This blog is severely hampered by flu. I hate flu. In a globe-trotting life I have had a number of illnesses that became life threatening – peritonitis, typhoid, cholera, cerebral malaria, pulmonary embolism, pulmonary hypertension (thankfully misdiagnosed) severe arrhythmia. I was once declared dead and awoken by a cockroach eating my nostril as I lay naked on a corpse trolley in Kaduna. I refuse to die because of the thought of the people – Jack Straw, Islam Karimov, Alisher Usmanov, Tony Blair, John Reid etc – whose day I know would be momentarily brightened by news of my demise. But for sustained misery and feeling really, really awful and uncomfortable, a week with the flu, while not nearly as dangerous, is pretty well as unpleasant, at least to me.
As I lie in a sweaty bed, my thought are perhaps unsurprisingly not happy and light. I am paying keen attention to all the proposals for how to move forward the Independence movement after that check, and am struck by all the calls to reach out to No voters and bring them in.
I have no idea how to reach out to No voters because I find the majority of them stupid beyond my understanding. This is not because they desired an end result different to that I desired. That is a perfectly legitimate choice. It is because, by voting No, they are going to get an end result which is not what they wanted at all, and that was very obvious. Asking me to reach out to these unbelievably thick people is like asking me to go for a drive with someone who, against my advice, drove the wrong way down a motorway, causing a lot of people to get hurt as a result.
Through their No vote they are going to get five more years of Tory rule – which most of them absolutely did not want. And it is going to be Tory rule that lurches further and further to the right. It seems no proposition was too right wing to be applauded to the rafters by the Tory Conference.
Tax cuts for the rich. Benefit cuts for the poor. Openly declared government in the interests of multinational corporations. Censorship of the internet and severe restrictions on freedom of speech. The government intercepting all communications. Even more detention without trial. Permanent war in the Middle East. Leaving the European Convention on Human Rights and in consequence the Council of Europe – the first country to leave the body set up in 1946 to prevent the rise again in Europe of just the sort of proto-fascist measures the Tories wish to impose. To be followed by leaving the European Union.
All of these are direct consequences for Scotland of the No vote. This is much more profound than the entirely predictable and immediate dishonouring of the pledges on Devo-Max by Cameron, Clegg, Miliband and Brown. Brown’s call for a petition to request him to work for what he assured the electorate was already “a done deal” is beyond contempt. It should do for his reputation what the tuition fee betrayal did for Nick Clegg.
Frankly I have no interest in any devolution measures that do not give Scotland control of its oil and whisky revenues, and those are not on offer. But there were people who voted No – 23% of No voters them according to Ashcroft – because they wanted the promised pretend “powers”. Well, you are not going to get those either.
Mostly, of course, those stupid No voters acted under the crass assumption, against all modern precedent, that the opposition could win a general election from a position of just 2 per cent ahead, eight months out. And the even more incredible belief that the Labour Party was still in some significant way different from the Conservative Party.
The consequences of what is coming will fall disproportionately on the poor, with even greater escalation of the UK’s astonishing wealth gap. There will be still more damage to the social fabric that Scots hold dear.
Now there are hard-hearted right wingers in Scotland, in the Tory Party and the leadership of the Labour Party, who wanted everything that is coming in terms of neo-con policy prescription. Those No voters who are wealthy and successful and want to get ahead further on the backs of the poor, made the correct intellectual choice to achieve their ends. They are deeply unpleasant sociopaths, but they are not stupid.
But those No voters who voted No because they believed a fair and caring society was achievable within the present structures of the UK, are so stupid I am astonished that their cerebral cortex can transmit a signal that sparks respiration. They are probably not capable of ever noticing their error.
I am not going to reach out to you, No voter. You are either evil, or quite extraordinarily thick. You will forever be a long way beneath my notice. This will be the last thought I ever give you. To quote a great line from Casablanca:
Peter Lorre: You despise me, don’t you Rick?
Humphrey Bogart: If I gave you any thought, I probably would.
Fred has always called the SNP, and independence supporters “Nazis”. The guy grins his gears about independence supporters being intolerant, when in fact he is the most intolerant poster on here. Fred is a classic example of projecting onto others what he himself is guilty of.
On No voters, I would not be so hard on them Craig. I suspect many were taken in by the MSM/No campaign propaganda, they simply have not asked questioned why Alex Salmond in particular was the subject of a vile campaign of demonization. His opponents regularly compared him to Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Mugabe etc.
As for the Proud Scots but of the Scottish political commentariat, they sold out a long time ago. They are there for career advancement, and self preservation. They do not give a shit about the poor, the vulnerable, the dispossessed in Scotland, or the rest of the UK for that matter. Unfortunately, the upper and middle classes have let Scotland down once again by endorsing Tory rule over Scotland. These people are deluded if they think any positive change can come from being a part of the British state.
