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Wings Over Scotland


Correcting the record

Posted on November 13, 2017 by

Since David Torrance shows no sign of being willing to retract the falsehood below that he tweeted earlier today despite our requests, we’ll have to address it here. Apologies for the indulgence.

We can find nowhere that we made any allegation of Torrance being “paid” by RT. We tweeted that he’d “worked for” them, and said he’d “simply appeared on” the channel. Neither of those statements claims that any money changed hands. If Torrance says that he worked for RT for nothing purely in order to get some free publicity for his book, we’re happy to accept that at face value.

(Although we’re not sure if that makes it better or worse, to be honest.)

But that’s not really the point of all the outrage over “The Alex Salmond Show”, is it?

Because firstly, we’re pretty sure that Alex Salmond isn’t doing it for the money. As an ex-MP and MSP and former First Minister, he’ll already have pretty generous pension provision and is unlikely to be strapped for the cash. Money isn’t the issue here. The complaint being made by the furytariat is that Salmond is “lending credibility” to RT by appearing on it, and that’s still the case whether you get paid for it or not.

Secondly, Torrance’s assertion that it was fine to work for RT before September 2015 because it hadn’t been sanctioned by Ofcom at that point is spectacularly, if darkly, comic. Its compliance or otherwise with Ofcom rules – and as it’s still licenced we must assume that it mostly does comply – isn’t the point either.

(Though it should perhaps be noted that that one, quite minor, wrist-slap for hurting the BBC’s feelings from more than two years ago is the only instance we can find of any Ofcom ruling against RT. The Daily Mail has to print more “clarifications” than that in the average week, and the BBC itself has been hit with far more severe penalties.)

The charge levelled against RT is that it’s an arm of the Russian government and the Russian government is bad, therefore RT is bad. Which is a perfectly fine position to take, but we’re pretty sure the Russian government under Vladimir Putin did some bad stuff prior to September 2015, such as the annexation of Crimea in Ukraine in early 2014, or the Second Chechnyan War of 1999-2009.

Some people might feel that either of those alone, rather than a rap on the knuckles from Ofcom, would be more than enough justification for cutting ties with the Russian state broadcaster if one was ever going to do so. But we suppose that when you’ve got a book to plug, a couple of hundred thousand deaths can be put aside for a bit.

We won’t be holding our breath for David Torrance’s correction. But we’ll keep an eye on his schedule the next time he’s got something to sell.

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Jim Watson

“I haven’t agreed to appear…” This assertion only makes sense if RT had asked him to appear. Will he be releasing anything to confirm he actually refused to do so…

Just for the record, I haven’t agreed to appear on the Jonathon Ross or Graham Norton shows either…

Tony Little

@Jim:

I haven’t agreed to appear on BBC Question Time or Good Morning Scotland. Just to set the record straight.

Bob Mack

Shabby no mark. He would sell his granny to plug his book.

Hypocrite.

Marcia

I haven’t agreed to appear on any talk show or current affairs programme either under my pen name of Mrs I P Knightly.

Grouse Beater

Press – RT hypocrisy – Iraq v Chechnya

What about Chechnya, cry the squealers. Let’s look at it.

Putin bombed Chechnya to tame, pacify and rebuild in Russia’s likeness. We did the same to Iraq to rebuild in our likeness.

Iraq is a catastrophic mess, deaths by bombing, assassins daily, US and British troops and personnel everywhere.

New York Times notes Grozny is now a boom city, Russians gone.

Do we praise Putin for doing better than us – no. We condemn him.

ClanDonald

I’ve never seen so much hypocrisy in one place.

Basically all their argument amounts to nothing more than “doing stuff is OK unless you’re Alex Salmond, in which case it isn’t OK.”

Dan Huil

The britnat hypocrisy over AS and RT continues, the latest example from Torrance being particularly pathetic. These britnat so-called journalists, whom the dreadful bbc depends on, just can’t take it when someone points out their britnat prejudices.

The more they complain the more these britnats are exposed as shallow, self-centred hypocrites.

If you pay the bbc tax you are “lending credibility” to that anti-Scottish organization.

Don’t pay the bbc tax.

Proud Cybernat

You see – that faux BritNat outrage has a nasty habit of coming right back and biting a sizeable chunk out their erses.

Nicely done, Rev.

jfngw

Willing to legitimise the channel with or without payment, what is the difference, if it is the arm of the Russian state does it matter?

Unionist MP appearing, ensuring the voice of the UK is herd, SNP politician, legitimising Putin’s propaganda arm. It’s simple to the British patriot, how can these nationalist not spot the difference which true British patriots can.

Also a biographer that is a bit airy fairy with the facts, not sure I’m going to buy that book.

Street Andrew

All the furore is to do with Alex Salmond having a platform to air his opinions. It’s only a furore at all because a lot of would-be influential people don’t like what they think he might say when he gets a chance to be heard.

There wasn’t a lot of fuss made when George Osborne stepped straight form No.11 Downing Street into the Editor’s chair at the Evening Standard.

No body seems to mind that Boris (Bozo)Johnson writes regularly for the Telegraph (?).

Pretending that this is somehow to do with the Russian-ness of the station is pure unadulterated bollox. Who makes a fuss about the Times stable being owned by an expatriate Australian with American nationality? Torrance is presumably a pillock. I’m guessing. I’ve never met the man, but he’s not high on my visiting list.

donald anderson

Is it true that he was a paid tool of the EBC and Brit Nat media?

John Jones

Is a correction not required from yourself? I believe that the Crimea held a referendum and decided to RETURN to being a Russian area as they were previously.

Neil Cook

I think you should do an unofficial autobiography on Mr Potato Head and then do interview on RT to publicise it.
Book will sell millions ?

Capella

Until April this year, the BBC wasn’t regulated by OFCOM but RT was. The BBC was regulated by a Trust run by Westminster appointees. One was the Chair of BAe weapons systems and the other was director of HSBC, under investigation for corrupt dealing.

Effective from 3 April 2017, Ofcom becomes the BBC’s first external regulator.

link to ofcom.org.uk

Richard Duncan

Nice 1 Rev

i cant stand the guy . Fake and full of shit sums him up .

I hope Alex tears him and the BBBC new A holes for all their fake news and anti Scottish propaganda

[…] Wings Over Scotland Correcting the record Since David Torrance shows no sign of being willing to retract the falsehood below […]

Almannysbunnet

I get it that they see the “Russian link” as an opportunity to roast Alex Salmond. What’s their excuse for the howls of fury at him getting near the Scotsman? In truth it’s the same. They’re pissed off because it’s Salmond and because their iron grip on what the MSM disseminates is about to be challenged. The “Russian link” is a convenient red herring.

Macart

So far these folk have done an epic job of giving away free publicity whilst highlighting their own hypocrisy.

This has epic OOFT written all over it.

George Drever

WoS v David Torrance. It’s man v boy, really, isn’t it? He must read these articles with a mixture of hope and fear, summoning up a handsome ‘razor-sharp riposte’ before he withers inside at the crushing realisation he’s actually p***ing INTO the wind yet again. Lovely!

Proud Cybernat

BREAKING from Pravda Quay
with Jackie Kim Ono

link to imgur.com

Morag

Alex is only 62, but Moira will soon be 80. I sometimes wonder why he doesn’t jack it in since he obviously has as much money as the pair of them will ever want. However, Moira. He asked her about going back to Westminster in 2015 and she was all for it. At the time she would have believed he’d be there till 2020.

I wonder if this is as much about working for Scotland to be independent in Moira’s lifetime as anything else.

Scot Finlayson

O/T

There is a debate on Scottish Independence at Westminster Hall at 4.30pm today,

link to tinyurl.com

Ken500

How many books did Torrance sell after advertising on RT.

