Alan Lodge's Blog

nATo in Manchester

This is some of what i’m doing next week, all sounds very exciting. So, if you’re anywhere near Central Manchester please drop in, and I’ll see you there. A goodn’ perhaps………….

Blitz Festival Events

Events run from the 20th to the 28th July

Street Theatre: keep your ear to the ground:

http://www.beyondtv.org/nato

nATo is a banner organisation , bringing together artists working on a broad spectrum of cultural,

social and political issues. We are dedicated to the production of spontaneous, independent and conscious public art.

Space Hijackers,

Surveillance Camera Players,

Buton Ghosts,

Fanclub,

Original Art Wankers,

Consumer Aliens,

Movement of the Imagination

and many more

Outdoor Opening party wiv moosic

Date: Saturday 20th July – starts midday

Location: Great Northern Square outide The Great Northern Railway Complex, Central Manchester

Moosical guests include

Ozomatli,

Steven Nancy,

Desolation Angels,

the Agents of Groove,

Valerie,

Panjit G [Asian Dub Foundation]

&

Huge Slide projections by Tash – Video projections by Beyond TV?

Agitate Art Exhibition

Date: 20 – 28 July

Location: Great Northern Railway Complex, Central Manchester

AgiTate – Is art the mirror by which we view the world around us, or is it the hammer that smashes the mirror?

The contributors to Agitate are in the main primarily activists and their work is an extension of their politics.

>>List of Artists and more INFO

Yeast Experience at the Green Room

Date: Wednesday 24th July

Location: Green Room Manchester

A Multimedia // Music event from the Yeast Collective from London. These guys have a very exciting vision of entertainment blending cutting edge Video projections, music and live perfomance.

Panjit G from Asian Dub Foundation will be Djing on the night.

Psychic Bread, Seth Tobocman and Beyondtv at the Green Room

Date: Saturday 27th July

Location: Green Room Manchester

Psychic bread are bringing a video and poetry performance night to the Green room. More details to follow.

Seth Tobocman from New York will be doing a slideshow and presentation on Art and Politics.

BeyondTV will start the evening with a series of social justice films from around the world and informal discussion.

disclaimer: The opinions expressed on this website are not necessarily shared by all groups or individuals who do

or may operate under the umbrella name nATo.We do not wish to encourage anyone to question the status quo, or to express opinions which question the legitimacy of this political/economic system.

Just put on a crash-helmet,get in bed, turn the TV on and stay put. (Go forth and usurp)

SchNEWS in brief news 364

BLITZED.

Blitz promises to be “a kick-ass anti-corporate extravaganza” to coincide with the Commonwealth Games being held in Manchester later this month.

Organised by NATO – that’s Northern Arts Tactical Offensive, the festival covers a week of shows, actions and events kicking off on Sat 20th July with an open air music event, and the opening of two exhibitions. One is AgiTATE being held in a spanking new shopping mall who failed in their bid to ban it once they realised what was happening! Throughout the week there will be film and multimedia events organised by Beyond TV. The week will end with a skate attack and critical mass plus political street theatre on Saturday 27th. NATO has also produced a spoof guide to the city to guide tourists to their events.During that week there will also be a GM trashing nearby, Manchester People’s open seminar for the Anti Commonwealth Games Coalition and lots of anti sweatshop actions.

For a full programme see http://www.nato.uk.net

Direct action magazine Loombreaker reports “the Commonwealth Games are being used to launch a new Corporate Manchester – a posh apartment playground for coke-sniffing yuppies, …. The cost of the games are astronomical – the stadium alone accounts for a cool £120 million – but you won’t hear too much about £80m of public money the council has committed to paying. So if you’re wondering why there are cutbacks in schools and housing, or where your local swimming pools and other public amenities have all gone when your council rents and tax are rising, there’s not much need to look any further really.”

BLITZ PRESS RELEASE

20-28 July, Manchester

FESTIVAL OF RADICAL ART

1.VISUAL ARTS EXHIBITIONS

AgiTATE: Sat 20 – Sat 27 July- @ The Great Northern. [Units 25-28, 1st Floor, Great Northern Warehouse, Deansgate] [open 12-7pm daily; Preview Fri 19July 6-8 pm]

An art show from the political underground. The perfect antidote to the corporate spectacle of the Commonwealth Games. From the untrained street style of Manchester graffitti artists to the internationally renowned work of cartoonist Seth Tobocman, AgiTATE sets out to question where passive observation ends and participation begins, in the art world and everyday life. The seminal collage work of Gee Vaucher will feature alongside contemporary installation artists, photographers, painters and performance artists. These include Mark Cooley from the US, Steven Dickie from Dundee with his pirate radio station and an explosive performance form Jackofficer! Curated by Jai Redman (UHC Collective, with guest curators Kwong Lee and Helen Knowles (Radio Halo)

Participating artists are: Angel, Mark Cooley, Steven Dickie, Jo Hudson, The Jackofficers, Yuen Fong Ling, Alan Lodge, Monkeyboy, Polyp, Duncan Ross, Squall, Seth Tobocman, Jon Trayner, UHC Collectie, Gee Vaucher, Andy Wake, Justine Young.

Complete image gallery of work available on request

BODY POLITIC: Sun 21 – Sun 28 July @ The Greenroom, in the Workspace [open 4-11pm daily]

An exhibition by 12 contemporary artists tackling issues around sex and the gendered body.

2. OPEN-AIR MUSIC EVENT: Sat 20 July @ Great Northern Square [12 pm-10pm]

To kick off AgiTate, with the finest punk-pop of Stephen Nancy, Desolation Angels and Valerie. Guest appearances from Bristol- hip hop Freakbeat Reactor, ska from Bradford’s Rebelation, Moco and Skam. With DJ’s Phrush, Jenny Chan, Language Lab, Black Lodge and Spy Base. Plus Spellbound (Mo Wax) and spoken word performance. Running in parallel with an interactive installation “RAMP” by artists Stu Bentley, Victor Macmohn and Chris Hamer and graffitti art comp. hosted by Temper.

3.FILM, PERFORMANCE AND INTERACTIVE ARTS: 24-27 July @ Green Room + The Great Northern

Wed 24 July @ Green room [8-12am]

Yeast Experience a multimedia / music event from London’s Yeast Collective, blending cutting edge video projections, music and live performance. Plus Panjit G from Asian Dub Foundation on the decks. BEyONdTV co-ordinate.

Thu 25 July + Fri 26 July @ Great Northern, in a downstairs unit; [5-8pm]

Undercurrents and BEyONdTV host inspirational alternative media and films. Full programme available from July on http://www.beyondtv.org

Thu 25 July @ Green room [8- 12am]

A special Blitz edition of Vaudeville, covering the theme of desire with film and performance art.

Sat 27 July @ Green room [8-2am]

Psychicbread and guests-mixing video, poetry by Mark Gwynne Jones and other performance. Feat. New York’s most renowned underground cartoonist Seth Tobocman performing a multi-media slideshow with music from Cybec Blood. BEyONdTV co-ordinate.

Agi Tate: Mike [t] 07984 286608 // Body Politic: Angel [t] 07949 493308 [e] angel@the-red-room.org // Music: Fadima [t] 07984 44 3479 [e]wundland01@hotmail.com // BEyONdTV events: Mick Fuzz [t] 01865 203661 [e] info@beyondtv.org // Vaudeville: Tam [t] 226 0364 // NATO for overall BLITZ info: [e] tacticalarts@yahoo.co.uk [t]0161 226 7192

THE BLITZ FESTIVAL HAS BEEN ORGANISED BY THE NORTHERN ARTS TACTICAL OFFENSIVE, A BANNER ARTS ORGANISATION DEDICATED TO THE PRODUCTION OF SPONTANEOUS, CONSCIOUS AND PUBLIC ART.

http://www.nato.uk.net

nATo in Manchester

This is some of what i’m doing next week, all sounds very exciting. So, if you’re anywhere near Central Manchester please drop in, and I’ll see you there. A goodn’ perhaps………….

Blitz Festival Events

Events run from the 20th to the 28th July

Street Theatre: keep your ear to the ground:

http://www.beyondtv.org/nato

nATo is a banner organisation , bringing together artists working on a broad spectrum of cultural,

social and political issues. We are dedicated to the production of spontaneous, independent and conscious public art.

Space Hijackers,

Surveillance Camera Players,

Buton Ghosts,

Fanclub,

Original Art Wankers,

Consumer Aliens,

Movement of the Imagination

and many more

Outdoor Opening party wiv moosic

Date: Saturday 20th July – starts midday

Location: Great Northern Square outide The Great Northern Railway Complex, Central Manchester

Moosical guests include

Ozomatli,

Steven Nancy,

Desolation Angels,

the Agents of Groove,

Valerie,

Panjit G [Asian Dub Foundation]

&

Huge Slide projections by Tash – Video projections by Beyond TV?

