tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28642665522296935392024-03-08T11:31:16.185+00:00Logic's RockWitterings on Scotland, independence, media, music, fun, and whatever takes my fancy. @logicsrock.logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.comBlogger151125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-1568446826184431642022-06-01T11:06:00.001+01:002022-06-01T11:23:31.087+01:00Stonewall and a Lack of Loving<div style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKu1Whpy0wiaMMwrEcvz5PATbdYrfA8QWFrpVrdimvrRrTUjfSRBksPnC79h-JYK7HQ2LS-6LhzGwuPopAL2N8ASjfE41i-332BSoDxdqJPqJUV8z3TNEnVIdK0VfpY77IftDa1y9MTZrG_p7FGL598rxd0lHXRT16o_B_eAT2e19KRDFzmdnQzb9c/s211/ablailey.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="211" data-original-width="140" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKu1Whpy0wiaMMwrEcvz5PATbdYrfA8QWFrpVrdimvrRrTUjfSRBksPnC79h-JYK7HQ2LS-6LhzGwuPopAL2N8ASjfE41i-332BSoDxdqJPqJUV8z3TNEnVIdK0VfpY77IftDa1y9MTZrG_p7FGL598rxd0lHXRT16o_B_eAT2e19KRDFzmdnQzb9c/s1600/ablailey.jpg" width="140" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Allison Bailey</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I'm afraid I'm probably the least surprised person in the UK that <a href="https://thecritic.co.uk/the-remarkable-poise-of-allison-bailey/">Allison Bailey</a>, a London barrister, lesbian and co-founder of the <a href="https://lgballiance.org.uk/">LGB Alliance</a>, finds herself having to sue <a href="https://www.stonewall.org.uk/">Stonewall UK</a> in conjunction with her former chambers in an Employment Tribunal having been driven out of chambers for alleged "transphobia." Allison Bailey is a feminist who supports womens' rights. Many lesbian, gay and bisexual people, have come to regard Stonewall as homophobic since it adopted wholesale the "queer theory" ideology of the modern "trans" cult, or Black Pampers as the bullying, fascistic ideologues have recently been christened, aptly as they walt at being a civil rights movement. Stonewall's history of fighting against equality for LGB people goes back rather further than even the advent of the modern "trans" cult. Stonewall UK has always been rather more concerned with maintaining its place in the Rights Industry at the forefront of suckling on the publicly funded teat.</div><p style="text-align: justify;">People tend to forget that the United Kingdom has never really been all that united. The (only 101 year old) Northern Ireland has a separate <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Northern_Ireland">legal system</a> which ultimately derives from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_and_Welsh_law#Common_law">English Common Law</a> as applied in all of Ireland as the occupation by England and later Great Britain extended the pale, gradually supplanting the ancient indigenous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Irish_law">Brehon Law</a>, until in 1801 Ireland was incorporated into the United Kingdom. Wales has been subject to English common law since the conquest of the native princes by England. Scotland's lawyers werenae daft in 1707 and, like the Ministers of the Church of Scotland, they ensured that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_law">Scots Law</a>, which derives more from a European legal tradition, survived the aristocratic sell-out of Scotland to England in 1707 to form Great Britain. Scots law had its own history of expansion, gradually supplanting the hybrid Norse <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udal_law">Udal Law</a> and Gaelic Brehon law in the Highlands and Hebrides and the Udal law in the Northern Isles (Orkney and Shetland). All 3 jurisdictions (England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) also have Statute Law, created by the Westminster and subsidiary parliaments / assemblies since incorporation into the "United" Kingdom. Until Brexit, UK citizens were also subject to EU law. Supra-National Law has not disappeared since Brexit. The UK has entered treaties both with other countries and international bodies. For example, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Convention_on_Human_Rights">European Convention on Human Rights</a> is not an EU entity, nor is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Court_of_Human_Rights">European Court of Human Rights</a> which enforces the Convention.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Why the whistle-stop tour of UK law? Well, the law has always been an instrument to reinforce the wealth and power of those in power. Only since the worst excesses of the first half of the C20th, has law really attempted to regulate how those in power treat ordinary citizens. Forget the Westminster pantomime of slamming doors and Black Rod, the Commonwealth which replaced the Divine Right of the King turned out to be so genocidally bad and venal that the executed King's son was invited to resume the thrones of Scotland, England & Wales and Ireland! If you are one of those ordinary citizens wishing to redress a wrong suffered by yourself at the hands of the State, the obstacles are truly formidable! If the wrong was done by a UK institution which was your employer, and that institution was the Armed Forces; despite having been through the whole mill, I still hae ma doubts whether you'd be better reaching for the Mess Webley than to seek redress through the Courts.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Even as a military man, if you thought the MOD hierarchy was Byzantine and deferential, you ain't seen nothing yet until you've tackled the legal system! If you're at the forefront of 'new law', it's even worse. Navigating how all the different levels of Tribunals and Courts interact with each other and are bound by higher courts variously domestically in Scotland, between the Scottish Tribunals and Courts and those elsewhere in the Union, the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords (now the UK Supreme Court), the European Court and the European Court of Human Rights, not to mention the more nebulous 'international best practice' which only really affects you once you reach the more stratospheric levels of this Byzantine hierarchy makes navigating Dante's Inferno look like a walk in the park. Once you reach the more stratospheric levels, the <i>dramatis personae</i> are even dressed in C18th costume, reinforcing what can more than appear to be the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Swift">Swiftian</a> satire you've somehow got yourself involved in.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">How I ended up in this Swiftian satire of Establishment hypocrisy will have to wait until I can bother my backside to write some more. It'd be nice to think that events of the mid 90s were ancient history. I've kept schtum up to now, but all of the players will by now have finished their RAF careers, so I've no worries about affecting anyone else. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">However, the story of how I became the first and last gay man in Scotland to have to sue for sex discrimination and sexual harassment and how that suit was sabotaged by Stonewall and the Labour Establishment, how the (Tory) Secretary of State for Defence ended up playing trains, how Loving and the US Supreme Court comes into it, and how the work done by me and my predecessors in getting equality for lesbian, gay and bisexual people was hijacked by the puerile, narcissistic "trans" cult will have to wait. I've just heard on the BBC Radio 4 news the latest instalment of the Partygate pantomime and the man I knew as Lt Chris Mackenzie-Geidt, who has obviously played the British Establishment game very well indeed, since he now sports all the Imperial baubles and accolades as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Geidt,_Baron_Geidt">Lord Geidt GCB GCVO OBE QSO PC FKC</a>, is now at a bit of a crossroads and may have to exit stage left, albeit with a pension far better than I've got to look forward to! The Swiftian satire that is the British Establishment continues unabated, even if it is moving into more surreal <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flann_O%27Brien">Flann O'Brien</a> territory. I need to switch off, change channel to be soothed by <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0017s15">A Mire Ri Mòire</a> and get on with other stuff at the moment.</p>logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-32804599146103836152017-07-30T15:45:00.004+01:002017-07-31T20:55:47.061+01:00Homophobia? Coming Full Circle with Hamish Henderson.<div style="text-align: justify;">
I was 8 years old when the letter quoted below was written. 24 years later I was on 'Uphill Gardening Leave' prior to being booted out of the RAF for being gay and had taken to going for long walks which would often end in Sandy Bell's bar, music and a long, wide-ranging, fascinating, Lagavulin-fuelled conversation with Hamish Henderson. We had both previously served in the Intelligence Corps and felt an instant camaraderie with each other. Hamish helped me greatly, both in coming to terms with my predicament and steeling myself for the 12 year legal battle to come. In one of those conversations Hamish mentioned the letter, though, as I recall, his abridged lexicon was even more forthright <i>viva voce</i> than that used for the douce pages of The Scotsman.</div>
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The letter has come to mind because we've come full circle and now, 45 years after it was written, I could write the same letter but open it with the sentence:</div>
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Can there be another subject on earth about which more nonsense is written and spoken than homophobia?</blockquote>
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The puritanical Calvinist clerics Hamish rails against have been replaced by the Holy <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_Smith" target="_blank">Wolfie</a>s of the Byres Road Cappuccino Commie set at <a href="https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/11424/jordan-daly-why-we-should-back-kezia-dugdale-and-send-wings-over-scotland-packing" target="_blank">Common Space</a>. Yes, I'm talking about the stooshie over Wings Over Scotland's (to my mind very witty) tweet about Oliver Mundell MSP's woeful oratorical skills.</div>
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For those gay folk of certain years like Paul Kavanagh of Wee Ginger Dug and myself who have suffered the very real consequences of actual homophobia over the years and have lived and fought at considerable personal cost to bring about the changes to society and the law, I cannot even begin to describe the anger I feel at seeing the enormity of what we were up against cheapened by a Scottish Labour leader using the same terminology in the Press and in Parliament to vilify a man who hasn't a homophobic bone in his body.</div>
