Welcome to the eighth of our bi-monthly series looking back at the stories
which the main stream media in Scotland didn't offer much attention to,
and comparing them to those that hit the front pages. Our last edition covering early July can be found here.
One hundred million billion quadrillion jobs could be lost!
We were treated to a headline in the Scotsman 'newspaper' in mid July entitled: "Labour claim 1m may lose jobs after independence". What is the basis for this headline (because obviously it isn't reality)? The latest idea being pedalled is that everyone in the rest of the UK will suddenly, and inexplicably, stop wanting to make money or have quality goods and services if it involves Scotland in any way.
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| Note: this is how you are supposed to react. |
Currently, Scotland exports £47,600,000,000 worth of goods to the rest of the UK every year. There will continue to be free trade between our borders (as there is between all EU and EFTA states) so there will not be any legal barriers to trade. And our wealth isn't magically created by Westminster. The suggestion, therefore, can only be that people who live in England (and the companies that are based there) will suddenly and blindly hate anything Scottish solely because we don't want anything to do with Westminster anymore. This is plainly wrong and I feel embarrassed for anyone who tries to make such an argument.
But being wrong and embarrasing doesn't mean that the Scotsman won't print it!
Nobody loves you (if you believe Westminster)
On the 15th of July, EU President Jean-Claud Juncker stated the European Union was not looking to expand beyond its current borders in reference to membership applications from Balkan states. Despite his spokeswoman confirming that "[Juncker] was not referring to Scotland when he talked about a five year pause in EU accession", the controlled British media proceeded to attack the Yes campaign:
"Alex Salmond's dream of staying in the EU dealt a blow by new President of the European Commission" (Daily Record)
"Unionists hail Juncker 'hammer blow' to Scotland's EU place" (Financial Times)
"Independence: Juncker deals blow to Scots EU plans" (Scotsman)
"Juncker deals blow to Alex Salmond's EU claims" (Telegraph)
And, despite the EU president's spokeswoman's statement coming during the afternoon, that evening's Reporting Scotland broadcast on the BBC at 6:30pm still suggested that his speech was somehow directed against Scotland. It took the BBC until 8:40pm to correct its story.
Another victory for the modern media over the dinosaur press. Of course, none of this stopped Liberal Democrat MP Charles Kennedy from using Prime Minister's Questions to help David Cameron repeat this same, debunked nonsense the very next day. Democracy in-action!
Vote for us to remove the policy we introduced and defended!
The Liberal Democrats have finally realised that the Bedroom Tax was a stupid idea and are now against the policy. It was known before it was introduced that it would hurt the poorest in society, but that didn't stop their leaders breaking Liberal principles and supporting it anyway.
So the Westminster Liberal Democrats are now asking people to elect them because they promise to oppose the policy they introduced. The question is, can you trust their promises? Or would you rather a Liberal Party free from Westminster's influence comes to the fore? Only a Yes vote can create the latter.
Absolutely nothing is going on
Absolutely nothing is going on with online opinion polls, linked in accounts or YouTube videos. Yes nothing. We can't image a single thing that could possibly be going on. If it it were possible (which is isn't) we can't image anything that would be done. Therefore nothing is happening and every link here is absolutely and totally wrong.
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| These people do not exist and have never existed, ever. |
There are no hints that website posts or news broadcasts are being censored, and no belief that Westminster is using its vast resources to manipulate public opinion.
And because there is nothing going on (not that there is anything that could go on) we know that our intelligence services provide value for money and will make no further comment.
Just some of the reasons why I (and many others) don't like BBC management
We've already covered some of the evidence of BBC bias during 2014, yet they keep adding more and more. So instead of detailing the most recent examples one by one, I though it would be better to put the latest stories into a single list.
The BBC? Stick it up your Juncker! (a report by Newsnet Scotland at how the BBC knowingly misrepresented a statement made by EU President Jean Claude Juncker to encourage people to vote no).
BBC Justifies Telly Poll Tax By Claiming Poor Watch More TV (the order-order website highlights the public statements made by the BBC's Director of Policy, James Heath).
Protest BBC Bias...with The Indy Kitteh (a video by McV looking at recent and past examples of BBC bias and why it is important that we expose their lack of impartiality).
Better Together 'tipped off' on BBC debates (a Sunday Times article about how the BBC informs the official no campaign in advance of filming programmes such as Question Time so that they can fill the audiance with anti-independence campaigners.
BBC Scotland told to rethink news output amid questions over indy balance (a Herald report looking at the reasons why trust in the BBC in Scotland is low)
SNP calls on BBC to address 'serious concerns' after report questions news coverage (analysis from Newsnet Scotland on an Audience Council Scotland report which highlighted recent examples of BBC bias)
The BBC, home of the facts (a look at how the BBC quietly changed its figures regarding the effect of Scottish Independence on UK GDP)
The BBC is impartial in the sense that they don't care if you are lied to or just mislead. As long as they receive their 30 pieces of licence fee silver from Westminster then they are happy.
