Journal Entries
Police State?
Posted Aug 13, 2003
This afternoon, my 11 y.o. daughter was caught up in a "security scare" by the local police and I'm cranky. She walked as she always does to the train station at Summer Hill after school, only to find that a large group of people milling around outside the tunnel with large numbers of police in evidence.
As she walked up to join the crowd to get to the platform, several kids said "You've got to get your bag checked!" and pointed her over to where there were 4 or 5 people standing wearing blue plastic gloves - not in police uniform, with no identification. Without a word of explanation, the bloke motioned her to open her bag, looked inside, without touching anything, and then let her proceed on her way.
According to the news, police had received a warning over the Crimestoppers phone line about 4 male persons of Micronesian descent who may travel the train system and attempt to place a package on it. There was no cause for concern, said the police commissioner, however the police would be would be randomly checking bags and identities at turnstiles throughout the network.
So Summer Hill a middle class inner west suburb was targeted very heavily, while there was one policeman at the next station and at the station where my daughter alights there was none.
There were a large number of primary school children involved, with no word of explanation. No reassurance at all, just grunts as they looked through the half-eaten sandwiches and homework books. Not even a female officer to reassure the younger ones and those with potentially embarrassing items in their bags.
Surely, they can take the time to say G'day to the kids, to show some identification, to reassure them that it's ok, and even advise them of their right to refuse the search if we still have rights like that. It's not that I'm against them having to search the network, be out there showing a presence, but my blonde, blue-eyed daughter in school uniform looks nothing like a "male person of Micronesian descent". And if she says she was apprehensive and concerned, then I bet there were other kids who were just plain scared!!
And now I don't know what to do………
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Latest reply: Aug 13, 2003
Rant against Politicians
Posted Jun 16, 2003
Why oh wwwwhy will no one stand up to the current government and ask the hard questions? The saying goes that you get the politicians you deserve but it seems we get the media that we deserve as well, self seeking and as easily diverted as my 6 month old puppy.
An australian guy who resigned over the Iraq affair is going to England to testify in an enquiry about the truth of the information that we went to war over, and here in Sydney, the whole topic of WMD rates the odd mention in the opinion columns of the top papers.
If someone happens to mention WMD's there are smoke screens in place such as the media frenzy that occurred over Senator Richard Alstons accusations about bias in the ABS's current affair programme, and all of a sudden everyone is commenting on that instead of following up the original thought. Smoke screens such as "changes to the senate powers" revising the security bill to make it more palatable to labour, even the length of Howard's committmeent to the job is of seemingly more important than the fact that he lied, justification for the war was the provable, never to be called into question, assertion that the chemical weapons, and WMD'S were lined up and ready to go - George W Bush and Tony Blair knew where they were, they had maps. So after weeks and weeks, where are they?
And the opposition whose legitimate job is to ask the hard questions are so busy self destructing that we won't see them for a decade or so.
So I'm placing a Positions Vacant Ad -
Wanted- a common or garden political party to be in oppostion, every few years you get to swap over. Pays pretty good, perks are great and the weather, Beautiful one day perfect the next. No extraordinary honesty required, just the ability not to shoot yourself in the foot while removing the knives from your back, the ability to see the wood fronm the trees and not walk into them, and above all to stand up in parliament and disagree with the current 'ruler'. Have I forgotten anything oh yes Policies, well, having some would help, particularly if they are of the universal accesibiltiy to education/medical benefits/food/shelter kind
Please apply to Sussex Street, Sydney with references
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Latest reply: Jun 16, 2003
moderation....it works
Posted Mar 24, 2003
When I logged on at home last night there was an email from the moderators and the item was removed because I broke the "intellectual property" restrictions, albeit unintentionally. In going back to the original website, and reading the publication policy, it was indeed incorrect for me to post the letter on H2G2. Mea Culpa
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Latest reply: Mar 24, 2003
first hand moderation
Posted Mar 24, 2003
I had a journal entry here which was moderated because it "broke the house rules" in some way. It was a letter written by a Brazilian writer called Paulo Coelho and was orignally published on a website called www.opendemocracy.org and entitled 'Thank you President Bush' I gave due credit so it wasn't plagarisim, I didn't view it as inciteful, but I guess the PTB have to be carefull. If you are interested, please take the time to go and read it. Thank you
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Latest reply: Mar 24, 2003
Removed
Posted Mar 21, 2003
This post has been removed.
Discuss this Journal entry [8]
Latest reply: Mar 21, 2003
Platypus 2
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