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Say What You See 142

Posted on September 20, 2024 by

Don’t say we don’t tell you, readers.

Because we do tell you.

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10 Years On 58

Posted on September 19, 2024 by

For all of those who couldn’t make it to Saturday’s sold-out event at the IMAX:

As for the next 10 years, that’s another question.

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An unduly restrictive view of salvation 88

Posted on September 18, 2024 by

Earlier today we heard from the SNP’s depute leader Keith Brown that the party now accepts there will never be another UK-sanctioned independence referendum.

And this afternoon in the chamber the SNP also voted against the only alternative.

Alba MSP Ash Regan laid down the above motion, which supports what as far as we knew was still the SNP’s official policy in the absence of another Section 30, in so far as they even know what their policy is.

Today that motion was voted down by 125 votes to 1.

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Objection Sustained 41

Posted on September 18, 2024 by

This must be some kind of mistake.

Because we’re sure you’ve spent the last decade telling us that just couldn’t happen.

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A Brief History Of Hope 168

Posted on September 14, 2024 by

The Land Of Immunity 101

Posted on September 12, 2024 by

Astonishingly, there isn’t a single word of apology anywhere in this statement.

There isn’t a scintilla of contrition, not the tiniest glimmer of admission of culpability or responsibility. There isn’t even a weasel-worded expression of “regret”.

Rape Crisis Scotland is unfit for purpose, and its CEO must resign.

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The Tartan Messiah 42

Posted on September 11, 2024 by

Well, Shauny‘s knocked it out of the park.

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After the swarm 72

Posted on September 11, 2024 by

On 15 October 2012, I signed the Edinburgh Agreement with David Cameron to secure the independence referendum of September 2014.

On the same day Peter Kellner of the polling company YouGov wrote one of his condescending commentaries from London dissing any hope for the Yes campaign.

“However, from Salmond’s point of view, it is about the only thing going for him. Indeed, were he to be given a truth drug, he might well curse the fact that the SNP won last year’s Scottish elections outright, and thus found himself in a position to keep his promise.

He would surely have been much happier remaining the leader of a minority government, unable to get his independence legislation through Holyrood. Then he could have railed against the Scottish satraps of the Britain-wide parties for silencing the voice of the Scottish people.

Instead, by winning an outright majority, he has shot his own fox. Rather than shed crocodile tears for his inability to call a referendum, he must now put the issue to the test.

As a shrewd and intelligent man – indeed, one of the shrewdest and most intelligent in British politics – he must know that his mission is impossible, that in two years time his country will vote to remain part of the United Kingdom, and that far from being achieved, independence will be deferred for at least a generation.

All YouGov’s evidence from the past four years is that independence is a minority passion north of the border. Even as the SNP was surging to victory last year, Scots told us by two-to-one that they wanted to remain within the UK.

The SNP won because most Scots thought it had governed their country well, because they liked Salmond, and because they thought the Scottish Labour Party was useless – not because they wanted to sever links with London.”

Kellner’s view was almost universal, and not just among the London pack of journos and politicians. Most, if not all, of the Scottish media agreed with him.

However, by September 2014 things looked very different.

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A False Labelling 78

Posted on September 10, 2024 by

We’ve just watched the BBC’s new documentary, and we’re confused.

You can see both episodes on iPlayer now, or on TV tonight and tomorrow, but there’s no mistaking what’s being advertised – a personal drama between the two biggest players in Scottish politics in the last 300 years.

But that’s not what you get.

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Coming Yet 63

Posted on September 09, 2024 by

The dogged persistence of alert Wings contributor Benjamin Harrop with regard to the Hamilton inquiry has been truly heroic, and today it has borne fruit in dramatic style.

The 10-page adjudication from the Scottish Information Commissioner that you can download by clicking that image is a somewhat labyrinthine (but fascinating) read, but the upshot of it is that the Commissioner has now ordered the Scottish Government to release all of the legal advice it was given with regard to its refusal to publish the written evidence submitted to James Hamilton for his inquiry into the events around the alleged conspiracy to falsely convict Alex Salmond of sexual assaults.

(See, even that one-sentence summary was quite hard going.)

But why does that matter and what does it mean?

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Honest John 90

Posted on September 07, 2024 by

The Last Legs 67

Posted on September 06, 2024 by

In the 1990s, Dr. Robert Smith, a surgeon at Falkirk Royal Infirmary, performed a pair of amputations on two men. Neither of the men involved had anything physically wrong with them, but both were suffering from apotemnophilia – a rare psychiatric condition involving the desire to have healthy limbs amputated.

