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Archive for the ‘culture’


Scorched Ayrth 174

Posted on November 01, 2013 by

We’re really, really sorry about that headline, on several levels.

apost1

But wait until you see what this one’s about.

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Revolution for lazy people 77

Posted on October 31, 2013 by

Oh, I was irritating when I was 15.

fizzycola

On our way to school, my friends would stop at Ian’s Newsagents and scatter their pocket money on the counter to work out how many fizzy cola bottles and packets of Space Raiders they could get. I’d do the same, but mine would have a copy of The New Statesman thrown in too.

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Agony aunt 87

Posted on October 29, 2013 by

Dear Margaret,

I have quite the conundrum. I wonder if you could help me with it.

curranforeigner

My Scots-born best friend moved to Beijing in 2005. She previously spent a year studying in Canada, but when she came back I found no traces of latent Canadianism.

Over the last few years she has learned to speak Mandarin quite competently. She also works for the EU. That could be another nail in her coffin, right?

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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”.

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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.

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    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: ““Want me to describe how” Of course. But you won’t. For all sorts of reasons. But mainly because you can’t.Jul 29, 22:58
    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “Ah, Confused, some casual racism of the real kind, not the “doctrinal” sort dreamed up by Alf. And some of…Jul 29, 22:51
    • Confused on The Nobodies: “what does that even mean? I pointed out the “blowback” / unintended consequences of – the west – “arming up…Jul 29, 22:50
    • Marie on The Nobodies: “Well Burnham and most of his cabinet (and most Westminster MPs) are members of L-F-O-I and many accept donations. Westminster…Jul 29, 22:34
    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “Another from Confused in which we glean some indication of what his main concern is. But enough of that. His…Jul 29, 22:27
    • Confused on The Nobodies: “your posts are like a one man “dirty protest”, and never troubled by any coherent point. Still, quantity, not quality.…Jul 29, 22:17
    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “Which side did em fight for? Can’t be too careful!Jul 29, 22:15
    • James on The Nobodies: “Cheers!Jul 29, 22:13
    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: ““on the wrong side of history and morality” Oh, yeah, sure. I’m not cheering on the people who want to…Jul 29, 22:12
    • Confused on The Nobodies: “Sudan? I pointed out a while ago that the worst nutters we have imported to roam our streets tend to…Jul 29, 22:12
    • Young Lochinvar on The Nobodies: “Happy anniversary tomorrow of the Battle of Boroughmuir (Edinburgh) 1335. Fought during the second wars of independence, another one the…Jul 29, 21:47
    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: ““sitting on it’s fat arse” Ah, Wally W, you’re another who should make the effort to post in Scots. That…Jul 29, 21:38
    • Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The Nobodies: “« In another place [Carl] Schmitt calls sovereignty “true state omnipotence.” He holds that sovereignty lies with the person who…Jul 29, 21:07
    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “You give way too much attention, Northy, to the voices in yer heid.Jul 29, 19:28
    • James on The Nobodies: “LOLZ…..says the Keyboard Warrior – sitting on it’s fat arse in East Kilbride posting Unionist Shite on here all day,…Jul 29, 19:26
    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “Ah, Wally, as ever you show us why the smart money is on you still wondering, as the emergency services…Jul 29, 19:24
    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “What’s that you say, Sooty? Burnham’s going after people on benefits? Well, well. Maybe he will live up to the…Jul 29, 19:09
    • James on The Nobodies: “Nah, everyone here knows you’re just a Unionist “Prick”…..Jul 29, 19:05
    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “This is Scotland, sam. Why should we believe you know what a woman is?Jul 29, 18:39
    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “We have serious claims from Professor Baird that I’m a racist and a fascist. We have serious claims from Professor…Jul 29, 18:37
    • Captain Caveman on The Nobodies: ““My point wasn’t about the emotional harm of mockery… it was about its structural uselessness.” Well I daresay, Northy, if…Jul 29, 18:22
    • Alf Baird on The Nobodies: ““It sounds good but it’s not right.” Spot on, James. The statement (“Scotland did fine as a colony from 1750…Jul 29, 16:03
    • Confused on The Nobodies: “Burnham’s been in the job 5 seconds and what has he been doing : – FUCK OFF SCOTLAND was near…Jul 29, 15:39
    • Northcode on The Nobodies: “You’re raising points about government size and historical interpretation, but none of them actually engage the argument you’re responding to.…Jul 29, 15:31
    • Northcode on The Nobodies: ““Mockery and insults are different.” Your distinction makes sense at the level of tone, but my point was about their…Jul 29, 14:53
    • Ross on The Nobodies: “BTW, There’s an easy fix for the ITV screen capture problem – in the browser settings, do a search for…Jul 29, 14:09
    • James on The Nobodies: ““Scotland did fine as a colony from 1750 to 1900, not asset stripped. It was only when big government arrived…Jul 29, 13:50
    • Ian Smith on The Nobodies: “The colonialism is not a serious claim, it is presenting obscure academic opinions as fact. While there are none so…Jul 29, 13:01
    • Ian Smith on The Nobodies: “Assuming no mainstream political party is going to radically improve anything for the country, there is still a good case…Jul 29, 12:55
    • diabloandco on The Nobodies: “If any silly sod replies to derogatory comment at 12.10 then hell mend ye! On a completely off topic subject…Jul 29, 12:45
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