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Category: UK Page 3 of 8

The Shield of Incompetence

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On April 4, 2009

In Policy, Society, Tech, UK

Rob Beschizza on why Britons care about Google Street View, but not the jillion CCTV cameras in the country:

The thing that amazes me about my homeland isn’t its willingness to live under state surveillance, but the way we freak out whenever anyone else uses cameras in public. “I was determined to make a stand,” said one local, who helped block a Google Street View car from heading into a Buckinghamshire village.

My dad, who lives just an hour away from Broughton, suggests that the key to understanding this apparent paradox is in the amused contempt that many Britons have for politics. It’s not that they’re sheep: they just think that no matter what powers are given to the police, freedom is guaranteed by the fundamental incompetence of British police. We trust the authorities because the authorities are too stupid and useless to harm us.

There’s a certain truth to that, and not just in Britain.  But surveillance tech is improving, and the delta between its effectiveness and the incompetence of its operators is narrowing.

British Gov’t Stupidity and Fearmongering

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On March 24, 2009

In Policy, Society, UK

Cory Doctorow points us to this new poster campaign by the London’s Metropolitan Police Service:

street_chemicals_cctv1

The text from that poster reads: “A bomb won’t go off here because weeks before a shopper reported someone studying the CCTV cameras.”  And there are others, including one that has a picture of a trashcan outside of a home, and reads: “These chemicals won’t be used in a bomb because a neighbor reported the dumped containers.”  Yes, folks, unless you report people that look up in public spaces and snoop in your neighbors garbage, the TERRORISTS WILL WIN.   Cory goes to town:

It’s hard to imagine a worse, more socially corrosive campaign. Telling people to rummage in one another’s trash and report on anything they don’t understand is a recipe for flooding the police with bad reports from ignorant people who end up bringing down anti-terror cops on their neighbors who keep tropical fish, paint in oils, are amateur chemists, or who just do something outside of the narrow experience of the least adventurous person on their street. Essentially, this redefines “suspicious” as anything outside of the direct experience of the most frightened, ignorant and foolish people in any neighborhood.

And I don’t think that’s exaggerating the baseline that this campaign is working to create.   Which brings us to the heart of it:

The British authorities are bent on driving fear into the hearts of Britons: fear of terrorists, immigrants, pedophiles, children, knives… And once people are afraid enough, they’ll write government a blank check to expand its authority without sense or limit.

This is one of the central reasons I think Labour deserves to lose the government.  But that is for another time.  Finally, Cory identifies one of the (many) things that makes this so disappointing:

What an embarrassment from the country whose level-headed response to the Blitz was “Keep Calm and Carry On” — how has that sensible motto been replaced with “When in trouble or in doubt/Run in circles scream and shout”?

Not only has the sun set, but we’re moving well into the night.

Another Pint, Gordon?

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On March 19, 2009

In EU, Policy, Politics, UK

I have so little good to say about the UK’s Labour Party these days that I might as well get in a compliment where I can.  Prime Minister Gordon Brown has, against all reasonable expectations, struck a blow for common sense and decency:

Gordon Brown today rejected controversial proposals from the chief medical officer to establish a minimum price for alcohol, which would double the price of many beers and spirits.

The prime minister said that he would protect the interests of the “sensible majority of moderate drinkers” when responding to proposals from Sir Liam Donaldson for a minimum charge of 50p per unit of alcohol to be imposed on beer and wine.

And Scotland, well, how do you like that devolution now?

The Scottish government is planning to introduce minimum prices for alcohol and these could come into force by the end of the year. It would make Scotland the first country in Europe to introduce minimum pricing, which would be accompanied by a ban on certain drinks promotions.

Cheers.

House of Lords Looks at Privacy in the UK

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On February 7, 2009

In EU, Policy, UK

The House of Lords released a report on state surveillance in Britain, last week.  Among its findings:

Britain leads the world in the use of CCTV, with an estimated 4m cameras, and in building a national DNA database, with more than 7% of the population already logged compared with 0.5% in the America.

[ . . . ]

“The huge rise in surveillance and data collection by the state and other organisations risks undermining the long-standing traditions of privacy and individual freedom which are vital for democracy,” [Lord Goodlad, the former Tory chief whip and committee chairman] said. “If the public are to trust that information about them is not being improperly used there should be much more openness about what data is collected, by whom and how it is used.”

