Although we’re retired we already wrote this, so we may as well put it up for the 99.9% of Scots who don’t read the comments on David Leask‘s columns in the Herald.
It’s a claim he’s been banging on about since at least 2014, without ever providing a scrap of evidence to support it (his standard modus operandi), and yesterday was no exception. So let’s show Little Dave how proper big-boy journalists do it.
The First Minister released a short film this week.
While it has the character of a hostage video, with terrorists just off-camera pointing a gun at the unfortunate victim and forcing them to read out a pre-prepared text, sadly we doubt that was the case. We think this is really what she believes and intends.
Even just the tweet above by the author of the Times piece fails all kinds of basic journalistic standards of impartiality, but the article itself is vastly worse.
Any time you’re not sure whether something that happens in Scottish politics is good or bad for the cause of independence, here’s a top tip for you: see how the enemies of independence feel about it.
“Running scared” would seem to be a fair, if understated, summary.
In an attempt to freshen up its usual panel of tired and tiresome politicians and pundits, last night’s Question Time (ostensibly from an oddly-vague location in “the North East”) featured moderately-known circus fortune-teller Gypsy Rose Petulengro, crossing her palm with silver for some analysis in a short break from one of her celebrated seances.
The clip above was her take on whether Nicola Sturgeon would resign if either of the current inquiries found that she’d systematically and repeatedly lied to Parliament and broken the Ministerial Code, and the strange thing about it was that for someone who was professing to be looking into the future, she didn’t even appear to know the basic pertinent facts of the present or the past.
Alert readers will know by now that there’s nothing the Scottish media – and the Scottish Daily Mail in particular – likes more than printing scary-sounding figures with no context whatsoever by which people could judge how big or small they really are.
Nothing’s changed today (other than a rather sneaky inset shot of an old story about a different statistic which misleadingly makes today’s one look like a big increase), so rather than bang on we’ll just fill in the blanks: ScotRail runs around 760,000 trains a year, so this year’s cancellation figures amount to about 3.5% of all trains.
Which is to say, around one time in every 30 that you go to get a train it’ll have been cancelled and you’ll have to wait for the next one, which on the average commuter line will probably mean 15-20 minutes.
Which is still a pain in the hole, of course, but if it’s such a high number ask yourself why the Mail is so pathologically averse to simply telling you what percentage it is.
We’ll see you again with these figures in a few weeks, folks.
Wings Over Scotland isn’t the only website dedicated to scrutinising the truthfulness of things claimed by politicians and media pundits. There’s the widely-respected and diligent FullFact.org, there’s Scotland’s own The Ferret, and there’s the BBC’s Reality Check (which frequently takes the more unconventional approach of, er, not making a finding either way about what the reality of things is).
And then there’s Channel 4’s FactCheck, which we’re going to generously assume had a liquid lunch yesterday and was a little under the weather.
Because not only is the conclusion that it reached on the subject of an independent Scotland having to use the Euro utter nonsense that’s been debunked roughly 1000 times in the last six years, it doesn’t even agree with itself.
Michael Glackin of the Sunday Times is the only serious contender to the Scotsman’s demented Brian Wilson as the most poisonously, blindly instinctive hater of anything even passingly connected to the SNP or independence in the Scottish media. His weekly bilious rants in the paper make even Scottish Daily Express hacks wince and say “Blimey, that’s a bit strong”.
But even by those standards, this week’s column is quite something. So let’s take a little look at just how much of an idiot you can make of yourself if you never allow facts to get in the way of your rage.
