This post could as equally be called a beginners guide to responsibility and blog comments but given the situation that has prompted it I think the headline far more, well not apt as such, appropriately witty maybe?

I am off course hoping to weigh in on the latest storm in a tea-cup that is the Cllr John Worrow vs James Maskell. Anyone further left of the political spectrum than the boundary of "undeniably right" might have missed this one completely. So here is a really brief recap:



That's the back story but could you spot who has made a miss step? (It might surprise you).

Keep reading to see not only a number of councillors miss the mark, the point and the opportunity to win votes and just as interesting how Worrow himself is costing himself support with what should have been a free PR boost.

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» Continue Reading: Bums, Banditry and How to Lose Votes.

Having been shafted by the Christmas Humbug Jobsworth Society there is little chance of me paying the hosting bills this side of Chrimbo.

I will however keep blogging until the lights go out.

In the unlikely event that my hosting company are very understanding I hope to pay up in the new year (somehow) and maybe come back on line. If not it has been great knowing you and my many thanks for staying around to read the blog.

I'm jacking in blogging.

Just kidding. I am taking 5 days out from everything. I'll be back.

The lights have been kept on at Thanet Star and Thanet News Network thanks to your fantastic donations. I would like to thank the following fantastic people (in no particular order)

• Harry
• Tommy
• Frank
• Sherrie
• Sarah
• Maya
• Vlad
• James
• Mike
• Esmaa

Rather than worry about the cost of maintaining Thanet Star I thought it might be better to run a fun experiment.

Right now there is one web server that runs not only Thanet Star but also my personal blog and hosts the Thanet News Network project.

It would be a shame to see it all go dark and this is where the experiment comes in.

They say many hands make light work and this is what I hope to prove. I have created a "pool" on Friend Fund and now it remains to be seen if enough people value Thanet Star and my other efforts enough offer to chip in £1.

How it works: there is one central pool controlled by a trusted third party. We all pledge a pound (or more) and if as a group we hit the target we pay our pledges. If we miss the target then we shrug, say "oh well" and move on.

The money will be used exclusively to keep Thanet Star and Thanet News Network online and live by funding the server they are hosted on. Contributors will be thanked publicly (if they wish) and we may just prove that as a group we can do anything.

Perhaps for our next experiment we can raise a lot more money for a worthy local charity.

I was sent an interesting message via the contact page here at Thanet Star recently. The problem is I'm not actually sure what it is in reference to. So I'm hoping the reader will follow up with a comment here.

A user writes: I'm impressed! You've managed the almost impossible.

Given the user's email address comes from a big Chinese email host I am assuming that the impressed user is from China. If you are reading this I am very glad that you like what you see and I would love to know what it is that you are specifically impressed with.

While the writers at Big News Margate and Thanet Online understandably feel hurt by Thanet Council suddenly breaking up with them the real casualty here is the council itself.

Thanet District Council have for a good long while sent out press releases by email. Independent media (blog writers and the like) along with newspapers, pressure groups and any other interested party could have Thanet District Council's press releases arrive in their inbox.

It seems that Thanet District Council may be shutting down their press office but they are also cutting off all but a select few from mail shots which seems strange.

Keep reading to find out why they are doing this and how big a cock up they have made.

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» Continue Reading: Thanet District Council press office breaks up with bloggers

You might have noticed that yesterday I updated the blog list on the sidebar. If you did notice this well done for paying very close attention.

I have expanded the list to include a lot of blogs that were, strangely, missing. I have no doubt that I have missed other active Thanet blogs so in the spirit of working together (something TDC will have to learn to do) please feel free to point out blogs that I might have missed.

The summer is here and with it comes a new crop of Jonny-come-lately Thanet blogs. Encouragingly the latest crop of editions to our circle appear to be departing the dump it on blogger approach and have branched out with more serious platforms. Focus on Thanet, for example, uses wordpress.

Having been a tad under the weather recently I've not got out and about much. With the papers only just managing to get to the election results it seems it is down to us to bring some more up to date news.

So let us look at what the other blogs are saying. First Michael Child seems to be having another volley of letter writing over the subject of the blue flag status (or lack thereof) of our beaches.



I must admit to feeling that TDC were altogether too swift to deny that a significant discharge was unrelated to blue flag status loss. My advice (for what it's worth) would be to snap of a letter to the organisation that awards the flags (Keep Britain Tidy, is it?) and ask them if the incident had a significant impact on the loss. Any positive indication here would then have made a case for the TDC officer being forced to engage with the truth rather than blanket denial. On the other hand there is always an outside chance the office is telling the whole truth and not a filtered version that has been handed down from up above.

I'm sure Thanet Coast Life must have an opinion on this and I look forward to reading it.



Meanwhile over on Thanet Lab young Will Scobie has just discovered what the rest of us knew already:



He may have missed that the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reports that there are twelve places in the UK where the number of children in families where the parents are claiming out of work benefits is twice the national average. Two of these are Newington and Millmead.

However one should not be too hard on young Will as he closes with a very sensible line The electorate have spoken to us and they have decided that they want all 3 groups to talk to one another. Now it is time for us to listen...

Damn right Will!

Meanwhile Tony Flaig berates the press for it's lopsided reporting which theamatically brings us back to my opening comments.



Is there any news large or small that you would care to share? What do you think of these news stories and opinions?