Friday 24 September 2010

Disappearing Blogs: Would That I Could

Some good blogs/bloggers have gone by the wayside recently. The latest - and quite a surprise was this - is Obnoxio.

It's not just the blog either, but his Twitter feed too, which struck me as odd considering his mentioning in the past that he found Twitter not only a medium with the potential to outdo blogging, but also enjoyable, and if anyone has ever followed him they may agree that that is the impression he seemed to convey.

On expressing surprise about this on Twitter tonight though, Old Holborn tweeted thus:


I can fully understand that, to be honest, but the problem I have is what would I do if I did pack the thing up and dropped out of the blogosphere?

See, domestic arrangements at Puddlecote Towers would directly work against that probability - take last night, for example. Having divested myself of the mortar board ... and the gown, cane and false moustache (well, might as well go the whole hog, eh?) while discussing Newton, causes of the weather, Marie Curie and World In Union and its classical music roots (it was an eclectic, and kid-led, first class), I sat down in Mrs P territory ... in front of the TV.

After a few warnings to watch and not comment, I was finally given my marching orders when Chris fucking Choi popped up on ITV news with some top drawer gobshitery.

"I've spoken to a councillor who said 'if we were a private company, we'd be filing for bankruptcy' but of course, for councils that isn't an option"
Yes. He was talking about public sector cuts and how cash-strapped these poor councils are. His 'exclusive' report had regaled us with emotive (and no doubt sensationally cherry-picked) tales of 70% increased charges for burying the dead; pricier meals on wheels; and stinging the elderly with savings for more home care charges.

Nothing about the quite astounding levels of waste prevalent in every fucking council in the country. Not even a nod towards local authority meddling in areas with which they should not be concerned. No pointing out that these charges are going up not because of government cuts, but simply because self-important local fucksticks are addicted to spending our money on quite irrelevant schemes.

Every viewer watching Chris 'look at me' Choi last night will be able to point to waste perpetrated by his/her local council (or councils pural if afflicted with a County one too), yet he instead chose to paint them as small town heroes who are forced to punish the vulnerable as there is no other option.

Because diversity seminars are more important than the elderly apparently, LBGT initiatives are indispensable so the bereaved simply must be charged more, litter police are core council objectives so meals on wheels prices must rise to compensate.

What a cunt you are, Choi.

There was actually a clue to be had in his (unreferenced) comparison between public and private sector. Think about it, Chris, if a private company was faced with a reduction in income, the directors would be identifying parts of their business which are unnecessary, shedding staff who are irrelevant, and restructuring to cut out the daftest ideas. And if a private company wasn't imaginative enough themselves, or was reluctant to do so, the administrators would quickly sort that nonsense out.

The very last thing they would get away with is to ramp up prices to their customers while still carrying indefensible dead weight. Because, yes, that way bankruptcy definitely would lurk.

And, as Choi says, that isn't an option for councils as their income will never dry up. Their charges will have to be paid by the public they are screwing because they have cleverly targeted those for whom there isn't a valid alternative supplier.

It was after saying much of the above to Mrs P that she patiently asked if I was quite finished, before telling me that she knew all that and would I just fuck off and let her chillax in front of the goggle box as is customary.

So there you have it, I'll be around for quite a while yet. In fact, until either one of the little Ps leaves home and I can convert their room and soundproof it, or Mrs P invests in effective gagging equipment.

Oi! I know what you're thinking. Don't go there, OK?


10 comments:

Corrugated Soundbite said...

I can see why the likes of Obo would pack it in. Ranty took some persuading to come out of retirement too. We're 4 months into our Big Society and whilst some bloggers are taking heart from a few quangoes being shut down/merged, others are just seeing more of the same spin. Plus, we're no more at liberty and are still being stolen from on a grand scale.

"Our streets are safer since the invasion of Afghanistan".

"We'll get tough on the bankers" (incidentally, I'd like government to have nothing to do with bankers whatsoever).

It's just one round of the same lies too many for some I imagine. And one occasion too many of watching gullible fuckwits swallow it up, too.

Glad to see you're soldiering on though, DP ;-) This media is in its infancy and can already (near enough) claim the climate change con as an early scalp.

Mac the Knife said...

"...I know what you're thinking. Don't go there, OK?"

Perish the thought Old Horse, perish the thought... :)

JuliaM said...

"It was after saying much of the above to Mrs P that she patiently asked if I was quite finished, before telling me that she knew all that and would I just fuck off and let her chillax in front of the goggle box as is customary."

That's it in a nutshell.

If we didn't have blogs, we'd be howling into the dark. Might as well howl with a few thousand like-minded folks, as alone... ;)

Guthrum said...

There have been times.......

As far as I am concerned the battle has only just been joined. The Big State still has the same 'public servants' now as under Labour and they are fighting a massive rear guard action. Once the East European State Socialism of Millibandism with a 'Nice' Milliband at the helm we are in serious trouble. Labour only lost the last election because of Brown, not because people wanted to be Free.

Anonymous said...

The Socialist/NALGO/Unite ability to reposition their own fiscal incontinence as Tory evil-doing has no equal....except for the hypocrisy of pretending it's all about safety - when it's all about jobs for the boys and girls.
I too wouldn't know what to do without blogging: I think it's a form of mental illness, because only very rarely does it have any effect on the Zillites.
http://nbyslog.blogspot.com/2010/09/french-without-tears-not-for-much.html

RantinRab said...

