English Yokel

Digital TV and Radio

What is it with all this pressure to switch from analogue to digital for both TV and now Radio? Yokel has been pondering this one for quite a while, and still doesn't think he has got to the bottom of it.

The initial reason has to be greed. Greed by the government, in particular HM Treasury. It has already sold off all the physical assets that it can lay its hands on, but still it has to fund the feckless reckless spending habits of "Prudence". So Ofcom seems to have been charged with selling off the TV frequencies to raise as much as the mobile phone auctions did. Some hope in that! The phone companies are still ruing their exuberant bidding, and the word is out on the street. Then of course the same trick can be played on the audio/radio frequencies and get even more lovely loot for HMG to waste invest in scams like the Olympics necessary Social (re)developments. Money always seems to be a good motivator, and if it is a Socialist doing the deciding, that the money is someone else's is an extra bonus.

But is that all? One of the features of the Government Wartime Broadcasting Service was its regionalisation. With feeds into every local radio and national radio & TV station, the WBS would take over the transmitters and broadcast its own information service to the population. Of great importance to this was the development of local radio in the UK, which would have permitted people in one region to be given different information from those in another region who faced different difficulties. This could be brought about by the low power and restricted range of the local radio transmitters. Interesting that there were 9 regions, just the same as the number of EU Regions in the UK! The current plans for digital terrestrial TV and for digital radio use frequencies that continue to provide local services only. So the opportunity to tailor the government announcements to the needs of particular areas continues to be a feature of the system.

But with digital, there is the added advantage that encryption is much more easily applied. This will enable the WBS easily to confine messages to those for whom it is intended. The technology is proven, it is how BSkyB enforces its payments, for example. Yokel does not wish to put ideas into the head of TV Licensing, but that would be one way of ensuring they collect their tax! Encrypt the Freeview channels, and then issue the necessary card to those who had paid their TV Licence Fee. This of course has the advantage that TV reception can then be turned on and off individually, by those in authority. BSkyB turn a (former) subscriber off when their payments are not made. Now for the control freaks, this must be getting exciting! Thus the mandatory switch to digital TV.

The pressure to digital radio is again greed. There are frequencies to be sold off. But again there is the control. The current plan would have all public broadcasting withdrawn from VHF FM, and Medium Wave, with Long Wave if they can. And push all the audience onto DAB. The very DAB system that the Germans are turning off because it is no good. No, says the report (page 8) it will do the UK very well. To paraphrase the report a little bit, it is probably the best thing since sliced bread. That the Germans and the French are going for an alternative system (DMB-A) (same report, page 6) is immaterial. Well at least until the essential Harmonisation kicks in, when the whole of the Great and Glorious Nation (including the province formerly known as England) will be compelled to change to the Franco-German standard, because its so ... ... European. By that time Yokel fears that encryption will have been built in, and that the Citizen's ID card will be necessary to permit the reception of radio.

Why? Yokel guesses that George Orwell had the answer.

Yes, Yokel will be careful not to sit on his tinfoil hat when he has his sit down. Thinking? No more for today!

The occasional bit of fun

Yes, fun seems to be missing from Yokel's world at present. But he could not help but chortle at this line in a comment at Inspector Gadget: "I buy apple doughnuts for the health concious. Do apple doughnuts count as one of your five a day?"

Little things please ...

Come on, one two three, let's all be afraid NOW!

As someone who lived through all the period of the IRA terrorist campaign in England, Yokel is having a bit of a problem taking the current tourist terrorist threat as seriously as his would be masters wish him to. Yokel agrees that there are some very unpleasant people out there, people who are the special favourites of the current ruling clique. But they haven't yet managed to mount an effective campaign.

But that hasn't stopped our would be masters from using the fear that we should be having in order to try to remove fairly basic freedoms. The war on photographers is but one example.

