Wings Over Scotland

Cheers, Chris! 🙂

Here’s another toon for a laugh folks. link to twitter.com

Chris, you spoil us!

Week after week you nail it. I’d honestly say that you’re the best toonster since sliced bread 😀

What a place to return home to roost. That cheeky fellow seems to be a bit of a showman… Can almost hear “raindrops keep falling on my head… But that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be turning red, nothing worries me, cos i’m never gonna stop the rain by complaining…”

Germans have been warned not to visit Scotland. Is it Covid or Sturgeon they’re warning about?
Plainly nurse Nicola’s health care strategy has failed.
775 ‘new cases’, whatever that signifies, in Scotland (pop. 5.5 million.)
Brilliant news, moving ineluctably towards the common-sense community immunity.
Scotland is the home of the concept of ‘common sense’. High time we applied it, yes?

Regarding MF-
The Westminster parties have top class problem solvers to
write scripts, lie and cheat their way out of trouble.

If Margaret was in the Tory party, you would have found that she didn’t
have a phone charger with her and her battery was flat so she was unable
to pick up the message about having Covid.

Although she had a test, she felt so much better the following day, she regretted
wasting her test.

On charging her phone at home and picking the message she reported the matter to all parties and
apologised.

Nicola has to publicly ask her to resign but she should be content that Margaret as an independent
would vote in support of all matters SNP.

The truth like Margaret’s has no place in Westminster politics!

Do not resign.

That Dick Leonard on BBC saying Margaret’s constituency has Scotland’s
4th highest furlough numbers?
Would that be because it has the 4th largest population?

Cancer treatments are down in her constituency and it had Care Home deaths
Yes Dick, just like your own and every other UK constituency.

Dick Dick Leonard.

Nice one Chris, Trump’s now in hospital, just like his kindred spirit was Johnson.

Meanwhile alliance for Independence, has changed its name to Action for Independence, due to the Electoral Commissions strict rules.

Well done Chris.

Chris,

I thought you would have done a sketch of the Nicola Sturgeon “Naughty Step”.

It is becoming rather crowded, is it not?

Maybe next week?

Lesley Riddoch got on the BBC as a journalist from
the National only because she was going to condemn
Margaret’s actions and propose she resigns.

We won’t hear the National’s name again unless it’s SNP Bad.

The SNP virtual conference taking place at the end of November will, I believe, cost members, who wish to join it, £30. Seems an awful lot for sitting in your living room watching whats going on through your internet. But of course they need to pay for the lawyers so perhaps members will be happy to pay. Might be worth it just for the chance to vote off a number of the NEC members.
I wonder how the ‘debate’ on alternatives to a Sec 30 will go (if they even debate it)? So easy to ‘have issues’ with connections if the debate gets a bit heated.
On other news there is talk of the Scottish Elections being postponed by 6 months to a year because of Covid…

Some people were predicting that Trump would “catch” Covid in October, especially if his polling numbers weren’t looking too good. And so it seems to be. The man never knowingly tells th0e truth.

-Willie-

I agree with you. If Trump survives it does look likely that he’ll be quite heavily defeated by Biden. I’m no fan of Biden’s, but such a result would teach the far right a lesson they can’t forget. But if Trump dies, his supporters won’t be forced to confront that reality and indeed may develop a theory that he was poisoned (because obviously there’s no way someone who interacted with thousands of people could contract a virus and there’s no way this nasty virus could kill an obese septuagenarian).

I like Donald Trump, he is a hard headed businessman and allways plays to win
America is a much better place with him at the helm
The democrats are just a sad bunch of bad losers, and to put that man foreward as their candidate for the presidency shows the mentality of them, that man is sick and they are using him so they can be the power behind the throne
What a disgusting party they are, and as for Mr Trump, yes he does put foreward some crazy stuff, but don’t they all at times, at least he has america’s best interests at heart, can we say the same about the present leaders of the SNP
The answer is a resounding big NO

Just got a reminder about renewing my membership from that nice Mr. Murrell. Given the number of times he’s probably written it’s no wonder he gets paid a lot.

There must be some good still in him. I can sense it. Why else would he start by writing “In these unprecedented times…”. So true, Peter. So true.

Schadenfreude, Chris? Always the lefties’ Achilles heel.

This virus has gave all the governments in the world the right to keep their populations suppressed, everything done by internet, no speaking person to person, people’s freedom is slowly getting eroded, the virus may be there but it’s the best exuse right wing governments were looking for, and if the cashless society comes about every thing we do will be controlled it’s nae looking good unless the people who vote can change everything before it’s to late.

I hope to be out of the country by November, and I never bother with conferences anyway, but I will be back for the election early in the year, why there might not be one is a complete mystery to me, the flu season will be over by then and life as we know it will carry on as usual, if you can go out to buy food or get the flu jab as I do every year then I am damn sure you can go out to vote
And btw, I will not go near any pub that allows this crowd of numpties to dictate their closing times, and it isn’t even lawful

Sheep Sheep Sheep baaaaaaaaa

Indyfan @ 9.18 am

Re Snp conference , Members with a visitor pass do NOT get voting rights for candidates to NEC and other committee elections It’s only members with a Delegate pass that are entitled to vote at conference, Delegate passes are only issued through the branches and you have to request a Delegate pass through the branch secretary .

