A VOICE OF REASON AND DECENCY FROM A FACEBOOK POSTER.

"Can i just take this opportunity to remind you all that Mr Mohammed from your local shop wasn't involved in Friday nights attacks on Paris. Neither was Mrs Azeer from Lloyds Bank or her family. Kamal from down the road has never been to Paris, and his brother Abdul, the taxi driver, was watching the news in horror along with everyone else.

The people behind last night's attacks weren't Muslims, they were extremists using religion as vindication for their cowardice.

Please, I urge each and everyone of you, do not lay blame at the doors of the innocent just because of what they believe. They are no more to blame for Paris than you are.

We are one world and one family. Treat each other as such, because what happened last night should bring us closer together, not make us lash out against our neighbours for a perceived religion affiliation".

"we feel in England that we have treated you (Irish) very badly, it seems history is to blame" James Joyce Ulysses.

The young Irish footballer James McLean is once again in the news for refusing to wear a poppy and, I am glad to see that his resolve is as strong as ever and support for him continues to grow. Ireland looms large of course in this matter for James McLean as it does for many Irish people and their descendents, like me in fact and my large extended family. He hails from a place he and many others call Derry which is called Londonderry by those who want to highlight their Britishness over their Irishness and Derry by those who want to emphasise their Irishness over their Britishness. It was historically known as Derry and renamed Londonderry by the British after their invasion and occupation of Ireland which, continues to this day. The relationship between Britain and Ireland has been a fraught one and young Mr. McLean is from the tradition that sees itself downtrodden, just as I do. He has his cause and he is going to stand up for it and I for one salute him for that.

My Father was one of 5 brothers who all fought in WW2, I never once saw him or any of my uncles wear a poppy. He was in the 8^Th. Army and served in Greece, North Africa and Italy. The only time I ever heard him say anything about WW2 was when he periodically declared his hatred for Field Marshall Montgomery, Winston Churchill and the Monarchy, all of whom were part of the conspiracy to make his life perilous and uncomfortable. He would have behaved in exactly the same way as James McLean and so would I; he is doing the truth a favour when he reminds us of Britain’s brutal past. The usual armchair generals and right wing journalists will continue to go for him but I reckon that this young man will not break. The annual remembrance day events lost any dignity they might have had many years ago and are now jingoistic military celebrations which are in denial about Britain’s history. It’s time for it to be stopped and replaced by something dignified and a bit more low key. We ought to start with getting rid of the poppies and the odious “poppy police”.    

Stuart Hosie, Angus Robertson, Angela Constance and Mhairi Black. Make it the BBC 4 the SNP 0.

How is it possible to make the Tory prince of Darkness Ian Duncan Smith look genial, gentle and generous? Put him up against the hopelessly out of her depth Mhairi Black and watch him show his fatherly chivalrous side. What a humiliation, her and Angela Constance should form a comedy duet. Did you see her  car crash TV interview today?. A couple of weeks ago it was SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson and SNP Holyrood Deputy Leader Stuart Hosie being traduced and shown up as incompetent idiots by Andrew Neil. Only another four and a half years of this mortification and squirming embarrassment for Scotland to suffer through.

ALL SCOTLAND IT SEEMS IS APPLAUDING THE TORY GOVERNMENT'S DEFEAT OVER TAX CREDITS EXCEPT WHO?. THE SNP THAT'S WHO.

It is quite clear that the snp are so malicious and sectarian that they can't bring themselves to applaud the damage inflicted on the Tory government over the issue of tax credits. 

They are proving once again as they did with the bedroom tax that they would rather watch Scottish people suffer so that they can blame the hated English. They are poison. 

“SHCOTLUND HUV NEVER LOST AT ANYTHING WITHOUT BEING CHEATED” SHUGGIE MAC CYBERNAT.

