Never knowingly unhysterical
If you’ll forgive one of my very rare switches to the first-person view, readers, I’ve found the last few days in the independence referendum particularly weird.
That’s because my current life is curiously mirroring my previous one as a videogames journalist. The gaming community is at present mired in a convulsive orgy of the most mindboggling horror over something called “GamerGate”, which I couldn’t even begin to decribe adequately to you, because frankly you wouldn’t believe me and I’m not sure the words exist to do it justice anyway.
By way of illustration of that fact, this article on games website VG24/7 is, genuinely, by far the best, most accurate summary and analysis of the situation that I’ve read. (Twitter followers will already have seen me tweet a couple of random samples of what’s going on. I urge you, if you can, to endure the entirety of that second link, and note that it’s had almost FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND views.)
But while proving that the sort of abusive insanity pervading the world of videogames makes even the absolute worst of indyref name-calling look like two kittens with woolly hats on having a meow-off over who gets first shot at a saucer of milk, the core principles are the same – a tiny handful of total boneheads having their actions blown out of all proportion by the press in a shock-horror frenzy bearing no relation to the actual experiences of 99.9% of people.
Here’s a “Better Together” spokesman in today’s Sunday Times, describing Jim Murphy being hit with an egg during a mildly shouty incident attended by a suspiciously large number of journalists and photographers during his otherwise tumbleweed-strewn tour of Scottish street corners.
Readers will be wearily familiar with the BT modus operandi being deployed here. Baseless accusations, wild exaggerations, and the ever-present smearing of the SNP as being directly responsible, despite there being not the slightest, tiniest scrap of evidence that the as-yet-unidentified culprit has the remotest connection to the party.
(What is it that the SNP’s supposed to do even if the egg-thrower IS a member? Alex Salmond must be worn out from repeating publicly, over and over again, that any form of intimidation/abuse is unacceptable. What else can he say?)
Politicians have been getting hit with eggs since eggs and politicians existed. So unremarkable was the incident that it caused nothing more than a couple of tuts from the crowd, and nobody made the slightest attempt to apprehend or even pursue the offender as he strolled off at walking pace.
(We’d show you, but the YouTube video now strangely displays this. Also, none of it addresses why the Yes movement would WANT to “silence” Murphy’s tour, which has been providing it with a rich vein of hilarious photographs of Jim talking to three Labour activists and a dug, demonstrating just how uninterested the people of Scotland are in his tired old fearmongering schtick.)
But aided and abetted by an all-too-willing media, the No camp has inflated this unwelcome, stupid but fundamentally non-violent act into something more akin to the scenes of near civil war unleashed on the streets of Germany by the Nazi brownshirts of the 1930s and their Communist opponents.
Note how the Express story above doesn’t even trouble itself with any qualifiers like “Better Together claimed that…” or similar. The “barrage of co-ordinated abuse” is stated as an undisputed fact. With just a bare sliver of remnant journalistic integrity, the Telegraph reports that:
“A dossier circulated to journalists by Better Together appeared to show local Yes Scotland social media accounts encouraging Nationalists to attend meetings which subsequently became heated.”
Note that it doesn’t say “encouraging nationalists to go and abuse him”, but merely “to attend meetings which subsequently became heated”. (Though we do note the sneaky capitalising of “Nationalists”, which is only a proper noun if it specifically refers to members of the SNP, even though the quote talks of Yes Scotland.)
The truth, as pointed out by Alex Massie in the Spectator in an article which appeared for a couple of hours yesterday and then mysteriously vanished, is that given the stakes, the independence campaign has been remarkably mild-mannered:
But people disagreeing – heatedly, passionately, but peacefully – with each other doesn’t sell many papers, and nor does it serve the interests of a side increasingly in a panic as the polls tighten, and which has been desperate for the entire duration of the campaign to smear its opponents as subhuman monsters.
I urge you all again to read/listen to the last two links in paragraph 3 of this post. While admittedly those examples are at the extreme end, they’re very much the sort of thing that I experienced in the world of videogaming for over 20 years before I ever wrote a word about politics. (Seriously, Unionist trolls are amateurs by comparison.)
The independence debate isn’t horrible. People are horrible, even over something as absurdly trivial as videogames, let alone the future of their country and their children. But the horrible people are a tiny minority, and of no actual consequence. The first link in paragraph 3 perfectly encapsulates the level of respect and attention that should be given to their demented rantings.
But that can only happen in a world where journalism is part of the solution rather than part of the problem, and that’s a world from which Scottish political coverage currently and distressingly finds itself a very long way distant.
The great Scottish patriot,and,just to prove it..look..I even drink in bru.
From what I’ve seen on social media most of his questioners are women, a lot of them of pension age. Doesn’t have same headlines though..” Grannies run Murphy out of town “.
Irn bru, predictive text.
In my opinion the verbal attack on the yes voters by Ian Davidson(who has disappeared)was the worst of all when he said we should bayonet the wounded following a no vote
Man, these kittens are really going at it.
This guy was convicted in a criminal trail this week for threatening to assassinate our elected leader…
link to scotsman.com
But that is reported as a bit of banter!
[…] « Never knowingly unhysterical […]
It’s almost embarrassing that you have to keep saying this. Somehow pro-Yes people doing the same kind of things as political activists have been doing for decades if not centuries, is some sort of terrifying new wave of political terrorism. It’s absurd.
Also, I managed to make it 5mins 30 into that video link. Why the hell are people caring so much about who is romantically involved with who in the games industry? Oh wait, she’s a female developer, that’s why it’s suddenly important.
