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How it happened 204

Posted on November 06, 2024 by

So it looks like the USA has elected a mad orange rapist convicted of 34 felonies who could yet be in jail by the time of his inauguration. (He would remain President even if that happened, which would be really funny.) And we can’t even blame them for it, because the alternative they were offered was, remarkably and stupendously, worse.

Wings called it like we called Trumps’s first victory (and most other things). We tweeted this last year when thinking about the upcoming election. It’s a variant on something we wrote about on Wings eight and a half years ago. We’re posting it again now in the desperate hope that one day, maybe, far in the future, someone will actually listen.

But, y’know, we’re not holding our breath or anything.

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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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The Manipulation Of Perception 212

Posted on August 13, 2024 by

In many ways, the fabricated, hysterical furore of Humza Yousaf Vs Elon Musk is the ultimate in summer-silly-season politics stories.

Absurdly plainly, the former First Minister ISN’T going to take any legal action against the billionaire owner of Twitter. He only likes bullying small nurseries, and even then he doesn’t follow through. He didn’t even sue us for calling him racist a few months ago, so there’s zero chance he’s going to square up to the world’s richest man.

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How To Punch Women In The Face 368

Posted on August 01, 2024 by

(And Get Away With It)

You’d have to be living in a pretty strict prison not to have heard the big story from today’s Olympics in Paris, in which male Algerian cheat Imane Khelefi was put in a boxing ring with young Italian woman Angela Carini and allowed to hit her in the head for 46 seconds until she retired, in tears and in fear for her safety, saying “I had to preserve my life”.

Sound like your kind of fun, men? It’s surprisingly easy!

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The Wailing Walls 443

Posted on February 24, 2024 by

Ain’t No Sunshine 324

Posted on December 02, 2023 by

The Safest People On Earth 218

Posted on November 21, 2023 by

Yesterday was “Transgender Day Of Remembrance”, which was the 41st “special” day of 2023 so far for trans people.

(Including but not limited to International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia; International Pronouns Day; International Transgender Day Of Visibility; Transgender Awareness Week and of course the whole of “Pride Month”, which is now an almost entirely trans-focused event).

Citizens of Scotland and the UK were solemnly instructed to “remember the many trans people whose lives have been tragically cut short by violence”, although weirdly none of the politicians issuing the orders actually named any.

However, since we’re endlessly being told that trans people are the most marginalised, oppressed and vulnerable members of our society, and that an actual “trans genocide” is currently in progress, we expect there have been loads.

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The Widowmaker 160

Posted on September 30, 2023 by

The greatest intellectual weakness of the independence movement is its attitude towards Trident, and trying to reason with people about it (whether readers or other independence activists) is consistently one of the most frustrating aspects of writing Wings, because nuclear disarmers and Unionists are equally impervious to logic on the subject.

The UK’s nuclear “deterrent” – or as it was more accurately and memorably described by the former Vulcan nuclear bomber squadron commander Air Commodore Alastair Mackie, “a virility symbol, like a stick-on hairy chest” – is the greatest gift to a future Scottish independence negotiating team imaginable.

The rest of the UK gets a lot of economic and infrastructural benefits from Scotland, like water and energy, but ultimately it’s not massively bothered about those. Water is not yet a critical area and energy can be sourced elsewhere, and in any event Brexit shows us that the UK is more than willing to do itself enormous harm in the service of ideological political goals.

But Trident is a whole different kettle of sweaty underwater men.

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The Stupidity Of Vanity 891

Posted on July 31, 2023 by

The reality-TV let’s say “personality” Kelly Given – who Wings readers previously met on a trip to New York for Tartan Week with a raft of SNP let’s say “celebrities” a couple of months ago – has been off on another nice holiday.

Last night she told both the viewers of BBC Scotland’s “Seven Days” that she’d just spent three weeks on an island in Greece, where apparently she was quite shocked to discover that the Mediterranean nation was hot in July.

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Hostile takeover 73

Posted on June 17, 2023 by

Inspired by this tweet:

We thought we’d try the idea out.

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Scouting For Bears 111

Posted on June 02, 2023 by

There’s still nothing happening in Scottish politics, so inspired by the Hieland Coo from yesterday’s godawful Economist front-page story, and for those of you who don’t use Twitter, and by reader request, meet some of my new friends from the last couple of weeks of strolling around Bath, guarding against ursine incursion.

