Chaos on the airlines

[markfiend]

So. I hope no-one has booked any flights into or out of the UK for the near future.

I hate this. I know damn well that this is all because of the Blair government's foreign policy but did these fückers not see the anti-war marches? Killing people in protest against a war we didn't want either? What's that all about?

Suicide bombers are fücking cowards. A noble act of self sacrifice? Bullshît. It's not brave to hide some explosives under your coat or in your bag and then go and kill a load of civilians who probably largely agreed with you anyway. Cünts.

It makes me angry on another level too; it means that innocent Muslims (and pretty much anyone with dark skin) are seen in some quarters as "legitimate targets". The Hindu couple who run our local corner-shop have already had BNP / swastika graffiti daubed on their shop (possibly unrelated, but still).

[Doktor Gott]

Such is the joy of living in a tabloid-addled country..

Even more worrying was the fact that this morning in the papers, the names and hometowns of the people arrested were printed..

What ever happened to due process and innocent until proven guilty..

Does this government want lynch mobs to target their homes?

For feck sake..

We might as well call the Inquisition already to route out these infidels..

[Obviousman]

Horrible stuff indeed

Think they hardly care what happens to other people because of this, their lack of care is just about what makes them do this, I guess?

Quite rediculous luggage is limited to bare necessities now, even no iPod or books allowed anymore? Wonder if everyone had to drink their bottles of wodka/whiskey/insert liquour of choice here before they were allowed to board (though I presume it actually isn't the moment for a joke right now...)

[canon docre]

I'm booked for Reading in two weeks. Hope service runs regular by then. A friend of mine flew today. As it seems, she arrived pretty much on time. I don't want to think about what would've happened, if these fuckers wouldnt have been detected before.

[Quiff Boy]

one might also consider that as we have had no visible terrorist activity for a while, the public are again beginning to question why we are involved in this "war", and exactly what are we achieving...

thus a nice little terrorist alert, complete with a handful of scapegoats, might "focus" people's attention and bring them back "on message"

or am i being overly cynical?

[Doktor Gott]

one might also consider that as we have had no visible terrorist activity for a while, the public are again beginning to question why we are involved in this "war", and exactly what are we achieving...

thus a nice little terrorist alert, complete with a handful of scapegoats, might "focus" people's attention and bring them back "on message"

or am i being overly cynical?

nah, not really..

First thing I thought.. second thought was, how many more draconian laws will they introduce for my own personal safety..

Strange we never had anything like this during the IRA bombing campaign, and they blew up a hell of a lot more than Al-Qaieda has so far! (well in terms of the UK..)

[sisterstekland]

as andrew said since 2003

"THIS WAR IS WRONG"

and i agree with him

[Quiff Boy]

one might also consider that as we have had no visible terrorist activity for a while, the public are again beginning to question why we are involved in this "war", and exactly what are we achieving...

thus a nice little terrorist alert, complete with a handful of scapegoats, might "focus" people's attention and bring them back "on message"

or am i being overly cynical?

nah, not really..

First thing I thought.. second thought was, how many more draconian laws will they introduce for my own personal safety..

Strange we never had anything like this during the IRA bombing campaign, and they blew up a hell of a lot more than Al-Qaieda has so far! (well in terms of the UK..)

because irish people believe in a similar westernised God, and look pretty much like us (apart from the ginger hair, natch) ?

[mh]

It's bloody ridiculous. A mate of mine is heading to London for a meet up this weekend, and he's joking about going looking for unboxed tampons in a clear plastic bag cos apparently that's all you're allowed bring on the plane! Word is that they're tastier than RyanAir sandwiches, at least.

[Quiff Boy]

or because half the IRA's funding cones from america?

[Doktor Gott]

one might also consider that as we have had no visible terrorist activity for a while, the public are again beginning to question why we are involved in this "war", and exactly what are we achieving...

thus a nice little terrorist alert, complete with a handful of scapegoats, might "focus" people's attention and bring them back "on message"

or am i being overly cynical?

nah, not really..

First thing I thought.. second thought was, how many more draconian laws will they introduce for my own personal safety..

