[quote=Antaletriangle;122458]Are you saying i'm spreading disinormation MAG?People need to look at the different angles on politics and the agendas that are afoot not roll over like a lapdog and accept everything the popular media are telling you.Are you one of those who suppresses free thinking? Not having a direct go at you,simply asking a question. Problem-reaction-solution.Are you familiar with this concept?Below is today's news(22nd march 2009) that provides the solution to the above mindset. (I do prefer other works by Casper david friedrich by the way lol.)
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On your casper David friedrich avatar why is the head of the figure facing towards the viewer-is it supposed to be obvious?
Antaletriangle — I wasn’t having a “go at you either…simply asking the question”.
You are trying to enlighten the unenlightened; good for you.
I think you misunderstood my intention. Apologies if so; I should have been clearer.
The thread’s heading is “The mindset that creates a big Brother state”. I thought you meant Al Qaeda, then maybe Gordon Brown, and the whole elite juggernaut squeezing the Globe. After your reply to my comment, I was genuinely baffled. Do you endorse Brown’s views, I thought? No! He's trying to show the mindset of control.
When I clicked through to the original article and readers comments on it, sanity was restored. So much so, I reproduce some of the comments below—sobering, cynical, funny, outraged. In Britain there's a battle for the mind just like everywhere else.
I hope you enjoy what others had to say about the same article; it is probably exactly what you were thinking yourself!
“WE ARE ABOUT TO TAKE THE WAR AGAINST TERROR TO A NEW LEVEL” [Oh NO-O-O, NOT AGAIN!!]
Gordon Brown PM, UK
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COMMENTS ON THE OBSERVER ARTICLE (it invoked hundreds of concerned comments):
This whole 'War on Terror' is a criminal sham.
If you invade and exploit a people what do you expect them to do?
What would we do? fight back any way we can.
Anyway, 30 years in Northern Ireland should show that terrorism CANT be defeated. All it takes is one head-case with enough will to put the whole country on panic alert.
If you treated these people with some respect instead of jackbooting all over them then there would most likely BE no terrorism.
It seems the readers of this newspaper have more sense than the government.
Dzoni
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It's simple, really. Talking up terror = state of permanent fear. Fear = acquiesence.
AQ is the bogeyman that a stern parent conjures up to keep an opinionated child subdued and obedient. AQ is less real than the global economic situation that is today and into the future, destroying more lives than any terrorist organisation ever could.
kelimp
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I can hardly muster the energy to reiterate what has been said a thousand times before in refutation of this mendacious speak-your-weight parody of the truth....
THE REASON OUR COUNTRY WAS AND MIGHT BE A TERRORIST TARGET IS BECAUSE YOU, YES YOU INSTIGATED AN ILLEGAL WAR OF AGRESSION IN THE MIDDLE-EAST.
Try it in your constituency - raze Kirkcaldy houses at random from 20,000 feet, scatter cluster bombs and depleted uranium along the high street, detain people upon whim rather than via any due process -
A seven-year old child would understand cause & affect of that.
But you know full well all of the above many time overs - it seemingly is only your rabbit in headlights knee-jerk self-serving political survival instinct that keeps you afloat and spouting all this whacking an empty can with a stick nonsense.
BUT - and here's a funny thing - I just might vote for you - *IF YOU CAME CLEAN, ADMITTED YOUR MISTAKES, ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR MISTAKES - AND JUST BE HONEST*
Gmcurrie
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"… Brown you end up writing an article today titled
"We are about to take the war against terror to a new level"
You are either a hypocrite or an idiot or most likely both."
Anon
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@ Gordon Brown
This is total misdirection ! in fact a "Paper Tiger" the G20 will tell
YOU ! what they want YOU to do. The people of the Island of Eire have spoken
unanimously, they will not return to WAR,this is now a problem of WHO owns the Republics vast Gas Reserves,(or do you think that a high pressure Gas Line cannot be dis-Continued ?, the Republic of Eire is not the Ukraine nor Georgia).
