Following the closure of the Queensferry Crossing due to the formation of ice on the overhead cables it has just been announced that the bridge will have state of the art ice sensors installed.
The Scottish Government was criticised by the media earlier this month when it failed to control the severe winter weather, something the Labour, Tory and Liberal Democrats have pledged to do when and if they ever get into office in Scotland. The BBC ran the ‘story’ for several days claiming government negligence in not preventing ice building up on the bridge structure during weather reminscent of the disaster movie ‘The Day After Tomorrow’
In a move designed to prevent further such criticism Scottish scientists at the Roslin Institute have come up with a novel solution.
Using similar biotech approaches to those that saw the first successful cloned sheep, Dolly a new system to detect ice has been created.
Dolly the sheep
The technique involves a sophisticated network of cloned human nipples each connected to the other using a neural network linked to a control room computer.
The network will be ‘supersensitive’ to the slightest frost which will cause the nipples to stiffen and set off an alarm well before any ice can be formed.
Cloned human nipples will form a ice detection network
Anticipating further press criticism Scientists are also emphasising that no one has been harmed in the cloning process. All that was required was a few cells scraped onto a Petri dish by some willing donors. Importantly due to the cloning process used the nipples are also genderless and are neither male nor female. This deals with issues of gender bias of any kind.
Critics of the bridge closure such as Alex Cole Hamilton may now be silenced as it may now be possible to detect ice build up long before it happens.
Scientists at Roslin suggest that they may need more volunteers to donate ‘scraped nipple’ cells to regenerate the ice detection network over time.
Perhaps local politicians such as Mr Cole Hamilton will volunteer for such civic duty as he is no stranger to making a tit of himself.
They say travel broadens the mind. It gives you time to recharge and reflect and allows you the ability to take in the world from a new perspective.
Wherever I wander I always come back to Scotland but this time it feels different. I feel a stronger sense of purpose now. It’s now mid June and already there have been fantastic public displays of support for independence in Stornaway, Galashiels, Glasgow and Oban . The media didn’t report them very well but by stealth independence is becoming a normal tangible element in our lives and it is not going away.
The vote in the EU elections turned the map of Scotland firmly ‘remain’ but more importantly gave the Parties not supporting independence a real shock. The Tories only managing 11.6% of the vote and Labour at 9.3% being all but wiped out due to their ambiguous stand over Europe. SNP got 37.7% and Green Party 8.2% , that’s a pro- independence /EU % vote of 45.9%. Add in the Lib-Dems pro EU but not pro Indy at 13.8 thats staggering 59.7 % for remain. ( usual stuff about rounding up numbers)
In contrast the same vote in England was the total opposite. You could not get a clearer polarisation of opinion. But still the Tories and Labour lost spectacularly. The runes have been cast in the Tory leadership elections and Boris Johnson is odds on favourite to the U.K. Prime Minister to be imposed on us.
Looking after the bare necessities -aka Day Job
There continues to be progress made in the ‘day job’ as far as more effective and efficient government delivery in Scotland in fact the whole Brexit mess doesn’t inspire any confidence in Westminster to govern anything either on time or late
‘Failing Grayling’ and the ferry scandal
Millions have been wasted already on Brexit and in the final analysis it is likely to cost much more than coming out was supposed to save. England are not protecting the most vulnerable in society instead austerity and its delivery agent , Universal Credit are literally killing people off.
For years now the Scottish Government has been softening the blow by canny use of local resource to shouts of ‘unfair’ ‘why have the Scots got free prescriptions ‘ and the like.
We have free prescriptions because we voted in a government that tries to meet the needs of all its people.
Rising homelessness in England and the push to get higher rents in the cities is literally ripping communities apart. There are now press stories about council procedures to deal with ‘tented encampments’ in many parts of England.Homeless people, casual workers without a roof have the option of paying a fine to get their confiscated tents back. Seriously, read the article its like a dystopian ‘Grapes of Wrath’ scenario that is totally preventable and its happening in 2019 in parts of the UK.
Scotland by comparison has a number of important strategic plans and targets which are ambitious but achievable and designed to address the root causes of poverty and disadvantage in areas like child care, family support and housing.
