Twitter: Liam Stacey and Fabrice Muamba

Twenty one year old Liam Stacey has been jailed for fifty six days after posting racially offensive comments on Twitter about Fabrice Muamba, a Bolton Wanderers football player who suffered a cardiac arrest. Stacey posted the comments after Muamba collapsed during the FA Cup quarter final on 17th March.
The district judge described Stacey’s comments as “vile and abhorrent” and I agree with the judge. Anyone who can post offensive comments about anyone even if they are just an average person and then proceed to hide behind a computer is as vile as the come, especially as in this case the victim of the abuse was fighting for his life. It’s cowardly to hide behind your computer and post offensive things about someone. We are increasingly living in a society that is using social media more and with the rise of social media; we are also experiencing the rise of internet trolls whom attack people on the internet by saying things they wouldn’t say to their victims’ faces whilst hiding behind their keyboard.

Fabrice Muamba Tribute, a photo by Ronnie Macdonald on Flickr.

However Stacey has only been jailed for fifty six days, which in the scheme of things is nothing, he will be in jail for less than two months which sounds absurd for racial abuse. Fifty six days sounds too short a sense for a crime such as the racial abuse, especially with the impact such abuse can have on a person. Stacey tried to argue that his twitter account was hacked, lying about what he did as he was drunk when he posted the tweets. He must have been incredibly drunk to have a complete lack of judgement, although he could just be lacking in common sense to post something that could be racially sensitive.
However vile and disgusted one may be towards Stacey, the fact he is imprisoned to some raises a point about our right to free speech. Our right of free speech means we can say what we want providing it follows a few basic rules. Stacey was prosecuted under the Communications Act of 2003 that was introduced before the introduction of Twitter which some such as Abhijit Pandya of the Daily Mail don’t think is right or fair to do so. Maybe the Communications Act needs to be updated to include the new social media, but would it be excessive and unnecessary to update the Act every time a new media platform rises to prominence.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.

On Marine Road there is what appears to be a giant tube of polo mints; it looks to be a part of a derelict candy land when in fact it actually isn’t. The giant tube of polo mints was part of a fairground. It’s now the only remnant of the fairground; it too will be eventually demolished as part of the redevelopment of Morecambe. There is only one reason the tower still exists and hasn’t been torn down and that is because on top of the tower is a telephone mask which means that the tower can’t be torn down until at least 2013 when the contract runs out.

The multi-million face lift of Morecambe is an attempt to restore the resorts dying charm, as over the years the resort has gone from holiday hot spot to reaching the number three spot in a list of ‘Crap Towns’ in 2003. Most of the money has been spent on suitable redevelopments such as the eleven million pounds spent on the Midland Hotel the town’s iconic art deco hotel. However some of redevelopment projects have been less successful and are the bane of the residents such as multimillion pound spenditure on the importation of sand which now covers most of the promenade and the nearby grass. Though it will take more than a nip and tuck to solve the issues with the resort, much of the money is being spent refurbishing some of the dilapidated old building such as the Winter Gardens which despite all the money raised is still in need of reconstructive surgery to bring it up to form.
This isn’t the first attempt to update the town or to make it appeal to a more youthful demographic. On the seafront there used to be a swimming pool which attracted many of the residents and The Morecambe Dome which hosted many an event and even attracted bands such as the Artic Monkeys. Both now have been torn down nothing in their place, just tarmac and the occasional travelling fairground.

Morecambe could reach the level it once was but given the financial state the town is now in it may take another generation or two to become the resort it once was. Given how Morecambe is dependent on Lancaster to help them out when they get into financial issues, it may be best just to focus on to the natural beauty of the area instead of trying to revive the dying town.

Review: Lautonom –Killerpilze

The band Killerpilze, come from a town in southern Germany called Dillingen an der Donau, they were formed in 2002. The band now consists of brothers Johannes ‘Jo’ (rhythm guitar and lead vocals) and Fabian ‘Fabi’ Halbig (drums) as well as their friend Maximillian ‘Max’ Schlichter (lead guitar and backing vocals). One of the original founding members – Andreas Schlagenhaft – who was also the bass player left the band in 2007.
Killerpilze are highly successful within mainland Europe but are rarely heard anywhere else. Yet despite their success it is rare for albums and their singles to reach the top ten in the music charts.

Lautonom is their third album, however it is their first under their own label – Killerpilze records. The formation of their own record label has given the band more creative control which many bands don’t receive until four or five albums down the line; also given that when the album was released the members of the band where 17, 20 and 21 respectively it is amazing that they produced an album of great quality. Even though Lautonom signifies a more mature album compared to Invasion der Killerpilze and Mit Punken und Raketen you can hear some of the immaturity from their lack of worldly experience. What they lack in worldly experience, they more than make up in music that is just addictive to the point where you think around the 40th play you might have a problem. Of the 13 track record, two songs stand out more than the rest.

The first of these two songs is Lieblingssong which translates to favourite song. Lieblingssong is a love song and its unique in that it does not sound harsh or insincere which is sometimes the case with love songs, especially those in German as it can sound very harsh to the ear. It’s not the wet blanket love song either which just doesn’t sound great. Lieblingssong has found the perfect place between insincere and overdone. The second of these two songs is Plastik. I have a love hate relationship with the song. I love it because the band is basically telling the world they won’t be this commodity like many musicians become. The hate part of the song is the end, it wasn’t necessary to have the sound of vomiting at the end of the song. There is such a thing as taking a point too far, even in music.

Overall the album is certainly worth the 41 minute listening time.
Recommended for fans of: Tokio Hotel, Blink 182, Simple Plan and Good Charlotte.