Thanks for this, Stuart. This tactic of exaggerated whine and accusation abetted by the use of a craven media is ominously reminiscent of nascent totalitarian regimes in recent history. There is much to fear from a NO victory.
MSM go for Glasgow Cabbie
link to independent.co.uk
The kitten on the left looks particularly vicious: must be a Nationalist.
Now we know. ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ was never a fictional James Bond film after all, rather a frighteningly accurate prediction of the future.
Think we need a remake with Jimmy MacBond played by the Rev Stu.
Numpty Murphy stood on a crate
The 1 Man March wiznay doin too great.
Along came a stranger carrying an egg
Trying to give Numpty a bit o a fleg
But Numpty’s no scared, he kens aboot a country’s defences
And illegal wars, and filling in his expenses
The cleaners will work hard to git a that muck off
If they dinna, Numpty will jist tell them to Fuck off Fuck off Fuck off!!!
The egg went right doon Numptys back
Thir gona hay a wiproond fir him in Iraq
Some say Numpty should be saving shipyarders jobs
But he couldnay git moving fir a the Yes mobs
Numpty’ll be back on his 1 Man March tour
Coz nothing stops Numpty being Davies hoor
But all the queens horses
And all the queens men
Will never get oor Numpty into Number 10.
Wee Ginger Dug
smiling vulture says:
August 31, 2014 at 9:47 am
This egotistic episode,reminds me of stickergate,Ian Murray,Edinburgh South,made the accusation of vandalism,got it out in the press,then he had to pull back on what he originally said.
Full Circle
I notice that not only has the Alex Massie article at the Spectator vanished, but that an article penned by Murphy himself is up instead.
Of course, the article is full of downright lies, omissions, and sneaky inferences. Nothing to be surprised about there then, considering how much of those things were present from him on his “tour”. No mention, for instance, of the coterie of No voters (or campaign staff) he takes round from place to place, only accepting questions from them. No mention of his ofttimes atrocious behaviour towards members of the public wanting to ask him hard questions. No mention of his habit of posting photographs of alleged members of the public who turn out to be his groupies. No mention of his utter and outright lies about pensions or the NHS, or the pound.
No, according to that article, Jim Murphy is a golden mouthed saint, come to bring the truth and offer the path of righteousness to the fallen of Scotland, only to be met with bile and vile slander.
And of course, woven throughout the article is the assertion, never outright stated, but alluded to, that the SNP, led by Alex Salmond, are directly responsible for the terrible, terrible, uncouth beasting being given to poor old Jim. Jim, who’s only wish is to shine the light of truth upon the poor uninformed of Scotland, led astray by the terrible naves of the Nationalists (big N, Blut und Boden).
if it wasn’t so deadly serious the whole thing would be comical, like something from the mind of Maurice Gran and Lawrence Marks (who created The New Statesman).
And nowhere in the media is he called out, or held, even slightly, to account for his disgusting portrayal of the entire Yes campaign as one of small minded vicious thugs with only nationalism on their minds. This referendum has really shown British media for what it is. And it’s not an edifying picture.
Maybe O/T, but, I have just read a Gerry Hassan piece on Scottish Review, about a George Galloway meeting in Portobello.
This ends with the suggestion that, should Scotland vote Yes, Gorgeous George will return from exile to beat Alex Salmond.
The thought of having George back in Scotland full-time has swung it for me – I am afraid I will just have to vote Naw – to prevent this!!!
Of course, they could have run with a story like ‘Runaway success of No campaign leaves Yes trailing in its wake. Angry scenes as independence supporters vent frustration’. The momentum is very much on our side. These tactics can only intensify. The incredible mood at Yes meetings and WBB distribution points tells me that something big is happening across the country.
BT will regret moving on to this territory because it is now going to be embarrassed by the well documented conduct of its own supporters who as we all know have been far more prone to outbursts of aggression.
The bloke in the house next door is a few years older than me. He is, as far as I can tell, a No. I am a Yes.
His house has a flat roof extension and it gathers a lot of leaves and twigs etc from nearby trees. Once a year I climb up onto his roof to remove these twigs etc. He is one of those unfortunate people that simply cannot stand heights and feels giddy more than three feet above the ground.
In the event of a YES vote I will still clamber up onto his roof to remove these twigs once a year. In the event of a NO vote I will continue to remove the twigs and leaves.
I really hope we win this, but if we don’t and things go pear shaped because of England’s cock-eyed way of looking at things then my neighbour will have to live with the bad consequences of his No vote just like me.
We have to get on with each other and the contrived newspaper reporting of this campaign regarding contesting views just doesn’t help anyone. We should refuse to buy their newspapers. The Press is the lowest of the low.
I regard most of what David Torrance writes as abuse – abuse of free expression – because he lets personal prejudice dominate analysis and reason.
He reaches for balance falling off a unionist cliff.
As for the egg incident, perfectly timed to take attention off the issues – the bomb in the post comes next – I said already Classic Radio announced it as, MP, Jim Murphy, has abandoned his street hustings campaign because he got pelted with eggs, and received abuse and threats.
By this point in the process you’d expect all journalists and media executives to be extra careful to quote only vertifiable facts. But it seems some are sloppy and some malicious.
By the way, stay away from the comments on the Spectator Murphy piece – they seem to mostly have come from the same people who filled in the English Attitudes Survey recently, and Scots who are so filled with hatred for Alex Salmond that they can’t see past him to Scotland’s future. Sadly.
I was shown a post on Twitter which said that a man with BT and BNP connections had been arrested for the egg attack. Can anyone corroborate this tweet? not appearing on my own timeline.
I am fluent in English, have a little conversational French and Italian, and a few words of German and Dutch.
