According to the respected human rights advocacy group, Article 19, in 2003 Iran became the first country ever to imprison a blogger for views expressed online. Since then, over 28 bloggers and online journalists have been imprisoned on various charges such as “insulting the Supreme Guide, propaganda against the regime, threatening national security, incitement to rebellion and insulting leading figures in the regime.”

Every day Guido wakes up with the sole intention of inciting rebellion and insulting leading figures in our own regime – so a sense of solidarity is natural.

Guido ventures into foreign matters only because the dead-tree-press are getting into a bit of a lather about us hoi polloi writing, horror, what we like on blogs, Jonathan Freedland is today’s worrier about the health of the blogosphere. His focus is on unruly comments. He notes the quip “First they came for the commenters, and I said nothing because I did not comment.” That sentiment is Guido’s feeling. The comments here do get out of hand occasionally (imagine what they’d be like if Guido didn’t hit delete). The house rules are mysterious, arbitrary and sometimes inconsistently exercised. But this blog is not a public service, it is private property, no taxpayers were harmed in the production of this blog. Nobody forces you to come here, you don’t have to read it, so if you don’t like it, don’t come back.

Imagine the scene: Gordon is brainstorming* at a secret meeting in Victoria, London. With him are his trusted acolytes, Wilf, Damien and Ed, Konrad is bringing in a tray of tea and biscuits. How are they going to turn Brown green in the face of Cameron’s successful “Vote Blue, Go Green” strategy?

Having matched him on the kids front they can’t allow Gordon to be out-flanked on the green agenda. “Get a bigger windmill, that produces more energy and shows you are more green” suggests Ed. No says McSnide, it’ll look like you are just copying Dave. Wilf, ever the practical wonk, suggests solar panels instead. “Genius!” they all cheer.

Solar panels in Kirkcaldy? Now Guido has not travelled to Scotland to test this, but suspects it probable that it is fact more sunny in Notting Hill and more windy in Kirkcaldy. Just a thought…

The LibDems have matched the Tories finally. Matched their inability to find a Mayoral candidate that is, Iain Dale reminds us that the LibDems were supposed to announce a shortlist of London Mayoral candidates yesterday. Silence.

So despite, in the words of Simon Hughes, “casting their net far and wide in our search for a candidate to represent our diverse capital” they struck out in their talent search. Mind you look at the motley crue that have now come forward for the Tories. Guido is not sure this is even the complete list:

Click on the map* for the big interactive Where’s Gordon?™ map. Still missing a few days when Guido was either not paying attention or in the back of a gondola. So if helpful co-conspirators could post in the comments if you know where he was over Easter and on April 4 please. Thanks.

UPDATE : Added missing bits with the help of co-conspirators, presumably he just sat at home on Easter weekend (7th to 9th) brooding and snapping at the wife and kids.

Guido is guilty of cyber-bullying Gordon whenever possible. But it is not exactly much fun over at Labour’s new YouTube site with the BBC reporting that the dreary site has bombed.

The commentariat are hyper-ventilating (again) about creating a voluntary code of conduct for blogs and even self-certifying seals of approval corresponding to publicly established guidelines. Guido would like to see the old media and dead-tree-press implement it.

They would of course need corresponding badges of approval to signify a story in these categories:

Fully Spun : Story written up after being called by or out-to-lunch with a politician / SpAd / government spokesman. No checking, just taking dictation.

Pinocchio piece : Journalist knows it is probably an untrue flyer, but it will fill the white space in the paper and the source will owe one for helping out with placement of disinformation. Good for a Sunday splash.

Frame game : Journalist uses terms coined by focus groups on behalf of politicians to frame their opponents using language tested the same way as washing powder. Can produce a snappy headline. Won’t wash.

Secret formula source : Anonymous official source whose purpose is to smear a political opponent or leak misleading information is given an unqualified write up – as in “sources close to CPS say there will be no prosecutions”. See Mark Townsend.

Old news : Story reported elsewhere is used as a justification not to revisit a developing story when significant new information surfaces. See, forinstance, the Guardian’s non-reporting of new revelations in the Smith Institute scandal. Polly Toynbee is on the board of the Sith.

UPDATE : Am very disappointed with the co-conspirators complete lack of wit in the comments compared to the Popbitchers on this subject. In fact they had superior political analysis as well. They are just a bunch of music media mongs.

Maybe this Kamm chap is right about you lot.