Some thoughts for today from Blair, the Arch Bish and Boris
Tony Blair – how can we get rid of the man? – is on the warpath again. Plugging his book (which has been around but which I won't name) in a BBC interview, he outlined "our" plans for the Middle East,...
View ArticleWhat we’re doing about the death of Scottish newspapers
The enormous job cuts announced at the Daily Record and Sunday Mail are not in the slightest bit surprising. In fact, get ready for more, with strong rumours predicting the imminent demise of another...
View ArticleFriday Song: The Cucumbers Are Innocent
Once again, the Sensational Alex Salmond Band have, for your delight and delectation, produced a video for their song The Cucumbers Are Innocent, to promote their new album. Donate to us: support...
View ArticleLearning to live with low growth in a finite world
By John Knox It’s becoming clearer by the day that Britain – and maybe the world – is going to have to get used to a lower rate of economic growth. We are not going to get richer as quickly as we...
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Weir’s Week: the good, the bald and the ugly (and Donny Dog)
By Stewart Weir Saturday Stop the world. Wayne Rooney has confessed to being bald. Or, rather, informed us that he will soon not be. For the England striker Tweeted the world to tell of a hair...
View ArticleRough and ready journalism? Sifting through Sarah Palin’s witterings
The Guardian is waiting with bated breath for the release of 24,000 emails by Sarah Palin, at around 6pm our time today. The paper's excitement over the long-awaited witterings of the Tea Party's...
View ArticleThe Cuillin are fantastic hills – but need care and concentration
Last week’s tragic accident in Coire Lagan on Skye – when rockfall hit half-a-dozen climbers, killing 56-year-old Tessa Cousins and injuring the others – was a reminder of just how much loose stuff...
View ArticleUseful Scots word: glaikit
By Betty Kirkpatrick We all feel the need to direct an insult at someone occasionally to show that we are less than happy with them. Not infrequently the insult suggests that the person so addressed...
View ArticleConcerns over barbed wire booby traps in the countryside
by Rob Edwards Gamekeepers have been accused of setting potentially lethal booby traps in the countryside after green-coloured barbed wire was strung at head-height across a woodland track near...
View ArticleSunshield standoffs: why parasols are all the rage in urban China
By Linda Kennedy in Beijing An exchange between two parasol-holding ladies, parading in different directions on a Beijing pavement: "Yours up?" "Up yours!" But let’s start at the beginning. Last year,...
View ArticleBureaucracy, balance and mayhem – six short cycling videos
Obstructions, infractions … and pain An entertaining video from the United States, where filmmaker Casey Neistat reacted to an urban cycling-hassle incident by making his point in a style that owes a...
View ArticleProfiteering, poor management and abuse: a care system in crisis
Martin Sime is director of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, and writes a monthly column for The Caledonian Mercury. While news stories about Southern Cross, Elsie Inglis and...
View ArticleVideo: wood-turning meets business at the Chippendale School
The Chippendale School of Furniture celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and attracts students from all over the world to its studios. The school – based at Myreside Grange, near Gifford in East...
View ArticleUseful Gaelic word: deiseil
deiseil – ready/prepared Listen to the pronunciation guide This word is worth knowing about because its meaning has changed substantially over the years and also because of differences in the way the...
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Leading Scottish mental health charity calls for action on depression
By Dave Bertin The leading depression charity Depression Alliance Scotland is today renamed as Action on Depression, launching a major new campaign and fundraising initiative to highlight why everyone...
View ArticleInverclyde by-election campaign can only get better
There are some by-election battles that define a period of politics. Scotland has played host to several: Hamilton in 1967, Govan in 1973, Hillhead in 1982 and Glasgow North East in 2009. Others hinted...
View ArticleAnother last chance for Scottish rugby?
So farewell then, Gordon McKie, chief executive of the Scottish Rugby Union, the latest casualty of Scottish rugby’s inability to make a success of the professional game. McKie was brought in to the...
View ArticleEntries from Avoch to Oz in the Neil Gunn writing competition
Yesterday saw the announcement of the winners in this year’s Neil Gunn writing competition – one of those small(ish) but important prose-and-poetry events that never seem to receive anywhere near the...
View ArticleThe future of British rugby – on show in Italy
Anyone wanting to catch a glimpse of the future of British rugby should look no further than last night’s Scotland–England clash at the junior rugby world cup in Italy. There was Owen Farrell at...
View ArticleReligious unrest and open-air assemblies: the Covenanting times
By Elizabeth McQuillan Unwilling to tow the religious line, the staunch Presbyterian Church in Scotland proved to be an uncompromising adversary for Charles I when he tinkered with religious loyalties...
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