Alf Baird says:
I agree with you Roddy that the UN is to a some extent captured by imperial powers. But it disnae maitter what the UN thinks or does. Because the important thing is, for now, that once a people know and understand they have been colonized, that’s enough for them, and all they will then want is their liberation. So we need to educate the people about their (colonial) oppression, about how they are dominated and exploited, which is also the root of inequality in a colonial society.
In this task our politicians have been clueless. For a start thay dinnae speak the same langage as the fowk, and they are also culturally a part of the dominating colonial society – private schools, elite uni’s, privileged middle class backgrounds etc. In ither wirds, thay dinnae hiv the same values as the fowk thay claim tae want tae leeberate.
Leanne and Iain hit on very valid points. Liberation can only be accomplished together, i.e. ‘with the people’ (Freire). The oppressed group have ‘a submerged state of consciousness’; their reality is ‘concealed’, and it can only be revealed by working together with the oppressed group. This requires ‘a dialogue between the oppressed group and the intellectuals’, with the former leading. ‘The oppressed must participate in the elaboration of their oppression’.
‘Liberation is the opposite of domination’. Which is why the Salvo/Leeberation initiative is so important, whereas the politicians are part of the dominating oppressive culture.
Peter A Bell says:
The need for unity – I prefer the term ‘solidarity – is as obvious as it is urgent. As Alexis de Tocqueville said,
“In democratic countries, knowledge of how to combine is the mother of all other forms of knowledge; on its progress depends that of all the others.”
We have mislaid that knowledge. I like to think we haven’t lost it. I hope we can find it again. I hope we can recover something of the spirit of the early Yes movement. I don’t think we can recreate it. Times have changed. Circumstances are very different now. For one thing, we know a lot more than we did then.
We must build the Yes anew. We cannot push together all the various factions of the fragmented movement. It would be a mistake to try. People don’t like being pushed. What we might be able to do is draw the parts together by stating concisely the purpose for which they should unite. A single thing, stripped of all agendas other than that of restoring Scotland’s independence.
The old Yes movement was held togethr by the singular purpose of winning the referendum. Now, there is no referendum in prospect. The only democratic event on the horizon (or closer) is the UK general election. Unfortunately, there is no voting strategy that will have any influence on the outcome of that elect – or its aftermath. Whatever nominally pro-independence party you vote for; and even if you vote for one of them in huge numbers, the outcome will be the same. That outcome will, as always be decided by voters in England.
Scotland’s voice cannot and will not be heard if we play by the rules and vote for a candidate very few of us will have had any say in selecting. To be noticed, we have do something different. We have to break the rules.
This is why I have suggested a campaign to #RepurposeYourVote by writing across it the legend #EndTheUnion. This, surely, is something everybody in the Yes movement can agree on. We all want the Union to end. If enough of us spoil our ballots in the same way, that becomes a campaign. Those #EndTheUnion ballots are counted and recorded. They will also be seen by many of those attending the count. If it is big enough, the media won’t be able to ignore it. Our voice will be heard in a way it will not if we behave as we are expected to behave.
Perhaps more importantly, this – or something similar – has the potential to unite the Yes movement. It gives us a purpose. It gives as something to work towards. It won’t bring independence any closer. But then, nothing we do in the Westminster election will bring independence any closer. It’s a choice between voting for a candidate (party) and having you vote disappear like it had never been cast, or repurposing your ballot paper in order to send a message to ALL politicians in Scotland. That message is,
THE YES MOVEMENT IS BACK! AND WE ARE COMING TO KICK YOUR ARSE!
I read your reports of what has been going on with interest.
But in truth every single one of us should be enraged at the vicious inhuman deprivement of liberty dished out to Julian Assange.
The UK and the US are no different from the Nazi’s. Their methods and morals exactly the same. That they have not come for us too does not mean that they want.
The country is in the grip of a fascist state where Orwellian levels of surveillance are everywhere, where the masses get fed a political line distributed by a controlled media, where an apartheid police force carries out whatever repression the elites require jailing and prosecuting political protestor.
Democracy is a sham.. A device to keep control. And like Assange, Alex Salmond could have been locked up.
And they try to say Britain is a democracy.. That’s like saying Mussolini and Hitler were democrats.
It’s a massive legal contradiction that Julian Assange is being extradited to face charges based on a US Espionage Act (does this US Act cover the entire Globe?) as non-US Citizen, but he is being judged in the US as if he is an American Citizen under the Act but cannot plead the 5th because he is a not an American Citizen.
Is that legally logical even to a bad Judge?
Just came across this Daily Mail article posted yesterday evening:
Julian Assange faces ‘a living death sentence’ of 175 years in a concrete coffin cell – with a window just four inches wide… as America’s revenge for exposing its dirty secrets
Just days from now, Wikileaks boss Julian Assange could be standing shackled on a British airfield preparing to board a plane to the US. Once he disembarks and the sound-proofed door of a supermax prison cell closes behind him, the man who’s made himself America’s most wanted will – finally – be silenced.
