Yesterday we reported the excellent news that US media giant CNN’s travel arm had named Scotland their No.1 travel destination of 2013, a move likely to generate many millions of pounds in increased tourism business for the Scottish economy. And to their credit, both the Scotsman and Herald also covered the story.
(Though neither of them apparently recalled the extensive coverage they’d given to the Holyrood opposition parties savagely attacking the Scottish Government for spending money on two trips to America to promote Scotland there in 2012.)
The Herald’s piece was so tiny and buried it attracted no reader comments (or none were approved), but the Scotsman’s more prominent article did. Why not take a moment and glance below to revel in the warmth, joy and positivity with which the publication’s Unionist readers welcomed this unequivocally happy development?
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“Hugh A. Cameron”
YES, get here in 2013, because should the separatists get their way it will not be worth coming to after 2014.
“annieannieannie”
Yes, tourists had better visit Scotland now before our “haunting glens” are ruined by the SNP’s wind turbine policy which is destroying the beautiful Scottish countryside.
“Tony Marlow”
Better come quickly before the snp’s/alex salmond’s wind farms destroy everything.
“Nabodican”
As our long distance trails are in the process of being turbinised, I find it difficult to believe that anyone will want to walk them.
“Graham Slater”
Dear American cousins, come to beautiful wild Scotland and be enthralled. Take your boots and hire bikes and canoes. You will be warmly welcomed. Don’t worry about the wind turbines spoiling the views. The SNP will be rejected, along with their useless windmills, in 2014.
(A recurring theme quickly develops. Although poor Graham seems rather confused about the date of the next election, bless ‘im.)
“Spooked”
I’m going to ask the cybernats the same question as I’ve asked in a couple fo replies below. But I’ll do it again here at the “top level”
What’s stopping us now? What is happening to curtail incoming tourism to Scotland that depends on secession from the UK to remove the block? What would you do that you cannot do now given that you already have numerous Scottish organisations dedicated to promoting Scotland?
Oh and please make it reasonable, if you tell me you’ll create the Alex Salmond Major European Hub Airport in Falkirk and everyone will fly there, then we’ll all laugh at you. Commercially viable replies only please
(Absolutely nobody had in fact suggested that tourism was reliant on independence.)
“John MacIntyre OBE”
Just a pity the Scottish National Party had to issue a press release implicitly claiming credit – The SNP’s party political exploitation of a country’s natural beauty, and international sporting events such as the Commonwealth Games and the Ryder Cup, is just slightly distasteful.
(The press release in question in fact makes no claims whatsoever, explicit or implicit, that the SNP was responsible for the decision. It makes no reference of any kind to any actions of the SNP or the Scottish Government.)
“Mr Super Bad”
SCOTLAND is PROUD being part of UK. 75% of ALL SCOTS want to remain BRITISH. Salmond speaks for Nationalist minority.
(Um, righto. Thanks for your input!)
“Pictish Don”
It’s amazing what short memories we have. Before King Alex of the Salmon dynasty was annointed as supreme leader of the Scottish diaspora it was a terrible place. the mountains were flat, the rivers ran uphill and the Western Isles were covered in polluting coal mines, steelworks and chemical factories. since Big Eck the transformation has been wonderful and people visit unheard of places like Loch Ness, the West Highland Railway, Edinburgh Castle, the Forth Bridge etc. I am always amazed just how quickly the SNP built these attractions and got them to become world-class icons in a few short years.
also the incredible work he has done in linking our 2 main airports with fast rail links to improve our accessibility is wonderful……………………
Oh and how can I forget the most important thing…………………he got the Trumpfharter to Aberdeen and built a golf course so that Aberdeen is now of world renown whereas nobody south of Muchalls had ever heard of it before and even even better St Rupert of Murdoch and Woollamalloo is showing confidence in us in centring his esteemed and prestigious literary production facility here
if this carries on I can predict that one day soon Scotland will get its first University, will discover antibiotics, invent the rubber tyre, the telephone and the television
(Feel free to take a breath any time, Don.)
