The Wailing Walls
Posted on
February 24, 2024 by
Chris Cairns
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Another belter Chris.
Doubtless the usual suspects BTL will be along directly to monster you for your temerity in criticising the performative emoting of the Hamas fluffers who expressed their disappointment in Rev Stu’s lack of commitment to “the cause” in his post yesterday.
As I understand it, the SNP motion contained a logical route to increase pressure for an actual ceasefire via it’s potential to strengthen the enforcement capacity of any judgements in the case before the ICJ.
Given the relative urgency, I’m still wondering why Wednesday’s business was not cancelled and rerun on Thursday, and Thursdays business carried over into Friday, whilst Sir Kier and Mr Hoyle were suspended pending further investigation of what on earth they thought they were doing.
Absolutely brilliant Chris.
It’s not broken it was designed this way.
Thanks Chris.
Well Done Chris.
10,000 babies dead and counting while Westminster does want to upset the killers.
Overwhelming public support for Palestine but they couldn’t care less about the public.
500 needless deaths each week because they won’t pay what the medics highlight as fair pay
10,000,000 procedures on health waiting lists.
People pulling out their own teeth as they can’t get a dentist.
6,000,000 living in abject poverty in the U.K.
Innocent Post Office mangers criminalised and bankrupted waiting 25 years and counting to find justice.
Record levels of debt mortgage rates continuing to rise.
Rishi states that we have turned the corner?
Scotland needs to keep its people as far away as possible from the people in Westminster.
Parliamentary Convention is part of the mechanisms that tend to have spared us too much of being on the receiving end of shock and awe. To that extent I think the cartoon immature and unreflective.
The last few months have been a graphic demonstration, in panoramic widescreen technicolor, that virtually every leader of every political party across the ‘West’ is completely servile. It is one thing to suspect but this has proven it.
The second demonstration is that the so called mainstream media are also completely servile.
I honestly suspect the SNP were quite happy to strut out like enraged peacocks but quietly happy it all amounted to nothing.
Isr@el is the ‘third rail’ in UK and UK politics because of the Isr@el Lobby. You touch it, you die. They bought the media and then they bought the political systems. And it is being demonstrated in the most clear way, right now.
Parliamentary convention was secondary to saving the !abour Party from itself. Preserving the integrity of the basic two party system would have priority.
I found this a helpful guide to what happened in Parliament. It seems Mr Speaker simply lost his head.
https://www.edwest.co.uk/p/why-courage-is-the-most-important
Clown Prince Ellis straight in , getting it totally wrong , as usual .
His poisonous little propagandising mindlet and his desperate arse-kissing desire to always be on Stu’s side continually sees him mangle the truth in ever-more convoluted ways .
The * meaning * of Chris’s – superb – work here is pretty fckn obvious , to anyone not obsessed with defending the slaughter of innocent people .
All the vanity posturing , the SNP’s claiming bogus victim status , Greens bleating , Labour craven cowardice , even-by-their-own-standards nauseating Tory hypocrisy ; and I’ll include Stu Campbell’s ludicrously over-the-top reaction to naughty schoolboy Greer risible * militancy * .
All of it is meaningless , attention-seeking pissing in the wind
The comments on yesterday’s post by Breeks , Hatuey , Mac , Confused , Craig Murray , ROS ( excuse me if I’ve missed anyone in this category ) speak the truth .
The rest is just varying degrees of Atrocity condoning sophistry
I think it also says something that this ethnic cleansing and incremental genocide (that has been going on for decades and has only accelerated post Oct 7th) is of the descendants of the Holy Lands.
Let that sink in…
Ethnically cleansing the Holy Lands.
It does not get much more ‘Evil’ than that does it.
@Robert Hughes 9.03am
As predicted, the usual suspects spring in to action with their intellectual hammers, pounding their nails of certainty. You and your wee coterie of tankies don’t represent more than a nutter fringe within a minority of hard of information ideologues.
Nobody in real life would ever take an individual like ROS, who can barely post a contribution without dribbling about the “Great Satan”, remotely seriously. Similarly, though many are happy to misuse the term genocide ad nauseam, most people know it’s not an appropriate term, because they’re no performative, sophomoric, People’s Front extremists who, for reasons best known to themselves fetishise the suffering of the Palestinian people while remaining strangely silent about the plight of many others.
Of course not all of those bloviating about genocide and accusing those who disagree with them of condoning atrocities are anti-semites, but many undoubtedly are or at the very least are happy to condone the extremists promoting anti-semitic aims under cover of opposing Israel.
The positive of Stu’s piece yesterday is that it has raised the rock many of these odious individuals usually slither under and exposed them to the light of reason. Good!
I must admit I am a bit confused with this cartoon. The art and workmanship is excellent, and the way it displays the level of unnecessary devastation caused by an overly violent and blood-thirsty Israel on Gaza is second to none.
But I do not quite catch the message behind it. I do not know if it was meant to be irony at the charade in Westminster and the fact due procedure would have made little difference to the situation in Gaza, or if it genuinely shows concern for the shocking lack of care displayed by the labour leader and speaker towards genocide and democracy itself. This confusion is obviously the result of my shortsightedness and lack of wit, not the author’s.
Parliamentary convention might not have made much difference to Gaza, but it would have made a big difference to the way Scotland is perceived to be treated in this union, what that parliament is perceived to be and who it is really working for.
Is it still the UK parliament or has it been transformed into a USA and Israel proxy? If the latter, and it is increasingly looking that way, what is the point in it to continue? Why are our representatives legitimising it to continue in its present, aberrant form by continue to sit there?
One wonders what the point of continuing this political union is when representatives of England in the so called UK parliament, and the leaders of England’s political parties are, as shown with their actions, far more concerned about not upsetting Israel than about not upsetting Scotland.
One wonders what the point for Scotland to continue participating in UK general elections is when in the so called UK parliament Israel is granted a bigger voice than Scotland.
What Starmer and Hoyle did was suppressing Scotland’s voice in the UK parliament in a disgusting and disrespectful manner. It was akin to impose absolute rule. So why are our MPs signing a motion of no confidence against Hoyle but not against Starmer and actually the entire parliament itself for allowing Starmer and Hoyle them get away with this abuse of the House?
Wasn’t Starmer the instigator of the change in procedure to suit his, and Israel’s needs at the expense of Scotland’s voice, democracy and due process? So, why is Starmer being allowed to hide like a coward behind Hoyle?
Why is the union still standing after this magnificent display of absolute rule involving the gagging of Scotland?
Why are our MPs turning a blind eye to this by simply seeking a vote of no confidence against Hoyle but not the end of the union after such blatant breach of the Claim of right?
Until when are our MPs going to force Scotland to continue enduring this level of abuse and humiliation?
Who are Scotland’s representatives representing and speaking for if they are not prepared to stand up and act for Scotland every time England’s representatives abuse the treaty of union to put the interests of England, USA or Israel before those of Scotland?
“Islamists are bullying Britain into submission”, says Suella Benjamin.
We have known this for a fair number of years, but it has never been said by a politician, certainly not one seeking the muslim vote. When we natives have voted for a politician we have simply hoped that they would do what they said in their pamphlet, but without any real confidence that it might be so. When muslims used knives and bombs on on our streets and in our public buildings, we provided armed guards for their mosques.
They continued to pour into our country legally and illegally, without let or hindrance.
Now they are demanding that their MPs do as they are told, under threat of violence.
(Interesting that the BBC appears to be ignoring an aspect that should be a major story?). There is still no suggestion that illegal immigration might be curbed.
“Islamists are bullying Britain into submission’, says Suella Benjamin.
We have known this for a number of years. When muslims used knives and bombs on our streets and in our public buildings, we put guards around their mosques.
Not then, and not now, have there been any real intentions to curb the numbers pouring into our country, legally and illegally.
When we natives vote for a politician it is in the fond hope that they might do what they said in their election pamphlet.
Muslims are apparently prepared to use threats and violence to ensure that their elected politicians do as they are told.
Labour are now finding out that “who rides the tiger can never dismount”.
Max Headroom is glitching again.
It is really hard to see how this stops.
No one in Isr@el is going to stop it. The general public strongly support it and even if Bibi went the next PM will be the same or worse.
No one in the US is going to stop it, Biden is not in charge and there is no accountability when you don’t know who is really pulling the strings. Both houses are completely controlled by the Israel Lobby. Pretty much same in the UK and EU.
Trump if he wins is nearly a year away from office and the world has changed since he was last in office. I am not sure he has. He could be a real disaster second time around. Bull in a china shop potential.
V@dP recently said something like he would prefer Biden to Trump as Trump was more ‘unpredictable’. By that I think he also means volatile.
Trump has got a massive ego, it is truly enormous, and I very much doubt that is going to help here, if he wins. And as Doug MacGregor says, Trump has good instincts but has a bad habit of surrounding himself with bad people (neocons). Trump appointed John Bolton remember…
Bottom line, it is bleak. There is no one in the West to stop it. All the real leaders have been eliminated from positions of power.
If a country can go insane then Isr@el has gone insane.
Where will it all end. In defeat. It is an absolute certainty. I see the break-up of NATO and the EU and maybe even the US itself and that is after the collapse of the state of Isr@el.
There is no one left to stop it, put the brakes on and reverse direction.
It is a runaway train and we are all on-board.
“The positive of Stu’s piece yesterday is that it has raised the rock many of these odious individuals usually slither under and exposed them to the light of reason”
Unfortunately, even when this was never the author’s intention, it might have been perceived by some readers as to have moved that rock over the anti-semites hiding among zionists. Jewish people have not the exclusivity on semitism. Those attacking Palestinians are as anti-semites as those attacking the Jewish people.
Let’s not forget that the Israel of today is a manufactured state which was created out of nothing by a bunch of arrogant and colonially-minded individuals who thought they had the right and could successfully use and re-purposing Palestine as if it was their own land.
To claim that the Jewish people have more right to be in that land than the native Palestinians is ludicrous. To claim that Israel has the right to defend itself, but the native people of Palestine do not, is an appalling distortion of international law and only morally acceptable when you have a colonial mind which dictates the invader deserves preference over the native.
“but many undoubtedly are or at the very least are happy to condone the extremists promoting anti-semitic aims under cover of opposing Israel”
When Israel has, for the last few months, bombed the bejesus of thousands if not tens of thousands of civilian including babies, toddlers and pregnant women, when it has purposely denied the Palestinians of basics like food, electricity of water knowing that this would cause the death of many, when it has disgustingly bombed hospitals when they knew they were medics and nurses there and the majority of the people inside, could not run elsewhere for cover, and when it has committed atrocities that far surpass in number and scale those done by Hamas, frankly, it takes for somebody to have a neck made of the strongest brass to call Hamas and not Israel’s army and government, “extremist”.
Mia. Perfectly explained and reasoned. Our (so called) reps are a complete waste of time and money. It’s time to move on from the rotten corpse of Westminster and Holyrood.
Precisely, Chris. Worlds apart.
There comes a point when «fundamentalist» style preaching to the rocks and mountains becomes pointless and that one must first come to understand what they are and why they are there.
This is not compromise but the beginning of a wisdom that may possibly bring an end to repeat cycles of anguish and wailing.
Many a true word spoken in jest. Sums lasts weeks debacle in parliament succinctly.
For SNP folk watching the house of commons this week.
The labour and conservative parties worked together to keep the SNP motion away from the floor of the house and the Speakers did what he was telt.
Both UK parties support the killing in Gaza and they will not allow any sharp moves on this subject.
If the SNP ever held the balance of power in the HOC the Conservatives and Labour would work together to manage them. Any expectation of getting a referendum is “on to plumbs!”. It will never happen they will work together to stop it.
Thankyou Chris, Effijy & Antoine, for your thought provoking contributions.
Even if some merely find them provoking.
@Mia.
Israel of today is a manufactured State ? It sits exactly where it did in the days of David and Solomon before falling to conquest by the Assyrian Empire.
Does Scotland not exist in reality because of being assimilated into the UK for the past couple of hundred years .A lot of Scots feel it does
Sorry but I think this one is in very poor taste.
Mia
Well said.
As for the cartoon – it may have been seen as pointless in the grand scheme of things happening in Gaza but not here at home. The mother of all parliaments shit the bed lol
England has moved into full dictatorship where there is absolutely no point in electing anyone. Just pass & decline shit without the bother of any pesky consultation or vote.
648 ornaments can just watch on as just two eejits run the entire shit show. Labour & Tory now on the same page of just ushering stuff through without the need for anyone else being there.
That should anger & worry everyone but apparently not.
Mac
Ruskies probably prefer Biden cause he forgets what he did five minutes ago.
Trump has too big a mouth. He just doesn’t know when to shut up – as his defamation cases prove. He just keeps digging. £83 million instead of knowing when to put a sock in it..LOL POTUS isn’t in charge anyway. CIA is. They do as they’re telt or the push up the daisies. Don’t all presidents have to sign something on entering office?
Ellis objects to the use of ‘the great satan’ well who else causes death, destruction, famine, betrayal, corruption, pestilence, war, greed, gluttony, envy, covet their neighbours goods & have the brass neck to sing God Bless them..lol
The parliamentary pantomime in the Westminster cesspit will continue whether Hoyle is replaced or not. Either way people in Gaza ain’t laughing.
OMG people have gone mad!
What on earth has happened the hysteria is even worse than when Diana died.
I’ve been commenting on topic on the previous. Silly me I should have followed the trend and come here to post off topic. Maybe I should try to improve my ego.
It’s all here Ellis with his ‘usual suspects’ and Mia dropping her article into the comments which are supposed to me about a cartoon.
I’m pinning all my hopes on the animals’ rights groups. Ban Halal. Ban Kosher.
Bob Mack
“It sits exactly where it did in the days of David and Solomon before falling to conquest by the Assyrian Empire.”
They fell to conquest. That doesn’t mean it was theirs forever because some voices in their head say it is. There were Arabs their too.
Ellis will be along in a minute to say they should’ve fought harder.
They were given a land. That wasn’t good enough. They now want to expand. That’s a pretty big deal everyone seems to sidestep.
Scotland never gave an inch of territory. The dunderheids in the SNP should be aware of that cause this is how shit happens. The more they take while Scots reps say nothing, the more they assume it’s theirs.
https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-wailing-walls/#comment-2826306
Republicofscotland
Can you explain why you think this joke is in very poor taste?
I’m not following why people are getting so upset.
Ruby
Mia commented on the cartoon.
You have not..LOL
What actually matters, in my opinion, and the cartoon above as well as yesterday’s article by Wings only serve to bolster the point, is that the plight of Palestinians is now a mainstream issue. It’s on the front pages and on forefront of people’s minds, and now its front and centre even here on Wings
There are many here and elsewhere who don’t want us talking about the plight of Palestinians and they have had a lot of success over the years. But things have changed.
So, a big thanks to Wings, thanks to Chris, and thanks to everyone who has helped draw attention to the subject. The more attention the subject gets, the more likely it is that people will find out the truth and something will be done.
Geri
You being milk monitor now?
I’ll answer you comment about England on the previous thread where it will be more or less on topic.
@Geri,
Funny. It feels as though Scotland is seen as part of the UK whether we like it or not. We fell to conquest as well, albeit done through chicanery. Have we got it wrong in calling for our Nations return?
Surely Chris is saying that all the hoo-ha in our media is about parliamentary convention and NOTHING is being done to help the Palestinians? That is not distasteful, imo.
Of course, the SNP members should leave Westminster. The only time this convention has been broken is when it is the SNP’s day for a motion. It hasn’t been done against any other party, ever, so Westminster is laughing at Scotland again, as they have done since 1707.
Antoine Bisset
Ignored says:
24 February, 2024 at 9:34 am
“Islamists are bullying Britain into submission’, says Suella Benjamin.
We have known this for a number of years….
But it’s bullshit.
When the UK Government abandons impartiality, justice and International Law and chooses to back one side against the other, do they really expect there should be no fallout from their prejudice, impropriety and bias?
If your behaviour is bestial and intolerable, and you’re habitually indifferent to a veritable smorgasbord of war crimes and orchestrated disinformation and political interference which has blighted the Middle East for decades, (such as Iraq’s WMD’s), and at the same time highly “selective” in your faux outrage towards flagrant violations of UN Resolutions, then should you really be surprised that the victims suffering the effects of these lurid injustices reign their outrage upon you?
The UK and US are (again), making a mockery of the UN Security Council, and its roll as peacemakers in chief and global policemen. What a fraud is exposed, when the biggest agents (and profiteers) of destruction in the Middle East are very same bodies which ought to be studiously impartial and equitable in their enforcement of International Law.
If the UK Government want to avoid being “bullied into submission by Islamists”, then perhaps they should be less enthusiastic about being seduced into malevolence by Zionists, and complicit with the warmongering haters who want those very same Islamists, women and children included, not just bullied into submission, but actually bombed into oblivion.
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Britain isn’t being “bullied into submission”. That’s nonsense. It’s being roundly condemned and lambasted for behaving shamefully, like a murderous accomplice and active participant in the atrocities happening in Gaza when it should be demanding and enforcing the cessation of hostilities. But it can’t, because the UK Government has been bought and sold for Israeli gold.…
If your behaviour is outrageous, then outrage is what you provoke. What else should you expect?
Sorry but I think this one is in very poor taste.
The fact this is annoying all the usual suspects just shows how on point it is.
The least scrutiny and the ghastly bullshit soufflé baked by RoS and his wee coterie of Russki fluffers and Hamas apologists collapses faster than Sturgeon’s credibility.
More of this please! 🙂
“wen representatives of England in the so called UK parliament, and the leaders of England’s political parties are, as shown with their actions, far more concerned about not upsetting Israel than about not upsetting Scotland.”
Yes Mia, this should be the main issue in Scotland! As horrendous as the current carnage is and the horrors before it, if Scottish MPs can see their opposition day debate thrown in the bin, against convention, then wtf are we still doing there?!
https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-wailing-walls/comment-page-1/#comment-2826319
Bob Mack
Many similarities between Scotland and Palestine
Balfour Declaration = Treaty of the Union
(Maybe that’s where Balfour got the idea from)
Expansion of Territory = 6,000 square miles of Scottish sea to England in 1999
What about the extra-regio or whatever it’s called.
Did anyone watch the Tucker interview recently with Mike Benz? You can find it on YouTube.
It is truly startling. He talks in detail about the way the pentagon basically instituted a military dictatorship over social media and the news in response to Trump and Brexit.
Everything, from foreign affairs, Russiagate, elections, the truth about Hunter Biden, to Covid, across the whole west, is basically being controlled by the pentagon.
https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-wailing-walls/comment-page-1/#comment-2826325
WTF are the usual suspects?
Wot no mention of the franchise to day?
You really do get your rocks off winding up people ‘Andy’ or is it ‘Andrew?’
Maybe it would be easier for you to make a list of the posters who aren’t ‘the usual suspects’
@Ruby,
Up until the six day war,Gaza was not Palestinian at all.
Israel took it from Egypt who controlled it. Israel conceded to International pressure in 2005 and removed thousands of settlers and it’s military to hand it to the Palestinian authority with Egypts agreement.
This(Gaza) was a part of Egypt.
With regard to the mention of the Building Bridges with Israel lobby group in the previous thread and Jamie Greene being a member, he was a vocal supporter of the GRR. When looking into supporters in the Labour Party of trans woo woo what kept coming up was also membership of Labour Friends Of Israel and/or connections to Stonewall.
With regard to ownership of the media, during the Harvey Weinstein trial the Guardian ran a puff piece on his lawyer. On looking her up I found that she had contacted Mia Farrows son who is an investigative journalist and who had amassed evidence against Weinstein, and said that she was a woman looking for justice against him and that they should pool their resources. When he gave her his evidence she gave it all to Weinsteins defence and then announced that she was a member of same and when he said to her “you have given all of my evidence to his people” she replied “he is our people.”
Anyone familiar with Scotlands public sector and in particular the Arts will be aware that there is an over representation of his people there and that they are actively hostile to Scotland as a nation and people, see also the funding for the John Smith Institute.
With regard to claims above that the US is controlled by the CIA, every new FBI agent receives training from the ADL and the head of the FBI admitted that they go to the ADL to be given lists of “domestic terrorists” which is basically anyone who has criticised Israel or a jew. The ADL has a stated budget of over one million dollars a week with which to conduct illegal surveillance and smear.
Gaza is and always has been kept in squalor. The Egyptians who controlled it till the six day war did not allow Palestinians who lived there to enter Egypt. It was tightly controlled and kept in stasis. Subsequent to that the victorious Israelis did the same. The Israelis handed it to the Palestinian Authority in 2005 because of International pressure and since then both Israel and Egypt refuse to allow unsupervised travel across their border.
Why is nobody criticising Egypt?
“The fact this is annoying all the usual suspects just shows how on point it is.”
That’s the sort of thing an annoyed person would say, Andy.
It’s interesting though that “usual subjects” here are willing to take issue with Wings whereas you and a couple of others think you will win his affection or something by sucking up to him at every opportunity, this one included. It’s quite embarrassing to watch.
I think that tells us a lot about you as a person and how you relate to authority. You’re like the guy in the Milgram experiment who was super-keen on electrocuting the fellah with the heart condition in the next room because he got a question wrong…
It’s heartening to know there are so many in here who will not simply bow to authority like that and that the lickspittles are a small and suspicious minority.
If there’s a recurring theme on here that’s it.
Did you really think being a bootlicker would win you friends here on Wings of all places, amongst a community of people who are defined by a principled determination to challenge authority? Because that’s what we (the ones who are left standing) here are all about — challenging assholes and authority, whether it be Westminster or Nicola.
And you, my little flunkey friend, are the very odd one out.
To add to the chain of money and influence for the trans lobby, Google and/or employees of gave money to the editor of Pink News, Benjamin Cohen and to the pro trans Womens Equality Party ran by Sandi Toksvig.
Mac wrote:
“Biden is not in charge and there is no accountability when you don’t know who is really pulling the strings.”
Did you know that those pulling certain strings in the background, CIA and NSA etc, consider the position of President to be that of a “temporary employee” and they treat it as such. True if you think about it. Members of said organisations can serve 20, 30, 40-years. But i think the maximum a President can serve is 8? So why give a part-timer access to vital information and “secrets”?
Mac also wrote:
“Trump if he wins is nearly a year away from office and the world has changed since he was last in office. I am not sure he has. He could be a real disaster second time around. Bull in a china shop potential.”
If Trump wins, and there looks to be a good chance that he will, i believe he is going to do *exactly* what you say. He is going to settle a few scores, especially against the one he childishly refers to as ‘The Fat Boy’ (North Korean leader).
I’m not sure he will get the full support from certain figures behind the scenes in any destructive acts of revenge/ego. If they can’t stop him being elected i believe he will be the first President assassinated in a very long time. One way or the other i believe he will be stopped. He is as dangerous as they come.
Excellent cartoon, Chris. Says it all. A mob of over-privileged virtue-signallers worrying more about parliamentary conventions than about the on-going killings in Gaza. You do not have to take sides to understand the human suffering which has taken place on both sides. However, the wholesale slaughter has to stop. That is what all our politicians here and in the West should be concentrating on – and especially in the toothless UN.
Hatuey
No surprises there. The GRR was shut down too across all platforms – Gender critical voices shut down & social contagion took over to stupify the masses into thinking they can change sex. Then blamed Ch*na for TikTok while half of TikTok is American TRAs having a breakdown because someone didn’t get their pronouns right to American surgeons glorifying in *neep the teats* Dr Frankenstein Gallagher.
I watched the Tucker Vs big pharma, reaction by a doctor, horrifying & equally corrupt as fck. Fat pills the new kid on the block. Also drugs that are known for suicide ideation .
Call me old fashioned but I think they’re removing the undesirables from the Western population. No TRAs, No homosexuals, no fatties, no diabetics, no heart disease. No cures or lifestyle changes – just management, rattling around on twenty pills a day for life if yer thoughts don’t take you there faster..
Breeks says: 24 February, 2024 at 12:02 pm
Antoine Bisset
Ignored says:
24 February, 2024 at 9:34 am
“Islamists are bullying Britain into submission’, says Suella Benjamin.
We have known this for a number of years….
But it’s bullshit.
Agreed. Other than the pages of the Daily Mail, there is no evidence that all of these actions are being done by ‘Islamists’.
For example, the Rev published the previous article highlighting how Ross Greer was ‘bullying Britain into submission’. Is Greer an ‘Islamist’?
“The fact this is annoying all the usual suspects just shows how on point it is.”
Andy Ellis.
The problem for me and I assume others is that although Chris’s quick wit in this pictorial sarcasm piccy which I assume highlight the yawning gap between our need for a convention and the genocide of the oppressed Palestinians, could and surely is lost by many folk.
I say that knowing that social media which many folk search through, will have seen countless images of the one above of poor Palestinian mothers reaching and looking to the sky with tears in their eyes as their young child/children lay dead at their feet or they are buried under the rubble, ruble created by massive Zionist dumb bombs which have indiscriminately killed entire families.
Off Topic: an interview with Sara Salyers of Salvo/Liberation will [should] be in the Sunday National tomorrow. I hope someone who can access the paper will share the article on here.
It will be very interesting to see what the journalist’s angle will be. Will it be open-minded and encouraging or will it be a hatchet job?
When I wrote a letter to the National just after Salvo’s launch sharing the good news, as I saw it, with other independence supporters, I got some very hostile responses e.g. those old laws are irrelevant; sorry you are wasting your time with such stuff [as the Claim of Right and the Acts and Treaty of Union].
Has the view of the “Yes” movement changed? I hope so.
O/T.
James Che.
Have a read of this.
A myth indeed.
“Bringing events up to date when Charles was crowned King last year he swore his oath to be the rightful monarch and the supreme ruler of England and all her dominions. He was anointed with oil as if he was a divine diety. He was not sworn in as King of Scots because of our different history but most of all he had not taken the Scottish coronation oath. Scotland is not a dominion of England as we are in a political Union only. Our land, laws and culture are different. We are still today a sovereign country.
Later last year Charles III came to Scotland to see the Crown Jewels of Scotland (known as the honours). He did not wear the crown, he did not swear allegiance to the people of Scotland and he did not take an oath to comply with our separate laws. He is not our king yet the main stream media built up the myth as if this was a coronation. It was not.
After 1603 the shared monarch had to take both different oaths to stay monarch of each country. It was only after the treaty of political union in 1707 that the Union lie started.
The last monarch to wear the Scottish crown and take the Scottish coronation oath was James V1 who was crowned in 1567. The last Scottish coronation oath actually taken was by Queen Anne in 1702. We have not had a Scottish monarch since her reign. ”
https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2024/02/23/a-well-kent-myth-the-myth-of-monarchy/
@RoS 2.33pm
Doubtless Chris’ work lends itself to many different interpretations, including perhaps some he would disagree with himself, or not even thought of. Such is the life of an artist, and no doubt he can speak for himself. Perhaps he agrees with your take on things. Perhaps not.
I’m sure lots of people as you say have seen and sympathised with the plight of those in Gaza, just as they sympathised with those on the receiving end of the Al-Aqsa Flood, or Uncle Vlad’s Special Military Operation.
Two years to the day since Uncle Vlad started his 3 day war. Odd that none of the usual suspects are calling him out for being a genocidal maniac. Perhaps there are other reasons for that than just their fondness for Muscovite culture.
Given the choice between being in thrall to that or part of the neo-liberal Man”, I know where I’d rather be. Luckily for us it’s where the vast majority of ordinary folk who don’t share your deeply regressive worldview would prefer to be. Cope.
So the Zionists are turning their Eye of Sauron towards the West Bank.
“Israel’s finance minister, far-right firebrand Bezalel Smotrich, announced plans to build more than 3300 new homes in settlements late on Thursday”
Of course its illegal (UN) for the Zionists to build settlements in the West Bank which is occupied lands
Meanwhile those clowns at Tammany Hall aka Glasgow City Council have twinned my home town with a town in YouCraine, not in my name I say they can keep their neo-Natzi’s, yes Glasgow is twinned with the Palestinian town of Bethlehem, however I don’t recall a Palestinian flag flying outside my city chambers.
Also our beloved FM Humza Yousaf has pledged his undying support for YouCraine, this will undoubtably please his US State Department handlers Yousaf spent time in the US sponsored by the State Department, in which he learned to put US interests ahead of all others, and its shows.
Ellis calls himself a neo liberal man???
Given the context I suppose he follows the ex-Trotskyites Irving Kristal and Donald Kagan who became the neo conservatives and then the neo liberals but always Zionist Imperialists.
Alternatively, with his head stuck in the 50s maybe neo liberal means something else to him, perhaps a free, open market, kind of thingy. Currently the market run by bankers, big pharma, military, media conglomerates and billionaires.
A bit presumptuous to claim ‘the majority of ordinary folk’ are with him in that case.
The end of the USSR is going to shock him when he hears about it.
@Hatuey
There are of course none so blind as those who will not see. you and your band of brothers (and a few sisters) are indeed the last ones standing because for the most part you’ve scunnered the reasonable majority who used to frequent the place with constant a toxic combination of spamming BTL about fringe nutter issues nobody really cares about and which have limited if any relevance to achieving independence, or fluffing for wedge issues which vanishingly few support.
You don’t, and never have, represented the majority whether of readers, the broader movement of the public in general.
The recurring theme in here is of a coterie of nativists, anti-immigrant bigots, Kremlin loving vatniks and fluffers for Hamas if not outright anti-semites, whose sickening worldview has laid this place low in comparison with how it used to be in the old days.
Ordinary people look askance at folk who unselfconsciously use terms like “Great Satan”, or who support Uncle Vlad’s Special Military Operation, or whose sympathy for the Palestinians sends them so far over the edge that they see only one side of the story. You and your compadres are types we all know: the ones we’d move quietly away from in the pub, or stop inviting to social gatherings for their woo-woo views.
you and your ilk have turned what used to be a great resource in to a cesspit for conspiracy theorising wedge issue monomaniacs. Hopefully more and more people are seeing the light. Recent posts, cartoons and criticism of Rev Stu’s pieces seem to suggest so. 🙂
Hey Andy, would you sit next to your daughter in the pub seeing as she sports the pronouns so is one of those fringe nutters pushing the woo woo with wedge issues you wouldn’t want to be associated with because they are so at odds with your own world views on how things should be.