To do this justice however we can no longer make do with juggling with what Westminster gives us back from what we put in to the ‘Union’. Our underlying economy is strong and would thrive untied to a U.K. economy which has been mismanaged for decades. We do not need the Trident nuclear weapons system but instead can build on the pillars established by our government over the last 10 years. A strong sustainable renewable energy sector, tourism, bio-technology, a booming research sector are all waiting to grow but part of that growth is how to make the economy inclusive and work for all sections of society in contrast with our neighbours who seem content to widen the gap between rich and poor.
This means there is a place for what many people dismiss as gimmicks because they do not see ‘the whole of the moon’ and are missing the big picture.
The young family with the baby box, the girls and young women encouraged to academic success also includes access to free sanitary products. The older people and families suffering chronic illnesses from our own industrial past getting support with prescriptions and cut price travel. It’s called looking after people and building communities, not tearing them apart. There is no progress if we don’t take all our people with us. Wait that rings a bell? For the many maybe, something, something. We will work on a catchy slogan.
Instead of complaining that Scots get things for free people should ask why their political system is so broken that their government cannot meet their needs. It is not difficult it is a matter of setting priorities and listening to the people.
George Foulkes, Baron Foulkes of Cumnock really means the current government are over performing and its making him and his mates look like a bunch of chancers- G
The phrase the Labour Party is a busted flush in Scotland probably gives them more credit than they are due. Continuing the family card game analogy they are more like the ‘Scabby Queen ’ or ‘Donkey’ of modern Scottish politics.
From a once proud socialist tradition that once embraced ‘Home Rule ‘ they could not even spell Keir Hardie the founding Fathers name correctly on their conference display.
Reduced by a previous leader to encouraging their remaining supporters to vote Tory what is left of the party has lost its roots in Scotland . Indeed frequently now at first Minister questions it’s local branch leader in Scotland regularly fails to differentiate what is a reserved power to Westminster and what is devolved to Scotland. The hope is that if the untruths are repeated often enough an obedient media will pick up and report it as true. Nicola Sturgeon has recently invited him to join in the real governance of Scotland and see things for what they really are. That would mean ‘ Coming over from the dark side’ of politics and giving up the privileges they have been promised and seen passed on to their ‘elder statesmen’ .
Many of us made the transition from Labour in the late nineties and later when the warmongering Blair had run his course and passed the bloodstained baton to Gordon Brown. Earlier we had been told ‘things can only get better’. They didn’t . They will not now be any better now with Labour. The rest is history as we all remember the famous ‘Vow’ and the promised super federalism, whatever that meant at the time.
A new bar has been set in Scotland and it’s too high for old style Labour to scale. It’s a politics of participation and with people’s assemblies we can have a grown up discussion about what a new Scotland should look like. Not what politicians tied to a failed Westminster think we deserve.
It now too late to stop the waves of independence from splitting us from Londons pull for good. Like we always say we don’t hate English people we just want good neighbours not masters. We are well past the point of no return and any claw back of powers would be seen for what it would be, subjugation.
Begging from the King
A different political set up in England is brewing post Brexit. It’s not likely to see any miracles from Labour in fact more likely is a longer period of entrenched right wing politics evidenced by rising hate crime and racism blaming others for the systemic failure.
So for those of us who ‘turned’ from Labour towards independence in the late 90’s we have not been sitting on our hands. Many more joined between then and 2014, and still more from then til now. A grass roots Yes movement has been building independent of any party but also importantly we have been building the foundations of a small socially just, outward looking, internationally respected, confident and economically successful nation.
It’s been going on quietly for a decade and the launch party when it comes is going to be amazing. Hope to see you there.
You take the high road and I’ll take the low road …
The May Day Bank Holiday weekend is upon us and traditionally there are May Day marches to commemorate International Workers Day and Spring. This Saturday sees the first of the bigger All Under One Banner Independence marches. Although Stornoway ‘stole a march’ on Glasgow last weekend. There will be some friendly rivalry between Edinburgh ( salt and sauce) and Glasgow ( salt and vinegar) over who can get the most people taking part but its the Union that will have had its chips at the end of the day.
Plenty of routes to assembly point such as subway to Kelvinbridge and just follow the crowd.
The march will leave Kelvingrove Park at 1.30 and All Under One Banner have put out a call for volunteer stewards. Please answer the call if you can by approaching an existing steward.
