Tony Blair's tenure in office, hailed in 1997 as a bright turning point for a country downtrodden by decades of dogged Tory reign, leaves a legacy characterized by the complete abolition of the rule of common law - replaced by a ceaseless barrage of suffocating control mechanisms and freedom of speech death knells.
Blair created over 3,000 new criminal offences during his time in office - one for every day of his tenure and six times the amount created by Tory predecessors John Major and Margaret Thatcher. Allied with a raft of authoritarian anti-terror legislation, social behaviour mandates and hate speech restrictions - ridiculous measures such as criminalising the nomination of a neighbour to turn off your house alarm have also been introduced. The so-called 'liberal' Blair instituted a police state that obliterated anything the traditionally imperious Tories could ever get through (and we know how bad the tories were!)
In addition to the frenzied lawmaking, Blair had also overseen the abolition of jury rights, handing cases likely to last over 3 months to the dictate of a single judge, criminalized any protest not authorized by the government under the Serious Organised Crime Act, mandated the entry of any protester into a terror database upon police questioning, created glorification of terror laws that are so sweeping they could apply to any form of free speech, created a framework for the introduction of mandatory ID cards and implemented a national DNA database that stores records for eternity even if the suspect is acquitted of their crime.
The fact that a growing number of British citizens are completely distrustful and skeptical of their government's motives coalesces with gradually building anger in Britain over continually increased interest rates, mortgage and loan repayments, energy prices (eg.petrol now a pound a litre), government taxes, allied with resentment concerning overzealous bureaucratic infringement on personal behaviour such as hosepipe bans and water regulation.
How do we know the 7/7 London bombings were not masterminded and/or executed by the government or an agent actig on behalf of the government? Reams of evidence point to the bombings being an inside job (seriously, take the time to READ and EDUCATE yourself and DON'T be too hasty in accepting the 'official' version of events). Why did Blair refuse an official enquiry only days after the attacks? Did the government have an agenda? Was part of that agenda to coerce British subjects into believing they were at risk? Large scale terrorist atrocities worldwide often lead back to government perpetrators.
The government lost most of its credibility in the arena of terror alerts after the fiasco of the Ricin attack that never was, the non-existent Manchester Utd bomb plot, the artificial Canary Wharf fairytale, the brutal slaying of innocent Brazilian Charles de Menezes, and the botched Forest Gate raid. All the more reason on their part to allow one to 'slip through the net' and stage an event to re-invigorate the flagging war on terror. Remember Goebbels? It's called propaganda! You have more chance of being struck by lightening than being a victim of terrorism, and it's more likely that you'll drown in a swimming pool or shot in Moss Side or Glasgow than losing your life at the hands of terrorists. The government want to protect you from a threat that is just not there.
First Blair, now the very uncharismatic and increasingly unpopular Brown. They would have us believe that terrorists are everywhere, lurking behind every corner just waiting to kill everyone. As soon as we lose the fear, the terrorists lose their power over us to control our behaviour. If western governments were really trying to win a war on terror as they claim, then they would downplay and sideline acts of terror, pointing out that an individual has more chance of being struck by lightning than being killed in a terror attack. Because that's the truth of it. And this is the face of New Labour's "New Britain".
Britain is acknowledged as the world leader of Orwellian surveillance. An estimated 4.2 million closed-circuit TV cameras observe people going about their everyday business, from getting on a bus to lining up at the bank to driving around London. It's widely estimated that the average Briton is scrutinized by 300 cameras a day. Authorities maintain the cameras deter crime, despite the fact that police have admitted that they are 'too busy' to watch CCTV, even AFTER a crime has taken place. The outrage of civil libertarians has fallen on deaf ears as the public seems willing to accept the constant monitoring for an alleged 'greater good'.
Those who fail to hear these steps on the road to dictatorship should look at the government's plans for ID cards, described in its manifesto as "voluntary." They will be compulsory and worse. An ID card will be different from a drivers license or passport. It will be connected to a database called the NIR (National Identity Register), where your personal details will be stored. These will include your fingerprints, a scan of your iris, your residence status and unlimited other details about your life. If you fail to keep an appointment to be photographed and fingerprinted, you could be fined up to £2,500.
Every place that sells alcohol or cigarettes, every post office, every pharmacy and every bank will have an NIR terminal where you can be asked to "prove who you are." Each time you swipe it, a record is made at the NIR. This means that the government will know every time you withdraw more than £99 from your bank account. Restaurants and off-licenses will demand that the card is swiped so that they are indemnified from prosecution. Private business will have full access to the NIR. If you apply for a job, join a library, buy a car, buy a travel card, apply for a supermarket loyalty card, a telephone line or a mobile phone or an Internet account, your card will have to be swiped. In other words, there will be a record of your movements, from your shopping habits to the kind of medication you take.
