Phone operators refuse to cooperate with police to block anti-Bush calls

[pippin]

"Phone operators have refused to co-operate with police to block anti-Bush protesters from using mobile telephones in Central London.

An emergency plan to create a mobile-free “bubble” for the President was branded “hysteria” by Orange, the second-largest mobile phone provider. It said that the police had no power to compel Orange to switch off its transmitters. . . .A spokeswoman for Vodafone said that the only time the police or the Government had the power to restrict the use of its network was during a national emergency. . . .

The plan being considered is to create a “sterile area” some 15 minutes before Mr Bush gets into his armoured Cadillac and 15 minutes after his return. Among the many demands made by the White House was a mobile telephone blackout whenever the President left Buckingham Palace."

Times of London
November 18,2003

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9389-899758,00.html

Britain stands its ground! :bounce:

[kskiska]

1. Ain't freedom a wonderful thing?

n/t

[truthspeaker]

63. yeah

I vaguely remember when we had it.

[Lindacooks]

2. Unbelievable!

And yet none of this translates for the chimp: PEOPLE HATE HIM!! People can be silenced for only so long. They're trying so hard to shield chimp from reality.

[Gloria]

3. YES!!!!! Take your "sterile area" and shove it!!! GO BRITS!!!!

I love it, in your face!!!

Let all hell break loose!

[ugarte]

4. I thought W was all about standing tall

What a chickenshit.

[moosedog]

8. Believe me....

he is shielded from everything. I wonder if his views of himself is the way we see him.

[KAZ]

11. Eggzactly!

Remember the little crying baby JPG your repuke friends would send whenever the Dems complained about something? We need something like that. Some sky-is-falling chicken-hawk thing.

[SoCalDem]

44. Lots of choices here.. Photoshoppers get busy

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&safe=off&q=crying+baby+&btnG=Google+Search

[Skidmore]

45. Nah, but he'd like you to think he is and the

press is now trying to help him. I saw a headline on Yahoo! this morning that read "Bush To Brave Protests and Appeal for Solildarity". Such a brave little despot.

[Malva Zebrina]

46. those Yahoo headllines are disgusting to watch

they change every half hour or so-I get the Reuters and the AP headlines on my page. Mostly they are calculated to make Bush look superb and they can be very annoying.


Right--Bush to "brave" protests--and he is gonna tell them protestors to pound salt! He is going to show them what a powerhouse he is so they better shut up and sit down! Brave my ass--he is a measly, puny little AWOL coward and has been all of his life.

[are_we_united_yet]

60. Marianne, don't hold back...

just come right out and tell us how you really feel about shrub.

:)

[hlthe2b]

5. I wonder if our cell phone providers would have caved?

hmmmmmmmmmmm

[tom_paine]

9. In a heartbeat

Britain continues to show Imperial Amerika how Free People behave.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

53. Caved?

That implies a request comes first. Hell, they probably are busy right now researching voice-recognition technology to detect leftist discourse in real time.

[BiggJawn]

54. It would have been THEIR idea...

"Say, how about we shut down our network so you don't have to deal with protestors. Would that be cool or what? Just need a coupla keystrokes to make it happen..."

[are_we_united_yet]

58. It is probably a clause buried in Patriot Act 2

eom

[Don_G]

59. T-Mobile Caved In

One T-Mobile user in SW7 London is complaining that his service is being jammed.

Link: http://www.interwebnet.org/

[Emillereid]

6. If they are this paranoid for Bushit's safety

in the country of our oldest, closest ally, can you imagine the chimp visiting some where less friendly. The man is a disgrace and an embarrassment to the USA - he should have just stayed home and teleconferenced with the poodle!

[Katarina]

15. My question is...

how "sterile" of an area can it be is Chimpy is in it? It would seem to me to be more of a festering assbasket area.

