The following is taken from http://faulkstalks.blogspot.com/. It is a continuation from Anna Raccoon's blog Fighting them on the Sandwell
You can read the letter below or click on the link An Open Letter To Sandwell Council to go to the blog.
To Whom It May Concern
I understand from the press and legions of political bloggers that I read that once again you have excelled yourselves in your zeal for keeping a tidy district. I am sure that you are proud of your efforts to achieve this. I use the term 'once again,' because I understand that on various occasions you taken decisive action against people who have by their behaviour - knowingly or otherwise - transgressed your precise (or might I say 'exacting'?) standards, and who have been victimised accordingly.
Your action against a widow - whose 'offense' was to pinch out a cigarette she was smoking at a bus stop, thus dropping the lighted end on your immaculate street - has proved that you are a council that leads the way in mercilessness and malice. It is abundantly clear for all to see that you hold these qualities to the highest degree.
Permit me to courteously remind you of a few facts:
First of all, as a council, you are the servants of the area. You are not their lords/masters/despots/satraps/kings. This may not be how you would like it to be, but that is how it is. Please consider this - as painful as it may be to you.
Secondly, your local populace earns money which, through their hard work or investment, goes to pay for your wages. In other words, you are beholden to those whose living subsidises your way of life - and, doubtless the sumptuous premises in which you work and from where you issue your diktats and generate the various trendy 'diversity' projects upon which you lavish taxpayer's hard-earned cash.
Thirdly, this is still nominally a free country. It is not a Soviet Socialist republic or a fascist dictatorship - yet. I realise that as a Labour council, there are people in your ranks who have qualified as Common Purpose 'graduates,' and who have enthusiastically imbibed the anti-democratic values and practices that it is intended to subvert. That this country has not yet fully circumvented the vaguely democratic values that has under-girded it may not be to your liking, but again - that's how it is. Deal with it. This is still a free country. There are still regular, law-abiding people who pay your substantial wages who abhor the petty vindictiveness which you have displayed to the lady in question along with others who have also fallen foul of your nastiness. There are doubtless those in your very district who fought in the Second World War to oppose the very principles which you have so enthusiastically applied - authoritarian fascism. You have betrayed them - and all the others of the same generation who endured bereavement and a myriad of hardships and made sacrifices to fight oppression and tyranny for the sake of you and I. I hope you are pleased with yourselves.
Finally, let me remind you that until this country becomes a repressed third-world, third-rate vassal state of an emerging totalitarian socialist Utopia, there will continue to be people like this present writer who will vehemently oppose you and your despotic ways and will take every opportunity to publicly register their undying contempt for the supercilious attitude and inhuman ways in which you operate. And until we are silenced by some secret police force, we will continue to do so.
Now the above letter is about a specific incident at a specific council, but don't you think it could be about almost any council in the country?
Showing posts with label Anna Raccoon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anna Raccoon. Show all posts
Sunday, 29 August 2010
Monday, 23 August 2010
Someone needing everyones support
I have just read Anna Raccoon's Blog entry called Fighting ‘them’ on the Sandwell. After reading it I had to spread the word.
It involves a council who is taking an old lady to court over some litter. The litter in question is some burnt ash from a cigarette.
Read the whole story below;
70 years ago this week, Winston Churchill made his famous speech immortalising the words ‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.’ He did so to rally every man and woman in these Isles to support the war effort: “because we have been nurtured in freedom and individual responsibility and are the products, not of totalitarian uniformity, but of tolerance and variety.”
Sheila Martin was a fragile babe in arms when her Mother heard those words. Too young to understand the menace behind the Messerschmitts and Heinkels screaming overhead and disturbing her slumber. She was the intended beneficiary of Churchill’s words, one of the generation of children that depended on the bravery of British men such as her Father, away in France fighting for the freedom, tolerance and variety that was Britain’s hallmark.
Today, Sheila is once more fragile; she is 70 years old and was widowed 30 years ago. She tells me she has survived five heart attacks; she suffers from asthma, angina and high blood pressure. She only smokes the occasional cigarette these days, partly for health reasons, partly because her minimal state pension doesn’t stretch to any more.
70 years after Churchill’s speech was made, she has retired from a lifetime of hard work.
