We’ve taken the liberty of clarifying the Herald’s chicken-hearted headline today, from ‘State-owned ferry firm hits back at Ferguson shipyard over disastrous contract’ to the above. We’ve been inspired by both the Herald’s previous position on blaming the SNP, just a month ago, and the catchy Times headline, from December 2019, below: Michael Glackin? Readers may remember the Wings response to Glackin’s scribblings, a year ago: Michael Glackin of the Sunday Times is the only serious contender to the Scotsman’s demented Brian Wilson as the most poisonously, blindly instinctive hater of anything even passingly connected to the SNP or independence … Continue reading Herald afraid to headline failure of multi-millionaire McCall?

Mark I know some teachers Smith has launched the Herald’s new ‘Three linked words’ game. Readers are invited to list three words that for them say something about the Herald and why it is in such a mess. There are no prizes other than your own self-satisfaction. Here at TuSC, we abhor and eschew petty bourgeois reward systems. As our readership soars, our Finance Director, James ‘Buttons’ Grabber (14) has explored getting a share of the advertising revenue from WordPress, but when the Editor (68) heard he’d have to fill in a form he said: ‘That WILL be right. I’ve … Continue reading Defame, malign, slander: Herald starts new game!

The Herald has had a bad, hopefully terminal weekend, as its political writers find themselves up to their armpits in shit after chasing what they thought was easy prey in the form of Alex Salmond. However, they’re not all bad at the Herald, and we feel it is our duty to save what can be saved for a future Scottish press. So, once more, our graphics ‘man’ has reconstructed the above business page, free-of-charge, and our researchers have put together some of the key points which readers need to hear. I feel sure McConnell can learn. Here they are: The … Continue reading Pro-Indy blogger comes to aid of dying Herald

The Talking-up Scotland graphics ‘man’ (nearly 69!) has reconstructed today’s BBC Scotland report on business confidence, above. This free-to-the-taxpayer service is designed to help the staff at Pacific Quay and to inform the Scottish public more accurately. As often before the BBC writers seemed to think their task was to make everyone feel anxious but we want them to have the confidence to extract the best parts of their writing, and they are there, to tell a different story. Here they are: The latest Royal Bank of Scotland purchasing managers index (PMI) found an expansion in production.  Overall new business … Continue reading Scotland? It depends how you look at it

Everyone is familiar with how the Tory depute provost in Aberdeen was found guilty of physically abusing another man in a public place but then was defended by the BBC, the Scotsman and the Herald against a so-called witch hunt against him. In most headlines, his party was not mentioned. Then there was the Tory MP who repeatedly pinched the bottom of a Labour MP in a Westminster bar, yet suffered no consequences and, in Herald reports, rarely if ever had his party membership mentioned. But the former SNP minister was, for the Herald in January 2019, ‘shamed’ and always … Continue reading While Tory bottom-pinchers are protected an SNP texter of one inappropriate message was hounded near to suicide

Note: Thanks to the Rev Stu Campbell for spotting this. This must be the last straw for residual Herald buyers. Just as the people of Liverpool rejected the Sun after it accused Liverpool FC supporters of stealing from the dead at Hillsborough, surely the people of Scotland can no longer buy the Herald? Most important, Salmond is currently innocent. Further, he is accused of crimes which though serious are not comparable with those of multiple serial killers such as Peter Sutcliffe, child killers such as the Wests or mass genocidal killers such as Adolf Eichmann. Only Weinstein, bottom-left, is guilty … Continue reading Last straw as Herald places Alex Salmond alongside Adolf Eichmann and the Yorkshire Ripper

In the Herald today: ‘The Scottish political world is holding its breath this weekend. Tomorrow, in Edinburgh’s High Court, Alex Salmond, the former SNP leader and First Minister of Scotland, will go on trial accused of 14 criminal charges including attempted rape, sexual assault and harassment.’ https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18289801.iain-macwhirter-alex-salmond-trial-split-snp-top-bottom/ It’s more than a year now, since Paul Tabloid Hutcheon predicted that the Salmond affair would ‘wear the SNP administration down.’ The 2019 General Election result may have countered that notion. From the commonly mild-mannered, sometimes independence-supporting Macwhirter, the headline ‘top to bottom’ seems a bit OTT. Did he write it? He is correct in his … Continue reading Macwhirter joins the fools in praying for an SNP Civil War

In the Herald today: ‘GROWING numbers of senior doctors are quitting the NHS or are not working additional shifts after being hit with more than £8 million in pension charges for working extra hours, new figures show. Medics have been warning for more than a year they would cut back on workloads because of the complex pension rules, and now figures show that NHS Dumfries and Galloway, NHS Fife, NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Tayside are among the boards that have seen increasing numbers of consultants retire.’ https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18289808.pension-rules-leaving-nhs-fewer-doctors-new-figures-show/ First, only 593 out of the 18 000 doctors (3.3%), in NHS Scotland, … Continue reading Pension rules having little effect on NHS Scotland staffing with 20% more consultants and 25% more GPS

Having avoided mentioning two obvious positive role models for Scots in the researcher leading the team in the US working to develop a vaccine for Coronavirus and the volunteer drugs worker planning to drive a safe injection van around Glasgow, don’t hold your breath for Reporting Scotland to give this much attention. Having watched their health correspondents over the years, I suspect this would do them some good. Sent to us by our non-chemical anti-depressant, Brian McGowan: Public urged to nominate their local health heroes People in Greater Glasgow and Clyde are being urged to nominate their local health heroes … Continue reading Hundreds of Health Service Heroes: Reporting Scotland’s kind of story?

Yesterday, a reader asked for evidence they could use to argue back against a flurry of comments in an online debate with a ‘unionist.’ My responses are here: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2020/03/07/bbc-england-accused-of-pro-tory-bias-as-infected-patients-not-segregated-from-other-patients-by-untrained-essex-hospital-staff/ This prompted another reader and regular contributor to offer this: stewartb David, I’m sure you’ll find the info from John both ‘sound’ and useful. I’d like to take advantage of you raising the challenge you are facing on FB to make some wider, generic comments on the challenge that we all face in countering Unionist arguments successfully. I hope you find this of interest and value. INTRODUCING THE ‘GISH GALLOP’ (With … Continue reading Countering Unionist arguments when they come in a ‘Gish Gallop’