Are we back to non-stop Internet cuts? We pay British Telecom £850 per year for broadband (WITH UPDATE 25/10/2018)

Last Sunday "Father of the Internet" and Google Vice President Vint Cerf joined us as an honorary associate.
http://churchandstate.org.uk/honorary-associates/



We pay British Telecom, one of the world's leading communications services companies, £70 per month (£850 per year) for BT Infinity 2 fibre optic broadband. I have been recording our internet cuts as a BT customer since 26 May 2017. Declan has made countless phone calls to BT Customer Service and has dealt with BT Executive Level Complaints multiple times. Never has there been a fault with our phone line and our hub mysteriously rectified itself last August, to such an extent that we haven't yet installed the new hub we received that month as a matter of urgency.

These are the internet cuts since 1 May 2018:

184th 8 May 2018, 2.13pm (1/2 hour)
185th 9 May 2018, 6.31am
186th 9 May 2018, 9.51pm
187th 10 May 2018, 1.05am (1/2 hour)
188th 10 May 2018 12.37pm
189th 10 May 2018 5.18pm
190th 12 May 2018 12.53pm
191st 12 May 2018 11.44pm
192nd 14 May 2018 7.25pm (1/2 hour)
193rd 15 May 2018 11.33am (1/4 hour)
194th 15 May 2018 7.34pm
195th 19 May 2018 8.31am
196th 21 May 2018 5.59pm (1/2 hour)
197th 23 May 2018 1.22pm (1/4 hour)
198th 27 May 2018 2.01pm (1/4 hour)
199th 27 May 2018 8.32pm (1/4 hour)
200th 27 May 2018 11.19pm
201st 29 May 2018 9.46am (1/4 hour)
202nd 29 May 2018 11.48am (1/4 hour)
203rd 29 May 2018 8.11pm
204th 29 May 2018 9.37pm
205th 30 May 2018 9.33pm
206th 1 June 2018 6.02pm
207th 1 June 2018 7.18pm (1/4 hour)
208th 2 June 2018 5.03pm (1/4 hour)
209th 3 June 2018 2.32pm (1/4 hour)
210th 5 June 2018 11.43pm
211th 12 June 2018 9.15pm (1/4 hour)
212th 12 June 2018 11.30pm
213th 13 June 2018 3.35pm
214th 13 June 2018 7.51pm
215th 14 June 2018 11.22am
216th 14 June 2018 4.31pm
217th 15 June 2018 10.05am (1/4 hour)
218th 16 June 2018 6.02pm (1/4 hour)
219th 16 June 2018 9.47pm
220th 18 June 2018 2.00pm
221st 18 June 2018 4.50pm
222nd 18 June 2018 8.38pm
223rd 19 June 2018 8.36am
224th 19 June 2018 10.35am (1/4 hour)
225th 19 June 2018 12.36pm
226th 19 June 2018 5.33pm
227th 19 June 2018 7.32pm (1/4 hour)
228th 19 June 2018 9.33pm (1/4 hour)
229th 19 June 2018 10.01pm (7)
230th 21 June 2018 8.47am
231st 21 June 2018 1.32pm (1/4 hour)
232nd 21 June 2018 2.03pm (1/4 hour)
233rd 21 June 2018 7.37pm
234th 22 June 2018 10.16am
235th 23 June 2018 11.32am
236th 24 June 2018 11.35am
237th 25 June 2018 11.36pm
238th 27 June 2018 1.17pm (1/4 hour)
239th 27 June 2018 7.21pm (1/4 hour)
240th 28 June 2018 12.49pm
241st 28 June 2018 9.16pm (1/4 hour)
242nd 28 June 2018 9.47pm (1/4 hour)
243rd 29 June 2018 9.02am
244th 29 June 2018 8.47pm (1/4 hour)
245th 30 June 2018 10.02am (1/4 hour)
246th 1 July 2018 4.48pm
247th 2 July 2018 7.34pm (1/4 hour)
248th 2 July 2018 11.37pm
249th 3 July 2018 2.02pm (1/4 hour)
250th 4 July 2018 12.16am
251st 4 July 2018 10.06pm
252nd 4 July 2018 10.49pm
253rd 6 July 2018 11.46pm (3/4 hour)
254th 10 July 2018 12.04pm
255th 10 July 2018 1.32pm (1/4 hour)
256th 10 July 2018 6.19pm (1/4 hour)
257th 11 July 2018 1.21am
258th 11 July 2018 9.22am
259th 11 July 2018 12.02pm (1/4 hour)
260th 11 July 2018 11.47pm
261st 12 July 2018 1.01am
262nd 12 July 2018 2.31pm
263rd 13 July 2018 8.21pm
264th 13 July 2018 9.32pm
265th 19 July 2018 8.18am
266th 20 July 2018 12.17am
267th 20 July 2018 8.47am
268th 20 July 2018 4.01pm
269th 28 July 2018 8.39am (1/2 hour)
270th 29 July 2018 10.47am
271st 29 July 2018 11.46pm
272nd 9 August 2018 10.44pm (1/2 hour)
273rd 10 August 2018 11.03pm (1/2 hour)
274th 11 August 2018 2.01pm
275th 11 August 2018 6.05pm (1/4 hour)
276th 12 August 2018 2.16pm (1/4 hour)
277th 13 August 2018 11.32am (1/4 hour)
278th 13 August 2018 12.17pm
279th 13 August 2018 2.01pm (1/2 hour)
280th 14 August 2018 4.12pm
281st 14 August 2018 6.31pm (1/2 hour)
282nd 14 August 2018 10.01pm
283rd 16 August 2018 9.17pm (1 1/4 hours)
--------------------------------------------------
16/8 (10.47pm) New hub ordered
--------------------------------------------------
284th 17 August 2018 10.46am (1/2 hour)
285th 17 August 2018 12.16pm (3 1/4 hours)
286th 18 August 2018 12.06am
--------------------------------------------------
19/8 (10.21am) New hub delivered
--------------------------------------------------
287th 23 August 2018 12.11pm
288th 5 October 2018 8.36am
289th 24 October 2018 9.12pm

