Salt n Vinegar

I thought another poster on the forum were saying that SNP support was falling away and listing seats that were maybe going to fall?

Doubt it... It might have made it difficult for him to "have a fag" .

I've had a look at Bet365. Not much there in terms of bet options, but to me the surprising thing was the odds for winning the most seats. Hardly surprisingly, the SNP are 1/100 but remarkably (to me) the Tories are second favourites at 25/1 with Labour a distant third at 66/1. It doesn't look like folk are placing much faith in Sarwar to restore Labour's fortunes.

Anyone know the story with the number/percentage of postal vote applications this time? We have never used them before, but all 3 of us here have used one, largely due to Covid. All 3 have now been sent in.

Remarkable. Who the Hell was his minder/adviser that day? Cupid Stunt?

Postal vote well away, SNP for the Constituency, Green for the Lothian area list. While we have a voting system that includes PR, we just have to suck it up and try to get the best outcome actually achievable which might not be the outcome we would actually want. I'm reasonably optimistic that the SNP will hold the constituencies they won last time in the Lothian area and that they might well take Edinburgh Central. I saw no point in giving my list vote to the SNP and would rather help the Greens than make a Unionist or a wrecker get a chance. The votes will fall as they will, but if the SNP do win Edinburgh Central, giving then the list vote as well just seems daft. I suppose I'll find out whether I was correct by Saturday night.

I think the Girly Swot would beat Rennie to a pulp in the first round. Hell, I might even pay to watch it.

Oh no.....

Viz had a cartoon strip called "The Bottom Inspectors"... coming to a toilet near you... "The Boaby Inspectors".

Oh Gawd... The match is on live on BBC Scotland HD. Last time I watched the Rovers there they walloped the Pars. I don’t know if I can stand the stress of watching it. I'd have to be keeping an eye on QoS v Dundee too.

The geese fly low over the loch tonight. Good service is anathema to protoplasm.

To be fair () some of the more fundamentalist Christians accept that the dinosaur remains are real, but that they were planted in the ground by a god to test their faith. By the way, it's sometimes funny (but sad at the same time) to look at some of the same sort of stuff "out there"... If folk fancy a good giggle, the could google "creation museum" which is in Kentucky and is (I kid you not) is a huge advert for young Earth creationism, where the Earth is about 6000 years old and humans coexisted with dinosaurs. The Wikipedia article is a belter. There's scarier folk than the DUP about.

I think I'll settle for a narrow Hearts win and QoS holding Dundee to a draw. As long as Hearts don't win by enough to put Dundee ahead of Raith on goal difference I'd take that. If tied on points after tonight Raith's goal difference is at a 6 goal advantage. Anyone else thinking coming second on goal difference is likely? I'd also like to say that I have always admired Queen of the South, the board, the ground, the team, the staff, the turnstile operators, the pies, the view, the local people, the shops and anything else that might make QoS even remotely well disposed to Raith. 'mon the Queens! Of course, Raith could just give us a relaxing night by going 4 up by half time, but I can't see it....

I'm by nature a suspicious sort and I find myself wondering if BoJo is actually playing a blinder here... - no, bear with me! The walloper's wallpaper story is taking most of the media attention. He is under fire because he won't answer questions in the way that folk want. Is it even remotely possible that he is just being a devious git and there ISN'T actually anything to see here but he is happy to just keep on giving 'unsatisfactory' answers and stringing folk along, knowing that if folk are foaming at the mouth over this, there's less time to examine other things? At the end he could triumphantly boast of his innocence in the face of what, it turns out, were unfounded accusations. It's the kind of devious media manipulation that I wouldn't put past these weasels. The waste of public money in all the investigations wouldn't bother him in the least. See? Told you I'm a suspicious sort!

It's OK, Boris assures us of the good sense and judgement of the British people.

Oi! Don't knock education... All parties are very keen on it.

