The world's most-read Scottish politics website

Wings Over Scotland


Archive for the ‘culture’


Appointment to view 154

Posted on October 28, 2013 by

For those of you who – inexplicably and frankly rather hurtfully – STILL don’t follow us on Twitter and may therefore not have heard the news yet on your gramophones, this evening’s Scotland Tonight promises to be a real treat.

mccolmjoking

Not so much for the fact that they’ll be referencing our poll, but because they’ll be doing so as the jumping-off point for a discussion between Dennis Canavan (chairman of Yes Scotland) and Ian Davidson MP, on the subject “Are undecided voters in the independence referendum more socialist, more republican, & more green?”, which should be like watching Rab C Nesbitt give David Bowie fashion tips.

Read the rest of this entry →

Leading the world 58

Posted on October 21, 2013 by

Every country on Earth is the best at something.

europebest

We can do better than this, right?

(Data)

The Ballad Of Naughty Jim 37

Posted on October 20, 2013 by

(with apologies to the author of The Ballad of Sir Patrick Spens, and with thanks to Johann Lamont for the virus)  

naughtie1

Read the rest of this entry →

Speking there branez 175

Posted on October 19, 2013 by

Experienced readers will know that it’s a rare and special day when the BBC deigns to open up a Scottish story on its website to reader comments.

cowell

The results are invariably to be cherished, as our friends elsewhere in the UK share their considered, informed and thoughtful views on why we’re all better together.

Read the rest of this entry →

Sunshine on Maryhill 234

Posted on October 17, 2013 by

The sun rarely shines on the council estates of Maryhill. But on the rare occasions when it does, they emerge, dragging their Argos Value deckchairs behind them.

maryhill

The high-rise flats do their best to block the light, but they find a spot in the concrete playground where the sun peeks through. They plant their chairs, flap open their Daily Records, crack open their cans and bask in the thin angle of the sunlight.

Read the rest of this entry →

Sub: please check 129

Posted on October 13, 2013 by

From another ridiculous, barrel-scraping right-wing tabloid piece today:

“Another song pays tribute to the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, while All Jock Tamson’s Bairns are Coming Home, by Steven Clark, welcomes refugees from “Iraq, Zimbabwe, Turkey and Somalia”.

Scottish Conservative education spokeswoman Mary Scanlon said: ‘The SNP is abusing the education system to promote its own separation propaganda.'”

Welcoming refugees from all corners of the globe, while simultaneously promoting “separatism”? Is it just us, or is there maybe a wee bit of a logical contradiction there?

The stench of panic from the No camp is getting overwhelming.

The Fear Factor (complete) 91

Posted on October 10, 2013 by

If you’ve been waiting (as we have), here are all six episodes of Jack Foster’s superb overview of the Scottish political scene, collected into one punchy 34-minute film.

Adam Curtis would, we hope, be proud.

When you have no culture 83

Posted on October 10, 2013 by

Particularly alert readers will have noticed that this site isn’t called Wings Over Wales. Which is a shame in one sense, because “WOW” would be a great acronym to have.

kingsway

But we’re going to make an exception to our normally all-Scottish, all the time agenda today, because of something that happened in the smaller of mainland UK’s sub-states about which we happen to have some personal experience, and which ties in to Labour peer Lord George Robertson’s extraordinary assertion in a debate last month that Scotland has “no language or culture or any of that”.

Read the rest of this entry →

The cower of Scotland 220

Posted on October 10, 2013 by

We’ve highlighted some truly gruesome displays of anti-Scottish bigotry on this website over the last couple of years, the large majority of them from right-wing English newspapers. But today sees perhaps the worst case we’ve ever seen, and we’re sad to report that the blame for this one lies squarely at Scotland’s own door.

subservience

We hope you have a strong stomach.

Read the rest of this entry →

Cockblocking beats 48

Posted on October 09, 2013 by

Below is an extract from an article published in the US quarterly Dissent Magazine, entitled “Cockblocked by Redistribution: A Pick-up Artist in Denmark”.

cockblock

We tweeted a link to it yesterday but dismayingly nobody seemed to notice it (not a single retweet last time we looked), and it really deserves reading. It’s an aspect of Nordic social democracy and gender equality that you don’t hear much about.

Read the rest of this entry →

Without honour in their land 343

Posted on October 08, 2013 by

This is the entrance to the municipal offices of Stirling Council (“Scotland’s Heart”), visible from the monument to William Wallace that looks over the former Scottish capital. The figures guarding the doorway are Wallace and Robert the Bruce.

The building’s flagpole is flying a Saltire (specifically the city’s own modified coat-of-arms version, which features a Lion Rampant and explicitly represents the Battle of Bannockburn), as you might quite reasonably expect it to.

stirlingcouncil1

Enjoy this patriotic sight while you can. It might have barely 48 hours left.

Read the rest of this entry →

At last, the big questions 153

Posted on October 08, 2013 by

This, chums, is what the Daily Telegraph thinks of as “a house”:

houseprice

The article appears to go on to suggest that house prices in England would rocket as a result of a Yes vote, while those in Scotland would plummet. We’re not quite sure that the average Scottish voter will reach the same conclusion from that assertion that the Telegraph would want them to.

