It's been a mental couple of days. In no particular order....
First 5 star review!
From the Birmingham Mail - which is nice of them. And an extended plug for the film's first public screening which is at Warwick Arts Centre on Saturday 26th May. Tickets still available but starting to shift so book now to avoid heartache.
ITN News
Used a scene from Taking Liberties in piece on Control Orders. More on the Control Order story below, but it was deeply satisfying to have us inter cut with "Dr" John Reid trying to look tough outside Downing Street.
See The Clip
Myspace traffic still very strong. We should have a new viral/sketch/webclip coming very soon, so watch this space...
The Brummies are revolting!
Even though the press in the midlands is raving about the film, it is still not showing anywhere in the midlands on the opening weekend. A few people in Birmingham have started a campaign to see it, which just involves emailing your local cinema and telling them that they should screen it. Apparently Cineworld Broadstreet Birmingham is the most likely to go for it, so please email them and tell them you want them to open it along with the rest of the country on June 8th. Write to customer.services@cineworld.co.uk
It's been a busy couple of days in the news for civil liberties...
Google launches Fortune Teller Service
Google has taken it's smug hype to a whole new level by saying that it will soon be able to use what it knows about you from your Internet behaviour, to start telling you how you can live your life. The CEO Eric Schmidt (a man who is so damn cool and smug he has a full size snooker table in his toilet) gleefully told a conference in London "The goal is to enable Google users to be able to ask questions such as:
-'What shall I do tomorrow?', and
-'What job shall I take?'."
Presumably the correct responses are:
-'Tomorrow I shall remove Google from my homepage as they are using private data to make even more money out of me', and
-'any job other than work for google as they obviously have less respect for individual privacy than New Labour.'
John McCarthy Condemns "24"
For helping make torture acceptable. John knows better than anyone what a barbaric and completely counter productive practice torture is, so it's good to see him lining up to slate the crypto-facist wankfest that is "24". Taking Liberties has it's own pop at "24" for much the same reason, he also uses the same clip in his argument as we use in the film (Jack Baur shoots man in the knee and threatens to do the other one unless he talks)
The current resurgence in the use of Torture in The War Against Terror stems from the myth that is the "ticking clock" argument: A bomb's about to go off, and the only way to stop it is to torture someone to get the information you need. The only problem with this argument is that this has never happened once in the history of the world ever. When the proponents of Torture (George Bush, Tony Blair, Jack Straw, "Dr" John Reid and Rupert Murdoch) tell us that Torture is sometimes necessary, they can never describe a single occasion where the ticking clock scenario has actually happened.
Control Order Suspects still on the run.
So to avoid embarrassment, John Reid wants to declare a state of emergency. This was the subject of the ITN news story that used a couple of clips on the film, and the row is still showing no signs of going away. A quick recap:
-A cornerstone of the the Rule of Law is that no one can be detained unless they have been charged with a crime.
-When Britain has tried Internment (ie locking people up without charge) in Northern Ireland in the 70's, it backfired completely and actually helped recruit people to the IRA.
-After 9/11 Blair and Blunkett panicked and brought in a law that gave them the power to detain foreign suspected terrorists without charge. They tried to derogate from the Human Rights Act with the claim that there was "a genuine threat to the life of the nation".
-When the law was tested in 2004, the Law Lords threw out this argument and declared that the real threat to the life of the nation was not from terrorism, but from laws like that.
-Blair and Charles Clarke went back to the drawing board and came up with "Control Orders". This means that the home secretary can now put anyone under house arrest without charge. All he needs is a reasonable suspicion (no need for evidence) and you can be held indefinitely.
-The first problem with this is that completely innocent people end up getting completely screwed - one of them is Mouloud Shihali whose devastating story is told in the film (and this is the clip they used on ITN News)
-The other problem is that people who really are dangerous aren't charged and locked up properly... they just get left on control orders from which anyone can escape from if they put their mind to it.
-At the moment 6 of the 17 people who were placed under control orders are currently on the run. The Government on the one hand has said that these men are so dangerous that they need to be placed under house arrest without charge, but as soon as they do a runner we are told they aren't dangerous in the slightest and there is no need to panic.