“windwiseradio”
Yes! The possibilities for walking in Scotland make folks like me want to grab their gear, grab a flight, and grab some outdoors time! We also worry that the window for enjoying Scotland is closing fast as the SNP turbine onslaught continues unchecked. We started a petition to tell Salmond to stop siting huge turbines (and their associated pylons, etc). in the scenic lands of Scotland. NO ONE is coming to see your wind power plants…
(People sure do hate clean renewable power.)
“John MacIntyre OBE”
I think the reality is that CNN’s placement is in spite of rather than because of Alex Salmond and his fetching ensemble of matching blue tartan trews and tie. Alex Salmond isn’t an international asset – he’s an international embarrassment for Scotland.
(Would clashing tartan trews and tie be better? We’re confused.)
“dixon hawke”
Obviously CNN didn’t go to Grangemouth on a driech weekend.I went there once…it was closed.
(Actually, Dixon, they saw you coming and just pretended to be out.)
“rider000”
Scottish tourist board ‘regrets’ advert
Tourism chiefs have apologised for using pictures of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center in a document setting out opportunities to attract more tourists to Scotland.The brochure, produced by the VisitScotland tourist board, was used at an industry briefing attended by political journalists and Scottish ministers last week.It carried pictures of the twin towers beside the heading “Opportunities.” It suggested the September 11 terror attacks would encourage people to spend their holidays in “safe destinations,” close to home.The 18-page presentation was part of a £3 million marketing drive to promote Scottish tourism.
Opposition politicians quickly condemned the document, and the Reverend David Smith, a relative of Trade Center victim Richard Cudina, said he was appalled by the images.The Scottish executive released a statement apologising on behalf of VisitScotland, a public body.
(Um… what? Also, is everyone’s spacebar broken or something?)
“the victor shall be heard”
It must be assumed that no one from CNN ever bothered to actually come to Scotland. It’s inconceivable they did and still came up with this tosh. No one in their right mind thinks Scotland is anywhere near the top destination in the world. It may well not be the top destination in North West Europe never mind the world. It’s pretty rubbish here if everyone is being honest which, of course, they won’t be.
“the victor shall be heard”
Milligan – wee jowly eck is an utter disgrace and an embarrassment to all of Scotland. Also, the Mail is a first class paper. It’s online content is the busiest internet site in the world. Nae luck eh!! What really annoys people like you about the Mail is it tells the truth, it calls the stories bang on and it is not afraid to speak the truth. It seems to really wind folk up. Long may it continue!
(Quite the double whammy, there.)
“Mr Super Bad”
A half million pound holiday to watch the Ryder Cup?
A trip to California to watch a cartoon?
Where is the evidence of the benefits of these taxpayer funded trips?
(Someone may not have read the article they’re commenting on.)
“Scozzy”
Spoiled by the presence of dogs allowed to run amok by irresponsible owners and trashing the environment even in Natural Heritage Areas where the likes of red squirrels used to be abundant. The sooner dogs are prohibited from such areas and restricted to dog parks the better.
(Makes a change from windmills, we suppose.)
“Alan”
I try to promote Scotland wherever I go but I feel my efforts are betrayed by the covering of whole swathes of the countryside with wind factories.
Lochs, Glens and Turbines just does not have the same appeal.
Whoever came to Scotland from CNN must have been carefully steered away from the Borders or the Ochills.
(Ah, that’s better.)
“Ancient wisdom”
April 1st comes early. If we’re top destination how come so many hotels are struggling?
(Because we’ve only been top destination for about 16 hours?)
“Agammemnon”
I can’t be bovvered with midgy,violent,alcohol-swilling Brigadoon!!
(Nice that Tony Blair found time to comment.)
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So there you have it. Something nice has happened to Scotland, and her proud Unionist patriots are naturally delighted. With this sort of go-getting, can-do attitude, we feel confident that Scotland’s future is secure no matter who wins the day in 2014.
