Category Archives: Uncategorized

A recent book by Prof Higgs of Essex University is entitled Identifying the English but it will be of little help in the independence debate as it is all about identity theft since 1500. But one of the major components … Continue reading →

Today’s Hootsmon prints an op ed piece by local MSP Iain Gray entitled “Smiling and Nodding Will not Create Change”. In it, Iain, a former  Minister for Social Justice, fulminates about the lack of progress in harmonising (if not actually … Continue reading →

The future, we are told, must be green. To be green, the future must be sustainable and the only way civilisation can be sustainable is through public transport, the backbone of which is our railways. Are you with me so … Continue reading →

Today (Friday 2nd March) The Grauniad printed an op ed piece from Jim Murphy MP entitled “Scotland Cannot Afford to Leave NATO” in which Jim, in his usual declarative style, seeks to disparage the SNP’s position, this time on defence … Continue reading →

  One day a florist went to a barber for a haircut. After the cut, he asked about his bill, and the barber replied, “I can’t accept money from you; I’m doing community service this week.” The florist was pleased … Continue reading →

L’UNION LIBRE Ma femme à la chevelure de feu de bois Aux pensées d’éclairs de chaleur À la taille de sablier Ma femme à la taille de loutre entre les dents du tigre Ma femme à la bouche de cocarde … Continue reading →

As the debate on independence heats up, Clive Fairweather, a retired SAS colonel and a man who knows a thing or two about such things, wrote a chippy little article in the Hootsmon last month in which he bemoaned the … Continue reading →

A twist on the US Marine Corps recruiting slogan is no bad way to start people thinking about the 75% (yes, that much) of Scotland that is underwater. Look at a map of the UK’s territorial waters and—even if you … Continue reading →

Economics has been called the dismal science and a joke with more than a little truth to it is if you want a bewildering number of projections, you simply ask a couple of economists what they think. But, sometimes, things … Continue reading →