Alex Salmond’s several editions were sold out. RT audience figures will increase. Challenging illegal wars, homophonic behaviour, tax evasion, financial fraud etc. Challenging the Tory unionists lies which pervade the airways. It can bring balance.

Andrew Neil is complaining about the attempted SKy take over. All the British Press will be in the hands of non Dom foreigners, Complaining about ‘foreigners’ in the UK. The EU has tried to stop wars in Europe, the Middle East and the rest of the world. It was established to stop war, starvation and enable free trade. Now having to deal with the worst migration crisis since 11WW because of US/UK policies.

Andy-B

Torrance a nobody, whose made his living off the back of Alex Salmond. He should be f*cking grateful and gracious to the man whose career has given him a living, what a turd.

Scott

My,my don’t they all hate Alex Salmond,Ramsay Jones in the Tory P&J today.Alex offered him a job and this is his reply.

Quote, I gave him a short answer.I can’t remember the first word.But the second was “off”Bell just smiled,meaning Annabel Goldie.

So there you go folks a right Thatcherite saying that to the then FM of Scotland,this happened on QT

You are some man Rev they don’t like you either.so we can tell them to “OFF”as well.

Ian Smith

“The complaint being made by the furytariat is that Salmond is “lending credibility” to RT by appearing on it” If credibility is the problem lets examine some figures. The BBC was established in 1922 and boasts of it massive international reach with weekly viewing figures of 76 million. RT was established in 2005 and has a weekly viewing audience of 70 million. Both figures from IPSOS Connect link to rt.com

brewsed

Oh dear! Half man, half Weetabix appears to have a rather fragile, delicate persona. Having started the ball rolling it is now sniffing into the Kleenex that “it’s not fair, not fair, those nasty, nasty, cibernats are picking on me and I going to cry” with the Weetabix then dissolving into a soggy mess. Since, in a way, via my rancid-graun subscription, I am paying part of the wages of this, um, to stretch a definition, journalist, I think I am fully entitled to criticise the output which is mostly a waste of bandwidth; word-count hacking with bile and whinging to order does not move the world forward.

What a lovely outbreak of hypocrisy and what marvellous free publicity for RT. 300,000+ readers of WoS will now not be tuning into Tomorrow’s World while waiting for TOTPs (are they still on, I stopped paying the tax a while ago?) and settling down while Eck entertains us.

And, yes, I too haven’t agreed to be interviewed on (this space is left intentionally blank).

orri

To be fair,,

Salmond is far more likely to lend credence to any station he appears on than Toreance

Petra

It’s bl**dy pathetic. What’s got the hypocrite Torrance’s knickers in a twist, causing his hysterical reaction, is that Alex will be reaching many millions of people around the World (maybe give Torrance a nasty little mention now and again?) whilst he, Torrance, is being seen more and more as a biased wee nonenity: Writing for newspapers that are going right down the stank with the help of people like him.

Oh and I was just reading that Alex has had 30 applications already from journalists in relation to his bid to join the Scotsman. Looks as though there are more half-decent journalists out there than I had reckoned on and David Torrance isn’t one of them.

Robert Graham

looks like a wee yappy dug is getting more attention than it deserves , just like the other yappy dugs that hang around all the media outlets here in Jockland they just serve to muddy the waters , and inject a kind of fog to hide their union from some kind of much needed scrutiny .

Ali

The point still stands that RT is EXACTLY like the BBC. I used to claim otherwise to foreign friends who said it was … but not since about 2014

galamcennalath

Proud Cybernat says:

BREAKING from Pravda Quay
with Jackie Kim Ono

Aye, nae positive case for their Union.

And therein lies the essence of everything we see and hear. They can do nothing else but spin and make up negative stuff about Indy and everything/everybody associated with it.

We have a double edged sword … we can make a positive case for Indy, AND make a negative case for their Union.

David Mills

Wait a moment Mr T just posted a link to an RT_YouTube channel “GoingundergroundRT”

Thus promoting RT today hypocrisy on hypocrisy

Greannach

I would like to make it abundantly clear that I have not agreed to appear on Last Night at the Proms.

CameronB Brodie

Do You Know A Hypocrite?
Recognizing hypocrisy can lead to change.

….Hypocrisy can inflict considerable harm and threaten the core of meaningful personal interactions. If hypocrisy is uncovered, being duped is a two-edged sword. We can feel angry at the one who deceived us and angry at ourselves for falling for the deception. We might wonder how our judgment could have been so wrong and our trust so misplaced. Worse yet, it can make us question whom we can trust in the future. The potential victims of hypocrisy include not only us and all who had been deceived, but also authentic people who will be mistrusted unfairly….

….Research suggests that behavior is more likely to be judged hypocritical if the deception is intentional, the person has a sense of superiority, the contradictory behavior is serious, and the person is a repeat offender.

link to psychologytoday.com

Bill Hume

“Half man, half wheetabix”……thank you brewsed.

galamcennalath

BBC … ” Breaking News – Parliament will get a vote on the final Brexit deal before the country leaves EU, minister David Davis has told MPs…..And he said MPs would have the opportunity to reject or amend such legislation, saying “the agreement will only hold if Parliament approves it”. “

Ok. But what does ‘reject’ mean? Does it mean Brexit is cancelled, or mean the UK leaves with no deal?

There’s a fcking huge difference!

‘Cancel’ is a genuinely useful option. ‘Leave with no deal’, or accept the deal, isn’t much of a choice.

Wee Folding BIke

I didn’t agree to appear on K with a K.

The difference is that I was asked but said no.

Ruglonian

Oh Stu, “the furytariat” – That’s them forever summed up in one handy wee word – Quality, and I’m stealing it btw!

O/T
Quick hi to everyone who made it to Broughty Ferry on Saturday.
It was another night of delightfully diverse company, hope to see you all again soon x

Petra

@ Capella says at 3:47 pm …. ”Until April this year, the BBC wasn’t regulated by OFCOM but RT was. The BBC was regulated by a Trust run by Westminster appointees. One was the Chair of BAe weapons systems and the other was director of HSBC, under investigation for corrupt dealing. Effective from 3 April 2017, Ofcom becomes the BBC’s first external regulator.”

link to ofcom.org.uk

Excellent point made Capella. I had forgotten about that!

…………………………………

And I hope Macart doesn’t mind me bringing over his extremely relevant post from the last article. I’m doing so because I know that Mr Torrance will be following this thread, as he no doubt will be ‘watching’ Alex on RT.

**Giving you a wave, David**

@ Macart says at 6:45 am …. ….

”The state of oor meeja eh?

Mind you it’s not really our media, it’s a media which hires a few locals and deems itself a Scottish edition of whatever. Oh and when it comes to political news or commentary? It’s a very much one sided media view. To my knowledge this has never once been admitted by the mainstream media’s titles or broadcasters. They’ve been a bit too busy enjoying their superiority and moral low ground to notice that the profession is somewhat compromised democratically.

A superb and fair point was made by a commenter over on WGD on the subject of Alex Salmond’s new project, but it serves to cover Scottish news top to toe. They made the point that it was particularly awful that a Scottish production company had to go to an overseas production company to air programming on anything that wasn’t about SNP bad, fitba, murdur, kittens etc.

The fact that as a nation, we don’t have a broadcaster of our own to monitor the output of our goggle boxes or airwaves. Nor do we own any of the mainstream titles of our own nation. We have zero control or oversight over what we see of the world or how it is presented. As individuals, were it not for access to the internet, imagine, just imagine, what our world view, our current knowledge base and opinions might be?

A pretty damning point to be sure.

They want to know why a Scottish production company has found it necessary to sell their product to an overseas producer? They want to know why their stock with half the population of their home nation has fallen through the floor? Maybe they should take a long hard look in the mirror.

TBF though, they’re not stupid people, they know all of this already. THAT is the truth of ‘Scotland’s’ media. It’s not Scotland’s media at all.”

Meg merrilees

Galamcennalath

You’ve nailed it there.

