The Scottish Patient

Oct 30th 09: A Radical Burns Shindig (Sat 31st Oct, 7.30pm)

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:24:00 +0000

Still alive. Still kicking.

A RADICAL BURNS SHINDIG

With Janice Galloway, Don Paterson, Bashabi Fraser and Kevin Williamson.
Out of the Blue
30-38 Dalmeny Street
Leith (near Edinburgh)

Saturday 31st October
7.30pm-10.00pm

Music & Bar. No tickets required. Free entry.
Part of the 13th Independent & Radical Book Fair
More details at Word Power

Aug 29th: Bletherheids at Electric Circus

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:45:00 +0000

BLETHERHEIDS has a top class literary line-up this Saturday night at the Electric Circus in Edinburgh. I'm very pleased to be reading alongside AL Kennedy, Ewan Morrison, Alan Bissett, Tam Dean Burn, Rodge Glass, and all the other great writers on the bill. Doors open at 7pm. Come early. Come often. (For the tourists and visitors Electric Circus is right behind Waverley Station on Market Street. For the auld gadges it used to be Buster Broons!)

Aug 24th: Scottish Government Have Done Us Proud Over Lockerbie But They Need To Go Further

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 07:14:00 +0000

I'm proud that Kenny MacAskill and the Scottish government stood firm against US threats and bullying (albeit muted threats, and perhaps relief paraded as "outrage" that Megrhai's legal appeal against conviction has been stopped in its tracks before the conviction was overturned in court).

But the Scottish government have only done half the job. If there is no public inquiry into the 1988 Lockerbie bombing then the real bombers of Pan Am Flight 103 will have got away with it, the victims families will have been conned, and the Scottish government will have given in to the US/UK governments pressure to cover up what really happened.

The hidden agenda that led to the UK and US intelligence services framing of Al-Meghrahi and Libya is still being suppressed in the mainstream Scottish media. The real culprits - which most independent investigations have named very specifically as a Palestinian terrorist cell based in Germany and headed by Hafez Dalkamonim (part of Ahmed Jibril's PFLP group as it was back then) have never stood trial for this inhuman crime. Its about time they did if justice is to be done.

I hope the Scottish government press on and bring out the truth in court. It will mean embarrassing the UK and British governments for their complity in fabricating evidence and putting on a show trial in the Netherlands with a pre-arranged verdict. It will also mean putting the CIA and FBI in the dock and unmasking some fairly sordid power games being played out in the Middle East in the late 80/early 90s.

Have the SNP's minority government got the guts to do that in the teeth of international pressure? PLus relentless hostility from the entire Scottish, British and American corporately-owned media? I suspect not but the Scottish government have shown some remarkable resilience and independence of thought this last week so you never know.

A QUESTION...

Why has this important news story in yesterday's Scottish Sunday Mail- which exonerates Megrahi and Libya - been given almost no coverage by BBC Scotland, STV News, and today's Herald and Scotsman?

CIA spook says Megrahi was freed before appeal humiliated justice system (Sunday Mail, 22nd Aug 2009)

Even Murdoch's flagship Sunday smelled a rat: US blamed Iran for Lockerbie bomb (Sunday Times, 16th Aug 2009)

An excellent insightful column today from one of Scotland's best (of a bad bunch admittedly) political analysts: Open season on MacAskill after Megrahi’s release (The Herald, 24th Aug 2009)

Aug 18th: Year Of The Horse (with Tam Dean Burn)

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 08:04:00 +0000

There's so much on in Edinburgh in August that's its hard to choose what to go see. This show should be top of anyone's list. And a wee birdy tells me that if you buy The Scotsman tomorrow (Wed 19th) there is a voucher for half prce tickets to the show...

(From The List)

The cartoonist, Harry Horse presented a haunting, gothic vision of contemporary Britain in the Sunday Herald in the year before his tragic and early death in January 2007. These bare facts and a few more are communicated by Tam Dean Burn before he launches into a slide show of the artist’s work, reading Horse’s own text as each piece appears before us.

