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To all the readers whom are still thinking this has anything to do with graphic content censorship, you have been mislead. The real agenda is to implement control of internet content without any great public opposition. Any person or group will be labeled as sexual deviants or molesters if they publicly oppose this ban.
The scope of the rules will be widened over time to include any and all opposition to controversial policies, making it very easy to impose harsher restrictions, taxes, gag-orders and the like, on ANYONE and EVERYONE. If you don't support their policies, you are a [insert demonizing attribute here] and want to [insert abhorrent crime].
The internet is under attack by criminals, in the name of stopping crime. The Media is being used to terrorize us. It may be that, in a year or two, this very post will be considered illegal and carry the same stigma as rape, child abuse or murder.
On November 20 2013 20:59 Raggamuffinoo wrote: To all the readers whom are still thinking this has anything to do with graphic content censorship, you have been mislead. The real agenda is to implement control of internet content without any great public opposition. Any person or group will be labeled as sexual deviants or molesters if they publicly oppose this ban.
The scope of the rules will be widened over time to include any and all opposition to controversial policies, making it very easy to impose harsher restrictions, taxes, gag-orders and the like, on ANYONE and EVERYONE. If you don't support their policies, you are a [insert demonizing attribute here] and want to [insert abhorrent crime].
The internet is under attack by criminals, in the name of stopping crime. The Media is being used to terrorize us. It may be that, in a year or two, this very post will be considered illegal and carry the same stigma as rape, child abuse or murder.
My 2p
Quite possible tbh, it's the oldest trick in the book. This is just yet another expansion of Government power by stealth.
I don't see it as a slippery slope to some totalitarian government though, fellow Northern Irishman! I'd imagine it's intend to work more as a smokescreen to cover up their mediocre performance since getting power and thus a temporary measure.
It boggles my mind that as you say, the 'oldest trick in the book' is so damn effective. That said, when a big swathe of the population care more about Miley Cyrus' image change than goings on in Westminster it's probably no great mystery.
Speaking of irony, apparently the Tory website got revamped really and they completely expunged all the old material from it, speeches etc, even a speech from Cameron at that Google event a few years talking about the benefits the internet gives and should give in terms of transparency.
heard Conservative MP David Davis going on about how the pre-90s generations simply don't understand the internet and how damaging this mass surveillance and information gathering is... I'd agree with that, this is beyond what even Orwell could have envisioned: Two opaque organisations above the law & the royal family & the armed forces of the US & UK spying on the entire world is nothing like anything we could have imagined, and since Reagan/Thatcher made it illegal to strike if you were at NSA/GCHQ then they are forced to spy on everyone or risk losing their job.
Prince Charles has been branded a 'bully' by villagers after he wrote to them invoking an ancient right to mine under their homes.
Officials at his Duchy of Cornwall estate have sent letters to the residents of the Cornish village Stoke Climsland to inform them he owns the land beneath their houses, prompting accusations from homeowners that they are being “bullied” by the Prince.
The Duchy wants the home owners to alter their property deeds to reflect his right to the metals and elements under their floors.
Cornwall sits on large beds of metals and minerals and moves are under way to revive its tin mining industry.
Clive Donner, one of the 1,600 villagers and a former policeman, said the Duchy had given them until Dec 3 to reply, the Plymouth Herald reported.
Mr Donner, a former police officer in London and with the anti-terrorist branch for more than 30 years, said: "This is just not acceptable in this day and age."
He explained that when he purchased the property he examined the deeds. "Nowhere does it mention that Prince Charles has the mining and mineral rights in or under our homes," he said.
If villagers object, they must seek legal advice and provide relevant documentation and deeds, which could result in legal bills of thousands of pounds.
"I was sitting there gawping in open-mouthed astonishment," Nick Harvey recalls. "I was in stunned disbelief". The former Lib Dem defence minister is remembering the moment Nick Clegg announced all infants would get free school meals. It is not a policy he is, to put it lightly, very keen on.
Speaking to The Huffington Post UK in his Westminster office, the North Devon MP is keen to explain why he is so irritated by his party leader's flagship party conference announcement.
In the interview Harvey also confidently predicts the outcome of the next election, barring a game-changing event: "Labour has already won". And suggests politicians and pundits should not be so confident that the Lib Dems would automatically want to stay in power after 2015 – even if they had the choice.
This year's conference season will be remembered for Ed Miliband's bold punt on a pledge to freeze energy prices. But September began with the Lib Dem leadership whipping out their own cost of living announcement. All infant school children will get free school meals.
"It was absolutely astonishing. It came from nowhere," he exclaims. "It seemed to be part of some coalition deal where it was meant to make the Lib Dems feel better about allowing the Tories to progress their wretched married couples tax allowance. I am supposed to rejoice at this other policy that seems to me to be squandering a lot of money".
After student protests across the country, on Monday the Government will sell off £900 million of student loans to a private debt collection agency, Sky News reported.
The loans, which were taken out between 1990 and 1998, are likely to be sold for significantly lower than their market rate.
Universities Minister David Willetts announced plans to sell the loans in March, saying the "mortgage-style" student loans will "allow us to reduce public debt and maximise the value of one of the government's assets.
A defenceless 91 year-old woman received a “pauper’s funeral” after a Conservative councillor stole £154,000 from her, a court heard yesterday. Tory John Morgan is accused of abusing his power of attorney over Beryl Gittens to trouser £75,000 in bank transfers and £80,000 in cash — including a number of withdrawals in Las Vegas.
Mocking Morgan’s defence against a charge of theft — that the Alzheimer’s sufferer had asked him to gamble away her money — prosecutors told Oxford Crown Court:
“[The defence will claim that ] there was a conversation between just the two of them, not overheard by any other person.
