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More phantom news

Posted on August 19, 2016 by

For several years now this site has been drawing attention to the weird phenomenon of phantom news – stories presented by the media without even a shred of supporting evidence yet treated as unquestionable empirical fact. And recently there have been more phantoms around the Scottish press than an episode of Scooby Doo.

rodendaisley

The thing Alan Roden – who prefers intimidating ordinary members of the public by doorstepping them and vilifying them in his paper – links to in that tweet is an article on the Herald website last night. And it’s a weird article, because it’s an extensive, quote-laden story about something that doesn’t appear to have happened at all.

heralddaisley

The first thing to note about those intro paragraphs is that absolutely no such thing has in fact “emerged”. Neither STV nor Stephen Daisley has made any admission or claim that the broadcaster has “called a halt” to Daisley’s commentary.

(Ironically, of course, the Herald is the newspaper which really DID gag two of its own journalists when they were the subject of pressure from a football club.)

The closest thing to evidence backing the assertion is the observation that Daisley hasn’t penned an opinion piece for STV since July 19, which is only a month ago. It’s the summer “silly season” for politics, and with both the UK and Scottish parliaments in recess all journalists are struggling for material.

Indeed, as far as we can tell, in the four weeks since Daisley’s last, a wild-eyed rant about Labour, the STV comment section has only published (excluding one in Polish that we can’t read) eight opinion columns in total, by eight different people:

Kevin McKenna on onscreen rape and violence

“Scottish rapper” Darren McGarvey on how the SNP are bad

Chloe Marvin on how Jeremy Corbyn is bad

John McTernan on how independence is bad

Labour MSP James Kelly on how the SNP are bad

Hannah McGill on how Andrea Leadsom is good

Andrew Collier on how “cybernats” are bad

Melanie Reid on how men are bad

So it’s not like Daisley’s right-wing views have exactly been going unrepresented in the station’s output anyway. And Daisley himself has merrily continued trolling Nats on his Twitter account the whole time.

daisleymurray

The fact that neither Daisley nor STV has given any statement saying that he’d been subject to any sort of sanction – the broadcaster in fact said that “Stephen Daisley is a key contributor”, present tense – didn’t stop Unionist politicians falling over each other in the rush to go on the record stating it as a fact:

heraldmsps

And it’s not until the very last line of a 700-word story – by which point, as we know, almost all readers have stopped reading – that we get the categorical denial from the SNP that they’d exerted any pressure over Daisley whatsoever:

daisleydenial

We’re sure the former Scottish Conservatives media adviser and News Of The World reporter will be fine, though. He has plenty of eager and staunch defenders – no less a figure than Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Parliament’s opposition, leapt to his aid this morning with all the bullish alacrity of a burly man outside a polling station.

daisleywix

davidsondaisley

But he hasn’t been the only Unionist painted as a martyr to the vile Nats this month. It’s just a couple of weeks since David Torrance did a dramatic flounce off Twitter, citing non-specific, unseen abuse from those awful cybernats.

And earlier this week the papers were full of TV presenter and aggressively-Unionist columnist Neil Oliver saying he too had been driven away by the beastly monsters of social media.

olivertimes

oliverexpress

oliverscotsman

Every report on Oliver’s rage-quit states as an unchallenged fact that “internet trolls sent him messages saying they hoped he got cancer and said he was a traitor who deserved to be burnt alive”. Yet searching Twitter for messages directed to Oliver’s now-closed account produces no evidence of any such abuse whatsoever.

oliverabuse

Searches for “burnt” or “burned” produce no abusive results at all. And searching for “cancer” turns up not people wishing that Oliver had the disease, but people angrily reacting to HIS OWN use of the term to refer to independence in an extraordinarily provocative Sunday Times interview in September 2015 (followed by a similarly belligerent column in the same paper in May this year).

olivercancerous

Of course, when a pro-independence paper reported that anger, right-wing Unionist hacks belonging to Daisley’s clique had joyously celebrated the hurt feelings of people who’d lost relatives to cancer and objected to Oliver’s language:

olivermartin

(Oliver’s Twitter account was very little-used anyway, despite its large following. The most recent snapshot of it on archive.org is dated 3 May 2016, but the last tweets shown on it are from 6 September 2015 and show him gleefully boasting of how many people he’s just blocked. He’d made only 1,978 tweets in over five years of having the account, or roughly one tweet a day.)

oliveroct23

So a theme is developing. Oliver, Torrance and Daisley have all gone out of their way to antagonise and provoke supporters of independence, then have suddenly become victims of terrible supposed abuse that we’re not shown and that nobody can find, such that they’re “hounded off” social media (rather than, say, using the block and mute functions) or out of doing their job – even though they’re still in their job – and the media goes off on another orgy of hyperbole about dreadful “cybernats”.

(The Herald having prepared the scene earlier this week with another attack on them, from the same author as the Daisley story, based on comments made by embittered former SNP advisor Alex Bell at a Fringe “debate” also featuring right-wing Unionist Alex Massie and impartially hosted by, er, David Torrance.)

gordonbell

gordonfest

gordonfest2

Comedian and columnist Frankie Boyle – who’s been the subject of plenty of very real threats himself – has recently remarked on the phenomenon of phantom abuse:

“I find it incredibly worrying that we no longer need to hear the actual content of the thing we’re told to be offended by. We hear of people being arrested for tweets without the tweet being reported; comics are blasted for routines that aren’t printed; newspapers hire lip-readers to find something to get offended by at the tennis and then print the resulting fuckfest as asterisks.

And who decides whether we should be outraged at something we haven’t seen or heard? The press. Our seething collective Id. None of us would trust a journalist to hold our pint while we went to the bathroom, yet we allow them to be ethical arbiters for the entire culture.”

But there’s nothing new about it, certainly not in the world of the Scottish political media. And if it had only happened in the last few weeks, we could have put it down to the summer silly season and desperate hacks with nothing else to write about.

But when it happens consistently, year after year, whether it’s Stephen Daisley or Susan Calman or David Torrance or “ordinary mum” Claire Lally or Neil Oliver or Cara Hilton or Chris Hoy or JK Rowling or Nigel Farage or the nurse who definitely wasn’t an actress, it looks a lot more like a modus operandi.

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Roboscot

The ‘Scottish Six’ is a current issue, so journalists being intimidated is a good reason to have our news from England instead.

Chitterinlicht

All feels very coordinated.

Not sure it’s a viable long term tactic.

I found Neil Oliver recent article deeply offensive and ignorant and struggle to taken him seriously now.

Disagree with David Torrance on a lot of stuff but he took my occasional twitter interactions well and in good humour

Looking back over the last few years I worry Stephen Daisly has been abducted by aliens. Blocked me so not sure what has been doing recently. He has talent as a writer just feels very unbalanced sometimes. As Wings points he has not gone anywhere.

Hey ho

Capella

It is also reminiscent of the coordinated “spontaneous” resignation of the Labour front bench in the run-up to Chilcot. Drip drip drip – on it goes. Could the connection be the discredited SPADS who think that smear and innuendo is a good way of discrediting your political opponents?

Drip drip drip…

Brian Doonthetoon

” LibDem MSP Mike Rumbles added: “That the SNP felt compelled to lean on STV to stop a journalist writing says more about them than it does Stephen Daisley.”

“During the referendum we saw crowds protesting at BBC Scotland with the tacit backing of Alex Salmond and senior colleagues. This sorry episode suggests nothing has changed.””

Yes, we saw the protests at Plantation Quay and yes, as far as the blatant bias goes, nothing has changed. Wonder when the next protest rally will take place?

Jack Collatin

I posted this earlier on Macart’s excellent ‘Who needs a sword?’ piece guest scribing on WGD.
‘This way of life has to end’.

This is a quote from an activist from Montgomery, Alabama, late 1955.

As most are aware, public transport in the US Southern Sates was segregated, with a ‘coloured section’ at the rear of ‘buses, with the front of the ‘bus reserved for whites only.

When the front seats were full, African American passengers on the front rows of the ‘Coloured Section’ at the rear were obliged to give up their seats to white passengers boarding the ‘bus.

On the 5th of December 1955, Rosa Parkes, along with three others were ordered to give up their seats to white passengers.

While the three others complied, it was in fact a city ordinance, Parkes refused, was arrested, and fined $10 plus $4 court costs.

This momentous event is credited as the beginning of the modern American Civil Rights Movement.
75% of public transport users in Montgomery were African Americans.

The Boycott which followed, soon spread across the South, and lasted 381 days, despite a Montgomery Federal Court finding in June 1956 that the segregation violated the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. (What a good idea: a written Constitution.)

Car pools were organised, black taxi drivers charged the 10 cents equivalent of the ‘bus fare, and folk just walked to work.

Although the City held out for over a year, money talked, and the ‘buses were eventually desegregated.

Oh, yes, and the young 26 year old, elected to head this Movement? The Rev Martin Luther King, who 8 years later, in 1963 would deliver his ‘I Have A Dream’ speech to the throngs in Washington.

‘This way of life has to end’.

I have instigated my own humble boycott of Unionist MSM, and Big Businesses who have suppressed and distorted the Independence message Up Here over the past 4/5 years.

I will no longer sit at the back of the ‘bus, and give up my right to express pro Independence opinions on social media sites, because the Unionist/ Brexit /White Man demands that I vacate the space to give them even more room and advantage on the overcrowded platform than that which they have now.
After 50 years, I have stopped buying the Dead Tree Scrolls. The play on Dead Sea Scrolls is deliberate. Crumbling papyrus, spouting ancient myths and warnings of damnation if we stick to our evil ways.

Last time, Asda, M&S, RBS, Barrhead Travel, Standard Life, and a whole raft of the Elite Ruling Class were ordered by No 10 to put the frighteners on the Northern Horde, if they voted for Self Determination., and our Fourth Estate Fifth Column, being part of the US Dominated World’s Elite, duly obliged.
I have never set foot in, nor would I give my custom to any of the merchants’ and Money Men’s stores , nor will I ever again.
I’d urge others to join me and boycott firms, supermarkets, Money lenders, and media outlets which continue to pound us with threats , lies, and distortions like this.

‘God gave Noah the rainbow sign, no more fire, no more water, the fire next time.’ Spiritual quoted by James Baldwin.:’The Fire Next Time’. (outstanding BTW)

No more Mr Nice Guy.

No longer do we give up our seat at the debating table.
The Fourth Estate is the Unionist Fifth Column.

You may recall in the movie ‘Jaws’, Quint, Chief Brody and the terrified oceanographer Matt Hooper, aboard the fragile ‘Orca’ hunting the Great White rogue shark.

Buckets of bloody chuck were spooned into the ocean to lure the shark towards the shallows.
While taking his turn Chief Brody turns to be confronted with the triple rows of sharks teeth and the beast’s giant head emerging from the water and almost boarding the craft.

‘We’re going to need a bigger boat!’.

Well, the blatantly Unionist MSM , particularly on line, are casting ‘bloody chuck’, in the form of the now quite ridiculous ‘opinion pieces’ , SNP BAD piffle, and Kezia is orgasmically wonderful crapola, into the troubled waters Up Here, in the hope that we, who support Independence will ‘rise to the bait’, and access their pathetic little sites, and earn another 1/2 cent click for the Imperialist US and London media owners.
I commented last week that I shall never mention that bespectacled bearded buffoon who deranged juvenile Unionist junk via HS again; well that goes for the whole tawdry bunch of hacks and TV talking heads out there in YoonLand.
You have run out of bloody meat chuck and fish heads. We are a still circling your pathetic little craft, ready .
You’re going to need a bigger boat, next time, come Indyref 2.
Our ‘pen’ on independent media has grown exponentially in relation to your pathetic clickbait nonsense shrinking into a laughable and ugly SNP Bad Hatefest shrivelled peanut.
We no longer have a dream. We are living the dream now. Our pen is mightier than ever.
Independence is now an inevitable reality.
Selling Advertising Space for the Auchtermuchty Gazette is a noble profession, or so I hear.
O mores, o tempora.

,

Macart

Jinkies!

I reckon Mr Boyle’s quote nails it. 🙂

Training Day

Quite remarkable how these ‘journalists’ – shills for corporate interests, big business and anti-democratic elites to a man and woman – reach for the ‘freedom of speech’ mantra when the interests for which they perform as ventriloquist’s dummies are challenged.