While many of the findings are themselves troubling (e.g., powers granted in the name of combating terrorism are in fact used to snag people for not cleaning up after their dogs), the existence of the report itself is encouraging.  First, it illustrates that the UK government isn’t marching in lockstep toward more surveillance.  In the past decade, it’s been alarming how easily the government has gained the ability to monitor its citizens’ most mundane activities without reason or permission.  Second, it should give some hope to those who – like me – regard Britain as a leading indicator for state surveillance and privacy policy in Europe and the United States.   If the House of Lords is sounding the alarm before the over-broad practices of the current Labour government have emigrated outward, those practices will be less likely to be met with a presumption of validity in the US and rest of the EU.

Recommend: Boston.com’s Big Picture

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On January 29, 2009

In Distribution, UK

A little while back, Boston.com launched a regular feature called The Big Picture.  And it’s exactly that – a series of high res photos presented in a way that occupies most of your screen.  The editors, thus far, have done a fantastic job of selecting work that is well suited to this sort of presentation.  The latest – London at Night – hits on some of my favorite photographic themes (aerials of cities, urban night shots, and London).   Take a look through the archives (drop down menu, upper right), and I bet you’ll find yourself looking around longer than you’d planned.

How to Write a Complaint Letter to an Airline

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On January 28, 2009

In Society, Travel, UK

I have reproduced, for your education and viewing pleasure, the best airline complaint letter I’ve ever read.  I’m not really one for passing viral things around, but if you’ve not seen this yet, you really ought to give in a read. And yes, it has in fact been confirmed by Virgin Airlines as authentic.  Behold its glory after the jump.

Read More

UK & Civil Liberties

By

On January 26, 2009

In Society, UK

More like this.

Friday Notes: Cold & Rainy Edition

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On December 19, 2008

In EU, Politics, Society, Tech, UK

The bitingly cold part of DC winter came a lot earlier this year.  I blame that, in advance, for my increasingly bitter mood over the next three months.

Majel Barrett, Gene Roddenberry’s wife – and voice of Star Trek ship computers – died yesterday.  I had no idea.  She just finished up the voice work for the upcoming movie a few weeks ago.

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Here’s another illustration of why South Carolina is one seriously screwed up place that no person should have to live in, voluntarily.  Short version of the story at the link: batshit insane South Carolina state politician thinks he’s entitled to his seat, despite losing the election, and the South Carolina legislature appears to be considering giving it to him.  I am not even half joking when I say we should set up an Underground Railroad system to help kids escape from that whackjob state.
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Speaking of batshit insane and kids who don’t deserve it, here’s a story about three undercover cops who bumrushed a 12 year old girl on her front lawn, calling her a prostitute and generally manhandling her.  She fought back, of course, and her parents finally got the police to release her.  You know what comes next, right?  The girl is arrested for assaulting a police officer.   Full story and court case (against the police officers) here.   Great job, guys.

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BoingBoing DDOS’d itself.  Amusing.  (And if that isn’t reason enough to follow the link: more Iraqi Shoe Tosser Animations!)

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It’s not the most technical of explanations, but this is still a neat walkthrough of how Google Earth images are constructed.

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We’re coming up on the ten year anniversary of the adoption of the Euro.  Nice summary history of it here, along with a look at the impact of the adoption of the Euro on Ireland.  A few of you will have noticed (quite painfully, in some cases) that the Pound and Euro have been dancing around parity, lately.  I wonder if Brown’s brave enough to change course and move Britain onto the Euro in such a chaotic economic time.

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James Fallows has a meandering – but quite informative – interview with one of China’s top bankers.  The take away?  “Be nice to the countries that lend you money.”

British Out of Iraq By June

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On December 17, 2008

In Policy, UK

Announced today by Prime Minister Gordon Brown:

Britain’s six-year occupation of southern Iraq will end by the summer, Gordon Brown announced today on a surprise visit to Baghdad.

A joint statement by the prime minister and his Iraqi counterpart, Nuri al-Maliki, said: “The role played by the UK combat forces is drawing to a close. These forces will have completed their task in the first half of 2009 and will then leave Iraq.”

Your turn, Mr. Obama.

Skyline

By

On November 20, 2008

In Travel, UK

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