Government and Local Authorities, hope you won’t! And when it comes to public consultations, they not only hope you won’t participate, they’ve proven, over and over again, that they won’t listen anyway!

The Law states, that on some matters, they have to ask but not that they have to listen!!

The whole system is built to enable those in power, to use and abuse that power at the voter’s expense.

Nothing happens by accident, somewhere along the line a politician, local or national will make a decision, whether that be in the interests of a Party or the people, is always debatable, either way, the stone has started to roll and can very seldom be stopped.

That’s just the way it is, and it will remain that way until we put people into power who believe in real democracy.

Not only is there a By-election in Argyll & Bute, but there is also going to be one in D&G in what is fast becoming a very important area…Annan!

https://news.stv.tv/west-central/plans-submitted-for-worlds-largest-data-centre-at-former-chapelcross-nuclear-power-station

Now, if the thought of this doesn’t make the hairs on your neck stand up, nothing will!!

8… yes, 8 giant centres in one place!

They say the air temperature rises by about 2 degrees around 1 centre within an area of 6 miles…we are talking 8 centres in this one area!

Think about that folks!

God only knows how much electricity it will take to run them and only one existing pipeline from the River Annan to cool them down…even with a closed-loop system.

The question is, will the Council listen to the people’s concerns?

Will they even officially consult with the local people?

Worldwide, these Data Centres are failing to adhere to their own environmental estimates, with many having to be closed down!

What happened to looking after the planet and where have all those Green Taxes gone to do so?

It is widely accepted that when it comes to the future of Scotland, it is the people of Scotland who should have the final say, they in this sense being the residents or locals!!

Bringing that premise further down the chain to local authorities, should it not also be important that those who stand in local elections, are also ‘local’?

If Scots know what is best for Scotland, then locals know what is best for their community! We seem to have arrived at a place where frequent flyers are flown in to represent a Party rather than the local people!

An example of this can be found in the Mid-Argyll, LA, By-Election.

All ‘Wards’/ Communities are different and bring with them their own individual problems. Only someone who lives there would know and understand that.

Looking at the list, only one person qualifies, at that is…

I understand Fiona has lived there for 40 years…enough time to know every nook and cranny, and all the problems that come with living in that part of the world.

It’s called ‘The Power of Local’! Because being local really matters in rural Scotland.

It’s time to restore balance by bringing local people into local politics.

Don’t you just love it, when an evil plan fails to come together?

But the question remains, who threw the first pebble hoping for an eventual tidal wave of trouble? A very thin thread has always held the Good Friday Agreement together.

Not just a political one but also a religious one. They say ‘politics and religion should never mix’ but the reality is, throughout the world they do..

Christians, Zionists, and Islamists all fight each other in the name of one God! It is the fundamentalists from all these religions who claim the right to fight these holy or not–so-holy-wars!

However, it appears the good people of NI are having none of it, with both sides coming together and making a stand for good and for right.

Maybe we could learn something from this in Scotland. Some things are bigger than our differences, that something being Independence!

It took a crisis on Galvaghy Rd to bring this community together… When will our crisis point come?

Questions need to be asked about who pressed the destruction button in Portadown and why, and questions need to be asked here about who, exactly, is playing fast and loose with Independence.

Sometimes we just have to move on to a different pond and make our own waves… isn’t that what Salvo is doing?

And it is a very big pond indeed!

We each hold a pebble in our hands; it’s where you throw it that matters!

Why now after 27 years are the Orange Lodge being allowed to march down the Garvaghy Rd?

Why has the British government said yes to this provocation? Burnham may try to pass the buck by saying it is up to the PSNI but the reality is very different. Nobody makes a move like this in NI without the British saying so.

The answer is, Unification is closing in!

And if they will go to these lengths in NI what will they do in Scotland as we ramp up support for Independence? Desperate people do desperate things. And yes the two are linked as much by symbolism as anything else. One would act as a trigger for the other.

It’s that pebble in the pond!

Never underestimate how evil some people can be. Only this time is different: the world is watching, minute by minute, and they can plainly see the motives behind the decision.

In the 60s everything came to us second-hand, carefully edited and biased. Now through the internet, we see first hand and are able to make our own judgment.

So my Q remains the same…why now?

As does my answer…Unification!

Beware the Celtic three, Westminster will not sit back and let this train run!

Something quite significant happened down south the other day, it may have been symbolic, but like a pebble dropped into a pond, it will cause ripples!

Will this act as a beacon nationwide? If others follow, a political party that ignores the warnings does so at its peril.

