The news thread

[scotlad]

3 hours ago, vanderark14 said:

https://www.thenational.scot/news/23516111.pink-peacock-staff-burn-harry-potter-book-glasgow-street/

I'd say the person burning the book needs help.

Jesus wept, is this the point we've reached? 🤦‍♂️

The sad thing is, there are plenty of things people could - and should - be getting angry about just now but instead they'd rather pull nasty, virtue signalling wee stunts like this - it's pathetic! 

I loathe J.K Rowling but what fucking difference is burning copies of her books going to make to anyone??

[aaid]

I thought that comparing the actions of Jews, Jewish organisations or the State of Israel to the Nazis was regarded as out and out anti-semitism.

Maybe these are the wrong sort of Jews though.

Just, FTR, the above is a comment on the hypocrisy of certain commentators.

[vanderark14]

1 hour ago, scotlad said:

Jesus wept, is this the point we've reached? 🤦‍♂️

The sad thing is, there are plenty of things people could - and should - be getting angry about just now but instead they'd rather pull nasty, virtue signalling wee stunts like this - it's pathetic! 

I loathe J.K Rowling but what fucking difference is burning copies of her books going to make to anyone??

I've got no issues with JK Rowling. Some of the abuse she takes is beyond ridiculous.

I agree, burning her books makes no difference. 

[Squirrelhumper]

[TDYER63]

2 minutes ago, Squirrelhumper said:

Hooray for the correct decision . 

[Squirrelhumper]

49 minutes ago, TDYER63 said:

Hooray for the correct decision . 

Spot on, common sense prevails. 

[ger intae them]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65574063
 

bbc confirms the levels of shite it spouts by linking rail strikes to Eurovision.

was also annoyed earlier his week at Chris Iwelumo using foundering instead of floundering in a bbc column……. buts that’s just my inner chripper coming out.

[aaid]

BTW, this comment stands whether or not what he is claiming is factually correct.

I saw this guy being interviewed on the Sunday Show yesterday and the one thing that came to mind as he was blaming the SG and NS directly for failing kids and avoiding accountability was this.

If you’re claiming that in the six years you’ve been in the role of Children’s Commissioner that things are worse off for kids now than when you started , haven’t you failed and why have you not been held accountable?  Even if you were blocked at every point by the SG, why didn’t you raise that publicly?

The second thing was, why isn’t Martin Geissler asking these questions as well?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-65588466

[PapofGlencoe]

24 minutes ago, aaid said:

BTW, this comment stands whether or not what he is claiming is factually correct.

I saw this guy being interviewed on the Sunday Show yesterday and the one thing that came to mind as he was blaming the SG and NS directly for failing kids and avoiding accountability was this.

If you’re claiming that in the six years you’ve been in the role of Children’s Commissioner that things are worse off for kids now than when you started , haven’t you failed and why have you not been held accountable?  Even if you were blocked at every point by the SG, why didn’t you raise that publicly?

The second thing was, why isn’t Martin Geissler asking these questions as well?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-65588466

Agree and never once heard the guy pipe up in 6 years.

Almost like he's realised he's been a no mark and wants to go out with a bang.

I'm sure there is a reason for this post but struggling to think what it is when you have elected and accountable reps to run a country's affairs already.

[aaid]

6 minutes ago, PapofGlencoe said:

Agree and never once heard the guy pipe up in 6 years.

Almost like he's realised he's been a no mark and wants to go out with a bang.

I'm sure there is a reason for this post but struggling to think what it is when you have elected and accountable reps to run a country's affairs already.

I think the position is a useful and necessary one. I would see the role having two main facets, to advocate for children and to provide an oversight function, essentially to keep government honest and on track.  That said, if the government is failing then he’s also failing.  

I did a time-based Google search up to the end of April and the only thing I could see from him was this, from six months ago which paints a bit of a different picture.

https://childreninscotland.org.uk/magazine-comment-weve-made-progress-on-childrens-rights-but-not-enough/

 

[PapofGlencoe]

24 minutes ago, aaid said:

I think the position is a useful and necessary one. I would see the role having two main facets, to advocate for children and to provide an oversight function, essentially to keep government honest and on track.  That said, if the government is failing then he’s also failing.  

