Yet another new blog

I've lost track of the number of people who've told me politicians are all liars. Well, actually, that's a lie. It's 3. But is it true that all politicians are liars? I don't think so. Giving your own version of the truth doesn't necessarily involve lying. It just means if you're a politician you slant the truth to suit your own party. And that, I'm sure, is what politicians have always done. Usually, they've been quite good at it: a tweak here or there to the facts and you can steal an opponent's policies; a statistic that isn't so much a stat as a guess or a fudge; a promise that the politician - and the public - know will never have to be kept. The difference right now is that one political party in the UK has given up 'tweaking' the truth and their political leaders have gone for outright lying - and it's working. They learned this at the knee of Donald Trump who taught the world as soon as he got into office that a lot of...

About 10 years ago, just as 'austerity' - or the punishment of the poor, as I call it - got underway, friends in Dundee described to me the effect of the Thatcher Years on the city: as industry died and unemployment rose, so did crime. All crime, but especially crimes 'against the person' as well as crimes against property. These friends had been involved in local politics their entire lives and were very proud of their city, but they knew as austerity bit into their communities they were looking at a repeat of those terrible years. And they were right. Only a fool - or a Tory - would fail to see the connection between poverty and crime: as people become more and more desperate for survival, they are likely to take chances on ways to make money. So drug crime increases, as do robberies, car theft, housebreaking, muggings - all the 'easy' ways to get hold of cash. Add to that a reduction in the numbers of police on the streets (luckily not affecting Scotland ...

A jist watched a video on youtube by Dr Michael Dempster aboot the Scots language. An it's gey impressive.  https://twitter.com/BBCScotNine/status/1197272010319187975?s=04&fbclid=IwAR3NrWvFAkYcWhWYJpIUqY1ayJeO6HNduOCoOjXZi-ppJPjg15ujNFm2YbI Michael gies a pretty good account o the different dialects o Scots - an aw the attempts tae drive it oot o Scotland efter 1707. A nivver knew maist o this, although Scots is ma language! He said there's a million speakers o Scots in Scotland - but a think he nivver tellt the truth: that Scots is dyin oot, thanks tae a mix o education policy an snobbery (my opinion - no Michael's) - an it'll take a lot tae help it tae survive.  So here's a few questions:  - Dae ye speak Scots?  - Dae ye speak it every day?  - Who dae ye speak it tae?  - When wiz the last time ye hud a hale conversation wi sombdy in Scots? - Wid it maitter tae ye if Scots died oot?   If it disnae maitter tae ye, fine...

The first time I went to France in the late 60s, it came as a surprise that everything came from Paris: the government was there, the president was there, the big companies had their offices there, the arts, movies and TV really only mattered if they were from Paris. Policy decisions - education, health, etc - were taken in Paris. Most of France - not forgetting its overseas territories - was governed by people appointed by the French government in Paris. This was a heavily centralised country and there was deep resentment at how little say people had in their own lives. Yes, they elected local mayors and councillors but their powers were limited. Things have changed a bit but I still get the feeling that one of the reasons people have repeatedly taken their grievances onto the streets in France over the years is that they feel their views are still not taken into account. It took me a while when I came back to Scotland to realise that this was exactly how Scotland, Wales, Northern...

Okay, I've tried: for about an hour I've tried to use my sleeplessness well and set up a new blog about depression. But here I am back on the old blog, spitting tacks because blogger refuses to let me set up a new blog. If you think this might not be your thing, feel free to move along and find more interesting topics: maybe pictures of cats, puns, sarcastic comments on Tories. Just make sure you share these with the rest of us on Facebook. I'll understand perfectly. The topic of depression is not for everyone. A long time ago, as part of my job, when I didn't have depression, I sat through a seminar on stress management and came out looking for a bus to throw myself under, so I know the topic of mental health is not for everyone. I'm just glad that - finally - we can talk about this subject without having mental health written off as the ravings of menopausal women or adolescent girls. I'm particularly pleased for the men around us: we've lost too many me...

