26th of foot 5,857 Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Some 28 years past, I found myself on the Isle of Jura for several weeks. It was a full on professional committment but I managed to smuggle some me time to visit a midge besieged cottage on the north end called, 'Barnhill'. This location was George Orwell's home for 2 years immediately post war and where the old Etonian penned the seminal, '1984'. Eric Blair had watched Europe disolve in the previous two decades into totalitarian states of various political hues. The Spains, Portugals, ....................... Soviet Unions continued to persist with systems that allowed NO opposition. Orwell had voiced opposition with Animal Farm, but his rile and rage continued and through terminal tuberculosis he completed the tome. Nineteen Eighty-Four was a school text in my day, I am sure it remains so today. The main character, Winston Smith and his lover, Julia linger in my memory. The juxtapositions of language and the reality of their true meanings really linger : the Ministry of Peace dealt with war, the Ministry of Plenty dealt with rationing and starvation, the Ministry of Love dealt with torture, and the Ministry of Truth dealt with propaganda. Newspeak and Doublethink are words that still carry currency. During the last year, how many times did you open a newspaper or turn on your radio/TV and be confronted by a journo/talking head talking at the Rangers support by presenting the opening line, 'what Rangers fans should be thinking'? Sometimes it advanced to, 'what Rangers fans should be saying/questioning/doing'? We were being conditioned, particularly by use of language and a favourite of the hardcore haters, 'the new reality'. Rangers supporters were somnolent proles who needed to wake up but were only going to be allowed to smell the coffee if we accepted the prepared new reality. It became obvious that a line was being adhered to, all that chorused did so from the same hymn sheet. The usual suspects moved to lionise the new gospel of the Rangers Tax Case blog. Cosgrove and Spence held it aloft and declared it was the epitome of new cyber journalism, running ahead of the old ways. Heady days hjad arrived, the Fans' Revolution was born with, "Say No to Newco". These last seven months, Spiers, McLaughlin, Gordon, Delahunt, ........ et al have habitually utilised the RTC blog as their preferred crib sheet on all things Rangers. It was proclaimed, "NEUTRAL". I am surprised the Barnhill cottage did not collapse at such seismic irony. The RTC blog was eulogised to the extent it was entered for and won the Orwell Priaze. The judges, Suzanne Moore, Hopi Sen, and Sean Dodson stated, "the RTC blog showed how expertise and incisive writing can expose the hypocrisy the powerful use to protect themselves from the consequences and actions. It is a worthy winner". I wonder what Suzanne, Hopi, and Sean think this morning? The RTC blog has disappeared into the ether, a matter of weeks after receiving the prize and praise. What do the usual suspects think now; particularly since there is no crib to consult? Further, who did the Orwell Prize judges give the prize to, given the identity of the blogger is the big secret? Maybe they handed it to a balaclava clad Big Brother? Of course, Winston Smith was betrayed and the consequence was torture and re-education. by Thinkpol. Over these last several months of tortue and attempted re-education, the usual suspects have held firm to Thinkpol's favoured word, "CONSEQUENCE". It was constantly utilised to whip us into line. There will be further consequence, the first should be Suzanne, Hopi, and Sean withdrawing the prize from something that no longer exists. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Moon 1,118 Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 What a gift being able to write like that. Thanks for a great read. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Rebo's Big Blue Nose 0 Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 So you can win awards writing about an inquiry with an obvious bias despite the said inquiry having yet reached an outcome? Much like BBC Scotland winning a Scottish Bafta for their terrible "scoop" about the downfall of Rangers (much of which was focused on EBT's) Er... these idiots should really be handing these awards back. You genuinely couldn't make this shit up. Why don't the BBC do an "expose" on why it took so fookin long for the HMRC to reach a decision on this and why that delay would be benefitial to certain parties and in turn led Rangers into the hands of criminals? Not to mention the amount of cash they have wasted and declined years ago when Rangers offered them a settlement... Ragin, Glasgow 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
26th of foot 5,857 Posted November 23, 2012 Author Share Posted November 23, 2012 So you can win awards writing about an inquiry with an obvious bias despite the said inquiry having yet reached an outcome? Much like BBC Scotland winning a Scottish Bafta for their terrible "scoop" about the downfall of Rangers (much of which was focused on EBT's) Er... these idiots should really be handing these awards back. You genuinely couldn't make this shit up. Why don't the BBC do an "expose" on why it took so fookin long for the HMRC to reach a decision on this and why that delay would be benefitial to certain parties and in turn led Rangers into the hands of criminals? Not to mention the amount of cash they have wasted and declined years ago when Rangers offered them a settlement... Ragin' date=' Glasgow[/quote'] George Orwell's most creative attention could not get a grip on BBC Scotland's jaundiced approach to all things Rangers. Jonathan Swift's imagination would struggle to formulate such characters that regularly shuffle through the doors at Pacific Quay. Here's an opening line .................. Chris McLaughlin and Mark Daly inhabit the waste ground north west of Ibrox Stadium cultivating the bitter fruit of hate ............................. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juancornetto 1 Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Just what question 26th...what the devil is a somnolent prole? Lovely stuff! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
26th of foot 5,857 Posted November 23, 2012 Author Share Posted November 23, 2012 Just what question 26th...what the devil is a somnolent prole? Lovely stuff! The phrase first entered my head whilst standing in the pouring rain in Cologne watching Jim Denny man-mark Pierre Littbarski. We lost 5-1. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DietofWorms Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 The phrase first entered my head whilst standing in the pouring rain in Cologne watching Jim Denny man-mark Pierre Littbarski. We lost 5-1. I do love the urban legend that whilst a substitute in an Old Firm game the erstwhile Jim Denny would do his warm up in front of the tims, because he got less stick from them. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thinker 887 Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 What an absolutely brilliant piece of writing! It deserves to be published for the wider audience. You should send it in to the letters pages of some of the major papers. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DietofWorms Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 George Orwell's most creative attention could not get a grip on BBC Scotland's jaundiced approach to all things Rangers. Jonathan Swift's imagination would struggle to formulate such characters that regularly shuffle through the doors at Pacific Quay. Here's an opening line .................. Chris McLaughlin and Mark Daly inhabit the waste ground north west of Ibrox Stadium cultivating the bitter fruit of hate ............................. .....but because of their spite and ignorance, they discovered the fruit was not orange but green with envy and rotten at their own cores. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexscottislegend 2,090 Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 One of my all-time favourite books too. I'm sure you must be a journo that we have all come across, 26th - you seem to have a lot of inside knowledge!And Jim Denny? How he was able to masquerade as a Rangers player for so long is one of life's mysteries. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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