tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28418984744786951162024-03-05T03:53:31.036-08:00Geoff Huijer - A Scottish Writer's MusingsBorn in Kirkcaldy and raised in Burntisland.
Passionate about Scottish independence.
Living one day at a time.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723713771162081318noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841898474478695116.post-8922293289595760042016-11-30T06:26:00.006-08:002016-11-30T06:26:56.521-08:00A Very Foreign Office<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The UK’s Foreign &
Commonwealth Office (FCO) aims to ‘promote the United Kingdom’s interests
overseas, supporting our citizens & businesses around the world.’</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Boris Johnson (I
know, don’t laugh) was appointed Foreign Secretary in July 2016 and that move
can now only be seen as a symbol of how incompetent and amateur the FCO
actually is and by inference the UK Government.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Imagine if you
will that the FCO sent out a picture of Tower Bridge in London but that the
bridge shown was actually London Bridge. Wouldn’t happen would it?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">However, when it
comes to Scotland the FCO becomes the Very Foreign Office. And the people of
Scotland are happy to rip the piss in showing their disdain.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The following is a
tweet from the FCO.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwfZZrB5JvdE1GPGk9A_EKxqiHVQ2PZSE7gU60nh5VsYz-Kqr4YOLAXzXGE1Jv1DEZhldGeEJa26TuOLb_gzzwu9UQG-y7AtSmz8C_kmau6gVHWJIJr2OoCniwnfbcjIJGsruNU26vXv0/s1600/FCO+Wrong+Bridge.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="628" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwfZZrB5JvdE1GPGk9A_EKxqiHVQ2PZSE7gU60nh5VsYz-Kqr4YOLAXzXGE1Jv1DEZhldGeEJa26TuOLb_gzzwu9UQG-y7AtSmz8C_kmau6gVHWJIJr2OoCniwnfbcjIJGsruNU26vXv0/s640/FCO+Wrong+Bridge.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Couple of points: </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">You will
have no doubt noticed the photo is of the Forth Bridge; a rail bridge built in
the 19<sup>th</sup> Century. Pictured is certainly not the Queensferry Crossing which is due to open in 2017.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The UK
Government provided NO funding towards this project regardless of its role as a
critical link between the Lothians (& the South) and the Kingdom of Fife
(& the North). This despite the love of funding projects of ‘national
importance’ like the Millenium Dome, the London Olympics, London Underground, HS2
(London to Manchester rail network) and billing Scotland for its share.
Incidentally, the Glasgow Commonwealth Games received no ‘UK’ funding either.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrefdnlJwHTCLBvqzreoYG6pmSpiM-1CCPQfF0wMWicqJEZ8T5ZyXqlPjify5IqB0hoYe8Nszvj5JmwpK562d6liIbGUK_YdbG_Iv3vAWSHYk5PHVMdSopmzjleJDkrM1EXJPxhdJROo/s1600/Queensferry+Crossing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZrefdnlJwHTCLBvqzreoYG6pmSpiM-1CCPQfF0wMWicqJEZ8T5ZyXqlPjify5IqB0hoYe8Nszvj5JmwpK562d6liIbGUK_YdbG_Iv3vAWSHYk5PHVMdSopmzjleJDkrM1EXJPxhdJROo/s400/Queensferry+Crossing.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The real Queensferry Crossing </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">To me, and it
seems I’m not alone, this seems a perfect example of the Westminster Government’s
attitude to and knowledge of Scotland. Not only are our world famous engineering
feats alien to them (in this case) but also (as proven regularly by the
mainstream media, metropolitan-based political commentators & politicians) our
politics, culture, law, education, Health Service and indeed ‘role’ in the
Union.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">That said Scots on
Twitter were quick to lampoon their incompetence.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Enjoy!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Then, people just started pushing the boundaries...</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Jovial as the banter was the FCO's tweet really did prove insulting on so many levels: </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">And for some the FCO tweet constituted the 'Tweet of the Day' award.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">So in trying to claim credit for the UK Government (when Labour, Conservative and Lib Dems were all vehemently against the project from the outset) the FCO has only shown itself to be an amateurish, ignorant, self-important, vanity project geared to spouting UK propaganda at all costs and regardless of the facts. Surprised? Me neither.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">*** </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723713771162081318noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841898474478695116.post-44819245800478739942016-03-28T00:56:00.001-07:002016-03-28T00:56:36.329-07:00A Dead Dead Rose (An Ode to Trump)Author and journalist Will Black <a href="https://twitter.com/WillBlackWriter" target="_blank">@WillBlackWriter</a> started a hashtag that has been trending on Twitter called <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WriteAPoemAboutTrump?src=hash" target="_blank">#WriteAPoemAboutTrump</a><br />
<br />
So, I thought I would have a wee bash.<br />
<br />
My favourite poem is Robert Burns' <a href="http://www.robertburns.org/works/444.shtml" target="_blank">A Red, Red Rose</a><br />
<br />
So, it seemed paradoxically appropriate to take this beautiful poem about Love and taint it with what I believe Donald Trump to be all about - Hatred.<br />
<br />
My apologies to Scotland's national bard; a man who believed in egalitarianism unlike Trump.<br />
<br />
<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723713771162081318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841898474478695116.post-56206141315071309762015-08-05T03:20:00.003-07:002015-08-05T03:20:34.473-07:00Child Rape & Cover-Ups<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Accusations of ''historical child abuse' are heard more in the media these
days about politicians who are either dead or in Lord Janner's case have
dementia & can't be prosecuted.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-size: large;">I'll skip the fact that I don't believe all those involved are 'unreachable'
for the moment.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-size: large;">It's CHILD RAPE! I don't like this 'child abuse' phrase which softens the
whole sad & sorry affair. News outlets should be calling it what it is:
child rape. The abuse is there because trust has been abused but I believe the
phrase just protects viewers (& the alleged perpetrators) from what it is.
It is rape. Of children.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-size: large;">Christopher Hitchens in his exposé of organised religion God Is Not Great
has this to say: </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>“Child
abuse” is really a silly and pathetic euphemism for what has been going on; we
are talking about the systematic rape and torture of children, positively aided
and abetted by a hierarchy which knowingly moved the grossest offenders to
parishes where they would be safer.</i></b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-size: large;">Whilst Hitchens went after organised religion it is in the context of authoritarian
cover-ups that the following clip of an appearance on Fox News should be viewed. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD-e7fiRiUc" target="_blank">Hitchens on Fox News - "main priority was not justice for the victims but protection of the criminals."</a> </span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">There
is no doubt in my mind that if he were alive today he would be doing his utmost
(as any real investigative journalist should) to expose the corruption within
the British State with regard to child rape and it's subsequent cover-up.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-size: large;">The lack of action by UK authorities, the revelations broadcast by an
Australian documentary team, the admission of the existence files relating to
Westminster child rape allegations <a href="https://archive.is/pWExf" target="_blank">(which appeared 24 hours after Leon Brittan died)</a> which are still held in secret, suggestions that former Prime Minister
Edward Heath is now being investigated by no less than FIVE separate police
forces, and allegations of a BBC cover-up over Jimmy Saville’s actions all
start to point towards major abuses of power and privilege, and the systematic
hiding of criminality. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-size: large;">Furthermore, why does the media use the word 'historical'? Ronnie Biggs was accused & pursued for
decades as a bank robber. 'Great Train Robber, Ronnie Biggs' they always
announced. Not ‘ Ronnie Biggs accused of historical train robberies’. Again, to
me anyway, by using the word 'historical' the media is suggesting it was all in
the past and doesn't matter as much. I have seen murderers being tracked down
decades after the event and DNA being used to successfully prosecute them. <a href="https://archive.is/5AHDL" target="_blank">I've even seen 93 year old Nazis being prosecuted for crimes committed during the Holocaust.</a> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The passage of time shouldn't lessen the crime. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-size: large;">Well let's face it it's not in the past; people are still living with the
trauma and everything else that goes with it; shame, low self-esteem,
nightmares, fear, mistrust to name but a few. The crimes MAY be in the past,
but equally they also may still be happening and just because it was in the
past doesn't make it any less of a crime: just ask Ian Brady or Myra Hindley.
Am I really to believe that if those two horrors had been sitting in the House
of Commons or Lords authorities would have just let it all slip by? </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-size: large;">Because, given recent revelations and inaction, that's how I'm beginning to
think.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">* </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723713771162081318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841898474478695116.post-44410853237033924912015-05-17T04:09:00.000-07:002015-05-17T11:00:02.567-07:00Life On The Dole<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I
finally got a letter recently confirming my registration as an ‘approved casual
worker’ where I can work with children who have had ‘difficult’ childhoods and
struggle with their behaviour.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Notwithstanding
the joy at being paid to do something that I enjoy there is an even more
existential reason for celebrating.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Anyone
unfortunate enough to be unemployed and/or on ‘benefits’ will be able to
identify; those that have no experience of being in such a degrading situation
will, perhaps, have their eyes opened to how the system works.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Let
me first say by paradox that it is not degrading per se to actually BE
unemployed. However, the treatment meted out to me (and I can only share my
experience) was, for me, both degrading and humiliating.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Some
background: I have worked for (at the time) the world’s biggest corporation
(American Home Products) which owned such brands as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Anadin</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Anne French</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">3 in 1</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Preparation H</i> (yes, that one!). I was, for want of a better
expression, a salesman.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I
then worked for Allied Breweries, a local catering company and then for Guinness GB
(which became Diageo) for almost 10 years. Latterly I was responsible for the Guinness Irish Pub
Concept in GB and represented the company in Boston, USA presenting the
findings of a study we did in conjunction with the University of Geneva. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpR368aJQqftY8eVfk3j136OO_P0YZX03geF4EFpP0iSAuFPlEEctFam2Kjr26_aGTU_pezicLSR4czIRGFhmfeuLXtDRmNpDEKOVfuzs14f-wae4Vl15y8SvNT0dbNsKafAcENmwibKs/s1600/GIPC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpR368aJQqftY8eVfk3j136OO_P0YZX03geF4EFpP0iSAuFPlEEctFam2Kjr26_aGTU_pezicLSR4czIRGFhmfeuLXtDRmNpDEKOVfuzs14f-wae4Vl15y8SvNT0dbNsKafAcENmwibKs/s1600/GIPC.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I
bought a country pub (the lease of) which was sold at the end of 2005. So far,
so very whatever. I only mention this to ensure viewers of ‘Benefits Street’ or
Daily Mail readers that I am no long-term ‘scrounger’. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"> *</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I
returned to Scotland in 2007, after a period of unemployment, (just as my
sister was emigrating) to be near my ailing mum who was displaying worrying
signs of dementia. My mum died in 2010.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmsHpbp0Ni0wXc0KfQq8YovcrMWLI7TfaVm1XeGdJUfepQEhneCgf7dMKVYcADkaItuoEUsQuA38aNSfF9HkfOTV-1p60d65Q-TTMQZVdMsCnFHwDYSHqc3WBVIwNRVn-jrQkhTBG0ues/s1600/Job+Centre+Sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmsHpbp0Ni0wXc0KfQq8YovcrMWLI7TfaVm1XeGdJUfepQEhneCgf7dMKVYcADkaItuoEUsQuA38aNSfF9HkfOTV-1p60d65Q-TTMQZVdMsCnFHwDYSHqc3WBVIwNRVn-jrQkhTBG0ues/s1600/Job+Centre+Sign.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">These
are only a tiny window into my ‘life on the dole’ experiences.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Having separated from my wife in early 2006
(living separately in rented accommodation) I was informed by Job Centre
Plus after a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">year</i> of red tape that I
did not qualify for any benefits as I was officially still married and my wife
had a job. I also had some savings (from pub sale) and therefore did not
qualify for any support. I used what I had and sold possessions to get by.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Moving to Scotland, I was told I did not
qualify for a council home as I had ‘voluntarily’ made myself homeless –
actually, I could no longer afford my rent, didn’t want to get evicted or in
debt and needed to be near my mum. So, I couch surfed. After a while I got a
council flat.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I was denied any support whilst caring for my
mum who at times didn’t even know who I was. All my ‘dole’ money went on bills and
petrol for taking her out and when she ended up in a secure hospital ward going
to visit. Friends gave me food. Eventually, I could no longer afford a car.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I sold my car and self-published my book. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/MassanGowAndTheHoundsOfStAndrew" target="_blank">Click here for link to my book's Facebook page</a> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">My heating system at home was ‘so old and
outdated’ according to gas engineers who came to service it that out of my £72
a week around £50 went on gas and electric. I went to bed in my coat and woolly
beanie. The council finally updated my heating system (which is fantastic and
much cheaper now) but in the process damaged carpets. I now have no carpets as
there was no budget to replace them or redecorate the plastering where the fire
used to be; minor inconvenience I know but these things all affect one’s
psychological wellbeing.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I often waited around the bin outside the local
chip shop to grab any throw-away food. Eventually the bin was removed and so a
source of food for me. Friends, again, gave me food, although often I would eat
only once or twice a week.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I had to walk the (roughly) eight-mile
round-trip to the Job Centre as I live in Kinghorn and it is in Kirkcaldy. I
was once asked to leave and stand outside the Job Centre as I was 20 minutes
early for ‘signing-on’. A month or so later I was given a verbal warning (and
told my benefits would be stopped) because I was 5 minutes late.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The cheap boots I got once cut my heels so
badly one day that I had to walk home barefoot.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">When my mum died she was to be buried on a
Tuesday whilst I was to ‘sign-on’ the next day. I asked if I could be excused
from coming in the day after my mum’s funeral. The request was refused as ‘the
funeral’s not on that day; it’s the day before’. With my phone on silent, but
vibrating furiously in my pocket, I watched my mum’s coffin disappear through
the crematorium’s stage curtain; it was Job Centre Plus reminding me I had to
come in tomorrow as I had been refused leave of absence and that if I didn’t
attend I would be sanctioned.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I was given a 13 week placement at a youth
club café as ‘work experience’ whilst I also did an HNC Counselling part-time.