Strange we never had anything like this during the IRA bombing campaign, and they blew up a hell of a lot more than Al-Qaieda has so far! (well in terms of the UK..)

because irish people believe in a similar westernised God, and look pretty much like us (apart from the ginger hair, natch) ?

True, and also most of the time that this was going on was during or just after the Cold War so the axis of evil was still tilted on political rather than religious differences..

I said way back in 90 that what is happening now would happen, that the end of the cold war would lead to the West fighting another opposite ideology. Obviously the only thing large enough to consider a sufficient threat to scare the masses is Islam - it's alien, geographically isloated from us (well almost) and is almost the complete polar opposite of what capitalism believes in (i think.. need to do a bit more reading on that one.. *doh* )

[mh]

Aye, I reckon that the western mentality just needs someone (preferably far away) to "be the enemy", and history seems to support that theory. Cos otherwise we might start looking at ourselves and asking questions that our political masters would rather we didn't.

[Doktor Gott]

Further to my above point,

if you want to look at things in a slighty Orwellian perspective, its almost as if what he said in 1984 is coming slightly true..

We are living in an age where we do have a perpetual war and who we fight it against changes. It's as if we do need a bogey man to keep our attention diverted away from the workings of the government and to keep us happy with our consumption-centred lives..

[markfiend]

Islam isn't necessarily the problem; it's the radical anti-westernism of some parts of the Islamic community. Just blaming Islam is a bit like blaming Roman Catholicism for Ireland's troubles.

(Come to think of it, the parallel holds up quite well; certain segments of (X religion) feeling that their homeland is being unlawfully occupied by the army of a foreign government.)

But I digress. Islam isn't that alien; it's one of the three Abrahamic religions (along with Judaism and Christianity) that effectively worship the same god, and Islam has similar ideas about the afterlife to Christianity (derived from Zoroastrian ideas IIUC) (I'm not sure about Judaism's concept of the afterlife.)

[Doktor Gott]

Islam isn't necessarily the problem; it's the radical anti-westernism of some parts of the Islamic community. Just blaming Islam is a bit like blaming Roman Catholicism for Ireland's troubles.

(Come to think of it, the parallel holds up quite well; certain segments of (X religion) feeling that their homeland is being unlawfully occupied by the army of a foreign government.)

But I digress. Islam isn't that alien; it's one of the three Abrahamic religions (along with Judaism and Christianity) that effectively worship the same god, and Islam has similar ideas about the afterlife to Christianity (derived from Zoroastrian ideas IIUC) (I'm not sure about Judaism's concept of the afterlife.)

exactly, but how much of this country would actually have an understanding of the fact that they're all semitic religions?

We do effectively live in a secular country, where you could actually say that consumerism is more of a god than any Christian, Jewish or Islamic god.. Look at the hullabaloo about Sunday shop opening for a start.. it would never have been that way in Victorian times! (or before..)

[markfiend]

exactly, but how much of this country would actually have an understanding of the fact that they're all semitic religions?

We do effectively live in a secular country, where you could actually say that consumerism is more of a god than any Christian, Jewish or Islamic god.. Look at the hullabaloo about Sunday shop opening for a start.. it would never have been that way in Victorian times! (or before..)

Aye, true enough. People don't seem to realise that a lot of what seems most brutal about Sharia Law, like stonings for adultery and so forth, have parallels in the laws in the Old Testament / Torah. Just look at the second half of Exodus 22 for some doozies. "the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me."

[canon docre]

Aye, true enough. People don't seem to realise that a lot of what seems most brutal about Sharia Law, like stonings for adultery and so forth, have parallels in the laws in the Old Testament / Torah. Just look at the second half of Exodus 22 for some doozies. "the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me."

Luckily the western civilisation abandoned these laws quite some time ago, unlike these stoneage-wankers....

[Maisey]

thus a nice little terrorist alert, complete with a handful of scapegoats, might "focus" people's attention and bring them back "on message"

or am i being overly cynical?

This bothers me as well. Its a little too difficult to pass a law resricting personal freedom without a valid reason, and so a massive scare might well just be a reason for tighter controls...even something like a cufew. We all know how rapidly and dramtically the government can react to what is a essentially a rumour *cough*45 minutes*cough*.