[MaineDem]

61. Welcome to DU

:hi:

[Robb]

65. Man, and Katarina can turn a phrase!

Welcome to DU! "Festering Assbasket" indeed! :)

[Lorien]

35. I don't think it's his safty they're worried about

I think that they don't want people taking digital pictures of what goes on down there and transmitting them!

[Paschall]

48. More likely the worry is organizing by phone

To avoid/circumvent roadblocks, checkpoints, etc.

Like illegal rave parties in France. Somebody sets up an answering machine with instructions to the party site, then everyone can call in to congregate at "ground zero."

[qanda]

7. Bush* really thinks he's king of the world!

Well he's wrong and I'm glad somebody's standing up to him.

[Jacobin]

10. Brits stand up to Adolf Bush!!!!!!!!!

One small victory at a time

[karlschneider]

12. Actually, it IS a national emergency. The world's biggest terrorist is in

town!

[54anickel]

14. Exactamundo! !! n/t

[E_Zapata]

13. Can you imagine the WH directive to UK authorities?

It must have been a BOOK of requirements.

And I bet dollars to donuts, there was no 'asking' going around...just telling.

And the UK just says NOPE...sorry king george!

Why can't the US make things this uncomfortable for georgie.

I hope we are ALL paying attention to how it's really done!

[Cocoa]

16. meanwhile, our troops are flying in defective helicopters

while Bush is pissing off his hosts with his paranoid demands, our helicopters in Iraq are flying without the standard protective equipment.

[glitch]

22. very good point

I :loveya: London.

[PaDUer]

39. They should

throw his ass out the door, and his boots, w/ the hick pickles.

[PsychoDad]

50. Like maybe a cloaking device ?

I'm not so sure how much protective equiptment you can put on a copter that is flying in the desert sky. There is no place to hide.. precious few things to duck behind. Makes for a great target for small arms fire and RPG's

All the talk about "protective devices" is to distract from the real truth... These things are sitting targets. Like the rest of our troops over there.

But then again, maybe bush can persuade the Romulans to part with a cloaking device or 2.. :silly:

[DUreader]

62. No, the N.G. Choppers do not the Armor that Army has

[PsychoDad]

67. They don't?

I was unaware of that. Extra armor is always a good thing if going into a war zone.

[neuvocat]

17. A fine hour.

A fine hour indeed.

[leesa]

18. The Brits should be proud of their stand against fascism!

[truthisfreedom]

19. it seems the country we freed ourselves from is more free than we are.

the protesters, the phone company, the Queen herself. for those of you about to protest, we salute you.

[sonias]

20. This is too funny

Way to go Orange, you tell the bu$h baby he can't have the whole city under quarantine. He could have stayed home after all.

It won't be long before the bu$h baby will have his own bu$h mobile modeled on the "pope mobile" with the bubble top. Instead of the pope's massive headdress however, the huge bubble in the bu$h mobile will be to accommodate his big empty head.

Sonia

[Oilwellian]

31. And, and, and,

the bubble top will be shaped like a penis. :D

[Sparky McGruff]

42. No-- that's Ace and Gary

The bubble topped car shaped like a penis belongs to Ace and Gary -- the ambiguously gay duo!

[Paschall]

49. The French get a little praise, too

Orange is controlled (86%) by France Telecom.

http://www.francetelecom.com/fr/groupe/connaitre/acteurs/entitesfiliales/orange.html

[davidinalameda]

21. Bush's visit may constitute a national emergency

A spokeswoman for Vodafone said that the only time the police or the Government had the power to restrict the use of its network was during a national emergency. . . .

I don't understand why they would want a cell phone black out

that makes no sense

[Cocoa]

25. because cell phones can be used to set off bombs

Bush is exceedingly cautious because he knows where he's going when he dies.

[TacticalPeek]

28. But I'll bet they actually want to disrupt demonstrators' comms, mainly.

[Mokito]

43. My thought exactly...

Just trying to keep them in the dark.

[markses]

38. Nahhh

The reason they want the blackout area is because protesters organize on the spot using cellphones and other wireless technologies.