I think the very same point was raised in Parliament before article 50 was triggered.

There is an extremely limited choice and the MP’s were not happy about it then.

The ‘choice’ is:
‘Do you agree with the deal we have negotiated ?

Aye or No.

There was no alternative on offer – it’s the negotiated deal or ‘No deal’ and since they are failing so abysmally to negotiate a deal, it’s looking awfully like a No Deal is heading right down the tracks towards us.

What does he mean.. ‘an opportunity to amend the legislation’???

Can they amend it to status quo – doubt it.

twathater

This manufactured furore by a weetabix lookalikey and others calling eck a tractor and other unsavoury names is just an incompetent diversionary tactic to hide the real tractors .

Is there not a immediate important investigation required by REAL investigative journalists to uncover the real reason Pratty prattel met with foreign agents of another country to discuss diverting aid funds to the very same rich country ,are these so called journalists happy that that is all that was discussed.Could this possibly be described as working against the best interests of the country which she is supposed to serve , if so would that person not be labelled correctly as a tractor

Are these self same journalists not concerned that a phalanx of tolly mp’s and msp;s visited this same country and who was it they met and what was discussed also who paid for same jolly

Is participating in tax avoidance and evasion by many well known people including the queen which results in depriving their beloved country and citizens of much needed revenue is that okay in their wee subservient bubble

Diversionary tactics from a rancid cabal of establishment lackeys with no integrity or morality

G H Graham

Torrance will be furiously wanking himself raw after getting featured on Wings again.

Any publicity is better than no publicity I suppose, unless it leads to an embarrassing appointment with the GP.

Petra

@ CameronB Brodie says at 4:50 pm …..

Do You Know A Hypocrite?
Recognizing hypocrisy can lead to change.

….Hypocrisy can inflict considerable harm and threaten the core of meaningful personal interactions. If hypocrisy is uncovered, being duped is a two-edged sword. We can feel angry at the one who deceived us and angry at ourselves for falling for the deception. We might wonder how our judgment could have been so wrong and our trust so misplaced. Worse yet, it can make us question whom we can trust in the future. The potential victims of hypocrisy include not only us and all who had been deceived, but also authentic people who will be mistrusted unfairly….

….Research suggests that behavior is more likely to be judged hypocritical if the deception is intentional, the person has a sense of superiority, the contradictory behavior is serious, and the person is a repeat offender.

link to psychologytoday.com

………………………….

I keep meaning to thank you for your input on here Cameron. Anyway great stuff once again. Thanks for that.

mike cassidy

I love Torrance The Twat’s scale of morality.

I was happy to appear when the excesses were only horrible.

But count me out now the excesses have reached their worst

Unless he’s claiming no journalists were murdered before he appeared on RT.

Only afterwards.

(Write your own obvious joke here).

Meg merrilees

Listening to the discussion in parliament just now re another Indy Ref 2. Have so far heard 3 speakers and all are against… am I surprised? NO.

And of course, Catalonia is being used to beat us into surrender.

Scot Finlayson

Malcolm X made a speech called `The difference between the House Negro and the Field Negro`

link to youtube.com

if you want to see Scotland`s House Jock`s in action,

link to tinyurl.com

Arbroath1320

It is clear to me that wee Davie boy has NOT seen this. If he had I’m sure he would be pushing exremely hard to question BBC, ITV, STV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and SKY as to why none of these channels were able to put together a good enough deal to air The Alex Salmond Show and yet R.T. was.

The evidence that the show was touted round these channels, some or all, can be clearly heard from Alex himself around 8:30 into theis 30 minute video of the launch party.

link to youtube.com

I’d also like to take this opportunity to make100% clear that ALL invitations from BBC and SKY to appear on their programmes have been turned down mostly due to the simple fact I was already otherwise engaged … watching paint dry! 😀

galamcennalath

Meg merrilees says:

no alternative on offer – it’s the negotiated deal or ‘No deal’

Funnily I was talking to someone on a street stall in Perth about a week ago. They were with an anti Brexit group. They said their aim was for WM to get a vote on the deal, meaning ‘accept’ or ‘cancel Brexit’. I suggested the Tories would offer ‘accept’ or ‘Brexit with no deal’. Well, here we are.

That choice is an utterly disgraceful abuse of parliament! The 2014 EURef was advisory, MPs should have the right to cancel this nonsense.

Jack Collatin

There he goes again, Stu, craving attention on the back of somebody really famous like yourself.
Torrance don’t even write good.
Posing with Farage, Thatcher, and the like, and doubtless a member of the Dead Tree Scroll wee hack ‘secret society’.
The man and his writing are third rate rabble rousing, lies, pointless rabbiting on about his sacred dying Union, and come independence, he will therefore be jobless.
There must be a bottomless pot of Brit Nat Propaganda money that this man and the likes of Tom Gordon get paid to churn out meaningless spiteful drivel.

Jason Smoothpiece

Mr Salmond appearing on RT will bring a little balance to the anti-Scottish deluge which pours from all British regime broadcasters and almost all print media, much off it lies.

This of course will not sit well with the people whose job is to keep the uninformed in Scotland uninformed.

The Centre may have to do something about the troublesome Mr Salmond, small allegation resulting in a wee court case?

Wouldn’t put it past them. Wait has that not occurred already to someone?

mike cassidy

OT

but maybe not.

Be thankful that here in Scotland you will never wake up in a hospital bed and find its Richard Branson leaning over you.

link to archive.is

And here’s a two-year-old article on the very timely issue of healthcare taxdodging.

link to archive.is

HandandShrimp

Torrance is so easy to wind up it isn’t really a sport. 🙂

Scot Finlayson

Sorry that was a short version of Malcolm`s speech,

Malcolm calls them House Negro`s we would call them collaborator,lickspittle,Uncle Tam,yoon,

link to youtube.com.

Robert Graham

o/t – Thanks for the link to the to the petitioners debate- I think- just as well this is not on TV or a TV near me would be out the window,
Don’t watch this in your having your dinner it’s a truly vomit inducing spectacle sprinkled with so many hall truths and total pish.
Any speaker against a second referendum is being allowed to vent their spleen and spout the most outrageous load of pish imaginable , on the other hand anyone ( apart from opening remarks) I have yet to hear any support for a second referendum, in fact this is getting farcical as one after another speaker obviously missing a Scottish accent .
What the f/k is going on here , these f/krs are saying there was a bloody battle on a daily basis going on ,
Oh f/k this I will do real damage to the PC I am watching this pish on if I continue watching .

jfngw

@Arbroath1320

I suspect if Farage or Cameron made the same offer to the channels mention regarding a chat show, they would be falling over themselves to get the rights. Same goes for almost any unionist party politician.

After all we have been treated to the Neil & Portillo ‘unbiased’ weekly show for years.

G. Campbell

I only appeared on Korean Central Television in an attempt to get off with Patrick Harvie.

G. Campbell

I only appeared in Triumph of the Will to promote my debut album.

mike cassidy

I only gave the Nazi salute so I could get a game for England.

link to archive.is

caledonia

Patrick Harvie got caught lying by RT reporter today on twitter cant find link though
reporter offered to show him interview

link scroll down

link to twitter.com

caledonia

Should have added for non twitter users click on 2 replys under where harvie says they approached them when he was unaware

mike cassidy

Can I be the three millionth person to point out that on Ross Green’s Twitter page

He not only described the BBC as a Pubic Broadcaster, not a State Broadcaster (Nov 10)

but he’s left it there for all to see.

Is he old enough to know what pubic hair is?