“Morgan alleges she said ‘I want you to promise when I go there isn’t a penny for those b****** to squabble over’.”
“He would say that Beryl loved to gamble. He was the only person who knew that about her.”
Mrs Gittens had her care taken over by her local authority after her funds fell low. Meanwhile Morgan was receiving £7,257 per year in his role as vice chair of planning at Vale of White Horse District Council.
The political row over energy bills raged on today as Labour and the Tories battled to persuade voters they could control rising costs.
Ed Miliband is pledging to end the energy "rip-off" as he details proposals for reforming markets but Prime Minister David Cameron continued to claim Labour's plans were a con.
It comes as Government sources denied reports that the big six energy firms are being urged by the Government to hold prices until the middle of 2015.
Speaking from Vilnius in Lithuania where he is attending a summit, Mr Cameron said: "I want to help households and families by getting sustainably low energy prices.
"Now, the only way you can do that is by increasing competition and eroding the costs of some of the levies on people's bills.
"I said that's what we were going to do, that is what we are going to do and I think that's a very positive step forward.
"That's a world away from making a vague promise about something you might do in 20 months' time with no idea about how you are going to do it.
"That is a con. What we are dealing with is real policy that can make a real difference."
Industry sources had told the BBC that government had asked them to try to avoid another round of price rises, barring any big increase in wholesale fuel costs.
A four nation poll has revealed a widening gap between the UK and rest of the EU, with attitudes on both sides of the channel hardening as UK public opinion becomes increasingly hostile towards Europe.
The survey conducted by the Observer, which polled more than 5,000 voters in the UK, Germany, France and Poland, found that the British are much more hostile towards the EU and its policies than people on the continent.
The results also found that the Germans and the French do not support giving Britain a special deal on EU membership and in fact the majority opposes doing so, with only 16% of Germans and 26% of French backing the idea.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron has said he wants to renegotiate his country’s terms of entry to the EU and then hold a referendum offering the UK electorate the new arrangement or a chance to leave the EU completely if he wins a majority in the 2015 general election.
While in other EU nations the enthusiasm for being European was high, in Britain, very few people choose to describe themselves as European.
Only 26 percent of British voters expressed a belief that the EU is a “good thing”, while 42 percent said it’s a “bad thing”. In Germany, 55 percent of respondents said “good” and 17 percent “bad”, while in Poland, which joined the block in 2004, 62 percent stated that it was “good”, with a mere 13 percent “bad”. In France a more balanced 36 percent were in favor of the EU, and 34 percent against.
Just 9 percent of Germans and 15 percent of French people stated a belief that the UK is a positive influence on the EU, with more Poles, 33 percent, taking that view.
The Europeans did not appear to be too fussed on the question of the UK quitting the EU entirely. 24 percent of the French said that a British exit would have a negative effect, compared to 36 percent of Germans and 51 percent of Poles. Over half a million Poles are thought to be working in the UK, and if the UK left the EU it is unclear whether they would still be able to do so.
While in other EU nations the enthusiasm for being European was high, in Britain, very few people choose to describe themselves as European.
Only 26 percent of British voters expressed a belief that the EU is a “good thing”, while 42 percent said it’s a “bad thing”.
Just 9 percent of Germans and 15 percent of French people stated a belief that the UK is a positive influence on the EU, with more Poles, 33 percent, taking that view.
[...]
The Europeans did not appear to be too fussed on the question of the UK quitting the EU entirely. 24 percent of the French said that a British exit would have a negative effect, compared to 36 percent of Germans and 51 percent of Poles.
What a beautiful display of European Unity. Britain wants to leave. Everyone else wants them to leave too.
Sigh. I don't mind anybody who is anti-EU, but the amount of ignorance on the part of the populace as to what it does as an institution makes things frustrating.
If the UK were to leave and lose access to the open market they would be hilariously fucked. However if they manage to negotiate a deal where they get to keep the economic benefits of the union without the associated political baggage that would probably work out just fine for them. Personally, the special deals offered to various associated countries are ridiculous (Sweden included), you should be either in or out.
Nick Clegg has been accused of political "point scoring" after revealing a new government "business bank" is set for his home city of Sheffield
The Liberal Democrat leader said the £1.25 billion government "Business Bank" would make it "easier for businesses in Sheffield and across the UK to expand, create new jobs and help rebuild our economy.” The bank will become fully operational in next autumn, after clearing EU regulations on state aid.
However, critics have suggested Clegg may be politically motivated after suffering a lot of criticism locally for having to cancel a £80 million government loan in 2011 to Sheffield Forgemasters.
Labour councillor Stuart Wattam, from Sheffield's Broomhill ward, told the Huffington Post UK: "There is some point scoring going on. Nick Clegg has been under quite a bit of criticism from the Labour group over his support of the Tory government, the cancellation of the Forgemaster loan and his lack of understanding about local government cuts."
On December 02 2013 07:33 KlaCkoN wrote: If the UK were to leave and lose access to the open market they would be hilariously fucked. However if they manage to negotiate a deal where they get to keep the economic benefits of the union without the associated political baggage that would probably work out just fine for them. Personally, the special deals offered to various associated countries are ridiculous (Sweden included), you should be either in or out.
why would it be fucked South Korea has access to the market as do a few others, Britain having access without being apart of the EU is less fucked up than that every country should have free trade imo but governments seem to love taxes :/
UK is certainly not going to lose access to the markets, that won't be on the table. The question of political integration is one thing and I can see why they don't want to make special exceptions there but the EU economic project has always been much more flexible.
EPT