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Like anyone who's been through the entire legal mill from Employment Tribunal, to Employment Appeal Tribunal, the Court of Session, House of Lords and the European Court of Human Rights, I'd advise anyone to caw canny before resorting to law. However, I sincerely hope that Stuart Campbell of Wings Over Scotland takes Kezia Dugdale for every penny that he's after.</div>
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To those 'gay activists' who are fortunate to have inherited the exponentially more tolerant society bequeathed to them by the actions of the likes of Hamish Henderson <i>et. al.</i> and would bandy false accusations of homophobia, I say have a very serious word with yourselves.</div>
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To the Yes Movement at large, I say just laugh at the Byres Road Cappuccino Commies. Unlike the majority of the Yes Movement who are campaigning for an Independent Scotland, a fair few of their leading lights appear to have used the Yes Movement solely as a vehicle to advance their personal meeja careers. Like the clerics referred to by Hamish below, their fractious nature will split them into the 'auld licht' and the 'new licht' until their middle class student political factions disappear up their own jacksies. </div>
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To the Scotsman <br />
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Can there be another subject on earth about which more nonsense is written and spoken than homosexuality? (In Scotland the language mix-up probably beats it by a shrunken head.) </div>
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People who talk about 'bastions of morality' all too often turn out themselves to be merely bastions of prejudice and outmoded myth and tabu. The sexual tabu which the Reverend Malcolm H. MacRae wishes to uphold surely has about as much relevance for us in this country today as the Hindu tabu on the eating of beef or the Jewish tabu on pork. Man is an inherently pansexual creature, capable of responding to a variety of sexual stimuli, and the dichotomy of 'homosexual' and 'heterosexual' is therefore highly artificial. </div>
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Those who challenge irrational and oppressive tabus need all the help they can get from men of goodwill. Your correspondents are naive, however, if they expect to get much assistance from ministers of religion when lifting the mines in this difficult and bedevilled territory. Here and there you get 'the auntran guid ane', but in the main they are just the same old pack of self-elected elect who see sex as one of the comparatively few areas in which they can still have the occasional field day, doing their self-important thing and interfering with other people's lives. And, let us face it, there is an unhealthy Puritan strain in a broad stretch of Christian tradition which crosses the frontiers of individual sects and denominations and which is deeply suspicious not only of homosexuality but of sexuality, <i>tout court</i>. </div>
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It is high time the ignominious role of the clergy in most of the humanitarian campaigns of the last 150 years was brought right out into the open. In the early nineteenth century the attempts of reformers such as Sir Samuel Romilly to bring to an end some of the horrors of the English 'hanging code' - a starving mother of 17 with an infant at her breast executed for lifting a yard of linen from a shop counter; the hanging of children (two sisters of eight and 11 strung up at Lynn in 1808); 13 people hanged at a single session for being found in the company of Gypsies - were met with resolute opposition from the Archbishop of Canterbury, most of the bishops and the vast majority of the clergy of the Church of England. By the same token, the comparatively more humane and liberal Scottish criminal code was brought into being and defended by courageous laymen against vehement and often virulent opposition from the Calvinist clergy. It should surprise nobody, therefore, that in the much needed and long overdue sexual revolution - which, as Norman Mailer has suggested, is by far the most 'meaningful and natural' revolution of our time - the same general pattern can be discerned. </div>
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Latter-day Puritans like Malcolm Muggeridge try to pillory liberal-minded clergymen by calling them 'trendy', etc., but the fact is that such clergymen are a tiny minority as against the conservatives. </div>
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People like the Rev. Malcolm MacRae may try to stem the tide, but they will not succeed, because public opinion is now getting adjusted to the self-evident truth that the homosexually oriented person has as undeniable a right to personal sexual happiness as anyone else. Chastity may suit some people, and it may even sometimes burgeon into saintliness, but it can also be one of the 'roots of evil'; the unholy flowering, in this case - from the <i>auto da fe</i> to the fantasy (or practices) of celibate floggers - being punitive sadism. </div>
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Luckily the views of psychologists like Dr Mark Freedman are rapidly gaining widespread acceptance. In his book Homosexuality and Psychological Functioning, Dr Freedman writes; 'Social attitudes to sexuality have to be changed, or else an atmosphere of fear, negation and restrictiveness will continue to pervade society. </div>
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Some theorists - notably Marshall McLuhan - maintain that the world is rapidly changing because of the speed of communication fostered by the electronics media, and that these changes include a new tolerance for and interest in differentness. This appreciation of differentness includes acceptance of people formerly discriminated against according to social, ethnic, religious and sexual distinctions. Hopefully, then, a new climate of respect for diversity and acceptance of individual differences is arriving. With human relationships still resulting in individual chaos because of these divisions and discriminations, I hope this change arrives soon. </div>
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I am etc., Hamish Henderson </div>
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From The Armstrong Nose. Selected letters of Hamish Henderson, Alec Finlay Ed. Polygon, Edinburgh 1996.</div>
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See also:<br />
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Wings Over Scotland - <a href="https://wingsoverscotland.com/taking-a-stand/" target="_blank">Taking a stand</a>.<br />
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Wee Ginger Dug - <a href="https://weegingerdug.wordpress.com/2017/07/24/throwing-some-light-on-throwing-shade/" target="_blank">Throwing some light on throwing shade</a> & <a href="https://weegingerdug.wordpress.com/2017/07/30/a-sense-of-perspective/" target="_blank">A sense of perspective</a>.<br />
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Common Space - <a href="https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/11424/jordan-daly-why-we-should-back-kezia-dugdale-and-send-wings-over-scotland-packing" target="_blank">Jordan Daly: Why we should back Kezia Dugdale and send Wings Over Scotland packing</a>.<br />
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Random Public Journal - <a href="https://randompublicjournal.com/2017/07/28/common-space-what-hast-thou-done/" style="background-color: transparent;" target="_blank">Common Space - What hast thou done?</a> & <a href="https://randompublicjournal.com/2017/07/26/art-sexism-wings-and-homophobia/" target="_blank">Art, Sexism, Wings & Homophobia</a>.<br />
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Indyref2 - <a href="http://indyref2.scot/my-turn-to-be-offended" target="_blank">My turn to be offended</a>.<br />
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Logic's Rock - <a href="http://logicsrock.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/wings-waffle-about-lgbt-issues.html" target="_blank">Wings & Waffle about LGBT issues</a>.logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-18063644547412571852016-07-11T12:14:00.002+01:002016-07-11T12:32:09.331+01:00Strong Labour WomenCompare and contrast.<br />
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Mary Barbour</div>
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Barbour" target="_blank">Mrs Barbour</a>'s Army by the late Alistair Hulett.</div>
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logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-45272421721630154662016-06-27T09:34:00.001+01:002016-06-28T21:47:26.483+01:00That #LabourCoup Resignation Letter Template in Full<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<b>Dear Jeremy</b></div>
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<b>You are an honourable man whom I have always considered a friend and from whose jacksie the sun constantly shines. Ordinarily, I'd want to have your babies, etc, etc.</b><br />
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<b>However, despite the biggest indication in human history that the electorate has stopped listening to the cosy little coterie of commentators in the mainstream media, I have come to the conclusion that you do not play well with the cosy little coterie of commentators in the mainstream media. The last straw for me is that you have plainly had the temerity to upset tax-avoiding shits like Murdoch and Rothermere. They are, after all, the final arbiters of leadership qualities. I am therefore forced to conclude that you are a crap leader.</b></div>
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<b>The Tories have created the greatest self-inflicted economic, constitutional, diplomatic and social clusterfuck in the country's history. They have effectively bought the axe, handed it to us, bared their own necks and placed their heads on the block. </b></div>
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<b>However, in the greatest Labour tradition, I feel it only right to take the axe from them and use it to decapitate ourselves. That is the only Labour tradition I subscribe to and I cannot stand by without ensuring that the press doesn't focus on Cameron's cowardice and Boris's bungling, but on Labour backstabbing.</b></div>
