PARCA/Nosey
NoseyPARCA is an online newsfeed about Plantation, Fort William
Nosey press releases are typically issued by Jennifer Seitz and published on EMD's (=Mark Drayton's) eponymous 'Download' on SubStack - see link (in subheading) below. Most releases are drafted by Mark and edited by Jennifer. Nosey house style is basically Mark's, and other contributors are encouraged to adapt theirs to his, within reason.
Archive (NB: This is usually updated first)
April 2022
<#1> (11th April), <#2> (13th April), <#3> (17th April), <#4> (18th April).
END of archive
NB: Occasionally, entries are added to the above list a day or so in advance of the scheduled publication of a release.
Style and process
Nosey house style for press releases is, first, to refer to them as 'press releases' rather than 'news releases' because that's the vernacular. However, 'NEWS RELEASE' is used in the heading of the release itself because it is more accurate and editors are familiar with both terms.
Each draft release begins with:
/*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ DRAFT ONLY - NEWS RELEASE - DRAFT ONLY /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/
Each issued release begins with:
/*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ NEWS RELEASE - NEWS RELEASE - NEWS RELEASE /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/
A typical release generally continues with something along the lines of:
NEWS RELEASE Community councillor announces new initiative to [...] DD MONTH YYYY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
As yet, Nosey have never needed to embargo a press release (but you never know, right?).
A typical release generally concludes with with something along the lines of:
Entirely predictably, Mr Drayton couldn't resist further adding that, ideally, residents should join the <https://NextDoor.co.uk> social-networking platform/app rather than relying on Facebook, say. "I don't trust that censorship-loving [Mark] Zuckerberg bastard any further than I could comfortably excrete him," Mr Drayton has previously explained. "Fuck that cunt." As we reported six days ago, Mr Drayton's views regarding Mr Zuckerberg are all-too-well known to readers of his 'Wednesday Headway' SubStack columns, part of his so-called 'Drayton Download': on 8th & 15th September 2021 Mr Drayton re-posted a long article by British-born science journalist Nicholas Wade defending the 'lab-leak' hypothesis of Covid-19's origin; Mr Drayton's brief introduction (at <https://draytonmark.substack.com/p/wed-head-xxv-pt1>) forthrightly condemned Facebook for censoring discussion of the theory. Mr Zuckerberg remains unavailable for comment. END NOTE FOR EDITORS Further information about this release can be obtained from the following: (for NoseyPARCA DOT WordPress DOT com) Jennifer Seitz (Secretary) that.tiresome.rationalist AT gmail DOT com (as a member of Fort William, Inverlochy, and Torlundy Community Council) Mark Drayton EddieMDrayton AT gmail DOT com /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/
The "Fuck that cunt" quotation is sometimes included, sometimes omitted. Kind of depends on whether it's my time of the month. -Jx
--
For office use only:-
Drafting Area
News Release #5
<https://NoseyPARCA.WordPress.com> news release #5 - 19th April 2022
/*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/
DRAFT ONLY - NEWS RELEASE - DRAFT ONLY
/*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/
NEWS RELEASE
Community councillor to [..]
19 APRIL 2022 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
[..] He confirmed that his SubStack (at <https://DraytonMark.SubStack.com>) would be the "centre of operations" for this, but also that other social network platforms would be "drawn into the circle," enabling questions to be posed publically (as comments below the master copy of this very news release at <https://DraytonMark.SubStack.com/p/news-release-4>, or privately by email, NextDoor message, or even SMS (to 07933 760031).
Entirely predictably, Mr Drayton couldn't resist further adding that, ideally, residents should join the <https://NextDoor.co.uk> social-networking platform/app rather than relying on Facebook, say. "I don't trust that censorship-loving [Mark] Zuckerberg bastard any further than I could comfortably excrete him," Mr Drayton has previously explained.
As we reported exactly a week ago, Mr Drayton's views regarding Mr Zuckerberg are all-too-well known to readers of his 'Wednesday Headway' SubStack columns, part of his so-called 'Drayton Download': on 8th & 15th September 2021 Mr Drayton re-posted a long article by British-born science journalist Nicholas Wade defending the 'lab-leak' hypothesis of Covid-19's origin; Mr Drayton's brief introduction (at <https://draytonmark.substack.com/p/wed-head-xxv-pt1>) forthrightly condemned Facebook for censoring discussion of the theory.
Mr Zuckerberg remains unavailable for comment.
END
NOTE FOR EDITORS Further information about this release can be obtained from the following: (for NoseyPARCA DOT WordPress DOT com)
Jennifer Seitz (Secretary) that.tiresome.rationalist AT gmail DOT com
(as a member of Fort William, Inverlochy, and Torlundy Community Council)
Mark Drayton EddieMDrayton AT gmail DOT com
/*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/ /*\ \*/
How I'd vote #1
Well, my foolishness continues apace, folks. Some days I just can't seem to see the wood for the trees. Last Wednesday, I was unwise enough to post this on the 'hyper-local' social network <https://NextDoor.co.uk>.
> Just for fun, on each remaining Wednesday in April I'm > going to post "How I would vote tomorrow" followed, on > the first Wednesday in May, by “How I WILL vote > tomorrow." So this is a dry run. First, I will list > the candidates in order of quality. (Only Ms Fanet is > in a position to boast a decent recent track record, > so she'll be quite hard to dislodge from the top spot.) > Then, second, based on my understanding of how much > general support there is for their political parties > nationally or, in the case of Mr MacLennan, how the > three Independent candidates fared last year (not too > well, ahem), I will think tactically how best to use my > preference votes to steer the result in what I think > is the right direction. Finally, [third,] I'll explain > what I think you should do if you agree with me.
