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Some rest for the wicked 402

Posted on September 25, 2014 by

Right then. I’m now back in Bath, which sadly is not yet technically in a foreign country. To be frank, readers, after the last three years and especially the last two weeks I’m mentally, emotionally and physically done in.

But on the 19th I said that it was “difficult to think of any useful purpose [Wings Over Scotland] can serve” in the aftermath of a No vote, and that’s no longer the case.

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No regrets 334

Posted on September 24, 2014 by

Or some regrets. It’s so hard to tell.

murraygrets

The UK media, ladies and gentlemen.

Our man on the scene 900

Posted on September 24, 2014 by

There’s been a lot of talk on Twitter and Facebook of irregularities at the referendum counts, leading to accusations that the referendum was somehow fixed, culminating in a petition to have the procedures investigated, or even the referendum re-run. As with most conspiracy theories, this is largely down to people not understanding what they’re seeing, as the videos flying around the internet showing bits of the count have been removed from their context.

votecount

For example, there’s a video showing a counting table with a No sign on it with a pile of ballot papers, with the top paper showing a cross beside Yes. To the uninformed observer, this looks like Yes votes have been dumped on a table of No votes; but in reality, the pile of votes were still waiting to be split up into Yes and No at this point, and if the person making the video had bothered to check, they’d have found this out.

So here’s a quick guide to how the count worked, as observed by one of this website’s own official monitoring agents (specifically me).

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We told you so #2 955

Posted on September 23, 2014 by

Even we’re surprised how fast these are coming true.

image

Stay tuned for more. They’re on the way.

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The best of friends 681

Posted on September 22, 2014 by

We’ve known and documented for some time now that Scottish Labour’s attitude towards “foreigners” is, well, let’s be super-generous and say “ambiguous”. But this photo from nine days ago made even us take a sharp breath.

labfront1

The woman on the left is the Labour MP for Aberdeen South, Dame Anne Begg. She received her DBE in 2011 “for services to disabled people and to equal opportunities”. But who’s her No-campaigning pal?

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The voices of unity 229

Posted on September 22, 2014 by

Just a small sample.

unity1

“You were rumbled, you fucking traitors. Now shut up.”

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A lie won’t fly 860

Posted on September 21, 2014 by

Scots voted No, in the end, on a ‘vow’ of greater devolution. Every Scot I have spoken to understands that the promised transfer of power can only take place if the books are balanced and Scots no longer legislate on England-only matters; this is manifestly part of the deal. If the UK government, Tory or Labour, reneges on it then the referendum result will have been fraudulent and founded upon a lie that won’t fly.

nofly3

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Number 1 in a long series 416

Posted on September 20, 2014 by

Of posts subtitled “We told you so”.

straw

Coming soon: Iraq War III, Tory victory in 2015, UK out of Europe in 2017. Hold tight.

Enough is enough 399

Posted on September 20, 2014 by

If we hadn’t already been sure, this would have sealed it.

separated

Because we all know what really happened in George Square last night.

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The country that wasn’t 1,041

Posted on September 19, 2014 by

Last night, everyone in Scotland lost.

greyhr

45% of the electorate in the highest turnout in modern UK political history voted for hope and for change, and didn’t get them. 55% voted in terror of change, but will get it (for the worse) anyway.

The No campaign desperately abandoned all pretence of being an alliance and turned into a red-and-yellow-branded Labour one, only to lose in Labour’s core Glasgow heartland and doom the party to all but certain defeat in both 2015 and 2016. The SNP will likely take advantage at the ballot box, but win only a poisoned chalice.

The Tories will triumph in the next UK election as saviours of the Union, then be forced into an EU referendum only a demented minority of them really want, and which will result in a disastrous exit from the EU. And of course, the Lib Dems were dying no matter what.

So it goes.

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Us, now, or never 2,468

Posted on September 18, 2014 by

We have fifteen hours.

spiky

The next fifteen hours mark the only ones in the entire history of time in which the fate of Scotland has rested democratically in the hands of its people. In 1707 the country was sold from under its people’s feet by a tiny handful of “nobles”. Before that it was won or lost in blood and sorrow. Today, the will of the people – every man and woman with one equal vote, regardless of wealth or property – shall decide.