I'm all for the west having a public enemy number 1. It takes the pressure off the clowns currently in government in the UK and the USA if they can keep telling people we are under attack from an external enemy. Having an external enemy that also heads up a country that has nuclear weapons is pretty convincing. Having one who is the former head of his country's secret service is even better: he'll know how to do the spying bit - how to undermine national governments, how to blackmail politicians, what poisons to use to get rid of your enemies (and former enemies) in quiet English cathedral cities. So Putin is our man of the moment. Putin's target in the UK seems to be the Conservative Party and we should ask why. Feel free to add to the list: - they are just about hanging on to power despite having a useless opposition - they are desperate for power - they like money - they want the approval of the USA - they have adopted a political stance on the EU that n...

Frankly, because I am sick to the back teeth of the general election, which seems to be about nothing but brexit. If we have to have general election, I would like it to be about how to deal with poverty, how to support the disabled, and how to claw back the cash that has vanished from the UK economy into overseas tax havens, how to improve education and health care and how to look after our ageing population. But it's not. And my frustration - and I find the same frustration among friends, neighbours and family - is that we can't actually do anything about this. So for the foreseeable future, we'll go on switching on the telly and the radio and picking up the newspaper, to find the Tories are still charge, Labour are still a useless opposition and those of us who live in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are excluded from all discussion. Because, make no mistake, brexit is an English fixation. But let's talk about something else. How about Catalonia? I've be...

Greta Thunberg is looking for a way to get to Europe from America now that the climate summit has been switched from Chile to Spain. Just a wee bit of background information: Chile is one of the most unequal countries in the world. The gap between the poor and the rich is huge and getting wider, and people have been out on the streets for weeks rioting and looting. At least 20 people have died at the hands of the police. ITV in the UK mentioned Greta Thunberg in a kind of sneering way on Sunday's news: won't take a plane but expects other people to arrange her transport. As if it was her fault this conference had been moved halfway round the world at short notice. We have a weird attitude to our young people - not just in the UK but right across the western world. On the one hand, we say we are dismayed at their lack of responsibility, but we don't actually give them any. We don't let them vote. In many cases, we don't even let them out. Life for many youn...

My last boss, Kenneth MacKinlay, was cremated this morning. Ken was a saintly man - a terrific husband. father and grandfather. He never got the recognition he deserved when he was working and - worst of all - didn't get to enjoy the long and happy retirement he deserved. I wasn't at his funeral partly because there's a chance I would meet a couple of the utter bastards who denied him recognition for his hard work and his decency. Ken is the last of 6 deaths in the recent past that have absolutely floored me. First was Ian Boffey, my mentor when I was promoted as PT modern languages in Islay High School. Ian visited regularly. He knew the island well because he was a lay Episcopalian minister and often held services at what we called the 'English Church' in Bridgend. Ian loved being in the classroom with me, talked to the kids, listened to what they had to say and gave me sensible advice. I wish I'd listened to him more. Then there were Chris and Mervyn Ro...

This post is pure nostalgia. I just watched Snow White, the 1937 Disney version. I reckon I was about 4 when I last saw it. I'm 71 now. Back then, the early 1950s, a lot of folk didn't have a TV. And  it was in black and white anyway. If you wanted colour, you had to go to the cinema. Not a problem where I lived - in Govan - because there at least 4 movie houses within walking distance of our street.  And there was none of this nonsense about only going to see the latest movie. I reckon Glasgow people happily paid to see the same films for years. (Who else saw Imitation of Life at regular intervals?)  There was a system for the movies for wee kids: on Saturday morning, all the wee kids who wanted to go to the movies gathered in Copland Road and were led by a group of 'big girls' along Govan Road to whichever movie house the big girls wanted to go to. Nobody asked us what we wanted to see. Just if we had our money to get in.  I've no idea how many we...

...Or, as the song says, consider this: The person who most opposed the UK joining the Common Market was President de Gaulle. His concern was that the UK was not a team player and would not be able to handle being one of the team, rather than the team leader. But de Gaulle left office and along came Thatcher and then the UK was in, with an economy in such a mess it makes me wonder if membership was an act of charity. For decades nobody in the UK was bothered about the EU. Except Nigel Farage, and he hadn't managed to make much of an impression. He couldn't get himself - or anyone else - a seat in the UK Parliament. (Still hasn't). But Farage was elected to the EU parliament where, ironically, he had a place on the EU Fisheries Committee. Sadly, the meetings of that committee seemed to clash with whatever else Farage had going on and he failed to turn up for 32 out of 34 meetings. But he continued to claim he represented fishermen in the UK, and blamed the EU for all the...