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A decisive choice 264

Posted on August 26, 2014 by

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Picking up a buzz 172

Posted on May 01, 2014 by

Yesterday, we discovered a rather curious anti-independence “listicle” on the popular viral-meme website Buzzfeed. Entitled “Scotland. The UK. 10 Myths. 10 Facts.”, it describes itself as “myth busting” by an author identified only as “YouDecide2014”.

It was shared or retweeted by a variety of Conservative Party special advisers, the 10 Downing Street Facebook account, and even the UK Ministry of Defence.

sheepie

The crude, extremely biased article gives no indication that it’s written by the UK government. The closest it comes to doing so is right at the end, where it says “Get the facts at www.gov.uk/scottishreferendum. The Buzzfeed account page makes no reference to the UK government, and the layout makes the piece look like any normal article on the site, although in fact it’s posted on Buzzfeed Community, which is an area where users can post anything they want to without censorship.

We decided to find out more.

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How money changed everything 200

Posted on December 05, 2013 by

We all know there’s something strange about Britain. Germany and China have their factories, France and Japan their nuclear power plants. America has Google and Apple and the world’s largest navy. But how is it that Britain, a country that closed its mines and shuttered almost its entire manufacturing industry, is still a major world economy?

infra

The answer is Britain’s best-kept economic secret. It links Grangemouth, the obscene cost of housing in London, the Royal Mail sell-off, Channel Island tax havens and George Osborne’s disregard for the poor, and explains why an incomprehensible financial crisis triggered by bad American mortgages led to the closure of municipal libraries and swimming pools across the UK and a programme of permanent austerity.

And more to the point, it explains why only London, not Scotland or Wales or Yorkshire or Wearside, matters to the British political class today.

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    • Hatey McHateface on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Hmmm, Northy, you’ve taken that too far. Cos I don’t want to believe you enjoyed having high pressure air blasted…Dec 8, 19:34
    • Northcode on The Long Walk To Freedom: ““…an increasingly big and increasingly vocal minority…” Indeed, aye. I was having a bite of lunch a couple of years…Dec 8, 19:31
    • sarah on Off-topic: “Hi, Tinto. Nice to hear from you. I trust that all is well with you and you are keeping your…Dec 8, 19:29
    • Hatey McHateface on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Ah ken that ane. It’s ane of the Apocrypha. But dinna let oan tae Confused.Dec 8, 19:26
    • Northcode on The Long Walk To Freedom: “I was played like a church organ once…I rather enjoyed the experience.Dec 8, 19:10
    • Hatey McHateface on The Long Walk To Freedom: “@Aidan Has it occurred to you that the Liberate Scotland boys are almost certainly FIGHTING among themselves?Dec 8, 19:09
    • Hatey McHateface on The Long Walk To Freedom: ““Labour had been in power in Scotland mostly for the previous 70 years and the destruction and carnage they presided…Dec 8, 19:06
    • Northcode on The Long Walk To Freedom: “It’s a noitalever to me.Dec 8, 19:03
    • Northcode on The Long Walk To Freedom: ““Saint Northy” Oh here! I quite like that. I might set it up as a new moniker on here and…Dec 8, 18:58
    • Nae Need! on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Fact, James Cheyne.Dec 8, 18:56
    • Hatey McHateface on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Did you know that cat is just tac spelled backwards?Dec 8, 18:55
    • Hatey McHateface on The Long Walk To Freedom: ““And how much I hate them. For failing us all entirely.” Quite a reek of smouldering breeks from that post,…Dec 8, 18:53
    • Northcode on The Long Walk To Freedom: “I would rather be a deluded eejit than a colonialist… and, thankfully, I am. Phew! And, yes. I WILL be…Dec 8, 18:51
    • stuckdoonhame on The Long Walk To Freedom: “And true to type, Misreporting Scotland has just treated us to a pile of wibbling drivel about the outcome and…Dec 8, 18:44
    • Aidan on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Quite right! Both votes SNP, that’ll show the yoons! Or you could be one of the ten people voting for…Dec 8, 18:41
    • Nae Need! on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Absolutely, Willie.Dec 8, 18:35
    • Nae Need! on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Indeed, Northcode. And for once, I’d prefer (hold me back, hold me back) NOT to go on a huge rant…Dec 8, 18:17
    • Hatey McHateface on The Long Walk To Freedom: “@ Northcode says: 8 December, 2025 at 5:50 pm “ALL colonialists are bad” Oh aye. That’s why you go to…Dec 8, 18:13
    • Northcode on The Long Walk To Freedom: “God IS love.Dec 8, 18:10
    • twathater on The Long Walk To Freedom: “HaHaHaHa another wee yoonionist shittin his breeks , now lads we are all good Jockos lets get together and vote…Dec 8, 18:07
    • Nae Need on The Long Walk To Freedom: “No. But by fuck the wriggling on the line puts ALL worms to shame. Talking of worms . . ;-)…Dec 8, 18:04
    • Hatey McHateface on The Long Walk To Freedom: ““it’s time the Scots stopped whining” Finally. Please tell us you’ll be leading from the front, although your “released from…Dec 8, 17:58
    • Northcode on The Long Walk To Freedom: “ALL colonialists are bad… that’s why they’re colonialists.Dec 8, 17:50
    • Nae Need! on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Lolz, you having a laugh? To LABOUR? 🙂 Fuxache.Dec 8, 17:48
    • agentx on The Long Walk To Freedom: ““It is not the role of the court to adjudicate on the arguments in the public domain on the meaning…Dec 8, 17:44
    • Nae Need! on The Long Walk To Freedom: “One of Stu’s recent pieces, I’m sure, outlined a plan for tactical voting: vote Your Party. We’ll see nearer the…Dec 8, 17:43
    • twathater on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Like GM , Benjamin I would like to thank you for your tenacity and doggedness in trying to get this…Dec 8, 17:34
    • Hatey McHateface on The Long Walk To Freedom: ““a ‘digested’ form of another civilization that had once gatecrashed into” Scotland, where it remains still” Sure. There’s at least…Dec 8, 17:31
    • Hatey McHateface on The Long Walk To Freedom: “2:46 pm on a Monday and James finally has baith socks on (on his feet, that is). Tired are you,…Dec 8, 17:25
    • Nae Need! on The Long Walk To Freedom: “Spot on, Effigy. Stu, I marvel and wonder at your tenacity. I love it. We need you to continue to…Dec 8, 17:12
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