The number of Delegate passes that a branch receives is dependent on the amount of members that a branch have . The more members a branch have then that branch receives more delegate passes than a smaller branch.

As soon as members are notified of delegate places available , get your application into the the branch secretary immediately although I know that some branches receive more members applying for a pass than they are issued with and then generally the names should be put into a hat and drawn that way although I’m sure in some branches it will be a case of if your face fits and your not a troublemaker you’ll definitely get a delegate pass .

When the last conference in June was to be held before it was cancelled and it was cut back to one day only and it was to be held in a much smaller venue then I know my branch delegate passes were halved compared to what we would normally receive .

Personally I think it should be all members that should have voting rights at conference as when you receive a delegate pass all voting for candidate elections to the various committees is done online anyway so there should no problems in making this system available to all the members .

Achnababan @10:12

Yes, a superb post by Wull.

This is simply a manifestation of common-sense.
link to unherd.com
C’est la vie! Get over it guys.

Wull’s post is probably spot on but what about all the other “do the right thing” minded people that are in position of power in the party and the Government. It’s easy to lay the blame for a situation at the door of an individual but if Nicola goes what of those who remain? Clearing house would be a good idea but it’s probably a mistake as well as it will likely take the good, the bad and the reformable with it. If there is ever a re-establishment of priorities for the leadership by the membership it might be better to focus on the constitution and the policies to ensure that this or a similar situation can never happen again.

A Person @9.49am.

Reading that Douglas Ross comment, it struck me that many Tories South of the border, now believe that Scotland will become an independent nation, and that their attempts to block it are merely just delaying tactics.

I would suggest that Scottish independence now rests in our own hands, and not the hands of Westminster, however we need an FM whose actually going to see the job through.

Stan Broadwood @8.59pm.

I think Sturgeon would be foolish not to allow questions, clarity is sorely needed at this time. The members and delegates, as well as the voters want clear concise answers on several subjects. anything less I’d imagine wouldn’t go down too well.

@Stuart MacKay,

Indeed. No individual and their spouse should ever be allowed such unqualified control of the party again.Ever.

Stuart Mackay

Yes good point. I agree that a total clear out is not a sensible idea at this stage and NS can stay in power if she can bury the hatchet with AS in some way.

It might be enough to clear out the WOKE faction from the SNP NEC in November if that is possible but I suspect several heads on plates may also be required by AS and his blue bonnets.

Head Number 1: Peter Murrell
Head Number 2: Lesley Evans
Head Number 3: Liz Lloyd

This would minimise political damage to the SNP and the movement but would a major ask of NS who is clearly intent on driving home her plan come hell or high water!!

Something tells me Melania did not catch covid of her husband?

@Stuart MacKay

I’ve often wondered what accounts for the fact that so few in leadership positions in the SNP have raised their heads above the parapet about the party’s recent travails. I’m undecided whether it’s self preservation, moral cowardice or just the fact that they are happy to go along with her prospectus?

Having left the party myself, and not having been a member long enough when I returned to Scotland to play an active role in my branch, I can only give my underlying impression. It seems that a lot of grass roots members are probably horrified with a lot of what is going on (stitching up Alex, the gender woo-woo fixation, kicking #indyref2 into the long grass, failing to deal with complaints and increasing authoritarianism in the party bureaucracy, the thin gruel of the Growth Commission) but have been convinced by the constant repetition of the “wheesht for indy” message, and the implied or even overt, party fiat that anyone who is off message is a malcontent and must be shunned.

I have my doubts the party can be saved, or indeed whether it is worth the effort. I honestly couldn’t stomach campaigning shoulder to shoulder with some of pieces of work who have delivered the party to where it is today. I wish “ordinary” SNP members luck, and hope they succeed but I want no part of it.

Even if they do cleanse the party of the Wokus Dei infection, clean out the NEC and amend the party’s structure to ensure the NEC and leadership are more accountable, the SNP is institutionally a “wet-nat” party. By trying to be all things to all people it has ended up being devoid of principle and fixated with retaining power for its own sake.

While miming adherence to the ultimate goal of independence, it has conspired to achieve virtually nothing: we are being dragged out of the EU against our will, we are further away from independence now than we were even on 19/09/14, and face a decade of Tory rule and the reversion of powers to Westminster that used to be Holyrood’s.

The good and reformable who are still grimly hanging on inside the SNP are likely to face a stark choice pretty soon. I hope more of them will realise that there’s no point throwing good money after bad. We have to build something better.

Another brilliant cartoon from Chris – superb draughtmanship.

Off topic for a moment:
Have to agree with the long perceptive post from wull (@2:05 am) on previous thread (parking the buses) comparing Sturgeon and Blair. Should be read.

I have also previously compared these two in terms of their ‘legacies’. Tony Blair’s legacy is forever the Iraq war. Whenever he pops up he looks tormented by conscience. Hundreds of thousands maimed and dead! What was he thinking when he was seduced into becoming the Bush poodle?

