21/10/23 – 27/10/23
Trapped by the ‘arcane’ Treaty of Union? Police promote Gender Ideology, but first
Are All Politicians Psychopaths?
Not all of them, according to Dr Steve Taylor*, but he does say politics attracts some of society’s most mentally disordered people, who crave power and have no empathy for others, ‘disturbingly similar to serial killers and cult leaders’. ‘Disconnection’ is at the heart of pathocracy, with ‘disconnected’ personalities disproportionately attracted to politics.
Hyper-disconnectivity covers the ‘dark triad’ of psychopathy, narcissism and machiavellianism. All share a lack of empathy (real connection) with others; crave power and wealth; hate democracy as limiting their powers; are intolerant of dissent and self-deluding. He also claims they are always nationalistic. Narcissistic politicians (**) may enact laws to please people as they want to be loved, or may put up a better front to disguise their true nature. The truly psychopathic will casually inflict cruel policies (**); machiavellian characters (**) are scheming, unscrupulous, manipulative and self-interested.
Although decent people do enter politics, if the hyper-disconnected ones gain power, they gradually gather similar people around them, with the government eventually becoming totally disconnected from the society they rule (***).
*‘Disconnected: The Roots Of Human Cruelty And How Connection Can Heal The World’ Dr Steve Taylor.
** choose a politician
*** choose a government
Is the Treaty of Union valid or isn’t it?
Are the Treaty of Union and the Claim of Right irrelevant ‘arcane’ legislation or not?
If the Treaty is valid, the union of the two ‘kingdoms’ of Scotland and England means that either party could end the treaty. If it is not valid, why is Scotland alone still bound by it? Would England need permission from Scotland to leave?
If the Claim of Right is valid, the people of Scotland are sovereign. And since the UK government has confirmed it is valid, why does Scotland keep obeying when they say we aren’t allowed to decide?
There have been multiple breaches of the Treaty of Union on trade (Brexit, Internal Markets Act) and arguably Scots law (there should really be no Supreme Court unless it is home-grown, which it was not). The union was never territorial, so oil and gas is being unlawfully appropriated, as were 6000+ square miles of territorial waters up to Carnoustie. Freeports may have been ‘greenwashed’, but still do not belong in Scotland.
Autistic pupils
may not be getting the help they need at school. In 2022 over 34% of Scottish school pupils were identified as having additional support needs (ASN) but the number of specialist ASN staff has declined ‘significantly’. The National Autistic Society Scotland frequently hear from parents who must fight tooth and nail to get the right support, a fight they do not always win. The Scottish government says it spent £830 million on ASN in 2021-22, but it appears short of requirements, and staff can lack training for the variety of additional needs from autism to behaviour problems to lack of English.
MS Student ‘excluded’ from Kelvin College
Sam Mackay from Tollcross, Glasgow, was told she is a ‘fire risk’ and should follow her art and design course online. Disability advocates including MSPs Jeremy Balfour and Pam Duncan-Glancy are appalled. Morna Simpkins, director of MS Society Scotland says 80% of people MS retire within 15 years of diagnosis, with the employment rate for people with MS 41% compared with 81% for non-disabled people.
Sam needs help in and out of her car, which staff at the college café and another student were voluntarily providing. The college have since implied it is a temporary exclusion while they assess the support services required.
Police Scotland promoting Gender Ideology
Amid all its budget cuts, Police Scotland is ensuring it promotes its new LGBT+ Allies toolkit which feminist think tank Murray Blackburn Mackenzie say amounts to nothing more than political activism, treating some beliefs as more equal than others.
The toolkit boldly pronounces that gender identity is not a decision or choice, says sex is ‘assigned at birth’, requires a commitment to treat gender identity as an ‘uncontested truth’ and no equality impact assessment was carried out before its introduction, which risks the police failing its public sector equality duty to foster good relations between those who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not.
Those who sign up as allies should deliver a presentation on non-binary and trans identities and start meetings with an ‘inclusion moment’ (which despite the name lasts from 10 minutes to an hour). The word ‘homosexual’ is derided as a medical term and ‘stigmatising’ and alarmingly those who sign up should ‘evangelise their allyship’.
Christians, Muslims and other religious groups are not allowed, never mind encouraged, to make presentations to work colleagues or evangelise them, but gender ideologues are. MBM say this casts doubt on Police Scotland’s impartiality in dealing with groups with opposing views such as gender-critical women, and are calling for a similar review of Scotland’s police service to the one ordered by the Home Office for England and Wales.
Should Making False Allegations be a Hate Crime?
