Government reveals first identity cards (UK)

[inanna]

Source: UK Guardian

The home secretary, Jacqui Smith, today unveiled the first identity cards to be issued as part of the government's controversial national scheme.

The biometric card will be issued from November, initially to non-EU students and marriage visa holders.

The credit-card-sized document will show the holder's photograph, name, date of birth, nationality and immigration status.

A secure electronic chip will also hold their biometric details, including fingerprints and a digital facial image.


Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/sep/25/idcards.immigrationpolicy

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Symptoms of a fascist state....

NOTE: Some of these symptoms are found in non-fascist countries where they should be treated as serious warning signs. On the other hand, fascist states - unlike democratic nations - have many, if not all, of these symptoms.


Massive warrantless searches

Your president and other officials regularly lie to you
Fraudulent election counts
Government monitoring of letters, emails, phone calls and checking accounts

Secret courts

A government subservient to the interests of the country's largest corporations.

Use of torture on prisoners

Courts that support presidential use of unconstitutional powers

Massive spying on citizens, especially those involved in political dissent

A government that uses words like democracy, freedom and peace while engaging in acts dramatically at odds with such words

Government agencies or officials declaring themselves exempt from portions of the law or constitution

Creation of watchlists, no-fly lists and similar exclusionary documents

National ID cards

Growing number of citizens incarcerated for a growing number of offenses

Massive use of cameras to spy on citizens

A media supportive of, or obsequious towards, the government in covering its police state activities

Security bubble around government leaders' public appearances including preselected audiences and limit on proximity of protests

Disarming of citizenry

Dissent characterized as disloyal by government and its supporting media

Increasing government control over private behavior

Lack of legal recourse to stop illegal government actions

Prison without trial and arrests without charges

It is difficult to borrow books from libraries pertaining to controversial subjects such as, communism,socialism,and, fascism.

Transfer of powers from legislatures to executive

Assassinations of popular public figures

Expansion of prisons and laws that lead people to prisons

President claims right to make war whenever he wants

Words misused to mean their opposite: i.e. peace for war, democracy for fascism

The president sets himself up as the sole moral authority for the entire country, using his personal beliefs as the basis on which to declare what is 'good' and what is 'evil.'

Federal takeover of functions formerly considered essential state or local responsibilities such as state militias and public education

Creation of a mercenary military force used for foreign and domestic purposes



http://prorev.com/fascisthints.htm

[bossy22]

4. sadly

almost every politician out there pushes this stuff- whether they are democrat or republican, progressive, liberal, or conservitive

sadly the only true anti-police state people out there are libertarians

I used to think that only republicans and "law and order" conservitives but after going to london and seeing police cameras on every corner and the stop and search tactics of the NYPD in the subways of NYC- both happening in what would be considered progressive/liberal areas- i have lost all faith in left.

its sad- very sad- to see once "free" nations turn into this. I am a young man and i fear what this world will be like when i reach my "golden years"- if there is such a thing by the time i get there

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. All the above are happening here.

http://yarp2.motivatedphotos.com/autocdn/motivatedphotos/

[BrklynLiberal]

6. I know. As I went thru the list, I got scareder and scareder...

:scared:

[tritsofme]

2. Is it correct that Britain

does not have a near ubiquitous driver's license/id card system as we do in the United States?

[harmonicon]

3. yes, that's true

Most of my friends in the UK don't even know how to drive, so don't have licenses. I've never really asked what they use for ID apart from passports. However, there are far fewer things here which require ID. For instance, I've never seen anyone get ID'd at a bar or store - maybe I just don't go to the sort of places where youngsters would be trying to drink or buy cigarettes illegally - I don't know.

That being said, this ID scheme is total bullshit, and I hope it falls flat on it's face, especially since I'm in one of the target groups (non-EU students).

[moggie]

8. I use my driver's licence for ID from time to time

I often have to go to the local post office sorting office to pick up a package they tried to deliver while I was out, and of course I have to show ID. I normally use my driver's licence for this, which is, from an ID point of view, pretty silly: since it was issued in 1977, it has no photo, so my possession of it proves pretty much nothing. In other cases where I know I'll need to show photo ID, I'll usually take my passport. Most adult Brits will have a passport, more so than Americans, though of course we don't tend to carry them at all times!

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Well, we do have driver's licences

and those that were issued after about 1995 have photos on them too (if you haven't moved since then, like me, then you can still use the photo-less version). You'd rarely expect to have to show it - when you are young, you can be expected to show some form if ID for alcohol purchases (legal age is 18; a supermarket near me says they'll ask for proof of age from anyone looking under 25). I don't carry mine around with me (I left in in my car when I had one; even when you're stopped by the police in your car, you don't have to have it with you to show it - but you'd have to go to a police station with it later, and if they're suspicious about the details you gave of who you were, they'd be more likely to arrest you if you couldn't show your licence).

I guess harmonicon's comment from above comes from London - I'd say most people do learn to drive (42 million licence holders, out of a population of about 61 million of all ages, but many people don't have cars in London, so fewer learn to drive there); young people tend to have either some form of student ID, or something issued specifically as a proof of age.

The really pernicious thing about this new ID system isn't the cards, it's the database behind them. It records all sort of details (eg all your past addresses), and then records every time there's a check made against your record. So the more that people demand to see the card and check it, the more detailed picture of your life the government builds up. And the government and its sub-contractors have also become a by-word for incompetence about keeping personal information secure.

The government knows it can't keep information secure: it is setting up a database of all children in the UK, but will take special precautions about the information for children of 'celebrities' (which includes senior politicians, what a surprise), because it knows the database will get hacked. The rest of the population just have to live with their children's details being exposed to hackers.

[enlightenment]

9. I actually got carded in a Sainsbury's

in NW3. Cracked me up. Buying a bottle of wine. I'm old enough to be the checker's mother and she asks for ID. I think she just wanted to see where I was from . . . but it was funny.

The biometric national ID is less funny - particularly the chip encoded with your personal data. Might be a good time to start marketing RF blocking wallets.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. I agree about RF-proof wallets

for ID cards, and a passport cover too. One case where tin foil is justified ... :evilgrin:

[enlightenment]

11. They make great crafts projects for the kiddies . . .

:evilgrin:

Why bother with paper mache paper clip holders? Let them make something useful!