The first thing that had to change was the schedule, which made very little sense before. What was likely to change in the space of only three days? Not very much, surely? And indeed, not much did. Regular posts at five or six day intervals made much more sense, eg Sun 17th April, Sat 23rd, Thur 28th, and Tue 3rd May. So that's now the provisional schedule.
The second change was to the second of the three steps, which needed to be loosened up to take account of Mr Angus MacDonald's wealth and, hence, his campaigning heft - as well as his close ties to the local Chamber of Commerce and, to give the Devil his due, a fine record of philanthropy and entrepreneurship locally (see <https://www.youtube.com/embed/rqSh0VrvesU>). I can probably be forgiven for overlooking the need to make a few adjustments for that. (But the following change? Not so much.)
Some days after my dry run last Sunday it dawned on me that I'd made the whole thing unnecessarily complicated. Here's why: the Ward 21 contest on 5th May is a Single Transferable Vote (STV) election where there happens to be only one more candidate (specifically, five) than there are seats up for grabs (four). Readers of my 15th December Wed-Head (at <https://draytonmark.substack.com/p/wed-head-xxx-pt2>) might recall that STV reduces to AV ('Alternative Vote') when the candidates contest a single seat (as is normal in by-elections like last year's won, all but inevitably, by the SNP's Sarah Fanet who has since proved to be an effective councillor and is, naturally, standing again and, no doubt, expecting to win handsomely - which she will).
I mention the reduction from STV to AV because a similar reduction occurs when there is only one candidate to be eliminated. In this case, STV reduces to Last Past The Post (Loses). In other words, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated and everyone else is elected immediately. This means that, except in the highly unlikely event of a tie for last place, down-ballot preferences (second, third, etc) don't make a darned bit of difference.
Enough theory. In practice? Well, to summarise: this week, the good got better (well, two out of three ain't bad); the bad got worse. So here, at last, is the first proper application of my revised method:-
The GOOD Fiona Fawcett (Con) - by far the most impressive; focus on (i) mental health and (ii) environment Thomas MacLennan (Ind) - experienced; very clear focus on (i) spending and (ii) localism Sarat Fanet (SNP) - solid track record since December; emphasis on community inclusivity
The BAD Angus MacDonald (LD) - flip-flopped on Planny visit (laughable reason); hopelessly naive Kate Willis (Green) - flip-flopped on Planny visit (no reason given); crazy views; dense
(I'm the UGLY, of course - just get a load of my teeth haha.)
Dr Fawcett has landed the top spot after a terrific visit to Plantation yesterday (see <https://draytonmark.substack.com/p/making-friday-finer>). Mr MacLennan has edged past Ms Fanet based largely on this candid reply to my NoseyPARCA colleague Jennifer Seitz's question "What will you have achieved by the end of 2022?"
> "[I] honestly don't know, as I have no idea what's in HC's capital plan > for Lochaber. [..] Because all the experienced councillors have left, I > [..] decided to stand for election. Simply because experienced > councillors from elsewhere in the Highlands will grab available > resources before new councillors have found how it works. > Alternatively I could make a list of promises at this point, knowing > that if I get in it'll be 5 [(sic)] years before you can do anything about it, > I'd rather be honest."
This commendable reply entirely vindicated my instinctive judgement of what amounts to Mr MacLennan's 'unique selling point', his expertise based on his having spent eight years of his life going up against the Inverness mafia. As Jennifer reported a few days ago:-
> Mr Drayton has previously described Dr Willis as 'dense' and Mr > MacDonald as 'hopelessly naive - totally out of his depth, frankly. > He shows not the least understanding of what he's going up against. > The Nessiemafiosi are just going to run rings round him. I don't know > Mr [Thomas] MacLennan from Adam, actually - he was before my time - > but he's got to be a far, far better bet: look at the stress his flyer > puts on local spending, local decision making, accountability, on his > being "experienced and determined." Those are the words of a man > with scars on his back.' (source: > <https://draytonmark.substack.com/p/news-release-4>.)
So, then: "Come on, Drayton, out with it! Who would your first preference be if the election was tomorrow?"
Ms Fanet doesn't need my vote and Mr MacLennan's telling point about his having SIXTEEN times as much experience as ALL the other four candidates put together (!), combined with Dr Fawcett's outstanding mix of fine personal qualities and noble pre-occupations (many of the latter shared with Ms Fanet, by the way), makes it a toss-up between the Tory and the Indy. And, on the face of it and as things stand, that's exactly what I'd wish a healthy chunk of a fair-minded electorate would do: toss a coin and vote for one or t'other. Unfortunately, a fair-minded electorate is not precisely what we have. It will stick far too much in the craw of a great many nationalists to vote for a candidate from the UK's quintessentially unionist party, the Conservatives. And plenty of unionists, too, will absolutely refuse ever to hold their nose and vote for a Tory, however good a candidate she might be. Others might, but won't next month because that contemptible two-faced party reptile Boris Johnson** is so deservedly unpopular. Still others, sadly, will misguidedly support the LibDem's Angus MacDonald, a dreadful mistake that I'll have a good deal more to say about before 5th May, believe me. (And anyone seriously considering voting for the Green Party is probably a lost cause to any form of political-economy that passes basic tests for sanity.)
If you are one such, I very much hope you'll vote for Mr MacLennan. But if you've got a clothes peg handy - or even a pot of Vick, if you remember the autopsy scene in Silence of the Lambs - please support the best of the bunch (so far): Dr Fiona Fawcett.