Sturgeon hasn’t reached that stage of self knowledge yet and as wull says she believes that she is on the side of right. She genuinely believes her carefully cultivated spin – great FM, Borgen like leader, great discernment of novels etc. Self righteousness defines her attitude, with much false humility added. Her daily briefings are are all about her and can be described as hand wringing extraordinaire. Her utter condemnation of her ‘friend’ Margaret Ferrier (on whom I have no judgement to make) makes me think who needs friends like that. Sturgeon is as wull says dangerous because she believes she is always in the right. Her personal choices, avoidance of Scottish independence combined with her zealotry for LGBTQ…. ideology, have put Scots in the undefended position we now find ourselves, vis-a-vis Brexit and the Internal Market Bill.

It is deeply depressing that so many of the independence supporting public are so gullible that they still can’t face the fact that Sturgeon is not an asset but a blockage. Thats why the self same media talking heads, who relentlessly attack Alex Salmond, don’t attack her because they actually approve of the blockage and potential implosion of the SNP cause.

I still believe folk like Kenny MacAskill and Joanna Cherry can save the day but it requires a speedy expulsion of the current leadership. At present it looks as though they will have to be forced out and I believe that process has started. I still hope Alex Salmond will return to our politics as he has integrity, a characteristic hard to find these days in politicians.

I think perhaps the English public are ambivalent about Scottish Independence ,but I also think the Westminster political class are not.

We have too many resources to let go. Among these is energy,both gas and electric and all the rest. Also becoming more important every year that passes is the elixir of life itself, water.

Countries have gone to war for such assets. England effectively already owns them ,so why let them go now?

That’s braw Chris, you’ve really captured the crop on that Turkey! 🙂

OT
Colin Dunn has a crowdfunder on the go. Wonder if Mr Murrel might consider directing some of that muckle Indy fund dosh to the fund as Colin appears to be doing more for the independence cause than some…

link to twitter.com

link to barrheadboy.com

One or two glitches in the podcast, but still recommend you listen.

She started out saying pretty much what I’ve been banging on about for years about Constitutional Sovereignty and WHY it has to be defended. WE WILL NOT WIN, EVER, until we familiarise ourselves with Scotland’s Constitution. WE WILL WIN, WHEN WE DO!

The UK Constitution is well described as “fog”, but Scotland’s Constitution, it’s origins, it’s provenance, the popular sovereignty of the people,… ought to be crystal clear to every single one of us, and defended as we would defend life itself.

However, as I’ve now come to expect, people will not dwell on the matter, but instead home in of what the SNP and it’s feckless NEC have been getting up to.

What has Scotland ever done to be cursed with Sturgeon and her useless cabal, at a precious time when Scotland need only trip and it would fall down an Independent Country. It makes me so fkg angry.

In this caring,loving,sympathetic modern world awake to the trials besetting our fellow humans I am surprised that the neurological effects of Covid19 have not aroused sympathy for those making wrong judgements while suffering from this virus.

I would advise Margaret Ferrier not to resign until the full diagnosis of her illness is known.

Yes I have altered my view from yesterday when I was overcome with anger but cool reflection demands better information.

Hubris is always followed by Nemesis according to the ancient Greeks – Johnson, Bolsonaro and Trump.

Exam Question NO.1 – Compare and contrast these self-styled macho males with the performances of various female leaders around the world: e.g. Jacinda Arden of NZ, Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan, Angela Merkel of Germany, Erna Solberg of Norway and Nicola Sturgeon.
Exam Question NO.2 – Should men be barred from positions of power above that of junior assistant file clerk for the next 200 years?
Exam Question NO.3 – If you could go back in time and kill Donald Trump when he was 45 years old, which method would you use: Fire & Brimstone; Pouring molten gold down his throat; Strangling him with his own hair?

Clydebuilt @11.38am.

My comment was composed on what Douglas Ross thought, he’s not pleased at his Southern Tory comrades, in that they think independence is inevitable, if Ross is to be believed.

Of course it goes without saying that the Tory government will do everything within its powers, and probably more, to keep Scotland in this horrendous union.

Isn’t it funny that I was just about to do the unthinkable and cut Margaret Ferrier a break and Famous 15 did it about the same time. Now I don’t know her at all, but I do know it’s hard for those of us who can;’t get a Coronavirus test this side of doomesday to be as aware that those and such as those to do with the state get tested pretty regularly as soon as they get a dog hair in their nose. I’m not saying that makes them complacent but it’s just a thing that has to be done sometimes without any symptoms at all.

From the looks of her diary on the day she was tested she was being a conscientious constituency MP going round the local businesses that would like somebody to give them a boost (bet they have a lot more publicity than they can handle now of course….) before heading back to Westminster. That routineness of having lots of things to do and less time ot think about what would happen if something unthinkable happened may be a contributary factor in what came after.

Now I’m not sure I would be any different if I took ill on a trip away and wanted to get back to my support network and familiar surroundings. I’d like to think I’d make a different decision but I can see why you might think “Oh God I have to get home”. I don’t know what family repsonsibilities she might have.

And then I read of course Boris’s response to a perfectly reasonable request from the Welsh First Minister. Like the whole place Wales has been wrestling with a spike in cases and has banned travel out of locked down areas for what as far as I can see, good sensible reasons. We had it here, they had it in Ireland in phase one. And they had it mostly in england unless you were the pal of the PM or a Royal heading for Balmoral. But the PM’s response is that it doens’t really matter whether the govenments of Scotland or Wales wish to restrict travel from England. He doesn’t want to so that’s that. Not based on scientific reasons. He just doesn’t want to. If you live in a locked down area in England, just get out the camper van nad head for somewhere that doesn’t have any Covid apart form the stuff you bring with you. Or Wales. Any pretence that this is an equal union was just blown wide apart by that simple statement this morning. England says no because it can.