What emerges is a frightening vision, accompanied by Keith McIvor’s disturbing electronic score of a vacuous consumer society, fuelled by war and brutality and reified by the bromide of affluence.

Horse’s work is stunningly effective, both beautiful and ghastly in its exploration of the blood money appropriated in the Iraq war, and the grim moral vacuum of the spectacle that masked it. For him, our culture sleeps, glutted with the smug righteousness of its media, as an environmental and moral apocalypse approaches. It’s all strikingly presented by Burn, who in a white ‘hoodie’ voices the primal rage of the artist with a theatricality that contrives to arrest you long after the show, but never overwhelms the breathtaking visuals.

Assembly Rooms, 623 3030, until 31 Aug (not 24), 6.05pm, £10–£12 (£8– £10).

Aug 12th: Edinburgh Book Fringe starts today at Word Power .. and its all FREE!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:31:00 +0000

When your favourite book shop puts on a festival of writing whose exuberantly eclectic programme of radical, international and Scottish writers includes Tom Leonard (above), Edwyn Collins, Alan Bissett, Rosy Barnes plus much more then you've got to support it, nay, sing its praises to the skies. Consider that done. And when all the events are FREE - aye, FREE! - then its Word Power 1 Charlotte Square 0. Check out the full programme here. As Frank Carson would say, its a cracker.

Aug 2nd: Venus and Jupiter both struck by massive impacts in less than a fortnight. Is it Earth's turn next?

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 13:18:00 +0000

It has been revealed today that a massive unexplained white spot has appeared in the cloudy atmosphere of the planet Venus. Scientists are unsure what has caused the spot - some are even speculating on the possibility of volcanic activity - but a massive impact from a comet or asteroid seems the more likely of the two.

This comes just two weeks after a massive scar appeared on Jupiter near its southern pole. The current scientific thinking/speculation suggests that this too may have been caused by a massive asteroid or comet plunging into the largest planet in the solar system.

To date no one has connected the two events. So should we ask the question: Is it possible that there have been some seriously violent collisions taking place in the asteroid belt - which lies between Mars and Jupiter - that have been sending huge asteroids out into both the inner and outer Solar System? And has the Earth been lucky so far in that two of its near neighbours have taken the worst of the impacts?

It's been a while since Earth was struck by a large impact from space. The last big one to strike the Earth's landmass was perhaps on June 30, 1908 when a comet or asteroid measuring some tens of metres across exploded 5-10km in the air over Tungsta, Russia. Although the explosion took place in the air it still had the blast power of a 5-30 megatons bomb (1,000 times that of the Hiroshima bomb) and caused massive damage on the ground.

There's been no such impacts in the age of mass communications and satellite TV networks - which may have created a false sense of security here on Earth. As Californians love to say - regarding the next quake - it may not be long before the next "big one". A sobering thought for a Sunday morning.

Aug 1st: Hibs 1 Preston North End 3

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Back again at Easter Road. The sunshine was there, Zemmama and Riordan entertained us with their repertoire of skill, and Yogi showed he is suffering from a touch of the Mixus when it comes to picking a decent midfield.

The glaringly obvious truth is that Yogi's first pick midfield trio of McBride, Cregg and Rankin are three Johhny Average SPL journeymen who wouldnt get a game for any of the other top six contenders. Whereas a midfield trio of Bamba, Stevenson and Murray would hold their own against anyone. Get it sorted Yogi.

July 31st: James Kelman in Edinburgh last night

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:22:00 +0000

I always enjoy the readings and talks by James Kelman. At Central Library last night he was on sparkling form, reading short stories from Greyhound For Breakfast and The Burn. It was almost a Kelman's Greatest Hits night! Very enjoyable.

In the discussion afterwards, chaired by author Doug Johnstone, Jim was relaxed and entertaining and informed us he had been putting together a new collection of short stories. Apparently he has the proverbial drawer under the bed full of unpublished work and some stories in the new collection date back forty years.

