Some truths remain truths no matter where they come from.

I have a fear, and apparently I am not the only one, it is the fear that when get the outcome we desire from the UN, there will be no vehicle to take it forward.

There are a few groups working in the background on the foundations of a future Scotland, but they lack the power to implement them. And our government has zero plans. There might be some on a shelf somewhere, but the world has moved on since they were drawn up.

An event would be required, and you can bet your last £ the SNP would not let that happen.

So, who really is our enemy?

Whose minds must we change and how?

Well, we won’t do it by arguing!!

Why are we so defensive when we talk about independence?

Independence is normal but the way we sometimes discuss it, is anything but normal. When we become aggressive the arguement is lost.

But getting back to the problem we face, a future Scotland must have secure foundations, so many things must change, and it’s going to be up to us, the people, to change them. Maybe we have to wait until the UN make its declaration before people finally realise there is a different way and respond through the ballot box.

So, don’t be in such a rush to blame the slowness on others, for we too have played our part. We had a chance for change in May and blew it!

Only one party has ‘walked the line’ with its policies and ethos over the past few years and that is the ISP.

https://www.isp.scot/

…and it will only take one to move the train along.

Events can change destinies, and there’s one event coming that has the potential to stop the SNP in their tracks…a certain court case!

Which means, 5 years may not mean 5 years!!!

This is not the time to switch off, catch your breath if you need to, but never switch off, there’s building to be done!

Scotland must never use the same political blueprint as Westminster, there must be a clear distinction between the two. Nothing, absolutely nothing should be replicated. And the only way we can make sure of it, is to follow the path of Direct Democracy…and to those who say there is no such thing, I suggest you look it up before you speak again!

It’s fair, it’s proportional, and it works in many EU countries, and there are several models. We could pick one or create our own.

You can tell that we are getting nearer the goal by the influx of sudden counterarguments.

Salvo, is certainly getting under someone’s skin! And we now find the idea of UDI is becoming quite popular…interesting times indeed.

And here is another thing, we must not think we can just jump into the physical seats of Holyrood.

The Holyrood estate as it is belongs to the Westminster estate, so we might need the assistance of the Kirk again. That being the Kirk which was instrumental in writing the COR… but has since swapped sides!!

But then, the Kirk and, indeed, most Presbyterian and Anglican churches have become politicised over the years. Just as politicians constantly try to modernise old treaties to suit their modern agenda, the churches likewise try to modify scripture to suit the populace’s trends… and somewhere during that journey, Britain lost its moral standing.

You can change the language but you cannot change facts!

Woke modernity won’t last forever. It’s a fad, spread by activists, and people will soon move on to something else, despite the Scottish Government throwing money at it.

Social engineering took on a whole new meaning when Woke activism arrived. One day we will realise how dangerous it is to interfere with nature, and this big experiment will come back to haunt us.

Nothing is as it was, and that is not always a good thing.

Whatever happens in the future, this must stop!

The saying, ‘living in someone’s head’ is an interesting one, it suggests that another person is constantly thinking about them. Or as NS suggests ‘are obsessed’. I suspect this is her ego speaking, in other words…she wishes😂😂

The only time Nicola comes into anyone’s head is when she opens her mouth and the press oblige!

Egos don’t care if what is written is good or bad, they just crave attention and there is only one way to deal with someone like that, and that is to stop giving them oxygen.

In other words, do not share/retweet anything she says on SM and don’t share/retweet anything where she is mentioned!

Choke the thread!

Stop playing her game, because she is winning!

Stop feeding her ego!

To practice what I preach, this will be the last time I mention her name. [With one exception, the AS court case!], why, because the truth must be heard.

Another game we should stop playing is the Westminster game. You know the one I mean, the one where you keep knocking on the door, always getting the same answer. The one that is making the SNP look stupid, and us, because we did after all vote them back in!

They think that by doing so it looks as if they are trying…well, believe me, they are very trying! They try our patience and our goodwill.

For me, both have run out!

