Holiday Hiatus

Alex Fear and the Mrs are officially on holiday for 2 weeks from tomorrow, so the blogging will be light. We're actually looking for new flat to rent but we may just skip to the beach if the sun keeps (or catch a cheap 'environMENTALly unfriendly' flight away for a few days). In the meantime, any time I get at the 'puter will be devoted to testing a new CMS and thinking the best way to go about transferring this to a Wordpress blog (domain name/content). Look forward to changes, and better organisation of the resources (devoted to social action etc). In the meantime, click on one of the labels below to read through some previous topics.

The Australian Connection

C Controversy Contains speculation over global conspiracy. Should British immigration rules be tightened for Australians? Is Australia the greatest threat to democracy in the world?

Loss of Confidence

This Post Is Rated: C for Controversial. Speculation over the decline of trust in British institutions. In may, the Economist highlighted a YouGov poll taken earlier this year showing a general decline in the British peoples trust in public services, politics, work and journalism. "...Confidence in almost every area of public life has fallen since the invasion of Iraq in 2003." - The Economist, Trust Me, I'm A Judge Unsurprisingly the only people to have gained more trust from the public were judges, whilst the usual suspects, including police, NHS hospital managers, estate agents, MPs and newspapers lost trust. It's easy to see why. I speak from my own experience in dealing with 'the system'. People are realising that whilst those in authority seek more and more power over every detail of our lives, restricting our freedoms, judges are our last great hope in clearing our name and keeping society in balance. Whilst the government seeks to speed up justice and skip past important checks and balances, the judge is a human being, our last recourse and hope for clearing our name and defending our innocence and rights. As the government have introduced more and more restrictive legislation, more and more British people have come to rely upon the courts to treat them fairly. When are we going to have an honest, competent, open government? One that looks to the bottom line when making decisions and laws, a government that stands for integrity and trust? I'm fed up of seeing pandering to the rhetorical right, unaccountability, cover ups, tax solves all problems, empty promises, technology solves everything, motorists are evil, environmental hypocrisy, weasel words, VIP treatment, cultivating fear, wasted money, not protecting UK citizens and allowing foreigners to dictate policy. DISCUSS THIS POST (registration is free) Technorati Tags: politics, corruption, yougov, the economist, government, trust, justice, united kingdom, legislation, law, judges