-"Dr" John Reid yesterday blamed the whole scenario on whinging Liberals like us, and said that if only he had the power to lock up anyone he wants and throw away the key, we would all be completely safe.
-"Dr" Reid, has also said that he is going to declare a "state of emergency" in order to overturn the offending part of the human rights act (ie the presumption of innocence, Habeas Corpus and other pesky rights) so that he can detain who he wants with impunity.
But what is this state of emergency? Where are all these terrorist attacks that we keep being told are going to happen? And if these men really are that dangerous, why don't the police charge them in the usual way, try them before a jury, and if guilty put them in prison where they belong? New Labour is the very first to howl about "innocent until proven guilty" when it comes to the cash for honours affair, but as soon as the "suspect" is a dodgy looking Muslim bloke with a beard then the rule of law no longer applies.
Amnesty International condemns New Labour. Again.
Not that New Labour is going to take a blind bit of notice, but Amnesty's annual report has condemned Britain's record on Human rights, from curtailing the free speech of anti war protesters, to failing to stand up to the US over Guantanamo Bay. Tony Blair's response? Books himself in for a manicure before his tough day on the sofa with Richard and Judy...
And finally...
Robert Rodriguez to remake Barbarella
OK nothing whatsoever to do with civil liberties, but looks pretty damn cool.
Showing posts with label John Reid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Reid. Show all posts
Friday, 25 May 2007
Tuesday, 22 May 2007
The time has come...
Contributor Screening Tonight! Which should be interesting considering the massively diverse groups of people who have taken part. By the looks of things most people who have been involved in the film will be coming along. Notable exceptions will be Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Jack Straw - but we're going to keep seats free just in case.
Anyone who thought that individual liberty is going to flourish under the stewardship of Gordon Brown, need only scan some of today's news to see that the gradual drift towards authoritarianism will not be slowing down when TB kicks the political bucket.
-Heckler bundled out of Brown's hustings.
Admittedly this was not an 82 year old refugee from the Nazis, so maybe things have improved slightly since Walter Wolfgang was booted out the Labour conference for daring to disagree with New Labour. Gordon's speech on Iraq could well have just been cut and pasted from any of Blair's recent diatribes on this subject. Rather than admit that the country has descended into out and out civil war and make a decision about when pull out the troops, he is copying Blair's favourite trick and avoiding any rational approach to the argument and just insisting that the decision "was right".
The other key similarity in the Brown/Blair rhetoric is the phrase "I acknowledge that this is an issue that has divided the country." Which sounds like an admission of fault but is actually nothing of the kind. It also implies that the country has been divided on the issue equally which is also slightly inaccurate. There's everyone in the country who still thinks the decision to invade Iraq was a good idea (Tony Blair, Gordon Brown & Rupert Murdoch) and those people who don't (the rest of the population).
Russians Refuse to Extradite Litvinenko suspect
The Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett showing, once again, that Britain has less clout on the world stage than Azerbaijan. When other countries (eg The USA, most of Europe, Russia) want to extradite British nationals to stand trail in America, the US simply fills out a form, and off they go - without the need for the tiniest shred of evidence to be presented in a British court. The Natwest Three are still under house arrest in Texas awaiting trial and Alex Stone had his life ruined thanks to a chronic miscarriage of Justice - all because New Labour gleefully hands over British Citizens for extradition even if it's blatantly obvious they are innocent. But when it comes to extraditing people the other way, then suddenly it's a different story. The evidence against the Andrei Lugovoi - the KGB officer accused of poisoning Litvinenko - is compelling, and the head of the DPP has publicly said he should stand trial. But because Britain has a risible record of negotiating extradition treaties, he will probably never face justice in the UK. And there's fat chance of him facing justice in Russia as if he did carry out the poisoning he did so at the behest of teh Russian state itself. When Margaret Beckett requested extradition, The Russians basically told her to get stuffed, and she has scuttled back to the Foreign office to angrily count paperclips with Geoff Hoon.