Lawyers fear the 52-year-old could be confined alone in a ‘concrete coffin’, a 12ft by 7ft chamber – with a window 3ft high but just four inches wide, designed to ensure that the inmate has no view other than sky or wall. Inside it, his bed, desk and stool will be made of poured concrete too.
Under this regime, meals are passed through a slot in the door and inmates use a stainless steel sink, toilet and shower inside their cell, meaning they don’t even leave to eat or wash.
And that’s as much as you can see, because it then says: Subscribe to Mail+ to continue First monthth free and then £4.99 a month – ie the Mail now has a paywall, so I don’t know if the article goes on to say he was accused of rape etc, etc, etc. Or should I say… blah, blah, blah:
It’s been a few years since I last checked out UK newspaper circulation figures, and most had been in decline for twenty years or more when I did. But it must be so bad for some of them now that they don’t even release their circulation figures any more, as I just found out. In the Mail’s case it’s fallen from 1,169,241 in 2020 to 735,857 this year:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_newspapers_in_the_United_Kingdom_by_circulation
And it seems not one of the UK’s 650 MPs or 785 Lords in sight or sound while this prolonged travesty is going on nearby, during their watch. Scandalous. Reflects a morally sick regime and elite.
It really should be a case of: All for One! And One for All!
Anything one matter that one faction prioritises is simply distracting and divisive.
On that subject it was heartening to read today’s Barrhead Boy post which indicates that the blogsite owner Roddy McLeod and Iain Lawson (of YoursForScotland) have laid their recent well publicised differences aside in order to coalesce around Scotland’s Cause (see https://www.barrheadboy.com/through-a-scottish-prism-grassroots-unity-21-02-24/).
More power to them – there is more that unites than divides them.
We must force the politicians to follow suit.
On which subject I really think it would be worthwhile reminding/educating people – especially our politicians – of what sovereignty, self-determination and independence actually means:
Sovereignty:
The people of Scotland own this in perpetuity. This is specified in the Claim of Right (1689) upon which the Treaty of Union (1706) and the Act of Union (1707) rests. The people are the ‘Crown’. That is, they –not monarchs, presidents or parliaments – are sovereign. The boss.
Self-determination:
As a people, the Scots possess the right to choose the form of government best suited to the country’s needs. This right is founded on the principle of self-determination of peoples promoted by President Woodrow Wilson in 1917 during WW1, and subsequently enshrined in the United Nations Charter. The people can select the constitutional option they wish whenever, however, and as often, as they like.
Independence:
If the people of Scotland so prefer they can decide in favour of full self-government of, and independent statehood for, the country. Should the people so elect then Independence for the country is realised without the need for sanction or approval from an external government or foreign power.
THE SOVEREIGNTY, SELF-DETERMINATION AND INDEPENDENCE OF SCOTLAND IS OURS TO HAVE NOT WESTMINSTER’S TO GIVE.
“I personally don’t think “left-wing” intellectuals have a clue”
Postcolonial theorists agree with you. Independence is not a matter of Left or Right, or of Socialism versus Capitalism. This is where people on the Left are confused.
In colonial societies the most urgent priority ‘is freeing the people from what is a racist, exploitative system’ (Fanon). Once liberated they will choose their own preferred political ideology. Until they are liberated they can do nothing.
grumpyscottishman says:
GM
As I have already said, I won’t be voting in the English Elections once a date is set. I will set out my reasons then, I’ll also encourage anyone else who is like-minded to write guest blogs if they feel up to it to explain their reasons for not voting. I am done taking part in the sham that passes for democracy in the colony and will call it for what it is, colonisation. We need a mass non-vote, it might not change a thing because of the cowards in our parties, but if barely 50% turned out to vote it would at least be a stronger message than any of the political parties can achieve.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
I’m afraid I really find the descent of scottish politics into a reality tv show (Tractors) and the tabloid abyss meaningless and risible that only serves those in power ad nauseum.
Sorry, but following on from the previous article, as it really is where we are, I can’t remember the last time i voted without having spoiled my ballot. Omo or Daz or Daz or Omo? What to do?
Well, here’s a serious suggestion. Many of us on here have previously said it in many ways. There is a book of fiction by the elderly Portuguese author Jose Saramago called, ‘Seeing’ (2007) Vintage. Here is the description from the back of the book:
‘Despite the heavy rain, the presiding officer at Polling Station 14 finds it odd that by midday on National Election Day only a handful of voters have turned out. Puzzlement quickly escalates to shock when the final count reveals seventy per cent of the votes are blank – not spoiled, simply blank. National law decrees the election should be repeated eight days later. The result is worse, eighty-three per cent of the votes are blank. The authorities seized with panic decamp from the capital and declare a state of emergency. In his new novel, Jose Saramago has deftly created the politician’s ultimate nightmare: disillusionment that renders the entire democratic system useless. ‘Seeing’ explores how simply this could be achieved and how devastating the results might be.’
And there you have it. How to effect change.
