Tag: art

1 Comment

Baillie silent as Scotland has no pharmacy loss since 2017 and pharmacists in crisis in England lose 1 500 and still ‘look to Scotland’s contract

johnrobertson834

Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Dramatic news from BBC Breakfast this morning. Scotland? No mention but a big story on a murder…….in LA. Scotland has not seen a large net loss of pharmacies since 2017. Numbers have stayed broadly stable, in contrast to England. There were 1 253 on the register in December 20171 and 1 283 in 20262. Scotland’s contract and funding model has been cited as offering more protection than England’s. BBC Health made this explicit. BBC Scotland looked the other way. Pharmacists in England look to Scotland, where a scheme called … Continue reading Baillie silent as Scotland has no pharmacy loss since 2017 and pharmacists in crisis in England lose 1 500 and still ‘look to Scotland’s contract

5 Comments

Massive improvement in rape conviction rate in Scotland and rape offences up to three times higher in England & Wales

johnrobertson834

Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 From BBC UK, the above, and: Specialist courts to handle cases of rape and other sexual offences will be introduced across England and Wales over the next two years, the prime minister has announced. Each crown court will have at least one courtroom especially set up to hear such cases, while alleged victims will be able to view proceedings remotely and give evidence from a separate room via video link. Watch out for the media operating in Scotland to call for the same in Scotland and to quickly accuse … Continue reading Massive improvement in rape conviction rate in Scotland and rape offences up to three times higher in England & Wales

8 Comments

How new Scottish Labour leader lied in a rant on the best NHS in the UK but is easily corrected

johnrobertson834

Help Talking-up Scotland keep goingCrowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-goingOr by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 I could not sleep waiting for this result. 😉 Yes, yes but: Indeed but sadly, I do, quite a bit having, sadly again, written about him a few times here. Here’s the latest from February 2026, to give you a flavour of the man, sour of course. I know it has a tiny audience, but Michael Marra of ‘Scottish’ Labour had a rant on BBC Scotland’s Debate Night, 19 February 2026, of such hysterical dishonesty and fear for the near extinction event they face in May , I felt … Continue reading How new Scottish Labour leader lied in a rant on the best NHS in the UK but is easily corrected

2 Comments

Àird nan Saor – Recycling England’s imperial forts in Scotland

johnrobertson834

Help Talking-up Scotland keep going Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 This x discussion yesterday drew my attention at https://x.com/IainRWhite/status/2100667566557458939?s=20: Absolutely! I like An Gearasdan Dubh. Help Talking-up Scotland keep goin Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 I was reminded instantly of something I posted last year but based on an earlier piece in 2021: Fort George, Scotland’s very own Fort Apache is apparently at risk again. It was under threat four years ago: In the Times 17 October 2021: Up to 1,700 soldiers could be axed in Scotland as the Ministry of … Continue reading Àird nan Saor – Recycling England’s imperial forts in Scotland

7 Comments

The prof who believes that Pisa tests prove England’s schools are better is also the same one who tried to stop my research in 2014 revealing BBC bias from affecting the Referendum

johnrobertson834

Not just posing in front of books but higgledy-piggledy ones? Help Talking-up Scotland keep goin Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Regulars here will know that we’ve been reacting, often angrily, to Prof Paterson’s attempts to shame Scottish schools, based on the skills he picked up in his own early research into barley crop yields, bull testicles and other agricultural products. I won’t re-tread these today. I have another reason to question his motivations, that I’d forgotten about these 13 years since I did quantitative research into BBC/STV reporting of the referendum campaign and found, … Continue reading The prof who believes that Pisa tests prove England’s schools are better is also the same one who tried to stop my research in 2014 revealing BBC bias from affecting the Referendum

