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Once in a generation

Posted on May 27, 2017 by

…is roughly how often Aberdeen get to the final of the Scottish Cup these days. The last time was 17 years ago – a tournament which started in the last century and ended the year Rangers started paying their players with EBTs – when SFA rules meant that they had to play almost the entire game without a recognised goalkeeper.

(A tackle in the third minute broke veteran custodian Jim Leighton’s jaw, and because you were only allowed three players on the subs bench the Dons had no backup No.1 and had to put striker Robbie Winters between the sticks, with a predictable outcome. Leighton never played professional football again.)

In politics, Labour were only one year into the first ever administration of the modern Scottish Parliament, and still in the first term of Tony Blair’s rule at Westminster. The idea of the SNP winning an election, let alone holding an independence referendum, was the preserve of mad fantasists.

And the last time the Pittodrie side actually won the trophy was 27 years back, which is so long ago that most of Hampden was still open to the elements.

Still, it would be weird if we got to the final again next year and some of the Aberdeen support refused to go on the grounds that the matter of who was the best cup football team in Scotland had been settled forever today.

Or if Celtic won but had fielded an ineligible player and the SFA ordered a replay, but the Dons declined to take part because they’d played too many finals recently.

Just saying.

#COYR

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  1. 27 05 17 10:56

    Once in a generation | speymouth
    Ignored

123 to “Once in a generation”

  1. Ranald
    Ignored
    says:

    Ooft!
    Who can you be referring to??

    3-1 For the SuperCelts

  2. Croompenstein
    Ignored
    says:

    It’s all so very divisive 🙂

  3. Calum McKay
    Ignored
    says:

    It would not be once in a generation if Ferguson was still at the helm.

    Nicola is our Ferguson.

    I’ll let others decide which mangers fron the past other politican resemble, I’d suggest Davidson resembles Advocat, all mouth and trousers and the chaos he created eventually sunk the club.

  4. thingy
    Ignored
    says:

    No more divisive Cup Finals. 🙂

    May fortune shine on the brave.

  5. Lenny Hartley
    Ignored
    says:

    Nearly as biased media, in the build up , it’s all been McInnes off to Sutherland or whoever is Managerless this week, was the same when the met the team formally known as Rangers in a game which was importantant in deciding who would be first loser,

    Funny how all this unsettling stuff only gets headlines when the Dons are meeting the ex old firm.

  6. Socrates MacSporran
    Ignored
    says:

    Oh dear! Oh dear! Oh dear! Tragedy for Cambell, as, at last, we catch the good Rev out with an error of fact.

    Rev, you said: “when SFA rules meant that they had to play almost the entire game without a goalkeeper”

    WRONG

    Aberdeen COULD have had a substitute goalkeeper on the bench, but, opted not to. Robbie Winters played his 87 minutes or however, wearing a shirt with “Esson” on the back; ie, he wore Ryan Esson’s shirt, but, Esson was not stripped, because the Aberdeen management opted to go with three outfield players only.

    I know we can, and do blame the half-wits on the sixth floor corridor at Hampden for many things – often rightly. In the case of the 2000 Scottish Cup Final, Aberdeen not having Ryan Esson on the bench was a self-inflicted wound.

  7. galamcennalath
    Ignored
    says:

    … or if everyone was just told to stay at home and forget all about it because “now is not the time”.

  8. heedtracker
    Ignored
    says:

    The Dons win today, SNP can get all 59 seats and even JC can win. Life is rather divisive.

  9. David Caledonia
    Ignored
    says:

    Once in a generation is mostly just meaningless chatter, its a term used for mostly good intentions, but not to be taken to seriously most of the time
    I allways think of a general election if it was only once in a generation instead of every 5 years, imagine all those years without being able to get rid of the conservatives, its enough to bring you out in a rash of boils just thinking about it
    To keep pushing the lie that the scottish people do not want another referendum is just plain ridiculous and shows the depths the unionist parties will go to, i have never seen so many liars representing Labour and the tories in my lifetime, and i have seen quite a few in years gone by

  10. Muscleguy
    Ignored
    says:

    That picture of Leighton always makes me wince. When I played in goal I was never hesitant in diving for the ball at striker’s feet. I even got booted in the jaw for it once, but nothing broken.

    I gave it up for running aged 14 so probably I had a broken jaw or three in my future if I’d kept going.

    Mind you that was back when a keeper was inviolate and could do what he liked. Help the striker over me with a well placed elbow? fine. Be careless where the follow through from punching the ball away went? fine. Climb all over a striker to reach the ball ahead of his forehead? fine. I was GOOD at going for crosses.

    Halcyon days.

  11. Kevin Meina
    Ignored
    says:

    I am afraid Aberdeen today is not the day because Celtic are stronger for Scotland and as most of the white settlers won’t even watch the Yes city of Glasgow will emerge as treble winners.

  12. John Walsh
    Ignored
    says:

    Sorry Stu but some folks are totally focused on go-carting you know.
    It is the new “socialist” sport .The poor and downtrodden Trots saving like crazy to get a tank of gas.
    So let us not hound people with “Green hands” on this historic day but instead enjoy the football
    whatever the final Score .

  13. Capella
    Ignored
    says:

    Whose ground is it?

  14. Rev. Stuart Campbell
    Ignored
    says:

    “Aberdeen COULD have had a substitute goalkeeper on the bench, but, opted not to.”

    Yes, obviously they could. And if the current seven subs had been allowed, they would have. But like many teams at the time, they calculated that the chance of losing a goalkeeper was so remote they couldn’t afford the risk of taking up a precious spot with a backup. Nobody’s suggesting that the SFA banned substitute keepers.

  15. Macart
    Ignored
    says:

    Not sure unionist politicians or meeja grasp the concept by this point.

    They’re too busy trying to sell folk a line on the ‘pledge’ that never was.

  16. Anagach
    Ignored
    says:

    You have done it now.

    Having made the observation that its once in a generation – Aberdeen won’t be allowed back even if they win all the required games.

    It’s as good as a Vow/promise/manifesto/founding charter…

  17. Stop Hunting the Haggis
    Ignored
    says:

    It should be a good game, i like a bet on football, and i would expect celtic to win, whatever happens, lets show the world what good play and sportsmanship is really all about

  18. galamcennalath
    Ignored
    says:

    David Caledonia says:

    never seen so many liars representing Labour and the tories in my lifetime

    I agree. Perhaps we view the past through rosy specs, but I don’t think so.

    Not so long ago [pre Blair] there were big differences between the two main UK parties. They fought tooth and nail over each other’s policies, because they had something concrete to discuss.

    Corbyn seems to be opening up some clear water between the two again. Also, as the Tories move to the far right, differentiation is now perhaps possible. Or am I being too hopeful?

    But for decades there has been little difference so debate has taken a thoroughly unhealthy turn. Spin turns to fabrication and lies in an attempt to gain traction. Also the focus moved to individuals rather than parties.

