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A remarkable feat 426

Posted on March 01, 2017 by

So it turns out that this:

igday1

…is even more amazing than it initially appears.

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Time to go 487

Posted on February 28, 2017 by

The Wings Over Scotland Fundraiser 2017:

timetogo3b

Please give generously, or we’re all screwed.

A trivial omission 265

Posted on February 27, 2017 by

Our attention was drawn today to hardcore shrieky Loyalist nutter collective Scotland In Union releasing “new research” on an independent Scotland’s finances, which in fact came out last year but which for unknown reasons they’re touting again now.

standardindy

Commissioned by the loongroup from a London-based thinktank that we’d never heard of by the name of “Europe Economics”, it predictably produces a doom-and-gloom conclusion that independence would have cost over £10bn in the first year.

There are so many gaping chasms in the logic we could hardly stop laughing for long enough to type, but one in particular was worth wiping the tears from our eyes for.

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The morality of nationalism 118

Posted on February 26, 2017 by

No.5: Tom Morton, former BBC broadcaster and No campaigner.

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The Weasel 139

Posted on February 26, 2017 by

It’s important to note, firstly, that the version of Sadiq Khan’s speech to the Scottish Labour conference he tweeted on Saturday morning simply flat-out said that Scottish nationalists were the same as racists and sectarian bigots. Its meaning was as clear as crystal to the Daily Record, a newspaper which is hardly hostile to Khan’s party.

khantweet

“No difference” is a stark and unambiguous phrase. The speech did not contain the hastily-added qualifiers about “in this respect” and “of course I’m not saying the SNP are racist” which suddenly appeared when he read it out onstage that afternoon.

But which version did he really mean?

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The pound-shop Ruth Davidson 107

Posted on February 26, 2017 by

Yesterday afternoon, Scottish Labour tweeted some comments from Kezia Dugdale’s keynote speech to the party conference that might be the most self-evidently idiotic thing ever said by a Scottish politician.

kdescape

Now, whether you support independence or not it’s a plain, measurable, empirical fact that it IS all of those things. Saying it’s not “an alternative”, in particular, is roughly on a par with asserting that the Earth doesn’t revolve around the Sun.

We were about to go on a rant about the jaw-dropping stupidity of the claim when it struck us that it might be a bit more interesting to see how the speech, and indeed the conference, had gone down with its intended audience – Scottish Labour delegates.

And as it happened, we had some data on that.

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For Sadiq Khan 216

Posted on February 25, 2017 by

What does racism and separatism actually look like? How would we know it if we saw it? What are its defining characteristics? Who are its advocates?

miliforeign

Let’s see if we can find out.

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The leader meets the gang 84

Posted on February 25, 2017 by

img313

Liars K to B 100

Posted on February 24, 2017 by

This is a story in the Herald today.

dugdalliar

Thing is, we know it’s a lie. Who says so? Kezia Dugdale does.

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A completely different situation 57

Posted on February 24, 2017 by

No.4: file under “Hell actually froze over”.

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More questions than answers 130

Posted on February 24, 2017 by

We were very pleased to hear Gary Robertson challenge Kezia Dugdale on the curious matter of Scottish Labour’s membership and income figures on today’s Good Morning Scotland. Dugdale flapped and dodged and waffled for as long as she could before diverting the topic onto federalism, and eventually managed to wriggle away from the subject without any sort of proper answer (through no fault of Robertson’s).

(Good Morning Scotland, BBC Radio Scotland, 24 February 2017)
.

But what she said just made the situation MORE confusing, not less.

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News values depreciate further 133

Posted on February 23, 2017 by

Almost a year ago we ran a short piece mocking a Scotsman headline which claimed that “THOUSANDS” of people had signed a Tory anti-referendum petition, when the actual number was a strictly-accurate-but-pathetic TWO thousand.

We didn’t think that could ever be beaten for technically-true hyperbolic exaggeration, but we’d reckoned without the bold boundary-pushing ingenuity of the Daily Express.

exp1000s

Hundreds of thousands? How many hundreds, exactly?

