My country 29/06/2005 I was born a Rhodesian. My family left Africa when I was five and we came to England. So as much as Africa exerts a subliminal pull on me, it is England that raised me. This is the country I know best and it's a country I love deeply. I've always looked at England with a bit of an outside view, seeing myself as an adopted Englishman. I've returned to Africa and yes, I love her, like people love the sea; it can kill you but it is amazing. But it's coming back to England that lights a little glow of contentment in me. I love my tea and my chippy chips; English humour and most of all England's quilted fields that bear millennia of history in their very soil.So it is with sad and heavy heart that I must report that I've had enough... I am so deeply unhappy with the direction this country and its government are going in that I think I'm going to have to leave. This is a country that has sat and watched its leaders take down and destroy its democratic institutions. This government can now push through any bill it wishes against the will of parliament. The effects of this ability combined with the arrogance of a leadership that thinks it knows best regardless of the wishes of the electorate are catastrophic.Consider: the cradle of democracy and justice now has a law that allows imprisonment (I don't care if it's in your house, imprisonment is imprisonment) without trial or even without the "suspect" being told what his crime is. What happened to "innocent until proven guilty"? This sickens me frankly. Now let us look at approaching bills that will be forced through parliament: ID cards. Not since the Second World War has a British government felt ID cards were a necessary evil but now this lot want one. They claim they will reduce identity theft and that they'll help counter illegal immigrants and terrorists. Hmmm. In countries where a centralised ID system has been introduced identity theft had actually gone up, so not much supporting evidence there. The I.T. industry is heavily anti this idea as they know full well the potential problems and insecurities this system will face. Immigrants already have an ID system so it's going to stop illegal immigrants how? And as for stopping terrorism that's the most risible idea I've heard. Ask the Spanish if ID cards stop terrorists and they'll tell you that all the Madrid bombers had valid ID cards...Ok what's next? Oh "Incitement to religious hatred", that's a particular favourite of mine. A bill, supported by the Muslim community, intended to stop criticism of religions. Sounds ok yeah? Yes until you look at what it really means. If I say "stoning people to death is barbaric" then that’s ok but if I say "people who think stoning people to death is ok are barbaric" then I've just committed a crime. A very similar bill has been introduced in Australia and people have been arrested for quoting some of the less favourable parts of the Quoran. Now I don't know about you guys but I believe in free speech. It's a tenant of our system that people can think and say what they want. I've always loved Voltaire's quote: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." For me that sums up democracy and free speech. People can say what they like about my faith, its ok I can handle it and a mature civilisation can handle debate too. I've blogged before on the true meaning of intolerance and this is true intolerance. What do we call it when a government tells its citizens what they can and cannot say? Oh yes, that's right, we call it fascism....What other goodies are in the offing? Well there's the "pay-as-you-drive" idea for the replacement of road tax. This involves a black box in every vehicle that will chronicle every place you go and when you do it (and therefore how fast you went). The roads you drive on will be charged according to type and time. So using a motorway at 9am will cost as much as £1:40 a mile but a country lane at midnight will be a few pence a mile. First off I detest the idea of the State being able to see everywhere I go by vehicle, I detest the intrusion into my privacy and I'm horrified at the potential for abuse of the system by the government (also if I'm honest I don't want the buggers to know how fast I ride sometimes). So what's the idea of this proposed system? To make us get out of our cars and use public transport of course. Just one problem there, the public transport system is rubbish. When I got a job twenty miles from where I work it took THREE HOURS on the bus system to get to work. I had to get up at 6am just to arrive at work an hour late. This is the primary reason why I now own my own transport.Ok so now contrast that with our glorious leader's next transport plan: Congestion charging on trains. What a bunch of fuckwits... Ok so we aren't to use our cars, we must use public transport but oh look we're getting taxed to use the trains because they are too crowded and the rail infrastructure can't cope. Words fail me on this one.Next up in