"War On Terror" Board Game Confiscated In UK 598
An anonymous reader writes "The board game The War On Terror is a satirical game in which George Bush's 'Axis of Evil' is reduced to a spinner in the middle of the board, which determines which player is designated a terrorist state. That person then has to wear a balaclava (included in the box set) with the word 'Evil' stitched onto it. Kent police said they had confiscated the game because the balaclava 'could be used to conceal someone's identity or could be used in the course of a criminal act.' Balaclavas are freely sold all over the place in the area." Schneier has blogged this stupidity, of course.
Re:Police thugs (Score:3, Informative)
They don't have guns, this is the UK
Context, context (Score:5, Informative)
If the police seize a pack of ladies' stockings from your home, that's absurd. If they seize a crate of ladies' stockings, bank plans, and a toy gun from your car outside a bank, that's reasonable.
Context (Score:5, Informative)
Here's the thing: a bunch of people were protesting by chaining themselves to gates and generally impeding operations at a power station. The police came along, hauled them off, and took away the tools they were using. Knives, chisels, bolt cutters, and balaclavas.
It's got nothing to do with balaclavas being illegal, any more than bolt cutters are illegal. It's got nothing at all to do with the game itself. It's the fact that the masks were being used in the process of shutting down a power station.
Did anybody spot that most of the article was dedicated to describing the game and its distribution hopes, as if it were a game review, while the confiscation itself got just a single sentence in the article? This is a fucking advert. The creators, from Cambridge, heard about it, and got their mate at the local paper, in Cambridge to write about it as a favour. This is a local paper, and the event the article is supposed to be talking about happened in Kent, 100 miles away.
Re:Police thugs (Score:5, Informative)
Since when did our police not have guns? The unarmed bobby on a bicycle toting a whistle is very much a thing of the past.
As one unfortunate Brazillian man found out, our police have guns and they are all too happy to use them.
Re:Police thugs (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Police thugs (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Police thugs (Score:3, Informative)
Hmmm
It is more accurate to state that the majority of Police officers in the UK do not carry guns. There are, of course, specially trained officers that do carry guns are part of the course of their normal duties.
Re:Police thugs (Score:3, Informative)
Nothing in TFA indicates whether or not the raid was justified, but it is pretty clear that the group's ownership of the game was not the cause of the raid.
Re:Police thugs (Score:5, Informative)
I refrain from a rant, but the more police I meet, the more I hate the police.
I don't. Refrain, I mean; here's my rant from January- Police State: In USSA, cops hassle YOU! [slashdot.org] The police ought to serve a good purpose, protecting us from robbers, thieves, rapists, murderers, etc. But all too often the police themselves are the villians [illinoistimes.com]. The last link is about a cop here in central Illinois who was charged with 49 felonies including one count of obstructing justice, three counts of criminal sexual abuse, seven counts of criminal sexual assault, seven counts of armed violence, 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, and 21 counts of official misconduct. He plead guilty to TWO MISDEMEANORS and got off. Anybody else would have been behind bars for the rest of their lives.
Re:Police thugs (Score:5, Informative)
To be fair, from TFA:
"The satirical board game was confiscated along with knives, chisels and bolt cutters, from climate protesters during a series of raids near Kingsnorth power station, in Kent, last week."
The game was one of the items they took along with the real dangerous stuff. They were presumably caught planning a break-in to a power plant (the article is scant on important details, and chooses to focus on the board game). It's still kind of stilly that they took the game, but realizing that they had knived and devices intended to break into and probably sabotage a power plant puts a whole different perspective on the situation. I would chalk it more up to police officers being overcautious (or clueless) and siezing anything that could possibly be considered evidence of their intentions. Had they has other baclavas, they probably would have siezed those as well).
Re:Bloody pigs (Score:3, Informative)
A working class stereotype, roughly equivalent to 'white trash' in the US I think.
The stereotype involves a person wearing sportswear, cheap jewelry, burberry caps, and being unemployed. They are supposed to spend their days drinking and doing drugs, and supplement their government benefits by committing petty crime.
Obviously, this view makes them a target for the police. Equally obviously, the reality of the British working class is much more complex and not so totally scummy.
