Confirmed speaking dates at the moment are
26 August St Andrews
28 August Insch
29 August Dundee
30 August Cupar, Fife
I will post details of times and venues shortly – these are all evening events. I am still open to invitations on dates around these, and indeed any daytime events. Don’t mind dashing all over the place. A number are in the pipeline already. Contact me using the button at top of page.
Have been rather unwell the last couple of days, so please forgive lack of regular posts. BBC Hardtalk interview with Anders Fogh Rasmussen of NATO made me feel much worse. Totally incapable of acknowledging the disasters NATO and NATO members have inflicted on the world since the collapse of the Soviet Union – and the BBC totally incapable of serious questioning on the point.
As was mentioned on Wings Over Scotland, the bt uk gov TROLLS have stepped up a pace in recent days. Do NOT feed the trolls! The lies and scare mongering will get much worse, we must stay on task for a YES, counter the lies, for there are many, and stay positive. Only a no vote would spell any kind if disaster, it would be a disaster for Scotland.
A YES is a real possibility and the no lot are getting desperate, but what have they got to lose? Why hold on to a union with such a dysfunctional basket case that is Scotchland? Unionists, just Let Scotland go, and with good grace, we will forgive, you, quite quickly! :-))
Habbabkuk,
There you go again hasbara sockpuppet troll.
Picking on Mary because you cant beat her arguments.
You silly sad desperate troll.
You are,as ever,an embarrassingly oafish tart Habbabkuk.
That, in the event of independence, the Scottish government would consider either a currency union with England or the continued use of sterling without joint management with England, shows how clueless the Scottish government is and how unfit it is to run an independent country. Among the few advantages of independence is an independent currency, the exchange value of which is determined solely by the issuing country`s international competitiveness, rather than by that of the union as a whole. In the case of Scotland and England the idea of a currency union is particularly absurd since the size of the two economies and their profiles are so different.
In fact, no one in this discussion has offered any sensible reason for Scotch independence. Republic of Scotland offers two reasons. First, to distance Scotland from the criminal government of the Scotchmen, Blair and Brown, aided by the Scotch adviser Alistair Campbell, a government that depended for its existence of the enthusiasm of the Scots for New Labor. Second, the illusory oil bonanza, the extra fifty quid a week that Scots think they`ll get once their shot of England.
Obviously if the Scotch buggered up the government of Britain they`ll show just as much malice when left to their own devices in Scotland. In fact the history of pre-Union Scotland is one of endless warfare, treachery, and violence both internally and in Scotland`s relations with England. Why does anyone think things would be different for a newly independent Scotland. War hasn`t been abandoned as a means of settling petty disputes in Europe. Why then does anyone suppose that we will not see English tanks shelling the capital of an independent Scotland within a 100 years.
It seems the basis of state governance in Plato and Aristotle is appreciation of virtue through moral persuasion. This enlightenment could be more easily realised through an independent self governing state.
Why is all the talk on monetary outcomes of independence, so much contemptible emphasis when prudence should be at the base of any true environmentalist.- is that not what features most heavily with all this. We are all environmentalist to some degree as we are all in a state of being.
Habba and Fed up. One in the same.
Exit I was under the impression that ‘Ronald McDonald’ provided burgers and fries for the masses, served by unemployed graduates on zero hours contracts and earning a pittance.
I was waiting for a friend yesterday who was in the supermarket. I saw several young women emerge with their shopping, all over 25 stone and wearing leggings!, eating packets of crisps and other junk as they pushed their trollies. A middle aged man who looked 9 mths pregnant and who was dangerously obese was eating a pasty.
Next stop the diabetes clinics or A&E with their coronaries.
A Prof was on television yesterday advocating a programme of gastric band operations to combat the rise in cases of diabetes type 2. Up to 300,000 people would qualify apparently. The BBC article below gives a figure of 850,000 people.
Being overweight or obese ‘linked to 10 common cancers’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-28779493
More weight loss operations for diabetes
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-28246641
Dearest Canspeccy
Let me be the first to invite you out for a drink in an independent Scotland.
We will do the famous “clockwork orange” pub crawl in Glasgow, where you could enthrall the local Scotch patrons with your thoughts on life. I bet you wouldn’t survive past Cowcaddens.
The IDF are still going strong.