After clicking on the Rev’s links it is obvious to me that I will never, ever understand a single word of gaming.
So , if a single egg thrower is a Nationalist mob on a co-ordinated rampage…. what is a march by the Orange Order?? No doubt just more banter , and no doubt they will be shaking hands with Hibs and Celtic fans.
Lantern jaw jim murphy “INVITED” the Public to attend every one of his 100 x Street Corner Debates.
Zero qualifications or exemptions to attending.
His invitations did NOT EXCLUDE – Opponents to his view.
Reality proved to be very different when Craw Jim invites guests then procedes to rant incessently at the guests he voluntarily invited.
When Lantern Jaw Jim decides the party has only – “WAN Singer and the same wan auld song” – we now know that HE IS THE ONLY SINGER and he chooses the wan auld discredited song.
His minders were also every bit as cowardly as himself – or they were all party to the deception.
At a previous Murphy show one of his minders assaulted and harmed a child via his grip on the child`s arm.
Where were Police (Scotland).?
Where were MSM and their cameras.?
“The scenes we have witnessed over the past couple of weeks, with organised nationalist mobs trying to close down debate and intimidate people, tells us that this move is necessary.
It is thoroughly depressing that it has come to this. What makes it even more depressing is that the SNP won’t lift a finger to stop the abuse.”
Should read, ” with organised pro-union mobs of journalists trying to closed debate and intimidate people”.
Then, ” the Together parties won’t lift a finger to stop the abuse of the democratic process”.
Slightly OT, when you type in Wings into Google WOS now the top result instead of Wings the Band. How ironic, just after Sir Paul came out all Unionist.
Hang on, might be for an assault in Glasgow and not the egg incident. Keep trying to #findtheeggguy with the earpiece – wired for sound.
@socrates
Too late! Gorgeous George is suffering the tender mercies of the privatised English NHS. After that he’ll be back to a land of proper medical care whether we vote No or Yes 🙁
Murphy is scared to go to Glasgow
Coward
watching Murnagan on Sky ,tweets being supplied by biased poltical commentators from the papers all taking murphys side,surprise,surprise
Well said Mr Salmond,a 5 star showing there.
Murphy on Murnaghan looked and sounded like a wee boy running hame to his mammy,for a seasoned politician it was pathetic.
Alec Salmond put things into proper perspective and reminded the Press where the real story was in this awakening of Scotland’s electorate.
I think Jim Murphy and no thanks’ reaction to eggsgate have backfired.
They could have laughed off the actions of a numpty and maybe even gained a modicum of respect.
Striking that in the Sky interview just conducted there the London bubble-ite ‘journalists’ who commented upon the interviews with Murphy and Salmond simply reported what Murphy was saying, but made negative judgements on what Salmond was saying. The ingrained bias is so deep that I doubt they’re even aware of it. All signed off with the customary sneering goodbyeee to Scotland’s FM from Dermot Murnaghan.
Let’s get shot of the London MSM for good on the 18th. Not for a single second will they be missed.
It really is farcical.
That a story about a politician getting egged by a protester can be the headline story on the BBC Scotland online news for an ENTIRE day, just shows what the independence campaign is up against.
There was an interesting tweet that David Cameron condemned an egg thrower more than the bombing of Gaza.
Are Irn bru sponsoring Murphy? A publicity campaign for funding.
@ Grouse beater.
Aye, and some are sloppy and malicious.
I don’t rate David Torrance at all.
John Mc Leod is a much better wordsmith but seems strangely silent in this particular debate.
I read on FB that Charles Bailie of Britanica party asaulted a woman in Glasgow yesterday? Anyone know any more about it?
Lets not forget local cooncillors getting in on the action as well
link to inverclydenow.com
Yeah, clocked the Murnahan interview and the City AM and Mirror political flashes were priceless. FM on good form and some wise words. BT and any other ‘organised’ no campaign event turns up on your doorstep bawling the odds, walk on by. After their eggceptional reaction to this weeks guff you know what they’re all about. They’re now actively looking for confrontation. They’re looking to provoke an incident.
Let them bark at the moon and vote YES.
Gobsmacked watching Gordon Brewer harass Alex Salmond with the usual technical difficulties
dawn in nl
Theres not much about the assault in glasgow
link to scotsman.com
I did see an article in an MSM site about it but they didnt mention that it was a no campaigner who assaulted a yesser…
Reader over the past 2years will be aware that over
the final days of the campaign ,we can expect no change
Whatsoever as regards the London controlled “pro union” media.
However,this morning, as the mist clears over Morven, so the “final
attempt” by David Cameron to “save the union” becomes more clear:
Having now apparently “lost” the economic case ( EEC membership/
currency/ pound etc the PM appears to be shifting the focus to a foreign
affairs/ defence / military agenda.
With the terrorism alert now raised and his rhetoric on the middle
East and Ukraine deliberately being “ramped up” to “crisis level”,it is
becoming apparent that his rhetoric endorsed and amplified by the London
media, this “crisis” will by the day be heightened on TV and in the press.
Instead of trying to diffuse tensions, Cameron now sees an opportunity
to use this to his advantage “at home”
Now that the referendum date is fast approaching, expect foreign
affairs and the defence of the UK to be given maximum prominence
A “last ditch” appeal to the Scottish electorate and possible UK wide
“Crisis broadcast” close to 18/9 should not be ruled out.
It is becoming more apparent that a No win on 18/9 will give Cameron
And the Tories the “green light” for further military intervention ( with the
US) certainly at least in the Middle East.