I argued that I should be given ‘relevant’ work experience but was told if I
did not attend I would be sanctioned.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I contacted a local foodbank and was told I
lived in the ‘wrong’ postcode.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Throughout this whole sorry episode and for
over three years I managed to do 3 years of voluntary work one night a week
although I was ever careful as to who knew because I was often told at the Job
Centre that if I was doing voluntary work I was not ‘actively seeking work’ and
my benefits would cease.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">After at time, I felt suicidal, was unkempt,
isolationist, and could see no future. The Doctor diagnosed me ‘unfit for
work’. I was sent to ATOS who disagreed. I appealed. And after about a year on
reduced benefits my appeal was seen by three independent doctors and another
professional (can’t remember what her job was) and was told that I was indeed
unfit for work.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCT8hE9AYkKYOpoQyUsQHD8EAUOMMKSd96fxX7imNw-cz-bP0Z9_uzsGWdQaq56VNgDNOlMxBojCJqfsKnjdq6o40vuonJnQRc9RGE7fPhD724rGXZeEfaAD4v98e4YVyV2MNjdbQCnUI/s1600/IDS+Life+on+the+Dole.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCT8hE9AYkKYOpoQyUsQHD8EAUOMMKSd96fxX7imNw-cz-bP0Z9_uzsGWdQaq56VNgDNOlMxBojCJqfsKnjdq6o40vuonJnQRc9RGE7fPhD724rGXZeEfaAD4v98e4YVyV2MNjdbQCnUI/s320/IDS+Life+on+the+Dole.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">My
long-winded ramble is purely to show how one’s mental state is affected by
being unemployed even whilst truly wanting to be in work. And the thing is, my
treatment is virtually ‘nothing’ compared to the way many people are being
abused (not treated, for it is indeed abuse) on a daily basis.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I
also aim to demonstrate that, nowadays, egged on by a compliant Right-Wing
media, parts of society see those on benefits as sub-human and undeserving of
help. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">It
truly feels degrading and humiliating to be in such a position.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">And
people wonder why I get angry at politicians; why I abhor Westminster; and why
it saddens me that people will vote for a Party as evil as the Conservatives
and think that Labour (who brought in ATOS, remember) bear no responsibility
either.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggOJJGcTzkZ_blX6VaOY599PVbo9h3IMdSTAYYNcFvDpMaoqwj9Yl2eGJBMR5lMeovRCptNvU7I6nQ_bBtReX3XsdXe0HrCiFI1EvBSURu3IOXqwCbj58Rtgfauo9hbYVqX5rljfNbreE/s1600/Attacking+Disabled+Morgan+F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggOJJGcTzkZ_blX6VaOY599PVbo9h3IMdSTAYYNcFvDpMaoqwj9Yl2eGJBMR5lMeovRCptNvU7I6nQ_bBtReX3XsdXe0HrCiFI1EvBSURu3IOXqwCbj58Rtgfauo9hbYVqX5rljfNbreE/s320/Attacking+Disabled+Morgan+F.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">God
forbid anyone reading this ends up unemployed. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">It is the single most degrading
experience I have ever had.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723713771162081318noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841898474478695116.post-26972747385426833172015-05-08T09:53:00.002-07:002015-05-08T10:01:30.795-07:00'I'm alright, Jack', says England<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">So,
we have people on benefits dying due to Tory benefit cuts; we have the disabled
struggling to live &, again, many dying due to Tory cuts; we have over one
million people unable to afford to feed themselves & having to rely on
foodbanks; 1 in 4 children born into poverty; the rich getting immeasurably
richer with the poor getting poorer.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnFwWqI45d3sTU-h4QMYBO0TWzqn-S_tLHqD_k5-aEljR5-ehDpD-FqFXLsLKUJdSPqKHYWobLAyZWsHeaN2HcCp7wSic2ClK-w4HnR-6azHYjHIcJldZz3d4HvJujURn7lsrnRZ40Pvs/s1600/David+Clapson.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnFwWqI45d3sTU-h4QMYBO0TWzqn-S_tLHqD_k5-aEljR5-ehDpD-FqFXLsLKUJdSPqKHYWobLAyZWsHeaN2HcCp7wSic2ClK-w4HnR-6azHYjHIcJldZz3d4HvJujURn7lsrnRZ40Pvs/s640/David+Clapson.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">We
have an establishment committed to weapons of mass destruction with the Tories
looking to spend something like £120 Billion on renewing Trident.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">And with the General Election we, as a 'nation' have the chance to change things. </span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">So what happens?
England votes in the Tories. Better Together, eh? </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Better Together if you are comfortably off, can afford to live & don't have to worry about choosing whether you should have something to eat or put the heating on. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Bollocks
to the weak & vulnerable eh? 'I'm alright, Jack'. </span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLCaLNC_n_TPgODoZVUJgw5_GvuMoJEBKlu25QAoMDKhR-kUFae3MB79sSl50u8qfDVWL0eV7mIJTAYeJa8y2asFUJvCxWqjjOfOnlwNRUpYobKxw5W0BkI7smYkVMWH7dPvjQEGHweiI/s1600/Sheila+Benefits+Cut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLCaLNC_n_TPgODoZVUJgw5_GvuMoJEBKlu25QAoMDKhR-kUFae3MB79sSl50u8qfDVWL0eV7mIJTAYeJa8y2asFUJvCxWqjjOfOnlwNRUpYobKxw5W0BkI7smYkVMWH7dPvjQEGHweiI/s640/Sheila+Benefits+Cut.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I'm
disgusted. This is not the kind of country I want to live in; I have nothing in
common with people that will vote Tory with no regard for the weak and
vulnerable. Human beings are dying due to Tory ‘political’ decisions. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvQknxHRGNHFrBIRSU7FReeA3xny9fyp4Sz_Wb5i7XHk145-SdF1PSzS56mEwNuyOJjH9HESqUOqlaaiLOrL8VFroNPOWO1mNRW16Hxl-hmRuY7Q0VzO7IzFd56IAn41grqj83m9-zHHY/s1600/Mark+Wood.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvQknxHRGNHFrBIRSU7FReeA3xny9fyp4Sz_Wb5i7XHk145-SdF1PSzS56mEwNuyOJjH9HESqUOqlaaiLOrL8VFroNPOWO1mNRW16Hxl-hmRuY7Q0VzO7IzFd56IAn41grqj83m9-zHHY/s640/Mark+Wood.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Scotland
could've voted in all 59 MPs as Labour MPs & it wouldn't have made a jot of
difference to the outcome of the election. However, we did vote in 56 MPs that
will prioritise Scotland's needs & the needs of the weak & vulnerable
across the UK. We voted for an anti-austerity, anti-Trident, Pro-NHS Party that
believes that education should be free for all & based on individual talent
& ability; not the ability to afford it. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
SNP has provided millions of Pounds to mitigate the effects of the Westminster
imposed ‘Bedroom Tax’ (introduced by Labour to private landlords, extended by
the Tories). The SNP have also provided free prescriptions for all.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8wkqY-DqcezDAXZ9-X_vo3cIsh_q-hjNj1kQ_ocUbhv1c5D95GHgeRW6MUTskATp6GJU0-e6ZpsVmTqM0EecFH7lHXgbF0k7HdWaqf7hJTmVGaaOXE3FU-J9Q5K2Us16xgsNNo1V9d6k/s1600/Mandela+on+poverty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8wkqY-DqcezDAXZ9-X_vo3cIsh_q-hjNj1kQ_ocUbhv1c5D95GHgeRW6MUTskATp6GJU0-e6ZpsVmTqM0EecFH7lHXgbF0k7HdWaqf7hJTmVGaaOXE3FU-J9Q5K2Us16xgsNNo1V9d6k/s400/Mandela+on+poverty.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">And
yet, there are parts of Glasgow where male life expectancy is lower than the
Gaza Strip; parts where poverty levels are not far off 50%. Meanwhile, Westminster
politicians rake in obscene amounts of money via expenses & directorships
or advisor roles with big business. This, against a backdrop of many big businesses legally ‘avoiding’ paying
tax as their profits soar. It is truly obscene.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Scotland
needs to get out of this unholy 'Union' that champions the cause of the rich to
the detriment of the poor.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Today,
I am glad that Scotland has elected 56 Pro-Scotland MPs, however, a Tory
majority (however feeble) means that I have lost a little faith in humanity.
People have voted Tory. Think about that for a minute; a Party whose policies
have resulted in the deaths of many, many vulnerable people.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyFoP1W6wyt6wctLkKdX5dfzRKvcSxA2mq8TO49hpEsA9a70kqZh9XrZWb-ge87xGInRF6KbNfFd-9brA9J9EhPafjliLzKG2Tzc__I8IU1nSd3-1tLYCrk7IEFIPavMbx6HKjax8YPFc/s1600/Heart+Attack+After+Benefits+Stopped.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="537" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyFoP1W6wyt6wctLkKdX5dfzRKvcSxA2mq8TO49hpEsA9a70kqZh9XrZWb-ge87xGInRF6KbNfFd-9brA9J9EhPafjliLzKG2Tzc__I8IU1nSd3-1tLYCrk7IEFIPavMbx6HKjax8YPFc/s640/Heart+Attack+After+Benefits+Stopped.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I
am ashamed to be part of a society that can allow or endorse this.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">*** </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723713771162081318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841898474478695116.post-60502221794365391002015-02-20T05:41:00.001-08:002015-02-20T05:41:23.812-08:00Thatcher's Children Live & Kicking On Question Time<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I watched the 19<sup>th</sup>
February 2015 edition of Question Time on the BBC mouth literally agog.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I normally don’t
watch anything on the BBC; an institution proven by University study to be
biased against Scotland and in particular Scottish independence.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/john-robertson/bbc-bias-and-scots-referendum-new-report" target="_blank">Link to University report on BBC bias</a> </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">However, this
edition was to be broadcast from Stockton-on-Tees in the North East of England;
one of many working class areas to be ravaged by Thatcher.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The most left-wing
politician to be on the panel was Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister
and leader of the SNP. The SNP are marginally to the left of centre in
political terms.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.politicalcompass.org/uk2015" target="_blank">This link shows where the UK political parties fit in on the 'political compass' e.g. Right Wing, Left Wing, Authoritarian, Libertarian </a> </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">So, I sat with the
metaphorical ‘popcorn’ ready to watch the working class of the North East get
ripped in aboot them: </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Duncan Bannatyne self-confessed uneducated
successful businessman (ex-Tory supporter who switched to the so-called ‘Tory-Lite’
of Tony Blair) </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Michael Heseltine,’Lord’ and Tory dinosaur
who has been quoted in the past saying <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘I
keep telling my Tory colleagues: don't have any policies. A manifesto that has
policies alienates people. In 1979 the manifesto said nothing which was
brilliant.’</i> </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Norman Lamb, Minister for Care &
Support (No, seriously!) from the LibDems</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Caroline Flint, Labour’s Shadow Energy
Secretary</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">What I heard could
be summed up thus:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">18 to 21 year olds <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">should</i> have to work 30 hours a week for their £58 per week ‘benefits’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Nuclear weapons are just super-duper and
spending over £130 Billion over the next 30 years is a worthwhile idea.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Putin is bad (didn’t David Cameron phone
him to get him to speak out against Scottish Independence? – anyway, now he’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bad</i>).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Tax Avoidance is not as important an issue
as getting ‘lazy’ teens out of their beds and working for less than £2 an hour.
