Fide Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Here's an article from the Scotsman, perfectly illustrating why it's sales are plummeting faster than a whale shite. Look at this abject SHITE....: http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/books/brian-monteith-snp-turns-to-orwell-for-inspiration-1-3873123 Failure is dressed up as success in an insidious culture that would have done 1984 proud, writes Brian Monteith Politicians often look to great writers for inspiration. Churchill was not the first to find solace in the words of Shakespeare, while profound thoughts from classical Greeks and Romans, down to the likes of Goethe, Dickens, Chekhov and Shaw have appeared regularly in speeches of our leaders down the ages. Who then should the Scottish Nationalist Party turn to in its great moment of need when Marx is so obviously discredited and MacDiarmid less well known than Rankin or Jardine? From the behaviour of the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, and her Justice Secretary, Michael Matheson, the answer is most obviously George Orwell. Unfortunately they have taken the wrong lessons from his great work, Nineteen Eighty-Four, for instead of understanding its warnings they have chosen to adopt the sinister methodology of Doublethink and Newspeak that was used to lie to and manipulate the people. How else are we to interpret the behaviour of our most senior Holyrood politician when she decides that the only way to defend her government’s record is to proclaim to parliament this week that she is proud of her administration’s achievements? Leaving aside that in the last two years her government wilfully divided the nation more than Thatcher ever did, and continues to do so – setting Scot against Scot and family members or friends against each other – the litany of failure of Scotland’s public services under SNP management is without record. Such is the scale of the SNP’s poor performance it was obvious that once the independence referendum was over the opposition parties would look to draw the public’s attention to the government’s collective ineptitude. Thus, any opportunity of deflecting away from the repeated bad news on education, health and justice (to name just three of a burgeoning catalogue), by fabricating or exaggerating disputes about democratic process, will not be passed by. There is not enough oxygen in the earth’s atmosphere to support the time the SNP will give to discussing the need for more constitutional powers, while choosing callously not to use to full effect those powers that Holyrood currently has. So far it has worked, with the Scottish public still expressing an overwhelming desire to support the SNP ahead of the others. But the SNP leadership did not come to power through being naive; it knows there must come a time when the questions about the scandalous numeracy and literacy rates of our young, of missed accident and emergency targets and clinical outcomes in the NHS, or the collapse in public trust for Police Scotland, have to be answered. Orwell wrote how the politically corrupt state would corrupt the language too, turning past meanings on their head so that “war is peace”, “freedom is slavery” and “ignorance is strength”. Now the First Minister has decided that “shame is pride” and “failure is success”, for she cannot feel anything other than shame about the lives that have been ruined by services that have either deteriorated since the SNP came to power – or have not improved as much as those in the rest of the UK. Saying she is “proud” absolves her from admitting her responsibility for all that has gone wrong with this government. In so doing the policies themselves have been elevated to the status of hallowed religious artefacts beyond challenge, no matter how perverse the outcomes they deliver. Free tuition at university for all (no matter how wealthy) becomes more important as a pious article of faith than the reality that Scotland now has a smaller percentage of disadvantaged students attending higher education than countries where fees are charged but bursaries are given to the poorest. Shamelessly, the funding of college places that would give fresh hope and a second chance to those with the poorest educational outcomes has been raided by the SNP government to subsidise the wealthier students that the empirical evidence suggests are most likely to still attend university if they have to pay. Rather than accept the policy is failing, Sturgeon chooses to take pride in the nation’s shame and drive on, regardless of the cost in making Scotland a less open and meritocratic society. Comparative international studies show Scottish schools are falling behind those in other countries and most notably England. What then should be done? Should the failed centralised educational policies be changed and replaced by greater devolution to schools and parents – policies that are shown to be working across Europe? No, the answer is to withdraw Scottish education from participating in comparative studies that reveal the truth. Thus the Education Secretary is truly the Ignorance Secretary for she cannot know how well Scottish pupils are performing, and in presiding over a fall in numeracy and literacy is indeed a purveyor of ignorance. Fortunately she can sleep easy at night knowing that in the SNP’s Newspeak “ignorance is strength”. The Justice Secretary, Michael Matheson, speaks from the same crib sheet. Having learned of the early resignation of Police Scotland’s Chief Constable Sir Stephen House, he stated this weekend that the departing officer had left a “lasting positive legacy”. If that is the case why then did House feel compelled to resign? It can be argued that not one damaging episode during his tenure was sufficient to force his departure, but the charge sheet of introducing regularly armed police officers, escalating stop and search, surveillance of journalists’ communications to identify their sources, advancing station closures, de-prioritising household burglaries, a reported collapse in officer morale and the appalling failure of the force’s call centre is not a “positive legacy” but a damning indictment. Never mind that House’s legacy was to create what for many became Police State Scotland, the next Chief Constable will have to rebuild the public’s trust. Matheson shows he either does not understand the words “positive” or “legacy” or in Orwellian fashion is telling us that “failure is success”. We now know what we can expect of the coming months up until the Holyrood elections next May: the opposition will criticise with embarrassing comparative statistics and the government will respond with blind faith that positive legacies and improved performances are being established. Challenging Sturgeon’s pride will be presented as anti-Scottish as the truth becomes lies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broomhill Ultra Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Whales excrete plumes of liquid feces which are flocculent in nature, i.e., consisting of "a loose aggregation of particles, fluffy or woolly in nature".