Mind you, I recall you weren’t big for going out to public spaces seeing as there might be lots of unvaccinated folk knocking about. Still getting the boosters and pushing that woo woo are you?
Ach, maybe it’s time for everyone to get Strutter Bubbles so we can co-exist without the conflict.
3 min vid which contains muchos swearing, which you wouldn’t here from within the confines of your own Strutter Bubble… 😉
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzpdABiEbzY
If you remind me tomorrow Sarah I will do that for you. I do not have ‘access’ to ‘The National’ but I can ‘archive’ which I understand is difficult to do on certain devices.
If you can let me know the headline of the article it would make things easier.
@Dan
Quand on parle du loup, on en voit la queue…..Covidiots gonna covidiot.
Well said Mr Ellis.
The BTL’ers here are mostly nasty bigots, jew-haters and/or certifiably insane. I used to pop along here and post most excellent and witty remarks much (as I am led to believe) to the joy of all that read them. I remember James in particular almost salivating over my missives. But no more. You do not deserve me and so I bid you farewell. Toodle pip my celtic chums toodle pip.
https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-wailing-walls/comment-page-1/#comment-2826370
What did you talk about in the ‘old days’?
You haven’t told me yet who the ‘non nutters’ are?
Are you referring to yourself, John Main & Chas?
Oh man you are a hoot!
#AskAndy
Is Covid “Vaccine” Critical a legitimate position for individuals to hold.
Bearing in mind that the jags aren’t recommended for people with certain underlying health conditions. And that’s more of an issue now when access to health care has been so compromised for years now that many underlying health conditions haven’t been diagnosed.
What do you make of the excess deaths in certain countries?
Not one of CC’s best.
It’s not parliamentary convention that’s stopping Hamas crawling out of their holes with their hands up, bringing the hostages with them.
Sure, that would mean going down to defeat, imprisonment, and maybes the victor’s summary justice too, but it would also mean that the killing of the innocents would stop dead.
The only reason this solution is permanently off the table is because Hamas see the killing of the innocents as acceptable collateral damage.
As to why this solution is seldom or ever discussed on here, alert readers will draw their own conclusions.
Takes two to tango, and takes two to fight mercilessly for 4 months. Israel has made its intentions crystal clear, Hamas will be eliminated. Hamas, and some of the regular posters on here, really need to get their heads around this, whether or not they like it.
Whether or not it’s fair, or justice, or all the other nice ideas that need to be binned as irrelevant when the blood is flowing.
Oh, and BTW, it’s not genocide, and the constant lying about that only serves to muddy the waters about the most straightforwards process by which the killing can be stopped, and the humanitarian aid brought in.
Breeks says
“demanding and enforcing”
I love it when people who have been whining and greetin about the UK’s interference and busy bodying in other country’s affairs for decades suddenly turn around and insist the UK should get “demanding and enforcing” in another country’s affairs when it’s a cause they care about.
Hypocrisy, or cognitive dissonance, or common or garden eejitcy? Doesn’t matter, whatever it is, it’s big enough to be seen from earth orbit.
the most straightforwards process by which the killing can be stopped
I missed that could you possibly repost?
Genocide John thinks that aid is arriving unimpeded?
Just one lie after another.
https://twitter.com/mhdksafa/status/1759253626873151958
More people are seeing the light.
Poles won’t fight. They’d rather leave than be signed up as fodder despite what their leaders say.
What Andy doesn’t grasp is that our elected politicians go off script. Rather than them reflect the mood of entire nations & the population that elected them – they get it into their silly wee heads they’ll take advice from an unknown, unelected entity & start gobbing off on the world stage completely against what they were elected to do. 404 is a classic example – they were elected on a peace ticket LOL! SNP on an Indy ticket & so on..
So Andy, your views aren’t reflective of *the majority* There are leaders & there are followers & you are definitely a follower. What you despise about btl comments is we’re not as gullible as you are & you can’t handle it. As demonstrated by yer constant name calling, tantrums about moon howlers & nativists & elevating yerself as some sort of all seeing, all knowing mystic meg of what is happening in the world.
Keep reading yer BBC. Everything is going grand..
Talking of ‘conventions’, the Sewel Convention also proved to be worthless giving another reason for SNP MP’s tae get thair jaikets an bail oot o Westminster for guid. But thay aye fuffle back an allou England tae impone its laws on Scotland. ‘Sic a paircel o rogues in a naition’.
Surely its about time this murdering/regime changing anarchy causing terrorist group is proscribed.
“An ongoing inquiry has been confirming a BBC investigation which revealed that an “SAS squadron killed 54 people in suspicious circumstances on one six-month tour,” then falsified evidence to frame them as armed insurgents.
In February 2011, following the British special forces’ killing of eight unarmed Afghan civilians in a raid, one officer privately wrote to another, “whilst murder and the [SAS] have oft been regular bed-fellows, this is beginning to look bone!” His colleague replied: “I find it depressing that is [sic] has come to this…Ultimately a massive failure of leadership…and when the next Wikileaks occurs then we will be dragged down with them.”
Britain’s most senior military figures took part in a concerted attempt to suppress allegations that SAS troops committed war crimes in Afghanistan.
And a government minister who successfully campaigned to protect soldiers from prosecution believed some of the allegations were true.”
https://thegrayzone.com/2024/02/09/uk-national-security-act-wikileaks/
“This is the remarkable evidence about a “culture of omerta” – a code of silence, originally attributed to the Italian mafia – within Britain’s Special Forces that emerged this week at an independent inquiry in London.
It is examining the conduct of elite SAS troops in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013, including the killing of 33 people in eleven night raids in 2011.”
https://www.declassifieduk.org/veterans-minister-suspected-s-a-s-of-war-crimes/
@ Ruby at 4.53: Many thanks indeed for offering to archive The National’s interview with Sara Salyers in tomorrow’s paper.
I can see the headlines of articles but can’t read the full article as I no longer subscribe [for obvious reasons!] – so I will let you know what the headline is
OK Sarah
I’m out early to-morrow morning. I’ll be back mid morning when I’ll check for your post.
Well Chris you captured what I was thinking. Dirty politics has no place in the saving of human life. At the beginning I called for an even hand on the Gaza Conflict. By that I meant a political even hand. Humanitarian aid excluded. The SNP have revealed their hand and its gangster politics. It’s going to bring a terrible GE campaign. There is no depths the SNP will sink to retain power.
Ellis (who seems rather upset): “The recurring theme in here is of a coterie of nativists, anti-immigrant bigots, Kremlin loving vatniks and fluffers for Hamas if not outright anti-semites, whose sickening worldview has laid this place low in comparison with how it used to be in the old days.”
Okay, let’s go through all that and see where it leads.
On the last point, “how it used to be”, you don’t specify a date. My recollection is that the place used to be full of people who were stupidly and unquestioningly “with Nicola” and the SNP. I’d bet you were one of them. We all make mistakes, I suppose, but how far back do you want to go?
I’ve never to my knowledge expressed any support for Hamas or the Kremlin. The reason for that is that I don’t support them in any way. My general opinion is that we should keep our hypocritical noses out of the affairs of others — our military interventions have only ever made things worse.
The arguably genocidal attacks on the people of Palestine is a separate issue. I condemn it just as I condemned the decimation of Grozny. For me this is a principled position based on universalism (as enshrined in international law and human rights).
I am generally isolationist and think we should let people in other countries do what they want, except where they violate universal laws and rights and/or are attacking other states. Intervention and military action against other states should only be possible when it is authorised by the UN or a country is under immediate threat. That’s the rules.
And that makes me ultra-conservative since it’s how the international system of laws, the rules of conflict, and intervention are meant to work, with almost everything done through the UN. The wars, policies, and people you support are at odds with all that — they’re criminals — which means you are the radical and lawless nutcase here.
Calling me of all people in here “anti-immigrant” is diabolical. I really doubt if anyone on here is more pro-immigrant than me. Thanks for the laugh.
As for anti-semitism, that’s just a baseless slur. The only time I have referenced Jewish people on here was when I pointed out that some of the most scathing criticism of Israeli policies and Zionism that I have ever read has come from academics who are actually Jewish themselves — Finkelstein and Chomsky being obvious examples.
Where did your rant take us, then? Nowhere.
The illustration by Chris Cairns is not cartoon, it is a caution – man, know thyself and recognise your situation.
Israel is committing genocide.
The Uk parliament is a farce.
Uk democracy is a farce – in two words to conclude,
Julian Assange
Hats 8:29
So you’ve never posted on here, in connection with the ongoing imperialist ethnic cleansing celebrating its 2-year anniversary today, that they “had it coming”?
My, my, how recollections differ, eh?
Maybes you should tell us how that’s a “principled position based on universalism”.
Or maybes you’re just taking your pro-immigrant enthusiasm to the next level.
Whatever, for 2 years now you’ve been full of shit.
Ready to add your condemnation of the October 7 attacks to your list of condemnations? Last time we discussed them, you were claiming they were exaggerated, or just made up propaganda for the diversion of the gullible and thick.
@Hatuey
I’m not upset, I’m having a whale of a time. Interesting to see the scales fall of more people’e eyes like Turabdin getting Ruby’s number on the other thread.
I didn’t have a specific date in mind: it was undoubtedly a gradual process. Even after the Nicophants largely decamped to pastures new there was still at least some decent BTL interaction.
I was never one of those stupidly and unquestioningly for Nicola, though like the vast majority I was taken in by her for a time when I was in the SNP. I resigned my membership before the trans rights woo-woo took over the party, ironically in defence of Gareth Wardell which only goes to show no good deed goes unpunished given what a regressive, nativist piece of work he showed himself to be.
The rest of your cri de coeur makes it all about you. It isn’t all about you personally, it’s a general comment about the descent of BTL discourse over time. From memory there was a time I thought you were half reasonable, even when I didn’t always or generally agree with you, but you seemed to go off the rails.
You trying to recast my thoroughly mainstream, majority views as those of the minority, whilst you are somehow on the side of the angels is just risible, through the looking glass stuff, but it’s been your MO for some time.
I’m not really a rugby fan, but I understand Duhan van der Merwe played a blinder at Murrayfield today in our defeat of the auld enemy.
Wait til he hears the usual suspects would disenfranchise him. 🙂
Only on constitutional matters, ya dunce.
Same as every other country.
Can you name the posters that are missing that you actually agreed with?
A wee reminder we are a small country of just over 5.4 million. Enthralled and captured by a political party that wasted every opportunity over the last 10 years to gain Independence. Sucking on the teat of Westminster Politics to secure short money. And the coming Speaker election standby, Pete Wishart or a House of Lords appointment standby,Ian Blackford. I rather liked the response of Kenny at an Alba meeting the other night. He was asked how would he vote in a vote of no confidence in the speaker of the HoC Hoyle. He replied he is not my Speaker.
Hatuely your a total waste of space with your views . Check out Scott Ritter on U Tube and then “Learn” the Truth.!!
You are easily pleased Andy. How come you John Main & Chas didn’t managed to get the scales to fall off people’s eyes with regards to me? You certainly tried hard enough.
Do you think ‘Turabdin’s’ post is going to do the trick.
What exactly is ‘my number’? Is it a large number?
I’ve got your number? It’s quite a small number. Want to know what it is?
Weird that you are not able to specify what you mean by the ‘old days’
Are talking before or after 2014?
Were there zero nutters here in them good old days?
I’ve been here for ages I even remember Cameron Brodie who drove you completely nuts. I don’t think you have ever recovered from that experience.
Andy Ellis
“Wait til he hears the usual suspects would disenfranchise him.”
Trolling with an emoji.
In the excitement of the post match interview Duhan said he had played for England
Andy Ellis @ 9:16 pm
“at Murrayfield today”
The reality is van der Merwe is a South African national and played for South African schools team before playing professionally in France, England and Scotland. He apparently “qualified for Scotland by three years of residency”! That’s a new one on me.
Clearly the limited private school reservoir is no longer sufficient to maintain a half decent Scottish national rugby team hence players from other countries are having to be ‘bought in’ and somehow magically transformed into Scotsmen.
Some might say that’s not quite cricket but I appreciate you ‘civic nationalists’ seem to think you can manufacture the national identity of people even quicker than changing their gender.
@John Main 9pm
Yon invasion of Taiwan and Turkish landings in Gaza are both a bit late too aren’t they….?
@Alf Baird 9.41pm
Presumably 3 years is enough to qualify to play for the national team? Didn’t folk used to joke you get play for Ireland if you’d flown over it?
We civic nationalists would doubtless be happy that someone might want to come and live here, represent their new country of residence and make a positive contribution rather than reject them for being mud bloods and go out of our way to make sure they weren’t allowed a say in their country’s future.
Perhaps we’re just better people than nativists?
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Badger! Badger! Badger!
All this ‘Badgering’ cos someone suggested Andy Ellis’s mail order bride might not be able to vote NO in the next IndyRef cos she hadn’t lived in Scotland long enough.
I am one of the ‘Brilliant Usual Suspects’ and I wouldn’t disenfranchise him even if like your ‘mail order bride’ he’s a NO voter provided they have lived in Scotland long enough to qualify. I expect your ‘mail order bride’ will be OK now unless that last one has got your number and has decided to return to Russia and your planning on getting another one.
Lolz, guessed correct with that post catching moderation…
@Alf Baird 9:41pm
I wrote about this some time ago. But no harm in repeating it. The SRU have a State School strategy and are spending a lot of scarce resource on improving State School participation in Rugby. You didn’t mention the numbers of International Rugby players who have a tenuous link to the motherland. Look no further than the Rugby World Cup. One of my grandsons is born out of a Scottish mother (my daughter) and an English father. Should he be good enough who does he play for?. My answer, he was born in Scotland and plays for Scotland but if he wants to play for England then that would be his choice. Let’s not get to hung up on potential franchise. Our case for Independence is better that that.
lol @ Alan
I don’t think I said anything that Scott Ritter would disagree with, so I have no idea what you’re talking about. However, I also have no idea what his views are on the decimation of Grozny, and I don’t really care, although I do agree with about 90% of what he says on other stuff.
Why do we always get bogged down in this sort of “good guy v bad guy” crap when we all know that Governments like people are never entirely one or the other? It’s beneath me even to spell this out but please grow up, Alan of Neilston.
The honest grown-up truth about YouKraine is that the country is divided, with some people wanting to align with the West and others wanting to align with you-know-who.
Western interference has done nothing to help the situation and resulted in untold destruction. Thats a recurring theme when it comes to our interventions. It has also backfired and made every country in Europe if not the world much less safe and secure, and caused huge economic problems.
There’s a serious conversation to be had with regards to issues of “spheres of influence” v “self determination” in the world. The west wants to deny the idea of “spheres of influence” has any relevance when it “baits the bear” and others, whilst at the same time demanding respect for its “spheres of influence” in the Americas and the Middle East. It is from the hypocrisy and lack of clarity on this specific issue that a lot of tension and conflict in the world derives.
Another big factor that is making everything worse is the substandard quality of Western politicians who are generally making total fucking idiots of themselves in the world right now. I suspect I’m preaching to the converted on that point in post-Sturgeon Scotland.
Anyway, I’m naturally inclined to be an anarchist, I don’t see why I am meant to assume any responsibility for the evil that States and governments do. All of them are wicked, to one extent or another, and that’s why I (unlike Ellis) support rules-based systems generally.
Now, time to get back to Call of Duty, where playing by the rules doesn’t spoil the war-fun.
@ George Ferguson
The case for Indy may well be better than that, but as an engineer you should know we have to factor in that the theoretical case alone is very difficult to make when pretty much all the influencing media is not going to positively promote or support the case for returning Scotland to self-governing status.
Plus without the census information which would show recent changes to population demographics it becomes all the harder to make the case.
Divide and rule 10 , what are we to do, drop the ideal of Scotland’s preferred choice of governance to try and garner the support of Tories moving up here. Little to no need for Tories to vote for Indy when they get that in the Union.
Andy tries to paints an idyllic picture of all those new folk arriving here being a positive for Scotland. But is it really? What if it is just a load of older crumblies from down south buying up properties meaning oor oan bairns can’t get a house, and the older retired folk not working and gaining access to better health services that they didn’t pay into.
https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2023/03/26/healthy-demographics/
Off-Topic Scotland posted this article today re. The Wee Black Book. Note how it makes the point that none of the MSM has ever tried to hold those to account that lied to manipulate the vote outcome in 2014.
https://www.offtopicscotland.com/post/the-compendium-of-chicanery
@Dan 10:39pm
Scottish Independence is not a theoretical proposition. Influencing media? I am not on Tik Tok but I could be part of a steering group trying to save Grangemouth with not one politician on it. And there is the answer. Forget the MSM. Forget politicians. They are hopeless. Self Interest rules OK
Except it doesn’t. Holyrood is sleep walking towards a theoretical net zero desert. Depopulation of the Highlands followed by Depopulation of the central belt. The only people making a living are Holyrood politicians their Spads and their spin Doctors. Census? I have the cover up of The NRS but try posting that on any free media.
@ Dan at 10.39: I was just about to tell the Rev that there is a rave review of the Wee Black Book on Off Topic Scotland today, but you beat me to it – and you provided the link too. Thank you!
George Ferguson @ 11:23 pm
“Scottish Independence is not a theoretical proposition”
Of course it is, it has to have a theoretical basis:
https://salvo-cor.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/THEORETICAL+CASE+FOR+SCOTTISH+INDEPENDENCE.pdf
Andy Ellis @ 9:55 pm
“make a positive contribution”
Personally I can live without ‘professional’ rugby and manufactured identities. But you obviously think its important for some obscure reason.
George Ferguson @ 10:18 pm
“You didn’t mention the numbers of International Rugby players who have a tenuous link to the motherland.”
I suppose that for enough money some people may be willing to change their national allegiance. The question is if this is a good basis for national loyalty. Personally A hae ma doubts.
@ George Ferguson
Broadcasting is a power reserved to Westminster. Ergo anything that gets broadcast on TV or radio in the UK is predominantly unionist in outlook and influence.
As a reader of Wings you’ll be all too aware of the huge archive of detailed articles published on here which rarely if ever make it into the mainstream media, and if they do it is often years after the story broke on here.
This may be the most read site on Scottish politics, but unfortunately the wealth of information is the least acted on. 🙁
I get endless streams of inane low brow shite sent to me by folk that should really know a great deal more than they do.
Adults sharing Facebook memes and TicTok vids need to give themselves a good fucking shake and actually apply themselves to learn and begin to understand just how much they are being played.
I’m sick of furnishing them with basic simple to understand education on a range of subjects only to have to repeat the same thing again a few months later.
Their ignorance on a wide range of subjects is utterly staggering and it’s no wonder Scotland gets shafted all the time. They don’t know the voting systems, and don’t know where various powers reside, and it’s the same for so many other aspects.
I made this post about a week back summing up the situation. The main things that concern folk are things that can’t be addressed within the union, as it is the same union that caused the problems they are concerned about. How fucking stupid can folk be to fail to understand that they are going to continue to be utterly shafted unless a significant change occurs.
https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-future-in-numbers/comment-page-1/#comment-2825072
I’m an engineer so can see where problems in systems exist, and what fixes are required to rectify issues, and when things are broken to the point fixing them is not viable, but it seems I am surrounded by folk that can’t even work out what recycle bin to put their waste in…
My car broke a front suspension spring on the way to the shops on Friday mid-afternoon. I reckon it was down to that pesky John Main character with voodoo pins after I called out his “get a life” pish on Friday morning!
But I know all too well the state of the roads and have foresight and resilience planning in place so keep spare suspension parts to hand, and I fitted a complete replacement front strut assembly so the car was sorted and back up and running again before 5pm.
Thankfully the broken spring didn’t take out a new tyre like it did on my neighbour’s car. The lower spring seat on their front strut corroded to the point it completely failed and collapsed and the car was sitting on the bumpstop with the front bumper valence scuffing the ground on undulations.
That didn’t stop them driving for a week and one trip of over a hundred miles to Glasgow and back with the spring rubbing on the tyre to the point it wrecked the tyre sidewall and was lucky not to have a blow out on the motorway with all that entails.
Makes you wonder how someone could not have noticed the car had a serious issue…
Alf Baird
Ignored says:
24 February, 2024 at 9:41 pm
Andy Ellis @ 9:16 pm
Clearly the limited private school reservoir is no longer sufficient to maintain a half decent Scottish national rugby team…
Indeed…
2023 figures…
France : 4 “ringers”, or foreign born players in squads.
England : 5
Italy : 6
Wales : 7
Scotland : 21
https://www.ruck.co.uk/foreign-born-players-in-the-2023-six-nations-breakdown-by-country/3/
Maybe want to hand back that Calcutta Cup eh? Or maybe start playing in black and white as the Barbarians.
I witnessed how the “professional” game cocked its leg on the “amateur” Borders Teams who had kept Scotland, and I mean Scotland, relatively competitive for generations. Ok, ok, occasionally competitive. That’s not the point.
The last straw for me was PE teacher Frank Hadden embracing defeat before kick-off and putting out a “B” side to play the All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup. What disgraceful cowardice. I don’t believe any Borderer would have done that in a million years.
The wee Border toons had built a prestigious reputation for decades on achieving victories against all odds with the barest minimum of resources… Jed Forest, Selkirk, Kelso, Hawick, Gala, …. Langholm, Duns, Peebles, Melrose, Boswells…. skinny wee lads with wiry limbs half frozen in the sleet, but each with the heart of a tiger. How could it come to this? No defeat or humiliation, even losing the terraces to posh knobs in debentured seating had ever been as painful to endure as surrender against the All Blacks. What brought this disgrace down upon us? Oh aye, …professionalism.
What’s the point of it all when the sacrifices you’re prepared to make for “victories” include trashing your whole domestic network and generations of tradition? Reap what you sow, imbeciles.
Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t blame or seek to discredit any Van der Merwe. The man’s a prestigious athlete, and I enjoy the spectacle of Scotland winning at sport, but it’s just a spectacle, mere commercial entertainment, because greed and professionalism destroyed it’s capacity to be anything more.
Would I rather see a rag-tag hotchpotch of amateur Scottish players being fkd off the park by a team full of professionals and ringers? No…. Well yes actually. Because supposing there were decades passing between victories, and maybe there’d be zero chance of any Grand Slam, it would just be all the sweeter when it did happen, and so much greater credit upon Scotland and all those skinny wee warriors serving their Scottish apprenticeships in the horizontal pissing rain.
Nobody likes mercenaries.
Being Scottish either means something or it doesn’t. It’s not a thing you can casually throw off and on like a jacket. There’s a responsibility that goes along with ” … for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule.” It would seem the Scottish Rugby Team needs help to raise it’s hundred these days.
Oh, you can play mind tricks in your head; “they’re not ringers, it’s Scotland’s diaspora coming home to defend our Nation… Aye, whatever. But in ma hoose, I go with gut instinct, and Frank Hadden will always be to Scottish Rugby what Nicola Sturgeon is to Scottish Independence. These are not fondly remembered as the good times.
Good times? I remember once being lifted off my feet as a wave of euphoria swept the packed Murrayfield Terraces when poor old Dusty Hare missed his third penalty kick. What a time to be alive…. and Scottish.
So Scotland won the rugby today did they? Beat England too did they? Oh good, that’s nice.
Breeks
Dispensing nostalgia?
Merely a case of wiping it down, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth..
(B Luhrmann).
I played forwards rugby back in the day (engine room or no. 8) and still carry the scars and damage to attest to it. The game is much more professional now, if in my opinion, over refereed into a stop start game.
My granddaughter has played rugby since primary school and is now in the young ladies team of the club I played for all those years ago.
I’m very proud of her.
It all appears much more welcoming and professional than I remember which seemed little more then a working man’s way of letting off the steam of a steel town at the weekend, and what the heck if people got hurt.
Personally I don’t care about convoluted associations with country, long overdue! What’s good for other countries and all that.
I find it maddening that we start winning which becomes a winning streak and our own supporters start bleating..
Sigh..
Talking about parliamentary convention.
From 2018
‘The Knesset has no limitation which prevents it from legislating extra-territorially anywhere in the world,…’
https://mondoweiss.net/2018/09/legalize-landgrab-international/
America agrees. So that’s ok then.
@Alf Baird 9.55pm
Personally I can live without ‘professional’ rugby and manufactured identities. But you obviously think its important for some obscure reason.
As I already said, I’m not that bothered about rugby, although like most I’m always glad to see Scotland beat England at anything. Perhaps that’s the test of being a real Scot? 🙂
Anyhoo…I’ve long thought that if more Scots were as passionate about Scottish independence as they were about something as unimportant as their football or rugby team, we’d have been independent decades ago.
It would seem somewhat odd for any people to welcome a newcomer with open arms so he can help them to success in international rugby and simultaneously boast about Scotland being for the Scots, which only includes native born ones, or those who have lived here for more years than is necessary for them to play for the national team.
Perhaps you can’t see the hypocrisy in it, but most reasonable people can.
Young Lochinvar
Ignored says:
25 February, 2024 at 3:56 am
I find it maddening that we start winning which becomes a winning streak and our own supporters start bleating..
Sigh
I find it maddening and demeaning when the SRU appoints the likes of Field Marshal Ruth Davidson to its Board. Maybe she’s there to stop those pesky Scots stealing stuff. Giggle, giggle, chortle, chortle,… laughs in British.
I like to think the SRU is out of touch, but truth be known, I suspect it’s well connected with those it wants to be; and riddled with gatekeepers who couldn’t give a shit about Scottish rugby and nurturing home grown talent. Still, it’s not the means but the ends eh?
Maybe one day we’ll even beat the All Blacks if we stuff our team full of enough Kiwis and Springboks… and don’t put out the “B” team to meet them of course.
@Dan 10.39pm
The case for Indy may well be better than that, but as an engineer you should know we have to factor in that the theoretical case alone is very difficult to make when pretty much all the influencing media is not going to positively promote or support the case for returning Scotland to self-governing status.
So how is the situation now any worse than that operative in 2012-14 when the % in favour of independence rose from the high 20’s to 45%? Was the MSM less biased then? Less organised? Recent polls now suggest independence support is > 50%, irrespective of the MSM being overwhelmingly unionist aligned.
We can’t forever blame the media for the collective inability of Scots to return themselves to self governing status.
Plus without the census information which would show recent changes to population demographics it becomes all the harder to make the case.
Does it? In what way? We keep hearing this “we’re being swamped” narrative, and confident predictions that demographic changes will deny us independence, but it all sounds like assertion because we don’t know the figures (and probably can’t rely on them anyway).
It also seem to me like defeatism: it accepts that native born Scots (who still constitute the overwhelming majority of the population) lack the balls to vote for their own self determination, that they haven’t been convinced – even despite the bin fire of British nationalist politics in recent years – that independence is a better bet than unionism, or that it isn’t even worth voting as turnout (whilst pretty good at >80%) was still several points lower than in the referendums in e.g. Quebec.
Of course many people oppose immigration on principle, or want it curtailed, but in a country with a declining population who is going to pay the taxes and do the jobs necessary to ensure our economic and social wellbeing in future? If you want people to come and do a job, irrespective of whether its working as a care assistant in a home, working in education, being a highly skilled engineer or even helping our rugby team win the Calcutta Cup, don’t they deserve to have a say in Scotland’s future too?
@Andy Ellis
“and simultaneously boast about Scotland being for the Scots,”
I haven’t seen such a thing on this site – maybe I’ve missed it.Evidence?
I do see quite a lot about the voting franchise being limited to Scots. Whether or not that might apply to “foreign” rugby players is unknowable. They may all have left, retired or died.
People are never, ever, anywhere 100% rational. That includes you. Your own hypocrisy is on view blaming others for inconsistency (and hypocrisy) when your own inconsistency is present in your post.
To Alf and Breeks
Maybe you should read up on DVDM and how he ended up in Scotland rather than giving glib soundbytes.
You do realise that one of the English team has Scottish parents or that a Welshman scored one of their tries?
@ Andy Ellis
The situation is the same because the power of broadcasting is still reserved to London Rule, and the MSM “newspapers” are still owned by the same entities that are pro-Union.
Project Fear won the day because it could use elements of the wide franchise as levers to influence the vote outcome.
EG. EU citizens voting no. Most EU folk I knew from 10 years back have fucked off back to their mainland Europe homes as they had a get out card unlike Scots.
Immigration is a power reserved to London Rule too so Scotland has no way of controlling current immigration to ensure it is a positive and not a negative in the short and long term.
Why can a country not view its census data…
The Healthy Demographics article I linked to gives some indication into internal UK immigration. Also 200 newborn children in my area yet only 20 bairns with both parents Scottish kind of stands out as well.
I fully understand Scotland needs a degree of immigration, but we have no effective way to manage that at the moment and it is utterly naive to think UK state interests aren’t aware of this and it’s influencing what they are doing.
Polling may well be around 50 / 50 for Indy / Union but it’s controllable to a great extent, plus there isn’t a campaign on or even the democratic mechanism in place to actually deliver a vote on that matter.
And I don’t believe for a minute you actually think that all manner of influencing factors haven’t already been gamed out and will be initiated should the countdown to a date re-asking the question on whether Scotland should return to self-governance with all that would mean for The Kingdom of England.
The State protects itself, have you forgot what happened to Corbyn?
Closer to home have you forgotten what happened to Salmond and how the electorate can be so easily manipulated.
https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-cat-and-all-the-pigeons/
OT has anyone watched Breathtaking on STV? I would recommend it to all.
I clapped but once for the NHS – I thought it a futile gesture and didn’t like the company I was keeping.
I did not appreciate what the doctors and nurses endured at the hands of the political leaders and the English Health board. It appeared that the doctors pleas were ignored and health workers at every level were treated with utter disregard to the point of death.
It made me hope that the profiteers , Mones/ Hancocks of this world, would end up behind bars , though that would not alter the appalling death toll.
Neither did I know that there had been folk , who had listened / watched daft lies ,picketing hospitals and shouting abuse at staff trying to do their work.
They dealt with an overload of death when normally they would have been healing those in need.
They were at a point of physical and emotional exhaustion – I may not have applauded them before but I’d like them to know I appreciate them even more now having watched Breathtaking.
I have to say a packet of tissues and a punchbag are required while watching.
Dan
Sorry to hear about your bust spring.
I can sympathise, sick of replacing springs myself, still growing out a black thumbnail from the knock I took a few months back when the compressors slipped. Could have been a lot worse I guess.