    Then introduce IndyRef and EURef where there was plenty to discuss. Two different views. What did Labour and Tory do? They did exactly what they have got used to doing, avoiding the issues and turning to lies and deceit.

  19. Lenny Hartley
    Ignored
    says:

    Socrates, there was a limit of three subs, most if not all teams listed outfielders as you know, it’s being disingenuous to say it was Aberdeens fault. However the club formally known as Rangers had form in this regard, the league decider when Hateley took out the Aberdeen goalie in the first couple of mins and was unpunished, it worked for them as they went on to win 2-0

  20. Dr Jim
    Ignored
    says:

    A generation is what Not Truthy Ruthy says it is

    Today

    That could change next week though

  21. donald anderson
    Ignored
    says:

    Up the Jags. Vote Grady SNP.

  22. Marcia
    Ignored
    says:

    Generations could be anything from 16 years upwards. The Tories might regret for generations putting May as Prime Minister. Now I hear people openly say she is out of her depth and dislike her hectoring style. One pensioner said to me, ‘at least Thatcher had a bit of personality about her, this one makes ice warmer than her’.

  23. Brochan
    Ignored
    says:

    Just a wee point because I know you like accuracy. ;o)

    “when SFA rules meant that they had to play almost the entire game without a recognised goalkeeper.”

    ” Nobody’s suggesting that the SFA banned substitute keepers.”

  24. David Caledonia
    Ignored
    says:

    The labour party in the not to distant past, Dennis Healey admitted they lied about the oil, said it would not last, but new it was manna from heaven for the labour party
    Tony Blair and labour, they redrew part of the north sea, so that a few oil wells where put in the english sector, and its still the same to this day, and it was illegal in maritime law and still is, those oil wells that are still classed as being in english waters are part of england’s wealth creation and are not included in scotland’s wealth creation, those oil wells are not included when it comes to tallying up our contribution to the treasury

  25. Bob Mack
    Ignored
    says:

    Think it’s going to be another 27 years rev. The Dons are getting whipped. Lol

  26. Proud Cybernat
    Ignored
    says:

    If I remember rightly, the referee was pretty useless in that game. A bit like the Electoral Commission then.

  27. Croompenstein
    Ignored
    says:

    I think I’ll just dig oot the old Alex Salmond dictator bingo… Ah the memories 🙂

  28. Clootie
    Ignored
    says:

    Ruth Davidson has stated that whoever wins it is confirmation of the Tory resurgence in Scotland and that the SNP are obviously to blame with regard to the losing team. In the event of a draw that will be classed as a resounding victory for Ruth. However the most important factor is which beast or vehicle she will select to mount in celebration of another Ruth Davidson Party win…what about the football?

  29. The Isolator
    Ignored
    says:

    Nice one Stu,

    Hope Aberdeen win with flair and panache…but a turgid 1 niller will do just as well.(smiley thingy).

  30. Dan Huil
    Ignored
    says:

    “…veteran custodian…”

    Ahh, those were the days. Dubbin on the boots, old bandages spliced for tie-ups, a rusty bucket filled with dank warm water, your mum’s aul sponge floating on top like a dolphin turd, the sweet smell of wintergreen and a wee fly dram in the bogs for those with a nervous disposition.

  31. Dan Huil
    Ignored
    says:

    A Conservative councillor has been removed from one of his first posts after sharing material from Protestant pride groups.

    Renfrewshire councillor Neill Graham was ousted from his new role on the authority’s Joint Consultative Board for non-teaching staff within 48 hours, after trade unions threatened a boycott.

    The newly elected tory had to apologize for circulating material from Protestant pride groups on Facebook.

  32. TheStrach
    Ignored
    says:

    I’m old enough to have seen the great Aberdeen side of the early 80s. I was at Hampden when they beat Rangers two years running in the final – 1982 and 1983. I was also present in 1984 when they defeated Celtic. I’d forgotten they won 3 in a row.

    Neither of today’s teams match the Aberdeen of that period who of course won the Cup Winners Cup in 1983.

  33. Fran
    Ignored
    says:

    Aw Rev

    I can see the papers tomorrow,

    Leading independence blogger Stuart Campbell agrees with Mrs May that now is not the time. In a post published yesterday the self proclaimed reverend stated that a “generation is every seventeen years.”

    A spokes person for Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party said ” we whole heartily agree with that foul sybernat cult leader. Its about time Sturgeon listened to her shock troops commander and put an end to this divisive referendum nonsense that clearly no one in Scotland wants.”

    Murdo…The spokes person also confirmed that, ” by 2031 Westminster’s northern colony would be firmly under control with no rebellious notions by which time I and Ruth shall have our reward in the House of Lords, still unelected but still trying to influence legislation.”

  34. Dave McEwan Hill
    Ignored
    says:

    galamcennalath at 10.12

    They have been liars for half a century it just that the media didn’t carry their lies and invent other lies for them.

    I remember when the SNP was “an Orange Masonic front” if I was canvassing a Catholic area and “Home Rule will mean Rome rule” if I was in a Protestant bit. And every Labour,Tory and Lib MP knew the McCrone Report had been suppressed. They betrayed the people who had elected them.

    What I want to know is why we are not shouting “We DO want a referendum” and “anybody that doesn’t want a referendum is because they know they will lose”.
    We are allowing the unionists to set the agenda.

  35. Grouse Beater
    Ignored
    says:

    Once in a generation; Scotland has the opportunity to vote for its freedoms twice in a generation. No?

    Who wants to be a double loser?

    Your weekend reading:

    http://wp.me/p4fd9j-gFt

  36. Craig
    Ignored
    says:

    I hope that Celtic win but what I really want to see, is a great cup final between the 2 best teams in Scotland that will leave everyone talking about a classic they’ve just seen.

    Awrabest to your mob Rev..Hope youse get pumped 😉

  37. heedtracker
    Ignored
    says:

    Neither of today’s teams match the Aberdeen of that period who of course won the Cup Winners Cup in 1983.”

    Built by Ally Macleod and Billy McNeill in about 4 years too. Alex Ferguson didn’t do a bad job building on their work either though:D

    It was a very weird experience, going down to Ibrox and Parkhead to watch Aberdeen run rings around very expensive outfits indeed.

  38. stu mac
    Ignored
    says:

    I see the National has pinched the Rev’s Hokey-Cokey post for their front page.

  39. Socrates MacSporran
    Ignored
    says:

    This morning’s all our yesterdays tinge to Wings got me looking back.

    In the 1953 Cup Final, Rangers had to play about 25 minutes with ten men, after goalkeeper George Niven was injured diving at the feet of Aberdeen centre forward Paddy Buckley.

    George Young went in goals for that period – now, remember, George Young was six foot two, and weighed 15 stones plus; George Niven was about five foot nine in high heels and weighed ten stones ringing wet. Pictures of Young, wearing Niven’s heavy woolen jersey are priceless.

    Aberdeen played Rangers off the park, got a 1-1 draw and lost the replay 1-0.

