IPB Is Now In Full Force; All Emails And Phone Calls Effectively Under Government Surveillance

"1984" Author George Orwell's technophobia and societal satire has finally come true -- in 2017.

The UK's Investigatory Powers Bill -- now the Investigatory Powers "Act" -- will place all UK citizens under a heavy surveillance routine. Every UK citizen is now effectively under government surveillance as new powers to gather and retain data on citizens and new ways to use technology companies' user database for government security causes are introduced.

The controversial bill -- also known as the "Snooper's Charter" -- will allow the government to collect Internet Connection Records. Intelligence agencies and police could then stop modern crime and prosecute said individuals using information evidences.

 According to Amnesty International's Policy Director Bella Sankey, the UK is entering a "sad day" as the bill was passed last month. She said she agreed with Prime Minister Theresa May's approach to security for the UK but the measures are invasive and "won't do the job."  Sankey said that the Act opens "every detail of every citizen's online life up to state eyes" and can "drown authorities in data."

Sankey urged a "campaign for a surveillance law fit for the digital age" and must "continue to the courts." Despite public resentment, the bill pushed through as MPs quietly passed the bill.

Finally, They Investigate These Sharia Courts

The Tory MPs admitted it; Sharia court investigations weren't part of the plan. I can recall a few years back, these Tories wanted to make UK a financial market for the Middle East and Arabian countries by inculcating Sharialaw-based Islamic financing. While not destructive, it has alarmed me that over time, Britain turns into an Islamic nation. That's where the money is anyway.

"Sharia Councils Working In a Discriminatory and Unacceptable Way". Duh.

If that wasn't obvious, I don't know what is. While we may hate Home Secretary Theresa May for her strict immigration policies to "protect Britain" of sorts, I could say her point of view regarding these Sharia courts to be on my side.

She believes the courts are being used against women. At the very least, the courts are unfair against women.

According to Lord Bates:

"Sharia councils may be working in a discriminatory and unacceptable way.

"That is why, as part of the forthcoming counter-extremism strategy, Government will commission a full, independent investigation to assess to what extent Sharia is being applied in a manner that is unacceptable."

Shams, Discrimination and Whatnot

Meanwhile, Sharia courts said they did not discriminate against women and had molded their form of Sharia within the British legal principles because they are advisors and not courts.

British Muslim women are being duped into sham Sharia marriages. You wouldn't believe what kind of hell awaits these British converts.

No, I'm not against Islam. But Sharia is notorious for leaving women possession-less, even of their own properties, after their relationship ends.

They better sort this out real quick.

How Legal Is Marijuana In The United States? Here’s Five Ways It Is!

Washington and Colorado in the United Sates were the first states to make marijuana a legal drug. Well, with the changes, restrictions and other things involving pot, marijuana isn’t exactly and completely legal in the United States. However, here are five things we’re pretty sure makes it legal to own pot in the United States.

 

1.    Over 21-years-old? You Could Buy Marijuana!

If you’re over 21, you could buy marijuana legally in government-regulated pot-shops in the country.

2.    Alaska, DC and Oregon Allows Smoking

As long as you don’t smoke it in public and the government irons out the troubles, you could smoke marijuana in these places without fearing the fuzz.

3.    Public Smoking of Marijuana is Not Allowed

4.    Medical Marijuana is different from recreational marijuana.

Medical Marijuana is actually legal in 23 US states.

5.    Employers Have The Right To Fire Cannabis Users

Despite laws helping marijuana become semi-legal, employers who find their employees smoking pot inside work premises or are quite sober from marijuana usage can still fire them at will. Of course, even if employees fail at a drug test due to marijuana, they could still get fired.

UK Government Guarantees That Fracking Rules Will Not Apply In Scotland

Exercising its new freedoms, Scotland had rejected the UK government’s plan to pass the Infrastructure Bill. The new bill allows fracking firms to facilitate drilling for shale gas underneath unsuspecting UK properties. 

The Scottish government, Labour and Green party had opposed the bill, which would also apply to residential areas.

Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” has drillers take apart rocks using a high-pressure mixture for oil. With the new UK fracking laws, UK grounds would allow drilling firms to access difficult areas for oil and gas.

Opponents of fracking claim that the process could release potentially carcinogenic chemicals into groundwater. It could also result to increased pollution due to bad practice.

According to Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing, the move is just about right.

"This decision is a victory for common sense and shows how devolution of energy policy leads to different policy outcomes in Scotland. 

"It is a vindication of the Scottish government's continued objections to UK government plans to remove the right of Scottish householders to object to unconventional oil and gas drilling under their home. 

"We're glad the UK government has finally taken this on board - especially as 99 per cent of respondents to their own consultation also opposed the move."

Source

Protests Planned Against Implementation of UK Pornography Laws

Hundreds are planning to gather on Friday outside Parliament to protest the new set of pornographic laws effectively blocking “explicit content” from R18 films.

The Audiovisual Media Services Regulations of 2014 will have pornographic distributors for online and video-on-demand pornography be regulated by the British Board of Film Censors’ guidelines for R-18 material. It involves “explicit works of consenting sex or strong fetish material involving adults.”