The requirements for being a volunteer steward are very simple and joining the team will in no way hamper your enjoyment of the big day with donning a Hi-Viz vest and following simple instructions all that will be asked of you. You do not need any experience whatsoever (even though naturally any previous experience either voluntary or in a professional context is obviously good) as full guidance will be given on the day via Steward briefings running every 30 minutes from 12.00 am, 12.30am, 1pm, as we approach the 1.30pm prompt start time for the March.
All Under One Banner
This is a family friendly march and people are encouraged to bring flags including flags of their country of origin to show we are altogether in the struggle for independence as all Scots old or new. A mark of previous marches has been the great turn out from older people and people with disabilities who know what it is like to suffer Tory austerity and dehumanising DWP assessments.
The procession route is: Kelvingrove Park; Kelvinway; Gibson Street;Eldon Street;Woodlands Road Sauchiehall Street;Pitt Street;West George Street;Blythswood Square (S)West George Street;Nelson Mandela Place ( shout Amandla! passing through here); West George Street;George Square;High Street Saltmarket;Glasgow Green
The march organisers facebook page is Here to check for any changes.
Many thousands of people will walk the whole march while others may meet marchers at the Glasgow Green Rallying point. Remember to bring your flags, dugs are also very welcome! Its going to be massive so bring a peece, sun screen and a bottle of juice, but because its May there could be hailstones!Lol.
Check AUOB pages for details of other scheduled marches near you……
Last weekend saw the SNP conference in Edinburgh being virtually ignored by the main stream media. Not only was it massive for a political party conference in Scotland, it was huge in terms of both size and content. The speech Nicola Sturgeon gave was world class. It set the week off to a great start and the Tories and the media were really showing their fear of our determination.
This weekend will see the Scottish Tories conference in Aberdeen. It will have mainstream media coverage even though it will be tiny by comparison. Potential future Tory leaders will be paying Aberdeen a visit although Ruth Davidson, that super mum returning from maternity leave that the media have been fawning over all week is playing down Boris’s visit.
Although Gove and other Tory ‘stars’ will grace the conference Boris Johnson will also be up campaigning helped by his pal local MP Ross Thomson. Ross will no doubt be showing Boris all his favourite fiddling venues in Union Street and we don’t mean the ones Robbie Shepherd likes.
One thing is for sure the Tories have taken a beating in the English local government elections and Ruth Davidson did not pick a good week to return to politics. But with most of the state media on her side she can still say and do what she likes and the media will report it as if she is the First Minister.
This is why marches like tomorrow are so important.They burst the media bubble and show the people of Scotland mean business.
Sunday will also see the more traditional workers day march in many places. Thousands of trade unionists and supporters will march through Glasgow to celebrate the international workers day. Organised by Glasgow Trades Union Council this celebration looks to reach out to all those striving for justice peace and equality in our city. This year theme is on young people as they face the brunt of unjust austerity enduring insecure low paid employment, zero hour contracts and cuts to educational services.
This week in response to ‘that’ significant announcement we have noted an increase in page interaction. That is in itself a significant change as it means people are giving voice to the Yes movement. People have literally been ‘champing at the bit’ waiting for the next phase and now it is here. So this weekend we have decided to pick out a few choice comments from you our readers and page followers. You have had a lot to say and what you have said demonstrates the strength and power of the people of Scotland to take us forward as we write our own story.
This page has always encouraged people to write, to draw, to express themselves and the Yes movement by becoming our own press. We need to do this more and more and our very own citizen journalists are already showing the way.
This from ‘the sage of Auchtermuchty’ commenting on this article
And what of the issue of Independence for Scotland? That is a matter for Scots to decide. And that decision must come AFTER Brexit is settled. Scotland must not be rushed or stampeded in going for a second Indy Ref. too early. If Bruce can be patient – so can we. And all Scots, of all political persuasions, must discuss the independence issue in friendly, reasonable terms, as difficult as that can be when emotions run high. The first Indy ref. was amazing in that – despite exaggerated reports from the right-wing press – there was very little trouble. And when the result came, IN sighed with relief, OUT sighed with disappointment, and we got on with our lives – together.
