The Political Thread

[TordelBack]

Your post re: fingerprinting kids got me digging around a bit Sharky, and this is what popped up as a vision of the immediate future:  China's mandatory ID cards. 

Krauss [an AIDS activist] became interested in the Chinese ID cards because they contain information about HIV status. They also contain information like mental health reports and political views, in addition to basic biographical information such as where one lives and works. All of that data and more is immediately available to police officers, who swipe these ID cards at traffic stops and during field interrogations.
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A billion Chinese citizens have government-issued smart-cards, identification cards with a little radio antennae and a micro-controller in them. They're mandatory.

Only a matter a time elsewhere, although my guess would be that we'll just bypass the card stage and go straight to biometrics linked to a database.  Assuming we're not there already. But sure if you've nothing to hide... etc.

That's a good blog, Privacy Matters.

[The Legendary Shark]

The aim is to get us all chipped. No chip, no access.

[TordelBack]

The aim is to get us all chipped. No chip, no access.

I honestly doubt it.  Oh it'll happen, but it'll be based on something passive like facial recognition/biometrics, and whatever loopholes are left we'll close ourselves with whatever form the personal computing/comms device takes next.  No need to have something explicit to resist, like a chip or a card.

[TordelBack]

Here's a really excellent blog post that explores the role of 'tone' in protest: Once upon a time....

[NapalmKev]

Here's a really excellent blog post that explores the role of 'tone' in protest: Once upon a time....

An excellent read sir. I cannot dispute any part of the article, the guy certainly knows his Onions.

In relation to the 'Snowden' points raised: When I first became aware of the leaks I (rather naively) imagined that a 'change' may come in the way information was handled/stolen. But, as the article suggests, the powers that be seem to have made themselves look 'Hard-done by' by the eminently Evil Mr Snowden.

Cheers

[The Legendary Shark]

Yes, a very good essay, that.
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I have found that mirroring the style of 'authority' back at them is a great deal of fun. For example, I try not to fall into the trap of writing things like "I think that" or "you should be" etc in favour of phrases like "it has been decided that" or "your obligations in this matter are" and so forth.
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It's a bit more complicated than that, of course. The first thing I keep in mind when writing to 'officials' is that they are human beings too, with all the emotions and human foibles of anyone else, and so I treat them with kindness, humanity and respect. I would never write, for example, "you are treating me unfairly" but rather, "please inform the Council that it is treating me unfairly".  Putting the two styles together often results in sentences like "I would be much obliged if you could please tell the Council that it has been decided that its current attack on me is unwarranted and that such unacceptable behaviour will not be tolerated."
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I pretend that the corporation, company or department I'm writing to is actually owned/run by Satan or Darth Vader or someone equally dispassionate and that the poor sap who actually deals with my letters might get boiled in oil or distance-throttled if they don't get me to capitulate. My goal is to treat these poor wage slaves with more humour, respect and humanity than their own bosses whilst not backing down an inch from what I want. I figure that one can say "no" with a snarl or with a smile and saying it with a smile is lots more fun. For instance, sometimes they let little details slip that work in my favour and in these instances one can adopt an almost conspiratorial tone, thanking them for their "help" and praising their bravery. (Praising their bravery is brilliant - they hate that.)
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So, write to that official as if he or she was one of your friends being forced to do an unpleasant job. Never mention Nuremberg, at least not directly, or that the Nazis would have got nowhere without the steady 'mission creep' of civil servants and other bureaucrats (from issuing business licenses to gathering racial data to authorising the seizure of Jewish property to issuing train tickets to ordering more gas) - but always keep this in the back of your mind. Writing to the Council in order to query the lawfulness or otherwise of the Council Tax (eg.) isn't just an excuse to have a pop at the fat cats (as if they give a shit anyway) but a great opportunity to 'save' someone from falling by inches into Fascism.
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Tone, yes - it's all about tone. One only has to watch the news to know that - the tone with which questions like "what really happened on 9/11?" are met, for example.
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That essay also reminded me of the discussion we had over men's "ownership" of women a couple of pages ago and I found the observation that the elite's first feminise those they mean to destroy very interesting indeed - I'll be keeping an eye out for that, now!
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Own the tone!

