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The nuclear umbrella 325

Posted on September 16, 2017 by

(Buy Chris Cairns’ second great book of cartoons here. Plus cuddly Hamish!)

The Too Wee Factor 654

Posted on August 23, 2017 by

This morning sees the release of another set of GERS (Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland) figures accompanied, no doubt, by the usual strange hybrid of sneering and cringing from Unionist politicians braying proudly that we’re too small, too subsidised and too stupid to ever look after our own country.

So as the annual circus act gets under way again, for a little perspective we took a quick look at Scotland’s actual standing in the international community.

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The Too Wee Club #4 166

Posted on August 04, 2017 by

A series inspired by a Unionist blog insisting that “On a practical level, I do not believe for one moment that Scotland could thrive alone”and which led to our thinking about some of the world’s other independent nations.

NO. 4 – SWITZERLAND

Switzerland has a problem, readers.

Those poor Swiss, eh?

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The Too Wee Club #3 207

Posted on July 31, 2017 by

A series inspired by a Unionist blog insisting that “On a practical level, I do not believe for one moment that Scotland could thrive alone”and which led to our thinking about some of the world’s other independent nations.

NO. 3 – LUXEMBOURG

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The Too Wee Club #2 204

Posted on July 30, 2017 by

A series inspired by a Unionist blog insisting that “On a practical level, I do not believe for one moment that Scotland could thrive alone”and which led to our thinking about some of the world’s other independent nations.

NO. 2 – ICELAND

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McCain’s Mutiny 37

Posted on July 29, 2017 by

The Too Wee Club 151

Posted on July 28, 2017 by

Millionaire-funded diehard loyalist forelock-tugging faction Scotland In Union published an extraordinary blog post yesterday.

Its 606 words comprised a sort of Caledonian Cringe Greatest Hits, allegedly penned by someone called Fiona Annesley (of whom we’re told nothing else, and who has no detectable online presence), but the line that particularly caught people’s eye was this:

“On a practical level, I do not believe for one moment that Scotland could thrive alone.”

And that got us thinking about some of the world’s other independent nations.

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The warning signs 312

Posted on May 13, 2017 by

Spitting the dummy 116

Posted on February 18, 2017 by

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Time catches up with us all 342

Posted on January 29, 2017 by

Here’s the Conservative MP for Stratford-on-Avon 10 months ago:

zahawi1

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We need to talk about the oil 255

Posted on January 21, 2017 by

The link between the rise of modern Scottish nationalism and the production of North Sea oil is pretty indisputable. Both took off in the early seventies, with that decade’s campaigns powered by the slogan “It’s Scotland’s Oil” and it’s still a given in media circles that the desirability or even the feasibility of Scottish self-government depends principally on the spot price of Brent crude.

I’ve always found that argument a bizarre one, firstly because it takes no account of people’s emotional attachments to either the UK or Scotland, and secondly because as this site has repeatedly pointed out Scotland is both a producer and consumer of hydrocarbon fuels, so low or high prices are neither an unalloyed good or an unalloyed bad thing for her citizens.

petrolprice

What is incontestable is that the revenue from 45 years of North Sea production has not been well managed by the United Kingdom in comparison to the other states who have benefited from this bounty.

So far so uncontentious.

Outside of constitutional questions, party politics in Scotland revolves around health, education and jobs, with every party more or less in favour of all three. But what if there was an existential threat not just to this trinity but to our entire way of life? Where would that fit in to our politics?

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The next pages of the script 203

Posted on January 20, 2017 by

It’s morning in America, readers.

booth0

Judge Dredd: Origins was published in 2007, although in fact the basic story of how Bad Bob Booth became the last President of the USA and what he did next was established right back at the 1970s beginnings of Dredd’s parent comic 2000AD.

We actually have a theory that it’s all the Lib Dems’ fault.