Even with a “Yes” win ,Cameron might well consider the military
intervention of UK forces which could possibly be used to his
advantage in “post referendum negotiations”.
However, hopefully other European members could have “read
his intentions” and realised is “hawkish comments” and agenda was
more for “domestic consumption”.
Is it a Jimspiracy then?
I don’t rate David Torrance at all.
Like Andrew Neill, Torrance is a failed, journalist. But the media and press like both because they are happy to take the shilling to say what the status quo media want to be heard.
‘Politicians have been getting hit with eggs since eggs and politicians existed’
The eternal question is though: What came first – the politician or the egg?
I understand the population of Iraq have sent condolences and expressions of support to Jim Murphy following a savage attack on him from behind by some person (perhaps even one of his friends)armed with a dangerous egg -= and probably not even a free range one.
The perpetrator of this vicious assault (without UN approval) has left Jim Big Girls Blouse Murphy with an unrivalled opportunity for self promotion.
Col: Gobsmacked watching Gordon Brewer harass Alex Salmond with the usual technical difficulties
But the same people won’t demand the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, be called to account for his attitude to greater democracy for Scotland.
anyone got a link murnahan interview
thx
it’s a storm in an egg cup and that’s the best they can come up with.
evangelical speakers have always come in for stick, with their looped messages, endlessly repeating claptrap.
never listening to others, who try to point out the errors of their message.
no attempt being made to engage with the public Q&A’s.
heckling is just like reaching for the off switch on the tv or radio.
people don’t like nor enjoy being patronized or talked AT!
there is a whole tradition of heckling and egg throwing.
who would expect it?
mobs of voters in a political campaign!
they’ll be expecting us to queue up to cast our votes next!
i read part of Alex Massie article, it didn’t say anything new, except how mild and civilized this campaign has been.
all considered the yes camp has responded magnificently in getting it’s message out there.
the twist is now the no camp are trying to accuse yessers of what they have done from the beginning scaremongering and thuggish behaviours, as people react to THEIR bullying and intimidation.
don’t buy their GOADINGS!
the uk is set up so all wealth flows into london and the south east of england, whilst the rest of the uk gets a subsistence allowance.
we can change that all with a cross on a piece of paper.
we are ENTITLED to have our voices heard, our questions answered and to make up our minds which way to vote, by yes and no camps, this is after all a scottish indy referendum.
link to heraldscotland.com
Standing on street corners making speeches is something politicians have done from time to time. They should expect heckling, and they should have the skills to deal with it. However, there has to be a caveat. The views the politician expresses have to a following among the crowd. Basically they have be popular. Consider if Thatcher had done the same! Murphy’s problem, which he has real difficulty taking on board, is that he is expressing views which are at odds with a great many ordinary voters. And many Labour voters to be specific. The heckling can be expected to be robust, to put it mildly.
The problem is the media and their reporting. As Stu puts it, journalists need to be part of the solution not the problem.
Jim Murphy MP, the dignified bloke that said to a questioner in Shawlands “your arse is bigger than your argument” it’s on youtube, captured for posterity. He’s also the bloke that went up to Pete Wishart, right in his face seemingly and shouted fuck off repeatedly. But Sky don’t ever mention that.
Alex Salmond is right ,if you see Murphy,Farage,The Orange order on the streets just walk by.As for Murphy saying on Sky Yes people are disrupting his “meetings” he should get of the Streets.
If there HAS been “organised nationalist mobs intimidating and trying to close down debates over the past few weeks” as claimed by BT, why hasn’t there been anything in the MSM about this? It’s the kind of non-story they love and have been generally devoting lots of space to
BBC special report
“Jim Murphy suffered a violent assault whilst helping to enlighten the world today when a member of Yes Scotland viscously hurled a projectile at saint Murphy, one eye witness had this to say”
“It was awful! It can only be described as very similar to the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan I think I overheard the paramedic at the scene say poor Jim would have PTSD!”
“Police at the scene today are also not able to confirm or deny it was Alex Salmond dressed up as a youth”…
Willie Rennie hilarious.
‘Don’t want a chaotic Banking sector or chaotic immigration policies’
That’s what they have got now?
I wonder how many members of the No camp -especially the ones on the far right – who are crying ‘murder polis!’ and filling social media with hysterical guff about Brownshirts and baying mobs receiving orders direct from SNP HQ had a fly wee chuckle when they heard about George Galloway being attacked?
Iain McWhirter has a good solid piece in today`s Sunday Herald about the realistic dangers confronting the NHS in Scotland should the maniacs decide to vote “NO”.
Well covered the other day by Scott Minto and by many posters on this and other websites.
SLAB`s Jo Lamontable and her pet economist have promised to Cut the Scottish Parliament Budget by £2.2 billion and award our money to the needy in England.
Monies NEVER to be returned.
Unconscienably, we have irate pensioners(unionists) who actually believe “Free Personal Care for the Elderly” will be protected from an EVER DIMINISHING Budget in Scotland.
They seem to think they are voting for the status quo.?
When BamCam and Clegg can CULL pensioners more efficiently in Winter than they can cull badgers – I wid worry.
Save our pensioners, the sick and the infirm.
SAVE OUR SOULS – VOTE “YES”.
O/T Just as the odds on a Yes victory start to fall significantly the ‘mystery punter’ is back in with a £200,000 bet on No.
‘Political punter could make £1m if Scotland votes No’
link to itv.com
.
@Socrates
How is George Galloway going to challenge Alex Salmond ? The last time he stood for election in Scotland his party got 3.3% of the vote.
England are welcome to keep him in their Parliament if they want him, He will never get elected here.
I used to have some Respect for the man many years ago – not any more.