Nicola Sturgeon is again trotting out demands about Trident and lying to people on an industrial scale. It could be 7 or 8 years before another referendum if there is ever going to be one and then there is no guarantee that Scotland would vote for separation, and then they would have who knows how long to set it up if they gained that separation.To get rid of Trident Scotland would first have to be independent and the SNP are in retreat from even discussing independence, This makes their sabre rattling about Trident rather futile does it not. They (the snp) do however definitely need a distraction. They are also guilty of over estimating Scottish support for getting rid of Trident. They also refuse to mention that this issue is about ‘means to an end’, I do not know a single person who does not want to get rid of Nuclear Weapons throughout the whole world, including Scotland, and that makes their whole argument a tissue of lies. The biggest lie of all which is perpetrated by the snp and their supporters is ‘if you don’t vote to get rid of Trident then you are in favour of nuclear weapons’ this is a deliberate deception. Those who say it will make us safer if we get rid of Trident are either misinformed or deceitful, to accept their analysis you would have to believe that nuclear weapons based in England, N.I. or Wales would not present any danger to Scotland and that is clearly untenable. These weapons could be relocated close to Scotland’s large population centres by placing them on the N.I. coast or near the English border Trident has been flogged to death as an excuse for voting for separation, it is a massive lie and it’s about time the SNP started telling the truth about it.   

Conference time - During and after the Labour conference people like Corbyn, McConnell and John Prescott were hounded by the press and TV, Neil V Prescott is a must see for lessons on how to take the wind out of the sails of an arrogant interviewer, the ebullient  Prescott was “floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee” hilarious stuff.

Sporting Scotland? - It is noticeable that Nicola Sturgeon has been dragged kicking and screaming in to castigating the SNP cybernats for their attacks on Scottish rugby supporters mainly JK Rowling and Muriel Gray after Scotland’s defeat at the hands of Australia. These people are thugs and it is ironic that no one did more to create these vile characters than Salmond, ably supported by the increasingly distressed Sturgeon. This latest outburst of nationalist poison was caused by a game of rugby! a game played in Scotland by those who are not good enough to play football, the paucity of rugby pitches emphasises that the coverage this sport gets is out of all proportion to it’s popularity. The reaction of these ‘tartanshirt clowns’ suggests that if there was a World Cup for girning and whining Scotland would win it. It would appear that any person who attains a high level in sport, science, entertainment or discovery is according to these morons not entitled to call themselves Scottish if they disagree with the SNP!       

These people live in a delusional tartan bubble where Sean Connery is a far better actor than Laurence Olivier, Robert Burns is superior to Shakespeare and Bobby Charlton couldn’t lace Jim Baxter’s boots. “Nationalism is a disease, it’s the measles of the planet Earth” said Albert Einstein. SNP apologists plead that their kind of nationalism is not like that, they claim to be ‘civic’ nationalist not ‘ethnic’ nationalist when all the evidence clearly shows that they are indeed ethnic nationalists of the worst kind. It was Billy Connolly who said “when the best thing you have going for you is where you come from, you are in deep s**t” I can’t put it any better than that. Just over four and a half years of this to go before the next general election, the rest of the world might just have died laughing at us before then.      

A QUESTION FOR STURGEON AND THE SNP.

What will happen first, will Scotland win the World Cup or will the SNP put independence on the agenda. I wonder what the new members think now, surrounded as they are by shysters and crooks and a leadership which is afraid of pursuing what was once their single political issue, whisper it, shshshsh “independence". 

NO PETERLOO THIS TIME.

Manchester Cathedral was packed last night to hear Jeremy Corbyn speak and 7,000 people gathered outside to hear him on loud speakers. The last time a huge political gathering of this kind took place in Manchester it led to what became famous as “The Peterloo Massacre” which was much bigger and it was where Mounted State Troopers wielding sabers charged the crowd killing 18 and injuring 700 of the estimated 70,000 who were there to hear an MP known as “Orator Hunt” speak on behalf of parliamentary reform. Many of the crowd had not long returned as heroes of the battle of Waterloo hence the ironic name of Peterloo was adopted by the people. The great radical poet Shelley wrote about these events in his epic poem “The Mask of Anarchy” it is an inspiring tour de force and well worth reading it contains this famous verse which has inspired workers in  strife ever since.

Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number,
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you-
Ye are many - they are few."   

The people are stirring, the crowds are getting bigger, the Tory capitalist press are panicking as people flock in their thousands to Labour’s banner. Now is the time for everyone to play their part, Tories out! Crush capitalism!. 

DOES NICOLA STURGEON HAVE AN EVIL IDENTICAL TWIN?.

Over 4 years as Scottish Health Minister and sturgeon, when asked about the state of that health service says, ‘I know nothing’. When caught lobbying on behalf of serial fraudster Abdul Rauf who was found guilty of an £80,000 benefits fraud Nicola Sturgeon said ‘I know nothing’. She also described his previous pensions and benefits frauds amounting to £60,000 as ‘mistakes’. There’s more, when asked about serial wife beater SNP MSP Bill Walker who was jailed for a year managing to get through the SNP’S vetting procedures, Nicola Sturgeon said ‘I know nothing’.

When home owners are struggling to pay their mortgages and going through a period of despair along comes SNP MP Michelle Thomson and screws them into the ground, purchases their homes for knock down prices and trousers the profits and guess what?, you have got it haven’t you?, Nicola Sturgeon announced ‘I knew nothing’ about it’, “it” by the way which Nicola knew nothing about was a property portfolio worth £1.7 million accumulated by cruel, pitiless, capitalist abuse of people who are vulnerable.

We now come to SNP MSP and Minister for culture Fiona  Hyslop who is under investigation about a Scottish Gov. £150,000 gift to the T in The Park music festival?. The owners of the festival have made £12 million profit over the last 3 years. Jennifer Dempsie who was an aid to Alex Salmond and is married to Angus Robertson SNP’S Westminster leader brokered the meeting between Ms. Hyslop and the festival, she has now decided to withdraw her candidacy for an MSP’s job, I can’t help but wonder why, can you?. Incidentally Nicola Sturgeon ‘knew nothing’. 

Thursday October 1^st. 2015 – 09.00 am. And this morning’s newspaper revelations are that 16 SNP MP’S at Westminster have second incomes from property deals. Nicola Sturgeon has not yet been asked to comment but, I suspect that she may well say ‘I knew nothing about this’.   4 years and 7 months to go until the next general election and the SNP are off to a flier. 

INTERNECINE WAR BREAKS OUT IN THE RENFREWSHIRE SNP GROUP.

The circus rolled back in to town 2 days ago as The full Renfrewshire Council held it’s statutory meeting. The SNP group look dispirited as their numbers at these events continued to dwindle through suspensions and internal strife; they now look like the American Indians who were forced off their land in what became known as The Trail of Tears in the 1830’s, a sorry sight indeed, fractious, and capricious, they are now preoccupied with fighting each other. They even moved a motion to change the name of the new Queen Elizabeth the 2^nd Infirmary and one of their own number Cllr. Doig, the one who is not suspended moved that the debate be stopped?. Based on what their new rising star Cllr. Kenny McLaren had to say they wanted the name changed, he rather strangely did not mention the other numerous places which are named for members of the royal family, The Queen Elizabeth the first ship and the 2^nd, The Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews, there are thousands of examples but he did not seem to have any plans for them. I know that he reads this blog so I invite him to tell us what he proposes for all these other places, buildings, theatres etc. with Royal names.

On this occasion the meeting had to be temporarily stopped until order was restored among the opposition who seemed to be mobbing and rioting among themselves. Mr. Andy Doig who was ‘otherwise detained’ missed the meeting, thus avoiding the embarrassment of having to sit through a discussion and motion condemning hate crimes. He is of course now indisposed because he has been exposed as the sender of an email where he made ‘Misogynistic’ and ‘Homophobic’ remarks, the latter theme was directed at his fellow SNP ‘Ex friend’ Scottish Government Minister Derek Mackay MSP. In my humble opinion the fact that Mr. Mackay declared his sexuality in public makes him twice the man that the nasty email sender could ever be. I wrote at the time and I repeat now that Derek Mackay and I have crossed swords many times and I believe that he has many faults and is wrong on many things but being gay is not one of them and that is as it should be.   Mr. Doig is now referring to himself as an ‘Independent’ which doubles our number of ‘Independent’ councillors and he will now likely be sharing a room with the other ‘Independent’ Cllr. Mack, some Cllrs. are already referring to this room rather unkindly IMO as “The Special Unit”. We also managed to donate money to the Refugee Crisis and reiterate our support as a council for them. We were given an update on the situation and informed that a minimum of 50 refugees would be coming here in the not too distant future, so the meeting wasn’t a complete waste of time. I only hope that the refugees coming to Renfrewshire are not shown any webcast films of this council meeting.          