Agitate Art Exhibition

Date: 20 – 28 July

Location: Great Northern Railway Complex, Central Manchester

AgiTate – Is art the mirror by which we view the world around us, or is it the hammer that smashes the mirror?

The contributors to Agitate are in the main primarily activists and their work is an extension of their politics.

>>List of Artists and more INFO

Yeast Experience at the Green Room

Date: Wednesday 24th July

Location: Green Room Manchester

A Multimedia // Music event from the Yeast Collective from London. These guys have a very exciting vision of entertainment blending cutting edge Video projections, music and live perfomance.

Panjit G from Asian Dub Foundation will be Djing on the night.

Psychic Bread, Seth Tobocman and Beyondtv at the Green Room

Date: Saturday 27th July

Location: Green Room Manchester

Psychic bread are bringing a video and poetry performance night to the Green room. More details to follow.

Seth Tobocman from New York will be doing a slideshow and presentation on Art and Politics.

BeyondTV will start the evening with a series of social justice films from around the world and informal discussion.

disclaimer: The opinions expressed on this website are not necessarily shared by all groups or individuals who do

or may operate under the umbrella name nATo.We do not wish to encourage anyone to question the status quo, or to express opinions which question the legitimacy of this political/economic system.

Just put on a crash-helmet,get in bed, turn the TV on and stay put. (Go forth and usurp)

SchNEWS in brief news 364

BLITZED.

Blitz promises to be “a kick-ass anti-corporate extravaganza” to coincide with the Commonwealth Games being held in Manchester later this month.

Organised by NATO – that’s Northern Arts Tactical Offensive, the festival covers a week of shows, actions and events kicking off on Sat 20th July with an open air music event, and the opening of two exhibitions. One is AgiTATE being held in a spanking new shopping mall who failed in their bid to ban it once they realised what was happening! Throughout the week there will be film and multimedia events organised by Beyond TV. The week will end with a skate attack and critical mass plus political street theatre on Saturday 27th. NATO has also produced a spoof guide to the city to guide tourists to their events.During that week there will also be a GM trashing nearby, Manchester People’s open seminar for the Anti Commonwealth Games Coalition and lots of anti sweatshop actions.

For a full programme see http://www.nato.uk.net

Direct action magazine Loombreaker reports “the Commonwealth Games are being used to launch a new Corporate Manchester – a posh apartment playground for coke-sniffing yuppies, …. The cost of the games are astronomical – the stadium alone accounts for a cool £120 million – but you won’t hear too much about £80m of public money the council has committed to paying. So if you’re wondering why there are cutbacks in schools and housing, or where your local swimming pools and other public amenities have all gone when your council rents and tax are rising, there’s not much need to look any further really.”

BLITZ PRESS RELEASE

20-28 July, Manchester

FESTIVAL OF RADICAL ART

1.VISUAL ARTS EXHIBITIONS

AgiTATE: Sat 20 – Sat 27 July- @ The Great Northern. [Units 25-28, 1st Floor, Great Northern Warehouse, Deansgate] [open 12-7pm daily; Preview Fri 19July 6-8 pm]

An art show from the political underground. The perfect antidote to the corporate spectacle of the Commonwealth Games. From the untrained street style of Manchester graffitti artists to the internationally renowned work of cartoonist Seth Tobocman, AgiTATE sets out to question where passive observation ends and participation begins, in the art world and everyday life. The seminal collage work of Gee Vaucher will feature alongside contemporary installation artists, photographers, painters and performance artists. These include Mark Cooley from the US, Steven Dickie from Dundee with his pirate radio station and an explosive performance form Jackofficer! Curated by Jai Redman (UHC Collective, with guest curators Kwong Lee and Helen Knowles (Radio Halo)

Participating artists are: Angel, Mark Cooley, Steven Dickie, Jo Hudson, The Jackofficers, Yuen Fong Ling, Alan Lodge, Monkeyboy, Polyp, Duncan Ross, Squall, Seth Tobocman, Jon Trayner, UHC Collectie, Gee Vaucher, Andy Wake, Justine Young.

Complete image gallery of work available on request

BODY POLITIC: Sun 21 – Sun 28 July @ The Greenroom, in the Workspace [open 4-11pm daily]

An exhibition by 12 contemporary artists tackling issues around sex and the gendered body.

2. OPEN-AIR MUSIC EVENT: Sat 20 July @ Great Northern Square [12 pm-10pm]

To kick off AgiTate, with the finest punk-pop of Stephen Nancy, Desolation Angels and Valerie. Guest appearances from Bristol- hip hop Freakbeat Reactor, ska from Bradford’s Rebelation, Moco and Skam. With DJ’s Phrush, Jenny Chan, Language Lab, Black Lodge and Spy Base. Plus Spellbound (Mo Wax) and spoken word performance. Running in parallel with an interactive installation “RAMP” by artists Stu Bentley, Victor Macmohn and Chris Hamer and graffitti art comp. hosted by Temper.

3.FILM, PERFORMANCE AND INTERACTIVE ARTS: 24-27 July @ Green Room + The Great Northern

Wed 24 July @ Green room [8-12am]

Yeast Experience a multimedia / music event from London’s Yeast Collective, blending cutting edge video projections, music and live performance. Plus Panjit G from Asian Dub Foundation on the decks. BEyONdTV co-ordinate.

Thu 25 July + Fri 26 July @ Great Northern, in a downstairs unit; [5-8pm]

Undercurrents and BEyONdTV host inspirational alternative media and films. Full programme available from July on http://www.beyondtv.org

Thu 25 July @ Green room [8- 12am]

A special Blitz edition of Vaudeville, covering the theme of desire with film and performance art.

Sat 27 July @ Green room [8-2am]

Psychicbread and guests-mixing video, poetry by Mark Gwynne Jones and other performance. Feat. New York’s most renowned underground cartoonist Seth Tobocman performing a multi-media slideshow with music from Cybec Blood. BEyONdTV co-ordinate.

Agi Tate: Mike [t] 07984 286608 // Body Politic: Angel [t] 07949 493308 [e] angel@the-red-room.org // Music: Fadima [t] 07984 44 3479 [e]wundland01@hotmail.com // BEyONdTV events: Mick Fuzz [t] 01865 203661 [e] info@beyondtv.org // Vaudeville: Tam [t] 226 0364 // NATO for overall BLITZ info: [e] tacticalarts@yahoo.co.uk [t]0161 226 7192

THE BLITZ FESTIVAL HAS BEEN ORGANISED BY THE NORTHERN ARTS TACTICAL OFFENSIVE, A BANNER ARTS ORGANISATION DEDICATED TO THE PRODUCTION OF SPONTANEOUS, CONSCIOUS AND PUBLIC ART.

http://www.nato.uk.net

I’ve recently set up a space on the BBC website, used for community purposes called BBC 360. If interested, you can view the front page for these at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/

They say:

* ———————————- *

Welcome to 360 – Answers to world problems, provided by you

The Environment – Poverty – Preventable Disease – Conflict

These problems will only be solved by grass-roots action – no idea, project or solution is too small to feature on 360. Whatever your project, we want to hear about it.”

* ———————————- *

Sounds right up my street!! Not sure how effective, at meeting and informing other, but am giving it a go.

My own ‘front page’ within thier set up, can be seen at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/U196996

My ‘articles page there, is at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/MA196996?show=25&type=2

Here are some examples of the ‘thread’ of discussion, it has caused :>

A771996 – On Being Watched – for having concerns for the planet

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/F84769?thread=191008&post=2190453#p2180537

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/F84769?thread=191008&post=2190496#p2190496

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/F92543?thread=192046

Subject: Excellent!

Tash,

I take my hat off to you! A long (very long) entry that obviously benefits form a great deal of research and experience. I confess to not having read *all* of what you’ve written (yet), but I’m glad that we can have this kind of perspective on site. All things need to be looked at from different angles/perspectives if we’re ever going to be able to get somewhere near the *truth* of a matter, and what we’re told daily through our main (traditional) media channels, I feel we can trust less and less to provide us with something like the whole picture – there’s too much at stake politically, and too much financial vested interest. Groundwork like yours is invaluable – it goes towards balancing out one-sided information.

As a solution, in your opinion, should we try and work within the ‘establishment’, expose the fraud and the clearly undemocratic practices, to improve thing from within? Or do you feel that the travelling life, the ‘alternative’, that which attempts to exist beyond the clutches of mainstream society, is an answer. And is this life possible when we consider how the perceived threat has been dealt with in the past (Battle of the Beanfields etc)?

Very interesting entry, sir.

Oh, and will you be going to Glastonbury this year? £100 quid a ticket’s a bit steep, mind.

Sam.

