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Wings Over Scotland


The resource collective 377

Posted on March 02, 2016 by

greatbanner

days remaining. Total at 9am today: £80,273 (Last 24 hours: £3,348)

Together in unity 104

Posted on March 01, 2016 by

Weirdly, right after seeing this earlier this afternoon, we sat down to watch an episode of The Professionals on ITV4, which contained what seemed a rather apt segment.

We don’t think it’s a younger Iain Martin of the Telegraph (accompanied by colleagues Alan Cochrane and Tom Gallagher), but don’t make us swear to it.

This can only end well 150

Posted on March 01, 2016 by

Goodness gracious.

eimh

The lonely onlys 46

Posted on March 01, 2016 by

As we’ve explored many times on Wings, one of the many reasons you should never trust a newspaper’s headline is that even the ones that are technically true can be painting a highly (and deliberately) misleading picture.

For example, more than two years ago we pointed to a Scotsman story that blared “A THIRD OF SCOTS WOULD BACK EXIT FROM EU”, which is a rather curious spin to put on a poll which found a 13-point margin for staying in the EU.

A paper particularly fond of misusing stats in this way is the Daily Mail.

mailonly

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Performance review day 398

Posted on February 29, 2016 by

greatleap4h

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Presented without comment 166

Posted on February 28, 2016 by

A little snippet from a corner of today’s Scottish Mail On Sunday.

smosdavidson

Shoulder to shoulder 142

Posted on February 27, 2016 by

The dogged determination of Scottish Labour to insult the Scottish electorate is a source of constant slack-jawed astonishment to us. Over the years we’ve lost count of the number of times the party’s politicians have effectively said “People are just too stupid to vote for us”, in the apparent belief that abuse is the way to win back support.

foulkesfools

But it’s not always so overt. The subtler ways in which the party treats voters like morons include the assumption that people’s memories only go back to yesterday’s newspapers, and there can surely be no more stark illustration than its recent adoption of the attack line that the SNP are standing “shoulder to shoulder with the Tories”.

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Ken Loves Laura 172

Posted on February 27, 2016 by

If you’ve ever heard people talking about the “Scottish cringe” but don’t really know what it is, you could do a lot worse for an example than this:

Jeez, Ken, Valentine’s was a fortnight ago, you had your chance.

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Future Shocks 88

Posted on February 27, 2016 by

img182

Order “Welcome To Cairnstoon”, Chris’ compilation of Wings cartoons and more, here.

Never understanding 124

Posted on February 26, 2016 by

An interesting and illuminating exchange has taken place in the last few days between the First Minister and Times columnist Kenny Farquharson, one of the many senior journalists who’ve recently jumped from the sinking ship of The Scotsman to take up less prestigious but more secure positions elsewhere.

It started on Saturday night, when Farquharson tweeted this:

kfarqns

And then people said more stuff.

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Fighting for horsemeat 178

Posted on February 26, 2016 by

In what may be a new all-time low for the broadsheet press in Scotland, this morning’s Scottish edition of the Telegraph makes a front-page lead story out of a petition with a pathetic 4500 signatures, put together by some extremist Yoon nutters to express their rage that there might be a peak-time news show actually made in Scotland.

telegraphsix

The idea of a so-called “Scottish Six”, whereby the main six o’clock news bulletin would be a single programme made by BBC Scotland and covering Scottish, UK and world news – rather than the current half-hour London-centric UK programme followed by 30 minutes of regional murdur’n’fitba in Reporting Scotland – has been exercising the media (and pretty much nobody else) for the best part of 20 years.

But now it’s become a constitutional battleground, and the funny thing about it is that the two sides are fighting bitterly over something neither of them actually really wants.

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Some brief thoughts on Donald Trump 285

Posted on February 25, 2016 by

Put your hands on your hearts, readers, and tell us that in the event of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin leading the USA and Russia a year or so from now, you can’t see this actually literally happening. [EDIT: The fight, not nuclear apocalypse. Obviously.]

Look us straight in the eye and tell us there’s a 0% chance.

You can’t, can you?

We live in interesting times.