UPDATE

290th 25 October 2018 2.53pm
--------------------------------------------------
25/10 (4.26pm) New hub yet to be installed
--------------------------------------------------

Update Summation 25 October 2018

290 internet cuts since 26 May 2017 (173 cuts 2017; 117 cuts 2018). With an all-time record-equalling 7 cuts in one day on 19 June 2018 (in bold); 22 cuts last May that included on 8 May the 3rd ever 1/2 hour cut on the same day as Declan's updated complaint to the UN; 16 cuts last August that included on 17 August an all-time record-breaking cut of 3 1/4 hours; 3 cuts this month; 1 cut yesterday; 1 cut so far today (as of 25 October at 4.26pm).

May 2018: 22 cuts
June 2018 40 cuts
July 2018 26 cuts
August 2018: 16 cuts
September 2018: 0 cuts
October 2018: 3 cuts

7 July 2018: INTERNET CUTS: Are 45-minute Internet cuts to be the new norm? We pay British Telecom £850 per year for broadband (WITH UPDATE 25/10/2018: re 290th Internet cut since 26 May 2017)

Facebook: The social network's 48th block against our Church and State website since 1 December 2015, with no explanation as usual. And this time with no end in sight to boot (WITH UPDATE - DAY 9 20/10/2018)

Criminal.
-Don Collins, President of ISAF, an NGO dedicated to helping women

Our Church and State website has no less than 40 Nobel Prize winners on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).