Looking on the bright side, I find the growth in potholes is matched by the deterioration in road and lane markings, so I no longer feel bad about weaving all over the road to avoid the holes. “In the wrong lane for turning left officer? I’m sorry, I couldn’t see any lane markings – they’ve all worn away”.
And dinna fash about the voodoo. I leave that to the “New Scots” (and yes, I know from first hand experience that’s a thing with some of them).
@Andy Ellis 9:46
Behave yersel!
I’m confident the Turkish boots on the ground aren’t due before March.
5 days to go …
If England held an indyref do you think they’d give Ellis a vote?
No.
Because they impose restrictions on the franchise.
I don’t know why that thicko thinks Scotland *MUST plat the game differently & why he continually lies that Scots didn’t vote for independence the last time.
Also, London Calling gave a pretty damning view of the BBC, Better Together, the Yoons & the tricks they played. From running fake *no borders* bullshit to running hatchet jobs.
BTW, wasn’t that fake No Borders bullshit traced to I*_real donations & the Hot Cup of warm Cocoa eejit now in the Lords?
Breeks @ 2:52 am
“Indeed…2023 figures…
France : 4 “ringers”, or foreign born players in squads.
England : 5
Italy : 6
Wales : 7
Scotland : 21”
Yes indeed Breeks, and we are heading towards the same position as in Scottish ‘elite’ universities where up to 9 in 10 academics employed come from other countries. Many other areas of our society appear to be heading in the same direction, in schools, NHS, government etc.
This is what happens when a colonial power does not nurture or provide opportunities for the indigenous people, rather it marginalises and displaces them and their culture, in addition to stealing their resources and sovereignty.
Jings, Andy, even the colonial MSM has noticed: https://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/24138605.makes-someone-scottish-whatever-rules-need-tightened/
What do we gain from winning the Calcutta Cup?
What has this South African being doing for the last three years?
Do you actually get a work permit or whatever it is you need to live & work in the UK if you say you are coming to play rugby?
That seems a bit strange. Rugby players aren’t what you would call key workers.
This looks a bit like cheating on the part of ‘Scottish Rugby’
I bet they checked if he was a NO voter. Probably had that written into his contract.
Still what the hell it could be worse they could have imported him to play in the women’s team.
Scottish-South African???? Yeah OK Whatever!
Never mind all that what about the paedo from the ‘Robert Burns World Federation’ & the Cat Killer.
@Sam 9.23am
Because you’ve not seen the evidence of it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist Sam. I don’t know how long you’ve been posting or reading, but it can’t have been long if you aren’t aware of those arguing in here for the franchise to be restricted to various degrees, from full on blood and soil nativism insisting only those born here be enfranchised, to various shades of residency requirements ranging from 2 to 20 years.
You seem to be furiously straw manning Sam: it’s not a good look. I’ve never said, nor do I believe, that everyone is 100% rational. Calls for “Evidence?” work both ways.
In what way am I being inconsistent or hypocritical?
Vladimir Kara-Murza.
There’s an innarestin article about him on BBC Online right now.
So let’s admit the often repeated trope on here that everything the BBC publishes is lies.
Still, Mr Kara-Murza will likely be dead quite soon.
Our side is far from being perfect, and we even have some deaths and imprisonments of our own (Epstein, Assange, etc).
But we’re not yet at the point where everybody “awkward” winds up dead, locked up, or exiled (soon to be dead too).
Makes you think, eh? Makes me think that if parts of the world regard what’s going on as so important that anybody in the way must be topped, maybe it’s time for us in the west to start taking it all very seriously indeed.
@Dotothy Devine
I hope that the ITV drama Breathtaking remembers to include;
the staff sent on furlough;
the staff practicing dance routines in empty wards;
unused Knightingale pop up hospitals;
doctors incentivised at £15 per jab;
the shipping out of the sick into care or back home;
the faulty PCR lab testing;
and Neil Ferguson’s fear mongering mathematical models.
The number one cure for c*vid is to switch off the TV.
Poland will be in trouble.
404 Refugees want to vote in Polish elections.
404 wants to merge with Poland in a union LMAO!
404 is corrupt & skint. Poland is richer.
404 wants Poland (who has invested in weapons) to hand them over.
404 wants this no borders pish – but obviously not with Ruskies. Just between them.
Poland is dead against it, bad history, but Polish government thinks it’s a brilliant idea.
Germany & France not so keen either but not publicly just yet.
I wonder who gave 404 this crazy notion of establishing a Union & just stealing the neighbours resources? Hmmm..
It’s a great gig eh? Just fck up the franchise & yer country isn’t your country anymore.
See how stupid it is? People are not stupid tho. It’s devious & isn’t in the slightest full of good intentions but for malicious intent.
I had to archive it to read it.
https://archive.is/doN9e
I thought it would be nice to share it with my fellow ‘Usual Suspects’
What makes someone Scottish? Whatever it is, the rules need tightened
@Dan 9.46am
The situation is the same because the power of broadcasting is still reserved to London Rule, and the MSM “newspapers” are still owned by the same entities that are pro-Union.
Project Fear won the day because it could use elements of the wide franchise as levers to influence the vote outcome. ,/b>
The point just whizzed past you didn’t it? If the situation is the same, we’re no worse off in terms of the MSM then are we? You still can’t explain why,in spite of this much vaunted, all-powerful MSM agenda, in spite of the bin fire of British nationalist politics and governance AND the implosion of the SNP, support for independence has RISEN from the 2014 level.
Yes, of course Project Fear could rely on new Scots to be mainly vote against independence. Many did so because they profoundly believe in the union (as of course did and do many native born Scots), many did so not because they loved the union but they believed the scare stories and worried about pensions, EU membership and the imaginary fiscal black hole.
The point still remains however that even by the figures in the Edinburgh University study, only 52% of native born Scots voted Yes, and a Quebec style turnout could have added another 7% to the total vote.
Any new campaign, whether referendum or plebiscitary election based, will still face more or less the same MSM situation, but it WILL face a substantially different political, economic and social environment from 2014.
If Scotland wants to be in control of its own immigration policy within the UK, then its got to make the case to have that devolved as part of a revised devolutionary settlement. Good luck with that! The way to control that policy and all the others is just to bite the bullet and persuade enough Scots – native and new – to support independence at the ballot box.
Conjuring the bogey of an all powerful MSM, and the British nationalist dark state, MI5 and the 77th Brigade are all just cop outs. there are no short cuts to indy, and in the final analysis nobody else is to blame if we can’t persuade a majority of Scots – all Scots – to support it.
Scotland is hoaching with ex-South Africans.
It’s to do with the ongoing clusterfuck the crims and killers of the ANC are making of what was once a prosperous and moderately successful country. In other words, white flight of the educated, law-abiding, decent, rational, hard-working middle classes.
For all I know, most of the ex-South Africans may be descended from colonising Scots. That’s great if so, because they will still have the genetic imperatives to get on in life, improve things, and generally turn a backwards dump into an aspirational first-world country.
If we’re going to chuck them out as lacking in some kind of “ideological purity”, let’s at least wait until they’ve played their part in turning this backwards dump around, eh?
Maybes if they do improve things, and we do chuck them out, we will be smart enough not to let our home-grown equivalents of the ANC gangsters and grifters take over afterwards, although recent experiences at HR have not been hopeful in that regard.
I’m happy to nail my colours to the mast. If we have to be flooded with New Scots, then not all New Scots are equally welcome in my eyes. Some will integrate well and contribute massively, punching above their weight, others will never be anything but a drain and a divisive, trouble-making thorn in our sides.
As for which group might support Indy, it’s always been bleedin obvious to me – immigrants who want to work and get on will respond positively to a positive economic case for Indy. Just show them the money and watch them vote Yes.
The benefits grifters? They will want to continue sucking at the teat producing the largest flow of milk and honey. Maybes WM will always shade it in that regard.
Show us the benefits!
“So let’s admit the often repeated trope on here that everything the BBC publishes is lies.”
By Jove, I think Genocide John is finally getting it !
@Alf Baird 10.12am
I can’t read the article as it’s paywalled and I wouldn’t give a rag like the Herald any money, but presumably the rules used by Scotland are the same as those used elsewhere, otherwise the international governing bodies of the sport would invalidate them.
Why should Scotland be different to anywhere else WRT the regulation it uses? If 3 years residence is enough to qualify, then so be it. I don’t know, or particularly care, whether the individual concerned is a UK or SA citizen, whether he’s a proud “New Scot” planning to make the place his forever home, or just someone making a judgement call that since he qualifies under the rules, he’s got a better chance of getting international caps playing for Scotland than for SA or England.
It’s hardly a new phenomenon for elite athletes with little if any connection to the “mother country” to opt to play for one of the smaller nations because they’ve got a lot more chance of playing for them than they ever would of being selected for another country they could qualify to play for with a population 10 times as big and a far larger pool of players.
It was a discussion that took place ages ago.
The discussion is over.
Different people had different ideas at the time.
The only person arguing was you. Maybe arguing isn’t the correct word maybe ‘dictating’ would be more appropriate.
Everyone else was just putting forward their ideas.
You hate ideas don’t you Andy?
You made me think of this story.
https://archive.is/bbPcB
60 years after the war ends, two soldiers emerge from the jungle
@Andy Ellis 10.21
You didn’t mention the franchise in your post to which I referred.
You said “and simultaneously boast about Scotland being for the Scots,” In connection with selection for Scottish rugby.
I’ve seen some say they would prefer not to have professional players from other countries. But this is not boasting about Scotland being for the Scots. And I have not seen any evidence that people would welcome players from other countries playing here while also saying that Scotland should be for the Scots.
You’re making stuff up.
Ruby – I have looked everywhere on the National’s site today and cannot find the Sara Salyers interview. That is a great pity. I have emailed the person who alerted me to the interview happening to see if they know what has happened.
I’m a total mentalist but even I can read the article.
Have you not got a great grandson or someone who can help you out.
I’m glad you were aware that the archived link I posted wasn’t for you it was just for us ‘Brilliant Usual Suspects’.
We Usual Suspects have the best ideas and the brightest team.
Sure a couple of us are mental but mental is good.
I highly recommend it!
If we’re going to chuck them out as lacking in some kind of “ideological purity”, let’s at least wait until they’ve played their part in turning this backwards dump around, eh?
I didn’t think East Kilbride was that bad. Maybe John Main lives in a particularly bad part.
Not quite sure how a South African rugby player is going to help with that. Maybe time for John Main to take some action himself. Like joining ‘Neighbourhood Watch’ or it none exists forming one. He could even go out & pick up some litter. Nothing is going to happen if you just sit there 24/7 in front of your computer Johnny. The is probably out there as we speak doing burpees, squats, and lots of bending & stretching. You should do likewise every time you squat you could pick up some litter and put in your back pack.
Just out of interest why does a smart guy like you live in a ‘backwards dump’?
‘Scottish South African’ rugby player’
that’s very weird.
I think it would be more accurate to say
Scottish Rugby Team player who is South African.
What does being ‘South African’ mean? His name sounds Dutch.
Andy Ellis @ 10:49 am
“It’s hardly a new phenomenon”
You are right, imperialism and colonialism in all its forms is hardly new. As Alasdair Gray said, this is what happens when a people ‘have no confidence’ in thair ain fowk an cultur.
Eventually all aspects of their life, their lands and their institutions are run by ither fowk wi ither culturs an comin fae somewhair else.
And you call for more, more and more of this, as a never ending process? Hence a nation and people lacking sovereignty ultimately perish. Ye dinnae see this, tho, dae ye? Which means ye want it, crave it.
In a colonial society even imperial statues look down on the native and consider them inferior, which is why a leeberated fowk aye pulls thaim aw doun:
https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2024/02/25/decolonising-cultural-heritage-in-an-independent-scotland/
Sarah
I did have a wee look myself but found nothing.
I did however come across this
https://archive.is/egyxj
Why does ex-colony the Falkland Islands have rights Scotland doesn’t?
and this:
https://archive.is/Qt48Q
Scottish Nationalists plot ‘rebellion’ in bizarre plan to see Scotland recognised internationally as a ‘colony’
The reaction from the BritNats would suggest this plan is a bloody good idea.
Correction to earlier advice to John Main who lives in a backward dump.
The ‘Scottish South African’ rugby player’ is probably out there as we speak doing burpees, squats, and lots of bending & stretching. You should do likewise every time you squat you could pick up some litter and put it in your back pack.
Squat! Pick! Back! Get a wee rhythm going. Squat! Pick! Back!
Get it?
Also see Dan’s advice on how to ‘Get a Life’
Johnlm, watch it and see what you think and whether you change your mind over anything you mentioned.
P.S I hope that DOTOTHY was a fat fingered misprint!
One of the central assumptions of those who want to restrict the franchise (for political reasons) is the assumption that people who come here from other countries will tend to vote against independence. Research suggests that indeed was the case in 2014, but from memory the split was something like 70/30 at the extremes, which isn’t that bad from a “yes” standpoint.
Again from memory, I think roughly the same sort of percentages voting “no” could be found in older age groups which for obvious reasons are composed of mostly native born “pure” Scots.
There’s good reasons to assume that Brexit will help promote “Yes” amongst those we are calling “New Scots”, though. The prospect of citizenship in a country that is likely to be part of the EU, is likely to have free and friendly relations with immediate neighbours, is likely to be prosperous, and is demonstrably open and welcoming to newcomers, is a package that would make a pretty easy “sell”.
The delicate issue of English people living in Scotland and their predispositions towards independence is one that I see people dancing around. Of course, here you will find a bias in favour of the Union but that shouldn’t be confused with anti-Scottishness.
An English person enjoying life in Scotland will be acutely aware of the fact that it was the Union that gave them the freedom to live and work here, just as it gave many Scots the freedom to live elsewhere in the UK, but we shouldn’t be cynical about that. And we should remember that most people came here for noble reasons; affection for the people, affection for the country, the social culture, good work and pay, etc.
I’m not saying we should “love bomb” anyone, but there is a political case for reassuring those who live here, no matter where they came from or why, that they can count on us staying reasonable.
The world as I see it is being torn apart by irrational populism and brands of politics that put far too much emphasis on differences. Everybody seems to be really angry these days. If the next referendum on independence ever happens, we should set ourselves apart from all that — not just because it’s shit but because it will help us win.
@Alf Baird 11.39am
You still haven’t made the case that Scotland is a colonised country though Alf. It certainly isn’t accepted as such by the UN. You asserting it and hiding behind quotes from writers on post colonial theory doesn’t render your assertions more factual.
The vast majority of Scotland’s population is Scots born. New Scots and their sons and daughters are no less Scottish just because they don’t speak Scots, which most native born Scots either don’t speak or have a very limited understanding of.
Most rational people will see your florid talk of our nation and people perishing as the hyperbolic nonsense it is. If we can’t persuade a majority of Scots to have the balls to put an X on a scrap of paper, we deserve whatever is coming to us.
As for me not seeing this asserting imminent death of our nation or people, or actually craving it, you couldn’t be more wrong. I don’t see it because I don’t believe its remotely true.
Breeks says on 25 February 2024 at 2:52 am:
“Clearly the limited private school reservoir is no longer sufficient to maintain a half decent Scottish national rugby team… Indeed… 2023 figures…
France : 4 “ringers”, or foreign born players in squads.
England : 5
Italy : 6
Wales : 7
Scotland : 21”
It’s a sign of the times. You would be hard pushed to find an international squad of players, in all the most popular sports, with a 100% genetic link to the country they have chosen to play for in western society.
Just look at the England international football squad, there are a few names in there not exactly of anglo-saxon origin or whatever 100% English is?
Even the mighty All Blacks have extended their search pool beyond the usual native Maori selection. They’ve now got a paley-walley-skinned, red-headed, Celtic-esq Scotsman playing for them. He was born in the Borders. And the couple of times i’ve seen him play he’s one of their better players. Probably due to having more to prove.
Aye! Like it or not, it’s the way of things now as everyone pursues success at whatever cost. I don’t think there’s a full international squad of sportsmen/women with 100% genetic connection to the country they play for, whatever the sport. I could be wrong, but as i said, you’d be hard pushed to come up with one in the western world.
@Andy Ellis
“You still haven’t made the case that Scotland is a colonised country though Alf. It certainly isn’t accepted as such by the UN.”
Has anyone or group put a case to the UN that Scotland is colonised? If not what is the point of your claim?
Have you read the research by Iain MacKinnon of Coventry Uni into the internal colonisation of Scotland, done with the approval of England?
The research and other research identifies the long lasting effects of colonisation in Scotland (colonisation everywhere has long lasting consequences).
In Scotland, the effect includes the attempts to extinguish Gaelic culture as well as the Scottish cringe.
Hahahahahaa @ “60 years after the war ends, two soldiers emerge from the jungle”
“Have you not got a great grandson or someone who can help you out.”
Ruby playing a blinder today. Hilarious.
@sam
I don’t know if anyone has put the case to the UN that Scotland is a colony. Perhaps Alf and his mates should try? Generally to present things formally to international organisations like the UN you have to have standing to do so, so if you’re not an independent nation, another independent nation would have to do in on your behalf.
The point is I’m not the one asserting ad nauseam that Scotland is a colony or subject to imperialism. Take it up with Alf and those who pander to his fantastical worldview.
No, I haven’t read the research by MacKinnon you reference.
@Andy Ellis
So why mention that no one had taken the case of Scottish colonialism to the UN? It’s a non-sequitur, innit?
If you haven’t read MacKinnon you can’t really object to my belief that Scotland has been internally colonised over centuries, with the approval of the English elite.
What’s your view of the Scottish Cringe and its origin?
https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2019/07/01/the-cultural-cringe/
Is Scotland in charge of its own resources? No.
Is Scotland in charge of its own immigration? No.
Is Scotland in possession of a military & foreign policy? No.
Can Scotland hold a referendum to leave? No.
Can Scotland stop inwards migration? No.
Does Scotland have a parliament? No.
It’s not fcking rocket science we are a colony.
Dictionary:
1. A country or area under the full or partial political control of another country and occupied by settlers from that country.
You going to argue with a dictionary now, ya eejit.
Is Scotland in charge of its own resources? No.
Is Scotland in charge of its own immigration? No.
Is Scotland in possession of a military & a foreign policy? No.
Can Scotland hold a referendum to leave? No.
Can Scotland stop inwards migration? No.
Does Scotland have a parliament? No.
It’s not fcking rocket science we are a colony.
Dictionary:
1. A country or area under the full or partial political control of another country and occupied by s*ttlers from that country.
You going to argue with a dictionary now, ya eejit.
An English friend of mine who has lived in France for 25+ years and has been a French citizen for 10+ years informs me that while he gets to vote in local elections etc he would be excluded (and always will be) in any constitutional type referendum such as the dodgy one that Scotland was ‘allowed’ in 2014. He has no problem with that. Just saying, like.
Maybe our resident expert should get in touch and inform my friend that this is an outrage, and those French nativists should be forced to allow any and all incomers a say in the future of France, even if they’re there temporarily, have just arrived or just own a holiday home there?
Here is the Abstract to one of MacKinnon’s published research.
“This article employs a new approach to studying internal colonialism in northern Scotland during the 18th and 19th centuries. A common approach to examining internal colonial situations within modern state territories is to compare characteristics of the internal colonial situation with attested attributes of external colonial relations. Although this article does not reject the comparative approach, it seeks to avoid criticisms that this approach can be misleading by demonstrating that promoters and managers of projects involving land use change, territorial dispossession and industrial development in the late modern Gàidhealtachd consistently conceived of their work as projects of colonization. It further argues that the new social, cultural and political structures these projects imposed on the area’s indigenous population correspond to those found in other colonial situations, and that racist and racialist attitudes towards Gaels of the time are typical of those in colonial situations during the period. The article concludes that the late modern Gàidhealtachd has been a site of internal colonization where the relationship of domination between colonizer and colonized is complex, longstanding and occurring within the imperial state. In doing so it demonstrates that the history and present of the Gaels of Scotland belongs within the ambit of an emerging indigenous research paradigm.”
https://pure.coventry.ac.uk/ws/files/12616043/Article_2_MacKinnon_NS_8_2017_Highland_Clearances.pdf
I agree with Ruby. The hysteria over the goings on in the Commons the other day is off the scale. I have to hand it to the SNP though, they have weaponised a terrible conflict in the middle east in order to orientate sympathy and focus on to themselves and terribly hard done to Scotland. Other parties played their supporting roles very well too, their focus equally on themselves and their motivations, venal. All deserve Oscar nominations.
Meanwhile the horror in Gaza continues and most of the population in the UK have zero interest in the goings on the HoC on the matter (yes really, the frothing about it in certain incestuous circles is not replicated outside those very small bubbles), and rightly so: what happened there was nothing to do with Gaza which people *do* actually care about. The cartoon is very apt.
@DoRothyDevine
Sorry for the typo Dorothy (and also Hatuey several days ago)
I don’t have a TV but watched a trailer. So other than that I can’t comment other than to say it seems to be a drama re-enactment.
Three days before lockdown the HCID were saying that this was not a serious event.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/high-consequence-infectious-diseases-hcid
They seem to be writing this into the narrative now as some sort of ‘mistake’.
There were numerous numerous examples of Tic Tok nurses dancing and of people walking round empty hospitals, now largely censored on YouTube.
Some people filming empty hospitals were actually visited by the cops!
Was there something other than a mistreated flu? I cannot say; some, apparently reliable, doctors were talking of something which looked like altitude sickness.
They were told by the ONS to record all flu like symptoms as C*vid as there were no tests for C*vid at the time. ( or since?)
There were no excess deaths in 2020, other than the months when they shut the hospitals and when they started jabbing people.
When flu season arrived, furlough, decreased numbers of beds, and bed blocking all created a crisis.
https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//statistics/weekly-monthly-births-deaths-data/2023/jan/monthly-january-23-tab-3.xlsx
Rachel Clarke may have a political axe to grind regarding a bigger salary regarding the junior doctors new contract campaign.
More importantly she is a palliative care doctor who maybe has questions to answer regarding the treatment of patients in care homes.
Now, can we please get get back to Ellis telling about how he is not bothered with following the rugby team.
As for the franchise..no reason it should be different from the UK.
15 years+
If people have lived here that long then they are obviously staying.
If they haven’t then there is absolutely no control over them being bussed in especially, a short let, & then piss off home once the vote is over.
Same with EU citizens. They have their own independent country to return to should they have a craven wish to start amending constitutions & Sovereignty. Nothing stopping them from starting on their own.
I dunno what kind of person you have to be to take part in another countries referendums. It’s not normal & is wide open to abuse. Hence why there are rules on residency.
Mornin James
Ah the French what are they like?
They might eat frogs, snails & horses but they certainly know how to protest.
I wonder if what we need is a good old Revolution.
https://archive.is/7qR3I
Protesters were kept well away from the president, but their chants and whistles were audible when he visited Oreillette, a cow from Normandy, who was chosen as the star of the show’s 60th edition.
“from full on blood and soil nativism insisting only those born here be enfranchised, to various shades of residency requirements ranging from 2 to 20 years”
Please explain exactly in what way any of those requirements you are poo pooing over depart from those of any other independent state in the world (that is not overtly or covertly subjugated to the UK, that is), when it comes to constitutional matters.
Please explain exactly how those requirements depart from those stipulated by the UK government itself during the EU referendum.
Please explain in what way those requirements depart from those of constitutional referendums for Gibraltar with regards to the Spanish people, that can vote in those referendums.
Please explain in what way those requirements depart from those of constitutional referendums for “Las Malvinas” with regards to the Argentinian people who can vote in those referendums.
You appear to be a fervent supporter of Israel and USA. Well then, please explain how any of the requirements above depart from the requirement in Israel or USA for somebody to become a citizen and being able to cast a vote in constitutional matters.
Let me help you:
In Israel:
“The right to vote in the Israeli elections is reserved for Israeli citizens who are 18 years or older and whose name is registered in the voters’ registry. People whose legal status at the time of the elections is only that of a permanent resident do not have the right to vote. Likewise, Israeli citizens staying abroad will not be able to vote, aside from the exceptional cases of civil servants and their families, who can vote in Israeli embassies and consulates abroad”
(From Decker, M (2022) “Who has the right to vote in the Israeli elections? (Legal Guide)”
In the case of USA:
Non-citizens, including permanent legal residents, cannot vote in federal, state, and most local elections.
U.S. citizens residing in U.S. territories cannot vote for president in the general election.
(From USA gov (2024), “Who can and cannot vote”)
You can leave out the example of the Quebec referendum. We all know it was as big a stitch up as it was Scotland’s indy referendum from 2014, both with an exceptionally open franchise designed to frustrate the right to self-determination of the natives.
To confirm this, both, in Scotland and Quebec, the pro-independence vote of the natives was frustrated by the vote from the incomers. You appear determined to force us to close our eyes to that rather crucial piece of evidence.
You have been told this many, many, many times in these threads by many different contributors. I distinctly remember writing about this several times now in response to your obstinate determination to dishing indiscriminate insults to others who hold a different opinion to yours.
All this, of course, while those with a different opinion to yours kept providing credible arguments and evidence to sustain their stance, whereas you, time and time again, simply refused, like now, to provide a single credible argument or supporting evidence to defend your position, other than resourcing to faux arrogance and appealing to emotional blackmailing through insults.
“In what way am I being inconsistent or hypocritical?”
Goodness, in what way you are not?
You are ignoring the default rule for constitutional referendums in the ENTIRE WORLD, including the UK itself, its dominions, even your beloved Israel and USA.
This can only be either because of your own ignorance or because you wish the Scottish natives to remain ignorant so their right to self-determination can continue to be frustrated. It is obvious this suit your particular needs, whatever those may be, rather than those of Scotland or the Scottish people.
I distinctly remember how in many occasions you have attempted to sell here that you are a pro-independence supporter. Yet, at the minimum hint that a franchise for indyref should follow the default guidelines of every independent state in the world, even UK dominions, you immediately throw the toys out of the pram and switch on the emotional blackmail mode, even on occasion going as far as claiming that you would stop supporting independence if the franchise changed.
That does not present you as a credible pro-independence supporter at all, and rather suggests you are not one but instead you have an agenda linked to the imposition of a demonstrably rigged franchise, which has now seen both Scotland’s and Quebec’s natives denied their right to self-determination despite a majority of them voting for independence.
You NEVER provide a sound or credible argument to support your stance. The only thing you do is to dish out blanket insults to either deflect from the real reasons you are so keen on the imposition of a knowingly rigged franchise, to deflect from the real reasons behind your unfair and self-serving demands to impose a knowingly rigged franchise on the Scottish people or to silence those who hold a diametrically opposite opinion to yours and who, by the way, and differently to you, have provided multiple times arguments and evidence to support their position.
By the way, only somebody rather slow and with rather poor peripheral vision and critical thinking skills could ever suggest that not knowing the actual demographic distribution of the population, in particular how high a proportion of the total population the non-natives represent, is irrelevant for something as constitutionally crucial as an independence referendum.
If somebody attempts to impose a rigged franchise while at the same time seeks to pull the wool over the natives’ eyes by hiding the importance of how the number of non-natives that rigged franchise would be inviting to vote could frustrate the native’s vote, it becomes obvious even to a child that they are pursuing a parallel agenda which does not include granting the natives their right to self-determination.
P.S.You have often complained about the length of my comments. If you find difficult to read this comment because it is too long for your attention span to keep up or for your grey cells to process in one go without going into melt down, just shout for help. I can divide it up in baby bite-sizes for you, so you can digest it a wee bit better.
sam @ 1:25 pm
“internal colonialism in northern Scotland during the 18th and 19th centuries”
Hechter’s work demonstrated the ‘Celtic Periphery’ nations as a whole to be subject to internal colonialism procedures. Which helps explain why all three nations today have independence movements that depend on “the solidarity of the oppressed ethnic group” – i.e. Scots, Welsh and Irish.
Indigenous language deprivation is a feature in all instances. In Scotland both the Scots and Gaelic languages were/are important factors, these being two main indigenous groups/peoples of this land at the time of colonisation.
So the English PM gave a speech condemning anti-Semitism, whilst a Tory MP Lee Anderson, clearly expressed his Islamophobia.
Sunak even had the chutzpah to say:
“Our democracy cannot and must not bend to the threat of violence and intimidation or fall into polarised camps who hate each other.”
The UK a democracy don’t make me laugh.
If it is not already, ‘Wings’ is turning into a platform for torn, greetin faced old men and women to air their warped views. Apart from our Arab friend, I wonder how many posting here are younger than 50?
Breeks is suggesting that only the ethnically pure, with tartan blood coursing through their veins, should represent Scotland.
I seem to recall an Austrian painter and decorator who had similar views. Whatever happened to him?
Scotland, the UK, indeed the World has changed and will continue to so so. You could always try and embrace it-you won’t be able to change it. Of course, you could always come on here and moan constantly about something, anything.
Stop living in the past. I know it is difficult for most on here.
Look to the future.
Oreillette La Vache Qui Rit?
She’s not looking too happy about being surrounded by riot police.
Does anybody study the First World War and the Near East? When Allenby entered Jerusalem in December 1917 his occupation of Jerusalem prevented the Ottoman Turks from putting into operation a plan to inflict genocide on all the Jews living in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. (The German advisor to the Turks, General Erich Ludendorff, had appealed to the Ottoman Turks to desist from their planned genocidal anti-semitic intentions – although it did not help the Syrians and Armenians. The hard pressed Jews regarded Allenby’s entry into Jerusalem as one of their greatest deliverances. Allenby had also saved that vital Allied artery, the Suez Canal, from Turko-Germanic conquest.
Mia
Excellent!
@Chas
“Stop living in the past. I know it is difficult for most on here.
Look to the future.”
Self awareness? Zero.
“I seem to recall an Austrian painter and decorator who had similar views. Whatever happened to him?”
Stop living in the past.
“Breeks is suggesting that only the ethnically pure, with tartan blood coursing through their veins, should represent Scotland.”
Breeks can and will speak for himself. If he wants a Scottish team to be made up of Scots it is not racist.
You have neither self awareness nor logic
Chas
As ever missing the point entirely.
Scotland should be training & funding it’s own home grown talent. Starting with excellent sporting facilities you know, like the ones we built/funded for English.
How much tea & jam sales did those cost?
