The anatomy of a smear
The Scottish Daily Mail, which alongside its Sunday sister paper is spending the festive period engaged in an “SNP BAD!” frenzy – attacking the party over everything from foxhunting to the brutal Stalinist suppression of free speech to using taxpayers’ money to send people Christmas cards – today runs the same story across a news page, a comment column and an editorial leader:
Let’s take a closer look.
You can read the full articles by clicking the links and images to enlarge them – none of them seem to have been deemed worthy of making the Mail’s website. But the Iran ones are particularly interesting as illustrations of the art of modern newspapercraft.
– HAS ALEX SALMOND ACTUALLY BOASTED ABOUT HIS IRAN VISIT?
Well, “boast” is a subjective term. But Salmond appears to have made no particular claims about achievements on the mission, other than saying that it went well, which is what all politicians always say about every trip they undertake. It might have been news if he’d said “It was an absolute disaster and we were lucky to come out alive”, but otherwise it’s just humdrum press-release boilerplate, and not notably boastful.
– DID HE SAY IT WAS “DESIGNED TO EMBARRASS THE UK”?
No. A casual reader seeing a headline accusing Salmond of “boasting” immediately followed by words in quote marks would almost certainly have assumed it was a quote from him. But Salmond neither says those words specifically, nor any words which could possibly be paraphrased in such a way.
– DID ANYONE SAY IT WAS “DESIGNED TO EMBARRASS THE UK”?
No. We read through the entire piece looking for any justification for the quote marks, and thought we were bound to hit paydirt at some point along the way as the Mail enrolled ever-present Tory foghorn Alex Johnstone MSP, an unnamed “Scottish Labour source” and – hilariously – disgraced Lib Dem liar Alistair Carmichael.
But none of them accused Salmond of trying to “embarrass the UK”. The closest was Carmichael, who perhaps had just enough of a tiny sliver of residual self-awareness not to accuse anyone else of causing embarrassment, and instead said Salmond was out to “bash the UK government”.
– DID THE VISIT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH A WOMAN’S HANGING?
No. It was a business visit. But it never hurts to fling some mud about rape in when you’re trying to smear someone.
(And Salmond’s point about Iran being little worse than some of Britain’s friends is unquestionably true. Amnesty International, which the Mail quotes at length, says that British ally Saudi Arabia has executed more people so far in 2015 than at any time in the last 20 years. The brutal Saudi regime frequently beheads, crucifies and stones people to death for “crimes” including adultery, witchcraft and sorcery.)
– SO WHY ARE THERE QUOTEMARKS?
To find the source of anyone saying the visit was “designed to embarrass the UK” we have to skip forward 10 pages to Alex Massie’s opinion piece, in which he accuses Salmond of being in deliberate cahoots with the Iranian regime to that effect, saying:
“The symbolism matters, however, not least since it is designed, in Edinburgh as well as Tehran, to embarrass London.”
Massie is of course entitled to hold that view in an opinion column, where he won’t be required to back the allegation up with any sort of evidence. He can just think it. But it’s stretching journalistic ethics to breaking point to then take his words OUT of that environment and transfer them across, unattributed, to a supposedly-factual news story which makes it look like Salmond said them himself.
We could – just as legitimately – say that we believed Alex Massie thought Salmond in some way culpable for the hanging of Reyhaneh Jabbari, and then produce a post saying “HANGING OF RAPE-ATTACK VICTIM ‘IS ALEX SALMOND’S FAULT’ FURY” next to a giant picture of Massie, even though the only people who’d used the words in the quotes were ourselves.
(Indeed, the Mail editorial leader actually ends on the words “The hangmen of Iran need not fear redundancy after this inept diplomatic mission”, even though it wasn’t a diplomatic mission or about capital punishment at all.)
We’re not going to feign any surprise over how the Daily Mail conducts its business. But every once in a while it doesn’t hurt to take a refresher course.
Calling the DM a ‘newspaper’ is akin to calling a soldier, who couldn’t hit a barn door at 30m using a high-velocity rifle, a ‘sniper’.
Both of them fail to hit their intended target repeatedly.
The Kingdom of Gt Britain and her representatives freely engage with the most murderous regimes on the planet,and call them allies and friends.
Iran has been isolated for many many years and been the subject of sanctions for a similar time. The idea is that you hope to isolate them and after a suitable period of time they will repent and become your friend.
Sometimes in order to influence a country you have to talk to them and work with them. Keeping them in isolation only fosters anger and hatred.
The sabre rattling from the West has also included direct threats to invade Iran
So far nobody has been able to tell me why Iran are fighting ISIS, whose objective is to establish an Islamist State. Why should that threaten Iran if they are as bad as the West makes them out to be?
What happened to Massie? Why the pathological hatred of all thing SNP and Salmond related?
Did the SNP tell him to piss off?, just like Kezia.
Putting the boot into London. My, there’s a fascinating change. Who? Wherr? When? Whit?
Somebody in Tesco’s Maryhill keeps covering up the National with the Daily Wail. Lidls and Aldi don’t even do the National. Would anyone like to complain locally and to HQ? Most shops are not ;owed more than six copies of the National by Menzies the distributors.
Even for the Daily Mail this is pretty sick. Then again, whae’s surprised?
@jimnarlene
I don’t think folk who write for the Mail are strangers to mindless hatred or peddling spurious keech. Quite possibly part of the job requirement. 😉
We will soon be running out of superlatives. Would this be the best smear so far this Xmas season?
Smear of the Year entrant no 3m. accuses Alex Salmond of acting like the Scottish Foreign Minister. (That’s an insult in Daily Mail land).
I admire your stamina Stu. Reading that bilge must take nerves of steel.
Alex Massie the thinking mans fuckwit. That is just click bait written by a pish talker. Mr Peffers will tear him a new one for his British nation crap and he really should read up on Iran’s history and the British Establishments criminal interference in the country. Massie = bawbag
Must be the high bran diet. Corp Media’s bowels open regular as clockwork.
