Well it took longer than we had originally thought, but we are now in our new house in South Ayrshire. There was a problem with the title deeds for our new place which our solicitor had to sort out before the sale could be finalised, and as a result we had to spend an extra week in a temporary flat where we had no internet connection. We finally got into the new place on Friday and spent the weekend moving packing cases about and wondering where we’d put the kettle and the bedding and everything else that we are going to need in the short term.
Internet has now been reconnected but until we can get some more hubs to extend it reliably throughout the house it’s patchy and slow. All going well that will be sorted out over the coming weekend. So, fingers crossed normal blogging service will be resumed next week. This week we are concentrating on getting our new home comfortable and habitable until the renovation work we want can be done and then we can get the place decorated. However it’s already a huge relief to be able to get in the front door without having to shift my reluctant limbs up two flights of concrete stairs in a freezing close. It’s also great to be able to have a shower which I can get in and out of easily. Once we get the planned renovation work done I will have a bathroom that’s fully suited to my reduced mobility.
It’s also wonderful to have a garden, so when the weather improves we will have a nice wee bit of outdoor space to sit in. I’ve identified a nice wee south facing spot in the new garden where we plan to bury Ginger’s ashes – so he’ll spend eternity in a nice sunny place where he will always be with his daddy. He’d have wanted that.
Thank you to all regular, and occasional, readers for your patience during my enforced absence. Normal ranting service will be resumed on Monday. This will be a crucial year for Scottish independence, and you can be certain that I am not going to miss it. It’s great to be here in South Ayrshire, and both Peter and I know that we are going to be very happy here.
You can help to support this blog with a PayPal donation. Please log into Paypal.com and send a payment to the email address weegingerbook@yahoo.com. Or alternatively click the donate button. If you don’t have a PayPal account, just select “donate with card” after clicking the button.
Wee Ginger Dug 
You have been missed Paul. Glad to see you back. X
Wonderful! I’ve missed you. I know you’re going to be happy with Peter in your lovely house. Best wishes!
Great to see you’re back Paul. Looking forward to reading that razor-sharp wit again!
Fantastic! Very happy for you both.
Welcome to your new home.
WGD never forgotten!
Sounds perfect.
It will be spring before you know it.
Great news! You sure picked a wild time to flit. But hope the house will soon be comfy and Wee Ginger is laid to rest.
We have been talking amongst ourselves – mostly on topic. Looking forward to the next scintillating article.
Glad to see the two of you getting settled into your new home. As you will know the unionist fervour is gathering apace, so we will be looking forward to reading your usual glorious take on this increasingly weird world we have to inhabit.
Lovely that you’ve both settled into your new home and life will be easier.
But don’t work too hard!
Come back slowly
Great to hear you are settling in. I m with P J Harvety though, an easy re-entry to your inimitbable style would probably be best for both you and your readership. I expect I am not alone in expecting and hoping that you will be here for the very long term!
Best wishes.
Excellent news. Best wishes for continued progress.
Good to hear all is well and you have completed your move.
Looking forward to Monday
Good news you’ve finally got into your and Peters’ new home! So glad Ginger moved with you and will have a beautiful sunny garden to rest in and keep you company. You never know when He’ll give you ideas for one of your famous rants!! Looking forward to that! Still take care and do not push yourself to much Paul. Much love and happiness in your new home. XX
[…] Wee Ginger Dug Normal blogging service is (about to be) resumed Well it took longer than we had originally thought, but we are now in our new house […]
Great news Paul, so pleased to hear it. Onwards.
All the best , new location , new chapter and a more manageable situation .
Good to have you back; its been kinda humourless on-line these past few weeks without your wit and charm to put things into perspective. You may come to regret having the ‘net installed though; so suggest you spend more time in the garden than online for the good of your sanity, if not your health. And aye, I’m taking the same advice to heart and unbelievable as it sounds, have actually enjoyed going out in the snow recently.
As for missing out on Scottish independence, at this point I’m missing more not being able to have a hot bath as theres only a shower here, which unfortunately takes up all the space. On the plus side, we’ve both got a south facing garden so roll on a warmer summer…
So pleased for you both. To have a door sounds like such a relief and to have a garden – double bonus. Gardens are good for the soul. You will enjoy it more than you can imagine right now. Keeping getting well.
Ach. Take your time Paul.
There’s nothing much been going on. 😁
Really pleased for you both and looking forward to your rants!
Take your time, settle in and see to Ginger’s final resting place. Good to hear your ready to hit the keyboard again.
Best wishes in your new home. Hope the renovations go smoothly! So pleased to hear you have Ginger with you in his little garden heaven.
X
Great news. Take it easy, enjoy your new home, and, when you have a moment, buy some seeds in, a few easy to grow veg in summer, lettuce and courgettes. Can be grown in pots.
Yeah, wee Ginger, a nice resting place. X
So sad to hear Ginger is gone. However, knowing his ashes will be near you is comforting.
So good to have back Paul.
All the best, Paul. I’m looking forward to your great rants. I’m sure you and Peter are going to be very happy in your new place.
Have you found the corkscrew yet?
We still can’t find half the kitchen stuff
Had a friend who moved house 2 weeks ago, and he said the best advice he received – which was from me- was to pack the kettle and coffee in the car
Brilliant news, Paul & Peter, you know we have all missed your rants, yeah, but more your insight and clear view. Enjoy the settling in, it’s hectic but fun.
Welcome back.Missed your sanity and wit with the recent red herring stuff going on.You will have plenty to comment on over the next few weeks !
That’s nice about the dug.I bought a stone toadstool from a garden centre to mark the spot where my beloved cat Clyde was buried.
Hope we get lots of sunshine this summer as we will be holidaying at home !Cheers.x
Great to read a post from you again. Be safe and enjoy your new beginning. I look forward to reading your thoughts next week.
Relief all round. You’ve moved. Now you can get on with informing us the relevant bits.
Well done all round.
All the best in your new home, I hope you will both be very happy there.
So glad to hear you are moved in & partly settled. All the best to you & Peter in your new home. Looking forward to reading all your blogs soon. Take care Aileen😃
Welcome back Paul… you were sorely missed.
p.s. I noticed you typed that entire piece without a single typo…a sure sign you’re well on the road to a sound recovery.
Great to see you back!!!! Just in time too! Dare I suggest a
piece appealing for moderation in the Current Civil War in SNP leadership? I fear State divide and conquer tactics are going to rip us apart and destroy the chance of INDY just as our Goal is in sight! We need a sensible voice like yours to settle the waters. I do think an inquiry is needed but let use it to help create a more open, honest and fair System after we have attained Scottish Independence. Egos are damaging our chances right now.
Welcome to South Ayrshire! We are two years ahead of you in relocating here, and reckon it’s the best move we ever made. Once the by-pass is completed, Maybole will flourish, hopefully under an Indy Government!
Great stuff, and I hope that you both enjoy your new home!
There’s not much wrong with a person who loved a pet animal as much as you loved Ginger!
Great news.
Welcome back Paul, you have been missed. Wishing you both all the very best of luck in the new house.
Strength and happiness to you both, take yir time settling in, and then we can all settle up, because Now Is The Time.
Welcome to Ayrshire, Paul and Peter. Glad you were able to bring Ginger with you, so you can sit in your new garden beside his sunny spot.
Best wishes in your new home Paul. Looking forward to your blogs.
Yaayyy!!! Bet you’re more than glad and a half. All the best.
Hope with all my heart you have a happy future in your new home. A wee tear in my eye re Ginger but it’s a comfort. I lost my feline in the summer and it’s a big miss. Go well in the future. 👍
Can’t believe how much I missed your blogs. Kindest regards . Will contribute next pension day
Glad to hear you’ve finally moved in, hope the renovations and decorating go smoothly and you can settle down to your new life in style.
So pleased you’ve got a spot picked for Ginger, gone but never forgotten
This independence ‘thing’ doesn’t half play havoc with your blood pressure when you have to listen to and read all the rubbish that pours out of certain quarters, so take it very easy to begin with and enjoy that garden once the sun begins to warm us up again. And remember us all to Ginger when you find that wee spot for him.