This apparently will mean that out of work youngsters will earn some
self-respect. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I’ll just say that again; getting 18-21 year olds (remember,
according to the Government’s own Office of National Statistics, 1.91 million
people officially unemployed, 9.1 million officially ‘economically inactive’
with only 740,000 vacancies) to work for less than £2 an hour, 30 hours a week
will ‘help them back into full-time work and give them self-respect’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">This, a more pressing issue for the Question Time
panelists and audience than Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion. What do you mean
HSBC scandal?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">SNP MPs being sent to Westminster in larger
numbers than the current six and possibly holding the balance of power – very,
VERY BAD. Better Together? ‘Don’t leave us Scotland!’ ‘We love you’, Now get
back in your fuckin box!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7EOOOuYIoI" target="_blank">Question Time link - 'Thanks for not leaving, now get back in your box'</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The biggest and
most disappointing and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">depressing</i></b> thing about the whole
show was the realisation that the media driven, right wing agenda of corporate
greed, ‘me first’, rich get richer/poor get poorer, demonisation of the poor,
unemployed, disabled and vulnerable really has become commonplace.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">That anyone thinks
spending billions of money on nuclear weapons should come before job creation,
the NHS or, frankly, anything else is beyond my ken. People are starving!
People are dying due to Government ‘workfare’ policy and benefit sanctions! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.bigissue.com/features/3637/atos-deaths-and-welfare-cuts" target="_blank">Government statistics indicate that between January 2011 and November 2011, 10,600 sick and disabled people died within six weeks of their benefit claim ending. Such was the furore about this figure, the DWP has stopped using Atos data to count the number of deaths.</a> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I truly despair at
what the UK has become; a country of selfish, right-wing pricks walking in the
footsteps of the evil Thatcher and doing so without the slightest comprehension
of what they are doing or the monsters they have become.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Time is running
out for Scotland; we have to save ourselves from too, becoming monsters.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Switching off the BBC would be a start. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">*** </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723713771162081318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841898474478695116.post-39987303713110911472015-02-15T08:06:00.000-08:002015-02-15T08:06:54.523-08:00Cameron Shouts 'Squirrel'<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Valentine’s Day
2015 – Sky News report that ‘David Cameron proposes that those refusing help on
obesity, drug addiction and alcoholism will risk losing up to £100 per week’.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"> Are you feeling the love yet?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Given that Job
Seeker’s Allowance is currently around £72 per week and Employment Support Allowance
is around £123 per week that’s some going.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The report claimed
that Cameron said that there were 100,000 people with ‘treatable’ issues. Could
this not be said of any mental or physical illness; that it is at the very
least ‘treatable’. Whether the circumstances are right for treatment, whether
the money is there for treatment or whether the right resources are there for
treatment is entirely a different issue.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Cameron’s ongoing demonization
of the poor, weak and vulnerable aided by a willing right-wing media and
carried out by the odious Iain Duncan-Smith is only to be expected by an
Establishment Party that fails in its duty to enforce almost any rules on the
rich. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">But let’s leave tax avoidance and tax evasion for another day.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRlky01dtiBinNVyQUqRZEREbrdfL89vjG91xzg3uz82E-PDmyTwfS4PaUWVkZpF-HtAEv_RSZRg3SO3NMu1ET3UqM9fdiEjhhJs2IuJJsvNoR6I_MkFpcokpsieNM_9MnqLb8uVmM1n0/s1600/Fat+People+On+Benefits.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRlky01dtiBinNVyQUqRZEREbrdfL89vjG91xzg3uz82E-PDmyTwfS4PaUWVkZpF-HtAEv_RSZRg3SO3NMu1ET3UqM9fdiEjhhJs2IuJJsvNoR6I_MkFpcokpsieNM_9MnqLb8uVmM1n0/s1600/Fat+People+On+Benefits.jpeg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The Westminster
Parties (Blue & Red Tory) are seemingly perfectly happy to have sick,
disabled (physical or mental) and vulnerable people die once they have been
wrongly assessed ‘fit for work’.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Benefit fraud
amounts to 0.7% of claims. But what of the fraudulent few? And what of those
who are sick now deemed (usually against own GP advice) fit to work?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">According to the
Government’s own Office For National Statistics (so figures should be taken
with a pinch of salt but it’s all we have to work with):</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Nov 2014 saw 9.09 million people NOT
seeking or available for work (the disgustingly sterile and dehumanising term
for this group is ‘economically inactive’) which is 41,000 more Year-on-Year. ‘Hey
folks! I’m not homeless, I’m economically inactive!’</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7oglIAdnJM" target="_blank">'Economically inactive' reminds me of this scene in the movie 'Falling Down'.</a></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Nov 2014 – 1.91 million unemployed</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Oct-Dec 2014 – 700,000 vacancies</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">So, according to
the Government’s OWN figures (which no doubt don’t count people on ‘workfare’or
sanctions and many of the other spiffing ways of excluding them from official
figures) there are not enough jobs to go around – 0.3 of a job for each person ‘unemployed’
(Number from 2. above) and 0.06 of a job each (Number from adding 1. & 2. Above).</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, you will be sanctioned/lose money if you
don’t find a job!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">This is what we’re
dealing with here people; an almost impossible task, and just how many of those
jobs are zero-contract, part-time, minimum wage, and the like?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Add to this the desire
to punish the addicted into work and you get an idea of the immorality of the
people in Government.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">According to magazine
Psychology Today in an article entitled ‘5 Myths about addiction that undermine
recovery’ the top two myths are:</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Addicts are bad people who deserve to be
punished.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Addiction is a choice.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/where-science-meets-the-steps/201305/5-myths-about-addiction-undermine-recovery" target="_blank">Link to Pyschology Today article</a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The UK Government conveniently
ignore these two facts and continue on their quest of demonization and dehumanization.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">More treatment
centres? Yes please. More money for organizations helping addicts recover that
actually recognise the disease of addiction? Yes please. More literature
helping people understand the condition? Yep. Addiction education for nurses
and Doctors? Aye. More healthcare professionals? Aye.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Can you see the
funds being released to achieve any of this? No.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Would the NHS cope
with its current underfunding? No.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Threatening people
into recovery? <b>Won’t work.</b></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723713771162081318noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841898474478695116.post-12059092969000672822015-01-22T23:52:00.000-08:002015-01-22T23:52:47.116-08:00Dehumanisation? Aye, Robot<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Here is a copy of an email I sent to Fife Council (Council of the Year 2014 - no, really) last year. </span><br /><br />
<br />
Dear Sir/Madam/Robot,<br /><br />I am writing to confirm receipt of your recent letter entitled 'Notification of Summary<br />
Warrant' dated 10 September 2014 which appears to have no reference number but<br />
does include the following identification codes: Involvement ID 794946,<br />
Account Number: 152207071, Holder ID 520643.<br /><br />This, I received from your FARS (Finance & Procurement Service) of an office.<br />
I notice your latest threat to me notes that due to being unable to pay regular payments<br />
of say, ten or twenty pounds you now want me to cough up the full £129.55 in one go.<br />
Interestingly, and somewhat bewilderingly, but due to some bureaucratic goobledygook<br />
(which obviously has the full backing of the Law via various 'Finance' Acts, Legalese,<br />
and the Sheriff Court etcetera, blah, blah) you have added a 'Statutory Penalty' of £12.96<br />
to the total of the bill which I have been struggling but attempting to pay. <br />
<br />
Obviously, this is 'just the way it is' or 'that's the rules Guv' and you can't do anything about<br />
that; robots have not the power of empathy which makes it all the easier to threaten people.<br />
<br />
This added bonus fine constitutes more than I have available weekly for food being<br />
unemployed but I guess that serves me right for being such a lazy, scrounging, parasite<br />
(Copyright - Daily Mail).<br />
You will notice I made a midnightesque-type payment as soon as my Unemployment Benefit<br />
money was paid into my Platinum American Express Millionaires Club Bank Account as the<br />
full moon waned on Sunday night/Monday morning.<br /><br />You will no doubt tell by the early time (well 11am is early for us doleys isn't it?)<br />
of this email that your letter not only informed me of the oncoming financial doom<br />
and possibility of Sheriff's Officers kicking my door in but has succeeded now in<br />
giving me sleepless nights.<br /><br />Once I have clicked 'send' on this email I shall Google 'Organ Prices' and get back to you<br />as soon as possible assuming my phone and internet don't get cut off in the meantime.<br />I would post a letter to you but often the new front door you installed doesn't unlock<br />
from the inside and I'm not sure I'll catch the post on time if I can't get out.<br />
Mind you, I could always jump out the window which I have considered before;<br />
however that is not such a good idea as I would probably go missing in the jungle<br />
of a 'lawn' outside. My Council Tax doesn't cover the council mowing the lawn like<br />
other properties because, as I'm told by your 'Canny Be Ersed Givin A Decent<br />
Explanation Department' 'We just dinnae do that'.<br /><br />I was thinking that I could perhaps get around £142.51 for a kidney which would<br />
cover this bill. My liver should be pretty good as I no longer drink although as you<br />
will appreciate I can't guarantee that given I have to deal with Fife Council.<br />
That would be next year's bill covered at the same time.<br /><br />I hope this email covers the section (Section 5: What will happen if I ignore this notice?)<br />
which details the following: Bank Arrestment (good idea - throw some of those bankers<br />
in the clink), Benefit Deduction (Hello? Blood/Stone), Earnings Arrestment (does this<br />
include my organs if sold?), Inhibition (the pyschological definition is apt isn't it?<br />
Try a dictionary), Sequestration (sorry I don't compete in any horsey sports),<br />
Four Horseman (already being visited by Famine thank you very much; <br />they're not as bad as they're made out really. Bad press and all that), and Sticks & Stones.<br /><br />Please be assured that now you have changed the online payment system from a bank<br />to Fife Council's own vaults I shall make another payment as soon as able to (as explained <br />before). However, full payment is unlikely at the moment as I'm getting a little old to<br />
sell my body sexually and organ sales sound like they could be a 'long' process<br />
(obviously not in the 'Fife Council' sense of the word) and a bit painful.<br /><br />In the meantime, I shall keep an eye out for the bruisers you are sending round (tell them<br />to bring their own coffee and milk, oh... and perhaps a few quid for the electricity meter).<br /><br /><br />Yours in humble deference,<br /><br />Number *********<br /><br />PS: My friends call me Geoff<br /><br />PPS: I'm told I should be on Tax Band A (not Band B) for a 1 bedroom flat <br />(do I get any Brownie points for that?)<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Perhaps unsurprisingly, I received an automated response (albeit, this was a courtesey one; the real one came about a week later).</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">The serious point to all this is that 'society' has reduced (customers, clients, tenants, the unemployed, disabled, etc) people to be 'numbers'; inconveniences that can be easily 'dealt with' by using answer machines dictating 'press one for...', 'press two for', or automated email responses.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> I even get phone calls from robots now. I mean, some organisations value my custom or potential custom<i> so much</i> that they have a computer phone me. And, when I don't get the message (because I refuse to listen to automated telephone calls) and eventually speak to a human they will say 'but we called you'.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> Of course, once you have reduced a human being to a number (the Nazis gave Jews an I.D. number as part of the dehumanising process remember) it becomes far easier to apply a sanction (if on benefits) that will stop a family from being able to buy food, gas or electricity, to threaten with a Court Order (if in debt) or make <i>any</i> negative decision that would perhaps not be made if face-to-face contact were in place or dehumanisation had not taken place. </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">It is hard to empathise with a 'number'; even harder if you are a robot..</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723713771162081318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841898474478695116.post-91359675425168916922014-10-12T07:59:00.002-07:002014-10-12T09:11:43.755-07:00When Is A Con Not A Con?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Answer: When it is
carried out by a politician.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">After the ‘No’
vote in the Scottish referendum there has been much talk of a rigged ballot
outcome; suspicious looking videos, eye-witness testimonies & other claims.