So, that’s today’s shite. Then on queue, tomorrow’s. Then the next day’s.
Then Rev does sterling work on the nation’s behalf, wading through this day after day.
Par for the course for the Scottish Corporate and Unionist Media.
Oh, and by the way, Bob Mack, as Robert P so frequently and eloquently points out, there is no “Kingdom of Great Britain”.
Personally I like to refer to it as UKOKIA – dystopia in the last days of a dying empire.
Your article is wrong in 2 points
1. You called it a paper, deformation of the use of the word paper as its useful in the toilet or for wrapping chips. Not for printing bullshit in this instance
2. You mentioned the word news, sorry but that is slander as no one is qualified in the Daily mail as a news journalist so I cant see how you can say they print news !
keep up the good work as usual, still cant see why the SNP don’t employ you as chief press officer, personally would be good for them if you appeared or your colleagues in every interview!!
The SNP are just supposed to be the wee pretendy politicians from wee pretendy Scotland, they’ve got no right doing stuff the real politicians do
Especially when they do it better
Alex Massie’s a wee Nyaff anyway, even if he is en expert on everything in the entire world to do with politics (In his Mind)
They all hate the SNP so much that when Nicola crooks her little finger at them they all come running like wee sheep dugs (Wherrs ra drink) and they think they’re the smart ones Ho Ho Ho
That was festive laughing
I, for one, am glad our politicians are looking beyond our shores. Maybe if the Mail and others looked beyond their own pathological hatred they could give those involved a chance to clarify the purpose instead of assuming they know based on their prejudices.
It must be frustrating for these journalists as they all are competing to write the same article every day. To get noticed they have to ramp up the rhetoric and as a result they are becoming increasingly histrionic.
Imagine how they will feel when they look over their body of work. A bunch of shameful charlatans taking money under false pretences for ‘journalism’. I have never rated Massie – when he thought Yes voters actually believed his swithering about Indyref 1, he was more measured. Now he screams as much as the others and has nothing new to say.
I do not have respect for any of them.
This is why we crowd fund new media.
Dear o dear. The Daily Mail, Alex Johnstone, Alex Massie and Alastair Carmichael all together. Brit nattery of the highest/lowest order. After Massie pretended to be undecided during the referendum campaign, I have not been able to take him seriously since. He seems to be trying to out Brit nat the likes of Cochrane, Iain Martin, Chris Deerin, Brian Wilson etc. Alex Massie has been very angry indeed since the referendum. He is coming across more and more as an angry, arrogant Tory tosser. It is a shame because he is a good writer, and he used to write good analysis on Scottish politics.
Massie is just another ProudScotBut trying to impress his London-based chums by doing down Scotland.
Perhaps the unnamed Labour source was an unnamed Scottish Labour MP.
Of course if they wrote that we’d all know who it was. Guffaw!
As for the business trip it looks like Salmond is trying to preempt the end of sanctions on Iran. Getting in early could pay dividends. The end of sanctions is going destroy the oil price further, but they may need our expertise to get their oil to market quicker. Smart cookie is Mr Salmond.
Interesting that they always trot out Alex Johnstone….. A man who has never won an election in his life.
Who does he actually represent ???????
I have read through the article several times and I honestly think there are grounds for defamation.
At the very least I’m sure a complaint to the IPCC would be upheld but as long as the retractions are buried in the small print on page 62 they will keep doing it.
Time for a change in the law????
Inaccurate or misleading articles being criminalised????
Retractions given the same prominence as the original article????
Something has to be done
Deep fried smearing. Really bad fur yer mental health. Cheap ingredients rehashed by cheap hacks signifying shite.
Interesting watching Unionist twitter & commentariat. It seems it is 35 newspapers versus Wings and it’s Wings winning.
I’m always torn between avoiding any DM article because of the vituperative mischief making and lies; or reading some of it because there are people out there who actually believe and are influenced by it and they have a vote in important referenda and elections. It’s like the temptation to say “Ignore Trump/ Farage/le Pen ; s/he’s an idiot” or “Who cares what Furey said about women?” or “the vile Katie isn’t worth a minute of my time” while thousands of people are nodding their heads in agreement with these poisonous creeps.
… aye, it’s like the age old question “what’s new ?” … and the equally ancient (and predictable) reply “same old, same old”.
Straight from the National Union of Journalists:
“NUJ code of conduct:
A journalist:
At all times upholds and defends the principle of media freedom, the right of freedom of expression and the right of the public to be informed.
Strives to ensure that information disseminated is honestly conveyed, accurate and fair.
Does her/his utmost to correct harmful inaccuracies.
Differentiates between fact and opinion.
Obtains material by honest, straightforward and open means, with the exception of investigations that are both overwhelmingly in the public interest and which involve evidence that cannot be obtained by straightforward means.
Does nothing to intrude into anybody’s private life, grief or distress unless justified by overriding consideration of the public interest.
Protects the identity of sources who supply information in confidence and material gathered in the course of her/his work.
Resists threats or any other inducements to influence, distort or suppress information and takes no unfair personal advantage of information gained in the course of her/his duties before the information is public knowledge.
Produces no material likely to lead to hatred or discrimination on the grounds of a person’s age, gender, race, colour, creed, legal status, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation.
Does not by way of statement, voice or appearance endorse by advertisement any commercial product or service save for the promotion of her/his own work or of the medium by which she/he is employed.
A journalist shall normally seek the consent of an appropriate adult when interviewing or photographing a child for a story about her/his welfare.
Avoids plagiarism.”
Just so we know.
How, exactly, do they think printing absolute tosh like this will help keep their precious Union together?
I mean – really? Their unreconstructed, mind-numbing stupidity truly takes the breath away.
That’s the S.C.U.M. (Scottish Corporate Unionist Media) for you, I suppose.
I may have my closet unionists switched about a bit here. 😉 Didn’t a certain Alex Massie once write an unauthorised biography of Alex Salmond and was then roundly smacked about the head with a fresh wet fish by said Alex in the lead up to the referendum?