Well done Paul. Missed your writings, but I knew you were having a struggle. Very good to see your new post. Vive Free Scotland! Keep sluggin’, good bro!
Good to hear, man. We’ve all missed your acerbic wit and acute observations. Yoons be Yooning though. Best of luck in the new hoose.
So glad to have you back. We have missed you so much. Hope all your renovations go well. Love that you took wee Ginger’s ashes with you.
Now we have our voice of sanity and reason back.
Just great that you are feeling well enough to get stuck in to the coming campaign..your house and garden sound just the place for you to recover your full health….you sound strong and happy. Remember to pace yourself.
How lovely to get your news !
Happy new home to you both and delighted that there is a sunny spot for the no so wee Ginger.
Enjoy being able to get out into the fresh air with little effort .
Luke 15:11-32
The Prodigal Son returns:-
“Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.”
Great news Paul, Peter.
No rush, mind.
What have you missed ? Apparently Scotland is too wee too poor and too stupid, and England’s citizens gave us £10 billion to tackle Covid which 125 Brit squaddies beat on their own. Oh, yes, and now is not the time for Indyref 2 which Scots don’t really want despite the 21 Yes polls, and Alister Jack is going to burrow a tunnel between Portpatrick and Larne..
And the tulips are peeking through, as we look forward to the Darling buds of May, and Indyref 2, The Reckoning.
If you adopt a cat, call it Mary. Then you will be Peter Paul and..Mary.
‘Puff the Magic Dragon’, now living by the sea.
Brill.
Oh Jack…you brilliant wee wit!
Hugs
Molly
{;o). right back at ya, Molly.
All is forgiven Jack. Nice words 👍
Fantastic news 🙏
All the very best to you both, I hope you settle in quickly and have many happy years to come in your new home 💞
Excellent news update, all the best to you both in Casa WGD…
Paul I’m delighted to see that normal service will resume shortly. You have been sorely missed.
Take your time ….find the kettle and the suggestive biscuits.
Hugs to you and Peter….and if Jack is to be believed, Mary the Cat!
Glad to hear you have completed your house move ok Paul.You have been missed. We need your wit and sanity.Good luck in your new house. I still have boxes I never unpacked after my last move 14 years ago.😉
Enjoy Ayrshire 🙂
Braw!!
Great news. Enjoy your new home.
Hooray !
Very best wishes to you both in your new home. It sounds like a great new start, despite the unfortunate reasons for having to move in the first place.
Will be great to have you back on a regular basis. You are very loved!
It’s been a torrid last few months for you but hopefully your move signals better times ahead and a new happy beginning of a brighter future. All the best.
FMQs just finished and it’s pretty clear the election campaign is underway from the opposition parties who went with attacks on the FM for her government preparing for a pandemic but not preparing for the right kind of pandemic, a bit like accusing someone of preparing to cross a busier street than normal but when arriving on the other side didn’t look up to see a piano falling on their head from a third from window
Both Tory and Labour stand in leaders had obviously prepared at length together as their scripts were identical citing selective extracts from a report that also contained praise of the FM and Scottish government, Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie decided to accuse the FM of fiddling a report from an Independent commission not under the control of the Scottish government and didn’t even disguise it, it would appear Liberal Democrats or ex of those people enjoy reading or writing the same websites and never cease indulging in the invention and distortion of their own *facts*
Patrick Harvie of the Greens demanded the FM do something that she already did three weeks ago on food poverty, and through it all the disgraceful behaviour of the Tories shouting across the chamber was not once addressed by the disgrace of a presiding officer that is Ken MacIntosh who is and has been the most ineffective and partisan presiding officer ever, because on the very few occasions this presiding officer has intervened in this sort of behaviour it has *not normally* been against his own side, which is of course both Labour and the Tories most recently evidenced by the sending out of Tory MSP Oliver Mundell who was only asked to leave after around five minutes of him on his feet positively screaming abuse across the chamber, if he’d done it from a seated position he’d likely have gotten away with it, DFM John Swinney however never seems to get away with a few mutters every now and again
News within the Labour party at the moment is that MSP Monica Lennon is attempting to save the Labour party from itself by asking that they do something they’ve never done before, and that is embrace democracy by not ignoring the desires of the people of Scotland in that if the will is that Scotland have a referendum on Independence Labour should not claim the right to prevent that even though she may argue against the outcome which is the legitimate position to adopt
However, Miss Lennon is up against MSP Anas Sarwar who is the same as the previous Labour leader and the same as every generation of Labour leader previously, whose position on Scottish democracy is and always has been one of emollient language, promise of more powers, federalism, pooling and sharing, consultation, abolition of the House of Lords, second chambers for Scotland, listening exercises, and when all that is done like the Smith Commission vote against every single issue they ever mentioned
Monica Lennon MSP is highly unlikely to get the job as Labour branch manager in Scotland because Sir Kier Hardie the actual real leader of the Labour party just wouldn’t and couldn’t under any circumstances ever countenance such a horror as representative of the Tory B party Unionists in England, but say if by some miracle Miss Lennon were to be selected as Labour branch manager in Scotland what would or could the main Labour party in England do about it
I’d love to see how they’d go about reversing that kind of denial of democracy, they’d have to send a lot more than Crows north of the wall from their lands in the south
I thought Wee Willie’s accusations today even more staggeringly moronic than usual. With one breath he was complaining that the SG was withholding the (ahem, independent) report till after the election, and in the next breath he was accusing the SG of doctoring it. Duh. If the latter were actually true, why would there be any need to delay it? The pathetic parliamentarian can’t even get his false facts in a row.
Who on earth votes for this out-of-depth fool?
Since it is an OECD (draft) report does any one with a brain think the OECD will allow the SG to alter the draft report?
Check for accuracy maybe then submit the comments to the OECD. Presumably any organisation that has been interviewed by the OECD, eg RSE, would have sight of their submission before the report is finalised.
The last OECD report on Scottish schools in 2015, if I remember correctly, had quite a few positive things to say about Scottish schools and the SG’s policies in relation to Education in Scotland
I am sure prof John at Talking up Scotland had an article about Education in Scotland and graphs and fancy things like that…fairly recently. It was good news for Scottish kids and families, where education had been taking a dive in standards over the past couple of decades er, before the SNP were voted in to repair the damage of decades of BritNat cuts and under investment. The BritNat parties were running Scotland’s education system into the ground, they have a habit of doing that, SNHS being an example. Still they managed to plunge Scottish councils into £billions of ‘debt’ via their PFI scams for the next few of decades to come…it’s money that could have been spent on actually improving educational standards and other societal repairs after a long cold, harsh epoch of BritNat rule.
Did the BritNats deliberately run down Scotland soon as they knew the SNP had even a snifter of power at Holyrood? It must have been in the air sniff sniff…after devolution and the disastrous Labour party at the helm for the first ten years, btw were they voted in when the Scottish parliament was first re-established or were they just installed I can’t remember…
ArtyHetty
Voted in – no overall majority so formed a Coalition with the LibDems
And there’s more, Liberal Democrats are demanding more border security control for the Orkney islands yet are against the Scottish government attempting to tighten up entry into mainland Scotland from England by agreeing with the Boris Johnson’s *wait till we see who’s got the virus* principle
Yep and if you look at the numbers of infection in the Midlands and North of England especially the West it’s really bad, the south is now fairing better, I wonder why. Scotland’s numbers have just gone up again and without the powers to close their borders, Scotland will not be able to reduce or contain this virus to acceptable levels, (non is acceptable I know) so it’s going to be roller coaster of a time ahead, bloody tragic it really is. Orkney have had a very few cases recently, they are a bit worried…but Johnson wants to install border security? Sounds like a threat to Orkney and the rest of Scotland. Watch out Orkney they are looking at ways of cutting you off, maybe they will annex you, oh crikey, they might as well!!! Oil, and strategic for maneouvers around Scotland’s coast! Jeez, occupation of Scotland’s Islands that’s a scary thought.
Lovely to have you back. We have missed you. Glad to hear you are finally in your new home and that Ginger went with you.
Hope your health is holding up with all the stress of the move.
Take care and do not attempt to do too much too soon.
Listen to your body, it knows what is best for you.
I am only a few fields away from you in Maybole.