Given they were guilty of the summary execution of men and boys, the rape of women and girls, the burning and theft of property, the wanton slaughter of livestock in rural areas, the killing of wounded opponents on the field of battle despite victory having been secured, etc. etc. and all whilst in the pay of the British Government, I recon there’s a case to me made for folk in the Highlands to demand an apology from Sunak and reparations from the British state.
The biggest joke is someone in Historic Environment Scotland, an agency of the Scottish Government and responsible to Scottish Ministers in an SNP led administration, though this would be a good idea!
Now THAT is funny.
I’m popping over to Derry to open a pub. I’m calling it “The Black and Tans”.
In postcolonial theory this sort of thing is referred to as ‘cultural recreation’ of the colonizer; where pretty much everything in the colony seeks to promote his greatness, reflecting his cultural domination over the subordinate native population.
The ‘Redcoat Cafe’ example merely demonstrates that the Anglo elites running Historic Environment Scotland and most of Scotland’s institutions hold to the colonizer’s values; in a colonial society it is ‘only the values of the colonizer that are sovereign’ (Memmi).
Scotland is stuffed full of monuments, street names, symbols and even town names which serve to glorify ‘the greatness’ of our oppressor. They are an everyday reminder of ‘our place’ in a colonial society.
A fine cartoon can sum up, instantly, a lot of complex ideas; you have the picture, now have my “1000 words”.
One of my themes is the worthlessness of any socio-political history the english write about themselves due to their narcissism, which results in what I call – the anglo reality distortion field, which affects all anglos, poor and rich, upper and lower class, oxford don and schemie. It would take a long time to go into but the basic axioms, never stated are –
– we, the english are the good guys of history and the best of men acting for the best of reasons and never for any selfish motives
– we are the central characters of history and created the modern world
– anything which conflicts with the basic beliefs is explained by “it was the FOREIGNERS” who were to blame, or people who misunderstood our philanthropic altruism
and the minor corollary
“it’s alright when we do it”
and the practical tactic
(if it makes us look bad) “it never happened”
and this acts as a low level filter to whatever they say, think, or write. They cannot help themselves, but its all worthless. As psychopaths like to do (their national character) they like to “project” and for example, blame others falsely, for things they are guilty of. These innate beliefs are so buried it takes a lot of digging to unearth them, but evidence to the contrary is simply ignored, it becomes invisible.
I was almost going to break my rule to read a new history of empire by an oxford prof, but decided to read a review of it first : straight out
IT WAS THE FAULT OF THE SPANISH
– in the bin! Saved a few quid and a few hours.
The levels of twisting an englishman will endure to deny the obvious conclusion that the anglos are the worst people on earth and the villains of history for the past 1000 years are extreme; consider the much admired Tolkien, who assembles every other mythology – celtic, nordic, teutonic – he can find, and does a copy-paste job to create his own “mythology for the anglo saxons” (in which they are the heroes), but it jars when you read it in the large; in his work it is the elves which are the really interesting people, who came first – this is his homage to the celts, and conceptually, it does not fit. He also makes “the ordinary people of england” i.e. hobbits, these lovely, funny, good natured folk nonetheless capable of great bravery. JRR also makes a mess of his treatment of the dwarves (which have to be in there, being in all the mythologies he is using), but for the truth of that you should try the ring cycle. JRR was said to dislike allegory for people were going around saying “sauron is hitler”; he used it, but be was not too obvious – the bad guys come from the east and they are evil and ugly, called “orcs”.
– the english are the orcs of history; just read the histories of any peoples who dealt with them.
And this is why “scottish history” is so lame or does not exist; an honest account from us, their nearest neighbours would be unacceptable. Most scots historians are either apologists for empire, or cringe merchants who try to say the Scots were guilty of imperialism themselves.
Scots need to stop thinking like Englishmen.
As you clearly state Scotland is a predominately white country so its to be expected, if it was all down to racism surely Yousaf and Sarwar wouldn’t have gotten their lucrative positions in the first place.
I’m pretty sure that most of those positions they both mentioned in say Pakistan or India or as you allude to African nations such as Nigeria (the African nation with the largest population) are filled with brown skinned people.
So were Sarwar and Yousaf being a tad racist in their white rants? well substitute white folk out for brown folk and there would surely have been an outcry for them to resign from their positions, so yes one can say with a degree of confidence that both men were acting in a racist manner.
But why are Sarwar and Yousaf so angry about white folk holding certain jobs?
Sarwar and Yousaf are confusing colonial racism with colour racism.
The main issue for Scots is that most of the people running Scotland’s institutions, like 15 of our 19 higher education institutions, are not Scots.
And those ‘assimilated’ Scots who do run some of our institutions tend to hold to the same Anglo culture and values, which is not Scottish culture and values.
That is why Scots want independence, to have opportunities in thair ain laund and no longer be subject to colonial racism, which ‘is a consubstantial part of colonialism’ (Memmi).
If you went to Pakistan, how many of the top jobs would be held by Pakistanis and how many by white people? What a pair of silly billies. Eventually, just as they did in reaching the top of their parties, immigrant-origin people who have the money will be able to move up through the ranks.
