Comments on: Apparently I have the right “not to remain silent”… Well, cheers. Here’s what I think.

By: How Iggy Pop pushed mass advertising over the shark and broke the fourth wall | Quixotic Quisling

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:13:30 +0000

[...] all advertising is meta. Here’s something I said earlier in the year – about another ad campaign: Advertising is by and large, in my opinion, a self-referential medium. You always know [...]

By: iainhasaface

iainhasaface — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:23:27 +0000

that would look fucking yaldi on a t-shirt.

By: Huw Waters

Huw Waters — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:28:45 +0000

I get the impression they’re promoting Gestapo type of policing, where someone will report you and then you’ll be arrested only on grounds of suspicion under the Terrorist Act.

I don’t think a community voice of any strength ever asked for detention without trial or CCTV.

By: Keep Calm and . . . full circle « The Experts Agree

Keep Calm and . . . full circle « The Experts Agree — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 04:50:56 +0000

[...] EDIT see English/Welsh blogger Carl Morris’ commentary here. [...]

By: Claire Godden

Claire Godden — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 06:29:26 +0000

In my view, a cunning way of a paranoid state obtaining futher inside info on the communities they ‘police’!? Make the plebians think they are safe with us, they’ll let on re community secrets, and hey presto, the job they are paid for is done by the hoi poloi! Genius? Cept it won’t work.

By: Keep Calm and Carry On Keeps On « Keep Calm and Carry On: Second World War Posters

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 13:19:10 +0000

[...] be the only one to make the connection, and of course I wasn’t, here’s a taste of what Carl Morris had to say a couple of days ago (along with a photo of the [...]

By: drbexl

drbexl — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:55:17 +0000

I spotted the posters en route to work this morning and immediately thought they were very “Keep Calm and Carry On”. As someone who has spent far more of my life than is healthy (some consider) studying Second World War posters, including a whole chapter of my PhD on the first series of posters, been fascinated to see the Keep Calm and Carry On poster take on a new lease of life when there was so much negative comment about the series during the war!

By: Why do we have Anti-Terrorist Hotline in Cardiff? (More poster madness.) | Quixotic Quisling

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:30:09 +0000

[...] a couple of days ago, I mentioned some really odd police posters I’d seen in Cardiff. This isn’t about those posters. (At least those police ones were trying to make some kind of [...]

By: Carl Morris

Carl Morris — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:17:06 +0000

Thanks for the insights PC.

“Community” is one of those slippery words isn’t it?

I admit I was the one that used it first…

In some ways different “communities” already exist and it’s more about engaging (another word du jour!) with them rather than building anything.

The word used to connote geographical closeness which has diminished. And very recently and rapidly, it’s started to include people who use online tools to facilitate their communities (which might also interact in other ways).

The word is also used frequently these days to identify an ethnic group, often vaguely defined, who might not be a cohesive group who all talk to each other.

For example, in many cities and towns in this country people refer to the “Asian community” which – because of our history – refers to people of Indian and Pakistani descent. And possibly to a lesser extent, people of Sri Lankan and Bangladishi descent. Some of those people talk to each other but not all would necessarily spend time with or talk to each other.

(In this country when people refer to the Asian community, it’s not generally construed to include Chinese people, for instance.)

The main thing that’s deceptive, I guess, is that we’ve reduced the word “community” down. It almost always refers to a minority! Or a perceived minority that’s lumped together as a concept for the sake of convenience, like I said. There’s a whole load of assumptions and language around that.

There are people much more qualified to speak on these things than I am, so I’ll just leave it as one to ponder..

By: PC

PC — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:58:44 +0000

Very true Carlos. Though I’m not sure that all forces have bought into that particular advert. It’s not being used elsewhere in Wales (e.g. Gwent who, as you suggest have an online video) or over the border in Bristol or Gloucestershire etc.
Good point about increasing confidence – it’s not only tangible, it’s pretty transitory.
And if you’ve seen Hot Fuzz you’ll realise that it’s not Police Forces now, it’s Police Services. So the people are indeed service users!
Finally, like the idea of building communities. A number of forces (whoops services) have a presence on Facebook.

Laters…