The Labour government have conveniently forgotton about that little document called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 12 : "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence" etc.
People who attempt to resist the forthcoming Big Brother ID card and database system in the UK will never be able to leave the country according to the Government official in charge of the scheme. When it's time to pay for and collect your new ID card, not only will they demand biometric details, they'll also insist upon a wealth of personal details - including second homes, driving license and insurance numbers. Who will access this information? Who will monitor this information? And WHY?
The government sold the idea of the ID card database by saying it would make our information more secure. Tony Blair (as with Gordon Brown) said this would protect, not infringe our liberties. Selling the information of millions British citizens to private companies. How secure and protecting is that? And if they can protect your data, how do they explain their most recent fiasco? The HMRC child benefit data breach? The personal details of 25 million people across the UK whose names, addresses, dates of birth and bank account details now potentially in the hands of a member of good old Joe Public who may or may not decide to use them to his own advantage.
Recently leaked Whitehall documents revealed that children as young as 11 will also have their fingerprints taken and stored, even though the ID card bill specifically only applies to adults above the age of 16.
The government itself has admitted that the information WILL NOT KEEP US SAFE FROM FRAUD OR IDENTITY THEFT, nor will it PREVENT TERRORISM. So ask yourself, WHAT EXACTLY IS THE PURPOSE OF A BIOMETRIC DATABASE?
THE PURPOSE OF THE GOVERNMENT IS TO SERVE THE PEOPLE, NOT CONTROL THEM .Any scheme of national registration is alien to the basic fundamental principles of a supposed free country.
This isn't just about identity cards. The government's identity scheme includes a huge database to keep tabs on everyone, a massive infrastructure to collect peoples' details, and a giant network of technology required to verify people against their cards and both of these against the database.The card is just the tip of the iceberg.
Although the Government has not ventured figures for the cost to the country (though we know it's likely to run into billions) for implementing their ludicrous idea of an identity management scheme, you can guess who'll foot the bill.
YOU will.
Current Home Office estimates the additional tax burden of setting up the scheme will be of the order of £200 per person. You'll also have to pay for your ID card, and good ole Ms Home Secretary will have the authority to withdraw it at any time. The impact on other departmental and local authority budgets is unknown, but it will ultimately hit already overstretched public services such as health care (even longer waiting lists?), police force, prison services etc. Think realistically about the vast amount of money they'll need to 1) plan it effectively 2) implement it effectively and 3) monitor it effectively. Want the securocrats from the Ministry of Love banging on your door at 4:00am because you've ordered too many Orwell books? Would that kind of money not be better utilised elsewhere eg. free university education for all ?
If you want to say NO to ID cards, please sign the petition on Downing Street's website and tell Brown to get to fuck.
Your identity belongs to YOU, not the government. It seems the government want to buy and sell it, on their terms of course.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/CardsID.
http://www.magnacartaplus.org/news/index.php/?page_id=95Powers
Author notes
Not exactly the forum for soliciting signatures for a petition. Apologies. But we need as many as we can get. Don't let this government buy your identity. Make a difference before it's too late.
Here's a good website explaining it all in more detail:
http://www.magnacartaplus.org/news/index.php/?page_id=95
Please tell me what you think
Comments
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Hear, hear! What shite is this anyway?
They think all of us have already blown our minds on drugs or have become zombies on TV?
Do they honestly think their machinations have turned us all into unthinking unblinking idiots following prompts and commands?
Bastards!!!
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Thanks for this, I thought the ID card issue had blown over and was a little surprised and shocked ... signed the petition, scary, will they send a hit man?
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It will 'blow over' if people ignore it, and will be implemented in line with party policy. It won't 'blow over' if people are aware of the long term impact and choose to take action NOW. Not sure about the hitman, though MI5 take an active interest in anyone found not to be licking the arse of the establishment!
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Nothing genius about it honey. Don't just talk, walk walk walk...
I still don't see your signature on the website.
Disappointed.
Digging the Mr Pug quotes btw. I like pigs. Time perhaps for a session of 'the gathering storm'.
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genius
We will fight them on the beaches...
Do not let spacious plans for a new world divert your energies from saving what is left of the old...
I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals...
If the human race wishes to have a prolonged and indefinite period of material prosperity, they have only got to behave in a peaceful and helpful way toward one another...
In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies. (ermm Mr Chaney?)