She was part of that unsung army of hard working, clean living, decent individuals, who cheerfully got up every morning and trudged off to put in a decent days work for a paltry wage as a ‘Mrs Mop’, raised her family, nurtured her marriage, made ends meet, saved little, but asked little in return, save the freedom, and tolerance that her older relatives had fought to provide. She is not a politically aware lady, nor insolent, nor ambitious for financial rewards.
In common with other ‘Smokers’ who may not like the new laws prohibiting them from smoking where others may be offended by the practice, she respected the law of the land, and complied. She is no campaigner against such laws.
Thus it was that she found herself standing at a bus stop, waiting for the bus which would take her home, and taking the opportunity to smoke a cigarette in the open air – there was no bus shelter. She could no longer smoke a cigarette on the top deck of the bus. She had not been able to smoke a cigarette with the cup of tea she shared with her daughter in town. Now she must stand in the road to enjoy the ‘freedom, tolerance and variety’ of the British Isles.
She only smoked half the cigarette; as the time drew close for the bus to arrive, she ‘nibbed’ the cigarette, letting the lit end fall to the ground, and thriftily stowing the other half of the cigarette in her handbag for a later occasion. It was her last cigarette until pension day.
Two of Sandwell’s famed ‘enforcement wardens’ approached her – a man and a woman. They told her that they were issuing a ‘Fixed Penalty Fine’ of £75 under Section 87 (1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 as amended by Section 18 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005. This mouthful of gobblygook was lost on Sheila; she had no idea what she had done wrong and put the piece of paper in her pocket.
Once home, friends and neighbours clustered round to read this piece of officialdom. Sheila still had the ‘end’ of the cigarette, with its precious inch or so of un-smoked tobacco in her handbag, so how could she be accused of littering the street – it had to be the cigarette ash they were talking about?
I have spoken to Sandwell Council, they tell me that they do not issue fixed penalty notices for cigarette ‘ash’ – I am sure they don’t. I am equally sure that Mrs Martin is telling the truth when she tells me that the half cigarette with its ‘butt’ was still safely in her handbag when she returned home. So we are left with the quandary of whether the ‘lit’ end of a cigarette, which will become cigarette ‘ash’ within seconds, constitutes parliament’s intention when they defined litter as including:
In section 98 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (definitions), after subsection (5) insert—
“(5A)“Litter” includes—
(a) the discarded ends of cigarettes, cigars and like products, and
(b) discarded chewing-gum and the discarded remains of other products designed for chewing.”
If a court holds that it does, then every smoker is liable for a £75 fine every time they smoke a cigarette in the street. I do not believe that to be parliament’s intention.
On Friday, the threatening ‘Final Demand’ from Sandwell Council, warning her that she now faces a £2,500 fine plus costs (and possible imprisonment if she does not pay that) expired. The next opportunity for Mrs Martin to contest this matter will come in ‘some months time’ – the council cannot tell me when her case will arrive at the top of their back log of cases to appear in the Magistrates court.
Sheila Martin is frightened, intimidated, and feels helpless in the face of this prosecution. She is in delicate health, aggravated by stress, and I have asked the council to reconsider their decision to press ahead with what may well be an interesting test case defining a cigarette end, but which will be at the expense of a frail and elderly person. They have referred me to their ‘revised Enforcement Policy’ – which makes for terrifying reading, a fine example of the totalitarian government Sheila’s Father fought so bravely to prevent. (available HERE)
Nick Hogan, who I was instrumental in rescuing from prison after similar council action, has joined with me, the Libertarian Party and the Sunday Mercury, to ensure that Sheila suffers as little as possible from the council’s intransience.
We have already arranged for some very high powered legal representation for her, to put her mind at rest, and I have promised her that she will go to prison ‘over my dead body’ – she is obviously unable to pay this fine, or incremental increases of it, and I have personally guaranteed her that somehow I will make sure that she doesn’t have to pay it herself, nor go to prison.
There is no need for money at present, all the legal beagles so far involved are kindly donating their time and expertise free of charge – although if there are any other lawyers out there who would like to join the team, this is one broth that will not be spoiled by too many cooks. My e-mail address is on the contact section of this blog.
70 years ago we were prepared to ‘fight them on the beaches’ – how appropriate that today we prepare to f’ight them on the Sandwell……’
UPDATE:
CAMPAIGNERS have vowed to raise funds to help an elderly widow who has been threatened with a £2,500 fine for dropping cigarette ash on the pavement.