– “the Mail is a first class paper. It’s online content is the busiest internet site in the world. Nae luck eh!! What really annoys people like you about the Mail is it tells the truth, it calls the stories bang on and it is not afraid to speak the truth.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2185257/Justin-Bieber-tells-Prince-William-stop-hair-thinning-FEMAIL-gives-celebrities-Bieber-look.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2169188/How-womens-eyebrows-reveal-hail-better-accents.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2242694/A-Royal-Beauty-US-forensic-artist-imagines-Kate-Williams-child-look.html
etc.
Oh dear, poor Rider000,
He does try I suppose…
Scottish tourist board ‘regrets’ advert
A classic backfire in that its an article from 2001 and the Henry McLeish (Labour) administration.
Methinks they are all written by raving cybernats to give Unionists a bad name.
What’s stopping us now? What is happening to curtail incoming tourism to Scotland that depends on secession from the UK to remove the block?
Well, if you are aiming to have people visit Scotland (or increasing trade for that matter) then actually having Scotland marked on maps would be a good starting point.
As for the turbines thingy. Poll after poll shows strong majority support for renewable energy, including wind, in Scotland.
It therefore puzzles me why unionists consider this a good line of attack. I’d have thought focusing on unpopular SNP policies might be a better idea surely? It’s a bit like shouting ‘Look, the SNP are not privatising the NHS and doing their best to limit the impact of horrific Tory Welfare cuts – surely you can’t vote for such good policies!’. Funnily enough, Johann Lamont is now coming from that direction is she not.
good grief.here we are in the dark days of winter looking for some brief rays of cheer to lift the gloom and we get this lot.Interesting to note although all seem to believe Scotland is pretty awful,and parts of it are to be honest,not one offers anything positive to relieve this situation just-“its crap.Lets stay that way” oh and “blame the SNP” etc etc.The No campaign in a nutshell.Or “case” judging by some of those comments.
There’s Scottish unionism for you. Every silver lining’s got a dirty big black cloud behind it.
Don’t you love the Unionist glee club?
I spent a period reading comments in the Scotsman (I’m interested in delusion) and was surprised at how many of them came from people living in England, some are Scots but a lot of them pretend to be Scottish and living in Scotland.
As to turbines, maybe they are just a physical reminder to the more rabid Unionists that the SNP are in power. I’ve never understood people’s opposition to them and don’t believe that any of them would rather a nuclear power plant next to their house.
And what type of person comments on a newspaper and appends OBE to their name? John MacIntyre OBE – the only one that I can find works for DEFRA. Obviously it can’t be him as he wouldn’t be allowed to make political statements.
Anyway, long may they continue to ‘inform’ the debate with their trenchant insights.
I wonder if the scottish people were as incensed about electricity pylons appearing on the landscape as some of our unionist friends are about wind turbines .
As for spooked comments regarding a European hub airport at Falkirk ? I for one would welcome a truly international airport in Scotland be it at Falkirk, Glasgow , Edinburgh , Prestwick or anywhere else In Scotland as it would save us hundreds of pounds having to fly down to London for connecting flights .
@Cuphook
The John MacIntyre OBE you are referring to is … Team Leader of Waste Management Division, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Woking, Surrey.
So he’s actually British Government (SE variety probably Conservative given the location).
@Cuphook
Sorry, you’ve already mentioned he’s employed by by DEFRA.
That’s the man; but surely someone must have appropriated his name as he wouldn’t be allowed to make political comments, given his Civil Service status. Then again, I’ve met a lot of eejits in my life.
Yay, less than two years to go.
Those jolly, yet self-loathing northern Brits (is that cockney rhyming slang?) really do make being north British so very special.
Reporting Scotland and the Daily Record presented this news as if Skyfall, the latest James Bond movie had a big part in CNN`s choice of Scotland. You know, as in “clearly a bonus of being British”.
@Cuphook
Well, the Woking, Surrey address is his personal one and he’s writing under that (in Herald comments), as his place of work is in London. So he’s making these comments as a private citizen I suppose. I’ve seen a some public documents which he has authored under DEFRA and he takes EVERY opportunity to have OBE after his name.
I’m guessing that anyone with an OBE is of the Civil Service grades prohibited from making any political statement, even in a personal capacity.
If it is him I’m sure that the Scotsman will expose this abuse.