‘Journalists’ like Gordon, Daisley et al have never in their careers uttered one syllable that is truly ‘free’.

louis.b.argyll

What does Alex Bell actually do now?

Why is he deliberately turning into a McTernan/loser.

Where’s his positivity! Have the tory press promised to give him a gong if he helps trash the SNP?

Grouse Beater

Putting incessant black propaganda down to the ‘silly season’ presupposes the entire bloody year is a silly season if the puerile, abusive, and mendacious behaviour of Scotland’s press and pundits is to be judged.

JayR

It does depress and anger me on a daily basis just how amateur, corrupt, insidious and vile establishment “journalism” in Scotland and the UK really is. But at least more and more people can see through their tricks these days…and ignore them.

Jack Collatin

Edit: ‘God gave Noah the Rainbow sign: no more water, the fire next time.’
I really must get the anger out of my typing.

louis.b.argyll

Unionist idealists’ future..

Dame Jackie Bird
Lord Torrance
Sir A Bell
Baroness Rowling..

Sorry, had a longer list.. but starting to feel a bit sick..

Kevin

Oliver, Torrance and Daisley; that’s three less irritating trolls we’re being denied. I enjoyed seeing them being swatted with ease. Lightweights.

Next!

Dan Huil

Just when you thought the britnat media couldn’t sink any lower…

Don’t buy britnat newspapers; don’t visit their websites; let them go out of britnat business…

Clootie

…and the unionist media will continue production of mud for slinging as they are convinced that with their control of “News” that it can be made to stick.

A Relentless negative presentation of the Independence movement and those involved are the duty of the loyal unionist media. If they cannot bait someone for a headline then they will spin a quote out of context. If that fails they simply make up a story and each outlet quotes the others as “source”

Journalism is dead due to this drive to push propaganda. This is the last ditch effort to hold the remaining unionist vote intact. The SNPbad, evil cybernats, one party state, nazi mind control etc etc

Why are the unionists so angry? It’s simple – they are no longer free to print/report lies and propaganda without challenge.

It is why I support and promote sites such as Wings. A site which produces facts with links to source. A site which provides history capture of tweets to prove the “offended” are liars.

Well done Rev and thank you!

Onwards

I don’t know the situation with Daisley, but I could understand if STV were embarrassed with his behaviour.
They cater to all of Scotland, and would surely prefer to be seen as having a neutral and balanced political stance?

Daisley started off that way, but quickly changed. He obviously sees himself in the role of an outspoken right wing ‘opinion former’, rather than a balanced journalist.

Fair enough, but someone like that is more suited to the Daily Mail or the Telegraph which make no secret of their political agenda.

[…] Wings Over Scotland More phantom news For several years now this site has been drawing attention to the weird phenomenon of […]

Schiehallion! Schiehallion!

Wouldn’t it be great to live in a country where the TV news was interested in examining this phenomenon?

ScottishPsyche

It is definitely the theme of the summer. Even Camley the cartoonist had a go this week.

Yet they point to their digital traffic figures as some sort of triumph, not acknowledging that most of the clicks are for stories on a US teen idol’s’ love life or on a slow day throw in something about Rowling’s twitter.

The political commentators of our day have emerged as a grubby lot, scrambling around for clicks and now creating the news to get them. I suppose the NOTW modus operandi had to go somewhere.

The story was obviously set up well in advance with Daisley urging his followers to FF ‘Spanner’ and well aware of the reaction to follow. His self imposed twitter silence this morning speaks volumes.

So any bets on who is next?

Grouse Beater

Neil Oliver, bone picker and hair flicker; is there anything else to his character?

Dcanmore

It’s the end of times, that final batshit crazy period before the inevitable.

The Union is in its final throes.

Marcia

What a lot of people read in newspapers today are just opinions and smears by a small clique, not real ‘news’. They give journalism a bad name. How dare we criticise them, don’t you know your place?

Scott Borthwick

Daisley was occasionally entertaining ‘way back in 2014. The quality of his output dropped markedly once he was admitted to the Rowling club.

As for news outlets manufacturing news; this phenomenon has always been with us, and it seems pathetic in these days of globally-connected, rolling news.

Sad though it appears to those of us who are paying attention, it serves two important purposes. It hardens the opinions of those we would seek to persuade as it seeks to flush out a reactionary element who may provide the evidence of abuse after the fact.

Whilst it is a concern, I believe that hysterical, fact-free reporting is symptomatic of the waning influence of these outlets.

Hamish100

It does show how yooniiists and brexiters are actually worried over Scotland. By voting out of the EU they have clearly demonstrated the differences between Scotland and England and in particular in relation to social justice including immigration, nuclear weapons, war, NHS etcetera.

The nut jobs posing as journalists or even historians are I believe helping our cause. Yes some right wing nuts like Carsewell and Rumble of the Baillie spout off and are believed by some like right wing fisherman leaders. As they say this is the calm before the storm but the brexiters are on the back foot in Scotland.

SOG

OT – The BBC’s self-reported credibility score, seems to be 72% in Scotland…

link to theguardian.com

harry mcaye

Yes, thank you Rev. These papers don’t have long to go. Their death is imminent and they will not be mourned.

dandy dons 1903

Another pathetic display of crying wolf by the yoonie-trolls and pro-union carpetbaggers, useful idiots etc who infest the anti Scottish msm. It would be laughable if it wasnt so sad and pathetic. And then they wonder why the dullard unionist narrative is dying on its arse. The truth will always find you out in the end yoons…..its not going to end well for you!

Macbeda

@SOG 11:03

This is the guardian as a click free archive

link to archive.is

Tony Little

I looked at the BTL comments on the Herald under this article. There are the usual suspects who seem to inhabit a parallel universe.

As media sales continue to plummet, I wonder how much we need to be concerned about this type of lying article – and it IS lying. Will the continual barrage of “SNP Bad” article eventually result in the usual diminishing impact or can this really sustain the anti-SNP attitude across Scotland in some quarters?

Dave McEwan Hill

It is of course a modus operandi,Stuart, and has been for some time. But it doesn’t work because 99% of the population are entirely oblivious to it and 99% of the other 1% know it is a confection and don’t give a feck.

gus1940

I don’t suppose that it couldn’t all possibly be a co-ordinated Unionist Cunning Plan well down to Baldrick’s usual standard.

Schrödinger's Dug

When talking about politics with anyone in Scotland, start by saying “do you believe everything you read in the newspapers” if they answer in the affirmative, back away slowly, as if you have inadvertently stumbled into a minefield. If they have at least one functioning brain cell they will say “of course not”, then answer “if everything you read, you have just agreed, is predicated on a lie, how can You trust anything you say to me from now on?” Then say the SNP have 56 MP’S do you think everyone who voted for them is stupid?
Then ask, what do you think the papers are telling lies for, who benefits?

The reason they hate Wings, is not for the vile language, because that is virtually nonexistent in terms of social media, the real reason they hate Wings is every day their lie’s are exposed, their world view challenged and their integrity ripped to shreds. Every single day they relentlessly troll their loyalist agenda, and every day they are shown to be liars.

They are not journalists, they have transcended that now to become an integral part of the political machinery, nothing less than bona fide political operatives. Then they in their arrogance demand the respect of the former, whilst using all the Machiavellian arts of the later.

heedtracker

Thankfully it looks like at least half of Scots aren’t too bother by yoon toryboys what wont tweet, front page headline tragic as it is. Frankie’s spot on with that id/UKOK hackdom analogy, as your id is in a constant struggle to comprehend and control reality going on around it.

jimnarlene

Frankie Boyle nails it.

Peter McCulloch

What we are seeing are desperate unionists resorting to increasingly desperate tactics in order to help Westminster continue to maintain its control of Scotland..

Marian

The propaganda coming from Daisley, Torrance, Hjul, Cochrane and others has got to be orchestrated by someone. Cochrane and Hjul in particular seem to see themselves less as journalists and more as a crusading husband-and-wife propaganda team dedicated to keeping Scotland British.

Nevertheless we could do with more robust countering from the SNP and pro-indy supporters of the Britnat journos constant drip drip claims of Scotland allegedly having an annual “deficit “of £14.9 billion, claims that the Scots NHS, Police and now Fire services are in a mess, etc.

Dorothy Devine

They really are a bunch of Boo-hoo big girls blouses aren’t they?

Do they really think that they should be allowed to broadcast/print absolute ordure and no-on should contradict their drivel?

Graeme Borthwick

Scotland does not have a newspaper. The nearest is the National, which is English money. The only writing I trust, but don’t always agree with, is WoS. Why does Scotland not possess a newspaper? The Scotsman is now only worth 10% of its original purchase price; why can’t the wealthy SNP buy it? Scotland is the only country in the World without a ‘paper or TV station to support it.

Jack Murphy

Now listen you lot—–get back in your box,buy your daily Scottish paper and settle down with your deep fried Mars Bar in front of Reporting Scotland beamed to you from Pacific Quay.

Swallow the lot—–including the Mars Bar and the news as presented to you at 6:30pm.
Doff your cap when expert commentators come on.Some of them have degrees. Know your place.
Understand?
Good.That’s the Scotland problem solved,courtesy of the BBC and the papers.

Neil Cook

Great point Jack Collatin

I’m of the same opinion, dont buy msm papers, dont give my money to organisations that betrayed Scotland.
Certainly dont read shit from nonentities in the msm that who are only fishing for a reaction as though that justifies their self importance. If people stopped commenting on the articles the papers might realise that they are not getting under your skin which is the objective!!

It would be good to have an honest debate but honesty is not a part of the msm mantra so its not worth giving them the time of day.
People have to stop reacting to the backslapping by the yoons and just leave wings to disect the article and put a fair comment on it. Do not in any instance comment in the msm page as that is giving in to them.

Greannach

I don’t really blame Professor Oliver for being a British Nationalist. When his income relies on playing the Loyal Jock to an audience based mainly in England, it’s understandable. At least he doesn’t rig himself out like Harry Lauder or Billy Connnolly to appeal to the masses: he’s sophisticated. An academic with long hair – cool hipster.

galamcennalath

We hear much about a ‘post truth’ era. Certainly there seems little substance to much of the news. Myth, opinion, innuendo, and fabrication are used to shape public perceptions.

I think more than anything we are in a ‘post evidence’ era. Everything said, printed, opined, or broadcast should be backed up by evidence. It rarely is.

Critics of WoS should take note of the Rev’s continual references to sources. Typically Yoon propaganda contains no links to backup evidence.

The universal challenge to much of the shite thrown at us should be, “show us the evidence”.

Dave McEwan Hill

Graeme Borthwick at 11.43

The National is owned by Gannett Inc which is an American company with a UK offshoot called Newsquest. It owns hundreds of newspapers with very varying views and its major concern is the financial viabilty of any title, not its political positioning.

Which is why we should all stop buying the Herald.

Dr Jim

Meanwhile in ACTUAL news NOTHING is reported because Unionists are overwhelmingly obsessed by the invention of grievances in the hope of fooling the public at large that the SNP are what Unionists say they are, which is always something Baad, without ever producing a shred of evidence for their claims

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again unless these Unionists both private or press can produce factual evidence of their assertions it should be considered a crime of INCITEMENT and the perpetrators prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law

In the case of the National Press I’d go even further than fines and call into question their legal right to publish hate speech freely, if Muslim Clerics preaching the same stuff can be jailed and or deported what’s the difference, in fact it’s worse, gullible uninformed innocent Unionists who have NEVER been told the truth are being misled and incited to hatred by a partisan biased right wing media intent on controlling the politics of a Nation, and those politics are simple Scotland must on NO account ever be allowed to decide anything for itself

That is the whole of the law

The press must be exposed and more power to those who do it
Every time they lie, Wings and honest folk must catch them and shred them to bits for doing it before they get what they want and we all know what that is

heedtracker

The Scotsman is now only worth 10% of its original purchase price; why can’t the wealthy SNP buy it? Scotland is the only country in the World without a ‘paper or TV station to support it.

England wont give up control of Scotland, so they’re certainly not going to give up control of any Scottish haha newspaper.

James Galt

@Graeme Borthwick
We don’t need a newspaper to support us, a newspaper that tells the truth would be a start.

Artyhetty

Frankie Boyle makes some good points. It all stinks, and akin to 1984, silence the people, even lock em up for speaking out. At the same time give rancid, lying voice to the corrupt big knobs.

Suspect it is not just happening in UKok, by what my family over from Australia tell me.

galamcennalath

Greannach says:

“I don’t really blame Professor Oliver for being a British Nationalist.”

