I’m not really paranoid, honest June 1, 2009
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Camden,Politics , 1 comment so farWalking through Kings Cross tube station yesterday, I heard the announcer say that anyone using the ‘help point’ would have their photo taken and passed to the British Transport Police.
So, if I’m a tourist, a bit lost, and press the button marked ‘Information’ to ask where to go, my photo is sent to the police??? I wonder what happens next? A posse of armed goons appear and shoot me for having the audacity to hope that the Victoria Line is actually working this weekend? More likely, my mugshot just ends up on some database somewhere, as the government attempts to track every citizen’s every move, swamping itself so utterly in spurious data that the real criminals slip underneath the chaos.
Certainly, this threatening announcement is hardly going to encourage anyone to use the facility. If there’s an emergency, it may even deter someone from raising the alarm.
There is no indication on the help point itself that this will happen, which is surely not legal.
I wonder what they do with it, and how long they keep it. It will be interesting to see if, and how, Transport for London, answer that question.
The Convention on Modern Liberty January 19, 2009
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Politics , 1 comment so farSometimes, I wonder if I’m just paranoid, but then I realise I’m not the only one.
Some things really scare me:
- The way draconian legislation justified by the need to combat terrorism invariably gets used to investigate far less dangerous pursuits.
- The thought of the fact that I once googled ‘gay goat’ without thinking too hard getting onto a government database, or of some low-paid outsourced worker having access to a log of my emails.
- The notion of a national id database run by a government who’s only contribution to freedom of information seems to be their ability to release it onto trains and into rubbish bins
- Draconian policing of peaceful demonstrations, creating a climate of fear.
The last few years have seen a steady erosion of the valuable right of a British person to go about their lawful business in privacy and without interference by the authorities, while at the same time, government activity seems to be more and more hidden. And somehow, the voices of protest are few and far between. Noone really seems to be too concerned.
And so, I’ll be attending The Convention on Modern Liberty, being held in Bloomsbury on 28 Feb. Hopefully, it will be more than a talkshop gathering of the usual suspects, and some action will come out of it.
Barrel wine and the war on moisturiser June 21, 2008
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Miscellany , add a commentI remember now why I gave up flying. When the automaton at the airport took my conditioner because it was 150ml, not 100ml, I’m sure the free world was saved from an atrocity. It’s the first time I’ve had to do the shoe thing, which just shows how long its been. Of course, its deeply uncool now to winge about these nasty little nuisances. The terrorists won long ago, aided and abetted by NuLabor.
Greece, the sea and some sunshine are worth putting up with bureaucratic silliness, and I spent the afternoon wandering around the waterfront of Thessaloniki. Looking for dinner at about 8.30, I turned a corner and found the local Goths, though they seem to be the only life around the place. The bars and restaurants of Ladhadikha, the district behind the port, have emptied for the summer and sensible Thessalonikans have headed for the beach.
Still, I managed to find a pleasant wee taverna called Negroponte, with a drinkable barrel wine and basic menu, recommended by the Rough Guide but with local and tourist clientele. No menu, so I thought I was in for one of those kitchen adventures you occasionally get in places which don’t have a lot of tourists, where they take you out the back and show you boiling pots of stuff which smell fantastic, taste wonderful and could be stewed cat for all I know. But the waiter explained the dishes perfectly, and I found myself with a very good salad and rather boring meatballs. Eating in this part of the world is less about cuisine, and much more about being outside, taking it slowly and watching the world go by, and the bill only came to €14.
Tomorrow, museums and ruins, and trying to work out which beach to go to for the second half of the week.
Somers Town needs Council Housing, not Scaremongering April 27, 2008
Posted by cathrynsymons in : Camden,Politics , comments closedPosters have gone up around Somers Town suggesting that the new British Library International Science Site (BLISS) medical research centre planned for the land behind the British Library would be an inner-city version of Porton Down, and an article in the Guardian Education supplement last week sent me off to the local Community Centre on Saturday morning, where staff from the medical institutions involved were available to talk to local people about their plans.
I firmly believe that the BLISS should not be built on that site, because this area desperately needs more affordable housing, and the government should stand up to its promise to build council homes. There’s a strong local campaign underway trying to make that happen. However, it hadn’t occurred to me that the likes of the Medical Research Council or Cancer Research UK would be dangerous neighbours. After all, they’re both already in the area anyway, and there are a lot of other medical research facilities around here. It’s a major local industry.
Talking for nearly an hour with Sir Leszek Boryziewicz, the CEO of the MRC, completely upheld that opinion. He is a tall, quietly spoken gentleman. He introduced himself, I thought, as ‘Les’, saying the s oddly so it must have been ‘Leszek’. He clearly, but without being patronising, explained the type of research they are likely to do, the sorts of security that would be in place and the risks involved.
A scientist rather than a PR person, he qualifies his statements unless he is absolutely 100% sure of something. I find that reassuring, though it may seem uncertain. So, because the committee working out what science would be done in the new centre has yet to report, he won’t guarantee that this will not be a category 4 lab as discussed in the Guardian article, though he thinks it unlikely. Diseases like Ebola and Lassi Fever are not even dealt with in civilian facilities in the UK – if there was any work with them, it would be in a military facility like Porton Down.  There is no reason for Somers Town to be patrolled by armed police, as suggested in the posters which have appeared.
It is unlikely that the level of hazard here will be any higher than it is in many labs and hospitals around Bloomsbury and Holburn. The MRC does research on HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and flu, and it is likely that would continue in the new lab. Given that Somers Town has a very high incidence of tuberculosis that is perhaps something we should support.
Sir Leszek is a man who was knighted for inventing a vaccine against cervical cancer, and likes Ben Goldacre. If it turns out that we can’t make council housing happen, then I’ll be very pleased indeed to welcome him to the area.