    In the same edition of the Glasgow Herald as I checked-out online, there was a report on the SNP’s annual conference – with the same points being raised then, as we are seeing today. The only difference was, the Herald of 1953 gave the SNP a far-fairer hearing than today’s Herald does.

    There was also a letter published from the pro of the Edinburgh branch of the SNP, pointing out some porkies which future Prime Minister Lord Home had been telling regarding Scottish railways.

    Apparently, back then, a lot of the lines which Dr Beeching would later shut were being kept open, although scarcely-used, by the munificence of the Westminster government, because they were “strategically important”.

    Would that be the 1953 version of pooling and sharing perhap?

  40. Robert Louis
    Ignored
    says:

    Saying Scotland should not have an independence referendum, is like saying Scotland should not have any more elections. It goes against every fundamental aspect of democracy.

    At the Scottish parliamentary election in 2016, The Tories stood on a platform of opposing an independence referendum. It was all Ruth Davidson talked about – how she personally would stop an independence referendum. The Tories lost that election coming very, very far behind the SNP (63 SNP MSPs vs. 31 Tory). So, in a free fair democratic election the people of Scotland rejected Ruth Davidson and the Tories opposition to a referendum.

    Now, the Tories want to re-write the rules. Despite losing the Scottish parliamentary election by a very large margin, the Tories want to prevent a free and fair democratic referendum.

    When Ruth Davidson still says she will stop a referendum, she is actually saying she intends blocking democracy. It is as simple as that. It does not matter the opinions either side, for or against independence, when you say you will BLOCK a free and fair referendum, you are blocking democracy. It is by its nature a characteristic of fascism.

    Want democracy? Vote SNP, to let the people of Scotland decide, not Tory loudmouth Ruth Davidson.

  41. Proud Cybernat
    Ignored
    says:

    What Robert Louis said.

    Mon the Hoopies!

  42. Bob Mack
    Ignored
    says:

    When young I remember playing “heedies” and “two and in” with a laced leather ball which when wet must have weighed more than a house brick. No wonder lot of ex pros from that age have dementia. God bless them.

    Good luck today whoever you support.

  43. Camz
    Ignored
    says:

    Last professional match I went to was Aberdeen/Dundee League Cup Final 1995/1996.

    Girlfriend was a staunch, rural ‘stay at home’ supporter. First ever match she went to. First time ever watching her team. First ever cup game. First ever cup final.

    Her team won.

    I was a popular guy that weekend. 😀

  44. Breeks
    Ignored
    says:

    It’s only Unionists who see Independence as a once in a generation thing…

    Truth is, we stand on the threshold of a whole new Geopolitical era. The entire world of Unionist politics is coming to an end. Independence ceases to be something we all aspire to have, and becomes a thing we must dedicate our lives to protect and defend.

    It’s almost as if the Scotland we lost in 1707, is there, right in front of us. It will fit us like a glove. I don’t mean just Scotland, but the whole inclusive pro-European disposition, how we see them and they see us, and dare I say it, the corresponding traditional cynicism and mistrust about what our covetous neighbours from the South have got on their minds.

    Prior to 1707, Scottish Independence was the norm. God willing, after 2018 it will become the norm again, and three hundred years of this current constitutional aberration, the admittedly colourful era of Scotland’s political subjugation, will be a matter of historical record. But a great thing that has been wrong for such a very long time will at last be set right.

    Nobody wants a second referendum eh? Well, for as long as Scotland is denied its sovereign birthright, the Euclidean geometry of the cosmos will never be in its correct order. For better, or worse, richer or poorer, Independence is our inescapable destiny and our natural fate.

    In the decades and centuries to come, it is my firm conviction that the 1707 to 201(8) era in Scottish history will not be a period remembered and celebrated for what Scotland gained, but it will become a period we won’t want to talk about, and be lamented for what Scotland had lost.

    When we take back our Independence, it will be a truly historic milestone in every sense, and paradoxically, a much more significant realignment of the cosmos than Brexit.

  45. Col
    Ignored
    says:

    Gutted here that I won’t be able to attend the indy March in Glasgow next week. Looking for someone to stand in for me to make up the numbers. Any volunteers? Let’s send Ruth the mooth and the rest of the antidemocratic unionists including Corbyn a message that we mean business and will not be bullied.

  46. Scott Mckenzie
    Ignored
    says:

    Saw 6 successive wins over Celtic at Hampden beginning with Davy Robb final in 76 as a bairn.
    Can’t make it today because of some hugely inconsiderate family wedding. Anyhoo.

    COYR!

  47. yesindyref2
    Ignored
    says:

    OT
    On the theme pointed out by Thepnr in an earlier thread, Corbyn could have the winning of this election, but he needs to be ruthless, bold and merciless with it.

    Law and Order is something people take for granted, but while Labour as the UK Government built up police numbers in England and Wales, the Tories with May as Home Secretary and now as PM have ripped them to shreds since 2010, down to 222 per 100,000 population in 2014 with England and Wales 29th out of 34 of European countries, down now to 180 and probably 33rd out of that 34.

    Meanwhile Scotland has managed to maintain them under our devolved Government, to around 320 per 100,000 popuoation, despite cuts in the block grant caused by “savings” the Tories make by cutting police numbers as one of their crippling austerity measures.

    We are protected under Devolution while the budget holds, we need Independence to completely focus our own priorities – and resource them.

    But it’s clear the Tories are a disaster for Law and Order, and Corbyn and Labour need to make the clear case for this.

  48. Jack Murphy
    Ignored
    says:

    OT completely. VIDEO.
    James,a former paratrooper,living in Scotland has now moved from NO to YES. 🙂
    James is frank about his former views and attitudes,explaining why he has changed.
    Phantom Power Films. Number 13.
    http://tinyurl.com/y74w2l8l

  49. yesindyref2
    Ignored
    says:


    helped by the SNP in Scotland. I note Sturgeon has already supported Corbyn in the attacks May has made on him, and I think this is a good thing to do. May is a nasty piece of work, and very bad for the UK as a whole.

  50. Thepnr
    Ignored
    says:

    @yesindyref2

    I see that the threat level has been reduced from critical and is back once more to severe.

    May has been trying to attack Corbyn over his remarks that UK foreign policy has resulted in an increased threat of terrorism which I think is an entirely justified view to have.

    However may chooses to portray those comments rather differently.

    “I have been here today at the G-7 working with other international leaders to fight terrorism. At the same time Jeremy Corbyn has said that terror attacks in Britain are our own fault and he’s chosen to do that just a few days after one of the worst terror atrocities we have experience in the U.K.,” she said before leaving the summit early to return to London.

    It’s clear that the Tories were attempting to wring some political advantage from the Manchester tragedy. I think now though that they have abandoned this idea.

    Maybe they have realised just how crass a stunt like that would look to the voters in the UK. The Tories seem to be running out of ideas as they make mistake after mistake.

