The Underscore Archives

<start_rant>

On 05/01/07, Steve Roome <steve at pepcross.com> wrote:
> You should be grateful that the government haven't started gassing us
> in chemical experiments yet.

Erm, Porton Down in the fifties?

>
> Our government needs the money from somewhere, because we need it so
> that we can have subsidised bus routes, public transport, and a safe
> nanny state.

Ok, try not spending ooh 75 billion pounds over the next few decades
on a nuclear arms program that'll never be used.

>
> So, what's the point of filling in a petition, this government
> wouldn't listen if there was a civil war raging outside, or even in,
> the houses of parliament ? Sure it makes one feel better, but does it
> help with Tony and his fascist morons really ?
>

Hmm, they *still* work for us, remember? The more vocal people are the
more "they" sit up and listen. To say "nothing I do makes a
difference" is just plain dumb. Remember the saying "First they came
for the gypsies, and I did nothing......". If you're prepared to sleep
walk into a state where everything about you and everything you do is
at the scrutiny of any flunky Whitehall deems appropriate and pay for
it yourself then perhaps you deserve all it entails. Civil unrest
eventually brought down the poll tax and nailed the coffin shut for
Maggie. It all starts with petitions.

> Maybe they're just figuring out who they need to silence before they
> push the bill through ?
>

Bit like reporting everyone who "opted" to not have their medical
details uploaded to the NHS "spine" being reported to the home office
so that they can be dealt with on an "individual basis" (despite
forcing doctors to break the Hippocratic oath and all manner of human
rights legislation).

There is a very deep undercurrent at the moment where our civil
liberties are being utterly erroded by all manner of legislation snuck
in under the guise of international security, anti-crime, and now
under the "green" banner. Once they're gone, history has pretty much
demonstrated you never get them back. This governments willingness to
shift power away from the citizen and to the state is unprecedented in
any other nation on the planet. Even the US balked at the idea of
compulsory id cards for fear of civil rights infringements.

They've started to ID and fingerprint kids at school without parental
consent for f*cks sake.

The surveillance state already has its insidious feet through the
door, don't let it get any further.

<so_endeth_the_rant>

rick (not Rick)