In Occupied Palestine
Zionism in practice – Israel’s Daily Toll on Palestinian Life, Limb, Liberty and Property
24 hours to 8am
11 August 2014
51 air strikes – 9 attacks – 20 raids including home invasions – 8 dead (2 in West Bank + 6 in Gaza Strip) – 17 injured (6 in West Bank + 11 in Gaza Strip) – 4 acts of agricultural/economic sabotage – 25 taken prisoner – 9 detained – 110 restrictions of movement
West Bank: Israeli Army shoots and kills 11-year-old boy
West Bank: Israeli Army attack – 1 person killed – 1 woman and 2 children injured – families forced from their homes
http://www.sapienspromise.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3225
Acknowledgment to Leslie Bravery in NZ who keeps this log.
Gaza: Israeli air strike kills 17-year-old youth
275,000 people now made homeless in Gaza Strip
Night peace disruption and/or home invasions in 13 towns and villages
@Fedup “he was caught by his Mrs..”
Not according to Genesis, they were just not lucky enough to conceive (at first), so she suggested using Hagar the slave as a surrogate. But Hagar got big-headed and said to Sarah ‘Na-na-na-na-na, I’m fertile & U aren’t.’ Sarah said to Hagar ‘Diss me, would you?’ And then gave her such a hard time that Hagar fled with her son. And the rest is history…
CAN SOMEONE MAKE A LIST OF LATTER DAY “PARCEL OF ROGUES”?
Such A Parcel Of Rogues In A Nation
Fareweel to a’ our Scottish fame,
Fareweel our ancient glory;
Fareweel ev’n to the Scottish name,
Sae fam’d in martial story.
Now Sark rins over Solway sands,
An’ Tweed rins to the ocean,
To mark where England’s province stands-
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
What force or guile could not subdue,
Thro’ many warlike ages,
Is wrought now by a coward few,
For hireling traitor’s wages.
The English stell we could disdain,
Secure in valour’s station;
But English gold has been our bane-
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
O would, or I had seen the day
That Treason thus could sell us,
My auld grey head had lien in clay,
Wi’ Bruce and loyal Wallace!
But pith and power, till my last hour,
I’ll mak this declaration;
We’re bought and sold for English gold-
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
RB-1791
SCOTTISH QUISLINGS WHO SOLD SCOTLAND AND ITS PEOPLE
FOR ENGLISH GOLD in 1707,MAYBE YOUR CLAN KIN IS HERE
Earl of Marchmont: received £1,104. -17s-7d.
Earl of Cromarty: received £300.
Lord Preston Hall: received £200.
Lord Ormiston: received £200.
Duke of Montrose: received £200.
Duke of Athol: received £1000.
Earl of Balcarres: received £500.
Earl of Dunmoor: received £200.
Lord Anstruther: received £300.
Mr. Stewart of Castle Stewart: received £300.
Earl of Eglington: received £200.
Lord Fraser: received £100.
Lord Cesnock, now Polwarth: received £50.<<Cheap Skate)
Mr. John Campbell: received £200.
Earl of Forfar: received £100.
Sir Kenneth MacKenzie: received £100.
Earl of Glencairn: received £100.
Earl of Kintore: received £200.
Earl of Findlator: received £100.
Lord Forbes: received £50.
John Muir, Provost of Ayr: received £100.
Earl of Seafield, Lord Chancellor: £490.
Marquis of Tweedale: received £1000.
Duke of Roxburgh: received £500.
Lord Elibank: received £50.
Lord Banff: received £11-2/-
Major Cunningham of Eckatt: received £100.
The Messenger who brought the Treaty of Union: received £60.
Sir William Sharp: received £300.
Patrick Coultrain, Provost of Wigton: received £25.
Mr. Alexander Wedderburn: received £75.
The Commisioner for Equippage & Daily Allowance: received £12,325.
Jives
“Picking on Mary because you cant beat her arguments.”
__________________
Which arguments would those be, Jives? I see a lot of cut-and-paste, but arguments….?
Are you Mary’s Sir Galahad, Jives?
As I dimly recall from other sources than my Strictly-English History classes at an English school, the Act of Union followed on from the Darien speculative clusterfuck, in which the Scottish finance industry succeeded in crashing the Scottish economy. It’s ironic that the impetus for Scottish independence has been magnified by the 2008 speculative clusterfuck in which the West’s finance industry succeeded in crashing the West’s economy.
