Flash in the arse

He's gone. And so soon after his relaunch too.

I wonder what tipped him over the edge?

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posted by Blamerbell @ 2:26 pm, ,


What have we done?

This is my life: brief flirtation with football, passionate and elaborate relationship with classical music and academia, audacious attempt to learn Japanese from scratch and then finally, return home to have a bash at being a journalist and as an almost accidental consequence, a Welsh political blogger.

With the exception of those formative years with a football (I played for Merthyr schoolboys don't you know), I've only ever been involved in niche pursuits. I have shouted and screamed about their importance. But I've almost always had to concede that the majority of the population will never really understand nor share my enthusiasm.

So, when Alwyn ap Huw ponders on his blog if the internet has had an affect on this election, I'd like to think that it has. Because it's not necessarily important that people share your enthusiasm - what's important is that they acknowledge it exists and are sufficiently impressed by it. The best political correspondents seem to be irrepressibly excited about their subject. Blogging is no different. That's the only way to get people to take note.

Today, in the Welsh blogosphere, there are an awful lot of people talking about politics with great vigour. When Iain Dale compiled his list of all those who will be blogging through election night, it was dominated by people from Wales. And he'd missed about two thirds off the list!

OK, so the success of the Welsh blogosphere may be in part due to the relative weakness of our mainstream media. But who cares if the result is that people are expressing themselves in more innovative and less constrictive ways?

And it does have an influence. These blogs are not only read by journalists, politicians and ordinary chaps/chapettes right across the country, they are also the world's window on Welsh politics. And when they peer inside what they'll see, unlike some of our more powerful neighbours, is a real hubbub of activity. Unless, of course, they tune in at 4am tomorrow morning when I'm anticipating that it will just be myself and Joe holding hands in the semi-outside.

SYLWCH: Mae'r BBC wedi danfon bathodyn blogio'r etholiad yn Gymraeg (o'r diwedd). Croeso i chi eu ddefnyddio ar eich blogiau.

GYDA LLAW: Mae gen i golofn yn Golwg o wythnos nesaf ymlaen. Da ni'n chwilio am deitl bachog iddo. Cynigion yn y sylwadau os gwelch yn dda. Does dim clem gen i, ond hoffwn i ddefnyddio fy enw go iawn y tro 'ma...

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posted by Blamerbell @ 2:08 pm, ,


And on the sixth day, God made Leighton

For them, politics is like a cult. They congregate around certain figures, whom they hold in great esteem. It's almost like hero-worship. If you can call a man in a suit a hero.

They are, of course, the followers - the political enforcers who will not have a word said against their man. And for some reason, don't ask me why, they tend to congregate around the right wing of the Labour party.

For England, see Blairism. For Wales, see Leightonism.

Whatever you might say about Leighton Andrews, he is first and foremost a very effective Labour assembly member for the Rhondda. He is outspoken and combative - just the type of guy the assembly needs. Perhaps followers are an inevitable consequence of strong leaders (although Mr Andrews leads nothing much yet). What's certain is that they exist, and they put themselves about.

Let's take for example, David Taylor, Mr Andrews' researcher. He has a track record to make the Labour right proud:



It is, I'm sure you'll agree, a fairly impressive CV. There's evidence of a lot of graft here, and I can't imagine it's been done for no reason. These people are well-organized and ruthless. The territory, it seems, has been set. And after this election, there may just have to be a battle.

So, how long will it be, do you think, before that crucial Leighton4leader domain gets registered too?


Generous hat doffs to Tim Ireland, Dizzy and The Register.

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posted by Blamerbell @ 12:04 pm, ,


The price of being an arsehole

It may be tempting to think that as a blogger you are all powerful if you simply hide behind a pair of pants or some other artfully constructed conceit. You are not.

No matter how gratifying it must feel to know you are the talk of the BBC and the corridors of Cardiff Bay, getting it wrong as a blogger could be a costly business. In a landmark case in the USA a blogger had to cough up $50,000.

At the moment, the UK courts are gagging to get stuck into their first major blogging case. Bitch blogs beware: I wouldn't want to be the first.