Sheila Martin, 70, was smoking at a bus stop when a Sandwell Council warden pounced and handed her the £75 fixed penalty for littering.
The frail granny, from Oldbury, has refused to pay – and now faces a £2,500 penalty or even prison.
But on-line campaigners who freed a pub landlord from jail for a similar offence earlier this year have now come forward to lend their support.
Nick Hogan, former landlord of The Swan and Barristers in Bolton, was jailed for six months for failing to pay fines and costs totalling £10,136 after being guilty of allowing customers to light up.
But he walked free after an internet campaign raised £10,000 to secure his early release in just 10 days.
Web blogger Anna Raccoon was instrumental in securing his freedom and has now vowed to help Mrs Martin.
She said: “As a result of articles I wrote, the generosity of my readers and with the co-operation of other bloggers, we managed to raise the money in 10 days and get Nick released from jail.
“Now we are prepared to turn our efforts to helping Sheila Martin. If she does not pay the fine, she could be sent to jail just as Nick Hogan was.
“That is oppressive persecution and we should not stand by and watch an elderly widow treated like this.
“My readers are happy to support Sheila in any way we can, to enable her to fight this penalty.”
Last night Mrs Martin said: “I am so touched by all the support people have been giving me all week.
“I thought I was all alone and now I realise I am not. It has made me feel so much better.”
Simon Clarke, Director of Pro-smoking Group FOREST, also offered his support. He said: “What is happening to her is just another example of the bully state.
“Smokers are easy targets and while we do not condone littering, this case is just a complete overreaction by Sandwell Council.
“We will not allow this frail old lady to be bullied and we will do everything we can to help her.”
I am so angry right now, How can this council take a frail old lady to court over something as trivial as burnt ash.
Spread the word and if you want go to Anna Raccoon's Blog and show your support.
It involves a council who is taking an old lady to court over some litter. The litter in question is some burnt ash from a cigarette.
Read the whole story below;
70 years ago this week, Winston Churchill made his famous speech immortalising the words ‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.’ He did so to rally every man and woman in these Isles to support the war effort: “because we have been nurtured in freedom and individual responsibility and are the products, not of totalitarian uniformity, but of tolerance and variety.”
Sheila Martin was a fragile babe in arms when her Mother heard those words. Too young to understand the menace behind the Messerschmitts and Heinkels screaming overhead and disturbing her slumber. She was the intended beneficiary of Churchill’s words, one of the generation of children that depended on the bravery of British men such as her Father, away in France fighting for the freedom, tolerance and variety that was Britain’s hallmark.
Today, Sheila is once more fragile; she is 70 years old and was widowed 30 years ago. She tells me she has survived five heart attacks; she suffers from asthma, angina and high blood pressure. She only smokes the occasional cigarette these days, partly for health reasons, partly because her minimal state pension doesn’t stretch to any more.
70 years after Churchill’s speech was made, she has retired from a lifetime of hard work.
She was part of that unsung army of hard working, clean living, decent individuals, who cheerfully got up every morning and trudged off to put in a decent days work for a paltry wage as a ‘Mrs Mop’, raised her family, nurtured her marriage, made ends meet, saved little, but asked little in return, save the freedom, and tolerance that her older relatives had fought to provide. She is not a politically aware lady, nor insolent, nor ambitious for financial rewards.
In common with other ‘Smokers’ who may not like the new laws prohibiting them from smoking where others may be offended by the practice, she respected the law of the land, and complied. She is no campaigner against such laws.
Thus it was that she found herself standing at a bus stop, waiting for the bus which would take her home, and taking the opportunity to smoke a cigarette in the open air – there was no bus shelter. She could no longer smoke a cigarette on the top deck of the bus. She had not been able to smoke a cigarette with the cup of tea she shared with her daughter in town. Now she must stand in the road to enjoy the ‘freedom, tolerance and variety’ of the British Isles.
She only smoked half the cigarette; as the time drew close for the bus to arrive, she ‘nibbed’ the cigarette, letting the lit end fall to the ground, and thriftily stowing the other half of the cigarette in her handbag for a later occasion. It was her last cigarette until pension day.