If I am right then perhaps this slapping about the face with a wet fish by Alex might explain a great deal of Massie’s *ahem* comment. 😀
That is truly awful shameful journalism. Wouldnt wipe my arse with that.
Shakes head.
Its a toryboy world, we just live in it.
Its quite sad to see a deep thinker like Massie in there with the Heil lechers and perverts though, lol, very much.
Keep it coming far right UKOK, more the merrier.
https://twitter.com/iainmartin1 is thick as sh_t too, but great for votes.
Lesley-Anne
It was David Torrance.
I am getting really pig sick of this relentless pish and drivel appearing on UK toilet rags (falsely presenting themselves as newspapers). I personally don’t care because I don’t crawl on all fours to read them but my big concern is for all those who do and then believe it in. Thanks Rev for keeping us abreast all the same. I continue to enjoy your updates of “realpolitik”.
@Lesley-Anne – I think you’re thinking of David ‘It’s a quiff’ Torrance 🙂
When purchasing my National in the morning,catching someone lifting the Mail always induces a wry smile and shake of the head. I do not believe these papers are brainwashing anyone, we all read whatever agrees with our own viewpoint….hence the incredulous shake of the head.
Embarrass the UK? What nonsense the UK Government, the DM and Carmichael are perfectly able to do that without any help from Alex.
Proud Cybernat says:
“How, exactly, do they think printing absolute tosh like this will help keep their precious Union together?”
In the not too distant future, when this period is written up in the history books, how will the activities of the media in Scotland be portrayed? What part in our road to independence will they have played?
They could go into history as the last gasps of Unionist resistance against an unstoppable shift to independence. Bravely fighting on while the pro-Union political parties haemorrhage supporters and disintegrate.
Or, more likely, they could go into history as a big contributing factor leading to independence. Their complete failure to perform as free and informative news sources becoming the symbol of everything which is anti-democracy, anti-Scottish, and corrupt about the Union.
In opening dialogue with the Iranian Government, Alex Salmond is only doing what the UK’s “special relation” the USA is also doing. Kerry is also holding unprecedented talks with President Putin of Russia. Imagine the howls of fury if Salmond opens trade talks with Moscow next.
The Daily Heil’s problem is that Eck is still obviously considered a “national(ist) danger” to their beloved UK, almost on a par with our First Minister, described as “The Most Dangerous Woman in Britain”!
By comparison, David Cameron’s influence in global politics is in danger of becoming seriously diminished if his EU in/out gamble backfires on him and his Eurosceptic Tory Party. Maybe this is a factor in the increasing vitriol being aimed at the SNP and its politicians?
New Zealand does a lot of trade with Iran, sheepmeat, butter, agritech (helping them set up a kiwifruit industry). They do not attract the sort of criticism Salmond does from the native media or the international media.
The SG are not parochial and have always pushed for Scotland to be out in the wider world.
PS:
labour in Scotland SMPs can choose to campaign for IN or OUT in the EU vote.
https://archive.is/JFxR1
Are there grounds there for defamation or libel? There should be, but they’re clever these devious bastards. There will be no actual actionable statements as they will have couched the language in such a vague and ambiguous way to cover their arses that it would be easily contested in court. They are scum.
The Vote is mightier than the smear.
Let us draw our pencils fellow patriots and cross these doomsayers oot! Come what May, we will girutflot.
Till then, let us rip the pish right oot o’ thim, fur that is all they are worthy of.
SNP/SNP Lest we forget.
@ Lesley-Anne aye David wie the quiff an the wee foldybike mibee,s thats hows he goat the quiff, hellafa windy coming doon that Royal Mile every day lol.
Just SO depressing …..
And on it goes…
It kind of makes you wonder what April-May time next year is going to be like! What spectacular headlines could we be facing then? Sturgeon proposes to shutdown the Old Firm! Salmond’s secret drinking parties in Westminster! SNP predicting $200 a barrel! SNP to home IS fundamentalist and his greater family at cost of £200,000 to tax-payer.
Only God knows…
I fear the media is in meltdown. Scottish election just around the corner, and nobody is listening to them anymore.
As said before many times, only the rabid ukoks buy this mince anyway, so they’re not really convincing anyone with their own opinion. It may be required reading by disciples of the orange odour, but they’re gradually decreasing in number.
Which is why these hacks are getting more rabid in their SNP BAAD narrative; when their “papers” fold, and independence is won, there will be no work for them in a new, fair society, where – hopefully – media lies will be more openly scrutinised.
Astonished to hear Itsaliar Carmichael commenting on a real politician. Still, he’ll need some extra pocket money for the short period between losing his seat and receiving his ermine.
The Daily Mail is Viz comic for the..
“..I’m still confused by this modern world stuff”..
..type of ‘conservative/libdem voter ‘
…and no one else!
Nobody buys into that nonsense now- but for many it’s still easier to blame Salmond for anything, rather than..
.. ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING IN YOUR COUNTRY.
K1 says:
28 December, 2015 at 4:15 pm
The Vote is mightier than the smear.
Brill. I like your style.
We’ve already had SNP THREAT TO WORLD PEACE..
They think this made up stuff backs that up.
Lol.
Anyway,
..I hope Alex has done well, the benefits will be felt throughout the land.
Isn’t that the angle that bettertogetherness should take.
Describing Iran as being synonymous with “the mullahs” shows that the “journalist” has a superficial and clearly limited knowledge of the country itself.
It is not all that simple as the current “supreme leader” dies of cancer and there is a great power struggle going on in a country which has two rival seats of power — elected secular president and (ostensibly elected, like the Pope) “supreme leader”. Not to mention all the organisations like the Revolutionary Guards, who control the illegal import of whisky and other alcoholic drinks. No, Iran is certainly not de facto run by “the mullahs”.
It is also interesting that no mention is made of the very dodgy commercial activities planned between our own beloved UKOK war criminal Jack Straw (!) and the supposedly reform-minded Roohani (who studied at Glasgow Tech, by the way).
