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Wings Over Scotland


From the archives #13

Posted on June 14, 2020 by

We’ve noticed a fair few Unionists this week proudly claiming that an independent Scotland would have been too broke to survive the coronavirus pandemic. They might not listen to our many and comprehensive rebuttals, but maybe they’d heed the words of Tony Blair, from way back in October 1987:

The sliding doors of history, there, readers. When Unionists tell you Scotland is feeble, remember who made it that way, and never forget how it could have been.

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  1. 14 06 20 16:56

    From the archives #13 | speymouth
    Ignored

656 to “From the archives #13”

  1. Andrew F
    Ignored
    says:

    Commie!

  2. Famous15
    Ignored
    says:

    We have dodged so many bullets we could supply the world with lead.

  3. callmedave
    Ignored
    says:

    I remember someone, ‘Mr Salmond’ saying Scotland has no debt!

    I remember WM Gov PM Cameron admitting that Scotland could go ‘Scot’ free if it voted for independence but it would be bad form if we rotters did it, not cricket kinda stuff. 🙁

    I remember it being confirmed by Glasgow Labour MP Davidson Head of the WM Committee that Scotland was not in debt and need not have to pay a ‘population share’ if it decided to go.

    I remember Mark Carney in a Westminster committee being asked what was Scotland’s worth.

    North of a few Trillion £ …was his answer to a subdued group of Tory members and the press at the meeting and that was before the assets were shared out.

    How did we end up here? 🙁

  4. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    If memory serve, I recall that Thatcher could not have planned to take back the Falklands from Argentina without the wealth boom from the oil industry. As we all know by now the McCrone report hidden away from prying eyes by Westminster for decades showed that an independent Scotland would’ve had an embarrassment of wealth due to North sea oil.

    Oil still has a large part to play in society it’s used in many things. However renewable energy is the way forward in my book, still it’s galling to know that once again, that our wealth flowed South to England, with regards to oil, just as it has done for 313 years.

    We really couldn’t be worse off than we are now as part of this forced one-sided union.

    Shame on those Scots who want the status quo to remain in place.

  5. A Person
    Ignored
    says:

    This is the fundamental reason I support independence.

    With a very strong industrial base, oil and gas resources, and a leading financial sector there is no excuse for Britain not having the world’s strongest economy and society. Like a more exciting version of Germany or Sweden.

    They made it so that a tiny minority did well out of finance (until they screwed that up), decimated the industry and as Blair says squandered the oil.

    You see the consequences in levels of poverty, the inability to handle corona virus and the level of disillusion and alienation that are manifesting themselves in the scenes in London (with which I have little sympathy).

    Scotland has consistently voted against this crap, we need to get away from it.

  6. dakk
    Ignored
    says:

    When Unionists tell you Scotland is feeble, remember who made it that way, and never forget how it could have been.

    Aye. And theyll make damn sure it stays that way.

  7. A Person
    Ignored
    says:

    Dakk-

    Exactly! “Scotland’s too weak to be independent”- not much of an argument for being run by Westminster is it?

  8. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    Commenters might find this raises their blood pressure when they read it.

    “Every Westminster Government in your lifetime has knowingly diverted tens of billions of pounds of Scottish revenues to Westminster. This has led to lower investment in Scotland, higher unemployment, lower economic growth, lower standards of living, economic migration and growing inequality and poverty. All of which would not have been the case if Scotland was an independent country.”

    “Internationally, this is the sort of government behaviour that often leads to demonstrations and makes headline news. This might have happened here if it wasn’t for the fact that the Scottish people have largely remained unaware of the nation’s wealth draining south. In this article, we will expose the accounting trick that hides Scotland’s wealth. We will also supply undeniable evidence to demonstrate that if Scotland was already an independent country our economy would be booming and public finances would be debt-free.”

    https://www.businessforscotland.com/revealed-the-accounting-trick-that-hides-scotlands-wealth/

  9. Bob Mack
    Ignored
    says:

    Give them the oil. We however, keep the gas. Latest stats show energy consumption almost total!y dependant on gas.

  10. Capella
    Ignored
    says:

    British nationalists completely dominate the media, they occupy key positions in the power structure. Anyone who raises their head above the parap*t gets shot down through bad press and criminal charges.

    It’s not surprising that most Scots are ignorant about their true wealth and capacity. You only have to listen to BBC Scotland to hear the “too poor, too wee and too stupid” message reinforced daily.

    Surely it contravenes some human right, to be subjected to a daily barrage of negative propaganda?

  11. MaggieC
    Ignored
    says:

    It’s truly shocking the amount of people in Scotland who have never read the “ McCrone Report “ and that includes Independence supporters .

    I always compare how well off Scotland would have been compared to Norway and I always urge people to go and read it and have even printed out copies of it myself to give to people .

    Also had 3 conversations yesterday with people while out doing my essential shopping as I always wear a YES badge and encourage people to wear their YES badges and even gave out 2 badges and “ Big enough Smart enough Rich enough “ sheets of stickers to people who don’t have any which I got from Lyndsay Bruce at

    https://ayemail.scot/

    So can I ask everyone please wear your Yes badges all the time and start that Independence conversation with people from a safe distance of course , The Tory’s have not stopped pushing their Brexit so why should we stop our YES Independence campaigning .

  12. MaggieC
    Ignored
    says:

    Re me @ 5.02 pm

    Forgot to add that it’s amazing how the stickers can accidentally fall off my fingers and end up sticking to lampposts and litter bins etc LOL .

  13. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Indeed.

    Human rights-based
    approaches to poverty
    eradication and development

    https://actionaid.org/sites/default/files/the_rights_based_approach.pdf

  14. Ian
    Ignored
    says:

    From the BBC in 2006 –

    ‘The 1970s documents warned that if devolution increased calls for independence, the loss of oil income might leave the UK virtually bankrupt.

    A senior Whitehall civil servant wrote: “Progress towards devolution should be delayed for as long as possible, consistent with honouring the government’s commitment to move down the devolution route and containing the SNP lobby in parliament.”

    Another official warned in 1975 of the impact on the rest of Britain’s economy if Scotland moved to independence and took control of North Sea oil.

    He said: “The Scots have really got us over a barrel here. The prospects for a separate English, Welsh and Ulster economy on the same assumption must look pretty grim.” ‘

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4661584.stm

  15. callmedave
    Ignored
    says:

    BBC announcer there says here is Nicola Sturgeon ‘leader of the SNP’ making a statement today.

    I say to partner…did you not notice.

    She: Eh what?

    I said. She’s FM of Scotland’s Government!

    She: I know??

    I say: Maybe the BBC don’t know that…!!

    She: Aye your right!

    Me: It’s the way the BBC tell it to us. It was ever thus. 🙁

  16. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Westminster is still a tool of empire and considers itself above international law. The framework of international law will be undermined if Scotland allows itself to be removed from the EU. That will harm global peace and security.

    International & Comparative Law Quarterly
    Volume 68, Issue 3; July 2019 , pp. 499-537
    THE ASSAULT ON INTERNATIONAL ADJUDICATION AND THE LIMITS OF WITHDRAWAL

    Abstract
    Withdrawal from international adjudication is a contemporary phenomenon with wide implications. The act of treaty withdrawal is not to be seen as merely the unilateral executive exercise of the individual sovereign prerogative of a State.

    International law places checks upon the exercise of withdrawal, recognising that it is an act that of its nature affects the interests of other States parties, which have a collective interest in constraining withdrawal. National courts have a complementary function in restraining unilateral withdrawal in order to support the domestic constitution.

    The arguments advanced against international adjudication in the name of popular democracy at the national level can serve as a cloak for the exercise of executive power unrestrained by law. The submission by States to peaceful settlement of disputes through international adjudication is central, not incidental, to the successful operation of the international legal system.

    https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-and-comparative-law-quarterly/article/assault-on-international-adjudication-and-the-limits-of-withdrawal/7415608BB261B0C8B980369739D282C7

  17. HYUFD
    Ignored
    says:

    A Person Hardly, outside of Inner London, the centre of the British financial services industry, North Eastern Scotland, the centre of the British oil industry, has the highest gross regional product per capita in the UK
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regions_of_the_United_Kingdom_by_GRP_per_capita

  18. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    HYUFD
    So what’s your point, Toryboy?

    Full text.

    Hague Journal on the Rule of Law volume 8, pages 205–226 (2016)
    Protecting Human Rights in Austerity Claims in the UK

    Abstract
    In many ways, writing about the economic crisis in the UK is telling a story about the past. Recently, media and scholars have been reporting that a successful economic recovery is upon us, that the double dip recession is over and that a slow but steady expansion of the UK economy is already taking place.

    To put it simply, the UK appears to be out of the economic crisis. Yet, although the economy has improved, the politics of the current conservative government is still very much focused on limiting social benefits and entitlements, a move that could have been explained during the economic crisis, but one that is now questionable.

    In this regard, although this article appears to be about the past, it is in fact about the present – it is about the effects of the economic crisis, about the government’s treatment of our most vulnerable people both during and out of a recession, and about our conception of the rule of law.

    The article how the adoption of a rights based approach has already changed the treatment of austerity claims in the UK. Recent constitutional developments in the UK (including the discussions about the repeal of the Human Rights Act and the adoption of a new Bill of Rights) and the danger of withdrawing from the European Convention of Human Rights make the focus on this jurisdiction especially interesting.

    The obvious question that arises is whether a human rights based approach is dependent on the UK being a member of the Convention. The article investigates the impact of the Human Rights Act on the current English constitutional climate and reveals the expanded potential for rights protection.

    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40803-016-0034-x

  19. Ron Maclean
    Ignored
    says:

    @ HYUFD 5:44pm

    How boring! We would never rely on oil because of its price volatility and the likelihood that it would be stolen by colonialists from Westminster.

  20. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    P.S. I hope folk noticed how the international lawyer who penned the previous article, confuses British with English. Scotland is in the same legal position women faced before second-wave feminism. We are invisible and oppressed.

    INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION AND PROTECTION
    OF FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS

    https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1942&context=dlj

  21. Confused
    Ignored
    says:

    North Sea Oil was one of the greatest natural prizes in all history – and a complete disaster for us.

    – Thatcher pumped the oil like crazy to fund her “economic boom” and her ridiculous war. This can be shown by looking at the depletion curves for the UK sector compared to the Norwegian.

    It also -allowed- the friedmanite experiment to go full-bore – no more “real capitalism”, no more manufacturing, Northern England and Scottish industry could be devastated, with no payback. Taking away all the jobs is also a great way to destroy labour power. No more coal required – no more turning the lights off. The UK economy could become fully “financialised”, banking and misc. in the south, with some run-off to the loyal voters, and real wealth from the northern oil. This is vicious class war.

    In the south, the property bubble was inflated, an undeserved reward for the complacent southern tory – now retiring, sitting on small fortunes of unearned wealth due to the houses they own, the cunts can now sellup and buy small castles in the highlands, then tell us “better together” and ask us “where we are from” when we stay in their guesthouse businesses, then claim all their free crap courtesy of the SNP, and still tell anyone who will listen “that nicola sturgeon is ruining the country”.

    But if you point out the state of this shithouse cuntery, the indy gatekeepers will silence you, for criticising “new scots” and some dark accusation of “blood and soil”; to me it looks like stealth colonisation, economic and cultural imperialism, no?

    “new scots are scots” has about as much credibility as “trans women are women”; there will also be a lot more of them in the future, as the dumbcunt englanders like to build barratt boxes on floodplains, soon to be uninsurable. The next census will be a shocker. Where will they all go – higher ground, maybe?

    Overall, the north sea oil has a similar quality to those tales of cursed gemstones but with a twist – the prize bringing catastrophic misfortune to its (real) owners, but great luck to those who stole it.

  22. robert graham
    Ignored
    says:

    A great pity we didn’t have a plan to rectify the situation eh

    Oh fk I forgot we have a plan in fact we’re overflowing with fkn plans , plans and instructions coming out of every bleeding Orifice so many we all have constipation.

    All we need is some fkr to put the plans into action , any Volunteers ? .

  23. Beaker
    Ignored
    says:

    @robert graham says:
    14 June, 2020 at 6:15 pm
    “All we need is some fkr to put the plans into action , any Volunteers ?”

    I think we should form a committee, to decide on the agenda for the committee that will nominate the planning committee…

    Also, I am extremely disappointed with the Scottish population of midges. I was out for a walk, expecting them to gather peacefully, only for a few of the wee bastards to get aggressive and have my arms for lunch. I blame Twitter…

  24. Sandy
    Ignored
    says:

    Bob Mack @ 4.25 pm.

    Don’t be silly, these are our assets. Oil is the basis of many commodities, especially HARD plastic, now possibly more used than steel & its’ variants.

  25. Dan
    Ignored
    says:

    @Confused

    Magnificently put.

    @robert graham

    Yeah, so many plans, but so little time to implement a single fuckin’ one of them because Scots have an inbuilt ability to argue over just about any and every fuckin’ thing. From big shit right down to small stuff you will struggle get two Scots to ever agree to anything.

    An average Scottish screenplay:

    “Ooh I don’t like that colour”…
    “We have other shades of it”…
    “Nah, not feeling those particular shades”…
    “But the colour spectrum of shades are made up from the only pigments we have available”…
    “Well catalytically crack the pigments to make new molecules to change the colour shades we can have”…
    “Ok, here are a list of nice molecules”…
    “Nah, want more choice”…
    “Ok, I’ve split the molecules to atoms”…
    “That fuckin proton is revolving at the wrong trajectory around that nucleus”…
    Somebody else walks in…
    “Fuck the trajectory, the velocity is pissing me off”…

    They all die before a suitable colour was selected

    THE END

  26. mike cassidy
    Ignored
    says:

    Time to revive this?

    The Bells! The Bells!

    https://twitter.com/LostGlasgow/status/1264701215868420096

  27. Mike d
    Ignored
    says:

    Confused 6.05pm. Absolutely spot on, which is why the welsh will never be independent. And in another 5 yrs with 200.000 more down south selling up and moving to Scotland, the demographics will ensure indy is dead and buried forever.NI who dont suffer from a yearly influx of daily heil readers, and a growing nationalist population will be eventually unified with the republic.

  28. Beaker
    Ignored
    says:

    @Dan says:
    14 June, 2020 at 6:42 pm
    “Yeah, so many plans, but so little time to implement a single fuckin’ one of them because Scots have an inbuilt ability to argue over just about any and every fuckin’ thing. From big shit right down to small stuff you will struggle get two Scots to ever agree to anything.”

    Who says we argue about things… 🙂

  29. HYUFD
    Ignored
    says:

    Mike D I would not be so sure, rural Northern Ireland is beautiful and attractive to retired southerners from England.

    County Antrim of course, the largest in Northern Ireland, still has all its MPs from the DUP

  30. Lothianlad
    Ignored
    says:

    Notice Sturgeon is very quiet on ( her words.). that beautiful dream.

    To busy being accountable for the colonial administration of Scotland to worry about Independence.

    Maybe the membership should make her accountable and then Sack her from her job!!

    It’s the only way the beautiful dream will become a reality!

  31. Beaker
    Ignored
    says:

    Matt Hancock has tweeted that, wait for it…

    “ONLY 36 people have died…”

    Only.

    Twitter has gone ballistic. Stand by for grovelling “clarification” tomorrow…

    (btw I’m not a Twitter addict. I just go on occasionally. More reliable news source…usually)

  32. msean
    Ignored
    says:

    1987,well before the rearrangment of borders pre devolution,so that he could do the same as Thatcher.

    How much is the soveriegn wealth fund he set up worth now,lol?

    Or was the cash used to invade someone instead?

  33. msean
    Ignored
    says:

    *sovereign.

  34. robertknight
    Ignored
    says:

    The drip-drip-drip effect of “Too wee, too poor, too stupid”

    How many other western European countries with populations under 10m are suffering from being responsible for their own affairs? Just ask their citizens if they’d be better off being run by a larger neighbour.

  35. Willie
    Ignored
    says:

    You’ve just depressed me Rev.

    All that oil and what did we get. And now the same with our renewable energy. All that offshore wind.

    Ah well HM Treasury will be grimacing at the very recent catastrophe that has befallen the hige Moray East offshore wind project.

    The ship, built in China, with a monster crane built to place turbine blades that sit nearly 700 feet above sea level collapsed whilst under test load at Leibher’s crane facilities in Germany. And so unless there is another bespoke ship with a crane many times higher than a multi story tower block sitting in someone’s back yard somewhere in the world, it looks like a major programme hiccup.

    Don’t suspect Moray East electricity will be coming on line on time now.

    At least it’s not Nicola’s fault. Mind you, ship built in China and commissioned in Germany.. innit great that at least McDonalds are back open.

  36. Mist001
    Ignored
    says:

    I’m no Unionist. I criticise Mrs. Murrell and the SNP because I believe they deserve all the criticism that comes their way. They are no longer the party of Scottish independence which I want to see achieved in my lifetime.

    So now that I’ve made that bit clear………..

    The only reason Mrs. Murrell wants the lockdown to continue is simply because Scotland isn’t paying for it. Scotland couldn’t have afforded to furlough the workforce for this length of time, let alone extend it to October and here’s Mrs Murrell begging the Chancellor to extend it for two years!

    Oil isn’t worth a fuck now. It costs more to extract it now than they can sell it for. Essentially, they can’t give it away so don’t give me any shite about how Scotlands oil money could have been used to furlough workers.

    What’s the other one I hear? Oh yes, an independent Scotland could borrow the money. Well, that’s a great start to independence, immediate austerity. The borrowing money idea makes the Growth Commission Report seem like a gift from the Gods.

    Scotland has borrowing powers now, right now, but they’re not used. Throughout this entire Coronavirus crisis, Scotland could have acted and behaved like it was already independent but no, Mrs. Murrell and the rest of the charlatans prefer to remain tied to their Mothers apron strings.

    Anyone who mentions oil now is living in the past when they should really be more concerned with Scotlands future.

  37. Scot Finlayson
    Ignored
    says:

    Concern Troll,

    In an argument (usually a political debate), a concern troll is someone who is on one side of the discussion, but pretends to be a supporter of the other side with “concerns”.

    The idea behind this is that your opponents will take your arguments more seriously if they think you’re an ally.

    Concern trolls who use fake identities are sometimes known as sockpuppets.

  38. Dan
    Ignored
    says:

    The screenshot in the article talks of North Sea oil but since then the massive West of Shetland Atlantic margin fields have been developed.

    Foinavon was one of the first along with Schiehallion, and many more since.
    IIRC my ROV pilot log had us putting the first of the flow bases down in Foinavon in 1995 or early 96.
    Amazing engineering innovation utilised to begin to develop accessing and management of the deeper water fields.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foinaven_oilfield
    https://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/foinaven/

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schiehallion_oilfield

    Renewables will be the future, Scotland will get shafted on that too unless we get out of this parasitic union.
    C’mon Scots, chop chop.

  39. robertknight
    Ignored
    says:

    Dan @ 7:58

    Don’t forget the 300+ capped wells west of the Hebrides.

  40. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    I was having an exchange with a fairly famous (infamous?) English writer a few months back and he said he loved Scotland because it reminded him of England when he was a boy.

    The demographic shift in England is underway and its not seen positively by many native English as many of the newcomers have their own political blocs and culture within which they stick as they are unwilling to leave their beliefs behind them. The result is a balkanised landscape of different peoples with their own languages, religions, customs and priorities. This observation is seen as racist by the liberal left, including the people ive known in Scottish Indy circles.

    However complaining that English people coming to Scotland for a better life and voting for political parties that maintain their sense of culture and identity (at the expense of the Scottish identity) is perfectly fine in Scottish Indy circles from my experience.

    This is where the liberal order breaks down. There is nothing wrong with people wishing to maintain their own country, culture and customs and putting the people whose home that country is as a primary consideration. Its not racist or bigoted. We as Scots are far more invested in the welfare of this country than anybody else who comes here.

    Scots should decide the fate of Scotland. Not any English, Swedish or Egyptian.

    Outside of the propagandized liberal western bubble such thinking is considered normal and healthy. It is only us who allow ourselves to be shamed into the hyper progressive multicultural delusions that are eroding our European cultures, democracies and civilizations by pretending that just because someone comes to a certain country they become of that country in heart and spirit. It simply is not the case.

    The usual rebuttal is – ‘ah but country X colonised and took over a whole bunch of countries’.

    This argument now is not that far behind being white and apologizing to blacks for the crimes of a miniscule minority of white/jewish people 150 years ago.

    Just because a monarch or state used the power of that state to impose the will of a few rich and covetous men on a foreign land does not mean that the ordinary people of the country should have to accept massive demographic change.

    As the old saying goes ‘The tyrant loves a foreigner’.

  41. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    “What’s the other one I hear? Oh yes, an independent Scotland could borrow the money. Well, that’s a great start to independence, immediate austerity. The borrowing money idea makes the Growth Commission Report seem like a gift from the Gods.”

    Mist001.

    Putting aside for a minute that I agree with you on Sturgeons lack of real action on independence over the last few years. I must say that borrowing is the norm for most countries, so it wouldn’t be unusual for a independent country to begin its new path in the world by borrowing, nearly all countries do it.

  42. robertknight
    Ignored
    says:

    Anyone provide figures for the number of EU member states whose economies run at a deficit rather than a surplus?

    The Yoons would have you believe they’re not ‘viable’.

    How many trillions is the UK in the red to now? 1.5 or thereabouts?

    Smoke and mirrors folks, smoke and mirrors…

  43. Sandy
    Ignored
    says:

    Mist001. 7.50pm
    Perhaps you should stand for the Scottish parliament as an independent list MP. As every village has, supposedly, an idiot, you could be the Holyrood idiot. Not sure if this merits additional payment, tho’.
    Imagine you & ‘I will not sit down’ Kelly together.

  44. And Spouse
    Ignored
    says:

    Well Dan, I’m not sure you’re right about that!

    Of course you’re right. It’s all games to let us fight n squabble. Drop another spanner in the works. It’s how we will remain in this situation. We wind ourselves up. The powers dictate the rules, “this is the way!
    So the answer is easy, lets have our opinions, speak them, but not get upset. We need to get even.
    Let’s not single out individuals, we need to remember that in a democracy, we are never going to agree with every policy. It’ll be fine though if we just all agree with my opinion?
    The finishing line is not independence, it’s the Scotland we want to live in without totalitarian issues.
    I’m voting SNP,
    “This is the way”.

  45. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    I honestly can’t see how Brexit is constitutionally legal, as it articulates extreme discrimination against those living in Scotland. So Westminster apparently does not consider legal protection under common law applies to Scots. Nor economic or natural law.

    European Journal of International Law, Volume 30, Issue 1, February 2019, Pages 73–104
    From Joining to Leaving: Domestic Law’s Role in the International Legal Validity of Treaty Withdrawal

    https://academic.oup.com/ejil/article/30/1/73/5498083

  46. Davie Oga
    Ignored
    says:

    Mist001 says:

    “Oil isn’t worth a fuck now. It costs more to extract it now than they can sell it for”

    This is incorrect. North Sea Oil extraction costs have never been lower. It currently cost about 11.60 GBP per barrel to extract or 14.50 USD.

    https://www.energyvoice.com/oilandgas/north-sea/206442/north-sea-costs-on-the-rise-report-says/

    The current oil price of Brent Crude is 38.74 USD and you can’t get a future delivery contract for anything less than 40 USD.

    Someone is having a good time on the difference between cost and value.

  47. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    If only Scots law had gotten around to codifying legal protection for our economic, social, and cultural rights. That would have required Scots law to modernise and, subsequently, to proper democracy in Scotland. It would also have required Scotland to assert its’ popular sovereignty and step out from under Westminster’s authority, so it’s a silly idea.

    The Identity of Right-Holders

    Abstract
    In this chapter I review some of the familiar theories about the identity of possible right-holders. The main purpose of this is to examine the characterization of those who are presumed to have rights. A fundamental assumption of this discussion is that a presumed right usually includes its “conditions of possession”. This means that each right defines the conditions under which one is considered to fit the description that makes him a right-holder.

    Being a right-holder means that one has a moral status bestowed by the right, because he meets the qualifications needed for holding that right. These qualifications are defined as an integral part of each particular right. If we examine Gewirth’ s analysis of the structure of a claim right, we can easily perceive this.

    Keywords
    Moral Status, Moral Agent, Moral Community, Social Unit, Moral Relation

    https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-017-3500-1_2

  48. Julia Gibb
    Ignored
    says:

    London created the Continental Shelf Act out of thin air. The Oil and Gas was not in Scottish Waters it was in this new entity. Ask why that was created out of thin air.

  49. robert graham
    Ignored
    says:

    Ever wonder why Nicola is reluctant to pull the Indy ref 2 starting gun.

    I believe she has evidence we won’t win.

    We won’t win because the independence movement are regarded as a catholic friendly movement in a country where the majority definitely are not , I believe she has looked into the abyss and sees civil war if the vote , if it ever comes , if it’s 51 – 49 in favour of independence where exactly does anyone believe the 49 % are going to go ? just walk away and say ah well better luck next time , aye ok .

    I have been looking at a few Independence supporting sites and this rise in support I believe is because unionists are inflating the figures and will revert to type when it comes to putting their X on the ballot paper , most here myself included thought 2014 was going to be close but in the end people would see sense , and vote for a brighter future ,
    then the silent majority had their say and it was no fkn way Hosea you have had your fun now it’s business as usual ,
    That’s why I believe she looked and said it ain’t worth the risk , I don’t blame her if it’s shit there is no way of hiding it , do you fancy the bet ? .

    It’s nice to cheer folk up on a wet Sunday night eh .

  50. Robert Louis
    Ignored
    says:

    Most Scots spent most of their lives being told Scotland’s oil was worthless. I can explicitly rtecall being told, it was very poor quality and would run out soon – and that was over thirty years ago!

    London Labour and the London Tories have ALWAYS known what the oil was worth, and knew they had to lie to keep on stealing it from Scotland, to spend in England, for the people of England. That is why not one of the unionist parties should ever be re-elected in Scotland. They lied and allowed the theft of Scotland’s wealth. They ALL knew.

    When Scotland becomexs independent, we should immediately send a bill to England for the repayment for ALL the oil wealth they have stolen from us. We owe them nothing. They owe us.

    Given all that has been done to Scotland, and all that is currently being done to Scotland by the English government, it makes me angry as hell. But what makes me even angrier, is the SNP Scotgov, who apparently have no pressing desire to push for independence. Piddling away one democratic mandate after another.

    Independence should be ALL they are focussing on, every single day, until we are free from this odious, unwanted, undemocratic, evil, twisted, so-called ‘union’ with England.

    Wake the f*** up, SNP.

  51. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    We are only up shit creek because our politicians place politics above the law, and when they do consider the law, they put their faith in British constitutional conventions and tradition, which are simply legal pseudo-science.

    European Yearbook of International Economic Law 2018 pp 143-174
    Reconsidering Sovereignty, Ownership and Consent in Natural Resource Contracts: From Concepts to Practice

    https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/8165_2018_23

  52. Robert Louis
    Ignored
    says:

    What is also great about that excerpt from Blair, is that it confirms what most of us know. Their was no ‘economic miracle’ from Thatcher, no great economic foresight, it was just barrels and barrels of Scotland’s oil.

  53. Mist001
    Ignored
    says:

    @ Sandy says:

    “As every village has, supposedly, an idiot”

    This blog sometimes seems to have more than its fair share.

  54. mike cassidy
    Ignored
    says:

    Post-lockdown magical transformation of society into narnia.

    Nah!

    Same old same old.

    http://archive.is/Bd78P

  55. Robert Louis
    Ignored
    says:

    Julia Gibb at 0947pm,

    Exactly, the ‘continental shelf’ – creative accounting (more commonly known as lying) by Westminster, on a grand scale. All in an effort to Steal Scotland’s oil, whilst telling Scots it was worthless.