Once again, in only 3 months we are seeing promise after promise broken…but then promising school bags and new playparks everywhere in the first 100 days was a tad stupid in the first place. Not exactly the priorities we need.

Elections have become the playground for egos as parties compete for the craziest headlines. And that’s all they are, headlines not promises to be kept.

We, the people, don’t matter, in most cases, we are not even part of the equation. It’s all about selling the Party!

The Party becomes the product.

But the good news is…

You can always tell when things are starting to go wrong for Westminster, by the barrage of incoming verbal missiles they send to or about those getting under their skin!

…and the recipients are? You guessed it, Salvo/Liberation.scot.

Anything and anyone is being quoted, as long as it is against them…and there are some real crackers!! Not that they are biased!!

Misquotes, misinterpretations, you name it…anything but the truth.

Let me say this to all who sit back and laugh…SLOW DOES NOT MEAN STOP!

You may not like the people but you cannot deny the product!

Sometimes, things just happen and our destinies change in a heartbeat. The road we were on is blocked or broken. We either fight the change or embrace it through our choices.

The older one is, the more difficult the transition to a new path or even a new way of thinking is. Many prefer to stick to the broken path, but soon those broken pieces become obstacles. We are the makers of our own destiny, I would go as far as to say that, no matter what the change is, we oldies must adapt or sit back and rust!

Has anyone else noticed that whenever there is a meeting about independence or the constitution in general, the room is filled with people of a certain age?

We have lost the young people!

How do we catch their attention again, how can we convince them there is still a battle to be won? Is it a slow slog or a snappy slogan?

If only we could encourage the few young people we know to reach out to their own generation, it would be a start.

Can you look back and remember the day your political destiny changed and what changed it? And how many times has it changed since?

Destiny is not fixed forever by one event, it is fluid, like a river, and like a river it will carve out its own destination…There is always a destination and Independence is ours! Our determination is shown by our willingness to try and adapt.

We are not very good at this patience thing are we? Especially when it comes to waiting for independence. Maybe that is because many of us have been waiting for a long time for all those promises to materialise...the ones that didn’t!

Unfortunately the road we are on at the moment is long and winding, but it is a different road and yes, the train is moving forward.

I say, ‘Unfortunately’, by which I mean it is unfortunate for us oldies whose time is running out. So there can be a tendency to sit back and criticise all the work that is going on behind the scenes.

If you have ever been involved with the Kirk and sat on one of their committees, then you know what patience is. 😂

Multiply that by 50 and you get an idea of how the UN works…but it does work!

But then, I suppose it has to be like that when they are dealing with such huge matters. Matters that determine the future of Nations. Add to that all the politicking behind the scenes, including the blackmail tactics of the colonizers. That of course ends, or should end once a decision has been made, and it’s that first decision that really matters.

“Once it is determined that we have the right to self -determination”(SS), everything changes!

The storms we go through are sometimes those of our own making! Relationships between groups and individuals tend to go up and down. How long those storms last, matters.

We can choose to sit back and be out of the loop if we wish, but just how does that satisfy our impatience? … it doesn’t…instead it feeds our animosity…and there’s a hell of a lot of it around just now.

We have to face the fact that our ruling party is not interested in independence and that once again JS lied to us pre-election. He has no plan B! So it’s up to us, the People. We either come up with a new plan or seriously follow the others on offer: P Bell’s UDI, Salvo, or a mixture of both. My personal choice is the latter.

Don’t let personal feelings blur the map and don’t let our impatience bounce us off it either.

We are not the leaves on the tree…we are the roots!

You may remember we had a GE two years ago…although it feels like 10! You may also notice nothing has changed, apart from the nation’s debt.

The reason for this, in my view, is that although a new party comes in with a few new ideas, the root of the problem and how to tackle it never changes. Their answer is, to borrow more money and chuck it at the same old problems.

Money alone will never solve Westminsters problems and it won’t solve Scotlands either. Not even the black gold under the sea will solve it. There needs to be a fundamental change in the way we do things. At the moment, Holyrood is operating as a mini Westminster, it’s ‘rinse and repeat’, and we wonder why it all feels like déjà vu!

