Being the August Bank Holiday it is inevitable that the weather would be dreich. Cloud covers the land, warm cloud but dreich nontheless, and so I remain inside in the dim light. Nothing exciting has been laid on for kids or else. The results of Covid I suppose, all are afraid to organise anything. Those that have gathered at music festivals and the like appear to be happily catching Covid! Could this be because they have not bothered, nor had the chance to get a jab? I wonder. It is the younger folks, as well as the now well advertised anti-maskers who are dying from this virus. Why do people not listen?
It is amazing what people will believe without factual confirmation. Some happily believe in aliens and UFOs from distant planets, even though astronomers, both professional and amatuer say no such thing has been discovered. Others accept social media statements that the vaccine is harmful or an attempt by Bill Gates to control you. I read somewhere that a third of the US population thought they had been lifted up into a spacecraft by light ray and, er, investigated by aliens. A third sounds a great number, but there must be quite a few who believe this in the US, some in the UK also I bet. People will believe what they wish to believe whether it is true or not. This covers religions, historic patriotic events, usually propaganda rather than fact, aliens, beliefs about incoming foreigners, and stories about that woman down the road, the one with the funny headwear. Once a belief gets into someone facts may be difficult to insert, just ask a Brexiteer.
In fact I had similar arguments at the weekend with Celtic fans. After the match Rangers fans, all in black, marched through the streets singing 'The famine is over, why don't you go home.' Having a dig at Celtic fans and their Irish origin. When I pointed out correctly that sectarian behaviour arises from both Celtic and Rangers fans I met a barrage of disbelief - all from Celtic fans. It is woven into them that the fault is all 'over there.' They are not sectarian, and anyway it is anti-Irish racism, not sectarianism. As if that made a difference. 'Racism' is the new, trendy, word, it was never used in the past, only sectarianism, and it certainly comes from both sides. The 'famine song' by the way has one small problem with it, the 'protestant' ethos espoused by the rangers fans comes from the early Rangers fans who came from Northern Ireland. These men came, with their 'Orange Order' parades from Belfast, so if that lot ought to go 'back home,' I suggest the choir we saw on the streets could go 'back home,' also.
Nothing of course will be done.
A book: 'Break Up,' the story of the fall out between Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond, is about to be published. Alex is not pleased. He knows this is just another step in Nicola's desperate attempt to remove the threat he offers to her position. She fears him as he is the only man who can truly bring independence. Alex has reported the 'Times' for printing elections of the book, these detail information banned from publication by a Scots judge. He will be bringing action soon, well, probably in two or three years, you know how slow the courts are these days, and then we may find out more of the infighting within the SNP.
Interestingly the writer is one David Clegg, once editor of the 'Daily Record,' and known to be well in with the Scottish government. It is thought he has obtained information from a source, known to some, within the SNP government and included this, and this in spite of legal rulings.
Nicola is desperate to lose the threat of Alex, he is however, still a far better, more devious, politician than she. We may see an end to her cabal before long.