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<b>You really didn't do enough to avoid this catastrophe. Yes, I appreciate that while I sat plotting, 64% of my constituents voted Leave, while you campaigned such that 75% of yours voted Remain, but I cannot be a true self-serving, RedTory Blairite without a healthy dose of rank hypocrisy. I also appreciate that the English & Welsh working class decided to give the political class a kick in the nads precisely because they couldn't distinguish Red Tories and Blue Tories.</b></div>
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<i><b>[Insert your own boilerplate blurb about electability here, despite the fact that all the public will ever remember about #LabourCoup is that in a time of crisis, we are more interested in navel gazing and fratricide than in doing our duty to the country.]</b></i></div>
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<b>It has been an honour to serve etc. etc.</b></div>
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<b>Yours sincerely,</b></div>
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<i><b>Who He? / She?</b></i><br />
<i><b>Of whom the public has never heard and who will have been forgotten by tea time.</b></i>logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-35398220928031519402015-12-27T13:59:00.002+00:002015-12-27T14:25:44.994+00:00Not The BBC Scotland 2015 News QuizHave you been paying attention in 2015? Try your luck with the Not the BBC Scotland News Quiz.<br />
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1. How many SNP MPs have actually been questioned by police following mahoosive media "scandals" since the election?<br />
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<ul>
<li>A. Two.</li>
<li>B. None.</li>
<li>C. None but SNPBad anyway.</li>
</ul>
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2. A new hospital built with public funds rather than your grandchildrens' indentured PFI servitude opened in Glasgow. What is it called?<br />
<ul>
<li>A. The New Southern General.</li>
<li>B. The Sweaty Betty.</li>
<li>C. Her Britannic Majesty Queen Elizabeth's Infirmary Gawd Bless 'Er But Did Ye Ken Folk Have Died in It? Whit! Folk Have Died in a Hospital? Unprecedented! SNPBad. The Knighthood's In The Post.</li>
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3. The SNP won 56 out of 59 seats in the UK General Election. This means Scotland is:<br />
<ul>
<li>A. A representative democracy.</li>
<li>B. A sort of representative democracy but wi' cask-strength hingers oan like the Baron Foulkes of Glenfiddich.</li>
<li>C. A one party state akin to North Korea. SNPBad</li>
</ul>
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4. The top political blog in Scotland is:<br />
<ul>
<li>A. <a href="http://derekbateman.co.uk/" target="_blank">D****k The Unmentionable Bat***n</a>.</li>
<li>B. <a href="http://wingsoverscotland.com/" target="_blank">W***s over S*******d</a> (which doesn't really exist).</li>
<li>C. <a href="http://labourhame.com/" target="_blank">LabourHame</a>. SNPBad.</li>
</ul>
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5. A Truss End Link failed on the Forth Road Bridge causing its closure in December. This was because?<br />
<ul>
<li>The bridge is old and carries much more than its design capacity.</li>
<li>The Labour-led FETA (and subsequently Transport Scotland) delayed maintenance which would close the bridge until the new bridge opens but other bits of Labour opposed the new bridge being built at all.</li>
<li>SNP MPs had a ceilidh on the bridge and bust it. SNP Bad.</li>
</ul>
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<b>How did you get on?</b><br />
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All As? - Null points but you're basically a sound North Briton and a jolly good egg, if a bit thick.<br />
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All Bs? 5/10 You're obviously bright but your critical faculties have been damaged by exposure to a separatist cult. We'd offer you a half price TV licence but you probably don't pay for one anyway.<br />
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All Cs? 10/10. You are indeed a proud, patriotic North Briton. Have a free TV licence.logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-18909512634993069862015-05-18T18:34:00.001+01:002015-05-18T18:39:32.703+01:00Tally Ho! The Tories are out to trap #Team56<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm afraid I have to disagree with the estimable Paul Kavanagh, aka Wee Ginger Dug. Paul urges that the SNP's 56 MPs should be released from the party whip and be allowed to vote with their consciences on fox hunting in England in <a href="https://weegingerdug.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/unleashing-the-dogs-of-woe/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Unleashing the dogs of woe</a>.</div>
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As I write this, I intend to argue why this is would be a monumental mistake without getting into the argument about fox hunting <i>per se</i>. There is, however, one argument from those who advocate SNP MPs voting to continue the ban on hunting in England which needs to be dealt with. That argument is that hunting with dogs is so cruel and barbaric that the ability to vote on the issue trumps every other consideration, including the SNP's long-standing position of not voting on England Only issues.</div>
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First, one has to ask why are the Tories planning to bring this legislation forward before their planned English Votes for English Laws (EVEL) legislation? The interests of a few thousand hunters are more urgent than dealing with the perceived affront to millions of English folk that their laws are, in part, decided by MPs from the other 3 nations of the UK? Of course not. They're doing it now to lay a big fat trap for the SNP and for no other reason.</div>
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The Tories have plumped to lay an issue before the SNP and, with the heady mix of poor, defenceless animals and the class emnity for the largely loathsome, upper class hunters; goad the SNP into throwing off an important principle.</div>
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Even if the SNP were to contribute to a voting down of the proposed fox hunting legislation, the Tories need only to reintroduce it once the EVEL legislation is on the statue book. So for the sake of saving a few foxes in England for a few months, the SNP would forever be open to the charge of hypocrisy. </div>
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The SNP will have to rely on the UK Government's wholesale lack of legitimacy in Scotland and will have a tough enough time using the meagre 'constitutional' conventions to protect fundamentals such as our human rights in Scotland, without throwing away any chance of being taken seriously when pleading the relative legitimacy to legislate between the Westminster and Holyrood parliaments on saving a few foxes for a few months. In no way can legislation on fox hunting in England be argued to have any knock-on effect in Scotland, budgetary or otherwise.</div>
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That said, I see no reason whatsoever why SNP MPs should not be free to speak in debates on the legislation and seek to persuade the House of Commons, as we might well do in future with any errant neighbour. Under no circumstances should they vote.</div>
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Such an emotive issue might well be just what we need to show the English left that, if you don't want the Tories (blue or red), then you have to bother your backside to organise an alternative and vote for it at general elections.</div>
logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-6022597652643301122015-04-27T11:30:00.001+01:002015-04-27T11:45:46.576+01:00The Turd Man<div style="text-align: justify;">
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I'd have preferred the night but my contact was desperate. I'd have preferred a discreet back close in Edinburgh but my contact was holed up in Glasgow. The weather had turned and I pulled the collar of my trenchcoat up against the cold as I boarded the train at Waverley. The saloon was a sea of Separatist Saltires and Common Weal See-Saws as I slid surreptitiously into my seat and screened my face with The Saturday Scotsman. My heart pounded, but my years of training in MI6 and a bottle of statins saw me through till we slid into Queen Street.<br />
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One doesn't simply dander round to JD Wetherspoons to meet McDoughnut on a mission like this. Fortunately, Glasgow has a Rickshaw Accompaniment Service made famous when Labour Imperial Master MPs drained their public expense accounts for a 20 minute photo shoot in Buchanan Street. I hired the rickshaw man to follow me so that the humble Andrew Whitaker could be steeled with Anton Karas' zither.<br />
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I deftly avoided the 2,000 strong herd of Harridans heading to meet the Heid-Harpie on the doomed Buchanan Street steps. The skirl of separatist bagpipes and the roar of bikers for indy were luckily a distant wail as I reached the pub. With some relief I saw McDoughnut had stationed two of his heavies outside and they held the door for me as I slipped inside.</div>
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My eyes slowly adjusted to the dimly lit room. Only the 2 plates stacked Ferrero-Rocher style with pork pies and doughnuts gave away the position of the Blair lair. I remembered the pass phrase.</div>
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"The Irn Bru is particularly effervescent for the time of year."</div>
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"But we shall still bribe non-University-going teenagers with a £1,890 Irn Bru Allowance". He deftly essayed the pre-arranged respose as I wiped the spray of doughnut crumbs from my trenchcoat.</div>
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As he raised another doughnut to his mouth but stopped half way, I saw his eyes narrow. Tension mounted and hands twitched under newspapers but the heavies on the door saw off the wheelchair-bound separatist suicide bomber.</div>
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McDoughnut's sidekick McTernan handed me a half sheet of A4. It was a list of a few SNP candidates and comments which could be construed as them wishing for a second referendum at some point in the future. I remonstrated "I risked my life for this pish?" I saw I'd overstepped the mark when McTernan exploded: "Call it a fucking Secret Dossier and fuck off and print it!"</div>
