Wings Over Scotland

(kiss)

Paula Rose:
Thanks for this link below. Really enjoyed it. Powerful stuff.
 

The unique and vibrant culture as well as gorgeous countryside was the reason for my parents (though namely my dad) bringing us here, to Scotland,  for our hols and day trips when they could afford it, and it is why they pretty much envied Scotland for having an actual cultural and environmental identity, which I think they thought was well in the past in the N E of England. I won’t let the ‘no’ lot let them down in my wonderful adopted country. I am so glad my sons have listened and read enough about the Indy issues to have made their own minds up, to vote YES. If it’s ‘no’ they might choose to take up their dual birthright as well, and bugger off to NZ and I wouldn’t blame them! Fingers crossed it’s a YES.

@ Paula Rose
So beautiful.

@Paula.
That was a marvellous bit of prose. I feel the need to share it!
 

Surely the Creole culture of New Orleans was “subsumed” into the Greater Americana?
I need guidance on the link between Sydney Bechet and Philip Larkin. 
Please Rev. 
Hail Alba.

@RobertKerr
This may help as a start
 
link to nepr.net

Still some confusion in the Guardian article:

“The nationalists remain vulnerable on the nuts and bolts of pension provision, public expenditure from a low tax base and meeting Scotland’s share of the UK debate….” (I think they mean Debt), but aren’t all these things problems for the rUK, not problems for Scotland?

“… a No vote (which would hand it the title of Most Independent Non-independent Country in the World)…” I think they mean in Britain, given the autonomous status of regions in other countries (e.g. the US) as discussed on here recently…

Actually, the Guardian have given it two postings in their paper. Same thing …a dig at Cameron over Scottish Independence.
 
link to theguardian.com

Though I must admit, this posting seems to give the illusion that it is BT who WANT the TV debates. I think it was more of the other way around!

Cheers Brian.
On a totally different topic, even though I couldn’t find that article from an English newspaper last week commenting on the media north of the border, at least as pointed out in my first article above today, the Guardian have helped me out on that one!
 
cheers again!

Apart from journalists and the westminster village idiots, who in the real world gives Darling any creditabilty on his utterances on any aspect of the economic collapse?  It’s a real puzzler.

Robert Kerr – Creole can’t be regarded as ‘subhumed’ into American culture.  Creole seen as the ‘other’ by mainstream America good to visit and get off your face but back to the good ol’ usa on the Monday.  That was my impression I got from living there in the 90’s.
I suppose the best answer would be ‘its complicated’

@ JLT – Love your Gravatar, unchained Unicorn. Well done.

The Mail on Sunday front page has not one, but two corkers.
MOD: SCOTS risk terror attack if UK is split…. And NATO tells SNP you CAN’T join us.
Wouldn’t open the paper (it’s my wife’s) but think this is desperate stuff—easily refutable of course.
 

Re the Guardian/Observer: by far the most educational piece in the Guardian today is this one:
 
link to theguardian.com
 
Shows you what “Britishness” really is in the minds of so many. The author is the former general secretary of the Fabians.

Sunday Teaser: can you guess who wrote the following comment, on Derek Bateman’s blog? Nae cheatin!

‘Derek is absolutely correct: trying to put forward a fact-based rational argument for separation isn’t going to work for the YESnp campaign. Mainly down to the fact that their facts are not in fact facts.

Better by far to ramp up the identity politics and go for the grudge and grievance angle – a place where many on the YES side feel most at home.’

Maybe the most interesting story is the one that appeared in the Sunday Post:
UK gov must come clean on oil ‘cover-up’

Sun, 06/10/2013 – 11:05
 

The Scottish National Party has called for information following revelations oil was discovered on the Firth of Clyde in the 1980s yet further exploration was blocked by the Ministry of Defence over fears it would interfere with the nuclear submarines based at Faslane.
As reported in today’s Sunday Post, seismic and geological studies were carried out by energy giant BP in a 92 square-mile area south of Arran, but both BP and the UK government say they no longer have copies of the survey results.
Retired Labour politician David Lambie MP has said the oil exploration was blocked by the MOD.
 
SNP MSP for the South of Scotland Chic Brodie said:
 
“Given the revelation by former chancellor Denis Healey that the UK government underplayed the value of oil in the 1970s, we have to be deeply sceptical that the UK government is telling us everything they know when it comes to oil in the Firth of Clyde.
 
“We know for a fact that the MoD was consulted on the exploration and now we have the local MP at the time saying they had any further exploration halted.
 

“The people of Scotland deserve answers from the UK government on what is exactly down there. It is odd to say in the least that no records exist anymore.” 
Then again is it likely, a London government wouldn’t have kept yet another oil secret from us, would they?