I did a time-based Google search up to the end of April and the only thing I could see from him was this, from six months ago which paints a bit of a different picture.

https://childreninscotland.org.uk/magazine-comment-weve-made-progress-on-childrens-rights-but-not-enough/

 

Hmm yeah, seems to have had a change of tack.

I don't know enough about it to have a strong view.  I see it was set up in 2004.

I would have thought Audit Scotland, Parliament committees and general charitable bodies should be enough alongside the media reports thereof.  Seems like a waste of resources to me at first glance if it's taxpayer funded..which then obviously has its own issues. 

I don't really know though.  Seems like a post without real targets (how can it, it doesn't have power) and wishy washy accountability.

[TDYER63]

1 hour ago, aaid said:

BTW, this comment stands whether or not what he is claiming is factually correct.

I saw this guy being interviewed on the Sunday Show yesterday and the one thing that came to mind as he was blaming the SG and NS directly for failing kids and avoiding accountability was this.

If you’re claiming that in the six years you’ve been in the role of Children’s Commissioner that things are worse off for kids now than when you started , haven’t you failed and why have you not been held accountable?  Even if you were blocked at every point by the SG, why didn’t you raise that publicly?

The second thing was, why isn’t Martin Geissler asking these questions as well?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-65588466

He talks about the length of time it has taken for the SG to go back with amendments to the legislation on UN convention for rights of a child but totally glosses over the fact it was blocked in the Supreme court by the UK law officers in the first place thereby delaying things. We have to work around Westminster constantly..

As an aside, I recently met a friend I had not seen for a long long  time  . She is in social work and meets with the SG regularly. She told me she absolutely hated NS, until she met her. What changed her mind was, quote : 

‘ how she genuinely seemed to care about the children and how good she was with them. She is awkward socially but interacted really well with the children . I did not expect this ‘. 

My friend is a member of the Labour party.

I mention this because of the ‘Nicola Sturgeon absolutely failed Scottish children’  screaming headline . Its one person’s opinion. There is absolutely things that could have been done a lot better but I don’t see the need to make it personal. 

[Ally Bongo]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65599302

Austrian train plays Hitler speech over loudspeaker

Travellers on an intercity train in Austria were startled on Sunday when a recording of an Adolf Hitler speech was played on board.

Instead of the normal announcements, a crowd could also be heard shouting "Heil Hitler" and "Sieg Heil" over the train's speaker system.

The operator said there had been several such incidents in recent days.

 

[slasher]

Alex Cole Hamilton simply must be a Tory plant, has to be! Outwith rabid right wing parties I don’t think I have come across such a complete and utter cunt in Scottish politics!

[scotlad]

2 hours ago, slasher said:

Alex Cole Hamilton simply must be a Tory plant, has to be! Outwith rabid right wing parties I don’t think I have come across such a complete and utter cunt in Scottish politics!

The Lib Dems seem to attract more than their share of really unpleasant characters, which is strange for such a middle-of-the-road, "vanilla" party.

Christine Graham, MP for the equivalent WM seat as Cole-Hamilton, comes across as a nasty piece of work too.

[Ally Bongo]

10 minutes ago, scotlad said:

The Lib Dems seem to attract more than their share of really unpleasant characters, which is strange for such a middle-of-the-road, "vanilla" party.

Christine Graham, MP for the equivalent WM seat as Cole-Hamilton, comes across as a nasty piece of work too.

It's Christine Jardine

And she is indeed a fat arsed quisling cunt of the highest order

[scotlad]

25 minutes ago, Ally Bongo said:

It's Christine Jardine

And she is indeed a fat arsed quisling cunt of the highest order

So it is!  🤦‍♂️

Vile woman.

[exile]

On 5/15/2023 at 6:09 PM, TDYER63 said:

He talks about the length of time it has taken for the SG to go back with amendments to the legislation on UN convention for rights of a child but totally glosses over the fact it was blocked in the Supreme court by the UK law officers in the first place thereby delaying things. We have to work around Westminster constantly..

As an aside, I recently met a friend I had not seen for a long long  time  . She is in social work and meets with the SG regularly. She told me she absolutely hated NS, until she met her. What changed her mind was, quote : 

‘ how she genuinely seemed to care about the children and how good she was with them. She is awkward socially but interacted really well with the children . I did not expect this ‘. 

My friend is a member of the Labour party.

