Although we’re retired we already wrote this, so we may as well put it up for the 99.9% of Scots who don’t read the comments on David Leask‘s columns in the Herald.
It’s a claim he’s been banging on about since at least 2014, without ever providing a scrap of evidence to support it (his standard modus operandi), and yesterday was no exception. So let’s show Little Dave how proper big-boy journalists do it.
The First Minister released a short film this week.
While it has the character of a hostage video, with terrorists just off-camera pointing a gun at the unfortunate victim and forcing them to read out a pre-prepared text, sadly we doubt that was the case. We think this is really what she believes and intends.
Readers, we swear to you we are not making this up. What you’re about to read are genuine extracts from the SNP’s official new (probably illegal) Equalities Mechanism explanatory note, detailing what does and doesn’t count as a disability when it comes to jumping the queue for a regional list nomination.
And straight away it’s a real punch in the gut for firestarters, muggers, rapists, flashers and, in most cases, hay-fever sufferers. THIS BIGOTRY WILL NOT STAND.
Because 2020 is the maddest year in history, Ruth Davidson opened her contribution to Holyrood’s debate on the Brexit deal today with a lengthy quote from this website.
One of the dumber things we see regularly posted on social media is that Yes voices should stop criticising the First Minister because her leadership is the only reason Yes is now consistently ahead in the polls and we would have no chance of winning a new referendum with someone else in charge.
This is obviously nonsense, because Nicola Sturgeon was SNP leader and FM for five years in which support moved barely a single millimetre, until COVID-19 came along. Our current lead is due entirely to a tiny invisible virus and a giant Etonian buffoon.
When we first saw this video on Twitter through bleary half-asleep eyes this morning, we thought it was a well-done satire. But no. He actually put it out himself.
There can surely in history have never been anything that demeaned both the office of President and the USA as a nation more than the image halfway through that video of him prancing around in front of Air Force One.
Today America decides its future. And dear lord, what a choice it has.
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.
There are now exactly two weeks remaining of the Scottish Government’s second fake “consultation” into its proposed reforms to gender law.
We say “fake” not out of cynicism or mad paranoia, but because the cabinet minister responsible for the reforms has already made it explicitly, publicly and repeatedly clear that she intends to press ahead with them regardless of the responses, and that the only purpose of the “consultation” is to try to persuade people to agree with them.
Shirley-Anne Somerville reiterated this position just days ago, telling Scotland Tonight that she was “absolutely determined” to enact the bill and only interested in silencing opposition and removing any “medicalisation” of the process of gender transition.
While the Scottish Government has met literally hundreds of times with transactivist groups with regard to the reforms, it has refused to meet women’s groups critical of them, and frequently lied about that refusal.
The consultation document and the draft bill leave enormous logical and legislative gaps which are likely to cause untold chaos if the reforms are implemented. The Scottish Government has apparently learned nothing from the shambolic fiascos around the Offensive Behaviour (Football) Act and Named Person legislation, both of which have collapsed despite widespread public support – something the proposed gender reforms emphatically do NOT enjoy.
We’re obliged for the sake of sanity to assume that at some point the First Minister, the Cabinet Secretary or both will have to undertake at least one proper interview on the subject of these extremely serious and potentially catastrophic proposals.
For the consideration of whoever may conduct these interviews, we submit below some questions which a very considerable number of people in Scotland – primarily but by no means exclusively women, and encompassing a majority of every political and social demographic – urgently want answered.
