Wings Over Scotland

Great cartoon. The people we as a society owe the most, forgotten by the lying murderous barstewards in Toryland.

Or, as Dominic ‘let them die’ cummings might put it, “RESULT!”

That is so poignant…

That gave me a lump in my throat.

Fantastic carton Mr Cairns.

It says it all. The elderly cleared out by death, and death that was part of the callous murderous plan to sacrifice a few pensioners.

And for me the empty care home room brought into sharp focus hypocrisy of all of the razzmatazz for veteran Captain Tom Moore who fits perfectly the profile of those who the Tories were quite happy to sacrifice.

What a filthy odious shower of murderous bastards the Tories are.

A hard hitting cartoon Chris, you have to think this has been a deliberate policy.
Boris/ Trump seem to think in the same way, that may be the answer.

Great cartoon Chris,
A very sad situation.
I have heard it suggested that, from the start, at the core of the great Tory “Herd Immunity Plan”, was the sacrifice of those drawing old age pension in the lower social orders. They kill off the pensioners and the disabled/infirm – it saves them money on pension and benefit payouts. I pray it’s not as simple as that, but we are talking about right wing Tories here!
Higher death rates from many causes are already well documented among the poorest in our so called “caring” society, making them all the more susceptible to the current virus threat.
Remember one of their ilk wrote a book on how to dismantle the NHS.
Johnson & Co must pay the price when this is over. No stone must be left unturned in the search for justice, and a very bright light must be focused on the Government’s “incompetence”.
Blood on their hands.

Aye the world has to change after this, the greed of the financial gods that rule us will have to end, Scotland has to get away from this union and start looking after its people in a different way starting with care homes, we have to look out for our older folk and the people who care for them need better wages, nobody should be allowed to make profit from people’s ill health, the Scottish people would be willing to pay more tax to take care homes under government control, my mothers in a care home just now, she can’t speak hardly eats £1200 a week it’s not right, Scotland’s people need a change we’re getting nowhere being tied to this unfair Union with three other countries.

I see Pete so it is Holyrood that has been controlling Westminster these last 10 years?

SNP was it that put us through 10 years of austerity that would pay off England’s debt but in
Fact took that debt from £0.9 Trillion to £2.3 TRILLION before Brexit debt gets built in?

Oh yes it was SNP that didn’t force Westminster to heed the Cygnus Exercise that proved the UK
had no chance of managing a Pandemic adequately.

Our budget is linked to Westminster’s budget, after much fudging, so when England pays their nurses less than us it puts a pressure on our budget to maintain a reasonable wage.
The same applies as England sells off more and more of the NHS to companies like Virgin Health.
Branson is now suing the NHS over an NHS contract he lost.

I think you will find that applications from Europeans to work in low paid jobs fell by 90% as England’s Brexit and declaration of hate for Johnny Foreigner has led to severe staff shortages
in our Care Homes and Hospitals.

Ah yes it must be Handcock the SNP minister who comes on TV each day to lie about availability
Of PPE and how great they are at distributing it?

Was it Nicola or Bojo who couldn’t be bothered to attend 5 Emergency COBRA mettings?

Is Dominic Cummings appointed by SNP or the Tories to attend SAGE meetings which is for leading
Scientists, providing the only come from England.

Was it SNP or the Tories who signed off the emergency order for ventilators from G Tech, who had the design and production ready to go, and then cancelled it as with more delay they could get the
Tory Funder, James Dyson to start work on something similar in his Singapore factory.

Which party controls our borders?
Which one lets 1500 people per day into the UK without any testing?

Got to get on with some irk now so can I finish off by asking you Pete if it was SNP who asked the
English PPE Equipment manufacturers not to sell to Scotland but Trumpland can buy?

Nothing worse than winging Scots ungrateful for England’s abuse, incompetence and debt!

This is so sad and entirely predictable. Wonder what Captain Tom and his daughter think about it!
However maybe Chris could do his next pic around the emerging demographics of poverty and ethnicity? Can’t see this government trying to shield them at all!

Wow Chris, that pulled me up short. So sad, but it’s what the shower at Westminster wanted was it not.
Shameful.

Oh and Pete, most care homes are privately run, some are under local authoritys, but not the majority.

Society as sculptured by Westminster undervalues the elderly. As a result they are packed off to care homes run for profit. Employment in this sector has a low value. We need to change this. As for Pete – London controls the borders and allowed this virus in, that should be all that needs said.

In all the Tory ‘planning for herd immunity’ they forgot care homes. Great cartoon.

Rainbows, clapping for Care and NHS workers, crowdfunds…. all well and good. However the best way to show support and prevent a repeat of this disaster would be for folks (especially in England) to take a solemn vow to never vote Tory!

My sister in NZ reports that our Mother’s care home has not had a single Covid-19 case despite being prepared for one. The NZ response has kept vulnerable elderly people safe. Visits are banned so my sister had a video call to Mum instead.