Torrance – wearing a lurid red sweatshirt with some sort of blue transfer design on the chest – suggests (on telly interview now) that the Ukraine situation puts the Scottish Referendum in perspective, a ‘low context’ …
As I said earlier, the media love inviting him in for a wee political soundbite because he talks nonsense but the kind they want to hear.
Magnificent Sunday Herald today
Incisive and brutal diminishing of Darling in the Sunday Sun by Aamer Ahmed and even the Sunday Post assisting us by headlining the fact that Nigel Farage is coming up to save the Union.
(The Sunday Post thinks this is a great idea for Better together which indicates what the Sunday Post thinks of the intelligence of the Scottish people).
On egg-gate I remain perplexed on two counts. As the man who threw the egg was photographed before he did so how did the press know that it was about to happen and why did nobody track him, identify him or interview him.
In the Sky interview with Alex Salmond, the FM made reference to reading a blog and suggested people read it to find out the other side of what Murphy and his crew are up to. The blog was called ‘Still raining still dreaming”, which is written by the fine Ray McRobbie.The article is entitled “Return of the Britnats”,
Here is the link
http://www.raymcrobbie.com
Ironic that George was attacked in his own constituency
Looked bad,hope he makes a healthy recovery
freedom of speech must be upheld
Great piece here on the cosy relationship between Shandy Club and BBBC Scotland.
lenathehyena.wordpress.com/2014/08/29/oh-what-a-tangled-web-we-weave-when-first-we-practice-to-deceive-bbc-scotland-and-the-labour-party/
link to lenathehyena.wordpress.com
Scottish independence gets boost from Hong Kong’s money markets. Exchange booths rate Scottish pound higher than English notes, cheering independence backers amid fight with London on currency” Source: South China Morning Post .
The Scottish nationalists got an unlikely boost when currency exchange company Mega Foreign Exchange listed the Scottish pound in its exchange rates, valuing it higher than the English pound. Yesterday it was offering HK$11.50 for a Scottish pound but HK$11.30 for an English one.
link to scmp.com
bookie from hell
freedom to heckle, is freedom of speech.
has always been 2 way traffic.
don’t answer questions or tell lies expect to be heckled, until one answers questions or tell the truth.
@davedee
‘Political punter could make £1m if Scotland votes No’
The headline draws the reader in. In the text we are told the punter has bet £800,000 to get this £1M. Allows the paper to highlight the odds against a YES vote. Goebels would be proud.
“Hello moosefuckers! I tell you why I hate Canada, half of you speak French, and the other half let them.”
WHACK!
@dawn in nl and @Albanach
RE the assault:
The pictures I have seen are of Max Dunbar, who is the treasurer of Britannica Party. It is alleged that he kicked a woman in the stomach, and was subsequently arrested. That said, there have been no official reports in the media about it. Glasgow police should be able to confirm whether an arrest was actually made or not, but they probably won’t give a name.
The pictures can be found here (and it’s definitely Dunbar on the mic, and in the police car). That post claims he was using official BT campaign materials, but that doesn’t really mean anything, since I suppose anyone could get a hold of them.
link to facebook.com
Still, it makes an egg cracked on Murphys back look like the non violent protest / prank that it was.
The vast majority of people have only a passing interest in what British journalism produces or Jim Murphy getting egged. The majority of people I know never buy newspaper and hardly ever watch tv let alone bettertogetherBBC. If there was no licence fee, the BBC would be bankrupt years ago. They barely sell half a million newspapers in Scotland, they employ very poor standard hacks and they have had their day.
Its a bettertogether bubble and the majority want Scotland to run Scotland and not have England do it for them.
Meanwhile in the foreign countries ofp the World, voters risk murder to vote, reportpers are tpargeted foro assaussinaytion and caundidates tpravel in armoured cars.
Nesferatu stands on an irn Bru croatei and shouts at retired ladies. He is hit by an egg. He calls off his brave campaign and retreats behind an iron wall of sycophantic clucking Press, blaming the Beastmeister Alicsamin.
That Murphy is a pure dead disgrace to Scotland.
I tried to read the VG247 article, honestly I did. It just doesn’t seem to be written in English :S
But I’m glad I no longer really care what’s happening in the video game world!
Cod: That post claims he was using official BT campaign materials, but that doesn’t really mean anything.
I wouldn’t be seen dead with BT material in my pockets. Some chump would drape a Union flag on my coffin, for gawd’s sake.
In fact, if the leather soles on my shoes gave out I’d not use BT leaflets to keep out the damp! BT arguments are full of holes!!!
Heehee, someone has suggested online that the security alert has been raised because of the egging of Jim Murphy!
Typing is weird today, predictive texting altering everything after I post it.
Are throwing nazi slurs worse than throwing eggs ?
Kittens are the cute ones out campaigning:
link to twitter.com
Folks, not really too O/T but the Daily Wail here in England has the Indy debate as their Online Mail Comment today. It says at the end exactly what I have been telling Scottish friends.
‘If the UK survives, there will be time enough to air our grave reservations about ‘devo-max’ – the Westminster parties’ rash promise to compound Mr Blair’s folly and give Edinburgh more autonomy, whatever the result.’
In other words after a no vote Scotland will get nothing. There is no way English voters will vote for a party that is endorsing more powers to Scotland, not when practically everyone down here truly believes Scotland is a total subsidy junky and bleeding England dry!
Of course it also has ‘nationalist thugs’ and ”cybernats’ plumbing the depths of abuse’.
Also there is another article revealing Farage has a 44 point lead over the Tories. This is scary.