Subject: Excellent!

Interesting stuff Tash. I’ve only managed a cursory glance, but it’s headed for the printer as I type. I only managed one appearance at Twyford – must have been one of the final weeks, in fact. It was early on in the CJB season…

I thought you may like to quote this:

“Paranoia is a state of heightened awareness. Most people are persecuted beyond their wildest delusions.”

Claude Steiner “The Radical Psychiatry Manifesto”

Not 100% accurate maybe, but a killer quote none-the-less.

Frogbit.

Entry: On Being Watched – for having concerns for the planet – A771996

Author: Tash – U196996

This is a sketch around some issues of concern to me. All it appears, for being associated with groups of people, experimenting in trying to make a more fulfiled life for themselves. I am grateful for your comments. Alan Lodge

Subject: A771996 – On Being Watched – for having concerns for the planet

by Ashley

You raise some really fascinating points which affect each and every single one of us. Is there a way we can combat this, claiming back our right to privacy, or is it a lost cause?

Subject: A771996 – On Being Watched – for having concerns for the planet

by Raphael

Hello Tash and Ashley,

This was very interesting although I’m afraid I didn’t finish it as it is so long. However, for me it raises all kinds of questions, probably mostly due to my age, which I realise is somewhat advanced for someone on a site like this. I thought I could detect some paranoia in with the reporting. This would be quite understandable of course.

However, may I recommend that the article is shortened a little — or perhaps divided up so that it is a little more palatable? I didn’t even get to read what the solution suggested was because my brain blanked out. Which is not, I think, the idea!

Apologies if this sounds critical; it is just that if the site is to be accessible, the articles on solutions may need to be a little simpler and perhaps more like Frogbit’s “Saving the World from your Living Room”.

Regards,

Raphael

Subject: A771996 – On Being Watched – for having concerns for the planet

by Sam

I know what you mean, Raphael. Another thing to bear in mind, though, is that some folk temporarily lose access to the Net. They might not have it at home and therefore rely on a connection at school. When term time ends and holidays begin, maybe a cyber cafe is the only connection option. I think in the case of Tash, it’s quite likely that he’s off travelling somewhere documenting fellow travellers – it is the festival season after all. I’m sure he’ll be back – we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Write a reply to this Posting

Subject: A771996 – On Being Watched – for having concerns for the planet

by Tash

Is there anything we can do?

Well unsure, but i’ve been doing what i can. thing about ‘dark corners’, is that they are less dark, if you shine a light in them.

Police and authorities continue to watch the citizen, in case it does something wrong. Laws continually being drafted to lawfully enable this to occur. But law is not supposed to be one sided.

In Pulic Order situations, i think that ‘they’ often break more laws than ‘us’. hence photographer, and tape recording to demonstrate this, to a proper standard of evidence. I tell you now, they hate it and look for every device to stop me.

Bit one sided if you ask me. but this citizen is into sticking up for himself. thanks for your observations. Am in the process of posting another shed load of material. Please anyone, feel free to comment as you like.

Subject: A771996 – On Being Watched – for having concerns for the planet

by Maggy

Glad you’re back Tash

Subject: A771996 – On Being Watched – for having concerns for the planet

by Tash

Hello,

Want to reply to the comments raised on my piece. First, I’m grateful to receive any comments, positive or negative. One of the reason I wanted to post, was for exactly this reason.

No, I have not posted and just run away! I have been away!

Being a traveller, I travel

I cannot be next to a computer, as often as some, but more frequently than many of my friends.

Oh, there is another reason, I find the layout here really complicated. just me and my abilities perhaps, but still remains a fact. Although i’ve checked your site out a couple of times, since my original posting, this saturday, something became clear to me, and I suddenly realised that there were postings to read. So i’m here now, and have book-marked the posting page. [if it doesn’t move about].

With some sites, an email notification gets sent on reply to such matters. Can we not have one of those here?

I take on board the length crit. Since I’m about to post another shed-load. I will attempt to do this now, in a number of sections.

Tell me how i’m doing.[ tash@gn.apc.org ]

BBC Maggi – help thread

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/360/360/F84769?thread=191008&post=2190804#p2190804

Think this is some of what roddy means. Spook tools, from the dirty tricks dept….

Hard to determine though, of it’s some teen with a baseball hat, or, a real spook…..

Scary though eh?

data interception by remote transmission :> http://www.codexdatasystems.com/menu.html

Critical Infrastructure Protection in the Information Age – US Executive Order :> http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/10/20011016-12.html

NET Observe Spy Software :> http://www.spy-software-solutions.com/net-observe.htm

iDefence :> http://www.idefense.com/flashintro.html

EU’s secret network to spy on anti-capitalist protesters

The Independent

By Stephen Castle in Brussels

20 August 2001

Leading article: Police co-operation must not trample on protesters’ rights European leaders have ordered police and intelligence agencies to co-ordinate their efforts to identify and track the anti-capitalist demonstrators whose violent protests at recent international summits culminated in the shooting dead by police of a young protester at the Genoa G8 meeting last month.

The new measures clear the way for protesters travelling between European Union countries to be subjected to an unprecedented degree of surveillance.

Confidential details of decisions taken by Europe’s interior ministers at talks last month show that the authorities will use a web of police and judicial links to keep tabs on the activities and whereabouts of protesters. Europol, the EU police intelligence-sharing agency based in The Hague that was set up to trap organised criminals and drug traffickers, is likely to be given a key role.

The plan has alarmed civil rights campaigners, who argue that personal information on people who have done no more than take part in a legal demonstration may be entered into a database and exchanged.

Calls for a new Europe-wide police force to tackle the threat from hardline anti-capitalists were led after the Genoa summit by Germany’s Interior Minister, Otto Schily. Germany has long pushed for the creation of a Europe-wide crime-fighting agency modelled on the FBI.

Germany’s EU partners rejected Mr Schily’s call, judging that a new force to combat political protest movements was too controversial, but ministers agreed to extend the measures that can be taken under existing powers. Central to the new push is the secretive Article 36 committee (formerly known as the K4 committee) and the Schengen Information System, both of which allow for extensive contact and data sharing between police forces.

Under the new arrangements, European governments and police chiefs will:

· Set up permanent contact points in every EU country to collect, analyse and exchange information on protesters;

· Create a pool of liaison officers before each summit staffed by police from countries from which “risk groups” originate;

· Use “police or intelligence officers” to identify “persons or groups likely to pose a threat to public order and security”;

· Set up a task force of police chiefs to organise “targeted training” on violent protests.

The new measures will rely on two main ways of exchanging police information. The Schengen Information System, which provides basic information, and a supporting network called Sirene – Supplementary Information Request at the National Entry. This network (of which Britain is a member) allows pictures, fingerprints and other information to be sent to police or immigration officials once a suspect enters their territory. Each country already has a Sirene office with established links to EU and Nordic law enforcement agencies.

Civil liberties campaigners are dismayed by the plan. Tony Bunyan, editor of Statewatch magazine, said: “This will give the green light to Special Branch and MI5 to put under surveillance people whose activities are entirely democratic.”

Nicholas Busch, co-ordinator of the Fortress Europe network on civil liberties issues, added: “People who have done nothing against the law ought to be able to feel sure they are not under surveillance … By criminalising whole political and social scenes you fuel confrontation and conflict.”

Thomas Mathieson, professor of sociology of law at the University of Oslo, said police could have access to “very private information” about people’s religion, sex lives and politics. “It is a very dangerous situation from the civil liberties point of view,” he said.

I dunno, just interested to know that this sort of thing goes on …….

Data Interception by Remote Transmission

D.I.R.T.TM – Data Interception by Remote Transmission is a powerful remote control monitoring tool that allows stealth monitoring of all activity on one or more target computers simultaneously from a remote command center.

No physical access is necessary. Application also allows agents to remotely seize and secure digital evidence prior to physically entering suspect premises.

Codex Data Systems, Inc. will provide our D.I.R.T. software for FREE to all US law enforcement agencies, US Intelligence agencies and US Military agencies to aid in the apprehension or identification of the persons responsible for the events

of September 11, 2001 in New York and Washington, D.C.

Your agency’s use of our D.I.R.T. software will remain classified by us

and will not be advertised, disclosed publicly or disclosed to any third party.

Please contact our CEO directly to arrange the expeditious transfer

of our technology to your agency.

Assisting the law enforcement community since June 6th, 1998

Requirements: Agency letterhead is required before information will be forwarded on this product. Sale is restricted to bona fide law enforcement, governmental and military agencies. Codex Data Systems, Inc. is the creator and sole source of this product.

http://www.codexdatasystems.com/menu.html

These two articles, [Thanks Roddy !!] continue to show the thrust of the governments’ wish to ‘snoop’ on the citizen.