Many white people will be unable to move up through the ranks because they are working-class and unable to afford to attend schools such as Hutcheson’s. Every single CEO position in the global corporates is occupied by a male. Life just ain’t fair, chaps, on so many levels. Boo hoo.
So much prejudice and lack of opportunity are down to lack of the shiny stuff, not the colour of your skin or your sex, but, if you are doubly disadvantaged by being black/brown and/or female – and have no money and live on a sink estate, you are unlikely to get anywhere
Being in poverty is the barrier everywhere in the world. I, personally, am not responsible for colonialism or slavery, and neither were my ancestors. They were all dirt poor and scrabbling for a living in dark satanic mills or on rural land that were a constant struggle for survival. So, welcome to the affluent West, chaps. Not so different from the affluent East when it comes to the lower orders, eh?
Just another identitarian tool in the arsenal of political obfustication and manipulation of the public/political sphere. The trick is to say that there is a crisis or great injustice, racism, or transphobia or what have you, positioning yourself as virtuously calling it out.
What decent person is going to counter that argument without then being accused of precisely the bigotry they are describing, unless they are very brave, like the good Rev?
Works on two levels. Makes you bulletproof to attack inside politics (especially from the left), and positions you in a virtuous halo in a compliant media. It’s theatre.
Thing is that these grubby little sociopaths truly don’t give a shit about anyone or anything unless they’re in the same corporatist class. These people aren’t politicians, they’re tools.
The wankers are winning worldwide, as they say.
Sophism, rhetoric and deceit are the Private Schools main teachings of the way to rule. That and paedophilic deviance.
It does still bother me that many still refer to their Private education as Public Schools and actual Public Schools as State. Though it certainly follows their methods to twist everything.
This neo feudal state is experiencing the inevitable collective Karma of colonising around the planet, as are all the other European colonists countries.
It’s almost ironic the two main parties are run by a couple of Private school wankers telling us we’re not accepting them. That it’s reality just makes it sad.
Could be worse.
I await patiently a world where people stop banging on about demographic differences, identity politics, and the best person for the job gets the job.
The vast majority of sane people in this country agree, but the overwhelming minority of decision
“So why are they so angry about white people being in charge of most things in an almost entirely white country?”
Could it be because they (or rather their handler) think it will help them move our focus of attention away from the fact the Scottish political establishment is deliberately pissing all over our democratic rights with their refusal to act upon our many democratic mandates for a referendum, onto something else?
In other words, it is giving them a wonderfully long-lasting pet cause to hide behind so they can pretend they are pursuing something when the only thing they are doing is using both hands, mouth and feet to hold the yes movement back.
As you say, Rev, in a country where 95% of the population is white, you cannot have 50% of non-white people in positions of power and still claim it is somewhat representative of the population. What these two idiots pretend to be pursuing is therefore an unachievable task, unless they force in positive discrimination like it is being done with disabled people.
But positive discrimination on the basis of your skin colour is in itself racism and will be rejected by the majority. They know this. It will fabricate division, just like the trans crap has done, making it perfect for their purpose of distraction. And because it will be incredibly difficult to get representation of non-whites on positions of power close to 50%, they can continue peddling this deflective crap year after year, after year, after year.
Clearly Sarwar and Yousaf have the same script writer. It is yet another sign that democracy in Scotland is completely dead and the “political parties” are nothing of the sort. They are simply crown entities, so close to each other than they are almost impossible to tell apart. Their only focus is to distract the Scottish voters from the fact Scotland is being subjected to absolute rule.
A beautiful proof of this is Sarwar saying “he will stand up to Starmer”. One has to wonder if these idiots actually think before opening their mouths. If he has to “stand up” to the leader of his own party to ensure Scotland’s needs are served, it means the labour party, by default, either does not give a shit about Scotland or it is not its priority at all.
Why would somebody in Scotland want to vote for a party for whose leader the needs of Scotland are just an after thought?
And after a real face-off between Sarwar and his boss Starmer, for how long after it does Sarwar think he will be able to keep his job of manager of the branch of the northern branch?
Two sons of well-off families who could afford to send them to the poshest school in Glasgow. Neither has had a proper job in their life and they are their mummy’s darlings. Being brown in a white country is obvs a privileged position for some.
Anyone educated in the private sector should never ever be allowed near any public office. They leave a trail of disaster behind them. Down through history you can see who and from what class have caused the greatest havoc to society in these islands.
“Positive action is about taking specific steps to improve equality”
Forcing a 50% representation of non-whites in positions of power is not “improving equality”. It is manufacturing inequality. In other words, you are positively discriminating non-whites and negatively discriminating whites, the native population.
In a country where 95% of the population is white, you expect to see a representation of non-whites at around 5%, simply because, generally speaking, you would expect that 95% of those applying for jobs in Scotland will be white.
