FREEDOM!!!!

the whole business about being buried in an expensive coffin is a crock. - Halfwise

Sometimes that is quite true- there was a crematorioum in Scotland a few years ago where it was discovered once the coffin disappeared behind the curtain the body was taken out, some bit of old wood added and burnt with the body- the coffin was given a polish and went back on sale. I doubt very much they are the first lot to think of this.

Damn clever and I think they are doing society and the planet a favor. The only thing is they should charge one fee for 'rental', and the full fee for 'purchase', then do the same thing for both with the excuse that any arrogant twit that purchases a full expensive coffin for cremation deserves to be hoodwinked.

Bit of an uproar at the moment over a London based newspaer, The Economist, publishing an article on Scottish Independence in which they predict nothing but doom, gloom and catastrophe- but its the front cover really got the SNP annoyed.



However, whilst their article does predict doom and gloom entirely it has to concede at the start that Scotland is in fact all right for finances. Rather undermining the whole thing before it gets going.

'Scotland’s accounts of revenue and expenditure, based on Treasury data, show that it is not a ward of the state, grossly subsidised from Westminster. In fact it performs better than all regions outside the south-east of England, and has done particularly well in the past decade (see chart). In 2010-11 Scotland’s GDP was £145 billion ($225 billion) including a geographical share of North Sea oil and gas, around 10% of Britain’s, with 8.4% of the population.
Historically Scotland has received bigger grants per head from central government than Wales, for example—in part a tacit acknowledgment that it contributes handsomely to oil revenues, which in 2010-11 amounted to £8.8 billion.'- The Economist.

And notable for most of the past decade it has been under an SNP administration.

Incidentally I live near 'Done In' on that map- I'd like to see them come up here and say that to our faces-we'd could show them what 'done in' really looks like.

I've been on the Internet long enough that I'm not surprised to see you making violent threats against a goddamn magazine, Petty, but the fact that Salmond is also making threats (though not violent ones) is just pathetic. Yes, the cover is rather immature and yes, the article sounds pretty inaccurate and biased, though I haven't read it myself. Nonetheless, I'm getting an unpleasant Mohammed cartoon-esque vibe from the response to this. I'm disappointed by any government leader who can't respond to criticism in a mature way, even if the criticism itself is immature.

Just to be clear: I had no problem with Salmond's response, which by and large balanced indignation with reason pretty well, except for the part where he said The Economist would "rue the day" it printed the cover.

"If I should dive into a cake, or a scone of Finnish make,
I'll want some compote mild, of strawberry jam - I'll compose a smile -
If there's enough feed to please all the worms swimmin' in my tummy-grease...
But cabbages or corn that crunch in my teeth - this is a hunch -
Will surely cause me pain, when I contorting cry: "It's comin' out again!'"

Dee Mayes, the Beavers.

Wisey Banks

Whose threatening a magazine Eldo? I'm not- I'm threatening the journalists! And dont know what the internet has to do with it, we've been threatening the English for over a thousand years without it!
Its a media stushie (theres a good Scots word- means a big rumpus over nothing)- outside of the political classes noone really cares- the English have been dong and saying these sort sorts of things about Scotland longer than memory, water of a ducks back- but you have to understand the English like slagging us off and we like using it as an excuse to make threateing noises about them- its sort of an anacient dance easily mistaken for something serious by those who dont know its steps.

This seems to fit in this thread better than any other. Craig Ferguson, the best late night host ever, will be filming some shows back in his home country of Scotland.

http://news.yahoo.com/ferguson-taking-show-home-scotland-185956572.html

Why he's always been confined to the latest hours is beyond me, he's clearly funnier than Leno, Letterman, Conan.

I just realized I inspired a channeling by Wisey Banks. Great honor, that. Wish it was my poem what done it.

Well that could be interesting. According to that report:

'He also returns to his hometown of Cumbernauld, with stops at his childhood home and high school.'

But only a week or so a go the papers here were running with headlines like this:
'Chat show host dubbed a 'traitor' after levelling two-minute on-air attack at Cumbernauld'

And stories like this:


The former Cumbernauld High pupil spent two minutes telling millions of viewers that Scotland’s main problem was Cumbernauld while interviewing UK journalist and writer Jon Ronson, who named Hull ahead of Cumbernauld as the country’s worst town.
Mr Ferguson said: “There’s only one problem with Scotland – Cumbernauld.
“Everything’s broken, all the windows are broken, all the doors are off their hinges.
“Listen, don’t get me wrong. I love Scotland. I think it’s the other greatest country in the world. But I have to say, there’s only one problem with Scotland – Cumbernauld.”


This rather annoyed the inhabitants and of course the local Council'
Councillor Gerry McElroy said: “He has no justification for forming an opinion like that.
“He’s a bit of a traitor going on national US TV and talking this town down.
“I don’t see any reason to be derogatory about Cumbernauld. Everything that’s been said is absolute nonsense and just not justified. When was he last in Cumbernauld?
“There is nothing in this interview that describes Cumbernauld as it is now. It is ridiculous to paint such a picture.”

Given his age he is remembering Cumbernauld in the 70's- nothing worked in Britain in the 70's anywhere!

In the 70's you took your life in your hands walking Central Park after dark. Now they employ the police to chase the dog walkers out after 1 AM.