Ted Cruz asks if Facebook is a "neutral public forum". Mark Zuckerberg admits Silicon Valley is an "extremely left-leaning place" and claims he tries to make sure the company does not have a political bias. pic.twitter.com/gaWw7ORQDY

— Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) April 10, 2018

Facebook does not have a political bias? The social network's blocks against our Church and State website have gone from 47 days in 2017 - when we topped 3 million hits by the end of November - to 139 days so far this year (5 out of 9 months). This time they are stopping me from posting in groups without first passing through a time-consuming security check for every post I wish to make (called by them a block "to prevent spammers from creating fake accounts and spamming users"), and this for an undisclosed period of time and without explaining what I have done wrong. This is the ninth time they have produced this particular sort of block. The last time they did it, the block lasted 2 days.



UPDATE 20 October (11.37am): Last Saturday Facebook exchanged one block for another without missing a beat. This is not the first time they have done this, and, as before, has been recorded as a block continued (9 days), albeit in a different form. No explanation provided as usual. They say that the block will be lifted this evening. For what it's worth.

Facebook blocks (in days)

January 2018: 16 days
February 2018: 15 days
March 2018: 29 days
April 2018: 17 days
May 2018: No blocks in May
June 2018: 14 days
July 2018: 17 days
August 2018: 11 days
September 2018: 12 days
October 2018: 16 days (until 20 October)

4 September: Fighting for survival in London: Facebook's concerted campaign against our Church and State website shows no signs of waning (WITH UPDATE 20/10/2018: re Block 48 DAY 9) This link reveals that we are currently under attack on more than one front. For example, blocks on the category pages on Church and State remain under constant attack. As I point out in my most recent blog post about Royal Mail misdelivering our mail, the second article below has more than 1/2 million Facebook likes/shares (not zero):

'Independent' court scrutinising MI5 is located inside Home Office http://t.co/ZezpDipCPx via @guardian

— Ian Cobain (@IanCobain) March 5, 2014

Re: Investigatory Powers Tribunal

The Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) dismissed Declan's complaint against the secret services on papers in less than three weeks, on 1 September 2011, stating that it was "obviously unsustainable". This is paragraph 11 of Declan's updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

11. The IPT was created in October 2000 by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and given the power to investigate any complaints against GCHQ, MI5 or MI6, as well as complaints about surveillance operations mounted by the police or any other public bodies. The Guardian reported on 5 March 2014 that the tribunal, which claims to be completely independent of the UK Government, is secretly operating from a base within the Home Office, by which it is funded. The newspaper found that the IPT had investigated about 1,500 complaints and upheld only 10, five of which concerned members of one family who had all lodged complaints about surveillance by their local council. No complaint against any of the intelligence agencies had ever been upheld. The discovery that the IPT is lodged within a Whitehall department fuelled criticisms of the tribunal that had been levelled by rights groups, lawyers and complainants. The IPT's critics complain that the secrecy is excessive and that its procedures are stacked so heavily in favour of the government and against complainants that it is fundamentally unfair. According to The Guardian, some senior lawyers have described the IPT as "Kafkaesque", while one eminent barrister has dismissed it as a "kangaroo court". The newspaper also reports that because of the secrecy surrounding the tribunal and the perception that it is unfair, many would-be complainants spurn it.

Click to enlarge

Updated complaint to the United Nations: https://issuu.com/lolaheavey/docs/un-complaint-may-2018





Is Edward Snowden a Hero or Criminal? This is a solid documentary called #Citizenfour that may influence your thinking either way:



JOIN THE CONVERSATION #CITIZENFOUR

From My Picks:

8 May 2018: Threat to life: Updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Today we are cut off the internet for a half an hour


http://churchandstate.org.uk/honorary-associates/

Are we now also back to Internet cuts? And this Church and State blog has been decimated once again (WITH UPDATE 6/10/2018)

Our Church and State website has no less than 40 Nobel Prize winners on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).