Ian
 
LOL
 
The legion voice of our erstwhile fellow traveller on the road to independence perchance?

Gordon Bennett! (*)
 
It would seem, from the Twitter feed, that Rev is transcribing George Robertson. Talk about over and above the proverbial?
 
(* James Gordon Bennett Jr. inherited his father’s talents for journalism and controversy, not to mention his multi-million dollar estate – and he’s the Gordon Bennett that the phrase refers to. He took over control of the New York Herald in 1866, by which time he was well into an enthusiastic and hedonist playboy lifestyle, indulging in spending the family fortune on air and road racing in the USA, England and France.)

I brought up the subject of the oil discovery in the Firth of Clyde in these columns a few weeks back and full details were given at that time of the Westminster chicanery that took place  then.
The details should be fully exposed and used to refute the arguments for the loss of employment when the WMDs are removed from our country. 

Gordon Bennett gets a mention in one of RLSs works.

Brian Powell
If this story really does come from the MOD they’ve gone down even more in my estimation. Absolute rubbish. How would the terrorists get past our Border Guards?
 NATO story still unread by me, but someone else might help.
Keeping my blood pressure down.

@ Robert Kerr and JLT – Last week in Quarantine a few of us were majoring on Scottish History books and of course touched on the heraldic Scottish Coat of Arms which has 2 chained unicorn supporters [dexter and sinistere] plus other Scottish symbols. As you correctly said the United Kingdom Royal Coat of Arms has the Lion [England] and chained Unicorn.[Scotland].
Got to say that my BP went through the roof when I saw the collar and chain and then obviously did some more digging for reasons. I ended up still none the wiser because explanations heraldic reason that the Unicorn was chosen for its Purity, Truth and Strength [Far Eastern Folklore] while others stated that a Unicorn is a dangerous beast and must be shackled as it is the mortal enemy of the Lion.
Now Heraldic instruments are altered and changed from time to time and it appears that if the chain is broken and the Unicorn faces the camera instead of looking at the Lion then Scotland will be Independent.
 
 
 

@Seanair
 
MOD: SCOTS risk terror attack if UK is split….
 
Does this mean the Ministry of Defence is going to launch a terror attack on us if we vote Yes, or do they think this will definently happen if we vote Yes?  If it is the latter, how exactly do they know this is going to happen?  Via a crystal ball, or are they going to withhold intelligence (which would surely be against international law)?  All very bizarre…
 
And NATO tells SNP you CAN’T join us.
 
Good.  I do not like NATO anyway.

Archie / Robert
 
I believe that if Scotland does become Independent, then the Scottish Coat of Arms is 2 Unicrons facing each other with a shield between them. A Red Lion sits above the shield holding sword and sceptre. A statue of this lion sits outside the Queens Gallery at Holyrood.
I remember Neil Oliver talking about the Unicorn during his ‘A History of Scotland’ series. As he put it, a Unicorn is a beautiful fierce creature that could only be tamed or captured by the hand of a young virgin girl.
How ironic then, that eventually that legend came to pass. Queen Elizabeth the 1st of England tamed the Unicorn by offering it’s King (James VI of Scotland) the crown of the English throne too, and from that point on, Scotland slowly lost her independence.
 
Ach well …disnae matter …we’ll get it back on the 19th September 2014 !! (…and oor Unicorn’s too!!)

Oh dear. Unionist Sunday Times journo Gillian Bowditch referred to Scottish regiments being cut by “successive ENGLISH governments” on Sunday Politics Scotland earlier. Can she survive in her job after this terrible slander?

Watch Gillian’s outrageous slip of the tongue (moment of honesty) at 1:11:50-ish.
link to bbc.co.uk

Finally! Just watched the debate from Abertay University.
 
Well …if that is the Unionists argument, then they are in serious trouble. Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was a good debate. I thought Lord Robertson did alright. Certainly a change from the screaming and shouting that we got from Anas Sarwar at Nicola Sturgeon. Neither politician interrupted the other, so that was extremely good.
There is no argument! Lord Robertson, as much as he tried to put across an argument, really revealed nothing. We will get nothing if we vote No. It was pretty much the usual stuff that we get from Project Fear. I thought the boy, Hosie, did okay. Got the main points across, and the students liked it.
Gives me belief that if the young folk (who will be a bit green around the ears) get the main points put across to them sensibly, then common sense should tell them to vote ‘Yes’.
As I said earlier today …looks like it could be a good day!

@ Dcanmore – I am just doing a bit of digging around and I noted that Chic Brodie MSP submitted a FOI to various in March of this year. Has the response been ‘Sorry we lost all documents regarding this?’ Maybe I should ask him eh? Nope I didnt buy the Sunday Post.