Please read and pass on.
link to dailymail.co.uk
link to dailymail.co.uk
( hope the links work, never done it before and a bit of an internet duffer!)
We are in the regulated period but the piece on SKY News about the Salmond-Murphy spat was one of the most ludicrously transparent piece of media manipulation you will ever see.
Essentially, Niall Paterson has just told the viewers that whilst there are 2 sides to every story….
Jim Murphy is right and Alex Salmond IS co ordinating ‘mobs’ of YES thugs.
If NO does win, then documentary makers are hardly gonna struggle for evidence of media manuipulation and flagrant breaches of the Representation of the People Act.
Having said that Gordon Brewer (yes him) gently roasted Willie Rennie on Sunday Politics…
Especially on which currency the Lib Dem would advocate using after a YES, and why on earth peoples Car Loans and Mortgage would rise after a YES.
Brewer has been accused of being biased, but when you look back he is the interviewer who has caused NO the most discomfort.
O/T Best response to the BT ad
link to youtube.com
@Bugger (the Panda) says:
Typing is weird today, predictive texting altering everything after I post it.
It’s GCHQ trying out their new ‘Help Paul’ software …
Farceage trying to whip things up before him and his gang head to Scotland on the 12th
“We take a position that we will not be intimidated off the streets, and if Jim wants any support on his speaking tour when he goes back out there we are happy to join him make sure he stays safe.”
EBC news website.
@davedee
I am not really a punter but if you put on £800k and get back £1M is that not winning £200k?
On the other hand you risk losing £800k on a vote that even Prof Poltice is saying to too close to call.
Sound bet – eh?
Aaaaaaaah. That explains why you live in Bath, Rev. Centre of the UK games publishing universe! 🙂
I don’t think Murphy has thought this through! Does he not realise that every time he enters the HOC, all the Tory benches will be singing ‘Chick, chicka chick chicka chicken, lay a little egg for me’?
Graeme Doig
Let us all keep campaigning to make sure he loses the lot.
Marcia
It’s the only show in town. Keep up the good work.
Seriously, Jim Murphy needs to grow up. He has spent the last few months wandering the towns of Scotland berating and condemning those who wish, democratically, AS IS THEIR RIGHT, to vote for independence (on his MP salary, in breach of regulations). Then one day, somebody puts an egg on his back. Well, boo freaking hoo. Seriously, I am old enough to remember times when MP’s pretty regularly got egged if they talked utter sh*te to people or openly berated honest hard working people in the High Street. It actually used to happen quite a lot. Jim is in good company.
The sad fact is, that Jim Murphy decided to go ‘back to the stump’ or whatever silly phraseology he deemed appropriate, to talk on the streets, just like they used to do in the ‘good old days’. The reality however, is that the world really has moved on, and Jim doing what he does is akin to pissing in the wind nowadays. People see it as ludicrous, outside of speaker’s corner in London, for grown adults to personally carry a juice bottle crate around in their car, bopping from town to town, shouting the odds and waving their arms in the street. It may sound like ‘back to basics politics’, but nowadays, it’s just daft.
Jim cannot have it both ways, berating people in public, then greetin when his public denouncements and aggressive condemnation of innocent people’s views cause them to argue back. That is not condoning violence, just condemning Murphy’s attitude and publicly shouted denouncements of people who dare to think in a different way to him. He is happy to dish it out, but starts greeting when people reply. Like I said earlier, boo freaking hoo.
As regards the perpetrator of said egging (against whom there is NOT one shred of evidence he was even a YES supporter at all), and a few other violent incidents which seem to have happened against YES supporters, I’ll just say this. The British establishment NEVER gets its hands dirty – not directly anyway. They send agents provocateurs (spooks) to whisper to those who they already know are a bit on the edge (extremists), and are in this case rampant unionists. They gee them on, winding them up, to get them to act violently. That is how the British state does it. The people who do the deed are the Lee Harvey Oswalds of the UK state. The patsies.
Onwards
If Jim Murphy feels that he has been intimidated by the ugly violence of nationalism, what must he think of the horrors faced by the residents of Gaza?
The man has no moral compass as far as I can see.
link to heraldscotland.com
He must have ruffled someones feathers before he got cracking and flew the coup. Was he egged on?. Perhaps his battery was low. Is he now laying low?
Nana,
I agree with the FM. People should just ignore Murphy and Farage. There is a referendum to win, so better ways to spend time.
Murph and Farage are just self important windbags.
Still no indication in the media of how many of the 100 visits in 100 days have actually happened and how many left to go. Can the basic truth be that Murphy is now sick of his lacklustre, lead balloon, campaign, which must be hanging like a deadweight around his neck, and wants to make a quick exit from it. It must have seemed like a good idea a the time and got a few headlines for the hero.
BTW I am no expert on punting and bookies, but I thought if you had a winner you got your winnings and you also got back the amount you had put on the bet. The really big decision for punters is whether to declare to pay tax when you place the bet, or pay it on the total winnings when you win them.
Why was it the first assumption that the eggman was a yes supporter anyway, he could have egged Skull for any number of reasons not least being a dobber.
The people who do the deed are the Lee Harvey Oswalds of the UK state
But Lee Harvey Oswald didn’t do the deed
Wholeheartedly agree Robert. Leave the no hopers to bicker amongst themselves.
Looks like to me the media and Westminster colusion is setting out excuses as to why Scotland voted YES. It was evil slippery Salmond and his mob who abused, lied and frightened the population into voting YES.
It is the only way, psychologically, they believe that rUK is going to be able to deal with Scotland going. There has to be a bogey man, someone where the figure has to be pointed at (remember Ghandi was initially hated through British media too). The poor Jocks have been duped, lets take pity on the abused Jim Murphy et al, they tried to save the union no less, so given him a safe seat in rUK as a reward poor thing.
