Beijing 2008 Olympics: Freedom of Speech Promised then Denied

From the desk of admin ·August 20, 2008 at 11:53 am · Filed under All WW, Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Campaigns, Free Speech Campaign, International, Media, Not Cricket, Politics, Video

At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, a promise was made that demonstrations would be allowed to go ahead without hindrance.

This has not happened, as shown by this report from Channel 4 News.

You can read more about this - and about the Guardian’s failure to allow embedding of videos - at Paul Canning’s blog.

Today will be a relatively quiet blogging day, since I’m doing some building work on the site.

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Dave Walker Weekly Monday 17 August

From the desk of admin ·August 18, 2008 at 11:17 am · Filed under All WW, Campaigns, Dave Walker, Ethics - Religion, Free Speech Campaign, Media, Political Blogging

I’ve held this over from last Friday. Last week we had some more people posting the SPCK case, and also the Trustees who resigned from the Society of Saint Stephen the Great in October 2007.

Follow these links to get up to speed quickly:

• Quick Intro for Press - effectively a FAQ.
• Introductory Guide to the Dave Walker Case

Still more people taking an interest in SPCK

I’ve updated the “who’s posting” list with another three sites who have been covering the J Mark Brewer Cease and Desist notice to Dave Walker. Here are the latest.

1. [Update:15/08/2008 AM] Ecshopq - Support the Lambeth 1: Dave Walker/SSG/SPCK
2. [Update:15/08/2008 AM] Cease and Desist - ‘Cease and desist’ demand from Mark Brewer A complete set of reposts of the material taken down by Dave Walker.
3. [Update:15/08/2008 AM] Five Public Opinions - Things they’d have difficulty believing in Salt Lake City XXIV

Words of J Mark Brewer

I do not consent and object to you invading my personal privacy by maintaining web pages about me, SSG, SSGCT, ENC Management, my brother, my wife, or my family. (Sent from a work email address).

I made clear why I think that Mr Brewer is a public figure last week, and why it is entirely appropriate for his actions to be scrutinised.

Here - just to drive home the point - are “Meet Mark Brewer” web pages from a political campaign showing Mr Brewer “maintaining his personal privacy” by including a snapshot of his entire family on:

• The front page of his campaign website for election to Congress in 2000.
• The front page of the News Room section of the website, i.e., the part specifically aimed at Journalists.

Creditor of the Week

Since the Full Set of documents associated with the attempt to take the British Charity SSG into bankruptcy in Houston, at least two creditors have been paid after having their cases highlighted.

So there will be a “Creditor of the Week” featured over at the SSG SPCK News Blog each Monday.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: Britblog Roundup Olympic Edition

From the desk of admin ·August 14, 2008 at 6:30 am · Filed under All WW, Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Blog Roundups, Britblog Roundup Podcast, Campaigns, Human Rights / Freedom, News - Current Affairs, Not Cricket, Number Crunching, Politics

The best posts in the British blogosphere have been rounded up by Mr Eugenides this week, with a special emphasis on the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Featured posts include the Sino-Sceptic Beau Bo D’Or cartoon above and a report on the 437 BBC personnel visiting the Beijing Olympics, which compares with 300 British Competitors and “several” politicians and their retinue - comprising:

• Gordon Brown and an expected party in Beijing of 20 staff (£114,000).
• 13 people from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, in preparation for the 2012 London Olympics.
• 11 people from other Departments.
• 39 Metropolitan Police staff to go on a fact-finding tour in Beijing (£240,000).
• 4 Dorset Policeman to learn about policing sailing.
• 6 Greenwich Council Officials (£14,000).

All according to the Telegraph.

That’s all an extra from me. You can find the Britblog Roundup at Mr E’s Taverna.

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One Million Potential Terrorists in the US: What about the UK?

From the desk of admin ·August 13, 2008 at 1:03 pm · Filed under All WW, Campaigns, Cartoon, Human Rights / Freedom, Humour, News - Current Affairs, Political Blogging, Politics

One Million people on Terrorist-Watch in the USA.

A cartoon from href=Wellington Grey.

One million was also the USA prison population in 1990. It became 2 million in 2002.