The #PornProtest is a response against these regulations. Hundreds of demonstrators plan to stimulate sex acts with each other and perform a “face-sitting” demonstration.

As of December 1, 2014, strangulation, whipping and face-sitting, popular fetish sexual acts in adult pornography, had been banned on films produced in the United Kingdom. However, it does not restrict overseas films coming into the country from showing these explicit acts. 

The law banned them on the grounds that they were “life-threatening.”

Britain’s 2013 Sex Worker of the Year Charlotte Rose organised the mass protest. She told a popular blog that the restrictions were uncalled for. 

“How is it perfectly okay for a man to choke a woman with his penis in her mouth, yet we can’t enjoy cunnilingus through face-sitting?”

The protest will include serious speeches from various organisations. According to rose, the protesters are fighting for their personal liberty.

Source

Californian Civil Courts Rule That Minors Could Make Sexual Decisions

Young people in California become increasingly at risk of danger from sexual predators because some civil courts rule that minors could make decisions about who they could have sexual intercourse with.

In 2010, a 28-year old middle-school math teacher began a six-month sexual relationship with a 14-year old female at his school. The teacher was convicted with charges of committing lewd acts with a child. 

During the hearing, it was found she lied to her mother so she could have sexual intercourse with her teacher. They went into a hotel and admitted she engaged in voluntary consensual sex. According to LA Unified Attorney Keith Wyatt, the girl is seen to be conscious of what she is about to do.

In California, 18 years old is the age of consent. Despite the threshold, a number of civil cases have said minors could consent to sexual activities.

Despite Attorney Wyatt ensuring that LA Unified had no negligence in the case, the jury found the school’s administration not at fault. The decision is still under appeal. 

However, other states in United States, according to Indiana University Professor of Law Jennifer Drobac, have diverted from the criminal law treatment of adolescent and juvenile consent.

The Legal Tragedy That Was The King Family

Our country has an international perception of having the best and most expensive legal services the world over. It’s true; anybody could afford litigation or virtually-free legal representation through a contingency/no-win-no-fee fee condition. Many people get compensated even for the silliest, highly-avoidable mistake that in the absence of common sense and a great use of facts a person could win £300 in payouts.

So why did the King family have no proper legal protection despite meaning well for everything?

The story of the Kings began when Ashya King’s parents have taken him away from the hospital to have proton beam treatment instead of what his father considered was a “trial and error” approach to treating his brain tumour. The global hunt for the family ended in Spain where the couple and their children were found.

The authorities are then legally bound to intrude and become parent figures to Ashya as his parents are investigated for any criminal background.

It is quite obvious that any parent who sees their child continually suffering while medical professionals deal with him as a mere case would feel unable to do anything. Mr. King thought that proton beam therapy will help solve his child’s problems. Today Ashya is cleared for the proton beam therapy, the goal of his parents.

This is where the border of legalities become big trouble; it fails to address the mental state of suspects and regards it instantly as a criminal or psychologically-damaged event. A parent’s love can turn into insanity for caring for their children, but that cannot be constitutionalised.

Corporations, Capitalism and Probable Human Experiments

Ever heard of Thalidomide? It is a drug that allows pregnant women to cope with their morning sicknesses every morning. A drug distributor called Distillers had introduced the product to the public. It was manufactured by Grunenthal and they claimed no side effects to the user and their haul. 

However, in a few years, over 10,000 children were born with defects and deformities. Studies showed that it was the effects of Thalidomide on the children. Eight British individuals are currently pushing their cases against Grunenthal, and Distillers, which Diageo Scotland owns.

With a few manipulations here and there, this collective case may go nowhere except the provision of compensation. But as far as public shaming will go, companies will remain companies. Grunenthal still manufactures Thalidomide because it helps treat other diseases such as leprosy and myeloma, and the public will still need it.

Most probably, the eight British individuals will only receive monetary compensation.

But then again, when you look at it, this is how corporations and capitalism work. With money having a high qualitative value for people, a few deformed children from a discreet human experiment will be alright. Allow a legal challenge to shame the organisation, but then, the public, and the government, still need them. Money will always win, and the public can look past the company’s reputation, and the cycle begins again.

The FTT and Your Pensions

Why is the UK government, namely Chancellor George Osborne, greatly furious about the EU’s FinancialTransaction Tax proposal? It will impose taxes on shares and derivatives, which Osborne said was unspecified in the proposal. Osborne was furious that they had been given only five minutes to review the proposal. He said it had the potential to drive away investors from the United Kingdom.

All this is happening at a highly-inconvenient time; the UK’s economy is recovering as property values continue to boom and the economy, not just the services, but manufacturing and infrastructure, is slowly improving. This means the foundations of the UK economy rests on new investors. But the FTT, with its added ‘surprise’ expenses due to tax, may put off investors planning to start or do business with the United Kingdom.

You do know that when the FTT hits shares, companies will need to cost-cut. The first thing that gets hit is everyone’s pensions. Rather than pay you less, employers will instead cut off their contributions to your pensions because of the reduction of investors, or reduced share-buying by investors, which contributes greatly to operations of any business.

Your pensions are also “riding” on some stocks, funds and other financial instruments from the companies that grow them. Financial instruments the Financial Transaction Tax will directly affect, and this will definitely affect your pensions.