the Police tell them. It probably helped that the defendant was someone society has been told to despise, but it could have been anyone else as well.

      Add to this the likelyhood that jurors as "normal people" don't like to be very factual at all. If they like you (you appear to be a nice person), they'll go out of their way to bend and break rules to help you out... the flipside is the bad part.

      --
      Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
  37. My thoughts by vakuona · · Score: 1

    I think cameras would be a good idea if their use could be properly regulated. There shoud be strict limitations on the period that recordings are kept, like perhaps 2 weeks, after which they must be destroyed, unless there is an incident and a specific portion is copied off to an evidence archive or something. So if there is an incident, such as a mugging and it is reported, the cameras overlooking that section is noted, and the recording is found and copied, and in the two weeks after the incident, the recording would be gone.

    It should not be trivial to 'save' video footage. There must be a good reason for it, and the footage must be incriminating.

    But we all know that authorities will find reasons to keep footage for 3 years or more.

  38. Or: Is it a tipping point subject? by gjuk · · Score: 1

    The comparison with environmental matters is a good one; but the connection is not film. It's that in both cases, people in the know have long been aghast that the public and politicians are oblivious to the issue. In the case of the environment, the niche interest has finally spouted into the public arena. I'm desperately hoping that privacy will also reach such a tipping point and we'll suddenly find that general apathy and disinterest turns into sudden and serious action (although leave cookies alone!)

  39. Cracking down on freedom of speech by Anonymous+McCartneyf · · Score: 1

    The problem with that is, if President Bush is cracking down on freedom of speech, then the speech he cracks down on will probably include speech saying that he's cracking down on freedom of speech. America prides itself on its First Amendment, so violating that amendment has to be done discreetly.

    --
    There is a fine line between recklessness and courage... -- Paul McCartney
    1. Re:Cracking down on freedom of speech by bigstrat2003 · · Score: 1

      The thing is, then, how do we know that President Bush is cracking down on free speech? Am I to take someone's word for it? No thank you. Until I hear such a thing from a source I know and trust, I won't believe anything. Someone on the Interweb can tell me that the sun really does revolve around the earth, and the reason that there isn't any evidence to the contrary is an elaborate coverup, but that doesn't mean I should believe it (an extreme example, but it gets at what I'm trying to say).

      --
      "16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
    2. Re:Cracking down on freedom of speech by BlackPignouf · · Score: 1

      What about patriot act, what about war on terror, what about Guantanamo, what about WMD's in Irak?

      Was it possible for Joe Nextguy to stand up and say that the government might have been wrong on those points, without being censored, called a commie, a weasel or sent to Guantanmo without any charge?

      To me, US have become as much a democracy as UK, Italy or France are, and it really isn't anything to be proud anymore. :(

    3. Re:Cracking down on freedom of speech by bigstrat2003 · · Score: 1

      Yes. I did, at least on the Patriot Act. Many other people said those points were wrong, too.

      --
      "16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
    4. Re:Cracking down on freedom of speech by Banner · · Score: 1

      Excuse me for using LOGIC here, but if Bush was cracking down on free speech, then how come the people accussing him of it aren't being censored?

      Or those against the war?

      Or those against Gitmo?

      Or those giving away national security secrets?

      Or those violent protesting?

      Or those saying 9/11 was an inside job?

      With all those examples of anti-bush free speech going on, only a fool would claim it's being stiffled here and only a bigger fool would believe it.

  40. Written Constitution by MrSteveSD · · Score: 1

    Gordon Brown is now talking about having a written constitution for Britain. It will be interesting to see how it skirts around all the infringements to our rights that have been passed under the Labour government. We had a million people March against the war and the government reacted by effectively banning protests within a half mile of parliament. They tried to pretend it was about removing Brian Haw but that was a pretty lame excuse.

    1. Re:Written Constitution by blippy · · Score: 1

      Gordon Brown is now talking about having a written constitution for Britain.

      And you know what ... it'll be a disaster. I have no faith in the politicians currently in power. I heard about the draft of the EU constitution that was kicking around awhile ago. It was a 400-page document in which many parties with vested interests played a part.

      If we are going to have a constitution, then I say we just copy the American one; perhaps absent the stuff about guns. But no, that'd be too waaaaaay too simple.

    2. Re:Written Constitution by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      Copying the American Bill of Rights may be a good idea but to copy the whole Constitution would be to completely revamp the government system to a system that has its own idiosyncracies. It'd still be a good reference document though: nail "BUILD SOMETHING LIKE THIS" to their foreheads.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    3. Re:Written Constitution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not just a lame excuse, it's pretty damn horrible in and of itself. Adding a clause to a completely unrelated law to remove one man who is undertaking a peaceful protest? How the fuck is that justified?

