The End Of The Enlightenment
Slacky The Holiday Boy is off for the next THREE weeks, gallivanting around the globe on the clearly excessive wages we’re paying him. We hope he does actually come back, because his home city is becoming a poisonously hostile place for the creative.
Around 300 years ago, Edinburgh was the birthplace and residence of the Scottish Enlightenment, a remarkable period of intellectual and scientific accomplishment built around “the importance of human reason combined with a rejection of any authority that could not be justified by reason”, and which led to the city being famously dubbed “the Athens of the North”.
But those days are past now.
It’s been pretty hard to miss the story of Graham Linehan (and several others) having their comedy show cancelled this week by a “woke” arts venue in Leith, or that of a major playwright and theatre director being pilloried and offering a grovelling apology for having dared to like a couple of tweets defending women’s rights.
Another venue was scared out of hosting the sold-out show, which eventually took place in the open air on the steps of the Scottish Parliament building. We were mildly surprised that Police Scotland didn’t show up mob-handed to arrest everyone for misgendering, malicious stickering or deploying harmful ribbons or knitwear.
Equally public was the earlier attempt by comedy club The Stand to cancel a speaking event during the Festival by SNP MP Joanna Cherry, a decision only reversed when roughly every lawyer in the country pointed out that it would have been blatantly illegal discrimination exposing the club to a calamitous lawsuit.
An extra twist was provided by the fact that The Stand is owned by another SNP MP, Tommy Sheppard, who very conspicuously failed to offer his Westminster colleague any support throughout the events surrounding the show.
(Having been eventually forced to honour the booking, under unprecedented levels of security to protect Cherry and the audience from violent trans activists, the club’s staff responded with a series of pathetic and petulant attempts at sabotage on the night.)
They were only the latest in a series of incidents typified by the extraordinary repeated failure of the city’s university – one of the main centres of Enlightenment thinking – to carry out the simple act of showing a film called “Adult Human Female”.
Following the lead and tone set for several years by the Scottish Government, the country’s capital is regressing at pace to its old days of censorious, puritanical (and savagely vindictive) piety. Yet all the while the Fringe website makes a huge deal of boasting about how the festival is a monument to uncensored, unquenchable creative freedom – indeed, “the greatest platform for creative freedom in the world”.
It specifically claims to be a refuge for “the uninvited”, and to let audiences make up their own minds. (Linehan’s show was already sold out.)
But wait. Especially alert readers will have noticed that those claims explicitly ran out in 2022, to be replaced with “updated plans”.
So we took a look at the new mission statement.
Attentive viewers may already be hearing the sound of alarm bells.
Because the Fringe’s “themes and headline targets” no longer include a single mention of creative freedom. Instead it’s all about “climate action” and “inclusion” and “good citizenship” and the imperative to “look out for each other”, which many will recognise as a version of the “be kind” slogan espoused by trans activists as they spew rape and death threats at anyone who doesn’t believe lesbians should be forced to have sex with men.
Of course, the Fringe’s commitment to “creative freedom” was a lie in 2022 as well, as legendary Scottish comic Jerry Sadowitz would confirm.
Sadowitz was cancelled by the Pleasance last year because transactivist staff at the venue claimed to have felt “unsafe”, even though the comedian has been performing at the Fringe and other comedy festivals for 40 years without a single person ever having come to any harm at one of his shows. (Other than himself.)
(The venue’s claim about “a large number of people” walking out was refuted by witnesses. The show, called “Not For Anyone”, was accompanied by a string of warnings about its content for anybody who’d somehow managed to not become aware of the nature of Sadowitz’s act during the preceding four decades.)
But the fact that the festival is now openly abandoning even the pretence of supporting creative freedom is revealing. Its bizarre document about its “new vision and set of values” claims to aim to “give anyone a stage”, while also demanding that they all “pull in the same direction for the next 75 years”.
It may be noted that the Fringe is using “inclusion” in its modern sense, meaning “exclusion of anyone not adhering to a narrow set of acceptable viewpoints and opinions”. Nobody is to experience discrimination – except, of course, for the legally-protected belief that women are women.
You can harass, abuse and discriminate against that one all you like, and the Fringe will do and say nothing to protect or defend you. Nobody from the Fringe said to Leith Arches “Look, if you’re not going to uphold our principles – or indeed the law of the land – then you can’t be part of our festival.”
Graham Linehan’s show, it should be remembered, was cancelled without anyone having the first idea what was in it, solely because of opinions Linehan holds in his offstage life (and which are shared by the vast majority of the population).
It was expressly the person, not the material, the venue took offence at. Remember just a few paragraphs ago, when “Who you are is not a barrier to performing at the Edinburgh Fringe”? Yeah, well, not YOU, Linehan.
The problem was who he was, not what he was going to say.
“The importance of human reason” that underpinned the Scottish Enlightenment is firmly in the bin now, replaced by genderwoo and “safe spaces” where people have the right to silence any view that makes them uncomfortable.
The “uncensored, unfiltered” Fringe had no stage for his bravery, no champion for his “creative freedom” or right to express himself in his own way.
We’re sorry this article isn’t a funny cartoon. But these are unfunny times. Our country once prided itself on irreverent comedy, but is now a toothless, feeble monoculture. In times of spectacular political upheaval, it has almost no political satire because its comedy establishment is so closely intertwined with its political rulers. It’s quite hard to get an audience for biting anti-government comedy when the country’s main comedy clubs are owned by an MP from the governing party.
(Please do support one of our few surviving practitioners if you can, btw.)
What was once the Athens of the North is fast becoming the Tehran of the West, and Scotland, once so proudly enlightened, is entering an intolerant new age of darkness.
‘Mission statements’ are always balderdash with the insipid twee goals that used to be parroted by the contestants on Miss World competitions. This ‘vision’ nonsense is as attainable as a pretty 19 y old in a bikini wanting to be happy while working for world peace and deserves to be as relentlessly mocked by comedians as Miss World completions once were. If there are any left who haven’t been terrified into silence.
Oh I don’t know if it’s all doom and gloom.
Those pics at the end of the article made me laugh.
Funny peculiar, not funny haha, to be clear.
Maybes subtly dropping Father Ted quotes into conversations will be the new Scottish dissident way of establishing contacts with opponents of the oppressive regime.
Ah, c’mon now Ted, you can’t mean that.
Very depressing piece but essential reading. Glad to see Shauny’s target has been exceeded already. Thanks for pointing the way to his coffee request yesterday.
The fringe is for middle class hooray Henry’s. Ticket sales plummeting I wonder why.
I fear this pensioner owes an unconditional apology to the speaker I heard at a public meeting back in the 1980s stating that he had lived to see practises which were once condemned, now being condoned with the cessation of legal persecution of homosexuality.
My apology is due as he then went on to say that many of us in the audience would live to see these practises would one day be compulsory.
Oh, how we laughed at this irrational loon. Surely the recognition of the range of human sexuality would just result in a more open and libertarian society.
Now I find that belief in biological men and women makes me guilty of “Hate Crime” in the brave new world of Scotland 2023.
To paraphrase the late Bob Monkhouse, “I’m not laughing now.”
Sodom of the North
John Main @ 12.17
Now, there’s a “mither tongue” with which I’d be comfortable.
I’ll see your, “Ah, c’mon now Tes” and raise you a pair of, “Fecks”.
These “targets designed to ensure the long-term renewal of the festival” (Fringe Development Goals) –
Had to read that twice. Surely not a veiled suggestion that renewal of the festival is under threat.
Going by the (lack of) grammar, is Leith Arches run by ten year-olds?
“the city’s university – one of the main centres of Enlightenment thinking”
True but let’s not forget that David Hume was blocked from a university position at Edinburgh because of his views on religion.
If you want radical change, like independence, stop thinking you’ll get it through established institutions that are inherently invested in the status quo.
On a positive note, if these throbbers fulfil their plans then we’ll know where they all are in August and can easily avoid them.
Fewer of them around to bother other performers and audiences elsewhere who don’t want to endure weeks of excruciatingly unfunny queer shite.
Kindness Nazis will never be happy until they’re allowed to purify the non-believers with flames.
Several years ago, I was trying to raise interest in a plaque or statue on Leith Walk to commemorate the burning of Thomas Aikenhead and others killed by ideologues, and I was told by a councilor that he couldn’t support it as religious people would find it offensive.
With self-serving fearties like that, it’s easy to see how such a stupid ideology like trans has corrupted our society.
François-Marie Arouet thought Scotland was an example of what all civilisations should aspire to.
François-Marie Arouet, or Voltaire as he was more commonly known, was one of the great figures of the Enlightenment.
Born in Paris in 1694 he was a historian, a philosopher, and an advocate of freedom of religion and freedom of speech.
It’s Voltaire who gave us one of the most inspiring quotes to describe Scotland in the age of Enlightenment:
The quote also appears in Arthur Herman’s popular history The Scottish Enlightenment: the Scots’ Invention of the Modern World.
Sadly, as the Rev. Campbell has just pointed out, the light of enlightenment has been extinguished in Scotland. I wonder what might be the first step in re-igniting it; dissolution of the ‘union’ and an independent Scotland seems a good way to begin – maybe the only way.
Karen 12.35pm
Good question. Maybe with an arm twisted up their backs.
The only response is: Down with this sort of thing and Careful now.
Their targets are designed to ensure longterm funding from the Scottish Govt, and we all know that has nothing to do with creative freedom or free speech.
I’ve been living in Edinburgh for more than 30 years, and there has been more censorship in the past two years than I’ve seen in all that time.
Not quite the weekly fix of Chris but that’s a good piece Stuart
I detest gender ideology, identity politics and woke fascism more with every passing day. The fact that so many people adhere to this wicked, divisive bullshit makes me understand how it is that so many peoples and nations are possessed by religious fanaticism. It’s the same thing: belief in something which has no factual basis and is patently absurd, and demanding total conformity and compliance from the whole of society, or else…
I am SO ANGRY!!!
It’s as if we are living in North Korea and you can’t whisper a word about your own reasoned thoughts or dream of having a truthful discussion.
I’ve got nothing against Trans people.
Get on with it but get it out of my face and never ever do I accept a penis going into women and girls areas with a story about it identifying as a vagina.
Their vicious bullying tactics are turning people against them.
If these oppressive thugs are to continue over ruling truth, biology, science and democracy will we see paedophiles take this same course of action and succeed.
Why don’t we have a vote or poll with one vote each to see if we want to ban free thought stop comedy, writing, debate outside of their rules.
It’s not on for me and what was sympathy for some has turned into hate for the unreasonable
thug element claiming to represent them all.
Organisations need to admit they can see the Emperor’s bare arse and right through them.
@ Sven at 12.21
The trans/genderwoo nonsense has nothing to do with homosexuality. Sexuality is about other people, specifically which other people you are attracted to, and the options are opposite sex, same sex, or both. Opposite sex is “the norm”, but all three are perfectly “normal”. There’s no compulsion, and the legalisation of homosexual activity was long overdue.
Trans is an “identity”, ie about oneself, not other people, and exists (for those who believe in it; I don’t) in addition to a sexuality. It’s the forced teaming of the two very different things that has caused so much trouble.
Graham Linehan held an open-air event before the Scottish parliament, wholly in keeping with the Enlightenment values and the original Fringe values. We are living in a rapidly-evolving totalitarian state where Enlightenment principles are secondary to ‘tent poles’ in female loos and spaces.
Graham, in common with so many others, has suffered hugely in terms of his private life and his working life for having the temerity to believe in reality. Satire and comedy are the ways that those of us who have no power can bring our rulers to task and to laugh at them – which is why it cannot be censored, no matter how anyone, as an individual, might feel about content.
Every society and culture has its own No-Nos, and they are usually fenced round with laws because, without those laws, or if the No-Nos are allowed a free rein, the culture/society would disintegrate very quickly and everyone would suffer as a result.
Let us think about that. What if we removed all laws prohibiting the protection of women and children, what would happen? Well, it is fairly safe to say that women and children would very rapidly – overnight, actually – become the prey of determined human predators, and, with no laws to prohibit their behaviour, these predators would run amok.
Gay men and lesbians would also become prey, as would anyone currently protected by prohibitive laws: the disabled, those on benefits, someone with a big house and/or money that someone else coveted, someone who had annoyed someone else and could be murdered with impunity… The list is not exhaustive.
Well, folks, that scenario, in a nutshell, is what the Queer Theorists and the Post Modernists/Neo Modernists/Cultural Marxists want to bring into our society. They are the very antithesis of the Enlightenment. Think of Oliver Cromwell’s Puritans crossed with the Covenanters, then crossed again with the Maquis de Sade and the Inquisition, crossed yet again with Stalinism, Pol Pot-ism, Maoism and Jimmy Savile, and, even then, you would not be close to the sheer horrors that these youthful (almost always) monsters wish to unleash upon us in the name of righteousness. If you are not so scared that you are peeing and pooing your underwear, you should be.
These people are on a power trip. Nothing to do with “being kind”. Quite the opposite. Not being kind is their theme, regardless of how they dress it up as virtue. Many will be narcissists and psychopaths and sociopaths, and those that are not are even more dangerous because their brain cells have been turned into soup by their salivating adherence to the former, and they are quite unable to distinguish reality from fantasy. They have been indoctrinated to the point where they are unable and unwilling to even think: the hive mind. Except that bees, ants, etc., have a biological purpose for their form of being.
Humans have individual brains, and this indoctrination actually negates their biological purpose, which is to reproduce in freedom (with choice and discretion, even to enjoy life as a species freed from endless toil, with time to think and create for our shared humanity’s betterment) eschewing anything that does not chime with that primary purpose.
They might win the battle, but they cannot win the war. Nature will not allow it. Evolution will not allow it. The Enlightenment told us that. Every iota of learning that we, as humans have ever embraced, tells us that. Such a pity that these petty, infantile regressionists, unable to jump the ‘trans’-itional hurdle from childhood tantrum mode to adulthood do not understand the simple reality that cultural Marxism/Queer Theory/Post Modernism cannot ever work. Ever. In any human society.
(C&Ped from previous thread)
Very interesting replies to this tweet.
Someone last night (perhaps in the same thread) mentioned that a private prosecution of alphabetty perjurers could only be raised by Alex Salmond himself and that would require him ‘asking permission’ of the Lord Advocate.
They seem to have covered all the bases, don’t they?
Still, it’ll be interesting to see how this develops.
link to twitter.com
crazycat @ 13.19
Completely agree, CC. My lesbian and gay friends are appalled at the manner in which some Trans & Furry groups are conflating their activities with longstanding LGB groups.
The famous «Edinburgh Cringe».
Hume’s grave, on Calton’s afternoon dark slope in winter, has a symbolic prison cage around it.
Scroggie’s grave, not far away, and very close by Adam Smith’s one, which is in the Canongate, which is clearly visible to students of economics, has been obliterated by econonomic interests. Symbols, all.
Dickens was dyslexic. Forgive him please; and please have a nice Crimbo when what goes around comes around.
Remember Churchill’s cigar at the fringe. 2006 (Labour Council)
I did wonder where this could end.
Yuri Besmenov knew.
Are the shirt-lifters and liftees, and bottie burglars in general, all in on this shit-shoving project called LTGBTQplusMinus?
Must not call them what they are.
Mustn’t tell them to shove their stuff up their arse. ‘Cos they might like it.
That would be called hate speech.
Whenever you see the Turdtown flag you know it’s going to be shite.
@ Sven at 1.31
Yup, mine too. I hope when enough “allies” start to realize their own hard-fought-for rights are under threat, we might reach a tipping point. But there’s a lot of money behind the woo.
Complete ideological capture of the Arts in Scotland, from the funding bodies to front of house staff. From my own personal experience the more entrenched they are the less likely that they even have to apply to Creative Scotland for funding, it is granted automatically each year.
It is creeping authoritarian communism and history has shown that the only response these people respect is one of mass force from the majority populations, possibly why they are looking to ensure that the populations will no longer be a majority in their own lands.
We’re banning you because this is an inclusive venue.
Shouldn’t this be satire..?
@ Ian Brotherhood at 1.26 re getting the truth of Alex Salmond’s perjured prosecution known.
I wonder if there could be a public event where the allegations and the defence evidence could be read out? Perhaps even the defence witnesses could be the ones to read out their evidence? [The people who made the allegations need not be named, of course.] The Fringe might be a good opportunity…
It is the fact that the vast majority of Scots never heard the defence evidence that has caused Mr Salmond to be seen as untouchable – despite the jury’s decision.
Another option might be a libel/slander case against Sturgeon, Maree Todd and any others who said that Mr Salmond is “not a fit and proper person to be in politics”. Maree Todd’s quote was printed in the Northern Times or some such. Let them feel some heat for a change.
I know nothing and understand less. I cannot get my head round the impossible. Is it the case that all Fringe theatre premises are now staffed only by transactivists, whoever and whatever they are? That these transactivists now decide the content of programmes offered?
That the general public, i.e. myself, have no clue to any of this as the offensive material is not published by the Free Press, staffed though it is by heroic and outspoken journalists in daily and national media?
I do not know what Graham Linehan’s views are. I have never heard of him prior to this debacle. His personal views do not matter to me. I’d only care if I’d paid to see and hear him and it wasn’t funny.
When the BBC reports this stuff they take care to not report it verbatim.
(Strangely, no one ever seems to have reported the extent to which acts at the Fringe seem to be poorly treated by venues and ticketers. Acts may receive, I think, less than one third of the ticket income. This can result in a substantial loss. HeyHo.)
The brit nat infiltrated SNP has done its job of wrecking a once proud and honorable party into a sick joke and dividing the independence movement.
The british secret service have been hard at work for years manipulating, threatening and bribing the top of the SNP. this was their safety net should Scotland get too close to independence.
SNP members were asleep at the wheel since 2014!
Another one of the gravy train careerists to watch is Owen Thompson MP for Midlothian.
a bit of digging into his expenses and activities as a politician could be revealing.
A great article Stu. I will simply add I read what was offer at the Edinburgh Festival this year we didn’t go, we couldn’t find anything we wanted to see. Unsurprisingly our friends didn’t go either
Go Woke go Broke. Lost on the Edinburgh Festival hierarchy. Of course if any WoS reader recommends a show we will reconsider.
Alan @ 12:36 pm
“let’s not forget that David Hume was blocked from a university position at Edinburgh because of his views on religion”
From experience, support for independence represents another fairly certain career blockage by the unionist leadership of Scotland’s academic institutions.
And clearly not much prospect of another ‘Scottish Enlightenment’ as Scots now account for barely 10% of academics employed at our ‘elite’ universities, and falling, with probably even less Scots doing PhD study. ‘Follow the money’ is the Scottish university ‘business’ ethos and that means ever more higher fee international students, and less Scots. Another price of colonialism being an under-developed people lacking in opportunity in thair ain laund.
As for festival ‘values’, we might remember that in a colonial society it is ‘only the colonizer’s values that are sovereign’; and high among these values is ‘the crushing of the colonized’, including native culture and language.
Which returns us to the reality that, while we may be the host ‘nation’, the Edinburgh Festival was seldom for, never mind about Scots, far less our ‘moribund’ culture.
Michael Laing, me too – splutteringly angry.
Ian B, I think quite a few folk on here would willingly contribute in the hope that redress was made and that certain folk would find themselves on the wrong side of the law.
May the Edinburgh festival find its attitude costs them BIG money and the lack of big performers.
All this wokery pokery aside, how inclusive can a festival possibly be when accomodation is so expensive that only the comfortably wealthy can afford to stay in Edinburgh for the duration of it?
The main reason the fringe is becoming sterile is the lack of real everyday down to earth people who can participate. Comedy only works for me when it is relatable and says something about my life and some rich kid from London telling a few safe jokes says nothing to me about my life. Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ,Hang the DJ.
Why is it that, no matter who you vote for, weird perverts and foreigners have more rights in Scotland than you do?
Antoine Bisset: they will kill the Fringe first, then the Festival itself. At least, in Scotland. London will end up hosting it, probably. Graham Linehan has been cancelled endlessly and his career all but destroyed by these totalitarians. The strain on his marriage led to its ending. Many others have faced the same treatment for refusing to deny reality and biology.
In answer to your questions about venues being staffed by ‘transactivists’, yes, most are these days because most have young staff, and it is the young, in the main, who embrace this ordure. Some older people who support this horse manure, also display immature characteristics, plain fear or gross stupidity. Science tells us that the synapses do not connect fully until the age of around 25, but, perhaps, some people’s never fully connect.
The agenda is plain to see and the outcome even plainer. Once this is over – and it will fall, as all tyrannies fall eventually – those who enabled and perpetuated this madness should be remembered. Just as individual Germans and Russians who denounced their friends and relatives, and those who destroyed lives, were forced to face up, as far as possible, to what they did, so should these monsters and their bovine herd be given no resting place to escape the reality of what they imposed on others.
Individual German citizens were dragged to the camps to smell the smell, see the bodies, witness the carnage and the cruelty. We will have, walking among us, the human results of the ‘trans’ lobby’s hideous experiments on children, the trauma they have forced females to undergo, the terror they have instilled in gay and lesbian people, and we should never let them forget.
The thing is, AB, too many politicians and others in positions of power and authority over others have gone along with this stuff, as the BBC went along with Savile’s behaviour. You have to ask: where does trying to be fair and decent to a minority overlap into an acquiescence that itself smacks of collusion, and when does a sense of collusion leach into proclivities hidden from the public?
Down with this sort of thing.
@Lorna Campbell 3:35pm
Follow the money Lorna. Last year we went to see Shakespeare, Hamlet to ballet starring Ian McKellen. We loved it. Taxi tickets and the Scallie n Scran. A treat for my daughter. No change out of 250 pounds. We spent nothing this year. Neither have our friends. So it’s Taxi’s and restaurants that will suffer as well. Of course that won’t be reported. I was particularly disappointed in the STV coverage. We are not supporting this Woke rubbish.
Lorna Campbell @ 3.35pm:
“Once this is over – and it will fall, as all tyrannies fall eventually…”
I really hope you’re right. However, the SG’s push to embed the TQ+ agenda in law is frightening. In addition to the proposed new Human Rights Bill:
link to consult.gov.scot
there’s now this one too:
link to consult.gov.scot
It notes that: “Along with literacy and numeracy, health and wellbeing is one of the three core areas that are the responsibility of all staff in the school.”
They’re trying every angle to swamp us with it.
As for the Festival, the inside front cover of the Fringe programme has a full page advert from Edinburgh Gin for ‘A very special limited edition gin – Created in collaboration with the wonderous (sic) Eddie Izzard.’ The contrast between that and the dreadful treatment of Graham Linehan is just appalling.
Don’t be fooled by Cherry and her LGB mates, she is nothing if not “street wise” and certainly knows when the wind changes.
Her bid to lead the Independence movement may succeed, but in a short space of time it will be back to social “reconstruction”, which most Scots abhor, but by then of course it will be too late.
The bills will be passed under the cover of Scottish Sovereignty and a dim electorate will be more cowed and stupefied than ever.
We need to elect a social conservative in the mould of Jim Sillars, my favourite Nationalist.
Red @ 3:15 pm
“Why is it that, no matter who you vote for, weird perverts and foreigners have more rights in Scotland than you do?”
Many colonized peoples probably asked the same question.
‘This is an inclusive space-you have to leave’!
‘Marginalised group’- Mi Erse. The plethora of this sort of nonsense-and we in Wales are learning at the feet of the masters-has driven me from a ‘couldn’t care less if it’s consensual’ view to a Father Jack-like hostility to this endless irrational and violent tripe.
Is it just me, or does the Fringe logo look like a ‘No Entry’ sign?
They’ll be no entry from me, Edinburgh is one of the only 2 places in the UK that I’ve been seriously abused for being Scottish.
Hate the fuckin place….
The fringe runs for a few weeks a year, for the rest of the time it’s up to people who believe in freedom of speech (and biology) to stay the fuck away from these venues, get bitter and twisted folks time to be voting with your feet. Bankrupt these fucking venues.
“Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg” – this, together with the lack of investment in the A9, lack of ferries, tourist tax and all the rest of it, is what the SNP/Greens have done. A much diminished interest in the Edinburgh Fringe this year. It is not relaxed any more and it has all become overtly political.
Just to let Wingers know Brian Doonthetoon has had a operation to remove a tumour in his left lung at Aberdeen Infirmary , he should be out by next week .
Get well soon Brian .
George Ferguson , I watched STV news with increasing disgust at the promotion of ‘queer’ acts – with that smug ‘ be kind’ instruction.
@ronnie anderson –
Thanks for letting us know about BDTT. He never cracked a light.
Haste ye back mister!
😉
Thanks for the heads-up, Ronnie. All the very best, Brian. Hope your op was a success and wishing you a very speedy recovery.
@Dorothy Devine 4:21pm
Exactly. It will hit Edinburgh in the pocket. STV haven’t got the teat of a licence fee. They are dependent on advertising revenue. Go Woke Go broke.
Its utterly disgraceful that folk couldn’t get in to watch the documentary Adult Human Female without being harassed and threatened. I also used to have a bit of respect for Tommy Sheppard when it looked like he actually gave a f*ck about Scottish independence but that was many, many moon’s ago.
Now Sheppard is a self-serving gravy bus careerist and he needs removing from Westminster at the next GE, along with Wishart and a good few others from the SNP MPs group, who don’t give a toss about independence or Scotland for that matter.
Edinburgh is f*cked by utter wokeness, Glasgow’s a manky shitehole, its all going swimmingly for the SNP, as they destroy not just their party’s credibility and reputation but do untold damage to the indy movement as well.
Get the SNP out and Alba in, at least they’ll stand up for our women folk.
“We are an inclusive venue and will not allow such views” – Leith Arches.
Where to begin?
Anyway, I had tix for Sadowitz on the Saturday last year when he was cancelled by folk saying they weren’t cancelling him. I have tix again this year so fingers crossed. The irony is he isn’t the offensive one. He’s ripping the pish out of the fake, the hypocrites & the liars. They are the offensive ones, the Sir Jimmy Saviles & suchlike, he’s largely just pointing it out. I cannot wait.
For people who live in Edinburgh, the fringe, the ‘festival’, and all its hingers oan, is a pain in the bottom. What was once a cutting edge actual fringe of the ‘real’ festival, has become a vehicle for big money to fleece the gullbile, under the guise of ‘art’. It is baloney.
Now we see it is the woke fringe. A place where the snowflake generation (no clapping please, I’m feeling triggered, boo hoo) will dictate what the so-called artistic ‘freethinkers’ are allowed to think.
Edinburgh should get rid of this cursed shitshow, and the laughably shit ‘christmas market’ (which we are told by the Edinburgh clowncil will this year be spread all over Edinburgh (nae escape folks!), just to make the misery for working folk even more intense). The Tattoo should go too, since it has become a parody of itself, dressing anything it can in union jackery, and gettings soldiers (whose day job is to actually feckin shoot people) to twerk on the castle esplanade for American tourists).
Honestly, Edinburgh is a fantastic city and its needs NONE of the above junk. What an absolute joy it would be to get our city back again, free of all of this shite. And it really, really, really is SHITE!
Right lung Ronnie!
Larger than expected tumour removed and now recuperating in ARI until side-effects gone.
Thanks for good wishes peeps.
First its was the FM and head of the SNP Humza Yousaf who rejected Alex Salmond’s single independence candidate for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, now Yousaf’s deputy is doing the same.
Surely even the most die-hard SNP supporter must realise now that the SNP under the former FM Sturgeon the Judas and now Humza Yousaf is no longer a party for Scottish independence.
Almost half of Scotland’s people want Scottish independence yet there isn’t ONE single major indy party at Holyrood right now
Get the SNP out and get Alba in, surely at least half of Scots now realise that Alba is the only major indy party and that they should vote for Alba candidates at every turn.
“SCOTLAND’s deputy First Minister has rejected calls to field a single pro-independence candidate in Rutherglen and Hamilton West.
Former first minister and Alba Party leader Alex Salmond said his former party was heading for “electoral disaster” if the pro-independence vote is split.
In an open letter to First Minister Humza Yousaf on Friday, Salmond said the party was in “danger of handing the seat to Labour on a platter”.
But speaking to journalists on Saturday in Hamilton while she campaigned with candidate Katy Loudon, Shona Robison rejected the calls.”
You see Sarwar can say whatever he like here, to try and win soft indy supporter back to London Labour, simply because he has absolutely no power whatsoever, he’s a branch manager to be replaced when the head of the REAL Labour party in London decides its time for a new branch manager.
There is no political party in Scotland called Scottish Labour, its what the Electoral Commission called a (OIM) a Optional Image Mark of London Labour.
“SCOTTISH Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said Scots have “the right to wish a referendum at some point in the future”.
Speaking to the Herald, the Scottish Labour leader reiterated his opposition to independence, but said that “doesn’t mean you don’t have the right to support independence, or the right to wish a referendum at some point in the future”.
The comments come into disagreement with his party leader and boss, Keir Starmer, who in an interview in 2022, said Labour will continue to oppose a second independence referendum even if Supreme Court judges gave the green light to another vote.”
@rian Doonthetoon 4:48pm
Get well soon from a United supporter. Hoping for your full recovery.
@ Ronnie at 4.18
I also hope he returns to full power soon.
This is an appeal to Stuart MacKay who archived all of WOS’ articles.
Do you still have that link to them all, Stuart, as i’ve lost mine?
Or does anyone else reading this have it? If so will you post it on here so i can take a copy please?
Why not set up a ‘Festival Fringe, Fringe’? Surely, the disbelievers in ‘the bonus hole’ can do that? Or is there too much fear of the wokey Staasi?
Visit Scotland trying to defend their We love the Highland Clearance’s slogan.
One wonders if the Palestinian tourist board (if its not been bunker busted by the oppressive apartheid military occupying force known as Israel) would use or give free use of a similar slogan regarding Palestinians, or if the Chaggossian tourist board, or the Tasmanian one would also use or allowed to be used a similar one knowing the English completely removed or wiped out its entire population of the latter country, whilst removing the population from their homes forever of the former.
link to 12ft.io
BDTT Soz U tend to ramble on ah bitty .
