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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.

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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.

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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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The only explanation 77

Posted on January 07, 2017 by

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Here’s to the back of that 268

Posted on December 31, 2016 by

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Order “Welcome To Cairnstoon”, Chris’ compilation of Wings cartoons and more, here.

Red, white and blue 215

Posted on December 10, 2016 by

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Order “Welcome To Cairnstoon”, Chris’ compilation of Wings cartoons and more, here.

Cresting the rising tide 400

Posted on November 15, 2016 by

There’s been a running theme recently on Unionist social media.

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It’s the claim that the No vote in 2014 was an anomaly – a rare victory of progressive, internationalist, inclusive politics over the anti-establishment, isolationist, separatist tone that won out in the EU referendum and now the election of Donald Trump.

This was the case back even before and just after the independence referendum, where the Yes movement was being compared to the far-right populist movements of England, France, and the Netherlands:

Of course, the alternative view is rather simpler – that perhaps the forces that won the EU referendum and 2016 presidency also won the independence referendum.

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In remembrance 349

Posted on November 13, 2016 by

I haven’t worn a poppy in 20-odd years, for my own reasons.

But this chilling clip, from the 2005 BBC series “Auschwitz, The Nazis And The Final Solution”, is the most important thing about war that humanity should never forget.

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The Rebrand 91

Posted on November 12, 2016 by

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Spotting the differences 263

Posted on November 10, 2016 by

This week, in Snide Troll News, this happened:

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We expect nothing but idiocy of Fraser. But Mr Torrance, who is a ubiquitous presence in the Scottish media, appears – by no means for the first time – not to have the facts at his fingertips. So let’s see if we can help him out.

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New Labour Pundit Of The Year 144

Posted on November 10, 2016 by

Regular readers of this site will be impressed, if perhaps less than astonished, at the new high score achieved this week in the timeless game of McTernan Predicts:

mcternanpredicts15a

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    • Hatey McHateface on Anything But That: “OK, Mark, I’ll look forward to reading your currency proposals. I’ve written before about how quickly other countries manage to…Sep 9, 09:11
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    • Mark Beggan on Anything But That: “Family Family will be at the heart of MacTrump policy for Scotland. The focus will be on encouraging working families…Sep 8, 19:11
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