    4. Re:Written Constitution by VJ42 · · Score: 1
      Whilst we're coping American constitutions, can we add this clause from the constitution of new Hampshire (Thanks to Bill Bryson for pointing this one out to me in "notes from a big country")

      [Art.] 10. [Right of Revolution.] Government being instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security, of the whole community, and not for the private interest or emolument of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, whenever the ends of government are perverted, and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right ought to reform the old, or establish a new government. The doctrine of nonresistance against arbitrary power, and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind. I'll be happy with anything else they put into it if the above clause is there too.
      --
      If I have nothing to hide, you have no reason to search me
    5. Re:Written Constitution by blippy · · Score: 1

      Whilst we're copying [ed] American constitutions, can we add this clause from the constitution of new Hampshire

      I had a look at the site, and noticed the following: 8. Accountability of magistrates and officers; public's right to know.

      This is interesting in light of recent news (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/may2007/foi-m31 .shtml) in the UK: With tacit support from the Labour government and Conservative front bench, a bill has been tabled that would exempt Parliament and MPs from Freedom of Information (FoI) legislation.

      Some days I just don't know who I should vote for: Kang, or Kodos.

    6. Re:Written Constitution by VJ42 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I've been following the passage of that Bill, and I fully it to either be drop-kicked back to the commons or stopped by the lords, an incoming Gordon Brown will make sure of that to show that "he's committed open government" or some such. The reason I believe this is because the media will love it, and the bill is very unpopular in the country. He has every reason to kill the bill and look like a hero, and very little incentive to let it proceed, this time anyway.

      Oh, and vote Cthulhu; why accept the lesser evil?

      --
      If I have nothing to hide, you have no reason to search me
  41. Minor offence? by Anonymous+McCartneyf · · Score: 1

    Since when is armed robbery a minor offence?

    --
    There is a fine line between recklessness and courage... -- Paul McCartney
    1. Re:Minor offence? by mormop · · Score: 1

      At which point did I say it was?

      --
      Hmmmmmm..... Deep fried and look like Squirrel.
    2. Re:Minor offence? by Anonymous+McCartneyf · · Score: 1

      You didn't.
      But the original parent was complaining that the cops in his area were doing nothing about armed robberies that happened on the part of his street without cameras. You replied that it was because of the enormous amount of paperwork British cops have to fill out, specif. citing "minor offences."
      I can understand why a cop wouldn't want to fill out paperwork for minor offences. But armed robbery is a major offence even if no one gets hurt, and cops should try to stop armed robberies before someone gets hurt, regardless of paperwork--ideally with something more proactive than CCTV cameras.
      Of course, more could be done about those armed robberies if someone bothered to report them. CCTVs save the trouble of having human beings report crimes, which is why they lower relative crime stats in their areas. But ideally, some person should report armed robberies--even if only the person robbed....

      --
      There is a fine line between recklessness and courage... -- Paul McCartney
    3. Re:Minor offence? by mormop · · Score: 1

      I'm not denying that armed robbery is a major offence but that falls more under the category of "Fuck off you can't prove it" than the quote about minor offences. This is more a sign of a general lack of respect for authority on one hand and other people in general on the other.

      One of the other replies in the thread put the blame on poor parenting skills and to be quite honest I concur with his opinion. Whereas 20-30 years ago people were more likely to stay in the same community for much of their lives, a situation which meant they were known to those living around them and generally had extended family within reach to provide support and guidance, a combination of a more mobile population and social isolation/community fragmentation means that kids can do what they like relatively locally with little chance of being identified or caught.

      Society has changed hugely and sadly, part of that change has been the desire for instant gratification. In the UK up until the end of the 1970's, you would have been hard pressed to get a bank loan for anything unless you were interviewed by your Bank Manager first and people's expectations were lower. Now it's hard to avoid credit and people are bombarded with advertising promising that life will be so much better if they have the right trainers, mobile phone, car, iPod, or any one of the myriad other toys on offer and all because "you're worth it". Armed robbery and burglary have, as a result, become quite an attractive career option as you can obtain a high volume of fashionable goods that would take years of work to pay for without having to run up a credit bill in the process. And in the unlikely event that an overworked and neutered Police force catch you 250 hours community service is a realistic punishment 'cos let's face it, you're a poor underprivileged soul from a deprived background, i.e. you're parents never gave a shit and nor do you, meaning that all the thousands of pounds worth of gear you nicked results in basically going to work for 31.25 days (at 8 hours a day). Quite a bargain that one. And I'm sorry, I don't go for this underprivileged shit. My dad grew up in the 1920's and his family were poor to the point where he had to wear his sisters hand down shoes because they couldn't afford to buy the kids a pair each. After passing the 11+ and being offered a place at Grammar School he had to turn it down because at the age of 14 he was the only one in the family that could get a job. After working in a mill all day he'd go to night school and after serving in the RAF in WW2 he went back to night school and ended up as an engineer at Fords. He could have sat of his arse moaning about how shit life was but chose not to and as a result lived a pretty comfortable life. Every child in the UK has an education on offer paid for by the tax payer. They choose as to whether they listen and learn or arse around thinking they look cool as a result.