On the other hand the same tacticts are used to demonise the loser in a long game. As most of us remember Labour was very successful in demonising the Tories in the 1980s, this was helped by the fact that Thatcher’s policies was devastating industry in Scotland and elsewhere. The problem the unionist Labour have today is their demonisation of how subhuman the SNP/Nationalists are is not back up by the policies of the Scottish Government. But we see now how desperate the Jim Murphy’s of the world are becoming as they alienate at least half the electorate in Scotland.
Looks like Barr’s are actually sponsoring Murphy’s tour of Labour activists.
Crrompenstein,
Hmm.. kind of wish I hadn’t mentioned Oswald. Thought this might happen.
Anyway, you get the point. 🙂
Another BT liar.
link to newsnetscotland.com
time to light the Crann Tara
link to facebook.com!/nationalcollective/photos/a.233148850093742.56160.199573770117917/695787827163173/?type=1&theater
it just keeps on getting better 🙂
Alex Salmond is correct in that with the likes of Murphy or the Orange Order or Nigel Farage. Just walk past, ignore and carry on with doing your messages !
People like Murphy, OO and Farage, feed on publicity , ignore them, they end up talking to themselves
Scotland is so close to achieving the goal of ending Westminster’s rule. They know it, that is why in the next 18 days, they will step up the pressure, through every single means they have at their disposal
If your attacked for no reason, DO NOT retaliate, think of Ghandi, or the civil rights movement of America, on what they had to endure to achieve their goals.
We are in the internet age, of mobile phones and instant messaging. The unionists hate that, as the unionist no longer control the agenda. If you see trouble stay safe and stay clear BUT film it on mobile phone.
If attacked, don’t respond, that’s what they want. If your respond , you will also be arrested, so don’t respond. Its easy to say, its harder to take, but you have to stay focussed on the end goal Were nearly there and we need to step up all efforts to achieve maximum result for YES.
I’ve been racking my brains for analogy. The only one I could think of (and probably due to watching yet again ‘The Battle of the Bulge) , is the advance of allied troops after D-Day. There had been set backs , in particular the Germans breaking out and the Battle of the Bulge (Salmond’s first debate with AD). But the Germans were then routed. Were at the stage where the allies are now about to span the Rhein!
Another analogy for the 19th September when the results are given is, I hope, like the scene from ‘Les Misrables’ near the end, when they are raising the flags of the Commune of Paris and that rousing song
Ok perhaps I getting carried away, but I do know this, that Yes is doing well, which is why were seeing more attacks on yes.. If Yes were really doing badly, do you think they would waste their energies on attacking?
schrodinger’s cat
link to tinyurl.com 🙂
Were Jim Murphy some callow youth just setting out on the political journey, I would have some measure of sympathy for him.
But no; he is a professional career politician of several decades’ experience. Indeed, he has known little else in his working life. Jim Murphy has had years in which to grow a thick skin, and a backbone, and become well versed in the ways of campaigning ‘rough and tumble’. In fact, we can have little doubt this is actually the case. With this in mind, he has done himself no favours by grossly exaggerating the impact of a few trivial incidents during his curious Irn-Bru tour.
Lets accept, for the sake of illustration, that Jim’s barrackers and eggers were, indeed, ‘organised nationalist mobs’. What would one then expect a courageous, democratic politician, sure of his ground, to do? Run away greeting, or set his face against it and press on regardless?
Hell, Thatcher even managed to turn up at conference the day after the Brighton bombing, but a few eggs chucked at him in Fife is too much for Jim!
No, I think Murphy was seriously taken aback by the reception (or lack of one) he was receiving in putative Labour heartlands. Somebody in Labour or ‘Better Together’ probably decided the tour wasn’t attracting the right kind of publicity. Words were spoken; arrangements were made…
New post, please share
A Hard Rains A Gonna Fall, Part 2
todayinscotland | The Referendum Blues
link to todayinscotland.wordpress.com
they are not going to play fair, unless one enjoys talking to a brick wall, ignore them they’ll be gone soon.
Dr JM Mackintosh says:
31 August, 2014 at 12:54 pm
@davedee
I am not really a punter but if you put on £800k and get back £1M is that not winning £200k?
On the other hand you risk losing £800k on a vote that even Prof Poltice is saying to too close to call.
Sound bet – eh?
Of Course, it’s just silly PR spin.
The main point is that every time the Yes odds come down this ‘mystery punter’ place’s large bets on No to bring the Yes odds back up again.
No logic for these large bets on NO unless they are politically motivated to keep the Yes odds high as part of BT propaganda .
.
Thanks Cod & Albanach
The Scotsman story was sovague they would have been as well not publising it!
“Labour MP Jim Murphy was pelted with eggs and said he has been threatened with violence during his 100 Towns in 100 Days tour.”
Really, Herald Scotland? Really? Getting one egg cracked on your back is being “pelted”?
WTF happened to journalism standards in this country?
🙁
Forget the press, it will only get worse over the next 18 days, nothing will stop them. The effect up to now has not stopped the Yes vote rising.
It is strange that no one has identified Jim Murphy’s egg thrower, very strange. Maybe he is one of these foreigners that Murphy’s always banging on about.
Hi Rev
can wings do an open letter to the Scottish print media
along the lines of during the next three weeks try to remember your job is to print the news NOT make it up, this Jim Murphy egger has had far too many column inches, he would most likely have been identified if he was a yesser.
thanks Syd
The Great British Tradition of throwing Eggs at Policians
link to buzzfeed.com
Jim hasn’t made it into the top 6 yest.