After igniting and infuriating the Islamic World (from Morocco to Malaya)
you now further mis-Direct the Public into the sham and show of Afghanistan,when your real problem is Pakistan,India,Kashmir mis Directing once again with the
Holy Land of Tibet. Further to your mis Direction you then have the temerity to avoid Palestine/Israel and then blame the recipient,s of injustice on all of these
"Terror Groups" this is a cover ,if not a Mask of the Political Problems that you dare not face, and blanket this legerdemain with a myth.
Mantissa
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OK. Noone has the right to blow innocent people up.
I wish you and Blair had thought of that before you helped blow up Iraq. Even if the terrorists kill three thousand people here it will not be as many as have died in Iraq as a direct result of this New labour governments interventionism.
But on a seperate matter, the acute injustice that your government helped perpetrate in Britain, which, according to the Guardian has turned into one of the nastiest and unfairest of societies alongside Portugal - this injustice is likely to result in demonstrations and protests and what we see is that you have absolutely no compunction in turnign ant-terror tools on demonstrators. Not only demostrators but people who throw sweet wrappers away in the wrong bins.
The point is that all your rhetoric against terrorism is a double edged sword.
Ishouldapologise
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That's right, Gordon. You just tell us who the enemy is, that'll be fine.
Eurasia, Eastasia, IRA, Al Qaida...whatever, man.
Toolidholliday
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Enough with the divide and rule. The majority of people in the world have much in common; we are enslaved by the minority who are protected by corrupt and sleazy government cronies around the world. The 'war on terror' will be turned on its head and the real terrorists will be exposed and brought to book by the people of the world and the momentum is starting though in your bubble you fail to see it.
…Gordon, your puppet masters behind the curtain may hail your duplicity in their desire to own the earth and to enslave and imprison the majority of the world's population; but the world's population are waking up to the scam and it is only a matter of time before the whole pyramid scam is torn asunder.
radicalchange
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Any terrorism unleashed by al qaida is as nothing compared to the terrorism inflicted by the USA, UK and Israel in the last few decades. We are light-years ahead in the fields of killing, bombing, torture, invasion and undermining democracies.
Roosterbooster198
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When I lived in London in the 70s and 80s, IRA terrorists were blowing up stations, Wimpy bars, bandstands, Harrod's and anything else they could. In response to this, we had bag checks at museums etc. That's all. No supression of Habeus Corpus, no biometric ID cards, no detention without charge for a month or more, no database of children's DNA, etc., etc.. (In Northern Ireland, they had soldiers on the streets, internment, torture, shoot-to-kill etc, and a lot more terrorist-caused deaths.)
All your fear-mongering and removal of the personal freedoms that used to make Britain great are just cynical cover for your own incompetence, control-freakery and greed for power.
longpete
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On technology in general.. near where I work there was a gadget on a lamp post with a recorded voice saying the area was protected by CCTV, no-one I know thought it was effective.. we thought it was a waste of time and pretty stupid. It's not in operation now which is a relief because the only effect it seemed to have was to annoy people.
And I still don't know what the point of having microphones on CCTV cameras is. A few yards from the talking device we have a camera with a microphone.. is it supposed to be catching terrorists talking about terror related things as they walk down the road?? I can't help thinking a lot of the measures taken to protect us in one way or another are useless placebos for the public.
It's like living an age where the powers-to-be are complete suckers for any techno solution simply because it's the latest thing available. …a narrow minded waste of money and invasive.
Skyscene
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Lies, spurious lies. I, like many others reading this, feel patronised by the arrogance of your arguments. The presumption of our allegiance to your cause.
You have kidnapped and tortured foreigners.
You have overthrown governments to secure strategic advantages.
You have destroyed entire countries only to seek profit from their reconstruction.
You have lied to your own population to encourage a war of aggression.
There isn't a damn thing you can say that will redeem you.
indrossi
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I didn't bother to read the junk that is to be expected from this PM. Instead I scrolled down to the comments section straight away ... where I found what was to be expected: OUTRAGE. It's great to see that there are so many who voice their anger about the totalitarianism, the incompetence and the corruption of this government.