Jack Collatin

Just been reading Ross Greer’s tweets.
This man thinks that the BBC is independent of the Brit Nat Establishment, particularly the Oxbridge Eton Harrow Political wing.
He boasts that he is on the vetting committee monitoring the BBC and that he has ‘evidence’ that the BBC is on the level, impartial, and ‘brings Government Ministers down.’
Really?
Is he really that childlike, or is he setting himself up for a wee sinecure at Pacific Quay, as the Green/Socialist Go To Guy?
Mr Greer, BBC Scotland is a Unionist Propaganda tool. Simples.
It is riven with class and old world ‘religious’ prejudice.
If you fail to see that now, Lord help us all.

Highland Wifie

@Robert Graham
I couldn’t agree more. Having to listen to that almost gave me a stroke. So angry.
To hear Fluffy Mundell saying he was glad that it had been confirmed that nothing Alex Salmond said could be trusted was truly vomit inducing. From the man who is a proven liar.

Have to go for a lie down now. Are we really to believe that this is how the majority of our people actually feel? I just don’t believe it.

galamcennalath

Thankfully, the Tory Brexit vote fiasco isn’t going down well on Twitter …

” Nick Robinson
Definition : “taking back control” = like it or lump it (eg “MPs can take back control by voting on Brexit deal but if they reject it Britain crashes out of EU with no deal”)”

” Richard Corbett MEP
A parliamentary vote on the final #Brexit deal is meaningless if it’s a blackmailing choice of “this-deal- brexit or no-deal-brexit” with no chance to renegotiate or reconsider “

” Tom Brake
Lamentable performance from David Davis, the Govt’s Brexit cheerleader. He still believes that a meaningful vote for MPs is one that offers a choice between a bad deal and a catastrophic deal. Sham democracy. “

CameronB Brodie

@David Torrance
Do you not accept “international morality” constitutes the boundaries of legitimate sovereign action? Can you critically justify English hegemony over Scotland?

The utopia and reality of sovereignty: social reality, normative IR and ‘Organized Hypocrisy’

Abstract. This article applies E. H. Carr’s analysis of utopia and reality, and a Searlean-constructivist analysis of rules and norms, to the concept of ‘sovereignty’ in general, and Stephen Krasner’s argument in Sovereignty: Organized Hypocrisy in particular. In doing this, the article charts a theoretical space that incorporates insights from classical realism, scientific realism, and philosophical (social) constructivism. To view ‘utopia’ and ‘reality’ as distinct yet equally important planes of International Relations (IR) inquiry, thereby treating ‘sovereignty’ as a single concept with descriptive and normative elements, highlights both the merits and the shortcomings of Krasner’s approach. Furthermore, this type of analysis suggests a fruitful way to continue a contemporary normative discussion about what sovereign entities ought to do.

link to sro.sussex.ac.uk

geeo

So…DT objects to AS being on RT but not BBC, however DT and JC are ok on BBC and RT and occassionally BBC QT ?

BUT…if AS and JC were to meet on BBC QT with TM, then DT might not appear on RT to discuss AS TM JC but may do on BBC QT ?

Begs the question…if ex FM AS and current FM NS were to appear on BBC QT with PM TM and ex PM DC, would DT report this on BBC or RT ?

Answers on a postcard …

artyhetty

Re;highland wifie and robert graham

Was this in the HoC’s? Either way, they must be running pretty terrified that the result will be a yes, with a good majority. Matters have chnaged drastically since 2014, the British Nationalists just won’t be able to spout the same lies, and even new ones will be taken with a pinch of salt by most people with more than one brain cell.

They must know that the die hard yoons, are reducing in number for several reasons, and that even though many English people are moving to Scotland to escape the crazy Britnat brexit and Tory UKGov austerity, they are seeing that Scotland must be independent in order to continue on the more positive, forward looking, life affirming path than that which they are leaving south of the border.

This is their project fear#2 which never really went away after 2014. The Britnats attempt to undermine Scotland’s ecomomy is alive and kicking.

We must just share all info on how Scotland is actually doing, economically and socially, against massive odds of UKGov taking the utter rip out of Scotland since Sept 2014, and for 300 years before that.

geeo

If Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin had a mutual ‘concious uncoupling’ (they split up), would the Torrance equivalence be a ‘bumbling discombobulation’ from reality ?

Macart

Heh! Just had a curious thought. You know what would really turn the heads of yer msmeeja?

Imagine for a moment Mr Salmond didn’t use the show as any kind of direct indy platform. I mean,that’s what they expect. That’s what they’re terrified of and in some cases that’s what they want.

So what if he doesn’t? What if Mr Salmond simply chairs a current affairs discussion programme as billed? My God! The collective scrambled eggs on faces. 😀

All he need do is produce a successful format from a Scottish production company and it’s job done. Folk would ask their own questions as to why Scotland is bereft of its own broadcast control or output.

Worth a thought. 😉

CameronB Brodie

Petra
Thank you. Yoon-busting gives me a sense of moral accomplishment and community value. I’m not sure how the yoons feel about it though. 🙂

@David Torrance
I reckon you’re another one who lacks a sense of community that is rooted in Scotland. I also reckon you experience of Scotland is possibly rather narrow and privileged. Have you ever had to work two jobs or been homeless?

Can you critically justify supporting the state of Israel yet oppose Scottish self-determination?

I Am Because You Are – Building a Sense of Community | Dr. Patrice McClellan | TEDxWayPublicLibrary
link to youtube.com

Tackety Beets

This wee ditty landed a wee while ago.

link to soundcloud.com

G. Campbell

David Leask @Leasky13201320
I wiz jist pissin by ma pals hoose whin I sees poaster oan his winday advirtisin fir Salmond’s noo Kremlin show. Ave since defreended him.

David Leask @Leasky13201320
Wings felay nuur stoops takin piss ooot a gealic. Defo Soviet.

David Leask @Leasky13201320
Frbrchet smgrfech grngfncch ngrrbudsknh to all ma gealic pals. (In Scoats yon meens “Hiv a viy mirry christmis”)

David Leask @Leasky13201320
Ye wudnae see Putrik Hurvie oan Soviet TV, wid yaez. He’s goot stundurds, no like Salmond an yon Wings felay.

David Leask @Leasky13201320
Aw this wiz furtalded in a Herald story whir we’z tald ye’s Pravda wiz setin up shoap in Edinbura. BBC stoary sid it was fake noos but we’z since bin prooved rite smert!!

David Leask @Leasky13201320
The trooth is oot thir.

Rock

He claims he hasn’t “agreed to be interviewed on RT” since then.

It is more likely that RT has never asked him again.

The man is a shameless liar and hypocrite, in my opinion.

Lollysmum

Well RT is doing it’s level best to return the favour re publicity for Alex’s show. It’s just featured a sizable piece in their 8pm news lots of indy folks being shown in Freedom Square after a march. Then onto Alex & a piece filmed in a Westminster committee where unionists wanting AS censured & heavens above that Scottish government won’t do anything about him. So funny.

They’ll probably show it again at 9pm.

Robert Peffers

@John Jones says: 13 November, 2017 at 3:44 pm:

“Is a correction not required from yourself? I believe that the Crimea held a referendum and decided to RETURN to being a Russian area as they were previously.”

Doesn’t the actual truth tend to bring the Yoons out of the United Kingdom woodwork? Here’s a wee statement I read and memorised.

“The vote by some Crimean citizens to join Russia violates Ukrainian and international law and could come back to haunt Moscow, its primary backer.”

Who says so?

A certain John Bellinger III, of the CFR.

(John B. Bellinger III is adjunct senior fellow for international and national security law at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). He is also a partner at Arnold & Porter LLP in Washington, DC, where he advises sovereign governments and companies on a variety of international law and U.S. national security law issues).

Reluctant Nationalist

Torrance is a daft little bitch.

Anyway, I give it 6 months until the show is pulled.

Alan Laird

Its not that RT is an arm of Russian State propaganda (it is), Its that an increasing number of us now find it more cogent to believe RT’s output rather than the BBC’s. That fact alone should shame the BBC board to the core.
Salmond’s show and the faux outrage of the Yooniteriat will alert many more to the existence of RT and its other output. Hell mend the Beeb. They brought this on themselves.

