Reading the above, making use of combatant accounts, I was shocked to find this: A few years later, the RAF and the USAF were to target German civilians in places like Hamburg and Dresden with many more deaths. Is war less brutal today, as Steven Pinker suggests, only 60 years later? There are at least two current wars where I dare not suggest comparison with the above but you can. Continue reading Civilians in war 1941 and 2024

By Professor John Robertson Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this. I wonder what BMA Scotland have to say on this issue? A BMA Scotland survey in August 2023 does not go so far as to suggest patient care risks but tells us that 28% of Scottish GPs say their workload is unmanageable. Unmanageable is dangerous, no? Labour have been in power for a hundred years in Wales, either with a UK Labour Government, ‘minding the shop’ for the Tories or since devolution. In every aspect, NHS Scotland under the SNP has far better results than NHS Wales. https://www.bma.org.uk/bma-media-centre/bma-scotland-gp-crisis-going-to-get-worse-as-wellbeing-among-profession-suffers Continue reading Under Labour-for-ever Welsh GPs far more likely to have excessive workloads putting patients at risk

An extract from the CalMac reliability tables for 29 April when it dipped to 97.2%. Note that we’re only talking about a reduction in an already generous number of, much-subsidised by us mainlanders, sailings to locations with very limited traffic. No island was cut off and the much-maligned Arran service continues at 100%, day after day. Source: https://www.calmac.co.uk/calmac-performance-data-browser?date=29%2F04%2F2024 Continue reading More than 500 sailings, 99.2% on time yesterday, 97.1% the day before, 100% for the main islands, yet the Herald and the Scotsman still find a ‘ferry fiasco’

By Professor John Robertson From Scot Gov today: While overall civil justice statistics are climbing steadily since the pandemic year, the increase curve is flattening (a smaller increase in the last year than in the year before and just after the pandemic low point), suggesting we may not return to the high point of 2017/2018. Also and very encouraging, family-related incidents which can traumatise and harm children longer -term, and repossession of household goods which can do similar damage, remain at a far lower levels than before. Source: https://www.gov.scot/publications/civil-justice-statistics-scotland-2022-23/ I can find no media coverage. Continue reading Good News Today 2 – Eviction and repossession remain far below 2014 levels

BBC UK included the above emotional words from Humza Yousaf yesterday. BBC Scotland only offered us the last few seconds after he said ‘Thank you very much’ and walked out of the door: They will claim lack of time but they had time for that – just an apprently defeated man and absolutely nothing that might stir support for the movement. BBC UK also let us hear this snippet of hope for the SNP: BBC Scotland, of course, did not. There are already tentative signs that the abandonment of the power sharing and a change of leader will work. See: … Continue reading ‘He said – ‘Who could ask for a better country to lead than Scotland?’ CUT!!!