Follow the advice given & contact McMillan Nurses Take Care .
Lorna Campbell says: “…an acquiescence that itself smacks of collusion, and when does a sense of collusion leach into proclivities hidden from the public?”
Yes. Made worse because the tail is wagging the dog. Power is in the hands of lunatics. We see examples quite often of bad things happening that are being covered up or excused. The nurse Bratby got away with murder because… …
Letby…not Bratby… short term memory is going…
In Brotherhood 1.26 .
Ian i consider myself pragmatic Alex Salmond is the person wronged & has had ample time to right that wrong I would contribute to any legal fund but only Alex can initiate any legal challenge .
Best to BDTT
Crazycat 5.10
I would hardly categorize Brian as a Duracell bunny loL Take Care .
Lorna Campbell @ 3.35pm
Agree in general with your comment but especially the ending.
‘You have to ask: where does trying to be fair and decent to a minority overlap into an acquiescence that itself smacks of collusion, and when does a sense of collusion leach into proclivities hidden from the public?’
I have been on a steep learning curve with this ideology which broke upon the consciousness of most of us as a fully-formed movement already implanted in all of our institutions before the rest of us common folk knew. It does not have the appearance of other social justice movements which were composed of grass-roots activists. This is like a bespoke ‘social’ movement which seems to have studied the psychology that drove past mass movements.
Initially it seems to be full of fanatical believers and those who would benefit from particular societal changes. So far, it has the appearance of a mass movement except there is no ‘mass’ involved, no engagement with ordinary people to persuade, no appeal to a majority who might sympathise with common aims or a critique of the establishment, unlike most movements. (Think of most revolutionary movements which sought the support of the ordinary people usually against an entrenched establishment.)
This movement started from the point of view that the majority population is wrong and has attacked the majority views of the public, not with a view to persuade but from a bullying perspective that has portrayed the majority as essentially wrong and has to be forcibly made to accept the transgender ideology. Thus far it is like a religion with a set of beliefs which must be adhered to and any other beliefs expunged. Some modern political movements behaved like religions of the past with a dogma that must be followed and heretical opinions that must be condemned. In this way it’s like a return to a medieval mentality which was rejected by the Enlightenment thinkers.
The other thing that makes them different from modern civil rights movements is that theybegan with establishment support with all the institutions of the country ready to contain and suppress any dissent from the ordinary population who are apparently in error. This looks like an imposed social revolution coming from powerful, though faceless, influencers in the establishment itself.
It’s as if this movement is being driven by those who have a confluence of interests in destabilising the very foundations of society and remoulding it. They also seem to have studied the playbook on how you do this from positions within that establishment.
I mean, what other civil rights movement had the military at its highest levels solemnly embracing its tenets? Usually these pillars of the establishment like the police, military and judiciary are the very centres of conservative thinking and usually lag well behind the public in embracing any new social change. Yet these institutions at their highest levels seem to have embraced fully the ideology of radical students while the rest of us are portrayed as being luddite reactionaries?
It doesn’t make sense if you look at it like that. The collusion of interests seems to have found a common goal but their motivations might still be obscure to us. In the fullness of time we might discover what it is but it already bodes nothing good for the rest of us. When people try to control your thinking with threats and menace and ending free speech you can guarantee that the motives are not benign. Ending free speech and freedom of opinion is the first sign of tyranny.
An attack on objective and material reality might have seemed an amusing first step for those who wish to remove the protections that had been won by the successors to the enlightenment. Promoting the beliefs of people who deny that reality is a complete departure from the values of the enlightenment. Unreason might be considered to be an ideal way to detach and unmoor society from those concepts. Probably they are thinking it’s time to turn out the lights on the weak and vulnerable. If they can destroy society’s protective instincts regarding women and children then everything else can follow from that. I think that’s what the collusion is all about.
I rent out a slightly posh hoose in the New Town for silly (large) amounts of money every year during the Festival.
The hispanic maid washes the soiled bedclothes and generally freshens the place up afterwards.
What’s wrong with that?
It’s not a whorehouse or a Driving School ferfuxake! Why should it be licenced?
I used to tease my wife that the C&A label was to show her which way round her panties should go.
Stoker,
link to voices.scot for each article there should be an “Archived” link. I’m skiving on holiday so the latest ones have not been archived/updated yet. Normal service will be resumed in a couple of weeks.
If you’re looking for just a list of URLs, then let me know and I can put together a spreadsheet on google docs. That won’t be possible til I’m back in chains.
@BDTT get better soon.
Robert Louis at 4.47pm said “Honestly, Edinburgh is a fantastic city and its needs NONE of the above junk. What an absolute joy it would be to get our city back again, free of all of this shite. And it really, really, really is SHITE!”
Couldn’t agree more. And while the crowds and chaos have always been a pain for locals, there used to be more of a good-humoured party atmosphere. Today it feels bad-tempered, grumpy and humourless. Triumph of greed plus the thought police over creativity and talent.
@JGedd (5.47) –
Good to see you commenting again.
Your thesis sounds plausible.
I’m not a religious person and at times I’m jealous of those who do have ‘faith’ because it must be a great comfort at times.
But you don’t have to be religious to observe that there is something diabolical about globalist policies and behaviour. Human life means nothing – we are disposable livestock, to be shifted around or simply exterminated as and when it suits. Children, being innocent, are particularly attractive to Satantists who revel in defiling anything good. The stories emerging from Hollywood, the whole Epstein saga etc is just the tip. (In case anyone needs reminding, Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty of child trafficking but not *one* person listed in her wee book or the flight logs has been arrested.)
Just as Campbell Martin stated via Barrhead Boy’s bliog during the week, the idea that the SNP hasn’t been infiltrated to the very highest level (he all-but fingered John Swinney in plain view) is insane. Likewise, it is probably fair to assume that some topmost govt officials, judiciary, civil service and police have been involved in similarly evil behaviour. Even based on what we’ve already discovered about their extra-curricular activities, it isn’t a stretch to imagine some very dark reasons for acquiring, say, a mobile home.
I’ll stop now before I write something I may regret. But we all have to remind ourselves that we are not dealing with ‘ordinary’ people here – the way they treated AS (and the very fact that they believed they would get away with it) indicates some extreme form of sociopathy. They are dangerous.
@BDTT
Get better soon.
Does anyone remember the name of the Edinburgh Councillor of the late 60’s/early 70’s who orchestrated resistance to the decline in public morality in the swinging 60’s. frequently appearing in the ‘evening news’ complaining about street prostitution (if I remember rightly) and other outrages or some other moral panic. I suppose my point here is that controversy around sexual matters is not new and whatever version exists at the moment will tend to subside as sanity prevails.Somehow, a supportable consensus will emerge. The spurious evidential foundations of transgenderism are clearly already waning. I have a strong sense that all the shouting about penises and vulvas and who has what is a displacement activity for some other underlying anxiety- my guess being the underlying widespread existential anxiety over the techno/political crises as they relate to climate change and the ever more obvious crisis within the current neoliberal consensus. Transgenderism is connected to the scientific/ biological possibilities of recent decades where an illusion has been created that the complexity of human development can be manipulated, controlled and reproduced in vitro, in pursuit of a more orderly/profitable existence. I am sure that is not the case and like the now forgotten councillor such ideas will wither away into hazy memory.
JGedd says:
19 August, 2023 at 5:47 pm
Lorna Campbell @ 3.35pm
Excellent post J, Freedom of thought and speech are all important.
JGedd 5:47
Another way of looking at the trans woowoo is that it totally fucks up the ability to breed of those on the receiving end of the “treatments”.
If the elites are concerned about human over-population destroying the planet, their support for trans woowoo as one means of driving down the population numbers makes sense.
BDTT
Best wishes for a good recovery, Brian.
Why oh why do we allow this tiny minority of misfits ,trans etc rule us now
Whatever has become of Scotland
Outrageous
“douglas says:
19 August, 2023 at 6:45 pm
Does anyone remember the name of the Edinburgh Councillor of the late 60’s/early 70’s who orchestrated resistance to the decline in public morality in the swinging 60’s.”
Tony Lester?
link to newsnet.scot
If only we had people like JGedd & Lorna Campbell in positions of power , we wouldn’t feel like we’re living in a madhouse where the guards , medical/psychiatric staff and management are the ones who are insane and we , the inmates , have no idea how we came to be locked-up , or means to escape our confinement .
Why is not a single Scottish politician raising concern over the implications of CBDCs , the hyper-inflated * Climate Emergency * jive , the State-imposed slow torture of Julian Assange , increasing incursions/restrictions on our individual right to judge what’s * acceptable * , to speak freely about anything without being censored , cancelled , penalised ?
JGedd @5.47pm
I agree.
Basically there are many more of us than them and for the revolution to stick they need us to lobby for our own downfall.
Create a problem, wait for the people to demand a remedy, provide the pre-planned solution.
It is important that proper debate is stifled.
“The best way to control the opposition is to lead it ourselves.” – Lenin
I am sure that by now someone has revealed the identities of the alphabetties through an acrostic poem.
I would like to see such a poem but do not know where to look.
Can anybody help.
Ian Brotherhood @6:15pm
I’m not a religious person and at times I’m jealous of those who do have ‘faith’ because it must be a great comfort at times
Don’t worry, Ian. Cheer up. God and me have got your back. Everything’s going to work out fine.
…and there was you thinking I was just another poster on WoS when, in fact, I’m a messenger from God – aye, an a hiv a white beard tae. Just like the boss.
Nae heavenly wings yet; tho a hiv thon Scottish equivalent, a free bus pass. 🙂
I see the Scottish devolution party is refusing to consider a single indy candidate. I suspect they will also reject all Ind candidates standing under one banner of indy.
Well I hope they lose their seat, and I have supported the party do over 50 years now.
They sound and behave like a Westminster part.
Their MPs and MSPs deserve what’s coming at them
Northcote – A great post. Watch your own back of you’ll soon be outed as anti-Scottish or something like that for quoting so precisely from the Bible. Look what happened to Kate Forbes.
Figures are rough. Three hundred and fifty thousand people born every day. One hundred and fifty thousand plop their cogs evey day. Meaning two hundred thousand additional people every day.
That number repairs WW2 fatalities in 8 months.
The idea that trans ideology is an attempt to stall population growth is ridiculous. Unless you think two hundred thousand people, every day, get sterilized for gender problems they imagine.
Trans ideology is (IMHO) psyops, aimed at disconnecting people from nature to smooth the path for biotech. The old ways of funding the rich – cheap labour, cheap energy, cheap resources (and free movement of those plus the capital that controls them in a capitalist system) are failing. Biotech is the future, for them.
@Viscount Ennui 7:44pm
If people don’t know who the Alphabeties are by now then there is no helping them. Of course reveal them even through a poem and you will be prosecuted and jailed. Nobody in Holyrood can reveal them, as there is no Parliamentary privilege. However any MP in Westminster can do just that. I am thinking David Davies or Angus Brendan McNeill. But fishing for punters to go jail is not the done thing. People have already been prosecuted. We live in Scotland with Judicial and Establishment power supporting the SNP Government. I am off to watch David Bowie before I say anymore. I have grandchildren to babysit for the foreseeable.
JGedd and IB quality as usual.
Wokeism is not organic. It is a weapon, an operation, completely synthetic and poisonous like a refined biological weapon, but it is an intellectual weapon.
You can see the intellectual components (from communism etc) that they have stitched the monster together with. It is very clever from a distance but exceptionally horrific, crude and idiotic up close.
They are the same people who killed JFK. Now they are trying to kill us. This was inevitable the second we tolerated their coup.
It was not enough to kill your leader because you keep finding new ones… so now they are going to kill you.
Alf Baird – Why can’t we find any decent countries to be colonised by?
I wouldn’t mind it if we were colonised by Japan. We’d get katanas and ninjas and the latest Super Famicom games, and we could all dress up in Oriental disguises like Sean Connery in You Only Live Twice (1967)
Cheers Mac, and ta-much Northcode for the spiritual help, much appreciated.
*SNIFF, SNIFF*
Those are tears of joy because I now have hope in my soul.
😉
antoine Bisset at 7.38.
I wish I could remember-the description sounds about right but the name Tony Lester does not ring a bell. He was always referred to as Councillor ??????. the keneth Roy memoir mentioned Magnus Magnusson.
In the early seventies I managed to finaigle my way into a party at west Princes street in Glasgow. A merry time was being had but the party had faltered. Suddenly a squad of bbc worthies arrived headed up by Magnus Magnusson. The party was revived almost instantly with the bbc team partying like tomorrow would never com. As a naive young student I was amazed at the fantastic energy on display. Only later did I realise that they were all on speed or cocaine.
I have never been to the Edinburgh Fringe and after reading this I’ll never go.. I’m sure many other Scots fall into the same boat. “The world’s largest performance arts festival”? Not for much longer I’m sure.
Get well soon, Brian.
Northcode at 1:00 pm:
“the light of enlightenment has been extinguished in Scotland. I wonder what might be the first step in re-igniting it; dissolution of the ‘union’ and an independent Scotland seems a good way to begin – maybe the only way.”
Lol! I was looking out for the first suggestion that this wasn’t a self-inflicted wound but something to do with ‘colonialism’ (or even MI5) but I didn’t expect it so soon, being the 13th comment.
@ BDTT: good to see you are able to post a comment on Wings from your hospital bed. Watch you don’t get feverish reading all the other comments, though – your health must come first!
Those with fear and trepidation or peeing and pooing their pants should bare in mind one thing.
The demonic have always held sway . The established religions were never established as protection for peadophiles. Our King Charles was by no coincidence a best mate of jimmy Saville. Or is it a coincidence that England favourite prime minister Thatcher preferred to have her Christmas days at 10 Downing Street with Jimmy the bestial necrophiliac Saville. What Christmas games these cuntish folk may have had ?
Beasting is the term for the expensive education our ruling class put their own through. What chance of humanity.
The beasted are emboldened.
Now is not the time for AntiFa
It’s time to fuck up facists
Ian Brotherhood
Hallelujah, Ian. You’ve seen the light. I’m going to give Kate a wee call right now and let her know. 🙂
Is “The Fringe” owned by Blackrock or something? It seems everything in the entirety of Western capitalist civilisation (sic) is getting taken over by ESG Stasi-daleks.
BDTT, get well soon and do as your told to aid recovery.
Ronnie , good to see you here – hope all is well with you.
JGedd @ 5.47: “Probably they are thinking it’s time to turn out the lights on the weak and vulnerable. If they can destroy society’s protective instincts regarding women and children then everything else can follow from that. I think that’s what the collusion is all about.”
It does remind me of Niemöller’s famous “First they came for the {insert vulnerable minority here}….” comments re the Nazis step-by-step destruction of any structural opposition to them in German society.
I think the Deep State/Establishment/City of London Creeps have decided that social chaos will be in its best interest to get us fighting amongst ourselves while it surreptitiously introduces more and more authoritarian policies to minimise free speech and our ability to keep control of our money and our children (who seem a sick preoccupation for these freaks).
The use of “Unreason” is an important element in all this baloney because it confuses and disorients the opposition, i.e. us, and makes mounting a rational argument that bit more difficult, particularly when blatant censorship of alternative views is rampant in our media, whether it’s “de-platforming”, banning from YouTube or simple bullying and threats as in the appalling “Terf” campaign by violent and cowardly men in dresses.
Anything which stands in the way of Globalism’s many tentacles is in its sights.
None of our politicians seem even dimly aware of the situation and are probably completely compromised in any case. Too many of the “progressive” middle-classes seem infected by the Woke virus at the expense of their own children (ffs!) and so all I have to offer is a feeble and half-hearted Orwellian “Hope lies with the proles.”
They know all this Woke bullshit is just that but the problem is how we can all channel and focus our energies and resistance to all this, since our politicians are utterly useless and most working-class families are usually preoccupied with keeping their heads above water these days.
“The worst government is often the most moral. One composed of cynics is often very tolerant and humane. But when fanatics are on top there is no limit to oppression.”
H L Mencken
Only thing to do is vote with our feet! Anyone who goes to any show is giving these nutters oxygen, so just don’t go. Don’t go to any shows, any outside venues, any coffee shop or any restaurant. Vote with your feet It won’t change your world, but it will change theirs. Though only if enough people actually say ‘enough’ and act rather than yab. When the enemy is in charge of the dialogue, leave them to it, go off and start your own dialogue somewhere else, because their aren’t listening to you! But though they puff out their chests – whether scarred with missing breasts or with fake ones – their voice is only being heard because no one is drowning it out. Of course everyone will be caught in the crossfire, so sit back, grab the popcorn and just decide against anything that you disagree with – including Costa as well as the sports brands. There is US beer company licking its paws, so it can be done. Strikes me that anything else is accepting this nonsense, and the nonsense of Hitler is still in living memory!
Once again, thanks for the good wishes everypeeps.
Doon is on the mend. Hope to be back in Dundee within the next week.
Northcode says:
“Don’t worry, Ian. Cheer up. God and me have got your back. Everything’s going to work out fine.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind (liberate their minds from illusion), to set the oppressed free.
Luke 4:18
…and there was you thinking I was just another poster on WoS when, in fact, I’m a messenger from God – aye, an a hiv a white beard tae. Just like the boss.”
——————————
Hi NC.
Is this you or your boss..?
link to nitter.net
Praying for yer full recovery, Brian. God bless.
To BDTT
Just read of your op.
Sending very best wishes and healthy vibes for a speedy recovery!
Hope you feel much better and are heading home soon!
@Dorothy Devine 4:21pm
Was this the “story” where they started by briefly mentioning Graham Linehan before turning the whole thing around to feature Trans/Drag acts making them out to be the victims?
Had me raging at the screen – Can’t fathom why I had STV “news” on in the first place!
Was driving this morning and hadn’t twigged that Radio Scotland was on (I normally switch to Radio 6 by default). I think it was the awful “Shereen” show and I’m almost sure someone said the Leith Arches response was to a SINGLE mail. I’ll admit I loudly cursed.
My God the media we have to suffer here is the pits.
My contribution to the slightly religious discussion ongoing.
link to youtube.com
link to en.wikipedia.org!
@ BDTT
We’ve never met , but from yr contributions here you come across as a decent , level-headed , intelligent man . Glad to know yr on the mend . Get well soon and cheers for posting one of the great songs of the 60s . Of any decade 🙂
It’s a cult folks. A fanatical cult.
For whom the Gods wish to destroy they first make mad.
Scunner , indeed it was – usually making dinner at that time so don’t often catch STV ‘news”.
President Xiden , well I’m as mad as hell , developing ulcers of rage and despair.
“Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one. .“
Charles Makay
A combination of irrational wokeism and greedy Edinburgh hoteliers heralds the beginning of the end for the Fringe.
link to youtube.com
Social anarchists, pure and simple.
The wee pretendy colonial legislated from Westminster and owned branch office sent to Scotland is working just fine,
The modern day witch hunts and trials of the people in Scotland has not disappeared,
may have ended down south but it got rebranded for Scotland.
Stu, I do wish you would stop calling it the Scottish parliament Scottish, legally and according to legislation it is still officially a Construct of Westminster,
They could end all this nonsense in a flash, but they implement it to imply it is done as Scots law, but this is not Scots law as they not intervene if it was,
it is under Englands Westminster legislation and swears a oath of allegience to their Sovereignty of Westminster, not the Sovereignty of the Scottish people,
Non of the laws passed in Scotland can be ” Scots Law ” because the Crown and inherent bodies was settled as the english, dutch and Hanover Crown, not Scotlands.
You will find this in Article 11 of the treaty of union,
The wee pretendy Scottish devolved parliament is passing laws of the English Crown and all the laws in present day Scotland come under that crown of England, dutch the house of hanover,
The devolved colonial parliament sent to Scotland is not officially or legally Scottish at at while owned by Westminster legislation parliament,
A guy use to write into WoS an his name was “Smithie” (or something like that). He was writing in every few days during the SNP leadership election. He claimed to have inside knowledge of what was going-on and he had me convinced at the time.
According to him, the postal votes and on-line votes had mainly all be returned early-on and Humza had no chance of winning and was talking about pulling-out of the hustings events and all the rest of it. He had to be persuaded to continue. Then, a few weeks later, we all found out that he had (narrowly) won. There was no-one doubting the result and everyone just accepted it.
Now, here we are with the “continuity candidate” and the only thing that is continuing is the SNP’s unpopularity. Everyone is slightly kidding themselves just now that it isn’t that bad, but when the results of the Rutherglen by-election are returned, everyone will begin to understand how bad it is.
My guess is that Branchform and the Rutherglen by-election will spell the end for Humza’s brief sojourn in power and he will be replaced. I get the feeling that he is only the caretaker anyway and everyone knows that.
link to thenational.scot
Darren Grimes is a militant English homosexualist.
link to politicalite.com
FM, do learn from this encounter with anglocentric and racist bigotry.
Viva España…..as if we really cared THAT much.
One last post for the day – I see plenty of the characteristics of Scottish people in the posts I read on here most days, but I don’t see any of that in the present SNP/Green administration. (By the way, I don’t see it in Labour either). No-one will vote for the Tories and so where does that leave us?
Hi BDTT, Have a speedy recovery and hope to see you back on the marches. From Bill and Vicky.
Speedy recovery BDTT.
Long may you continue supporting independence with a long and healthy life.
Wishing BDTT “ all the very best “ for a full recovery .
Captain Yossarian
“No one will vote for the Tories”
I’m guessing you mean in Rutherglen, cos at the last time Scotland was asked about this shit, (HR election 2021) the Tories took second place.
There’s an Innarestin graphic on Wiki showing the geographical allocation of HR seats, with an unbroken blue band from sea to shining sea along our southern border. Maybes our border needs to be re-drawn much further north!
Anyhoo, whiles I think you are probably right about Rutherglen, I don’t see the current Starmer mob setting the heather ablaze elsewhere in Scotland.
BDTT,
all the best in a speedy recovery after your op, grateful as you to all the medical procedures and nursing help, I am sure you looking forward to returning back home to your own familiar environment,
Wishing you well from all in our household to you.
Here is some interesting reading material to keep you occupied for a short while while recovering.
Legislation. gov. uk.
delivered by THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES.
Acts of parliament of Great Britain. 1800 chapter 67 (regnal .39_and_40 Geo 3 whole Act.
UNION WITH IRELAND ACT 1800.
[ 1.] THE PARLIAMENTS OF ENGLAND AND IRELAND HAVE AGREED UPON THE ARTICLES FOLLOWING,
AND WHEREAS In furtherance of the said resolution, both houses the said TWO PARLIAMENTS RESPECTIVELY, have likewise Agreed Upon certain ARTICLES for EFFECTING AND ESTABLISHING the SAID PURPOSES IN THE TENOR FOLLOWING,
Who would have thought that there was a ” Parliament of England ” agreeing union terms with Ireland in the 1800s,
BDTT,
Mind you we all knew Scotland has not been in the treaty of union between Scotland and England since it was extinguished from the treaty in 1707,
however it is nice for Scotland and Scots to have it confirmed that the Great Britain/Uk is a self adopted name tag for the Westminster parliament of England only.
Hope this info cheers you up.
The Enlightenment and science, based on hypothesis and experimental proof (empiricism), seems to have been abandoned in the 1920s with Einstein and his thought experiments supported by mathematical modelling.
Mathematical modelling is now sold to the populace as the way things are, see the recent flu plague lockdown or the current CO2 economic model.
Mainstream science is now a religion and an excellent method of social control.
Question everything.
Enlightening.
«The sun never set on the British empire, an Indian nationalist later sardonically commented, because even God couldn’t trust the Englishman in the dark»
(Shashi Tharoor, An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India)
“I’m guessing you mean in Rutherglen, cos at the last time Scotland was asked about this shit, (HR election 2021) the Tories took second place.”
I don’t see why London Labour should be able to stand a candidate in Scotland, just as I don’t see why and real Scottish political party should be standing candidates for Westminster which is situated in a foreign country.
Like the (OIM) Optional Image Mark Scottish Labour, That BLiS is, which is just London Labour with the Scottish bit added on, so the Scottish Tories fall into the same category.
If a political parties in Scotland have their HQ’s in another country in this case England (Lib/Dems Labour Tories) then they shouldn’t be allowed to stand any candidates in Scotland.
Why do Scots not get very angry knowing a foreign country has its political branch offices in Scotland and these branch offices answer to their leaders in a foreign country, to leaders that utterly oppose Scotland leaving this union to grow and prosper.
I also think even for by-elections such as this that a residency time limit should be added say a minimum of ten years before you can vote in it, with so many English people swamping Scotland with an unknown amount of them coming and going their short term presence could tip the balance.
Also with the huge influx of English folk moving to Scotland (so far still hidden in the census that we may never see) they help put immense pressure on our public services, and with the likes of Sturgeon the Judas and Humza Yousless having already severely damaged them, the last thing they need is pressure added from English folk from South of the border.
A well put, though-provoking and troubling article. How can the SNP which is supposed to be the vehicle for securing our freedom have dragged us into this nasty ‘Orwellian’ mess?
Well, I suppose we are just going to have to speak up for ourselves. And where the Fringe is concerned, by making our money talk by spending it elsewhere. No cash, no power.
Turabin,
” Even God couldn’t trust the Englishman in the dark,
That is true,
As we find there is no such thing in reality of the British Empire, it is the English Empire built on lies.
For EnglandS parliament holds a treaty of union with Irelands parliament which does not actually exist as a United kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
This would also be true of “any” treaty made under the title of “one united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland or under the title UK,
Turabdin
“«The sun never set on the British empire, an Indian nationalist later sardonically commented, because even God couldn’t trust the Englishman in the dark»
(Shashi Tharoor, An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India)”
Thanks for that hadn’t heard that one.
Almost as good as Gandhi’s “I think it would be a good idea”
BTW If you have seen the great movie RRR you might have noticed that towards the end a scene with a burning standard said “The Sun never sets on the ENGLISH Empire”
@ Johnm
” Mainstream science is now a religion and an excellent method of social control.
Question everything. ”
Absolutely .
Re Einstein , maybe more accurate to say he overturned the Newtonian worldview and in turn Quantum Physics – kind of – overturned Einstein – at least * relativised * his findings .
Both Newton & Einstein were , of course , not erroneous , just that the insights and implications of Quantum Mechanics uncovered a * reality * that pulled the rug from under them .
As – I think – Richard Feynman said ….” Quantum Mechanics is not just weirder that you think , it’s weirder than you CAN think ” .
One thing it ( Q.M ) did – and there has been a fair degree of * gatekeeping * within the scientific community over the decades to downplay this – is threaten the dominance of the Materialist version of reality ..ie .. that matter is fundamental , and is made of discrete particles . Turns out that is not the case : at the quantum level matter disappears into mere probabilities and Mind cannot be abstracted out of any experimental enquiries . In fact , is deeply * implicated * in any such activity . In every activity .
“A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn’t there. A theologian is the man who finds it.” – H L Mencken
It’s nae coming home….and, we’ve been saved, we really have.
Aw schmucks,jings, crivens and help ma, boab, let it sink in. All that bull about the lionesses, 1966. They just wurnae up tae it!
Wonder if they’ll be, rioting in Sydney tonight.
This, link to robkhenderson.com, is an entertaining read as it tells you why wokery is a mass movement/cult and why it won’t really achieve much.
You can seewhy the trans sub-cult took over in the UK because here there isn’t the same driving force for racial equality that there is in the USA, though arguably there should be. The only real danger is that the trans rights movement, so beloved of the blue-haired anti-normies, probably has been subverted and taken over by the misogynists and the paedophiles who do have an agenda (only joking).
Anyways, it’s a worthwhile read over a coffee but you’ll need to pay attention. No, it likely won’t go away until the middle-class, who are the most ardent supporters receive some kind of shock, likely economic, that forces them to confront reality under very different circumstances – mass unemployment caused by Artificial Intelligence or the Russian Army crossing the Oder.
Robert Hughhes
And let’s not forget
Einstein, when he visited the University of Cambridge in 1922, was told by his host that he had done great things because he stood on Newton’s shoulders; Einstein replied: “No I don’t. I stand on the shoulders of Maxwell.
Just watching the awards ceremony now and have just heard the most cloying sour comment from the ITV commentator who said …..
” Ah well England are still the European Champions which is something that Spain can’t say they are”
Naw baw-bag – Spain are the world champions and England are not. Sour grapes from the English media – you bet!
Willie
Does that mean we really did win the World Cup in ’67?
@ Chic McGregor
Yes , Indeed . Had JC Maxwell been English , he would probably be as well known and feted as Issac Newton .
Just read about BDTT – best wishes Brian, get well soon.
There’s a couple of very good books you might cast your eye over, and which might help your recovery.
How to starve Cancer, by Jane McClelland – she’s 10+ years survivor of stage 4 cancer.
and
The Wahls Protocal by Dr Terry Wahls (she reversed her MS, via diet). Both diets have a significant overlap in how they work.
Both authors are from the school of work with traditional medicine, rather than all or nothing alternative methods.
All the best.
Viva Espagne – we won’t be getting another 57 years of how England won the world cup , at least not yet.
Well done to the girls for getting so far – and to the media kindly stop assuming and blethering about how ‘it’s coming home’
I reckon Scotland would be happy to cheer the team on but for the cloying , arrogant media.
Willie @1.20pm.
Thank f*ck Willie if that mob had won we in Scotland would never have heard the end of it, as all the media in Scotland is foreign, no doubt England will hit us with more shitey James Bond movies like they’ve been doing for Christ knows how long.
Well done Spain.
Viva Espania!!!
Spain spank the utter trash to the south of our border to become women’s World champions.
There is a God after all.
Robert Hughes @1.14pm
I think that Feynman said that “Science is the organized skepticism in the reliability of expert opinion.”
