Late night Falmouth.

Last night, once again, there was serious trouble in our road after the pubs and clubs in town closed. There are constant attacks on cars and property after closing time in the areas leading away from the town centre, and especially in this road.

Last nights action was simply unacceptable where "revellers" proceeded to upturn glass recycling bins which had been left out for collection, and smash the glass in the road, there were several of these glass bins overturned, not just one and they caused a major hazard for motorists. This wasn't just a few bottles, there must have been fifty smashed outside of my property alone. I went out at 3:45 to assist the officers in cleaning the glass from the road and I believe they did apprehend someone in regards to this incident.

I don't believe the Police are at fault, or this is even an issue primarily about law enforcement. The Police obviously can only respond to incidents where a crime has been committed, or someone is in the process of committing one. I also do not think the Police should be used as a 'nanny service' to run round after these fools who can't handle their drink. This is a societal problem, an issue for the town itself.

The problems Falmouth has with drinkers and louts after hours is a major issue and the community must take responsibility and deal with it. I am suggesting all parties, residents, business, Police, Council etc come together to address it and decide on a course of action.

The free speech case revisited.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2181068/Tom-Daley-Twitter-troll-detained-abusive-messages-issued-harassment-warning.html

While I don't agree with the users tweet and absolutely agree that it was out of order, a pre-dawn Police raid for a 17 year old, who didn't actually say anything abusive nor make a threat is totally excessive. It sets a dangerous precedent and is contrary to freedom of speech.
As Voltaire said, "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it."

What the troll said didn't alarm me, but the fact the Police would raid your house at 4am for a post is basically thought crime, that's how they used to roll in East Germany and places like that. How far would we like to take it? If you allow the state to arrest people for saying things, then secret imprisonment and indefinite detention is not far behind. Obviously It sounds like I'm making a big deal out of it, but this country is becoming more and more 'Police state' by the year, and you have to defend everybodies rights not just your own.

The internet is the crucible of the craven, a lot of small boys hiding behind big screens there is no denying that. As for the boy, he shouldn't of said it, but he has a right to say it if he wants to, just as we have a right to say we think he is wrong.

In conclusion, It's dangerous to call for arresting people for things they say, who knows, maybe one day you'll get a knock at the door because something you said has been deemed arrestable. If a phrase "You know your Dad would be ashamed of you" constitutes state intervention then by the same logic we should all be under arrest for things we have said online.

Militant agendas

I find that individuals who are confident in their beliefs and morals can stay quiet about them and do not see the need to militantly push their agendas onto others. However, individuals that are flippant in their morals and beliefs will gang together with others of the same nature to advertise themselves and their group, screaming for recognition from people not in their "club", and use any method available to bully the rest of us into acceptance of it.

Things that are naturally and morally right don't need laws to make them right. They just are.

Ireland and The European Stability Mechanism, the enabling of a financial dictatorship.

Say I came to your house and offered to act as a go between with the other 27 houses on your street and for the privilege I got you to pay me a substantial amount of your income. Lets say you agreed.

A few months later, when you needed more money to keep up with the larger houses across the street, I then loaned you your own money back with interest, then when you couldn't afford to pay me any-more I asked you to re-mortgage your house to repay me the original debt plus interest.

Say by this point I asked you to sign over the electrical grid in your house, the driveway, the TV aerial, the taps, the toilet, and the bed as collateral. After a few weeks lets say I owned the rights to everything in the house worth having.

Say by this point your family was getting angry and thinking about leaving for another street because there was no future in your house and it looked like quite a few of the other houses in the street had the same problem. Would you then as a last resort agree to sign over all your financial powers to me, allow me to make loans in your name which you would have to pay back? Allow me to change the terms of agreements we had already made as and when I wanted? Agree that even if you decided it was unfair that I was immune to any prosecution or liability and that you had no rights to see any of the documents?

Nobody in their right mind would do this, but everything up to the last paragraph has already happened within the EU, and if Ireland passes the ESM tomorrow then the last paragraph is going to come true. Dictatorships don't just seize power by force, many times they are elected and given a mandate and by voting Yes in the referendum tomorrow Ireland is giving the EU a mandate to take over ALL financial matters with no oversight from anyone in Ireland. The chances are that even with a 'NO' vote they will simply just force you to vote again until they get the result they want just as they did with the Lisbon Treaty, but the more people who vote NO the better it is for us, and the harder it will be for them to force it through anyway.

Vote NO.

The truth about the ESM. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPCKHvCgLnA&feature=related

Commercial sponsorship of bands creeping into music

It's obvious the the scene is over saturated with bands as a result of the internet and technology making it easier to make music and then get it out there, a lot of bands are giving it up because as the market is re-correcting itself, sadly that means bands are splitting up because they can't afford to keep going. Unfortunately though the correction it takes isn't one where the better product survives but rather whichever product has the funding to carry on.

