I do remember the report about the London pub patrons who were rounded up and given the choice between the x ray scans or strip searches in 2004. Of course now the whole story is missing from the internet, (Update: Josef found it here) but it was in a UPI news report and I referenced it somewhere on my ACL website when it happened, probably the Community Policing page. 2004 was when a majority of the ACL was posted online. Maybe one of our English readers remember it happening, but very few Americans noticed it then and I haven't seen any reports about it now that this same "option" is being offered to air travelers in the USA. How long before people will be subjected to this outrageous demand to demean themselves in OTHER places besides airports? My guess is not long.
And seeing this pilot revolt letter I'm sad to realize as a group they are not revolting on behalf of ALL Americans demeaned by this new policy, just for their own group. How typical of the way Americans think nowadays. Separate rights for separate groups is okay if you're in the group that gets to "keep" your God given rights. Nobody was ever supposed to be able to "take" our rights, not from anyone who abides by the legitimate laws.
Now it's "policy" we have to abide by ... not law. .. policy which changes at the whim of the policymaker. Policy that over rules our national law... boy that's some heavy duty policy... don't ya think? Is there any identifiable theoretical policy that would be powerful enough to over rule the U.S. Constitution and ALL 50 state constitutions? Or is this expectation that we submit to this policy based on nothing at all? Is it a conspiracy theory to suggest there is some harmonization of legal values that lies at the basis for our continually evolving security policy?
And seeing this pilot revolt letter I'm sad to realize as a group they are not revolting on behalf of ALL Americans demeaned by this new policy, just for their own group. How typical of the way Americans think nowadays. Separate rights for separate groups is okay if you're in the group that gets to "keep" your God given rights. Nobody was ever supposed to be able to "take" our rights, not from anyone who abides by the legitimate laws.
Now it's "policy" we have to abide by ... not law. .. policy which changes at the whim of the policymaker. Policy that over rules our national law... boy that's some heavy duty policy... don't ya think? Is there any identifiable theoretical policy that would be powerful enough to over rule the U.S. Constitution and ALL 50 state constitutions? Or is this expectation that we submit to this policy based on nothing at all? Is it a conspiracy theory to suggest there is some harmonization of legal values that lies at the basis for our continually evolving security policy?
http://www.discourse.net/archives/2004/03/beyond_weird_scary_mass_xray_searching_in_uk.html
Here's a timeline of sorts Niki:
ReplyDelete5 May 2003
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2992329.stm
7 March 2004
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/3541193.stm
27 March 2004
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3573933.stm
19 July 2004
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3905809.stm
1 August 2004
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/uk/newsid_3525000/3525622.stm
31 October 2005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4392660.stm
14 November 2005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4434302.stm
30 November 2005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4484122.stm
19 December 2005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/4541170.stm
6 December 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6214970.stm
29 January 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6309917.stm
23 October 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7685499.stm
16 July 2009
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/8153948.stm
13 October 2009
(note that the only mention I could find was on CBBC the childrens news channel)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_8300000/newsid_8304100/8304144.stm
1 February 2010
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8490860.stm
3 March 2010
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/8547416.stm
Of course lots in 2010.
Josef this is VERY helpful, thank you! I sure appreciate you taking the time to make this time line and finding the BBC article of the raid on the pubs...sometimes when things disappear it makes me a bit unsure of what I really read... but on this one I was positive about it because it totally freaked me out. I think it was the closing line, "It's very graphic and it doesn't leave much to the imagination." And to see the progression is very valuable.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure. What I've done/do is nothing compared to you.
ReplyDeleteI feel a lot of these intrusive state interventions, whether it's HR demanding very personal, intimate information from public sector job applicants (something I've been through)or the full body scans at airports, the end result is felt as an invasion into our personal space that we are mostly powerless to resist. In short: it's state rape.
Take your pick of either the new 'stroke down' or the full body scanner,these measures rob us of our dignity. The more this happens the more we protect ourselves by desensitizing and numbing ourselves. It's the breaking of our spirits, is how i see it. And that makes me so angry.
I feel a lot of these intrusive state interventions, whether it's HR demanding very personal, intimate information from public sector job applicants (something I've been through)or the full body scans at airports, the end result is felt as an invasion into our personal space that we are mostly powerless to resist. In short: it's state rape.
ReplyDeletecheap Gatwick Parking