How To Respond To TV Licensing Threats

This Post Is Rated: C for Controversial. Contains references to government enabled thuggery no less. A while ago Neil Herron posted an excellent response he had sent to TVL Enforcement: "Despite a call to your 0870 number, I continue to receive threatening letters from yourselves. Therefore, as I have replied to you, and requested the attendance of one of your authorised officers at a mutually convenient time in order to be interviewed in compliance with the Police & Criminal Evidence Act 1984, I consider any further intimidatory letters or implied threats as harassment." - Neil Herron I do not believe in TV Licensing. There are few countries in the world today that force their citizens to pay for a telecommunications licence. The people of New Zealand are the most recent example of a nation successfully rising up to challenge and overturn their draconian licencing laws. I would encourage people here to also protest and write to their MPs. There are also countries who have proved that public service television can be successful without licensing. Canada, for example does not require you to own a licence to view public service television. There are only two channels available for free, then you purchase cable for the rest. Usually when it comes to licensing the BBC, the counter-argument always presented usually follows the lines of how the BBC can afford to take risks, we wouldn't get the quality programming if it wasn't funded by the licence and it allows the BBC to remain impartial. Bullshit. ITV, Channel 4 and even Channel 5 are now able to compete with substantial quality programming at no cost to the tax payer. But there is a more sinister work afoot with TV Licensing, and that is the subcontracting of the work to a firm called Capita which also run things like the Criminal Records Bureau, Congestion Charging and Council Tax. If you are not concerned yet, you should be. At this rate, 20 years from now Capita will be monitoring your every move in our increasingly Orwellian society. With regards to TV Licensing, Capita's method of enforcement appears to be: Send warning letter to ANY household not currently registered with a licence on our database (yes that means people without TVs included). Send threatening letter to ANY household that has not yet paid up (regardless of electronics owning status). Send a different version of threatening letter from step 2. Use lots of RED BOLD FONT. Send threatening letter: AN ENFORCEMENT OFFICER WILL SOON VISIT TO INTERVIEW YOU UNDER POLICE AND CRIMINAL EVIDENCE ACT... BLAHCAKES... Wait 3 months. Repeat steps 1-5. Anyone who has moved home or been a student will probably recognise one or more of the TVL letters mentioned above. We recently received all of these letters twice over when we first moved into our flat in London, before we had our TV setup. They seem to have been sending them since the last tenant left, whilst no-one was living there, until we arrived. When we finally got the TV setup and grudgingly paid for our licence, surprise! We were still receiving these threatening letters! It got to Step 4 twice, and yet, no enforcement official (which I was looking forward to). Why? The answer dear readers is simple. They seem to have little enforcement on the ground, though this is hard to determine, since they have not really been forthcoming with the FOI requests (read the pdfs). It is reported that even their detection equipment is not nearly as good as they make out. So what to do with these threats and harrassments from the TVL? I would not encourage anyone to break the law, but let's just say if they ever turn up at my doorstep, regardless of whether I have a TV and licence or not, I would tell them in polite and no uncertain terms to f*** off and get a warrant. If you you need a little more detail than that, here's a short guide: Ignore the threat letters, read others' personal accounts, opinions and check the forums Read one persons experience of their rhetorical threats. You are worried, are they coming for you? BBC Resistance has all the answers. Take your time over the material there, enjoy. Fed up of their hateful, empty threats? Write a 'cease and desist' letter revoking their 'implied right of access' (also see Neil Herron link above). On the event that an enforcement clown officer shows up at your door, you have a right to refuse entry unless they have a warrant. They most definitely won't have a warrant if it's the first visit. Only a court can issue a search warrant on reasonable ground to suspect you have a TV. This means they have to apply individually for every innocent person they harass. In the highly unlikely event they obtain a warrant, they will most likely want to interview you under caution. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SAY ANYTHING. However, be not afraid. Know this: They only want your money. I cannot find the source but did I read a post for the job of TV Licence Enforcement Officer on a jobsite a long time ago. It was a "day in the life of" in which the officer explained he would try to sell a licence to the person he had interviewed. This is what they will probably try to do. (If I find the link I will post it). Protest and resist. It is completely immoral and possibly unlawful to send out letters randomly to anyone who does not own a licence. This is an assumption of guilt and requires the recipient to prove their innocence. It's time the UK caught up with the 21st Century and realise that not everything can or should be taxed.

Here's a FACT about F.A.C.T.

This Post Is Rated: I for Isn't that illegal? No, it's not. Yet. It seems to me, ironically, that only legally rented, bought and viewed movies display the Federation Against Copyright Theft's impotent warning message. That is, only those who have actually bought, rented or viewed legally have been warned not to buy, rent or view illegal copies... Regular readers be advised! Abandon All Fear will soon be going under the radar. This website and blog will be filtering ip addresses and blocking access to most government, police and copyright protection organisations. No, I'm not planning to offer the latest Arctic Monkeys song for download or anything like that. I do however intend to discuss the subject of copyright in the near future, along with speed cameras, parking and other legal matters which is viewed by some as a war between aging business models and profit making versus the future. I'd rather not have big brother snooping in on my blog, not liking what they see, discovering my identity and/or watching for some sort of mistake. However, I am aware that some of my dear readers may work for the government et al. Therefore if you find you can no longer access the blog in the next few days, drop me an email (see sidebar) with your IP and I will reply in view of restoring your access. You have been warned!