It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations... The quotations, when engraved upon the memory, give you good thoughts. They also make you anxious to read the authors and look for more.
Kites rise highest against the wind - not with it.
Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.
A few of Mr Pugs quotes...
cometh the hour..cometh the woman..cometh those who are still awake enough to fight the Orwellian State, disinformation and Plato's "Noble Lies"
Mobilise
Organise
THINK
After all...
who wants the clocks to chime 13?
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Very Interesting
I live in America, but the title of this really caught my eye. Basically because the things that the United States government are suggesting really turns my stomach. I believe all governments are out for the same thing. To have complete control over the little guy or working man. How long before they put a tag behind our ear like an animal. I believe one of the Rockefellers said who cares about what happens to the working man, just take care of yourself and your family. It's all a big joke to the rich and powerful. These big public officials are just going to lead us to the inevitable slaughter. I know the public well enough to know that some will fight for their freedoms, and others will beg for more control because it makes them feel "safe". That's just my opinion of course.
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I'm inclined to agree with you Thoughtful Seeker. Equality per se will never be found on any government agenda (unless synonymous with the concept/practice of tokenism). As for the global elite, they'll continue to perpetuate the status quo (maintaining class division) and exploiting millions of people through control of government policy and corruption.
Thanks for the comment :-)
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question though. if we did get it, do you think the goverment would be on it...i doubt it. that would be covered by NATIONAL SECURITY and OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT. no MP would be on it or even the prime minister himself, i cant see it going through though, the lords would disagree, commons would deny if it stopped them from doing what they damn well please...and if worst came to worst, the queen can refuse royal ascent, which would make the scheme invalid..ofcourse that has the downside of civil war at the extreme end. other than that human rights act would deny its ability to be enforced and the EU would become involved. but im sure if they really wanted to do it, they would...shame really, britain home of democratic dictatorship
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None of this was particularly new to me, but i agree with you completely. the government has taken control of our lives in so many ways already, soon the old cliche you may take our lives but youll never take our freedom will be extinct, they can do both, and the cliche you may torture me but youll never break my spirit will be more apt...how long is it till britain stands up and declares with one voice NO!.
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I don't think enough people in the UK know what is happening Kelborno. Not enough to be sufficiently motivated to affect change anyway. I think our basic freedom's are being systematically eroded, and my fear is people will only notice when it's too late. Our national identity is such that we are quite apathetic (in a politically ignorant way), which leaves those in charge (politicians and the moneyed classes) to rob, mismanage and sabotage. And the sad thing is, it's not rocket science. The rich are rich BECAUSE the poor are poor, (and I don't just use the concept of 'poor' in financial terms). As for your comment, it would be interesting to see exactly who could claim immunity/exemption when it comes to ID cards, and more to the point, on what grounds. It's always the same though isn't it, one law for the wealthy, another for the proletariat?
Thanks for your comment, you raised some interesting issues :-)
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amen.
other than that, i'm pretty much speechless. there's a lot of information to take in here but hell, you wrote it incredibly well.
i think i'll be signing that petition. unless you have to be above the age of sixteen, in which case, i'll wait a year.
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You have a wee while to wait Forever. But in the interim, you can refuse to concur with everything you're told and spread the notion of political dissent
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The first thought I had as I was reading this, which was very well vocalized, was that it is a rather good idea. I say this due to so much identity theft. Once you are a victim of such a crime, you will also nod your head at their idea. Also the many children that are being kidnapped at their own schools due to not having registered proof of who is taking your child.
They have already begun this with vehicles, having GPS installed in newer models. It is technically a locator created to keep track of where you are at all times, which I do not approve of, but I can also understand their point of view.
Earth is no longer a "free" place to exist due to all of the negative behaviors from simple crime to terrorism. These individuals are the ones who screwed the freedoms that we once had up. Blame them instead of the leaders that are attempting to prevent it.
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Thanks for your input Cerebral, much appreciated :-)
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the way you describe things across the pond, it sounds like the same thing thats happening here is going on there, too. we don't yet have ID cards, although pretty much everyone carries some form of identification, the most common being the driver's licence. but we are quickly becoming the Oceania of 1984. Instead of newspeak, we have political correctness, instead of thoughtcrime, we have hatecrime, instead of the thought police, we have the NSA, instead of the Ministry of Love, we have Guantanamo, and telescreens are everywhere here, too. people have had their lives destroyed just because the wrong person didn't like what they said. This was a free country at one time, but it's far from it now. perhaps George Orwell was more of a prophet than people give him credit for. He seems to have only been wrong about the date.
