As Christmas fast approaches you might be stuggling to think of that last minute Christmas present for a friend of relative. YBF is here to help with three DVD recommendations for you!
Beginning on the night she met her husband-to-be Denis, the film tells of the young Margaret Thatcher’s steely determination to get selected to a ‘winnable’ Tory seat in the Fifties and imagines what might have gone on behind the scenes during her ten-year struggle as she was rejected by a succession of five home counties Tory selection committees and finally – against considerable local opposition – selected for the seat she was to be identified with for the rest of her political career – Finchley!
Meet the bewildered Rt Hon James Hacker, his scheming and equivocating Permanent Secretary, Sir Humphrey Appleby and of course, Bernard, the piggy-in-the middle, on their fraught journey through the corridors of power. Easily the sharpest political comedy every written, with clandestine help from real civil servants, and satire that bites so close to home it sometimes seems more like a documentary. This does the impossible: it makes politics not just fun but hilariously funny.
Oscar-winning director Ron Howard brings to the screen writer Peter Morgan’s (The Queen, Last King of Scotland) electrifying battle between Richard Nixon, the disgraced president with a legacy to save, and David Frost, a jet-setting television personality with a name to make, in the untold story of the historic encounter that changed both: Frost/Nixon. Reprising their roles from Morgan’s stageplay are Frank Langella, who won a Tony for his portrayal of Nixon, and Michael Sheen, who originally played the part of Frost onstage in London and New York.
I am sure many of you were paying attention over the weekend and last week as the battle for the Christmas number one spot ‘raged’ towards Sunday. It was a very interesting battle with Rage Against the Machines ‘Killing in the Name’ eventually coming in at number one yesterday. The single became the first ever ‘download only’ Christmas number one in chart history thanks to an internet campaign that soared in the last week.
What is interesting for all activists is the relevance of the internet only campaign which resulted in a win for Rage Against the Machine. The campaign not only spread across Facebook but into the national media aswell. There are many lessons we can take and use from this campaign.
The campaign was firstly created on Facebook. As a social networking site we all often use Facebook to create groups and events, however, in order to make a campaign successful you need to make your campaign associate with a large number of people. This can be at a local level with a campaign that a lot of people in your local area feel strongly about or a national campaign. Either way people have to feel strongly about your campaign or they will not join and more importantly get involved!
Secondly the campaign also had a very simple but recognisable URL for people use across the internet. The URL – http://bit.ly/inthename is simple and memorable making it easier for people to spread the message across the internet.
There was also a brilliant use of other forms of social media and popular internet sites. The list for the Rage Against the Machine campaign is below:
DIGG us! – http://digg.com/d31BqlJ TWITTER short URL – http://bit.ly/inthename TWITTER hashtag – #ratm4xmas YOUTUBE – http://bit.ly/rageforno1, http://bit.ly/xfactormyarse WIDGET FOR YOUR MYSPACE/WEBSITE ETC – http://seed.sproutbuilder.com/4ADU3a7EHBhBlKpO
THE WRIGHT STUFF – http://bit.ly/thewrightstuff
The use of all these different internet mediums made it easy for people to follow and contribute to a campaign that gained 971,024 members on the Facebook group. In your campaign think how you can use some of these other mediums rather than just Facebook for a campaign.
Furthermore, there was a clever use of the media in order to further gather momentum in the campaign. Listed on the Facebook page are all the celebrities that endorsed the campaign. From the more obvious people like Kerrang! all the way through to people like Stephen Fry. This large following by celebrities plus the huge following by Facebook users caused the mainstream media in the UK to pay attention. On from that the band themselves then got involved. First through Twitter and then through radio and TV interviews further spreading the message. Think of people in your area that support your views and are willing to support your campaign. Whether it is your local MP, councillor or Mayor, their backing of your campaign adds credibility and can further spread the word about your campaign to other members of the community who will then also support your cause.
That alone, however, was not the reason that the campaign came to eventual success. More than anything else it was word of mouth that caused the shock result of Killing in the Name as Christmas Number One 2009.
So look at your political campaign as it stands and see where you maybe missing out. The ideas used by this campaign are ones that can be transferred into a campaign of your own at a local or national level.
Andrew Rosindell MP has just won a campaign for three Union flags to fly across Parliament all year round. At the moment just one flag is flown from the Victoria Tower of Parliament but not from the other two flagpoles.
“I hope that the hon. Member for Romford feels a proper sense of triumph at what he has achieved in this matter, which he has, as he indicated, pursued over a lengthy period with, if I may say, a tenacity reminiscent of a Staffordshire bull terrier.“
The Bruges Group is a self-described “independent all-party think tank” founded in 1989. The inspiration for their name and formation came from Lady Margaret Thatcher’s 1988 Bruges speech in which she said, “We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them re-imposed at a European level.”
To this end, The Bruges Group is devoted to critically analyzing the “ever closer union” forming in the European Union, and to guard against further integration and loss of sovereignty. Through research, publications, and events the Bruges Group seeks to lead the intellectual and political campaign to lessen British involvement with a single European state.
Because of it’s timely defense of British sovereignty in the face of the Lisbon Treaty and it’s continuing principled defense of a controversial position, the Rt. Hon Lord Lamont, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, commented, “The Group has become the most authoritative, thoughtful, and occasionally provocative of all the many different groups on European issues. Bruges Group publications are always characterized by clarity, and a willingness to think the unthinkable.”