Calls to Stop Conducting Illegal Activities are Unfair

Hit with millions of claims, customer complaints, an online petition and impending OFT investigation- banks are now crying "foul play" and threatening to end free banking. "Banks were accused of blackmail yesterday for threatening to end free banking if they were forced to reduce overdraft charges and other penalty fees. The banks, which charge up to £39 for bounced cheques and unauthorised overdrafts, had been expected to be told to reduce the charges to around £12." - Telegraph Let's forget the fact they are already operating illegally by imposing fines greater than £12- therefore sounding like a burglar who complains he's been asked to reduce his amount of breaking and entering. These are the companies who this year posted pre-tax profits of: £11.5bn: HSBC £.7.14bn: Barclays £5.7bn: HBOS £559.2ml: Nationwide £585ml: Alliance & Leicester These are the companies who insist on charging Average Joe up to £39 for even dipping into the red: Penalised for just over £27 Penalised for delay in clearing customers cheques - wait a minute, who delays the cheques in the first place? Penalised for unforseen circumstances Well, perhaps if you make a mistake, even if it is accidental, unforseen or just business, you deserve to be charged right? So I look forward to seeing what kind of charges are levied on these errors: Oops! Delay in receiving monthly salary Oops! Sent details to wrong address Quid es equitas?

Account-ability Advice for Banks

Most blogs we're so busy discussing the budget last week they missed the BBC's undercover whistleblower program exposing underhand standard business practices by Barclays Bank. (Barclays was the focus, just like McDonalds was with fast food. And just like Burger King to McDonalds, you can bank on the rest of the industry using the same business ethic). "A nine-month investigation by BBC reporters working undercover in a leading British bank has revealed a culture of ruthlessness and lies which will shock their customers." - BBC Whistleblower Undercover reporter Amanda Egbujo went undercover as an employee of Barclays for 9 months. In that time she witnessed common practices such as: Treating customers with contempt (particularly those who struggled paying/complained about unlawful charges) Lying - illegally claiming to be Account Consultants rather than Sales Monkeys Moving money from accounts - without authority - to gain commission Adding financial products to customer accounts without knowledge- for a monthly charge Refusing customers products they require, but then offering a financial product they do not need. Staff employed with no criminal background checks Fraud accounts set up with relative ease I asserted this was not just Barclays, and I have my own experience with HSBC, when they decided to cancel my Graduate 0% Interest Overdraft (which stood over £1000), then reinstate the overdraft a year later at a standard 15% interest. This case is currently with the small claims court. Indeed this week Halifax had to issue an apology for stolen mortgage details. Unlike average joe who has £20-£35 penalties automatically deducted at the end of the month for going over agreed limits, Halifax is given plenty of time to get their act together by the FSA. I've said this before, it's not legal, it's not business, it's immoral and indefensible. As a Christian, I believe that these corrupt financial institutions will one day have to answer to God: "If you see that the donkey of someone who hates you has collapsed under its load, do not walk by. Instead, stop and help. In a lawsuit, you must not deny justice to the poor." - Exodus 23:5-6 "But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve. Like a partridge that hatches eggs she has not laid, so are those who get their wealth by unjust means. At midlife they will lose their riches; in the end, they will become poor old fools." - Jeremiah 17:10-11 "How you hate honest judges! How you despise people who tell the truth! You trample the poor, stealing their grain through taxes and unfair rent. Therefore, though you build beautiful stone houses, you will never live in them. Though you plant lush vineyards, you will never drink wine from them. For I know the vast number of your sins and the depth of your rebellions. You oppress good people by taking bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts." - Amos 5:10-12

Road Safety Statistics

icWales 23 March 2007 - 13 Year Backlog to Repair Poor Welsh Roads. "The maintenance backlog for local authority roads in Wales is estimated to take 12.9 years and each county council here has a maintenance budget shortfall of £4.1m." icWales 22 March 2007 - North-South Devide for Speed Camera Cash "The Treasury will provide a fixed grant to each camera partnership, with Wales' money, totalling £8.5m, channelled through the Welsh Assembly Government." DriveTime 24 March 2007 - Poor Maintenance Threatens Road Safety • English authorities receive just 40% of the budget they need to spend on local roads. • Welsh authorities fare even worse, receiving only 28% of the budget they require - just £1 per metre a year is spent on roads in Wales in comparison to £2 in the rest of England and six in London.

Think

They were meant to uphold the law, instead they had sullied it. It's a pity that Chief Superintendent Kenny Scott was caught so soon after the governments new headline initiative. If it had only been a year or two down the line, he might have gotten away with a warning.

Fiendish Ideas

While he contemplated the situation, a brilliant idea began to form in his mind... It might not be as crazy as it sounds, think about it... freedom to wait while loading/waiting, keeping traffic moving without any intervention. But wait, how would they make money then?