the litany of the shame: We are no longer allowed to demonstrate within a kilometre of parliament. I have news for the Home Secretary; it’s our fucking parliament. It belongs to the people, how dare he stop us expressing our political sentiments near it!Then of course on top of this are the general facts of this country: The massive cost of living, one of the highest in the world. The ridiculous taxes we pay on everything. The overcrowding of this tiny island with all the peoples of the EU.Don’t even get me started on the EU, our leaders are building an Orwellian society and when it’s nicely finished they’ll hand it to corrupt faceless bureaucrats in Brussels.You know what? Fuck you Mr Blair and New Labour, you’ve made me want to leave the land I love. Mad
Gone Away Wow, Mad, I had no idea you felt this strongly about things in Britain. But it sounds bad, I must admit. Come on over to the States - plenty of room here! :D Date Added: 29/06/2005
Mad It's notoriously difficult to get into the States dad... Date Added: 29/06/2005
keeefer Beat ya too it bud! In all seriousness (not somthing i attempt often) I am deeply concerned with the path that the major democratic powers are heading down. I fail to see the justification for indefinate detention. Crime cannot be classed by thought but by deed. If Crime is classified by thought not deed then you may as well execute us at birth as we are all guilty. Does that sound extreme? then argue the toss with those held without trial in Guantanamo Bay. Potential terrorist????what a fuckin concept....nuke the lot of them on that arguement and who could complain? It will be that arguement when American and allied troops sweep across iraq and into Iran. The real reason will be oil of course, but what the fuck they are only arabs, we dont understand their culture so why not just breed hatred and fear than understanding? Fear and Hatred are cheaper and allow you to also keep your own civilians in a state of paranoia and thus they are more easily manipulated.....ask a member of the German SS....i was only following orders....I was too scared to speak out....I wish i could, at this point, voice a glimmer of hope, a comment that would make us smile or maybe even raise a slight chuckle, but i am at a loss. I see hatred and fear breeding hatred and fear. The people we elect using terroriam as a justifiable reason to commit terrorism in order to over throw those they do not like while ignoring the worlds real dictators (Well we showed Mugabe huh, he wont evict, murder, starve, rape, wrongfully imprison his own people again after we spoke sternly to him)......Bollocks to the lot of them. Those that seek a life in politics should be taken out and shot, there is nothing more evil, sinister and corrupt than a man/woman in a position of power and influence Date Added: 29/06/2005
Mad Even more shamefully Keef, not only do we merely shake our fingers at Mugabe but now we're sending asylum seekers back to his loving embrace. I hope their screams haunt your sleep Mr Blair. Date Added: 29/06/2005
Josh Dude, Bubs... Come over on a tourist visa and I will stash you in my guest room, teach you to speak like a lokel, and you can lay low 'til the heat blows over. :P Date Added: 29/06/2005
Josh Of course that means you'll be sleeping with the servers. Make sure you can handle a room 20° F warmer than the rest of the house. :P Date Added: 29/06/2005
Gone Away Our house in Oklahoma is air conditioned... Date Added: 30/06/2005
Ned I totally agree with everything you said, and it is happening here too. Fear is used to make people believe that giving up some freedoms is their only hope to remain safe. Once freedom is gone, no one is safe. Governments have forgotten they serve the people and serve only themselves. Americans hotly debate the meaning of the Second Amendment to our constitution, the right to keep and bear arms. The framers realized a day could come when the people may need to defend themselves against their own government to preserve freedom and perhaps even replace that government. That day appears closer all the time, in nations where democracy was once the most prized asset. Date Added: 30/06/2005
keeef Bruh IM me, its important!!!!!!saarahabil@yahoo.com Date Added: 30/06/2005
vanessa Come to canadaland bubs! We don't have a national ID card (yet). There's been some talk of it (here ) but it's still in the very primitive stages. I feel it's a bad thing altogether. Unfortunately, going to the US won't solve anything. They've approved a national ID card also. It was a bit of dirty pool and there was really no way to stop it since it was attached to an iraqi spending bill. You can read more about the sad affair here Forgive me if I'm feeling particularly proud to be Canadian today - you see, it's Canada's Birthday today! A young 138 if my math is correct. Happy Birthday to us!! Oh, and I have an extra room too -- but only one bed. :P Date Added: 02/07/2005
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