WILLIAMSON TO LAUNCH BELLA CALEDONIA

Kev Williamson has sent out the following info re the launch of the new magazine he is publishing 'Bella Caledonia':

An event coming up this Saturday, 27th of October in Edinburgh

Time: 7.30 Location: Out of the Blue Drill Hall (former TA drill hall)

30-38 Dalmeny Street (just off Leith Walk) Edinburgh Map here: http://tinyurl.com/2xf3vu

This an event to celebrate and discuss the launch of Bella Caledonia, a brand new paper for the emergent Scotland. The newspaper is pro-independence, republican, internationalist, and anti-authoritarian. The first edition has a flagship article by Andy Wightman ("Who Owns Scotland") on ownership and control of The Balmoral Estates. It will prove The Queen does not own Balmoral Estates - and explain who does - and why we have been misled on official documents and websites about this.

These facts have never been published before and are central to the argument about land reform and taking control of all Scottish lands back into the hands of Scots.

Alasdair Gray has re-designed Bella Caledonia (a character illustrated in his novel Poor Things) and provided the artwork to create the masthead for the newspaper. Radical historian James D Young is interviewed.

There will also be a libertarian left analysis of the Veneuelan revolution 1999-2006 included in the magazine.

Rejecting the centralism and authoritarianism of the old Marxist left, promoting movements rather than parties, Bella Caledonia intends to join the dots from the political processes in Scotland, to the stateless nations of Europe, to the revolutionary Bolivarian processes at work in Latin/South America, and throughout the anti-globalisation movement.

The newspaper - which is not associated or linked to any political party or organisation - will be handed out free to all Scots who want one. First edition available on the night. 5000 print run. The discussion panel will include editors Mike Small (who helped set up IndyMedia Scotland) and Kevin Williamson (founded Rebel Inc), as well as one of Scotland's foremost radical historians, James D. Young.

(Note: Lesley Riddoch - who has contributed a piece to the newspaper about women in the Outer Hebrides and the renaming back of the Western Isles to its original Celtic name of the Hebrides - but has had to pull out of the discussion.)

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Mike Small has written a number of excellent articles for the Guardian recently and Indy Media Scotland (which is also edited by Gus Abraham of the 1820 blog) is the most effective local Scottish news website around. - JM

Archie Stirling's Uncle wasn't as clean as he pretends

Scots' generosity of spirit stretched by MacKenzie's laughable criticisms

Following Kelvin MacKenzie's outburst on Question Time (your report, 13 October), the research assistant to Christine Grahame MSP has, presumably with approval, made complaints to the Tayside and Metropolitan police forces under Section 155 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.

This neatly sums up the complete uselessness of some of our MSPs and their assistants. Where's their confidence in the Scottish people? Are we so feeble that we have to go running to nanny every time anyone says anything unpleasant? Are we Scots - the greatest inventors in the world - so over-sensitive that we can't choose to either ignore or laugh at something so obviously puerile and untrue?

What MacKenzie - a talented ex-tabloid editor, journalist and broadcaster - apparently said, was that the Scots were not entrepreneurial and that they relied on the clever English for handouts. That, of course, is to paraphrase because MacKenzie was bent on milking the situation for just such a reaction as he has got. Now the office of one of our less thoughtful MSPs has decided, instead of ignoring and laughing at something so clearly untrue, to take action. The truth is that the Scots are one of the most entrepreneurial and talented races on Earth - or at least used to be - but may have occasionally been accused of being a bit dour in the humour department by those who were not subtle enough to understand "dry".

This reaction to Kelvin MacKenzie is truly sad. With crime rates rising, police time at a premium and most police stations unmanned where is our sense of proportion? Apart from anything else, the comments made MacKenzie look stupid and bigoted - we should leave it at that.

ARCHIE STIRLING
Craigarnhall
Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire

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Archie Stirling's party despite being given blanket coverage by a compliant media received an extremely low vote. This was deserved becaused it termed itself 'Scottish voice' while ignoring almost everyone in Scotland's views!

His letter tries to suggest that the SNP should be blamed for a 'nanny state' attitude because of the actions of one of their researchers, who isn't even a member of the party! "This neatly sums up the complete uselessness of some of our MSPs and their assistants."

Does it really? I don't think so, it shows that in fact our MSP's are employing people with brains who know the law of the land.

Individual political activists can take action without necessarily being asked to do so by any political party. This doesn't neatly tie in with Mr Stirling's top down 'Big Daddy knows best' type of politics however.

Stirling's 'big idea' seemed to be at the last election that he was intrinsically 'better' than all the other candidates for MSP. Presumably due to his money, his snobbery and his 'status' as the nephew of the founder of the SAS.

In fact his uncle was also involved in a coup to bring down the democratically elected Wilson Labour Government! To use this 'pedigree' was ridiculous and his right of centre unionist politics fell on deservedly deaf ears in Scotland.

More Tories? Why? The ones we have just now are bad enough.

GOOD RIDDENCE TO POMPOUS IRRELEVANT BRIT MING

Steve Bell summed up Ming's political future with this cartoon.

In a media obsessed age any personal faults are magnified. Ming might have been clever but he came across as pompous and his love for the Britain that he represented at the Olympics was out of place in modern Scotland.

His leadership has led the Scottish Lib Dems into the political wilderness with their undemocratic disdain for a referendum on Scottish independence, while at the same time demanding one on the EU. (the Tories are hypocrites in this area as well).