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    • 100%Yes on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Wings predicted on here and by people posting on here as well. But the SNP commitment to the union has…Jul 23, 20:29
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: ““proselytising religions” Naw. A proselytising religion is one where its adherents chap your door, earnestly attempt to tell you the…Jul 23, 20:24
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Havers, Mark. Check out the front lines (and the combat casualty lists) from the war in the east. You’ll find…Jul 23, 20:09
    • Mark Beggan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Why not. No one else wants the job. What about asking Jack McConnell to step in.Jul 23, 20:06
    • sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-social-attitudes-survey-2025-core-module/pages/5/ Factchecker. Link above. Of interest to me, the steep decline in trust of the Scottish government since 2015. Signs…Jul 23, 19:55
    • Xaracen on Ain’t it funny how things change?: ““What made Scotland “much better” before 1707, Xaracen?” A, it was independent, B, it wasn’t a colony of England, C,…Jul 23, 19:29
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Sorry, Alf, but I’m every bit as much a Sovereign Scot as you. What have I already told you about…Jul 23, 19:15
    • factchecker on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “sam, my comment on the uncontextualised use of survey data relates to the original post. Not the survey itself. Hence…Jul 23, 18:18
    • factchecker on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Dan, regarding the much-quoted “Union of Equals” that I know is such a popular trope, I am unaware of any…Jul 23, 18:12
    • sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Don’t forget the colonisation of Ireland by the Scots and English. James granted confiscated land from Irish Catholics to Protestant…Jul 23, 18:06
    • Young Lochinvar on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “FC Apology accepted. Always laugh when those who know their wordsmithery isn’t cutting it feel the need to conclude with…Jul 23, 17:49
    • sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: ““The original question and comment on the survey data still stand.” Why don’t you look it up for yourself and…Jul 23, 17:42
    • factchecker on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “YL, the third person usage was simply because I don’t know you. As a literature graduate I am well aware…Jul 23, 17:30
    • Young Lochinvar on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “FC I’ll reply even though in your intemperate response you referred to me in the 3rd person while also managing…Jul 23, 17:10
    • Dan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “If the Union was meant to be equal and UK Governance actually attempted to serve its constituent part’s best interests;…Jul 23, 15:45
    • Mark Beggan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Wes Streeting would be better positioned in Hollyoaks. He could play the nasty gay with big ideas.Jul 23, 15:43
    • Alf Baird on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Did ye no get the message fae King Jimmy, England-is-the-UK and its Shires, wi Scotland makkit intae anither English Shire:…Jul 23, 15:42
    • Mark Beggan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “You could say Jesus did his job. With Mary behind him how could he fail.Jul 23, 15:13
    • Mark Beggan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Interesting point on Islam. Western countries grew up from spoon fed orthodox religion. The Western mind has evolved but most…Jul 23, 15:00
    • factchecker on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Young Lochinvar says: 23 July, 2026 at 2:23 pm FC The Scotchland Office in auld Reekie is part of the…Jul 23, 14:50
    • Young Lochinvar on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “FC The Scotchland Office in auld Reekie is part of the UK government. Surely it was set up to look…Jul 23, 14:23
    • Rev. Stuart Campbell on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Confused: I have deleted your comment. Any more of that shit and you’re on pre-mod.Jul 23, 13:42
    • diabloandco on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “OT another expensive heart wrenching ad from RSPCA – remember that that is only for England and Wales , here…Jul 23, 12:25
    • Lorncal on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Why are we always surprised/shocked/outraged by the perfidies of people who owe no allegiance to Scotland whatsoever? These people are…Jul 23, 12:21
    • factchecker on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Serious question – why should a UK Government work in the best interests of any single geographical sub-section of the…Jul 23, 12:03
    • sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Scottish Social Attitudes Study 2025 “18% of respondents said that they trusted the UK Government to work in Scotland’s best…Jul 23, 10:20
    • Alf Baird on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Aye Hatey, up tae yer wee mischievous tricks agin: ‘divide and rule’, the colonizer’s tool.Jul 23, 10:14
    • sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Sarwar’s degree in dentristy and his role as Scottish Labour Leader where he led the party to its latest debacle…Jul 23, 10:13
    • sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Trial first?Jul 23, 09:58
    • Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Sure, Xaracen. But you’ll be long deid. 🙂 Me too. And, whilst no doubt Scotland will leave the UK as…Jul 23, 09:31
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