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Interesting comment Nefer. Room 101 next? Thanks for taking the time to contribute. Much appreciated sir :-).
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Whilst sharing your loathing of Blair and all his works, this is hugely inaccurate in terms of the allegations. You claim to be from Scotland so why on earth are you using Americanisms and US spellings......
"behavior" - NO: "behaviour"
the "London Times" - NO: "The Times"
"Joe public" - NO: this is a US term, the English version would be "the man in the street".
"tell Brown to get to fuck" - NO: this is incorrect; the phrase is "go and fuck himself".
You damage your article by these errors and reveal yourself as an ignoramus. I would agree that the case for ID cards has been damaged by the lost Revenue & Customs disks, but only in terms of practise, not theory. The UK is the only country in Europe without identity cards and it causes us inconvenience. We need passports to go abroad, EU citizens only need their ID card. -
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'Joe public' is a term used by many Brits, myself included. It isn't exclusively reserved for American use.
'London' times was utilised to distinguish from other British newspapers, particularly local scottish newspapers, (or any other world wide media publication for that matter).
I don't claim to be from Scotland. I merely live here.
You might be in agreement with ID cards, that's your opinion and you're entitled to it. I'm vehemently opposed to the government instructing me to provide biometric data, insisting I carry around on my person (at all times) an ID card to 'prove who I am'. I know who I am. I have a birth certificate. I have a passport for the purpose of travel, and a photographic driver's license. I have an identity which belongs to me, NOT the labour party. Nor do I want the government obtaining information about my private life. When I draw money from a bank, pop into a chemist for paracetamol, buy a bottle of Glenfiddich or attend a football match at Old Trafford, thats personal, and I don't want that information logged and/or stored on a centralised computer system. Christ only knows who'd have access to it, or what they'd do with the information anyway. On a personal level, it's a gross violation of my human rights rights in relation to my privacy (Article 12, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence" etc). I don't want some twat from the ministry of love banging on my door in 20 years telling me I've bought too many Orwell books online, or arresting me at 4:00am under anti-terror laws should I choose to order a copy of the Koran.
In addition, the massive amount of money the Labour party will have to spend in order to 1) plan it effectively, 2)implement it effectively and 3)monitor it effectively could be far better utilised elsewhere, free university education for all and the NHS prime examples of. I pay more than enough tax to the labour government, from £250 a month in council tax to paying taxes on whisky made in a country I live in. I don't wish to contribute (in any shape or form) to setting up a system that can only prove invasive. The government are there to serve, not control. I work for the government, I know they can't get things right, even at grassroots/front line level.
As for the ignoramus comment, I'll ignore that. You clearly define a person based on the content of a single submission. Strong human attribute :-).Cheers for the input. Much appreciated. -
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How about "behavior"? And the Edinburgh Times, Glasgow Times, Aberdeen Times, Dundee Times. Manchester Times, Bournemouth Times, Berlin Times, Tokyo Times, Manila Times, Dublin Times, Kabul Times, Amsterdam Times, Los Angeles Times, any other of a 1000 town's Times? Crap. There are only 2 papers in the world of any significance featuring "Times" in their title: The Times and The New York Times. You are using US terminology. You even mis-spell "licence" in the American fashion and you call a driving licence a "driver's license". Until you write English instead of borrowed Americanisms, you can hardly expect to be taken seriously. Joe Public my arse (or you you would say, my buns).
You have of course avoided the main point of my response which is that every other European country has ID cards. And Americans (whom you seem to copy) have them too.
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You have missed the point!
If they have an ID card database and lose it, then the cock-ups over losing the details of half the country won't look so bad!
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lol Jeff...thanks for the comment. Too many of us miss the point, or don't care enough, until they start to get emails through from government officials (eventually) reprimanding them for having ordered a copy of Mein Kampf on amazon or any other form of literature they view as undesirable.
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I thank you for putting this up so that we can read. I am from the states but I have recently realised that nothing is going to change as far as government goes unless the people really start standing up for themselves. I think what your doing is awesome by spreading the message....Hope you get a whole army of people standing with you and fighting for the freedoms we should all benefit from as human beings.