Shug.

Kim Jong Un, has a unique way of removing buildings he thinks might be bugged by a foreign government.

link to 7news.com.au

Smug

“…anything built by Westminster will be riddled with bugs”.

Well, Alistair Jack will be often there, so that’s at least one louse.

@Ottomanboi says:
3 October, 2020 at 11:56 am
SNP goes ‘virtual’.
“If Zoom platforming, maybe need a timely reminder of the downside.”

Have a look on YouTube at Zoom meetings. Mainly from the US, some of them are really funny.

Dan @1:35

Fairlie would be an excellent addition to the SNP group at Holyrood. It’s good to see he gets that endorsement from Joanna Cherry.

Off the top of my head, I think Zoom video calls are limited to 45 minutes for free. If you want longer, then you have to pay.

So if the SNP are going to hold their conference over Zoom, then they’re going to have to ask the virtual attendees to stump up the cash if they want to participate.

So, they have to contact the membership first of all and find out how many are willing to pay and I’ll bet not many.

I wouldn’t pay for Zoom when there are many less expensive and free alternatives out there.

Zoom has only been going for about five minutes and not so long ago, maybe two months ago, they got hacked and a lot of personal data stolen.

I smell a scam coming up.

The unknown neurological effects of covid? I can’t tell if you are being serious as there are quite a few people these days that think that covid causes every illness under the sun. Its conspiracy theory land.

The biggest mistake that ferrier made was taking that test in the first place. She said she felt absolutely fine and only had very mild symptoms during the weekend, if she stuck it out for one day longer none of us would have been any the wiser. That will be the conclusion that many people, not employeed in the public sector and don’t have the luxury of isolation themselves for 14 days will take.

o/t
A brief look at BBC Scotlands website on the iPad , features Dross ” Independence not inevitable ” Aye ok son away and sit in some fkrs corner until the Adults take control .

The Bridge ” No Laughing now ” I can’t believe the National Propaganda Unit even considered this to be a story , I guess that they really believe all Jocks are brain dead and Stupid.

That’s it apart from the Donald’s drama Queen Act to avoid a serious kick in the Nuts in November

So the Dumb Jocks are treated to what’s referred to as Same Shit different day syndrome . Or to put it slightly differently What we don’t know doesn’t hurt us and by fk they are past masters of keeping stuff hidden from the plebs up in Jock land, makes you feel safe and wanted eh .

@ Keith fae Leith

How much data would Zoom gobble up in a Conference type setting? A quick google suggest up to 2.4GB an hour!
FFS that can’t be right can it? Not everyone has wads of cash for unlimited data use, and lives in an area with good internet connection.

Hi Dan,

Good point well made, I was merely countering the claim that somehow the SNP will be scamming their members by using Zoom.

Having used it myself (as host) for a maximum of 4 hours & 90 participants, I know that the upgrade is available, you can cancel it straight away & there are no extra hidden costs.

As to how much data it consumes, I’ve no idea. I’m one of the fortunate ones who has unlimited fibre-optic data. I do appreciate that this can be a problem & didn’t mean to be dismissive of the members in those situations.

link to rcpsych.ac.uk

Cop out, or genuine cause for concern regards unusual irrational behaviour?

A case study into new covid patient Donald Trump may not enlighten us.

Nice one Chris

Humza Yousaf
@HumzaYousaf
·
1 Oct
So angry & disappointed in Margaret, someone I consider a friend. However, being a friend or opponent in this regard is irrelevant. Her actions were utterly reckless. Police enforcement is of course an operational matter, but I support any action Police deem necessary.
Quote Tweet
Margaret Ferrier MP
@MargaretFerrier

—————————————————————–

With friends like Humza Yousaf who needs enemies, why even mention police action nobody else I’ve seen has mentioned it, what an odious backstabbing little shitebag he is

Margaret Ferrier made a mistake. But it is not a hanging matter.

She travelled to London before she knew the result of a test. On learning of the test results she then did what many people would do, returned home to self isolate.

Unlike Dominic Cummings who travelled 300 miles for an eyesight test, and who stopped his car and walked to a beauty spot to be sick, the difference is staggering.

The smell of rotten politics is overpowering.

Excellent article, wull. Spot on.

AS told her that Murrell as Chief Exec was a bad idea. The Party, MSPs and MPs all controlled by one couple. He was right.

Absolute power, over many years, has had the inevitable effect.

English Tory MP Peter Gibson travelled home by train in March after having been told his symptoms could be covid. He got slapped on the wrist by party and media.

Margaret Ferrier does something similar and she’s front page news and treated as if she’s a war criminal. Including being vilified and cast out by senior, and rather suspect, people in her own party.

Surely the most fair and sensible response would have been a middle course between the leniency shown to Peter Gibson and the excessive harshness shown to Margaret Ferrier.