And now, here comes the war on private planes. (Notice this take on the report turned up first at the Ministry of Propaganda?) Yokel wonders why private planes are being picked out for special treatment. And then some light dawns. These private planes don't land at Heathrow where passengers are herded like sheep through the fongerprinting and photography and see-through-your-clothes scanners. They take off and land elsewhere. DANGER! The would be masters are not in total command. QUICK, MAKE IT ILLEGAL!

Well that is Yokel's guess at present. Anyone want to bet a pint on it?

Another privacy down the drain

And so, without showing any sign of understanding the issues, the Independent announces the imminent trial of Phorm targetted advertising by BT Retail.

The privacy issues are so large that surely they cannot be glossed over, unless there is an underlying cause that has not yet surfaced. Something like Security Service involvement, perhaps.

Basically, every BT Retail ISP subscriber will be offered "Webwise" as some free protection against web nasties. It really offers nothing more than proper browsers such as Firefox or Opera already give. The subscriber then pays for the "free" protection by having every single one of his web pages not just recorded (as required shortly by EU/UK government regulation), but INSPECTED as to content, so that Phorm can then serve targetted adverts. The technique it uses is called Deep Packet Inspection (DPI for short). The technique is not universally admired! Companies such as Ellacoya market data routing equipment designed for the job, but tell us very little about how it works.

Privacy? Out of the window. Phorm will know each BT subscriber by number, and enough about what they get up to on the web to justify the expense of putting their equipment into every BT datacentre to perform the interception. Phorm will read every page, including online webmail, bank statements, and anything else transmitted on port 80 (web page traffic mostly). The scheme may be extended to other internet traffic (eg FTP, VoIP, Instant Messaging, etc) at a later date.

The government seems to want to let this slip in, and so has refused so far to consider prosecution for illegal interception under RIPA (Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act).

Actions:

• Read up about it (reading list below, or just use "phorm" as a search term)
• If they are your ISP, leave BT Retail for an alternative ISP (links to lists below)
• Protest at the BT AGM on 16 July 2008 (see No DPI for more details)

Reading List:

• The Register
• BadPhorm Blog
• Open Rights Group
• Open Rights Group meet Phorm
• The Guardian
• The New York Times
• Do Not Trust Webwise
• Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge - Roundup
• Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge - Stealing Phorm Cookies
• Ars Technica
• No DPI
• Anti Phorm League - has some further links not noted here
• Techdirt
• The Guardian - Technology Blog - about the PREVIOUS secret trials
• GigaOM
• Dephormation
• Deny Phorm
• PC Advisor also tell of the new trial, but sit on the fence about the consequences.

Lists of Phorm free ISPs can be found at:

• Phormwatch
• BadPhorm

RIPA NOTICE: CONSENT IS NOT GIVEN FOR THIS PAGE TO BE INTERCEPTED DURING TRANSMISSION

Where has the visitor map gone?

A housekeeping note. In the light of the Swedish plan to implement total surveillance of electronic communications in and out of their country, and a reminder that the Anglosphere has been doing exactly that for quite a while, and plans to beef it up further, Yokel has been sitting down to have a think.

What started to worry him was the Visitor Map, the Translation Widget, and the Comments. For all of these things, the visitor is redicted to call information from another site. How much should they trust them? How much does Yokel trust them? The answer really ought to be "No further than he could throw them", or some such retort. Especially troubling was either of the free sites set up to log where visitors have come from - the visitor map. Both companies are London based, but these days, that is not a recommendation of trust! The translation firm is in Russia.

Either way, Yokel started to feel uncomfortable about automatically exposing his visitors to such vulnerabilities. So they have gone. There is still a link to the online translation service. Yokel has found this firm to provide some of the better automatic translations around. But again, it is for the visitor to make his/her own decision on that score, not for Yokel to make an entry on their server logs an essential requirement of a visit to his blog.

Given the blogging software that Yokel is using, he has not yet worked out how to replace Haloscan for the comments. So they remain at present, but Yokel hopes their days are numbered, and he can then declare this blog to be Java free. Please let him know about any alternatives that you have seen.

Another outcry by the "Justice" industry - we was robbed of our powers!