James Che on The Fast Track: “The one thing that Tony Blair and labour did for Scotland was devolution, The Scotland act. For what was once…” Jul 1, 08:24
Young Lochinvar on The Fast Track: “AI Dun No shit Einstein! Rather flies in the face though of why Dewar & co. fabricated Devolution as it…” Jul 1, 07:52
Aidan on The Fast Track: ““Scotland has for all my lifetime expressed a different political outlook to that of England, yet Scots have jist had…” Jul 1, 06:52
Young Lochinvar on The Fast Track: “HMcH Isn’t that a bit past your bedtime to be posting? Has matron been late on her rounds switching things…” Jul 1, 02:20
Cynicus on The Fast Track: “Tapadh leat, Fheargais.” Jul 1, 00:07
Hatey McHateface on The Fast Track: “So Orwell nearly drowned in an Orwellian whirlpool? An image worthy of Dali himself.” Jul 1, 00:01
Young Lochinvar on The Fast Track: “CC @ 6.22 Well hold on there Bald Eagle, have you been cut and pasting from AI again? That’s AI…” Jun 30, 23:14
sarah on Off-topic: “Good advice for my Peter, TC. He’s quite good at pretending things haven’t happened, after a lifetime of mainly disappointing…” Jun 30, 22:54
Tinto Chiel on Off-topic: “@Alurker: sorry, that should have been ghost swift moth. She’s bigger than the male, which is white.” Jun 30, 22:19
Tinto Chiel on Off-topic: “All your points are very good ones, sarah. It’s a pity our ex-manager hadn’t thought of them while planning for…” Jun 30, 22:16
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The Fast Track: “Gaelic version again with formatting issue fixed (hopefully) – COIRE A’ BHREACAIN Sgrìobh Seòras Orwell 1984 air Eilean Diùra. Chunnaic…” Jun 30, 22:13
Tinto Chiel on Off-topic: “Yes, noticeably fewer insects and attendant birds here too, although I had a female ghost white moth dozing on my…” Jun 30, 22:08
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The Fast Track: “COIRE A’ BHREACAIN Sgri?obh Seo?ras Orwell 1984 air Eilean Diu?ra. Chunnaic mi pi?os mu a dhe?idhinn air an tv o…” Jun 30, 21:50
Mike on The Fast Track: “Listened to the interview of Rev on Scotcast. The thing that jumps out at me is nobody in the police…” Jun 30, 20:41
Hatey McHateface on The Fast Track: “You’re gonna have to accept the truth sooner or later, Mark. The Scottish voters are under the control of MI5.…” Jun 30, 19:49
Hatey McHateface on The Fast Track: “Superb quote, CC! But wait. Is it possible Orwell had been colonised? To be serious for a mo. I always…” Jun 30, 19:35
sam on The Fast Track: “???? Feedback and complaints Anyone can provide a comment or make a complaint about our service or work. We have…” Jun 30, 19:32
Mark Beggan on The Fast Track: “The alternative to that theory is the Special Needs Party are an Organised Crime Organisation and that some of the…” Jun 30, 19:03
Dan on The Fast Track: “@ CC Aye, but that was 1945 and things have moved on in many ways since then with us now…” Jun 30, 18:54
Insider on The Fast Track: “Caveman @ 6.22 Well quoted! Relevant and correct! (unlike poor old Alf’s misquotes)” Jun 30, 18:40
twathater on The Fast Track: “Well done Rev you got a lot of points across, Geissler is just like the rest of the PRESSTITUTES because…” Jun 30, 18:25
Captain Caveman on The Fast Track: “Well, since you’ve added Orwell to your little list of authors endlessly misquoted and misappropriated, I thought you might enjoy…” Jun 30, 18:22
twathater on The Fast Track: “Some of the reasons I believe the SCUM snp thought they were UNTOUCHABLE and above PROSECUTION is because 1/ they…” Jun 30, 18:18
Alf Baird on The Fast Track: ““To get to the bottom of what’s really going on” Aye Hatey, postcolonial theory clearly helps a great deal to…” Jun 30, 17:01
Confused on The Fast Track: “Listened to it, was alright. Scotcast is generally, not the worst thing on the bbc, depends who is on; some…” Jun 30, 16:09
Bob W on The Fast Track: “Same. Requires registration and login.” Jun 30, 15:46
Bob W on The Fast Track: “Same, asks me to login or register.” Jun 30, 15:42
lothianlad on The Fast Track: “Murrell did indeed take one for the team. Whils focussing on the crimes he did comott , others were let…” Jun 30, 15:15
Jas on The Fast Track: “Perhaps the reason certain people in the SNP took to crime was because they figured no-one would take much notice…” Jun 30, 14:07
james on The Fast Track: “DavidT-Its not the crux of the matter. Your assumption that if the SNP spent the money raised soley for another…” Jun 30, 13:37