Indeed, a minority of Scots will always be better off in the Union of Greater England.

The main criticism of Oliver is not his views, nor even the fact that be expresses them …. it is that he feels entitled to dish out offence but is unwilling to take the inevitable response.

He is far from alone with his sense of entitlement. He clearly considers himself special and worthy of being listened to. He should be man enough to accept that not everyone will agree with that exceptional status! Nor, will everyone be willing to accept his venom and not snap back.

Andrew McLean

Greannach says:
19 August, 2016 at 11:50 am
Yes cool, a real cool hipster in a dad dancing sort of way, the type favorited by grand-mamas of a certain vintage, am academic in the “it wont mater what he says it’s all academic” anyway, as for his sartorial elegance, that’s just the new millennium “Lauder”.

I cant comment on his sudo-history programs, not my cup of tea. its just Mills and Boon, between shots of “mothers ruin” for elderly yoons.

Tinto Chiel

Sorry, I’m still laughing that there is such a thing as the Scottish Parliamentary Journalists’ Association, according to Roden.

Your usual forensic dismantling, Rev, and that Mr Boyle is pretty sharp too:

“I don’t read newspapers anymore – I just lie to myself and cut out the middleman.”

JET Jockey

Has Mike Rumbles seen the website that describes him as being a totally useless MSP, Leaflets are being distributed in West Aberdeenshire fully detailing what he is capable of.

mogabee

Journalism is extinct. I mean the regular news reporting, investigative journalism that used to inform.

Compare what Stu does here. I know that anything he writes about I can check myself and know the piece has balance.

I will never view news reports whether in hard press or online or in media without a very healthy dollop of scepticism because time after time we find they lie, cheat, misrepresent.

We all deserve better.

In the same vein… Seems that RT have uncovered a fabricated story put out by Sky! Hacks are being found out and complain when we deride them…Tough

Ian Mackay

I can certainly see a pattern of ‘let’s incite the Yes voters and then storm off claiming non-existent abuse’ here.

I’m not so sure it is coordinated though.

I think what has happened is that some publicity has been generated in each case and it has created a pathway for publicity for some celebrities, journalists etc. as they are in fact using the media’s predilection for SNPBad stories to gain a bit more notoriety for themselves.

I’m sure Unionists are hoping people will think that there’s no smoke without fire if they play the abused Unionist line often enough.

The problem with that approach is that as every case is found smokeless, fire-less and more-or-less fabricated – the building perception is not of cybernat abuse but that of a mainstream media that is complicit in untruths.

Although the media realises that they are losing trust as they are all by-and-large running the same SNPBad policy they feel unable not go with the tired and discredited cybernat abuse line.

They know that this is turning the public off the press. Their sales are plummeting. Every day they lose readers to alternative media like Wings Over Scotland. They fall back on clickbait headlines that bear no relation to the actual story (as in this case).

Each story becomes another marker in the dying throes of Unionism.

galamcennalath

As well as made up phantom stories, they purposely fail to report news which doesn’t suit their agenda.bso there are invisible stories too!

The other day I was listening to WGD’s recent podcast ( and very good it is too). Paul claimed that only one veto threat had been issued by Spain, and it wasn’t about Scotland!

Spain will veto any EU Brexit agreement which will take Giraltar out of the EU.

Here we hear about Spain vetoing Scotland, this false. We also hear about Spain’s claim on Gibraltar. BUT we never hear that Spain will stop Gibraltar being part of Brexit.

link to chronicle.gi

Bob Mack

Clearly they are trying to cement an image of social media nats as being the “devils spawn” Beligerent ,rude,cruel. Nothing further from the truth. Indeed,I admire my patience and the patience of other indy groups in dealing with the constant stream of vitriol and insults that eminate from these people.

It is a battle of hearts and minds and they are trying to make us the “guy in the black hat”. Good riddance.

Jack Collatin

Neil Cook @ 11.50.
Hit them where it hurts, Neil.
I noted somewhere that a Yoon B&B landlord was ‘terrified’ to comment on Independence in case he had a barrage of bogus bad reviews on TripAdvisor from a horde of cybernats invading his space, like cockroaches in his kitchen.
You’re flogging Beds and Breakfasts, not your political view of the world that basically Scotland is shite.
Whatever.
I refuse to shop at ASDA, or buy the Herald. Endov.
How dare I threaten people’s businesses like this, is the stock Yoon reply?

They don’t do irony, do they?
Boycott every man Jack of them who threaten us with closure during Indyref 2.
They’re going to need a bigger boat next time.

Murray McCallum

I really don’t mind a critical article that goes against my own personal beliefs. A good quality article will contain detailed points backed up by fact.

There is always something in quality articles you can take away thinking “that would be an improvement if such-and-such was incorporated”.

Much of what I see from the traditional Scottish media contains little quality in terms of research, precision, backed-up critical opinion, etc.

When I read “[..] accused”, “one party state”, “blow for [..]”, “threat to democracy in Scotland”, … I struggle to see what the writer is trying to achieve in the long term. It’s like a High School debating society.

Unemployment is my usual conclusion.

heedtracker

My Slovene girlfriend lowering the UKOK bar once again. Prof Tomkinski would at least make sense if there was anything behind their sanctioning stuff. But dudes like this are only in it to drag Scottish democracy into the sewer of toryboy right to rein over us er, sewage.

Adam Tomkins MSP ?@ProfTomkins 54m54 minutes ago
But don’t you dare call the SNP’s Scotland a one party state. Don’t you dare.

Adam Tomkins MSP ?@ProfTomkins 58m58 minutes ago
Their legislation prompts the UK Supreme Court to talk of “the worst dictatorships” and “a totalitarian regime” –>

tooz

Is it the Union matters or is it the Union martyrs?

Its like a Labour PLP ‘Choose the stooge event’, i wonder who is next on the list. ‘go on, its your turn to spit thy dummy…surely one if us doing it has to work’

In the real world nobody really cares about any of these self important people.

Jack Collatin

I’m surprised that sectarian WATP Adam Tomkins can find time from his fulltime job as Uni Professor, and his nice little non elected Part Time MSP ‘Listory’ Boy Tory spokesperson, to go on twitter making a right derriere of himself over freedom of speech.
£1200 a week for doing fuck all. Where do I sign up?
Wuckfit.

Gary45%

I am amazed the EBC never made a wee Tartan Neil Oliver in a wee plastic tube complete wi Hair for all the Scoons and empire luvies.
He slags off Scotland because he is basically an Empire wannabe, when they have finished with him, the yoons wouldn’t even pish on him if he was fire.

The Rough Bounds

It beats me what Oliver and the rest of that pack are complaining about. It seems obvious to me that if you put your head on a coconut shy you can’t expect people not to throw things at it.

heedtracker

I’m surprised that sectarian WATP Adam Tomkins can find time from his fulltime job as Uni Professor,

Why is he including/hiding behind twitter photos of his own very young children, along side his barking mad anti Scottish democracy stuff?

If you are wondering just how low britnat toryboys can go, follow my Slovene girlfriend.

Scot Finlayson

Who or what is Stephen Daisley?

is it on the telly?

seanair

Going back to Alan Roden, some time ago my wife pointed out an article in the Heil which she knew would upset me. I dashed off a comment and sent it to the Alan Roden
e-mail address shown earlier in this discussion.
Returned with a note “not at this address”. B—–d !

sinky

Cue a plethora of hysterical Yoon letters in Scotsman.

This morning there six of the usual suspects taking umbrage at Nicola Sturgeon’s meeting with EU residents.

Clootie

…Labour developed the phantom story for election periods.
The bad SNP are going to shut local station/A&E/school etc etc
When the SNP stated that the story had no truth in it Labour would then announce ” Labour stops bad SNP closing….”

Foonurt

Aye, agin yoan waw, wae awe thoan anti-Scoattish basturts. Oannae ithurr country, huz folk prood ah thurr country. In Scoattlin, fuckin team GB, in awe yoan shite, fae ah mythical landscape.

Labour/Liberals buullt six social-hooses. Wurr Scoattish SNP Government, buultt twintae-twaw thoosin, in thurtae-three thoosin approved-hooses, awe roon (2011-2016), bit stuull no gid inuff fur thoan erse Roaburtsin oan Radio Scoattlin. Ivrrae wan ah shite-sturrin fuck. Yoan jougs, iz too guid fur thae erses.

Andrew McLean

heedtracker says:19 August, 2016 at 12:25 pm
“Adam Tomkins MSP ?@ProfTomkins 54m54 minutes ago
But don’t you dare call the SNP’s Scotland a one party state. Don’t you dare.
Adam Tomkins MSP ?@ProfTomkins 58m58 minutes ago
Their legislation prompts the UK Supreme Court to talk of “the worst dictatorships” and “a totalitarian regime” –>
I don’t usually, but for a “Laugh” I had a peek at our earnest professors ramblings, well I am not laughing now. Clearly the man is a fool. And not in the old fashioned Shakespearean Touchstone or a Feste funny way either.

In fact straight after reading, I immediately had my IQ tested and discovered it had fallen, therefore empirical proof that consorting with idiots is deleterious to one’s mental health.

In future I shall think of this sad clown whenever I hear Canio’s aria, “Vesti la giubba”.

Walter Scott

It looks like a concerted all out attack on the SG now. After the recent political chaos it’s business as usual. A lot of people who believe their country should be independent will be very angry by the unionist parties & journalists who are now obviously working together. Where’s the hard hitting”Panorama” or C4 Despatches looking into this subversion of democracy.

Sweep

Tinto Chiel @ 12:08 pm:

Re the Scottish Parliamentary Journalists’ Association –

isn’t that the Spanner account?

Clapper57

If one were really cynical one would think this was a conspired tactical assault on the SNP.

Far be it for little old me to suggest the #QuittingTwitter brigade and gagged Journo is a ploy to reinforce the ‘one party state’ mantra .

I am sure that no MSP’s from yoon parties will try and profit politically from this, I mean that would just be so so obvious.

However in the surreal world…………where the real team GB live ….the neverendum battle to suppress Indy rages with radges ready to react on cue. Hold the front page as crazed psycho academics , uber wealthy writer’s, usual suspects MSP’s et al dive into the yoon cesspit and spew their rancid rantings.

This is déjà vu territory and will not be the last …..big f**king yawn.

Croompenstein

Is he being replaced by Parsley the cat 🙂

Chic McGregor

” I struggle to see what the writer is trying to achieve in the long term…

…Unemployment is my usual conclusion.”

Then we must applaud their remarkable success.

Valerie

No question in my mind this is a coordinated exercise that started with the Weetabix.

Just think how desperate they are now, something’s working! They have to create this drama because there is nothing else for them to bite. Look at meeeee! No doubt they want traction from the south because it won’t work here.

The Russians are coming, and they have Scottish talent on board. The Kingdoms seams are stretched to breaking point.

Some of those assertions are verging on libel. They will have to be a whole brain smarter to catch out Wishart and Nicolson, they are Twitter vets, and know what they are doing. I think they are despised by these Twitter martyrs, for their deft behaviour.

Please do what I do on Twitter, and block the nasty, sneering yoon tweeters, you don’t need them in your life.

James Dornan got a whole load of abuse for passing comment about the Palestine flag at the recent football match. The comments were vile, so I just went down the thread blocking all the nasties.

It’s tempting to jump in, but don’t, please. Give them nothing.

HandandShrimp

Surely Roden’s paper is far too busy traducing the name of a nurse, a nurse with more courage in her little finger than Roden’s entire flabby body.

Scot Finlayson

@Andrew McLean

i fear Scotland has become a dumber place with part time MSP Tomkins in it,

link to tinyurl.com

Arbroath1320

Oh look it’s silly season and the unionist *ahem* journalists have nothing (much) to do. So in kind memory of them all past (no longer on Twitter 😉 ) and present (still poisioning Twitter 😉 ) I give you :

link to youtube.com

HandandShrimp

A bit too busy to digest and dissect all this but the thing that springs immediately to mind is how badly served the Yoons are to have such a shower of craven fuds on their side.

Nae Luck as they say 🙂

Alex Clark

It’s accelerating so it is, as Journos and other well known opponents of Independence fall on their swords and blame either the nasty cybernats or the SNP cos their BADDD.