Laurens of Arabia remembered WW1.
It’s a pity that his manuscript went missing in Reading Station.
The rest is history.
Norway , considered the most democratic country in the world,
only lets citizens vote in national elections,
Generally speaking, you will need to have had legal residency in Norway for at least seven years to be able to apply. You’ll also need to be at least partially fluent in the Norwegian language.
Blood and soil nativists ?
Sam
You have cut me to the bone. I do take some comfort in the fact that, at least, I am not thick. Unfortunately I am unable to say the same concerning your goodself but, of course, you are stapped foo of self awareness and logic.
Keep going with the colonialism pish. Baird will love you for it.
James
The big difference between ourselves and the French is that there is such a thing as French nationality. Because Scotland is just a colony there is no such thing as Scottish nationality. As a matter of fact it would appear that there isn’t even a Scottish ethnicity any more.
Anybody can be Scottish just in the same way as anybody can be a woman.
I’m not going along with any of it.
Duhan van der Merwe is South African and transwomen are men.
There is no such thing as Scottish South African, Scottish Asian, Scottish English, Scottish African.
All these folk for the most part who call themselves Scottish Asian, Scottish English etc are British and their ethnicity is Asian, English, Chinese, South African or whatever.
In the event of Scotland becoming independent they will be Scottish (probably) but their ethnicity will stay the same.
That’s fine I don’t have a problem with that but I do have a problem with folk trying to erase my sexuality and my ethnicity.
To say I don’t have a problem with that isn’t exactly accurate in that I don’t think multi-culturalism works. I think it was forced on people whether they liked it or not. Any peep out of them they would be branded racist just in the same way a people are being called bigots & transphobes. As a result people just pretend. Anything for a quiet life.
If the multi-culturalism worked you would not have our British Asian first minister and his mate the British Asian Labour leader greetin’ continually about racism and screaming WHITE! WHITE! WHITE!
They think they’ve got problems with identity try being a British Scottish Woman.
Which Arab friend are you talking about Chas?
Mia makes a forceful and compelling argument for looking at the franchise, but I disagree with making it.
I don’t see it happening. If we have a referendum, it’s likely to be on the very same terms as the last one.
Assuming it doesn’t happen, are the arguments for disenfranchising certain voters likely to help us win votes? Id say they are likely to cost us votes and in a zero sum game that’s a bad starting point.
If you absolutely knew the franchise wasn’t going to be changed, would you still make an argument for changing it?
Thats the overarching argument.
L4urens of OrabiA actually remembered WWI.
It’s a pity that his manooscript went missing in Reading Station in 1919.
The rest is history.
This comment went into moderation (twice) ???
Be Warned Chas I am not going to let you get away with not answering this question.
Which Arab friend are you talking about Chas?
@Chas
“I do take some comfort in the fact that, at least, I am not thick.”
If you’re thick enough how would you Know?
“The Scottish Cringe as described by Beveridge and Turnbull (1989) refers to the Scots lacking personal and political confidence in their ability to govern themselves. Beveridge and Turnbull (1989) argue the Scots suffer from a sense of psychological inferiority in which Scots have come to see themselves and they are seen by England i.e. as being inferior to and dependent upon the largesse of England.”
https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-wailing-walls/comment-page-1/#comment-2826524
Johnlm
It would be due to man*uscript.
Same would apply to the planet Urbumhole. 🙂
and every other word containing an*us
eg tetan*us etc etc
All due with the mis-spelling of the Christian name of Labour leader in Scotland.
Which Arab friend are you talking about Chas?
The great thing about the internet is you can be any age you want.
I’m 21 years old today.
never mind that
Which Arab friend are you talking about Chas?
“Keep going with the colonialism pish”
You claim you are not thick. I have no reason whatsoever to question such assertion. But if you are not thick, then you are expected to understand this is a forum where most readers do not know who you are and, more importantly, do not know how much they can trust, if at all, what you write.
This isn’t the 18th century, where most of the population were illiterate and would take the word of the military, the wealthy, the aristocracy and politicians as gospel.
Now, it takes people under a minute to check if the evidence provided in a comment is trustworthy or not, and it takes them little more to find evidence of a counterargument if that exists.
This means that the only way you can make yourself trustworthy is by providing or directing those you wish to convince towards the evidence that supports your point.
In other words, you cannot simply make claims like “colonialism pish” in relation to Scotland and expect contributors to take your word for it unless you have provided enough evidence to support that point. You haven’t.
You mention Prof Baird. Well, you have a very long way to go until you reach the level of research and evidence Prof Baird has provided here to demonstrate Scotland is subjected to the toxic force of colonialism.
When you reach the point where you have been able to enrich the knowledge of visitors of this blog to a comparative level to the research and evidence Prof Baird has provided here and elsewhere, then you will be in a position to claim that “colonialism of Scotland is pish” without being laughed at. But until then, independently of how important you consider your word alone to be, you cannot.
@sam 1.03pm
I mentioned it because it has been discussed before, including with Alf Baird, that one of the reasons most people don’t accept the “Scotland as colony” schtick is that the UN does not have Scotland on it’s list of Non Selg-governing territories.
You need to disabuse yourself of the frankly rather weird view that just because you haven’t seen or heard of something being discussed here, you’re the first person to think about it, or continually greet about people bringing things up you don’t know about. You seem like the kind of person who could have an argument in an empty room.
If you haven’t read MacKinnon you can’t really object to my belief that Scotland has been internally colonised over centuries, with the approval of the English elite.
What’s your view of the Scottish Cringe and its origin?
That’s not how this works you utter roaster. You don’t get to insist people read some random link you’ve posted for some piece of evidence, book, or paper, then crow about the fact that because we haven’t read it our views are therefore objectively worth less than yours. What an odd way to conduct yourself.
I think the Scottish cringe is a bad thing. It’s origins are, I’m sure many and various, but I’m not sure you can make a direct correlation between the existence of such a cringe and an insistence that Scotland is therefore colonised.
Which Arab friend are you talking about Chas?
Why on earth would a constitutnal vote upset incomers?
Ever wonder why Alba is going nowhere?
A repeat of the exact same franchise as 2014 is a mugs game & frankly people who wish Scotland to lose by immediately giving it a handicap before it even takes place.
Salmond is always banging on about Scots Sovereignty. That’s the people of Scotland. Not anyone else.
The Union is between Scotland & England.
A ref is on Scots constitution.
Not between Scotland, Welsh, Irish, I*saeli, Yankie, EU & everyone else who thinks they’ll have a meltdown cause they can’t vote.
If anyone outside needs a vote it should surely be Scots living abroad.
I’m envisaging Mia as a special needs teacher trying hard to help Chas. 🙂
You need a lot of patience to be a special needs teacher
Which Arab friend are you talking about Chas?
@Geri 1.08
All of those things could be said about Bavaria: I’ve never heard any Bavarian – or indeed anyone else – make the case that Bavaria is a colony of Germany.
Also, you answered some of your own questions incorrectly.
Scotland can hold referendums, as 2014 demonstrates. It just can’t hold independence referendums unilaterally. If the British nationalist establishment won’t honour the Edinburgh Agreement precedent in future, it means we either have to accept that fact, change the devolutionary settlement such that the UK “repatriates” the right about when and how often we hold such referendums (which seems unlikely), or abandon the referendum route altogether and switch to plebiscitary elections. Pick one.
Also, Scotland does have a parliament. the fact it isn’t the parliament you like, and/or doesn’t have the powers you want it to have, or contain representatives with balls enough to force the pace on independence, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. A devolutionary parliament is still a parliament.
By your simplistic dictionary definition, England could claim to be a colony of Scotland.
You’re just not very good at this are you?
@Andy Ellis
I still don’t see why you mention the UN when it is at the moment irrelevant to a debate as to scotland’s colonisation.
I wasn’t insisting that you read the MacKinnon research. I was saying that if you haven’t read the research you have no grounds to object to my views (based on that research) that Scotland has been internally colonised.
Why do you make stuff up?
Thanks Ruby. I think you are right.
I wonder if I can say that Andy Ellis, John Main and Chas are all ani?
Ani, being brown, Main has probably bleached his.
Don’t be stupid.
Scotland has an administration under direct rule via the Scotland Act. A “Scottish parliament” would have no such restrictions.
How could England claim it is a colony? They are in charge of everything.
You’re not very bright are you?
“If we have a referendum, it’s likely to be on the very same terms as the last one”
And the result is likely to be in the very same terms as the last one was: incomers who see Scotland as an extension of England will seek to frustrate the pro-independence vote of the natives.
At this moment in time, being it by incompetence or by design, we do not know the real proportion of non-natives, with no allegiance to Scotland whatsoever, that have been included in Scotland’s electoral census. In such circumstance, you can never claim credibly the referendum is an exercise in self-determination for Scotland. It is more likely to be an exercise to prevent self-determination of Scotland.
“If you absolutely knew the franchise wasn’t going to be changed, would you still make an argument for changing it?”
Of course. Silence is consent. If you do not make the argument for the change, then you are as much as accepting the situation as it is. I am not and never will. I am convinced the franchise of 2014 was a stitch up which prevented self-determination of the people of Scotland. It is an incredibly arrogant position to claim only those who chose this flawed franchise are right, while the rest of the world countries, which use for constitutional matters a different franchise than the one they use for local elections, are wrong.
If you absolutely knew (as we already know) that the current crop of MP gravy train raiders will never seriously pursue Scotland’s independence, never mind ending the union, would you still make an argument to change that situation by, for example, voting the useless self-serving wankers out, or would you just leave them to forever enjoy the comforts and perks of the green seats so they can continue laughing at us?
Change in politics, when having the benefit of the people rather than the ruling classes in mind, never comes spontaneously. You have to force it to happen. To me, that is the overarching argument.
As the likes of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali decide to withdraw from the western controlled ECOWAS, ECOWAS has decided to drop all sanctions against Niger for ousting its colonial masters the French.
The Nigeriens began kicking out their colonial master on July 26th 2023, and they now have two oil refineries and fuel is cheaper than it was under colonial rule.
@Dan
An English friend of mine who has lived in France for 25+ years and has been a French citizen for 10+ years informs me that while he gets to vote in local elections etc he would be excluded (and always will be) in any constitutional type referendum such as the dodgy one that Scotland was ‘allowed’ in 2014. He has no problem with that. Just saying, like.
Maybe our resident expert should get in touch and inform my friend that this is an outrage, and those French nativists should be forced to allow any and all incomers a say in the future of France, even if they’re there temporarily, have just arrived or just own a holiday home there?
I’m typing this slowly in the probably forlorn hope that you and other hard of understanding nativists finally get it. France is an independent country. Scotland is not. France has citizens. Scotland does not. When Scotland becomes independent, it will be able to enforce citizenship criteria like all other independent nation states.
A self determination referendum held by some of the people of a larger state is not the same thing as e.g. a vote to change the constitution of France. Virtually every self determination referendum since 1945 has used broadly based residence criteria, often wider than than that used here in 2014.
I don’t know why your French friend is denied a vote if he has been granted citizenship: it seems odd that a full citizen would be denied the vote, unless there is some specific French law imposing an additional residence criteria (though if he’s been there 10+ years that also seems unlikely. I’m not an expert on the French franchise or electoral law however.
What you and other nativists here have to explain is why Scotland should uniquely amongst all the other peoples who have held self determination referendums, should use a non-standard franchise. None of you ever HAVE answered satisfactorily of course, because you have no other response but bigotry, woo-woo claims of Scottish exceptionalism, and afterwards abuse.
Same old. same old really.
Andy Ellis. How long do you practice daily to compose such utter garbage?
Is Bavaria a country? Or a federal state?
Do they have their own economy or do they get pocket money from Germany?
You are always grasping. Trying desperately to compare Apples with Oranges & ending up with tatties.
I’ll have to resort to asking Andy.
#Ask Andy
1. Which Arab friend is Chas talking about?
2. If Scotland isn’t a colony what is it?
3. Are there a lot of similarities between Scotland and Palestine?
I’m thinking about the treaty of the Union & the Balfour Agrement
Also the transfer of 6,000 square miles of Scottish sea to England in 1999
gary stevenson is a smart asa whip ex trader, who has worked on the inside, understands the markets and the economy; a cockney max keiser – worth a long listen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViY-zI3b5JQ
I see our minister for energy net zero and fluffy bunnies is going to have a baby, which is nice; looks about 19, is 31. A lawyer, worked at the battered wives home, political adviser, and yet – she would be the person to enter the room with people from JP Morgan and BlackRock, when an indy Scotland has to start cutting deals and laying down its laws, e.g. BlackRock owns our fucking ports and airports, and we need them back under our control – how you handle that needs skill. We also need our refinery back.
– gender balance and diversity hiring. Great. A pal of Nikki. At least Scotland won’t be defending its economic interests with a fucking white white white man, who is systemically racist.
I say we hire gary, this cockney boy, find him a scots granny or whatever and put him in charge. If you are going to bring in outsiders, bring in talent FFS, like south african rugby players, but not a mass migration of mediocrity and random trash. Gary probably wouldn’t give a shit about a vote, just pay him what he is worth.
anyway, give him a like and subscribe to his channel as it helps with the algorithm; seriously, it’s 90 minutes of quality, of “real things that matter” and its a guy from a poor background, who understands it all from the inside, telling you what is going on, in terms you understand …
@Geri 1.30pm
I dunno what kind of person you have to be to take part in another countries referendums. It’s not normal & is wide open to abuse. Hence why there are rules on residency.
The kind of person that has voted in dozens of self determination referendums around the world since 1945 Geri. It’s quite normal. There’s no evidence I’ve seen of any abuse. What nativists in here are really exercised about is non Scottish born people being allowed to participate, because they think on the basis of one study by Edinburgh University that non-native born voters were instrumental in delivering a No vote in 2014.
The problem, as pointed out before, is that using a different franchise is hugely problematic for a number of reasons. It’s not the norm for self determination referendums, it would turn a lot of supporters of by betraying civic nationalist values, and it would adversely impact on the chances of a vote for independence – particularly one which was close or contested – being recognised by other independent states and international organisations.
We’d end up like Northern Cyprus, Somaliland or Transnistria.
You not knowing these things is no excuse for not educating your self about the facts. you’re entitled to your own opinions, but not your own class of facts.
Re my 3.57pm comment.
There’s a lesson to be learned here, as we’re about to lose our only refinery the only way for Scotland to really prosper is for Scots to dump this union (colonial masters) for serious progression cannot be made without all the levers of government that a country needs.
What a power house African nations could be if they shook off their colonial masters, the west does well off the backs of African nations, England does pretty well off the backs of Scottish assets.
lets shake them off for good, down with the union.
What the hell is wrong with these people, is it mass cognitive dissonance, due to being brainwashed by their media and government, it has a 1930’s Germany feel about it.
“This is a shocking data point. The Israeli Democracy Institute released a survey this week showing that over 2/3 of Jewish Israelis – 68% that is – opposed “the transfer of humanitarian aid to Gaza residents at this time.”
It gets even worse – the survey lowered the bar to exclude any possible opposition to either UNRWA (which Israel has been inciting against) or the Hamas authorities (which Israel considers terrorists). To no avail. Over two-thirds still oppose humanitarian help “via international bodies that are not linked to Hamas or to UNRWA… A majority of Jewish respondents (68%) oppose the transfer of humanitarian aid even under these conditions,” the survey notes.”
https://mondoweiss.net/2024/02/over-2-3-of-jewish-israelis-oppose-humanitarian-aid-to-palestinians-starving-in-gaza/?utm_content=bufferf5e96&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=buffer
Please folks, don’t be rough to Chas.
Chas is special, he can smell independence marchers.
It’s probably a form of synesthesia.
A bit like Greta Thunberg can see CO2.
https://ananova.news/climate-activist-greta-thunberg-can-see-invisible-co2/
James at 1:22 pm
“An English friend of mine…”
You’ve changed. Get out!
Elsewhere folk seem to be assessing how Scottish you have to be to qualify as Scottish. Not fully decked out in tartan? Incomer!
The ‘colonialism’ nonsense is entirely down to a selected interpretation rather than fact. Self-declared ‘academics’ telling us that this or that is such an example, always bad. I reject it as nonsense.
Ellis
“The kind of person that has voted in dozens of self determination referendums around the world since 1945 Geri. It’s quite normal. ”
Name them.
“England could claim to be a colony of Scotland”
In a parallel dimension, perhaps. Certainly not in this one.
One of the most obvious signs of active colonialism is the suppression of the natives’ language and imposition of the colonial one.
Take a look at England’s parliament: when has the English language ever been suppressed by Scottish Gaelic or Scots? Never.
Now take a look at Scotland’s parliament. How often do you hear Scotland’s own MPs speaking Gaelic or Scots?
Was there a single time when Scottish Gaelic or Scots was ever used as a recognised language in the parliament of the United Kingdom? Nope. In fact, some arrogant England MPs heavily criticised SNP MPs when they had the audacity to use their MOTHER LANGUAGE, in that cesspit.
Let’s look now at universities. How much Scottish Gaelic or Scots do you hear being used in England’s universities? Now look at Scotland. How much? Actually, what is the proportion of people with Scottish accent among positions of power in Scotland? And in England? What about the proportion of people with English accent?
Let’s now look at public services like the NHS. What is the proportion of Scottish natives in positions of power in the NHS in Scotland? And in England? How about England’s natives? How do the percentages compare?
Let’s now look at schools. In how many schools in Scotland, never mind the UK, is Scottish Gaelic or Scots being taught as main language? How many classes are being taught in other language that is not English?
Now take a look at the positions of power in the UK government, Scotland’s government and England’s government. What is the proportion of Scotland’s natives in the positions of power? What is the proportion of England’s natives in those positions? What is the proportion of MPs elected by the people of Scotland holding a ministry with portfolio?
Now let’s take a look at the resources. Who is the main beneficiary of the revenues generated by Scotland’s resources? Whose territorial waters were stolen so the other country could claim the other’s oil and gas fields as its own?
How much of the revenues obtained from the fire-sale of Scotland’s assets are kept in Scotland and how much of those are going down to England?
The suggestion that England could ever credibly claim it is a Scottish colony is laughable.
*It’s not the norm for self determination referendums, it would turn a lot of supporters of by betraying civic nationalist values, and it would adversely impact on the chances of a vote for independence – particularly one which was close or contested – being recognised by other independent states and international organisations. *
What a crock of horseshit.
Scotland is a country. Not a *region* wishing to leave the mother ship.
It’s a trading union, ya dullard. & Countries leave those any time they like. They don’t need permission. They don’t need imaginary new rules & they don’t particularly need the international community either.
You are not an independence supporter.
You don’t recognise Scotland as a sovereign nation.
You don’t seem to even know what Sovereignty means. It means a country can do what the fck it likes without constant*outside* harpies telling them where they’re going wrong in the world.
Get yerself back to England.
Mia, you didn’t answer. If you absolutely knew the franchise was going be the same as it was in 2014, would you still make the argument for changing it and run the risk of further alienating even more people?
I’m inclined to think it would be rational to drop the issue once you knew that the franchise would be the same, and instead argue for independence.
You could just as easily argue that women and older people cost us in 2014, not “new Scots”.
@Mia 1.55pm
You appear to be arguing, as is your wont, not only in bad faith but at agonising length.
I’ve explained over and over again that the franchises used by already independent states to allow existing citizens to vote in constitutional referendums are NOT THE SAME thing as the franchises used for self determination referendums. The constant repetition that no other country would allow the same franchise as we used in 2014 is a simple category error. In the case of many of the usual suspects here, it’s a simple lie, because it’s been explained over and over again.
From what I can see, any British citizen in Gibraltar who has been resident for 6 months can vote in their elections.
I’m not a fervent supporter of either Israel or the USA: that just the kind of thing hard of thinking people say when they have no real counter arguments. Neither Israel or the USA are valid comparators, because you’re not discussing self determination votes, so the franchises there are irrelevant. Pure distraction on your part.
You try to marshal Quebec in support of you flawed analysis, but present no evidence. Show us the evidence that either or both referendums were skewed.
This can only be either because of your own ignorance or because you wish the Scottish natives to remain ignorant so their right to self-determination can continue to be frustrated. It is obvious this suit your particular needs, whatever those may be, rather than those of Scotland or the Scottish people.
The ignorance here is yours, not mine. Worse in fact, it’s not ignorance it’s just bare faced lying, because you know full well that you’re not comparing like with like. Self determination votes use different franchises from constitutional votes in already independent countries. You being ignorant of that, or refusing to recognise it, doesn’t change the fact. Your analysis is either flawed, or just dishonest – as well as excruciatingly over long as per usual.
You NEVER provide a sound or credible argument to support your stance.
Another flagrant untruth. You just can’t help yourself can you? I’ve provided the evidence over many months, ever since the initial twitter fisking of what a rubbish idea franchise restriction was by Rev Stu ages ago. I still have that twitter thread copied and roll it out regularly because I know how much it enrages nativists to see their dearly held belief being so utterly destroyed by someone they otherwise can’t get enough of. Apparently this time he’s wrong. Yeah, right.
I’m not the only one who has an issue with your verbal diarrhoea: using 10 words where 1 will do, and over lengthy posts don’t help what passes for your analysis when its already laughably weak, ill argued or simply flat out untruth.
“What the hell is wrong with these people”
Indoctrination since birth.
Military indoctrination compulsory.
= Ingrained hatred.
Well the month is up tomorrow.
“In a historic interim judgment, the UN court in The Hague told Israel it must “take all measures within its power” to desist from killing Palestinians in contravention of the genocide convention, and to prevent and punish the incitement of genocide and facilitate the provision of “urgent basic services”. But the ruling stopped short of ordering a ceasefire to the war in Gaza.
After Friday’s ruling, attention turned to whether Israel would comply with the order – given that the court has no enforcement powers – and what pressure its diplomatic and military backers would bring to bear on it to do so.”
Has Israel did everything in its power to prevent civilian deaths? Has it f*ck, the ICJ MUST call for an immediate ceasefire and begin a case against those that have perpetrated and helped perpetrate genocide against the oppressed Palestinians.
“It’s quite normal”
No, it isn’t. Scotland’s aberrant franchise of 2014 is the exception, not the rule.
If you look at the rules of world countries, to vote in constitutional referendums you have to be a citizen of the country. This means that, to vote in “many” self-determination referendums around the world as you claim, you need to hold “many” citizenships simultaneously or take new citizenships and ditching old ones continuously. That is not “quite normal”. That is totally abnormal.
Many countries do not allow you to have dual or multiple citizenship. Other countries do not allow you to become an MP if you have multiple citizenship. Other countries make you ditch the other citizenship if you are to become an MP or diplomatic representing the country.
So the situation of a single person taking part in “dozens” of self-determination referendums around the world since 1945 is not quite normal at all. It is in fact most abnormal.
@Scot Finlayson 2.46pm
Norway , considered the most democratic country in the world,
only lets citizens vote in national elections,
Generally speaking, you will need to have had legal residency in Norway for at least seven years to be able to apply. You’ll also need to be at least partially fluent in the Norwegian language.
Blood and soil nativists ?
No, just an already independent state who had the balls to vote for their independence by a margin of 99.95% in favour to 0.05% opposed.
The franchise used for constitutional votes or other elections in already independent countries is based on established citizenship criteria.
Peoples seeking self determination don’t have citizens, because they aren’t independent states. The overwhelming number of self determination referendums since 1945 have used open, residence based criteria, often broader than those used here in 2014.
Which part of this apples versus oranges situation are you finding hard to understand?
@sam 3.51 pm
I still don’t see why you mention the UN when it is at the moment irrelevant to a debate as to scotland’s colonisation.
I wasn’t insisting that you read the MacKinnon research. I was saying that if you haven’t read the research you have no grounds to object to my views (based on that research) that Scotland has been internally colonised.
Why do you make stuff up?
I mention the UN because it is pertinent to do so. If Scotland were a bona fide colony and accepted as such by the international community, it would be on their list of non self governing territories, which have to be reported on to the General Assembly at regular intervals. The Falklands and Gibraltar are both on the list. Scotland is not.
If Scotland WERE on the list, and accepted as qualifying for colonial status, it would in some ways make our path to independence easier, as we’d be able to get support from others for being treated as a special case.
Many in the international community (particularly states with ethnic issues and separatist movements of their own) simply refuse to accept that peoples like Scotland, Catalonia or Quebec are even entitled to self determination, because the “old school” view in international relations and international law was that the right to self determination applied SOLELY to colonies, not places like Scotland.
I’m not making things up. You’re just being ridiculous. I’m perfectly at liberty to take exception to anyone’s views that Scotland is a colony. I think the argument is entirely without merit. The fact I haven’t read one random piece of research allows you to infer nothing at all.
“The franchise used for constitutional votes or other elections in already independent countries is based on established citizenship criteria”
There is nothing, nothing stopping Scotland to establish its own citizenship criteria. Las Malvinas and Gibraltar have their own citizenship criteria and they are not independent territories, nor they are united to England with an international treaty like Scotland is.
In fact, one wonders what on earth the SNP has been waiting for during the last almost 20 years when they have been in power to establish Scotland’s citizenship criteria.
Scotland is not a region. The only legal document that preserves its union with England is the treaty of union, a treaty that Scotland can lawfully and unilaterally revoke at any time of its choosing.
Scotland was voting to return to being fully independent.
Not voting for a brand new idea. A breakaway *region*
England has zero control over Scotland in law. Your problem is you think Scotland is subordinate & needs permission. It doesn’t. It doesn’t even need to hold a referendum or even a vote at all. After all, none was ever held to even entertain it eh?
It’s a trading union. That’s all it is.
I don’t know if you meant that to be funny but it cracked me up.
Yes it cracked me up but at the same time it made me cry.
Is that maybe what you would call a tragicomedy?
I worked for a short time in a merchant bank in the City. (City of London) It was great.
I met a fair number of traders. These guys were so sharp and so funny I would be happy to employ any one of them. I don’t think the lady with the baby & fluffy bunny would stand a chance against these guys.
I will definitely watch the video later although just from your description I would say it’s a very good idea to replace the lady with the baby & fluffy bunny. 🙂
@Geri 4.24 pm
1. Quebec 1980: All Canadian citizens residing in Quebec.
2. Quebec 1995: All Canadian citizens residing in Quebec.
3. Slovenia 1990: All Slovenian citizens (deemed to be all holders of Yugoslav internal citizenship cards resident in Slovenia, irrespective of birthplace or nationality).
4. Lithuania 1991: Nationals of Lithuania, including those resident before the USSR invasion of 1940 & their descendants, plus any Soviet citizens resident in Lithuania who renounced Soviet nationality. Soviet soldiers in Lithuania were excluded.
5. Estonia 1991: All residents with a permanent Soviet resident card in Estonia in 1991. (i.e. including all USSR citizens planted there since 1945).
6. Latvia 1991: All residents with a permanent Soviet resident card in Estonia in 1991. (i.e. including all USSR citizens planted there since 1945).
7. Macedonia 1991: All Macedonian citizens (deemed to be all holders of Yugoslav internal citizenship cards resident in Macedonia, irrespective of birthplace or nationality). Qualifying citizens abroad could vote.
8. Ukraine 1991: All residents of Ukraine. Soviet soldiers stationed in Ukraine were allowed to vote.
9. Bosnia & Hercegovina 1992: Yugoslav citizens who had established permanent residency in B&H.
10. East Timor 1999: those born in East Timor. Anyone not born there but with a parent who was born there. Individuals whose spouse was born in East Timor or whose parent-in-law was born in East Timor.
11. Montenegro 2006: Individuals with a minimum 24-month residency and nationality of the Serb-Montenegrin state.
12. South Sudan 2011: All permanent residents of South Sudan or those whose parents or grandparents were permanent residents since 1956.
13. Scotland 2014: Residents in Scotland with British nationality, or Commonwealth or EU nationality.
14. Catalonia 2014: Residents in Catalonia with Spanish nationality, EU nationality, EEA nationality or Swiss nationality.
Happy to help. 🙂
Ellis is a member of ALBA apparently.
Main was.a teacher apparently.
Hahahahaha! They crack me up!
Mia
“So the situation of a single person taking part in “dozens” of self-determination referendums around the world since 1945 is not quite normal at all. It is in fact most abnormal.”
Sounds fraudulent to me. Must be one of those Britnats tricks where you move military around the world to interfere in elections.
@Geri 4.24 pm
1. Quebec 1980: All Canadian citizens residing in Quebec.
2. Quebec 1995: All Canadian citizens residing in Quebec.
3. Slovenia 1990: All Slovenian citizens (deemed to be all holders of Yugoslav internal citizenship cards resident in Slovenia, irrespective of birthplace or nationality).
4. Lithuania 1991: Nationals of Lithuania, including those resident before the USSR invasion of 1940 & their descendants, plus any Soviet citizens resident in Lithuania who renounced Soviet nationality. Soviet soldiers in Lithuania were excluded.
5. Estonia 1991: All residents with a permanent Soviet resident card in Estonia in 1991. (i.e. including all USSR citizens planted there since 1945).
6. Latvia 1991: All residents with a permanent Soviet resident card in Estonia in 1991. (i.e. including all USSR citizens planted there since 1945).
7. Macedonia 1991: All Macedonian citizens (deemed to be all holders of Yugoslav internal citizenship cards resident in Macedonia, irrespective of birthplace or nationality). Qualifying citizens abroad could vote.
8. Country 404 1991: All residents of Country 404. Soviet soldiers stationed in Country 404 were allowed to vote.
9. Bosnia & Hercegovina 1992: Yugoslav citizens who had established permanent residency in B&H.
10. East Timor 1999: those born in East Timor. Anyone not born there but with a parent who was born there. Individuals whose spouse was born in East Timor or whose parent-in-law was born in East Timor.
11. Montenegro 2006: Individuals with a minimum 24-month residency and nationality of the Serb-Montenegrin state.
12. South Sudan 2011: All permanent residents of South Sudan or those whose parents or grandparents were permanent residents since 1956.
13. Scotland 2014: Residents in Scotland with British nationality, or Commonwealth or EU nationality.
14. Catalonia 2014: Residents in Catalonia with Spanish nationality, EU nationality, EEA nationality or Swiss nationality.
Ellis
Scotland is already an independent state.
It’s in a trading union.
It’s territory & Sovereignty were never extinguished. Ever.