Many people I have met whose dress and manner of speaking have been the nicest, most honourable people I have ever met. On the other hand the only person I have met who went to Eton complained to me that the kids their kept stealing lightbulbs from each others rooms...
Re:Context (Score:4, Informative)
Sounds plausible, but no. The Cambridge News article [cambridge-news.co.uk] is actually a word-for-word re-print of a story in The Independent [independent.co.uk], a national newspaper. The Indie published 2 days earlier, if you check the dates. And the Cambridge News didn't attribute the story. Naughty.
Unless these publishers of War on Terror have got some really cool pals in the UK national press, it looks like a sense of whimsy, local colour, and what looks a lot like a penchant for plagiarism are the real reasons behind the publication of this article.
Re:Police thugs (Score:5, Informative)
More information on the game (Score:4, Informative)
The official site [waronterro...rdgame.com] seems to be slashdotted, but there's plenty of info at the Board Game Geek entry for the game [boardgamegeek.com].
Re:Police thugs (Score:5, Informative)
The problem with Stockwell wasn't with one individual getting it wrong; it was the entire intelligence operation that couldn't communicate properly and panicked in the aftermath of the 7/7 bombings. The result was a tragic mistake.
I wouldn't call the people who shot Jean Charles de Menezes morons. He/They got the wrong man, but they followed a man who they thought was going to be a suicide bomber down into the Tube to stop him. That actually calls for a fair amount of bravery.
Of course, this might all be completely off-topic because according to The Times [timesonline.co.uk], the "policemen" might have actually been Special Forces Military Intelligence (the super secret SRR).
Although the anti-Police sentiments seem to be popular on Slashdot, my personal, limited experience with the UK Police has always been postive. I find that if you are polite and show them respect, and don't automatically take a defensive position, they tend to be absolutely fine. YMMV.
Article misses the point completely (Score:4, Informative)
This isn't about police confiscating some stupid board game, which TFA practically reads like an advert for.
This is about far more widespread use of police powers to harass and intimidate demonstrators protesting the planned construction of a new coal fired power station near Kingsnorth in Kent.
There was a large, week long "climate camp" attended by around 1000-2000 people near the site. Police used intimidatory tactics such as blanket stop and search of anyone approaching the site (with confiscation of such dangerous items as penknives, children's crayons, and apparently board games) there were night-time raids on the camp, confiscation of food supplies and bicycles, low flying helicopters over the camp at night, etc. etc.
On the final day of the "camp" there was a march to the gates of the existing power station, after about an hour at the gates the police announced via megaphone from a helicopter that the march would be over at 1 pm; and threatened the use of dogs and riot batons against anyone who remained, as well as arrest under section 14 of the public order act.
Some people did break into the power station in an attempt to make their point, I don't want to pretend that no laws were broken, but the protest was entirely non-violent. The police response was disproportionate, and designed to intimidate protesters rather than uphold the law.
All in all the police spent some £3 million intimidating a group of entirely peaceful, and largely law abiding people exercising their democratic right to protest.
The powers granted to the police under recent criminal justice and terrorism legislation passed by the Labour government are sweeping, and disturbing for anyone who believes in little things like freedom of assembly. Most people don't really realise the extent of it until they do something the government disapproves of, the media don't really make a fuss, and so public protest is practically non-existent. Given the total lack of public awareness of or response to these incidents I think it's likely things are going to get far worse for anyone who dares challenge authority in Britain. That's what we should be talking about, not making light of the situation by focusing on some inane story about a board game.
Re:Police thugs (Score:5, Informative)
Case in point: I sold a car (on a trailer) to an off duty police officer. When I said I'd tow the car to his place because the registration wasn't current he said he could just drive it home. I pointed out the expired tags and he said, "It's OK, if I get pulled over I'll just Badge 'em."
I wish I were lying.
Re:fashion statement (Score:3, Informative)
If you can afford to ski, you can afford to buy something better than a scratchy knit hat with face holes in it. I don't think I've ever seen anyone wearing one while skiing, and that includes historical pictures. And besides, the pair of eye holes isn't shaped well for accommodating the kind of ski mask I have seen a lot of. The kind that is polarized and/or tinted. More often called "goggles."