“positive action” is another buzzword attempting to hide the action’s real meaning: active discrimination. If you are positively discriminating a sector of the population, by doing so you are in fact negatively discriminating against the rest. I cannot see how that can ever be disguised as something “positive”.
The only thing that is fair is to hire the candidate that is best for the job. You do not need “positive” or “negative” interventions for that, just a fair process. You must remain neutral.
One has to wonder if this fake “positive” intervention might be the actual reason as to why we have so many incompetents in positions of power.
Bortwiskels @ 3:38 pm
“Let’s have them do those lists again with the socio-economic background of the people in these posts, or whether they were publicly or privately educated. Maybe that’s a clearer indicator of why they’re where they are.”
Yes, the elites running Scotland’s institutions appear to derive mainly from two sources:
1. the 3% of Scots who attend private schools, and;
2. England
In other words, Sarwar and Yousaf are themselves a reflection of the ‘narrow stream from which the mediocre meritocracy in a colonial society is derived’ (Memmi).
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/elitist-scotland
https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2021/08/01/the-determinants-of-independence-institutions/
It’s true that Humza “Scotland is too white” Yousaf is a racist, it’s just that he’s too arrogant and stupid to know it. Proof of said stupidity lies with the fact that he seems to expect a largely white place (but increasingly less so) like Scotland to somehow acquiesce in his view that we should willingly hand it over to a bunch of sociopathic grifters who happen to be brown, and feel somehow guilty if we don’t do so so enthusiastically.
The EU has apparently just quietly signed off on, or is about to sign off on, some bill or other that will bring in 75 MILLION more “migrants” to Europe. The fact that the vast bulk of these invaders oh sorry migrants are military aged males from North Africa and the ME who have no English, no skills and very bad attitudes seems to have escaped their notice except that of course it hasn’t, it’s deliberate policy aimed at destabilising Europe, exactly similar to what’s going on in the US with the Biden regime’s deliberately uncontrolled open border policy. Even the stupidest people there can now see that it’s designed purely to destabilise the country while “reducing” the white population.
Up till a few years ago I held to the view that although I wasn’t a big fan of the EU it seemed to me that it made economic sense to have access to that market, and that Scotland would be better off out of the UK and in the EU rather that the other way around. While there’s no doubt that Scotland would be better off out of the UK IF it had the right kind of political leadership, there’s now equally no doubt that re joining the EU would be stupidity of monumental proportions unless of course they don’t actually have our best interests at heart surprise surprise. The EU’s mask has slipped
Until a few years ago I’d have been horrified to be associated with the so called “far right” till I found out that being far right actually means not being keen on having your country overrun by invaders or objecting to your kids in school being indoctrinated into accepting paedophilia as normal, so I now have a quite different view of what far right means. Nowadays it basically means common sense.
I’m far more concerned with the fact that despite only circa 4.3% of the Scottish population being privately educated, they seem to hog all the top jobs in politics, law (judges in particular) and media inter alia.
Maybe Anas and Humza could ponder that for a moment…
“The belief that Scotland is more welcoming to immigrants than the rest of the UK is a “misleading fantasy”, the authors of a new book have claimed.
The academics behind the book point to discrimination against Irish Catholics over the past 200 years as evidence.
And they argue that similar discrimination is continuing against eastern Europeans, gypsy/travellers, Muslims and other ethnic groups.
They will present their findings to a committee of MSPs on Wednesday.
The authors of No Problem Here: Understanding Racism in Scotland claim black and minority ethnic (BAME) applicants for large public sector organisations had a 1.1% chance of being appointed, compared to 8.1% for their white counterparts…
…He added: “Just take one figure – in the year 2013/14 there were just under 5,000 racial attacks in Scotland. That is about 92 a week, and as we demonstrate in the book there’s a massive under-reporting of these kind of incidents…
…However, official crime statistics published last year said there were 3,349 racial offences reported in Scotland in 2016/17 – 10% fewer than the previous year and the lowest number since 2003/04.
But the number of racial offences in England and Wales increased from 35,944 in 2011/12 to 68,685 in 2016/17.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-44040251
Sarwar speech: June 10, 2020.
Yousaf speech: same date.
Aren’t we stretching the term “leadership” a little too far?
Don’t spoil your ballot folks, spoil “their” cosy and cosseted election, and impeach the whole Vichy Assembly masquerading as a Scottish Government.
Let these tossers try getting themselves recognised by a Convention of the Estates as it steps up to the job these dumb f*!ks couldn’t manage, – defend the sovereign integrity of the Scottish Constitution.