Two of Sandwell’s famed ‘enforcement wardens’ approached her – a man and a woman. They told her that they were issuing a ‘Fixed Penalty Fine’ of £75 under Section 87 (1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 as amended by Section 18 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005. This mouthful of gobblygook was lost on Sheila; she had no idea what she had done wrong and put the piece of paper in her pocket.
Once home, friends and neighbours clustered round to read this piece of officialdom. Sheila still had the ‘end’ of the cigarette, with its precious inch or so of un-smoked tobacco in her handbag, so how could she be accused of littering the street – it had to be the cigarette ash they were talking about?
I have spoken to Sandwell Council, they tell me that they do not issue fixed penalty notices for cigarette ‘ash’ – I am sure they don’t. I am equally sure that Mrs Martin is telling the truth when she tells me that the half cigarette with its ‘butt’ was still safely in her handbag when she returned home. So we are left with the quandary of whether the ‘lit’ end of a cigarette, which will become cigarette ‘ash’ within seconds, constitutes parliament’s intention when they defined litter as including:
In section 98 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (definitions), after subsection (5) insert—
“(5A)“Litter” includes—
(a) the discarded ends of cigarettes, cigars and like products, and
(b) discarded chewing-gum and the discarded remains of other products designed for chewing.”
If a court holds that it does, then every smoker is liable for a £75 fine every time they smoke a cigarette in the street. I do not believe that to be parliament’s intention.
On Friday, the threatening ‘Final Demand’ from Sandwell Council, warning her that she now faces a £2,500 fine plus costs (and possible imprisonment if she does not pay that) expired. The next opportunity for Mrs Martin to contest this matter will come in ‘some months time’ – the council cannot tell me when her case will arrive at the top of their back log of cases to appear in the Magistrates court.
Sheila Martin is frightened, intimidated, and feels helpless in the face of this prosecution. She is in delicate health, aggravated by stress, and I have asked the council to reconsider their decision to press ahead with what may well be an interesting test case defining a cigarette end, but which will be at the expense of a frail and elderly person. They have referred me to their ‘revised Enforcement Policy’ – which makes for terrifying reading, a fine example of the totalitarian government Sheila’s Father fought so bravely to prevent. (available HERE)
Nick Hogan, who I was instrumental in rescuing from prison after similar council action, has joined with me, the Libertarian Party and the Sunday Mercury, to ensure that Sheila suffers as little as possible from the council’s intransience.
We have already arranged for some very high powered legal representation for her, to put her mind at rest, and I have promised her that she will go to prison ‘over my dead body’ – she is obviously unable to pay this fine, or incremental increases of it, and I have personally guaranteed her that somehow I will make sure that she doesn’t have to pay it herself, nor go to prison.
There is no need for money at present, all the legal beagles so far involved are kindly donating their time and expertise free of charge – although if there are any other lawyers out there who would like to join the team, this is one broth that will not be spoiled by too many cooks. My e-mail address is on the contact section of this blog.
70 years ago we were prepared to ‘fight them on the beaches’ – how appropriate that today we prepare to f’ight them on the Sandwell……’
UPDATE:
CAMPAIGNERS have vowed to raise funds to help an elderly widow who has been threatened with a £2,500 fine for dropping cigarette ash on the pavement.
Sheila Martin, 70, was smoking at a bus stop when a Sandwell Council warden pounced and handed her the £75 fixed penalty for littering.
The frail granny, from Oldbury, has refused to pay – and now faces a £2,500 penalty or even prison.
But on-line campaigners who freed a pub landlord from jail for a similar offence earlier this year have now come forward to lend their support.
Nick Hogan, former landlord of The Swan and Barristers in Bolton, was jailed for six months for failing to pay fines and costs totalling £10,136 after being guilty of allowing customers to light up.
But he walked free after an internet campaign raised £10,000 to secure his early release in just 10 days.
Web blogger Anna Raccoon was instrumental in securing his freedom and has now vowed to help Mrs Martin.
She said: “As a result of articles I wrote, the generosity of my readers and with the co-operation of other bloggers, we managed to raise the money in 10 days and get Nick released from jail.
“Now we are prepared to turn our efforts to helping Sheila Martin. If she does not pay the fine, she could be sent to jail just as Nick Hogan was.
“That is oppressive persecution and we should not stand by and watch an elderly widow treated like this.
“My readers are happy to support Sheila in any way we can, to enable her to fight this penalty.”