(Big thanks to Helen for organising the event as part of the excellent Bridge Readings series, and for the photo).

July 29th: The Bum-Clocks at Whistle Binkies

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:44:00 +0000

The Bum-Clocks were on devastating form at Whistle Binkies last night. The Rabbie Burns-inspired super group of Tam Dean Burn (vocals), Malcolm Ross (geetar), Russell Burn (drums) mashed up Burns poetry and song with lyrics from such music greats as Bob Dylan, Davey Henderson and Les McKeown. I hadn't seen them for a coupla years and the more theatrical side of things has evolved into a tight coherent and wholly original sound. Albeit still mesmerising to watch. Robert Burns has never sounded so good. They're gigging like mad right now so catch them while you can. (Note: "Bum-clocks" is an auld Scots word for "beetles". Now ye ken.)

July 27th: Kilmarnock - A Town That Refuses To Lie Down And Die

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 06:42:00 +0000

20,000 people marched through Kilmarnock yesterday in protest at Diageo's plans to shut down the Johnny Walker whisky plant there and lay off 700 workers. The people of Kilmarnock were joined on the march by First Minister Alex Salmond, the entire first team of Kilmarnock FC (plus manager), bands like Hue and Cry, and even the Scottish Tory leader Annabel Goldie.

Len McCluskey of UNITE trade union hit the nail on the head when he told the rally that: "People power and organised labour can change it, and we intend to change it. Let's be absolutely crystal clear right from the outset – this decision is borne out of greed, nothing else. This is a company that made £2.2 billion profit last year and has already declared half-yearly profits of £1.6bn."

The message to the multinational drinks conglomerate was loud and clear: dinnae mess with our jobs, dinnae mess with our whisky industry. The message to other workforces whose livelihoods are threatened by greedy corporations was equally loud and clear: don't accept the dictats of the market, stand and fight.

"20,000 demand Diageo rethink on plant closure" THE HERALD
"20,000 marchers tell Diageo: don't axe jobs" THE SCOTSMAN

July 23rd: The Great Swine Flu Panic Of 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:58:00 +0000

It seems to me that swine flu has gotten off very lightly when it comes to conspiracy theories. Surely shome mishtake there. Let's help get the ball rolling...

THE FACTS:

1. GlaxoSmithKline announced yesterday that they are raking in £3bilion profits from swine flu drugs this year alone. ("Drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline predicts swine flu gold rush" Guardian, 22nd July 2009)

2. The chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, Andrew Witty, said the company had been preparing for a pandemic for the last three-and-a-half years and had spent more than £1bn to ensure its factories could crank up production at short notice. (Ditto above)

3. In November 2005, U.S. President George W. Bush requested that Congress fund $7.1 billion in emergency spending for flu pandemic preparedness (the Senate had already passed an $8.1 billion bill). Bush's plan included $1.4 billion for government purchases of antiviral drugs. (From here).

4. The leading anti-flu drug being stockpiled is Tamiflu - produced by Roche pharmateuticual company and developed by Gilead Sciences. Former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was a former chairman of Roche and is a substantial shareholder in Gilead Sciences. ("Donald Rumsfeld's Controversial links to drug company" Daily Mail, 2nd May 2009)

5. From a purely British perspective, the media isnt talking about MPs expenses, Fred the Shred, executive bonuses, and bank bail outs anymore. The bastards have all got away with lining their pockets at the tax payers expense. The media have swum like a shoal of docile complicit goldfish to the next pond.

THE REALITY?

"Swine flu in Scotland may have peaked" Guardian, 23rd July 2009

A LONE VOICE AMONG THE BEWILDERED STAMPEDING HERD?