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Thanks Loves, much appreciated :-)
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An informative and thought provoking societal write which states it's case well,this is not a rant but a concerned and concentrated conscious act to ask pertinent questions.Indeed I agree that under Blair our country was decimated and destructured.Amongst the ludicrous need for him to assimilate information re our population was the school form sent to every parent of a schoolchild.The requirement was to gather info re nationality.On the form were boxes for many nationalities but none for English.Assuming an error,I added a box and placed a footnote explaining my child was English,born to English parents and born in England.The school informed I could not submit that form and was required to fill a new form in and instead tick a box for all other nationalities not mentioned which was simply marked "other" I politely explained I would rather not complete a form in that way and that my passport no more stated " other" than did anyone else's.Unbelievably there was an incredible hoo hah and a top education official visited me threatening me with a £1,000 fine if I refused to write "other" as my child's nationality. She said Blair was adamant the survey was completed,I politely sent him an invitation to tea at talks for I had many,many issues with Blairs policies but for some reason he declined.I wrote a missive stating that I was a private person and didn't court publicity but that if I were prosecuted for the first and only time in my life for refusing to state "other" instead of "English" then I would take it to the race relations board.I was not prosecuted but spent many months being persecuted by pressure.
Your point re the CCTV cameras is pertinent.A friend was commisioned to study two years footage of cctv coverage of Birmingham, indeed the cameras are often unmanned and when they were the study showed that the operators often zoomed in on attractive women wearing skimpy outfits and followed them.It was a disturbing and disconcerting expose of public funds to monitor the public for basically playful purpose.Who monitors the controllers? Why doesn't the public have the right to ask politicions to be accountable for acts they pass that no one wants and that disaffect us all in one way or another?
Blair gave into every demand by the terrorist organization the IRA,pardoned all their convicted terrorists,let them keep their multi million funds and didn't set in place de commisioning of arms but accepted that it would be done within the year.
Top IRA brass were found to be training terrorists in the camps training Al Qauida,Blair did not rescind any of the agreements he made with the IRA.
The 7/7 bombings had all the hallmarks of the previous bombings in our capital et al of the IRA,quite often one faction will fund and abet that of another to cause carnage whilst keeping themselves free from known association.
Indeed we are all monitered constantly from all calls made on cellphones stored on microfisch,from landlines being eavesdropped on to supposedly seek out terrorist plots,the monitering of what is written within cyberspace via the computer.We even have hidden cameras being fitted to wheelie bins to monitor our refuse.
The proposed introduction of identity cards is worrying.The present system of ID via driving licence,birth certificate and or passport should be sufficient but just as no criminal will carry genuine ID at presnt they will surely not carry bona fide identity cards so exactly how will these cards detect or deter criminals or terrorists?
The recent debacle of the Government losing the personal details of 25 million of the population because they sub contracted the work to a firm to save costs includes bank details,D.O.B's et al and all the info that should be protected under the data protection act,proving that the info they collate is insecure and handed to third parties.
The huge amount of money they propose charging for these identity cards will raise millions more in taxes and are they publicly accountable for what they do with the taxes in the coffers?
Taxed on earnings,on savings,on petrol even on sanitary protection and to watch tv ( the tv licence is simply another tax) Inheritence tax and the list goes on with ever increasing taxes,the introduction of 24 hour drinking and the declassification of marajuana perhaps Blair thought that if the nation were led to drink or smoke pot we may not notice all our services be reduced from army regiments to equipment allowed for the fire brigade,to the destructuring of the NHS.
I will sign the petition for it's peaceful and positively saying no thankyou but I wonder whether it will be enough to halt what seems to be imminent? Let us hope so.Indeed we are heading for an Orwellian state,slightly off tangent here but if you have time you may like to read the act passed recently in the American Congress which relates to "thought crime" the link is HR 1995.It may only be a matter of time before our own government follows suit and passes a law re out thoughts.One wonders where that will lead to and what of writers like top novelist Steven King,the king of horror, he certainly has the most barbaric thoughts but he does not emulate or advocate them but simply writes of them.A whole new grey area is being opened up methinks.
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Hi Yvette,
Thanks for that insightful comment, for taking the time to respond. Much appreciated. You make some very valid points. I'll certainly read the link you mention. If we manage our fair share of signatures, (a few million!) it might be enough to prove to Gordon Brown and his farcical government that we do not accept control.
Sonia.
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This is very well informative and very passionanate feeling.You got your message through loud and clear.My impression is that this means so much to you.My vote will be pit in.Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you michaeline :-)
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lol...my sense of humour is intact, but we have to take some things seriously. And for the record, I only live in Scotland, I'm a Mancunian by birth
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Wow!
Sounds like the Mark of the Beast to me!, I would definately sign against it.
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They can't even keep track of their own bloody post how the fuck they gonna manage this?
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I agree hun.. they can just all fuck off!
I don't want it, don't feel the need for it and I hate that they know so much about us already
Gill.x
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Bravo Gill. Gonna sign on the website? X
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