Although it’s already done widely, with various other ‘legal devices’ to justify action, RIP will now allow, for ‘Data Mining’ and ‘Crime Patern Analysis’.

This basicall, will provide alsorts of opertunities for mis-carrages of justice to occur. So much stress on the way. Am I entitled to discent? or must i always go around proving i’m not a criminal / terrorist / child and sheep molester.

Oh god! why are governments alway so worried about about the citizen under them? Is it something to do with ‘Vested Interest’ me thinks. Cant they go around trying to ‘represent us’ rather than trying to ‘keep us down’

Any advice on these matters, gratefully recieved.

ISPs face data interception deadline

17:03 Wednesday 10th July 2002

Matt Loney

From 1 August, ISPs in the UK will be required to be able to intercept your data. Yet the Home Office has failed to explain how they will be reimbursed. And the rules mean that criminals will easily be able to avoid interception

ISPs across the UK will have to start intercepting and storing electronic communications including emails, faxes and Web surfing data from 1 August, but there still appear to be glaring loopholes in the legislation.

Not only has the Home Office still failed to tell ISPs how they will be compensated for maintaining their interception capabilities, but the measures, which the government said were introduced to combat terrorism and organised crime, only apply to large ISPs. Any criminal organisation wishing to avoid interception simply has to find an ISP that has fewer than 10,000 customers.

The interception capability is mandated by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), which was introduced to give police and other law enforcement authorities the same powers to intercept digital communications as they already possess to intercept telephone calls and letters. On 1 August, the RIP (Maintenance of Interception Capability) Order 2002 is due to come into force.

Several classes of communications service providers are exempt from the regulations: those which do not intend to supply services to more than 10,000 people in the UK, and financial institutions such as banking, insurance and investment houses.

Not every big ISP will have to provide an interception capability from day one, but if they are told by police or other law enforcement officers that an interception has been authorised, they have one working day to provide a mechanism to do so. Furthermore, they must ensure that the intercepted data is transmitted in real time to the person who applied for the warrant

Each service provider must be able to simultaneously intercept the communications of up to 1 in every 10,000 people who use its service.

But with only weeks to go, ISPs say they have still not been told how they will be reimbursed for the cost of intercepting communications data. A spokesperson for the ISP Association said, “We have not been provided too much detail (on costs). There are still a lot of issues that have to be resolved.”

Part of the problem, said the spokesman, is that the new regulations are also intertwined with the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, which says that ISPs and telcos have to store communications data.

“They are producing a code of practice that lays out types of data that should be retained and how long it should be retained for,” said the spokesman.

The trouble, is, he said, that for ISPs to install all the capabilities will cost a lot of money: “Dealing with the two laws will have a big impact on cost and the Government has to provide guidance.” Costs will come from storage, staff time, new management processes, setup and running costs, said the spokesman, and will vary because each ISP is likely to have a different method of intercepting and storing the data and managing access.

A Home Office spokesperson said, “arrangements will be put in place to ensure they (ISPs) will receive fair refunds for costs incurred,” but could not provide details.

Claire Walker, a solicitor with city law firm Olswang, who specialises in e-commerce, said part of the problem is that the Home Office does not have a technical perspective. “They tend to say to ISPs, ‘tell us what is involved,’ and then the ISPs say, ‘no, you tell us exactly what you want first and then we’ll tell you what is involved,'” said Walker. “It is likely that individual ISPs will reach individual agreements with the Home Office on reimbursement.”

Tim Snape, who chairs the law enforcement group ISPA, told ZDNet UK earlier this year that the costs of intercepting could, in combination with the costs of logging data, be crippling. “The actual data acquisition costs could be low,” he said, “but the costs for data retention, processing, hand-over, billing, management and regulatory compliance will all be very high.”

Although RIPA has a provision for ISPs to recover their costs, said Snape at the time, this does not mean profit. “We don’t want to be seen profiting from crime, so we have asked for just cost recovery,” he said. “But because this means there will be a requirement to demonstrate costs, there will be a requirement to audit so the process of cost recovery will incur its own costs.”

Sources close to the negotiations say it has been suggested to the Home Office that the compensation to industry should merely cover the storage costs.

http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2118894,00.html

RIPA demands push up ISP costs

16:41 Tuesday 9th July 2002

Paul Stevens, Olswang

Overshadowed by last month’s furore over public authorities’ access to e-mail and telephone data, another set of new RIPA rules is due to hit the communications industry next month

From 1st August, ISPs and telcos will be obliged to maintain certain minimum levels of interception capacity in order to assist law enforcement agencies. The cost to the industry of implementing these controversial measures, however, remains unclear.

Background

These new obligations are contained in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Maintenance of Interception Capability) Order 2002 (the “Order”). This ‘fleshes out’ provisions under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (‘RIPA’) which give the Home Secretary power to order a provider of public telecoms services to maintain a “reasonable” level of intercept capacity to enable interception warrants to be complied with. Consultation with industry on this issue took place between December 2000 and August 2001.

ISPs are expressing their confusion over the new obligations and how they will be recompensed. The actual obligations are as follows.

The new obligations in more detail

The Order imposes new legal obligations on providers of public telecommunications services, although service providers who do not (or do not intend to) provide their service to over 10,000 users in the UK are exempt, as are providers who limit their services to the banking, insurance, investment or other financial services sectors.

The ‘intercept capacity’ which service providers are required to provide is as follows:

A mechanism for implementing interceptions within one working day of the service provider being informed that the interception has been authorised;

Where the service provider serves more than 10,000 people, to enable the simultaneous interception of communications of up to 1 in 10, 000 of those users;

To ensure the interception of all communications and related traffic data authorised by the warrant and their simultaneous transmission to the law enforcement agency in question;

To ensure the intercepted communication and data can be correlated;

To ensure the handover interface complies with any requirements stipulated by the Home Secretary (these should generally be in line with agreed industry standards);

To ensure filtering to provide isolated traffic data, associated with the relevant account where reasonable;

To ensure any protection applied to the intercepted communication can be removed;

To minimise the risk of “tipping-off” the interception subject or other unauthorised persons about the interception. Where a service provider is unhappy with the extent or compliance cost of an interception notice, a referral can be made to the National Technical Advisory Board (‘TAB’), a body comprised of industry as well as Government representatives. Non-compliance with these interception obligations carries civil penalties, including issue of an injunction.

Cost implications

The cost burden on the telecoms industry of implementing the new measures is potentially substantial. RIPA imposes a duty on the Secretary of State to ensure that a service provider receives a “fair contribution” towards the cost of complying with an interception warrant or maintaining intercept capability. A sum of £20 million has been earmarked for communications provider support for the three years from 2001 to 2004 in connection with broader RIPA obligations, of which £14 million was spent last year. Further consultations are due to take place between the Government, industry and the TAB on the precise costs to the industry of complying with these new rules but no timetable has yet been set.

The bigger picture

RIPA, which has been on the statute book since July 2000, has been the source of enormous controversy since the proposals for reform of the interception regime were first published three years ago. Recently, in a much-publicised climb-down, the Home Secretary David Blunkett withdrew a proposal to extend the range of public authorities with power to access details of people’s communications under the Act.

Although the Act received Royal Assent nearly two years ago, its wide-ranging provisions have been brought into force by a series of statutory instruments since then. The most recent include an Interception of Communications Code of Practice which came into force on 1 July 2002 and which outlines the duties of law enforcement agencies with regard to interception of telephone and internet communications for national security and crime prevention purposes. Codes of Practice regulating the use of other covert surveillance techniques are also due to come into force on 1st August.

The information contained in this bulletin is intended as a general overview of the subjects featured and detailed specialist advice should always be taken before taking or refraining from taking any action

http://techupdate.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t481-s2118813,00.html

“My mother used to say that there are no strangers, only friends you haven’t met yet. She’s now in a maximum security twilight home in Australia.”

Dame Edna Everage

The Bloggers Manifesto

1. Life is uncensored.

2. You have no right to judge me.

3. If you don’t like what you see, look elsewhere.

4. I love talking about my life.

5. I love writing about other people’s lives.

6. I will post whenever I feel like posting.

7. I don’t have to blog every memory.

8. You don’t have to agree with everything I say.

9. I egosurf Daypop, Google, and Blogdex nightly.

10. I share what I want to share.

11. I like linking to folks with concerns.

12. Blogging is theraputic.

13. Pictures of myself are not obligatory.

14. I visit every site in my blog regularly.

15. I won’t post for the sake of posting.

16. I have a life outside of blogging.

17. I have ambition to learn more blogging tools.

18. I may criticize other bloggers, not harass them.

19. I have the right to revise a post.

20. When blogging becomes a chore, I’ll quit doing it.

21. I’ve given something back to the blogging community.

22. If I want to complain about something, I will.

23. If I want to praise something, I will.

24. I am not the best blogger on the planet.

25. I don’t have to explain myself to you.

Where do I sign?

