Women demand equal opportunities – to blow themselves to smithereens (The Scotsman, 02 June 2008)
Poignant headers like this are unprofessional, ... and spoil all the fun for us bloggers.
Sunday, 8 June 2008
Saturday, 31 May 2008
lambs to the slaughter
Family's shock at council spying (BBC News, Friday, 11 April 2008)
Spy law 'used in dog fouling war' (BBC News, Sunday, 27 April 2008)
Draconian legislation that was presented to us as indispensable in the fight against terrorism and organised crime is now being used to investigate minor offences. How much furore did this spark? Not much. It took The Guardian several weeks to pursue the second story:
Council accused of foul play to catch guilty dog owners (The Guardian, Thursday May 22 2008)
although the issue was parenthetically mentioned in:
Council used terror law to spy on fishermen (The Guardian, Wednesday May 14 2008)
Apparently, even newspapers said to be to the left of the political spectrum are slow to report about the government snooping on us.
It also took much of the British press more than a week to get the facts straight on this shameful matter:
Student was 'studying terrorism' (BBC News, Friday, 23 May 2008)
Student researching al-Qaida tactics held for six days (The Guardian, Saturday May 24, 2008)
Note that the facts were known many days before:
Anger Over "Terror Arrests" at Nottingham University (Indymedia UK, 20.05.2008)
I would not be surprised if this is the last we hear about it from the 'respectable' media. Who cares about two young guys with Islamic sounding names, one of whom is fucking Algerian! The daily gibberish uttered by a warmonger and religious crackpot is much more newsworthy: Blair's faith in difficult task, BBC News 31 May; Blair launches faith foundation, BBC News 30 May; Blair 'to devote life to faith', BBC News 29 May.
Your name is not Rizwaan or Hisham? You're not a student of politics and international relations? You've nothing to hide? Then rest assured your government will fully respect your privacy and not put you in jail for up to 28 (soon 42) days for no reason whatsoever. Sleep tight!
Spy law 'used in dog fouling war' (BBC News, Sunday, 27 April 2008)
Draconian legislation that was presented to us as indispensable in the fight against terrorism and organised crime is now being used to investigate minor offences. How much furore did this spark? Not much. It took The Guardian several weeks to pursue the second story:
Council accused of foul play to catch guilty dog owners (The Guardian, Thursday May 22 2008)
although the issue was parenthetically mentioned in:
Council used terror law to spy on fishermen (The Guardian, Wednesday May 14 2008)
Apparently, even newspapers said to be to the left of the political spectrum are slow to report about the government snooping on us.
It also took much of the British press more than a week to get the facts straight on this shameful matter:
Student was 'studying terrorism' (BBC News, Friday, 23 May 2008)
Student researching al-Qaida tactics held for six days (The Guardian, Saturday May 24, 2008)
Note that the facts were known many days before:
Anger Over "Terror Arrests" at Nottingham University (Indymedia UK, 20.05.2008)
I would not be surprised if this is the last we hear about it from the 'respectable' media. Who cares about two young guys with Islamic sounding names, one of whom is fucking Algerian! The daily gibberish uttered by a warmonger and religious crackpot is much more newsworthy: Blair's faith in difficult task, BBC News 31 May; Blair launches faith foundation, BBC News 30 May; Blair 'to devote life to faith', BBC News 29 May.
Your name is not Rizwaan or Hisham? You're not a student of politics and international relations? You've nothing to hide? Then rest assured your government will fully respect your privacy and not put you in jail for up to 28 (soon 42) days for no reason whatsoever. Sleep tight!
virtual freedom
Computer generated abuse 'banned' (BBC News, Wednesday, 28 May 2008)
This loophole is real. But the remedy is really perverse (The Guardian, Saturday May 31 2008)
Soon, they may put me in jail for three years for publishing this drawing on the internet:
However, this would be perfectly legal:
Under the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, drawing and distributing this image may also carry a prison sentence of 2 years (virtual zoophile pornography):
Kudos to the brave people who challenge Scientology (and its collaborators among the City of London police), but let us not ignore an even greater threat to freedom and democracy. NuLabour is a dangerous cult that will continue to nibble at the edges of our civil liberties until there is nothing left.
This loophole is real. But the remedy is really perverse (The Guardian, Saturday May 31 2008)
Soon, they may put me in jail for three years for publishing this drawing on the internet:
However, this would be perfectly legal:
Under the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, drawing and distributing this image may also carry a prison sentence of 2 years (virtual zoophile pornography):
Kudos to the brave people who challenge Scientology (and its collaborators among the City of London police), but let us not ignore an even greater threat to freedom and democracy. NuLabour is a dangerous cult that will continue to nibble at the edges of our civil liberties until there is nothing left.
