Impounding Drink Drivers’ Vehicles…

… but the clartier the better.

When new legislation was introduced which called for the confiscation of drink-drivers’ vehicles when they were found to be three or more times over the limit, it appeared to be a leveller. Progressive, if you like.

Thus, more wealthy or higher paid individuals who, appropriately, are more likely to purchase more expensive vehicles, were to experience a proportionately similar punishment than lower paid offenders who may well be driving less expensive vehicles.

Unless there are extraneous considerations thus far unreported, it would appear not to be so. Sheriff Robert McCreadie at Perth Sheriff Court rejected the attempt by the Crown to seize a £25,000 Mercedes sl500 (now worth £9,000) – belonging to an offender who had been four times over the limit – because of its monetary value.

Strathclyde Police Will Not Pin This on a Local Dumpling

A joke which will make absolutely no sense to anyone not familiar with north-eastern West Dunbartonshire (and unlikely to result in a laugh from those who are).

Initial reports of an unexplained explosion this week in Garadhban Forest by Gartocharn near Loch Lomond were met with no-mean bemusement that this minor village between the heaving metropolises of Balloch and Drymen could be the scene of a terrorist training camp or arms dump.

It has, however, happened before. Those convicted of the attempted 2007 car-bombing of Glasgow Airport has used this area because of its seclusion and blindness to mobile phone signals. So, if jacobite jihadist involvement is shown, expect Alex Salmond to bluster that those responsible must have come from outside.

Or, conceivably, it could be renegade Irish Republicans. Even better-than-average organized neo-Nazis. Animal rightists appears to have been removed from the rich gumbo which is the terrorism in Britain community.

Or an entirely innocent explanation.

What Should They Apologize For?

Buoyed on by recognition in Australian officialdom for its role in the catastropic introduction of a paleolithic society to the Modern Era and then Space Age in just a few generations, some community activist has called upon the Scottish Parliament to apologize for centuries of State policy towards Gypsies and Travellers (not a single group, as it happens).

Mistreatment of identified social/ethnic/religious groups occurs throughout the historical record, and to ‘apologize’ for one might as well lead to apologizing for the whole of history.  Furthermore, although official frustration of Traveller and Gypsy lawful activity does occur, there is considerable State support for their itinerant lifestyle and conferring of full civil rights.

I wonder if apologies have been issued to the residents of Abbey Road in Torry, Aberdeen upon in area a Traveller cortege has ensconced itself.

How Dare Anyone Ask Alex Salmond Questions???

As I discussed before, every small business’ nightmare, Alex Salmond was happy to chow on delicacies provided by Wilde Thyme Catering and Party Design at a function for the badly run Holyrood-funded private business, The Gathering Ltd.  Although, not so badly run than the spiv-in-chief, Lord Sempill acrued losses himself; whilst businesses like Wilde Thyme still are owed almost £12,000.

The Holyrood Public Audit commitee has convened a public inquiry, and requested a meeting with Salmond.  The response, however, was a tactit refusal and passing of responsibility to Mike Russell, Culture Minister.

Like most of Scotland, Salmond is a disagrace to Scotland.

Fish-heid McMoonface: Like a Weathervane in a Hurricane

Angus Robertson, MP and SNP Defence Spokesman in April 2009:

The Faslane naval base on the Clyde is to become the dedicated home for the UK’s entire nuclear-powered submarine fleet.

The move is part of a major shake-up of the Royal Navy announced by the Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth.

Trafalgar class submarines, currently based at Devonport in Plymouth, will begin joining the Vanguard fleet based at Faslane in about five years time.

The SNP said Scots did not want more nuclear submarines on the Clyde.

Alex Salmond, MSP and Scottish First Minister in September 2010:

The First Minister agreed to include the retention of the Faslane naval base on the Clyde in a cross-party submission to the Government’s strategic defence review (SDR).

Mr Salmond had left them out from a draft version of the dossier, which aims to persuade the MoD that defence spending north of the Border must be maintained despite severe cutbacks.

The four Trident nuclear submarines based there are specifically cited in the latest version of the document as one of the reasons the Ministry of Defence (MoD) should not shut the facility.

You are as plain as two upturned egg-cups on an ironing board.

When Iceland and Ireland Fail, Alex Salmond Turns Attention to Basque Country

Having shown his economic savvy, when calling on Scotland to follow the arc of prosperity seen in Ireland and Iceland, to be as much use as titties on a tom-cat, an official visit to the Basque Country has caused Alex Salmond now to see benefits there.

“During the financial crisis, the Basque Country outperformed Spain as a whole and during 2009 the Basque economy contracted by 3.3 per cent compared to 3.6 per cent in the rest of Spain. This visit will help us identify and enhance the opportunities for real, practical collaboration between us and bring investment and jobs to Scotland.

“This economic performance is to be praised and there is no doubt there are lessons to be learned from the Basque economic model which could further help to make the case for Scotland to have more levers and powers to improve economic performance.”

 Normally, I would cut out my tongue with a rusty spoon rather than agree with the LibDems, but if Robin Purves MSP is correct, then yet another economic dream is turning to crud:

“ Official Basque Government figures show that the region has had lower GDP growth in 2010 than Scotland, lower economic activity than Scotland, unemployment rates are considerably higher than Scotland and inflation is running higher than in the Scottish economy.

“If the Basque country is the example we should be following right now, then Salmond’s economic judgement is as sound as his political judgement over the last week concerning independence.”

And that is before we get onto another thing which has made the modern Basque Country.

Twat.

SNP Shelves Plans for Independence Referendum Bill

Good idea, chaps. You might loose.