"Just two months of swine flu sniffles, and madness reigns" Simon Jenkins, Guardian, 22nd July 2009

THE GREAT BIRD FLU PANIC OF 2005

Anyone remember "bird flu"? A World Health Organisation official predicted 150 million deaths from a bird flu pandemic. ("WHO tries to play down expert warning of 150 million deaths from flu pandemic" Independent, 1st Oct 2005)

Bird flu was going to kill 750,000 of us according to the UK government's chief medical office/panic merchant Sir Liam Donaldson. On his advice the UK government ordered 14.6 million doses of Tamiflu in 2005.

Full credit to Sir Liam though, he cautiously rounded the panic down to just 65,000 deaths for swine flu. ("Swine flu could kill 65,000 in UK, warns chief medical officer" Guardian, 16th July 2009)

PANIC STATIONS! THE ARBROATH CONNECTION

"It emerged yesterday that the Arbroath FC midfielder Robert Urquhart had been diagnosed with swine flu after returning from a holiday in Ibiza."
SCOTSMAN, 4th JULY 2009

"Bird Flu panic hit close to home at the weekend when a flock of 20 hens was abandoned in woods near Arbroath and had to be destroyed."
THE ARBROATH HERALD AND GAZETTE, 14th APRIL 2006

Makes ye wonder.

July 22nd: A Pilgrimmage - Across The Scottish Highlands with Tilda, Mark & A Travelling Cinema

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 07:00:00 +0000

This gets my thumbs up for the most imaginative, romantic and daring cinema project of the year. Actress Tilda Swinton and writer Mark Cousins are dragging (literally) a huge travelling 80-seat cinema through the Scottish Highlands from the 1st of August.

With a merry band of fellow pilgrims they'll be walking, talking and camping their way through the breathtaking scenery of Glencoe, along Loch Ness, beside the Culloden battlefield, and finally on to the 2009 Nairn Film Festival (which the two of them organise and curate).

An eclectic mix of international films will be shown in villages that have never had a cinema. Highlights include a free screening of Peter Watkins brutal 1964 masterpiece Culloden at Culloden battlefield. The one hour film (the same length as the battle) will begin at 1pm (the same time the battle began).

Other highlights include a screening of Akira Kurosawa's MacBeth-inspired epic Throne of Blood at Cawdor village, as well as Robert Bresson's heart-rending classic of love, cruelty and suffering Au hasard Balthazar.

You can follow the pilgrims progress at A PILGRIMMAGE - which has full details of the project, screening times and places, plus box office. Wish I was going with them.

July 21st: Cigarettes Are Cool

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Ocasionally you stumble across some things that leave you feeling gobsmacked. This is a genuine TV ad which was broadcast back in 1960. Seeing really is believing.

July 20th: Radical Video Library

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:15:00 +0000

No joining, no fees. Radical Video Library. Just like it says on the tin:

Radical Video Library is a non-profit D.I.Y. project, that has put as its goal to spread the word in form of "the video". We will try to bring here various genres from different perspectives and subcultures. We try to focus especially on anarchy, protests, riots, ecology, animal liberation, peak oil, antifascist struggle, human rights and other liberation struggles - in the form of film, documentaries, music, presentations, pictures, zines,...for Download.

With the all important proviso:

Remember! The main purpose of this library is not to keep you in front of the computer screen!! The struggle is out there in the streets and forests of this lovely Earth!!!

July 18th: Happy Hibee Time At Dunfermline

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:23:00 +0000

The first sighting of John Hughes's new-look Hibees was a positive one. The ball was passed along the deck for the full 90 minutes, everyone was trying to play football, and there was a 4-0 win tae boot. A definite thumbs up from the hoodies in the front row. Only sore point was that the world famous Dunfermline steak pies were nowhere tae be seen. Loadsa moaning faced Hibees at halftime forced to eat Twixes, Mars bars and other such shite. (Photo courtesy of The Late Bob).

