When you’ve been watching Scotland playing football for 50 years of your life, you become accustomed to disappointment. You expect disappointment. Anything better than disappointment becomes a bonus.
Having solved cat hunger in Greece, the tireless Holiday Boy has now turned his hand to addressing Scotland’s crippling golfing shortage, so we’ve got a different sort of cartoon again for you this weekend.
The clip below is from a 1981 arcade videogame called Venture, by Exidy, in which you play a cheerful character called Winky on a mission to loot treasure from a series of monster-infested dungeons.
For the purposes of this article the treasure in the room above, which takes the form of a castle tower, represents Scottish politics. The room itself is the Union.
The SNP released their general election manifesto today. We’re not going to link you to it, because we don’t want to be responsible for wasting your time. This is everything it has to say on the party’s (cough) strategy for achieving independence.
It deserves much, much less respect than we’re giving it. Tomorrow, ice lolly reviews.
I’m a professional community organiser, and a tenant and housing activist for some 20 years. I saw the old Scottish Tenants Organisation get smashed by Jack McConnell’s government to make way for council housing privatisation, which in Glasgow created the Glasgow Housing Association.
I’ve long wanted to rebuild a national body to give housing schemes a political voice and to push to end the housing crisis. That’s why I got involved with Living Rent, organising my community to become their first branch. Little did I know that would lead to a brush with crazed gender ideology, and see Queer Theory used to try to destroy it.
We’re still trying not to pay attention to the election because it’s so tedious and awful and pointless, but this is worth putting on the record because it’s in The National and otherwise nobody’s going to read it.
Holiday Boy has of course chosen the general election campaign to spend the next three weeks feeding stray cats somewhere sunny, so here’s a cartoon by the brilliant webcomicname that summarises the Baillie Gifford story for anyone joining us late.
January 2018, with no general election due for four and a half years: “I very rarely talk about Scottish independence in the chamber, because I talk about things that matter”
June 2024, with an election in four weeks and a £91,346 salary, expenses and pension at stake: “ROBERT THE BRUCE! BANNOCKBURN! DECLARATION OF ARBROATH! FLOWER OF SCOTLAND! FREEEEEEEEEDOOOOOOMMMM!”
Cynicus on Spoiler Alert: ““Credit should be apportioned to Stuart Campbell, proprietor of the Wings Over Scotland website, for identifying that several of the…” Dec 11, 03:33
Jill on The Valley Of The Dolls: “I hope that Sandy Peggie has the reserves of strength needed to carry on. What she’s been put through already…” Dec 11, 03:16
willie on Spoiler Alert: “What amount of wrong doing does one need to do to have sanction levied on the wrong doer. Biological man…” Dec 11, 01:08
Doug on Spoiler Alert: “it looks like mass litigation is going to be the only thing that breaks the stonewall ideology grip on our…” Dec 11, 00:11
Marie on Spoiler Alert: ““Lowly employment judges”. Lowly indeed. Lowly and cowardly.” Dec 10, 23:23
joolz on Spoiler Alert: ““The tribunal’s logic would justify installing smoke alarms only after the fire has started.” Spot on! I’ve been telling TRAs…” Dec 10, 22:38
holymacmoses on Spoiler Alert: ““One of the most troubling passages asserts there is insufficient evidence that a male person poses greater risk than a…” Dec 10, 22:18
100%Yes on Spoiler Alert: “Geoff Anderson, I apologize I got you confused with someone else.” Dec 10, 21:04
100%Yes on Spoiler Alert: “Its funny you’ve got a voice today, well done. Because on the constitutional question the SNP has you pissing your…” Dec 10, 20:48
Jay on Spoiler Alert: “Frearghas, thank you for making me think further than before. Returning to practical circumstances, if there were a channel of…” Dec 10, 20:12
Geoff Anderson on Spoiler Alert: “Times Sandie Peggie case Stu given credit Archived https://archive.is/SK4Cv” Dec 10, 19:56
Craig on Spoiler Alert: “https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c75v1d6npr1o Not in the habit of posting a BBC website link but Baroness Falkner is saying exactly what Rev said…” Dec 10, 19:42
Aidan on Spoiler Alert: “Quite 100% Yes, it might be different if Liberate were a genuine challenger to the SNP, but 6 months out…” Dec 10, 19:14
Lorncal on Spoiler Alert: “I really think it goes way beyond that now, Marie. Some are openly hostile to women’s rights and biased towards…” Dec 10, 18:45
agentx on Spoiler Alert: “On BBC Reporting Scotland tonight – Robin Moira White (“I was the first barrister to transition from male to female…” Dec 10, 18:44
Lorncal on Spoiler Alert: “Lord Hodge, soon to retire, is a Scottish judge in the Supreme Court, James, and the For Women Scotland case…” Dec 10, 18:42
100%Yes on Spoiler Alert: “So explain to us all how voting for liberate Scotland and the SNP remaining in power benefit Scotland and how…” Dec 10, 18:29
Lorncal on Spoiler Alert: “Bilbo, interference by the state in the legal system is totally against all democratic principles. Separation of state and judiciary…” Dec 10, 18:28
Alf Baird on Spoiler Alert: “In colonial societies the co-opted dominant national party: “helps the government to hold the people down. It becomes more and…” Dec 10, 18:25
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Spoiler Alert: “WHAT’S GOING ON? “At great turning-points of world-history the relativity of our traditional measures and opinions manifests itself in a…” Dec 10, 18:24
Hatey McHateface on Spoiler Alert: “Naw, you’ve got that wrong. It was an episode of “Rumpole Of The Bailey” wot dun it.” Dec 10, 18:16
Lorncal on Spoiler Alert: “James, I would dearly love to to see an independent Scotland but just look across the water to Ireland to…” Dec 10, 18:16
Hatey McHateface on Spoiler Alert: “Good one, TH, but a smidge verbose. I asked Grok to summarise: “Vote SNP one and two for another 5…” Dec 10, 18:13
Geoff Anderson on Spoiler Alert: “Dr. Upton. The credible witness https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpqnq3gpe0vo” Dec 10, 18:05
100%Yes on Spoiler Alert: “Liberate Scotland, was a great idea if all Indy party’s got involved but they ain’t. Liberate Scotland constant call for…” Dec 10, 18:02
Hatey McHateface on The Valley Of The Dolls: “Poor old Bilbo. Congenitally unable to comprehend that working class and Tory voting have never been and never will be…” Dec 10, 18:01
Colin Dawson on Spoiler Alert: “Let’s not forget that Fife Health Board (and countless other public and private bodies) were following allegedly unlawful instructions issued…” Dec 10, 17:26
Marie on Spoiler Alert: “If judges can ignore the law why can’t Joe Public?” Dec 10, 17:23
Marie on Spoiler Alert: “Yep. The rule of law – who cares for that?? Not Scotland’s judges.” Dec 10, 17:20
Ex President Xiden on Spoiler Alert: “We are ruled by an elite class of jackasses.” Dec 10, 17:15