    Just waiting to see how this plays out in Scotland, would love to see the smirk wiped off Ruth Davidsons face at least for a generation.

  51. macnakamura
    Ignored
    says:

    Let me make this clear, I told conference many times but I will say it again the Dons are just so dandy especially the striking duo Sinclair and Dembele and Griffiths but Miller and Henry McLeish is good as well nevertheless I think Celtic will be too strong and so clearly I am supporting the winners unless they are eventually defeated by the sheer hypocrisy of the SNP.
    Whats more, I would hope that both teams should pool and share the resources and avoid the divisions of the SPFL.

  52. mike d
    Ignored
    says:

    The Strach 10.58am. I watched that game on telly. 6 days after my 20’th birthday ,I had just left Scotland to move to England (no jobs at home because of slabs policies).i watched it at my girlfriend’s(now wife) house. The neighbours must have thought i was having a barney cheering for Aberdeen against real Madrid. But i hope you’s get pumped today lol.

  53. Blair Paterson
    Ignored
    says:

    No one wants a second ref .,? Nearly all the Scottish MPs are SNP and Scotland has returned an SNP government year after year the only ones who do not want one is the tiny supported parties with one mp each because this time they will not get away with their lies and they know it

  54. macnakamura
    Ignored
    says:

    oops …… re above …… should begin ” Kezia says “

  55. Proud Cybernat
    Ignored
    says:

    What – no Risible Dave coming in to antagonise and divide Hoops v Dons supporters? Hmm – he never usually misses an opportunity to enter and sow his seeds of division on this site – any opportunity will do. Maybe just his day off.

  56. Robert Peffers
    Ignored
    says:

    @Dave McEwan Hill says: 27 May, 2017 at 11:00 am:

    “We are allowing the unionists to set the agenda.”

    Are WE? Tell me Dave McEwan Hill, what, where and how exactly have YOU personally done to make your point loud and clear in the public domain?

    There’s more critics of the SG and SNP on Wings than there are on the BBC. Just how would you suggest the SNP should go about forcing the MSM & Broadcasters to propagate the SNP and SG press releases? How do you propose the SNP force the MSM & Broadcasters to publicise the times the SNP MPs and the SNP MSPs say things in the two parliaments?

  57. mike d
    Ignored
    says:

    At 1.17.i should have added,liebors no jobs ‘unless you had the right handshake policy) I come from ayrshire which will explain to the unenlightened.

  58. Richard Duncan
    Ignored
    says:

    Come on you Reds .

    I am with u Rev . This is a very good Celtic team but on our day we can beat them , or anyone for that matter.

    2-1 for the Dons with a Hayes double and late goal for Celtic in the last minute.

    🙂

    The best 2 teams in Scotland by a country mile . Should be a good game regardless.

    Thank feck the queen’s eleven failed to get there. Whatcha gonna write now Murdo ….. 🙂

  59. Thepnr
    Ignored
    says:

    O/T Tory expectations are crashing, the ceiling has falling in LOL.

    I understand projections for the election result have shifted dramatically. The internal ‘ceiling’ (the best case scenario) has gone from a majority of near 200 in week one, to a majority of around 80. The ‘floor’ is now a hung Parliament — which is a worse case scenario…

    https://archive.is/W9aIU

  60. geeo
    Ignored
    says:

    @muscleguy.

    My son became a goalie by accident.

    He cleared out the defender and his own goalie (3 broken fingers) when the keeper didnt shout his ball.

    He went in goal as there was not a sub keeper (under q3s

  61. yesindyref2
    Ignored
    says:

    @Thepnr
    If the other G7 nations are clued up – or if it is pointed out to them – I doubt May will impress them. Police pre 100,000 according to wiki range of years, but gives idea):

    Canada 185
    France 340
    Germany 296
    Italy 456 (!!)
    Japan 198
    USA 284

    England & Wales 180

    Interesting that Canada and Japan have similar numbers of polis to E&W though.

  62. Robbo
    Ignored
    says:

    Mon the hoops!

  63. Robert Peffers
    Ignored
    says:

    @yesindyref2 says: 27 May, 2017 at 2:57 pm:

    “Interesting that Canada and Japan have similar numbers of polis to E&W though.”

    Yes! But! Canada has the RCMP wi real horses and then they also have :-

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzvwk1hy7jU

    That’s bound to count for something I’d say.

  64. Jamie
    Ignored
    says:

    2 goals in ten minutes a good start

  65. Ian McCubbin
    Ignored
    says:

    On two issues hung parliament and police number paper 100000 population.
    I think Scotland in Scottish Gov has latter correct.
    On the former I think a hung parliament will benefit Scotland and large group of SNP MPs.
    It will certainly give bargaining power to second independence referendum.

  66. Thepnr
    Ignored
    says:

    Trump has just done a deal with Saudi Arabia in which US arms manufacturers will sell them $110 billion worth of weapons.

    Theresa May and Boris Johnson are also courting deals with this corrupt regime. Here’s an example of how they treat their own if they dare to disagree with the state. I don’t want my country to do business with a state like that.

    Morally indefensible but I’m sure the Tories don’t care.

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-behead-disabled-man-munir-adam-protests-forced-confession-torture-death-sentence-court-a7758041.html

  67. Jamie
    Ignored
    says:

    What’s with hacksaw jay stockley? Where Aberdeen get him from? WWE?

  68. Jamie
    Ignored
    says:

    On the substitutes point, teams should be allowed 11 subs to choose from like in international football.

  69. Hamish100
    Ignored
    says:

    peffers– you are well off the mark and getting quite personal. Is it the heat?

    Dave McEwan Hill helped the local candidates in Dunoon and Cowal get elected . From a pal in Toward I am told he has been in the snp for over 50 years and is a stalwart. Leafletting campaigning.
    That is what the snp needs . Not 1000 word essays on what happened 400 years ago.

  70. Lenny Hartley
    Ignored
    says:

    Yesindyref2 re Italian Polis, they still have hangover from the days of Mussolini , all sorts of national Polis, you go to any .big Italian train station and you will find at least two separate police stations with different types of Polis, they have according to Wikipedia
    Polizia di Stato.
    Guardia di Finanza.
    Arma dei Carabinieri.
    Polizia Penitenziaria.
    Corpo Forestale dello Stato.
    Interforces.
    Provincial Police.
    Municipal Police.
    Law enforcement in Italy – Wikipedia

  71. yesindyref2
    Ignored
    says:

    @Robert Peffers (and @Thepnr)
    Well, I’m going to push it in the Herald and National for a few days. Not the most sensitive of things to do, and I daresay I’ll get some abuse, but it has to be done – England and Wales just don’t have enough Police to do the job, no matter how hard they work.

  72. K1
    Ignored
    says:

    ‘you are well off the mark and getting quite personal.’

    Says the guy who fits that description to a fault on Wings, Fucking hypocrite.

    Stay out of exchanges that have nothing to do wi you, Mr sweetie wifie.