When the SNP flounders, as it will, there isn’t one of these greaseballs I’d throw a lifebelt towards. Not one of them. Not an MP I’d vote for, nor a staffer I’d employ. Vermin, the lot of them.
it’s all a bit like blazing saddles, in reverse –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAELs42aZt4
(coolly brilliant black sheriff tries to win over the horribly racist townsfolk, by saving it, and defeating the forces of capital)
we get
moronically ungifted pakistani grifter rounding unjustly on people terrified of being called “racist”, and in the process intending to sellout out Scotland to the forces of capital
“The FM is a P … “
I recently posted this on Barrhead Boy and not one comment, are people too frightened to have opinions
twathater says:
4 February 2024 at 5:04 pm
Another enlightening and educational show as usual Roddy but
Can I ask am I the only person concerned that Yvonne continuously raises references and subjects to muslim interests on every TASP a show focused on SCOTTISH independence , today it was in reference to TMV (the muslim vote) where records and information is being gathered and collated throughout the uk in areas with a large muslim population to enable those votes to be targeted where they will have the most beneficial effect
TBQH I find this rather threatening and concerning, is this a deliberate manipulation of a religious section of our population to have overwhelming control of our politics , at present we are fighting against the usurpation of our democracy by a cabal of gender fanatics who were elected on a completely different mandate from the one they are FORCING through and have continued to ignore and frustrate the overwhelming opposition to their deviant and perverted policies
We already have an unelected by the population FM who continues to spaff our tax payers money hither and thither whilst our own children and pensioners suffer poverty and hypothermia , who consorts with dictators and issues open invites to visit our country , who revels in telling the world that Scotland is open to everyone when he talks about 1 million refugees coming to the uk
An unelected FM who stands up in the supposed Scottish parliament and through a spittle flecked tirade denigrates and demeans Scotland for having WHITE people in their official organisations , Scotland a predominately white Christian country HOW DARE THEY
A tirade that if it were reversed would have been ridiculed and demonised rightfully as racist
Maybe skin colour is to be the new gender grievance in the “Anything but Independence” governmental doctrine.
As for Scotland demonstrating prejudices against the Irish, I would not / could not, deny it happened, but while the talk is racism, there’s also a smell of sectarianism, and Scottish towns and cities polarised by football – while the rest of us groaned with how tedious it all was. Just sayin’….
We Scots are not immune to prejudices being instilled into our communities, but how can we ever be sure of its root cause, – particularly while Westminster rule relies so heavily on a divided Scotland?
The Irish are not the natural enemies of Scotland, the Ruskians are not the natural enemies of Scotland, the Muslims are not the natural enemies of Scotland. Ask yourself whether Scots fighting Irish is any different from Sunni fighting Shiite, or Slav fighting Slav.
YooKrane is to Ruskia, what Taiwan is to China, and Israel is to Islam… the enemy at your door – by Western design, not Scotland’s design.
Sectarianism was religious intolerance deliberately engineered to sow division between the Celts in Ireland and Scotland. As I grew up, even as a child, I knew religion was how “they” would divide us. Every fkg Saturday was devoted to it.
Our bane was their tool. It was so transparent that whether your strip was royal blue or green and white stripes, I just saw a pawn being manipulated; a body men susceptible to indoctrination; somebody dumb enough to believe the lies on the BBC. Someone weak. And for dessert we have Jambos and Hibees in Edinburgh? Oh Jeezuz. Pass me the sick bucket.
I haven’t mellowed with age. I have deep rooted disdain for all fitba strips; which team prejudice do you support? My answer has always been none of them.
And Scotland’s “love” for its national game felt every inch as contrived and manipulative as Scotland’s prowess on the battlefield, a callous distortion of truth and history curiously neglectful to mention who the Scots traditionally fought so bravely against, and all designed to harvest our warrior progeny into serving with the Redcoat army and thinking it’s an honour upon Scotland.
Never mind the army, I seethe under my breath at a “British” Olympics team. Every “Nation” wants to exhibit its sporting prowess, except the British who want to cheat by competing as an “amalgamation”. Why don’t the English want to compete as England? What is wrong with them?
I haven’t mellowed, but perhaps one of the most uplifting aspects of YES in 2014, was that “their” designs on Scottish sectarianism dividing Scots in order to better rule over us, didn’t work as intended. For too many, Scotland’s well-being held a stronger motivation than instilled prejudice, and “they” weren’t able to Ulsterise Scotland.
Yeayyy for us. Well done my fellow Scots, I’m proud of you. Except I can’t say “proud” anymore, because “proud” Unionist Scot-buts wear “pride” like a badge. (It’s ok, pride is a sin anyway, so let them have it).
It didn’t work in 2014, but religion itself lacks the potency it once had. Maybe they’ll be more sophisticated next time. Maybe spontaneous turncoats like Sturgeon are more effective and easier to sustain.
I’m sorry if that offends any fitba supporters. Perhaps I’m doing you a great injustice and you really do have a love of sport and football in particular, but I’m sorry. I see you, I see a dilution of Scotland’s sense of identity. Can’t help it. The sectarianism is NOT a feature in other sport / supporter fraternities. So why do think it is there in our wee Nation?
Curse Nicola and her chums for killing Scotland’s chances of independence for the foreseeable future.
Curse Nicola and her Alphabet ladies for the stitch up of Alex Salmond that has severely handicapped Alexs political career.
Curse Nicola and her media cronies for ensuring ALBA get next to zero voice within the political arena.
Cures Nicolo and her loyal followers for being blind to what was happening around them.