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I fucked off and printed it: <a href="https://archive.is/PWYyn" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Secret dossier ‘lays bare SNP push for indyref</a>', narrowly avoiding the secret (BBC®™) gathering of thousands of separatists outside.<br />
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See also <a href="http://wingsoverscotland.com/i-think-the-nazis-are-pretty-good/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wings - I think the Nazis are pretty good</a>.</div>
logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-43005246394686321192015-04-13T10:54:00.001+01:002015-04-13T11:44:07.546+01:00Nicola should grant Home Rule ... to England<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Tories parked no less than 6 Nicola Sturgeon / Alec Salmond posters outside the Labour manifesto launch this morning. Now that <a href="http://www.halcyon.com/jmashmun/npd/dsm-iv.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">psycho</a> Jim Murphy's 'biggest party forms the government' lie is well and truly <a href="http://wingsoverscotland.com/the-weight-of-evidence/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">blown out of the water</a>, is it time for Nicola to consider granting Home Rule to England?</div>
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England is apparently deadlocked, with Labour & Tories both polling around 32 - 34%. If the Tories win most seats in England, but the Left wins in the UK as a whole, we have the prospect of an 'arrangement' between parties to make Ed Miliband Prime Minister of the UK.</div>
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However, if Nicola were to stand by the long-established practice of SNP MPs not voting on England Only matters (or to set a very high bar for voting in such matters on the basis of the knock-on effect in Scotland), we have a very interesting prospect: A Prime Minister of the UK whose writ doesn't run for @ 85% of the population of the UK and in the very same House of Commons as he himself sits. Cameron would effectively become Prime Minister of England. It is conceivably within Nicola's power to create a Federal UK by effectively granting Home Rule not to Scotland (which she can't), but to England (which she very much could).</div>
logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-89928835606978206942015-04-10T09:14:00.001+01:002015-04-10T09:14:56.824+01:00Jim Murphy Saviour of the UnionProbably the classiest and funniest video you've seen since 19th September 2014.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/afRE3RwLwaE" width="480"></iframe></div>
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If this kind of stuff was on the BBC, I could almost <a href="http://logicsrock.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/adult-entertainment.html" target="_blank">renew my TV licence</a>.logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-10288935118390653712015-03-04T19:47:00.002+00:002015-03-04T19:52:27.801+00:00Demonising the Separatists - Getting Them Young<div style="text-align: justify;">
The hitherto largely RedTory and Orange Republic of North Lanarkshire has long provided a home for bigotry and Labour bullying, with parliamentary and council seats being regarded as nigh-on heritable property. However, the biscuit has now been taken. I am indebted to Am Buidheann Dubh / The Black Band (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Buidheann.Dubh" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook Link</a>) for the following photos of a Primary 7 (11 year olds) homework assignment from yesterday.</div>
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In case any readers are ready to dismiss this as a hoax (as I was tempted to do), here is the <a href="http://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=31507" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">weaselly statement and unreserved apology</a> from North Lanarkshire Council.</div>
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For non-eagle eyed readers, here is the text. </div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>TERRORISM AND TERROR</b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Case Study 1: Separatists</b></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
One example of this is NORTHERN IRELAND where the IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY (IRA) used violence in its struggle to FREE Northern Ireland from British rule and bring about unification with the Republic of Ireland. They are known as REPUBLICANS. Other groups who wanted to remain part of Britain, the LOYALISTS, set up their own terrorism networks, such as the UDA. These organisations carried out acts of violence which cause over 3000 deaths in 30 years.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Another example of separatist terrorism is in Israel. Palestinians who live in Israel believe that it is THEIR land that is being occupied by the Israelis. Wars between Israel and Palestinians over this always ended in their defeat and so they have turned to terrorist methods for over 30 years. In 1972 eight Palestinian terrorists held nine Israeli athletes hostage at the Olympic Games in Munich. All of the hostages were killed. Most recently, terrorists have carried out SUICIDE BOMBINGS on buses and public places. They are respected by their own community as MARTYRS. A solution to this extremism is hard to find.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>TERRORISM AND TERROR</b></blockquote>
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<b>Case Study: Separatists</b></blockquote>
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1. Which of the following are the TWO main terrorist groups in Northern Ireland?</blockquote>
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Al Quaeda UDA<br />
IRA Hamas</blockquote>
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2. Match the name LOYALIST or REPUBLICAN to the correct description of the group's aim.</blockquote>
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This group want N. Ireland to remain part of the UK _____________________________</blockquote>
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This group want N. Ireland to be united with the rest of Ireland ____________________</blockquote>
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3. <b>Palestinians feel that they have the RIGHT to use terrorism against the Israelis. </b>Give TWO reasons why they feel this.</blockquote>
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4. Describe TWO examples of Palestinian terrorist activities.</blockquote>
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Where to start? well, let's kick off with the heading. It’s about demonising the word “Separatists” and linking it to terrorism in the minds of the young, Separatist being the Unionist slang for a Yes Voter or SNP Supporter. I'm 50 so I’ve grown up with the IRA threat, I've also served in NI. Never have I heard them described as “Separatists”. Indeed, since their avowed aim is to rejoin the 32 counties from which they were separated by UK Govt diktat, it would be an utter misnomer.<br />
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An academic friend who is currently writing a PhD thesis on the history of the Troubles also pointed out that the UDA flirted with the idea of an independent Northern Ireland, so that would presumably utterly screw up the North Lanarkshire idea of who the "Separatists" were in that conflict.</div>
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Likewise the Palestinians, it takes some stretch of the imagination to describe the PLO or Hamas as “Separatists” and I note the wording in the preamble “Palestinians, who BELIEVE that it is THEIR land that is being occupied …” The whole World calls the West Bank and Gaza the Occupied Territories! The Palestinians don’t want to separate from a union with the Zionists, they want the Zionists to go back whence they came! I’ve never heard the PLO or Hamas described as “Separatists” before. </div>
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The IRA and the PLO - probably the 2 terrorist organisations in the world who least deserve the appellation "Separatist". This blatant propaganda has nothing to do with understanding international terrorism whatsoever and everything to do with demonising a legitimate slice of domestic Scottish public opinion.</div>
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From the logic of the preamble, all Republicans are members of the IRA, all Loyalists are members of the UDA (or similar) and all Palestinians are terrorists? As an Ex-Serviceman, I find the piece particularly galling because the state of Israel came into being after a prolonged terrorist campaign directed at the British!</div>
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Someone in North Lanarkshire deserves to be fired for this.</div>
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See Also:</div>
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STV News: <a href="http://news.stv.tv/west-central/312583-homework-on-terrorist-groups-removed-from-schools-after-complaints/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Primary homework on 'Palestinian terrorists' removed after complaints</a></div>
logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-61741317113133702302014-09-20T13:40:00.000+01:002014-09-20T13:40:43.876+01:00The Thirldom Come Hauf o' YeDreich the haar in the dim day's dawin'<br />
In the clouds, tapsalteerie in dismay.<br />
And there's still just a wee fart blawin'<br />
Through the bum cheeks o' Scots the day.<br />
Ye were feart! Cowed ahint the sofa,<br />
And at freedom, got a few keeks<br />
And ye gawped like daft wee laddies,<br />
Sulked and sat doon and kieched yer breeks.<br />
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<br />logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-7163592796596070692014-09-19T10:37:00.003+01:002014-09-19T10:37:54.032+01:00We'll grieve<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIz6kWqO-YckvlSp2MOuN6hKtysNANznwEuCB344R3odSlucK6wjcPBCw7VO3maVLIchLdDxxKpe1c6RfX9vyKb_rFHIqJTntiYCzHiR7q5alPkrkyHt_Tdr_63fGOEIYgASbDCbNKgPo/s1600/salt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIz6kWqO-YckvlSp2MOuN6hKtysNANznwEuCB344R3odSlucK6wjcPBCw7VO3maVLIchLdDxxKpe1c6RfX9vyKb_rFHIqJTntiYCzHiR7q5alPkrkyHt_Tdr_63fGOEIYgASbDCbNKgPo/s1600/salt.jpg" /></a></div>