Petra

Ian Blackford looking great. Smart, distinguished looking and representing the Scots. Really proud of him. Surrounded by a bunch of corrupt, inept, lying erses, especially the two standing behind him.

Amazing how we’ve got people complaining about his kilt! Take a look at Blair, Brown, Major and Cable and see if you can come up with some stories about them that are of more importance to the National interest than a kilt and jacket.

link to thenational.scot

………………………………..

Some decent ‘reporting’ from Professor John Robertson. Dream on David Torrance.

link to thoughtcontrolscotland.com

…………………………………

link to thenational.scot

ronnie anderson

@ Tackety Beets 8.34 Whit ur ye tryin tae dae wind up the Britnats LoL .

TheItalianJob

Torrance. What a buffoon. Tory establishment toad through and through.

RT has been ok at times and did watch the Kaiser report during Indy1 to get a balance on the ref which he did provide.

Alex Salmond is a gifted politician and orator. Argues his policies and beliefs with a well thought intelligence.

Lots of English friends and colleagues were over the moon when he lost his seat at the GE ably supported by the Westminster Establishment parties closing ranks as they do to protect themselves and the precious Union they both work for.

We have to be vigilant in the next Indyref as all manner of means will be unleashed to ensure the majority of voting Scots are convinced yet again to vote no.

What they fear now is the starting point for Yes is much higher than at the start of Indy1. That’s what they have to fight against and it’s going to get dirty folks.

Ian Brotherhood

For those who don’t do The Twitter hingmy…

It seems that Torrance has now ‘blocked’ Rev Stu.

Not the same as ‘flouncing’ off altogether, but close…

Dan Huil

@TheItalianJob 10:12pm

It seems to have begun in earnest already. May speaks this evening about Russia being the enemy and accusing Russia of spreading propaganda [I know! Shock horror!] throughout her precious so-called united kingdom.

Jings! She’s been listening to George Foulkes [hic!] about A Salmond being a t…..r.

Aye, it’s going to be nasty. Stand by for the britnat media, especially the bbc, spreading their own britnat propaganda throughout Scotland. Oh, wait… even more spreading…

Ken500

Alex Salmond is admired all over the world. Including in the rest of the UK along with the other SNP politicians. Their message of tolerance fairness and equality is valued, including in Europe. Scotland has more in common with European values than the rest of the UK.

Not appreciated by Mr Torrance or the rest of the unionists trying to destroy the world economy. How long before the twitter account is deleted for a while?

Poland was given over by Churchill and Roosevelt (ill) to Russian dominance after 11WW at Yalta. The 11WW killing millions. Instead of a free Poland it fell to Russian dominance. 26Million Russians died in the 11WW devastating the Russian economy. A military State to protect and preserve it’s borders. Paranoid.

Churchill lost the 1945 Election. A landslide Labour victory. People looked for a better future after the devastation. ‘Homes fit for heroes’. Ex servicemen are often homeless. Suffering from post traumatic stress and not getting the necessary treatment. Some become suicidal.

The US spends half of the income it raises on the military. $Trns on obsolete weaponry. Yet people are starving. It is the most indebted country in the world.

Anyone can access open twitter accounts on the internet.

mike cassidy

I can see the MSM headlines after the first show.

Salmond Chanted Putin.

Ken500

All the Villains line up who caused the illegal wars, the collapse of the world economy and the £Trns of debts. Killing and maiming millions of vulnerable people. They cause the worst migration crisis in Europe since 11WW and starve people to death.

Ian Blackford gets criticised for wearing a kilt.

Ken500

Torrance will be scared Wings sues for misrepresentation without an apology.

ronnie anderson

Alex Salmond will be spreading the Marmite oan thickly , you’s aint seen nothing yet folks, the Britnat media will be going apeshit .

Robert Graham

o/t – a little
I dont know how many watched the proceedings from westminster hall re- petitions on scottish independence , it cant have been many otherwise this forum would be full of comments about it.
Anyway i watched a bit and apart from the opening remarks that were supposed to address both for and against petitions.I dont know why one person was supposed to present both arguments
This was presented by a SNP MP i cant remember his name , during his preamble he gave way to opposition speakers and was hardly allowed to speak a full sentence this must have happened ten or more times,I guess they followed BBC training
Then we had a neat procession of well rehearsed unionist speakers all working together tag team style being allowed to spout utter pish and half truths without interruption ,
All just by chance they followed the same format
A divisive violent hate filled unwanted independence vote
A once in a lifetime vote never to be repeated
A SNP government who has made a mess of scotland by forgetting the day job .
All this S****e without interruption while i was on the verge of tossing stuff at the screen ,
Anyway my point is will someone give our MPS a f/kn shake don’t let this unionist mob walk all over you .
The unionist lot were high on numbers ,how many signed the for and against petitions they asked – it dosnt bloody matter all you need is the amount req to have the petition read .
The violence eluded to in every unionist comment wasnt challenged ,Police scotland arrested how many they know fine well it was their own side who caused any trouble and yet this pish was allowed to stand as if it were gospel .
Sorry for the long post but this was a f/kn disgrace and i hope the bit i didn’t watch had at least some rebuttal of unionist lies , because thats their game they dont play by any known rules they fight dirty it’s about time we matched them blow for blow .

dakk

No need to apologise Stu.

You do people a service in exposing the nature of this hyped up Yoon scribbler.

When RT harbours and promotes paedophiles,and broadcasts disinformation on an industrial scale like his own state broadcaster maybe then his words might not sound so utterly disengenuous.

Torrance and his ilk have a heavy responsibilty in creating the shit country his Britain is.Calling him out is necessary and benefits us all.

ronnie anderson

Robert Graham It was 15 unionist who put their names forward to speak at the Comm against 2 of the SNP , so no surprises .I gave up at Mundell munching .

Robert Graham

Thanks Ronnie , here’s me thinking it might have been an even contest , one for and one against – Silly f/in me eh , personality I would walk and call a election here, ok we get gubbed at least we would know if we were wasting our time or not , this shit where we have Unionists aided by the media chip chip chipping away every day will eventually wear folk down .

Robert Peffers

caledonia says: 13 November, 2017 at 7:12 pm:

Patrick Harvie got caught lying by RT reporter today on twitter cant find link though
reporter offered to show him interview
link scroll down
link to twitter.com

Ross Greer in that link claiming that Russia is a state that murders journalists but then the UK is a state that not only murders lawyers but old, sick, disabled, homeless and just simply poor people.

There is ample evidence that since Westminster started to, “reform”, the benefits system the death rates of all the above underprivileged people have soared and I can name at least two lawyers they have murdered Pat Finucane and Willie MacRae.

Not to mention a scientist or three.

Last winter saw the highest number of winter deaths in England and Wales since the turn of the millennium as respiratory diseases claimed thousands of lives and last year was recorded as the warmest on record.

You will find the Scottish statistics here:-

link to nrscotland.gov.uk

And here’s an article about them in England & Wales:-

link to theguardian.com

Robert Peffers

@Petra says: 13 November, 2017 at 10:05 pm

“Amazing how we’ve got people complaining about his kilt! Take a look at Blair, Brown, Major and Cable and see if you can come up with some stories about them that are of more importance to the National interest than a kilt and jacket.”

link to thenational.scot

The Britnats were not complaining about kilts on the Normandy beaches were they?

When Bill Mullen piped the Scottish soldiers up the Normandy blood soaked sands.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1304597/Awesome-courage-Bill-Millin–D-Day-piper-Nazis-thought-mad.html

Still Positive

It is pretty shite what the UK has done to us in Scotland re health.

Professor Sir Harry Burns, one time chief medical officer for Scotland said that independence would transform Scotland.

Meaning that an independent Scottish government would have all the tools to implement policies relevant to all of Scotland.