CORBYN THE REPUBLICAN HUMILIATES STURGEON, SALMOND AND THE SPINELESS SNP MEMBERS WHO ALLOW THEM TO WALK OVER THEM.

WHEN you've shouted "Rule Britannia," when you've sung "God save the Queen," 
When you've finished killing Kruger with your mouth,
Will you kindly drop a shilling in my little tambourine
For a gentleman in khaki ordered South? Rudyard Kipling.

The author of the above words was a great enthusiast for the British Empire and a man who sympathised greatly with the rank and file British Army soldier.

On the same day that the British gutter press orchestrated an explosion of vile personal abuse against Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, the Tory Government passed a bill which ensures that three million of Britain’s poorest families are to lose £1,000 per year through cuts in tax credits. His sin? he was seen not singing the national anthem god save the queen at a centenary commemoration of the battle of Britain.

This will no doubt shock you but I have never in my 66 years stood for the national anthem and I have no intention of starting to do so now. If I find myself unavoidably at an official occasion I stand silently rather than cause offence to my hosts but, generally speaking I make it my business not to be around places where this preposterous dirge is sung. I salute those who fought and died and as well as those who were wounded in the fight against Nazism and I can’t help but note the irony involved here, because, if the Nazis had won anyone caught not singing the national anthem “god save our gracious Hitler” would be shot.

The cut in tax credits will not of course affect the Royal Family despite the fact that none of them have ever done a day’s work in their lives or indeed heard a gun fired in anger, the only benefit we gain from such absurd Gobbelsesque press behaviour is that we are reminded of what a mind numbingly dim-witted, insensible and downright rotten our society is. The real reason for the outpouring of hatred from the establishment is of course that Corbyn and people like him shine a light on the unchecked greed of the rich and powerful, he makes them look and feel guilty, what a breath of fresh air he is proving to be.    

ALI TO FOREMAN "MAN YOU ARE IN THE WRONG PLACE TO GET TIRED".

Muhamad Ali’s words above were said as Foreman started to miss and stumble  in the famous ‘rumble in the jungle’ world heavy weight title fight. These words from the great Ali strike a chord with me now with the SNP as the lies and abuse continue to increase in the attacks on Jeremy Corbyn. The right wing Tory/SNP media are getting a reaction but, it’s not what the Tory/nationalist cabal expected.

Since Corbyn’s stunning election triumph on Saturday over 30,000 people have joined the Labour Party, “the people’s on the march” as the famous song says and the “times they are a changing” as another famous song says. The polls which the SNP recently became so fond of are now predicting a severe kick in the “Niagara Falls” for the tartan shirted fascists. I watched them in Parliament today and they already look like a busted flush. How long can a “single issue” sustain a political party?, people are seeing through them and their “one trick pony” of anti English bigotry and we are only 6 months in to a 5 year parliament. We are now hearing pleading almost on a daily basis from the SNP to Labour to form a coalition, what will they be like in 4 years time?. One thing only surprises me in all of this, I thought it would take a little longer for it to go pear shaped for the SNP but I’m not complaining.     

WEE NICOLA, QUEEN BETTY'S NEW LADY IN WAITING.