I do not intend to dwell on the legitimacy of any of these (although would not entirely dismiss them) but, for me,
there is another far more important ‘elephant in the room’.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">And frankly I am
staggered that no-one seems to have either noticed it or is talking about it. It
concerns democracy; it concerns trickery. Or, if you like to call a spade a
spade, it concerns lies and misinformation.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Please let me
start to explain my concerns by introducing a paragraph from Age Scotland (Age UK):</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Factsheet 102s,
Page 5/20 March 2014</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Section - Elder
Abuse, Point 2</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">‘Action on Elder Abuse uses the definition: a single
or repeated action, occurring within any relationship where there is an
expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to an older person’.</span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.ageuk.org.uk/documents/en-gb-sc/fact%20sheets/factsheet102selderabuse.pdf?dtrk=true" target="_blank">Age UK Factsheet</a></span> </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Indeed the scammers at the doorstep
and phone-calling conmen are taken very seriously by the Police and offenders can receive jail terms. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/200-arrested-in-conmen-crackdown.1400676290" target="_blank">Herald Article On Conmen Crackdown & Fears For Elderly</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">So, given that we
have a duty of care to our pensioners and laws to protect them I would like to
ask this: Why do politicians get away with ‘conning’ pensioners into voting a
particular way with downright lies or misinformation? I would suggest that
being able to vote is one of the precious rights of a ‘democracy’, perhaps THE
most important right. Our forefathers fought for the right to vote. And yet, many in Scotland voted 'No' because of a perceived threat to their pensions from a man with whom they had 'an expectation of trust'.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">So, I ask, when Gordon
Brown was talking to ‘invite only’ audiences of pensioners and told them their
pension was under threat if Scotland were to be independent was he not, too,
just tricking them in the same way as an uninvited ‘doorstepping conman’?</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim-w9H38d36-GLeicXqynn5NQhyphenhyphenReHhFSThKaQfOcN54LnlZmD5XI2G-SOkLC7vU6cjpeSM6MZAHCPF3EP9PG4wwKguJKHZIkZWR46OZ1-JzmrJHVcmq1G7ei9jCXkxPk5gNPrqx78qh8/s1600/Brown+Fist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim-w9H38d36-GLeicXqynn5NQhyphenhyphenReHhFSThKaQfOcN54LnlZmD5XI2G-SOkLC7vU6cjpeSM6MZAHCPF3EP9PG4wwKguJKHZIkZWR46OZ1-JzmrJHVcmq1G7ei9jCXkxPk5gNPrqx78qh8/s1600/Brown+Fist.jpg" height="320" width="241" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">'Vote No or your pensions get this'</span> </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">In the end around
73% of Scotland’s over 65s voted No – by far the largest sector of society to
do so – compared to the 71% of 16 and 17 year olds who voted Yes for their
future. It has been suggested, rightly in my view, that this sector of the voting population 'swung the vote in favour of the Better Together campaign.' Let me be clear pensioners are not to blame here, after all they believed they could trust Gordon Brown. I know people who told elderly relatives that their pensions would be safe but were unable to nullify what these elderly people had been told by the 'Better Together, the BBC & Gordon Brown'.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbO-xnjnfBR-VXCVQXdyvIPmuGdoIWQg_Fcnei37-LdTIZLBm6cXg2aVHVdclt9-E5jSJhETuFm9po-oP-C8B_h7mvpy8xVzS66rhb0nQpNvAIsGj5phgIvUPbY1jSWSOGTxexhyphenhyphenS-tjM/s1600/Pensions+Risk+BT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbO-xnjnfBR-VXCVQXdyvIPmuGdoIWQg_Fcnei37-LdTIZLBm6cXg2aVHVdclt9-E5jSJhETuFm9po-oP-C8B_h7mvpy8xVzS66rhb0nQpNvAIsGj5phgIvUPbY1jSWSOGTxexhyphenhyphenS-tjM/s1600/Pensions+Risk+BT.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"></span></div>
<br />
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">But they weren't.</span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">However, here’s what the UK
Government Minister for Pensions (Steve Webb) said to the Scottish Affairs Committee at
Westminster prior to the Referendum when asked if Scottish pensioners’ pensions
would not be adversely affected by independence:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">‘They have accumulated
rights into the UK system under the UK rules to a pension, at the age we would
have paid it to them, not at which the Scottish Government would.’</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6X1NbTcevrpMvkbRuJm-7v730j-Uijij-bo6m4Bpvxwi-turKlmgSN-Ufh7pAiXdFhVSEF_2vcfITejlnTulel57JgRqGVnuiodvysv_6obVrxTjPPkUDWRRb0gkPliinGPFNmj1h8UE/s1600/Webb+On+Pensions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6X1NbTcevrpMvkbRuJm-7v730j-Uijij-bo6m4Bpvxwi-turKlmgSN-Ufh7pAiXdFhVSEF_2vcfITejlnTulel57JgRqGVnuiodvysv_6obVrxTjPPkUDWRRb0gkPliinGPFNmj1h8UE/s1600/Webb+On+Pensions.jpg" height="320" width="249" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Indeed the website
Wings Over Scotland had an excellent article on the implications of pensions in
an independent Scotland.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://wingsoverscotland.com/the-pensioner-jackpot/" target="_blank">Wings Over Scotland - The Pensioner Jackpot</a></span> </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">What Mr Brown also 'forgot' to reveal is that in the 2012 Budget pension ages were increased meaning we all have to work longer anyway under Westminster rule.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRJWHM7yWQQrJECGrz0bDrjSddoyImw1XV1lHFbqO23oQ5OPoIf3DmELrjR9cUqSj-UA2EpkC3G3FK5xFVwCHITFKfd8yM9AM2CkNjFap5Z5lpRP8e0J8e9lPq-ypdWze37sUQvsDzAuk/s1600/Dail+Mail+2012+Budget.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRJWHM7yWQQrJECGrz0bDrjSddoyImw1XV1lHFbqO23oQ5OPoIf3DmELrjR9cUqSj-UA2EpkC3G3FK5xFVwCHITFKfd8yM9AM2CkNjFap5Z5lpRP8e0J8e9lPq-ypdWze37sUQvsDzAuk/s1600/Dail+Mail+2012+Budget.jpg" height="320" width="176" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">The Daily Mail (sorry) in 2012</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">We all tend to say 'you can't believe politicians' in a 'well, what can you do about it' sort of way, but lets face it this flies in the face of democracy. If you are unable to make a decision because facts are misrepresented or make a decision about your vote due to a twisting of the truth is this not a serious matter; a flaw in the system? Well, obviously yes it is. And that's how they (the Westminster politicians) want it and how they survive. Surely this is scandalous!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Yes Scotland won the argument which is why Better Together spoke mainly at closed meetings, constantly refused to debate in the village halls, kirks and community centres and used a compliant media to get their message out. That message was not a 'positive case for the Union'; there is none. We would have had it rammed down our throats had there been one.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The referendum was won by obfuscation, misinformation and scare stories. It was the only way it could be won; hide the truth and scare the electorate. Unfortunately, it worked. This time. But we can rely on these self-serving, duplicitous, Unionist politicians to fall on their own swords soon.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">As a wise man once told me 'at the end of the day there are only two things that come out; one is the moon, the other is the truth.'</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723713771162081318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841898474478695116.post-81728464641544626522014-09-20T00:27:00.000-07:002014-09-20T00:27:06.592-07:00Scotland Dies Of Old Age<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">19.09.2014 is a
date I will never forget; the date Scotland died. In fact, if truth be known it
is the date Scotland committed suicide. Fear won over hope as the mainstream
media gave full backing to the self-diagnosed Project Fear campaign of Better Together/No
Thanks.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvHH1K1lo3XE6mQIfGLrRUqPo2I2LH7pmvPsaEYGRl9rHin4BMe4PfDXJGLHrPiBy97lbNNVuX1zs2QXsq2rtCMQwblSJOks3gsMGcy26-LGcQvOn5YQXr01zEvsMDwFrJ6HA2mAnhxX4/s1600/Brown+Pensions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvHH1K1lo3XE6mQIfGLrRUqPo2I2LH7pmvPsaEYGRl9rHin4BMe4PfDXJGLHrPiBy97lbNNVuX1zs2QXsq2rtCMQwblSJOks3gsMGcy26-LGcQvOn5YQXr01zEvsMDwFrJ6HA2mAnhxX4/s1600/Brown+Pensions.jpg" height="235" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Brown's Pension Raid </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The despicable
Gordon Brown succeeded in scaring the elderly into voting ‘No’ by lying to them
that their pensions would be under threat (around 73% of Scotland’s over 65s
voted No – by far the largest sector of society to do so – compared to 71% of
16 and 17 year olds 71% of whom voted Yes for their future). Of course, they
never were under threat as it is the system that you have paid your pension
contributions to that has the responsibility to pay out. Hence, some pensioners
are able to retire in sunnier climes, for example, to Spain or Australia and
still be paid by the UK system they paid into. Incidentally, this is the same
Gordon Brown who, in 1997, raided our pension pots to the tune of £100
Billion-£150 Billion.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGDzHi3uRF6XsFywlqECqdep6VSZuzva2vF1aZmRbX9MJ1rhIXQpA0CvSVBSZKnLqJ2NQBUv_-rhKpUdqOWSWjkkvxg2fzTI80i3KDNdhQzdtC-WbERS5RTUI0ZsyOKG8eTAG8nSbIt1k/s1600/Who+voted+No.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGDzHi3uRF6XsFywlqECqdep6VSZuzva2vF1aZmRbX9MJ1rhIXQpA0CvSVBSZKnLqJ2NQBUv_-rhKpUdqOWSWjkkvxg2fzTI80i3KDNdhQzdtC-WbERS5RTUI0ZsyOKG8eTAG8nSbIt1k/s1600/Who+voted+No.jpg" height="209" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Voting Patterns By Age</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Robert Louis Stevenson
(1850-1894) once wrote that ‘to travel hopefully is a better thing than to
arrive’.* Well, we have arrived; we as a people (55% of us anyway) have decided
that it is not worth trying to change the fact that 1 in 5 (1 in 4 in some
areas) children in Scotland are born into poverty. The demonization of the poor
(incl working poor), the unemployed and the elderly, weak, infirm and disabled
will continue unabated. Hope lost. There is no hope once you know that this is
where your travels terminate.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdo5V5fO0b-01ByhyphenhyphenjfXncX0ZI3WzSr6FwsTjch7nmMB7jvDtHxBq65BOIkpT8THjunZvDWl3zTQev0Wb11bdRP6sqabFDXOs8nM7OKJkKkF4g7-XdWI-cFj_qV2aImxVBLnKVtPdG4b0/s1600/RLS+White+Shirt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdo5V5fO0b-01ByhyphenhyphenjfXncX0ZI3WzSr6FwsTjch7nmMB7jvDtHxBq65BOIkpT8THjunZvDWl3zTQev0Wb11bdRP6sqabFDXOs8nM7OKJkKkF4g7-XdWI-cFj_qV2aImxVBLnKVtPdG4b0/s1600/RLS+White+Shirt.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Robert Louis Stevenson </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Robert Louis
Stevenson was a giant. He was a giant of literature and a giant of humanity. He
was not a poor man, coming from the wealthy ‘Lighthouse Stevensons’ family,
however when he travelled to the States he did so describing events in steerage
along with the poor, sick and stowaways. He was keen to find out how others
lived and in this case the ‘other half’. Imagine the rich or a politician doing
that today?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Today we live in a
Post-Thatcher era where greed is good and an attitude of ‘I’m alright Jack’
prevails. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">1.6 million
‘Scots’ voted for independence; these are the people who would not be cowed by
fear. They became self-educated spurning the newspapers and media of the rich
and rebelling against the State run BBC. The internet played a huge part in this
education and whilst some people moaned about not being given ‘enough
information’ these trailblazers trawled through sites like Wings Over Scotland,
Newsnet Scotland, Wee Ginger Dug, Bella Caledonia, National Collective,
Business For Scotland, Craig Murray and dozens more. Each site in its own
special way exposed the lies in a way that shamed ‘real’ journalists. Facts,
figures, statistics, links, and comparisons detailed a system desperate and
prepared to maintain a dysfunctional Union. But despite these courageous and
informative sites it wasn’t enough; for some the truth hurts and it is much
easier to continue life awkwardly rather than seek and face the truth which
deep down you know will challenge your core beliefs.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">So, the UK
Government’s legal advice (see previous post) that Scotland ceased to exist in
1707 and was subsumed into an enlarged or renamed England although erroneous
has been given validation in 2014. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The proud country
of Scotland ceased to exist this day. 1.6 million people will mourn and over 2
million won’t even know what they have done. The biggest irony of all is that it was the fear of the
majority of our pensioners that have crushed the hopes of our young.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US">*Travels With A
Donkey In The Cévennes (1887)</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723713771162081318noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841898474478695116.post-86748426560363878232014-08-25T07:16:00.002-07:002014-08-25T07:16:38.221-07:00A Swift Journey To Yes, But A Long Wait<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I
said to someone recently that I had wanted independence for Scotland since I
was an eleven year old. He was bemused to say the least. Let me explain.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Perhaps
I was being over-dramatic saying I ‘wanted independence’ but I definitely
became aware of the imbalance of the Union from a child’s point of view.
