Are you okay?? Heard about London explosions!!

[Ed]

The death penalty was abolished in the sixties, I think.  The last man hung was later found to be innocent, along with several others.  There are two exceptions to the abolition - treason is still punishable by death and, due to an oversight, sheep rustling.

Even death is too good for these bastards though.

Today, there are people missing, still unaccounted for.  Relatives are searching hospitals for their loved ones.  Meanwhile there are still at least twenty bodies underground that can't be recovered yet and aren't included in the statistic of 37 dead.  Even so, these relatives and survivors who are being interviewed on TV are stoic, collected and keeping themselves together.  We haven't seen anybody in hysterics.  Londoners are pulling together and, if anything, this terrorist attack has brought out the best in people, which shows that the terrorists have lost their battle.

[Missy]

Can't you only get hung for treason? Or did I imagine that?

[JoyceCarter]

As Blunt says

treason is still punishable by death and, due to an oversight, sheep rustling

but they haven't actually invoked the penalty for either...!

[GrinReaper]

the thing that annoys the crap out of me is that every terrorist bombing is a win for right-wing governments. They can say, "See, we were right to take away [insert human right/freedom here]." For example (I know this is a minor thing but it's an example of how our freedoms are gradually being taken away from us) since the anthrax attacks in the states, every time I want to post a parcel overseas I have to show PHOTO ID! And they make a note of my licence number and it goes on file somewhere. Now, people argue, "Well, isn't it better to do that than have anthrax attacks?", to which it's impossible to answer "No." But that road leads to a society where we're all locked up in cages like battery hens, so we can't do anything bad to each other!

The killing of any innocent people makes me sick, whether it be the poor bastards trying to get to work in London, Iraqis queueing up for work in Baghdad, or the thousands killed in "surgical strikes" in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

[santhere]

I must remember never to steal sheep in Britain...again

[Geoff_N]

I was pressing hard on my pedals in the Malvern Hills when it happened. I wish I was still as oblivious.

Geoff

[Robert M. Blevins]

GrinReaper says:

"since the anthrax attacks in the states, every time I want to post a parcel overseas I have to show PHOTO ID! And they make a note of my licence number and it goes on file somewhere."

This one isn't really about anthrax. Remember Lockerbie? It is in case someone tries to mail an explosive device. Nearly all overseas mail from/to England is done by air. It also goes with the law about unaccompanied luggage being sent on board passenger aircraft. They scan the mail, x-ray it, etc. and if something suspicious is found, the authorities know who to go to about it...

However, you are correct about the loss of personal freedoms since 911. And I do agree with the 'victory for right-wing governments' assessment you mention.

[Ed]

Yep, I totally agree.  A lot of oppressive legislation was shoe-horned in on the back of anti terrorist laws, post 911. Both in the USA and UK.

I was thinking about taking the kids to Disneyworld, but the thought of having to visit the American Consulate in London for a visa, and having to go through the rigmarole of getting biometric passports (not to mention the cost) has made me reconsider.

[LesFloyd]

I thought the biometric passports have been postponed until 2006/7?

[SharonBell]

Hey Les and Blunt, does this mean we all get retinal scans now? Oi!

Les--the YARDBIRDS! You're interviewing the YARDBIRDS!!?? How hip is that??!!!

[JoyceCarter]

This is the first message I've looked at on here this morning, and... Sharon, did I miss something?  How did you get to the Yardbirds from what has been posted on this thread? 

I Googled about the biometric passports, but it didn't come up with anything recent.  All I've heard about lately is the debate on ID cards in the UK.  If they start trying to make us pay for something we've not had to have before (well, not since WWII), I think they'll find they have a revolution on their hands.

[SharonBell]

I clicked on Les Floyd's Blog Link and read that he's going to be interviewing the YardBirds! Sorry! Got excited. 

[JoyceCarter]

Why shouldn't you get excited?  Great stuff!  It was the missing link that had me puzzled!

[Ed]

I thought the biometric passports have been postponed until 2006/7?

  Dunno.  I thought the USA insisted on them now, before they let you into the country.  Will have to check it out.

As for the ID cards, I'm vehemently opposed to them.  I like being able to leave the house with nothing in my pockets, if I want to.  The way the government go on about it, it's a panacea for all ills - crime, terrorism, etc., but I don't think it'll serve any purpose other than giving the police more opportunity to persecute whoever they want to.  They're already bad enough as it is, without giving them more power.

[Missy]

What's all this passport caper? We've booked for next July, tomorrow a year away actually. I need to find all this stuff out don't I?
Should have taken them back to Paris instead.
I had a visa in my old passport from way back when I went to the States, I thought they'd done away with them now.
Bum.