Whereas the truth is they have been strangled by having to face the sight of their own lies being ridiculed as they should be. I can’t imagine what it must be like for Torrence or Daisly having to look in the mirror every morning knowing that you have to spin another story against your countries best interests just to earn a crust. They lie for a living!

I’d feel humiliated if I had to do that, though I doubt this pair and their compatriots have any sense of shame. The disgusting bias media have entirely lost the plot.

They have also lost the argument, they have lost the trust of the people and despite what they wanted to achieve they will be the providers of Scottish liberation. They only think we’re stupid.

Fucking Boo! Now away and greet to yer mammy.

Stoker

Walter Scott wrote:

“A lot of people who believe their country should be independent will be very angry by the unionist parties & journalists who are now obviously working together.”

They always have been, Walter!

We need to step up our game and get the word out there.
Talking is good but you can’t top handing people the hard physical evidence.

Simple actions such as purchasing a wad of WOS business cards and saturating areas with them is within the capabilities of the vast majority of us.

According to the WOS twitter yesterday the Rev’s mum was leading by example up in the Thurso area doing her bit with the cards. (((GAUN YERSEL, GIVE IT SOME REV’S))) see whit ah did there?

Don’t just assume people out there know what we know, even your fellow independence supporters, you’ll be amazed at how little some folk are aware of outwith the WOS bubble.

We have a duty and responsibility to open their eyes to the truth.

ClanDonald

Stephen Daisley illustrates how difficult it is to know where the tories end in the Scottish Media and where Labour begins.

Croompenstein

Has anyone actually spoken to Daisley to get a quote from the horses arse?

Alex Clark

@Croompenstein

Some did try and found that shit comes out from both ends. No quote.

David McEwan Hill

What a star columnist Gordon Macintyre-Kemp is in the National. Today’s column is first class

Liz g

Soooo who do we reckon the next Twitter Quitter will be then.
Are the bookies giving any odds?
I am going to need a bigger bag of popcorn!

Arbroath1320

This is not directly related to the article but is sort of unionist press related, in my cybernattery blinkered outlook on life. 😉

link to rt.com

Of course this is not the first time that SKY has been caught with their hand in the cookie jar of made up stories.

link to archive.is

I think, if anything, this confirms yet again that what passes as *ahem* principled journalism in Britain today is anything but principled. Obviously when it is a slow news day, and they want to do anything rather than report on the war with no name a.k.a. Yemen, they quite deliberately go out and make up shite just to fill air time!

Calum McKay

Same press and media work here as we see with Corbyn in England.

Remember the office gate.

mp resigns from shadow cabinet, month later a labour administrator enters office to check it’s empty and someone else can move in.

Leaked to press as a breach of privacy and very sinister goings on.

At the end of the day there are some decent journalists in both tv, radio, press and even bbc. But there are those at the top that use a few to distort events and give those stories prominence with the intention of steering the reader down a specific path of thought completely at odds with the truth or facts.

He who pays the piper calls the tune, in the uk the uk government and establishment are both client and piper, in Scotland the uk government and establishment are both client and piper.

In Scotland we need to have the Scottish people as the client and the piper being accountable to the people.

K1

Stephen Daisley illustrates how difficult it is to know where the tories end in the Scottish Media and where Labour begins. to blame and ‘other’ sections of Scottish society in an attempt to cover up his own incompetence as a ‘journalist’.

Ian Brotherhood

This what it sounds like when the Yoons flounce…this is the sound

link to youtube.com

Proud Cybernat

Probably should just drop this here. If anyone is in any doubt how blatantly biased the colonial media is in this country, just watch:

link to youtube.com

Don’t let the colonial media con you. Get the REAL FACTS.

K1

‘In Scotland we need to have the Scottish people as the client and the piper being accountable to the people.’

No we don’t, we need to have competent and honest people, whether they are ‘Scottish’ is irrelevant. Scotland’s interests at heart yes, that they be ‘Scottish’…no.

K1

Sorry Calum, I’ve misunderstood what you have written…I’m reading too fast and I need to slow down, please dismiss my last comment, ta. 🙂

Inverclyder

Perhaps the best idea is to make stuff up like them and play them at their own game.

Stuff like…

Dugdale confirms Scottish Labour are now pro Independence party of former Unionist Socialists in Scotland.

Wee Wullie Rennie still irrelevant confirms local petting zoo and adventure playground owners.

Holyrood rocked as unnamed Unionist MSP’s are caught in erotic romp in back of taxi.

If you throw enough shite some of it will stick!

heedtracker

Andrew McLean says:
19 August, 2016 at 1:04 pm
heedtracker says:19 August, 2016 at 12:25 pm
“Adam Tomkins MSP

Well it’s extremely bad form, hiding behind very young children like Tomkinski’s doing. It is a rule britnat thing though, as a fair few red and blue tories in Scotland try to exploit a normal reaction of any adults, not actually wanting to involve any young children in adult politics.

Just another creepy tory chancer or no different from the usual politician kissing baby electioneering photo ops? Prof T’s aiming for the Lords, law lord to be precise but its going to be interesting to see just how far he’s prepared to go, to actually get to that glittering trough of UKOK greatness.

Arbroath1320

Just found out on Facebook that Danus Skene the SNP candidate for Orkney and Shetland has sadly passed away. ?

Smallaxe

@ Andrew Mclean

“consorting with idiots is deleterious to one’s mental health”

Andrew never argue with an idiot,they will only pull you down
to their level and then beat you with experience. :-).
Peace Always.

Andrew McLean

heedtracker says: 2:30

“Prof T’s aiming for the Lords, law lord to be precise”

No chance, he is to wee, to stupid and to poor.

Oh hold on?

mike d

Neil oliver, an insignificant jumped up self opinionated little pr**k.

Quentin Quale

Good news for Tomkins’ students, though. When he hands your marked down essays back for not using facts or proper referencing to back up your argument, just say ‘you started it’ and claim an A pass.

Hoss Mackintosh

@Rev Stu,

“And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for you meddling WoS!” – Alan – the Phantom – Roden

geeo

“Don’t dare call Scotland a one party state”

Says the MSP who is NOT from the SNP, which makes Scotland a minimum of a 2 party state….
That’s before we mention labour, Greens, lib dems…

This is why Sarcasm only works if you know what the fuck you are on about !!

robertknight

I too was hounded off facebook by vile attacks.

Hang on, I’ve never had a facebook account.

Never mind, I maintain that I was hounded off facebook by vile attacks.

Can I get an article in a Yoon paper now? Please? I’m quite photogenic if that helps…

Robert Louis

What an absurdity the media in Scotland has become. Seriously, what a freaking joke. So-called ‘Scottish’ ‘journalists’ should be laughed at all the time now. They are an utter joke. Pathetic individuals the lot of them.

As regards the BBC, I guess it is now compulsory for any new ‘Scottish’ TV presenters to regularly rubbish Scotland, half the electorate for voting SNP, and half the electorate for voting FOR Scottish independence.

‘Keep slagging off the SNP and your own country, Scotland, and we’ll see if we can get you that new ‘mini-series’ on the history of North Britain-shire we discussed’. It’s called selling out your own people, Neil.

Robert Louis

I have always wondered HOW Tompkinson got his position at Glasgow University. It is a question everyone, including Glasgow Uni students should be asking.

That’s how Westminster exerts influence.

Iain More

On the subject of gagging I got myself banned from the Northern Scot FB page today after telling some Yoons that the Naw bags like them will just have to suck it up if Kinloss happens to get closed down.

Yoon gagging and censorship reaches deep. They really don’t like it up them.

Tasty bit of land right where those Kinloss runways are for any fast buck Yoon developer.

louis.b.argyll

Bad journalism makes us all look ignorant.
Why are the LONG-TERM causes, of for example, inequality, not being investigated?
Here’s one..
UK..defence spending.. UP
UK..Wages…DOWN.
Germany..defence spending.. DOWN.
Germany..Wages.. UP.

Vestas

For the second time in a few days I’m going to say the same thing :

YOU CANNOT TRUST THE HERALD & TIMES GROUP AND THAT INCLUDES THE NATIONAL!

I have no doubt at all that when push comes to shove then The National will stick the knife into the SNP to kill #indyref2. They’ve given lots of space to RISE/ex-RISE/SSP fuckwits (Cat Boyd take a bow) and the result of that was plain to see in last May’s election.

The National is there for one reason only – to kill #indyref2 if its looks like winning. It’ll pick the moment and you’ll then have every MSM outlet pushing the “even the only indy supporting paper says the SNP are lying”.

You wait & see….

heedtracker

I have always wondered HOW Tompkinson got his position at Glasgow University.

Have you ever met a lawyer that’s not to the right of Attila the Hun? The more money they make, the more hard core conservative they get. On balance, most high pay professions are extremely UKOK. Its two countries in the one and its them what have to be won over.

All that’s even remotely interesting about a nutcase like Prof T is, didn’t uni’s used to be the hot bed of Corbynite leftieness?

carjamtic

Just as,for example,the London’s black cabbies ‘the knowledge’ was replaced with satnav/smart phones,the dead tree press also, has had it’s time (has nobody told them,that encyclopedia britannica was replaced by internet search engines ?) most people are now digital natives,younger one’s have never known anything else.

We can see now,however,that they are not going to go quietly,but by kicking and screaming,blaming everyone else for their misfortunes,their lies and prejudices exposed,they deflect,look look, at the cybernats,look look,the SNP are Baaad…..

When future generations look back on this era,they will see the end of a very dark time,the initial rays of light,of the the new Scottish Enlightenment,they will see the beginnings of the return to truth and democracy.

I just hope it is all saved,stored for them to study,to understand the way things used to be and to know never to return to the dark pages.Technology or not,in the end there is no substitute for decent,worthwhile human beings,for that is what you are and in your hands the future is looking bright for Scotland,looking safe for it’s people.

#peoplepower

Scot Finlayson

Just seen the pictures of the poor wee laddie that was pulled from an airstrike bombed building in rebel held Aleppo Syria,

hopefully this will make UK Gov rethink the RAF bombing cities in Syria,where it must be impossible to eradicate `collateral damage` or as it should be called `murder`.

Robert Peffers

I read this good article and had an instant thought when I reached the bit about Jackson Carlaw.

The thought recalled the famous quote, often wrongly attributed to John Bogart, (former editor of the New York Times), – It was actually coined by Alfred Harmsworth, (a British newspaper magnate, in (1865–1922).

“When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news.”

In this case I see it rather as,

“When Jackson Carlaw tells lies that is not news, because it happens so often. But when Jackson Carlaw tells the truth it is time to hold the front page headlines”.

You really have to wonder how these people hope to get away with such stupidity. I believe it to be a symptom of sheer unadulterated panic among the Yoons.

Rather like the upper class twit who was startled when he chanced upon an honest plumber tradesman dressed in his working clothes. Thinking the working man a robber. The upper class twit ran off – Into the path of a Number Nine Bus and was seriously injured.

davidb

O/T

link to cnbc.com

Always look on the bright side of life…..

louis.b.argyll

It’s getting bad..
About as much use as a..

.chocolate fire-guard..
.. handbrake on a canoe..
.. JOURNALIST TO A SCOTSMAN..

fred

Has anyone notice just how many anti SNP coments there are on the Herald Website and how few pro SNP comment there are.
aynone who post on Twitter are fair game for a back lash and should not whinge if they get a barrage of hate twits. Make your comment and leave it there don’r reply to a reply twit or comment.

Cuilean

I have a deep loathing of Hoy. Detest the very sight of him.

Arbroath1320

Someone was quick off the mark today in contacting STV methinks. 😉

link to facebook.com

The reply he received from STV is here.

link to facebook.com

Scot Finlayson

Brent Crude over $50 a barrel,

great news for our Scottish oil industry,

hopefully that will be the headline in tomorrow`s newspapers.

heedtracker

A YERer wins again but cant mind the last time he actually lost. Its always heart warming to think how hard UKOK hackdom struggles to cope with a world famous Scotsman.

link to andymurray.com

Valerie

@Heed

Aye! I’ve seen a few solicitors that are left wing, like the ones in SNP! My own MP is a solicitor who specialises in immigration issues.

Stuart MacDonald, a lovely guy.

Also strikes me Joanna Cherry could be earning more money outside of WM, but chooses SNP, because she believes in change.

Tinto Chiel

O/T but may be a phantom pregnancy so mebbes no’.

link to newsnet.scot

Does Simon say sooth?

heedtracker

YESer! wins again.

liz

This madness from the MSM has increased exponentially since Brexit.