In contrast here and in the US care homes have been carnage. It breaks my heart because it could have been so different.

Pete, It’s the responsibility of private care homes to supply PPE to their own care workers.
Nicola Sturgeon has already stated the NHS stands ready to top up supplies of PPE but private care homes charging £1000 a week per patient and not protecting their care home workers are avoiding scrutiny.
Making profit from the plight of auld folk with ailments such as dementia and physical disability raises ethical questions that will need to be looked at after this crisis is over.

Care homes in Scotland , both residential care homes and nursing homes are private they are NOT administered or run by the Scottish NHS it was Margaret thatcher that privatised care homes across the whole of the U.K.

Care homes charge patients hundreds of pounds a week for residential care
Care homes charge thousands a week for nursing care

Nearly all care home residents do not have enough of an income or enough savings to pay for it
So what happens is that just about every penny of their income is taken off them and given to the care home and the government then gives the care home the rest

Caree homes spend the least they can on staff
They advertise in Philippines and other countries with low pay so that people come here and work in the care homes for low pay but think it’s good pay until they see what their cost of living is here

Old folk bad hearing poor sight and a person with an accent they cannot decipher
Not good

Care homes try to keep patients alive as long as possible it’s where they get their profit
I’ve been in many many care homes
With my job
Outwith visiting hours
You will never ever ever get me in a care home
I’ve already told my wife I will be found lying in the snow in the highlands somewhere frozen to death
before I go to a care home

So many scandals about awful things in care homes over the years

Making money from people who have no say and no control over their circumstances
Once you’re in you rarely come out

If you ever visit one you will see those patients still able to walk
Hanging about the exit door of their ward
Coming at you like zombies
Drugged up to the eyeballs
Trying to escape

Is that how you want to send up ?
Is that how you want your mum or your dad to end up ?

Scandalous

Pete says:
Excuse me.
Aren’t care homes in Scotland the responsibility of the Scottish government?
Some are also run by Local Authorities.
Back to the grievance

No Pete – I think you’ll find that most care homes in Scotland and everywhere else are the responsibility of the private sector – most care homes are owned by big private companies, Holmes Care Group, HC One, Barchester Healthcare, Foxcare Ltd, Care UK, Four Seasons Healthcare, Larchwood Care, to name but a few who have care homes all over the UK.

Care homes are big business, it costs £1200 a week to keep my mother in a care home!
I’m pretty sure the care home companies can more than afford to pay for adequate PPE for staff but have obviously chosen other priorities.
A quick Google search shows that most care home company headquarters are based in London or south of the border and their owners are extremely wealthy people.

So NO, these care homes are the responsibility of the care home owners, and not the Scottish government – no grievance, just putting private profit before the health and safety of people.

“What a filthy odious shower of murderous bastards the Tories are.”

This is very true but not primarily intentional, it is largely the result of a bio-neurological impoverishment in empathic abilities, and social conditioning towards authority and inherited privilege.

It is a rare skill to be able to escape one’s nature and nurture.

Social cognition

The Development of Theory of Mind in Early Childhood
link to child-encyclopedia.com

And if you really want to get technical about it, here’s some brain science. Just so the three stooges don’t start whining about me being a bigot. 😉

The Automatic Conservative: Ideology-Based Attentional Asymmetries in the Processing of Valenced Information

Abstract

Research has widely explored the differences between conservatives and liberals, and it has been also recently demonstrated that conservatives display different reactions toward valenced stimuli. However, previous studies have not yet fully illuminated the cognitive underpinnings of these differences. In the current work, we argued that political ideology is related to selective attention processes, so that negative stimuli are more likely to automatically grab the attention of conservatives as compared to liberals.

In Experiment 1, we demonstrated that negative (vs. positive) information impaired the performance of conservatives, more than liberals, in an Emotional Stroop Task. This finding was confirmed in Experiment 2 and in Experiment 3 employing a Dot-Probe Task, demonstrating that threatening stimuli were more likely to attract the attention of conservatives. Overall, results support the conclusion that people embracing conservative views of the world display an automatic selective attention for negative stimuli.

link to journals.plos.org

If the Scottish Government told the Scottish people that if we were totally independent they would take care homes into Government control and more money for the SNHS we could be Independent within a few years, especially after the shameful way the english Westminster Government have behaved, Scotland have to break free to have any future, things are getting more stagnant by the day.

Very poignant Chris,it says more than a thousand words could ever do.

Meanwhile YouGovs poll indicates that the SNP will do really well if next years Scottish elections go ahead. Its amazing what a bit of airtime can do.

Sad and superb .