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    • Renfrewdave on Conspiracies For Dummies: “Brilliant piece well written and linked through.Aug 23, 08:10
    • Andy Ellis on Limping to the line: “Ah hae ma doots John! If wishes were horses, beggars would ride of course, but I suspect that even in…Aug 23, 07:52
    • Alf Baird on Limping to the line: ““At some point a dynamic new contender is going to appear” As postcolonial theory confirms, there will be plenty of…Aug 23, 06:50
    • Skip_NC on Limping to the line: “We do not know the basis of the charge of embezzlement. However, if it is the purchase of the campervan,…Aug 23, 02:48
    • Skip_NC on Limping to the line: “Both reasonable assumptions. Part of it may also be the issue flagged in the 2023 audit. Time would have been…Aug 23, 02:37
    • Skip_NC on Limping to the line: “css as Moët am = campervan. Obviously.Aug 23, 02:26
    • Skip_NC on Limping to the line: “It might be that the money is tied up in property. As the properties sell, the party gets the money.…Aug 23, 02:25
    • Skip_NC on Limping to the line: “The depreciation of the css as Moët am is not an accounting trick. It complies with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles…Aug 23, 02:20
    • Andrew Kidd on Limping to the line: “Last year the auditors were appointed at the last minute so they would have incurred overtime. The first year of…Aug 22, 22:56
    • John Love on Limping to the line: “That new contender will surely be the UN. Which will pull the rug out from under Scottish politics and probably…Aug 22, 21:31
    • Geri on Limping to the line: “Could it be a Trust fund that they’ve left in their will that keeps collecting interest & paying out it’s…Aug 22, 20:58
    • I. Despair on Limping to the line: “I won’t particularise this to the SNP and St. Peter of Murrell (St. Peter the Fishy Man) because of course…Aug 22, 20:54
    • I. Despair on Limping to the line: “A total guess on my part but I wondered about how the dead lady’s estate was held and the process…Aug 22, 20:32
    • Marie on Conspiracies For Dummies: “I agree with every word.Aug 22, 19:47
    • Hatey McHateface on Limping to the line: ““possibly, Ms Brownrig may have just liked the cut of Humza’s jib” And why not? The voting members of the…Aug 22, 19:42
    • Campbell Clansman on Limping to the line: “Stu, I agree (in principle) that “Scotland deserves better” than domination by these two pathetic inept corrupt bankrupt political parties.…Aug 22, 19:39
    • Hatey McHateface on Limping to the line: ““At some point a dynamic new contender is going to appear” Is this a coded reference to the dynamic duo…Aug 22, 19:32
    • 100%Yes on Limping to the line: “Believe in Scotland under the theme “end London rule I’m pretty sure it not about ending London rule, its about…Aug 22, 19:27
    • 100%Yes on Limping to the line: “SNP SCUM, Scum no longer belongs to the Tories the SNP deserves it. The SNP won’t have the money to…Aug 22, 19:11
    • agent x on Limping to the line: “No helicopter for Swinney then!Aug 22, 18:38
    • twathater on Limping to the line: “I wonder if Ms Browning has been birling in her grave over the past years of sturgeons mismanagement and incompetence…Aug 22, 18:18
    • Astonished on Limping to the line: “Obviously, no one has yet considered that Ms Brownrig possibly wanted to keep Scotland’s neck under the jackboot of our…Aug 22, 18:07
    • Nae Need! on Limping to the line: ““For an organisation of around 20 staff to be spending £10,000 per year per employee on infotech is simply staggering.”…Aug 22, 17:42
    • Nae Need! on Limping to the line: “I’m curious too.Aug 22, 17:39
    • Nae Need! on Limping to the line: “Aye, but she’d lived in this country for 6 years prior to her death 7.5 years ago . . .…Aug 22, 17:36
    • Sian Laidlaw on Limping to the line: “You may find this article of some use as it limits her estate at approximately £1.35 million split between a…Aug 22, 17:36
    • Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Conspiracies For Dummies: “To view the Channel 4 interview above between Krishnan Guru-Murphy and Alex Salmond, please copy and paste the Channel 4…Aug 22, 17:33
    • Ex President Xiden on Limping to the line: “But can’t a deficit self identify as a profit and everything will be well?Aug 22, 17:32
    • duncanio on Limping to the line: ““they can’t rely on rich benefactors like Estelle Brownrig to keep dying.” That’s hilarious.Aug 22, 16:49
    • Mike on Limping to the line: “Maybe South Africa still has restrictions on how much cash can be extracted from the country each year?Aug 22, 16:30
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