The "I will be away for a while" thread

[i_like_1981]

1984... interesting book. Gives interesting ideas.

But that is only if surveillance becomes an art for its own sake... as long as it remembers its original utilitarian/security objectives, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

I look upon civil liberties as something that can only be given if everone is actually responsible for their own actions. If not, well, security measures are needed for the upkeep of order.

Welcome back, Imperialist. Long time no see. It's been a bit... quieter on here in your absence, but with the number of posts you've always got in store for this site, it would seem a lot quieter.

The book 1984 is one of my favourites as well. It was written shortly after the death of Hitler who had of course turned Germany into a totalitarian state where nobody at all was permitted to speak out against the Nazi leadership under the threat of certain discovery and death if they did. If somebody like Hitler had today's technology in their grasp they could more than easily make this book a reality, and having read it, it makes me aware of how important it is that we do not allow any more extremists to take control of our country. Over here our equivalent of the Nazi party would be the British National Party, and having learned lessons on what happened in the past when far-right extremists took control of a whole country, it is good to see that most people today are rejecting and mocking their extreme ideals. The world has learned from what happened under Hitler in the 1930s and 40s. We must take precautions and shout down all extreme political parties to ensure that has no chance of happening again and we remain a society where people of all backgrounds can be entitled to equal treatment and opportunities.

Security measures are needed to some extent to keep people in line, I fully agree. We need CCTV in public places to ensure that any crimes committed can be solved easier and quicker with video evidence to help. But I draw the line when this surveillance involves invading people's privacy in their own property. People are entitled to one place on the earth where they can do and say as they please without fear of being watched, and that is their home. The place they legally own and reside in. They have to be allowed that amount of privacy seeing as how near enough everything they do in the outside world is recorded, logged or seen in some way.

Best regards,
i_like_1981

[Fat Man]

I have no problem with surveillance cameras out in public places.

When you go into a bank, you are watched by a video camera.

When you enter a little 7-11 store to buy groceries, there is a camera watching you, and a ruler on the side of the door so that your height is measured as you enter the premises. Well, as long as there is no floor mat that weighs you, because how much I weigh is nobody's damn business.

When I ride the city buses, as I enter the bus, there is a sign saying that the bus has a video camera and anything we say is recorded. Well, I still express my own political opinions, and as I leave the bus, I give the camera a middle finger salute! Fuck 'em!

When I'm having a conversation with friends, I resent that anything I say might be recorded. The cameras are bad enough, but as long as I'm not doing anything physically harmful or threatening, then what I say in conversations with friends is nobody's fucking business! So, whoever is behind the surveillance cameras will just had to be content to watch silent videos.

I don't want anybody listening in on conversations that I'm having with friends when I'm sitting down in a restaurant to eat. We shouldn't have to be afraid to hold conversations at the dinner table, even out in public.

So, voice recordings is going way too far. It's bad enough that there are cameras watching our actions, but it's nobody's business what I say or think!

I'll put up with the video cameras in public.

But once I enter my own home, I expect to have my own privacy. While I'm watching TV, I don't want my TV watching me. What I say or do in my home is nobody's fucking business.

I look upon civil liberties as something that can only be given if everone is actually responsible for their own actions. If not, well, security measures are needed for the upkeep of order.

NO! We are ALL entitled to civil liberties, regardless of how many people in society might act irresponsibly. Why should we all be penalized just because a few idiots act in an irresponsible manner?

I find it all be be rather hypocritical that we are being spied on in public, and perhaps penalized for expressing our opinions, yet we allow professional football players to get off Scott-free after they have committed rape!

So, grant me my civil liberties, and lock up the irresponsible jocks!

[The Imperialist]

Well, the hypocrisy must be punished. With the most extreme measure.

Let us just say that we agree to disagree with this matter.

I place the safety and the continuity of the state and the country as the highest of priorities, therefore, you can see why I hold this view.

[Fat Man]

Well, the hypocrisy must be punished. With the most extreme measure.

Let us just say that we agree to disagree with this matter.

I place the safety and the continuity of the state and the country as the highest of priorities, therefore, you can see why I hold this view.

Well, we really can't punish people for being hypocrites and liars, not unless they lie while testifying in a court of law, then that is perjury.

But there is no law, for example: against being a religious hypocrite, telling people on the one hand that they're going to Hell if they drink alcohol or smoke, but then, you do the same things yourself when nobody is looking.

Also, when people ask me how much I weigh, there is no law against me lying about my weight, unless it's on a drivers license, but normally I tell people it's none of their fucking business.

