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.
robertkknight on The Ever-Changing Lie: “Honestly…you couldn’t make this shit up! Well, in saying that, it appears that the SNP are quite capable of making…” Jun 9, 13:31
Alf Baird on The Massive Face Of Truth: “Aye James, the people need to understand that the path to freedom cannot come via the colonizers laws or his…” Jun 9, 13:12
Andrew Kidd on The Ever-Changing Lie: “Murrell was stealing before the Indyref fund was set up.” Jun 9, 13:04
sydthesnake on The Ever-Changing Lie: “A big boy stole it, mysteriously unknown to us he gave it back, then stole it again, and then, I’m…” Jun 9, 13:02
James Che on The Massive Face Of Truth: “The downfall of the pretendy controlled Scottish parliament Act and controlled Scottish elections is something we should all be aiming…” Jun 9, 11:54
James Che on The Massive Face Of Truth: “The pretendy wee parliament obtains votes for the SNP in elections notably not by the grass roots independence people. As…” Jun 9, 11:40
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The Massive Face Of Truth: “Being a school janitor is a highly responsible and thoroughly dignified job worthy of the public’s complete respect. I say…” Jun 9, 10:40
100%Yes on The Massive Face Of Truth: “For anyone interested, here is a video talking about a Westminster inquiry. Which if the SNP won’t do it then…” Jun 9, 10:00
100%Yes on The Massive Face Of Truth: “He only bring friction to the Indy movement. If it wasn’t for Independence who would know James Kelly, no one.…” Jun 9, 09:30
J Robertson on The Massive Face Of Truth: “Watched your video interview Stuart and you came across superbly. No word salad – just “bam “ a straight answer…” Jun 9, 06:27
Mark Beggan on The Massive Face Of Truth: ““A starving Kittens Society…” Urgent help for homeless cats. Is run by Homeless paws. Please donate.” Jun 9, 06:06
Al-Stuart on The Massive Face Of Truth: “. Hi Stuart. I see the Scot-Goes-Gravy-Train grifter is slagging you off again. Fortunately, James Kelly has switched off the…” Jun 9, 05:37
Young Lochinvar on The Massive Face Of Truth: “MB Bumpkin; Aren’t you rampant Tories supposedly (self declared) tucked up in bed by now so you can rain scorn…” Jun 9, 03:44
Mark Beggan on The Massive Face Of Truth: “Catch 22. Is the movie. Yes I will take my time on that semi-reasonable reply you gave.” Jun 9, 03:06
Young Lochinvar on The Massive Face Of Truth: “MB I agree in great part with your rant. Indeed I do. However I don’t see how voting for the…” Jun 9, 02:50
Mark Beggan on The Massive Face Of Truth: “You still do not get it Lochy. Do you? If you stopped ranting for a minute and used the brain…” Jun 9, 02:16
Young Lochinvar on The Massive Face Of Truth: “MB How so? Their policies don’t reflect that.. Just sayin’ an that bumpkin.” Jun 9, 01:32
Young Lochinvar on The Massive Face Of Truth: “Jay I think you are a bit off yer mark there. HMcH is 1slam8phobic, through and through just like a…” Jun 9, 00:13
BH on In pursuit of clarity: “Flu Manchu and Dr WHO pulling bigger strings than Westminster.” Jun 8, 21:41
robertkknight on The Massive Face Of Truth: “I just want my Ceau?escu moment… After that, the SNP can finally disappear up it’s own behouchie. I’ll then happily…” Jun 8, 21:31
Mark Beggan on The Massive Face Of Truth: ““Reform voters still support independence” Totally True Rev. Thank you.” Jun 8, 19:37
Ronald Bennett on The Massive Face Of Truth: “I was a ‘Yes’ voter for the first (and only) referendum but changed sides when we voted to leave the…” Jun 8, 19:37
Jay on The Massive Face Of Truth: “YL, your stalker (Mc Hateful) maybe does not realise that he is an anti-semite but avoids facing the truth when…” Jun 8, 18:34
Young Lochinvar on The Massive Face Of Truth: “Meant to say, watched The Longest Day and big Tam fooling about as Flanagan carrying a mk 3 Bren gun…” Jun 8, 18:09
Young Lochinvar on The Massive Face Of Truth: “HMcH Oh I raised a glass alright, relatives were there. June 6th is very well known and hasn’t been airbrushed…” Jun 8, 17:42
Hatey McHateface on The Massive Face Of Truth: “Got to say, YL, absolutely jaw dropping to me that you let June 6th go by without raising a glass.…” Jun 8, 17:19
Hatey McHateface on In pursuit of clarity: “Here’s a fourth behaviour for you, Northy. As you have in the past, on this site, claimed to be a…” Jun 8, 17:11
Hatey McHateface on The Massive Face Of Truth: “I’ve often considered that if Rev Stu were to address his formidable intellect to identifying the best way to generate…” Jun 8, 16:55
Mike on The Massive Face Of Truth: “Hi Stuart,did you get any call,message email etc in 2020 causing you suspicion to look at the accounts ?” Jun 8, 16:35