Systems keep failing when people fail to recognise the root of the problem and are too inflexible to change.

It is the same with new political parties, people when starting up a new party tend to forget why they left their old one in the first place. They then go on to build a new one copying the model of the one they have just left. A party doesn’t fail just because of money, it fails because of its structure, internal policies and lack of due diligence.

When Alba was formed, it soon became clear and was indeed referred to as SNP2. The model was the same, and the mindset was the same. In other words, they forgot why they had left the SNP in the first place. New, means new, not copy and paste! AS made a strategic error when he started Alba, he built it using the old SNP business/ political model knowing it was crumbling.

Tried and trusted only works when the ‘tried and trusted’ continues to work!!! Holyrood is failing, not through lack of money, but through the ethos of the ruling party. What they say they believe in and the road they walk do not match, much like Westminster. Devolution and more powers are the easier road for them…independence…well that’s too difficult!

When someone slams a door in your face, you do one of two things, you either walk away or you find another door.

We know there’s another door, it’s not a door to direct independence, but it is a door that opens other doors. Swinney won’t even stand at the door and knock! No discussions, nothing, just a report from someone who also won’t discuss or defend their case. They have built their wall and nobody is getting in.

What a way to run a country, where is the vision?

A few years ago Michael Gove commissioned a survey regarding Scottish Independence using taxpayers’ money, then refused to publish the findings, even ignoring a court order to do so…now we know why.

If this is true and can be verified, the game is up for Westminster and also for the SNP government.

The evidence at the UN is stacking up, and as I said, if this can be verified, these findings will add to it.

Two Qs arise from this, did honest John know about this and how is he going to respond if he didn’t? The excuse of the SNP has always been that the numbers need to rise! Well, I think it’s pretty clear, they have!

You could say Nicola has done them a favour with her pincer movement. There now exists an opportunity to make a clear break from the past and take a bold step forward. It will however demand a little humility, but heres the thing, only great leaders do ‘humility’! Has he got it within him to be one?

At the moment, all we are seeing is infighting, but as I have said before, one clear bold decision can change the destiny of a man, a party and ultimately a country, at any given moment.

Will he grasp the nettle?

Or is the lure of English gold just too much to refuse? How much longer can they deny themselves a robe of ermine? I can think of a couple who are frothing at the mouth at the thought!!

The wind is blowing fair for Scotland just now, we just need to learn to fly with it.

We tend to forget that the walls we build, don’t just keep others out…they also keep us in!

It’s time to shake hands and move on!

When a government implements a law that hides the criminalities of its MPs, you know you have hit a new low in honesty and transparency. The fear is, how much lower can they go?

We have no say in Westminster, not that we want any, and all we can do in Scotland just now, is pray the SNP don’t follow suit, having given them another 5 years in power…and 5 years is a long time in politics.

When transparency is removed from politics, we end up with a dictatorship. Parliament like Freeports and SEZs, becomes deregulated. Standards don’t just slip…they disappear!

When criminals, no matter how small the offence, realise that their deeds will go unseen, they tend to reoffend one way or another.

We rightly expect our politicians to have high standards, and how often have we heard them criticise foreign governments for their criminal activities?

Let me reassure you, the ISP

https://www.isp.scot/

Does vet their candidates rigorously!

The tide hasn’t just turned, it feels like a tsunami of deceit and lies is sweeping over us. Surely to God, there are some politicians out there who still have some level of integrity left in them. Britain is fast becoming a Third World country.

You may think there is not a lot we can do, but there is and it’s personal! The first and most important thing is to keep our own feet out of the mire and take responsibility for the things we can.

Then move up a gear, and get involved with others who feel the same.

In Helensburgh, the people have stepped up! They now realise their politicians, at a local level have not been honest when it comes to Common Good assets, in fact it has been very convenient for the LA just to disregard them altogether.

