Ran Jak Diary

Crisis closing pubs throughout Britain

The economic crisis is now forcing the closure of 52 Pubs in Britain every week. The Times reports.

UK's Brown: last laugh?

Has Gordon Brown flashed his last broad smile as UK prime minister? His own ministers have been talking mutiny since Brown's Labour party lost still another mid-term election, this time in Scotland. His meeting today with US presidential candidate Obama comes too late for political benefit. Labour's problem with throwing out Brown is that there is no obvious winning successor.

Questions after UK swipes at Russia

Prime Minister Brown

The UK has launched an extraordinarily dark and menacing repositioning of Russia, which it claims is now the third largest threat to Britain's security. In particular, Russian spies form this menace to the national security in the UK, London asserts. The worst threat? Taleban terrorists. Number two, Iranian terror and maybe a nuclear threat from Iran - if it learns how to make bombs in the future. Third biggest threat, Russian spying on Britain. Say again?

Last Tuesday, as Russian president Dimitry Medvedev and British prime minister Gordon Brown met during a break in the G8 talks in Japan, BBC Newsnight went on the air, opening with a scoop that one of Newsnight's reporters was handed by British intelligence. The Russian State, according to the scoop, was involved in the murder of dissident Alexander Litvinenko two years ago. As the story unfolded, it turned out the State meant Russian intelligence. By then, of course, whatever goodwill Medvedev had hoped to encourge at his first ever meeting with Gordon Brown, was dead.

The idea of Britain seeking the humiliation of another country's new head of state is, according to diplomats, a nearly unheard of "no-no." Yet that is exactly what British intelligence accomplished. Of course, any real journalist at Newsnight might have smelled something rotten when the scoop was handed to its reporter on the very day of the Medvedev-Brown meeting. Why didn't the BBC Newsnight editors notice they were being played?

Privacy Intl, what is your goal?

When word came from the UK that an anti-terror law was being used to spy on ordinary citizens and fishermen, we looked forward to a broad campaign to restrict the law's reach, and were sure the campaigm would be led by Privacy International.  We see nothing about any such campaign.
But Privacy International is in the news today, though not to clamp down on Big Brother for spying on citizens. Instead, it's because Google is about to make it easier for users to find their way around London, now with street views that will blur faces to comply with privacy laws.

Rogue state Britain

Image via Wikipedia

Is the UK becoming a rogue state? There is increasing evidence that it is, because of Britain's transformation into a nation of spying on ordinary citizens accused of failing to properly dispose of dog poop when they take their pet for a walk.
In incidents documented under Freedom of Information disclosures, dog owners are among the targets of local authorities applying recent laws designed to gather intelligence about terrorists. The locals use the laws to spy on dog owners and even on parents who want their children enrolled in certain school districts.
A family in England was followed around and spied upon for several weeks to see if they really did live in the Poole school district area, as they claimed. Unspecified municipal government spies in the case used sophisticated techniques to gather proof that parents tried to get their kids admitted into a local school illicitly. They snooped for several weeks in a bizarre probe that deployed spies with video cams, but admitted later that suspicion about the family was false.
In another incident local government spies followed and taped someone who had been suspected of littering.
The UK's Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act, part of the government's anti-terror drive, gave councils the power to use the surveillance and to access phone and e-mail records.
At the same time, an immense network of spy cameras all over the UK has been put in place to investigate terrorists and major criminals, but is are used to trap drivers who speed or go through red lights, and are used to follow movememts of Brits who allegedly go to public libraries frequently.

Related articles

• Council surveillance review urged [via Zemanta]
• Councils told to stop using spy laws [via Zemanta]
• Spy regs used against dogs, litterbugs [via Zemanta]
• Council used terror law to spy on fishermen [via Zemanta]
• David Davis: Local council surveillance is intrusive, ineffective and expensive [via Zemanta]

Inquest subdues but does not resolve

A statement by Princes William and Harry was imminent, anchors told their viewers yesterday, as an official inquest into their mother's death came to its close in London. Reporters and camera crews were interviewing major figures and bit players alike, as tv news sought to provide a full report on the inquest that was meant to withdraw respectability from any conspiracy theories relating to the death of the princess. As live coverage of the inquest continued, that imminent statement by the sons of Princess Diana was still not yet available, but more interviews were broadcast live. Last night, a written statement in the names of the sons of Princess Diana was released by Clarence House. Delays in releasing the statement were not due to technical difficulties. The inquest will most definitely subdue speculation about the death of Princess Diana, but the issues are not resolved.

Police state UK

I read the first paragraph from a dispatch in the Guardian, then rubbed my eyes because I thought it impossible to believe.

Primary school children should be eligible for the DNA database if they exhibit behaviour indicating they may become criminals in later life, according to Britain's most senior police forensics expert.

The article goes on,"There are currently 4.5 million genetic samples on the UK database - the largest in Europe - but police believe more are required to reduce crime further."
Police state UK. It is no longer the stuff of science fiction.

Last week it emerged that the number of 10 to 18-year-olds placed on the DNA database after being arrested will have reached around 1.5 million this time next year. Since 2004 police have had the power to take DNA samples from anyone over the age of 10 who is arrested, regardless of whether they are later charged, convicted, or found to be innocent.

Define the word 'rendition'

Webster's Unabridged Dictionary gives examples to define rendition: 'his sensitive rendition gave the lyrics a haunting and dramatic quality'; 'read it ... for its pleasing rendition of a state of mind.'
Wiktionary is more helpful: 'the capture of political opponents or suspected terrorists by the United States government, and their removal to countries where the torture, rape, and/or prisoner abuse are legally permitted or overlooked.'
In London today, parliament was informed that UK territory had been used by the US in two 'rendition' flights, despite all earlier denials. Foreign secretary David Miliband's full statement is here.