The slogan for all of us should be – SCOTLAND TOGETHER – and this includes Scots throughout the UK and Overseas. (JP Creton)
…….and there was more
The SNP won the most seats at Holyrood in the 2016 Scottish general election on a manifesto that set out that the Scottish Parliament “should have the right to hold another referendum … if there is a significant and material change in the circumstances which prevailed in 2014, such as Scotland being taken out of the EU against our will”.
Theresa May’s handling of Brexit has proved “beyond doubt” that independence is the only way to safeguard Scotland’s future. Brexit has highlighted “the very fragile position of Scottish autonomy and decision-making”, with Scots having overwhelmingly voted to stay in the European Union in 2016. Brexit has not only created the context for a reconsideration of independence but by the means of its delivery has also created the necessity for such a change.
It is now beyond doubt that there can be no guarantee any time and on any issue, even on any devolved issue, that Scottish views and the actions of Scottish institutions are safe or respected within the current United Kingdom. Theresa May has bordered on treating Scotland with contempt until desperation drove her to invite the First Minister for talks. But at these talks Theresa May offered not a single compromise nor did she even recognise the Scottish will as expressed by the 68% who voted to Remain in the EU.
As for the Scottish Tories, who have failed to support Scotland’s best interests every step of the way, they will base any election programme they have NOT on offering Scotland a variety of positive policies, but on harping on endlessly about the SNP’s ‘obsession with a second referendum. They will also fail to mention that they are the ‘Scottish Conservates’. Their entire campaign will be called ‘TEAM RUTH’ hoping Scots voters will be gullible and stupid enough to forget what a consistent support she is and has been for Theresa May’s disastrous deal as if there were no such thing as the LONDON running a TORY BRANCH OFFICE from EDINBURGH. Let us insteaed call them TEAM RUTHLESS.
Next up was this mornings comment from Fraser Darling on this one…..
There will not be a 3 year campaign this time. There may not even be 3 months. So, we need to act quickly to do the groundwork right now. We also need to be public again, even bigger rallies, to show that there is not just a surge, but a tsunami of support. If 100,000 are expected at a rally we should bring friends along and turn up with 300,000. Nicola has now, on several occasions, told us that she needs our support to prove the demand for a second referendum. I don’t think that we have delivered to date because she has not fired the starting pistol. She is telling us that the starting pistol is in our hands and we need to pass it to her. An independent Scotland is about handing power to the people of Scotland. Let’s show that we are up to the task.
But sometimes the comments are not as long but can be equally welcome and effective, like this one…..
And please stop arguing with trolls. A lot of them are so obvious when you check their FB pages. Admin please keep banning. It’s frustrating and pointless.
Mae Allan
We couldn’t put it any better May. Ours is a volunteer run page but we do try to monitor and block Trolls and loud sweary rants. If you do lose your temper and start writing abusive text it is likely your words will not get through our sweary filters and nobody else will see your comment.
We would like to thank all of our readers and page followers for your continued support and especially for your continued comments and page interactions. Discussions like this are what the page is all about and are the reasons why we will win this time.
As the perpetual Brexit shit storm continues the preparations for a no deal Brexit are being geared up and Tory Ministers like failing Grayling will be standing by their beds ready to execute their well prepared and expensive plans to deal with the no-deal. They have chosen the code name ( because they love code names) operation yellow hammer. We do not know why this wee yellow song bird was chosen but its description below may give us a clue.
The yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) is a passerinebird in the bunting family that is native to Eurasia and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia. Most European birds remain in the breeding range year-round, but the eastern subspeciesis partially migratory, with much of the population wintering further south. The male yellowhammer has a bright yellow head, streaked brown back, chestnut rump and yellow underparts. The yellowhammer is common in open areas with some shrubs or trees, and forms small flocks in winter. Its song has a rhythm like “A little bit of bread and no cheese”.
Wikipedia.
Presumably it is because ‘yellow’ means the government is too cowardly to face the public with another vote having wasted two years deceiving people about the true underlying reasons for putting the ‘leave’ option before the people in the first place. All those promises written on the side of campaign buses are like so much cheap duty free French beer turned to piss after a duty free jaunt to Calais. Now the NHS lifeline is to the UK nationals living in the EU. The government has thrown a potential £500m lifeline to 180,000 British pensioners in EU countries outside the UK who rely on the NHS to pay for their healthcare.
