Please don't go....but please don't have any influence on anything that affects you. There's a good wee region!

Watching ‪#‎QuestionTime‬ this evening from Stockton on Tees, on tv in Glasgow, makes me at a loss to understand how anyone could not believe Scotland would be better off in virtually every way if it was independent.

Again we see a Tory representative (Lord Mickey Mouse I think his name was) say something foul about Scotland by using that old chestnut that Scotland is a subsidy junky, which was greeted with a warm applause. For some reason the audience had very few anti trident supporters (there`s a surprise - it wouldn't for the BBC to be biased would it?). All in all it was a painful experience - I knew there was a reason I no longer really watch these sorts of shows on the BBC!

I am in a state of disbelief at anyone with a eyes, ears, and a brain that even partially works, who actually voted voluntarily to remain attached to this mob as that is surely the only way they can be described. I remain completely confused; dumbfounded if you like.

Better Together?

It would be funny if it wasn't so sad! The only sensible one that seemed to know anything about Scotland and about its low position in the United Kingdom hierarchy (or Greater England) was Nicola Sturgeon. Now there's a thing!

It's like we are a different species in Scotland from the rest of the UK these days.

I can't relate to any of the other panel members or the majority of the audience members who just seem like aliens from another planet. But then I have come to realise that they always were and we were cajoled and brainwashed into thinking we were better attached to the UK by the media and the BBC in particular.

Up until last years Independence Referendum campaign this was a subtle malign influence on Scotland as we had kept our place. 

But when we dared to look as though we might cut off the supply of money from the oil and our other assets, and wouldn't any longer supply our lochs to house the UK's weapons of mass destruction to our imperial masters it has gone into overdrive. 
 
 
The emotion is beyond anger. And it is more than sadness. I think it is still called desolation and a feeling I am getting very used to since September 2014. We share an island with people who just don't get it and we chose to stay stuck to them, and given tonight's performance they really don't give a shit. Hopefully this will not be for another 300 years. Its too awful to think about.

#VoteSNPinMay
 
And to think 55% of people who live in Scotland actually voted for this. I don't know what else to say.

Had to laugh at a warning that came up before watching the 1st episode of Eastenders on the BBC Red button this evening

Interesting to see ‪#‎Eastenders‬ episode 1 from 1985 on the Red Button this evening compared to the current 30 years special episodes this week. The current episodes are sanitized and are no where near as gritty and real, and therefore not nearly as enjoyable (but just as miserable in general).

Had a laugh at the warning which came up beforehand particularly where it said 'some scenes may offend viewers that may not have offended people in 1985'. I am constantly offended by the stuff on telly these days yet I receive no warning nor would I expect one.

The world gets progressively more bonkers in many ways, particularly at the BBC, whose news programmes have become something of a joke in many quarters in Scotland since they went into propaganda overload in favour of of the UK and 'Better Together' during the referendum and haven't given up since.

Eastenders episode 1 from 1985 on youtube

Just got home from seeing my Mum who is unwell and needs some assistance at the moment, to discover someone has stuck Naw stickers on my front windows.

Just got home from seeing my Mum who is unwell and needs some assistance at the moment, to discover someone has stuck Naw stickers on my front windows. The person who did this was obviously trying to balance the somewhat larger Yes posters on the windows. The former were however easily removed.

If I was a Better Together activist perhaps I could claim assault and get quoted on the BBC, perhaps even making the headlines!

As it is I put it on Facebook as yet another example of the petty minded vandalism being targeted at people displaying Yes posters in their windows and who have Yes Flags in their gardens. It seems that NO activists (the few of them there are in Scotland, many being bussed in from down south and paid for the joy of visiting their northern outpost) seem to dislike the democratic process that is going on in Scotland at the moment.

A YES vote is about social justice, normalism, self determination, internationalism, the future, and the settled belief that we have a very good chance of being able to do things better (as we certainly have all the resources to do so – as the YES and the NO campaigns agree, or at least say they do).

We are one of the most unequal countries in the western world; we have 1 in 3 children born in Glasgow living in poverty; we have one of the lowest life expectancies; we have increasing numbers of people relying on food banks just to feed themselves from week to week, we have western Europe’s biggest nuclear weapons arsenal situated about 30 miles for our largest city, and for 27 of the first 65 years of the post WW2 years we have been ruled by Westminster Governments Scotland didn’t vote for. But we have best of both worlds they say.

All I’d say is if you’re planning to vote No and you’re NOT a billionaire businessman, a UK government minister or a Scottish Labour MP (who doesn't really give a **** about his constituents), it might be worth wondering why that is.

#indyref #scotland #freescotland #yesscot #yesscotland #voteyes #yes2014 #bettertogether #nothanks #saoralba #buchoir

Change power supplier? What if you can’t without incurring a charge for several hundred pounds?

A favourite line of UK politicians in particular the Conservative and Liberal Democrat ones is that you can change supplier to save on your energy bills. This is backed up by ‘experts’ on the BBC, ITV and other main stream media outlets who always state that it is easy to change suppliers and should involve no charge. The latest of these ‘experts’ appeared on BBC Breakfast this morning (28.03.2014) and didn’t have a clue what she was talking about when faced with this problem.

The latest of these ‘experts’ appeared on BBC Breakfast this morning (28.03.2014) and didn’t have a clue what she was talking about when faced with this problem.

Due to the UK energy market not being a real market there are many people in my situation who cannot do this without incurring charges of hundreds of pounds. I was also told that there is no guarantee I would actually be able to get cheaper prices from another supplier anyway. 

there are many people in my situation who cannot do this without incurring charges of hundreds of pounds

This is due to the type of electric heating I have i.e. Scottish Power Comfort Plus White Meter where Scottish Power decide how much heating I get, although I can alter the settings additionally in each individual heater. Many people have Scottish Power White Meter (or Economy 7 in other areas) but this is different being operated using a time clock instead of the energy company, and therefore does not incur the same problem when changing supplier.

In reality I can have any power supplier I like as long as it is Scottish Power

Thus in reality I can have any power supplier I like as long as it is Scottish Power. I wrote to my MP about this and he told me I was making up my situation and of-course I could change supplier with no resultant charges (although the paperwork I sent to him from the 2 energy suppliers in question said different). 

My MP told me I was making up my situation and of-course I could change supplier with no resultant charges

My MP at that stage is now Lord Martin of Springburn and sits in the UK House of Lords, so he was well rewarded by being utterly incompetent at his job as speaker and MP too. I thought naively that Labour was meant to be the political party that tried to help, and also protect the most ill and most vulnerable. How wrong was I?

I have a long term illness which means I must live on benefits of £100 per week.

I have a long term illness which means I must live on benefits of £100 per week. How precisely am I meant to adequately heat my home on that meagre figure when I cannot benefit from the ability that I am told I have (but in reality I do not) of being able to shop around amongst energy suppliers for the cheapest tariff and therefore lower prices? My house is frequently cold from autumn right through to late spring which does nothing for my illness.

How the London to Brighton train ride has changed in 60 years

I can recall seeing the first and second of these films on the BBC in the 1983 - just shows you how old I now am. It is fascinating to see the two of them again and with a further update from this year. Looking forward to the next one in another 30 years time should we all still be here.

A link to the story and the film on the BBC UK website is shown below...
BBC London to Brighton on the train, 1953, 1983 and 2013