4 miles from the beach, 10 miles from the Galloway Forrest, 9 miles from Ayr and hospitals etc, and an hour by train or car from Glasgow. You have chosen well.
Ot
A friend of mine is fuming. Working in a Partnership ( council and nhs) since the pandemic, dealing with vulnerable persons. Colleagues got COVID. Apart from isolation time off has worked straight through. NHS colleagues to get a one of payment of £400, council staff get nothing.
Now university staff are to get more cash, the binman social worker get nothing. EHO’s and safety folk, technical people visiting sites to make sure they are safe for others since the beginning as well as care homes, schools, vaccination and testing centres get nothing nor are deemed important enough for vaccination. My friend asked for a day off. Refused -not enough staff.
Still the Duke of Edinburgh is safe. Rule britnats
University staff to get more cash ? What cash ? My wife works for uni they have not had any cash let alone “more cash “
Hamish100
Should everyone that has worked over the last year get a bonus ?
Should they all get the same amount ?
If not , who gets what amount ?
Personally i think the NHS workers getting it is about right
I dont think binmen or other council workers should get it or shop workers or antone else unless they can show they have worked at close quarters to covid19 infected people the way hospital workers have
You have to draw a line somewhere , fairly , i think thats been done
What about working in the same partnership with colleagues and depending whether you are nhs or not you get a bonus? Furthermore Why lecturers?
Better to leave all out or give all an extra day leave
It’s a difficult question for sure, for me NHS and care staff certainly deserve financial recognition, the long hours, double shifts and for many not going home to their familes and of course for many dealing with the seriously ill and those who die. The Scottish government unlike westminster doesn’t have a bottomless pit full of cash.
Smiley thingy. 🙂
Nice to see you posting Macart, mind find your way back 🙂
Likewise.
Eventually Alex. Been a long, bad year on the personal front. It’ll take while to get back into the swing of things.
Plenty time Macart, take it easy until then.
Nicola Sturgeon says she is looking forward to giving her evidence to the committee
I am too
I think she has done the right things
She couldnt stop members of the public having someone charged with serious offences
The law decides , not the First Minister
If she had interfered she would have lost her job
It was a trap set by Westminster
She didnt fall into it
Macart Really strange I was thinking about you just recently ..wondering how you were….good to see your name
On the subject of ‘absent friends’ Alba…..anyone heard from Petra & Welsh Sion recently?
‘Debate Night’: BBC SCOTLAND …Channel 9
Panel included:- Kate Forbes (SNP) Anas Sarwar (S.LAB) Oliver Mundell (S.Tories) Wee Wullie Winkie (S.Lib/Dems …and Ayeesha Hazarika (probably wrong spelling).
Various topics up for discussion….Kate Forbes was a wee star…stood out head & shoulders above her opponents.
Interesting to witness a minor barny between Messrs Sarwar & Mundell (Sarwar attempting to visibly demonstrate no ‘better together’ pact with the tories?).
That’s Anas trying to pretend he’s not Rupert Lemsip or the one before that, or the one before that and on and on into the distant past the same Labour guy over and over
Right enough Dr Jim…I forgot….SLAB Leaders arent ‘genetically programmed’ to be leaders.
I always felt Johann L was unfairly pilloried for the “genetically programmed” comment. Though all she had to do was engage her brain PRIOR to flapping her gums..or say she’d mis-spoken. As NOBODY is genetically programmed to be nicer, kinder, yadda yadda. What she SHOULD be given pelters for us the grisly speech at her wee kid on party conference when, in response to SNP proposals for childcare provision, she more or less stated that neither Alex nor Nicola knew anything about childcare as neither had children! This was after proving her fecundity by parading her man and weans on stage to tumultuous applause. I often wonder if, in her later knowledge of Nicola’s miscarriage, she cringed in utter embarrassment. But I doubt it.
Why we talking about a non entity who projected her own inadequacies onto the population of Scotland. A waste of energy, time and public funds.
Johann Lamont was one of those who suggested the FMs miscarriage was just another political tool for her to garner sympathy
The hatred of the SNP by the opposition at Holyrood runs very deep and they’ve used it over the years to seep into the public consciousness to create the impression that the SNP are not a normal political party but some sort of disease to be gotten rid of and once they do that all the people of Scotland will settle down and accept their fate as they’ve always done and just let England make the decisions on all major politics and normal service can be resumed
It’s not the SNP who are divisive it’s the opposition who have whined at the people of Scotland forever asking for their votes to *mitigate* all the bad things that happen in Westminster then when the people voted for them they did nothing about those bad things, so a party (the SNP) comes along and says vote for us and we will do something about it drove the Scottish Unionists crazy because they’d been exposed as the liars and frauds they are
Three minority Unionist political branches of parties in Westminster constantly insisting they know better what the people of Scotland want even though their vote share clearly demonstrates they are wrong is more than arrogant it’s offensive and they know it but they just don’t care, because in their minds the might of the UK government will eventually bring the SNP down so all they have to do is keep dishing out the badness and wait till that happens
If and when Scotland manages to take its Independence, shortly thereafter many of these same people will insist they believed in Independence the whole time but the time was never right before and the SNP are still bad so vote for us to do the job right we won’t let you down because we’re listening now, honest !
We all know that there are people ‘lending’ their votes to the SNP (and tearing up their membership cards on a weekly because for ….. reasons) who will revert back to Labour asap after independence. It’s a scary prospect because those of us who know and have decades of experience of Labour in Scotland doing sod all for Scotland are only too aware of the consequences of that. We need brand new Parties with drive, foresight, and determination not to mention intellect to make Scotland what it should become, not Parties with one eye constantly on England, doing dodgy deals with them and forever in their pockets, ie Same Old Labour, Same Old Tory, Same Old Lib/Dem.
Let’s hope that Scotland post Independence will have learned the lesson that the political system imposed upon Scotland by England in order to re culture us into becoming colonial models of them is dumped and that adversarial method of gaining power control is consigned to the bin forever
Scotland has been driven by ideology based politics which is the worst possible way to do politics, but ideologists like it because of its adversarial nature leading to the boom bust power nature of opposing ideologies both left and right wing both of which are negative and destroy each other in order to win one over the other
I personally like the plain and simple democracy of ideas that are put to the people to decide how they want things to proceed on the basis of the evidence of what other successful countries have achieved and not what England calls success which is always the carrot of more money dangled in front of the electorate to achieve greed votes that never end up in the hands of those who thought they’d get it if they voted for it and only those who touted such things benefit from, the tiny minority of rich always get richer and the majority never do so they complain and it all goes round again till next voting day till they promise it all over again
Better I think to politically remove worry from a population than to keep promising people riches to buy themselves out of worry then place financial value on the price of a brick in a house or the postcode you live in, or the car you drive that indicates your station in life
Comparisons with the politics we have always been used to must be lessons learned not to repeat
Scotland has a chance to change everything, I hope I’m alive to see how the next generation of our young folk make things better
Isnt it unlikely that Labour if there is one after independence , will be the same as the one we have now ?
I think Labour politicians and tory and lib dems will retire from frontline politics and try to hide because once Scotland is independent one of the first things we will do is free ourselves from the britnat media.
Gone will be the BBC and all those britnat newspapers it will take a little time but as scottish independence grows new freedom of information we will see the very very dark deeds carried out by Westminster , England , BBC and all their helpers to deprive Scotland and its people over many many years.
I believe current Unionist politicians will linger continuing to promise the things they’ve always promised, some will endorse Independence as their secret desire all along but their party forced them to oppose and will be willing to fall to their knees asking forgiveness, people like Murdo Fraser Oliver Mundell would be a prime examples of the characters that will confess their allegiance was always to an Independent Scotland, because they’re just that type and some folk will fall for it
The media in Scotland which has always been the unelected unaccountable fourth political party will either change and adapt or die I don’t guess that many of us will care one way or the other, what we’ll need in Scotland is a news agency that reports all the news not just the selected parts it wants to, then opinion driven media cannot be allowed to be confused with news, that’s what we have at present, media that indulges itself with whatever it decides to conflate confuse and create and is directed by an agenda of finance and power
Watch how the newspapers in Scotland report Independence when it comes
Guid tae have ye back, Paul … looking forward tae yer analysis …. Scotland’s future should be going into “top gear” this year !! …. only weeks now to the May elections … so much hope & expectations, I think if all ‘Independistas’ work in unison … we can do this !! … SOAR ALBA
You Gov survey appeared in my inbox this morning. Included questions on who would you vote for in May’s Scottish elections and ‘Should Scotland be an Independent Country. This probably means an opinion poll is going to be published in a week or so.