Dynamic politicians have charisma and earn respect no matter what their age is. Age might have been the excuse to get rid of him but the reality was that Campbell wasn't an effective leader of his party. Also, his own attempts to draw attention away from his age - claiming recently that he had 'married a young turk himself' were cringeworthy.

Since Labour have moved to the right and the Tories have moved to the left (marginally) both are attempting to occupy the voter friendly, politically muddled ''centre ground'.

In this situation the Lib Dems become irrelevant because they can't seriously compete with the 'big two'. In Scotland the SNP are a much more logical alternative to Labour and the Tories.

This leads to the question, what is the point of the Lib Dems? The answer is not a lot and they would be as well to throw their lot in entirely with the Labour party who they kept afloat in Scotland for many years. Those genuine home rulers who would balk at Labour's unionism (there doesn't seem to be a lot of them left given the non-reaction to the blocking of an indy referendum) could then move over to the much more relevant SNP.

SNP ARE RIGHT TO BACK SCOTS FARMERS

The SNP did the right thing. Scottish farmers were promised compensation and then cynically denied it. If Labour had still been in power then this would have been swept under the carpet.
Instead the SNP tried to talk to the UK Government about it but when they refused to listen they made the only possible choice and backed our farmers interests and demanded that the Goverment pay the planed compensation.

The Scotsman has become used to a supine boot licking Labour Executive which meekly follows orders whether they are in Scotlands national interest or not. We now have a Scottish Government which is prepared to fight our corner, that is a fact to be welcomed by all who have ambition for our country.

BROWN BOTTLES ELECTION AND SHOWS HIS TRUE COLOURS

Mediawatch have it absolutely right.

'Wha' will fill a cowart's grave?'

'Wha sae base as be a slave?'

'Let him turn and flee!'

Sums up Gordon Brown. The man who writes voluminous books about courage and heroism saw a couple of positive opinion polls for 'call me Dave' Cameron's Tories and ran like a big fat scared rabbit!

Brown feels 'we need some time to get to know him' yet we already know him! We know his fake bluster about Britishness and his new dodgy accent are designed to cover up his Scottishness. We know his new found love for the England team and his love for Gazza's goals are either a fabrication or an act of treason against his home country, we know he was up to his neck in the 'New Labour' project and is just as responsible ultimately for the Iraq debacle as Tony Blair.

Brown bottled it when he had the chance to defeat Blair for the leadership, he sat in the sidelines moaned and griped to journos but kept schtum while Blair sold the Labour party's soul. Now he has a chance against just as light weight a contender, against a simpering boy from the home counties and he can't even face up to him.

This individual is not fit to be British Prime Minister, he's hardly fit to be a Scottish MP, he has sold out everything and he is now sitting on borrowed time, a lame duck PM, fearful to go to the electorate because he knows he'll get humped. Good riddance Brown, you've muffed your chance and you won't get another.

LET SCOTLAND DECIDE

Isn't it ironic that the first genuinely Scottish Prime Minister we have had in some time sounds more like a 'Little Englander' than any of his predecessors? Gordon Brown has adopted the language of the far right, threatening deportations and shouting for "British jobs for British Workers". He has even embraced Margaret Thatcher's legacy and is now being given warm praise by people like Norman Tebbit.

The question is what priority does Scotland have in Brown's vision of Britain? The obvious answer is not much. Ever since James VI and I moved his court to England in 1603 we have been ruled by people who may be nominally completely Scottish but whose first thought has been to their new adopted home in England's green and pleasant land.

Who speaks for Scotland in London at the moment? Certainly not Des Browne our 'Scottish Secretary' who doesn't even listen to Wendy Alexander. It seems to be nobody at all, apart from the small current SNP Group in Parliament. If a General Election is called the Scottish people may well decide that to increase that group would be a very smart option.

As for David Cameron's Conservatives their call to 'Let the People Decide' on Europe is fair enough but it is also somewhat hypocritical when they and their fellow unionist parties are blocking a referendum on independence in Scotland. Why not let Scotland decide?

I believe that increasingly the UK parliament will be seen for what it is, an unnecessary obstacle in the path of Scotland's people which is preventing us from moving towards the type of free and social democratic state most Scots would prefer.

BOOM! MacWhirter shoots down Brown and Labour

Excellent piece from Ian MacWhirter in the Sunday Herald:

Getting the blues from Brown’s conference spin

IT'S THE eyes that are the give-away. In the sci-fi comedy Men In Black, you could tell the aliens who had stolen the bodies of Earthlings because their eyes always behaved in inhuman ways. Well, the Brownite young Turks have similar oracular ataxia: think of the thousand-yard stare of Ed Balls; the manic gleam in the eyes David Miliband; or Douglas Alexander's cross-eyed glaze, which makes the development secretary look as if he is too exhausted to see straight.

Everyone has praised Gordon Brown's conference for its unity, cleverness and presentation. How he has shafted the Tories by stealing their clothes. But there was something alien about this Labour conference, a strange look in its eyes. They behaved a little like The Stepford Wives, or some religious sect. Come to think of it, the last time I saw someone looking like David Miliband they were trying to sell me a copy of The Watchtower...

There were 81 references to "B-word" [British] in Brown's speech. He was using techniques of repetition drawn from American advertising, but it sounded neurotic, insincere, protesting too much. Then there was the ham-fisted celebration of John Smeaton, have-a-go hero of Glasgow airport. It was all so clunkingly, transparently manipulative. As Brown got up to speak, the colour of the conference stage backdrop changed from red to Tory blue to make sure TV viewers got the message.

Read full article here:

http://www.sundayherald.com/oped/opinion/display.var.1724139.0.0.php