Oz 'pseudo-ID card' database racked by identity fraud claims

19 sacked, 92 resigned

Australia's citizen database was routinely searched for personal reasons by
government agency employees, some of whom have been sacked. Police are now
investigating allegations of identity fraud resulting from the security
breaches...

And remember, "you only have something to fear if you have something to hide"
Further proof if needed, that you simply can't trust those who watch over us with our personal information, for who watches over them?

Men removed from jet for 'speaking Arabic'

Passengers act swiftly to tackle terror threat pair

Two men removed from a Monarch Airlines flight from Malaga to Manchester last Wednesday were targeted because of passenger concerns over their behaviour and the fact that they may have been speaking Arabic, the BBC reports.

Perhaps I can get myself kicked off a plane for speaking a different language...

George Bernard Shaw

"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other
countries because you were born in it."

An internet service that allows users to trade files and use the internet
anonymously launches in Sweden

An interesting alternative given the amount of cracking down there has been
recently on filesharers. Wonder if this idea will take off...

The UK's foreign policy is not to blame for people becoming "indiscriminate terrorist killers", a minister says.

Then perhaps the good minister would enlighten us as to what is the cause of the sudden increase of terrorist attacks in the uk? As opposed to the ones in the US, which has until recently had a more belligerent approach to the middle east. Until recently, when the UK joined the US in what seem from a laymans point of view to be blatantly anti-Muslim polices. So enlighten us minister Browne, what is the real reason?

UK anime conventions.

OK, I promised (threatened?) to include a few posts about anime, so here goes.
I have just came back from one of the UK's largest anime conventions (appx 1200 people, small by comparison to many US conventions), so I thought I would get down some of my thoughts while they are still fresh in my mind.
I am not going to go into the organisation of the con, suffice to say that there were a few organisational decisions that I found odd. Like having the dealers in the largest room in the con, and squashing the masquerade into three much smaller rooms. Also the lack of seating during the masquerade. I guess there were operational reasons that I was not aware of for these decisions, but the lack of seating made watching the masquerade untenable for me.
Of greater concern to me is the recent trend at UK anime conventions only to show videos that have been licensed for release in the UK. I was in several video rooms during the weekend (there were six at this con), and I never counted more than ten people in any of them (I have since been told that several of the rooms were well attended, but I must have missed those). Over the last few years there has been a downward trend in the number of people attending the video rooms at anime cons due to the easy availability of broadband and the use if Bittorrent. The policy of essentially using video rooms as a weekend of free advertising for the distributors seems to me to be certain to hammer the final nail in the coffin of the video rooms at UK anime cons. I can't see why anyone would bother with the video programme when they have already earmarked the series they would like to buy on DVD after having downloaded part or all of it on Bittorrent.
Overall, I enjoyed the con and would like to say well done to those who organised and ran it, it must be very difficult running a con of this size, so a big thanks to the committee and the gophers.

Ernest Benn

"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy."

Unfortunately, far too true. How can you tell when a politician is lying? Their mouths are moving....

'Plot to blow up planes' foiled

A major terrorist plot to blow up planes in mid-flight is disrupted by police, Scotland Yard says.

While I am glad that the plot has been foiled (and hopeful that it doesn't turn out to be another false alarm like the one that triggered the raids in London earlier this year), I have to be concerned by the government's knee jerk reaction to this. Expect to see further inroads into human rights in the UK soon. Remember, once the government has taken away rights, it will be loathed to give them back!

Bigger, dafter, creepier - Gordon Brown's ID scheme rescue plan

Get the shops to pay for it, and catch villains for us...

Analysis 'Sources' close to Chancellor Gordon Brown are floating plans to finish off ID cards entirely in the UK - although that isn't quite how they're putting it. Instead, the advance men for the Prime Minister in waiting are offering a nightmare pitch that harnesses the private sector to implement a total surveillance system while raking in revenue for the Government


From the insane to the lunatic. Given the prevous posting here, I feel really safe about the thought that virtually everything you do could theoretically be traced and monitored by these cards....

Hackers crack new biometric passports

Flaw in passports used by Britain casts doubt over ID cards plan.

Just keep on banging those nails in the coffin...
There is nothing now to be gained by continuing on with the fallacy that biometric passports and ID cards are going to increase security in this country. What is needed is a partnership between the population of this counry and the government and not the "big brother" option, where the feeling of being constantly watched means the general law-abiding population are made to feel like criminals.

MPs want to postpone ID

Better late than never, they say

The government has been advised to further postpone the introduction of ID Cards until it can be sure the scheme will work.…

With a bit of luck, we won't be seeing it in our lifetimes.

Judges rebuff Reid on anti-terror laws

Politics: Appeal court confirms human rights ruling  Minister says judgment puts public safety at risk

Round three, Govt vs Judges. Who will win? Well if the government doesn't like the ruling, I guess they will just look to chage the law so that the judges have no choice but to obey. Much the same as would happen in a totalitarian regime. We are not there yet, but I bet this government have been looking for reasons to reduce human rights in this country, and the attacks last year in London have given them the excuse they needed.