Between our Church and State website and this blog, it's hard to know where to start. I've just updated this blog's sidebar: "Despite opposition from Facebook, Church and State topped more than 3 million hits in 11 months from January to November 2017. Subsequently, the social network's blocks against the site have gone from 47 days in 2017 to 138 days so far this year (5 out of 9 months). Nonetheless, we get hundreds of thousands of hits. We are currently experiencing Facebook's 47th block against Church and State since 1 December 2015, and, as usual, without an explanation." My previous blog post not only covers ongoing blocks on access to Church and State, but the long-standing attack on category pages throughout the site. First thing this morning I discovered that I have also lost all my TinyPic images on this blog, which means it has been decimated once again. And then I was cut off the internet! We pay British Telecom, one of the world's leading communications services companies, £70 per month (£850 per year) for BT Infinity 2 fibre optic broadband. It's not even 9am!

These are the internet cuts since 1 May 2018:

184th 8 May 2018, 2.13pm (1/2 hour)
185th 9 May 2018, 6.31am
186th 9 May 2018, 9.51pm
187th 10 May 2018, 1.05am (1/2 hour)
188th 10 May 2018 12.37pm
189th 10 May 2018 5.18pm
190th 12 May 2018 12.53pm
191st 12 May 2018 11.44pm
192nd 14 May 2018 7.25pm (1/2 hour)
193rd 15 May 2018 11.33am (1/4 hour)
194th 15 May 2018 7.34pm
195th 19 May 2018 8.31am
196th 21 May 2018 5.59pm (1/2 hour)
197th 23 May 2018 1.22pm (1/4 hour)
198th 27 May 2018 2.01pm (1/4 hour)
199th 27 May 2018 8.32pm (1/4 hour)
200th 27 May 2018 11.19pm
201st 29 May 2018 9.46am (1/4 hour)
202nd 29 May 2018 11.48am (1/4 hour)
203rd 29 May 2018 8.11pm
204th 29 May 2018 9.37pm
205th 30 May 2018 9.33pm
206th 1 June 2018 6.02pm
207th 1 June 2018 7.18pm (1/4 hour)
208th 2 June 2018 5.03pm (1/4 hour)
209th 3 June 2018 2.32pm (1/4 hour)
210th 5 June 2018 11.43pm
211th 12 June 2018 9.15pm (1/4 hour)
212th 12 June 2018 11.30pm
213th 13 June 2018 3.35pm
214th 13 June 2018 7.51pm
215th 14 June 2018 11.22am
216th 14 June 2018 4.31pm
217th 15 June 2018 10.05am (1/4 hour)
218th 16 June 2018 6.02pm (1/4 hour)
219th 16 June 2018 9.47pm
220th 18 June 2018 2.00pm
221st 18 June 2018 4.50pm
222nd 18 June 2018 8.38pm
223rd 19 June 2018 8.36am
224th 19 June 2018 10.35am (1/4 hour)
225th 19 June 2018 12.36pm
226th 19 June 2018 5.33pm
227th 19 June 2018 7.32pm (1/4 hour)
228th 19 June 2018 9.33pm (1/4 hour)
229th 19 June 2018 10.01pm (7)
230th 21 June 2018 8.47am
231st 21 June 2018 1.32pm (1/4 hour)
232nd 21 June 2018 2.03pm (1/4 hour)
233rd 21 June 2018 7.37pm
234th 22 June 2018 10.16am
235th 23 June 2018 11.32am
236th 24 June 2018 11.35am
237th 25 June 2018 11.36pm
238th 27 June 2018 1.17pm (1/4 hour)
239th 27 June 2018 7.21pm (1/4 hour)
240th 28 June 2018 12.49pm
241st 28 June 2018 9.16pm (1/4 hour)
242nd 28 June 2018 9.47pm (1/4 hour)
243rd 29 June 2018 9.02am
244th 29 June 2018 8.47pm (1/4 hour)
245th 30 June 2018 10.02am (1/4 hour)
246th 1 July 2018 4.48pm
247th 2 July 2018 7.34pm (1/4 hour)
248th 2 July 2018 11.37pm
249th 3 July 2018 2.02pm (1/4 hour)
250th 4 July 2018 12.16am
251st 4 July 2018 10.06pm
252nd 4 July 2018 10.49pm
253rd 6 July 2018 11.46pm (3/4 hour)
254th 10 July 2018 12.04pm
255th 10 July 2018 1.32pm (1/4 hour)
256th 10 July 2018 6.19pm (1/4 hour)
257th 11 July 2018 1.21am
258th 11 July 2018 9.22am
259th 11 July 2018 12.02pm (1/4 hour)
260th 11 July 2018 11.47pm
261st 12 July 2018 1.01am
262nd 12 July 2018 2.31pm
263rd 13 July 2018 8.21pm
264th 13 July 2018 9.32pm
265th 19 July 2018 8.18am
266th 20 July 2018 12.17am
267th 20 July 2018 8.47am
268th 20 July 2018 4.01pm
269th 28 July 2018 8.39am (1/2 hour)
270th 29 July 2018 10.47am
271st 29 July 2018 11.46pm
272nd 9 August 2018 10.44pm (1/2 hour)
273rd 10 August 2018 11.03pm (1/2 hour)
274th 11 August 2018 2.01pm
275th 11 August 2018 6.05pm (1/4 hour)
276th 12 August 2018 2.16pm (1/4 hour)
277th 13 August 2018 11.32am (1/4 hour)
278th 13 August 2018 12.17pm
279th 13 August 2018 2.01pm (1/2 hour)
280th 14 August 2018 4.12pm
281st 14 August 2018 6.31pm (1/2 hour)
282nd 14 August 2018 10.01pm
283rd 16 August 2018 9.17pm (1 1/4 hours)
--------------------------------------------------
16/8 (10.47pm) New hub ordered
--------------------------------------------------
284th 17 August 2018 10.46am (1/2 hour)
285th 17 August 2018 12.16pm (3 1/4 hours)
286th 18 August 2018 12.06am
--------------------------------------------------
19/8 (10.21am) New hub delivered
--------------------------------------------------
287th 23 August 2018 12.11pm
288th 5 October 2018 8.36am
--------------------------------------------------
6/10 (11.17am) New hub yet to be installed
--------------------------------------------------

