“Let us define ourselves by what we are for, not what we are against.”
Yes, let’s do so. The Yes campaign in the Independence ‘debate’ has a positive message of believing in Scotland’s people. Johann and her pals’ No campaign is merely anti-SNP and has no message but one of fear. What she doesn’t yet quite understand is that things have moved on and people can see its not about the SNP, it’s about the future of Scotland. Can she HONESTLY define herself as being for Scotland’s best interests? Or just against the SNP?

“Scotland can stand united against the Tory cuts and I call upon the SNP to work with us.”
The audacity in this statement is worthy of the sainted Margaret herself! The truth is its the Labour Party under her direction that either sides with the Tories or abstains when there is a vote to stand against the Tory cuts!
The reason Labour don’t stand united against Tory cuts, like welfare cuts and Bedroom Tax is only because they’d have to agree with ‘THEM’ (the SNP). This has become the only thing that Labour stands for – it is anti-SNP rather than holding any socialist principles.

“Our greatest resource will always be our people and if we are to give people the chance to fulfil their potential it is a second education boom we need in Scotland.”
So why then Johanna have you said there should be an end to the “something for nothing culture”? Opposed to the free higher education rights introduced by…the SNP!?

“I am well aware that you don’t appease lions by throwing more Christians at them. And I will not walk an inch down the road to independence.”
That’s a shame because more and more of your party and Labour voters are starting to question why this is. Why would Labour stand rock-solid with an unelected, hated government of millionaire out-of-touch Etonians rather than stand up for traditional Labour values? Is she ashamed of our great country and its people? Does she think we are too wee, too poor and too stupid to look after our own interests? She is living in the past.

“Can I tell you today what powers I really want? They are the powers Alex Salmond already has. The power over Scotland’s education. The power over Scotland’s health service.”
And yet, she has denounced the positive reforms offering free services at point of need as “something for nothing culture”!!! Would she then overturn these reforms if she had the power? This is supposed to be a Labour leader! For shame.

“Is Alex Salmond concerned about the families who pay more for childcare than they do a mortgage?”
I have no idea the answer to this, but based on what I see of party policies and what the SNP government in Holyrood has done compared to the careless arrogance of New Labour / LibDem years, I know who I would trust more.

“I challenge Alex Salmond to meet me next week and to bring his budget.”
Yawn. More Salmond-fishing. Empty rhetoric.

“There is no greater cause than child poverty – its existence diminishes us all.”
Then why did your party abstain on the vital Bedroom Tax vote?

“Alex Salmond is no friend of the poor.”
How many times! Does she think slinging enough mud will make it stick? Again, the only form of ‘argument’ is invective against Salmond and the SNP.
You see, these accusations, the negative campaigning, is designed to paint anyone who challenges this rubbish as a Salmond-apologist. Like a dreaded “Nat”. Nevertheless, it’s worth pointing out that the Scottish Government has introduced free higher education which was and still is opposed by her and her Tory-Labour party.

“We in this party, this movement, will fight for this country we love.”
Only insomuch as Ed lets you! If you cared about Scotland Johann, as much as you cared about protecting your own position, you would vote for what’s best for the country.
Yes, you have no argument to put forward, no policies. All you do in effect is shout “It’s no fair, THEY are more left wing than us! And Ed wont let me do anything!”
What is this movement that you speak of? Are you seriously suggesting that you represent the traditional values of the Labour movement? Or is it a market-driven New Labour (i.e. Tory, anti-Labour) movement you’re talking about?
And what is this country you love? The UK?

In summary….
Johann, you are floundering around, trying to come up with some policy of additional powers for Scotland that your Westminster bosses will see as meaningless enough to let you put forward.
That’s why you floated the idea of promising to allow Holyrood to set the important level of…..airport flight taxes! It is so sad it is beyond humorous.

If that is your idea of Scotland, of the limits you would set on this great country, then I hope your party wakes up to you very soon and forces you out of office.

Your speech was beyond parody. E.g. I hear you have also set up an Orwellian sounding “Truth Team”! Need I point out the irony of this? None of your scare stories have yet stood up to scrutiny and you are even defending Ian Taylor’s donation to Better Together! A trifle disingenuous wouldn’t you say? Maybe the “Truth Team” could help you unpick the deceit surrounding this.

We could really do with some honest debate in the Independence Referendum. But to debate you need to have a credible alternative view. You are bereft – and you’re leading a once-great party, that used to stand up for the real people of the country, to the dogs.

Have a long, hard HONEST and TRUTHFUL look at yourself, Johann.
Stop the dishonest carping and try to come up with real policies. You might need to become a little more shall I say, ‘independent’ to do so.