Last night Mrs Martin said: “I am so touched by all the support people have been giving me all week.
“I thought I was all alone and now I realise I am not. It has made me feel so much better.”
Simon Clarke, Director of Pro-smoking Group FOREST, also offered his support. He said: “What is happening to her is just another example of the bully state.
“Smokers are easy targets and while we do not condone littering, this case is just a complete overreaction by Sandwell Council.
“We will not allow this frail old lady to be bullied and we will do everything we can to help her.”
I am so angry right now, How can this council take a frail old lady to court over something as trivial as burnt ash.
Spread the word and if you want go to Anna Raccoon's Blog and show your support.
Monday, 12 July 2010
Raoul Moat
I followed the news story regarding Raoul Moat, and i wasn't surprised by the ending, he was either going to commit suicide or put the police into a scenario where the police had to shoot him.
I was starting to write my thoughts on the subject when I read Anna Raccoon's blog post on the subject. Once I read her blog post I knew anything I came up with would never do the subject justice.
So I ask you to go to Anna Raccoon Blog and read her blog post regarding Raoul Moat. She hits the nail on the head in her post.
I was starting to write my thoughts on the subject when I read Anna Raccoon's blog post on the subject. Once I read her blog post I knew anything I came up with would never do the subject justice.
So I ask you to go to Anna Raccoon Blog and read her blog post regarding Raoul Moat. She hits the nail on the head in her post.
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
An Early April Fools Joke, not 2
Going on from my previous blog An Early April Fools Joke, not.
Another blog by Anna Raccoon about waste in government.
The latest blog is called: - Newsflash: civil service stress update
Following on from an earlier excursion into yoga and other hobbies comes this harrowing tale of the utter waste endemic to government:
Worse though is the tale told by a friend. She had had a stressful couple of years as HR boss of a firm that was cutting half its staff and she decided when the time came for her to cut herself that she didn't need this any longer. She has a husband and family and wanted a routine sort of job without emotional strain, so she applied for and got one with the local authority, inputting data. It was boring and soothing and just what she needed but after a week she realised she was finishing the work given to her at lunchtime every day, so she asked the line manager – or possibly the Deputy Assistant Line Manager – for more. Shocked silence and sharp intake of breath.
You cannot be serious! That would count as undermining her colleagues or ‘rocking the boat’. She asked what she should do until five o’clock came and was told ‘Anything. Do your online Tesco shopping. Play Sudoku…just don`t ask for more work.’
There were seven full-time employees in that office and she says the work could have been done by a maximum of three and not busting a gut.
It’s not just that government spending can be cut. It must be cut.
This is just at one office in one local authority, so how much waste collectively is going on in the country as a whole, that's not including the waste the national government gets through. Should I mention the waste in the EU.
Government, local and national, should be put under the same scrutiny as a private business' accounts. The taxpayers should be getting value for money from the governments. If they ran a private business like they do our governments it would be bankrupt.
Another blog by Anna Raccoon about waste in government.
The latest blog is called: - Newsflash: civil service stress update
Following on from an earlier excursion into yoga and other hobbies comes this harrowing tale of the utter waste endemic to government:
Worse though is the tale told by a friend. She had had a stressful couple of years as HR boss of a firm that was cutting half its staff and she decided when the time came for her to cut herself that she didn't need this any longer. She has a husband and family and wanted a routine sort of job without emotional strain, so she applied for and got one with the local authority, inputting data. It was boring and soothing and just what she needed but after a week she realised she was finishing the work given to her at lunchtime every day, so she asked the line manager – or possibly the Deputy Assistant Line Manager – for more. Shocked silence and sharp intake of breath.
You cannot be serious! That would count as undermining her colleagues or ‘rocking the boat’. She asked what she should do until five o’clock came and was told ‘Anything. Do your online Tesco shopping. Play Sudoku…just don`t ask for more work.’
There were seven full-time employees in that office and she says the work could have been done by a maximum of three and not busting a gut.
It’s not just that government spending can be cut. It must be cut.
This is just at one office in one local authority, so how much waste collectively is going on in the country as a whole, that's not including the waste the national government gets through. Should I mention the waste in the EU.
Government, local and national, should be put under the same scrutiny as a private business' accounts. The taxpayers should be getting value for money from the governments. If they ran a private business like they do our governments it would be bankrupt.