ScotsCanuck

well … same old shite fae Torrance !! .. well spotted Rev … I will watch AS on RT because it shoves it up the Brit Nats arse … and they “don’t like it up ’em” as Lance Corporal Jones used tae say !!

Dr Jim

First they banned us wearing tartan, then they banned us speaking our own language, they banned us having weapons to defend ourselves against their weapons coz they’re shit scared of us in a fair fight, they butchered and threw us off our lands then they transported us to far flung lands, then they sent a higher percentage of us into wars to fight for them in the hope of killing us off to keep our population small, then in slightly more modern times sent tanks up to intimidate us, we got a referendum to bugger off out the way of them and when they knew they were losing that one they lied their Arses off and threatened us with poverty and retribution if we left them

So here we are in 2017 and they’re complaining about us wearing our National dress all over again, I suppose it’s in case anybody notices we exist, and we can’t have that can we

It must be coming around time for them to be contemplating murdering us again
(Spanish example being set up now) with the help of the same type of low life’s that sold our country out the first time for a few bob

I aways find it strangely ironic when some in our movement say we should be nicer to these Scumbags so they’ll Mibbees not do that again

I kinda don’t go along with the idea that after ten rounds of letting them win we should still take a dive with our fingers crossed they’ll be grateful so they might not harm us AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN and…….

The world doesn’t like them and says so, I don’t like them and say so, are Scottish Unionist all Fearties or just suck up wasters with no pride coz don’t imagine for one Nano second they’re ever going to change voluntarily

Scotland and it’s people are something to wiped off their shoe if they think they can get away with it
Scotland invented the modern world, let’s reinvent a wee change in their attitude by changing ours eh?

twathater

@ Robert Graham & Ronnie Anderson I also watched the indy debate and could only stomach 30 or so minutes , the utter and total contempt that these arsewipes show day and daily is increasing exponentially, every time live broadcasts of any type are being transmitted the SNP reps should be nailing these barstewards to the floor.

It’s all right saying that the reps have to follow protocol and don’t want to appear too agressive but it doesn’t stop any of the yoonies ripping the pish and commanding the debate.

People are getting demoralised especially yessers when they see their reps being degraded , denigrated and abused without even a fightback never mind a challenge

The SNP reps need to appreciate that every slur and swipe by these parasites is not only against them but also their country Scotland and it’s proud yes citizens who have tasked trusted and elected them to represent and FIGHT for their independence from this dehumanising amoral conglomerate of misfits
These toads are so incompetent that they leave themselves wide open for ridicule and denigration yet our reps let them off a hammering at every turn , ffs get right in about them and show us yessers that you will not accept any more of their shite ,

Show us that you are REAL SCOTTISH TERRIERS

Alex Clark

“Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.”

“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

“We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and make strong progress towards it.”

Quotes from Mahatma Ghadhi that seem to make sense to me. Scotland won’t “win” it’s Independence by fighting that’s a given. We will only win by persuasion. Win the argument that’s our goal.

JaMur

Alex Clark. I do aggree that violence sorts nothing but I make an exception with weetabix boy.

Needs a guid kick up the erse as ma auld granny would say.

yesindyref2

Channel 512 on Sky, 9pm on Thursday though not on the listings yet.

There’s still Unionists going on about Salmond having been turfed out by the electorate, yet the same people complaining that he’s letting the side down.

Hello, he’s not an acting politician now, is he, frothers?

This is the biggest and longest laugh since the last one 🙂

Breeks

Find it incredible that Unionists are so worked up about the kilt.

At first you are angry at their sheer ignorance, then you are embarrassed to realise they have been raised to be ashamed of their country. But then you realise that, that is what you are meant to feel. That’s the reaction they want. But I also remember a horrid notion put into my head, I think it was Robbie Coltrane in Cracker, about the black character who was so ashamed of his skin colour that as a child he had burned and deeply scarred his flesh with bleach, trying to be white.

Could you be angry with a distraught coloured child bathing themselves in bleach? Or wouldn’t your heart just break at the tragic and misguided sadness of it, and rage instead at whatever wicked prejudice and cruelty made the poor kid loath the skin they were born in?

These are our “Unionists”. They have been raised and conditioned to loath the land and culture of their birth. They are the ones who would bathe in bleach to be rid of their Scottishness, to make it go away. These people aren’t exponents of the Union, they are the victims who have been most damaged by it.

They are the ones forever conflicted by demons trying to reconcile being “proud” Scots when they are actually ashamed and cringe before all things Scottish.

Look at Ireland; with its Northern Irish contingent who want so desperately to be British, and are so consumed with hate, but then look at the Republic of Ireland where nobody does. Then ask yourself what accounts for the difference… The “Unity” of the United Kingdom is neither patriotism nor solidarity, but is actually a rather sinister and effective social control mechanism that has been at work for a very long time.

Don’t be angry with Unionists. They need our compassion, patience, and a degree of help with their inner self esteem so they are comfortable with the Scottish skin they’ve been born in.

They don’t like Ian Blackford’s kilt? Good heavens child, it’s only Scots who could wear a kilt, and that’s a thing to be envied, not ridiculed. You want to read more Scottish history, and listen to a lot less British propaganda.

Dorothy Devine

Breeks , and I have no doubt that their family wedding photos have kilted men to the fore.

With regards the churnalist in question , that biographer of folk he never met nor interviewed , might I remind him that he churned on about the ‘ulsterization ‘ of Scotland and the Tories seem to have taken the idea and run with it – well done sir, your Tories have the Orange Order and the DUP as bedfellows and they would not like you one bit.

wull2

Somebody please list all the channels, Numbers and the day and time the first Scottish chat show/news will be on, so we can tell our Grannies and share it on our social media.

Liz Rannoch

Watching RT the noo – funny, wonder why I’m doing that?

RT USA forced to register as foreign agent under pressure.

Macart

They’re having a go at Mr Blackford wearing a kilt to the cenotaph?!?

FFS! How moronic can you be? That’s hatred of the man, his party and what he stands for taken to the level of cretin. A purely political, petty and yes, childish, whine.

If the kilt was good enough for a Scottish soldier to die in, then it’s good enough for someone to honour their sacrifice.

galamcennalath

Dr Jim says

when they knew they were losing that one they lied their Arses off and threatened us with poverty and retribution if we left them

I agree that in this context Arses is a proper noun and deserves a big capital 🙂

Liz Rannoch

Telling us what not to wear – again?!
Mind you, what if they wore their national dress?

link to newperspectives.com.au

schrodingers cat

the a50 bill stated quite clearly, mps get to vote on whether to accept the eu deal or not. if they refuse, then the uk leaves with no deal.

this bill passed through the HoC with both tory and labour voting for it.

the outrage by some of these labour mps on their lack of opportunity to vote to stop brexit suggests they didnt even read the A50 bill when it was going through the HoC

schrodingers cat

on cue

Kenneth Clarke MP? @thekenclarkemp

Several remain voting MPs looked like they had been told the Easter Bunny doesn’t exist in Parliament this evening, yet all of them voted for Article 50 (unlike myself). Brexit is not a weapon they can bash the government with, then simply end when they see fit. This is serious.

TheWasp

O/T

Sally McNair reading the news where we are like the Rev I.M. Jolly at the moment, oh and SNPbad on mental health must be todays coordinated attack

Scott

Herald online.

MasAskill blames UK Government for Salmon’s Russia show.

Who is this Salmon mind you the writer is Tom Gordon.

I wonder if any of those people complaining about Mr Blackford wearing the kilt would have the guts to decry the kilt to relations of those men who were slaughtered in WW1 all wearing the kilt.
They must really hate the SNP.

PictAtRandom

Meanwhile The Herald has reported that an anti-Indyref2 petition got 4.5 times the support of a pro one (in Scotland). And “Comments are closed on this article”.

