Month: November 2005

I’m not sure I like the tagline of Freedom! Forever! but the new posters for the movie V for Vendetta based on the comic by Alan Moore and Dave Lloyd are awesome.

They have gone for a look very reminiscent of the posters for German Expressionist movies of the Twenties and early Thirties. The choice is probably deliberate as the Expressionism movement preceded the rise of Fascism in Germany and thus echoes the background of the events in the movie which takes place in a dystopian future Britain that has become a totalitarian state.

The four posters can be viewed at the following urls
Poster 1
Poster 2
Poster 3
Poster 4

I think the second one is my favourite.

Tags: comics, liberty, movies

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4438498.stm

Vote Rich “Lowtax” Kyanka for mayor

#1: 5937% rise in dense, fog-like air pollution from the flesh skinning factory below the Silent Hill Historical Society. First of all, I feel Mayor Barkley owes all citizens an explanation as to why he ever agreed to award Murderous Blackened Soul Decay Ltd. a business license allowing them to operate directly beneath the Historical Society. Their business has been pumping countless cubic tons of thick white fog into our town, dramatically reducing visibility and complicating travel of any kind!

Why just yesterday I found myself lost while walking to my own mailbox! After walking for three hours, I eventually realized the pollution had turned me completely around, and I was standing in the middle of the dead field full of cancerous pulsating beasts who shriek eternal murder through their dead, vacant eyes. Remember Ed Barkley’s campaign promise to – and I quote here – “remove all cancerous pulsating beasts who shriek eternal murder through their dead, vacant eyes and replace them with festive non-denominational holiday decorations”? What exactly happened to that promise, Ed?

Although not a resident of Silent Hill I have visited it on many an occasion and it is quite ludicrous the amount of urban decay that has been allowed to occur there turning what was once a beautiful vacation spot for the family and I into what is quite literally a hellhole.

I dearly hope that the citizens of Silent Hill see sense and vote in Rich “Lowtax” Kyanka so that I may return to that once-fair town.

The House of Commons has rejected Tony Blair’s call to allow police to detain terror suspects for up to 90 days without charging them.

MPs voted against by 322 votes to 291, with 49 Labour MPs rebelling.

Then followed a vote on a rebel Labour amendment for increasing the detention period from the current period of 14 days to a period of 28 days. That was passed by 323 votes to 290.

The story is covered by the Guardian and the BBC.

I’m pleased that it was defeated, shows that some Labour backbenchers have the balls not to follow the party line and I believe democracy has prevailed. There seemed to be a lot of public support for the proposed extension so it could be argued that the MPs voted against the wishes of their constituents but there has been so little real public debate of the issue that I don’t believe that the general public was informed enough to make a judgement on it.

It has really pissed me off that supporters of the 90 day period kept saying “well the experts tell us that this is the length of time needed.”

Which fucking experts?

The police you say. What about all the fucking independent experts who are saying that such an amendment will not achieve what it is set out to do and in all likelihood will cause further problems and increased insecurity.

Of course the police want to hold suspect without charge for longer, they’d support any move that gave them increased powers. Yet given recent events can we really trust their judgement on who is or who isn’t a terrorist suspect and who should be held without charge.

Of course the government will not fall following this defeat, I wouldn’t wish it to, and I very much doubt Tony will go either although his authority has taken a severe bashing.

But it’s the stupid cunts own fault. I really don’t know what is going on in his fucking head. I’m sure he’s imagining there are terrorists around every corner poised to strike at 45 minutes notice.

BBC News: Q&A: Blair’s terror bill defeat

What are the implications of this defeat for Tony Blair’s government in the commons.

BBC News: Point-by-point: Terror debate

The main points so far from the debate over whether to extend from 14 days to 90 days the length of time police can detain terrorist suspects without charge

Have your say on this issue at the BBC forum

Curious Hamster gives his response to the vote results.

Public opinion is not always the best indicator of what is best for the country. It’s a difficult problem to tackle without suggesting some form of intellectual elitist power structure which opens a huge new set of problems. That’s part of the reason why democracy can be so fragile and why protecting it properly is so very important.

I’m agreement on the fact that public opinion is not always the best indicator of what is best for the country.

Also disturbingly I’m in the position of having admiration for David Davis the Shadow Home Secretary who made some excellent points in the debate before the vote.

Tags: politics, terrorism

The House of Commons today will vote upon the government’s proposal to extend the detention period without charge by the police of terror suspects allowed from 14 days to 90 days.

The always excellent Curious Hamster presents his analysis and opinion on this issue.

The fact that the police want a 90 days detention period has been repeated ad nauseum by Blair and Blair. As regular readers may know, this doesn’t cut much mustard with me. I suspect I’ve never explicitly stated why that is…

The police are charged with protecting us against terrorists. Their focus is, as it should be, on preventing terrorist acts and capturing terrorists. For understandable reasons they have a very narrow focus on the problem.

I couldn’t agree more with this. Government should of course listen to the views of the police and take them into account but the police should not be dictating government policy.

Tags: politics, terrorism

Nude Brits shop while drunk

A growing number of Britons are taking their wallets online after the pub closes, according to new research.

The number of people logging on to the internet to shop after having several drinks is on the rise, customer experience firm Conchango claims in a study into online spending behaviour.

The research shows a rise in a new spending syndrome dubbed BLOTO, or Buying Loads Of Tat Online, with seven per cent of Britons now claiming they know someone who has gone shopping on the web for items they don’t need whilst intoxicated.

“These findings throw a new light on internet spending and pose a number of questions for retailers as they develop new online products and services,” said Paul Dawson, head of customer experience at Conchango.

No doubt it will come as no surprise that I’ve done this.

But all quality stuff mind no tat.

An eye for Annai (Quicktime)

I wonder if he lost his eye playing Chopstick Flies because it’s driving me nuts and makes me want to stab myself in the eye.

Catching a fly adds a few seconds to the clock so it looks like it’s possible to continue catching flies indefinitely. My best score so far is only 4 though.