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Sing us a new one 297

Posted on May 07, 2023 by

Because this one’s pretty tired.

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Orthodox Pete 421

Posted on May 05, 2023 by

As all alert Wings readers will know, we love a “1984” quote. Here’s one:

So with that in mind, let’s have some fun and talk about Pete Wishart again.

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Quid Pro Nihilo 252

Posted on April 30, 2023 by

When Humza Yousaf was campaigning to be elected leader of the SNP, he pledged that he would be not only the First Minister, but also the “First Activist”. It transpired that this in fact meant chapping a few doors in Dundee, just down the road from his home in Broughty Ferry (and on the way to his Glasgow constituency).

But what might a real “First Activist” have done with the position and power?

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The Hole Story 138

Posted on April 29, 2023 by

Sideways In Reverse 124

Posted on April 25, 2023 by

Humza Yousaf has now been the First Minister of Scotland for a month.

“Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose”, as they say in Kirkcudbright.

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The Vulnerability Olympics 76

Posted on April 24, 2023 by

Last week the property-porn TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp described severely disabled people requesting same-sex care as “demonising male nurses”, although the statistics suggest that they’ve demonised themselves.

That charities have had to develop a way for severely disabled children who may have mental ages of six to eight to say “willy”, “hard” and “squirt’’ evidences the widespread nature of the sexual abuse of the vulnerable and who is most likely to do it.

Instead of trying to understand the position of disabled individuals and their families Kirstie has decided that it is best to ignore the evidence and call us man-haters.

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Big Sister Isn’t Watching 46

Posted on April 22, 2023 by

Something to hide 86

Posted on April 21, 2023 by

Alert readers may recall our last foray into Freedom Of Information requests, when a couple of weeks ago we belatedly received a peculiarly evasive response from Police Scotland with regard to a meeting in February between the then-Chief Constable, Deputy Chief Constable and the justice secretary Keith Brown.

We duly followed it up with an FOI to the Scottish Government for Keith Brown’s official diary on that day – just about the most mundane, run-of-the-mill request possible. We expected nothing remarkable, just a short list of meetings, fully corroborating what we were told by Police Scotland.

What we got was rather more intriguing.

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Putting our foot in it 415

Posted on April 19, 2023 by

Goodness knows we could all do with some cheering up at the moment, so let’s have a momentary change of tone and kick today off with a chuckle or two.

We’ve been working a bit too hard lately, and yesterday’s Wings post went to press with an unprecedented FOUR errors in it, including an “is is” instead of “it is”, a “more far” in place of a “far more” and a “strata” where there should have been a “stratum”. We’re deeply ashamed, and thanks to the alert Wings readers – including our mum – who swiftly drew our attention to them.

The most embarrassing clanger was this one, which we fixed promptly:

So imagine our surprise when we were reading this morning’s Scottish press.

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And so far yet to go 199

Posted on April 18, 2023 by

Almost every day is now a new crisis for the SNP.

But it better get used to it.

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At close of day 276

Posted on April 16, 2023 by

Some years ago while working in the NHS I investigated a situation where a group of very senior staff colluded in an attempt to cover up the misdeeds of a colleague, in the full knowledge of the devastating effect their dishonesty would have.

Yet in amongst that betrayal of professional ethical values one person’s integrity could not be swayed and they spoke the candid truth. I don’t know how it affected them in the long run, but it was clear that integrity mattered to them and doing the wrong thing was a burden they were unwilling to carry.

Anyway, their courage  to hold firm to these principles impressed me and chimed with the values I believe are absolutely necessary when you are charged with responsibility over the lives of others: honesty, integrity and a strong sense of justice.

