As there seems to be some controversy about us plebs daring to have our say online, I'd just like to point out that there's nothing much to fear from me! In fact, I'm a getting a bit bored of blogs and forums (apart from one or two).
I toyed with the idea of scrapping this one, but I'll probably keep it for the occasional viewpoint here and there when I feel the need to get something off my chest.
As for local politics, I can't say I'm entirely impressed, but do concede that it could all be a lot worse. If issues are raised, the public are consulted, debate takes place, and votes are cast by elected representatives, then that's about the most reasonable system I can imagine. The problem is that the public are not often consulted, or the representatives don't pay any attention - but that's the electorate's problem if they don't bother complaining in numbers or turning out to vote.
In my leftie family I'm sometimes jokingly called a Tory because once upon a time in one of my more cynical moments I made a comment that right wing politics were more likely to work and find favour with the public because they are in tune with the dominant selfish side of human nature, but these days I am indeed veering away from my balanced middle of the road position and I'm starting to follow the family background by leaning more to the left, naively possibly, hopelessly idealistically maybe, because I'm so fed up with injustice and greed.
I could be tempted to support any moves to upset the old boys network, just because it seems the right thing to do. But I'm too wary of hassle, too lazy and unlikely to do anything about anything, except make comments here online to the extremely small audience who may chance across them. I'm just as guilty as almost everyone else of not wanting to rock the boat and draw unwanted attention to myself.
So don't worry about me being one of those "despicable enemies of free speech" (as the JEP calls them - stretching things quite a bit!). No satire here. No ribbing. No insults.
The worst I can do is shine a light on something, moan about it not being as good as it could be... and use my vote. That's not so vile, is it?
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
Monday, 1 December 2008
Secret Ballot for CM
I can't see any good reason for the Chief Minister election to be a secret ballot. The main reason usually given seems to be one of embarrasment if someone ends up having to work under a CM that they didn't vote for, etc.
Personal reasons.
I say that if these people can't put personal isssues aside, then they shouldn't be in the house.
Any CM candidate who can't handle people who may have voted for another candidate should NOT be putting themselves forward for the job. Any States member who's too ashamed to let the public know who they vote for? They don't have the courage to deserve their seat in the chamber.
Will we ever have open and transparent government when this kind of BS is going on?
Personal reasons.
I say that if these people can't put personal isssues aside, then they shouldn't be in the house.
Any CM candidate who can't handle people who may have voted for another candidate should NOT be putting themselves forward for the job. Any States member who's too ashamed to let the public know who they vote for? They don't have the courage to deserve their seat in the chamber.
Will we ever have open and transparent government when this kind of BS is going on?
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Every vote counts!
Remember this...
Deputies Election 26th November 2008, St. Helier district 3
Ben Fox 698 - elected
Suzette Hase 697 - unelected
Every single vote makes a difference. Many times I've been tempted to avoid the polling station, thinking that my one vote wouldn't really matter. So far this has been true, but the result above does show that we all count.
Remember to tell people that when they say they can't be bothered to vote because it never makes any difference! :)
Deputies Election 26th November 2008, St. Helier district 3
Ben Fox 698 - elected
Suzette Hase 697 - unelected
Every single vote makes a difference. Many times I've been tempted to avoid the polling station, thinking that my one vote wouldn't really matter. So far this has been true, but the result above does show that we all count.
Remember to tell people that when they say they can't be bothered to vote because it never makes any difference! :)
Monday, 17 November 2008
New blog - a place to have your say
An alternative to leaving comments on Stuart's blog, if you require one.
http://crapaudverload.blogspot.com/
Anonymity guaranteed. All sane comments published, no matter which side you're on! I will also keep the list of local blogs as up to date as possible, so it'll be a handy daily way to see what's new on the local blog scene.
Main requirements - keep it clean and don't expect me to defend it in court!