If anyone needs cheering up , try reading the editor’s notes at the end of a particularly dire piece on David Icke ( for younger viewers he is the man who believes in the invasion of the lizard people and he wears shiny tracksuits)

You will all be delighted to know that,
‘News form trusted and credible sources is essential at all times, but especially now as the corona virus pandemic impacts on all aspects of our lives. To make sure you stay informed at this difficult time our coverage of the crisis is free.

However , producing the Herald’s unrivalled analysis, insight and opinion on a daily basis still costs money …..

Ho Ho

So old oeople dont usually die in care homes?

Meanwhile Hancock lies about coronavirus testing and English/British nationalist incompetence continues to kill.

I know someone who works as a cook in a care home In and out of the place like a yoyo. Goes home to family of adults who pay scant attention to rules. What to do a denunciation?

This crises is certainly not intentional, though it is a perfect example of an ideological rejection of “universality”, and cognition and Theory of Mind that is limited in terms of being able to cope effectively with complexity and ethics. Such is the Tory mind.

ah, Chris.

It looks like you have some experience of the inside of a care home. My mother was cared for by a fantastic care home in Greenock … It is a credit to Scotland how it is run, it’s award winning, and the staff are superb. The care they gave my mum til the day she died… I’ll always be overwhelmed by.

You almost drew their front room. There were activities every day of the week and there were communal spaces like this one you’ve drawn with bright sunny windows, nice chairs, a stray zimmer, and a board for the activities coming up. And I don’t just mean small ones like haidressing, games with children, singalongs, memory days, karaokes… I mean trips to Largs, days out to coffee shops, trips to watch Morton playing.

Their board will be empty. I am very worried for the staff and the residents there. And I am so sorry they are having to face this.

I cannot tolerate the thought of a world where we allow our frail, vulnerable, elderly to be the herd for the herd mentality … I mean what kind of herd is the generation that came before us? That’s it? They are a herd? That world is poison to me. So too is a world that puts carers in danger… staff who change nappies, medicate, hold, accompany, monitor, wash, feed, become friends with, minister to when there’s nobody there, and now sometimes too, die with. Another herd? That’s a world I will fight to change.

Chris, you are a human being. Respect.

Craig P says:

What I dont understand about the chat that the Tories deliberately want to kill off old people, is that it is the same old people who overwhelmingly vote for them. It doesn’t make sense.

Dog biscuit says:
So old people dont usually die in care homes?

Craig; it makes sense when you consider how overwhelmed the Western nations are with the pension liabilities. it is a serious problem that is getting worse as people are living longer.

it’s not that people believe for one minute that the Tories introduced or wanted this virus in the UK, but that some people at the heart of that party see everything including people as commodities to be used and discarded whenever they see fit.

The suspicion is that once the tories saw that this virus was lethal to the elderly and infirm they took the opportunity to ensure that they could make the best of a bad situation by reducing the pension liabilities of the elderly.

remember the Tories wanted to introduce the herd immunity system, that would basically allow the virus to do its worse with the hope that by the end of it, the population as a whole would be immune. The fact that this would possibly kill hundreds of thousands (some estimated millions) of the elderly and disabled did not seem to matter!

Dog biscuit, yes old people die in care homes and if you think about it, nearly every resident in these homes eventually dies in there, but what we are talking about is the FACT that many residents are dying all at once suffering from conorovirus19.

And that this was a concern that was being raised at the very start of the outbreak even before the deaths in care homes were being reported, and it is interesting that it was only last week that the Tories have been forced kicking and screaming to include the people dying in care homes in the numbers of reported deaths.

There was also a report that doctors in England were told not to put covid19 on someones death certificate unless that doctor could prove by testing that this was the cause of death, the problem being that tests were not available at this time!

so someone with the clear symptoms of covid19 could not be reported as dying from the virus.

Shame on anyone who supports the Tories.

Care homes concentration camps for old folks.

Arguing a point does not equate with supporting Tories.

Remember that evil organisation with the “one world philosophy” of universal human rights and natural law? Well here’s one that might prove instructive, given that those living in Scotland do not enjoy unfettered access to the international rule-of-law (see Brexit).

Globalization, human rights and education
1. Reminders and updates
….The aims of increasing return to capital, added to the possibility of locating the units of production of goods and services almost everywhere, have thus contributed to uniting or globalizing the world.

Among the main implications of the phenomenon of globalization, one can mention:

• the emergence of learning societies, due to the multiplication of sources of information and communication;

• the transformation of the nature of work with, in particular, the need for more flexibility and mobility, the importance of communication skills,the necessity of teamwork, the increasing use of new technologies, etc.; and

• the progression of social exclusion, a large part of the world population being unemployed or misemployed and/or receiving inadequate remuneration, finds itself outside social integration….

A focus on care home disaster a focus on the very worst aspects of this disease is to ignore the fact that that youre not talking about the general population who are on the whole healthy. If care homes and their staff had been isolated at begining of crisis and pour resources into isolating the sick instead of the costly excercise of shutting down the whole damned Planet.