Friday, 26 March 2010
An Early April Fools Joke, not
I have just read this blog from Anna Raccoons blog
I thought it was an April Fools joke at first, but it isn't.
Read the blog below;
I certainly had to indulge in some heavy breathing after reading this farrago of nonsense:
'Civil servants have been given counselling manuals advising them how to deal with stress-related boredom and a lack of work.'
Just savour that for a moment. Contemplate your busy day, the demands on your time, the endless worries about how you will make ends meet this month and then consider that even more of your tax is being spent on teaching people who don’t have enough work to justify their “jobs” how to be calm about the fact that they’re wasting their lives and stealing your money.
'In one booklet from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, officials said stress-related problems could be caused by having “too little work or responsibility” and suggested that pressured workers take up a hobby to alleviate anxiety.
The Department for International Development’s book warned workers to avoid becoming lethargic from “too little pressure” but allow for 20 per cent more time to complete tasks they feel could add to stress.
“Breathe in and out heavily a few times and imagine yourself being successful,” it advises workers.'
I’ve breathed in and out heavily a few times, I can tell you.
I think the yogis who came up with this inspiration have been spending a little too much time “on the mat”.
What the hell is going on with this government?
I thought it was an April Fools joke at first, but it isn't.
Read the blog below;
I certainly had to indulge in some heavy breathing after reading this farrago of nonsense:
'Civil servants have been given counselling manuals advising them how to deal with stress-related boredom and a lack of work.'
Just savour that for a moment. Contemplate your busy day, the demands on your time, the endless worries about how you will make ends meet this month and then consider that even more of your tax is being spent on teaching people who don’t have enough work to justify their “jobs” how to be calm about the fact that they’re wasting their lives and stealing your money.
'In one booklet from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, officials said stress-related problems could be caused by having “too little work or responsibility” and suggested that pressured workers take up a hobby to alleviate anxiety.
The Department for International Development’s book warned workers to avoid becoming lethargic from “too little pressure” but allow for 20 per cent more time to complete tasks they feel could add to stress.
“Breathe in and out heavily a few times and imagine yourself being successful,” it advises workers.'
I’ve breathed in and out heavily a few times, I can tell you.
I think the yogis who came up with this inspiration have been spending a little too much time “on the mat”.
What the hell is going on with this government?
Friday, 12 March 2010
Come The Revolution By Anna Raccoon
The following blog is copied from Anna Raccoon's Blog.
http://www.annaraccoon.com/
You can find this Blog Here
Come the Revolution!
by Anna Raccoon on March 12,
The Blogosphere is fundamentally different from the Main Stream Media.
It is the aggregate mass of thousands of committed individuals, sitting in front of their computers, who wish to make their voices heard in the political dialogue which traditionally, only hears their voice during an election.
This is not a new phenomenon. It used to be called pamphleteering. Prynne, Bastwick and Burton were seventeenth century ‘bloggers’ who contributed to the downfall of the Stuart monarchy.
Modern historians place great weight on the pamphleteering that went on in the 1630’s. Then as now the established power first ignored, then repressed the clamour from the pamphleteers, they were unable to control the new ‘medium’.
In the end refusal to change or compromise brought down Charles I
Many bloggers are ‘experts’ in their field, carving a thousand new facets onto an issue; the Blogs can, and do, rapidly expose a lie by Government; Newspapers no longer campaign and are easily controlled by Government, through D notices, or a refusal of access to the corridors of power.
Bloggers are noisy, rumbustious, argumentative, anarchic, and autonomous. They don’t speak with the smooth, editorially controlled, legally sanctified, grammatically correct, voice of the National Newspapers, or the Television Stations.
They shout, from 25 million different electronic soap-boxes, of the injustices they perceive in their small corner of the global world. Unpaid, sometimes unheard, but, critically, electronically linked to each other.
That link is essential, for occasionally a story gains momentum, catches the group imagination and then builds up speed exponentially, amplifying the original lone voice to an almighty bellow.
So it was that when I wrote of Nick Hogan, the Manchester publican jailed for six months for being unable to pay the full £11,600 fine imposed on him when some of his customer’s defied the ‘no-smoking’ ban, it was read not only by my little band of readers, but by other bloggers linked to me.