I worked in the oil industry and in the 80’s one of my colleagues told me that he had been on the survey ships in the Clyde and West Coast and the signs were encouraging. At that time we expected that there would be some appraisal drilling but it never happened. We always assumed it was due to Trident. Note just because the signs are encouraging does not mean that there are recoverable oil reserves. The companies that chartered the survey ships will know what the results were, they will not have lost their records. I presume that as soon as we vote YES then appraisal drilling will be carried out as a matter of urgency.
 

@ Caroline – By all accounts GECO were doing the survey work but then it stopped dead in the water. I agree with you, of course there are logs but in dusty boxes marked ‘Commercial Confidential’.
What I find somewhat amusing is this – If there was an objection by the MOD [Malcolm Rifkind] because of potential hazards to UK and US submarines how on earth do these same submarines manage to negiotate the North Sea and other areas?
Notice to Mariners – Emmmm not sure but there might be a drilling rig near Arran, position fixed but to ensure safety take a bearing on the Ice Cream shop in Girvan. If in doubt surface and exchange papers and magazines with the rig crew.
 

Here is an FOI release regarding oil/gas exploration in the Firth of Clyde.
 
link to gov.uk
 

West coast oil.
I posted this elsewhere a while ago.Glasgow Herald 1983?news.google.com/…/forargyll.com/…/…FOI Request March 2013.forargyll.com/…/…————————————–July 2013:http://www.gov.uk/…/Infrast_Off.pdfPS: On the newspaper link look down the page re: Devolution Labour: Funny old world.

They fuck you up, your mum and dad.   
    They may not mean to, but they do.   
They fill you with the faults they had
    And add some extra, just for you.
 
But they were fucked up in their turn
    By fools in old-style hats and coats,   
Who half the time were soppy-stern
    And half at one another’s throats.
 
Man hands on misery to man.
    It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
    And don’t have any kids yourself.

My Gawd is this an actual sensible piece from Brian Wilson? Such a difference from his Scotsman rantings.
 
link to energyvoice.com

Ian guess what no comments facilty especially after they accused SNP of making light of HIV, Oh dear guess who wants an internship with labour?

The Jimmy Reid Foundation are not going to rival Wings’ level of crowd funding any time soon, which I personally feel is a real shame. They are working on an alternative to the corrupt and self-serving system that  the UK is welded to, and I believe that most on here would be drawn to the Common Weal, but it needs fleshing out. The people working on it are giving their time and services free, but there are costs involved, and they depend on the likes of us to provide funding.
 
I lobbed money in some weeks ago, but I was perplexed to find that, with only 18 days to go, they have not even reached 9,000 pounds of their target of 25,000. So, I gave them some more tonight, and you can too.
 
Come on lads and lasses, let’s gie them a wee haun’, eh?
 
link to indiegogo.com

Ianbrotherhood,
Hi mate. How you doing?

To be honest, I have no time for anything that that woman has to say. She said that at least 40% of our nation had a virus. I find that utterly appalling. She made it out that 40% of the nation suffered a terrible and wicked disease. To me, it just shows what utter bitterness resides at Scottish Labour HQ.

For the last two years, they have been told again and again, that need to change and refocus their strategy. But they can’t. This utter hatred of the SNP, and of Salmond, has blinded them completely. To be honest, they are so focused on the SNP and Salmond, that they have forgotten about any policies of their own. I really couldn’t tell you of one Scottish Labour policy. I’m not joking when I say that!

But, I believe there will be a day of reckoning for the Scottish Labour Party, and I can name that day; Friday the 19th of September 2014. The day the result is announced.
 
Overall Ian, hope you had a good weekend mate. Catch you on another post!

Waiting on my badge coming.
Saw Stuart B mention it late last week.

“If an ordinary SNP voter or somebody who believes in independence, but who wouldn’t define themselves as nationalist, were offended by what I said, that was not my intention and I’m accountable for what I say.”
 
What is the difference though between being an SNP voter who supports independence, but does not define themself as a nationalist, and one who does?  Does being a Scottish nationalist make you the equivalent of Hitler or something?
 
Addressing the conference in her annual speech, Lamont said: “The next year is about defeating the politics of nationalism, a virus that has affected so many nations and done so much harm.
“An ideology that never achieved anything. But it is about more than that. It is about Scotland and all our nations embracing the ideal of the United Kingdom.”
 
So you reject Scottish nationalism, while embracing British nationalism at precisely the same time?  Also, an ideology that achieved nothing?  Did you think Ghandi or Mandela achieved nothing then?
 
She added: “For the nationalists, the misery of the people isn’t a wrong to be corrected, it is a chance to be exploited. For them, grievance is not to be addressed, it is to be nurtured.
 
So tell me Lamont, what has Scottish Labour achieved for all their voters in the disadvantaged areas of Scotland, particularly in the West of Scotland then?  You have played on people’s grivance of the Tories, and delivered virtually nothing for them for decades.
 