We'll grieve, we'll get pished. And when in 8 months the Breek-Keiching Wasters are still wondering where the mythical "more powers" (far less the Devo Max) are, are reeling under the Tory / UKIP Coalition, are contemplating the exit from the EU and are trying to remember which American Corporations own which bits of NHS Scotland, we'll be back.</div>
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logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-74594362484629430242014-09-17T03:18:00.000+01:002014-09-17T07:46:02.866+01:00The Last Post<div style="text-align: justify;">
Pride is a thing I've often railed against. Anyone with the wit to type "Roddy Macdonald" "Gay" and "Pride" into Google will see that for themselves. Why the hell should one be proud of being gay? One just is. Just like how the hell should one be proud of being Scots? It is an accident of birth.</div>
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That said, I was proud on 17 July 1983 when I Passed Out as a soldier in the Intelligence Corps, thankful that we had the band of the Royal Irish Rangers - I don't care which part of these islands you're from, Killaloe is a magical tune to pass out to! I was proud to play General Jim (to us Jocks), General Sir Michael Gow, the last soldier serving in the British Army to have served in the Second World War (and a great grand nephew of Niel Gow, the fiddle maestro) out of the Army with a tune he had commissioned from Pipe Major Gavin Stoddart for a friend of his and mine, Colonel Charlie Workman.* I was proud in 1985 when I passed out at Sandhurst, but not as proud as when my Grampa gave me an actual Malt afterwards, and not a wee snifter of one of his many bottles of White Horse. I was always a bookish kind of chap and the serious shit infantry stuff had been a sair fecht, but I got through it, with more than a little help from my friends.</div>
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After that, being commissioned 4 years later into the RAF was fairly routine. That insidious bit of pride never hit again till after that most Scottish of things, the <a href="http://derekbateman.co.uk/2013/11/18/the-fif/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fuck-it Factor</a>, kicked in. Faced with a less than tolerable present spending my life having to lie about who or what I was and the relatively scary prospect of chucking away a very promising Military career, I said, Fuck it. At the last minute I decided to pick a fight. 12 years later I won it. This is the only puss I have to shave in the morning and I discovered that being Scots is not an ethnicity, it is an attitude of mind. </div>
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The pride didn't kick in till a few months later in Sandy Bell's bar when I met the man from whom this Blog's work takes it name. On being introduced, I told him I was honoured to meet him. Being Hamish, he knew what I was going through and he immediately said, "No, I'm honoured to meet you." </div>
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This man had spent much of the Second World War serving with my teachers at Queen Victoria School (people I had grown up respecting utterly) in the 8th Army and he said that. While the British Establishment worked out what the hell to do with me, I spent a whole year on "Uphill Gardening" leave on full salary and Hamish and I spent many a Wednesday afternoon with an obscenity of Lagavulin, me listening intently to his reminiscences and the pair of us setting the World to rights.</div>
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I never felt proud of being a Scot until the laughable entity that is the Naw Campaign came up with the ProudScotBut®™ nonsense. If you want to be able to look at yourself in the mirror on Friday morning, there are nae buts about it, voting Yes on Thursday is the only way it's possible. I'm now a Proud Scot.<br />
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Prosaically, I've got a shedload of work to do tomorrow in my day job and I'm up at 5 am on Thursday to help another friend of Hamish's to put out Yes Scotland boards outside Polling Stations. Jings! I hope I have her energy and commitment when I'm her age! So this is The Last Post. Vote Yes, you know it's the right thing to do. I'll leave you with a video of Doli and Hamish singing and a footnote.<br />
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Click the <a href="http://ssa.nls.uk/film/2235" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">link</a>, listen and think.<br />
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* I've read some tosh about a Yes Vote being 'Anti-English'. General Jim was the oldest officer in the British Army when I was a young soldier. The oldest soldier was WO1 Jan Hol, also of the Intelligence Corps, and a languages Don at Canterbury University. The two were great friends and both had served in WW2. The only slight difference was that Jan was pressed into service in the Belgian SS at age 16 by the Nazis. Think about that kind of friendship when you read <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/11093425/Scottish-referendum-Scottish-soldiers-have-died-to-keep-the-UK-together.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">horseshit like this</a> from an arse-kissing Politician purporting to have been a Soldier, which must rank as the most shameful article of the whole indyref.<br />
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logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-48227498603117152492014-09-16T20:13:00.003+01:002014-09-16T20:51:24.455+01:00The "Vow" UnravelsMost people know vows in terms of "till death do us part". The "Vow" for Devo-Something-ish has barely lasted 24 hours.<br />
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The Telegraph<br />
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<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/11098825/David-Cameron-faces-Tory-bloodbath-over-unfair-cash-for-Scotland.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">David Cameron faces Tory 'bloodbath' over 'unfair' cash for Scotland</a></h1>
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Tory backbenchers vow to block 'on the hoof' promise to sustain higher Scottish funding</h2>
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The Evening Standard</div>
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<a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/scotland-independence-vote-cameron-miliband-clegg-face-anger-over-taxpayers-cash-9735431.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Party leaders face fury of MPs over pledge to keep extra funding for Scotland</a></h1>
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The New Statesman</div>
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<a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/09/leaders-vow-power-scotland-already-unravelling" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Is the leaders' vow of power to Scotland already unravelling?</a></h1>
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A right Barnett barny.<br />
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You couldn't make it up!<br />
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logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-89438494621416910522014-09-15T17:19:00.003+01:002014-09-15T19:23:14.453+01:00Her Majesty urges Scots to ignore Labour pleas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yesterday at Crathie Parish Church, Her Majesty The Queen urged Scots not to listen to Scottish Labour. In a direct contradiction of their "Don't Know? Vote No" campaign, Her Majesty expressed the hope that "voters will think very carefully about the future".</div>
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Scottish Labour has a long history of treating their supporters as ignorant ballot fodder and their latest campaign for a No vote urges undecided voters not to bother reading up on the issues before deciding, but to blindly vote No.</div>
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It has long been known that the more voters think about the future and engage with the debate, the more likely they are to vote Yes, and this has recently been confirmed by <a href="http://www.newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-news/9709-undecided-voters-with-more-info-favour-yes-according-to-new-study" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">an academic study by Edinburgh University</a>.<br />
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Better Together's strategy of attempting to turn voters off from engaging with the issues, repeatedly failing to turn up to public debates and events at the last minute and trying to frighten voters with ever more ludicrous scare stories, coupled with their expectation that their loyal Labour ballot fodder would simply roll out and vote down independence has led them to conduct the most <a href="http://logicsrock.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/david-cameron-on-scottish-independence.html" target="_blank">complacent</a> and inept political campaign in modern history. Unionists are consequently in full-blown panic mode.<br />
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The Labour ballot fodder is no longer there in sufficient numbers as most Scots have loyally followed their Sovereign's advice over the last 2 years and thought extremely carefully about the future before concluding that a Yes vote offers the best future.</div>
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It is not known yet whether Labour will be cowed into desisting from encouraging ignorance among their supporters, following this indirect expression of the Sovereign's displeasure. Some of the campaign material which may have to be withdrawn includes insulting personalized letters and posters.</div>
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logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-67935809422469650132014-09-13T10:00:00.002+01:002014-09-13T18:53:37.221+01:00Holy Cow! Herald Editor in Damascene Conversion?<div style="text-align: justify;">
Magnus Gardham of The Herald has not half spouted some tosh during this campaign, but unless there has been a cock-up in the bye line department, <a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/columnists/all-to-play-for-in-the-final-days-of-debate.25291381" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this editorial</a> must be a contender for Damascene Conversion of the Century!</div>
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<b>All to play for in the final days of debate </b><br />
Magnus Gardham
Political Editor<br />
Saturday 13 September 2014<br />
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Braveheart will not be shown on TV until after the referendum, and thank heavens for small mercies.
