Ganesh Sittampalam's Journal
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
Ganesh Sittampalam's LiveJournal:
| Wednesday, July 29th, 2009 | | 8:04 am |
| | Sunday, April 6th, 2008 | | 10:18 pm |
Olympic torch
I went to one of the torch protests earlier, here. The torch route was along Great Russell St, so the idea was that the protest would be at the end of Bedford Place. The police had placed their cordon about 5 or 10 metres down the road, though, which would have significantly restricted the view of the route - in sharp contrast to the fact that people who were displaying Chinese flags etc or no obvious protest material at all were allowed to "line the route" wherever they wanted. I decided to go and do this, as I wasn't carrying any flags or anything, so I ended up on Great Russell St just opposite Bedford Place. In the end the police did move the cordon to the end of Bedford Place, which was good; it should have been there in the first place. As far as I can tell from the torch route they were supposed to be on foot at that point, but in the end it came through on a bus and I'm not even sure which of the many buses and coaches that passed had it. I think it's a shame that the headlines are dominated by a few incidents of (very minor) violence, rather than the sheer numbers of the protestors who I think did succeed in turning the torch route into a tunnel of shame, at least where I was and probably in several other places. | | Sunday, March 23rd, 2008 | | 3:41 pm |
| | Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 | | 7:22 pm |
| | Friday, November 30th, 2007 | | 6:44 pm |
| | Sunday, May 27th, 2007 | | 7:24 pm |
| | Sunday, September 24th, 2006 | | 7:51 pm |
| | Tuesday, February 21st, 2006 | | 9:59 pm |
| | Wednesday, November 30th, 2005 | | 11:33 pm |
| | Monday, April 11th, 2005 | | 3:12 am |
| | Tuesday, April 5th, 2005 | | 12:26 am |
Poster
In view of this story, I intend to put up a poster along the lines of this ( postscript version) in my window. Any coments on how it could be improved would be gratefully received. Note that it's for printing on an A4 B&W printer, though I might use something a bit more colourful than a white background. I'd like to put more information really, but there's no room if I want decent sized text. I guess I could make a website and put the URL on the poster. | | Tuesday, March 29th, 2005 | | 1:49 am |
Stupid legislation
I'm sure many people have already picked over the Terrorism Act 2000 in much detail, but I only just now noticed how stupid some of it is. I was reading this news story. A has been charged with having B's name and address, which apparently is a crime because B is a soldier and A has a Muslim name (OK, the "A having a Muslim name" bit isn't mentioned in the charge, but the rest is..) It seemed like a bit of a sweeping offence, so I went to consult the relevant section, and indeed possessing any information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism is a crime. Eeek! I'd better destroy any records I have of the address of my friend in the RAF, then. Oh, wait, clause (3): "It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he had a reasonable excuse for his action or possession." So as long as I'm happy with being considered guilty until I can prove myself innocent, I'm probably OK. Great. Actually, I'd better be careful about having any information at all. After all, if I have a record of where the nearest supermarket is, a terrorist might be able to use that to get some food, which would certainly be useful to him or her. Scrolling on down to sections 59-61, yet more stupidity. The section essentially says "It's a crime to incite someone to do something outside the UK if it would be one of a certain set of crimes in the UK." Obviously they then thought that this might get the Armed Forces etc in trouble, so they added clause (5): "Nothing in this section imposes criminal liability on any person acting on behalf of, or holding office under, the Crown." So anyone who holds office under the Crown can do what they like in terms of incitement, whether or not they are acting on behalf of HMG at the time. I'd love to know what idiot wrote this law. | | Thursday, December 9th, 2004 | | 2:06 pm |
Vote buying
A pet bugbear of mine... The UK does not have a secret ballot. If you want to prove to me that you have voted in a particular way, you just need to apply for a postal vote, and fill it in and post it with me watching. Since some time in the late 1990s or early 2000s anyone can get a postal vote on demand. This is particularly bad because it can lead to coercion. There were some reports in the recent European elections of low-paid employees in some factory being told to bring their ballots in to work and fill them in there, on pain of losing their jobs. In days gone by when landlords could throw out tenants on a whim, it was routine for them to control the votes of their tenants - which is what led to the 1872 Reform Act. This also leads me to wonder how much it would cost to buy an election. So... [If you can't vote in the next general election for whatever reason, answer as if you can (and have at least some stake in the outcome of the vote).] Poll #400238 How much is your vote worth?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 21 For how much would you sell your vote in the next UK general election? And no, the votes in this poll aren't secret either :-) Edits:I know there are two 11p-20p options. Pick whichever one you like :-) I am asking the question solely for purposes of research and this should not be treated as an attempt to buy your vote, nor will or should your answers be treated as an offer to sell your vote. | | Wednesday, December 8th, 2004 | | 1:58 pm |
Posting policy (amended)
Since a couple of people have mentioned this now, I should mention that I've decided to change my posting policy. General discussion points, complaints about the world etc will generally be public. Discussion of what I've been doing and so on will remain friends-only. I'm normally happy to add anyone I know even vaguely to my friends list - just comment here or something. | | 1:04 pm |
| | Tuesday, December 7th, 2004 | | 10:43 pm |
Christ 0-1 Satan
This is just the kind of thing to restore my belief in Christmas :-) I do wonder how much press coverage there'd be if the National Secular Society asked the CofE to stop holding services (religion rots the brain, you know...) | | Wednesday, February 4th, 2004 | | 12:20 am |
| | Friday, August 22nd, 2003 | | 12:10 pm |
Friends/posting policy
Almost all of my posts are friends only (though actually there's not very many of them either). This is because I'm uncomfortable with the idea that someone randomly browsing can just read all my random semi-public utterances/news about my life without me having any control over it whatsoever. This doesn't mean I want to exercise very much control, however - so if you'd like me to add you as a friend, just ask me (e.g. by commenting on this post). If I know you I'll almost certainly add you. If I don't know you, I probably will too, but why on earth would you want to read this? :-) | | Monday, July 7th, 2003 | | 12:12 am |
Something I wouldn't have believed possible
Tranquility Bay - legal (offshore) child abuse. Update: Apparently the judge in the California case referred to in the article held that it was within the "broad rights to how parents can treat and handle their kids" usually granted by Californian Courts, but that concrete evidence of abuse would be grounds for returning to court on the issue. Current Mood: horrified | | Wednesday, August 28th, 2002 | | 3:59 pm |
Hello
Well, I've got myself a Livejournal. Mostly because lots of people I know have one and I was reading them, so I thought using the "friends" display would be cunning. But I might write something in here occasionally. Maybe. Don't hold your breath though. If I do it'll probably be friends-only, though, since I don't like the idea of advertising my life to the world. |
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