Habbabkuk,
” you too are a sock puppet and a vicious provocateur.”
PMSL…you really don’t do irony Habbabkuk do ya?
What a fanjita you are.
“I merely voice niggling suspicions .. but you haven’t replied to the substantive points I went on to make vis-à-vis ‘nationalisms’ ..”
You say this Nationalism is different but when I see the remarks Craig made about No voters I just see the same old Nationalism, the same elitism and the same denigration of sections of the community. Zionism is by definition Nationalism. I did not suggest all Muslims are Nationalists but some are and the Islamic Nationalists such as those attempting to create an Islamic state in Iraq and Syria I oppose.
We are all almost completely defenceless to propaganda. It is just so powerful and getting more powerful by the day. Most people simply do not realise we are being brainwashed by fear and lies from the time we wake up in the morning – and listen to the news on the radio …maybe read a newspaper … go on the internet….watch tv….they all report the same news…Now why is that?
There is so much news from the world every day…and most of it is true….but they only tell you their 1% (on all media sources) 50% of which they make up…
And we nearly all think nearly all of it is true.
They are lying to us. They are bending our minds in ways you simply do not understand…especially by TV (your brain switches to non-critical mode…no defence). Try not watching it for 6 months…then watch a BBC news bulletin..the propaganda will leap out of the screen and hit you in the face like a wet fish. You used to just swallow it and never noticed it go straight to your brain. You believed it and still do. There’s no point in me arguing with you. You will believe the lies even more then…otherwise you would have to admit to yourself that you were wrong.
Tony
“Fred has always called the SNP, and independence supporters “Nazis”. The guy grins his gears about independence supporters being intolerant, when in fact he is the most intolerant poster on here. Fred is a classic example of projecting onto others what he himself is guilty of. ”
Fuck off and die retard.
Rick’s quip is amusing, but facile, as these things often are. Craig’s bitterness is undertandable, but over-indulgent. That so many people are fearful and misled, willing to follow leaders that lead them in the wrong direction, and influenced by a malignant media; isn’t an convincing argument for washing one’s hands of them and abandoning them to their fate because they deserve it, on the contrary, it should be a spur to even greater efforts to explain how they have been misled. In fact after the clear betrayals that have occurred with such inappropriate haste, there is a great opportunity to capitalize on this defeat and build an even stronger base for the future. The world isn’t fair and one has to understand that and compensate. Craig is sick and tired, not the best place to begin a sober and realistic analysis of a defeat in battle. That’s all it is, after all, defeat in a battle. The outcome of the war is far from decided or over. It’s just begun and the historic trend is firmly in favour of the nationalists as older people leave the stage and younger people move onto it, younger people with defferent values and perspectives on the world. If Craig hasn’t got the stomach for the fight any longer and is so ready to cast so many people into the arms of the unionists with a contemptuous shrug, then he should just stand aside next time and let younger people take over, though, I think once he’s recovered fully he’ll reconsider his not particularly constructive or helpful outburst. Leaders, regardless of what they feel inside, are supposed to inspire their troops, not tell them the battle’s lost beforehand. Every time one has to beleive one is going to win, or don’t bother. One of my ancestors supposedly said that absolutely nothing in life compared to taking part in a cavalry charge at full gallop and crashing into the enemy. That feeling and rush was why he went to war. Winning was marvelous but even if one lost a battle or a skermish, at least one had been in that fantastic charge, and that’s what really counted.
Fred’s thing is Nationalism, no matter the source. He gets tired of repeating, so he resorts to defense mechanisms. You can’t blame him so don’t flame him.
@Fred
Fuck off and die retard.
You have just proved my point thanks.
You say this Nationalism is different but when I see the remarks Craig made about No voters I just see the same old Nationalism, the same elitism and the same denigration of sections of the community.
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Fred
I think you’ll find the home of “elitism” is Westminster with its Oxbridge, Bullingdon millionaires, as for Craig well he’s merely pointing out that naysayers like you have condemned many poor and disabled folk to years of suffering, whilst Scotland’s asset are drained south of the border.
I really hope you’re proud of yourself Fred, 10.600 sick and terminally ill died in or around the six weeks mark after having their benefits denied, that’s Westminster for you, now tell me who’s evil.
Its very unlikely welfare will be devolved to Holyrood, infact the way things are going, no one really knows what useful powers will be devolved, meanwhile the weak, sick, poor and terminally ill WILL be denied benefits, and wait up to a year to have them re-installed many will die before hand, you voted for this Fred I hope you can sleep at night.