July 13th: The best £790 of tax payers money claimed on any MP's expenses

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:45:00 +0000

Scotland's very own village idiot, Lord George Foulkes, has submitted a complaint to the London Parliament's standards commisioner. His beef is about the £790 legal expenses claimed by Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, for his part in the public spirited and very honourable attempt to have Tony Blair impeached for misleading the House of Commons prior to the military attack on Iraq in 2003.

You gotta laugh. This will be the same Lord Foulkes who claimed £45,000 expenses whilst on House of Lords duty (in 2005 & 2006) to stay in a London flat he inherited from his mother! Then, between April 2007 and March 2008, Foulkes claimed a further £54,527 expenses for House of Lords duty. This was at time he was supposed to be representing those who elected him as an MSP to the Scottish Parliament in May 2007 (another huge salary, more expenses).

Lord Foulkes needed the tax payer to stump up right enough. He was skint. During 2005/2006 he only made £400,000 profit from wheeling and dealing on the property market. And with the loose change in his piggy bank His Lordship managed to invest a further £600,000 in two other properties (paid for in cash).

And as for the miserly £50,000 per annum salary he drew for being a director and "political consultant" with Carrick Court Associates? Pah, it was hardly worth getting out of bed for. The £500 per week he was paid for a weekly column in the Edinburgh Evening News writing about Heart of Midlothian? The man was dispensing his words of wisdom on the cheap.

Lest we forget Lord Foulkes is currently still an elected MSP at Holyrood while also serving in the House of Lords. How he finds time to fill in so many expenses forms remains a mystery. How he's got the brass neck to attack Alex Salmond's legitimate claim takes the Kit Kat.

July 13th: The Scales Of Justice Swing Into Motion ...

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:34:00 +0000

"Thomas Sheridan, born 7 March 1964, whose domicile of citation has been specified as Paisley Road West, Glasgow, and Gail Sheridan, born 4 January 1964, whose domicile of citation has been specified as Paisley Road West, Glasgow, you are indicted at the instance of The Right Honourable Elish Angiolini, Queen's Counsel, Her Majesty's Advocate, and the charges against you are that..." (Full citation can be read here)

Court case begins on January 11th.

July 10th: First Visit To Easter Road

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:35:00 +0000

I said I wasnt going to post any baby pictures on this blog but a young laddie's first trip to Easter Road isnt just any old day. Stephen was shown round the home dressing room, we went through the tunnel, we sat in the dugout in the manager's seat, and walked out onto the hallowed turf. At four weeks old it was long overdue. I think Stephen was impressed. He only cried once.

July 9th: Mel Gibson movie to open 2012 London Olympics

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:26:00 +0000

In a move that has surprised many commentators, Boris Johnson and Seb Coe have announced that the start of the London Olympics in 2012 will be marked by continuous city-wide screenings of Mel Gibson's award winning movie, Braveheart. "The events were a long time ago" explained Johnson, "and the film is a moving and beautiful piece of art with a central message of 'never give up', which, of course, is what the Olympics are all about." The BNP were unavailable for comment. (Read the full story in today's Scotsman).

July 7th: Interview With Stuart Christie

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 06:53:00 +0000

New over at Bella Caledonia:

"45 years ago, on the last day of July 1964 Stuart Christie, a newly-turned 18-year-old Glaswegian anarchist, left London for Paris and Madrid on a mission whose objective was to kill the last of the Axis dictators — General Francisco Franco. Christie was threatened with execution by being garroted, just six weeks after his 18th birthday..." (Read rest of article)

June 30th: Last night's Panorama programme: "Will The Scots Ever Be Happy?"

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:12:00 +0000

The above video is a neatly condensed three minute summary of last night's Panorama programme a.k.a. "Will The BBC Ever Stop Making Predictable Unionist Propaganda That Masquerades As Impartial And Balanced Current Affairs Programmes With Offensive Quasi-Racist Titles That Would Have Fleet Street Pigs Squealing If The Words 'The Scots' Were Replaced By The Words 'The English'?"

