It’s taken me four weeks to write this, because I barely knew where to start.
Channel 4 showed the singular and vastly wonderful The Banshees Of Inisherin at the weekend, and as brilliant as it is in its own right, it also came loaded with all sorts of resonances and finally prodded me into action.
The equally singular and wonderful Jonathan Nash, who will be known to readers of this isolated and quiet island parish under a variety of names, died last month, of death. It was sudden yet expected, and in those respects very much the opposite of the man himself.
Alert viewers may have already noticed a new addition to the central links column: The Sealand Gazette. (If so, they should award themselves 200 Alert Viewer Points and add them to their Viewerscore card.)
The Gazette came about because I have a bad habit of using Twitter as a sort of Post-It Note for news stories I want to keep on file for future reference. It is, of course, singularly badly suited for this purpose, because finding anything you posted on Twitter more than a couple of days ago is a hideous trial and – as I learned only recently – Twitter deletes your old tweets forever when you exceed your quota, which varies according to how prolifically you tweet but can be as little as a few weeks.
So instead, now there's the Gazette, the newspaper for people who increasingly wish they lived on an isolated former gun platform in the middle of the North Sea. Published through the rather nifty Scoop.it platform, the benefits are that it's incredibly easy to use – a couple of clicks adds a story – and both persistent and searchable.
(NB To search the Gazette use the "FILTER" function below the banner, not the Search box at the top of the page, which searches the whole of Scoop.it instead.)
At launch many of the stories are old-ish, because I've been going through my Twitter account grabbing everything I've posted there since April before it gets wiped, but from now on it'll be hot-off-the-presses stuff, and there's even a Page Three girl today as an introductory bonus. (Though of course, it's a rather sinister and troubling one.) Readers can also easily suggest stories to add.
The Gazette should be a lot less trouble to maintain than the short-lived "Reasons Not To Recycle" blog, and fulfil much the same purpose. (Misanthropic nihilism, essentially.) But I'll make a special effort to throw in a few nice stories too, because mass reader suicide isn't the goal. Although in the broader sense, it is a bit.
Northcode on The quality of mercy: “Due to the proliferation of mindless, illiterate and ill-informed pish scribbled doun in this place by colonialists (unionists if preferred……” Apr 8, 14:52
Sven on The quality of mercy: “Mark Beggan @ 14.11. Mot a country of deranged morons … more a devolved administration of deranged morons elected under…” Apr 8, 14:29
Northcode on The quality of mercy: “Nae ither folk bar the Scots thersels hae the nous, the knawledge or the experiens o mony generaciouns, tae unnerstaun…” Apr 8, 14:14
Confused on The quality of mercy: “Reality check time. The only relevant benchmark for Scotland’s ECONOMIC POTENTIAL is with our small nation peers, most of whom…” Apr 8, 14:12
Mark Beggan on The quality of mercy: “Never mind the oil. The world sees Scotland as a Lady Boy. A country of very confused, weak and deranged…” Apr 8, 14:11
Confused on The quality of mercy: “they just won’t give it a fucking rest, will they – frog face weighing in https://archive.ph/cHiZ4 – but, but -…” Apr 8, 14:09
Aidan on The quality of mercy: “Well if it’s all been done before, why are you so utterly clueless about it and posting (in that last…” Apr 8, 13:38
Dan on The quality of mercy: “Ooh, an lse report… oh aye, this had been done to death long before Johnny come lately Aidan turned up.…” Apr 8, 13:11
Aidan on The quality of mercy: “Do you have a link to those figures “James”, since I can’t find them anywhere. What I can find is…” Apr 8, 12:52
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The quality of mercy: “BANNED DOCUMENTARY ON SCOTTISH OIL (The McCrone Report) « Tha paipeirean oifigeil a bha dìomhair ach a-nis air am fosgladh,…” Apr 8, 12:49
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The quality of mercy: “McCRONE REPORT – Scotland’s Hidden Oil Wealth « In 1974 the Tory government under Edward Heath commissioned a report by…” Apr 8, 12:42
Captain Caveman on The quality of mercy: “Well, I guess you had better start rummaging that amongst that great big steaming pile of unwashed kecks, empty beer…” Apr 8, 12:32
Alf Baird on The quality of mercy: “Names are names, colonial plunder is colonial plunder. Whaur’s oor oil money, an for aw else tae, ower the past…” Apr 8, 12:06
James on The quality of mercy: ““According to 2013 figures from Fraser Of Allander Institute economist Brian Ashcroft – husband of former Scottish Labour leader Wendy…” Apr 8, 11:58
Captain Caveman on The quality of mercy: “““As of April 7, 2026, oil prices are high and volatile due to supply concerns, with global benchmark Brent Crude…” Apr 8, 11:54
James on The quality of mercy: “Apt coincidence though, eh? Doncha think, “Agent”?” Apr 8, 11:53
Captain Caveman on The quality of mercy: ““Is it down to lack of means, or is it a tactic acknowledgement that deep down they know the money…” Apr 8, 11:46
agentx on The quality of mercy: “@ james “Shell initially named all of its UK oil fields after seabirds in alphabetical order by discovery – Auk,…” Apr 8, 11:27
Aidan on The quality of mercy: “@James – don’t start having a massive tantrum because you’ve been made to look stupid by your own lack of…” Apr 8, 11:25
Captain Caveman on The quality of mercy: “Oh dear. “Eight Ace” is triggered again. 😀” Apr 8, 11:01
James on The quality of mercy: “Our thieving southern neighbours started taking the piss as soon as the stuff was discovered. “An oilfield? In Scotch waters?…” Apr 8, 10:48
James on The quality of mercy: ““UK” “government” giving oil drilling licences out for free then? F*** off the pair of you. Supercillious charlatans.” Apr 8, 10:42
Captain Caveman on The quality of mercy: “@Aidan An interesting question to pose to your (ahem) “detractors”, Fatso, Rambo and “Geri” (in whatever applicable currency in his…” Apr 8, 10:26
Dan on The quality of mercy: “https://wingsoverscotland.com/junkies-tramps-and-thieves/#more-87705” Apr 8, 08:53
Aidan on The quality of mercy: “@James I realise you are extremely dense and credulous and have the same reaction to facts as you do to…” Apr 8, 06:11
Geri on The quality of mercy: ““As of April 7, 2026, oil prices are high and volatile due to supply concerns, with global benchmark Brent Crude…” Apr 8, 00:54
Insider on The quality of mercy: ““Iain More says: 7 April, 2026 at 10:32 pm So oil has hit $150 a barrel.” Nope ! You’re talking…” Apr 8, 00:06
Young Lochinvar on The quality of mercy: “Aidan You are being something of a contrarian here. As I told you recently it’s fairly easy to find out…” Apr 7, 22:40