So what’s on offer is a combination of Mr Weetabix and “Eat your cereal”.

yesindyref2

I’m awfy surprised David Torrance isn’t demanding the BBC gets sent to the Tower for its treason and betrayal, selling out to the Kremlin,

link to bbc.co.uk

Doctor Foster, a Drama Republic production written and created by Mike Bartlett, follows in the footsteps of Mistresses, which was also remade by Star Media. Other BBC Worldwide scripted formats that have been made for Russian TV include Luther (known as Klim in Russia) and Life On Mars (retitled Dark Side Of The Moon).

As well as scripted formats, BBC Worldwide also sells finished UK dramas to Russia. Recent successes include Top of the Lake, War and Peace, Doctor Who, Sherlock and Father Brown.

Other British shows in BBC Worldwide’s catalogue that have been remade for Russia include Top Gear, Mastermind, The Weakest Link, What Not to Wear, and Dancing with the Stars, which has run for ten series on Russia 1.

What total plonkers the frothing Unionists are!

Socrates MacSporran

See this Ian Blackford nonsense. I seldom, if ever hire and wear a kilt. I do not own one and, as a Lowlander I feel I am not entitled, so, to mark my Scottishness, for formal occasions, of which I attend guiy few, I opt for a trews-dj ensemble.

Good on Mr Blackford for wearing his kilt, but, he showed poor judgement in bowing to the “advice” which he received from – probably an English – civil servant, to wear a ark jacket.

He could well have worn the tweed kilt jacket he admits to owning, he’d have maybe got a few grumbles, but, he’d have got away with it. He earns enough to go out and buy a black or very dark green kilt jacket, to match go with his kilt, but, he perhaps chose wrongly in wearing his kilt dj.

Sorry, but, as he stepped forward, I thought: something does not look right here, then I spotted the dj.

But – he was there. He did his job. Mind you, he didn’t get as much stick as old Michael Foot, when he turned up in a “donkey jacket” all those years ago.

And, again, nobody mentions the hypocricy of Anthony Litton Blair – the untried war criminal – being there most years.

Footsoldier

The Herald is getting more extreme by the day in doing down SNP.The best examples are Chris Deerin and David Torrance whose lives seem to be dominated by finding things bad about the SNP. Google Deerin’s offerings from Scottish Daily Mail during 2014 campaign to see what passes for journalism these days.

yesindyref2

Kilts in WW1 and WW11? What better source than the Express!

link to archive.is

Or this:

link to tartansauthority.com

Naina Tal

Watched the first 30 mins of the debate on petitions. Utter fiasco. Tories coming out with the same tired old nonsense. “On with the day job, once in a lifetime, Police crisis. SNHS crisis, SNP Baad” etc. Wee digs at “The National”, Salmond and Sturgeon etc. Had to turn it off as the auld hert was thumping.
Is it just me being thick or were they ostensibly debating something which has nothing whatsoever to do with them. As Martin Day correctly pointed out: in Scotland the people are sovereign, not Parliament (Scottish or English).

orri

The Daily Mail goes to the opposite extreme in writing out Ian Blackford from their report. If the jacket is the issue and that’s down to following bad advice then the question is whether we, as scots, should even bother allowing others to dictate when and where our national dress is appropriate and how it should be presented.

Given the occasion and the weather something like one of these might have been in order, link to kinlochanderson.com , although not at that price.

Robert Roddick

Thanks again Rev. Like Naina I couldn’t stomach the braying clowns of the British Nationalist claque and switched off.

jfngw

The Herald – 80% pay no more income tax under the SNP, they phrase it differently since 1 in 5 looks bigger.

Whilst if you believe their petition story support for independence is less than 18%, they really are fools. Someone should explain there is no address verification on these petitions, you just need a valid email address (I’m not even sure that is really required). You can vote as many times as you like as long as you use a different email address (very easy, I have many) and just use any postcode you like. The other reason is of course many believe that they already have a mandate at Holyrood and don’t care what WM think.

I know votes were bogus because I received a voting confirmation to my catch all email address to someone who doesn’t exist.

Robert Peffers

@Twathater says: 14 November, 2017 at 3:40 am:

” … the SNP reps should be nailing these barstewards to the floor.”

You don’t seem to know a great seal about psychology, Twathater.

What the, “SNP reps”, are doing has been very effective in demonstrating to the World at large, and to the less aware Scottish don’t knows and Scottish don’t cares, exactly in what contempt the Unionist Britnats hold Scots and Scotland.

It is really a great deal harder to restrain the very natural urge to lash out on being attacked than to restrain yourselves and let others see how you are being treated with such utter contempt.

I expect, like Ronnie & Robert Graham, you, (rightly), express your sincere admiration for the really courageous manner in which the independence seeking people of Catalonia have shown such great restraint when actually being physically attacked by the Spanish Government thugs yet you see it as a weakness when, “The SNP Reps”, passively let the unionist Britnat thugs ill treat them.

If they blindly lash out, when being attacked by the unionist thugs, the Britnat propaganda machine would have a field-day with a feeding frenzy of SNP bad and the effect would thus be counter productive.

You only need consider this very article by Rev Stu that highlights that same effect by showing a very long list of those unionist Britnats who have themselves featured on RT but are now attempting to put down Alex Salmond as a, “British Tractor”, for doing the same thing they had all done previously.

The result is that Joe & Josephine Public plainly see the sheer hypocrisy of it being good to go on RT in support of Britnat Unionism but bad to go on RT for Scottish independence.

Which is the same reverse psychology being employed by the restraint of the, “SNP Reps”, you, Ronnie and Robert so frequently yell SNP BAAAD at.

Just whose side are you really on?

Legerwood

Re that jacket. It was out of place. Why not wear the black jackets with black buttons? Could have hired one.

Re Mr Torrance and RT. Mr Campbell said Mr Torrance had worked for RT. That suggests, infers, implies payment.

Tinto Chiel

I was just looking for the digital version of Duncan Duff’s Scotland’s War Losses, because he has some interesting observations about the wearing of the kilt by Scottish troops and thought I would provide a link to it.

Strangely enough, what came up first on my Google search but Sir Hew Strachan’s Scotsman article (where he tries to deny the loss of Scottish troops in both World Wars was disproportionate)?

I noticed this a few months ago and, of course, nothing has changed (except Duff’s digital version seems to have disappeared).

The Union Never Sleeps, indeed.

CameronB Brodie

Robert Peffers
Re. John Bellinger III, of the CFR.

The CFR is not an impartial player and is bound up in the Anglo-American ‘War of Terror’. The Crimea was part of Russia before Nikita Khrushchev ‘gifted’ it to the Ukraine.

Security after emancipation? Critical Theory, violence and resistance

Abstract

Within the current configuration of Critical Security Studies (CSS) the concept of ‘emancipation’ is upheld as the keystone of a commitment to transformative change in world politics, but comparatively little is said on the status of violence and resistance within that commitment. As a means of highlighting this relative silence, this article examines the nature of the connection between CSS and the Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School. In particular it disinters the reflections of Herbert Marcuse on the connections between emancipatory change, violence and resistance as a means of interrogating and challenging the definition of ‘security as emancipation’. Doing so, it is argued, points towards some of the potential limitations of equating security and emancipation, and provides a provocation of contemporary CSS from within its own cited intellectual and normative foundations.

link to cambridge.org

Critical Studies on Security

No emancipatory alternative, no critical security studies

We offer a provocation – that we should stop appending ‘Critical’ to ‘Security Studies’. Critical security as an academically and politically contested terrain is no longer productive of emancipatory alternatives. In making this claim, we seek to reflect upon the underlying dynamics which drove the boom in critical security studies in the 1990s and the early 2000s and its pale afterlife in the recent years. To support the argument empirically, the attention is paid to the role of emancipatory agency at the heart of critical security understandings. As we argue, the current state of ‘critical’ security theorising is no longer informed by the emancipatory impulse of the 1990s and the critical claims have been much damaged by the retreat of liberal internationalism and rise of non-emancipatory and post-emancipatory approaches. The critics that remain in the field thus articulate much lower horizons with regard to policy alternatives and conceptualise no clear agency of emancipatory possibilities. Ironically, ‘critical’ security theorists today are more likely to argue against transformative aspirations – rather than in favour of them.

link to bristol.ac.uk

The Kurds: The Most Famous Unknown People in the World | Stephen Mansfield | TEDxNashville
link to youtube.com

heedtracker

Socrates MacSporran says:
14 November, 2017 at 9:31 am
See this Ian Blackford nonsense. I seldom, if ever hire and wear a kilt. I do not own one and, as a Lowlander I feel I am not entitled, so, to mark my Scottishness, for formal occasions, of which I attend guiy few, I opt for a trews-dj ensemble.