Is there any way that we could get this rubbish PROSCRIBED as it stretches FREE SPEECH beyond credulity?
Auld Rock
A refresher course in a 6 foot deep sewage pipe of surging right wing bile?
Aye right.
Dinnae forget to clean yersel weel efter n case you catch anything.
Muscleguy,
“New Zealand does a lot of trade with Iran, sheepmeat—”
Does New Zealand slaughter the sheep using halal/kosher method?
In other words slitting the throat while the animal is fully conscious?
I’ll be boycotting all New Zealand produce from now on.
The daily mail is the most poisonous paper on
the market.
The headlines scream out the horrors of the world
and it preaches to its readers in such an insidious
way. I realised years ago that it was bad for a persons
health and wellbeing.
My other half continued to read this rag and it caused no end
of arguments at home, with him reading out headlines to me.
Oh blessed was the day when he saw the light, now he wouldn’t touch it with a bargepole. The only papers allowed in this house
now are the National and the Sunday Herald and peace reigns eternally.
ScottishPsyche says:
“This is why we crowd fund new media.”
Independence Live Xmas Crowdfunder:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/independence-live-xmas-crowdfunder#/
Please give generously to IndyLive these people give their time and effort selflessly for the cause. Just think how many excellent debates, marches, rallies and even Wings events you have watched courtesy of Independence Live.
Better still, give them £5 a month – less than you’d spend on a ‘news’paper.
…news….coalition bombs Daesh bridge…
I didn’t know they built bridges..
Odds-on that the Russians gazump NATO and get to rebuild it.
I think what’s happened is that the journalists were all collected together over Christmas over a liberal helping of wine and stuffing, pulled their crackers, put the party hat on the head, gleefully pocketed the plastic novelty gift, and mixed up the standard joke with their notes for their next article.
Pass the port and cheese board. “I’m a pudding”. Well, we all knew that.
Damn, my kingdom for an edit facility. That should of course have been “I’m a dumpling”. Well, takes one to know one.
That is one of the best=worst smears yet produced by the SCUM.
That they Daily Mail views Alex Salmond worthy of such disgraceful treatment offers a portal into the psyche of the filth-peddlers.
Maybe they believe that Salmond accused-ing still has resonance among Scottish voters. Alex Salmond was the leader of the SNP, is now an SNP MP and undoubtedly still an influential figure in the party after all, but monstering him in the SCUM media at this moment in time is not going to alter any voting inclinations as it may have done during IndyRef1.
So why do it now? Spite, perhaps? Maliciousness? Anything, anything at all to be able to have a go at the SNP in general? Just because they can? Probably all four.
They are but a-ranting and a-raving to their own rightwing, further-rightwing, and even-further-rightwing kind. An echo-chamber of hatred and poison.
The Daily Mail will have no influence upon Scottish voting intentions. It is, no doubt, aware of this. Its function now is only to keep the kettle of Unionist bile boiling, while topping it up on a regular daily basis.
“The right to smear an opponent is not one we should be defending”, Alistair Carmichael, 2010.
That’s still going well then Ali!
Meanwhile Leasky is having a meltdown trying to say that for one day the Herald is not biased.
What an odd man. I had never heard of him until recently. He is desperately trying to diminish his role in the whole SNPbad debacle by saying he has no opinions and is only a lowly reporter (only following orders?) and then explodes in indignation at anyone trying to impugn his integrity.
He must be the only one in the office today.
@ScottishPsyche
I don’t know where Leasky is at. He wrote some good articles about the view from abroad about Scotland and the referendum. Seemed to be pro-YES. But I think he got sucked or suckered in by Gardham. He needs to get out of that trap and be himself.
Ref. Proud Cybernat, SCUM ( Scottish Corporate Unionist Media) is a bit too much for me. However in another article I noted BUMS, meaning British Unionist Media? I’d prefer that, a bit of the James Cagney pugnacity about it. James Cagney? That’ll get the generation gap highlighted!
Iran visit: didn’t the Iranian Heid Yin do a Masters at Caley Yoony? So he’d know and understand Scotland. Well done to the SNP trio who visited.
Who are the Mail trying to impress with this “Alex Salmond is trying to embarrass the UK government” schtick? My response to that, if it were true is, “Good on him”.
The only people who would be enraged are unionists who already hate Salmond anyway. So what’s the point?
So the world of shite and spite continues in its inexorable journey to the bottom of the barrel and beyond.
I really have begun to loathe the bastards.
I have even stopped wondering how they can face themselves in the mirror – I no longer care to make any excuses for them.
Shite and spite writers every one and no Ian Bell to alleviate any of it.
Brilliant, yet again Rev.
However, all us regulars are not one bit surprised by this. As usual though this is preaching to the converted. The papers ( even the National it would seem) is not going to print this. The TV news is also being constrained to the point of strangulation.
This needs to get to the people who still read, hang on to and believe every word of the Unionist press. Can you not go back to posters? Remember the stooshie created when you tried to get ‘adverts’ on the subway? Posters about these printed lies. Also about the money the Scots send to the Westminster treasury for England’s roads and trains and sewers and the HoL and the rest. Posters telling people how we get little or no oil money back in Scotland. So many folk who vote liblabcon have no clue about it. Everyone of all persuasions see posters and billboards. I suppose maybe they are too expensive.
If I lived in Scotland I would be printing these articles off and posting them through the daily wail readers doors in the dead of night ( well, I’m not that brave). I know who they are by the snidey little comments here and there.
Get them thinking….like we got thinking.
( sorry, if I’m talking rubbish, DM articles really wind me up, but this is just how I see it from a distance.)
I think I said this pre-referendum: Get some cards printed [credit-card-sized] with the web address of WOS, ScotGoesPop, Wee Ginger Dug etc and accidently leave a couple of them at a time in pubs, buses, trains etc. Every little helps.