QM is another thought experiment probably not relevant on an Indy website.
It is important however in persuading us to imagining that we are insignificant specks in an ever expanding universe or some mechanistic electronic manifestation.
Patrick Harvie has been lagging off Alex Salmond today in the news.
Patrick Harvie platforms with paedophiles and rapist enabler.
I’ve heard through the grape vine he likes swingers clubs and harassed a gay Unison representive I used to work alongside a night out. Allegedly but not reported.
They did it for Beth of course. Isla Bryson. Katie Dolatowski. Amy George. And Heather Pervert…
Robert Hughes @2.01pm.
Scotsman John Rae mapped the last section of the North West Passage, yet if memory serves me there’s a statue of John Franklin in London lauding his discovery of the passage.
JAMES CHE
The terms British and English are shape shifting, sleight of hand manipulations and are used in accordance with the «existential» requirements.
The terms are historically synonymous, British being considered rather more «elevated» style than English. Nevertheless, «English» in the political and cultural sense had sufficient core weight and symbolism for Scottish unionists e.g. John Buchan to use it when referring to the «Pax Britannica» as a quasi divine calling and «duty» aka the Whiteman’s Burden….to civilize those not yet «civilized» by wearing trousers and corsets, reading the Authorized Version, God’s own version, and experience the benefits of English common law.
«Anglo-saxon» mentality is obsessed with its own perceived uniqueness and singularity.
The term English speaking peoples is suggestive of being chosen and has a long history.
See «British Israelism» and its fanciful speculations. Typically, the source of the pseudo religious, racist nonsense may be traced to a Scottish «historian» John Wilson.
The American State is the current home of this Holy Covenant of ethnic exceptionalism.
*Patrick Harvie. The rapist enabler.
I can’t provide evidence. But rumour has it he’s been spotted at swingers clubs and I’ve heard he’s a harasser on a night out towards gay men…
Harvie a discredited figure… As discredited as his gender Bill. As discredited as his heat pumps according to Willy Haughey…. As discredited as the green bottle poll tax costing millions…
As discredited as the HMPs highland clearences…
As hated as is LEZ low emission rich poor apartheid cities..
Harvie is the reason that Isla Bryson was originally on his way to the female prison. He’s the reason people are cancelled at the fringe. As his kind are the problem.
Just like the Wright Brother’s weren’t the first to fly, and Issac Newton didn’t discover gravitation or the theory of gravity, it was discovered long before him.
However history shows that both parties had good publicists
Newton’s apple falling from the tree wasn’t even his story that belonged to Robert Hooke his scientific rival. He even showed Newton to be wrong on an esoteric point concerning falling bodies.
James Che said;
“Who would have thought that there was a ” Parliament of England ” agreeing union terms with Ireland in the 1800s.”
Good find, James, they just can’t help themselves, can they?
@BDTT, best wishes for your swift recovery, hope you get home soon.
RoS
OK, I’ll bite.
The Wright brothers were the first to achieve repeatable, controlled, sustained, powered flight.
Good publicists my arse. For years after they had already amassed hundreds of hours of flying time, they did everything they could to keep it secret.
I chose this version for the nutjobs parading in the background in their Red & White England colours.
link to google.com
Pst! Being a Catalan supporter i don’t really like Spain either but i’m Spanish up to midnight tonight. 😉 LOL!
«The public has a distorted view of science because children are taught in school that science is a collection of firmly established truths. In fact, science is not a collection of truths. It is a continuing exploration of mysteries»
Freeman Dyson (theoretical physicist, mathematician, climate skeptic)
Can there ever be an expert on «the science» as lay media and politicians would have you believe?
Something to ponder next time the new squad of vaxxers come calling.
Republicofscotland says on 20 August 2023 at 2:51 pm
“Just like the Wright Brother’s weren’t the first to fly, and Issac Newton didn’t discover gravitation or the theory of gravity, it was discovered long before him. However history shows that both parties had good publicists. Newton’s apple falling from the tree wasn’t even his story that belonged to Robert Hooke his scientific rival. He even showed Newton to be wrong on an esoteric point concerning falling bodies.”
Aye! And Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’ wasn’t Darwin’s creation. A Scot wrote about the theory over 3 decades *BEFORE* Darwin. A Scot from Dundee named Patrick Matthew.
More good news to celebrate this afto.
Russti land’s latest moon landing attempt smashed to bits. Haud oan though, that’s what they excel at – smashing stuff to bits.
Anyhoo, all eyes on India as their moon landing attempt goes ahead over the next couple of days. The race to develop the moon for desperately needed energy and rare materials is hotting up. Only right that a fast-developing country, and one that is largely on our side too, should get in there first.
Go India!
@TURABDIN
Science is a collection of principles that have yet to be disproved.
Using these principles you can construct useful things like a tin opener, flushing toilet or Jumbo Jet.
Ask yourself this. Which scientific principles underlying my tin opener or my return ticket to Baghdad are ever going to be disproved, leaving me with uneatable cans of beans, or a plunge of 6 miles to the ground?
None, obviously.
The people who like to claim that “the science isn’t settled” need to understand the very limited circumstances in which that may be true.
Arsebiscuits, Arsebiscuits, Arsebiscuits.
I picked up a copy of the Fringe Programme earlier this year, and as per usual, began to work my way through it, noting acts which I would like to go and see.
After wading through the first dozen or so pages or “drag” this and “trans” that I tossed it in the bin.
The Edinburgh Festival is dead.
Tomorrow’s “ front pages” ?? Scotland “ world Champions” England “ runners up “ . Somehow I doubt it with our “ foreign press” .
Ps World pipe band champions and of course “ the fitba”
Newton was a Mason.
Gravitational constant (G) (made up by guessing the weight of the Earth) = 6.6? In SI units
Earth revolves around the sun 66600 mph
Earth tilt is 23.4 ‘ wrt equator = 66.6’ wrt N. Pole
Peggy Witson longest female space inhabitant 666 days
National Aeronautics and Space Administration in reverse ordinal ie A=26 Z=1 is 666
Nero Ceasar?
Maybe, like the Americans, the Russians have never gone to the moon.
“Of one they said that he had robbed funds from the city government; of another, that he had not succeeded in some undertaking because he was bribed; and of yet another, that because of his ambition, he had committed this or that impropriety. As a consequence of this hatred arose on every side, which led to deep disagreements, from deep disagreements to sects, and from sects to ruin.” – Machiavelli [Discourses, I.8]
I’ve always wondered whether Machiavelli was a caution, guide or just basic sociology.
Turabin,
Shape shifting English to British used in accordance with exsistential requirements is a very astute analysis from yourself.
This ability to shape shift reality, however it ( the empire ) can only transmit false information with success if the receiver is faulty,
And many Countries have faulty receivers am afraid, including Scotland,
When we receive some accurate information signals in amongst the trash white noise, we miss them,
The signals are there but we are so used to having “faulty antennas” we ignore it to our own detriment,
I was reading MASTER LIST of LOGICAL FALLACIES, by THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS,
And the argument for ignorance,
England shape shifting abilities regards promoting the fallacious Treaty of Union to falsely build an empire, portrays and obtains the
MASTER DEGREE in Logical Fallacies,
What is sad is the fact that Scotland has a broken receiver,
It has been informed by reference links it has not ever been in the treaty of union, before or since 1707, it nearly happenec but got canceled by the agreement terms,
It has been informed that Scotland and England have Two different Monarchy systems still in place with two ceremonies at different dates, and the Scots crown is not placed on the head of the english king,
It has been informed that under Scots law the “crown justice system of England” imposed on Scotland through the Colonial devolved government whilst not in a treaty with England holds no legal merit here.
Scots today have been informed today with reference links that the “parliament of England” is making treaties with Ireland in The year 1800.
Scots have been informed that they have been the receiver of false information since 1707, by the Master of logical Fallacies,
But Scotland and Scots do not blame the Transmitter of false information nor the receiver,
There could be a case for wilful ignorance in wishing to believe the Master of logical Fallacies, for the new information in the signal is never queried or questioned,
That is how and why the English empire can shape shift to the British Empire at will, not only colonial fashion over Scotland but colonial like over places like india or Ireland also,
Xaracen,
Your comment is much appreciated as I consider youselve extremely knowlegable on the treaty of Union,
Stoker
Actually survival of the fittest evolutionary theory was well established in Scotland long before that, if secondary to the more widely accepted versions of Lamarckism current at that time.
Even as far back at least as the eccentric Scottish genius Lord Monboddo.
No one can claim with 100% certainty that Darwin was guilty of plagiarism. You cannot say for certain what is going on in someone else’s mind. However certain facts can be stated.
When he came up to Edinburgh University to try to get a medical degree (he failed) it is on record that he went on many walks or had dinners with Scottish luminaries who would be conversant with those theories. Some, like Lyell from here in Kirriemuir were very opposed to such ideas but therefore all the more likely to bring them up in conversation.
Darwin himself said he learned nothing (of any kind) while up in Edinburgh, no doubt in chagrin at his failure and his lecturers describing him as not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
However records also show he spent more time in the University Library than any other student.
Finally, his own grandfather Erasmus Darwin had written (negatively) on Lord Monboddo’s theories long before.
Finally 2, Patrick Matthew’s book which spelled out the theory albeit in an appendix, was a work concerning what timber from around the World which can be used for naval shipping. It was published in January in Edinburgh and London on the very same year that Darwin was to set sail in the November as ships botanist on The Beagle. It was also serialised in a horticultural magazine. Just the sort of thing, if you were going on a research cruise of indeterminate duration and as the ships botanist who might be asked advice on what timbers might be suitable for any required repairs you would include in a large collection of new reading material to use on the voyage.
Because of all of the above, some of Darwin’s own biographers have concluded that he must have ‘absorbed’ the theory but then forgotten that fact.
Newton? Don’t get me started on Newton.
Science is not settled, or the inventions that are spoken of,
Tin openers are often replaced by pull rings nowadays and flight engineering has progressed to other forms of flight such as helicopters since its origins, or even the space rockets,
And at one point in Science DNA tracking and tracing was not available.
Science is not static, and only ignorance could lay claim “to there is no more to discover” or correct a theory that was, as we continually learn more day by day,
“Aye! And Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’ wasn’t Darwin’s creation. A Scot wrote about the theory over 3 decades *BEFORE* Darwin. A Scot from Dundee named Patrick Matthew.”
That right Stoker Darwin’s father Erasmus would read books on evolution, humans descending from the apes etc, written by Lord Monboddo, James Burnett a Scotsman before Charles Darwin was even born.
Like I said having a good publicist counts.
JGedd: “… So far, it has the appearance of a mass movement except there is no ‘mass’ involved, no engagement with ordinary people to persuade, no appeal to a majority who might sympathise with common aims or a critique of the establishment, unlike most movements. (Think of most revolutionary movements which sought the support of the ordinary people usually against an entrenched establishment.)…”
If you read the Denton’s Document (available on-line) you will understand how they captured all public institutions, and they are now set on capturing all the private ones, too. It really is not a mass movement, but an alliance of various strands: the ‘trans’ rights one, which is dominated by a men’s sexual rights movement; the men’s rights movement that wants women out of public spaces and back into the kitchen where they will not be able to protect the children; and the queer/child access movement, driven by Queer Theory.
All of them are, to a greater or lesser extent, driven by the pornography industry – at least those on the front line, the foot soldiers. Behind them are the activists who are politically-driven as well as/rather than any of the former, and who are the ones who wish to use the foot soldiers to overturn our society in order to build their own – which they see as a cultural Marxist/post modern utopia where compulsion is all and you had better like it or suffer the consequences. Even worse than North Korea.
Behind them are the global corporatists who smell money on a large scale, through lifelong medicalization, sterliization, etc. Among all of the three layers lurk the psychopaths, the sociopaths, the sadists and the narcissists whose sole preoccupation is to prey on people and watch them suffer.
You are right to point out the military and the police because these two groups ensure that society cannot fight back, or, at least, there will be few who have not been indoctrinated and who will fight for the rest of us. It is far, far more dangerous than any revolutionary movement thus far, and its tentacles are starting to reach into Africa and India and China. Brazil has already been captured to a great extent. The end result they contemplate? a cowed world where totalitarianism rules and people become not even tiny cogs in a wheel, but simply units of humanity that can be dispensed with and replaced by Artificial Intelligence (which they view as another form of global domination and money-making) for the elite.
The thing is, the poor saps on the front line have no idea, so indoctrinated are they, that they are dispensable and will be dispensed with in time when they have achieved what the elite wants them to achieve – which is a complete destruction of centuries of human ideas and progress. Don’t fell sorry for these idiots. They are regressive in every sense, while masquerading as progressive. Really, they are nothing like a religion, most religions having progressives in their ranks. God help us if they are not stopped soon.
Whnever I think of Frankie Boyle, I think of the old Bob Monkhouse joke: They laughed at me when I said I wanted to be a comedian. Well, they’re not laughing now!
James che;
20 August, 2023 at 4:20 pm
I was reading MASTER LIST of LOGICAL FALLACIES, by THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
We should be educated regarding these partial things, yet we are not.
If they are logical, they are commutative.
The nuSNP have ‘failed’ so independence has failed.
Ridiculous.
They are the ammunition of aggressive,insidious rhetoric,and that we should love,live and learn by them .
If there is no respect for the rules or logic, anything goes.
Useless defames white supremacy, but does not reflect on his well waist-coated path to the empty throne.
I mean, how do you descend to be leader of a devolutionist party without critisiing his co-coreligionist and fellow spoilt child, Anwar, on an any issue.
JOHN MAIN you confuse/conflate science with technology.
link to keydifferences.com
… It’s who you know
Charles Darwin, Francis Galton, Julian and Aldous Huxley all relatives.
Eugenicists.
Johnlm
Karl Pearson was a gifted mathematician but a racist and anti-semite. He was Galton’s protege and a Germanophile. He changed the spelling of his name to Karl after enrolement at Heidelberg.
While in Germany he gave lectures and may have assisted in bringing the theory of eugenics there.
He turned down a Knighthood from George V in 1935. Yes 1935.
Regarding comments above about the British Empire, it would seem that less self-righteous finger-pointing by Scots might be in order. The following extracts are from the introduction to the book ‘Scotland’s Empire’ by eminent historian Sir Tom Devine:
“In a sense, however, even more important than these mass migrations of Highland Gaels, Lowland farmers and Ulster Scots was the relentless penetration of Empire by Scottish educators, doctors, plantation overseers, army officers, government officials, merchants and clerics. When the statistical record for virtually any area of professional employment in the empire is examined, Scots are seen to be over-represented, and in some cases, like the senior military ranks in India, massively so. In both North America and India after the 1750s, as one writer has put it, they claimed ‘not merely a reasonable but a quite indecent share of the spoils’. By mid-century, Scots also dominated the Hudson’s Bay Company, which laid claim to the vast expanse of what is now Canada, as well as its great rival in the fur trade, the North West Company. The success of Glaswegian merchants in the transatlantic tobacco trade was such that competitors in London, Bristol and Whitehaven feared by the 1770s that they would monopolize this lucrative branch of imperial commerce. The visibility of the Scots in the imperial project was further confirmed by their own attention to profile. As one of the most literate nations in Europe they publicized their achievements widely in the press and books. This talent for self-publicity and the ‘arriviste’ triumph in securing many of the glittering prizes of empire goes some way to explaining the rampant Scottophobia which broke out in London and some of the American colonies in the 1770s.”
“[…] The Scottish role in the forging and expansion of the eighteenth-century empire is the central theme of this book. It seeks to explain it and evaluate the effects of imperial development both on Scotland itself and the overseas colonies. So intense was the Scottish engagement with empire that it affected almost every nook and cranny of Scottish life: industrialization, intellectual activity, politics, identity, education, popular culture, consumerism, labour markets, demographic trends, Highland social development and much else. In a word, empire was fundamental to the moulding of the modern Scottish nation.”
(T.M. Devine, SCOTLAND’S EMPIRE: THE ORIGINS OF THE GLOBAL DIASPORA, Penguin Books, 2004, pp xxvi, xxvii).
RoS
Humans are not descended from apes.
James Che
The invention of the ring pull can has not disproved the physical principles on which the tin opener relies. Neither did the advent of the helicopter cause fixed-wing aircraft to fall out of the sky.
See the title of this post: “The end of the enlightenment”.
Rev Stu never intended it as a challenge you have to prove yourself worthy of.
Scottish experiment to determine the mean density of Earth.
link to en.wikipedia.org
The pic at this link shows that Schiehallion, located between Loch Tay and Loch Rannoch, is visible with the naked eye, at a distance of 44.4 miles/71.5km, from Dundee. Schiehallion is the snow-covered pyramid, at the top left of the pic, about a quarter the way along to the right.
And the proof…
– they had the godfather trilogy on spanning 3 nights last week – pure class …
in the films, the patriarch is always trying to “go legit” (but in the end peddles an eternal recurrence and an inability to change our natures); organised crime went legit in England a long time ago – it gave itself a gang hut and feudal titles.
The whole of ENGLISH HISTORY IS JUST A CRIME REPORT; how did it start?
– the first big heist was the looting of the monasteries, maybe the biggest theft in history
– piracy, during the elizabethan era
– slave trade, the whole “enterprise” of empire – as napoleon put it, “wherever wood floats, you will find an englishman stealing all he can”
– “loot” is an indian word, from the days of the raj
– the gold and diamonds of southern africa, dealing with pesky zulus and boers on the way
… too much to list …
– then our hydrocarbons, and even our wind
link to bbc.co.uk
anglos, with their exceptionalism, supremacist thinking would not recognise this -characterisation-
some counterpoint, a spirited defence of empire from the viewpoint of the indigenous anglo
link to youtube.com
that till death us do part was a subtle denunciation of racism, with a jewish actor as its star, was lost on most of the english; an updated alf garnett exposed to social media, the internet and “blacked” porn might be a great reprise
this guy is still playing at the fringe –
link to youtube.com
so who gets cancelled and who does not? Who decides – what if via the medium of comedy and a mashup with the big band crooners, mr sanazi was actually subtly trying to convert the people to the wonders of national socialism … as they argued about count dankula.
adolph was a pure fanboy when it came to the british empire (germanic cousins) and loved to watch errol flynn in “lives of a bengal lancer”
one thing that will never happen in our universe is an englishman asking
“are we the bad guys?”
BDTT – I had a look at that. It is very clearly explained too. Fascinating what they were able to understand and calculate back in the 18th Century. Schehallion weighs-in at around 2.5t/m3 and the earth weighs in at around twice that. So, whatever kind of rock exists in deep earth is about twice the weight of the rock we know.
SCHIEHALLION > Sìth Chailleann
(meaning: “Fairy hill of the Caledonians”)
BDTT 7.05pm
Hope you are well.
Newton didn’t give a value for the constant G.
This was supplied later by Cavendish who gave a result of 5.9 blah density. Iron has this density therefore to match the dimension of the Earth model the earth core must be iron.
Who decided the constitution of the Earth?
Gold/iron/water in what proportions?
The deepest borehole at Kola is 7.6 miles.
We are told that the Earth is 8000 diameter.
An Indy website is not the best place for these questions except to point out that we should question everything.
*8000 mile radius
@ Captain Yossarian at 7.45
Pedant alert.
The mean density of the earth is approximately twice that of the crust, but there is variation below the crust, with density increasing with depth. (You’re talking about density, not weight or mass.)
This is one of many available references: link to earthhow.com
It could of course be argued that the core is not “rock”, but even within the mantle there is variation.
Pedantry over (for now).
As I good pedant, I must chastise myself and apologize for the Failure to close my italics above. Only “mean” was intended to be slanty.
@confused 7:19
“Are we the bad guys?”
You should check out the Guardian. Endless breast beating, hair shirt wearing, “mea culpa” articles on there. Who the fuck writes them then, you?
Who’s this “Adolph” fellow anyways? There was a quite a famous “Adolf” a few years back. Maybes you’re getting yourself confused, Confused.
@johnlm 8:23
Dear oh dear oh dear. You really are all over the place with this quite simple idea.
Eratosthenes measured the diameter of the Earth around 350 BC and got an answer which is remarkably close to the value we are “told” today – 7900 miles plus a smidge that depends whether you are measuring around the poles or around the equator.
But by all means you continue to question this.
Meantime, on the surface of planet earth, alert readers might notice that the global positioning app on their mobile can tell where they are to within a few metres. Innarestin to consider if the measurements, maths and physical laws that allow this to happen are worth questioning, but you know best.
In Edinburgh Central Library i came across a book published in 2006 by an unnamed (English, probably, fan) author. It is called, “Forty Years of Shite”.
After today’s events the book is in need of revision and updating.
John Main 9.06pm
8000 diameter is correct. Apologies.
Re Eratosthenes it appears that my post won’t upload try –
Mike boll – The Eratosthenes Lie – on YouTube.
Do you wish to retract your assertion that ISIS is allied to Iran?
Open your mind. There is truth inside.
Brian Doonthetoon,
The Reverend Maskelyn pretty much invented the concept of contour maps in that survey of Schiehallian.
His contemporary, Dalrymple, whose longcase clock I have in my study just behind me as I type these words and is still ticking, is another hero of mine.
He became the first Hydrographer of the Admiralty and sent Captain Cook around the world two and a half times.
Dalrymple was the first man to coin the word Chronometer in print. That was in the days when determining Longitude by time-keeping was being determined as an innovation.
His personally commissioned clock, made in Falkirk, is still ticking, just behind my left ear right now. It keeps pretty good time, though not nearly as good as Harrison’s H4 watch.
A Scotsman, of course. Dalrymple, I mean.
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh @ 6:47 pm
“empire was fundamental to the moulding of the modern Scottish nation.”
Devine seems unconscious to the complicit role of the more assimilated native bourgeoisie in colonial societies, which is well established, ensuring their privileges are maintained whilst helping the oppressor enslave the masses. This inevitably leaves an under-developed people and nation, half the native population ‘banished’, and most of those remaining living in or close to poverty suffering cultural alienation, even today.
Devine takes a rose-tinted view which rather ignores postcolonial theory and the lived reality for most Scots. Well worth the knighthood and ’eminent historian’ status.
Remind me, did the British State ever reward Harrison for his invention?
Alf Baird @ 10.28 pm
“Devine takes a rose-tinted view which rather ignores postcolonial theory and the lived reality for most Scots. Well worth the knighthood and ’eminent historian’ status.“
Devine’s book was published in 2004. He was pro-independence in 2014. I suggest you are doing him an injustice. Historical description of society does not entail endorsement.
Alf Baird says:
“enslave the masses”
Defo think you’ve said that before. Repetition isn’t making it any more rational or grounded though.
I guess that if rose-tinted glasses exist, then so must their opposite, perhaps we can call them porridge-obscured glasses. Both pairs distort the view of the wearers so that they end up describing a fictitious, imagined fantastical world.
If you find any enslaved Scots, Alf, call 999.
Johnlm,
Yes, Handsomely.
He got more, in cash, than the Queen Anne Prize originally promised.
It did, however, take an awfully long time.
When I did sculpting after leaving semiconductors my company owned the domain Schiehallion.com (Schiehallion Sculptures).
When I folded that I emailed some tourist thingy I’d read in the papers connected with Schiehallion, jings I can’t quite remember what they were called now, and told them so they knew that domain was now available.
I checked just now to see if they did but it is available to buy for $6,695
Ah well the sporting gods have moved on. The Rugby Union World Cup starts on September 8th. This time Scotland has a team to support. But the sporting gods have sprung a wee surprise. Our first game is against South Africa. Yikes! Win that game and we will progress. Nervous already!
To be fair to Scotland’s academic historians in general it is my belief that they were put under really incredible top down pressure to be revisionist in regard to Scottish history and in a way which downplayed or removed anything which “might inflame nationalist passions”, I’ve put that last bit in quotes because it is a phrase I remember seeing in the past but forget the source of.
I won’t name and shame but I remember one who even tried to tout the idea that Wallace was a unionist.
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh @ 11:33 pm
“Historical description of society”
The problem with much of Devine’s historical analysis on Scotland is that it does not take account of postcolonial theory, the latter mostly developed since the 1950s, with the formation of the UN, and following the many examples of decolonization on which the theory is built. This postcolonial literature tells us, inter alia, that a great many native peoples were left holding a worthless mankit treaty and ruled (indirectly) in the colonizers interest by a complicit culturally-assimilated native elite.
John Main @ 11:34 pm
“enslaved Scots”
If ‘a people’ are subject to colonial procedures, then they are ‘enslaved’. Such a people have been ‘procured’ and remain in ‘bondage’ until such times as they are liberated. That is why independence means liberation for a colonially oppressed people.
‘Bought and sold for English gold’ was never meant to be a meaningless expression, it is a statement of fact.
chic.mcgregor@11.52
“JINGS”
I was having a go at Chinese a few years back and came across a grouping of terms eg “j?ngqí”/“j?ngx?”, with meanings like “startled, astonished, pleasantly surprised, shocked”. Began to wonder if the Scottish expression had been borrowed from China during British Empire times. However, the Scottish National Dictionary (DSL site) suggests it is equivalent of English “(By) Jings”. And the Online Etymological Dictionary has the following, which all sounds rather “surprisingly” still relevant —
JINGO:
« “mindless, militaristic patriot,” 1878, picked up from the refrain of a music hall song written by G.W. Hunt, and sung by “Gilbert H. MacDermott” (1845-1901), supporting aggressive British policy toward Russia at a time of international tension. (“We don’t want to fight, But by Jingo! if we do, We’ve got the ships, we’ve got the men, We’ve got the money too.”)
« Hunt’s patriotic song of 1878, with a swinging tune … became at Macdermott’s instigation the watchword of the popular supporters of England’s bellicose policy. The “Daily News” on 11 March 1878 first dubbed the latter ‘Jingoes’ in derision …. [“Dictionary of National Biography,” London, 1912]
« As an asseveration, by jingo was in colloquial use from 1690s (high jingo is attested from 1660s), and jingo here is apparently yet another euphemism for Jesus (it translates French Par Dieu), influenced by conjurer’s gibberish presto-jingo (attested from 1660s). The frequent suggestion that it somehow derives from Basque Jinkoa “god” is “not impossible” but is “as yet unsupported by evidence” [OED]. »
We Scots took over England, in two stages, about a hundred years apart.
’twas never vice-versa.
Fukkm.
‘We celebrate performing arts because they are a force for good.’ Eh…WHIT?! Whit kinnay pretentious, bizarrely hilarious, grammatically incorrect shite is that? Jist when ye hink Edinburgh cannae get ony mair pissy prissy pious n pretentious, it manages tae ootdae itsel!
That ludicrous statement is like some kinnay weird cult statement greenhaired stormtrooper venue staff wid repeat in a wild brainwashing mantra afore the lights go doon n the curtain comes up oan some flaky theatrical production whaur folk dae interpretive dance routines dressed as jungle animals, then strip aff n shove yams up thir erses n roar n yowl n roll oan the flare tae make some kinnay ‘point’ aboot global warming in thir ain weird heids.
‘A force for good.’ Ye ivir heard sae much UTTERLY PRETENTIOUS PISH in aw yer life? As fir the bit aboot aw puing in the same direction fir 75 years, dinnae even get me startit….
Scrote’s take on history is certainly original.
Thank goodness the Germans were defeated at Culloden.
Ebenezer Scroggie says:
8 August, 2023 at 12:24 am
Thass nice, Herr Graf von Culloden
Did you know that there were more Scots and Germans than English on the losing side of that battle?
Alf Baird 12:35
You inflate the meanings of words to worthlessness.
Soz to have to break this to you, Alf, but your self identified lived experience that you have been procured, enslaved and held in bondage is in your head and nowhere else.
If there were any rational reality to it, there would be a stampede of concerned readers, led by me, tipping off the police so that you could be sprung to freedom.
You have some innarestin ideas that deserve airing and further analysis, but your hysterical OTT language isn’t helping your case.
Quite the contrary, in fact.
Finally, your cultural misappropriation of terms whose genuine meaning is offensive to some New Scots, because of historical suffering under true policies of procurement, enslavement and bondage, will add a further layer of opposition to those ideas of yours that have some merit.
SCHIEHALLION
On wiki the name is given as Gaelic meaning «fairy hill of Caledonia/the Caledonians». As fabulous a derivation as romantic 19th century toponymy might construct. Place names are functional things, fairy hills are a no no.
Given the mountain’s location in territory inhabited by the so called «Picts» the orthographically Scots name is more likely to derive from a Gaelicised rendering of a lost Britonic toponym in the way Glaschu, Glasgow is likely Britonic «glas cae», probably referencing a fertile field and not the fanciful «dear green place» of the guidebooks.
Modern Scotland needs «romantic» like a hole in the head.
Reading BTL these days you’d be forgiven for thinking you were observing a support group for failed Mensa applicants, each trying to out-do the other on the scale of pomposity and bumptiousness in order to prove that they posess the biggest brain in the room, despite all evidence to the contrary.
The only fun part is imagining the faces that go with the names. Here you can find all the ingredients of a 1970’s TV SitCom, without the canned laughter – a bit like the SNP these days.
I’m off to look up some less frequently used expletives – I’m getting bored regurgitating the same ones to nil effect.
robertkknight:
It’s called being fascinated by natural phenomena and human nature. It’s normal to share ideas; it’s what Scots have always done, sitting around the fire or wherever. It’s not bumptious at all.
Oh, and why would anyone want to ‘look up’ expletives? Can ye no’ make up yer ain?
Johnlm says: 5:59 am
“Scrote’s take on history is certainly original.
Thank goodness the Germans were defeated at Culloden.
Ebenezer Scroggie says:
8 August, 2023 at 12:24 am
Thass nice, Herr Graf von Culloden
Did you know that there were more Scots and Germans than English on the losing side of that battle?”
——————————
I remember that one..! 🙂 Best wishes from Hannover.
But the best of the yoon comedians is still John Main with runners-up ASA and chas
Evergrande has filed for chapter 15 US bankruptcy.