A quick check of ‘The Victor Shall Be Heard’ exposes him as a The Rangers loving Royalist who supports the use of aggression against council employees doing their job.
Lovely people.
I see that on the Better Together Facebook Page is using the show that was on last night to try to say “Why would we give this up?”
At least a few of the people who support them are even questioning that tactic…Maybe they, along with those who comment like those above, are beginning to have doubts in the ability of the No campaign to provide a “positive” of the Union…
I think my comments on wind powerstations in wild land are what got me banned from NNS, so i’m saying nothing here!
I’m pro renewables, btw.
“I think my comments on wind powerstations in wild land are what got me banned from NNS, so i’m saying nothing here!”
Nobody gets banned for their opinions here, man. I do think we need to be careful where we put windmills, and I think wave and tide are where the real gold is in renewables so we shouldn’t be going overboard on them anyway, but I do hate people wildly overstating the terrible blight on the landscape that wind installations represent. I get that there’s a separate environmental issue on the Menie estate, say, but anyone going on about needing to preserve the aesthetic beauty of that particular bleak, desolate bit of miserable freezing North Sea coast can sod off.
Am I the only one thinking, Alistair Darling’s sockpuppets?
I love ‘the aesthetic beauty of that particular bleak, desolate bit of miserable freezing North Sea’.
I’ve been a backpacker for years, and love disappearing for a week into the hills. There is nowhere else like our Highlands in Europe. The glens are empty for sad reasons, but are one of the few places left where man is the outsider, and the wildlife has a mainly undisturbed life. I speak to lots of foreign backpackers, and it is the lack of mans footprint that attracts them.
It is a big subject, and i don’t really want anything to hurt the YES campaign. I’ll simply not vote SNP after 2014. Most hillwalkers i know are pro independence, and have been voting SNP through gritted teeth because of the innapropriate siting of wind powerstations, and the hundreds of km of access tracks bulldozed through valuable peat lands.
Juteman
At one point, five or six years ago, I was involved in the preparation of planning applications for windfarms.
Believe me, it is incredibly difficult to site a windfarm and its access tracks; SSSIs, nesting birds, watercourses, RAF flight paths, interference with phone masts and old ruins are some of the main ones that spring to mind.
I know that they are controversial but I generally feel that opposition to them is overblown. Personally, I can live with gravel tracks through peat bogs.
Growing up with nuclear power, as my father worked at Dounreay, I know that I’d far prefer that nuclear wasn’t in the mix; he has lost many fine colleagues and friends to cancer although, of course, the UKAEA won’t admit any liability, preferring to blame anything but Dounreay.
juteman juteman, “and the hundreds of km of access tracks bulldozed through valuable peat lands. ”
Here we go again. I live next to and visit Whitlee, one of the largest wind farms in the EU. Not one gram of peat has been “lost” to the construction of Whitlee or any other windfarm. Yes peat has been moved. They have used it on Whitlee to create run of ponds and embankments that are now flourishing with plants. The peat is still there doing what it has done for millennia. To destroy peat you have to burn it, no peat is being burned. Crofters and small holders burned peat for thousands of years in Scotland. Scotland is still here and the peat continues to grow. Yes peat grows did you know that?
I totally disagree when you say that there is no where else like the Highlands in Europe. I spent many happy days and nights cross country skiing in Norway when I was in the army. There is wilderness a plenty in Europe. I want to see Scotland as a vibrant country that allows people to live sustainable lives on the barren desolate land. I want us to support and nurture our remote communities and encourage them to grow and enrich them selves. So that instead of driving from Lairg to Tongue through lunar landscapes that belongs to some posh Lord Snooty in London. I want to see the townships and homesteads return the way it was before Patrick Sellar and his thugs ethnically cleansed the glens on the orders of his London master.
I am sick fed up reading about the marvellous wilderness we must cling on to. WHY? For some middle class bean muncher to wander around contemplating life? Oblivious to the lives that were destroyed to create his bloody wilderness. If you look at the landscape in Scandinavia, it has all the signs of life and successful human habitation everywhere, owned by the people who live and work there. If you want to wander aimlessly in desolation, they tell me the Gobi is perfect. Scotland deserves much better.