What part are you struggling with?
@Mia 4.56pm
There is nothing, nothing stopping Scotland to establish its own citizenship criteria. Las Malvinas and Gibraltar have their own citizenship criteria and they are not independent territories, nor they are united to England with an international treaty like Scotland is.
So persuade one of the pro independence parties to make it so. The Catalans put together specific voter registration lists for their referendum. Mind you, they also allowed the facility for Catalans abroad to vote, which would probably horrify a’ the nativist carpet biters here, because it’s not that likely that most of the roughly 800,000 Scots living in the rest of the UK are rampant nationalists.
Nowt to stop the Scottish government pushing the boundaries of the devolutioary settlement a lot more than it has, whether on putative citizenship criteria, drugs policy, a tax & NI register just for Scotland, or anything else they can dream up.
The genocide of the Jewish people resulted in a highly proactive Anti-Semitism lobby. The genocide of the Scottish Highlanders and Gaels resulted in the Scottish Cringe. The difference (apart from the scale of deaths and totalitarianism) is that Scotland is colonised, Israel is not.
Indeed, so proactive is the propaganda machine of the former, that the genocide of Gazans is ‘Israel’s right to defend itself.
https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-wailing-walls/comment-page-1/#comment-2826544
Anthem
It’s all copy and paste.
Colloquially know as SSDD.
Check back to the ‘old days’ if you don’t believe me.
Old days? #Ask Andy?
For those wondering about the origin and mysterious appearance of Badger on wings…
https://wingsoverscotland.com/as-you-mean-to-go-on/comment-page-3/#comment-2822742
#AskAndy
Do these often used lines hold any merit?
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
“Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.”
What’s the frequency, Andy? Is your Benzedrine uh-huh…
Confused
I’m already a subscriber but I stopped watching Novara Media over the trans bullshit.
I’ve seen that interview. “We don’t give change around here” lol. He is a class act.
Pity that the Canadians refused to check the 86 000 rejected votes in the Quebec 1995 referendum, which was won by 54 000 votes.
The ballots were destroyed in 2007.
Close polls are actually good for those in power.
It allows them to shave votes for themselves, swinging results without arousing too much suspicion.
Easier in electronic and postal systems; more workers needed for paper ballots, obvs.
Andy Ellis @3.59pm. Scotland will always be a nation. In fact, it was a nation before England even existed. So away wi ye!
Geri @ 4:03 pm
“Is Bavaria a country? Or a federal state?”
Interesting thing about the German Federation is that individual states have some treaty making powers. Each state is also responsible for media regulation in that state, and much else too.
So much for Gordon Broon’s ‘Holyrood is the most powerful devolved parliament in the world’ nonsense, another colonial myth.
Chas
Adolf was never a painter and decorator.
He dabbled in architecture and liked to paint studies of buildings of architectural merit. From memory, he used watercolours.
It’s a trivial point, but heck, every fact helps to counter the sense that Scotland has slipped a long way from our nation’s enlightenment ideals that the casual reader of Wings BTL will develop when reading the average comment.
@Geri 5.06pm
Independent states have seats at the UN, representation in international agencies, armed forces, diplomatic services, their own currencies and central banks and their own heads of state. The sovereignty of the independent state ended with the Treaties of Union. Its territories are part of that union.
We can end that union. All we need to do is arrange a majority to put an X on a ballot paper. Nothing less will do.
“So persuade one of the pro independence parties to make it so”
For this to be successful, the entity to be approached has to be committed to deliver independence, committed to Scotland’s popular sovereignty and committed to end the union. At this moment in time, I am not 100% convinced any of the current political parties are the three things simultaneously, to be honest. I have much more hopes for entities like SALVO or the Scottish Liberation Movement.
“The Catalans put together….. Mind you, they also allowed the facility for Catalans abroad to vote”
Which is not uncommon. The UK limited the residence out of the UK to 15 years for the EU referendum. I have no problem with that whatsoever.
By the way, your beloved Israel does not indiscriminately allow the vote to those living out of Israel either, only in some limited exceptions, particularly due to work reasons. Examples are civil servants (including IDF soldiers), Jewish National Fund (JNF) employees, World Zionist Organization employees and Jewish Agency employees.
In Australia, if you are living overseas, you can only vote in Australian elections if you have been abroad for less than 6 years. It is 3 years for New Zealand. So, would you consider those in Israel, Australia and New Zealand also “nativist carpet biters!” too for refusing the vote to citizens living abroad beyond those rather small time limits, or your insult exclusively applies to the people in Scotland?
“Nowt to stop the Scottish government pushing the boundaries of the devolutioary settlement a lot more than it has”
Absolutely. Totally agree with you on that. There has been nothing, other than their own self-interest in preserving the union and their salaries, preventing MSPs and MPs not only from pushing the boundaries of devolution outwards, but actually getting rid of those boundaries altogether by ditching the Scotland Act and ending the treaty of union.
It is beyond appalling that after 3 consecutive absolute majorities of anti-union MPs since 2015 and 2 anti-union majorities of MSPs since 2016, these incompetents have not been able/have refused to bring back home a single additional Scottish power. In fact, they lost us quite a few. This is a symptom that none of the political parties currently in Holyrood recognise Scotland’s popular sovereignty, are committed to independence or to end the union.
@Johnlm 5.02pm
Ellis is a member of ALBA apparently.
Nothing apparent about it John: got the membership card, Founder Member badge an’ everything. Facts, eh?
Oneliner says
“genocide of Gazans”
I guess if people are going to insist that what is happening is genocide, it can at least be pointed out that it’s the slowest and least efficient genocide in the history of genocide.
March 10 is when the next phase of the war kicks off. Sporting of Israel to have given Hamas plenty of notice to come out with their hands up, bringing the 101 still living hostages with them. I wonder if Hamas have any friends? Friendly advice would be to get it over sooner rather than later.
Maybes Hamas intend to fight to the last Palestinian?
That’s another aspect of this genocide that makes it different from all other genocides in previous history. It can be stopped at any time by some clearly defined and well communicated actions by those being “genocided”.
Innarestin, eh?
The Labour Files is the name Al Jazeera gave to a great heap of data, written and visual that was leaked to the company.
Al Jazeera did great investigative work and produced a series of videos out of that work.
The first is called The Purge and you can find it by googling. I tried to post a link here but it never made it (and this might not).
The victims of the purge are those members of the Labour Party who supported Corbyn. The efforts to disable Corbyn’s leadership and bring him down began at once after his election as leader.
The victims of the purge get sight of the data. One says it is a criminal conspiracy by the Labour Party against its own members. It’s an accurate description.
Please watch
@Mia 5.53pm
No point us all moaning about the uselessness of current parties. Either we change the ones we have to make them fit for purpose, found and elect new ones if the old ones are found wanting, or – in extremis – kick them all in to touch and go full on UDI.
The last is very unlikely to work, particularly in a non (clearly) colonial case. The first doesn’t seem to be working. The other choice seems to be stuck. I doubt Alba or anyone else is going to break the mould until the SNP get a good electoral kicking.
The only potential bright spot on the horizon is the fact that polling for independence has risen and seems now to be sitting just above 50%, so a rise from 2014, whereas SNP support has fallen. Realistically we have to do to the SNP what the Irish did to the IPP in 1918.
I’m not sure we’re there yet. Perhaps after the UK General election.
@Anthem 5.27pm
Andy Ellis @3.59pm. Scotland will always be a nation. In fact, it was a nation before England even existed. So away wi ye!
Hush now child. The adults are speaking.
Andy Ellis. Exactly, you should be seen and not heard. Off to bed now, mummy will be along shortly.
What’s wrong with my questions? Too difficult for #Ask Andy
#Ask Andy
1. Which Arab friend is Chas talking about?
2. If Scotland isn’t a colony what is it?
3. Are there a lot of similarities between Scotland and Palestine?
I’m thinking about the treaty of the Union & the Balfour Agrement
Also the transfer of 6,000 square miles of Scottish sea to England in 1999
@ellis
Got an ALBA membership card have you? Doesn’t diminish the joke.
@main.
Love the update on your hero’s painting method.
“Independent states have seats at the UN, representation in international agencies, armed forces, diplomatic services, their own currencies and central banks and their own heads of state. The sovereignty of the independent state ended with the Treaties of Union. Its territories are part of that union.”
No it didn’t.
The UK isn’t a country.
It’s two sovereign nations.
Neither was extinguished.
You are just repeating Yoon bullshit that England is the superior & Scotland just fizzled itself out.
Is this why you have a bee in yer bonnet over Salvo/Liberation?
Why is the UK at the UN? Scotland should be there alongside England. Not England acting on its own.
The UK isn’t a country.
In fact, why does it even have a seat on the security council? It’s not a world player. It’s a nobody with no military clout either.
Ruby,bonjour.
Please, Miss, do you know at which point people in Scotland would be voting for wer independence?
Would it be before we have persuaded ( by winning elections in sufficient numbers and gathering enough votes) the UK gov to accede to Scottish independence?
I think it would probably be after that. When we have persuaded the UK gov by force of numbers and a few big marches,had the negotiations and were seeking the agreement of our people to those terms.The franchise at that point is unlikely to have much effect.
Qu’est ce que tu crois? I’m being familiar.
In fact someone was on Salmonds show a few months ago. It’s undemocratic & questionable why Scotland isn’t sitting in every UK organisation – from Banking to the UN.
Who appointed England as the rulers? & Of course they’ll have receipts of when Scotland capitulated all it’s Sovereignty & it’s territory to Englandshire in this great new state they created ..
They better fish them out cause they’ll be needing it soon.
Even the Supreme Court didn’t go that far.
“Ellis is a member of ALBA apparently.”
Johnlm.
Ellis has openly admitted that he’s a Atlanticist.
“The term can be used in a more specific way to refer to support for North Atlantic military alliances against the Soviet Union,[2] or in a more expansive way to imply broader cooperation, perceived deeply shared values, a merging of diplomatic cultures,[3] as well as a sense of community and some degree of integration between North America and Europe. In practice, the philosophy of Atlanticism encourages active North American, particularly American, engagement in Europe and close cooperation between states on both sides of the ocean.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanticism
You just have to look at the state Europe is in now because of too much US interference, the (US) Great Satan is profoundly against Scottish independence, in effect Ellis being a member of Alba, is akin to Netanyahu being a Hamas Freedom fighter, there just not compatible.
@Andy Ellis
“The fact I haven’t read one random piece of research allows you to infer nothing at all.”
I wasn’t drawing any inference. I was stating the bleeding obvious. If you haven’t read the thing on which I base my belief about Scotland’s internal colonialism you can hardly object to my belief.
Go for it Jeremy, why anyone would stand as a candidate for a party (Labour) that supports the genocide of mainly women and children in occupied lands (Palestine) is beyond me.
“The RMT union has announced it will support Jeremy Corbyn if he runs as an independent at the next general election.
RMT leader Mick Lynch said: “We will be supporting Jeremy Corbyn in the next election.””
“The last is very unlikely to work”
I disagree.
I do not think the term “UDI” is appropriate when referring to Scotland. The correct terminology is the unilateral revoking of the treaty of union. “UDI” applies to a region, not to a country that is held in a union through a simple bilateral international treaty it can legitimately revoke at any time of its choosing.
Nobody ever says the UK “UDI’d” from the EU. They say it exited the EU. This is the same scenario.
It is becoming obvious the disappointment and resentment caused by the SNP’s deliberate inaction has been far too great and irreversible. There appears to be an increasing number of people completely fed up with political parties and increasingly becoming more open to the idea of unilaterally ending the union.
5 years ago you would hardly hear the expression “end the union”. Now it is everywhere. We already have even a political party campaigning on an abstentionist platform. This is a sign expectations and goalposts are being forced outwards by the yes movement.
We only need for that number of people sympathetic to the unilateral ending of the union to reach critical mass. When that happens, the so called “pro-indy” political parties will have no other choice but catching on unless they want to be left behind.
Rutherlegen by-election demonstrated large numbers of people are prepared to not cast a vote rather than playing the loser game of voting like sheep for the same crap.
The scene is changing.
“Ellis is a member of ALBA apparently.
Nothing apparent about it John: got the membership card, Founder Member badge an’ everything. Facts, eh?”
They should double check. It wasn’t that long ago you didn’t have a scooby on their policies.
& They stand against everything you are in favour of.
An odd party to join eh? Unless it’s to be disruptive.
Ursula von der Leyen certainly has a lot to answer for she’s the unelected (by EU citizens) of the European Commission (President) she’s elected by MEPs to the position.
Currently Israel’s U-17 women’s football team is allowed to play in EU qualifiers, why must be the question? the Irish turned their backs on them before the game then trounced them 3-0.
But what does it say about most MEPs that ardent Israel supporter von der Leyen is still in her post? EU citizens need to rise up and rail bitterly against their MEPs to remove von der Leyen.
Mia
So true.
5 yrs ago people scoffed at calls for a plebasite election. Booing & hissing MacNeil & McEleneys plan B.
Now it isn’t. As MacNeil said at the time, so much time wasted on the slow to catch on. 2021 was such a wasted opportunity. 1 million votes in the bin instead of a super pro Indy parly moving on..
We will exit because Thatcher didn’t even come out with the pish Ellis is pushing.
A majority of MPs & it’s all over. No permission slips needed.
@Republicofscotland says: 25 February, 2024 at 6:34 pm
RMT leader Mick Lynch said: “We will be supporting Jeremy Corbyn in the next election.”
Well, well. I’m confident the RMT membership will have been balloted on this, and a majority of the members will have voted in favour.
Haha, I crack me up.
Alert readers should keep an eye on our rail unions though. These are the people, once you have been driven out of your cars and/or other personal transportation, who will be deciding just when and to where you can travel on “public transport”.
Are you looking forwards to this brave, new and wonderful day of Net Zero transport policy? Naw, me neither.
the genocide of mainly women and children in occupied lands (Palestine)
First, it’s not genocide, RoS, soz.
Second, it’s Jewish lands. The Jews were expelled by the Romans. It’s long overdue for them to take back their ancestral homelands.
Republic
.. between Israel & 404 (both non EU member states) getting super duper preferential treatment in the EU it’s almost as if she’s out to destroy the EU. She probably is. The yanks don’t like Europe clubbing together cause then they’ll get ideas..
The farmer riots aren’t letting up. Good for them. It’s not fair they’ve to meet strict agricultural rules & regulations only for 404 to swan in & undercut everyone with cheap chemical doused imports because they’ve been elevated to super status.
Republic 6:26
Didn’t Alba Conference vote against NATO membership too?
While Ellis is all for it.
Strange innit..
@RoS
“ Ellis being a member of Alba, is akin to Netanyahu being a Hamas Freedom fighter, there just not compatible.”
Things are never quite as they seem. Question everything, believe nothing until it is undeniable.
– as I’m sure you do.
https://www.vtforeignpolicy.com/2023/10/a-brief-history-of-the-netanyahu-hamas-alliance/
Bonjour Sam
Bien sur tu peux me tutoyer.
Yeah and you can also call me thou.
What can I say Sam have you tried to #Ask Andy
This issue about the franchise has been going on since 19th September 2014.
Someone upset Andy and he just can’t let it go.
I’d better not say what I believe.
Personally I’m just waiting for a miracle to come.
That’s a line from a Leonard Cohen song
Nothing left to do
When you know that you’ve been taken
Nothing left to do
When you’re begging for a crumb
Nothing left to do
When you’ve got to go on waiting
Waiting for the miracle to come
I wish we could protest a bit more like the French.
I fancied covering Holyrood in carrots.
Nothing as elaborate as this
https://christojeanneclaude.net/artworks/wrapped-reichstag/
Maybe if I presented it as a work of art instead of a protest I might get a grant or maybe even The Turnip Prize.
PS I think there might be a good chance the of the UN declaring us a colony. The BritNats & Andy seem very upset every time the word colony is mentioned there must be a reason for that. Maybe in Andy’s case it’s because there will be no franchise necessary after all the time he’s spent posting about the franchise. 🙂
Franchise: I think it’s French.
What utter garbage it’s Jewish land.
I was brought up in Bearsden where you can visit a 2.000 year old Roman Camp.
So if a Roman knocks on my parents door they can piss of as the Romans got there first.
Absolutely idiotic.
The Jews became hated as they were the money lenders who became richer and richer while the poor paid the price. They took the money and ran to pastures new and were moved on repeatedly across Europe.
They are due credit for their skills and trading methods but they are not due to steal Palestine from the owners. They are not allowed to mass murder the innocent and wipe out every established infrastructure that supports a sustainable lifestyle for Palestinians.
I repeat again the words of an Israeli government minister.
The Palestinians have 3 Choices-
1, Stay in their open air prison with no human rights.
2, Leave Palestine and give up the land to Israeli’s.
3, Resist and Fight against Israel and die.
He skips over the fact that they cannot go anywhere so the pick is be persecuted forever or die.
“ Second, it’s Jewish lands. The Jews were expelled by the Romans. It’s long overdue for them to take back their ancestral homelands.” – Genocide John
Ah! Now we’re coming to it.
Moses had a shit behind a sand dune so that makes it Israel.
The Oded Yinon Plan maps out Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates.
What are the two blue stripes on the flag I wonder?
@ Ruby
Frenchise?
Aux armes, citoyens/
Quelque citoyens?
Effijy
It’s frankly jaw dropping that you are prepared to post demonstrations of your ignorance and inability to follow simple arguments to the world.
“If a Roman knocks on my parents door they can piss off as the Romans got there first”
Are you writing this stuff in Sanskrit and then putting it through a cheap Sanskrit-English translation app?
Images of Palestinians marching and threatening the locals in cities all over Europe and the west are never off our TV screens. Are you quite sure the Palestinians “cannot go anywhere”?
Innarestin though that you are prepared to write off one claimant’s right to territory because you don’t like them, and recognise the right of another claimant cos you do like them. Can we all do the same? I really dislike recent claimants to this country, particularly those who wear towels on their heads with all foreign writing on.
Can we at least agree these newcomers shouldn’t be allowed to mass murder our innocents?
Andy Ellis said;
“it can’t have been long if you aren’t aware of those arguing in here for the franchise to be restricted to various degrees, from full on blood and soil nativism insisting only those born here be enfranchised, to various shades of residency requirements ranging from 2 to 20 years.”
Andy, restricting the franchise on an independence referendum has nothing to do with your ‘full on blood and soil nativism’, it’s about ensuring that the ‘sovereign Scots’ who actually own Scotland’s sovereignty and own Scotland’s territory under their own constitution, get to make the final decisions about their OWN country’s constitutional future. That’s what sovereignty means!
The fact that the bulk of the sovereign Scots ARE ‘blood and soil natives’ is not a cultural choice, nor an expression of racism, it is an unavoidable consequence of many centuries of national history and ancestry, and it is not a bad thing in itself. It is how that history and ancestry is used by others in a dishonest fashion to hamper the independence movement that is the real problem. That’s where the dishonesty is being wedged into the debate, by those who pretend that identifying and prioritising those with that history and ancestry is deliberately racist and/or ‘nationalistic’.
But the bottom line is clear; those with deep roots in Scotland own that Scottish sovereignty, and the notes of the UN’s Charter’s rights to self-determination makes it clear that such prioritisation of the native vote is fully justified in colonial scenarios where outside interference such as Scotland experienced in two previous referendums would unfairly distort the outcome of the votes.
You don’t agree? Tough. ‘Blood and soil’ is only a dishonest red herring to muddy the waters for the independence movement by those who definitely do not want Scotland to end England’s Union Gravy Train.
But it doesn’t mean that the franchise for an independence referendum can never include foreigners, merely that they must earn their entitlement in some manner, and it should not be a casual matter to do so. It needs to be properly discussed, and that simply hasn’t happened at any official level in Scotland by the sovereign Scots. It certainly should not be left to Westminster.
Plenty of other countries require quite stringent requirements for non-autochthonous incomers to be allowed to vote on constitutional matters, and Scotland does not deserve to be excoriated for wanting to do the same, especially given the unremitting colonialist abuse it has suffered at England’s hands for centuries.
Calling a sovereign-based franchise racist? That’s low, and it’s unacceptable!
15 Christians killed today at their church service in Burkina Faso by islamists.
Thinking you’ll be fine cos you stopped going to church 40 years ago?
Sure. Those kids at the Manchester Arena probably thought much the same. And I bet plenty of the music lovers at the Supernova festival were very far from being devout, regular worshippers too.
They all may not have “had it coming”, but they all got it regardless.
Makes you think, eh?
Johnlm
Ignored says:
25 February, 2024 at 7:50 pm
“ Second, it’s Jewish lands. The Jews were expelled by the Romans. It’s long overdue for them to take back their ancestral homelands.” – Genocide John
ahahaha …..wait , is that Johnny Moped saying that ? , naw , cannae be , I thought the Alf Garnett of E.K considered anything older than the 1979 Thatcher/Tory win ( his most cherished memory ) to be ” ancient guff ” .
So , Events 300+ years ago = Ancient Guff
Events 2000+ years ago = sufficiently topical/relevant to justify expulsions of & extreme violence inflicted on people who have ( also ) been in that area for millennia .
Seems legit , eh ?
15 killed in Burkina-Faso by U.S. backed al-Quaeda terrorists.
Genocide John
“Innarestin though that you are prepared to write off one claimant’s right to territory because you don’t like them, and recognise the right of another claimant cos you do like them.”
Have you ever heard of such a thing as a country remaining within it’s designated borders?
I think they’ve written laws about illegally grabbing lands they’re not entitled to.
Is it a Britnat thing? This complete mental block you all seem to suffer from where illegal expansion is perfectly acceptable – you’ll all just ignore that bit. FFS.
& Why should Palestinians move, ya eejit? They’re not the ones occupying illegal lands are they? Ya roaster!
@ Ruby at 11.49 a.m. Many thanks for checking to try to find the Sara Salyers interview in today’s National – I have no idea what happened to it.
And thank you for the link to the “Scottish” Daily Express article – I had seen references to it but didn’t know what it was about. It is delightfully “barking”, isn’t it!
@ Ruby at 11.49 a.m.
Many thanks for checking to try to find the Sara Salyers interview in today’s National – I have no idea what happened to it.
And thank you for the link to the “Scottish” Daily Express article – I had seen references to it but didn’t know what it was about. It is delightfully “barking”, isn’t it!
@ Ruby at 11.49 a.m.
Many thanks for trying to find the Sara Salyers interview in today’s National – I have no idea what happened to it.
And thank you for the link to the “Scottish” Daily Express article – I had seen references to it but didn’t know what it was about. It is delightfully “barking”, isn’t it!
Sorry for the triple post – no idea how that happened. 🙂
@ Geri
I’m planning to just move into John Main’s house. Got a squad of heavy-handed and tooled up mates to rock up with me for the takeover.
I presume John will be fine with all this and he can just fuck off and find somewhere else to live. In fact he can move to somewhere with improved roads so he won’t have to suffer so many vehicle suspension issues, so all round it is a positive for him.
His flooded basement sold me on the property as I plan to get a wee fish farm / aquaponics on the go for self-sustainability.
Dear God
Can you send someone fae the pub up a bingo & come back doon with tablets saying Scotland is an independent country from this day forward.
Etch a wee map tae if you dinnie mind – throw in a bit of expansion if you want.
Yoons seem to fall for this shii..
Thanks,
Love, Blood & soil nativist moon howling independenista Mwah,mwah xx
PS. Can you strike Jihadi John mute? Cheers lol
@Xaracen 8.12pm
it’s about ensuring that the ‘sovereign Scots’ who actually own Scotland’s sovereignty and own Scotland’s territory under their own constitution, get to make the final decisions about their OWN country’s constitutional future.
I agree. The disagreement stems from the definition of who is a Scot. Disenfranchising a random % of resident Scots who are entitled to vote – and would have been entitled to vote in virtually every other self determination referendum since 1945 – is a non starter. Nativists don’t get to define Scots on their terms.
…and the notes of the UN’s Charter’s rights to self-determination makes it clear that such prioritisation of the native vote is fully justified in colonial scenarios…
The UN doesn’t accept Scotland is a case of colonisation.
‘Blood and soil’ is only a dishonest red herring to muddy the waters for the independence movement by those who definitely do not want Scotland to end England’s Union Gravy Train.
I don’t agree with your take. Tough. Blood and soil is an apposite description for some, even if not all, who propose stripping some random proportion of Scots of their rights. I don’t really care if you think those who oppose you don’t want to end the union. You’re wrong.
It needs to be properly discussed, and that simply hasn’t happened at any official level in Scotland by the sovereign Scots. It certainly should not be left to Westminster.
It was discussed and agreed prior to 2014. The inclusive local government based franchise used is standard practice. There’s virtually no precedent for using anything else.
You and other nativists have no idea what the outcome would have been if the Yes movement had tried to restrict the franchise in the pre-2014 negotiations, even assuming Westminster would have agreed, which seems unlikely.
If nativists want the franchise changed, they need to make the case, win the argument and negotiate the change. So far they’re coming up empty, but since plebiscitary elections are preferable / more likely anyway it’s not something we have to worry about imminently. It is still worth making it clear it’s a crap idea which will probably cost us votes, support and make international recognition less likely.
Plenty of other countries require quite stringent requirements for non-autochthonous incomers to be allowed to vote on constitutional matters,…
But as pointed out up thread, the vast majority of those voting in self determination referendums use the same franchise as 2014, or one which is even broader. You’re comparing apples and oranges. You’re just another trying to make a false equivalence. It gets no more convincing for constant repetition by low information individuals, or those who are just misrepresenting the two things in a vain attempt to bolster their weak case.
Calling a sovereign-based franchise racist? That’s low, and it’s unacceptable!
Calling franchise restriction regressive blood and soil nationalism inimical to the values of civic nationalism is accurate. Not all of those proposing it are bigots or racists, but some undoubtedly are. That’s what is reall low and unacceptable.
As Rev Stu memorably observed in his initial fisking of franchise restriction 18 months or so ago:
If you want to deny 20% of the people who live in Scotland the vote in a referendum because they were born somewhere else, we’re not on the same side. If you want their votes, fucking well persuade them. If you can’t, your case is shit.
And stop whining that by saying this I’m trying to “shut down debate”. I have no power and no desire to stop you debating it. You can debate it all you want. I’m not reporting you to Twitter or the police. I’m just not interested.
We debated this in 2011 and we came to the right decision. Nothing has happened that justifies abandoning that principle in my view. You can’t just disenfranchise people because you think they’ll vote the wrong way.
’As well as being morally wrong, it’s almost certainly self-defeating. The Scotland you’d be trying to sell people under that franchise is a very different place to the one we were advocating in 2014, and very much for the worse.
That, of course, is true in many ways. If we got a referendum tomorrow I don’t in all honesty know if I could bring myself to campaign in it, because it’d be a *de facto* campaign for Nicola Sturgeon’s vision of a hellish, intolerant, incompetent and corrupt Scotland.
But that’s not a decision I need to lose sleep over, because we’re not getting a referendum tomorrow, or next year, or the year after that, or the year after that.
But I’ve officially lost any urge to even think about it, if even the people opposed to that awful vision just have a different kind of awful vision, of a country where only “ethnic Scots” have a say. Bollocks to that.
Have you ever heard of such a thing as a country remaining within it’s designated borders?
Quick! Someone better tell RoS to let his mate Uncle Vlad know…..this can’t end well.
@Sarah
DO NOT REPOST iT.
Ignore these rules and Genocide John WILL KILL YOU WITH HAMAS.
Soz.
#AskAndy
Re. Copy and pasting what Stu stated.
Why have you omitted the text where he also stated he had no great issue with tightening up the eligibility criteria for temporary residents such as students or transient workers, which is effectively getting into residency criteria needing to be met for folk to be included in the voting
franchisebadger.@Dan 9.42pm
Because the the thread I had from 18 months ago didn’t contain the additional text, which is immaterial anyway. The details of the franchise can no doubt be tightened. I happen to agree with Stu that some tinkering to tighten up and exclude obvious temporary residents is defensible. The Scottish government has already de facto broadened the franchise from 2014 though, so there is that.
It in no way changes the principle involved, because as Stu has also remarked in discussion of those categories, the numbers are relatively trivial in comparison with the hundreds of thousands the nativist bigots are proposing to disenfranchise.
Nice try but no cigar.
Dan,
I plan on getting into a stately home. My great grandmother was born in Glamis Castle so I have dibs on it going back to the 1800s. I’ll just toss their stuff in the street & take a chainsaw to the gardens. JCBs booked for an early start. I reckon I’ll get ten housing estates built at £1,000 per month.
Kerching – show me the money!
The current lot can go or face the firing squad – their choice. I think that reasonable.
When life is confusing and I don’t know which way to turn, I always stop, take a breath, and say to myself:
What would Main and Ellis do?
I then do the opposite, and everything is fine. (Smiley emoji)
I could, of course, follow the endless tautological constitutional meandering of AndyAn*s to arrive at the endless tautological constitutional meanderings of ….Zzzzzzz……..!
Or !
I could follow Main’s advice, vote for Sarwar, and get a new referendum to join the EU (er … is this right?).
Or !
Maybe I’ll just emigrate and claim the rubber plantation which ASA, the sage of Norfolk, promised each and every one of us.
Win. Win. Win
“Quick! Someone better tell RoS to let his mate Uncle Vlad know…..this can’t end well.”
Disputed territory. Yanks pulled a fast one on old Gorbachev. Subsequent iffy deals later all renegade on. Ukraine, like Israel, should’ve shut up while the going was good & enjoyed their wee independent state & not decided to get smart & start wars at the behest of the yanks.
“Quick! Someone better tell RoS to let his mate Uncle Vlad know…..this can’t end well.”
Disputed territory. Yanks pulled a fast one on old Gorby. Subsequent iffy deals later all renegade on. U404, like I*rael, should’ve shut up while the going was good & enjoyed their wee independent state & not decided to get smart & start wars & ethnic cleansing at the behest of the yanks.
@ johnlm at 9.39: lol!
“It in no way changes the principle involved, because as Stu has also remarked in discussion of those categories, the numbers are relatively trivial in comparison with the hundreds of thousands the nativist bigots are proposing to disenfranchise.”
I wonder what Stu would say if we told him theres now hundreds of thousands of Trans women. He’d soon be on the blower to Salmond LOL
So basically you’ve went all round the houses to actually agree by the end that the franchise should be tightened up which includes residency.