Symbolism has a loud voice, it’s just a pity our own FM doesn’t catch on to its importance. There is nothing to stop JS from holding a referendum in Scotland. Yes, Westminster would ignore it and say it wasn’t legal, but the people would have spoken, and it wouldn’t go unnoticed in certain quarters. If a wee community can do it and grab the headlines, so can we!

But, no, that’s not his style, real democracy involves people and they can’t have that!

There is a reason politicians prefer representative democracy, it’s called power!

When the FM talks about the people of Scotland having the right to self-determination, what he really means is that Holyrood has the right…and all who sail in her!!!

But then his mind is on other things, like kicking cans down the road at our expense. But soon the road will run out and all the cans will fall over the cliff!

People say loyalty to a party is important, but here’s the thing, loyalty is a two-way street. Blind loyalty is dangerous, it removes accountability and opens up the way for abuse and criminality. The Murrell case is a perfect example.

So, the SNP chiefs are determined to block their members from debating the way forward, it’s John’s way or no way! Great how democracy works isn’t it? Like all cult leaders, he demands loyalty.

There is no point of just focusing our anger on the SNP, we have to get off our backsides and do something about it. The fightback starts with every council election, every by-election!

There are other independence parties!

I am not convinced the ‘Celtic’ way will go anywhere, because each country’s grounds are very different. Swinney will talk the talk but he won’t walk the walk, but he will show up for the photo shoots!!.… travelling business class of course.

With this level of intelligence where it matters, don’t expect the SNHS or Education to improve anytime soon!

And these are the people who say they can run an independent Scotland…heaven help us!

This is where Direct Democracy comes into its own, no grafters, no more morons, just the right people in the right place, with the ability to remove them if they aren’t!

We don’t demand academics but we do expect common sense!

Leadership brings responsibility, and part of that responsibility is recognising when someone on your team is not up to the task. Not to do so has the potential to bring the government of the day down.

On the other hand, there are some world leaders, one in particular who think they are the new Messiah. Shutting down the Kennedy Centre because he can’t have his name in shiny big lights proves one thing…he is not quite the Fundamentalist Christian he makes out to be and certainly does not know his scriptures, even the American version!

New American Standard Bible
‘You shall not make for yourselves idols’.

Now I know many who read my blog, are not believers, but my point is, he says one thing but demands another and his followers remain silent!

When one knows something is wrong and remains silent, you become complicit.

A great wrong wasn’t just something that happened to Scotland over 300 years ago, it continues today, yet many remain silent.

Why is that?

Ending on a positive note, I look beyond independence to a future relationship with Europe. During that particular referendum, which was also bolstered by lies, Scotland voted to remain. The Europe we have today is not the same as the one we left, neither are we! So, would we vote the same way again or would it be EFTA? There also appears to be a new level of entry, ‘Associate member’ as Canada has been offered. Exactly what that means has not been fully explained yet, although the very thought of it has upset Trump…which must be a plus😂

Many say, once we are free, we should remain free…food for thought!

We can be funny folk at times, when we see what we call a bad apple in an organisation, we quickly assume the whole lot are rotten even though the original assumption may only be our perception. Sometimes born out of a disagreement.

We don’t have to support an individual who fundamentally disagrees with us, but there is a difference between supporting them and the organisation they might belong to.

There is always the bigger picture and to see it you just have to be the bigger person!

So, we’re skint!

You can always tell when the Unionists are getting scared, they always fall back on the old favourites. Forgetting of course that they too are skint!

There is a difference between being ‘cash short’ and having numerous assets. Westminster borrows money on the back of Scottish assets, [not having many of their own!!] At the moment we live in this peculiar position of having vast assets but we can’t touch them! We are skint because Westminster keeps us like this, they hold the purse strings, to what is rightly ours!

Remove them and we remove the problem!

Now I am not going to disparage what is happening with the 3 Celtic nations’ drive for Independence, but I will say this, Burnham will put a nail in that coffin pretty quickly even if it’s just by delaying things with his continual NO stance, and that will suit honest John fine.

Between court cases, his own conference and the Westminster inquiry, he is in for a tough winter and his survival is in doubt.

Let’s just do this!

Slowly but surely the Salvo train is nearing its destination. The destination being a statement saying Scotland has the right to seek self-determination. But what happens here in Scotland is also important. There can not be a political void, where no party is in place to take the consequences forward.

True independence parties need to start thinking about where they stand on issues like UDI and Direct Democracy, because many believe that’s the road we will have to take.