High profile public meetings, debates, discussions, and conferences are hosted by the Group in order to educate and equip policy makers on the EU. Recent events have included “Europe, America, and Democracy” featuring John O’Sullivan, founder and Co-Chairman of the New Atlantic Initiative and Executive Editor of Radio Free Europe and “Repealing the Lisbon Treaty and Independence from the EU” which featured Frederick Forsythe CBE and Douglas Carswell, MP.
Beyond hosting events, the Bruges Group also provides a depth of research, articles, polls, and opinion pieces on the status of the European Union all accessed through their website. Papers include“Are the British a Servile People? Idealism and the EU” by Professor Kenneth Minogue and “How Much Does the European Union Cost Britain? 2007” by Gerard Batten, MEP.
For students wanting to participate in the fight against further integration with the EU, the Bruges Group has designed a portion of their website with as a resource center. They provide tips from how to write to local newspapers and MP’s, as well as how to approach lobbying politicians and policy makers.
On Interactiv-ist Wednesday this week we are back looking at Facebook. With Facebook changing its security settings to ones that are more basic, there are stilll a few things you need to keep and eye on!
Thanks to the beady eye of Big Brother Watch they have reminded us all today that Facebook will automatically index all account users’ information on Google. This allows everyone searching on Google to find and view parts of that information, unless the user actually opts out – the default setting is to allow this.
To change this option, when logged into Facebook, do the following:
Click on Settings
Click on Privacy Settings
Click on Search
Unclick the box that says ‘Allow indexing’.
Thanks once again to Big Brother Watch and there excellent work spotting this.
The Cato Institute was founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane. It is a non-profit public policy research foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Institute is named for Cato’s Letters, a series of libertarian pamphlets that helped lay the philosophical foundation for the American Revolution.
The mission of the Cato Institute is to increase the understanding of public policies based on the principles of limited government, free markets, individual liberty, and peace. The Institute will use the most effective means to originate, advocate, promote, and disseminate applicable policy proposals that create free, open, and civil societies in the United States and throughout the world.
The Cato Institute undertakes an extensive publications program dealing with the complete spectrum of public policy issues. Books, monographs, briefing papers and shorter studies are commissioned to examine issues in nearly every corner of the public policy debate. Policy forums and book forums are held regularly, as are major policy conferences, which Cato hosts throughout the year, and from which papers are published thrice yearly in the Cato Journal. All of these events are taped and archived on Cato’s Web site. Additionally, Cato has held major conferences in London, Moscow, Shanghai, and Mexico City. The Institute also publishes the quarterly magazine Regulation and a bimonthly newsletter, Cato Policy Report.
The ‘Better Off Out’ campaign is a cross-party campaign to communicate the positive benefits for the United Kingdom of being outside the European Union.
Visit the campaign’s website for more information and to sign up to their monthly newsletter.
“I believe in an independent Britain – Britain would be Better Off Out of the failing European Union. It’s time to campaign for an independent Britain.” Douglas Carswell MP
Daniel Hannan, Conservative MEP for South East England, and the President of YBF, gave a speech in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the subject of the European Police Force. Asking the question when did we ask for a European Police Force?
Back in 2005 a production company was given the task of producing three party political broadcasts for Channel Four News to show. These political broadcasts were not endorsed by any of the parties however they do make very interesting watching. Even though the video below was produced in 2005 it seems there are some points that remain very current.
A few of YBF’s staff will be at the event so please feel free to come up to us and introduce yourself at the event. We look forward to seeing you all there!
Margaret Thatcher – The Long Walk to Finchley
The Complete Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister – Collector’s Boxset
I am sure many of you were paying attention over the weekend and last week as the battle for the Christmas number one spot ‘raged’ towards Sunday. It was a very interesting battle with Rage Against the Machines ‘Killing in the Name’ eventually coming in at number one yesterday. The single became the first ever ‘download only’ Christmas number one in chart history thanks to an internet campaign that soared in the last week.
Furthermore, there was a clever use of the media in order to further gather momentum in the campaign. Listed on the Facebook page are all the celebrities that endorsed the campaign. From the more obvious people like Kerrang! all the way through to people like Stephen Fry. This large following by celebrities plus the huge following by Facebook users caused the mainstream media in the UK to pay attention. On from that the band themselves then got involved. First through Twitter and then through radio and TV interviews further spreading the message. Think of people in your area that support your views and are willing to support your campaign. Whether it is your local MP, councillor or Mayor, their backing of your campaign adds credibility and can further spread the word about your campaign to other members of the community who will then also support your cause.
Andrew Rosindell MP has just won a campaign for three Union flags to fly across Parliament all year round. At the moment just one flag is flown from the Victoria Tower of Parliament but not from the other two flagpoles.
On Interactiv-ist Wednesday this week we are back looking at Facebook. With Facebook changing its security settings to ones that are more basic, there are stilll a few things you need to keep and eye on!
The Cato Institute
The Cato Institute undertakes an extensive publications program dealing with the complete spectrum of public policy issues. Books, monographs, briefing papers and shorter studies are commissioned to examine issues in nearly every corner of the public policy debate. Policy forums and book forums are held regularly, as are major policy conferences, which Cato hosts throughout the year, and from which papers are published thrice yearly in the Cato Journal. All of these events are taped and archived on Cato’s Web site. Additionally, Cato has held major conferences in London, Moscow, Shanghai, and Mexico City. The Institute also publishes the quarterly magazine Regulation and a bimonthly newsletter, Cato Policy Report.