Interesting times coming.
Midgehunter
They never correct their gaffes so I assume that they stand by them.
Gaffe
Anytime you want to engage with reality, there’s help available, even on Wings BTL.
In reply to Steepbrae, here’s a few expletives we can use to express solidarity with Graham Linehan:
Erse. Feck.
Robertkknight
Maybe for the 1st time ever I am in agreement with one of your posts. Worrying times for me lol.
Add in the ones who post the same tripe every single day and you begin to wonder what the comments section on ‘Wings’ is actually for. It NEVER takes very long for the usual suspects to deviate from the Rev Stu’s accurate and forensic articles to talk about their pet subject, boring the rest of us to tears.
‘Free’ speech can be a dangerous thing. Of course, if you are not in agreement with the deranged rambling of the mentally unstable, you are simply classed as a ‘Yoon’ or a troll. Scotland laid bare in all it’s majesty.
SteepBrae…
“Oh, and why would anyone want to ‘look up’ expletives? Can ye no’ make up yer ain?”
It’s called being lazy… Still, beats the hell out of sitting around being a bone idle Numbfucklerist! 🙂
Paul,
20th august 5:50.
We should learn more ,
Wilful ignorance as a receiver is perhaps a bigger sin than that of the spewed forth from the Master of Logical Fallacies,
For it is the receivers illogical acceptance of a lie as information that progresses the lie to a logical fallacy
The “lie” only works if people believe it,
And you understood the Snp playing that roll since 2014,
But in general, all of the ” Only ” two or three party choices to choose from in politics is a manipulated logical Fallacy,
There was a Experiment done, called the “LINE” experiment that is a interesting watch, I found it on youtube a year or so ago,
Hopefully it is still there and worthwhile to veiw,
Alf Baird,
I am sure you are aware and have heard of the “Jones plantation”
I think this helps and goes a long way to explain Colonialism and why some of the more elete Scots were willing and able converts of Acts of Colonialism.
For those not aware of the ” Jones plantation ” video it may be found on youtube,
TURABDIN@8.28am
“On wiki the name is given as Gaelic meaning «fairy hill of Caledonia/the Caledonians». As fabulous a derivation as romantic 19th century toponymy might construct. Place names are functional things, fairy hills are a no no. Given the mountain’s location in territory inhabited by the so called «Picts» the orthographically Scots name is more likely to derive from a Gaelicised rendering of a lost Britonic toponym in the way Glaschu, Glasgow is likely Britonic «glas cae», probably referencing a fertile field and not the fanciful «dear green place» of the guidebooks. Modern Scotland needs «romantic» like a hole in the head.”
—————
With respect, the etymology I have given for SCHIEHALLION (Sìth Chaillean, ‘Fairy hill of the Caledonians”) is perfectly robust, though Brittonic does hover behind the second element. My immediate resource was the excellent and authoritative, book by Iain Taylor: ‘The Placenames of Scotland’ (newly revised and updated, Birlinn, 2022). As for the initial element SÌTH, we have the following confirmation from Alexander MacBain’s venerable ‘An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language’ (Gairm Publications, 1982):
« SÌTH
a fairy, sìthich (do.), Irish sídh, a fairy hill, sígh, a fairy, sígheóg (do.), Old Irish síde, dei terreni [earthly gods] whose dwelling is called síd; in fact, síde, the fairy powers, is the plural of síd, fairy dwelling or mound, while its gen. sing. appears in mná síde, fir síde: *sêdos, g. sêdesos, as in the case of sìth, peace, which is its homonym (Stokes); root se, sêd, Greek edos, a temple or statue, literally an “abode” or “seat”; Latin noven-sides, noven-siles, the new gods imported to Rome. Thurneysen has compared Latin sîdus, a constellation, “dwelling of the gods”. Hence sìthean, a green knoll, fairy knoll. »
CAILLEANN
WJ Watson’s ‘The Celtic Placenames of Scotland’ (Birlinn), gives us the following (I greatly abbreviate) —
« The Old Welsh form of Caledones is seen in ‘coit Celidon’ (‘wood of the Caledonians’), later ‘coed Celyddon’. The tribal name is found with us in three names:
DÙN CHAILLEANN (Dunkeld, ‘Fort of the Caledonians’);
RÀTH CHAILLEANN (Rohallian near Dunkeld, ‘Rath [circular fort] of the Caledonians’;
SÌDH/ SÌTH CHAILLEANN (Schiehallion, ‘Fairy Hill of the Caledonians’).
« The English form ‘Dunkeld’ appears to show Welsh influence. As to derivation, the old explanation from Welsh ‘celli’ (grove), Gaelic ‘coille’ (wood), has long been given up. The base is probably either ‘kal’ (hard) or ‘kal’ (clamour). »
Republicofscotland.
20th august 5:21.
I was once metal detecting at a place named Monboddo, and asked locals about the name,
I was given the history of Lord Monboddo and the theory of Apes and Man,
But one wonders about the science that is funded by elete establishments to belittle the people and does it go as far as the master of logical fallacies,
As ( yet) the missing genetic link has not been truely discovered between man and ape, but they are trying hard to connect the two in science,
If the funding for scientology is increased, I am sure de-humanising humans to apes “the new found link” will be on the news.
Once we were known as human beings, then the population, then the subjects, then the global Citizens,
Subtle at first, but each change has bought reductions in human rights.
Now if the establishment funding scientists could class you as animal what then?
Someone on the Twitter commented that the perjurers should be dealt with the way the Romans handled such characters i.e. give them whatever punishment they were hoping to see inflicted on their victims.
Interesting suggestion.
Fearghas MacFionnlaigh.
The books you mentioned are excellent books,
Having lived in many parts of Scotland and spent a few years in Wales I carried The Celtic Place Names of Scotland in the glove compartment of my Car,
Researching and comparing the descriptive and explanation possibilities for each name of place I visited,
So many were accurate if you were first of all, being aware of past intervention for modern buildings, roads, and industrialisation changing landscapes.
But referring to older maps and taking into account modern local name changes,
A great travelling hobby, good exercise and fresh air,
Father Teilhard de Chardin was involved in the Piltdown hoax.
Father George Lemaitre invented the Big Bang theory.
Sometimes I wonder what the Vatican is up to.
What’s the odds on the SNP kicking all talk of indy off their conference.
There lack of interest in coalitions beyond the greens is shocking in the extreme.
Lots of talk and waffle and no cast iron indy proposals.
No bets being taken
I see no way of stopping the SNP careering ahead into the car crash so if your an MP or an MSP or a councilor reading this ye were telt!!
scanning the news today I see a bit of talk about the pensions triple lock being unaffordable.
There you go folks just as the pensioners were told their pension was safer in the union the government cut out the inflation protection and the SNP go native (Westminster style).
Piss ups and breweries spring to mind
Steepbrae,
9:17 am.
“It is what Scots have always done”
Indeed it is, perhaps that is why the age of enlightenment was linked to Scotland,
They do not like Scots thinking for themselves, or informing each other of topics, news or history.
Colonisation includes de- abilitating the natives way of life, land grabs, over- lying law structures, and changing their thinking patterns to break connections of the native people for the acceptance of invading new thinking colonialism,
Let it be said that all this Colonialism has been done to Scotland and Scots for centuries while Scotland was “extinguished” from the treaty of union, and the “parliament of England” was making new Treaties with Ireland in 1800.
suppose if humans could be demoted and were classed in the category as part animal, they could feed us bugs and we would be happy owning nothing, not able to drive or live in heated houses,
Then they could come along and buy up all the land that once belonged to human farmers, and deliberately set wildfires to the rest of woodlands for clearences with new high powered energy weapons causing “scorched earth” for human type animals and a new policy for climate change.
Who knows we may be locked up or down, like animals in a zoo,
And the rich people would then take possession of these empty lands.
Just supposition you understand.
125 years ago Robert Louis Stevenson remarked on how the Scots language was falling more and more into disuse.
He expressed his feelings on the demise of Scots in a poem:
taken from Underwoods (1898) – The Maker to Posterity
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Fortunately Stevenson was wrong, and the Scots language is still very much alive.
Johnlm,
I am away to research the Piltdown Hoax, as that is a new one to me,
Thanks for infomation.
O/T: fundraiser by broadcastingscotland.scot – target £30,000, standing at £12,879.m
Their broadcasting equipment is in place but they need funds to pay staff. Shauny Boy has reached his target so now we can turn to helping Broadcasting Scotland.
Could not agree more, James Che 1.25pm. Our schooling in the 18thC was good and families would sit in the evening and pass on stories. In villages, local tradesmen, workers, the laird – they’d talk too and share learning. The grassroots.
Not only that, they’d be out making things, finding out how things worked. So it wasn’t just intellectual stuff.
Stifling the grassroots is a pastime of the establishment, of course. You just have to keep going.
Baird still whining on about being colonised. He doesn’t seem to realise that Scots have been the greatest colonisers of human history, including sending their best and brightest to England, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the USA, half of Africa, parts of Asia…
It was only the losers in life that stayed in Scotland. And in the event of Indy, there’ll be another emigration of those who pay the majority of taxes, leaving Scotland with the worst demographic profile in Europe. It ain’t going to be pretty.
I see the SNP is preparing a magnolia conference with no talk of independence or even preparing. The usual suspects making sure there is nothing to inspire the sheep.
If they only had a pair of balls proposing something revolutionary in the run up to Rutherglen they might have a chance.
Even the bookies are laughing and not taking bets on a labour win such is the certainty.
I don’t know what the outcome will be but what ever it is responsibility rest with Humza.
Below is part of a piece by Iain MacKinnon, “Colonialism and the Highland Clearances”.
There is little reason to doubt that those who prepared and carried out these radical changes to land arrangements in the late modern Gàidhealtachd genuinely believed that their work would improve the lives of a benighted people and integrate them into a better society. However, neither ‘clearance’ – which simply refers to the displacement of people from their lands – nor ‘improvement’ – if the term is considered primarily as principles and practices of a ‘new agronomy’ – are conceptually sufficient to apprehend the nature and the consequences of this process of integration. Even when considered in its wider ideological sense, a historiography of ‘improvement’ cannot help but privilege the perspectives of those who considered themselves the bearers of that term’s values. The meaning that inheres in the term itself – the strength of the ideas and beliefs it has generated and their power to transform history – may predispose Scottish historians to be dazzled by the Enlightenment project of which ‘improvement’ became part, and to be blind to its many shadows. Relatedly, we may become predisposed to imagine that policies and projects for governing land and natural
resources unfolding in the late modern Gàidhealtachd were primarily part of a process of social integration, thus eliding the fact that, when considered within their racist and imperialcontexts, these were policies and projects that colonized, marginalised and expelled an indigenous people from lands which constituted their home and a great part of the meaning of
their lives. Holding this ‘improvement’ predisposition we may not fully apprehend the human meaning of those people’s lives was, itself, unimproved and required, in Sinclair’s words, ‘a total alteration to the[ir] situation, habits and prejudices’. Disclosing such a predisposition may help us come to see that the internal colonization of the Gàidhealtachd was not,primarily, a process of integration but, instead, was a major contribution to a historical process of social and cultural disintegration. According to the ethnographer John MacInnes,
this disintegration has left Scottish Gaels today living in cultural and social ‘detritus’.77 The same conclusion has been expressed by the poet Iain Crichton Smith, who in his bitter,trenchant and incisive essay ‘Real people in a real place’, written in 1982, denounced the historical ‘interior colonization’ and growing materialism that he believed had left Gaels in a cultural milieu increasingly ‘empty and without substance’.”
Reading the posts of A Scot Abroad allows insight into a certain type of mind. “It was only the losers that stayed in Scotland.”, suggests he thinks Scotland was/is such a shit place that it was the intelligent who fled.
“It was only the losers in life that stayed in Scotland.”
F*ck You, you Britnat shill, and f*ck Turner, Wingate, MCCallum, and Keast-Butler.
Ronnie, thanks for the update re Brian and the further update from Brian himself! hope you two gents are well and you Brian well on the way to recovery.
I enjoyed your article Stuart…..spot on.
Ronnie, thanks for the update re Brian and the further update from Brian himself! hope you two gents are well and you Brian, well on the way to recovery.
I enjoyed your article Stuart…..spot on.
James Che @11.17am.
A recent programme that I watched put the case across for homo sapiens originating in the East African Rift Valley, at least four pre-homo sapien humanoids species have been found there. If true we’ve come a very long way since then.
Another very interesting but depressing point was made in the programme, that only 4% of the world’s wild mammals still exist, the other 94% of mammals are made up of humans, their pets, and their domesticated farmed/food animals.
A SCOT ABROAD
Had those Scots been «colonizing» on Scotland’s behalf your point might have validity but they were acting for a London based, culturally anglocentric construct which was post 1707 simply the extension of English trading adventurism, itself having its origins in mercenary freebooting and piracy.
The «British» apple even now does not fall far from that particular tree.
I would not sing to loudly about Scottish bankers and drugs, tea planters and exploitation, the ever present race superiority etc which aided the English/British imperialists to strip the wealth of the countries they appropriated.
Scotland and the majority of her people, by any measure, got the crumbs and left overs from the imperial table only a highly romanticized version of Unionism might extract something positive from the relationship.
We should not blame those quitters who could not hack it in Scotland or who could not stomach the vile and incessant anti-cultural propaganda designed to eat away at their self esteem for seeking respite in more welcoming parts of the World.
It is always going to be close to intolerable when your home country is forced to share a bed with a hostile and petulant baby elephant.
After independence, many say they will return. We should then welcome them back with love and understanding to help make Scotland the country it could be, should be.
@sam says:21 August, 2023 at 3:19 pm
Hard to believe it was the lazy, the feckless, the indolent, the lacking in imagination and ambition who gave up everything they knew and held dear, to embark on expensive and often perilous journeys across the oceans of the world.
Being lazy, feckless, indolent, unimaginative and easily discouraged, they would not have been well suited for the backbreaking labour and endless motivational challenges they faced in their efforts to hack a grim existence from the untamed wildernesses they encountered.
In fact, I’m guessing the driver for many of them was a promise somebody gave to “show them the money”.
As for whether or not Scotland is/was a shit place, I have always been intrigued at just how few of the great Scottish diaspora have ever returned. Whether or not they have prospered in Canada, Australia, the USA, etc beyond the wildest dreams of their ancestors, few of them seem disposed to the idea they should come back.
Facts, eh? Awkward feckers.
Anyone new to ‘Wings’ will quickly realise the the majority of posts come from angry, bitter, probably male individuals on the wrong side of age 50.
Most will have achieved very little in their lives which, in it’s self, does not preclude them from having realistic, valid, well thought out opinions. Then you read a lot of the dross and realise that your initial thoughts were correct.
As the ‘site brains’ have now appeared to have moved on to evolution and the survival of the fittest-one interesting fact-99% of every species that has ever lived is now extinct. It is how nature works and evolves. The current version of Homo Sapiens will not buck the trend.
O/T
Hearing that the (S)lime Greens will be contesting the Rutherglen By-Election . Well , that’s 2 , maybe 3 votes less for their erstwhile * partners * in Government .
Might as well save the time and effort and just give it to Labour now .
I’m starting to wonder if we’ve underestimated this SNP/Green coalition of the swilling . Could be they are so hyper-intelligent they have formulated a strategy whereby the more seats , votes and general support they lose the closer to Independence we get .
A plan so cunning it’s beyond the comprehension we un-evolved earthlings
When I read Scot Abroad modern posts, it reminds me of those Scottish mindsets that went on to convert and Colonise other part of world,
Those that their fortune and brittle aggressiveness look down on the poorer Scot in Scots Society whom the wealthy Scot was willing to sell and look down upon, whose land they had stolen and livelihood were taken from them through the greed and elitist snobbery and of a mind that is willing in aiding and abetting to the anglo empires around the world,
While willing shite on his kith and kin.
Scot Abroad I tend to agree with you that Scots did go on to Colonise other Countries while turning on own their people and nation for financial benefits and purposes.
If we could point out a modern day equivalent who thinks he is above the losers, above the poor, who thinks that he is superior to his own race,
Fingers may be inclined to twitch and turn in your direction for comparson of a old Coloniser mindset in a modern Scotland working hard every day to subdue the natives.
Just remember whilst you do that, that Scotland was lucky in its escape due to the Scottish parliament being extinguished from the treaty by the agreement in1707 before it began and Westminster has been caught acting as solely a English parliament of England in 1800 while making a treaty with Ireland,
RoS,
there are far more successful people of Scottish ancestry across the world than there are in Scotland.
It’s hard to think of anybody of national significance in Scotland these days, particularly in public service. There’s nobody who inspires, or who even has a clue about how to make iScotland work. Not even Salmond. He hasn’t a clue, either.
Not much better in England, to be honest.
@ John Main 3.19
Not guilty yer oner. its ASA you should be talkin to.
I don’t ever want to read yer condescending stuff.
Sam,
Good Post,
There are many many people that realise Scotland is a Colony of a down south empire, and many more waking up to this fact,
Alf Baird is not the only target for unionist to aim at in their attempt to subdue the narrative, for most people in Scotland now know,
Robert Hughes @4:22pm
Could be they (SNP\Greens) are so hyper-intelligent they have formulated a strategy whereby the more seats , votes and general support they lose the closer to Independence we get .
Damn it, Robert. That’s the second time you’ve made me choke on a McVitie’s digestive and spill ma tea. I’m startled, shocked even, by your revelation.
Of course – you’re right. Why didn’t I see it before? Genius.
Right, I’m off to make a fresh cup of tea, and wait for the SNP\Greens to deliver independence with their hyper-intelligent, cleverly formulated strategy.
Old Colonisers find it difficult to let go of Scotland,
It fears being known as England without resources,
Chic 3.55: “It is always going to be close to intolerable when your home country is forced to share a bed with a hostile and petulant baby elephant.”
Ha! Ha! Yes, I think it was Ludovic Kennedy who first came up with that phrase as one of his book titles, which might have been improved slightly by the addition of “incontinent” after hostile.
Final para of MacKinnon’s piece.
“>From the perspectives articulated by indigenous scholars, the emerging
historiography disclosing the Scottish Gàidhealtachd as a site of internal colonization over many centuries – a historiography of which this article forms a part – may also be understood as a contribution to the decolonization of the Gaels of Scotland. Such contributions are being made not only in order to retrieve what we were and recover ourselves now, but also, in so doing, to support the opening of creative spaces in which recovering Gaels can develop a sense of our own authentic humanity. These are spaces in which we can take up the work of restoring and reworking traditional modes of being and of agency; of re-imagining and remaking a future, by way of our own lights.”
Belated acknowledgement of your comment IB (@ 6.15pm 20 August.)
I don’t comment much because I don’t really have the time and anyway usually someone has made the comment I would have made so my input is redundant. Often I’m two articles behind by the time I catch up with the site.
I agree with your comment regarding the AS case. I think it’s very telling that after the collapse of the Scottish Government’s woefully incompetent case before the Court of Session that those involved were confident of trying again as ‘they might have lost the battle but would win the war.’
It doesn’t take a conspiratorial mind to guess at who might have given them the confidence to carry on after the Court of Session debacle. I don’t think any of those with a prominent role in the conspiracy had the wit or nous to try to pull it off by themselves. This looks like a grand coalition of interests within the Scottish establishment to end Salmond’s career. ( Perhaps with some outside influence from those more skilled than they in how to use the media, legal system and extra-parliamentary expertise to demolish someone’s reputation?)
sam@5.16pm
“the Scottish Gàidhealtachd as a site of internal colonization over many centuries”
————-
I submit the following poem —
“If you had seen this toast before it was made,?
You’d lift up your hands and bless marmalade!”
(Adapted – see NOTE below*)
THE APPLE OF IDENTITY
The apple of identity crumbles on the tongue
as shortbread from a tartan tin
or oatcake too thin to bear the buttered blade.
?(Our dentures fix their nerveless grin).
Some worm by ear insinuated?
hath drilled our brain into a riddle.?
Each kernel of thought drops through a slot.?
A glut of glume bestrews our griddle.
From ransacked mouth the husks still spill.?
From cankered core pour hollow pips.?
All fail to germinate on half-baked floor.?
A tongue of Highland Toffee licks our lips.
Native recipes we scorn to approve:?
No peat-smoke reek nor teuchter’s Babel!
Full English Breakfast on North British Stove:?
Cumberland sausage to command our Table!
?———
?*NOTE re original couplet:
”Had you seen these roads before they were made.?
You would lift up your hands and bless General Wade.”
Sir Walter Scott quotes the above somewhere, but the apparent attribution is to Major William Caulfeild (sic), who took over from Field Marshall George Wade (1673-1748) with road, bridge, and fort construction in the North of Scotland, designed to facilitate British troop movements in the quelling of the Jacobite insurrections. In 1725 Wade had been appointed “Commander in Chief of His Majesty’s forces, castles, forts and barracks in North Britain”.
Gaelic version of APPLE OF IDENTITY:
UBHAL AN DEARBH-AITHNE
Ubhal an dearbh-aithne, bruanach air teanga,?
mar spruan cho fuadain ri tartan an tiona,?
no aran-coirce ro thana fo sgithinn làn ìme.?
Ar fiaclan-brèig’ a’ cur drèin gun chlì oirnn.
Liùg cnuimh gun chagar a-steach air ar cluais.?
Chagainn i gu slìogach ar n-eanchainn na ruideal.?
Tro mhogall nan toll sgiolc smaogail ar smuain.?
Am moll sgaoilt gu mall ann am meall air a’ ghreideil.
Beul bochd air a’ phoca ga bhòcadh le càth.?
Cridhe crìon na chriathar a nì liath gach silean.?
Gun gin a’ ginideachadh air cloich-ghràin an làir.?
Teanga tofai-bò a’ suathadh ar bilean.
An reasabaidh dùthchasach air a chur suarach:?
Thalla fàileadh ceò-mòna, ’s blas cànan ar sinnseir!?
Làn-Bhracaist Shasannach, stòbh Bhreatainn a Tuath:?
Bheir isbean Chumbarlainn buaidh air ar truinnsear!
Tinto
Dang, I thought that was original but now you mention Ludovic Kennedy it rings a bell.
@Robert Hughes says:21 August, 2023 at 4:22 pm
SNP/Green coalition of the swilling
A few more of that quality, Rob, and you will have yourself a Fringe Stand Up slot.
Keep them coming.
@sam says:21 August, 2023 at 4:48 pm
I don’t ever want to read yer condescending stuff
Too bad, Sam, few of us ever get what we want.
Alert readers who have taken the time to study your posts today about the Scottish Gàidhealtachd will have noticed that the simplistic colonisation narrative is muddied and confused yet again by the facts that the history and lived experience of Gaelic speakers differs markedly to the history and lived experience of Scots speakers.
@chic.mcgregor says:21 August, 2023 at 3:55 pm
After independence, many say they will return. We should then welcome them back with love and understanding to help make Scotland the country it could be, should be
Awa tae feck wi that idea.
So you think we are going to welcome back all those who stayed away, biding their time until we could defo keep them in the comfort and prosperity they believe they are entitled to?
Carpetbaggers. Feck them.
@ Northcode
Alas , my friend , this SNP/G strategy exists on the same ethereal plane as the SNP’s ” Summer of Independence ” , ergo , not perceptible to the likes of ourselves . Binary primitives that we are . Maybe GCHQ could fill us in ?
@John Main
“Alert readers who have taken the time to study your posts today about the Scottish Gàidhealtachd will have noticed that the simplistic colonisation narrative is muddied and confused yet again by the facts that the history and lived experience of Gaelic speakers differs markedly to the history and lived experience of Scots speakers.”
So what, ya maroon?
You’re not an alert reader ya bampot. The explanation lies in the piece had you bothered to read it. Condescension then nonsense. What an aerosol.
For the record there are no intended question marks whatsoever in the poetry stuff posted above. They are all unforeseen formatting quirks.
Mòran taing Fearghas. A’bheil am faclaran an sin do fhein?
I take it you’ll have heard the old joke about Wade and the new recruit?
chic.mcgregor @3:55pm
An understanding, mature and benevolent approach typical of the Scots in general – well said.
Robert Hughes
Alas , my friend , this SNP/G strategy exists on the same ethereal plane as the SNP’s ” Summer of Independence ” , ergo , not perceptible to the likes of ourselves
Aye, Robert. Their ‘strategy’ is far beyond our meagre comprehension. Of course, in fairness to ourselves, it’s difficult to comprehend something that doesn’t exist.
@Chic: never mind. “Recycling” is a good thing, particularly when it’s unconscious 🙂 .
@sam says:21 August, 2023 at 7:00 pm
maroon
bampot
aerosol
This is not a cast-iron rule of Wings BTL, but there is defo a link between the incontinent insulters and those who sniffily claim they won’t be reading any more comments from their encampment on the moral high ground.
BTW, Sam, do I detect a hint of Morningside in your comment? Who else has to morph arsehole into aerosol? FFS, it’s 2023, even in Scotland.
Anyhoo, remember, Sam, don’t you go reading this now! It’s got a bad word in!
Ouch – too late!
Feck. Erse.
See Mrs Forbes….getting her fit in the door about Indy leadership.
Thats Mss Cherry’s gas in a peep eh?
With Kate as leader we may have a chance of keeping the movement together and rebuilding the carnage created in the Sturgeon /Harvie experiment. Sure we’ll loose a few LGBTQ+++++ but that will be a plus as the Scottish people are beginning to realise what they have been up to for the last few years.
As for Wings below the line, who knows as many here don’t appear to know their arse from their elbow, they seem to inhabit some sort of Gaelic neverland.
chic.mcgregor@7.14pm
“Mòran taing Fearghas. A’bheil am faclaran an sin do fhein? I take it you’ll have heard the old joke about Wade and the new recruit?”
—————
Sgrìobh mi fhìn an dàn ud san dà chànan o chionn beagan bhliadhnaichean. I don’t think I’ve heard the Wade joke. Should I hesitate to seek enlightenment?
akenaton – Couldn’t agree more. Dyed in the wool Nationalists didn’t like her much and I understand why, but you need to connect with floating voters and that’s the only way. She has the potential to do that and Salmond said that himself. If Operation Branchform is investigating embezzlement, amongst other things, then they will need someone who offers a clean break from all of that.
John Main @ 6:38 pm
“the history and lived experience of Gaelic speakers differs markedly to the history and lived experience of Scots speakers.”
Fostering tribal divisions is all part of the colonizer’s toolbox, each subordinate group jostling for its privileges. As are Clearances, transportations, Empire Resettlement Acts and confiscation of lands – all with the aim ‘to banish the natives; linked with a meritocratic elite largely imported from the mother country; the colonizer’s ‘generosity’ of a Language Act and TV station for ane tribe, but no the ither.
@Alf Baird says:21 August, 2023 at 8:10 pm
I dunno why you are quoting what I posted earlier Alf, Sam has already shot it down in flames. Without even reading it!
Fostering tribal divisions is all part of the colonizer’s toolbox
I can’t help thinking you continue to see everything through your “colonisation” prism. Everything is colonialism to you.
The Gaelic speakers agitated for their road signs and their linguistic support, so they got them, and that’s interpreted as fostering divisions.
Which makes me wonder, if you ever get your Scots language recognition, will that foster divisions too?
Captain Yossarian says:
21 August, 2023 at 8:10 pm
“Dyed in the wool Nationalists didn’t like her much and I understand why, but you need to connect with floating voters and that’s the only way.”
100% agree. About connecting.
This is where Alf Baird and I diverge.
I do not agree that the ‘colonial’ arguemnts will work electorally.
Scotland must be forward thinking and define itself by a) demonstrating competence in governance, and b) showing at an international level that it is distinct as a national entity.
The current doctrine of “Well, we are not as bad as Westminster” is not the foundation on whcih to build an aspirant nation. Two years ago, Tory commentator were saying that independence for Scotland was an inevitability. Not ‘if’ but ‘when’.
Thanks to the Murrells and (pauses) third parties, we can safely say that it is decades away.
Forbes would steady the ship and provide a bit of gravitas by putting the Greens in the compost bin, but it needs someone like Salmond to drive us forward.
I’d be happy with Kate Forbes back as SNP leader.
I wanted Ash Regan to win. But Kate Forbes is a beautiful Christian mother. She has pride in her church. Her institutions. She’s traditional.
Seeing her walking up the steps of Bute House with her Bairn in arms would warm my heart.
I respect the fact she’s got her Christian faith.
I respect anyone that has their faith. I’m jealous of it.
The branch office run by Sir Kier Starmer and millionaire Anas Sarwar is as unpopular as Douglas Ross and the Tories in Scotland.
Humza must be issued with his P45 on return from his ego massaging holiday.
The guy is a clown. He’s cheated his way to Bute House. We’re sick of the Sturgeon’s, the Murrells the Swinneys and the robertsons.
It’s time to give Kate Forbes a shot at leadership. She’s the leader to unite the country. To unite the no voters. The Tories.
And the Independence movement. If she backs Scotland United which I believe she will. She’s incredible. She’s intelligent. She’s a mother she’s caring. She’s kind.
She can’t be manipulated by Sturgeon. That’s for sure.
She can sack the corrupt Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain on the sport.
She can sack all of the Sturgeonite cabinet ministers. Corrupt to the core.
Corrupt theiving lying cheating conniving, plotting, SNP Sturgeon polticians in that SNP.
Kate Forbes is going to sack you all.
akenaton@7.49pm
“As for Wings below the line, who knows as many here don’t appear to know their arse from their elbow, they seem to inhabit some sort of Gaelic neverland.”
———————
Thanks for that. But of course the whole thing about “causes” is that by definition they are in danger of being lost, and consequently one’s invested life’s work with them. Those who prefer not to risk anything are obviously more liable to stick with the prevailing Establishment whichever way the wind blows. A listen to this subtitled interview or two with young Irish historian Fearghal Mac Bhloscaidh (Feargal McCluskey) might at least reveal that there is a harder edge to Gaelic than you infer —
link to gobha-uisge.blogspot.com
I can’t wait for the summer recess to come to an end.
