Alibi

He can't do that because he received money from Israel or Israeli-linked sources sources - I thought it was £50k but someone told me it was £100k. The actual amount maybe isn't important; it's the fact that he is now bought and paid for. As are many other politicians and folk in high places. Money buys politicians. It should be made illegal for politicians to accept donations from overseas sources.

In practical terms it doesn't make a lot of difference how many seats they get as long as they get a majority. Being at Westminster achieves nothing. Getting a majority (which I think means at least 29 seats now) prevents the yoons from claiming that Scotland has voted unionist. I can see the wheels coming off Labour's "surge" pretty soon. At the moment most folk probably aren't aware what labour are offering: Brexit, unionism, pro-Israel, steal Scotland's resources, very likely parking charges at hospitals, pretty much stealing the Tory manifesto from 2010. With a decent SNP leader, we would be in a strong position. Yousaf's "kick out the Tories" is unimaginative shite - "kick out the Tories and get a different shade of Tory" is more what that would achieve. If he tries to keep indy out of the manifesto offering, then he can fuck right off.

I think that was the problem. Criticising a country (or its government) is a totally different matter from racism or anti-semitism. For a start, not all Jews live in or are from Israel, and may Jews are critical of Israel and/or the Israeli government. That IHRA definition was specifically created to allow anyone who said, for example, that Netanyahu was an evil murderer, to be branded as anti-semitic and nobody was supposed to argue against that line. I have no time for Netanyahu or his current actions in Gaza, but I don't have anything against anyone just because they choose to follow the Jewish faith. My paternal grandfather fled Lithuania (then part of Russia) in 1867 at the age of 6, due to a pogrom and ended up in Glasgow via Dublin (then in the UK). I'm a devout atheist with a fully intact tadger, but I do remember the anti-semitism and racism that was prevalent during my youth in the 60s and beyond and which was widely accepted - even some of the campfire songs in the scouts were riddled with various isms without anyone raising an eyebrow. I hope we have moved beyond those days now but with some sections of society they've just moved on to a different target group. My own race: Human.

On to series 3 of Slow Horses - second series was better than the first so hopeful that series 3 will keep up the high standard. Main problem for me is remembering who everyone is because I'm hopeless at remembering names and faces. Watch with subtitles because as with most things nowadays, it's often difficult to follow the dialogue. Also binge watched One Day on Netflix. Quite good and with a sting in the tail that I realised was about to happen about ten seconds before it happened. Good soundtrack.

The guy is entitled to a holiday, but choosing to go to Qatar? The optics are terrible. I would question his judgement, and not for the first time. Particularly as Hamas seem to have their leaders based there. Will be a right laugh if he turned up in a motorhome he's borrowed...

It's not actually anti-semitism. Anti-semitism is a dislike or hatred of Jews (and logically would include other semitic races, such as Arabs but that's never mentioned). However recently some folk have tried to conflate a dislike/hatred of Israel with anti-semitism. The two things are actually very different, but it allows anyone criticising Israel to be tarred as anti-semitic.

No, my GP arranged it and I was seen at DGRI (Dumfries) within a couple of weeks. I remember now that it was due to traces of blood in a urine sample. Anyway nothing untoward was found. I tell folk the two week wait was because they needed to order in a longer tube - add your own punchlines...

I had that done a few months ago. Not as bad as it sounds actually. However after the procedure, the first time you go for a pish it stings like fuck - far worse than the procedure itself. Can't actually remember what they were looking for but apparently the inside of my bladder is is excellent condition, which I attribute to preserving it in alcohol. The live video was a wee bonus.

We are in a war of independence and the British state will do whatever it takes to stop us winning it, up to and including murder (see Willie McRae), & persecution of high profile indy leaders (A. Salmond). They control the mainstream media. Incessant promotion of Labour as some sort of saviour riding to rescue Scotland from the evil Tories, when Labour are every bit as bad. Sarwar given an easy ride in interviews and pushed as a credible first minister ffs. Just what Scotland needs, a multi-millionaire FM and a Sir Starmer as PM. And still the naysayers do down Scotland at every turn. I have to say that Yousaf's "kick the Tories out" line for the UK election doesn't seem very sensible. He seems to have missed the fact that voting Labour in Scotland would do much the same as voting SNP with regard to the specific aim of ousting the Tories. Yousaf needs to offer indy as a reason for voting SNP or there's no point. Go soft on indy and the game's a bogey.

Probably have yo go private for that...

Didn't read your post as insensitive in the slightest. More about the news coverage which had folk rabbiting on about something while not having any details at all - just wall to wall obsequious reverence. It goes without saying that Charles will get the best treatment available; would that everyone else could too. I have no time for the royals but I don't think anyone would wish this on any of them.

BTW first thing I said to Mrs Alibi last night when the news came on and they had some woman described as the royal correspondent was "where's Nicholas Witchell"? Turns out he picked a bad time (for him) to go on holiday. He'll be kicking himself, the obsequious wee arse licker.

