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On Wednesday 17 October 2007 14:19, Ralph Smithen wrote: > On Wed, 2007-10-17 at 03:17 +0100, Mike Martin wrote: > > On 16/10/2007, Ralph Smithen <ralph_smithen@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > > Hi, > > > > > > sorry for the off-topic post but I think this is important. There's a > > > petition to support the Prohibition of Deception Bill. > > > > > > sign here > > > http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/2accountabilty/ > > > > > > text of bill here > > > http://www.ministry-of-truth.net/documentation/MoTActPDF.pdf > > > > > > see who's voting for and against > > > http://ministry-of-truth.net/mpscoreboard.php > > > > Despite some MP's I respect (a very dwindling band) supporting this, I > > consider this to be very dangerous > > > > 1. It fails to differentiate between members of parliament and members > > of the government > > which group do you think should be allowed to deceive us with impunity? > > > 2. Does not distinguish between party and government > > the measure refers to an "elected representative of the people" - > entities like "state" and "government" have no soul to save, and no body > to incarcerate > > > 3. How do you distinguish a lie from difference of interpretation > > trial by jury, once probable cause is established > > > 4. Often lies are justified for very good reasons > > there are enough planted journalists working to MI5 or MI6 briefs > without our public servants being mouthpieces for propaganda > > > 5. The whole thing is made meaningless by exception 5 - national > > security which lets off the very people that should be held to account > > ie: members of the government > > refusing to answer questions that may threaten national security is of > course still permitted Again - who's idea of national security is that? BEA selling to the Saudi's may be a financial risk but this government thought it was in the interests of national security. Give any politician a place to hide and they'll scuttle into it faster than a cockroach at MacDonald's. Tom te tom te tom -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html