Assange’s essay recalls Paine comparing the sun to the truth: “Such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks and all it wants is the liberty of appearing.”
Fighting extradition to Sweden, still on bail, hold up at Ellingham Hall near Bungay in the Waveney Valley with his ASBO type tag, Assange references Thetford’s international radical Paine to illustrate the natural inclination for information to circulate among the people just as the sun rises each day on a new dawn. He goes on to mention how Paine relinquished any copyright fee for his Common Sense publication during the American revolution, which further hit home with me since I recently submitted an essay to Gresham’s School Magazine about the future redundancy of intellectual property right. I propose the BBC must retain its ability to inform the public without concern for financial profit accountability and the likes of Rupert Murdoch, Metallica, McCartney, the health and energy industries must one day allow information and ideas to be freely shared for the betterment of civil society rather than owned, sold and subscribed to.
My OAP parents went on holiday to Egypt at exactly the same time as the revolution began to unfold. I was not overly concerned because I had access to information via the internet and could monitor the situation. While the BBC and western media frequently focused on fear mongering about the Muslim Brotherhood or military dictatorship, I followed Aljazeera, Facebook and Twitter messages from Egyptians and witnesses on the ground informing with greater clarity than BBC Radio 4’s John Humphreys and his tired old mind set colleagues. Mind you, the BBC Egypt Unrest blog did provide poignant comment such as on 11.02.2011 at 14.57hr when a protester in Tahrir Square told the BBC’s Lyse Doucet: “Neither the president or vice-president know how to send an SMS. They don’t use e-mail. They speak a different language from us.”
My 76 year old ex-Diss Grammar School mum can send an SMS. My 79 year old father cannot, though they arrived home from Egypt at 2am and he was out again at 9am for his yoga class.
I recently met with a local Diss High School student who appeared on the front page of the Diss Express as a coordinator of student protest against government cuts:
http://www.dissexpress.co.uk/news/education/students
I was told he filled in a 20 page form granting permission to demonstrate by Diss Park Pavilion. I thought this quite bizarre; what happens if permission is denied? Does a student go home, be a good little 6th former, switch on X Factor and Strictly Dance to the directives of local authorities? Imagine the ridiculous scenario of Egyptians submitting demonstration forms requesting the resignation of President Mubarak.
The Egyptian revolution not only inspired relatively peaceful rebellion, it perhaps also demonstrated how to initiate the Cameron-Clegg Big Society concept: the protesters organised smoking and non-smoking areas within Tahrir Square, recycling bins for rubbish and indeed, the BBC’s Andrew Steele blogged at 13.50hr: “In Tahrir Square, the water distribution and rubbish collection are working better than is normally the case in many parts of Cairo.”
I repeatedly requested a quote of support from the Cameron-Clegg offices for the Waveney Springs Art Collective Art Trail September 2010. I repeatedly received excuses denying a quote and on 25 January 2011, No: 10 Downing Street Private Secretary Simon King wrote to me explaining how the Waveney Springs Art ‘Collection’ is a living example of the Big Society. Oh, well that’s OK then isn’t it! It occurred to me that when Tweeting, Big Society can be abbreviated to BS and having listened to BS head honcho Francis Maude I conclude he can keep his BS where the sun does not rise since my request for a quote of support might be better served by tweeting Tahrir protesters.
Assange finishes off with Paine’s quote “We have it in our power to begin the world over again.”
One would hope we on the Norfolk-Suffolk border have progressed beyond that point where Egypt must start over again, but for God’s sake, let’s at least not go backwards and submit to form filling before school students feel at liberty to peacefully demonstrate by Diss Park Pavilion.
Hail those for getting off their backsides and peacefully rebelling when others appear to have fallen asleep; merely accepting the status quo dished out to them.
Also at the time of typing, I am informed – by the internet – Ron Paul just came first in the Republican U.S. Presidential Candidate CPAC straw poll:
The Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com
I suspect few in East Anglia will have any idea of who Ron Paul is. The U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank Of England and recipients of banking bonuses will know who Ron Paul is and Ron Paul knows who Thomas Paine was. As Robert ‘Dylan’ Zimmerman sang, The Times They Are A Changing and as Obama quoted Paine, they may well be times that try men’s souls.
Gerald Celente of the Trends Research Institute Tweeted: “Mubarak resigning as leader & Intel Chief Suleiman & Armed Forces taking charge is like Hitler appointing Himmler & Gestapo to run Germany.”
http://twitter.com/#!/geraldcelente
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