Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Shins

It’s not often that your uncle John recommends music. The Shins new album is, however, a veritable box of delights - and popular in the US too apparently which is strange really...

An office that deals with post you might think...

Made a bit of a mistake today. Call me a naïve crazy fool if you like. I must just be out of touch – I carried a parcel to the post office and attempted to post it. Mad eh? I thought that even these days they might be able to handle that sort of thing. Obviously I was mistaken.

Thing is ‘Standard Parcels’ go up to 11kg. This one weighed 17kg. This means that though I can carry it ¼ of a mile to the post office the poor lamb who collects it won’t be able to carry it 10ft from the post office counter to his van. You’re supposed to ring them and they collect it. Do they turn up exactly when you want do you think or would I have to wait in all day? Any chance that it could all go wrong? Do I take a day off work so I can post a parcel I could walk down to the post office? I’VE BROUGHT IT IN TO THE POST OFFICE - JUST TAKE THE FUCKING PARCEL YOU MORONS.

Anyway, I explained briefly what I thought and the bloke took it off me and promised he’d try to persuade the pick-up driver to take it….then he told me the address was wrong. I told him his database was wrong. I’ve used the post office database before – it’s shit. In fact the Big Lottery Fund (who I used to work for) decided to trust the post office database rather than its staff as they kept adding (correct) addresses that weren’t on the database. In the end we had to use incorrect addresses that were in the database and hope that the neighbours would re-direct. Always nice to do a job right and be told by your employer that you’re not allowed to do that and they want it fucking up.

I did check the address with the company website and funnily enough they know their own address. It’s the same address they had last time I sent them a parcel – no, not Blue Sky Publications post office datashite idiots.

What a fucking shambles. I hate these people.

PS – that figure I was talking about earlier was just short of £10K. See you in court dudes.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Not April 1st then?

It wasn’t was it? The story that they’re spying on people in city centres via CCTV and then shouting at them to pick up their litter or stop their ‘anti-social behaviour’ – also via the CCTV. It really wasn’t on April 1st was it? Please tell me it’s a wind up.

Big rant coming!....maybe not as clearly argued as it could be because I’m apocalyptic with rage! (yes, I did say apocalyptic – it’s a joke, moron)


Amusing as it will be to see someone being shouted at for not binning an apple core, has anyone really thought this through? Do people really not mind being watched and told off by little Hitlers on the minimum wage for tiny social transgressions? People objecting to this will be criticised for being paranoid but didn’t millions of people die so we didn’t have to be spied on by the government and reported to ‘the authorities’ for petty ‘offences’? If I was to ask ‘how long will it be before you get hauled in for saying the wrong thing in the street’? you might think I was overreacting.

Thing is that no-one comes along and says ‘freedom will be abolished tomorrow’ so you can get angry about it – and the next group that get scape-goated won’t necessarily be those who have been used as an excuse before. It’ll start with an easy target. Maybe not even ‘hoodies’ or young hooligans. It’ll start with people you don’t like so you won’t care. Everyone can agree that racism is a bad thing for example so people will be prosecuted for making racist comments to a mate. Or for swearing too much. Or being sexist. Or Islamaphobic - or for dropping litter. It’ll ‘serve ‘em right’ you’ll say. Until the day that a minority Tory government needs the help of a few BNP MPs to hang onto power and a crack-down on 'anti-social elements' is ordered….or the owners of the precinct tell you that you can’t walk on their expensive bit of pavement unless you buy something because its only fair; or because there’s been a terrorist atrocity and all swarthy looking young men are rounded up or….

The thing is it doesn’t matter who is being targeted (just hope it isn’t you! – but you won’t know it is until its too late) The point is that once the structure of the totalitarian state is in place it only needs a government under pressure of one sort or another (crime, recession, strike, war on terror, whatever) and suddenly BANG! It’s all gone.

Do you want to be constantly watched and listened to? Do you want to be fingerprinted and scanned and barcoded and have your life tracked by the government? Do you want to have to prove you’re not a ‘criminal’ every day, do you want to have to prove you’re ‘entitled’ to those ‘public services’ they keep going on about? Well, you cunts have already voted for this – it’s the ID card and its coming your way NOW not in some book you did at school once with pigs in.

In Soviet Russia they didn’t have political prisoners. Some people were ‘anti-social’ or ‘mentally disturbed’ because they didn’t believe in what the Party told them to.
In Nazi Germany they were only looking after the interests of ‘real’ Germans. Funnily enough, ‘anti-social elements’ were blamed for anything that went wrong.
In modern Western democracies people don’t get put into secret prisons without trail and of course we don’t torture anyone. People will only be watched for legitimate reasons like protecting us from the marauding bands of paedophiles or terrorists that kill hundreds of us every day (unlike car drivers say).

And freedom is safe.

Well, it’s not. Thin end of wedge…country going to dogs…too late before you know it etc. etc. Yes I know what this sounds like…

I am not paranoid but I will be a citizen and not a subject. I will not register for an ID card and I will not be fingerprinted and iris scanned and turned into a criminal (though of course, I will. It'll be just that the laws will be criminal!). I’ve drawn a line in the sand – so there.

If you read my rant about the twat in the car park you may realise that I’d have rather abandoned the car and set fire to it than paid a tenner. Watching people all the time is out of order. Big Brother (or Community Support Big Brother as he is now called) ordering you to bin your apple core is fucking madness. Why is no-one angry about this?

Well, I’m getting tired out by all of this stuff. Line in sand drawn. If you or I end up in jail it’s them not us. Bastards.

A police state that started with 'good intentions' is still a police state. Remember Satanic Ritual Abuse anyone? It can happen here. It does happen here. Say no!