For the combatants in the gender wars, it’s been quite a spring and summer here in the TERF Island theatre of battle.
In February, polling company YouGov revealed the vast extent to which public opinion has shifted around the issue (significantly though not entirely in the wake of the Cass Review last April), which we reported on via a snazzy Stalingrad metaphor. But just as with Stalingrad, it was only the precursor to the recapture of territory on an epic scale.
It seems like almost every time somebody gets accused of rape, sexual harassment or any kind of horrible creepy sex-based sleaze in Scotland these days, the same face is always lurking around grinning in the background somewhere.
Police Scotland have nevertheless denied that prisoners in their custody are being excessively pampered, following reports that a man was hustled out of St Leonard’s station in Edinburgh with an electric blanket over his head.
Meanwhile, following the Supreme Court ruling in the For Women Scotland case, the force’s HQ at Tulliallan was burgled by a gang of militant transactivists who stole all the toilets. Officers say they have nothing to go on.
Alert readers will be familiar with this site’s ongoing quest for an explanation as to why controversy-plagued charity LGBT Youth Scotland continues to operate in dozens of Scottish primary and even nursery schools, pushing gender ideology onto children as young as four despite only having a remit to support 13-25-year-olds.
Last month we were, to coin a phrase, stonewalled by Scotland’s charity regulator, the OSCR, but we filed a review request and today we received – a couple of weeks past the deadline – a response.
The legal imprint at the bottom means that that’s official SNP election communication. One assumes it’s intended for leaflets to be put through actual voters’ letterboxes.
As readers may already be aware, my main hobby to distract myself from my day job in the profoundly depressing world of politics is to delve into retro videogaming via my Retropie. It’s an endlessly rewarding fount of discovery and entertainment for many reasons, but sometimes the two spheres collide in extremely unexpected ways.
So let’s talk about GORF.
Midway’s 1981 arcade hit was a pioneering and innovative game. It was the first game to be comprised of multiple highly distinct sub-games, boldly including direct lifts of other people’s coin-ops in the form of Space Invaders and Galaxian. And while it wasn’t the first arcade game to feature synthesised speech – it was beaten to that punch by the likes of Berzerk and Wizard Of Wor the previous year – it was famous for the extensive and iconic vocabulary with which it taunted and goaded the player.
It got numerous conversions of variable quality to various home systems, whether as contemporary licences or later homebrew ports, and that’s where we come in.
Cynicus on Yelling at the tide: “TURABDIN says: 23 January, 2026 at 5:09 pm “Language is more than the sum of its functional utilitarian communication capacities,…” Jan 24, 01:19
James Barr Gardner on Yelling at the tide: “John Swinney’s party will go into the Holyrood Election with a new Chief Executive and new head of communications as…” Jan 24, 00:47
Bilbo on Yelling at the tide: “@ Main Got some shares in your portfolio of certain American Pharmaceutical companies?” Jan 24, 00:11
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Yelling at the tide: “Regarding Norse pronunciation effects on Gaelic, the late Professor Derick Thomson wrote: « In phonology Scottish Gaelic differs from Irish…” Jan 23, 23:08
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: ““Or am I missing something?” That’s my conclusion. Only one reply – this one. Please don’t shoot the messenger.” Jan 23, 22:48
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “Sorry, Sven, too late in the day for yet another language. Besides, Hobbit Boy beat you to it.” Jan 23, 22:43
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: ““how many woman think Trans woman are woman” I wonder how many women (and men) think the plural of woman…” Jan 23, 22:41
PC Foster on Yelling at the tide: “Lorna – I could not agree with you more- I will not vote nationalist until the woke/trans are well defeated…” Jan 23, 22:12
Bilbo on Yelling at the tide: “Trumps only interest and only audience is the people of the United States of America.” Jan 23, 22:01
Run the Border on Yelling at the tide: “You would get a more coherent set of responses from a formal complaint about your energy supply. This is a…” Jan 23, 21:53
Run the Border on Yelling at the tide: “Happy to write.Get the Rev to organise it.” Jan 23, 21:41
Marie on Yelling at the tide: “Oh that fool will still be calling Donnie the worlds greatest living half Scotsman. Pitiful really.” Jan 23, 21:40
Bilbo on Yelling at the tide: “I wonder how many woman think Trans woman are woman as well?” Jan 23, 21:21
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: ““While social media is much maligned, it does give us a more realistic viewpoint of American society” No shit, Sherlock!…” Jan 23, 21:19
Sven on Yelling at the tide: “Kundi foroyskt vera upprunaliga skotska máli? ?” (Could Faroese be the original Scots language ?). Or mayhap it was Norn.…” Jan 23, 21:18
agentx on Yelling at the tide: “Sturgeon issued a statement on Friday evening, saying: “I understand Ms Darroch’s determination to get answers, and my thoughts are…” Jan 23, 21:18
Lorna Campbell on Yelling at the tide: “David Rodgers: as a male, a man, that is your privilege. It is not mine or that of every woman…” Jan 23, 21:16
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “The SG foresee the day, when Scotland leads the world in woowoo and every Scot is trans, when babies will…” Jan 23, 21:05
Lorna Campbell on Yelling at the tide: “Precisely, Ian. Feed in what you want to be regurgitated as ‘fact’ and you have the kind of dog’s breakfast…” Jan 23, 21:00
Bilbo on Yelling at the tide: “American values that depends on the right to carry guns doesn’t work in every county that doesn’t have that right.…” Jan 23, 20:49
sam on Yelling at the tide: “The SED [Scottish Education Department] was initially presided over by the Committee of Council in Education in London and had…” Jan 23, 20:25
Lorna Campbell on Yelling at the tide: “It was illegal, James, from the moment only Scotland, Wales and NI devolved. England should also have devolved in keeping…” Jan 23, 20:24
Bilbo on Yelling at the tide: “I see that it is trending in the UK MSM about Trumps inferred comments towards British soldiers in recent conflicts…” Jan 23, 19:51
Southernbystander on Yelling at the tide: “These baby boxes seem incredibly cruel. How have the SG got away with providing boxes to stuff a baby in…” Jan 23, 19:48
Bilbo on Yelling at the tide: “Increased standard of livings but better quality of life?” Jan 23, 19:47
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Yelling at the tide: “« Gaelic culture reached its zenith in Scotland during the eleventh century, when the borders of the kingdom were extended…” Jan 23, 19:23
Northcode on Yelling at the tide: ““Scots has faced every pressure a language can face, and yet it’s not only still here—it’s growing.” – from “How…” Jan 23, 18:14
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “That’s OK though, sam. The “Education (Scotland) Act 1872” was undoubtedly enacted by some big, bad, English barsturts who then…” Jan 23, 17:50
Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “So what they say about incest is true. Crivens, help m’boab!” Jan 23, 17:45
sam on Yelling at the tide: “Wuz that yer Da n Ma? Interested? https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/scots-language” Jan 23, 17:41