Labour used to stand up against the Tory policies that decimated the country from Westminster. Now only the ‘dreaded’ SNP government does that, while you have aligned your party with those hated policies. Let me say that I consider the current Scottish Labour party’s direction to not only be contrary to the best interests of our country (by that I mean Scotland), but a gross betrayal of traditional Labour values and all those who have voted Labour in the past.

Be brave Johann. Do you have Labour at heart, or only self-interest? If its the former, you may in all honesty decide to choose your friends a little more carefully.

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.”

“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” (Sign hanging in Einstein’s office at Princeton)

And lots more at: http://rescomp.stanford.edu/~cheshire/EinsteinQuotes.html

And as through your life you travel,
Yes, as through your life you roam,
You won’t never see an outlaw
Drive a family from their home.

These words (you might as well title this couplet ‘The Bedroom Tax’) explain fairly well why the Scottish point of view is different from the Tory view. We have a sense of fairness as opposed to grasping which of course Thatcher translated as aspiration.

The grasping view expressed in Thatcherite policies is about greed, the Ayn Rand philosophy of individuals stepping on others to achieve what they desire with no compunction.

Often the common folk of any country see that there is a much more human feeling that is more important. Everyone wants the best and most for themselves, that’s easy…..To take the difficult path is more honourable – to vote for what is best for the community, the society, is the egalitarian ideal that Scotland has long taken to heart.

Woody Guthrie expressed in this lyric how the outlaw will rob from the rich and give to the poor, the Robin Hood ideal that’s been lost in large tracts of England. Evidence their voting record.

The worst of all robbers however are the premeditated snakes who rob from the poor and give to the rich. That greed is the legacy of Thatchers Britain. The “I’m alright Jack” path of “no such thing as society”. We see this in the unregulated free market where the pursuit of personal gain is seen as good. Any rational individual must see there should be limits to how the gain is achieved.

That schism that has resulted in ever-increasing divisions of rich and poor is a great impetus for Independence. Never again should we be subject to a Westminster government imposing unwanted policies. The people who live in Scotland (of whatever nationality) are best-placed to choose what’s right for Scotland.

…Only in the world of the Scottish mainstream media can the No campaign receiving a huge donation from a man closely linked to Serbian war criminals, Saddam Hussein and massive tax avoidance be translated into “pressure” on the Yes campaign. The Scotsman is abandoning all pretence of impartial and balanced coverage almost as fast as its readers are abandoning it.

We can’t help but ponder whether the two might be connected.

It is amazing how the Yes campaign gets slated and spun against, despite the story actually being how the No (‘better together’) campaign gets its money from donations of unusual, southern provenance.

The Scotsman and the Herald are no longer quality publications and if I were a journalist working there I would feel black shame at my newspaper’s views towards its own country – and the truth.

Bitcoin Explained from Duncan Elms on Vimeo.

UPDATE!!!!
Since posting this earlier today, Bitcoin crashed, losing half it’s value in 6 hours, as explained in arsTechnica

Wow!
Ever seen that film The Cooler with William H Macy?
I am the Cooler!

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Below is the letter I printed out and put at the front door as if it had been posted through. It fooled the boy and his mum! Maybe I went a bit too far?

Annanhill Primary School
Grange Campus
Beech Avenue
Kilmarnock
KA1 2EW

Dear Parent

I am writing to let you know that due to budgetary pressures on East Ayrshire Council and the implementation of the new National Curriculum for Excellence, it has become necessary to restructure certain elements of the 1^st year intake from Annanhill Primary School to Grange Academy, Kilmarnock.

Consequently I have to inform you that your child has been selected as one of a small number who are being transferred to other secondary schools, rather than to Grange Academy as planned.

Your child should NOT report to Grange Academy campus after the summer break, but should report to St. Joseph’s Academy, New Farm Loch.

To make this new plan easier, a transition fortnight has been arranged during which your child can acclimatise to the new environment.

This will begin on Monday 1 April at 10:00am and will last until Friday 12 April. I apologise for the late notice of this cancellation of the Easter holiday.

Your child will be able to meet our new Head of 1^st Year, Mr Olaf Pridsolay, newly arrived from the Swedish school system. Mr Pridsolay is a well respected disciplinarian. Amongst other accomplishments, he introduced innovatively strict regimes, ranging from ice-baths for arriving late to school in the morning, to a ban on lunchtimes for those who neglect to do their homework.

I am sure you child will benefit from this new arrangement and I am very pleased to be getting rid of the little nuisance from our campus at last.

yours sincerely

Head Teacher, Annanhill Primary School