While the safety and the continuity of the state is important, we must also remember, the state is made up of people, or individuals who have different beliefs, and if the state starts eliminating people for various reasons, then, well . . . . . no people, no state. We are the state.

But now, we must decide, are we going to be a state made up of reasonably intelligent people who will have a certain amount tolerance for some deviance or are we going to be a state made up of paranoid morons who will demand people that people be severely punished for the slightest infraction of the laws.

For example: here in the USA, if you're caught stealing or shop-lifting from a store, you either do some jail time, or get put on probation and pay some fines.

But in many Arab countries under Islamic law, if your caught stealing, you get your hand cut off, so you are in effect, being punished for the rest of your life just because you stole an apple in a store. Under Sharia Law in Islamic countries a father may kill his own daughter if he suspects her of being unfaithful, and the penalty for adultery is being stoned to death. A women who has been raped gets stoned to death because they believe she has sinned just simply because another man who was not her husband had sex with her, never mind that it was forced on her against he will, she still gets stoned to death.

The safety and the continuity of the state must not take presidents over human rights, and our rights privacy.

As I have said, being under surveillance cameras while out in public is bad enough, but to have my voice conversations with friends recorded, that is stepping way over the line.

What kind of world are we going to have when people become afraid to socialize with one another and have conversations while sitting down to a meal in a restaurant?

We will become a society of unfriendly, paranoid, and antisocial people.

And that means, a society that is even more prone to violence in the long run.

Too much law is just as bad as being lawless.

So, you can take your fucking Imperialism, and shove it up your ass!

Imperialism is an outdated form of government, it is old hat, it's a dinosaur.

There is a very good reason why the sun never sets on the British Empire.

God can't trust the British in the dark!

OK, just kidding, that was only meant to be a joke.

[Earl]

Peace, my brothers. Considering that we are powerless, let's not major in minors. Remember what we share in common.

[i_like_1981]

Hey, Fat Man, I see you've reached 1980 posts now! Congratulations! You're now into the 1980s post range! When you do your next one, please give me a shout-out in there somewhere. I would appreciate that, seeing as how it'll be a long time before I get up to that post count.

Sorry if this post is irrelevant. I just felt I had to mention it. You know how much I like 1981. Nonetheless, I still don't think the Imperialist is being treated fairly. I don't agree with all he says myself but I respect his intelligence and highly-detailed brand of posting. Very few teenagers and young people are like that. A lot of them are just stupid bellends who couldn't write their own name if it wasn't printed in front of them, and it seems to me that when they get behind a computer and keyboard, they forget how to spell, punctuate and form sentences completely. The Imperialist proves that not all the youth living in Britain today are complete dumbasses, and I respect him for that.

Best regards,
i_like_1981

[The Imperialist]

Well, it is an eternal struggle- the state, the people and the criminal element (very general term here)

As a great thief from Edo said (after he was caught and before being put to death), "Even if the sands on beaches shall disappear, the thievery in people will never perish"

It is in the interest of the state and the people that these criminal elements are either eliminated, or rehabilitated. And I think one will know which one is easier in terms of human cost and economic cost. (To spell it out, outright elimination)

The state demands responsbility and compliance (and tries to deal with the criminal elements), the people demand freedom from provervial shackles of various degrees (whilw demanding safety and gurantees of the person at the same time, while not noticing that the person will be shackled to the gaze of the state if they want their safety as long as certain human nature stands), and the criminal element tries to take advantage of the people and the state.

The easiest is to eliminate the criminal element with extraordinary measures (I shall leave this vague, as some may consider me unethical and cold-hearted; we must sometimes go past accepted principles to solve an unending problem as long as we are strong enough to pull ourselves back once it is over), so that the un-perishing thievery will eventually be contained with the minimum means in the future. Until the people will see the logic (and as long as the state keeps its end of the bargain instead of thinking itself the all-seeing Leviathan) that the shackles will be there until this is done (it will be done if people stop bickering- for example, the crime rate during the civil rights movement increased, forcing the state to redirect funds to bolster security, setting back certain measures such as education) so int he future, the people's safety will be guranteed along with almost virtual freedom except for the constraints of the law.