As Soon as a Coin In the Coffer Rings, a Soul From Purgatory Springs

As the Daily Record reports on the peddling of Papal merchandise which would make Father Dougall blanch, the Herald covers the ‘persuasion’ being brought to bear on the Catholic… oh, okay, I was raised an Episcopalian… the Roman Catholic faithful to pay for access to Ballahouston Park.

Parishioners have been told there is an expectation they should make a donation of £20 each to cover transport and the cost of a pilgrim pack with a CD and an information booklet.

Anyone attending the papal visit to Bellahouston Park on September 16, including children, will require a pilgrim pass contained in the pack.

The Catholic Church insists the £20-per-head cost is not an individual levy but a parish fee. Anyone unable to pay would not have to.

However, priests have warned that cash-strapped parishes may be forced to return tickets if they are unable to meet the cost of subsidising families who cannot afford to pay. One Glasgow parish has been allocated more than 542 tickets and is expected to find more than £10,000. 

What would Johann Tetzel say?

Duncan McNeil MSP Makes An Arse Out of Himself

The Labour MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Duncan McNeil has responded to a triple infanticide with an attack on the concept of home-schooling as supported by the SNP.

This related to the presuming stabbings in a Slateford flat of eight year old twins, Augustino and Gianluca Riggi and their five year old sister, Cecilia. All had been home-schooled by their mother, Theresa who has since been arrested for their murders.

Their father, who is not being sought in connexion with the horrendous events, identified their bodies yesterday.

McNeil said:

“Any inquiry should try to determine whether the home-schooling of the Riggi children led to any delays in the authorities picking up on the danger they were in.

“Whether it was a factor in this case or not, parents who educate their children in this way have to be accountable. Work has been carried out in England as part of the Badman review to tighten up home-schooling laws, and if there is a perception that the Scottish system is weaker than the English one then we must act.

“So I was disappointed by the complacent response from Schools Minister Keith Brown, when I raised concerns about home-schooling six months ago, and I would hope he would look again to see if we can make our system more robust.”

Most cases of family annihilation are carried out against non-home schooled children. In fact, all cases are carried out by parents. I think we should investigate the fecundity of unsuitable parents.

Alternatively, McNeil can fecund off.

Jahangir Hanif: the Peter Mandelson of the SNP? But Without the Acumen.

CROSS-POSTED AT HARRY’S PLACE.

In August 2008, millionaire SNP member and councilor, Jahangir Hanif was suspended for two months after taking an AK47 to the spirit if not the letter of Party policy on firearms (six months after he previously had stood as the SNP candidate for Central Ayrshire during the 2005 General Election).

One should have sympathy for his doubtless surprise at having been suspended, as being a millionaire member and councilor who was campaigning against poor rented accommodation had previously not been thought relevant to his owning ‘slum’ properties. Or being somewhat loose with his tongue at community events.

During the Party investigations into his firearms-training, this millionaire member was also going through an unpleasant divorce (which should not be treated with mirth) made all the worse by his 17 year old daughter writing a letter to Alex Salmond questioning his original suitability to have been allowed to stand as a councilor or MP.

This letter was referred to by Salmond on the floor of Holyrood, but it was its publication by Scottish blogger, Kezia Dugdale which resulted in legal by Hanif’s solicitors.

After his period in purdah, and with intellectual heavyweights of the Party dismissing further criticism as being borne from racist and colonial mentalities, Hanif presumably felt it was now safe for millionaires to remain members of the Party.

Attempts by the Party to woo other wealthy supporters of South Asian background, and bring in bloc votes, were seen in Deputy Leader, Nicola Sturgeon’s plea for leniency for a constituent convicted of serial benefits fraud. Her judgment was called into question when it turned-out, the un-wealthy (and un-regarded amongst local Scottish Asians) individual had a previous conviction for embezzlement.

With recent boundary changes to Holyrood constituencies, Sturgeon’s constituency of Glasgow Govan (where, in 2007, she received barely a 1% majority over the Labour candidate) will become effectively no-more; and reformed as Glasgow Southside, with inclusion of a significant number of Scottish Asian voters.

With any sub-state nationalist movement tending towards political idiocy, I have little faith in the SNP’s ill-formed brand to see non-European voters as easy bloc votes. Consider an unawareness at just who has a racist and colonial mentality with regards to support for Councilor AK47.

And, here the Baillie Bang-Bang returns. In a sign of the paucity of suitable MSP candidates or the Party’s commitment to including ethnic minorities (take your pick), Hanif recently was chosen as a list-candidate for the regional Holyrood seat.

My principal objection to this voting system (as opposed to AV) is that beyond a core of local Party members, constituents have little choice over the individuals put forward by their preferred Party. We oiks definitely have no role in ranking list-candidates.

In my case, the absence of it in the recent Westminster elections allowed me to vote for a LibDem candidate which I personally preferred despite being closer in spirit to the war-mongering, economically inept, Cromwellian Labour Party. This is a decision I still do not regret.

This followed strong suspicions of fixing by then unnamed activists in the West of Scotland, when there was a last-minute spate of membership applications for Party membership. The Scotland on Sunday reported that many new members had Asian names. This was averted by the Party, which nullified votes in list-selection for memberships after the commencement of the sudden rise.

Hanif has been highly successful in recruiting new members in his Govanhill area (which will form part of Sturgeon’s new constituency), who will be involved in ranking the list-candidates. So much so that, last week, the Daily Record reported that many were… how to put this delicately?… completely made-up, and raising alarm in the local constituency Party.

Scotland, wha’ like us? None, thank fuck.