Sometimes the simple perspective of a child can help even an adult see the wood
from the trees.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I
was a wee Hearts fan (I liked the name) in 1976 and for the first time in, like
forever ‘my’ team were to contest a Cup Final.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">So,
after counting the days down to the 1<sup>st</sup> May 1976 I was like a kid in
a sweet shop. My team was to be the star of the day; I discounted the fact we
were up against Rangers; being in the Final and getting mentioned on the News
was enough for me.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">So,
I sat with my football-hating mum to see and hear about my team getting to the
Final. However, the BBC News that day featured Manchester United v Southampton
in the FA Cup Final. The Scottish Cup Final didn’t get a mention (Why is it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the </i>FA Cup & not the English FA Cup
anyway? I guess because the tournament in England is two years older.)</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I
was distraught. My mum assured me that Hearts would get mentioned on the local
News after the national News. ‘But this is the “B” BC News. We’re part of Britain
just as much as England,’ I said. I could see my mum (who was English) struggle
with the simplistic view. ‘Why should the Scottish Cup Final be on local news?
The English Cup Final will be on their local news too so how come our Final isn’t
on the national news?’</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">‘Ok,’
my mum relented, ‘you have a point. So why don’t you write to the BBC and tell
them…and you can offer to be their Scottish Football reporter.’ I don’t know if
she said it tongue in cheek or not but write to the BBC I did. I got no
response.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"> Later
that year something else struck me. ‘How come when we’re on our school summer
holidays we don’t get good telly programmes but when they (I called English
schoolkids <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">they</i> – perhaps the first
recognition of a ‘difference’) are on holiday and we’re still at school they
get all the good cartoons and stuff all day?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Then
in 1979 there was a devolution referendum and a majority of Scots voted ‘Yes’
to devolution. But, Westminster imposed a 40% rule which meant 40% of the registered
electorate had to be achieved by Yes for it to count; this meant that anyone on
the voters roll who did not vote or had even died but was still on the roll
would be counted as a ‘No’. Thus, the majority ‘Yes’ vote was defeated.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Thatcher;
need I say more?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Jobs
became scarce in Scotland and I moved to England for work. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
‘differences’ became more pronounced. I had Scottish Pound notes refused in
shops in England and questioned or refused abroad. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I lived in England and could
not read in the ‘national’ newspapers about Celtic or Rangers competing in
Europe. I could tell you who the English cricket team captain was but not the
Scotland football team captain. I rarely saw Scotland games on television.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">At
work I was allowed time off to watch England World Cup or European Championship
games but not any time off to watch Scotland games (that’s even if I could find
anywhere that was showing them – I drove from Oxfordshire and the West Midlands
to Moffat on a few occasions to watch games). </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I
watched the national news interview David Cameron when Tony Blair stepped down
and the conversation veer into ‘too many Scots in Government already’ as Gordon
Brown was mooted as next Prime Minister. I imagined the furore if ‘Scots’ was
substituted with ‘Asians’, ‘Blacks’, or ‘Pakistanis’.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I
could buy a French newspaper in WH Smith: a German one, Polish, Asian Eye, newspapers
for Africans, Caribbeans, Americans, Canadians, various Italian newspapers and
even papers in Urdhu or Hindi. I couldn’t buy a Scottish one and The Sun,
Telegraph, Daily Mail never reported any Scottish related news (well apart from
a swan in Anstruther that was suspected of having bird flu); they regularly ran
‘whinging Scots’ and ‘Let them eat haggis’-type stories. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">'National Newspaper Cartoon' </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">My
Black Country-born English wife started out claiming I had a huge chip on my
shoulder but eventually became more infuriated about my ‘perceived injustices’
than I did. She even joined me on a trip to see Scotland play France in Paris
(we lost 5-0) and loved the atmosphere. She didn’t like the anti-English chants
however. But not long after we went to a pub in High Wycombe to watch an
England/Scotland rugby game on the big screen; she begged me to leave such was
the anti-Scottish venom. All that proves is there are good people and bad
everywhere.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I
would sometimes, in a haze of drink and kilted up, head to the Lozells Inn on
Lozells Road (scene of the famous riots of Lozells/Handsworth in 1985 where two men were left dead
and a police officer shot and wounded) in Birmingham and laugh and joke with
the Jamaicans that I was more foreign than them. They agreed. However, I could
play ‘their’ style of dominoes and not the local ‘five and threes’ style. I was
constantly warned not to go to such a dangerous place at night but I was only
ever welcomed with big smiles; perhaps I was looked at as a novelty?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/how-black-gold-was-hijacked-north-sea-oil-and-the-betrayal-of-scotland-518697.html" target="_blank">Then I learned about the McCrone Report which had been hidden for 30 years, Click Here.</a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">My
point is that I have never seen the ‘Union’ as being an equal partnership and I
have never seen my desire for Scottish independence as Anti-English. On the
contrary, I always felt that many Scots used the power of Westminster as a
convenient excuse to blame England for all our woes. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Now we can say YES and
start taking responsibility for ourselves.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span>---</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723713771162081318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841898474478695116.post-38541912183599111562014-07-29T10:23:00.001-07:002014-07-29T10:23:47.069-07:00The Gaming Kid<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I’ll
be 50 years auld this year and some people find it weird that I still love
playing ‘video games’. Hooked on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Space
Invaders*</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Defender*</i>, to name
but two, as a kid I was barely out of the amusement arcades in my home town of
Burntisland in Fife. I remember a fantastic <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">KISS*</i></b> pinball machine
from those days too. I never pumped my pocket money or wages (from paper round
or being the delivery boy for the local butchers) into slot machines. No, it
was the video games I loved. And there were a few I was bloody good at too!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Many
years later I got a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SEGA Megadrive* </b>&
continued gaming; although admittedly alcohol (& to a lesser extent, drugs)
were taking more prominence in my life.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Eventually,
after coming out of a decades-long haze of alcohol and drug abuse I met someone
who had a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Playstation* </b>who showed me
a game called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Call of Duty* – World At
War</i>. That was it. I was hooked again. I had never seen anything like it;
the graphics, the gameplay. Everything about it was ‘awesome’ as the kids used
to say. I got an <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">X Box*</b> and now have
an <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">X Box One*</b>. I’ve been through
different gamertags too incl. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">scotsgeoff</i>
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dr Jekyll</i> before finally settling
on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Auld
Scotsman</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOznRzluayQ4DGLv4iD1yZiJwVHvm3rxig3iNUqFIIBogIKOQK9x-kRiZPPPoK9DceRqphzcggTUfpWF_BOKKgCvVqFimyMf9kquUuomeZdMZ_RoJucpzaUl5UP2hpr7CXZKtpT9VVNKs/s1600/reddeadredemption_shadowwolf_1024x768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOznRzluayQ4DGLv4iD1yZiJwVHvm3rxig3iNUqFIIBogIKOQK9x-kRiZPPPoK9DceRqphzcggTUfpWF_BOKKgCvVqFimyMf9kquUuomeZdMZ_RoJucpzaUl5UP2hpr7CXZKtpT9VVNKs/s1600/reddeadredemption_shadowwolf_1024x768.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I
love being able to run around online pwning (gaming speak for ‘owning’) other
players (admittedly that doesn’t happen very often unless it’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Titanfall*</i>) but you get the point.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">For
me it is fun; a game. I want to ‘socialise’ with people from other countries –
the USA, Canada, Germany, France, Brazil. Wherever. And I certainly can’t
afford to go there so it’s the next best thing in some ways. How cool is it to
be sitting playing a game live online and be chatting to someone from Texas at
the same time! It’s no <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Space Invaders*</i>!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s451ACj9SDk" target="_blank">Click here for Auld Scotsman's montage of Sniper Elite III kills</a> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK67IPduSVhiYons9FDPciHkhxlZ5R4Cunsv6B_W-5zwA0CdWv0-SIGrtMfPyPVyhzpWl5-Tvy6f4rmHFwC-FNC_o401uwnHLsaipMRGPHeLcuKYl3PGE0sqxczl1dJyWaNxX_pzgIaeY/s1600/SE3+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK67IPduSVhiYons9FDPciHkhxlZ5R4Cunsv6B_W-5zwA0CdWv0-SIGrtMfPyPVyhzpWl5-Tvy6f4rmHFwC-FNC_o401uwnHLsaipMRGPHeLcuKYl3PGE0sqxczl1dJyWaNxX_pzgIaeY/s1600/SE3+a.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I
was blown away by the graphics too, the ‘gaming community’ and camaraderie, shocked
at how serious some people take it all and how they can lose their temper and
end up cussing to high heaven; but most of all I love the competitive aspect.