  73. HandandShrimp
    Ignored
    says:

    Great first half from Aberdeen but needed to be ahead with the chances created. Easily the best two teams in Scotland but I fear Celtic’s strength in depth will tell.

    Still anything can happen in a cup game.

  74. yesindyref2
    Ignored
    says:

    Mmm, and the Express. Time they had it stuffed right up them.

  75. Sandy
    Ignored
    says:

    Don’t commentators speak a load of s***e. I’ve got a picture on my TV.

  76. Faltdubh
    Ignored
    says:

    Very interesting thoughts last night, Big Jock on the other thread, and I agree with a lot of it.

    Hate to say it but I certainly have been feeling more contempt when watching debates and hearing the usual white-settler gripe with the SNP, Scotland etc. Of course people should bring up issues they are unhappy with or think the Scots govt could do better, but with the Tory rUK residents I don’t think anything the SNP do will ever be received well by them.

    I know there are many English people in Scotland who are Yessers, and I am not judging all, but a lot like the over 65s voted No, the majority of them are not for Scotland and her success.

    Anyhoos! The match is excellent. Aberdeen better in the first and Celtic seem to be upping it in the second.

    Hopefully extra time!

  77. Arabs for Independence
    Ignored
    says:

    Celtic v the dandy Dons is just the warm up match for the big show down tomorrow at Hamilton.

    Come on United

  78. Marco McGinty
    Ignored
    says:

    “A tackle in the third minute broke veteran custodian Jim Leighton’s jaw”

    Aye, and it was deliberate as well.

  79. Smallaxe
    Ignored
    says:

    K1, Peace Always or nearly always.
    🙂

  80. K1
    Ignored
    says:

    Lol

  81. Jack Murphy
    Ignored
    says:

    I’ll just leave this here.
    A couple of months ago— The BBC in Scotland reported a possible billion barrels of oil in 17 seconds.
    Their 6:30pm Flagship Reporting Scotland TV News. Drum roll.

    “Listen carefully,I shall say this only once.” Just joking,but judge for yourselves.

    http://tinyurl.com/ybsj3dot

  82. HandandShrimp
    Ignored
    says:

    Last 10 minutes Aberdeen were done. To lose with only a minute of injury time left was harsh but extra time could have been harsher.

    Great game and the Dons can collect their medals with their heads held up.

  83. Jamie
    Ignored
    says:

    Heart attack stuff there. I was wondering in the end if Celtic were gonna fluff it. Thankfully they came through good. Mon the hoops , hail hail.

  84. Dr Jim
    Ignored
    says:

    One feels bad for Aberdeen but Scott Brown was always likely to win it by at least a forearm smash and still be described as a footballer

  85. Lenny Hartley
    Ignored
    says:

    Well done Celtic, some achievement to go through a complete domestic season undefeated.
    Could not watch the last five mins, turned off ( at a neighbours honest) turned back on seconds after Celtic scored. Aberdeen had to take their chances early on, no chance of maintaining a pressing game in humidity for 95+ minutes.
    Big season next year for the dandies, especially if they lose McInnes.

  86. Robert Peffers
    Ignored
    says:

    @Jamie says: 27 May, 2017 at 3:39 pm:

    “On the substitutes point, teams should be allowed 11 subs to choose from like in international football.”

    Why? For heaven’s sake it is bad enough just now with the present rules. The substitute rule benefits the richer teams most because they can afford to have a team of internationals sitting on the bench and in the stands while 2/3rds of the teams in Scotland can hardly manage to find enough decent players to manage to name enough substitutes.

    So, over a season, the wealthy team always have fresh internationals to bring on as subs and they thus sweep the board at everyone else’s expense.

    Then they start the next season even better off and we have less wealthy teams going to the wall and the league gets ever more boring with the same wealthy team winning everything.

    Scottish football is utter rubbish now and has been going down hill faster than the Scotsman is losing readership.

  87. Richard Duncan
    Ignored
    says:

    Ah well close but no shiney cup .

    I thought i would be gutted , i was for a few mins . But that was some effort by the Dons and hopefully more to come .

    Well done Celtic . Treble and to be fair well deserved .

    Roll on next season and an indi ref poss. The quicker the better in my mind.

    I can now dream of Aberdeen winning the league or a cup and a huge YES vote . I know the league thing is a wee bit iffy 😉 . But the YES vote will be such a cert i thought i would get better odds this way.

  88. Rev. Stuart Campbell
    Ignored
    says:

    “Last professional match I went to was Aberdeen/Dundee League Cup Final 1995/1996”

    I was actually in the press box for that one. Still got the commemorative glasses in my cupboard 🙂

  89. The Rough Bounds
    Ignored
    says:

    Mmmm! Well, I’ll leave all you football fans here and I’ll just go into the garden and do a bit of weeding.

  90. Robert Peffers
    Ignored
    says:

    @Hamish100 says: 27 May, 2017 at 3:41 pm

    “peffers– you are well off the mark and getting quite personal. Is it the heat?”

    First of all I’m not in heat.
    Second of all I’m up to my back teeth with people on Wings, who should know better, never done criticising the SNP for something the SNP has no control over and thus cannot do anything about.

    Anyone who cares to watch anything other the PMQ’s of FMQ’s knows that they work their socks off day in and day out and highlight all the things the complainers are being critical about. We should be praising them not putting them down.

    As I pointed out, and stuffing leaflets through doors is laudable but, having done my fair share of that, I’m only too well aware that the majority of them gets consigned to the waste paper without even being read. To put that another way, it is necessary but also a great deal of effort for very little real returns.

    A 10 second news headline in a paper, on the TV text news or on a broadcaster’s website is absorbed even by those not really interested in politics and is subliminally taken in.

    Yet any conceivable good news from the SNP or SG is spun to make it bad news or is totally ignored. Often total rubbish stories are highlighted to catch the eye in order to take the limelight away from anything good.

    Just in case you wondered I did a stint attempting to be the press officer for an SNP branch. An absolutely thankless task and very hard work.

    It is very disheartening for our elected representative to read criticism of them failing in their duty by their own supporters when they are knocking their pans in every day of the week.

    I’ve just about had enough of a shower of moaners here on Wings.

  91. heraldnomore
    Ignored
    says:

    But hey Stu, you’ll be delighted to hear the aforesaid Robbie Winters bagged yet another cup winner’s medal for the tropy cabinet today. He came on a sub for Pollok in the West of Scotland cup final, and scored in the penalty shoot out.

    Sorry for Cumnock who though they had a winner in the 90th minute, but then enter Del Hepburn.

    Some man Robbie.

  92. gerry parker
    Ignored
    says:

    @Robert.
    You should try and visit the “Forward” shop in Dunoon

  93. Socrates MacSporran
    Ignored
    says:

    heraldnomore @ 5.46pm

    Do not, ever, regardless of the circumstances feel “sorry for Cumnock”.

