Bush Calls Surveillance Bill an ‘Urgent Priority’

The New York Times today reported that: -

"...Using some of his toughest language in weeks, President Bush prodded Congress on Thursday to pass his preferred version of surveillance legislation, asserting that every day of delay could put the country in danger..."

Now, call me a cynical non Republican (& therefore slightly democratic) Brit, but I was sort of assuming that "every day of delay" between now and the Presidential elections was putting the country (sorry your country - the USofA) in danger. Can't you folks just break tradition (it's not as though you haven't broken things before, nor for that matter, is your tradition very long standing) for once and bring the elections forward?

Dublya also said that: -

• "...Without the cooperation of private companies, we cannot protect our country from terrorist attack,” and
• "...Big new taxes on the major oil companies would backfire, driving up energy costs"

Now, clearly I am not an expert on these matters but, am I not right in thinking that: -

1. despite the atrocities and war crimes carried out by Iraq in the Iran:Iraq war between 1983 to 1985, the Reagan administration went to great lengths to gain Saddam Hussein’s favor.
2. Their goal at the time was to have built a gas pipeline from the Euphrates River, in Iraq, to the Gulf of Aqaba, in Jordan. The company planning to gain this contract for the billion dollar pipeline’s construction: Bechtel Corporation.
3. Over two decades later, and after a small falling out with Saddam, it is the same companies Bechtel and Halliburton, which benefited from the post-war reconstruction contracts in Iraq worth upwards of $900 million.

and that the common denominator in each of the above three issues is Dick Cheney, the former CEO of Halliburton and current VP. So when Dubblya talks of needing to keep private companies & specifical private major oil companies on side, it is simply so that his friends and colleagues, Dick & Donald can benefit financially!!

(Please note new legal disclaimer where I have disassociated myself from all the comments that I have written about anybody)

So when Dubblya also said that it was “dangerous, just dangerous” for the legislation to be delayed, and pledged to continue speaking out about the issue until the American people understand, I think it is about the most hypocritical thing that I've ever heard.

For Dubblya to continue speaking about anything is likely to reduce, not increase the understanding of the American people. For example, as he has previously said: -

1. "Well, I think if you say you're going to do something and don't do it, that's trustworthiness."- August 30, 2000
2. "And there's no doubt in my mind, not one doubt in my mind, that we will fail."- October 4, 2001
3. "Teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test."- Feb. 21, 2001
4. "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"- January 11, 2000
5. "One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures."- January 3, 2000

Not wanting to rub George 's nose in it, nor am I saying that it is necessarily a good thing (actually I think I am saying it is a good thing - unless you ever do something wrong) but, the Big Brother nightmare of George Orwell's 1984 has become a reality - in the shadow of the author's former London home.

It may have taken a little longer than he predicted, but Orwell's vision of a society where cameras and computers spy on every person's movements is now here.

According to the latest studies, Britain has a staggering 4.2million CCTV cameras - one for every 14 people in the country - and 20 per cent of cameras globally. It has been calculated that each person is caught on camera an average of 300 times daily.

Use of spy cameras in modern-day Britain is now a chilling mirror image of Orwell's fictional world, created in the post-war Forties in a fourth-floor flat overlooking Canonbury Square in Islington, North London.

On the wall outside his former residence - flat number 27B - where Orwell lived until his death in 1950, an historical plaque commemorates the anti-authoritarian author. And within 200 yards of the flat, there are 32 CCTV cameras, scanning every move.