William Wallace did not turn to Andrew Murray at Stirling Bridge and say “I am not fighting alongside you, I hear you’re hard on your tenants.”
A declaration of interest. At the SNP conference in Glasgow in March I was feeling very down. Having been rejected at candidate vetting by the SNP leadership, and the fact leaked to the press with resulting brouhaha, I was effectively cold-shouldered at what was a very managed loyalist mass rally. I spent a lot of time on my own and people I knew were positively walking away to avoid me.
As regular readers know I am bipolar, and I know that when I am severely depressed my perception can be wrong. But in the SNP club a few weeks later a very sensible gentleman told me he and his wife had been appalled at the way I was treated at the conference. I am pretty confident it was not a distorted perception.
Anyway, I was sitting on my own in the conference hall when Michelle Thomson came and sought me out, sat with me and chatted to me. I have no doubt that her motive was simple personal kindness. I should add that the next day Chris Law did much the same.
In Scotland we have had five days of Michelle being treated by the media as though she were the Yorkshire Ripper. The BBC, who never once managed to ask Jim Murphy about the Henry Jackson Society, have been on 24 hour Thomsonwatch, including aggressive doorstepping a la Sky News.
I am not going to set out the detail of the case here, but highly recommend that you read Wings on the distortion of the issues, and Lallands on the legal position. Both are excellent, but to me neither quite clearly delineates the most essential point.
To preface that point, let me restate that Michelle is not under investigation, and her own role is unclear.
The key point is that at no time was any vendor selling their house ripped off. This is not a case of distressed people dispossessed, and the attempts by media and politicians to make it appear that way are tendentious.
The worst that allegedly happened is this. A and B are in cahoots. Mr Smith sells his property to A for an agreed market price. A then sells to B for market price plus 20 grand. The bank gives a mortgage for this, but A quietly gives the extra 20 grand back to B under the table.
The fraud is on the mortgage company which has been tricked into giving a higher mortgage than it otherwise would have. The fraud in no way harms the original vendor. The fraud does not even harm the mortgage company provided the mortgage is paid – and there is no accusation of default. What the mortgage company has lost is that it has as security an interest over a property with a false value.
But again, unless there were a default, it has actually helped the mortgage company too as in the weird world of banking its larger loan is an asset not a liability on its books.
So it is a fraud, but not one perpetrated on poor vendors. It is a trick played on the ludicrous banking system. Clever, dishonest but not morally outrageous. I repeat again, there is no evidence or even legal accusation that Michelle Thomson was involved in any of this. But in any case it is nowhere near as immoral as starting an illegal war with consequent deaths of millions of people. Lets get a grip.
I have never claimed to be perfect. All of us have done things wrong in our past. For me the Independence referendum campaign transcended all that. It was a millenarian movement, a time when people envisaged a world renewed and more just. That phrase about living in the first days of a better nation carried enormous resonance. It was the defining moment of my own life despite coming in its Autumn. Those of us in the frontline of the Yes campaign underwent a kind of emotional rebirth. Sins were wiped clean. It was a sacramental experience, and will lead on to that better world in an Independent Scotland in short time.
It sparked England’s chance for change with Corbyn.
I don’t care what mistakes people made before the Yes campaign. By dedicating themselves to that social movement, they wiped the slate clean.
Which leads me on to Tommy Sheridan. Neither Tommy nor Michelle will thank me for lumping them together, given the very different circumstances. But the continued shunning of Sheridan by pro-Independence organisations from Rise to the SNP is ludicrous.
Most ludicrous of all is the language parroted by the left about Sheridan, that “A space containing Tommy Sheridan is not a safe space for women.” You find it here in the comment by Edward Bonobo. You find it in this article by Tommy Ball. I have had it repeated to me several times.
One answer to this is that it is even more dangerous to be in organisations that teach members to parrot catchphrases, as opposed to think.
In what way precisely is proximity to Tommy Sheridan dangerous to women? If it were true that he has a Svengali like irresistible sexual appeal – which appears to be the nub of the accusation as far as I can make out any sense from Tommy Ball’s article – then surely there is not a woman in Scottish politics not warned against it by now? Is it not rather demeaning to women to argue they would not be capable of protecting themselves from Tommy Sheridan? What precisely about being in the same “space” as Tommy Sheridan is unsafe for women? What does “space” mean in this context? Room, meeting, city? The argument about “safe space” is clearly a nonsense.