Yokel is certain that here we have the makings of another knee-jerk law, which will prove yet again that "hard cases make bad law"! Why won't they learn?

" Police chief fears witnesses rule" shouts the headline from the Ministry of Propaganda as they report comments by John Yates to the Daily Telegraph.

Then on Radio 4 (Today programme) Jack Straw, the ex National Union of Students president who is now at the controls of our Province's "Justice" system, announces that the issue of protecting witness identities would be addressed "very urgently". Bang goes another principle of English Common Law.

What an opportunity this one presents! Not only "think of the CHILDREN", but "think of the WOMEN", "think of the MINORITIES", and "think of the PEOPLE" will all come tumbling out. At this point, Yokel tries to remember any proposals for draconian restrictions that have been knocked back recently. Its a bit too soon to use this as an excuse for having another crack at the "90 days detention without charge" game, so that will probably not be used this time round. But it will be further grist to the plans to abolish Jury trials completely. And Yokel guesses that we are likely to see anonymous accusers permitted, initially in the "most SERIOUS" of crimes, and for all cases involving tourism terrorism in order to protect the "security services who are working selflessly for the protection of the PEOPLE". A year or so of function creep will then see the power available for all trials, at the absolute discretion of the prosecution. Just for good measure Yokel also fears that it will include expansion of the Racial and Religious Hatred law to make Christianity completely illegal, unless it is the wishy washy watered down government approved drivel lead by the Druid Williams in his attempt to lead his flock to eternal damnation.

If unchallenged, and if Yokel's fears are right, this will be another swift adoption straight out of the STASI manual. Is downloading the STASI Manual a crime?

If we had let the government do it properly ...

Once again, it never rains but there's a storm. Out of the woodwork comes more computer thefts, of computers containing personal or very personal details. Yokel would guess that many of the details were only given because it was a legal requirement to give them, or because there remains some slight semblance of trust in the relationship.

First off the blocks was Hazel Blears who had some government details on a desktop PC in her constituency office. Probably against the rules, but they are government ministers and so are even more immune from criticism than ordinary politicians. Dear reader, please remember your place at the bottom of the heap, along with Yokel.

Then comes St George's Hospital, Tooting. Please go read the articles in The Register that are the links. For the computer security professionals who write and read there can say it so much more eloquently that Yokel. They can say that this Civil Service and its political "masters" just do not have the slightest clue when it comes to data security. And there is a further treat in store. Nudged by the comments (beware the language, there are some very angry people there) to the Tooting article, Yokel notes that a Wolverhampton GP gave away the medical records of 11,000 patients. A quick search for "laptop computer theft uk password protect" (without the quotes) got Yokel reeling. He had had enough after the first 100 or so results, and still they kept coming.

In NONE of these instances was the data encrypted. "Password protection" is a fig leaf, and will not do. All Yokel is waiting for now is some fool of a Home Secretary to claim that if we had the "biometric security" of ID Cards, then all would have been well, and none of the thefts would have happened.

Caution: It will be harmful to life if the reader were to hold his/her breath while waiting for someone to be punished (dismissed?) for these examples of Gross Misconduct.

Even worse than that is the realisation that one of the very best encryption products available (Truecrypt) is actually free. Yes that is right, gratis, without cost, and not only that, you don't have to pay for it! And still they think it isn't necessary!

Yokel shakes his head sadly, and exits stage left for a sit down. He has done as much thinking as he can bear for today.

So it must be true, then!

Our current Dear Leader has denied that there are/were any plans for the amalgamation of the British and French Navies.

So it must be true.

Traitor

Wake Up, The Coffee Has Boiled Dry

If you can't yet smell the acrid smoke of burnt coffee, then try this article at England Expects. It is a repost of a published comment by one of Europe's would be rulers, a Romanian MEP.

As EE write, it is unfiskable. And if you don't know God, it could be unbearable. But He has told us that things like this are to come. What we are living through now may not be the specific fulfilment of this prophecy, but Yokel opines that we are now very, very close.