Stark and sobering!
🙁

PS:
WM Government counts mailouts to hit 100,000 testing target

link to archive.is

Excellent article – ‘The pro-independence faction of the SNP’ – by Peter A Bell. peterabell.scot

Bonus – He doesn’t reference pedants writing about irrelevant writings.

Libby Brooks of the Guardian 02-05-2020

“New polling shows extraordinarily high support for the SNP government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a YouGov survey for the Times Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon has the confidence of 71% of Scots when it comes to her ability to make the correct decisions in dealing with the virus, with 23% saying they do not have faith in her judgments. That gives the Scottish first minister a +48 rating overall.

There was a high level of cross-party consensus in support of the Scottish government’s performance – three-quarters of Scots, including the vast majority of Tory and Labour voters, believe the SNP government is handling the crisis well.

As well as 85% of SNP voters and 84% of Liberal Democrats, 70% of both Conservative and Labour supporters are happy with the approach taken by the Scottish government. Just 19% said the virus was being handled badly in Edinburgh.

This consensus falls apart when assessing the UK government’s performance. Scots are split, with 47% of those surveyed agreeing Conservative ministers have handled the outbreak well and 48% disagreeing. Boris Johnson himself has a net rating of -15.”

__________________

There is only one vehicle that will secure our freedom, that is the SNP!

Pete says:
2 May, 2020 at 12:10 pm
hindsight is a wonderful thing and Westminster and Holyrood are equally to blame. To be honest, I don’t believe in the blame game.

Isn’t that a contradiction?

And do you have a link to the 2015 report?

@Dog biscuit

No herd immunity is not the aim of lockdown, you can never achieve it through lockdown. Herd immunity requires as many people as possible to catch the disease, even then it never eliminates it. The occurrences and deaths are just reduced to a level the government believes is acceptable.

If you expect lockdown to last till we achieve herd immunity you better get ready to stay indoors for the rest of your life.

The Yoons don’t like the reality being held up in front of them.

“There is only one vehicle that will secure our freedom, that is the SNP!”

Its a pity then that the SNP hierarchy are content then with just keeping their party in government first and foremost and see independence as nothing more than a means rouse passions and gain votes.

What makes you think that the SNP having more seats at Holyrood equates, in any way, to them pushing harder for Scottish independence.

Sturgeon couldn’t even bring herself to attend AUOB marches, never mind deliver independence.

How the faithful have been duped to believe that Sturgeon’s medicore performance on handling this virus, somehow means that she’ll now deliver independence if the chance arises, which it won’t.

The unionist media has done its job well giving Sturgeon X-amount of airtime and bigging up her exposure in the process, ask yourself why would they do that?

“Care homes were privatised in the 1980s under the Thatcher government. Those are now run for profit. Yes there are some Local Authority care homes left. However, there always was the option for wealthy people to buy care in the private sector.
Nothing more needs to be added.”

Really?

Did anyone really give a monkeys about who ran care homes or if they had adequate PPE before this pandemic? Did Sturgeon, did Carlaw, or Davidson or Leonard?

It may well be that the SNP will benefit from the current crisis in any forthcoming election, but there’s also a time fast approaching when people like me will no longer be prepared to vote for the Party while holding our noses. The Party has shown a dire lack of independent-thinking from day-one of this crisis, choosing, instead, to follow the advice and the lead of Downing St and its patently incompetent residents. We should be, and remain, very angry, indeed, at the stupidity of jettisoning testing in concert with people whom we know to be concerned first and foremost with the health of the economy.

Apparently John Nicolson equates those who do not agree with him to those who , he has determined , did nothing to help elect SNP peeps like him as he tweeted the following :

“Exactly. Angry Scottish Twitter doesn’t, in any way, represent the progressive, liberal democracy we now are. Thank goodness. They never canvass or speak to real voters. Let the angries tweet and rave into a Twitter vacuum”

John is one of the few SNP MP’s who are blocking peeps who , support independence….but do not support John’s main ‘Raison d’etre as a elected MP….a Raison D’etre which he did NOT canvass for pre his election in 2019…funnily enough.

Well, as a woman I am very angry…angry at MP’s like him constantly promoting and representing 24/7 an issue for which he was NOT , I strongly suspect , elected to promote and support on behalf of all of those who voted for him…indeed I would guess the elusive issue of independence was more the reason…..though seems to be, for John, a lost cause…or rather a minor cause NOT to be progressed by the likes of him.

Well as a woman I am one of those “angries”…not on twitter but I am a Scottish voter, SNP member and just so he knows I have canvassed, posted many leaflets on behalf of his party and was a volunteer coordinator that got a SMP MSP elected…I was at their respective office volunteering Monday to Friday for 8 hours a day and a few hours at the weekend to help get this person elected….but hey that’s history eh John and according to you could NOT have happened…and I am expected to just get with JOHN’S program and support something that will be detrimental to ME….