After 30 years of campaigning, and general stress. The Home Sec has finally announced the re-classification of Cannabis from B to C. A classification, invented under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1972. This will enable the police to ‘do’ less to the individual.

Oh god! the fight continues ………

Police retain discretion over arrest for cannabis use

Cannabis is reclassified, but the Home Secretary refuses to introduce reforms to the regulations on heroin and ecstasy

By Ian Burrell, Home Affairs Correspondent

Independent

11 July 2002

Dopesmokers who had rolled a celebratory joint in honour of the Home Secretary finally relaxing Britain’s cannabis laws may have spluttered in frustration yesterday when David Blunkett decided possession of the drug should remain an arrestable offence.

Although the Home Secretary went ahead as expected with his proposal to reclassify cannabis from Class B to Class C, he appeared to have reacted to criticisms that he was “going soft on drugs”.

And so instead of implementing a blanket policy treating marijuana possession as a non-arrestable offence, he announced a hybrid system, under which police could hold some people caught with the drug, in certain circumstances.

Those who smoke cannabis near a school or repeatedly light up in a public place where other people object to their drug use could still find themselves being marched to the police station.

The caveats will please police officers who have complained of having joints waved defiantly in their faces by drug users in Brixton, south London, where the Metropolitan Police has been piloting a softer stance on cannabis.

But they will also allow police to retain a considerable degree of discretion in dealing with cannabis users. Welcoming Mr Blunkett’s announcement yesterday, the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) said: “The retention of the police power of arrest will enable the police to have greater flexibility in dealing with incidents on the street.”

Such powers will worry supporters of cannabis decriminalisation, who would point to a recent study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation that appeared to show a minority of officers were already pursuing something of a personal crusade against marijuana.

The study found that 3 per cent of police were responsible for 20 per cent of cannabis possession arrests and that some police saw it as their duty to help rid society of all drugs.

Mr Blunkett said yesterday Acpo would soon issue national guidelines to police forces, explaining the definition of the “aggravating circumstances” that would make cannabis possession arrestable.

Drugs agencies hope the guidance will help to create a level playing field and end the “postcode lottery” that results from different approaches being taken to the drug in neighbouring police divisions. Mr Blunkett said the guidelines would “ensure that in the vast majority of cases officers will confiscate the drug and issue a warning”.

If this is the case, the changes will have a noticeable effect on the policing of cannabis, which in the year 2000 led to 75,000 arrests for possession, with some offenders being fined and a small minority imprisoned.

Last night Roger Howard, chief executive of the charity DrugScope, pointed out that even after reclassification people could face being sent to jail for up to two years for “simple possession”.

He also voiced concerns over Mr Blunkett’s proposals for tougher measures against those involved in the supply of cannabis. Mr Blunkett said he would consider a new offence of supplying the drug to children and would retain a maximum sentence of up to 14 years for dealing, even after downgrading the drug to Class C.

Mr Howard said people who supplied the drug to friends or grew cannabis plants may find themselves facing a custodial sentence.

Yesterday in Brixton, where police have piloted the idea of relaxing the laws on cannabis, there were mixed views on the project’s success.

An unnamed police officer claimed the project had not worked and said that school children who were smoking cannabis with impunity were no longer being arrested and referred to drug workers.

But Bashir Ahmed, who runs a carpet shop, said the change in the law would cut crime. He called for legalised cannabis cafés to end the street dealing.

Other commentators warned that the reclassification of cannabis should not disguise the potential dangers of the drug.

David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said the softening of the law should “not make a blind bit of difference to school drug policies”.

The changes to the cannabis laws were accompanied by a refusal to introduce reform of the regulations on heroin and ecstasy. In spite of recommendations to the contrary by the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, Mr Blunkett refused to reclassify ecstasy as a class B drug and rejected the idea of controlled “shooting galleries” for injecting drug users.

Although it was overshadowed by the cannabis reforms, the refusal to provide safe injecting rooms will be a severe disappointment to drug treatment professionals.

The introduction of such a scheme in Australia reportedly led to 17 drug users being resuscitated after overdosing in the first month of the project’s operation. Supporters of the scheme claim that without such supervised facilities such people might have died.

Drug experts were also angry that Mr Blunkett, as a politician, chose to dismiss the reclassification of ecstasy [which was also backed by a review of drugs laws by the independent Police Foundation] rather than allow a decision to be taken by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.

Narcotics: how they are classified

Class A: (The most harmful category). Includes heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, LSD, and amphetamines (speed) if prepared for injection. Maximum sentence for dealing is life and seven years for possession.

Class B: (An intermediate category). Includes amphetamines and barbiturates. The maximum sentence for dealing is 14 years in prison plus a fine, and for possession it is five years plus fine.

Class C: (Least harmful). Includes anabolic steroids, anti-depressants and growth hormones. In July next year this will be joined by cannabis and cannabis resin, which are currently Class B. Maximum sentences for dealing in Class C substances are to be upped from five years to 14. The maximum term for possession is two years in jail.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/story.jsp?story=313981

Decline and fall of ‘tsar’ stripped of his power

By Ian Burrell

Independent

11 July 2002

When David Blunkett was appointed Home Secretary in May last year, one of his first decisions was to axe the role of drugs tsar.

Keith Hellawell, the first and probably last incumbent in the post, had been appointed with a fanfare by Tony Blair in 1997 but found himself unceremoniously dumped. To Mr Blunkett, the cross-departmental role of the “UK Anti-Drugs Co-ordinator” had served its purpose. The Home Secretary wanted the Home Office to take back responsibility for drugs so he could pursue his own plans for reform of the laws. Mr Hellawell, who was retained in a part-time international advisory role, claiming that he no longer wanted a full-time position, was marginalised.

Commenting on the former drugs tsar’s resignation yesterday, Roger Howard, chief executive of the influential charity DrugScope, and Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, described Mr Hellawell as “out of touch”.

It was a sad indictment of a man who had laid the building blocks of the Government’s drugs policy.

The former chief constable of West Yorkshire was responsible for drawing up a 10-year drugs strategy, the first real attempt to take a long-term view of the problem.

The radical approach was responsible for focusing public attention on the subject of drugs and raising its profile within the political arena.

Mr Hellawell, who reported directly to the Prime Minister and earned £106,000 a year, won admirers within the drugs prevention industry as he lobbied hard for extra resources for treatment centres and information programmes.

His most important legacy was in helping to drive forward a big increase in drugs education in British schools, aimed at reducing long-term demand for illicit substances.

But the long-term approach did little to endear him to government political strategists, who despaired at the lack of tangible success. Stories began appearing, suggesting that unnamed ministers believed that the drugs tsar should be deposed.

When Mr Blunkett arrived at the Home Office, he switched Mr Hellawell to a two-days-a-week advisory role on international drugs issues. Drugs experts have been at a loss to explain his achievements in this role.

An exasperated Mr Hellawell tendered his resignation at the end of last month, apparently asking for the decision to be kept secret. But yesterday he exacted his revenge on Mr Blunkett in a piece of news management that must have impressed even New Labour’s spin doctors.

He revealed his resignation on national radio hours before the Home Secretary was to make his most important pronouncement on drugs policy.

Mr Hellawell said Mr Blunkett’s new policy would “virtually be decriminalisation of cannabis and this is giving out the wrong message”. He continued: “Cannabis is simply not a sensible substance for people to take. There are strains of cannabis that are extremely powerful, hallucinogenic and very dangerous. It’s moving further towards decriminalisation than any other country in the world.”

Iain Duncan Smith said Mr Hellawell’s departure was “a personal blow for the Prime Minister and punches a huge hole in the Government’s drugs policies”.

But Danny Kushlick, director of pro-legalisation campaign group Transform, said he was “delighted to see the back of Mr Hellawell” and added: “His statement that the UK has gone further in decriminalising drugs than anywhere else in the world shows just how ignorant he is of what is happening outside his office. In fact, half a dozen European countries have decriminalised possession of all drugs.”

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=313980

The war may be over, but Mr Blunkett has become confused about drugs

Independent

Leader

11 July 2002

Cannabis is by far the most commonly used illegal recreational drug in Britain; indeed, it is probably less harmful than tobacco or alcohol. The grounds for believing it provides a “gateway” to harder drugs are, at best, anecdotal. There is little evidence that its use is crime-related in the same way as, say, heroin or crack cocaine. Public opinion seems increasingly at ease with the idea of liberalising the law. Thoughtful Conservatives such as Peter Lilley have advocated allowing people the freedom to use a substance that will do little harm to them and none to anyone else. Legalising cannabis, in other words, is unlikely to mean the end of civilisation.

