Barely afloat, holed below the water line, in the Herald today: Shocking! Fiji goes for Scot’s shipbuilding revolution after ScotGov ‘rejection’ The Scots entrepreneur behind the sunk £800m scheme to create a Clyde shipbuilding revolution – has got the nod from Fiji’s prime minister to take his plans there, the Herald on Sunday can reveal. https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23702921.fiji-goes-scots-shipbuilding-revolution-scotgov-rejection/?ref=ebln&nid=1220&u=54f15f1382a35160f5f9fbd9de82faff&date=060823 First, that rejection. I’m guessing the experts at ScotGov, or hired by them, had good reasons to reject but are too polite to tell us. Are catamaran ferries of the size proposed not safe in the high winds so regular on the Scottish island routes? Second, … Continue reading The Herald flogging a dead ferry deal in a three car ferry island chain in an economy one fiftieth of Scotland’s

Against the background of reports claiming that Scotland needs to monitor more of its storm drains, the above news from NE England is striking. In the Guardian this morning but not being covered by BBC England, nor BBC Tees nor BBC Tyne & Wear: At least 57 people fell ill with sickness and diarrhoea after competing in sea swimming events at the World Triathlon Championship Series in Sunderland, health officials confirmed this weekend. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/05/investigation-after-57-world-triathlon-championship-swimmers-fall-sick-and-get-diarrhoea-in-sunderland-race I wondered then, why no comparable stories from Scotland’s media? I searched for ‘sewage‘ on the BBC website and went back to 1 June 2023. There were 40 … Continue reading ’57 swimmers fall sick and get diarrhoea in Sunderland’ but Scotland’s media can find none here!

Note this is not about a so-called ‘leading’ academic like Prof Patterson on Radio 4 to dismiss his own folk for a English audience, but about the real thing. In the Herald today, a piece on Maureen McKenna, once Director of Education for Glasgow, who will now be advising London schools on truanting and exclusion. When I saw her name I was prompted to do a quick search and repost something from 2 years a go when supposed SNP failings in schools were headline stories day after day. The data are, of course, 2 years old now: Scotland’s ‘struggling schools’ … Continue reading Really Leading Scottish educationist who dismissed myth of Scotland’s ‘struggling schools’ to advise London schools

Excellent content. Not just SNP Some folk like this guy A bargain and you get a monthly delivery to your door from Portknockie! Continue reading Great content, on paper, to your door, not just SNP

I missed this in April 2023. From BBC Wales: Wales does not have a functioning NHS and people do not have faith in it, claims the head of a doctors’ union. Dr Iona Collins, of the British Medical Association in Wales, said people suffering with chest pain “don’t even know” if an ambulance will come. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-65361431 OMG! There must be ‘angry’ calls for the Health Secretary’s head and extended coverage of quotes from opposition politicians. There isn’t. Not a word of it. First the Welsh Health Secretary, Eluned Morgan, says ‘What we do know is the way that we count … Continue reading ‘NHS Wales is not functional’ but Welsh Labour is unapologetic and the Welsh Con opposition seem unconcerned

In May 2018, the Sun reported: Dr Peter Blair has warned Scottish ministers the makeshift unlaminated cribs may be flammable and unsuitable for tots to sleep in – after thousands of kits loaded with freebie goodies have been dished out to mums. But pregnant Ruth Davidson has told of her concerns. The Tory leader said: “Some really pressing questions raised here.” Her (?) health secretary Miles Briggs called it a “potentially dangerous oversight” which may have “serious consequences”. And Labour MSP Mary Fee [above] said: “The Government need to ensure the boxes are safe.” https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2588217/baby-boxes-fire-risk-not-safe-snp-claims-cot-death-expert/ See that ‘makeshift?’ They’re some … Continue reading Top medical journal reports no fires from Scotland’s baby boxes despite ‘Scottish’ Conlabour hopes and increased breast feeding by young mothers

What will look bad at first sight for some, is a classic example of misleading reporting of percentages. Scotland has 18 743 km of coastline compared to England’s 8 982, only one-tenth of the population and, crucially far fewer areas requiring monitoring. Dr Simon Boxall of Southampton University, a leading expert on water quality, explained this in the National, in August 2022: An overview of the most obvious data on bathing water quality superficially appears to show Scotland actually has poorer-quality bathing spots than England. But this is only half the picture, according to one of the UK’s leading experts … Continue reading English expert says – “I would say Scotland does a better job [of monitoring water quality] than England does.” 

An r/Scotland visitor tries to refer to me, forgetting I’m cancelled there, but triggering an automatic message to me. I try to reply but find it’s/I’m an ‘error’ in that satire-free world. The full debate is at: BBC clears Fiona Bruce of ‘anti-SNP’ bias by u/fozzie1234567 in Scotland I was attempting to suggest that Fiona Bruce’s anti-SNP bias is not new to us and share this from March 2021: Gerry Hassan has tweeted with mastery of understatement on Sarah Smith’s latest reveal: The spin of @BBC Scotland Editor Sarah Smith on the independent #HamiltonReport completely clearing Nicola Sturgeon saying this “will allow her to … Continue reading Queen of Bias – Fiona Bruce or Sarah Smith?

From From Media Nations Scotland 2023: In line with the most-viewed programmes across the UK, England’s defeat to France (1-2) in the quarter-finals of the men’s football World Cup on STV/ ITV1 was the most-watched programme in Scotland in 2022, with an average audience of 1.1 million. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0031/265378/scotland-report-2023.pdf I’m saying nothing. You say it below. Continue reading Most watched TV programme in Scotland in 2022 was an England game!