And now, as you’ve seen you can publish your own clips.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I’m
not really one for Campaign modes; I never finished any of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">COD*</i> ones and didn’t even start some of
them. It’s multiplayer for me!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">My
favourite titles/franchises are (currently, lol) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Read Dead Redemption*</i> (still no new one announced for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">X Box One*</b> – Hurry up <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rockstar
Games*</i></b>!), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Titanfall*</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sniper Elite III*</i></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Rebellion*</span></i></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"> that make
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sniper Elite III*</i> are based in
England (in Oxfordshire) so all the more reason to be supporting them but there
is no extra reason needed as the game is excellent. And believe me I ‘hate’
snipers in games; generally I’m rubbish at it too. This game is different. It,
for me, is a ‘must buy’ which I never thought I would say. I didn’t like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sniper Elite II*</i> or whatever it was
called. Played about 5 minutes or so and I just didn’t like it. So I wasn’t
even interested or keeping an eye out for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sniper
Elite III*. </i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.sniperelite3.com/en" target="_blank">Sniper Elite III Homepage - One of my 'must have' games</a> </i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">I
just happened upon some <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">YouTube*</i></b> clips of it; trailers,
campaign gameplay and multiplayer gameplay and became quite impressed. So after
trading some stuff in I got it. And I haven’t stopped playing since.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">My
name is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Auld Scotsman</i></b> and I’m a big kid and proud gamer.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2Hw9R_Rs6A" target="_blank">Click here to be blown away by Sniper Elite III clip</a></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt;">All names marked * are Copyright or Trademarks of the
respective owners </span></i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723713771162081318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841898474478695116.post-20406684906542795782014-05-15T09:00:00.000-07:002014-07-29T17:09:02.659-07:00Does Scotland Exist?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">On the 18<sup>th</sup>
September 2014 there is a referendum in Scotland where people will be asked to
tick a box (Yes or No) to the question ‘Should Scotland be an independent
country?’</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">Currently,
however, the media has become obsessed with the European Union, the Euro, the
Pound, being ‘British’, passport controls and borders, immigration, businesses
leaving en-masse, the SNP and Alex Salmond.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">One
question that hasn’t been discussed and one that really should be posed before
asking if Scotland should be independent is ‘Is Scotland a country?’ Yes or No.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">I ask
this because the way one thinks about Scotland itself is integral to how one
might vote. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">Do you
think Scotland is just a region of the UK in the same way Yorkshire is?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">Do you
think Scotland is a country in the same way France is?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">According
to the UK Government’s own legal advice (published 11<sup>th</sup> Feb 2013) Scotland
doesn’t exist anyway so perhaps it’s all moot. What? I hear you say. Doesn’t
exist?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-weight: normal;">Point 35 of the document
says ‘</span><i><span lang="EN-US">as a matter of international law England
continued, albeit under a new name and regardless of the position in domestic
law, and was simply enlarged to incorporate Scotland</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US">.</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-style: normal;">’</span></i></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-weight: normal;">Point 37:</span><i><span lang="EN-US"> </span></i></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-weight: normal;">‘</span><i><span lang="EN-US">it is not necessary to decide between these two views of the union
of 1707. Whether or not England was also extinguished by the union, Scotland
certainly was extinguished as a matter of international law</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US">, <b>by merger either into an
enlarged and renamed England or into an entirely new state.</b></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-style: normal;">’</span></i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://wingsoverscotland.com/the-clean-slate/" target="_blank">Click Here for link to Wings Over Scotland and more information</a> </span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">Now, I’m
sure many people will be shocked to read this and may even struggle to believe
that it is actually true. After all they never saw it on TV News reports or
splashed across all the newspapers at the time. Well, they would be right; it
was neither reported on television nor featured in newspapers. But why? Perhaps
it is because the mainstream media are almost exclusively pro-Union and this is
the type of revelation that needs hiding (not in the McCrone Report sense; that
was the Government that secreted it away) but in a way that the public just don’t
know about it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/how-black-gold-was-hijacked-north-sea-oil-and-the-betrayal-of-scotland-518697.html" target="_blank">Link to The Independent newspaper report in 2005 of the McCrone Report</a> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">How many
people would just accept being told that their country no longer existed in
international law?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">So back
to my question. Is Scotland a country? If you think it is not and it is
therefore just a ‘region’ of Britain or the UK (or indeed England) then the box
you would tick would be No.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">If you
think it is a country then the box to tick on this question would be Yes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4QHIRCkcuz145gULLT95CWGNnw4lQZUEjNi-pfLDdo8fl2Sxb8Tb8k_nc40oStpUHm9_KOz-BunOx2FJMydjWkEdbKDwYFdxe8H9duonTt3tD80-Rn08qF_Q6UKWwLmOeUFegEt5m80/s1600/Ballot+Paper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4QHIRCkcuz145gULLT95CWGNnw4lQZUEjNi-pfLDdo8fl2Sxb8Tb8k_nc40oStpUHm9_KOz-BunOx2FJMydjWkEdbKDwYFdxe8H9duonTt3tD80-Rn08qF_Q6UKWwLmOeUFegEt5m80/s1600/Ballot+Paper.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">This
makes the independence question on the 18<sup>th</sup> September 2014 a little
easier; if you think Scotland is not a country then ‘No’ it shouldn’t be an
independent one should it?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">However,
if you think Scotland IS a country (and hasn’t been extinguished as per the UK
Government legal advice) then the answer <i>should</i>
be easier to answer. <i>Should.</i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">However,
some people will say it is a country, that they are Proud Scots, but they
believe another country (i.e. England, or Britain if you prefer) should remain
the source of decision making (Westminster). What other country on the planet
has a people that believes that they themselves are not capable of running
their own affairs? Can you imagine France voting to have all their decisions
made for them by Germany? And their parliament moved to Berlin?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">Would
Norway happily have all their decisions made for them in Stockholm, Sweden’s
capital?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">Indeed,
can you imagine people in England agreeing to have government moved to Holyrood
in Edinburgh and all decisions made there?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">Because,
surely if you think your country is a country then the default system is sovereign
independence. Sovereignty: the authority of a state to govern itself; a
self-governing state.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaHf-n5W0WbfZFFLgtBgaZ7CjhWFlXoEfOthtrmxN39jRuAVzWeMc5Yom5X65wmIdCNuhUgt-18c7nynqgG6_QsjSNgeIFdKZO4GL9BlwB0zYT2BJJINwxe-R930fap2xhWq1-DQyFH8g/s1600/Kwame-Nkrumah-Quotes-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaHf-n5W0WbfZFFLgtBgaZ7CjhWFlXoEfOthtrmxN39jRuAVzWeMc5Yom5X65wmIdCNuhUgt-18c7nynqgG6_QsjSNgeIFdKZO4GL9BlwB0zYT2BJJINwxe-R930fap2xhWq1-DQyFH8g/s1600/Kwame-Nkrumah-Quotes-5.jpg" height="148" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">But then
again perhaps you agree that Scotland really was extinguished by the Act of
Union.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">- - - </span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723713771162081318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841898474478695116.post-36875315253382066462014-05-06T05:37:00.000-07:002014-07-29T17:13:29.091-07:00A Caledonian Texas<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">I had the immense pleasure
of visiting Texas in 2009. I stayed in Round Rock near Austin the State Capital
and had a couple of weeks exploring the area taking in Georgetown, Waco (in
particular the excellent wee Zoo there) and had a wee jaunt down to San Antonio
which is famed for The Alamo.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">What I found was incredibly
friendly people proud of their Texan heritage and streets that seemed
impervious to litter. I have always experienced a warm welcome when visiting
the USA but one thing I didn’t expect on this trip was the wealth and depth of
Scottish influence within the State.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Lone Star State </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">I will only be
able to scrape the surface here but some of the main facts I found had me
surprised I never knew about it; perhaps schools in Scotland should be looking
at informing pupils of more of the Scottish influences and contributions
worldwide.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">Austin is the
State Capital, named after Steven F Austin (1793 – 1836) who on receiving a
grant, originally given to his father, was able to bring 300 colonists to
Texas. Over 40% of those original colonists were Scots.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">The State Capitol
building in Austin was financed by ten men from Scotland. Incidentally, I love
the fact that given ‘everything in Texas is bigger and better’ the State
Capitol building was built to be bigger than the national one in Washington DC.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbxHhyphenhyphenEBKIsWGFvsf4PXsRZ2_qYIiC8LrKmUL4wrAPDO5ckb_x95rPuUAYaSPPIL_5tMakbDv6_Kk084FztRqOsfxwte3d7aM3-LQKQrHOE04NJzFPDfkZKjQCT73i3kbpxOlHVdWYK7E/s1600/Sam+Houston.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbxHhyphenhyphenEBKIsWGFvsf4PXsRZ2_qYIiC8LrKmUL4wrAPDO5ckb_x95rPuUAYaSPPIL_5tMakbDv6_Kk084FztRqOsfxwte3d7aM3-LQKQrHOE04NJzFPDfkZKjQCT73i3kbpxOlHVdWYK7E/s1600/Sam+Houston.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sam Houston </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">Sam Houston (1793 –
1886) an Ulster Scot led the call for Texan autonomy from Mexico and set about
recruiting a force to support it.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">His ancestry is
said to go back to Houston, Renfrewshire.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;"> In December 1835 a group of Houston’s
volunteers took the Southern Texas town of San Antonio. They set up at a former
mission called the Alamo. When in March 1836 Texas declared independence
Houston was commander of the armed forces. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">The Mexican
response was to send an army to besiege the Alamo. We know that there were 189
defenders and that almost one-third of those were Scots or of Scots heritage
including Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie (of the Bowie knife fame), Richard W
Ballantyne, Isaac Robertson, David L Wilson, and John McGregor (who played the
bagpipes during the attack). Reports on the strength of the Mexican army can
vary but is generally believed it was around 3,000 strong; after 4 days with
the defenders wiped out 1,400 Mexicans were left.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitPayuXlDBM1HoBR9FbFHfMVDfyYjri03xfuvAsWU48e642IXO-D8zOrZrUSMeAoYixZjq66lFaxWDDdD3u71FmB9-swJgZ8vCrtecwNAvOc2-2ve3m4TJ0w2siMmLDoRWPFENh8TANss/s1600/Alamo+TX+March+09.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitPayuXlDBM1HoBR9FbFHfMVDfyYjri03xfuvAsWU48e642IXO-D8zOrZrUSMeAoYixZjq66lFaxWDDdD3u71FmB9-swJgZ8vCrtecwNAvOc2-2ve3m4TJ0w2siMmLDoRWPFENh8TANss/s1600/Alamo+TX+March+09.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Gratuitous pic of me at the Alamo - it was too busy to get in so </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">at least I have an excuse to go back (as if I would ever need one)</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">Further
Scottish/Texan connections include:</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">The oldest signatory of the Texas Declaration
of Independence was Collin McKinney of Scottish descent. The county of Collin
and town of McKinney are named after him.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">There are 254 counties in Texas – more than
100 have Scottish connections with almost 40 towns having an affinity with
Scotland including Dallas, Elgin, Edinburg, Highlands, Houston and Gordon.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">Aberdeen Angus cattle were first exported
to Texas in 1883.</span></li>
</ul>
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<ul><span style="font-size: large;">
</span>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">The Texas Land & Cattle Company has its
origins in Dundee.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">The famous Chisholm Trail is attributed to
Jesse Chisholm (part Scot/Cherokee). His grandfather, John Chisholm, arrived in
Texas from Scotland in 1777; his son married the daughter of a Cherokee chief.</span></span></li>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></ul>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">The Scottish Society of Texas was formed in
1963 representing 50 clans in Texas.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<ul>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">Texas Bluebonnet Tartan was recognized as
the official State Tartan in 1989 – the bluebonnet is the State flower.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<ul><span style="font-size: large;">
</span>
<li><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">The Texan colloquialism Y’all is said to