      Another poster in the thread picked up a major problem which is arrest targets for police officers. The job of police is twofold, i.e. to preserve law and order and to collect the evidence required to prosecute/arrest criminals. Preserving law and order in itself does not require an arrest. A 10 year old kid riding their bike on the pavement is committing an offence but given the madness on the roads it may be safer for the kid to be there with just a warning to go slow and watch out for pedestrians. A police officer could then make a judgement related to whether or not he/she should intervene, give a warning, whatever, but targets actually encourage the police to go after "low hanging fruit" as it's easier to nick the 10 year cyclist than it is to catch the teenager with the knife mugging people for laptops. When faced with being penalised for being an under-performing copper or running up a high total of piss easy arrests the choice is clear. One copper in Sussex was on the local news a month or two ago having left the Police because "I want to protect the public but the Police is not the right place to do that

      --
      Hmmmmmm..... Deep fried and look like Squirrel.
  42. Re:saw it---not really: you saw it in past tense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    V for Vendetta is about how it happenED not how it's happening. The problem for cinema is that it is inherently more dramatic to show the police state long after it has taken power. If you show it as it's going on, a la Farenheit 911, it will motivate some people, but you may only get about 50% to vote against the totalitarian regime. 50% is clearly not enough when there's a Karl Rove on the loose.

  43. Both have tipping points... by Original+Replica · · Score: 1

    But there is also profit to be had in widespread environmental awareness. Until the UK or the US starts nationalising major corperations, there isn't much monetary profit to be had in protecting freedoms. People are so used to making themselves vassals for a paycheck, that if there is no corporate sponsored awareness TV campaign, there will be no mainstream call for severe political reform.

    --
    We are all just people.
  44. Foolish by tito2502 · · Score: 1

    I can see this being like Moore's film in the USA. A leftwing fool criticising the government and posing an equally restrictive alternative. Not to mention that he will probably avoid the fact that that most of our liberties were taken by the EU, who are unelected. But that's lazy journalism for you.

    1. Re:Foolish by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are an idiot. The European Union has taken none of your liberties, it is your government that has betrayed you.

      I agree with Tony Blair when he says "this isn't a matter of left or right", it's a situation where authoritarians on all sides of the political spectrum taking away our liberty using fear as the reason. Whether it is "New Labour" Tony Blair, "Christian Conservative" George W. Bush, "Australian Liberal" John Howard, or "International Socialism" Joseph Stalin, a boot stomping on the face of humanity looks exactly the same from the my point of view. The ideology is just the excuse given to stomp on us.

    2. Re:Foolish by tito2502 · · Score: 1

      Check again, if you can be bothered to wade through the 8,000 regulations passed by the EU this year. It is noteworthy that there is no such thing as the authoritarian right, if you examine the scale logically.

    3. Re:Foolish by Anonymous+McCartneyf · · Score: 1

      I saw Fahrenheit 9/11, and I don't recall Michael Moore giving any alternative at all. True, there was "vote Bush out," but since he started the film with the idea that Bush wasn't actually voted in, that wasn't much help.

      --
      There is a fine line between recklessness and courage... -- Paul McCartney
  45. Translation by Anonymous+McCartneyf · · Score: 1

    "Seven years jail for anyone possessing a weapon, legally or otherwise" = "it should be illegal to possess weapons, and anyone possessing them should get seven years in jail."
    This can cause problems for certain definitions of "weapon." Is it legal to possess huge knives? Chainsaws? Can a world-class boxer keep his powerful fists? What happens to karate blackbelts?

    --
    There is a fine line between recklessness and courage... -- Paul McCartney
  46. Inconsitent attitudes by whoever57 · · Score: 1

    Only the other day, I was modded into oblvion for commenting that the present UK goverment has been given a pass on its assault on civil liberties.

    I am glad that others see my viewpoint, since I think it is probably one of the biggest factors that will shape UK society and the UK's economic position in the world.

    --
    The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
  47. IT knows what has been done and what is possible by erlehmann · · Score: 1

    that could it be.