Fuck Scottish politics, I’m scunnered with them all.
The Stormont solution.
No Government gets formed. The Secretary of State assumes power over the Civil Service. Budget priorities remain is stasis. Budget increments annually with inflation.
All the MSPs get paid for NOT doing their jobs for a couple of years ‘till the SoS threatens to reduce their salaries at which point something happens.
Lorna Campbell
Ignored says:
18 February, 2024 at 4:26 pm
” Ruby: I do wish you would drop the ‘ignored’ label. ”
Lorna , it’s possible Ruby didn’t use that ” ignored ” button ; it seems to just happen automatically . I noticed when replying to a comment by the poster Mac that the ” ignored ” label was included in it when I know I never used it – as it happens I’ve yet to see a comment by him I disagree with and consider him one of the better voices on here .
Given the various possibilities , I reckon yours is the most likely . As you point-out – as myself and others have been doing for a while now – there is so little difference between them ( they are both fckn useless wastes of space ) they are virtually indistinguishable ; even more so now that SNP have more or less abandoned the pursuit of Independence , other than as a cynical attempt to * buy * votes when elections are pending .
The dismal lack of support for ALBA is a real disappointment , but , it may have to start asking hard questions why that might be . My own sense is that – again , no offence intended – is that Alex Salmond as leader may be more of a handicap than an advantage . However much many of us respect him and wish he could regain his former prominence , electorally , he may never do so . Possibly he’s perceived – consciously or otherwise – as the guy who nearly led Scotland to Independence , but didn’t , and will also forever be associated with political trash like Sturgeon : bitterly ironic as that idea is .
I think we need a host of new faces , new ideas and a complete rejection of the utterly futile * strategy * of conceding ultimate authority to W.M .
What we actually need is the Independence equivalent of the Lisbon Lions . A group of people from the same or similar backgrounds and locations , not necessarily as small as 30 mile radius that produced the LLs , but roughly the same and crucially that this group STILL live in the communties they grew-up in .
What characterised and brought such success to that team – in addition to their individual skills – was their solidarity as a group , the superb management of Jock Stein and , above all , their absolute fearlessness . Anyone remember Jimmy Johnson psyching-oot the Inter Milan player who would be trying to defend against him , as they walked through the tunnel onto the park ? Priceless
Different times , different people ? sure , of course : are we as Scots no longer capable of producing such a phenomena ? No .
With the right components there’s no insurmountable reason why Scotland couldn’t roar like those Lions of Lisbon .
Not pooh-poohing your hard work, Rev, by the way. Very depressing, but, equally, very likely if neither gets a majority. They would work together to push through the gender woo woo first and foremost as a joint kick in the teeth for all females, and the rot will be unstoppable in every part of the UK – unless Posie makes headway. She is a veritable colossus, but the big guns will be lined up against her as never before. So few people see the global corporate moneymen-cum-demigods at the back of this movement who could not care less about any of us, whichever part of the UK we are from. They are financing this bilge for a reason and I doubt that it has anything whatsoever to do with helping the poor and downtrodden and/or giving us our independence. The cowards and the terminally stupid will see this pushed through at any cost.
@ Jamie
Yes , I understand the difficulties any new Party faces in growing support , particularly difficult in ALBA’s case given the many * forces * arrayed against Independence generally , not to mention the damage done to Alex’s public image by the Chamber of Horrors ie the Sturgeon Cabal .
The problem , as I see it , is time ; I don’t think we have the luxury to wait 10/15/20 years for ALBA to gain sufficient support ; our opponents will not be sitting idly by in the interim , we can be certain of that . There is also the fact that as more people from * elsewhere * move to Scotland , though we can’t assume they would all be hostile to Independence , the experience of 2014 tells us most of them probably would be . Not impossible they could be persuaded , at least , enough could , but there are so many variables that would influence that possibility .
It’s also possible ALBA could gain the requisite increase in support in a shorter time , but , that leads me back to the point made earlier …..is ALex Salmond the optimum front man to bring about that increase ? I honestly don’t know , but , reluctantly , on balance , my impression is that he’s not .
Craig
Ignored says:
18 February, 2024 at 3:06 pm
Curse Nicola and her chums for killing Scotland’s chances of independence for the foreseeable future….
I loathe Sturgeon, but Independence is not dead. It you think it is, it is their fruit ripening in your head.
It drives me mad that Scotland has this fixation about a devolved assembly codified by Westminster’s Scotland Act, which features the Claim of Right woven through its definition, but immediately becomes an absurd paradox which cannot properly exist because it sets Westiminster as it’s head. You cannot acknowledge that Scotland’s constitutional sovereignty rests with the Community of the Realm, and in the next breath, concede the supremacy of Westminster rule. It is a nonsense masquerading as legitimacy, and it always has been since 1707.
That realisation coming of age has a domino effect. If the Scotland Act is a contraction that is irreconcilable with the popular sovereignty of the Scottish people, then the Scotland Act cannot then be sound in Scots Law. It cannot exist. The people are sovereign, NOT the Monarch, nor the Monarch’s subordinate Government in Westminster.