Star and director Mel Gibson himself notes that the film is a "historical fantasy" and shouldn't be taken as the accurate portrayal of Wallace's life. And it isn't even as an accurate barometer for Scottish independence, it's a movie not a history lesson. And the battle today is about the future. </div>
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I was glad to see Ed Miliband and David Cameron looking more and more like Matt McGinn's Two Heided Man. It might convince any Labour voters out there they would just be getting more of the same. It started with Thatcher, then the betrayal of New Labour, which brought us here in the first place. </div>
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In 1979 we had the chance of change. We voted yes and not only got nothing, but our industries were forced to close and the privatisation of our services started. Electric and gas suppliers. Phone. Prison service. Bus and train services. The Royal Mail. And don't forget the 6,000sq nautical miles of Scottish waters now are under Westminster control. All done without the consultation or permission of the people of Scotland. And don't even get me started on the fracking licence for Loch Lomond that's lurking ominously in the shadows. </div>
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Now we have the political parties down south asking the populace to "phone a friend", this is the new gameshow for MPs. "We want to stay millionaires", and the media are in cahoots down here , asking people to make the democratic choice for their Scottish friends by phoning them up and telling them to vote No! If this is love-bombing, I'd hate to see them bare their fangs. </div>
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Better Together claiming the NHS is safe reflects the last line of Animal Farm, as they all have their snouts in the trough. "The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which." </div>
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Mind you, as Johann Lamont, leader of the Labour Party in Scotland, has already stated: "Scots are not genetically programmed to make political decisions." </div>
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The UK is set to lose £1,600 billion from Scotland's larder per year. That is why they want to keep us, and keep us in our place. </div>
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And Dave, it's not an election, it's a referendum. We know what a referendum is. Scotland has been talking about it for about three years more than you have. And many of us know that the result is for ever, so we can kick the "Effing Tories" as you said so patronisingly in your speech, delivered to your slavering sycophantic supporters, and not the real people in the street. </div>
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It's a chance to live in a country whose politics reflect the will of the people of that country. And William Hague admitted at PMQ's that same day: "Giving Scotland more powers if it votes no is not Government policy". </div>
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Gordon Brown says proposals, proposals, proposals. He can propose all he likes, but he can provide NOTHING. At least the timetable at my local train station tells me when the train is coming. </div>
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Do these proposals also include a promise to an end to boom and bust? If not, why not ? </div>
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Yet again, jam tomorrow: no idea what size of jar, no idea what flavour, but history tells us it will leave a bad taste in the mouth. </div>
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How many more vulnerable people are going to commit suicide due to welfare cuts? </div>
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How many more foodbanks are going to be opened? </div>
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How many more people are going to have to decide this winter between heating or eating? </div>
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How many more illegal wars are we going to be dragged into? </div>
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How many more of us are going to just ignore it and stay in a zombified trance? </div>
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How many more of us are starting to realise "It doesn't have to be like this in Scotland?" </div>
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When a Westminster Government has barefaced lied and lied to us for generations, why would they expect us to believe more lies? </div>
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If I was non-British living in this country I'd be upset about Better Together and Westminster's use of the term "foreigner" all the time. As if being "foreign" is an awful thing. </div>
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And wanting to put borders up too. Disgraceful.
All day on the news, Labour politicians have been saying the SNP are going to promise the world. They seem so out of touch. Every day out campaigning, speaking to people about the referendum and independence for Scotland, no-one in the Yes campaign talks about the SNP. They are not mentioned. </div>
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The people of Scotland understand, what Labour cannot grasp, that this is not about one political party it is about independence for Scotland. </div>
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Scotland is a country in its own right but we do not have full powers to run it ourselves. This is a democratic process and the people have the right to vote for or against staying under Westminster rule, and abide by their legislation. At least 50 per cent of the electorate in Scotland want to be Independent which shows 50 per cent plus are unhappy being part of the United Kingdom. </div>
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It is not just SNP supporters but Labour, LibDems, Greens and people from all walks of life, doctors, teachers, business people and so on who want this. Let Scotland go in peace if that is what we decide. People who have felt disenfranchised for years have woken up, there has been voter registrations all over the schemes of Scotland, queues stretching around the block of people wanting to have their say. People who haven't even bothered with politics for generations, they are waking up, they are questioning WHY are we like this, is this as good as it gets? How can we change it? </div>
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It is a referendum for No to lose, not for Yes to win. And No hopefully have lost it with its arrogance, cynicism, scaremongering, negativity and pure laziness. </div>
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The scare stories are getting ridiculous. Next thing it will be "Asteroid hits Earth if Scotland votes for Independence" or "IS to base HQ in Drumchapel if Scotland votes Yes". We are not children, stop trying to frighten us. </div>
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This has been the most negative, fear-driven and insulting political campaign in modern history, and should be treated with nothing other than the total contempt it so richly deserves. </div>
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The Scots have long memories. And the main culprits, no matter the result, shall suffer.
An entire nation has been rising to its feet before the world and your actions may make them whimper "Sorry! We can't do it!" before sitting mutely and meekly back down to be a global laughing stock. </div>
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What effect did the Cameron /Miliband/ Clegg/Prescott jaunt to Scotland achieve for the Yes campaign on Facebook?
Exactly 24 hours ago before the four horsemen of the Nawpocalypse arrived there were 263,087 followers on Yes Scotland. There were 5,333 more, at 5pm that evening, while the NO Thanks page had lost members. </div>
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More people, when they find out the facts, are switching to a Yes. Inform and spread a positive message, hope always wins over fear. </div>
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The rest of the UK can also look to these actions and stand up and be counted as well. We shall be there for them, Scotland will not let them stand alone if we leave the Union. They are still our friends and neighbours and we can show them the way to change is through following example. </div>
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Scotland will be doing the whole of the UK a big favour by voting yes if it brings to an end the political cartel that has been governing us for the last few decades.
