Tuesday, April 14, 2009

With recent police activity, anti-terror adverts and CCTV everywhere no wonder we're all scared stiff

So it has now become one of the main causes of anxiety. Among all the other worries that people face - the recession, crime, hospital superbugs and terrorism - a new fear has emerged: that of the Big Brother state.

According to a survey by the Mental Health Foundation, we are a pretty fearful lot. In fact, more than seven million of us are living with some sort of anxiety problem.

And the proliferation of surveillance equipment such as CCTV cameras (of which we have more than the rest of Europe put together) only makes people more worried of the very things the cameras are designed to tackle: crime and terrorism.

It is ironic that something which is supposed to put our minds at rest has exactly the opposite effect.

But there is also a darker side to the proliferation of monitoring equipment which should also be a cause of great concern to us all.

The evidence can no longer be ignored that after a decade of New Labour, Britain has become a far worse place for honest citizens to live their lives as they please, away from the eyes and ears of the state.

In the name of 'efficiency' and 'national security', our civil liberties have been systematically eroded.

We have calmly allowed our rulers to grab enormous and unprecedented power. They claim it is needed to protect us from criminals, but in fact they are using it to bully and enslave us with a litany of regulation and red tape.

Police and other state officials have turned from our servants into our masters.

Yahoo to cut hundreds of jobs

Posted on - Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:26PM EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Yahoo Inc is preparing to lay off several hundred workers in the first round of cuts since Carol Bartz became chief executive in January, a source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.

The layoffs could be announced next Tuesday, when Yahoo reports its first-quarter financial results, according to the source, who wished to remain anonymous because of the issue's sensitivity.

Yahoo's last round of layoffs was in December, under former CEO and co-founder Jerry Yang. The company, which is the No. 2 U.S. Internet search provider, finished 2008 with roughly 13,600 employees, down by more than 1,600 employees from the third quarter of 2008.

Yahoo declined to comment on the planned layoffs, first reported by the New York Times on Tuesday.

The cuts would come almost two months after Bartz implemented a broad internal management reorganization and as Yahoo explores partnerships to help revive its growth.

Yahoo and Microsoft Corp met recently to discuss a deal involving the company's search business, according to a source familiar with the matter who wished to remain anonymous.

The search company has projected that sales in the first quarter could be down as much as 16 percent at $1.53 billion.

Shares of Yahoo were up 3 cents at $14.10 in after hours trade.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing Bernard Orr and Muralikumar Anantharaman)