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.
Southernbystander on These Words Are My Own: “One interesting thing – Davis was able to say this because the House of Commons is not answerable to the…” Jul 20, 09:44
Captain Caveman on Progressing To Oblivion: “Yup, cheating dirty bastards. Fuck off.” Jul 20, 09:17
Hatey McHateface on Progressing To Oblivion: “Surely everything is down to far too many Scots repeatedly voting for the SNP and the Greens? Way I see…” Jul 20, 09:08
100%Yes on Progressing To Oblivion: “Today the new English PM will stand outside downing Street and state the north seas will be drained dry (Scotland)…” Jul 20, 08:32
Hatey McHateface on Progressing To Oblivion: “Sticking with my medical analogy, Alf, you’re the doctor telling the patient that the only cure for illness is to…” Jul 20, 08:32
Hatey McHateface on Progressing To Oblivion: “I think that should be “Made in England, by Scots in Scotland”, CC. Have a look at your pocket Fanon.…” Jul 20, 08:23
Hatey McHateface on Progressing To Oblivion: “Not one post even acknowledging the superb win by Spain last night? Football 1 – 0 Cheating It’s enough to…” Jul 20, 08:18
100%Yes on Progressing To Oblivion: “I keep saying because no one else will!!! Wings points out the problems regarding the SNP, which is essential. But…” Jul 20, 08:11
Hatey McHateface on Progressing To Oblivion: “OK, Stu, sorry. I’ll airbrush all your previous criticisms of Robin off the record as I fuck off your site.” Jul 20, 08:10
Captain Caveman on Progressing To Oblivion: “… Anyone else get the feeling we could be looking at Murrell as the tip of a very large “Made…” Jul 20, 07:52
Angus on Progressing To Oblivion: “Does Robertson’s wife still have a lucrative job within the SNP?” Jul 20, 05:36
twathater on Progressing To Oblivion: “What a misnomer PROGRESS SCOTLAND is , it should probably be renamed as NAE PROGRESS SCOTLAND or bloated Angus’s personal…” Jul 20, 02:15
David McLeod on Progressing To Oblivion: “I have never understood why the (UK) Companies Act requirements for annual accounts were watered down to permit these “micro-accounts”.…” Jul 19, 23:22
Douglas on Progressing To Oblivion: “‘There’s very little anyone can do to probe the affairs of such companies and find out exactly what happened to…” Jul 19, 22:27
Dan on Progressing To Oblivion: “Away and fuck off with your constant nitpicking shite John Hatey Main. Nobody will be 100% aligned with the views…” Jul 19, 21:19
Alf Baird on Progressing To Oblivion: ““The patient wants to know what the cure is” You know the only cure for colonialism is liberation, Hatey. The…” Jul 19, 21:19
Hatey McHateface on Progressing To Oblivion: “Sadly, Robin’s another one who believes one of the most important things going on right now is G@za. It’s a…” Jul 19, 20:33
Hatey McHateface on Progressing To Oblivion: “So form a new national party, Alf, ruthlessly focused on transparency, accountability and honesty. It’s not rocket science. Even if…” Jul 19, 20:06
Hatey McHateface on These Words Are My Own: “Ah, c’moan noo, Wally. Stick aroond. Nae cant wants tae be oan the hook fer cleaning up the mess.” Jul 19, 19:54
sarah on Progressing To Oblivion: “That is an exact match for the SNP hierarchy nowadays. It couldn’t be clearer.” Jul 19, 19:54
Chas on Progressing To Oblivion: “The Scottish electorate vote in MSP’s. The majority party then form a Government. The members of the party who form…” Jul 19, 19:45
James on These Words Are My Own: ““…certain London elites should ” enjoy their freedom ” whilst they can…” Aye, but you are only allowed so far.…” Jul 19, 19:32
Alf Baird on Progressing To Oblivion: ““…a very strange, corrupt place….and the politicians seem to be immune.” Not so strange at all when we consider the…” Jul 19, 19:17
Dan on Progressing To Oblivion: “And we best not forget the Equinor hydrogen “deal” which benefits Norway and Germany more than Scotland… https://robinmcalpine.org/this-hydrogen-deal-is-another-disaster/” Jul 19, 18:56
robertkknight on Progressing To Oblivion: “Perhaps Robertson was simply anticipating some future household legal expenditure? Asking for a friend…” Jul 19, 18:00
Sean Duffy on Progressing To Oblivion: “Typical modus operandi of the mediocrities that inhabit Holyrood. They’ve all got a side hustle on the go to maximize…” Jul 19, 17:54
Lee Floyd on Progressing To Oblivion: “Scotland under the SNP has become a very strange, corrupt place….and the politicians seem to be immune. I wonder when…” Jul 19, 17:42
Anne on Progressing To Oblivion: “There were a number of greedy cynical people in whose interest it was to get rid of Alex Salmond and…” Jul 19, 17:39
Alf Baird on These Words Are My Own: ““helping raise awareness as to why quite so many Scots think and behave the way they do.” Excellent point Dan,…” Jul 19, 17:33
