Monthly Archives: July 2013

Jebel al Toliano

(in a parallel universe not far away…) Bzzz…zzzt…Ssshwweek…service of the BBC; here is the news. The confrontation on the Goodwin Sands over Sandwich Cricket Club’s insistence on playing its traditional ‘Low-Tide Annual’ cricket match there has caused another incident with … Continue reading

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Chancellor or Chancer?

Those looking for vilification of Osbo  can stop reading now. Though the poor schmuck has so far made a pigs ear of the best job he’ll ever have, it is a former holder of the post that is the subject. … Continue reading

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We Don’t Teach No Calculation

A major plank of the argument made in the previous blog (The Other End of Empire) for an upside for Scotland’ independence, using Singapore as an example was its education system. A central priority virtually since their independence, some 20% … Continue reading

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The Other End of Empire

Back when the British Raj was at its greatest and one fifth of any self-respecting globe was painted pink, the entire “empire on which the sun never set” was held together by a series of bases from which redcoats and … Continue reading

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Elvis Has Left the Fairway

With the Open now closed, it’s meet to take stock of the net effect of such a huge circus rolling into as small a town as Gullane. From almost any perspective, it must be considered a huge success and the … Continue reading

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In The Bunker

North Berwick High Street was a-buzz into the late evening yesterday. Although the Fringe-by-the-Sea beach hut had closed, the pavement tables were jammed and even Rory McIlroy was forced to the subterfuge of getting Bert’s personal number off the ESPN … Continue reading

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Ye Olde Schizophrenia

Tuesday was a busy one for news regarding the UK’s defence posture. A Liberal Democrat-led review of alternatives to a like-for-like replacement of the UK’s nuclear arsenal has been deflected and will, according to PM Cameron, not affect government policy: the … Continue reading

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Paving Paradise

Coming as she does from Southern California, Joni knows a thing or two about untrammeled development in a culture that believes endless space to build is its rightful inheritance. Here in Scotland, despite the echoing emptiness of glen after glen … Continue reading

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No Future in the Past

This weekend has seen a couple of unionists stick their head above the parapet with more style and conviction than seems to have been the case heretofore. In today’s Hootsmon, Brian Monteith makes the fair point that asking valid questions … Continue reading

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Notes from the Imperial Capital

The month’s hiatus in posting is not explained by a week’s trip to London to meet up with some very good friends from the States—but there was little chance to ruminate in the hectic that passes for life dahn inna … Continue reading

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