A fellow blogger, Old Holborn, read my post and offered to arrange a collection point for donations via his own Blog. That blog post was, in turn, read by Guido Fawkes, who relayed it to his own million plus readers.
This was not a campaign conducted by the smoothly professional spin-meisters of the main political parties, or campaigning organisations, with stories carefully planted in friendly newspapers, written by highly trained professionals. There were no government ministers wheeled out to TV stations to tell the obliging public what they should think.
This was not the ‘Pro-Smoking’ lobby shouting, this was the authentic, raw voice of thousands of ordinary men and women who felt that the State had over-stepped the mark, and was making a political point by jailing this man.
The outrage I had felt at the injustice imposed on Nick Hogan was being amplified beyond my wildest imagination – Bloggers across the globe were putting their hand into their wallet and forwarding money to the ‘Free Nick Hogan’ fund.
I lost count of the number of e-mails I received telling me ‘I don’t mind the smoking ban myself, but this is wrong’. Or ‘this man has been jailed for refusing to act as an unpaid policeman for the State’.
Money came in from all over the world, the International Blogosphere had reacted in a truly heart warming way, outraged at the behaviour of the State.
On Wednesday we succeeded, and with the good wishes of thousands of ordinary men and women, equally battered by the recession, Nick Hogan is once more in the bosom of his family, able to support his wife Denise and their children.
Thank-you Blogosphere – and well done.
The fact that so many of you responded is a powerful message from the voting public that politicians would be well advised to heed. The Blogosphere will not be controlled by politicians, bound up in regulations, throttled by impenetrable legislation. It is not a single target that a ‘D’ notice can be fired at. We are not beholden to advertisers.
We are the authentic, unfiltered, voice of your electorate.
Very soon, we may be more than that. Today, Nick Hogan has phoned me and told me that he has accepted an invitation to stand for Parliament. I am delighted for him. I hope he is successful. Parliament needs men and women who know what it is to belong to the great mass of ordinary people – not career political aides promoted to candidacy, not union representatives looking for a national soapbox to shout from – from real human beings who have had to battle the effects of the recession, who know what bankruptcy really means, who know how hard it is to run a business when you are throttled with legislation, who know what it means to sit up at night doing the Vat returns, real people.
In the meantime, Russia’s main television channel is flying into Manchester to interview Nick Hogan as part of a special investigation* into the totalitarian regime that they see emerging in Europe – Oh! The irony! Post Perestroika Russia sees Britain as an oppressive regime! Was it only yesterday that we were lecturing them on Freedom?
For the British, it is not a physical wall such as that in Berlin that we need to pull down, but the psychological wall between the career politicians and the 60 million people that they seek to rule. They need our consent to do so.
Yesterday, Old Holborn was outside Westminster Magistrates court where four politicians, charged with false accounting, sought permission not to stand in the dock as common criminals, they were, so they believed, entitled to be treated differently from any other thief.
They just don’t get it.
My politics are not Nick’s; he knows that, we can politely agree to disagree. Until the day arrives when Libertarians are sufficient in number to field national candidates, I shall be delighted to settle for helping a real human being to enter parliament, it is what this country needs – even if I can’t vote for him.
You can expect a blog post next week from Nick explaining his political beliefs – and some more from politicians of a different hue. These are interesting times ahead.
*The video will be available here – just as soon as someone with the capability to put the English translation which I shall have, onto a video, and upload it to Youtube – any offers? Way beyond my technical ability. My e-mail address is on the contact page.
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Come the Revolution!
by Anna Raccoon on March 12,
The Blogosphere is fundamentally different from the Main Stream Media.
It is the aggregate mass of thousands of committed individuals, sitting in front of their computers, who wish to make their voices heard in the political dialogue which traditionally, only hears their voice during an election.
This is not a new phenomenon. It used to be called pamphleteering. Prynne, Bastwick and Burton were seventeenth century ‘bloggers’ who contributed to the downfall of the Stuart monarchy.
Modern historians place great weight on the pamphleteering that went on in the 1630’s. Then as now the established power first ignored, then repressed the clamour from the pamphleteers, they were unable to control the new ‘medium’.
In the end refusal to change or compromise brought down Charles I
Many bloggers are ‘experts’ in their field, carving a thousand new facets onto an issue; the Blogs can, and do, rapidly expose a lie by Government; Newspapers no longer campaign and are easily controlled by Government, through D notices, or a refusal of access to the corridors of power.