Well if it makes John happy I will NEVER EVER canvass, help or do anything to try and help and get a SNP politician elected again…THEN…John will be right in his sweeping assumption….perhaps “Now is the time” to give up my SNP membership as I appear, according to John and may I add others too..apparently one of the undesirables whose services and support is not required or desired…..a “liberal democracy” that suppresses free speech….the new norm according to John & co…..

I am beyond angry…..and nothing will ‘block’ my rage ….irrespective of how many SNP MP’s block those who, like me, seek to challenge them on this….I suggest that tis John who is in a vacuum …..not the kind he suggests….as his vacuum seems to be for us to ‘Suck it up’….and then consign us to the rubbish heap….wow how progressive….NOT.

So sick of this….no independence…lose rights as a woman…politically homeless and have never felt so full of despair and such a sense of hopelessness as now….

Apologies to all on here for such a downbeat comment…just my opinion……really am sorry for posting such a negative comment.

Doug buchannan 12.10pm. ‘47% of Scots think that boris’s conservatives are handling the outbreak well’. I’m away for a lie down in a darkened room. God help you Scotland.

“Not sure the drive concept really took off here, can’t hear the dialogue as it’s being drowned out by the rain hitting the car roof.”

I’m pretty sure headphones would cancel that out now, but I get your point, and no it didn’t really catch on here.

@Clapper57

Those like Nicholson are now insulting many who have been campaigning for Scotland most of their lives, while he was in London supping from the BBC financial pool.

His interest in independence only seems to have emerged when the broadcasters interest in him waned. I have a feeling if Labour had still been in the ascendency in Scotland he would have been an avid socialist.

@ Willie.

I read on fb, I think, a good post regarding those advocating ‘ herd immunity’. It was a simple question, who within your family would you be willing to sacrifice to this theory to gain herd immunity, because in the end, that’s what it boils down to.

In my opinion we all have to get back out there sooner or later. We can’t hide at home for another year until a cure is found. However, I don’t mean all rush out at once. Currently we are going through a sort of herd immunity as we speak, albeit herd immunity lite. We are not in a real lock down as compared to the lock down the likes of Wuhan, Italy and Spain have gone through.

There will have been quite a few folk who would have contracted the vies in the UK before the lock down kicked in. On top of that there are still a lot of people travelling to work that are strictly speaking not essential, but that they can’t work from home as they operate machinery or equipment, drivers etc. I think I saw somewhere that around 40% of people are working from home, whilst some others have been furloughed. However, it still leaves a lot of folk out there travelling to work.

We are still going to shops for messages, and now going to B&Q! the posties are still out there, as are multitudes of deliver drivers, deliveroo drivers, community volunteers delivering food to isolated people, charity groups out and about, thousands arriving at airports unchecked etc. etc. I live not too far away from my local hospital which is hugh and have seen on quite a few occasions hospital workers who have finished their shifts still wearing their scrubs form their days work and going into shops on the way home, possible carrying the virus on their scrubs.

So what I am saying is that in my opinion, the virus is still spreading about relatively freely in the UK, given the number of folk out and about each day and in shops etc. The whole idea of the lock down was not to overwhelm the hospitals, but sooner or later we will have to get out and get infected one way or another. I think the best we can do in that situation is to try and protect the most vulnerable, i.e. care homes, as these hadn’t been taken into consideration when the virus arose as it was all about protecting the NHS hospitals, believing that private cares homes would look after their own residents which was the biggest mistake of all, money comes before residents in these private homes.

Anyway, that’s my tuppence worth. 🙂

Wonderful and thought provoking cartoon Chris! Has anyone heard anything about Robert Peffers – he’s well into his 80s and as far as I know he lives alone!I used to live near Dunfermline and in these circumstances would have broken the rules carefully to go and find out for mysel but now live in Birmingham and it’s a long drive. Clapper 57 – understand your disappointment – i’m disappointed in the SNP approach to independence too but we only have the one bus at the moment. John NIcolson is a fraud!

The Economist is providing articles on Covid-19 for free. Some interesting reading. Here’s an article on the excess deaths in selected countries.

link to tinyurl.com

Similar, not the same theory. Full text.

Emergency Ethics: Public Health Preparedness and Response
Public Engagement in Emergency Preparedness and Response: Ethical Perspectives in Public Health Practice
link to oxfordmedicine.com

I’m not sure if it’s fair to describe the British war effort as being a “walk on part”. It is true that Russia and America played the leading roles, but HMG mobilised the entire empire in a global defense of her colonial possessions. I’d have thought that merited credit as supporting actor, at least. 😉

Red Squirrel says:
2 May, 2020 at 1:30 pm

“I remember a time before granny farming for profit was a thing.

