As al-Megrahi, the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, nears the end of his life, this al-Jazeera investigation (first broadcast in June) is worth another watch. Scottish private investigator Continue reading
“Let’s put it this way. If al-Megrahi is found dead at any point in the next few weeks – irrespective of the convoluted official explanations of how he died – Continue reading
The Guardian recently published a panel of views from Scottish writers: AL Kennedy, Iain Banks (‘I support the idea of an independent Scotland’), Shena Mackay and Janice Galloway (‘The SNP Continue reading
Have you been to a great show at the festival? Send us your reviews… Kate Higgins reviews Not in My Name. Well the circus is about to leave town. The Continue reading
A short film about this summer’s attempt by a few hundred Pro Palestinian and human rights campaigners to access the West Bank by Jon Pullman. Jon writes: “The Israeli reaction Continue reading
The 2008 world financial crisis was terrible for Iceland. At the end of the year the country declared bankruptcy. Contrary to what could be expected, the crisis resulted in Icelanders recovering their sovereign rights, through a process of direct participatory democracy that eventually led to a new Constitution….
by Kevin Williamson As opposition forces move into Tripoli the final chapter of the Gaddafi regime seems about to be writ large, and in blood. This time there seems little Continue reading
By Mike Small Auld Reekie’s catchphrase is, I think, a throwback to the golden age (about 7 years ago) when the city’s financial elite (let’s be polite) were in more Continue reading
And so we continue, hurtling back, day by day with a sort of deformed debauched British State led by the Bullingdon Club Cabinet. As K-Punk tells it: “the most breathtaking Continue reading
Remembering Harry Stanley, Jean Charles de Menezes and Ian Tomlinson. This from John Pilger This is not in any way to excuse the violence of the rioters, many of whom Continue reading
The crown estate represents a varied mix of property – with a book value currently estimated at £6.6 billion, a figure which almost certainly underestimates the true value. It includes large holdings of rural and urban land, as well as extensive marine assets. These marine assets include over half of the foreshore of the UK, all of the seabed out to the 12 nautical mile limit, and mineral rights, (excluding hydrocarbons), over the continental shelf.
This piece of shit got four years for distributing 100,000 child porn photos of children being sexually abused. BBC News – Facebook child abuse images ringleader jailed “These are real Continue reading
Even while Scotland is rejecting right-wing policies at the polls and the mainstream of Scottish politics is walking away from these agendas, still they are almost inexplicably dominating the airwaves and the press. How can an issue so far off the real agenda as the privatisation of Scottish Water (or some precursor step) still be floating around? Why is the question of creating a market in higher education in Scotland still being discussed?
Launching this week is Blasda – Scotland’s local food feast, a massive celebration of the alternative to supermarket food culture happening across the country next month. From East Kilbride, where Continue reading
This has been England’s Rorschach moment, where the collective bile against the underclass that 30 years of neoliberal policy has created comes to the surface. Where exactly did the rioters get the idea that there is no higher value than acquiring individual wealth, or that branded goods are the route to identity and self-respect?
“10yr old looters? Created by scum to live as scum. Don’t make pathetic excuses for criminality” The explosion of rage of Middle England is something to behold…
This from the excellent Steven Maclean on Dreaming Genius: London is bracing itself for a fourth night of riots. Towns and cities all over the country are also now on Continue reading
Love Life is also a reminder that being radical doesn’t have to mean being grumpy. Nietzsche reckoned that holding on to resentment about the world not being the free and equal place you or I might want it to be can be a way of holding on to that inequality and lack of freedom. I think he’s got a point.
If you’re bored of the book festival and jaded by the fringe…here’s quick reminder that the Book Fringe starts this Thursday… from Thursday 11 to Thursday 25 August 2011 at Continue reading
It takes a brave or foolish man to try and step into Robert Burns’s Scotland-size shoes but Bella Caledonia’s Kevin Williamson is doing it for fourteen nights in August. Here Continue reading
By Justin Kenrick Most of the serious commentators on climate change see us as having already gone past the point of no return. This is not because the emissions in Continue reading
This courtesy of the ever brilliant Frankly : The systemic crisis experienced by major economies has drawn attention to the shortcomings of current market practices. Generating as much poverty as Continue reading
If you don’t already follow Greg Palast, you should, here’s why: It was quite upsetting to find our President blindfolded and tied to a chair at the GOP Tea Party Continue reading
Small countries would never be able to survive the coming economic storms, right? We need to cling on to great stable financial states like, er the USA and the UK, Continue reading
This is the second of a two part article by Rebecca Nada-Rajah, our correspondent who has just completed a 4 month, 7000 km cycle journey to Iran. Undocumented People It Continue reading