It’s time to bring the House of Cairds, tumbling to the ground.
Hail Alba. For liberty.
Shona Robinson says No to Scotland United:
“No, we are standing as the SNP in this constituency, in this by-election, to put forward the SNP’s proposition and policies like the Scottish Child Payment and to put a hardworking MP into Westminster to stand up for her constituents and to support and push forward the very progressive policies that the SNP has.”
The Alba Party is giving us a vote to stand in Rutherglen. I think I’ll vote to reject it now based on Shona Robinson’s comments.
Let the SNP have their arse handed to them to prove that they need Scotland United.
@ David Hannah
Hmm, you don’t think new mother and freeport supporter Kate Forbes just stood in a divide and rule stylée to take votes off of Ash Regan who had an actual plan.
link to wingsoverscotland.com
I see the Scottish Endarkenment is still in full effect.
The Thickening – There can be only dumb… 🙁
A’Fearghas
Is toigh leam e cuideachd.
The Wade New recruit joke.
It was told to me dha fichead bliadhna air ais by a Leodhasach
General Wade was showing the ropes to a new recruit.
As they walked side by side he said “Do you see this road we walk on boy? “Yes Sir.” replied the lad.
“I built this road.”
“Tis indeed a fine road Sir.” commented the young man.
“Yes!” replied Wade “But do the local ingrates call me ‘Wade the Great Road Builder’?” A clearly rhetorical question because Wade answered it himself immediately. “Do they Hell!”
They walked on for a while, then General Wade stopped and pointed and said “Do you see that bridge over there boy?”. “Yes Sir” replied the boy.
“I built that bridge boy. But do they call me Wade the Great Bridge Builder?” Wade shook his head ” Not a bit of it.”
They walked on through a small copse and out into a clearing where Wade stopped and pointed once more. “Do you see that fort we are heading toward?”
“Yes Sir it looks a stout fortification to me.”
“I built that fort, I designed it but do they call me Wade the Great Fort Builder?
“I guess not Sir.” replied the boy.
“No indeed they do not.” Spat out Wade and walked on.
The boy held back so that Wade turned and asked “What is it boy?”
The boy, somewhat nervously, almost stammering asked “I-if I may ask Sir, if they do not call you the Great Road Builder or the Great Bridge Builder or the Great Fort Builder, what DO they call you?”
Wade paused for a second then said. “Look boy, you will no doubt find out soon enough for yourself. Just you remember this. I was only helping that sheep get over the dyke. Right?”
I like Ash Regan’s policies, her Commonweal background. I desperately wanted her to win. Listen if Ash Regan runs again then I’ll transfer all my love and hopes for her to win.
But Kate Forbes, as a woman. As a mother. As someone proud in their traditions and their faith. I find her really popular. I like her it’s hard not to.
I like tradition. And I’m not stupid.
I know the politicians deliberately manufacture social issues before elections.
Stop the boats. Pro life or right the choose. Trans rights.
It’s to stop us talking about the corruption going on.
Sturgeon sold off ScotWind. Sturgeon turned Scotland into a free port. Sturgeon has decimated local councils across the country. Sturgeon has sabotaged Independence.
If Kate Forbes come in and says, I’m going to sack the lot of you. You’re out. And 2 fingers up the wokeies that have captured the SNP. I’d be right behind that.
I’d support her. She’s a cracking braw lassie
Ash Regan, could be a cabinet minister for economy. In a Kate Forbes SNP.
Forbes has the appeal. She’s everything this country needs.
Regan has Commonweal. Make her the executive of the economy.
I’d vote SNP again!
Dan – Once you start losing your vote share and the popularity of Independence drops from 45% to 40% then it becomes extraordinarily difficult to get back up to 45%, let alone 50%.
Kate Forbes gives you the chance to start doing that and on a one to one with Anas Sarwar, Kate Forbes would do very well for you. Once you get your popularity back up to serious levels again, then start talking about Independence.
Kate Forbes problem is that, she’s had Nicola Sturgeon’s cabal advising her.
She’s a young woman. Learning.
There’s no doubt in my mind that fiend, unhinged Nicola Sturgeon, was telling her to sign these Free Port deals.
Nicola Sturgeon was the commander in chief. She’s a witch if I’ve ever seen one. We know what she’s like.
Sturgeon is Scotland’s destroyer. Now Kate Forbes has the chance to send her back to hell.
Kate Forbes.
All she needs to do is say. Scotland united for Independence.
She can make Ash Regan her minister for the economy – Commonweal.
How would Kate Forbes win? Well Scotland United of course! We’re over 50 per cent in the polls.
Half the country wants Independence.
Kate Forbes would kill off the Labour come back. She would get Tories voting for her as well.
She’s the perfect candidate. She’ll get the country talking about Independence again. She’s traditional.
She should say, I’m coming to get rid of of Nicola Sturgeon’s corruption.
When Sturgeon goes. Yousaf goes.
Kate Forbes. Step up.
Here’s an idea. Kate Forbes gives Joanna Cherry QC the job as Scotland’s Lord Advocate.
The legal system would be in safe hands. That’s for sure.
We’d get rid of this false wig Dorothy Stain. Up to her neck in the Sturgeon sleeze. Sturgeon’s chosen lord Advocate. She can be sacked immediately by a new lord Advocate that wants to get rid of the corruption. The whole country can smell rotting corruption of Sturgeonism.
We can’t have an Independent Scotland built on corruption now can we? That will not do. Even the Unionists will he thinking. Let’s get rid of thd corruption. Let’s vote for the anti corruption candidate!
The plan: Scotland United for Independence.
Kate Forbes, Christian mother and Conservative.
Ash Regan, left wing Commonweal polices that Scotland loves!
Joanna Cherry – Scotland’s feminist freedom fighter. Fighting for justice and anti corruption.
The campaign Scotland. Scotland United for Independence. We can’t have an Independent Scotland built on corruption mow? Can we?
We’re the anti corruption vote. The vote for freedom of speech Kate Forbes she’s knows what a woman is.
We’re voting for Independence. We’re voting our country. We will be the patriotic flame that will never die.
Labour under Sir Kier Starmer will be rejected. The converatives will be voting for Scotland United with a tory at thd helm.
Mary’s your auntie. Bobs your uncle. Scotland United wins.
Hey David.
Is there no room in there for Alex? Even just as an advisory fatherly figure? A bit like Charlie’s Angels but with a serious purpose.
Captain Yossarian says: at 10:35 pm
“Once you start losing your vote share and the popularity of Independence drops from 45% to 40% then it becomes extraordinarily difficult to get back up to 45%, let alone 50%.”
Please furnish some supportive historical evidence to back that pisswaffle assertion up.
“Kate Forbes gives you the chance to start doing that and on a one to one with Anas Sarwar, Kate Forbes would do very well for you. Once you get your popularity back up to serious levels again, then start talking about Independence.”
Kate Forbes gives me the chance of fuck all. She couldn’t even be arsed casting a vote which would have meant background checks and safeguarding procedures would be put in place with the whole genderwoowoo SelfId shittery. The conservative MSP Meghan Gallagher who, like Kate Forbes was also on maternity leave at the time of the bill passing through Holyrood managed to cast her vote.
Kate Forbes not voting meant the likes of that rapist in women’s jail crap happens, thus further destroying the credibility of any remaining SNP / Green party politician or activist actually having to try to defend such bollox whilst interacting with the public. How far detached from reality must a politician be not to comprehend that their actions have consequences.
SNP, the party in “government” that brought you such stellar shit as Scotwind, Freeports, Ferries, DRS, Hate Crime Bill, which have done nothing to benefit the people of Scotland.
Done with it all now and fed up of fucking idiot politicians that seemingly haven’t a clue implementing policy they appear to know fuck all about. Just a bunch of self serving spineless drones.
Here’s a policy idea. Rather than create draconian LEZ zones; If they actually want to reduce vehicle exhaust particulate emissions, then stop refineries supplying supermarkets with shit low grade diesel fuel that doesn’t combust cleanly and therefore kicks out more soot whilst causing no end of vehicle emission control component issues.
A decent modern integrated public transport system would be braw and might help reduce the public’s reliance on personal vehicles, Japan runs MagLev trains at scary speeds, we’re still running diesel propulsion anywhere north of Dunblane, which is kind of pish when we have so much leccy generated by renewables coming on stream.
Just exporting almost double the amount of leccy we are using at the moment.
link to extranet.nationalgrid.com
And soon to be ten times more produced but we won’t be using anywhere near that amount here.
link to twitter.com
Yup,
violence…is on the way…because…ignorance,stupidity,self important greedy troughing shit’s,…liar’s,thieve’s…and most of
all the bought and paid for slugs…who are so so sure…,
Sorry to be so upbeat,
If starmer becomes PM…he will most definately be the last labour pm,and quite possibly the last uk pm…what comes after that???
…hold on to your goolie’s…and try to protect your own…,
This place is fucked…,…,…,…,…,Fuck off snp and all who still sail in it,….(or is that drown with it)…,
I thought the scot’s were smart…theyre not,definately not!
I’m off,…ta ta and good luck.
John Main @ 8:47 pm
“I can’t help thinking you continue to see everything through your “colonisation” prism. Everything is colonialism to you.”
Well, independence is decolonization you know, according to the UN Decolonization Committee C-24. What did you think independence and national liberation was about?
Thatcher destroyed Scotland.
She ripped the heart right out of it.
I was wishing the bastard would drop down dead.
So when she dodged the Brighton bomb I was beelin.
I didn’t think I could have as much hatred towards any politician ever again.
Then along comes Sturgeon, she is up there with Thatcher.
Sturgeon has sucked the life out of the Scottish independence movement.
I detest Sturgeon with a passion, and hope the bastard dies a slow horrible death.
What she has done is unforgivable, and she must be reminded of the hatred we have for her every time she shows that lying, conning face of hers.
Baird,
your expertise, if that’s what you want to think of it, is as a “Professor” of containers in a fourth rate jumped up Tech college that nowcalls itself a university. And your big idea about making Orkney a transshipment port is absolutely fucking bonkers.
Why you have the conceit now to bang on about colonisation is beyond us. You haven’t a fucking clue about what you are talking about. It’s a-historic, uninformed, and embarrassing to you.
@ASA
Give it a rest eh?
Your increasingly unhinged comments are unworthy of this forum. You’re actually now abusing your right to free speech by continually harassing one single person on the same subject in the same terms over and over. It’s skirting with behaviour that a reasonable person might view as bullying.
I honestly think you might need help of some kind. Is there no-one you can turn to for an objective view of your disturbingly erratic behaviour? I think you might be having some kind of breakdown and it would be unfair for someone not to point this out to you. Your reactions are not in the normal range of civilised adult responses to a subject of disagreement. Spending the wee hours posting personally abusive comments when most normal people are in bed (those who don’t suffer with insomnia) and are recharging their batteries for another day seems to me evidence of someone who is losing their bearings.
For some reason this forum does attract from time to time those with your kind of ‘problem’. When this spills over into sustained abuse, it often means a line has been crossed.
I would suggest an apology might be in order but you don’t strike me as someone who can see very clearly, despite your recurring self-boosting of your ‘achievements’, for which you never provide any verifiable evidence.
Well, that’s all I have to say as one concerned human being to another.
PhilM@2.58.
You may validly rail at ASA’s comments but the reality is that ASA’s comments are just an abusive Brit Nat rant. Personal attack using the most disparaging and offensive of terms is what ASA’s comments are about.
Clearly the rather erudite Mr Baird gets under our resident Brit Nat ranter’s skin. And like a latter day Alf Garnett our ASA reacts accordingly.
The comment about Prof Baird being ” a professor of containers in a fourth rate jumped up tech college that now calls itself a university” is an absolute peach. It reinforces the all too prevalent Brit Nat hatred of the Scots, who in ASA’s rants are akin to the wogs and others not of ASA’s persuasion.
Abusive and offensive? Well maybe. But you know what I ike many others just smile when I read the rants from ASA – just like I did with the pantomime Brit Nat parody that was Alf Garnett all those years ago.
Alf Garnett, takes on Alf Baird. It’s yer wogs innit stupid Shouldn’t be allowed. Send em home – eh what?
Dan – “Once you start losing your vote share and the popularity of Independence drops from 45% to 40% then it becomes extraordinarily difficult to get back up to 45%, let alone 50%.”
Alex Salmond stated this. He didn’t put figures against it as I have done but the point that I am making was made first by him.
PhilM & Willie sharp-elbowing each other for possession of the moral high ground. Considering the almost daily levels of abuse that goes on here BTL, their selective outrage can but raise a smile.
Here’s a wee quote particularly apt for all the purveyors of synthetic upset and histrionic pearl clutching:
Yet I am here, a chosen sample,
To shew Thy grace is great and ample:
I’m here, a pillar o’ Thy temple
Strong as a rock,
A guide, a ruler and example
To a’ Thy flock.
Lord, in thy day o’ vengeance try him!
Lord visit him that did employ him!
And pass not in thy mercy by them,
Nor hear their prayer;
But for thy people’s sake destroy them,
An’ dinna spare!
Captain Nonsense:
Once support for your precious union falls to 40% (and it will), then it becomes impossible to get back up to 45% let alone 50%
LOL
Tae the Incontinent JM
Ye ugly, creepan, blastet wonner,
Detested, shunn’d, by saunt an’ sinner,
How daur ye set your fit upon her,
Sae fine Navalny!
Gae somewhere else and seek your dinner,
On some poor body.
@Luigi says:22 August, 2023 at 7:24 am
In fairness to Captain Yossarian, I think it was only last week that the pretendy FM of the pretendy Indy party sitting in the wee, pretendy parliament was laying down his intention to import a million or so New Scots.
As we are all supinely going along with whatever he says, that’s probably going to actually happen (see if you can find the “colonisation” in that, Professor Baird).
The consensus on here is that the million or so shining exemplars of what we Sovereign Scots should aspire to be will not be voting for Indy.
And thus, it’s not a laughing matter.
Luigi – “Final result with 32 of 32 councils declared Yes 44.7% No 55.3% Turnout 84.6% Yes 1,617,989 No”.
That was with Alex Salmond in charge. We now have Humza in charge and Operation Branchform hiding under the bed and so 40% – 45% is not unfair, is it?
Fearghus, sorry to have been so clumsy and offensive regarding the Gaelic language.
To put matters straight, I love the sound and especially the music, I have also been attempting to learn the rudiments though Duolingo.
I just don’t think that this fine language is fit for purpose in the modern economy which we are all attempting to build in Scotland.
I do read your contributions here with interest.
A Scot Abroad @ 01.23
It’s no secret that I disagree wth Professor Baird in various areas (post colonial theories, anyone) however it’s always been appreciated by me that he is unfailingly polite in his replies to one and all.
Surely you can appreciate that you have descended from reasoned argument into plain, unacceptable personal abuse. If this is the highest level of discussion you can attain you may as well abandon any hopes whatsoever of changing the views of anyone on the site, I fear.
My goodness, the concern trolls are out in force today.
Support for the SNP has indeed crashed recently , but support for independence has held up (in spite of everything). Stop trying to conflate the two (unionist tactic). Nothing more to say (waste of time).
PholM , you actually read some of these comments ???? i gave up long ago and hope that Alf has too. No response , no oxygen to the likes of him/her /it/them.
Northcode and Sam , thanks for those enlightening comments – keep ’em coming.
@Luigi says:22 August, 2023 at 9:06 am
support for independence has held up (in spite of everything)
Let’s say you are 100% correct and then see where we can get to.
At the next WM election, and then the next HR election, can we write “INDEPENDENCE” across the bottom of our ballot papers, and put a big “X” alongside, believing that if enough of us do so, we will become a free, independent, sovereign nation?
Aye? Naw?
Do you see the problem yet?
Letter from Donald Macleod (famous name – ancestor?) in 2015.
“The history of Harris has been lost due to the Clearances when whole communities were
swept away.
I have never met one person from Harris who ever heard that with the assistance of troops and police the Earl of Dunmore cleared parts of Harris. All Harris historians reports on this tyrant only mention that he promoted the Harris Tweed industry.
I came across the enclosed Harris eviction cuttings in The Times 1839 by accident. These Clearances are not mentioned in any Scottish history book. Not one British army regiment has the Highland Clearances displayed on their regimental colours.
The Earl of Dunmore was a cousin of the Duke of Athol who originated the Clearances so
Dunmore was well versed in evictions.
The Highland Clearances is the longest period of ethnic cleansing in Europe- lasting over 120 years – from 1784 when the Duke of Athol evicted the population of Glen Tilt,Perthshire, until 1903 when Lady Gordon Cathcart was jamming the holds of fetid emigrant ships with men, women and children from Uist and Barra.
Back In The Day (SY Gazette) a couple of months ago had a very good feature on the Earl of Dunmore and his riches from slavery.
The Earl of Dunmore can be classed with other Scots aristocrats as reported in The Times,1823: The Landed Proprietors of Scotland – The Times, 8 September 1823.
“The nobles and the higher gentry o f Scotland are, with very few exceptions, in these daysEnglishmen. There is not one of the higher nobility o f Scotland that spends, on an average,more than two nights in the year in the metropolis o f Scotland. There is not one o f them that has a house there; when they come thither, they are strangers, and put up at a hotel, just as
they would do in Amsterdam or Paris. Every Scotch gentleman who can afford it, carries hisfamily, not to Edinburgh, but to London. With few exceptions, the young men of fashion andfortune are all chiefly educated in England. England is everything; Scotland is nothing but a place to get rents from, and to shoot grouse in for a few weeks after the rising ofParliament.These people are all English – their speech is English, their prejudices are English; more than half their blood is in most instances English blood. ”
Edinburgh Magazine for September.
The Red Tories living up to their reputation, which is an English party that helps to keep Scotland down in this union, whilst their Optional Image Mark aka Scottish Labour which is a fifth column arm of London Labour in Scotland can do nothing about it because they are also part of the problem.
No other nation on earth would allow foreign political parties in their parliaments, as for Westminster there should not be any Scottish political parties attending at this foreign parliament either.
Scotland’s political parties at Westminster, that in reality amounts to the Greens (if they have any MPs) and the SNP MUST walk out of the HoC and never return its not theirs our our parliament.
The Lib/Dems, Labour and the Tories at Westminster that supposedly represent Scots are actually part of England’s Lib/Dem Labour and Tory parties, they are NOT Scottish political parties and they should not be treated as Scottish political parties.
link to 12ft.io
The Enclosure Acts (incl. the clearances) are with us today in the form of the WEF’s “You will own nothing, and be happy” project.
No rights, just licences.
An abandonment of Common Law.
The SNP’s Kate Forbes who had no plan but to beg for an S30 from Westminster that is her and Yousaf’s plan, thinks that the second coming of Jesus (no not Judas that’s Sturgeon) will happen before a second indyref occurs.
F*ck a second indyref it should be 50%+1 at every election using Regan and the Rev’s (VEM) Voter Empowerment Mechanism.
Forbes and Mr Continuity Yousaf know fine well that the foreign government (any Red or Blue Tory party) will never ever issue another S30 and they can rail and moan and complain all they want to give off the impression that they want independence safe in the knowledge that their routes to it will never ever materialise.
Remember UDI isn’t illegal in any way.
The International Court of Justice, in a 2010 advisory opinion, declared that unilateral declarations of independence were not illegal under international law.
Sam @1025am.
Thanks Sam for that interesting and informative comment keep them coming.
Another letter from Donald Macleod
“We have little idea of the turmoil our progenitors suffered as a result of landlordism and the Clearances. Not only were families evicted and forced overseas but there was constant population displacement not only between districts but also between local
villages. This is not recorded. However, in my childhood I often heard people mention
where there folk had come from originally – in our area they had moved from other
Uig villages, Callanish and Bernera.
Uig people settled at Carloway, Shawbost, Bragar, West Side, Point, Lochs,
Stornoway, many at Ness, and possibly Back & N. Tolsta. All over Uig, if you know
where to look, (and in other areas around the Highlands & Islands) you can still
define the outline of the abandoned lazy beds though now overrun by heather. Next
time you go to Uig, near Kintulavaig look to your left out towards the moor and as far
as you can see you will see lines in the heather. These were once lazy beds. I was told that all the population of this area was evicted when Grimersta was appointed as a sporting estate, I think by Sir James Matheson.
Gaelic was totally taboo. Early 1900s my father went to Lochcroistean School, Uig.
Every morning he got the belt for being a Gaelic speaker. The schoolmaster dishing
out the punishment was from Bragar. However, his orders would have been from Westminster via the Scottish office. Until recently the anti-Highlander part the Brit government played during the Clearances was not mentioned in any Scottish history
book. Because of the pain he suffered as a child being belted I heard my father state,
“I wish I had never heard a word of that language (Gaelic)
akenaton@9.01am
“Fearghas, sorry to have been so clumsy and offensive regarding the Gaelic language. […] I just don’t think that this fine language is fit for purpose in the modern economy which we are all attempting to build in Scotland.”
————-
Thanks akenaton for your thoughtful response. In relation to your second sentence, a quick search online provided the following three snippets:
“Gaelic economy worth more than £20million to Glasgow” (The Herald, 14th July 2022).
“Gaelic is an economic asset. The Gaelic language and its culture generate opportunities across many sectors of the Scottish economy. This is of course in addition to its educational, cultural and creative contributions to everyday life. […]The positive impact from Gaelic is unquestionable. […] Highlands and Islands Enterprise has successfully promoted Gaelic in both community and commercial sectors, and reinforced this with its evidence-based study, Gaelic as an Economic Asset, demonstrating the potential of Gaelic to the economy to be in the region of £149m.” (Holyrood magazine, 21 Jan 2022)
“Gaelic also contributes to the Scottish economy in a wide range of sectors. Gaelic campaign group Misneachd agreed, telling The National: ‘Most rational people understand that the costs associated with including Gaelic on signage are negligible, as Gaelic would only be included when signs are being replaced, or vehicles being re-painted.’” (The National, 11 Jan 2022)
In relation to that last quote, I personally witnessed a fine new bilingual sign at a junction on the A96 being removed and replaced a few weeks later by a plain monolingual English sign. I assume someone with clout managed to intervene. It dawned on me at that moment how spurious (as well as venomous) the posturing of the anti-bilingual signage lobby can be. I realised that many who rant about imagined costs of Gaelic signage would in reality be perfectly happy to pay good money to have them all removed, and indeed to have Gaelic finally exterminated. And the cynicism of many official bodies who, finding themselves required by law to introduce in-house bilingual signage, often do so with ill grace and disgraceful minimalism. For example the Cairngorms National Park with whom I corresponded as follows in 2012:
link to gobha-uisge.blogspot.com
The soul-withering consequences of economic reductionism is of course the message of Dicken’s Scrooge character. But thankfully of course few of us actually approach that emaciated outlook. Having children or pets or planting flowers in the garden or having a pint or a cigar are not “economical”. Life is deeper than dollars. Meaning is what we ache for, and what we in our best moments would like to bestow.
Every language is a unique universe of meaning. The Celtic antecedents of Gaelic were once spoken over all of Europe from what is now Portugal to what is now Turkey, and from Orkney down to Italy’s Lake Garda. We the Scots are custodians of that now critically threatened heritage of meaning. Ours is the stewardship of this linguistic snow leopard, within whose deep ancient eyes we might just discover ourselves reflected.
Lucien Bouchard, a former Canadian ambassador to France, wrote: “Pour nous, Canadiens, la Francophonie n’est pas seulement une façon de vivre – c’est une façon de survivre” (“For us, Canadiens, French is not just a way of life [vivre] – but a means of survival [*sur*vivre]”, (L’Express).
François Mitterand once commented: “Un peuple qui perd ses mots n’est plus entendu de personne”. (“A people which loses its words is no longer understood by anybody”).
The writer Philipe de Saint Robert insightfully added: “Et par malheur ne s’entend plus lui-même” (“And unfortunately no longer understands itself”).
Big Eck will be part of Scotland United. It’s his idea. Salmond is in the Alba Party as part of Scotland United.
Kate Forbes, Cherry and Ash Regan.
Salmond’s angels!
John Main @ 7:47 am
“The consensus on here is that the million or so shining exemplars of what we Sovereign Scots should aspire to be will not be voting for Indy.”
Yes, quite, an established process also referred to as ‘cultural’ or ‘colonial assimilation’. However a key point here is that colonial procedures remain the same no matter where it finds itself, e.g. Kenya, Estonia, Ukraine, Ireland, or Scotland.
The domination by another people/elite and the elevating of their culture, values and language renders the oppressed group subordinate; such domination and marginalisation aimed at and enabling the plunder of another peoples lands seldom ends well, as history and ongoing events tell us.
This explains why oppressed peoples seek independence, which means liberation from colonialism in all its sleekit forms.
Big Eck’s on the other side of the telephone that Humza doesn’t want to pick up.
It’s clear from what Shona Robinson was saying yesterday that the cabal are no interested in Scotland United.
I hope the SNP are therefore given a bloody nose in Rutherglen. And then the rebellion begins to oust the failed, by election losing false prophet Humza Yousless within the day.
David Hannah – All agreed on that. Sometimes it takes a while for the public to get up to speed and realize the problem and they need to do that before they can identify the solution. Here’s hoping that process will start in Rutherglen. I read your posts yesterday. Not everyone agrees with you but I think that Kate Forbes offers you the opportunity to get behind a credible candidate who is not perfect, but who is the best you have and is better than either the Tories, Labour or Lib Dems have to offer. She will take votes off the others and if you stick with Humza you will go-on losing. That’s the way I see it.
Thank you, pretendy SNP leaders.
After loyal support at every election for 30 years, you are making it increasingly easy for me not to vote for your party any more. Personally, it’s now Scotland United or nothing. I have no time for pretendy independence politicians who plan to sit on their backsides for another four years.
Actually, it’s quite a liberating experience.
Keep up the good work.
It’s Scotland United. Or nothing.
I will not vote an SNP candidate if its Scotland United.
Yousaf is still having his tadger pulled by Sturgeon behind the scenes. Shona Robinson reveals the cabal are for self preservation and managed decline.
I will spoil my ballot. Before I vote for the SNP. I already did and will do so again. Unless it’s Scotland united.
Would you support a crowdfund private prosecution by Alex Salmond?
link to twitter.com
They’re planning on sending over 100 more “asylum seekers” to hotels in Perth. I bet the locals are delighted, but if you don’t live in Perth, don’t fret. There are billions more who also immediately qualify for “asylum” as soon as they reach our shores. And they’re coming. This ongoing wave of mass migration – unprecedented in its scale – will not have a happy ending for the natives.
But what’s this? Local MP and fearless campaigner for cosy feet, Peter Wishart MP, is complaining!
Complaining that they should all have their own rooms. With a complementary mint on the pillow, maybe.
This is the state of ‘Scottish’ ‘nationalism’ in 2023. Neither Scottish nor nationalist, incoherent, foolish and incapable of articulating even the most basic of Scottish interests – the interest we have in our nation continuing to exist. There are fewer Scots alive today than there were yesterday, and tomorrow will be worse.
Nobody talks about Operation Cerrar, it’s a state secret in SNP Scotchland. We’re too busy trying to ban ginger bottles and put male rapists in Cornton Vale.
What a shitey, pathetic government we have.
Powerful stuff from Kevin McKenna:
link to archive.fo
“They’re planning on sending over 100 more “asylum seekers” to hotels in Perth.”
I suppose it could worse, they could be Yuk-ies or English, the latter has already swamped Scotland, I’m hearing more and more English regional accents in Glasgow, so I’d imagine that smaller towns across Scotland must be over run by them.
Maybe one day like the McCrone Report, the hidden census on Scotland’s people (demographics) will come to light.
The SNP governments ferry fiasco certainly isn’t over.
link to yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com
Ian Brotherhood.
Even Craig Murray has given up on the current SNP, and rightly so.
link to craigmurray.org.uk
Someone on here posted a link to this earlier in the month, I think, I bookmarked it with a view to giving it a better look and have just done so and archived. This should be of interest to everyone who posts on here regardless of views. I will start with their aim followed by their board followed by their staff then finish with their funders. Read who they previously worked for and then think back to their aim. Remember what I have previously posted about encountering a web of organisations operating under different guises and all under charitable status but all with what appears to be a common goal.
link to archive.ph
link to archive.ph
link to archive.ph
link to archive.ph
Iain MacKinnon has a piece on the changes in the highlands from land as a common resource to crofting and the various attempts to privatise that land.
link to thecommonsjournal.org
Edited.
“The forms of tenure that preceded crofting are referred to in the historical record as ‘dùthchas’ in the Gaelic language indigenous to those parts of the Highlands and Islands known as the Gàidhealtachd.4Dùthchas was evidently a system of customary law or native title associated with traditional clan society and collective rights. The evidence suggests that this system operated within Gaelic society as a form of heritable trusteeship of land, largely on the basis of communal and familial land rights and management practices with both arable and pastoral land being held in common (Carmichael 1884; Macinnes 1996, 5, 14–24; Cregeen 2014, 123–141). Allan Macinnes has argued that the key figures in decision-making over resources and institutional design in clan society were the daoine uaisle, leading members of a clan who were often, but not always, related to the chief. Macinnes argues that by the 17th century the daoine uaisle often had the role of fir–tacsa. Practically, this meant that they were responsible for managing all aspects of the maintenance of a baile – ‘township’ – on clan territory on behalf of the clan, including ‘resource-management, demand-management and man-management (sic)’. This entailed managing all natural resources in the township’s land, including any forest and shoreline as well as agricultural land. They were also responsible for appropriating and re-alloting land among members of the baile, ensuring the land was fertilised and crops protected, organising extractive activities such as for lime, slates and freestone, and directing other major tasks such as fishing and transhumance (Macinnes 1996, 14–19).
