Max's song should be published wherever possible. I notice that Dick P did so, but not Leg Iron or Frank D or Taking Libs. I do not know what others might have.
Please be sure to understand that this in not a criticism of LI et al - it is merely an observation.
But the song is not a 'here today and gone tomorrow thing', unlike most of our ruminations. The song has continuity. You have contact with other bloggers, and it might be a good idea to recommend this video to everyone you know. Or am I asking too much?
The thing is that the song does not only apply to The Smoking Community; it applies to everyone who is being subjected to authoritarian dictats. I mean, why should not an adult who enjoys cannabis or cocaine do so if he wishes? How did Parliament gain the power to decide what individuals should do, provided that what they do does not harm others? This is very important in that it was never an envisaged purpose of democracy to enforce the wishes of the majority. If that were true, then Parliament could simply pass a law which transfers all the possessions of all individuals to The State.
In a strange sort of way, we should all be glad that the Smoking Ban has been enacted. It has caused thinkers to examine the reasoning about ALL bans.
The Smoking Community has to emphasise the nonsense of the smoking ban along with all the other bans. ALL OUR SOCIAL PROBLEMS ARE LINKED TO 'BANS' (SOME OF THEM BEING 'THOUGHT' BANS) IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.
If, for one reason or another, a person who cannot get a job, why should that person feel guilty? If it were not for laws forbidding it, that person might go out and catch rabbits and collect berries and such in the wild.
The strange thing about the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions is that the revolutionaries do not seem to have a clear idea of what they want.
But there is a paradox, isn't there? The paradox revolves around the simple idea that some people are very 'proactive' in the way that they act. That is, some people want to make lots of money. Other people are 'reactive', in the sense that they just want a job in order to pay for their simple way of life.
It is a great misfortune that MPs think that it is important for them to address the individual minor complaints of constituents. That is not what we elect them for. We elect them to make big decisions, and TO KNOW the implications of the decisions that they make.
One way or another, this misunderstanding need to be put right. It is difficult.
Hi Junican. I'll give the other bloggers a day or two because after all it is the weekend. We all need criticised now and again - just to keep us on our toes.:)
If they haven't seen it by then I'll contact them and no you're certainly not asking too much.
Indeed there is a paradox. Many who are proactive don't make lots of money though but they prove they can make enough to survive, possibly by being self-employed. The 'reactive' as you say just want to survive. Not everyone is cut out for being proactive. Plenty self-employed people have had to move from reactive to proactive in order to survive but most would say they're a far better person for the effort.
hi SR, the song is already pretty famous and in the public domain as it's called "The Uprising" and is by Muse. It's on Muse's latest album "The Resistance". I like the images that have been put against it. I wonder what Matt Bellamy was thinking when he wrote it. Maybe he had those sort of images in his mind.
Hmmmmmm, interesting video but I didn't care at all for the graphic blowing up of Big Ben. What's that meant to convey? I found it kind of ominous.
I think, as I've said elsewhere before, we've arrived at the place we deserve to be because of widespread apathy. The few engage but the masses have been diverted elsewhere usually on trivial matters. They have been diverted for years. They ignored calls here to protest against going to Iraq long before the Commons vote. They stayed home and allowed those who did protest to be side-lined as a small minority.
I agree we need to take back our rightful place by reminding politicians where the real power lies. But what does the video suggest when it comes to actually doing that? Who will be in control? How can we function as countries without someone in charge? And we're back to that old "power corrupts but...." scenario.
And Junican on the smoking business? I'm a smoker and I now totally accept that I should never have been allowed to puff away in my workplace all day and in pubs, restaurants, buses, trains and planes. We were not victims as such: we were imposing our smoke on everyone else. When I first worked an actual haze lay over our working area daily which non smokers had to work in due to the fact that most people smoked then. I still can't believe it was permitted. I detest my habit: totally detest it, what it is doing to me and what it is increasingly costing me.
Where I will always defend us is on the "You are costing the NHS a fortune." accusation. 85% of every packet of fags we buy goes straight to the Treasury. Without it they would have to add at least 5p to the basic rate to recoup their losses. So we are certainly paying our way.
But to suggest smokers are victims of the state because of the restrictions placed on us these days when it comes to places we can smoke isn't sensible to me. We don't, and never did, have the right to inflict our smoke on everyone else. It is a dangerous habit and to engage in it even passively can be dangerous too. And I haven't given up on the thought of being a non smoker one day soon.
And Junican, you appear to be suggesting no controls or laws are needed at all and that people should just be allowed to do what they want because no one has the right to impose "dictats" on us. How can that be workable? Are you saying we don't need order?
And who will decide if something is harmful or not harmful to others? Who would you give that power to?
I think we simply can't say we should have an almost anything goes approach to life in general. You must have some sort of structure and order. What are we proposing via this video? Riots? No thanks.
