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Sceptical Scot

Asking Questions. Seeking Answers.

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Culture

The rules of the road in the Highlands

March 22, 2023 by Jackie Kemp Leave a Comment

“Sometimes at night, when the rain is coming down like iron spikes and the road is as dark as a werewolf’s armpit I feel that the brown signs directing you to local services are a sick joke. The signs don’t contain any information as to distance, so you could come off and find it is a 20-minute drive..”

ChatGPT, you’re fired!

March 14, 2023 by Jackie Kemp Leave a Comment

“The quotes were generally ideal, exactly what I was looking for, so I searched a little harder. But after fouterin for literary hours, I realised that it just makes the damn things up.”

Impartiality and public service media

March 13, 2023 by Robin Wilson Leave a Comment

“It (BBC) also bends with the political wind, especially where—as on refugees—Labour is too cowed to offer any challenge to the dominant discourse (that the desperate journeys by raft across the channel, often ending in tragedy, are all got up by traffickers of the ‘migrants’), which the BBC then faithfully echoes.” It should “speak truth to power” instead…

Sceptical Scot shuts up shop

March 15, 2022 by Sceptical Scot Editors 25 Comments

The co-editors announce the closure of Sceptical Scot on its seventh anniversary….

For future generations from our here and now

March 9, 2022 by Fay Young Leave a Comment

Apricot Blossom: image Simon Williams CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Survival, war, poetry. What is it like to fight for your motherland with words and on the streets? Here is a message to transcend time and place.

Postscript: Infants in care – out of sight out of mind?

March 4, 2022 by Janice McGhee Lorraine Waterhouse 2 Comments

“The current position in Scotland is just not good enough. Infant removals continue to this day. They do not lie in our past. This trend is found in other wealthy countries..yet elsewhere infant removals appear more subject to public scrutiny. An infant entering care in 2016, when the Independent Care Review was launched by the First Minister, will be 14 years of age by 2030.  Hardly a sea change. More surely a glacial pace.”

Wishing love: a song and poem for the new year

January 9, 2022 by Abi Rooley-Towle 2 Comments

“Each being is like a grain of sand or a pebble that makes up a beautiful whole. All are unique and precious. Sometimes when I walk on the beach I look for particularly special pebbles or sea washed glass. But, in reality – they are all unique and make altogether, a wonderful beach…”

The paywall keeping the public out of history

January 6, 2022 by Richard Rodger 5 Comments

Oor Wullie statue sitting outside the McManus museum in Dundee, a poster saying Links with the Past can be seen behind him: picture Fay Young

“At a time when digital resources are a godsend, the general public cannot engage with Census data to advance their own historical interests. Of greater significance perhaps are questions such as: How can the histories of a nation be written without access to the core data – the inhabitants and their locations?”

Prophets without honour in their own land

January 3, 2022 by Walter Humes 6 Comments

“Scots have a self-image of being frank and forthright.  Within the professions at least, this is rarely justified.  Agreement with official policy rather than plain speaking is the dominant form of discourse at the upper levels of Scottish education. Similar tendencies can be seen in law and medicine….”

Kathleen Jamie: the poetry of natural resistance

December 17, 2021 by Asif Khan 1 Comment

portrait of Kathleen Jamie by Robin Gillanders

“But another important thing is that poetry is for everyone. Don’t for one minute think poetry was ever a highfalutin thing. It never was – particularly In Scotland. Think about the ballads, think about Burns – these are ordinary everyday folk.”

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Welcome to Sceptical Scot, Scotland’s premier non-tribal forum for passionate, informed debate. Sceptical Scot is for all who care about Scotland’s future, regardless of how they vote: for party, independence or union, EU or Brexit. We aim to provide an arena that is both broader and deeper than current online/print offers with a rich diet of well-researched, polemical, thought-provoking writing. Read more » about About Sceptical Scot

What’s new on Sceptical Scot

  • Another struggle to deliver independence March 28, 2023
  • Humza faces a hard landing March 27, 2023
  • Eradicating poverty in Scotland: a long way to go March 27, 2023
  • Scotland does not need nuclear energy March 27, 2023
  • The rules of the road in the Highlands March 22, 2023
  • How sustainable are Scottish tax and spend policies? March 22, 2023
  • Scotland needs a new politics – and fresh policy options March 17, 2023
  • What does Hunt’s first Budget mean for Scotland? (Update) March 16, 2023
  • ChatGPT, you’re fired! March 14, 2023
  • Impartiality and public service media March 13, 2023

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