The Saltire is now flying over 10 Downing Street (and even the flag protested!), </div>
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If it's a No vote it will be folded up and put back in its box. Just like Scotland. </div>
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Which form of governance do you trust more with your future?<br />
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Westminster politics or one you can have a hand and a voice in shaping for yourself? </div>
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If it's a Yes vote, we may have shot ourselves in the foot for a short while before we re-emerge stronger. </div>
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If it's a No, the bullet will be straight through the head and fired by Westminster.<br />
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Edit: <a href="https://archive.today/TC8va" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">This was the original article</a>. <a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/columnists/all-to-play-for-in-the-final-days-of-debate.25291381" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Now altered to this</a>.</div>
logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-5254470694110622732014-09-13T07:28:00.001+01:002014-09-13T08:25:07.658+01:00Hold ... Hoooold ... Raise the Lancets!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiuOyAACBWAJQhFOONYh0zmt6ir-V2V6woonfu51wDKojRYoync7kd4klNOefEGI6JBL1z_LPD8QjCk-pVtOxrj5Tw9IFswdiHNy4dqBuwYB_drUSA7XnTycqvV1WrNOTZaZj9YMcPmxg/s1600/Braveheart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiuOyAACBWAJQhFOONYh0zmt6ir-V2V6woonfu51wDKojRYoync7kd4klNOefEGI6JBL1z_LPD8QjCk-pVtOxrj5Tw9IFswdiHNy4dqBuwYB_drUSA7XnTycqvV1WrNOTZaZj9YMcPmxg/s1600/Braveheart.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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Forget the Hollywood tosh and schiltroms of pikes twice as long as a man. The most powerful argument for independence is wielded in The Lancet.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4r1_Tp4AfjvVrKl2gCKlJkPLPU0YS0IgFT2pcZ1mU26xLMshwWWZ3o3qq0oW7Yr_dVHHZi_tkDTrXgiCydmdtCI-yOnR_55jncj9T-A6ddlWxXiYbLNmjIGKizpTkxz1pxJJbJ_gZBus/s1600/thelancet.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4r1_Tp4AfjvVrKl2gCKlJkPLPU0YS0IgFT2pcZ1mU26xLMshwWWZ3o3qq0oW7Yr_dVHHZi_tkDTrXgiCydmdtCI-yOnR_55jncj9T-A6ddlWxXiYbLNmjIGKizpTkxz1pxJJbJ_gZBus/s1600/thelancet.gif" height="50" width="320" /></a></div>
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A threat though it is, the widespread privatization of NHS England is not the greatest threat to NHS Scotland. The greatest threat to not only NHS Scotland, but other Scottish public services is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transatlantic_Trade_and_Investment_Partnership" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)</a>. This treaty, currently in negotiation by the US and EU would open up all public services to Corporate competition and give Corporations the right to sue a government if it doesn't open up all services to private competition.</div>
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Both the UK Tories and Labour, well known to be in the pockets of international corporations, support the TTIP and refuse to negotiate exceptions for our NHS. Indeed, David Cameron's man in Brussels working on the treaty, Lord Hill, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/09/11/lord-hill-eu-financial-services-ttip_n_5802886.html?utm_hp_ref=tw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">is knee deep in healthcare privatization interests</a>.</div>
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Foreign Affairs and International Trade are Reserved Powers under devolution. The Scottish Parliament can do nothing to protect NHS Scotland when the UK Government signs up to TTIP later this year and opens the door to selling off bits of our NHS. Only with the full powers of independence can we protect the jewel in the crown of our public services. For fairness, I should declare an interest. I work as a General Practice Manager in the NHS.</div>
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<a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2814%2961408-2/fulltext?rss=yes" target="_blank">You can read the articles in The Lancet here</a> and <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)61492-6/fulltext" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-31540993473334234702014-09-12T14:39:00.001+01:002014-09-12T14:40:06.491+01:00Harmonies in Chaos<div style="text-align: justify;">
A film by Tommy Slack featuring Bobby Nicholson hearing from Scottish musicians from various genres what independence means to them.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFM2ZW9dfhKPJLv_VWCqHYwbeKBO7EF2uoNP4PXCuQUnHOxYTQzdNRdFWw6yRwO84hNbhJ6_cKUS41V9LL_Ei5PXDm33UN4WGAV9koOwTErURb_vA_eHGAZar8_uwHzE-ILp-woynyVco/s1600/Scottish+Independence++++Harmonies+in+Chaos++documentary+++YouTube.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFM2ZW9dfhKPJLv_VWCqHYwbeKBO7EF2uoNP4PXCuQUnHOxYTQzdNRdFWw6yRwO84hNbhJ6_cKUS41V9LL_Ei5PXDm33UN4WGAV9koOwTErURb_vA_eHGAZar8_uwHzE-ILp-woynyVco/s1600/Scottish+Independence++++Harmonies+in+Chaos++documentary+++YouTube.png" height="170" width="400" /></a></div>
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logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-33385802636533097752014-09-11T13:19:00.000+01:002014-09-11T15:10:25.452+01:00Jam Today<h2>
42 jars of Sainsbury's Basics Strawberry Jam. £ 12.60</h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn6rhLysoTsMPy7zKxuAk_HjYLE9x1DBtaoYExzCcPemg3C2qK-ue-nYPSv4xVbMUTdow_we1ri1-NKeZKE5IrLgmnTkgfHhBnmN1BrRmhwFV-qU1uNyCIJjXrfwja7waRHqosGLi225k/s1600/sainsbasic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn6rhLysoTsMPy7zKxuAk_HjYLE9x1DBtaoYExzCcPemg3C2qK-ue-nYPSv4xVbMUTdow_we1ri1-NKeZKE5IrLgmnTkgfHhBnmN1BrRmhwFV-qU1uNyCIJjXrfwja7waRHqosGLi225k/s1600/sainsbasic.jpg" height="200" width="108" /></a></div>
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Printing out this leaflet: A few pence.</h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyZIqNc8d72YcjYjhsoY6fvD2AlpLd4uqBxwGYu2kCiOUC7uxvyH-6cVbBX5rHGckjrEx4ge4vgJeyXNW8Za7No2EWQNwTRwT4ebnLPivoKZBeidEMa6_Lgue_QWTvHZyMls3LgyaytXY/s1600/20140911_130242.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyZIqNc8d72YcjYjhsoY6fvD2AlpLd4uqBxwGYu2kCiOUC7uxvyH-6cVbBX5rHGckjrEx4ge4vgJeyXNW8Za7No2EWQNwTRwT4ebnLPivoKZBeidEMa6_Lgue_QWTvHZyMls3LgyaytXY/s1600/20140911_130242.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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Wrapping the leaflets round the jam and giving one to every house on my street: Priceless!</h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHacnK8JM-9lPa-dXbxPor6_2rcBGHcSyO57n7TjALuZDMe-FAC9cQ4PMDiD2pGsoToECdbp4qRdMedI8c_RhxUy7hxeuF4QNTI37d6V5T7D0SZDkRt_jrsKZeDlkaw70LLa_QSNKimM/s1600/20140911_130317.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHacnK8JM-9lPa-dXbxPor6_2rcBGHcSyO57n7TjALuZDMe-FAC9cQ4PMDiD2pGsoToECdbp4qRdMedI8c_RhxUy7hxeuF4QNTI37d6V5T7D0SZDkRt_jrsKZeDlkaw70LLa_QSNKimM/s1600/20140911_130317.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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Ready for the off</div>
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logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-79269012945649933122014-09-09T05:12:00.002+01:002014-09-09T05:29:59.305+01:00Those Gordon Brown "More Powers" listed in full.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCoD8pJcbi1h8LfcSAmV_ZD18S4oVmgFYLfdZGpI6R0YhOOyYg6hXS3lMjwfKsgngIy7PvDpfexmPf7z7jelMlQs6OoIeO3szJKWuYTs4iSiDG-ZA5PMph1IfXgRQCBwfbX-lzyMLkHxk/s1600/primementalist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCoD8pJcbi1h8LfcSAmV_ZD18S4oVmgFYLfdZGpI6R0YhOOyYg6hXS3lMjwfKsgngIy7PvDpfexmPf7z7jelMlQs6OoIeO3szJKWuYTs4iSiDG-ZA5PMph1IfXgRQCBwfbX-lzyMLkHxk/s1600/primementalist.jpg" height="155" width="320" /></a></div>
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Yesterday an absentee backbench Labour MP, hardly seen at Westminster for four years and with no power to promise anything was given 50 minutes of prime time BBC News channel time as he spoke to an invited audience in Loanhead.</div>
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He outlined a "timetable" to more powers for the Scottish Parliament, despite there being no agreement whatsoever between the 3 UK Westminster parties as to what, if any, further powers should be <b>devolved</b> to Scotland. Devolved powers can, of course, be revoked at any time; even by the un-elected House of Lords, as they did in 2013 when they took back power over <a href="http://newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-politics/8428-fury-after-unelected-peers-strip-power-from-scotland" target="_blank">Scottish renewable energy</a>.</div>
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The New Powers for Scotland promised by Gordon Brown yesterday are illustrated below:</div>