DaveDee at 2.41
Exactly. These huge bets are probably being placed by a Bette R Together in Surrey – and as I pointed out before you don’t get £200,000 or £400,000 at the advertised price. You get your bets on in pieces at diminishing odds.
The great benefit is that we get ridiculously generous odds on YES and we should cane them on them. These bets appear to be getting on at William Hills but Ladbrokes is beginning to get nervy as it is pushing the YES bets out despite only getting YES bets
The only question that remains is, What came firse the chicken of the Egging?.
Why did the politician cross the road? – No one knows eggactly.
Was Murphy shell shocked?
Was the yolk on Murphy?
I’ll get my egg.
The one thing I did note from Murphy’s interview on Sky this morning was the admission that he had done 70 towns in as many days.
Now call me a cynic, but did he really do 70 towns? and does he have enough time to do 30 towns in the next 18 days?
Sorry rev, reread rules and see my comment is in moderation because I used two links.
@galamcennalath says: 31 August, 2014 at 11:56 am:
“Standing on street corners making speeches is something politicians have done from time to time. They should expect heckling, and they should have the skills to deal with it.”
Very good point, Galamcennalath, I would add that the person on the soap box, (Irn Bru Crate), should expect that the audience will be composed of all shades of public opinion. That being so the intensity of reactions of tho opposition will be in direct relation to the actions of the speaker on the box/crate.
In Murphy’s case, going by some of the stuff he was spouting, he got off very lightly indeed for he was invariable in attack dog mode from the out. If the speaker is confrontational he/she must expect confrontation. People like Murphy, though, think they have licence to attack people in the audience with impunity. As we say in Scotland, “Weel he kens fine noo he disna”..
All this chat about the incident will just egg murphy on. Don’t give him the attention!
It all seems like we’re over egging the pudden.
@CameronB Brodie says: 31 August, 2014 at 1:33 pm:
“Onwards : If Jim Murphy feels that he has been intimidated by the ugly violence of nationalism …”
Cameron, what the hell does Murphy think his yelling through a microphone & amplifier and berating members of the public are if not intimidation? Hustings were always thus – if the guy on the soap-box is abusive it engenders abuse in return. Hustings is the audience being inversely proportional to the speaker on the boxes views. The lesson Murphy has not learned is that if you have a hostile audience you do not antagonise them. In any case the first video I saw of the incident very quickly vanished for it showed a very clear close-up picture of the egg thrower and I’ve no doubt could have had him identified . Other factors lead me to the conclusion that this was a staged event by Bitter Together.
@ bookie from hell, 11:54pm
Murnaghan interview:
link to youtube.com
Stu about your link to the online spat. What is it with kids now, that isn’t an online war. I was in the trenches for the big one, I’ll whisper it now for fear of starting it off again, vi or emacs? Now that was an online war that dragged on literally through most of the eighties, I read stuff that would turn your hair gray, and fear for the future of mankind. The experience I gained allowed me to be a mercenary during the OS wars in the Nineties. They were horrible times for all involved and hopefully we will never see their like again.
Seriously though, all the stuff we see with regards to the referendum online is nothing, it is kids insults in the playground stuff. Considering the impact the debate will have in real life it is really quite civilised online with just a few nutters on both sides.
@Brus MacGallah
“Slightly OT, when you type in Wings into Google WOS now the top result instead of Wings the Band. How ironic, just after Sir Paul came out all Unionist.”
Aye, no doubt co-ordinated by those nasty SNP types and the rabid Yes campaign!
@Onwards
“There was an interesting tweet that David Cameron condemned an egg thrower more than the bombing of Gaza.”
That’s because Cameron virtually denied that the Israel Defence Force was bombing Gaza. The phrase “If that’s what’s happened” was used twice in this short interview.
link to youtube.com
@CameronB Brodie
“If Jim Murphy feels that he has been intimidated by the ugly violence of nationalism, what must he think of the horrors faced by the residents of Gaza?”
As we all know, Murphy the Liar, has used this “incident” for BT gain, in a vile attempt to slur the entire Yes campaign. Indeed, just after the egging, he was shouting to the crowd “Is that the best you’ve got?”, virtually goading the crowd into carrying out further “attacks”, shortly followed by the proclamation “I will not be silenced by nationalist mobs, here or anywhere else.”
So, in light of this fearless attitude, one would have to question his decision to cancel or postpone his tour. Is he, in actual fact, a coward, or a devious, manipulative politician?
Similarly, there was much made of the egg that made contact with Murphy, enough to make him postpone his tour, but he (and his followers) did not seem that bothered about the four eggs thrown prior to his splattering. I’m quite sure, given the closeness of the assembled group, that these four eggs would have made contact with someone, yet there is very little outrage at the throwing of these deadly projectiles.
As for his attitude to Palestine, I have wondered, given Murphy’s aversion to separatism and independent territories, if he would be in favour of an immediate cessation of the State of Israel, and the land handed back to the Palestinian people?
@Cod
“WTF happened to journalism standards in this country?”
The media was infiltrated many years ago by the lying, UK establishment. UK mainstream media is biased, corrupt, and very rarely tells the truth – but you know that anyway!
I am just back from weekend down in Liverpool. Down there they aren’t interested in the referendum here.
Bur my question is.
How come the police in London can catch George Galloway’s attacker YET the cops up here can’t catch the clown who egged Murphy, even though there are clear pictures of him all over the internet and in Kirkcaldy High St. there are an abundance of CCTV cameras?
I am just a wee bit angry.