Petition - Abandon Lisbon

Yokel's been there, and strongly encourages you to do so too. Ten thousand signatures in eight hours! That's a pretty good day's work if you were to ask Yokel. Keep it up folks.

Update: Deadline to sign up by: 22 June 2008

Update at 0947 18 June: Signatures: 14,352

Update at 1300 22 June: Signatures: 25,671

Please can we have our Army back?

Yokel has been worried for quite a while now, as to the logic of the largely Christian soldiers of the UK being sent to fight and die in Iraq and Afghanistan in order to establish Islamic regimes in those countries.

But perhaps it isn't all that difficult to understand. Perhaps it has nothing to do with the present government wanting to destroy Christianity. Perhaps it has nothing to do with any echoes of Empire.

Perhaps, instead, it is all to do with staying in power. For the UK armed forces are overstretched, underfunded, and out of the country fighting wars that the politicians will not let them win. So the forces are not in a position to kick the door of Number 10 down, and require that we be governed in a proper manner as an independent, Christian, nation. Perhaps the overstretch, the underfunding, the MoD purchasing cock-ups, and the media apathy to the work of our forces need not be accidental.

For the British population are completely disarmed. We cannot fight our own battles, we must rely on someone to fight them for us. Never again a meeting on Runnymede Common like the one that led to the formation of the British Constitution that we see being destroyed all around us. Over the years, firearms have been almost totally outlawed, Airguns are going the same way. Crossbows just happen to be unobtainable, as are nightsights that actually work. Now we see the build up to severe restrictions on knives, and Yokel guesses that sharp pointy objects will follow shortly thereafter. Cooks and medics will be up in arms, but will be mollified because it will all be in a righteous cause, and because exemptions will be made for professional uses within accountable organisations.

"It is all for our own good".

Perhaps.

Maybe the Druid Williams isn't all that bad after all ...

After seeing what the Bishop of Stafford had to say about how evil man made global warming is, in his view, it seems that the Druid Williams might not be such a bad Archbishop.

Of course it could also be that they have both seriously lost their way. The scientific evidence is that global warming is nothing more than a politicians hype. It most definitely does not deserve the cult religion status that it has at present. But even if it did, the Bishop of Stafford has at least lost his sense of proportion when he compares those who deny the existence of climate change with the Austrian who held his own daughter captive and fathered many children by her.

Yokel is forced to the conclusion that the Church of England really should be shut down, and its assets sold off. For its foundations appear to be built on the sands of Political Correctness. When that is done, those who really believe in the one true God, and in His Good News will have a chance to start again. Including making a choice of leaders who believe in this Christianity, instead of having politicians choose pagans.

Scientology still has problems with demos!

Yokel notes a report on another blog: "Glasgow anti-Scientology protestors told to bin "cult" signs", this time with the Scottish police doing the enforcement.

So Yokel has been for a sit down and a read, and then a bit of a think. What he read was the judgement of a custody battle in the High Court in 1984. Unusually for a Family Division matter, the judgement was pronounced in open court (these matters being usually dealt with in a closed court). Below are a few sentences that sprang out at Yokel from the document. But please, read the whole thing yourself, Yokel cannot do it justice with a few extracted sentences.

Re: B & G (Minors) (Custody) Delivered in the High Court of Justice - Family Division, London, 23 July 1984

JUDGMENT (As approved by Judge)

MR. JUSTICE LATEY:

... ...

What is Scientology?

It is a word invented by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Cult.

... ...

The evidence is clear and conclusive: Mr. Hubbard is a charlatan and worse as are his wife Mary Sue Hubbard (she has been convicted of criminal offences in the United States in connection with Scientology and imprisoned) and the clique at the top privy to the Cult's activities.

... ...