From Forbes, no less…
“Nationalism is the scourge of Western elites. The enduring love of blood, soil, and faith defies those who imagine that values are a viable alternative to national interests in foreign policy. The urge to act abroad in accordance with domestic ideals, however noble, is dangerously unrealistic.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timreuter/2014/02/28/problems-and-a-solution-from-hell-nationalism-genocide-and-intervention/
O/T Re Ukraine; as the situation gets increasingly worse, expect more of this as those respônsible turn more & more on each other;
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-29476740
http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-lustration-trash-can-justice/26616901.html
RoS
Fuck off and die retard, I don’t need cunts like you telling me how to vote so just go and fuck yourself shit for brains cunt.
There’s a fair number who are both evil and stupid, and quite a few too, who are evil but evince a feigned stupidity or ignorance to account for their prevailing evil.
To Daily Record and Sunday Mail buyers elsewhere in Scotland than Glasgow, are you aware that while you pay for their utter rot, in Glasgow itself they are giving it away for free, with unwanted stacks of them dumped on street corners, and still finding very few takers? By all, where free you should avail yourself of this handy resource.
Scrunched up into loose balls, it makes good compost, indeed a thickish but loose top layer of scrunched up newspaper will keep that matter below it insulated through the cold of the winter, keeping the process and breakdown into fine compost going on underneath. Tramps, homeless persons I’m sure are aware, in the absence of blankets, quilts and other bedding, the insulating properties of newspaper can make for warmer than ambient temperature cocoon conducive to a refreshing night or days sleep. Keepers of rodents, hamsters rabbits, hens, take note, lining the bottoms of your cages, hutches and such enclosures with newspaper makes cleaning them a breeze, simply lift out the whole assemblage of pages in one piece, taking any foreign matter with it, folding it up to contain it neatly in a handy bundle. It can be wrapped round tools such as garden garden shears, saws etc., perhaps after coating them with a light preservative oil, to keep them in tip top condition, especially if stored over winter in a damp shed or similar, if you’re fortunate enough to have such a thing and somewhere to place it. Lucky enough to own a motor car that leaks? A few sheets of dry newspaper, perhaps pre-warmed and dryed by placing on a heater for half an hour, then placed on the floor, maybe out ouf sight under the mats, or in the boot, will absorb some of the moisture and damp, that can fog your windows and in the long run reduce corrosion, adding months to its useable lifetime. Got an open or real fire, perhaps a brazier or some toxic waste to burn round the back of your workplace? Going camping or having a Guy Fawkes Night polluting blaze of stored energy? Newspaper can be useful to get a cheery little blaze going in no time. If you can’t afford even budget toilet-roll then newspaper is a possible and well-known substitute, simply tear and wipe then flush, it may in due course block the drains, but is better than using handfuls of grass or reeds I assure you.
There are many more uses for “News” Paper, I’m sure each of us have our own favourites.
Some words of warning:- Other, as disreputable titles than the DR an SM are available. Your home (if applicable) may be at risk if you read what is printed upon it, or be lured by the advertising thereon into thinking you too could have a comparable lifestyle to that depicted. The little back squiggly bits are known to contain high levels of undiluted bullshit, scientists say very quietly, it’s harmful to your material welfare and spiritual well-being and may be contagious.
Next week we’ll have ten things you can do with a Bent, Broken Broadcasting Corporation.
Dearie me Freddie.I’ve played 9 holes of golf and you’re still at it.
You are beginning to sound like a skinhead with coprolalia.
Working Sunday’s obviously doesn’t agree with you. Go lie down,I wont tell HM Govt.
Writeon,
You are so good, I reckon you have earned your living as a writer…and I bet you had a good editor….
Can you just try and put a bit more space between your points all of which are valid and most probably true…
You know just press the Return Key at the end of a point you are making after the full stop.
To make a line space.
It just makes it a lot more readable…gives your brain time to breathe.
I got half way through. I will read the rest when I come back from the pub.
Tony
“Dearie me Freddie.I’ve played 9 holes of golf and you’re still at it.
You are beginning to sound like a skinhead with coprolalia.
Working Sunday’s obviously doesn’t agree with you. Go lie down,I wont tell HM Govt.”
Fuck off retard scum, fuck off and die.
“The latest target? Nestor Shufrych, a lawmaker from ousted President Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Regions, who has condemned Ukraine’s military campaign against pro-Russian rebels in the war-torn east.
Shufrych arrived on September 30 in the Black Sea city of Odesa for a campaign press conference ahead of October 26 parliamentary elections.
Shufrych was beaten, his face bloodied, and his shirt torn off outside a regional administration building by a mob of more than a dozen activists wearing masks, including members of Right Sector. He fled to his minivan before the crowd could toss him into a trash container, receiving little help from police in the proces”
Thanks for the link, Macky.
Good deeds receive their due punishment. I think there are a good many in Kiev who share that view but are afraid to commit publicly.
RoS
Fuck off and die retard, I don’t need cunts like you telling me how to vote so just go and fuck yourself shit for brains cunt.