  56. Sinky
    Ignored
    says:

    Rev Stu’s friend Kezia Dugdale reviewing papers on BBC News Channel at 10.30.

    Strange that tomorrow’s Herald front page photo of right wing Unionist thugs in George Square fails to capture any Union flags Unionist regalia or Rangers tops. Pretty impressive camera work. Also no outrage from Carlaw Davidson or Red Tory Murray.

  57. Sarah
    Ignored
    says:

    @ Robert graham at 9.49: it is a glorious evening here after a beautiful sunny day so I am more optimistic than you!

    I think if a vote were held now, or at any time since 2014, “Yes” would win. All the EU citizens would now vote Yes, to start with. Then all the business owners whose income has been affected adversely by Brexit. All those whose eyes have been opened by the Westminster government’s inaction over Covid, plus the lies and incompetence.

    We only needed 200,000 more Yes votes in 2014. Now it is in the bag.

    Unfortunately the mindset of the high heid yins in the SNP is on the cautious side – understandably in many respects, but not what is needed for those of us whose view is that Scotland is in great danger and we can’t afford to wait any longer.

    As others have said, the FM and SNP roles are NOT the same as the Yes movement. We must no longer follow and wait for instructions. Perhaps we could set up the Convention that NS talked about – invite the MPs, MSPs, Councillors and others to decide on the way forward.

    Waiting for another year for Holyrood election is just another delay which gives Westminster more time to make trouble and cause damage.

  58. Astonished
    Ignored
    says:

    robert graham @9.49pm

    “We won’t win because the independence movement are regarded as a catholic friendly movement in a country where the majority definitely are not ” .

    Are you just back from statue protection duty ? 77th brigade are getting beyond desperate. WE(NOT YOU obvs) MUST BE WINNING BY A BIG MARGIN.

    The independence movement embraces all – happily.

  59. Lothianlad
    Ignored
    says:

    If the SNP high heid yins believe we would lose indy ref , then they are failing Scotland! It is their job to win us independence, not administer devolution.

    Sturgeon is doing a great job at ensuring a unionist new labour project is a success! Perhaps she needs reminding its the parties purpose To regain Scotlands freedom!

    The FM should be promoting Independence at every turn! Stretched budgets with local authorities, NHS, housing, education, she should be Blaming westminster openly for Scotland not having access to ALL our revinues!

    It is quite simple really. Get promoting the word Independence at every turn and start using the mandates to declare independence!

  60. Dan
    Ignored
    says:

    @Robert Louis

    Once we are out of lockdown I’m booking myself on a Magical Mystery Tour of Extra Regio.
    I’m envisaging it’ll be like Fantasy Island.

    #DePlaneDePlane

  61. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Without a legally defensible identity, it isn’t possible to make effective claims to human rights. So I suggest the Scottish government seeks new legal advise, as a matter of urgent priority. As they currently appear ambivalent to the value of possessing a sustainable identity.

    Sovereignty over Natural Resources under
    Examination: The Inter-American System for
    Human Rights and Natural Resource Allocation

    https://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1101&context=annlsurvey

  62. Stoker
    Ignored
    says:

    Great idea for an A5 8-10 page booklet to educate the masses to the differences between civic-based Scottish nationalism and the ethnic-based British nationalism. Even starting it off on the inside front cover with a copy of that ‘Welcome’ letter from Sturgeon a couple of year back?

    https://twitter.com/YourWullie/status/1272236853735960579

  63. James
    Ignored
    says:

    “Mist001 Oil isn’t worth a fuck now. It costs more to extract it now than they can sell it for. Essentially, they can’t give it away so don’t give me any shite about how Scotlands oil money could have been used to furlough workers..”

    What a load of bollocks.

  64. Beaker
    Ignored
    says:

    @Sarah says:
    14 June, 2020 at 10:27 pm
    “We only needed 200,000 more Yes votes in 2014. Now it is in the bag.”

    Never, ever take votes for granted. That’s how you fail.

  65. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Stoker
    That’s a great idea. It would need to be properly vetted though.

    Handbook of Patriotism pp 1-14
    Civic Patriotism vs. Ethnic Nationalism

    https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-30534-9_60-1

  66. Fireproofjim
    Ignored
    says:

    Mist001
    Oil is currently around $40 barrel.
    Extraction total costs and delivery to refinery is currently no more than $18.
    You do the math, as the Americans say

  67. McDuff
    Ignored
    says:

    Nice one rev
    The National should publish this.
    Just looked at the GDP of Ireland Finland Norway Denmark New Zealand, and Scotland with all our resources is at the bottom. Even Iceland with its tiny pop is better.
    We are tied to a dead sheep in a ditch.
    When are Scots going to wake up.

  68. A Person
    Ignored
    says:

    To whoever it was that said “I was always told our oil was poor quality”-

    I remember being told by an oil chap that North Sea oil is not particularly good for motor fuel, so the stuff in your car is probably from some nasty place in the Middle East with a pliable tyrant who gets invited to Windsor every year in exchange for letting Shell have their wicked way with his country. This will likely be replaced by electrical cars soon, so this will probably reduce our reliance on imports.

    However North Sea oil can still be used for industrial purposes e.g. plastics, clothes, etc.

    We’ve been hearing a lot about the decline of coal as an electricity source, the dirty secret of that is that it has largely been replaced by gas, so that’s a bonus for Scotland.

    In short, the poor quality of North Sea oil will soon be irrelevant.

  69. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    I mean properly vetted.

    Towards a ‘civic’ narrative: British national identity and the transformation of the British National Party

    Abstract
    This article examines the ways in which the BNP utilises the elements of British national identity in its discourse and argues that, during Griffin’s leadership, the party has made a discursive choice to shift the emphasis from an ethnic to a civic narrative.

    Following a discussion on the transformation of the BNP and an analysis of the importance of nationalism in extreme right rhetoric, we put forward two hypotheses, 1: the modernisation of the discourse of extreme right parties in the British context is likely to be related to the adoption of a predominantly civic narrative and 2: in the context of British party competition the BNP is likely to converge towards UKIP, drawing upon elements of its perceived winning formula, i.e. a predominantly civic rhetoric of national identity.

    We proceed to empirically test our hypotheses by conducting a twofold comparison. First, we compare theBNP’s discourse pre and post 1999 showing the BNP’s progressive adoption of a civic narrative; and second the BNP’s post-1999 discourse to that of UKIP in order to illustrate their similarities in terms of civic values.

    https://core.ac.uk/reader/204195640

  70. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    A Person
    Again, nice try, but I think you’ll find the oil around our shore is of a rather high quality and value. I’m sure some oil bod will correct me, if necessary.

  71. Fireproofjim
    Ignored
    says:

    A.Person
    Our oil is of very high quality. Light and low in sulphur. Exactly what the refiners want.
    If you don’t believe me look at the price of Brent Blend (which is the industry name for North Sea oil) compared with West Texas or Saudi crude.
    Brent always carries a premium on the price.

  72. A Person
    Ignored
    says:

    I stand corrected

  73. Sarah
    Ignored
    says:

    @eaker: “in the bag” was a quick way of saying that, for the reasons given, I feel confident [fingers crossed, not walking under ladders, and avoiding black cats]that Yes will get over 50% if it comes to a vote.

    Not that it need be a referendum vote, of course.

    Ideally I would like a Constitution Convention to announce after due deliberation i.e. 3 months max, that the sovereign people of Scotland have decided to take back control and instruct Scotsgov to inform the world and Westminster.

    That way it isn’t a party political matter but a matter of principle.

    Failing that way, let’s have a Holyrood election soon – Scots Gov all resign, no-one else can form a government so an election is called. And so we get our plebiscite election this year rather than next.

    I know, I’m dreaming.

  74. North chiel
    Ignored
    says:

    “ Cameron Brodie @1141 pm “ average North sea crude has an API gravity of around 35 degrees which equates to a light / medium crude of Superior quality to the heavier Middle East crudes. Brent crude always trades at a premium price to US. west Texas crude . Gas/ condensates usually have an API range of 50-70 and heavy crudes ( less than 20 API ) are rare in the North Sea . However , one heavy crude reservoir example is the Recently commenced development of the Mariner field ( ironically here in Scotland our Norwegian friends at Statoil are principals developing this “ Scottish field” ) due to produce 300 million barrels over the next 30 years . ( Not so bad then at 40 usd per barrel ?? ) . The London treasury will of course as usual be “ rubbing their hands “ as per the last 45 years .

  75. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    North chiel
    We really need to jam our collective toes where needed. Scotland’s civic society must be protected from Brexit. 😉

    Nationalism, Identity and the Governance of Diversity pp 127-156
    Civic and Economic Nationalism: The Scottish Turn to Immigration

    Abstract
    Several months before the 2014 independence referendum, Scottish Education Secretary, Mike Russell, described UK immigration policy as ‘driven by UKIP and by a nasty xenophobia which … revolts me’ (BBC News 2014). His comments exemplified a common practice of Scottish political leaders of distinguishing what they argue to be an open and inclusionary ‘Scottish approach’ to immigrants and diversity from increasing restrictionism in the United Kingdom.

    Much later than their counterparts in Quebec and Flanders, Scottish political leaders have recently begun to grapple with the question of how to respond to growing ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity of the population ‘north of the border’. They have also considered whether, and how, the politics of immigration relates to the politics of multinationalism in the multilevel state.

    Despite the long history of immigration in the United Kingdom, immigration and ‘visible’ diversity are more recent phenomena in Scotland. Moreover, under devolution Scotland has occupied a relatively weak position in terms of both its general constitutional power and its specific capacity to govern immigration, migrant integration and diversity.

    These factors, taken alongside the non-linguistic basis of Scottish substate nationalism, make Scotland a distinctive setting in the analysis of how substate political leaders respond to questions of immigration and migrant integration.

    Keywords
    National Identity Asylum Seeker Party System Scottish Executive Migrant Integration

    https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137339317_5

  76. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    @Stoker

    The difference between the Scots and the English is that the Scots havent yet had the cold hard slap back to reality that this empty eyed, naive wishful thinking will bring. High and mighty are the progressive Scots – because they havent yet laid in the bed they want to make

  77. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    Well, actually thats a lie. Tell them 3 years ago where too much LGBT politics will go and the answer will be the same if you tell them now about their multicultural fantasies of harmony and delight.

  78. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Joe
    Why be coy?

    Nationalism and Multiculturalism in a World of Immigration
    This anthology contributes to the still emerging theoretical debates in political theory and philosophy about multiculturalism, nationalism and immigration. It focuses on multiculturalism and nationalism as factual consequences of, and normative responses to, immigration and on the normative significance (or lack thereof) of the notion of culture.

    https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9780230224346#

  79. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    Sweden now counts grenade attacks as a percentage increase or decrease. There are places where police have to stand when it gets dark so that women can jog safely. A feminist movement called 120 Decibels in Germany – so named for the sound level emitted by a rape alarm. But by all means – please let N Sturgeon tell us how much happier her vision for Scotlands future will make us

  80. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    Sweden now counts grenade attacks as a percentage increase or decrease. There are places where police have to stand when it gets dark so that women can jog safely. A feminist movement called 120 Decibels in Germany – so named for the sound level emitted by a r*pe alarm. But by all means – please let N Sturgeon tell us how much happier her vision for Scotlands future will make us

  81. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Nice to see Joe finally feeling relaxed enough to express his inner self. 😉

    After the Nation? pp 214-233
    Dilemmas of Belonging: Multiculturalism in Plural Societies

    Abstract
    Advocates of postnationalism argue that we must move past the particularist bonds of cultural and national identity in order to escape the narrow rigidity of culturalism and organize political life in a way that best captures the ideals of citizenship. These postculturalist and proceduralist alternatives are proposed as an improvement upon both traditionalist nationalism and multiculturalism.

    Since it appears that multiculturalism has been in retreat in recent years (Koopmans et al., 2005; Levey, 2009), it looks like the time is ripe for these developments to take hold. Yet public controversy over multiculturalism has rarely taken the form of a demand for more postnationalist policies. If anything, it has fostered a kind of neo-nationalism, based on fears that multiculturalism endangers the bonds of mutual obligation (Joppke, 2004). If multiculturalism is running into problems, why is it taking the form of a renewed concern with particularist identity, rather than a call for greater postculturalist politics and civic proceduralism?

    Keywords
    National Identity Collective Identity Common Identity Public Culture

    https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230293175_12

  82. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    @CameronB Brodie

    Something to think on:
    Pure isoamyl acetate, or mixtures of isoamyl acetate, amyl acetate, and other flavors may be referred to as Banana oil

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isoamyl_acetate

  83. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    There is a mahoosive difference between Scottish and English culture, in terms of openness to, and respect for, cultural difference. Scottish ‘nationalism’ is supportive of multiculturalism. British “nationalism”, not so much (see Brexit).

    Is civic nationalism necessarily inclusive? Conceptions of nationhood and anti-Muslim attitudes in Europe
    https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/bonikowski/files/simonsen_and_bonikowski_-_is_civic_nationalism_necessarily_inclusive.pdf

  84. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Joe
    Something for you to think on. Full text.

    Beyond the Nation-State: National Identity and Citizenship in a Multicultural Society – A Response to Rex

    Abstract
    The crisis of national identity in Western Europe is related to the rise of a new nationalism which operates at many different levels, ranging from extreme xenophobic forms to the more moderate forms of cultural nationalism. Underlying the new nationalism in general is more a hostility against immigrants than against other nations; it is motivated less by notions of cultural superiority than by the implications multiculturalism has for the welfare state, which is being attacked by neo-liberal agendas.

    As a cultural discourse, the new nationalism is a product of social fragmentation. Therefore the most important challenge facing the democratic multi-cultural state in the context of European integration is to find ways of preserving the link between social citizenship and multiculturalism. Without a firm basis in social citizenship, multiculturalism will suffer continued attacks from nationalism, feeding off social insecurity.

    Keywords
    Nationalism, National Identity, Multiculturalism, Welfare State, Citizenship

    https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.5153/sro.23

  85. Clapper57
    Ignored
    says:

    @ A Person @ 12.01am

    Hi AP….an honest mistake based on info given to you by someone else..we have all been there…me especially….multiple times…Lol

    To your credit you , unlike some people, conceded you made a mistake….and did it politely…also unlike some people.

    Keep posting….. 🙂

    Have a nice day ( as it is now 1.43am I can say that..Lol)

  86. Liz g
    Ignored
    says:

    Oh my giddy aunt….Oils not worth a thing?…I’m so looking forward to all the Western ” interests ” in the Middle East becoming unnecessary and Brown People not being killed over Oil anymore.
    That’ll be quite something…when can we expect it Mist?

  87. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Clapper57
    Of course this is an open forum but I have my doubt about AP’s sincerity. I wasn’t being an a-hole, I’ve spotted a number of opinions that I felt were quite reactionary.

  88. A Person
    Ignored
    says:

    To clarify I wasn’t saying that our oil was worthless by any means, that would be absurd m, I was saying that it wasn’t suitable for motor fuel but that in the future with the shift from motor fuel to gas-fired electricity this could be to our advantage.

    Turns out however that I was mistaken!

    -Clapper57- you have a nice day too!

  89. A Person
    Ignored
    says:

    To clarify I wasn’t saying that our oil was worthless by any means, that would be absurd m, I was saying that it wasn’t suitable for motor fuel but that in the future with the shift from motor fuel to gas-fired electricity this could be to our advantage.

    Turns out however that I was mistaken and it is suitable for motor fuel! So even better!

    -Clapper57- you have a nice day too!

  90. Liz g
    Ignored
    says:

    A Person @ 2.04
    I was told at primary school “our oil was not *that* kind of oil..it was only good for sewing machines and rusty nuts”.
    By the teacher I might add.
    The misinformation runs deep,because I don’t think that teacher was lying.She really believe this.
    Basically Scotland had a supply of WD40,according to my educator!
    Yet, the truth of it is, Brent Crude, as I now understand it,is the standard by which the quality of all other Oils are measured.
    And, as I’ve said,they are still killing Brown People for the stuff…
    So!!!
    Excuse me if I’m doubting the claims that Oil holds nae value now,because that’s no been ma experience at all…!

  91. Sandy
    Ignored
    says:

    WD in WD40 means water dispersal. It’s not really classified as a lubricant. Just to let you know.

  92. Robert Louis
    Ignored
    says:

    Lizg and others above,

    Aye, the misinformation still runs deep regarding Scotland’s oil. Many still think that it is either poor quality, ‘running out’ imminently, or just not worth very much.

    The Fact is Scotland’s oil is of the very highest quality – prices globally are quoted in terms of Brent crude (the Brent field is in Scotland). As for running out, well all oil is running out, it is a finite resource, but let’s just face reality that many oil companies just paid out millions to the English treasury in order tio drill for Scottish oil in completely new fields.

    The oil is worth a lot to ANY economy, but also has a more important influence on the percieved strength af an aconomy. It is like going to a bank and asking to borrow 50000 pounds, and they ask you what you can guarantee that with, and you say, ‘oh, I have 50 billion barrels of currently untapped oil in reserve within my territorial waters’. It is for THAT reason, England is so desperate to cling on to Scotland as its last colony. They really NEED to keep stealing Scotland’s wealth, just as they did with every other colony.

    Of course the oil is valuable, anybody telling you otherwise is either a fool, or a liar, or a London-worshipping, boot-licking, unionist serf.

    Oil doesn’t solve everything for an independent Scotland, but it does help to solidify what is a diverse and strong economy. The back payments we demand from England, for all the oil they have stolen, will also be useful.

  93. Robert Louis
    Ignored
    says:

    This piece below, is a right good read.

    Quote “..This is not a time for playing by Marquis of Queensbury rules. This is a time to fight like the Scottish patriots of 1314 at Bannockburn. They knew defeat would end the nation forever. We need to grab this moment in time and make it our own. We cannot hesitate, equivocate or lose focus for a second.

    One word from the First Minister and the entire YES Movement will mobilise as one. The door to Independence is ajar, it is time to kick that door off of its hinges. Independence nothing less!..”

    https://www.barrheadboy.com/if-not-now-then-when-nicola/

    We can only hope that some day soon, the SNP leadership will wake up from their slumber and get on with it.

  94. Monica Worley
    Ignored
    says:

    This made me cry…for what could have been…

  95. Ottomanboi
    Ignored
    says:

    Not quite there yet, but shuffling by degrees.
    https://www.npr.org/2016/05/05/476048221/the-queue-carries-on-a-dystopian-lineage?t=1592206042063
    Technocratic bureaucracy with a nice dose of faux science and institutional arrogance…..fear not, stay safe, save the régime, wear the mask of conformity.
    Not citizens but carbon based units!

  96. Capella
    Ignored
    says:

    @ Monica – don’t get sad, get mad. The lost resources are gone but the future resources are still here. There’s a lot more than oil to be grateful for. When the reckoning comes, the oil revenue goes on our side of the balance sheet.

  97. Dan
    Ignored
    says:

    @Monica Worley

    Tak a drink lass! Coz I don’t want to dehydrate you any further or for you to cause a flood with more tears when I point out that last year Norway’s Oil Fund returned a record $180 billion.

    Not a bad figure which leads one to ponder that by some bizarre quirk of geology all the “good” North Sea oil just happened to be in the Norwegian Sector rather than Scottish Sector…

  98. Craig P
    Ignored
    says:

    Scotland is a country made of coal, floating in a sea of oil, washed by strong winds and tides… and owned elsewhere.

    The trick is in taking ownership into new hands, or at least persuading enough of the current owners to switch allegiance.

  99. Capella
    Ignored
    says:

    OT – I’ve just reread Shona Craven’s excellent article in The National on JK Rowling’s essay on the reality of biology. Shona has written the best analysis of the issues I’ve seen to date.
    This is why some don’t want you to read JK Rowling’s latest writing
    http://archive.fo/NZF6N

    The BTL comments are also instructive with the expected ding dong battle between trans allies and women spelling out their point of view (i.e. heresy).

    maria Carnero at 12th June 0.17 is particularly good IMO I’ll put the full link in because I don’t see any way to link to the comment directly. It’s too long to copy and paste.

    I think every MP, every MSP that has used our votes to join the wandwagon of demonishing (sic) females like this should be scrutinised. And should be scrutinised for two reasons: 1. because they were not given a mandate to erode our rights or to use our lives and feelings as an experiment, 2. because they are clearly deliberately jeopardising independence.
    Every pound the SNP and particularly the wokists are getting should be investigated. It would be interesting to know how many of them (or their parties) have received donations from the corporations and the middle age men behind this movement that expect to make a killing by pumping unaware children full of drugs that may actually ruin their lives without a doctor being able to stop it. But it would be even more interesting to know how many of those are attempting to derail Scotland’s independence.

    https://www.thenational.scot/news/18512301.jk-rowlings-non-fiction-foray-caused-furore/

  100. Dogbiscuit
    Ignored
    says:

    ‘everything in life is a risk ‘ said the ‘lockdown’ fanatic. What an ironic little joke.

  101. Dogbiscuit
    Ignored
    says:

    Give them no fucking oil .

  102. Dogbiscuit
    Ignored
    says:

    You want be allowed to go forward for Independence without the manic control freakery of Nicola Sturgeon.

  103. Dogbiscuit
    Ignored
    says:

    The wheels of civilisation run on oil and gas. If the Climate Change lunatics get their way they’ll close down civilisation. You cannot run an economy on hot air. Carbon trading is a racket financed by the banks. It’s bogus.Who is granting permission to plant forrests?

  104. Mike d
    Ignored
    says:

    Dan 10.48pm. ‘Extra regio’ more likely somewhere in brigadoon.

  105. Dogbiscuit
    Ignored
    says:

    Scottish oil worth everything to England but worthless to Scotland. Easy to swindle a poorly educated people and our current education curriculum is no better. It’s full of climate programming and obedient subject indoctrination. It’s a shame to have to correct a teachers work.

  106. Effijy
    Ignored
    says:

    The ancient civilisations of Greece and Rome
    Had Olive Oil and their only source of Gas was
    Through eating spicy food.

    We are fortunate that technology has given us successful
    Renewable energy sources that can slow, and hopefully stop
    The destruction of the plant.

    Anyone who has witnessed the unbearable levels of
    Pollution in some of the world’s largest cities would never
    Argue that we have nothing to worry about.

    The hospitals and cemeteries have ample proof that air pollution kills.

    Pedigree Chump!

  107. mike cassidy
    Ignored
    says:

    Happy days are here again!

    https://twitter.com/LBC/status/1272441197404045313

  108. Clapper57
    Ignored
    says:

    @ CameronB Brodie @ 1.53am

    Hi Cameron….after posting my comment I realised that those who had corrected AP, including yourself, may think I was referring to them when I said “Unlike some people”…I was NOT.

    Cameron the comment I made was a general observation I was making in that sometimes people tend to go mental mental chicken oriental when someone states something they disagree with…..or take it to another level and make personal comments…

    I hope you would never think I would ever diss you on this forum as I respect you to much to ever do that.

    It’s kinda easy to misconstrue what someone means via a comment sometimes….so I will not judge AP unless he/she writes something that is obviously questionable…

    Have a nice day…. 🙂

  109. Breastplate
    Ignored
    says:

    Mike D,
    Brigadoon sounds too Scottish, what about Downbridge.
    We can’t have the Scots thinking they have ownership of well, anything.

  110. MightyS
    Ignored
    says:

    The SNP or, any future iParty has the perfect tool in our oil fields with regards to negotiations to end the ToU.

    Just as the Tories fold their arms and arrogantly refuse to negotiate with the EU, a fair amount of Yessers assume Scotland won’t negotiate with WM when we leave. I mean why should we? “They’ve stripped us of our resources and material wealth for centuries. They’re getting nothing!”
    We will negotiate. We must.
    And the biggest thing we must offer to the rUK, yes, I used the word OFFER, is the majority of our oil fields.
    When Scotland does regain our independence, WM are hardly going to graciously accept. MI5 or whoever will start the persistent campaign of scuppering everything an iSG try to put in place. They’ll offer thousands for pro unionist politicians and commentators to promote rejoining the UK. They’ll encourage other countries (the US) to destabilise any government we put in place, or…invade for our oil and water thus promoted general chaos with a smug wink stating “Well, we knew you jocks couldn’t make it on your own.”
    Sounds far fetch but, they have form. Look at Iraq, Venezuela, Syria and Iran. Decades of WM and the US meddling in other country’s politics to get what they want. There’s no one to stop them doing it to an iScotland too.

    In offering the rUK the majority of the oil fields, we will hand all that threat right back to WM. Let’s face it, they’ll be skint and will look upon such an offer as a boon to their failing economy. Would certainly oil negotiations if held back long enough until we get what we need to survive as a nation again. And we will need WM to collaborate with us to begin with. We don’t control the National Grid for instance. We don’t control our own internet, and so on.
    We’ll be able to cope with what gas and oil reserves we might keep because ultimately, I believe our renewables will see us through. Any ‘energy holes’ suffered initially can be boosted by assistance from France (who already supply England) and Norway, until we get on our feet financially.
    We’ll also score massive ‘Green’ points in gifting the majority of our oil fields to WM.
    Sure it’ll grate. But we can hold our noses if it secures the future of an iScotland. Dismissing the value of oil as useless to us as a negotiating tool would be folly. Our oil is one of the main reasons WM grasps onto us – so let them have it.

  111. Ian
    Ignored
    says:

    From the Telegraph Nov 2018 –

    ‘”North Sea oil can still be the bargaining chip we need”

    Oil is Britain’s thin red line against a hard Brexit. The North Sea provided an economic buffer during the “winter of discontent” of 1978 and the “Black Monday” stock market crash, which almost destroyed the City a decade later. It may have to serve the same defensive purpose again if Theresa May, the Prime Minister, bungles a deal to leave Europe, or even worse, fails to reach an agreement.

    Often derided as an insignificant and declining industry by some economists, oil remains one of the country’s most reliable money spinners and sources of hard foreign currency export revenues. Think of what the UK would be like without the vast wealth generated by the equivalent of 44bn barrels of oil pumped from British territory over the last 40 years.’

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/11/08/north-sea-oil-can-still-bargaining-chip-need/

    UK top 10 exports – oil is 4th.

    http://www.worldstopexports.com/united-kingdoms-top-exports/

  112. Gary45%
    Ignored
    says:

    Dugbiscuit, next you’ll be saying wind turbines cause cancer, I heard that one from”Chump”your imperial master.
    As far as a “poorly educated people”.
    This will be of no interest to you, right through all my years of schooling, I had 1 teacher in primary 7 who taught anything to do with Scottish history.
    That my friend is living under totally biased imperial rule, where a certain part of the so called “equal family of nations” history is totally ignored, whether its school curriculum or constant ignorance from the media outlets.
    Just take a look over the years, TV dramas, you want a druggie, alcoholic waster, oh aye just a Scot to play the part, etc.
    The education system may be different now? but the so called “British History” that is pumped into homes on a daily basis is totally biased, you cannot deny it.

    Scottish Independence is the only way we will ever have control, to educate our nation the way Scotland was and our vision of the future.
    This is the normal state of the vast majority of countries in the world.
    (Many of which have no natural resources.)
    FACT.

  113. James F. McIntosh
    Ignored
    says:

    Mighty s Have to say with an attitude like yours it’s no wonder we can’t get our independence. Still grovelling even after we achieve independence.?

  114. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Clapper57
    Don’t worry yourself. There’s no guarantee I’m correct and I try not to take things personally anyway. Have a nicer say. 🙂

  115. Colin Alexander
    Ignored
    says:

    Don’t think cruelty by the Scottish ruling elite ended with the abolition of slavery. Cruelty comes in many forms.

    There is shocking levels of animal cruelty from the SNP Govt but no cries of “SNP bad” from the Tory mob in Scotland about this, as the SNP are in bed with the Tory mob in Scotland when it comes to inflicting unnecessary suffering on animals.