Update Summation 6 October 2018

288 internet cuts since 26 May 2017 (173 cuts 2017; 115 cuts 2018). With an all-time record-equalling 7 cuts in one day on 19 June 2018 (in bold); 22 cuts last May that included on 8 May the 3rd ever 1/2 hour cut on the same day as Declan's updated complaint to the UN; 16 cuts last August that included on 17 August an all-time record-breaking cut of 3 1/4 hours; 1 cut yesterday; no cuts so far today (as of 6 October at 11.17am).

May 2018: 22 cuts
June 2018 40 cuts
July 2018 26 cuts
August 2018: 16 cuts
September 2018: 0 cuts
October 2018: 1 cut

7 July 2018: INTERNET CUTS: Are 45-minute Internet cuts to be the new norm? We pay British Telecom £850 per year for broadband (WITH UPDATE 6/10/2018: re 288th Internet cut since 26 May 2017)

Our Church and State website has come under a blistering attack. And Facebook's 47th block against the site remains in place despite my appeal (WITH UPDATE 4/10/2018)

This is a splendid posting which in its moderate and modest tone should encourage many others to join you!!
http://churchandstate.org.uk/about/
-Don Collins, President of ISAF, an NGO dedicated to helping women

Our Church and State website has no less than 40 Nobel Prize winners on it; for details, see this blog's sidebar under "Church and State" (updated today).

'Independent' court scrutinising MI5 is located inside Home Office http://t.co/ZezpDipCPx via @guardian

— Ian Cobain (@IanCobain) March 5, 2014

In the last 40 minutes access to our Church and State website has been blocked an unprecedented 11 times, with seemingly no end in sight. (SiteGround is paid $1,000 per year to host our site and manage the server.) This brings the total number of blocks today to 12, breaking the previous all-time record of 10 blocks in one day, which was set on 7 May 2017.