In legal terms, blogs are as vulnerable as any other form of media, and cases would most likely be heard on grounds of defamation or malicious falsehood. But while the mainstream press enjoys certain privileges which mostly ensure its protection, bloggers would be hung out to dry. A proper journalist is usually on firm ground if he can plead he has practiced 'responsible journalism' - certain checks and balances that may save his skin. Bitch blogs, by their very nature, could never plead this defence.

Previously, British bloggers have cockily assumed immunity on the basis that most blogs are hosted in the United States. Well, that makes sod all difference I'm afraid. According to UK law, defamation occurs where the material is read, not where it is published. Further, as a recent Yahoo! user found to the tune of £17,200, foreign companies now seem willing to co-operate with local law to tackle the bigots who cower in the many dark deluded corners of the information superhighway.

It's simply a matter of time before a shit-slinging fact-fabricating blogger is reeled into court. And when it happens, it won't be with a fishing rod but with an industrial-sized trawler. Anyone with a hyperlink to the offending blog or even those who have simply allowed the offending blogger to comment on their own sites could be implicated. In internet terms, that may be considered equivalent to repeating the defamation or falsehood and so they would also be liable.

In the last few months, the Welsh blog has risen in power and influence while standards appear to have gone in the opposite direction. But the bubble will burst. All you need is a prick.

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posted by Blamerbell @ 12:40 am, ,


Ian Titherington v the world

OK, perhaps the Welsh blogosphere isn't the world, but it's still a brave man who takes on the combined might of Peter Black and Glyn Davies et al.

And in his very first blog post too. What a way to introduce yourself to your new friends.

Ian Titherington, Plaid's man in Swansea West, is blogging, albeit reluctantly:

After all the promises I made to myself, I have ignored them all and created an election blog site. Well you know what they say about politician's promises!

I will fill up these pages this weekend, when I have time to do so. I do worry a little about full time politicians who actually have the time to update these things daily. With respect, they need to get a life.


Meow!

Still, Swansea West could be one to watch. Plaid's Ted Jones is bigging up the chances of his mate, despite the 2,500 Labour majority. But whether he can muster an upset or not, pitching a hope-to-be First Minister against no-nonsense Ian means it's still a seat worth keeping an eye on. That's if he can find time to campaign between blogging and shopping for that perfect election handbag.

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posted by Blamerbell @ 12:13 pm, ,


Are you reading THIS or the Western Mail?

Blogs are as popular as regional newspaper websites as online sources of local news.

That's the somewhat surprising finding of Ofcom in their latest research into the future of news, which has not yet been published in full.

Here in Wales, the massed ranks of politicians who have been so sceptical about blogs might wish to review their position. Something of a blog revolution has occurred in recent months - you need only move your eyes slightly to the left and examine the links in my sidebar as testament to that.

When I last counted in December, 12 AMs kept a blog. Now it's around 15. But the real blossoming has occurred among Assembly candidates and other interested observers.

They've realised, I presume, that a great number of people are completely turned-off politics the way it is presented through the traditional media. Statistically, those people are most likely to be 16-24. And by no coincidence, that same group are also the most avid consumers of news through the internet: over one in three young people now use the web as their prime source of news.

Significantly, these findings only show what percentage of people use blogs as a source of news. But blogs are about much more than that (when they're written properly) and it's reasonable to infer, therefore, that the actual number of readers is much greater.

Of course, blogs are no threat to the Western Mail's rather polished website (though the search function is useless). But politicians and editors alike would be wise not to underestimate their potential for getting at an audience unreached by the traditional media.

After all, if you search for 'Welsh Assembly Election 2007' in Google, you don't get the local paper, neither do you get the government's website or any of the party spin. What you get is Wikipedia, followed by this blog.

[I have the flu so posting may be light over the next couple of days.]

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posted by Blamerbell @ 12:20 pm, ,


The charge against Carl Sargeant

I note that a few people have put a link to Carl Sargeant's blog in their sidebars.