“It’s a cynicism, which corrodes our politics. It should create in us a revulsion.”
 
So you see no cynicism in SLAB’s elected representatives then towards their own voters?  What about their nepotism, their crony networks of patronage?  No revulsion for them? 
 
“What I was trying to get at was, actually a politics which says we are different and the reason we need to separate is because our identity is being run down, and that we are somehow oppressed by the rest of the UK, I think such politics are unhealthy.
 
Who said anything about Scotland’s identity being run down, or being oppressed by the rest of the UK?  Have you heard of democracy Lamont, of electing your own governments all the time?  Is this concept too complicated for you?

she cant make a speech, she reads a script which is written for her. there is a reason she comes across as a vile thick non-entity.

Hmmm…interesting…Rev has Tweeted that he’s working on a ‘blockbuster’ article for tomorrow.
 
We know he’s been transcribing the words of George ‘I was the King of Naydo dontcha know‘ Robertson.
 
Anyone care to have a stab at what it could be about?
 
Will Rev give us a teensy, toty wee tiny clue if we ask him really nicely?
 
Or will we all ‘accidentally’ start copying cite-tags into monoblocked comments?

@ scottish skier
 
And with Firefox also….
 
It has to be said that the Rev’s thunderous wrath and threats of eternal damnation are a burden on his ignorant followers: How are we small sinners expected to understand?
To avoid being turned to a pillar of salt:
 
1) Never copy/paste the ‘xxx says’ line.
2) Always hit line break twice between paras

link to twitter.com
Kenny Farquharson appears to be wrong about something.  Presumably from ignorance because we know (from him) what a fair minded journalist he is.
link to en.wikipedia.org
link to en.wikipedia.org
link to bbc.co.uk
link to en.wikipedia.org
link to amazon.co.uk
 
That took all of two minutes.  I suppose for an editor two minutes of fact checking would be absurdly over egging things.
 
Apparently some people have been dreadfully mean to poor Kenny.
link to twitter.com
 
One can only speculate why.  However, if I was the editor of Scotland on Sunday and didn’t want to be considered Vichyist I might consider doing something about people posting manifestly untrue comments about the French resistance below the line of a article accusing nationalists of being connected to the Nazis.  The problem with the Scotsman censoring comments is it rather implies it approves of the ones that make it through.
link to archive.is (Alba Amicus post).
This link provides the refutation:
link to d-d.natanson.pagesperso-orange.fr

@ kininvie – Yeah Firefox here to. Oh well I now have single spaced stripes on my bottom from the Rev. Its ok, it reminds me of the daily caning I used to get at Bishop Wordsworth Grammar School in Salisbury. I refused to kneel in chapel and called a teacher a scunner. I got expelled as a rebel. Oh well nothing has changed much eh?

It’s just like a typewriter. One press of Return puts you on a new line, but it doesn’t create a space.
 
It just appears to when you are composing a post, hence the common problem I assume.

That’s true.  It’s also true that the paragraph break produced that way is unnecessarily wide.  If you then go into the edit screen, that can be rectified by hitting each break with the cursor and doing a back-space.  Two presses of the return key while in the edit screen also gets you the narrower, better paragraph break.  Note that’s what appears in posts RevStu has edited.
 
Anyone who wants to hit “edit post” to make the paragraph breaks look right probably has too much time on their hands.  And probably won’t be able to do it anyway, because some piece of spam Akismet has thrown in the trash will have automatically closed the edit window.
 
And another thing, if you forget to italicise something and manage to edit, you have to type <I> </I> around the text manually, because there’s no italics button in the edit screen.  However, if you type that HTML code in the normal comment box, it will appear like that and won’t italicise the text at all, because the system will have converted the angled brackets to “greater than” and “less than” codes.
 
The WordPress system is a nightmare, but Stu says it’s still better than the alternatives, so I suppose we just have to deal with it.
 
I still don’t know why anyone would put a lot of extra carriage returns at the beginning or end of a post though.  I mean, what’s the point?

How did you get that extra-wide space at the end of your post, then?

Good luck on Thursday Morag. Do you know when the results will be due?

@StuartBlack 6/10 @ 0748pm
Re your comment about the Common Weal fundraiser, I too am perplexed.
 
I contributed early on, will get my badge, but had expected it would be well supported. Maybe it’s not had enough publicity, I don’t know. Have also posted the link here a couple of times too.
 
Robin McAlpine, in my view, is one of the best media performers. He offers well reasoned, coherent argument and has the benefit of not being in a party.
 
Everyone talks up Common Weal, let’s hope they also contribute so they can do the work they propose in the next year.
 
Here again the link
link to indiegogo.com