[BITList] Off Topic

[HUGH]

John,

The UK, with some exceptions regarding Scotland, has become a Police State.
I pause here to let any Home Office arseholes reading this to catch up.  OK?
I proceed.  We have more CCTV cameras on our streets than in any other place
on earth.  We now have directional microphones on streets to catch our
speech.  Transcripts or recordings of our phone calls and e-mails and
possibly our mail can be stored and, according to one source, are being
stored, in case we are terrorists.  Enormous databases containing personal
information of doubtful provenance on everyone in the UK, including health
information, are in existence and accessible by every bugger bar the man in
the street.  The only time the latter get a gander is when some overpaid
ponce leaves the records lying in a bin or on a park bench.  So the answer
to your question is - yes.

A case that rather abruptly dropped from the media, but is still ongoing,
concerns the London newspaper seller who couldn't get home after his shift,
all ways being barred by riot police over some protest or other re the G20
talks.

He got a going over with a baton at one point, turned back, and met another
lot, one of whom pushed him to the ground.  The man died shortly after of a
heart attack.  Initially nothing was done, but now an independent inquiry
has been set up.  The ironic thing is that much of the evidence apart from a
TV film is from photos taken by protesters.  The irony lies in the fact that
new laws either make it now, or will shortly make it, an offence under some
new anti-terrorism Act to take a photo of police.  So they will be able to
do what the hell they want.

A bunch of thugs who should never be allowed near a weapon or
anything approaching authority over anybody are trotted out any time HM Govt
want to make a point to us. God knows why they aren't weeded out so that
normal police can get on with their jobs.

Hugh.