The media and Unionist politicians (we really need to come up with a word to describe that single entity), when not concocting hysterical frothing diatribes against Michelle Thomson or complaining about the Scottish Government giving money to T In The Park – a position we must confess we find ourselves in some sympathy with – have recently been loudly protesting about last year’s “underspend” in the Holyrood budget.
There’s an extremely good article here by Dr Craig Dalzell of the Scottish Greens dealing with the broader issue of why such complaints are idiotic, so rather than go over the ground again we thought we’d look at another angle.
We apologise for another post on the subject of The Wright House, everyone, but we do love getting our teeth into a puzzle, especially when it comes with a side order of lots of juicy evidence of the Scottish media telling people outright lies.
This should be the last one for the forseeable future, and we’ve actually got some solid info to impart this time rather than just a confused expression, so buckle up.
Even the alertest readers will probably already be confused by the baffling tale of Douglas and Jacqueline Wright, who sold their home to Edinburgh West MP Michelle Thomson. We certainly were last night, but on delving a little more into the media coverage of their story, things got a whole lot worse.
Older readers may remember an ITV show called The Krypton Factor, which had an “observation round” section in which contestants were shown a short video clip and then asked a series of questions about it.
The newspaper is a fantastic concept. A cheap, accessible product, it’s a brilliant way of keeping yourself broadly abreast of current affairs. You turn a page and are presented with a diverse selection of interesting stories, often on subjects you’d never have thought to go and seek out in the self-refining echo chamber of the internet.
(Theoretically links on websites serve the same purpose, but dodging “sponsored” advertorial, gutter-level clickbait, pop-ups, autoplay video and pages that judder and leap around so much while loading all this rubbish that you’re about 50/50 to have an epileptic fit before you can read the story, has made clicking on one into a game of Russian Roulette fewer and fewer people are willing to take a chance on.)
This site has never believed that the ongoing steep decline in newspaper sales is a fundamental problem with the format. Rather, the truth is that people stop buying papers because they’re full of garbage.
Most of Scotland’s news outlets, including the Times, Herald, Daily Record, Daily Mail, Express and the BBC, run today with the story that one in three Police Scotland officers intend to leave the force in the next three years, according to a recent survey for the Scottish Police Authority.
(The print edition of the Scotsman makes it the front-page splash, although the article has mysteriously vanished from its website.)
But a couple of pieces of important information are inexplicably missing.
You might have thought that the publication of the “Project Fear” book last month was an embarrassment for the motley collection of highly-paid but hapless Labour and Tory apparatchiks who ran “Better Together”, but it turns out there was worse to come.
Politics Home today reports what sounds like some alarming news:
twathater on Yelling at the tide: “I have no doubt Professor Baird that irrespective of what you post Hatey McFuckwit would have to comment on it…” Jan 21, 17:22
sarah on The Secondhand Amendment: “Andy Wiltshire: “Does the entire Scottish judicial system have membership of the same Edinburgh club?” Is this the New Club…” Jan 21, 17:14
Colin Alexander on Yelling at the tide: “Remember: In Scotland, Public body / professional body complaint processes are designed to fob you off and frustrate any attempts…” Jan 21, 17:12
Cynicus on Yelling at the tide: “Ian Smith says: “Bear in mind that AI can be prompted to agree with the type of query it is…” Jan 21, 16:57
Northcode on Yelling at the tide: ““What an utter clown you are “Northcode” And who was it who forced me to run away from home in…” Jan 21, 16:56
Lorna Campbell on Yelling at the tide: “No legislation in existence, in Scotland or the UK, gives any man the right to enter female spaces, even where…” Jan 21, 16:31
Northcode on Yelling at the tide: “And you, Father, are a total embarrassment… period. Not least because of your over-reliance on the exclamation mark and the…” Jan 21, 16:00
Northcode on Yelling at the tide: ““Give up son…” No, Father… I will never give up, I will never surrender. And know this, oh giver of…” Jan 21, 15:52
Insider on Yelling at the tide: “Christ ! What an utter clown you are “Northcode” Give up son ! You’re a total embarrassment to the Indy…” Jan 21, 15:15
Northcode on Yelling at the tide: “Here’s anither yin taken fae the online “Dictionars o the Scots Leid”: SIN, adv., prep., conj. Also syn, sen, san(e),…” Jan 21, 14:58
Alf Baird on Yelling at the tide: ““the Scottish Legal System operates in a context free vacuum” The basic principle of any colonial justice system is that…” Jan 21, 14:51
lothianlad on Yelling at the tide: “stick with it warrior Stu! Thank you for all you do for truth and justice” Jan 21, 14:49
Northcode on Yelling at the tide: “” We knew you would not disappoint us…” I wonder who the “we” and “us” are. Must be aw its…” Jan 21, 14:32
Andy Wiltshire on Yelling at the tide: “In reply to your letter, we undertake to give a response immediately after the conclusion of Operation Branchform.” Jan 21, 14:16
sarah on Yelling at the tide: “The plot thickens. Very well done, Rev, and thank you once again for trying, directly, to improve public standards in…” Jan 21, 13:53
Ian Smith on Yelling at the tide: “Bear in mind that AI can be prompted to agree with the type of query it is presented with. If…” Jan 21, 13:50
sam on Yelling at the tide: ““I would bet money that is at the heart of the Kemp fiasco.” Me,too. And “correspondence”? What part did this…” Jan 21, 13:35
Northcode on Yelling at the tide: “God Almighty the colonialists on here are thick. And their reading comprehension of the English language appears to be wanting,…” Jan 21, 13:26
Cynicus on Yelling at the tide: ““If you are satisfied that Judge Kemp did not derive them from generative AI, are you equally satisfied that the…” Jan 21, 13:12
sam on Yelling at the tide: “Scrutiny of the tribunal findings from Genspect. “The Tribunal maintains on the one hand that “having the protected characteristic of…” Jan 21, 13:10
Confused on The Secondhand Amendment: “let’s remember the facts of our own situation; historical interlude … the union, when you look into what happened, is…” Jan 21, 13:00
Ian Smith on Yelling at the tide: “Surely Judge Kemp must have read these landmark rulings by himself and noticed that his judicial colleague was talking nonsense.…” Jan 21, 12:57
Confused on The Secondhand Amendment: “no iranian cleric ever stole your country’s oil, resources, made you second class citizens/white n1ggers, spilled your blood for nothing,…” Jan 21, 12:57
Confused on The Secondhand Amendment: “it’s called the speculative society and its a drop your keks, grab your ankles and bite down on this ……” Jan 21, 12:56
Northcode on Yelling at the tide: “sin [s?n, s?n] adv. Since, ago, from now, from that time. prep. Since, from the time of, after. conj. Since,…” Jan 21, 12:43
sam on Yelling at the tide: “I think it likely that the matter of correspondence with a judicial colleague will be raised in the EAT to…” Jan 21, 12:43
Dave Hansell on Yelling at the tide: “Sadly, for the poster known as Northcode, an award claimed immediately by a post which implies, if not effectively argues,…” Jan 21, 12:30
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “Sure about that, Alf? My innate knowledge of Scots, backed up by a check in the Scots dictionary, shows “sin”…” Jan 21, 12:16
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “Given that Shona is to be replaced by Susan, it would be interesting if some forensic journalist were to dig…” Jan 21, 12:05