I do not know the truth about the sexual shenanigans of which Tommy was accused by Murdoch. Nor do I in the least care if they were true. I have done all that kind of stuff. Often before tea. I do know that Sheridan was jailed for perjury, and that Coulson lied in court at the same trial but the judges ruled that it was OK for Coulson to lie, but not for Sheridan. I know there are allegations that Sheridan pressured other people to lie for him. I do not know if it is true, but I have had so many friends – of both sexes – ask me over the years to give them an alibi for marital infidelity I am not shocked by that. I am afraid to say that in my younger days I have asked that myself.
None of which explains the sheer hatred and bile poured out at Sheridan. This is a man who liberated poor families from the destitution and humiliation of warrant sales, who led the anti-poll tax campaign, who sparked the Murdoch phone-hacking revelations and has been repeatedly arrested and even jailed outside Faslane – trying to make the world a “safer space” for everyone. This tribute is undoubtedly true:
You supported individuals in the community; both in parliament and in the street, you were able to use your undoubted powers of oratory to press home your cause; you led the Scottish Socialist Party to considerable electoral success; and your contributions to the anti-poll tax campaign and the abolition of warrant sales will become part of the fabric of Scottish social and political history.
It was said by Lord Bracadale as he sentenced him to three years in prison for perjury in the Murdoch case.
Tommy Sheridan proclaims his innocence, but in any event he has undoubtedly made mistakes in life. But his achievements are very important, and the continued vindictiveness of the sex-negative feminists and their followers on the Left is extreme. Tommy has been to jail. Is offender rehabilitation only something the political classes claim to believe in because they don’t actually expect to meet any ex-convicts in their sphere of life? The attempt to dress the vicious vindictiveness up as warding off a present danger to women from Tommy Sheridan is intellectually ludicrous.
I shared a platform with Tommy Sheridan at Caird Square, Dundee on Sunday. I was not asked to speak until the gloaming, when 95% of those attending had gone home, but I accepted that and got on with it because I will do anything, anywhere to promote the cause of Independence. The SNP boycott of the event because Tommy was there cannot possibly be helpful if Independence is really the aim.
The Independence movement has a vast and powerful army arraigned against us. The entire British state, their corporate masters, the transatlantic neo-cons, both state and corporate media, the security services. For God’s sake, we need to be absolutely united if we are to reach our goal.
We need all of us. We must value all of us; as people, not robots. We should not be trying to project some corporate media image of a totally fake and hypocritical groomed perfection.
We have tremendously powerful enemies. We only have each other.
Our enemies lie before us. We should not look askance at our allies.
Perhaps Jemand could tell us more about AIJAC. We know about AIPAC and BICOM but this is a new one on me.
What is the Israeli Lobby in Australia Doing in Interfaith Dialogue?
by Ali Kazak / October 11th, 2015
For years Israel and its lobby around the world have been trying to normalise their relations with Arabs and Muslims without solving the Palestine Question.
One of the methods they resorted to in the last few years is using human rights and community organizations such as interfaith dialogue and Multiculturalism to achieve this objective and to: isolate the Palestinians, marginalise the Palestine question, end Israel’s isolation, and prevent criticism of Israel, knowing that these organisations will be the first to stand against Israel’s violations, racial and religious discrimination.
The group responsible for this task in Australia is The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC); its Director of International & Community Affairs, Jeremy Jones is in charge of lobbying religious community organizations, specifically Muslims and Christians. Consequently he convened the Faith Communities for Reconciliation, founding participant in the Australian Partnership of Religious Organisations and the Australian National Dialogue of Christians, Muslims & Jews.
AIJAC is a private political propaganda group. It is recognised as the main Israeli lobby in Australia. It coordinates its activities and works intimately with the Israeli embassy in Canberra and different institutions in Israel. It is privately funded by some Jewish businessmen. It monitors closely Australian politicians, the media, ethnic and religious groups, (especially Arabs and Muslims), unions and academics on their stands towards Israel and the Palestine question.