So shut it from now on about the franchise. People living & working here on a temporary basis are not Scots & probably have no intention of staying whether we are independent or not.
So what exactly is your point?
Scrub that. I’m past caring at this point FFS. You just troll on here.
@ Andy
You do not know what everyone thinks about the everything.
You often use the term Venn diagram so presumably you understand what that is.
I’ve previously described Indy support as the influx overlap in a Venn diagram. It’s influx because folk’s inclusion in that Indy supporter group is constantly changing due to various factors and influences.
Examples being: EU support, confidence in our devolved administration to govern well using the limited powers Scotland has. But stuff like genderwoowoo, ferry procurement, hate crime bill, numerous police investigations, Juryless trials, Deposit return scheme, greenwashing pish, Scottish National Investment Bank, etc, etc are all issues that could quite legitimately mean folk leave or won’t join the Indy supporter grouping, because badly delivered or unwanted policies being foisted onto us tarnishes their belief that an Indy Scotland would be a success for them.
We need more Scots to support a return to self-governance. But here’s the thing, the reality is that Scotland has many small c conservatives types who were No voters which means they don’t like all the whacky supposedly progressive stuff like genderwoowoo, greenwashing pish, in yer face open immigration civic nationalism stuff with anyone that rocks up getting a vote, so they won’t support Scotland returning to self-governance until they like what they see in terms of policy.
Many might dislike this situation because they think themselves so right on and cosmopolitan, but pandering to appease the hardcore of NuScot civic nationalism supporting “progressives” which could for the sake of discussion make up 10% of the current Indy supporting group, may actually be the reason 20% of the small c conservative types won’t become Indy supporters.
Tactically should we consider losing 10% to gain 20% support.
Andy Ellis said;
“The UN doesn’t accept Scotland is a case of colonisation.”
That’s because Westminster lied to it when describing the Union. It will be much better informed soon.
“I don’t agree with your take. Tough. Blood and soil is an apposite description for some, even if not all, who propose stripping some random proportion of Scots of their rights. I don’t really care if you think those who oppose you don’t want to end the union. You’re wrong.”
Neither of us knows if I’m wrong, and I’m not proposing stripping any random proportion of Scots of their rights; newcomers to Scotland will not automatically gain those rights in the first place, and conferring them to a subset of newcomers will be anything but random, that’s the whole point of a franchise! Your framing here is simply dishonest.
“It (the franchise) was discussed and agreed prior to 2014. The inclusive local government based franchise used is standard practice. There’s virtually no precedent for using anything else.”
Standard practice where? It was completely the wrong franchise for a constitutional referendum in Scotland, and that ‘standard practice’ certainly wasn’t used for the Brexit referendum. Referendums in the UK and Scotland are as rare as hens’ teeth, so there is no precedent to employ. The point you keep missing is that the Scots people are the sovereigns of Scotland and that sovereignty makes their decision on constitutional matters the only decision required to count IN SCOTLAND!
“You and other nativists have no idea what the outcome would have been if the Yes movement had tried to restrict the franchise in the pre-2014 negotiations, even assuming Westminster would have agreed, which seems unlikely.”
Which means you have no idea either, and I am not a ‘nativist’; I am a sovereignist, and the franchise isn’t up to Westminster at all. Anyway that’s entirely beside the point; Scotland’s constitutional future is a matter for the sovereign people of Scotland to decide, and not for the people of other countries.
The non-sovereigns of Scotland are not entitled to a vote on Scotland’s constitutional future, and it’s not because I think they’ll vote the ‘wrong’ way, it’s because Scotland isn’t their country in the first place! They are visitors, and are welcome to stay as long as they want but they don’t get given the house keys right away.
The ‘ethnic Scots’ get a say precisely because they are sovereign under Scotland’s constitution, visitors do not because by default they are not owners of Scotland’s sovereignty until the sovereign Scots say they are via an appropriate franchise chosen by the Scots!
Ellis is playing his 2 string banjo for the rubes again; he plays 3 tunes
– the franchise
– international recognition
– hatred of the natives with some hackneyed phrases
the franchise must be chosen to allow random englanders to veto our self determination; international recognition is something which will never be achieved for a myriad of reasons, and his kneejerk hatred of the Scots makes you wonder – why is he a “nationalist” and what would be the point of his notion of independence? Fight more wars for NATO – send the cream of Scottish youth to die in some neo kursk?
“Standard practice where? It was completely the wrong franchise for a constitutional referendum in Scotland”
Exactly.
A constitutional referendum isn’t run like elections.
It was actually nothing at all to do with England at all or English political parties not even registered in this country running Better Together.
We already knew what their shit was. We’d lived experience already.
It was Scotlands decision & should have had strict international observers & an International body overseeing proceedings.
This is why they could break Purdah & blatantly start changing the rules promising Devo Max & near Federalism because it was run as a domestic & NOT a constitutnal referendum. No outside body to enforce fair play. No one to complain to when all their shit turned to dust.
I don’t agree with Stu on this. If England had a referendum tomorrow you can bet yer life he’d have no part to play in it at all. No one cried over the Brexit franchise or lamented how unfair it was. I must’ve missed it.
A rerun will be the exact same failure & a complete waste of everyone’s time. 10 yrs has already passed & unless you know the EXACT ‘new Scots’ that have arrived since the last indyref didn’t actually go back in its box like it was supposed to – you can bet they’ve already anticipated indyref2 before the vote was even declared on the last one. No way would that be as close as last time.
Cain slew Able Seth, knew not why, the children of Israel not supposed to multiply.
Why must any children die.
They asked the Lord why must any children die?
And the Lord said..
Mia @ 1.55pm 25 Feb 2024
You Wrote,ellis the white flight dinner party holder and all round know it all
“claimed that you would stop supporting independence if the franchise changed.”
In fact Mia ellis stated that he would ACTIVELY work AGAINST independence if his engerlish wife and daughter couldn’t get a vote, a REVENGEFUL indy supporter that DEMANDS his own way or he will seek REVENGE on Scotland and Scots
@twathater 1.16am
I wrote that I couldn’t support a referendum based on a nativist franchise. I wouldn’t be alone.
So the question is, how many Yes votes are you prepared to lose when people who agree with me refuse to support a future referendum due to the blood and soil bigotry of the nutter fringe? I’m sure Rev Stu and me won’t be the only ones.
Imagine being the kind of movement where the most popular pro independence blogger tells folk he couldn’t support a referendum because a minority of crazies had succeeded in moving the goalposts to help them win by excluding thousands of Scottish residents on the grounds they weren’t pure bloods.
Of course, depending on which version of franchise restriction the nativists introduced, my independence supporting wife probably would get a vote, because even the carpet biting fringe nutters are mostly proposing a 5 or ten year residence period, which of course virtually no other self determination referendum has used.
Thankfully most of the movement rejects your type of regressive ethnic nationalism and bigotry.
Good Mornin’ Usual Suspects!
What’s new with the franchise?
And the Lord said..
Let there be light
and there was light and you could see if for bloody miles.
And the Lord said unto Moses come forth
and he came fifth and missed his bloody turn.
I see we’re in for another day on the badger wheel…
The trouble is “the Indy movement” only accounts for around 50% of Scottish society. The other 50% are unionist, and if they support the union then they are pretty cool with blood and soil antics of restricting who can vote in certain elections.
One can ponder that in the eyes of unionists, may be the hardcore civic nationalism pro open immigration enthusiasts within the ranks of the Indy supporters are the fringe nutters…
#AskAndy
Did your inlaws also move up to Auld Reekie fairly recently?
@ Stu Campbell’s * fag * ( Public School variety )
” Imagine being the kind of movement where ……..( another laughable attempt by A&E to use previous comments by SC as some kind of supreme , unchallengeable authority follows ) ”
Imagine being the kind of movement that’s more interested in appeasing/pleasing abstractions like the ” International Community ” ( whatever the fuck that is ) ; History’s biggest cunt ie the Brit State ; the Anglo MSM ; and , to top it off ….somebodies’ missus . LOL : rather than achieving it’s goal – the liberation and restoration of it’s stolen National Independence
Imagine being THAT kind of movement .
A&E thinks if he just keeps moronically repeating the same infantile slurs ie ” Blood and Soil …. yak yak yak ” it somehow strengthens his * case * . It doesn’t .
It just serves to exemplify the superficial , ultra-conditional faux-* commitment * of a particular strain of ( putative ) Indy Supporter .
Let the clarion call of the nice people ring out ( but , please , not too loudly )
” WHAT DO WE WANT ?
INDEPENDENCE !!
WHEN DO WE WANT IT ?
WHEN EVERY MIDDLE CLASS GUARDIAN READING NEOLIBERAL TWAT IS SATISFIED SCOTLAND HAS DEBASED ITSELF SUFFICIENTLY THAT FAILURE IS ALMOST GAURANTEED “
@Confused (4.05pm)
Thanks for posting that link yesterday.
A real eye-opener, if a bit grim.
Sobering stuff for anyone with weans and/or grand-weans.
Most of us will have to make-do with leaving them worthless tat of sentimental value, cos there’s no way we’ll have hooses to bequeath.
Carlin was right, wasn’t he: ‘They’ll get it all from you sooner or later. Cause they own this fuckin place. It’s a big club. And you ain’t in it.’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViY-zI3b5JQ
I would love to know more about what happens when it is confirmed that Scotland is a colony.
Relax Andy I ain’t asking you. You can stick with the franchise.
It just wouldn’t be the same around here if you weren’t talkin’ about the franchise. Just ignore Geri just you keep on doing what you’re doing.
Every online pub needs it’s old bodach ranting on about the war and asking when it will be over.
It’s all a great source of inspiration for my story/diary about ‘The Pub that went Online’
PS Where’s Chas I really need more info about his ‘Arab friend’
It would nice to have a day, just one day out of life, when you-know-who isn’t responded to.
Just remember this catchy acronym: TOETOTCOE – ‘Tough on Ellis. Tough on the causes of Ellis.’
😉
Woo Hoo, another night of pointless points scoring and primary school kid name calling.
And another day closer to the Rafah ground offensive.
For all the synthetic outrage and morally infused breast beating on here, there’s remarkably little (I.e. none) ideas for how the suffering Palestinians may have their agony eased.
I’ll continue to call for both sides to renounce their annihilation vows, both sides to stop fighting, and both sides to exchange all prisoners and hostages.
The usual suspects can continue to utter their weaselly worded and mealy mouthed aspirations for the extermination of the Jews.
Alert readers will be astonished that the extermination of the Jews ever became bound up with the cause of Scottish Indy, but then alert readers have much to learn and ponder from detailed reading of the posts on Wings BTL.
Surely if everybody agrees no referendum on Indy will ever be permitted again (cos the last one put the frighteners on the fascist BritNat genocidal colonising smallish-Satanic pedo state), then all discussions about the franchise are on a par with the “angels dancing on the point of a pin” controversy?
Asking for somebody who has an actual life.
Morning my lovelies!
Lol Robert, so true.
… when the UK government, the entire population of England, NI & Wales, the UN, NATO, I*real, America, the EU (especially Spain), the Bank of England, the media, the BBC, Blair McDougall, Kev- the dog food salesman & all his graphs, Ronald McDonald, Neil Oliver, the King & all his heir’s, those other Royals – the TRAs, ASDA, Celtic & Rangers, Rugby & the entire Scotland squad (past & present)
Before it will be accepted.
We’d hate to upset anyone.
The franchise.
There is a small study (and not representative) that explores whether the Scots diaspora should have a vote in the next referendum which, the study maintains, is inevitable.
Voting inentions among the diaspora may have changed. Before 2014 the dispora was likely to oppose independence. Not now.
There is disagreement about how eligibility to vote should be defined the study finds.
Here’s a bit and the link.
“The franchise for the 2014 referendum was settled by the Scottish Independence Referendum (Franchise) Act 2013, using powers devolved by Westminster under the 2012 Edinburgh Agreement. The vote was given to all EU citizens then residing in Scotland, but excluded anyone previously resident in Scotland who was no longer on the electoral register. There was therefore a significant difference from the UK-wide position. Under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000, UK citizens living abroad are entitled to vote in UK-wide elections and referendums for fifteen years after leaving the country, although this will change to a lifetime entitlement, following the passing of the Election Act 2022. But, overseas voters are not entitled to vote in elections for local or devolved governments, or ‘local’ referendums, including the Scottish referendum of 2014.5 In fact, of an estimated 5.5 million overseas voters in 2019, only 233,000 registered to vote in that year’s general election.6 Interestingly, if the next general election is employed as a de facto referendum, the Westminster franchise applies and overseas voters will play a part.”
Oversea voters will play a part. Innarestin.
2024 de facto referendum?
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-923X.13235
And the Lord said,
Man means nothing even less to me, than the wildest cactus flower or the lonely Yukka tree.
All running around the desert looking for me.
That’s why I love mankind.
So stupid.
John Main at 9:47 am
“Woo Hoo, another night of pointless points scoring and primary school kid name calling…”
Classic John Main there, starts his post with the above then goes on to try to score pointless points and using primary school kid name calling!
Ach, in a Yin & Yang stylée, rather than all this focus on the destruction of life, I’ll try to relaunch my previous initiative on improving Scotland’s demographics.
The #FuckForFreedom policy has been developed to increase Scottish folk to start a family. #NatalistNativists
LMAO!
Sam
“UK citizens living abroad are entitled to vote in UK-wide elections and referendums for fifteen years after leaving the country, although this will change to a lifetime entitlement, following the passing of the Election Act 2022. But, overseas voters are not entitled to vote in elections for local or devolved governments, or ‘local’ referendums”
Lifetime entitlement. Horrifying that expats get a say on who runs the country they no longer live in. This will be to keep the pensions Blackmail going.
That also rules out any overseas voters taking part in a Holyrood plebasite.
Oh well, we must be seen to be fair..
LOL!
I can understand a short entitlement for overseas voters as some will be on temporary assignments with obvious intention to return. That was the case with me in 2019, not that I bothered to vote.
A lifetime entitlement seems mad.
@Geri
Who benefits?
Might we get enough diaspora Scots to register to vote for Scottish independence parties (which, nominally, would include SNP) to be 50% +1?
I’m half way through listening to Gary Stevenson on You Tube
Here’s the link which was originally posted by Confused.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViY-zI3b5JQ
He tells us we need to become political.
I stopped at this point in the video so he may go on to tells us what that means.
I get the impression the expectation is that in order to become political you need to be informed about economics, politics, history,the EU, * World Affairs and all the rest. Most people don’t have time for all that. I struggle to follow what he’s saying about economics I have very little knowledge about politics. Before Andy appeared on the scene I hardly knew what a franchise was.
People are not going to become political if they feel they are too ignorant to be ‘political’.
Then you have Ed Milliband praising people in England for being stoical and praising their ‘mustn’t grumble’ attitude.
Politicians calling us bigots, racists, uninformed etc etc
People on political blogs calling others fringe nutters, uneducated, & all the rest.
How do we solve this problem?
People in France seem to be more ‘political’.
I could probably have done a bit more research for this post but hopefully you will get the gist.
* I think it was Iain Lawson who came on here to post that he was surprised there were no posts BTL about Hamas not being elected since 2016!!!!
I don’t even know who Hamas are and I have no knowledge of the history of the Middle East so I am unable to become ‘political’
Troll feeder Dan
You don’t half keep these site Trolls in Main and Ellis busy, with your constant replies to these two clowns.
Why don’t the three of you fuck off somewhere else. That way you are not taking up valuable space on Wings.
Harry
Ignored
says:
26 February, 2024 at 11:37 am
Why don’t the three of you fuck off somewhere else. That way you are not taking up valuable space on Wings.
I’m wondering if you are or are not considered a troll Harry. Ach! What the hell I’ll take a chance. What’s another telling off on Wings. At this stage it’s all water off a ducks arse.
I have never noticed there being a limited amount of space on Wings valuable or otherwise.
Got any info re what happens when Scotland is confirmed as a colony.
Where’s Chas? and more importantly Where’s Pete?
I watched some news last night for the first time in months. It reminded me that it was almost exactly two years ago that the war in the east started. The mood was very sombre. My eyes were filled with images of destroyed towns and buildings, my ears with the resigned acceptance of the narrator who explained that it was basically all over.
As the next news story was introduced and images of more destroyed buildings appeared on the screen — this time in Gaza — I naturally reflected on the disgusting stupidity of it all and the needless waste of life and resources. And that got me thinking…
I went back into the Wings archives to see what people on here were saying about the Eastern European Theatre of operations when the war started. Most people were quite pessimistic and reserved when it came to predicting the outcome but a few overly-confident morons stood out with very specific detail on what we could expect.
One overly-confident moron, me, suggested that Vlad would never give up, that the people would support him no matter what it took, that he’d upscale and escalate if necessary, that defeat on his border was not an option, and that the whole thing was a pointless exercise in baiting the bear that would result in needless death and destruction, if not Armageddon. I even predicted that the peace talks that were being arranged at the time would be scuppered by “The West”.
Another “expert”, Andy Ellis, supported then as now by his slabbering hunting dog John Main, was notably optimistic about how it would go. There was no shortage of detail here either…
The war, Ellis explained, would destroy Vlad’s economy, they were fighting with outdated equipment and couldn’t win, they had miscalculated and overestimated their strength, the people would rise up and overthrow him and hang him from a lamppost… etc., etc.
You aren’t supposed to remind the experts and cheerleaders that they got it wrong when it comes to this stuff — do that and you’re an appeaser or worse, a supporter of evil. You’re supposed to just move on to the next epic struggle between good and evil, Gaza, Yemen, Iran, wherever, forget it ever happened, and applaud — “those evil people are so evil, someone should teach them a lesson…”
There are trails all over the world that lead to the same door (ours); big piles of lies, big piles of corpses, and rubble, don’t ever forget the rubble.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, forever and ever, amen.
I’m wondering if you are or are not considered a troll Harry. Ach! What the hell I’ll take a chance. What’s another telling off on Wings. At this stage it’s all water off a ducks arse.
I have never noticed there being a limited amount of space on Wings valuable or otherwise.
Got any info re what happens when Scotland is confirmed as a colony.
Where’s Chas? and more importantly Where’s Pete?
Ruby, stick with Gary Stevenson, he’s very good at explaining things. And stop pretending you’re dim, I have you down as one of the smartest eggs on here… anyway, he puts a lot of emphasis on the widening gap between rich and poor, and says it’s basically screwing everything up because the rich are buying all the assets (property, etc.).
Perhaps once the SNP has sorted out Gaza, it might turn its attention to Grangemouth. Or perhaps it sees that as flying in the face of internationalism (irony)
Fuck off Harry, you’ve added fuck all worth to the btl commentary over the past month other than lame attempts to troll me.
So I’ll ask again, why don’t you actually add some content yourself instead of being a whining lurker.
#AskHarry
C’mon then, what’s your views on stuff like this. NHS Scotland discussion surely warrants some valuable space on the most read (but least acted on…) Scottish political site.
http://robinmcalpine.org/scotlands-nhs-doomed-without-change/
https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-wailing-walls/comment-page-1/#comment-2826694
Hatuey
Me dim never! I was just saying I have very little knowledge about politics, history of the Middle East, I struggle with economics at the level Gary is talking about. I rely on life experiences, my cuntdar and women’s intuition which TBH never lets me down.
I know all about inequalities, the price of a tin of beans and the gap between rich & poor.
What made you watch the news last night Hautey? Were you drunk?
I’m going to be ‘political’ come the next General Election. I am going to vote Tory.
Which brings me to this article:
https://archive.is/XnFID
It’s a month old but it’s new here. It’s called
The case for repealing the GRA
https://thecritic.co.uk/the-case-for-repealing-the-gra/
Here’s the unarchived where you can choose to have the article read to you. It’s a bit robotic but not bad.
You can listen while you are making your ‘cheese toastie’ or what ever you are having for lunch.
Enjoy.
If you add some tomato, olives, anchovies, pineapple,chorizo haggis or whatever you fancy your simple ‘cheese toastie’ becomes a
Pizza Italiano Toastie. Don’t forget to drizzle it with some herbs.
It might be ‘Pizza Italiana’ who knows I didn’t do O level Italiano.
Dan I was going to post this yesterday but wasn’t sure if I should but I’m in a more care free mood today.
https://archive.is/
Doctors are fleeing to Australia — who can blame them?
I believe there is some info about the NHS on the Gary Stevenson video. I’m still working my way through it I will probably have to listen to it a few more times.
I believe ‘traders’ would just love to get their hands on the NHS.
Is life better in Australia? From the little I’ve watched about Australia they seem to have gone ‘completamente tonto’.
I watched it on YouTube, Ruby, not sure why… and I don’t really drink btw.
I think we are all pretty much on the same page when it comes to the gender stuff. My mind is made up on that. I expect that’s why you are voting Tory.
My position on voting is that we should vote for whatever party is most likely to beat the SNP candidate in each constituency.
It is a blessing that Holyrood has very little power, putting limits on how dangerous the SNP can get, but they have done a lot more damage to many more institutions than I thought was possible.
That said, it’s all pretty grim and hopeless when it comes to voting. It’s a bad day when our best chance of redress in politics depends on the police and courts. If we were a real banana republic colony, we’d at least have a military that could put together a coup.
Ruby
“I believe ‘traders’ would just love to get their hands on the NHS.”
Tories will sell off the NHS. It’s only a matter of time & it’s the only thing the yanks would do a deal on.
I thought you were voting Posie? Has she fallen fae grace?
Big pharma is big business & unregulated drugs that Doctors even lie for in exchange for a wad of cash. The corruption & greed is off the charts. Its like The Fugitive storyline.
Watch Tucker Carlson/ Big Pharma lying to you/Doctor reacts vid.
Regards Gary – I don’t think Capitalism will ever die. There’ll always be new recruits chasing the never ending pot of money.
Double Down News did a vid on how the working class could bring this country to a standstill if they really wanted to – but they don’t. They just carry on while the government takes the piss. Good old Boxers carrying on the slog until the knackers van comes..
C&Ped from Twitter/’X’:
Caitlin Johnstone
@caitoz
Aaron Bushnell Burned Himself Alive To Make You Turn Your Eyes To Gaza
I watched the uncensored video of US airman Aaron Bushnell self-immolating in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington while screaming “Free Palestine”. I hesitated to watch it because I knew once I put it into my mind it’s there for the rest of my life, but I figured I owe him that much.
I feel like I’ve been picked up and shaken, which I suppose was pretty much what Bushnell was going for. Something to shake the world awake to the reality of what’s happening. Something to snap us out of the brainwashed and distracted stupor of western dystopia and turn our gaze to Gaza.
The sounds stay with you more than the sights. The sound of his gentle, youthful, Michael Cera-like voice as he walked toward the embassy. The sound of the round metal container he stored the accelerant in getting louder as it rolls toward the camera. The sound of Bushnell saying “Free Palestine”, then screaming it, then switching to wordless screams when the pain became too overwhelming, then forcing out one more “Free Palestine” before losing his words for good. The sound of the cop screaming at him to get on the ground over and over again. The sound of a first responder telling police to stop pointing guns at Bushnell’s burning body and go get fire extinguishers.
He remained standing for an unbelievable amount of time while he was burning. I don’t know where he got the strength to do it. He remained standing long after he’d stopped vocalizing.
Bushnell was taken to the hospital, where independent reporter Talia Jane reports that he has died. It was about as horrific a death as a human being can experience, and it was designed to be.
Shortly before his final act in this world, Bushnell posted the following message on Facebook:
“Many of us like to ask ourselves, ‘What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?’
“The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now.”
Aaron Bushnell has provided his own answer to this challenge. We’re all providing our own right now.
I would never do what Bushnell did, and I would never recommend anyone else does either. That said, I also can’t deny that his action is having its intended effect: drawing attention to the horrors that are happening in Gaza.
I know this is true because everywhere I see Aaron Bushnell being discussed online I see a massive deluge of pro-Israel trolls frantically swarming the comments in a mad rush to manipulate the narrative. They all understand how destructive it is to US and Israeli information interests for people to be seeing an international news story about a member of the US Air Force self-immolating on camera while screaming “Free Palestine”, and they are doing everything they can to mitigate that damage.
As I write this, there are with absolute certainty people digging through Bushnell’s history searching for dirt that can be spun as evidence that he was a bad person, that he was mentally ill, that he was steered astray by pro-Palestine activists and dissident media — whatever they can make stick. If they find something, literally anything, the smearmeisters and propagandists will run with it as far as they can.
That’s what they’re choosing to do at this point in history. That’s what they would have done during slavery, or the Jim Crow south, or apartheid. That’s what they’re doing while their country commits genocide right now. People are showing what they would have done with their response to Gaza, and they’re showing what they would have done with their response to the self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell.
I’m not going to link to the video here; watching it is a personal decision on which you should probably do your own legwork to make sure it’s really what you want. Whether you watch it or not, it happened, just like the incineration of Gaza is happening right now. We each own our personal response to that reality. This is who we are.
1:16 PM · Feb 26, 2024
·
66.3K
Views
twitter.com/caitoz/status/1762104356604989850
“If a Roman knocks on my parents door they can piss off as the Romans got there first”
That’s how ludicrous the Zionist argument is, only it usually US Zionist armed to the teeth banging on a Palestinian’s door then telling them to get the f*ck off the land right this minute, and if the Palestinian family (whose ancestors have lived their for several generations) put up a struggle, they are either murdered or badly beaten and dragged away by the Zionist IDF. Some very elderly Palestinians still have the keys to houses that they were forced out of post-1948.
On illegal settlements in the West Bank, what’s more shocking is that Western banks are falling over themselves to finance the building of these illegal apartment blocks.
Yet the SNP MPs will soldier on bolstered by their lucrative wage packets and confident that back home Scots will re-elect them and keep their grifting careers in full flow.
What they’d never do is walk out of the HoC for good even though they know themselves that they can’t make the slightest bit of difference, at Westminster, basically they are putting their own self-interests ahead of the entire nation of Scotland.
What a shower of treacherous b*stards they are.
“THE SNP have called for a “full, independent investigation” into new revelations which they say prove the Labour Party deliberately sought to wreck the SNP motion on a ceasefire in Gaza.
During a Channel 4 News interview with Chris Bryant on Sunday night, the Labour MP admitted he was ordered to filibuster to block progress on the SNP’s motion for an immediate ceasefire – and accepted “we brought ourselves terribly into disrepute”.
Asked by presenter Cathy Newman whether he was “put up” to filibuster the debate, or took it upon himself to do so, Bryant admitted “a bit of both if I’m honest”.”
“The war, Ellis explained, would destroy Vlad’s economy, they were fighting with outdated equipment and couldn’t win, they had miscalculated and overestimated their strength, the people would rise up and overthrow him and hang him from a lamppost… etc., etc.
You aren’t supposed to remind the experts and cheerleaders that they got it wrong when it comes to this stuff”
Hatuey.
Exactly.
Though I don’t need to tell you that in the Great Satan’s (US) rush to destroy the RF, they have in fact galavnised it, and bonds between China and the RF have grown even stronger, the sanctions a against the RF, over 20,000 and more to follow, are seriously impacting on the West, Europe is paying more for fuel etc, and the like of Biden, Scholz, and Sunak have pledged billion more in funding to YouCraine.
Hatuey @ 12:00pm
Yes, I remember the discussions and the “expert” imput of a guy with a certificate in International Relations and how anyone who didn’t listen to the guy with the God complex was nuts.
“Nothing like shoving your own barrow” as my Mother used to say.
She isn’t going to form the next UK Gov it’s either Labour or Tory
I have a choice here in Scotland between Labour, Tory, Waste of Space SNP, or abstaining.
I leave the women of England to vote for Posie. I don’t think she is standing in Scotland.
I’ll vote Tory to help her out. She wants the GRA repealed. Only remote chance of that happening is if the Tories are in power.
Also I like the idea of voting Tory because the SNP hate them so much!
I think Douglas Ross is the arsehole of the century but then which one of them isn’t?
Anyway Geri what bloody difference does it make what anyone in Scotland votes for?
It was easier before the SNP transmogrified into ‘The Transmogrification Party’
It’s not going to make a blind bit of difference to us here in the colony who our next lot of imperial masters will be.
Geri
Double Down News did a vid on how the working class could bring this country to a standstill if they really wanted to – but they don’t.
There’s got to be a reason why?
Why are the French out protesting while the UK working class are reciting the mantra ‘mustn’t grumble’?
Has it always been like this or just since the UK became so very multi-cultural?
I do vaguely remember lots of strikes & protests back in the good old days.
Miners strike, Wapping dispute. Stop the War etc
I was actually in Wapping at the time. I was very young & silly at that time and just went along to the protest for fun and to eye up the talent.
I was even less political then than I am now. Looking back I’m wondering what became of all these protests.
Also the inquiries ie Chilcot & Levenson.
Did Tony Blair ever end up in the Hague?
I suppose people just ask themselves why the fuck bother nothing changes.
Although didn’t they have success with the ‘Pasty Tax’?
https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-wailing-walls/#comment-2826705
Correct Hatuey!
I won’t vote for any party that voted for the GRR madness. Most definitely won’t vote for a Muslim. Nothing to with their race just their religion. Fuck that, their misogyny & selective abortions.
So it’s going to be ‘White White White Tory’ come the next General Election.
This is me doing politics.
Happy to listen to any suggestions on how I can do politics better.
TBH I’m struggling with ‘politics’
If it wasn’t the drink Hatuey was it the hypnotic powers of ‘The Ellis’ wot did it? 🙂
Can Mick Lynch be made leader of the Scottish Independence movement, please?
@ Ian Brotherhood at 2.10 p.m. re Aaron Bushnell setting himself alight in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
Thank you for your courage in watching his action and for sharing your thoughts on the matter.
I really hope that Aaron’s action will alter the USA politicians’ attitude to Israel’s unspeakable cruelty. You’d think it was a simple enough decision to see what is right and what is wrong but Westminster seems as incapable of morality as Washington.
Jesus, Ian Brotherhood, that’s tough to read.
I can only hope that it will help wake more people up. The West has been hijacked and we are all complicit.
Free Palestine.
