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The appearance of justice 231

Posted on May 12, 2020 by

It’s now more than a month since this site revealed the widespread breach by a number of Scottish journalists/newspapers – the most prominent being Dani Garavelli of Scotland On Sunday and Tortoise Media – of the legally-protected anonymity of one of the accusers in the Alex Salmond trial.

Until last week we’d had no response from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) beyond an initial acknowledgement, and no action of any kind had apparently been taken against any of the perpetrators, even though the pro-Salmond blogger Craig Murray has been cited for prosecution for allegedly similar breaches.

Alarmingly, all of the information identifying the woman was (and at the time of writing this article is) still publicly available in their articles, exposing her to possible danger. So last week we got in touch with the COPFS to seek clarification.

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The scorpion stings the frog 96

Posted on May 12, 2020 by

The practical reason why it’s a bad idea to cave in to bullies – as well as the morality of doing so – is that they see it as weakness and don’t respect you for it, and as such they won’t show you any gratitude should you need their support in future.

And so we return to the Scottish football authorities and “Rangers”.

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The Stockholm Troopers 697

Posted on April 28, 2020 by

Anyone up for their taxes being used to bail out Scottish newspapers?

No, we didn’t think so.

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The poisoned pens 936

Posted on April 05, 2020 by

Scotland’s media is still unable to contain its outpouring of bitter, resentful rage over Alex Salmond’s exoneration by a jury on trumped-up sexual assault charges.

Flailing blindly in all directions it’s achieving little other than to embarrass itself, such as last night when Scotland On Sunday had to change its front page in a late panic. But the media’s toxic fury at being denied Salmond’s head on a pole has also led it to do something far, far more serious and reckless.

And every one of them knows exactly what they’ve done.

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The women you mustn’t believe 390

Posted on March 29, 2020 by

It will come as little surprise to any observer of the Scottish media for the last decade that the trial of Alex Salmond is to continue indefinitely after the actual court case that cleared him of all charges.

With very occasional honourable exceptions, including some from rather unexpected sources, the Scottish press has been – even by its own spectacularly low standards – an absolute sewer for the past week. Wings has taken the decision not to link to any of the most disgusting articles, even as archives, because frankly in the current stressful situation none of us needs any extra poison in our headspace.

Scotland’s political journalists have been unable to contain their seething fury at being robbed of the head on a pike that they were all expecting and salivating about like Pavlov’s dogs. But scumbags are gonna scumbag, and that’s not news. What’s far more alarming is something in today’s papers that they didn’t write.

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Baptism of fire 752

Posted on February 08, 2020 by

When you put your life in their hands 35

Posted on January 31, 2020 by

Well, here’s your New Britain. Here’s your “better deal”. Own it, you tossers.

Everything what goes with chips 256

Posted on January 25, 2020 by

The Failure 173

Posted on December 23, 2019 by

We got blocked by LBC’s James O’Brien today for very gently and politely challenging him over this tweet:

And while this site most assuredly carries no torch for Jeremy Corbyn, it’s a reframing of reality that merits a bit of investigation for what it tells us about the UK media.

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Nine Minutes Later 134

Posted on December 10, 2019 by

Two stories from yesterday’s Scottish papers, published at 11.19am and 11.28am:

But it’s even weirder than it looks.

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Selected voices 536

Posted on November 23, 2019 by

We are lost for words 295

Posted on November 06, 2019 by

It doesn’t happen often, but it has today. Because Nick Robinson said this:

You know, Nick Robinson. It was Nick Robinson who just complained about someone misleadingly editing an interview to make it look as though someone hadn’t answered a question. Seriously, the actual Nick Robinson.

We’ve got nothing, folks.

