It’s taken me four weeks to write this, because I barely knew where to start.
Channel 4 showed the singular and vastly wonderful The Banshees Of Inisherin at the weekend, and as brilliant as it is in its own right, it also came loaded with all sorts of resonances and finally prodded me into action.
The equally singular and wonderful Jonathan Nash, who will be known to readers of this isolated and quiet island parish under a variety of names, died last month, of death. It was sudden yet expected, and in those respects very much the opposite of the man himself.
Alert viewers may have already noticed a new addition to the central links column: The Sealand Gazette. (If so, they should award themselves 200 Alert Viewer Points and add them to their Viewerscore card.)
The Gazette came about because I have a bad habit of using Twitter as a sort of Post-It Note for news stories I want to keep on file for future reference. It is, of course, singularly badly suited for this purpose, because finding anything you posted on Twitter more than a couple of days ago is a hideous trial and – as I learned only recently – Twitter deletes your old tweets forever when you exceed your quota, which varies according to how prolifically you tweet but can be as little as a few weeks.
So instead, now there's the Gazette, the newspaper for people who increasingly wish they lived on an isolated former gun platform in the middle of the North Sea. Published through the rather nifty Scoop.it platform, the benefits are that it's incredibly easy to use – a couple of clicks adds a story – and both persistent and searchable.
(NB To search the Gazette use the "FILTER" function below the banner, not the Search box at the top of the page, which searches the whole of Scoop.it instead.)
At launch many of the stories are old-ish, because I've been going through my Twitter account grabbing everything I've posted there since April before it gets wiped, but from now on it'll be hot-off-the-presses stuff, and there's even a Page Three girl today as an introductory bonus. (Though of course, it's a rather sinister and troubling one.) Readers can also easily suggest stories to add.
The Gazette should be a lot less trouble to maintain than the short-lived "Reasons Not To Recycle" blog, and fulfil much the same purpose. (Misanthropic nihilism, essentially.) But I'll make a special effort to throw in a few nice stories too, because mass reader suicide isn't the goal. Although in the broader sense, it is a bit.
Cynicus on Shield Of The Phantom: ““ Why would a tribunal judge make such gross errors?” Use Occam’s Razor. The simplest explanation is that the “judicial…” Jan 27, 02:45
Cynicus on Shield Of The Phantom: ““This Judge Kemp has been shown to be a liar” ========= That is too strong. Less diligent than his high…” Jan 27, 02:35
Saffron Robe on Shield Of The Phantom: “Colin, your point about a deliberately flawed judgement makes sense and seems very likely to be true.” Jan 27, 01:43
robertkknight on Shield Of The Phantom: “Zero accountability in the Banana Republic that is the SNP’s Scotland. Only thing to do…kick the B***ARDS OUT!” Jan 26, 23:43
Lorna Campbell on Shield Of The Phantom: “You make excellent points, Colin. The thing is: if there was political interference, it has not served whoever did it,…” Jan 26, 23:20
Young Lochinvar on Yelling at the tide: “Who knows what goes through the heads of our super(ior) fan daby dozy southern neighbours. Probably have a contingency plan…” Jan 26, 22:59
McDuff on Shield Of The Phantom: “This is outrageous. Is there no one with power and prominence within the political and judicial system to challenge this…” Jan 26, 21:16
Colin Dawson on Shield Of The Phantom: “Perhaps the purpose of the judgement was to try to delay the resolution of the issue of safe spaces for…” Jan 26, 21:04
Iain More on Shield Of The Phantom: “Off topic probably. So when is Starmers Rent Boys Trial? Will we ever see one? I guess the days when…” Jan 26, 20:05
Nae Need! on Shield Of The Phantom: “An interesting point, lothianlad. When we consider that Sturgeons idol WAS, in fact, Thatcher. And then when we consider the…” Jan 26, 19:25
Nae Need! on Shield Of The Phantom: “It is. They will obfuscate, though. There’s a part of my mind that still can’t fully understand how government business…” Jan 26, 19:16
Lorna Campbell on Shield Of The Phantom: “I think you may be right, Rev. Had Kemp used AI, or listened to his two lay colleagues, he would…” Jan 26, 19:12
100%Yes on Shield Of The Phantom: “Just watched a political broadcast from the Scottish Greens, no mention of transgender or Independence, not surprised. What I will…” Jan 26, 19:05
Nae Need! on Shield Of The Phantom: “No surprises there. Thank you for pushing at the firmly closed door, Stu, cos nobody else would have. Now we…” Jan 26, 19:01
agentx on Shield Of The Phantom: ““Nicola Sturgeon MUST be called to give evidence about deadly super hospital as she dodges scrutiny Scottish Labour leader Anas…” Jan 26, 18:51
Effijy on Shield Of The Phantom: “The confidence tricksters posing as a judicial system are using a blackout curtain for transparency. A response such as this…” Jan 26, 17:52
Willie on Shield Of The Phantom: “An absolute outrage of a response. No one, and I mean no one can have any confidence in the integrity…” Jan 26, 17:18
100%Yes on Shield Of The Phantom: “@bobo bunny, The National still has the offer of 1 years subscription for £20, just think you’ll be able to…” Jan 26, 16:48
James Cheyne on Shield Of The Phantom: “Or we could walk away legally not being in a 1707 treaty of union with neither the UK parliament or…” Jan 26, 16:47
100%Yes on Shield Of The Phantom: “One thing is certain Scotland will never become Independent by the hands of the SNP and I’ll be my house…” Jan 26, 16:41
Hatey McHateface on Shield Of The Phantom: “Crash course in Arabic (focus on water features) and a chequered T towel and you’ll be ready to rock n’…” Jan 26, 16:10
Hatey McHateface on Shield Of The Phantom: ““elect wee nige and let him destroy HR and give our SNHS to his american millionaire pals” You’ve got in…” Jan 26, 16:05
bobo bunny on Shield Of The Phantom: “Time to start burning things down, and blowing shit up.” Jan 26, 16:02
bobo bunny on Shield Of The Phantom: “You’re hardly 100%Yes then, are you?” Jan 26, 16:01
Robert Burns on Shield Of The Phantom: ““6b: it is about a judicial decision, or judicial case management.” So, making up stories to support a ‘judicial decision’…” Jan 26, 15:42
twathater on Shield Of The Phantom: “Aw well it’s nae big deal there’s nothing happening with Scottish politics just now anyway I wish there was some…” Jan 26, 15:37
James Cheyne on Shield Of The Phantom: “The law in and of Scotland goes much deeper than what Stu is contending with, As we have to ascertain…” Jan 26, 15:17
