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Council left to do the cuts
By John Knox In a macabre version of Pass-the-Parcel, the politicians playing Pass-the-Knife, have left hapless local councillors to implement the government’s spending cuts. Interestingly,...
View ArticleTen reasons why the Grammys and The BRITs have their own Special Relationship
The so-called Special Relationship. We give them hand-carved ornaments, they give us the DVDs they forgot to post back to LoveFilm. The currency exchange in pop is similarly uneven. The BRITs this...
View ArticleTha an t-airgead ann – dìreach nach eil iad ga chleachdadh mar a bu choir
Tha sinn neònach anns na meadhanan. Tha sinn cho measail air a bhith a‘ smaoineachadh mar deidhinn fhèin mar gaisgich nach sguir a chuir nan ceistean. Ach ‘s e fìrinn na cùise gu bheil sinn fada ro...
View ArticleUseful Scots word: dunt
By Betty Kirkpatrick Some words are much better than others at suggesting their meaning. Scots has many such words, one of them being dunt. Dunt as a noun usually translates into English as a heavy...
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Salmond buries SNP polling information – even though it’s bad for his opponents.
What do you do if, through your own polling, you find something which might prove uncomfortable for your opponent? If you are Alex Salmond and your opponent is Iain Gray, you sit on it. Why? Because...
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Wendy Alexander steps down from politics
Former Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander announced today she was quitting frontline politics. One of the undoubted political heavyweights on Labour’s Holyrood benches, Ms Alexander’s departure...
View ArticleRehabilitating the Gang of Four
Remember the Chinese purges? Well, the rehabilitation process under way in the United States and Britain is astounding to behold. Tony Blair, an erstwhile friend of Hosni Mubarak, is voicing very...
View ArticleReal journalists can’t write
One of the many accusations thrown at WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is that he’s not a journalist. This is important in America where hacks enjoy some protection under the constitution. In the UK...
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Where eagles and sky-dancers dare
By John Knox Yet another report has come out warning that the hen harrier or “sky-dancer ” is in danger of extinction on the grouse moors of Scotland. And deliberate persecution is being blamed. The...
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Napier University competition
This morning, Napier University launches a competition with the chance of winning a place on its MSC in Advanced Leadership Practice programme, starting in April. The course is aimed at people already...
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Stodgy nurdlers and medium-pace wobblers: cricket’s world cup begins
For some people it’s the FIFA world cup or the rugby equivalent. For others, poor souls, it’s the grand final of Strictly. But for many – and more in Scotland than tends to be acknowledged – the...
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Weir’s week : Overhead, head-to-head and talking head
By Stewart Weir Saturday And after slating international rugby union last week, and having said about watching rugby league if I wanted to see rugby football played in a certain fashion, do the Welsh...
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Doctors predict end of NHS “blame culture” with reform of compensation system
Patients who have suffered as a result of healthcare treatment could be compensated without having to take the NHS to court under plans to reform the system. The Scottish government has accepted the...
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Over-40s targeted for virtual health checks
All Scots who turn 40 are to be invited for a health check under a scheme to be rolled out across the country next week. The “Life begins at 40” initiative lets people assess their own health and...
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Magners wins give Irish the edge ahead of next week’s international showdown
TWO Scottish-Irish fixtures took place over the weekend and they resulted in two Irish wins. With Scotland facing Ireland next Sunday in what is now, surely, a must-win fixture for both teams – it is...
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Bono and the singing of revolutionary songs in South Africa
By Andrew Macdonell in South Africa Give U2 frontman, Bono, a microphone and a politically loaded question and you are unlikely to get a “no comment”. So it proved last week when the Irish singer...
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Landmark Scottish lighthouse to be “obliterated” by massive offshore windfarm
It is one of Scotland’s most famous and impressive Victorian structures but the Skerryvore lighthouse off the coast of Tiree could soon be lost from view. Islanders campaigning against the siting of a...
View ArticleThe Scot who put America on the road
If you put the words “America” and “Cars” together you’d probably come up with Henry Ford, or the car-manufacturing behemoth General Motors. But in terms of automobile history they are over-shadowed by...
View ArticleRadiohead getting the ‘Downfall’ tribute treatment
Read all about it. Radiohead are to release a newspaper album. The King of Limbs won’t really be taken seriously as a newspaper album proper, until it’s injuncted by a footballer, prints its first...
View ArticleFrom the editor: Our new comment system
Dear reader, When we asked for donations, it was so we could improve The Caledonian Mercury. Thank you to all of those who have helped so far. Thanks to your generosity we’ve been able to introduce a...
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