The following is currently being posted to our Not Happy John mailing list. If you would like to be on this list email us.

Dear supporters of Margo Kingston's Not Happy John! website,

Firstly, thankyou for your patience. Burnout is a serious issue for activists, and we have all needed a bit of a break in order to come back fighting.

This Friday Margo is regrouping with the NHJ! team and we are preparing for the next phase of the website and the Defending Our Democracy project. Note that Defending Our Democracy is the subtitle of Margo's book, and has always had a much broader relevance than merely, 'Not Happy John!'

At this time we are negotiating with an ISP for our new site and figuring out the details of the design. Our central goals are to build a genuine alternative media, to compete with the increasingly sycophantic mainstream, and to abet a mass movement to support, defend and if possible extend our great democratic traditions and institutions.

An Australian version of moveon.org is a central project. Right now this website is in the height of the US election, and in that context it is a very interesting look. Check it out.

The new site will have improved features of interactivity, where visitors can blog their own comments and have dialogue. In the tradition of Webdiary and NHJ! these blogs will be moderated and edited, fairly and professionally, which we feel is one of the keys to Webdiary�s success. All comments will be deemed valid, but it will not be a free-for-all of poor spelling and grammar, personal abuse and spam. Full names will also be required, with a proviso for use of a pseudonym where contributors explain their good reasons for anonymity.

Also, unlike the current site, technically run by Penguin, we will link relevant projects provided by NHJ!ers, like bankfraud.org, citizensagainstsellingtelstra.com and domevote.com, to name a few good examples.

On the local government front, we will also be promoting a pioneering project now underway in Brisbane. It is very adaptable to other local municipalities, but note that Brisbane is the single largest municipal target in Australia, thanks to the City of Brisbane Act of 1924. At this stage, especially if you are a Brisbanite, please contact us for a full version of the paper this project is working from. In short, it is a plan for the grass roots to take control of City Hall.

Meanwhile, nothappyjohn.com is still our front page and in the last week it has shown a bit of extra life again. So keep an eye on it and feel more than free to communicate via the �Corrections, more info . . .� link.

We are going to need your help. For offers of any type of assistance, ideas and possible links that you do not wish to be published, email us at [email protected].

Regards, in love and hope,
Hamish Alcorn.