You must be pretty old then. Neil Munro wrote about them over 100 years ago. In “Para Handy Tales” one of the stories is about “Pension Farms”, where a crofter takes in pensioners for profit.

@CameronB Brodie

Yeh, probably over egging it there but the small compared to the over exaggeration that we are about to be assaulted with. I’m not criticizing those that fought there, my father did, but the leadership and the use of it as propaganda.

The last opinion poll I saw said that 50% of the UK electorate would vote Tory and that 23% in Scotland would still vote Tory. Yet you couldn’t find anybody to admit they voted Tory except for a Tory MP.

So far the Care Home my niece works in is Covid 19 free. I have no doubt that it wont remain so if the Yoons in the MSM and the Tories get their way.

To Aberdeen Pict

I tried to get back out there but I got harassed by Gestapo Scotland for driving just one and half miles from my home along the Kinloss – Roseisle road to have a walk in some Forestry Plantation. I doubt if the Tory/Yoon Lairdies want us going back out there at all. I think they have been trying to expel us peasants from the Hills, Beaches, Mts and Countryside for centuries. They have finally got their way. I am not the only one who has been so harassed in the last month.

CMB you are correct. It is completely unfair to say that the U.K. and the early allies, like Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India played a walk on part.
The U.K. was the only country to fight the Nazis from start to finish and entered the war to defend Poland, unlike the Russians, who seized half of Poland and who supplied Hitler with raw materials right up to the day they were invaded, or the USA who profited from British arms purchases and stood back until they were attacked.
Of course it could have been done better but all wars are full of disasters for both sides. However no one can dispute that the fight against the Nazis was a just war and the British held the ring until the Russians and the USA joined in, late as usual.
Having said that, the English nostalgia for dragging it up at every possible occasion is sickening. To me the wonderful (and private) effort of Captain Tom has been tainted by the Conservatives jumping on the band wagon and trying to use him as a Union Jack icon.
Scotland will do things better.

Boris Johnson Killed My Granny – and all I got was

a temporary increment on my universal credit (which is fair)

in Frankenstein movies, at the end, the towns folks come for the mad scientist and the monster with pitchforks and flaming torches, finally had enough of his crap, his experiments, the rampages, the destruction

– these are always set in a vague central europe where the people had some backbone; would not work in england … there they would make the mad doctor mayor and the monster his special adviser, the doctor having reminded them that they live in the greatest country in the world, born of free markets and liberal democracy … anyway

the excess infant mortality was little more than the typical, falling down wells, of little girls, that they do … shit happens eh? – have a greggs and a can of carling!

“never shall be slaves”
– never been anything else

Had Scotland gone its own way in dealing with this, hard, early, nip it in the bud, and we had almost no deaths, while england was being hammered – this would put boris head on a spike and kill the govt, and make the best case ever for independence; the SNP seem determined not to score, even when the ball is on the line.

Honestly peeps, Scotland better get a grip of her politicians and judiciary, before they destroy any potential for justice in Scotland.

Biology, Equality, and the Law: The Legal
Significance of Biological Sex Differences
scholar.smu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3264&context=smulr

BBC now reporting:

Scotland ……..today……44………Total…….1559 (all)
Wales…………today……44………Total……..969 (all)
N. Ireland…….today……11………Total……..376 (all)
England……….today….*370………Total…..*20853 Hospitals

============================================================
UK …………..today….no fig…….Total… no fig

England deaths in the community will be added later to the totals
probably at the WM daily update says BBC.

Sad. so sad.

I remember the glee back in the 90’s after the Thatcher government had introduced legislation on care homes, in particular one individual declaring how his mother who was a private care home owner was “raking it in”.

I’m sure that they are not all the same, but also sure that zero-hours contracts and minimum wages for staff having effectively forced some of them in to work, has contributed to the rapid spread of infection in badly hit homes. And because of lockdown, the normal critical eye of relatives has been absent, allowing bad practice to occur unhindered.

How a country treats its most vulnerable is an indicator of how civilised it truly is.

Surely now its obvious that private care must be brought back within the remit of our National Health Service, with protection for residents and staff alike. That will probably only ever happen in an independent Scotland.

Would the Allied Powers have nuked Germany if the bomb had been ready or if the war in Europe had stalled,

think Churchill would have but Roosevelt maybe not.

callmedave says: update.

Scotland ……..today……44………Total…….1559 (all)
Wales…………today……44………Total……..969 (all)
N. Ireland…….today……11………Total……..376 (all)
England……….today….****………Total…..***** (they don’t tell us yet)

============================================================
UK …………..today….621…….Total… 28131 (all deaths)

The England figures are integrated with the UK figures
so you’ll all have to do the math and unravel it separately. 🙂

BBC it figures!
They will be on other stats but not on the one most folk tune into get their information. Good old Auntie.