Mail and Record seem happy publishing black propaganda. How many regular readers know it?
(Your Granny’s sayin’s answered; http://wp.me/p4fd9j-2X4)
@ScottishPsyche
ditto, never heard of him either, until a few days ago, shame he blocked me before I could unfollow him
dads, if he was pro yes, (not convinced) then he reminds me of Derek bateman, he used to defend bbc impartiality but has recently been giving them both barrels, no holds barred.
I find it incredible that people don’t see such biased, most of the trolls I meet will say anything and don’t really care about the truth, but perhaps there are journos who genuinely don’t see the bias and the opening of their own eyes is what they find so painful
Kezia Dugdale’s on University Challenge at 8pm. Fun!
Starter For 10, Dugdale, Aberdeen, why do neo fascist thug outfits like the Daily Heil give you and Scottish Labour so much support?
Buzz, eh…
Dugdale, Aberdeen, what does red tory actual mean?
Buzz, eh…
Dugdale, Aberdeen, what do you plan to do with yourself after politics next May?
Buzz, eh…
Rock
All the sheep transported from the antipodes to the Middle East are alive, well they
Are when they start the journey, unfortunately a few don’t make it to be Halaled..
Cann’t stop laughing the only question the Dug knew the answer to was Oor Wullie Did not appear to have a clue about any of the other questions We guessed she only read only read comics
Massie,Crichton,Gardham,Torrance,Carroll and David Clegg are the Nightcrawlers of journalism.
They are on their knees where they belong, comfortable in administering their services to and on behalf of their rich Establishment paymasters.
They have lost the political battle in Scotland however.
We have moved on.
onelessday, to be fair she answered two…the other answer was ‘cloud storage’, I assume that’s where they keep their manifesto…so it’s nae wonder she knew the answer.
I scored well myself: 9 correct. (smug) (I should be running Labour just for that score alone!)
They lost the battle and the war in May Dakk, now they’re jist carpin’ fae the sidelines…or the gutter to use a ten pin bowling analogy.
@cat
I think you’re right. I had a look at his twitter feed and he’s indignanat about bias, going way over the top. My guess is he was happily trundling along, and has been hit by the recent wave of criticism about the Herald’s bias and has gone on the defensive, without having checked it out over the months. He also got hit himself because of the poor taste picture including Charles Kennedy as a “pensioner” now after the May election.
K1
Yes you’re right I was laughing so much at the idea of Oor Wullie I forgot about that one
Keep asking yourself the question: why would commercial organisation like these filth pedlars keep alienating and vilifying the Indy community at the cost of diminishing sales and revenue?
The answer is that they are paid to do so, are subsidised to do so, and at all costs by the UK government. When the truth comes out, if it ever does, the extent of British state sponsorship of the corporate media in Scotland will stagger future investigators as to the extent of black state propaganda being peddled.
Do not mistake any of this torrent of lies as anything other than deliberate disinformation and a continuance of the Anglo Saxon tactic of divide and conquer practiced down the ages.
Lenny Hartley,
“Rock
All the sheep transported from the antipodes to the Middle East are alive, well they
Are when they start the journey, unfortunately a few don’t make it to be Halaled..”
Shame on New Zealand and other “civilised” countries for their complicity in this barbarism.
@cat
What’s a shame for poor Favid Leask is that he thinks this article from Gardham redresses the bias about the SNP: “David Mundell accused of turning Scotland Office into ‘marketing campaign for the Union'”, whereas it’s just as much if not more, an attack on the SNP for increasing the spend on SPADs in its term.
It has become the case that, for a great many Scots, the thought of reading the Unionist press is as attractive as stepping on dog shit.
The tawdry pathetic Daily Mail, taking the Carmichael. It is now starting to get hard to parody these newspapers, as they are so off the wall bizarre regarding the SNP.
The SNP have been in power in Scotland since 2007, and since then have massively increased their political lead. During that time, hardly a day has gone by without some silly unfounded ‘SNPBAD’ smear story in one of the many BritiNAT propaganda sheets.
Should we actually tell the unionist British Nationalists it hasn’t worked, as they don’t appear to have noticed?
But Iran is fine to visit now, even the beeb say so:
https://archive.is/w8dyh
The britnat media are still attempting to do down anything that Alex Salmond does. If he saved the planet from a huge meteor attack single handed he would still be likened to the devil. Get lost britnats.
O/T
I see the unionist rags on shop shelves seem to be painting camoron as a bit of hero in sending a few troops to help the northerners in their hour of need. No tory bad at all, for leaving people in such a desperate situation by removing flood defences funding.
So are folks happy with all of this in Northern South of the border? Do they not feel a tad angry? If we were to take what the daily rags are saying on their front pages, it all seems to be in hand? Imagine if that were happening in Scotland? Imagine if the SNP had removed funding for flooding and then people were left in such a desperate, and unimaginably costly predicament?
English, got your pitch forks out yet?
The Daily Mail is the UK’s lowest form of bog paper, slimy like the old bog paper of my school days.
I would not even wipe Jackie Baillie’s earse with it.
A bit of festive cheer .
I have just had a friend round for dinner,
(a Daily Heil reader, and nay sayer, “who is converting slowly”).
This subject came up in the conversation and before I could correct him, he said it was bollocks(or words to that effect)
So even their readers don’t believe the crap they are writing.
Tick Tock
The “Scottish” Dailly Mail and the Dailly Record are now so absurd that you wonder why they print fantasy articles. One reason occurred to me as I watched a young man curse under his breath as he read the Salmond lies. They wish a physical reaction.
The simple goodness of the Yes supporters has made them blind with hatred. The invented cybernat “nastiness” was not believed and now they wish to provoke. Our laughter is destroying the Unionist fools. Yes,laughter is the best medicine.
@Davy 10.24
That is not a nice image to send anyone off to bed with!
O/T
Clive Myrie, on BBC News programme ‘The Papers’;
“There has been some flooding in the south of Scotland, but over the border in the UK, it has been much worse”.