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Clearing the bar 118

Posted on April 15, 2023 by

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    • CynIcus on The Tactics Of Suicide: “Is there anything to stop Hannah Spencer standing for the Scottish Parliament in May? . If she wants to put…Feb 27, 09:56
    • Sven on The Tactics Of Suicide: “Indeed, articulate in both English and Urdu I believe, although I’m not sure she mentioned to her Urdu speaking electorate…Feb 27, 09:22
    • robertkknight on The Tactics Of Suicide: “Post Brexit dust-settling now sees much in the way of buyer’s regret… Boris’s Brexit Bonus and it’s Blue Passport saw…Feb 27, 09:21
    • Hatey McHateface on The Tactics Of Suicide: ““down to earth and very articulate” Sure, Cynicus, so articulate she even learned her new constituency’s first language – Urdu.…Feb 27, 09:16
    • The Flying Iron of Doom on The Tactics Of Suicide: “Historians, help me out here – was it Iran in which the hard-left once sought to attain power by becoming…Feb 27, 08:43
    • Cynicus on The Tactics Of Suicide: “Congrats to Hannah Spencer, Victor of Gorton and Denton The English Greens are not as mad as ours here in…Feb 27, 08:42
    • Hatey McHateface on The Tactics Of Suicide: “Why would you describe a Green candidate (now MP) who campaigned in Urdu as English? Just curious!Feb 27, 08:15
    • Hatey McHateface on The Tactics Of Suicide: “I think we all need to take some time out to reflect today. The country has lost a plumber. She…Feb 27, 08:09
    • Bilbo on The Tactics Of Suicide: “I see that the English Greens won in the English by-election yesterday. Everybody is cheering them on as they defeated…Feb 27, 07:45
    • Hatey McHateface on The Tactics Of Suicide: “A fascinating insight, Mark. In your legal counsel’s dealings with ScotGov, was it always a foregone conclusion you would serve…Feb 27, 07:40
    • Debatable Lands on The Tactics Of Suicide: “The problem isn’t one of policy or ideology, it is a problem of competence and corruption. In both England and…Feb 27, 07:14
    • Cynicus on The Tactics Of Suicide: “Greens now 20/1 ONFeb 27, 01:37
    • Cynicus on The Tactics Of Suicide: “You can get 1000/1 against Tories, Libdems and othersFeb 27, 01:20
    • Cynicus on The Tactics Of Suicide: “Latest Gorton and Denton May election betting? Greens: 1/12 Reform: 10/1 Labour. 45/1Feb 27, 01:05
    • Young Lochinvar on The Tactics Of Suicide: “Why is BBC news continuing the old canard (while reporting on Willie Clinton @ chez Epstein) that Ghislaine Maxwell is…Feb 27, 00:55
    • Cynicus on The Tactics Of Suicide: “Agreed. Provided TACO Trump lives up to his acronym.Feb 27, 00:54
    • Young Lochinvar on The Tactics Of Suicide: “RAF sites used by Epstein.. Isn’t Gordon Broon (newly thawed out of cold storage) complaining a little too loudly given…Feb 27, 00:41
    • Young Lochinvar on The Tactics Of Suicide: “The above public information message has been brought to you courtesy of the Friends of Is Rye Ale and the…Feb 27, 00:29
    • Young Lochinvar on The Tactics Of Suicide: “HMcH You need to remember when talking about “who is subsidising who” that for over 50 years Messr McCrone could…Feb 27, 00:20
    • GM on The Tactics Of Suicide: “AFeb 27, 00:16
    • Mark Beggan on The Tactics Of Suicide: “Geri is my alter ego. You can thank the Scottish government for my early release.Feb 26, 23:26
    • Andrew on The Tactics Of Suicide: “I couldnt ever bring myself to vote for a unionist party. I’ve too much self respect. Plus every vote for…Feb 26, 22:57
    • Jimboagain on The Tactics Of Suicide: “You’ve missed the sectarian element in the Gorton vote. Longsight has long since been a muslim area and what used…Feb 26, 22:44
    • Hatey McHateface on The Tactics Of Suicide: “Never mind that. What were the odds of both you and Geri re-appearing within hours of each other after absences…Feb 26, 22:40
    • Hatey McHateface on The Tactics Of Suicide: “You missed one, Alf, rule from Brussels. Will that be direct or indirect? What was it last time around? I…Feb 26, 22:33
    • Mark Beggan on The Tactics Of Suicide: “If you were given a choice to bet on the future outcome of the following people. Who would you put…Feb 26, 21:58
    • Alf Baird on The Tactics Of Suicide: ““You seem to be suggesting that as a result of decolonisation, support for Indy will wither away.” According to postcolonial…Feb 26, 21:42
    • Mark Beggan on The Tactics Of Suicide: “Man of experience and wisdom. Uncle Alf knows best.Feb 26, 21:33
    • Mark Beggan on The Tactics Of Suicide: “Fascinating stuff. Sharing the voting conundrum you find yourself in. You should consider voting for the Legalise Cannabis Party. At…Feb 26, 21:26
    • Hatey McHateface on The Tactics Of Suicide: “How can you call it English gold when it’s Scotland which is subsidising England to the tune of £150 billion…Feb 26, 21:12
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