Beyond its role in land governance, dùthchas is a key concept in Gaelic culture and is used to express a person’s sense of identity and belonging in interrelated familial, territorial and historical concerns (MacInnes 2006, 279). The term ‘croft’ only became widespread in the Gàidhealtachd in the later eighteenth century, largely as a result of its introduction by Lowland surveyors redistributing land along ‘improved’ lines. However, ‘croft’ had already been in common use in England and Lowland Scotland in the medieval period (Homans 1975; Markus et al. 1995, 112–116). Moreover, the transition to a crofting system in the Gàidhealtachd was one that was generally opposed by those on whom it was being imposed. Indeed, by the late eighteenth century the area had already been subject to a long process of territorial, political and cultural marginalisation within Scotland that is now being described by historians as ‘internal colonization’ (Goodare 2004; MacGregor 2006, 2012; MacCoinnich 2008; Cathcart 2010)…..
….The land redistributions required as part of the new order were often carried out on Gaels by non-Gaels and accompanied by attitudes of cultural and racial superiority typical of colonial relations – the natives were said to be ‘lazy’, ‘filthy’ or ‘savages’ (Osterhammel 2005, 108–110; MacKinnon 2017, 33–38). These redistributions included their removal from land, their relocation on marginal land, their migration (often forced) away from their traditional areas to new lands in Britain or overseas. Although historians argue over the costs and benefits of the new arrangements, they were associated in popular consciousness with material and cultural impoverishment. Native resistance – in particular to the removal of common grazings’ rights – occurred sporadically throughout the 19th century. However, the unrest came to a peak in the 1880s when techniques of resistance included rent strikes, destruction of landlord property and violent confrontations with a range of law officers. This resistance received widespread press coverage and provoked the repeated deployment of Royal Marines in the north west to try to suppress the unrest. The situation led the British Government to establish the aforementioned Royal Commission of 1883, and subsequently to the Crofters Holdings (Scotland) Act of 1886 (MacPhail 1989; Meek 1995).
In summary, the British imperial state gradually increased its political control over the Gàidhealtachd during the course of the 18th and 19th centuries. As a result of and in response to this increased control three significant and related movements can be identified in the transition of land governance away from the variety of communal indigenous dùthchas systems towards crofting as a single hybrid system of tenure:
Firstly, the imperial state’s efforts to ‘pacify’ and ‘civilise’ the area following the uprising in 1745; this process of ‘Leviathan’ included establishing ‘colonies’ of retired soldiers with small ‘privatised’ holdings on lands previously held collectively;
Secondly, the gradual imposition of commercialisation and individualism inherent in improvement ideologies of late 18th and 19th century Lowland Scottish society onto dùthchas systems, and subsequent indigenous resistance to the ‘privatisation’ of their traditional lands;
Thirdly, the Crofters Act of 1886, a late 19th century breaching of the ‘Leviathan’ of the British state into the disordered governance of land and natural resources in the Gàidhealtachd – a disorder substantially created by the externally led reforms and indigenous resistance to them….
….he formal period of European colonial empires overseas was brought to an end by the United Nations’ legislation on decolonization in the late 1950s. However, it has been widely observed that the structural inequalities typical of formal imperial rule have not passed with decolonization. Indeed, Tully has gone so far as to claim that the typical forms of state based representative democracy are the means by which informal imperialism operates in the post-colonial world today (Tully 2008b, 158). The governance of crofting tenure suggests that this argument may be extended beyond those countries that were subject to the UN-led decolonization processes of the 1950s.
Of the general features of domination laid out by Tully and Walker, the first is that the structure of domination maintains ‘cumulative inequality’ by operating in a mutually reinforcing fashion over various sectors and through the use of a range of mechanisms of control and persuasion, including education and culture. Walker argues that the imperial framework is ‘a system whose operation is optimised to the extent that all social relations are subsumed within its logic and is threatened to the extent that certain social relations may escape its logic’, adding that it ‘purports to embrace everything within its own horizon’ (Walker 2008). From this perspective, imperial interventions in culture and education can be seen as means of creating, legitimising and channeling the norms and terms by which discourse unfolds, and in doing so seeking to subsume or maintain social relations within the logic and practice of the structure of domination. This makes the structure of domination more than simply a means of constraining legitimate political action. To the extent that it achieves control of discourse, the structure is also a pervasive and unseen constraint on the ability to think – channeling flows of discourse in ways that generate and maintain a socio-cognitive environment in which certain thoughts become or remain unthinkable (Tully 2008a, 31–36)…
…The infiltration of the terminology, concepts and attitudes of the domination structure into the self-understanding of Gaelic society can be demonstrated by the general self-definition of rightsholders in the 1960s as ‘crofters’, to a far greater degree than had been the case in the years before the Crofting Act of 1886. Relatedly, while some historians have speculated that the concept of dùthchas was important in land actions into the 20th century, there is little evidence that crofters invoked a right of dùthchas to support their political actions in relation to land in the 1950s and 1960s10 (Robertson 2013; Houston 2014). Unlike the risings in the 1880s, there does not appear to have been a great deal of poetry produced in regard to land raiding in the mid-20th century, or in response to other land issues. Although the word dùthchas is used by some poets of the period, it is used in a more subjective sense of ancestral belonging or identity rather than in a political sense as a rights claim (Maclean 1999, 252, 292; MacDhòmhnaill 1998, 198, 222; Black 2012). The foregoing emphasises that dùthchas continued to be invoked in Gaelic poetic discourse on identity throughout the 20th century, and claims for land were still being made on the basis of what could be considered the people’s inalienable right to land – what appears to have changed between 1880 and 1960 is that it became impossible for Gaels to invoke the term dùthchas in a political way as a basis for land claims.11
This article…has argued that many common property regimes for common pool resources exist within a deeply-sedimented structure of domination which has influenced the development and integrity of common property regimes and the viability of common pool resources. A historical survey of the enduring conflict over how commons in the Gàidhealtachd should be governed discloses that underlying the unusual internal ‘privatisation’ proposal of 1967 there is an archaeology. The proposal must be understood in relation to earlier political struggles against external intervention. This perspective makes it possible to understand why rightsholders – whose own social understanding and self-understanding had been subjected to socialisation in the wider norms of the domination system – might come to propose a modest ‘privatisation’ reform which was then transformed by ‘Leviathan’ into an attempt to bring the tenure system to an end.
‘Privatisation’ is the belief that dividing a commons into a private property regime will bring order, stability and sustainability; ‘Leviathan’ the belief that order can be established only by making people – in Garrett Hardin’s words – ‘responsible to a coercive force outside their individual psyches’.1 Usually this external coercive force takes the shape of the state.”
Ian Brotherhood
“The poison at the heart of the SNP is now seeping out and the public are noticing it”
Thanks for the link, Ian. Great article from McKenna.
The past = SNP.
The present = Alba one foot in the old Snp “memories” party that was trying to plug holes in the titanic,. Simultainiously running a new party. confusion.
The Future = The people.
Forget the Snp, and the past 9 years of floating voters carrot, if you run with the herd, you too will end up in the slaughter house,
interesting article, worth a full read
link to archive.is
poses a conundrum – we need all these exotic materials for all these green tech things, to go green and save the planet …
– but where do we get them?
– by ripping them out the earth, or soon to come, the seabad
going green could be another environmental disaster; one for the moral maze
from a practical viewpoint – “this is happening” and Scotland could be well placed to exploit it, but we could just hand over this new bonanza to our next door neighbours and the city, which properly owns us all
the cynic in me sees the west running on relatively expensive “green” energy, while the developing world continues to run on hydrocarbons, with no nett reduction of hydrocarbon use or carbon reduction – profits will remain high
– the environmental damage done by “green technology” will be whitewashed as a “price worth paying”
I think the climate change thing is part real, but also part scam. How to create “growth”? – one way is to manufacture artificial demand by effectively banning diesel cars, gas boilers and so on.
If it turns out things are not-that-bad in 2050/2100, the global oligarchs will slap themselves on the back claiming “we saved the planet”.
I’ll vote for the Alba Party and Scotland United. If no Alba. I will spoil my ballot ffor as long as it takes.
I back Scotland United. That includes Kate Forbes, Joanna Cherry and Ash Regan. Salmond’s angels. On an anti corruption Independence vote.
Make it happen.
I am going to repost this as an exceptionally long post was made immediately following it and it may have disappeared into the ether unseen. Follow the money and match that to the goal.
Someone on here posted a link to this earlier in the month, I think, I bookmarked it with a view to giving it a better look and have just done so and archived. This should be of interest to everyone who posts on here regardless of views. I will start with their aim followed by their board followed by their staff then finish with their funders. Read who they previously worked for and then think back to their aim. Remember what I have previously posted about encountering a web of organisations operating under different guises and all under charitable status but all with what appears to be a common goal.
link to archive.ph
link to archive.ph
link to archive.ph
link to archive.ph
Angus McNeil can represent Scotland United as an Independent now he’s been banished to the outer hebridees and cast away by the corrupt birkes.
Alot of moaning about the state of the country here, but we must admit that we allowed the social madness and the downright corruption to take root and flourish.
It’s not confined to Scotland but infects most of the West. The media rule, and who rules the media? Or at least guides them in their direction of travel? The people who have achieved a position where they can influence how we behave and even how we think, under the threat of persecution.
For years most of us thought Queen Nicola would serve up independence because the media loved her and they must be right! They must be on our side…..go Nicola Go! WRONG! We were fooled and convinced that media support was a benefit, but these people come from a different planet and do not wish us well. They wish to inflict an Orwellian nightmare upon us, change traditional family life and society to their perverted image and we allowed it to happen.
Personally I think it’s to late, the young people are stupefied, the demographic is changing the Spirit of the Scot is hot footing it over the hills, we are become a mediocre nation of virtue signallers and work shy leeches. Our politicians are afraid to say what they believe with one or two honourable exceptions and our health, education and social services are an absolute disgrace. How did this happen? We allowed it to happen in plain sight, they have managed to make us “believe the unbelievable” GAME OVER!
When the SNP lose Rutherglen then what will Humza say?
Will he blame Margaret Ferrier who they bullied?
Or will he blame a decline in support for Independence?
He will blame everything but himself. It’s the Sturgeon way? It’s what they do. No accountability.
They have already said they don’t want Scotland United. Shona Robinson has made that clear.
The only option left. Is what Craig Murray has said.
Let’s hope the SNP split. Let’s hope it’s coming immediately. The coupe needs to be brought in place. Rebellion needs to be commenced immediately. It’s time to bring the cabal to their knees.
Send Sturgeon back to hell boys.
Let’s hope Fergus Ewing quits and joins Alba. And takes the rest of the SNP with him. Let’s hope he comes out and says the SNP are corrupt the core. There can no good governance of Scotland when corruption has its grip on power.
I hope the SNP splits. Now is the time to collapse the party. Tear it in two.
It’s time for rebellion.
It’s the SNP against the cabal!
Ian B , that’s a wonderfully stinging article – no messing telling it how it is.Well done Mr McKenna.
@Republicofscotland says:22 August, 2023 at 1:50 pm
I suppose it could worse, they could be Yuk-ies
RoS revealing himself yet again for the despicable creature he is.
And yet again, it falls to me to point this out.
It took quite a while for the penny to drop for me – just why some at the barrel bottom of Indy have so much hatred for the citizens of another proud, free, independent, nation and culture that is fighting an existential challenge for survival.
Two reasons: 1) Cringing shame at how poorly the Scots bedroom posters stack up against real freedom fighters.
2) Indy is not and has never been their priority. Their priority is catastrophic disaster for the west and its value systems that they hate so much. From Day 1, they cheered on the invading army because that has been their best hope of bringing about the collapse they seek.
It’s good to be reminded from time-to-time just what we’re dealing with here. Thanks RoS.
Joe Kipling, better known as Rudyard Kipling, suffered from a malady similar to what many indigenous Scots suffer today, it seems.
Born in Bombay (British India), now Mumbai, in 1865; he eventually became one of the most popular writers and poets of the British Empire.
He turned down the British Poet Laureateship and several offers of a knighthood. Why? I think his reasons for doing so are rooted, ironically, in the psychological effects colonialism inflicts on the colonised.
By the way, his mother’s maiden name was Alice MacDonald.
Kipling in his later years wrote this about his childhood in India:
As a young child living in India Kipling was left in the care of the native help for much of the time who spoke in their own language. Which goes to show the lasting effects of the language most frequently heard and spoken in the first years of a child’s life.
At the age of five, as was the custom of the time, Kipling was sent ‘home’ to England to live with custodians, Captain Pryse Agar Holloway and his wife who were both strangers to him, while he was processed through the English education system. He later writes of being neglected and cruelly treated by the Holloways.
Apparently Kipling, as an adult, suggested he was somewhat confused over his national identity and thought of himself as an Anglo-Indian.
I think Main imagines the 404 war started in 2022.
Clown.
It’s time for the coupe. The political coupe. Nicola’s been stabbing everyone in the back for too long.
It’s time that Sturgeon’s rat pack, and the criminals that control her muppet police force are brought to justice.
The powers at be need to plot the cabal’s down fall. Urgently. Time of of the essence for a country on its knees. Struggling on.
We need to get rid of the corruption in this country. It doesn’t matter if its red, blue or yellow.
To keep the Independence flame alive. False prophet Humza Yousless has to go.
Make it happen folks.
@akenaton says:22 August, 2023 at 2:55 pm
we are become a mediocre nation of virtue signallers and work shy leeches
Certainly a lot of truth in that.
When you look at Anton Decadent’s posts, you can see just who are being “groomed” to shape our destiny in the coming decades. Indy supporters to a woman? I hae ma doots.
When you look at RoS posts, you can see the anathema with which he regards any idea that our Indy sinews might be stiffened by an influx of white, Christian-values-holding, westernised, fighters. A cohort of people who passionately get the idea of Indy from their own personal lived experiences.
It’s not looking too good.
Time to get rid of one coo, with a political coupe!
Come on boys. The SNP leadership needs to go. They’re all on a jolly at our expense on their month long ego massaging holiday.
They love massaging their egos like Nicola. Humza is as funny as genital herpes on a honeymoon, when he returns to work from being a joke figure at the fringe we can give him his p45. Come on boys! make it happen! Plot!
@Northcode says:22 August, 2023 at 3:37 pm
a malady similar to what many indigenous Scots suffer today, it seems
And New Scots? What malady do they suffer from?
Spare a thought for the Swiss. Four languages spoken. By your “logic”, Northcode, they must be the most psychologically fecked up nation in the world!
FFS get a feckin grip. Are you seriously coming on here to claim that Scotland is the only country in the world where more than one language is spoken, and it is a disconnect between oor “mither tongue” and the language we speak when on the phone to an Indian call centre that is driving our ongoing cultural and national dystopia?
What’s your grand plan for persuading the rest of the English-speaking world to learn Scots?
Northcode @ 3:37 pm
“Apparently Kipling, as an adult, suggested he was somewhat confused over his national identity and thought of himself as an Anglo-Indian.”
Yes, indeed: the ‘colonial hoax’; the ‘torture of colonial bilingualism’; the colonized’s ‘craving for dependence’; the colonial mindset’s ‘self-hatred’; a people forced to exist between ‘two psychical and cultural realms’; the ‘Manichean colonial world’ in which one culture/people ‘is sacrificed to another’.
On the link between culture/language and national identity:
link to yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com
“When you look at RoS posts, you can see the anathema with which he regards any idea that our Indy sinews might be stiffened by an influx of white, Christian-values-holding, westernised, fighters. A cohort of people who passionately get the idea of Indy from their own personal lived experiences.”
Ha, this made me laugh, I can’t post what kind of people the Yuk-ies are for it wouldn’t pass moderation, needless to say they aren’t anything like what Main says they are.
Go to the Grayzone website or the MintPress website or Consortium news and educate yourselves, prior to the USA starting this war and carrying out this coup in Yuk-ie land (there had been other attempts prior to this one) the Western powers that be and Nato didn’t have a good word to say about the Yuk-ies, now the West adores them Christ I loathe the West now and I live in it.
It’s a pity the doomed Hull 802 renaming vote only allows a shortlist and the catastrophic vessel, quite possibly destined never to enter service, could be named after Nicola Sturgeon.
Alf Baird @4:33pm
Thanks for the link, Alf.
I’ve also read of the connection between language, culture and national identity in your book Doun-Hauden.
This from Wikipedia:
Ian Smith – A sad end to what was a fabulously successful Glasgow industry in its day.
The time for independence was the early 80’s when we had an oil industry that was just beginning and longstanding heavy industries, like ship-building that needed investment to thrive.
That said, Scotland still has plenty of resources and having worked in oil rich countries before, it underpins a pretty good and stable economy. None of this boom and bust stuff going-on.
You need a leader and a government that you can trust that will deliver that. That is the problem just now. Wings over Scotland had Sturgeon and Swinney’s card marked before most others, but even he doesn’t have an answer to this.
Anton Decadent @ 2.44
Trying to open your web pages but not found. Can you help?
I must say, the Rev. is playing a blinder in allowing 77th Brigade’s ‘finest’ to barf to their heart’s content. If only we could mass produce and bottle it what an asset to the cause that would be.
@MaryB
I archived them and they open for me from the post, try right clicking and opening in another tab.
@Alf Baird says:22 August, 2023 at 4:33 pm
‘torture of colonial bilingualism’
Man, Alf, you must get through the paracetamols like they are sweeties.
Only in Scotland.
A great man once said “to possess a second language is to possess a second soul”.
Meantime, studies show that bilingual people have longer life expectancies. Something to do with having healthier brains.
Come over to the light, Alf, it’s really not so bad.
@Sam and Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh: thanks for your excellent contributions this afternoon. And The Commons Journal looks an interesting site.
On top of all that we have had to thole a Scottish nobility which generally was a contradiction in terms and would sell out the rest of us at the drop of an English sovereign.
Re the tiresome Yoon complaints about Gaelic on signs, I remember reports of a spittle-flecked Unionist lady sounding off about their “foreignness” at a public meeting in 2014. She was then pointedly asked where then did she think the Gaelic on railway signs came from?
“From Scotrail!” she replied.
In my experience those most resistant to accepting the extensive stratum of Gaelic place-names in, for example, the counties of Renfrew, Lanarkshire and Ayrshire are the Muriel Gray lookalike BLiS Glasgow-West-End types who got far too close to the old BBC building in Queen Margaret Drive 🙂 .
Ahoo! Werewolves of London!
@Republicofscotland says:22 August, 2023 at 4:55 pm
Christ I loathe the West now
Course you do.
You’ll understand why I will pop up from time to time to stop you damaging the good name of Scotland and the Scots any more than you have already.
Scotland’s staying in the West. We’re not cosying up to any of your favourite open-air prison camp shitholes. Deal with it.
Ooooh the Scotland is shite brigade are sending out recruitment posters, Scotland can only survive if we elect Christian conservatives, we need to be saved, if we vote Katie she will lead us into the promised land so it is written, we must also cast out the immoral vagabonds who will not work and the ones who are claiming fake disabilities and taking drugs
Unfortunately saint Katie of the holy sect has already proven that her morality is questionable when she deliberately avoided a vote to PROTECT the safety and security of our most PRECIOUS RESOURCE our womenfolk, but there again she was fully supportive in establishing the CONSERVATIVE greed driven proposals for tax avoiding and evading free ports
WHY is it that most of these publicly proclaimed and sanctimonious religious worshippers are self serving greed driven individuals whose fake public face bears no resemblance to their corrupt uncaring reality
@twathater says:22 August, 2023 at 6:16 pm
elect Christian conservatives
You could always elect conservatives from the towel-wearing faction TH.
See how your PRECIOUS RESOURCE fares under their rule.
Reports from elsewhere have been far from favourable.
Still, this is Scotland. Many of us don’t do modernity, even yet.
What year is it anyway, 1444 or 1445? I get confused.
A wee bit I found on the Harris Clearance.
“In 1837 the population of South Harris was evicted by the Earl of Dunmore with the assistance of soldiers whose use was sanctioned by the British Government. Today the descendants of the evicted Harris crofters are mostly in Australia, Canada and the US with few in Scotland. There is no official record of the number of people evicted during the Clearances. However, the Napier Commission agreed that at least 34,000 were evicted from the Isle of Skye between 1840 and 1883. Between 1793 and 1837, Skye contributed over 10,000 men and 600 officers to the British army which proves the area, like the rest of the Highlands, was heavily populated prior to the Clearances, unlike today’s deserted glens.
Donald J MacLeod”
twathater – Sadly, Saint Katie is your only viable option. A pretty good option if you ask me and better than most at Holyrood, but it’s all up to you folks.
Is there a prize for posting the most words on this site?
Why wasn’t the I told?
By Iain MacKinnon (Coventry University) and Andrew Mackillop (Glasgow University)
“Our research shows that colonial-era slavery, with its legacies of embedded economic inequality and the subordination of people to profit, is as much a part of the history of the Scottish Highlands and Islands as are the land question and the Highland Clearances and, indeed, are inter-related with them.
We have uncovered the scale and complexity of links between wealth derived from slavery and trends in landowning during the eighteenth – to early twentieth centuries. Between 1726 and 1939 there were 63 estate purchases in the west Highlands and Islands by significant beneficiaries of slavery derived wealth. Such beneficiaries are defined as slave-owners, or the children and grandchildren of slave-owners, or others who derived significant benefits from the wider slavery-based economy, such as sugar, tobacco or cotton merchants. This definition also includes men who married into families with slavery derived wealth.
The majority of these purchases (37) occurred between 1790 and 1855 — the main period of the Highland Clearances, with a peak of slavery related sales occurring in the late 1830s — the years following the British Government’s establishment of a £20 million fund (£16 billion in today’s terms) to compensate slave-owners for the loss of their ‘property’ when slavery was abolished in the British empire in 1833.
Cumulatively, we estimate that the estates purchased amounted to 1,144,395 acres, which is more than one-third of the total area of the west Highlands and Islands (the methodology underlying our calculations can be found in the link embedded at the end of this blog). These figures are likely to be significantly less than the true total because it was not possible to find acreages for several large purchases.
In addition to the ‘new elite’ of landowners who originated for the most part from outside of the west Highlands and Islands, there is a further category of slavery enriched landowners who did not buy land in the area but instead inherited traditional clan lands. Some of these families married into slavery derived wealth. However, at least two families, Cameron of Locheil and Mackintosh of Mackintosh, appear to have been directly involved in the plantation economy in Jamaica. During the 1880s, the combined land holdings of these traditional families was 690,313 acres in the west Highlands and Islands. When this land is added to the acquisitions of the new elite, it transpires that at least 1,834,708 acres of the west Highlands and Islands — more than half of the area’s total landmass and approaching ten percent of the total landmass of Scotland — was owned by families that benefitted significantly from slavery.
This research has implications for our understanding of the Highland Clearances. Some of the worst examples of clearance can be found on the estates of members of the new slavery elite. The total number of people cleared by this class is likely to be more than 5,000. Taking into account the actions of traditional clan families implicated in slavery, the final number of evictions will be very much higher, almost certainly into the tens of thousands.
Further, our findings indicate the need to re-think the broader evolution of the Highlands and Islands over the last three centuries. The boundaries of the region’s experience in the eighteenth to early twentieth centuries need to be understood as global in character. The racism and inequalities of wealth and power created by Britain’s transatlantic system of enslavement intersects with the history of the Highlands and Islands. It is important to acknowledge that many Gaels, of diverse social classes and backgrounds, benefited from involvement in transatlantic slavery. Conversely, many communities in the region were adversely affected by those who obtained capital and property from the British system of slavery.
Our research findings have considerable contemporary resonances. One effect of slavery derived wealth was that it helped perpetuate and reinforce the pre-existing structure of highly unequal land ownership. Another effect was the use of such land in increasingly one-dimensional and ecologically harmful ways. The main conclusion to emerge from our research is that the ‘external’ wealth and capital created by an unstable and brutally exploitative form of capitalism shaped the structure of property and power in the west Highlands and Islands and directly affected the lives of local people.*”
We’re not cosying up to any of your favourite open air prison camp shitholes.
Like this one.
“1.9 million people are confined
Gaza is described by many Palestinians and humanitarian actors as the world’s largest open-air prison, where 1.94 million Palestinians live behind a blockade and are refused access to the other occupied Palestinian areas and the rest of the world.”
link to nrc.no.
“damaging the good name of Scotland”
This too made me laugh, as if you or your Britnat buddies in here give a toss about Scotland, some folk in here know why, you ASA Chas and one or two others comment in here every day, and its not because you lot care about Scotland or Scots or even Scottish independence for you lot don’t, like them you have a job to do to monitor this indy site and add your anti-indy concerned type troll comments, but we see through you lot and have done since before the 2014 indyref.
Using Gaelic is a cost-saving exercise. Every settlement and landscape feature in my area of Wester Ross is Gaelic-named. Just think of the time that would be needed to alter all the names and re-print the maps. 🙂 🙂
Ian Brotherhood @ 1.39pm
Thanks for that link Ian. Kevin McKenna in magisterial style excoriates the SNP and the political charlatans who flocked to climb aboard the gravy bus. What a wordsmith, eviscerating the shameless tribe of Nicolites. There are blisteringly scathing word pictures of some of the principal Names of Scotland’s parasitical political class and associated leeches which deserve to be savoured and remembered.
It’s a tour de force that puts other Scottish journalists to shame. Everyone who should get it, is torched – trade unions, third sector toadies and media camp followers who simply decamped to the SNP when the Labour Party ceased to be a force. It’s a great read – if you are not one of the purblind loyalists who remain in the SNP.
Republicofscotland@6.40pm
« Between 1793 and 1837, Skye contributed over 10,000 men and 600 officers to the British army »
—————
Yes indeed. Absolutely. When I was young I read somewhere a breakdown of how many Skyemen were in all the different ranks, including not least the highest. It was simply astounding. I have always regretted losing track of whatever publication I saw that in.
The BBC basically running a white feather story to shame more young Ukrainian men into being drafted for neocon genocide.
Still that is what they have been doing to Europe for hundred years now.
The “Scottish Enlightenment ” in Edinburgh was always 2 edged: the Presbyterian churches were a solid obstacle to general enlightenment. All religions continue to be barriers imo.
Woo Hoo, Sam rising to the challenge and finally showing us some of the “money”.
1,834,708 acres of the west Highlands and Islands, divided by 6 million Scots, gives us just under a third of an acre each.
Bags me a plot with nae muckle rocks oan!
BTW, if it’s Sovereign Scots only (wink wink), we each get a bigger bit – maybes have room for a wee gazebo an all.
How’s that then Mac?
How is joining in to drive an armed invader out of your country “neocon genocide”?
You need to be careful posting your hand-wringing liberal-lefty conchy shite on here, where the English might read it. They could form the opinion that the rUK could invade Scotland, slay a few thousand, steal our assets, flatten a few cities, and we gutless Jocks would stay in our bedrooms with the curtains firmly drawn.
I don’t think the majority of Scots are as useless as you, and thank feck for that. But let’s not give anybody any ideas, eh?
Fearghas @7.11
‘History of Skye’ by Alexander Nicholson pp274 gives those figures quoting Re. Dr. Norman MacLeod. and others.
Mata Hari was a MacLeod.
LAND REFORM
Finally there is some discussion about this because it is surely fundamental when considering ‘Who will own a new Caledonia’.
A complex issue, fraught with difficulties, and with any change likely to have unintended consequences (both positive and negative).
If ever there was a topic for Alf to dig his teeth into it is this viz colonialisation.
The problem is that everyone knows that land reform needs to take place but nobody knows how or to what end. Given the catastrophic failings of the SNP in any matter that they choose to engage with, I do no have confidence that an intelligent debate wil be heard. In addition, they clearly choose to avoid consultation (witness DRS, RR etc) and so it would probably achieve the same results as policies in Cambodia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.
A ‘Scotland for the Scots’ sounds great in a manifesto, and it is staggering that an aspirant nation has no proposed land reform strategy, but God help us if Lorna Slater is put in charge.
Woo hoo! John Main is triggered.
404 always does it.
Much more passion than when Scotland is the subject.
John Main @ 6:02 pm
‘torture of colonial bilingualism’
Yes, bilingualism is great, ask any Fin, Dane, German, Dutch or Norwegian etc who get to learn and respect thair ain mither tongue as well as English.
With ‘colonial bilingualism’, however, the native speaker is not taught how to read and write in their own mother tongue; knowledge of the mother tongue remains under-developed and that important linguistic connection with the native soul is cut. All communication with authority in a colony is carried out ‘only’ in the colonizer’s language, the native is given no choice in the matter.
And so a colonized people experience the ‘torture of colonial bilingualism’.
Re land reform.
Absent any meaningful change to the electoral system, power must be removed from politicians to the maximum extent possible and people left to find their own way.
There appears to be an international political consensus for more monitoring and control of populations via CBDCs, smart cities, and a social credit systems.
Much better to carve up the country and give plots to people willing to work it off grid (as much as possible) unhindered by government.
The rest, who are happy with their Universal Credit, controlled existences can stay in their smart cities, being fed and injected whatever Corporations decide is good for them.
Happy National Flag Day Russia!
The roots of Victoria Nuland’s aching fangs go very deep. And they ache so bad. It just never goes away. For blood, never ending blood. One act of evil after another takes the ache away but it only comes back worse and worse…
Yesterday, Afghanist@n, Ir@q, Liby@, Yemen, Syri@. (I’ve forgoten heaps.)
Today Ukr@ine.
Tomorrow. Coming to a neighbourhood in Europe nearer and nearer you.
It is the neocon signature… degrade everything they touch, set it back.
They have no vision of being excellent, of helping people.
They know they are evil shit. So their only strategy is to routinely and brutally reduce any nation that is up and rising.
It is evil incarnate.
@Mac says:22 August, 2023 at 9:09 pm
brutally reduce any nation that is up and rising
Clear something up for me then, Mac.
Were we up and rising and then we got reduced?
Or will the reducing only really start once we are up and rising?