My emphasis.
UK = England = UK.
Frogesque…….how true.
Famous 15…….You are correct. I do miss the hope and laughter, dancing in the streets and wonderful humour of the Yes campaign. I know we still have some but I do believe we need more fun and less confrontation if we are to achieve our freedom from Westminster.
We need to educate and persuade those who voted no…not alienate them.
Well I think it is a good sign if Clive Myrie does not think of Scotland as being in the UK. They are getting used to eventual Scottish independence.
Ronnie says:
Clive Myrie, on BBC News programme ‘The Papers’;
“There has been some flooding in the south of Scotland, but over the border in the UK, it has been much worse”.
Sigh. If only that were true!
Davy 10:24
I think the “bog paper” you are referring to is Izal “Medicated Toilet Tissue”, this was probably the by-product of some WW2 research programme.
As to the application of the said toilet tissue onto the fragrant Ms Baillie’s bottom.. It’s like space travel.. just where does it end.
And it left a terrible streak up your back
Usin’ Izal was like wipin’ yer arse wie a crisp poke.
For those still standing in line: http://wp.me/p4fd9j-31Y
Famous, I think you’re onto to something there in terms of provocation, I was always quite struck by the ‘venom’ behind the dismissal of us voting Yes from those who were voting No.
It tended to ‘get yer back up’, as it was shocking on some level, to be caught off guard by the ‘tone’, that one reacts instinctively to protect oneself from the ‘attack’. That in turn gave them the ammunition to accuse the Yessers of being the aggressors, but it never addressed the instigation on the part on the Noers.
It’s wasn’t a disagreement they were having with you, it was a judgement about your choice. I never saw this from those voting Yes, about the Noers, much of the reaction against the No side has been ‘defensive’ not ‘offensive’. The No side attacked the Yes side just for contemplating Yes, there was no other argument, it was a straight out attack on one’s character, for even considering voting Yes.
This has never been addressed by anyone voting No, as far as I am aware. And it continues still, only it’s voting SNP or defending the SG’s record, that brings out the bile from the Unionists.
The media published/s any ‘perceived’ cybernat ‘defence’ as an ‘attack’ on the No/Unionist side. When the reality was/is quite the reverse.
There really does seem to be some very bitter, snidey and angry bastards in that camp. I’ve yet to see real vitriol from the Yes/SNP side.
In fact all the humour emanates from us, they are bereft of any kind of irony, satire, parody, or just plain humanity as far as I can tell.
Hell slap it in tae them, their days of telling us what and how to think are over. Just waiting for the fat lady in May…to sing…the blues.
Stephen MacKenzie: “I think the “bog paper” you are referring to is Izal “Medicated Toilet Tissue”, this was probably the by-product of some WW2 research programme.”
Izal? Been reading my essay?: http://wp.me/p4fd9j-2Y6
Excellent piece by Derek Bateman on our bought-and-sold-for-English-gold scriveners. With good comments.
http://derekbateman.co.uk/2015/12/28/holiday-quiz/#comments
@Dave McEwan Hill 11:35 and dakk 11:42..
Job well done boys. I think we have successfully animated via Scottish folk culture Stu’s headline of “The anatomy of smear” via Jackie Baille’s derrière and Izal “Medicated Toilet Tissue”.
Turner Prize coming up for our modern dance interpretation of the Smith Commission..
Davy @ 10.24
Daily Mail no good.
Need a “Broadsheet” for that task.
I’m Flora McDonald too…who are you? (From Rev’s twitter):
http://whoinscottishhistoryareyou.com
Grouse Beater 11:55
Nope I missed your article, but fair point!.
Apart from the totally inappropriate tactile quality of Izal, my grandmother worked for LMS (London Midland Scottish) as a Ladies Toilet Room Attendant in Bolton Trinity Street Station and “acquired” huge stocks of this stuff!
There are some memories in life, like outside loo’s in the “back yard” and Izal Toilet Tissue that will never leave me!
“my grandmother worked for LMS (London Midland Scottish) as a Ladies Toilet Room Attendant in Bolton Trinity Street Station and “acquired” huge stocks of this stuff!”
Ha, ha. I enjoyed that anecdote! 🙂
Let’s face it. people in an abject panic at the near certainty of losing their publication Business, and their jobs, who have already lost all credibility and probably lost all self respect, will write, print and publish just about anything in their sheer panic and despair.
Not acing he did, but even if Mr Salmond did set out to embarrass Westminster, then so what?
With their grubby carry owns in the Middle East, and bomb first, worry later policy, and assassination by drone strike, and the flagrant prejudices over Palestinian rights, Westminster has been embarrassing me for years.
They smear my country at every opportunity, they smear France and Germany with truly tiresome monotony, they rubbish all things American except the weapons they buy from them.
Embarrass the UK? Yeah, good luck with that. The U.K. Is run by psychotic sociopaths who have no empathy with nor remorse for those whom they belittle and abuse. Embarrassed? They don’t have the capacity.
Capella: “Excellent piece by Bateman on our bought-and-sold-for-English-gold scriveners. With good comments.”
I thought this comment from Major MacBlodnok hilarious:
“Allegedly Torrance wasn’t born but created at Tory head office in-vitro from a foetus nourished solely on shortbread and condensed milk.”
RT in the US giving Corporate Media a hard time – see comedy take on ‘concencus’ that Clinton beat Sanders in last debate.
State And Corp Media in trouble all over
Link here https://www.rt.com/usa/327294-top-ten-jokes-2015/
Robert Peffers
‘People…who have already lost all credibility and probably lost all self respect’
These people are true mercenaries.
They are in it for the not inconsequential remunerations proferred by the British Establishment and are afforded a fine living by same(I’m sure I recall seeing Alex Massie wearing a fine silk cravat in one TV interview ffs)
They are conmen who have gained considerable personal success out of cheap lies.That we can’t take away from them.
But respect for truth and integrity,they have none.
@Breeks (12.53) –
Hear hear.
