Monday, July 3, 2006

1984 Observer: "The sign that Steve Jago held on 18 June in Whitehall carried a quote from George Orwell. 'In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.' It comes from Nineteen Eighty-Four and it is perhaps worth speculating what Eric Blair would have thought of a law that allows a young man to be arrested for displaying a placard outside Downing Street. He would certainly be astounded at the direction this Labour government has taken and I suggest he would be troubled by what followed in the police station. Mr Jago, who will appear in court in September on charges of mounting an illegal demonstration prohibited by the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (Socpa ), was searched and found to have three copies of an article from Vanity Fair. Entitled 'Blair's Big Brother Britain', the article happens to be by me and puts together much of what I have written in this paper. But this is not really relevant. What matters is that one of the officers stated for the record that he was showing the defendant these copies and described them as 'politically motivated' material. So, a piece of mainstream journalism critical of Blair's government was used by the police as part of the reason to charge Mr Jago. That is to say carrying any article that appears to the police to be 'politically motivated' is now an act that may help to send you to jail or receive a large fine. Just think about that for a moment." See also here and here Independent: "Gordon Brown has hinted that he wants the police to have the power to hold terrorist suspects for up to 90 days without charge - reopening a political row that led to a humiliating Commons defeat for Tony Blair." TimesOnline: "John Reid, the home secretary, is planning a new official secrets law to punish intelligence officers who blow the whistle on government policy by leaking secret information." Yahoo: "Senior Democrats called on Sunday for a broader review of whether President George W. Bush had overstepped his war powers after the Supreme Court struck down his administration's Guantanamo military tribunals." ICH: A veteran was arrested while sitting in the Jesse Brown V.A. Medical Center with a Veterans For Peace shirt on. 12:00:39 PM

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