Great to see you back but I hope your not overdoing it. Save your strength for doling out your unique wit to the unionist fools.
Another excellent briefing by the FM today. If their is any other country in the world that has a leader who so candidly spells out the sound basis of the Government’s policies, they are damned lucky.
Do the Scottish public realise this and value it? I surely hope so.
In my life experience it is a unique example of good governance.
Does anyone know why, when people reply to replies to replies, the line width gets progressively narrower until I end up with one word per line. See Dr Jim at 3.47pm – it’s a long scroll!
Is it my browser (Opera), is it WordPress, and is there anything i can do about it?
Who’s a long scroll
Not you Dr Jim but your deathless prose when thrice indented.
Tilt your phone 90 degrees
That works on my tablet. Thx
It’s not your browser – it happens with all of them. As AC says below, it’s a consequence of indenting to show response dependencies, which is a common (and generally helpful) technique. The problem seems to arise because WordPress sets a fixed width on everything, so even if you go fullscreen on a big monitor, all you get is more dark space on either side and the exact same cramping within. (Which is ironic, since html by default enables browsers to happily occupy all the width they can get.)
I think the only way round this is to only reply to the original post, this will stop the indent build up. Just add a comment at the start if you are replying to someone else.
I think some blogs limit the replies to one or two levels, talkingupscotlandtwo looks like it does this as the reply button disappears after a couple of replies (may only be one), I don’t know if he uses WordPress though.
Yes, he’s wordpress.
WP admin – Settings – Discussion – Other comment settings – Enable threaded (nested) comments [3] levels deep – Save Changes
(replace 3 by desired level)
I turned comments off on my little blog, thank goodness!
A reply to an original comment will be indented such that the avatar picture of the reply will line up with the start of the original comment. Another reply to the original comment will line up exactly matching the first reply, but a reply to a reply will indent once more and the comment line length available gradually reduces with each reply to a reply.
It’s used in order to see who the replier is actually replying to, I have no idea if the viewer can modify the view format but I doubt it.
That was supposed to be a reply to you Capella 🙂
Thx Alex and everyone. It looks like I’m stuck with the ever narrowing replies on this laptop.
However, when I use my Samsung tablet and Chrome browser the narrow replies only happen in portrait. When I turn it to landscape the replies become normal width. So they can be resized on the tablet.
I was hoping there might be a setting somewhere to adjust para width. 🙂
If you are having trouble reading the elongated comment, click the reply box immediately below the comment, you get the comment laid out properly. Once you’ve read it just click cancel reply.
Thx Golfnut – will do 🙂
I’ve got the same problem on an olld tablet. . . . I’ll try your tip GN. Thnks
When is the referendum taking place. I’m losing track of things. I have tried to register for a postal vote but it hasn’t been activated.
I m kinda thinking what’s the point anyway. The SNP are going to win and they dont need my vote anyway.
ICYMI – The National has no paywall on their McCrone Report. You can read the report in full. Article from 2019:
https://www.thenational.scot/news/17461406.westminster-doesnt-want-read-mccrone-report-full/?ref=twtrec
It’s astonishing these days just how many stakeholders need to be consulted.
I thought vampires were fictional.
Great to hear that you’ll be back soon. Someone needs to come and knock heid the gither, to stop all the infighting and divisions. The unionists out there are having a party over this. Stay strong. The tough part is about to come.
Is it my imagination or are some of the most caustic anti-SNP blogs written by people who don’t live in Scotland (three that I can name instantly). If you want to financially support an online independence blog, support one from Scotland.
Boris Johnson and RT have got lots of money
WGD is the only blog I financially support now. I used to contribute to WoS and Craig Murray but no more. I’m not going to pay to be insulted. Ditto the TV licence – bin it.
OTOH I subscribe to iScot and The National and frequently contribute to a crowd funder if I agree with the aims. I contributed to Alex Salmond’s crowdfunder as I do believe he was stitched up – just not by the people he seems to blame. So no more contributions from me.
The nearer we get to May 6th the more frantic the anti SNP chorus get. It’s like Gotterdammerung on twitter these days. I’m thinking of unfollowing a few people for the sake of my sanity. There’s only so many conspiracy theories I can entertain in a day.
People I thought were level headed seem to have gone down a rabbit hole, if you disagree with them then you are likely to be labelled as a conspirator, collaborator or weasel.
It started about 18 months ago when a blogger decided he was going to try and take down NS and even the SNP if he could. That is the whole plan, when asked what happens after that the silence is deafening except a ‘independence is bigger than the SNP’ sound bite, that isn’t really a plan.
My opinion is if they do manage to bring down NS the game is up and we’ve lost. I can’t see any other obvious leader, much as I admire Joanna Cherry I’m not convinced she would gel with certain demographics of the population, too academic.
Yip the ” Bathman” is so obviously fighting for the other side now and like sheep his acolytes just keep following along. Many of his disciples are now actively saying that the SNP should be taken down and replaced by a Lib-Lab-Con coalition. They really believe this will gain us Independence, are they that stupid and incapable of rational thinking. Going by a good number of their comments, then stupid is an understatement.
It is all to obvious that UK supporters are now welcomed to slag off Nicola and the SNP and I will not be surprised if his new pal Andrew Neil writes a piece for his “Shite over Scotland”
Agree with last paragraph. . . .
kenny MacAskill has a piece on Wings trying to convince people that it’s the party that matters. . . . An Individuals prospects are determined on the parties standing . . . . . . So it’s ok by him to get rid of NS. . . . .
Whilst right now the SNP and independence are riding high in the polls due to the FM’s handling of the pandemic.
Does KM really believe what he’s posted?
A few weeks back he was interviewed on CH4 . . . . . Made the point that Scotland’s independence must be based on solid foundations.
Quoted the case of how Parnell was taken down, but that Ireland’s independence followed. He omitted to point out that the independence followed about 40 odd years later.
Who’s side is he on?
Aye, my local MP had better get his act together and soon. He maybe needs to realize his buddy wee eck’s days in politics are over. Thanks to the owners of the house he sits in. Aye min yer coats on a sugely nail. Come Independence you along with hoc and hol are surplice to requirements here. Ye need to be dayin mair putin up and a bit mair shuttin up.
As grannie said Hod yer tongue an be thocht an edjit, better than open yer mooth an confirm it.
Ot
Flight radar app. A private jet flying in to Glasgow Airport just now from the Channel Islands. It seems if you have money you can fly and helicopter in from anywhere
For two parties constantly complaining about the May election going forward it hasn’t stopped the Tories and Liberal Democrats from sending out their campaign literature
Oh and Willie Rennie says he’s going to win in this straight contest between the Liberal Democrats and SNP………
The Tory one I received this morning had a small survey on the back page. Seemed a shame not to reply as they provided a sae….
I see MacCaskill sounding off again in the Scotsman.
Destructive
The language of Communism and protest from this lot, you have to prove you can be a credible government before you’re trusted to take Scotland to Independence and Nicola Sturgeon has done that without shouting through megaphones on street corners or scribbling on blogs, she did it by being a credible FM and gaining support and trust from around the world
MacAskill and his lot forget to mention how they got there, I remember it well
Well, he didn’t last long as “the saviour of the Union” LOL Panic in No 10 hahaha
https://archive.vn/wip/BI37M
Next up is someone called Henry Newman – new by name but… another posh boy apparently. Carrie wanted him heading up the union directorate. Nice of her to take an interest. Surprised it isn’t Dylan.
What! Bob Dylan?
Is it this Newman? Guiding the union unit to…
Probably – pity about the fish though. 🙂
Oh I dont know?…throw in some chips and we’re hunky dory! (sorry..that was Bowie…not Dylan).