Re:Police thugs (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Police thugs (Score:5, Informative)
I'm curious how closely you've dealt with the Military. I used to work loss prevention for AAFES and I've gotten a pretty good glimpse into Military Justice. I'd say that if anything the majority of the time the Military is harder on their people than civilians. On top of all the punishments that come at a soldier from civilian court they face further discipline up to and including loss of their career for their actions.
If crimes are committed on post they may be relegated to the command to handle and commanders can issue punishments including loss of rank, loss of pay, confinement and separation from the military. If the crimes occur off post the civilian courts get first crack followed by the commanders.
I have to disagree that it's likely to be dismissed out of hand.
Thanks
Eric
Forget the balaclava! (Score:4, Informative)
Following a series of raids on the climate change camp near Kingsnorth power station, officers displayed an array of supposed weapons snatched from demonstrators: knives, chisels, bolt cutters, a throwing star â" and a copy of the satirical game, which lampoons Washington's "war on terror".
Okay, making off with the balacalva, I get it. Maybe taking the board game as well, because it's a whole set, sure. Making off with them, then displaying the board game as part of the success story?! Are you kidding me? At what point does "satirical board game" become a serious part of the investigation?
Re:Police thugs (Score:5, Informative)
yeah, well I have some news for you too, look at these two photos side by side and tell me if you can tell the difference:
http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2005/08/17/menezes_osman_wideweb__430x253.jpg [theage.com.au]
The guy on the left is the guy that got shot, the guy on the right is the guy they were looking for.
Some other guy a bit further below posted an excellent link to an article in the register that details just how screwed up the situation really was. This should have *NEVER* happened. Really, there is absolutely no excuse for it.
Police apprehend, they certainly do not kill before having a positive id.
Re:Forget the balaclava! (Score:3, Informative)
Here's an article with pic [independent.co.uk] of the police displaying the confiscated "War on Terror" boardgame. Here's the BBC version [bbc.co.uk].
What's a Balaclava? (Score:3, Informative)
I had no idea what the word meant.
Of course we can look it up - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balaclava_(clothing) [wikipedia.org]
The answer is that a balaclava is what I normally think of as a "ski mask". Covers the face.
Re:Police thugs (Score:3, Informative)
Who shall guard the guards?
A reference to the notorious Praetorian Guards.
Re:They need another card. (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Police thugs (Score:5, Informative)
As a gun enthusiast myself and someone acquainted with a fair number of police officers, I will tell you that the average police officer doesn't have all that much interest in guns, either. Most cops shoot just enough to qualify (which doesn't involve much!) and don't know much about guns at all, including their own service weapons.
Generally speaking, though, you're right -- police officers tend to be blue collar (or light-blue-collar junior college types) and not terribly interested in making subtle distinctions.
But at the same time, having done ride-alongs and gotten to know some of them well enough, its easy to see why. There is a certain percentage of the population willing to believe that cops are always wrong and that crime is actually the rational response of the oppressed, the police bureaucracy in most larger departments is viciously political, and their job is entirely thankless.
Re:Bloody pigs (Score:3, Informative)
Hmmm, where I live theres alot of Chavs, and they certainly aren't working class, maybe "living off benefits after having got a 13 year old knocked up" class.
Re:Police thugs (Score:5, Informative)
This confisaction happened at a protest rally, not in game stores. The police confiscated items which seemed likely to be used by troublemakers, including bolt cutters and balaclavas with the word evil stiched on them.
Still a horrible abuse of police power, IMO, but not the work of drooling idiots.
Re:Bloody pigs (Score:3, Informative)
But of course in your opinion Im still wrong, but some of us have no choice but to live near these areas and can't afford elsewhere.
Re:Police thugs (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Police thugs (Score:3, Informative)
Don't underestimate the power of the desire to obey [wikipedia.org]:
Read up on the work of Asch [wikipedia.org], Milgram [wikipedia.org], and Zimbardo [wikipedia.org]. Research indicates that the desire to obey will drive most people to do things they would otherwise consider to be absolutely wrong.
We're trained from an early age to do what ever teacher, mommy, and daddy tell us, regardless of our own desires -- because they know best. That training carries over into adulthood.
Understanding that, it's hard to place the blame entirely on either the one giving the orders, or the one carrying them out.
Re:Police thugs (Score:3, Informative)
Wonder what would happen if they changed the balaclava for a burqa in the box??