We look out on a wind farm every day from house and garden. We think they look fine, good even! They add something great to the hill of Towie, clean green energy production and a road to walk on. (Although I have not been up there yet). Wind energy is clean, works and provides jobs: http://www.scottishrenewables.com/scottish-renewable-energy-statistics-glance/
Land based wind energy will be the cheapest way to produce electricity into the future. Cheaper than offshore, cheaper than tidal and cheaper than gas. http://newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-economy/6500-renewables-offers-lower-bills-than-gas-and-nuclear-says-new-report
Land in Scotland is not untouched by human hands. If it was it would be covered in ancient forest and you would not get much a view past all the damn trees 🙂
So all I can say is: learn to love the turbines. They are your faithful friends making a major contribution to a clean energy future and providing sustainable jobs.
http://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2013/01/04/from-the-province-of-the-cat-dounreay-is-a-war-crime/
http://www.robedwards.com/2012/12/huge-leap-in-radioactive-discharges-from-dounreay-runs-into-opposition.html
Seasick Dave. I totally agree with you some of the hysterical guff we read on forums regarding wind farms is pathetic.
I read one comment on a blog about the concrete foundations used for turbine towers that were leeching poison in to the ground, and had destroyed the ground for ever. I wonder how many million tons of concrete has been poured on planet earth today?
“They are mincing the birds.”
“I passed a wind turbine yesterday and it was not moving.”
Mind you passing one of them would tend to distract you, and make your eyes water.
“I am sick fed up reading about the marvellous wilderness we must cling on to. WHY? For some middle class bean muncher to wander around contemplating life?”
I’m a typical working class Scot that hates his job, and is stuck in a factory all week. I don’t see any sunlight Mon-Fri in the winter months.
I’m no ‘middle class bean muncher’, and my weekend dose of ‘wildness’ is my answer to the mind-numbing existence of ‘normal’ working life. Should i use the traditional Scots method of alcohol anasthesia?
@Henbroon
I agree with you; the sooner that we get the highlands and the islands repopulated the better. Lots of countries have wild areas in which people actually live.
The land should not belong to the rich but to the people.
As to the Lord Snooty and chums, all I can say, from my teenage years, is that when they went to London they used to leave behind a stocked wine cellar.
Hen
I was in a car once with an opponent of windfarms and he was rattling away at how they despoiled the skyline and were a disgrace and that Fat Eck (yes I know) should be ashamed.
I asked him if he ever walked in the area of the windfarm in question and, surprise, he hadn’t.
I also asked him if he was upset about the many existing pylons and, surprise, he wasn’t.
Personally, I find the proliferation of large road traffic signs to be a bigger blight on the landscape and would willingly remove large numbers of them if I thought that I would get away with it!
I am not anti-wind power, even though we have no way of storing the power. The various ones in Dundee don’t trouble me at all. As an engineer, i love the clean lines of them.
Holy moley, what righteous shower of warm hearted well wishers. Clearly glass half empty types. 🙂 D’you reckon the poor dears are feeling a tad threatened in their world view of Scotland?
@Juteman
“we have no way of storing the power”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_hybrid_power_systems
More ways we could be leading the world.
That’s all theory at the moment Andrew.
The only practical solution at the moment is pump storage.
Cuphook – John McIntyre OBE is a retired civil servant (DEFRA) who comments most days in the Herald. He lives in Surrey but (all his words) comes from Dunfermline. He was seriously taken to task a few days ago for referring to 16 and 17 year olds in “Kelty and Cowdenbeath” as “numpties”. So being honoured doesn’t necessarily imply good manners or even honour.
I note he has not been near the Herald for a few days.
What a pile of self-loathing crap from these Unionist posters. Hope they’ll all bugger-off somewhere else after we’ve kicked the UK into touch.
My brother drives for Rabbies Tours, and he is still being kept busy with tourists throughout the dark winter months. He says that the turbines are not deterring tourists from coming here. In fact, many people comment on how much they like them.