    They are the Antichrist, Rangers’ evil twin. When it comes to Scumnock – we must exterminate.

  94. Proud Cybernat
    Ignored
    says:

    O/T

    Tories down to THIRD place in Scotland.

    Scottish Tories slip to third in latest Opinium subsample : SNP 46%, Labour 26%, Tories 22%, Lib Dems 3%, Greens 3% – James Kelly.

    https://twitter.com/JamesKelly/status/868504931094933504

    Also, support for Indy reaches 54% in SurveyMonkey subsample.

    http://scotgoespop.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/surveymonkey-subsample-finds-54-of.html

  95. Lochside
    Ignored
    says:

    ‘I’ve just about had enough of a shower of moaners here on Wings’
    Then stop reading your own posts Peffers.

    To quote you: ‘Who appointed you moderator of this site’?
    So any constructive criticism of the SNP on here has to pass scrutiny of the Gauleiter fae Fife? Well no..this site is open to anyone to comment, not the chosen ones and their acolytes.

    BTW Dave McEwan Hill did more to get a’YES’ vote in Dunoon than you ever did with your Peffers potted history of Scotland( ad nauseum.)..sorry North Britain.

  96. heraldnomore
    Ignored
    says:

    Hey Socrates I don’t disagree, but magnanimous in victory is easy, and against one of the teams from orange county, utterly delightful.

  97. Croompenstein
    Ignored
    says:

    Come on the Glens

  98. Thepnr
    Ignored
    says:

    @Rev. Stuart Campbell

    One of the best ever bets on football that I ever made was to back Dundee against Aberdeen at Pittodrie in the 1980/81 season.

    Dundee were leading the old second division and I think Aberdeen were top or second in division.

    Anyway Dundee were 10/1 to win that game, however you couldn’t put a single on in those days and the minimum was a treble so I picked two other “certainties” Dundee United at home to beat Clydebank and West Ham at home to beat Plymouth.

    United won 4-1 West ham drew and my bet was gubbed. I doubt I’ll ever pick a 10/1 shot winner at football again and still manage to lose.

    The good news though for me was that Dundee United went on to win the final against Dundee at Dens Park in front of a 25,000 crowd. That was United’s first ever major trophy and my wife’s first ever attendance at a football match.

    PS so as I don’t piss off any Dundee fans, the first game I ever went to in Dundee was when they beat AC Milan 2-0 in 1971, Scottish football wasn’t too bad in they days 🙂

  99. Graeme McCormick
    Ignored
    says:

    Robert,

    I think Dave Hill is right. It’s all very well promoting the SNP as the defence against the Tory Government but you need a positive vision as well.

    As an example the so called failing school education is delivered by local authorities. It’s because of their failure the Scottish government has had to step in . Most councils are Unionist controlled. Why has this not been made clear? The Scottish government has nothing to apologise for. Look at the mess at Hermitage Academy in Helensburgh and all thanks to a Unionist coalition not getting on with the day job.

    Nationalists need to live as if we were already independent. Everyone can play their part. Scotland has an embarrassment of assets. Let’s build the vision on these and not try and just be little better than life in the IK

  100. Breeks
    Ignored
    says:

    Thepnr says:
    27 May, 2017 at 3:37 pm
    “Trump has just done a deal with Saudi Arabia in which US arms manufacturers will sell them $110 billion worth of weapons.

    Theresa May and Boris Johnson are also courting deals with this corrupt regime. Here’s an example of how they treat their own if they dare to disagree with the state. I don’t want my country to do business with a state like that….”

    That’s not the half of it Thepnr.

    Treading on eggshells a bit, because we know how sectarianism here in Scotland isn’t necessarily representative of either faction, but Islam has its own sectarianism, between Sunni Muslims and Shi’ite.

    Iran was the first Islamic Republic, remember the Ayatollah and the US hostages, and its antithesis to the US. Iraq, Iran, parts of Yemen, Syria while numerically Sunni was governed by Assad who is Shi’ite. The Palestinians are mostly Sunni, but the South of Lebanon, Hezbollah country is Shi’ite. To cut a long story crudely short, the Islamic states which the US dislikes and mistrusts the most, (and which also threaten Israel the most too) are Shi’ite.

    However, Gadaffi, who may or may not have downed the PanAm jumbo was Sunni. Osama bin Laden was Sunni. Al Qaeda is Sunni. The twisted butchers of ISIS are Sunni…

    Now Sunnis and Shi’ite have coexisted without problems for centuries, but you could make an observation that “someone” is stoking this sectarianism into bloodshed, but that’s another story… However, one of the biggest power houses in Sunni Islam is Saudi Arabia. The same Saudi Arabia which Trump has just done a $110 billion Arms deal with.

    Again, very crudely, Islam scares the US – period. However the Shi’ite Muslims of Iraq and particularly Iran, are beyond the influence of the US. Between religion and Russia, Iran is basically “the” enemy in a kind of proxy Middle Eastern Cold War. The “influence” which the West has over Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions and NOT bomb Israel is extremely “limited”.

    However, on the other side of this sectarian/ Cold War scenario, you have the Sunni Muslims of Saudi Arabia, Libya, Egypt, Afghanistan (kinda) who the US believes it can deal with. Sunni Saudi Arabia wants to be dominant over Shi’ite Iran, and big fat US arms deals make that a credible reality, which accounts for Saudi military involvement in Syria and Yemen, which is where this Middle East Cold War turns hot and deadly. (In Yemen’s civil war, Hadi is Sunni, the Houthi rebels are Shi’ite).

    The US appears to believe that fostering good relations with the Saudis means having a degree of control over the nut jobs and whackos in Al Quaeda and ISIS. And who is to say that is not the case. This coincidentally is how these Sunni butchers are getting access to US and UK weapons.

    Peace in Israel, at a guess, is a delicate possibility at best, but perhaps possible with Sunni Muslims, but Shi’ite Iran, and through Assad Syria, won’t rest until Israel is wiped out of existence. So Israel too might be lukewarm about Sunni Muslims, but they are ice cold on Shi’ites.

    Altogether, it’s a real dogs breakfast bloody mess, and personally, remembering the circumstances of Blair and Bush going to war, something really, really stinks here. A credible theory I have read is that after the first Gulf War, where the West and Arab powers worked so well together and started harmonising relationships. These improved US/Arab relations made the Israelis very nervous of losing American sympathies.

    Bear in mind too, this was all happening at a time when Tony Blair was rebranding New Labour, severing links with the Unions and New Labour had to find alternative funding. It found a lot of that funding from the Friends of Israel. But at what price??? Gulf War 2? The fake WMD excuses for war? All very fishy…

    Apologies for the long comment, but this barely scratches the surface. There is something very, very rotten in the State of Denmark. (Not actually Denmark, it’s a line from Hamlet).

    And paradoxically too, while I find such machinations utterly reprehensible and thoroughly immoral, I cannot say to what extent this precarious and unholy state of affairs is being successful in keeping Al Qaeda type terrorist attacks under control. I mean, who knows what trouble might follow if the US was not cuddling up to the Saudis?

