I’ve just remembered that I meant to leave this pinned to the front page when I shut Wings down as a blog, so here it is. It’s just a short one.
I am willing to bet anyone in the UK any amount of money of their choosing that there will NOT be a second independence referendum in Scotland while Nicola Sturgeon is First Minister.
If you still believe she’ll deliver one, now’s your chance to demonstrate your faith in public AND get yourself some free cash. (It’s a matter of public record that I’ve never failed to pay up on a losing wager.)
So come on, SNP loyalists and true believers, let’s see you. Put your name and the amount you want to bet in the comments below* and let’s find out how much you really trust her. This is an entirely genuine, serious offer and remains open to anyone** until such times as Nicola Sturgeon stands down as First Minister, even if that’s 20 years from now. Any amount you like. I’m waiting keenly for your responses.
.
*PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT EXCEPT TO TAKE THE BET.
**WAGERS FROM GERRY “THE WELCHER” HASSAN NOT ACCEPTED.
Craig Murray is due to be released from HMP Edinburgh a week tomorrow, having served half of an eight-month sentence for contempt of court via “jigsaw identification”. Our latest poll data from Panelbase, surveying 2000 Scottish voters last week, reveals that just a quarter of Scots think that such an offence merits imprisonment.
Readers may find the figures for male and female respondents of note. The full data tables can be downloaded here.
So, in accordance with the wishes of the readership (and despite rather peculiar claims on some sites that all polls in Scotland are now commissioned by Unionists), Wings has its first polling data for you in its present form, relayed without comment.
In association with Panelbase, this month we surveyed 2000 Scottish voters (double the normal sample size) on a couple of subjects. The first question was this:
“Barring unforeseen events, next year Nicola Sturgeon will overtake Alex Salmond as Scotland’s longest-serving First Minister. She took office in November 2014, in a Scotland which was evenly split on the constitution. (Average support for independence in polling was at 50%, compared to the current 48%.)
Which of the following, if any, do you personally regard as her greatest achievement in office?”
Right, as promised, one last piece of admin. (This post will be removed in due time.)
We left yesterday’s piece and the associated poll up for two full days to make sure the people who don’t read Wings at weekends saw it and had the chance to vote in it too. But in truth it was pretty obvious how the vote would go from about 20 minutes in.
When the Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts died last month, the first of their songs that popped into my head, for no particular reason, was “Under My Thumb”, a mildly controversial 1966 album track the band never released as a single in the West.
Its most infamous place in history, though, is this.
Until Watts’ death I was only very broadly aware of the events at Altamont Speedway in 1969, a free festival at a racetrack near San Francisco at which four people died in scenes of malevolent chaos and which is widely regarded as the grim headstone of the hippy era.
But on seeing the extraordinary footage above for the first time on the day of Watts’ death – taken from “Gimme Shelter”, notionally the official movie of the show, although the first two-thirds of it are actually a mundane travelogue of the preceding tour dates – I did some proper reading up on it.
And as I did, a horribly familiar feeling started to unfold.
For many years now, whenever I’ve done one of those “Which Political Party Should You Be In?” online quiz things, it always says that I’m a Green, which is weird because I really hate cyclists. Nevertheless, it was still the result when I did one most recently, just last month.
So I decided that for the first time in my life it was finally time to join a political party.
