Sunday, November 23, 2008

INVESTIGATION: Anti-Progress Video, "Comedy", "Sarcasm"




This really is completely disgusting. Manchester anti-congestion charge hams have created a little drama. This implies that the congestion charge will see see your daughter mugged and raped and that, I kid you not, "dad" will "get stabbed" or "contract herpes" by going on a bus.

What it does point actually is how desperate, how stupid, how stop-at-nothing these anti-progress elements are.

Just a pause for a few factual questions:

Where would "dad" have to be to be six minutes away from saving his daughter from a suspected rape AND about to cross a charging boundary?

There is no such place. And "dad" appears to start from his kitchen at home. Or is it at his computer at work, presumably with Peel Holdings is it? The continuity is all shot to bits.

[BREAKING NEWS 11:37]: What's this though? Some information from the Hollywood-bound auteur hisself. A comment from Sonassi (22) one of the directors, claims the dad is in Urmston (as if we should have known this) and so would have to cross the cordon.

What an extraordinary muppet this kid is! From Urmston (outside) to the Trafford Centre (inside) at tea time is a non-chargeable journey.[/Breaking News]

Who knows where that home or office would actually have to be for this disgusting nonsense to work? Any suggestions?

[Urmston, but it certainly doesn't work]

Six minutes away? But having to immediately cross a charging cordon at 6:25 at night?

When he walks from his kitchen and out of his suburban door "sick dad" appears to be sitting in his car not in the street or at a congestion boundary but in what could well be the Trafford Centre covered car park as well, truth be told.

Saves moving the film crew for this sick effort too far.

And what is this saying about the safety of the Trafford Centre outdoor parking offering? Inadequate lighting, no staffing, desolate, full of potential rapists at 18:25? Is that the message? Do the adequate lights, decent staffing, lack of desolation and so on start at 18:31. Is that it?

Peel Holdings' who operate the toll charging Manchester Ship Canal, paid for originally by public subscription; the toll-charging Barton, Liverpool and other airports, ditto; and even the Barton Swing Bridge which actually charges funeral corteges to cross; well they have some brilliant friends don't they?

This is truly brilliant marketing from Peel Holdings' friends in the muppet anti-progress brigade.

HEAVY AMENDS 23:25:

Peel have (insert)allegedly(/insert) cut off links with the Tameside Chapter of MART because (insert)allegedly(/insert) this had too much cross-over with Tameside BNP (insert)allegedly(/insert). (insert)Sean Corker of MART Central has issued a direct comment stating that there has been no contact with the BNP. So the anonymous commenter who alleged this scenario - MART being pushed to arms length by GMMG because of BNP links - must be considered denied. Some other explanation for any distancing will have to be brought to bear(/insert).

<< end of heavy amends

Will Peel now disown this disgusting video and explain how it came to be made in their car parks?

UPDATE 23:25: GMMG and Trafford Centre have commented in the same breath. GMMG don't like the video and have kicked Sonassi out of membership. Trafford Centre admit allowing the video to be made but apparently without any idea what it would be about and without sight of any treatment, script or even concept.

<<

POSTSCRIPT 11:39: The tags on the video call this "comedy" and the auteur in comments calls it "sarcasm". I tell you what I'm against. Bad videos. Bad parents. Scaremongering. AND this underestimification of the brains of the youth and families of Urmston.

Here's the full credit sequence:

From: sonassi
Added: November 19, 2008
Vote no to the Manchester Congestion Charge.
http://www.freemanchester.co.uk.
Music By She's Got Issues - http://www.myspace.com/shesgotissuesuk
Directed by Jack Roberts, Produced By Jack Roberts & Dave Carlson.
Category: Nonprofits & Activism

The web domain appears to be a Special Purpose Vehicle. The HTML is pretty poor. Even though the thing is hosted by a web design company. There are some hilarious posters. And the I Don't Drive, The Facts, and pointedly to the What Can I Do? pages replicate the Greater Manchester Momentum Group (GMMG) and Stop the Charge. The former's introduction is:

The Greater Manchester Momentum Group is an alliance of international, national and local businesses and organisations that share a strong commitment to the development of Greater Manchester.
Our members support AGMA's (Association of Greater Manchester Authorities) goal of promoting the growth and prosperity of our city region. We also share its belief that the continued development of the strategic transport infrastructure is vital, if the region is to achieve its future potential.


UPDATE 12:01: Here is the internet domain registration:

Domain name: freemanchester.co.uk

Registrant: Free Manchester

Registrant type: Other UK Entity (e.g. clubs, associations, many universities)

Registrant's address:
Flixton
Urmston
Manchester
Lancs
M41 5RF
GB

Registrar: GX Networks Ltd t/a 123-Reg.co.uk [Tag = 123-REG] URL: http://www.123-reg.co.uk

Relevant dates:
Registered on: 29-Oct-2008
Renewal date: 29-Oct-2010
Last updated: 29-Oct-2008

Registration status: Registration request being processed.

STOP PRESS 12:39: This disgusting piece of crap was posted shortly before Sean Corker of MART aka "Sean of the Dead" and also formerly known as "Steve Sean Cook" criticised NHS Health Professionals who stated that the congestion charge could save 135 lives a year by reducing road accidents. he claimed: "The Yes campaign have sunk to a new low." Care to comment on this video Mr Sean of 135 Dead per Year and Counting?