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/scotland-live-exports-ban-calves-boris-johnson-brexit-a9564981.html

    Scottish government defends ‘illegal’ live calf exports as court battle looms

    WARNING: contains scenes of animal distress and factual information that some people may find distressing.

    —————————————————
    http://www.rspb.org.uk/about-the-rspb/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/rspb-scotland-calls-for-immediate-halt-to-mountain-hare-culls-on-back-of-shocking-new-report/

    RSPB Scotland calls for immediate halt to mountain hare culls on back of shocking new report

    http://www.onekind.scot/5-things-you-might-not-know-about-mountain-hare-culls/

    “… the catastrophic decline of mountain hares was revealed by a long-term study from one of Scotland’s most renowned ecologists, Dr Adam Watson which which showed the mountain hare population in the eastern Highlands was just 1% of the level recorded in 1954”.

    Studies have now shown the myxamatosis virus that was deliberately introduced to rabbits has now jumped species to hares in some parts of the UK. There are fears the hare population could be wiped out.

    Why are hares being slaughtered in huge numbers? Tory toffs’ grouse shooting.
    ———————————–

    I’ve already highlighted the Scot Govt re-introduced tail docking of puppies. Why did they do that? The Tory toffs’ shooting fraternity.

    ————————————–

  116. McDuff
    Ignored
    says:

    It’s funny how they tell us oil is finished but Westminster won’t devolve it.
    I get so angry at the way we have been lied to and blatantly robbed of our wealth. And I dispair at those loyalist pine cones in George Sqr who defend England’s right to continue to do so.

  117. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    The the most valuable resource a country can have is well educated, healthy and free people. Nothing else comes close

  118. Proud Cybernat
    Ignored
    says:

    “Scotland has a £13bn deficit,” shrieks Ian Murray.

    Well, who’s in charge of Scotland’s economy? That’ll be WM. The same WM that has given Scotland only 8% (population share) of its own wealth, taking 92% to rUK.

    This THEFT was spelled out to NO voters in 2014 and like lemmings they went and voted for more of the same.

    I despair.

  119. McDuff
    Ignored
    says:

    Mike d 7.07pm

    Absolutely. It’s funny how its mainly Scottish wildlife programs that are networked across the UK almost as though advertising its beauty to England thus encouraging immigration. And the presenters and people interviewed are usually English.
    Independence now or occupation.

  120. Bob Mack
    Ignored
    says:

    To everybody that states “Statues don’t matter”.

    How would you feel if Westminster decided to erect statues of Mrs Thatcher and all former contemporary Prime Ministers in Edinburgh and Aberdeen because they created “oil wealth” for the UK?

    Interesting dilemma.

  121. Ottomanboi
    Ignored
    says:

    The possible cost, in may, of the lockdown from the site of the state broadcaster.
    Worse now, of course.
    Alleged £13bn Scottish deficit chicken feed by comparison.
    The true price of thralldom is picking up other people’s bills and being content to do so.

    .

  122. Beaker
    Ignored
    says:

    There’s one wee problem is using oil as an argument (and it is is a good one if you know the true facts):

    I don’t know the truth in what was said, but it is widely quoted that the SNP said oil would be over $100 per barrel (or £100). Now the price is way below that, so it is difficult to counter. Then you have Nicola declaring a climate emergency, so oil is persona non grata anyway (or at least to wee Patrick).

    Yes, there are the true facts about oil, but there are mixed messages and it makes selling the truth harder. To quote someone: “a lie gets round the world before the truth gets it’s boots on”.

  123. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ottomanboi
    You’ve been against lock-down since it started, which leads me to conclude your perspective is political. You’ve also punted philosophers who reject the significance of human biology, and who consider humans to separate from, and above, nature. So you won’t mind if I don’t consider your opinion to be sound.

    decision making: rationality and risk
    https://us.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-assets/79111_book_item_79111.pdf

  124. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    sorry….who consider humans to be separate from, and above, nature.

    Ethics and Personhood
    Some Issues in Contemporary Neurological Science and Technology

    https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/bioethics/resources/ethics-and-personhood/

  125. Allium
    Ignored
    says:

    Rowling has 7 out of 10 of the best-selling kids books on Amazon. That cancellation thing is working out well for the wokes.

  126. Sensibledave
    Ignored
    says:

    CBB 1.13

    … still pushing the bigots line then CBB.

    It is astonishing that you are so lacking in self awareness that that you accuse folk from one country of being r*****! …. and in so doing, demonstrate your own innate r****m. You are a pseudo intellectual bigot.

  127. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Sensibledave
    The truth about you chauvanism hurts eh? Away and greet in private.

    Ethnicity, Race, and Nationalism
    https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-soc-070308-115916

  128. North chiel
    Ignored
    says:

    Beaker says @ 1222 pm “ the SNP said oil would be over 100 usd per barrel . Now the price is way below that it is difficult to counter” . Oil being a commodity and the price consequently fluctuates on a continuous basis linked obviously to supply & demand etc. ( The oil companies well no this ) . Over the lifetime of the North Sea the price has been as low as 9 USD per barrel and yes briefly over 100 usd for a short period . Over the circa 45 years I believe the AVERAGE price for Brent crude is around 39 usd per barrel . ( The Statistica website will give you the average price information for each individual year from 1975 until present ). If you total each individual year’s average and divide by the number of years the result will give you an average price for the whole period .
    As I say the average I calculate at circa 39 USD is fairly close to today’s price ( in a market where presently demand is low) . The oil companies (and UK treasury ) are doing quite well thank you with the cost of extraction around 15-17 usd at present . If not they would not have been operating in the North Sea for the last 45 years . Would they ?

  129. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    Well the unions slabbering pitbulls were out in force in Glasgow’s George Sq yesterday. Skin headed Burberry clad shavs, shouting and acting in an aggressive manner from the Loyalist Defence League surrounded the statute of Englishman Robert Peel, who had links to the slave trade.

    Shouting and yelling incoherently whilst waving a first in a straight arm fashion fist, they reminded me of fascists.

    Of course Peel is often wrongly credited with founding the the world’s first police force. When infact Glasgow has that honour.

    Fifty miles to the East Edinburgh can proudly claim to have created the world’s first modern municiple fire brigade.

  130. Dan
    Ignored
    says:

    A positive aspect of clearing one’s cache once a decade meant I retrieved this clip of Jim Rogers.

    Love the flustering of the red dressed woman when Jim gets talking about Scotland.

    https://twitter.com/FreeThinker2030/status/1224038013409419265

  131. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    Interestingly today LBC radio, said that Boris Johnson disbanded a group of ministers six months before Covid-19 arose. Their remit was to set up a plan of action that would prevent a pandemic from severely affecting the UK.

  132. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    Scottish co-leader of the Greens Lorna Slater is furious that the Westminster government is scrapping plans for self- identifying.

    I never thought I’d write this but Sturgeon must take a leaf out of Johnson’s book on this one and scrap it as well.

  133. Colin Alexander
    Ignored
    says:

    Would Wingers say a wee prayer for the health of SNP MP Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) or wish her well in your thoughts if you’re not religious, as she has suffered a brain haemorrhage or stroke.

  134. Allium
    Ignored
    says:

    @Republicofscotland 1.06

    According to the Times, Starmer is planning to stand back from selfID quietly, kicking it to the long grass. Lammy was unusually equivocal about it on Marr yesterday, so seems like it might be true. The fall-out and in-fighting with the membership has been grim for them too.

    Thus providing ScotLab with the perfect opportunity to tag team with the Tories at the election to skewer the SNP, assuming they manage not to bungle it.

    Nicola needs to stand up to her particular friends who are pushing this, tell them they mangled their chances, and the opportunity to sneak it through is now gone, too bad, its over. Corona gives her the perfect cover to pull a Now Is Not The Time.

  135. Papko
    Ignored
    says:

    @Dan retrieved this clip of Jim Rogers”

    never heard much from Jim Rogers since he moved to Shanghai , he did make a career (and billions) from prescient market calls.
    No doubt he will be heavily invested in Commodities now, waiting for the up swing.

  136. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    “Thus providing ScotLab with the perfect opportunity to tag team with the Tories at the election to skewer the SNP, assuming they manage not to bungle it.”

    Allium.

    As Orwell said, “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”

    That perfectly describes Labour and the Tories, as for Sturgeon doing a U-turn on this one, I shalnt hold my breath.

  137. David
    Ignored
    says:

    Regarding this 2 meter rule

    If it is reduced to 1M, approximately 3ft, then that will accidentally drift into a 2ft distance, and then no distance. It is just human nature.

    So if you reduce it to 3ft, then you would be just as well cancel the whole distancing excersice.

    Because you can bet your bottom dollar that 1M (3ft), will lead to zero distancing.

    And it would make a mockery of all those floor markings and signage.

    So summing up,,,it has to be either 2M distancing or non at all.

  138. David
    Ignored
    says:

    Republic of Scotland

    The UK Labour Party weren’t long in resorting to script after the election of their new leader.

    I have listened to him a good few of his front benchers, and as per usual, they avoid like hell giving anyone a straight answer on ANYTHING.

    On any issue, they slither around and waffle until the interviewer just gives up and moves on

    Labour in England or Labour in Scotland,,,a shower of chancers one and all.

  139. Dan
    Ignored
    says:

    @David at 1:36 pm

    Re. Maintaining physical distance

    It’s a stroke of luck that due to low uptake of the project I’m sitting on a stock of Sumo Suits from my failed Saltired Sumos Defenders of Scots’ Sovereignty plan that was to engage in Uncivil Obedience as a protest at our expressed will being ignored…

  140. David
    Ignored
    says:

    Dan

    Wish you luck in all your future endeavours lol

    And I am not taking sides in this distancing debate,,,I am just stating the obvious,,,if you have a 3ft distance then human nature will reduce that to 1ft,,, therefore, why have any distancing rules?

  141. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    David@ 1.47pm.

    Firstly what image does it project to have a millionaire knight of the realm as the leader of Labour, it certainly doesn’t give the out a feeling that Labour are in any way a socialist party, well to me it doesn’t.

    As for Labour politicians obsfucating, I’m afraid that’s a trait of all politicians, others will gish gallop hoping to distract from the original point.

  142. David
    Ignored
    says:

    Republic of Scotland

    “Obfuscating”

    That’s the word I was looking for.

    The Labour Party are World leaders in this practice.

  143. Dan
    Ignored
    says:

    Was out earlier, tried setting the SatNav to go to Extra Regio but audiobabe wasnae havin’ it. 🙁

    Next plan: Alexa, play Do You Know The Way To San Jose E.Regio 😉

  144. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    At least we won’t (I hope) have to suffer the unions, jack boot soldiers Orange Order hatefest this year as they plan a virtual parade to celebrate their religious hatred.

    Westminsters obedient Neanderthals are also to broadcast internally I hope, videos of past hatred marches, and a church service to boot.

    https://www.thenational.scot/news/18517443.orange-order-plans-virtual-parade-boyne-celebrations/

  145. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Republicofscotland
    I’ve heard some wag has suggested the virtual parade might be vulnerable to hacking, so it might be possible to create a matrix for those with a penchant for bowler hat and sash combos. 🙂

  146. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    I hope so Cameron, poking a bit of fun at this antiquated hatefest, would be most enjoyable.

    I await a link to it from someone with the know-how.

  147. callmedave
    Ignored
    says:

    Extra Regio

    EU Customs Portal: Def.
    ————————————————————-
    The extra-regio territory is made up of parts of the national economic territory which cannot be attached directly to a single region that is part of the national geographic territory. It consists of:

    a. the national air -space, territorial waters and the continental shelf lying in international waters over which the country enjoys exclusive rights (not relevant for the regional household accounts);

    b. territorial enclaves (i.e., geographic territories situated in the rest of the world and used, under international treaties of agreements between States, by general government agencies of the country (embassy, consulates, military bases, scientific bases, etc.));

    c. deposits of oil, natural gas, etc. in international waters outside the continental shelf of the country, worked by units resident in the territory (not relevant for the regional household accounts).

    Source:
    Regional Accounts Methods – Household accounts, 1996 Edition, p.5
    Created: 2005-02-02 Updated:2019-05-10

    PS:
    Figures today:

    Scotland………..today…..00……..Total…..2448…BBC
    Wales…………..today…..04……..Total…..1448…BBC
    N. Ireland………today…..00……..Total……541…BBC
    England…………today….*28……..Total..no data..*SUN
    ============================================================
    UK……………..today…no data…..Total…*41726..*SUN

  148. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Religious intolerance is woven into the fabric of the British identity and British nationalism. It balances the racial predjudice embedded in the British subconscious. Just as well really, or else we’d have a lot of unbalanced bigots determining the future of Scottish culture. 🙁

    Balancing cultural diversity and social cohesion in education:
    The potential of shared education in divided contexts

    Abstract
    This article considers how the education systems of divided societies have been shaped in response to the experience of ethnic and religious conflict. The analysis identifies two competing priorities in such contexts – the development of social cohesion and the protection of cultural, ethnic and religious identities – and explores how these may be reconciled through a model of ‘shared education’.

    Drawing on research evidence and recent experience of shared education in relation to Northern Ireland, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia1 and Cyprus, we reflect on the advantages and challenges of this model in areas experiencing conflict and division.

    https://pure.qub.ac.uk/files/118854666/balancing.pdf

  149. Col.Blimp IV
    Ignored
    says:

    Andrew F @ 5.59pm yesterday

    The Unionists also told us we were too wee and poor and stupid to survive the banking crisis.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejC_0Yjz7kY

  150. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    The relationship between racism and religion isn’t simple though, and structural factors, such as legal and education systems, play a significant role in supporting and sustaining both.

    Survey Data Indicates a Complicated Relationship between Religion and Racial Attitudes
    https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/responses/survey-data-indicates-a-complicated-relationship-between-religion-and-racial-attitudes

  151. mike cassidy
    Ignored
    says:

    Take a break

    And watch this startling mix of comedy and seriousness

    John Oliver on the Confederacy

    From 2017!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5b_-TZwQ0I

  152. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Here’s a perspective that can unite all though, IMHO. Believers and non-believers. The political and the a-political. The liberal and the auth…well, you get the picture.

    DEMOCRACY AND NATURAL LAW

    THE THEME I WANT TO TALK ABOUT is Democracy and the law of nature. I shall be talking in bold terms, defending the thesis that rational defense of democracy appears to me to require as postulate some doctrine of natural law.

    Natural law is, of course, not a segment of positive law, nor a body of propositions from which positive law can be simply derived. It is to be conceived rather, I suggest, as context and presupposition for positive law. At the same time it is truly law, at once fact and norm, entailing both necessity and obligation. I shall conceive it as presupposition peculiarly for democratic political order as contrasted with all sorts of despotism and totalitarianism.

    https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1047&context=nd_naturallaw_forum

  153. Robert Louis
    Ignored
    says:

    Dan at 1257pm,

    That is a helluva clip.

    What is most interesting is the way the presenters try soooo desperately to move the conversation away from Scotland, and make out Scotland still couldn’t afford to be independent. What motivates them to do that?? Is it something inbuilt in English presenters, or is their director screaming at them on their earpieces, telling them they are not allowed to say such things on telly???

    https://twitter.com/FreeThinker2030/status/1224038013409419265

    Scotland needs out of this rotten so-called ‘union with England ASAP. Let them pay back all the oil wealth they have stolen and start charging them so they can buy the stuff from now on, the scroungers.

  154. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    mike cassidy
    I meant to say I thought John Oliver’s piece on the Confederacy was very well put together. Thanks for posting it.

    Addressing the Aggravated Meeting Points of Race
    and Religion

    https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/56358853.pdf

  155. callmedave
    Ignored
    says:

    @Dan
    Excellent clip from a while back which I have seen before and forgotten about.

    Good catch.

    Thanks for posting it again. 🙂

  156. Stuart MacKay
    Ignored
    says:

    “We’ve noticed a fair few Unionists this week proudly claiming that an independent Scotland would have been too broke to survive the coronavirus pandemic.”

    Well, according to Chris Grey’s Brexit blog, http://archive.is/tw6YD that’s nothing compared to the inability of England to survive a no-deal Brexit.

    There were a couple useful points in the article, first was a reference to an article from Bloomberg detailing a long list of tariffs and restrictions that are going to come into force – basically the UK is utterly f**ked when it comes to trade and international relations for a very long time to come. Quote:

    They – the US, China, India, Russia, the Gulf States, African and Latin American countries, Spain, Mauritius, Argentina – all will say to themselves that Britain is now weak, it needs our support, and we can ask for whatever we want”.

    Then Grey actually mentions the breakup of the UK. He rarely acknowledges Scotland in all this, so this in itself is rather interesting.

    Given the history of lies and backtracking it’s clear that the only power that Westminster has over Scotland is the power we grant it. Boris and co. are already up to their nostrils in sh*t. With a low oil price, the time to rid ourselves of the accursed union is now. I doubt they’d have the ability to stop us.

  157. Effijy
    Ignored
    says:

    Iceland isn’t a tenth of the size of Scotland and
    It has fish an hot springs on a lunar type landscape.
    Isolated away from the main trading markets and
    Yet this nation is thriving.

    They put corrupt bankers in prison and rebuilt their economy
    After the crash of 2008.

    They even beat God and Queenies football team Engerland.

    With so many greater resources it would take a corrupt force
    Such as Westminster for us to be anything other than more successful.

    How about the Russian Controlled Soviet satellite nations bordering the North
    Sea, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia?

    They have all flourished since escaping the clutches of their overbearing neighbours.

    Between them they don’t have a fraction of Scotland’s resources.

    Norway got their independence from Sweden and never looked back.
    They are one of the richest democracies on the plant and have no debt.

    They almost have as much oil as we do but still a fraction of the resources here.

    Ireland suffered terribly under English Control with Millions of needless deaths
    and indiscriminate killing of civilians suspected of acting against their suppression.
    Again this proud independent nation have a buoyant economy and they have never regretted
    Casting of the chains of their English Masters.

    You better believe they would swap resources with Scotland in a heart beat.

    So there we are this Sovereign nation with a wealth of resources is supposed to be the only country
    On the planet who couldn’t run their own country and who exist only through the governance of the
    corrupt warmongers of Westminster .

    As with all other Commonwealth countries it’s time to boot England into the long grass forever!

  158. Breastplate
    Ignored
    says:

    Ask any raving Britnat Yoon if Scotland can afford independence and their knee jerk answer is “No” but then ask him how much debt England needs to be in to hand over the reigns of government to France and you will receive a confused and perplexed look.

    I always find it regrettable that Scottish people think that sovereignty is somehow linked to affordability.

    On the subject of oil, countries that produce no oil, their economies benefit from low prices.
    Scotland is lucky that the economy can benefit from low oil and high oil prices.
    It’s just that different parts of the economy benefit at different times.
    Diversity in your economy helps.

  159. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    It’s a funny old world where some Treaty law is considered an existential threat to English cultural integrity, while other Treaty law is ignored in a manner that produces existential crises for Scotland. Well, no it’s not funny at all.

    I don’t know if anyone will remember me pointing out that Brexitanian constitutional practice has a distinctly Hungarian flavour, of partisan legal bias?

    Full text.

    International Journal for the Semiotics of Law – Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique (2020)
    Nation, Nationality, and National Identity: Uses, Misuses, and the Hungarian Case of External Ethnic Citizenship

    Abstract
    The article looks at the changing terrain of inclusion and exclusion, through mapping the shifts in Hungarian citizenship law and its political context. More specifically, it deals with the legal aspects of the definitional exercise of belonging to the Hungarian nation, starting with an analysis of the relevant provisions of the 2011 Fundamental Law of Hungary and moving on to assess the phenomenon of external ethnic citizenship.

    The surrounding political and legal debates are read together with insights from normative scholarship to trace the changing meaning of who belongs to the nation, in what sense and with what practical consequences. The paper discusses the political context of the changing constitutional and citizenship rules to demonstrate the circularity in defining the nation: who gets to vote will have an impact on who decides on who gets to vote which in turn will have an impact on who gets to vote, how, and for how long.

    The article concludes that supplanting the political nation with the ethno-cultural concept means that overinclusion has given way to underinclusion. For instance, some who used to be defined as part of the ethno-cultural nation have come to be viewed as voluntary outsiders: with the availability of non-residential naturalization, those who opted not to acquire Hungarian citizens can now be seen as also falling outside the nation, rewriting basic tenets of national identity.

    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11196-020-09731-8

  160. Breastplate
    Ignored
    says:

    Just spotted that reigns should be reins of government, oops.

  161. twathater
    Ignored
    says:

    I noted a piece by bozo clownshoe on bbc pravda at 1o’clock , his piece stated that the THOUSANDS of protesters at BLM rallys just CANNOT be ignored and that he will take it on board and address it

    YET the 100 thousand’s who marched peacefully and joyously for SCOTLAND’S independence can be willfully ignored , but there again when you have a FM who is more interested in taking part in Brexshit marches or PRIDE marches l’m sure indy marches are not worth fighting for or appearing at

  162. Ottomanboi
    Ignored
    says:

    Making the world safe for ‘white people’?
    https://www.globalresearch.ca/bill-gates-and-the-depopulation-agenda-robert-f-kennedy-junior-calls-for-an-investigation/5710021
    Gates belongs to that generation of Americans who think the world wants to be just like them.

  163. Gary45%
    Ignored
    says:

    Dan, many thanks for posting the clip.
    We should have that played on all public buildings/ billboards etc.
    Cheers.

  164. twathater
    Ignored
    says:

    Maybe if we marched under the banner

    SCOTS LIVES MATTER

  165. Beaker
    Ignored
    says:

    @North chiel says:
    15 June, 2020 at 12:49 pm
    “If not they would not have been operating in the North Sea for the last 45 years . Would they ?”

    That is probably a better argument to promote, rather than “oh the oil price will go rocketing up again.” Liked the explanation on the price variances. A simplified argument highlighting the average price is a good way to counter the arguments. Would tie Boris up in knots for sure.

  166. Gary45%
    Ignored
    says:

    Anyone heard if the media are showing interest in getting the young footballer Marcus Rashford a knighthood.
    £20 million and counting, raised for hungry school kids.
    Certainly deserves “establishment” recognition for his fantastic efforts.
    I don’t watch mainstream TV so not sure if its been spoken about.
    Personally I “don’t do” the whole honours system, but when recognition is due, surely this is it.

  167. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Cultural identity and narratives play a significant role in shaping one’s potential to access justice. That’s why I’m terrified of Scotland being dragged out of the EU, which would essentially signify the end of my hope for Scotland to enjoy real democracy.

    Full text.

    Chile in Transition pp 35-77
    The Cultural Dimension: A Nation in Search of Identity Between the Competing Narratives of the “Center-Right” and the “Center-Left”

    Abstract
    This chapter, the cultural dimension, focuses on the era of President Sebastián Piñera (2010–2014), the first center-right government since the postdictatorial transition to democracy in 1988–1989. It explores the trends and changes in social psychology and collective mentalities since the start of Piñera’s tenure, as well as the competition between different public narratives over the past couple of years about what a “good society” in Chile could and should look like.

    Since Piñera was the first Chilean president to fully grasp the rising importance of social psychology and collective narratives as “contextual political factors,” questions of identity have become crucial elements of public discourse in today’s Chile.

    Keywords
    Mining Minister Rescue Operation Happy Ending Marketing Professional Mining Accident

    https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-17951-3_3

  168. Dan
    Ignored
    says:

    @twathater at 5:44 pm

    Think that might be a bit of an ask as Scots seem content to the point of apathy to have circumstances and policies they don’t want forced on them… and then there’s the shit Westminster gets up to!

    I previously eluded to a future where the average height of Scots is just 4′ 3″ due to years of wearing down their feet and legs as they spent their time mandate farming.
    The unfortunate reality is that Scots will no longer be able to get up off their knees as the knee will become the lowest part of the body.
    The one positive from this is that covid infections will no longer occur at Nike conferences…

  169. Jason Smoothpiece
    Ignored
    says:

    Scottish Nationalist Party MP Amy Callaghan stable says the Times, Sunday Times web page.

    Never heard of the Scottish Nationalist Party, probably because there isn’t one. But the Times know that.

    Hope Amy gets back on her feet quickly.

  170. Scot Finlayson
    Ignored
    says:

    @North chiel,

    you say `and yes briefly over 100 usd for a short period`,

    2011 the average for the year was $111.26,
    2012 the average for the year was $111.63,
    2013 the average for the year was $108.56,

    between 2008 to 2014 the average over these 7 years was $95.48 per barrel.

    The average price between 1976 and 2019 is just over $50 pb,

    https://tinyurl.com/y7sxj5mz

    44,000,000,000 barrels at an average price of $50 is

    $ 2,200,000,000,000,

    $2.2 trillion dollars, one of the biggest thefts in history and it`s still going on.

  171. Dan
    Ignored
    says:

    A wee reminder that as usual Colin Dunn aka Indyposterboy and @zarkwan on twitter keeps producing the goods.
    Link to 11 pages to scroll through and that is just for A3 posters. Loads more useful material to scroll through.

    https://indyposterboy.scot/category/a3-yes-posters/

    Some developments on the ISP.

    https://twitter.com/PoliticsScot/status/1272514717114867713

  172. twathater
    Ignored
    says:

    Dan 6.26pm your comments can be uplifting , BTW I contacted Stuart about my idea but no response , I was hoping that he would do a post solely to gauge people’s sense of anger and disillusionment in TELLING NS that we are NOT going to accept being ignored and sidelined whilst she polishes her self constructed halo

    We are literally fighting for our existence as a Scottish nation against a shower of carpetbaggers whilst she constructs her CV as a world leader in trying for another job

  173. Breeks
    Ignored
    says:

    Dan says:
    15 June, 2020 at 6:26 pm
    @twathater at 5:44 pm

    Think that might be a bit of an ask as Scots seem content to the point of apathy to have circumstances and policies they don’t want forced on them… and then there’s the shit Westminster gets up to..

    I don’t believe it’s a grassroots problem. In 2014, we established incredible momentum. Yes, we missed out of the Referendum, but the Union had to lie through it’s teeth and skew the narrative to create enough doubts to save the Union, but nevertheless, it was the momentum of 2013-14 which delivered an outright majority in Holyrood and wall to wall SNP representation at Westminster.

    Don’t blame the people, nor doubt their commitment. They were up for it, and joining the SNP in droves.

    I believed Independence was inevitable after the treacherous Vow, and Brexit was a heaven sent opportunity to ask the question again. We had victory, an emphatic democratic mandate, an explicit Constitutional impasse, and a nightmare prospect of being Brexited and seeing our manufacturing expertise being deregulated and downgraded.

    Independence was right there for the taking. But instead of a leader, we had Sturgeon, and a chorus of SNP luvvies who wouldn’t hear a bad word said about her dithering lack of initiative or ambition. We all sat there thinking our enemy was the UK Establishment, not an SNP leadership which couldn’t capitulate fast enough and sold out Scotland’s constitutional strength before the ink was dry on the Brexit result.

    I still have hopes, somewhat slim hopes, that an emergency Constitutional interdict or Backstop might yet, even at this late hour, save Scotland from Brexit, and thereby leave the UK Union untenable, and Scottish Independence inevitable.

    But none of that is going to happen with Sturgeon at the wheel, and our window of opportunity is closing fast.

  174. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    I’d be dangerous with a law degree. 🙂

    Full text.

    International Journal for the Semiotics of Law – Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique (2019)
    On the Limits of Political Emancipation and Legal Rights

    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11196-019-09634-3

  175. Ottomanboi
    Ignored
    says:

    Masks unmasked.
    https://www.globalresearch.ca/face-masks-pose-serious-risks-healthy/5712649
    https://www.globalresearch.ca/studies-show-dehumanizing-masks-weaken-you-dont-protect-you/5713580?utm_campaign=magnet&utm_source=article_page&utm_medium=related_articles
    Any medic worth his/her salt would tell you prolonged obstruction of breathing using a non sterile device can produce adverse symptoms.
    This is just another manifestation of the spectacular ignorance being displayed by ‘authority’.

