On 7 Apr , at 14:37:16, Stefan Magdalinski wrote: > > On 7 Apr , at 14:33:05, Matthew Somerville wrote: > >> Stefan Magdalinski wrote: >>> http://debillitated.heroku.com/ >>> although totally depressed by what it says about our work over the last 12 >>> years. >> >> "No, to be fair, and I'm pretty sure you're a fair bloke, there's more to it >> than meets the eye. There's only so much room for MPs to speak and those >> with a particular interest come in on debates. There's lots of others >> around, many watching on monitors. True, a lot aren’t engaged, especially >> with this bill obv I think too many, [...]" - Eric Joyce MP >> >> I thought "our work" was to be able to provide information on what MPs etc. >> are doing in their role in the Houses of Parliament, and that it was >> precisely that it *wasn't* just number of debates spoken in, or whether >> someone happened to be in the chamber or not. [1] Help people make >> decisions, find things out, contact their representatives, etc. I mean, I'm >> genuinely curious as to how http://www.didmympshowupornot.com/ is actually >> useful to its cause/ debate/ issue (which to be clear I don't actually have >> an opinion on, but I realise lots of people do)? >> >> If you want to be upset at anything (other than content), be upset that the >> Bill is going to have c. one hour of committee debate today rather than say >> the 40 or so it would get in a normal committee stage, the way it's been >> rushed through, and things like that. >>
to clarify: my ennui (and the sense in which I used 'our') is broader: I feel like us 'internet folks' have collectively failed to engage the politicians AT ALL. Watching the debate last night, the shocking thing wasn't 40 bods in the chamber, but that of those 40, hardly any had a grasp of what the bill was about, what this internet thing is that it's trying to regulate, and had largely swallowed the BPI line whole. We twitter away, we build away, we achieved nothing, and there's a yawning chasm of understanding. After 15 years of the internet, most MPs think all we want to do is bootleg movies. and for once, it made me just depressed not angry. stef normal grumpy stef service will resume shortly. maybe I should write a blog post or something. -- /* Stefan Magdalinski +27 82 0431230 (phone) smagdali (IM/twitter/flickr/dopplr/skype/etc) */ _______________________________________________ Mailing list [email protected] Archive, settings, or unsubscribe: https://secure.mysociety.org/admin/lists/mailman/listinfo/developers-public