All the FM haters might do well to remember her record of service to Scotland, she never swanned off to be a MP then sailed back to be a MSP then contrived to make herself FM and take over the party to lose a referendum then become a MSP again and ad infinitum, she worked for Scotland from the age of 16 years by pounding the streets with leaflets she knocked on all the doors got elected on the list then continued to work her way through to health secretary then deputy FM then was chosen by the former FM as his replacement, and her behaviour has been beyond reproach at all times, she in fact *has been an angel* without the need to publicly apologise for not being one
Despite the nonsense the haters talk she and she alone is responsible for not only keeping the party up in the polls, because after 2014 support could’ve dropped like a stone, she made sure it didn’t and since then has increased that level of support to a sustained 21 polls of up to 58% pro Independence and during a pandemic which has seen support for every other political leader in the UK drop Nicola Sturgeon’s support has increased in strength
Following 2014 most people realised that in order to win Independence we had to bring more women onside because previously they were not, Nicola Sturgeon did that by persuasion and policy and brought more young people on board doing the same thing
Of course the Unionists want rid of her and they’ll use any excuse they think people will fall for to do it, that leaves the opportunist politicians within her own party and they are the same vintage of dinosaurs who entered the party originally by displacing others at that time, they now see a new opportunity to displace the FM like we’ve seen in political parties before, replace her and if there’s any credit going they’ll take that too
To replace or displace Nicola Sturgeon now from an Independence standpoint is insanity for Scotland, but of course the people who are trying to convince us to do just that don’t care about Independence they care only about themselves and their timing reveals everything about their motives
Agree with all of that.
kenny MacAskill has a piece on Wings trying to convince people that it’s the party that matters. . . . An Individuals prospects are determined on the parties standing . . . . . . So it’s ok by him to get rid of NS. . . . .
Whilst right now the SNP and independence are riding high in the polls due to the FM’s handling of the pandemic.
Does KM really believe what he’s posted?
A few weeks back he was interviewed on CH4 . . . . . Made the point that Scotland’s independence must be based on solid foundations.
Quoted the case of how Parnell was taken down, but that Ireland’s independence followed. He omitted to point out that the independence followed about 40 odd years later.
Who’s side is he on? . . . . The Union or Independence?
He is on Kenny McAskill side no other. Any Snp MP writing an article for the Bam from Bath’s site these days is an utter disgrace.I wonder what those who selected him to stand as there MP think of him now
An interesting article from Mike Small on the subject.
All these men doing their damndest to supplant a woman who’s grafted her backside off for Scotland and they just want to trash talk her out of the job that they want after she’s built the foundation that they failed to build, we’re in the ninth round with one to go and they think they can step in for the knockout in the tenth and hold their arms aloft
I have an extremely low opinion of all of those involved in this
That’s my small c conservative language for the lot of them
The “independence is bigger than any one person” trope has now become bog-standard issue of those who – whether from disillusionment with assumed lack of progress, bitterness at being passed-over for a cabinet position, barely-disguised misogny, festering jealousy or just plain bloody-mindedness – are desperately anxious to help the BritNats achieve what they know well they won’t and can’t achieve in the upcoming May election.
That threadbare old trope though is a blade that cuts both ways. If it really isn’t that important who is leading us into the election, why are they getting so almighty lathered up in blog and print over changing the very successful one we currently have..?
It’s bull, these are the same people that go on about Bruce & Wallace then tell you the leader is of no consequence. The leader is the face of the party, they make the international connections and lay international foundations (something never done in 2014). Do we want an internationally recognised politician respected around the worlds or a hair twiddler.
I wonder if some see themselves as the next leader, but the ones I’m thinking about are about as appealing as Surströmming.
I don’t trust McAskill one bit. Good to read some reasoned comments re this, the sense of panic in the BritNats’ breastie’s is palpable. Nicola Sturgeon is a very competent and popular politician, and not just in Scotland! The Brit state are absolutely desperate she is not the FM in the lead up to the Scottish election. For the people of Scotalnd it’s about policy, humanity, and competence as well admitting when mistakes are made, and following through with actual policy, people can see that as a positive agenda in the FM, which is why they will vote SNP in May and which is why the BritNats are absolutely terrified.
Nicola Sturgeon is one of the best politicians Scotland has produced ever. She comes from a background which most folk in Scotland recognise and makes her a grounded decent person.
Attempts to remove her have been tried. We probably don’t know them all but Alistair Carmichael’s attempt comes to mind….It fair kept the unionist media in work for a while.
Now the latest undermining attempt …..had a brief look the tabloids today High Noon at Holyrood coming soon to a tabloid rag for you.
All shall be well and we will get independence. The Young want it….it is inevitable.
Those shrill voices currently giving forth against Nicola will fade into the darkness from whence they came. Saor Alba
Hope so, they are determined…
Those calling for the head of Nicola Sturgeon are but a fart in a hurricane and of little consequence.
Aye But
We need a strong result in the election. . . . A wee chip here a wee chip there might just save the union. . . . . Thats their plan
Btw. Holding the election in May almost certainly rules out campaigning round tge doors by the SNP whilst the Media will be at full blast. . . . And the worst effects of Brexit will still have to be experienced by voters.
I think it is inspired by the agents of the British state who always operate in this divide and conquer manner. Some people are easily led. Drip fed snippets of conspiracy theory, egged on by misogynistic rage – I saw someone on twitter advocate the ducking stool today – for an hour – truly appalling w*tch hunting tropes. Why? To reinstate the glorious leader who will Make Scotland Great Again.
Only unionists could advocate getting rid of the most popular leader the country has ever had and replacing her with someone who has a – 60 rating and a tarnished reputation. But it’s clear from twitter that many people posing as independence supporters would rather lose the election in May and an independence referendum than allow the “wrong” person to sail to victory.
It’s an indication of how desperate they are IMO.
Still waiting for the evidence 🙂
Read Gordon Dangerfield’s blog and you will all the evidence you need
What you will find there is a little selected evidence, and a lot of opinion.
Witnesses give evidence, recorders record evidence, solicitors advocate on the basis of evidence, judges judge or committees report and maybe conclude. I’m sure Dangerfield would be the last to claim he is giving evidence – he wasn’t one of the parties involved.
Exactly!
Oh dear, yet more spillover toxic flotsam. Whether knave or fool, you’re wasting your time on here, bud.
Do yourself a favour, take a step back and have a good hard look at whom you’re actually serving. (Assuming, that is, you’re not knowingly serving a master other than us.)
A quote from a frequent unionist poster on the Herald says it all:
“I highly recommend Gordon Dangerfields blog, especially the latest two posts about ‘a very Scottish coup’.”
followed by “seconded” from another.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19104617.alex-salmond-confirms-will-testify-holyrood-inquiry-next-week/
I was tempted to upvote both of them as it made me laugh.
Dangerfield — great cartoon . Or have I got my facts wrong? But then who needs facts when you can speculate make up stories of conspiracies. If certain people had behaved in a normal way respecting others would the whole situation arisen?
“I don’t want to just hold a referendum I want to win one” Nicola Sturgeon
There’s the reason they want rid of her, and who do you think was most upset by that statement?
Words mean nothing when you are up to your neck in shit
Words mean nothing when you’re talking shit.
The FM said that right after Alex Salmond threw away the referendum in 2014
AS didnt throw away the referendum in 2014
Get real
There are none so blind…
https://whatscotlandthinks.org/2021/01/new-year-new-polling/
Unless Gordon Dangerfield was an eye witness to any of the events in question then he is simply repeating rumour and gossip garnished with idle speculation and perhaps a dash of bias.
What I have done is listen to all of the witness evidence so far, read the transcripts and written submissions and some journalist accounts of the trial (including Craig Murray’s). Nothing I’ve read so far confirms the many lurid accusations circulating about Nicola Sturgeon.
We still have to hear her evidence and Alex Salmond’s. I can wait.
Innocent till proven guilty is a priciple worth upholding IMO.
Another lawyer with a different perspective.
By God, they’re worried.
The Gang of Four; Salmond, McAskill, Sillars and Campbell, doing the English and Scotia Branch of the Iron Heel Oligarchy’s dirty work for them..
There are families starving because we are tied to this Union, yet these sad egomaniacs do all they can to destroy the movement.
I repeat, over 2 million of us don’t care about the Salmond Sex Case.
