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The Wretched of Scotland’s Independence Movements

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While AI has often been taught to favour broadly establishment positions, reinforced by their dominance of the media landscape it relies upon, I have found that, if you keep your wits about you and counter those positions with evidence you have, it will often come to offer a more independent evidence-based answer than you will get from even the most respected but all-too-human academic, like me. Based on the evidence from the time such as the lack of a formal act of union, the unbroken, largely unchanged continuation of the parliament in London and the end of such in Scotland … Continue reading The Wretched of Scotland’s Independence Movements

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16th/17th Century English Propaganda – so good even I (!) knew nothing of this event

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Hearing that a 17th Spanish galleon replica is to visit Ayr in August this year, I had one of those memory flashes. This: Watching Lucy Worsley in December 2022, I was shocked, deeply, to hear of the disastrous Counter Armada of 1599 when more than 20 000 lost their lives, twice the Spanish losses the previous year. Following the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, Queen Elizabeth I of England sought to exploit Spain’s temporary naval vulnerability. The English Armada, also called the Counter Armada or the Drake–Norris Expedition, was launched on 28 April 1589 during the undeclared Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) … Continue reading 16th/17th Century English Propaganda – so good even I (!) knew nothing of this event

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Don’t mention Sir Francis Drake or Walter Raleigh to these Spanish sailors

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When I saw the above I couldn’t but think ‘Time heals all wounds?’ Why? There’s no mention in the blurb above of the deep irony of a replica Spanish merchantman of the 17th Century making it to Ayr without it having been captured and plundered on the way by one of England’s piratical heroes of the day like Drake or Raleigh. How much in ships and booty did Elizabethan England steal from Spanish ships? Elizabethan England (under Queen Elizabeth I, 1558–1603) conducted widespread privateering against Spanish shipping as a mix of state-sponsored warfare, economic strategy, and profit-seeking. Privateers like Francis … Continue reading Don’t mention Sir Francis Drake or Walter Raleigh to these Spanish sailors

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Knife murders fall in England & Wales but overall murder remains higher than in Scotland

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From Sky News today: New Home Office figures reveal the number of knife murders across the UK has dropped by 27% in two years. Overall knife crime has been cut by 10% and more than 1,900 knives were removed from the streets in the same time span. Meanwhile, in the 2025 to 2026 period, 2,833 county lines were closed and 7,381 people were arrested – with the Home Office saying this is the “best year on record” for its county lines programme. https://news.sky.com/story/knife-murders-in-uk-drop-by-a-quarter-as-county-lines-crackdown-has-best-year-on-record-13562142 It suggests a deeply embedded sense that ‘England and Wales‘ is just the same as ‘across the UK.‘ It … Continue reading Knife murders fall in England & Wales but overall murder remains higher than in Scotland

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Three Police Chiefs say leading anti-immigration protesters don’t come from Scotland

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Thanks to Capella for spotting this: In Police issue hate crime warning after hundreds gather in Glasgow street, today, eight paragraphs down: Chief Supt Stevie Dolan said he believed there are individuals outwith the local communities and probably outwith Glasgow or central Scotland who are seeking to “influence” the actions of local members of the public. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gyqdpd0z8o Is there further evidence to support this? Police Scotland overall position: The disorder over several nights was “clearly been orchestrated by individuals who are not from Glasgow.” A further protest planned for the weekend was based on “entirely false information.” https://www.aol.co.uk/articles/police-warn-against-protest-misinformation-113938000.html Assistant Chief … Continue reading Three Police Chiefs say leading anti-immigration protesters don’t come from Scotland

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Anti-immigrant hate crime arrests at protests/riots in England are running at 300 times the level in Scotland

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From BBC Scotland yesterday: Police have issued a warning about hate crime and violent disorder after hundreds of people gathered outside a property in Glasgow. The protest, during which windows were said to have been smashed, took place in Tormusk Road, Castlemilk, at about 18:50 on Wednesday. It follows another incident on Tuesday when police were called to a large gathering of people who had gathered outside a block of flats in Lamlash Crescent in the Cranhill area. A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Violence, disorder, hate crime and threatening behaviour that poses a risk to safety is not legitimate protest. Anyone who … Continue reading Anti-immigrant hate crime arrests at protests/riots in England are running at 300 times the level in Scotland

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Scotland’s ambulances are between 2 and 3 times faster thousands of times but Daily Record finds another case to to deflect you with

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The Daily Record today, above: On 26 June 2026: There are some minor problems in comparing the data for England and Scotland but you can be sure that were they to favour the former, they’d be widely reported. Here’s why they’re not: In January 2024, BBC UK made direct comparison possible: Via the BBC’s How long do patients wait for an ambulance? app, we can confirm that the average waiting time for a Scottish ambulance was 8 min and 46 secs: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59549800 Also, from BBC UK on 14 December 2023: Average response times of more than 38 minutes for category two emergency calls such as … Continue reading Scotland’s ambulances are between 2 and 3 times faster thousands of times but Daily Record finds another case to to deflect you with

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Fires fall dramatically to lowest in 10 years and staffing climbs to put Prince Street Blaze in perspective

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The Scotsman above pushing the ill-informed scare story about fire service cuts in an evidence vaccuum. Badly mixing my metaphors let me shine some light on that vacuum. From Safer Communities and Justice Statistics Monthly Data Report: March 2026 published today, the above and : Number of fires fell 5% in the last year. In 2024-25, there were 22,925 fires in Scotland, down 5% on 2023-24 and the lowest in the last ten years. There were 36 fire fatalities in 2024-25, down from 42 in 2023-24 and the second lowest in the last decade. The number of deliberate building fires has fallen over … Continue reading Fires fall dramatically to lowest in 10 years and staffing climbs to put Prince Street Blaze in perspective

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Why Scotland’s prisoner tagging scheme is not in crisis – Violent offenders amongst 9 000 un-monitored in England & Wales

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From BBC UK today: Almost 9,000 people in England and Wales required to have an electronic monitoring tag did not have one, a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) has found. They are likely to include violent offenders and prisoners released from jail who need to be checked on. The NAO said, as of March 2026, prison authorities were reviewing around 8,900 cases of individuals recorded as having an active monitoring order but no tag. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cze9z81d183o In Scotland? Scotland has subjected its electronic monitoring system to independent expert review and research which identified strategic and developmental issues such as … Continue reading Why Scotland’s prisoner tagging scheme is not in crisis – Violent offenders amongst 9 000 un-monitored in England & Wales

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Is this the first credible case of spiking by needle injection?

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Headlining BBC Scotland today, the above and: At the hospital, blood tests revealed she had been injected with gamma-hydroxybutyrate, better known as GHB, as well as an anti-depressant drug. GHB is a powerful sedative that causes extreme sleepiness and loss of inhibitions – and it erases the memory of what has happened under its influence. It is notorious as a date rape drug. Whilst the GHB would eventually work its way out of her system, doctors were worried about the potential for blood infections from the needle. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cyv0zjg2623o The blood test is key and may suggest a shocking development because … Continue reading Is this the first credible case of spiking by needle injection?