This is

as days pass by, by Stuart Langridge

. Here I write about many things. In the past I wrote about other things but the past is past. I write code for people to play with, I write about my life on Twitter, and I write here.

On I wrote I, Troublemaker, on the subject of Armchair activism and Politics.

When the police admit that someone could end up on a secret police database merely for attending a demonstration, it is exactly the time to worry. — Mark Thomas, The Guardian, "Doth I protest too much?"
Disappointed that you've, at some point, exercised your democratic right to protest and free assembly and have nonetheless not managed to get on the Metropolitan Police's spotter card list of mugshots of people who show up at protests a lot? Do you want to be one of the new menaces to 21st century society that are "domestic extremists"? Or perhaps we should call them "reds under the bed"? Well, help is at hand in the form of I, Troublemaker. See yourself alongside people who don't like the arms trade, comedians, and other threats to our cosy way of life. I'm particularly pleased with outing that notorious extremist Gandhi, but choose your own satire (some of them are even government employees, for example).

England prevails, etc, etc.
Nicola Larosa

At a former job, the firm was working for a high-profile public Italian institution.

A guy was hired as a sysadmin, and after a few weeks he had to get a pass to some internal datacenter of said public institution.

A background check revealed his presence on a list of some secret police (yes, we have more than one, why limit yourself?) for having attended a demonstration, and he was summarily fired on the spot.

He didn't even try to defend his rights, he had no chance.

Yeah, right, "democracy" my ass.

Jason

I've never understood the popularity of Mark Thomas. The guy's a complete knob - that bloke in the pub who thinks he's a subversive genius because he says things like "Hur hur, the government are like, wankers, innit? Tony BLIAR! Hahaha".

Jason

Also, I've just realised this is entirely recycled outrage, with Mark Thomas leading on the same gag in an article about the same spotter card, four years ago...

http://www.newstatesman.com/200509260018

James

I think there's someone who keeps coming up with these policies somewhere thinking they sound like a good idea, but not considering anything beyond the immediate consequence or how these things will work in real life.

This website belongs to Stuart Langridge. Contact details are available. Don't eat yellow snow. Valid HTML5, at least in theory, except for the bits that aren't because I'm that futuristic that I'm ahead of the spec, oh yes. HTML5 help from Bruce Lawson, among others. Fonts from the superb FontSquirrel. End.