Sad Old Men.
I’ve got a leaky roof so in read only mode at the mo.
With respect, if you don’t care about the Salmond “sex case” then you don’t care about the integrity of our governance.
With respect. I care about Independence and the behaviour of a an ex snp member and civil servants behaviour should not stand in the way of it. Your high and might principles are laudable excepting they sit along with Johnson, Rees-mood, Jackie Baillie, Davidson, bathesta, Galloway and co. Excuse me if I vomit.
Is it still snowing up there on the moral high ground?
I literally mean it.
I have no time for this Salmond nonsense.
And nonsense it is.
That’s my last word on this.
Go back over to the Get Nikla anti Scotland sites. Rejoin the circle of Darkness.
‘Bye.
The integrity of our governance can only be controlled by a written constitution that includes the core principal that politicians and media hacks including broadcasters, face criminal action if they lie too or mislead the electorate. Independence first, everything else is a distraction.
Heaven forbid Scottish independence happens – some people might have to leave their nice houses in the south-west of England !
With respect, if you don’t care about winning the impending election, you don’t care about independence.
Simple as that. Everything else right now is (oftimes deliberate) distractional froth.
With respect, the Salmond “sex case” as you put it, is his-tory.
NEWS FLASH….. he was found not guilty.
The current inquiry is about the way that senior civil servants constructed a set of rules that were ify to start with. Then went about breaking those same rules and in the process tried to pull the wool over the eyes of the judiciary and the public.
The senior civil servant who reports to london at least weekly has form for altering reports and statements to suit the narrative it seeks to promote. But still managed to rise through the ranks to a position of power. That’ll be yur integrity of governance right there.
Pogmothon , well said
AS found not guilty people need to get over it
You should care jack because the Scottish government is ours and if they f#$K up and waste our money on bad decisions they need to be held accountable !
When i raised my children i scorned and punished them when they did wrongfull acts ,
It didn’t make me a turncoat traitor to my family , i did it because i loved them
Best you remember also that the Salmond sex case was never a case in the first place it was trumped up !!! By whom we will find out sooner or later, you or me don’t know the real culprit yet so best not put anyone down before the facts are released
But for the record
1 Alex Salmond took the Scottish government to court for dodgy dealings against him and won
2 Alex Salmond was found NOT GUILTY of all charges by a Scottish jury
3 the Scottish government are the ones now under investigation NOT Alex Salmond
4 you don’t care about a former friend of Scotland who tried his best to give us independence that is sad !
Mark, you’ve posted on the wrong site, sir.
We care about 320,000 children in poverty, food banks, Trident, and having a government of the people by the people, voted by and accountable to the people of Scotland NOW.
I am minded that I cannot be rude on here.
How many times do you and your fellow Get Nikla/ Alex Salmond is innocent and must return as leader of the SNP gang going to come on here and peddle your J’Accuse message?
I don’t care about this ego driven side show, fermented by the froth of enemies of the People of Scotland, orchestrated by England’s media, and peddled by old egomaniacs who are ‘way past having any relevance in Scotland.
There are over 2 million of us who are not members of the SNP.
We are not going to ‘hold our noses’ when we vote SNP in May, the implication being that we silently endorse all this Salmond was stitched up nonsense. We don’t care.
We are taking our country back while you bang away about one man’s alleged injustice.
What about the injustice visited on half a million Scots living in Brit Nat poverty?
Are they to take a back seat and starve for another decade until Salmond is ‘cleared’, or Sturgeon ‘damned’ and expelled?
When I see my fellow Scots starving and shivering while you lot gather in a circle plotting downfalls or whatever, I am beyond patience.
There are other blogs on the market; try one of them, many of whom will confirm your view of the world, thus reinforcing your internal righteous indignation, confirming that you are right, and the rest of us are wrong.
That’s me done with this.
In just over two months we go to the polls.
I am Scotland; I am millions.
Exactly .
Independence takes second place to the Salmond case, I suppose?
Well said Mark Robertson
We must remember too that Scottish government IS NOT nicola sturgeon
Scottish government is really Holyrood and those in the Scotland Office who take their orders from westminster
If i were to wonder who would try and FIT UP Alex Salmond
SNP ?
Nicola Sturgeon ?
Scotland Office ?
I would be a fool not to say Scotland Office simply because we know already that
the Scotland Office takes its orders from westminster
westminster hates Alex Salmond
Its not difficult to understand , unless you have ulterior motives
Capella
“Innocent till proven guilty is a priciple worth upholding IMO.”
The Union need her guilty without a trial.
Clydebuilt…thats right
The union need NS guilty without a trial
Even westminster would not get away with two in a row Scotland First ministers being fitted up on trumped up charges
Nicola Sturgeon is the most popular other UK public figure and the most famous.
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/explore/public_figure/Nicola_Sturgeon
Nicola and Independence will prevail
The rest us but a fart in a hurricane
Worth a listen if you haven’t already.
Folks, a new Poll in the Herald that you might want to give your vote on 🙂
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19105410.poll-holyrood-power-call-independence-referendum/
Anything to get backdoor clickbait.
The Herald is dying…and not before time.
Correct, Jack. . . . But the poll result will be used against us if NO wins. . . .
Should Holyrood have the power to hold a legal independence referendum?
Yes 76%
No 24%
Votes cast: 8438
It was 50-50 when I looked about 9 with 700 votes, unionists get on and upvote each other repeatedly – and the no on this.
The world is talking about Covid passports so who does the world turn to to find out if this is a possibility? Well they turn to the country who leads the world in digital technology the tiny weeny country of Estonia, remember them, a country of less than 1.4 million souls who took their Independence from USSR Russia the Nazis and uncle Tom Cobley and all to now lead the world in this field, so much so the world now needs them
Those folks did Independence just fine by the looks of it didn’t they
Over the last long, long time frame, it seems like years to me many that of us Yessers have wasted so much effort gabbing on about different people in the SNP, past and present.
To me it’s simple, I just do not care. All I care about is that the SNP get us independence as it is only them that can do it unless of course we want to start shipping in guns from Libya.
If Nicola is well liked by most people, great, that helps the cause no matter what my personal opinions are about her. As a non party member she comes across OK to me. Better than the Brit Nats and better than the SNP stirrers that show disunity in the press. They do not help at all.
If I could I would close down social media and force people to think before they mouth off.
Spot on!
Agree.
Over the last few days or so there has been a lot of noise from the Tories about flags and Ms Sturgeon. I think the EU flag set them off – like they need an excuse. They also seem blind to their flag bedecked Prime minister.
Then last night on Ch4 news I saw this. An interview with a Gov Minister, Foreign Office I think, in his own home by the looks of it You don’t have to listen to it. He was quite tongue-tied at times. Just look at the photo. Priceless
https://www.channel4.com/news/covid-jab-will-be-distributed-based-on-need-rather-than-short-term-diplomatic-advantage-says-uk-foreign-office-minister
The butcher’s apron is Empire 2’s swastika.
It’s plastered on everything now.
They are merely copying the fascist regimes of the past.
I look forward to the day we Scots can tear them down.
It is the Oligarchy’s threatening symbol of Scots’ suppression as England’s Colony One, The Golden Goose.
Wot no photy of the Queen or the Fuhrer
I also look forward to renaming all those ‘Queen Elizabet II’ (of England) buildings too, Doc.
Every bliddy supermarket has the butcher’s apron stamped on every product now.
Just like the Third Reich, we are constantly reminded that In The English Iron Heel Oligarchy’s eyes, we are a conquered nation. Englund Uber Alles.
At FMQ on Wednesday, Baroness Rape Clause thanked the ‘Armed Forces’ for vaccinating 1.4 million Scots.
‘Armed Force’ lest we insurrectionists be in any doubt.
Did not see any when I was vaccinated. The BBC news seems to have been about the only ones to catch the military in the act of giving jags going by the photos on their website.
I am sure they made a useful contribution but Ms Davidson seems to be over-egging that particular pudding.
The thing is that an independent Scotland would be too poor to afford a jab-in-the-arm(ed) force, so no vaccinations for us I suppose. Unless the Barrowness, being an Hon Terrytoryal would have volunteered to do the whole country single-handedly.