ID Cards to be used for racial profiling
After soothing noises from the government over the past 3 years that in no way would some one's ethnic background be a reason for them to be stopped for ID, an all party committee of MP's has just announced that this is precisely what will happen. The very fact that they will be brought in for foreigners first, means that statistically you will be more likely to be asked for your ID card if you have dark skin. Papers Please!
Control Order Contradictions
It can't be easy being John Reid. On the one hand you have to justify your hard man image by making wild announcements in the tabloids about being "tough on terror", and on the other hand you've got to sit in front of the Joint Committee on Human Rights and justify these authoritarian measures. His recent performance is riddled with contradictions - first of all saying that Control Orders are not "completely effective" - even though when passing the legislation they said it was "vital to protect the nation from future attacks". And when 3 people had been under control orders for a long period of time (because - according to John Reid - they were all about to commit major terrorist outrages) suddenly escaped, "Dr" Reid then turned around and said there was no need to panic as they were not a threat to the public...
Anyone who thought that individual liberty is going to flourish under the stewardship of Gordon Brown, need only scan some of today's news to see that the gradual drift towards authoritarianism will not be slowing down when TB kicks the political bucket.
-Heckler bundled out of Brown's hustings.
Admittedly this was not an 82 year old refugee from the Nazis, so maybe things have improved slightly since Walter Wolfgang was booted out the Labour conference for daring to disagree with New Labour. Gordon's speech on Iraq could well have just been cut and pasted from any of Blair's recent diatribes on this subject. Rather than admit that the country has descended into out and out civil war and make a decision about when pull out the troops, he is copying Blair's favourite trick and avoiding any rational approach to the argument and just insisting that the decision "was right".
The other key similarity in the Brown/Blair rhetoric is the phrase "I acknowledge that this is an issue that has divided the country." Which sounds like an admission of fault but is actually nothing of the kind. It also implies that the country has been divided on the issue equally which is also slightly inaccurate. There's everyone in the country who still thinks the decision to invade Iraq was a good idea (Tony Blair, Gordon Brown & Rupert Murdoch) and those people who don't (the rest of the population).
Russians Refuse to Extradite Litvinenko suspect
The Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett showing, once again, that Britain has less clout on the world stage than Azerbaijan. When other countries (eg The USA, most of Europe, Russia) want to extradite British nationals to stand trail in America, the US simply fills out a form, and off they go - without the need for the tiniest shred of evidence to be presented in a British court. The Natwest Three are still under house arrest in Texas awaiting trial and Alex Stone had his life ruined thanks to a chronic miscarriage of Justice - all because New Labour gleefully hands over British Citizens for extradition even if it's blatantly obvious they are innocent. But when it comes to extraditing people the other way, then suddenly it's a different story. The evidence against the Andrei Lugovoi - the KGB officer accused of poisoning Litvinenko - is compelling, and the head of the DPP has publicly said he should stand trial. But because Britain has a risible record of negotiating extradition treaties, he will probably never face justice in the UK. And there's fat chance of him facing justice in Russia as if he did carry out the poisoning he did so at the behest of teh Russian state itself. When Margaret Beckett requested extradition, The Russians basically told her to get stuffed, and she has scuttled back to the Foreign office to angrily count paperclips with Geoff Hoon.
ID Cards to be used for racial profiling
After soothing noises from the government over the past 3 years that in no way would some one's ethnic background be a reason for them to be stopped for ID, an all party committee of MP's has just announced that this is precisely what will happen. The very fact that they will be brought in for foreigners first, means that statistically you will be more likely to be asked for your ID card if you have dark skin. Papers Please!
Control Order Contradictions
It can't be easy being John Reid. On the one hand you have to justify your hard man image by making wild announcements in the tabloids about being "tough on terror", and on the other hand you've got to sit in front of the Joint Committee on Human Rights and justify these authoritarian measures. His recent performance is riddled with contradictions - first of all saying that Control Orders are not "completely effective" - even though when passing the legislation they said it was "vital to protect the nation from future attacks". And when 3 people had been under control orders for a long period of time (because - according to John Reid - they were all about to commit major terrorist outrages) suddenly escaped, "Dr" Reid then turned around and said there was no need to panic as they were not a threat to the public...