Of course the Government has never shared that view, and during its long “war on drugs” set its face resolutely against a change in the law. Both the present Home Secretary, David Blunkett, and his predecessor Jack Straw relished every chance to act tough on drugs. It was an easy way to ward off the allegations of liberalism that, sadly, seem to scare this government so much. The appointment of the absurdly named “drugs tsar”, Keith Hellawell, was the apogee of the authoritarian phase of policy.

Thankfully, Mr Hellawell has now departed, having achieved little during his tenure. And Mr Blunkett has announced to the House of Commons his intention to reclassify cannabis from a class B to a class C drug. That is a welcome start to the modernisation of our approach to drugs. But Mr Blunkett has sent out a contradictory signal by retaining severe criminal sanctions for trading in cannabis (a maximum 14-year jail sentence). He also seems unduly keen on allowing the police virtually all their old powers of confiscation. So much so, in fact, that special laws will have to be passed to make blowing dope smoke at a policeman an offence and thus delaying the changes on cannabis for a year. And by insisting that “all drugs are harmful”, with the clear implication that all drugs are equally harmful, Mr Blunkett leaves himself open to ridicule.

In a further inconsistency, he has also set his face against declassifying ecstasy, which must rival cannabis for popularity, and again, with some tragic and high-profile exceptions, is widely used without harm. Most regrettable, though, is the Home Secretary’s rejection of safe injection rooms (so-called “shooting galleries”) for heroin users, a measure that has saved many lives where it has been tried, for example in Australia.

Whatever the public made of Mr Blunkett’s old policy, at least they knew where they were; now policy is a total mess. A modern government that felt more self-confident would seek an approach that balanced personal freedom with the need to reduce crime and to prevent people using the drugs that really do screw them up. Harm reduction was alluded to by Mr Blunkett in his statement, but it is clear that the main focus is still on drugs as a criminal rather than a health problem. Yet Britain has some of the strictest laws on drugs in Europe and the worst drugs problem.

Mr Blunkett has chosen to ignore the pleas of many of the charities dedicated to coping with the effects of drug abuse. No wonder then, that instead of clarifying the Government’s attitude and offering some hope to the victims of drug abuse and their friends and families, Mr Blunkett has simply left us confused. The Government’s policy on drugs has become more befuddled than the most dedicated aficionado of skunk.

http://argument.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/story.jsp?story=313952

Drug culture has invaded Middle England

Now I’m expecting my neighbours to come round and ask to borrow a cup of speed

By Mark Steel

Independent

11 July 2002

Now that Keith Hellawell has resigned, he’ll need looking after for a while. You must be extremely sensitive when coming down from a five-year-long trip in which you were so removed from reality that you believed you were a tsar. Like most of the people raging against the lowering of dope to a class C drug, he suffers from the hallucination that he’s an expert on the effects of this substance he’s proud never to have taken, whereas the millions who have taken it know nothing about it. Then he wonders why no one took him seriously.

If you’re going to have a drugs tsar, surely it should be someone who could give useful advice, such as “I wouldn’t touch that skunk knocking around south London at the moment. Wait till the weekend and there’ll be some cracking grass round at Dave’s house by Saturday.”

Nothing could be more hopeless than his strategy of trying to tell everyone not to take drugs on account of the misery they cause. The reason people smoke dope is because it’s enjoyable. If it only caused misery, you wouldn’t need a tsar to warn you off it. You don’t need an official to warn everyone not to stick their head in a nest of wasps because no one feels the urge to do it. So his message wasn’t listened to because it was “Don’t try anything that you’ve heard might be enjoyable. There’s no need to seek pleasure, as you can get just as much enjoyment from boredom as you can from fun. When your friends come home ‘stoned’ they might look as if they’ve had a good time, but there’s nothing like the satisfaction of completing a giant dot-to-dot puzzle or tracing a picture of a cathedral. After all, who do you want to identify with: drug-taking musicians and DJs, or clean-living icons such as Michael Buerk and quizmaster Robert Robertson?”

One expert on yesterday’s news claimed the new policy was dangerous because although dope isn’t addictive, it “can be a gateway drug for people with addictive personalities”. In other words, the fact it isn’t addictive is what’s wrong with it. If only it was addictive people would stick with it, but because it isn’t, these addictive types will seek something else. And you could say the same about lettuce, a frighteningly accessible “gateway salad item”.

Dope is so widespread now that if you’re under 60, you can’t believe the sort of stories you used to get, that “apparently, there was a boy in Dartford, he smoked a puff of that marijooana and now he thinks he’s an apple and they can’t get him down from his uncle’s tree.”

Recently, my proper middle-aged neighbours had a party. I prepared to be on my best behaviour but within five minutes the garden was barely visible through a cloud of dope smoke. The nice woman over the road with an alarmingly tidy fish pond told me: “The thing is, darling, we were brought up in the Sixties – with all the stuff we took, it’s a wonder we’re still alive. Especially my husband – he was a roadie for Led Zeppelin.” Now I’m expecting them to come and ask to borrow a cup of speed, “only until my normal delivery comes on Thursday”. Someone will go around giving away home-made marmalade, asking: “Which one would you like, dear? I’ve done some with orange, some with ginger, and some with Lebanese hash oil.”

Across Middle England, people are hanging out their washing and telling their neighbours: “We had a quiet weekend, Brian washed the car and mowed the lawn while I got a traditional Sunday lunch of a take-away curry and then we all got ripped on this gear Uncle Norman brought back from Denmark.”

Those people objecting to the new dope classification desperately argue that they’re concerned for our health. But convincing people to respond to health warnings depends on them being believable – snarling that “dope turns you crazy and leads to crack” is so obviously untrue it’s destined to have the same impact as parents who say “finish that bit of carrot or I’m cancelling our holiday”. And once someone knows you’re talking rubbish about one drug, why should they listen to anything you say about the others? It’s as dishonest as fox-hunters who claim hunting helps preserve foxes, or anti-abortionists who say their main concern is for the mental welfare of women. Because hardly anyone objects to all drugs. The problem comes when they’re not just taken to ease discomfort but to make people a little happier when there’s no initial pain. The disdain is driven almost by a spiritual objection to unearned pleasure.

But these people are fighting a losing battle, as by the time we’re one-year-old we’re introduced to drug culture, not only stuffed with Calpol but sat in front of four bears who always hug each other, have to hear everything twice before understanding what’s been said, wander around a field full of rabbits admiring clouds and end up with the munchies, devouring Tubbytoast.

http://argument.independent.co.uk/regular_columnists/mark_steel/story.jsp?story=313948

The Guardian asks

Has Blunkett Made A Hash Of It?

Thursday July 11, 2002

The papers are full of joints today. But is it safe to smoke them now that David Blunkett has announced his intention to downgrade cannabis to a class C drug next July? No one is quite sure, it seems – least of all the police.

“Don’t do it,” advises the Metropolitan police. “It’s too early not to get arrested for smoking it.” The Kent force described it as an “arrestable offence”, but Avon and Somerset said offenders would only be cautioned if they were carrying a small amount. “Any arrest is still subject to discretion,” South Wales police told the Times.

A number of the papers point out that cannabis dealers will receive longer sentences under the home secretary’s plans. “Why should it be a serious offence to sell cannabis if it is all right to smoke it?” asks the Mail. The Telegraph says the inconsistency is “not just illogical. It could prove disastrous.” The Times says that while there is no incentive for a dealer to specialise in cannabis and abandon class A drugs, “the Blunkett formula is not entirely inconsistent, just hypocritical”.

Boris Johnson agrees. “People smoking dope are spine-cracking bores; and I am told by experts that dope is no longer the innocent substance of the 1970s,” he writes in the Telegraph. But “the stuff is either legal or it isn’t”.

Several reporters take the tube to Brixton to confirm that it is indeed very easy to obtain illegal substances there. Police have already stopped arresting people found carrying cannabis in the south London borough of Lambeth – an experiment the Met considers a success, but which one policeman on the beat deplores. “[Brixton’s drug problem]’s got worse, an absolute failure,” he tells the Times. “They’ll tell you different,” he added, nodding towards the police HQ.

“I walked down bustling Brixton High Street to the cries of ‘skunk’ and ‘dope’ as traders peddled their wares,” says an appalled Sun reporter. “Drug users, dealers, cops and deadbeats … just a typical day in Brixton.” Dealers made GBP100 from the Mail’s reporter alone.

“Policy is a total mess,” complains a “confused” Independent. Mr Blunkett was wrong to reject “shooting galleries” – where heroin addicts can inject safely – and wrong not to downgrade ecstasy to a class B drug, it says. At least Keith Hellawell, the former “drugs tsar” who resigned yesterday in protest at the reforms, has gone, the paper adds.

The Mirror and Guardian both welcome the reforms. “Spliffing,” says the Mirror’s Paul Routledge. “Long overdue”, says the Guardian.