evolve from Scots Gaelic ‘sibh vile’ (se’vall) which means ‘you all’</span></li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUy3wf-wCBD0KjXBRH-biqDBYSw-GA6c6xW5bUPt6JTRCHXsamUo2PPk21AtGB2BxVEsSZwAo36O0hOyWeoU0OrBa82p67KBpIZ6cWmDqAdzWfUYVVbl4txYu_iwYyN_CmDCOiaf-dIss/s1600/The-State-Tartan-of-Texas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUy3wf-wCBD0KjXBRH-biqDBYSw-GA6c6xW5bUPt6JTRCHXsamUo2PPk21AtGB2BxVEsSZwAo36O0hOyWeoU0OrBa82p67KBpIZ6cWmDqAdzWfUYVVbl4txYu_iwYyN_CmDCOiaf-dIss/s1600/The-State-Tartan-of-Texas.jpg" height="320" width="292" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">This blog post can
simply not do justice to the connections between Texas and Scotland but there
are a surprising amount of websites to visit for much more information. Better
yet, go visit!</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.discoveramerica.com/usa/states/texas.aspx" target="_blank">Click here for link to Discover America's Texas section</a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16.0pt;">----- </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723713771162081318noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841898474478695116.post-65726717437724013592014-03-28T03:37:00.000-07:002017-01-16T04:35:20.288-08:00Threats and the Treaty (Act) of Union<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">The Treaty of Union (mistakingly called 'Act') in 1707 between England and Scotland is often summed up quoting Robert Burns: 'Bought and sold for English gold'. The reference here being the lands in England that were awarded to Scottish noblemen who were signatories to the 'deal'.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US">However, it is less commonly known that the 'bribes' were only the <i>icing on the
cake</i>. There were far more serious threats both financial and military which the nobles could no doubt not ignore.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1F7Pmm2NLO7NEwmJNY15lkrEUTnJWMUhVeQEGs0QNX6E5qR88bzNpVykDuGG_0VmnGxLk9lrS7VPJiPOJ59oTV6764m4X42U2OiXJz9d8AXBBNPz7z7mbF_Sqjg8BZKMnC5z9kyKdsLM/s1600/Treaty+of+Union+Document.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1F7Pmm2NLO7NEwmJNY15lkrEUTnJWMUhVeQEGs0QNX6E5qR88bzNpVykDuGG_0VmnGxLk9lrS7VPJiPOJ59oTV6764m4X42U2OiXJz9d8AXBBNPz7z7mbF_Sqjg8BZKMnC5z9kyKdsLM/s1600/Treaty+of+Union+Document.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
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<span lang="EN-US">The <b>English Aliens Act </b>stated that unless
that Crown of Scotland had been settled in the same manner as England by 25th
December 1705, from that date all Scots would be treated as aliens in England &
incapable of inheriting property. From that date no cattle, sheep, coal or linen
(i.e.Scotland's main exports) would be imported into England. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">(<i>Union of 1707 Why and How,
Henderson-Scott</i>)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Letter from Godolphin to Seafield (17th July
1703) -</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">"England is now at war with France; if
Scotland were at peace, and</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">consequently at liberty to trade with
France, would not that immediately</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US">necessitate a war betwixt England &
Scotland also, as has often been the case </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US">before the two nations were under the same
sovereign?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US">And though perhaps some turbulent spirits
in Scotland may be desiring to</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US">have it so again, if they please to consult
history the will not find the advantage</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US">of these breaches has often been on the
side of Scotland; and if they will give</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US">themselves leave to consider how much
England has increased in wealth & power</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">since those times, perhaps the present
conjuncture will not appear more </span></div>
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rather furnish arguments for enforcing</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">the necessity of a speedy union between the
two nations; which is a notion that</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I find has so little prevalency in the
present parliament of Scotland.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">And I hope your Lordship will not be
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<span lang="EN-US">Also TB Smith (1962) -</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">"The Scottish commissioners in 1706
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<span lang="EN-US">implied threat if negotiations failed, of
invasion by one of the great captains</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">of history (Marlborough) at the head of a
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<span lang="EN-US">There are other examples, but although the 'bought and sold' quote is certainly true the underlying threats of sanctions and
invasion must have had more of an impact on those who were in <i><b>positions of
</b><b>power</b></i> in Scotland. Estimates of the percentage of the Scottish population against the 'Union' vary from the low 90s to around 98%.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723713771162081318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841898474478695116.post-37469838597577286842013-08-27T10:05:00.001-07:002013-08-27T10:05:21.340-07:00Communication Breakdown<div style="text-align: center;">
At the risk of sounding like 'an auld fart' I would like to talk about the lack of communication these days especially given the range we have to choose from:</div>
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texting, mobile (cell) phones, landlines, twitter, facebook, email, letters (remember them?), </div>
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to name but seven.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2vD9upYxl9llXq8uK-g0bSAxWr-qH_rt4rPjgc4rDk9VyAioRwgmfKKz3QbWjrZwxbWUEjFppLTWkCpQMZkuP3Y0-o99l23XSG2nZYOf0ctwzdG1L1v4AkL1epioMQr1-NQIQYXhwOsM/s1600/Old+Phone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2vD9upYxl9llXq8uK-g0bSAxWr-qH_rt4rPjgc4rDk9VyAioRwgmfKKz3QbWjrZwxbWUEjFppLTWkCpQMZkuP3Y0-o99l23XSG2nZYOf0ctwzdG1L1v4AkL1epioMQr1-NQIQYXhwOsM/s1600/Old+Phone.jpg" /></a></div>
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Earlier this year I was interviewed for a post with the <b>Scottish Drug Forum</b>.</div>
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I asked for, and was reassured that if I was unsuccessful I would get feedback.</div>
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Long story short; I ended up emailing a few times and phoning on <i><b>eight</b></i> separate occasions, all to no joy.</div>
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The way I look at it however, is that I<i> 'dodged a bullet'</i> there; I mean would you want to work for an organisation where the HR Department was as incompetent as this? </div>
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Nowadays my experience has been that unsuccessful applications for jobs are <i>routinely ignored,</i> not even a 'thanks but no thanks'.</div>
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At least when I was younger receiving the mail (that was the stuff that came in paper form and stuffed through a letterbox) and opening the letter only to read I was unsuccessful at least had an element of excitement in it just before the disappointment.</div>
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For some reason, these rejection letters became known as 'Dear John' letters.</div>
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"Did you hear about that job you applied for?" "Aye, ah got a Dear John." </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcobX3baYdqL4H4_osIueey-7f4s7xG0BDnhQdpjIAKK_iFBxzgFGgXEBUjcTvy4qyPRu_4O_DKwkxNZtNx59a4_fpriLoi7roN0UTGGHR-os4k8zmbsYGoBTMRPOlVUd1lldKWkQmDt4/s1600/Shop+Local.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcobX3baYdqL4H4_osIueey-7f4s7xG0BDnhQdpjIAKK_iFBxzgFGgXEBUjcTvy4qyPRu_4O_DKwkxNZtNx59a4_fpriLoi7roN0UTGGHR-os4k8zmbsYGoBTMRPOlVUd1lldKWkQmDt4/s1600/Shop+Local.jpg" /></a></div>
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Being the type of person that would rather shop locally, would rather give my money to</div>
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the 'wee man' rather than the big corporation I searched the internet for independent bookshops.</div>
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I found very few in Scotland. I did, however, email eight shops introducing myself, asking whether they would be interested in my book and explaining that I could supply marketing materials too.</div>
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I did not receive a single reply. I now have little guilt when walking through the doors of a </div>
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Waterstone's.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgommbE4iayzmSbrRUNXh4-mzXF0WqONppgOMONbw4QsP7AIC52dmdxRNmToBQzIkJbdREYlasiRaFg2w5RNwU7s2mx6ZC_-VJ6j-dgYZQ8PK1xz64G1wxFF79HStMTiswwdNF0iXhBvT8/s1600/1st+Book+Award.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgommbE4iayzmSbrRUNXh4-mzXF0WqONppgOMONbw4QsP7AIC52dmdxRNmToBQzIkJbdREYlasiRaFg2w5RNwU7s2mx6ZC_-VJ6j-dgYZQ8PK1xz64G1wxFF79HStMTiswwdNF0iXhBvT8/s1600/1st+Book+Award.jpg" /></a></div>
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I entered<i><b> 'Death of a King' </b></i>for the New York Book Festival and duly paid the fee; I sent off</div>
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my book and yet, nothing. I don't know if the book was received and emailing seems a waste </div>
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of time. I know not if the 'Festival' even took place. I even asked the question of some Americans </div>
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on a Google+ Community; not a single reply; and these were contemporaries: aspiring authors.</div>
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Mental note to self* <i>never pay to have a book entered into a book festival!</i></div>
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So, onto the Edinburgh Book Festival. I filled in the form online, I posted my book for entry</div>
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for the Anobii First Book award and once again, nothing. A disclaimer on the website states</div>
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that correspondance can't be entered into so just another occasion where I don't even know</div>
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if the book was received, read or reviewed. No feedback. Nothing.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqxAdHJAc17rdgVWMXbPI8sJsSZoMARHlDI7g3s7l1wJVCO0cnbLKk7_KbeKamoWREAy-rfZby6nFVLr76I9tmDM-_rhHyBwNSGIqZNv-B7814nXk18NI93vCfjJcK9INBZqW1CnoHTQM/s1600/Death+of+a+King+FULL+Newest.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqxAdHJAc17rdgVWMXbPI8sJsSZoMARHlDI7g3s7l1wJVCO0cnbLKk7_KbeKamoWREAy-rfZby6nFVLr76I9tmDM-_rhHyBwNSGIqZNv-B7814nXk18NI93vCfjJcK9INBZqW1CnoHTQM/s320/Death+of+a+King+FULL+Newest.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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The first I knew that<i><b> 'Death of a King'</b></i> was not being considered was when I went onto the </div>
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website and found a list of 42 authors that the public were invited to choose from and vote</div>
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for as winner.</div>
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Maybe it is just me and the way I was brought up.</div>
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Still, I would have thought that even if you have 100 people to reply to a 'standard' rejection </div>
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email sent out to everyone isn't too difficult (or time-consuming) to do? </div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>After all, each one of those 100 is a potential customer. Or to look at it another way a potential 'bad mouther'.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Do organisations really not care anymore?</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/MassanGowAndTheHoundsOfStAndrew" target="_blank">Click here for our Facebook page</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723713771162081318noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841898474478695116.post-41974800789897374322013-08-16T09:52:00.000-07:002013-08-16T09:52:32.987-07:00Massan Gow and the Hounds of St Andrew - Volume Two - The Brother - Cover NewsWith over 5,000 words written for <b>Vol II</b> of the <b>Massan Gow and the Hounds of St Andrew</b> series the title has now been chosen; it will be called <b>The Brother</b>.<br />
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I have no intention of giving the plot away just now, however, but can say plenty of research has been done and plots and twists worked out.<br />
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What I will say is that the action takes place five years after <b>Death of a King</b> which took place in 1286.<br />
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Many characters are obviously returning along with some excellent and surprising new ones.<br />
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I am interested and would welcome any comments on the new book cover that I have chosen from those submitted by my designer, Kit Foster.<br />
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<b>Cover design for The Brother</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIkF63zQ3j5K_IdcbmT7xfNfp2VXzeIC70DMV21uPo1qJ3tKzesfVvgvF4kCiPcqyaD6lwq37oF0HCdkeuXaEXTUfb_oNNn2K16YbNL-CIJoTsYMH6McB-BM7ol3KDWEM7cX4nJTOZqbg/s1600/The+Brother+0815+SM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIkF63zQ3j5K_IdcbmT7xfNfp2VXzeIC70DMV21uPo1qJ3tKzesfVvgvF4kCiPcqyaD6lwq37oF0HCdkeuXaEXTUfb_oNNn2K16YbNL-CIJoTsYMH6McB-BM7ol3KDWEM7cX4nJTOZqbg/s320/The+Brother+0815+SM.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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Kit came up with some great designs around the theme used on <b>Death of a King</b> and it has been a difficult choice because, as always, they were all so good. However, my feelings are that it is best to keep it relatively simple and straightforward.</div>
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I love this particular cover and would like to hear your thoughts on it.</div>
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Kit Foster is a Scottish based designer who specialises in book covers; he has done covers for many well known, and award-winning books. </div>
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As Kit's website says <i>'Professional design for authors...because we all judge a book by its cover.'</i></div>
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Please have a look at his website for more details and to see some of his fantastic work.</div>
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<a href="http://www.kitfosterdesign.com/Home.aspx" target="_blank">Click HERE for Kit Foster Design website</a></div>
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<b>Cover design for Death of a King</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizkIwJfkHgLchFf2H9BktMIO1GoX0ZEza6hBBwOuggvmCjbJG_AEn6RL5YMP8qdgtHInvkLFxoqBM29rT8FSSuF9Y8c7ooZV5a-YZ2C76gxttZzBij1q4V4KuNe5Qzh2YeYWxSo9dnxYo/s1600/Massan+Gow+New+SM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizkIwJfkHgLchFf2H9BktMIO1GoX0ZEza6hBBwOuggvmCjbJG_AEn6RL5YMP8qdgtHInvkLFxoqBM29rT8FSSuF9Y8c7ooZV5a-YZ2C76gxttZzBij1q4V4KuNe5Qzh2YeYWxSo9dnxYo/s320/Massan+Gow+New+SM.png" width="212" /></a></div>