They must be very worried indeed about the outcome if Scotland leaves AND Eng/Wales chucked out of the biggest market

cirsium

@scott finlayson, 3.57pm

that picture was provided by The White Helmets who only operate in areas controlled by the terrorist organisation, Jaish al fatah. Their standard propaganda picture is a dust and blood covered child being carried by a White Helmet operative. The White Helmets was founded by an ex-MI6 operative and the current leader was refused admission to the United States because of links to terrorists. Have a read of this post for more information link to moonofalabama.org

Moon of Alabama is a media analysis site.

This is not the first time that The National has printed propaganda. The circulation for Newsquest papers is reported under the regional papers heading not national. It is not clear, therefore, why the paper is reporting on areas outwith its remit.

Valerie

Here’s your Friday smile, courtesy of the right side of the debate. So talented, our lot.

link to twitter.com

Edward

As the day wears on………..

What was a lead story on the Herald, now turns out (unsurprisingly) as a load of tosh.

What intrigues me is why it took two Herald ‘journalists’ to write up that load of garbage in the first place

Daniel Sanderson I could understand as he seems to be on speed dial from Labour spin doctors as he churns out ‘SNP Bad’ stories at the merest whiff of a Labour briefing.

But Tom Gordon, now there is something weird going on there. Tom took to twitter to demonstrate how bad the SNP MP Nicolson was, only to expose himself as a charlatan as the examples were hardly what you call ‘newsworthy’

But the Tory’s were quick to jump on the bandwagon with tweets from the idiotic Adam Tomkins (Apparently a professor by trade) and wee Ruthie ‘Tank commander’

So to the lad himself, former Tory press person under ‘Grande Dame’ Anabelle Goldie, Stephen Daisley.
Has he been sacked?. Has he left on his own accord?
Is he actually being moved with STV?

Like all Scooby Doo mystery’s we will not know until later in the summer when parliament is back and we find out what actually is going on. But by then the Scottish press will have moved on to its next piece of mind numbing stupidy

Proud Cybernat

Just a quick message to the colonial media formerly known as the MSM.

At least half of Scotland is still laughing at you. You really ought to try much harder (sniggers).

Dr Jim

@Scot Finlayson

Oil price up again
More bad news for Scotland, if only it would stay low so’s it would at least be consistant gloom instead of rising only to be told it’ll fall again to it’s lowest ever level leaving Scotland and the SNPs hopes of Independence left in tatters once again
Nicola Sturgeon will be left distraught as her ambitions are smashed and dashed upon the rocks of despair

If only Scotland had good oil
If the SNP give up the stupid notion of independence the oil will be cured

call me dave

North Ayrshire Labour leader Peter McNamara stands down, days after instigating moves to oust SNP

link to archive.is

Funny old world init!

Valerie

@cirsium

I had a funny feeling that poor wee boy was staged. I have no doubt he was dazed from having dirt, dust and fake blood thrown at him. But even BBC reported he had been released from hospital, which must have been garbage, as they made out he had a head wound.

Unfortunately, quite a few SNP MPs were tweeting the pic and commenting.

I’m not in any way undermining the point about children in war zones, because it is a global shame to humanity, what is happening.

However, the White Helmet propaganda is aimed at getting the West to drop more bombs on ‘Assad’, and to hell what happens to real people.

Makes me sick at the level of lies and subterfuge.

MoA recently uncovered that the Doctors who had written a collective letter to Obama, to step up action were either dead, or Al Qaeda, literally trolling POTUS.

RT are very careful about Syria, stating they are checking sources before they report. And its not that they are complicit, because I’ve seen footage of live combat action and very scared journalists.

Fireproofjim

Cirsium@5.51
I don’t think I have ever read such a stupid comment on Wings. The small injured boy was obviously badly shocked and cut, and to say this was a propaganda picture is heartless and callous, however it was obtained.
As for throwing in another stupid comment about the National printing propaganda, every other paper and every news broadcast had the same pictures.
And what , anyway, does “reporting on areas without its remit ” mean? Does the National have to print only stories from Scotland?

Camz

So can we expect a ‘Scottish Six’ to appear with Torrance as anchor, Daisley as political correspondent, and Oliver as the cultural/historical presenter?

It would not surprise me one little iota.

ScottishPsyche

Just catching up with this story.

Tom Gordon has inferred all sorts of things backed up by Alex Massie. Guido Fawkes is running a poll on how corrupt the SNP are – I know it is regional corruption but his readership are Kippers and the 1922 Committee so go figure the result.

Slab and their leader Ruth Davidson have piled in with reports of outrageous burly men gagging people and Adam Tompkins appears to have lost lost his mind and all sense of perspective.

Spanner and Rowling have to make an intervention soon but I feel so tainted when I lurk on their accounts that I’d rather not know.

Robert J. Sutherland

Scot Finlayson @ 15:57

… hopefully this will make UK Gov rethink the RAF bombing cities in Syria

Sorry Scot, but you have this completely wrong. The article itself was rather coy about the perpetrators, but the bombing in Aleppo is being carried out solely by Assad forces (barrel bombs from helicopters) and the Russians. Western airforces operate in the east (Syria/Iraq), targeting Daesh.

Just to get the facts straight, as befitting this site.

heedtracker

Valerie says:
19 August, 2016 at 5:06 pm
@Heed

Aye! I’ve seen a few solicitors that are left wing, like the ones in SNP!

I know and I use big brushes, for effect. Fact is though, my Slovene girlfriend will be lecturing in the main, private school educated under grads this year, as he’s done since ever. And for ever progressive liberal lawyer, there are hundreds of tories and all of them determined that the law should not now, nor ever be reformed.

St Snatcher Thatcher gets a lot of praise from usual tory sources over how she was the great tory reformer and deregulationerisor, of all kinds of UK stuff what needed it, like the bally unions or the City or the media, giving most of it to her allies like Rupert and co, but the fact is, the old monster totally bottled it with the lawyers. Its not by chance either.

Arbroath1320

call me dave says:
19 August, 2016 at 5:33 pm

North Ayrshire Labour leader Peter McNamara stands down, days after instigating moves to oust SNP

link to archive.is

Funny old world init!

Let me guess … I’m only guessing here mind. 😉

It was a big boy who made me do it and then ran away. I didnae want tae dae it … honestly … I really REALLY didnae want tae dae it! 🙂

Arbroath1320

Unless something has happened during my recent sabatical 😉 then I think this guy has been helping wee Ozzy the towel folder to clean up on the white powder mysteries.

JimRobertson ?@BeTruthful55 2m2 minutes ago Scotland, United Kingdom

@0604Arb1320 @DanDareMeekon @BjCruickshank Not at all. GERS is figured out by the SNP Scottish Govt.

Valerie

@Fireproof Jim

Read the link and the comments. No one is being heartless, but pointing out this young boy is being used as a tool.

It’s a bit ironic that we call out yoon journalism but think for some reason propaganda, in a regime overthrow, cant be happening.

What about Chilcot?

Dave McEwan Hill

Vestas at 3.44

Utter rubbish

Clapper57

@Edward at 5.23pm

well said , another good post by you.

Valerie

@Robert J Sutherland

The West only target Da’esh? Aye?

How come the Western alliance of more than a dozen countries, can’t wipe out a rag tag bunch of terrorists?

Oh right, that will be because those alleged terrorists have brand new Toyotas (faster on the terrain) and expensively adapted with military upgrades. Why do they have so much American firepower? They are even using drones now.

There is so much written now about these sources, you have to be the last of the naive, believing bullshit the likes of Hillary Benn believes.

The UK is in Syria doing very little, but want to be in on any spoils, so we are in illegally. Iraq and Libya are hellholes due to these USA/UK ventures, but you think Syria is different???

Even if you believe the UK is doing something to Da’esh, how is that working out for France, one of the key bombers, and how is it protecting the French?

Where is the money coming from for these dirt poor jihadists?

Robert J. Sutherland

I reckon this exit-fest is a positive thing, a sign that yoon propagandists are increasingly feeling the argument slipping away from them, and try to place the blame on others for the inadequacy of their own case.

It’s like someone hanging onto a ledge by the fingertips, feeling their grip slowly weaken, and falsely blaming someone else for stepping onto their hands. But they’re going to fall whatever, undermined by their own absurd denial of reality.

By all means boycott The Herald, it doesn’t seem to be living up post-Brexit to its own earlier promise. (Another convenient indyref mini-Vow, it would seem.) In a way though it doesn’t matter if papers like it and the Hootsmon hang on as little BritNat enclaves, since they will have diminishing influence anyway for anyone else.

What’s desperately needed is a far stronger media presence for indy than at present, with real popular traction. Not necessarily in print, either. Vestas has a point about The National, it does appear at times to be run by RISE types whose interest in independence is only as a convenient means to a quite different end, and which in any case is a minority view with little influence upon those people who really need to be convinced now.

There’s a lot up for grabs. A lot of people wavering, and just needing a good dose of straight facts about indy.

heedtracker

I have no doubt at all that when push comes to shove then The National will stick the knife into the SNP to kill #indyref2. They’ve given lots of space to RISE/ex-RISE/SSP fuckwits (Cat Boyd take a bow) and the result of that was plain to see in last May’s election.

Don’t trust any of them, is a good start. The whole of the UKOK media gave the Scotish fringe left a giant soap boc, from the National to Channel 4 news, and then instantly whipped it away the minute polling stations closed.

But look at the actual stand out result, SLabour vote going to Ruth Davidson’s brand of hard core yoonsterism and working class conservative bullshit.

Was that the intent of the National or the whole of the UKOK media SNP bad freak show in Scotland last time, by boosting up dudes like Loki to media stardom, resulting in his current personal SNP bad fund raiser, pulling in cash from all kinds of hard core tory nutters, starting at Kevin Hague, with graphs?

DerekM

You would think by now they would have figured out that we dont give a fuck about being called vile cybernats.

Go on yoon zoomers throw your toys out the pram make up your bullshit aggrievances at being abused every time you do another Scot wakes up to your inability to debate any kind of good facts about this cess pit union.

Thats what its all about yoons isnt it you dont have any lies left so now just regurgitate old spin lies from the past.

Oh and yoons with the skelpt arse for a face you have not been targeted by the cybernat trolls we are far to busy trolling brexit England to care about your little hissy fits.

Inverclyder

OT Absolutely shocked at the Welsh separatist inspiring display nationalism at the Olympics with the taekwondo winner on ITV news there.

She had a Welsh Flag and a butchers apron too!

If that had been a Scottish competitor it would have been cut and a full enquiry along with outrage on twitter by the usual suspects.

David

@ Inverclyder, nobody else mentioned it, but triathlon winner Brownlee was waving a, whisper it, Yorkshire flag yesterday. Shocking! 🙂

(Nice flag actually, white rose on a blue background.)

Dan Huil

The growing desperation of the britnat media is surely a sign that britnats recognize IndyRef2 will definitely happen – and soon.

Hamish100

FLags again

link to heraldscotland.com

If Celtic is being taken to task for a Palestinian flag being flown at a recent football match why not the Irish Tricolour or for that other foreign team Rangers when they wave the butchers apron.

No better flag than the saltire

Dorothy Devine

Arbroath, those links have vanished in the ether.

Tam Jardine

Scot Finlayson 

The oil price going back up just highlights how volatile a commodity it us.

I sometimes wonder why anyone bothers with it at all. It’s hard to get out the grun and can get aw o’er yer hauns – a nightmare to get oot a claithes etc. For us savages it is mair bother than it is worth. Best left to the masters (or so they tell us).

One thing that is bizarre though- a low oil price is a compelling argument against independence but a high oil price is not a compelling argument for independence?

Phydaux

The phantom news practisioners seem to be spooked by their increasing utter irrelevance and certain demise as they are excised, like a cancer, out of our body politic.These preposterous people are named and shamed every day by Stuart.Further enlightenment is provided by WOS contributors words of wisdom, depth of knowledge and experience.Bursting with ideas and theories which are challenged and investigated, evidence gathered and examined.Plus lots of laugh out loud ridicule.

This is why I come here and why I think of WOS as another burgeoning Scottish Enlightenment where it is vitally important for people to think for themselves rather than simply believing what they’re told.Their ideas and advances helped to shape the modern world.

I was struck by the contrast with the previous post ( Merci beaucoup for this Stuart ) .. such a refreshing change of perspective and very skilfully crafted and the embarrassing drivel from our gutter press.

