On:
In: Margaret Hamilton

We had been feeling the pressure for a while. The daily briefing from the First Minister. The lack of briefing from the Prime Minister. The weird numbers being thrown around by the Westminster cabinet and their advisors. The negators on social media and given space on mainstream media. The Council leaders, business owners, union leaders constantly shouting the negatives and ‘we need help’. We all need help. The people making the best of the situation, changing operations to keep going, helping others out were not being noticed or heard. Then the US presidential elections. The lying, the bullying, the threats. The inciting of hatred andRead More →

On:
In: Stephen Bird

Four years ago, millions of Americans decided to stay at home on polling day because they didn’t like Hilary Clinton, as a result we have seen the worst President I have ever known. Inactions have consequences. Like millions of others across the globe, I am hoping and praying that by the time you read this, Joe Biden will be the 46th President-Elect. If not, I really do fear for the world we know and for the people of America who will have shown a level of stupidity which has stripped them of all credibility and respect. There will be no free world left for theirRead More →

On:
In: Jim Lynch

I just had my 86th Birthday, Fri 23 Oct, so I am waxing philosophical: “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,Creeps in this petty pace from day to day until the last syllable of  recorded time.And all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death.Out out brief candle, life is but a poor player , who struts and frets his hour upon the stage , and then is heard no more.It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” I used to think this was from Hamlet, who seems to soliloquise a lot, but it is from MacBeth;  IRead More →

On:
In: Maureen MacGregor

On 30 October, the final post office in Wick closes after a 6 month extension to the previous closing date in the hope that a solution would be found.  Over the last couple of years there have been many changes with both dedicated town offices, one serving each side of the river, closing.  A local shopkeeper initially opened a counter in two of his shops and a community premises established a third in their premises but it did not take long before two shut their doors both citing the fact that it was costing them more in running costs than they were receiving recompense for. Read More →

On:
In: Grant Thoms, Uncategorized

A new poll by Progress Scotland has created a stushie with a resounding message: the vast majority of Scots want decisions about Scotland to be made in Scotland. As SNP Depute Leader, Keith Brown says: “This poll confirms that we are winning the economic argument over Scotland’s future. More and more, people across Scotland believe that independence will not only give us a stronger voice in the world but will also benefit our economy. The threat to jobs and living standards posed by Brexit has eroded any remaining confidence voters had in Westminster having control over Scotland’s finances.” So with a stronger, more compelling caseRead More →

On:
In: Uncategorized

Yvonne Augusta Murgatroyd, DA, WRSA, nee Drew and then MacKinnon Passed away 23rd July 2020 in Kelty, Fife Born 14th June 1920 in London to Augusta and Capt. Jack Drew, RAF. During the first Word War her mother, Augusta, worked as the Chief Female Forager in Norfolk. Her father, Capt. Jack Drew, originally came from Edinburgh, where his father owned a the Coach Building Company based in Gilmour Street, Edinburgh. Capt. Jack Drew’s Father, the coach builder, was married to Nell Stevenson the sister of David Watson Stevenson, RSA, the sculptor of the Wallace statue on the Wallace monument and many other famous statues andRead More →

On:
In: Margaret Hamilton

Today (Tuesday) at the Scottish government briefing, the First Minister made another attempt to treat us as grownups. She carefully explained the rise in numbers of infection, hospital admissions and deaths. She explained that the science shows that the rise is primarily caused by the infection getting into households and spreading to those within the household. Last week there was an outcry, quite rightly, at Margaret Ferrier for knowingly travelling on public transport while having felt unwell and then testing positive. Let us examine then how the virus gets into your house. Someone, knowingly or unknowingly, carrying the virus may have visited you. A memberRead More →

On:
In: Stephen Bird

Just a few weeks ago Lord Foulkes was proclaiming how terrible it was that the nasty Scottish First Minister was holding daily press briefings to keep people up to date with the ever-changing situation and explain why decisions were being taken. Even worse not falling into any of the carefully (they thought) laid trap questions. Instead people were more and more impressed by her clarity, sincerity and shock horror even being able to admit to mistakes! This could not be allowed to continue, these briefings had to stop or at the very least be taken off the telly. And then we learned that His LordshipRead More →

On:
In: Jim Lynch, Uncategorized

Well, as the constitutional debate goes on, I allowed my curiosity to get the better of me. We know, or have continually been told , that “Jerusalem” has been England’s sporting anthem – this has always struck me as bizarre, as I could not imagine gangs of shaven headed tattooists warbling away about “And was the holy lamb of God in England’s pleasant pasture seen”, so I checked the web. According to reports it is only the anthem for rugby and cricket not for the football oafs. However surely this is a part of England’s place in the World, and a mythical visit by JesusRead More →

On:
In: Maureen MacGregor

BBC Parliament was interesting.  The debate on the amendement to the Bill flowed swiftly in a very socially distanced House with some contributions easier to listen to than others.  Very few mentioned the big issue with the UK Internal Market Bill – the fact that it was breaking the law.  In a place where you cannot call another member a lair, it should have been incomprehensible that the Bill had even reached the House; that a vote was being held on rejecting it was thankful yet still absurd.  The UK’s own agreement was now to be dismissed and that  the country was to enter intoRead More →