Reuters: Man held as terrorism suspect over punk song
British anti-terrorism detectives escorted a man from a plane after a taxi driver had earlier become suspicious when he started singing along to a track by punk band The Clash, police said on Wednesday.
Posted on April 5th, 2006 at 11:52 am
For a moment I thought it was April 1st. I am a pacifist but I always liked that song.
Have the lunatics taken over the asylum?
Hey, *I* live by the river… they’ll be coming for me next.
Others to avoid:
Kaiser Chiefs’ I Predict a Riot, Prodigy’s Firestarter, Bowie’s Rebel Rebel, Gerry Rafferty’s Baker Street, DVDs/videos of hit 1990s ITV drama series London’s Burning, etc. etc. etc.
I love this country.
Anarchy in the UK (of course), anything by Massive Attack, Babylon’s Burning - The Ruts, White Riot - The Clash, Sacrifice the Queen - Cumbawumba…Punk’s not dead, it’s just been placed under a Control Order.
Was it the lyrics? Or was it just the usual climate-of-fear racist bullshit?
Anyway, check this out.
Blimey. They certainly won’t like the song I’m writing now entited ‘Charles Clarke Is A Big Fat C*nt’.
You can still sue for false arrest (on the grounds of lack of reasonable suspicion or something - it’s been a while since I studied criminal law) and I think it’s about time someone did. Although there is probably an exemption for anything involving “terror”.
Maybe he was singing along to this version of London Calling :
A Flash video :
sorry ! - I can’t seem to get the linking to work
http://www.eclectech.co.uk/londoncalling.php
IANAL but while he might have bother sueing the cops, I’d be amazed if he doesn’t manage to take the taxi firm to the f***ing cleaners, to the tune of driving them out of business. And good luck to him.
That said, has anyone else in London noticed that CCTV is suddenly appearing in the back of black cabs?
All together now: “I fought the law and the law won, I fought the law won…”
Sorry: “I fought the law and the law won/ I fought the law and the law won”. I really must check these things before I send them off. Meanwhile, the bloke seems to have taken this turn of events with a certain amount of humour. Typically British: you locked me up for my taste in music but still, gotta laugh intcha? Mentioned the Beatles as part of the compilation: thank god he didn’t play “Revolution”.
The permutations of danger are potentially endless for anybody of the non-white persuasion riding in the back of a taxi belonging to the famous casually racist British cabbie from now on.
Could an Asian person humming “There’s No Other Way” by Blur be construed as calling for the Islamist Caliphate? What about “Leaving on a Jet Plane” or Billy Idol’s “Hot in the City”. You certainly wouldn’t want to chance your arm and sing “Fucking in Heaven” by Fatboy Slim.
Will C019 trigger fingers be itching at the sound of “Going Underground” by The Jam?
And anything by Bomb the Bass, naturally. Or Terrorvision, most likely. But anyone who likes Terrorvision probably deserves to be banged up - up there with Bob Dylan and Korn as one of the worst live acts I’ve had the misfortune to witness.
[...] other news, Sir Tom Jones has been shot in the head by police who suspected him of carrying a “Sex Bomb”. The IPCC labelled it a run-of-the-mill killing, saying, “It’s notunusual.” (Via.) # [...]
*sings*: White riot, I wanna riot/White riot, a riot of my own
[...] Via Chicken Yoghurt the story of the cabbie who dobbed in his fare for playing punk rock. [...]
Not much happens at Durham Tees Valley Airport, where they have to clear the sheep off the runway before that rare event a plane landing.
So….Are the Clash still a threat to society after all these years? er…no, but racist paranoia is alive and well.On a different tack, For those for whom the Terrorism act isnt Stalinist enough, check out the Protection From Harrassment Act 1997. A man can face 5 years in prison for arguing with his ex wife! I kid you not…..I fought the law and the law ripped me up for asswipe then set fire to me then laughed at the ashes…. I fought the law and……