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Brit leader says civil liberties eroding

LONDON, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Britain's Liberal Democratic leader Charles Kennedy said in a speech Monday in London a "climate of fear" has been used to undermine civil liberties.

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"In this post-9/11 world, a climate of fear is being created which is being used to threaten our civil liberties," Kennedy told the National Liberal Club.

"Extraordinary threats -- like those posed by international terrorism -- may require us, in times of emergency and for limited periods, to find a different balance between our hard-won liberties and our security."

Kennedy said the stop and search powers introduced under Britain's new terror laws have been misused by the police, the BBC reported.

He said the federal government's plans for compulsory identity cards are a classic example of the problem and that ministers change their justification for identity cards almost daily.

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"It suggests the government itself is not quite sure of what it's trying to achieve," he said.


Deceased ask for votes, not flowers

CHICAGO, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- An unusual number of obituaries are asking mourners to forgo the usual flowers -- in favor of supporting either U.S. President Bush or John Kerry Nov. 2.

Several obits in the New York City area have solicited donations to "any organization dedicated to defeating George W. Bush," while one in Appleton, Wis., asked friends of the deceased to "support the Republican National Party by voting on November 2nd, for George W. Bush for President," the Chicago Tribune reported Monday.

"Some people care passionately about things. They care about their jobs, they care about their families and they care about the future of their country. With politics as polarized as they have been in the last four years, some people go over the deep edge in life and in death," observed Paul Herrnson, director of the Center for American Politics and Citizenship at the University of Maryland.


Ashlee Simpson takes blame for lip-syncing

NEW YORK, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Ashlee Simpson, caught lip-syncing on live TV, has owned up to the snafu after initially blaming her band for playing the wrong song.

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Simpson took full responsiblity Sunday the episode on the previous night's segment of "Saturday Night Live," saying too much work had left her voice tired, MTV.com said.

"I can't cancel something like 'SNL.' ... I'll hold my head high and say I think it was silly of me to do it, silly of me to blame the band, I was just so (expletive) embarrassed," Simpson wrote on her Web site.

Simpson's performance went awry when her voice boomed through the speakers while she stood with a microphone at her hips.

The 20-year-old entertainer was expecting to sing "Autobiography," but the song she performed earlier in the show, "Pieces of Me," complete with vocal tracks, began playing instead.

Simpson exited the stage, with the show abruptly cutting to a commercial.

At the end of the show, Simpson blamed the snafu on her band.

"I feel so bad," she said. "My band started playing the wrong song! And I didn't know what to do!" I'm sorry! It's live TV! Things happen! I'm sorry,!"


Thieving grannies: 'Take that.. and that'

ST. ANNE'S, England, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- British police have smashed a shoplifting cartel run by three women in their 80s who swapped teenagers contraband cigarettes for stolen food.

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The Mirror said undercover officers spent three weeks watching the trio, who ran their operations from a Conservative party social club in the Lancashire town of St. Anne's.

The investigation was dubbed "Operation Blue Rinse" by police, who swept into the club Friday.

"These grannies would draw up a shopping list -- anything from tins of soup to a carton of (mincemeat tarts) for their tea," a police source said.

The suspects were let off with a warning, but the social club banned them for life.

One of the club's 73-year-old members said the raid will be remembered at the club for some time.

"There has never been anything like this since Enoch Powell made a speech here on immigration," said Martin Rogerson.

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