    Does that all sound tin foil hat type of doubtful? Well, curious isn’t it that the Sunni terrorists are hitting Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, UK, …. Maybe Europe should be bunging large Arms deals to the Saudis and turning a blind eye to their human rights abuses… Maybe for peace in our time we should deal in cash and speak to them in Trump language.

  101. Capella
    Ignored
    says:

    Good opinion piece in RT on the election and what the Tories are up to i.e. demanding a blank cheque to do whatever they want. Back to the 1931 election.

    Why have they have produced a manifesto? The House of Lords might strike down any bill unless it is in a manifesto. For instance, the plan to siphon money from the elderly. The cash rich elite need something to invest in. Pensioner house proceeds might be the answer.

    Max Keiser noted some time ago that George Osborne was on the board of Blackstone, an American company that makes huge profits from the repossessed sub-prime mortgage market.
    It’s an ill wind that doesn’t benefit the usual people.Philip May and his clients will be pleased.

    https://on.rt.com/8cv3

  102. Capella
    Ignored
    says:

    @ Breeks – Assad is an Alawi which is is neither strictly Sunni nor Shia.
    What damns him most in neo-liberal eyes is probably that he belongs to the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party. So did Saddam Hussein. Both Iraq and Syria and AFAIK Libya, were modern, secular, religiously tolerant states until “the West” began funding the “Arab Spring” which has reduced them to rubble and sectarian chaos.

    see Wikipedia

    I see one of the the architects of this project has died. Zbigniew Brzezinski. For some truly creepy quotes see RT

    https://on.rt.com/8cvs

  103. Donald Urquhart
    Ignored
    says:

    But what were Aberdeen’s plans for a currency?

    Commiserations Stu

  104. mike d
    Ignored
    says:

    Socrates 5.56pm,you got that right with scumnock socrates. The majority of them have an IQ lower than your average room temperature. There’s no educating those plebs/bigots.

  105. heraldnomore
    Ignored
    says:

    Croomp, Glens the best side I’ve seen this season, and I’ll be there on Sunday week in the Glens stand, though the double is a huge ask.

    But what happened today against those thugs and divers? Mind you it didn’t really matter, did it…

  106. Dave McEwan Hill
    Ignored
    says:

    Capella at 6.47

    Exactly right.

  107. Rock
    Ignored
    says:

    Hamish100,

    “peffers– you are well off the mark and getting quite personal. Is it the heat?

    Dave McEwan Hill helped the local candidates in Dunoon and Cowal get elected . From a pal in Toward I am told he has been in the snp for over 50 years and is a stalwart. Leafletting campaigning.
    That is what the snp needs . Not 1000 word essays on what happened 400 years ago.”

    More and more posters are realising what I realised a long time ago:

    “Robert Peffers is an aggressive verbal bully.”

    “And in my view, almost certainly a nasty person in real life.”

  108. Breeks
    Ignored
    says:

    @Capella

    Yes, you’re right Capella. I was just trying to keep it simple. There is also a further dynamic involving the Kurds, but I didn’t go there. There is such a lot to get your head around before it starts to make sense. And once it starts to make sense, you’ve obviously missed something out. Lol

    The most troubling part for me is the US and its “war against terror” which is not all it seems, and makes indirect alliance with the very terrorists it has sworn to destroy in order to contest the more ‘Strategic’ state sponsored terrorism of Iran.

    Meanwhile here in Tory UK, the amateurish media goes into meltdown about Corbyn possible speaking to the IRA, while May literally does an arms deal with the Saudis which on past evidence will put arms into the hands of ISIS type Sunni militias in Yemen and Syria. Saudi Arabia has already apologised for dropping British made cluster bombs on Houthi rebels in Yemen.

    The difficult question is what happens next.. If there is war against Iran, (and I don’t really see that that being imminent), but say the Shi’ite power base loses out to the Sunnis in Syria and Yemen, then it is difficult to see what these triumphant Sunni militias and fundamentalists, (or indeed defeated Shi’ites), will do to amuse themselves except to carry on their Jihad to attack the USA and Israel with weapons supplied through the Saudis by the US and UK. Will the Saudis be able to prevent that? True, they will have $110 billion of military kit at their disposal, but still.. how many strong and rich Arab nations are reduced to rubble?

    It seems for now the US and Russia seem content for an uneasy stalemate to “manage” the conflict and contain it, while the Israelis for their part sit back and watch Muslim destroy Muslim.

    The other flashpoint of course is Iran going nuclear, and having the capacity to destroy Israel and or the oil which the West relies upon. As Hilary Clinton was caught emailing, what the Israelis fear most is losing their nuclear monopoly… the big game changer.

    What a great disappointment the Chilcot Report has been. There was an act of great evil committed in going to War with Iraq, and Chilcot just didn’t get to those responsible. If that sickens you and me, just think what it does to young hot headed Islamist militant radicalised by bloodshed and hatred.

    Just for the sake of simplicity, surely peace would be a much less fraught starting position….

  109. Jamie
    Ignored
    says:

    Robert prefers – the other teams could play youth players, maybe that would improve the standard of players overall.

  110. Lenny Hartley
    Ignored
    says:

    Breeks typed my longest post on Wings and it was gobbled by my iPad before I hit the send button, so I know going through that again , but will put my twopence worth about the Saudi’s and their Wahhabism.
    Basically through The ballet box and boom they are trying to establish a pan european and then a global Calliphate. I can’t be arsed used archive is again si will not repost the article from the Telegraph so here is one from PBS which I believe is Publis Service broadcasting in the USA
    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/saudi/analyses/wahhabism.html

    They have been active setting up cells all over Europe for decades including one in Beauly in the nineties, they attended a Ceilidh at the Bannockburn March as were explaining to all those who would listen their plans for an Islamic Public of Scotland, they were giving out booklets explaining how the state would function and even a booklet on the Islamic state of Scotland’s currency the Scottish Dirham. One of my mates was curious and he visited them in Beauly and said they were based in a large detached Villa and were very well funded.
    As anybody who knows me will testify I’m not anti Islam ( an Iraqi surgeon saved my life a couple of years ago ) nor a racist but I believe that The sect of Wahhabism is a danger to democracies in Europe and beyond.

  111. Jamie
    Ignored
    says:

    Breeks – there is no profit in peace as ocean colour scene sang. Furthermore there is no regime change or brown skin people dying during peace, we can’t have that now can we? I presume that’s the west’s position anyway.

  112. Capella
    Ignored
    says:

    I think it is ultimately simple. It’s about oil. It’s always about oil. Sometimes gas or water, sometimes rare earths or precious metals or gems. Western oligarchs absolutely must control all vital resources on the planet.

    If anyone stands in the way – such as Gadaafi or Hussain or Assad, they must be neutralised.