Sunday, 13 May 2007
John Reid's last hurrah
No one can ever accuse our chum "Dr" John Reid for going out with a whimper. Although he has spent the last year at the home office making absurd and sinister authoritarian proclamations along the lines of:
-"The Rule of Law should be scrapped."
-"Muslim Parents have to shop their children if they stay out late and grow beards."
-"I will sort out the Home office in 100 days" (where in fact he broke it in two after a year)
He has saved the best til last. He told a European summit that judges should stop following the law "to the letter" as it hampered the fight against terrorism. How exactly judges follow the law if it is not to the letter was not fully expanded on, but one can only assume that he means that they should follow the law to his letter, and stop making rulings that make him look like a tit. Obviously still smarting from his humiliating defeat in trying to send Lybian nationals back home to be tortured, "Dr" Reid decided that the law had to change so that judges would just do as they were told.
Yet again he came out with the potty logic that the European convention on human rights was outdated as we live in far more uncertain and dangerous times than when the ECHR drawn up. Of course we do. Europe in 1950 was a time of peace and harmony... there hadn't just been the most brutal devastating war that the world had ever seen, 60 million dead and the world in tatters... god no. The Europe of today is far more deadly now than it was at the end of WWII. Osama Bin Laden is a much graver threat to our way of life than those wannabe's Hitler & Stalin, so all those pesky civil liberties (that were entrenched to stop the Genocide of WWII ever happening again) have now got to be given up in order to make John Reid look like less of a dipstick.
Yes, "Dr" Reid knows how to end on a bang.
-"The Rule of Law should be scrapped."
-"Muslim Parents have to shop their children if they stay out late and grow beards."
-"I will sort out the Home office in 100 days" (where in fact he broke it in two after a year)
He has saved the best til last. He told a European summit that judges should stop following the law "to the letter" as it hampered the fight against terrorism. How exactly judges follow the law if it is not to the letter was not fully expanded on, but one can only assume that he means that they should follow the law to his letter, and stop making rulings that make him look like a tit. Obviously still smarting from his humiliating defeat in trying to send Lybian nationals back home to be tortured, "Dr" Reid decided that the law had to change so that judges would just do as they were told.
Yet again he came out with the potty logic that the European convention on human rights was outdated as we live in far more uncertain and dangerous times than when the ECHR drawn up. Of course we do. Europe in 1950 was a time of peace and harmony... there hadn't just been the most brutal devastating war that the world had ever seen, 60 million dead and the world in tatters... god no. The Europe of today is far more deadly now than it was at the end of WWII. Osama Bin Laden is a much graver threat to our way of life than those wannabe's Hitler & Stalin, so all those pesky civil liberties (that were entrenched to stop the Genocide of WWII ever happening again) have now got to be given up in order to make John Reid look like less of a dipstick.
Yes, "Dr" Reid knows how to end on a bang.
Monday, 7 May 2007
Reid all about it
The Home secreatry "Dr" John Reid has announced that he will throw himself on Tony Blair's funeral pyre, as he can't bear the thought of staying one more day in the Government wihtout his beloved master. A few other things might have hastened "Dr" Reid's announcement of resignation:
1) If he holds a senior cabinet post for more than a year he turns into a pumpkin. "Dr" Reid has held 9 cabinet posts in 10 years. As usual, just as it starts to become apparent that he has made a pigs ear out of whatever unfortunate department Blair has parachuted him into, he gets promoted to cause havock somehere else. Reid's trail of disaster includes: Northern Ireland, Health Service (made NHS trusts overbudget by millions), Defence (he said that British Troops would be able to leave Afghanistan without firing a shot), and of course the Home Office where he has continued the work done by David Blunkett and Charles Clarke in pulverising what's left of our civil liberties.
2) "Dr" Reid and Gordon Brown detest each other. No-one is quite sure why but it has been going on for 20 years and is certainly a factor in Reid's departure, given the impendiong coronation of Gordon. We reckon the feud could be over a woman, a drunken fight, or a fiver that Gordon lent "Dr" Reid that he has never given back.