Downgrading hash enables Blunkett to focus on cutting supply of lethal class A substances like heroin and crack, and on treating addicts

Alan Travis, home affairs editor

Thursday July 11, 2002

The Guardian

David Blunkett yesterday made clear that the decision to reclassify cannabis means that the focus of government drugs policy will be tackling class A drugs that kill, including heroin and crack, with a big expansion in the treatment of the 250,000 problem drug users in Britain. The policy was outlined yesterday in the home secretary’s response to the Commons home affairs select committee report, The Government’s Drugs Policy: Is It Working? It says:

Cannabis

Harm: It is vital that young people be told “open, honest and credible” messages on drugs. Heroin, cocaine, and ecstasy are harmful and do kill. The advisory council on misuse of drugs has ruled that cannabis is potentially harmful and should remain illegal, but is not a drug that kills. This was “scientifically justified and educationally sensible”. Class C will put cannabis in same “harm group” as antidepressants and steroids.

Penalties: Maximum penalty for possession will go down from five years to two years, in line with current sentencing practice. Legislation will be introduced so that, by July 2003, police will retain the power of arrest for the possession of cannabis – but it will only be used where there are aggravating factors such as protection of children, or where it is linked to public disorder or “flagrant disregard” of the law. In the majority of cases police will “seize and warn”.

Dealing: The maximum penalty for supplying and trafficking in class C drugs will be increased from five years to 14 years, so the courts can impose “substantial sentences for serious dealing offences involving cannabis”. Ministers are to consider a specific offence of dealing to children of 16 and under, with heavier sentences. Mr Blunkett has rejected calls for a lesser offence of “social dealing” on a not for profit basis between friends.

Gateway and education: According to Mr Blunkett, the concept of cannabis as a “gateway drug” is unproven. While most class A drug users used cannabis previously, most cannabis users do not go on to use other drugs regularly. A campaign is to educate young people that all drugs remain illegal and harmful. It will also stress health issues in smoking and cannabis. Mr Blunkett rejects complaints from MPs that use of “shock videos” in drugs education is counter productive.

Lambeth: The Home Office says that there was a 19% increase in arrests for class A dealers in the first six months to December 2001. Polls show 83% of residents supported scheme and 1,350 hours of police time has been saved. A survey of headteachers found the experiment had not increased cannabis use or truancy.

Ecstasy

Harm: The call from MPs for ecstasy to be downgraded from class A is rejected. “Ecstasy can, and does, kill unpredictably. There is no such thing as ‘a safe dose’.”

Treatment: An extra £183m is to be spent expanding treatment and harm minimisation services over the next three years. More treatment places in particular are to be created, to meet the rapid rise in cocaine use and crack cocaine use, and cut the long waiting times for treatment.

Heroin

Prescribing: Doctors are to be encouraged to prescribe heroin “in appropriate cases based on clinical judgment”. The government says it will “ensure all those who could benefit from heroin on prescription will have access to it in the future”.

Shooting galleries: Addicts who receive heroin on prescription will be able to inject on the doctor’s premises, by provision of “safe, medically, supervised areas with clean needles for the administration of heroin prescribed as part of a package of measures for treating heroin addicts”.

Mr Blunkett rejects the MPs’ recommendation for safe injecting houses or “shooting galleries” to be used by any heroin addict. Only a small proportion of the 200,000 will get heroin on prescription. But the home secretary did leave the door open, saying “we are not persuaded that shooting galleries would, at this moment, be helpful”.

Drug driving

Police are to be trained in testing suspect drivers for drug-related impairment.

Paraphernalia

The ban on selling drug “paraphernalia” that help to reduce harm is to be lifted. This includes citric and ascorbic acids, swabs, tourniquets, and filters that can make drug use safer. The exemption for hypodermics would continue.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/Story/0,2763,753118,00.html

Main points

Thursday July 11, 2002

The Guardian

· “Seize and warn” policy for simple cannabis possession

· Police keep power of arrest in aggravated cases

· Maximum sentence for cannabis dealing to remain at 14 years

· £183m expansion of drug treatment programme

· Expansion in heroin prescription

· No “safe injecting rooms”

Blunkett the brave

A long overdue drugs law reform

Leader

Thursday July 11, 2002

The Guardian

David Blunkett’s statement to the Commons yesterday was far more than just a reclassification of cannabis. But it will be the downgrading of pot to a less harmful category that will hit the headlines. Tens of thousands of young people across all classes will benefit from this change. We have the most stringent drug laws in Europe, but we have the highest number of young users. An estimated 2.5 million people smoke cannabis every year. The current law has not deterred these young people, only criminalised them – as well as wasting huge amounts of police time. Reform of the law was long overdue.

Currently, some 90% of all drug offences are for possession and just 10% are for dealing. About 75% of possession offences involve cannabis, some 90,000 cases a year. Each arrest takes up to five hours of police time to administer. What happens to the offender remains a lottery; the caution rate ranges from 22% to 72% of cases depending on the police service. None of this has the approval of the public or the police. Opinion polls show almost 60% of the public think possession should not be a criminal offence and 99% want it at the bottom of police priorities. Senior police officers have been pressing for change, to give them more time to deal with hard drugs.

In future, people who are caught in possession of cannabis will in normal circumstances lose the drug but will not be arrested. The drug has rightly been reclassified within category C, the least harmful class. But, bending to noisy opponents, the home secretary will make provision for arrest in certain circumstances, such as when children are involved or when users provocatively puff cannabis fumes into a police officer’s face. Few people get sent to prison now for possession, but even fewer will do so in future; it should have been made a non-imprisonable offence. Dealers will remain liable to a category B sentence (14 years); this is too high, and could endanger students who share the weed.

Keith Hellawell, the former drug tsar, opposed the changes yesterday but made a fool of himself in doing so, claiming not to know where the reclassification advice had come from. Is he that out of touch? The Police Foundation’s national commission, which brought together two chief constables, leading lawyers and drugs advisers, recommended the change two years ago, before Mr Hellawell was deposed. Their view has subsequently been supported by the advisory council on drug misuse and the Commons home affairs select committee. It has been piloted in Brixton with such success (more dealers of hard and soft drugs arrested) that the Metropolitan police were already planning to roll it out across the capital even before yesterday’s moves. The Association of Chief Police Officers endorsed the change yesterday, leaving the Conservatives, who opposed it, somewhat flat-footed.

There are two other attractive parts of the new policy: an increase in treatment facilities and an expanded heroin prescribing programme, moving the addiction from a criminal offence to a medical need, an old and sensible approach. Traditionally, our drug policy has been hopelessly lopsided, spending 75% on enforcement (which does not work) and only 13% on treatment (which does). Since 1998, treatment numbers have increased by 8% a year, but there are still far too few places. Now a further £183m over three years will be invested. The balance will still not be right, but the move is in the right direction. The minister has declined to downgrade ecstasy from categories A to B, as reformers wanted, but Mr Blunkett has made a good start.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/Story/0,2763,753100,00.html

‘Hash is a part of student life’

Gerard Seenan

Thursday July 11, 2002

The Guardian

There is nothing like the presence of proud parents to make the average student reticent on the subject of drugs, but for some of Glasgow University’s new graduates cannabis is not a real drug anyway.

“It’s a part of student life,” said Tom yesterday. “You don’t need to seek it out; and, also, you would have to have lived a sheltered existence to have never come across hash at some point during your four years here. It’s a drug, in the way a pint or a fag is a drug, but not in the way smack is.”

For Tom – who did not want to give his second name, in case his opinions marred his parents’ joy at the degree scroll he was carrying – the home secretary’s plan to lower the classification of cannabis from class B to class C is not sensible.

“It’s just a cop out, isn’t it?” he said. “The police are not going to lift you at a party for having a half Q [eighth of an ounce] just now, so what difference will this make? It would make far more sense to legalise it completely.”

His friend, Graeme, agreed, while also being reticent about his surname. “Playing about with the classification is just tinkering around the edges. Why doesn’t he just admit you can’t do anything about people smoking blow, and there’s no point in trying? At least if you decriminalised cannabis you could concentrate resources more on the others.”

Student Nazir Ahmed was not impressed with the move either, though for different reasons. “There are loads of students who spend half their lives sitting around smoking and never doing anything. Cannabis is an easy drug to get into, and it can be destructive because of that.”

Michael O’Donnell was a bit confused about what the reclassification actually meant.

“It’s difficult to know what they’ll mean now, about ‘intent to supply’,” he said. “If, say, me and my mates all chipped in for an ounce, because it’s cheaper, and I went and got it, then I would be technically supplying – which is just nonsense. They won’t be treated as criminals for smoking it, but I would be for going to get it.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/Story/0,2763,753129,00.html

Blunkett gambleswith our children

The Sun 11 July 02

by george pascoe-watson

Deputy Political Editor

DAVID Blunkett last night admitted he is taking a giant gamble with Britain’s children by effectively legalising cannabis.

