Salmond sparks political storm over ‘unhelpful’ riots comments
Alex Salmond was today described as “unhelpful” and “small-minded” after he tried to distance Scotland from the “English” riots. The first minister told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland that...
View ArticleIs it time for Plan B as the shops are smashed and the buildings burn?
By John Knox With the English cities in flames again, it’s all too easy for us in Scotland to feel grateful, even smug, that we don’t have a restless underclass or serious racial divides. But the...
View ArticleOpinion: Up for a rammy? Nah, cannae be arsed
By Stuart Crawford Why no riots in Scottish cities (yet)? I tweeted the question a couple of days ago and only got one reply, which shows that nobody is really interested or – more likely – nobody...
View ArticleFrom Shetland to the Borders: seeking refuge in a hostel environment
By John Knox I can report that the oldest independent hostel in Scotland is still in business and still coping with tired and hungry pilgrims, still drying their clothes and still providing a safe...
View ArticleCurious limbo? Sensible caution? The SMC and Beinn a’Chlaidheimh
Some responses and reactions to Monday’s announcement that a survey by the Munro Society (TMS) has suggested that Beinn a’Chlaidheimh in Fisherfield is not 916 metres in height as currently mapped, but...
View ArticleCould ‘food processor’-style turbines be the future of wind power?
Earlier this year, a report supported by conservation charity the John Muir Trust (JMT) suggested that windfarms were much less efficient than the industry had claimed. Research from Stuart Young...
View ArticleThe riots aren’t England’s take on the Arab Spring – so what are they?
It was going to take something extraordinary to pull me back into daily commentating, as I wrestle with a book-length thesis about how environmental politics has to reckon with our human desire for...
View ArticleFriday song: Why Riot?
The Sensational Alex Salmond Band have taken time out from performing at the Edinburgh Fringe to produce another video in their tireless efforts to promote their new album. This week’s topical...
View ArticleYou’re hired! James Spader has another good day, over at The Office
No one is irrepaceable. Ricky Gervais on the British Office was close – co-creating the show will give you that leverage. David Brent clearly wasn’t, as those who saw him begging for his job back from...
View ArticleWeir’s Week: Olympic illumination and an SPL exodus
By Stewart Weir Saturday I love my Sky Sports, but every now and again you get an information overload – a "stat attack", as I like to call it. And Friday evening’s Championship encounter between Hull...
View ArticleThe man who finished as third lady in the Mull Half Marathon
By Matthew Shelley On racy weekends away my wife often calls me the third lady. Odd, I know, but it’s purely a sporting term. Not “sporting” as in, nudge, nudge, wink, wink – more run, run, limp,...
View Article‘Special 2 for 1 offer’ as Gordon Brown joins Sarah at the Book Festival
By Diane Maclean Sarah Brown was at the Edinburgh International Book Festival this evening, discussing her time as the WPM – Wife of the Prime Minister – and signing copies of her book Behind the Black...
View ArticleThe Auld Alliance may still be in force, academic claims
The Auld Alliance between Scotland and France may never have been dissolved and could still be in place today, according to a new academic study. The 13th-century Alliance committed both countries to...
View ArticleNew economic reports suggest fragility in Scottish jobs market
Two surveys out today suggest that the jobs market is fragile. A Bank of Scotland survey reports that a growing number of workers in Scotland found jobs in July, but the economic crisis meant that the...
View ArticleOpinion: the bonkers policy on Edinburgh’s military bases
With every passing day, the recent announcement by oor very ain defence secretary, Liam Fox, on the future of Edinburgh’s military bases, looks increasingly bonkers. To recap briefly, Dr Fox told an...
View ArticleTV shortens life, exercise lengthens it – but what if you mix’n'match?
Apparently watching six hours of television per day can shorten your life by five years. Researchers in Australia have come up with this finding – and warn that watching too much TV could be a public...
View ArticleWindfarm surveyors find Royal Navy submarines, 93 years on
It was a "battle" that involved no enemy contact whatsoever, that left two submarines sunk, 270 British submariners dead and which the Royal Navy kept secret for as long as it could. But now new...
View ArticleDone deal or open to doubt? Still no clarity on Beinn a’Chlaidheimh
It’s now a week since the results of height surveys on three Highland hills – all just above or just below the 3,000-foot Munro mark – were announced. Last Tuesday wasn’t the most auspicious time for...
View ArticleSo is this the real Michele Bachmann – or just a cover story?
Funny how? Republican Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has made the cover of Newsweek magazine, which should represent a triumph for her. Unfortunately, there is an easy consensus from both left...
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Highlights from the World Press Photo exhibition in Edinburgh
By Graeme Murdoch “To collect photographs is to collect the world. Movies and television programs light up walls, flicker, and go out; but with still photographs the image is also an object,...
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