Conclusion as to Scientology

In Re: T Minors (Transcript of judgments given on 10th December 1975) the Court of Appeal was concerned with children one of whose parents was a member of another and very different sect. In the course of his judgement Lord Justice Scarman (as he then was) stressed that "it is conceded that there is nothing immoral or socially obnoxious in the beliefs and practices of this sect". Scientology is both immoral and socially obnoxious. Mr. Kennedy did not exaggerate when he termed it "pernicious". In my judgement it is corrupt, sinister and dangerous. It is corrupt because it is based on lies and deceit and has as its real objective money and power for Mr. Hubbard, his wife and those close to him at the top. It is sinister because it indulges in infamous practices both to its adherents who do not toe the line unquestioningly and to those outside who criticise or oppose it. It is dangerous because it is out to capture people, especially children and impressionable young people, and indoctrinate and brainwash them so that they become the unquestioning captives and tools of the cult, withdrawn from ordinary thought, living and relationships with others.

Read it all. More detailed notes on it here, including reference to what the Court of Appeal actually decided when the Scientologists appealed (in a custody battle?).

Let us again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory!

Softening up process started by the Ministry of Propaganda! Where will it end?

Yokel has noted here, and elsewhere that after seven years of the "War on Terror" that we are no closer to acknowledging who our enemy is than we were at the start. Well, mostly. In fact Sir Hugh Orde, of the "Police Service of Northern Ireland", knows. He who led the RUC to surrender to the IRA, and who is now "regarded by some as a front-runner to be the next commissioner of the Metropolitan Police", is suggesting that it might now be time to talk to al-Qaeda. This follows previous comments on the same lines by former Downing Street chief of staff Jonathan Powell.

First the "Peace in our TIme" of Northern Ireland, then the abject surrender to the EU constitution at Lisbon, and now this invitation for al-Qaeda to join in the government of the UK. Our rulers really have given up, big time. Or perhaps there is something, even bigger afoot. Perhaps even the Muslims are being used to achieve the ambitions of a very few. Perhaps its Bilderberg. Perhaps it is already shown to us.

Pray. Pray to the one true God. Pray to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For there is only one hope for our salvation.

Local Bureaucracy

Yokel is livid.

In Yokel's village, the Parish Council has been consulted by the District Council, and they have agreed changes to the Conservation Area. And now Yokel has been told that his home is to be included in the area. Its part of a "nice row of houses"! Although they say that they "don't have to undertake public consultation" they are going to go through the motions. Any comments will be added to the officer's report and put to the Cabinet, and then it will be a topic at a full Council meeting. Of course, the fact that Yokel deliberately chose to live outside the then existing Conservation Area when he moved to the village over 25 years ago is no consolation!

This is democracy Soviet style. We, the State, have the power. We, the State, will wield the power. We, the State, will pretend that it is the people that are wielding the power, but will make it impossible for the proletariat to have any effect.

Yokel will shortly be going away to read PPG15 to find out what else he will be forbidden from doing. His starting point is the brief explanatory leaflet which emphasises that Conservation Area status is an added restriction above and beyond all the other restrictions that apply anyway. So far it tells Yokel that he needs extra permission from his District Council for:

• demolition of all, or in some case part, of any building or structure
• an extension greater than 50 cu metres or 10% of the volume as the building stood on 1 July 1948
• cladding any part of the outside of a building with materials such as stone, artificial stone, timber, plastic or tile
• any addition or alteration to the shape of a roof, such as the addition of a dormer window
• an extension or alteration to any structure within the grounds of a building, with a cubic content greater than 10 cu metres, such as a garden shed
• positioning a satellite dish on a wall, roof or chimney that faces a road or public space
• work on any tree greater than 7.5 cm diameter at 1.5 metres above ground level

But it also tells Yokel that the list is not exhaustive. It also helpfully advises that exemptions do exist, so check with the local planning authority for guidance.

Yet another example of State interference where it has no place. But then we have had Socialist governments ins various hues of red and blue since 1945. Yokel is just having difficulty in coming to terms with the betrayal by his "representatives". He supposes that it is no different, except in scale, from the betrayal of the great European Union project.

Yokel remains livid. A sit down is called for.