You should. I’ve got an old Gordon Highlanders kilt, its a deep green blue, its probably ceremonial but it has seen a lot of action:D

link to en.wikipedia.org

Valerie

@ Legerwood

Disappointed in you jumping on the kiltgate bandwagon, and going with the jacket line of attack.

For those who can’t keep up.

Ian Blackford spoke to the organisers about his dress. He told them he would wear a day jacket, they said no, it had to be evening dress. He put his case, but went with their wishes.

Abulhaq

Torrance’s opinions? Do we honestly care what this man thinks or says or need to justify ourselves in his court? He is a gnat buzzing for little Britain.
As devils advocate for Putin’s actions it should be born in mind that Khushchev gave away the Russian majority Crimea to Ukraine without consulting the inhabitants whether they be Russian, Tatar or Ukrainian. Under Ukrainian rule the region was rather neglected.
The 2nd Chechen war was provoked by Islamist incursions into the region and terrorism in Moscow.
The general rule seems to be that you may do as you please in your own ‘backyard’, just consider what America has got up to in its sphere and beyond with little comment or opposition from its allies.

Socrates MacSporran

orri @ 9.46am

Funnily enough, when I saw Ian Blackford step forward, I thought: “Should have had on an Inverness Cape”.

But, as you said – at that price!!!

The other answer, of course, would have been for Mr Blackford to tell the civil servants, or anyone who complained: “If it was all-right for the Highland regiments’s soldiers to wear a bright red jaket above their kilts, or later on khaki battle dress tunics, then it’s ok for me to wear this day jacket to remember them – ya English fanny.” Or words to that effect.

Andy

I can see David Torrance’s point. If you are paid to do something thats very different from if you do it for free.

Jimmy Savile was paid by the BBC to abuse kids which was clearly bad..

Wheras all the volunteer work he did for free at the childrens hospitals was obviously ok

Valerie

@ Socrates

Don’t disagree with that sentiment, but he knew the kilt would cause a stink, so he obviously went with the jacket advice, to make sure he could refer criticism of that back to the organisers.

Damned if he did, or didn’t.

The yoon hatred is bottomless.

gus1940

I have just received this week’s edition of Kenneth Roy’s Scottish Review rag.

The lead item is a disgustingly biased attack on RT by John Lloyd no doubt triggered by the announcement of Eck’s forthcoming chat show on the channel.

If Stu hasn’t already embarked on a forensic dismantling of this biased pack of lies and distortion I have no doubt that he will find it difficult to resist the temptation to apply his genius to do so as it is so awful as to invite lethal criticism.

Unfortunately I doubt if twisted Roy would allow publication of any attack on the article by Stu as it wouldn’t suit his unionist agenda.

Fred

Can’t wait on Torrance’s autobiog’ “My Life as a Bell-end!”

Jack Murphy

Meanwhile back in the real world.

A RedTop in England,the Daily Express is screaming on it’s Front Page:
“Care Home Costs Soar.
Crisis as prices rise at fastest rate on record”.

The same Redtop in Northern Britain,the Scottish Daily Express has an altogether different Screamer on it’s Front Page:
“Half a million snared in SNP Tax Grab”.

These RedTop Newspapers are owned by by a Mr Richard Desmond owner of Express Newspapers who lives in Hampstead,London and according to Wikipedia has a net worth of £2.25 billion Pounds.

“In December 2014, during the run up the 2015 general election, Desmond was reported to have agreed to donate £300,000 to the UK Independence Party.

There was speculation at the time that a further donation could follow,and in April 2015 it was announced that he had given an additional £1 million to the party………”
[Wikipedia]

It’s make our minds up time.

Andrew

and if his concern was the killing of journalists then Anna Politkovskaya was murdered in 2006 and Natalya Estemirova in 2009 (to name but two prominent cases out of 38 listed by the Committee to Protect Journalists since 1993).

Alex Montrose

Eck will have to chair a debate on Independence, himself in the chair, 3 indie supporters and 1 BritGnat on the panel, sounds fair to me.

North chiel

How convenient that with the Westminster Tory junta in meltdown at home over Brexit etc.
that a new Russian “ bogeyman” appears on the scene to provide the usual “ smokescreen” to divert attention from the electorate . An added bonus is Alex Salmond now being propagated as “Putin’s new “ right hand media man “ . Significant also that Our FM’s “ visit” to “ Faulty Towers”
follows on from May’s propaganda outburst from last night no doubt timed to deflect attention from
the ongoing Scotland v England Brexit rift. Hopefully our FM can lay it on the line to “ Teresa the 8th” that the people of Scotland will be given the option of a Independence referendum after the “ shambolic Brexit outcome is clarified” , and following on from our government’s democratic Holyrood vote. A “ hard Brexit & Westminster power grab “ is the Tories principal objective and Scotland’ assets are thereafter to remain under the control of the U.K. treasury under the “ pooling & sharing” London & south east “ Westminster con trick”.
Let ‘ earnestly hope that Scotland can escape from any Westminster “ power grap” and our FM from any Downing st “ power gropers”

Davosa

I quite often wonder why the Herald persevere with this lying, hypocrite, numpty Torrance. he has zero credibility even among some yoons.

twathater

@ Robert Peffers i fully expected you to respond as i was diverting from the PLAN , I had formulated a few responses but TBH I can’t be bothered . As you have informed the blog many times you are an octogenarian and have voted SNP and independence since you were young I salute your resolve , But as you have also said this is the closest the SNP have ever got to independence and they are the only ones who can get us there I agree

Your assertion that the slowly slowly catchy monkey approach is working unfortunately hasn’t really borne fruit , I would add that the total clusterfcuck of liebour and tolies has helped the SNP gain ground which is as it should be

The old saying that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome is madness , lets hope that doesn’t apply to indy 2

I respect your views re the SNP’s M O but I have my own views

May I also point out I DESPERATELY want independence and your continued assertion that anyone who does not agree with you or the SNP’s M O is subversive is highly insulting

bob

Queen Nic says this is a really bad idea, so not sure why it’s so popular on here.

‘No SNP Ministers have appeared or will appear on RT’

link to telegraph.co.uk

Auld Rock

Perhaps if the EBC was not a mouthpiece for Westminster and the London establishment and reported evenhandedly and gave Alex a slot the he might not have had to go to RT so that he could get the word out.

HandandShrimp

Bob

Only a buffoon believes anything written in the Telegraph. It is more partisan than RT.

DavidCaledonia

I watched Alex Salmond and his first show on RT, a news outlet that i have been fortunate to have watched for quite some time now
I will not go into the detail about the programme as anyone who watched it will not need to be told by me how good it was
But what struck me most of all was the way Alex conducted the interviews, he let the people speak without interrupting or trying to put the person being interviewed down, and trying to force his opinions upon them, in fact at the end of the show Alex said, its not my place to tell catalonia whether to go for independence or not, its up to their own people to decide that issue, Alex Salmond, i salute you sir for being the kind of man you are…….. Alba Gu snooker loopy!


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