Site Statistics and Cwmcelyn Pond

I have not yet begun to fight!

Time really is tight, so let's kill two birds with one stone shall we?

We will do this by rolling up two or maybe even three news articles into one.

Because of the deliberately planned short window of opportunity we have been given by the Fire Service to organise resistance to their plan to close down Blaina Firestation, we have to move fast to produce and correlate the evidence we have, to prove conclusively to the Fire Authority that they have been fed incorrect information by the Fire Service and should reject the proposal.

Remember, it is the Fire Authority headed by Bargoed Councillor Tudor Davies, who will be making the decision on whether Blaina Fire Station remains open or not.  More on Tudor to follow.

Now you know and I know and they know, that the proposal the council received from the Chief Fire Officer Huw Jakeway, was not only poorly written but contained serious factual errors that also omitted vital information concerning the development of the new race track in the Ebbw Vale area and the impact it will have on the needs of the Fire Service which will be more not less.

What I want you to look at now is an image of our Alexa Ratings.  Alexa Ratings will probably be new words to most of you but  they are perhaps the most important words in the world to those who plan advertising or wish to gauge the success of an organisation or business.

Alexa assigns rank to a website (like this one) by counting not just the number of times a page on a website is visited but also the numbers of unique individuals who visit the site and that kind of information is then used to produce both a world wide ranking and a separate United Kingdom Ranking.

So broadly speaking, if our Save Blaina Fire Station site scores under one million, then we are in the top 5% of websites worldwide.

I know from experience, that with a level of 200,000 or lower we will be in the top 1% and that is when the editor will be deluged with offers from companies wishing to pay to advertise and that is something that I will never allow, as I loath paid advertising on websites but am more than willing to place adds for local businesses that publicly support Blaina Fire Station for free.

So before I tell you how this site is doing, let us have a quick look at the rankings of a few other sites to see how popular they are.  Remember the lower the number the better the rating - so 1 is top site in the world and that position is held by Google.

• The Fire Brigade Union has a Global Rank of 1,939,343 and a United Kingdom Rank of 86,405
• The South Wales Fire and Rescue Service has a Global Rank of 1,413,758 and a United Kingdom Rank of 49,519
• The Welsh Labour Party (is clearly not as popular as they would have you believe) has a Global Rank of 10,800,765 and is so far down the ladder that they are not even rated in the United Kingdom.
• The Welsh Conservative Party need take no pleasure at the low rankings of the Labour Party, for theirs is a derisory Global Rank of 8,743,877 and also with no United Kingdom rank.

Now some of you in Blaina will know a little of my work history and the companies I have worked for as either a project manager, business manager or in some cases 2nd in command of large companies responsible for various departments.

JP Morgan, SG Warburg, Lloyds Bank, SWALEC, The Welsh Office, The Welsh Development Agency, British Gas, Nationwide Online Banking, Welsh Water and countless more,  my reputation spoke for itself in the consultancy world and ensured I was always working - usually away from home.

As a manager I have either advised or crossed swords with some of the words biggest business directors and managers and have left many of them crying alone in their offices, during which time I destroyed countless stress balls of my own and was at times referred to as "The Terminator" or "The Borg".

Incidentally one of the first jobs I did locally when starting out, was designing and writing the software for the Welsh Snooker Championships that were held in the Leisure Center in Ebbw Vale, but that was a lifetime ago.

Now the reason I posted the above is not because of ego or vanity, for I am too old to have either, but to show you that I know what I am talking about when it comes to dealing with people and technology and to say "trust me", when I might take actions that you disagree with.  I do nothing without a reason.

Drum roll please Maestro.  So what is this sites ranking after being opened for just 11 days with our first article.  Well take a look at the snapshot below.

Watch the stats rise as more of the world watches what happens in Blaina

Not bad, not bad at all but knowing me, I will not be happy until I take this site to the (in the trade) magic number of 100,000 and reading this I know there are people nodding and thanking their lucky stars that my attention has been diverted away from them, whilst hoping that this dispute lasts for a lifetime and keeps me away from going after them - ATOS you scum, you are next.

Now I did not use the above political parties or organisations as examples to humiliate or embarrass them.  I used them to show you and the world the support that Blaina Fire Station is beginning to gather, not just in Wales but  in the rest of the United Kingdom and the world.

I can assure you and our enemies that the sites ratings will rise and rise and rise as the google robots visit the site, take the information and make it available to the world in their search engines. 

The snowball is starting to gather speed, size and weight and I advise those with the power to stop it, do so now before they are crushed under it and their careers with them.

So why is the site so popular in such a short time?

Well the site was fortunate in that it had a good launch pad provided by an unknown firefighter and in my opinion unsung hero who started the Save Blaina Fire Station page on Facebook that is linked to on the side of the site.

Shame also on the Fire Service for forbidding our Firefighters the freedom to speak in defence of their jobs and community.

But this website has a life of its own now and will grow because the cause it espouses is not only just but because the articles are informative.

As the resistance to the closure of Blaina Fire Station grows with the birth of a formal committee with a draft constitution, publicity plans being made and celebrities of tv and sport being contacted for their support in fighting the closure of the iconic Blaina Fire Station, this sites rankings are going to go through the roof.

And yet none of this need happen.  There would be no need for me to be doing research into every single person who is involved in this dispute and those who could influence it.

Last night I was told "off the record", so I cannot reveal my source that the Fire Service are free to withdraw the proposal any time they wish.

That being the case, here again is another chance for Huw Jakeway, who I still find it difficult to believe really wants to see men lose their jobs and leave the children of the school I wrote about yesterday undefended.  He is a father himself for Gods sake.

Huw, as a father, were the roles reversed, you would be calling for my head on a plate and fighting as strongly as I or even harder than I to defend those you love.

Huw, I am or will shortly be a spokesman for the group being formed that is determined not to see Our Station close at any price and so I publicly request a one on one meeting with you at any location and at any time.

At that meeting, I will provide you with information, that if it is true you have the power to stop this madness, will cause you to withdraw your proposal and regain the trust of the firefighters of Blaenau Gwent and the people who live there.

Now about Cwmcelyn Pond - well we will have to take that walk later today as I have just had a call that I am needed in another place far away from Blaina.

One last thing though, as you become a regular reader of this site you will discover that I like to use lots of historical references, quotes and poetry (what true Welshman does not love poetry?) and today's historical reference was made by, depending on whose side you were on, either a great American Hero or a pirate and that man was John Paul Jones.

During the American War of Independence, the American naval Captain John Paul Jones was confronted by a much larger English vessel that called on him to surrender, which is when Jones replied with the immortal words "I have not yet begun to fight."

Jones struggled with the 44-gun Royal Navy frigate Serapis, and although his own vessel was burning and sinking, Jones would not accept the British demand for surrender, replying, “I have not yet begun to fight.” More than three hours later, Serapis surrendered and Jones took command.

Well the people of Blaina have not yet really begun to fight, Huw.  From today that changes.  Victory will be theirs and they will save their station.

Meet me.