@ Keith fae Leith

Nae bother, was merely asking as this move towards online meetings and discourse being the only way to communicate because of covid restrictions feels like it is disenfranchising folk from having any say in matters.
Basically you now have to be sufficiently affluent, internet connected, with appropriate IT kit and skills or your input will be lost.
Maybe I am just a luddite but what would be the issue with sending a survey to members to complete and return so a true picture of what the membership aligns with could be obtained.
How can one or a few delegates for a Branch at an online conference cast votes a certain way to influence the direction the Party takes without knowing if that view is supported by the majority of their Branch members.

Meanwhile… List Party voting continues to be discussed…

link to twitter.com

Why is it some folk disparaging the concept of a Pro-Indy List Party can’t or won’t recognise that there are issues with particular SNP and Green party policies and behaviours that mean voting for them is now difficult for some people.

If it is a Craig Dalzell states, all about building a Pro-Indy majority within the electorate, surely having an alternate Pro-Indy Party option for folk scunnered with SNP or Greens pursuing batshit policies would be a good democratic way to go rather than disenfranchising these people.

@Dan says:
3 October, 2020 at 2:57 pm
“How much data would Zoom gobble up in a Conference type setting? A quick google suggest up to 2.4GB an hour!
FFS that can’t be right can it? Not everyone has wads of cash for unlimited data use, and lives in an area with good internet connection.”

I got a unlimited data sim through Carphone Warehouse offshoot for £21 per month. Got a dongle from work.

Downside is the ISP is Three4G, which means download speeds vary considerably…

A Zoom Conference? Stand by for “technical difficulties” when the awkward squad arrives.

I’m very rusty and certainly not claiming I’m an expert or have extensive professional practice, but ensuring due legal process and access to the Right to Health was pretty much central to my professional training. That’s why I know Scots have been criminally let down by the failure of our legal offices and legal Establishment, to defend the potential for Scots to enjoy access to their Right to Health (see Brexit). Tories the lot of them, apparently.

BMJ 1994;309:184 (16 July)
Medical ethics: four principles plus attention to scope
link to ht.lu.se

So the first thing the SNP needs to do is purge the ‘Spear agenda’ and start recognising natal women as a legal phenomena of equal significance to natal men. If they hope to support the principles of open democracy that is. They might also discover a capacity to defend Scotland’s constitutional identity, which is presently obscured to them by their anti-foundational approach to law and politics.

Ethical Theory and Moral Practice (2020)
Epistemic Injustice and the Attention Economy
link to link.springer.com

A Person @1.51pm.

I totally agree with that, I was trying to put across that Ross, feels that his masters down South aren’t trying hard enough to save the union. But we know fine well they won’t let us leave without using every dirty trick in the book first.

I’m certainly not defending the response to covid-19, as I know a bit about policy development, public health, and crisis management. I’m also not suggesting my opinion is sacrosanct, as I’m rusty and have insufficient evidence in front of me. I’m guided by theory and instinct, and I try to remember that it’s ultimately the Tories calling the shots, and they are ideologically hostile towards public health ethics and the principle of equality in law. 🙁

Law and Method
Comparative Rights Jurisprudence: An Essay on Methodologies. Special Issue – Comparative Law
link to bjutijdschriften.nl

Glad that Victoria Gianopoulos-Johnson is gone from the ISP. Personally never liked her from the start; too vain, preening, and opinionated, revelling in all her attention as a New Scot. And a proven political hindrance too, if her strange hard swing from left to right vis-a-vis American politics and supporting Trump is concerned. Guess there was a Republican/Tory lurking not far beneath that wannabe-famous veneer.

ian Brotherhood, what are you suggesting should have happened with football? You seem to be arguing that the restrictions on fans and football are unnecessary.

I think a lot of unnecessary stuff has taken place. Had we gone into lock down earlier and tightened the borders, we could have stamped this virus out almost entirely.

Instead Nicola and Jason tried to sell us Herd Immunity. They deny that now, but that was the intention. They stopped trying to sell it when westminster which was calling the shots bottled it. Puzzling that they’re trying it on again now.

I’m from glasgow and would be happy to see all glasgow football clubs go to the wall. The damage their tribal crap does to society is unacceptable. It’s the same with pubs.

Why are we being asked to give special consideration to industries that basically inject poison into society? Fuck them.

Ian Brotherhood

I honestly thought this bug was the best chance ever for Scottish Fitba to sort itself out. However, I also recognised, for that to happen, there would need to be an outbreak of common sense and intelligence along the sixth-floor corridor at Hampden – and that is unlikely to happen.

I thought Mike Mullraney spoke well, but, it is the same old problem with the SFA – what they do next will depend on what Peter Lawwell decides is in the best interests of Celtic. (In years past it was what was in the best interests of the Old Firm, but, Rangers have enough problems of their own at the moment.)

The majority of Scotland’s clubs COULD be performing in front of crowds, with correct social distancing, but, I don’t think the football officials could be trusted to organise things properly around the rules.

Social distancing will never work with the Bigot Brothers, their fans simply would not obey the rules.

Also, I doubt if there is any real interest within the ruling elite of the SG in sport as a whole, far-less football. The game is well down the list of priorities, so, I don’t see anything happening any time soon.

In fact, I am fairly certain, we will lost a few clubs before this is over. This will be sad for these clubs, communities and fans, but, in the longer run, just bring about the roots-up changes we need to make Scottish football fit for purpose.