“The UK government has committed to fund healthcare for UK nationals (and others for whom the UK is responsible) who have applied for, or are undergoing, treatments in the EU prior to and on exit day, for up to one year, to protect the most vulnerable,”
The ‘hammer’ part is clearly the way our economy, especially in rural parts of Scotland will be hammered by the impact of Brexit. A recent report on the rural economy went as far as to say ‘we are fucked’.
It is like Ground Hog Day that film where time repeats in a loop.We have been saying it for three years now and it feels like being stuck in a time loop. But, it is now here. Glad I do not live in Kent, it is going to be a perpetual traffic jam.
A no deal Brexit is extremely likely. The repercussions for Scotland will be awful. However there is a prize. It shifts the pendulum in Scotlands direction towards our ultimate freedom . Then we will start operation Golden Eagle. G
Easter this year will be so close to Brexit that Scottish sheep farmers and English and Welsh ones for that matter will be waiting nervously to see if many of them will still be able to sell the lambs they have worked so hard to grow. Europe is the major market and if a no- deal Brexit occurs it will have disastrous consequences. A fall in the £ and tariffs of 40% on our lamb being sold to EU (the biggest market) will mean they wont be able to sell it.
The price will drop so much that it wont be economic to feed and keep these lambs – this will lead to the biggest mass cull of lambs out-with a disease containment incident like ‘foot and mouth’.
The wreckage of Brexit will have caused this.The Tory infighting that is at the heart of Brexit and could bring this about could also be the trigger which ends many rural businesses linked with farming. We can accuse the farming community of having their heads in the sand and even for supporting the Tories, but we cannot accuse them of creating the conditions and crazy economics which sees hundreds of thousands of animals culled and buried in pits unsold all in the name of Westminster Tory political posturing. G
Just occasionally we feel moved to make a post like this.
While the Tories have just about shot most of their toes off over the Brexit crisis and both Scottish Labour and UK HQ main branch Labour are falling over themselves to help the Tories to achieve a fantasy Brexit deal we in Scotland need to develop some discipline.
There will be tough times ahead but those times are going to be fruitful because we will soon be an independent country.
However we are our own worst enemies.
Quite often we do things that hurt our own movement. Despite being passionate about achieving independence we can be inadvertently undermining our own cause.
We have seen multiple posts of articles from mainstream unionist press being shared urging us to take part in an online poll on independence usually with a picture of Nicola Sturgeon. These are designed to get folk clicking and sharing because we all know that independence doesn’t get much main stream press attention. Well here is the problem. They are taking the piss and laughing all the way to the bank.
Here is how they fool people.
They put an article up with some obvious Unionist sourced text from a ‘pro-Union’ group. Then they invite readers to take part in an on-line poll on Scottish Independence and how you would vote now.
A new poll has found 60 per cent of Scots would vote against independence if they were asked whether to leave or remain in the United Kingdom, a landmark poll has found. The Survation poll, commissioned by a pro-Union group, found that if a referendum were held now, the majority of Scottish voters aged 16 and over would choose to stay in the UK and just 40 per cent would choose to leave, once the don’t knows are removed.
The Yes troops rise to the bait and BOOM they get over 45684 clicks on their otherwise skint newspaper that in economic terms is hanging by the proverbial baw hair.
By clicking on this ‘clickbait’ , because that is what it is, you are keeping them going. Online newspapers earn by following ways
Publishing google ads
Publishing ads for page per impression
Paid editorials for businesses
Selling media services for any specific events
So every click is income for these papers.Papers that day in day out undermine Scotland (except when it makes them money). Here is what the Indy press had to say about the poll. Incidentally the offending post came out in November 2018 but was still being circulated by Yes supporters as recently as yesterday.
The Scotsman’s rabidly pro-Union stance meant there was little sympathy amongst pro-independence social media users last week when it went into administration. The newspaper was subsequently saved. However this latest front page is unlikely to lead to an increase in readership amongst the independence movement.
Comment from Indyref2 blog at the time.
Based on figures on newspaper circulation for 2018 most unionist press outlets are in terminal decline. Press circulation figures are released every year. If you want to look at it in detail you have to pay.We are not about to do that so that is why we will use 2018 figures
The ABC figures for 2018 show the real reason why the Scotsman is pulling the wool over peoples eyes.