I mention this because of the ‘Nicola Sturgeon absolutely failed Scottish children’  screaming headline . Its one person’s opinion. There is absolutely things that could have been done a lot better but I don’t see the need to make it personal. 

I made the mistake of googling scottish news (actually Scottish politics news on Goodle/news) just for a peek to see what was going on from an outside persepctive and almost all of then screaming headlines of the sort you mention, all SNP bad ('absolutely failed'), Scotland bad (Scotland 'worst nation').

They may all be true but the way they are amplified always seems to be in the one direction. I wonder why.

On the first page of entries, all stories were from the BBC, the 'Scottish' Daily Express or Daily Record. And you remember almost all mainstream media is owned or controlled from outside our country. Not healthy in a democracy.

[aaid]

1 hour ago, exile said:

I made the mistake of googling scottish news (actually Scottish politics news on Goodle/news) just for a peek to see what was going on from an outside persepctive and almost all of then screaming headlines of the sort you mention, all SNP bad ('absolutely failed'), Scotland bad (Scotland 'worst nation').

They may all be true but the way they are amplified always seems to be in the one direction. I wonder why.

On the first page of entries, all stories were from the BBC, the 'Scottish' Daily Express or Daily Record. And you remember almost all mainstream media is owned or controlled from outside our country. Not healthy in a democracy.

The comparison with UK/English news is stark.   In England the ruling party is genuinely unpopular and has been involved in scandal after scandal and the quantity and tenor of negative stories is nothing compared to Scotland where the party in power - for all its recent troubles is still the most popular one by some distance.

I think the Scottish press are totally off the scale whereas the UK/English press are far too supine.  The balancing point should be somewhere in the middle.

Edited May 17, 2023 by aaid

[RDFH64]

On 5/17/2023 at 9:45 AM, aaid said:

The comparison with UK/English news is stark.   In England the ruling party is genuinely unpopular and has been involved in scandal after scandal and the quantity and tenor of negative stories is nothing compared to Scotland where the party in power - for all its recent troubles is still the most popular one by some distance.

I think the Scottish press are totally off the scale whereas the UK/English press are far too supine.  The balancing point should be somewhere in the middle.

But most of the Scottish press is owned by international/London based companies peddling anti Scottish agendas, you just have to look at the recent press coverage of Sturgeon & the SNP compared to the coverage given to Boris Johnson’s over his numerous lies & law breaking.

[aaid]

34 minutes ago, RDFH64 said:

But most of the Scottish press is owned by international/London based companies peddling anti Scottish agendas, you just have to look at the recent press coverage of Sturgeon & the SNP compared to the coverage given to Boris Johnson’s over his numerous lies & law breaking.

Yes.  In terms of newspapers, there’s only really the Mirror and Guardian that could be considered as being anti-Tory.  The other papers are pretty much pro-Tory and only have a go at the government when it suits their particular faction.

The BBC however is supposed to be notionally independent but there’s a clear difference in how the two incumbent governments are treated by the respective News and current affairs organisation. 

As an example, I’m sitting watching FMQs, Douglas Ross has been throwing accusations around about Jenny Gilruth, based on an article in today’s Daily Mail.  He’s clearly been given the source information by the Mail.   I’m prepared to be that one of the two lobby journalists they get on afterwards to sum up FMQs will be Michael Blackley from the Mail.

[aaid]

23 minutes ago, aaid said:

As an example, I’m sitting watching FMQs, Douglas Ross has been throwing accusations around about Jenny Gilruth, based on an article in today’s Daily Mail.  He’s clearly been given the source information by the Mail.   I’m prepared to be that one of the two lobby journalists they get on afterwards to sum up FMQs will be Michael Blackley from the Mail.

Simon Johnstone and Lesley Riddoch, so I got that wrong.  

[EddardStark]

BT to cut 55000 jobs in the next 10 years. Includes sub contractors. Stating AI as a factor. Thats 42% of their current workforce. 

[aaid]

2 hours ago, EddardStark said:

BT to cut 55000 jobs in the next 10 years. Includes sub contractors. Stating AI as a factor. Thats 42% of their current workforce. 

I think a big chunk of that is they’ve ramped up over recent years to upgrade the digital network, once that’s completed they’ll have no need for most of them. 

[bonzo]

Ffs 🤬

The funeral and lying-in-state of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022 cost the UK Government an estimated £161.7 million, according to figures published by the Treasury.