Meanwhile, back on the Slippery Slope in Blighty

One million was the number on the UK Police’s DNA Database in March 2003 was 2 million. By 2005 that figure was 3.4 million - more than 1 in 20 people.

Perversely, our Home Office seem to view that as a matter for pride. We have a Bigger Brother than anybody else, and should pat them on the head for a job well done. Hmmm.

The UK’s database is the largest of any country: 5.2% of the UK population is on the database compared with 0.5% in the USA. The database has expanded significantly over the last five years. By the end of 2005 over 3.4 million DNA profiles were held on the database – the profiles of the majority of the known active offender population.

That is now up to 4 million:

The present database in England and Wales holds details of 4m people who are guilty or cleared of a crime.

It includes:

5.2% of UK population
Nearly 40% of black men
13% of Asian men
9% of white men
(Source: Home Office and Census)

and there are people who think they deserve to be taken seriously (not if you say things like this, Your Honour) arguing that *everyone* must be included for “non-discrimination” reasons. Ye Gods. Welcome to the alternate world on the other side of the Looking Glass, where reality vanishes and logic works backwards:

Lord Justice Sedley (Ed: Appeal Court Judge) said this was indefensible and biased against ethnic minorities, and it would be fairer to include everyone, guilty or innocent.

Go figure. Bonkety-bonkety-bonkety-bonk.

But I can hear a note of regret at powers limited unreasonably:

There are no legal powers to take a DNA sample from anyone under ten without the consent of a parent or legal guardian.

Which has now come into the debate (personal opinion of Scotland Yard’s Director of Forensic Services) as:

Gary Pugh, Scotland Yard’s director of forensic services, said children should be eligible if they exhibited behaviour indicating criminality in later life.

This is denied officially (same ref as previous):

The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) said his views did not represent those of the organisation.

But this is often how new powers are introduced into the debate. It then becomes “we should look at all options”, “this has been recommended by ‘x’ or ‘y’ commission”, and before you know it - BANG.

I would not be surprised if soon a hospital near you will have an integrated DNA profiling national cord blood storage facility, to be monitored alongside the National Database of Children. Of course the integration doesn’t exist yet, but recent history is that once something becomes possible, it is a devil of a job to stop it happening.

[Update 2pm: To be clear, I’m not suggesting that the Cord Blood Storage people are supplying data anywhere at present; I just don’t trust those in Government or managing state security to keep their hands off that data source for very long.]

And I seem to remember that there was something about Database Integration in one of the 150 or more Written Ministerial Statements released before they all went away for 3 months (there’s a hell of a lot of digging to be done here).

The “collect data on everyone and everything and monitor them all” paradigm is - simply - wrong. This tendency must be broken.

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Trip-Trap the Comment Trolls are Back

From the desk of admin ·August 11, 2008 at 4:45 pm · Filed under All WW, Campaigns, Comment, Free Speech Campaign, Media, Political Blogging, Politics, Wales

There’s a nasty little trolling campaign going on against Pippa Wagstaff, of Miss Wagstaff presents. That’s the second contributor here coming under different attacks in about 3 weeks from completely different sources, so I thought I’d make a note here.

There a couple of lengthy quotes included in this article for completeness, that you can skip without losing the thread.

Allegations to Facebook

First of all there were several complaints to Facebook in the first half of July that the P Wagstaff account was a “fake”, and Facebook acted without consulting Pippa first to close down her account, on the basis of these allegations that it was “fake”. I wrote about this here .

The problem here is that Facebook operates a very strange policy about which accounts get closed down. As I said recently on this site and on the radio, these policies allowed them to close down the account of Steve Webb MP lfor being fake a few months ago, while Ghengis Kahn (of the Totalitarian Party) has an account that is still live.

Comments of the Troll

At least one Worm-Troll is out again, *after* Pippa had replied in full here on August 1st, an anonymous commenter styling themselves “pippa la ropa interior” (”la ropa interior” is Spanish for “underclothes”) came up with the following over at Peter Black AM’s blog on August 8th:

The problem I have wth blooging is the anonymity. Like Pippa Wagstaff for examplw.