Nothings going to change. Nothing. Unless there is violence.

Words won't change the way the world is. No one wants to listen to us except ourselves.

Workmates and friends think I am a fucking nut case when I express views that, as far as they can see, are wildly beyond what they have been allowed to think before.

I am tired of it and I am tired of being angry. It's not good for one's health.

But saying that, I'll probably be back!

I am Stan said...

Hi Mr P,

Yeah its a shame Obo has hung up his wig,I suspect he will be back when the coagulation policies start kicking in.

Worry not friends Im still around,I know you would all be bereft without your regular doses of Friday glamour, pictures of frogs and...er stuff! :)

Anonymous said...

If the bloggers who really wish to see real movement to a society
based on freedom,they will have to
unite in one regular PAPER news sheet. Something tangible ,which
can reach the millions who, as yet
stay ignorant of the blog scene. A condensed ,hard hitting selection of comments and replies,in a easy to download format,so we followers
can print off cheaply and pass round to a far greater audience.
Certain campaigns must realise by now, they are on a loser handcuffed
on the web followed by a mere
handfull


Paper boy

Beware of Geeks bearing GIFs said...

It is hard to blog all the time - I am nowhere near the calibre of some of you guys but there's something cathartic about blogging which is why I will continue as long as there are some that read and think about issues, rather than blindly soaking up the dumb down detritus that is an excuse for current affairs and entertainment.

Also, as I've cancelled my TV tax, don't read any papers and joined the Libertarian party I feel I have, to some extent, effectively unplugged from "the matrix".

It is frightening to see what happens when people parrot the crap they are fed on a daily basis about green issues, politics etc down the pub. It is equally disturbing to find some of your long term friends from college sharing the common view, especially with this eco lunacy.

One of my friends is a firm believer in windmills but despite crushing the argument for windmills in 5 minutes (i.e. windmills cannot and will not replace a single load balancing power station because you always need one when the wind stops blowing as it takes days to start a plant up etc) he simply refuses to accept this and then blathers on about AGW like some brainwashed born again. And this guy was a mechanical engineer at college too.

As I said, it’s frightening and equally depressing when you discover your own friends are hoodwinked initially by this propaganda but slowly and surely when we debate and talk about this and they start thinking and researching for themselves, they ask questions and then the fake mask of deceit and control begins to lift.

It’s seeing this happen that makes me feel that in my own tiny way I am making a difference.

Junican said...

It is reasonable to assume that people like yourself, Legiron, Frank Davis, and everyone else, will run out of puff - it is natural for amateurs to do so while paid persons/organisations can continue ad inf. the fact of the matter is that it is damned hard work to produce intelligent essays day after day.

it may be that the answer is to close down for a while and give your brain a rest. I do not think that it is an accident that newspaper columnists have a habit of disappearing for a while from time to time and being replaced by someone else. The critical thing is not to disappear forever and to comment on other blogs while you are resting. Also, keep up with the attacks on the charlatans and snake oil salesmen wherever possible. Hit you MP with an email. When he does not reply or sends you a computer produced reply, leave it for a month and then write a 'first-class' letter and threatening a letter to the local newspaper - DO NOT refer to the previous email in detail - make them search for it. I emailed my MP (that horrible Quereshi person) about signing Binley's (?)EDM - I received no reply. I have waited a few weeks (having been on holiday) and I will now write a letter about it, implying therein that her 'troubles' with the law are no excuse for ignoring me. Is that unfair? Maybe, but is it fair that millions of us have to stand outside pubs in the rain for no good reason?

rest your brain for a month or so, Dick, if you wish to - and then come back refreshed. We are in this for the long haul!

God! If only I was younger (70 years old, for heavens sake!)! And if only I had the wealth to sue these bastard 'professors of physicisianism' on the grounds that they are demeaning me and destroying my reputation by their lies! It would take only ONE really wealthy person to sue the likes of ASH, CRUK, etc to stop the crap dead. then where would the government be when it has to face THE TRUE FACTS, instead of the self-generated-fake advice that it uses to support its legislation at the moment?

For me, the battle is about owners of businesses being allowed to permit what is not morally illegal. The Pope, on his visit to Britain, made much about 'aggressive secularisation'. My interpretation of his statement was this:

Since time immemorial, our laws have been based ultimately on morality - it is WRONG to kill; it is WRONG to steal. Laws which have been passed purely for the convenience of the State (such as laws intended to reduce the cost of the NHS) always fail eventually. As an example, one could take the seatbelt law. There is no MORAL basis for that law at all - it is just an administrative convenience - it reduces the calls on the NHS.

I think that the Pope was right. In this country, Christian morality has, in effect, been the basis of our laws. In Iran, Muslim morality has been the basis of the law. But it is becoming more and more prevalent that laws are being enacted which are not based upon morality but upon what is convenient at the time.

The Smoking Ban is precisely a case in point. Is the 'enjoyment of tobacco' MORALLY wrong? Is the 'enjoyment of tobacco' MORALLY wrong in the presence of people willingly present when the activity of smoking is taking place MORALLY wrong? I do not see any way in which it can be so,on the grounds that people can absent themselves from places where the activities that they do not like are taking place.

This is all obvious stuff and is what we have been saying for ages, but now we have the authority of the Pope (believe me, this is not to be underestimated in terms of freedom).

I do not think that what I am saying here is finished - there is a vast difference between morality and State convenience.