Regarding yet another wild hen harrier fledgling mysterious disappearance… we seem to have our very own Bermuda Triangle situated over the grouse moors of Aberdeenshire.There’s little mystery however as to the likely perpetrators who shoot to kill wild and beautiful birds perceived as an enemy…probably see themselves as renegade commandos.Those who are employed in the grouse moor industry of blood sports and licensed to carry guns in the Bermuda Triangle area should perhaps be accompanied/monitored and a temporary ban on killing grouse during wildlife crime investigation.Shine a brighter light on their activities and expose them to far greater scrutiny.

Tinto Chiel

“David says:
@ Inverclyder, nobody else mentioned it, but triathlon winner Brownlee was waving a, whisper it, Yorkshire flag yesterday.”

Vile Ecky Thump Separatist!

Mind you, most Yorkshire folk I have met regard their county as Echt England and the surrounding counties mere appendages.

Hamish100

Arbroath1320 says:

19 August, 2016 at 5:54 pm

call me dave says:
19 August, 2016 at 5:33 pm

North Ayrshire Labour leader Peter McNamara stands down, days after instigating moves to oust SNP

link to archive.is

Funny old world init!

Let me guess … I’m only guessing here mind. ?

It was a big boy who made me do it and then ran away. I didnae want tae dae it … honestly … I really REALLY didnae want tae dae it! ?

Maybe Alex Gallagher often writer to the Herald will try and become leader. He dresses up as a Viking noo so be warned!! No doubt they thought the would let the snp struggle on until the elections next year. Their bluff has been called.

Free Scotland

If cybernats are damaging the independence cause, why are unionists so keen to vilify them? Why all this concern?

The real reason for the unionists’ dislike of independence supporters who are active in cyberspace is that they expose the shabbiness of the unionists’ contribution to the debate.

Bob Mack

Re the child in the Syria video. If you look at the picture,he does indeed have a head wound of some 3cm x2cm under his hairline. You can see it as he brushes back his hair. He is clearly in a state of shock,which I have seen many times. I do not believe this was staged. Look at his eyes. He is far, far away.
I have seen the same expression on military men with battle stress. The 1000 mile stare.

Edward

Any (very thin) respect I had for Tom Gordon has just sailed out the window.

Just seen a retweet on the WOS twitter feed from Tom Gordon
“I wonder if @jk_rowling will be commenting on the @JournoStephen situation”

This has to be one of the more bizarre comments from a so called journalist who wrote up a made up article

Either he is trying to wind people up, or he really has lost grasp of any reality (probably the latter)

Breeks

To put this into perspective?

All of us enjoyed the Charlie Hebdo cartoon, which was all about satire, making a point but hopefully having a chuckle at the same time. Then one day, two humourless men armed with assault rifles walk in to your offices and kill 11 people and wound 11 more. I don’t know how you go back to work after that, and try again to make people smile, but they did, because they believe what they are doing is important.

Then we come to Scotland, with our petulant Weetabix head, a would be historian who’s made a good living for himself shovelling stuff for the cameras, and Stephen Daisley, who frankly I’ve never heard of because the Borders doesn’t even get STV, all have a tantrum because the people of Scotland are all waking up to the shite which passes for journalism and state run broadcasting.

It’s like some 50’s black and white B movie, with the plucky stiff upper lip back room boffins trying everything known to 1950’s science to keep the damn cork in the independence bottle while the needle in the pressure gauge sweats it’s way deeper and deeper into the red zone.

Know what Unionist journo’s? Man the feck up, and this time when we are having a constitutional debate, put that cork into the propaganda orifice and ram it in tight, then as one country, let us sit down and have a no holds barred objective and informed discussion about the countries future. No hate, argue if we must, but let us all strive manfully to keep the debate constructive and progressive and find an answer we can all of us live with.

We all know what happened in 2014, the propaganda and Project Fear did the business for the Union, except it didn’t, did it? Less than two years have passed and the issues which might have been settled for a generation in a fair and honest referendum are every inch as raw and vital now as they were in 2014. Medals and ermine for your generals, and a squalid reputation in tatters for the rest of you. The YES referendum didn’t settle a damn thing for anybody.

I’m left wondering if Unionism has any case at all, or is it just rooted in a base human fear, like arachnophobia or agoraphobia, or some other fear that feels visceral and deep rooted within, but where the cure is to face your fear and teach your brain to recognise how irrational your thought process is actually being.

If you want to be journalist, why not revert yourself to factory settings and try again to be a good one? Maybe even a great one. Give it some thought journos. Indyref2 will be playing for keeps and it won’t go away because you delete your Twitter account.

Lenny Hartley

o/T Margaret Ferrier Snp mp refers to the U.K. As “our Nation” on RT . FFS what chance have we got if our elected representatives have not got a clue on the constitutional arrangements of the U.K.

Robert J. Sutherland

Breeks,

Well said there.

“The truth will set you free”, as the old saying goes.

Which naturally begs the question, how to get it effectively out there…?

Ian Brotherhood

Frankie Boyle was a speaker in Holyrood Sec’s debating team, a good few years after me. In his first volume of autobiography he mentions Pat Slaven, the teacher who was responsible for the team.

I remember Mrs Slaven taking us to Glasgow Uni one freezing winter night (must’ve been 79/80-ish) to see the final of some major debating competition. Main reason she took us was to see John Nicolson doing his thing.

He was, at that time, perhaps 18 or 19 years old, and utterly awesome. His command of the chamber was just extraordinary. He seemed to enjoy interventions, appeared to do most of his speech without any reference to notes, and utterly destroyed the opposition arguments. I did a lot of gigs with the school team, and we were okay, but he was in a different class entirely and I’ve rarely seen as good a speaker in all the years since.

IMO, that’s partly why the yoons are grabbing this (manufactured?) opportunity to gun for John Nicolson – they’re afraid of him, and with good reason. In open, live debate, with a fair moderator? He’d wipe the fucking floor with each and every one of them, then use Bloater McBawface to polish it.

Artyhetty

Fab comment re;Breeks@7.55pm

Breeks, unionism is not a phobia, it is a planned, orchestrated, historic need. A need to hold onto a gross power, a power structure built on bullying, lies and corruption. We are fcuked unless there is support from the EU to throw off the UKOK chains, while remaining an important wheel in the cog of life affirming, forward thinking cooperation among countries, dedicated to creating a decent future for our kids and grandkids.

Unionism is a myth in the UK, a destructive, negative, snooping, sinister organisation. One which Scotland needs to be free of as soon as possible, before it is too late.

Iain

It’s a shame, nobody reads the yoon rags any more. Nobody but the sadly misinformed would believe the yoon media. They need to recognize that their credibility has gone. Tell a lie, once and people will not believe you again when you spout your crap.
Tell repeated lies and people will never believe a word you say ever again, this is the situation in Scotland.
It will be a problem when Scotland is independent, as a huge percentage of the Scottish public will have a huge distrust of the msm even if the bbc and Stv are shut down. They are playing with fire. They don’t know what they are doing.

heedtracker

Their real problem is that Scotland doesn’t care about cybernats, and isn’t that interested anyway. Every Scot, knows exactly what every other Scot they know thinks about Scotland running Scotland, so its not as if UKOK hackdom can get going with their extra special dehumanising, monstering and all out demonising abilities.

And they really are a spectacular clusterfudge of journalistic buffoonery. This idiot hasn’t got the UKOK stones to just actually ask their great leaderene of Britnat yoonery in Scotland for help.

Tom Gordon ?@HTScotPol 4h4 hours ago
I wonder if @jk_rowling will be commenting on the @JournoStephen situation?

Valerie

@Ian Brotherhood

Completely agree about John Nicolson. The smearfest is keen to prove there is something wrong about John, when in fact its rabid jealousy about John’s obvious intellect, style and delivery.

John is very polished in all his performances, he puts the work in, and he knows how to question. He won a great deal of admiration across the board for his committee performance on the BBC. People south of the Border openly paying him lovely compliment s, and many wishing he was their MP.

Ordinary people with no axe to grind simply giving credit.

The SNP WM group are cohesive, organised and intelligent. They have worked their socks off.

You can see why something has to be done to bring them down. They have tried with the females, these are the next targets.

Iain More

@Ian Brotherhood

I am pretty sure if my memory hasn’t totally gone that John Nicolson was a former World Uni Debating Champion. Add his debating skill to his obvious media savvy and of course the Yoons are going to go for him. There has been more than attempt to smear him already.

Oh and I saw him debate as well back then. He made the Yoon monkeys look and sound even less than that. It wouldn’t surprise me if he made more than a few Yoon enemies from those days as well because he made them look and sound like a right shower of c!!!s.

Robert J. Sutherland

heed:

Their real problem is that Scotland doesn’t care about cybernats, and isn’t that interested anyway.

You are probably right. It’s a rehashed attempt to paint all Yessers as fringe extremists, but it’s hard to sustain when so many ordinary people have voted for a very cautious SNP with a very level-headed leader, and the sky hasn’t fallen in as per yoon predictions. Counter-productive actually, as we all know, but they apparently still don’t realise.

Maybe “word of mouth” is not a bad strategy after all. Not pontifications from self-appointed “opinion-formers”, but from trusted neighbours and friends in a sort of popular chain-reaction.

Assisted by a good dose of satire, which can tell the truth in a direct and readily-accepted way.

Ian Brotherhood

@Valerie –

Precisely so.

It should also be borne in mind that observers with no dog in the fight are capable of making objective assessments of the strengths and weaknesses of individual players as well as whatever party they may represent.

Like hundreds of thousands of other pro-indy supporters, I’m not a member of the SNP. That’s not to say we can claim to be entirely without bias. Who is? But even a cursory scan of the main movers and shakers on the current Scottish scene is telling – the BTUKOKers have very few characters of real quality. The flight of Torrance, Oliver and the like may be a welcome respite for many of ‘us’, but will also be perceived as an alarm-bell by The Establishment – some of their more prominent gimps have made a dash for it, and those left behind will be getting restive.

Quelle dommage, eh?

heedtracker

Rancid The Graun wheels out Scotland again, in their ongoing and very creepy tory crucifying JC campaigning

link to archive.is

The letter, signed by representatives from England, Wales and Scotland, says the councillors do not have faith in Jeremy Corbyn’s “weak leadership”, warning that the country faces an existential threat from the vote to leave the EU with a potential second Scottish referendum looming.”

That berk Wullie Young’s definitely not a Corbynista, so he’s one of the red tory thousand.

Robert Kerr

Annent that Q-person who did “coast” for EBC.

Please view this superb BBC Aberdeen documentary on Roman invasions of Caledonia presented by Dr Fraser Hunter. “Scotland – Rome’s Final Frontier”

Compare and contrast!

Enjoy this one.

link to youtube.com

stewartb

Breeks @ 7.55pm says:

“If you want to be journalist, why not revert yourself to factory settings and try again to be a good one? Maybe even a great one. Give it some thought journos. Indyref2 will be playing for keeps and it won’t go away because you delete your Twitter account.”

Spot on, Breeks – and this is NOT a demand for agreement with the pro-indy side of the argument but a demand for a serious, professional, evidence-based and well-argued, analytical approach by journalists to their chosen profession on an issue that still needs to be settled. The time for cheap jibes and daft games (from any source) is over!

Clydebuilt

By now Daisley’s Boss Bernardo Ponse on Abody has had time to read this article……. Shurely there’s no chance Daisley will ever appear on air for STV.

Dave McEwan Hill

Robert J. Sutherland at 8.59

With you there,Robert. It’s how you frame things.

yesindyref2

Being savaged by the Daily Mail section of the Herald is probably going to be an ambition of every aspiring politician, in a similar way to being ridiculed by the Punch section of the Spectator.

A thousand years from now, who’ll know the difference?

Scot Finlayson

@Robert J. Sutherland

didn`t say the RAF were the ones that bombed the little kid in Aleppo,

there are little kids in all cities in Syria north,south,west and east,

little kids,mothers,the aged,non combatants all get injured or die when you start bombing cities,

i was hoping the picture of the injured boy might make the UK Gov rethink their policy of RAF airstrikes with Brimstone missiles.

yesindyref2

I see there are comments about Neil Oliver deleting his Twitter account but to be fair, it’s probably the first time he’s ever shown any passion about anything in his public life. His history is as dry as a jar full of dessicated old bones.