I think, by the way, Scottish Rugby, while also making mistakes, are better placed than the SFA to come out of this reasonably well placed to move forward.

@Ian B 6.14: the discussion was between Neil Doncaster and Mike Mulraney, vice-president of the SFA, I think. I’d be interested in Socrates’ opinion but I don’t listen anymore to recorded statements from the likes of Leitch. Come on and argue your case face to face but don’t hide behind a PR release. I get the feeling Stuart Cosgrove in particular is uncomfortable with Leitch’s magnificent interventions.

The BBC are firmly behind the relentless pushing of the Cummings Covid agenda so it’s little surprise Radio Shortbread play Jason’s wee tape for him.

I suspect those at the top of the SG (and probably many on here) view football as a predominantly male, working-class preoccupation and therefore not worthy of consideration but there is little doubt clubs will go to the wall the longer that this goes on and it won’t be the big city teams but the small-town community ones, clubs which contribute to these towns’ sense of identity.

This could perhaps be accepted as a price worth paying if the inconsistencies in the Covid regulations post-total lockdown were not so glaring obvious e.g. hundreds of people on a plane cheek by jowl on an aircraft is fine (great lobbying by the likes of BA and Ryanair) but a few hundred supporters spaced out in stadia capable of absorbing thousands is not.

@ Beaker

Exactly. It’s a scam. There WILL be technical difficulties but I suspect it will be cancelled due to lack of participants which allows them to say that they ‘tried’ to hold the conference.

Fuck’s sake, we’re led to believe that the Murrells don’t discuss matters with each other in their own house, yet they’re going to have an online conference!!

Watching the 1978 fitba campaign on BBC Scotland. We have been in dire straits before. I was disheartened then as now but we came back from that disaster and we will rise again.

I Have noticed a fair amount of comments regarding Margaret Ferriers actions or alleged actions .
Question as I haven’t seen a verified account or her actions by the MP herself so with all due respect any comment is at best conjecture and assumption .

The SNP as a political party ,their representatives must be either brainless and lacking the political will to deflect and at least show some kind of support for a long established colleague , citing in her defence , the daily if not weekly variations to restrictions issued by the Tory Government, also the previous movements of HM Prince Charlie , Government Adviser Cummings and I guess many others who are conveniently forgotten by Humsa when he made his Police comment , as was mentioned ” With friends like him who needs enemies ” .

Throwing Colleagues under , well looks like they are running out of busses so I guess any moving object will do as long as it matches the speed of light the SNP management have perfected , any slight or even suspected indiscretion is not only jumped on from a great height its totally obliterated , innocent until till proven otherwise seems to have been forgotten in the rush to wipe out the suspected perpetrator , its really a very unsavoury site watching the party machine at work .

Ok on the face of it she apparently made some not so clever decisions that’s easy to criticise in hindsight , Hindsight a gift that eludes everyone but seems to be recited as total fact when it suits

Margaret Ferrier was nobody of note until by a quirk of fate, she found herself elected to the Scottish parliament for SNP. Suddenly, she found herself catapaulted into an unimaginable life of an MPs salary, a virtually unlimited expense account, a private office in Westminster and all the associated trappings.

So she has all that but not one single shred of integrity.

She won’t give up her current lifestyle just because of the trivial act of breaking the law. She can pay the fine, say it was part of her parliamentary business and reclaim the fine on expenses.

And you want people like THAT running an independent Scotland?

She should have been fired immediately or forced into a position where she had no option other than resign exactly as happened with Dr Catherine Calderwood.

Couple of things:

Mist001 doesn’t know what he is talking about re zoom. If the host has a premium account, then it is free for the attendees, it is a well respected and competent tech company that had a minor data breach that is irreverent for context that this is getting discussed here, there is loads of info on it in the internet.

Re ferrier, and am astounded that folk on here are defending her. She has acted like an idiot, wilfullly broke rules twice, once when she knew she had symptoms and once when she had the fucking disease that we have all turned our lives upside over for the last six months. She has endangered hundreds and is a national disgrace. What amazes me that someone this stupid and arrogant was seen fit to put forward as a MP. She may have lost the whip, but every day that she is in the public eye, she embarrasses the SNP and the Indy movement.

@CameronB Brodie 9 52pm
Now that’s a beezer of a post!

Tannadice Boy
Thanks, I do my best. 😉

Handbook of Bioethics pp 183-202
Philosophy of Medicine and Medical Ethics: A Phenomenological Perspective

Summary

The phenomenological orientation I have taken differs from the usual derivations of the ethics of medicine from the applications of existing moral philosophies to medical practice. It departs from the many current alternative ethical theories like narrative, casuistry, caring and principlism.

Each of these, however, grasps some aspect of the life-world of doctor and patient. None is by itself sufficient as a philosophy or ethic of the clinical encounter. By bracketing these theories at the outset, the phenomenological orientation offers an alternative which may come closer to the thing in itself; namely, what medicine is as a human experience and a moral enterprise.

Keywords
Medical Ethic Clinical Encounter Phenomenological Analysis Philosophical Inquiry Moral Diversity

link to link.springer.com

stuart mctavish at 8:16 pm and
Graeme @4:11.

May I concur with both your views.