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The ISBN number for the paperback is <b>978-0-9573899-0-8</b></div>
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The ISBN for e-book is <b> </b><b>978-0-9573899-1-5</b></div>
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Paperback copies of <b>Death of a King - Massan Gow and the Hounds of St Andrew - Volume One </b>can be purchased from any good bookshop or online, however, our preferred supplier is Hanselled Books (the link is below) based in Burntisland, Fife. It is also available to download onto a Kindle device.</div>
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<a href="http://www.hanselledbooks.co.uk/death-of-a-king-by-geoff-huijer-26230-p.asp" target="_blank">Copies of 'Death of a King' can be supplied worldwide from this fantastic local shop; Click HERE.</a></div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/MassanGowAndTheHoundsOfStAndrew" target="_blank">Please visit and 'like' our Facebook page HERE</a></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723713771162081318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841898474478695116.post-45402591587335184532013-06-20T08:05:00.003-07:002013-06-20T08:06:38.394-07:00Do You 'Think Before You Speak'?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I went to Balwearie High School in
Kirkcaldy, Fife in the 1970s and to get there from my home six miles away in
Burntisland I got a school bus. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">This journey took me past the King Alexander
III (r1249 – 1286) monument which, to be honest, I never really paid much
attention to. </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I knew it was in memory to a King of Scots and did wonder why it
was never mentioned at History lessons at school. So, I guess you could say in more ways than one I had no more than a 'passing' interest...</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWSyMMeOgpOTWN0Fl4LUOgnS5GrozZiI6dhJLeqC62I8WHcea-30lFDef0I97u936Q7CiEN6QZIP6D_kfhZGE75rTIX0J-2fh1rnbbWDzC6I5m8hsR1UCWzVThSeHZOcfFhjJlL03HYQo/s1600/Monument+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWSyMMeOgpOTWN0Fl4LUOgnS5GrozZiI6dhJLeqC62I8WHcea-30lFDef0I97u936Q7CiEN6QZIP6D_kfhZGE75rTIX0J-2fh1rnbbWDzC6I5m8hsR1UCWzVThSeHZOcfFhjJlL03HYQo/s1600/Monument+1.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US"> Alexander III Monument</span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">History bored me at school; it seemed to be
simply about writing down dates and never seemed to be remotely relevant to
life then as it was. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Of course, perhaps another reason was that History
consisted of the Tudors, Sir Francis Drake, Battle of Trafalgar, Henry VIII, the
Elizabethans with some World War I and World War II thrown in. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I don’t remember
ever getting any Scottish history; we got ‘British’ history which inevitably
was ‘English’ history. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">As I say, it bored me. It is something I would love to
be able to go back in time to remedy; I didn’t know it then but there was a
tiny ‘history flame’ struggling to ignite into something more powerful and my
even noticing the Alexander III monument was possibly the start.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh3xhcAVUYgT6mq4O639mmCN1rGYQibMuvUbAllGIwav7PA-zPpw35za7nLDWciWGwCPaUT5qIQAVi3y6RvNM5WWUHkD0TzyPOm7Bge_BNKXibPQ5C1mZvJOZdz-4vsSkDElbWDTuv88A/s1600/British+History.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh3xhcAVUYgT6mq4O639mmCN1rGYQibMuvUbAllGIwav7PA-zPpw35za7nLDWciWGwCPaUT5qIQAVi3y6RvNM5WWUHkD0TzyPOm7Bge_BNKXibPQ5C1mZvJOZdz-4vsSkDElbWDTuv88A/s1600/British+History.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><i>British History </i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Many moons later I looked more into King
Alexander III and was amazed this important king had escaped the history agenda
almost completely. There are two occasions in his life which particularly impressed me. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Perhaps I am impressed because as a youngster I was often prone to ‘speaking
first and thinking later’.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Alexander <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was <i>seven years old</i> when he was inaugurated as
King of Scots on 13<sup>th</sup> July 1249; his father had died a week earlier.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz9_nUIEnCxrZ40clyYQjGpV-2QDhju-JSDHuD6SSLfshuMezkE0U7Z-r5WBUu490nPb4z8eVB07sHTjp_a6EhhXEyoe4_us4tykyQbWHvUxru3Bh2PB5TctlCjAdxESjHbTFGBz9_CP8/s1600/Magnus+Book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz9_nUIEnCxrZ40clyYQjGpV-2QDhju-JSDHuD6SSLfshuMezkE0U7Z-r5WBUu490nPb4z8eVB07sHTjp_a6EhhXEyoe4_us4tykyQbWHvUxru3Bh2PB5TctlCjAdxESjHbTFGBz9_CP8/s1600/Magnus+Book.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><i>Magnus Magnusson Book - Highly Recommended</i> </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">According to <b>Magnus Magnusson</b> in his book<b>
Scotland: The Story of a Nation</b> – </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">In December
1251, at the age of ten, the boy-king was taken by his court to York to be knighted
by Henry III before being married to Henry’s daughter Margaret. It gave the
English king an immediate opportunity to raise the dormant question of Scotland’s
subjugation to England: according to the contemporary St Albans Chronicle,
Alexander was then asked to do homage for the kingdom of Scotland…the boy
replied gravely that he had come to marry, not to answer so difficult a
question.</span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe39K2DWy9S62LB1bJAV2Zoxk9kOQnL0g7tcUO3Tv4RS-GvzNBN13_EMf46oMO8uWMuPpDatBT_Zii7nKmrKKJU8QEHAz3A2cncDdr6Ym7iKo9fhp_8_xtjZ38gorHqQ0yo2diuJv0rGM/s1600/AIII.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe39K2DWy9S62LB1bJAV2Zoxk9kOQnL0g7tcUO3Tv4RS-GvzNBN13_EMf46oMO8uWMuPpDatBT_Zii7nKmrKKJU8QEHAz3A2cncDdr6Ym7iKo9fhp_8_xtjZ38gorHqQ0yo2diuJv0rGM/s1600/AIII.jpg" /> </a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Alexander III King of Scots </span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">At age 36 I was still unable to always ‘think
things through’; I could still be impetuous; I would still react rather than
respond. King Alexander III seemed to have no such problem.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">In October 1278 Alexander III was again
careful with his reply when Edward I pressed for homage. According to<b> Marion
Campbell</b> in her superb book <b>Alexander III: King of Scots</b> – </span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">‘I
become your man for lands which I hold of you in the realm of England for which
I owe you homage, reserving my kingdom’. Then the Bishop of Norwich said, ‘And
let it be reserved to the King of England, if he should have right to your
homage for the kingdom’. The King answered him publicly at once, saying, ‘Nobody
but God Himself has the right to homage for my realm of Scotland, and I hold it
of nobody but God Himself’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US">Marion Campbell's Book on Alexander III - Highly Recommended</span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">King Alexander III grasped the basics of
diplomacy and assertiveness from an early age and displayed courage in his
dealings with other rulers and kings throughout his reign.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I'm happy to say that nowadays I have managed to overcome the 'feet first' approach. I am now able to think, think, think and <i>then</i> respond. However, I’m afraid I would never have managed to
reign in such a mature way as Alexander III even with a plethora of advisors. <b>How about you?</b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"> <a href="http://www.hanselledbooks.co.uk/death-of-a-king-by-geoff-huijer-26230-p.asp" target="_blank">http://www.hanselledbooks.co.uk/death-of-a-king-by-geoff-huijer-26230-p.asp</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/MassanGowAndTheHoundsOfStAndrew" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/MassanGowAndTheHoundsOfStAndrew</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723713771162081318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841898474478695116.post-15575961896692832122013-06-12T16:47:00.000-07:002017-03-01T23:51:07.111-08:00The Perils of a Homemade Commercial<span style="font-size: small;">There are some fantastic commercials out there, old and new; indeed some are like mini movies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Others have spawned directors who have gone on to actual movie success.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">One such director is Jonathan Glazer. He directed the excellent movie <i>Sexy Beast</i> in 2000 starring Ray Winstone and Sir Ben Kingsley and was at the helm of the multi award-winning 'Surfer' ad in 1999 for <i>Guinness Draught</i>. I was working for Diageo at Park Royal Brewery, London at that time and when it was first shown to employees it received tumultuous applause. It blew me away, and in fairness I always believed the <i>Guinness Draught</i> commercials were some of the best. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">'Surfer', however seemed to be extra special and I suppose vindication of this is that it was voted 'Best Ad of All Time' in a combined Channel 4/Sunday Times poll.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">For those that haven't seen it or can't quite remember (Really? How could you forget?) here it is...</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3JEORDUEqc" target="_blank">Click for 'Surfer' Commercial</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Excellent eh? Professionally done. And that is the poor self-published author's problem you see.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I certainly can't afford to have a professional commercial done for my book(s) so I thought I would make one myself. I mean, what could <i>possibly</i> go wrong? I have an artistic bent. An ideas man. And...I live by the beach so have a perfect location for a commercial.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">My first attempt took about 40 minutes of preparation; I waited for the Edinburgh train to pass (clever thinking), I lay posters down on the sand every eight feet or so from the waterline up to the sand dunes. I had some props: a longbow (which I strung), a miniature copy of the St Margaret stained glass window at Edinburgh Castle, a pile of leaflets advertising <b>'Death of a King'</b> which I spread atop a sand dune and finally the <i>piece de la resistance</i> - my tall banner which I had to spend some time on weighing it down and tying it up so it didn't blow over in the wind. I made sure there was no litter or any modern 'stuff' on show. Realism is what I want. All done in bare feet. I woudn't want to have any nasty boot-prints in the sand would I? That would be so <i>un</i>-medieval.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Finally, I was ready. Starting at the surfs edge I stooped to film the water before moving slowly up the beach filming the sand as I went and look! a poster, then another one snuggling in the sand with the odd sea-shell strategically placed. Then, the longbow, the little framed St Margaret 'window' and finally up the little dune to reveal leaflets and the wonderful banner.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW8DPaiz5cZa8oBa5w1gSsCQbCuAube9hyo_zmCNt0GuAGCcZeJNry9_b76UnoZAjSKzPcnvGEsOLUGqNOGD3aDbkkALre0b1FQEFSqorxe8jfIGnJ9-P5610A_vx3fRuFYl9FTwfZyWU/s1600/st_margaret_stained_glass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW8DPaiz5cZa8oBa5w1gSsCQbCuAube9hyo_zmCNt0GuAGCcZeJNry9_b76UnoZAjSKzPcnvGEsOLUGqNOGD3aDbkkALre0b1FQEFSqorxe8jfIGnJ9-P5610A_vx3fRuFYl9FTwfZyWU/s320/st_margaret_stained_glass.jpg" width="121" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">My plan was to then talk through the book 'blurb' (the bit on the back) but then there was something my meticulous planning had missed. I had spent so long doing all this that as I started to speak I found I could barely speak. I was out of breath, gasping for air and stuttering on some of the words as I read from the banner. I gave up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">For the next attempt I would forgo all the posters and the gliding up the beach. I would start up on the dune by the banner. I would make it short and sweet. </span><br />
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OEfxYDKYyEQ/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OEfxYDKYyEQ?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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So, I certainly ain't no 'Jonathan Glazer' and my homemade commercial attempt ain't no 'Surfer'.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08723713771162081318noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841898474478695116.post-26576038877432361362013-05-31T17:03:00.001-07:002013-05-31T17:03:28.374-07:00Death of a King - What's it all about?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8OeQuXLgcR2xFrfFFCqumfKfod19ir5zO03kDqflyxaHaAoTppbo_fBsNR8QnIFwMrfxlm0BVoEhJ-Hw_QqDmuWq_w2_lwJN3x7WZfK2ILzGyb9lSno3ajCX22iuQ9gNenB10jEEwmRA/s1600/Massan+Gow+New+SM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8OeQuXLgcR2xFrfFFCqumfKfod19ir5zO03kDqflyxaHaAoTppbo_fBsNR8QnIFwMrfxlm0BVoEhJ-Hw_QqDmuWq_w2_lwJN3x7WZfK2ILzGyb9lSno3ajCX22iuQ9gNenB10jEEwmRA/s320/Massan+Gow+New+SM.png" width="212" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Death of a
King – Massan Gow and the Hounds of St Andrew</span></u></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Volume I</span></u></b></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">18<sup>th</sup> March, 1286 AD. King Alexander III, King of Scots heads
to Fife ignoring all advice to wait until a violent snow storm subsides; he
yearns to see his beautiful, pregnant wife. He never makes it. His crumpled
body is eventually found along with that of his horse suggesting they stumbled
in the white-out and crashed to the rocks below the coastline’s cliffs.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">A young local lad, Massan Gow, is found wandering along the beach by the
search party out looking for the king and soon he becomes embroiled in a deadly
game of cat and mouse accused of regicide. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">He is held by the Earl of Fife and decides he has to take his destiny
into his own hands but that may be more complicated than it seems. His mother
becomes accused of witchcraft by the secretive society known as the Hounds of
St Andrew. So, not only does the death of a king throw the country into chaos
but a young boy’s family too; and Massan now has to fight to clear his and his
family’s name.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Double-dealing, hidden agendas, personal tragedies and raw action sweep
across medieval Scotland, southern Spain and the Welsh Marches in England. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Death of a King</i> is the first enthralling
novel of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Massan Gow and the Hounds of
St Andrew</i> series.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/MassanGowAndTheHoundsOfStAndrew">https://www.facebook.com/MassanGowAndTheHoundsOfStAndrew</a> </span></div>
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