[1][2] The feces may contain undigested hard objects such as the beaks of squids.[3] The feces may be ejected underwater but comes to the surface where it floats till it disassociates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bishop Briggs Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Brian Monteith is a former Tory MSP so he's not going to praise Sturgeon or her administration. Monteith was forced out by Iain Martin, ironically then at the Scotsman. Martin revealed that Monteith was secretly plotting against David McLetchie, the Scottish Tory Leader. It's sad that the Scotsman can't find better writers than a failed and discredited right-wing Tory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fide Posted August 31, 2015 Author Share Posted August 31, 2015 Whales excrete plumes of liquid feces which are flocculent in nature, i.e., consisting of "a loose aggregation of particles, fluffy or woolly in nature".[1][2] The feces may contain undigested hard objects such as the beaks of squids.[3] The feces may be ejected underwater but comes to the surface where it floats till it disassociates. I didn't mean whale skitters, I meant a particularly difficult post-christmas lunch blue whale dump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Other Foot Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 If this piece hadn't been credited to Brian Monteith, I would have sworn it had been written by a try-too-hard, loves-the-sound-of-his-own-prose first year journalism undergrad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddfg Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Regardless of who wrote the article our primary and secondary education system is failing to produce sufficient numbers of pupils who can even just read and write never mind excel. By all accounts the police service is on it's knees and Glasgow's new super hospital was that good they had to move seriously ill patients out of it and back to the Beatson from where they had been transferred. These are all areas of Holyrood responsibility and at the moment we are being let down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fide Posted August 31, 2015 Author Share Posted August 31, 2015 Regardless of who wrote the article our primary and secondary education system is failing to produce sufficient numbers of pupils who can even just read and write never mind excel. By all accounts the police service is on it's knees and Glasgow's new super hospital was that good they had to move seriously ill patients out of it and back to the Beatson from where they had been transferred. These are all areas of Holyrood responsibility and at the moment we are being let down. Lawlz. Are you Kezia's scriptwriter? I have two kids in primary school and they're utterly thriving. Schools are fine. In which way is the police service "on it's knees"? And are you sure that any issues with the new hospital are anything more than unfortunate teething problems, or can the blame be laid at the feet of the SNP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky88 Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Lawlz. Are you Kezia's scriptwriter? I have two kids in primary school and they're utterly thriving. Schools are fine. fides kids are doing great at school. The whole education system is a great success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fide Posted August 31, 2015 Author Share Posted August 31, 2015 fides kids are doing great at school. The whole education system is a great success. Clearly, what I'm saying is that as a parent, my experience of current Scottish eduction is good. I've not heard any complaints from any of the other parents either. Not that I'm saying it's perfect and not that I know the entire education system inside out, but as with all things SNP-led, it's made out to be awful, when it just isn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parahandy1 Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Clearly, what I'm saying is that as a parent, my experience of current Scottish eduction is good. I've not heard any complaints from any of the other parents either. Not that I'm saying it's perfect and not that I know the entire education system inside out, but as with all things SNP-led, it's made out to be awful, when it just isn't. There are 140,000 fewer college places now than before the SNP cuts - your kids may be thriving now but they have a 30% less chance of being able to get a college place. South of the border the fees being charged to wealthier students have allowed an increased number of bursaries to those from poorer backgrounds. Terribly socialist of them. I hate the idea of charging fees at all for universities, but I've been surprised that it has had the opposite effect than I would have expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUFC90 Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Regardless of who wrote the article our primary and secondary education system is failing to produce sufficient numbers of pupils who can even just read and write never mind excel. By all accounts the police service is on it's knees and Glasgow's new super hospital was that good they had to move seriously ill patients out of it and back to the Beatson from where they had been transferred. These are all areas of Holyrood responsibility and at the moment we are being let down. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/scotland-the-best-educated-country-in-europe-claims-ons-report-9497645.html Why were all the papers running with this last year if Scottish education is really that bad ? No one is saying it's perfect but it is by far and away the best education system in the UK and one the best in Europe. Who's going to a better job than the SNP at running our Education, Health and Police services ? Labour ? The Tories ? Maybe even the Lib Dems ? I know its all over the media, all the time, how bad the Scottish Government are at running the devolved areas but it's really not the case. The previous Scottish governments were fucking anonymous with a lot more resources. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speckled tangerine Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 There are 140,000 fewer college places now than before the SNP cuts - your kids may be thriving now but they have a 30% less chance of being able to get a college place. And yet the number of fulltime college students rose 3% to 120,000 last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renton Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 There are 140,000 fewer college places now than before the SNP cuts - your kids may be thriving now but they have a 30% less chance of being able to get a college place. South of the border the fees being charged to wealthier students have allowed an increased number of bursaries to those from poorer backgrounds. Terribly socialist of them. I hate the idea of charging fees at all for universities, but I've been surprised that it has had the opposite effect than I would have expected. To be fair, it's only a 30% drop if every course in every college had every place filled. In reality, it's likely to be far less, available places does not equal actual disenfranchised students . The cuts aren't salami sliced from all courses equally, a lot of what went is in part time courses, night courses, one day courses and the like. I don't like any cuts in education, anywhere but respect the fact that the SNP at least tried to minimise the impact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambomo Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Regardless of who wrote the article our primary and secondary education system is failing to produce sufficient numbers of pupils who can even just read and write never mind excel. By all accounts the police service is on it's knees and Glasgow's new super hospital was that good they had to move seriously ill patients out of it and back to the Beatson from where they had been transferred. These are all areas of Holyrood responsibility and at the moment we are being let down. You strike me as the kind of person who would complain about the delivery schedule of Santa if you heard the SNP were in charge of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doulikefish Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Damn thought it was going to be about it shutting down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parahandy1 Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/scotland-the-best-educated-country-in-europe-claims-ons-report-9497645.html Why were all the papers running with this last year if Scottish education is really that bad ? No one is saying it's perfect but it is by far and away the best education system in the UK and one the best in Europe. Who's going to a better job than the SNP at running our Education, Health and Police services ? Labour ? The Tories ? Maybe even the Lib Dems ? I know its all over the media, all the time, how bad the Scottish Government are at running the devolved areas but it's really not the case. The previous Scottish governments were fucking anonymous with a lot more resources. The article you refer to is pretty misleading in that countries throughout Europe collate data differently. Scotland counts the number of students completing HNC/HND in their figures for graduates which other parts of Europe don't. The PISA tests on the other hand are one of the few tests that compare the same collation standards globally - although even those look at a very small aspect of education. They show that the UK has fallen out of the top 20 for the first time to 26th place. The results in the PISA tests are broadly similar in England and Scotland. I believe that the best people to run our Education system are academics & teachers, and the best people to run the police force are police officers and the best people to run the Health service are clinicians & health professionals. What we are seeing currently is an increasing degree of interference and centralisation and not not always for the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 There are 140,000 fewer college places now than before the SNP cuts - your kids may be thriving now but they have a 30% less chance of being able to get a college place. I for one am devastated to discover that the clown colleges are producing fewer HNCs in hairdressing. Truly devastating news, given how much each young person aspires to, erm, slither into the local college having made an arse of their school education in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingTON Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 I believe that the best people to run our Education system are academics & teachers, and the best people to run the police force are police officers and the best people to run the Health service are clinicians & health professionals. What we are seeing currently is an increasing degree of interference and centralisation and not not always for the better. Nice try, but none of those groups were actually running public services prior to the Scottish Government's rationalisation. Least of all the health service. The throbbing hard-on that SNP-baaaad types have towards the reinstatement of joke groups like Tayside Police, multiplying the bureaucracy down to the local level for no purpose whatsoever, sadly goes against the fact that very, very few other people give a toss about 'centralisation' to the level of, erm, a small nation-state. Which is why posturing 'localist' parties like the Busted Flushes remain electoral cannon-fodder. And for the record, having academics running the higher education system or doctors running a healthcare system is an utterly cretinous idea. They aren't actually qualified for complex managerial tasks, and are best served doing their day job. Should the views of these employees be taken into account when running the service? Only to an extent, given the ability of middle-class trade unions to puff up the wages and conditions of their members to the detriment of the actual service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddfg Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 As recently as May Nicola Sturgeon admitted our education system was not good enough with too few children from deprived areas attaining the minimum standards in numeracy and literacy. From my own recent experience my son now has to travel every day by taxi to secondary school in another town to do two of his chosen subjects due to a lack of teaching provision in his own school. This may sound a great solution but the reality is that he misses classes every day and is trying to do one of his other Highers on the basis of one period of teaching per week. After almost eight years children at both ends of the educational spectrum are still being let down and we are having to buy text books to let him do his course work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doulikefish Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 As recently as May Nicola Sturgeon admitted our education system was not good enough with too few children from deprived areas attaining the minimum standards in numeracy and literacy. From my own recent experience my son now has to travel every day by taxi to secondary school in another town to do two of his chosen subjects due to a lack of teaching provision in his own school. This may sound a great solution but the reality is that he misses classes every day and is trying to do one of his other Highers on the basis of one period of teaching per week. After almost eight years children at both ends of the educational spectrum are still being let down and we are having to buy text books to let him do his course work. You strike me as the kind of person who would complain about the delivery schedule of Santa if you heard the SNP were in charge of it. Yip,everything has went wrong in the last 8 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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