It might be purely coincidental, but both the Tories and the ‘Spear agenda’ seek to separate Scots further from international human right law, and to prevent us from accessing our right to be healthy and to live in a safe and healthy environment. That’s what rejecting the Natural law and Common law reasoning does.

International Library of Ethics, Law, and the New Medicine © 2000

The Hermeneutics of Medicine and the Phenomenology of Health: Steps towards a Philosophy of Medical Practice
link to springer.com

A Person @1020pm.

No need to apologise, we’re all on the same side.

Tannadice Boy
Thanks. This stuff might be intellectually dry and a bit of a turn-off, but this is the sort of stuff you need to know if you are serious about supporting democracy and the rule-of-law. The right to health can’t be separated from democracy and the rule-of-law, all three are mutually supportive and interdependent cultural institutions.

Scots are simply being denied constitutional government that respects the legal principles of “universality” and “equality in law”, as our legal Establishment are criminally Tory in outlook and practice. And the SNP have been infiltrated by poorly trained ideological zealots.

International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics, List of Issues > Vol. 11, No. 2, Fall 2018, pp. 1-13
Introduction: Feminist Phenomenology, Medicine, Bioethics, and Health
link to utpjournals.press

Tomorrow’s National,

link to pbs.twimg.com

Not until the terms of brexit are known.

The Sunday National twitter,

link to mobile.twitter.com

sorry…. this is the sort of stuff you need to know if you are serious effective about supporting democracy and the rule-of-law.

Scotland’s constitutional emancipation doesn’t really have much of a chance until we can bring our criminally right wing legal Establishment to heel. Simples.

Empirical Ethics in Psychiatry
Theory and methodology of empirical ethics: a pragmatic hermeneutic perspective
link to oxfordmedicine.com

We are all here to gain the “luxury “of condemning all well paid politicians for their behaviour and roll on the day we have such a right, but right now we don’t !
In independent Scotland I’d like to think we would not put up with this sort of thing on any level and we Scots would have our representatives in such a position that they wouldn’t dare.
As I said the other night we might want to think of wearing our Indy hat on this.

The British Nationalists (of all stripes) will take care of the condemnation side of things over her and still say not a word of their own peoples behaviour.
So the massive condemnation box has been well ticked and will nae doubt continue to be too.
Should we join the fray?

The balance is surely ( as usual) out…. we’re left shouting alone about the behaviour of ALL politicians and the British only notice ours .
Ours are condemned on every platform and at every level and theirs not so much!
Do we really want to do this?

No one ( and certainly not her ) is saying that she is innocent of the accusations but should we not at least offer her the same protections as the British do to theirs, ( we are stuck in their system after all) and at a minimum hold our own council till we are free to consider if she’s Holyrood fit ?
And…. AND apply our OWN standards to the issue?

Why are we “joining ” in a British led British style pile on .
Which potentially ( remember that Indy hat ) throws an already risky seat which was safely Scottish into British hands!
Or should we front it out and not help bring that seat into play?
While mibbi no the arguably right thing to do , it’s certainly the political move we, I think ,should be willing to make.

I never said she was right to do what she did , ( like the supporters of the others who messed up try to do ) I’m saying that given all the circumstances that we know of just now , it is defendable.
Every one has a pain or symptoms that go away or reduce on making an appointment or getting a prescription …. that’s why the ” took the test felt better ” thing rings true to me.
She could have even felt a bit silly going for the test and just put her original symptoms down to an over reaction.
Carried on …. and got the shock of her life when told she was positive ?
And as , I said , with a potential death sentence confirmed getting home when still able to is an understandable reaction….. no the correct one fur sure….but understandable.
So
If this is no evil personified E.G. Creating a detention centre/concentration camp on an island but rather the demonstration that even a fancy salary won’t overcome the instincts to get hame.
Why should the Yes movement risk being a man down in the coming confrontation ?
They sure as shit never would!

Sorry but I’m still not making sense….this is the sort of stuff you need to know if you are serious want to be effective about supporting democracy and the rule-of-law.

Comparative and Continental Philosophy Volume 9, 2017 – Issue 3
The Phenomenology of Moral Normativity
link to tandfonline.com

Dave Somerville
I can see why you might have nae mates if you think that was funny. Perhaps it might help you to develop some self-awareness and a depth of perception that you could drown a sparrow in. Only a guess though.

Phenomenology of Illness
link to hypatiareviews.org

Off topic, but may be of interest, my comment below on WGD’s deliberations about Gove etc wanting a vote in any future Scottish indy referendum. link to weegingerdug.wordpress.com

**************
There is clearly a lot of confusion over a national voter franchise, in the article, comments, and also at Scottish Government level.

In practice it matters less where a person is born; rather, nationality is normally determined by parental descent.

The Scottish referendum franchise in 2014 based on residence (and not parental descent) was therefore highly irregular (if not corrupt) and is not reciprocated in any other country. In other countries a residence-based franchise is only ever used for minor local and municipal government elections – a residence franchise is never ever used for national elections or referendums.

Scottish people resident in other countries are not permitted to vote in national elections or referendums there unless they hold national citizenship of that country. This confirms that the Scottish franchise is both irregular and is not reciprocal.