The Unionists seem reluctant to embrace new technologies, which is mirrored by their feudal superiors in Westminster. Perhaps we should build a new generation of nuclear power stations on their doorsteps?
some people obviously did not get michael kelly’s memo to shut up and leave the destructive positive negativism to Scottish labour.
“I’m a typical working class Scot that hates his job, and is stuck in a factory all week. I don’t see any sunlight Mon-Fri in the winter months.I’m no ‘middle class bean muncher’, and my weekend dose of ‘wildness’ is my answer to the mind-numbing existence of ‘normal’ working life. Should i use the traditional Scots method of alcohol anasthesia”
Change of job then? I appreciate your point but why should the Highlands be turned into some sort of refuge for people from urban areas?
The place is a created wilderness and a false one at that as pointed out. The land is part of the people and the people are part of the land, it should be a living environment not any empty husk. I am just back from a trip to see family in Uist and the community built windfarm at Loch Carnan is now close to being ready and shall be a great asset to this fragile community. More power to them, in fact it just a shame the benefits of many of these developments in the rest of the Highlands shall flow into the pockets of private landowners yet again.
Great post, HenBroon.
My family were permanently moved from their home in the 50’s to site a nuclear power station. We can return in 600 years. A wind turbine can be removed in a weekend with no lasting damage.
Every last kilowatt of electricity produced by wind power now is used immediately in preference to gas or coal generation. There’s no need to store it just yet. We export it to rest of UK and eventually rest of EU. Storing the energy can be achieved using pump storage or converting it to hydrogen. This not pie in the sky, it’s just going to be a while before we need to store the energy from any amount of wind power such is the need for this electricity Europe wide.
.. but what is the wind doesn’t blow?
Tidal energy is on its way, pump storage, hydrogen, or import electricity on the EU wide grid.
That might seem like a bad idea, and it might be for energy security I suppose but Scotland will continue to be a big net exporter of energy..
“Every last kilowatt of electricity produced by wind power now is used immediately in preference to gas or coal generation. There’s no need to store it just yet. We export it to rest of UK and eventually rest of EU.”
That’s because Scotland is already self sufficient in energy supply by existing sources.
Any more energy we produce goes to the grid, increases our carbon footprint, and is done simply for profit.
I’ll say no more on this subject, as obviously most folk seem to depend on the MSM for their information. I don’t want to create any disharmony on a pro independence site.
.. but those existing sources, gas, coal, nuclear are all going the way of the dodo .. We are not producing 100 equivalent in renewables yet.
Our exports in future will be a great generator of revenues for Scotland, via taxation. It’s a great opportunity
Juteman, you aren’t the only hill walker worried about turbines. At the moment there aren’t too many in Scotland, but we do have to be careful not to kill the golden goose. Mid Wales these days looks pretty bad from the hilltops. At least the saving grace with onshore turbines is they can be removed fairly easily once they become redundant.
Interestingly there are fewer turbines in England than Wales or Scotland. England is not as windy of course, but still windier than most of the rest of Europe. East Anglia is the perfect place to site turbines, near to the large population of the south east and no high value landscapes to ruin. It’s a mystery to me why there aren’t more there.
Windmills? Beauty and ugliness are in the eye of the beholder, are they not? I think there’s something quite beautiful in watching the wind converting to energy in such a graceful way. I was driving down the motorway near Perth and on one side of the road, I could see windmills and on the other side I could see none. If I didn’t want to see them, I could just look at the other side of the road. It’s not compulsory to look at them, after all.
I also spend quite a lot of time in Argyll. They don’t offend me here, either. I’m just grateful for having a clean source of energy and knowing that they’re not leaving behind a nasty legacy that could affect the health of future generations. Look in between them – you’ll still see a beautiful landscape. I find them quite relaxing and have a sense of wonder at our ability to work in tandem with nature.
Juteman for every one of you who demands the right to access his little bit of wilderness, there are many more who do not, and no they do not drink them selves in to a stupor. There are many activities in Scotland that happily co exist with the environment including pylons and wind farms. Go to Whitlee for a wee change at the weekend and see for your self. You will see hundreds of people families and elderly alike enjoying a part of the country side they never would have dreamt of going to before. To demand we keep our selves as nothing more than a wilderness betrays for me a degree of selfish self interest when you consider the maths.