Sunday, 25 May 2008
Church to debate convert motion
Church to debate convert motion (BBC News, Sunday, 25 May 2008)
This says more about Robert Pigott than about the reality of Britain today. A religion is a delusion that sees itself as superior to similar delusions. This certainly holds for the three main Abrahamic religions. The supposition that Islam is somehow more open-minded is refuted by its pronounced belief that Christianity and Judaism are at best corruptions of the pure message of Islam.
As antitheist, I would like to see people convert to reason rather than to fiction. To argue against conversion of Muslims to Christianity because this might insult some other Muslims is preposterous however. In the current climate, anything is seen as an insult, even refusal to convert to Islam.
BBC News religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott says Mr Eddy's stance is likely to alienate many Muslims at a highly-sensitive time in the relationship between Islam and Christianity in the UK.
This says more about Robert Pigott than about the reality of Britain today. A religion is a delusion that sees itself as superior to similar delusions. This certainly holds for the three main Abrahamic religions. The supposition that Islam is somehow more open-minded is refuted by its pronounced belief that Christianity and Judaism are at best corruptions of the pure message of Islam.
As antitheist, I would like to see people convert to reason rather than to fiction. To argue against conversion of Muslims to Christianity because this might insult some other Muslims is preposterous however. In the current climate, anything is seen as an insult, even refusal to convert to Islam.
priorities
US strike 'kills Iraqi civilians' (BBC News, Thursday, 22 May 2008)
It is likely this is the first and last report we will receive about the latest atrocity committed by our 'allies', under the guise of 'collateral damage'. Note that two children were among those who died.
What the Maddie circus is concerned, May has been a relatively quiet month, but still, there were BBC News articles about the McCann girl on May 24, May 14, May 12, May 7, May 6, May 3 (three articles), May 2 (two articles), May 1 (three articles). All this for one child, who has been missing for over a year.
At the moment, the Americans seem more concerned about the Koran shooting incident than about human lives:
Bush apology for Koran shooting (BBC News, Tuesday, 20 May 2008)
Also in some parts of the Islamic world, aforementioned bundle of paper with the ramblings of a 7th century psychopath takes precedence over the value of human lives:
Three die in Afghan Koran protest (BBC News, Thursday, 22 May 2008)
Not that this should come as a surprise. Consider e.g.:
Nigeria teacher dies 'over Koran' (BBC News, Wednesday, 21 March 2007)
To see things in perspective, remember that whenever someone is foolish enough to try to bring a Bible into Saudi Arabia, it is confiscated at the airport and unceremoniously shredded. If someone is foolish enough to bring more than one Bible, he or she is in for a lot of trouble indeed.
It is likely this is the first and last report we will receive about the latest atrocity committed by our 'allies', under the guise of 'collateral damage'. Note that two children were among those who died.
What the Maddie circus is concerned, May has been a relatively quiet month, but still, there were BBC News articles about the McCann girl on May 24, May 14, May 12, May 7, May 6, May 3 (three articles), May 2 (two articles), May 1 (three articles). All this for one child, who has been missing for over a year.
At the moment, the Americans seem more concerned about the Koran shooting incident than about human lives:
Bush apology for Koran shooting (BBC News, Tuesday, 20 May 2008)
Also in some parts of the Islamic world, aforementioned bundle of paper with the ramblings of a 7th century psychopath takes precedence over the value of human lives:
Three die in Afghan Koran protest (BBC News, Thursday, 22 May 2008)
Not that this should come as a surprise. Consider e.g.:
Nigeria teacher dies 'over Koran' (BBC News, Wednesday, 21 March 2007)
To see things in perspective, remember that whenever someone is foolish enough to try to bring a Bible into Saudi Arabia, it is confiscated at the airport and unceremoniously shredded. If someone is foolish enough to bring more than one Bible, he or she is in for a lot of trouble indeed.
Blair was chased over unpaid bill
Blair was chased over unpaid bill (BBC News, Friday, 23 May 2008)
Perhaps someone should kindly point out to the BBC editors that just because they can publish such information, it doesn't mean they should.
The Blairs at some point misplaced a bill of £147. Is this Tony Blair's greatest sin? Wasn't there some other matter?
Unless they want to report that the death penalty will be reintroduced for political leaders who have betrayed Britain and all of humanity in a particularly blatant manner, what's the purpose of boring us with irrelevant financial details about the Blair household?
Perhaps someone should kindly point out to the BBC editors that just because they can publish such information, it doesn't mean they should.
The Blairs at some point misplaced a bill of £147. Is this Tony Blair's greatest sin? Wasn't there some other matter?
Unless they want to report that the death penalty will be reintroduced for political leaders who have betrayed Britain and all of humanity in a particularly blatant manner, what's the purpose of boring us with irrelevant financial details about the Blair household?
Sunday, 18 May 2008
Solidarity with Gregorius Nekschot
Addendum: The forbidden cartoons (Bakelblog, Friday, May 23, 2008), also available on GagWatch, and on MediaWatchWatch.
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