Sufferers, counterintuitively, claim not to feel “whole” with four limbs and obsess over having their unwanted body parts chopped off. Smith argued the surgeries were life-saving, claiming the patients would commit suicide otherwise.

Apotemnophiles, like autogynephiles, insist that there is no erotic element, but it was later discovered that one of the men Smith operated on ran an amputee fetish website.

Upon investigation, the hospital deemed the procedures unethical. Smith was banned from mutilating healthy bodies (although he was found not to have breached any of the hospital’s rules at the time and not sanctioned), and the dubious experiment ended.

But let’s imagine for a moment an alternate reality.

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    • Hatey McHateface on When the law breaks the law: “Good one, Confused. No messing about. Straight to what’s on your mind. Ach, maybe immediately is better. Straight doesn’t quite…Feb 24, 23:08
    • Confused on When the law breaks the law: “I am deeply annoyed at the rejection of my planning proposal for TOP HAT BUGGERY LAND at trinity college quadrangle,…Feb 24, 22:57
    • Confused on When the law breaks the law: “I think Main has tourettes and his tics make him post all day – time for a wee film “John…Feb 24, 22:56
    • Young Lochinvar on When the law breaks the law: “AX Very droll 🙂 Try original sources? Very educational: “learns you things”..Feb 24, 22:34
    • Hatey McHateface on When the law breaks the law: “Unicorn Land. Immensely popular with the youngsters, whilst staying true to our rich, cultural heritage. Maybes a nod to our…Feb 24, 20:29
    • agentx on When the law breaks the law: “FGS – no-one wants fun and enjoyment and jobs in Scotland. Misery rules OK?Feb 24, 19:51
    • Scot Finlayson on When the law breaks the law: “They should never have kept with the name `Flamingo Land`, Loch Lomond Leisure or Eagles View Holidays. we need to…Feb 24, 19:39
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    • Hatey McHateface on When the law breaks the law: “Hate to break this to you, Alf, but no kid learns to speak their parent’s language in school. No force…Feb 24, 19:23
    • Northcode on When the law breaks the law: ““In the 2022 census, 1,508,540 people reportit that they cuid speak Scots, wi 2,444,659 reportin that thay cuid speak, read,…Feb 24, 19:06
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    • agentx on When the law breaks the law: ““airbrushed out of Anglocentric British history.” ————————————————- If it was airbrushed out how do you know about it? Contradiction of…Feb 24, 18:27
    • agentx on When the law breaks the law: “Yeah can’t have people enjoying themselves in Scotland or creating jobs.Feb 24, 17:58
    • Hatey McHateface on When the law breaks the law: “If you’re right, Alf, as Scots speakers are a mere 30% of the population, then obviously Indy is doomed. The…Feb 24, 17:31
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    • Alf Baird on When the law breaks the law: ““None of the statistics …can be sensibly interpreted without first being broken down into ethnic categories.” The same may be…Feb 24, 17:00
    • Hatey McHateface on When the law breaks the law: “There’s a rumour they’ve been taking lessons from Your Party. The one with Corbyn, the Sultana bint, and noo oor…Feb 24, 16:30
    • Anthem on When the law breaks the law: “Excellent news!Feb 24, 16:23
    • 100%Yes on When the law breaks the law: “Plans for Flamingo Land resort at Loch Lomond rejected! At last the SNP does something right for Scotland.Feb 24, 16:03
    • Young Lochinvar on When the law breaks the law: “Happy anniversary of the battle of Roslin 1303. 3 victories for the price of one, yet another airbrushed out of…Feb 24, 15:41
    • agentx on When the law breaks the law: ““More than 3,000 pages of internal Scottish Government emails and legal notes — now dubbed the “Salmond Files” — have…Feb 24, 15:37
    • bobo bunny on When the law breaks the law: “The prosecution of Alex Salmond, the ongoing protection of the alpabetties and the jailing of Craig Murray tell all you…Feb 24, 14:59
    • bobo bunny on When the law breaks the law: “Shows you how Tas, Corri, Kenny and Neale run Alba if they could not be arsed to consult with other…Feb 24, 14:55
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    • Hatey McHateface on When the law breaks the law: “Don’t tell him, Sara! With due acknowledgement to the immortal words of Captain Mainwaring.Feb 24, 12:10
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    • 100%Yes on When the law breaks the law: “James Kelly, asking for Sara Salyers to a video debate. If I was Sara I would turn him down, better…Feb 24, 11:55
    • Hatey McHateface on When the law breaks the law: ““Have your own fun constructing narratives” It sure beats working towards Indy. I believe the Germans use an observation that…Feb 24, 11:50
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