June 29th: In Between Talking About The Football

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:04:00 +0000

Now's the time for the young Hibee. Here's hoping Andy Murray gives the whole of Scotland something to cheer about by the end of this week. Good luck to you laddie. Fingers crossed.

June 26th: The Industrial Dancebeat Radicalism Of Test Dept.

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:00:00 +0000

My memories of Test Dept. go back to the Miners Strike of 84-85, and the Thatcher era, when their intense clanking metallic tribal rhythms could often be heard at the head of marches and protests and political rallies. They were a radical socialist collective of unemployed Glaswegians at the time.

In the 90s I got to know some of their former members, including, Angus Farquhar and Graham Cunnington. Angus and Graham are two of the most talented and creative individuals I've ever met. Everything they've been involved with since Test Dept has been exceptional.

If I had to choose the most memorable cultural events I've been to in the last two decades at the the top of the list would be Graham's autobiographical show 'Pain' at the Traverse Theatre and Angus's NVA event 'The Path' (May 2000) - a Himalayan midnight extravaganza in Glen Lyon. Unforgettable. Genius. Breathtaking. Such superlatives don't do either event justice.

Over the years I've been searching around online for the music of Test Dept, usually to little avail. But now, thanks entirely to TB at SFRP, I've now got hold of most of the official Test Dept. singles and albums. They still sounds great, bringing back a few memories, and the band's musical evolution between 1981-1997 is both intriguing and groundbreaking.

Just to show how good they were if you go into the Comments you'll find Rapidshare link for the following 12 releases:

Test Dept - Compulsion (1983)
Test Dept - Beating A Retreat (1984)
Test Dept - Shoulder To Shoulder (1984)
Test Dept - Atonal and hamburg live (1985)
Test Dept - A Good Night Out (1987)
Test Dept - The Unacceptable Face Of Freedom (1987)
Test Dept - Victory (1987)
Test Dept - Natura Victus (1988)
Test Dept - Terra Firma (1988)
Test Dept - Gododdin (1989)
Test Dept - Pax Britannica (1990)
Test Dept - Tactics for Evolution (1997)

See Comments for download links. Enjoy.

June 23rd: Blowing In The Wind

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:34:00 +0000

This blog will celebrate its fifth birthday on 11th September. That's quite a long time for anyone to open up and share their thoughts and opinions on an almost daily basis. Perhaps a little too long.

During these five years I've had zero interest in "reader stats", or "potential advertising revenues" and such ugly commercial concerns. This has been a labour of love, a dialogue between myself and whoever happens to chance along. I love the randomness of this approach and the unclassifiable nature of the content of this blog. It's a fascinating world out there with so much to contemplate.

A lot of thinking out loud has gone on here. This has its own pluses and minuses. One of the minuses is that the crucial reworking-editing process of writing often gets neglected - or even abandoned - on the altar of immediacy. Increasingly, the demands of my own writing and creativity need more time, space and thought than the format of regular blog writing allows.

But these are exciting, dangerous times where horizontal communication networks may prove much more useful than constant feeding from the centralised corporate trough. Decisions, decisions.

June 21st: Happy Fathers Day

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin Williamson) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 08:00:00 +0000

The older I get the more I appreciate my own parents and realise how lucky I am to still have them both around. Today is Fathers Day so I'll be raising a glass to ma dad. Nae doubt he'll be bombing around Thurso Golf Course at the age of 75 with his gammy leg.

A plasterer by trade, my dad was a good footballer in his day, a winger, playing for both Orkney and Caithness - and once scoring eleven goals in two consecutive league matches for Thurso Swifts. He helped instill into me as a kid a deep love of football and tried to teach me all the wee flicks and tricks and how to dribble. None of which I mastered.

As a lifelong Aberdeen supporter his great moment was when he followed his team to Gothenberg in 1983 to see the Dons beat the mighty Real Madrid in the European Cup Winners Cup Final. The above clip is the sweetest goal any Aberdeen supporter ever saw. Happy Fathers Day.