But is he still blogging? On November 25th I pointed out that he'd been on a bit of a break since his inaugural three posts.

Then, on December 6th he told me: "I did recently create a blog site but to be honest , finding the time to update it is a nightmare."

The sort of nightmare in which you lose all access to computers perhaps?

Anyway, I'm removing Carl and Rhodri 'put your foot in it' Glyn Thomas from my blogroll if they don't get started by the end of the month.

Huw Lewis recently got back to his blog (albeit with a quip at one of his constituents), after I drew attention to his extended absence.

A blog is, after all, a conversation with potential voters. When someone visits a blog which hasn't been updated it's as if they've walked into a room with someone who's deliberately playing mute. Ignore the electorate at your peril.

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posted by Blamerbell @ 4:41 pm, ,


Has Huw Lewis saved the children yet?

Merthyr AM Huw Lewis entered the blogosphere in October. Since then, we've had 11 posts, the most recent on December 6th.

Huw's first post goes like this:

"I’m hoping this blog is going to make it easier for people across Merthyr & Rhymney to keep track of my work on your behalf, and to ask questions about local and national issues. Being completely new to blogging, I’m happy to hear any suggestions for the site."

Here's a suggestion: use it.

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posted by Blamerbell @ 11:49 am, ,


Peter Black v Bethan Jenkins

King of the Welsh political blogosphere takes on the young rogue who, I know from experience, wouldn't accept a royal title even in this fictional context.

Peter Black is a Lib Dem regional member for South Wales West. After the next Assembly election, he and Bethan Jenkins will be colleagues of sorts, as she tops Plaid's regional list in the same area.

Up until now, they've been treading on each other's toes in the local press, and possibly on the streets of Swansea too. Today, they're battling it out in the blogosphere.

Bethan says Peter's exploiting student issues just because we're approaching an election. Peter asks if Plaid can pay for its tuition fee promises and proceeds to spam the comments with Lib Dem hyperlinks.

There are those in all parties who are extremely sceptical about political blogs. But, as long as the debate sticks firmly with policy I believe it's healthy that this sort of discussion is happening online, especially one relating to youth issues.

The danger is that arguments between politcians degenerate into the cattiness that characterises so many other blogs. It would not reflect very well on an already beleaguered political class.

In the meantime, why not use the internet as a battelground for the student vote? Students are, after all, more likely to read a blog than tune in to political TV.

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posted by Blamerbell @ 4:38 pm, ,


Bethan is a blogger

Plaid Cymru have woken up, smelt the coffee, put the coffee down because they thought it would reveal too much to the opposition and it wasn't a great way of communicating with voters anyway, had second thoughts, smelt the coffee again and started blogging.

What that meandering metaphor is getting at is that blogging might just be a useful campaign tool for an aspiring young politician. Plaid Cymru election candidate Bethan Jenkins has started one over on bethanjenkins.blogspot.com and it looks set to be a lively addition to the Welsh blogosphere.

On sex and deliberately avoiding to write 'Britain' or the 'UK':
Part of the problem is that in many areas of Wales, Scotland, England, Ireland, there is nothing better to do than drink, take drugs and have sex.

On Welsh Assembly blogging:
I don't sit easy with complimenting Peter Black or Leighton Andrews, but on this occasion I will prove to be the exception I never thought I could be! I think that the fact that they blog as Politicians is positive and is a novel way of reaching out to people who perhaps don't read the papers or watch the news that often. To us politicians, that seems far fetched...but true!

On speaking for Leighton Andrews:
Leighton Andrews's comments in the Western Mail are a direct challenge to Rhodri Morgan's leadership. Where once their Tory/ Plaid line held water with the media and constituents alike, this strategy is now dead in the water. He knows this, and is telling Rhodri Morgan that he must act now or risk losing votes in May.

On mixed metaphors:
Get your socks on and blog more often! One blog every blue moon is a waste...

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posted by Blamerbell @ 5:03 pm, ,


I'm the 7th most influential 'Tory' blogger!