There is a way back and certainly it would involve people and protests but not riots and public disorder. For out there in among the rest of us there will be people willing to exploit an "uprising" for their own ends and violence will go hand in hand with their particular plan.
The video was made by a frustrated and angry blogger Jo and I don't think there's anything sinister behind it.
I can't help but agree with you. Apathy is widespread. If I had tuppence for every time I heard "I don't do politics" or similar, I'd be wealthy.
Actually Jo, did you know that us smokers smoking in planes forced the flight companies to provide much fresher air than now? 50% of the cabin air had to come from outside in those days. Nowadays they just recirculate the cabin air with no outside input.
I don't like my habit either and wish I could use the e-cigs but I get mouth ulcers with them. All I need is more willpower and I too hope I'll give up one day but I won't be told by the righteous. It will be my decision.
I got in e cigs in Edinburgh last week Subrosa. Going to have a go and see how I get on. I think its a mistake to point to the "righteous" in indignation tho. Honest. I curse the day I ever started smoking. The people we should be angry with are those who invented the things and made us addicts. For that's what we are. Think about it. There is nothing remotely good about fags. They stink of smoke, we stink of smoke and they don't have a pleasant taste like, say, a drink does. They are full of other poisons deliberately put in there and different brands contain more or less poisons depending on the price.
On the video I thought the footage accompanying the call to rise up unhelpful. The blowing up of Big Ben was not a good look.
But on demos in particular, we have seen in recent months that no matter how right the principles are those on the march can be exploited by many who are out to merely cause disruption and violence.
I think too that it is a bit unfair to blame "them" for the debt moutain because we all played the game.
Let's start with house-prices. For me anyone who sees unrealstic, obscene house prices as the sign of a healthy economy is insane. And that's where this mess began with house prices going very much out of the reach of many. To deal with that lenders introduced dangerous new products. 135% mortgages, borrow 7 times your annual income, "self-cert" mortgages where lenders didn't check your earnings were what you claimed, new types of loans, for people who had a less than perfect credit history, where they paid a higher rate than the perfect. Caught up in that were those who could not access decent housing because there was nothing happening on new build in the rented sector. This term "social housing" came in labelling anyone not living in their own home a tinker!
Alongside all this the FSA sat and did not act.
Let's look at credit cards too and how common it became not to use cash. Indeed for some using cash was almost an admission that they were unfashionable.
The desire too for material things, all expensive, the need to keep up with everyone else, the scorn poured on clothes items which weren't a designer label.........it all had to end somewhere.
But it was a game most of us played. I still hear journalists, economists, some politicians whining on about the housing market "recovering". These idiots actually WANT to go back to those crazy prices. I want a stable housing market because that is far healthier and should never be subject to sheer greed. It was greed that kicked this whole mess off.
Hope you manage Jo. I'm going to try again with no nicotine and see if I get the ulcers. They're very painful and that's what stopped me. I do use my e-cig as a dummy though and that seems to work (I don't put a capsule in). No, I'd agree blowing up Big Ben wasn't too great but to many in England it symbolises what England stands for. It means little or nothing to me.
Unfortunately that's the society we've now got. Respect has been lost a great deal and now we're far more selfish than we ever were. It started with Maggie I think.
Like many of my friends at my age, we didn't play the game. Most of us didn't profit from house prices, we continued to expect a bit of interest on our savings and I've a few friends who still refuse to own a credit card.
But I saw what was going on - you couldn't miss it. I remember in just one week I can 9 spam letters offering me loans for a boat, holiday etc.
I blame most of it on the bankers though Jo. They offered the money to people they knew couldn't pay it back. It was a dreadful and irresponsible action.
"I didn't care at all for the graphic blowing up of Big Ben. What's that meant to convey? I found it kind of ominous." Err ... I think you'll find it's called symbolism.
Do you really think that I'm about to toddle off down to London and literally 'blow them up'. Give me some credit. *sigh*
That's the word I was trying to recall, symbolism. Auch Mr Factor not only have you saved so women's skins (not mine btw because I use Liz Earle) but I thank you for your contribution.
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25 comments:
Well, its certainly to the point!
Will it find its way into th main stream, I wonder? I doubt it.
But, one way or another, the word is getting out. We in
THE SMOKING COMMUNITY
must continue to push for an end to lies, control, spin and propaganda. bwoodi
Thank you for re-posting this Rosie and helping to spread the word. Much appreciated, as always ;-)
bwoodi?
Oh. The word verification! Forgot to scroll the cursor down.
Well done, Max. Great song.
Absolutely brilliant and pinched for fb.
Rosie,
My thanks too for posting this.
It should be required viewing for everyone in the country.
CR.
It is to the point junican and well presented. Glad you like it.