[paddykafka]

Great War memorials are of course everywhere, but here they tend to be hidden in churches, cemeteries, private schools or embodied as CoI parish halls, although there's a few plaques in train stations too. Point being, I don't think there was anything as publicly prominent as Fusiliers' Arch in Dublin when I was a kid.

Agree with your point about these memorials not being publicly prominent in this country, which to my mind is a great shame, when you consider the staggering numbers of Irishmen killed in both world wars. That being said, the War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge, Dublin 8 are a beautifully maintained and fitting tribute to those who died in both conflicts. The memorial itself is, as they say, off the beaten track but well worth the visit, especially in Spring or Summer when the gardens can be seen in all their glory.

[TordelBack]

That being said, the War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge, Dublin 8 are a beautifully maintained and fitting tribute to those who died in both conflicts. The memorial itself is, as they say, off the beaten track but well worth the visit, especially in Spring or Summer when the gardens can be seen in all their glory.

Yeah, fantastic spot, can be part of a great walk along the Liffey too, looping across and back up through the Park.  Should have mentioned it, but it was neither open nor part of my consciousness when I was a nipper, which is what I was thinking about.  That Lutyens could memorialise like a good'un, really one of the all-time great architects. 

The other sort-of war memorial that's worth a visit is the Airmen's (or 'German') Cemetery behind the Reconciliation Centre in Glencree (WWII, naturally).

[JayzusB.Christ]

That being said, the War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge, Dublin 8 are a beautifully maintained and fitting tribute to those who died in both conflicts. The memorial itself is, as they say, off the beaten track but well worth the visit, especially in Spring or Summer when the gardens can be seen in all their glory.

Yeah, fantastic spot, can be part of a great walk along the Liffey too, looping across and back up through the Park.  Should have mentioned it, but it was neither open nor part of my consciousness when I was a nipper, which is what I was thinking about.  That Lutyens could memorialise like a good'un, really one of the all-time great architects. 

I'll third that.  Very close to where I live at the moment in fact.  Last time I was there was during the summer heatwave, when I took my friend and his fiancee on an ill-advised but very enjoyable trip down the Liffey on my inflatable dinghy.  There's no better fun than potentially fatal fun.

[NapalmKev]

No internet? No problem, they can still keep an eye on you and your computer!

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25743074

Cheers

[Hawkmumbler]

Odd thing happened while I was in the shopping centre today. I was sitting eating my lunch when I saw a small crowd watching an argument between a man with his wife and a seated woman, breastfeeding her child on the bench.

I went over, asked someone if the mans outrage was because of the breast feeding, to which I needed not have waited upon a reply due to a sudden cry of 'fucking disgusting!' From the offender. Ok, not to demonise the guy but he was being a prick so i'll carry on. The poor girl seemed completely at a loss and almost on the verge of tears.

It was at this point i stepped in and, amidst similar demands, asked the guy to leave the area. He gave an indignant look at all of us and wondered off, scowling.

I personally felt a little angry hat someone could still maintain a distaste for public breastfeeding. It seem's the most illogical thing to hate when it's both completely natural and immensely healthy.

[TordelBack]

I personally felt a little angry hat someone could still maintain a distaste for public breastfeeding. It seem's the most illogical thing to hate when it's both completely natural and immensely healthy.

It's a bewildering attitude, alright, very hard to fathom how people find it disgusting or inappropriate.  And even if your upbringing does leave you finding it distasteful, what's it got to do with you anyway? Stopping looking and move on.  Well done for standing up for actual decency, Hawkmonger. 

[Zarjazzer]

What Tordelback said. Good job Hawkmonger for standing up to that knob head.

[Spikes]

Aye, good on yer Hawkmonger 

[Dandontdare]

Good man.

Seriously, what is more likely to cause offence, breastfeeding a baby, or publicly humiliating a nursing mother in a shopping centre?