/..
http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/10/what-is-the-israeli-lobby-in-australia-doing-in-interfaith-dialogue/
I know that Australian academics who support Palestine have a hard time of it and even have their tenure threatened. Professors Jake Lynch and Stuart Rees come to mind.
The renewed witch hunt against Australian champion of Palestinian rights
Sydney 6 April 2015
https://electronicintifada.net/content/renewed-witch-hunt-against-australian-champion-palestinian-rights/14405
That was our old friend Col Richard Kemp of Henry Jackson Society infamy. Here he is in 2010 in the HoC with Tobias Ellwood, currently a Foreign Office Minister, speaking on ‘Succeeding in Afghanistan’. LOL.
http://henryjacksonsociety.org/2010/09/07/hjs-parliamentary-launch-succeeding-in-afghanistan/
Straw Junior has been interviewed on Sky News this morning in his new capacity as the grandly titled Executive Director of the Stay in campaign where he has found another niche.
As the outfit includes Blair at its head, there is an instant incentive to join the other side. Remember BLiar’s failed plan for his EU presidency?
Labour candidate lands executive director role of pro-EU campaign
20th July, 2015 6:16 pmhttp://labourlist.org/2015/07/labour-candidate-lands-executive-director-role-of-pro-eu-campaign/
Failed in May. Quel dommage!
‘Will Straw @wdjstraw is Associate Director for Strategic Development at the Institute for Public Policy Research and Founder of Left Foot Forward. He is a Visiting Fellow at the Center for American Progress and was a 2007-08 Fulbright Scholar.’
Healey admitted lying about the Oil Revenues. Labour illegally hid the McCrone Report under the Official Secrets Act for thirty years. Created the myth that Scotland was subsidised. Used the revenues for illegal wars, tax evasion and banking fraud. Killing and maiming innocent people at home and abroad. Blair/Brown should be in jail.
Where’s the Chilcot Report?
Without US support and funding, the ‘State of Israel’ would not exist. It’s an apartheid State being supported by a neo nazi Russian. Full of UK/US/French and Russian immigrants (7 million) and it’s economy is struggling. The majority of Americans are sick of supporting it and the eternal wars. Israel is a festering sore.
So there is a demonstration called in Ankara, a peace demonstration in favour of no specific group, just peace.
The police, usually policing every demonstration there is, decide to have a day off as it was sunny, again, and, after all it is a peaceful demo, decide not to attend, all of them,. even those under cover men who usually are present at all demo’s.
Or, they were warned off that something will happen that might make their presence there dangerous….
Off course this was a false flag and also Erdogans last gasp, he will not be in power for much longer, my guess is that he will be ousted to a place of extreme comfort, by the military.
Thanks for all the links Mary, at least our resident gnats and sockets have got something to read.
before I forgot. Where is Werrity? and has he taken the Chilcot report with him and burned it?
@Alcyone
I was once prescribed 10mg amitriptylene for what turned out to be gluten intolerance. The medic was sure I was just depressed. It sure helped me sleep, far too deeply to be a help to my wife with our infant daughters in the night. I was supposed to be writing my PhD in physiology but I would sit in front of the computer with my head full of fog until lunchtime. I did not repeat the prescription.
I shudder to think how heavy a mental cosh 25mg would be. Be careful Craig.
BTW I’m a 6′ broad shouldered male so dose per kilogram was not an issue.
I couldn’t agree more. Mr Sheridan’s peccadilloes are irrelevant. They only people involved were consenting adults, which is more than we can say for the practices of some of his detractors in Westminster.
In any event, it makes no difference. I couldn’t less about the moral character of an elected representatives. I don’t care if they’re venal, dishonest, sexually incontinent, etc.
I don’t vote for ‘leadership’ of personality. I vote for policies. Policies that increase social equality, reduce suffering and promote peace and social justice. I care about the consequences of social policy, but care not one whit about the people carrying them out.
Aussie F
“I couldn’t less about the moral character of an elected representatives. I don’t care if they’re venal, dishonest, sexually incontinent, etc.