My pleasure Max. Good to see you around. ;)
Good Dawdels. It does deserve a wide audience.
I'm sure you will post it too Ranty and yes it should be mandatory viewing.
Max's song should be published wherever possible. I notice that Dick P did so, but not Leg Iron or Frank D or Taking Libs. I do not know what others might have.
Please be sure to understand that this in not a criticism of LI et al - it is merely an observation.
But the song is not a 'here today and gone tomorrow thing', unlike most of our ruminations. The song has continuity. You have contact with other bloggers, and it might be a good idea to recommend this video to everyone you know. Or am I asking too much?
The thing is that the song does not only apply to The Smoking Community; it applies to everyone who is being subjected to authoritarian dictats. I mean, why should not an adult who enjoys cannabis or cocaine do so if he wishes? How did Parliament gain the power to decide what individuals should do, provided that what they do does not harm others? This is very important in that it was never an envisaged purpose of democracy to enforce the wishes of the majority. If that were true, then Parliament could simply pass a law which transfers all the possessions of all individuals to The State.
In a strange sort of way, we should all be glad that the Smoking Ban has been enacted. It has caused thinkers to examine the reasoning about ALL bans.
The Smoking Community has to emphasise the nonsense of the smoking ban along with all the other bans. ALL OUR SOCIAL PROBLEMS ARE LINKED TO 'BANS' (SOME OF THEM BEING 'THOUGHT' BANS) IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.
If, for one reason or another, a person who cannot get a job, why should that person feel guilty? If it were not for laws forbidding it, that person might go out and catch rabbits and collect berries and such in the wild.
The strange thing about the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions is that the revolutionaries do not seem to have a clear idea of what they want.
But there is a paradox, isn't there? The paradox revolves around the simple idea that some people are very 'proactive' in the way that they act. That is, some people want to make lots of money. Other people are 'reactive', in the sense that they just want a job in order to pay for their simple way of life.
It is a great misfortune that MPs think that it is important for them to address the individual minor complaints of constituents. That is not what we elect them for. We elect them to make big decisions, and TO KNOW the implications of the decisions that they make.
One way or another, this misunderstanding need to be put right. It is difficult.
And so on, and so on.
Hi Junican. I'll give the other bloggers a day or two because after all it is the weekend. We all need criticised now and again - just to keep us on our toes.:)
If they haven't seen it by then I'll contact them and no you're certainly not asking too much.
Indeed there is a paradox. Many who are proactive don't make lots of money though but they prove they can make enough to survive, possibly by being self-employed. The 'reactive' as you say just want to survive. Not everyone is cut out for being proactive. Plenty self-employed people have had to move from reactive to proactive in order to survive but most would say they're a far better person for the effort.
hi SR, the song is already pretty famous and in the public domain as it's called "The Uprising" and is by Muse. It's on Muse's latest album "The Resistance". I like the images that have been put against it. I wonder what Matt Bellamy was thinking when he wrote it. Maybe he had those sort of images in his mind.
Carrew, I was told the music was by a Scottish band but couldn't find out who. Many thanks for that. I've told my informer he's wrong. :)
Hmmmmmm, interesting video but I didn't care at all for the graphic blowing up of Big Ben. What's that meant to convey? I found it kind of ominous.
I think, as I've said elsewhere before, we've arrived at the place we deserve to be because of widespread apathy. The few engage but the masses have been diverted elsewhere usually on trivial matters. They have been diverted for years. They ignored calls here to protest against going to Iraq long before the Commons vote. They stayed home and allowed those who did protest to be side-lined as a small minority.
I agree we need to take back our rightful place by reminding politicians where the real power lies. But what does the video suggest when it comes to actually doing that? Who will be in control? How can we function as countries without someone in charge? And we're back to that old "power corrupts but...." scenario.
And Junican on the smoking business? I'm a smoker and I now totally accept that I should never have been allowed to puff away in my workplace all day and in pubs, restaurants, buses, trains and planes. We were not victims as such: we were imposing our smoke on everyone else. When I first worked an actual haze lay over our working area daily which non smokers had to work in due to the fact that most people smoked then. I still can't believe it was permitted. I detest my habit: totally detest it, what it is doing to me and what it is increasingly costing me.
Where I will always defend us is on the "You are costing the NHS a fortune." accusation. 85% of every packet of fags we buy goes straight to the Treasury. Without it they would have to add at least 5p to the basic rate to recoup their losses. So we are certainly paying our way.
But to suggest smokers are victims of the state because of the restrictions placed on us these days when it comes to places we can smoke isn't sensible to me. We don't, and never did, have the right to inflict our smoke on everyone else. It is a dangerous habit and to engage in it even passively can be dangerous too. And I haven't given up on the thought of being a non smoker one day soon.