WakaJawaka
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I read the first line of Big Brother's address to the nation and wondered if a fringe terrorist was some kind of Guerilla hairdresser. Little did I realise how the article would become more ludicrous with each daft piece of drivel spouted.
It's amazing how truly unwelcome the terrorist attacks in N.I. were to this government. Gordon Brown really doesn't want to get taken off-message that all terrorists are Muslim fanatics. For days afterwards, the men who carried out the shootings were referred to as 'murderers' so as not to confuse our little brains wondering how Osama Bin Laden had gotten into N.I. This article is the first I have seen of a senior cabinet minister calling them terrorists. Still though, we need reminding that although the N.I. terrorists did kill people, they're not really doing proper harm like the premier league terrorists from Eurasia or Eastasia - whichever is Oceania's avowed enemy this week.
Mr Brown, I'd prefer if instead of telling us what motivates the nasty terrorists, you told us what motivated you. Because I really haven't got a scooby what goes on in that potato of yours.
Don't worry, you got your threats across succinctly and they are duly noted, although they are not going to prevent whatever unrest is gathering.
reddybobs
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If this were fiction we would now be in the lead up to the declaration of a state of emergency.
"No election until after the emergency! No poll figures to be released! No national debt figures or balance of payment figures to be published. No criticism of the government will be allowed. All of these will be regarded as giving aid and comfort to the enemy and will be punished severely".
If this were fiction.
…. It is as unthinkable in the UK as . . . oh . . . as unthinkable as spycams on every corner. OR . . . the suspension of habeas corpus. Or government inspired torture. Or Identity cards., Or a politicised police force. Or . . . or whatever. None of these things could possibly happen in Britain. We are not a banana republic you know.
gortahork
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You're not fooling anybody Mr. Brown. The "War on Terror" is a sham and more and more people will see it that way. The "War on Terror" exists to serve the interests of American and European imperialism by securing access to the natural resources of the Middle East and Central Asia at the expense of other global powers like China and Russia.
***Imperialism
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"All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." - Hermann Goering
I think there is a threat. I just don't trust you to tell me about it.
Caspian2
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“…safeguarding the rights and freedoms of the individual...”
Hilarious that you say that Gordon as you have spent your time as PM eroding the rights of the individual in the name of protection from terror.
You have mortgaged the future of our children and grandchildren to bail out your banker mates to prop up an economic model that is unsustainable.
You have failed our country, you have failed the party, you are a tin pot dictator.
HardWorkinHippy
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To a new level? How low can you go Gordon.
The Iraq War put you and your chums in the running for a hotseat in the Hague as it is!Surpressed any more incriminating documents lately?
Caersalem
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Tens of thousands of Security Guards have been trained, but
NOT ONE PRIME MINISTER
Has a clue that IF we were not in Afghanistan , this would not be a risk ?
frog2
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Worried. "What is this doing in the Guardian?"
Preparing us for WW3?
Theloonyfromcatford
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"As the threats we face are changing rapidly,"
Having failed to blow up a London nightclub, al-Qaida operatives are determined to reduce a trendy bistro to rubble.
Building by building they'll destroy the infidel West - like the Blitz only spread over 60 million years.
Theloonyfromcatford
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Gordon Brown,
you now appear to have no vestige of shame left in your nature.This article is pure and simple propoganda for the deprivation of civil liberty in this country that you clearly consider imperative to ensure that we can "live normally, with confidence and free from fear." Maybe, if you developed a foreign policy that didn't target muslim countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan and showed more discernment over the Israel / Palestine issue, we might not have to fear the backlash from your government's foreign policies. As far as I'm concerned, you're part of the problem rather than the solution.
hideandseeker
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If you were serious about protecting the British people, you would resign now and let a new administration without the stains of Iraq and Afghanistan on its hands, or distraction by the prospect of losing votes in the "ethnic population", get a grip on our security.