According to Bell Pottinger, the 'UK’s No 1 public relations group specialising in pr, design and corporate responsibility', this is the seventh most "influential" blog in terms something to do with Conservative party policy. (I don't understand so I daren't explain.)

They've devised a very complex system for working this out, which returns a graph that looks more like abstract art than information analysis. There's a key distinction to be made between "fame" and "influence", they say, with their research putting this blog below the likes of Iain Dale and Times Online in the influence ranking.

Apparently, I've now been identified as a Tory 'Power blogger'. This is, of course, not true. I am neither a Tory (my political flag awaits the colour of a cause), nor I doubt a very powerful blogger. But I shall enjoy my 15 seconds of fame, or influence, or whatever we're calling it.

Hat tip to Praguetory for the spot

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posted by Blamerbell @ 1:02 pm, ,


Bloggers say the nicest things

Just spotted this from BBC Wales Westminster correspondent David Cornock:

Sounds good

posted by David | 0825 GMT |

Ciaran Jenkins, author of Blamerbell Briefs and a rising star of the blogosphere, recently described my efforts as "sound but infrequent".

Ciaran may have confused me with someone without a job or a life but at the risk of failing his time and motion study again, I'm taking some time off over Christmas...


Not a disciple of the Peter Black school of blogging then - even posting on Christmas eve after being bitten by a dog.

Indeed, Mr Black too has kind words about this blog. (If only I could fashion one of those Iain Dale style changing banners of flattery.)

And so, as you can see by this meandering 2am trudge through the results of my weekly self-aggrandizing google search, you're right David: probably best to give it a rest over Christmas.

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posted by Blamerbell @ 1:44 am, ,


Welsh politics blog roundup #002

Peter Black wins BBC's 'Political Communicator of the Year' award... and then smashes it. The glass trophy is now all over the boot of his car.

Nick Bourne
reports that the Tories won convincingly in the Kinmel Bay council by-election. It's part of the Clwyd West constituency - a three-way marginal at the Assembly Elections. And it doesn't bode well for Plaid Cymru: they didn't even put up a candidate.

And finally, only Glyn Davies knows what this is all about:
"One of the young ladies had extracted from her case a black leather strappy appliance, which was fitted with two electrodes and which could be worn around the neck, the leg or the arm. There was a choice of one short pulse of electriciry, several intermittent pulses or the full works in the form of a continuous pulse. I was being fitted up at the time...."

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posted by Blamerbell @ 12:48 pm, ,


Leighton Andrews and the blog police

Leighton Andrews is frequently mentioned as one of the Welsh Assembly's most famous bloggers. He's linked to in all sorts of places, and gets a lot of attention for doing something a great deal of ordinary people do quite routinely.

However, he's an elected representative, and therefore his willingness to at least make some effort at communicating with people via his blog is commendable.

But Leighton doesn't seem to fully understand the medium.

Blogs have comments, and other bloggers are commenters. The internet is democratic, and it is now more than ever about debate.

Some bloggers wish to moderate comments and that, I suppose, is fair enough.

But policing comments is something totally different. I've now remarked a few times on some of Leighton's posts, but he seems to have chosen not to publish them.

This would be somewhat against the spirit of blogging. Politicians already inflict their monologues on the traditional media; there's no way they should do the same with what is meant to be a discursive and democratic medium. Blogging is, more than anything else, a conversation. Otherwise, get a column.

Peter Black, the other 'Assembly blogger', gets it. And his blog is one of the best political blogs on the block.

I hope it's just a technical error and that Mr Andrews's site can become a forum for some genuinely interesting debate.

UPDATE: Comments are now appearing on Mr Andrews's site once more. Good stuff!

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posted by Blamerbell @ 11:22 am, ,


Welsh politics blog roundup #001

I was going to call this feature 'CymBlogs' but I thought that would get referrals from google for all the wrong reasons. I've already had big breasts and anal sex on the site recently, and I wouldn't want this blog to become as smutty as its author. Anyway, onto the politics...

