Oh yes, the bl**dy terrorists. They are to blame for everything. Convenient, heh? Now that Cold War is over, thank God for Al-Quaeda, Taliban, ISIS or whoever comes next. We need a scarecrow like we need bread and salt. Well, I don't buy it and have a few things to say to that:

• I'd rather take my chances of dying in a terrorist attack than having my liberties violated 24/7.
• Our beloved governments are telling us that giving out our civil rights is necessary to avoid the bad guys taking them. As far as I am concerned, it is the devil or the belzebub. If I am losing my liberty either way, then the bad guy have already won. The only difference is the name.
• 2001 was the worst year ever in terms of terrorism. Yet even in that year, the proportion of the US population that died to terrorism was an order of magnitude smaller than the proportion that died of flu. But flu is boring, isn't it? You can't use that to justify the Patriot Act.
• If the general population is so dumb as to not see that, then I suppose we all deserve to live in a police state.

I was born and bred behind the iron curtain and I know first-hand what a totality is. Where the UK is now is getting dangerously close. I would even say it is already there*). Most people may not see it yet because they are perhaps not used to seeing the warning signs but to me, they are painfully clear. Sadly, I do not see a way out

*) Remember the "Je suis Charlie" affair of a few weeks ago? You may not be aware that a few UK newsagents who were selling said magazine had a police visit and were asked to provide a list of customers buying that magazine. All in the name of "protecting public peace".

Oh, but it is because they can! They always wanted to have the absolute control. In the 1980s it was opening letters with steam, now they have SIM keys and HDD rootkits. Technology has changed, the end result remains the same.

And the reason? Sure there is one! "Protecting you" is not it.

Eh?