[…] I disagree with many of Daisley’s views. Yet like any journalist, I hate the idea of censorship – especially if pressure comes from powerful sources like those connected to a government. (Some of this debate has already taken place elsewhere: See Alex Massie and Wings Over Scotland). […]

Dave McEwan Hill

I’m afraid we are being fed a crock of shit on Syria and too many sensible and decent people are believing it. US and its wee brother started funding Islamic extremists against Assad in 2007 because Assad blocks the way to Iran.

We then started pretending we were dealing with these elements until Russia came in at the invitation of the President of Syria to do the job properly.
Assad is the legitimate ruler of Syria,recognised as such by the UN, and has significant majority support in the country.

The distortion of the situation in Aleppo by our media is breathtaking. Aleppo was attacked and taken by anti government Islamic extremist rebels. This apparently is somehow the fault of Assad. He’s not supposed to do anything about it?
I suppose if some nutters took over Carlisle the UK government would send in troops with coffee and buns.

Fred

“Would you buy a used car from Jackson Carlaw?” That was his problem!

North chiel

sick to the back teeth listening to the “Lewis Macdonald party political broadcast” on
it would appear his ” own exclusive radio station ” today , on the hour ( every hour), North sound 2,
criticising staff reductions in his local fire& rescue service. ” SNP/Scotgov bad” . ” Broken record” on the Northsound 2 turntable .

heedtracker

Robert J. Sutherland says:
19 August, 2016 at 8:58 pm
heed:

What ever they say about the SNP and this nascent Scottish democracy of ours, you really can say whatever you think. There is no Big SNP brother shrieking like a rancid The Graun/Herald/BBC hack/super-rich plagiarising Rowlingesque chancer, furiously demanding silence, blocking, banning, dehumanising anyone. There isn’t even an SNP BBC, lying to us daily, desperately brain washing us into worshipping so and so royals billionaires, Lord Wet Fart toryboy party donor. They don’t even think they have that grand old SLabour right to rein over us, happy and glorious shit going on.

Its just you and me Robert, you and me. Technically, between the ears of your average toryboy hack, and according to freak outs like rancid The Graun, not only are we an “existential threat” to their country, we shouldn’t even exist, let alone be voting SNP. How does that make you feel, fellow existential threat:D

Also, I don’t know what existential means but if it means the end of England’s control of Scotland is approaching, I like it.

uno mas

If anyone fancies a change of topic there´s this…

Discovered this interesting short video and thought I should share it with you all as an antidote to the modern version of athletics vis the Rio Olympics and a reminder of when the fastest man in the world was from Tranent.

link to youtube.com

Still Positive.

Fred @ 9.54

No. But in 1997 I said I wouldn’t buy a used car from Tony Blair.

However, I have never voted for a Labour MP in Scotland. Voted SNP in every election they stood for since 1974.

heedtracker

The Ligger piles in. Murdoch’s favourite attack twerp boosts Alex Massie, who take just one more stinky toryboy weewee over anything and everything Scottish democracy.

Andrew Neil ?@afneil 5h5 hours ago
THE SPECTATOR: Now the SNP are in power their skin seems to have thinned

Andrew McLean

cirsium says:
19 August, 2016 at 5:11 pm
@scott finlayson, 3.57pm

that picture was provided by The White Helmets who only operate in areas controlled by the terrorist organisation, Jaish al fatah. Their standard propaganda picture is a dust and blood covered child being carried by a White Helmet operative. The White Helmets was founded by an ex-MI6 operative and the current leader was refused admission to the United States because of links to terrorists. Have a read of this post for more information link to moonofalabama.org

Moon of Alabama is a media analysis site.

This is not the first time that The National has printed propaganda. The circulation for Newsquest papers is reported under the regional papers heading not national. It is not clear, therefore, why the paper is reporting on areas outwith its remit.

I smell shite. Really hardcore shite, so where is it coming from? excellent paragraph separation by the way, just like you get if you cut and paste. Also excellent use of triggers, mi6 and terrorist! Working together, not for the first time in your sad little mind I will bet.

By the way wings over Scotland is a bulshit analyst site, and you were just exposed.

Oh and just for future reference, don’t use dead children, and don’t think wings are frequented by uneducated inexperienced idiots.

As a old friend used to say when coming across your type, “you were in you’re dads bag when I was in Baghdad”.

yesindyref2

@Scot Finlayson
Do you mean rethink its air strikes, or rethink Brimstone? Reason I ask is that at £100,000 a shot, Brimstone is supposed to be the safest way of fire and forget as if it doesn’t identify its target, it self-destructs. In addition it’s 45 Kg of explosive which is relatively small, enough to destroy a tank or armoured vehicle but not destroy a whole building. Apparently.

heedtracker

Why Murdoch thinks the Ligger’s an ideal henchman in the BBC isn’t always that clear but here’s what the Ligger thinks is SNP thin skin, or something. Planet toryboy ain’t what it used to be. In UKOK hackdom that says a tory hacks been fired and assorted toryboys no longer tweeting is their headline news,

link to archive.is

SNP bad, mostly but

“Still, there is a hostility towards the media – a hostility bordering on paranoia – which is not altogether healthy.

Andrew McLean

Heady

“Still, there is a hostility towards the media – a hostility bordering on paranoia – which is not altogether healthy.”

Really? This is a question as old as time, to quote the satires of Juvenal, Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Latin phrase found in the work of the Roman poet Juvenal from his Satires “Who will guard the guards themselves?”

There was an enquiry? Levison?

Gary45%

North Chiel@9.59
If you are ever in the company of one of SLabs finest!!!?? Lewis MacDonald, ask him if he is still proud of making a complete AR*E of the roads maintenance when it was his watch.
He was in charge when Bear took over gritting the A9
IT WAS A SHAMBLES, his office fobbed me off with the usual SLab garbage excuses at the time.
To call him a FUD would be detrimental to FUDS everywhere.
O/T
Sad news about Danus Skene,
Our day will come. RIP

heedtracker

From another super rich tory hack that paid a million quid to stop Scottish democracy 2014…

J.K. Rowling ?@jk_rowling 5h5 hours ago
So anyway, this has made my day.
Reading ‘Harry Potter’ Influences How Americans View Donald Trump

carjamtic

Heedtracker @ 10:48

Just back from one of those big piles of rust in the North Sea,free newspapers,in the coffee lounges,delivered daily,P&J,The Daily Mail,The Scotsman,Daily Express and The Times 4 copies of each.

I thought I would spoil them by checking the accuracy of my 10 metre projectile vomiting (exorcist style),but found there was no need,they lay untouched as if people were too embarressed to even pick them up (except for one copy of the Times which was neatly folded in half).

On the iron bird from Shetland to Eberdeen,a free copy of the Spectator,was in the pouch of every seat (Eastern Airways) I must confess I took it home to save any future unsuspecting passengers.

Well we all have to do our bit,I even thumbed it,as a wee reminder to myself,(when you open it up an imaginary voice warns “brace for impact”) it is truly horrific ,usual highly offensive stuff ‘How shooting aids wildlife’ an article about grouse shooting by Matt Ridley.

They are reduced to giving them away for free,I think we know why.

Anybody need a cage liner for their budgie ?

Scot Finlayson

@yesindyref2

basically rethinking all RAF airstrikes on cities,towns,villages,

did two of the Brimstone missiles not fall off one of the RAF planes,

p://tinyurl.com/z6e47tt

Andrew McLean

Heady,
To much Twitter is not good for you!

link to youtube.com

Phronesis

‘…freedom of the press should not be seen as merely the freedom of those rich enough to own a newspaper or media outlet to publish and be damned, rather it should be seen in the context of debates about journalism itself, its function, its history, its purported democratic role and its often complex sense of self-identity’
(Steel, 2012:23. ‘Journalism and Free Speech’).

A resilient system is complex and adaptive, innovates and is dynamic. Hardly a description of the current print media which continues to stick its head in the quicksand when the 99% are living in a seriously unsatisfactory world where unrestrained capitalism has exploited and eclipsed social democracy.

Scotland has embarked on the long revolution- a peaceful, egalitarian, self- educated and media literate civil movement. How should responsible journalism in this country respond? It should be a solid foundation of information. Trustworthy and ethical, reporting factual accounts of the big issues at home and internationally with reference to Scotland’s place in the world.

Instead, media moguls wield disproportionate power with ignoble agendas in a toxic relationship with a political elite trying to control the parameters of mediated information. Freedom of thought, expression and information are the main casualties, but there are always unintended consequences –the demise of print media and the rise of social media.

stonefree

O/T North Ayrshire Labour leader Peter McNamara is and was a waste of space, I was introduced to his brother a few years ago and he had no time for him .
McNamara blamed the SNP leader for not being available
There used to be a local on line newspaper and forum run by Campbell Martin former MSP
It was great nearly every week McNamara appeared amid a fuck-up he made
Culliane looks favourite for the leader of the Labour lot, he is one of the brighter ones , well he writes the Montgomery’s pish and for a couple of others, and I think he wrote Johanna Baxter’s nonsense. She supplied her own tears

CameronB Brodie

Re. Plantation Quay. I’ve just remembered that I’d forgotten that I’d studied Plantation Quay, as part of an urban regeneration course I did at uni. We looked at the Plantation Quay development as it was felt to play an important role in stimulating the broader redevelopment of Glasgow’s waterfront, as a “flagship-development”.

I still think “place market” is a begger-they-nature strategy that does little to address underlying social concerns. It may be the easiest strategy to follow in order to attract direct inward investment to an economy but I see it as an enabler of continued global neocolonial exploitation.

Ironic that the BBC was chosen as a suitable user to break the location’s historic links with slavery. No?

Andrew McLean

Heady,
You’re a professional, I remember you saying something some time ago, well I just remembered what Twitter reminds me of, there was an experiment in an American university, that involved the combination of electric shock and detachment due to peer pressure?
Is Twitter not a electronic version, of William Goldings Lord of the flies, and is debate there in as doomed as the poor boys?

heedtracker

carjamtic says:
19 August, 2016 at 11:44 pm
Heedtracker @ 10:48

Any Scot, vile separatist or otherwise would probably find even the suggestion that STV have fired a toryboy, at the behest of the SNP, very very funny indeed. If it was the SNP, STV would give him a pay rise and he’d also now be offered a tasty toryboy spokesberk slot for assorted toryboy MP’s, still clinging on in their Scotland region, like what that ridiculous Herald editor got lately. Massie is just one more toryboy making some extra cash, trolling Scotland. There is quite a lot of money being waved in front of red and blue toryboy gimps right enough.

CameronB Brodie

OT again, kinda. I can’t remember who was complimenting this but I think it is a fantastic example of semiotic disobedience aimed at creating a dissonance in public perception. An archive in the Scottish Library is a must, IMHO.

Top class semiotic disobedience.

Empire strikes back
link to youtube.com

P.S. Bottom-up emancipation is best.

geeo

Noticed this on RT, interesting !

Journalist who voted twice to expose Brexit electoral fraud… is investigated for electoral fraud link to rt.com

Grouse Beater

My look at our and their world of film:

Bad film: link to wp.me
Good film: link to wp.me

Valerie

Here’s an interesting round up of where the UK military are operating. Ask yourself how much of this approved or discussed? It’s your money.

Not to mention the sale of arms to Saudi, that the UN has repeatedly ask UK to stop, because of the horrendous death tolls in Yemen.

Anyone that thinks they know what and where UK troops are – news flash – no you don’t.

Why, with the level of lies and mistruths we know for sure about e.g. Scotland, Ireland, anyone would believe the MSM on Syria and others, is beyond me.

link to globalresearch.ca

Sunniva

Geeo @ 12.43… Interesting link… so an investigation into electoral fraud in 2014 discovered there was no central UK database which could determine whether a voter was registered to vote in two places… neither was the barcode on the back of the voting paper of any use in determining whether a voter had already voted…

Charles Moore of the Telegraph showed that he could vote twice in the EU referendum!

Before we have another independence referendum we MUST ensure that voters who turn up to vote are only registered to vote in Scotland. I have always suspected that the 2015 Scottish independence referendum result was skewed by many thousands of English voters with second homes in Scotland fraudulently voting.