People are waking up and finding their voice, and this is where it starts…locally and at local elections. This is where your power lies. This is where your advocacy matters.

Sometimes, local politics can seem very boring, but they each hold a huge budget, mostly out of your pocket!! Who should hold their spending to account?…YOU SHOULD!

But will you ?

There are a lot of them about just now, so be aware and don’t be intimidated by them!

Giving an opinion is one thing, but telling people they are worthless because they are not following a certain path, can only come from an over-inflated ego.

Words are important, as I have said many times, but we also speak with our bodies, maybe even more so than with our tongues. One of the things you learn on a Counselling course is reading body language.

…and sometimes it’s not the person who is speaking that needs watching, but those around them😂

Believe me, you can always spot an aggressive person by how they stand. Remember the Power stance?

Politicians are not normally ‘cool and casual’, although Burnham is going out of his way to try and be so!

Egos only grow if we feed them, and we do that by flattery and giving them places of responsibity. Those who seek power, should never be given it…but they are! And that is why so many things go wrong, even within the independence movement.

Give me the ‘sma folk’ any day!

Yes, we need leaders but we need those who possess humility and are intent on lifting others.

People at the top of any organisation should be there to lead not rule! Neither should any organisation be so tied up with silly rules that it restricts individuality. Too many rules can and do restrict the smooth running of any subgroup. There is such a thing as overkill!

The more layers, the more potential for egos and less room for the ‘sma folk’!

Our ruling party have forgotten how democracy works and Westminster have over the years streamlined its own unique type of democracy, but then most countries do! As we will do when we gain our independence, but what it cannot be is ‘copy and paste’!

If we truly believe that, ‘we the people are sovereign’,then the type of democracy we build, must reflect that.

…and those who are working towards that, in my opinion, should be practising it within their own organisations now.

Direct democracy, peoples democracy, popular democracy, call it what you like, the most important element are the people!

With Direct Democracy, the job of a politician will change, and that is what they fear. The gravy train will disappear and their bosses will be the people! People chosen for their expertise, not party-driven. A system whereby anybody not up to the job will be ‘recalled’ not moved sideways and promoted!!

We need courage to make all this happen, not egos!

Courage, conviction and

authenticity!

The most powerful triad there is!

The government’s answer to all who would dare protest, is proscription!

Modern Legal Meaning

• Defined as the official banning of an organization believed to be involved in, prepare for, or promote terrorism.

We have now arrived at the place where, if violence takes place at any event, proscription is called for. There is a difference between an act of violence and an act of terrorism, and we have different laws and actions to deal with them both.We create a dangerous precedent by trying to lump both under one heading.

The violence I witnessed in Glasgow last Saturday was not terrorism it was thuggery, and dealt with appropriately by the police.

Sometimes, when looking at how to deal with a problem, we start at the wrong end of the stick! Instead of asking what we can do with these people maybe we should be asking ‘why is this happening’?

Don’t get me wrong, violence is never the answer and in many ways just perpetuates the problem, but when people feel disenfranchised within their own communities… you’re going to get it!

If you think Councils represent the feelings of their voters, think again!

But they are very good at point scoring, especially Party point scoring!

Councillors only voice their own feelings and beliefs and that is demonstrated in Glasgow very clearly by the number of Orange walks they have, which is even more than they have in Belfast!!

Sometimes I think they ask for trouble!

For the few of us, who feel we are in a constant battle fighting for what is right and fair, we must choose our battles wisely. In a democracy, we shouldn’t have to, but we are where we are.

When a Party goes rogue, whether at the national or Local level, we need to deal with it when the opportunity arises. Next year’s Council elections are the place to start. We start at the bottom and work upwards, because it is Councils who deliver government policies.

…and there should be at least one Common Good Defender on every council in Scotland!

I am a great believer in the ‘ripple effect’!

One small pebble, no matter how small, thrown {metaphorically} at a problem can cause a chain reaction.

Are you the person who could throw that pebble?

What is getting under your skin at the moment?

You can’t do everything, but you can do something!