Use it or lose it, as they say :)
http://crapaudverload.blogspot.com/
Anonymity guaranteed. All sane comments published, no matter which side you're on! I will also keep the list of local blogs as up to date as possible, so it'll be a handy daily way to see what's new on the local blog scene.
Main requirements - keep it clean and don't expect me to defend it in court!
Use it or lose it, as they say :)
How to put web links in blog comments
It's a lot easier than you think.
First, a simple example to show how tags work, using < and > which are accessed from the comma and full stop keys when pressing shift.
Italics
If we put <i> tags around some words, it switches on italics mode from the first <i> tag and switches it off again when it reaches the </i> tag.
If your blog comment contains <i>some words like this</i>, then when the comment is published those words will be in italics like this.
Bold
If your blog comment contains <b>some words like this</b>, then when the comment is published those words will be in bold like this.
Web Links
To put a click-able web link in your comments, use <a> "Anchor" tags :
use <a href="http://your.web.link/">the words you want to be the link</a> for this.
An <a>and</a> around something will make it appear in blue, underlined etc (whatever your browser preferences have been set to). It won't link to anything yet, though. We need to put the weblink in. This is done by putting HRef="the web address" inside the first <a> tag (HRef means Hypertext Reference - uppercase doesn't matter, so HRef Href href all work).
The web address is easily snatched from the web browser's link bar. Go to the webpage you want to share with us, click in the address bar so that the web address (http://something...) is highlighted, and press the Ctrl key and then C at the same time to make a copy of this invisibly behind the scenes (you won't get any confirmation of this) into the Windows 'clipboard'.
When you come to write your blog comment, use Ctrl+V to 'paste from the clipboard' and that saved address will magically return and be inserted into your comment.
It's easier to start with <a href="">the words you want to be the link</a> and then go back to the point between the "" and insert the link then.
When you preview your comment you can check that it has indeed worked, before you click to publish it. In fact if you click the link while pressing the shift key, it will open in a new window to prove it has worked.
Simple as that!
Note for the curious
How did I get <> to appear here, then?
There are a series of & codes that show as particular characters. Putting gt or lt (greater than or less than) after a & makes <> appear in the rendered web page.
First, a simple example to show how tags work, using < and > which are accessed from the comma and full stop keys when pressing shift.
Italics
If we put <i> tags around some words, it switches on italics mode from the first <i> tag and switches it off again when it reaches the </i> tag.
If your blog comment contains <i>some words like this</i>, then when the comment is published those words will be in italics like this.
Bold
If your blog comment contains <b>some words like this</b>, then when the comment is published those words will be in bold like this.
Web Links
To put a click-able web link in your comments, use <a> "Anchor" tags :
use <a href="http://your.web.link/">the words you want to be the link</a> for this.
An <a>and</a> around something will make it appear in blue, underlined etc (whatever your browser preferences have been set to). It won't link to anything yet, though. We need to put the weblink in. This is done by putting HRef="the web address" inside the first <a> tag (HRef means Hypertext Reference - uppercase doesn't matter, so HRef Href href all work).
The web address is easily snatched from the web browser's link bar. Go to the webpage you want to share with us, click in the address bar so that the web address (http://something...) is highlighted, and press the Ctrl key and then C at the same time to make a copy of this invisibly behind the scenes (you won't get any confirmation of this) into the Windows 'clipboard'.
When you come to write your blog comment, use Ctrl+V to 'paste from the clipboard' and that saved address will magically return and be inserted into your comment.
It's easier to start with <a href="">the words you want to be the link</a> and then go back to the point between the "" and insert the link then.
When you preview your comment you can check that it has indeed worked, before you click to publish it. In fact if you click the link while pressing the shift key, it will open in a new window to prove it has worked.
Simple as that!
Note for the curious
How did I get <> to appear here, then?
There are a series of & codes that show as particular characters. Putting gt or lt (greater than or less than) after a & makes <> appear in the rendered web page.