This person(s) blogs anon - spread malicious garbage that cannot be challenged. Readers dont know if ‘her’/their claims are genuine or not. Then when ’she’/they is/are bannned or blocked, ’she’/they expect(s) people to feel outraged about it all?

This is where blogging REALLY fails. Everything is unsubtantiated. Libel recourse is VERY difficult.

For people like you who are public figures, its fine - but for the rest of the open blogs like Pippa, like Guido - they are scum of the earth.

If there is God, I hope one day he seeks re-dress this issue on behalf of us all, in his inimatable way
# posted by Anonymous pippa la ropa interior : 12:18 PM

and Peter replied:

Pippa Wagstaff can speak for herself but she says that is her own name and I have no reason to disbelieve her. Is Pippa La Ropa Interior your real name?
# posted by Blogger Peter Black : 12:37 PM

and again from Mr or Mrs Troll:

The point i am trying is obviously FAR too subtle!!!!

Of course my name is not Pippa la Ropa Interior - that’s precisely the point I am trying to make here!

The point about anonymity is central to the blogging issue and why it spiralling out of control and the libel laws should apply.

When you say: “Pippa Wagstaff can speak for herself but she says that is her own name and I have no reason to disbelieve her.”

What a bizarre thing to say? Pippa Wagstaff could be several people writing one blog - you have absolutely no idea do you?

And that is precisely the point! We dont know!

We live in democracy in which people/groups do NOT have to hide away. We have free speech. I could understand scum-blogs proliferating in China - but not here. Therefore, the motives MUST be suspect - and in Pippa’s the motives are DEFINITELY suspect :-)))

Scum-blogs like Pippa and Guido actually UNDERMINE freedom and liberty - they dont enhance it AT ALL!

Yours in blissful, unsubstantiated and recklessly malicious anonymity — Pippa la Ropa Interior
# posted by Anonymous pippa la ropa interior : 2:37 PM

Anonymity and Libel

These trolls are always ironic; this one meets their own charges far better than Miss W. But it raises two questions:

1. What should our attitude be to people who don’t reveal their full identity on their blog?
2. How do libel laws apply to blogs?

Pot. Kettle. Black.

There are a whole series of problems with the comments from “pippa la ropa interior”. I’ll mention a couple, then quote my full reply.

1. The comments are pretty clearly malicious - dragging Pippa in as an “example” is a touch transparent as a tactic. Ooops-a-daisy.
2. Pippa is accused of being “anonymous”. Oooops-a-daisy. If you are going to try and throw mud around, then doing it after the person you are attacking has stated that your subsequent allegations are not true is a slightly high-risk strategy, bearing in mind that telling the truth is one of the major defences under British libel laws.
3. The commenter states that “libel laws should apply” to blogs. Oooops-a-daisy. They do apply already.
4. The commenter also states that anonymity itself is a problem. Oooops-a-daisy. Anonymity or pseudonymity is widespread across public life and the media, from politicians writing novels using pen-names and Cherie Blair using her Maiden Name professionally, to the virtually the entire Economist Magazine not carrying a byline since about 1843. A more thought-through position needed, methinks.
5. The commenter then has a go at “Scum-blogs like Pippa and Guido”. Oooops-a-daisy. Pippa publicly stated her position (linked above), and Guido can hardly be called anonymous these days.
6. The possiblility of anonymity online is largely a myth, anyway if someone goes after you seriously.

Leaving aside all the errors, there’s plenty in there that’s actionable on its own account.

My view of Anonymity

My position on pseudonymity is this:

1. Exactly the same standards should apply in the blogosphere as elsewhere in the media. This is one we need to keep reminding everybody of whenever anyone launches a broadside against “anonymous bloggers”.
2. There are certain reasonable grounds for anonymity - whistleblowing or potential threats of violence are the obvious ones, but also people who work in professions where clients may make judgements on the basis of political views. I would add the caveat that anyone taking advantage of pseudonymity should be willing to stand by everything they write if their identity is made known.
3. It is perfectly possible to maintain a consistent pseudonymous identity, using tools such as OpenID logins that cannot be easily faked by third parties. That is sufficient to present and maintain a coherent and consistent argument.
4. If anonymity in the blogosphere is to be removed, then the same must be done across the media.

