It’s nice to see the British media (and perhaps, if we might be allowed to dream for a moment, the law) catching up with Michelle Mone.
It’s such a shame nobody did any proper investigative journalism into what a crooked, venal chancer she is before now – seven years ago or even four years ago, say – or the country might have been saved a few billion quid. Ah well, you live and learn, eh?
While this site remains mothballed, it’s nice to keep a steady trickle of traffic going just in case it ever needs to spring back to life, eg if someone actually interested in independence suddenly somehow becomes leader of the SNP again.
So we thought it might be fun to just briefly link to some old articles as and when they became topical once more, and as luck would have it tomorrow is such an occasion.
Because that’s when the SNP will launch the first of a series of new papers outlining the First Minister’s “vision” of independence by waffling on about how it would be a jolly good thing, in the unlikely event that she ever got off her extremely well-paid arse and achieved it.
15 years ago this week (today if you’re counting strictly by date, Thursday if you want to go with election days) the SNP came to power in Scotland for the first time ever. The media operating in Scotland is full of retrospectives and polls on the period, but as usual they’ve missed the real story, as a reader pointed out to us a few days ago.
So for old times’ sake, let’s do their job properly for them one more time.
We’ve observed that over the last few days a number of Unionists, led by tuba-honking dunderhead Blair McDougall (the man who turned a 30-point No lead into a 10-point one, who lost Labour 5000 votes when he stood in East Renfrewshire in 2017 on the basis of being the guy who saved the UK – trailing in an embarrassing 3rd in a seat where Jim Murphy had once won over 50% of the vote – and who is probably more responsible than any other individual for the utter destruction of Scottish Labour as a political force), have revived the ancient “Better Together” scare story about pensions in an independent Scotland.
When the Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts died last month, the first of their songs that popped into my head, for no particular reason, was “Under My Thumb”, a mildly controversial 1966 album track the band never released as a single in the West.
Its most infamous place in history, though, is this.
Until Watts’ death I was only very broadly aware of the events at Altamont Speedway in 1969, a free festival at a racetrack near San Francisco at which four people died in scenes of malevolent chaos and which is widely regarded as the grim headstone of the hippy era.
But on seeing the extraordinary footage above for the first time on the day of Watts’ death – taken from “Gimme Shelter”, notionally the official movie of the show, although the first two-thirds of it are actually a mundane travelogue of the preceding tour dates – I did some proper reading up on it.
And as I did, a horribly familiar feeling started to unfold.
Although we’re retired we already wrote this, so we may as well put it up for the 99.9% of Scots who don’t read the comments on David Leask‘s columns in the Herald.
It’s a claim he’s been banging on about since at least 2014, without ever providing a scrap of evidence to support it (his standard modus operandi), and yesterday was no exception. So let’s show Little Dave how proper big-boy journalists do it.
Cynicus on Nicola’s Summer Reading List: “in his quest for appropriate book titles, how did the Rev miss Quintin Jardine‘s Secrets and Lies ? It’s subtitle…” May 31, 00:16
Charles Mackay on Nicola’s Summer Reading List: “The English press are reporting she has now moved to London-brazen betrayal” May 30, 23:48
100%Yes on Nicola’s Summer Reading List: “Nicola in the Kitchen with Husband and guest making cups of coffee, she really knows her way around the kitchen.…” May 30, 22:25
sarah on Off-topic: “Chortling at that, TC!” May 30, 22:24
robertkknight on Nicola’s Summer Reading List: “D’Izzie… Your attempts to promote Independence via the morally, politically and financially bankrupt SNP will no doubt be welcomed by…” May 30, 22:02
sarah on Nicola’s Summer Reading List: “Izzie has mentioned that arthritis in her hands makes typing difficult. And if her IT system has predictive text then…” May 30, 22:01
Alf Baird on Nicola’s Summer Reading List: ““so many of the other writers” What writers? Aside from Doun-Hauden, I don’t see any other books explaining the colonial…” May 30, 21:34
Hatey McHateface on Nicola’s Summer Reading List: “Careful, Izzie! Some of the public do care about spelling. More specifically, they conclude that somebody who doesn’t respect them…” May 30, 21:11
Hatey McHateface on Nicola’s Summer Reading List: “As a writer of “colonially permitted literature”, Alf, why do you think you have been granted permission to publish, when…” May 30, 21:01
Izzie on Nicola’s Summer Reading List: “Meanwhile we who care abiut Scittish Independence are leafleting and canvassing to win bith by-elections. The public dont care about…” May 30, 20:52
Alf Baird on Nicola’s Summer Reading List: ““Crime novels are boring, tedious shit” What passes for Scots ‘literature’ today seems to be smothered by crime books from…” May 30, 20:38
Hatey McHateface on Marvola The Memory Woman: ““disturbed wee brain” Please, Twat H. Disturbed big brain. Get yer basic facts right.” May 30, 20:27
Hatey McHateface on Marvola The Memory Woman: “I would have sworn I only pressed “Submit Comment” once. And it can’t be the DT’s, not this early in…” May 30, 20:17
Red on Nicola’s Summer Reading List: “They keep pretending Nickla can write, when she can hardly speak in joined up paragraphs that make sense. The SNP…” May 30, 20:06
Hatey McHateface on Marvola The Memory Woman: “For that comment, Spartan 117, we intend to cram you into a barrel of boiling tar. Then we’ll set fire…” May 30, 20:05
Tinto Chiel on Off-topic: “@sarah: ah, I see my original has been “passed”. I think it was the reference to JB wot done it.…” May 30, 20:01
Hatey McHateface on Marvola The Memory Woman: ““She has no breeding” Coming from you, Geri, that comment rates A++.” May 30, 19:56
Hatey McHateface on Marvola The Memory Woman: ““She has no breeding” From you, Geri, that comment rates A++.” May 30, 19:56
Hatey McHateface on Nicola’s Summer Reading List: “Quite right. Fit dae they cants ken aboot being colonised? Here’s a thought. If you ken how tae use “schadenfreude”…” May 30, 19:48
ScotsCanuck on Nicola’s Summer Reading List: “In the immortal words of Dick Emery “oh!! … you are awefull, but I like you” (gave my age away…” May 30, 19:41
Hatey McHateface on Nicola’s Summer Reading List: “Strong, the memories of the rejection slips, in this one.” May 30, 19:37
Hatey McHateface on Nicola’s Summer Reading List: “Appeal to the masses. Join forces with Ronald Macdonald.” May 30, 19:35
Onlooker on Nicola’s Summer Reading List: “Not interested in the prurient schadenfreude mockery of anti-Scottish English middle class maggots.” May 30, 19:28
Onlooker on Nicola’s Summer Reading List: “Crime novels are boring, tedious shit. Seems like most of the writers in Scotland fart them out on a regular…” May 30, 19:26
sarah on Off-topic: “You know how to enjoy yourself, TC! Talking of dying laughing, Peter and myself were crying with laughter the other…” May 30, 19:20
