It wasn’t the above Bob who wrote Don’t Worry, Be Happy. It was Bobby McFerrin in 1988.
The now very popular statistician Hans Rosling might have disagreed back then but it makes a bit more sense today.
I’ve kind of been aware of the self-described ‘possibilist’ not ‘optimist’, Rosling, but have only just read the book:
In it, there are these, counter-intuitive, for many even today six years later, graphs:
How about some bad things decreasing in Scotland?
Crime
Road traffic accidents
Drug deaths, even!
Good things increasing in Scotland?
Affordable housing.
Woodland creation.
I could go on.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
You can indeed go on, but the Scottish media and unionist politicians only want to focus on a few bad data, preferably without context.
Alasdair Macdonald
LikeLiked by 4 people
Been quoted on here before this is another one.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Does human progress have to be at the speed of light.
For example, new technology is obsolete before it goes on sale.
There’s an article on the BBC News website today on the emergency use of a banned ‘bee killing’ pesticide for the fourth year in a row.
Buried in the article is a line about the sugar industry’s hope for the introduction of a pest resistant gene edited crop in 2026.
I have a sweet tooth but always read the label to see if there is anything artificial I should avoid.
So what is going on?
https://www.food.gov.uk/board-papers/genetic-technology-precision-breeding
“The Act contains powers for the Secretary of State to make Regulations making provision for regulating the placing on the market of food and feed produced from Precision Bred Organisms (PBOs) in England.”
Will these precision bred organisms eventually make the original organism extinct?
Will AI takeover, and save the world from human progress?
LikeLiked by 2 people
“Reasons to be cheerful – how things overall are improving”
BBC Scotland – continued and increasing decline in viewers and listeners.
Herald – continues to sink further in journalistic competence and audience.
Scotsman – often considered to have become extinct, but a news stand in Morningside is reported to still have a copy on sale, date unknown.
Baxters – soup sales decline, well what did they expect? Perhaps if they put more Union flags on the tins?
And on we go 🙂 However there is still a vibrant social media presence for Scots who are actually interested in Scotland, its people and its future rather than the above “Proud” examples.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Trust you to break the pattern of too wee too poor too stupid dominance of Scots’ political thinking and Scottish media repetition… 👍
More than slightly OT on the Bobby McFerrin reference, I fondly remember becoming first aware of his vocal skills in what what became a jazz classic, “Round midnight” with Herbie Hancock https://youtu.be/j2wj1xF8dUo where he emulated a saxophone throughout the set.
If only the UK had it’s own Bobby McFerrins in HMG and the BBC in Scotland, actually sounding like honest politicians and honest journalists respectively for 5 minutes or more….
LikeLiked by 3 people
Wonder what the actual UK Trade Deficit is at the moment?
I never see the Balance of Payments or the Current Account debated or referred to on the telly.
In the days before oil, Harold Wilson was plaqued by it as the media constantly referred to the monthly Balance of Payments in the Red…
Eventually Wilson devalued the £.
Well remember his comments which were somthing like, “the £ in your pocket is just the same value” it’s on YouTube somewhere !
LikeLike
UK going into recession? People tightened their belts at Christmas.
The Tories will be gone in a few months. Support for Independence still increasing.
GE people who support Independence need to go out and vote for Independence supporting Parties.
Voting for Unionists Parties will not achieve a better Scotland. Why Independence supporters would vote for a unionist party is a mystery?
Use it or lose. Or stop complaining. The power is in the people’s hand. Go out and vote for it.
LikeLiked by 1 person