The rest of this post is the comment I made in reply to Pippa la Ropa Interior, which can be skipped if you are getting tired at this point !

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SPCK Bookshops Weekly Saturday 9th August 2008

From the desk of admin ·August 9, 2008 at 2:00 pm · Filed under All WW, Campaigns, Dave Walker, Ethics - Religion, Free Speech Campaign, Media, Political Blogging

These posts are weekly roundups of the latest developments from the campaign to make sure that the debacle of the management of the SPCK Chain of Bookshops is scrutinised properly.

I also support Cartoonist Dave Walker who received a Cease and Desist letter from J Mark Brewer who runs the SPCK Chain of bookshops about 75 posts on his Cartoon Church blog reporting the developing situation over an 18 month period.

Statistics

• Currently the Facebook Group has 418 members since it was set up on 22 July, two and a half weeks ago).
• There are 79 sites posting in support of Dave Walker and at least 8 reporting on the situation.
• Employment Tribunals submitted against Brewer organisations / SSG: 30.
• Downloads of the Dave Walker Reposts PDF from the Wardman Wire: 800 since August 1st.
• The Wardman Wire
• Reads on Wardman Wire of articles about the SPCK shops saga: approx 40,000.

Snippets

• I have a new PDF of a Phil Groom article: The SPCK SSG Debacle - How I came to be starting from here. (PDF: 70k)
• All PDFs I publish on the SPCK/SSG issue will be posted on my publications page.

Words of J Mark Brewer

‘I am not a public figure’

(Quote from at least 2 Cease and Desist Notices.)

Really?

Is Mr Brewer a Public Figure?

Here is the partial list of items about Mark or Philip Brewer or his organisation in the last 2 years:

National Media

• Radio 4 Interview - 1
• Private Eye - 2 known to me
• Times Online - 6
• Daily Telegraph - 1

Local Media

• Worcester Standard - 2
• Worcester News - 5
• News and Star, Carlisle - 4
• Chester Chronicle - 4
• Lincolnshire Echo - 1
• Eastern Daily Press - 1
• Network Norwich - 2
  (Note - I have not looked up the local and regional press in the area of all 25 SPCK bookshops).

Church Media

• Church Times - At least 21 and an unknown number pulled due to legal caution
• Cartoon Church - 75

Trade Press

• Christian Marketplace - At least 2 and one pulled due to legal caution
• Bookseller - 10

Blogosphere

• At least 80 separate sites and perhaps 250-300 articles for the Dave Walker affair alone in the last fortnight, never mind the previous 18 months.

Brewer Self-Published Media

• Promotional video for St Stephen the Great Trust

(Sources: Mainly SPCK SSG News Log, Church Times News Index)

It looks to me that you are a public figure Mr Brewer.

Private Eye

The story appeared in the current issue of Private Eye.

• Private Eye Article Private Eye August 6th Clipped by Elizaphanian

More people taking an interest

I’ve updated the “who’s posting” list with about another ten sites who have been covering the J Mark Brewer Cease and Desist notice to Dave Walker. Here are the latest:

1. [Update:08/08/2008 AM]Ben Gallagher - A Portal onto My Life - I’m Sparta…Dave Walker Has posted several times. Gerald the Sheep Cartoons.
2. [Update:08/08/2008 AM]Long withdrawing roar - I’m Sparta…Dave Walker
3. [Update:08/08/2008 AM]Unicorn Tree Books - Interesting Times Included in Cease and Desist sent to somebody else
4. [Update:08/08/2008 AM]Brainduck’s Weblog - I’m Dave Walker Includes copy of Dave Walker posts PDF
5. [Update:08/08/2008 AM]Chicken Yoghurt - Busy
6. [Update:08/08/2008 AM]Of life, laughter and liturgy . . . - Dave Walker threatened
7. [Update:08/08/2008 AM]It’s a Rough Trade, Politics - We are all Dave Walkers now. Excellent explanation of wider issues. “Given my antipathy to any form of religion, and that on offer from the C of E in particular, you may be surprised to find me posting on events concerning the SPCK (The Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge) bookshops. But there is far more to this than religion. “
8. [Update:08/08/2008 AM]A Blog Spotting Episcopalian - More and More: The Exploding SPCK / Dave Walker’s Cartoon Church Blog Story
9. [Update:08/08/2008 AM]exeblog - Former SPCK Bookshops and Blogging

