the revolution will not be televised...but you will be.

Just to get the silliness out of the way early, it should be noted that the British Secretary of State for Children (look how happy his website is!), who will be mentioned later, is named Ed Balls.

Hah!

So now let's get down to the brass tax: what the bloody hell is going on in the U.K.?

One CCTV camera for every 15 people? The Prime Minister actually trying to ban hooded sweatshirts? The worst of Britain's "problem families" being put under 24/7 surveillance...in their own home?

The very same nation where the likes of Nineteen Eighty Four and V For Vendetta, downright scary works of dystopian fiction came from, is now starting to seem as if they're trying to catch up to the Orwellian society of yore as only depicted through past works of fiction. While slowly building up a city-wide surveillance system in London similar to what's happening on this side of the pond (transit cameras, a few street-level cameras here and there), apparently London's camera popualtion has exploded, nearly covering every inch of the city on closed-circuit TV.

Its one thing to monitor the transit system: god knows its helped tons in Toronto since its started to get installed...the cost of the installations on the riders, however, is another story altogether. And to have cameras on some heavy-traffic corners, maybe not the worst idea in the world. But to actually be able to track an individual, a bike, a car, from Point A to Point B without losing a second of surveillance?

To actually have smart cars roaming the streets with massive tripod cameras, whirling around to capture every second? It's one thing to have cops patrolling the streets, but seriously, to record it all? Besides the ridiculous cost of equipment and hours for such an arduous task, what good is thousands of hours of useless tape, unless its intended for more than just simple anti-crime surveillance?

For a democratic country passing itself off as just that, Britain seems to be almost Putin-like in their delivery. Considering that they want to move to such archaic measures as banning hoodies, or placing 24-hour surveillance into the homes of "problem families" to ensure kids are doing their homework, going to bed on time and eating "proper meals?"

Sure, maybe these are questionable parents we're talking about, but since when did Gordon Brown or Tony Blair get to decide what to wear, what's bedtime...or what's for dinner? This is, mind you, the same country that passes off bangers and mash as a "healthy" English meal, for Christ's sake! And not even Kim Jong-Il has a hard-line into the closets of North Korea...that we know of.

It's one thing when we hear about Vladimir Putin still running Russia from behind the scenes as his own personal puppet...for Russia to creep its way back to communist tendencies is not that far fetched. Most of the population has already lived under communism, and a state-sponsored communist rule with a capitalist-infused economy, like China's, may be a more comfortable fit for Russia. But for jolly old England?!?

Since when did they become so paranoid? You guys make Sean Hannity sound rational! Sure, crime is prevalent, as in every nation, and even terrorism has had its grip on the nation...but when does it become too much? When does the extra surveillance go from a necessity to a violation of free will and privacy? Suddenly, being stripped of my shoes (and subsequently, self-worth) at the Buffalo airport doesn't seem so bad anymore.

Shame on you, lads. The one nation that has prided itself on personal liberty for so long, that prevailed in the face of fascism and communism, suddenly resorting to this, in the face of apparent terrorism. The British empire may have fallen, but this is not what needs to be done to keep the last bastion intact. To paraphrase the old British lady from my old synagogue (with the eyebrows tattooed on), "mind your god damned P's and Q's," Britain!