I don’t vote for ‘leadership’ of personality. I vote for policies.”
__________________
That was an egregiously silly thing to say, “Aussie F”.
If a politician is venal, then he could be bribed to change his policy once in power.
If he is dishonest, he might have been lying about his policy just to get into power.
If he is sexually incontinent, he could (at least according to some of the dingbats posting in here) be blackmailed by the security services into chqnging his policy once in power.
Do you get it now?
Aussie F
If you wish to be taken seriously on here you should learn some lessons from your compatriot Jemand on how to make thoughtful posts which can stand scrutiny by thoughtful readers.
Aussie F, regardless of your choice of words, you are welcome here. You have already met our schoolmaster and wise crack.
Your assumptions that policies are made by politicians before they get voted in is unfortunate, they are all apt at u-turns and will make sure that their promises stay just that, promises.
Good on Benedict Cumberbatch for speaking out. He wants to meet Theresa May. He is indeed a brave man twice over.
Sky News @SkyNews · 1h1 hour ago
Watch: Benedict Cumberbatch tells Sky News the government isn’t doing enough to help refugees http://trib.al/94uFe4A
Jemand. Nothing wrong with my ‘wings’ thank you.
‘Israel is a terrorist state’
Posted by The Editors on October 12, 2015, 9:36 am
By Jonathan Cook
Unrest grows among Palestinian citizens of Israel, outraged by restrictions on access to al-Aqsa and causalities in the occupied territories
Al-Jazeera – 12 October 2015
The violence rocking the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and now Gaza is on the verge of spilling into Israel, Palestinian leaders in Israel warned.
A wave of unrest has swept Palestinian towns in Israel over recent days, with repeated clashes with Israeli police in Nazareth, Jaffa, Lod, Ramle, Taibeh, Sakhnin, Rahat, Kfar Qassem and elsewhere. Dozens of protesters have been arrested.
On Thursday, as Palestinians declared a day of rage, police fired tear gas and stun grenades and led baton charges against several hundred protesters in Nazareth, the largest Palestinian city in Israel. Sixteen demonstrators, five of them minors, were arrested.
– See more at: http://www.jonathan-cook.net/2015-10-12/israel-is-a-terrorist-state/#sthash.Q9pPWjYL.dpuf
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1444638973.html
http://www.forbes.com/profile/alejandro-santo-domingo/
The Colombian Santo Domingo family, now US citizens, own 14% of the shares of SAB Miller. Anheuser-Busch InBev have offered £70 billion to buy out SAB Miller, a SA British company with an HQ in Woking and listed on the London Stock Exchange.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SABMiller
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anheuser-Busch_InBev
Cindy McCain, wife of John McCain, is an Anheuser Busch distributor heiress.
http://www.therichest.com/celebnetworth/celebrity-business/women/cindy-mccain-net-worth/
“I wonder how many so-called ‘suicide attacks’ actually involve a suicide bomber. . . . 50% ? . . . . 25% ? . . . . Who knows. My guess is less than 10%.”
Jemand : With remote detonation being used, it’s hard to say. How many people, children even, have been tricked into performing the delivery, believing that they will be walking out?
Actually I was thinking more along the lines of false flag incidents.
Such as the Iraqi taxi driver stopped at a US army checkpoint, held in detention for several hours, then told to collect his ID documents (which had been taken from him) from a Baghdad police station. He was suspicious and drove to some open ground in the city where he abandoned his taxi. It was found to contain huge amounts of explosives and an RC detonator.
Or when SAS members disguised as Arabs were caught driving around in a car full of explosives.
Or 911.
There’s an example in today’s news of how easy it is to encourage the belief that there are suicide bombers everywhere. Check this spectacular video on the Mail Online site, headlined : “Blown to kingdom come: Incredible footage shows ISIS suicide bomber’s car explode in MID-AIR after vehicle is blasted skywards seconds before driver’s IEDs detonate”. How could The Mail know the car was driven by as ISIS suicide bomber? It couldn’t, but it suits the Western narrative to encourage this belief, because it will make the next report of a suicide bomb in a Turkish railway station more credible.
“Node” (aka Ganglion) exposed as a Troofer !