Nearly... I think it is from chess or draughts a situation in which the obligation to make a move in one's turn is a serious, often decisive, disadvantage. "black is in zugzwang"

Poor Sarwar is in a very difficult position. He knows the Westminster bosses will have his guts for garters if he weakens on a referendum, even if he gets gubbed next week even though many in the party favour at least a referendum if not actual independence. He also knows that Scottish Labour policy is against Trident and that it's a clear conflict with the party high heid yins down south. He is in a bit of a zugzwang. (Sorry, just found that word a wee while ago and was desperate to use it )

Nothing wrong with me holding a grudge. If RBS leave Scotland, they can say cheerio to the accounts I've had with them since my first student grant cheque in the late 70's. Don't give a rat's ass if there's no other biggie based in Scotland... Their interest rates are keech anyway.

I wouldn't be surprised if Westminster tries the same pish as they did in the 1979 devolution referendum with the 40% rule. Anyone who didn't vote was effectively a "no" meaning that even the dead who were still on the electoral register counted as "no". Curiously, there was no such requirement for the Euro referendum, which was a far more significant proposal than delegation of powers within a state. Another reason never to trust Westminster with constitutional issues for Scotland. I trust them as far as I could throw a bus.

There is a link near the bottom of the page at this site - it is a provisional list - https://www.emb.scot/downloads/download/153/scottish-parliament-election-2021

I heard a comedian talking about trickle down economics being like someone with 10 dogs giving just one dog 10 sausages and thinking "it'll be ok, he'll share".

The problem of the UK being out of the EU while the RoI is in the EU is a biggie, no doubt about it but it isn't really a new problem. I am curious about what contingency plans there MUST have been in 1973 and 1975. If the border is a red line for all sides, could the RoI have joined the EEC in 1973 if the UK had not? Or vice- versa? What would have happened if the "remain" side lost at the 1975 UK referendum but the RoI remained? There must have been thoughts about how any of these outcomes would be dealt with, and of course these were the days before our more modern communications and IT systems. Just a thought.

It's a fair point and one with a bit of history behind it. After the 1992 General Election, Jim Sillars referred to "90 minute patriots", in reference to folk vehemently supporting their national football team but reverting to placing their trust in London for 'important stuff'. I understand that there are over 50 areas of what would be regarded as "normal" government activity that are reserved to Westminster. Wikipedia has the full list with statutory references (for the pedants). I'm not referring to micro-management minutiae making up the total number. One of the 50-odd is "fiscal, economic and monetary policy" which is about as meaningful and wide-ranging a grouping as you can get. As Gimli said in Lord of the Rings "that still only counts as one". Some other reserved highlights are - Immigration and nationality, illicit drugs, firearms, betting, gaming and lotteries, data protection, electricity, oil, gas, nuclear, energy efficiency, ports, air transport, employment and industrial relations, health and safety, job search and support. There's plenty more. It seems to me that a Government in Scotland trying to improve the lot of the folk here could operate much more sensibly and in a more efficient, co-ordinated and consistent manner with these powers being here rather than at Westminster. Justice, health and policing are devolved, but firearms and illicit drugs are not? The other political parties castigate the SNP about drugs deaths, yet presumably will uphold to their final breath the constitutional right of Westminster to rule against decriminalisation of any drugs and deny even the experimental use of drug treatment rooms - within Scotlands borders. Unemployment is hardly a trivial issue, yet immigration, employment and industrial relations are reserved. Some might think the present distribution of the 'normal' government powers is eminently sensible. The arrangement seems pretty stupid to me.

Utter nonsense. I started going to Ibrox with my dad in the late 1960s - and no unusual orange apparel was involved. I started going before I had any interest in religion or politics and never saw it necessary to conflate either of these with sport later on. My dad was a Church of Scotland elder, but I stopped going to Church/Sunday School when some earnest elderly spinster tried with a straight face to tell me that the story of the flood being a punishment from God was literally true and that a rainbow was a message. I grew up and out of religion due to being irritated beyond tolerance at daily hymns, bible readings and psalms at school and realising that the inane drivel about "religion" was being sung at games by folk who wouldn't know a church door if it smacked them in the face. A lack of belief in the supernatural renders acceptance of a monarchy "by the grace of a god" ludicrous, along with Bishops in our legislature. Independence is my preferred form of government for Scotland. I realise that these views probably put me in a tiny minority of Rangers fans, but that's life. I still get a vote, or in the case of the Scottish Parliament, 2 votes.