    Tony Blair actually addressed this when he argued that, of course it isn’t about oil. We could simply buy oil on the market. True. But Hussain had decided to buy and sell oil in Euros instead of dollars. That would kill off the American dollar as the world reserve currency. So they decided to just take the oil. Haliburton – Dick Cheney’s company, got the contracts.

    Of course, we too have oil. Bad news.

    BTW I checked on Wikileaks and they say Saddam Hussain was not in the Ba’ath Party. That surprised me. Why then did they have a de-Baathification process?

    You’re right, it’s complicated.

  113. yesindyref2
    Ignored
    says:

    Hey Wingers, why not get your aggressions out by posting on the likes of the Express which I do occasionally for a good laugh, and the DT and DM which I don’t (only 24 hours in a day and I have to sleep 1 or 2).

    It’s great fun, and like potting ducks in a barrel (whatever the “express”ion is).

    I’m disappointed though, only -14 so far.

  114. Capella
    Ignored
    says:

    Sorry – Wikileaks = Wikipedia!

  115. Breeks
    Ignored
    says:

    Don’t get me wrong guys, I’m not looking to diminish the threat posed by this extremism, nor normalise it in any way, quite the reverse.

    My point is made on a pro Indy Scottish website where the heart and soul of our debate is routinely distorted by the media and “official” doctrines were are meant to take as gospel. We very rarely if ever get given the full story, but how else can know how to do the right thing? We have got to read, learn, ask questions and doubt everything we are told. But where do you stop?

    I think it was the President of Egypt, who wants to reform Islam and put distance between Islam and the bloodthirsty extremists. He said something along the lines of Islam having to recognise that putting to death all the non-believers would mean the awkward business of killing of 6 billion people simply to accommodate the “peaceful” religion of Islam.

    How many more years and decades of carnage lie ahead in the Middle East? How do we change what looks so grimly inevitable?

  116. geeo
    Ignored
    says:

    2 cracking cup finals today.

    Great achievement for celtic, and full respect to them for it.

    Got to feel for Aberdeen, 3 times runner up in all domestic football in same season..ouch !!

  117. Robert J. Sutherland
    Ignored
    says:

    Well, I’m going to inject a little dissention into the cosy heterodoxy here.

    Firstly, to each his or her own, of course, but to me each Beautiful Game is a mere 90-minute wonder. I’ve instead been following Il Giro d’Italia, which is a solid 3-week gladitorial contest on two wheels, with just 90secs separating the first 6 contenders on the eve of the final stage tomorrow, an individual time trial against the clock, and it’s anyone’s guess who will be the overall winner at the end of the day.

    Secondly, I can’t completely share the apparent consensus on the background to the recent horrific events. The truth is far more complex than can be addressed by some facile self-flagellation over our admitted unhappy involvements in the middle east over the last 100 years. After all, Sweden was also targeted recently, and their foreign policy has been nigh on impeccable.

    There are many actors and motives involved, and they can’t all be magicked away by a little dose of latterday “kumbaya” from the Brits, (even supposing it mattered, which frankly it doesn’t these days). Most of those involved have dubious motives. For my money, the only ones with some justification on their side are the Kurds, who are attemping to carve out a rightful place in the world for themselves in the face of antagonism from virtually everyone else.

    But that’s not really my point. I don’t want to get into a discussion of middle east geopolitics here, since it would take two or three lifetimes and I’m just trying to eke the best of the little left of my current outing. =grin= Rather it’s just to gently point out that while it’s no doubt a happy release for some here to vent their opinions on such matters, the majority of people in Scotland are not nearly so exercised. They have far more prosaic concerns. (And if you think that the present regime of Syria is a great advertisment for socialism in action, good luck to you, but I am fairly sure it isn’t going to win any converts for indy any time soon. Ever, really.)

    So I simply appeal to all of you to have a thought for all the uncommitted visitors who undoubtedly drop in here, and what is likely to win them over to our common cause. We seem to be in danger of falling into the prime error of last time, getting much self-righteous satisfaction from “preaching to the choir”, as my youngest daughter put it, but not winning anyone else over to “yes”.

    (Contrast for example the excellent “no to yes” video series from Phantom Power. It’s by and for ordinary people, just as it should be.)

    Happily we do all have something important in common: a small country without any dangerous self-deluded pretentions on the world stage that is “happy within its own skin” and is able and willing to co-operate with other sovereign nations where it’s to our clear mutual advantage.

    That’s the goal we have to keep in sight, especially now that it’s so tantalisingly close.

  118. Capella
    Ignored
    says:

    @ Breeks IMO the UN.
    These wars which defy the authority of the UN and replace it with US bullying – backed up as always by their poodle the UK – except on one famous occasion when Harold Wilson refused to send the Black Watch to Vietnam (so the story goes anyway) repeat the aggression of Hitler in the 1930s when he ignored the League of Nations.

    Might is right is the philosophy of tyrants. It’s anti democratic, or fascist. The decision to go to war in Iraq without UN sanction should have been a massive warning klaxon in the UK.

    You’re right about Chilcot. It was useless and time wasting. The terms of reference were designed, by Gordon Brown, to exclude any search for blame. The House of Commons voted heavily against Alex Salmond’s motion to examine the culpability of Tony Blair.
    Either we have the rule of law, or we have tyranny.

    The Security Council would have to be reformed. The Headquarters would have to be removed from the US. The peacekeeping force would have to be beefed up.

    But as the founding fathers of the US believed, if confronted by tyranny, citizens have the right to rebel. I think Tom Paine said that.

  119. BBC Scotland Tells Lies
    Ignored
    says:

    Tomorrow’s Sunday Herald front page:-

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DA3TwQ3XoAADzJH.jpg:large

  120. Returnofthemac
    Ignored
    says:

    Just picked up my tablet the noo. On goalkeeping.many no,many many years ago I played in goal for a team called East End. Funnily enough from the east end of Glasgow. Played against Drumchapel amateurs quite a well known team. I was knocked out twice during the game so don’t remember too much about it other than the Drumchapel centre forward was a chap called Andy Gray. Don’t know what he’s doing now.

  121. Returnofthemac
    Ignored
    says:

    Mibbee it wisnae Big Andy, anyway it was a big centre forward that ran over the top of me. Still remember it.

  122. Brian McHugh
    Ignored
    says:

    I was at that game… Dons were 4:0 down, but decided a party was in order anyway. In the second half, Dons fans started piling into the isles and joining Conga’s up and down the stairs. The Rangers fans were just sitting looking bored, while the Dons end looked like Carnival time. I remember that more than the football.

  123. thewaterbeastie
    Ignored
    says:

    Of course, if one bears in mind how often in the club’s history it has actually made it to a Scottish Cup Final, doesn’t that mean that there is a backlog of a few generations-worth of finals that it is ‘owed’, where it could literally be there several years running, to fulfil the average of ‘once in a generation’?

    https://50daysofyes.wordpress.com/2017/04/05/the-once-in-a-generation-game-12-referenda-for-no-monkeys



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