We've got 4 nights in Madrid booked for the first weekend in May. Chosen partly because it's the final day of the championship season and Morton are away at Inverness that weekend, but it could double up if necessary...

I expect the target audience at Ibrox like songs by Queen. I wonder if they'll play "Another one bites the dust"?

It's not a single disease. There are lots of different types of cancer, some of them extremely treatable. A friend of mine recently celebrated his 80th birthday - he has had prostate cancer for many years and was told quite a few years ago that he will die with it but not from it. It's not necessarily a death sentence these days, albeit some types of cancer have a poor survival rate (pancreatic cancer seems to be one of the worst). As for the bit about "beating" cancer, my missus, who is a bowel cancer survivor and now totally clear of the disease for more than 20 years, dislikes that phraseology. Cancer treatment isn't really a matter of "beating" anything; it's a matter of firstly getting the right diagnosis as early as possible and getting the expert treatment needed to recover from or at least mitigate the disease. I don't think Charles will need to worry about waiting lists. On a slightly lighter note, as soon as I heard the date of the queen's funeral had been announced, I rushed into my local travel agent to book a long weekend abroad to avoid the whole thing. Going to have to put some money away just in case we're having to repeat the whole thing this year...

I think the contract between the treatment of Nicola Sturgeon and Alister Jack (and also the soft treatment of most of the Tory cabinet mob) has opened people's eyes this past week or so. Sturgeon being attached quite viciously by the MSM including BBC Scotland, while Jack says he deleted all his messages and it's "Oh right, OK no problem". The woman who called it a witchhunt on QT got it, and so have many many others. The penny has dropped. Once Labour's actual policies on Brexit , freedom of movement etc. are publicised, Sarwar should be hounded relentlessly. Ian Murray couldn't answer a question on QT because of the polar opposite of what Starmer said about Gaza and what Sarwar said. In an election campaign, the wheels will come off millionaire Sarwar pretty quickly.

Agree with every word.

Well said the woman who described the treatment of Nicola Sturgeon compared to the treatment of the likes of Johnson and Sunak as a witch hunt. And the man who was ranting about shutting down the Scottish parliament got roundly booed by the audience. Fairly sure you could work out which football team he supports. Kate Forbes handled herself fairly well, although as usual Fiona Bruce repeatedly interrupted her or talked over her; Malcolm Offord and Fraser Nelson on the other hand were given free rein to spout their lies and distortions without interruption.

The difference in the treatment of NS and Alister Jack must be blatantly obvious to even the most blinkered unionist. The UK inquiry has been set up as a "get the SNP" charade; a de facto show trial worthy of soviet Russia. They don't give a fuck about the inconsistencies in how different folk are treated. FMQ today was ridiculous with Ross and Sarwar eager to put the boot in. I amn't by any means a Sturgeon loyalist, but the way she is being vilified is like something from the McCarthy era in the USA.

Spot on. The SNP needs some changes on peripheral policies, but primarily it's a force for indy or it's nothing. And if the SNP flops at the next election, it will be used against us for years.

Spot on. We are in a war of independence and the MSM are engaged in trying to sway opinion in Scotland - their aim is to dupe people into voting Labour - pro-brexit anti-indy Labour - and it seems that many gullible folk are falling for it. Not voting at all is bad enough, but voting for these unionist cunts is beyond the pale. In any upcoming election, the SNP need to put indy in the first like of their manifesto. No ifs or buts. Failing to do that would confirm that some at the top don't want it. we need a statement that the indy movement as a whole can support - and that should include holding out an olive branch to the other pro-indy parties.

The SNP are moribund at the moment, unwilling to rock any boats, scared of their own shadows. Trying to be good wee parliamentarians. Heading for an electoral doing by the look of it and still they don't do anything to win back voters or even to rebut some of the ludicrous SNPbad stories.

There's already a shortage of some medicines due to Brexit. And incidentally a massive shortage of dentists due to most of the EU ones who used to work here having gone elsewhere. I bought my office building when I set up my own business in the 1980s and once the loan was paid off it was meant to be my pension fund - had a firm of dentists leasing it but they moved to bigger premises and it's proving almost impossible to find a new tenant despite the fact that this area is crying out for more dentists. Similar story for a lot of other things, both goods and businesses. But hey, it's all good because a bunch of rich folk can dodge paying tax.

7 years between referenda is written into the NI good Friday agreement. Seems reasonable to me. Also Brexit is itself a justification for another indyref. I look forward to Anus Sarwar being skewered at the next UK election on Labour's new line that Brexit is now great. He should be torn to shreds in every interview for that duplicity. If Yousaf wants to have any chance of not being humiliated, he needs to make the UK election about independence. Our MPs can't make any difference at WM anyway, so use the election to prioritise the most important issue. Sadly Yousaf is not an inspiring leader in any way.

Anyone watched Slow Horses? I found season 1 a bit hard going but season 2 seems a lot better so far.