Police state marches on!

[ina]

Martin, you use strong words - but in principle I agree with you.

[Martin]

hells teeth, this warrants strong words! - we're talking about life on earth versus people's stupidity, selfishness and greed!

[Thomzo]

The problem is that we all know there will be a tiny minority there determined on violence or, even, terrorism. They won't care a jot about the real reason for the protest but will use it as a cover. It won't be the fault of the organisers and the vast majority of the people there will be peaceful protestors. It's always the minority that spoil things for the rest.

On a similar line, I see today that Dublin council is banning their council house tennants from owning certain types of dog. Again, the minority of stupid dog owners is spoiling life for all the other dog owners.

Cheers
Zoe

[Martin]

well, admittedly, you could do someone a damage if wielding a Nikon FM2 and motordrive, but as that's 20 years obsolete! ~Mr Plod considers cameras, computers and notebooks as "terrorist weapons"
From the "briefing" on the Climate Camp Website - http://www.climatecamp.org.uk
"They could seize items that they believe might be used as weapons, drugs, or that could be used in connection with terrorism (eg cameras, computers and address books)"

[Thomzo]

Oh I'll come down. I can bash em over the head with my filofax!

[ina]

Oh I'll come down. I can bash em over the head with my filofax!

Sturdy clip boards do a good job, too!

And drugs? Hope they won't start taking heart medicine off people and other stupid things... They are drugs, of course. I use coffee like a drug, too.

[Martin]

How dare they confiscate cameras? - as is often thrown at the general populace "if you're not doing anything wrong, why should you worry?".......
from bitter personal experience, they break the law themselves by trying to take or break cameras of those taking photographs of them in action - one can only guess why!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks to the presence of large numbers of cameras, hopefully noone will find themselves in the position I once did - having a very senior police officer calling me (several months after the demo), sympathising with my appalling treatment by the MET, but informing me that I had to withdraw my complaint of assault because I couldn't identify the officers involved - hardly surprising as I'd been photographing them with faces and id's masked....................
Me, trust plod at a demo???????????

[Muddypause]

This doesn't make sense! you lot are talking about someone else calling the protesters terrorists but you are talking like you're terrorists.

That's a incredible thing to say - I mean without any credibility whatsoever.

Where, where does anyone in this thread, or in the entire forum talk like a terrorist? Where?

It's inexcusable to say that.

I'm actually pretty angry about that suggestion. Dissent is not the same as terrorism. There is no relationship between them at all. In the organisations and protests that I've been involved with, there is a strong tendency amongst dissenters to committed pacifism.

For 40 years after WWII, the declared enemy of the West was communism, and anyone who opposed strategic government policy was always dismissed as a communist. Since communism is no longer seen as a threat, 'terrorism' has replaced it as the threat to the West's stability - and what do you know; anyone who voices dissent now gets condemned as a terrorist.

[Martin]

evil, violent climate camp terrorist inmates http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/08/378529.html

[mrsflibble]

anybody flog Kalashnikovs?

no but i know a recipe for quite a good petrol bomb lol!



I'm kidding obviously...

[magenta flame]

So have the planes stopped flying yet? Just wondering how successful the protest was ?

[MKG]

Yep - didn't you know that Martin was a prime mover in opening Heathrow Terminal 5? Worked a treat

[QuakerBear]

There is a very marked distinction between 'terrorism' and demonstrations.

Terrorism is the act or process of causing harm to body or property. Disrupting leisure and business activities through demonstration and civil disobenience is not terrorism.

I am very frightened indeed by the way 'terror' has been re-defined to encompass every possible action. The government are feeding us the idea that we are constantly underthreat, to the extent that we are 'at war'. This is an absolute lie. We are not at war and the harm caused by the loss of our civil liberties is not only creating a problem through engendering resentment but also putting each and everyone of us at risk. We are now subject to arbitary arrest, detention, deportation and/or conviction.

The removal of civil liberties in an effort to create a less vulnerable society is counter productive. A society/state must be worthy of loyalty and it can only achieve this loyalty through being seen to be worthy of such commitment. Said is not achieved through removing anyone who dissents, or has the potential to dissent. Nor is it achieved through promoting the illusionary benifits of rampent consumerism or the myth of the viability of a constantly growing ecconomy, while hiding under the bed clothes at the mearest mention of global and potentially species anialating problems. Both of the above courses of action are only likely to result in a snow balling problem.

Sadly, I think to an extent we have brought this upon ourselves. Through demanding constant safety and accountability we have ignored our own responsibilities to look after ourselves, face adversity with constancy and to accept that living can be hazardous. I hear so much about 'rights' and so little about 'responsibilities'.

So to conclude: We are going to get less free, there is going to be a very large back lash eventually, it's not going to be pleasant.

Goodness, my spelling's bad isn't it

[eccentric_emma]

So have the planes stopped flying yet? Just wondering how successful the protest was ?

speaking as somebody who was there, in my opinion a lot of awareness was raised, a lot of beneficial relationships formed, a whole lot of interesting knowledge and information swapped and the only violent and unreasonable behaviour that I experienced was from the MET. that's not to say that everyone there was there for peaceful protest, i just speak from my own experience.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

The application of the law does worry me. The stuff about "posessing material likely to be of use to terrorists." Frankly, that could be just about anyone who owns a bottle of peroxide hair bleach, some saltpetre for curing meat, any reasonably advanced texts on physics, biochemistry or chemistry; detailed maps; tools like heavy-duty bolt cutters; weedkillers, or, even, a computer.

Have I missed anyone?