Saturday, 8 November 2008
Black is cool
I thought I'd take time out from the political whinges to suggest something constructive for a change :)
Have you ever noticed how popular the black number plates are on Guernsey cars? Lots of motorists over there prefer them because they simply look better than garish yellow or bright white. A matter of taste and style maybe, but we call know how people are prepared to pay for that - even something as trivial (on the face of it) as having a J number with fewer than 5 digits.
So how about our motoring authority gets the chance to make some money for States coffers by letting us pay to have black plates? It can't be against any international rules and regulations if Guernseymen get away with it on new vehicles, so there doesn't appear to be any legal reason not to.
It certainly adds to the charm of a visit to Guernsey in some small way by making the place subtly different. Even if it's not a massive difference, most people will still notice it. Different. Difference is good to a visitor. Like blue postboxes, but that's another story!
With the state of our Tourism industry, we should seize any minute chance we get to be different and memorable.
OK, so it would be hard to police with ordinary J numbers - but if it only applied to the auctioned JSY plates, that would make those even more desirable.
Might as well rake in lots of dosh from willing motorists, yes?
Have you ever noticed how popular the black number plates are on Guernsey cars? Lots of motorists over there prefer them because they simply look better than garish yellow or bright white. A matter of taste and style maybe, but we call know how people are prepared to pay for that - even something as trivial (on the face of it) as having a J number with fewer than 5 digits.
So how about our motoring authority gets the chance to make some money for States coffers by letting us pay to have black plates? It can't be against any international rules and regulations if Guernseymen get away with it on new vehicles, so there doesn't appear to be any legal reason not to.
It certainly adds to the charm of a visit to Guernsey in some small way by making the place subtly different. Even if it's not a massive difference, most people will still notice it. Different. Difference is good to a visitor. Like blue postboxes, but that's another story!
With the state of our Tourism industry, we should seize any minute chance we get to be different and memorable.
OK, so it would be hard to police with ordinary J numbers - but if it only applied to the auctioned JSY plates, that would make those even more desirable.
Might as well rake in lots of dosh from willing motorists, yes?
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Our so-called 'democracy'
Islanders resident in four parishes will not be able to partake in the forthcoming Deputies elections, as their single candidates have been returned unopposed.
This means that in the last 3 years they have only been able to vote for 6 States Members (Senators) out of the 53, and maybe a Constable if they were lucky.
Many islanders will soon be able to have their say in who their 14th representative will be (out of 53). That's it - 12 Senators, 1 Constable and 1 Deputy - out of 53 in the chamber. We don't even have political parties such that at least we'd feel that we'd had a reasonable say in the makeup of the rest of the house - the other 39 members beyond our control.
It gets worse. Residents in one of St.Helier's districts actually get to vote for FOUR Deputies! (and other townies get 3 votes, or 2 in parts of St.Saviour and St.Brelade, St.Clement and St.Lawrence). Somehow because of a 'postcode lottery' these particular voters have more say in island affairs than the rest!
What a truly bizarre system we have. No wonder I'm not bothering to turn out this time. What real difference can I make? Whoever I could vote for, it doesn't really have a great deal of influence on much at all, does it?
This means that in the last 3 years they have only been able to vote for 6 States Members (Senators) out of the 53, and maybe a Constable if they were lucky.
Many islanders will soon be able to have their say in who their 14th representative will be (out of 53). That's it - 12 Senators, 1 Constable and 1 Deputy - out of 53 in the chamber. We don't even have political parties such that at least we'd feel that we'd had a reasonable say in the makeup of the rest of the house - the other 39 members beyond our control.
It gets worse. Residents in one of St.Helier's districts actually get to vote for FOUR Deputies! (and other townies get 3 votes, or 2 in parts of St.Saviour and St.Brelade, St.Clement and St.Lawrence). Somehow because of a 'postcode lottery' these particular voters have more say in island affairs than the rest!
What a truly bizarre system we have. No wonder I'm not bothering to turn out this time. What real difference can I make? Whoever I could vote for, it doesn't really have a great deal of influence on much at all, does it?
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