UK Government To Back Off Plans To Share Private Data 54
Richard Rothwell writes with news that Jack Straw, Britain's Justice Secretary, has made public plans to drop provisions from the Coroners and Justice Bill which would have allowed the government to take information gathered for one purpose and use it for any other purpose. "A spokesman for Mr Straw said the 'strength of feeling' against the plans had persuaded him to rethink. The proposals will be dropped entirely from the Coroners and Justice Bill, and a new attempt will be made to reach a consensus on introducing a scaled-back version at an unspecified stage in the future." After defending the government's intentions, Straw bowed to pressure from a variety of groups and individuals who presented objections to the bill.
Cattle (Score:2, Interesting)
We are living in an artificially induced
state of consciousness that resembles sleep.
The poor and the underclass are growing
Racial justice and human rights are non-existant
They have created a repressive society
and we are their unwitting accomplices.
Their intention to rule
rests with the annihilation of consciousness.
We have been lulled into a trance.
They have made us indifferent, to each other,
We are focused only on our own gain.
Please understand,
they are safe as long as they are not discovered,
that is their primary method of survival,
To keep us asleep, to keep us selfish, to keep us sedated.
They are dismantling the sleeping middle class.
More and more people are becoming poor.
We are their cattle.
We are being bred for slavery.
Re:Good for them (Score:4, Interesting)
Don't bee so quick to breath that sigh of relief.
This measure was merely to legitimize what is already taking place.
It's demise raises no impediment.
Re:Their Dark Intentions Remain (Score:2, Interesting)
The citizenry of the UK seems uninterested, held perhaps in the grip of a belief that the State generally means well.
Possibly, they're praying upon fear of the Muslim community. Xenophobia and ignorance along with actions by the Muslim community (riots over alleged slights against them) that give justification to some Briton's beliefs about said community, enables the UK Government to continue with these actions.
Those dune coons seriously need to get a sense of humor. Yesterday.
Going apeshit because a cartoonist draws a picture of Mohammed? Are you shitting me? Why is this so acceptable when a foreign exotic culture like Islam does it? No one would tolerate the Christians doing this over a drawing of Jesus and no one would tolerate the Jews doing this over a drawing of Moses. They would be quite rightly ridiculed for it. What makes Islam so special?
Re:Am I the only one... (Score:4, Interesting)
Well, in some sense, the 'republican' form of a democratic republic (don't confuse it with the Republican party, mind you, though they do share some of the sentiment sometimes)... in this form of government the People elect representatives, ideally men of Principle, and then the representatives will do what they think is best for the country. Meanwhile, in the "democratic" form of the democratic republic, people are elected to office to implement The Will Of The People. (This fits more neatly with the US Democrat party's philosophy, and is closer to the purest "democracy" where everyone votes on everything).
So, there is some room in political philosophies for politicians to say "No, I don't care what the opinion polls say this week, we're doing this because it's what we should do". For example, if you will recall the 2004 US presidential election, you might recall talk of how John Kerry was a big "flip-flop".
Finally, one might worry that this democratic-esque angle of a democratic republic is prone to a variety of weaknesses, such as inviting undue manipulation of public opinion through propaganda and lies, or by rewarding people who are excessively Pragmatic and have no Principles.
This particular case, however, is not likely to be evidence of any positive traits of the "republican" aspect of a democratic republic.
Re:Good for them (Score:2, Interesting)
Curiously enough, in the UK the Conservative politicians were very strongly against this proposal - it may have been expedience or principle, who can tell.
What the rank and file members thought is more difficult to tell.
Re:Orwell's 1984 (Score:5, Interesting)
They don't seem to realize what this many mean 5 or 10 years from now. The current government might not be planning to (mis)use these powers, but a future one might.
Another terrorist attack could get a fanatical nutter elected into government, and we are handing them a ready made police state. All the tools for complete control of the population installed and ready for (mis)use, all they would need to do is find an appropriate justification ... and once you start (mis)using it, it is very hard to stop.