In fact she doesn’t think there’ll be any “lift” from “separation” and thinks “everything will go up”

My friend Almax mischievously suggests that “everything will go tits up” would be a more appropriate admonishment from Ms M and I agree that might be a good “strap” line.

D’you suppose when Dave was talking about panic in breasties he could have had Michelle in mind? (Oh stop it -ed)

It struck me that he reminded me of someone and it has just come to me who it is:

All devil as I am, a damned wretch,
A harden’d, stubborn, unrepenting villain,
Still my heart melts at human wretchedness;
And with sincere tho’ unavailing sighs
I view the helpless children of Distress.
With tears indignant I behold th’ Oppressor,
Rejoicing in the honest man’s destruction,
Whose unsubmitting heart was all his crime.

Even you, ye hapless crew, I pity you;
Ye, whom the Seeming good think sin to pity;
Ye poor, despis’d, abandon’d vagabonds,
Whom Vice, as usual, has turn’d o’er to Ruin.
O, but for kind, tho’ ill-requited,
I had been driven forth like you forlorn,
The most detested, worthless wretch among you!

O injured God! Thy goodness has endow’d me
With talents passing most of my compeers,
Which I in just proportion have abus’d;
As far surpassing other common villains
As Thou in natural parts hadst given me more.

The information at the Beeb site that I’ve linked to above, says the following on the poem:

“This poem is thought to have been written sometime during 1777 when Burns was at Mount Oliphant with his family.

The tone of the poem reflects the misery which the Burnes family endured on the farm during this time, and before the family managed to move to Lochlie later in the year.

The poem was first published in the Scots Magazine, November, 1803.

The opening lines are reminiscent of lines found in Thomas Otway’s play Venice Preserv’d: ‘Yes a most notorious Villain: / To see the suffring’s of my fellow Creatures, / and own my self a Man’. The poem is also notable because it demonstrates a keen awareness of Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), which Burns had read early in his life.”

Written in 1777 eh?

That’ll be when the bard was eighteen then.

Crikey.

He has a great way with words and a sharp political insight. He has a rather good article published today about this week’s announcements on the referendum by Alex Salmond.

McWhirter like all journalists though sometimes fails with the crystal ball gazing. His take on the Eurozone financial crisis for instance proved to be somewhat less prescient than may have appeared at the time it was all fermenting in 2009/10.

This quote in today’s article may come back to haunt him:

“They had also expected a second “fall back” question on devolution max so that Salmond could have his cake and eat it. In the event, there was neither. The spin was that there was no spin, just Salmond’s 10 little words: “Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?”

Eck strikes me as a man who eats up any cake he can.

Voraciously.

And if there were ever a politician to spin better than any man with some poles and plates it is he. He is the very personification of a peerie (it’s a Scots word for a spinning top which may be derived from the similarity in shape of the object to a pear)

McWhirter is right in the main thrust of his article though. Salmond has left Cameron et al at the starting line. His (Cameron’s) response to Scots Tory MP (for Epping Forest) Eleanor Laing, demonstrated the level of his misunderstanding of the Scots cadence and pronunciation.

David, it is pronounced bree-stie to rhyme with beas-tie.

And if you haven’t already properly checked the meaning of ‘sleekit’, I’d recommend you do it post haste.

Oh aye, and if I were you I’d stick auld Michael Forsyth back in the box he’s been in for the last twenty years. Like he is going to advance the unionists’ case eh?

One more reason to dislike Stephen Hester.

To be fair he precedes that word with “on the surface at least, they appear”

He also says Scotland (not the SNP) is “slick and professional”.

There is no denying that Eck’s performance at Edinburgh Castle was indeed slick and professional. He announced the question “Do you think Scotland should be an independent country?”. The sub text was that depending on how this question is received by the public then there will be another question asking something along the lines of “All right then, if you’re not convinced by that, how about Devo Max?”.

As a humble voter, and whilst I acknowledge that the SNP are the full length of the M74 ahead of the opposition in the PR front, I wonder in what other respects they are “unbeatable”? Most of the people I speak to on the subject are against independence, even those who voted SNP last time, although to be fair many of them work directly for HM Government. As for Devo max, we still don’t know what that is. There will have to be draft legislation in place to study, otherwise the words pig and poke come to mind.

Having thought about it, I remain unconvinced either way or each of three ways if you like.

There are too many unknowns at this stage.

Let the debate continue.

Yes, tastless, blingy type garments for wee lassies whose parents should know better.

But let me tell you that I received an email this morning advertising the said product and many more similar ones in the range. For those who don’t know me and may not already have twigged, I own a pet shop.

These dresses are for wee bitches!

It can’t be long now until the apocalypse.