  176. Mist001
    Ignored
    says:

    Scottish independence is fucked as long as a referendum is the chosen route.

    Somebody needs to kick Mrs. Murrell and her chums into the long grass otherwise we’re just clutching at straws.

    (see what I did there? Grass. Straws.)

    Independence will never happent with this current bunch running the show. A decisive leader, someone who was 100% independence minded would have used the Corona crisis as a pretext for UDI.

  177. Dan
    Ignored
    says:

    @twathater & Breeks

    From interactions with my active SNP acquaintances it’s about 50 / 50 on frustration with lack of progress on the Indy front, but that is down to some folk being switched on and others just obediently following Party line.
    Most of them are completely unaware of the contention around the GRA stuff which speaks volumes about awareness levels of what is going on in the Party.
    If the the SNP are so confident in pushing GRA you’d think they’d have the confidence to at least inform their membership of the details, but there’s fuck all of note about it in any of the emails sent to members from HQ, Constituency, or Branches…

    My YES group connections are a different kettle of fish though, and rather than frustration it’s bordering on bewilderment at the choices the SNP seems to be making on various fronts.
    These YES groups have put in absolutely massive time and financial commitments and efforts to get physical YES hubs on High Streets up and running, they are mostly run by highly committed older folk and it is going to be an ask for their efforts and the donations that keep the hubs running to be sustained for years.
    “Brexit” was the material change in circumstance and that is happening so time to action Scotland’s Future being in Scotland’s Hands.
    Without a campaign and specific date for a democratic event to determine our future the majority of less politically aware folk aren’t going to tune in, so in the meantime we’re just burning up our energies and funds treading water.

  178. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    It’s not advisable to disenfranchise roughly half the electorate, who voted to maintain UKOK the last time they were asked. Subsequently, there is no legal justification for UDI, IMHO, though there is plenty for Treaty withdrawal. The people will need to determine what to do though, as we are the source of Scotland’s political identity and voice.

    International Journal for the Semiotics of Law volume 14, pages299–326(2001)
    Arguments in Favour of a Functional Theory of Fundamental Rights

    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A%3A1017580828223

  179. callmedave
    Ignored
    says:

    To cut a long story short I missed the daily update from WM so I went to check the UK corona virus count on big Auntie’s web site(s) some time ago now.

    I tried both the BBC ‘UK’ page and all it’s windows including the ‘corona virus update’ window ‘ click point on the top bar corona virus news as well.
    Nothing about today’s UK numbers

    Tried the BBC ‘England’ web page and all the windows…. the same Nothing about todays UK numbers at all and I scrolled back to 14:00 hrs.

    BUT found a window with Scottish numbers and Irish numbers.

    I checked the three colonial country’s web pages and their virus numbers were front and centre.

    There’s a thing!

    That the man on the Clapham omnibus wouldn’t believe if you told him, but there it is.
    (Or there it’s not)

    But lots of stories about crowded shops and corona virus precautions in schools and social distancing down to 1M and a man had a pee in public, an outrage they said…etc etc.

    Good old Auntie! 🙁

  180. North chiel
    Ignored
    says:

    Scot Findlayson @ 0701 pm . Thanks for the update Scot . I note the latest average for Brent crude is circa 50 USD . As it’s been a few years since I looked at these averages and certainly the most recent years has shown prices higher than the previous overall average . I would emphasise the general point I am trying to make is that the “ oil price crash “ headlines routinely emanating from MSM and the usual Britnat propagandists at Pacific Quay etc. should be viewed in the context of average prices for this commodity . Even at today’s supposedly “ low price” of circa 40 USD they are not so much “ below average” . The oil companies have cut their cost base accordingly.

    Usual Scot gov “ bad “ ( Misreporting Scotland )re Health ( New Glasgow hospital ) and Education ( now trying to create their usual “ crisis “ ) , whilst in a matter of fact way they “ inform us “ that Scotland will just have to accept no Brexit transition extension after Dec 31st . Gove must have a direct line to Propaganda Quay , advising them just to let us all know ( as a by the way ) that it’s a “fait accomply “ (BBC Scotland “ bought & sold for English gold” ) .

  181. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    I also forgot to thank Stuart MacKay for posting the link to Chris Grey’s Brexit blog, though it did set me off a bit. 🙂

    http://archive.is/tw6YD

    International Journal for the Semiotics of Law volume 14, pages 71–96 (2001)
    Freedom, Property and Equality in the Theory of `Fundamental Rights’. A Commentary on an Essay by Luigi Ferrajoli

    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A%3A1011283805450

  182. A Person
    Ignored
    says:

    Breastplate at 5.18-

    Problem is so many Scots just think Scotland “is poor”. You tell them, “we’ve got oil, gas* water, farmland, whisky and banking to start with-we’d be a successful independent country” and they bleat “oh but I just don’t think we could afffoorrdd it”.

    Are there any other countries which think like this? Why is this attitude so ingrained? And what can we do about it?

    Also think it’s funny that the right wing like to accuse us of being “subsidy junkies” but that theyre the ones who want us to sell our nations rights away in exchange for some pocket money.

    *= earlier in this thread I said I wasn’t sure about the quality of Scottish oil. I have since been told that I was mistaken and that it is of high quality. Either way oil has many uses and is a valuable asset.

  183. Benhope
    Ignored
    says:

    Some very informed comments about our economy and the global oil industry over the week-end.Especial thanks to Business for Independence and their succinct leaflets and booklets packed with all the detailed information.

    After the George Square violence yesterday our famous free press plus TV news turn a blind eye. When I think of our SNP Government giving financial hand -outs to this corrupt press I begin to despair!

    As has been said here ad infinittum, if we had a free press we would have been independent many years ago!

  184. Bob Mack
    Ignored
    says:

    Noted photographer Tommy Ga Ken Wan was at George As and posted his experience in Facebook. Very very jnformative.

    It shows the police up for tolerating these thugs. Try a read.

    Sorry ,but this device can’t archive.

  185. Caledonia
    Ignored
    says:

    Can anyone tell me if this has anything to do with Stu
    https://twitter.com/WingScotParty

  186. Elmac
    Ignored
    says:

    Re Caledonia @ 9.08

    Looks like a crude phoney to me.

  187. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Westminster is a racist patriarchy, so it is unconcerned that Brexit removes Scots from under the protection of active law designed to protect fundamental rights. The people of Scotland must be given a chance to resist this illiberal cultural subjugation.

    International law stands above national law. This is the only way to ensure political opportunism, such as Brexit, doesn’t harm the international order and the rule-of-law.

    EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
    https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:12012P/TXT

  188. A Person
    Ignored
    says:

    Caledonia-

    Doubt it.

  189. A Person
    Ignored
    says:

    Yeah it’s a fake by someone saying Stu is cancelled.

    Trans rights fanatics.

  190. mr thms
    Ignored
    says:

    #callmedave @ 7:51 pm

    It is bias by ommission.

    Daily coronavirus statistics are available on the Gov.UK website.

    https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/

    Total number of lab-confirmed UK cases – 296,857
    (Includes tests carried out by commercial partners which are not included in the 4 National totals)

    Daily number of lab-confirmed UK cases – 1,056
    (Number of additional cases on Monday 15 June 2020)

    Total number of COVID-19 associated UK deaths – 41,736
    (Deaths of people who have had a positive test result)

    Daily number of COVID-19 associated UK deaths – 38
    (Number of additional deaths on Monday 15 June 2020)

    (COVID-19 associated deaths)
    Total number by nation

    Scotland – 2,448
    England – 37,299
    Northern Ireland – 541
    Wales – 1,448

  191. Scot Finlayson
    Ignored
    says:

    @North chiel,

    $2,200,000,000,000 divided by 5,000,000 population is $440,000 dollars each citizen of Scotland,

    ok we would be f@cked by inflation,

    which is why Norway doesn`t/can`t spend its oil fund but invests it.

  192. callmedave
    Ignored
    says:

    @mr thms

    Thanks:
    I have the numbers but you’d think our esteemed, and trusted BBC speaking truth unto the Nation would actually take the trouble to report them darn Sarf!

    Only where we are is it reported what our numbers are.

    “Bias by omission” indeed.

  193. Beaker
    Ignored
    says:

    On a lighter note, the piss artist in London managed to get himself 14 days b&b at her majesty’s pleasure.

  194. Ottomanboi
    Ignored
    says:

    Forget that virus, this is the virus that really matters now:
    https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/06/09/why-did-the-protests-over-george-floyd-turn-into-mass-hysteria/
    Belonging to an ancient ethno-cultural group whose lives have never mattered and is still on the the subject of this irrational, hostile and ignorant behaviour I give a wry smile.
    Universities, supposed centres of classical humanist learning, are capitulating to this just as they did in Hitler’s Germany where self-defining ‘liberals’ through cowardice, facilitated Hitler’s rise.
    So what’s next on the menu burning books, burning people?
    Modern western civilization is a mere crust over the fiery magma of primal barbarism.
    Out of the covid frying pan you go.
    Stay safe, do not deviate….and bring a hammer.

  195. Liz g
    Ignored
    says:

    Caledonia @ 9.08
    It’s definitely nothing to do with Stu…
    And the only genuine Wings account on Twitter is the one from the Stall and that’s not the Rev either….
    Friends Of Wings…..
    That’s us the people below the line who run and support the stall.
    I’m sure if Stu ever bothers to pick a Twitter account back up we’ll be left in no doubt it’s him.
    Those other’s are just tryin to piggy back on to his brand and ye don’t need me tae tell ye why,having an authentic identity is just something they don’t do!

  196. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ottomanboi
    If you’re determined to punt your right-wing agenda, at least try do it with some style please. Spiked?

    Racism as a Determinant of Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4580597/

  197. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Want to get serious about decolonising society and culture?

    Decolonising the Academy, the Curriculum and the History of Decolonisation
    https://nias.knaw.nl/projects/decolonising-the-academy-the-curriculum-and-the-history-of-decolonisation/

  198. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    And here’s some thoughts on how to decolonise the curriculum. Well, it’s nice to be nice. 🙂

    Decolonising the curriculum: challenges and
    opportunities for teaching and learning

    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332594328_Decolonising_the_curriculum_What_are_the_challenges_and_the_opportunities_for_teaching_and_learning

  199. North chiel
    Ignored
    says:

    “ Scot Findlayson @1001 pm “.Scotland’s children’s birthright squandered for decades by successive Neoliberal Westminster governments , always ensuring that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer . ( Foodbanks in Scotland in 2020 . An absolute disgrace ). My hope would be for an Independent Scottish government to use our country’s natural resources for the COMMON GOOD as the Norwegian government has aptly demonstrated ,for the benefit of ALL their people equating to a more equal and content society under the “ Nordic model” of Scandinavian social democracy.

  200. Effijy
    Ignored
    says:

    Can I remind all that the gap between the UK rich elite and
    The average worker has grown for 57 years consecutively
    And you better believe that the real part of the job Boris and
    Farage are really focused on maintaining.

    You will appreciate that the Red Tories have been in power for much
    If that period too as as the Lib Dem’s in coalitions with anyone who will
    Take them.

    Scotland faces another 10 years of Blue Tories extending this disgraceful
    Record at least but Sir Red Tory is there to maintain the status quo if the
    Blues drop the ball.

    Solution – Take control of an Independent Scotland.

  201. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    It’s a very long time since I tried any semiotic analysis of the law, but here’s a perspective informed through a basic, critical, training in ethical jurisprudence. Which is nice. 🙂

    Use the force FM, you the force.

    International Journal for the Semiotics of Law – Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique (2019)
    Natural Law and the ‘Resistance’: A Normative Approach to the Skywalker Narrative in The Last Jedi

    Abstract
    The motion picture The Last Jedi involves important decisions and actions taken by the protagonist of the original Star Wars trilogy, Luke Skywalker. It will be argued that Luke’s narrative in The Last Jedi can be explored through analysing new natural law thought. In particular it draws on Robert P. George’s discussion of the good (human flourishing) to consider whether the opposition provided by Luke Skywalker can been seen as a successful form of opposition to restore public morality.

    The contrast between Skywalker’s morality and the behaviour of the First Order will be established. It will be argued that the Skywalker narrative symbolises public morality against the politics of the First Order. It will be analysed whether Luke’s sacrifice in The Last Jedi can provide legal restraint to a militant invading force. This will further be shown to be helpful to legal philosophy in negotiating the boundaries over natural rights.

    As such, it will be shown that key features of George’s natural law reasoning can be usefully applied to examine Luke’s actions, and this will shed light upon concepts such as liberty, sacrifice and fear. Legal idealism in the form of natural law will provide further insight into the jurisprudence that pervades Luke’s narrative arch to demonstrate the film’s wider relevance.

    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11196-019-09640-5

  202. Effijy
    Ignored
    says:

    I have just read the announcement from the Orange Order
    That they will have a Virtual Orange Walk due to the usual
    Event being cancelled under lockdown rules.

    You can go on line to Zoomer where the access code is 1690.
    ( Don’t tell the Catholics)
    The event has many features for the participants to enjoy making it as
    Realistic as possible.

    There’s pish in the Corner

    Knock the living daylights out of the big bass drum at your choice of Chaple.

    Start a fight with anyone looking to cross the road.

    and the latest feature lets buckfast enriched virtual spit be directed at your
    Own selection of Pontiffs dating back to Pope Pius.

    We are the virtual people!

    Terms and Conditions
    Participants must have a mental age of no more than 10 and have no past
    Experiences with Christianity or the interior of churches.
    This software remains the property of Grand Lodge Auto Theft Ltd.

  203. MaggieC
    Ignored
    says:

    Caledonia @ 9.08 pm
    Elmac , A Person , Liz g

    That https://mobile.twitter.com/WingScotParty has now gone from twitter , it now says it no longer exists .

  204. David
    Ignored
    says:

    Boris and EU officials had a video conference today to underline the fact the Transition period will definitely end 31st December 2020

    Not a single word from Nicola Sturgeon on the matter

    Because she knows that if she is going to get into a barny about Brexit, then she will get drawn into an independence debate.

    Something she wants to totally avoid.

    In Sturgeon’s eyes, fighting for Scottish Independence was soooooooo 18th Sept 2014.

    GRA is the new “now”

  205. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    @Ottomanboi

    And also for the others who see whats going on – dont be too disheartened. The Scottish electorate arent the best gauge of public awareness – if its not WM they’re blind. Others are much more awake and we have friends in very high places who know the score. Things are going as expected. This was prepared for. 5:5

  206. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Sorry for being pushy but I’d forgotten about viewing the law through the lens of semiotics.

    Full text.

    International Journal for the Semiotics of Law – Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique volume 33, pages 451–476(2020)

    ‘Making Our Country Great Again’: The Politics of Subjectivity in an Age of National-Populism

    Abstract
    How could we understand the emotive power of national-populist discourses, indeed the calls to ‘make our country great again’? This paper directly tackles the recent Brexit discourse, within the broader context of rising national-populist sentiments.

    I offer a novel way of reading national-populism and the politics of subjectivity as I put forth a Lacanian-psychoanalytical framework, namely the void at the heart of national-populism narratives and thus their ability to produce and hail national-populist subjectivities, particularly through ‘fantasy’, ‘jouissance’ and the promise to recapture loss.

    I suggest that national-populism discourses appeal emotively and thus interpellate, at least partially, their subjects by offering unity and a ‘fullness to come’, the promise of filling the void, the promise of full jouissance. Since such national closure and unity are unattainable national-populism discourses must appeal to lost golden eras of greatness and by rendering the Other the cause of their failure.

    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11196-020-09717-6

  207. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    Vaccines. So whats in it for gates? A 20 to 1 return on investment. From his own mouth.

    youtube.com/watch?v=6cfcaK8gBaA

  208. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    I haven’t exactly forgotten about viewing the law through the lens of semiotics, it’s just I’m very, very, rusty. Know-how is easily forgotten if it isn’t regularly put into practice, and it’s a very long time since I analysed law to ensure its’ bio-neurologically sensitivity.

    International Journal for the Semiotics of Law – Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique volume 24, pages405–422(2011)

    The Hard Sell: Promoting Human Rights

    Abstract
    The Human Rights Act 1998 is one of the most important constitutional reforms to have been implemented by the New Labour administration in Britain. In addition to incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights into domestic law, its main ambition is the creation of a human rights culture. However, while citizens appear to have very little understanding of what the legislation entails, there is a strong tide of negative media publicity which depicts the Human Rights Act as a ‘villains’ charter’.

    It has been suggested that the government should do more to promote human rights. This paper reflects on how this may be achieved. An important strategy for creating a positive public awareness of human rights involves eradicating myths which have been allowed to flourish in sections of the British press.

    However, drawing on the work of Roland Barthes, this paper argues that this may be an unattainable goal. Human rights are empty signifiers which invite mythical appropriation. Both proponents and detractors of human rights legislation mobilise this capacity for mythmaking in their rhetoric.

    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11196-010-9186-5

  209. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    sorry….bio-neurological sensitivity.

    International Journal for the Semiotics of Law – Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique volume 26, pages275–314(2013)

    A Biosemiotic Body of Law: The Neurobiology of Justice
    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11196-012-9292-7

  210. Liz g
    Ignored
    says:

    Maggie C @ 12.02
    Thanks Maggie C….just another idiot wanting to identify as something they’re not,off to shit stir somewhere else now!

  211. Breeks
    Ignored
    says:

    Fightin’ talk from Joanna.

    https://twitter.com/joannaccherry/status/1272220455974428675

    I like Joanna Cherry a lot, but there is so little time, and we need her fighting to defend Scotland’s sovereign constitution, not getting bogged down battling domestically with these shit stirring Wokist arseholes.

    Joanna seems to be the one live wire in a fuse box full of duds, and the duds seem rather jealous and agitated.

    Please Joanna, please, please, please lob a timely Constitutional hand grenade into this Brexit debacle, and earn for Scotland some breathing space and safety from disaster, and some sadly lacking Constitutional respect for our Nation.

    If the SNP would stop you or stifle your actions, then maybe you must step outside the SNP, because a constitutional challenge rooted in Scots Law and Scotland’s sovereign Constitution is just too important a thing to be left undone.

    Save us Joanna. I think you are one of the very few who can.

  212. Dave
    Ignored
    says:

    When Yoons tell us Scotland is feeble they get away with it because they control most of the public narrative. They are able to pump their spiel directly into every home in the land UNOPPOSED. At least half of Scotland votes and makes decisions in blind ignorance many with self imposed delusions.
    Thats what the cause for Independence is up against thats whats holding us back not a Government reluctance to call for another referendum. After everything thats happens after everything that is ongoing we still sit on a vote nobody can call for certainty. Its beyond belief. I keep asking the question how bad does it have to get before people see whats right in front of their face and I keep comming back to the same answer you can fool some of the people ALL OF THE TIME.

  213. Scot Finlayson
    Ignored
    says:

    Latest count of confirmed #COVID19 cases worldwide at 0000 GMT, June 16
    World: 8,005,294
    U.S.: 2,111,622
    Brazil: 888,271
    Russia: 536,484
    Indi: 332,424
    Britain: 298,315
    Spain: 244,109
    Italy: 237,290
    Peru: 229,736
    France: 194,305
    Iran: 189,876
    (Data: Johns Hopkins University)

  214. Ian Brotherhood
    Ignored
    says:

    The ‘Friends of Wings’ twitter account now has over 3,000 followers.

    😉

    https://twitter.com/FOWingsScot

  215. Ottomanboi
    Ignored
    says:

    CameronB
    I do not believe in the fanciful left right dichotomy.
    I believe in Scottish nationalism per se.
    I believe that Scots may well have to fight and perhaps even die for their right to independence. World history generally lends support that view.
    I believe in the right of minority peoples to have the cultural space to flourish, in that I include my own Syriac heritage.
    I believe anglo-american capitalism and its spawn globalism, so called international organizations and mega rich personalities should not assume to lord it over sovereign states and sovereign peoples.
    I believe law is made for man, not man for the law.
    I do not however believe the fancies of the the gender rainbow cultists or their mates the Mao clones airbrushing history.
    The social engineering and authoritarian political chicanery under cover of Covid-19 I also deplore.
    If that is what you term rightwing then I do not, to be ultra polite, give a fig.
    As to Spiked, I pick and choose discarding what might stick in the craw.
    Modern politics is rather like that, is it not?

  216. Ottomanboi
    Ignored
    says:

    How’s big pharma doin, guys?
    Makin mega bucks….and that before Covid-19
    https://popcenter.jhu.edu/2018/02/12/big-pharma-is-thriving-off-the-flu-business-is-booming-as-thousands-americans-die-each-week-from-this-years-historic-pandemic/
    Follow link to read.
    Must be in mega orgasm mode now!

  217. Famous15
    Ignored
    says:

    Re Joanna Cherry commenting on the “silly little boys and girls who call me bigot etc ” somone asked where they were in 2014? Well I remember them at rallies giggling like ninnies and all having “fun”. They had no real interest in independence. It was all a game to them and I was itching to call them out but we were all so desperate not to offend. See where that got us.

    These are the woke in the party now older and perhaps getting bitter. They target Ms Cherry,Ms McAlpine and even that nice lady who led the Labour Party in Scotland before K Dugdale.

    Every party has its entryists but if ignored they destroy the party. Plenty of examples.

    No longer being a member of the SNP I reflect on memories at branch level of things seen and heard that now I know more with hindsight I should have opposed strongly. But I did not wish to offend.

    Please learn from my mistakes.

    Offend!

  218. defo
    Ignored
    says:

    Effigy
    V good
    GLTA!

  219. Ian Brotherhood
    Ignored
    says:

    It seems that Joanna Cherry’s response to the backlash against JK Rowling has really really really upset the wokesters.

    Yon Cameron Archibald (aka ‘The Stirling Wolf’) has had a bit of a Twitter meltdown, crying about how his dreams have been dashed, the party he loves (the SNP) is lost to him, he wants to curl up in a ball, yada yada yada… it’d bring a tear to a glass eye so it would.

    His tale of woe has sparked an torrent of support. Well, about a dozen RTs and a handful of replies, one of which is this wee gem:

    Ely K
    @ElyWKearney
    Jun 15
    Replying to
    @TheStirlingWolf
    It’s tough now, but it’s just a matter of time and a matter of using our internal majority better. Many of the issues we’re facing right now are because the other side were better able to organise on the conduct and appeals committee, and bad faith propagandising from outside.

    Brilliant deep-cover strategizing there.

  220. Bob Mack
    Ignored
    says:

    @Ian Brotherhood,

    The most striking thing about that tweet was the phrase:

    “Using our internal majority better”.

    That shows what is happening within the SNP.

  221. Famous15
    Ignored
    says:

    The Stirling Wolf perhaps felt a Speare to his heart?

  222. Breeks
    Ignored
    says:

    https://isp.scot/

    ISP website is up.

    It isn’t the Route 1 Constitutional Motorway that will save us from Brexit which I myself want to see, but that doesn’t mean I don’t support it’s objectives 100%.

    It seems very few of us feartie Scots have got the cahonas for a wee blast down the Route 1 Constitutional Motorway, and for some weird reason need a mealy mouthed devolved assembly in their lives.

    Sometimes the things that shouldn’t be necessary, just are.

    Congrats on the followers Ian Brotherhood. Kinda +1 for me, but I don’t do Twitter so cannot actually follow. But this made me smile…

    https://twitter.com/ScotiaIndyref2/status/1272665906976620545

    Alex Salmond wiping the floor with the opposition, but making them laugh about it.

    Haste ye back Alex. You are desperately needed.

  223. Scot Finlayson
    Ignored
    says:

    `Beijing says COVID-19 situation is ‘extremely severe’ as new cluster emerges`

  224. Ian Brotherhood
    Ignored
    says:

    @Bob Mack, Famous15 –

    Perhaps they feel that they needn’t bother even attempting to conceal what they’re up to as they’re already conversing in a kind of code which few understand.

    Either that or they realise that no-one really cares enough to read their conversations.

    In any case, the wailing and gnashing of beard-ends suggests that they know the ba’s on the proverbials.

  225. Breeks
    Ignored
    says:

    As a matter of interest, what actually is an “internal majority”?

    Is it what normal people call a cabal?

  226. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    “Scot Finlayson says:
    16 June, 2020 at 9:37 am
    `Beijing says COVID-19 situation is ‘extremely severe’ as new cluster emerges`”

    Scot.

    If the Beijing flare up is a marker to go by, then we can expect a rise in Covid-19 cases in England. Of course with police Scotland refusing to police our border with England, of which thousands of cars are crossing into Scotland everyday, we can expect a sharp rise also in Covid-19 cases in the near future, regardless of Sturgeons cautious approach on the matter of when to ease the lockdown even further.

    This is what happens when you allow another country to control your borders. This in itself makes the case for independence.

  227. Willie
    Ignored
    says:

    Yes Breeks I couldn’t endorse more your sentiment haste ye back Alex Salmond.

    Just look at the difference between Alex Salmond’s government and that of Nicola Sturgeons’. The focus, the policies, the vigour, the vision, they could not be more different.

    Even looking at things like the resumption of schools one sees chaos. With the SG having been working on schooling for the last four months the FM has now emerged to say that one or two days face to face teaching a week at school is not enough and that local authorities have to develop local plans to deliver this.

    That of course is correct. The SG can give strategic guidance and policy but it is the local authorities who have the knowledge of their schools estate, the complexion of it, the pupil ratios, the ancillary facilities in an area. They are the body equipped to deliver the detail, are the body equipped with directors and heads of education, estate departments, social work departments, and all of the other resources that sit under their delivery control.

    So why then are we at this late stage only now telling the local authorities to get on with it. That is what they are paid to do. Quite where the 30% classroom size and one day teaching came from I don’t know but it wouldn’t be too difficult to guess.

    Whether or not the Education Secretary was been sucked into it as a central core decision is difficult to say. Blended learning as a buzz word sounds all right until you realise what it means. A disaster in the wings – educationally, socially, and economically.

    By comparison, maximising school time whilst facilitating social distancing through increasing the school estate capacity seems very much the way to go.

    Time therefore for the local authorities to rise to the challenge with the SG’s strategic support. Sturgeon is right on this one. Maximise school time!

  228. Allium
    Ignored
    says:

    The ‘internal majority’ stuff seems odd and paranoid. This isn’t healthy political debate.

  229. David
    Ignored
    says:

    Breeks

    If Alex Salmond did come back into mainstream Politics again he would get bombarded with questions regarding his recent Court case.

    Can you imagine pricks like Sky’s James Mathews asking Alex anything about Scottish Independence?

    It would be endless questions about the case and the women at the centre of it.

    The BBC would also slaughter him.

    Then you have the print media to deal with.

    Every newspaper would run with a big picture of Alex with headlines about the court case.

    Potential Yes voters would see this as soon as they entered any supermarket.

    We know from indyRef1 how down and dirty the Unionist media can get

    And Alex Salmond returning to lead the Yes Movement would be a God send for them

    They would rip him to shreds

    Alex Salmond’s future will probably be as a background advisor.

    Hopefully for Joanna Cherry.

  230. Stuart MacKay
    Ignored
    says:

    BarrheadBoy has a post on the ISP, https://www.barrheadboy.com/3420-2/

    There’s a link to an interesting video describing the D’Hondt voting system and how a pro-independence party could be successful.

    The Rev. crunched the numbers before here so I think the “Alliance Party” in the video getting 50% of the list vote is probably a bit optimistic. However it’s great to see somebody putting things into motion.

    Also looking forward to see if the ISP can use the non-MSM outlets to punch above their weight.

  231. susan
    Ignored
    says:

    With the present SNP gov in power I think I’d be afraid of the future. Every woke fancy pandered to, a situation of perpetual guilt over ancestors’ actions etc. I want to be wrong
    , but…

    Now that independence as a concept has been normalized we need more Indy parties to prevent capture.