______________________________
Fred
Oh don’t worry Fred, I constantly remind of Westminster’s vile sanctions on the poor, disabled and terminally ill, and make you feel as guilty as hell, you wanted this you got it.
And if you think Labour will be any better, the two Ed’s have already publicly said they’d match the Tories for cuts.
Fly swatters!
Seems to me in a very self orientated society that’s all about having your ‘own opinion’ (usually over stated and lacking in real depth or understanding), That is all about being clever or making smarter points than the next bloke, not much growth or leaning will actually appear.
Maybe when it get’s far harder people will get there head out and start leaning things about what actually is. And new things.
For instance I know some who are voting ukip, they are not really awful people. They are just not informed and strongly connect ‘knowing something’ with identity, a hard nut to crack. They may find that our life/society is actually not that secure and don’t want that. My feeling is people stop learning and growing at a younger and younger age. Fixed into “the tranquillity of repartition” ..
These are very significant cultural forces at work. In the same way I would not blame an individual for a so’so article when he’s sick, I think we should stand back sometimes and try and give people a break, see our own part in things and concentrate how that is effecting things.
Btw, I thought of a brilliant piece to write upon waking this morning, this ain’t it. Something about the lack of tolerance and extremism in the wast vs the east generally. It’s gone now, but whatever, I increasingly find I write better upon fresh stimulus.
Thoes lucky enough or brave enough to push themselves into different circumstances can have a very different picture, a more open view. But I think to help them and us we have to take a none attacking attitude toward individuals. Though for me it’s more about reaching the people who do want to learn. And I find when your secure and don’t care to attack, people feel they can perhaps have a look at what your offering more.
IMO people need to stop seeing people through a political or cultural lens. This is I guess partly why I see the middle east and many eastern countries as far more tolerant, they have to get on to live in a very close way that we simply don’t, + perhaps don’t think we want.
I don’t know if forgiveness is a good word. I would not want to let people off the hook so to speak, for there own ongoing responsibility to society. But ultimately that’s stuff for themselves to sort out as people, individuals, not just ‘no voters’.
Dearie me Freddie.I’ve played 9 holes of golf and you’re still at it.
You are beginning to sound like a skinhead with coprolalia.
Working Sunday’s obviously doesn’t agree with you. Go lie down,I wont tell HM Govt.
__________________________
Donny
I think you’ll find that Fred probably suffers from Tourette’s syndrome.
“I think you’ll find that Fred probably suffers from Tourette’s syndrome.”
Fuck off and die Nazi Holocaust denying scum.
Tory tosser Murdo Fraser, comparing Alex Salmond, to Baby Doc Duvalier, an evil despot of Haiti, Tory scumbag.
https://archive.today/4jHAN
Yet Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon are the most popular politicians in Scotland today according to a TNS Poll.
‘ They may find that our life/society is actually not that secure and don’t want that.’
Funnily enough, I think it’s not accepting this. Not really looking at what’s going on that leads people to extreme party’s like UKIP. But party’s like UKIP are just the sort of forces that can and will disrupt society most.
It’s a fear based party with no real policy I can fathom. So an open hand to whatever corporations are paying the wages. Slaves, ‘Independent’ Slaves.
“@Fred
Fuck off and die retard.
You have just proved my point thanks.”
see point (1)
Habbabkuk
‘Eminence(s)’ seems to be a favoured word of yours. But as I don’t believe any of us are of high rank, or even Cardinals, you are barking up the wrong tree with your usage: although you do seem to be barking in another sense. The ACTUAL word you’re thinking of may be ’emanation’ though why you think that is an insult escapes me, since it merely means ‘something which issues from a source’.
Fred
5 Oct, 2014 – 11:43 am
“I don’t agree with Nationalism in any form. Not British Nationalism, Jewish Nationalism, Islamic Nationalism, I opposed the SNP for the same reasons I oppose the BNP…”
__________________________________
Fred, your stupidity knows no bounds apparently.
Firstly, the BNP is a racist organisation, the SNP is not.
Secondly, the referendum in Scotland was about independence – not the SNP and not nationalism!
(How many times do you need to be told?!)
“Fred, your stupidity knows no bounds apparently. ”
Fuck off and die retard.
PMSL..
Too easy…
Eminence(s)’ seems to be a favoured word of yours. But as I don’t believe any of us are of high rank, or even Cardinals, you are barking up the wrong tree with your usage: although you do seem to be barking in another sense. The ACTUAL word you’re thinking of may be ‘emanation’ though why you think that is an insult escapes me, since it merely means ‘something which issues from a source
_______________________
J Coleman
Habb thinks he’s some sort of unofficial, lecturer on this blog, he constantly comments on other folks comments, with mostly negative or derogatory retorts, oh and Fred is his back up mouth piece.