@Davy
Ye wid need a hoor o’ a lot o’ it an a’.
Anyone else ABSOLUTELY scunnered with all of this? The ongoing SNP Baad, Baad, Baad saga?
The SNP Baad reporting individuals IMO need to be kicked right up the ar*eh*le FGS: and that kick to their hindquarters would hopefully knock them right into shape and would be WELL overdue. This carry-on has now gone beyond, WAY beyond, the pale IMO. Warfare between Westminster and Scotland, to the detriment of Scotland, by so-called Scottish journalists and politicians is totally unreal. Should be but is not.
This Planet is on the verge of imploding mostly due to the old Colonial Boys (Labour and Tory) at Westminster continuing to bomb everyone to smithereens (for resources such as oil and gas) and on a lesser scale (well hidden- propagantatised?) rape and pillage our beloved Scotland, as per Ye Old British Empire policy / approach (over 300 years of it now).
They could in fact be dragging us all into a Third World War. The norm for them of course. The Leaders and Generals hiding out in the UK (or abroad), big mansion / castle, whilst the ordinary Joe Soap faces the flack. And when they return home get booted up the backside … homeless and helpless.
Planet Earth is facing extinction whilst Westminster con everyone (they think) by pretending that they support climate change targets: meanwhile withholding renewable energy subsidies and carbon capture here in Scotland (end game quash Scotland and to hell with the planet).
And, hey ho, not ONE journalist in the UK, WORST still IN Scotland, is informing their readers of such critical issues. No Pilger types residing here anymore? No? Sad, very sad, day to say the least.
Alex Salmond being more highly intelligent and astute (and honestly acceptable to the Iranians .. totally surrounded with US Military sites) than Cameron has used his noggin, but is now being castigated for doing so. Scotland versus Westminster once again. More than anything the Corrupt Unionist Media (CUM .. right enough) absolutely detest wee, poor and stupid Scotland standing up for themselves and getting the upper hand …. WINNING, so will attempt to slap it (us) down at every turn.
And from the last post Labour politicians such as Jackie Baillie are covering up Labours and more so Slabs abysmal record regarding their OWN NHS targets and treatment. MANY Labour Politicians having vested interests in private medical companies and fighting the bit out to privatise the NHS in England with great success.
MASSES of information on the ready to ‘out’ her too … ‘her’ …. being an infamous liar born in the far east and educated in England. No journalist in Scotland willing to do so?
NO?
Wooooh …. scary!
Dakk
“Usin’ Izal was like wipin’ yer arse wie a crisp poke.”
A crisp poke?
Luxury sheer luxury,
When I were a lad we used to have to break the ice in the outside toilet and wipe our arse with nettles to get a heat, central heating? that were fur pansies.
Next step for the likes of the Mail and Record is to stop actually using words and print something like the Bunty or the Beezer for its few remaining “readers”. Sales might even go up.
The Daily Mail had an article in before the ref., saying that England will keep the Hebrides.
When I pointed out that its the Shetlands which has oil, the article was swiftly changed.
When I pointed out that Shetland came with the act of union and will have to leave with it and decide after, I got banned from comments!
The daily mail is a great ally of the independence movement, it makes people so angry that that they work harder and fund it more. The desperate staff must wonder if they have “reverse Midas touch” where every thing they touch turns to shite rather than gold. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.
Nettles? Nettles is it?
You wur wan o’ thone rich weans then?
@ jdman & others dont be so critical of Izal ,you could write on Izal toilet paper,much like the newspapers of today,with or withoot the glossery.
@ K1 ” Just waiting for the fat lady in May…to sing…the blues.”
An am adding a Dolly Dye tae make it blue’r, these youner wans oan here ur getting weil edumacated lol.
Izal, don’t mock it.
It was the bedrock of musical education for a generation. Well, those that could afford a comb!
@cearc says: 29 December, 2015 at 8:40 am
“Izal, don’t mock it.
It was the bedrock of musical education for a generation. Well, those that could afford a comb!”
Combs an Izal, wis it?
Ye wir afu lucky, cearc.
Aw we kid afford wis tae mooth the notes an chap oan the tap o oor heids tae mak the soond.
Actually the truth was that I was brought up on a farm. Like several other farms in the area the farm still used horses.
The set up was the old farm Bothy system. Married farm workers got a two roomed home with no electricity, gas or running water. Single men lived in the Farm Bothy and single females, (Kitchies), were housed in rooms in the attic areas of the, “Big Hoose”, (Farmhouse).
As to the entertainment and music – everyone did something at the weekly bothy nights with each local Farm Bothy taking turns to host the weekly get-together.
Once each month we had a Barn Dance. The number of good musicians was amazing and if you couldn’t play an instrument you sang or did something else. We had everything from expert card tricks, monologues, poetry readers/writers and skilful raconteurs.
No one escaped from doing their turn and there was no shortage of talent.
Was kinda dovering this morning contemplating whether to get up about 07:30hrs then the tones of GMS drifted across from my radio.
‘Twas the brothers Grim of Auntie in Scotland Dougie Fraser and Billie Jamieson cudgelling me into submission with lured portents of futures yet to come with oil prices down to 25 dollars a barrel and OOOOh! how we Scots were going to suffer and Swinney’s teas oot.
Naturally alarmed I drew the covers back up over my face and cooried in for a wee while longer as it was safer to stay in bed.
I think I also heard the haggis was being replaced with a staggis
as there was too much sheep content in it and not enough venison but by then I must have been dreaming.
Anyhoo!
I’ve been up a wee while so here’s one for starters:
https://archive.is/ao7HU
call me dave says:
“I’ve been up a wee while so here’s one for starters:”
Re Haggis/Staggis …. does make some sense that since sheep are a relativity recent arrival across much of Scotland, that haggis may have been made from venison in the past.
Re Labour strategy …. interesting, seems Labour’s priorities for May are firstly the London Mayor election, then English councils, then finally a half arsed attempt to minimise damage in Scotland.