There were no sodjers about when I had mine either, so maybe they had a day off that day.
How is it they managed to take photos.
Since taking photos within the inoculation sites is band.
At least on the three sites I have personal knowledge of.
All Tory interviews from their homes now seem to feature at least one flag (Patel has two!), and they also have a red box strategically placed behind them. It is most bizarre . And very sad
It does suggest a massive lack of self-confidence on their part to say nothing about a lack of competence and intelligence that they need to wrap themselves in a flag and the trappings of office.
All in all pretty pathetic but at the same time very telling insight into their mind set
Not to forget the Uniform
Red Tie
White Shirt
Blue suit
For a female it’s often
Red coat
White face
Blue Scarf
Union Jack cushions in the background is a favourite when some Brit plonker is being interviewed. I think they think it is clever.
The truth about the myth of britishness.
So the only region where the majority identify as British consists of a few enclaves of unionists in NI. 🙂
And London…….they look a bit lonely mind.
Certainly doesn’t look like 1 nation Britain does it, and it may well be the driver for the relentless red white and blue propaganda, timing is certainly right pre 2014. The EU ref was certainly on the cards back then as was the probability of indyref.
A nice little piece in the National touching on this –
“And England? Whatever happens, England needs thoroughly to reinvent the sclerotic, rotten Westminster system. It’s fit only for the era of the horse and cart which gave it birth. Middle England needs to stop being Muddle England fretting about the world of “Rule, Britannia.” And all of us need to focus on the current Union as a marriage going sour towards what the Irish writer Peter Geoghegan calls a “Zombie union”. No one is truly happy. The question is whether anyone has the will to leave.”
https://www.thenational.scot/news/19106059.gavin-esler-journey-end-britain/
Bought his book. It’s worth a read.
Re that Herald poll so far 76 to 24% in favour of Holyrood having the power to hold referendum.
Before voting on it – voted yes of course – first I read J. Collatin’s comment about clickbait for the dying herald and thought ok forget it then Alex’s comment about how if it came up with a no vote we’d never hear the end of it so that prompted me to give the dying herald a little clickbait to record my vote.
In these situations where you have equally compelling arguments on either side it can be quite difficult to make up your mind.
JMD: When they start to have a daily poll to keep any funding going, we will know that the end is nigh..
Anyway a victory for the Yes side will piss off their main sponsors.
So basically speaking, the over-80s and care home residents have probably had an SNHS doctor or nurse giving the jag, same for those giving the jags who were jagged before venturing off to centres – I wish I knew the number, well over 1,000 presumably. 5,000 perhaps? Compared with about 600 total armyh personnel. Many others going to centres will be the same – not a soldier in sight. So when they see the BBC showing only the army giving jags they’ll be thinking “but but but …”.
Now there are still some agitators with their agitprop saying Scotland is well behind, when even the unionist news is saying like: “Higher percentage of Scottish population vaccinated than in England or Northern Ireland” (Herald).
The unionists have to resort to lies – and the evidence they are lying is mounting up.
Whoopppeee!
I just checked the BBC website news page for the UK and there is no mention of Matt Hancock acting unlawfully in dishing out contracts without tenders. Billions have gone missing. The Track and Trace fiasco cost £22 billion. How is that even possible?
But for the BBC all is well in Toryland.
Nothing. Nada. Zilch.
All we’re going to hear over the next while is Prince Philip and we know what that means
Capella,
And now Matt Hancock’s former neighbour/pub manager who got a contract to produce glass vials is being investigated.
Well, you know what they say about breadcrumbs.
Follow the trail and you’ll find the loaf is gone. And THAT’S for the birdies.
The Union fears Scottish Independence so sets up a special unit to combat that happening while at the same time insisting they will just refuse to *allow* it
Every commentator on both sides of this style of argument admits that this is an unsustainable argument to have yet they continue to have it, so why do they?
Well it seems that within this vacuum of certainty both sides advocate change but the Union side insists they will refuse change while persisting with the dialogue of let’s talk but we’ll still say no to any change we don’t like
Therein lies the main problem with Unionism, because like devolution they didn’t want that to happen because it was a slippage of their power as they saw it but circumstances forced them into it, and part of those circumstances was the EU didn’t care for the London England centric power domination over other states because they recognised that Scotland and Wales are countries and should have rights under the law
Westminster London England, call it what you will cannot and will not agree now just as they never agreed before and Brexit was a precursor to what England saw as something they had lost, power and control over everything and everybody in these islands and now they want back what they had before, a mini British Empire, so federalism, national convention, reconstituting, redefining are all words that may be used but no agreement on any of those words has a moth next to a flame’s chance of ever being initiated on any level at all
So we’re left with what, well the same thing as we started with, England employing dictatorship because they know of no other way to convince Scotland to remain in the Union because they can present no grounds or rational reasons for which we should, Westminster Tory and Labour parties are the only thing that’s united on this issue, Scotland must be constrained within the Union at all and any cost to keep the UK.co corporation as a financial creditable power or we become God forbid just like every other country on earth, *normal*, and the UK of England cannot stand the idea of just being normal, they don’t crave normality, they crave authority and power
So the next tactic for the UK to employ has got to be mind bogglingly difficult for them, do they go with their gut double down and admit dictatorship knowing that that will end very badly or do they go with the 2014 strategy of pensions, currency, relationship, family of nations, well they might because they have a new one to add to this Brexit and look how hard it was to disentangle from the EU and how unreasonable the nasty foreigners were about the disentangling, or are they pinning their hopes on *the plot* to discredit Scotland’s FM Nicola Sturgeon, I would suggest that is a thin threadbare hope as Scotland’s young folk are not afraid as their grandparents were in 2014 and *the plot* is cutting no ice whatsoever within that demographic of our population
The online Zoomer Bathistan blog can Daily Mail Scotsman and Daily Express all day every day in it’s attempt to crush the belief from Scotland that Nicola Sturgeon isn’t the FM to lead the country and that some previous entity that nobody really cares about anymore should be reincarnated to fail at the job once again is just as ridiculous as calls for Kenny Dalgliesh to be resurrected to play as the main striker for the Scotland football team or that the SNP runs their business in a different way from some other party and isn’t it awful I’m afraid is only cutting through to most of the folk who voted no in 2014 but have found a new strategy in pretending to be Independence supporters so making a huge fuss on the Internet about it in the hope of conning other folk into falling for this fully paid up divisiveness
Scotland is going to be Independent one way or another, we as voters have one job, vote SNP 1 and 2 and leave the clumpy difficulties of politics to the folk we pay to do that and not some discredited Internet trouble makers who’s next mission could be to subvert the purpose of Dogs Trust or whatever their next choice of fundraising might be, our country will still be here long after bampots like this are gone, the question is, is Scotland a country, if you’re answer is yes then you know what to vote and that’s all that counts
Scuse ma grammar it’s Sunday, I’m resting ma mind and pretty much everything else
Excused.
I see the Bath is tan blocker still riles over the Kezia dugdale case. It must gnaw really deep to keep referring to it.
Still inference to gender/ sex sells papers and is click bait. I mean apparently there is the SNP’s ugly transactivist wing.
Couldn’t find it in my membership card. Still it doesn’t apply to me I presume, as I don’t have a beard and I’m quite good looking lol.🥸
Have a nice Sunday.
Yep Hamish there are no wings in the SNP thank goodness, we’re all just the same with one vote each
What he never understood is that when reps of the SNP congratulated Kezia on her win in court over him it wasn’t because they agreed with her position, they just couldn’t stand him
Dr.Jim
Last night i copied one of your posts and pasted it into Talking up Scotland two
It put things better than I could , got 4 likes .
I should have asked first.
No probs Clydebuilt we use what we can no matter who writes it
Folk
Once again over on Prof. Robertson’s “Talking up Scotland Two” there’s a debate on the SNP GRA Nicola Sturgeon. (Becoming wuite a common feature)
The anti independence lobby are out in force not holding their wheesht . . The party left me I didn’t leave it
Putting Independence last.
Maybe a good idea to put the independence side of the debate!