Scotland’s Constitution remains extant, and has NEVER been altered or extinguished by the Treaty of Union because nobody party to the Treaty of Union had any legitimacy to concede any authority which was never theirs to concede. The truth about that obstinate reality was gagged and buried under a veritable tsunami of bluster and disinformation about an Act of Union boasting constitutional credentials it has NEVER possessed.
The people of Scotland are SOVEREIGN and NOTHING has altered that Constitutional reality, yet we suffer a Monarch who has only paid lip service to the Claim of Right, and a foreign government usurping authority to subjugate our Nation. Enough is enough Scotland. If you don’t see these tossers wrecking our nation then wake the fk up and open your eyes.
We have 96% of the “UK’s” oil, where the UK has 5 Refineries, while the only oil Refinery in Scotland is shut down. Do the fkg maths people. They are looting our nation like we’re already a corpse and they don’t give a shit about the outrage.
If the Scotland Act assumes authority it doesn’t have, then the Scotland Act is ultra vires, and thus there is no Scotland Act in force, there is no Westminster supremacy in Scotland, there is no Vichy Parliament in Edinburgh serving as a bridgehead for the invasive doctrine of Westminster’s parliamentary sovereignty.
No Scotland Act means no Vichy Holyrood, no “First Minister” Gauleiter, no obligation or commitment conceded by Holyrood which is binding on the Scottish people.
Constitutional legitimacy, the Claim of Right, in other words the “right” of sovereign ascendancy and the peoples’ right to lay “claim” to that power, can sweep away the whole unconstitutional mess which blights the political landscape of Scotland and empowers a foreign government to bleed our nation of its resources.
Yes, Sturgeon was a rat who betrayed Scotland and Alex Salmond, but please, all of Scotland, DO NOT concede the principle that Westminster’s Vichy Gauleiter, in an official capacity designed and codified my Westminster, had the constitutional authority to surrender Scotland’s interests.
Scotland has NO government right now.
Scotland’s Government only exists as the Free French Government existed in WW2; displaced, dispossessed of power and exiled from their nation, while France itself suffered a Vichy Government installed by a foreign invader, which promoted and rewarded those French citizens willing to kneel and collaborate with alien rule.
In Scotland today, we vex ourselves over who should be our next Vichy Gauleiter, because the last one wouldn’t progress our path to Independence. Why wouldn’t they? Why would they??? Don’t you see the pattern emerging yet?
Scotland’s salvation lies in expelling Westminster’s influence and interference in the Realm of Scotland; NOT playing parlour games in their parlour, governed by their rules and imposed doctrines.
Impeach Holyrood, expel the whole invasive and colonial affront to Scotland’s constitutional sovereignty, and take Scotland back under Scottish control, lock, stock and barrel.
Then of course, we Scots must be far more assiduous in our choice of political leaders than the procession of imbeciles and cretins currently at large in Holyrood. If you think my plans for Holyrood are radical, you’d best not ask me how I’d deal with these Sturgeon types…
On the subject of “Sturgeon” types, for the last 3 centuries those “Court of Session / Faculty of Advocate” types haven’t exactly excelled themselves defending Scotland’s interests in law.
We can’t change this with a tweak or two to the system. Scotland needs the convulsions of a defibrillator to escape this creeping destruction of all that we are.
The most depressing but potentially true thing I’ve read in a while. I’ve been telling folk for years that the SNP were morphing into Labour. There’s gonna be a Lot of spoiled ballot papers however if Alba aren’t on there in folks constituencies, I think you’re slightly underestimating just how well they might do especially in the Hollyrood elections.
Ex-Snp members for example will on the main Never vote for a unionist party, never have, never will. To people saying the Snp had better put Independence back on the agenda..they won’t, plain and simple, we have no option but to build Alba up. The way I think about it is it might take a decade but with the Snp it’ll Never happen.
I think the anti-white racism that sits at the heart of woke ideology now really needs to be confronted directly and unapologetically.
This racism is worse than anything I ever witnessed growing up in the 70’s and 80’s.
This is like N@zi level shit we are seeing here.
It is anti-white racism which in a very premeditated, very careful way has been sewn into a poisonous and seductive ideology.
It should be met with the same level of response as someone inciting violence against you as that is exactly what it amounts to.
But the really hilarious thing in all of the hate peddling is that the astonishing levels of anti-white racism seen on campuses especially in the US was never a problem for the supporters / donors… until the ‘wokees / useful idiots’ unexpectedly backed the Palestinians. Then apparently all the money dried up faster than a witches tit, lol.
Candace Owens (amongst others) talked about this at the time… for a decades these ‘woke’ donors were totally cool with anti-white racist ideologies being peddled to generations of young people but as soon they supported the Palestinians, P00F! the money is gone!
As I say… hilarious but also very revealing.
White people are so beaten down they can’t even raise a word to defend themselves… just look at the two racist idiots above openly fulminating without a care in the world, doubling down on it. Smug.
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