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That's right: none, nada, zilch. This from the man who only as recently as June was calling for Scotland's education system, which has been independent throughout the Union, to be <a href="http://www.weourselves.com/brown-calls-for-the-scrapping-of-scottish-education/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">brought under Westminster control</a>. We've been here before, folks. Remember 1979? Scotland will not fall for Jam Tomorrow again.</div>
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logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-30963742111897009052014-09-08T11:11:00.002+01:002014-09-08T11:12:31.313+01:00Shorag<div style="text-align: justify;">
Turn on your sound, click the video, set it to full screen and let the gorgeous music of Aidan O'Rourke and the beautiful images soothe away any thoughts of Royal foetal wittering.</div>
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/105493416">Shorag</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/creag">Craig Mackay</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-89089751773591843922014-09-07T17:04:00.000+01:002014-09-09T05:55:54.523+01:00I see you keep a bee and why Yessers should thank JK Rowling.<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm minded of a delightful wee story that does the rounds about the late accordion supremo, Jimmy Shand. As he and his band toured the country, B&B landladies would compete for the kudos of having Jimmy stay at their establishment. Those in the know knew that he adored toast and honey with his breakfast. They would seek out pots of exotic honey to serve to him. However, one unfortunate landlady wasn't 'in the know'. When he asked if she had any honey, she rummaged around the kitchen and eventually produced one of these:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPHX2SRh2F0NXh5y8yK3DOnhq5V2PjyctenQ6hE-J2hrsiHVgsPYoIjDmuyFD3wUFHIDhwH-dKtdQUaZwqmC-lPEPmacCUIeigHGetVcRHekqM6mJysLlHK4QlcpoiUeyHPjDkcJ20eWM/s1600/honey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPHX2SRh2F0NXh5y8yK3DOnhq5V2PjyctenQ6hE-J2hrsiHVgsPYoIjDmuyFD3wUFHIDhwH-dKtdQUaZwqmC-lPEPmacCUIeigHGetVcRHekqM6mJysLlHK4QlcpoiUeyHPjDkcJ20eWM/s1600/honey.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
He examined it disdainfully before remarking "Ah, I see you keep a bee."<br />
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According to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/sep/07/scotland-powers-george-osborne-support-parties" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Observer</a>, and in an attempt to stave off the total meltdown of Better Together / UKOK / Project Fear / No Thanks / United With Labour or whatever they're calling themselves this week, word is that nice Mr Osborne is about to offer us the epitome of Jam Tomorrow. If you're expecting something exotic like Fortnum & Mason's <a href="http://www.fortnumandmason.com/p-5358-strawberry-rose-preserve-fortnum-mason.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Strawberry & Rose Preserve</a> (£12.95 for a 340g jar), I suspect you'll be disappointed and remarking "Ah, I see you keep a strawberry".</div>
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Despite being in the purdah period, with thousands of postal ballots already having been cast, Osborne is alleged to be cobbling together some sort of Devo Max to offer the Scottish People at the last gasp. The very same Devo Max that Labour, Tories and the Lib Dems rejected out of hand and moved heaven and earth to keep off the ballot paper.<br />
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However, sensing that no-one is listening to the Unionist politicians any more, largely because we just don't believe a word they say, bizarrely, Better Together turned to a <i>bona fide</i> author of fantasy fiction to get the word out there, along with an excuse for a "call for calm" as, apparently, the referendum campaign turns "nasty", presumably a reference to one rabble-rousing politician being egged.</div>
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Now I do wish Yes Supporters would not attack JK Rowling. In fairness, from looking at her Twitter Feed it seems a couple of folk suggested yesterday that she should hang her head in shame for donating to Better Together. Hardly a vicious attack.</div>
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I met Jo Rowling for the first time a couple of weeks ago and she strikes me as a lovely lady. She has every right to donate to whomever she wishes. In fact, I think <b>Yes Supporters should positively thank her</b> for donating to Better Together. Without that £1M would Better Together have had the money to pay M&C Saatchi for the misogynistic masterpiece that was <a href="http://logicsrock.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/women-spot-difference.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Patronising BT Lady</a> that has driven Scotswomen to Yes in droves?</div>
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Being a lovely lady and an accomplished author does not preclude her being mistaken, however. But just as we Scots are highly unlikely to take advice about politics from footballers, we should think twice about taking it from other celebrities.</div>
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Ahem, From The Scotsman 2 Mar 2012: <b><a href="http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/scottish-labour-johann-lamont-rejects-devo-max-option-1-2149370" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Scottish Labour: Johann Lamont rejects devo-max option</a></b></div>
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It's often been said that Better Together's strategy has been to turn people off from the debate as they have nothing to offer. Their best hope was to campaign for apathy and hope their loyal, Labour, ballot fodder would turn out to vote down independence, despite having seen that ballot fodder desert them in 2011. It's taken until the polls turned 2 weeks before the referendum for them to realise they have to engage folk and the more folk are engaged, the more they'll think for themselves and the more they'll turn to Yes. Of course we Yessers should thank JK Rowling for her donation to Better Together.</div>
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While we're on about donations, Dateline Scotland didn't ask for enough money and are skint. There's only 15 hours to go on their fundraiser. <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/dateline-scotland/x/4032102" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Go on, keep the fun going right up to 18 Sep</a>!</div>
logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-21051532203709579332014-08-29T19:49:00.003+01:002014-08-29T19:49:32.723+01:00Threat LevelThe <b>Better Together / Project Fear</b> Threat Level for Scotland has been raised to <b>Keich Yer Breeks</b>.<br />
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<br />logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-14601212831269949712014-08-26T19:56:00.003+01:002014-09-03T06:48:39.718+01:00Women! Spot the DifferenceI can't really.<br />
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It already has its own hilarious hashtag on Twitter: #PatronisingBTLady<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8_28uUOKuH0RrLmwWS_uAVGFzN0RTajKKd6Gwnkoe2jBrPYMpHtLBhpfQlVyxsRiw0cFCkj01P0rOFEn3KTrd6nCuu7cftZK3SqFKbNQnh4cEcez9huTIZbwrUggY69Vf-NEXECSB4QM/s1600/patbtlady2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8_28uUOKuH0RrLmwWS_uAVGFzN0RTajKKd6Gwnkoe2jBrPYMpHtLBhpfQlVyxsRiw0cFCkj01P0rOFEn3KTrd6nCuu7cftZK3SqFKbNQnh4cEcez9huTIZbwrUggY69Vf-NEXECSB4QM/s1600/patbtlady2.jpg" height="210" width="400" /></a></div>
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Compare and contrast with <a href="http://logicsrock.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/mrs-barbours-army-lives.html" target="_blank">Mrs Barbour's Army Lives</a>!</div>
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logicsrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01003688864564018437noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2864266552229693539.post-7106654929637111652014-08-25T22:16:00.002+01:002014-08-26T01:21:55.350+01:00Mrs Barbour's Army Lives!<div style="text-align: justify;">
Alex Salmond was much more on the ball tonight, even if I was screaming at the telly willing him to point out that oil revenues had been down for the last couple of years due to the huge investment in the massive new resources of the Atlantic Ridge.</div>
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But the stars of tonight were the 2 great Scotswomen in the audience who were taking no messing from Darling and didn't pull any punches.</div>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Barbour" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mrs Barbour</a>'s Army is alive and well!<br />
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<span style="background-color: #f5f8fa; color: #292f33; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: start; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Yes fighting for Scotland, No fighting for their jobs"</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mary Barbour</td></tr>
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