A lot of this stuff does make me laugh, folk join a political party (the SNP) that has ways of doing things then they immediately complain that the SNP aren’t doing things the way the party did that they left because they weren’t happy with that party
Next on the list is to conjure up outrage that somehow the party they joined is owned by them and the party should jump right to heel and do things the way they’re told by us the outraged members , and they do this without the slightest hint of irony that what destroyed the party they left (usually Labour) is the very behaviour they’re exhibiting now, why did they join the SNP?
If you join a club there are rules within the club, and usually a manager or some sort of leadership that sets the rules, nobody ever joined a golf club or a bowling club then ordered the management to change the rules because as members they now own the club
The Labour party suffers from this constantly and that’s why the Tories beat them, when the Tories fight they’re an army united in winning, the Labour party can’t even get started fighting because they’re too busy arguing amongst themselves
The purpose of the SNP is to win Independence and demonstrate good governance along the way so both strands hold each other up, all these folk are doing is trying to convert a winning political party into the losers of the party they used to belong to because basically they’re a bunch of big girls blouses with greetin faces because they want to dictate (armchair politicians) how things are done when they kept losing before with the stupid Labour party
We’re all armchair politicians but we elect folk to stand for parliament so it’s their job to run things, if we don’t like it we can bugger off without making a song and dance and threatening the party we joined because that’s the one we liked in the first place
I’ve been a SNP member longer than most of these folk have been alive and some things I’ve not liked and some things I have, the important thing they all miss is if you’re that smart and that clever form your own party or join another one and bugger that up
I ran my own business and made all the decisions on it since I was 14 years old, it was mine I created it, I built it, I ran it, I didn’t object to dialogue, discussion, suggestions, but in the end I was in charge, somebody’s got to be in charge, even of a democratic party or you have Labour party chaos and you just keep right on losing to the F*****g Tories
On almost every thread of complaint about the SNP are the same half dozen big mouthed Bumff Buckets spouting their mantras on how this or that should be done and I recognise some of these names when they were Labour moaners who just transferred themselves to the SNP and continue their griping, I just wish they’d bugger off out of my party and let us get on with winning, then we’ll talk, y’know we were doing pretty OK up until 2014, now we’re doing even better, but none of the 100,000 new members made that happen just because they paid some subs, Nicola Sturgeon did all of it practically by herself, isn’t it funny how just on the verge of Independence all these folk have decided to complain, coincidence? I don’t think so
They Bumff Buckets can sod off and rejoin Sir Kier Starmer and his little band of apprentice Tony Blair Tories and federalise it right up themselves or keep listening to the Internets biggest ego driven Zoomer with his hate agenda and lose
Is that the same SIR Kier Starmer who doesn’t want Han cock to resign despite him losing a court battle including losing millions of our £’s ( on loan) over ppe. Starmer says the public doesn’t want him too?!
Labour and tories one and the same.
Ps I’ve have only been in one party. The SNP
I feel I’ve missed out in not jumping from the Communists, Labour, SSP and the like.
Could it be such individuals are in it for themselves first and their country second?
Same goes for the potential MSP’s touring Scotland saying pick me although they have no connection with the local area.
Newsnet seems to be back in operation. Here’s a good analysis of the chances of a new party, the ISP, gaining any seats in the May election. Not much is the answer but a big rise in turnout may change the outcome.
https://newsnet.scot/news-analysis/the-isp-versus-political-reality/
Capella,
Thanks for this.
It does seem ISP are nowhere to be seen. Their stats are imaginative in the extreme.
They will get even less votes due to their “ Twitteratti supporters” aggressively attacking the FM, the SNP and their support. If I was to give a vote to another party ( which I won’t) it would be to the greens. I won’t of course as the greens stand against the SNP in some constituencies. If there had been agreement not to stand but give the 2nd vote to them fore more independence leaning parties I might have been persuaded.
Still nearly into March and the election looms.
Of course, if Alex Salmond were to stand for the ISP that would boost their profile immensely. Whether for good or ill is another matter.
It would get full-on media attention certainly. For obvious reasons. But personally I’m not convinced it would matter much in terms of votes, either up for the alt-indies or down for the SNP, (assuming a zero-sum game, as the BritNats evidently do). And a poor showing regardless would dent AS’s political reputation enormously. (Think of the ignominy eg. of David Owen’s last stand, humiliatingly overtaken in votes by the Monster Raving Loony Party.)
It’s a truism that every politician’s career ends in failure, but there are more or less graceful ways to call it quits, and I reckon AS has some sensitivity about that, however bruised by certain events he may feel.
I suspect his name is largely being used (with or without his approval) as a totem for dissatisfaction with certain aspects of the current internal politics of the SNP.
If the excuse is made for not voting SNP is *I don’t like a rule or a law the SNP have made* the answer is, every law that is made can be unmade or we’d still be burning witches putting people in the stocks hanging folk for sheep stealing or buying and selling slaves
Remember the OBFA? the Scottish parliament didn’t like it so struck it down, for the wrong reasons but nevertheless out it went, governments the world over make laws that don’t last either because they’re unworkable or the electorate just don’t like them or there’s a change of political party who want the publics votes so they get shot of them and make nice laws that make them popular
So the *I’m not voting SNP because of a law* is a croc of you know what, especially if other governments are making the same laws and they’re not complaining about them
Yea but no but yea but, I want that one, little Britain
AS was also less popular with women when FM than the current FM. Some folk might not like that but the electorate can vote for who they want.
If the ISP cling onto to this idea it might lose them any votes they may have. Do they wish to be seen as a men only party. Shoot- back onto gender politics again
AS personal polling ratings are @ -60%, ISP currently have no polling ratings so that looks like you put your £1 on the lottery @ 44 million to 1, every bookie in the country will line up to take your £1 rubbing their hands
Welcome back. Great to hear you guys have settled into your new gaff and I hope that your recovery continues a pace.
Be kind to yourself and try not to over do it.
O/T Some promising news on the Covid front. The hospitalisation numbers have now fallen below the November “2nd wave” high, and if the current average drop of ~40 per day is maintained, we should also be under the pre-Christmas transient low well before the end of this month. And still going steadily down, not heading back up again like the “roller-coaster ride” back then.
The numbers are still way too high for comfort, though, so no reason to relent on current precautions, but cause for some cheer all the same.
My English friends having a right go at BJ for not allowing golf to be played whilst at the same time saying that Nicola allowing golf to be played is just petty ‘points scoring’.
confused.com
Tom Gordon, beloved reporter of unionist trolls everywhere, says that the SNP are spending £600,000 on Indyref2 this year. Is that the same £600,000 that was rumoured to be missing?
https://archive.fo/GlcqL
(He still manages to insert a few barbs into his report. Well done Tom)
Yeah, I wonder who comes up with these rumours then converts them into absolute facts that keep being disproved
Would that be the same person who used to tell us that “the headline is always a lie”?
Print the most hateful scribbles you can think of, drag the attention of every malcontent and aggrieved discontent to your website, increase the volume daily, hope for legal papers to arrive taking you to court then launch the crowd funder against the suppression of your truth by the oppressive regime
If the legal papers don’t arrive drag up a previous victim of your ire and hope that gets you back into court, meanwhile keep scribbling the hate while telling your followers you stand for truth and justice and congratulate yourself on how many people you can attract to read the hatred you’re writing about
If you want to be famous but can’t sing or dance and look odd you have to come up with something to get noticed
Ta very much for the lesson, Donald Trump and Qanon
Ha ha ha – big headline on the BBC website – Main UK Covid jabs ‘reduce hospital admissions’
Scotland is now the UK!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-56149494
“He . . . Him” yeah that person, is now telling people not to vote SNP . . .
. Then those who are paid by the UK to post on his site are all saying ” it’s a list vote for me only and that won’t be for the SNP”
Yes there’s a clear voter suppression effort at work which indicates how panicked Westminster is.
As for the “own goal” brigade. I think it’s depression driving their bilious attacks on the SNP and Nicola Sturgeon. They need someone to hate and who better than a successful female politician who is in great danger of delivering independence in spite of all their dire predictions.
If they can bring her down and prevent people from voting SNP they will be proved right. A self fulfilling prophecy is always better than a bunch of sour grapes.
POLLS ARE RUBBISH!
Keep calm and carry on is the best course IMO.