I agree with those who have spoken out against Nicolson. A typical gravy trainer who has latched on to the SNP like a leech. They all need cleared out. If NS won’t do it then somebody else must. I am so sick of this misogynist, anti science shit. Yes I say SHIT. Because that’s what it is.

Craig P says: 2 May, 2020 at 10:44 am

What I dont understand about the chat that the Tories deliberately want to kill off old people, is that it is the same old people who overwhelmingly vote for them. It doesn’t make sense.

Whether it is intentional or not, I’m being generous in saying they are certainly not looking after the best interests of old people.

The Tory ideology is one of selfish individualism underpinned by an attitude of bad things happen to other people. The media, including the BBC, are pro-Tory and have a see no evil, hear no evil attitude toward the UK Governments handling of this health crisis. This is shown clearly in this article.

It is hardly surprising that the Tories are enjoying huge levels of support at the moment. I don’t doubt they are getting new found support from age groups of the young whose parents are under 70 and less prone to be affected as well as in part of the UK where high population density makes deaths more anonymous.

I do hope that elderly Daily Mail readers start cottoning on, drop reading that shite and get themselves clued up about what is happening in the real world and realise where their true interests are.

The Tories killing off the elderly, I know it seems like they are shooting themselves in both feet, but anyone else notice, the wee sweeteners they are now providing for the younger voter, the classic has to be, “we will look after the NHS”, that statement alone, would have the potential younger voter falling into the trap.
Most of them have no idea what Thatcher did to their communities, I know that was a while back, but they have Never Changed.
Never Trust A Tory.
Simples.

Another interesting little study here:

link to medrxiv.org

It proposes that the lockdown measures in Western Europe have had no real impact on the coronavirus epidemic. Of course though this is worthless and it isn’t real science until professor ferguson at imperial has modelled it.

Gary45% says: 2 May, 2020 at 4:51 pm

The Tories killing off the elderly, I know it seems like they are shooting themselves in both feet, but anyone else notice, the wee sweeteners they are now providing for the younger voter, the classic has to be, “we will look after the NHS”, that statement alone, would have the potential younger voter falling into the trap.
Most of them have no idea what Thatcher did to their communities, I know that was a while back, but they have Never Changed.
Never Trust A Tory.
Simples.

This health crisis has shown a great community spirits and humbling acts of compassion. However, it is a glaring superficiality in our society that is not confined to the young team with their TV reality stars but with the older generation, particularly those of the Tory persuasion who are clapping every Thursday for the NHS workers but just a month ago was demonising them.

Shallowness runs right through our society and history is going to repeat itself with people getting taken in by the Tories only for them to find out when they themselves fall foul of Tory policies.

Maybe I am being cynical. Hopefully I am and people start seeing through the Tories. This lockdown has removed the certainty and to some, the crutch of normality and the status quo from everybody’s lives. It is giving them time to take stock of their lives, the things they should be focusing on in life and what is happening in the real world. It is a unique opportunity for people to asses their world-view and change accordingly. It will be wasted if people are stupid enough to cling to lets be honest, their old lives before the lock down.

susan says: 2 May, 2020 at 4:29 pm

I agree with those who have spoken out against Nicolson. A typical gravy trainer who has latched on to the SNP like a leech. They all need cleared out. If NS won’t do it then somebody else must. I am so sick of this misogynist, anti science shit. Yes I say SHIT. Because that’s what it is.

In a previous comment, I had mentioned there is a superficiality running rife throughout our society. It has also affected the independence movement with the SNP riddled with this Woke nonsense.

I am currently reading Henleins Stranger in a strange land. Like most of his work it contains long, boring monologues of his libertarian political philosophy but I enjoy his work because he does come up with some interesting insights. In this book, one of his characters mentions that governments reflects those of the general populace who votes them in.

The reality is that most folk don’t know or don’t care about this woke nonsense and are happy for their elected representatives to pursue this. As I said in my previous post, I hope that when we get back to some form of normality, they stop doing this and elected representatives act accordingly and stop foisting social policies that nobody wants.

Golfnut says:2 May, 2020 at 5:23 pm

Thanks Golfnut

I didn’t want to get bogged down in my post about the total inadequacies and incompetence of the UK governments response before the lock down where we are in the total mess as needless loss of life that we see now.

ffijy says: 2 May, 2020 at 5:29 pm

Iain Duncan Smith that suggest the UK retirement age needs to be 75.

I mind reading a link that said in the early part of the 20th century, before the 1945 Labour victory, the UK retirement age was about that which IDS mentioned. The reasoning being was that most people didn’t live to that age and therefore the state didn’t need to pay much out.

A section of Scotland’s politicians and judiciary pose a serious threat to open society. These clowns will not stop until they have destroyed open democracy and the potential for justice. And we hope that these fuckwits will protect Scotland from English Torydum and Berxit?

Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights

Adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at its twenty-ninth session on 11 November 1997; endorsed by General Assembly resolution 53/152 of 9 December 1998
link to ohchr.org

On this David Icke thing,is this the same David Icke that predicted that Arran would sink?

The Honest Government broadcasts are very good. Their latest informative effort is on The Machine. But the back catalogue is good too. 3 mins

link to youtube.com

@Dog biscuit

I’ve also noticed the distinct similarities between the Alex Salmond WITCH HUNT and the antics of rotten US Dems (e.g. Kavanaugh WITCH HUNT & Impeachment CLOWN CIRCUS – based on Democrat/rogue deep-state emotions/hearsay/opinion/projection/conjecture ‘evidence’).

msean says:

On this David Icke thing,is this the same David Icke that predicted that Arran would sink?

Yes, he did and he also ‘revealed’ that the queen was actually a lizard with human skin used to hide her true appearance.

Obviously he was wrong about Arran! 🙂

@Scott Finlayson
Would a blood transfusion from someone that has had and survived the virus maybe help in someone going through the virus,

They’ve been doing that in US for a month with some good effect.

Remdesivir, an anti viral drug used for Ebola seems to be the latest big hope for therapy.

Seems the French are in it for the long haul.

link to twitter.com

For those thinking the problem with testing is the lack of infrastructure to deal with the positive results

link to twitter.com

WARNING

Prepare for some serious squirming of the toes if you have not yet seen the footage of the test being administered

This track and test seems like another way of tracking every move to you make.

I for one will not be installing any app that gives the authorities another tool in their Box to spy on you.

Virus or no Virus,,,I will never give them even more powers to control your life

Thin end of the wedge and all that.

@ Mike Cassidy.

I think what this farce of a test demonstrates is that the uk gov doesn’t have a plan, they don’t have a process or procedures that come into play using the information from the test. The tests are just part of a numbers game, not part of a strategy to get us out of this mess,smoke and mirrors, nothing more.

It seems that in North Ayrshire we dodged a bullet in 2015. John Nicolson was on the selection list for the seat until he dropped out so he could be defeated by Jo Swinson in East Dunbartonshire. (Would a better candidate have beaten her?) I was suspicious of him as soon as he mentioned working for the BBC.. Fortunately the excellent Patricia Gibson won the nomination and the seat. Feel sorry for any SNP workers in Ochil who have wasted time and money helping elect the charlatan Nicolson.

Just think if the SNP had put as much effort into test, trace, isolate in the beginning as they have into GRA and Hate Crime then maybe we could have saved a couple of thousand lives in Scotland rather than building up court cases against a government sometime in the future.

The old saying is oppositions don’t win elections it’s the party in power that loses them.

I’ve been voting SNP for almost 30 years but the arrogance emanating from some of their elected MP’s is starting to smell. Some of them have started to believe the public is their to serve them. I don’t think I need to mention any names, everybody on here will know who they are.

@ Fairliered at 9.36

… in 2015. John Nicolson was on the selection list for the seat until he dropped out so he could be defeated by Jo Swinson in East Dunbartonshire

In 2015, he did defeat her. It was in 2017 that she returned the favour, possibly because he was such a waste of space that even she was preferable to the electorate. Given a better candidate two years later, they booted her out again.

@Aberdeen Pict (1.34), Cirsium (4.41) et al –

I tweeted, this morning, that it’s ‘fuckin criminal’ that weans can’t get out to enjoy the fresh air and unusually long spell of sunshine we’ve been having of late. I can’t even source the original tweet now because I had to delete it after a deluge of genuinely angry responses.

The denial and fear surrounding this issue is quite incredible. I’ve only been an ‘active’ tweeter for three years or so, and don’t recall deleting more than 3 or 4 tweets out of almost 70K. (I only remember ‘deleting’ a tweet if I’d been asked to do so, or if I’d realised it was factually wrong. I’ve never been suspended or banned from Twitter.)

But this, today, felt different – my phrasing may have been awry, the ‘point’ nebulous to some, but the reaction was swift and vicious and intense. Remarkably so. (Otherwise, I wouldn’t be remarking on it.)

There’s a lot of fear and ignorance out there, in places you really don’t expect to find it.

It gets a bit testy, at times, in here, aye, but for the most part we just disagree, with varying degrees of name-calling, and that’s it.

Out there, in Twitterland? Express the slightest doubt about the ‘official’ narrative (I daresday FB is the same) and ye’re an instant monster.

Dangerous days we’re in, chums.

Mind how ye go there!

🙂

I was sent a WhatsApp I appreciated.

It shows a UK Nurse at the till with people queuing behind.
The Nurse is look up inside her upturned purse with nothing
Falling out.

She asks if they take Clapping or Rainbow Drawings?

Exactly! Stop insulting these people who are risking their lives daily
For miserably poor pay and conditions.