Dr Sally Bradley, Manchester's Director of Public Health, gave the estimate - which is simply "road kill" so excluding bronchial disease and so on - as NO campaigners made desperate claims on the issue of free journeys for NHS patients.

It was great to see MP Graham Stringer's Promotional Visit to a BMW Dealership covered in the same article. How the mighty have fallen.

11 comments:

Sean Corker said...

Chris - MART Tameside or the any branch of the MART organisation has never contacted or had any connection with the BNP on this or any other matter. This particular post is factually inaccurate and frankly repugnent. I have passed the link onto a solicitor.

Anonymous said...

Statement from Greater Manchester Momentum Group:
GMMG finds the film by Sonassi Media that you have linked to on YouTube to be distasteful, inappropriate and the scenario depicted absurd.Sonassi Media’s membership of GMMG has been cancelled.
Sonassi Media approached the Trafford Centre about filming, but has posted this film without checking its content and the Trafford Centre in no way condones this film. The Trafford Centre will be contacting Sonassi Media in the morning to request that the film is taken down immediately.

Chris Paul said...

Sean: There should be an "allegedly" in there and a link to the comment where it was alleged. Many apologies. I will now add your denial from MART central.

I'll also await any such apology from MART Tameside who are autonomous for reasons which I do not understand. Explanation?

The information came from an anonymous poster who said they are a NO campaign supporter and who I would guess are Tories in Tameside.

Perhaps you'd like to explain why Peel etc now have MART like this Free Manchester Partnership at arms length? They do though don't they?

And it is certainly the case that the BNP support

Also you were not previously identified by Granada as Steve Cook. It was Sean Cook. In both the audio and the caption.

If there are any other factual inaccuracies perhaps you or your solicitor if you really want to go there would point these out and they can be annotated, amended or removed.

I note that you Sean Corker and MART have no comment on the utterly repugnant video which is still I think in the public domain.

That is what I call repugnant.

Chris Paul said...

Apology from MART Tameside? I meant denial. It has been a long day.

Chris Paul said...

GMMG / Trafford Centre anon:

Thanks for your statement. Commendable.

The thing is of course out there now. Genii - Bottle - etc. I wonder how many copies are now out there waiting to come back and bite you?

Sonassi are involved in your campaign. You have now revoked one of their memberships ...

They asked for and got permission to film on TC estate WITHOUT any requirement for approval ahead of publishing? Is that what you are saying? or sight of their script? Or even summary of their low concept?

They link strongly to your sites. Will you be demanding they remove those links?

The scenario is absurd on the facts of the proposed charge as well as otherwise.

Either this is deliberate disinformation or even your own members do not understand the scheme. If they did they might not be opposed to it.

Anonymous said...

Please note that the film is NOT made by Sonassi Media Services, we simply provided the hosting for the website.

The opinions of the Free Manchester group are not those of the company, although members of our company are involved in the project.

Anonymous said...

Please also note that the free manchester group are completely separate from the Trafford Centre, and the opinions of this group are in no way related to the Trafford Centre, or Peel Holdings.

Anonymous said...

Please also note that the free manchester group are completely separate from the Trafford Centre, and the opinions of this group are in no way related to the Trafford Centre, or Peel Holdings.

Anonymous said...

Please also note that the free manchester group are completely separate from the Trafford Centre, and the opinions of this group are in no way related to the Trafford Centre, or Peel Holdings.

Chris Paul said...

Please note dear readers that Sonassi 8:38 and Free Manchester 8:43, 8:43 and 8:45 are completely distinct organisations as Sonassi 8:38 promised. Please note that the "Sonassi" the wingnut that promoted the video on YouTube and argued that it was comedy and that it featured a chargeable journey from Urmston into the TC at night is also not connected with "Sonassi" the company.

At least, apart from being one Dave Carlson who is Sonassi Media's top worker according to their website.

Factoids:

There is no such journey. This is an against flow drive from Urmston and is NOT chargeable after the morning peak flow which ended more than 20 hours before dad's quandary.

You'd think that by 2013 when charges start the people of Urmston would have a better understanding of the rules? And that the Trafford Centre would have more secure car parks?

I was there on Saturday night late on and by god some of them, away from the Orient, with it's neo-Roman, neo-Nazi-aryan-revival style architecture, are very desolate and very dark.

But apart from the hoodie wingnuts lurking to smear stickers on your windscreens demanding a NO vote once you've spent an hour getting rid of the nasty sticky stuff, as used I'm told by car clampers, there were no ne'er do wells lurking.

All we need now is an explanation of how Peel/TC allowed this disgusting video to be made by Dave Carlson of Sonassi, how we're only hosting Sonassi the company came to allow it to be webbed up by them, and basically people an explanation please.

This video is absolutely disgusting. And it is a complete own goal. Hope you all get a proper going over from the media for it.

Chris Paul said...

This bastard thing is still up at Youtube at 09:43 ... don't the Trafford Centre have any control over their own apologists and propagandists?

We know that both Sonassi and Free Manchester - completely separate of course. Presumably Sonassi or star employee Dave Carlson have no connection with that Urmston postcode?? - have been on the case for an hour already.

Perhaps they are worrying about their IP addresses being the same?

Perhaps they want to leave this toxic video up until the hilarious sequel is published too? Or the toxic video is replaced by something else??

Where the hoody turns out to be leafleting for the YES campaign??? Ha ha ha bloody ha. Not even slightly predictable that.

A crappy teenage video made by a crappy teenage company with a crappy teenage excuse for a campaign behind them.