Read the rest of this entry →

  • About

    Wings Over Scotland is a thing that exists.

    Stats: 6,858 Posts, 1,232,939 Comments

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Tags

  • Recent Comments

    • James Cheyne on A matter of class: “North Code, Scotland does need to wake up, and pretty quick, If England claims only Scotland is bound by the…Dec 22, 14:29
    • sam on A matter of class: “https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1467-923X.13214 “Exploring Sovereignty in Scotland” David McCrone Michael Keating “The largest proportion in the sample, 30 per cent are ‘Scottish…Dec 22, 14:21
    • Captain Caveman on A matter of class: “I couldn’t care less whether the likes of you believes me or not – as I’ve already told you. Feel…Dec 22, 14:09
    • Aidan on A matter of class: “The bigger picture Dan is that the only thing you seem to be in favour of is highest taxes on…Dec 22, 14:09
    • Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “@Alf Baird 8.24pm Like any peoples language the Scots language plays ‘a vital role in shaping and defining ethnic identity’,…Dec 22, 14:07
    • James on A matter of class: “We’ve only got your word for that though, haven’t we sweetie? You’re a Reform shill so probably a born liar.Dec 22, 13:53
    • James Cheyne on A matter of class: “Alf Baird. Even with the trickery, bribery and deceit it must be remembered that the Scottish participation was only set…Dec 22, 13:48
    • Captain Caveman on A matter of class: ““A braw chortle at young unionist Aidan whining about the demise of industries in Scotland.” Aw, look at old Dan,…Dec 22, 13:17
    • diabloandco on A matter of class: “Just caught up with Led by Donkeys projection on Windsor castle – nice work!! And Nicola Jennings cartoon in the…Dec 22, 12:33
    • Northcode on A matter of class: ““Scotland does need to wake up…” She surely does, James. Her bedside alarm is now ringing, at least, and I…Dec 22, 12:32
    • Northcode on A matter of class: “I’ve always thought of the word ‘inchoately’ as being a particularly unhelpful word; a word with no clear and singularly…Dec 22, 12:17
    • Alf Baird on A matter of class: “Indeed so, James, and in addition, there is plenty of evidence of bribery and coercion involved at the time which…Dec 22, 12:15
    • Alf Baird on A matter of class: ““Unreasoning nativists can scream inchoately” You mean like American Professor Michael Hechter in his detailed scientific analysis of the ‘UK…Dec 22, 11:49
    • Northcode on A matter of class: “Yet another excellent and informative post, Alf. Personally, I’m sick of swallowing Westminster’s green and mouldy moon cheese. An observation:…Dec 22, 11:45
    • Northcode on A matter of class: “Foul language restrained in writing is a sad and pathetic sight to behold. Foul language by its nature is wild…Dec 22, 11:25
    • James Cheyne on A matter of class: “The Union remembers and fears the day coming in and shining a light over the treaty, It fears that Scotland…Dec 22, 11:09
    • Alf Baird on A matter of class: “Yes, and the stink of “colonialism …drives the most peaceable populations to despair” (Cesaire) Aside from the obligatory racism and…Dec 22, 11:09
    • The Flying Iron of Doom on A matter of class: “Hatey McHateface says: 20 December, 2025 at 3:30 pm Thanks for your reply, Stuart. As it happens, I lack a…Dec 22, 11:06
    • Northcode on A matter of class: ““What fascinating dialogues we could have” Here’s some dialogue for you (really more a command): “DANCE!” Dance tae whitiver tune…Dec 22, 11:01
    • Captain Caveman on A matter of class: “@Hatey “… As to their younger years, a casual look at their typical posts suggests they could never have done…Dec 22, 11:00
    • James Cheyne on A matter of class: “England did not need a referendum to leave the treaty of union in 1800. But Scotland does need a referendum…Dec 22, 10:58
    • James Cheyne on A matter of class: “I understand the unionist mind to try keep us voting for a construct that is not there, to keep us…Dec 22, 10:37
    • Dan on A matter of class: “A braw chortle at young unionist Aidan whining about the demise of industries in Scotland. Sad to see such a…Dec 22, 10:36
    • Northcode on A matter of class: “Guid mornyng aw… A howp ye aw hae a guid Monday day the day.Dec 22, 10:13
    • Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: “A fascinating article, Dan. As you say, much to mull over in it. If only Wings BTL provided a forum…Dec 22, 09:53
    • Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: “Mair car park mayhem in mos cow. Some cant must have cut up some other cant at a junction and…Dec 22, 09:41
    • Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: “@Aidan It’s overwhelmingly likely that none of the usual suspects pay any taxes, being well past the age when they…Dec 22, 09:30
    • Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: “Rather disappointing to hear that about Viz. I would have expected that more than half of every Viz issue could…Dec 22, 08:59
    • Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: “Check out the ablest prejudice from Beggan. To him, the differently abled really do not exist.Dec 22, 08:47
    • Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: “Calm doon, James, and hauld oot fer jist a couple mair days. Ye’re certain tae get new socks fer Xmas,…Dec 22, 08:42
  • A tall tale



↑ Top