3) "Dr" Reid suddenly had an epiphany, realised that he was a belligerent, authoritarian dipstick who had no right on gods earth being let near a poition of civic responsibility and has quit in shame and has gone to spend the rest of his life shouvelling mud in the shetland islands. OK a bit far fetched but it's nice image.
In any event it looks like he will soon be in need of gainful employment. Any suggestions please let us know and we'll pass them on when we next see him in court.
More on Taking Liberties on various Blogs
More nice things being written... though it's only a matter of time before the serious verbal abuse starts. Thanks to:
Andrew Ian Dodge
Chicken yoghurt - is there such a thing? Please send us a sample if possible.
Mr Eugenides
And a reactionary snob
Thanks one and all. There are some new previews coming up soon and we'll try and keep a few tickets aside for Bloggers if possible.
Film nearly finished - no really. We have 3 screenings on thursday so this crazy war will be over soon.
PS. Schools now banning playgrounds and break times to keep children safe.
1) If he holds a senior cabinet post for more than a year he turns into a pumpkin. "Dr" Reid has held 9 cabinet posts in 10 years. As usual, just as it starts to become apparent that he has made a pigs ear out of whatever unfortunate department Blair has parachuted him into, he gets promoted to cause havock somehere else. Reid's trail of disaster includes: Northern Ireland, Health Service (made NHS trusts overbudget by millions), Defence (he said that British Troops would be able to leave Afghanistan without firing a shot), and of course the Home Office where he has continued the work done by David Blunkett and Charles Clarke in pulverising what's left of our civil liberties.
2) "Dr" Reid and Gordon Brown detest each other. No-one is quite sure why but it has been going on for 20 years and is certainly a factor in Reid's departure, given the impendiong coronation of Gordon. We reckon the feud could be over a woman, a drunken fight, or a fiver that Gordon lent "Dr" Reid that he has never given back.
3) "Dr" Reid suddenly had an epiphany, realised that he was a belligerent, authoritarian dipstick who had no right on gods earth being let near a poition of civic responsibility and has quit in shame and has gone to spend the rest of his life shouvelling mud in the shetland islands. OK a bit far fetched but it's nice image.
In any event it looks like he will soon be in need of gainful employment. Any suggestions please let us know and we'll pass them on when we next see him in court.
More on Taking Liberties on various Blogs
More nice things being written... though it's only a matter of time before the serious verbal abuse starts. Thanks to:
Andrew Ian Dodge
Chicken yoghurt - is there such a thing? Please send us a sample if possible.
Mr Eugenides
And a reactionary snob
Thanks one and all. There are some new previews coming up soon and we'll try and keep a few tickets aside for Bloggers if possible.
Film nearly finished - no really. We have 3 screenings on thursday so this crazy war will be over soon.
PS. Schools now banning playgrounds and break times to keep children safe.
Tuesday, 1 May 2007
Jarvis Rocks
Jarvis said yes… well he had to really. Write a song called “c*nts are still ruling the world” and you’ve got to expect penniless film-makers banging on your door asking to use it for polemical documentaries about civil liberties. And so the great music chase is complete. Better get the film released before any of the bands change their minds…
Freedom Of Speech – US military style
Isn’t it nice that the US and Britain are exporting their democratic values to the unfortunate people of Afghanistan. The US and UK backed government is now openly arresting journalists who disagree with it. They have presumably taken the lead from US soldiers who enforce censorship among the locals at gunpoint. Recently a convoy of Marines shot and killed 10 people and wounded 33. A budding reporter managed to take some pictures of the incident, but was accosted by the marines and had his pictures deleted. A US commander later justified the deletions on the basis that “untrained” Afghans might capture “visual details that are not as they originally were.” A preliminary enquiry later found that all those killed were unarmed civilians.
Full Guardian Story
Bring out your dead – just don’t count them
Clearly embarrassed by the Iraqi body count, the US backed government in Iraq has now found a cunning way to hide this embarrassment. Stop counting and not letting anyone into the country who looks like they might have a go. Dr Latfa is a respected scientist who was barred from travelling to Iraq by the British Foreign office as he was intending to carry out a study into civilian deaths. Possibly this is an existential argument now being pushed by New Labour – if no-one actually counts dead Iraqis, are they actually dead? Discuss.
iraqi death count story
John Reid attempts to sign Memorandum of Understanding with Foxes
Well it’s the next logical stage isn’t it? While Amnesty International has a fat file showing that the fox has eaten over 300 chickens in the last year, John Reid wants to deport a chicken into the foxes den, and has strict assurances from the fox that this particular chicken will not be eaten, even though the fox signed the memorandum of understanding with the blood of the chicken it ate for lunch.