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We have a number of questions 554

Posted on September 16, 2014 by

Concerning this:

betfair

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    • Hatey McHateface on A Stitch In Timing: “We all defer to your encyclopedic expertise on video clips, James, gleaned while hunched over them for day after day,…Feb 7, 08:36
    • GM on A Stitch In Timing: “‘We all know that Swinney stayed with Mandelson on his whisky trip to USA in Sep 25. I have done…Feb 7, 01:43
    • DaveL on A Stitch In Timing: “Shouldn’t you be goose stepping somewhere? Who’d be Hatey?Feb 7, 00:41
    • Willie on A Stitch In Timing: “The issue of John Swinney going to Washington to meet the President and lobby for Scotch whisky is exactly what…Feb 7, 00:31
    • James on A Stitch In Timing: “Must have struck a nerve eh, Prick? “This has driven right-wingers into a frenzy with completely false claims about the…Feb 6, 23:08
    • Hatey McHateface on A Stitch In Timing: “Sorry, Northy, but I couldn’t understand any of that. Please translate into Scots and re-post. Thanks in advance.Feb 6, 22:41
    • Hatey McHateface on A Stitch In Timing: “Woo Hoo, James manages to put both hands on his keyboard. Giving your usual hobby a night off, James? You…Feb 6, 22:39
    • Northcode on A Stitch In Timing: “The ancients – being the ancients – had a name for when words are used out of their ordained order…Feb 6, 21:40
    • James on A Stitch In Timing: ““….life changing injuries….” Yet more bollocks from the Site Prick. To quote Craig Murray; “The final question was the charge…Feb 6, 20:45
    • GM on A Stitch In Timing: “I see that argument quite clearly Lorna when you put it as you just have. There are plenty women in…Feb 6, 20:15
    • PC Foster on A Stitch In Timing: “Scottish Executive- correctFeb 6, 20:03
    • agentx on A Stitch In Timing: “They chose to be “activatists” let them fund it themselves.Feb 6, 19:41
    • Hatey McHateface on A Stitch In Timing: ““we are reminded here that: “colonialism is based on psychology”” Is that because it’s Friday, Alf? Seems like only Wednesday…Feb 6, 19:41
    • Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on A Stitch In Timing: “Or Scottish Executive?Feb 6, 19:34
    • Hatey McHateface on A Stitch In Timing: ““finding none of the activists guilty on any of the charges” Given they committed burglary, assault and grievous bodily harm…Feb 6, 19:27
    • agentx on A Stitch In Timing: “We all know that Swinney stayed with Mandelson on his whisky trip to USA in Sep 25. I have done…Feb 6, 19:17
    • Lorna Campbell on A Stitch In Timing: “Alf: I know it will take a lot more than that. The point I was trying to make is that…Feb 6, 18:19
    • PC Foster on A Stitch In Timing: “It was always known as the Scottish Parliament. However the machinery was called the Scottish Administration until Salmond renamed it…Feb 6, 18:04
    • Willie on A Stitch In Timing: “Couldn’t help but reflect on the latest reports about our out beloved Labour party politico one Mr Peter Mandelson. Its…Feb 6, 17:40
    • Alf Baird on A Stitch In Timing: ““try to rehabilitate Scotland before independence” I suspect that’s not generally how decolonization and ‘self-recovery of culture’ works, which is…Feb 6, 17:18
    • Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on A Stitch In Timing: “Re Sven. Point taken.Feb 6, 17:06
    • Alf Baird on A Stitch In Timing: ““Not the Crown” ? Hardly. The root of the despicable colonial situation is that elites in Scotland aye tak thair…Feb 6, 16:48
    • sarah on A Stitch In Timing: “Scottish court cases are hugely expensive, another obvious impediment to seeking “justice”. The case in the Scottish courts for a…Feb 6, 16:37
    • Sven on A Stitch In Timing: “Fearghas Macfhionnlaigh. My own view on that would be that by misnaming a devolved administration as a Parliament a clear…Feb 6, 15:24
    • Lorna Campbell on A Stitch In Timing: “With a heavy heart, I have to agree with you, Southernbystander, but not all Scots are anaesthetized by colonialism. Truth…Feb 6, 15:24
    • Lorna Campbell on A Stitch In Timing: “I’m not privy, GM, as you might imagine, to what the powers-that-be are up to, but I think that the…Feb 6, 15:12
    • Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on A Stitch In Timing: “I would assume that Alex Salmond, and Winnie Ewing (‘The Scottish Parliament, which adjourned on March 25 1707, is hereby…Feb 6, 14:50
    • barelybare on A Stitch In Timing: “Thanks for the explanation am firinn. I have a feeling only the initiated are going to truly understand what is…Feb 6, 14:46
    • Alf Baird on A Stitch In Timing: “It is surely colonialism that makes a colonized people ‘dependent’. For “without colonialism there would be no colonized people” (Memmi).…Feb 6, 14:25
    • Alf Baird on A Stitch In Timing: ““a devolved administration” That’s what the colonizer calls it. To the colonized it is always a colonial administration.Feb 6, 13:47
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