Ahh the 70' s in the UK- when even the dead went unburied! (And New York was only good for making films like the Warriors and The Wanderers).
Strangely enough seems to have been David Cameron's favourite decade- at least I assume that is we he seems hell bent on recreating it.

'The DNA of people living in Scotland has "extraordinary" and "unexpected" diversity, according to a new study.
The Scotland's DNA project, led by Edinburgh University's Dr Jim Wilson, has tested almost 1,000 Scots in the last four months to determine the genetic roots of people in the country.
The project discovered four new male lineages, which account for one in 10 Scottish men.
The project found that Scotland has almost 100 different groups of male ancestry from across Europe and further afield.
More than 150 different types of female DNA from Europe, Asia and Africa were discovered.
Scotland's DNA also found that more than 1% of all Scotsmen are direct descendants of the Berber and Tuareg tribesmen of the Sahara, a lineage which is around 5600 years old.
Royal Stewart DNA was confirmed in 15% of male participants with the Stewart surname. They are directly descended from the royal line of kings.'

Thats why Scots are unique Norc- we're most of the rest of the world rolled into one people- the ultimate melting pot! Proof positive of the pointless nature of racism.

Oh and for some reason we keep coming up with shit like this:

'Researchers at Glasgow University have developed a revolutionary new process to print drugs using 3D printing technology.
The development could lead to people having a "personal pharmacy" dispensing medicines at home.
The team say their work, which has been published in the journal Nature Chemistry, may one day be able to diagnose illnesses before they happen.'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-17744314

This from Wiki on an unusual genetic marker.

Geneticists have found that seven men with a rare Yorkshire surname carry a genetic signature previously found only in people of African origin. All the men had haplogroup A1, a Y chromosome genetic marker which is west African specific. Haplogroup A1 is rare and has only ever been found 25 times, again only in people of African origin. Haplogroup A1 is a subclade of Haplogroup A which geneticists believe originated in Eastern or Southern Africa. The individuals had no knowledge of any African heritage in their family. The researchers wondered if the presence of this haplogroup in Yorkshire could stem from the recruitment of Africans for the construction of Hadrian's Wall by the Romans or result from intermarriage with an African slave, some of whom rose quite high in society. According to Bryan Sykes, some English people's genetics suggest that they are "descended from north African, Middle Eastern and Roman clans", and that "although the Romans ruled from AD 43 until 410, they left a tiny genetic footprint."


Geneticists have shown that former American president Thomas Jefferson, who might have been of Welsh descent, along with two other British men out of 85 British men with the surname Jefferson, carry the rare Y chromosome marker T which is typically found in East Africa and the Middle East. Haplogroup T is rare in Europe but phylogenetic network analysis of its Y-STR (short tandem repeat) haplotype shows that it is most closely related to an Egyptian T haplotype. The presence of scattered and diverse European haplotypes within the network is nonetheless consistent with Jefferson's patrilineage belonging to an ancient and rare indigenous European type

Perhaps I could get faxed some drugs to make me happy while not harming my health, or effect my behaviour in a deleterious fashion, directly or indirectly, in regard to my own wellbeing or the health and safety of others, both mental and physical. Now that would be good, wouldn't it? Why are you such a Non-believer, Petty. I thought you'd like there to be more Progess in drug Supply...


{{{hee hee - that'll set that cynical Scotshobbit frothing at the mouth... hee hee... }}}

Mrs Figg, people have been rooting people, all over the place, every Conqueror and his Horde, ever since Adam rooted Eve...

Oh blimey, we ALL have African genes in our blood, for chrissake. Don't these folks know anything about prehistoric migrations?

Its all good as far as I am concerned, more evidence there is that makes any attempt to rationalise or gloss over racism is good enough for me. More we can mock bigots fror not knowing we are all closely related and the same species the better as far as I am concerned.

And Orwell, I meant shit in a good way- I think its an ingenoius invention and your suggestion is only one of the many uses it could offer. And once they've worked out how to replace the printer mechanics with some sort of energy field they'll have invented the Replicator!

halfwise wrote:Oh blimey, we ALL have African genes in our blood, for chrissake. Don't these folks know anything about prehistoric migrations?

At least they seem to be proud of it! That's progress, if you ask me.

I hope I don't offend anyone by saying this, but I reckon Racism is only for the stupidest people in any Race. Racists are the Universal Measure of Basic Stupidity, black, white or brindle.

Orwell wrote:I hope I don't offend anyone by saying this, but I reckon Racism is only for the stupidest people in any Race. Racists are the Universal Measure of Basic Stupidity, black, white or brindle.

Pride on ones race is often the last resort of people who have nothing else to be proud of.

David H wrote:

Orwell wrote:I hope I don't offend anyone by saying this, but I reckon Racism is only for the stupidest people in any Race. Racists are the Universal Measure of Basic Stupidity, black, white or brindle.

Pride on ones race is often the last resort of people who have nothing else to be proud of.

Though these statements may be true now I don't think they were a century ago.

I suspect it's always been true. In any classed society, the people on the bottom social rung need somebody to look down on. Race is usually the next step of prejudice when all the social prejudice has been exhausted.

David H wrote:I suspect it's always been true. In any classed society, the people on the bottom social rung need somebody to look down on. Race is usually the next step of prejudice when all the social prejudice has been exhausted.

Where and when has ever "all the social prejudice" been exhausted?

I concur with the question Orwell just posed