This is of course New Labour’s long running attempt to deport people back to countries where they face torture. No one knows how much public money they’ve spent trying to bypass the torture conventions, but if they keep this up then the Olympics could be in trouble. Then again if they turned trying to deport people to be tortured into an Olympic sport then John Reid and Tony Blair would be in with the chance of the gold.
On April 27th the court of appeal ruled that John Reid’s precious memorandum of understanding with Libya is not worth the paper it’s written on, so he cannot deport the 2 Libyan nationals back there. This might have something to do with the fact that:
1) Libya is still run by the bloodthirsty lunatic Colonel Gadaffi.
2) The head of Human Rights in Libya is said lunatic’s son.
This is the latest in a long line of Home Office screw ups when trying to send people back to countries where they might be tortured.
John Reid loves torture story
Mouloud Shihali (who is in the film) is in a very similar position. New Labour like to pretend that Algeria is now a land of peace and harmony and it’s perfectly safe for him to return – even though the last two people that they deported (with strict assurances that they would not be harmed) have since been banged up and their show trial is any year soon.
Freedom Of Speech – US military style
Isn’t it nice that the US and Britain are exporting their democratic values to the unfortunate people of Afghanistan. The US and UK backed government is now openly arresting journalists who disagree with it. They have presumably taken the lead from US soldiers who enforce censorship among the locals at gunpoint. Recently a convoy of Marines shot and killed 10 people and wounded 33. A budding reporter managed to take some pictures of the incident, but was accosted by the marines and had his pictures deleted. A US commander later justified the deletions on the basis that “untrained” Afghans might capture “visual details that are not as they originally were.” A preliminary enquiry later found that all those killed were unarmed civilians.
Full Guardian Story
Bring out your dead – just don’t count them
Clearly embarrassed by the Iraqi body count, the US backed government in Iraq has now found a cunning way to hide this embarrassment. Stop counting and not letting anyone into the country who looks like they might have a go. Dr Latfa is a respected scientist who was barred from travelling to Iraq by the British Foreign office as he was intending to carry out a study into civilian deaths. Possibly this is an existential argument now being pushed by New Labour – if no-one actually counts dead Iraqis, are they actually dead? Discuss.
iraqi death count story
John Reid attempts to sign Memorandum of Understanding with Foxes
Well it’s the next logical stage isn’t it? While Amnesty International has a fat file showing that the fox has eaten over 300 chickens in the last year, John Reid wants to deport a chicken into the foxes den, and has strict assurances from the fox that this particular chicken will not be eaten, even though the fox signed the memorandum of understanding with the blood of the chicken it ate for lunch.
This is of course New Labour’s long running attempt to deport people back to countries where they face torture. No one knows how much public money they’ve spent trying to bypass the torture conventions, but if they keep this up then the Olympics could be in trouble. Then again if they turned trying to deport people to be tortured into an Olympic sport then John Reid and Tony Blair would be in with the chance of the gold.
On April 27th the court of appeal ruled that John Reid’s precious memorandum of understanding with Libya is not worth the paper it’s written on, so he cannot deport the 2 Libyan nationals back there. This might have something to do with the fact that:
1) Libya is still run by the bloodthirsty lunatic Colonel Gadaffi.
2) The head of Human Rights in Libya is said lunatic’s son.
This is the latest in a long line of Home Office screw ups when trying to send people back to countries where they might be tortured.
John Reid loves torture story
Mouloud Shihali (who is in the film) is in a very similar position. New Labour like to pretend that Algeria is now a land of peace and harmony and it’s perfectly safe for him to return – even though the last two people that they deported (with strict assurances that they would not be harmed) have since been banged up and their show trial is any year soon.
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