I have just witnessed the most excruciatingly funny thing I've ever seen in my life when I saw Nicola Sturgeon trying her best to sing God Save the Queen without moving her lips, she could have easily been standing in front of a firing squad by the looks of her. She gets full marks however for hypocrisy and her willingness to show her 'Janus face' when there is something in it for her. It was a remarkable display of duplicity as she wallowed in the celebrations of Queen Betty's longevity. She was so sycophantic in fact that we were left in no doubt at all that had there been a requirement to sing the whole dirge right through she would have sung this, the last verse, with great gusto.

Lord grant that Marshal Wade
May by thy mighty aid
Victory bring
May he sedition hush
And like a torrent rush
Rebellious Scots to crush
God save the Queen.

To paraphrase Jonathan Swift :- "If you have a Scotsman on a spit you can always pay another Scotsman to turn him for you".  

THE BELEAGURED REFUGEES ARE IN "NEED OF A NEIGHBOUR". WILL YOU HELP OR CROSS ON THE OTHER SIDE?.

When I hear those Christian hypocrites like Prime Minister David Cameron make his squalid remarks about refugees, I think of the great Christian and Quaker Sydney Carter who wrote this song called “When I needed a neighbour” He is better known for writing the phenomenally popular “Lord of the dance” but this song speaks directly to those who are concerned by the refugee crisis and hopefully genuine Christians everywhere as well as people of every race, creed and colour and those who are not religious as well will empathise with it.   

When I needed a neighbour

Were you there, were you there?

When I needed a neighbour

Were you there?

And the creed and the colour

And the name won't matter

Were you there?

I was hungry and thirsty

Were you there, were you there?

I was hungry and thirsty

Were you there?

And the creed and the colour

And the name won't matter

Were you there?

I was cold, I was naked

Were you there, were you there?

I was cold, I was naked

Were you there?

And the creed and the colour

And the name won't matter

Were you there?

When I needed a shelter

Were you there, were you there?

When I needed a shelter

Were you there?

And the creed and the colour

And the name won't matter

Were you there?

When I needed a healer

Were you there, were you there?

When I needed a healer

Were you there?

And the creed and the colour

And the name won't matter

Were you there?

Wherever you travel

I'll be there, I'll be there.

Wherever you travel

I'll be there.

And the creed and the colour

And the name won't matter

I'll be there.

GAZA CAME TO SCOTLAND AND THEIR PEOPLE FOUND THEMSELVES AMONG FRIENDS.

With reference to the flier below about Gaza. Last Sunday saw the event to raise funds for the relief of Gaza take place at the Normandy Hotel. A large crowd attended and the very worthwhile charity benefitted. Food similar to that which the people of Gaza eat was served (small portions) to remind the audience of the reality of life in the Gaza Strip. The hotel lobby was transformed in to a Palestinian Bazaar with Palestinian/Arab goods on sale, ornaments, crockery. clothing, books etc. Rugs, curtains and table cloths hung on walls giving the place a traditional appearance and very exotic it all was, A very high standard of skill and craftsmanship was on display. I half expected to see Claude Rains, Sidney Greenstreet and Humphrey Bogart huddled together at a corner table plotting something.   

The keynote speaker Professor Norman Finklestein gave an impassioned and very informative speech about the Middle East and Palestine and the Palestinian Ambassador to the UK Manual Hassassian also gave a speech full of passion, information and opinion, it was good to hear these people talk about Gaza and explain some of the myths which Israel pedals about it. The MC for the evening was one of Palestine’s best known, loyal and hard working supporters Labour’s Pauline McNeil.

The people of Palestine have to put up with hellish conditions and brutal occupation, living as they do in the case of Gaza in the most overcrowded place on the Earth. The misery for them never ceases as Israel continues to invade and occupy their land and destroy their homes and villages, it is nothing short of genocide and is the longest occupation ever of one country over another, 48 years. This is far from over, public opinion slowly but surely is turning against Israel who are now recognised worldwide as war criminals.

A word of congratulation to those at one of the tables at the dinner, completely overturning the reputation of football fans were a group of young football supporters who are supporters of the Palestine cause and they also support Glasgow Celtic and they are known as the “The Green Brigade”. As Bob Dylan once famously sang “The times they are a changing”. VIVA PALESTINA !!!