  232. Breastplate
    Ignored
    says:

    It doesn’t matter how many children are in a class at school, 10, 20 or 30, it doesn’t matter because children don’t do social distancing.
    It is completely ineffective against transmission of any viruses and is only done by our politicians for perception purposes.

  233. David
    Ignored
    says:

    We can’t even let pristine New Zealand enjoy their tag as being “Covid19 Free”.

    “New Zealand ends Covid-free run with two cases from UK”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-asia-53059633

  234. Breeks
    Ignored
    says:

    David says:
    16 June, 2020 at 11:17 am

    Can you imagine pricks like Sky’s James Mathews asking Alex anything about Scottish Independence?

    I hear what you’re saying David, but it just thoroughly rubs me up the wrong way that the likes of the Alphabet Conspirators should succeed in their unlawful conspiracy, even when it fails. It sets a very unhealthy precedent, and teaches our muckraking enemies that we can be subdued by innuendo, lies and smears.

    Their lies and conspiracies must be defeated, and defeated absolutely. Scotland should NOT be a place where conspiracies thrive. We’ve had over 300 years of that shitey malevolence grinding us down, and we should aspire to root it out and make room for something better.

    Apart from anything else, Alex Salmond on his worst day is tenfold the leader Sturgeon is, even at her best. He has earned our loyalty. She has squandered it. What does Sky’s James Mathews have to say about that?

  235. David
    Ignored
    says:

    Breeks

    I also feel your pain, and so will Alex.

    But back in this real Unionist world that we live in, I bet you all the advice Alex will be getting will be to stay away from any jobs relating to leadership of the Yes Movement.

    Alex Salmond’s best chance of bringing down Sturgeon is for an all out personal attack or her credibility and honesty and loyalty as a leader.

    That would open the way for the likes of Joanna Cherry.

  236. CameonB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ottomanboi
    Fair enough, that’s how you see the world. You can wrap it up in anyway you want, but keep punting a right-wing agenda and you expect me to rip the pish out of your bogus logic, every time.

    The Basics of Prosocial Behavior
    https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-prosocial-behavior-2795479

  237. McDuff
    Ignored
    says:

    Scotf and north ch.
    Good stuff although it tends to make my blood boil.
    This is the kind of info the National should be printing and dare I say it the SNP. Fat chance.

  238. CameonB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    sorry….keep punting a right-wing agenda and you can expect me to rip the pish out of your bogus logic, every time.

    Cultivating Conscience: How Good Laws Make Good People
    https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/12_conscience_stout.pdf

  239. cirsium
    Ignored
    says:

    well said breeks (11:58).

  240. David
    Ignored
    says:

    An example of how James Mathews of Sky or the BBC will treat Alex Salmond is to listen into the daily briefings held by Devolutionist Nicola Sturgeon.

    They are STILL asking questions about a Nike meeting that was held months ago.

    They are like a dog with a bone,,,,as soon as they see a Unionist angle to ANY story, they will run with it, I know I am late in wishing you a Happy Birthday, I know it was on Saturday.

    But at least I am thinking of you and sending you good wishes

    Hope you are well,,,,and Yes,,,,,I do still love you exagurate it to suit their Unionist masters

    So can you imagine that shower of rabid Unionists having Alex Salmond in front of them, to ask what they want and more importantly, put that Unionist slant on any answers Alex put forward?

    IMO, it would hold the Yes Movement back, constantly having to explain what Alex actually said.

    We would be chasing our tails

    So Alex as an unseen advisor would be my option.

    His in put would be priceless.

  241. David
    Ignored
    says:

    David

    Lol

    I think somebody’s love song got tied up in my Post

    Haha

  242. The General
    Ignored
    says:

    During these daily briefings by Sturgeon (which are broadcast worldwide), why can’t she add “…but if Scotland was an Independent Nation…

    I have never heard her mention Independence or anything relating to it without being prompted.

  243. The General
    Ignored
    says:

    Unemployment fugures rising.

    Just wait to see what happens once this Furlough Jolly ends in October.

    At the moment the government are paying 80% of wages PLUS their NI and pensions contributions.

    By September the government will cut that back to 70% of wages, but will STOP paying NI and pensions contributions.

    Then in October the government will cut that back again to 60% of wages and no NI or pensions contributions, this will be paid for by the employer.

    After October ALL Furlough Schemes will end.

    There are over NINE MILLION UK employees currently on the Furlough Scheme

    Mass unemployment will follow.

    Throw Brexit into the mix at the end of the year and you have one helluva train crash approaching at the end of the year.

    And the silence on this from the SNP is deafening.

  244. Breeks
    Ignored
    says:

    Completely off topic…

    https://twitter.com/shopvaley_com/status/1272658409670746112

    I want one.

    I’d move to the Outer Hebrides just so I could commute. 🙂

  245. jfngw
    Ignored
    says:

    I hope that England footballer’s tax affairs are in pristine condition, Tories don’t like being forced to change their policy. Their dailies are probably already on the case. They love to turn hero to zero.

  246. dakk
    Ignored
    says:

    @Republicofscotland
    ‘This is what happens when you allow another country to control your borders.’

    Another country which happens to have 10 times the population to boot.

  247. MaggieC
    Ignored
    says:

    An excellent column from Ruth Wishart in yesterday’s National “ Michael Gove tweet proved we can’t set Independence campaign aside “

    http://archive.li/IaeSK

  248. Ian Brotherhood
    Ignored
    says:

    Since the JK Rowling stramash there’s been a noticeable surge in tweets supporting Joanna Cherry, and the equivalent of Alex Salmond’s Greatest Hits appearing in the form of excerpts from his best WM/Holyrood performances.

    Whether he will act as a Dominic Cummings type figure or reclaim a leadership role, it feels like the preparation for a comeback is underway, perhaps in advance of the book’s publication details being released?

  249. callmedave
    Ignored
    says:

    @Breeks

    That’s quite a fun marine machine. Thanks for posting it.

    Also saw that A. Salmond twitter clip up thread…excellent!

    PS:
    Reading the BBC N. Ireland web site news.
    My eye was caught on the ‘Free school meals in England’ story headline a wee black square with ‘false’ written in it.
    There was a little arrow on there too for clicking.

    Opened it up and it explained the the sub title ‘Wales and Scotland also doing it’ that in fact, (as we all know), Wales had made the decision much earlier.

    BBC with a ‘fact false’ finder…Jings! first time I’ve ever seen that?

    Add to which even Scotland did it this morning 30mins before Boris decided to join it too.

  250. Ian Brotherhood
    Ignored
    says:

    If you want a laugh, have a swatch at The Stirling Wolf’s twitter timeline.

    He’s trying to goad critics by saying that all GCs should ‘join Britain First and be done with it’, but no-one’s biting. He’s basically been reduced to speaking to himself. The arse has fallen out of the entryist Woke project and he knows it.

    En garde ye Greens! – The Stirling Wolf could be headed your way soon!

    https://twitter.com/TheStirlingWolf

  251. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Brexit constitutes partisan and illiberal constitutional practice, giving total privilege to positive law, while ignoring natural and socio-economic law. So ensuring a no-deal Brexit in the face of covid-19’s economic and social impacts, must constitute criminal malfeasance in government, IMHO

    The first legal duty of public policy is to DO NO HARM. So Scotland desperately needs proper legal defense from Westminster, otherwise Scotland can forget about ever enjoying the benefits of democracy.

    International Journal for the Semiotics of Law volume 13, pages377–406 (2000)
    The Common Law and the Forms of Reasoning

    Abstract
    The purpose of this article is to examine how various forms of reasoning both can and should be used to decide cases in the common law tradition. I start by separating positive questions about what the law is from normative questions about what the law ought to be.

    Next, I present a Peircean account of three main forms of reasoning – deduction, induction and abduction – and examine how they can be used by judges to decide cases in the common law. Finally, I argue that the three forms of reasoning can be used to answer both kinds of questions, but in different ways. All three forms of reasoning can be used to answer questions of positive law, while questions of normative law present a special case that may require the use of aesthetic judgments of taste in the formation of a legal hypothesis.

    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A%3A1011278713230

  252. callmedave
    Ignored
    says:

    Today’s BBC numbers from colonial web sites: +SUN

    Scotland…….today…….05……Total….2453….BBC
    N. Ireland…..today…….01……Total…..542….BBC
    Wales……….today…….08……Total….1456….BBC
    England……..today……*79……Total..no data..*SUN
    =======================================================
    UK………….today…no data…..Total…*41815..*SUN

    No corona virus updates on Auntie BBC ‘UK’ or BBC ‘England’ web sites. WM Gov update will smooth it all out later on today.

  253. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    “Reading the BBC N. Ireland web site news.
    My eye was caught on the ‘Free school meals in England’ story headline a wee black square with ‘false’ written in it.”

    Callmedave.

    Re you mentioning Northern Ireland, I couldn’t quite stop myself from adding that as well as our own jack booted Neanderthals holding their O/O hatefest virtually this year, NIs equivalent, the jack booted Homo Erectus, are to do the same, however get this, they are to march on treadmills.

    https://www.thenational.scot/news/18517443.orange-order-plans-virtual-parade-boyne-celebrations/

  254. Stuart MacKay
    Ignored
    says:

    From the Stirling Whoopie Cushion (thanks Ian Brotherhood) we have this gem:

    The fact that just one of them is, is enough to demonstrate that allowing Muslims/Black people into traditionally Christian/White spaces makes them unsafe for white people.

    Jeez, he got that precisely backwards. How out of touch can you get.

    When the threat of violence is a daily reality for many, reducing the argument to “it happened once, why should it ever be a problem” demonstrates just how ignorant, selfish and clueless pro-GRA people are.

  255. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    Apparently there’s been a break through on the Covid-19 front.

    “A CHEAP steroid has been hailed as a “major breakthrough” in the fight against Covid-19 after it was found to reduce deaths by up to a third among patients on ventilators.

    The drug, dexamethasone, is readily available in hospitals and should now become “standard of care” in Covid-19 patients on ventilators or oxygen, researchers say.

    They add that this could be done as soon as later on Tuesday, or on Wednesday.

    Advice will be going out to all NHS hospitals within the next 24 hours to act on the results, meaning everyone who could benefit from the steroid could get it.”

    https://www.thenational.scot/news/18520825.breakthrough-cheap-steroid-first-drug-reduce-coronavirus-deaths/

  256. liz
    Ignored
    says:

    @Breeks I know we’ve heard this one before, but I really do believe Joanna Cherry is keeping her power dry.
    She has to get selected first for Edin Central over fake Robertson, then when she gets elected as an MSP, there will be no holding her back.
    I can’t wait

    @IanBrotherhood, the Stirling wokes haven’t got a clue, They’re the ones who’ve tied up all the Exec positions and they are still fighting a losing battle.
    I do wonder why Emma Cuthbertson resigned, so maybe the hierarchy are starting to pay attention to the criticism of their GRA position.

    It is still beyond disgraceful that NS never commented on the level of abuse directed at JKR.
    I totally disagree with JKRs political position but whether we like or agree with her or not, she is a worldwide known successful woman who lives in Edinburgh.
    The fact that the supposedly feminist FM ignored a woman of her reputation is unbelievable

  257. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    “It doesn’t matter that ALL Muslims/Black people are not dangerous.

    The fact that just one of them is, is enough to demonstrate that allowing Muslims/Black people into traditionally Christian/White spaces makes them unsafe for white people.

    This is not bigotry.” – Cameron Archibald

    IMHO, this is peak bigotry and racism in a oner, but so is trans-activism, which seeks to impose a twisted, white, liberalism on to liberal society. Which isn’t exclusively white, ffs. I used to think Cameron was one of the good guys, but now I can see his nuts. 🙂

    International Journal for the Semiotics of Law volume 19, pages 39–68 (2006)
    WHEN A WOMAN NEEDS TO BE SEEN, HEARD AND WRITTEN AS A WOMAN: R4PE, LAW AND AN ARGUMENT AGAINST GENDER NEUTRAL LANGUAGE

    Abstract
    While moves towards gender neutral language may seem to be desirable for reducing sexism and discrimination, this paper argues that at least in the case of r4pe?such gender neutrality is not appropriate.

    A recent Australian appeal is examined to show that despite significant ‘verbal hygiene’, [D. Cameron, Verbal Hygiene (London: Routledge, 1995)] traces of discrimination against women are still linguistically discernable. This suggests that simply changing language will not change attitudes. Rather, for women to be treated well in r4pe cases, their voices and experiences need to be represented appropriately.

    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11196-005-9010-9

  258. Stuart MacKay
    Ignored
    says:

    CameronB Brodie,

    I think he was trying to be contrarian/rhetorical in one go but this just an excellent example of why trying to be pithy and insightful in 140 characters is generally a bad idea.

    selfID -> selfIDiocy

  259. jfngw
    Ignored
    says:

    When the OO have this virtual march will we all be thrown off the internet as we will not be allowed to cross their data highway. No doubt currently developing a virtual spitting app, plus a drum loudness control for passing virtual churches.

  260. Allium
    Ignored
    says:

    @liz 3.49

    I suspect certain parties assumed that when Rowling came out against GRA, we would all fall into line on the opposite side simply because she is a unionist. Sad, but there we are. I hope no-one at the top thought she deserved the abuse. Its still continuing, and spilling out into the timelines of children commenting on Rowling’s new book, which is disturbing.

  261. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Stuart MacKay
    If Cameron Archibald is an example of what is coming out of academia these days, then there is no hope for Scotland. Not if we let the woke-set run things anyway.

    Toward gender equality : the role of public policy : an overview (English)

    Abstract
    Gender equality is not only a matter of social justice but also good economics. It is of foremost importance to women’s well-being and development. Discrimination means losses in productivity and lower welfare of women, their families, and society at large.

    Although the gender gap is narrowing in education, health, and many other areas, women are still less educated then men, work more hours, and are paid less. The reasons why gender disparities persist are complex, having to do with social and institutional norms, relationships within households, and even lack of information about the benefits of educating and employing women.

    Despite the weight of social and cultural factors, public policy can influence women’s status and well-being. Governments have a leading role in widening the opportunities avaiable to women and extending the services that are vitally important to them. This overview, based on a World Bank report, outlines what governments and development agencies can do to work toward greater gender equality – one of the best investments a society can make.

    Public policy can affect investments in health, education, and infrastructure through laws and regulations. It can also affect land ownership, financial services, and access to employment. Not least important, public policies can affect marcoeconomic performance and create a favorable climate for economic development.

    http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/443031468764979471/Toward-gender-equality-the-role-of-public-policy-an-overview

  262. callmedave
    Ignored
    says:

    @Republicofscotland

    Aye! Saw that and a treadmill will do most of the ones I’ve seen some good. I doubt it will be much of an event TBH. 🙂

    Anyhoo!

    An update from HM Gov.

    Higher numbers:

    Scotland…….today…….05……Total….2453….BBC
    N. Ireland…..today…….01……Total…..542….BBC
    Wales……….today…….08……Total….1456….BBC
    England……..today……*79……Total..no data..*SUN
    =======================================================
    UK………….today…^233…..Total….^41969….^WM Gov

    This still stands at the time of writing:

    No corona virus updates on Auntie BBC ‘UK’ or BBC ‘England’ web sites. Again no England only numbers on a public BBC site

  263. jfngw
    Ignored
    says:

    After the tracing of the Nike conference strain of the virus is it not about time we traced the Prince Charles strain and see how many cases emanated from his gallivanting around Scotland with the pox.

  264. Iain More
    Ignored
    says:

    jfngw says:
    16 June, 2020 at 4:34 pm

    “After the tracing of the Nike conference strain of the virus is it not about time we traced the Prince Charles strain and see how many cases emanated from his gallivanting around Scotland with the pox.”

    ——————————————–

    You better order your pine box because it is never going to happen in our lifetimes. I want to know what he got as a cure that the 70,000 odd other Brits didn’t get treated with. That is if he actually had the Tory Pox in the first place.

  265. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    The woke-set probably consider me an out-of-touch reactionary because I’ve been out of practice for over a quarter of a century. The woke-set have a rather strange interpretation of reality though, so what they think of me is of no great concern to me. What they wish to impose on Scots law is of great concern though, as it will hugely undermine the potential for inclusive sustainability and Scotland’s self-determination. Human rights are grounded in a respect for biology and natural law, not subjective emotions.

    I know my shit, the other Cameron, not so much, apparently.

    Full text.

    Politics, Groups, and Identities

    Received 27 Apr 2018
    Accepted 05 Jan 2019
    Published online: 21 Jan 2019

    Sex segregation as policy problem: a gendered policy paradox

    ABSTRACT

    2017 marked the 45th anniversary of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, a sex non-discrimination policy which remade American education and athletics. Has Title IX fulfilled its promise to end discriminatory and disparate treatment of women in educational institutions?

    This article places policy in conversation with scholarly debate over how to best tackle persistent sex and gender inequalities, illustrating that the athletic policy sphere both addresses and reproduces sexist practices. It examines the under-appreciated complexity of sex equity politics and suggests the need to question how well public policy addresses inequalities.

    It argues that we are losing ground in the struggle to end gendered oppression – despite all that it may appear we have gained – because of Title IX’s divergent implementation strategy which integrates women and men in classrooms and segregates them in sports. Rather than vitiating sex discrimination, implementation generated a series of policy ironies, authorizing, rather than challenging the notion that women and men are inherently “different.”

    In order to continue addressing the ways in which gendered oppression asserts itself – in sex discrimination, in discrimination against trans* people, in gendered harassment and #metoo – we must bring a critical perspective to bear on current equity policy practices.

    KEYWORDS:
    Title IX, public policy, athletics, sex discrimination, sex segregation, transgender politics

    https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/B95iwHbZZe8P8g4jPj6a/full?target=10.1080%2F21565503.2019.1568883&

  266. jfngw
    Ignored
    says:

    Get your seat belts on the BBC have a number that is worse in Scotland than the rest of the UK, the excitement at PQ will be palpable tonight. An extra order of toilet paper will no doubt have been ordered to clean up the aftermath.

  267. Mike d
    Ignored
    says:

    Liz 3.49pm ‘the fact that the supposedly feminist FM ignored a woman of her reputation is unbelievable ‘.

    Speaks volumes really ,nuff said. My SNP bumph and raffle tickets went straight in the recycling bin this morning. I’ll keep my membership going for a wee while yet and see how it all pans out.

  268. Breeks
    Ignored
    says:

    CameronB Brodie says:
    16 June, 2020 at 4:22 pm
    Stuart MacKay
    If Cameron Archibald is an example of what is coming out of academia these days, then there is no hope for Scotland. Not if we let the woke-set run things anyway…

    Paradoxically, I disagree to a degree. Students are ‘allowed’ to dick heads, go to demonstrations and be radical. It’s a growing / learning thing which students have doing for years.

    The problem isn’t that there students plotting radical insurrections, I think that’s quite a normal thing to happen…. just look at who and what students have elected as University Rectors down the years… The problem isn’t that the Wokists are the devil incarnate, but that in the SNP, they have managed to get their “campus shenanigans” to register in the actual SNP policy structure, and evidently without any parental control, and we now have student brats being propelled into elevated positions of control.

    While I have no contact with the SNP nor any special insight, I firmly believe the common theme running through the problems and inaction we have at Holyrood comes down to management and leadership, or rather the conspicuous lack of it.

    Add to that, the political dimension that party loyalty demands the party to be loyal, and objective criticism is misconstrued as insurrection or ridiculed as heresy. This is the directionless purgatory we’ve all been living with these past 5-6 years, and hasn’t it been such fun?

    Finally, in Joanna Cherry, there seems to be an adult in the room, but for those of us more concerned about Europe and Brexit than the social cohesion of the SNP, the time available to save Scotland from Brexit is critically short, and we can ill afford any detours to address the hurty feelings or disruption from the Wokists being reeled back down to Earth.

    We need to rewind as if it’s the 24th June 2016, seize command of Scotland’s democratic rejection of Brexit, and create a constitutional backstop which kills either Brexit or the UK Union.

  269. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    As I said, I know my shit, though I am very rusty. Sorry for the length of this post, but I’ve only posted half the abstract.

    Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, Vol. 43, No. 2, 2020
    On the Basis of Identity: Redefining ‘Sex’ in Civil Rights Law and Faulty Accounts of ‘Discrimination’

    Abstract
    In October 2019, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in cases that ask whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans employment discrimination on the basis of sex, among other things, extends to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and transgender status.

    It was an odd legal argument, given that the public meaning of the word “sex” in 1964 – and today, for that matter – refers to our status as male or female rather than our sexual attractions, desires, actions, or identities.

    Because the original public meaning of the word “sex” did not refer to sexual orientation or gender identity, progressive activists have been trying for the past forty years to get Congress to pass laws that would add “sexual orientation” as a protected class, and have been doing the same for “gender identity” for the past dozen years.

    Because their attempts to work through the legislative process failed, activists took their arguments to court. And they failed there, too – at least until April 2017. That marked the first time ever that a federal appellate court ruled that the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

    Before that ruling, “all eleven courts of appeals that had addressed the issue” had ruled that “sex” does not mean “sexual orientation.” And it was not until March 2018 that, for the first time ever, an appellate court ruled that Title VII banned discrimination based on transgender status.

    The lawyers for the employees asked the Supreme Court to affirm the novel – indeed, activist – appellate court rulings. Doing so would in effect redefine the term “sex” in the Civil Rights Act and simultaneously require a simplistic account of “discrimination.” To see how and why it would entail this, it is worth examining the various arguments they put forth.

    The lawyers for the employees and their amici contend that any policy that adverts to sex must discriminate because of sex. Only in this way are they able to give Title VII a scope that for decades no one would have ascribed to it. And in the process, they are forced to rely on confused theories of discrimination and of sex.

    Over and over, the employees and their amici offer crucially flawed analogies, comparators, and analyses that effectively read the words “discrimination,” “disadvantageous,” and “comparable terms” out of the law altogether. This distorted reading leads to implausible and costly results that cut against the balance Congress struck in crafting Title VII. This Article aims to clarify the philosophical issues behind that costly distortion….

    Keywords: Discrimination, civil rights, sex, gender, gender identity, equality, privacy, safety, LGBT

    https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3564150

  270. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Breeks
    I chose my words carefully Breeks. I agree that youth is a time for being passionate and egalitarian in outlook, but the law needs protecting from the ignorance of those punting gender-ideology. And so does the SNP.

  271. twathater
    Ignored
    says:

    In keeping with ALL of Breek’s entreaties to Ms Cherry I dearly hope she reads them Breeks

    GIVE US HOPE JOANNA
    GIVE US HOPE JOANNA
    GIVE US HOPE JOANNA and rip the constitution down

    GIVE US HOPE JOANNA
    GIVE US HOPE JOANNA
    GIVE US HOPE JOANNA and get our independence done

  272. J Galt
    Ignored
    says:

    Mike d @ 5.24pm

    I did the same with SNP envelope, into the bin unopened, and like you I’ll hold my nose and keep my membership going.

    However Pete Wishart’s tweet praising the BBC Salisbury propaganda documentary had the finger hovering over the “Cancel Direct Debit” button!

  273. Beaker
    Ignored
    says:

    There are too many young politicians out there. Of course, there are capable ones, but immaturity has shown itself in more than incident.

    For us of a certain age, think what you were like when a sprightly 22 year old. How many times did you shoot your mouth off before engaging brain?

  274. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    In fact, it’s quite terrifying that someone with CA’s perspective has any input into party concerns or policy formation, frankly.

    Gender Discrimination in Education: The violation of
    rights of women and girls
    Global Campaign for Education
    February 2012

    A report submitted to the
    Committee on the Elimination of
    Discrimination against Women
    (CEDAW)

    http://cme-espana.org/media/publicaciones/4/GCE_INTERIM_Gender_Report.pdf

  275. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    @Breeks

    Id like to respectfully disagree with your opinion on the ‘woke’ students and the danger they pose.

    Its a fair bit worse than you imply. A look across the Western world shows a radicalisation of students coming from the professors and institutions themselves that is taking ordinary school students and making them radical minded, brainwashed and taught to attack the pillars of our civilisation. From trans ideology, radical feminism (not the sensible stuff, the batshit stuff) to the racialists we now see blaming whites for everything. In short an attempt to define, codify and then weaponise an artificially created sense of ‘privilege’ against ordinary people. All this while ignoring the criminal actions of international corporations and banks.

    The SNP are up to their necks in this along with many governments across the world. Its been on the cards for a long, long time. The ‘long march through the institutions’.

    Only a recognition of this will allow people to realise the course that needs to be taken. If we want to have a society that functions where all are equal under the eyes of the law, to have something near free expression and some universal rights then this stuff needs to be totally rejected without mercy or regard for feelings and all who push it called out for what they are. 2 years ago we were saying similar things but the difference is that now we actually see laws coming at us (which are uncannily similar to other countries) that prove the point.

    As for Brexit – id like to say that Brexit probably wouldn’t be happening if it wasn’t for this very ideology which has been responsible for some of the more insane policy choices of the EU that have thrown many Europeans under the Woke multicultural bus. Brexit isn’t just a problem for Scotland, the EU itself will cease to exist before long as ordinary people start to reject insane progressive policies forced on them at their expense and without ever asking their opinion.

    I wish Scots would take the rose tinted glasses off and start to actually see without the dreamy haze of wishful thinking.

  276. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    Oh how the ultra unionist STV news revels is any bad news that might shake the foundations of the independence movement. Tonight it’s unemployment, tomorrow it will be a number of hospitals, the next day it will be job losses in the oil industry. The negative narrative goes on and on and on.

    Meanwhile our FM Nicola Sturgeon meekly surrenders the upper hand to any set of figures published by any think tank that shows Scotland in a poor light.

  277. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Joe
    You don’t appear to have a clue but you do appear to have a rather reactionary outlook. I’m not sure if that is because you are ill-informed and rather confused, or if you are a reactionary character who seeks to intentionally confuse and side-track the debate.

    ” From trans ideology, radical feminism (not the sensible stuff, the batshit stuff) to the racialists we now see blaming whites for everything. In short an attempt to define, codify and then weaponise an artificially created sense of ‘privilege’ against ordinary people. All this while ignoring the criminal actions of international corporations and banks.”

    The Social Construction of Whiteness: Racism by Intent,
    Racism by Consequence

    Abstract
    The discipline of Sociology has generated great contributions
    to scholarship and research about American race relations.
    Much of the theorizing on American race relations in America
    is expressed in binary terms of black and white.

    Historically, the study of American race relations typically problematizes the “othered” status, that is, the non-white status in America’s racial hierarchy. However, the sociology of race relations has historically failed to take into account both sides of the black/white binary paradigm when addressing racial inequality.

    In other words, in the case of race, it becomes difficult to see the forest for the trees. Thus, in Sociology, we find less scholarship about the role “whiteness as the norm” plays in sustaining social privilege beyond that which is accorded marginalized others. In order to examine the historical black/white binary paradigm of race in America, it is important to understand its structuration. This article extends the applicability of sociologies of knowledge (Thomas Theorem, social constructionism) and Gidden’s structuration theory to inform a postmodern analysis of America’s binary racial paradigm.

    Key words:
    race, whiteness, whiteness studies, structuration theory, social constructionism.

    https://www.cwu.edu/diversity/sites/cts.cwu.edu.diversity/files/documents/constructingwhiteness.pdf

  278. Lothianlad
    Ignored
    says:

    I have an idea what it means but can someone respectfully tell what ‘Woke’ is?

  279. Footsoldier
    Ignored
    says:

    I hope Nicola condemns Prince Charles for breaking Scottish lockdown rules again as he is now in the south of England.

    Can Scots now travel without restriction too – clarification please? Hope the press run with this.

  280. The General
    Ignored
    says:

    I think Woke is to do with suddenly being enlightened.

    That you “get it”

    You suddenly had your awakening.

    You woke up to what was actually going on in the world.

    You “Woke” up.