The only paper keeping a steady position is the free paper the Metro, from the Daily Mail stable and heavily reliant on adverts. The Metro’s circulation – presumably because no-one pays for it, remained steady at 1,476,169 copies for May 2018. This represented a slight decline of 0.24% on the same month in 2017. To show where the ‘UK’ newspaper readerships heads are at the Daily Mail is still the UK’s third biggest newspaper, selling 1,277,409 per day – although a chunk of these were bulk sales (airport distribution etc). This figure represents a year on year decline of 11.49%.
The Scotsman gives lots of papers away free, as do many other titles.While most of this is down to people changing the way they get their news, it also represents a significant switching off away from politics and seeking information and questioning things. The dumbing down of politics over the decades is working for the Tory press. This is why they continue to get away with murder.
Support for Indy media sources is on the rise -dont click while we are winning!
The current post reach of the Indy page we are posting from is measured in post reach on facebook and page followers. At the moment we have a post reach for the last week of 342,095. Over the last month our post reach was over 1.5 million. That’s just from a page follower base of just 32,000 and a group of volunteers.
Imagine what it would be like if those 45684 clicks went to Indy media pages instead? Some of these papers are loss making and we should not be keeping them alive.It is only prolonging our own oppression.
Support citizen journalism and think before you click.Remember they all answer to London.
London calling, yes, I was there too And you know what they said? Well, some of it was true! London calling at the top of the dial And after all this, won’t you give me a smile? London calling…
Scottish Tories re-ran their Party Political Broadcast tonight.It is full of clips of some of Theresa Mays most faithful MP’s doing and saying ‘couthie’ things like lifting litter and talking to shoppers on the street about how plain and ordinary and dare we say it ‘working class’ they are.
I doubt that they timed the broadcast to counteract last nights antics in the “Strangers Bar” in the House of Commons when Aberdeen South Tory MP Ross Thomson was removed from the bar by police.That said BBC can be very obliging when it comes to counter propaganda.
It has been quoted that Ross Thomson was very drunk and had engaged in touching people wearing visitors passes. A statements from a witness reads-
“He was in Strangers last night drunk and was groping young men who had guest passes on. Grabbing their backside and genitals and trying to put his hands down people’s pants.
Many people watched on in disgust and I saw someone pull him to one side to ask him to leave. He returned around four times after being chaperoned out and carried on groping people.
It became so unpleasant that the police had been called and eventually escorted him out of the bar after taking statements in the corridor. I believe the Sergeant at Arms is also aware of the incident.”
This took place last night and so far he has not surfaced to defend himself but some of his colleagues have.
Tory MP’s have said that the stress of Brexit is the explanation of his behaviour.
Here was us thinking that the heavily subsidised bar on an otherwise boring wet Tuesday night in Westminster might be more of a reason to get absolutely legless and start shoving your hands down strangers underpants?
Brexit has been stressful however.
It been very stressful if you have lived here for decades and brought up a family but now have to apply for the right to stay in your own home.
It’s stressful if you are a car worker in Sunderland who was counting on Nissan building their new car models in your home town.
It’s stressful if you have a life limiting illness which depends on a regular supply of life giving medicines.
It’s stressful if you are a small business in Ross Thomson’s constituency which is uncertain if it is going to survive a no deal Brexit.
It’s stressful if you are a student and hoped to go on an exchange programme to Europe that will not exist after Brexit.
We don’t believe it is that stressful for MP’s like Ross Thomson an MP unless he realises he has as good as lost his seat over Farming and Fisheries issues.But the penny has dropped too late.
We prefer to think that Ross was born out of time. He would be better off in Roman times having a bacchanalian bevvy after a hard day at the House/senate.
We can only conclude that he was just fiddling while Rome burns.
This week saw a new arrival on the Indy Media scene. Indy Live Radio was launched and for all of us who complain about the biased and downright boring mainstream media this should be a thing to celebrate.
Many a morning in the past I have listened to radio on the way to work or at home and felt moved to switch off just before ‘Call Kaye’ came on to discuss some banal BBC Scotland take on the state of Scotland. It usually has a distinctive, SNP-bad sub plot and is designed to set people up to undermine any positives about Scottish society and to sow the seeds of doubt and fear into people.