Moral: never trust a financier.
Canspeccy –
You are very rude about our Scottish politicians, and in the cases cited, with reason. But you ignore the gigantic contribution the Scots have made to your own (adopted?) country:
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/scots/
Maybe you’re Québécois, and jealous?
I’ll be along to see you in Dundee, Craig.
Try not to overdo it though.
Get well. That is more important than anything.
Tris
Les québécois ne peuvent gagner leur independence non plus, mais on les a fait voté plusieurs fois
Mary @ 8:10am
“I was waiting for a friend yesterday who was in the supermarket. I saw several young women emerge with their shopping, all over 25 stone and wearing leggings!, eating packets of crisps and other junk as they pushed their trollies. A middle aged man who looked 9 mths pregnant and who was dangerously obese was eating a pasty.
“Next stop the diabetes clinics or A&E with their coronaries.”
You might find the following links illuminating on the effects of sugar in the diet, and its cynical use by the big food corporations (when I was a wee lad growing up in Scotland, obesity was very rare):
http://www.owen.org/musings/sugar (a “long, boring article”, but good info)
http://www.owen.org/?s=sugar
Note that the author of these pieces is Owen Barder, son of Brian Barder, erstwhile diplomatic colleague of Craig’s (and who kindly lists Craig’s blog on his blogroll)
Thanks for that snippet, Neill, gosh Owen does not like sugar, does he, what a wealth of in formation and proof that our health service has no teeth.
If the NHS is only good for mopping up the mistakes of failed regulation then its doomed allright.
Alternative method of removing malign influence of Westminster:
The majority of Britons would support sending David Cameron’s entire cabinet of ministers into Iraq and a similar percentage would support air dropping Nick Clegg onto the front lines from a high altitude to support British involvement in humanitarian efforts,
In a ComRes poll for ITV News, a mere 13% of British people opposed the idea of dispatching the chancellor George Osborne alongside the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith to fight brutal ISIS militia forces in northern Iraq, while a massive 84% agreed with air dropping boxes containing Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander and the Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt onto Mount Sinjar to aid refugees trapped there.
Brits were also found to be more likely to support than oppose deploying the Prime Minister David Cameron on a long-term mission into Iraq to personally fight against Islamic State militants, with as many as 45% in favour of shipping him over there for a long-term deployment of as long as is f*cking possible.
http://tompride.wordpress.com/2014/08/14/87-of-uk-public-back-sending-cameron-cabinet-to-iraq/
A man can dream.
Liz Truss replaces Owen Paterson at Defra
DEFRA’S ‘REVOLVING door’ has been turning again as part of the shake-up to Westminster’s coalition Cabinet.
‘The fluid nature of Westminster’s farming and environment portfolio is something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by Nigel Miller, president of the National Farmers Union Scotland.
Congratulating Ms Truss on her appointment, Mr Miller added: “This will be the third Secretary of State in place since I took up the Union Presidency in 2011. For a long term industry like farming, the revolving door at Defra makes building relationships and driving consistent policy challenging but such changes appear to be the nature of modern politics.”
Scottish farming CabSec Richard Lochhead also took the opportunity to comment on the ever-changing faces at Defra. He said: “Defra’s policies have been at odds with Scotland’s priorities for agriculture and the environment and I will be seeking an urgent meeting with the new Secretary of State – the fifth I have had to deal with in my time as Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary.
“Stakeholders and myself will now have to undergo yet another round of meetings to bring yet another new Defra Secretary of State up to speed on issues vital to Scotland.”
Mr Paterson had riled Scottish farmers by deciding to spread the recent EU convergence cash uplift – intended to help ‘converge’ Scotland’s low farming area payments with their better paid neighbours – across the whole of the UK.
Mr Lochhead called on Ms Truss to remedy that: “Liz Truss can of course show it is not a case of same old same old by immediately reversing Owen Paterson’s position on Scotland’s CAP convergence funds – the hundreds of millions of euros due to Scottish farming but grabbed by Westminster despite cross-party support for the funds to stay in Scotland. These must now be returned to Scotland.”‘
http://www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk/news/liz-truss-replaces-owen-paterson-at-defra.24777409
I was looking to discover Truss’s opinion on GM crops but could not find anything.
Thanks Neil. I remember a recent TV programme on the addictive nature of corn syrup which is used increasingly by the food manufacturers. This coalition have done little to curb the power of the BIG FOOD lobby.