1 Comment

Even under Plaid Cymru rule BBC Wales can maintain professional journalism standards miles above the BBC Scotland scare stories

johnrobertson834

Two headlines sum it all up for us? Help Talking-up Scotland keep goin Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 BBC Wales and BBC Scotland react, both on the 9th September, to the latest Pisa results. The BBC Wales reporting is especially notable given these: Imagine if Scotland had been bottom, how BBC Scotland would have covered. Of course, the English figures are fiddled. They’ve just recruited image consultants to present their still dodgy data so that they don’t nearly get chucked off the whole thing as in 2022. See: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2026/09/08/two-leading-academics-cast-doubt-on-englands-supposedly-better-pisa-scores-as-their-sample-is-revealed-to-be-skewed-toward-high-achievers-by-schools-gaming-the-system-again/ Help Talking-up Scotland keep goin Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or … Continue reading Even under Plaid Cymru rule BBC Wales can maintain professional journalism standards miles above the BBC Scotland scare stories

3 Comments

One more nightmare which only BBC Scotland headline and not one word to inform you of how Scotland is reducing violence against women and increasing rape convictions

johnrobertson834

Help Talking-up Scotland keep going Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 In an endless trail of tales of single shocking offences, BBC Scotland, fail in their duty to inform the public. There is nothing in the above headlining story of one monster and his victim, to do other than to give nightmares. Most revealing of where BBC Scotland now sits (in the gutter), not one other newspaper operating in Scotland has this story on its front page. ‘I was weeks from marrying a violent serial rapist – my loved ones saved my life?’ Did Police … Continue reading One more nightmare which only BBC Scotland headline and not one word to inform you of how Scotland is reducing violence against women and increasing rape convictions

1 Comment

Unionist Socialist Workers Party member tells Bella Caledonia readers that Scottish firefighters ‘cannot take any more cuts’ but forgets to mention fires down by 35% yet staffing down by only 18%

johnrobertson834

Call that a wildfire crisis? See this: Help Talking-up Scotland keep going Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Bella Caledonia is great, nearly all the time. They have a lot of high quality writing, often putting our more prosaic percentages and line-graphs stuff in the shade but, every so often, show considerable political naïveté or lack of concern, platforming attacks on the Scottish Government which can only damage the wider movement – if you can’t run a…how can you run a country? Two days ago they had the above from an SWP member on behalf … Continue reading Unionist Socialist Workers Party member tells Bella Caledonia readers that Scottish firefighters ‘cannot take any more cuts’ but forgets to mention fires down by 35% yet staffing down by only 18%

5 Comments

Explosion risk in almost empty Arran ferry gas escape was essentially zero

johnrobertson834

Help Talking-up Scotland keep going Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 BBC Scotland yesterday: A faulty valve on a CalMac ferry led to a sudden and uncontrolled release of highly flammable methane gas last summer, BBC Scotland News has learned.The operator’s investigation found that 700kg of the gas – enough to fill a four-bedroomed house – was vented from the side of MV Glen Sannox over the space of 12 minutes while it was carrying 82 passengers from Arran to the mainland. So much methane was released that some of it was sucked into a … Continue reading Explosion risk in almost empty Arran ferry gas escape was essentially zero

4 Comments

When will BBC Scotland hire an education correspondent that can read published peer-review research revealing how Pisa reduces creative work and can weaken later learning

johnrobertson834

Help Talking-up Scotland keep going Crowdfunder at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-talking-up-scotland-keep-going Or by direct bank transfer to: JOHN WATSON ROBERTSON Sort Code – 08-91-04 Account – 12266421 Quick as you don’t like, BBC Scotland‘s ‘Education Correspondent’, with barely a thought it seems, is taking the latest Pisa data on reading all-too-dimly. Who is she? Lucy Adams at the University of Glasgow -She studied for an MLitt in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow between 2006 and 2008. This is an interesting part of her background because creative writing can strengthen narrative skill, precision of language and the ability to bring lived experience vividly onto the page. She also completed a … Continue reading When will BBC Scotland hire an education correspondent that can read published peer-review research revealing how Pisa reduces creative work and can weaken later learning