Further examples of a country that has simply turned bad

[Vile Consort]

It's not very long since several council employees here lost their jobs after they were discovered pointing the town's security cameras through bedroom windows and watching what was going on.

I expect their replacements are taking more care not to get caught.

[scottycelt]

I bought a new soup pan/casserole today. Got it home, examined it, and found it was marked "suitable for use with foodstuffs".

So that's a relief.

Mangerton, some years ago I saw a an official notice on a bus going into Manchester ... HOW TO BOARD THE BUS ...

[MrGongGong]

It's not very long since several council employees here lost their jobs after they were discovered pointing the town's security cameras through bedroom windows and watching what was going on.

I expect their replacements are taking more care not to get caught.

"If you've nothing to hide, you've nothing to fear"
"If you've nothing to hide, you've nothing to fear"
"If you've nothing to hide, you've nothing to fear"
"If you've nothing to hide, you've nothing to fear"
"If you've nothing to hide, you've nothing to fear"
"If you've nothing to hide, you've nothing to fear"
"If you've nothing to hide, you've nothing to fear"

keep repeating till you believe it chums

[Dave2002]

As for laws and suchlike - it's a shame that such things as CCTV in taxis is thought necessary. But it won't have been done on a whim - there will be some reasoning behind it. We may not consider that reasoning to be sound - I don't know - but I'd bet that part of it is tied up with a desire to avoid legal expense: the compensation culture is so insidious, with the idea of always trying to blame someone else for anything that goes wrong in life. There will be a safety angle, too, I suppose. Some seem to have the idea that the job of government is to make life completely risk-free...!

Sorry to bring this back to CCTVs in taxis, but I remember going to Manchester a few times over several years around 2000. I was surprised on one or two of my later trips to find that I was being locked in, and the taxi driver was very securely separated from me by some sort of screen/glass. I discussed this with the driver, and he said that taxis were being made more secure, as there'd been quite a number of attacks of various sorts (possibly on drivers, possibly also on passengers), and the measures were considered necessary. The idea that we live in a society where attacks do not happen is a great one, but unfortunately the real situation in some parts of the UK is different from the ideal.

[EnemyoftheStoat]

.....or Trondheim.

Great place! You missed the Mahler 8(s) though....

[Flosshilde]

Ah, Flossie. So nice to have you back.

Thanks, P. It's good to be back.

How are the police going to identify footage relating to criminal activity? Well, obviously they will view every second of every minute of every frame of the footage from every taxi in the UK, just as at the moment there are a team of police officers whose sole duty is to review every second of the thousands of hours of CCTV footage that is filmed by every security camera in the UK every day....although in Guardian cloud-cuckoo land there are probably some who believe that is actually the case

It might not be the police, but somebody does. The film 'Red Road' (fiction, I know, but based on what actually happens) was about a woman who's job was to watch the monitors of CCTV cameras, live (ie not the tapes). So yes, there are people watching you.

As for your second "point" about the Olympics, forgive me, but I've always believed that if a foreign sports team, politician, dignitary or even tourist decided to visit the UK, then it was our duty to protect them from harm. Or do you think that we should simply not bother? When the Israeli athletes were massacred by the Arafat sponsored terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics, was it not Germany's responsibility to protect them?

I quite accept that we have to provide reasonable protection, just as we would for anybody. I don't think that should include ground to air missiles. If the USA team (or anyone else) is not prepared to accept rasonable risk, or says that they won't come unless certain conditions are met, then they shouldn't come, just as I wouldn't go somewhere - or do something - if I thought the risks were too great. I wouldn't start whining about not being protected.

[greenilex]

Are we sure that the various central London barracks don't defend themselves (and her Majesty) by all means necessary and fashionable on a day-to-day basis as we speak?

Because I'd be very surprised if it were otherwise, friends.