Bloggers are noisy, rumbustious, argumentative, anarchic, and autonomous. They don’t speak with the smooth, editorially controlled, legally sanctified, grammatically correct, voice of the National Newspapers, or the Television Stations.
They shout, from 25 million different electronic soap-boxes, of the injustices they perceive in their small corner of the global world. Unpaid, sometimes unheard, but, critically, electronically linked to each other.
That link is essential, for occasionally a story gains momentum, catches the group imagination and then builds up speed exponentially, amplifying the original lone voice to an almighty bellow.
So it was that when I wrote of Nick Hogan, the Manchester publican jailed for six months for being unable to pay the full £11,600 fine imposed on him when some of his customer’s defied the ‘no-smoking’ ban, it was read not only by my little band of readers, but by other bloggers linked to me.
A fellow blogger, Old Holborn, read my post and offered to arrange a collection point for donations via his own Blog. That blog post was, in turn, read by Guido Fawkes, who relayed it to his own million plus readers.
This was not a campaign conducted by the smoothly professional spin-meisters of the main political parties, or campaigning organisations, with stories carefully planted in friendly newspapers, written by highly trained professionals. There were no government ministers wheeled out to TV stations to tell the obliging public what they should think.
This was not the ‘Pro-Smoking’ lobby shouting, this was the authentic, raw voice of thousands of ordinary men and women who felt that the State had over-stepped the mark, and was making a political point by jailing this man.
The outrage I had felt at the injustice imposed on Nick Hogan was being amplified beyond my wildest imagination – Bloggers across the globe were putting their hand into their wallet and forwarding money to the ‘Free Nick Hogan’ fund.
I lost count of the number of e-mails I received telling me ‘I don’t mind the smoking ban myself, but this is wrong’. Or ‘this man has been jailed for refusing to act as an unpaid policeman for the State’.
Money came in from all over the world, the International Blogosphere had reacted in a truly heart warming way, outraged at the behaviour of the State.
On Wednesday we succeeded, and with the good wishes of thousands of ordinary men and women, equally battered by the recession, Nick Hogan is once more in the bosom of his family, able to support his wife Denise and their children.
Thank-you Blogosphere – and well done.
The fact that so many of you responded is a powerful message from the voting public that politicians would be well advised to heed. The Blogosphere will not be controlled by politicians, bound up in regulations, throttled by impenetrable legislation. It is not a single target that a ‘D’ notice can be fired at. We are not beholden to advertisers.
We are the authentic, unfiltered, voice of your electorate.
Very soon, we may be more than that. Today, Nick Hogan has phoned me and told me that he has accepted an invitation to stand for Parliament. I am delighted for him. I hope he is successful. Parliament needs men and women who know what it is to belong to the great mass of ordinary people – not career political aides promoted to candidacy, not union representatives looking for a national soapbox to shout from – from real human beings who have had to battle the effects of the recession, who know what bankruptcy really means, who know how hard it is to run a business when you are throttled with legislation, who know what it means to sit up at night doing the Vat returns, real people.
In the meantime, Russia’s main television channel is flying into Manchester to interview Nick Hogan as part of a special investigation* into the totalitarian regime that they see emerging in Europe – Oh! The irony! Post Perestroika Russia sees Britain as an oppressive regime! Was it only yesterday that we were lecturing them on Freedom?
For the British, it is not a physical wall such as that in Berlin that we need to pull down, but the psychological wall between the career politicians and the 60 million people that they seek to rule. They need our consent to do so.
Yesterday, Old Holborn was outside Westminster Magistrates court where four politicians, charged with false accounting, sought permission not to stand in the dock as common criminals, they were, so they believed, entitled to be treated differently from any other thief.
They just don’t get it.
My politics are not Nick’s; he knows that, we can politely agree to disagree. Until the day arrives when Libertarians are sufficient in number to field national candidates, I shall be delighted to settle for helping a real human being to enter parliament, it is what this country needs – even if I can’t vote for him.
You can expect a blog post next week from Nick explaining his political beliefs – and some more from politicians of a different hue. These are interesting times ahead.
*The video will be available here – just as soon as someone with the capability to put the English translation which I shall have, onto a video, and upload it to Youtube – any offers? Way beyond my technical ability. My e-mail address is on the contact page.
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