http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2007/06/13/nsmo...
Secret smoking police in workplace
By George Jones, Political Editor
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 13/06/2007
Smoke-free England
Employers will be encouraged to spy on staff to enforce the ban on smoking in public places in England under Government regulations made public yesterday.
Businesses will be urged to keep written records of anyone lighting up in defiance of the ban
New regulations to implement the ban from July 1 will give the go-ahead for a "snoopers' charter" of heavy-handed surveillance and zealous local authority inspectors, said Eric Pickles, the Tory local government spokesman.
The ban will bring England in line with the rest of Britain and covers virtually all enclosed public places including offices, factories, pubs and bars, but not outdoors or in private homes.
England's 3.7 million businesses will be urged to keep written records of anyone lighting up in defiance of the ban. A smoking incident form is provided for firms to fill out, and they are told to pass the detailed records to town halls "to inform them of the occurrence".
These forms will provide sufficient evidence for town halls to levy
Our smoking ban violations are reported by anonymous sources - patrons etc. are encouraged to report the violators.
You're fighting the small battles and surrendering the big war...
Here is BIG BROTHER...
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/06/fbi_terror_watc.html
or
http://www.americablog.com/2007/06/more-domestic-spying-from-att.html
A very troubling article in today's Los Angeles Times about AT&T. You remember AT&T, the company that "reportedly" let the US government spy on its own customers without a search warrant? Well, it may not surprise you to learn that AT&T is now planning on making sure that the emails you send to family and friends don't contain things that corporate America might not like. How they plan to do that is anyone's guess. But it sure sounds like one possible way is prying into your emails to make sure you aren't attaching songs, tv clips, movie clips, or even, who knows, newspaper articles? Will they look at the video clips and photos and documents you send by email to make sure that they're really your private corporate work product, your communications with your attorney, or oh I don't know, a private sex video of you and your wife? What's next, AT&T listening in to phone calls to make sure you don't slander anybody? How about reading my postal mail? After all, it's possible I'm sending a friend a pirated DVD. Hell, I may even be carrying that DVD on my person - perhaps we should institute mandatory body cavity searches on every street corner.
My favorite quote from the article, an AT&T spokesman says that "once a[n anti-piracy] technology was chosen, the company would look at privacy and other legal issues." That's nice. Once AT&T already decides how to pry into your online life, then they'll look at privacy and legal concerns. A bit like - hell, a lot like - consulting a lawyer after you've already committed to doing the crime.
But please don't tell the Democrats in Congress that privacy is a big and growing concern. They have other more important issues to deal with, like making sure that George Bush isn't mean to them.
maggie is right - we need to be VERY afraid. And a big round of applause to all those who voted this damned smoking ban in, in the first place - because this ban opened the doors for all types of nazi type shit. Congratulations to all those who sold out this country - you must be feeling very good about yourselves. And most likely, it was all because you didn't like 'how it smelled' - but the price that will be paid in freedoms in this country hardly seems worth it to me.
"How about reading my postal mail? "
"The executive branch shall construe subsection 404(c) of title 39, as enacted by subsection 1010(e) of the Act, which provides for opening of an item of a class of mail otherwise sealed against inspection, in a manner consistent, to the maximum extent permissible, with the need to conduct searches in exigent circumstances, such as to protect human life and safety against hazardous materials, and the need for physical searches specifically authorized by law for foreign intelligence collection."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/12/20061220-6.html
The reason = September 11, 2001
http://toledoohioneighborhoodconcerns.com/blog
They hate us for our freedoms, so it reasons that if Bush takes all of freedoms away, they won't hate us anymore.
Not breathing in secondhand smoke feels like freedom to a non-smoker. That's how the law was sold to them and that's why they all voted for it. Will any piece of legislation please both groups? If so, what is it and how does one get it on the ballot?