On the other hand I can access plenty wilderness one hour from my home in Lanarkshire if i use my car, or perhaps two or three hours if I use my bus pass. it is still there, no one has taken it away. There is plenty space for wilderness wanderers in Scotland far to much as far as I am concerned. This hysteria about wind farms is just nonsense.
Great post Jeannie. I totally agree that windfarms are actually very graceful and beautiful. When surveying a scene of spectacular mountains and rivers, I would rather not see them there, but that is not where they are sited. They generally occupy flat empty moorlands which no-one wants to see anyway. When driving up the A77 towards Glasgow, the site of a whole forest of windfarms takes my breath away, and adds something to a landscape that was previously devoid of any interest. I cannot understand why some people are so against them, and suspect that the majority such people are in fact not hillwalkers, as real hillwalkers know that the places THEY like to go to, will not be touched.
One thing that I feel has happened to our unionist friends over the Christmas break is that Labour party Central office have sprinkled a bit of positive cheer towards the troops at grassroots level and above.
They have all been reminded of the great victories scored in the may council elections when they swathed to victory right across the land. They held Glasgow, bolstering their majority. Johann lamont has been at the fore front of the charge at Holyrude (correct labour spelling by the way) where she has kept Salmond in check and pushed home the idea of tough decisions to be made.
The call has gone out that Labour are going to win in 2015 – all their polling data says so! And 2014 will never happen says IanSSmart.
Its been a happy Christmas for our Labour chums and they are being friendly sharing their good news with the rest of us.
Why could anyone imagine that they were the ones being deluded?
Nice photo by the way Rev
RevStu, I know next to nothing about photography, but that picture is indeed very striking. Do you know how it was taken? Was it enhanced or manipulated in any way? As I assume you didn’t take it yourself, where did it come from?
As a bit of a science fiction fan, I also find the wind turbines aesthetically attractive – the big ones that is, not the domestic-size ones. From back in the 50s and 60s, SF art has shown futuristic constructions gracing old and familiar landscapes. Past and present and future combined, a visual representation of progress, and of technology sitting peacefully in the planet’s folds.
When I see the turbines, I see that art made real, and it gives me a happy shiver.
“RevStu, I know next to nothing about photography, but that picture is indeed very striking. Do you know how it was taken? Was it enhanced or manipulated in any way? As I assume you didn’t take it yourself, where did it come from?”
Sorry, I don’t recall. I just Googled “Scottish scenery” or some such.
I’ve belatedly become aware of several references to me on this page of the Wings Over Scotland website. These references include the suggestion that I work for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), as such “he wouldn’t be allowed to make political statements” and that “he’s actually British Government (SE variety probably Conservative given the location).”
As a result of contributing to debates on The Herald and The Scotsman websites, several other contributors to those debates have checked me out on Google. In response to the out-of-date information that was found by those who felt it necessary to check, I’ve confirmed that I retired in August 2011 and I’m now as free as anyone else to engage in political debate. I’ve also been asked several times whether I’m in the pay of the “no” campaign and the answer is “no” – I’m not in anyone’s employment. I’ve also confirmed that I’m not and never have been a member of any political party; and I’m not in any way associated with any of the independence campaigns.
I get it, a lifetime of waste brown nosing made you a jOBE. A jOBE willing to be an ‘independent’ (you could’nae make this up) ‘No’ campaigner! You must be after a Sir JOBE title now, for loyal service to the unionist cause. I bet that the good folks of Dunfermline – you know that freezing place you visited recently – are glad that you moved south. You must be one sad piece of work to put your wretched OBE after your name in newspaper article comments.
LITTLE RAYS WILL BECOME,VERY LARGE RAYS AFTER SEPTEMBER 2014
VOTE YES !
FOR VERY LARGE RAYS OVER BONNIE SCOTLAND.
Like you Juteman, I believe I was banned from Newsnet Scotland for not toeing the party line on wndfarms. For a site which tries to highlight censorship, they do a pretty good line in it themselves.