Things are getting beyond a joke in this country.

I'm really shocked.

I was once walking down Southend High Street when I bumped into somebody I knew and stood there chatting to them for a while. I hadn't even realised that we happened to be standing outside McDonalds, or that I was wearing my McLibel teeshirt, exacly the same as in the photo above, but anyway after about 20 minutes the manageress came out, flanked by a couple of sheepish looking young male 'crew members' (as I believe they are called), and intrupted our conversaion, demanding to know if we were a 'demonstration', and if so did we have 'permission'... For a moment I didn't have a clue what she was on about, then the penny dropped, so i told her that yes we were an advance guard and the main contingent would be along shortly with their placards, bullhorns leaflets, petitions, along with a direct action contingent, and they wouldn't be bothered about getting any permission. Then my friend and I went our seperate ways...

This was about 5 years ago.

In Japan the Zen gardens are places of peace, love, and harmony. They are some of the purest temples on the planet. One of the major theories embedded in their very design is the idea that the microcosm reflects the macrocosm: within a stone, a rock, a leaf of grass, one finds the grandeur of a beautiful interconnected universe - created out of love.

So. 'Ello 'ello 'ello. What have we 'ere then?

What macrocosm does this little microcosmic piece of paper reflect?

Well, it reflects the daily triumph of the jobsworth. The bloke in On the Buses with the weird teeth. The Dogberry and Verges of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing". The little Hitler we all meet in one department or other at some crumby low-paid low-end dumb job where we're treated like an idiot on a daily basis by people who resent every single ounce of talent in our being.

It's incoherently written! Whoever wrote that should be in a courtroom - to clarify what on earth they were trying to write.

The tyranny of the fool, the chump, the cream-puff, the jobsworth, the moron, the inadequate.

Mind you, there are all sorts of interesting ways to out-Matthew Fox these pumpkins. Despite the fact that they have the formal powers, when the system is in a state of schlerosis (and is breaking down at a rate of knots) these fools can be treated with the unbelievable lightness of being.

Out-fox hunt the chumps. They want to hunt you for having the temerity to express your soul?

Be the fox one moment, be the hunter the next.

Move amongst the people like fish amongst the sea.

Follow the high path one moment, the low path the next.

Not all streets have CCTV cameras.

Not all CCTV cameras are pointing your way.

And - at the end of the day (and at the end of time, when all men shall be judged for their real high crimes and misdemeanours) that little bit of paper with the dumb writing will be recycled or, more likely, incinerated.

The campaign against immoral treatment of animals masquerading as food will never die because it exists in our minds and our souls and can never be policed!

VIVA LIBERTY 2006!

Would like to the person involved in this incident, as I am working on articles about free speech and suppression of expression.

Oscar

Hi, I'm from near Hastings and was sorry to hear about this story - would you mind letting me know if there is any more action in the area, as I'd be interested in getting involved?