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Wings Over Scotland


Running on empty 154

Posted on December 08, 2015 by

The National today has a story we’ve been sitting on for several days while we tried to get some verifiable evidence in the form of links or screenshots to back it up.

juneneilson

But Labour aren’t the only people having trouble scaring up a candidate roster.

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The trouble with Lords 155

Posted on December 08, 2015 by

This morning’s Daily Record, and also some newspapers, report that booze-ruined internet troll and convicted violent criminal George Foulkes – who’s spent several decades of his political career campaigning to abolish the House Of Lords, and all of the last one sitting in it as Baron Foulkes of Cumnock – has dreamt up a wizard new wheeze to enhance the Scottish Parliament by giving it its own chamber of peers.

foulkeslords1

The thirsty noble aims to avoid the undemocratic nature of the UK Lords by making the new “senate” an elected chamber. But in an uncharacteristic development that will shock innocent readers to their cores, he doesn’t seem to have thought it through.

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The Scottish Media Dictionary 88

Posted on December 07, 2015 by

It’s probably time we had a series of these. So here’s #1.

boswell

scandal (noun) – a situation where no known crime has been committed and nobody has been interviewed by the police, yet which apparently contrasts in some way with other situations about which the exact same applies.

(Can often by identified by presence of Scottish Labour MPs/MSPs describing claims of entirely legal activity as “very serious allegations”.)

The visionary 248

Posted on December 07, 2015 by

As the Scottish media winds itself up to full speed with “SNP BAD” columns about the Forth Road Bridge closure, an alert reader spotted an interesting old quote in Hansard featuring a gentleman you may recognise.

Mr. Darling: Do the Government still want to proceed with the building of a second Forth road bridge, which would devastate the constituency that the Minister seeks to represent at the next election? Have the Government changed their tack? Do they now accept that there needs to be a co-ordinated public transport strategy to deal with the transport needs of Edinburgh and south-east Scotland?

Will the Minister make the Government’s position clear so that we know whether they want to build this ridiculous bridge?”

We invite anyone who may perhaps just be arriving at work after an unusually long commute this morning to imagine a Scotland where Mr Darling had been listened to, and the prospect of a replacement crossing was still several years away.

Altered States 202

Posted on December 06, 2015 by

There’s absolutely no news today – Scottish politics already seems to have packed up for Christmas – so why not watch a nice documentary instead?

Altered States has been available in episode form for a wee while now, but McMaster Media have kindly put together a full-length cut exclusively for Wings Over Scotland.

It’s a fascinating analysis with lots of insightful chat from – among others – the likes of Derek Bateman, Paul “Wee Ginger Dug” Kavanagh, James “Scot Goes Pop” Kelly and Christopher Silver, to whose pre-indyref “Scotland Yet” it’s basically a post-indyref counterpart, and it’s a perfect way to pass a slow, rainy Sunday.

Setting an example 193

Posted on December 05, 2015 by

Tuesday, then Saturday:

Bless ’em.

Cultivating terror 63

Posted on December 05, 2015 by

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

Technical issues 19

Posted on December 05, 2015 by

We’ve had some gremlins in the works since yesterday, folks. Please bear with us.

An absence of clarity 307

Posted on December 04, 2015 by

On Wednesday the Daily Record ran this story:

mcgarrysyria

It didn’t have to wait long for the “questions” to be answered.

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Seventeen days later 411

Posted on December 03, 2015 by

This is Labour’s shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn, quoted in the Independent On Sunday on the 15th of November, just two and a half weeks ago.

hbenn

That’s interesting, isn’t it?

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Britain goes to war 339

Posted on December 02, 2015 by

Tonight we watched as the conclusion of a “debate” in the UK Parliament saw the “opposition”, almost unprecedentedly, sum up the same case as the government, to roof-raising cheers and applause (which is now apparently permitted again) from the Conservative benches for a Labour shadow minister.

We were rather put in mind of a famous Neil Kinnock speech from 1985.

Doing something 193

Posted on December 02, 2015 by

Alex Salmond in the Syria debate with the non-pacifist case against bombing.

(Features brief cameo appearance from Alberto Costa MP, noted twat.)

