Petition for the release of Steve Gough (The Naked Rambler)

[milfmog]

There is an online petition here asking David Cameron MP (the UK Prime Minister) to intervene to get Steve Gough, the naked rambler, released.

I doubt whether it will get sufficient support that DC will pay it any attention, but it's worth a try.

Have fun,


Ian.

[jbeegoode]

There are many fun comments left at the end of the petition.

I signed it and commented:
"This is an embarrassment in the world. Life imprisonment and solitary for something that is harmless. As a mental health professional, I know that the overwhelming science tells us he is harmless. Children are not harmed by nudity; they are harmed by the unhealthy over-reactions of their parents. I am amazed to understand that there is actually no statute in the books addressing his activities. When not reacting in disgust, the whole world is laughing at the British justice system and the government that supports this abuse of power. Just let him Gough!"

Not that there are not three (and more and uglier) fingers pointing back at good 'ol USA.

I just hoped to get under the skin of a creepy politician in some way, making him or her cringe and think for a moment. Worth a try.
Jbee

[JOhnGw]

While I am not a S.G. supporter, I am even less a supporter of the legal processes that have imprisoned and otherwise attempted to suppress him.
He is simply an old fashioned eccentric who would have been totally accepted if he had happened to be a billionaire supporter of a major political party.

[Pete Knight]

Steve Gough is scheduled for release on 14th of August. There are plans to whisk him away in a car before plod can arrest him, and take him to see his elderly mother.

The file download link below is a copy of a Daily Mail article. 


Pete

[eyesup]

I agree with you JOhn.
My issues with Mr. Gough have nothing to do with his nudity or law agendas.

But since I do not live in your country, I am unfamiliar with the laws and customs. So it's a somewhat uninformed opinion.

Duane

[eyesup]

Well, we don’t have a topic or forum for things unrelated to naturism. Maybe Karla and Stuart want it that way, so I'll put this here.

With the constant back and forth, every now and then I run into something that needs explaining.   PLOD

There are plans to whisk him away in a car before plod can arrest him . . .

Why are the police called plod? I can make a few guesses about moving around and doing their work slowly and methodically, but I am assuming there is cultural a reason.

Duane

[JOhnGw]

Well, we don’t have a topic or forum for things unrelated to naturism. Maybe Karla and Stuart want it that way, so I'll put this here.

With the constant back and forth, every now and then I run into something that needs explaining.   PLOD

There are plans to whisk him away in a car before plod can arrest him . . .

Why are the police called plod? I can make a few guesses about moving around and doing their work slowly and methodically, but I am assuming there is cultural a reason.

Duane

More likely the way they traditionally plod around their beat.

[Peter S]

In the Noddy books by Enid Blyton (once part of a child's rite of passage in the UK, almost certainly unknown over the water) the Toytown policeman was called PC Plod, but whether because police were called plod, or he gave the plod their name I don't know. Certainly the plodding pace they used to walk the beat would be an obvious derivation - though I understand that was trained into them as the best way and best speed to cover their ground while still keeping an eye on things. Al la bit passe now they never walk anywhere ...

peter

[eyesup]

So, it's a little bit of both culture and behavior.

There were a few municipalities that attempted to bring back the traditional neighborhood patrolman but I don't know how successful they were. I couldn't blame the officers in some areas for not wanting to be a target in a shooting gallery.

Duane

[nuduke]

I concur with Peter- Enid Blyton coined the name for her character PC Plod in the Noddy, Toytown children's books, taking the implication of slow, plodding intelligence to his persona and due to her phenomenal success as an author, with several generations of children brought into reading by her accessible style and prolific output, so Plod, Noddy, Big Ears, the Famous Five and the Secret Seven entered into the language.  Blyton is much derided nowadays as she wrote of things that today we can't accept because their meaning has evolved or become anathaema - such as the evil golliwogs (black dolls that looked like caricature black face minstrels), Sambo, another black doll who was ostracised until a rain shower washed him white and characters with names like Dick & Fanny which were of course, perfectly normal and innocent names and characterisations when Blyton was writing around the 1930s to 50s.

I got the above by googling and I couldn't find a reference to the police being called Plod in earlier history
John

[Greenbare Woods]

I started using the term "plod" in these forums because the UK friends used it and the description seemed to fit.