And why is it always at the expence of our own people that these laws are passed? Anti terrorism seems almost thatcherite in its self abusive method. (where the county is the self).

Also, if anything lends its support to the argument that we are targeting religious and cultural differences look at Izreals BLITZKRIEG of lebbanon. We know who we should be fighting, but we can't take arms against a westernised nation we helped to create.

[Quiff Boy]

next stop: martial law

military control via stealth! almost a legitimate coup.

maybe

[Maisey]

its not even funny

I hate to sound like a conspiricy nut, but its almost true.

[EvilBastard]

I'm flying back to Blighty in 6 weeks en route to [destination classified to prevent countries beginning with I from bombing it to pïss me off] - does anyone know if the new rules apply to stuff you buy AFTER you go through security? Thinking specifically here about 200 Capstans and a litre of Scotland's Amber Mood Improver - I shall be mighty miffed if they böllox up my duty-frees...

It's all about keeping people scared and stupid - "we can't fix your problems but we can make them seem so scary that you'll let us do anything we want in the name of the "war on terror". Shop your neighbours, rat on your spouse, impugn your coworkers. Got a grudge? Call 1-800-MYBOSSISATERRORIST and we'll come and sort it out. Land of the Free? Well that's what it says on the sign - we just haven't had time to change it yet."

[czuczu]

We interrupt this program with a special bulletin:
America is now under marshall law.
All constitutional rights have been suspended.
Stay in your homes.
Do not attempt to contact love ones, insurance agents or attorneys.
Shut up.
Do not attempt to think or depression may occur.
Stay in your homes.
Curfew is at 7 PM sharp after work.
Anyone caught outside the gates of their suveillance sectors after curfew
will be shot.
Remain calm, do not panic.
Your neighborhood watch officer will be by to collect urine examples in
the morning.
Anyone gaught intefering with the collection of urine examples will be
shot.
Stay in your homes, remain calm.
The number one enemy of progress is questions.
National security is more important than individual will.
All sports broadcasts will proceed as normal.
No more than two people may gather anywhere without permission.
Use only the drugs described by your boss or supervisor.
Shut up, be happy.
Obey all orders without question.
The comfort you demanded is now mandatory.
Be happy.
At last everything is done for you

[Doktor Gott]

We interrupt this program with a special bulletin:
America is now under marshall law.
All constitutional rights have been suspended.
Stay in your homes.
Do not attempt to contact love ones, insurance agents or attorneys.
Shut up.
Do not attempt to think or depression may occur.
Stay in your homes.
Curfew is at 7 PM sharp after work.
Anyone caught outside the gates of their suveillance sectors after curfew
will be shot.
Remain calm, do not panic.
Your neighborhood watch officer will be by to collect urine examples in
the morning.
Anyone gaught intefering with the collection of urine examples will be
shot.
Stay in your homes, remain calm.
The number one enemy of progress is questions.
National security is more important than individual will.
All sports broadcasts will proceed as normal.
No more than two people may gather anywhere without permission.
Use only the drugs described by your boss or supervisor.
Shut up, be happy.
Obey all orders without question.
The comfort you demanded is now mandatory.
Be happy.
At last everything is done for you

Excellent! That quote has been bugging me...

Where the feck did he write that?

There's a feck off acid techno track with that as a sample in the break!

(one of my fave techo tunes of all time..)

http://www.discogs.com/release/16270

[czuczu]

's on an Ice T track but I picked it up from a Ninja Tunes/Coldcut set where it was wrapped around something by Plastikman - maybe thats what you're thinking of?

[EvilBastard]

The US Department of Homeland Security has urged Windows users to install the latest patches from Microsoft as quickly as possible.

Clicky

"Failure to download these patches will hamper our ability to access your machine vie a portal provided by Microsoft and see what people are doing on their computers. Digital music? You're busted. Ripped video content? Best pack a bag for Guantanamo. Anything that we deem to be subversive or critical of the regime? One in the back of the head and an umarked grave (you see, we do learn some thing from the south american dictatorships that we've been funding for all these years)," said a spokesperson for the Department on the condition of anonymity.