Because VIGILANCE MUST BE MAINTAINED AT ALL TIMES.

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If you tolerate this 165

Posted on May 12, 2023 by

Below is a clip from last night’s ITV News West Country.

It really needs a wider audience.

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    Wings Over Scotland is a (mainly) Scottish political media digest and monitor, which also offers its own commentary. (More)

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    • James on How it happened: “Turning a bit like the Daily Heil online here today. The Site Prick will be foaming at the mouth by…Nov 7, 16:13
    • gregor on How it happened: “The Lego Movie: Everything Is AWESOME!!! “Everything is better when we stick together Side by side, you and I are…Nov 7, 16:05
    • James on How it happened: “Elon Musk. Free speech. ROTFLMFAO.Nov 7, 16:03
    • James on How it happened: “Obviously. As always.Nov 7, 16:02
    • James on How it happened: “House!Nov 7, 15:58
    • James on How it happened: “There’s a few appeared out of the woodwork today….Nov 7, 15:56
    • James on How it happened: “Oh C*rist here’s this yin started noo. lolNov 7, 15:48
    • Hatey McHateface on How it happened: “Is that your granny you’re quoting there? Only if it’s somebody with a bit more plausible authority, you need to…Nov 7, 15:45
    • James on How it happened: “You’re no Scots then, eh? What a surprise.Nov 7, 15:44
    • James on How it happened: “Aaaand… Troll 4.Nov 7, 15:43
    • James on How it happened: “Troll 3.Nov 7, 15:43
    • James on How it happened: “And here’s another yin.Nov 7, 15:42
    • James on How it happened: “Troll alert. This bollocks has been debunked on here over and over again. ‘Aidan’ is a Yoon troll. Ignore.Nov 7, 15:41
    • Toby Lerone on Bespoilers Of Graves: “Nice findNov 7, 15:37
    • Chas on How it happened: “So what?Nov 7, 15:37
    • Chas on How it happened: “Correct Dan, Sadly Scottish Water are just the tip of the Iceberg. But, don’t worry,the SNP are on the case.Nov 7, 15:37
    • sam on How it happened: “Normally I would not bother…. Professor Michael Marmot has a 50 year involvement in public health and wrote this ina…Nov 7, 15:27
    • Campbell Clansman on How it happened: “The two biggest obstacles to Scottish Independence are 1) the corrupt and inept SNP, whose actions would embarrass any cause,…Nov 7, 15:06
    • gregor on How it happened: “Debbie Gibson: Anything Is Possible: Negative Energy: “Where did we go wrong? No, no more Negative energy…”: https://tinyurl.com/bdf67w4xNov 7, 14:56
    • Aidan on How it happened: “Have you read the Claim of Right Act 1689?Nov 7, 14:36
    • Campbell Clansman on How it happened: “The “doctor” making this “diagnosis” without even meeting the subject, is an on-record Dem Party donor and activist. Funny how…Nov 7, 14:28
    • Skip_NC on How it happened: “I imagine if any Greens had come here to campaign in the election it would have been to support the…Nov 7, 14:17
    • Skip_NC on How it happened: “It doesn’t prove that. It is merely an acceptance of reality. Trump is about ten weeks away from getting sworn…Nov 7, 14:06
    • Hatey McHateface on How it happened: “And of course, on the 7th November 2025, and every year afterwards on the same date, you will be back…Nov 7, 14:01
    • Peter McAvoy on How it happened: “No You have fallen into the trap of believing that anyone who has fair and legitimate disagreements is racist set…Nov 7, 13:44
    • Hatey McHateface on How it happened: “Hmmm. Somewhere between 15% and 20% of Brits were born abroad. That’s something like 12 million immigrants. For Scotland, the…Nov 7, 13:42
    • Republicofscotland on How it happened: “And there it is – in reality it wouldn’t have mattered who won the the election – behind the scenes,…Nov 7, 13:38
    • Hatey McHateface on How it happened: “I disagree. Trump’s mother was a first generation immigrant from Scotland. There probably hasn’t been a POTUS with a stronger…Nov 7, 13:27
    • Campbell Clansman on How it happened: “The Biden regime’s DoJ is reported to be dropping the charges against President-elect Trump. Dropping the charges the day after…Nov 7, 13:22
    • James on How it happened: “Who told you, brains?Nov 7, 13:13
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