SPT shoot themselves in the foot

In short, Glasgow Labour Party Strathclyde Passenger Transport has banned these ads for Wings Over Scotland on the grounds that they are 'political'. Despite no party political opinion being advanced and only a constitutional position implied, the secretariat of the SPT has said 'naw'.

Funnily enough, the ad has now been shared and re-tweeted on soshul meeja sites with articles also appearing on the Guardian, BBC and STV websites. Expect some of those 37 'national' papers to follow suit with a dour denunciation tomorrow. After all, Wings' readership is booming while the readership and sales of pisspoor rags like the Scotsman are in a Hibs-style freefall. In what is becoming a win-win situation for Wings - and balanced reporting of the referendum - all monies have been returned to Mr Campbell at WoS.

Free publicity courtesy of the SPT. Malcolm McLaren will be chuckling in his grave.

House hunting with David Cameron

Bad news for Scotland. The Tories are having their annual North British shindig in our capital city.

The good news is, David Cameron, the leader of the party's Inner Secretariat in South Britain has come to share some of his inherited wealth er, pearls of wisdumb amongst the proles and Porridge Wogs of Pictland.

Better news though is that Tariq Ali's lecture, brought to us by the Radical Independence Campaign, attracted more people that the leader of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - hell, I look forward to the day when we are simply the independent nations of Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland.

Cameron - cam shròn or 'crooked nose' in the Scottish vernacular - did say something that caught my attention though. He compared voting for independence to making a Very Important Decision such as buying a house. Wait a minute... what the fuck would he know about buying a house?

Here is a picture of David's house or at least one of them. The house that dad built.

Crow v. Galloway

The RMT were not my union, but it was clear that Bob Crow fought tooth and nail for his members and the working class. He had more passion and progressive politics in his wee finger than the like of George Galloway who exists solely to further the ego and publicity of George Galloway. Also, unlike Galloway and some on the Labour and ex-Labour left, Crow embraced the progressive possibilities of independence.

“I think what Scotland went through under Thatcher it should never have to go through again with this lot and if it was independent, it could be a beacon to the rest of Britain to show that there can be a much more equitable distribution of wealth then there is at present. If you could get hold of the Brent oil fields and the gasses and minerals that surround Scotland then people could be a lot better off than they are now.” Crow said that Scotland was one of his favorite places and that he was “absolutely in love” with the Western Isles.

Perhaps as a result of being English, he didn't have the loathing or cringe that some Scots have towards their culture. Indeed, as you can hear below, Galloway doesn't even recognise Scottish culture. Gaelic and Shinty in particular cause him grief. Kudos to the young guy from Ireland who tackles Galloway on this and who persists despite the bullying and bellowing from Galloway.

Pardon my Gaelic, George but you're an amadan a' chac.

Women, days and nations

Yesterday was International Women's Day and one or two things caught my eye while window shopping on sites such the BBC and Bella Caledonia. Most interesting to those of us who seek self-determination for Scotland and her people was this article on the BBC from October 2013 which saw a surge in readership, perhaps due to IWD. Is it just a co-incidence that small nations perform better in areas of equality?

Top of the pile is wee Iceland - with a population roughly the same as the city of Aberdeen. So much for Alistair 'Black Dwarf' Darling's moaning about Scotland being 'too small' to do all sorts of things.

Also interesting is that a country such as Ireland, where a significant number of people still adhere to the teachings of the Catholic church, can leave behind shameful episodes like the Magdalene Laundries scandal and move forward. While abortion rights are still a major issue in Ireland, it's good to see auld Eirinn recognised here. As more Irish people lose their Catholic superstitions in years to come, it can only be expected that Ireland makes more progress on gender equality.

Overall gender gap

Europe has seven countries in the top 10. The UK is 18th and the US is 23rd.The Philippines, at fifth, is the highest ranking Asian nation and Nicaragua is the highest-placed country from the Americas, at 10th.
The G20 group of leading industrial nations has no representative in the top 10, nor do the Middle East or Africa.

Top countries

1. Iceland
2. Finland
3. Norway
4. Sweden
5. Philippines

6. Ireland 7. New Zealand
8. Denmark
9. Switzerland
10. Nicaragua

Also, was this piece on Bella by bana-Ghaidheal Mary Ann Kennedy touching on issues such as bilingualism and the fear of change.

The Gaelic angle on independence and women brings to mind the bana-bhàrd of the crofters during the Clearances, Màiri Mhòr nan Oran. Her songs are still popular though some lines such as that which calls for the 'Sasannaich' to be cleared from native Skye may make some sing it through gritted teeth. A brave woman who was ahead of her time.

This finally leads on to the Poison Girls and their singer Vi Subversa. Noted for their quirky and jazzy punk on the Crass label, Poison Girls were every bit as political as Màiri Mhòr though the satire was a bit closer to the bone and the language a bit more colourful. Think of NoMeansNo with Elaine C Smith on vocals and out of her head on acid.