And Junican, you appear to be suggesting no controls or laws are needed at all and that people should just be allowed to do what they want because no one has the right to impose "dictats" on us. How can that be workable? Are you saying we don't need order?
And who will decide if something is harmful or not harmful to others? Who would you give that power to?
I think we simply can't say we should have an almost anything goes approach to life in general. You must have some sort of structure and order. What are we proposing via this video? Riots? No thanks.
There is a way back and certainly it would involve people and protests but not riots and public disorder. For out there in among the rest of us there will be people willing to exploit an "uprising" for their own ends and violence will go hand in hand with their particular plan.
The video was made by a frustrated and angry blogger Jo and I don't think there's anything sinister behind it.
I can't help but agree with you. Apathy is widespread. If I had tuppence for every time I heard "I don't do politics" or similar, I'd be wealthy.
Actually Jo, did you know that us smokers smoking in planes forced the flight companies to provide much fresher air than now? 50% of the cabin air had to come from outside in those days. Nowadays they just recirculate the cabin air with no outside input.
I don't like my habit either and wish I could use the e-cigs but I get mouth ulcers with them. All I need is more willpower and I too hope I'll give up one day but I won't be told by the righteous. It will be my decision.
I got in e cigs in Edinburgh last week Subrosa. Going to have a go and see how I get on. I think its a mistake to point to the "righteous" in indignation tho. Honest. I curse the day I ever started smoking. The people we should be angry with are those who invented the things and made us addicts. For that's what we are. Think about it. There is nothing remotely good about fags. They stink of smoke, we stink of smoke and they don't have a pleasant taste like, say, a drink does. They are full of other poisons deliberately put in there and different brands contain more or less poisons depending on the price.
On the video I thought the footage accompanying the call to rise up unhelpful. The blowing up of Big Ben was not a good look.
But on demos in particular, we have seen in recent months that no matter how right the principles are those on the march can be exploited by many who are out to merely cause disruption and violence.
I think too that it is a bit unfair to blame "them" for the debt moutain because we all played the game.
Let's start with house-prices. For me anyone who sees unrealstic, obscene house prices as the sign of a healthy economy is insane. And that's where this mess began with house prices going very much out of the reach of many. To deal with that lenders introduced dangerous new products. 135% mortgages, borrow 7 times your annual income, "self-cert" mortgages where lenders didn't check your earnings were what you claimed, new types of loans, for people who had a less than perfect credit history, where they paid a higher rate than the perfect. Caught up in that were those who could not access decent housing because there was nothing happening on new build in the rented sector. This term "social housing" came in labelling anyone not living in their own home a tinker!
Alongside all this the FSA sat and did not act.
Let's look at credit cards too and how common it became not to use cash. Indeed for some using cash was almost an admission that they were unfashionable.
The desire too for material things, all expensive, the need to keep up with everyone else, the scorn poured on clothes items which weren't a designer label.........it all had to end somewhere.
But it was a game most of us played. I still hear journalists, economists, some politicians whining on about the housing market "recovering". These idiots actually WANT to go back to those crazy prices. I want a stable housing market because that is far healthier and should never be subject to sheer greed. It was greed that kicked this whole mess off.
Hope you manage Jo. I'm going to try again with no nicotine and see if I get the ulcers. They're very painful and that's what stopped me. I do use my e-cig as a dummy though and that seems to work (I don't put a capsule in). No, I'd agree blowing up Big Ben wasn't too great but to many in England it symbolises what England stands for. It means little or nothing to me.
Unfortunately that's the society we've now got. Respect has been lost a great deal and now we're far more selfish than we ever were. It started with Maggie I think.
Like many of my friends at my age, we didn't play the game. Most of us didn't profit from house prices, we continued to expect a bit of interest on our savings and I've a few friends who still refuse to own a credit card.
But I saw what was going on - you couldn't miss it. I remember in just one week I can 9 spam letters offering me loans for a boat, holiday etc.
I blame most of it on the bankers though Jo. They offered the money to people they knew couldn't pay it back. It was a dreadful and irresponsible action.
"I didn't care at all for the graphic blowing up of Big Ben. What's that meant to convey? I found it kind of ominous."
Err ... I think you'll find it's called symbolism.
Do you really think that I'm about to toddle off down to London and literally 'blow them up'. Give me some credit.
*sigh*
That's the word I was trying to recall, symbolism. Auch Mr Factor not only have you saved so women's skins (not mine btw because I use Liz Earle) but I thank you for your contribution.
"It started with Maggie I think."
Nail on the head Subrosa. It was in her time I recall a news item about a garage in London going for £30,000.
Max..........I only asked. :)
And no, I wasn't suggesting you were about to do it. I was just making sure you weren't encouraging other people to take up the challenge themselves.
Symbolism is all very interesting but what we need are real solutions.
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