[PsychoDad]

51. Bluetooth devices can be harassed

Text messages can be sent to other cell phones with bluetooth technology without the consent of the reciver in a small aera...

Like, say : "Bush Sucks" or "Yankee go home"

Haven't done it myself, but understand it's pretty easy.

[PartyPooper]

23. Junior is suffering from extreme 'delusions of grandeur'.

He needs a psychiatric examination (and cure!) pronto...before he drives the entire world absolutely mad!

:silly:

[goforit]

29. He really thinks he's King!.............LOL!!!!!

I wonder is he will ever get the picture.

[PartyPooper]

34. He just might if the Queen takes him horseback riding in the country.

Her Majesty is quite the expert horse woman. And, Junior can't even ride a pony. He's deathly afraid of horses!

I would just love it if the Queen insisted that they go riding in the country. Can you imagine Dumbya's / AKA "windshield cowboy's" consternation and embarrassment? Even Raygun went riding with Her Majesty.

There they are at Sandringham...and, the pResident hollers:
"My kingdom for a horse...or, my horse for a kingdom..."

Maybe then he'll get the picture, after all.

:evilgrin:

[AndyTiedye]

47. Shrub Falling Off a Horse in front of the Queen of England

what a photo-op that would be!!

[TacticalPeek]

24. They hate his freedom.

[Bozita]

26. One way or another, the Brits are letting Dumbya know that the emperor ...

...has no clothes.

Bless the British press.

Bless the British people.

[goforit]

27. LOL!!!!........Silver spoon W does get his way in London?........LOL!!!!

:nopity:

[Dr Fate]

30. They must REALLY hate OUR freedom to do a thing like that!!!

!!!!

[alfredo]

32. The US media should be reporting the demands Bush is making

on the Brits.

[Dr Fate]

36. Dont make me laugh- are you being sarcastic?

Bush/media reports what Bush/media WANTS to report.

We will NEVER see a mainstream US television report with that list...

[Entente]

33. Democracy is scary! and great!

This is what democracy really sounds like: Ringggg Ring!!



Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

[sleipnir]

37. Wait till they pull all this shit next year in NYC....just wait....

it'll make '68 seem like a tupperware party...

[NYC]

40. Demilitarize the Police is a new organization in NYC.

We are hoping to avert this sort of thing next year.

The web address is http://demilitarizethepolice.netfirms.com

Anyone interested in joining can send me DU mail.

Edited to add telephone number: 212-969-8045

[Sacajawea]

41. I hope a million people show up and paralyze his route through London....

...and if they would all happen to MOON him that would be a lovely gesture also! :evilgrin:

To everyone over there on the other side of the pond: A BIG THANK YOU, for doing what we're not allowed to do here in the U.S.

[LibLabUK]

52. Err..

The headlines in the papers should read:" Bush Whitehouse demanded Londoners be placed at risk".

Do they not realise how many people rely on their mobile phones to make 999 emergency calls?


I'd be mightily pissed off if a family member was having a heart attack and I couldn't get a mobile signal.

[It was not a pretzel]

56. His visit has already endangered the public

Alot of police stations across the are only open 9 till 5, and police are rarely available, even via 999 calls. Now he's got 15 000 of them guarding the bastard.

[bushisanidiot]

66. Excellent Point!

AWOL's pride always comes before everyone's life, health, loved ones, etc.

What a weak 'president'!

[dusty64]

55. chimpy's trip sure is a debacle.

What a mess he has created wherever he goes, attempting to squelch freedom and democracy everywhere he slithers.

[dbt]

57. Corporations To bu$h: "Piss Off, Wanker!"

So we have two corporations telling the Boy King not to meddle in their money-grubbing business. How ironic is that? Corporations are one of the few things that bu$h worships, and here are two basically telling him to stick it!

Goddess, I love the smell of irony in the morning!

:evilgrin:
dbt

[bushisanidiot]

64. "They're Lucky They Live In A Free Country" where they can tell AWOL

to shove it up his fat a**!!