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    • Northcode on Yelling at the tide: ““hundered ” Aye, a ken aboot that yin anaw. Whit am a like the day? A’m aw flustered because nane…Jan 24, 20:50
    • Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “Great post, Northy. See that “theirs” in your last sentence? Is that the Scots leid richt their? Always keen tae…Jan 24, 20:41
    • Northcode on Yelling at the tide: “Aye, Hatey, they are a shower o cunts, right enough. Thank fuck for you, though…Jan 24, 20:39
    • Northcode on Yelling at the tide: ““theirs ” Aye, a ken.Jan 24, 20:36
    • Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “@TURABDIN You just don’t get it. Scots invented the modern world. Only, the “modern” world our ancestors invented was the…Jan 24, 20:34
    • Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “Aye, Willie, what’s the world coming to, eh? You can’t even threaten armed cops with your own handgun any more…Jan 24, 20:26
    • Northcode on Yelling at the tide: ““…why are the online introductory pages of DSL all in English?” Whit leid sud thae be dae ye think? “Why…Jan 24, 20:17
    • Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “Morning Northy! Sorry it’s been near 12 hours and nae cant has stirred himself to respond to your post, other…Jan 24, 20:16
    • Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Yelling at the tide: “Pax tecum. “Quhen he spak all cessyt” (Virgil’s AENEID, translated by Gavin Douglas, 1513)Jan 24, 20:12
    • Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “Confused writes on humility and shutting your fucking mouth. Sorry, words fail.Jan 24, 20:08
    • robertkknight on Yelling at the tide: “Ermmm… Last time I checked, Lowland Scots a.k.a Lallans, or synthetic (modern) Scots, isn’t the only dialect of Scots with…Jan 24, 20:06
    • Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “You tell me whoever it was prevented you from learning Scots, Alf, and as one, Wings BTL will seek them…Jan 24, 20:02
    • Willie on Yelling at the tide: “Just watched the latest citizen of Minnesota beaten to the ground by ICE agents and then dispatched with some 10…Jan 24, 19:27
    • TURABDIN on Yelling at the tide: “Just a thought…why are the online introductory pages of DSL all in English? Why does the DSL effectively treat the…Jan 24, 18:59
    • Northcode on Yelling at the tide: ““…if some cite “Pictish DNA” (not so Billy Kay) as prime reason for championing it [Scots?], that logic seems not…Jan 24, 18:54
    • Alf Baird on Yelling at the tide: “Its not that complicated at all. What you are describing are merely various forms of Cultural Imperialism. Language is one…Jan 24, 18:38
    • sam on Yelling at the tide: “It is rather more complicated. https://media.scotslanguage.com/library/document/Scots%20Timeline%20Post-1700.pdf 1720’s Introduction to Scotland of the New Method of teaching English based directly on…Jan 24, 18:20
    • James Cheyne on Yelling at the tide: “Chagos Islands, Thank goodness that Trump is stopping the financial fraud of funneling tax payers money out of Britain, Foreign…Jan 24, 17:35
    • Marie on Yelling at the tide: “The world’s greatest living half-Scotsman (lol) has backtracked on his offensive lies – trouble is the dough ball has already…Jan 24, 17:33
    • Alf Baird on Yelling at the tide: “As ‘a fowk’s’ langage is a determinant o the identity o the ‘fowk’ wha speak hit, it staunds tae reason…Jan 24, 17:14
    • TURABDIN on Yelling at the tide: “if you compose text offline then paste and post, do you get moderated? it does seem so.Jan 24, 16:44
    • James Cheyne on Yelling at the tide: “Following the archaeology of pictish digs, there is a pattern that implies the territorial boundaries and scope of pictland, i…Jan 24, 16:33
    • sam on Yelling at the tide: “https://theconversation.com/how-celtic-languages-spread-across-britain-and-ireland-why-we-need-to-reconsider-the-early-story-271338 “..Recent studies of ancient DNA have revealed waves of migration into Britain from regions that are now in France…Jan 24, 16:13
    • TURABDIN on Yelling at the tide: “Lallans speaking Scots settling in Orkney & Shetland aka Hjatland eventually ousted the local Norse, athough it survived long enough…Jan 24, 15:47
    • DaveL on Yelling at the tide: ““… which was better than WW1 where they were 3” Aye and it took them six months to organise themselves…Jan 24, 15:39
    • willie on Yelling at the tide: “It is truly outrageous how fickle Donald Trump and his administration are and how they can turn on longstanding friends…Jan 24, 14:52
    • Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Yelling at the tide: “Billy Kay on page 52 (kindle version) of his ‘Mither Tongue” book states that “Scots is descended from Northumbrian.” However,…Jan 24, 14:42
    • PC Foster on Yelling at the tide: “Confused says: so where do you get all the people you need now.? Dont know- but referring to women as…Jan 24, 14:36
    • sam on Yelling at the tide: “Thanks, Northcode. I’ll mind that. Houaniver. Timeline of the Scots Language Since 1700 MODERN SCOTS PERIOD 1700 to Present, subdivided…Jan 24, 13:27
    • Confused on Yelling at the tide: “worth watching all the way, at least till the UN guy explains the scam www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_2_7fxyIEI – it bears pointing out…Jan 24, 13:16
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