Following on from yesterday's piece about "Truth" In Science trying to get their crackpot creationist theories taught in British schools, I see that MP Graham Stringer has tabled an Early Day Motion on this issue. You might consider popping over to WriteToThem and asking your MP to sign this EDM.
Recently in parliament Category
The Backing Blair campaign is closing down. The closing statement that is now on the front page of their web site says this:
Right now, at every level of politics, people can be split into two groups:
- Those who feel distanced from politics and/or helpless to change matters because of a growing culture of obfuscation and impunity in the political arena.
- Those who are willing to exploit this culture to gain or maintain power.
Never mind the Labour Party; consider just for one moment what this is doing to undermine our democracy.
There are already countless politicians, media-owners, campaigners and publishers (including bloggers) who are exploiting this state of affairs for their own personal gain and online intrusion is on the increase following several successful attempts to synthesise grass roots movements and/or cynically exploit the frustration that genuine people are feeling.
The time has come for all good people to stand up and face these problems in a tangible way... and have the courage to be judged on their merits.
And there's a link to a teaser site for Tim Ireland's new project - National Service
Let's look at it another way. Yes, we saw Tony Blair defeated for the first time. But they've managed to push through a doubling of the time that a suspect can be held without charge. That's still pretty disgusting. Are there any "democratic" countries with a longer period?
If I was feeling paranoid, I might imagine a conversation taking place along these lines a few months ago...
Ian Blair: We think we might want to increase the amount of time we can hold them without charging them.
Tony Blair: What do you want it to be?
Ian Blair: 28 days.
Tony Blair: 28 days! Bloody hell, that's doubling it. The civil liberties crowd will never go for that.
Ian Blair: So we can't have it?
Tony Blair: I didn't say that. But we'd need to be a bit sneaky. What if we said we were trying to increase it to a completely unreasonable length of time that no sane person would support - and then presented 28 days as a compromise.
Ian Blair: How long would you ask for first.
Tony Blair: Well it would need to be completely over the top, maybe 90 days.
Ian Blair: 90 days! That's ridiculous. No-one would ever go for that.
Tony Blair: Precisely.
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