The self-determination of ‘a people’ refers only to ‘a people’ as defined by specific aspects and accepted international norms such as: a common culture, heritage/history, language, ethnicity, sense of belonging, and common suffering. It does not mean those peoples from many other countries and holding to different national identities who happen to have an address in Scotland; most of the latter ‘peoples’ already benefit from having their own national independence/self-determination.

What Scotland should do/have done is first identify who the ‘national’s of the country would be if the country were already an independent nation. And here the parental descent rule and norm would be decisive. Thus, if one or more of your parents are Scottish and you live in Scotland you get a national vote. Simple, clear, decisive, and the international standard.

As the author James Kelman said, if you want to know your national identity look at who your relatives are!

After independence is secured, residents in Scotland who come from other countries may then apply for Scottish citizenship if they wish, much as they would need to do in any other country. However people from other countries and therefore holding different national identities cannot be forced to take Scottish citizenship, and neither should they be invited to block Scottish citizenship/nationality for Scottish people by being given a national vote prematurely (ie without applying first for Scottish citizenship, which can only lawfully be done after independence).

In summary, the Scottish franchise is a mess and primarily serves to inflate the ‘No’ vote.

OFFS, the twisted and perverted logic some folk apply here to justify their politics, is simply quite stunning. I was obviously trying to clarify my position is not intellectually or morally exclusionary, though my poor syntax was undermining my effort.

Our understanding of cultural bias is pretty essential if we are to prevent arbitrary and dogmatic legal practice from undermining our potential to be healthy and happy.

Ethnicities, First Published March 31, 2011
The eidetic of belonging: Towards a phenomenological psychology of affect and ethno-national identity

Abstract

In this article I discuss the way affect has featured in discussions of identity, focusing on ethnic and national identities. While affect features in most discussions of ethnicity it has mostly been dismissed as a testament to the irrationality and dangerous qualities of the identity in question. Such discussions adopt a simplistic model of human psychology, usually based on a hydraulic model of the emotions.

After considering some recent and pioneering work that foregrounds the role of affectivity in group formations, I proceed to outline the basis for a phenomenological psychology of affect and group identities incorporating insights from psychoanalysis and phenomenology. One cannot begin to discuss the proper role of identity in the public sphere without first considering the emotional dynamics that underlie such group formations.

Keywords
affect, emotion, ethnic sentiments, ethnicity, identity, nationalism, phenomenology, psychoanalysis

link to journals.sagepub.com

That Humza Yousaf quote. WHOAH! That man is disturbing. Seems to like setting the cops on folk, or trying to do so through ill-thought-through legislation. None of his previous governmental posts were anything to do with legality/justice. His background for the post would seem to be dubious. Nice wee authoritarian streak building there. Matches the authoritarian streak in the party at the top in general, mind you. I never thought in my lifetime I would see this sort of vile swill in Scotland. Ferrier? Idiot. Ypu put people’s lives at risk, step down, see ya. The wording of the quote from Yousaf is interesting, though:

“So angry & disappointed in Margaret, someone I consider a friend. However, being a friend or opponent in this regard is irrelevant.” Why mention ‘opponent’ in this context? Odd choice of words. He would probably say he was being ‘impartial,’ and I would say…AYE RIGHT.

I saw Mhairi Black sneering at her ostensible colleague in The National (which becomes increasingly polarising and hateful by the day) too. I guess the concept of party solidarity is a 20th century one. Why did Black have to have her say on the matter in the paper? Who cares? What does her opinion matter? She just loves the attention. They all do. Creepy. And they snipe and gripe at WOS and its readers as being ‘divisive,’ even as they tear each other to shreds to try and show their moral and ethical ‘superiority.’ Oh the irony.

CameronB Brodie @ 12.30

That ethnicity and identity stuff seems the key to any ‘Yes’ decision, despite the fact some folks nowadays think its taboo, i.e. PC/woke. And hey, whitdaeyeken, culture and language form the basis of identity, with peoples in self-determination conflict typically being linguistically and culturally divided (ie Scots speakers Aye and Anglophones No). Phenomenology is the way to go, in my opinion. Cambridge Analytica also go big on the ’emotion’ vibe, which has firm linkages to (national) identity, and hence to culture/language. Your on fire!

@ Gfaetheblock

“Mist001 doesn’t know what he is talking about re zoom. If the host has a premium account, then it is free for the attendees, it is a well respected and competent tech company that had a minor data breach that is irreverent for context that this is getting discussed here, there is loads of info on it in the internet”

Since I made clear in my original post that I was saying off the top of my head, I never claimed it was precise but since you’ve taken issue with it, let’s have a look at Zooms sales page:

“A host can have unlimited meetings.
Each meeting supports up to 100 participants.”

How many attendees are the SNP expecting for their ‘conference’? According to Zoom, they can only have a maximum of 100. It’s going to cost the SNP 46.50 euros for any more than that.

500,000 private Zoom credentials were stolen. Now, it’s not on the scale of the Sony breach but for a new company, 500,000 is a bit more than a ‘minor’data breach.

My own belief is that if you are a professional organisation, you would NOT use Zoom. Most people like the SNP use it because The Guardian promotes it and tells them it’s good. However, even a cursory Google search would make any serious organisation look elsewhere, because would you use this?? I wouldn’t.

link to tomsguide.com