It is constant.The output on BBC Radio Scotland is dominated by news and ‘opinion’ until about 1.00 p.m. when it starts to ‘loosen up’ and you get the occasional arts programme and god forbid the odd track of music is played. (Thanks Janice!)
By contrast switching from BBC Scotlands output to a national BBC channel like Radio 2 it is like Scotland is a country under occupation. Turgid stories are churned out about the latest manufactured FOI driven ‘crises’ in NHS Scotland when we know we have some of the best health care and the most dedicated health care staff on the planet.
It’s like a more subtle version of the Lord Haw-Haw and Tokyo Rose propaganda broadcasts from Germany and Japan during the second world war.
Meanwhile over on Radio2 its all ‘Happy’– Pharrel Williams or ‘I feel love’– Donna Summer. Then you come home from work midweek to find that Orwell’s 1984 has become a reality and ‘compulsory sport’ is on the television and its English Premier League.Prime time evening television.
It makes us so angry………
Why shouldn’t we have a little fun now and then?
Well now we can and we will be supporting an independent citizen media broadcast outfit at the same time.
Do not expect adverts or even regular chat from a DJ or presenter. You will hear track lists of music. Pretty good uplifting stuff too.Its a good mixture. Occasionally there will be guest speakers on talking about indy related topics. Its very new and they are still testing everything out but its well worth supporting.
By having a PRS licence the station can play music all day long. The technical stuff is below but it is very easy to connect. You can either listen on-line on your laptop or computer, or you can download an app for a mobile phone and listen anywhere.
This ability to take Indy friendly media with us anywhere we go is vitally important. Building up a network of Yes facebook pages, Live streaming events, Twitter feeds and now radio broadcasts will assist our movement to not only connect with each other but reach out to a wider audience. Yes people should keep all their apps on their device handy in one place. This is how we will connect with people.
This is how we will win independence by sharing information over networks we have created ourselves.
It’s an often quoted myth that the Scots hate the English and vice versa but for most individuals that couldn’t be further from the truth. There may be competitive rivalry between the two nations in, for example, sporting matters but it is (for the most part) a good natured affair. Like a friendship we would not wish ill of the other.
Politically however this is not the case within the UK as there does not exist the natural balance of a friendship, where both parties are equals and they have a mutual respect. Imagine if you will two friends going into a bar for a drink? Before ordering they will discuss what each wants so that each is happy with what they receive. Not so with the political union of the UK where Scotland will almost inevitably be subject to the will of the English MPs in any matter arising. This is of course because the Westminster parliament works on a system of representation based on percentage population of the countries within the union. On the face of it this seems fair and democratic but is it?
Meanwhile back at the bar I arrive with nine friends for a drink. My friends all drink Bitter but I like a pint of Heavy? Now, normally this wouldn’t be a problem except that under the ‘rules’ of our friendship it is the majority who choose what everyone gets to drink. So nine votes for Bitter and one for Guinness results in everyone drinking Bitter together (for every round). Another issue with this arrangement is that the bill is shared which again seems reasonable except that my friends all order food and snacks when I don’t require any or share in them. It is apparent that although my friends realise my unhappiness at the situation they are reluctant to change from the status quo as they are content always getting what they want and,truth be known, having me subsidise their expenses.
What seemed like a democratic arrangement in hindsight feels very unfair and is an ever increasing strain on our friendship. The sensible and mature solution is surely for me to simply remove myself from the arrangement before irreparable damage is done to our relationship. I will still socialise with the same people, and consider them my friends but now each of us will take responsibility for our own needs and budget/finance for this accordingly. This new arrangement will be much fairer, eradicating any resentment between us, and strengthening our friendship in the future.
If we apply the same principles between Scotland, England and the rest of the UK, there is no reason why we cannot re-assess our relationships, adjust them accordingly and remain friends. No one is suggesting a split which is irreparable or destructive. We are simply looking to re-establish some equivalence and equality, beyond which our relationships can bloom because the resentments and frustrations of the imbalance no longer exists. We can rebuild a strong relationship with the rUK, without the dependency upon them. It can, and should be done.