Soz if I’m not taking you very seriously, but there’s something about Victoria Nuland’s aching fangs that jars my funny bone.
As always, the infinite patience of the rest of the posters BTL, leaving it to me, as always, to inject some reality, is bemusing.
@Alf Baird says:22 August, 2023 at 8:20 pm
linguistic connection with the native soul
Few believe in the soul.
Most think religions are the root of most problems.
Incidentally, the trans eejits claim to have rediscovered the soul – it’s the intangible and undetectable part of them “trapped in the wrong body”.
I really think you need to develop some better terms if you intend to persist with the colonialism trope. As I may have said before, there must be plenty of words in Scots you could co-opt, and I really do wonder why you won’t do this.
Proof of the pudding, etc etc. What more elegant evidence for your theory than a justification written in Scots?
John main, the cluster bomb of Scottish politics.
All duds
John Main @ 9:37 pm
“As I may have said before, there must be plenty of words in Scots you could co-opt, and I really do wonder why you won’t do this.”
Hou aboot Heepocreet? Thons a braw wird, naw?
Johnlm@7.58 pm
« ‘History of Skye’ by Alexander Nicholson pp274 gives those figures quoting Re. Dr. Norman MacLeod. and others. »
———
Many thanks. Taken a note of that.
OT… Been reading Craig Murray’s latest – hello Craig if your reading.
Agree for the most part, although differ in emphasis.
You say, ‘I therefore cannot any more support Alba’s campaign for a Scotland United ticket, because that would involve asking Independence supporters to vote for SNP MPs who are in it entirely for personal career and are a block on Independence, not movers towards it.’
Should your fire not be aimed at those SNP MP’s? and does the existence (for a limited period only) of Scotland United, not perhaps, strengthen the position of those SNP MP’s who might soon decant and stand as Indy supporters on a Scotland United ticket.
You highlight very well the following:
‘Besides, with the SNP rudely rebuffing Alba at every opportunity, there is now an extrordinary irony:
Alba repeatedly asking the SNP for a “Scotland United” joint ticket is becoming as pointless and humiliating as the SNP repeatedly asking Westminster for an S30 referendum’.
I would suggest Scotland United has a time limited (though important) shelf life… and by the same token, those SNP MP’s and perhaps MSP’s who are genuine about why they were elected and Indy for Scotland…. one way or another, need to piss or get off the pot.
sam says:
22 August, 2023 at 2:03 pm
Iain MacKinnon has a piece on the changes in the highlands from land as a common resource to crofting and the various attempts to privatise that land…
That’s a really interesting piece Sam, and while I’m not a Gael myself, it still resonates.
I have never been clear how the Gaels became dispossessed of their lands and “legal” title was usurped by Lords and landed gentry. I believe there may be parallels with the way the First Nation Americans where swindled out of their lands.
I believe too that the old Scottish society, which SALVO has given us tantalising glimpses into, that is a Scottish society which included Gaelic culture, was established around a principle of Common Good and communal ownership of resources which was intrinsically dissimilar from other societal doctrines, typically feudal, establishing themselves throughout Europe.
This is another parallel with the First Nation Americans, and I suspect other cultures too, who were bludgeoned into submission by the British Empire. I believe Scotland’s Common Good society was a surviving vestigial remnant of a very old hunter gatherer society, the origins of which came from the sharing communal resources, such as shared forests, meadows or fishing grounds which everybody had a right to access, hunt and use, while the resource itself belonged to everybody and nobody.
I believe this “organic” society stood precious little chance of defending itself against the unscrupulous commandeering approach of invasive “Legal” doctrines introduced by Colonial usurpers bent on securing title over these lands. What happened in North America, had already happened in Scotland.
This begs a fundamental question about whether Scotland’s Gaels and non-Gaels are “culturally” the same entity, or whether Scotland itself would have been better served splitting into two Nations.
I’m playing Devil’s Advocate to raise the possibility, because the reality is, I don’t detect any great tension between Scotland’s Gaels and non-Gaels, at least not before the insidious interferrance of external influences, and the Union in particular. As far as I know, Auld Scotland was a culturally diverse population perfectly at peace with itself. (ok, maybe not fully at peace with itself. Cough! Cough! But you know what I mean. Fighting amongst ourselves doesn’t count. That’s PRACTICE).
There is another component to this too, and one I think which is equally misunderstood. I think there was yet another distinct culture in Scotland, one which was perpetually stressed and disrupted by endless warring, invasions and retreats, and had to live by it’s wits simply to survive at all. I’m speaking about the Borders.
What chance, if any, did the Scottish culture indigenous to the Borders Region have to evolve unmolested by invasive and frequently brutal interventions? What chance does it stand today for God’s sake? Has anything changed?
But what other part of Scotland suffered like Scotland’s Berwick uopn Tweed?
” When the town had been taken in this way and its citizens had submitted, Edward spared no one, whatever the age or sex, and for two days streams of blood flowed from the bodies of the slain, for in his tyrannous rage he ordered 7,500 souls of both sexes to be massacred…. So that mills could be turned by the flow of their blood.”
—?Account of the 1296 Massacre of Berwick, from Bower’s Scotichronicon.
I believe Scotland has yet to reconcile itself with more than Scotland’s Gaelic and / or Highland culture. For all the turbulance brought to Scotland by wars and invasion, I promise you, the Lowlanders of Scotland have paid for their right to be Scottish by their own blood and sacrifice in creating our Nation.
“People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us.” For the longest time in the story of Scotland, those rough men were Scottish Borderers.
“They” try to divide us, North vs South, East Coast vs West Coast, Highlander vs Lowlander, Gael vs non-Gael, rich vs poor, Catholic vs Protestant, Unionist vs Independentist. They always have. They turn us upon ourselves. It’s their game plan.
Scotland United is calling us all, and not just for an opportune political manoeuvre. Scotland needs to unite and come together to finish what we started in 2014. Only then can Scotland begin to heal and be at peace with itself properly.
Then we will flourish, I promise you…
Daisy Walker says:
22 August, 2023 at 11:54 pm
I would suggest Scotland United has a time limited (though important) shelf life…
Fully agree, Daisy. The olive branch has been offered and thrown back in Alba’s face. I also get CM’s point about most of the current SNP MPs being a waste of space.
It is important to be seen making the offer, however. Humza cannot deny this (he may try). Does he realise that once the Rubicon has been crossed, the gloves come off and all hell breaks loose? A large number of people who have left the SNP are really serious about independence and are not going to sit quiet for another four years.
Unless the SNP wise up pretty quickly, they are in for a real bruising. Wake up and smell the coffee, before it’s too late. The SNP are currently hiding in the toilet. Don’t get caught with your pants down, Humza. The Indy train is about to leave the station.
Just to elaborate further, after my second sleep, I think the communal Common Good society which survived in Scotland, did not survive in other parts of Europe because of their Roman occupation, which had broken the link between people and the land, and instigated an alternative philosophy which developed into the “modern”European style feudal ownership and sovereign monarchies.
It’s just a theory. A notion. But that’s how far back I think the change occurred. It predated Dalriada, and I think it even pre-dated the Angles occupying Angle-land. Something “different”, this different point of origin, survived in Scotland’s culture and society right up until the 19th Century, and yes, it extended the length and breadth of Scotland.
Without Scottish Independence, I firmly believe Scotland will eventually succumb to full assimilation into the English style UK, and the superior care and compassion of our Common Good society will simply exist as a memory, with Scotland merely the unfortunate host doomed forever to being robbed of it’s vitality by colonial parasitism.
Scotland might yet be the last European state to succumb and fall under the shadow of the Roman Empire. Kinda spooky don’t ya think?
From Robin McAlpine’s latest
” I want you to understand this properly. We didn’t have perpetual PFI imposed on us. We didn’t have a sort of loose Trussonomics forced into our fiscal settlement. We didn’t have a monetary and fiscal union of nations status taken away from us against our will. We were willing partners to all of this. ”
If anyone you haven’t already done so , read it . Read it and be – don’t know if ” shocked ” is any longer a valid description – ” horrified ” ? ditto ; ” appalled ” ? same . How about ” stupified ” ? Aye , that’s closer to the mark . ” Ragin’ ” also
It seems not a day goes by now that doesn’t manifest yet one more example of the sheer uselessness , the almost gratuitous infliction of harm on our country being perpetrated by – hands down – the worse Scottish Government ever .
” Scotland United ” – with these fckn idiots ? Hahahahahaha . NAW .
Get them tae fuck ASAP
” of ( you ) “
On the subjects of finance and bans on publication/anonymity, rather than the censorship and funding discussed above:
Over the past week I’ve heard five separate discussions or assertions about impending legal actions. Does Wings have info on any events and motives which prompted these kites or rumours?
Breeks @ 7:25 am
“Without Scottish Independence, I firmly believe Scotland will eventually succumb to full assimilation into the English style UK”
Yes Breeks, there are only two outcomes for a people subject to ‘colonial procedures’:
(a) the people are assimilated, their culture is lost, and their national consciousness perishes; or,
(b) the people reclaim their sovereignty, recover their culture and liberate themselves through independence, casting out the oppressor and his culture.
Sae mak yer chyce Scottis fowk, assuming you have full control of your mindset, which in a colonial society may be colonial (i.e. the outcome of cultural assimilation).
Hector Macdonald was born into a crofting family with no English, joined the British Army, became a major-general, and saw destroying the Gaelic language as part of the Gaelic genocide: “The best way to kill a nation is to kill the language. We succeeded in doing that in the Scottish Highlands.”. He was later found buggering half-a-dozen Indian small boys in a railway carriage, and instructed by his army superiors to blow his own brains out, to avoid a scandal. Which he did.
link to derek.scot
ASA would be proud of him.
Breeks says:
23 August, 2023 at 2:46 am
“I have never been clear how the Gaels became dispossessed of their lands”
Our colonial oppressor also took the lands of many native Scots speaking people in what were formerly Pictish communities, and banished them:
List of rebels [Jacobites] of Distinction
link to discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Craig Murray and James Kelly are calling for Alex Salmond to stand in Rutherglen.
Thoughts?
«Without Scottish Independence, I firmly believe Scotland will eventually succumb to full assimilation into the English style UK»
Nothing is inevitable in this world. The first world war was, prior to its occurrence, thought impossible owing to the alliances of blood ties in imperial Europe and the religious affiliations in the Near East, however a war did break out which reshaped both regions, whether to the good or ill is a matter of judgment.
The world is in a far more friable state than pre WW1. Things are falling off the global structure, the neo colonist hegemons may be crushed by their own creations.
Scotland must be clear headed as regard «opportunity». Something in which its leadership and citizenry have scored zero in the great game of testing the will.
Nothing should be considered «sacred».
Breeks@2.46 am
« This begs a fundamental question about whether Scotland’s Gaels and non-Gaels are “culturally” the same entity, or whether Scotland itself would have been better served splitting into two Nations. »
—————-
A glimpse at least of some kind of moment of national “harmony” here…
« In the late fifteenth century James IV, himself an accomplished player of the clarsach, attracted a steady stream of Gaelic harper-minstrels from the north and west of his Kingdom. At this time Scottish culture was not yet dominated by the Scots-speaking central belt, and James was the last Scottish monarch to speak Gaelic and to possess a genuine understanding of all areas of his Kingdom. These minstrels and their Scots-speaking counterparts combined the talents of setting their own words to music and accompanying themselves as they sang or declaimed their work — both words and music may frequently have been improvised.[…] In addition to the visiting ‘Heland bardis’, James court gave casual employment to ‘fydlaris’ (probably at this date, players of the rebec) and to ‘pyparis’ (playing, probably, a variety of reed instruments, including perhaps some uniquely native varieties) as well as to ‘singaris’, soloists and small groups alike. More in keeping with what was expected of a Renaissance prince, James also played keyboards of the virginal type and employed a corps of trumpeters for ceremonial use. But significantly, if the random survival of music from this period is anything to go by, it is the more subtle and intimate indoor music which seems to have been his chief delight. With James’ marriage to Margaret Tudor in 1503, the English influence at court began to be felt more strongly. The lute began to oust the harp as the main solo and accompanying instrument, and among the group of four English musicians maintained by the Queen for her own entertainment were two lutenists. » (D. James Ross, ‘MUSICK FYNE: Robert Carver and the Art of Music in Sixteenth Century Scotland’, The Mercat Press, Edinburgh, 1993, p 118)
Alf Baird@9.22
“Our colonial oppressor also took the lands of many native Scots speaking people in what were formerly Pictish communities.”
——————
Alf, your perpetual trope of a link between “Scots speaking people” and Picts is linguistically spurious. Please substantiate it or desist.
AS will have to be prepared for a dirty fight.
If he’s clever he might get all the other candidates charged with jigsaw identification.
Is James Kelly still telling us all to wear masks?
There was over 400 British army forts in Scotland after the battle of Culloden, their remit was to dismantle the Highland way of life. Around 12,000 British troops remained in Scotland to, we shall call it, root out Scots that didn’t comply with London’s views.
“Army posts were to be “occupied by the regular forces in the Highlands, to put the Laws in Execution for disarming the Highlanders, suppressing the Dress and for preventing Depredations,””
I’ve also read that the Ordnance Survey was created to better help London hunt down and kill Scots that they found undesirable in the Highlands.
link to archive.is
I found this map of British forts.
Go for it Alex Salmond. If he chooses to stand he’ll have 7,000 activists out helping him.
I think he should.
@ chic mcgregor
Tricky one . I’m inclined to agree with others who have recommended letting the SNP/G smartie parties take the rap for what looks like an * inevitable * cuffing .
On the other hand ……Alex standing – and winning – would be great . Not sure , he/ALBA would . In fact , fairly certain he wouldn’t .
Though by now it shouldn’t matter a damn what they say , Alex standing and Labour winning would provide cover/excuse for the manifest failure/s of the SNP .
* ” WorsT Scottish Government ever ” , this , of course , includes the malignant Sturgeon Gov . Of which the Yousaf one is the pathetic ” continuity ” .
As for the vicissitudes of “nation founding”, Ireland’s TG4 channel currently have the following ‘DE VALERA IN AMERICA’ quality production documentary freely available to watch. Many contributions are in English, but subtitles can be switched on from the small white CC box along the bottom of the screen (choose the ‘Béarla/ English’ option) —
?
link to bit.ly
Salmond should run. He gets the working class people of Rutherglen.
Scotland United has been cancelled now according to Shona Robinson.
Rutherglen new affordable houses. Mair chooses. Like the commonwealth games in Glasgow that developed that area. That Alex Salmond delivered.
They liked Margaret Ferrier. They don’t like backstabbers like Yousaf. Glasgow lives in tennement flats. A lot of people still chap their neighbours door and see if they need anything. They look out for each other unlike the backstabbing Humza Yousaf…
They hate the LEZ into Glasgow and all the woke shit the greens have delivered.
They want Independence 50 per cent of them do anyway. The other 50 per cent want help with the cost of living and opportunities.
I hope he runs. I’ll change my vote. I think I’ll vote for him to run 100 per cent!
I hope he runs. Didn’t expect that. But I hope he goes for it.
Go on Alex Salmond. He’s done a lot for Rutherglen and could do a lot.
These two links show just how many British forts and troops were in Scotland.
Scotland was utterly swamped with British troops and Cantonments, encompassing barracks, fortified buildings and camps, post the Battle of Culloden.
link to sites.google.com
link to sites.google.com
The average rent in working class Glasgow £820 for a 1 bed flat according to zoopla.
People are living on top of each other again. I know because I’m in that situation.
Salmond if he wins his MPs salary might just cover the cost of 1 bed in Rutherglen…
Hed be a busy man answering all the questions of Rutherglen like Margaret Ferrier was.
Where’s the rent controls?
Campaign on that. Help people get on in life.
The SNP aren’t listening as they run the country from behind a laptop in Edinburgh.
Get yourself in the election campaign Alex Salmond. Go for it.
«This begs a fundamental question about whether Scotland’s Gaels and non-Gaels are “culturally” the same entity, or whether Scotland itself would have been better served splitting into two Nations» BREEKS.
The idea of single ethnicity per nation/nation state is the besetting sin of a certain type of nationalism. It is in the worst case the sin that divided India between Hindu and Muslim at great human cost, great cultural devastation and on going political stupidity. In Ireland it has effectively aided further anglicization and americanization.
Scotland is an idea of a «multi-cultural» or culturally complex nation still in the laboratory stage. Events prevented that sophisticated idea from being intellectually developed. The assertively anglocentric union continues to force postponement: local, regional, minor, marginal runs the narration.
The first divide, then conquer and control strategy should not for expediency’s sake be further indulged.
Complexity is good for a nation’s soul, assuming it possesses one.
Robert Hughes @ 8.11am
Took your advice and read Robin’s latest article. It’s a truly devastating analysis of where Scotland stands now.
I’ll pick out these particularly illuminating passages:
‘the available evidence suggests Scotland’s civil service is struggling to achieve competence. I wouldn’t let them negotiate with some jakey at the Barras given their recent performance.’
‘You cannot have missed the property sector, the oil and gas sector and the Edinburgh financial sector throwing their weight about. They have all infiltrated the civil service at just about every level, either via revolving doors, through networking or through what is effectively bribery.’
‘Because the people involved have all given influential board positions to the corporates and are all going to get lucrative Board positions in the private sector in return when they retire (which I think is basically bribery). Those of you worrying about secret service infiltration of the SNP should worry more about corporate infiltration of the Scottish public sector at almost every possible level.’
and….(though we all knew this)
basically I think the bigger issue is that I don’t think there is a single person in cabinet with the intellectual capacity and specific skills to engage with this. They have very little professional experience between them and none in finance, accounting, maths or economics.
So, those who wish to ‘follow the money’ should read the article. Scotland’s new fiscal framework, agreed to by this Scottish Government, is worse than what went before. We are crushed between UK economic policies and the basic scatterbrain incompetence and weakness of the devolved administration of Holyrood.
This is very depressing to read basically the SNP government has reduced Scotland to a region and agreed on a whole host fiscal nooses that will eventually strangle our economy.
The clock is ticking faster than ever.
We really need to get the SNP out of office, Alba really needs to get its finger out and get a move on, no more nicey, nicey to the SNP or Greens for they no longer support and independent Scotland that will grow and prosper.
link to robinmcalpine.org
See the national is saying the SNP and labour are neck and neck.p
That’s some achievement for the last 6/7 years, your as shit as the Scottish Labour party.
It would almost make you vote Tory as a protest.
Bring on Rutherglen and the car crash that is the SNP
For those that wonder how we got here read on
List of Nicola’s failures
Stop Brexit campaign
Case against Salmond
Parliamentary review of Salmond case
Education and Pisa figures
Attainment gap
Asking children about their sexual experience
Drug deaths
COVID and old folks
Infyref2 times 20
Turning a party of 120k into a party of 30k
Total lack of fundraising campaign
Growth commission paper
Use sterling not Scottish pound
extremely poor papers for independent scotland
Gender recognition
Approved person for children
Ferries
£600k missing
No support for AUOB
Failing to call a Scottish convention
Jailed AUOB leader
Jailed Craig Murray
Tried to jail another journalist Mark Hurst
Both votes SNP
Hate speech to shut down those that criticised her
Supreme court case designed to fail
Failing to support king Charles’ oath to uphold the claim of right
Failing to push the claim of right
Bottle return
Defacto ref where Westminster control all the strings
A9 dualling
No movement in the polls in 6 years
Recent polling crash level with labour
National energy company
Taking on Dept Work and Pensions payments
Letting London take the stone of destiny back without a word
Failure to disrupt westminster
Giving away the Berwick bank for a song
Supporting Freeport’s without comment about workers rights
National investment bank
National census failure
National care service
Police crime and protest act banning protests they don’t like
Vietnam group being exposed
Somone going to jail soon
Would anyone like to try and convince me this was incompetence or stupidity????
We need new houses. Affordable houses. Rogue land brought in line. Housing fixed up.
The city is fucking mess. The city is a disgrace. Susan Aitken let the people’s palace die. Cleaning up vandalism is beneath her. She’s horrible.
We need a voice in Glasgow. Salmond could be our voice. The guy’s a true statesman. Love him.
Go for it Salmond. Shake the establishment to the core.
Not really sure whether Mr Salmond stands to gain much from standing in the Rutherglen by election.
This present Parliament has only a year or so to run, so it would be a short term occupancy of the seat. And, surely, both his interests and those of Alba (not to mention Scotland) lie in Holyrood and working in Scotland for independence. He has no chance of ever gaining support from any other political parties MPs for independence down in Westminster.
Better by far, surely, to conserve Alba Party funds and continue to build for the next Scottish election in Holyrood. Month by month we continue to see the slow disintegration of the rump of the SNP as yet more disillusioned independence supporters forsake them.
And Mr Salmond has of course the record of his proven competence in administration to point to, something no other MSP can demonstrate (or seems likely to on present showings).
The Angles and Scots arrived in Caledonia at roughly the same time. There they encountered a culture that has effectively disappeared or possibly «been disappeared» from history: events again, English predation, reformation or neglect?
That civilization in only known through others, the new Caledonians must make certain that does not happen to their country and its heritage. The place they occupied only known by the funny sounding place names.
Yesterdays france info report on hundreds of (attempted) refugees being murdered on the Saudi border appears to have been memory holed quicker even than anything l try to contribute to the digital repository.
In event it should resurface, ie & particularly in form of Saudi soldiers from Pakistan taking all the blame for following orders, perhaps the 2 favourites for next FM can issue a joint statement condemning the atrocity to minimise any diplomatic repercussions for the rebuke.
If so, our aspiring leaders will have few excuses not to take a similar approach against evil in Scotland too – at which point an excellent start in the rehabilitation process might be to issue a joint apology to Margaret Ferrier and, in absence of a suitable Scotland reunited candidate being ready in time, agree to leave the rutherglen by election vacant (/ to the little parties) as a timely reminder of man’s inhumanity to (wo)man in run up to the defacto referendum/ udi (which must surely be imminent given the recently avowed cessation of hostilities towards independence and its supporters from labour party, scotch branch).
Interesting stuff from Craig Murray.
“Indeed. In fact we are submitting to the UN today with a very great deal of evidence of the corruption and plot”
“Which, among other things, will be a very substantial blow to somebody’s immediate career aspirations…”
link to nitter.net
“People do not understand the true extent of the scandal of the Alex Salmond case.
It is not just that some of the accusers plainly committed perjury. It is that the Crown Office had possession of plain evidence of an organised plot to commit perjury.
And that Lady Dorrian banned that evidence from court. And banned that same evidence from being used in my own defence.”
link to nitter.net
link to nitter.net
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh, thank you for your sober and evidenced posts. Very refreshing. The one about James IV and his musical court is fascinating and though I love the lute, it is interesting to see it as a kind of influential English weapon, ha ha. Mind you I have read similar criticisms of the ‘clumsy, noisy, a-child-could-play-it’ guitar, replacing the lute in England.
And for once I agree with TURBADIN. The seeking of ethnic / racial purity in a nation as desirable, is madness, at best. Though how he manages to blame the ‘anglocentric union’ for the general lack of such ‘complexity’ in Scotland is beyond me given England has undergone such a development for a long time now, and with some success.
Col Doug MacGregor on Tucker Carlson. Good interview.
twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1693761723230990509
(Nuland’s fangs will be extra achey listening to MacGregor talk about her ancestors and why she hates Russi@.)
David Hannah @ 10:29 am
“Get yourself in the election campaign Alex Salmond. Go for it.”
Deid richt David. Whit a backlins-comin thon wad bi! Gaun yersel Eck. Lats git independence duin an leeberate oor fowk.
Alf – For once I agree with you. Good luck to Salmond (if he stands). It would be great news and welcomed by pretty much everyone here.
RFK Jr. on Tucker Carlson was a good interview.
Tis pity he’s a Zionist whore.
David Hannah;
Which city?
SOUTHERNBYSTANDER
In modern times England was never as «complex» as Scotland. It was a united entity by the dawn of the 18th century, Scotland most certainly wasn’t. The anglicisers, and there were many Scottish «influencers» who perceived the Englishing of Scotland as desirable, effectively a external unifying force, and relegated the indigenous to history, the future was English in speech and manners and the Empire the very creation of the gods.
This idea permeated the dominant culture of British imperialism particularly in how Scots might be useful to it militarily, financially and exploitatively in its colonial possessions.
The images of Scots and Scotland, shortbread tin wild land dressed in tartan, obedient military tradition, dour as a dominie, solid, reliable, safely unimaginative and happy to be a very junior assistant.
While Europe was burning with national renewal movements, Scotland might have been on another planet so little of that heat reached its chilly North Brit shores. Scotland was a playground for antiquarians recording the death of its cultures not for future looking nation builders.
Scotland’s national diversity survives, just, but by the end of the century if the status quo endures the little that is left may be just old men’s memories.
«Anglo-America» if lucky in its bets, may be still around but the world power paradigm will have shifted.
Scotland, having sold all its national assets to Anglo-America for short term gain may just be a cork in a maelstrom.
Of course, nothing is inevitable to those who make history, those who refuse to bend to it.
“RFK Jr. on Tucker Carlson was a good interview.
Tis pity he’s a Zionist whore.”
Indeed he is Johnlm.
link to thegrayzone.com
“Canada’s fiercely anti-RF Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland” has a dark secret on why she too hates the RF.
Mac @12.17pm
Her Yuk-ie grandfather was a nat-zi propagandist, Mykhailo Chomiak, faithfully served nat-zi Germany right up to its surrender, and Chomiak’s family only moved to Canada after the Third Reich was defeated by the Soviet Union’s Red Army and its allies – the U.S. and Great Britain.
I see an officer in police Scotland is being charged with perjury. now I don’t know the case details but it is funny a policeman is getting charged with perjury because of evidence in court but not anyone in the Vietnam group.
Wonder why the crown office are after a policeman and not some civil servants?????
If I were a policeman I would not be very pleased at all.
@Mac/JohnIm
See my post from yesterday in particular the, some on here would see as noble, aims of the ‘charity’ then the CV of some of the people doing the mentoring and providing membership of the box ticking networking cell carrying out diversity placements in perpetuity for those who are chosen, one previously worked for Google, Amazon, Facebook and is WEF approved. Others are members of political family dynasties with ties to their parties Friends Of Israel groups and support of the trans indoctrination/Stonewall. Others in the mentorship roles are lobbyists, financers and academics with the money being provided by wealthy families amongst the international finance sector. The list of charities on board includes the Red Cross, Shelter, Scottish YMCA etc.
Noticing things like this results in the cold shoulder at best.
Shug @ 1:16 pm
“it is funny a policeman is getting charged with perjury because of evidence in court but not anyone in the Vietnam group.”
Sec 29B Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Act 2021, maybe?
link to legislation.gov.uk
Nicola Sturgeon’s £600K security axed amid row over huge taxpayer cost
Sources reveal her security has been cut back and is due to be scaled down completely this month.
Last week, her successor Humza Yousaf told an audience at Edinburgh Festival Fringe that Nicola Sturgeon had become sick of being under police watch.
She once told the First Minister of Scotland: “You’ve got no idea what it’s like.
“I can’t even go for a coffee with a friend without police officers at the table next to me.”
Well she’ll jist huvtae go tae Greggs like the rest o us.
RoS
Chrystia Freeland is a stooge obviously.
404 history is complicated.
I wouldn’t judge them from here, though they are manipulated by NATO.
Many Euro and US t3rror attacks are nonsense, but so were the RF apartment attacks.
Don’t trust any of them.
They are politicians after all.
All wars are banker wars.
@Republicofscotland says:23 August, 2023 at 1:08 pm
why she too hates the RF
Her and a few million others, eh RoS? It’s not exactly a select club.
I guess that’s the downside of starving 4 million people to death. Any survivors and/or their descendants rightly feel a bit peeved.
The RF, as successor nation, is looking at the starvation tactic and dusting it off for more modern times. Maybes they want to break that record of 4 million dead, it has been almost a century with no improvement on that.
Still, you continue to back them up to the hilt. I feel a surge of Indy support every time you post. Do you feel it too?
“Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh says:
23 August, 2023 at 9:47 am
Alf Baird@9.22
“Our colonial oppressor also took the lands of many native Scots speaking people in what were formerly Pictish communities.”
——————
Alf, your perpetual trope of a link between “Scots speaking people” and Picts is linguistically spurious. Please substantiate it or desist.”
Ignorant as I am about much I hesitate to enter here with questions.
Was a part of the Picts at least the indigenous people of Scotland? Were the Picts not composed of various groups of people including Scandanavian? Did these groups come together against invaders such as Romans and Angles? Is it possible that there were a number of languages among the Picti?
@TURABDIN says:23 August, 2023 at 12:54 pm
Scotland, having sold all its national assets to Anglo-America for short term gain
Doesn’t seem very short term to me. All of my life so far, in fact given that real hardship in Scotland mostly disappeared in the 1930’s, within spitting distance of a century now, with still some decades to go.
Whatever happens to the current American Imperium, Scotland will re-sell all its national assets to the successor. That’s the way of the world.
And if that successor manages a century in the top spot, Scots will consider they lucked out yet again.
Soz if that doesn’t play to the “greetin in their drams” regulars on here, but although there are plenty of times when Scotland could have done better, just looking around at much of the world demonstrates there are plenty of times when Scotland could have done a lot worse.
@sam says:23 August, 2023 at 2:02 pm
Is it possible that there were a number of languages among the Picti?
Fecked if we know, Sam. The founding document of our Scottish Sovereignty, the Declaration of Arbroath, boasts how the Scots completely destroyed the Picts so that’s lost to history.
Imperialist, colonising, genocidal bastards, the Scots, eh? Wha’s like us? (Assuming you’re one of us, apologies if you’re naw).
Don’t you go reading this post now, Sam, ye’ll upset yersel again.
You watch .It won’t be long b4 Willywallaby and his cronies will be crying transphobia.