For example we could have band A and band B. Band A are more talented and make superior music to band B, but band B might well outlast A because B signed a commercial sponsorship deal with a certain German drinks company. Personally the amount of corporate sponsorship creeping into the actual music side of things is the most worrying thing for me. I'm not talking about a couple of Jager stickers on a flight case here, I mean the logos being incorporated into the videos and lyrics.

Lets take Panic Cell for example, a band from Kent. They've split up now but around their second album they totally 'sold out' to Jagermeister and started fronting for the company. It began with logos on the equipment cases, then progressed to Jager drumskins and logos on the guitars, handing out Jagermeister shots during gigs, (in front of a Jager backdrop) and references to the product. It then got worse, eventually they even made a track called "Black Juice" - subtle eh?! with an accompanying video. This was too much for me. I called the band out on their facebook and they gave me some BS about how "Well we really like Jager and it just felt right to do the track!" - I didn't drop out of the last shower lads... I stopped listening to the band and watching them live because they totally became a front for a product.

Sadly this is becoming more and more the norm today. Jager really did a (from their perspective) great job of positioning themselves as the "metal head" drink and pushing their shitty product on the unsuspecting youth. I have researched into this and Jager do offer a sponsorship package to "help new and upcoming talent." They claim they don't ask for references to be placed in the music or give up any creative control to them but they expect the band to promote the drink on their equipment and on their sites etc.

Panic Cell - Black Juice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPlM1yvyKcM

Se7en Deadly - From This Darkness: (Pretty much Panic Cell with a new singer under a new name, loads of Jager references in the video, including flashing the logo up on screen for no reason in the breakdown) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbJ5IGQ20sE

The free speech case.

The free speech case.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/294460_10150369913263281_18813753280_8066178_1880199528_n.jpg

A teacher in New Jersey, USA is on the receiving end of threats and calls for her sacking after posting a comment regarding “LGBT History month” Without knowing much about the case I am really unable to make an opinion on what she said, but for me, what she said isn’t really the point, the point for me is that she is entitled to say it.

Let’s pretend for a moment we all still live in a democracy, and that we have free speech.  If that’s true then everyone is entitled to their opinion. It’s clear from reading the comments that the people posting (almost all of whom are against the teacher) feel entitled to their opinion and their free speech but when it comes to the teacher voicing her opinion, which is contrary to theirs suddenly they want to remove that particular democratic right. Never mind the fact that in the United States there is a first amendment that protects it.  – Though the constitution of the United States is being dismantled so fast this statement might be out of date the next time you read it.

“Free speech zones” in America - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pKTXD1zn3I&feature=player_embedded

Of course, I've read what she said and it was quite vitriolic, the woman is clearly angry, but it doesn’t make her wrong, but this isn’t the issue, the issue here is about freedom of speech, the freedom to an opinion. Anybody who believes in freedom and democracy as more than just words to gain political and social capitol has to defend everyone else’s democracy, not just  their own.  This woman is entitled to her opinion regardless of what it may be and the people who disagree are just as entitled to their one. As Voltaire said "I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend to the death your right to say it."

But what are the limits of free speech? When discussing this story yesterday a friend said to me "If I posted privately on my facebook what she has I would be sacked" - This again brings up another debate about the limit of free speech. And she is quite right, in the UK and most of the Western world she would be sacked, and probably never work again. If one posts privately on their own blog or webspace and somebody screen-shots the page and starts posting it around then the issue for me is no longer about the statement but rather about an invasion privacy.  “Trolling” people’s social networking pages for politically incorrect statements and then distributing them is disgraceful, and it constitutes 'thought crime.’

It’s now the norm in contemporary Western society to keep quiet in case we offend someone, which is becoming easier to do as the day goes by since everyone is offended by something. On a strictly professional level, if her opinion was voiced in the classroom she would be in the wrong, not because her opinion is right or wrong, but because a teacher is expected to be impartial. If her opinion manifested itself as a personal attack on a student then it would no longer be a free speech issue it would be a professional one and the consequences of her opinion or by this point statement would have to be dealt with by her employer. If she was sacked in this case then it would be because she made a personal attack on a student in her care, not because she disagreed with their lifestyle choice/sexuality/gender.  – Of course here in the EU she could probably take it to the EU Human rights court and get a big payoff…

Thought crime - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoughtcrime

Introduction

I’ve decided to start this blog to post my thoughts and analysis on current affairs, geo-politics, and events. It will run alongside my other blogs but is not affiliated to any of the work I am doing on the BA(Hons) Journalism degree course at University.

Here you will find my personal observations, analysis and suggestions.