I have sympathy for debate for the ‘Who do I vote for in the GE’. Alba HQ haven’t decided which constituencies they will contest but it’s bound to be a few. Prioritising 2026 list vote. If Alba don’t stand then who do I vote for? Sure the Tories have a good position on GRR more palatable than Labour. But I am thinking about an anti SNP stance. The closest opposition to depose the SNP is Labour in my constituency. Otherwise I will consider each individual candidate and make my choice including Independent candidates. A Hobsons Choice. The state of Scottish politics.
@sarah (4.18) –
Thanks, but that was a C&P of someone else’s tweet which seemed to articulate what a lot of us are feeling.
As it happens I did watch it but won’t be doing so again. Nightmare stuff.
Now it’ll be made worse by the spin doctors besmirching that young man’s psychological state, politics etc.
🙁
@Ian Brotherhood 4:32pm
The human condition requires us to repeat the mistakes of the past. Morrison 1965. Anti War protester Vietnam. That’s the problem of getting old you have seen it all before. It’s not most people that agree with your position. A silent majority are for non intervention in foreign conflicts. 404 and Gaza. Humanitarian support excluded. Shouting the loudest doesn’t mean public consent.
A reminder that Scottish taxpayer’s money is given in grants to fund massively wealthy companies to produce weaponry used by these warmongering psychopaths.
https://wingsoverscotland.com/who-hates-the-jews/#comment-2826327
Which snp member have not signed the motion of no confidence
@Ruby and George, look at who the independents who are standing are and if you like the cut of their jib.
@Dan 5:26pm
Hi Dan apologies for not replying at the weekend I was through in Dundee visiting and watching the Rugby. Did some voluntary work today. It amazes me that the hardship in Scotland is unimportant and largely walked past, whilst others grab the media attention. MSM or otherwise. Batten down the hatches it’s going the worse GE campaign in living memory.
George Ferguson
Stop. Wait a minute.
If you thought the SNP was bad on GRR Labour is going to be a whole lot more & worse. Don’t forget – the whole GRR thing was their baby. They’re quietly waiting to be elected.
Ruby
There was good reason. The governments disdain & downright attack on new workers rights laws. Banning protest. Banning strikes. Refusing pay increases (off the back of COVID) while the politicians accepted one themselves.
Plenty to get angry about but like poor Arron Bushnell (RIP) there was a lot of angry roasters & gammons on any radio/TV show cheering on the government & if they could be a bit more harsher please – especially to the NHS & transport/train drivers. (Mick Lynch ) Just sack anyone grumbling about pay FFS – aye, like there’s a queue to take their place.
I don’t think it’s the English “mustn’t grumble” bullshit. It’s far right f*scist fanaticism. The English always like to give flagrant fluffy words to what really is their underlying diabolical mind set.
I was listening to Queen’s Speech podcast the other day – Clive Simpson describing the scenes in parliament (paraphrasing ) “We just don’t act like that in this country – We’re known for being well mannered” is he for real? They’re like feckin Hyenas every day in that place. Complete mental block & zero self awareness.
Johnlm says on 25 February 2024 at 9:39 pm:
“DO NOT REPOST IT. Ignore these rules and Genocide John WILL KILL YOU WITH HAMAS. Soz.”
LMFAO! Tears streaming down my face. Brilliant! Needed that!
sarah
Ignored says:
26 February, 2024 at 4:18 pm
@ Ian Brotherhood at 2.10 p.m. re Aaron Bushnell setting himself alight in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
Thank you for your courage in watching his action and for sharing your thoughts on the matter.
Shocking though it is, this is the second such self immolation in the US. There was an earlier such protest at the beginning of December, outside the Israeli embassy in Atlanta, although as far as I recall, it wasn’t a serviceman.
The news manipulation Ian referred to has already begun, with many headlines reporting the serviceman set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in DC, but the reason why he did it is already being omitted.
Will it change anything? I dunno. Maybe. But there is so much “noise and craziness ” in the USA, that nothing is extreme.
Well, I’m stumped.
Back when I were a lad, if we cared about something, injustice or whatever – really cared I mean – we went and fought for it. Put our fragile bodies in harm’s way. Really strained every sinew to do something useful.
Anyhoo, I see Hats has been on a wee dander doon memory lane. His failing faculties means he hasn’t noticed that he was one of the most vocal callers for the “subhuman Nazis to get what was coming to them”. Nor did he manage to recollect his confident prediction that the Covid Spreaders would invade Taiwan by Xmas 2022. And don’t get me started on how we would all be hoarding our wealth in BRICS.
Convenient, eh?
He’ll be disowning his “Turkish boots on the ground by March 2024” prediction soon.
But as Hats says at 4:26: Free Palestine.
OK, Hats you have my attention and I am willing to accept, from the enormous groundswell of posting about this, that our Indy will be going on the back burner until Palestine is freed.
You’re a wee bittie light on detail, so hows about you pad it out a bit – let’s get stuck into the nitty gritty of how it will happen, if you get your heart’s desire.
Don’t leave us hanging – spill the beans.
Free Palestine – Indy Can Wait
Yup, fits on the T-shirt.
@Geri 6:11pm
Agreed about Labour. But I have always voted. And I could have nobody to vote for. I think I will go along to the hustings and pick the individual candidate I like the best and that in all probability won’t be SNP or Labour. We haven’t forgotten the GRR debates before Christmas last year.
Shug says…
“Which snp member have not signed the motion of no confidence”
The ones who count using their fingers, the ones whose lips move when they try to read and the ones who can’t breathe through their nostrils.
That should narrow it down for you.
You’re welcome!
As if to confirm my 2.24pm comment, that the SNP at Westminster are utterly insignificant and can achieve NOTHING substantial within the HOC, this pops up.
Of course Flynn and Co know this, but careers and salaries come first before the needs of Scotland, that’s why they’ll NEVER walk out for good.
“COMMONS Speaker Lindsay Hoyle has rejected an application by the SNP to hold a fresh debate on a Gaza ceasefire after the party’s opposition day descended into a “farce” last week.
SNP Westminster group leader Stephen Flynn raised a point of order in the House of Commons chamber on Monday afternoon, asking why the party’s application for a debate under Standing Order 24 (SO24) had not been accepted.
Hoyle told the Aberdeen South MP he did not usually have to give reasons for refusing a debate, but said as a UK Government statement is due to be heard on Tuesday, there would be an opportunity for the issue to be discussed then.”
https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-wailing-walls/comment-page-1/#comment-2826734
Geri
What do you mean the GRR was Labour’s baby?
Do you perhaps mean the GRA 2004?
I read the following:
“The act was drafted in response to court rulings from the European Court of Human Rights”
As I wrote earlier I don’t know much about politics etc so I have no idea if the Government had any choice other than to pass the GRA 2004.
“The bill was introduced in the House of Lords in late 2003. It was passed by the House of Lords on 10 February 2004, with 155 votes in favour and 57 against, and by the House of Commons on 25 May with 355 votes in favour and 46 against. It received royal assent on 1 July 2004.”
For whatever reason it was passed it has led to a fair number of problems.
Quote from the earlier article I posted
It is often said that it is too controversial to argue for repealing the GRA. I acknowledge that this should happen only after a democratic debate, where the momentous consequences of subordinating the reality of sex to the belief in gender identities are spelled out. We must not continue hiding behind “no debate” to avoid the legitimate questions that need to be asked, questions which were not asked when the GRA was passed.
A treacherous b*stard, has a go at another treacherous b*stard.
“SCOTTISH Labour have accused Humza Yousaf of “dangerous and inflammatory rhetoric” after he shared a front page from the Press and Journal.
It comes after the First Minister twice reposted an image of the newspaper’s front page from February 15, which showed Labour figures cloaked up like the eponymous “Traitors” from the hit BBC show presented by Claudia Winkleman.
At First Minister’s Questions last week, Yousaf had again referenced the front page, saying: “After The Press and Journal put Anas Sarwar’s face on its front page, with his Labour colleagues, and called him a ("Tractor" - Ed) to the north east, it is incredibly brave of him to come here and say that he is standing up for the north east.””
Yet this treacherous shit of an FM would never dream of ditching this Scotland robbing union, to free up cash that we send to Westminster on a daily basis, I despise this b*stard.
“Humza Yousaf has defended his Government’s record on housing as it prepares to slash spending on building affordable homes.
The First Minister blamed a 10 per cent cut to Holyrood’s capital budget from Westminster for SNP ministers facing “financial limitations”.”
@Ruby 8:02pm
You were right the GRR stems from the original leglisation of the GRA 2004 pity you got yourself banned before enjoying your moment in the Sun. You were right and missed out on the glory. If we want to move Scotland forward then learn from that experience. It’s politics as defined by Holyrood and not the Scottish Public.
Ruby
“What do you mean the GRR was Labour’s baby?
Do you perhaps mean the GRA 2004?”
I mean all the TRA nonsense since 2015. TRAs in women’s spaces. Lest we forget their TRA *women’s officer* in the Labour party. The Labour party introduced this crap into parliament & the SNP ran with it up here too.
I was listening to an old Posie Parker interview the other day with Jordan Patterson & how she started being a woman’s activist & she referenced the exact same timeline. 2015 & suddenly Labour women’s groups were awash with TRAs. It matches my recollection too with the lily Madigan era & the explosion on twitter of the supposed Labour TRAs demanding labour membership numbers so they could issue lifetime expulsions from the party. SNP & Greens weren’t that far behind them with their Out for Indy & Rainbow crew.
I wouldn’t trust Labour as far as I could throw them on this issue. They will go full TRA if they ever get into power. It’s shocking the shit they’ve pumped through schools with kids talking about adult sexual perversions. Pedo central which is what this crap has always paving the way for. Starmer has obviously told them to pipe down until he’s in office. He’ll U turn faster than a rat up a sewer once he has the keys..
I wouldn’t trust Tory either. They’ve allowed this to fester through schools & institutions without enforcing the laws even of the equality Act. It’s illegal to be in women’s spaces without a GRC. They just shrugged & did nothing while filing the women’s prisons. Can’t even go there to be safe now either..
Ian Brotherhood.
Caitlin Johnstone says that already the Zionist wheels are in motion looking to dig up dirt or discredit Bushnell is some fashion or another.
“Shortly before his final act in this world, Bushnell posted the following message on Facebook:
“Many of us like to ask ourselves, ‘What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?’
“The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now.””
The link DOESNT contain the video of the act.
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/02/26/caitlin-johnstone-he-burned-himself-alive-to-tur-eyes-to-gaza/
The GRA does my head in trying to keep abreast of all their deliberate word salad & double speak.
Conflating sex with gender & mashing everything together. It is a mess & the whole lot needs rubbed out & started again with CLEAR boundaries & laws.
Posie wants it scrapped too. So did Alba when Ash said it should go to public assemblies instead of bad laws being rushed through just for the sake of doing it & in Sturgeons case, her beloved photo opportunities.
HoL seems to be up to speed on the complete arse in law the EA would make along with this conversion nonsense. Maybe they’ve not been *got at* yet.
It still flabbergasts me how quickly Cherry fell into line so anything is possible..
If he served in the military then I wonder if he’s been on medication? There is a lot of chatter at the moment about drugs being on the market that are known to cause suicidal ideation but the powers that be are doing absolutely nothing about it. Same with kids shooting up schools – on a cocktail of medication.
Just a thought ..
Anyone ever seen the film Jacobs Ladder?
An army crew become spooked & start killing each other. While the guy is in a coma the film flashes through his backstory – he pegs it at the end, walking off with his young son. The ending was the Doctors discussing the drugs they were on provided by the military that instilled rage & aggression but the poor buggers had taken it out on each other instead.
It’s extreme what that guy has done.
Here’s something I did not know
In 2004, with the passing of the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) the UK became the first country in the world to legally recognise trans people as the opposite sex without medical treatment. The Act passed without controversy, and with little media coverage. The law was framed thus: a transsexual person (the terminology used at the time by legislators and most trans people) must acquire a gender recognition certificate from a new gender recognition panel made up of lawyers and doctors.
the UK became the first country in the world to legally recognise trans people as the opposite sex without medical treatment.
The Act passed without controversy, and with little media coverage.
https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/april-2021/the-trans-rights-that-trump-all/
Women’s rights were not considered in legislation that allows trans people to effectively decide their own gender
PS Geri
I don’t know what happened in 2015 maybe that was when it became trendy to be trans
re: GRR
Alba is the natural party to be a bulwark about GRR but the reality is they are not going to be electable any time soon, never mind be able to exert any form in influence on Holyrood.
If anybody wanted to influence the GRR debate at this present time they would have to go to one of the mainstream parties. All the parties are tainted on this subject but the least worse is the Tories. However even at that, the Tories have been in power in Westminster for over a decade and could have put a stop to this but they haven’t.
Thinking aloud, for those passionate about GRR, rather than voting for the Tories and vainly hoping that somehow they can do something but instead do something radical and form a grassroots movement to influence the Scottish Tory party much like Momentum tried to do with Labour.
This is obviously a step too far for many both for historical reasons and that parties stance on the constitution but if this grassroots movement is only focused on GRR, their only interest in being involved in the Tory party is for them to keep their stance against GRR solid.
In a way, this movement would be a sleeping partner so to speak that does not get involved in Tory policy apart from the GRR issue. In terms of accusation of infiltration given that opposition to GRR is a social conservative issue which should be natural with Tories, it isn’t all that different from what they should be.
I’m not sure of the mechanisms of the Scottish Tory as to whether they are truly independent from interference from the UK party or centrally but say for instance lots of activists joined a local Tory branch solely for the reason to get parliamentary candidates that were 100% against GRR, would this be stopped in a way?
I’m not sure if this workable or palatable but it is a possible solution until Alba can get into a position to be able to make a mark in Scottish politics.
@ Republicofscotland says: 26 February, 2024 at 8:36 pm
It’s all very innarestin.
Type “how many people set themselves on fire in protest every year” into Google.
There’s a few. Recently it’s been adopted by climate activists.
And then there’s the Tibetan Resistance who are in a league of their own – over 150 Tibetans have selected this way of topping themselves in protest at the Covid Spreader’s occupation/colonisation/oppression of their country.
Life is just so unfair, and so it seems is death also. 150 Tibetans can burn themselves alive and nobody gives a scooby.
But one US serviceman …
“An Al Jazeera investigation has shown three Israeli tanks around the car where a six-year-old girl was killed after hours of pleading for help.”
“However, Israel’s army denied this on Saturday, saying its troops were not in the area on January 29, the day Hind Rajab and her family were killed.”
Another small victory for Team Genocide.
I suppose reluctantly we can’t blame the 2004 GRA on the SNP although what SNP representatives they had voted for GRA in 2004. Mainly the Tories were against. In the 2005 GE the SNP got six MPs. I long for the day when they had one MP Gordon Wilson a thousand times better than the current incumbents and worth the same value or more.
@ PacMan says: 26 February, 2024 at 9:21 pm
do something radical and form a grassroots movement to influence the Scottish Tory party much
Soz PacMan, not radical enough. You need to be out-of-the-box radical.
Get an Islamic party going, or join one that already exists – absolutely no way that GRR and genderwoowoo are ever going to be acceptable to them.
Maybes not quite possible yet in Scotland, but pay close attention to how this WM GE campaign is going to work out south of the border. The Tories are already positioning themselves to counter the organised Islamic threat at the ballot box.
That shows it’s a real and happening threat.
Labour are trying to keep them onside, but it looks like they’ve lost it too – they will have to make concessions, and probably lose as many votes as they keep, as traditional working class Labour voters finally waken up to what happens after the uncontrolled immigration celebrants have sobered up.
Look at what is happening in Germany, where the Democratic Alliance for Diversity and Awakening (Dava) party has been formed specifically to sweep up the 1.5 million votes of Germans with Turkish immigrant roots. Do you think they’re fans of the genderwoowoo?
We’re all fated to live in innarestin times from now on. But dinna fash, roll with the punches and make it work for you.
https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-wailing-walls/comment-page-1/#comment-2826747
George
For the most part regular posters on Wings weren’t interested in the GRR GRA. It would not a take genius to figure out that Gender Recognition Reform might suggest there was something to Reform
It wasn’t a topic that was of a great deal of interest on Wings unlike UK-raine, War in the Middle East and other such matters.
Being banned wasn’t too bad. I was still able to read the articles & comments. I was also able to post and had my every post read by Stu only nobody else read them because they appeared 6 – 8 hours after I had posted them when everyone had moved on.
I’m sure Stu recognised my genius 🙂 hence the reason I was able to return to enjoy many more moments in the sun here BTL on Wings.
I could be banned again and this time it would be curtains. I could also be arrested in the not too distance future for some hate crime or another. It’s definitely not beyond the realms of possibility.
I’ll maybe have to see if I can’t get some of the ‘mustn’t grumble’ medication either that or a full frontal lobotomy.
@ Hatuey says: 26 February, 2024 at 9:25 pm
That’s a terrible story, Hats.
There was a poster on here claiming that all these stories are made up propaganda to ensnare the gullible and hard of thinking into the trap of supporting one side against the other.
There was another poster on here claiming that interest and concern for stories featuring kiddies is the protective colouration adopted by nonces.
Disgusting stuff, eh Hats? Can you imagine the twisted depravity of the people who would stoop so low as to post stuff like that?
@Ruby 9:49pm
It’s a free speech blog. Try not to get banned. I find the host amenable to views of all kinds. I don’t swear in real life or on here. I don’t ridicule others what is a conspiracy theory today is tomorrow’s truth. Tuesday is our day off. A wife day. So I am signing off. Good luck.
I see Victoria Nuland now agrees with me on the economics of America’s wars and the positive spin-off effects for the US economy. Maybe she has been snooping around here too. Does this make her a conspiracy theorist?
http://www.com/video/watch-victoria-nuland-admits-u-s-money-to-ukraine-lining-defense-contractors-pockets/9464197/
Of course, Nuland used the operative code word “jobs” which in newspeak means “profits”. (when western politicians talk about protecting and saving “jobs”, they nearly always mean profits [for hideous big companies that are up to no good])
Either way, the arms trade is good for the US economy and, since war is good for the arms trade, all of the ducks are in a row.
Kerching!
@Hatuey
The Rind Hajab family killing also had film of an ambulance who went to assist having its crew killed.
The trouble with Main is that he just makes stuff up or endlessly repeats the same discredited propaganda from his side, unsupported with any evidence.
Unfortunately for him, his side also likes to boast of their atrocities and post their doings to tictok examples being his 404 friends shooting prisoners, or his Zionist pals snuff movies.
https://www.tiktok.com/@c00ki3_m0nster/video/7332656294559550763
I posted some of this last week but will copypaste it again. We know that the SNP, Greens, Lib Dems and Labour are neck deep in the trans quagmire whilst the Conservatives couldn’t run a bath. This was from the Glinner mailout last week and concerns Labour.
“Horrifyingly, in 2024, the Scottish Labour conference voted down a motion to “Acknowledge the principle of women’s sex based rights.” Most Constituency Labour Party delegates and the Scottish Labour women’s conference supported the motion. A card vote was held on the floor and 69.3% of CLP delegates’ votes were for the motion. However, votes are weighted equally between CLP delegates and party affiliates. The motion fell because 77% of affiliate votes – which include those from trade unions, socialist societies and so-called equality groups – were against it. The three biggest trade unions, Unison (the majority of whose members are female), GMB and Unite, all voted against the motion defending women’s legal sex-based rights.”
Ruby
I see you had to give me some kind of smart arse reply.
You think you’re the site clown.
I would ask if you like the ladies?
Because you come across as a butch female who doesn’t mind getting down and dirty with the guys.
Usually the first signs that you are partial to playing with furry cats rather than a male chicken.
Work it out!!!
Tbh, Johnlm, I generally ignore “John Main”. Occasionally, if I’m really bored, I’ll rattle his little cage for fun. I’ll stop there rather than be seen trying to provoke him… whoever he is, I hope he can find some sort of closure.
I really have no idea what’s going on in Palestine tbh, or anywhere, at least not in any detail. I’m keeping it all at arms length. It’s too depressing. There’s a lot of things going on right now that are just too depressing. I’ve learned to skim and I get some vague idea of developments through YouTube, but by and large I’m in my own little planet.
I’m even too fragile and scared to click your link.
Out of a population of around five and a half million,,,Wings is reduced to about a dozen hard-core posters.
And that’s including the two site Trolls, who play the others like puppet masters, who seem to dictate the direction the posts take.
Exciting times,,,NOT!!!
Well said Harry.
Chill out, Harry… we can get low quality negative waves like that anywhere.
Say something uplifting.
You could be planting beautiful flower-like ideas in fertile minds…
Harry
Ignored says:
26 February, 2024 at 11:26 pm
Out of a population of around five and a half million,,,Wings is reduced to about a dozen hard-core posters.
And that’s including the two site Trolls, who play the others like puppet masters, who seem to dictate the direction the posts take.
Exciting times,,,NOT!!!
——————
Most of whom are fully fledged looney tunes and represent the extreme fringe of the independence movement. They come on here
spouting their student union-level views on geopolitics.
https://web.archive.org/web/20240227054759/https://www.thenational.scot/news/17461406.westminster-doesnt-want-read-mccrone-report-full/
The McCrone report.
@ Christopher Pike says: 27 February, 2024 at 1:40 am
fully fledged looney tunes
…
student union-level views
Check out Student Grant in Viz. The writer of that cartoon series obvs had our usual suspects in mind when he came up with that.
Sadly, to Scotland’s eternal disadvantage, there’s something about the Indy cause that attracts the carpet baggers. We see it with the professionals, who threw it all away in pursuit of their real-life and literal fairy tale – guys can become gals.
And we see it with the amateurs, for whom nothing matters now as much as Gaza. Leading to the new, widely accepted trope on here:
Free Palestine – Indy Can Wait
Man, the next 70 years are really gonna drag.
Jings reading all the personal abuse above (the comments about people’s sexuality is completely out of order) this reminds me of that site Harry’s Place. An absolute sink hole of zionist hate full of some of the vilest cunts you are ever likely to encounter. They really are some of the most horrible people on planet earth.
BBC reporting Biden saying there could be a cease fire between Israel-Hamas by next week.
I know that RoS has frequently claimed the BBC only ever publishes lies, but he also qualified that by saying they only ever lie about Scotland, so it might be true.
I know too that Biden gets confused, when his Satanic hotline goes on the blink. Maybes he was being told what to say by Satan about something else.
But if it’s true, and I hope it is, I think we all know it will be the furious posting on Wings BTL from the usual suspects that swung it.
Keep the pressure up lads, one final push!
Let’s get to the cease fire between both sides, the exchange of prisoners and hostages, and the provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza, just as I have been calling for since November 2023, and then you can all move on to the next red-hot topic of interest.
Bleatin and greetin that it’s the wrong kind of cease fire.
[And post cease fire, when the first critical post appears on here, please remember I predicted it – thanks]
Innarestin article on Unherd this morning:
https://unherd.com/2024/02/the-realist-case-for-israel/
It’s a deep and difficult read. Here’s a wee quote:
“For Hamas as for other Islamists, the ultimate referent object of politics is the overarching transnational community of believers, the ummah. For them, secular nation-states are provisional makeshifts at best, if not simply idolatrous substitutes for righteous rule. This is significant because as long as there is no agency that can legitimately claim to represent the Palestinian nation, their aspiration to independence remains a defunct and meaningless proposition”
It is the harsh recognition of this truth that stops other Arab/Islamic countries riding to the rescue here – a fact that seems to have eluded “diplomat” Craig Murray. The governments of the countries bordering Israel know only too well that Hamas sees them as legitimate targets too – to be dealt with once the immediate enemy (Israel) is exterminated. And thus, they are happy to wait around while Israel does the dirty work for them.
It is funny seeing the treatment some got for a hell of a lot less…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9dmoT9AfoI&ab_channel=HermanTheTosser
Have Spitting Image or anyone done an Isr@eli version I wonder…
You can work out pretty much who runs Britain by whom the media / politicians attack but much more tellingly whom they never attack.
I am laughing at all the ‘characters’ that have appeared to tell us how rubbish this place is and how awful BTL is etc… Hmmm so why are you here posting in a frenzy every minute of every day. It is not really a convincing story is it.
I was thinking BTL had actually picked up a bit despite the predictable mass triggering of the you-know-whats by the subject matter.
You know when you are over the target that is for sure. Drives them insane people just talking about it, and that is when the real nastiness starts to drip out from their aching fangs.
Pike !
You stupid boy.
You woke the puppet master.
Main is multi-tasking today I see.
Reading Unherd and listening to the BBC.
I mentioned cognitive dissonance on the previous article and it is a real thing that is going on right now for many millions of people witnessing what is being doen in Gaza and beyond.
I think most people who look at the situation in Israel and Palestine objectively go through the same cognitive dissonance process, it is just a matter of when. Well events are deciding when, it is now.
When I was in my early twenties I was living on a Thai Island for a period (happy days). This was pre internet and there were books left by other travelers. I ended up reading a Leon Uris book (Exodus I think) and after reading that I had a glowing opinion of IsrAel and Isr@aelis!
(Those books by Uris were brilliant works of propaganda, packed full of foundational myths.)
It was only some years later when the internet bloomed and so much alternative information became available (for those willing to make the effort to look) that I started to think… this just does not add up. These people are horrible racists and this is a blatant apartheid state.
And then I started to wonder how they not only get away with running an apartheid state in the 21st century but how they successfully smear anyone who says so as an anti-$emite…
Well once you start asking those questions all the lies start to fall away. And you realize that pretty much everything you have been told about Isr@el is a lie.
It is not even me saying it, it has all be documented by Israeli revisionist historians. Ilan Pappe for one example but there are many.
This is why I say Isr@el is a lens. And it is. It is bringing into focus things people need to see.
And this is where the cognitive dissonance starts, where it ends defines the individual.
https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-wailing-walls/#comment-2826771
Could this be one of these ‘moments in the sun’ that I missed out on when I was put on the naughty step.
Sigh!
Alexi Sayle released a very informative Christmas message in case you missed it.
(The unnamed person he is referring to in it is Stephen Fry.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZTzsWDtm_E&t=259s&ab_channel=SocialistTelly
You can tell listening to him that this is someone who has a lot of experience and knowledge on the subject, and I would especially pay attention to what he says and how he emphasizes it because this is the truth.
What’s new with the franchise today?
What the topic today?
How good or bad the comments are.
Sometimes Maybe Good, Sometimes Maybe Shit
I think a lot of the discussion very much depend on what’s on TV. I’m always out of the loop with those because I never watch TV.
I’ve had a whole load of different jobs through my life. I had a job in bookshop for short time. A small bookshop catering to people in the local area. What I found there was that the only books that were selling was something that was on TV. For months it was ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’ and ‘How to make your own Patchwork Quilts’
The job wasn’t as interesting as I thought it might be.
Actually it was quite horrifying watching loads of people all doing the same thing at the same time.
I had recently returned from spending a good few years abroad and the most horrifying thing I found was that most of my female friends were on valium. I was shocked!
I was so shocked by it all I decided to take myself off again and go back abroad.
I’m wondering now how many woman in Scotland are still taking ‘valium’ or similar and that might be why they are so complaint and happy to accept that women have penises!
Those of you who have watched the excellent Al Jazeera investigation, The Labour Files, Episodes 1,2 and 3 may have noticed a similarity in the behaviour of senior Labour politicians on “antisemitism” and other politicians and members of public bodies concerned with gender identity.
I commend Al Jazeera’s investigative work highly – see also the death of Yasser Arafat. It is exemplary compared with the dross of the BBC, particularly Panorama’s investigation of “antisemitism” in Corbyn’s leadership.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S8sOWAcc2s
‘Party of Women’ finally registered?
“But one US serviceman …”
John Main.
Tell that to the guys family and see what happens, the Zionist loving MSM will do there best to play this man’s sacrifice down, but the same Zionist loving MSM scream from the rooftops at the demise of the CIA/Mi6 puppet Navalny, of whom the head of the YouCrainian intelligence said that he died of a blood clot.
@ Mac says: 27 February, 2024 at 8:25 am
the real nastiness starts to drip out from their aching fangs
Don’t look at me “Mac”, I’m still lucky enough to have an NHS dentist.
Anyhoo, I’ve decided to come over to your side. I’m a fully paid up member of the Wings BTL Hamas fan club now:
Free Palestine – Indy Can Wait
See? Give me a round of applause.
@ Republicofscotland says: 27 February, 2024 at 10:10 am
Get a fecking grip, RoS.
Or get help. As a Scottish tax payer, I’ll reluctantly foot my share of the bill.
As many Gazans have died in the last 4 months as Ukrainians have in the last 2 years.
Go figure.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68397525
There much the SNP government can do when it comes to the reserved (Westminster) energy market, but they are badly letting Scots down, also this is another prime example as to why we MUST dissolve this bucket of shit union.
“THE Scottish Government has “thrown away” the benefits of the country’s major green potential, according to a world-renowned renewables entrepreneur.
Simon Forrest, the CEO and founder of tidal turbines firm Nova Innovations, warned ministers there are “many things” they should be doing “to capture billions of pounds worth of opportunity” from the green energy sector.”
https://archive.is/9B3gQ
The treacherous b*stard Yousaf speaks, he’s as interested in Scottish independence as Sturgeon the Judas was, zero,nil,nada.
“HUMZA Yousaf has said the infamous McCrone report’s lessons remain “every bit as relevant today” as when they tipped off the UK Government to the awesome potential of Scotland’s oil reserves.
The First Minister told The National that the 1974 report, which was kept quiet until decades after it was written, highlighted “the price of Scotland not being an independent country”.”
The National reprinted the McCrone Report in full today, here’s their first print of it in 2019.
This is what Westminster doesn’t want you to read: The McCrone Report in full.
https://archive.is/tpdIf#selection-1325.0-1325.77
Anyone who reads both the Herald and the Guardian and pays attention to the recurring themes will be aware of how over representation of minority groups as owners, donors, board and activists parachuted in as journalists affects the content. They should also be aware that as we are overpowered with claims of antisemitism we are also given the same treatment with Islamophobia. If you have not noticed people, including the current leaders of both the SNP and the Scottish branch of the Labour party, can say anything they like about white people without censure, in fact if there is any kind of pushback it usually leads to promotion for the anti white activist and punishment/smear of whoever has called it out.
The entire political sphere is owned by those groups both of which are the third rail mentioned earlier. Ambitious black people are getting in whilst the going is good as long as they do not criticise their Al Jolson handlers. See also advertising.
