Making the national headlines, take three girls (!) just about to start at St Andrews University and it seems they have a wee problem. The above screen shots have already winged it down to pals and relatives in England. We’re famous mum!!! How did this get to the BBC? Well, one of the students wants to go to her brother’s wedding in Italy and ‘sought the help of her new MP, Liberal Democrat Wendy Chamberlain, who has raised the issue with Scotland’s health secretary Humza Yousaf.’ Well good, but why is it now with the BBC. I know what happens … Continue reading Look mum, we’re famous in Scotland!!!

Every week these days, currently 12:30 on Fridays, I’m on with Caledon Radio host Norrie Hunter. We talk, often excitedly, about a range of issues featuring in TuS and of interest to Norrie. We’re getting increasingly positive feedback, from all over. Here are some comments from today: Politics with you two guys is a tonic. Great issues as ever and a good logical thinking of the media and reporting of events. Friday is my new Thursday (John Alexander: Renfrew) Norrie thank you for a great laugh with the professor today it was brilliant as usual (Abby Hastings: Inverurie) Just back … Continue reading Scottish Politics on Caledon Radio

The seven-day rolling averages in Wales (29.3 per 100K) and Scotland (33.2) are now less than half that in England (75.2) As part of their mission to inform the public and fight fake news, BBC Scotland says ‘Cases continue to rise in Scotland’: BBC UK conveniently ignores the seven-day figures and claims: Number 10 has, I hear, thanked them for that piece of selective editing. BBC Northern Ireland has loyally put its fingers in it ears and has banned the above Financial Times graph: The Herald? Continue reading Scotland and Wales have lowest infection levels

Well, I suppose even if there was only one new case today, you could say cases have increased but we’re talking about the rate, aren’t we, boys and girls? The rate has been falling now since July 2nd, three weeks ago! Wake up? Today, 23rd July, Scotland’s 7-day-average infection rate, AT 1 686 was the lowest is has been since June 20th when it was 1 581. The seven day average for the UK is 45 455, between 2 and 3 times higher after taking population into account. Continue reading BBC says ‘cases continue to increase in Scotland’ as infections fall to lowest level since June!

Bespectacled, bearded older guy, Douglas Fraser, BBC Business/economy editor, Scotland is clearly, like me, a tad smarter than the weans at Pacific Quay. In his fantastically witty piece titled Covid in Scotland: Shelf isolation and the United Pingdom, he reports some crazy numbers, man: Scotland seems to be avoiding the huge hit to business from the NHS Covid app in England, sending vast numbers of “pings” that tell people they have to self-isolate. In only one week this month, England had 520,000 pings of the contact-tracing app. Entire business critical teams are off work. Since its launch last September, the … Continue reading Scotland’s Covid app far calmer than England’s excitable version

Sometimes I wonder if the folk at Pacific Quay are just stupid. Covid deaths are not high ‘despite’ a fall in cases, they’re high because of the peak before that fall. Surely they know that from previous peaks in cases followed by peaks in deaths? Look at the lines above. Cases (blue) peak causing hospital admissions (yellow) to peak a week or so later and then, sadly, deaths peak a few days after that. Saying ‘Deaths at four-month high despite fall in cases‘ suggests you don’t know what is going on and will confuse some of the audience. Continue reading Yes, deaths peak some time AFTER cases peak. We knew that

In a staggeringly appalling account from BBC Nottingham, we read: An investigation by Channel 4 News and the Independent reported 46 babies had suffered brain damage and 19 were stillborn in Nottingham in recent years. The BBC has found there have been at least seven preventable deaths of babies between 2015 and 2020. Both maternity services run by NUH are rated as inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Through a freedom of information probe, BBC News has learned there have been 34 maternity investigations following adverse incidents at NUH since 2018. They have involved: Three maternal deaths 22 babies who faced … Continue reading 19 babies stillborn, 46 with brain damage but NO calls for Health Secretary to resign

Macwhirter has previous on ‘Sturgeon’, lots of it. He resents what he sees as a dictatorial tendency from a democratically elected and popular leader and terms her, revealingly, ‘headmistress.’ Note the preference for ‘mistress’ at a time when everyone who has been awake for the last 50 years knows to called them ‘headteacher.’ I’m reminded of a wee boy, in a old body, with a problem perhaps resulting from an over-strict mommy or nanny. There are quite a few like him in the Scottish MSM. Misogyny, immaturity, huffiness, all seem to be playing a part in their writing. First, of … Continue reading Huffy wee old guy tells fibs against his imagined mistress

A wee bit of distraction triggered by the above Herald headline. Dear reader, see if you can come up with a funnier one. Other good ones: iNews 2021: Labour leader Anas Sarwar predicts he ‘will be First Minister’ in 2026 The National 2020: Jackson Carlaw vows to topple SNP and become next First Minister Scotsman 2019: Boris Johnson: I back Ruth Davidson to become Scotland’s next First Minister BBC Scotland 2018: Richard Leonard: ‘I intend to be next first minister’ The Times 2017: Kenny Farquharson comment: The next first minister will be . . . Kezia Dugdale TuS 2021: Jackie … Continue reading I’m going to be the next heavyweight boxing champion of the world!

By stewartb: BBC Scotland’s viewers/listeners/readers might have been interested also in broader, relevant context. This is readily supplied using data from the UK government’s web site – so it must be authoritative! It comes from comparative mortality data during the whole pandemic for each of the four nations up to dates earlier in July and on both of the measures in official use. (https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths ) 1) Deaths with COVID-19 on the death certificate by nation to 9 July 2021 (the list is ordered by data per 100,000 population): Wales: = 7,873 (249.7 per 100,000) England = 130,957 (232.7 per 100,000) Scotland … Continue reading Why is England not the least impacted by the pandemic ?