Nae Need! on Off-topic: “Hello Off TOPICers, I didn’t know this place existed until today. Have any of you watched Pluribus? None of the…” Jan 11, 15:16
Northcode on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “A hiv makkit this short Sunday sermon… First: Ither fowks cultures are mild cuiriosities tae me tho a widnae dream…” Jan 11, 15:01
sam on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “See this? The genetic landscape of Scotland and the Isles https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1904761116” Jan 11, 14:33
Tinto Chiel on Off-topic: “Thought I’d cheer us all up with this uplifting song (before Trump does something really stupid): www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIoBrob3bjI” Jan 11, 14:22
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “TURABDIN. And my sincere apologies to you for the rather exasperated tone of my initial comment. (Though you will perhaps…” Jan 11, 14:20
Nae Need! on Failure To Learn: “That was one of my first thoughts too. My second thought being about the word ‘failure’. Failure presumes an attempt…” Jan 11, 13:45
Nae Need! on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Having had the time this morning to follow this discussion, I too am in agreement with Aidan and Hatey. Wonders…” Jan 11, 13:39
TURABDIN on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “@ FEARGHAS MAC FHIONNLAIGH, @ ALF BAIRD, @ ANDY ELLIS. COMING FROM AN ANCIENT CULTURE whose language, various iterations of…” Jan 11, 12:40
Andy Ellis on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “@Alf As it happens, this is the only applied theoretical framework explaining Scotland’s colonial condition and urgent need for decolonization:……” Jan 11, 11:59
James Cheyne on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “I agree that a lot of history is bunk, most is just tail spun yarns. The treaty of York 1237…” Jan 11, 11:08
James Cheyne on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Indeed Henry 111 father Earl of Cambridge, according to DNA does not appear to be his father at all, Ceciley…” Jan 11, 10:47
Hatey McHateface on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “@Andy Ellis There was more in my original post but it went to moderation. I was writing about the pictures…” Jan 11, 10:34
Alf Baird on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: ““develop his own coherent theories rooted in our own, unique, Scottish circumstances” As it happens, this is the only applied…” Jan 11, 10:31
Bilbo on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: ““Young women” may well speak for themselves but what they speak about is another thing. The actions of that nutter…” Jan 11, 10:23
Andy Ellis on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “I suspect it won’t be over until we see some strange fruit in turbans swinging from the lamp posts of…” Jan 11, 10:08
Hatey McHateface on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: ““Whatever would Fantoosh, Mammy and Ceasar make” Who cares. It’s all part of his depressingly cringy acceptance of mediocrity that…” Jan 11, 09:58
Hatey McHateface on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “It’s over. We won. With the exception of one dead body, President Trump got all the hostages home.” Jan 11, 09:48
Andy Ellis on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “@Hatey 9.17am Write up a bigly petition offering The Donald the croun, and beseeching him tae accept it. Use the…” Jan 11, 09:46
Andy Ellis on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “So what you’re saying Alf is that the speakers of Scots colonised the (largely) Brythonic speaking lands that now comprise…” Jan 11, 09:35
Hatey McHateface on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “History is bunk. Henry did a lot more for me and for the world than you’ll ever do, so he…” Jan 11, 09:22
Hatey McHateface on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Cooking wi gas noo, Northy! Write up a bigly petition offering The Donald the croun, and beseeching him tae accept…” Jan 11, 09:17
diabloandco on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Completely OT but is the ‘war’ in the middle east ‘over’ or just forgotten about ? I hear nothing on…” Jan 11, 09:10
James Cheyne on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Most people that write Scotlands history come from outwith the Country of Scotland of Scotland itself. To delete a nation…” Jan 11, 09:02
Northcode on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “I doubt Donald would settle for being king of a mere territory. There can’t be the slightest doubt that President…” Jan 10, 22:11
william G Walker on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Alf Baird writes a lot of sense, though tongue-in-cheek! Or is it? Better a peripheral “territory” of the USA than…” Jan 10, 21:14
Alf Baird on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “Aye Northcode, that’s the dilemma with a national tradition whereby oor leeberator aye gets tae be crouned Keeng! The Scottish…” Jan 10, 20:37
Northcode on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: ““Scotland a poodle rather than another poodles bitch” It’s a step up from where we are now for sure… the…” Jan 10, 19:44
Alf Baird on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: ““A very unhelpful comment, TURABDIN” I think what you mean, Fearghas, is that such a view is ‘unhelpful’ to the…” Jan 10, 19:35
Northcode on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: ““…an argument that presents negative consequences is not inherently fallacious…” There goes “Dances Without Facts” dancing without facts again. All…” Jan 10, 19:30
Alf Baird on Grandpa John’s Nightmare: “As a son of Scotland there is no doubt Scotland is on President Trump’s radar. What does he have in…” Jan 10, 19:00
