An interesting discussion about file sharing for those interested in DRM, copyright and patents. Most people agree that the business model based around copyright no longer works in the digital age. The question is, what other options do we have, and how many people are going to get sued along the way?
HAR panel from TorrentFreak on Vimeo.
For information about HAR (Hacking at random) please see their website: https://wiki.har2009.org/
Tony Blair
At the time of writing this, Tony Blair is 56. He teaches at Yale and is the worlds highest paid public speaker, getting paid upwards of $400,000 per speech. He also has his Faith Foundation, advises JP Morgan Chase and he may soon be the first president of the European Union. He is definitely cashing in.
Vanity Fair have recorded an interview by Editor, Graydon Carter, with Blair talking quite candidly about his time at Number 10, his relationship with George Bush, Iran, Obama, Terrorism, and what he believes the future holds.
The interview is obviously aimed at an American audience and from his answers, it’s clear that Tony Blair knows this. Now that opinion has largely changed on the last American President, it is nice to see Tony squirm a bit when he is asked if he still stands by the nice things he said about Bush at the time.
Personally I have little respect for Blair. With 2 wars based on lies, millions of protesters ignored and liberties taken away as if they are unimportant – even though they have been in place for hundreds of years.
Graydon Carter asks a few difficult questions, most of which are answered with a typical Blair smile, but he also piles on the compliments which makes the whole thing feel too set up. It would be nice to see someone ask him some really tough questions – how about the 45 minutes to launch lie; about Dr. David Kelly’s death; about Bush’s first election ‘win’; about Robin Cook, Claire Short and other so called “rebel” Labour MPs and about the ever increasing use of ‘police state’ tactics and CCTV presence in our country. Anyway, rant over….
Watch the full interview here.
A Police State?
I watched a fascinating documentary last night about how our liberties are being taken away, primarily as a response to the threat we face ‘from terrorists’. New Labour seem to be the culprits and since 1997 when they came to power, many of our most important rights have now been taken away from us – including our right to protest, right to trial by jury, detention without charge… and the list goes on.
Boris Johnson manages to come across as sensible for once, when he advises the Government on identity cards: “Just butt out of it.”
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/taking-liberties
Here is what the producers of the programme have to say about it:
Riding in on a wave of optimism and real belief in their mantra that things can only get better, the New Labour government proceeded to enact some of the most authoritarian legislation in recent history. With fast-paced satirical style, this Bafta-nominated film shows how, in just over a decade, some rights and freedoms that took centuries to build up have been rolled back or cut away through a personal journey into the decline of civil liberties.
The 82-year-old holocaust survivor Walter Wolfgang was lifted bodily from a debate at the Labour Party conference for, as Tony Benn points out, ‘rightfully’ saying that Jack Straw is talking ‘nonsense’ about Iraq. We see a man who tries to protest against the treatment of Mr Wolfgang also set upon by security, and learn that he was later handled roughly – and that poor old Wolfgang was next detained by the police under the 2000 Terrorism Act.
We meet Moulad Sihali, an Algerian refugee. He was cleared of all charges relating to a non-existent plot to manufacture the poison ricin, but has now been made a prisoner in his own home. He’s been fitted with a tracking device, is only allowed outside at certain hours – and then only within a one mile radius of his house – and is forbidden to meet anyone who hasn’t been vetted by the Home Office. The specific charge against him? There isn’t one. Read the rest of this entry »
What does it say when someone who has broken no laws gets taken away by the police for using a megaphone? Weirdly, the Police seem quite happy to leave his 10 year old son with people they do not even know.
I’m certainly not an expert on the law of the land, but after doing some digging it seems that there was no legal reason to arrest Darren in this clip. For those who are interested in the path this country takes, We Are Change have a UK website: http://wearechange.org.uk.
Seems we are still on the way to becoming a Police state. If only George Orwell had been a politician….
Excellent stop motion animation featuring a wolf and a pig. This has now been ripped off by Olympus and the same technique has been used in one of their adverts. Enjoy!
I am currently growing a beard… the first one I have ever had and I’m now 31 years old. The plan is actually to shave it off again after a friends stag party but we’ll see how it goes.
I wanted to post something to mention Beardyman, the UK beatboxing champion who has taken beat boxing to the main stream.
He will be ‘playing’ at Bestival again this year, and I cant wait. He was one of the highlights for me at the last event and I hear his show is much improved.
Here is a little clip of him doing his thing.