Good to see they are settling into their new role, like the Tories, of being an essentially England & Wales party.
Haggis and Labour, both mythical creatures 🙂
@galamcennalath
So it was not a fig-leaf of my imagination after all. 🙂
PS
Here’s another Fraser, also saying were doomed but federalism will save us all.
https://archive.is/HAhkh
Here’s the antidote
http://wisewebwoman.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/leather-arse-or-how-i-survived-izal.html
The Mail being the Mail.
It’s not for nothing that the late Michael Foot always referred to the Daily Mail as the Forger’s Gazette. Long overdue for a revival.
call me dave says:
“Fraser, also saying were doomed but federalism will save us all.”
FFS! We have just had a referendum where we were asked to choose … initially Indy versus DevoWaitAndSee, then finally on decision day Indy versus DevoMax/Home Rule/Federalism.
Aye, then Fraser and his Tory chums of every colour told us they were only kidding and DevoNotMuch was the best deal they would actually offer.
Our decision thrown in our faces and the result effectively declared void.
And here we are, waiting for a good excuse for a re-run!
Yoonie response? How about Federalism, guys?
@Wulls says: 28 December, 2015 at 3:09 pm:
” … Something has to be done”.
Something IS being done, Wulls, and it scares the shit out of them.
Fines were laughed at by the Press Pack, as was printing retractions. They are obviously not inclined to desist from their anti-SNP/Independence/Scottish attacks but now that Joe & Josephine Public are taking a hand, by not buying the state propagandists products, they are in a sheer blind panic and very, very worried.
Now anyone, with even a little common sense, would deduce that the deprecation of all things Scottish is counter productive for the Union and Unionists. They would then desist from harming their beloved Union.
The statistics clearly show that all forms of Unionist propaganda are being increasingly resisted by the Scottish public and such as printed media are in terminal decline.
Signs are that the State Broadcasters, and the commercially owned broadcasters too, are struggling to afford even just half decent programmes. The BBC has long since abandoned Scottish football even on Radio Scotland.
Now they are losing sports such as Formula One Motor sport and the coverage of such as Tennis is pathetic. It is disgraceful that Scottish viewers are expected to switch on their TVs to watch, “Match of the Day”, from the country next door.
So now the people who brought about the decline are scurrying around in a blind panic and are so bloody stupid that, instead of giving Joe & Josephine Public what they want, are increasing the conduct that is literally making the public, “switch off”, both figuratively and actually.
These days no one needs must view, listen or read anything that irks them. For the first time in history the Hoi Polloi not only have full free choice of their sources of both news and entertainment but can, with ease, produce their own.
Each one of us here on Wings has chosen to exercise that option and, while The Rev Stu orchestrates the subject matter with his outstanding articles, it is the commenters themselves that fill the pages.
Thereby hangs evidence of why the Establishment propagandists are running around like a pack of Lemmings and heading, as a pack, over the cliff edge to their doom. Like Lemming, they just cannot help themselves doing so.
It is built into the genes of Lemmings to self destruct when the sheer size of their population threatens the survival of the entire species. Seems there are now far too many anti-Scottish media guys and to save the species the rest are throwing themselves over the cliff.
I’m only writing this because I think it is very important.
We can moan as much as we like about the pathetic attempts of the media in Scotland to shape peoples thoughts and minds. Brainwashing and propaganda is the real word. We need more presence.
The reality is we have a minuscule media presence and it’s mainly here on the internet, social media and word of mouth.
We do have something though that is totally different and extraordinary compared with the SCUM. Due to the referendum we now have live broadcasting where we can interact and ask questions of global leaders.
Who’d have thought Yanis Vorooufakis or Noam Chomsky would find themselves being interviewed LIVE by ordinary Scots like us for ordinary Scots like us to listen to if we so choose!
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/independence-live-xmas-crowdfunder#/
Those that can’t afford anymore please ignore this post, there are though those that can afford a bit extra and it is you who I am asking to dig deeper to support our fledgling media. Sean Connery mibbee 🙂
We the ordinary punter have all dug as deep as we could the last few years. Many times we expressed disgust at the old media and wished for something new.
Well you got it in the shape of Independence Live, now support it or it will surely be gone before the job is done.
You won’t get another chance, this is it. We care, if you can afford it then put a bit in the kitty, it will make a difference.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/independence-live-xmas-crowdfunder#/
Shite that the Rev posted a new one 4 minutes before mine. Stuckit on there now of course but not the best place for when everyones playing a game.
It is no game.
Sheep! we always had sheep, ye cannae knit drawers fae a stags hair. We mebbes never had the “Great Sheep” but a haggis needs fat and there’s not much on a red deer.
As for Jackie Baillies broadsheet wipes, there’s still a Xmas tree up there at present. 🙂
62.5%, wisnae too bad, considering we wurny allowed tae revise. Is naebdy puting their name on the leaderboard?
@ K1
I’m Flora McDonald too…who are you? (From Rev’s twitter):
http://whoinscottishhistoryareyou.com
I got Sir James Douglas
“you are king robert the bruce”
That’s all right then…
Surprised at Alex Massie being associated with this.
Yes he is Tory Unionist but I thought he was better than Mail sleezebaggery.
Alex Massie is a pompous twat. And that’s being kind.
I received a pensions terror letter from Margaret Curran’s House of Commons office during the referendum. I’m sure that I kept a copy or at least have a photo.
I have been to Iran six times this year. Never seen anything to get concerned about although clearly there are human rights issues there.
The ongoing process to lift sanctions following agreements earlier this year seems to be going according to plan with the Iranians doing their part.
The Daily Mail is an absolute disgrace, these articles do nothing more than reinforce the evidence that the UK MSM is a propaganda machine which will brainwash their audience at every opportunity.
@ Fraser Darling, I also recieved a letter from Sterrheid with the carrot grater stamped on the back, she wanted to pay me a visit to discuss dog-dirt can you believe!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-35198452
More scare stories from SLAB