The constant tug of war between the bickering individual and the state is what it stopping a few things happening. If the state relents, there is anarchy, so the state cannot relent. If the individual relents temporarily, many things will be solved. I think this looks like Pascal's Wager to me... the uncertainties of either side relenting is great, but even if the desired things do not happen, both will equally be bad (the state losing will actually have greater disadvantages, but I am not factoring it in for the sake of balancing out the arguement to make it as close to Pascal's Wager regarding God), so one might as well as entrust things to the state (for a moment). But I do not like this arguement, because it sounds like as if people cannot trust each other or the state except for some base incentives and the flip of the coin.

[Lewis]

There is a very good reason why the sun never sets on the British Empire.

God can't trust the British in the dark!

OK, just kidding, that was only meant to be a joke.

To be fair Fat Man that statement is quite true, because the UK is the number one nation for CCTV:

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/v ... something/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... China.html#

Also the New Labour government (which got booted out last May) introduced a large number of legislation to do with civil liberties. Some of the legislation was good like the Human Rights Act, but they also introduced anti-terror legislation like being able to hold terror suspects for 28 days without charge, police were able to stop and search random people on thestreet due to anti-terror legislation (but that has now been overruled by the Con'Dem govt) and the DNA Database where they hold on to all the DNA they accumulate even if people are innocent or are released without charge.

After 7/7 Blair wanted to force through a 90 day detention limit for terror suspects, but that was defeated in the Commons. It eventually was passed when it was changed from 90 to 28 days.

[The Imperialist]

But the how about nations that use human operatives instead of CCTV? The so-called state security divisions? China is quite big on them...

If I was to keep to my principles, I should condone it. It is necessary. (MI5 is technically a state security unit, public safety police is technically it, and usually used for counter-intelligence)

However, in China's case, it is to keep under the thum of the communist party, not for the safety of the people, so... I cannot condone it.

[i_like_1981]

I'm not planning on going away anywhere, but I thought I'd post in this thread to tell you why you've not been seeing as much of me recently and why I might not be on here as much over the coming days.

I have been receiving some rather uncomfortable feelings in my chest and stomach area of late. Sometimes these feelings will go away, but nausea and headache will fill in for the odd sensations while they're not happening. Naturally I am rather concerned about this so I'm making steps to improve my lifestyle - I've drastically lowered my caffeine consumption, lowered my fat consumption and opted for more fruit and veg and fruit juices over coffee and fast food. This has been going on for a few weeks now. I have been to see a doctor about it but they have suggested that it could be a problem with my bowel and gut area and it probably is not heart-related. Which I can understand - after all, heart problems generally tend to involve a crushing sensation in the chest and pain and fatigue upon exertion, neither of which I currently have. However, in the evenings I often spend quite a bit of time resting now, or even going out for a quick walk around the local area to help clear the head and get some fresh air, so that's why I'm not posting quite as much on here as I used to. I hope this will clear itself up soon, but if it doesn't, you probably won't be hearing as much from me now. I fear a sedentary lifestyle has had a part to play in all of this.

Nonetheless, I'll try and post on here every now and again. I've not forgotten you. Remain bless.

Best regards,
i_like_1981

[Skul]

I hope this will clear itself up soon, but if it doesn't, you probably won't be hearing as much from me now. I fear a sedentary lifestyle has had a part to play in all of this.

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope it does clear up soon. Take care.

Nonetheless, I'll try and post on here every now and again. I've not forgotten you. Remain bless.

I shall continue being bless. You can be rest assured. And I'm sure changing your lifestyle will be 100% risky-free.

[Earl]

I'm not planning on going away anywhere, but I thought I'd post in this thread to tell you why you've not been seeing as much of me recently and why I might not be on here as much over the coming days.

I have been receiving some rather uncomfortable feelings in my chest and stomach area of late. Sometimes these feelings will go away, but nausea and headache will fill in for the odd sensations while they're not happening. Naturally I am rather concerned about this so I'm making steps to improve my lifestyle - I've drastically lowered my caffeine consumption, lowered my fat consumption and opted for more fruit and veg and fruit juices over coffee and fast food. This has been going on for a few weeks now. I have been to see a doctor about it but they have suggested that it could be a problem with my bowel and gut area and it probably is not heart-related. Which I can understand - after all, heart problems generally tend to involve a crushing sensation in the chest and pain and fatigue upon exertion, neither of which I currently have. However, in the evenings I often spend quite a bit of time resting now, or even going out for a quick walk around the local area to help clear the head and get some fresh air, so that's why I'm not posting quite as much on here as I used to. I hope this will clear itself up soon, but if it doesn't, you probably won't be hearing as much from me now. I fear a sedentary lifestyle has had a part to play in all of this.

Nonetheless, I'll try and post on here every now and again. I've not forgotten you. Remain bless.