The Men Who Made Us Fat
Episode 1 of 3
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jxzv8 No longer on the iPlayer of course. It should be.
Thanks for this Mary, Liz has now got the full Truss of the PM behind her, so it seems. She is an educationalist who has not got much nous of sea defences, modern full spectrum recycling or agriculture.
Change ensures that ideas and developments are stalled until the new minister has ‘informed herself’ found her feet in the footsteps of Chloe Smith, next a Newsnight appearance with flowing mane and sharp tounges.
She must soon answer to the question whether school children could be fed GM food and whether its due to her support for this technology. We must remind ourselves that there are no markets for GM in Europe and its questionable whether the public moneypit, framed as science, should be supported when conventional breeding, which is excellent, gets us what we need.
http://www.thompson-morgan.com/how-to-stop-potato-blight
http://sarvari-trust.org/hungarian-connection.html
If you can’t find nothing on her GM views its because it is still to come, I believe.
We have sunk hundreds of millions if not billions into a technology that is marked by its commercial goals and patent laws, a guaranteed share within the foodchain, seed market etc. not health, not efficiency, not compatability with other species, sheer profits and bugger those who get cross contaminated with dominant genes…
I’m ready as a coiled spring and the local rag will be the first to hear it Mary.
@all, Anybody going up to the DTRH?
O/T five minutes in Norfolk
venturing into the kitchen, I looked once again at the paintjob I’d done during this week, my eyes wandered towards the backdoor and the window next to it, a small kafuffle fluttered outside and as I gently eased towards the window without blinking, a loud Radio Norfolk playing a piece by the commodores, ouside, about a yard and a half away, some 80-100 sparrows were busy picking the seeds out of the grass outside. looking to the right a young wren searches the old coalbunker, food in abundance and quick as a flash.
Then, like one in a moment of flight, a disturbance and they all sat on the fence.
The radio is telling us that Ebola has been widely underestimated, news with yet unforseen consequences to worldwide trade, travel and communications.
a snippet in time.
The radio is telling us that Ebola has been widely underestimated,
That was a sweet-and-sour moment, Nevermind.
I am wondering just who underestimated Ebola: pretty reliably lethal, extremely infectious, originates in countries with poor public health controls and inappropriate care and burial practices, symptoms invisible until after patient is infectious, airline travel available on demand – and wait for the refugees going overland and off-road -…what’s to underestimate?
oh…and no vaccine…
Flights heading for Heathrow from Lagos at the moment: Arik Air ARA101 and Virgin Atlantic VIR652W. Keep clear, I would.
Oh…and the hajj…
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/08/14/you_are_not_nearly_scared_enough_ebola_vaccine_west_africa_outbreak
Someone gets the picture.
@Squonk.
Re your comment 11.15pm
I take your point no its not a huge quantity of oil, but that’s the whole argument surrounding oil in the North sea, the unionist parties are claiming that its a dwindling resource, in fact Alistair Darling said North sea oil would run out by 2017. Yet here we are still discovering viable ridges and fields, that’s the nub of the debate, which when converted into layman’s terms amounts to nothing more than scaremongering, by the unionist parties.
CanSpeccy.
Re your comment 10.24pm
What an infantile and churlish comment.
Exitpoint.
Re your comment 1.34am
Professor Ronald MacDonald is an ardent supporter of Better Together and the union, though his comment is a bit over the top shall we say,its nonetheless in line with the preposterous claims already made by the no camp.
Such as an independent Scotland wouldn’t be able to watch Dr Who, even though its beamed to 70 countries around the world, or George Robertson’s claim, that an independent Scotland would lead to the Balkanisation of Europe.
Or Gordon Brown’s ridiculous claim that no one in Scotland would receive an organ transplant from anywhere else in the UK after independence. Or how about mobile roaming charges would rocket in an independent Scotland this was touted just as the charges were abolished.
My favourite scaremonger story so far though, I find it more laughable than scary was, Phil Hammond who I think was Defence Secretary until recently, said an independent Scotland would be open to attack from outer space.
The beer at the Aviemore Centre was pish. They never cleaned the pipes, ca 1972. Mind the Happy Haggis, down the road?
Moderators
The same commenter is using two names: Komodo and Ba’al Zevul.
Are other commenters also allowed to use two names?