Perspective is going to the seaside to make sand castles. So don't expect any updates for a while. See you all later!
A BBC2 programme on Sunday will expose the publicity scam around the rescue of the unfortunate pvt Jessica Lynch in Iraq. A staged rescue complete with guns firing blanks - for the benefit of the TV cameras. Very post-modern I'm sure.
The group, dressed in overalls and hats, used 30ft steel ladders to reach the billboard in Gorgie during a midnight raid on Monday, fooling police officers into thinking that they were legitimate workers in the process.
Mr Wellburn added: "I know that they do similar things in the States where they put smaller posters on the adverts, but I thought I'd go the whole hog and do the entire billboard.
"In Dalry Road, the police drove by us for about three hours while we put these billboards up and I was absolutely amazed when they didn't stop us, but because we had overalls and hats on and the billboards looked like real ones they didn't bother us."
The Scottish Parliament has published a fascinating report into the May 1st Elections. The PDF report can be downloaded via this page.
Labour took the most seats on only 34% of the vote. And most people did not bother to vote. They see politicians as 'all the same' and turn their back on the whole thing. The report effectively highlights the almost identical policy proposals of the 4 establishment parties.
As Ian Bell put it in Holyrood magazine "This year the party wish-lists bear a family resemblance so strong they might have issued from the same pen. Mainstream politics is narrower, and duller, than it has ever been. So crowded is the centre ground, we might as well resort to congestion charging. Were it not for the dogged persistence of the Scottish Socialists, the Greens and single issue candidates, an election would hardly be necessary. The drawing of lots, with the assistance of a bingo caller, would suffice. (Holyrood Magazine, 22/4/2003, p10)"
Much has been made of the SSP and Green success on the regional list section of the vote. But check this out. The map below shows which parties gained most in the constituency section of the vote. The SSP gains are in pink. I like this map!
"Paradoxically, the success of the Greens and Socialists might have been helped by the lack of media coverage. Not appearing as mainstream parties or with the four main party leaders in two TV debates allowed them to be portrayed as outsiders. And this was a good election not to look or sound like a politician."
An interesting point. But I would argue that it is wrong. Whenever the SSP had a chance to put forward its programme, it soon became evident that we posed a real alternative to "mainstream parties".
This was the winner of the excellent peace poster competition at brushstroke TV. Found via the Greenpeace Blog.
"We can only say that if people lived in a communist society after perfecting the science and art of cooperation, they would not need to look like a Wolverine with metal claws to feel "powerful" "
The Scottish Parliament website fails basic accessibility tests quite spectacularly. How hard can it be to add alt text to an image? I find this quite surprising, most local councils make great efforts to comply with accessibility guidelines, why can't our parliament?
Fine in Windows NN7, but weird things happen to the central column in IE6 and Opera. Loads of white space appears.
Launched the Edinburgh Central SSP website, should validate as XHTML strict. Seems a bit wordy now I see it afresh, but it's a start.
How ironic that the first act in Scotland's 'democratic' parliament is to give an oath of allegiance to an unelected hereditary monarchy.
Tommy Sheridan, SSP group leader said ""I and my party colleagues were elected on a clear and honest commitment to an independent Socialist Scotland, a Socialist republic, a Scotland of citizens not a Scotland of subjects.
Whilst Lothians SSP MSP Colin Fox sang a couple of verses of Robert Burns great work 'A Man's A Man', before the presiding officer made him go to the back of the class queue.
What are these words that are too terrible to speak? Well Burns the radical and democrat had a few things to say about those who lord it over us because of an accident of birth.
stage two of their pathetic and infantile protest will begin tomorrow at the swearing in ceremony when all six of Tommy's Trots have prepared their own version of how not to take the oath.
Chomsky: Well, what we see here, in Hobbiton, farmers tilling crops. The thing to remember is that the crop they are tilling is, in fact, pipe-weed, an addictive drug transported and sold throughout Middle Earth for great profit.
Zinn: This is absolutely established in the books. Pipe-weed is something all the Hobbits abuse. Gandalf is smoking it constantly. You are correct when you point out that Middle Earth depends on pipe-weed in some crucial sense, but I think you may be overstating its importance. Clearly the war is not based only on the Shire's pipe-weed. Rohan and Gondor's unceasing hunger for war is a larger culprit, I would say.
Chomsky: But without the pipe-weed, Middle Earth would fall apart. Saruman is trying to break up Gandalf's pipe-weed ring. He's trying to divert it.
Zinn: Well, you know, it would be manifestly difficult to believe in magic rings unless everyone was high on pipe-weed. So it is in Gandalf's interest to keep Middle Earth hooked.
The most inaccurate report ever, even gets the name of the party wrong. Almost funny, think these are crazy Christian fundi's.
An historic victory for the SSP. 6 MSP's elected on the regional lists including a knife-edge victory in Edinburgh (over the SNP) at 7.45 am this morning, which saw Colin Fox (above) elected. A long day with no sleep and straight to the council vote count today. Thanks to the voters of Moat Ward who gave me 8.4% of the vote, which I am delighted with.
During market day, Sugar, Salt and Pepper set off to find themselves a "twinkle" - but neither of them have any concrete idea about what a "twinkle" really is! Sugar thinks that it should be twinkling, Salt thinks that it should be comfy-warm, but Pepper thinks that it should be puffy-fluffy. A crow eager for shiny trinkets becomes an additional hazard in their quest.
British Mountains Map Displaying Items By Tag Paddling Headquarters On Of Land Isles Showing And Rivers published on maps. which is part of the maps collection. It’s full resolution is 600x855 Pixels.
Map Of Bc And Alberta Road Yukon published on maps. which is part of the maps collection. It’s full resolution is 400x419 Pixels.