    I think!!!

  281. Confused
    Ignored
    says:

    lothianlad –
    I think “woke” comes from being “woke on the issues” meaning having fashionable opinions.

    To me it looks like a rebranding of “PC – political correctness” culture which first showed up in the 90s, but didn’t really take.

    Before this there was the “right on”-brigade, middle class types preaching “revolutionary socialism and class war”, often satirised e.g. the judean peoples front, citizen smith.

    The change in these types comes from the adoption of “identity politics” in ever increasing fanatical intensity, away from class war. It use to be all about “the workers rising up” while now its about pronouns, getting your dick cut off on the NHS, 100 genders.

    The woke set mostly spend their time denouncing others on social media for the “-isms” which matter. This is called “virtue signalling” and has the character of a new religion, perhaps a form of “new puritanism”, but that’s getting a bit deep.

    – oddly, the most satisfying way to upset a wokist is to point out their (typical) enormous class privilege. They do not like that.

  282. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Lothianlad
    Woke is used as a pejorative against those who support the belief that biology is irrelevant, much like TERF is used against those who ground women’s rights in reality. Although I’ve used woke this way myself, I am strongly influenced by a woke perspective. I just hadn’t seen an opportunity to correct the public’s misunderstanding of what proper woke looks like.

    Put simply, those supporting the GRA reforms are considered woke, and have taken the concept of inclusion too far, to the point of excluding biological women from the public sphere. If they were properly woke though, they would be putting the concerns of biological women before those of a minority, and primarily male, concern.

    Woke Pedagogy: A Framework for Teaching and Learning

    The sociopolitical context of schooling demands that teachers acknowledge the ways their students’ and their own experiences are shaped by the intersections of racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism, and other discriminatory factors. This is especially true during times of heightened civil unrest resulting from pervasive and persistent injustice experienced by minoritized populations.

    To engage students in pedagogy that connects with their lived experiences and that equips them to critically examine inequities, teachers must refute colorblind pedagogy in favor of woke pedagogy. Woke pedagogy, like critical multicultural education, is defined by teaching practices that integrate critiques of contemporary justice-related issues with academic content in a learning environment that encourages introspection, interrogation, and insurgence.

    This theoretical framework for woke pedagogy outlines a wide range of knowledge, skills, and dispositions that equip teachers to promote critical thinking about complex issues – in other words, to be woke pedagogues. Grounded in Black feminist ideology, woke pedagogy distinguishes itself from critical multicultural education in important ways: 1) both teachers and students view their lived experiences as sources of knowledge and tools for knowledge creation, 2) teachers and students analyze injustice from an intersectional perspective, and 3) teachers exhibit activist care.

    This conceptual treatise includes suggestions for empirical research studies that will yield results that are crucial to the effective practice of woke pedagogy, a 21st century approach to critical multicultural education.

    KEYWORDS:
    woke pedagogy, critical multiculturalism, social justice, intersectional analysis

    https://scholarworks.uttyler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=dsjel

  283. dakk
    Ignored
    says:

    @ lothianlad

    What Woke is?

    Not that sure, but think it is people who recognise the rights of those with intersex disorders(possibly possessing the opposite external genitalia to which their chromosomes ‘may’ suggest they should have) to choose their gender.

    Or sumhin’ like that.

  284. Dan
    Ignored
    says:

    Pondering Regional List Party stuff.

    North East Scotland:
    SNP have 8 out of 10 Constituency Seats, the other 2 are Ex SNP Mark MacDonald who’s now an Independent, and Alexander Burnett – Conservative.
    All 7 Regional List seats for that area are held by Unionist Parties.

    137k SNP Regional List votes got zero SNP seats.

    ======

    Mid Scotland & Fife:
    SNP have 8 out 9 Constituency Seats, the other 1 is Willie Rennie – Lib Dem
    6 of the 7 Regional List seats for that area are held by Unionist Parties with the remaining 1 being Mark Ruskell – Greens.

    120k SNP Regional List votes got zero SNP seats.

    Couple of links with info if folk want to check things out themselves.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Scottish_Parliament_election

    https://www.parliament.scot/mspfinder/index.html?region

  285. Ian Brotherhood
    Ignored
    says:

    @CamB –

    Your knee-jerk rejection of everything Joe posts here is very telling, as is the fact that you seem almost entirely unable to remark on anything without what you perceive to be ‘academic’ back-up.

    Joe can speak for himself but I just want to take the opportunity to remind you, yet again, that this is a public forum. It’s not your playground and you don’t get to decide who posts their opinions here. On this thread alone you’ve probably posted approx 15-17% of all comments. Do you think that’s reasonable use of this space? I’m not the only one who feels that it isn’t and we’ll keep reminding you, even though we know, through long and weary experience, that it’ll make no difference.

  286. callmedave
    Ignored
    says:

    @Republicofscotland

    Indeed unemployment front and centre and the presenter she was giving it laldy!

    But the figures for darn Sarf are not in yet!

    Douglas Fraser ‘bless’ twice warned caution on the figures , and not to take them at face value….and backed up by the man from the renowned Fraser of Allander Institute who said the same . too early to tell he said … 🙂

    But if you have an angle STV, just go for it why dont you.
    They even gave the 600,000 figure of people in the UK who had
    ‘lost employment’ in the last 3-months against the Scottish figure of 300,000.
    That’s tiny when you compare them.

    Of course unemployment would go up but that Scottish 4.3% STV boomerang is almost sure to come back and bonk them on the skull when the actual figures are duly processed. 🙂

    Then off they go onto two more SGov bad stories. 🙁

    Another day in Scotland though.

  287. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ian Brotherhood
    I’m pretty sure Joe is not a supporter of our cause. So unless you can prove otherwise, I suggest you wind your neck.

  288. Papko
    Ignored
    says:

    @Dan
    137k SNP Regional List votes got zero SNP seats.

    Would it be better if the dhondt system gave SNP supporters two votes that counted, instead of the one every one else gets?

    I am no psephologist but the idea of the system is that representatives elected reflect % of the vote garnered.

  289. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ian Brotherhood
    It might be an idea for you to waken the fuck up and stop being played like a cheap trick.

    AWAKE to WOKE to WORK:
    Building a Race Equity Culture

    https://www.equityinthecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Equity-in-Center-Awake-Woke-Work-2019-final-1.pdf

  290. Papko
    Ignored
    says:

    @Cameron

    “I suggest you wind your neck.”

    This above all is a site where Scottish politics is discussed, and there is no prerequisite to adhere to any cause.
    It so happens that this site is varied and exciting, with tendency towards Scottish Independence at any legal cost (but not exclusively as there are SNP voters here as well).

  291. Ian Brotherhood
    Ignored
    says:

    @CamB –

    Again with the playground stuff…

    Since when was this forum closed to anyone who isn’t a supporter of ‘our’ cause?

    If it’s an actual echo-chamber you want, there are other pro-indy sites which may fit the bill.

    😉

  292. callmedave
    Ignored
    says:

    FGS! Scottish jobs lost 30,000 not 300,000.

    Sorry folks.

    Never try and do another thing when typing on the computer.
    🙁 🙁

  293. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    an Brotherhood
    I thought our cause was democratic justice we were interested in. Am I wrong?

  294. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    sorry….Ian

  295. Dan
    Ignored
    says:

    @Papko

    Of course not. But the system is what the system is.
    Unless there’s a shift in SNP policy I can’t see me campaigning for them again, but I would consider campaigning and voting for a Regional List Party that better represented my views.
    How many of those Regional List votes the SNP get are actually from people that fully endorse every policy the SNP support, and how many of those votes are just means to an end (of the union)?
    I have my reservations with Party politics and their whips effectively controlling the elected representative for a specific area, to the point the whip could be forcing a Representative to vote against the very wishes of their own electorate.

    I agree a proportional representative system would be the ideal in Scotland, if we were Independent, but we’re not so every election is just a complete fuckin’ fudge for the foreseeable until our Constitutional status is resolved.

    Council Elections in Scotland use Single Transferable Vote, Council Elections in England use FPTP, like Westminster UK Parliament General Election. Why the discrepancy if we are “One Nation”?

  296. dakk
    Ignored
    says:

    Cameron b
    ‘to the point of excluding biological women’

    Without chromosome testing, you or I could be biological women with external male genetalia.

  297. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    I’m not simply stroking my ego, I’m doing my best to defend democracy and the rule of law from right-wing white supremacists. I have a set of skills that enable me to do that, and I’m trying to share them with the readers. So I’m sorry if I appear hostile to some, but I view the world in ways that most folk are probably not trained in.

    DETOUR?SPOTTING
    for white anti?racists

    For white people living in North America learning to be anti-racist is a re-education process. We must unlearn our thorough racist conditioning to re-educate and re-condition ourselves as antiracists.

    There is scant social or political encouragement for this journey of re-education. We are constantly tempted to detour off course by the racist propaganda of society and our own guilt and denial. In the face of society’s and our own resistance, sustaining the will to continue this journey takes bold and stubborn effort.

    This journey sends us into unfamiliar territory. No white person has ever lived in a non?racist North America. We were never taught the skills of anti-racist living. Indeed, we were carefully taught the opposite: how to maintain our white privilege. Racism, the system of oppression (of people of color) and advantage (for white people) depends on the collusion and cooperation of white people for its perpetuation….

  298. Scot Finlayson
    Ignored
    says:

    I think `woke` was originally from black civil rights in America,

    to stay awake to racism or to become awakened to racism, which turned into `stay woke` or `are you woke yet`,

    privileged white liberals joined the civil rights movement (fuck@d it up and then fuck@d of)and decided they were also now `woke`,

    now the meaning has changed to mean a privileged white liberal that appropriates causes so he/she can feel better about their privileged lives,

    it is all about them feeling better not about making the cause better,

    thay are called the `Woke`.

    Stirling University is infested by them.

  299. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    dakk
    Possibly, but I’ve lived quite happily considering myself male. Do you refute the biological differences between the sexes, or that that they play a significant role in determining the potential for biological women to access health, education, and justice?

    International Journal for the Semiotics of Law volume 13, pages279–303(2000)
    Mr Hobbes Goes to Australia: Law, Politics and Difference

    Abstract
    Using current conservative discourses about the nation state in Australia as an example,the paper notices how the image of the (male-sexed) body is used to enhance the authority of the same (white “neutral” agents of largely foreign capital)against the claims of difference (non-white refugees, women, Aboriginal people).

    The paper notices that far from protecting minority and difference, as liberalism leads one to expect, the law uses the same body image of itself to repeat the oppression. Legal education inscribes the masculinity of the phallus in the bodies and minds of its students. Other masculinity, the female, the“native” are identified by the law rather than self-identified in the law after negotiation with the law.

    https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A%3A1008956928798

  300. Robert graham
    Ignored
    says:

    Survey from Mr Murrell

    Opinion being asked about attending a online conference , I guess this is to replace the national conference anyway last question ,

    Anything we could do to assist you during your attendance ?

    Answer yes INVITE ALEX

    Eh I wonder if I will still get my invitation ? .

  301. dakk
    Ignored
    says:

    Cameron b

    ‘Do you refute the biological differences between the sexes, or that that they play a significant role in determining the potential for biological women to access health, education, and justice?’

    No Cameron I don’t refute that, but then I’m not woke,(gouching more like).

    I’ve just been asking around a few questions of young people around me, scientists and medics, and that’s the kind of drift I get from them.

    Don’t like asking my daughter too much about it as she’s beginning to think I’ve been living a lie and am closeted 🙂

  302. dakk
    Ignored
    says:

    I blamed my sudden interest in gender on Wings, but she wasn’t having it.

    Think I’ll just drop it, and go back to gouching.

  303. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    dakk
    It’s a funny old world. 🙂

    Whose womanhood? Feminist postcolonial approaches to law

    How do these glimpses into current European politics relate to feminist postcolonial approaches to law?
    Postcolonial feminisms critically engage with the consequences of colonialism up to the present day and make visible the deeply embedded patriarchal, racialized exclusionary structures of living together in a globalized capitalist world and its societies.

    As its editors Susan Harris Rimmer and Kate Ogg highlight in the interview this blog symposium is based on, the Research Handbook on Feminist Engagement with International Law examines how international law can be used against, but also has been utilized in the creation and perpetuation of – often intersecting (see here and here) – marginalizations on the basis of sex, sexual identity and gender, nationality, class, caste, religion and race (etc., see here)….

    https://voelkerrechtsblog.org/whose-womanhood-feminist-postcolonial-approaches-to-law/

  304. jfngw
    Ignored
    says:

    @Joe

    Yes, time to get back to conservatism, I’m really missing ‘Love Thy Neighbour’, ‘Mind Your Language and ‘It ain’t half hot mum’. Real British values when actors could black up without worrying about the consequences.

  305. David
    Ignored
    says:

    CamB

    Im not counting and it is not for me to say, But,,, you have posted over 50 times on this page alone.

    That has to be some kind of record.

    Especially when nobody even reads what you post.

    Well 99% of us don’t read what you post.

    I posted something last week and because my name is not known, I got hit with the usual shit,,,ya Yoon, ya Troll, you’re a member of the 77th, etc, etc etc…

    There is some old saying about always keeping your enemy in sight,,,I thought that would have meant, let them post away on here, at least you know where they are and what they are thinking

    Does it not Cameron???

  306. Ian Brotherhood
    Ignored
    says:

    Received this earlier today from a well-connected indy activist who doesn’t want to be named.

    Can anyone guess who we were discussing?

    Tbf she’s always been careful to be able to justify her position to both sides by making all the right noises in both directions (ie “commitment to ensuring women’s rights” and “advancing protections for minorities”), the reason for the animosity towards her is that she’s allowed her Gov to steamroll through without addressing the concerns raised.

    She’s used Somerville as an attack dog and never supported Joan McAlpines efforts to shed light on the questions surrounding the proposals.

    That’s what’s given the woke, in the party and without, the signal that ‘they’re right and we’re wrong’ and look how aggressive and authoritarian they’ve become over the last few years because of that!

    She’s indecisive and overly cautious by nature, and that’s what makes her a bad leader.

  307. Brian Doonthetoon
    Ignored
    says:

    Hi jfngw.

    Don’t forget this…
    (From Wikipedia)
    “Set on a factory floor of ‘Lillicrap Ltd’, it starred a blacked up Spike Milligan as an Irishman of Pakistani heritage named Kevin O’Grady, who also featured in episode 7 of the fifth series of Speight’s Till Death Us Do Part.”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlB3qEm1gOs

  308. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    @Jfngw

    It quite a luxury you give yourself – to respond to someones comment by mentioning nothing that they actually said while attempting light mockery.

    If we are going to just make up what the other person said as material for our answer then let me respond in kind:

    No, I don’t think you marrying your sister is the right thing to do, you perv!

    See? We can all do it. Your just slightly more subtle. Slightly

  309. Ian Brotherhood
    Ignored
    says:

    @CamB –

    It’s just a marker, but 58 of the 311 comments on this thread?

    That’s okay?

    Seriously?

  310. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    As for ‘blacking up’:

    If in this world you are concerned with white people putting on black stuff and pretending to be black as a symbol of racism then you best get to bed by 8, and don’t forget to take your favorite teddy bear with you.

    We can talk about the real world when you grow up.

  311. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ian Brotherhood
    Have you taken the opportunity to educate yourself, or are you simply here to support those spouting pish?

  312. Ron Maclean
    Ignored
    says:

    ‘The fact is here we are in the summer of 2019, five years on from the 2014 referendum – tonight will be the first time that I have delivered a speech on independence in five years. The SNP’s not campaigned for independence for five years, the Yes movement has to some extent been on the sidelines.’
    Ian Blackford in an interview with Greg Russell – ‘The National’ – 8 June 2019

    Ian Blackford might have been the SNP’s leader in Westminster but he didn’t make that policy by himself. How many speeches on independence has he made since? How many has Nicola Sturgeon made? Are they too busy keeping us in the European Union, making secret plans, stockpiling dry powder or just plain lotus eating?

    Losing lives, losing jobs, losing the EU and losing hope but one year on nothing has changed. The inaction continues and so does the Union..

  313. jfngw
    Ignored
    says:

    @Joe

    I said, now watch what you say or they’ll be calling you a radical
    A liberal, oh, fanatical, criminal
    Won’t you sign up your name, we’d like to feel you’re acceptable
    Respectable, oh, presentable, a vegetable.

    Just logical

  314. Ian Brotherhood
    Ignored
    says:

    @CamB –

    And that makes 59.

    (At least I can count, eh?)

    😉

  315. dakk
    Ignored
    says:

    https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/2020/0616/1147817-coronavirus-beijing/

    The new outbreak of Covid in Beijing has led to full school closures.

    This thing has a way to run.

    Rightly or wrongly.

  316. jfngw
    Ignored
    says:

    @Joe

    No need to black up, here’s some excellent ‘British’ entertainment for you.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux7vrKe4bQw

  317. David
    Ignored
    says:

    Dakk

    As posted above, the Furlough Scheme ends at the end of October, so any new Covid19 outbreak in the winter won’t be backed up by 80% of your wages being paid by the government.

    We really will be up shit Creek

  318. bipod
    Ignored
    says:

    I saw that nicola sturgeon wants the furlough scheme extended for over 2 years!. Thats insane the furlough and all the other measures are bankrupting this country. I am glad she is not running an independent country. She wants it extended for that long while we wait for a “scientific solution” to the virus, which is an admission that she plans on keeping this unscientific lockdown, and the social distancing farce (which virtually nobody obeys any longer) going on until the virus stops existing which is never going to happen.

    It also assumes that the lockdown controlled the virus in the first place, which is highly debatable. Other countries like Sweden, Japan, and countries in the third world, which had no or very light lockdowns, have performed comparably or much better than the UK without the lockdown. Lockdowns don’t work. The second wave, which nicola sturgeon constantly scare mongers about, hasn’t materialized in any of the countries that have released their lockdowns yet, how long do we need to wait for it until we can say niocla sturgeon is wrong? Covid 19 is not the flu, nobody has any idea if it comes in seasons. The second wave is a myth.

    And furlough isn’t saving the economy it is a very expensive suspended unemployment. There are people out there who actually think that they can sit around for 8 months collecting furlough and then when it ends in october they will just be able to walk back into their normal jobs after the biggest recession in living memory with no problems.

  319. Ron Maclean
    Ignored
    says:

    @ Ian Brotherhood 8:37

    Nicola Sturgeon – Saviour of the Union. Far into the future her last act as First Minister will be unveiling her statue in Trafalgar Square. By that time there won’t be enough of us left to pull it down

  320. David
    Ignored
    says:

    BBC 4 running a programme just now on the history of “British” Docks.

    What the betting on them not even making it past Hadrian’s Wall.

    Are per with everything with British in the title

  321. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ian Brotherhood
    Have you got a relevant set of professional skills that you’ve been eager to share? I’ve done my best not to disappear up-myself, but I’d appreciate it if you were not to disrespect the effort I’ve made to inform the debate.

  322. David
    Ignored
    says:

    Glasgow,,,, second City if the Empire, my arse.

    It had the biggest slums in Europe

  323. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    @jfngw

    I don’t care what someone did as a comedy routine in the 70’s. Neither should anyone who wants to consider themselves anything like rational.

    Im a bit more concerned with what Scotland might look like in 2 years. I’ll leave you to getting upset about what some prat did in the 70’s you fucking imbecile.

  324. David
    Ignored
    says:

    And then the trick the English Establishment played was to introduce sectarianism to Glasgow

    Get the Catholics fighting the Protestants.

    It will take the spotlight off the real problems of poor housing, poor education, poor wages, poor nutrition

    And it is still going on today

    How fuckin thick are we???

    Meanwhile, the South East of Engerland gets richer by the day

    Covid19 is going to be a great leveller,if nothing else.

  325. Pete
    Ignored
    says:

    Bipod
    On a practical note regarding the furlough scheme, my daughter is hoping to restart her business after Nicola’s big announcement on Thursday but, already, quite a few of her staff are bringing up problems about why they’re not happy – will I be safe? – problems with childcare? – are we compliant with h&s ? In truth, they’re all just having such a great time on 80% pay, reduced tax and NI, zero travelling expenses and nothing much to spend money on.
    We’ve created a monster which will be difficult to eradicate.
    The sooner Sunak ends furlough the better.

  326. Ian Brotherhood
    Ignored
    says:

    @CamB –

    No, come to think of it, I don’t believe I do have a ‘relevant set of professional skills’ to share but I’m quite happy to leave it for others to decide where the disrespect is evident in this thread.

    (PS That’s 60, of 326)

    😉

  327. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ian Brotherhood
    Yes, let’s leave it to the readers to decide who’s impute is worthy of criticism or praise.

    Detour-Spotting – cultural bridges to justice
    https://culturalbridgestojustice.org/detour-spotting/

  328. Colin Alexander
    Ignored
    says:

    Ian Brotherhood
    CameronB Brodie

    What you’re supposed to do next is say 58/311 x100 = 19% to the nearest % of all comments are Cameron’s if you want to show off that you got an O’Grade in Maths.

    Well done Cam. I think you’ve taken my Wings’ most prolific btl poster title from me. But don’t overdo it. This is the phoney war stage where the SNP and indy movement have nothing but empty rhetoric just now, so I wouldnae try too hard to educate others.

    Of course, other people are welcome to write loads of comments too or scroll by.

  329. Colin Alexander
    Ignored
    says:

    Anyone for Ratios next? Or Mean, median, mode? That’s education too.

  330. jfngw
    Ignored
    says:

    @Joe

    I thought it was you that was clutching onto the certainties of the past before the radicals came and changed things to your dislike.

    P.S. Mind Your language!

  331. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    I’m scared for my future and I’m trying not to let the political naivety of Scotland’s electorate, bring about my worst fears. So I’m trying to arm our army with the intellectual weapons they need to defend Scotland from right-wing authoritarianism. So I hope I’ve not been wasting my time.

    Equality and Human Rights Commission
    Research report 83
    The UK and the European Court of Human Rights

    https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/83._european_court_of_human_rights.pdf

  332. Colin Alexander
    Ignored
    says:

    Pythagoras’ theorem

    The longest side of a right-angled triangle is the hypotenuse. The hypotenuse is always opposite the right angle.

    Pythagoras’ theorem states that, in any right-angled triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares on the other two sides.

    If the sides of the right-angled triangle are labelled a, b and c then Pythagoras’ theorem states: a2 + b2 = c2

    Let’s apply that to politics: the right angle triangle of SNP, Yes movement and Scotland’s constitutional situation.

    Applying the theorem a2 + b2 = c2

    We then find the square root of c2 to find the answer.

    The answer is Scotland’s chances of establishing a sovereign state is close to zero, on the negative side of zero, approx -10 if Sturgeon is still in charge of the SNP.

  333. Brian Doonthetoon
    Ignored
    says:

    jfngw…

    I vill say this only wance (again)…

    https://wingsoverscotland.com/from-the-archives-13/comment-page-1/#comment-2540192

  334. jfngw
    Ignored
    says:

    @CameronB Brodie

    I fear what you have on here is more like Dad’s Army than a group of intellectuals you are educating to take on right-wing authoritarianism. I think most of the movers and shakers in society are not sitting commenting on a bloggers BTL site.

  335. David
    Ignored
    says:

    Re, British Docks

    I was right enough, they told us of Docks in London, Liverpool and Cardiff

    Not a peep about Glasgow, infact Scotland never even got a mention.

    This is what happens when the english establishment are writing the history books, they control who gets a mention and who gets written right out of history.

  336. jfngw
    Ignored
    says:

    @Brian Doonthetoon

    Sorry, I didn’t acknowledge your post earlier. I think as Spike Milligan was born in India he thought it was OK to do this, it’s of its time but we’ve moved on.

    I also disliked ‘Till Death…’ although it was claimed the joke was on Alf Garnett, he was seen as a hero by many, he spoke for them. Nigel Farage was his re-incarnation but elevated to politics and even more BBC airtime than Mr Garnett.

  337. Colin Alexander
    Ignored
    says:

    Cameron you have to tailor your communications to your audience.

    I would suggest this is more appropriate for Wings:

    http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-09-18/glossary-scottish-insults

    Here is a (slightly edited) example from the website for the GRA debate: “Yer maw’s goat baws n yer da’ loves it (Your mother has testicles and your father loves it): An example of a genre of insult involving accusations against a person’s “maw” or “da” “.

  338. Kenny
    Ignored
    says:

    I don’t know why, but Nicola Sturgeon (extending furlough for two years) wants the country to be driven mad mentally and to face economic challenges that will require the head of state to be on tv all the time and at the helm.

    She somehow wants everything to change so they are never the same again and I think it is because the fallout from the Salmond trials and everything involved in it is so serious that she needs everything else to change… it is either that or her fall from a position that will go down in the history of Scotland in a very bad way.

    Even now, she stirs up horrible mental attacks for people, like there was a day with no deaths and instead of being encouraging, she said “this thing is waiting to cross any bridge we put down for it”… making it seem like an invisible horror and alien plague from a sci-fi movie all rolled into one.

    I think the quote is from 1984: “He understood how, he just did not understand why…”

  339. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    jfngw
    I was under no illusion but I thought the Rev’s brand was strong enough to disperse practical knowledge of how to fight fascism. I’m sure there are readers who will be appreciating this stuff, so I’ll just keep doing my thing. It’s taken me long enough to get up to speed, so it would be nice if I was allowed to be nice. For a wee while anyway. 😉

    Vertical and Horizontal Perspectives on Rights Consciousness
    https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1485&context=ijgls

  340. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Colin Alexander
    There was no need for translation, I’m not totally lacking in awareness. 😉

  341. Colin Alexander
    Ignored
    says:

    CameronB Brodie

    You’re a nice person and mean well. My opinion is, too much American articles, and no enough about Scotland; just like the BBC.

    But, please don’t take offence at being compared to the BBC: you have moral integrity and do give a damn about Scotland.

  342. Brian Doonthetoon
    Ignored
    says:

    Hi jfngw…

    I vill say this only wance (again)…

    It makes interesting viewing from ‘the olden days”, iye?

  343. jfngw
    Ignored
    says:

    @jfngw

    I wasn’t suggesting you stop. Most of it is too intellectual for me, I think I’m past the age were anything new actually remains for a more than a few minutes. It’s one of the downsides of getting old, I can remember stuff clearly from the 60’s-90’s but yesterday, pffft!

  344. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Colin Alexander
    None taken, and thanks. I’m certainly not claiming I’ve made the best selection of material every time, but I include American stuff if it applies to over here. Or can be translated to apply. Most of it does already, and will become increasingly so as a consequence of Berxit.

  345. Colin Alexander
    Ignored
    says:

    CameronB Brodie

    I just copied the translation from the website. I don’t agree with all the definitions given on that website.

    eg dobber definition is given as idiot.

    Dobber is slang for penis. Walloper is the same.

    “Shut ye geggie” should be written as: Shut yer geggie! eg Shut your mouth.

    Also, the website misses out an important word to describe Scotland’s chances of restoring national sovereignty under Mr and Mrs Murrell’s woke colonial SNP:

    HEE-HAW

  346. Lothianlad
    Ignored
    says:

    Thank you … I have a better understanding of the term ‘ woke ‘ now

  347. Colin Alexander
    Ignored
    says:

    Cameron, the Human Rights link was good. Credit to you for that one.

    You could be brilliant at finding other stuff, like a new version of Nana’s links on here.

    But I would suggest it has to be more of the current affairs politics for Scotland / UK / EU more than USA or academic theory articles.

    But, you write what you think is best: Freedom of expression, Article 10, Human Rights Act 1998.

  348. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    jfngw
    You’ll know yourself best.

    Physical activity and brain plasticity in late adulthood
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3622473/

  349. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Colin Alexander 😉

  350. Colin Alexander
    Ignored
    says:

    Here’s another Scottish word that’s topical:

    Smit a verb. definition: to infect or be infected.

    eg. I don’t want to get smitted wi Coronvirus so gonnae get oot ma road and gies a wide berth.