Dr Jim

The Yoon “Journalist” outrage

Ordinary folk can make mistakes or get things wrong on Twitter and Facebook and are afforded leeway by most because they’re not professional “Journalists” so they just have a row

The so called professionals should be allowed no such leeway and be held to the highest standard when they use their professional platforms and status to air their own personal opinions, the common man has no platform and no status

The perpetuation of a lie should be treated in the same way as the original inventor of that lie, however you look at it it’s an accomplice after the fact, you can’t say you didn’t do the robbery when all you did was drive the getaway car, it’s not a defence and the judge will send you down

We’ve had enquiries, fines, rows, but still the media thinks it can get away with deliberate misreporting and outright lying yet they’re the ones feigning indignation when they’re caught at it time and time again and their attitude stinks to high heaven that somehow they should have the freedom to write and say whatever they like about whomever they like no matter how untrue it may be

These people are no less than criminals and should be treated that way, either prove what you say before you say it or don’t dare say it or print it under threat of prosecution

Sunniva

… meant 2014! Typo, sorry!

Robert J. Sutherland

Valerie,

I don’t know where you’re going with all these screeds of O/T Syria propaganda, but it has obviously damn all to do with Scottish independence. It may, of course, convince any doubters coming on this site hoping to get some insight into the case for indy, that it has become instead a convenient haven for fringe leftie conspiracy theorists.

Which is a big win for whom, exactly…?

Fran

Back from my holidays tonight to find that absolutely nothing has changed from the yoon perspective of life.

Basically yoon journos and “celebs” still greetin that nasty independence supporters are still breathing.

You lot no back in yer box yet? Tut tut.

CameronB Brodie

begger-thy-neighbour, sorry.

Macart

The other side of the story.

link to thenational.scot

Scot Finlayson

@Robert J. Sutherland

90 odd % of Scottish MP`s voted against the UK bombardment of Syria,

we have just seen a picture of why they did not want to add to the mayhem in Syria until there was a clear `end strategy`,

PM at the time told Parliament there was 70,000 moderates ready to fight which turned out to be total bullshit,

emphasising that Scotland has no control over UK`s immoral war policy surely helps push principled Scottish citizens more toward an Independent Scotland.

Alex Clark

@heedtracker

From your link on the Massie piece in the Spectator

It is true that Daisley, like many of us, has on occasion tweeted some provocative and even asinine things.

What does “like many of us” actually mean? I think I know.

link to archive.is

Alex Clark

Top marks Rev.

This is the best article and comments that I’ve read on Wings for a good while. Never give up, the hysteria is hysterical LOL.

Gavin Barrie

Arbroath tried posting a link to Facebook earlier about my complaint to STV news about Daisley. I’m not sure why it didn’t work, will try again :+)

I complained on the 13th July about misuse of their @STVNews Twitter account and about tone of voice of their journalist. The reply was a couple of days later.

link to twitter.com

Alex Clark

@Gavin Barrie

So it was YOU all along and nothing to do with Pete Wishart or John Nicolson hahaha. Well done Gavin, your complaint was just.

I respect that, mind watch your back now 🙂

Swami Backverandah

Am finding some very useful descriptors along the lines of Proven Liar Alistair Carmichael …

From Peaty’s blog:
“Having read this passage, only an idiot could conclude the Court was “likening SNP run Scotland to a totalitarian regime.” Only a determined charlatan could tell the public that Lord Hodge was “blasting the named persons scheme as ‘totalitarian.'”

After Tomkins idiotic tweets about the SNP regarding the Daisley furore he’s now Determined Charlatan Adam Tomkins.

And this from Oliver Camm, Leader writer & columnist for The Times retweeting the same lack of journalistic integrity.

“This is exceptionally disturbing. Politicians are leaning on a broadcaster to silence a journalist.”

Oliver Kamm added,
Nick Cohen @NickCohen4
SNP bullies cowardly and worthless Scottish media execs into silencing @JournoStephen link to heraldscotland.com

Exceptionally Disturbed Oliver Camm.

Swami Backverandah

Yikes. Apols.
Didn’t realise that link would appear like that.

What I find exceptionally disturbing is the number of people contracted to news outlets in print and other media who mindlessly retweet and rehash other contractors errors and obfuscations without checking their sources, and still have the temerity to consider themselves journalists.

Effijy

Brian Doonthetoon says:
19 August, 2016 at 10:34 am
” LibDem MSP Mike Rumbles added: “That the SNP felt compelled to lean on STV to stop a journalist writing says more about them than it does Stephen Daisley.”

“During the referendum we saw crowds protesting at BBC Scotland with the tacit backing of Alex Salmond and senior colleagues. This sorry episode suggests nothing has changed.””

Yes, we saw the protests at Plantation Quay and yes, as far as the blatant bias goes, nothing has changed. Wonder when the next protest rally will take place?

In my opinion, gathering 100,000 signatures from Scots who are disgusted by Blatant BBC Bias will do more than have the BBC
count the first 90 door-step protesters.

Please sing the link below

link to you.38degrees.org.uk

JLT

This is nothing new. This hasn’t even being going on for the last few years, or even the last few decades. For the British State, this has been going on for the last 3 centuries! Any threat to the British Establishment is to not only be dealt with, but to be countered with extreme force and punishment. And for those who look to advance themselves, there are many who will happily help to protect the Establishment’s status quo.

As an example of how the British State will crush any seditious element, you only need to go back to the time of the French Revolution. When the French Revolution took place, it was not only important for the ideas that it promoted, but also the political ideologies that arose from those ideas; individual freedom and equality that should be applied to every male, not only in France, but everywhere in the Western World (women at this point had no rights), and it was enshrined in none other than the historical ‘Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen’.

Britain was hierarchical, patriarchal and dominated by a hereditary aristocracy. When the revolution took place, William Pitt the Younger along with Scotland’s key politician, Henry Dundas, countered the various groups that had arisen in the 1790’s such as Edinburgh’s ‘Friends of the people’ and in Ireland, the ‘Society of the United Irishmen’. These groups sought political change where they looked to substantial power held by the Establishment when it came to voting and for it to be on a more equal basis amongst merchants and the lesser gentry (the working poor would have no right in this since it came down to those who held land or ran a business. Owning substantial amounts of land at that time gave the landowner the right to vote (hence it was only the nobility who were allowed into Parliament).

An early favourable response to the French Revolution encouraged many in Great Britain to reopen the issue of parliamentary reform, which had been dormant since Pitt’s reform bill was defeated in 1785. The reformers, however, were quickly labelled as radicals and as associates of the French revolutionaries. Subsequently, in 1794 Pitt’s administration placed these radical on trial. Parliament began to enact repressive legislation in order to silence the reformers. Individuals who published seditious material were punished, and, in 1794, the writ of habeas corpus was suspended. Other repressive measures included the Seditious Meetings Act (which restricted the right of individuals to assemble publicly) and the Combination Acts (which restricted the formation of societies or organisations that favoured political reforms). Problems manning the Royal Navy also led to Pitt to introduce the Quota System in 1795 addition to the existing system of Impressment (press gangs where men were forced to join the army and navy. Conscription was also introduced).

As the French Citizen’s army began defeating the continent’s ‘coalition armies’ led by the Establishment there, Pitt and the British Establishment panicked at the thought of a ‘French Revolution’ rising up in Britain. It is therefore of no surprise that they looked upon ‘Friends of the people’ and the ‘Society of the United Irishmen’ as enemies of the state and thus ("Tractor" - Ed)s to the British Empire. When France finally went to war with Britain, it was with ‘relief’, for it gave Pitt and Dundas the excuse they had been waiting for. The groups were not only savaged in the press by being denounced as French spies, sympathisers and ("Tractor" - Ed)s to the state, but the ringleaders were rounded up and sentenced to 14 years each in Botany Bay in Australia.

During and after the war, the British State made great use of the press to portray Britain not only as the conqueror of Napoleon (which by the way …continues to this day!), but to blacken the names of those who had created the societies for only having the belief that there was a need to improve the rights of the common man and to change the voting system.

And this is the thing. The British State used the press at the time, and as it still does today, to continually condemn the likes of Napoleon Bonaparte, even though Bonaparte for all his faults, had tried to implement universal suffrage for the common man. Men who tried to make Britain a more equal place by changing the voting system and thus diluting power from the Establishment downwards. These men were either openly condemned, or they were sentenced to exile or executed in the worst cases. And it was here that the press of that time were used to help to promote the Establishments cause. Anyone who tried to stand up against the Establishment had their reputations destroyed by being openly condemned in the press.

So this is nothing new. What you are fighting here is a system that has not only been in use for 3 centuries, but the system is used by people who have been taught how to be grand masters in using press manipulation. Many of today’s journalists may know who owns the press and therefore their jobs, but they have no knowledge of the past, and probably even less when it comes to just how determined the Establishment will enforce its will …so it can protect its own personal interests as well as its power base.

CameronB Brodie

@Alex Massie
One of Scotland’s main problems is we are regularly trolled by ignorant pricks, such as yourself, pontificating in such a manner that obscures truth from the reader. Away and read some post-colonial literature yah fanny.

#ignorantcybernat

Robert Peffers

@Robert J. Sutherland says: 20 August, 2016 at 1:33 am:

“I don’t know where you’re going with all these screeds of O/T Syria propaganda, but it has obviously damn all to do with Scottish independence.”

That, Robert, is no more than your own personal opinion.

” … It may, of course, convince any doubters coming on this site hoping to get some insight into the case for indy, that it has become instead a convenient haven for fringe leftie conspiracy theorists.”

More likely it will convince those doubters coming to this site hoping to get some insight into the case for indy being evidence of Scottish parochialism they were right.

Which is a big win for whom, exactly…?

For exactly those who do indeed choose to believe we are indeed too wee, too poor and too bloody stupid and your comment will certainly reinforce their beliefs.

Les Wilson

Well, the Olympics will be over soon, and congratulations to all competitors.
This morning I turned on to EBCto check results, what I find is the OTT reaction that the EBC are so good at.

Showing clips of events it was a sea of butchers aprons, painted faces and all kinds of various costumes. The commentators all Britain this Britain that, gushing the Britain is the greatest mantra. The occasional slip about it all actually being “English”. Any Saltires, and there was sure to be at least some, were edited out.

There may have been a mention of other counties involved from the British Isles during events, I do not know, but I never heard the words Scottish, Scots in any main headlines in the tv media and the press, when pushing the Britain is great agenda.

We are all British/ English apparently.That is the Yoons way. Andy Murray MAY have been the unavoidable one for them to mention.

On top of hearing also this morning that there will now be a celebratory parade in Manchester, they have now added another in London. Oh, they are so, going to push this as a great propaganda excuse. Something the do at ANY opportunity.
May said these will be suitable events, so watch out for as much flag waving as they can organise to promote hoe great GB is, apparently.

The one in Manchester is being touted as for all the “nations” involved. I do not see many Scots traveling to Manchester for a parade. Both will be used to further “Britishness” to a sickening degree. They never miss a propaganda excuse.

I wholly agree the athletes deserve recognition but this will be and OTT display for political reasons. Which speaking for myself, it will make me feel sick. So I will not bother watching it, I know how it will go, and I also now why.
Castigate me if I am wrong.

CameronB Brodie

Ah, if only there was an edit function. I could have worked all the bits and bobs in to my previous comment. Nuts. 🙂

Capella

@ Robert J Sutherland
I think Valerie made her point very well. Are you happy about your taxes paying for the destruction of Middle East countries in your name? Are you happy for the MSM to lie to you about it?

I can think of better things to do with our money. If that puts me in the fringe leftie conspiracy theorist camp then I’m glad to be included. Is there a badge?

Andrew McLean

Robert Peffers

The Syria link was Assad sponsored propaganda, two seconds looking at the link will tell you that. It is nut job stuff and has no place here in my opinion, it’s only purpose is to make us look like the sort of lunatics that say things like the Royal family are lizards.
Keep the David Ike shite for conspiracy websites!

You won’t like it if I said something completely stupid and wrong about Scottish sovereignty would you!

Andrew McLean

Not your link Valerie, by the way.

Grouse Beater

A squint at the Scottish film ‘industry’: link to wp.me

Luigi

You do realise folks, with all this “bullying” and “one-party state” guff being propagated; that when the next consultative referendum is organised by the Scottish Government (the untrustworthy EC kept well out of it), leading to a YES victory; guess what the soor-faced yoons will cry:

“It’s nae fair, the referendum was rigged!”.

You read it here first. 🙂

Croompenstein

NUJ agree that it’s a load of pish..

link to thenational.scot

Daisley refused to comment