Muscleguy on Keeping the fire burning: “I can’t subscribe on twitter since you have blocked me.” Dec 13, 18:11
Geri on The Wage Thief: “More propaganda shit. I’ll tell you what boggles my mind. Fuckwits cheering on the most corrupt neo nhazi regime in…” Dec 13, 18:04
gregor on The Wage Thief: “You’re too kind (blushing)… Greatness: “The quality or state of being important, notable, or distinguished.”: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/greatness Wonderful: “Excellent; great; marvelous.”…” Dec 13, 17:57
gregor on The Wage Thief: “Stop hiding and step into the public ring you spineless sissies, otherwise we’ll continue holding the Forever-Champions Cup – And…” Dec 13, 17:32
gregor on The Wage Thief: “Nope – I’m serious, Hatey – Should you persist being a dickhead – I’ll strip you stark naked (without touching…” Dec 13, 17:08
gregor on The Wage Thief: “Sizzla: Overstanding: Solid As A Rock: “Oh ah oh ah yay! Oooh oooh oooh oooh oooh, yeah ay yeah ay!…” Dec 13, 16:38
Shauny Boy on Keeping the fire burning: “I too am quite la-de-dah now amd appreciate the shoutout for co-op sea salt and chardonnay crisps, they’re the business” Dec 13, 16:37
Hatey McHateface on The Wage Thief: ““MODERN IRREGULAR WARFARE” Wait! Wait! I know this one. I’ve seem them advertising on TV. You’re talking about LoveHoney, aren’t…” Dec 13, 16:28
Hatey McHateface on The Wage Thief: “And then there’s another ethnic habit getting an airing right now, while so-called “progressive” politicians wish fervently it would go…” Dec 13, 16:23
gregor on The Wage Thief: “Would you like me to continue ripping your integrity to pieces, Hatey Not a team-player ?” Dec 13, 16:15
gregor on The Wage Thief: “Interesting link, Mac” Dec 13, 16:09
gregor on The Wage Thief: “Only 2 anti-human Deep-State Butt-Plugs disagree ? If they had the courage (balls) to face me – I’ll utterly destroy…” Dec 13, 16:08
Hatey McHateface on The Wage Thief: ““Hohahahaha” At last! A post from you we can all understand 🙂 It’s somebody laughing, right? Great work, gregor, that…” Dec 13, 16:06
znovak on The Wage Thief: “Geri, I rest my case. You have just proven me right beyond all reasonable doubt. In the alternate reality you…” Dec 13, 16:05
Hatey McHateface on The Wage Thief: ““tightly circumscrisbed” Ouch, Jay, that sounds excruciating! I hope ye hivnae been getting ideas fae the torture chambers o Assad…” Dec 13, 16:00
Hatey McHateface on The Wage Thief: “Careful, znovak, you’ll awaken the … Too late, somebody else did it and she’s now in full flow 🙂 “But…” Dec 13, 15:51
gregor on The Wage Thief: “I tried my best and explicitly told them ALL to repent (but the reckless and stupid, insubordinate NWO clowns, didn’t…” Dec 13, 15:27
gregor on The Wage Thief: “We know better, Geri – And we’re gonna prove it (promise)… #HumanityRules” Dec 13, 15:08
sarah on Keeping the fire burning: “Hi, Oscar, look at the Donate button at the top of this site – lots of options there for sending…” Dec 13, 14:36
znovak on The Wage Thief: “It is mind-boggling, isn’t it? Why do attempts of an imperialist superpower to subjugate and re-colonize a neighbouring country receive…” Dec 13, 13:45
Oscar Taime on Keeping the fire burning: “Hi, happy to sub on Twitter. See my PayPal is going through Ko-Fi which I’ll happily cancel due to their…” Dec 13, 12:57
Geri on The Wage Thief: “He’s alright now tho. He’s had a shit & a shave & mended his wicked ways. All is forgiven. No…” Dec 13, 12:23
Robert Hughes on The Wage Thief: “Contempt for the Public is the common currency amongst the Political Class now , Mia . They take us for…” Dec 13, 11:09
Geri on The Wage Thief: “Never a response to the actual post. Just yer usual dribbling instead & stalking certain posters like RoS & desperately…” Dec 13, 11:04
Mac on The Wage Thief: “Galloway is scathing here, Sadly I agree with everything he says. www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPDW8crwCRA&ab_channel=GeorgeGalloway Something very strange happened (or rather didn’t happen)…” Dec 13, 09:28
Mia on The Wage Thief: “““Scotland’s former chief medical officer Dr Catherine Calderwood has been excused indefinitely from giving evidence at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry” Oh dear.…” Dec 13, 09:27
Robert Pollock on Keeping the fire burning: “I’d buy you a pint any day. Keep up the greatest work.” Dec 13, 09:24