False allegations which lead to malicious prosecutions should be hate crimes, says Frances Nixon, who with neighbour Julie McDonald was falsely accused of making homophobic remarks to her male neighbours, who were found guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court, and ordered to do community service and pay compensation.
Although initially arrested for perverting the course of justice, the fiscal incredibly decided it was ‘not in the public interest’ to go to trial. The men’s victims, though, were arrested and jailed on the say-so of the two men. It was only the intervention of a surprise witness vindicating the women that the case against them collapsed. The fiscal refused to comment as the case is closed, and the Scottish government thinks existing laws are robust enough.
What is the worst part of Renting?
It used to be a first step to leaving home, and you could even save for the deposit on a house. But many are now glad to get out of the nightmare that renting can become. The worst bit? Being thrown out of your home with a couple of months’ notice because the landlord needs it back, the prohibition on pets, the rules on painting and making even the most minor blemishes on what is an ordinary wall? Deposits being withheld or much reduced for often flimsy reasons? Any or all of these. But the unannounced intrusive inspections by the landlord may be the worst.
Even getting a rental can be a gargantuan exercise, competing with dozens of others for a foot in rental market, with now the added twist that renters must often compete with other renters to ‘offer over’ the quoted amount, and some landlords use a tenant moving out as the excuse to hike the rent for those who remain, treating the new set of tenants as a new tenancy altogether.
E-Bike Nickers
The E-Bike Loan Scheme to give interest free loans of up to £6,000 to people buying e-bikes has apparently left taxpayers short by £500,000 from people taking out bike loans but not repaying them. The scheme has cost the government nearly £10 million, but 149 borrowers have failed to make repayments, with 85 loans in default (missing two instalments) and 64 impaired (missing 3 consecutive payments). Perth and Kinross are the worst, with defaulters owing £90,000 in total.
Health: Cut-Price GPs
A new scheme to recruit ‘physician associates’ (PAs) to plug NHS gaps is causing concern. They have only 2 years’ postgraduate training, generally following a bioscience degree. There are already 150 physician associates working in NHS Scotland under a doctor’s supervision, but the British Medical Association (BMA) is afraid it will put patients at risk. Associates earn a third of a consultant’s salary and work in GP surgeries or hospital departments, diagnosing medical conditions, analysing test results, helping on ward rounds and performing minor procedures. Thirty-six universities run PA courses, including Aberdeen University.
It appears there was little consultation before implementation, but a Medical Associate Professions Commission is belatedly being undertaken by NHS Education for Scotland.
Rural Life:
Maternity Shocker
In November 2016, NHS Highland downgraded the consultant-led maternity unit at Caithness General Hospital in Wick to a midwife-led facility, with 24-hour obstetrician cover withdrawn by December 2016. It went altogether by April 2017.
There was no vote on implementation. Expectant mothers must travel over 100 miles to Inverness, despite nearly two-thirds of Caithness women wanting to give birth in Wick. Only 3% could, due to there being no consultants present. Women have to get themselves to Inverness in private cars on a road often plagued by accidents. There is often no phone signal, there are no toilets en route, and there are serious concerns about the effect on newborns’ heart rates and breathing if they travel in car seats for over two hours.
Caithness mums were induced in 51% of cases, compared to 33% for Scotland as a whole, but thought things would improve in April 2023, with the approval of revamped maternity wards and services costing nearly £9 million, but this actually enhanced maternity services at Raigmore, not Caithness.
Will Business Pay the Price for Council Tax Freeze?
Businesses fear they may be forced to pay an extra £205 million rates next year because the business poundage rate is tied to the rate of inflation, as assessed by the Consumer Price Index, which was 6.7% last month. Rates will rise by £34million to Scottish shops, by £6.4m to hotels, by £2.4m to pubs, by £27.5m to factories, and £22.2m for offices.
The Scottish government said Scotland has the lowest poundage rate in the UK, and contains reliefs of nearly £750m which includes the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS), and that over 100,000 properties will pay no rates at all, with half the properties in retail, hospitality and leisure sectors eligible for 100% SBBS relief in 2023-24.
Finally
Gender Makeover for Scottish Country Dancing
The new etiquette guide from the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society forbids defining a ‘men’s’ and a ‘women’s’ side, encouraging dancers to dance on both sides. Participants must not pre-judge someone’s ‘gender’ and you are allowed to decline to dance with someone! You must apologise if you accidentally bump someone and make sure they are okay and must get prior agreement from a partner for extra birls or twirls! Not exactly in the spirit of things.
Probably safer all round not to go Scottish country dancing at all.