New Shop in Norwich

From Network Norwich:

A thriving city centre Christian resource centre, bookshop and cafe is set to re-open in Norwich under new management within the next few weeks after a successful rescue plan…

…Virtually all the ex-shop and cafe staff will be re-employed at the new centre, which has been one of Steve’s other hopes over the past months.

And a Question

Let me wrap up with a question about timing and due process, leaving aside all the shenanigans that we suspect has happened with respect to a UK organisation filing for bankruptcy in Houston, Texas.

From the Motion to Dismiss the Bankruptcy Petition (PDF 500k):

June 4 2008: ST STEPHEN THE GREAT LLC applied for Chapter 11 (i.e., protective while sorting themselves out) bankruptcy.

June 25, 2008, the case was converted to chapter 7 (i.e., liquidation).

Comments on the SSG/SPCK News blog make clear that:

July 8: A supplier made the point that his company was owed money:

We are a Christian Charity who sold Christmas Cards and a few other Latin American Crafts to the shops last Autumn for which we have not been paid. Not a huge debt but significant to us!

July 18: The same supplier notes that he has been paid in full:

Surprise, surprise………we’ve been paid IN FULL, including the Court Costs for filing a claim, direct from ENC in the USA! Wonder if other suppliers have???

(for the casual reader, ENC is “ENC Shop Management Co” is a US based company “trading in the UK”. More detail here).

Why would Company B (ENC) pay the debts of Company A (St Stephen the Great LLC) when Company A is in the middle of a bankruptcy process? And is that a responsible action for the Directors of Company B to take?

Just asking, I genuinely don’t know.

Key Links

Articles

• Quick Intro for Press - effectively a FAQ.
• Introductory Guide to the Dave Walker Case
• Who’s posting and supporting
• Campaign Resources - Cartoons, Badges, Social Media etc.

Other Sites

• SPCK/SSG News and Notes Blog (Phil Groom)

Feeds

• Wardman Wire RSS Feed.
• Wardman Wire Dave Walker category Feed.

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Miss Wagstaff does not Present … in the WAG or on Facebook

From the desk of admin ·August 6, 2008 at 3:00 pm · Filed under All WW, Campaigns, Free Speech Campaign, Humour, Internet / Technical, Media, Wales

Miss Wagstaff, who does the Senedd Circular reports for this site, blog is not accessible from within the Welsh Assembly Government, has decided to bite back in blog fashion - that is, humourously.

Bearing in mind how many projects are labelled “supported by the Welsh Assembly Government”, we spent half an hour on chat designing this blog button:

The cork, by the way, is one from a bottle of champagne. As Rhodri Morgan said way back when:

We’ve got to uncork the Welsh champagne bottle and let it fizz.

I say let’s do the same thing with blogs. Uncork them all, including Miss Wagstaff.

If Miss Wagstaff wishes to make the button available to other “unreachable from the WAG” blogs, who am I to object? But you’ll have to ask her.

I wonder if the Wardman Wire will be vanished, now, as well. If they do, I have a strategy that works for China, and will probably work for the WAG.

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Dave Walker/SPCK Bookshops Campaign Moving Soon

From the desk of admin ·August 6, 2008 at 12:04 pm · Filed under All WW, Campaigns, Cartoon, Free Speech Campaign, Media

A quick announcement.

It looks as though the work that has been going on to highlight the Dave Walker case is shifting to the SPCK/SSG: News, Notes & Info Group blog over the next few days.

The need to scrutinise the management of the SPCK chain, and especially of the attempt to move for bankruptcy in the USA, is going to be a long term exercise, and best done through a single hub site with several contributors.

I’ll still be carrying occasional - perhaps weekly - reports here, however.

If you are interested in posting on the SPCK issue over the longer term or occasionally, then I suggest leaving a comment on the SPCK/SSG Blog.

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