Orato.com - Citizen Journalism

At the moment there seems to be a rash of Citizen Journalism sites on the net, they seem to be springing up on every writer’s job site. They allow you to post stories, usually from a first person, eye witness, point of view. One of the better sites I’ve seen lately is www.orato.com a Vancouver based site. Orato seems to be growing larger by the day and brings stories from around the world to the public. It’s great if you are stuck at work and want to read some absorbing and thought provoking material.

I don’t usually plug websites but Orato’s Editor, Heather Wallace, is extremely good at stroking a writer’s ego, well mine anyway. An accomplished writer herself, Heather has some great pieces on Orato that are worth a read. If you are a fledgling writer, it’s a good chance to get your work out there and seen by a larger audience. Or a chance to get a story out there that you think other people should know about. If you are a whistleblower who thinks your company is up to something dodgy, write about it and let the world know how many ethical and anti-trust laws your company is breaking. Been scammed in some Internet “buy my ebook and make a million bucks in 17 hours” rip-off, let people know who the scammer is. Politics, entertainment, current events, media, love and friendship, write the story and let the world know. You no longer have to wait until it’s your turn to talk.

Every month the best story is picked to win $100 but apart from that there is no publication fee –does anyone ever pay writers on the net? I did notice however that they place the stories on other websites, so it may be a good chance to get work seen by a much larger audience than usual, which is especially good if you are starting off a writing career and are trying to get your name and writing out there. The longer I write stuff for the net the more I realize that getting good publicity is no bad thing, just don’t make a habit of writing for free. Take a look at www.orato.com

Jack McConnell - Warmonger

I don't usually write about politicians because most of them are a lost cause. Whenever I see a politician on television spouting about a fantastic new policy or the reason they slept with a rent boy behind their wife's back or had an uncountable amount of cash in their bank accounts, a one word subtitle will then appear on the screen below said politician proclaiming "LIAR". There is one politician just now who blatantly should not be in the position of power he is in. A man without an original thought in his head, who consults with Tony Blair on every action he makes to see if it will fit in with Blair's grand plan to turn the UK into Orwell's vision in 1984. First Minister Jack McConnell can only be described as a first class idiot. Calling him an idiot is really doing a disservice to idiots. Every new policy and idea he brings out makes him appear as the blueprint for the "Do as I say, not as I do" brigade and there are more than enough of that type in Scotland already.
McConnell is a man whose first act in power was to call a press conference in order to admit to an affair with a woman in case it leaked to the press. The press admitted they had known about this affair for years but were simply not interested. Doh! The press who attended said the whole thing was excruciatingly embarrassing and a clear case of McConnell showing himself as a man who had an overblown sense of his own self-importance.

McConnell was on Newsnight a few weeks ago and when quizzed if he thought his leader Tony Blair was right to go to war, he squirmed and ummed and ahhed until he finally admitted that he backed the war and of course Blair. It's pretty obvious to anyone who reads anything about the Scotland's First Minister that he has to check with Blair before he can have an opinion on anything. Of course this is only right as Blair takes his advice, as he did when sending the troops to Iraq, from God. Blair consults God first before he makes any decisions and God gave Tony the go ahead to go to war. Good deflection of blame there Tone, I hope for your sake their isn't a God or else, you got some explaining to do.

Next up on McConnell's agenda is back plans to keep nuclear warheads in the UK once again backing Blair to the hilt. But on a more positive note he welcomes the decision to reduce the UK's warhead figures by 20%. Well that's great McConnell, I mean one warhead can wipe out an entire country, so we may not get them all but we'll get most of them. Hurrah. MSP Claire Sturgeon said that McConnell is more than happy to see £25 billion spent on nuclear bombs. If Tony says its okay, then its okay by Jack. In the past McConnell had once again ummed and ahhed about the UK's nuclear position but as soon as Blair's opinion was made McConnell followed suit. He has time and time again proved himself to be without an original thought in his head, he is Blair's puppet just as Blair is Bush's puppet and that is how he will be remembered in years to come.

McConnell is a publicity seeking egotist. He damns Scotland's people for their high rate of alcohol consumption while sitting with his mates in Parliament downing single malt whiskeys. He does not want an independent Scotland while at the same time introducing a smoking ban in Scotland before England to see "if it works out." He wants to raise the age of school leavers to 18 unless they have a job or education to go to. Most school leavers cant wait to leave school at 16 and he wants to force them to wait another two years, even if they are clearly disinterested in school. It's called right of choice McConnell, children can stay on at school until 18 if they wish to or choose not to, it's not up to you to decide.

Jack McConnell says that he speaks for the Scottish people, he doesn't he speaks for Tony Blair. He doesn't have an opinion until Blair gives him one. He certainly doesn't speak for me or for anyone I know, most of the people I know think he is a dangerous idiot who should be booted out of the Labour party. He says that if he ever leaves politics he would like to work with young people. No doubt much in the same way that Hitler did with the Nazi youth party. This guy should not even be allowed a job as a Lollipop man.

There are eight countries in the world with nuclear weapons and 180 countries without them. Bush and Blair and now McConnell have shown themselves to be warmongers. It is up to the people of Britain and Scotland to get rid of these so called politicians. As writer Salman Rushdie said, the history books have proven that man finds it easier to live in times of war than at peace. With people like Jack McConnell in charge this will never change. And it proves how much the labour party has changed that a vote for Labour is now a vote in favour of war.

Original version can be found at http://www.orato.com/category&tid=15