TPTFC
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Through increased surveillance, limitations on protest, the handing of ever more power to unelected bodies, and most importantly the shift towards pragmatism instead of principle, you and your Government are the biggest threat to Britishness and the British way of life.
SocialSkeptic
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''We should be under no illusion, however, that the biggest security threat to our country and other countries is the murderous agents of hate that work under the banner of al-Qaida.''
No, we shouldn't be under such an illusion. The biggest threat to our country and others is catastrophic climate change.
Islamic terrorism is way down the list. Although the threat it poses has grown massively in recent years (the war on terror is clearly going well - pouring more fuel on the fire always puts it out after all.) The situation in Pakistan at the moment is certainly a concern. But as I said, way down the roster.
I would truly be glad to see the back of New Labour, if I thought there was anything better on the horizon.
nickweb
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An on-the-hustlings call that does little to inspire Mr Brown. You speak reactively as one in a position of authority. And al-Qaida speaks reactively, as a hydra that challenges authority on many grounds.
In this 21st Century, the utilitarian liberal promotes a common rule of law, question any normalcy where there is a dearth of respect and understand that all proper authority to govern must be the gift of those that are governed. And remembers history's lessons of reminder that social equity can prosper only while there is vigilance.
Yet your Government's record abroad and its choice of allegiance has been and continues to be seriously flawed. And most contrary to the spirit that lies at the heart of our United Nations Charter.
Suez was a catalyst to Britain's recognition that undemocratic empire is offensive to world order. Harold Macmillan had the courage to explain the ramifications of this realization to the South African Parliament in 1960. But your Government, notwithstanding the wholly inadequate enterprise of ME emissary Tony Blair; still seeks to endorse a militant Zionist suzerainty in Palestine that is intensely hostile to the spirit of our international law and to the clear will of the overwhelming ethnic Palestinian majority.
The reason for your resistance is unclear. We can only assume you continue to be misled by a desire to preserve what you see to be a precious allegiance. Surely Macmillan was similarly tempted? But was persuaded by imperative... and the responsibility of leadership.
creel
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…Were you elected by "the sheeple" as their spokesperson? I think you really are representative of the dull, uninformed, misinformed masses, who are slowly waking up to the fact that their trusted politicians might actually be doing something not in their interests.
"Please don't humiliate us at airports; please don't watch our every move; please don't put us on your database, and make us have ID cards!"
Please don't put us in prison/destroy our lives for using a peace-promoting, harmless, astoundingly medicinal plant that should be grown everywhere to: cure cancer; combat global warming; replace fossil fuels for manufacturing 25,000 products; replace the pesticide-thirsty cotton plant to make clothing; feed the world's starving; prevent the destruction of forests to make high-quality paper; prevent soil erosion. Etc.
(If you don't know what I'm talking about, visit Jack Herer's site and read his shocking book "The Emperor Wears No Clothes").
deltanine
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AVATAR
The Caspar David Friedrich avatar “The Wanderer" does not have its head facing the viewer, it remains facing away. So small it is a bit difficult to see. The nineteenth century German Romantic character with quiffed hair looks from the mountain crag to mist and precipice, and has been changed to a different gender with long blonde hair in a ponytail, tied with a pink ribbon. The intention is to show the subject of existential investigation and contemplation of existence, while traditionally seen to be masculine in Western philosophical tradition, can also be feminine. The elements, nature, wild weather and contemplation suit the meaning. Friedrich was painting at “the birth of the modern era”. He had grave forebodings for the future; it shows up in his work, like “The Frozen Sea”. His paintings speak directly to the unconscious about looming wars in Europe and the dehumanizing of modernity, as it was beginning to settle. Friedrich was in a respite stage, between two ages, agricultural and industrial. In time the avatar may change. But it was a good question. Thanks for asking.
In your avatar —speak of the egg and speak of the vice? Is it personalized and in what way?
You've probably gathered by now Dr MAG does not "roll over like a lapdog and accept everything the popular media are telling you".