The sad passing of Gerallt Lloyd Owen
We were saddened to learn of the passing of Welsh poet Gerallt Lloyd Owen. His family kindly asked people who wished to make a donation to send them to the Yes Scotland campaign. It is a really kind gesture and one that is very much appreciated across Scotland.
Spine, brain and heart transplant needed
Former politician Gordon Brown, who still receives £66,000 per year to represent his constituency of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, made the claim that patients in Scotland were 'at risk' of not receiving organ donations if we make decisions for ourselves.
The story didn't make any sense and was quickly proved to be false following confirmation from the NHSBT Donor Line:
"I can confirm that Scottish independence will not affect organ donation and the system will continue as it does currently." Tom Kempster, ODR Assistant (in answer to a question from Reverend Stuart Campbell)
The sad part of this story is the slavish reporting of the lie from Mr Brown by the Scotsman, the Courier and STV. They lacked the spine to challenge the former Prime Minister, they lacked the brains to find out the facts, and they didn't have enough heart to admit that they were wrong. Fortunately, as we can confirm, these parts will still be available in an independent Scotland.
Let the games begin!
The start of the Commonwealth Games took place in July, but the Secretary of State for Portsmouth, Alistair Carmichael, had important words of warning. It is wrong for this international event to be used in an attempt to influence the outcome of the referendum...
...that was what the London Olympics were for!
Blinded by the light!
Whilst we do have a full section above looking at various BBC related stories (7 in total, all from just the past 2 weeks), we thought we had to include this story separately. Staff at BBC Scotland "headquarters" at Pacific Quay have to phone an office in Redditch, Worcestershire, if they want to open their own window blinds. This, rather pathetically, is not a spoof. Staff at the BBC in Scotland can't even control how much light comes in through their windows.
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| An example of what BBC staff would see if they were allowed to look out of the window |
I'm sure it won't matter for much longer. Regardless the outcome of the referendum it will be curtains for the BBC in Scotland!
The Wind Rises
Not in the news in July was the story that wind farms are the cheapest method of energy generation in Denmark.
According to 'tck tck tck', onshore wind energy now provides over 50% of Denmark's power needs and is cheaper than even coal or natural gas:
"New analysis shows that onshore wind plants due online in 2016 will cost half the price of coal and natural gas plants, coming in at around 4 cent euro (3 UK pence) per kilowatt hour.
Countries strong on renewables are also winning the global energy efficiency race." tck tck tck, 21st of July 2014
The report also looks at the investment in clean technology by Germany, which has been ranked as the most energy efficient major economy in the world by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. China's rapid advancement was also noted.
The controlled media in the UK didn't report this story, with the Telegraph screaming: "Stop building offshore wind farms, says Centrica". But what did they not report...
Centrica are the owners of British Gas, who favour nuclear power plants such as the disasterous project at Hinkley Point. They claim that giving more public money to projects by themeslves and the rest of the big 6, instead of to smaller energy companies, will provide the cheapest fuel prices. This, however, goes against the evidence we have so far:
"[Energy Secretary Ed] Davey agreed a minimum price of £92.50 for every megawatt hour (MWh) of energy Hinkley Point generates – almost twice the current wholesale cost of electricity. The price is also index-linked to inflation, meaning EDF can expect revenue of about £121 per MWh by 2023, the analysts calculated. That means the price of gas will need to increase by at least 130% to make the government's agreement pay by making nuclear power more attractive than gas." Guardian newspaper, October 2013
Still, you can't expect the newspapers to highlight to the public the same truths that they tell to investment groups.
New
analysis shows that onshore wind plants due online in 2016 will cost
half the price of coal and natural gas plants, coming in at around 4
cent euro (3 UK pence) per kilowatt hour. - See more at:
http://tcktcktck.org/2014/07/wind-declared-cheapest-energy-source-denmark/63626?utm_content=buffer60340&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer#sthash.q95cHvSN.dpuf
New
analysis shows that onshore wind plants due online in 2016 will cost
half the price of coal and natural gas plants, coming in at around 4
cent euro (3 UK pence) per kilowatt hour. - See more at:
http://tcktcktck.org/2014/07/wind-declared-cheapest-energy-source-denmark/63626?utm_content=buffer60340&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer#sthash.q95cHvSN.dpuf
New
analysis shows that onshore wind plants due online in 2016 will cost
half the price of coal and natural gas plants, coming in at around 4
cent euro (3 UK pence) per kilowatt hour. - See more at:
http://tcktcktck.org/2014/07/wind-declared-cheapest-energy-source-denmark/63626?utm_content=buffer60340&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer#sthash.q95cHvSN.dpuf
New
analysis shows that onshore wind plants due online in 2016 will cost
half the price of coal and natural gas plants, coming in at around 4
cent euro (3 UK pence) per kilowatt hour. - See more at:
http://tcktcktck.org/2014/07/wind-declared-cheapest-energy-source-denmark/63626?utm_content=buffer60340&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer#sthash.q95cHvSN.dpuf
Join us again in the middle of August for our next look at what's 'not in the news'! Drew
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All well said and I concur.
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