    Wear a mask or something covering your nose and mouth, to try and reduce your chances of smittin others or getting smitted wi Coronavirus.

  351. mike cassidy
    Ignored
    says:

    Very caustic look at “Curry And Chips”.

    I always thought the problem with “Til Death” was that Johnny Speight never got his first choice for Alf Garnett – Peter Sellars.

    The ‘satire’ would have been more up front.

    But a quality character actor like Warren Mitchell brought a humanity to the role that made it easy for a lot of the audience to circumvent the intent of the writing.

    http://archive.is/Rj1Op

    Mr Brodie can jump straight to here!

    “Till Death Us Do Part” and the BBC: Racial Politics and the British Working Classes 1965-75

    https://www.jstor.org/stable/20753595?seq=1

  352. Ian Brotherhood
    Ignored
    says:

    @CamB –

    You are being played mister.

    Big time.

    The scumbags who are doing it know who they are.

    Do you?

  353. MorvenM
    Ignored
    says:

    Best laugh I’ve had in a while.

    https://twitter.com/Gillian_Emm/status/1272925013054763011

  354. Colin Alexander
    Ignored
    says:

    Here’s another gem of Scottish sayings to describe Nicola Sturgeon’s leadership of the movement to restore Scotland’s national sovereignty since 2014:

    She’s like the coo’s tail.

    eg. She’s always at the back.

  355. Colin Alexander
    Ignored
    says:

    There was a certain Alf Garnett type irony of an anti-BLM Loyalist mob in George Square in Glesga desperate to protect black statues of white men.

  356. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    mike cassidy 😉

  357. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ian Brotherhood
    I’m aware I’m being provoked but I was unaware I’m being played. Care to point out how I’m being manipulated away from the cause of justice and equality in law? I’ll stop immediately if you have due cause for concern.

  358. Colin Alexander
    Ignored
    says:

    “When slavery came to an end in 1833, the Scots owned more land in the West Indies than the English, and far more than the Irish or Welsh. In 1800, there were 300,000 slaves on the island of Jamaica, and 10,000 Scots. The Scottish colonial elite was very powerful. No wonder so many influential Scots were opposed to emancipation, despite the vigorous abolitionist activity of others of their compatriots”.

    http://ritchiesinedinburgh.blogspot.com/2018/01/slavery-in-scotland-then-and-now.html

    Of course, they were enjoying the benefits of Union with England as it was the UK Royalty who were the head honchos of the slave trade:

    http://archive.is/6O7Dk

    The above link is to the Jamaica Observer article :”The British monarchy’s involvement in slavery”

    Remember that, when you hear Unionists boast about how the Union has benefited “Scotland”.

    Gordon Broon, Mr GB himself will be boasting of that next time:

    Scotland’s political and mercantile elite would not have been able to join in the slave trade and profit from the human misery of black African slavery, if it hadn’t been for the benefits of Union with England.

    That’s when he’s finished boasting about how the Union has enabled thousands of Scots to die in the British Empire’s wars.

  359. Ian Brotherhood
    Ignored
    says:

    @CamB –

    I’ve said enough, and possibly too much.

    I wish you well man, and consider you a friend.

    Please remember that.

    🙁

  360. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ian Brotherhood
    Friends trust each other, not randoms on t’internet. I know we don’t really know each other, but it should be obvious we share a common cause. So if you think I’m being played, then I want to hear your take on things.

  361. dakk
    Ignored
    says:

    CameronB Brodie says:
    16 June, 2020 at 7:59 pm
    dakk
    Possibly, but I’ve lived quite happily considering myself male

    Good to hear that.

    But unless you have a chromosome test you may be a biological female.

    Chromosome testing is not used in issuance of birth gender.

    Maybe there are a lot of people in the wrong bodies for their chromosomes out there.

    Should potential cis men ra—-s deny those people the right to their chosen gender?

  362. Ian Brotherhood
    Ignored
    says:

    @CamB –

    Nah, sorry man, much as I’d like to, I have no relevant skill set to deploy.

    Time for bed.

    😉

  363. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ian Brotherhood
    You appear to have a mahoosive chip on your shoulder, so I don’t think there’s much more to be said. 🙁

  364. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    dakk
    You can’t take right away from some to privilege a particular sexuality. Not if you believe in diversity and equality in law. Allowing men to self-ID open women’s spaces up to the intrusion of predatory males. The GRA allowed the legal recognition of adopted gender, it had absolutely nothing to do with redefining “sex”, or self-ID.

  365. mr thms
    Ignored
    says:

    Familiar issues dominate a debate on Home Rule for Scotland debate held in the House of Commons on 9 April 1889…

    https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1889/apr/09/home-rule-for-scotland

  366. dakk
    Ignored
    says:

    Cam b
    Allowing men to self-ID open women’s spaces up to the intrusion of predatory males.

    So if biological(chromosome wise ) men possessing external female genitalia use women’s space, that’s different then.

  367. mr thms
    Ignored
    says:

    Familiar issues dominate a debate on Home Rule for Scotland held in the House of Commons on 9 April 1889…

    https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1889/apr/09/home-rule-for-scotland

  368. Effijy
    Ignored
    says:

    I watched the show about the Russians trying to take out
    One of their own for dying against them.

    A couple of issues raised lies with the 2 military trained Russians
    Seen in the town, no doubt to carry out the deed, come up with the
    Excuse they came all this way for a glimpse of Salisbury Cathedral?

    Bull shit on the same level as Cummings Driving with his son in the
    Back to test his ability to see.

    Both parties guilty as hell.

    The biggest piece of information revealed came when the Medical Expert
    Suggested the Police Station must be closed down as a policeman based
    There was contaminated and in critical condition.
    By touching anything that he did could other officers and they could spread
    The agent further afield.

    The medical experts advice was rejected as this obvious step may lead the public
    To think the Tory government doesn’t know what it is doing and indicate that the
    Contamination was spreading.

    Later we see the police station was heavily contaminated and it should have been closed immediately. The Tory government overruled the medical experts and the obvious conclusion
    Putting the police and the general public in grave danger in order to appear in control.

    These fascist bastard are doing the same thing now with the Covid Virus.

  369. Ruglonian
    Ignored
    says:

    Cameron, with respect, you’re making the flow here really difficult to read with your incredible number of posts.

    I have read all your reasons why you continue to do it, and I’ve read the folk who are trying to persuade you to tone it down a bit (and I think that they’re probably coming from a place of not wanting you exploited by folk that they think wish to see the flow disrupted, but that’s just my opinion obv).

    Just so you’re clear. I have followed your links on occasion, and I understand that you feel that you are adding your unique contribution here, which you are of course entitled to – the unique quality of this place is that Stu doesn’t have a heavy hand!

    Can I make a suggestion though?
    It would enable you to post your links for those who appreciate them, as well as not being such a disorderly presence to the conversation flow – do what Nana did and do one post a day with your links. Her’s became an early morning talking point that many looked forward to – yours could be too 🙂

  370. robertknight
    Ignored
    says:

    MorvenM @10:59

    I never know whether to press the ^ button or launch the remote at the TV whenever that poisonous dwarf appears to tell us how wonderful the Royal Bank of North Britain, and by association us North Britons, are.

    Dear RBS, come Indy, kindly GTF! An tak yon talentless wee Yoon wi ye!

  371. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    dakk
    You are looking to use the particular against the interests of the general.

    Law needs to be grounded in a foundational moral theory if it hopes to be impartial and universal. Natural law is such a theory, and is fortunately coherent and compatible with our scientific understanding of the “human condition”. That is why it is able to form part of international law’s foundations. The proposed GRA reform would introduce anti-foundational epistemology into the practice of Scots law, thereby colonising it and rendering it arbitrary and tool of power.

    These reforms are neither needed, proportionate, or respectful of the human genome. Trans-women are already protected as women in law, which reflects a post-foundational legal epistemology. Which is nice. 🙂

  372. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    @Effigy

    My doubts about that story in Salisbury is that the mafia could do a better cleaner hit. Putin was a KGB colonel and one of the most experienced of world leaders with an effective military. If Putin wanted them dead it would have happened and with much less mess. The story is total bullshit

  373. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ruglonian
    I hear you but that’s not what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to show folk the “art of law”, by provide legitimate legal argument that reflects the conversation. I hope I’m not the only WOS reader who respects the law and wants to defend it.

    I’m sort of trained as a guide in these circumstances. I certainly don’t want to disrupt the flow, but, and I know I’ll sound up-myself, Scotland needs help from someone trained to tackle colonialism and its’ historic legacy. I also find it hard to allow bogus argument to go without challenge.

    So what to do?

  374. Famous15
    Ignored
    says:

    Robert Knight,you have the correct Ruth Davidson minime but wrong bank.

  375. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    ‘Yes, transport this vial of horrendously deadly nerve agent to kill this old ex spy who the Brits had already fully debriefed years ago when a gun, knife or baseball bat could work just as easy. But to hell with it, we like it complicated’

    Total nonsense

  376. Ruglonian
    Ignored
    says:

    Hey Cam 🙂
    I know it’s not your intention to disrupt.

    Why not try out my idea (of becoming the ‘new Nana’) and see what the feedback is?
    I know that I’d like to have a go-to time to find your stuff and then get the chance to read some of it – I’d personally appreciate if you did a trial of a mega link post at say 11pm, then I’d be able to have the time to read when I’m not too busy with other things.

  377. Effijy
    Ignored
    says:

    So Joe, the 2 Russian Military men who were filmed in the town
    Did travel all that way just to catch a glimpse of Salisbury Cathedral?

    They seen nothing else on the visit and St Paul’s in London
    Should have been a can’t miss for Russian soldiers who’s
    New hobby is one English Cathedral?

    The method gave the men time to leave the country before anyone could know
    What happened.

  378. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    @Ruglonian

    I agree. That would be great. Much more concise and organised.

  379. A Person
    Ignored
    says:

    Joe, Effijy-

    There is something very odd about the whole thing. It’s like Dr. Evil not killing Austin Powers with a single shot because “give him a more complicated death that he can escape from”.

    I reckon it’s either:

    a) Putin did it so brazenly and blatantly in order to send a message and stir things up among the NATO countries. I mean, the explanation given was so absurd that there was no way it could possibly have been intended to have been taken seriously

    b) some kind of false flag, although by whom and to what end I have no idea

    Probably A I’d think?

  380. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    @Effigy

    Im not saying what or why. Im just saying – im no killer but if it was my goal to do so and I had an accomplice we could dispose of that old guy and he wouldnt be found for days. Virtually any able bodied pair of men could do that and get a flight out the same day.

  381. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    If they were to go down the route of chemical agents then aerosolized cyanide, which kills on contact with skin, would have been better. But a nerve agent that is designed to do mass damage, stick around and WAS DESIGNED by Russia? Honestly buddy. Use your head

  382. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    @A Person

    Im not sure what the purpose would be. But domestic political distraction is the only explanation that is the least ridiculous to me. But who knows.

  383. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ruglonian
    So you’re not asking for much then? 🙂

    I’m aware I’ve been a bit pushy over the last couple of threads, but I thought I had something useful to contribute. I’ve just reconnected with a wodge of killer knowledge that kind of makes my picture of the law more complete. So I’ll have to put some thought into how to introduce it into the conversation, without being over-bearing or killing the conversation.

    I am trying to support ethical rationalism and a respect for the relational autonomy of others. Apart from those I think are supporting the ‘dark side’. 😉

  384. A Person
    Ignored
    says:

    If a false flag it didn’t work very well did it? I’d say the general perception of Putin is that he’s a nasty piece of work but that he’s an effective leader of his country. Russophobia is an elite preoccupation.

  385. Beaker
    Ignored
    says:

    @Joe says:
    17 June, 2020 at 1:13 am
    “If they were to go down the route of chemical agents then aerosolized cyanide, which kills on contact with skin, would have been better. But a nerve agent that is designed to do mass damage, stick around and WAS DESIGNED by Russia? Honestly buddy. Use your head”

    I know a lot about nerve and chemical agents, how they persist in the environment and the problems with decontamination. You are talking complete bollocks. That’s all I have to say.

  386. Ruglonian
    Ignored
    says:

    Cameron, I’m sorry if I perhaps came across as pushy, that wasn’t my intention 😀

    I’m asking for selfish reasons, obv (I’d like it if you’d do what I suggested cos it’d be handy to copy the link to your one post and put it in a tab that I could then browse through at my leisure), but also cos I’ve seen several exchanges with you and other folk here about this issue and I was trying to keep the peace and find a workable solution.

  387. A Person
    Ignored
    says:

    By “effective” I mean he rules his country firmly whereas it was previously chaotic, the man is a brute.

  388. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ruglonian
    You’ll need to remember I’ve not looked at this stuff in over a quarter century. So I’m afraid my mental map of this stuff is a bit patchy, and I’m having to take my points of reference from the conversation. I’ve already destroyed any justification for the GRA reforms, but is there anything in particular you’re concerned over?

  389. Ruglonian
    Ignored
    says:

    Cameron, I hear you, but that’s partly my concern – I’m talking about your perception.
    You say that you’ve “already destroyed any justification for the GRA reforms” but that only stands up if folk are reading what you’re posting and then using it in a positive way outwith here.

    I’m talking more generally than one specific issue.
    What I’m saying is that I see that you’re putting in a great deal of work to bring your specific sources of interest and relevance to us here, and I’d like to see them collated in a more useful way.

    As Joe has said @1.07am, if you did a post that was “consise and organised” then your efforts could be better utilised by us all, and you’d be in a better position to get feedback on what you’re posting – win win 🙂

  390. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ruglonian
    I’ve not chosen this perspective at random, this is how the Royal Town Planning Institute trained me for a future in town planning, or as government advisor, though I was intending overseas development. So I’m trained in a specific way that respect natural law, post-foundational legal epistemology, and the fabric of international law. I’m also trained to tackle patriarchy and rascism at their cultural root, which is nice. 🙂

  391. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    I still can’t proof read for toffee.

    The Promise of Legal Semiotics
    https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1277&context=fss_papers

  392. Ruglonian
    Ignored
    says:

    Cameron, that’s really cool to know – your individual insight and experience make you an asset to us all here.

    That’s what’s so good about this place, all the different folk from all walks of life – I remember my early days here, being in awe of the breadth of society that was represented and wondering how I could ever make my own valid contribution to our cause.

    But that is further illustration of why this space is so important.
    Posting here gave me my first glimmer of confidence that I could become an activist (yes, everything I’ve done since can ultimately be pinned on that ‘vile’ Stu!)

    What I meant by “perception” though was about your perception to see how your links are being seen and used – not just by the other posters but by the silent (lurking) majority of the readership.
    I don’t imagine that you post them for folk to just scroll past.

    So my idea still stands – why not try the change just for a bit and see how it goes?

    Anyway, it’s well past my bedtime now so consider what I’ve proposed and let’s see what folk say about it in the morning!

  393. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ruglonian
    I’m certainly not suggesting folk must believe me and follow, though I do have knowledge of how to go about ethical social transformation. All well vetted, or as best I can manage to remember best practice. 😉

  394. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ruglonian
    I’ll try to change, though as I’m trying to help bring about change, I might need to change back to the approach you want me to change from. Let’s play it by ear, though I have heard what you’re saying, loud and clear. 🙂

    The Hohfeldian Approach to Law
    and Semiotics

    https://repository.law.miami.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1983&context=umlr

  395. Keith fae Leith
    Ignored
    says:

    “I’ve done my best not to disappear up-myself”

    I think if anyone reads their way through this thread or indeed your interactions with the genuine commentators here then they’ll realise how bogus that claim is.

    Academic journals are not written to educate the laymen. They are written for peer review & to show off how much the author knows about a subject.

    What does that mean in real life?

    It means that if you work in that industry or have an express interest in it, then you will understand what is being written. You won’t find it interesting, it’s not written to teach but to show off.

    If you have no interest or expertise in the subject matter then it’s drier than an old lizard’s dick that’s dragged itself the width of the Sahara. none of the information within is going get through because you are not the target audience.

    I have no doubts about your sincerity or your expertise in this field. Personally I have none, town planning isn’t my bag, baby. To paraphrase form an Austin Powers reference upthread.

    Several people have given well intentioned advice or encouragement for you to better utilise your knowledge & get your message across, but you ignore every single one of them. The message they receive is “F-off, you’re not smart enough to understand” That might not be how you percieve that you send the message, but that’s how it reads to most people.

    I’m not trying to police the board, heck, I rarely comment.

    You admit to being rusty, so here’s my suggestion for you to ignore, then throw an insult in my direction.

    Read through your post & the Journal you are linking, use the Journal as a back up for your actual point & link it to the thread. Once you’ve done that, ask yourself, if my granny, niece, the postie or shop keeper would understand it? Only if the answer is yes, then post it.

    Otherwise, work on your rustiness, away from Wings without imitating a spambot, or Ken500 as he used to go by.

    I have tried to read you’re linked Journals on occasion, but to me they are as appetising as a sawdust sandwich. Once I’ve read my dismissive insult I’ll go back to scrolling past as do, based on comments the vast majority.

  396. Willie
    Ignored
    says:

    Cameron B.

    Do you think there are many, if any who read your posts. You have a prodigious output of cut and paste – link post that arrive day and night, day after day, week after week.

    I’m sorry but I just don’t read your posts, and just skip over them. Too much stuff Sir. You’ve turned folks off and any message, if there is one, is lost. Best Regards.

  397. Dan
    Ignored
    says:

    Interesting bill and amendments going through Holyrood on animals and wildlife.
    Some of it mentioned in the following tweet thread.

    https://twitter.com/scotgp/status/1272520260890120199

    Much as we all like animals and wildlife there is a difficult balance to be found in this.
    The thread mentions beaver management (that’s controlling numbers of them, not being a pimp 😉 ).
    Could it be that most of those being culled are situated in unofficial release areas that weren’t chosen as suitable for reintroduction as the beavers would alter existing delicate eco-systems and conventional agricultural land that supplies out food.
    I’ve seen landowners having to spend many if not tens of thousand of pounds in fencing to attempt to keep the beavers out of certain areas, yet the beavers can dig under deep buried fencing and still proceed to gain access to gnaw and drop large trees that were specifically planted years ago to create bio-diversity.

  398. Ottomanboi
    Ignored
    says:

    OMG such a load of introspective navel gazing on here now…social distancing begets isolation begets segregation begets psychosis.
    Throw away gloves and masks, get outside mix, develop a degree of ‘immunity’…..LIVE!
    Likewise shout at the suppressive Sturgeon crew to get their heels off Scotland’s jugular before they kill the patient with their overweening attention.
    And in a country far away…the summer hots up:
    https://www.thestatesman.com/india/un-chief-urges-india-china-to-exercise-maximum-restraint-amid-escalating-tensions-1502900690.html

  399. Sinky
    Ignored
    says:

    Call Kaye in full SNPBad this morning on schools going back.

    No one on programme giving government/teachers point of view.

    Once again they have Tory activist Alison Payne on at the moment without telling listeners that she stood for Edinburgh Council as a Tory.

    Unionists claim Scotland is too centralised under SNP but then attack different local councils take local decisions on opening schools.

  400. Effijy
    Ignored
    says:

    I’d been wondering why we have been plagued with so many
    TV commercials from banks.

    If I never see that wee Ruth Harrison look a like
    selling Bank of Scotland it will be too soon.

    Lloyd’s right there behind you?
    Yes with a knife for your back.

    An incredible sum in the millions but have been spent by these greedy immoral
    Casino Bankers that the tax payer has had to bail out with billions.

    Dies anybody watch these adverts and say I think I’ll switch to Bank of Scotland
    As the wee woman with shopping bags on her feet is so amusing,
    Or isn’t that Black horse nice I’ll send my money over there.

    I was asked to give advice to a relative who’d fixed rate term mortgage was ending.
    I looked at all the comparison sites for someone else just 2 months ago and although
    The bank base rate has fallen to only 0.1%, the banks have recently increased their interest rates
    And their Admin fees?

    An average Admin fee is now over £1,000 and many want an exit fee I.e you have paid a fortune to
    Set up your mortgage, you have paid them over the top interest rates for decades and they’want more because you have paid them off?

    Another aspect of bank corruption you may not be aware of is the new Help to Buy scheme.
    This is where first time buyers can have the government take out an interest free stake in your
    New home. Everything is good until your banks fixed rate term ends.
    Most of the banks refuse to touch them and the few that do absolutely screw you to the floor with
    Excessive rates and arrangement fees.

    It’s all very welcoming but it’s another bankers trap

    Council estate loan sharks at least let you know the trouble you are in at the outset.

  401. jfngw
    Ignored
    says:

    After all the street naming changes being demanded I’m surprised nobody mentioned Savile Row. A street named by the BBC after how they described the queue of children for the Jim’ll Fix It show. A street known for it sartorial elegance and top quality shell suits.

  402. Scot Finlayson
    Ignored
    says:

    Tweet from,

    Katie Hopkins
    @KTHopkins
    Dear
    @MarcusRashford

    Do you think women should think about how they are going to feed a child before they decide to have it?

    I do not want to pay to feed other people’s kids. You are welcome to.

    Thank you

    Katie Hopkins.

    reply to Katie Hopkins by,

    Piers Morgan
    @piersmorgan
    ·
    17h
    If only your mother had thought twice.

    182,000 likes on twitter.

    Heard that euphemism before somewhere.

  403. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    And folk wonder why Scotland’s getting pumped from both ends? If I though I could leave the debate without jeopardizing my best interests and future, I’d happily let folk get on with it themselves. I care about myself and others though, and recognise when folk clearly don’t understand how to respect the law. So, I’ll continue to do as I see best, and won’t be taking any advice from the narrow minded.

  404. David
    Ignored
    says:

    CamB

    We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender,

  405. callmedave
    Ignored
    says:

    Hark the Herald!

    Opinion: Brian Beacom:
    Why I am edging slowly towards the pro-independence point of view

    https://archive.is/z6F1E

  406. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    @Beaker

    I probably am. I do not know poisons. I am simply speculating.

  407. callmedave
    Ignored
    says:

    Unemployment:

    Scotland has one of lowest claimant count increases in UK

    https://archive.is/RmWSm

  408. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    @A person

    The reason the Western establishment doesnt like Putin is because he stopped them from looting Russia. If he’d allowed Western powers to take what they wanted he could literally eat live babies and youd hear nothing about him

  409. A Person
    Ignored
    says:

    Joe-

    I know

  410. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    I appreciate the stuff I post is not to everyone’s taste, but I understand democracy and know what it’s supposed to look like. It ain’t Brexitania, that’s for sure.

    Ethics, Value, and Interaction: Bridging Natural and Social Histories in a Semiotic Framework
    http://www.anthropology-news.org/?book-review=ethics-value-and-interaction-bridging-natural-and-social-histories-in-a-semiotic-framework

  411. Joe
    Ignored
    says:

    @A person

    Yeah, sorry. Used to seeing the mainstream British perspective too much

  412. cynicalHighlander
    Ignored
    says:

    Ignore the witchhunters Cameron selfishness knows no bounds.

  413. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    cynicalHighlander
    I appreciate your support, though I don’t want to divide or ignore folk.

    HUMAN RIGHTS AND NATION-BUILDING IN
    CROSS-CULTURAL SETTINGS

    https://digitalcommons.mainelaw.maine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1278&context=mlr

  414. Armitage Shanks
    Ignored
    says:

    Hi Cameron. If not the democracy we have, what should it look like? can you show a better example from around the world?

    The legalize and archaic language of the criminal lawyers only ever seems to benefit those already in positions of power in any democracy that i can see.

  415. callmedave
    Ignored
    says:

    Hmm!

    Ten minutes to tin hat time in Holyrood and the weekly inquisition into why Scotland’s so bad. 🙂

    Compelling stuff nevertheless.

    https://www.scottishparliament.tv/

    See everyone on the other side.

  416. Capella
    Ignored
    says:

    @ CBB – I would also like to see some clear definition of the various brands of “nationalism”. We are still being told that “narrow nationalism” is a very very bad thing. But the world is made up of nation states, represented in the UN, Scotland is AFAIK unique in lacking nation state status. What’s wrong with wanting to be a nation state?

    We regard nation states as better than feudal monarchies ruled by one person, as is a dictatorship or tyranny. Democratic decision making is a goal worth pursuing. We in Scotland have no real democratic decision making capacity. That’s appalling in the 21st C.

    Also, I like Ruglonian’s idea of you posting less often but including a package of links as Nana used to do. You could use notepad to collect your links and add a short explanatory sentence. We could then browse through and click any links we like, or scroll by.

  417. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Armitage Shanks
    There are lots of ways to measure the level of democracy enjoyed by nations, but I don’t think there is any particular model of democracy that can be chosen as a model for all. Democratic validity tends to depend to the level of public participation, so Brexit should tell folk everything they need to know about Westminster, which is happy to discrimainate against Scotland in order to satisfy the cultural demands of England’s right-wing.

    The relation between cultural values and models of democracy: a cross-national study
    https://www.academia.edu/6927992/The_Relation_Between_Cultural_Values_and_Models_of_Democracy_A_Cross-National_Study

  418. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Capella
    Steady on, I’m getting up to speed but that doesn’t mean I know it all. Or that I have the skills to do what is being requested. I’ll try to be less obtrusive. 😉

  419. Capella
    Ignored
    says:

    @ CBB – but you have an Athens number? You can access academic research? 🙂

  420. defo
    Ignored
    says:

    And what do we call nutters who decided that they know what’s best for us children?

  421. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    defo
    Teacher?

    Developing pedagogy for responsible leadership: Towards a dialogic theory of democratic education
    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270901791_Developing_pedagogy_for_responsible_leadership_Towards_a_dialogic_theory_of_democratic_education

  422. David
    Ignored
    says:

    Blackford at Westminster

    He gets two questions a week to ask Johnson.

    And time after time they have absolutely nothing to do with Scottish Independence

    Today was no different

  423. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    defo
    If you weren’t so resistant to knowledge, you might be better able to recognise practical assistance when it is being offered.

    The Dynamics of Democracy, Development and Cultural Values
    https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0097856

  424. David
    Ignored
    says:

    CamB

    I have a feeling you are working for this 77th Brigade.

    For some reason you seem to have your usual supporters coming out of the woodwork and willing you on

    Are they also members of the 77th Brigade?

    Because you and your supporters do much more damage to Wings than any Unionist Troll would do.

  425. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    As the BBC and STV news both had unemployment higher than the rUK in Scotland, as their main stories on their teatime time flagship programmes, and gleefully doing London’s beckoning into the bargain.

    The head of research at the Fraser of Allander Institute has criticised that as being misleading.

    Of course isn’t it that the raison d’etre of the unionist propaganda news outlets in Scotland, to put Scotland down at every turn.

  426. A Person
    Ignored
    says:

    Joe-

    Don’t worry about it.

    He’s not a nice guy but he’s demonised for the reasons you state.

  427. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    David
    So who are you and why should I care?

    Determinants of Political Trust: A life time learning model
    https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/328162.pdf

  428. David
    Ignored
    says:

    Just dipped in to listen to Nicola Sturgeon for a second, and I actually get the feeling when I look at her that I am looking at my enemy.

    Never ever thought I would have thought that if Nicola Sturgeon.

    Oh how times have changed

    She conned me at the start of her leadership of the SNP

    Never again.

    There is not one Party in Hollyrood that I would think of joining.

    What a sad state of affairs we are in.

  429. David
    Ignored
    says:

    CamB 77th Brigade (Scottish Branch)

  430. Keith fae Leith
    Ignored
    says:

    I’m neither narrow minded or resistant to knowledge.

    if you had actually read my post, it was pointing out that your method of pasting links to Academic Journals won’t educate anyone, unless this is already their field.

    In what way have I refused to respect the Law? How have I ill defined democracy?

    You can’t leave a debate if you’ve never joined it.