The Home Secretary ruled dope smokers WON’T be arrested.

They will be merely ticked off and have their drugs confiscated.

Mr Blunkett is downgrading cannabis to a Class C substance so police have more time to combat heroin and crack. The worry is more kids will turn to pot.

Furious Labour MP Kate Hoey accused him of risking the future of the nation’s youth, saying: In ten or 20 years’ time, are you certain that you will not look back on this day as the one when you got it wrong?

Mr Blunkett conceded the change was a gamble during stormy Commons exchanges. He said: There are no certainties when dealing with drugs policies. If there were, we would have found them by now.

He decided to reclassify cannabis as Class C despite fierce opposition from the Government’s own drugs czar Keith Hellawell.

Ex-chief constable Mr Hellawell made his feelings clear hours earlier by announcing he had quit.

Under historic changes, police will hand out fixed-penalty tickets to persistent dope users.

People caught smoking the drug in the street will effectively be let off with a caution.

An experiment in Kate Hoey’s constituency in Lambeth, South London, where officers turn a blind eye to cannabis, will be expanded across the capital within weeks.

The new approach will be nationwide by October. Miss Hoey said drug dealing and cannabis use had shot up since the Lambeth experiment began.

She fumed: The message going out to families across the country is very stark and uncomfortable.

Shadow Home Secretary Oliver Letwin said: This is a muddled and dangerous policy. Why, if he is effectively decriminalising cannabis, does he still want people to buy their cannabis from criminals?

And Tory MP Andrew Lansley said: There will be more opportunity for dealers interested in moving people from cannabis to harder drugs.

Home Office officials insisted Mr Blunkett was NOT going soft.

They said seven out of ten drugs convictions were for dope and that police should concentrate on hard Class A substances.

A new offence of peddling outside schools will be brought in. And the maximum sentence for dealing in cannabis will be increased from five years to 14.

A cop in drug-plagued Brixton said: We see a lot of kids smoking pot. Before, we could arrest them and get them to speak to a referral worker now we can’t.

Dope trade

in the open air

By SARA NATHAN

On the streets of Brixton

A TRIO of men sat huddled together in the pouring rain looking furtively about as they passed around a sodden joint. It was only ten in the morning and the air was ripe with the smell of cannabis.

Nervous mums hurriedly walked past the small leafy square with their tots in pushchairs.

This was the scene in Brixton, South London, yesterday a few hours before David Blunkett announced the downgrading of cannabis.

I walked down bustling Brixton High Street to the cries of skunk and dope as traders peddled their wares.

Outside KFC where the toilets are locked to stop people injecting drugs a youth of 18 strolled up.

Dressed in a yellow string vest and black baggy trousers, he grinned broadly and said loudly: Skunk man, the finest.

Just yards away police officers, clad in black bullet proof vests, were patrolling.

Opposite Lambeth Town Hall, deadbeats sipped cans of lager and beer.

Tim Summers, 54, lit up a joint as I stood by. He is secretary of Cannabis Action London and smokes up to 40 joints a week.

He said: There’s so much weed around here that they’d have to get a special cannabis squad to stop it being sold.

Mum Nic Elborn, 32, walked past with her three-year-old-daughter Holly.

Nic, of neighbouring Herne Hill, said: I don’t want my little girl anywhere near drugs.

It’s a big problem and I don’t see how downgrading cannabis will solve it.

Back on the green, police were questioning a suspect. As I watched, a man sidled up and tried to sell drugs to me.

Drug users, dealers, cops and deadbeats … just a typical day in Brixton.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2002311821,00.html

Blow me: it’s another crackpot Blunkett plan

By Boris Johnson

Telegraph 11/07/2002

You remember the Harry Enfield sketch about the two gay Dutch policemen. They pull up in their patrol car and one announces, with a smirk: “You know, here in Omsterdom we have had great success in reducing crime.” The other one preens his moustache. “Yes,” he says, “we have legalised burglary.”

That, pretty much, is the strategy that seems to have been pursued in Brixton, under the leadership of the visionary Commander Crackpot, alias Brian Paddick. They stopped arresting people for possession of cannabis, and lo, the police found their jobs a good sight easier.

It doesn’t matter if the whole population of Brixton reeks of ganja. The police no longer have to go through the rigmarole of nicking them, interviewing them, reading them their rights, cautioning them and then, inevitably, letting them go again. It is estimated that 1,350 police man hours have been saved, equivalent to the annual labours of 1.8 full-time officers.

It would be an exaggeration, however, to say that the policy has been an unqualified success. Friends who live there say that every street corner in Brixton is now occupied by someone well thugged up (ie wearing a cowled sweatshirt) and hissing “skunk” or “weed”. Trafficking and other drug offences have soared, and, in the words of local spokesperson Ros Griffiths: “This is not a drug or race issue. This is about a breakdown of law and order.” Kate Hoey, the Labour MP for Vauxhall, is very worked up about the proliferation of dealers on the council estates, and one can see why. Commander Crackpot’s scheme hasn’t worked as he intended, for two reasons.

Brixton has been turned into an island of liberalism in a sea of repression. It has become the dope haven of England. On a hot day, one imagines that a vast aromatic hempen pall hangs over the whole of south London. He might as well have stuck big smiley faces all around the perimeter, with a legend saying – “Twinned with Amsterdam and Kingston, Jamaica”. If you wanted to get stoned or if you wanted to deal in drugs, Brixton was the place to go.

The second and more fundamental reason why Crackpot’s scheme didn’t work was that, even in Brixton itself, the policy was confused. It was neither legalisation nor a ban. It was puzzling to the populace. And that objection applies, in spades, to the measures announced suddenly, yesterday, by David Blunkett, who seems to have decided to turn Britain into a giant Brixton.

Pity poor Keith Hellawell, the late “drugs tsar”. It’s Ekaterinburg for him. He was there to wield the drugs knout over the drugs mouzhiks. And what happened? Revolution. Blunkett yesterday announced the declassification of cannabis from a Class B to a Class C drug, and Crackdown has given way to Crackpot. Labour is suddenly pro-cannabis. Labour is soft on the weed. Isn’t it?

It is impossible to tell quite what Labour intends – and that is the central problem. There is a sound and intellectually defensible case for a complete legalisation of cannabis. My own view is that drugs are no good for you, and often very bad for you; people smoking dope are spine-cracking bores; and I am told by experts that dope is no longer the innocent substance of the 1970s. This stuff skunk, grown by special hydroponic West Indian sunlamps, is apparently so powerful that it can fry your brains as effectively as any Class A drug.

There is, nevertheless, the argument for legalisation, which you will have heard so many times that I will repeat it only very briefly. Yes, it is true that cannabis is medically dangerous – but then so is alcohol. Legalisation would rid the streets of the pushers of soft drugs, and it would leave the police free to pursue the dealers in heroin and crack. It is not at all clear that legalising soft drugs would encourage people to move on to hard drugs. Only one per cent of dope-smokers try Class A drugs; and if you could buy cannabis legally, you would not come into contact with the nasty characters who push heroin. That is the case for legalisation, and it is good as far as it goes.

There is also a coherent and robust case, as Hellawell seems to have argued, for being utterly ruthless and enforcing the law. You could make it clear, once and for all, that cannabis is an illegal substance, and that anyone caught dealing it or using it will feel the full force of the fuzz. That might galvanise the police, give them a clear and consistent objective, and scare the spliff-smoking population into suddenly flushing their little brown pellets into the water supply, so zonking out the fish.

Of course, this policy would not be popular with the police, since they would be called on to feel the collars of the 50 per cent of young people who have used cannabis, including the 20 per cent of 19- to 24-year-olds who have used it in the past month. To anyone walking around London, where you will catch daily whiffs of a smell that would have been exceptional 10 years ago, it is clear that proper enforcement would be a huge job. But it could, just, be done, and it has, like legalisation, the merit of consistency.

What you cannot do is continue to ban cannabis and maintain stiff theoretical sentences for dealing (10 years), while sending out a signal to young people that it is now OK to smoke it. That’s no way to get rid of the dealers, or the crime. The stuff is either legal or it isn’t.

Mr Blunkett is an ideological version of one of those hermaphroditic parrotfish. One day he feels the jackboot forming invisibly round his shins; the next day he seems to want to freak out and wear flowers in his hair. Labour can’t work out whether it is libertarian, authoritarian, vegetarian or Rotarian. There is no Third Way with cannabis. You can’t suck and blow at the same time – with or without inhaling.

Boris Johnson is MP for Henley and editor of The Spectator

http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2002/07/11/do1102.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2002/07/11/ixopinion.html