As if the transgender lot will take heid of this.
link to msn.com
Well they’re all gonna die if they try IMHO. The body will reject it anyhow becos it ain’t normal.
Anton 1.24pm
The John Smith Institute, I would think, is just some sort of appendage of higher powers such as the WEF global shapers, who seem to have deleted their pages on their appointments.
Cant locate my stuff on the Scots global shapers – all nonenties- so far
AMAZING POLLY MEGA BOOM! SCHWAB’S GLOBAL SHAPERS NETWORK EXPOSED! On bitchute
John Main is a moron.
I wish to be constructive, but I have nothing.
Sorry.
Past assimulation of Scotland is being recognised,
But modern assimulation of europes open society, under the global order Blair! gate and sorro’s, and many other globalists is not,
with britains enforced legal migration “pretending” it is going to be as a saviour to people in danger from and in their countries, is not realised as deliberate government re colonisation of britain, scotland, england, wales and Ireland,
There are the usual numpties that cannot see or recognise modern day assimulation,
And yet we hear how these people are aided, helped, financed, given phones, food put up in the best hotels, and homed better than the native populations of britain whom are struggling to survive,
The question has to be asked “What hand” have these “unelected leaders” played unseen with funding into and within our governments, causing wars, creating disruption instigating parties and religiions against each other , stealing another Countries lands and resources Breaking and dividing languages and cultures down with purpose, deliberately destabilising those Countries so the people flee and assimulate into all nations,
If any one should be quick recognise that, that ” hand ” is still being played today, breaking up and destroying cultures in the old system Colonialism it should be Scotland, native Americans, Moari’s aborinies of australia,
There is always a long term plan to divide and conquer and reduce the native population to replace it with a influx of a opposing Culture,
Its a colonial war game as old as the hills. But with a global adjustment for modern times on a grand scale,
@JohnIm
I’ll check it out, thanks. You are another one who has noticed the internet contracting, even stuff about the Denton Files which was available two years ago no longer appears in searches.
For everyone else, from todays Guardian, another article advising its core readership base in North London, Manchester and BBC canteens, a copy of every issue placed on every chair according to Private Eye, to invest their savings in property in Scotland.
link to archive.ph
Anton
Found them
Ones to look out for.
link to globalshapers.org
Mac
Thanks for that link
Wow! The ultimate whistle blower. Hope he is OK out of this.
I’m repeating it because everyone should watch it.
twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1693761723230990509
And he IS a MacGregor, the ear lobes give it away.
Johnlm says:
23 August, 2023 at 2:36 pm
John Main is a moron.
I’m Spartacus
The native indigenous population of Scotland was assimulated in the same way, by bringing in another mass population influx, of language, culture and people,
I wonder if the population change from across our borders of old, living here now, will hang on and protect Scotland as the last vestige and corner of the old Colonial empire once known as great britain,
For south of this border the empire is disappearing faster than a blink of the eye with boat loads of young males, not women and children,
Some of those cultures do not believe that women are equal, so our governments are paving the way with new legislations not recognising what a women is,
In preparedness for the assimulation.
And there are some who cling on to the belief that the SNP is not a unionist party?
“Murray Foote, who called SNP police probe ‘grotesque’, is party boss”
link to archive.md
TURBADIN, 23 Aug, 12:54pm
Perhaps not politically but the ethnic make-up of England was complex and became increasingly so to the point of being multi-cultural. What I don’t get is how the relative lack of multiculturality in Scotland can be blamed on England. England has ‘suffered’ from its own national stereotypes, its own little England nationalisms, but still things evolved beyond them.
What is noticeable with some views expressed on this site is that the resistance to a multiethnic Scottish society is strong and castigation of England for allowing itself to be ‘overrun’, a recurring refrain. The worry about Scotland itself being overrun by the English (something I have some sympathy with) is accompanied by a fear this will also import / engender a general multicultural attitude that would extend well beyond English ethnicity.
Anton
Found ‘em.
Names to look out for on Radio Shortbread in the near future?
link to globalshapers.org
I thought that was a good interview from Col MacGregor, but it’s a great interview because I believe Douglas MacGregor speaks candidly and with remarkable clarity on matters he manifestly knows a great deal about. He seems to think before he speaks. I like him, and as far as anyone with a history in the US Military can be a good guy, I actually think he is.
If you want the actual truth, I think he’s a breath of fresh air, and could have a pivotal role in bringing this shit show to a sensible conclusion that doesn’t end up killing us all. The funny thing is, I feel the same way about Sergey Lavrov. Just Imagine the after dinner conversation between those two…
Tucker Carlson, and his motives, I’m much less sure about frankly. There’s a little too much little boy / media reporter on a mission to get himself a Pulitzer Prize, for me to trust him very far. I could be wrong in that, and owe the man an apology for doing him a great disservice. It’s hard to be sure, because virtually all US media personalities seem to set off my “insincerity” klaxons simply by opening their mouths. I come over all Jimmy Nail… whatever he said, he / she’s lying…
Why we’re shooting off on an RFK / Zionism tangent, I’m not sure about. It’s my perception that MacGregor certainly isn’t a Zionist, and is usually more likely to be derided as antisemitic by the usual suspects, so what’s the concern? That Carlson will speak to pretty much anybody? Yes, ok, gotcha. See above paragraph.
I also struggle to credit someone’s new-found integrity based upon being sacked by Fox News with that same person’s integrity which worked for Fox News to begin with. I need a bit more to go on. Lol.
MacGregor I’ll listen to. Carlson? Meh, not so much. The other guy? Who?
JOHN MAIN
Independence is for better or worse, the blood and guts of the status.
It is not good policy to get too comfortable with any system.
The matrix if not under your own control may be smashed in due time.
Risk averse, blood and gutless, Unionist Scotland, head set in the cracked mold of Britishness.
Jim Cuthbert has a piece from 2022 about what is needed to be done in Scotland and independence is essential. This is part of it.
This is Chapter 11 in “A New Scotland”, editor Gregor Gall, published by Pluto Press, 2022.
“One choice of the British ruling class, faced with the end of Empire, was to turn this process inwards, like an ingrowing toenail, and start assetising and exploiting the resources and people of one’s own state. Hence, the features of the UK state we have already observed.
If one regards the Conservatives as the political wing of the rentier class rather than the wider capitalist class, (including most obviously industrial capitalists), then this makes sense. This is not a new insight. Marx (1852) noted: ‘Up to 1846 the Tories passed as the guardians of the traditions of Old England … The fatal year, 1846, with its repeal of the Corn Laws … proved that they were enthusiasts for nothing but the rent of land’. What Marx did not foresee was the way that the Tories would survive and dominate by broadening their position on rent from land to all types of asset, particularly financial: and that they would become, in effect, the political arm of the rentier class as a whole. Given that, the current UK system of taxation makes beautiful sense as the manifestation of the ideology of Britain’s main party of government when confronted with the realities of coping with the end of traditional colonialism.
But this analysis indicates some of the key steps an independent Scotland would have to take, in redesigning the tax system. Policy would have to be reformed so that an equitable share of the current rewards to rentiers sticks to the Scottish people, and to Scottish public finances. This is not just a question of tax: changes to industrial policy would have to be undertaken in lockstep, particularly as regards the creative use of licensing. But here is a personal shopping list.
i) Land: introduce a land value tax, to give an incentive to bring land into productive use. This could be tailored to size of holding, to encourage the break-up of vast estates. And to avoid problems with trusts, and multiple holdings, taxation of land could be on penal terms for other than land owned by real person residents.
ii) Hydrocarbon reserves: a tax system more in line with international norms: conjoined with an approach to licensing that made it a condition that ancillary work should be sourced in Scotland.
iii) Renewables: a realistic approach to harvesting a share of windfall profits stemming from renewables, together with similar licensing conditions as for hydrocarbons to ensure that ancillary work is sourced in Scotland.
iv) Corporate tax: for industries like whisky, where production necessarily takes place in Scotland, but the product is sold internationally, there should be a licensing scheme, where licences would only be issued if a fair share of profits were taxed in Scotland. For companies like Google, which are international, but sell into Scotland, another form of licence would give the right to participate in the Scottish market, on condition that a fair share of the resulting turnover results in profits which are taxed here.
v) Utilities: There is a strong case for widespread re-nationalisation. But in any event, a new regulatory regime would be required for all areas other than water (which is the only utility not currently regulated at a UK level.) Regulators should be given a much tougher remit, to avoid regulatory capture. And, the nonsenses which were perpetrated around previous pricing models for capital investment should be swept away….”
Johnlm,
They have been advertising Scotland as the go to place down south for many years,
There was also financial support set up as encouragement from the parliament of England government, a number of years since for those looking to have new-age small crofts,
EU financial aid as well,
Was I the only one that noticed the huge influx of Lama’s, donkeys, horses, riding schools and sancturies. Bee keeping and rare breeders into Scotland,
New start up business, landscaping, gardeners, non local trades men,
Maybe,
Because I worked
Murray Foote now running the show
@sam says:23 August, 2023 at 2:02 pm
Is it possible that there were a number of languages among the Picti?
The truth is, no one actually knows if the Pictish language was P-Celtic or Q-Celtic or a mixture of both or some other variant.
Through my life the consensus opinion has swung from Q-Celtic to P-Celtic.
Mainly the confusion comes from place names versus regnal names.
Many place names in what was known to be the Pictish stronghold area start with a P, often Pit… (a characteristic of P-Celtic or Brythonnic)
P is a very very rarely used starting letter in Goedelic or Q-Celtic.
However in the Ulster Annals, which lists Pictish (among others) king names, for the most part are Q-Celtic.
There are also a few runic inscriptions on stones which support this i.e ‘Maq…’ whatever (rather than ‘Map’).
When I was young I kinda went with the Q-Celtic argument because to me it made logical sense e.g. the ease with which intermarriages took place and the alleged ‘disappearance’ or no-exitence of Pictish writings (maybe they didn’t disappear maybe is just that early inscriptions may were Gaelic or Pictish). I struggled to see how the Picts could at one time hold suzerainty over Dalriada and Gododdin which were both literate yet not become (if they were not before ) literate themselves.
Now, I am quite happy to go with the P-Celtic consensus. It doesn’t matter much to me.
The South of Scotland was definitely Brythonnic and much of the Old Welsh that exists was penned by Nennius, Gildas and Hen who until recently were regarded as residing in what is now Scotland but as part of the deconstruction program of Scottish history are inexorably being relocated to the south.
Is it time to walk away yet?
Are we there yet?
How soon? will be to late?
James Che,
I’m not sure that you are responding to a post of mine in error.
I am not John Main.
However! if you are questioning my point on carving up the country for those willing to work, then it
maybe the only economically survival strategy for those who don’t wish to be slaves.
sam@2.02 pm
“Was a part of the Picts at least the indigenous people of Scotland? […] Is it possible that there were a number of languages among the Picti?”
———————
A straightforward way to start researching the Picts and their language is to read the two fairly up-to-date Wikipedia articles: ‘Pictish language’, and ‘Picts’.
chic.mcgregor@3.fr pm
« The truth is, no one actually knows if the Pictish language was P-Celtic or Q-Celtic or a mixture of both or some other variant. »
————
Thanks very much for your informative post.
Breeks
I think you mistook my comment as asserting that Carson was a Zionist.
Apologies.
RFK jr. is the Zionist, or pretender.
Carlson likely CIA (definitely son of a CIA father)
McGregor took an oath to the USA.
I have no view.
Who you like in this is irrelevant.
Tenruh says:
23 August, 2023 at 3:29 pm
Murray Foote now running the show
I thought it was a wind up.
Yet still they refuse to see what is happening…
Do we really need these people in Scotland United? Can we have a quick show of hands?
A little bit of of their own land returned to every Scot,
And a equal based “land measurement evaluelated land tax”combined with roof tax, to replace Council tax, NO expemptions…. for Trusts, Charities, Councils, or government, migrants or immigrants, industrial building land, or owners registered outside of Scotland
Lets put the greedy land grabbing rackateers in the same bracket as the ordinary man in Scotland,
This would prevent large scale land owners or massively big houses paying the same as a two or tree bedroom house especially on second homes owners not living here.
My idea would be ‘use it or lose it’.
If you individually can work the land then you own it, or else someone else can claim it.
No tax.
That only feeds the useless middle class grifters and politicians.
@JohnIm
Thanks, appreciated. It’s been archived, I’m assuming by yourself after tracking it down again.
I talk to family about stuff like this and they go from it cannot be true because we’d have heard about it in the media to it’s probably true but they mean well.
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh @ 9:47 am
“link between “Scots speaking people” and Picts”.
You perhaps have a different historical perspective, but: Pictish chiefs are said to have been massacred around 847 ‘following a feast at Scone’, eliminated by MacAlpin’s Dal Riada Scots (Gaels) who then assumed the kingship of the Picts. There is no record of the Pictish people themselves being destroyed.
Gaels appear to have moved into Pictland after the Vikings took much of Dal Riada/Argyll. The centre of administration of the Pictish kingdom in the ninth century was Forteviot on the River Earn. After the massacre, MacAlpin set up a religious centre close by in Dunkeld in about AD 850.
The regime change does appear to have led to the Picts, over time, being re-branded as ‘Scots’, with accompanying religious and language domination. But the Picts were never Gaels and neither are many/most Scots, especially those descended from Picts.
Just as today’s ‘Scots’ (or Picts, even) are not Brits (or Britonni), despite ongoing Anglo cultural domination (i.e. cultural and linguistic imperialism) aimed at cultural obliteration and altering a peoples identity.
Johnlm,
I could never confused you with a numpty, or a troll, I quite like you posts, and often read them, you a thinking man, and are aware of the under currents running and funding our governments like pupeteers,
No I was just passing a comment on how long ( years) Scotland has ” been” advertised by main stream media down south to sell up and move to Scotland,
The Daily papers have taken on this Colonial roll for at least a decade.
@BDTT
I feel genuinely sorry for those of you who put their precious time, blood, sweat and tears into the SNP and broader movement only to see both hijacked and divided. Any kind of national consciousness/culture/identity in the West is verboten.
SOUTHERNBYSTANDER
As an «ethnic» I tread very carefully on this matter. My people do know what being over run and at best ethnically cleansed means in practice. However, that is a case in extremis.
The territory of modern Scotland, as far as is known, was originally Brythonic Celtic in culture, as was the territory of modern England. It was invaded by a Goidelic Celtic people, the Scotti, from Ulster, English ie Angles from modern Northumberland and Norseman from Norway. Eventually they all became known, more or less, as «Scots» but these groups did not integrate in the modern sense. Only as a result of the politico-economic conditions of the 19th century, Highland/Lowland clearances etc did that process begin; accelerated by several million quitting the country for good.
Civil war prevailed in Scotland throughout the 18th century and religious divisions deepened. In the end Celtic was subdued by the ascendant Anglic, and a business in romantic tartan Scottishness was born. The current situation of a monocultural dominance is the norm which a Gaelic language tv channel changes little. England did not experience such ethnic tensions as it was not strictly speaking multicultural/multilingual, until now.
Sadly, most Scots, even those calling themselves «nat», do not care to tip their toes into that particular sea for fear of being drawn in too deep by the variable historic undertow.
When «multicultural» is mentioned in modern British, in other words Westminster, political discourse the fact that Scotland was such for centuries receives no attention.
Murray Foote has been given the job as SNP chief executive.
Infiltration is complete. The architect of the daily record, Unionist Vow gets the top job at the Scottish nationalists.
I vote for the Alba Party of patriots. Or nationalists.
RIP SNP. Alba Party and Alex Salmond, where my vote goes.
SNP. Rot in hell.
Nicliar Sturgeon, and Peter Murrell have handed over control of the SNP to Unionists.
She’s given it away to Murray Foote.
I’ve got nothing against British patriots. But I do against liars like Nicola.
Sturgeon the treacherer, pretend Scottish nationalist…. Turn the Indy Swindler. The SNP destroyer. The destroyer of women’s rights.
Scotland’s biggest by my boiler Nicliar Sturgeon. The killer of old ladies in care homes. Rot in hell Nicola. Rot In. HELL.
She’s sold the jerseys. Sturgeon has sold the family silver. She’s like Thatcher.
She’s given away the SNP to Unionists.
Sturgeon reminds me of lucy letby… The only difference between the two is that Nicola liked to kill old people in care homes. Isn’t that right Nicola, when you sent the plague into the homes?
Fucking hate Nicola Sturgeon. Fucking. I hope the cops fucking lock her away from Looooong time. Better drop the soap Nicola. Isla Bryson might want you to affirm his feelings. You vile piece of shit.
Tenruh 3.29
“Murray Foote now running the show”
They are simply the Labour Party in Scotland now. Hiding in plain sight. Sturgeon has won. She is a treacherous barsteward and no mistake. At the GE the Labour Party will win Scotland.”Scottish Labour” will win 20 odd seats with Nu SNP hoovering up most of the others. Won’t get them into No 10 of course but the red and blue Tories take back Scotchland and all is well in the shitehole that is Westminster. Might even get some token ermine clad SNP MPs . Oh wait. How fucking depressing is it all?
James Che
Disturbing that my posts are only ‘ quite liked’.
My idea would be ‘use it or lose it’.
If you individually can work the land then you own it, or else someone else can claim it.
A bit like the peat banks in the Western Isles.
No tax.
That only feeds the useless middle class grifters and politicians.
Shona Robinson rejected Scotland United.
The SNP is now the Labour Party. It’s the plan all along. The total destruction of the SNP from within.
We saw it coming years ago. It couldn’t have been more obvious.
One woman. Nicola Sturgeon.
I hope the covid inquiry finds her guilty of corporate homocide. I hope she faces charges.
The thousands of care home deaths…
Nicola doesn’t feel normal emotions however. She’s a psychopath like Lucy Letby.
Nicola letby more like.
We want justice.
Better not drop the soap Nicola. Some of the inmates haven’t seen a man in a looong time… Corton Vale is calling.
Some of the violent male inmates of the female estate, are lesbians like you Nicola.
Thanks for selling the SNP jersey. She’s sold it away.
One woman. Has sold out and entire cause.
I wish her the worst I really do.
Craig Murray wrote an article “Strasbourg Cul de Sac” on 20th November 2022 in which he said his case to the ECHR had been dismissed as inadmissible [by an Armenian judge sitting alone].
So the VOW originator now running the Scottish Nonce Party but the brain dead membership and the nicolites and the PayPal Paul sycophants will tell everyone that it means nothing and Murray has been an independence supporter all his life or maybe even for weeks
I unfortunately am NOT surprised that COPFS or police Scotland are not doing anything about Footes deliberate attempts to whitewash sturgeon and murrells parts in branchform
The Final Insult.
Foote takes charge. Orchestrator of the promise “THE VOW”
What more evidence do SNP members of old need? You’ve been betrayed- AGAIN!
The game’s a Foote. Watson unreality TV?
chic.mcgregor and Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh
Thank you both very much
I find it hard to believe that Murray Foote has been given this role – utterly laughable.
I never imagined I would end up hating the SNP with a vengeance but that’s where I find myself.
Alf Baird @8:55am
“Sae mak yer chyce Scottis fowk, assuming you have full control of your mindset, which in a colonial society may be colonial (i.e. the outcome of cultural assimilation)”
In other words, Scotland; wake-up and smell the colony.
Because once you catch a whiff of it, it rapidly becomes a stench that gets up yer nose quicker than you can say…well… decolonisation.
And once aware of that ‘stench’ the choice, the only choice if the Scots are to avoid being swallowed up by their larger southern neighbour, becomes clear – independence or assimilation.
I favour the rejection of assimilation and would urge Scots to:
Apologies to Irvine Welsh for borrowing, and paraphrasing, some of his words.
TURABIN
‘England did not experience such ethnic tensions as it was not strictly speaking multicultural/multilingual, until now’.
Firstly we had the Roman invasion and ethnic struggle with the Britons, then the formation of England, made by further invaders and wars (Angles / Saxons v. Britons, many Britons ending up staying on), then the Vikings came (more ethnic wars), then the Norman invasion a very major ethnic shift. Then later there is the small matter of the Wars of the Roses, between Yorkshire and Lancashire (still minor tensions there), and of course the English Civil War, plus to this day, the north-south divide along with the major ethnic difference in the West Country that still harks back to the old Britons. All this before the major influx of peoples, largely as a result of Empire from the mid-20th century, though also with the more recent acceptance that the there were large numbers of black people in England from at least the later mediaeval period.
As for multilingual, if you allude to Scots, then the large variation in English dialects, were in their most profound forms very similar to Scots in their differentiation with English. It is true that apart from Cornwall, there was no real bilinguality in modern times that compares to Gaelic v. English but of course in earlier times there was Old English, then Norman French and as you mention the Brythonic language of the Britons. All of these would probably have co-existed at one time in early-mid mediaeval times.
You are right that the narrative is that England has a mono-ethnic and mono-lingual history, a narrative pushed by English ethnic nationalists, but they are wrong.
Northcode says:
23 August, 2023 at 7:38 pm
“In other words, Scotland; wake-up and smell the colony.”
I fear the stench of a red herring.
There is no grand plan to dilute ‘Scottishness’ from Scotland.
There may have been long ago, but not today.
All local and riogional cultures are being subjugated not by any colonial power but by mass consumerism and globalisation.
The English are under just the same threat as Scots. English language, dialect, accents, even religion are all falling victim to a global mass media.
The degree to which it is under anyone’s control is debateable and any influence is likely to be dominated by market forces and human nature.
The point I am attempting to make is that there is an opportunity cost in expending efforts on a pro-independence these thathas no grounding and absolutely no chance of persuading voters.
Conserve our heritage by all means. But not at the expense of making it a distraction.
Rant over.
Pile on at your will.
@Viscount Ennui says:23 August, 2023 at 8:20 pm
Pile on at your will
No need for a pile on, what you write is simply rational common sense.
It’s a common fallacy held as true by the hard of thinking, to believe that every problem or every circumstance has but one cause. The “Scotland as colony” trope has gained traction with that quality of thinker because of the obvious correlation – English accents on the TV and on our streets.
No causation needed, single cause identified, and thus with one anti-colonisation bound, Scotland can be free once more. In their heids.
Free to immediately assimilate her identity in the EU, natch, but wheesht about that.
And of course, as part of the “decolonisation” process, those who don’t or won’t speak and write in Scots will be hounded out of their jobs, to be replaced by the box-tickers who rank mastery of their “mither tongue” as perhaps their only accomplishment.
A dead cert recipe for nation catastrophe, which is why rational Scots need to push back against this nonsense.
It’s as deluded in its own way as the trans woowoo. And just as damaging.
Alf Baird@4.03
« […] The regime change does appear to have led to the Picts, over time, being re-branded as ‘Scots’, with accompanying religious and language domination. But the Picts were never Gaels and neither are many/most Scots, especially those descended from Picts.[…] »
———————
Alf, thanks for taking time to seriously reply.
First reaction is to regret yet again that you reference no corroborative authorities. My second is to head-shake anew at your “othering” of Gaels, even though they indubitably were the historical ethnic *Scots*. Thirdly, we have your (at first) unfathomable preoccupation with the Picts, light upon which fixation dawns only when we glimpse your deep-core conviction that Scots-speakers *are* the Picts. My fundamental issue with you therefore remains, ie that your argument is inherently *blood-line* (to which I am adamantly averse), rather than in any sense linguistic – except that in comments elsewhere you do get close to suggesting that the ‘Scots’ language sprung indigenously from the Pictish soil. The DSL online site itself of course informs us of the reality (that what is now called ‘Scots’ was initially an offshoot of Northumbrian English):
link to dsl.ac.uk
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh @ 10:39 pm
“Gaels…indubitably were the historical ethnic *Scots*”
And the incoming Gaels duly renamed the earlier indigenous ethnic Picts as ‘Scots’. Much as the Scots of today are still being re-fashioned into Brits.
And similarly, my “head-shake anew at your “othering” of” Picts, and your elevation of Dal Riada Gaels (from Ireland) as an ethnic *blood-line* argument.
It may be the case that “what is now called ‘Scots’ was initially an offshoot of Northumbrian English”; however, the Scots language as we know it, even in its rusted form today, is a language developed in Scotland by Scots/Picts. Studies have found the Scots language rather more similar to the Nordic tongue than modern day English.
Scottish Gaelic similarly remains an offshoot, of Irish Gaelic, from whence it came.
“you reference no corroborative authorities”
Try for starters: Ross, D. (2008) Scotland: History of a Nation. Lomond Books.
Alf Baird@10.39
« the Scots language as we know it, even in its rusted form today, is a language developed in Scotland by Scots/Picts. »
———————
Alf, we are continually at cross purposes. Scottish Gaelic is different from Irish because to that extent it has also been modified by at least one and an half thousand years of being used by humans on the territory now known as Scotland. In fact what makes it different from Irish is in measure its syntax and vocabulary having been influenced by the very Picts you hail as antecedents. It was also of course influenced by Latin (many basic Gaelic words are anciently cognate with proto-Latin) and by Norse, and by English itself. The historic eponymous Scots who brought Gaelic to this land would already have been of mixed blood. As, I suggest, would have been every other human who ever set foot here, including the Picts. It is not important where contemporary Gaelic speakers come from in any physical sense. I am just delighted if anybody speaks it. The historic linguistic journey of what has become Scottish Gaelic traces back way beyond Scotland. But that is also true of your ‘mither tongue’ — though you, against all evidence, are determined to claim exclusive indigenous roots for it, looking to Pictish DNA as putative provenance. But in terms of justifying argumentation that is to change horses from linguistic lineage to physical lineage. Your linguistic conclusions do not follow from your dynastic DNA premises (even if the latter were valid). I reiterate these matters, not because I think there is any likelihood of persuading or dissuading you, but because readers need to be aware that there is no linguistic link *whatsoever* between your (Anglo-) Scots language and (P-Celtic) Pictish or any posited Neolithic antecedent. Scots/Lallans is *Germanic* (as the DSL site linked to above clearly elaborates). Your language’s “mither” traveled here from beyond Scotland. As did that of English (to whom she was most closely related). Your immediate relations are Dutch, Flemish, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish etc, all of which are offspring of Germanic.
Fearghas
Thanks for that, appreciate your views. I think you are still a little off track in your perception of my concerns so lets clarify these a wee bittie.
My main point is that the Picts have been all too readily written out of much of Scotland’s history. The conflict between indigenous Picts and various subsequent invading groups – Britonni, Roman, Gael, Angle, Norse, clearly needs to be better understood. The archaeological record is important here, written records – the latter often quite ‘creative’ – coming later.
On the matter of language, the Scots language has clearly been developed by Scots in Scotland. As with all other languages (incl Gaelic, as you note) the Scots language has been influenced by other languages and interactions over a long period of time. But the basic fact remains, the Scots language is the language of Scots, hits whit fowk speak in the schuil yaird an in oor hooses, an wha we are.
However, the key point remains, that, in a colonial society a people are intentionally deprived of learning their own language, it is made invalid by the colonizer, as are those who speak it; this is the oppressive reality for Scots language speakers as it has also been for Gaelic speakers.
Such language deprivation remains a fundamental part of the racist root of colonial oppression; colonialism depends on creating and maintaining a cultural and linguistic divide between colonizer and colonized, which allows then for the subjugated peoples’ social, political and economic exploitation.
We then get to the colonial practice of creating tribal divisions, the colonizer favouring one tribe over another. An example here being the absence still of a Scots Language Act, yet the colonizer’s ‘concession’ of a Gaelic Language Act. You may recall you were unable to explain this anomaly, though I have just given you the explanation, from postcolonial theory.
Alf, I do appreciate your ongoing courtesy and indeed cordiality despite my ongoing hassling. Impressive role model. The matter remains unresolved, but I will leave that last word with you for now. I think you deserve that. Meanwhile here is a poem by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, on the theme of which there is no doubt we do share common ground. I can’t find the original Russian for his prose-poem, but here is an English version by Michael Glenny and a Gaelic version by the late Ruaraidh MacThòmais (Derick Thomson).
????????????? ????????? ??????????
??????
THE PUPPY
In our back yard a boy keeps his little dog Sharik chained up, a ball of fluff shackled since he was a puppy.
One day I took him some chicken bones that were still warm and smelt delicious. The boy had just let the poor dog off his lead to have a run round the yard. The snow there was deep and feathery; Sharik was bounding about like a hare, first on his hind legs, then on his front ones, from one corner of the yard to the other, back and forth, burying his muzzle in the snow.
He ran towards me, his coat all shaggy, jumped up at me, sniffed the bones—then off he went again, belly-deep in the snow.
I don’t need your bones, he said. Just give me my freedom.
(Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: Stories and Prose Poems. Translated by Michael Glenny – New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1971)
——————-
Gaelic translation by Ruaraidh MacThòmais / Derick Thomson, (c. 1977) —
AN CUILEAN
Air a’ chlobhs againn
tha balach
aig a bheil abhag
air lomhainn,
car-a-mhuiltein cuilein
ach fo ghlais
bho bha e na ghlas-ghiullan.
An là bha seo
thug mi cnàmhan circe dha
’s iad fhathast blàth is sùghmhor.
Bha am balach
an dèidh a leigeil ma sgaoil,
anns a’ ghàrradh.
Sneachda domhainn mìn ann;
bha an cuilean
na leum man geàrr,
air a chasan deiridh,
air a chasan toisich,
am meadhon a’ ghàrraidh,
anns an oisean,
na bhreislich,
le shròin fodha anns an t-sneachda.
Thàinig e na ruith,
le chalg robach,
a’ leum thugam,
a’ snotraich nan cnàmhan —
’s a-mach à seo,
suas gu bhroinn anns an t-sneachda.
“Coma leam na seann chnàmhan sin,” ars esan,
“’S e saorsa tha dhìth ormsa”.
(BÀRDACHD NA ROINN-EÒRPA AN GÀIDHLIG:
European Poetry in Gaelic, GAIRM, 1990)
[…] 19 August, 2023 at 1:26 pm […]