    Linking to Journals (sometimes relevant, sometimes not) is not debate. It’s a lecture or sermon, where your audience have no interest as the subject is dry. If you can interpret what the Journals say, then sex them up, show a bit of thigh, make them so people can understand them, then maybe people will pay attention.

    Even your supporters/friends are encouraging you to limit or compact your output.

    Will this comment be read? Processed? acted on? or will we continue to be bombarded with scrolling fodder?

    I know where my £1 bet is going.

    I don’t think this the forum for you blasting your rustiness, that should be done elsewhere & the fruits of that labour, the polished article should be posted here.

    What do I know, I can only read the multitude of posters who have made similar please over the last few months.

  431. Keith fae Leith
    Ignored
    says:

    O/T

    Just completed a YouGov poll from ScotGov regarding their handling of the Coronavirus, I’d be intrigued to see the results if it ever gets published.

  432. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Keith fae Leith
    Have I directed any comments to yourself? If you’re content for British constitutionalism to determine Scotland’s future, then you are disrespecting international law.

    David
    Do better.

  433. David
    Ignored
    says:

    Holyrood is a talking shop for Devolutionists.

    I hate the fuckin place.

    Can only watch for two minutes maximum.

    Sturgeon has pricks to the left of her,,, pricks to the right of her and pricks at the back of her.

    In short,,, Holyrood is full of useless pricks.

  434. ahundredthidiot
    Ignored
    says:

    David @ 12:48

    I would put my mortgage on The Great Academic NOT being 77 Brigade.

    77 are many things, but they’re not stupid enough to employ him – not when he’ll do their work for free by boring everyone to death!

  435. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    ahundredthidiot
    Are you still prone to the sound of your own irrational quacking?

  436. A Person
    Ignored
    says:

    Cameron-

    . If I’m being honest I’ve commented on here in the past few weeks because I’m bored witless in the lockdown so I’m not saying I add much value to this site. I do however agree with Rev Stu’s aims.

    I hold the left-liberal view on almost every issue under the sun, but because I said something that went against some theory you have you have, over a number of threads, called me “a reactionary”. You have told others that you are keeping an eye on me or words to that effect and told them not to listen to me. Frankly that is so obsessive and petty as to be unnerving. I have ignored you, after which you have said, “I see you” as though I am obliged to indulge your nonsense.

    David is right, you harm this site. The mainstream media tell people that this site is for crazy extremists. Imagine what a swing voter would think if they came on here and saw all the stuff you post. Please don’t respond with “I’m just trying to spread a message and educate folk”. You cannot seriously think anybody reads the stuff you post. Nobody ever engages in a discussion of it with you. Indeed I doubt it is possible to read twenty-odd academic articles a day, so I must ask whether you actually know what you are posting.

    Frankly I think all the people trying to convince you to spread your message another way are simply trying to soft-soap you as you will not listen to other posters’ concern when expressed clearly. Look at how rude you have just been to David, defo and earlier to Ian Brotherhood

    This site is an important arena in Scottish journalism, not your, or anybody else’s, personal plaything. I am a member of a couple of music/film forums and if you were on any of them you would have been blocked by now.

    I now await being sent abuse simply for asking you to think of others in this forum.

  437. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    A Person
    I wasn’t only concerned by what you objected to, but by the way you objected. I acknowledged it was only a hunch, but if you’re happy to knock-back (free) specialist advice, then I need to doubt your judgement. Just saying.

  438. Ron Maclean
    Ignored
    says:

    @CameronB Brodie

    This information was posted some time ago by a commenter. I apologise for being unable to provide a name.

    ‘The Gentleperson’s Guide to Forum Spies’ in cryptome.org describes ‘Techniques for dilution, misdirection and control of a internet forum’.

    Reading through, it is easy to see why commenters on this site might be suspicious of your motives. Technique 3 seems particularly relevant in your case. Even if not deliberate your contributions must be of great help to the opponents of this site.

  439. mike cassidy
    Ignored
    says:

    I used to think Johnson was trolling.

    But he’s not, is he?

    Its Cummings who is doing the trolling.

    Sending his puppet out to do this nonsense about boomerangs and penguins.

    https://twitter.com/davidschneider/status/1273223305399545857

    Time for a song.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_prtbj4MtDU

  440. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ron Maclean
    Perhaps you’re correct but I’m not prepared to leave my human rights in the hands of those who don’t understand the law.

    Decoding International Law: Semiotics and the Humanities
    https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195385779.001.0001/acprof-9780195385779

  441. Colin Alexander
    Ignored
    says:

    CameronB Brodie

    I would rather learn of YOUR opinions and theories rather than you pasting other’s opinions / theories.

  442. Arthur C
    Ignored
    says:

    Can the Rev not just give Cameron, our “education officer” his own rolling page where he could pursue his educational pontifications without annoying the congregation.
    A page like off topic which just rolls on year after year . That way he and his fanboys could bugger off there and leave the rest of us to debate in blessed ignorance.

  443. A Person
    Ignored
    says:

    Cameron-

    You’re perfectly entitled to doubt my judgement- it’s been wrong often enough! But I don’t appreciate one passing comment meaning that you then label me persona non grata.

    With all due respect, I am under no obligation to accept specialist advice on my opinions, and I must ask you what kind of specialist you are to be giving me it. That’s not to say that all your opinions or wrong or that you lack knowledge, but that doesn’t make you The Source Of All Wisdom.

  444. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Colin Alexander
    I doubt I was capable of that when I was involved, not to any great degree of competence anyway. I’ve never claimed I know it all, I just have a structured and ethical world view. Which I’m trying to share an insight into.

  445. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Arthur C
    Now your talking. 🙂 (joke)

  446. Effijy
    Ignored
    says:

    Wonderful trade deal proposed between Borisland and Australia.

    That goodness to lose your pitch in the world’s biggest trading market
    To ensure that we are now free to negotiate our own deal for Uranium,
    Opals, Kangaroo Stakes and hats with corks dangling on strings.

    Place your orders now and beat the rush, if you don’t mind the carbon
    Footprint of transporting these items 12,000 miles.

    Can we send them back Rolf Harris?

  447. Liz g
    Ignored
    says:

    Cameron B Brodie
    For what it’s worth.
    Posting like Nana did would certainly be more useful for me.
    Especially if you did it at a regular time too…it doesn’t have to be morning,just “samey” 🙂

  448. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Liz g
    That’s asking me to step up to another level of commitment entirely, which I’m prepared to make, though unsure of how to go about it right now, or if I’m capable. I’ve been winging it, so far, and I’m wary of changing approach. I’ll try to be as unobtrusive as possible while I put some thought into this. 😉

  449. liz
    Ignored
    says:

    @Ian Brotherhood, I think we all know exactly who this person is talking about.

    There is no doubt she has impressive skills, otherwise she wouldn’t have pulled the wool over so many eyes, many will still not hear a word against her.

    She is indecisive,overly cautious, wants to be liked and despite it being the unionists labelling her chief mammy, I agree with them.
    She wants to be loved, particularly by the youth, which is why she indulges them.
    But you cannot be all things to all wo/men.
    True leaders don’t worry about being disliked.

    She has dithered over indy and wasted so much time and opportunities, for that she will not be forgiven.
    As for the whole AS fiasco, I still don’t understand why she facilitated that. Someone must have persuaded her it could be dealt with internally, well she really didn’t know Eck if she thought he wouldn’t come out fighting.

    I did read a journalist say, she was taken aback at how angry she was, well doh!
    That to me shows she lives in a little bubble surrounded by enablers. She has to go or we’re sunk

  450. Breeks
    Ignored
    says:


    mike cassidy says:
    17 June, 2020 at 1:24 pm

    ….Sending his puppet out to do this nonsense about boomerangs and penguins.

    https://twitter.com/davidschneider/status/1273223305399545857

    I am stunned.

    This has gone beyond ridicule now.

  451. David
    Ignored
    says:

    CamB

    All this publicity might be too much for you.

    Do we need to put you on suicide watch?

    You seem a very vulnerable and fragile snowflake.

    Do we need to install a suicide inspection hatch at the top of your door, so we can look in and make sure you aren’t swinging from your crystal chandelier???

  452. Breeks
    Ignored
    says:

    I’m trying to think of a more humbling embarrassment than Boris Johnson, but the best I can come up with is Boris Johnson marooned on his zip line with his little flags.

  453. liz
    Ignored
    says:

    PS just saw that comment, that Nicola wants two year furlough, she actually scares me now.

    If that is true,she’ll want this so there will be no Holyrood elections 2021, AS said he’d hold off till Covid emergency is over, she doesn’t want it to be over.

    I’ve posted a couple of comments to people on twitter who’re terrified to break the rules.
    Some poor guy saying he hadn’t seen his mum in months cos she lives 10 miles away.
    I asked him what’s the difference if he travelled an extra few miles, how does that change anything. He responded by talking about second waves and the need to keep in doors etc It’s madness.

    But if you disagree with these demands, you get jumped on , for ‘killing people’.
    If this continues AS will need to break cover sooner.

  454. David
    Ignored
    says:

    Liz

    To add to the Sturgeon non interest in Independence, Blackford continues with his “We must save england from Boris” theme at Westminster.

  455. callmedave
    Ignored
    says:

    BBC have web site numbers for where we are + MSM data.

    Scotland………today…09…….Total….2462….BBC
    Wales…………today…10…….Total….1466….BBC
    N. Ireland…….today…01…….Total…..543….BBC
    England……….today..*77…….Total..*28138…*SUN +NHSE
    =========================================================
    UK……………today…no data..Total..*42046…*SUN

    No BBC web site ‘UK’ or ‘England’ or ‘corona’ mentions numbers for darn Sarf at the time of writing. 🙁

  456. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    “You seem a very vulnerable and fragile snowflake.”

    Do we need to install a suicide inspection hatch at the top of your door, so we can look in and make sure you aren’t swinging from your crystal chandelier???”

    You what?

    Democracy: the forgotten determinant of mental health
    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5650707_Democracy_the_forgotten_determinant_of_mental_health

  457. A Person
    Ignored
    says:

    Liz-

    Never subscribed to the “Sturgeon is an MI5 plant” theories but this would almost make you believe it.

    Our economy will be in ruins, it frightens me the number of people who think money grows on trees. A doctor friend of mine expressed bewilderment that “working-class people want to go back to earn money for rich people”, blissfully unaware of how life is for those not paid £5k from the public purse every month. Small businesses that people put their life’s work into flushed down the plug hole. Many of them SNP supporters by the way. NHS wards are empty but the economic crisis will kill the whole system.

    People are cracking up with boredom and frustration, relationships are collapsing, people are taking to drink and drugs.

    In Wales people are flicking over the border to Bristol to buy cars because the English showrooms are open, this will kill that business in Wales. Similar could happen here, I already know of people who are planning to go on holiday to England because Scottish hotels will be closed.

    I’m no Brendan O’Neill moaning about not being allowed to go to the pub, I accept there was a need for the lockdown and obeyed it, but our young people can’t all put their lives on hold indefinitely to protect twenty pensioners per week. In a war the young are asked to sacrifice, in this situation maybe the old must be asked. Only 26 under 45 have died in Scotland, and average death age is 81!

    In my experience in the past ten days people have started to flout the rules and to be honest I don’t blame anyone.

    Many of those affected are SNP supporters- unlike what NS wants you to think not all of her voters are woke professionals in the West End of Glasgow. An SNP figure who made a fuss about it could get some traction.

  458. Bob Mack
    Ignored
    says:

    China is dealing with the reality that Cov D mutates. Beijing is proof. It will mutate here as well.

    You want to be free? Fine, go ahead. Go out all you want and mix with anybody who wishes you to. Pay the fines and appeal to the courts about your human rights to be dumber than a donkey.

    However,if you get caught in the inevitable second wave don’t think you will gather any sympathy. You did it in full knowledge of the facts.your chouce, so please don’t whine to the rest of us about being in jail and being a prisoner.

  459. A Person
    Ignored
    says:

    Bob-

    Nobody is saying “be dumber than a donkey”, precautions will have to be taken, just that we can’t put life on indefinite hold “just to be on the safe side”.

    Hell, even in health terms, ignoring all economic and social issues (which have their own health aspects), the number of deaths caused by undiagnosed cancers is higher than the number dying of the virus.

    I don’t like who I am agreeing with about this but that’s life!

  460. liz
    Ignored
    says:

    All viruses mutate.That’s why we cannot ‘cure the common cold’ or eradicate the flu virus..

    If you think the solution is to never leave the house again, that is your choice.
    I prefer to follow the facts, such as how other countries are returning to normality and there has been no second wave.

    There are less than 600 people with suspected Covid in hospital in Scotland and 11 in ICU.
    Seasonal deaths are now at normal levels and I know the reason given is, that’s because lock down worked.

    The facts are people have broken the rules, you see the clypes on about it every day on SM.
    There was that BLM protest, which NS didn’t want people to go to, and the week after that, there were less new cases in Glasgow

    The original lockdown was so the NHS would not be overwhelmed and could prepare for new cases, that is where we’re at just now.

    Staying in doors means less exercise, less vit D, more stress, domestic abuse has increased, more alcohol consumed, all of which will lower your immune system and make it harder to fight off any disease.
    We are bombarded by micro organisms daily, our bodies build up immunity due to this daily battle.

    Follow the facts, not the hype.

  461. A Person
    Ignored
    says:

    Now that corona virus is out there you will probably get it, the question is just when.

    The lockdown was to allow the NHS to prepare and have capacity, it worked (yes the clown in Downing St screwed it up by starting too late but that’s not relevant). It has also helped scientists investigate treatment like the one announced yesterday.

    So the question now is, when would you like to get this disease?

    A) after cowering in your house, with declining health
    B) after living your life, having done exercise, built up immunity etc

    As I say, 26 people under 45 have died of it in Scotland, every one of those deaths IS tragic but do we need to ask the other couple of million younger folk to squander their prime of life just in case?

  462. Sensibledave
    Ignored
    says:

    Cammy

    … I note that your pseudo intellectual contributions are as boring, irrelevant and annoying to most others are as they are to me.

    How does it feel to be accused of being in the 77th? Haha!!

  463. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Sensibledave
    I know I’m not dodgy, so it barely registered. Are you still hostile to limited government and equality in law?

  464. Iain mhor
    Ignored
    says:

    Interesting results for 2019 for N.I, from their ‘Life and Times’ national surveys.

    “Since 1998, the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey has put on record the attitudes, values and beliefs of the people in Northern Ireland to a wide range of social policy issues”

    I take a passing interest, if anywhere is a bellweather for Unionism it’s N.I – looks like their hold is drifting away, replaced by a greater pool if ‘undecideds’, or the ‘agnostic’ I suspect Unionism’s hold is slipping everywhere but England.

    Anyway, analysis of such things is @Rev Stu’s domain (perhaps he’ll take a gander) but very interesting survey questions and figures in there.

    https://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/2019/Political_Attitudes/

  465. frogesque
    Ignored
    says:

    Is there going to be a Wings based Indy party for the Holyrood Regional List.

    If so, better get a wiggle on, two parties are already out of the blocks. Independence for Scotland and Alliance (for Yes)

    Only 10 months to get it done!

  466. frogesque
    Ignored
    says:

    Above, for clarity, second list party to get going is called Alliance for Independence

  467. Capella
    Ignored
    says:

    Scottish Parliament debating Animals and Wildlife Bill now
    https://www.scottishparliament.tv

  468. Keith fae Leith
    Ignored
    says:

    “If you’re content for British constitutionalism to determine Scotland’s future, then you are disrespecting international law.”

    I’m not, fairly simple answer to your accusation. a statement people can understand.

    As i has said before, I don’t doubt your desire, your qualifications, merely your methods of communicating.

    ~90% of the feedback you get outwith the obvious trolls is to dial it down, provide a blurb, or better still an opinion.

    the other 10% are backing you up, but saying “Why don’t you condense it & make a post at a set time so we can know it’s coming & look at it then” Like Nana used to do.

    Do you take it on board? A quote form the source doesn’t help the layman, but a description (like the back cover of a novel) would.

    You are the specialist here, so it would massively help your mission if you summarized the Journals for us mere mortals.

    Just out of interest, what makes you think I support British Constitutionalism? or was that just one of your less aggressive dismissive insults?

  469. callmedave
    Ignored
    says:

    @Capella

    Which party is the ‘wild life’ and which the ‘animals’?

    I’m with the hares, birds, otters, and reynard and could be persuaded about the beavers maybe!

  470. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Keith fae Leith
    Thanks for the advice but I think I’ll follow my training and instincts. I’m very aware my welcome is in jeopardy, but I see that as a result of hostility towards ethical knowledge and moral realism. That hostility is not coming from me.

    Rethinking Digital Democracy: From the Disembodied Discursive Self to New Materialist Corporealities
    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337490063_Rethinking_Digital_Democracy_From_the_Disembodied_Discursive_Self_to_New_Materialist_Corporealities

  471. callmedave
    Ignored
    says:

    New numbers update:

    Scotland………today…09…….Total….2462….BBC
    Wales…………today…10…….Total….1466….BBC
    N. Ireland…….today…01…….Total…..543….BBC
    England……….today..*77…….Total..*28138…*SUN +NHSE
    =========================================================
    UK……………today….184..Total…42153….BBC

    No BBC web site ‘UK’ or ‘England’ or ‘corona’ mentions numbers for darn Sarf at the time of writing. ?

    PS:
    ‘NO UPDATE’ ON CONTACT TRACING APP

    Downing Street said there was “no update” on when the NHS Covid-19 contact-tracing app would be ready for roll-out.

    It comes after the Health Secretary promised it would be ready last month.

    The Prime Minister’s official spokesman, asked when the app would be made available to the public, said: “I don’t have a date.”

    Asked to confirm what the problem was with the app, he said: “The latest test and trace numbers will be published tomorrow, tomorrow morning I believe.

    “There may well be the opportunity for you to ask further questions about the app during the course of the day, but I’ve not got any update.”

  472. Gary45%
    Ignored
    says:

    Mon the Himalayan Aardvark.

  473. Dan
    Ignored
    says:

    Eel Lives Matter!

  474. defo
    Ignored
    says:

    Talking of cute fluffy animals, Massie the younger on Aunties Media show now.
    Non indy subject, but the Dear leader and the gang might like a shooftie anyway.

  475. Breeks
    Ignored
    says:

    I’m not from a medical background at all, so I don’t know about viruses and flu, but I can read, and what I do read is that the first wave of the Spanish flu, Spring 1918, was mild, with mortality rates not all that different from normal. Hmmm, Sound familiar?

    But the second wave, in Autumn 1918, was much more deadly. The virus had mutated into a more lethal form, and went on to kill between 17-50 million people, many of them young, bucking the trend of ‘normal’ influenza.

    There was also a third wave, and a fourth, although the second wave was the most deadly, because by the 3rd and 4th wave, protocols were better and the drugs were working better.

    Now I don’t like the lockdown, maybe it is a sledgehammer to crack a nut, maybe it isn’t. I don’t know. But IF history repeats, we are at Summer 1918, seeing the end of the first wave before the beginning of the deadly second wave. Maybe Spring 2020 was our “dry run”….

    We must HOPE that COV19 doesn’t mutate into something more lethal, because if it does, we must HOPE once again that the declining effectiveness of antibiotics doesn’t release a lethal stain of COV19 that is also something of a resistant superbug COV19 which we cannot suppress with medicines.

    It seems to me, we are all in a risk assessment / risk management stage of proceedings, desperately trying to find effective treatment and vaccinations, but with half an eye on the risk that the virus might yet turn much nastier than it already is.

    If we are lucky, the virus will NOT mutate into a mass killer, (say, something like Ebola Virus with an 80%+ lethality), because frankly, watching our lax and complacent UK attitudes to lockdown, I think it’s safe to say we’d be right up Shite Creek.

    The fact we’re not up Shite Creek, (at least not yet), and feeling happy and joyful like we’ve dodged a bullet so easily that our lockdown looks like it was all overkill, well, that’s a luxury that’s been afforded us by the simple fact that COV19 has NOT mutated into a super lethal strain… like the second wave of Spanish Flu.

    So Yes, maybe it is ok to ease lockdown, cautiously, but we have all got to be ready and prepared for lockdown to be slammed back down if COV19 comes back as something nastier.

    So, while we’re all hoping for the best, play the percentages. Wear your masks. Social distance. Wash your hands, … just in case COV19 isn’t done with us yet. Do the things that are easy to do.

    If time proves we’re all off the hook, then that’s terrific, but we should count our blessings and make good the flaws and faults in our lockdown and containment protocols, rudely exposed as inadequate by what has proved itself to be a relatively benign COV19, rather than a lethal one.

    The history of Spanish Flu shows us what can happen, not necessarily what will, but we surely know what what is possible and the warning signs to look out for…

    Sobering thought… If COV19 was a practice drill for Lockdown, judging by the spread, I reckon the UK failed it’s test, and would be sent home with “must try harder” on it’s report card.

    There are positives mind… I think furloughed wages has avoided a lot of heartache. Suspending MOT’s gets a tick too… measures that have actually been helpful.

  476. Sensibledave
    Ignored
    says:

    Cammy 3.38

    … if you are not part of the 77th, why are you doing their job for them by turning everyone off and away with your boring, repetitive, incessant pseudo intellectualism? People “see you” Cammy! Or, more correctly, see through you.

  477. callmedave
    Ignored
    says:

    Does the graphs & stats, no condolences and without barely a pause now the football!…. FGS! 🙁

    I see the 4 Nations graph showing details of hospital deaths have been missing for a few days now. Wonder why. 🙂

    That’s all folks.

  478. Armitage Shanks
    Ignored
    says:

    Breeks. The early indications were that the virus had already mutated multiple times to less harmful versions within months of it first coming to light as is the nature of corna viruses.
    My view is if it really was zootropic and a randy pangolin shagged a bat which then somehow passed it on to humans (really) then Im sure we would have culled the domestic cat and dog population just to be safe. But somehow no one ever suggested that. I

  479. Rev. Stuart Campbell
    Ignored
    says:

    “All this publicity might be too much for you.

    Do we need to put you on suicide watch?

    You seem a very vulnerable and fragile snowflake.

    Do we need to install a suicide inspection hatch at the top of your door, so we can look in and make sure you aren’t swinging from your crystal chandelier???”

    This is totally unacceptable. If people don’t start behaving themselves I’m going to put the whole fucking comment section on pre-moderation.

  480. Rev. Stuart Campbell
    Ignored
    says:

    “I’m very aware my welcome is in jeopardy, but I see that as a result of hostility towards ethical knowledge and moral realism. That hostility is not coming from me.”

    No, it’s coming from the fundamental disrespect shown to other commenters by treating the comments like a university workgroup rather than a community of people. Take a day off once in a while.

  481. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Sensibledave
    You see what you want to see, which isn’t the same as what I see. So I suggest you fill your boots. 😉

    Journal of Applied Social Psychology 42(3):598 – 623 · August 2011
    Social Representations of History and the Legitimation of Social Inequality: The Causes and Consequences of Historical Negation

    Abstract
    The stories of history tend to favor dominant groups. Two longitudinal studies indicated that ideologies negating historical injustice experienced by M?ori (the indigenous peoples of New Zealand) predicted increased opposition toward social policies promoting material reparation among New Zealand European undergraduates. Historical negation was, in turn, predicted by right-wing authoritarianism (Study 2).

    These findings suggest that the authoritarian motivation to protect the positive history of the in-group causes New Zealand Europeans to actively position historical injustices performed by earlier colonial generations as irrelevant. Positioning history in this fashion has important consequences for the mobilization of political attitudes and, in particular, opposition toward social and political policies relating to the distribution of resources and status within society.

    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230314326_Social_Representations_of_History_and_the_Legitimation_of_Social_Inequality_The_Causes_and_Consequences_of_Historical_Negation1

  482. CameronB Brodie
    Ignored
    says:

    Rev. Stuart Campbell
    Will do.

  483. Breastplate
    Ignored
    says:

    Breeks,
    If people with red hair were immune from this coronavirus, should they be in lockdown in empathy with others? It’s a serious question.

    Bob Mack,
    If you were self isolating, why would it matter to you specifically how many people went to work or to the park for a walk?

  484. liz
    Ignored
    says:

    @Breeks I’m not an expert but I did study microbial genetics and immunology as part of my degree.

    The Spanish flu was horrendous, all those poor people dying.
    The historically interesting thing for me was the timing.
    So many people’s immune systems would have been shot to hell with the stress of WW1.

    The soldiers in particular, probably had been carrying numerous low level infections for years, all of that would have put stress on their ability to deal with a serious infection.

    Viruses constantly mutate, and can even become weaker, after all they do not want to kill off their hosts.
    Be vigilant but unfortunately, there is a serious lack of experts in government.

    Antibiotics are only effective against bacteria, not viruses

  485. Bob Mack
    Ignored
    says:

    @Beastplate,and

    It doesn’t matter to me.We are adults. If you want to defy the regulations then please go ahead. We either listen to the amateur scientists on here or people who have done it all their lives for a living.

    Accept the consequences of your own actions whatever they be, whether fines ,illness or anything else.

    You decide for hou, but you only.

  486. Pete
    Ignored
    says:

    A Person 3.16
    B
    To your final paragraph -No

  487. Breastplate
    Ignored
    says:

    Bob,
    I don’t understand why you are being evasive.
    It’s a simple question and I know that you know the answer.

  488. Republicofscotland
    Ignored
    says:

    The ultra unionist STV news giving plenty of airtime to the unelected ermine vermin Jack McConnell, and what he thinks Scotland should do about getting schools back teaching, who gives a toss what McConnell thinks.

    McConnell who’s the poor man’s version of Tony Blair, returned £1.5 billion pounds to Westminster from Holyroods coffers, claiming he couldn’t find anything to spend it on in Scotland when he was FM.

    For this devious underhand act against Scots, he received his knighthood. McConnell was the FM that brought Trump to Scotland. If memory serves it was McConnell who allegedly chartered a helicopter for Trump, which in the process broke some Scottish parliamentary rules.

  489. North chiel
    Ignored
    says:

    Good to see Donald MacAskill from Scottish care commission put Andrea Brymer of STV news right on her correspondent using a predominantly English report on care home funding etc from Unison ( under the guise of the UK ) . He rightly informed her that Scottish Care home funding & regulations etc . is entirely separate from England .

  490. Beaker
    Ignored
    says:

    I see Boris is getting a paintjob on the aircraft.

    All I have are visions of his big face painted on the side.

    Type in “megabus glasgow” in Google Images and you will see what I mean.

  491. David
    Ignored
    says:

    Bob Mack

    All the regulations in Scotland change tomorrow.

    There will be far more freedom for all.
    More people will be allowed to meet,,, even in houses.

    More works will be returning, High streets opening up, outside drinks will be allowed.

    What will you do after tomorrow Bob?

    Do you agree with Sturgeon that this should be happening so soon?

    Would be interested to see what you think

  492. Bob Mack
    Ignored
    says:

    @Breastplate,

    Sorry I thought the answer was rather obvious. This started with one individual. Just one. Demand an end to lockdown all you wish, but remember you, also by that action ,take a degree of personal responsibility for those who die it anything goes wrong.

    Perhaps though you can disassociate yourself from that.

    I don’t envy Nicola Sturgeons job one bit.

  493. Breastplate
    Ignored
    says:

    Bob,
    I’m not trying to upset you.
    I’m merely trying to engage in a reasonable debate as I have follow up questions.
    As I’ve said before on here, we should all be able to adjust our thinking and therefore our actions to a logical approach to solving problems that face us.
    Emotional entrenchment is not conducive to reasonable discourse, just ask any Unionist.

  494. Bob Mack
    Ignored
    says:

    @David,

    I agree with the experts. If they say it is safer then fine. However, if you think tomorrow is going to be carte Blanche for everybody to do anything, I fear you are mistaken.

    Follow the science not the guesswork of amateurs.



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