While doing research on the Binyamin Mohammed torture case, I uncovered this. According to this article, a complete big-brother scenario is not far off in the UK.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2141895/Queens-Speech-2012-Every-email-click-stored.html

"Police will be given powers to secretly access people's internet browsing history and see who they have been contacting, for how long and when."

"Plans to enable courts to sit behind closed doors when considering issues of national security and powers to monitor emails and internet communications will all be part of the Government’s programme of reforms in the next 12 months."

"Under the draft Communications Data Bill, authorities would not be able to view the content of email and text messages, but could identify who someone was contacting, how often and for how long, and could also access internet browsing history."

Yikes. Any Brits amongst us?

...anywhere else in the bloody world.  Fucking wankers!  It hasn't made us a bit safer.

Good luck to you in the States.  The so-called Patriot Act is only the beginning of the assault on your civil rights.

Yours faithfully,

Horace Rumpole

-- Modified on 5/17/2012 11:12:37 PM

If you do find it, post it! Sounds like a riot!

...at all times in the UK.

Which means that this can lead to some interesting humor. I was once reading something about a group of activists who would dress up in bugs bunny outfits at 2 in the morning and go dancing for the cameras. The goal was to see how quick the police responded to any particular location. I wish I could find the video for this, it was hilarious.

That looks hilarious! I can't listen to it just now, but I watched it on mute. Can't wait to listen!

So, Barrister Rumpole, which country do you think is worse?

but I didn't remember this correctly. it wasn't a bugs bunny outfit.

He told me he was driving true London, and was pulled over. The cops asked him what his business was in the area, since he lived and worked in the other side of London. I can just imagine if it ever comes to something like that in L.A.! lol!

The reason I ask is that I have toyed with the idea of moving to the UK as CL issues have gotten worse here. I have relatives near Cornwall, and via my paternal heritage would be eligible for a passport/citizenship. But clearly this may be jumping from the fire into the pan.

That's pretty creepy. But I think it's already happening here, at least where they have hose TSA highway/subway/bus officers. They just pull you over and search you and ask for ID at will. There has even been at least one case of rape by one of these characters, in Virginia.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/02/29/the-tsa-is-coming-to-a-highway-near-you/

The NJ Senate is taking this one on, thank god.
http://www.senatenj.com/index.php/doherty/tsa-petition/sign-the-petition-help-stop-invasive-tsa-screening/7149
They make some really great points here, and the movement is a bipartisan one.

"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." It's pretty scary when a TSA officer, who might have difficulty in qualifying for a job any place else, gets so much power. No wonder some of them come to abuse it.