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    • Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: “Oh dear, Northy. If there are any psychologists reading here they’ll be in no doubt about what ails you. Get…Dec 22, 17:05
    • Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: “Hey, Northy, you’ve succeeded in conveying a real sense of hysteria through your prose. If it’s genuine, and not just…Dec 22, 16:54
    • Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: “Good one, Sam. “Sovereigntists”. Like it. Throwing a spelling error though. “Sovereign tits” doesn’t, so perhaps that’s what the author…Dec 22, 16:51
    • Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: ““Surely any self respecting native Scot would communicate solely in their own language, not that of their oppressor?” This. 100…Dec 22, 16:45
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    • Hatey McHateface on A matter of class: ““Bawbag”, eh, Dan? Let me guess – you’ve packed in the calls for productive dialogue on here as part of…Dec 22, 16:40
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    • James on A matter of class: “Who’s “we”? LOL. You think anyone reads the shite that you post? What you might think you “know” in your…Dec 22, 15:57
    • James Cheyne on A matter of class: “North Code, Scotland does need to wake up, and pretty quick, If England claims only Scotland is bound by the…Dec 22, 14:29
    • sam on A matter of class: “https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1467-923X.13214 “Exploring Sovereignty in Scotland” David McCrone Michael Keating “The largest proportion in the sample, 30 per cent are ‘Scottish…Dec 22, 14:21
    • Captain Caveman on A matter of class: “I couldn’t care less whether the likes of you believes me or not – as I’ve already told you. Feel…Dec 22, 14:09
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    • Andy Ellis on A matter of class: “@Alf Baird 8.24pm Like any peoples language the Scots language plays ‘a vital role in shaping and defining ethnic identity’,…Dec 22, 14:07
    • James on A matter of class: “We’ve only got your word for that though, haven’t we sweetie? You’re a Reform shill so probably a born liar.Dec 22, 13:53
    • James Cheyne on A matter of class: “Alf Baird. Even with the trickery, bribery and deceit it must be remembered that the Scottish participation was only set…Dec 22, 13:48
    • Captain Caveman on A matter of class: ““A braw chortle at young unionist Aidan whining about the demise of industries in Scotland.” Aw, look at old Dan,…Dec 22, 13:17
    • diabloandco on A matter of class: “Just caught up with Led by Donkeys projection on Windsor castle – nice work!! And Nicola Jennings cartoon in the…Dec 22, 12:33
    • Northcode on A matter of class: ““Scotland does need to wake up…” She surely does, James. Her bedside alarm is now ringing, at least, and I…Dec 22, 12:32
    • Northcode on A matter of class: “I’ve always thought of the word ‘inchoately’ as being a particularly unhelpful word; a word with no clear and singularly…Dec 22, 12:17
    • Alf Baird on A matter of class: “Indeed so, James, and in addition, there is plenty of evidence of bribery and coercion involved at the time which…Dec 22, 12:15
    • Alf Baird on A matter of class: ““Unreasoning nativists can scream inchoately” You mean like American Professor Michael Hechter in his detailed scientific analysis of the ‘UK…Dec 22, 11:49
    • Northcode on A matter of class: “Yet another excellent and informative post, Alf. Personally, I’m sick of swallowing Westminster’s green and mouldy moon cheese. An observation:…Dec 22, 11:45
    • Northcode on A matter of class: “Foul language restrained in writing is a sad and pathetic sight to behold. Foul language by its nature is wild…Dec 22, 11:25
    • James Cheyne on A matter of class: “The Union remembers and fears the day coming in and shining a light over the treaty, It fears that Scotland…Dec 22, 11:09
    • Alf Baird on A matter of class: “Yes, and the stink of “colonialism …drives the most peaceable populations to despair” (Cesaire) Aside from the obligatory racism and…Dec 22, 11:09
    • The Flying Iron of Doom on A matter of class: “Hatey McHateface says: 20 December, 2025 at 3:30 pm Thanks for your reply, Stuart. As it happens, I lack a…Dec 22, 11:06
    • Northcode on A matter of class: ““What fascinating dialogues we could have” Here’s some dialogue for you (really more a command): “DANCE!” Dance tae whitiver tune…Dec 22, 11:01
    • Captain Caveman on A matter of class: “@Hatey “… As to their younger years, a casual look at their typical posts suggests they could never have done…Dec 22, 11:00
    • James Cheyne on A matter of class: “England did not need a referendum to leave the treaty of union in 1800. But Scotland does need a referendum…Dec 22, 10:58
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