A statement by the UN is only a statement until a political party runs with it. The SNP won’t so somebody must fill the space, and now is the time to step up and be counted. If you’re up for UDI backed by the UN, say so and make the relevant policy stating it.

I truly believe people are waiting for a party to lead them toward independence, one with a map.

The map is there…the foundations are being prepared…where is the party?

Now is the time to let your light shine!

Clear, unambiguous statements are needed.

Is it time to topple egos off their pedestals?

Is it time to not just think the impossible, but to actually do the impossible and replace the SNP?

There is no doubt any party taking this forward will need an event at some point to show the will of the people. This would be democracy at work, but that party must be in place first… It’s all about the process. Just because Westminster tends to skip processes doesn’t mean we have to!

I don’t mean to be facetious but some believe these two words, extant and extinct mean the same thing. They don’t, and the position of the Scottish Crown is a perfect example of the meanings.

Extant means it is still exists, the dictionary goes further and says it is still ‘living’. Which means our Crown could still sit on a king’s head, provided that King takes the Scottish Oath, which Charles hasn’t and can’t without breaking his English oath and condemning his own Parliament.

Extinct on the other hand means it no longer exists in any way, shape or form. But it does, and Charles can only touch it, as he did, in reverence.

I bet that when he touched it, he was thinking…if only!!!

Westminster’s greatest fear is the day Scotland wakes up and realises its power. They also don’t want their fellow citizens to know how much Scotland subsidises them…the story being that we are a drain on their finances.

For a true record of Scotlands history, forget the history books and look at what is now surfacing through Salvo. Documents kept hidden for hundreds of years are now coming to light, and what a story they tell.

But it’s not just the story that matters, it’s the power they bring with them, and like the Crown, they are not extinct!!

Westminster are experts at breaking treaties and memorandums of understanding, if they don’t fit with today’s agenda, but there are some treaties you just can’t break or lie about!

And lies don’t go down well with the UN, especially if you lie directly to them!

Time-wise, now is the best time to bring all of this to the attention of the UN, because Team GB is not at its most popular. Sometimes geopolitics works in your favour.

But we must do our bit and prepare the groundwork. The day will come…and we must be ready! Therefore the news from Common Weal today is most welcome. The jigsaw is coming together with some very notable people at the helm.

I noted this morning on Politics Live that a generation is now defined as 25 years…referring to Alex’s comment of ‘once in a generation’. How nice of them to try and interpret what he might have meant.

AI by the way says it’s 15-20 years!! I guess it depends on who is moving the pointer😂

The words “Grievance Politics” when used towards Scotland are used in a very derisary way. But people forget that in England, grievances brought about the Magna Carta in 1215! The first version failed, but Henry III tweaked it and made it law.

The grievances in Scotland towards Westminster are not petty, they are significant. From broken ‘supposed’ [alleged] Treaties to the theft of resources, which continues to this day.

I often wonder how England would behave had the shoe been on the other foot!

The core voters in England see Scots as moaners, who gripe about anything and everything. This is because like us, they have been taught a lie. So, they still have the mentality of ‘we conquered you, suck it up’! I think they are in for a shock!!

It is not wrong to complain when one has been wronged and it’s not wrong to seek reparation.

The words of Theresa May still ring in my ears… ‘Now is not the time’! {2017} Move on 9 long years, and it’s ‘off the table’ altogether! Well, I did say Burnham had misspoke on Wednesday!!

As a People are we focusing our anger in the wrong place? Surely we must change Holyrood and all in it first?

Holyrood is full of MSPs wearing masks, take the independence mask off and you find a Devolutionist.

We must stop playing the game!

Where has Devolution got us? This relationship was supposed to support us, remember ‘Better Together’! On Friday nights news there was an person being interviewed about why fuel prices have risen so sharply. He spoke about how the number of refineries has over the past years depleted from 14 to 2! Saying last year alone, we lost 2 mentioning Grangemouth…we didn’t lose this refinery, it was taken from us!

The result of course is that we have to import fuel, including gas! Don’t you love it when our politicians can’t think beyond today?

Labour is closing down Scotlands infrastructure and doing it on purpose.

Remember Bob the Builder’s catchphrase, ‘Can we fix it…yes we can’.

We can start with the Council Elections next year.

We can support the Parties waiting in the wings.

We can put the ‘petty’ grievances aside.

We can put our words into action!

We can put Scotlands future first.

Are you a builder or a demolisher?