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    • Lorncal on The Love Of Big Brother: “Of course there is still a Treaty, Northcode, and (domestic) Acts cannot overturn or submerge primary legislation – which the…” Oct 4, 21:39
    • Hatey McHateface on The Love Of Big Brother: “I have long believed that the costs to the NHS of treating the diseases and conditions associated with tobacco abuse,…” Oct 4, 21:38
    • Insider on The Love Of Big Brother: “Alf @8.19pm Whit ??? The Burmese Imperial Police are giving the rev the runaround ? Have you told him yet…” Oct 4, 21:35
    • Hatey McHateface on The Love Of Big Brother: “So the Burmese Imperial Police “explains the runaround the Rev is getting”? Only in yer heid, Alf. I asked you…” Oct 4, 21:24
    • Southernbystander on The Love Of Big Brother: “Yes but I put ‘right’ in inverted commas for a reason – you don’t need such a right as no-one…” Oct 4, 21:11
    • Alf Baird on The Love Of Big Brother: “Join the dots, Hatey: ‘Imperial Police’? Explains the runaround the Rev is getting, and a few other things.” Oct 4, 20:48
    • Hatey McHateface on The Love Of Big Brother: ““What do you do with that attitude?” Thank them for their services towards solving the social care crisis. Reward them…” Oct 4, 20:32
    • Hatey McHateface on The Love Of Big Brother: “Aye, Alf, and now the Burmese and Chinese excel at oppressively ruling over indigenous peoples and cultures all by themselves.…” Oct 4, 20:19
    • Southernbystander on The Love Of Big Brother: “The thing is though it does seem that people’s diet and lifestyles can be pretty woeful and Scotland has an…” Oct 4, 20:06
    • Alf Baird on The Love Of Big Brother: “Since we are talking of Orwell, he also wrote that: “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny…” Oct 4, 19:55
    • Hatey McHateface on The Love Of Big Brother: “Any idea what the shenanigans to the east are doing to the climate? I read a report claiming that $200…” Oct 4, 19:41
    • sarah on The Love Of Big Brother: “O/T: Rev, sorry to spoil your Bath weather report but it has been incredibly warm here in Wester Ross today…” Oct 4, 19:08
    • Hatey McHateface on The Love Of Big Brother: “Fourth of October 2026. Another date historians of the future (assuming they survive) will be writing about long after we…” Oct 4, 18:25
    • Lorncal on The Love Of Big Brother: “Even if we are not in a Union, James, we have acquiesced for centuries. Acquiescence can, itself, be used to…” Oct 4, 18:09
    • Northcode on The Love Of Big Brother: “Correction: “Crowdjustice automatically refunds donations if the stated target isn’t reached.” Should read: “Crowdjustice automatically refunds donations if the stated…” Oct 4, 18:08
    • Hatey McHateface on The Love Of Big Brother: ““It is factual to say Scotland has a food affordability problem” Only to the extent that every other country in…” Oct 4, 18:00
    • Lorncal on The Love Of Big Brother: “The one thing that is never, ever mentioned when drugs use is being discussed is personal responsibility and the drive…” Oct 4, 17:49
    • Northcode on The Love Of Big Brother: “Either donations made to Craig Murray’s fundraiser before the US intervention were refunded or they went to his lawyers (unlikely).…” Oct 4, 17:22
    • Lee Floyd on In The Eyes Of The Law: “English, but strangely still committed to Fair Play. So I contributed. Good luck.” Oct 4, 17:17
    • sam on The Love Of Big Brother: ““The fairest conclusion is that the policy responds to a real problem but remains unproven as a mechanism. It is…” Oct 4, 17:02
    • sarah on The Love Of Big Brother: “Salvo’s facebook post today explains why they suggest that donations to their crowdfunder be made direct to Salvoscot Ltd’s bank…” Oct 4, 16:24
    • James Che on The Love Of Big Brother: “It is of great importance wether there are two Countries parliaments in a union, in the parliament of Great Britain…” Oct 4, 16:12
    • Hatey Mchateface on The Love Of Big Brother: “Yeah, thanks for clarifying that, x. Is it possible to just send our money directly to Ir@n instead? Hack off…” Oct 4, 16:05
    • James Che on The Love Of Big Brother: “Northcode. Whereas the parliament of England was never dissolved but simply transferred under Westminsters triennial act which ended in 1708,…” Oct 4, 16:02
    • James Che on The Love Of Big Brother: “Northcode, There is one thing for sure I do like debating both sides of the coin. If the treaty of…” Oct 4, 15:46
    • Northcode on The Love Of Big Brother: “Thanks for that clarification. It’s always better to get the real story. So although Murray’s funds weren’t seized US policy…” Oct 4, 15:45
    • agentx on The Love Of Big Brother: “Craig Murray’s CrowdJustice fundraising campaign was taken down rather than literally seized by the government. The removal occurred because the…” Oct 4, 15:28
    • Hatey McHateface on The Love Of Big Brother: “Wheesht, Northy, you’re spoiling things for a lot of people.” Oct 4, 15:03
    • Hatey McHateface on The Love Of Big Brother: “More than harsh to pick out Northy for not providing evidence when hardly anybody else does. If BTL was moderated,…” Oct 4, 15:00
    • Northcode on The Love Of Big Brother: “I don’t think Murray’s CrowdJustice funds were seized – they were, however, temporarily frozen due to some procedural uncertainty. They…” Oct 4, 14:58
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