Scotland does not need the parliament of England (Westminster ) telling Scotland when it can and cannot hold referendums,
Westminster has made a kingdom for itself within Britain and setting its own alterable government rules.
Dishing out devolved governments across Britain breaching the forever ater One parliament of G-B just about all the Articles of the said treaty of union are mired.
The Parliament of Westminster in London has continued its crusades and wars endlessly.
Its disrespect for human rights and even human life itself are not even secondary in its nature and under its movable goal post and slap happy invented laws.
It is a shorter list to name the Wars that Westminster in England has not been involved in,
rather than to name the Wars they have been instigated,
Involved by arms dealings, by proxy wars or by instigating regime change in other Countries through Coup’s and direct wars of conflict.
The whole history and actions of Westminster are lacking in a loving nurturing or friendly nature and display a disconnect in their actions of empathy or compassion to Other Countries, societies, nations, and humans being,
never mind their falsehood position regarding looking after and caring for the planet.
The two mindsets of Westminster rules do not tally.
Exterminate most humans and blow up the planet. Using fossil fuels, Nice hypocracy Westminster.
I am not sure that Scotland should follow your lead by example scenario.
Especially Scots and a Scotland that has no entry to the 1707 treaty of union after its parliaments Dissolution from the treaty in 1707.
Hmmmm….we must have reached a routine .bot re-calibration cycle point….
‘DasBlimp’ says goodbye
‘Christopher Pike’ re-appears….
News reporting that homelessness in Scotland is at an all time high, the Scottish government are blaming it on Westminster cutting its budget and the bedroom tax.
Yet these grifting careerist b*stards would never think of actually dissolving this backward union that is severely hurting Scottish folk, finger pointing is all this shower shits are good for.
Meanwhile a ten year study (radio news) in which the UK was compared to Norway and Canada in cancer treatments, found that in the UK you are less likely to get an early diagnosis, much less likely to get early treatment, but are far more likely to die from your cancer than in the other two nations.
Those vile b*stards in government at Holyrood don’t give a toss about Scots, if they did they’d have removed their MPs from Westminster and begun dissolving this sewage tank of a union freeing up more funds for OUR NHS.
The National often publishes the McCrone Report – credit to them. And they did a thorough piece a couple of years ago about Willie McRae’s assassination.
So why won’t they publish a thorough article about the truth of Scotland’s Constitution, its advantages over our current “democracy”, and the power it gives us to withdraw from the Union?
Surely a paper that “supports Scottish independence” should be spreading the word on every effort that is being made to regain our independence?
James Che
Ignored says:
27 February, 2024 at 1:36 pm.
“The whole history and actions of Westminster are lacking in a loving nurturing or friendly nature and display a disconnect in their actions of empathy or compassion to Other Countries, societies, nations, and humans being”…
—–
Are you really that naive? No country in the world can live up to that description. Every nation has it’s macabre past. You were either the coloniser or the colonised, and it was a damn sight better to be the coloniser. If countries like Kenya and Bolivia had been the most advanced countries/militaries and had been the first to industrialise, then it would have been them colonising us. Life was cruel back then – a true dog eat dog world.
PacMan,
26 February 2024 9:21pm
Yesterday was filled with appointments I had to go to, so just catching up today, so I apologise for the delayed responese to your comment,
Which constitution are you talking about,
The Westminster parliament Constitution of England or the Scottish Constitution,?
Sarah…
“Surely a paper that “supports Scottish independence””.
LOL…
I came to the conclusion, (following its disgraceful coverage of the “Alphabetites” bleating about the injustice of the charges against Salmond being dismissed as a result of the findings of a majority female jury), that The National supports the current SNP regime, which is positively pro-Devolution/Westminster cash-flow, whilst paying barely a trembling level of lip service to Independence.
Let’s face it, all the SNP need do is put on the leopard print heels to complete its “now is not the time” look.
Please don’t buy The National – like Sturgeon’s continuity SNP, it’s a Unionist/pro-Devolution wolf in “Yes” clothing!
@ robertknight re the National not being a truly independence-seeking paper.
My comment was intended to stimulate some proper Yessers comments btl on the subject of regaining our independence.
I cancelled my National subscription last year as they have fallen into the same way of working as the other papers instead of being properly investigative AND they happily promote transvestites interests over those of women and children instead of truthfully examining who and what those people often are. AND they don’t fight for independence – just go along with the clique who now run the SNP and Scottish government.
They emailed to ask why I had cancelled – was it because of editorial policy? Yes, I said, and gave some detail of why I no longer wished to support them. I was a real money subscriber, not on one of the cheap versions.
Sarah,
Scots have to be in the treaty of union before you can leave it,
As far as official history records the UK parliament 2023/2024 state that a debate was held and it was decided not to give the Scots a vote to join the treaty of union as they, ( the Scots) would probably vote No.
You cannot be clearer.
The Scots people are not in the treaty of union,
Sarah,
So is the old parliament of Scotland in the treaty of Union,
No, it was dissolved in 1707 by the Queens public proclamation.
Sarah,
A parliament under Dissolution has no members.
A parliament under Dissolution cannot represent its Constituents in Great-Britain.
@ James Che: Scotland isn’t in the Union.
All the more reason for the SNP to be calling it a day then! Isn’t it strange that our parliamentarians won’t listen to our experts but insist on their own ignorant opinion?
Sarah.
There are no “Scots” in the 1707 treaty of union. UK Westminster parliament site states this.
There is no Scottish parliament in the 1707 treaty of union. As it was dissolved, UK Westminster parliament site states this.
There are no members representing Scotland or Scots as the date of the Dissolution of 1707 Scottish parliament in the Westminster Parliament by the laws of “Dissolution of parliaments” in Great-Britain.
Someone should tell the TRAs about the McCrone report..
“Hey lookie, enough cash for vaginas all round! Woo hoo!
Maybe that mob would kick start the SNP.
Dumbza is sitting with a mandate. Why doesn’t he STFU & use it? We don’t need Bullies “Scotland – here’s what you could’ve won if you didn’t have cowardly r*tards in charge of Scotland”
That Dumbo should shut his mouth. He must get some sick pleasure out of banging on about indy knowing fine well he plans to do hee-haw but sit on his arse until 2026 when he’ll be looking for yet another mandate to expire.
Sarah,
The old Westminster parliament of England never Completed closing its Doors under Dissolution in 1707,
The lower house in Westminster parliament did, the “House of Commons” closed its doors under Dissolution, however later was re- instated.
The old Westminster parliament of England never Dissolved the the upper house, The House of Lords.
So the old Westminster parliament of Englands upper house, The ” House of Lords” is one and the same, The parliament of Great-Britain.
James, there are also no English people in the Union, since they were also denied any vote on the Union, and for exactly the same reason; they would have voted against it, too.
It seems that the only people in the Union are MPs and the monarch.
I see Macron is now screaming to get boots on the ground to fight Russia.
Together with Boris Johnston who still sees himself as the UKs boots on the ground, ramp up the fight, it certainly looks like we’re spoiling for a bit of bloodletting.
Amazing really how a good slaughter stiffens the national resolve. The pride afforded to the dead coming home from the Falklands exemplified that. Full metal jacket Brittanic Pride.
And now we have the opportunity to restore that pride.
But when are we going to get the vote on it?
Hiya James. Isn’t it time you was back in your fartsack?
This just about sums up those careerist grifting self-serving SNP MPs, they’d never ever consider this to further the indy cause, what shower of turncoat b*stards.
Newsflash to Flynn and Co we don’t give flying f*ck about Hoyle, we do however care about exiting this rancid union, to makes Scots live better by using all our assets for Scots, and powers at Holyrood.
“SNP Westminster group leader Stephen Flynn has led calls for Hoyle to lose his position after he broke parliamentary convention and allowed a Labour amendment on SNP opposition day, letting Keir Starmer’s party dodge a sizeable rebellion.
Amid the chaos that followed, Hoyle apologised and offered an emergency debate to the SNP on a ceasefire in Gaza, but on Monday he U-turned and refused the party’s request.”
Now, reports say the SNP group is considering how they can “disrupt” processes in the Commons in order to keep pressure on Hoyle.”
Sarah, I’d be more interested if The National looked into and published a critique of the Westminster voting system as used in the House of Commons, since that system is what empowers England’s abusive ability to constantly deny and dismiss Scotland’s sovereignty, despite it being an equally sovereign partner with England in the Union they both founded, along with its Union parliament.
The body of MPs at Westminster is not a single homogenous body; it cannot be homogenous because it represents the two entirely different sovereign foreign kingdoms of the Union, and those two different sovereignties cleanly separate the UK’s MPs into two perfectly distinct bodies, and the distinction is of critical importance. Given the equal sovereignties of both kingdoms, neither they nor the two MP bodies that represent them can have any formal authority over the other, and that fact demands that all decisions of the Union parliament must be agreed by both of those MP bodies, and not just by the English body, as happens far too often. It shouldn’t happen at all!
By forcing simple flat majority voting (SFMV) on them in order to determine the outcomes of their debates, Westminster treats those two distinct bodies as a single homogenous one, and that then allows the English half of the Union to use its ten-fold numeric majority (that doesn’t reflect any authentic authority over Scotland) to regularly deny and dismiss the votes of the Scots MPs, and thus deny and dismiss the sovereignty of the entire Scottish half of the Union.
That ten-fold majority dramatically curtails the ability of the Scots’ MPs to properly carry out their jobs as formal representatives of their sovereign kingdom, since they cannot effectively defend or promote the interests of their kingdom against that ten-fold English majority within that voting system. Thus SFMV presents a serious and unwarranted constraint on Scotland’s MPs that England’s MPs never suffer.
That is why the sovereign ‘distinction’ of the two bodies is critical.
What makes this even worse is that it would take only a few simple tweaks to that voting system’s rules to restore full parity to the two sovereigns’ representations without even changing the number of MPs of either body, and it even retains ‘simple majority voting’; it just removes the ‘flat’. It gives that distinction its full place in the Union.
The SFMV voting system is only appropriate for truly homogenous voter bodies, such as England’s MPs were in their old parliament of England, and its use was never agreed to in the Treaty that founded the Union and its parliament, nor in either of the two ratifying Acts of Union.
Its use is obviously abusive to the entire sovereign Kingdom, country, nation, territory, and people of Scotland, and Scotland has suffered greatly as a direct result. The excuse that true democracy was in its infancy in those days expired centuries ago, and its perpetuation unchanged into modern times is a thorough-going democratic disgrace that can be laid at the feet of all MPs and the entire Westminster establishment. There is nothing about it that says that it cannot be amended or reformed to make it properly reflect the true constitutional basis of the Union.
That’s right. One side is infected with the ginger gene and carry a faint odour of piss about them and the other side is a bunch of spineless w*nkers.
As the UK continues to bomb Yemen, the Yemeni forces have retaliated and sank the UK cargo ship the Rubymar in the Gulf of Aden.
Meanwhile small Palestinian children are starting to die of starvation with very little food in Gaza, and cuts to the UNRWA by several countries without foundation including the UK, starving a population to death is included in the acts of genocide.
Re my previous comment @6.46pm.
The Yemeni people will be raising Aaron Bushnell’s portrait next Friday for the million-man Palestine march.
Next Friday is also International Women’s Day, spare a thought for both if you can.
Fear not, Willie, they’re nuts but not yet suicidally stupid. Macron is another narcissistic failure like Sturgeon who will jump in front of the cameras at every opportunity and say something to get attention.
The war in the east is essentially over anyway. Everything the MSM and the “experts” in here said about the war and how it would go proved to be wrong. Vlad ran rings around “The West”, completely humiliated Stoltenberg and the “The Alliance”, and now he and everybody else knows Western leaders are not only weak but stupid too.
We are looking at a two state solution but the size and nature of those states will depend on how long they drag out the end game. If certain people wake up and smell the coffee, it’s possible there’s time to save one or two Black Sea ports and avoid the country in question being landlocked.
Nuland (Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs) yesterday was fairly candid in explaining how the billions they send in arms would benefits US workers in terms of jobs. When people like that talk about “jobs”, they really mean profits for big nefarious companies. Outside of huge profits for arms manufacturers, then, everybody else lost, apart from Vlad.
All very predictable and predicted. The only operational successes “the west” had in the war were basically terrorist operations (against the gas pipeline and the bridge) and neither of them really made a bit of difference to anything (except the price of gas which hurt us more than anyone else).
The biggest clusterfuck in the history of western foreign policy, and that’s saying something.
Craig Houston talks. Youtube – SNP Humza Yousaf reversed Scot Gov decision to donate money to Gaza illegally and fund UNRWA.
FOI request.
Humza redirected funding for water for Unicef in Gaza to the UNWRA – £250,000 – reportedly housing Hamas underneath their offices.
Malfeasance in public office to get his inlaws out. Check out his video. Share far and wide.
I support the Palestinians. One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. That said.
What really disgusts me, is that it Humza diverts taxpayers money he used, and without getting the backing of Scottish people or his ministers.
The man needs to be removed from power and preferably deported. I’d be amenable to Sharia law. Chop of his hands for being a thieving rat. Metaphorically speaking. I’ll settle for deportation.
*He really is lucky there is no Sharia Law in Scotland. Ali Baba and the forty thieves would all be losing their wrists.
I listened to the budget debate. They are all naysayers. Shona Robinson. A naysayer. SNP naysayers. That gave all the sea bed sites away for free.
Scotland the billionaire’s playground for Angus Robertson’s lost tribe of Israel. Gated communities and zionist globalist jews coming to take over Scotland.
It’s time we arressted every last one of them. Every single SNP politican deserves 20 years.
@ Republicofscotland says: 27 February, 2024 at 6:46 pm
Yemeni forces have retaliated
Have they now? Seems to me the west bombed the Hotties (not Yemen) cos they were attacking shipping. Seems to me the Hotties started it, which makes the west the retaliating ones.
small Palestinian children are starting to die of starvation with very little food in Gaza
Now, now, Hats doesn’t like people mentioning the kiddies. But let’s extend you the benefit of the doubt. Isn’t it utterly appalling that Hamas intends to fight on until the last Palestinian? Reasonable, decent folk would have thrown in the towel months ago, just in order to save as many innocent Palestinians as possible.
cuts to the UNRWA by several countries without foundation
Now, now, that’s a bare faced lie. Bad RoS, down boy.
starving a population to death is included in the acts of genocide
Ah ken. Them Hamas boys have a lot on their consciences. Bet they think the collateral damage well worth while, eh RoS?
And so it goes on, another day closer to the Rafah ground offensive. Same old record still playing. You really are a shite DJ, RoS.
But ain’t you just loving it, eh RoS? It doesn’t matter how high the bodies stack up, you will continue to call for your one-sided cease fire.
@ Hatuey says: 27 February, 2024 at 7:08 pm
The war in the east is essentially over anyway
I’ll remind you of that every anniversary, starting 24 February 2025.
Hows the Taiwan invasion getting on?
Turkish boots on the ground in Gaza yet?
Willie
Ignored says:
27 February, 2024 at 6:00 pm
” I see Macron is now screaming to get boots on the ground to fight Russia. ”
Aye , but not HIS boots .
If the lunatics actually * succeed * in this potentially catastrophic * collective * suicide mission , pricks like ( Schwab fils ) Macron , along with the rest of the Euro-Morons eg Von der Leyen , Stoltenberg , Scholz et al + * our own * imperial fantasists – who would struggle to operate a water-pistol without fucking-up – Sunak/Starmer n the Brit Salvation Army , and , of course , Big Daddy ..ie.. Uncle ( Son of ) Sam will still be dining cordon bleu .
None of these fucks , or their children . will be the ones getting their viscera splattered over the death-ravaged landscape. It never is .
Now , because the modern political disease of unaccountability/never admitting mistakes is endemic in the Political Class , they’ll do what all clowns do ie Double Down on Dumb .
@ David Hannah says: 27 February, 2024 at 7:24 pm
I support the Palestinians. One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter
Quite right David. Free Palestine – Indy can wait.
A wee word in your shell like. Maybes change your first name, eh?
It’s just going to be ever more problematic for you in the days and weeks to come.
Cuts to UNRWA
https://twitter.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1760202676502159839
Without foundation
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/22/us-intelligence-unrwa-hamas
Another barefaced lie from Main.
The Yemeni people will be raising Aaron Bushnell’s portrait next Friday for the million-man Palestine march.
Will there be a commemorative BBQ or naw?
Next Friday is also International Women’s Day, spare a thought for both if you can
The irony of supporting Muslim AND feminist causes. 🙂
already the Zionist wheels are in motion looking to dig up dirt or discredit Bushnell is some fashion or another
How do you “discredit” a mentally ill man who set fire to himself for no good reason? Wiz he wearing odd socks aye?
We need to decolonise our politics, this is Scotland – not the Middle East. Naebody involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict are our pals.
Interesting news from Yemen, RoS, thanks for the update. Of course, bombing a sovereign country without UN approval is an illegal act of aggression. We do that with impunity now, with barely a mention in the propaganda bubble, but it is illegal and serious and there is no legal defence in international law.
Theres now huge pressure on Egypt to unilaterally open the gates and let food into the starving Palestinians. It would be nice to see Turkey and others step in too. Now is the time.
The Arab League’s representative at the ICJ gave one of the most scathing accounts of the Israeli position yesterday and I recommend digging it out on YouTube.
Just another day for Team Genocide.
@ Red says: 27 February, 2024 at 8:22 pm
The irony of supporting Muslim AND feminist causes
Now, now, Red. It’s the anti-feminism that’s the draw for many of them – but don’t mention that – it’s a secret.
Didn’t you notice? RoS is billing it as a million-man march. An oversight, or deeply significant?
And what about [REDACTED] Hannah a few posts back? Trying out the sound of Sharia. Running it up the flagpole to see if anybody salutes.
this is Scotland – not the Middle East
For how much longer, eh?
Free Palestine – Indy Can Wait
You heard it here first.
@ Hatuey says: 27 February, 2024 at 8:55 pm
Theres now huge pressure on Egypt to unilaterally open the gates and let food into the starving Palestinians
Innarestin. The Egyptian government has long known what will happen to Egypt once Hamas gets a foothold. I was watching a program about Egyptian archaeology on Saturday and wondering are we about to see the destruction of all of those ancient wonders. Cos it will be the Taliban all over again.
It would be nice to see Turkey and others step in too. Now is the time
Course it would. Your face has an appointment with egg in a just a few days time, if they don’t.
The Arab League’s representative at the ICJ gave one of the most scathing accounts of the Israeli position yesterday
I’ll bet. Demanding yet more money from the useful eejits in the west was he? After all the billions stolen by Hamas to build their tunnels, he may have a hard uphill slog ahead.
Still not genocide either, but here’s a wee feel-good T-shirt slogan to buck you up:
Free Palestine – Indy Can Wait
Noo wisnae thon jist braw, eh Hats?
An amoeba in the crowd exclaimed: “Free Palestine – Indy Can Wait”
I didn’t know you cared about Indy.
Has this Gaza stuff disrupted your planned push for Indy?
Were you about to (for the first time) say or do something towards achieving Indy?
How do we know you aren’t just a putrid racist using a feigned concern for indy as an excuse to undermine discussion of Palestinian rights?
That’s a genuine question, because you do seem very hate-filled about everything, “John Main”.
“Fetch!” (Yes, I’m playing “fetch” with an amoeba…”
Meanwhile, back in Scotland…
http://robinmcalpine.org/after-scotwind-raising-mccrone-again-is-tough-to-swallow/
John Main – Didn’t you notice? RoS is billing it as a million-man march. An oversight, or deeply significant?
But mibbes they’ll let women join if they have a couple of male relatives chaperoning them.
For how much longer, eh?
No idea but we are the ones facing genocide. Not the fake genocide when Hamas is losing a war it started – real genocide as in the end of the road for our people as a viable nation state.
Every day there are fewer Scots alive than there were the day before, and more foreigners in our country. We’re dying out and being replaced.
It’ll only take another 10 or 20 years to make Scottish independence a quaint nostalgia trip for the oldies who remember when Scotland was full of Scots. Cannae get independence when we lose our own country.
And all because the Scots didn’t care enough about Scotland to keep it going.
Bathgate no more
Linwood no more
Methil no more
Irvine no more
@ Hatuey says: 27 February, 2024 at 9:30 pm
Now, now Hats, that wasn’t a very nice post. And there’s me bending over backwards to get in your good books too.
Honestly, damned if I do, and damned if I don’t.
Free Palestine – Indy Can Wait
As the man famously said, I’m doing it for you, Beth, soz, Hats.
Zat it? You’ve been begging for my attention for weeks, you finally get it and that’s what you came up with?
Tonight in bed you’ll lie there thinking, “I shudda said this… I shudda said that…”
I’m dominating you, John Boy…
Fergus Ewing kicked out the SNP for good. Bringing shame upon the party name.
I wish he rebelled on the budget.
Veteran MSP Fergus Ewing has lost his appeal against his week-long suspension from the SNP group at Holyrood.
Disciplinary action was taken in September against the former minister, who has repeatedly criticised the party leadership.
Mr Ewing, who will be suspended from midnight, branded the SNP an “authoritarian party”.
One of the greatest things to put me off indy is the blind enthusiasm to get involved in Middle East conflicts, an area virtually nobody has visited – the conflict zones, not Sharm el Sheik and Dubai, areas where significant numbers of the population have a visceral hatred for you.
It’s not the comfy vote winner so many seem convinced it is.
Ian Smith, most people don’t want involved in Middle East conflicts and most people I have spoken to think Indy will make us less likely to get involved or be dragged into them.
It was opposition to the Iraq war that propelled the SNP to victory and, at the same time, destroyed Labour.
I think you could be a lot clearer in your wording of things, but I doubt if you could be more wrong.
I lifted this link from a BTL comment on Barrheadboy.
I’m guessing you likely won’t see it on the BBC, and indeed, it’s existence on YouTube may be temporary…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRn4qYAORAE
A succinct and forensic demolition of Zionist Israel that, in its way, is more complete and thorough than any thuggish assault by a coward in an armoured bulldozer on the homes of Palestinian people.
As for whether Gaza events help or hinder Independence, for me personally, there is a comparable issue of Constitutional Sovereignty being unlawfully subjugated, although of course, no similar comparability regarding the barbarism being suffered upon the Palestinians… in recent times anyway.
Scotland’s “modern” subjugation has been gradual and pernicious, with a tailing off of colonial violence and intimidation towards Scotland, (though bribery, inducement and corrupt coercion remain unquantified and unknown commodities), however the unlawful subjugation of Scotland’s popular sovereignty is every inch as obdurate in law.
Westminster continues to assert rights it does not have in the Realm of Scotland, and I am perplexed that some people don’t recognise the connection.
And even setting all that aside, supposing Scotland sat free and secure in it’s own sovereign Independence, I would hope even then, that Scots would still be rightfully appalled and revolted by the murderous injustice suffered upon a people with effectively no means to defend themselves.
Should the two cases be linked? No, I don’t believe they should, in much the same way that Scotland and Catalonia retain profound similarities but no direct linkage. The accordant confusion, and conflation of wildly dissimilar merits beside similar merits, would help neither case. Nevertheless, the parallels which do exist can still be worth analysis to assist wider comprehension of relevant arguments.
To the English agents and Scaredy Nats BTL,
a quote from first president of Czechoslovakia, Tomáš Masaryk:
Don’t be afraid.
Don’t lie.
And Don’t steal.
@ Breeks says: 28 February, 2024 at 2:31 am
a people with effectively no means to defend themselves
Shite.
It takes two sides to fight a murderous war for 4 months, with still no end in sight.
@ Ian Smith says: 27 February, 2024 at 11:45 pm
It’s not the comfy vote winner so many seem convinced it is
Rational, thinking voters are wondering what’s to be done with millions of dispossessed, stateless Jews. It’s not as if Hamas is going to be able to kill them all (although they will certainly give it their best shot). Exterminate the Jews, the only solution that seems to be on the table from the “Free Palestine” enthusiasts, is no comfy vote winner either.
And then there’s the optics of a gang of terrorists, walled up in their tunnels with their food, water, weapons and human shields of foreign hostages and their own kids, whilst the people they are supposedly “fighting for” starve, freeze and die out in the open.
No western group with the best interests of their own people at heart would ever behave like that.
Anybody taking a stroll along their local High Street today might have another niggling wee thought in their minds. Everybody you will see is a valid target in the eyes of the terrorist nihilists. Outrage after outrage across the west has been perpetrated on ordinary, innocent people, randomly vapourised, gunned down, or flattened by a vehicle.
It’s not the Jews that would blow every one of us to bits if they got the chance.
Aaaand English agent John Main straight in with the first lie of the day.
Collective punishment is a war.
As many Gazans have died in 4 months as Yookranians have in 2 years.
It’s on the BBC. Must be true.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68397525
Aaaand Genocide John quickly follows through with the fear card.
Death on the streets of Blighty and immigration.
The boys playing a blinder today !
Dan @ 9:41 pm
“Meanwhile, back in Scotland…”
Hopefully one day soon Robin McAlpine and other Scots intellectuals on the Left will figure out that Scotland is subject to colonial plunder, and call it that.
They might then discover what independence means and why it is necessary: i.e. decolonization, and liberation from oppression.
https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2021/07/18/determinants-of-independence-colonialism/
Hatuey @ 7.08
( One of a series of recent fine posts by yrsel , mon ami )
” Fear not, Willie, they’re nuts but not yet suicidally stupid. ”
Obv , I hope you’re right , H . these days ? Hmmmmm…..I wouldn’t bet against them NOT being that stupid .
That statement by petit Napoleon Fallinapart – Macron – if nothing else illustrates the sheer panic in the NeoCon ranks ; and panicked , scared , stupid people do panicky , scary , unbelievably stupid things .
As you said in a previous comment – and anyone not a propqgandising arsehole/ wilfully ignorant troglodyte knows it’s true – EVERY SINGLE THING the public were told about the * situation * ” ere there ” was and is a total lie , and what was predicted and warned about by ACTUAL experts ( I’ve named many of them often enough ) has come to pass to the point where even the State/MSM lie factory can any longer conceal it .
After witnessing the mind-fucking lunacy of TWAW being relentlessly promoted , the C***d ” Military Op ” dissent obliterating lockstep and the fatal missteps re U’rain & G**a , I don’t see were any sanity-restoring volte-face is likely to come from . They are all fused together in a reality-denying cloud of delusion & self-preservation.
What a shape the West has arrived at where the best * we * can hope for to head-off further devastation is a total bam like Trump winning the the U.S Presidency .
‘kin hell ! WTF happened to us ? ( Rhetorical question ) .
One thing that happened to us was/is the swallowing whole of any semblance of – genuine – Democracy by Big Money/Power and it’s corollary – the disgusting sellout of our interests by those elected to serve them .
Alf, has maintenance of the language helped liberate the Palestinians?
@ Alf Baird says: 28 February, 2024 at 9:08 am
They might then discover what independence means and why it is necessary: i.e. decolonization, and liberation from oppression
First things first, eh Alf?
Free Palestine!
Haha, just my little play with protective colouration.
I wonder if it’s just me that is becoming increasingly frustrated at the complete and utter lack of progress in Scottish politics.
It’s a WM GE year FFS!
Why isn’t there a concerted campaign to make this a plebiscitary election for Indy?
There is, at this point, absolutely SFA to lose and everything to gain. Scotland will be damaged not one jot if every SNP WM trougher gets his/her/cats P45. But in return, the Scottish electorate will have been introduced to the idea that Indy is achievable through the plebiscitary election route. And, IMO, support and enthusiasm for the idea will only grow with exposure to the concept at each subsequent election: both WM and HR.
We could even (whisper it) work simultaneously for a plebiscitary election in 2024 AND a free Palestine. Surely the two are not mutually exclusive?
@ Robert Hughes says: 28 February, 2024 at 9:32 am
EVERY SINGLE THING the public were told about the * situation * ” ere there ” was and is a total lie
Zat so, Bob?
My, my, so Russti forces are NOT currently occupying approx one fifth of the territory of internationally recognised, sovereign, state, country and nation, colloquially known on here as 404.
And proud, patriotic and very, very brave free citizens of 404 are not desperately fighting to expel the invaders.
From among the ruins and the graves of their country and their fellow country men and women.
My, my again.
Ach, here’s something that’s not a lie.
You’re full of shit, you must have brown eyes, brown hair and an unhealthy shit-tinged colouration to your face, so full of shit are you.
“already the Zionist wheels are in motion looking to dig up dirt or discredit Bushnell is some fashion or another
How do you “discredit” a mentally ill man who set fire to himself for no good reason? Wiz he wearing odd socks aye?”
Red.
QED.
Come now John, according to your rules, it’s quite obvious that country 404 can no longer afford independence.
Show us the money.
This is excellent…
“Zambia , Turkey, Arab League address World Court on consequences of Israel’s occupation”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRn4qYAORAE&ab_channel=WeLoveAfrica
If Alf has not seen it already I would recommend it, also to Breeks as well. Lots on self determination law and a lots on colonial law.
Very compelling arguments.
@ Breastplate says: 28 February, 2024 at 10:41 am
according to your rules, it’s quite obvious that country 404 can no longer afford independence.
Show us the money
Soz, BP, rules are made to be broken. That’s actually the first rule in Pretzel Land.
Free Palestine – Indy Can Wait!
You know it makes sense, BP 🙂
https://www.aljazeera.com/podcasts/2024/2/22/what-could-a-ruling-on-israeli-occupation-mean-for-palestines-future
John,
How about,
Free Palestine- Indy Can’t Wait!
I think it’s quite disingenuous to imply we can only deal with one subject at a time, have you never heard of multitasking?
However, I do understand that you need something, anything that will salve your festering conscience.
“rules are made to be broken. That’s actually the first rule in Pretzel Land.”
John Main.
And the French president Macron, looks like breaking one or two when he’s shot his mouth in a Paris interview that he can’t rule French armed forces entering YouCraine to join the fighting.
Macron’s boldness (in reality stupidity) is due to a good few French mercenaries being killed in YouCraine, of course they were probably French troops, of late quite a few specialist French troops such a weapons specialist (rockets and tanks) have went to YouCraine under the poor guise of working for humanitarian purposes.
Their remit is a fake as Navalny’s wife’s crocodile tears.