Leighton Andrews on Michael Grade - he's 'one of the most self-indulgent people in a self-indulgent industry.' [politics, of course, being a completely selfless business]

Peter Black
caused a bit of a stir by backing Kirsty Williams for Welsh Lib Dem leader. There's no vacancy yet...

...but there is a gaping void in the place where David Davies and Mick Bates should have a brain. They decided to liven things up in the chamber this week by making rude gestures. Glyn Davies has more.

Alun Cairns gets confused over what a Welsh parliament could mean for England and for the Tories.

Huw Lewis writes about the decision to go ahead with a massive opencast project in his constituency, and tries to sweep it under the carpet. The problem for Huw is it'll take one hell of a carpet to disguise 10m tonnes of coal, dust, noise and pollution.

And Daniel Davies proves that you don't need to be able to spell to be a Welsh political journalist.

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posted by Blamerbell @ 11:58 am, ,


New blog #001 - Rhodri Glyn Thomas

The Assembly has another blogging AM. I spotted a link to Rhodri Glyn Thomas's blog on Adam Price's site.

Only two posts, so far, and both in Welsh.

If he says anything interesting, I'll translate.

The one thing I've noticed so far is that Welsh speakers refer to Rhodri Morgan as 'y prif weinidog.' This translates as 'Prime Minister' rather than 'First Minister,' which is usually used in English.

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posted by Blamerbell @ 1:52 pm, ,


Blogged off #002 - Adam Price

This time it's newly crowned 'Welsh MP of the Year,' Adam Price. Clearly, he didn't win any marks for blogging.

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posted by Blamerbell @ 7:57 pm, ,


Ioan Gruffudd's Japanese admirers

Just been checking through referrals to this site and and I came across THIS - a Japanese blog dedicated to Ioan Gruffudd.

The Gruffudd Girls Blog keeps what I can only assume is a flock of Hornblower-loving Japanese women informed of all Ioan's latest escapades.

However, it starts badly, falling into the usual trap of assuming that Wales is in England. The title page - Gruffudd Girls BLOG 英国ウェールズ出身の俳優 Ioan Gruffudd ヨアン・グリフィズ ブログ - literally means 'English Welsh Actor Ioan Gruffudd (or rather Yoan Gurifizu) Blog.'

You can't argue with its nose for news, however. The latest Burberry developments I blogged on earlier are all there.

I'll certainly bear it in mind next time I want to look at some lovely Ioan pictures, like this one:

(not many faces like that in Aberdare)

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posted by Blamerbell @ 7:07 pm, ,


Blogged off #001 - Carl Sargeant

Carl Sargeant AM, November 2nd:
'Welcome to the weblog, its seems everyone, well most people now have one. Its either X-factor or create blog! Guess who won. Anyway, lets see how it goes for the next few weeks.'

Total number of posts: 3

Last post: November 8th

Longest nonsensical sentence:
'On a lighter note Traditional Tory ‘Melding’ lay claim to his ignorance of one of the Saturday Night TV programme presenters and while i can’t actually see Melding doing x-factor, i was surprised when he suggested that its only recently that he found out Ant ‘n’ Dec (Saturday Night Live) was actually two people. Gave me a laugh though.'

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posted by Blamerbell @ 7:04 pm, ,


AMs wot blog - the definitive survey

Are politicians' blogs a genuine attempt to communicate with voters, or a plaything for geekoids who are carried away with their internet personas? And what about politicians who don't blog? Are they missing out, or simply retaining their dignity?



As you can see from the links in my sidebar, the Welsh Assembly has quite a contingent of bloggers. But they are still outnumbered by those who don't.



So, I'm going to do a survey. I'll email all the Welsh Assembly members and ask them about their blogging habits. I'll talk to the key players - Leighton Andrews (Labour), Peter Black (Lib Dem) and Glyn Davies (Tory) - the Assembly's blogistocracy.



Radio Wales's Eye on Wales recently made a programme about the Welsh blogging scene. But I'll look at Welsh Assembly bloggers in particular.



Who's at it? What drives them? Frankly, what's the point?

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posted by Blamerbell @ 12:10 pm, ,