We are also currently dealing with Facebook's latest block against Church and State; see my previous blog post of 30 September, Facebook: The social network's 47th block against our Church and State website since 1 December 2015. No explanation provided as usual (WITH UPDATE - DAY 2 1/10/2018). And the category pages on Church and State remain under constant attack. For example, as I point out in my most recent blog post about Royal Mail misdelivering our mail, the second article below has more than 1/2 million Facebook likes/shares (not zero):



These are the blocks on access to Church and State so far today:

1,349th 2 October 2018, 4.02am
1,350th 2 October 2018, 6.19pm
1,351st 2 October 2018, 6.21pm
1,352nd 2 October 2018, 6.23pm
1,353rd 2 October 2018, 6.28pm
1,354th 2 October 2018, 6.32pm
1,355th 2 October 2018, 6.34pm
1,356th 2 October 2018, 6.35pm
1,357th 2 October 2018, 6.39pm
1,358th 2 October 2018, 6.40pm
1,359th 2 October 2018, 6.48pm
1,360th 2 October 2018, 6.53pm (12)

UPDATES

1,361st 2 October 2018, 9.19pm (+1)
1,362nd 3 October 2018, 5.32am
1,363rd 3 October 2018, 9.39am
1,364th 4 October 2018, 3.16am

Update Summation 4 October 2018

1,364 blocks on access to our Church and State website since 26 July 2016 (89 blocks 2016; 871 blocks 2017; 404 blocks 2018); 53 blocks last May that included 6 blocks on 8 May, the same day as Declan's updated complaint to the United Nations; 34 blocks last month; 19 blocks this month; 20 blocks this week that includes an all-time record-breaking 13 blocks on 2 October; 1 block so far today (as of 4 October at 11.12am).

January 2018: 55 blocks
February 2018: 45 blocks
March 2018: 59 blocks
April 2018: 42 blocks
May 2018: 53 blocks
June 2018: 38 blocks
July 2018: 31 blocks
August 2018: 28 blocks
September 2018: 34 blocks
October 2018: 19 blocks (ongoing)

27 June 2018: SITE BLOCKS: The blocks on access to our Church and State website continue unabated (WITH UPDATE 4/10/2018: re 1,364th block since 26 July 2016)

Re: Investigatory Powers Tribunal

The Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) dismissed Declan's complaint against the secret services on papers in less than three weeks, on 1 September 2011, stating that it was "obviously unsustainable". This is paragraph 11 of Declan's updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

11. The IPT was created in October 2000 by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and given the power to investigate any complaints against GCHQ, MI5 or MI6, as well as complaints about surveillance operations mounted by the police or any other public bodies. The Guardian reported on 5 March 2014 that the tribunal, which claims to be completely independent of the UK Government, is secretly operating from a base within the Home Office, by which it is funded. The newspaper found that the IPT had investigated about 1,500 complaints and upheld only 10, five of which concerned members of one family who had all lodged complaints about surveillance by their local council. No complaint against any of the intelligence agencies had ever been upheld. The discovery that the IPT is lodged within a Whitehall department fuelled criticisms of the tribunal that had been levelled by rights groups, lawyers and complainants. The IPT's critics complain that the secrecy is excessive and that its procedures are stacked so heavily in favour of the government and against complainants that it is fundamentally unfair. According to The Guardian, some senior lawyers have described the IPT as "Kafkaesque", while one eminent barrister has dismissed it as a "kangaroo court". The newspaper also reports that because of the secrecy surrounding the tribunal and the perception that it is unfair, many would-be complainants spurn it.

Click to enlarge

Updated complaint to the United Nations: https://issuu.com/lolaheavey/docs/un-complaint-may-2018





Is Edward Snowden a Hero or Criminal? This is a solid documentary called #Citizenfour that may influence your thinking either way:



JOIN THE CONVERSATION #CITIZENFOUR

From My Picks:

8 May 2018: Threat to life: Updated complaint to the United Nations under Article 19 (freedom of expression) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Today we are cut off the internet for a half an hour


http://churchandstate.org.uk/honorary-associates/