Best regards,
i_like_1981

I'm very sorry to hear about these feelings of discomfort that you have been experiencing lately. I hope that the changes you've made in your diet will be effective. You might want to consider a second opinion. I wish I could give you some medical advice. I certainly hope that you feel better soon. I wish that you would be given a proper diagnosis so that you would know what you're dealing with. Please keep us in touch. We're friends, after all.

[HugeFanOfBadReligion]

I'm not planning on going away anywhere, but I thought I'd post in this thread to tell you why you've not been seeing as much of me recently and why I might not be on here as much over the coming days.

I have been receiving some rather uncomfortable feelings in my chest and stomach area of late. Sometimes these feelings will go away, but nausea and headache will fill in for the odd sensations while they're not happening. Naturally I am rather concerned about this so I'm making steps to improve my lifestyle - I've drastically lowered my caffeine consumption, lowered my fat consumption and opted for more fruit and veg and fruit juices over coffee and fast food. This has been going on for a few weeks now. I have been to see a doctor about it but they have suggested that it could be a problem with my bowel and gut area and it probably is not heart-related. Which I can understand - after all, heart problems generally tend to involve a crushing sensation in the chest and pain and fatigue upon exertion, neither of which I currently have. However, in the evenings I often spend quite a bit of time resting now, or even going out for a quick walk around the local area to help clear the head and get some fresh air, so that's why I'm not posting quite as much on here as I used to. I hope this will clear itself up soon, but if it doesn't, you probably won't be hearing as much from me now. I fear a sedentary lifestyle has had a part to play in all of this.

Nonetheless, I'll try and post on here every now and again. I've not forgotten you. Remain bless.

Best regards,
i_like_1981

I wish you luck with this, it sounds like a painful experience. As Earl said, you may want a second opinion and a proper diagnosis, then you could have a better understanding of this condition, what to expect, how to deal with it best, etc. Don't worry about being active on this site, we understand that it's best that you should get a lot of rest or anything else that could be beneficial to your condition and don't expect you to post often when experiencing something like this.

Also, as a somewhat off topic side note (but also somewhat related to the topic of this thread), I haven't been posting as much as I'd like to here, but I have been quite busy. I have been reading any new posts, but I haven't been posting a lot. I'm still visiting this site a lot, I just haven't been able to post a lot.

[recovering_fan]

I'm not planning on going away anywhere, but I thought I'd post in this thread to tell you why you've not been seeing as much of me recently and why I might not be on here as much over the coming days.

I have been receiving some rather uncomfortable feelings in my chest and stomach area of late. Sometimes these feelings will go away, but nausea and headache will fill in for the odd sensations while they're not happening. Naturally I am rather concerned about this so I'm making steps to improve my lifestyle - I've drastically lowered my caffeine consumption, lowered my fat consumption and opted for more fruit and veg and fruit juices over coffee and fast food. This has been going on for a few weeks now. I have been to see a doctor about it but they have suggested that it could be a problem with my bowel and gut area and it probably is not heart-related. Which I can understand - after all, heart problems generally tend to involve a crushing sensation in the chest and pain and fatigue upon exertion, neither of which I currently have. However, in the evenings I often spend quite a bit of time resting now, or even going out for a quick walk around the local area to help clear the head and get some fresh air, so that's why I'm not posting quite as much on here as I used to. I hope this will clear itself up soon, but if it doesn't, you probably won't be hearing as much from me now. I fear a sedentary lifestyle has had a part to play in all of this.

Nonetheless, I'll try and post on here every now and again. I've not forgotten you. Remain bless.

I hope you feel better soon, man. A few more walks in the fresh air never hurt anyone.

[Silence]

It's quite understandable that you're not posting as much 1981. Medical problems are really things that should be taken with extreme caution. Better to be safe than sorry. I really hope you feel better soon. Do as much as you can to get yourself back to full health.

Well, I don't post a lot here either. School keeps me extremely busy (Actually, it's only Geometry and Biology). Plus, the pep rally I had today had put me in a very sour mood, and since my Biology midterm was directly after the rally, I was definitely wanting to go home and take a long nap. Now, I come home quite almost mad. I hated the pep rally, I wish they never put it in the school in the first place. Even worse, they even honored the sports teams! It's like a nightmare coming to reality. To think that I have to face this 11 more times... Okay, going off topic.

In a nutshell, I won't be here very often, unless I'm in break.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: I must also extend a thank you to Earl for letting me know through a PM.