  48. Never protected by free speech? by Anonymous+McCartneyf · · Score: 1

    I thought it was written in the First Amendment that there would be no law abridging freedom of speech or the press (or of assembly). The amendment carries no qualifications whatsoever.
    The main places where Americans classically expect the government to interfere with free speech are IP rights (if the copyright owner complains) and shouting "Fire!" in crowded theaters that aren't on fire (or equiv. clear and present dangers), and those exceptions are somewhat controversial.

    --
    There is a fine line between recklessness and courage... -- Paul McCartney
  49. No such armed robbery, you are lying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "So in this one South London neighborhood that I occasionally frequent, there was an armed robbery at 4 in the afternoon on the main street last Saturday. It's a quiet neighborhood, very well-balanced, well-off, so it makes sense to come there and rob people. There was a similar robbery the previous week."

    The search
    [armed robbery london may 27]
    Shows nothing.

    Yet you say this was the second such armed robbery in two weeks.

  50. Actually, it does help by Per+Abrahamsen · · Score: 1

    Living in a place where they have to make a new law before shutting you up is vastly preferable to living in a place with no such requirement.

    You also forgot the "and" clause, which enumerate the specific reasons for allowing laws that limits freedom of speech, such as "national security". It looks like anything can be put under these items, but nonetheless Danish courts have overturned Danish laws by referring to this convention. So they must represent some strength. Danish courts never overturned Danish laws before EU, our own constitution is written, but extremely weak. The freedom of speech clause in our constitution boils down to that the state cannot prevent stop you before you publish, but can punish you after publishing.

  51. Some cameras are welcome! by Gonoff · · Score: 1

    We want more cameras where I work (a hospital).

    In fact, if people thought that they were to be cut back, I could imagine the nearest to staff unrest you would get around here! Happily, I belive that we will be getting more & better equipment - all depending on when we have the money...

    --
    I'll see your Constitution and raise you a Queen.
  52. Liberties aren't lost, they're given away by Colin+Smith · · Score: 1

    Liberty and responsibility are the same thing, and these days people don't want to be responsible. So they give the responsibility to someone else, and their liberty goes with it.

    --
    Deleted
  53. You're lying. Guns are illegal there. Can't happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So in this one South London neighborhood that I occasionally frequent, there was an armed robbery at 4 in the afternoon on the main street last Saturday. It's a quiet neighborhood, very well-balanced, well-off, so it makes sense to come there and rob people.

    I thought guns were illegal in GB. So they must have been using box cutters or something because everyone knows if guns are illegal, the criminals won't have them... and in that case, didn't you motherfuckers learn anything from 9/11? Grow some stones and kick that box cutter wielding SOB's ass.

  54. MOD PARENT UP!!! by Banner · · Score: 1

    Oh I love it when people use facts :-)

  55. MOD PARENT UP!!! by Banner · · Score: 1

    Another Point worth Discussing.

  56. "Just for that one speech" by Anonymous+McCartneyf · · Score: 1

    The problem is, the source you protest believes that it isn't "just one speech"--that Moore blended different NRA speeches by Heston together in that clip. The overall opinion Heston expresses may be real, but it doesn't correspond to any one actual speech--in particular, not to the one speech given after the Columbine shooting.
    Trust me, speeches can be blended like that. Two of my McCartney concert films (covering '89-90 and '93) have concert footage spliced from many different concerts. You know they aren't all from the same McCartney concert because his costume changes (among other things), but there are no breaks in the sound--and the clips are spliced together mid-song!
    So the problem with modern documentaries is that there are film equivs. to Photoshop, and it is not always easy to tell when they are being used.

    --
    There is a fine line between recklessness and courage... -- Paul McCartney
  57. Populist != Dishonest by ConfusedVorlon · · Score: 1

    I watched the film last night.

    It was presented in a straightforward manner, and with a good sense of fun.
    They picked clips which were
    -dramatic such as police horses charging over polltax protesters (polltesters?)
    -amusing such as the seller of 'Bollocks to Blair' t-shirts describing the police action (for wearing the t-shirt) against a girl who he described as 'Rather lovely'

    Most of what I saw was material I already knew about, so I'm fairly confident that what was presented was truthfull. Packaged up in a dramatic film (this is no dry documentary) it brought laughs, tears and shock. I think this is what the author meant by 'unashamedly populist'.

    It is a strong statement - and one that I think is needed to shake the British public out of our complacency.

    Watch the trailer - you'll get the idea.

  58. Populist != Dishonest by ConfusedVorlon · · Score: 1

    'A brief history of time' is populist physics - it isn't just for physics nerds
    'Taking Liberties' is populist civil liberties - not just for for civil liberties nerds

    -yes, I have seen it.