April 1 - Financial Fool's Day

[marmar]

April 1st Financial Fool's Day - Londinium & G20 Empire
Submitted by Viola Wilkins on Sat, 07/03/2009 - 05:44


http://www.counterpunch.org/dickinson03062009.html


On Financial Fools Day
By MICHAEL DICKINSON


When veteran peace activist Hugh Romney aka Wavy Gravy travelled America in the late 1960’s with the Hog Farm Hippie Collective protesting the Vietnam War, he said he had a surefire way to stop the police from beating them at demonstrations. “We’d whip out a bunch of cameras and they’d immediately start behaving themselves.” A good idea. The police don’t like to be seen as sadistic bullies. Cameras show what happens.

But as we near the end of the first decade of the 21st century, is an aimed camera still a deterrent to police brutality in America? It’s certainly not so in Britain any more. Following an amendment to Section 76 of the United Kingdom's Counter Terrorism Act, if you so much as point your lens at a copper in Blighty these days you’re likely to find you and your camera under arrest.

The new amendment, which came into law on February 16th makes it an offence to ‘collect or make a record of information about members of the armed forces, intelligence services and the police force, of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.’ 'Record' includes a 'photographic or electronic record.'

Prime Minister Gordon Brown supports the police in their right to restrict photography if the need arises. “The law applies to photographers as it does to anybody else in a public place,” he said. “There may be situations in which the taking of photographs may cause or lead to public order situations or raise security considerations.”

On the day the amendment became law some 200 photographers gathered outside Scotland Yard's headquarters in London to protest that the law could be misused to stop any pictures from being taken - especially images involving police abuse and behaviour at demonstrations. "This law makes it much more difficult to photograph any kind of public demonstration or riot," said Marc Vallee, a protester and photographer. "The police are already suspicious of photographers and this just gives them more ammunition to stop us at our work." .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.iww.org.au/node/824

[upi402]

1. Looks like we export Kool Aid

Must be the sugar...
Unreal, this life.