“Actually I was thinking more along the lines of false flag incidents.
Such as the Iraqi taxi driver stopped at a US army checkpoint….
Or when SAS members…
Or 911.
***************
There it is, folks – 9/11 !
Why am I not surprised? 🙂
Nevrmind
“Aussie F, regardless of your choice of words, you are welcome here.”
______________
Thank you for confirming that you don’t mind how carelessly posters on here use words.
That was already evident from most of your posts (unfortunately for the good reputation of this blog).
Today is Columbus Day in America.
Christopher Columbus, Crawl Back in Your Hole!
by Gary Corseri / October 10th, 2007
Christopher Columbus, crawl back in your hole!
Take you Nina, Pinta and Santa Magreedier.
We know what you did in Hispaniola!
We watched silver helmets glint in the sun.
We saw you claim our island for Spain!
Idiot!
Look what you’ve done!
How many millions of lives lost,
How many holocausts
Would burn up the centuries
So you could fill your coffers with gold?
Christopher Columbus—take George Bush with you!
Take them all—Lincoln and Washington
And Jefferson, too.
None of them gave a damn about us.
They said we were savages,
They killed us for sport.
Ever read about Lincoln and the Black Hawk War?
If Lincoln wanted to “free the slaves,”
How come he didn’t give a damn
About their red brothers?
Jefferson pimped for “democracy”
But signed the Removal Act to defraud the Cherokees.
And Washington—“Father” of his country?
Please! You’re killing me! Don’t make me laugh!
/..
http://dissidentvoice.org/2007/10/chrstopher-columbus-crawl-back-in-your-hole/
Mary
If I’ve come out as a Zionist, it would be nice to know how I managed to do it.
Campaign Against the Arms Trade
The real threat to national security? Have your say.
National Security Strategy Consultation
The Government is currently consulting the public on its 2015 National Security Strategy (NSS) and Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR).
The review will set out “how the Government should continue to meet our security needs”.
But the government’s policies – more military spending and military intervention, replacing Trident and putting arm companies’ profits before human rights – do nothing to increase security.
Have your say
The government is inviting the public to share their views on its security strategy. Please take a few minutes to tell the government that arms sales and military spending are part of the problem not part of the solution – and we must shift priorities to tackle the root causes of insecurity.
There is a simple form to fill out. Your comments can just be typed or pasted in the box on the second page of the form. Below, you can find some ideas for points you could consider including in your response.
You can keep your response very short, or expand as much as you wish. If you are have time to personalise it, please do so.
The consultation closes on 23 October.
https://www.caat.org.uk/issues/security/consultation
I’m really sorry Giyane. I apologize for any offence or insult I have caused you.
I thought these were your words.
“Why the inverted commas?
The State of Israel exists, it is quite a successful state and it will be here long after you, Mary and the other haters are six feet under.
Get used to it!”
I realize that they were not but came from the troll.
No problem Mary, I hope you are well. Thanks for your explanation and apologies.
On the day when Pauline Cafferky was re-admitted to the Royal Free, the Scottish Chief Medical Officer, Catherine Calderwood said that there was no risk of others acquiring the virus. The video is on the link below.
Now we are told that 58 people are being monitored.
Ebola Nurse: 58 Monitored For Deadly Virus
Twenty-five people are given an experimental vaccination after being confirmed to have had contact with the nurse’s bodily fluids.
http://news.sky.com/story/1568319/ebola-nurse-58-monitored-for-deadly-virus
Musclebrain @9h57
Extract (for info purposesonly):
“Amitriptyline dosing information
Usual Adult Amitriptyline Dose for Depression:
Oral:
Initial dose: 25 to 100 mg per day in 3 to 4 divided doses or 50 to 100 mg at bedtime.
Maintenance dose: 25 to 150 mg per day in single or 3 to 4 divided doses. 25 mg per day at bedtime has been used for premenstrual depression. Dose increases should be made gradually. A small number of hospitalized patients may need as much as 300 mg per day. ECG, blood pressure, and heart rate monitoring is recommended for patients receiving high doses.”
Source:
http://www.drugs.com/amitriptyline.html
Fortunately you are only qualified in physiology; I am assuming.